Coming in as a rather slim runner and tennis player, I have now gained circa 5kg (not of fat, the stuff of hard work – muscle!) and I have indulged myself in Crossfit and its training methods. The skills I have learnt from the coaches and continue to learn from months of training are paying dividends. I am competing against others; have recently managed to get my name up on the leader board for a benchmark workout and am continually improving.

Most people think of gyms as unsocial, smelly and grim places; somewhere to go to plug your music in your ears and pound the running machine for hours or practice “mirror mirror” on the wall skills, more commonly known as curls for the girls!

NMA performance is unique in so many aspects; I am always greeted with a smile by the coaches, Neil, Matt and Alex, when I enter, no matter what time of day, a catch-up of the gym’s daily occurrences and occasionally (becoming more frequent) some banterful sessions. Not knowing what the WOD is gives added excitement (mostly fear) too, as you never know what to expect.

I have made some great friends at the gym too, who are equally pleased to see me and the camaraderie in the classes mixed with hard work makes for a super atmosphere.

You get a real sense of community at the gym; people spur others on to do their best and give it their all, and the coaches are always on hand for questions or technicalities of the workouts and movements. Everyone helps each other achieve and this helps them individually to achieve – it certainly has with me!

This is the ultimate gym experience, training hard with friends and having fun all at the same time whilst always feeling welcome no matter your skill level.