Fitness
Fitness Training
Meet Haley Adams and her steady rise in functional fitness
From early promise to consistent contender, Haley Adams’ career has been defined by discipline, patience, and a commitment to long-term progress in functional fitness.
The world of functional fitness has watched Haley Adams grow up in real time. From a precocious teenager stepping onto the competition floor with quiet confidence to one of the most consistent athletes in the sport, Adams’ rise has never been loud - just relentless. She doesn’t chase moments; she builds seasons. And year after year, the results follow.
Known for her composure and unwavering work ethic, Adams thrives where others unravel. Long workouts, tight leaderboards, pressure-packed weekends - these are her natural habitat. While power and speed headline the sport, Adams’ true strength lies in her ability to show up every time, absorb lessons, and come back sharper. Progress, for her, has always been incremental - and intentional.
Beyond functional fitness, Haley Adams grew up training in gymnastics
© Alex Trobough
I'm learning that being authentically myself [can] help someone else be themselves too. I mean, social media is fake anyway, but the more real I am, it helps someone else feel better about themselves too.
Still early in her career, she continues to refine her approach, balancing patience with ambition, and discipline with belief.
Dive in below to explore Adams’ journey - from early promise to seasoned contender - and the mindset that continues to shape her pursuit of longevity, consistency, and something greater still.
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01
The Tar Heel state
Where did you grow up and where were you born?
Do you live in Lexington full-time?
No, I spend most of my time in Cookeville, Tennessee, which is like five hours down the road. So, not too far, but just far enough to miss home. I've been there for the last seven years.
The early years: A passion for sports
Who were you as a child before becoming an athlete?
From the time that I could walk to basically when I started cross functional training, I did gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming, cross-country, everything. I've always been an athlete. It's just been in my blood, it’s who I am.
Where do you think your love of sports originated? Was it influenced by athletic parents, or did it come from being an active, energetic kid?
Yeah, I have always been so competitive from a young age, even at our school field days, just trying to win the 50-yard dash or anything. I've always been so competitive, so I think sports was just a way for me to release that competitiveness. I loved it.
When you started thinking about your future, was becoming an athlete the first thing that came to mind?
I never thought that my job would be an athlete. Like, again, I love sports, but I didn't think this would be my job. I was just going to take the normal route of going to college and being a dentist or something. But it's so cool that I get to wake up and do this every day. I never would have dreamed it. I'm truly living my dream as a little kid.
Haley Adams staying motivated with Red Bull Zero between her sets
© Alex Trobough
Did you compete in any of those sports seriously? Was there one you excelled at?
I did gymnastics competitively for a couple of years. That was probably the one I was the best at for sure.
When and how did you make the transition to cross functional training?
So, I was getting a bit burnt out from gymnastics when I was 14, I think. And there was this building beside my gymnastics gym and it had big windows so you could see in. Every time we would drive past it, I would see these women and they were jumping rope and hanging from the bar and lifting weights. And I was like, what are they doing? That looks so cool. I've never seen people just drop a bar from over their head. Like, I don't know. It just looked really cool. I was just really tired of gymnastics, so I begged and begged and begged my dad to take me in. I was like: “Please just let me try it. I just want to try it.” I tried it and I loved it. From the day I tried it, I just fell in love. I did gymnastics and CrossFit for a while and then decided that I really wanted to do cross functional training. I've done every sport at this point. So that's why I was like, okay, I can just do cross functional training.
Did you fall in love with cross functional training right away? What was it about it that resonated with you?
I mean, every other sport that I've done was really repetitive. So, with gymnastics, you're kind of doing the same thing every day; running the same thing. But cross functional training – you were doing something different every day, and that was so new to me and so fun. And I just loved pushing myself so hard. I think just that was feeding something in me that I hadn't felt in a really long time. […] It was very different. You were doing something different every day.
How many times have you competed at functional training’s highest level?
Nine. And I took the year off in 2023, so this past year (2025), if I hadn’t taken the year off, it would have been 10 in a row, but I mean, I needed the year off, so it's fine. This year will be 10.
02
From high school to career stability: Building a future
Tell me about your high school years. Did you go to college while continuing to train at the same time?
Yeah. So, I was in high school when I started cross functional training and then my last two years I had gotten pretty good at it. I actually ended up qualifying for the adult division in my last year of high school. But at this point I'd already moved to Tennessee and I was doing home school because it was just better for me to be training in Tennessee. I had proven that this could be a real job for me as I just made an adult division. I think I was 18. So yeah, I moved to Tennessee. I went to college up there at Tennessee Tech. I'm still not done with it yet. It's taking me a very long time [smiles]. I started college right out of high school, but it's kind of just a slow burn. I eventually want to finish. But I was training and doing school for a while and then just decided I just wanted to focus completely on cross functional training because I feel like we don't have a very long window of time, but I can always finish school.
What did you start studying?
Biology. It's very hard. I've done about two and a half years, so I'd have a year and a half left, but the year and a half would take me like three years, if that makes sense.
Haley Adams training
© Alex Trobough
Was there a specific moment when you thought: ‘I could earn a living from this.’ Or did the money slowly come, did the opportunity slowly increase?
Once I had made it as an adult, the opportunities were endless. And I was young, so a lot of people saw potential in me and I started to blow up pretty fast. I just felt like it was the right choice to put everything into cross functional training, which was a good choice.
Walk me through the standout moments of your career so far.
So, obviously you have all the placing ones, but one that really stands out to me is when I took the year off in 2023. And when I tell you I stopped cross functional training, like I stopped, I did not do it. I took off the entire year. I did not want anything to do with it. I decided I wanted to try it again in September / October, but I was so out of shape, it basically felt like I was starting again. I worked so hard to qualify again the following year in 2024. I ended up getting fourth that year, but I didn't even care about the placing. Being able to come back after taking a year off was definitely one of the highlights of my career – and to still do that well. But it was just very, very humbling. It will definitely stand out for sure, forever.
03
Mental therapy: Why it matters
What led to your decision to take a year off from competing? Did it feel like a choice, or was it something you had to do?
Yeah. Well, I was getting really burnt out. I guess at this time I was 22 and I'd been doing it for a while already and I was really burnt out. Mentally I'm so hard on myself, but I was very, very hard on myself back then. I was also struggling with some eating issues. I was very, very tiny. And I was seriously hating the gym. I was not a good person, just having a really hard time. I just felt like I truly had never gotten to live my whole life. I had just been doing something and working so hard – sure, I'd take a little vacation here or there, but never truly just gotten to live life for a little bit. And after talking with quite a few people, it sounded like it was going to be the right choice for me, even though I did not want to do it at the time. But if I wanted to keep competing, they were like: “You should really try to take the year off.” And it ended up being one of the best things I've done because I had such an amazing year, truly. I was just so burnt out and needed a break.
What made that year so special? How did you spend your time during it?
I just didn't feel like I had to do anything. That was the cool thing. I didn't feel like I had to go do this or go train or go compete or be in this shape. I just would travel and go be a kid that I hadn't got to be. Just literally getting to live day by day with nothing that I had to do.
Haley Adams practicing her handstand holds
© Alex Trobough
Did you work with any coaches during that time, either for physical training or mental support?
Yeah, I did a lot of therapy, mental therapy, just to get myself in a better place so that I wasn't being so mean to myself and was able to fuel myself properly and take care of myself. So, lots of work in that area as well.
How has it been for you since then? Has it been all progress, or have there been some challenging moments along the way?
Yeah, I would say it's definitely uphill because the way that I feel now versus how I feel years ago is night and day. But of course, with everything, there are downhills too, I still have bad days. This year definitely was not the best athletic placing for me. But what I can take away from that is that I'm mentally okay. I'm happy. I'm healthy. It happens sometimes, but I'm in a much better spot now and to be able to handle that versus if this happened three years ago, I would have dropped off the face there, you know what I mean? But I'm proud of myself for putting that effort in to be okay with that.
What lessons, big or small, have you learned to sustain balance and longevity?
I think just taking it day by day. I would get so stressed about the future and what's to come and that I have to do this or that, but I've just learned to… you’re never promised tomorrow. So, I just don't get stressed out about tomorrow. Something else is that a bad day isn’t a bad life, realizing that just because I'm having a bad day, that doesn't mean that my life's bad or I'm spiralling or going back to how I used to be. Little things like that and just truly enjoying what I'm doing. If I don't enjoy it, I don't want to do it. You have one life. So, learning to love cross functional training again and being in the gym and building a healthy relationship was the best thing I did, because I do feel like I have a gift and I want to be able to do this. But I didn't want to do it if I didn't want to, you know. But now I love it and I want to keep doing it for as long as I can.
04
The animal lover and Disney enthusiast within
People probably have this image of athletes, especially cross functional training athletes, as unbreakable beasts.
We’re just human too. Like, I'm just a human that loves other random things too. I love Disney, I love Star Wars. I'm a nerd too! [laughs].
What do you love doing outside of cross functional training and Disney?
I love animals. I've got quite a few animals. I’m the biggest animal person you'll ever meet. Like, I love them. And then I love Disney, so I love Disney World. That's one of my hobbies that people like to make fun of me about.
Is there something about you that will never change?
I think just who I am. I love hard. I love my people. I love what I do. I'm very competitive. I'm very passionate. I love Disney, which a lot of people don't like. Just stuff like that.
What's a character trait you value in other people and that you would like to have more of yourself?
I think something that I value most from other people is kindness, treating everyone with kindness. I try to do that too, because you never know what someone's going through. I wouldn't say I need to do that more because I really do try to do that. I don't know. What do I need to do more of? […] I think just being kind to people is what I recognize from a lot of people, how they treat others.
