A story of dedication, consistency, self-development, community and love for CrossFit.

Why can’t it ever be easy? In this article I reflect on hard work and why we need to voluntarily go to those uncomfortable places.

Triggers, self-worth and why I need to change my mindset around competition or not do it. I never knew I was competitive until I started CrossFit as a sport. When my first opportunity to participate in a competition came up, I was faced with the fact I REALLY wanted to do well, and well in that context meant better than others. I put so much pressure on myself that the anticipation made me nervous almost to the point of being sick, and although I had fun during the day, it le

Reaction and action: choosing between self-sabotage and growth. Overindulged and now feeling awful? Bad day at the gym and feeling weak, incapable? Whenever I “fail”, whether it’s eating too much cake, drinking too much, or being unable to perform a specific movement in CrossFit, my first response is guilt (when I did something I shouldn’t have done) or frustration (when I can’t do something). I am getting very involved emotionally, and I can internally rant for quite a long

Sometimes we spend so much time looking at what we need to improve that we can't see progress and appreciate how far we've come. Hitting a new technical difficulty in CrossFit is always hard. Just when you think you are getting better, a new weakness shows up. I suppose it is part of the fun, there is so much to learn that you never get bored. But with the wrong mindset, a new difficulty can easily turn into "oh look, another thing I suck at!". I see it in a lot of people at

Bloody intense, packed with adrenaline and an emotional roller-coaster. Well done team for surviving this day. I couldn’t really expect what was about to come: the pressure, the adrenaline, the intensity of those short workouts. Being crammed in a little space, trying to keep communicating with each other in the team and trying to hear our judge in the chaos of the shouting crowd and loud music. There were a lot of distressing moments during the day: - When all the plans went

One workout every hour, CrossFit SweetTrack was raising funds for Southmead Hospitals NICU unit Due to other commitments I was only there for 7 hours, but what an experience! Team spirit, a lot of humour and a great deal of courage from everybody who took part. We were all sweaty, smelly, tired but in a very good mood. There was something quite surreal in being all sitting together at night, waiting for the next workout to begin. I admitted to myself that we were all a bit ma

Dealing with ego and realising it's ok to suck at something you just started. Low self esteem day. It could have been triggered by something else, but it was CrossFit today. The WoD was entirely based on weightlifting and it requires technique. I struggled and had to stay on a very low weight because I couldn't get the technique right on hang power cleans and push jerks. I know I am still very new to CrossFit and have a lot to learn, but not being able to get things right fel

A few months into CrossFit, I am noticing changes in my life. Workout or nutrition, I face my first victories and my first obstacles. As I go into a more intense rhythm of training (4-5 times a week) and let my life slowly be shaped by my sessions, I am discovering that fitness is more than “popping to the gym after work”, it’s a lifestyle. My nutrition has changed, I’m reducing carbs a lot, eating more vegetables and more proteins. I drink more water, and have mostly said go