CROSSFIT VOLENTIA: Rugby athletes joining five-week global challenge

This month CrossFit athletes from Rugby will be joining in with a global show of fitness called the CrossFit Open.

Some 40 Members of CrossFit Volentia, on Paynes Lane Industrial Estate, just opposite Cemex, will be competing over the next five weeks in a weekly competition which has hundreds and thousands of competitors globally.

CrossFit Volentia is co-owned by Nicola Tunstall and Nick Smith, friends who met and worked together in the fitness industry and between them have over 20 years of experience in helping people to be stronger and fitter.

Both started their fitness careers as personal trainers and developed a love for training people and working with individuals to get the best possible results for them.

CrossFit Volentia opened its doors to members over three and a half years ago with just 40 members.

Today there is a vibrant and growing membership of just over 100 and working along side Nicola and Nick there are a dedicated group of coaches and personal trainers.

“Crossfit is a growing sport, which was founded by former American gymnast Greg Glassman over ten years ago and started with a single gym,” Nicola explained.

“The sport has since exploded onto the fitness scene and now has roughly 13,500 gyms in over 145 different countries throughout the world!

“Much of this success is based on the fact that the sport fosters a strong sense of community spirit amongst its members and due to the fact that workouts can be scaled to suit individual needs.

“The regime is accessible to everyone from high level athletes to those completely new to fitness.

“CrossFit Volentia provides a solid strength and conditioning programme which is run alongside constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.

All CrossFit workouts are based on functional movements and these movements reflect the best aspects of gymnastics, weightlifting, rowing, running and much more too!”

The CrossFit Open is the starting point for the highlight of the CrossFit calendar, The CrossFit Games.

Each week for five weeks a workout is released from CrossFit Headquarters.

The local athletes, together with the wider global community, have four days in which to complete the workout and to add their scores to an online leaderboard.

This allows them to compare themselves not just with their friends within their Box (the CrossFit name for a gym), but across the wider CrossFit community throughout the world.

Those at the top of the leaderboard for their region at the end of the five weeks are invited to take part in Regionals, which see these elite athletes go forward to the next level of competition.

Those who finish in the top positions at Regionals, are then invited to take part in The Games, a spectacular event which seeks to find The Fittest Man and Woman on Earth!

Nicola added: “The main purpose of the Open within CrossFit Volentia is to have fun alongside friends and to test ourselves.

“We have food together and watch each other tackle the WOD (the Workout Of the Day).”

Chris Holmes, a regular at Volentia added: “CrossFit helped me to find my motivation and Volentia has given me the fitness motivation and support to go from 95kgs to 77kgs and to achieve a healthy lifestyle where I am achieving more than I thought my body was capable of!

“I have made friends at the Box that have shared in my journey. CrossFit Volentia has given me a new lease of life!”