If the growing sport of CrossFit ever needed a chief publicity officer they could do a lot worse than turn to James Stickland.

That’s because Stickland, as you’d expect from someone who works in the world of medical sales, is a pretty articulate bloke and, just as importantly, he is passionate about the sport that is CrossFit.

It’s not something that the 37-year-old has been involved in for too long – he is much better known for his time as a second row enforcer and then a top coach at Old Patesians Rugby Club, a 15-year association that began just this side of the millennium.

He loved his rugby – of course he did – but it’s hard to imagine he was ever more enthused by the oval ball game than he is by CrossFit – a relatively new phenomenon that is a high-intensity fitness programme incorporating elements from several sports and types of exercise.

In old-fashioned money it’s a big advance on what people still call circuit training and Stickland said: “I’m absolutely loving it, it’s different every day. You can be in the gym one day and outside the next. You can do weights, runs, handstands – you’re learning new skills all the time.

“You can do a particular session and then six weeks later do the same session again and see if you’ve improved. I’m fitter now than I’ve ever been.

“When I finished playing rugby I didn’t want to just put on weight, and these days I train three or four times a week.”

And while it may be pushing it just a bit to say that after he’s finished one session he’s counting down the hours to the next, he’s very keen to push the fact that CrossFit has something for everyone.

“The great thing about CrossFit is that anybody can do it,” he said. “You don’t have to have played sport and people get out of it what they want.

“If you can’t lift 50 kilos, no problem; lift 20. It’s very inclusive and there are no gym monkeys. Anyone from the age of 18 to 80 can do it.”

Stickland, of course, has a strong sporting background.

“I took up CrossFit before I’d finished playing rugby,” he said. “I was using some of the workshops to get that extra bit of fitness. I was playing rugby with ex-Lydney player Will Kane at the Pats at the time and he was really into it. He’s competed in the regionals which is a good standard.”

While rugby is very much a team sport – all for one and one for all to borrow a line from The Three Musketeers – CrossFit has a much more individual strain to it.

And yet – and you get the impression that this is one of the reasons that Stickland has been so taken with the sport – there is a very strong sense of team bonding as well.

Stickland, who trains at CrossFit Cheltenham in Cheltenham Trade Park, said: “One of the rules at the gym is that no one leaves until the last person finishes a session put on by the coaches.

“It sounds corny but the loudest cheer is reserved for the last person when they’ve finished.”

When Stickland spoke to The Local Answer he had just spent the weekend in Bodmin in Cornwall where he had competed in a CrossFit masters over-35 pairs event.

So how did he do?

“I came second with John Shelley, who is another ex-Old Pat,” he said. “We were just beaten by Richard Sheer and James Connolly who are also from CrossFit Cheltenham.

“It was very tight but it was all good fun. There were seven scoring elements and we won on four of them which was brilliant, but I had a bit of a shocker in one of the others.”

Shocker or not, it seems CrossFit is going to remain a big part of Stickland’s life for some time to come.

Not that the former University of Gloucestershire student has turned his back on rugby completely.

“The Pats are a great club and I have very fond memories of my time there,” he said. “I was lucky enough to play with some great players like Chris Raymond, Rich Harvey and Pete Mitchell.

“I still keep in touch with the boys and go and watch them play. And my son Thomas has just started in the club’s junior section and is absolutely loving it.”

That’s dad’s rugby fix these days after he took a step back from the game due to work and family commitments.

Mind you, after his little trip close to the Cornish Riviera it seems that CrossFit is starting to take up almost as much time as the rugby did.

“That’s what my wife Rebecca said,” he chuckled.

And while Stickland obviously showed up well in Bodmin he has some way to go to reach the level of Steve Bunn, the ex-Pats and North rugby player who runs CrossFit Cheltenham and recently took part in an event in Cyprus.

That’s a very good standard so how long before Stickland is digging out his passport so that he can take part in CrossFit events overseas?

“Two things,” he laughed, “I’d have to do a bit of negotiating with Rebecca and secondly I’ve got to get a lot better at CrossFit!”