Nicole Carroll has been at the heart of CrossFit for many years.
- She was the inspiration for one of the first “Girl” benchmark workouts (“Nicole”) from her days at CrossFit Santa Cruz.
Carroll started as a member, became a coach, traveled with CrossFit founder Greg Glassman as one of the earliest members of the seminar staff, became director of training with Dave Castro, and has recently stepped into a brand role.
Recently, CrossFit has launched a new YouTube channel focusing on training and assisting coaches with seminars, discussions, and demonstrations. In the first live video, Carroll discussed the importance of coaching with fellow L4 coach Denise Thomas.
- Don Faul mentioned this at an affiliate summit held in mid-September.
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YouTube CrossFit Training Channel
For those thirsty for CrossFit content, the main CrossFit YouTube channel will still exist alongside the Training and Education Instagram account. Both will continue to provide content for the CrossFit community.
- Carroll sees The Training Channel, which has 8.98K subscribers at the time of this article, as an extension of the Instagram account, which currently has 1.1 million followers.
The hope is that affiliate owners, coaches, and even athletes will utilize this channel to enhance their coaching and overall fitness experience. The videos are promised to be easily searchable and categorized.
In the video with Thomas, “CrossFit Coaching Then, Now, and Tomorrow,” Carroll focused on elements that connect well with her own career in CrossFit.
It Begins and Ends with the Whiteboard
Carroll explained that the concept of the whiteboard is at the heart of CrossFit. It was a defining feature of early CrossFit boxes and remains at the center of the methodology and community.
- “The whiteboard is where a culture is built,” she said. And while some might feel hesitant to share their results on the leaderboard, Carroll said, “What really matters is what you had in you that day, and sharing it…people making themselves vulnerable is part of what creates a genuine connection.”
She explained that this is the coach’s chance before class to brief the workout and explain scaling options and the intended stimulus. It’s also the opportunity for the coach to bring people together in a class and form common goals.
- “I’m not going to say you’re wrong for not using the whiteboard. But maybe I am,” Carroll said, stressing that the bonding that this ritual creates is extremely important.
In the early days of CrossFit, there was one workout of the day on CrossFit.com. Athletes could post scores on the message board or virtual whiteboard and immediately be part of a community.
This carries over 20 years later.
Programming
Over the years, Carroll said, CrossFit programming has evolved.
- The core of any good program, though, is that it’s measurable, she said.
She acknowledged that some programmers and coaches have trended toward trying to include more within a class but questions if more is always better. Carroll doesn’t necessarily think so.
She prefers the “elegance” of a single workout within a class and says when doing this, “We are preserving the idea of intensity over volume.”
Intensity is what gets results. Relative intensity, of course, to each individual.
CrossFit’s Influence
Carroll reflected on the arc of CrossFit and how it has influenced the fitness community as a whole.
- She believes that the creation and growth of CrossFit has professionalized the role of the fitness trainer.
Even the title of “coach” versus “trainer” carries a more professional connotation, she said.
- Carroll compares the CrossFit setting to a collegiate sports team: “All the cool things that sports develop in people, CrossFit brought to the fitness industry en masse.”
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She went on to say, “Every person in the class should feel like they’re getting more attention than they want.” She believes that the quality of coaching is the real separator for CrossFit in the industry.
Another separator she said is the less visible outcomes of taking CrossFit classes: finding confidence, enhanced mental health, and a community.
- “We’re all doing the same workout, to our own level. And there’s this competition and camaraderie across the class, no matter what level you’re at. And that’s a really beautiful thing.”
The Bottom Line
Carroll’s video is the first of more that are rolling out regularly.
- At this point, there are three additional videos featuring coaches and seminar staff that were originally released as live streams.
Beyond that, the channel continues to release movement demonstrations, scaling, and warm-up videos as a free resource.
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Featured image: @crossfitgames / Instagram
