Road to Regionals – TWL Athlete Interview Luke McMahon

At just 20 years of age, Tumut’s Luke McMahon has packed on 7kg in the last year and feels a lot stronger and fitter, and more prepared for this year’s Regionals. This guy is the one to watch, with Raw Strength and Conditioning helping his programming, and an active and fit family and friends to provide encouragement and support, we know he’ll be going places!

Read on to find out how Luke has been preparing for this year’s Regionals:

You finished 15th (in Aus), in this year’s Open. How did this year’s Open competing compare to last year? More difficult or more enjoyable?

Leading to up to this year’s open I felt confident and relaxed as I’ve been putting a lot more time and effort into my training, and I was able to approach the open comfortably.

What was the major challenge for you in the Open?

15.1a The clean and jerk was a challenge for me as I am a smaller, weaker athlete. Don’t get me wrong though, I love lifting, and I am getting stronger everyday!

You made it to Regionals for the first time in 2014, and was one of the youngest to compete (what age were you then?) Tell us a bit about that experience.

Last year i was 19 at regionals and the smallest. It was a bit intimidating at first as i hardly knew anybody and it was my first time competing in front of a large crowd, by the end of the weekend it was much more enjoyable

What does it mean to you to get back to Regionals this year?

This year will be fun. But my goals are when I am bigger, 85kg and stronger and can compete at a games level athlete. My focus is next year and the years after that, that’s when I’ll be a serious competitor.

What has your preparation been like for the Regionals this year?

After last year’s Regionals I worked on my strength and size but also kept my fitness level up. I am about 7kg heavier and feel a bit more comfortable under heavier loads.

How do you feel you’ve grown in the past year since last competing at Regionals (strength, mentally and physically)?

Strength I am constantly challenging myself with heavier loads. Mentally I keep a positive attitude when it comes to my training and my personal life, and have a lot of support from my family, my girlfriend and friends. Physically, I give myself enough rest and recovery to ensure that I am capable of training to my full potential each session

Is there anything you’ve done differently this year to last year to prepare for the Open or Regionals?

Last year’s preparation I programmed my training on my own, which worked out well for me being that it was my first time at regionals. This year I’ve been programmed by raw strength and conditioning, which has been working my weaknesses and doing different movements and training methods to help build me into an all rounded CrossFit athlete.

Last year you competed at the Schwartz Challenge in Melbourne, blowing many people away and winning a few workouts. How did you enjoy that experience?

I wasn’t fully prepared for Schwartz as I only found out about the competition a month beforehand, but with the training that I was doing at the time, it definitely allowed me to go well in some of the events and not so great in some of the heavy load events. Overall I was really happy with my performance and it just made me want to keep going and push to achieve more in the upcoming regionals.

You’re from a big family, do you train with your brothers and/or sisters? Does this help your training?

My brother, Aydan is 17 and he is currently doing strictly Olympic lifting, which is a help to me when it comes to working on heavier lifts and improving my techniques. My brother, Josh is 16 and has been doing a variation of Olympic lifting and CrossFit and has decided to focus on CrossFit a lot more. Billy, who is 14 is focusing more on weight lifting.

We all enjoy training together and helping each other out where we can. My younger brothers and sisters are very involved in our training environment and they enjoy playing around with movements and is fun to see them enjoy it as well and will be interesting to see if they follow through with it when they’re older.

Where do you currently train, and what does your rough weekly training cycle look like?

I train at CrossFit Tumut and also from my home gym which has been set up by my sponsor Raw fitness equipment. I train 6 days a week with 2-3 sessions a day depending on the intensity and work load.

Being a younger CrossFit Athlete with so many more experience athletes that you’ll be up against at Regionals; how do you keep yourself motivated?

Watching the top athletes compete, and following them on social media inspires me to keep up my training, knowing that I could be up with them one day. Also the environment that I get to train in at home with my brothers, girlfriend and friends keeps it fun, as well as motivating while I’m training.

Tell us a bit about you diet and your lifestyle in general…

I eat whatever is convenient. I don’t have a strict meal plan, I eat a variety of healthy foods, 5-6 meals a day. This includes paleo style meals that I am supplied with by Urban Paleo Foods as well as what I make myself.

What is your ultimate aim for competing in CrossFit?

To make it to the CrossFit Games.

Has your background in Karate, Jiu-Jitsu helped your CrossFit training at all?

When I was involved in kick boxing I was using CrossFit for conditioning and began to realise that I had a passion for it and once I started to compete in some small local events I realised that I wanted to continue with CrossFit as my main sport.

AMRAP Quick Stats:

Age: 20

When did you start CrossFit? 2012

If there was a WOD to be named after you, what would it be? It would be fast with body weight movements- chest to bar pullups, double unders, handstand pushups/walks, light weight barbell movements.

Affiliate: CrossFit Tumut

Coach: Programmed by Raw strength and conditioning. I don’t have a coach, but I train with a range of other athletes and coaches.

Photo Credit: Matthew Townsend Photo