Britain’s fittest woman is continuing her rigorous training ahead of the 2024 CrossFit Games on August 8, with a rucksack being a key part of her arsenal.
Backpacking — walking and exercising while wearing a backpack filled with weight plates — originally started as a training tool for the military, but has become increasingly popular among Silicon Valley founders, venture capitalists, and others looking to get more out of their walking.
Amy Kringle, 25, She won her country’s CrossFit semi-finals and earned the title of Britain’s fittest woman. She told Business Insider that wearing a backpack during training makes the exercises more difficult, so competing without one in competitions should make the exercises feel easier.
Kringle broke down his rigorous training regime and shared how he uses a backpack to boost his strength and fitness.
Running helps build muscle strength
Kringle, who has a background in athletics, trains six days a week and says that since moving to mainland England in 2023 to train with a new coach, her training has become more structured and includes less steady cardio such as cycling, running and swimming.
Instead, she’s focusing on strength training: In addition to traditional weightlifting, Kringle says she uses a backpack to make exercises like leg-less rope climbs, tricep dips and chest-to-bar pull-ups more challenging.
“If I can do it with a backpack on, I think I can do it better without it,” Kringle says. “Everything is harder when you’re carrying it.”
After working out with the backpack on, you suddenly feel a lot more comfortable when you take it off, which is “pretty amazing,” Kringle said.
She never does the same workout twice.
Gymnastics skills are an important part of CrossFit. Common point
While Kringle’s training program isn’t the same every day, an average week might include the following:
- Monday Morning: Two 20-minute AMRAPs (as many rounds or repetitions as possible) that include rope climbing, sledding, running, and rowing
- Monday Afternoon: Rope climbs, dips, handstand push-ups with a backpack
- Tuesday Morning: 400 calorie assault bike, 5k rowing, 400 calorie assault bike
- Tuesday Afternoon: Strength training including squats, snatches, short high-intensity workouts, and accessory movements
- Wednesday Morning: Interval training
- Wednesday Afternoon: Handstand walking, ring muscle-ups, GHD sit-ups, and other exercises
- Thursday: Active recovery such as swimming or cycling
- Friday Morning: running
- Friday Afternoon: strength training
- Saturday Morning: Strength training and conditioning such as bench press
- Saturday Afternoon: Group training with emphasis on gymnastics such as rope climbing, handstand push-ups and handstand walking
- Sunday: Complete rest days or easy walking or cycling
“I never do the same workout twice,” Kringle says.
Performance is Kringle’s priority
Kringle is becoming more and more of a priority. Common point
As Kringle’s CrossFit skills improved, he also gained muscle, and he previously told BI that it wasn’t always easy to embrace his growing body.
But she’s more focused on performance than aesthetics.
“If I achieve my goal, I do what I need to do. And if that means gaining weight…” Kringle pauses. “In CrossFit, we’re athletes, so it makes sense that we’re going to look stronger and bigger than the average person. Either way, it seems to have worked.”
Kringle continued, “Some of the things we can do are really incredible. Even I can’t do it, but the weight that the girls can lift, a lot of the girls aren’t that big, but they can lift really heavy and do so much. So I would rather just put on a little bit more weight, lift really heavy and do that.”
Kringle may not be overwhelmed with pride, despite being just the third British woman to compete in the elite individual category at the CrossFit Games, but it’s this constant drive to do better and achieve more that’s what makes her such a star.
