Young: Will A Year Of Training Pay Off At the 2015 Fittest Games?

Jan 29, 2015 by Lauryn Lax

Jessie Jo Young: 2014 1st Place South Central Open Finisher, Looking to Test a Year’s Worth of Training at the Fittest Games

First place in the annual CrossFit Open is not a feat every athlete can say they have accomplished.

26-year-old Jessie Jo Young can.

Young emerged onto the fitness scene last year as a ‘rookie’ to the competition arena—and ended up placing first overall in the South Central Open, earning her first trip the 2014 CrossFit South Central Regional, where she took 10th place with less than two years of training under her belt.

This weekend, Young will be in action at the Fittest Games in Austin. Following Regionals last year, she said she walked away inspired to be back in 2015—the best version of herself that she could be.

“Last year I learned that I needed more practice competing and especially against the best of the best. I needed to feel more comfortable in my abilities and not worry about the person next to me. And I needed to be happy with giving it my best and letting the outcomes take care of themselves,” Young said.

With nearly a year’s worth of training under her belt, Young is gearing up to attack the 2015 Open, and plans to use this weekend’s competition as an opportunity to test out her continued hard work. She took 3rd place as part of a team last year, and, this year, will go it alone. Here, she shares her two-cents on continued improvement in the gym, and inspiration for those whom aspire to compete at a higher level.

Q. What other competitions have you participated in this past year and how have you done?

I've competed in a World War Fit in October and won 1st place and then a more local competition in Midland, TX called the West Texas War Zone where I won 1st as well. I signed up for Fittest Games this year to have the opportunity to compete against some of the best competition and expose some weaknesses to improve on

Q. Since Regionals last year, what has your training looked like this year?

My year and training have been much more relaxed this year. The goal was to maintain until January and then pick it back up and get serious! I've focused mainly on strength and getting my numbers up and worked on weaknesses.

Q. After your first Regionals last year (and 1st place Open finish in South Central), what did you learn about yourself as an athlete?

Last year I learned that I needed more practice competing and especially against the best of the best. I needed to feel more comfortable in my abilities and not worry about the person next to me. And I needed to be happy with giving it my best and letting the outcomes take care of themselves.

Q. Any PRs your proud of lately?

I hit a 215 CJ last week that I was pretty pumped about! 10# PR. And I've been working on my strict press for a while and am finally not embarrassed by my number.

Snatch-170#

CJ-215#

BS-275#

DL-340#

FS-225#

Press-120#

Q. Advice for others who’d like to be in similar shoes as you?

Keep training and working on those weaknesses. I wouldn't change much from what already works for you!