Doug Harrison - Winner K2 Fitness Event Crawley 2015

Describe your jorney to where you are in fitness today?

I always used to play football and basketball at a high level at university and I got into athletics and cross-country running from the age of 15-22. When I tried to push on with athletics, I was frustrated by recurrent hamstring strains but I wanted to push myself and compete in some sort of athletic event. So I took up indoor rowing in my mid-20s and competed across the country. Then in 2010 I competed in my first Ultimate Gym Athlete, X-Training competition and was inspired by the fitness levels of Alex Woods and Richard Vint. I was hooked on having multiple XT races to train for every year and on trying to catch these top guys.  In January 2015, whilst on a placement in Romford, I joined a crossfit box for a month in Romford and qualified for a Pound for Pound competition in June. I really enjoyed the new challenge of learning lots of new, functional, gymnsatic and athletic movements for crossfit and since then I have been training for both cross-training and cross-fit simultaneously.

Before cross-fit I did not do any of the crossfit movements (Olympic lifts, powerlifting, gymnastics). My training also involved more indoor rowing (between 5-9x a week depending on competition phase). In terms of cross-training, I was still honing the best way to train for the competitions (and still amJ) and I did a lot more split training; cardio modalities and strength training on alternating days, but rarely at the same time. Now I do a lot more strength training at the start of my session, followed by circuits, so that now every day I am pretty much doing some strength and some high intensity circuits.

I love competing and trying to be better than I was the day before. I know that I need to train hard to achieve this and I know the guys I am up against are doing the same

Which sport do you think is most gifted to compete in Gym X Training and for arguments sake lets say the UGA Course   (for instance I would say Biathlon)

I think rugby players, decathletes and cross-fitters would give us cross-trainers a good race; and in that order. 

Yeah I am not that strict in terms of following a plan because I only ever plan a few sessions in advance.  I just try to tick as many fitness goals as I can a week and then get creative in trying to mix up the sessions to achieve these and keep them the sessions fresh and interesting. For example, I always try to get the powerlifting and Olympic movements in twice a week (squat, deadlift, snatch, clean etc). I also make sure I hit back, chest, shoulders and core twice a week. In terms of cardio I always make sure I run, bike and row twice a week as a minimum and then try and get bonus sessions in if I have the time/energy.

I am always looking out for new things to try and new ways to push myself and compete. For example, I recently entered my first powerlifting competition just to see what I could do and because I knew that training for it would help my overall strength for crossfit and cross-training.

How important is your diet to you (and remember Ive seen some of the pictures you have posted)

I just eat as much as I can all the timeJ). I know those creme egg photos you were talking about. This Easter I was averaging about 10 a day for almost a week haha. I make sure I get all the good stuff in but also you need to eat loads of carbs to fuel the volume of training that you need to do to be competitive. It’s hard to get 6,000kcal a day from salad and vegetables!! The only thing I try to limit is saturated fat and I make a big effort to have protein with every meal. No ground-breaking diet secrets here I’m afraid.

I believe Saturday was your first win – How does that feel?

It felt good as it has been a long time coming and I beat one of the cross-training legends, Paul Morton. However, it was a bit flat as I didn’t beat any of the other top four athletes and so it could have been a false-positive result.

It’s tempting to look at people training and think they all don’t have a goal or focus, and often many don’t. A lot of cross-fitters and endurance athletes have an elitist attitude towards others’ training too, which I find annoying, but I can see where they are coming from. I think it is just that these guys have a clear goal in mind, and have an arena in which they can train for performance. Most other people just want to lose weight, ‘tone up’ or be facebook heroes and look good on Instagram.  Most of the first group don’t realise that abs are made in the kitchen. The second group often fail to realise that they need to do more resistance and high intensity training. The third type just train for aesthetics and not ‘performance’ (unless they bodybuild). Most of the people that fall into these three groups (which is most people in general) will never be as dedicated as the cross-fitters and the endurance athletes but they can still benefit from having a clear goal and being empowered by fitness professionals, media etc to help them achieve them. The training is only ineffective if it is not tailored towards the goal; and therefore goal-setting is vital.

If you could choose 3 rules to be a great gym athlete what would they be?

Turn up to the gym, move well, train hard.

Have you been watching Eternal Glory?

I only saw one episode. It was a good idea. James Cracknell is a bit of a hero of mine

Sure, why not? As long as the stations are adjusted and an agreed/ evidence-based conversion is used so that the both males and females are exercising at the same relative intensity.

Where do you see yourself fitness wise in five years time and what trends do you think will be there in aiming to get fitter?

I am hoping to have won a few more cross-training races, or at least reached a level that I am really proud of. I want to compete at some major cross-fit events and get into the top 50 in the UK as a minimum.

Crossfit is here to stay and will definitely explode in this country. A hybrid of cross-fit and cross-training would be really welcome; events that require strength and movement quality but have a higher cardiovascular component.

Who is your sporting hero?

Can’t decide between Ali, Michael Jordan or Michael Johnson