S3E4: Breaking Barriers: Redefining Strength Through Adaptive Fitness with Abi Wynn-Jones
Watch and Listen - clicks the links below
This week, I'm chatting with Abi Wynn-Jones, an adaptive CrossFit athlete and fierce advocate for inclusivity in sports. Abi opens up about her journey living with a connective tissue disorder, the setbacks she’s faced, and how she’s turned every challenge into strength.
From competing in adaptive CrossFit to pushing for better representation of disabled athletes, Abi’s story is one of resilience, courage, and relentless determination. She shares how COVID-19 changed her approach to fitness, the importance of finding the right coach, and why she believes sports should be accessible to everyone - no matter their ability.
Chapters
00:00 - Breaking Barriers: Abby's Journey in Adaptive Sports
11:58 - Overcoming Challenges: The Impact of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
24:03 - Finding Strength: The Shift from Thin to Strong
36:00 - Advocacy and Representation: The Future of Adaptive Sports
Connect with Abi on Instagram to follow her journey.
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Transcript
Isaac (ChatterBeans):
Abi, welcome to ChatterBeans!
Abi Wynn-Jones:
I’m good, thank you. How are you?
Isaac:
I’m really good — enjoying this last bit of sun. By the time this episode goes out, hopefully it’ll be cooler and we’ll be into autumn. I’m excited for it.
Abi:
Autumn is my favourite season. Summer’s a bit too hot — right now I’m not okay with this heat.
Isaac:
Me too. Anyway, tell me about you — what does life look like for you right now? What are you up to? What’s your main driver?
Abi:
There’s a lot at the moment — probably the busiest I’ve ever been, which I’m excited about. Outside of work, my main driver is sport and fitness. I’m involved in adaptive CrossFit — divisions for disabled people. There are 15 different divisions for different impairments, and we all compete. The Adaptive CrossFit Games are in about two weeks from when we’re recording, so this is my last week of heavy training. They’ve started releasing some workouts so it’s feeling very real and exciting. Honestly, it’s my whole life right now.
I’m also finishing a master’s and have work things going on — perfect timing, right? I work in learning and development: leadership and management development, teaching people how to be better leaders. I spend a lot of time delivering courses that could be summed up as: “Just don’t be a dick.” Turns out some people need more than that!
Isaac:
What’s your master’s in? And also, doing a master’s while working — I get it. I did one a couple of years ago and, when this goes out, I’ll have just started another part-time master’s in AI. Ask me how I’m feeling in a few weeks.
Abi:
Why would you do that? Did you not learn from last time? At the end of a master’s you think, “I never want to learn anything ever again.” I’ve completed learning!
Isaac:
It’s amazing you’re doing all of that. Your Instagram is fitness, CrossFit, HYROX… I remember you from London with Guillaume — you did the doubles, right? I was head-judging the ski. Have you always been into fitness since school? Where does the passion come from?
Abi:
I’ve always been super competitive — one of those awful people who needs to win. I recognise it’s a character flaw and I’ve made peace with it; that’s everyone else’s problem now! I’ve always been into sport, but it was challenging when I was younger because I was born with a connective tissue disorder — Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) — so I get injured very easily.
As a kid I swam, dived, sailed — I was lucky because my dad worked at a watersports centre, so I had access to loads of activities. (Eighties were wild: Coastguard kids were sometimes used as training “casualties” — we’d get winched into helicopters. Times were different!)
Because of EDS, I was constantly injured: gymnastics, swimming, skiing, kayaking — I tore ankle ligaments at seven or eight, tore both Achilles, dislocated both hips and shoulders many times, various vertebrae, and to this day I dislocate ribs weekly.
Isaac:
When did they recognise the condition? It must have been hard to diagnose in the ’80s and ’90s.
Abi:
Weirdly, I was lucky because I was injured so much it got noticed. A lot of people get diagnosed much later and are just called “clumsy” as kids. For me, after a major shoulder injury from diving — on top of daily dislocations — they realised something was really wrong. I had surgeries to rebuild the shoulder, and they discovered I was dislocating elsewhere too. I was about 15 when I was diagnosed.
Back then the medical advice was: stop doing sport, don’t lift weights, wrap yourself in bubble wrap. I really struggled with that. I’m 5'10–5'11 and now mid-80s kg, but the advice was to stay as light as possible or I wouldn’t be able to walk — I was told to expect to be a wheelchair user by my early 20s. That did happen for many with EDS, especially diagnosed later. I was hyper-competitive and ignored it, which meant more injuries, of course.
Also, this was the mid-90s, the “heroin chic” era — awful timing. From then on, fitness became a way to stay thin, not for joy. That mindset lasted about 20 years, up to lockdown.
Isaac:
So COVID was a turning point?
Abi:
Yes. I’ve always needed regular hands-on treatment to keep moving — massage, physio, osteopathy — to put my body back together. In lockdown it all vanished overnight. I learned I can go six weeks without treatment before I can’t walk. I learned that the hard way.
I became housebound, pain was unbearable. Part of me felt vindicated — this is what would have happened if I’d followed the “do nothing” advice — but mostly it was devastating. And I still had that voice in my head: stay thin. Without activity, I fell into terrible eating habits and had a serious mental health crisis.
Then the Instagram algorithm led me to a new CrossFit gym opening near me. I messaged the owner, Nicola Stadard(CrossFit Catford / CrossFit Sydenham). I will wholeheartedly credit her as a huge part of why I’m still alive. I explained my situation. She didn’t say, “It’ll be fine.” She said, “I don’t know. Let’s find out.” We experimented together — even in her back-garden classes during lockdown.
The focus was always what we can do. If a movement was impossible, we found a way to make it possible. I throw a barbell with one arm because the other doesn’t move far enough. We adapted and neither of us was scared of getting it wrong. That changed everything. Coming out of lockdown I realised: I can be strong rather than thin.
I started CrossFit at about 5'11 and 60kg; five years later I’m going to the Games, lifting incredible weights, now training out of CrossFit Woolwich 7R with amazing support.
Isaac:
Since COVID, I’ve seen that shift too — less about aesthetics, more about being strong and healthy. With your condition, that mindset shift must have been scary.
Abi:
Genuinely terrifying — but worth it.
Isaac:
What was your first competition?
Abi:
My first was with ADAPT All or Nothing in Salisbury — the first adaptive-only comp in the UK. Then the Adaptive CrossFit Open — first year CrossFit had adaptive categories was 2021 (the back-garden workouts!). I didn’t do well at first but loved it, did better the next year. Then Wadaptiv ran a mixed-pairs competition (one adaptive athlete, one non-disabled). I paired with my now coach Natasha Ellis — incredible experience.
Around the online semis for the WheelWOD Games (now part of the CrossFit Games structure), I tore my good bicep and fractured my ankle within two weeks. So I couldn’t use my bad arm (obviously), my good arm (torn bicep), or my good leg (fractured ankle). Not ideal. Weirdly, those injuries pushed me to go all in. I made the WheelWOD Games in ’23— my first international competition.
Isaac:
And HYROX?
Abi:
I blame Guillaume! I’m not a runner — I’m a CrossFit hippo: dangerous over short distances. I run with crutches. He peer-pressured me when HYROX launched adaptive divisions. I signed up in Neuro for singles and then did doubles the next day. It was a lot!
Isaac:
You’re very visible at these events — I remember you at HYROX London on crutches (and Guillaume did the same). How does that feel?
Abi:
I don’t get nervous — I’ve lived with this my whole life. But I have mixed feelings. There’s a concept called “inspiration porn.” I am inspirational because I’m awesome, because I’m a good athlete, because I’m kind — not because I run on crutches. Please don’t clap me for going shopping. If you wouldn’t do that for a non-disabled person, don’t do it to me.
At the same time, our community is underrepresented, so we must push ourselves forward, be loud, and show what’s possible. I want to be inspirational because I’m a competitor — not a prop for someone else’s motivation. Also, do you know what’s harder than running on crutches? Burpees on one arm. Try wall balls one-arm, side-on. Running on crutches is the easy bit.
I’ve said yes to opportunities like the first British Weight Lifting Open with an adaptive category, the British Functional Fitness (BF3/IFF3) adaptive invitational, and South West Regionals showcasing adaptive athletes — thanks to Wadaptiv partnering with them. It’s uncomfortable sometimes, but I’ll always push myself forward. (Also, let’s not kid ourselves — I’m kind of a big deal. That’s why I’m here. Have you met me?)
Isaac:
Looking ahead — what’s the ambition?
Abi:
I want sport to be accessible for disabled people in 20 years. Right now disabled people are seen as either bedridden objects for pity or Paralympic objects for inspiration. I care about grassroots — you’re allowed to be a disabled person who goes to the gym because it’s fun. We don’t see that represented. I’ll also always advocate for people with invisible disabilities — you often wouldn’t notice mine unless you paid close attention.
Isaac:
As a coach, I realised how little representation there is in mainstream gyms. One of our clubs bought specialist kit — like a rower for wheelchair users — and it hit me that I hadn’t coached anyone with a physical disability. We aren’t taught this in Level 2/3 courses.
Abi:
For coaches and trainers, I massively recommend a new CIMSPA-accredited course at Pantheon Plymouth on training disabled populations — adapting workouts and movements across different impairments. You can’t truly simulate a disabled athlete’s experience as a non-disabled person, but you can do what Guillaume did: adapt every station the way I have to — ski with one arm, one-arm wall balls, etc. Do it for the right reasons: to build people up and show that the gym is accessible. You can adapt a Concept2 rower for a wheelchair user without a specialist machine. Equip make handles you can clamp to an Echo/Assault bike — wheelchair in front, arms-only. (Brutal, by the way.)
Isaac:
Let’s shift gears — coffee! Do you like it? What’s your order?
Abi:
100%. Depends on mood: straight espresso, or Americano (no milk); sometimes a flat white, though I prefer a latte. I’m all-in or all-out — espresso/Americano or a latte, no middle ground.
Isaac:
Favourite coffee shop?
Abi:
I tried a new one by Greenwich DLR called 18 Grams — incredible coffee. I’ve never thought of myself as a “coffee wanker,” but I could taste the flavours — suddenly I turned into a hipster. Where’s my fixie?
Isaac:
If you could have coffee with anyone?
Abi:
Villains from history — Napoleon, Vlad the Impaler (no stakes allowed!), just to hear them go off. I don’t need to understand why they think the way they do; I just want to listen. Imagine walking into a hipster coffee shop with Stalin or Elizabeth Bathory. I’m a bit obsessed with true-crime podcasts.
Isaac:
When do you feel most like yourself?
Abi:
On the competition floor, or just before walking out, surrounded by the people I’m competing with. That meditative state in an awful workout where you’re asking, “Why do I do this?” — but then the joy with people who’ve worked just as hard. Standing behind the floor laughing and joking — it’s special.
Isaac:
Biggest lesson or advice you’d share?
Abi:
“Nobody cares.” In the nicest way. Just do it. People say, “I’ll do that when I’m fit enough.” No — do it now. “I’m too scared.” No — do it scared. You’re not making life-or-death decisions here. It doesn’t matter — just do it anyway. I’m noticeable — tall, tattooed, I walk a bit weird — nobody’s looking at you. You’ll look silly sometimes. Nobody cares.
Isaac:
I love that. I need to take that on myself more.
Quick-fire
First thing you do in the morning?
Paint colours… and/or fall out of bed. I once yeeted myself onto the floor to someone’s horror.If you packed a bag right now?
Las Vegas for the CrossFit Games; otherwise a UK staycation — Cornwall or Devon. My family’s from South Wales — beautiful.One thing that always lifts your mood?
The gym. And taking joy in little things — like clouds. I had no depth perception for 30 years; a new prescription gave me depth and I saw the sky properly for the first time. Game changer. I’ll never stop appreciating beauty.Favourite way to spend a day off?
Go to the gym.Favourite place you’ve visited?
Chicago — stunning.A risk you’re glad you took?
Carrying on with sport. Not giving up. Not following “don’t move” advice.Time travel?
Forward — to see how attitudes to disability evolve. I want to see the sociological impact of what we’re doing now.A recent small joy?
Before this chat, a stakeholder at work told me, “You’re doing really well.” You don’t hear it often — it made me happy.
Isaac:
Where can people connect with you and follow Las Vegas and beyond?
Abi:
I’m on Instagram: @abbywinjones. And check the WheelWOD YouTube channel — they live-streamed the Games in Vegas, and it’ll be on catch-up. Watch the incredible adaptive athletes and see how we all did.
Isaac:
Amazing. We’ll tag everything. Abi, thank you so much for coming on ChatterBeans.
Abi:
Thank you — it’s been a pleasure.
