Northampton coach encourages young people to give ‘engaging’ CrossFit sessions a go this summer

Cattle Dog CrossFit, located in Rothersthorpe Road, is offering a kids programme and family exercise sessions to keep pupils active during the holidays.

Coach Charli Holmes, who joined the Cattle Dog team this year after training there for around seven years, used to be a secondary school teacher and missed working with young people.

She is running the upcoming kids programme and told the Chronicle & Echo about the benefits of this inclusive form of exercise.

“Cattle Dog is such a great, family environment,” said Charli. “CrossFit is the best of all kinds of exercise, you get to try a bit of everything. There will be some things you’re brilliant at, and others that challenge you.

“You go into a CrossFit gym and it’s welcoming, inviting and safe. Everyone deserves to be here.”

Charli wishes that CrossFit was available when she was at school, as it is a good way to engage those who may not enjoy exercise or sport.

The final tweaks are currently being made to the timetable for kids summer camps and Saturday family workouts – and more information can be found on the Cattle Dog CrossFit website and social media channels.

When asked why she believes it is important to keep young people active during the summer holidays, Charli said: “It’s crucial. When I was a teacher, I often found the real issue when folks came back was that they’d forgotten how to engage with other children.

“This will help them go back with the ability to communicate, like they had at the end of the last year.”

From a health perspective, Charli believes CrossFit is the ideal way to turn exercise from a chore into something cool and engaging in the minds of young people.

“If it’s fun and engaging, you’re going to want to do it,” she added. “With the Olympics coming up, we can cover whatever they’re watching in a safe environment.”

Cattle Dog is inviting schools to offer CrossFit as part of their PE curriculums from September, and Charli is passionate about helping every child get the support they need to succeed.

Many schools have already expressed their interest, as CrossFit has been shown to help with active participation in classrooms – and not just in PE.

Charli said: “With a paralympic GB athlete from Northampton, we want more girls to look and think ‘that could be me’. As a town, we’ve got so much promise and we can really tap into that.”

The coach finished by saying that exercise and movement is also a powerful trigger for memory, as well as reducing anxiety, overwhelm and boredom, when it comes to revising for exams.

For more information, visit the Cattle Dog CrossFit Facebook page here.