Training on track for crossfit world champs

BY KAREN KOTZE

A bootcamp fitness system without gym equipment is taking off in Panmure.

Crossfit NZ has been the springboard for gym owner Tamaryn Venter, 27, to excel.

Miss Venter earned first place in the Australasian Crossfit Games in April and her partner Darren Ellis placed fourth.

Next month she will be travelling to Aromas in California to compete in the 2009 world Crossfit Games.

The games are made up of a range of stringent fitness tests over two days with competitors who have qualified in regional heats.

Miss Venter, who shares ownership of Crossfit NZ gym in Panmure with Mr Ellis, says the Australasian competition was "the most challenging but incredible experience".

"You only find out five days in advance what you will be doing which makes training interesting.

"The people I competed against were supportive. Everyone cheers each other on, even though we are competing. It’s that kind of environment."

Her greatest challenge in the Sydney games was climbing 11 massive sand dunes.

"It’s not just knowing you have to run them, it’s the landscape too. You feel you are getting nowhere because they all look the same."

The gym’s lack of flash equipment is precisely its appeal.

Miss Venter and Mr Ellis use body weight exercises, medicine balls, free weights, climbing ropes, jump ropes, kettlebells and pull-up bars to design challenging workouts for all fitness levels.

The workouts stem from the United States, where they are used by the Navy Seals, US Marines and police and fire departments as training.

"We don’t want to label it military-style training but these exercises are what military groups use. On a community level, we apply the same principles but adapt it to the level of the people involved," Mr Ellis says.

"Our training is based on replicating functional movement and using time effectively. We train this way ourselves and Tamaryn has shown where this system of training can take you.

"Qualifying to take part in the world Crossfit Games is simply fantastic," he says.

- © Fairfax NZ News