Barbell Shrugged - Going Team and Taking Podiums w/ Alex Smith, Cody Mooney, Jessica Griffith, and Dani Speegle — Barbell Shrugged #407

Episode Date: July 3, 2019

Super teams are taking over the 2019 CrossFit Games. For the first time in the history of the CrossFit Games, the affiliate cup has transitioned into a team competition where athletes around the world can team up to create super teams.   One of the favorites to win the 2019 team competition is composed of Alec Smith, Jessica Griffith, Cody Mooney, and Camille Leblanc Bazinet. The team qualified at the 2019 Wodapalooza Fitness Festival and Dani Speegle, after finishing the CrossFit Open in the top 5, decided to compete as an individual.   In this episode of Barbell Shrugged, Anders Varner and Doug Larson sit down with Alex Smith, Cody Mooney, Jessica Griffith, and Dani Speegle to discuss Games training, going team, and the secret sauce to making a great team   Minute Breakdown:   0-10 – Alex and Cody Mooney training before being Games Athletes 11-20 – Team training vs. Individual training for the CrossFit Games 21-30 – CrossFit Games training camp 31-40 – Genetics playing a role in strength training 41-50 – Dani Speegle’s diet and why she is so strong 51 -60 – Having coaches or doing it on your own   Alec Smith on Instagram Cody Mooney on Instagram Jessica Griffith on Instagram Dani Speegle on Instagram   Please Support Our Sponsors   Organifi - Save 20% on green, red, and gold juices at www.organifi.com/shrugged   WHOOP - Save $30 on a 12 or 18 month membership using code “SHRUGGED” at www.whoop.com   Vuori - The most comfortable, performance clothing line in fitness. Save 25% at www.vuoriclothing.com/shrugged   Join the One Ton Challenge Leaderboard, record your PR’s and track your progress.   “What is the One Ton Challenge”   “How Strong is Strong Enough”   “How do I Start the One Ton Challenge” ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Show notes at: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/bbs-alex -----------------------------------------------------------------------   ► Subscribe to Barbell Shrugged's Channel Here ► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe 📲 🎧 Listen to the audio version on the Apple Podcast App or Stitcher for Android Here- http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedApple http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedStitcher Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals.  Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since. Along the way we've created successful online coaching programs including The Shrugged Strength Challenge, The Muscle Gain Challenge, FLIGHT, Barbell Shredded, and Barbell Bikini. We're also dedicated to helping affiliate gym owners grow their businesses and better serve their members by providing owners tools and resources like the Barbell Business Podcast. Find Shrugged Collective and their flagship show Barbell Shrugged here: SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES ► http://bit.ly/ShruggedCollectiveiTunes WEBSITE ► https://www.ShruggedCollective.com INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/shruggedcollective FACEBOOK ► https://facebook.com/barbellshruggedpodcast TWITTER ► http://twitter.com/barbellshrugged

Shark family, there's so many things going on that we're just going to put a little one and a half minute segment at the beginning of each show just to keep you in the know of everything that's happening. One Ton Challenge Live presented by FitAid. Friday night at the CrossFit Games in the FitAid Lounge from 5 to 8 p.m. We have Olympians, pro athletes, CrossFit Games athletes, and celebrity fitness trainers taking the stage to see how far we can push strength. Snatch, clean jerk, squat, dead bench, the strongest people in the world coming to show up. Test how far we can push the limits of strength. To stay in the know on exclusive access to athletes, live streams, and leaderboards, go to live.onetonchallenge.com. That's live.onetonchallenge.com.

Also, starting next week, new shows coming to the Shrug Collective. The Business of Fitness with Jason Kalipa starting July 8th. Active Life RX. That's Active Life Radio with Dr. Sean Pastuch on Fridays and the Barbell Life with Coach Travis Mash on Sundays. So the weekly lineup is going to be Monday.

The Business of Fitness with Jason Kalipa. Tuesday, Real Chalk with Ryan Fisher. Wednesday, Barbell Shrug with Doug Larson and myself. Thursday, Muscle Maven Radio with Ashley Van Houten. Friday, Active Life Radio with Dr. Sean Pastuch. Saturday, we're going to try and start getting two

Barbell Shrugs out a week. It's a heavy, heavy load, but we're going to try to get back to that schedule. And then Sunday with Travis Mash, the barbell life. Also want to let everyone know we just launched our brand new store loaded with t-shirts, hats, one ton, nutrition, macro calculators, and more. So head over to shrugcollective.com forward slash store. That's shrugcollective.com forward slash store to get stocked up on all the Shrug swag. Have a killer week, friends.

One-ton challenge live presented by FitAid. I slipped up last week and leaked the first athlete on Instagram. If you missed it, you're just going to have to wait until Monday. Strongest athletes in the world sharing one stage live at the CrossFit Games in Madison, Wisconsin. Strong family, I cannot be more serious. We are going to find the outer limits of strength. Friday, August 2nd from 5 to 8 p.m., the One Ton Challenge Live, presented by FitAid at the 2019 CrossFit Games. For updates on the One Ton Challenge lot, head over to live.onetonchallenge.com for exclusive

access to athletes, leaderboards, live feeds. That's probably going to happen. And special One Ton Challenge offers, live.onetonchallenge.com Just a reminder, next week we have three new shows. Joining the Shrug Collective starting July 8th, the Business of Fitness

with Jason Kalipa. Friday, Active Life Radio with Dr. Sean Pastuch. And Sunday, The Barbell Life with Coach Travis Mash. Stay tuned. We're going to be six, seven days a week every week for a very long time. It's very exciting stuff. I'm so amped to have these new shows on. Tons of good content.

Everyone's staying in their lane. Talking business of fitness with Kalipa. Rehab with Dr. Sean. Olympic weightlifting and strength training. He's also the programmer for the One-Tone Challenge program, Coach Travis Mash. Shrugged on Wednesdays, Real Chalk on Tuesdays, and Ashley Van Houten, the muscle maven, on Thursdays. So killer lineup. I'm very, very excited to get this rolled out. I want to thank our sponsors, Organifi, the green, the red, the gold.

Get all the juices. Go to Organifi.com forward slash shrugged. We're going to save 20% using the coupon code shrugged. Got to get them in. Got to get the vitamins. Got to get the minerals. The best way to do it, the tastiest way to do it, Organifi.com forward slash shrugged. Save 20% using the coupon code shrugged.

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Save 25%. We're talking to the CrossFit Games athletes today. Look, I'm going to say it right now. I think this team right here is going to win the CrossFit Games. That's just the way it is. They are going to be froning in friends. I said it. Here we go. Alex Smith,

Cody Mooney, Jessica Griffith, and Danny Spiegel. Welcome to Barbell Shrugged. I'm Anders Varner. Doug Larson. Cody Mooney. Alex Smith. How's life, man? He did that because he knew that I forgot everyone's name last year. She told him on the way down. So he beat me to it. He knew that I was going to do it. It's alright. Everyone calls me Alex, so I was everyone's name last year. She told him on the way down. Oh, really? So he beat me to it.

He knew that I was going to do it. It's all right. Everyone calls me Alex, so I was like, let's see. No, we're good. Dude, I'm super stoked to talk to you. I am from Great Bridge. Are you really? I've been watching you guys lift weights in your garage.

And, like, you may know my sister. This would be terrible, Callie Varner. But I think she was, like, a year or two older than you. But I've literally been, like, watching you, and I would just go home for the summer and be like, maybe I should go over there. Maybe it would be cool to go live in that garage. I should do that.

Yeah. Yeah. You should have. I didn't know that. Yeah. Great Bridge is not a big town, so not many people there. Did you play sports there? I did.

Well, I kind of just like played different sports every semester in high school. I didn't really stick to one, but I ran track, I swam, I dove, I played tennis and I played volleyball. So it was like different every semester. Yeah. Both my brothers played baseball. Yeah. You're like the very first like young kid that started CrossFit and have made it to this like games level. Yeah. Literally like growing up in the garage, like, I'll learn that squat thing. Yeah. It's cool to look back on the video they may have been in 2010 and uh i was maybe 18 years old yeah and then like just being able to stick with it and like make the games after like five six years of training it's pretty cool just like seeing the transformation but what was it like the first time you just smashed him in a workout um actually and how often does that happen like before now? Let's go with now first.

Now, well, I'm training in New York now, so I live there. But like before I moved, we'd go back and forth on things. We would knew like when the workout was announced, we'd be like we knew who was going to win usually. But yeah. Do you guys know each other so well that like when you go to like workout together, you're like, oh, we should do this workout. And he's like, nah, we should do this workout. You're trying to like pull it in your favor. Yeah, absolutely. For sure.

Like when it's programmed, we're like, ah, Ben's going to win that. Or it's like, Dane's going to win that. Dane beats both of us more than we beat him. Is that also your brother? Yeah, he's a younger brother. Okay. He's 22. But very, very good.

He still has to grow. Yeah. Right? He's going to be strong. Oh, yeah. He's already stronger than me. He's just got to stay healthy. He goes too hard.

Imagine that. He's 22. Why wouldn't he? That would be stupid not to. Yep. What's a little bit of your background? I know you're training and working at Solace now. Yeah, yeah. So I'm in.

Kenny Santucci every day in your life? How do you handle that? Telling me. Good God. Beat him in workouts over and over again. From what I hear, he only snatches 185. So we're calling him out on the podcast here. Yeah. Brutal. Kenny, get it're calling him out on the podcast here. Yeah.

Brutal. Kenny, get it together. Jesus. Eat some red meat. Get your life together. The sloppy 185. No, just born and raised in Maine. Played football, baseball, and basketball my whole life.

When I went to college, started kind of finding CrossFit around then and then just kind of took off from there and then went to 2014 regionals when I was first along. Right. Are people training CrossFit in, like, the – we called ours UREC, whatever the recreation center is in college? Like, you go into the regular gym and people are just, like, hitting it really hard and doing Olympic lifts?

No, no, no, no. So I had to go to, like, the closest gym to my college, which was now Miss Athletics is their HQ right there in Portland, Maine. Oh, that's pretty convenient. Yeah, so it worked out. Yeah, totally. Nice. Did you move to New York to hang out with him?

Yeah, we moved there together. Yeah. That's sick. We kind of planned it. We traveled Europe a little bit right before. We kind of had like a couple of cross-fit spots where we had to hit together. And so we're just like, well, we might as well stay over here for like two months.

And we kind of just liked the city. So we're like, let's try it out. Let's give it a go. Is this like the, I guess, as somewhat of a professional CrossFitter, is this the first time you've had like a real training partner? No, I've trained with a couple people that have gone to regionals. And honestly, when I travel, I've gotten to train quite a bit. And I've lived actually down in Virginia with them before for like eight months.

So I've gotten to train with Ben, Dane, Alec, Adam Klink, all those guys that train down there. So I've trained with a couple few, but, I mean, he's been my most consistent training partner. That's like another high-level athlete. Yeah. Was moving there just to get close and take over the world here, was the plan to go team for you guys?

Yeah, it was the plan since the Open. Yeah. Like middle of the Open, we kind of knew. Like before going to the Open, both open we kind of knew um like before going in the open both of us kind of wanted to go team after we won wadapalooza we were like that was a lot of fun uh yeah and yeah we both were like transitioning and um yeah we both kind of like moved to new york just to get away from where we were at we're both in like small towns and uh just kind of we're bored with our everyday lives so we just want to switch it up great bridge come

on yeah come on great bridge is taking a rap right now. I mean, my brothers love it, but me not so much. You're built for the big city. Let's go. I guess so. You just mentioned Wadapalooza, and now we're here at the Granite Games. Were those the two big events of the off-season, so to speak, that you guys chose to do, or did you guys do more events than that?

So I competed in Dubai individually. Wadapalooza was our first team event. And then after Waterpalooza, we kind of were like, let's just try to plan on Rogue and Granite Games. And we competed in Rogue too. And then this is, yeah, those were big ones. Dubai, Waterpalooza, Rogue, Granite Games. Yeah.

How do they compare to each other in your mind as a competitor? They're all very different, but they have very similar qualities as well. Like programming is a lot different from event to event. But, like, it's different, but then again, it's, like, the same movements. They're just, like, put together differently. But, like, it's super cool. Like, Dubai has always been, like, my favorite just because they take you to different venues. And, like, the events are really cool.

Like, they definitely, like, hook you up there. But, Wadapalooza is the most fun, just because it's a giant party the whole time. It literally was. Imagine if you weren't working out, that was us. That's where we were. You want to talk and have Finnaid vodka? Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Right, yeah, the vibes there are just awesome. This is my first year at Granite Games, so it's been great so far. We're having a lot of fun, and yeah, looking forward to it. When you guys win Guadalupalooza, that, I mean, there's a couple really good teams here, but winning Guadalupalooza and kind of the top dogs are in there. You guys ready? Is that changed the mentality of like, we're going to win the games this year? Honestly, like going into Guadalupalooza, we weren't really expecting much. And we all just felt really, like really good. We worked together really, really well., and we all just felt really good.

We worked together really, really well. And afterwards, we were like, all right, we could win the games if we really set our minds to it and if we all just decided to go in. And that's our goal is to win the games this year and hopefully. Oh, it's so good. Yeah. So refreshing to hear that. Someone's really going to kick Rich's ass this year. I hope he's listening.

How phenomenal. What do you think the key is to winning the games right now? Like, what are the key things you guys are working on to try to make sure that you're, like, totally ready and prepared when you get there? Yeah. You see it all the time with the teams and stuff like that. Just, like, being – knowing one another, knowing your skills, know – and just I feel like for us, for, like, when we kind of try to pick teammates

and stuff like that, it's just kind of like-minded people. And when you get a good group together that's kind of like-minded and obviously fit and just works well together, and the communication is there, I mean, that's what really makes a good team. And I think that's why we did so well at Waterpalooza. And honestly, I think that's why we're doing really well down here at Granite Games. So we're just going to try to take that over to the games. And I think that for us as athletes, the more events we get

and the longer it goes, the better off we're going to be. So that's why we're pretty pumped that Granite Games had nine events and it's over three days and the games will be the same. So we're just going to try to, like, take that over. And, honestly, him and I as partners, we do pretty well on a team. I mean, the things that, like, are his best qualities are, like, maybe not my best and kind of vice versa. So, yeah, just stuff like that who

kind of operates as team captain is there one person that kind of calls the shots and is really in the lead or is it really more of a group group effort um it's kind of more of a group effort i think i think that like we usually have like a good game plan going out there but we all value each one's opinion when out there so we're it's never like a point where if someone out there would be like hey we gotta just slow down a little bit we're like no no we're sticking to plan because this person said that i mean we all hold like value to each one we're gonna say but we know going out there what we're gonna do and we might like some person might kind of step up and talk a little bit more just because of the little bit more experience or this and that in the workout but i don't think there's anyone that's

like the leader of their pack it just depends on the workout it depends on like where each person is on the worm like if somebody's in the middle they're gonna call it like because the back person can't hear the front person and yeah we all know each other really well so we kind of know how we're doing throughout the workout and we're really good at just talking to each other in the middle of the workout not panicking and just like staying relaxed and having a good time and i think that's why it's working so well you guys don't you they don't live in new york right nope yeah so you guys don't get to practice on a regular basis you only get to practice when you're on the road yeah yeah yeah jess uh we've known jess for a while and we've competed together a few times but yeah danny just jumped on this weekend but literally just like clicked like that and uh it was a super easy

transition and we all just have so much fun together i think that's like the biggest part you see a lot of teams out there that are like stressing out yelling at each other like really mad like we just are we don't do that we're just like it's all right like next to that piece of it's really important you guys are not just training together and being on a team but kind of traveling the world together right that'll get in the way a lot of times yeah yeah exactly spending a lot of time together yeah suitcases, that adds a lot of stress to life. I hope you like the people that you're doing it with. We're also roommates too.

We spend a lot of time together. How much has your training changed since realizing you guys are going to be this team going to the games? Is that really the sole focus or is that different than trying to be an individual, like the best CrossFitter you could be and just specializing in the thing that really adds value to the team yeah training's pretty much stayed the same um i think if you're a fit individual athlete you're going to be a fit team athlete as well um we just got a worm so we're hopefully going to get some practice in on that good kenny spent some money let. Yeah, actually, I bought it. Kenny didn't buy it. Come on, dude.

But, yeah, so we'll get some team practice on that. But honestly, I think if we're all just fit individuals and we get along together, we know each person, we're going to work well on the team together. How do you guys like living in New York and training? Like, there isn't the best quality air. It's hard to run more than a block without having to stop. It's nice because we're right next to Central Park.

Central Park is huge. We just run there. There's literally running paths and everything. We live on the Upper West Side, so we don't run down by the gym. The only time we ever ran down, we even did Murph, and it was terrible. You just have to dip, dive. It was like the games. You're dodging in and out of people. It's good practice. Where do you go swimming?

Are we just doing pool work? There's no open water. I just assume everybody has an ocean next to them after living in San Diego. Where would you swim? You have pools? Yeah. You do not want to jump in the Hudson.

Swimming past dead bodies. No, I mean we'll swim in pools and stuff Swimming in the Hudson. Swimming in the Hudson. No way. Swimming past dead bodies. Swimming with a third owner. No, I mean, we'll swim in pools and stuff like that, and that keeps us, you know, our swimming up pretty well. But, like, when we go home and stuff, we'll find open water and make sure that we do definitely get open water and stuff. Do you guys have a coach? Not really, no.

Yeah, look at that, crickets. They don't even have anybody in mind that they'd like to work with there was no consideration they were like i mean we pull things from everywhere though i mean like drew from miss athletics will send us some stuff like god camille's husband dave libson sends us stuff like we're always pulling stuff up ben smith's like the group the blueprint so we're always like pulling things from places and honestly like him and i when we're in new york together we write a lot of our own stuff too yeah especially when it comes to team stuff yeah we just know we have to work on and doing enough of these comps you kind of realize what things get paired together and

like what synchro things we'll end up doing together so we'll just kind of like write those down and do them that way yeah you're just writing your program in the day of like you show up together at the gym and you're kind of like i want to just work on this and this how do you feel what's hurting what's what's what's sore yeah i'd say like 70 percent of our training is like that yeah i'd probably say so yeah and then there's just like some strength stuff i'll stick to like a i'm on a squat cycle right now um so i'll just like stick to that cycle and then like for met cons and stuff we'll just talk and see if we want to do like partner workout or like intervals or whatever but um yeah most of it's just all on the go yeah so

you have like one component that's structured and then it's kind of free for all after that yeah typically we still do a lot of individual stuff too i think that's a big part of it i think that like definitely helps you staying fit i mean there's definitely a switch between i mean team is more interval when it's your turn it's kind of a sprint but like there's a lot about team stuff you got to still like team stuff definitely gets you fit and will keep you fit so we still do a lot of that stuff too. So it's not all team that we do. I feel like a lot of that stuff, especially like you're in the gym so much, you're just playing. Yeah.

You just find new ways to play, and that becomes general athleticism. How often are you guys in the gym training, having fun, like on a daily basis is just where everything happens? Yeah. I mean, we have a super good balance of not being in the gym a lot. Like we try not to spend too much time in the gym. I personally don't coach. So when I'm in the gym, I'm there to train.

And then like, I like to have some fun when I'm not in the gym. I like to have my own like social life and stuff like that too. Stop it. So it's like, I found myself before just spending so much time in the gym and I kind of like burnt out and I was like, I just need to like live a little bit. You've only been doing it for like 14 years yeah I mean how can you do another wall ball ever yeah but uh no I kind of like learned that the past few years like I really got hooked on CrossFit like six seven years ago when I first started making regionals and then I just found myself

spending too much time in the gym didn't really like live my life but I found that having a balance of like gym time and then like living my life has made me a better athlete than just spending all of my time in the gym. Is that easier or harder living in New York City? Easier, yeah. There's just more to do. Yeah, there's always something to do. It's nice.

Back at home, it was like the same thing every day. You go to the gym, you go home. You'd go to the gym, you'd go home. You'd eat, you'd sleep. The mayor of Great Bridge is pissed. There's plenty to do. Do you suspect at any point that New York City would become a distraction? There's just too much to do?

I don't think so. I think both of us are pretty grounded in our goals and knowing what we want to do. Me personally, I don't work, so this is kind of my job. I don't take it as my job, but it is. I'll go to the gym. I'll work out for three, four hours, and then I'll go home. I'll make sure I get everything done, and if I feel good at the end of the day, I'll go to the gym like I'll work out for three four hours and then I'll go home like I'll make sure I get everything done and like if I feel good after at the end of the day I'll go home yeah um so I treat it kind of like a job but not at the same time if that makes sense

still just working out yeah yeah exactly a lot of just normal people at home like they think I'm gonna go work out I'm gonna work out for an hour and that's like the standard give or take but you just said you work out for three or four hours like what does that look like um usually it's like two hour sessionhour session, then a break for lunch, then another two-hour session. Sometimes three sessions depending on how I feel and if we have a competition coming up or something like that. Leading up to the games might be a little bit more.

We're trying to get some training camps together for the team, so we should have two solid weeks of training camps with the team. We'll be training more when we're together for sure. Just like two hours, hours food two hours typically you mentioned you were on a squat cycle how do you pick that stuff throughout the year is there programs that you just continually come back to to check in yeah we uh so ben i forgot how long ago maybe six years ago we like started our first small love junior squat cycle and it's just four days a week for three weeks. And then you test your one rep. And we would just do those cycles over and over again.

And we just got really, really strong. And so that's kind of what I've always done. I'm like, I'll do squat cycle, just do small love. It's like six by six one day, seven by five one day, eight by four, ten by three. So it's four days a week for three weeks. And it just depends on how your body feels. Like if my knee's hurting or my back's hurting i won't i won't squat but if i'm feeling good then i'll finish the cycle and stuff but yeah that's like my go-to yeah do you follow along with just whatever he's got going on yeah usually when it comes like the

strength cycle if he's like hey you want to do that someone's got to be smart yeah i mean i'll jump i'll jump on there's a you're more fun aren't you i'll jump on jump on with it, and I'll be like, all right, I'll follow the cycle. But, man, when we were down – we used to be down in Virginia. We used to squat so much. I remember that. Every day we'd come in, Ben would be like, we're squatting. I'm like, oh, no. Can't do this.

It's too much. It's good. I mean, it's fun. It works. It works. So, I mean, you can't – the outcome is good. What's kind of like, I guess, in those two-hour blocks, like what are you guys trying to accomplish?

Usually, like, honestly, I love, like, a perfect training day for me is usually I start with something. We both usually do, like, a conditioning slash, like, gymnastics piece. I think they kind of go well together. And then we'll definitely lift, usually Metcon, get food, and then we kind of will do maybe another Metcon or interval lift usually metcon get food and then we kind of will do maybe another metcon or interval style i mean team training is a lot of interval like i said so we'll usually put an interval style in there yeah and then maybe like we usually do like

a lot of accessory stuff too so we'll figure out something like that um luckily at solace there's a lot of like good equipment and there's also like a yoga room that basement's rad right crazy like for where they're at and what space they have is unreal. It's just not heard of in the city. The basement is sick. That's what a typical day looks like for us. We might go run in Central Park or something like that if we do

have running that day, so we'll kick it up there after. Nice. What are your personal strengths and weaknesses? Weaknesses? Definitely squatting. I mean, I'm just not that great at it. You haven't done enough. Yeah.

True. You've got to get on his level, dude. He'll be the first one to tell you that. Strengths, running, swimming, rowing, any machine work. It's just like my jam. I love that stuff. It's just kind of what I was always like all right at. Coming from a sports background, we did like a lot of running and just breathing heavy that stuff always came natural but like the lifting and the

strength and stuff like that never really did um i'm a fan of gymnastics too even though kind of being a little bigger but yeah uh but yeah i mean i don't i don't hate anything i mean i love it all so it's good it's fun it's fitness um i'll always do it and always love it so but yeah if i could live without those 185 squats today i I'd be all right with it. It's 120. Unless you want to squat and jazz something. Can we switch bars? Why are you so strong? You're so fast. Dude, your gymnastics background,

all this freaky stuff everybody sees online and what's going on. Like, um, I guess where did a lot of that call like you're not in the gymnastics gym anymore you just make this crap up on the fly yeah yeah yeah i feel like i would uh just i don't know i don't have the confidence that you do in anything like that i see i'm like i hope he did it five times with a mat underneath him first, but I don't think that actually is how it goes down. No, we don't have mats at Krypton. But, no,

yeah, I did. My parents put me in gymnastics when I was really young, like two years old, like right when I started to walk. I actually stopped when I was 12. I didn't do high school gymnastics, college gymnastics. I stopped when I was 12 and then I just continued continued just like flipping around. Where did you go to school?

College? ODU, Old Dominion. Oh, right on. Yeah, just right by Great Bridge. Yeah, I just like continued flipping around and it's always been something I loved doing. Like when I was 12 and I was in gymnastics, it was like I would go to the gym for five, six hours a day. And I would literally leave school at noon. I would just take my core classes like math, science, history, social studies.

I would leave at noon, and then I'd go to the gym for six hours and train. Were you at ODU as well? No. Is that where you guys met? Where did you go? I'm in Maine. So I was up in Maine. Yeah, I didn't live in Virginia, so I went to University of Maine.

Gotcha. I thought that's why, when he was coming down to train. But you guys just met. Yeah, we met actually across a competition. And then we kind of just like from there on he kind of stayed with me. There was a chiropractor that used to be in Maine, and he messaged me, and he was like, hey, man, I'm going to come up and work with this chiropractor for a couple weeks, any spot I can stay.

And at that point I was in college, and we had like a big house. I was like, just stay with us. Party. Yep. And then after. Burn it down. Yeah, then after I spent a little bit of time, like I said, like eight months down in Virginia where I was at the gym with all those guys.

Did you stay close to home just to train? Yeah. When did you realize that being like a professional CrossFitter could be a life for a very long time? I think when I made my first regionals. How old were you? 19. I think.

Yeah. Yeah, 19. And just watching Ben at the games in 2010, just like seeing the growth from 2009 to 2010 and then seeing it from like 10 to 11 and 12, I just like knew it was going to get big. And so I just dedicated all my time to training because I wanted to be there. I wanted to be able to do CrossFit.

Was there any interest in going the gym ownership route? No. No, no, no. I'm not a business owner. I'm not. I just like to train. How dare you say you're not a business owner? How many people follow you on Instagram?

Well, I mean, I'm not like – How many people want to talk to you? Yeah, you own a business. That's like – yeah, yeah. I mean, I can be myself as a business. I can do that. like owning it you're not managing other people right right i can't manage other people to save my life no the product is training and i can keep it that way yeah exactly that's a learnable skill i feel like

you get done you'd be like i'll go get regular jobs work at home depot yeah maybe i'll make money with instagram yeah perfect perfect um when guess, leading, where's this training camp at that you guys are putting together? We're planning it out right now. We still don't know yet, but we know we're going to spend a week down in Colorado with Camille. So we're all going to be out there. And then I think we're probably going to be in Virginia at Krypton for a week. Camille's still checking in if she can go to that one.

How did that come across? She wasn't on the original team, right? Right. We had Jamie Green at Wadapalooza. So Jamie Green was on our team that qualified. And then Camille was our alternate. So we talked a little bit at Wadapalooza. And I just remember her saying she would want to go team if the team won the games.

And so it just stayed in the back of my head. And then after Jamie decided to go individual and after like we decided to have a team we were just we only had like three days left to pick an alternate before they told us like we couldn't like submit a roster so like we hit up camille and she was really interested and then like literally the last day she was like i'll do it and we're like okay perfect nice was there was her was danny going individual was that did all that happen pretty easily? Yeah, yeah. So I actually reached out to Danny before she qualified individual.

I was like, hey, what's your plan this year? Because, like, I. She's right here. Yeah, yeah, this, yeah, she's right here. We have to, I don't know if I should talk about her. Like, she's right here. And she was like, yeah, my plan is going individual. I'm like, oh, okay, that's awesome.

But I wish she would have said team. Now let's talk about her like she's not here. Yeah, and then, I mean, she qualified individually, and we needed another girl because Camille's gone this week. We'll talk about it in a little bit. Yeah, so she said yes to this team. But, yeah, yeah, yeah. When, I guess, was team kind of your whole thing from the beginning?

Yeah, so, I mean, I've done the individual part and stuff like that. And, honestly, there's a weird line between, like, individual and team. beginning uh yeah so i mean i've done the individual part and stuff like that and honestly there's a weird line between like individual and team i think that it's not i don't want to say that you don't have to train as much because you definitely do and you still have to be super fit but for me that like crossfit is a very like uh for me i have to have that balance in my life and i mean it is so much of my life right now but it's not everything there i have other plans in life to do this and do that and that like this year just me like saying okay i'm gonna go team and training as a team and stuff like that has really taken like a weight off my shoulder of not having that like individual like i gotta be doing this and this and this and like

meeting all these things so yeah that was definitely our plan from the beginning and honestly like i played team sports growing up my whole life and i mean i love it yeah i mean this for me is like something i really love i love being out there competing with like my best friend and then like jess and you know just like danny humping on like jumping on the team this weekend has been jess and now danny too i guess she's humping on the team she's helping nobody else was available if you would see some of the dance moves that's happened this weekend you probably available. If you would see some of the dance moves that's happened this weekend, you probably would understand

why that just came out of my mouth. Wow. But, no, we've been super like something has been going on. Jessica is dying over there. We've just been super thankful

to have her on the team. We'll end it there. Do you enjoy the coaching side of things? We'll keep this PC here. Yeah, I mean, definitely. Solace has been like a different place I've ever coached. People in New York are different.

I mean, they're just a different breed. Yeah, how do you feel about them? I mean, they're great. They are. They're just a different breed. You've got to be all right with like some days they come in like, I'm not doing that. I don't want to do that. You're not going to make me do that. I've got to be all right with like – some days they come in like, I'm not doing that. I don't want to do that.

You're not going to make me do that. I've had a long day at work. It's just a day at work and it is what it is. And it's just been – it's been different, but it's cool. I mean, I like it. But I don't know how many more years I'll coach for. I mean, I think I'll still do this stuff, but I don't know how many more years I'll coach for.

We'll see. Are you writing programs at the gym? Like what's kind of – is it just coaching? No, I do help out with I'll coach for. We'll see. Are you writing programs at the gym? Is it just coaching? No, I do help out with some stuff that way. Cool. Yeah. So right now, it's just like I do help out in that area a little bit. But, I mean, I just got down there.

We literally just moved in a month and a half ago. So I haven't done too, too much. Were you coaching before that? Yeah, I have definitely coached before. I've coached all over a little bit. But right before I came there, I was just back home for a little bit. Him and I traveled Europe, and then I was up in Maine for a little bit, and I was just at the Miss Athletics HQ.

And then when I went to New York, that's when I kind of started full-time again. Do you feel like the coaching helps you be a better athlete? Yeah, it helps me. Honestly, it helps me stay on schedule, which is great. I know I'll be at the gym every day because I have to be. And it's just like my training regimen is like a lot better that way. I just kind of feel like my time management in the gym is better. The couple months where I didn't have like to know that I was coaching,

I just feel like myself was getting stuck in the gym because I'm like, oh, I have all this time. But now it's like, no, I got to do this for this. And for me, it just works out better so it's just good yeah leading up to big competitions like this do you have trouble peaking do you like do you do you like to like tone it down and do less training or you're like fuck i love training i don't want to stop training yeah i mean i honestly just enjoy training like we don't like tone it down that much we might have a couple days where it's maybe less impact stuff like we're not like doing a ton of

squatting stuff like that especially if we know we had to the competition but honestly i mean him and i love to train and we we do it that often that like there's no like okay we're gonna peak here and we're gonna take it easy here we don't we don't do that and we just listen to our bodies i mean i think we've been in the sport enough to realize that like you just can't keep pounding your head against the wall all the time. You've got to listen to yourself. And so much of it now is so important to come into something healthy. And if you don't, then it's just you're not going to be able to give 100%. So that's also a goal for us going in, which is good. Yeah.

You have an online program, which you sell by doing really freaky shit online. And if anybody ever tried it, they would kill themselves. But somehow I imagine that your accessory plan is a really awesome thing that you put together yeah yeah it's uh it's mostly just basic gymnastics like the gymnastics i did when i was seven eight years old it's all core work like basic skills like in order to do cool tricks and like these crazy things you need to be able to do that i would buy the buy the trick program. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would totally buy the trick program. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just hard to get to that. I don't want to do holo rocks, but I would love to do a lot of the other

stuff. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, just like the basic stuff you need in order to get there. And yeah, it's just, it is some CrossFit accessory work too, but it's pretty much like whatever I do at the end of my training sessions every day, 20 to 30 minutes of accessory work.

Right now it's not available, but it will be in a couple weeks. But yeah, I'm in the process of making it bigger and better. Nice. And you guys are working on some fun projects together? Yeah, we have one project that we're just working on. We're trying to get it together, but it's just going to be something kind of simple-ish, but it's going to be a little bit different than a training style that everyone else has come out with.

It's not going to be like your A, B, C, D, E, you know, whatever every day. It's just going to be something smaller, but it's going to be really cool, I think. And it's going to be something that like him and I kind of do together and maybe write up together. And it's just going to be like a little bit different way of showing you the training. Is it based off a lot of what you guys do together? Yes. Yeah, it'll be totally based off what we do together yeah um is it going to be like a full crossfit program not for competitive athletes yeah but for the everyday person yeah cool um where can people find you dude we got two more people to talk to we're just getting this thing started yep uh instagram at alex with eight same Twitter. Yeah, and then my Instagram accessory page is Accessory with Alec.

Rad. Yep. Yeah, Instagram at CmooneyCF. Nice. Doug Larson. Right on. Find me on Instagram at Douglas E. Larson. The One-Ton Challenge.

Snatch, clean jerk, squat that bench. We're going to teach you how to get strong. 2,000 pounds for men, 1,200 for ladies. That's the goal. Get you into the One-Ton Club. Get over to the One-TonChallenge.com. I'm Anders Varner at Anders Varner. We're the Shrug Collective at the Shrug Collective.

We will see you in like five minutes. We're going to talk to Danny and Jessica Griffiths. I remembered your name already. We'll see you guys. Thank you. But we still kick ass. Shrug family, just a reminder, get over to live.OneTonChallenge.com to stay in the know about all things One Ton Challenge live presented by FitAid at the CrossFit Games August 2nd.

That's Friday night at the CrossFit Games August 2nd from 5 to 8 p.m. The One Ton Challenge live presented by FitAid. The 2019 CrossFit Games. Snatch, clean, jerk, squat, dead, bench. We're going to find out how far we can push strength. Live.OneTonChallenge.com to stay in the know. Exclusive access to athletes, leaderboards, live streams,

and special One Ton Challenge offers from all the cool sponsors that are a part of the event. Live.OneTonChallenge.com Back to the show. Welcome back to Barbell Shrugged. I'm still Anders Varner, and that's still Doug Larson, but Jessica Griffiths. No Griffiths. No Griffiths.

Oh, two years in a row. Two years in a row. Stop. Did anyone listen last year when he didn't remember my name at all? Because that happened. He was like, who are you again? Call him out again. So bad.

That was, we were running around. Hold on, Danny are you again? Call him out again. So bad. That was, we were running around. Hold on, Danny Spiegel. Danny's here too, definitely. We're allowed to make fun of me here for a little bit.

Yeah, yeah. Absurdly embarrassing. I want to jump in and ask Jessica, like when that happened, what was going through your mind?

Okay, I'll say harass because we're roasting you. He harassed us to do this podcast and then he gets us in the podcast and says, So we've got...

Yeah. Brutal. Crickets. Hi, my name's Jessica Griffith. This is Jen Smith and Cassidy Lance. Wonderful to be here. I'm so glad to be here right now. That is actually exactly what you said.

That's exactly what you said. I'm already really enjoying myself this is gonna be awesome i'm surprised valued right now really appreciate it like we ran over here and spending my time here yeah why am i sitting here um it was incredibly embarrassing um we were running around a lot and then we had to pass the mics around yeah and it was just off and then literally as soon as like fantastic as soon as i said welcome to Barbell Shrugged I just looked at Doug and I was like oh no

oh no I am so screwed and I tried to like just like fumbles like it's in there I have a confession when I have to introduce someone to a big group of people I do the same thing and I've done it to very close friends of mine were like I've known you for 10 years and I don't know your name luckily it's not your job you're like this is uh i'm like mom mom that's

mom mom got it got it i knew i knew you were so i've done it before too so i'm glad you're back this makes me so happy i was like oh god granite games too i hope he says hello feel so insecure right now. You've blown it for year three, though. Yeah. Year three, you're done.

I don't have any, I can't even get the grip it's right. We're going to do it next year, and you better nail it. Yeah, we're going to do it. It's going to be great.

We have to come back to Granite Games. I'm so excited. Have to. Right on. Danny, tell us about yourself. Tell us everything. Oh, don't do that.

What am I supposed to say right now? Dude, what's your training background? You are the strongest girl in CrossFit right now by a lot, right? This is why Danny is so strong, and this is why Danny's butt is the size that it is. She eats 250 grams of protein a day. Hear that, ladies? Get to work.

What? That's two and a half pounds of steak. That's an unbelievable amount of steak she goes it's not even that hard I'm like what do you mean I run out of protein

every single day it's so it just sucks I run out of protein I'm like it's seven o'clock I'm like oh my god

I want another meal I have no protein fuck what are some you go shopping every day please say please do

it's free for all we were hoping they would but don't worry I will come in with those what is this weight lifting background though Please do. It's free for all. We were hoping they would. Don't worry. I will come in with those. What is this weightlifting background?

Do we eat two and a half pounds of steak a day? I do. But no weightlifting background. I did gymnastics. I have really good genetics. I know people hate that answer, but I do. I know it's real. Especially when you're inside the top quarter percent of athletes. You should see my father.

His elbows are the size of my head. It's just like ridiculous so yeah just really good genetics that's awesome um what does like strength program look like for somebody that's i mean is it are you lifting every day yeah uh pretty much do you have a coach unlike these guys get on it i do have a coach. So you care. That's good. Oh, calm down. But yeah, lifting heavy almost every single day and under fatigue. So I really don't ever do lifting fresh. It's always under fatigue after a WOD. So when I go out into the competition floor and it's just like a lift, usually feels pretty good.

Where did you finish in the open? Like fourth. That's really good. Yeah. that's really solid thank you um wait so wait you're always lifting under fatigue because absolute strength is not your your limiting factor so you're just like not worried about that you just want to be able to lift while tired that and we still do regular um you know like every everything is always on a clock so every 90 seconds every two minutes but we will add in you know you know 85 squats three of them but for the remainder of the minute you gotta do wobbles so it's like we always go into fatigue but we don't lessen the percentage just because of that so just hitting my numbers that most people would just with other movements

no what's going on in your training these days we saw you last september because of that. So just hitting my numbers that most people would just with other movements. What's going on in your training these days? We saw you last September. Are you in better shape now? Oh, yeah. I love that. This is the fittest I've ever been. This is the fittest I've ever been. Not me.

For sure. Different priorities. I always tell people, don't compare to me. Like, this is my job. Yeah, you're good. You've got a family. I don't. There's been a lot of traveling, though.

Lots of traveling. How have you been doing this? How many sanctionals did you do this year? Just one. I just competed individually. So my goal was to try to go individual this year. That kind of halfway happened, but I found out after I committed to the team. So I did London Sanctional individually and the Open.

And then we did Wadapalooza as a team for fun. Rogue. We had decided we were going teamalupe as a team for fun. Rogue. We had decided we were going team, so we wanted to go. Was Rogue really awesome? It was incredible. You guys should have been there. Well, do you want to hear where we were?

I'll tell you. We were in Jamaica, and I raced Johan Blake in a foot race. I have no idea who that is. He's the fastest man in the world. What do you mean? Yes. He really is.

You're embarrassing us. Danny was so disgusted. She was like, what? He's the fastest man in the world. What do you mean? Sorry. Jess. He really is. I literally look so embarrassed. Danny was so disgusted. She was like, what? He's the fastest man in the world. Wow. He swallowed me up. How much did he beat me? Right, yeah.

So we ran a 60. He ran 60. I ran 50. He beat me so badly that he said, we're going to do this again, so it's a little bit better of a picture at the end. And he gave me 15 meters. So it was 60 versus 45 i ran six seven he ran like six four wow yeah six four sixties and he was not allowed to run full speed yes he he was he was tapering he was supposed to run at 80 he was running his 150s which he was supposed to hit like 17 sixes on his 150s and he can run like a 14

something like that so he was not allowed well i wanted to run a hundred with him and find out like what percentage i was of the fastest man in the world like i really want to know how much yeah well yeah well the difference it's like dude it's like in crossfit when you guys like oh you could be like really good right but to be the best you're on that's a long ways away from 90 to the best is just it's all of the factors and when i watched him like oh he's so fast and like his feet are moving away from you and you're running away from his feet but it sounds like it's getting closer so quick and like i have been making the joke way too many times like i know what it feels like when the when the deer is about to get eaten by the cheetah. You can't get away.

You are helpless. Your arms start flailing all over the place. You are so helpless. But that's where we were. I'm sorry we didn't make it. We skipped out on Rogue. It was pretty dope, though. Yeah, Rogue was incredible.

And then just here. So life, I don't know. I feel like the reason I'm as fit as I am right now is because I'm just happy. I've been traveling. I've been doing amazing things. I moved back home from St. Louis to Springfield, Missouri to be close to my family. And that's been incredible. And everything.

I talk to my family all the time. And all of us, my siblings and I, we're all in incredible places right now. It's just like a season of reaping the harvest. It is just such a fun place to be. Life is just so fun right now. I think that carries over into my fitness. I'm just enjoying everything I'm doing. It shows in my performance.

Of all the pieces in that, is moving back home really important? Do you have a big support staff system? Family. Yeah. I love my... But they're very involved in what you're doing? Yeah. Mom comes to the gym with me every day.

Nice. Jackie, love you. Is mom super yoked? No. Support. Cheerleader. Oh, the best. Very friendly. The best cheerleader. just started in january and we just

took progress pictures the other day from when she started she's already got like abs damn my dad already yeah well okay take me forever well okay we'll use that termlessly um better abs than what she had when she started but she is crushing it and she's doing so good and anyone who thinks they can't do crossfit trust me if, if my mother can do CrossFit, so can you. And you just scale the workout appropriately, and you can do it. But she's crushing it. Are you coaching her? Like trying to?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I have my programming for the day, and I just modify my workouts to what she can do. And then I coach her through the movements. So like the other day, she did kettlebell swings for the first time. Fantastic. Yeah. I coach her through that. I,

yeah, I do coach her, I guess. Yeah. I just don't consider myself a CrossFit coach. I'm so, yeah, I obviously know what I'm doing cause I've done it for so long,

but I'm not a official CrossFit coach. What about your, your siblings? You got, you said you're, you're one of four. So older sister, she is in the process of getting married.

They're engaged. My brother is, um, married and he actually takes the role of senior pastor at Destiny Church in Marshfield, Missouri tomorrow. Dang. Yeah, they're announcing him, so that's so exciting. And then my little sister is out in California with her fiancé. My sisters got engaged within a week of each other, so it was like a lot of excitement in the Griffith family. Nice. Yeah.

Just waiting on Jess. It's okay. Like I said said i'm in a wrong podcast wrong podcast we just talk about weightlifting yeah no feelings involved i'm fine i'm fine right where i'm at those pieces will fall and that's appropriate anyways um but yeah so the griffiths are in a great place in life right now. That's fantastic. Are you moving to New York? Sounds like you're really happy where you're at right now. Al gave you the nod. Like, yeah, you better. Down the country hills.

I mean, you have to go down. They have to come see you because it's a billion degrees. That's what you got to be training in. And so humid, you guys. Help me. I went to visit Cody and Alec a couple weeks ago with brookwells and we had so much fun yeah um i don't and i don't know if half the fun was their apartment is the size of this table so we were just like all crammed in there you guys actually like each other we love

each other i didn't even think about that you go see two guys living in a new york city apartment that is yeah i'm sorry that's not a pretty scene. They're basically sharing twin beds. Right. No, really. So Cody, Brooke and I stayed in Cody's bed, and Cody stayed in Alec's room. And Cody's bed, there is probably six inches between his bed and the wall.

Like, that's how small his bedroom is. And it's what? Is it a king size? It's a queen bed. It's a full size. It's a full size. Alec goes, it's what? Is it a king size? It's a queen bed. It's a full. It's a full size bed and the bed hardly fits in the bedroom. The rooms were

tiny. Yeah. You end up sleeping on the ground. It's still like $10,000 a month. Something ridiculous. It's insane. But we had so much fun. I could move to New York, but I don't plan on it. It would be a wild change of pace. Yeah, but I like excitement if you haven't noticed.

I feed off the energy. What's your training look like these days? Leading up to the games? You're an individual now. That's a lot. It is. Were you always trying to go individual this year? Yes.

That was always the plan. Yeah. I sat her down when we landed off the plane here and i was like i gotta know what was your mindset when you started this season because you're crushing it oh my heart uh yeah the plan was always to go individual and that's why i just signed up for every single one and every single qualifier i was just like no matter what i'm gonna give myself the best chance to make it to the game so trickle effect like one of them's got a hit so i'll just do them all yeah yeah so that's how it worked out but the season went way better than i planned so it's been

great which one was the one that that got you in the open officially uh was the thing that i was the national champ so that's where my bid came from but uh if that hadn't happened i think it would have been wadapalooza that trickled down to get me in so um can you win the crossfit games this year hell yeah yeah i was looking for something more believable uh i just like that i had like tia's face just like coming to my that's what i want to know I was looking for something more believable. I had Tia's face just come into my face. That's what I want to know. I asked Carrie Pierce the same thing. She was like, well, Tia's really good.

Tia's very, very good at working out. You're the second person that's like, Tia, she's very good. I think my plan is to go and make a statement. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think that depending on workouts this year, there's a really good competition. And I think it can be anybody's game. Is this your first year at the games?

It is. Nice. How many regionals? You've been on a team, haven't you? No games experience. It'll be my first year. I did team regionals 2017 and then regionals 2018 uh did not make it that year and then this year was like my first year where i was like i'm

that's like a really fast jump to the games yeah usually there's like three or four um oh what up dude sometimes the baby's show oh what up bud hi buddy he's like what are you doing yeah sometimes the babies show up hi buddy it's time my two-year-old just facetimed me gotta go buddy i love you no he can stay yeah he's cute you can stay um that is a fast jump from team to individual to fifth in the world yeah i uh i changed everything i've had a lot of people have asked me this question, but my year has been amazing. I changed everything. I changed training, my nutrition.

I got a coach. I focused on CrossFit. I cut everything else out. What else was there? Weightlifting? No, no weightlifting. It was, I was. Do you want to go to nationals?

Are you interested in that? So many people have asked me that. Would you like to go to the Olympics? We looked at my numbers and I would yeah i could probably i could probably qualify um coach mash i'm sitting next to the base best weightlifter you're not even though she's in your gym hey uh but i just decided after not making it at regionals in 2018 that i was just going to commit everything and i did what was your training and I guess what are those big changes like where was the mental shift of like I have to go all in

I don't like to lose and so like not even like making it to the games at regionals I finally clicked that I wasn't going to be able just to live off of my natural abilities and I was going to have to like actually dial in nutrition I was gonna have to start you know waking up early and making I sure I got in the first session got in the second session and even when I was tired getting in that third session so I just you became a pro yeah overnight it just like I just it switched like yeah like a light bulb I was like okay like get it get it together if you want this you gotta go to go get it. Does that mean, like, were you, did you meet her and these guys? Or, like, who in your circle, I guess, influenced this change or, like, made it possible?

Because if you've got bad people around you, that change isn't going to happen. Yeah. So we, after team regionals in 2017, kind of, like, branched out on my own and then after um 2018 regionals i sat down with my boyfriend who's also my coach and just said like we got to make it happen and he was like okay and he literally he does my macros he does my programming he does everything alongside me as well so he's been the biggest support and he's just invested as much in the dream as i am so he's like my number one supporter. Are you his only athlete? Yeah.

Wow. Look at that. Maybe I should pick that up. Just kidding. You only have one client? Misfit Athletics. What's wrong with you? Wait, he runs Misfit?

No, no, no. That's my name. I was like, wait a second. I know that guy. How long have you been with him? Just this year. You like it? I just switched over to them in last September. Oh, my second. I know that guy. How long have you been with them? Just this year. You like it? I switched over to them in last September.

Oh, my gosh, I love it. It's, like I said, I'm the fittest I've ever been, and a lot of it obviously has to do with training. Yeah. And Drew has learned me, and the programming is phenomenal. That's awesome. And I've bounced around to different programs. Like, I've tried different things, and I love Ms love misfit does he program everything specific for teams now or

it's kind of like what they're saying of just let's just be in really great shape and strong and fast and it'll all work out so he'll send me a week template and two of the days are team days because i he knows that i'm not with them yeah um however i do go to crossfit 417 and 417 is it has been a games team for the last five years. And so if one of them is there, I'll say, hey, can we sync something up just so I can practice syncing with people? And they luckily like me enough to where they do. Yeah, you're cool. Does having that gym close to your house make it really easy living at home?

I mean, the culture of where you live and the culture of the people you train with and the gym is a massive yeah so i grew up happiness yeah my crossfit career started at 417 and the athletes that jared stevens pumps out is phenomenal i didn't know that was it i know that guy yep i know he's strong he's my my big brother that i never wanted. I'm the little sister he never wanted. So we love each other so much. But yeah, he has 100% created a culture that, you know, the bread is in the, what is it saying? Butters in the bread or something like that. Bread and butter. Is there hay in a barn somewhere? Icing on top.

Cake. Let's just talk about cake. Food? Snacks? What? Girls who eat? What? eat what hey alex give me a gummy worm i think we just caught nine inside inside joke after inside joke after those we're like no joke i want a gummy worm they're gone yeah environment is everything yeah has he has your coach taken i guess the same approach or

are you super dialed in on the nutrition is it a full lifestyle thing for you now yes and has been for uh i would i started counting macros this is probably my third year which now i'm kind of at a point where i actually haven't counted a full day in probably four months because i eat the same thing every day so the numbers are closed but i I just haven't punched it into my phone. That's the best. You don't even have to think. You just look at it. I only eat chicken.

Right. Chicken, rice. I've outlawed everything else. I don't even eat rice with color. Only the white one. Yeah. Salmon every night. And I'm not a picky eater.

Thank God. I've actually started juicing that's a new thing whoa oh yeah tell us about this oh you guys it sounds like you're ready for a crossfit documentary i did a lot of juicing before kids and then that shit went away it is so inconvenient but yes i live alone i like i'm like just take the 20 minutes to do it 20 minutes yeah if that do you have one of those masticating juicers or like the spin shred one? I was like, whoa. 20 minutes, I can be in bed.

It could be 18. No, no, no. What I do is I put my salmon in the oven and I juice while the salmon is cooking and the salmon cooks for 22 minutes. And I, from start to finish, clean up and everything. I can have it done in 22 minutes. What is this juice recipe? Well, I juice carrots and cabbage.

The next one is ginger lemon turmeric and orange the third one is kale and grainy smith apples so good yeah apple juice delicious these are these are separate recipes you do them individually and then i can't remember the fourth one off the top of my i maybe i don't know. There's usually four. Do you just do one glass worth or do you do enough for a couple days? I only juice one day at a time because it can go bad, and I'm not willing to risk that. It's too good.

Very risk averse. The apple juice can go bad. But I just don't eat vegetables. What? Wait, wait, wait. Back it up. Back it up. What's the deal there? You do not have to eat vegetables. What? Wait, wait, wait. Back it up. Back it up. What's the deal there? You do not have to eat vegetables to be an elite athlete.

You definitely don't have to, but why do you choose not to? Because I eat 350 carbs a day, and I have to eat 14 cups of lettuce to get four carbs. I'm like, I don't have time for this. Gosh, it's just not calorically dense enough to get the calories and the macros that you need. So that's something I focus on this year is micronutrients and vitamins and dialing in my electrolytes. So that's why I've started juicing.

Who's grilling you about electrolytes? A lot of resentment to the electrolytes. I fucking hate electrolytes. The electrolytes? Yeah, I want to know the story of why that was a big deal. I mean, it's not like a huge deal but so like i'm a nurse and i know that keeping your electrolytes intact while we're sweating and exerting ourselves is super important for like just heart function yeah you need a balanced potassium to get adequate heart function and your heart pumps oxygen into your

whole body hey i'm a elite athlete i need oxygen so yeah yeah dang i vaguely remember you saying that last year you were still a nurse last year is that correct so uh i quit in march of 2018 so it's been a little over a year i think you're still okay no so i wasn't because we just talked like nine months ago march of this year right 2018 that's 2018 oh 18 i'm wrong here gotcha so so you're just full-time athlete right now you You're not doing the nurse thing. Full-time athlete. We talk to a lot of people. Got it. And I'm online nutrition coaching.

Your face is memorable. The name's a little shaky. Yeah. The name's a little shaky. She's got a cute face. I knew that I'd seen you before. We can always recognize it. Yeah.

So just athlete and online nutrition coach. You do the macros for people? Yeah, for people. For medicine. But no working out? You don't prescribe workouts to people? Yeah, for people. Through Barbell Medicine. But no working out? You don't prescribe workouts to people? Actually, I just launched a fitness template with Barbell Medicine. It's called the Titan Template.

And basically, it's for your average people. Oh, wait. Hold the phone. You are a Titan. I'm a Titan. God, tell me about the rock. Yeah. So everyone's first question is, what was it like meeting The Rock?

Just because he's the coolest. He's the coolest. Yeah. Yeah, so nice. The story I always tell is we would film overnight, and even at 3 a.m., he was always still so patient, so kind with everyone. Cast crew, any of the competitors. Just a great, great person. He is successful because of the person that he is it's crazy those people but just attract all the good people to them

right it's wild yeah it's weird to be around it's nice to be a nice person it's incredible yeah uh how did you do on the show i don't have tv really i lost i lost i would have watched i promise i never expect anyone to know my name clearly you um promise I never expect anyone to know my name clearly you I never expect anyone to know anything about me can't wait till next year you better write it on your arm the best of friends

I lost to the girl who won so I made it to the like semi-finals I guess you could call it do you know Amy who from there nope I bench press with her she's a world champion mate i'm maybe the same the name doesn't ring a bell maybe i do i don't know are you gonna be on any tv shows i feel like you'd smash yeah you're like gladiator ready to rock

shout out to the rock hey hold on tell me about the tit program, though. So Titan template, it is through Barbell Medicine. Jordan Feigenbaum owns the company. This template is for your average athlete who just does one workout a day but is looking for better results and just to do more in the gym. So do your regular WOD with your class and then take on the Titan template, and it's like some accessory work, some extra strength. Jordan's phenomenal at programming strength, so if you want to get strong, girls and guys, we called it the Titan template because that was kind of like a unisex term.

So it's for men and women from all walks. It's 10 weeks long. And it's super cool when you open the template. Just the way Jordan has set it up on your computer, you can like track your progress. And it's super cool. It's $50, barblamedicine.com slash shop. And there's a million different templates,

but get the Titan template. And it's accessory plan plus workouts? There are some workouts, but it's more just like additional working out tacked on to your daily WOD if you still want to work out. If I was interested in being strong, really good looking, maybe the best athlete,

should I go accessories with Alex or the Titan template? Titan template. I agree. I agree. You should do my strength program. Do you have a strength program? I do. Look at that.

I love it. Or just do everything. Yeah, do them all. Do them all. Do them all. Do them all. I feel like Cody's very behind right now. What are you doing back there, bud?

He's just pretty. Programming? He's just pretty. He's just pretty. We put him on the cover of all of our programs. You're the cover mom. Cody, can you just take your shirt off? That's what my, like, I have a Look Better Naked program.

I just asked him to take a photo for me. Beautiful. Good work, dude. Find your lane and smash it. That's a good lane for a long time, too, if you can do it. Yeah, ride that lane. Long time. Tell us about your program.

So Dell Athletics, and I have several different things. I do the macro programming as well, and then the fitness programming. I have four different templates. I have the competitor stuff, which is exactly what I do. I literally, if I do 90 minutes of hot yoga or if I do my workouts, it's on there. So it's literally my workout diary. How do people follow that? They want to. It's great. They are, they reach out all the time and they say, I want to start competing. I want to, you know, qualify for a sanctioned event. And I'm like, okay, we'll hop on and scale until you're ready. i just i warn them i'm saying it's a lot of volume but you know

you'll get you'll get there i had to i had to ramp up too everyone is in that point where they want to start ramping up and start competing so everyone goes through that uh when i first started uh doing team stuff we followed mayhem's programming and some of the stuff rich would do we'd be like what you know you just get used to it um and then i have the strong uh is the new sexy programming cute little name yeah i might check that out yes you just want to see cody it's a combination it's a calendar it's just a trick actually it's just pictures of him as the programming. You just look at him all day. These are your roommates.

It's way too close. But the strength programming is a combination of power lifting, Olympic lifting, bodybuilding, and, like, power output drills. So it's, yeah, it's all about the gains. Yeah. And then I have a program that's literally for people who have time on their lunch breaks to work out. That was created because my coach always takes his lunch break to come and work out with me during my second session. And so he always has, you know, about an hour, hour and 15 to get his workout in. So we started like doing that little program for people who don't have a lot of time.

And then we have the Look Better Naked programming, which is more of like conditioning, endurance, people who don't have a lot of time. And then we have the look better naked programming, which is more of like conditioning, endurance, people who want to just look better naked. They're not looking to compete. They're not looking to get, you know, 400 pound deadlift.

They just want to look good. Get some abs. Yeah. There you go. That's most people find, find your, the Titan one again. It's barbellmedicine.com slash shop. And mine is dellathletics.com.

Where can people find you on Instagram? They're already following you. Dell Spiegel. At Dell Spiegel. And at Jessica R. Griffith. Doug Larson. Wait, and then also for the macros coaching, where do they go? Oh, yeah.

You can send me a DM on Instagram. Oh, God. There you go. Slide into my DM. Slide in. Just opened up the floodgates. We'll find you a landing page. Or send me an email.

You can click the email link in my bio. That's the easiest way. Don't, yeah. Those are the two. She's actually like, actually, do not slide into the email. Send me email. Email, email, email. Yeah, no, email is actually better.

I love it. Doug Larson. Perfect. Find me on Instagram, Douglas C. Larson. TheOneToneChallenge.com. What would you do on The One-Tone Challenge challenge do you know what this is no you guys talked about your programs we'll tell you about ours yeah uh so we teach snatch clean jerk squat deadlift bench that's it and we want that total to be 2 000 pounds for guys 1200 for girls and it's a really

cool story so i trained with john cena for four years and i went to his house can we do the math on what our totals would be yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah. Real quick. Real quick. Real quick. Okay. Hang on. Here we go. Bones, calculators, computers.

First lift. Here we go. First lift. Snatch. Okay, snatch. $225. Me too. Yeah.

Zayda. Clean. Gosh. Okay. You can say them out loud so the people know. $280. $280. $260.

Nice. Jerk. Oh. $2 Okay. You can say them out loud so the people know. 280. 280. 260. Nice. Jerk. Oh. 280. 250. Savage. Squat. Like back squat?

Yep. 325. 365. Deadlift. Oh. Oh. All the eyes roll. Wait, 435?

Yes. Killing. Mine's 355. More than me by a lot. Are there more lifts? Bench. Bench. I'm there5. More than me by a lot. Are there more lifts? Bench. Bench. I'm there.

Yeah, you're definitely there. You were almost there on four lifts. I was watching your calculator. I don't know what I benched. Just roughly. I'll say 195. Is that? What was your bench?

240, but I haven't hit it in a while. Yeah, just put it. I'll say 195. Trust me, you're at the top of the list. It's okay. Okay. What else? That's it. Is, just put it. I'll say one name. Trust me, you're at the top of the list. It's okay. What else? That's it.

Is that it? Six. 15, 85. Smashed. 18, 25. Oh, shit. I'm going to get the guys' numbers. So my total, that's really, my total, we were both 2009.

It's pretty below average. We just tripped over the line. Yeah. We're not strong enough to be considered strong, so we made a game up for sort of strong people. We love it. Called the One Ton Challenge. Love it. I love it.

It's 2,000 pounds. You can find that at the onetonchallenge.com. We've got a leaderboard built over there to find out how strong you are. Compared to all the people, track your PRs. You can download this sweet player card, and you can upload all sweet player card and you can upload all your videos all you men when you've got sweet yeah that's right i think you would be you're at the top i think for ladies you are the top we're actually yeah we're totally gonna

have you fill it out just so you can be at the top of the leaderboard and just smash people um i'm anders varner at anders varner we're the shrug collective at shrug collective we'll see you guys next week. Bye. That's a wrap, friends. Make sure we're getting over to live.onetonchallenge.com to get early access to all things One Ton Challenge live at the CrossFit Games presented by FitAid. We're going to be there August 2nd, Friday

night at the CrossFit Games from 5 to 8pm. Snatch, clean, jerk, squat that bench. We're going to find the strongest kids in the game. Head over to live.onetonchallenge.com. Also, make sure you support our sponsors. They help keep this show going. Organifi.com, forward slash shrug,

saving 20% on your green, your red, your gold, and all kinds of fun products over at Organifi. Whoop.com, saving $30 off a 12 or 18 month membership. That's Whoop.com. Use the coupon code Shrugged and Viore, VioreClothing.com forward slash shrug.

Keep it comfy. Keep it fresh. We are going to see you guys next week. We got a full lineup. Brand new shows coming out. Super exciting stuff. Monday starts with Business Fitness with Jason Kalipa.