Can CrossFit be a professional sport?

Ali Crawford proudly holding Scottish saltire as she claims second place in her category at the CrossFit Games 2021 in Wisconsin

"CrossFit has what it takes to be seen as a professional sport, like football."

So says Richard Tait, who coaches the increasingly popular discipline when his duties for St Mirren are done.

The 31-year-old full-back has already started mapping out plans for the end of his playing days and CrossFit is uppermost in his thoughts.

"I've spent a lot of time playing football since I was a kid and I have that same level of passion for CrossFit now," he tells BBC Scotland. "It makes me feel like a little kid again.

"I coach every day after training and I love it. It's incredible to help people progress and watch myself get better as a coach."

So, what exactly is CrossFit?

Walk into a CrossFit gym for the first time and you will see participants doing circuits around various exercise stations; handstand push-ups, deadlifting gruelling weighted barbells, sprints and rope climbing to name a few.

It may look similar to a traditional circuits class, but it is a different conditioning and strength programme, encapsulating a range of workouts designed to improve mobility, strength and flexibility.

There is a competitive element too, with recent Scottish success on the global stage.

Flying the flag for Scotland

The CrossFit Games have been running annually since 2007 and this year East Kilbride mum-of-two Ali Crawford earned an impressive second-place finish.

The 45-year-old switched from regular gym life to CrossFit in 2013 and started competing seriously around five years ago.

Only the top 20 athletes from each age group gain entry to the Games.

In 2018, she became the first Scot to qualify, coming in 14th. Three years on, pegged as an underdog after qualifying by the skin of her teeth in 19th place, she made it all the way to the podium in the Women's Masters 45-49 category.

"This year was a different mindset to 2018," Crawford explains. "I was proud to have qualified back then and had no real ambition to win. When you're lined up against 20 of the fittest women in the world your own age, it is hard to stay in your own lane and believe in yourself. I was overwhelmed."

The Games, in Wisconsin this summer, took place over three days. To test their cross-discipline abilities, competitors only receive a briefing of the daily events the night before.

With no union or governing body, CrossFit is for amateurs, although some athletes in the United States do train full-time and are considered 'Elites'.

Crawford works as a finance analyst by day, leads fitness classes and trains hard in her own time, putting in at least two hours per day, five or six times per week.

"You have to take training seriously," she says.

'CrossFit is for everyone'

With more than 15,000 affiliated gyms worldwide since its formation on a Californian ranch in the year 2000, CrossFit is enjoying a boom. Of the 586 such gyms in the UK, 46 are in Scotland - and those numbers keep rising.

"CrossFit is for everyone, from your elite athletes to your grandparents, it has such a broad range", says Tait.

"The Elite athletes at the Games are essentially professional athletes already. Their job is to train every single day with one goal - The CrossFit Games - which is essentially the World Cup of CrossFit. It's a massive event and it generates a lot of money.

"I've been coaching CrossFit for a while now and learning new skills every single day.

"I'm laying those foundations for when I do retire to be the best coach I can be.

"If you talk to any of the boys at St Mirren, they'll tell you I bore them to death with CrossFit this and CrossFit that, but it is everything to me!"