Conversations with a CrossFit Athlete, by Nicola Tunstall and Ellie Bates
There are lots of reasons why people decide to try CrossFit: to improve health and wellbeing, to try something new and challenge themselves, to get stronger, to lose weight or to become part of a supportive community (to name but a few). The latter was the reason for one of our members, Ellie, joining but she found there were other benefits- namely competing in CrossFit as a sport. We asked Ellie about her CrossFit journey and why she loves competing.
“Fraser (my boyfriend) and I joined CrossFit to make friends and it worked! Along with helping us make lots of new friends, it turns out that CrossFit is totally addictive (in a good way)! My love of competition and bettering myself led me to want to compete in CrossFit as a sport. Volentia has lots of in house comps open to external athletes so that’s where I started!”
Nicola Tunstall (NT): “What do you love about competing and what do you find is your biggest challenge- how do you work to overcome that challenge?”
Ellie Bates (EB) “You always walk away from a competition with things to work on, which is a great thing. I think my personal biggest challenge is not putting too much pressure on myself and remembering why I loved CrossFit in the first place”
(NT) “How have you had to adapt your training over the last year? Has being in lockdown affected your desire or drive to train? If so how?”
(EB) “I found the lockdown over summer easy to train through but this winter lockdown has been harder. My evening sessions are long and I have to really hype myself up to train but with my program in place it’s easy to just follow it and get the work done. I always feel better afterwards”
“Since this time last year my training has ramped up in terms of volume but also focus and it’s clear now that I train for more than just “hobby” purposes. But I also focus on nutrition, recovery and everything else that comes with getting better now and not just turning up for a session.”
(NT) “What tips can you give to anyone whose goal is to compete once we are able to get back into the gym?”
(EB) “Go for it! Just put yourself out there and find a competition that feels comfortable to you (the Open is fun to start with) it’s a great way to learn what you need to work on and benchmark against other athletes. It’s so much fun!”
The CrossFit Open 2021 starts on March 11th. You can get more information or sign up here:
https://open.crossfit.com
