Huddersfield’s Luke Yates reveals 6am CrossFit classes help him stay ready
LUKE Yates certainly did not put his feet up and slob out during his enforced absence – 6am classes at a CrossFit centre proved that.
The Huddersfield skipper is one of Super League’s hardest working players, having made 1,027 tackles in 2023 at an average of 42 a game.
But while he may have earned a breather over the off season and a three match ban that ruled him out of the start of the campaign, he revealed he kept the pedal to the metal when he could easily have done nothing.
And crossfit participants in his adopted Saddleworth had a guest alongside them, when most people are still in bed.
“I went away with the missus but I wanted to stay here and do a bit of training,” said Yates.
“My missus goes to a CrossFit gym, Saddleworth CrossFit, and I was going there with her first thing in the morning for 6am classes.
“They do conditioning sessions, so I joined in. When they were doing CrossFit, I just did weights.
“It’s a big season for us. We didn’t have a good season last year and we need to improve but we’ve got the right group – some really positive things came in training.”
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Yates may sound as Aussie as they come and having grown up in bustling Newcastle, New South Wales, and lived in London, Salford and Manchester, he is used to the city life.
But he has set up base in Saddleworth, where green fields dominate and the closest there is to a high rise is a large stable block.
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And the change is sitting rather well as the 28-year-old added before tonight's trip to Castleford: “I really love it. It’s nice and quiet and there are good cafes and restaurants that are pretty local.
“I like living in the countryside now and my partner loves it there. It feels like home for me.
“It’s completely different to Newcastle and life is at a completely different speed. There we live at the coast and on the beach. That’s beautiful but Saddleworth is beautiful in different ways.”