NZ’s Fittest 40 year old to compete on world stage   12 May 2015

NZ’s Fittest 40 year old to compete on world stage

Darren Ellis recently qualified to attend the Reebok CrossFit Games in Los Angeles, July 21­23.

Ellis made it through the first stage of qualification in 28th place world wide, from a field of over 17,000, and 2nd in Australasia. Stage two of competition involved the top 200 athletes fighting for the 20 spots available, where he lifted his placing to 2nd in the world for the 40­44 year old category. In July the top athletes compete for the top honours over three days at the StubHub Center, home of the LA Galaxy.

The CrossFit Games searches for the “Fittest on Earth” and has competitors from all over the world attending to compete for the title. The Games are about being prepared for anything and everything, from long endurance based activities (running, rowing, cycling, swimming), to moderate length stamina events (obstacle courses, bodyweight and weighted circuits), gymnastics (handstand walks, ring muscle ups) and short explosive tests (weightlifting, sprints, strongman lifts).

The owner of CrossFit NZ, Ellis has been competing at a high level in fitness competitions for the past seven years, with a 4th place finish in the 2009, and another 4th place finish in the 2010 Regional qualifiers; just missing the chance to compete on the world stage.

But with the 40 year milestone passed, and the pool of athletes in the open division getting ever younger, another avenue for competition opened up to Ellis, in the Masters division, which has been a part of the Games since 2012 (although the 40­44 year category was only added in 2013). As it’s the first step up from the open division, it is also the next most competitive.

Ellis has been involved in the fitness industry for 15 years, running CrossFit NZ for seven years, and his second gym (managed by his fiance Krista) for another two years. Since opening New Zealand’s first CrossFit gym, he has seen the total number swell to over 100 individually owned gyms around the country, a figure he says he could never have predicted. “When we started back in 2008, there were only about 500 gyms globally, and just 7 of them in Australia. We had to work so hard to explain what CrossFit was to people, I still tell them the easiest way to understand it, is to come and try a workout. But now, even though many people still don’t know what it is, they have at least heard of it.

The fact that many people’s perception of CrossFit, is of it being only for the hardcore, with a great risk of injury, is not lost on Darren. “No one watches the Tour de France, or the NFL and says, “I’m never going to ride a bike, or play touch rugby for fitness, that looks crazy! Crossfit is the same. Because it is real life, functional movement, it is the perfect test to challenge and find the fittest people on earth. But that also makes it the perfect template to create them. The real beauty of the program is that we can scale our movements to start the process with ANYONE....no matter what shape they are in now.” Members at CrossFit NZ and CrossFit 09 are between 7 and 70 years of age, slightly more women than men, and you could find yourself working out next to a stay at home parent, a CEO, a teacher, police officer, nurse, or world champion athlete.

It’s a daily struggle to get in the volume of training Ellis needs to prepare for a competition like this, let alone get enough sleep to recover from it, but he says that his gym members come first, “Some nights after the gym has closed, I’m still there trying to catch up on bits of training that I have missed, and I need to be up at 5am to coach

again, but I wouldn’t have this opportunity in the first place, without the supportive community around me. Their success in health and fitness is far more important to me.”

http://crossfitnz.co.nz http://games.crossfit.com

ENDS

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