On 22nd September Phil Mcalpine and Troy Hemmings competed at The Castle Games, a local CrossFit competition, in the scaled men over 40’s category. They completed 3 qualifying workouts, earning themselves a place at the finals held at Middlesbrough Sports Village. At the event Phil and Troy (Team 84 Years Young) completed 4 events before taking on the final workout to reach the top spot on the podium. They finished in second place on three out of the five workouts, storming the weightlifting complex with a combined total of 160KG and completing a 2 x 400m relay in 2 minutes 18 seconds. They found themselves sitting in first place after 3 events and after the weightlifting WOD they were heading into the final sitting pretty. The final workout included a variety of complex movements including axle bar clusters and chest to bar pull-ups. However, they finished in third place with a time of 12 minutes 40, meaning they were able to maintain their lead at the top of the leader board and become The Castle Games Champions.

Phil Mcalpine, aged 40 has been a member at All Out for almost 2 years. His wife Danielle and two children Finnley and William Mcalpine became members first, with Danielle attending classes regularly and the two boys enjoying their CrossFit kids sessions. Finn and Will have since moved up to CrossFit All Out Academy (ages 11 – 16) and are not only continuing to improve and enjoy their sessions, but are excelling in every aspect of CrossFit, showing great determination and effort in every single class. The whole family have really embraced the CrossFit community lifestyle and often travel to support other members competing. They are a very active family and a great example for others both inside and outside of the gym.

Phil said, “Danielle signed me up for fundamentals at All Out in January 2018 as part of my Christmas present; her and the boys were already members and loved the training involved. Previously I had gone to a general gym and had some personal training sessions, but I struggled with work and having time to get to the gym. After fundamentals I was hooked, the 6am class is perfect before work and even on the coldest winter mornings, getting up for training is a real pleasure.”

Troy Hemmings, aged 44, has been a member at All Out for only one year and is the ideal example of keeping an open-mind to strength and fitness, trying new training styles, plus how quickly you can progress in CrossFit if you stick with it and put in the work.

Troy said, “I started with CrossFit about a year ago after being introduced to it by my friend. I had known Tez for a number of years as I was a member at a gym he used to work at. I can remember him telling me about CrossFit and his plans to open All Out back in 2013. Over the years I have trained at numerous gyms focusing on bodybuilding; however in 2018 I started to find my training was becoming tedious and wanted to try something different. I visited All Out to see what CrossFit was all about and remember at the time The CrossFit Open was on; a worldwide CrossFit competition whereby people of all ages and/or abilities partake in one workout a week for 5 weeks. CrossFit All Out was buzzing, everyone was pushing each other on. After that I knew I wanted to try it and I have since competed in many competitions this year including mixed pairs, same sex pairs, mixed teams of 4 and a same sex team of 3. I have ended up on the podium in 2 of these competitions with a third place and first place finish; I do competitions for fun on the back of training. CrossFit All Out is an amazing place to train filled with inspirational people; it always has an unreal atmosphere. The coaches are fantastic and will help you when and where they can.”

Head Coach Terry Anderson said, “these guys are what it’s all about – in their 40’s, enjoying weekly training sessions, gradually progressing and improving to a level where they feel confident enough to enter competitions and enjoy these events. They really pushed themselves on the day and it’s great to see them take a well-deserved podium spot. We are all very proud of their achievements so far and hope to see them continue to enjoy the sport of CrossFit with us.”