When I was at uni there was an award titled Do With It What You Will. It was given by Deni McKenzie, and what Deni had in mind back then was lost on my 20 something brain.

It was given to the person that went above and beyond what it was expected they were capable of. So they may have been academically brilliant, but they also put in on the sporting field or in the cultural aspects of college. Or they were a general all rounder, not the best at any one thing, but they did pretty damn well at almost anything they put their mind to.

It now resonates with me like the Teddy Roosevelt quote, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” 

Too often we can get caught up in perfectionism, all or nothing thinking.

And so we either go all in and burn out quickly, or do nothing, and well, get nowhere.

Right now, I’m in the final two weeks of moving our gym. We are transitioning from our gritty old box to a newer, much more accommodating space. I’m incredibly excited, but the “extra” work is a mountain. Right now, my daily roles include:

• Company Director & Admin

• Coach & Programmer

• Marketer & Maintenance Man

• Dad & Partner

• General “Dogsbody” for anything else that pops up.

In all of that, I almost forgot “Healthy Functioning Human.”

So as it stands right now, I am super excited about the big move, things are looking so good for it, but it has eaten into the time I would normally use for other things.

Yes, some things have been missed etc, and I have picked them back up.

Something that I am non-negotiable for is movement.

Is my training perfect right now and I am doing every session I absolutely want to be to the best of my ability? Absofuckinglutely not.

Is this grounds to stop and just say, ‘I will get back on the wagon in a couple of weeks?

Again, absofuckinglutely not!

I normally train five or six days each week, with my one or two rest days thrown in.
Depending on my goals it might be CrossFit classes for those sessions, so all up five or six hours per week. If I am going after a pretty big and specific goal that might push out to around eight to 10 hours (please know this is only when looking to do some competition type stuff in CrossFit.). Normally though it is around that five hours a week with some light activity like walking thrown in as well.

However, due to my increased workload with everything extra I am needing to do I am not able to do all the training I would like. So I am doing what I can with what I have right now. I am making sure that I train three to four times a week. So a max of three to four hours.

This is the minimum I will do. Three days a week. 

I am holding the line while I am doing all the other stuff. What I mean by that is that I am staying as fit and healthy as I can in a different period of life that is a bit difficult and tricky to navigate.

To me the most important thing right now is keeping the habit. It isn’t the CrossFit Open, it isn’t about being the fittest in my age division in the country, it isn’t about setting PRs in any lifts, any run distance, or any number of gymnastics movements. It is staying as consistent as I can and maintaining where I am at.

So it means that right now my training, exercise, and eating doesn’t look like it might for me when I am in full swing. And that is AOK. To me what is not AOK is just thinking I can let it slide and put everything else first.

I am not saying that move isn’t important, it really is, it is one of my biggest priorities right now as I want the absolute best for all of our current and future members. I am saying that pretty well equally as important is looking after myself as well.

The move, the running of the box, none of it could happen if I were not fit and healthy.

And long term, it is vital that my body and mind are sound enough to keep doing this for you all.

So today, while my routine may not be my ideal or anywhere near perfect situation, it is damn close to perfect for right now.

I hear you too when you say, ‘Jim! you can just workout whenever you want, the gym is right there!’, and I agree, yes, yes I can. Sometimes though convenience can make it too easy to fob it off, it is why most at home gym programs have a limited lifespan. You can just as easily keep putting it off.

The other thing with that is that sometimes it isn’t a gym workout. It might be 20 mins at home of some bodyweight exercises and stretching. It might be a cruisy 3km run from home where I don’t push myself to the limit.

I have battled the all or nothing mentality, and am on the other side of it. And I know I can help you with it too, if you give me 30 mins to sit and talk you through it.

The reason I want the all or nothing mentality to die when things get tough in our lives is that looking after ourselves doesn’t return to us as easily as we think it will after that stop, that pause, oh you know? I will just have this month off because the mornings are dark, the evenings are cool, the dog needs pats etc etc etc.

So hang in with me while we navigate the gym moving in a couple of weeks and maybe hit me up for a chat, a workout, a walk, or any other idea you might have that helps keep you going in a difficult to navigate period of life.

If you’ve ever owned a pot plant, you know the signs of being ‘root-bound.’ The plant has grown as much as the container allows; it’s healthy, it’s strong, but it’s stagnant. It’s hit a wall. For 14 years, CrossFit Armidale has been growing deep roots on Mann Street. But the truth is? We’ve officially outgrown the pot again.

So in the coming weeks we will be ‘repotting’ CrossFit Armidale.

The time has come for our deep roots we have grown here at the box to be transplanted to a new, more exciting space, for everyone.

The place we are at right now suited us to move to nine years ago, and prior to that we had repotted from a smaller pot up the front. But the time has come to help us grow as athletes even more. 

From time to time when we are training we hit plateaus, and feel a bit ‘ahhhh, am I just going through the motions??’. Part of my job as the Affiliate owner and head coach is to help you overcome those plateaus. And right now, something I can do for the CrossFit Armidale community is to repot it.

We have an incredible community here and something that I always work to do is to improve them and everything we do for it.
So the next chapter will see us in new surroundings. Same plant, new pot!

All the PRs, the failed lifts, the successful ones, the awesome Open workouts, have all been a huge part of CFA here in Mann Street. All the hard yards in the sheds here, the cold winter mornings, the really hot summer days, well, they are about to be rewarded with a more suitable, modern workspace.

If you have ever spent anything around 10 mins talking with me you would discover I am a huge comic book and movie fan.

There is something in the Marvel movies that Odin says to his son Thor, Asgard is a people, not a place. And well, I love the idea that CrossFit Armidale is a people, not a place.That line has stuck with me. CrossFit Armidale isn’t the tin shed on Mann Street, it’s the 6am crew, the lunchtime session lot, the after school team, the 5:15 grinders and the 6:15 family.  We are just moving the people to a place that fits our power.

We will have a more open rig, easier to get at bars and plates, a cooler, and warmer spot.

And it will be that temporal landmark for us. We can look at new prs in the new box, new ways to be better at our workouts.

The ‘fresh start effect’ can fully kick in. I know at times I have felt frustrated, and just a bit flat when it comes to training, but I know that these little kick starts here and there can help us improve and get back to loving it all again.

Our little thrown together old industrial, tin shed  box that just sort of grew into the place we have has served us so incredibly well. 

But sometimes that old and a bit cramped space can subconsciously have us limited in our achievements. I am taking that limit away.

I have worn the gritty badge like a badge of honour here.
CrossFit was this raw, gritty, and just so not like any gym I had ever seen or been to. And it still isn’t, but it doesn’t mean we have to have our roots stuck in one spot and limited by their pot.

So it is time. In three weeks we will close the chapter of Mann Street, and start the next chapter elsewhere.

If you’re a past member, or if you’ve been watching us from a distance for a bit, think of this as your official invitation to join the ‘repotting.’ There’s no better time to come back, or join us, than when everything is a fresh start for everyone.

It’s mid afternoon and you are still an hour or two away from knock off.

The yawns keep coming and it is super difficult to focus on any task you have in front of you.

Now this could be any number of reasons, lack of sleep, the task is plain tedious and boring, you got up crazy early, or you just haven’t fueled yourself properly, all leading to you relying on a steady stream of caffeine to get you through the day.. Yep could be any of those. 

So let’s address one of them first so that we can take a couple of steps immediately to get on top of starting today.

Fueling yourself.

Are you a breakfast skipper?

Do you have meals heavy on starchy carbs? Think pasta, bread etc.

Eat only little bits in the morning as you are trying to keep the calories down?

Had a super light dinner the night before and woke up through the night hungry?

Look, any or all of these could be true, and yeah, they can all lead to that heavy eye feeling, brain fog, lack of focus through the day, especially in that mid afternoon period!

And that mid arvo lull is really hitting you by the time you get to bed too.

Having a pretty starch and or sugar heavy meal at lunchtime can cause a decent insulin spike after it, leading to that crash we have all felt where we feel like we have been hit by a bus!

And then when that hits you might grab another coffee, or a snack of some sort, and if you aren’t going in prepared that snack may not be the best choice at the time, it might be just what is in your drawer, or at the counter at the servo.

That night you toss and turn because of those late coffees and late snacks! Leading to a shitty night’s sleep, and then the cycle continues the next day!

And you are saying ‘Jim! I get it, yes, I do this!! But what do I do today??!!’

What we eat is a super important pillar in the four big ones as the flow ons are huge all round.

So number one you can do. Don’t reach for a coffee after midday.

This may be a bit difficult at first, but just reach for a glass of water, or even a white or green tea with no added sweeteners. They still contain caffeine, but not the quantity of your coffee, and so not likely to crash you as much.

The other thing to do is veg and protein!

Yep, get yourself a big container of salad for lunch with a portion of good protein. Around 30 to 40 g of protein is great, that is about a 120 g serving of chicken breast, between 90 and 120 g of beef (depending on the cut), 150 g of tuna or salmon (tinned). I have included a link for you to have a look at how much protein is in the foods you choose. Check it out here

It is really actually pretty simple to do, not easy, but simple.

You can load up on a big salad, or a big bowl of veg, throw in that protein source and your lunch won’t have you slumping in the arvo.

Combine that tweak with your no caffeine after lunch tweak and you are on your way today to improving how much better you feel in the afternoon, and then when it comes time for bed that night!

Looking after your health and well-being isn’t about changing absolutely everything all at once, it is about these small tweaks that add up long-term, so what I am trying to do for you here is give you one small step at a time that you can add in and really see results right away with.

So today or tonight, grab a container, some tupperware, throw in lots of leafy greens, some tomato, cucumber, onion, capsicum, carrot, a bit of roasted pumpkin and eggplant. A bit of a small splash of dressing is ok too, a little olive oil, and lemon, just don’t go overboard!

Either cook up a bit of chicken or any other meat, or grab a can of tuna or salmon, pop that in the fridge with the salad container and you have tomorrows lunch ready!

Now, 3-2-1 GO! And get after that lunch prep!

14 years ago today we became a CrossFit Affiliate.

The New England and North Wests first actually.

Yep, little old Armidale had a CrossFit before some bigger centres like Tamworth, and with that the first of the ‘functional fitness’ facilities.

Back in 2012 there wasn’t all that much by way of variety when it came to fitness.

There were plenty of traditional globo/commercial type gyms with their cardio machines, pin loaded resistance stuff and their free weights. And they were serving people pretty well that wanted those services.

That was where I came in. I wanted to own my own facility. But I didn’t want to just come in and take clients or members off anyone else. That was when I found CrossFit.

Like I have already mentioned, we were the first here. And that to me was great, we were doing something no one else was, and that meant more people being able to be helped.

What I didn’t realise at first was that there was this incredible community surrounding CrossFit. Some from the outside called it a cult. And yeah, it can still kind of look like that haha, but it really is just a bunch of people that actually give a shit about you and you being better than you ever have been.

At first it was great, we were doing stuff that people never had before here in town, it was very unique. Maybe a little too unique though as it then got tough.

People were describing it as too hard, you were likely to get injured etc. It was a tad rough actually.

You couldn’t go online from 2012 through to maybe 2015-16 and not see someone giving their opinion on why CrossFit was bad, why it would end the world and how you might explode and die if you did it! (Look I know I exaggerate here, but, it was legitimate that people were trying to tear down something as simple as a fitness regime, wild right?) 

To me it was strange.

I never knocked anyone doing anything fitness related, as all I wanted to see was people to get out there, to be more active. If they chose something other than CrossFit, fantastic! As long as they loved it and stuck to it. I never understood why people, especially ones in the fitness industry, wanted to destroy us. After all, one of our core values here is live and let live, always. 

I could have spent my days worrying about all of that, instead I did what I have now been doing for such a long time. I just concentrated on helping people that wanted me to help them. I knew that with CrossFit, I could

But I knew that it wasn’t something to be maligned. 

We could scale for anyone and everyone. We made the workouts fit you, and meet you where you are at. And well the injury thing? I am almost 50 and have been doing CrossFit since back in 2011, and sure I have had the odd little tear or niggle, but nothing that would stop me training altogether! There was always something I could do!

So the number 3579 is the number of our affiliate. We were the 3579th affiliate in the world. I think the latest affiliate number handed out was somewhere around 18,000. Gives you an idea of how early we were. I was also told it CrossFit was a fad, it would die off quickly. So here I am in year 15 now thinking maybe it wasn’t a fad after all lol.

In the last 14 years I have seen so much change. Back then there really was no such thing as a rig. I gave the idea of what I wanted to a metal fabrication business and they built us one. It wasn’t flash, not the best, but we made do and it got the job done.

Now you see pull up rigs in your glob gyms, your franchised functional fitness gyms, peoples garages. If it wasn’t for CrossFit then none of those places would have anything resembling that. We came along and we disrupted the fitness industry. CrossFit was what the industry needed. Something different. And I was prepared to run with it. I wanted to be different and give the people of Armidale the thing I knew could work. The thing that would help them all be better than yesterday.

And for the last 14 years we have been doing just that here! I mean, we wouldn’t still be here if what we were doing didn’t work would we?

With the lockdowns of 2020 we almost weren’t here! I always thought that if my gym went under, then it would fall directly on me. But 2020 showed me how much is actually outside our control, and while it sucked at the time, I am grateful for the lessons that period taught me. Resilience, determination, finding new ways to do things. And so many more.

So here at CrossFit Armidale we have a diverse array of people wanting to get fit. From school kids that do CrossFit kids, to parents and people with busy, busy work schedules, as well as full social lives, to young people just starting their working lives, to retirees that are close enough to 70! And absolutely everyone in between.

So when you think ‘I could never do what you guys do’, know that the people that come here are everyday people. You see them on social media, in the shops you visit in town, on the tools of the tradie you hired, in the office at council or your local legal and accounting firms, teachers, project managers, nurses, and doctors. Yep, just regular people, all just wanting to be healthier and fitter.

And that is exactly what we have been doing here the whole time. Helping people be better.

I am not one to broadcast it from the highest rooftop, I am not one to blow my own trumpet. In fact this whole thing today feels absolutely horrible to do. I feel like I shouldn’t be telling you about the things here.

But today isn’t about me. It is about CrossFit Armidale, and that is a people. A group of amazing people that work hard together, that consistently get in and look after themselves.

Yes lots has changed over the years, but the people haven’t really. They are still ever reliable, ever ready to take on the challenges I come up with for them.

And that is why we keep pushing forward here, the people.

So over the next few months, as more changes, yep we are moving!, we will adapt and roll with it and get better at it.

I always knew it would work for everyone, I just needed to be able to show you all.

Look, I know new things come and go all the time, and yeah, maybe something better will come along and disrupt fitness the way that CrossFit has. But until then I will keep on coaching people this way and helping them all be better than yesterday with the best way for me to do so.

The fitness industry wants you to believe that if you aren’t writhing on the ground in a pool of sweat at the end of your workout then it wasn’t worth it, you didn’t work hard enough.

They’re wrong.

In fact if you are 30-35 and over, that’s the fastest way to your next physio appointment, not lasting health and fitness.

Now I firmly believe that there are two types of people in this world.

Those that love to eat oysters and those that hate them.

Seldom do you find someone that is a bit ‘ah, yeah I will have one, but not a massive fan.’. It is generally a flat out ‘nope, not for me!’, or ‘ohhhh bring me all the oysters you have in supply!’

Having been around the fitness industry for almost 20 years now I do notice that people fit into a similar category when it comes to a specific style of exercise.

Back around the time I started doing CrossFit and helping others along with it there were people in the fitness industry themselves trying to tear CrossFit down.

Whole videos dedicated to why it was ridiculous, how you will get injured, that we look stupid, we wear dumb clothes (look I am not to be held accountable for my early 2010’s fashion sense!), we are cheating the movements, CrossFit men are tiny and weak, CrossFit women are bulky and gross, it’s a cult, you’ll have to drink the kool aide haha etc, etc, etc.

It had never crossed my mind to comment about any other form of exercise. After all, why does it matter if what we are doing is helping get people up off the lounge and active? But apparently plenty of others felt they needed to vocalise their disdain that someone might exercise differently to them! I know, right? The horror!!

Fast forward to 2026 and almost every facility has a ‘functional fitness’ area or class, I have lost count of how many franchised almost replicas of CrossFit are now out there. But I am still here doing my thing, CrossFit, and at almost 50 the things that were being told to me all those years ago, just have not come to fruition.

At the time, people just feared what they didn’t know and there was a lot of hype around CrossFit at the time.

But out of any exercise program I have ever done, this is by far and away the one I have found with the most longevity of its participants.

I think because we were pretty well bullied online for exercising differently and yes, there was some truly shithouse form on some CrossFit clips out there, we really honed in on technique and standards. We didn’t accept sloppiness and we made sure that people were exercising to their capabilities and capacity. We got rid of the free intro classes and flog fests.

We made sure that you got a decent workout that you could maintain! I have been talking for years about the secret to the success of any fitness regime is consistency. So where would I be if I kept flogging people into the ground, making them into sweaty, vomity messes every time they came in the doors? I wouldn’t be writing this today, I’d likely be back in marketing, maybe sales, maybe doing everyone a disservice and doing this as only a sideline to my main employment.

To this day I see CrossFit like I see oysters, people will love it and people will hate it. I accept that you hate it if you have had an opportunity to experience it in a great affiliate. But if you hate it because it is different to what you do and have never done it then your opinion amounts to a skidmark on toilet paper, and I pay no attention to it.

But if you love it, and you really want to get fitter and healthier for the long term, then I will do everything I possibly can to make sure you do it as long as you are able to. And I am talking years here. 

I will make sure that your intensity levels vary day to day. Hitting super high intensity workouts more than about three times a week have been shown to blunt improvements and advancement.

I will talk with you about your goals and progress and what you want to achieve.

I will keep learning and growing to make sure we always have the best information and training here so that we can help keep progressing all of you.

I will share what I have done and learnt so that it might help you.

One of the things I have seen time and again in CrossFit boxes all over is that people wanted to help me and truly see me succeed, and I have felt I owe it to you all to help out as well.

I may not be the best CrossFitter or coach on the planet, but I have been doing it long enough now that I can say with confidence that I can help people be better than yesterday by using this methodology I love so dearly.

So if you want me to help you, hit me up, we can have a chat and see if you like the red kool aide and oysters as much as I do.

I am sticking with the theme of goals at the moment because during this month it is likely that people are still coming up with new ones, or still trying to figure out how to get those goals and resolutions they made back in 2025!

Last week I went over some things to really solidify a resolution, to give you some steps to get started on it, and hopefully see it through.

One of those was booking in to see me to talk about them and underway towards them that way.

That is just one part of it. And yes I have still seen people after that think ‘hmmm I just don’t know how I will manage this goal still!’. The thing is, yes I am one person that can help you, but the true secret is in your team.

Think back to being a kid, in your room and you thought there was a monster under the bed, or you had to take the rubbish out in the dark on your own. And if an adult, sibling, or anyone a bit older than you came to you and let you know it was alright or gave you a hand, then the problem seemed so much smaller than when you were confronting it on your own.

Maybe you were bold as a kid and those weren’t things for you, but you can probably see my point.

Think about the proverb,  ‘A problem shared is a problem halved. A joy shared is a joy doubled.’

It is age old wisdom that tells us if we enlist the help of others then things are easier, and if we celebrate with others, then generally the joy is much better. 

Well health and fitness goals can be put into these baskets. 

Getting up and going for a one hour run on a cold, dark,  and drizzly morning in late March on your own can be an absolutely difficult battle with your own brain to go and get it done.

You can tell yourself, ‘I will give today a miss and hope the morning is better tomorrow’, ‘I probably didn’t get to bed early enough last night, so will rest today’, ‘I need to shift my runs to the afternoon, but I have so much to do, so just missing this one today won’t matter really’, and then there is the flat out acceptance of it type refusal, ‘fuck this, it is miserable out there and bed is cozy and warm!’

With the above scenario, you have no one else to get you out there. The fact would remain that you are actually very capable of the workout you set, but your team of one let you down, so it doesn’t happen.

Now, you have a running partner you go with, they are waiting at the agreed spot for you, you drag your butt there. Or maybe they messaged they have a cold and can’t make it, then you do not drag your butt there, you stay in bed, and sleep away!

Now, you might be thinking, ‘Hang on Jim, aren’t I meant to be not going this alone???’

That is exactly what I am saying. You need a tribe, a clan, hey, maybe even a cult to help you out haha. A workout buddy or training partner is great, but that is a lot of responsibility on each other to help keep each other in check. 

Now these big goals you have you can hire a professional to keep you accountable for sure. For some people paying for one on one training is fabulous motivation for them.

The thing I see time and again though is that once you have a tribe to help you out, you will seldom fail!

Yes I am very biased when it comes to this as I feel that CrossFit has the greatest community there is to try and stay the distance. Nothing out there comes close to it in my mind.

But that doesn’t mean you have to drink the kool aide with me and start speaking about CrossFit at every opportunity you are given, haha. 

If you love tennis and want to get into it, you can join up at a tennis club and people there will keep you coming back.

Lawn bowls. Same thing, join a club and people will have you coming back time and again.

You are a runner you say? There is Park Run every weekend and run clubs are forming everywhere all the time!

Swimming clubs are also there to be joined!

I know there are people that can just stick to their goals, and yes, I did that to begin with, but I could not do it anymore without my tribe, my cult. The other members here keep me on track when I don’t want to go. I get asked ‘how did you go with the workout?’ and when I say I found it tough there is always a certain satisfaction in the askers eyes. Knowing we have both done something hard and are talking about it after helps to strengthen those community bonds, and helps to solidify why I am working towards my own goals.

So yes, you can go it alone, and you can succeed, but why wouldn’t you want to try going after your goals with a bunch of other people that are driven to help you succeed as well?

I mean, what do you have to lose by trying something new to hit your goals?

Something tried and true.