Member Of The Month: January 2023

February 22, 2023

Member Of The Month – January 2023

 

Our January MOTM award goes to the always colourful Tess Doig!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tess wear a dark outfit, she is always in such colourful outfits and they perfectly reflect her personality – she is always so smiley and fun, always with a kind word to say. She works really hard every time she comes in, her technique is always lovely to watch but she listens and takes on board the coaches comments, putting into practice what she is taught. She is always really encouraging with everyone else, and helps out at the events too. So we feel that this month Tess deserves this award, have read on to find out more about her and her CrossFit journey.

M – How long have you been doing CrossFit?

TD – I did my CrossFit beginners course in my home box, CrossFit Buxton, way back when in 2015! I came home from my ‘gap year’ (non glamorous working with horses as a groom and stable hand!) to the rest of the Doig clan being nuts for this new sport I’d never heard of! I thought I’d best give it a go so I knew what they were all chatting about round the dinner table! I dabbled for a year and then started training properly in 2016 at Second City CrossFit in Birmingham whilst at uni 😁

M– What class time do you usually attend and why does that work for you?

TD – I’m a 5pm-er through and through! Finish work at half 4 and straight in! If I go home I get stuck to the sofa and never leave it 😅😂

M– What is your why? Why do you put yourself through it each day? Do you have goals you want to achieve?

TD – So many reasons.

1. I’m a physiotherapist by trade so I spend a lot of my day teaching people how to exercise and educating them about why it’s so important for our health. Regular exercise can stop you getting all sorts of health conditions, can manage or prevent pain and even reduces your risk of cancer! What’s not to love?! I couldn’t not be an advocate for my patients 😁
2. I really enjoy it! CrossFit and especially M Squared has given me so many friends, more confidence and started a love of really pushing the boundaries of what my body can do. It makes me happy!
3. It keeps me fit and ready for life’s adventure… I love wild swimming, mountain walking, cycling surfing, climbing, triathlons and just generally trying new sports. CrossFit has me ready for anything, anytime! (Unless I’m super DOMsy after a hard wod, then I struggle to even climb the stairs 😂).
Official ‘goals’ this year remain the same as last year: get a bar muscle up, improve my back squat and learn to butterfly.
I didn’t achieve these last year, but I’m cool with that! It made me realise my goal is actually just to enjoy the process and be able to do CrossFit for long term, so I can fullfil the 3 reasons above!

 

M – 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?

TD – I say this to all my pals who show any form of interest in CrossFit (it’s the CrossFit W*nker in me! 🙈), I was certainly not fit when I did my beginners course! Built like a twig after a year of an active job and being a slow eater, my jelly arms found it tricky to get a barbell above my head for more than 1 rep 😅

Leave your ego at the door, embrace getting out of breath and sweaty (which as a woman I’d never been encouraged to do or be proud of before and it feels amazing!!), think about how great exercise is for your body and give it a go! Love the process and watch how a barbell you once found crazy heavy becomes your warmup weight, be proud when you fight for and learn new skills. Those with the lowest fitness actually have the most to gain/ achieve! It’s certainly not easy, but oh my goodness is it rewarding!
And best of all, at M Squared there will always be smiling faces to greet you, point you in the right direction and tell you job well done at the end of a tough workout!

 

M – What is your biggest achievement so far in CrossFit and what are you most proud of?

TD – Oooh tough one…

I’d say it was competing alongside my family and our partners at District L’s lifting in the lakes last year! We went full Team Doig on it and had an absolute blast! I couldn’t be more proud of my Mum and Dad who are massive advocates for aging well and are just generally awesome humans, who still whoop me on workouts regularly and have better gymnastics than me 😂. I’m very proud of my (not so) little brother, who can out Olympic lift everyone I know and my big sis who works harder than anyone I know, both of whom also whoop me in most WODs 😂. I know not everyone has the same family set up and I’m incredibly grateful every day for these guys and the little team we have. They’ve helped me become the person I am today and keep pushing me to be the best version of me I can be!
If you made it this far, congratulations! And thanks for reading the waffle from my brain 🤓 and also big thanks to the M Squared gang for choosing me for MOTM, what an honour!! Big love! Tess xx

M – You are such a wonderful person Tess! Fab blog, and well done again! Also, already achieved 1 of the 2023 goals – butterflies looking beautiful!

 

 

 

 

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