Barbell Shrugged - Becoming a 10 Time Bodybuilding Champion w/ Lauren Powers  — Real Chalk #47

Episode Date: October 30, 2018

Lauren Powers is a force of nature. After graduating high school as valedictorian, she got a business degree from the University of Hawaii, owned a surfing academy, and served as a firefighter before making her mark on the fitness industry.   Lauren competed in her first bodybuilding competition in 2001 and has been unstoppable ever since. With ten championships under her belt, Lauren now offers posing clinics, coaches current bodybuilding competitors, and hosts competitions with her company, Powers Fitness Events.   Her namesake competition, the Lauren Powers Classic, is open to all ages and experience levels. In addition to appearing in documentaries and on shows like Botched and My Strange Addiction, Lauren has been a regular on a talk show and landed a number of acting roles.   With such an impressive resume and so many diverse pursuits, it makes sense that Lauren and I talked about, well, pretty much everything. You'll definitely learn a thing or two from this Real CHALK episode!

What's up Chalk Nation? It's Ryan Fisher coming at you with another episode. I had the opportunity this past weekend to go to the San Diego Fitness Expo and be amongst some of the most jacked human beings on earth. Not only are they insanely jacked, but a lot of these people are insanely famous as well. I happened to see Mrs. Lauren Powers walking by, and she's one of those people that you can't really miss. She is incredibly jacked. She's probably the most, like, one of the most jacked girls I think I've ever seen, but I remember the first time I had ever seen her before, I was watching Bigger,

Faster, Stronger, the documentary, and they pulled her onto the camera for a minute, and I remember just being like, wow, that chick is so jacked, you know, and not being in the bodybuilding world. You're not used to seeing people who look like that. Um, but not only has she been a 10 time bodybuilding world champion, she's been on NBC, HBO, the travel channel, ABC, TLC, Hallmark, real sports of Brian Gumbel, E true Hollywood Story. She's been on a Lady Gaga video. She's throwing the Bodybuilding World Championships in Huntington Beach this weekend coming up. She's insane.

She's literally everywhere. And no matter where you go, I feel like you just happen to run into her. And she is unrecognizable to not say hi, you know what I mean? Or not want to know who she is or not ask her a question. So without knowing everything about her before I talked to her, I said, you know what? I want to have you on my show. Come over here and let's do this thing. And she didn't know who I was and I didn't know everything about her. And I think it just made for a great conversation. She is an absolute celebrity icon for the women in bodybuilding. So we just sat down.

We chopped the shit. We cracked some jokes and just had a good time. So I hope you guys enjoy this episode. And here is to meeting random strangers who happen to be way more famous than I am. Here we go. Before we get into the show, I want to hit a couple of our sponsors who have provided us with some amazing discount codes for you guys. Not only that, I really want you guys to understand that when it comes to sponsors, I pick such a select few,

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Mrs. Lauren Powers throwing it down. All right, Chalk Nation. I am here at the San Diego Fitness Expo with Mrs. Lauren Powers throwing it down. All right, Chalk Nation. I am here at the San Diego Fitness Expo with Mrs. Lauren Powers. Miss, baby, miss. Miss. Miss. She's single. Come at me.

Exactly right. Self-promote right away. So anyway, if you guys don't know Lauren Powers, I feel like you might know who it is. So like I don't know a whole lot about you, but I know who you are because I've seen, like, the movie Bigger, Faster, Stronger. Okay. Yes. I was in that. You did say that you were in a Lady Gaga video.

Lady Gaga's music video. Okay. Everybody knows who that is. All right. All right. I hope so. And she's just a super jacked girl you see walking around, right? Very subtle in my neon green.

So, yeah, very, very subtle. Last time I saw you, you were wearing leopard. There you go. So that was subtle as well. Very subtle. Like my car, my Harley, my Mercedes, all have eyelashes. My big-ass lady has my big picture on top of it. Ladies, huge.

It's crazy. Perfect. Pink eyelashes. Yeah, subtle. So if you had a penis, it would be massive. I'm just saying. If I had a what? I'm just saying. If you had a penis, it would be a big, flashy penis. you had a penis, it would be massive. I'm just saying. If I had a what? I'm just saying if you had a penis, it would be a big, flashy penis.

If I had one, it would be giant. It would be red. Everything. It would be like a Ferrari of penises. That's correct. All right. Anyway, so let's talk about a little bit what you have going on, who Lauren Powers is. For a lot of you guys who know what I'm talking about and you've seen the movie bigger faster stronger and you can like maybe picture her in your mind um yeah you obviously were like

a bodybuilder at some point or currently something like that did you compete at one point i've got 10 10 time overall champion 10 time overall champion okay so i come i come from the crossfit world okay the crossfit world this is forgive you. Actually, that's hard. Images do appear a lot taller than they are. Oh, yeah. Actually. I will look up to you. Yes.

You're looking down right now. I'm not ashamed. Okay. Yes. Okay. So you won 10 times. Amazing. How old are you now?

Women's heavyweight bodybuilding championships. What is heavyweight? Heavyweight is, I think it's 136 plus i don't know i never it was always way over so it didn't matter okay but i just you know i competed to have a good time basically it wasn't to be some big pro bodybuilder that was never my goal my goal was to promote women in fitness living your dream following your you know your path and enjoying the process and i remember you saying something like that on the bigger faster stronger documentary you were saying probably yeah like you wanted I remember you saying something like that on the Bigger, Faster, Stronger documentary.

Yeah, probably. Yeah, like you wanted to promote feminism and stuff like that. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So I'm still out doing it. I've been, gosh, I've appeared on numerous commercials, TV shows, documentaries on my life. You can see me on Wee, E!, gosh, Spike. I just appeared on Shameless a couple weeks ago. I just filmed a 9-1-1 episode.

You name it. You're getting out there. I'm out there. I'm probably the most publicized female bodybuilder in the world because of all the mainstream. I do see you everywhere. I know her. I always see her. You're so cute.

People do that a lot. You're not alone. Every time I walk around, people are like, oh, my God. They start talking to me like they know me because they've seen my life stories on TV. So then they realize, oh, I saw you on TV. What are you most excited about right now? Right now is the World Championships. I've got the WFF 2018 Championships coming next weekend on Huntington Beach, Surf City, USA.

I literally, as we speak, we've got over 32 countries slated. Flying over, they all had to get visas, et cetera, qualify in their countries. The best of the best in, like, the world are coming to my stage, which I'm so excited about and nervous at the same time. But just to give you an idea, I just pulled it. I'd like to come check that out because I actually just live in Newport Beach. Exactly. So check this out. We've got Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bolivia.

Oh, wow. I don't even know how to say that. Czech Republic? Well, Brazil, no. Botswana? Botswana, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe. And just added China yesterday. So it's insane.

And so they're all coming to compete here. Surf City USA, I'm totally inviting you. Please come out. It's going to be a big to-do. It's a two-day show. It's Thursday. I'm sorry. Friday we're doing registration at Hotel Huntington, which is my host hotel right there at Huntington Beach.

Then on Saturday is we're doing the figure and bodybuilding championships, men and women. And then on Sunday we have men and women's sport model as well as all the bikini folks and aerobics finals. So it's a pretty big deal. And there's also professional categories. Six professional categories will be giving out some prize money, and these other amateur folks will be competing for their pro cards.

Wow, amazing. It's exciting. World Fitness Federation has been around for, what, 50 years, NABBA and WFF. But this is the first time they're actually really coming to America to compete for a world title. Yeah, wow, that is amazing. And you're putting this on. I am. Can you believe it?

And I'm here talking to you. See how we are? How does that come about? How do you get into promoting something this big? You work your ass off. Let's talk about a few of those steps, though. Well, it's not easy. I've been doing shows now for actually the last five years.

And my whole thing is I'm an athlete. More than competing than them? Well, I'm an athlete for the athletes. So I know what it takes to get on stage, obviously. And I really am out for the competitor and giving them everything that they want and without the politics involved in the sport i'm sure you know the sport's gotten kind of crazy every sport has the politics yeah it's insane and and it's difficult and i know what it takes to get on stage and that it's the determination the desire the dedication that

to even want to do this and then that d word-word diet, right? Yeah. So, you know, to be fairly, you know, not judged fairly, I should say, is a shame. So my whole passion is driven by giving these folks a stage to compete on, judged fairly. My judges are not coaches. They look at what the physique is on the stage right in front of them that day, and they judge it by that, what they see, not by what team they're on or who's their coach or any of this stuff that's going on in our industry, which I understand it. You know, it's business, and it's, you know, people are making a lot of money in it. I don't know, actually, a whole bunch of the politics that go on because I'm more of, I

was, you know, I have a cross with backgrounds. But what type of things do happen that? It's just pretty crazy. You know, and everybody knows it. I'm not talking out of school or anything. It's just straight up. It's like what team you're on I'm not talking out of school or anything. It's just straight up. It's like what team you're on, who's your coach, how much money you're paying, what you did last show, what you're going to do.

People are guaranteeing these pro cards. And it's just gotten out of control, and it's very expensive. So people could essentially kind of buy their way through. Pretty much. And then these pro cards you pay for every year. You pay to be a pro at this sport. How much does that cost? I think it's $250 to start. And then if you're late, it goes up to, I think, $400, $500, something like that, a year.

And then what does the pro card actually do for you? That's the question of the century. Okay. Everybody wants one, and then once they get it, they don't even know what for. The only benefit that I know of is that you get to put your pro on Facebook. Yeah, I can see that. But it's good. I mean, if you're a trainer and stuff and this is your business, it makes sense.

And, you know, it's a goal. Yeah. And I respect that. And I have it too. It's like PHP next to your name, basically. I'm handing out pro cards as well when they qualify. It's not me, but the WFF is. Okay.

You know, I don't do a pro card. I just do, I help the amateurs and mainly more novice people get started. And I do posing clinics and really help the competitor from start to finish. That's my whole passion. How much does posing really play a role? I mean, I've heard that posing is massive. Like there's a lot of guys that get on stage that look very similar, but one pose is better than the other. Exactly.

It's all a presentation. So basically it's like attitude and your stage presence and energy that you project while you're on there. And then, of course, showcasing your physique in the best light possible that works on your body. Because we're all different shaped. So you've got to, you know, especially this bikini and men's physique. There's so many people on there. You can be looking at 20 guys and they all look amazing. So when you have to judge, you literally have to whittle it down.

And almost it sounds weird, but you almost pick out their flaws and score that way. It's a crazy sport. It really is. But it is what it is. For me, I try to promote that it's fun, enjoy the journey, the process it takes to get on there because it is hard work. And posing is critical. It really is because it's showing your hard work. You know how some people say diet is more important than your workout exercise.

How important would you say the posing is to your actual physique? Well, it is very important because, again, if you look just like the person standing next to you, you have to out-pose them. And it comes with, I think, confidence, literally. So it's a huge factor. It is a huge factor, and that's why so many people practice posing. And posing is harder than training, at least for me it is. It's a huge factor. It is a huge factor, and that's why so many people are practice posing. And posing is harder than training, at least for me it is. It's a workout. When I think of posing practice, I think of pumping iron and Franco Colombo and Arnold,

and they're like with the ballet person. That's like my immediate image in my brain. The visual you get. Well, see, there you go. Is it similar to that? Are you guys literally doing stuff like that? It's graceful, and me, it's an energy. I mean, I'm known for my posing, and I've never had a posing routine.

I just go out and feed off the energy of the audience, and they fuel me, and I just jump around and hop around to the music, and I have fun. And people, when you're having fun, the audience is having fun, and if people are enjoying watching you, you tend to score higher. That makes me think of, like, Kai Greene. Yeah, you see, he engages the audience, and then the judges can't help but look at him. You know what I'm saying? And I don't know a ton about bodybuilding, but I just remember on Instagram or videos,

I'm like, oh, wow, he has a crazy posing routine. The whole thing is you want to be memorable and you want to stand out. Yeah. And look at the way I look. I always stand out. Yeah, and I've always noticed you. There you go, baby. People know me whether they want to or not.

Yeah. But you know what I mean? It's like I just really want to be the athlete for the athlete, and my shows are known as the show that gives back. Everything I do is for the competitor, literally. I mean, I'm one person doing this whole movement by myself, literally, except the day of the show I have all my friends and anybody can get to come and help me because it takes a lot because it's a lot of moving parts.

You know what I mean? I have registration and I have attendance and then I have raffles. Then I have sponsors. I have vendors. I have an expo. I have food, drinks, beer, wine, champagne, photographers, red carpet. All these things are going off. It's a lot.

And then backstage, you've got the hair, makeup, tanning, and pump room going off. So I put all that together, oversee the entire thing. I don't even know how I know my name. But at the end of the day, it always works out and I try to make sure everybody has a good time and it's judged fair and get nice prizes. Where are you guys throwing it in Huntington? So this next one is at Surf City USA.

We call it Huntington Beach, California, which I'm actually from Huntington. Yeah, but where's the venue? It's at the Huntington Beach Central Library. They have a whole amphitheater on the back side and I rent the from Huntington. Yeah, yeah, but where's the venue? It's at the Huntington Beach Central Library. They have a whole amphitheater on the backside, and they rent the whole thing out. How far is that from Pacific Center? I think it's like three miles. Oh, okay.

It's pretty close. It's not far at all. So it's going to be close to the beach then? Oh, absolutely. Oh, yeah. These athletes are coming in, like I said, from all over the world, all those countries we listed earlier. Awesome. That can enjoy going to the Huntington Beach.

They don't have that where they're from. Yeah. I can't even say somebody's place and especially now with that whole new area just it's all built really pretty now paseo hotel was one of my host hotels as well so one of the guys that works out in my gym his brother owns the paseo hotel really yeah i need to talk to him again yeah i can give you i can give you his contact yeah because they should be giving my athletes a deal because they really are spending a lot of money to come here. I can actually help you out with that. Well, there you go. That's why I'm doing your show. The stars align.

You didn't know that. The stars always align. There are no mistakes. So that is what you're most excited about right now. Is there anything else you have kind of going on at the moment? The World Championships, a 9-1-1 episode will be airing on Fox pretty soon coming up. I just did a Jack in the Box commercial. Oh, wow.

Jack in the Box has muscles. It's hilarious. Are you wearing the Jack in the Box commercial. Oh, wow. Jack in the Box has muscles. It's hilarious. Are you wearing the Jack in the Box head? No, no, no, no. That's the real guy that does that. But no, there's like 12 bodybuilders that got casted and were all in the background. Oh, wow. That's awesome.

With real biceps. And then they had a bunch of people in fake biceps, which were actually my molded arms from Danica Patrick from Go Daddy from the Super Bowl commercial when she was running as a bodybuilder at Super Bowl. That was my body that they fitted to put her in to use on Super Bowl. And it's the same company that made all the arms for Jack in the Box commercial. Oh, wow. That is awesome. This is all trivia for your listeners.

Yeah, it's good. Yeah, it's just fun stuff. The bodybuilding world will see it because it's going to be in Spanish and English. Okay. It's coming out. So how long until that comes out it because it's going to be in Spanish and English. Okay. It's coming out. So how long until that comes out? I don't know. They gave me an air date.

I just got my check yesterday. Oh, sweet. So you remember. Yes, I remember. Oh, yeah, Jack in the Box is coming up. But, no, I'm just excited. I go to all the expos. I support the sport.

I have tons of friends in this. I've got a lot of sponsors from bodybuilding.com. Here we go. Do a little Instagram for you guys who can't see what's going on. Yeah, here, do another one. Oh, wait. Hold on a second. Yeah, I'm so shy, right?

All right. So what else? Yeah, lots of fun stuff. I just try to keep it real. How did you get to do a Lady Gaga video? I got casted in it the night before they shot the video. It was actually Lady Gaga and Beyonce. Oh, awesome. So it was a pretty big 10-minute video. So it was real exciting to get to work with her.

She was amazing. And now I just saw her movie, Stars Born. Oh, yeah. Yeah, if you haven't seen it, go see it. It's really, really good. I do need to check that out. I just love her. She's just so talented and so real.

She's one of my mentors. She really is. She's so much different, too, which I think is really cool yeah she's really grown into her talent amazing amazing woman i look up to her but yeah lots of stuff babe i'm just in the industry running around just keeping it real having fun what do you see the future going on for what you have uh some big shows in the future for bigger shows than this well not bigger but you'll see I can't even say right now. Oh, okay, okay. That's a secret. No, because I've got some big sponsors coming on board with me now.

I've worked really hard to gain my relationships with a lot of the folks here, like you'll see here today. I mean, I feel like a lot of people don't realize, like, you know, like the fitness expos aren't always, like, super high energy and fun, like, the entire weekend. You know what I mean? But if you really put your energy, if you put yourself out there and you meet people and you take time to do things and you start making connections and before you know it, years and years go by and, you know, all these crazy amazing things happen to you. And I think a lot of people, they just don't want to put the work in. It is work.

People ask me every day, how do you have the energy and how do you keep going we see you everywhere like every day i'm somewhere else yeah i really am i i don't know how much do you travel like in a year oh gosh enough enough to get a lot of free flights yes in miles gosh i had 300 000 miles on american not that long ago i used quite a few of them i just went to india this, so I won an award for cinema and media on an international stage. So now I'm an award-winning international speaker for women's empowerment. I'll be having a women's empowerment seminar and workshop on December 1st of this year, 2018, coming up in Huntington Beach, the same venue. So instead of having a fitness competition, I changed it to Power Powers Empowerment, Women Empowering Women.

I like that. Yeah, thank you. So it'll be an expo as well. So if any women out there want to join my crew, if you want to be a keynote speaker, reach out to me. And then we'll have vendor booths as well. And some wine, of course, and red carpet. Oh, yeah, everybody's got a little bit of wine. So that's going to be a fun day.

It's Saturday, December 1st. That will be my last event that I'm hosting this year. Then my birthday is December 13th, and then Christmas and all that good stuff. And how old will you be? Young. Young, young, young. Young, young. I'm really 106.

I have good Botox, my friend. I literally got Botox on the way here, honestly, from one of my sponsors. It was like, come here, let me shoot your face, literally. So I can't even really smile because i had botox on the way here one of your friends is laughing yeah it's like hurting to smile you're not allowed to smile today yes i'm fabulous in my 50s okay so when i didn't do my first show till literally i won my overall title at 40 and i came back a decade later and won the same title when did you realize that this is what you wanted to do that you wanted to get into bodybuilding?

Not until then. You're in your 40s. Yes. I was actually 39, wanted to do my very, very first show just to do it. 39? I went to the Olympia. Late start. This was never been.

Was it still in Vegas at the time? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It was at Mandalay Bay. Okay. Back in the day, baby. So what were you doing pre-39? Well, I was a firefighter. Wow. I used It was at Mandalay Bay. Okay. Back in the day, baby. So what were you doing pre-39?

Well, I was a firefighter. Wow. I used to be a firefighter engineer. Here's the good stuff. Now we're getting there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was a firefighter. Before that, I'd been a professional.

So an engineer really means you were the driver. Yes. Okay. And you do all the hydraulics and you pump the water to the fire. Mm-hmm. Literally. And then, so I was that. And then I owned a surfing school in hawaii for a number of years

oh i actually went to school in hawaii i did too i went to uh university of hawaii for a year and i went to hawaii pacific university for another year okay i went to school actually on kawaii right out of high school and then i moved to maui and went to school there as well the locate you know i wound up getting my helicopter license as a pilot. Nice. And then I flew to all those islands, but I always lived on Diamond Head in Oahu. So we have some colliding stories right now. Yes, aloha. I like it.

So how's it, brah? Okay, so then you owned a surf school. I owned a surf school in Maui. Actually, I taught surfing in Kauai, and then I moved to Maui, and then actually owned a big surfing school, Maui Surfing School. Did you ever get into windsurfing or kitesurf surfing over there? I did a little bit not kite surfing I was going to the last time I was on Maui at Kanapale the winds were so high. I tried a little bit but it's scary. Oh my it's gnarly. Yeah. This guy came walking back dragging his kite all bloody and I'm like never mind. Yep.

Not today. I heard stories of people like just they would they would do a jump and then all of a sudden they end up like on someone's roof. Oh, because they catch a lot of air. Yeah, they get a 50-foot air and then just drift into houses and stuff. Yeah, not a good day. But I remember being on the beach trying to figure it out. I was like, I'm going to figure this out. I bought it on Craigslist, my whole setup. You did?

I did. Oh, you went further than I did. I started the lesson. I got one lesson in, and I was young. It was like $200 for a lesson. I was like, holy crap. Wow. I went out. I thought I. And I was young. It was like $200 for a lesson. I was like, holy crap, you know? Wow. I went out.

I thought I knew what I was doing. I went on my own, and I just like could not figure it out. Everybody on the beach, instead of helping me, was like, get out of here, you fucking idiot. And I was like, oh. That's not very nice. I really wanted to learn how to do it. This is like, oh, man. I was like.

You were in California or Hawaii? I was in Hawaii. I was like 19 years old. I'm 32 now. Okay. So it was a long time ago. But I'm sure now people are a little bit more nice. I hope so.

Hopefully. Right. So how old were you at this time with the surf school? You keep asking me. No, no, no. No, just like I'm thinking about time-wise. Because you're 39 when you started, when you did your first show. I moved to Maui right out of, I moved to Kauai right out of high school.

So I was barely 17. Okay. Because I graduated early. So you owned a surf school. I was actually valedictorian of Huntington Beach High school the age of 17 i had just returned from a skateboard tour so i was a world-class skateboarder oh man i love this story right now and i have a lot of stuff very similar very similar i was a bmx like champion okay i rode bikes i know brian um brian lewis i don't know brian lewis i know scotty kramer you know scotty kramer now why i didn't

follow it i just know i grew up with his sister in Huntington. He's a big champion. Anyway, yes, valedictorian in high school, moved to Kauai, surfed, still skateboarded, did all that stuff and surfed in Kauai. Then moved to Maui, paddled Atrigger Canoe. We were three times Hawaiian state champions. Wow. Atriggers.

I did Molokai Channel. Okay. Oh, yeah. Roughest channel in Hawaiian Islands. Paddled that in a canoe. Have you worked out with Laird Hamilton at all? Have I worked out with him? No, but I know his sister.

The other podcast on this network. But he's awesome. They go to his house and they do like the underwater workouts in his pool in Malibu. Oh, cool. And he's like super into it. He's like. Oh, I would like that. Yeah, it's really cool.

So check that out next time. I haven't been invited yet, but I'm hoping I get one. Maybe after this podcast, we'll both go. All right, Larry, if you're listening, invite us.

Yeah, I know. I really want to go. That sounds fine. So yeah, what else? And then, um,

been in sales my whole life. Obviously I'm very, um, I can close anything. I feel like you can. And then, um, what gosh,

from there, then the firefighting engineer stuff, that was later in my life as well. Okay. That's a hard job to get. It's really hard. How many years did you spend in there? Well, I went to the school, and then I did the academy, and then I worked as a reserve for two different departments. And then I actually had a discrimination case with one of the departments.

So that ended my firefighting career but which launched me directly into fitness i literally at the everything happens for a reason everything happened for a reason and you're absolutely right that door slammed shut and fitness flew right open here i am today what 12 years no gosh what is this 2018 that was 2002 16 years later still here so 16 years of straight fitness now straight never look back love it competing working traveling hosting promoting tv film radio shows podcasts i hear yeah i do it all my friend let's talk about traveling and working out so like how hard is it to keep your fitness regimen while you travel? It's not easy.

I think a lot of people are very interested in that. A lot of people are always – and people ask me all the time, like, how do you stay in shape when you travel and this and that? And I'm like, well, it's not that hard. I go to, you know, the nearest gym that I can. Usually the hotels have fitness regimen. Whenever I can. It's very popular.

If I just have a set of dumbbells, I'm usually pretty good. I can get pretty creative. You can always do push-ups and crunches and stuff in your room. It's not that hard, right? But people think there's some special recipe out there. What does your travel regimen look like? It was difficult because I toured for like 10 years. Did you have to have like a legit gym or were you okay with like doing body weight stuff?

No, I can work out in anywhere. Okay. To be honest with you, I'm so busy as a business person first before training. Like I haven't really had a time to train in the last three months, literally. I get to do it maybe once or twice a week. Wow. You still look great. I do yoga. Thank you. It's a lifestyle. I'm not out to conquer the world. I'm not competing anymore.

I'm promoting, but I still like to look healthy. I feel like you should. I take care of myself. Self-care to me is a big thing. I do acupuncture every week. I do chiropractic every week. I do facials. I do massages. I do cupping. If you had to pick one, what do you think is the most beneficial one?

Well, I don't have to pick one. That's the beauty of it. I think cupping is pretty amazing. It is. I get to do it all. I love the acupuncture. That really seems to be effective for me. I feel like acupuncture is very hit or miss.

You can get someone who's really, really good at it and someone we're like i've done it two different ones yeah a really chinese lady for real and then one that just finished her school and she's pretty awesome on all the latest techniques my favorite one was um because i used to be on the olympic bobsled team believe it or not oh wow in 2010 so that's a thrill seeker yeah i've had a i've had a really cool history as well. But I remember this lady hooked up like electrodes to it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it pulsates. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get that every week.

That was my favorite style. Right in my ass. Yeah. Seriously, it fired my face. Literally, get them everywhere. Yeah. It vibrates. I've had them like in my face.

It's an electric stamp basically through the needle. Yeah, it's amazing. It is. It helps really well. And I've had the cupping only twice, but both times they were on my back. To leave the marks around. Yep. Yeah.

And then it's amazing what it looks like when it's happening. It looks weird. Like your skin is like boiled inside. Yes. And I think a lot of people probably haven't seen that, but depending on where you guys live. I get it a lot. It's getting very popular out here now. I've done it with fire, too.

Really? Yeah, they light fire inside the cups. Inside the cup? Yeah, it's pretty cool. Oof. Yeah, fire cupping. Is it painful? Look at it. It doesn't here now. I've done it with fire, too. Really? Yeah, they light fire inside the cups. Inside the cup? Yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah, fire cupping. Look at it. Is it painful? It doesn't hurt now.

Okay. It doesn't hurt me. You know, I'm Wonder Woman. All right. Nothing hurts me. So when you're traveling, are you trying to find these things as well? Cupping and acupuncture and stuff like that? It depends.

It depends on where I'm going. Okay. In India, I was there for 10 days. I didn't really have time for any of that kind of stuff. India is really hard to eat well. I've heard it's really hard to get workouts in. I haven't been there. I was there for a women's conference. There was 2,000 women speaking.

Was the food situation harsh? They actually fed us every single day. They had a huge buffet. Actually, I love the food. I love the food. So it was fantastic. Tons of, like, you can get chicken curries and vegetables and, you know, the rices. It was just so good.

Oh, awesome. Actually, I love the food. But, yeah, I'm going back next year with Team USA. So we're looking to bring, you know, over a couple hundred women with us to speak on stage and those that have qualified. So what do you guys talk about on stage? So for the women who are listening to this podcast and might want to go to one of these things, what do we?

They can look it up. It's Women Economic Forum. Okay. And it's Dr. Harbin that invites Team USA. And there's women literally from all over the world, and they speak on different topics. So I did, like, one of my topics was, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Okay. Imagine that. Yep. So that was fun. I showed a lot of my TV stuff. Yeah, it worked out. I had a good time with that. But there's many, many different topics.

So you actually sign up as a panelist or a lead or a co-lead, something to speak. And it's a very good opportunity if you want to be an international speaker. Oh, wow. Yeah. So kind of like Toastmasters. On a large scale. On a much larger scale. Yes.

And I'm not a trained speaker, but I just get up. And everything I do is I just speak from the heart. And I'm very authentic, as you can see, in what comes out of my mouth. I think it helps so, so much. It just is. Like, I say the same thing when you first met me as I'm saying today. Or you saw me in a movie or whatever. You know, I don't change.

It's just consistent. It's real. Because it's the truth. And I feel like it's so much more relatable. Yeah. So even, like, my show, like, I don't know, I'm like very casual. I say a lot of jokes, like whatever. And my show has gotten insanely popular like insanely fast.

And I feel like a lot of people are into such this, you know, so specific on the science of stuff. And I can geek out on pretty much anything with the body. Like I'm an exercise physiology major, nutrition, this, that, blah, blah, blah. I own my own gyms and a bunch of different

other businesses and stuff and I can geek out if I wanted to but like who really wants to listen to that? I actually love when you hear someone really smart

say something really funny. Right. Like Steve Jobs, you know, like I know you're really fucking smart. Right. Or even like Joe Rogan,

number one podcast in the world. But he's real. Right. Or even like Joe Rogan, number one podcast in the world. But he's real. He's so real. And when he wants, he just like nails you with like this like 20 minute complete like presentation. You're like, whoa. Where did that come from? Yeah.

And then he's like, I'm high. You know what I mean? You're like, oh my God, you did all of that all at one time. That is so funny. I love stuff like that. Yeah, he's insane. So I like hearing stuff like that, and I love hearing people who have that type of a pedestal, and they're just talking at the regular level for everyone else to understand. Yeah, I'm just regular.

You know what I mean? I do everything regular, too. I'm considered a celebrity, whatever. I do a lot of red carpets and all that kind of stuff. But you know what? To me, I'm just real. I'm just who I am. I don't plan what I'm going to wear.

I just go in my closet, throw on something, and I just go. For me, it's just making the appearance. And once you're there, everything seems to work out. It just does. And even coming here, I'm just everywhere. And that's the dedication on my part. And that's what it takes, I think, to be successful in anything you do is you have to put one step in front of the other,

follow through with what you're saying and what you do, impeccable with your word that's the whole thing people like still i'm still around after all these years like sean ray and myself are probably such old school in this industry i just saw frank zane over there but you know like we're like the originals oh frank zane is here he's here oh someone told me that he wasn't he is here he's awesome no no no and i have his publicist number i can just give it to you okay yeah i would love to talk to him on your show he's awesome um but you know i mean. And I have his publicist number. I can just give it to you. Okay, yeah. I would love to talk to him. Just get him on your show. He's awesome. But you know what I mean? It takes a lot to stay in this business because it's rough.

Yeah. In this industry with Instagram now and all the social media. I mean, let's face it. When I was out hustling, I had to go face-to-face to get sponsors and do shows and travel and, you know, really work it. It's crazy now, like, what can make you insanely famous. I mean, because of Instagram, some people don't know anything, but they're really good at marketing.

Or sometimes they... It's the opposite. I have all the content and not the marketing. Yeah, they just have a... I refuse to do Instagram forever. It's amazing. Do you have one? I do.

Lauren Powers Official. Okay. How many followers do you have? Not enough. Not enough. I'll put a picture with Lady Gaga, right? I'll get like two likes. Yeah.

Right? And then the girl on a little yoga mat in Kentucky somewhere gets like two million. I'm like, what the heck? It's amazing how it works out. Yeah. I've had people try to help me and stuff. It's just not. But you have your own success in your own way, right?

Well, yeah. I've got it through hard work. Amazing. Not just posting pictures so i i always get to this point in the show where i ask people like you know what are your most important bullet points for people to become successful or stay with their passion and just like keep trucking away and i always tell people like on my behalf that deep down inside you you know what you want to do you know what it is whether you want to admit it or not it's just like one of those things you just kind of know and i feel like

you just have to be at that point where you're ready to jump and you're willing to let somebody catch you on the jump right like trust if you really really want to do something i feel like and people know that you want to do it they're ready to catch you when you do jump um it's just it's just telling yourself that you're going to jump and i like there were so many things in my life that i had to do where i was like all right fuck it i'm just gonna go for it oh my god and as soon as i did it i had my brother i had i had so much support right away and i was like fuck yeah you know like and then like that is like what like lit the fire and like it started this and it started that and i'd have conversations with people like you or people like someone else and I'm like oh my god and then like it's just like this entire just platform of everything just

starts to explode so what would you think what was like the turning point for you that made you feel like all right I can do this I believe in myself like things started to open up when certain things happened do you have anything like that well I my whole life is like that actually yeah but I'm always ahead of my time, it just seems. For some reason, I'm always one step ahead. That's good. And then I don't make any money at it. Yeah.

And then the people behind me come in and cash in. Yeah. Because I'm on to something else. I get bored pretty quickly. So it's like I create things when I sleep. I visualize. I manifest everything. I'm like that.

I know. I think you're my brother. So I have these little notes on my phone, and they're all from sleeping. Yeah. I wake up, I write them down, and I go back to sleep. I write them down, and I go back to sleep. See? That is so awesome.

I was like, yeah. When I go back to sleep, I create things. My whole house is designed from my sleep. I design my bathroom and my walls. Do you sleep with earplugs? No. I sleep with earplugs every night. Really?

I can't hear anything. Interesting. I haven't tried that. It bothers me if I hear anything. Interesting. But you know what? Just like you were talking about. It I haven't tried that. It bothers me if I hear anything. Interesting. But you know what? Just like you were talking about. Have a dream. Have your passion. And just go for it. What do you have to risk?

Just hearing no? Big deal. But I'm sure people have wanted to hold you back, right? Oh, all the time. Are you kidding me? You're kind of intimidating. Thank you. I take that as a compliment. Right? In some aspect. Like for other women especially. I'm totally intimidating. but that's too bad. But look at how nice I am.

You know what I mean? Yeah, of course. I'm totally approachable. I like talk to everybody when you have the balls to talk to me. Yeah. Some people, if they don't have the confidence to come and speak to me, then that's on them. That's not my fault. You know what I'm saying?

And I say that in a lot of my interviews, a lot of my TV shows and live documentaries on myself. You'll hear me say in many, many interviews, if you don't like the way I look, turn the channel. It's that simple, people, because I have enough people that do appreciate who I am, what I've done, what I've done for the sport, whatever, for myself. And the way I look is being willing to step out of the side of the box, look different, and keep going and be successful at it and be happy at it. And I'm in your face.

I don't care. This is who I am. This is what I look like. You don't like it, don't talk to me. Because let the people that do like it come talk to me because I have a lot to say. Yeah. Like I am with you. Yeah, I like it.

Just grab me walking by. Hey, come here. Let's do our show. And I'm like, all right. You know what I mean? And I think that's how it is. And it's just a mirror. I know I have a lot of power and a lot of energy, but it's all for the good.

I'm very positive, very bright. I'm a white light. I've been in Japan. People run out of their businesses. Oh, my God, lucky lady, look at you. You're special. You're a bright light. I've never been there, but I want to go really good.

Oh, yeah. People see my auras and all that, and they just say, you exude positive, bright light. And I think that's what's got me through all these years in this industry that can beat you up and spit you out and stomp on you. It really can. This is a brutal, brutal industry because you're judged on the way you look from the outside. Nothing to do with the inside. Right? Yeah.

Think about that for a second. That is kind of hard to think about for sure. But now that you said it. No, it's so true. I mean, I'm here at the Fitness Expo, and I don't really want to talk to anyone, I guess, unless they look really cool. See how you are. Or if it's someone who I know their past or something like that. But if I didn't know anybody, I'd be like, oh, that's the person I want to talk to.

I guess, yeah, you're right. And then people are here, they're on stage. Very superficial. They're being judged half naked, literally, by the way they look. Nothing to do with who they are, what they do, what they give back to society, anything that's charitable. None of that. They don't have a time to talk about that they are, what they do, what they give back to society, anything that's charitable. None of that. They don't have a time to talk about that. You know what I'm saying? It is very interesting.

Yes. They're just a physical, outer appearance. But it is what it is. And I understand the business. I understand the industry. I've been around a long time. That's why I do what I do. That drives me and my passion to give even more to my competitors. Because these things are basically the promoters of the supplement companies.

All of them are the ones making all the money at the athlete's expense. Yes. Think about that. Yeah. I actually used to be sponsored by the brand that you're wearing right now. Oh, really? Interesting. I just like the hat.

Yeah. However, you know, it's brutal, but just keep going. You know what I mean? I can't let the negative things stop me. And let's face it, the general public would be very, very harsh. I've experienced it through many, many years looking at the way I do. Especially social media. Oh, yeah.

I've been on that. But I'm like you. I put myself out there. I take risks, and I put my neck literally on the chopping block all the time, and I have for years. But it's helped you. And it's okay because now I use any of the naysayers or the haters literally to fuel me and makes me be that much more successful, if you will.

So I turn that energy that people are trying to bring me down, like you were saying, and it actually empowers me to help that many more women or help that many to be that much more powerful. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. So it's like I dare you to try to bring me down. It totally fuels me.

And it stopped a lot. It stopped a lot of the haters, a lot of the negativity, a lot of the social media negative things. Who has time for that? I don't have time for that. I don't even have time to read it. You're going to talk shit on me. Have a reason. You better know me.

You know what I mean? This episode is such a mirror of my life right now i know i think so like i was a brother i was a huge competitor for a long time and i got really mad in a competition and i told the judge that i was gonna in quotes fucking kill him oh that's good sportsmanship so um it was one of those moments where like you know um she's laughing it's one of those moments where you know would i take it back yeah but i was like the heat of the moment and i was like really mad and like you know all the training because you try so hard yeah and i was like fuck you know like i fucked up but at the same time like it is what

it is and we should move on from it and then like your fans the world of crossfit was like all trying to be like oh destroy you yeah destroy me right and i wound up opening a gym a year later and my mom my mom was like you shouldn't do it like they're just gonna hate on you and this and that and i'm so scared for you and i'm like mom it's gonna be fine people forget and now i wind up owning you know one of the most successful and most popular crossfit gyms in the world i love it not only that but i actually program now for like 10 of the gyms in the world so like the workouts that i make do you know paleo zone food oh yeah yeah that's one of my sponsors. Dan Mayer? Yes. Yeah, he works out at my gym.

Who are you? He works out at my gym. He's my sponsor as well. They deliver my food every twice a week. Oh, wow. Yes, I love that food, and they're going to be bringing, gosh, 100 meals each day to my show. Yes, you have to come.

Oh, okay, yeah. I'll talk to Dan. Are you coming? I'll talk to Dan, yeah. I'll be. Because I know CrossFit. He's really big into CrossFit. Yes, you have to come. Oh, okay, yeah. I'll talk to Dan. Are you coming? I'll talk to Dan, yeah. I'll be. Because I know CrossFit. He's really big into CrossFit. That's why you said that. Yeah. Yeah, Dan works out at my gym.

Oh, that's so funny. I love him. How hilarious. Well, if he's listening, thank you, Dan, for being a great sponsor, as well as Swapfield, Bodybuilding.com, Quest Bars. God, so many people that are here are my sponsors as well. So I'm really grateful to the sponsors. I'm really grateful for my staff that does show up, the volunteers. I can have the Marines come

out. They do an amazing job helping run the show. I couldn't do it without them. So I'm really grateful for the spectators and the friends and family that actually come out and support their competitor because it takes a lot to get on stage. That's great of you to go ahead and say thank you. I really, I'm so grateful. I just, I live in gratitude and I think that again, that's another reason why I'm still around because I'm appreciative and I'm not a jerk off

and I give everything I've got back. That's actually getting popular. I mean, it's sad to say that like gratitude is getting popular but like more holistic stuff of like, you know, people are like getting more like yoga like yeah and like they're into gratitude and like grounding getting sunlight and like all these like natural things right it's like well it's important it's very very important it's just

important it's called balance and if you don't have it you're going to get washed up and people ask me like i said all the time how do you keep going and i'm not 25 years old i'm 26 but you know what i mean i just keep going because I feel off this stuff. I feel off people. I feel a lot of positive energy. There's so many people that are trying to do good things. And those are the people I gravitate towards. I was on the social committee for American Heart Association. We just did a big gala two weeks ago and I was all in the gown and the whole thing with all my friends. Oh, wow. That's awesome. Yeah. And then we raised over a million dollars for... Damn, you've done everything. That's awesome. Yeah. So I've got

my hands in everything. Again, how do you do it? it i just do i don't know how i just i just do so and it just is what it is i'm like you we just we can't do enough i feel like i'm just beginning same right yeah and i hope i hope that when i'm your age i still have all these amazing things to say well you'll have a lot more because you got a head start see i started i was even i was older than you are now when I started. Yeah. About that for a minute. That's why I was trying to get the tabs.

I was like, all right, all right. Where is she at? Where is she at here? Where is she at here? Right. Okay, I graduated in 1979, and I'll let you do the math. I was born in 86. I'll let you do the math on that.

Oh, my gosh. No, I'm just kidding. So I don't want to take up too much more of your time here. Yeah, I'm just happy to talk to you. I'm looking at your business card here, and it says laurenpowers.com. What are we looking at when we go here? That's the website. It has everything.

It has my book that's coming out. It's called Beneath the Muscle. I will launch that December 1st. What a good name. You like that? I like that. Beneath the Muscle, unleash your inner champion. Okay.

I like that tagline. Very good. Because we're all champions inside. We just have to figure out how to let it out. And then again, your Instagram handle is? Lauren Powers Official. Official. Okay.

Yep. And then anywhere else where people can find you? I have powersfitnessevents.com. Those are all my events. Power Fitness Events? Powers Fitness Events. Oh, Powers Fitness Events. So I'm rebranding because it used to be Lauren Powers Classic.

Okay. So people are used to that one. But I'm kind of changing it. I'm changing it because that's an old shirt over there that one of my girls is wearing. Now it's Powers Fitness Events. So I can eventually sell it. Okay. Cool. You know what I mean? Yeah. I'm changing it because that's an old shirt over there that one of my girls is wearing. Now it's Powers Fitness Events. So I can eventually sell it. Okay, cool. You know what I mean?

I don't have to be there. Yeah, I mean, that's the goal for everyone. Right. Well, I'm working so hard to build it up. And like I said, being affiliated with WFF and hosting the World Championships and traveling, I'll be a USA judge. I went to Cyprus last year and judged the Worlds in Cyprus by Turkey, not the city here. Yeah. And then I was in Ireland the year before judging for USA, bringing a team of folks to compete.

This year we're going to Shanghai and Singapore, like all kinds of crazy places. Oh, man, I'm already tired right now just thinking about all that. Yeah, it's amazing. I'm going to go back to India. And, I mean, I've got a lot of big things to do next year. So things are exciting, plus TV work and all my documentaries. That's why I don't have time for social media. I'm living it.

I'm not sent home posting. I'm out doing it. You might need someone to help you out on that. I need a lot of people to help me out. So yeah, I need the listeners. If you want to please be my social media manager, I need one badly as well as a boyfriend. I'm still single.

Go find her right now. There's so many things to do. I'm hot, baby. Come on now. I'm a full package. That's for damn sure. You better be confident. Yeah, confidence is key. I need a man's man. They don't. I'm a full package. That's for damn sure. You better be confident. Yeah, confidence is key.

I need a man's man. They don't have to be a bodybuilder. People pigeonhole me into that all the time. That's like the number one question. Well, does he have to be a bodybuilder? I'm like, no, because I was with Millionaire Matchmaker and all these other things. Oh, were you on that? Oh, yeah.

I've done it a lot of times. I had another Millionaire Matchmaker guy that works out at my gym right now. Who? And he actually married a girl in my gym. Really? Amazing, yeah. See? So that gives me hope.

I don't know if I should say his name or not. That gives me hope. His first name is Scott. His first name is Scott. I'll say that. Oh, okay. Gotcha. He owns a construction company.

I need to come to your gym. You should. You should totally come check it out. I'm going to. For sure. You better have these flyers in there. Yeah, we'll talk a little bit more after the show here. Yes, we are.

I hope you guys really enjoyed this episode. It was super random. That's how we roll. We're spontaneous. That's another thing. You've got to stay flexible, be spontaneous, see an opportunity, jump on it. Seize it. Seize the moment.

Yeah, absolutely. And then because there are no mistakes. And as my shield of strength, Barbell says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Right on. And there is the end of the show, my folks. I will see you again next Tuesday. It's another episode of the Real Talk Podcast. Hope you guys loved it.

Over and out. Love you guys.