New to CrossFit? Start here.
Alpine offers a formal Foundations on-ramp for beginners — private, one-on-one coaching sessions that teach the core CrossFit movements in a low-pressure setting before you join group classes.
The gym is built for beginners.
If you're thinking about CrossFit but nervous to walk in, you're not unusual — most Alpine members started exactly where you are. The mental picture of CrossFit most people carry (loud music, intimidating regulars, someone throwing up in the corner) is not what CrossFit actually is. It's a coached class where the people next to you are librarians, teachers, nurses, retirees, and parents — all scaling the same workout to their own bodies.
Foundations is how we get you ready for that room.
Mechanics first. Then consistency. Then intensity.
Every effective CrossFit coach teaches the methodology in the same order: mechanics, consistency, intensity. Mechanics means learning to move correctly — a squat that tracks, a deadlift with a neutral spine, a press that finishes overhead. Consistency means doing those movements correctly every time. Intensity means adding speed and load — and that's the step that gets you results. Intensity before mechanics is how people get hurt.
Foundations is the mechanics and consistency work. It happens in a private one-on-one setting with a CF-L2 coach, at a pace that matches your body and your starting point.
Every movement you'll see in a group class.
Barbell lifts
Squat (back, front, overhead), deadlift, press, push press, clean, jerk, snatch.
Bodyweight & gymnastics
Push-ups, pull-ups and their scales, air squats, lunges, sit-ups.
Conditioning tools
Rowing, biking, running mechanics, kettlebell swings.
You don't need to be proficient in any of these on day one. You need to know what they are, how to perform them safely, and which ones to scale when a workout calls for something your body isn't ready for yet.
60 minutes, three parts.
- Warm-up (10 min): General movement prep tailored to the day's focus.
- Instruction (30–40 min): Your coach walks you through the target movements, corrects technique in real time, and progresses load only when mechanics are solid.
- Small workout (10–15 min): A short, scaled version of a group-class workout so you can see what class actually feels like — without a room full of strangers.
No music, no crowd, no pressure. Just you and a coach, working through it.
When you can move safely under load.
You graduate from Foundations when you can demonstrate core-to-extremity coordination across the main CrossFit movements. That's the biomechanics principle that underpins every lift: power generates from your core and transfers outward to your extremities, in sequence. When you can reliably express that pattern — in a squat, a press, a clean — you're ready for group classes.
Some people move through Foundations in three or four sessions. Others take longer. The pace is yours. The coach will tell you when you're ready.