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Plenty of women in Perth have thought about trying CrossFit and decided it wasn't for them. Not because they weren't interested — because they assumed it was for someone else. Someone fitter, younger, already strong. If that's you, this post is worth five minutes.
Emily joined TandEm at 35, after years of wanting to try CrossFit and not doing it. Her words: "I always wanted to do CrossFit. I thought it was reserved for high performance athletes. I was very wrong."
That belief is common, and it makes sense. Most of what you see of CrossFit online is competition footage — lean athletes moving heavy barbells at speed. That is the sport. It is not what happens in a regular class at a gym in Balcatta on a Tuesday morning. A class is ordinary people of all ages doing a workout that has been adjusted to fit them, with a coach watching every rep.
The whole class does the same workout, but nobody does it at the same weight, the same pace or even with the same movements. Can't do a pull-up? You'll use a band or a ring row. New to a barbell? You'll start light — sometimes just the bar — and build from there. The workout meets you where you are, and it keeps meeting you there as you improve. That's true whether you're 25 or 65, and whether you've trained before or never lifted a weight in your life.
This one comes up a lot, so let's deal with it. Building noticeable muscle mass takes years of deliberate, focused work and a lot of deliberate eating. It does not happen by accident, three sessions a week. What does happen is that everyday life gets easier: groceries, kids, stairs, the garden. Feeling strong is a different thing from looking like a competitor, and it's available to everyone.
Worth knowing: TandEm is owned and coached by a woman. Emma Bevan has run the gym since 2015 and still competes as a Masters athlete. Women aren't a special category here. They're half the room.
Nobody's first session at TandEm is a regular class, which means the thing many women dread — walking into an established group and being the obvious beginner — never happens. Every new member starts with Fundamentals: three one-hour sessions, one-on-one with a coach, booked at times that suit you outside regular classes. It costs $220. You learn the movements properly, at your pace, with nobody watching. By the time you join a class, you know what you're doing and the coaches know you.
Plan for a minimum of three sessions a week. This matters more than most beginners realise. Train once or twice a week and your body never adapts — you stay sore, you don't improve, and motivation drains away. Three sessions a week is where it turns: soreness settles, movements start to feel natural, and progress becomes visible. It's the difference between having a crack at CrossFit and actually getting somewhere with it.
If you've been circling CrossFit for a while, the simplest next step is a conversation, not a workout. Book your free fitness consultation and come have a chat at the gym in Balcatta. We'll talk about where you're starting from and what you want, and if it's a fit, we'll book your Fundamentals sessions at times that work for you. No pressure, no obligation — just a straight answer to the question Emily wished she'd asked years earlier.
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