If you follow her on Instagram, you would know why she is called Biceps like Briggs and her nickname by the way is The Engine. Her infinite energy, endurance, power, and strength is pretty breathtaking. In her words, “I compete as I'm truly passionate about pushing my limits and seeing what is actually possible!” Most of the people look up at her as a woman of steel because of her amazing endurance, determination, and her passion to never give up which by the way, also earned her nicknames such as “the engine” or “the machine”. There’s so much that presents her as the quintessential competitor, but by far the most powerful thing about Sam is that all these notions that seem as superhuman in the sight of the common people, come truly quite straightforward to her.

Having just a 62kg bodyweight she can deadlift a 175kg - and no, that’s not a typo. She can lift almost three times more than what she weighs. She can also perform snatch which is moving a weight from ground to overhead with a weight of 80 kg and back squat with a whopping 130 kg! That is pretty serious right here.

If you’re intimate with CrossFit drills, her Karen time which is 150 wall-balls against the clock, is 4:26, and Fran which is 21-15-9 reps of 30kg barbell thrusters and pull-ups are 2:14. These are the kind of workouts that would take an average person somewhere between 8 to 12 minutes.

The 37-year old athlete from Leeds, a former firefighter and unskilled footballer has been crowned with the title of being the fittest female on earth in 2013 at the Reebok CrossFit Games. After obtaining The Dubai CrossFit Championship title in December of 2018, as well as the Australian CrossFit Championship title, she is now the UK’s most influential female hopefully putting her best foot forward in the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games in July.

Samantha Briggs Statistics

• Height: 170 cm
• Weight: 135 pounds or 62 kgs
• Country: UK
• Born: 1982
• Affiliation: CrossFit Black Five
• Nickname: The Engine
• Most difficult movement for Briggs: Overhead squats because of her tight shoulders
• Profession: Firefighter

Samantha Briggs Achievements and Accomplishments

Briggs is most known for her performance in the CrossFit Games of 2013 where she won the title. She has some really good results in the subsequent years too, however.

It was quite surprising how she won in 2013 because, in the year 2013, she had a massive knee injury that stopped her from giving her best shot. She focuses a lot on recovery and came back even stronger and rather better which leads her to reach the top of the podium. Since then, she could not really do a lot. However, she focused on her gymnastic skills and developed her lost agility back to win the subsequent titles and made some awesome records.2013: 1st2015: 4th2016: 4th2017: 9th2018: 2nd (35-39 category)2019: 17th

Benchmark Stats

Here are some of her top results.Back Squat: 125 kgClean and Jerk: 100 kgSnatch: 82 kgDeadlift: 175 kgMax Pull-Ups: 49Fran: 2:35Grace: 1:355 km run: 18:472000 m row: 7:14FGB: 467https://www.instagram.com/p/CF5sP2jlDe1/

Samantha Briggs Workout Routine

Sam Briggs has always been pretty active and full of energy all her life. She participated in many duathlons and triathlons and some games in football or soccer in the Northern Premiership League and rugby. She competed at quite a huge level before she focused on CrossFit. By the way, she also has a world record for indoor rowing!

She has an athletic background and she played a lot of sports like soccer, etc which really helped her in the CrossFit challenges that she took. She built upon her previous challenges which kept her going even now. In her words, "I played football or soccer as you guys call it, for a long time. I used to do a lot of running so when I retired from football that’s when I took up triathlons and duathlons, and that helped prepare me immensely for the longer events. I’ve never sat in a rower for that long in my life but the mental aspect of going for a long duration kept me going. I think that was more of a mental test than a physical test. Referencing the Row Event of the 2013 CrossFit Games where athletes had to row 21,097 meters."She worked as a firefighter for almost 10 years in England but took a break just to focus her full time on CrossFit and got her first participation in 2008 and has been hooked onto it ever since. When she got started at first, she found out that gymnastics events like walking on her hands etc were pretty difficult. Unlike many other female stars who compete in CrossFit, she never really did gymnastics so she has to start literally from square one like, for example, Jessica Griffith.She had a knee injury in 2012 which still faces problems sometimes. She does a lot of strength-building exercises and makes sure that she is giving her body proper time to heal and be in the best possible shape. In her experience, "It’s still something I’m working on. I’m now working with Laura Sweatt who teaches the Powerlifting certifications and she programs my strength training. I still need to work on strength, but there are also other areas that I still need to work on, so I still have a gymnastics coach, still do CrossFit. I’ve always had a pretty good engine but I keep trying to improve in every area and not let my strengths become my weaknesses."https://www.instagram.com/p/CFsvhDYFAM2/The knee injury really helped her think about her other aspects which were pretty great. She got some extra time focusing on herself rather than sulking. She made the most of it. In her words, "I had to sit back and focus on some of my weaknesses. There was a long time where I couldn’t do anything with my legs, so I had to focus on gymnastics. Then coming back from the injury, I had to work on my mechanics and make sure that my movement patterns were more efficient and that my technique was better."Here are a few groups of exercises that Sam loves to build her endurance, agility, and stamina.

SQUAT, HOP, RUN

Every 4 mins x 10

• 1 back squat at 90%
• 12 bench hops
• 5 x 10m shuttles

Each round as fast as possible

BARBELL COMPLEX

Regionals training begins … so the complexes are back ??‍Give this one a try:

• Clean pull
• High Hang Clean
• 2 Alternating Split Jerks
• Back Squat
• 2 Alternating between Split Jerks

It’s going to be a fun few weeks … who’s excited for CrossFit Games Regionals already?”

BIKE ERG WORKOUT

20 min average watt test on the bike erg ??‍Take your average watts divided by your body weight in kg to give you a score:1 = novice2 = fair3 = good4 = excellent ?5 = exceptional ?6 = world-class ?"At 62kg my aim to be able to hold 310 watts? to achieve an exceptional rating … always aim high and push your body to realize your potential ??” says Briggs.

LEG PUMP

Want to know what a real leg pump feels like, follow this Sam Briggs leg pump workout:

• 4 rds
• 6 min bike for max ave. watts
• 50 air squats
• 40 walking lunges
• 30 jumping lunges
• 20 jumping squats
• 10 pistols

Doesn’t look hard enough for you? try wearing a weight vest and let me know how your legs feel on that last set of pistols?

KB SNATCHES

“100 Kettlebell snatches for time.”

ASSAULT BIKE WOD

She still does a lot of biking because she loves it so much so she cannot really stop doing it completely. In fact, it helps her a lot. She says, "Yeah, I still like to take my bike out on active recovery days. I don’t do it too often now. I did my last competitive duathlon in September 2010, because I was finding it hard to gain strength while going long distances."“When the aircon in the gym is bust you have to keep the members cool somehow, it is time to perform her assault bike WOD program!12 rounds30 all-out effort Assault Bike calories4:30 restRest 10:00 between round 6 & 7. No gaming is a test of pure effort so if you can walk in the end you didn’t go hard enough!!!https://www.instagram.com/p/CE7xFQAleEk/She was asked if she ever conserves her energy on a WOD that is not up to the mark for the kind of WOD which will actually suit her better. She says, "Well, I don’t think you can afford to reserve yourself at any point, but on the Nancy workout at the 2013 Games, for example, there was one person in front of me when I was coming into the final round and everyone was screaming for me to overtake her on the run and I was like, ‘No, no I’m fine,’ because I knew that she’d go unbroken on the overhead squats and I planned to do it in two sets. I know that she’d have gotten ahead of me anyway. So for me to go out and push myself that little bit extra could have meant that I’d have nothing left in me for the next event. Whereas if I conserved my energy, I knew that I could hold on to second place and I was happy with that."

SQUAT CLEAN LEG DEATH

In 8 min find 1 rep max squat cleanRest 4 mins

• Every 3 mins x 10
• 2 squat cleans at 85%
• 10 jumping lunges
• 5 x 10m shuttle sprints

Your legs will thank her later, probably.She also does work on her mental aspect which helps her to be able to test herself and push her boundaries a bit more. She explains, "I think it comes into play every time you do a MetCon. Sometimes I’ll do workouts where I’m not allowed to game it. I just have to go all out to fail to try to test myself and to push my boundaries a little more. At the competition, I then know what I have in me so that I can plan a workout if I need to without going to failure."Inhe opinion, efficiency, and technique to lift and perform workouts help a lot in any kind of performance. It is a great way to make yourself perform better. She says, "I think it makes a big difference. If you’re not efficient with the movements, you’re going to be fatiguing your muscles more than other people. It’s going to be harder for you to recover and by the end of the first day you’re going to be a lot more tired than some of the other athletes that have been more efficient with the movements."Some things actually give her a very hard time and she finds it difficult but she still would do it. For her that exercise is, "Overhead squats, I don’t like them. I’ve got really tight shoulders so it’s just a really uncomfortable position. I work a lot on mobility and have to spend a lot of time warming up my shoulders for overhead squats."

Since her knee injury, she feels that her mobility and stretching is the way to go. Here is what she says, "If you want to get better, mobility needs to get factored into your warm-up, definitely! Don’t wait until you’re injured."By she did you know that she is a coach too? Here is what she says about it, "Well, six friends own the box together. We’ve got a good group going and a great atmosphere. Last year during the Open it was fantastic to see how many people participated. Our gym probably doubled in membership during that time. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens this year and just seeing people get involved. It’ll be a fun time."After her workouts, she feels that she needs to recover well too. She makes sure she gets perfectly well before she begins doing something new. And she does give her fans some tips for recovering. She says, "Sleep. And, make sure that you get enough food. I don’t think people eat enough really or eat good food. I make sure to have recovery shakes and fish oil. After a workout, I liketo jump on a rower or Airdyne and go really slow with really high resistance to flush lactic acid out of the body. I think that really helps."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIPOovBc6ksHer training schedule depends on what day is it and how intense she wants to go. She performs various kind of activities which depends on her energy levels. She says, "It depends on the day. So yesterday was my ‘recovery’ day and I had a 90-minute bike and an hour’s swim in the afternoon. The bike was 90 minutes because there was warming-up and cooling down. And then swimming was in the afternoon, so on my recovery day that was 3 hours of training. I train every day but have two lower intensity recovery days, which normally fall on a Thursday and Sunday."Her typical training day consists of, in her words, "So today we’re in the gym for 9 am/9.30 am, and we’ll probably be finished for around 7 pm. But we’ll take little breaks in between." Also, she does not take even a single day off when she is not moving! That's pretty exhausting and full of determination. But her vision for taking a break is different. She feels that everyone has different bodies and she really goes by her instinct to do stuff. Her rest day mantra is explained by her saying, "Different people respond differently; you’ll find more powerful athletes will have to have the full rest day off, and then there are others that are more aerobic-based and endurance-based and they perform better when the body’s in a state of fatigue. So if I take a rest day, my next two days’ training is actually worse than if I do, like, a 90-minute bike."

Even for her, there are days when training gets especially tough and she would not feel like training. She says, "Especially at the end of a hard week. Sometimes you don’t want to drag yourself into the gym but you always feel better once the workouts are finished."

15 Amazing CrossFit Tips from Sam Briggs

If you aim to work out like Sam Briggs, here are some super-smart tips that she gives for her fans and people who want to get inspired.

Get Enough Sleep

Sam Briggs makes sure that she is having enough sleep for proper recovery. She thinks, 9 to 10 hours of sleep is pretty fine. She is usually in bed by 10 maximum. She thinks that it is pretty important for her health and to recover after her workouts.

Anyone can Get Started with CrossFit

The next thing is that you do not have to be super-duper fit to begin CrossFit. She says that even a 50-year-old can begin it without any experience but just the kind of determination. Some classes will help you strive for the kind of motivation that you might feel you are lacking. The key, however, is to get started.

Ideal for Busy People

Briggs also feels that if someone is pretty busy and on the feet at all times, the CrossFit training is perfect for them. If you only have 30 minutes on your hand, probably during a break or after your work, CrossFit is perfect for people. The workout will help you because it will turn up the intensity of your thing and help you save your time and energy for the days when you actually do have time.https://www.instagram.com/p/CEXsMd-laPu/

Eat Well

Make sure that your food is filled with healthy kinds of fats which include coconut oils, nuts, and nut butter with a dash of avocado probably. Briggs feels that people are afraid of adding fats to their diet but to be a pro like her, she recommends adding her diet with healthier kinds of fats and carbs.

Know your Limits

You have to train smart but it is important to know your limits too. Do not limit yourself with anything and push beyond what you can do especially when it comes to lifting. This can lead to a lot of injuries so you gonna start slow and work gradually to get bigger and better.

Rock Tape!

Sam Briggs is a great fan of Rock Tape and tells everyone about how you can use it to improve your workouts. It has also helped her recover from her injury. However, she does like to give some tips about working with the bands and to consult an expert before you try it with yourself.

Listen to your Coach

She advises her fans to listen to their professionals and experts. If they are telling you a thing trust that it will be for your own good. Trust that it is for a reason and it is meant to improve your own performance. Always be humble and willing to learn things and adjust yourself according to that.

Rest Days are Important

Working hard is important but so are rest days. Briggs makes sure that it is important to do some intensive workout but she also makes sure that she is having a great time for recovery. She rarely takes a full day off and workouts every single day but she believes in active recovery which means a break from heavy lifting and doing some lighter workouts like biking, hiking, swimming, or skiing.Work Your WeaknessesIt is extremely important to work on your weakness. She suffered from a knee injury which did her good instead of bad. She took her recovery time out to find a good gymnast and work on her weakness. She also spent a lot of time with her functional movement therapist to make sure that she was able to squat and lift equally. There were so many positive things that happened to her instead of the negatives. The rehab helped her so much along with the newly employed techniques which improved her mobility and gymnastic efficiency in turn making her a better athlete.Go by FeelShe goes by her instincts, which means that if she does not wanna work, she probably won't. She will take a day off instead. Here's what she said, "I will still do more training than is planned if I feel OK, but I always let my coach know what I've done so it can be factored in. Also, I'm more aware of programming and the effects of training so I'm not constantly beating my body up anymore. I do now allow some recovery time too!"Train Hard, Rest HardShe trains hard but makes sure that she is also resting a lot. She alternates her days by training hard and resting even harder so that she does not succumb to injuries. She will often alternate between lower and higher intensity exercises. In her own words, "I typically train every day but two of these will be lower intensity or active recovery days. The normal training day will be broken into two sessions both ranging from two to three hours, depending on loads or intensity of training employed. I try to mix the training up as much as I can."She also goes by her instincts which would involve doing things like taking a rest day when she would need or just performing on a bit slower intensity. She explains this by saying, "There’ll be days when there’s no real intensity, so you won’t be lifting weights, you’re not putting that stress on your body, but we’ll do movement mechanics so you’re actually feeling better for the next day’s training."Rest ActivelyFor her, recovery is a priority because otherwise, she will end up having any kind of injuries which will definitely slow her down even more. It is a great way to train with a balance of both efficiency and resting ability. She says, "I see guys like him (Sam points at Train Manchester’s physio) regularly, to keep my body in shape and stuff. The coach I’m working with now is a movement specialist, so sometimes it’s hard because he’s very controlling about what you can do, but this year at the Regionals and the Games I’ve felt the healthiest that I’ve felt in the last few years, so I credit that to moving better and being better prepared. Sometimes, it’s easy to do too much volume so your body starts breaking down, so it’s about finding that balance. As an athlete you feel like you wanna do more – you should be doing more – and then it’s the coach’s job to be like, ‘No’."She believes in active recovery which is moving her body during the rest day but avoiding any kind of strenuous workouts. In her words, "I don't typically have a complete rest day—I'll have active recovery days where I enjoy getting out on my bike, going swimming or skiing."https://www.instagram.com/p/CDcjFmDFURo/Her after workout ritual is mostly taking a good nap. And she does not really like to take a lot of showers either. Thus, she explains, " I don’t like baths. I don’t like being too warm… For me, it’s about making sure I get enough sleep, so I get like, 9-10 hours’ sleep a night, and that’s the biggest thing for recovery. I normally go to bed around 9-10 pm"She also gets tired after such a strenuous day at the gym and work but she feels coming back home takes all the tiredness away and she keeps herself busy with stuff. However, she does get tired enough to sleep by 10 pm every single day! She explains, "Oh yeah, I’m tired, but I just get distracted by doing stuff in the evening. I feel like this [points to the CrossFit box] is the ‘work’ stuff and when I finish it’s like 8 pm/8.30 pm and I want to have some time for myself. So that’s maybe the reason I stay up so late. I want to reward myself for the day or something like that, instead of just going to sleep and it all repeats [in the morning]. I’m trying to change it now because I feel such a difference just by sleeping more. Just the energy I have in training now."Avoid AlcoholShe makes sure to clean each time and will also avoid alcohol if necessary. However, she would also indulge if she wants to but does not really drink. In her own words about her diet, she says, "I try to eat as clean as possible. If I fancy a treat I'll have it and not worry about it. My favorite treat is a bar of white chocolate and raspberry cookie. I don't really drink. Occasionally I will indulge, but I find alcohol has the biggest negative effect on my training so I see it as a waste of time."Competing Isn't EverythingFor her, competing is not everything. She even takes some breaks which she feels are pretty essential. She explains it by saying, "I'm still a firefighter at the moment. I just took a career break to concentrate on the games this year. Along with that I part own TRAIN Manchester/CrossFit Black Five. Sometimes it does get stressful trying to juggle everything and ensure I manage to get my training in. I guess that's life though!"Specific Stretching RitualsFor her, stretching is very important but it also depends on the kind of exercise that you are planning to do. You need to perform specific stretching exercises that will help you built that stamina and agility. In her words, "It depends on the type of stretching. So you need range, but you need to be strong in that range, so I’ll have specific stretches that I have to do, but they’re not like static stretches where you’re switching the muscles off. You need to be activating – we achieve movement through movement as opposed to stretching."

Samantha Briggs' Diet Plan

When it comes to following a diet for her training and non-training days, there is not much of a difference in her diet. However, what is different is that she eats a bit more carbs and calories on other training days. She makes sure to eat 3500 calories that would have 375 grams of carbs which doe not include vegetables, 175gm or protein, and 90 gm of fat in her diet.In general, she also tries to eat fresh food that is not really processed which can include things like organic chicken breast for protein, for carbs she loves to has veggies and fruits like peppers, tomatoes, and spinach. When she would need to up her carb intake or need more starchy kind of foods, she would choose to have a sweet potato or a yam.She usually is a clean eater and tries to cook all her meals by herself. She chooses the best and the healthiest options when she is dining ut which includes a lot of veggies and protein. In her words, "I eat a clean diet. Which means trying to stay clear of processed foods. It mainly consists of eggs, meat, veggies, good fats, some nuts, and fruit. I do have oats in my breakfast with whole milk, but then the rest of my meals won’t have any grains or dairy."She is not really a grazer and she takes 3 proper meals in a day but every time she comes from working out, she drinks a protein shake. In her words, "I’m not a grazer so I stick to the traditional 3 meals a day, but after each training session I have a protein shake." She also makes sure that she is getting enough food in her system so that she has constant energy after her training. It also helps her recover. In her words, "I ensure I’m getting enough food in to fuel my body for my training sessions and competition as this is one of the main elements for recovery!"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgy5SIQz-XA

Typical Meals, Treats, and Snacks

Before breakfast, she would have a shot of fresh fruit juice which consists of turmeric, lemon, cayenne pepper, and ACV (Apple cider vinegar.) For breakfast, she will have the same kind of food every day which consists of a scoop of protein powder with coconut milk, a banana, and also a scoop of peanut butter for good kinds of fats.For lunch, she has a meal prep company that prepares the food for her and which also fits her macros. She usually likes to eat tofu and some sweet potato. She also eats paella sometimes. For dinner, her meals are usually pretty normal that will have some veggies but she also adds some protein sources like salmon or other kinds of fish. She also likes to eat eggs for the weekend.Her usual treats which she eats are chocolate and pizza which she may also like to indulge in after her tough and strenuous workouts usually/ She avoids alcohol completely because it has a very negative effect on her training. She does not have a huge difference between her training and non-training days. In her own words, "On training days there are a lot more carbs. My first meal after training will be high in carbs and then the carbs will reduce and the fat content will increase." She often struggles with her weight so she eats whenever she is hungry and maintains consistency. She says, "One thing I struggle with often is keeping on weight especially in the run-up to competitions. For me, it’s important to get enough food in so if I’m hungry I’ll eat."https://www.instagram.com/p/CCUcUlcFc8l/

Training day macros

• 3,500 calories
• Carbs: 375g (veg not included)
• Protein: 175g
• Fat: 90g

Before breakfast

She has a before breakfast ritual that she likes to follow and which usually consists of, in her own words, "Every morning I have a 30-second cold shower to wake myself up. Then I have a juice shot made of fresh ginger, turmeric, squeezed lemon, cayenne pepper, and apple cider vinegar. I blend it a couple of days in advance so it brews and gets hotter three or four days in."

Breakfast

Her breakfast is pretty much the same every single day. She explains in an interview saying, "My breakfast is the same every single day. It’s normally a scoop of protein powder (35g), oats (75g) with almond and coconut milk, one mashed banana, and then when it's cooked, a nice heaped teaspoon of peanut butter. The peanut butter is meant to be 30g but I don’t judge it well, especially if I know is going to be a hard training day!"

Lunch

She rarely makes her lunch for herself and relies on other companies to get her lunch. In her words, "I have a meal prep company that makes my meals to fit the macros I require. They do tofu goujons and normally I'll have that with sweet potatoes or paella."

Snacks

She describes her favorite snacks saying, "For snacks, I have a chia seed pudding or a protein bar."

Dinner

She usually eats plant-based meals for her day but in the evening she does like to have a bit more protein. She explains her breakfast choices saying, "I eat vegetarian in the day but for my evening meal, if I feel like I need a little bit of extra protein, sometimes I’ll add some salmon or other fish. If I fancy animal products on the weekend, it might be eggs."

Treats

She also likes to take some kinds of treats throughout the day and her main treats are usually on the weekends. She loves chocolate and pizza and says, "Treats would normally be on a weekend. I do like chocolate and pizza."

She indulges only after she has worked out hard on the day. In her words, "We have a crazy training day on a Saturday and I absolutely love it. There’s anywhere in between 10 and 20 of us and we do this huge big horrible session together and then go out and smash a load of food. So that’s kind of what I look forward to."

Her diet usually consists of pretty basic things. She does not follow anything too specific but she makes sure all of her meals are making her feel nourished. In her words, " I just try to eat clean. It’s pretty much Paleo, but I still have some dairy and occasionally I’ll have oatmeal. I don’t Zone. I did in 2011 and I learned portion sizes and I feel with the amount of volume that we do, if I’m hungry I just eat. I don’t like to be hungry."She also really loves to have cookies, she has a favorite cookie type too which she explains in a statement saying, "I like cookies. White chocolate raspberry cookies are my favorite."

Easy training day/rest day macros

• 3,300 calories
• Carbs: 250g (veg not included)
• Protein: 150g
• Fat: 125g

Her weekdays are pretty strict where she likes to follow a good diet and follow a set pattern. However, she loves it and does not feel it is too hard to do. In her words, "During the week, everything is pretty regimented and routine - my training is on a schedule and my eating is strict so that at certain times of the day I can get the best out of my sessions." She works really hard on a Saturday and then, she feels like she deserves a great and that's actually when she has one. She does not really mind indulging on a weekend which she feels is also pretty fine because on weekdays she follows a pretty regimented diet! In her words, "Sundays are normally easier training days so it doesn’t matter if I’ve indulged on a Saturday, whereas if I’ve indulged in the week I tend to feel it affects my next training session."

When she is not in training or after a big event when she takes a few days or probably weeks off, she eats pretty normally and goes for lunch or dinner with her friends too. However, she makes sure that as soon as she is back to work, she is also back on her diet. In her own words, "After a competition, I have a few days where I just kind of ease off - like after The Australian CrossFit® Championship, if I fancied chocolate, I had some chocolate; if my friends were going out for pancakes, I went out for pancakes. I had two weeks where my training was reduced and by the third week the training had started again and it was back onto the strict diet."It definitely takes some sort of restriction and self-determination when you have to be a CrossFit athlete like Samantha Briggs and following such a diet would definitely help her stay her best self. She makes sure to post such stuff on her social media handles like Instagram and Youtube just so her fans could stay updated too.