Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
Hi, my name is Chloe Richards. I am from Sydney Australia, a personal trainer and a mum.
I’m married to my husband, Shane who is also my business partner. We own a CrossFit facility called CrossFit HF here in western Sydney.
We have owned it now for ten years and been in the health and fitness industry for 15 Years, I’ve tried many styles of training but believe crossfit has given me the strength and fortitude to get me through many of life’s challenges.
I absolutely love our community gym the most and am blessed to call so many of our members friends and family.
I’m an ambassador for Switch Nutrition who are a local family supplement company.
I have competed in a whole heap of crossfit comps and the most recent one being the Australian Down Under crossfit championships in a front of a huge crowd at WIN stadium in Wollongong in Aus.
I’ve also gone from 20% body Fat down to 9% body fat for a fitness photoshoot which was a great experience for me.
Describe a typical day of training
A typical day of training for me currently looks like this: a morning hour long session (max) including warm up and cool down/some stretching + sometimes I will get some kind of short activity in the afternoon before training my clients.
I usually (before covid-19) would train in our 9:30am crossfit class 5-6 days per week. This has been the most consist style of training for me for the past 10 years.
I haven’t ever really altered the way I train, but more so my nutrition for weight cuts or performance. I tend to train in a fasted state and believe this has helped me a lot for fat loss.
I supplement with Switch Nutrition Power Switch before a workout and use their Amino Switch during and then their Adrenal Switch post training. I also supplement with the Thermal Switch in replace of a black coffee on some days.
My favourite exercises would have to be back squat, toes to bar and bar muscle ups!
How do you keep going and push harder?
I’ve done a good job in making exercise a part of my life story
When my motivation is low I will make a date with a friend to meet at my gym OR tee up a training session with my husband.
I have also obtained a lot of discipline over the years too and I like to think of it that way instead always looking for motivation.
I’ve done a good job in making exercise a part of my life story, it’s who I am, it’s what I do and without it I wouldn’t be who I am today.
The biggest challenge I have faced to date would be the birth of my daughter, 3 years ago, I had an emergency c-section and was left with a lot of trauma from that.
Exercise (along with seeing my therapist) is the number one reason why I was able to ween off my antidepressant medication.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Training at the moment is a little different, as I write this we are week 8 into isolation from the covid-19 pandemic. I am super blessed to have access to our facility but it is quiet different regardless with being in there alone etc.
I’m just moving my body and keeping consistent, that is the only goal right now, maintaining and consistency. 5 full body style sessions per week.
This type of year would generally look like comp training though which I would be training in a team for different crossfit comps around Aus.
All comps have been canceled so my body is enjoying the down time and the flow or just consistent movement.
How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
I believe that hydration, sleep and nutrition play a vital roll on recovery, along with weekly/fortnightly massage/practitioner treatment.
I use Switch Nutrition products to aid in my nutrition recovery, I use a foam roller and a cricket ball to self massage in between seeing my massage therapist.
How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
I mostly have a holistic approach to my nutrition, I like to get my food from whole foods, I don’t consume many processed products and I focus on hitting my own macro targets for each day.
All year round I will mostly do 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbs. I also do a 16/8 fasting every single day and a 24 hour fast once per fortnight.
I drink my coffee black and I don’t consume alcohol very regularly at all.
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What has inspired and motivated you?
The Paul Chek ‘How to eat move and be healthy’ was all the inspiration I needed when I first changed my life style.
Moving forward from that, a few inspiring books I have come across are:
- The art of happiness by Dalai Lama
- Don’t sweat the small stuff by Richard Carlson
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
All of them have helped change my perception and are just empowering, enlightening and life changing.
Podcasts that have inspired me and that I’ve been on is the Raw Barbell Club podcast and also my husbands which is The People First podcast @thepeoplefirstpodcast.
Everyday people with relatable stories inspires me to keep going!
I follow a heap of inspiring people on instagram, if you follow me @chloebrooke.r you’ll see I shout them out regularly.
Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
Mindset in life is everything
Don’t compare the start of your journey to someones middle (or end) journey. Try not to compare full stop. Trust your process, get to know your coach/influencer first and then trust them, trust the process and stay consistent, consistency overall is key.
Don’t set the bar so high that you can’t stay consistent with the process, small changes lead to big changes – be patient.
There will be good days and bad days and good weeks and bad weeks, but as long as you go back to what you know to be true, results will come!
Mindset in life is everything, let go of EVERY expectation you may have, change your perceptions and you will literally change your whole life!
Are you taking on clients right now?
I am currently taking online clients only, Zoom and email, I specialise in fat loss and muscle building, I also specialise in pre and post natal women.
The most common question I get asked is how do I lose my belly fat? My answer is: through diet.
Where can we learn more about you?
My main account where you can find out more and contact me is through instagram @chloebrooke.r.
