Name: Harry Woolford @h_woolford
WHAT DO YOU DO? Personal Trainer, Strength, Olympic Weightlifting and CrossFit Coach
WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN SPORT? CrossFit Games 2016 and 2018
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN GETTING TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY? Everything we do in life has its challenges. Without the lows it would be impossible for us to enjoy the highs.
The biggest setbacks I have faced from an athlete’s perspective come mainly from injuries, and I have had my fair share. At times when I was injured it felt like I was never going to get back to where I wanted to be. But you always do. These setbacks allowed me to learn more about my body and the human body in general. And you almost always come out the other side a better and stronger person as a result.
From a business perspective, juggling your own business and trying to become an athlete was always a challenge. But as mentioned previously, without putting myself through the process of continually striving to be better each day how can I possibly sit there and say I know how to help others become better each day? All the setbacks and challenges I went through myself have allowed me to help my clients get through their own sets backs. It gave me a better understanding of how much you need to love and enjoy the process and the journey and not always just think about the outcome of where you want to be.
WHAT LEAD YOU TO COACHING? I am absolutely fascinated with the human body. Everything from our movement to what we eat has always fascinated me. There is so much confusion out there about the best way to train, eat, sleep and pretty much everything in between. I have enjoyed learning and testing things on myself for over a decade and now I am in a pretty good position to be able to share what I have learned over this time with the people that I coach.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST MISTAKES YOU SEE PEOPLE MAKING WITH THEIR TRAINING? Overcomplicating everything. Pick a couple of things you want to get better at. Take the time to learn the correct techniques for whatever these things are. Repeatedly perform these things with little variation so you can actually learn and get better at them.
Not managing stress and training too much. Take the time to rest and recover! More often than not less is more with your training. Too many people think that if they work out harder and more often then they will get better results. This could not be further from the truth. Training is a stressor on the body. If you are not taking the time to let your body recover from said training then you cannot expect to reap the rewards you are looking for.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY? Obviously I love training. But I also believe having a good balance in life is very important. Outside of this I love to play golf, wakeboard, slalom water-ski and get up to the snow when I can.
WITH ALL THE TIME YOU SPEND IN THE GYM, WHAT KEEPS YOU MOTIVATED TO PUSH AND FURTHER DEVELOP YOUR OWN TRAINING? Training is my study. I learn more in a training session about how to help my clients that I can learn in any book.
I am a big believer in science. But it is one thing to learn something, and a completely other thing to put it into practice. I love getting in the gym and testing what I learn and seeing how I adapt.
Favourite REC GEN pieceS to train in? Muscle Tank + Type 2 short
