Who is Emma Lawson’s Coach? A Look At Josh Woolley and Mammoth Training Methods

The women’s podium at the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games included a mother, a Hungarian, and teen phenom Emma Lawson. Her coach, Josh Woolley, has been with her every step of the way and gives a peek inside his training program, Mammoth Training Methods. Lawson, who took second place at the Games this year, has moved leaps and bounds in the sport in just a few short years. She took 6th place in the Games in 2022 and won the girls 16-17 division in 2021. Woolley, a fellow Canadian, has been Lawson’s coach since she was 13 and recently brought on 21-year-old Jack Farlow. This content is available exclusively to Members Become an member and start enjoying full access to all our community and sports content, and an ad-free experience. PROMO Exclusive content Ad-Free web/app experience Comments on articles Exclusive 15% WIT discount $1 per month for the first 4 months, $8 each month after Get Started for $1 Exclusive content Ad-Free web/app experience Comments on articles Exclusive private Facebook Group Regular coffee breaks hang outs Exclusive 15% WIT discount Get Started $5/month billed annually Already a member? Log In. Remind me: Outside of Lawson having a very successful weekend, Farlow also made headlines when he hit a 396-pound clean and jerk. He was unfortunately cut before the final day of competition, but it’s clear he’s a young and hungry athlete. While a number of training camps have risen in popularity over the last couple of seasons, Mammoth Training Methods has flown under the radar, in part because of Woolley’s decision to only take on a few athletes at a time. However, he does have plans to expand in the coming months to other elite athletes. “I got into CrossFit right out of university, I was a varsity hockey player, graduated and stopped playing and I needed something to fill the void,” said Woolley. “It’s not my primary job, I have a full-time job outside of Mammoth and I’ve been selective with who I’ve worked with.” “I really look for quality people over top of the line athletes. I’ve had to turn people away and I’m very up front with people that I don’t have the time to commit to provide the services you need. Now I’m starting to allow things to grow a little bit more, I’m in the process of releasing an elite track for athletes who wish to apply.” “One of the things that I’ve always said, starting off with Emma, and then with Jack. I made a commitment to them and they made a commitment to me and it would’ve been easier for them to go to those bigger camps, but I made a promise to them to not take on a competing athlete.” Woolley adds, the way he approaches coaching elite athletes is much more than just a coach relationship. It’s “more than what just goes on inside the gym and we’re a little bit more unique in that sense.” When asked what his methodology is, Woolley shared, his focus is on “individual components to what makes a really good athlete” and “it’s looking at individual weaknesses and how do we build those up in a sport context.” Specifically, in Emma’s case it was her strength and working on getting stronger the entire season, said Woolley. “Just going off of the end of last year she was rookie of the year, but we knew there were some holes in her game.” “We’re always working on developing her strength and strength protocols, and we looked into different things and had a lot of success.” “Emma is a special athlete, she is extremely dedicated and hard working. The role I’ve taken as the coach, for her, beyond the programming is mentorship with expectations and the mental side of competing.” “People don’t see what’s going on behind the scenes, the doubts the athletes are having, being invested in social media, that really became my priority with Emma. How do we make sure she’s mentally in the right headspace, because physically I know she’s capable of standing on the podium.” “The Games is such a fast paced challenging event, if you don’t have it on the mental side it can go down if you have one or two bad events.” Looking ahead, Woolley is hoping to grow his program and extend to other elite athletes in the sport as long as he brings on other coaches as well. He has already offered applications for elite athletes to apply to train under Mammoth Training Methods. “Again, it’s a slower growing process, but definitely room for growth and I’m excited for what the future has to hold,” he said.

Who is Emma Lawson’s Coach? A Look At Josh Woolley and Mammoth Training Methods

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