I have been doing CrossFit for a little over 2 months now thanks to my lacrosse coach who is one of the coaches at the gym i go to. Without him i wouldn’t find out about this amazing community; anyways, I was wondering if taking a CrossFit level 1 course so early is a good idea or not. If i continue to enjoy CrossFit(which will 100% happen) I want to open a gym by my late 20s. If anyone has had a similar situation can i get some advice please? I would really appreciate any advice.
Edit: I have also talked to my coaches about this, i just wanted to ask a bunch of people
@maizeemay Gyms are seldom a very profitable enterprise. You really should explore career paths that may be parallel to this goal that will pay your rent.
The L1 is quite expensive and expires in 5 years. Coaching is a great experience and can definitely be a plus for school and job applications. You can renew the L1 to an L2 when it expires - but you should have plans to coach within the first 5 year window imho.
@maizeemay I would suggest that if you do not have a clear plan to recoup the cost of the course via coaching over the next 5 years, hold off. You can read the L1 manual, but the class isn't going to change your life.
@maizeemay I wouldn't take it much before you need it. They have continuing ed tests your need to pay for and pass.
Given your age keep it as a hobby but keep exploring things you like doing. You may find it's more fun to do as a hobby than coach (depending on who you coach), but you may also enjoy coaching.
@p8089 I see what you mean, but i would want to be a coach as a second job, i want to be in the sports medicine field primarily. I feel like it would be beneficial in so many ways.
@maizeemay Before you dive right into coaching take it slowly. You’re only 2 months in, and that’s a big decision to make. I (19M) used to teach martial arts (I was an instructor for 4 years) and by the time I left I was kinda burnt out from teaching. Now at CrossFit it’s nice to be the one learning. I’m about 4 months into CrossFit and I wouldn’t even consider becoming a coach, I haven’t even scraped the surface of lifting yet. While I may have the skills to teach someone, I certainly don’t have the knowledge.
Remember, teaching/coaching is a big responsibility, you become the inspiration of many, even if you don’t realize.
If you want to open a box, I’d assume you should major in business.
@maizeemay I took it 2 months after turning 18 (took it 6 months ago). wait until you’re 18 so that you don’t have to jump through loopholes since you’re a minor: thats what kept me waiting. Otherwise, go for it! I thought it was great. However I have been CrossFitting since I was 14 and coached with the L1, so I had more benefit. If you see it as beneficial, then by all means go for it.
@maizeemay Get an L1 and use it as a secondary job while ur trying to figure.yourself out. Your only 17, and will most likely change your career choice multiple times before you become a full on adult. It's not easy turning a large profit from a box. The market is so saturated. Withing reasonable distance I have 5 CrossFit gyms, 2 orange theorys and about three other group functional fitness gyms I could go to. There is no way all those gyms are turning a profit good enough to pay the bills.
@maizeemay At 17, if wait a little bit. The course is expensive, $1000 and that’s like gold for a 17yo. It also expires in 5 years so if you take it now and don’t use it, you’ll just need to renew anyway. I would wait a few years, get more experience as an athlete, watch, learn, and even try to get some shadowing/internship opportunities so you can get the feeling for what coaching might be like. Then after high school, you can always work as a CrossFit coach either full time or part time of you are also going to go to college.
@maizeemay Unless your coaches are offering you a position right now as a full or part-time coach, I would recommend waiting. As everyone has pointed out, your L1 expires in 5 years and unless you have a plan to make back that money within 5 years, it will be a waste because you'll have to spend another $1000 to renew or get your L2 (which will be close to impossible without coaching experience).
If you're interested in coaching that much, I would recommend that you propose an internship with the gym you go to. Offer to clean the gym or to take some other task off the head coaches plate in exchange for 5-7 hours per week of interning. You'd follow them around, learn what they do, and see the business side of coaching as well. What most people see is just the coaching side, but that's just a small part of what the full time coaches/owners do.
@maizeemay I would wait a little bit! The more experience you have doing something, the more you'll be able to get out of doing the level 1. Like I graduated from university but didn't get my Masters degree until 5 years later because I wanted to have enough experience that I could understand what I was learning from all angles.
