On January 6, 2009, Coach Greg Glassman was invited to give a presentation on CrossFit to over 100 future leaders of our nation’s military from the National War College at the National Defense University’s Baruch Hall. He presented on the same stage where President Bush, Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, and Colin Powell also addressed the students of the National War College. Present in the audience was Lt. Gen. Frances Wilson, President of the National Defense University.
This is the second Question and Answer video from the talk, and the conclusion of the series. In it, Coach Glassman answers a series of questions from the audience. Topics include what qualifies a CrossFit certified trainer, the efficacy of training off the CrossFit.com website without a trainer, and the need to determine functional weaknesses prior to engaging in the workouts.
The simple answer to the qualification question is results, as measured by efficacy (what it does), efficiency (the rate of adaptation), and safety (how many are sidelined along the way). Website workouts without a trainer can be highly effective, though rarely optimally so. And finally, a qualified trainer can both diagnose and effectively treat isolated and/or systemic weaknesses through functional movements, so separate assessment tools are not necessary.
17min 11sec (An audio-only version is also available)