In the world of CrossFit, rankings matter, and Alex Younger’s name frequently topped the leaderboards.
Lauded as the Fittest Man in the CrossFit Games in Kuwait in 2017 and then in Hong Kong in 2018, Alex Younger began his affair with CrossFit at the age of 16. Such accolades undoubtedly take a lot of time and effort to achieve, but that hasn’t stopped him from exploring other facets of life. If anything, he seems to thrive even more in uncharted territories.
After the pandemic, Younger wasted no time getting his hands dirty with new challenges in the F&B industry and eagerly preparing for fatherhood, all while maintaining his dedication to CrossFit, both as an athlete and a coach.
In a change of pace from always being on the move, Younger recently sat down with TMS to talk about his enduring passion for sports, particularly his longtime love of CrossFit, as well as his deep connection with food and how he’s taken it to new heights with the launch of his passion project, Young'un Kitchens.
From Newcastle to Kuwait
Originally from Newcastle in the northeast of England, Younger first got into CrossFit when he was just a teenager. He was drawn to CrossFit’s dynamic training methodology, which particularly appealed to him against the rigid structure of school life.
“If I was to just do one sport, if I was just to do a marathon run or just a singular domain exercise, I would tap out really quickly,” Younger explains. “I find it pretty boring. But the beauty with CrossFit is that it is constantly changing … and school is obviously not that. I had to find ways that I could get through school with finding interests that allowed me to do that. I obviously excelled at things I enjoyed, but if I didn’t enjoy it, Alex barely turned up for it.”
CrossFit, a rigorous regimen that marries high-intensity interval training with elements of gymnastics, endurance and weightlifting, demands not only resilience but also versatility. "To be good at CrossFit, you have to be good at all of them," Younger asserts. He goes on to describe the grueling nature of CrossFit competitions. "[It] could be anywhere between six to eight events across a two to three day period … To do well, you have to kind of place in the middle of the table in everything."
While CrossFit offered Younger the variety he craved, weightlifting was where he shined the most. "I excelled in the weightlifting stuff, so I naturally fell into doing that more," he says. This specialization, he reveals, balanced out less favorable events such as endurance and, in turn, allowed him to find his place at the highly competitive table, a strategy athletes often use to leverage their strengths.
Younger's global journey through CrossFit really took flight after university, starting with a pivotal competition in Copenhagen. “The end of university was such a whirlwind for me, and I was training pretty darn hard in the last year of university in order to make what was called regionals, which is the semifinals at the time. I was lucky enough that I qualified,” he recalls, the excitement of the time still palpable in his voice. This led to a three-day period in Copenhagen, where he found himself immersed in the tight-knit community of CrossFit despite being miles away from home. “Everybody knows each other eventually,” he says.
In what can only be described as a twist of fate, a fellow competitor who recognized Younger’s potential offered him a coaching position in Kuwait. “I'd never really heard of Kuwait. I asked my dad, ‘Where the hell is this place?’” he laughs, recounting the initial shock and curiosity that marked the beginning of a significant chapter in his life. Weighing his lack of job prospects in the UK against the adventure that lay ahead, he took a leap of faith. “Three days after Copenhagen, I moved to Kuwait. Took a risk, and then four years went by, and I loved my time out there."
Younger’s lifestyle underwent a complete transformation while he was in Kuwait, as he fondly recalls. “I was basically a full-time athlete, so I was paid to coach … Outside of those two or three hours [of coaching] a day, I was training for five to six hours and [the] lifestyle was food orientated, socializing was based around stuff that I was interested in versus boozing and partying and all that sort of stuff that a regular 21-year-old would do.” Acknowledging this period’s role in shaping his future, he reflects, “It kind of reset in tone kind of the rest of my life, which I think if I hadn't have done that … it would have looked very different.”
Inside the mind of a champion
In the world of CrossFit, rankings matter, and Younger’s name frequently topped the leaderboards. In 2017, he ranked No. 1 as the Fittest Man in Kuwait, and then the following year, he topped the list as the Fittest Man in Hong Kong. “CrossFit basically gives you your rankings of where you are worldwide, where you live, the country you're in, all of that sort of stuff,” Younger explains.
Reflecting on his competitive days, he notes, "The Alex that’s in front of you right now and the Alex that was competition are two very different people.” His lifestyle, including diet, sleep and relationships, all revolved around his ambition of remaining at the top. “When you have everything on such a secular level like that, it’s very easy to not get distracted by the noise,” he says.
While studying sports sociology at university may not have prepared him to be in the top rankings of CrossFit, Younger attributes his success to learning from his best friend who plunged into the CrossFit world before him. “I was blessed that my best friend growing up got into CrossFit before I did, so he basically made a lot of mistakes and then helped me not make those mistakes. So I was always a couple of steps ahead of him in terms of [being] a couple of years younger.”
Diving into Younger’s evolution from a competitive athlete to a coach, one thing is strikingly clear: it’s not just a change of titles but a shift in focus and philosophy. “CrossFit and being an athlete is [so] singular – you're so kind of zoned into yourself – and coaching is the complete opposite, it’s your care for everybody else, and for myself, I've always coached, and I've always loved the idea of that.”
As he dives deeper into the intricacies of coaching, he highlights the nuanced approach it demands. “There’s certain kinds of methods that work with certain people and there’s certain methods that don't work with certain people.” From coaching elite athletes aiming for national titles to beginners who simply want to enjoy the thrill of lifting a barbell over their heads, he emphasizes the need to understand and cater to individual goals, motivations and abilities. “So your terminology, the way you approach a class, the way you approach individuals, kind of has to be very much tailored to the audience that you have,” he explains. This adaptive approach makes him see coaching as a performance. “It's like you put your coaching mask on … it changes depending on who's in front of you.” Beyond the tactics and strategies, what truly energizes Younger is the communal aspect of group classes, as he finds fulfillment in creating an enjoyable and varied experience for participants.
From athlete to chef
Once solely focused on his athletic endeavors, Younger now channels his intensity to other avenues of his life, including the culinary world. Growing up in a household where food was central, Younger has always had a love for cooking. "My mum cooked, so I was always in the kitchen. We always had family meals," he reminisces. This foundational experience combined with his interest in health and fitness led him to take the reins in the kitchen during his university days, where he developed self-sufficiency in preparing nutritious meals. “So my household that we lived in … I'd go get the veggies, I would cook for us … I just refused to eat crap food.”
This passion evolved into Young'un Kitchens, a creative venture that sees him collaborating with seasoned chefs at pop-up events across Hong Kong, all without having taken on any formal culinary training. “I'm not classically trained in cooking at all,” Younger says. “I haven't gone to culinary school and just like to eat, and I like to feed people.”
The name Young'un Kitchens is a playful nod to his surname, conveying the idea that young aspiring chefs can learn from experienced chefs. “Everything's layered on passion,” he asserts. “Time doesn't always mean you're better. It's just kind of how into it you are.”
Mirroring his CrossFit ethos, Younger embraces a learn-by-doing approach to cooking. “I've kind of been a bit of a sponge taking as much information as I can. Same thing with weightlifting and CrossFit. I didn't go to university to study sports science. I don't really know the biomechanics of the body that well. I just know how to coach it, and I know how to do it. So I'm trying to take those same skills for that, and learn how to cook food for people. I think you learn a lot from just doing, [throwing] yourself in the fire.”
Continuing to draw parallels between the two, he says, "I think being a coach has led me well to build connections with people quite easily, and I think connections are everything. Your ability to connect with somebody and have a good conversation with someone really does set you up for a position of success."
When asked how he convinces professional chefs to have faith in him despite his lack of formal culinary training, Younger says his opportunities are often fueled by genuine, organic relationships and a fearless willingness to put himself out there. “I think the more that you put yourself out there, you might get turned down five times, but there is that one person that would be like, ‘Yeah, this kid's cool. Let's get him in for a day’... I've just done that enough that people have taken risks.”
Trial by fire
Younger vividly recalls his first experiences in commercial kitchens. “It was hectic. It was a bit scary, and it was very intense in comparison to doing a dinner party or a host thing where you go over to someone's house and it's quite leisurely,” he reflects. “The difference is the speed at which you have to complete tasks. A kitchen … has to be quite militant with the way that you do things.”
Navigating the high-stakes environment of a professional kitchen demanded adaptability and resilience, qualities Younger honed through trial and error. “And that's everything, from the way you set the kitchen station up to the way that you put food on a plate to the way that you put a menu together. There's so much involved with it,” he acknowledges. “And now it's [gotten] to the point where I'm very much comfortable in a commercial kitchen or being the center of attention or being a chef. And it's kind of the more you do it, the more you kind of get confident with taking that role on.”
Reflecting on his culinary evolution, Younger imparts crucial insights that he’s gained through experience. "I think the first thing is organization,” he stresses. “If you're having to [prepare] things as service is going, you're just setting yourself up for failure.” Learning to strike a balance between complexity and efficiency in the design of menus was another crucial lesson. “I definitely messed that up the first few times,” he admits with a chuckle, acknowledging the importance of prioritizing dishes that are both impressive and expedient. “You want to put your best foot forward, but it's better to have some things that are easier to send out.”
Yet, perhaps the most profound thing Younger learned was the art of humility in the face of criticism. “When you start something new … you’re then having to be a complete novice and … you've just got to take a lot of flack from chefs that just know way more than you,” he reflects. Younger has gone through the humbling journey of stepping outside of his comfort zone and embracing the unfamiliar. “It's kind of like checking your ego,” he says. “I think that's been the biggest transition for me, moving from coaching, which I've done since I was 16, to starting something at 30.”
The journey ahead
Looking forward, Younger envisions Young'un Kitchens as a haven for experimentation and collaboration, a space that fosters young chefs who can learn from seasoned mentors. ”With Young'un Kitchens, I want to provide both an environment, a community and kind of a food system that is self-sufficient and kind of creates its own kind of community as we move around,” he shares, brimming with enthusiasm. Through pop-up events across Hong Kong, Younger aims to curate immersive experiences where great meals meet a vibrant community.
But amid his career pursuits in the bustling landscape of Hong Kong, Younger also seeks balance, as he yearns for a quieter, more spiritually fulfilling life. "Young'un Kitchens is for me, it’s a passion project that I want down the line to have my own restaurant," he muses. Inspired by his global travels, he dreams of establishing a home base in Bali for a future restaurant, a place where his unique flavor profile can flourish.
Aside from Young’un Kitchens, Alex now has a new young’un of his own. “Being a dad is something that I’ve always wanted,” he says. “I’m excited for the journey ahead.” Excited about all the things that come with being a new father, sharing his passion with his daughter Isla is one of them. “I’m super excited for the first time she eats certain things, or for her to grow up in the kitchen and eat around that environment, but also just to give her the freedom of expression, which is something that I think I’ve had to find later in life.”
From Fittest Man to budding chef to first-time father, one thing is for certain – Younger’s journey is far from over.
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