Who is Jamie Greene? There are probably a lot of questions about who is currently sitting in 3rd place worldwide after 16.2. The Barbell Spin caught up with Jamie this week to answer those questions.
TBBS: Jamie, can you describer how and when you started CrossFit?
Jamie: I started CrossFit in late 2013. My mum brought me six weeks for my birthday, but then I ended up snapping my Achilles doing box jumps. I got back into it in early 2014 before the CrossFit Open and Australian Regionals.
You are originally from New Zealand and competed in the Australia
region in 2014. What brought you to Abu Dhabi?
I came over for work opportunities. I work at Crossfit Yas now as a coach and PT. I just needed to get away from New Zealand for a bit as it is so, so far away from the rest of the world. I ended up really liking it here so plan to stay awhile.
Last year, you won the Africa region in the Open, but went team. Your
team CrossFit Yas did very well in the Meridian Regional finishing second,
but was later disqualified after CrossFit said a teammate failed to meet
the team eligibility requirements. Talk about the emotions/feelings you
felt after hearing this news and that you and your team would not be going
to the CrossFit Games.
The whole team was pretty upset, some more so than others but I’m a believer in things happen for a reason so our time will come. We just had to move on and get back to training. Although it did light a fire in all of us to get back to Regionals and give it all we have got once again this year.
After 16.1, you again sit in first place in the Africa region. What are
your plans this year? Will you be going team again?
Due to what happened last year, yes, we decided from the start we have some unfinished business to sort.
Why do you compete in the sport of CrossFit? What gives you the fire to
train every day at the level required to be a top athlete?
I just really enjoy training even if I wasnt training for anything specific Crossfit is so much fun and you get to hang out with cool people, travel to communities with similar interests and obviously keeps you healthy. I compete because I know it pushes me more and it’s interesting to see what you can actually do under a bit of pressure, you learn a lot about yourself.
What does a normal day look like for you? What is your schedule?
I normally wake up between 4:30-5:30am depending what time I’m working (unless I have the late classes then I wake up whenever). I work for a few hours, then normally do a morning session with some rowing or something. Then, I coach again for an hour or two. After that, I either go home for food or take a nap and come back to train for a few hours. Then I’ll usually work from about 3:00 until 7:00 or 8:00pm taking classes and pts. Then home, food, bed.
Who is your coach and what programming do you follow?
Andy Edwards from Dragon CrossFit in Cardiff programs for me (perpetual performance). I really enjoy it because it’s not heaps and heaps of volume that I know I couldn’t handle, and gets everything covered.
What kind of workout do you prefer? Which workouts do you not look forward to?
I like shorter gymnastics workouts that don’t need much strategy so you just gotta go. And I hate any workouts with any type of rowing in it! Haha.
Favorite CrossFit movement? Pull-Up
Fran or Murph? Fran
Favorite Cheat Meal? Any candy
Song you have on repeat right now? Don’t Forget Your Roots by Six60
Favorite Movie? Lion King
Nanos or Metcons? Either, I like both.
