CrossFit is based on Workouts of the Day (WODs). On average, how long do your WODs take and how often do you do them?
That’s the beauty of CrossFit – there’s no set workout or movements. I’m usually in the gym in the morning for an hour or two, around midday for an hour or two and at night for an hour or two. They’re not necessarily CrossFit workouts but they all involve CrossFit movements.
What one move do you think everyone should incorporate into their WODs?
That’s a tough one! In CrossFit you can’t really say there’s one perfect movement because all of them can be useful. Moves that are simple for people to do without any equipment are air squats, burpees and press-ups because they can be done anywhere at any time.
In the CrossFit Games, you never know what you’re going to do until the day of the competition. How do you train for that?
You train for a whole year not knowing what you’re going to have to do at all, so you’ve just got to think of stuff you have and haven’t done recently and try to cover as much as humanly possible. It’s hard to prepare because you’ll never know exactly what you’ll need to do on the day. The best bet is just to work on whatever you feel weakest at.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to do at a CrossFit event?
That Camp Pendleton thing was pretty weird [the triathlon event competitors at the 2012 CrossFit Games had to do]. I definitely didn’t expect to have to do all that. It was fun though. You can’t predict what the organisers will throw at you, but it’s supposed to be a test of all-round fitness and I think they do a great job of testing a whole range of physical attributes.
How often do you take rest days?
Usually not at all if I can help it. There are some days where I won’t go to the gym my usual two to three times but I’ll still do something because mentally and physically I can’t stop. I just don’t feel right if I’m not doing anything at all.
Would you say that CrossFit practitioners are the best all-round athletes on the planet?
I would say we’re the fittest athletes, not necessarily the best – it all depends on the specific sport.
