CrossFit
YOU Magazine | 19
S IT A GYM? IT’S BOTH – IT’S
there”. But when she saw a friend of hers up north, who was just your average woman, posting her CrossFit photos and feats on social media, she started giving it some serious thought. She was going to the gym but was sick of the repetitiveness. She’d tried things like swimming and Zumba, but nothing had stuck. CrossFit became the next on her list to try, although it was at the far end of her comfort zone. CrossFit is a fitness craze which has swept the world. It started in America in 2000 and now there’s 100-odd CrossFit gyms around New Zealand, including one in Ashburton which Ben and Michelle
Grieve started in late 2012. But unlike many new fitness crazes which have come and gone over the years, CrossFit is booming. CrossFit Ashburton started in the Grieve’s garage, but got too big so they found their own premises. They’ve done little self-promotion but today they have between 60 to 80 members and run about 25 classes a week, with a ratio of up to eight people per trainer. There’s classes every day, at different times – the earliest is 5.45am and it’s one of those that Sacha can be found at. She’s your typical woman. Early 30s, a hard-working sales rep who travels a lot and she wanted to lose a little weight and
CrossFit trainer Ben Grieve keeps an eye on Mitch McLauchlan’s technique during a CrossFit class. 310714-GB-036
get healthier. She’s done just that. “I have lost weight, I have got a lot fitter and healthier. I always thought that I wanted to be skinny, but doing this has taught me I just don’t want to be skinny, I want to be stronger and healthier,” Sacha said. Her first CrossFit experience was memorable and she laughed the first time it was suggested she do a pull-up. “I thought I was going to die, which I think is pretty common. I thought I was not that super unfit because I was gyming, but this was completely different from anything I have ever done,” Sacha said. CrossFit is described as a mixture of
gymnastics, weightlifting, running and rowing. Dubbed the sport of fitness, CrossFit is competitive compared to everyday gyms, and for a results-driven person like Sacha, it’s perfect. Every time she beats a personal best in her notebook, it’s a win. It’s also a win if you get your name on the never-ending whiteboard on the wall at CrossFit Ashburton. The top efforts in each discipline are recorded there for all to see, and for all to try and beat. It can also take participants around the world. Every year since 2007, the CrossFit Games have been held in America, and televised on ESPN. continued over page
Jade Tonks tests how much weight she can lift under the watchful eye of Ben Grieve.
310714-GB-033