Instagram story viewer> @sarahtaaffe> Posts

Coach Sar

@sarahtaaffe

1.1K

followers

1092

following

Head Coach @southendcrossfit
CF-L2
Online Coach
Nutritionist
Swim Coach
PT
@eiq_nutrition
@burgenerstrength
@thegymnasticscourse
@birdbox_coaching

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

Monday getting ready to kick us all in the face like Gia squishing poor Gams? 😅

Before we all start making wildly ambitious plans for the week ahead, a few things worth remembering:

✨ You don’t need to overhaul your entire life by Wednesday. Pick a couple of things you can realistically follow through on.

✨Put your training in the calendar. Not just the sessions you’d do in an ideal world. The ones you can actually make happen this week.

✨Make eating well easier, not more complicated. A few reliable meals, some food in the fridge and a rough plan will get you further than a Sunday-night personality transplant that lasts maybe 24 hours

✨Stop waiting for motivation to make an appearance. Some days you’ll be excited to train. Some days you’ll just turn up. Both count.

✨Leave a little room for life to happen. A missed session, an unplanned meal or a chaotic Tuesday doesn’t mean the rest of the week is a write-off.

✨You don’t need a perfect week. You need one that works with the life you’re actually living.

Here’s to a new week, doing what we can with what we’ve got, and hopefully taking fewer kicks to the face than Gams 😂

Happy Sunday 💛 by @sarahtaaffe

32

0

3 days ago

Showing up doesn’t always feel impressive from the inside

Someone said something to me this week that I think I really needed to hear.

An open gym member came over after class and told me it had been such a great class and that there’s always such a good vibe when I’m coaching.

She wasn’t even in the class. She comes in and does her own weightlifting training, which somehow made it mean even more. She’d just been around it, watching and feeling the energy of the room from the outside.
I’ve been struggling with my coaching energy a little lately.

One of my fears has always been that eventually people will get bored of my classes. And because I know what I feel like when I’m coaching at my absolute best, I’m very aware when I don’t feel like that. When I’m tired. Quieter. Not quite as sharp or switched on.

I think I’ve been assuming everyone else can feel that difference as much as I can.

So it was a really lovely reminder that maybe the version of me that doesn’t feel like she’s doing her best, is still doing a pretty ok job.

And maybe that applies to more than coaching.
If you’re struggling to show up for your training, your nutrition, your work, or just life in general right now, I see you 🫶🏼

You don’t have to be operating at your absolute best for what you’re doing to still count.

Sometimes showing up a little quieter, a little more tired and not quite feeling like yourself is enough for right now.
She probably thought she was making a passing comment.

I think I needed it for more than just my coaching.
And maybe you need that reminder too 💛 by @sarahtaaffe

3

5

7 days ago

I regret to inform you I’ve set myself a challenge

There’s a CrossFit skill I used to have that I haven’t properly trained in a very long time.

And for reasons currently unclear to me, I’ve decided I want it back.

So rather than quietly working on it and resurfacing once I’m vaguely competent again, we’re apparently documenting the evidence

Starting from wherever the hell we are now
Operation: Get It Back. Day 1 ♡

I’m not telling you what it is yet because let’s be honest, we’re milking this for content 👸🏼

So, what do you think I’m trying to get back?

Correct answer gets bragging rights

Wrong answers get my full consideration because frankly I may need a backup plan

Drop your guess below ↓
Please manage your expectations accordingly 🤦🏼‍♀️ taken in Southend CrossFit by @sarahtaaffe

3

6

13 days ago

✨ Just another normal day at work ✨ taken in Southend CrossFit by @sarahtaaffe

3

2

18 days ago

📍 Queenstown

I had a really good weekend

I ate out for every meal. Had drinks. Ate things I wouldn’t normally cook at home. Explored somewhere new. Didn’t train at all. Slept differently.

And then our flight got cancelled and Queenstown very kindly gave us an unexpected extra day 😂

I enjoyed all of it.

And now that I’m home, I cannot explain how excited I am to cook my own food again.

Not because I need to “be good.”

Not because I need to make up for anything I ate while I was away.

It’s just genuinely what I’m craving.

Grocery order placed. Run dates organised. Training going back into the calendar. Sleep schedule getting some attention. And meals that look and feel like the way I normally eat.

Not a reset. Not a detox. Not me trying to undo the weekend.

Just returning to the things that make me feel good.

I think this is probably one of my favourite things about the relationship I have with food and training now.

I can go away and enjoy the restaurant meals, the pancakes, the cocktails and the change of routine without feeling guilty about it.

And I can come home genuinely excited for vegetables, my own kitchen, training, running with my friends and sleeping in my own bed 🫶🏼

Maybe the goal was never to build a routine you’re perfect at sticking to.

Maybe it’s building one you actually want to come back to 💛

Nothing to undo. Nothing to earn back.
Just back to normal.

If coming back to your routine always feels like punishment, maybe the routine itself deserves a little attention ✨ taken in Queenstown New Zealand by @sarahtaaffe

3

2

21 days ago

Your dead bug has options 💅

Same basic movement. Four slightly different ways to challenge it.

1. Regular dead bug
Start here. Move slowly, keep your trunk position controlled and make the reps actually count

2. Banded dead bug
Add some external tension and give your upper body something to work against while the legs move.

3. Plate dead bug
Add load and challenge your ability to maintain position as you apply upward pressure on the weight

4. Foam roller dead bug
Maintain tension as the legs move. The foam roller give you something to actively push against while you work to keep your trunk position controlled

And importantly, you don’t need to graduate from the regular version. Harder isn’t automatically better. If you can create plenty of tension and control with the basic variation, it still has a job to do 🥰

Pick the version that gives you the challenge you’re actually looking for!

Same movement. Different challenge.

Save this one for the next time your program says dead bugs and you fancy giving them a little ✨something✨

Midline Monday ♡

#midlinemonday #accessorywork #crossfit #successories by @sarahtaaffe

3

1

23 days ago

My coaching philosophy is basically: train hard, laugh a lot, and hopefully leave a little better than you came in

I care about the details
I’ll coach your movement
I’ll push you when I know you’ve got more
I’ll celebrate the tiny wins that probably don’t feel like much to you, but they matter ✨

But I also want you to laugh. Talk shit between sets. Make friends. Feel comfortable asking questions. And actually look forward to walking through the door 🫶🏼

Because training doesn’t have to feel miserable to be effective!

Some sessions will be hard. Some weeks motivation will be nowhere to be found. And sometimes your coach will program something that makes you question why you pay her 😂

But if we’re trying to make training something you’ll still be doing years from now, enjoying the environment you do it in matters

Work hard. Laugh even harder. Keep showing up. ♡

That’s the kind of space I want to create for the people I coach

And if that sounds like somewhere you’d fit in, maybe we should work together 💛 taken in Sydney, Australia by @sarahtaaffe

3

7

a month ago

✨ Swimmers Don’t Run ✨

Tell yourself something for long enough and eventually you stop questioning whether it’s actually true

I spent nearly 30 years telling myself I wasn’t a runner.

I grew up swimming. Swimmers don’t run. We’re fish out of water 🐟 It was just one of those things I’d decided about myself somewhere along the way and never really had any reason to question

And the funny thing is, I never set out to prove myself wrong.

I started running because my friends were training for big milestone events and I wanted to spend more time with them

So I tagged along. Then I tagged along again and again

Eventually, runs became weeknight dates. Instead of meeting for a glass of wine, we’d meet for a loop of the park and unload everything that had happened at work and in life that week.

The more we had to get off our chests, the faster we somehow seemed to run without even realising 👸🏼

Then they started going to track, so naturally I tagged along there too.

And weirdly, that felt familiar.

Your lane. Your interval. Hard work. Rest. Repeat.

Oh. I know this game.

Take away the water, keep the lanes and intervals, and apparently swimmer brain returns! For the first time, running felt like it was being presented to me in a language I already understood 🫶🏼

Somewhere in all of that, running stopped being this thing that wasn’t for me and just became… something I did and enjoyed

And then recently my @whoop kindly pointed out that my VO₂ max had been steadily climbing too.

The number going up is great. I LOVE to see a graph heading in the right direction

But I think the much cooler part is realising that at some point, “I’m not a runner” stopped matching the evidence.

There was no big decision to reinvent myself. No moment where I decided I was going to become a runner.

I just kept showing up.

And eventually, the story I’d spent nearly 30 years telling myself stopped being true 💛

Makes me wonder what else I’ve ‘decided’ about myself that I’ve never actually bothered to test ✨ taken in Sydney, Australia by @sarahtaaffe

3

18

a month ago

Want more butterfly pull ups?

Doing more butterfly pull ups isn’t always the answer to getting there

Skill practice matters, obviously … more time on the rig learning the rhythm, timing and movement itself is helpful 🤷🏼‍♀️

But if you’re asking your shoulders, arms and upper body to handle MORE reps, MORE speed and MORE volume, it makes sense to spend some time building the strength and control to support that too 🫶🏼

Consider:
- Strict Pulling
- Pressing Strength
- Pulling Control
- Overhead Strength
- Shoulder Stability
- Elbow Flexor Strength

Sometimes the answer to getting better at the thing, isn’t only doing more of the thing

Build the skill - Build the strength - Build the capacity

Save this one for your next accessory session 💛

#ButterflyPullUps #CrossFitGymnastics #GymnasticsStrength #CrossFitCoach #AccessoryWork taken in Southend CrossFit by @sarahtaaffe

3

1

a month ago

✨ Shift Worker Nutrition Blueprint ✨

Maybe you don’t need more discipline?
Maybe you need a plan that actually understands your life 🩷

Because “meal prep every Sunday, eat at the same times every day and train after work” sounds lovely

Until you work nights
Or 12-hour shifts
Or rotating rosters
Or you’re eating dinner at 3am and breakfast at 4pm 😂

That’s exactly why I created the Shift Worker Nutrition Blueprint!

Not another rigid meal plan telling you what to eat at 7am, 12pm and 6pm

A practical framework designed to help you figure out how to fuel around your roster, your training and your goals, even when no two weeks look the same.

For nurses, doctors, emergency services, mining, aviation, hospitality, retail and anyone else whose working week makes absolutely no sense to the Monday–Friday world 🫠

Different schedules. Same goals. ♡

Tired of trying to force a “normal” nutrition plan into a very not-normal schedule?

Comment below or message me “BLUEPRINT” and I’ll send you the details 🫶🏼

Or send this to the shift worker in your life who’s currently surviving on caffeine, whatever was left in the vending machine and pure determination 😅

#ShiftWorkerNutrition #ShiftWork #NutritionCoaching #FlexibleNutrition ShiftWorkerHealth by @sarahtaaffe

3

0

a month ago

Can confirm: it was definitely a terrible idea 🫪

Letting you choose my first CrossFit class in 6+ months sounded like a good idea at the time…

And unfortunately for me, you chose the workout I absolutely didn’t want to do 😭

First CrossFit class in 6+ months: ✅
Anxiety through the roof: ✅
Immediate regret: ✅
Sweaty butt crack: apparently important enough to announce publicly: ✅
DOMS for the foreseeable future: ✅

Thank you all for your participation in this deeply unnecessary experiment

Please remember that I know most of you personally x taken in Southend CrossFit by @sarahtaaffe

3

3

a month ago

I’ve made a terrible decision

You have 24 hours to choose my first CrossFit class in 6+ months.

Whichever wins, I do.

And because this apparently needs documenting, I’ll be Mic’d up..

No idea what any of it means? Ask @southendcrossfit for the translation, or better yet, come join me so I don’t have to do this alone!

Your move. You’ve got 24 hours to choose my fate ↓ by @sarahtaaffe

3

12

a month ago