CrossFit’s Colleen Fotsch On Training, Self-esteem, and How to Reach Fitness Goals
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CrossFit Competitor Colleen Fotsch
Up-and-coming CrossFit competitor and Red Bull athlete Colleen Fotsch has reached a pivotal point in her fitness journey—one that began long before she’d ever set foot in a box.Fotsch was collegiate swimmer at UC Berkeley, at which she was a two-time national champ, an American record holder, and qualified for the Olympic trials. The 27-year-old athlete began her CrossFit journey just three years ago, but she’s coming up fast. In 2017, she and her team finished fourth at the CrossFit Games. Now, she’s set on making the 2018 Individual Games.She may be enjoying a steady rise in the CrossFit ranks now, but she hasn’t gotten to where she currently stands without setbacks. In 2016, a torn rotator cuff almost shattered her CrossFit dreams for good. However, with the support of her team and a healthy dose of grit, Fotsch is now stronger than ever, and has the 2018 Individual CrossFit Games in her sights.In an interview with Red Bull, Fotsch shared her thoughts on CrossFit, mental toughness, cheat meals, and her tips to rule any fitness routine.Click through this gallery for more on the rising star.
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Her Discovery of CrossFit
After college, Fotsch went through a period where she wasn’t happy with her body and didn’t appreciate the power it had, she told Red Bull. It was after attending the CrossFit regionals as a spectator in 2014 that she felt proud of her athletic physique. She signed up at a gym in San Francisco, and the rest is history.
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Her Take on Mental Toughness in the Wake of an Injury
For Fotsch, having a shoulder operation sparked a life-changing revelation.”The surgery really helped. Just knowing that that’s temporary and that’s not real pain,” she told Red Bull. “It’s just a feeling and it will end soon. Swimming was extremely mental, and I remember having to do some awful, awful workouts. My big thing was working hypoxic training, so doing a lot of underwater workouts. I know this sounds silly, but with CrossFit, at least I get to breathe, because holding your breath through all that stuff is no joke.”
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She’ll Do What It Takes to Make the Games
Fotsch recently moved to Arizona and changed gyms to focus in on her goal to make the Individual CrossFit Games in 2018.”It’s not just about getting the training hours in,” Fotsch says. “It’s about getting the right food, the right sleep, the mental recovery, and all that stuff. I feel like I’ve trained going to the games in the past, but I haven’t aligned everything else in my life to do that. I was like, ‘You know what? Let’s just go for it.'”
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Even in College, She Loved to Lift
“One of the things I loved about our swimming program was the weight program. I lived for our lifting days,” she told Red Bull. “I feel like most swimmers are like ‘I’d way rather be in the water,’ but I was like, ‘I like land, I like the weight room.’”
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Her Favorite Cheat Foods
Her weakness? Chips. “I love chips. I’m not going to count how many, I’m just going to eat the chips,” she said in the interview. “The other thing is I have a big sweet tooth. I’ll just treat myself to a doughnut or a brownie. You know, every now and then I let myself splurge. Life’s too short to not have that stuff sometimes.” And, hey, she’s got a good point.
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Fotsch’s Tips for Success
Here are the up-and-coming athlete’s top five fitness tips:1. Don’t be scared of weight training“I think so many people are nervous about things like, ‘Oh, deadlifts are going to hurt my back,’ or ‘I’m going to get huge from doing them.’ To get really big, you have to do a lot of it. Little bits of it not only will help you look the way you want to look, but will help with other activities that you want to do. Incorporate any sort of resistance or weight training—and it doesn’t have to be super-heavy. If you have a pair of dumbbells, use those. They don’t have to be 50lbs. Just something.”2. Just make it fun“I know it sounds cheesy, but for me, CrossFit was my thing. I know well beyond my years of competing, I will still do CrossFit. Working out doesn’t have to be this, ‘Uhh I have to do it.’ It can be fun. Find that thing that makes it fun, whatever it is. Get a group of friends to hold you accountable.”3. The first step is to eat clean“Look at your food and how much of it is processed. Then, maybe [you] want to start counting macros. I think if you go immediately into counting macros, it gets hard. It’s something you have to do every single day, multiple times a day. You have to have this enormous willpower to do it. And that’s why I track my food now. It doesn’t consume my life, and when I travel, I get to hit my numbers and not be freaking out about it. MyFitnessPal is huge. Even if you don’t want to track your macros, it’s really eye-opening to see what you’re eating throughout the day.”4. Undereating is just as bad if not worse than overeating“Your body is like a car. You have to put stuff into it. If you’re going to push your body that much, you need to put something back into it. I used to always think that in order to get the body that I wanted, I was going to have to be hungry. There was a time when I got on a strict nutrition program, I was really hungry. That isn’t sustainable. You don’t have to be hungry to get the results you want. I found especially with females when they start doing a macro breakdown, they end up eating more than before.”5. Appreciate the days that suck, but you get to do it“I hope I never have to go through [the surgery] again, but it really puts things into perspective and makes you like, ‘Remember the first day you got to row after your surgery? Remember how happy you were to do that.’ It took so long before I was cleared to do that. Appreciate the days that suck, but you get to do it. There are many days that I’d rather just leave because stuff doesn’t feel right, but it’s stuff like that that makes you appreciate it.”
Up-and-coming CrossFit competitor and Red Bull athlete Colleen Fotsch has reached a pivotal point in her fitness journey—one that began long before she’d ever set foot in a box.
Fotsch was collegiate swimmer at UC Berkeley, at which she was a two-time national champ, an American record holder, and qualified for the Olympic trials. The 27-year-old athlete began her CrossFit journey just three years ago, but she’s coming up fast. In 2017, she and her team finished fourth at the CrossFit Games. Now, she’s set on making the 2018 Individual Games.
She may be enjoying a steady rise in the CrossFit ranks now, but she hasn’t gotten to where she currently stands without setbacks. In 2016, a torn rotator cuff almost shattered her CrossFit dreams for good. However, with the support of her team and a healthy dose of grit, Fotsch is now stronger than ever, and has the 2018 Individual CrossFit Games in her sights.
In an interview with Red Bull, Fotsch shared her thoughts on CrossFit, mental toughness, cheat meals, and her tips to rule any fitness routine.
Click through this gallery for more on the rising star.
Her Discovery of CrossFit
After college, Fotsch went through a period where she wasn’t happy with her body and didn’t appreciate the power it had, she told Red Bull. It was after attending the CrossFit regionals as a spectator in 2014 that she felt proud of her athletic physique. She signed up at a gym in San Francisco, and the rest is history.
Her Take on Mental Toughness in the Wake of an Injury
For Fotsch, having a shoulder operation sparked a life-changing revelation.
“The surgery really helped. Just knowing that that’s temporary and that’s not real pain,” she told Red Bull. “It’s just a feeling and it will end soon. Swimming was extremely mental, and I remember having to do some awful, awful workouts. My big thing was working hypoxic training, so doing a lot of underwater workouts. I know this sounds silly, but with CrossFit, at least I get to breathe, because holding your breath through all that stuff is no joke.”
She'll Do What It Takes to Make the Games
Fotsch recently moved to Arizona and changed gyms to focus in on her goal to make the Individual CrossFit Games in 2018.
“It’s not just about getting the training hours in,” Fotsch says. “It’s about getting the right food, the right sleep, the mental recovery, and all that stuff. I feel like I’ve trained going to the games in the past, but I haven’t aligned everything else in my life to do that. I was like, ‘You know what? Let’s just go for it.'”
Even in College, She Loved to Lift
“One of the things I loved about our swimming program was the weight program. I lived for our lifting days,” she told Red Bull. “I feel like most swimmers are like ‘I’d way rather be in the water,’ but I was like, ‘I like land, I like the weight room.’”
Her Favorite Cheat Foods
Her weakness? Chips.
“I love chips. I’m not going to count how many, I’m just going to eat the chips,” she said in the interview. “The other thing is I have a big sweet tooth. I’ll just treat myself to a doughnut or a brownie. You know, every now and then I let myself splurge. Life’s too short to not have that stuff sometimes.” And, hey, she’s got a good point.
Fotsch's Tips for Success
Here are the up-and-coming athlete’s top five fitness tips:
1. Don’t be scared of weight training
“I think so many people are nervous about things like, ‘Oh, deadlifts are going to hurt my back,’ or ‘I’m going to get huge from doing them.’ To get really big, you have to do a lot of it. Little bits of it not only will help you look the way you want to look, but will help with other activities that you want to do. Incorporate any sort of resistance or weight training—and it doesn’t have to be super-heavy. If you have a pair of dumbbells, use those. They don’t have to be 50lbs. Just something.”
2. Just make it fun
“I know it sounds cheesy, but for me, CrossFit was my thing. I know well beyond my years of competing, I will still do CrossFit. Working out doesn’t have to be this, ‘Uhh I have to do it.’ It can be fun. Find that thing that makes it fun, whatever it is. Get a group of friends to hold you accountable.”
3. The first step is to eat clean
“Look at your food and how much of it is processed. Then, maybe [you] want to start counting macros. I think if you go immediately into counting macros, it gets hard. It’s something you have to do every single day, multiple times a day. You have to have this enormous willpower to do it. And that’s why I track my food now. It doesn’t consume my life, and when I travel, I get to hit my numbers and not be freaking out about it. MyFitnessPal is huge. Even if you don’t want to track your macros, it’s really eye-opening to see what you’re eating throughout the day.”
4. Undereating is just as bad if not worse than overeating
“Your body is like a car. You have to put stuff into it. If you’re going to push your body that much, you need to put something back into it. I used to always think that in order to get the body that I wanted, I was going to have to be hungry. There was a time when I got on a strict nutrition program, I was really hungry. That isn’t sustainable. You don’t have to be hungry to get the results you want. I found especially with females when they start doing a macro breakdown, they end up eating more than before.”
5. Appreciate the days that suck, but you get to do it
“I hope I never have to go through [the surgery] again, but it really puts things into perspective and makes you like, ‘Remember the first day you got to row after your surgery? Remember how happy you were to do that.’ It took so long before I was cleared to do that. Appreciate the days that suck, but you get to do it. There are many days that I’d rather just leave because stuff doesn’t feel right, but it’s stuff like that that makes you appreciate it.”
