Red Bull: “Every woman should be doing push-ups,” says the fittest woman on Earth

After a dominant performance at the 2023 CrossFit Games, Laura Horváth has become an unstoppable force in fitness – a powerhouse of strength, resilience and sheer will. An icon of strength for everyone, she's redefined what it means to be an elite athlete. 

Her fire goes beyond competition; she's using her fire for something bigger. With more women stepping into lifting competitions, taking on HYROX and shattering outdated fitness myths, Horváth's message is clear: strength belongs to everyone. 

From boulders to barbells, climbing ropes to skipping ropes, Horváth swapped rock holds for iron grips, turning strength into play. CrossFit became her new playground: "I think it came naturally, because in climbing I wanted to compete. In anything in my life, I liked to compete. I'm very competitive with anything. Doing it as a hobby wasn't even a question, I always knew I wanted to compete." 

Most important though, is his stretching routine. "I feel like stretching is maybe even more important than exercising with weights, especially in freerunning, because there are a lot of impacts," explains Petkuns. "If you're flexible, you can take those impacts in a very different way.”

His newfound focus on stretching isn't by chance, but has been inspired by an unlikely source – his baby daughter. And while he believes he can still push his body to new levels, he's enjoying the switch from "complicated tricks" to "movement as meditation" that fatherhood has presented.

"I'm getting so inspired from her movement, because she started from zero," Petkuns says. "She was just on her back and couldn't even roll over. Now, she runs around. And the way she climbs and sometimes the way she trips, it inspires me because I see her ways of managing her skills and clumsiness.

For Horváth, strength isn't about looks, it's about self acceptance: "I started liking the female physique, the strong female physique, and not just being helpless and tiny. I've always been a little bit of a bigger girl, I think, and what I enjoyed about CrossFit is that there are no standards or body type. You can be bigger, you can be strong, you can be muscular and it just doesn't matter how you look – it matters how you perform." 

Strength training is becoming a global movement. HYROX is proof of that. The global competition blends endurance and strength, pushing athletes through eight functional workout stations and running segments. Over 500,000 athletes are expected to compete during the 2024-25 season, proving that fitness isn't just about lifting alone in a gym – it’s about community, competition and confidence. 

Women's strength training is becoming mainstream – and Horváth loves it. That’s exactly the kind of movement she wants women to embrace: "I think everyone should be able to do a pull-up. Like, my mom hadn't been able to do a pull-up in years, but she started doing CrossFit and now she can do pull-ups. And I think that's amazing." 

Lifting is more than muscle building, it's about the bigger outcome of independence. “Why can only guys do all these things? I think for women to be strong and move their body, or to lift heavy things up, pull themselves up or do a push-up, these things are just very empowering," 

Horvárth says. "Yes, it's nice to have men and help you change the light bulb but if I want to, I can do it." .

More and more women are discovering that building strength in the gym translates to greater strength in life. 

Horváth refuses to fit outdated beauty standards. She's here to break them: "I just want everyone to feel good about themselves, with their body and not be defined by thinking 'Are you skinny? Are you bigger? Are you muscular?' If you feel comfortable in your body, that's enough. 

Her success mantra? She doesn't just talk about strength. "If you have to be successful in anything, you have to have a very good routine. It has to be boring some days, because you just repeat the same thing over and over. It takes 10,000 hours to master something, so you just have to do it a lot and then you become very good at it." 

For all the records she breaks and for all the weight she lifts, Horváth's deepest wish for everyone remains simple: "I feel like through sports like functional fitness, people can live longer, be healthier and just be happier overall." 

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