CrossFit Camden Valley and MMWH move.

Let talk about the recent announcement of MMWH and CrossFit Camden Valley opening up a full-time facility..

Those that know us, know that over the past 4yrs or more we have toyed with the idea of purchasing a ready built facility, but when that all fell through, we took a step back and decided the time wasn’t right, and if the time comes again, we will build something from scratch.. Something we call our own, something that is completely built around our morals and goals, not to copy or follow others business models.

We have been opening our home to countless people week after week from all different gym’s across sydney, friends, fitness levels and ages, even having visitors from abroad wanting to train with us when they visit local family and friends. Our goal was to always open if we could find the property that suited our needs, not settle for “it will do because it’s the only thing around”.. Hence this took so long to happen, we have been on the hunt for a facility for well over 2yrs.

During this time, we have been continuing to coach, build our business and accumulate a huge amount of equipment, as well as the 40ft container we have coming from our equipment supplier. All whist this has been happening Ann has been gaining weekly coaching experience at Crossfit Marrickville, Dave the owner is one of the longest affiliate owners in Australia and when we approached him, he jumped at the chance to pass his and his team’s knowledge on to her. The choice to gain coaching experience out of the area we live, train in was done purposely, this was done to ensure the confidence in approaching, coaching, and offering feedback to complete strangers and stepping outside one’s comfort zone.

Step forward to 2 days before Christmas and picking up the keys to a 366sq/m factory complex which we now call Crossfit Camden Valley and the new home of MMWH, over the first 10 days we hired trucks to move equipment, built the only true Weightlifting facility in the area with goals to have that old school vibe, as well has train, coach and allow people in before we even open full time in March 2024..

The comment daily is said to me “ do you ever sleep, there is something new or changing every day”, there is something new every day because we have a plan, a goal, and a purpose.. one step at a time we will create what we set out to create nothing less. Our competition is ourselves, to meet the expectations of what we have set out to achieve.

“Together we are our Strength” is a moto that was given over the past few years and one we will continue to stick by.

Puberty, Skinny Fat and the Journey to Eating for Performance

I was 14 when I first became conscious of my weight. It was 1995. Mum bought me a pair of Levi 501 – second hand, you could buy them pre worn from Grace Bros back in the day. They were ladies size 11.

 Puberty saw a massive growth spurt. I remember having boobs overnight – I was instantly wearing a 12B size bra and I was embarrassed by them. I spent much of that time wearing a long sleeve loose stussy shirt with a long flowing skirt (that my mother wore leaving for her honeymoon) or a flannelette long sleeve shirt and a pair of second hand corduroy blue pants, whatever I wore paired with eight hole cherry red doctor martin boots. 

I was, I am short, 5ft 2 and a smidge and felt frumpy. I was 54kg.

For context 1995 was the height of Kate Moss and waif thin heroin chic. That’s what on the runway, in the magazines, in Hollywood. Kate Moss was 47kg and taller than me and I was 54kg.

If Kate Moss could be 47kg why couldn’t I be? And so that was my mission.

My weight through the years fluctuated between 48-51kg and I never gave it much thought. I didn’t exercise but I was also in my twenties, a stable skinny fat petite and you can really eat and drink whatever you want without much consequence at that age.

2014 I experienced a separation and divorce and enjoyed a high stress 5 months, lost all appetite and ability to sleep and got down to 43kg. I wasn’t skinny. I was sick. Interesting things happen when you are that small that people don’t always talk about. Your skin is terrible, your hair falls out, your nails are awful, and you are always tired. 

But I was proud. That sounds ridiculously mentally ill, doesn’t it? 43kg literally skin and bone, fitting none of my clothes and I was quietly thrilled at the thigh gap I had. My hip bones stuck out, you could see my ribs, front and back, my collar bones were very visible, and my only thought was “look how thin I am.”

Fast forward 18 months after I had got my head around my new situation and had put my weight back on in the form of cheeseburgers and beer I started to exercise and without fuelling adequately started to lose weight again.

And this is where the narrative started to change but learning to fuel around a workout and learning to gain weight without the knee-jerk negative response is challenging. To feel good, perform, sleep better, recover better, repair, you need to fuel. There is no way around this.

Once I started to fuel myself adequately, I started to gain muscle and my weight increased. My automatic response when I stepped on the scales to see a gain was negative. Was I stronger? Yes. Did I feel frumpy? No. But the scales are not subjective like that and in my brain heavier just equalled fatter.

I love seeing jacked women, the Tia-Clair Toomeys of this world and I understand they don’t weigh the same as Kate Moss but I am creeping up to the heaviest I’ve ever been and its scary. It remains this mental hurdle and I don’t think I am alone in this.

How do we fix this? I don’t have the answer, but I can only create an environment of positive reinforcement, encourage other women, compliment other women in my own backyard.

So, to all the women reading this know you are so strong, you are so fit, and you are making progress and we are going to change this mindset together.

Female athletes and MM Weightlifting House

Female athletes and MM Weightlifting House, the theory behind why we have attracted so many female lifters to our garage.

 When Ann and I decided to open MM Weightlifting House as a business we never expected the outcome of what we have today in a short 3 months.

 When we started, we already had 4 lifters, 3 which compete under MMWH Banner and 1 under Illawarra Weightlifting, since going live with our website we don’t have a spare afternoon/night free, whether its one-on-one sessions, a group class or couples session in the garage with people also on waiting lists for spots to free up.

 But here’s the kicker..  from what has grown from 4 lifters is now close to 30 regular lifters in this short time, that attend these classes, and over 90% of these are female. Our females age from 11yrs old to 72yrs old. Out of the 30 lifters currently only 5 compete, all the others are doing it to improve themselves, help with other sports they do, or just because they love it and want to learn more.

 So why MMWH and why so many females, there is a few reasons that come to mind, firstly both Ann and I are in our 40s, so we are very relatable, and we have life experience outside the fitness world. Secondly in the Camden and Macarthur area there is no specific weightlifting gym, nobody that consistently holds classes multiple times a week like we do, we cater to small groups only so we can spend time with everyone unlike large group classes. This enables us to focus and build that relationship with each and every lifter, breaking their movements down piece by piece, with aids such as blocks of various sizes, and movements that typically they would have never done at there local functional fitness gym to isolate different sections of the lift to help them improve and gain more confidence under a barbell.

 With a lot of the MMWH females over the age of 40 this is also something we take into consideration in how we run program our classes. Most masters athletes can’t bare the loads in which the younger aged can, so when it comes to programming this needs to be highly considered. We also encourage our ladies to attend the Women In Weightlifting Events held by Vanessa Kerr and NSW Weightlifting to which they have speakers and athletes talking specifically about women and training around the female body. The last event which was held in June, 6 of our athletes attended with very high recommendations to all the other females they talk to regarding these events.

 We have had the discussion with many of our regulars and the same thing is always said “there is no pressure”, “we don’t rush the warmup”, “we aren’t forced to add more weight, its about getting right technique”, “we can be ourselves here”, “we get coached in a way we understand what is being told to us”.

 These last 2 points directly link back to our core values:

 To create a nurturing environment to foster self-development and health allowing members to thrive in all aspects of their lives outside of our garage.

To provide a space of encouragement and acceptance without judgement.

To approach weightlifting, strength, and conditioning without blinkers

To value longevity over today’s performance.

To challenge self-imposed limitations. 

MMWH will only continue to grow within the Camden, Macarthur region bringing weightlifting to all those who want it in a hassle-free environment.

Flick the switch

In May 2016 I was doing boot camp classes, jogging the four-hundred-meter block with a log above my head, push ups, light kettle bell work that kind of thing.

And then 98 Riley Street posted a FYF workout.

300 burpees for time. 5 body weight deadlifts at the top of every minute.

Yes. Read that again.

300 burpees for time. 5 body weight deadlifts at the top of every minute.

Sounded nuts. Sounded a thousand times harder than anything I had done but I was curious.

How would it feel? Would I finish or give up halfway through and go home?

I roped Matt into doing it with me and I didn’t give up.

I scaled to one deadlift on the minute and did what my brother in law affectionately refers to as “Harry” burpees (half rep Harry aka bootcamp style burpees) and finished in thirty six minutes and ten seconds but something changed for me that day.

I wanted to do hard things. I wanted the workout that seemed ridiculous on paper. I wanted to feel uncomfortable with that little bit of panic when you’re up to your neck in it and you realise you can’t touch the bottom because that’s where the magic happens.  

That day also signalled the start of my interest in 98 training, programming, mindset, and philosophy which led me to attend their first publicly available 98 Training Academy May 13 -14 this year, almost exactly seven years after the 300 burpees.

The weekend was held at 98 Sydney inside The Royal Hall of Industries Moore Park. Across the two days talks included the 98 philosophy and history, energy system development, mindset, recovery, programming, periodisation, nutrition and communication with practical workshops and workouts on hinge, concept ergs, esd and of course a FYF finisher.

To say I am grateful for the opportunity to attend would be the understatement of 2023. The take aways and the (as Oprah describes) Aha! moments were worth the effort alone, most notable the mindset piece by Daniel Cooper.

Professionally I struggle with taking chances. I am not an entrepreneur and I fear the consequences of failure. Daniel Cooper spoke of reframing situations as challenges instead of threats.

This resonated with me.

My Aha! came with the realisation that I choose discomfort and challenges in workouts but not in my professional life outside of the gym. Why? And what am I missing out on? Is the chance of failure, packing up and going home, worth the chance of not experiencing and sharing something amazing?

In one sentence Daniel Cooper forced me to reflect inward with the aim of approaching professional challenges with the same excitement as I do 300 burpees and for that I will be forever grateful.

This is only the beginning for 98 Training Academy. If you are passionate about human performance, longevity, movement, and communication I implore you to seek out and attend their future weekends.

Ann

Photographs by James Seneviratne @jamesjoel

Never stop listening.

Never stop listening.

I do start a lot of sentences with “I was listening to a podcast and..” in fact it’s almost comical.

To be fair, I listen when I am walking Rory at five am and I spend a lot of time in the car – anywhere from an hour forty to two and a half hours every day Monday to Friday so I have a lot of time to spend, and I try to be thoughtful about how I spend it. Sometimes I listen to learn and retain, something I listen to fiction to escape and sometimes I just need a laugh. If you are looking for a good listen this list may help.

Here is a list of my favourite podcasts right now and audibles I have found both informative and entertaining. Enjoy.

Favourite Podcasts Right Now:

Andrew Huberman, Ph.D. @hubermanlab

Neuroscience Professor and Lab Director at Stanford University.

* Special mention to the six-part series on fitness, exercise and performance with Andy Galpin, Ph.D.

Peter Attia The Drive Podcast @peterattiamd

MD focused on longevity science.

Joe Rogan @joeroganexperience

Comedian, Podcaster, UFC Commentator.

Your Moms House – Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitzky @ymhstudios

Comedians, Podcasters.

Jock Unraveling, Jocko Podcast @jockowillink

Retired Navy Seal Officer, Podcaster, Author.

Chasing Excellence @benbergeron

Ben Bergeron Owner of CrossFit New England, Comptrain & Patrick Cummings

Whoop Podcast @whoop

Hosted by Will Ahmed CEO of Whoop with guest.

Favourite Audibles:

Extreme Ownership By Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

The Dichotomy of Leadership By Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

Leadership Strategy and Tactics By Jocko Willink

Essentialism By Greg McKeown

Can’t Hurt Me By David Goggins

Never Finished By David Goggins

Outlive By Peter Attia, Bill Gifford

Chaos By Tom O’Neill, Dan Piepenbring

Shoe Dog By Phil Knight

Greenlights By Matthew McConaughey

Stay curious, keep listening, keep learning.

Ann

Proving a point

Everyone knows I train weightlifting that’s a given, I follow a weightlifting program 6 days a week and have for well over 2yrs now, After World Masters Weightlifting Championships in Florida in 2022 I decided I would enter 2 online crossfit comps, these would be first the Masters League Championships, then the Crossfit open. Both I set a goal of making the next stage. Changing very little to my normal 6 days weightlifting, the only thing I added was 1-2 40-50 min functional workouts on top of the weightlifting each week.

 The open I was 1% outside the top 90% in ANZ so I missed that goal, but I had already made the Masters League online comp to qualify for the face to face state championships. This was held Sunday the 7th May. After being away the week prior for work, no strict diet, beers every night I went into the day with one goal and that was to win the snatch complex which wasn’t till last.

 Event one was broken into two parts A & B, consisting of Max front squats at 65kgs in 2mins, I placed 2nd over all in this event and Part B was 10-8-6 clean and jerks and chest to bars which surprisingly I took the event win after not even attempting a chest 2 bar for a long long time..

 Event two was truly not well thought out correctly, people everywhere, heats with more people than what they should have been leaving me without a Box in the second 2 mins of max box jump overs.. I rarely lose my cool these days but I went off which I later apologised for to the poor guy who copped the brunt of it.. so I had to wait a few minutes until I continued the workout completely out of sync to my heat.. The workout was 2mins on 1 min off max wall balls, box jump overs, devils press and wall walks. The first two movements my favourites second two horrible, thankfully I did enough reps to be well clear of the field in these 2, hitting 50 unbroken wall balls with a total of 59, then 51 box jump overs in 2mins, and held on for event win number 2

 Event three.. knowing this Part A was going to be my worse finish of the comp before I went in, I made a decision I would stop at the 9min make of the 10min cap of 25-20-15-10 deadlifts and Toes 2 Bar, I stopped with 30sec on the clock with 7 reps remaining of last set of T2B.. Gymnastics not my strong point being a weightlifter. This decision was made to try and get my heart rate back down for the snatch complex. 70kgs was still on the bar so I snatched that as a single just to get the movement, then changed it to 80kgs for the first complex attempt.. my first attempt was 20kgs above everyone else in the heat and I could hear the spectators in the crowd talking about the weight.

 The complex was Snatch + 2x Hang Snatch + 3x Overhead squats, it was brutal. Making the 80kgs flow I had one attempt left in me before the 5min cap was up. We loaded 85kgs, again you could hear the people around me including the competitors in my heat as they watched me comfortably snatch the first 85kg from the ground, a cheer from the crowd then into 2x hang snatches and the crowd was getting behind me, into the 3 OHS which was when the complex became brutally hard. Stumbling forward in the 2nd I regained the stability for the final OHS, I wasn’t failing this now.. sitting in the bottom of the squat for what felt forever before standing it up, waiting for my judge Jimmy to say yep and a big bar slam to not only take the win in my age group for this event but the highest recorded complex of the day across all age groups within NSW.

 This experiment was to prove, strength training holds a lot more cardio stamina and you don’t need to do cardio every day to be competitive in the functional fitness world if you combine both Strength training and cardio..

 The weightlifter won 3/5 events for the overall win within NSW 45-49yrs olds booking a ticket if I choose to go to #newzealand to compete in the finals.

2023 NSW State Masters Championships

NSW State Masters Championships were held over the weekend (28th-30th May), with over 150 athletes it was a massive weekend.

 The MM Weightlifting house team was on fire, leading off the charge with Sam taking to the stage Saturday morning at 9am, this was Sam’s first state event, there was lots of nerves and with 14 females lifting Sam had a long wait before she even needed to touch a barbell to start her warmups.

Once we picked the empty barbell up we where focused, with the opening lift recorded at 38 kilos our warmups where going well so we bumped it to 40kgs to open our assault on winning the State title. It was always going to be a battle between Sam and Leisa from rec gym, Leisa opening 3kgs more than us in the snatch. Sam went 3/3 ending on 46kgs for a new 4kg Pb and the NSW State record, while Leisa went 43kgs missed 45kgs then hit 46kgs to go into the clean and jerks equal. Opening with the largest C&J of the session and 5kgs above Leisa we remained focused and came out after another long weight with 3/3 again in the C&J ending with a 3kg Pb at 65kgs and 111kg total for the Gold and 2 state records.

Kelley’s weigh-in wasn’t till 12pm which gave her time to sit relax and watch how things work at a State championship. Again, this was Kel’s first big event, after 500 nerves wee’s we were ready to warm up, Again we bumped Kelley’s opener up in the back room as she was making everything look easy, there was lots of nerves from this lady, but as a coach its your job to calm her, settle her and give her the advice that works for her. Kel was up early in the session of 18 ladies hitting our first 2 snatches and a great high pull on her 3rd, but we walked away with a Snatch pb and gained confidence knowing there is way more to come. After a long wait between lifts, we started our warmup for C&J, Kelly like Sam doesn’t like knowing what’s on the barbell or what I’m changing their weights to on the platform, during warmup Kelley asks me what are we opening at as that warmup lift was 2kilos more than our recorded opener.. my response to her was I know right, her eyes rolled back the nerves smile she gets came to her face and she blurted out Fuck me Matt..

We went up opening at 41kgs, then to 44kgs and missing 48kgs with a small press out in the 3rd was deemed a no lift, Kelley walked of stage and again with the Fuck Matt, but this time it was Fuck Matt I’ve never even considered 48kgs and I just cleaned it..

Then it was the boys turn, with Luke and I lifting in the same session it was going to be a whole new experience for me, as I was coaching and being coached at the same time.  With a field of 18 athletes, it made it a little easier as I was at the tail end of the session allowing me to warm Luke up and be with him on the platform while he lifted. Luke’s lead up preparations where great, hitting everything we had programmed him, building confidence in the weeks prior. Warmups went well we opened to 78kgs and walked out onto the platform and nailed it. We went 2 kilos to 80kg, then mind started to kick in and we walked to the barbell with the brain saying one thing the body knowing it can do another.

As a coach this is the hardest position to be in, in my opinion. But we need to be able to calm, refocus and encourage our athlete and make them believe they can and not the cannot. Luke walked back out for his 3rd snatch with a much better head but unfortunately on the day the weight was just too much and was deemed no lift with a press out. Then came the clean and jerk, opening heavier than we ever had in the past 2yrs which shows how much work we have been putting in in our lead up. After smashing our opener those mind games came back when we went out on the platform for the second lift at 108kgs, the minute Luke walked of the platform he knew and was super frustrated, we sat him down, again reminded him the weight is something we have hit time and time again in training, the last lift was just that, in the past and we can not change that now focus to what’s about to happen. We went out for the 3rd and final lift, the clean was easy but a soft elbow giving us a 2/6 day, Walking away with 3rd place something that I’m proud of as Luke coach and something he should be also. We have bad days, but we learn from them, and we grow.

Now for my experience of the session.. Well firstly don’t recommend coaching and lifting in the same session just saying. But my lifters will always come before my lifting in an event. Warming up was a whole new level of stress coaching in between it, but I thankfully have one of the best in the business on my side when it comes to helping me in the back room and have for a while now, NSW and Australian coach Venessa Kerr. Taking care of my warmup times, weights loaded on the barbell and numbers in the backroom. During warmups I was missing lifts and doing doubles at weights I was meant to be doing singles at because of the amount of things happening in the background. Missing 90kgs in the back room made me sit, breath and gain focus.. that’s a weight I don’t miss in warmups.. 93kg warmup snatch felt back to normal going out opening with 95kgs. Perfect, it felt awesome. There was 3 lifters all floating around the 95-97kg range and Ness and I decided to get out of all the backroom swapping and changing and went to 100kgs for my second lift, we missed 100 and 102kgs but we had one on the board and that’s all that’s needed.

Clean and jerks same situation in warming up as Snatch super busy with coaching duties but got to focus earlier as I was warming up after Luke had lifted this time, we opened conservative at 120kgs, then did 5kg jumps 125kgs -130kgs. 3/3 in the clean and jerks was a great result as I haven’t hit 130kgs in over 5mths in training or on a platform. Walking away with a 225kg total and eligible for Senior State titles.

Over all a fantastic outcome for the MM Weightlifting Team, well done to all lifters across all sessions over the weekend.

Injury, Nerve Pain and Learning to Check My Ego

My neck isn’t great.

I recently saw a Facebook memory from 2009 (massive cringe by the way) complaining that I had hurt my neck and couldn’t move, pulling “something” after picking up a puppy. Bouts of this would come and go, never lasting for more than a few days. This is normal.. right?

While I was still at boot camp in 2016 I started to experience what felt like fatigue in my left arm.

Down my arm, into the elbow and across the top of my forearm. I ignored this for a while. Until I couldn’t and went to a physio who to their credit directed me to my GP for a referral to have a CT on my neck.

C5/C6 mild to moderate broad based disc bulge.

C6/C7 moderate left posterior disc bulge. The disc is indenting the left anterior part of the thecal sac. There is a likely encroachment on the left C6 and C7 nerve root.

Tops.

I was given exercises, slow-release anti inflammatories and told to limit overhead exercises.

I continued to go to the gym but felt useless and deflated as I scaled and changed movements for every workout. From being enthusiastic and bouncing with excitement now my attitude had changed to “Great, what can’t I do today?”

Knock knock. Who’s there? Ego. Ego who?

I stopped going to the gym and walked my weimaraner twice a day for 3 months and my arm was feeling better, but I was bored.

Matt swapped back to CrossFit and was enjoying it and I was now a “walker”.

By January 2017 I was sure I was cured. I had rested, done the exercises, that’s how this works right? I plucked up the courage and started Crossfit. I explained my arm/neck situation and that I was “managing it.” I assured my coaches I was fine, but I was pushing it hard, and by April 2017 my left hand was so numb I could hardly grip the pull up bar. I would keep trying to shake it out, shake some kind of feeling into it. Shortly after bouts of numbness, flames started shooting down my arm and out my fingertips. You know you are alive when your arm is invisibly on fire. All the time.

Now whatever is the worst pain you have ever experienced is the worst pain YOU have ever experienced. Some people will have the fortune of their worst pain being a stubbed toe and if you are one of those people, you my friend are blessed. Nerve pain is different. If you have ever experienced bad nerve pain, there is no way to describe it.

After eating Panadeine Forte like tic tacs I was eventually put on Lyrica which works great for nerve pain but unfortunately feels like I’m six beers deep, slow, with brain fog. I would take it once I got to work because I couldn’t drive on it, but it worked, and it stopped me from going insane and committing murder. Lyrica, for me, however, could not be a long-term solution.

Cortisone injections were suggested to me, and I was willing to give anything a shot (no pun intended). I was given two injections C5/C6 and C6/C7 although most of my symptoms were linked to the C6/C7 encroachment. Cortisone changed the game for me and within a week, or so, I was pain free. I understand they aren’t as successful in every case, but for me – they were magic, and my first lot of injections lasted over twelve months.

After twelve months I do get flare ups. It’s a bit of a borrowed time scenario. I know how it feels when they are coming on, starts with elbow pain then down the back of the arm and then numbness in the hand but I try not to let it get to the flames stage and book myself in for another jab with time to spare.

How does my training affect my neck? I get asked this mostly by people that do not go to the gym and the answer is – it helps. Each scan of my neck shows improvement. What started off a moderate and a mild to moderate bulge is now one mild bulge C6/C7. Exercise has strengthened my neck and surrounding muscles supporting my spine. What’s that saying? “Being weak is more dangerous than getting strong.”

How does my neck affect my training? A bit. I am slow as all heck with hand stand push ups, slowing lowering my head to the ground, trying to protect my neck. I also spend extra time warming up my shoulders either with a broom stick, bands, or a few minutes on the ski erg when we do high rep overhead work. I find keeping the area rolled or gunned helpful also.

One of my biggest hurdles is still my ego. Managing an injury for an extended period is frustrating and can be extremely humbling, I am getting better at it, but I still have my moments. I am still learning its ok scale something I am usually proficient in and enjoy or can taking a day off and rest if that’s what my body needs (which is harder than it sounds).

I also practice gratitude. I am one of the lucky ones. I am unmedicated. I am non-surgical, and I am not in chronic pain.

And that’s not too bad for an old bird with a bad neck.

-Ann

I was born competitive

From a young age I have always been competitive with the attitude second place was the first loser. Throughout my schooling I was always an athlete, from track and field, a long distance state runner, Camden representative cricketer, rugby league. You name it, I played it. Well except soccer, that was, and still is something that doesn’t interest me.

Moving into my mid to late teens I dropped the footy and cricket and moved into triathlons which I excelled at winning both my age and senior champion in the first year. I competed at my club and competed in a lot of the major Sydney and south coast competitions. One of my best finishes was within the top 10 in the sprint event in a field of two hundred.

Then life happened. I had to get a job. I had 2 boys at a very young age, so sport took a back seat to family life until my kids were old enough to play sport then it all started again.

I had my first assistant coaching role at age 13. This was for my younger brother’s rugby league team. Once I had my own kids I started coaching again as well as coaching development officer for the local Junior Rugby league club, and in the off-season assistant coach in baseball for junior teams until baseball became life and my coaching took another step being accepted on the Macarthur Colts representative coaching team. During this time, I was also playing local baseball in the first grade local competition then moved to the Blacktown league where it was more competitive.  

Fast forward a bit more to 2012 and I found CrossFit. Over the next ten years and still currently today, to a lesser extent, this is where I got to become competitive again and blow off steam. 2018 I moved to more of a weightlifting based training, and I quickly rose up the Masters rankings within Australia and in 2022 took fourth place worldwide in the Masters World Championships in Florida USA. In the 2023 CrossFit open I finished in the 89 percentiles in the world rankings.

Coaching has always been part of my life naturally. Over the last 5yrs I transitioned into taking classes at a local gym in both their functional fitness groups, when needed, but mainly the weightlifting classes which then turned into MM Weightlifting House you see today. I’m currently in the process of gaining both a AWF level 3 weightlifting and CrossFit level 1 certificate.

For me, the key to progression is to be always learning, never except just being normal and always better yourself that 1% every day.

From nothing to fist pumps

I was never a fan of exercising.

Never played team sports as a kid.

I had, as my sister likes to point out, no co-ordination. I’d like to describe it as having no understanding of how my body moved through space and time, but I agree with the lack of co-ordination.

I did stints of running, stints of yoga but mostly controlled my skinny fat physique through diet.

My sister and her now husband did CrossFit in their late twenties, and I scoffed. I would never. I couldn’t think of anything worse. I don’t sweat.

When I met Matt in 2015, he was neck deep in CrossFit, coming off his own fat to thin-ish transformation, and really enjoyed the lifting side of the sport. I went to Europe for six weeks August – September 2015 and came back feeling bloated – thirty-four years old, full of beer, cheese, bread and meat and decided maybe a little exercise was probably a good thing.

I found a Scoopon voucher for $15 unlimited boot camp for 30 days local to us with the thought of even if I absolutely hated it, big deal I just wouldn’t go back.

I remember my first attendance vividly astonished by the fitness level of everyone. Was I really this unfit? These seemingly normal looking people my age crushing sprints and sandbag carries. The coach had us doing walking lunges passing a sandbag between our legs on each step. I sat down on the sideline halfway through and gave up. “I’m done!” Matt said, “You have to finish.” I replied “No, no I don’t.”

I couldn’t walk for a week.

If you have been to my house, you understand the stair situation. This was an issue. I couldn’t walk, let alone walk downstairs and was doing that thing where I had to hold the sides of the toilet seat in order to lower myself down onto it.

What a bs this fitness thing was. That week the pain just got worse day by day. 

I did go back, much to the surprise of my coaches who were certain I was not returning. Fast forward twelve months and I was attending six classes a week ranging from typical bootcamp drills to tabata style station workouts. I felt empowered, stronger, in control of my body and continually surprised at what I could do.

Around September 2016 Matt, missing the barbell, went back to CrossFit and was enjoying it. I was so intimidated by the thought of real barbells, gymnastics and fit people but just before the Open in 2017 I attended my first CrossFit class at a local box.

I did not compete in the 2017 Open but I was in awe. It was exciting, exhilarating, people yelling encouragement, others holding clip boards, scoresheets, and pens. The anticipation as Open workouts were released and Dave Castro teasing out the announcement. I was hooked. The idea that thousands of people were all as nervous as each other waiting for a workout to drop that would be challenging to all, I loved that and why even now six years later I’m still excited and encourage everyone to participate. The Open creates an environment where magic happens. I got my first pull ups in open workout 18.3 (scaled), first chest to bar 19.5, first toes to bar in 20.2, first RX HSPUs 20.3 – you never quite know what you can pull out of the hat under pressure.

Six and a bit years of Crossfit down I am not an RX athlete. I do not have a three minute Fran time and I have never RX-ed Murph. I do not have ring muscle ups, heck I don’t even have bar muscle ups.

I am there for the fist pumps, the smack talking, the shared suffering knowing we get to do this. The fact that all these people have left the comfort of their lounge, that warm blanket on their knees and choose to push themselves and I bloody love that.

How lucky are we.

-A