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Sam Briggs: Stats, Diet, Workout Tips & More

Female CrossFit athlete and firefighter Sam Briggs is known as being super tough, both mentally and physically. She has some well-earned nicknames like “the engine,” or, “the machine.” She is relentless and has the mental focus necessary to reach the top of the CrossFit world. Keep on reading to find out her stats, diet, workout tips and more.

sam-briggs

Sam Briggs CrossFit

CrossFit Athlete Sam Briggs

Sam Briggs is a popular female CrossFit athlete who’s best achievement was a first place finish in the 2013 CrossFit Games. However, she’s reached the top 10 in numerous other competitions and has been close to a podium finish at two other CrossFit Games.

A big story in 2014 was her failure to quality for the 2014 Games after winning the previous year. This was due to a poor performance on the handstand walk competition during the European regionals.

Life Before CrossFit

Briggs has always been quite active, participating in duathlons and triathlons as well as football (soccer) in the Northern Premiership League and rugby, competing at quite a high level before focusing on CrossFit. Oh yeah, and she’s also a world record holder for indoor rowing. Impressive, right? Another top rower is this athlete: Alessandra Pichelli CrossFit.

She previously worked as a firefighter for 10 years in England but took a sabbatical to concentrate full time on CrossFit. Briggs got her first taste of CrossFit in 2008 and has been hooked ever since! When she initially got started, she found the gymnastics events like walking on hand the most difficult aspect. Unlike many other female CrossFit stars, she never did gymnastics like many other CrossFit athletes (Jessica Griffith for example) when she was a kid so had to start from scratch.

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Sam Briggs: Stats

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 135 pounds

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-crossfit

Sammy Briggs

CrossFit Games Results

Briggs is most well known for winning the CrossFit Games in 2013, although she’s had some very good results in subsequent years.

The way she won in 2012 was all the more impressive considering that she suffered a serious knee injury in 2012, which prevented her from competing. She focused on rehab and then came back stronger and better than even, reaching the top of the podium! Since she couldn’t do a lot with her legs during that year, she focused on her gymnastics skills and it certainly paid off!

2013: 1st

2015: 4th

2016: 4th

2017: 9th

2018: 2nd (35-39 category)

2019: 17th

Benchmark Stats

Here are some of her top results.

Back Squat: 125 kg

Clean and Jerk: 100 kg

Snatch: 82 kg

Deadlift: 175 kg

Max Pull-Ups: 49

Fran: 2:35

Grace: 1:35

5 km run: 18:47

2000 m row: 7:14

FGB: 467

A Day in the Life of Samantha Briggs

Find out what a day in the life of a top female CrossFit athlete looks like!

CrossFit Tips from Sam Briggs

If you want to train like this superstar, here are a few tips to ensure your best performance.

Get Enough Sleep

Sam always makes sure to get enough sleep. 9-10 hours is ideal and she’s usually in bed by 9 or 10 at night. She mentions that it’s vital for her recovery after tough workouts.

Anyone can Get Started with CrossFit

The next tip is that you don’t have to be super fit to do CrossFit. Even 50 year old moms and dads can get started with it! There are classes that cater to all abilities and levels but the key is getting started.

Ideal for Busy People

Briggs also mentions that CrossFit makes the perfect lunch hour workout for busy people. If you only have 20-30 minutes, you can certainly get a quick WOD in and get a great workout. If you have this shorter amount of time, turn up the intensity and save the longer runs or rows for days when you have more time.

Eat Well

Fuel with healthy fats, including coconut oil, nuts, nut butters, avocados, etc. Sam Briggs finds that she gets some good results from either healthier fats vs carbs.

Know your Limits

Train smart by knowing your limitations. Don’t push yourself beyond what you’re capable of, especially when lifting. This can lead to serious injuries. Start slow and gradually work up to bigger loads.

Rock Tape!

Use the tape! Sam Briggs is a big fan of Rock Tape and it’s helped her compete even with some painful injuries. Ask your physiotherapist for some advice about how this product may work for you.

Listen to your Coach

Listen to your coach because they know best! If they’re telling you something, it’s for a reason and it’s meant to help you improve your performance. Be humble and be willing to be teachable and adjust your technique for example.

Rest Days are Important

Train hard but rest hard, and activity. Briggs is known to do some seriously gruelling workouts! But, she also takes time for recovery with easier workouts. She rarely takes an entire day off though and instead will do some biking, skiing or swimming on an off day.

Sam Briggs on How to Dominate Endurance Workouts

Do you want to improve your endurance? Then you’ll definitely want to get these tips and tricks from Samantha Briggs in this video below:

Sam Briggs Diet 

In terms of training or non-training days, there isn’t a big difference in her diet. However, on training days, she will eat more carbs and her goals are to eat 3500 calories that consist of 375g of carbs (veggies not included), 175g of protein and 90g of fat.

In general, she tries to eat fresh food that isn’t processed. This may include things like organic chicken breast, carbs in the form of fresh veggies in a variety of colors (peppers, tomatoes, spinach, etc.) When she’s looking for a more starchy source of carbs, she’ll usually opt for a sweet potato or yam.

Typical Meals, Treats and Snacks

Before breakfast, she’ll have a fresh juice shot consisting of ginger, tumeric, lemon, cayenne pepper and apple cider vinegar.

For breakfast, Briggs eats he same every single day. It’s a scoop of protein powder wish coconut milk, 1 banana and then a scoop of peanut butter.

For lunch, she has a meal prep company prepare meals that fit with her macro goals. She often eats tofu with sweet potatoes or paella.

At dinner, she normally eats vegetarian but will add some salmon or other fish if she wants to add some more protein. Or, she may eat eggs on the weekend.

Her treats are chocolate and pizza which she may indulge in after a particularly tough workout. However, she avoids alcohol, mentioning that it has a really negative effect on her training.

Sam Briggs Instagram

Like many other famous CrossFit athletes, Briggs has a very popular Instagram account. To date, she has more than 600,000 followers and her handle is, “Biceps like Briggs.” You can check it out here:

Sam Briggs Instagram

samantha-briggs

Samantha Briggs, CrossFit athlete

Have your Say about Sam Briggs, CrossFit Athlete

Do you have any comments, questions or thoughts about Sam Briggs? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other CrossFit enthusiasts, like yourself find this useful resource.

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Anne Calderson
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Anne Calderson
Anne is a blog writer from New York, who realized that all of the time she spent sitting in front of her computer was not good for her health. As a blogger for a fitness site, she was already familiar with some of the CrossFit exercises. After noticing a difference in her level of energy, and toning some muscles that had become flabby, Anne's decided to use her love of writing to tell her readers about the benefits of CrossFit.
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About Anne Calderson

Anne is a blog writer from New York, who realized that all of the time she spent sitting in front of her computer was not good for her health. As a blogger for a fitness site, she was already familiar with some of the CrossFit exercises. After noticing a difference in her level of energy, and toning some muscles that had become flabby, Anne's decided to use her love of writing to tell her readers about the benefits of CrossFit.

As an Amazon Associate and Reebok Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What does this mean? I recommend products (only ones that I like) and if you purchase a product through that link, I earn some money.

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As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What does this mean? I recommend products (only ones that I like) and if you purchase a product through that link, I earn some money.

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