Meet Patrick…
His multi-sport passion and how he stays on top of his game.
Keeping fit is often a time-consuming activity, but, Patrick O’Brien is fiercely passionate about more than one sport – cross fit, rugby and EMS training. His passion for rugby began at an early age and was quickly followed by CrossFit. “I heard about CrossFit back in 2011, but back then I was more interested in looking big and strong, rather than being able to lift with good technique and form,” he says. “I stuck with my conventional bodybuilding style of training that most South African rugby players used to build muscle and improve strength.” Patrick only wandered into a CrossFit gym in 2013 when he was struggling with his conditioning, fitness and general injury prevention.
“I was recommended by my Biokineticist to try CrossFit and quickly realised that my apparent strength was not that great and that I would need to put more attention into my weaknesses and stop feeding into them.” Patrick joined the BODYTEC family in 2015. “The Stellies studio has incredible potential that has never been fully realized,” he explains with a smile.
Thanks to his rugby career, Patrick has had numerous injuries including shoulder surgery, knee surgery three times and chronic osteitis pubis (pelvic pain and inflammation). BODYTEC has helped create balance throughout his body (eliminating most compensation and pain), to rehabilitate his upper back and rotator cuff muscles, as well as work his pelvic floor muscles. “My posture has improved, muscle balance has improved, which makes my body more efficient at everything, I can run, swim and train for longer,” he explains. “The strength gains have also been incredible while using BODYTEC; I never have to worry about stressing out my joints with BODYTEC!”
On his proudest fitness moment, Patrick took part in the IMPI Challenge “Elite” 2018 last month, with an impressive time of 03:07:36.
Patrick’s favourite element of CrossFit is that he can drop weights and get into his zone, and he offers these tips as advice; “Lift with great form before you start lifting heavy. Check your ego at the door, go in with an open mind and you will be amazed at how far your body and mind can go!”
To book a trial session email stellenbosch@bodytec.co.za.
