Tasmania's CrossFit 42 South Talks Mental Edge

August 8, 2012

Sarah Caddick

"During a workout, I can get a sense of those who are systematic and positive. A person's habits of mind are always exposed."

 

Tasmania: a wild island renowned for its primeval wilderness, native Devils, population of convict descendants and rugged men who wear shorts rain, hail or snowstorm.

Where better to start a CrossFit affiliate?

When Drummond and Alli Williamson opened CrossFit 42 South in the state’s capital of Hobart, they did so with the quiet confidence that Tasmanians were ready for the sport.

“A lot of our clients are displaced; they have come to ‘the end’ of their sport or may have moved to Tasmania for work or other reasons and find it difficult to meet new, like-minded people,” Alli says. “CrossFit provides them with a sense of connection to something bigger.”

The relative isolation of this island affiliate is not its only point of difference. In boxes around the globe, coaches fervently advocate the sport as a powerful pathway to improved mental well being, as well as physical fitness, encouraging clients to approach life as they would a workout – to be measurable, observable and accountable.

For Drummond and Alli, the coupling of their unique and complimentary skills have resulted in them seeing the impact of their business on their clients extend beyond the chalked walls.

Drummond is a highly regarded trainer and competitor – having ranked 14th in Australia in the Open, he is now headed for Regionals. But his zeal for the sport is equaled by wife Alli’s passion for performance and life coaching.  

The couple has forged these skill sets together to create a business based on a holistic approach to mental and physical well being. At 42 South, clients’ physical training is underpinned by regular goal-setting sessions engaging a strategic style, which mirrors the CrossFit training philosophy. “We have different qualifications, but they do very similar things,” Dummond says. “With physical movement, I look at where clients are and where they would ideally like to be. I then work with them to figure out the weak links in the chain, then help set progressions towards their goals.”

Alli says this approach is paralleled during goal-setting sessions. “We work clinically and strategically with high-order thinking skills, encouraging clients to become mindful of their thinking, assisting them to build awareness around strengthening useful neurological connections and discarding less useful ones,” she explains. “For example, if you keep telling yourself, ‘I can’t keep my weight on my heels’ that neurological pathway will strengthen and that behavior is likely to continue.”

She says many initially assume these sessions will be singly focused on strategies to achieve physical movements. “I can almost hear the clunk of jaws drop in the room when I ask people how they want their life to be. The energy in the room becomes very thoughtful and vulnerable,” she says. “It can be quite confrontational for people. But very quickly during the sessions they realize there are a lot of pieces in the puzzle that may be affecting their ability to train. For example, they may have a partner who is not supportive, they may be working long hours, it may be due to their attitude, self-talk or even finances.”

Drummond says he can always see the results of the strategic goal setting in clients’ performances and attitude. “Their approach to their physical training subtly changes, it happens independently, they start to take more responsibility, “ he says. “During a workout, I can get a sense of those who are systematic and positive. A person’s habits of mind are always exposed.”

He explains how the pieces of the CrossFit puzzle know their place in his life. “At the moment I take great enjoyment in training other athletes,” he says. “I have a young business, I have a young family, I’m traveling with CrossFit HQ.  My own training comes a distant fourth. But maybe that’s why, when I do train, I think, ‘I better make it hard and I better make it good’.”

And there’s a community of CrossFitting islanders right behind him.