5 Star *****
“Eat, sleep, yoga, workout, repeat”
Having a received an invite for a CrossFit related retreat I was both extactic and dubious.
Excatic because I had the opportunity for a week off work with lots of workouts, food and chill time.
Dubious because I perceived CrossFit as a cliquey cult unwilling to let newbies into the inner circle. How wrong was I!
We arrived and was welcomed with smiles and Contact Coffee (of course), we met the other guests and we were shown to our rooms for thre week. The comfortable and ensuite rooms were located in small cottage dotted around the farm. Each room had a treasure trove of delights including healthy snacks, Contact Coffee Battle Bags (of course) and workout related gizits like tape and heat/cold packs.
After a quick intro and dig into the guests backgrounds we jumped head first into our welcome Farm workout in the “Sand Pit”. Lots of tyre flips, hay bail jumps, Kettle bell carries, Farmers walks and other disgusting movements. After 10 minutes of sweating and latic acid build up we started to realise how this week is going to go.
On completion of the workout we were ushered to a decking area, where for many of us we were introduced to yoga. All the muscle fatigue quickly disappeared as we found our “inner calm”. Yoga isn’t usually something I would go out of the way to do but it made sense to lap up any opportunity to recover to stay match ready for the weeks workouts.
It definitely helped.
Post Farm workout and yoga we changed for dinner and sat at a large table communal table to try and work this “cliquey cult” out. Our food was served by the team and were weren’t disappointed. All diets were catered for and there was plenty of food if we wanted it.
3 courses later and I was pleasantly surprised that there is absolutely NO inner circle in CrossFit and in fact I thoroughly pleased with the company. I found out that half the guests had no CrossFit background!
The next morning we had the option to either walk or run up Glastonbury Tor or even stay in bed!! Upon return we had another yoga session to loosen up for the day. The views from the Tor are amazing and well worth the 7am start.
After a self served very healthy breakfast and Contact Coffee (of course) we had some chill time before our first CrossFit Workout of the day (WOD). This was run out of CrossFit Sweet Track which was a few minutes away in the Retreats minibus. Coach Josh instructed us how to actually Clean and press a barbell instead of watching YouTube videos and cuffing it. All this was happening while the more experienced CrossFitters lifted BIG. The workout itself was intense and not too technical so all guests could take part. Great introduction to CrossFit!!!
Next up was brunch which we selected the night before. Once again, food quality was stupidly high.
The days last workout was once again the Farm workout with more lifting, flipping, sledging, moving various objects. Another great workout followed by more yoga.
The rest of the weeks daily events followed this rough outline
-Run or Walk
-Yoga
-Breakfast
-Workout of the Day (WOD
-Lunch
-Farm workout
-Yoga
-Evening meal
It seems like a hectic day but It was actually really relaxing. There was always an option to not attend an activity and plenty of time to use the on site swimming pool and steam room.
The only exception to this program was the excursion on the Wednesday. We were taken paddle boarding and with limited instruction we were all standing, paddling and even cracking yoga on the boards!!
There is also an option for an expertl to give a deep sports massage and a full body review which breaks down body fat percentages and picks up on previous injuries. Really interesting and worth the few quid extra.
What a top week overall. I thought it was a great introduction to CrossFit and since returning from the retreat ive joined a CrossFit gym. Running a business and working full time in the military is an absolute drain and very stressful. The retreat was perfect for eradicating any stress and genuinely helped me relax.
I’m going again next year, Fact!