This week Her Campus Leeds talks to Crossfit Champion (to be!) Sophie Penfold after her Battle Grounds Competition last weekend to find out all about it, and though this wasn’t a Crossfit Comp, she’s telling us all about why she loves Crossfit and why people should give it a go!
You’ve just completed the Battle Grounds Competition with your partner, tell us a bit about it and what it means to you to compete.
Partner comp @crossfit box in stoke
5 events 1.5 mile run with weights sandbag @25kgs For time: (11 min time cap) 24-30-16-30-8-30 Hang power cleans with 30 KB Swings @40/60 round 1 @50/70 round 2 kb@28kgs 3 minute window max pull Ups For time: (12 min time cap) 50 thrusters @40kgs 40 box jump overs 80 cal row 40 box jump overs 50 thrusters For time: (11 min cap) 40 squats 20 Burpees over the bar 40 front squats 20 Burpees over the bar 40 front rack Lunges 20 Burpees over the bar 40 shoulder to overhead 20 Burpees over the bar 40/60kgs remaining time as many cleans as possible 60/90. Split reps however you want.
Battle ground was a one day mixed pairs partner comp – me and my friend Conrad Linsdell – team name ‘gunzNglutz’ came 7th overall 7th event 1 – 10th event 2 – 8th event 3 – 5th event 4 and 7th event 5 Teams from crossfit Chester and crossfit Wrexham – we all went together and had a lot of fun competing and supporting one another Competing is one of the best aspects of my life – it allows me to train with a purpose – to find new strengths, find my weaknesses and discover new boundaries It’s one thing to compete – but if you want to place top 10 in comps you have to be as solid as you can in every aspect of the sport
What training did you undergo in preparation for this competition?
The events for this comp were released a week before but only parts of the workouts out were release for events 1/2 and 4 (event 3+5 were released 10 minutes before we started on the day) an element of Crossfit is to be ready for anything the sport itself claims to be forging elite fitness the theory behind this is that Crossfit athletes are ready for anything. I train different movements, skills, lifts, Conditioning so that in events like this that take on a similar approach – I can show up and when the curtain is unveiled I’m ready/my body is ready to do almost anything.
How is this different from previous competitions you’ve been involved in?
My goal is to rank in the 100 fittest women in Europe in the Crossfit open which is the biggest event in the world for Crossfit. Every day when I wake up I remind myself of that- it’s the reason I train every day, I Push when it hurts, I bleed, sweat and even cry because that is just the surface of what it’s going to take to fall into that Elite ranking. I want to be the best I can be – the strongest, fittest, fastest most skilled version of myself. I’ve seen what women are capable of – there is no limit, no illusion to what my body is/isn’t capable of. It comes down to hard work and self-belief – accepting the challenge, finding the patience and the discipline to grind away and get better at what you can do and learn and change what you can’t.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of competing with a partner?
Team events are always a lot more fun – you get to work together and share the misery aha I never feel as much pressure because you have someone there on the floor with you and even though you still go all out and give it your all the intensity isn’t quite as high as an individual comp (those ones are all on you – your on the floor, the buzzer goes and whatever happens next is on you) when you compete in a team You can share Reps and work the workout to your advantages.
How do you recover from a competition?
After a comp – I eat a lot aha I sleep, sports massage, foam rolling, active recovery training so nothing too intense just some light weight movements or endurance work such as 5 k run or 20 min easy Row etc.
This wasn’t a Crossfit competition, but you train at a Crossfit gym. What can you tell us about the sport and how should people try and get involved in it?
I train @crossfit Chester – but I have my own coach who is head coach of a crossfit box in Australia . He designs all my programming every week. It’s constantly varied – I work on strength, technique, skill with Olympic lifting, gymnastic skill work and metabolic Conditioning. Typically train 2 hours a day Monday- Saturday 4 sessions in the box, one swim session and one running/swimming/rowing session.
Crossfit is functional fitness training which is constantly varied – it Incorporating interval training, Olympic weightlifting, power lifting, plyometrics, gymnastics, callisthenics, strong man, kettle bell lifting.
Why should people do Crossfit?
For me every day is new chance I get to better myself – to accomplish something when training goes well or learn something about yourself when it doesn’t – I love the challenge, I love the work, I love the pain – I think you have to if you want to be successful. It’s not always fun/easy in fact mostly it’s bloody hard. I can honestly say I’ve never been as physically or mentally strong/fit as I am now and a lot of that is down to Crossfit – it’s not just a sport it’s a way of life, it’s helped me excel, allowed me to be part of a community of liked minded people some of whom have become my closest friends, I found a new depth to myself I never thought I had until Crossfit helped me discover new characteristics.
Do you have anything exciting coming up that we should know about?
The 2017 crossfit open starts 23rd Feb – 5 weeks of events to complete and see where I rank in Europe 25-26th February is one of the biggest team events of the year for me – me and my two friends will be competing as Chester angels in two day comp @wild west winter slam Currently completing 3 qualifying workouts for an Individual comp ‘the castle games’ Very, very excited I can’t wait for this year!
All Images: From Sophie Penfold