Barbell Shrugged - 127- Lindsey Valenzuela: CrossFit Games Athlete and NPGL Athlete

Episode Date: July 2, 2014

This week on Barbell Shrugged we have the pleasure of welcoming Lindsey Valenzuela to the show, professional fitness athlete and current member of the Los Angeles Reign.    Lindsey is in an incredible position. First, she’s one of the very first women ever to sign onto a professional fitness team. Better yet, the Reign, and all other founding members of the National Professional Grid League, are actually coed.    That’s right. For the first time there is a mainstream professional sports league featuring women and men competing together on the very same field, or in this case, the very same “Grid.”   In competitive fitness, right from the start, men and women have both received equal spotlight and attention. The same can’t said for any other professional sports league, or quite frankly, our culture as a whole. Despite our progress, most playing fields are anything but level.    The truth is that women and men are equally capable when it comes to moving heavy barbells, crushing races, and entertaining an arena full of cheering fitness fans. Also, as Lindsey herself pointed out, those incredibly fit, powerful and beautiful ladies - the coed angle - might just be the NPGL’s secret weapon when it comes to breaking into brand new markets.    That’s really the most exciting part of this entire movement. Consider the classic sports fan with their weekend fantasy leagues and pick-up games, or maybe the aspiring young athlete who might not fit in or dig traditional sports like Football, Baseball or Basketball. Think of the influence an athlete like Lindsey could have on the average young girl who’s seeing a strong, successful woman slam barbells in front of a packed arena for the very first time.    That’s a damn incredible thing, indeed.    In all fairness it’s too early to know. There are no guarantees that the Grid thing will catch on. But it just might, and that could mean an incredible future where Eleiko barbells start arriving under Christmas trees during the holidays, right alongside shiny new bicycles and video game consoles (one can hope!). It could also mean waves of brand new, inspired clients pouring into local gyms and boxes, which is great for absolutely everyone.    That’s really the main point now. There’s no room in this movement for a scarcity point of view. It’s time that we stop trying to compare Crossfit and the NPGL, because really, they  are fundamentally different things.    As Lindsey points out, “Crossfit is about finding the fittest men and women in the world, period. The NPGL is all about putting on a show. It’s spectator friendly. It’s fast moving. It’s entertainment, like the NBA or NHL.”   She nails the point, concluding, “The Crossfit Games are basically like the Olympics. There are players who play in both - The NBA and the Olympics, for example - But nothing can replace the Olympics.”    We agree. In our point of view the emergence of professional fitness can only create more great opportunities for athletes, coaches and business owners. That’s really all that matters.    To learn more about the NPGL make sure to check out our interview with league founder and CEO, Tony Budding. We also had a great chat with NPGL President Jim Kean, where we talk all about the technology and future of this brand new sport.    For more Lyndsey, make sure to check out her website at B3LV.com. You can also follow her on Instagram,Twitter, and Facebook at @LiftLikeLindsey.    Lindsey, please keep inspiring folks and kicking ass! We look forward to seeing it all unfold.    Cheers,    Chris Moore

This week on Barbell Shrugged, we interview NPFL and CrossFit Games athlete Lindsey Valenzuela. Hey, this is Rich Froning. You're listening to Barbell Shrugged. For the video version, go to barbellshrugged.com. Welcome to Barbell Shrugged. I'm Mike Bledsoe here with Christopher Moore to my right and CTP behind the camera. We're here in Las Vegas for the NPFL Combine. We have our guest here, Lindsay Valenzuela. Hello.

Welcome, welcome. We've been wanting to get you on the podcast for a while, but geographically it's been impossible. Yes. So we don't do the Skype thing because we like to have super high quality audio and cool video, of course. Absolutely. If you're listening, shame on you. The video is so much cooler. Yeah, we're here at the NPFL Combine.

It is a blast. We're here on the last night. It's been three days of action. Yesterday, we got to see the first, like, exhibition match. Like, legit, like, East Coast versus West Coast. It was legit. That was fun like East Coast versus West Coast. It was legit. That was fun. East Coast won.

Whatever. West Coast is still better. Don't, I mean, I want to like the West Coast. I'm moving to the West Coast. Oh, really? Where?

In the fall. I'm going to Encinitas. Ah. Yeah. So, you know, I'll be West Coast soon. We'll do this more often.

Yeah. And tonight's the last night. We have two live streaming events, two live matches. The first one was LA Rain. Yes, it was. Which was your team. Yes. Go Rain.

Yeah, go Rain. Against the Philadelphia Founders. Can we cheer for two? Is it okay to cheer? It's so hard. For two teams at once? I love everybody. That's a really hard one.

I'm already trying to figure out my allegiances. Which ones do you like already? Yeah, because we have friends on a couple of the teams, and it's fantastic. We're friends with a meet first. The Founders. The Founders. And I'm like, oh.

So we're cheering for them, and then we meet people from L.A. I'm like, man, they're so cool, too. It's hard to turn off on the floor too because I had a couple girlfriends on the team too that we were going against and I was like, man, I like them so much. Right now I have to hate you though because I have to beat you.

You're going down. I think our official position will be we love them all. And then after, oh, hi, how's it going? Who's going right now? What are the teams? Just red and blue, right? Yeah, these are all the final qualifiers. Final qualifiers.

Sweet. See, there's... Guaranteed contracts. Guaranteed contracts. So these are like the top tiered athletes that haven't been contracted yet. Right, and I have a couple of friends going right now. It's going to be a bloody fight to the battle. I'm really, really, really excited for him.

This should be a good little race. Actually, you're the first athlete we've interviewed so far that is signed with a team. Am I right? Yeah. Oh, wait, wait, wait. We did. We talked to Sam Dancer and Danny Nichols earlier today. The meatiest of the athletes in this league.

First female then. First female. Right on. Signed athlete for the NFL. Yes, winning. That brings up, I want to ask, what's your take on, one of the most novel things about this is that for the first time that we can think of in a professional sport,

women are sort of showcased right alongside men in prime time, same standard. It's all one. Also with Masters athletes, but I think it's an amazing opportunity to show, yeah, women are strong as shit, badass, can move barbells, and they're worthy of your attention right at the same time as the men athletes. I got asked that question earlier today. Good job. Come out with good, unique questions, Chris.

It was a timely question. It's actually a really cool question because I never even thought of that. Honestly, I was like, oh yeah, that's right. This is the first time that women and men are being showcased together and getting equal parts on how to showcase their talent. I think it's common in our culture already. I think we kind of discussed that earlier too. It's already common in our culture for

women to have equal spotlight. Right. Whereas it doesn't, it may not be the culture in other sports. Or in business or in society in a lot of aspects. It's a damn shame. Well, this is kind of cool because in the fitness arena, you tend to see more of the women. In my

perspective, I see, I think that the women are showcased more because, I mean, we tend to wear less clothing when we work out, right? And you're fit. We're fit,

and we're pretty good looking. Visually appealing. very visually appealing. Mike and I will certify this, yes, you're all very attractive. But now the men are getting showcased

just as much as the ladies, so good for the men. Yay! High five. We've been fighting for our rights for a long time. Do you know there are

men's rights organizations which is a trip? Yeah, I heard that lately. You guys, you have this amazing opportunity to really make, this blows up, but this is like

a UFC style explosion in the interest that common people have in fitness. You could be a real influential person in the lives of young girls, all of them. They could see you and say, Dad, can I have a barbell for in the lives of young girls. All of them.

I could see you and say, Dad, can I have a barbell for Christmas? That would be an extraordinary thing, yeah? That's what I'm trying to accomplish. If I can accomplish anything out of this sport, out of the NPFL, it would be to encourage young ladies to get involved in the fitness world if it's through the NPFL or another fitness realm. I think that there are not a lot of women role models in the athletic world for young ladies. I can't think of a lot when I was growing up, maybe one or two,

but I never really followed strictly one female athlete and said, that's the role model I looked up to. It was more male athletes like Michael Jordan. That's who got the screen time. Right. But, you know, if I could accomplish one thing, it would be to encourage young ladies to get involved. That's fantastic, man. How does it feel to be a professional athlete

where there's like a, you know you're going to get a paycheck, where, you know, before it was like... Before exercising. It's awesome. You may have been one of the best in the world, right? And you have the opportunity to win and money is part of the prize in that scenario in which you've done.

But is there a different... Are you getting a little bit different feeling knowing that you can now train full-time without having to worry about, oh, if I don't win this year, maybe I won't have the money to train full time? Or how does that work? Yeah, I mean, I've always considered myself,

at least the amount of hours that I put into my sport as a professional athlete. Like you said before, really only the top 2% make money off of fitness. So we don't all make money off of it, right? There's an opportunity to make money. There's an opportunity, but there's no guarantee. Absolutely. Right. And if you have sponsors, you know that they definitely help out as much as they can, but you know, that's not going to help make ends meet. Um, with the NPFL, it's giving people a large opportunity to make a salary that will either help out significantly or will just help them

not have to worry about working. Um, and then the health insurance is another thing, you know, yeah, I'm fortunate to have health insurance through my husband, but there's a lot of young, young athletes out there on the floor that have nothing. So there, you're one bad turn, one roll of dice away from having your life. Injuries can happen anywhere if it's here or walking down the street. I mean, injuries happen. But knowing that you have health insurance and you can go to the doctor and that's taken care of

makes, you know, your peace of mind much better. Is that health insurance? Are the benefits coming from the NPFL or the teams? I believe they're coming from the teams, right? The teams are providing the benefits and the pay and all that kind of stuff. I didn't know coming from the teams, right? Yeah. The teams are providing the benefits and the pay and all that kind of stuff. Okay.

I didn't know. Is the NPFL requiring that? Maybe we should just have you on the podcast, too. We've got our coach over here. He was shouting from the sidelines. What's the question? What was it? Are they requiring it?

Are there bare minimum requirements by the NPFL for the teams to offer benefits? Each team has to provide health insurance for the offense. Each team has to provide. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to take it. For instance, I don't need it. Yeah. So my husband's a police officer, so we have good health insurance. Yeah.

So, you know, even if you're not getting paid a lot because I don't know what the teams are paying I know that there's a minimum of $2,500 per match and if that's all you got paid for

that would still for depending on where you live you know that might give you a stable income may not be you know enough to live like

a luxurious lifestyle but it's stable you know it's something you can expect every month it's a starting point who, but it's stable. It's something you can expect every month. It's a starting point. Who knows where it goes? There's definitely incentives if you win finals, semifinals, quarterfinals, you get

a bonus. That definitely will help out more as well. Like you said before in other competitions, there is no guarantee. And unfortunately, and you go in and if you don't have a sponsor, you're paying money out of your pocket and sure you're, you're getting out of it a lot of it at athletically and as an athlete, but it makes your life a little bit more difficult to train and live a normal life.

Yeah. Always in the back of your head. You got it. Like things aren't guaranteed. I could get hurt. Right. This is not a sure thing. And that's going to affect your training.

Right, yeah. People forget that that's something that has a real profound effect on how you respond to training, how you recover, how hard you push. Right. It's going to limit you. Oh, yeah. So you finished your first match today. Is this the first time you've competed for your team?

Yeah, so this is the first time I've ever done a grid, ever. So I was a little nervous because all these other people that have been here all week, I guess I was a rookie going into this because I didn't know what I was. I kind of had an idea, but not really. You like studying it, visualizing. Actually, I try not to do too much of that. Actually, one of the races, I was I was like Wait what are we doing now? Are you like a game day athlete?

You show up, okay I'm not a very good practice athlete You don't like to plan? Not really I'm with you on that one I do well in training But I do much better when there's pressure And I'm competing

Okay It derives from the challenge Yeah So how did it feel? It reaffirmed everything And the reasons why I'm competing. Okay. It derives from the challenge. Yeah. So how did it feel? It reaffirmed everything and the reasons why I'm here. That was probably the most fun I've had doing fitness or something like this in a really long time. Not that I don't have fun doing it as an individual, but, you know, last few weeks have been very challenging for me so um it brought the love back for the sport yeah so you just got a little going through the demands of the regional

season is tough right i mean it has its ups and downs it's demanding and when things are really tough as an individual if you don't make it if the wind comes out of your sails it's kind of hard to see what where am i where i go from here right it's kind of hard to see where I go from here. But it's kind of nice. It's opened up this opportunity for you. It's kind of a good lesson that things that seem negative aren't necessarily negative. It's a great opportunity to do something that turns out could be a tremendous opportunity. Right. Everything happens for a reason.

So I really think that, you know, unfortunately I didn't make the CrossFit Games. But, you know, having this opportunity, everything is falling into place. So, I mean, do I wish I could be at the CrossFit Games? Hell yeah. I would give anything to be there and defend my title or the second place title that I got last year, but I think God has a plan and everything's falling into place. How do you feel about how this activity, this MPFL thing, compares against CrossFit?

Because one thing we've been talking about and kind of fleshing out in our mind is that what it really kind of seems like, a lot of people are going to make comparisons, a lot of people are going to try to pit one against the other, just like they do anything. I mean, that's what people do, right? But it seems much more like, well, yeah, there's barbells involved. This is a competitive fitness thing.

But it's kind of like if you try to match up weightlifting to powerlifting. Yeah, they look a lot alike, but if you try to say this one's better than that one, it's leaving out a lot of the information. They're not necessarily, it's not quite fair to say this one's better or this one's got disadvantage. No, they're very different. This is a very intense, short duration thing with a lot of new variables. Oh, yeah.

Tons of new variables. I think they're very know, they're very different and they're very similar. They're very different in the aspect like you just said. The time frame is very short. It's very fast. It's very appealing to the spectators because there's

always someone doing something different. I think it's very spectator friendly in the way that they have the matches shown on the screen, live streamed, the score, the numbers. The quality of that live stream. You guys looked fantastic. Right. So I think it's different in that aspect.

And there are some different movements that we haven't seen yet in CrossFit. Maybe they'll show up. I don't know. But I also feel that they're the same in community-wise. And they're trying to do the best for the athletes. Look, I love both, and I'll never stop doing either one of them. Now it's just a trick of getting them to flow together smoothly. So I owe a lot to CrossFit, and I love it, and I'll never stop doing it.

But I also have a newfound love for MPFL, so hopefully I can get both of them to mesh well. I'm pretty sure what's going to happen is that this is going to, yeah, the guy who has never, even as big as CrossFit is, there's a big, massive amount of the population who just aren't going to see it. They're not going to watch it on ESPN2 or whatever. They just won't catch it. They're living busy lives, but they dig NHL, NFL, NBA.

They might stumble across this. They're going to see indicators that let them know immediately what's going on, counts of reps and light indicators for where people stand. There's a natural flow. There's a beginning and end. There's a half court kind of. There's a finish line, like a touchdown zone. They're going to see that.

They're going to say, well, I might be interested in this. Like, where can I do this? My local CrossFit box. It's going to drive another layer, maybe a larger level of drawing people into this lifestyle. It's going to be a very good thing. And for the athletes, we've been talking about this. Unfortunately,

you see a lot of athletes not make it to the games after regionals and they just stop training. They're like, well, what's the point? I didn't make it to the games. I might as well take a month or two off. I think this is giving them an opportunity to continue training. Um, and you know,

have a, a step ahead of if they just stopped and get ready for the next season. Um, and I also think that it's going to show a lot of athletes that nobody knows about. I mean, there was a couple of girls out there that were fucking awesome yesterday. And I was like,

who the hell are these girls? And I wouldn't have known about them. And they were killing it out there that were fucking awesome yesterday. And I was like, who the hell are these girls? And I wouldn't have known about them. And they were killing it out there. So I think it's going to give new athletes an opportunity to kind of shine and their confidence is going to get higher. And they're like, I can do individuals. I'm going to try to do individuals next year as a regional athlete. So I think, you know, that it's, I think both of them have the potential

to complement each other very well. Yeah, the experiment just has to play out a little bit more. Right. To see where this goes and see how the other sports around this adapt and adjust to it. Right. All right, we're going to take a break real quick.

When we come back, we're going to talk about what Lindsay wants the championship trophy to look like. This is Andrea Ager, and you're listening to Barbell Shrugged. For the video version, go to barbellshrugged.com. Barbell Shrugged is brought to you by you. To learn more about how you can support the show, go to barbellshrugged.com and sign up for the newsletter.

I get drinking, then I get tired. And then you fall asleep. Yeah. Welcome back. To Barbell Shrugged. I you fall asleep. Yeah. Welcome back. Whoa. I said it different this time. Welcome back. I screwed up the and we're back.

Okay. Lindsay, I learned a very interesting thing right before we came back on, which was you said you had your honeymoon here? Yes, I did. In Vegas? In Vegas, like four years ago. Did you party really hard? We did.

We did. We had a lot of fun, though. Mr. Gose, we came here because, well, we didn't have a lot of money, but you could come to Vegas? I mean, we were here for a week, so like- A week? That's mistake number two. How did you survive a week in Vegas?

And it was during Halloween. Wow. Weird. Yeah, so we were fine, but like you could do a lot for the least amount of money. So like we went to shows, we went to the buffets and everything. We drank a lot. It was fun. We had a lot of money. So like we went to shows, we went to the, you know, the buffets and everything. We drank a lot. It was fun. We had a lot of fun.

We have a rule, if we go more than three days, things, our physiological being and spiritual aspects of our souls breaks down rapidly. Like,

oh shit, we got to get out of here. Yeah, I've come to the conclusion that like, well, the other thing too is if you do Vegas

for a short period of time, you have permission to go back again. You give yourself permission to go hard. So like, what I found is I can do two nights

back to back, balls deep, and then... Balls deep. Well, maybe that's not the way I should describe... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Figuratively.

This is not... Maybe I should have used different terminology because being in Vegas, you know, some people go there and then... Not the same thing I mean.

Go on. Two nights in a row is as hard as I can go and then after that I have to call it the flight. I plan a flight to leave. That's why we didn't come on the first day here. I was like three whole days in Vegas. Can't do it. I'll fucking die.

Tonight's the grand finale. We're going hard tonight. Lindsay, you coming out? I'll fucking die. But tonight's the grand finale. Tonight's the grand finale. We're going hard tonight. Lindsay, you coming out? I will, yes. Oh, yeah. We better wrap it up because I got to shower and do my hair.

Yeah, and I got... Your hair is done. No, it's not. I just straightened it. We're going to get some tequila in front of you. Don't do that. No.

That's a bad idea. Look, here's the thing. We are bad like Michael Jackson bad or bad as in, no, I really would rather not show that side of myself. I'd really rather not show that side of myself? I'd really rather not show that side. I will tell you this.

I will tell you this. I can tell you, and you can reference check this. There are two women that are pretty big in CrossFit that can attest to our ability to keep secrets. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a really big secret. I'm not going to say it on camera. I almost got you.

No, no, no. I almost forget things after they. I'm not going to say it on camera. I almost got you. No, no, no. I almost forget things after they happen. That's how good I am at keeping secrets. No, it's okay. I have a top security clearance in the Navy. I am excellent at this. You can trust me. What's not trustworthy about a giant bearded man with a shark shirt on?

I can trust that. Yeah, you have to trust someone with a shark on their shirt. I can trust that. Yeah. So we'll talk later. We'll go out and have a good time. We plan on going big tonight. Oh, okay.

I'll take pictures. Lindsey, I'm interested. Sure. This is a fun path, right? This is an awesome opportunity. It's an extraordinary thing that we're seeing, but this is not an easy thing. This takes effort. This takes a hell of a lot of sacrifice on your part.

I'm sure it puts a strain on the hubby. You've got to make a lot of sacrifices, eat a lot of things that you'd rather not eat, train long, hard hours and shit. What drives this effort for you? What gets you up in the morning and makes you eager to get back and attack this task?

You know, it's easier some days than others, obviously. But I honestly, truly love this sport. You know, I love inspiring people. From an early age I was told, you know, because I'm dyslexic. I was diagnosed with dyslexia

when I was in second grade. I was told from, you know, not my parents, but from some people that I couldn't do things. And once you tell that I couldn't do things. And once you tell me I can't do things, I do it. And when I make that commitment, it's full blown. I won't stop. I almost have a guilty, I'm almost too guilty of giving my all in everything I do in my life.

And people have to tell me to slow down and say, Lindsay, focus on one thing at a time. But I have a true love for this sport. I honestly, like I've said before, I could care less if I ever get back on that podium. I really just want to, at the end of the day, show what a good person I am and inspire people to improve themselves and never give up. Yeah, I think people really, the limitations put upon yourselves and the things you hear from other people, like, well, I don't think

you can do that. Well, maybe you're right. It's amazing what people can achieve when they have some success. They try, they try, they keep with it. They have some profound,

and it's like, wow, holy shit. Maybe I've been, it's not true what I've been told. I maybe have been lied to in a lot of ways, or at the very least, people are just kind of scared. They don't quite have the belief in themselves. They never had the faith to step out and really lay it all on the line

and give themselves totally to something. They don't know that it's actually possible. So for you to demonstrate that, to show that, look, if you commit full go to this, if you're not too scared to show yourself and to give yourself wholeheartedly to something, look what amazing stuff can happen. Would you say that, I mean, you're not too scared to show yourself and to give yourself wholeheartedly to something, look what amazing stuff can happen. Would you say that, I mean, you're obviously talented and you obviously have some genetic advantage, but you say maybe perhaps you're nothing necessarily special. You just, you give yourself totally to this and you trust that good shit's going to happen if you do that. Yeah, I mean, I see girls out there that, you know, talent-wise are probably way more talented than me and that's fine.

I've always had to work hard for everything that I have got, have in my life and, um, nothing's ever come easy to me. Um, so yeah, I dedicate full hardly my, my entire self to this sport when I'm, I'm doing it. My training is, is just training. I'm focusing on just training, but once training is over with, I'm focusing on my family and everything else that I need to focus on. Um, you know, know, I really look up to Mark Devine, and he's someone that, he's my mentor. He's so air today. Oh, really? Yeah.

I've gotten to know Mark fairly well over the last few months. I'm sure. Yeah, I love that guy. And I did SealFit like, I think I did it like two and a half years ago. And being able to make that connection mentally with myself. It was kind of always there, but I don't think those neurons were firing exactly. It takes that chaos, right?

Yeah, that chaos. You got to get to that moment where you're like, I want nothing more in this existential realm than a fucking dry blanket. Let me die or give me just a dry blanket for 15 minutes. And that experience at SealFit, it's just a cusp of what you guys go through or what you've gone through. But I've never felt that internal feeling of if I can do this, I can handle anything in life. Obviously, it's, you know, there's going to be moments where I'm like, fuck this.

I want to give up. Like, I don't want to do any of this. What's the point? And it gets like that some days, but I think being able to rely back on that weekend and be able to speak with Mark, and I've spoken with him since regionals and right before regionals, and knowing that every step and every day

is just part of your process as growing as a human being mentally, I've really matured in that aspect in the last three years since Steel Fit. And yeah, I mean, I've really matured in that aspect in the last three years, um, since seal fit. And, uh, yeah, I mean, I just kind of take everything and go with the flow and I don't like something, then I say, I don't like it. And if it doesn't get fixed and I try to just work with it. When you say seal fit, uh, what, what, uh, did you do a course? Was it a Kokoro? Kokoro camp? Yeah? Yeah. So I did that in October of

2012. Can you tell us about that week? It's five days, right? 53 hours. You look like you literally got a shiver up your spine. It was the 50 hours. Yeah, 53 hours. Turning Steel, I believe, is five days and I really want to do that one. That's my next one because I was thinking about doing

Kokoro again and Mark was like, you've conquered that. Move on to the next thing. So, turning steel is like ammo and like, oh, fuck. Guns? Yeah. I already have. Oh, yeah.

You get an outfit. Yeah. I got two guns at home. Trust me. I'm married to a cop. So, I was like, fuck yeah. But it's a cop so much. That sounds cool as shit.

Yeah. Yeah. So, the. I don't think my whole team knows it yet but everyone on the Barbell Stroke staff is doing a kokaroo camp in the spring I think

well how hard do you say it I was pretending like it was a dream I'm an intern so I might be there I'm not as sneaky as the real guys because during our ruck

we had guys following us and I had no fucking idea they were following us the whole entire like six hour ruck and I'm so glad I didn't say anything bad about them

or like fuck that guy because they were following us the whole time and I was Six hour ruck So I'm gonna have to do that, huh? Yeah

This is on the second night Or you're fired Shit This is, yeah Six hours That's not all, right? No There's other stuff

around the six hour ruck hike It's only like 44 other hours of stuff to do. Right. Jesus. It's like 44 hours of no sleep. Chris is freaking out. Can I ask you, do you think a 270-pound ex-powerlifter with some mobility constraints and an inability to run really at all, do you think he can survive?

I definitely would start improving your running but i'll get to work on that thanks coach but honestly um we had you know everyone from myself a professional athlete or a professional crossfitter and um to a dad that you know he came in knowing that it was going to be one of the hardest weekends of his entire life. He physically held us back every single evolution. But your body will go before your mind. And I've never experienced on how strong the mind is. Laying in the surf with my head down in the water, being in tune with my senses of, okay, the wave's crashing now crashing now close my eyes hold my breath

it was like the coolest honestly like i it was an outer body like people talk about meditative state you could have yeah people talk about outer body experiences i've never experienced something like that and i don't think i ever will again because it was the coolest thing about the same sense right no i mean it's just i don't know i can't say enough things about it like people think i'm like cultish about the seal fit thing, but I wish every single human being in our society, it was mandatory for someone to go through this. Yeah, it's a rite of passage.

Like, it's probably a very routine thing, not an easy thing ever, but in all kinds of human cultures for a long period of time, people had to go through rites of passage. Times you had to go out in the wilderness, survive. And like we talked about with Joe DeSino, the Spartan death race founder or whatever. He said, we know that things happen, profound things happen in your mind. And you go through the experience where it all comes down to one glass of water, one

moment where you're staring up at the sky or nothing else. It's hard to worry about what lies outside of this event when you're here in this place. And your body just, everything becomes profoundly recalculated. Oh, yeah. One of, you know, there's, talk about enlightenment or reaching that moment as Satori or something like that. That's actually one avenue to get there, you know. Some people do meditation.

They don't want to push the physical limits in order to get there. But pushing your physical limits and getting very uncomfortable is a way to get there. And nothing gets you so uncomfortable with seal fit. I've never been chafed in places that I thought I couldn't get chafed. I chafe easily. And I was like, if this is what, hint, if the ring of fire feels like when you have children, I don't know if I can fucking have any kids because this hurts really bad. And imagine being a woman and talking to all your

seal fit coaches who are men and you're like, coach, I hurt. Ring of fire. Oh, man. Coach, I have a question about my ring of fire. What was it? I once had the, I actually had the top of my head, like I like went bald on top from carrying the boats on my head and the sand got ground in there. Just like it was a bald spot and scab the top of my head like, I like went bald on top from carrying the boats on my head

and the sand got ground in there. It was just like, it was bald spot and scab on top of my head. I know what strategy I'm going to follow. Yeah, I had the ring of fire thing going on back there and then around the neckline and around here around the waistline, all the sand just grinds the flesh away.

And it was like instantly, like within the first hour, you're like, there's no way I'm chafing already. And you're like, fuck, I'm chafing. People don't, people think, oh, you know, people that do that, they're like really tough and they don't think about chafing as like the, one of the worst parts of it. They're like cold water carrying heavy objects and running. He's like, you're like, no, it's the chafing.

If you haven't had the chafing, you wouldn't realize just how sucky the chafing can be. I talk with my grandfather, you know, God bless his soul, but he was one of my biggest inspirations for doing that because he was a SEAL

back in World War II. I told him, I was like, hey, Grandpa, guess what I'm doing? And he goes, what? And he was always the one that I could talk to

before I did stuff like this. And I was like, I'm doing SEAL fit. And he's like, you're doing what? And I go, I did stuff like this. And I was like, I'm doing seal fit. And he's like, you're doing what? And I go, I'm doing seal fit. He's like, what is that? And I think he kind of, 95 years old, kind of caught on to it. He was an old UDT-er.

Yeah. So I explained it to him and he was like, Lindsay, whatever you do, they're looking for good women like you. Don't sign up. He's like, because I know you're going to love it, and I know you're going to excel at it. I just love talking. Yeah.

It was the coolest thing to be able to connect with him on some of a kind of a level. Not close, but kind of. By the way, we podcast with Mark Devine, and if you want to go find that episode, check it out. It's episode 123. I think my strategy with the Seal Foot Experience, listening to Mark talk, I think there's one play. I think you've got to focus in on love and what you stand to gain from this.

I'm going to zero in on the thought of my kids. I've got a two-year-old little boy and a nine-week daughter. Oh, my God. Congratulations. Thank you. So I think what I've got to do is say, look, I've got to demonstrate to them that, look, I'm beat up, not really built for this. Most people would not try this. They would say, this is impossible.

There's much easier things to do. Yes, you can learn you're tough, but it's not necessary. I want to show them that anything you really want to do, you might not be pretty at it. It might suck intensely. But if you just have a strategy and if you focus on what matters to you most and what you need to demonstrate for that love, then you can make it through that. So that's probably going to be my, so your, your why would be your kids. It would be my kids. Right. And a lot of guys go into that weekend having their why as I want to be a good father. I want to be the best father

that I can possibly be. And this is going to help me. And my why was my grandfather and I wanted to prove myself wrong and I wholeheartedly wanted to believe in myself. So that was my why. I think my more generic, not generic, but high level view would be I want people to understand, especially my kids, that look, I, myself, my life,

I was ruled a lot by fear and worry as most humans get. People tell you can't and you're scared if can't happens. Like, well, if I try and I don't get there, what if I just fuck everything up? What if I'm not good enough? The fear puts you in a prison. It's a slavery. I want to show them that, look, you can be scared of things. You can be scared to talk to somebody across the room or to go for what you want to go for or to be what you feel like you need to be, to, you feel like you want to, to listen and abide

by the whispers that are telling you, you can go, you can do that shit, go for it. I want to tell them, the fear that's holding you back is a fake thing.

Push through that. Accept it and move on. I can go up this fucking mountain with chafed thighs, you can do what you want to do too. No, you can do what you want to do. And raw feet.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And being hallucinating about, I saw Indians on a rug. It was great. To be honest,

I'm looking forward to this. I thought I was in fucking Narnia when I was going in there that rough. That sounds awesome. I would welcome the hallucinations. I was like,

well, it's at least a good fucking time. Oh, and the worst part is when you get in the van and it's heated and they're playing classical music and you can't fall asleep.

Oh, yeah. Oh, God. That was fun. I've heard about that bit. That was mean. That was true to me. We're going to do our best here, yeah. Oh, God. That was fun. I've heard about that bit. That was mean. That was true to me. We're going to do our best here, Michael. All right.

Is there anything you want to promote so we don't miss out? Oh, there was something we wanted to talk about. It's something you mentioned in the break. You said you want the comparison between NPFL and CrossFit. So one thing that I forgot to mention is you know the difference between crossfit and the npfl crossfit is finding the fittest man and woman and fittest team in the world the npfl is putting on a show is spectator friendly is you know fast moving is is is basically entertainment not that crossfit isn't but crossFit is finding the fittest in the world.

That's their number one objective. Right. And they are. So I think that's the big difference. I think that would be the only other difference that I see between the two. It's a profound difference. It makes it a profoundly different aim.

It's structurally different, inherently genetically different. It's why these things can and should coexist, and we'll both prosper and flourish because of it. I agree. And you can give me some perspective here. Last night we were watching one of the matches, and we were up in the booth, and we were just kind of watching, and somebody was saying,

oh, this guy's going fast on the, it was a deadlift ladder, I think. They go, this guy's going fast. Oh, why is he going so slow? Like, he was like, he was like looking at the athlete and going, they were judging the athlete based on what was happening. I was like, look over to his left. The coach is telling him how fast to go.

Right. And so the coach was telling the last athlete to go fast, this guy to go slow. Right. This isn't the athlete's choice. The athlete is being, you know, told how to pace by the coach. I mean, can you share like a little bit of perspective on that, how that might be different? Yeah. I mean, with at the games, the coach doesn't really have room to be near their team.

Like there is no opportunity to be really close to their team because it's just such a wide spectrum, wide environment or playing field. Here at the NPFL, the coaches are right on the sidelines, so they get to be more interacting with their athletes and the team as a whole. So I would say that's another big thing. I would say that the games are the Olympics. Yeah.

And the NPFL or the NBA, and there's NBA players that play in the Olympics. Yeah. And the NPFL or like the NBA and there's NBA players that play in the Olympics. Right. The Olympics, nothing can replace the Olympics, right? Right.

Just like nothing can replace the CrossFit Games. Yeah. And the NPFL is like the NBA. Yeah. I agree. When I watch it on the screen,

I go, I think, man, it's just like when I watch basketball. It just kind of reminds me of that same vibe. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Anything you want to promote? Where should we follow you on Instagram and Twitter and all that? Instagram and Twitter. I tweet. I tweeter. Tweeter. That's what I say instead of tweet. Our Lift Like Lindsey.

And I also have B3LV.com where it has my merchandise. So Cal girls are big like Lindsay. And I also have B3LV.com, um, where that has my merchandise. Uh, uh, SoCal girls are big into that. Um, and then we got a calendar. Can I get me a shirt or something? Yeah.

B3LV shirt. I can get you one of those. Um, and, have a calendar on there that, um, I'm going to do, hopefully do some seminars regarding inspirational stuff and working out and

working out, I guess. Um, and, out, I guess. Um, and, uh, a blog. And I just recently wrote a writeup about my regional experience. So if you guys want to read that and I'll do a writeup about the MPFL week.

Um, and, um, I just want to thank, you know, my sponsors, Reebok and Rogue, um,

natural grips, all those good guys. You can find all that product on my website. Excellent. Excellent. Thank you for joining us all that product on my website. Excellent. Thank you for joining us. No, thank you. It was great. Hopefully everyone likes it.

Yes. And don't forget to go to barbellshrug.com. Stand for the newsletter. Cheers, everyone.