Young Guns

Reece Mitchell is well known in CrossFit circles as a successful teen athlete. At only 18 he has already made it to the Games twice at age 15 (came 3rd) and 17 (came 4th). Recently his focused has shifted to the business side of things as he has joined forces with another young entrepreneur, Harry Marshall, to bring us MitchellFit.

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As a young teen tell us about your early years in CrossFit?‍

I got into CrossFit when trying to regain fitness and some core strength after picking up an injury whilst playing football. I  started training 6 days a week, with the coaches at Peak Performance in Liverpool starting on a mixture of strength programs, gymnastics, Met-con and class workouts. My coaches were fabulous and kept me so motivated. Soon I was hooked and started to compete in local competitions and placed highly. Next stop was to qualify for the Games, which I did when I was 15 and came 3rd! I picked up a glute injury during the Games which forced me to take a year off to concentrate on movement and rehabilitation. But it was worth it as I came back stronger and got to the Games for a second time.‍

You are only 18 and have already attained huge successes. What's next?‍

So this year I’ve enjoyed being a teenager and my training has taken a ‘little’ more of a back position. I was meant to be in Dubai starting a coaching job at InnerFight and then Covid-19 hit and I’m still in Liverpool - much to my mother’s delight!‍

Like a lot of people Covid-19 has had a big impact on your plans?‍

Yes and no. So I’m still at home and not in the sun, which is a bummer, however this lockdown has opened up new opportunities. It has given me the time to really focus on my business, MitchellFit and start planning its future growth in a coherent manner. I’ve also loved the downtime with my family.‍

You set up MitchellFit with a business partner- how did this come about?‍

I have been heavily involved with the British Teen Championships over the last few years taking 5 camps for them. Each camp involved coaching the teens, working out together, motivating and inspiring them to push themselves to be the best they can. I met Harry at one of the camps, he’s a year older than me, but we just clicked, sharing the same ideals but definitely having different strengths and weaknesses! Our partnership really works. Harry is doing a Business degree so he is the master of strategy, marketing and budgets and I bring my knowledge and experience to the programming.‍

What makes MitchellFit unique?‍

So far we have 2 programs that were launched during lockdown. Our main aim is to be fully inclusive. Once we come out of lockdown people will be able to access subscription based programs, plus one offs, such as how to get better at burpees etc. Further down the line we hope to offer youth based programming too, drawing on all my experience. So watch this space as we’ve only just got started!‍

How has FITR helped with your start up business?‍

We were delighted to have found FITR as we needed to find over £15k to set up our own website to provide our programming. Since we are both relatively young and students this was a lot of money to find. Luckily we discovered FITR which provides us with everything we need to offer our programming without the cost!