“This Is My Purpose” – How Paige Powers Balances Motherhood and Training for the 2026 CrossFit Season
Paige Powers believed that once she became a mother, her athletic career would end.
But now that the 22-year-old, two-time CrossFit Games athlete is a mother to an almost 7-month-old daughter, she realizes this is far from the truth.
- “I still have competitive aspirations, as much, if not more than I did before…I’d like to get back to where I was before, if not better,” Powers said in an interview with the Morning Chalk Up, adding that she has eyes on the 2026 CrossFit Games.
That being said, her reason for competing is now quite different.
- “Number one is just being a good role model for my daughter,” Powers said. “I think it kind of sounds cheesy, but I want to be somebody that she can grow up and be proud of.”
And on her end, Powers said she wants to be able to tell her daughter, “Hey, I was able to do this while I was breastfeeding and taking care of you.”
Remind Me
On February 7, Powers welcomed her daughter, Oaklee Ann Rodgers, into the world through a natural birth.
Just eight weeks later, she returned to competition at the Mayhem Classic In-Person Qualifying Event, finishing 18th.
- More recently, Powers finished 20th in the World Fitness Project Tour Stop II online qualifier, earning her a spot in the women’s Challenger division at Tour Stop II in Mesa, AZ, on the weekend of August 29.
She also hopes to qualify for this fall’s Rogue Invitational. If not, then she plans to compete at Crash Crucible in October before turning her attention to the 2026 season.
Powers’ Life Today
Seven months postpartum, Powers said regaining her strength is taking longer than any other part of her fitness and estimates she’s currently at 80% to 85% of her pre-baby strength, depending on the movement.
- “But I feel like my fitness is coming back really nicely,” she said. “It might not be exactly where it was before, but it is getting there. And my aerobic capacity, which I struggled with before, is actually, I feel like, almost better now than it was before.”
Though she spends less time in the gym than she used to, Powers says she’s learned to be more efficient with her workouts in order to balance her family life.
- “I’m on a clock now. I feed her and then I go straight to the gym, get everything done that I can, and then return in time to feed her again,” she said. “So I’m definitely just more focused when I’m in the gym, instead of just kind of moseying around, lying on a foam roller for 10 minutes.”
She added, “But I also want to get back to my kid. I don’t really want to spend all day in the gym anymore.”
The biggest challenge she’s dealing with? The physical demands of breastfeeding while training.
- “It definitely does take a lot of energy out of me…I have to eat so much to keep up with being able to produce enough [milk] while also training as much as I do.”
Balancing motherhood and training is tough, but Powers maintains she wouldn’t want it any other way.
- “I always thought I would love [being a mom]…but I didn’t think I’d love it as much as I do,” she said. “This is my purpose here on Earth.”
The Big Picture
Being a mom might be her greatest purpose, but Powers is also committed to proving she can handle it all.
Although reaching her athletic goals is still very important to her, Powers also mentioned that she feels more relaxed as an athlete than she did before.
- “I’m always going to want to win, and I’m always going to want to achieve certain goals, but there is less stress and emphasis on that because I know that I get to go home at the end of the day to a beautiful family and daughter, and nothing can take that joy and happiness away,” she said.
Featured image: @_paige_powers / Instagram
