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From the very beginning, we believed that bringing interesting people, coaches and amazing holiday destinations together, would result in an incredible holiday experience for anyone interested in training. And we’ve stuck with these three fundamentals every event & holiday since.
And whilst on the topic of our beginnings - our very humble beginnings - it was during a heavy, dark & cold training session at Brunel University’s athletic centre that Founders Alex & Kristian dreamed about how nice it would be to train somewhere sunny and warm… A few lifts later, and a trial run to Limassol, Cyprus - and Beaches & Barbells was born!
Fast forward to today, and we’re still able to do what we love and share amazing experiences with incredible people from all corners of the world.
We’ve partnered up with high quality tour operators & training facilities, and work with the most amazing coaches to create our truly unique holidays.
It’s been an incredible journey so far, and we wouldn’t be here without our community and we just can’t thank you all enough for sticking with us year after year!
Raised in Cyprus, it didn’t take Alex long to realise the potential of Cyprus and its perfect training environment for athletes. With a history in sport ranging from rugby to martial arts, he has now fallen in love with weightlifting and pure strength. Alex has been trained by the Cypriot national coach and is also a member of the Brunel Weightlifting club and coached by Mike Pearman and Kristian McPhee. Alex’s local expertise is second to none and provides a fantastic get service to all Beaches and Barbells attendees.
Emily is one of the most successful female olympic weightlifting athletes that Great Britain has seen. She’s also an all-round legend and talented coach. We’ve been working with Emily since one of our very first holidays in 2016 and it’s safe to say that we want to keep working with her FOREVER. Emily has competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and is also a European, Commonwealth & World Medalist. Her competition experience and coaching effectiveness is second to none.
James’ accolades within the fitness industry are spread over multiple sports. In his youth he was a Regional Champion & National Level Swimmer whilst also playing Rugby for Bristol. He is an undefeated MMA cage fighter, a National Endurance Lifting Champion and even holds a World Record in a weightlifting event. Most recently, he's had a lot of experience and success in CrossFit, having competed in various individual and team competitions over the years. Some of his biggest achievements in CrossFit are qualifying for the CrossFit Regionals & CrossFit Games & taking top place at the Strength in Depth Sanctional Event!
Jessica Gordon-Brown is an Elite GB Weightlifter, Commonwealth Silver Medallist, Former international Judoka, Gymnast and an experienced coach at all three sports! Jess is approachable, humble and always eager to help. Working under Kristian at Brunel University she has spent many hours helping people learn and improve her weightlifting. She is currently working towards qualifying for the Paris Olympics!
Kristian McPhee is a competitive Olympic Weightlifter, a British Champion, Two-time winner of the London & South-East, British U23 Championship and British Student Championship, he is training hard to improve his total and compete for Great Britain! Kristian’s vision is for Beaches and Barbells to enable elite weightlifters of Britain to share their knowledge and experience on training holidays and seminars to help support their training and to help increase the level and numbers of participants in Olympic Weightlifting.
Just back from the Cyprus CrossFit holiday with James and Kristian. Fantastic coaches and varied training incorporating Olympic lifting, skills, drills, gymnastics. Everyone hit a PB and it’s great to train with a mixed crowd in the sun. The Box is 5 mins from the hotel and has plenty of time to chill and relax.
Such a fantastic holiday, had the best time learning so much from the amazing coaches, meeting great people and having loads of fun! Everything was very well organised, with training facilities and location on point!
Recently came back from the CrossFit holiday in Cyprus and it way exceeded my expectations. It was the ideal mix of training and chill out time, perfect for re-setting whilst developing and learning new skills. The coaching was excellent, tailored for mixed abilities and based around what individuals wanted to get out of it, plus you have an individual debrief session at the end of the trip with a ton of useful things to take home to work on. Gym and hotel facilities were great, and Kristian and James went way beyond what was expected in looking after the group. Was lucky enough to have the company of some great people too who I will keep in touch with!
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