Warriors from a Crossfit gym in Egremont are set to do battle with athletes across the world.

And the gym is encouraging people to take part in the worldwide event to boost fitness and to form bonds.

Northern Warrior Crossfit are currently taking part in the Crossfit Open and the theme of the global event is inclusivity.

Businesswoman Emma Dodd, coach at the Egremont-based gym, said: “Some have been involved in the Open for many years and for others it will be their first time competing.

“The workouts are judged and scored and the scores are submitted online where you can then see your rank in the UK and worldwide.”

Northern Warrior Crossfit owner Tom Blaney believes the intense nature of the discipline is what causes strong relationships to form within the team.

“You can instantly form a common ground,” he said. “Sometimes it is that misery loves company.”

Although the sessions can be gruelling and the athletes push themselves, Tom said: “It’s a nice place to be. The youngest members that do the open are around age 14, we’ve got members that go up to about 60 years old.”

Around 15,000 affiliate gyms globally, of which Northern Warrior is one, compete together in the open.

It may be a small percentage of athletes that make it to that level but affiliate gyms can place in the national and world leaderboard.

National champions can then potentially go on to compete in the Crossfit Games, with the chance to be crowned “Fittest on Earth”.

The weightlifting and intensity of cardio is tailored to the individual.

Tom said: “Crossfit’s main avenue is health and wellbeing. That’s always our biggest concern, that everyone’s safe.

“In the trenches that’s what we deal with every day, the sport of Crossfit, that’s the upper echelon of what it is.

“However, there is that route for competitive athletes to see where they sit in terms of world rankings.”