Lockdown Member Of The Month – September 2021
Our September MOTM award goes to one half of the Ant and Dec duo – Paul Martin! Not sure which half he is, but Ant or Dec really deserves this award 😉
If you’ve seen Paul in class you’ll know he has such good technique. Always moving so nicely, on everything he does, and doesn’t even realise just how good he is. He is super coachable, practices things to improve his technique, and pushes himself in class. He also is always smiling and is up for a laugh, and gets involved in all the social aspects of the gym too. In July he and his teammate Nick (the other half of Ant and Dec) absolutely smashed it in the M Squared FeMale competition, and won the scaled category. It was ace seeing them on top of the podium, much to their surprise (not ours). So lets find out a bit more about him and his CrossFit journey so far…
MÂ – How long have you been doing CrossFit?
PMÂ –Â I joined M Squared back in July 2019 so just over 2 years now – that is if you count the 3-6 months during lockdown doing excessive amounts of garden workouts and running!
MÂ – What class time do you usually attend and why does that work for you?
PMÂ –Â I usually attend the 18:15 class in the week and then the 9:15 on a Saturday with the occasional Rick Ellis Sunday slog thrown in for good measure! The 18:15 class is perfect for me as I work from home and so sometimes I can find myself working much longer hours than I really should. The 18:15 start time means that when it gets to 17:30 I can switch the laptop off and head to the gym to destress from the day and switch off mentally, which was definitely difficult when lockdown first started. I sometimes attend the 19:15 class as well if I have lots going on at work, so it’s great that there are several options!
MÂ – What is your why? Why do you put yourself through it each day? Do you have goals you want to achieve?
PMÂ –Â I think my “why” has changed a lot since starting CrossFit. Originally, I got into training and fitness at the gym as a 15 year old as I had a lot of body image issues due to being bullied for being a “big kid”, and so a lot of my initial training was focused around bodybuilding style workouts and trying to get “in shape” – with ridiculous fish and rice cake diets to match! In the last 3-4 years I have managed to sort the diet part out but it was only when I started CrossFit that all the pieces of the puzzle came together, the biggest change with training was the focus on performance or learning a new movement rather than on how I looked. Now I go to the gym because I want to get stronger, or faster or learn how to do a gymnastic movement which has been such a refreshing change. On top of all of this you actually get into pretty good shape without focusing on how you look, which is just an added benefit!
Another big “why” has got to be the community and the people at the gym, I genuinely look forward to going to the gym and seeing my mates as I know regardless of how crap my day has been or if I have something going on at work or in my personal life, I am going to be greeted with a smile and have a laugh, then after I have got through whatever hellish workout has been programmed I am going to feel absolutely awesome! I think prior to joining M Squared I had never really spoken to other people when I was at the gym, never mind made friends with them, but thanks to CrossFit I have met some incredible people and have got a great group of friends around me who motivate and inspire me every day. Â Â Â 
In terms of goals, I would say I have a couple at the moment, I am desperate to get butterfly pull ups before the end of the year (currently still very much in the caterpillar stage!) and then I would say a longer-term goal would be to place top 10 in an RX competition either next year or the year after.
MÂ – What advice would you give anyone wanting to start CrossFit but is either unsure or nervous? We get people all the time saying they need to get fit first or they could never do what we do? Any advice for those people?
PMÂ –Â I would tell them just go for it, everybody starts somewhere and regardless of how fit you are the workouts are always going to be difficult, but that’s the fun part! I know when I first joined and sat on the sofa waiting for my beginner’s class I thought “what have I got myself in for here these people are ridiculously fit, I could never do that!” but everyone who saw me said hi and made me feel welcome. I have trained at a few boxes now and regardless of where you go you are always greeted by a welcoming community who just want you to do well and better yourself. Â 
Everyone’s end point or why for training is different but regardless of age and level of fitness I genuinely think everyone will get something positive out of CrossFit.
So, what are you waiting for just give it a go!
MÂ – What is your biggest achievement so far in CrossFit and what are you most proud of?
PMÂ –Â I would say my biggest achievement so far has been winning the M Squared partners competition in July with my mate Nick (or Dec). Like everyone the previous 14 months or so had been very difficult due to the pandemic and I don’t think that either of us really felt like we were in the best shape we could be, actually a couple of days before the comp we had decided to just have fun and see how we get on rather than put any pressure on it. So, to come in first place was a shock and a real testament to the programming at M Squared, as clearly we were fitter and stronger than we thought we were.
MÂ – You smashed it, and we were all very proud! Well done again Paul, you deserve this award and what a great blog too! Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to see you on the next series of Saturday Night Takeaway too.
