Tia-Clair Toomey On Recovering From Her Back Injury Suffered Before the 2022 CrossFit Games
In a video published to her YouTube channel on Sept. 7, 2022, six-time Fittest Woman on Earth® Tia-Clair Toomey shared that, before the 2022 CrossFit Games, she suffered a back injury. While she did not go into detail about the specifics of that injury, she disclosed that it did cause concern as to whether or not she would even be able to compete at the Games.
Fortunately for Toomey and her coach and husband, Shane Orr, their management of Toomey’s injury was sufficient to maintain an elite-level performance that saw her win her sixth Games title despite a lackluster Day One of competition.
After about a month off to heal and recover, Toomey is ramping her training back up to prepare to compete in the Team division at the 2022 Down Under Championship on Nov. 18-20, 2022, in Wollongong, Australia, alongside teammates Brooke Wells and Ellie Turner. Check out the full video below:
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Toomey did not disclose the extent of her back injury or if she sought medical help for it but did say:
It was giving me quite a lot of feedback and it was affecting my training in the lead-up to the Games.
The injury was severe enough that Toomey and Orr discussed whether withdrawing from the 2022 Games just a few weeks before it was slated to begin was the correct thing to do for her health.
I’m taking this off-season seriously and slowly easing into it.
High-impact training and barbell work are off the table until Toomey feels her back has fully recovered. Instead, she’s focusing on low-impact movements like training on the exercise bike and slowly adding work on the rowing machine.
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According to Toomey, the 2022 Down Under Championship will be her first Team competition since 2017. Her team consists of two other CrossFit Games mainstays. Brooke Wells has appeared at every CrossFit Games since 2015 and finished fifth in 2022. Ellie Turner made her Games debut in 2021 when she finished 26th and returned in 2022 with an 18th-place finish.
Featured image: @tiaclair1 on Instagram