Spitting Sparks – [noun] (spitting spärks) 1. A CrossFit athlete who is on their way to becoming a Firebreather.
Welcome to our next series of Athlete interviews. In this series we asked three Coastal CrossFit athletes who have made significant progress in a relatively short period of time to share some of their tips and tricks for success in CrossFit. We hope you enjoy this latest series and as usual please let us know whether you get something out of it either in person or by posting a comment.
The first Athlete in this series is Renee Kunde:
Please provide a bit of background about yourself: I am 25, I was a competitive swimmer throughout primary and high school, I also competed in triathlons and cycling. I was not overly active when I started training at Coastal CrossFit. I am a full time uni student and I coach and teach learn-to-swim at Kawana Aquatic Centre. Outside of CrossFit I am a bit of a homebody, I enjoy reading and catching up with friends and family.
How long have you been training at Coastal CrossFit? I have been training at CCF since February, 2012.
How would you describe your fitness when you started? My fitness before I started training was pretty average because I was not doing anything specifically to maintain it. I was not able to perform a single quality push-up for pull-up and had no knowledge whatsoever in lifting weights.
What has changed the most about your fitness? My weightlifting has increased significantly in the last 6 months. When I first started air squats were exhausting and now I can Back Squats one and a half times my own body weight. As far as my body weight movements are concerned I achieved my first pull up almost 5 months after starting – there was a lot of time spent getting to know the pull-up bar. I remember the first time I did Jackie rxd, I am not sure what time I did, but I was first onto the pull-ups and last off, by a long time. I was down to one at time. Now I am able to add weight to my strict pull-ups. I belief both these improvements are due to my change of mind and determination not to let these WODs and movements to get the better of me. It took commitment, time and pain, but it is sooo satisfying.
How often do you train on average? I train a minimum of five times a week. Due to work, I am unable to attend performance development, but I try to make at least one supplementary training session a week to either lift or work on a movement that I struggle with.
What are your goals for the future? I am doing more CrossFit comps and next year I hope to be in the top 100 in Australia in the Open (this is a mighty big dream). I want to improve my squat snatch and start competing in weightlifting.
What advice would you give to a new CrossFitter who wants to progress rapidly? Listen to Chris, I am not sucking up here, but scaling is not as bad as it sounds. We all need to do it to improve to get stronger and more efficient, don’t let a number on a board become more important than your result. Also turn up to the sessions you know you are going to hate, because they are usually the ones you need most and when you get to this session change your attitude don’t think ‘well I am here’ make sure you own it and be proud of the effort you put into the session you thought you were going to hate.
How would you describe your nutrition? Honestly, I am not the best with my nutrition. I am very aware of what I am eating and if it is good or bad for me and I make my choice to eat it. From experience, when I have a ‘bad’ week my recovery it poor and so is my performance at training. Because of my awareness I do not have a ‘bad’ week very often, more like a bad meal, which I do not beat myself up over because I have made a conscious decision. I think taking responsibility for your own nutrition is important in preparing yourself for training. I drink lots of water, always eat good quality fruit and veg, I don’t drink soft drink or processed foods.
What are your favourite and least favourite workouts, movements etc? My least favourite are the ones that I know I am going to struggle with, for example wall-climbs, muscle-ups, snatches, pull-ups, push-ups- pretty much all gymnastic based movements. I always make it to these sessions because I know I will be better because of it.
I love weightlifting WODs. A barbell complex is a good challenge, because it requires me to lift a significant weight multiple times and also maintain a technique that will see me improve my weightlifting and ensure I do not injure myself.
What keeps you coming back? To be better than Nat – no that is a joke, you can take that out if you like. I keep coming back because I love the challenge. As lame as this is going to sound, it is a great feeling to know that when I leave the gym I am better and stronger than I was when I came in.
Chris’s Notes: If we look through Renee’s answers there is little surprise that she has made significant improvements – she trains frequently, listens to coaching advice, works her weaknesses and has a good time doing it all. On top of that I attribute a lot of Renee’s success to the fact that she hasn’t created barriers to what is possible and remains positive (most of the time). She is sensible with her approach but is never scared to push her boundaries and she is reaping the rewards. Great work!
