Some people keep winning. Case in point: Hungarian CrossFit athlete Laura Horvath earned the title of “Fittest Woman on Earth” for her victory at last year’s Olympics. Possessing great power, her calm frankness is paralleled by steely discipline.
A former mountaineer, she converted to CrossFit after her brother introduced her to one of its workouts and has never looked back. Scroll through her Instagram and she’s a humbling lesson in how precision in movement can be powerful. She raises the bar for what it means to be a champion, she says. W.H. About her intense fitness training, holidays, role modeling, and leading by example. As CrossFit Open 2024 kicks off on February 29th, her insights will give you the motivation you’re looking for.
“The Fittest Woman on Earth”
Laura is no stranger to winning, having won silver medals at the 2018 and 2021 CrossFit Games, and a bronze medal in 2022. However, it wasn’t until 2023 that she finally won the gold medal and earned the ultimate title of “The Fittest Woman on Earth.”
“It took a long time to make,” she says. She said, “She has proven herself to be at the top.” She had her eye on the award for some time. “Ever since I started CrossFit, I knew it was only a matter of time before I achieved my goal of being the fittest man on Earth. I’m so happy I accomplished it last year.”
When it comes to training, Laura didn’t adjust her approach in her year at the top. “I did what I’ve done before.” She, too, understands the harsh realities of the competitive arena. “Every year I focused on myself, my training, my nutrition, everything I could do to be the best, and it just didn’t work out.” It just paid off this time. ”
CrossFit Games Training
Throughout the year, she focuses on different CrossFit competition stages. Her preparation for the open tournament (first qualifying stage) is “different from the semi-finals or offseason practice.” The final stage, the CrossFit Games, will be held in the summer and will be “more outdoor-focused, with activities such as riding a bike, going swimming, climbing hills with sandbags, and using pigs. We do things you don’t do in a fit gym.” A few years ago, I did a triathlon. ”
pig? she smiles. “It’s like a big log or tire, but it’s more square-shaped. You flip it over. And it’s really heavy.” She’s right. The large rectangular object weighs between 350 and 400 pounds (158.8 and 181.4 kg) for women.
her weekly fitness routine
Naturally, she follows a very strict training program. ‘right now [during the off season] I train from Monday to Saturday and take Sunday off. I have 2-3 sessions every day. ”
- “On Mondays, I have two sessions at a CrossFit gym in the morning and afternoon. One focuses on weightlifting or strength training, and the other focuses on cardio or CrossFit workouts. In the evenings, I work at a commercial bodybuilding gym making accessories for cable machines.
- “On Tuesdays, I have a swimming session in the morning and two CrossFit gym sessions in the afternoon and evening.
- Wednesday will be the same as Monday, with two sessions in the gym and one session in the attached commercial gym.
- “Thursday is my active recovery day. I swim in the morning and sometimes run afterwards.
- “On Friday we have two gym sessions and then one commercial accessories session.
- “On Saturday, I run in the morning and do a CrossFit session in the afternoon.”
This is also her regime when preparing for the Olympics and semi-finals, although she only does commercial gym sessions in the off-season to “strengthen the upper and lower body.”
aerobic exercise
When it comes to cardio, she continually switches it up. “I do intervals using distance and time. Sometimes I do long runs of 40 to 50 minutes, or I do EMOM (a certain number of reps per minute, within 60 seconds, calories, etc.) on my bike or ski machine. Sometimes I do things like hit metrics (I’m a rower).” What she loves about CrossFit is that “it’s always different.” She alternates between short periods of high-intensity aerobic exercise and long periods of low-intensity aerobic exercise.
Choose workout weights
Laura’s tips for choosing your weight: “In some cases, heavier isn’t necessarily better. If you go lighter, you can achieve higher strength.”
She herself uses “all kinds of weights.” Sometimes she calculates the percentage of her past best or uses it according to her mood. She was also quick to reassure us that people “shouldn’t be pressured” into using Rx (short for “as prescribed,” the weight that’s intended for a workout). “I think it’s overrated.”
You would expect a world champion not to get muscle fatigue, but thankfully she’s still like the rest of us. “Just because she’s better doesn’t mean she’s not in pain anymore,” she laughs. “I’m hurting now! This is what happens when your muscles work hard.”
Training she doesn’t enjoy
Are there any aspects of working out that she doesn’t particularly enjoy? She hesitates. “I’ve learned to enjoy all of it. But maybe pure strength gymnastics? Presses, pull-ups, dips, accessory work that isn’t flashy or nice to look at is boring, but you have to do it to get better.” No need.”
rest
Sunday is Laura’s day of rest, and naturally she chooses to take it easy and spend time with her loved ones. She “watches TV on the couch, plays with her dog, goes for a walk. Or spends time socializing. Visiting her parents for lunch, playing board games, meeting her friends. We’ll meet up for coffee.”
It’s fitting that she recharges around her close circle. Despite her athletic prowess, she says she feels strongest “when I’m with her friends and family and they’re there to support me.” Strength “doesn’t necessarily require a heavy barbell.” Interpersonal relationships are also important, given the isolation of being a 24-hour gold medalist. “I’m always alone in the gym, whether I’m training or at home.”
But what matters most is the actual recovery. “I try not to be too active.” I try to get a lot of sleep and rest so that I can start Monday off on the right foot. ” Advice we can all use.
RAD® ONE Shoes
Laura likes to use RAD® ONE shoes for training. “Because it’s a great all-rounder,” it offers support and “stability” when lifting heavy, as well as plyometric “cushioning” with its resilient Swell Foam™ midsole. It is durable enough for rope climbing and lightweight enough for gymnastics.
She finds it “very comfortable when standing up and running.” “These are brands created and tested by the CrossFit community, so we knew they would be a great fit for competition.”
Switching to mountaineering and CrossFit
Before starting CrossFit, Laura was an avid climber, winning national titles and competing in European competitions. But when her brother Kristoff introduced her to her high-intensity fitness regime in 2014, she immediately drank the Kool-Aid. What did she think about her first WOD (CrossFit term for “workout of the day”)? “It was super hard!”
“My parents run a climbing gym. My brother convinced my father to buy barbells, medicine balls, and all kinds of other CrossFit equipment. After I had a really hard climbing session, he I remember him saying, “I have a great idea.” Would you like to do this training with me?
“We did kettlebell swings with pull-ups and barbell movements. I just remember him making me do this awful workout even though I was already so tired.” ”It was a good pain. But before we get too sentimental, she was quick to point out that her healthy competition “wasn’t very friendly.”
Although she primarily trains solo now, training with her brother “really got me hooked on CrossFit” at first. Then the camaraderie she felt with other fans of her program completely won her over. She says, “In climbing, you’re up against the wall yourself. It’s a solitary sport. But in CrossFit, I found a community. You should do it with the person next to you who is struggling.”
She doesn’t climb much anymore, only going to her parents’ gym “when I feel like it, sometimes on Sundays for a few hours.” But she acknowledges its benefits. She says, “Everyone says climbing really strengthened my grip strength.” It also helps her strengthen her coordination, core, and pulling strength. ”
cancellation of the olympics
In the game, Laura lifts a huge 265 lb (120.2 kg) clean and jerk (two weightlifting movements performed with a barbell, in which the lifter first moves the bar from the floor to the shoulders (clean), then from the shoulders to the overhead). I decided to move the bar up to (stupid).
When she weighed the snatch, the third Olympic lift (moving the bar from the floor to overhead), against other lifts, she found that the clean was her favorite. She says, “I feel like the snatch is technical, and the clean and jerk is pure strength.In the snatch, if your technique isn’t on point, it’s easy to make a mistake.Build your muscles with the clean and jerk.” can do.
The first thing that struck me was clean. “My arms are so long that it’s hard to move the bar from my shoulders to my head.” She achieved 210 pounds (95.3 kg) at the Olympics, which means her total of three lifts That meant reaching her incredible Olympic total of 470 pounds (213.2 kg).
nutrition
Of course, Laura takes her food very seriously and has been working with a nutritionist since 2021. “She really helped me fuel my body so that it could perform, that I wasn’t really in pain, and that I had enough energy for two or three meals.” Number of sessions per day. For her, it’s very important to have “enough protein and carbohydrates throughout the season.”
Laura also warns that pre-competition jitters can affect an athlete’s appetite. She says, “Some people are so nervous that they can’t eat much. Their stomachs contract and they can’t force food into them.”
become a role model
Despite her calm composure, there’s still a flicker of disbelief as she considers how quickly her status as a role model has been cemented. “I kind of see myself as that kind of person too. I get messages from time to time. Girls, whether they’re into fitness or not, respect me and what I’m doing. I really appreciate the inspiration.” But she recognizes that this level of oversight comes with responsibility. “There’s a lot of pressure and I feel a little stressed.” I try to do my best. ‘
She sympathizes with young people whose self-esteem has been affected by the curated feeds of social media. “Nowadays, it’s so hard to see who you really are without comparing yourself to others because of TikTok, Instagram, or Photoshop filters, but the most important thing is to focus on yourself. .”
She confirms reality with a look of steel-like determination and resignation. “Who doesn’t want to show us the bad days when a workout doesn’t go as planned or when you don’t want to wake up at 7 a.m.?” “Those days are far more common than people realize. Masu.”
Personally, she said she “really respects” Lindsey Vonn (a former American World Cup alpine ski racer) and Serena Williams, adding, “The way she improved her tennis is incredible. ” he said.
Changes in her relationship with her body
Like many people, Laura struggled with self-consciousness when it came to body image. “When I was younger, I saw girls in magazines being skinny, but I was never like that. I’ve always had this frame – broad shoulders and big legs. Thanks to CrossFit, I “My body changed as the years went on,” gaining a more muscular physique.
But it’s all good, as she’s fully embraced the change and embraced the physical adaptation to the movement. “Everyone’s body changes depending on their job or sport. I’m very proud of what my body can do. It’s like, ‘I have this roll here,’ or ‘I don’t look good in miniskirts.’ Instead, we think, “I can lift this much weight above my head,” or “I can run this fast.” That’s so cool.
Her final thoughts may sound mundane, but they seem frank and sincere from her. “Everyone is interested in your appearance – it’s the first thing you see – but once you get to know them, what’s on the inside is much more important.”
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