Mark Bell's Power Project - Power Project EP. 36 - Margaux Alvarez

Episode Date: April 16, 2018

Today were LIVE with 5x Crossfit Games Athlete Margaux Alvarez. She is a Small Business Owner, Rogue Fitness, Athex & FNX Fit Athlete and Winemaker. Re-Watch the Live Stream Here: https://youtu.be/QB2M_fUGxqk ➢Subscribe Rate & Review on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mark-bells-power-project/id1341346059?mt=2 ➢Listen on Stitcher Here: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/mark-bells-power-project?refid=stpr ➢Listen on Google Play here: https://play.google.com/music/m/Izf6a3gudzyn66kf364qx34cctq?t=Mark_Bells_Power_Project ➢Listen on SoundCloud Here: https://soundcloud.com/user-921692324 ➢SHOP NOW: https://markbellslingshot.com/ FOLLOW Mark Bell ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell ➢ Snapchat: marksmellybell

That can happen. So you're in Utah? Yeah, Utah. Southern Utah. Where'd you grow up? Montana. So you ever been to Montana? I have.

You're in Missoula, is that? Yeah, I do. Yeah. Okay. So south about 30 minutes in a town called Stevensville. I like the simplicity of Montana. I remember seeing a sign and it said airport. And there was the airport.

Only one road to get to the airport. Yeah. And people just parked their car outside the airport and they left their car on like, like right in front of the airport. And they like went in and got somebody and they came back out. Yep. And they say, you're not allowed to park there, but there's a cop car parked in the front, but there's no cop in it.

Yeah. No one. Yeah. No, no one cares in Los Angeles. When you see the sign for the airport, it's like, you to follow that thing for half an hour at least just to, you know, and you always fuck up somewhere along the line. Yeah, you take the road and you think it's actually going to the terminal and it's no, it's the gas station off the road. And you're so screwed. And every time you look for an exit, it's never a normal exit. It's always like another freeway. for an exit, it's never a normal exit.

Agreed. It's always like another freeway. Yeah. And you're like, what the fuck? So you're like, now I just, you know, you took a two hour detour out of nowhere. Are you at high altitude in Utah? Yes. We're about 3,700.

Oh, man. Yeah. 36, 37. I almost died there. We went there for Park City to the film festival years ago for Bigger, Stronger, Faster. Nice. And I remember I walked. My brother was like, hey, you should come over. We're having an after party.

You should come check it out. And so I was like, OK, cool. So I walked down to where his hotel was. OK. And it was, you know, it was the middle of winter. It was fucking freezing out there. It was so cold. A lot of snow on the ground and stuff. And, you know, I walk down the hill and as I'm walking down the

hill, I'm like, oh man, that's pretty far. That's a pretty big hill. I'm like, that's going to suck to walk back. You know, it wasn't that far, but it was like a couple of football fields worth. Do you remember what you were weighing at the time? Yeah, I was a little round. A little round? A little round. I was probably a good 310 or so. A little extra weight on the body? SHW, super heavyweight for sure.

And after the party, I went to walk back and I just was like, oh my God, I can't breathe for shit. What's going on? Is this the big one? Am I going down? And on top of that, it was cold. So trying to breathe in that cold air, I was like, holy shit.

Do you think that gives you an advantage for training? Yeah, I think, I mean, that's where regionals will be this year. So I think being in elevation, it definitely will help my body acclimating. And if you're not used to it, then you go up to elevation, you start working out

and it starts to feel like you're breathing through a straw. You're like, who took the oxygen away? What happened? I cannot get any more air in my body. It's a little tricky, right? Isn't there, there's some different things you got to account for, like going from a regular altitude to high altitude and coming back down and so on, right? Totally. Yeah. So, I mean, I don't think it's in Park City. It could be, you're going up to about 6,000 or more, and then you're going back down really quickly. That could totally affect your body. Where I'm at, I think I'm pretty constant, so it's fine. But I know I've had cousins and friends that have gone up really high elevation and then come back down and they get the altitude sickness where you feel nauseous, headaches, you're going to pass out, throw up. So it's not

to the point where I have that, so that's good. You feel awful. I remember me and Jesse Burdick went to Colorado and we were at high altitude too. And that was, that was the first time I ever experienced it. And I was like, we were setting up some chairs and stuff for a seminar. And I was like, they kept, they kept telling me, you know, they kept saying, Hey, you know, we're going to be at high altitude. We were in like Vail or something like that. Oh, that's high. Yeah. It was really high. That's up there. I was dying. But I moved some chairs around for the seminar and stuff and started setting up. And next thing you know, I'm completely out of breath. And I'm like, what the fuck's happening?

And I go to sit down. And the guy hosting the seminar, he's like, hey, man, just relax. You're at high altitude. Because he could see that I started to panic. But the weird thing is, yeah, there's nowhere to hide. No. You know, the air is just relax. You're at high altitude. Cause he could see that I started, started to panic. But the weird thing is, yeah, there's nowhere to hide. No. You know, the air is just thin.

Yeah. Unless you have an oxygen mask that you can like put on you. That's just the way it is. The air is just thin. And so you're trying to figure out what can I do? And the only thing you can do is just try to figure out a way to calm yourself down a little bit. Yeah. Cause if you start to breathe faster, then you mean your lungs are doing more work,

but then it's like, you're not getting slow yourself down a little bit. Yeah, because if you start to breathe faster, then, I mean, your lungs are doing more work, but then it's like you're not getting any more oxygen. Right. And you're like, you start freaking out, and then your mind starts to take over, and then it's like, uh-oh, this is not a good situation. So you have to kind of relax. And that happens in CrossFit workouts anyway. Yes, it already happens. Without the high altitude. Yeah.

What do you like about that? About CrossFit or about the altitude? About just, no, just intense training like that. I think period. Cause I think there's some sort of attraction that people like yourself and people like my boy, Ben Alderman over there have to train in that way. Cause you know,

for some of us, we just like to lift heavy one and done. We like to just kind of hit one big set and there's other people that like to train and kind of chase the pump and body build. There's other people that like to just totally fuck themselves over and get to a point where they're not sure if they're going to be able to take another breath again. And then they like to go deeper into that again. Yeah. Is there an attraction to that? Is there something that you like about it? I think it's when I first found CrossFit, when I first like tried it, it was so challenging and so different than what I'd ever done before I think I

like that challenge for myself to put myself in an environment that I've never been at to do something I've never done like a snatch or a burpee and then push myself to see if I can go faster or go a little harder and it was so challenging and so different I was like oh man like I like this like I'm going somewhere where I've never gone before and as I've've done it over the years, there's definitely places you've been before. And there's other places where you push yourself so hard. You're like, I think I might pass out or I think I'm done with this workout. And then, excuse me, I'm going to go throw up outside because whatever's in my stomach is not staying there. So I think there's a little bit of craziness in everyone that likes to do something maybe more extreme. And I think people that see CrossFit,

like, oh, that's pretty extreme. It's different. And I think people that see CrossFit are like, oh, that's pretty extreme. It's different. But I think there's something in us as individuals, at least for myself, that it's like, I want to challenge myself to see if I can do it. If I can, awesome. If not, then I'll try it tomorrow

or the next month or whatever. Have you always liked stuff like that? I think so, yeah. Before CrossFit, I used to do like trail running, 5Ks, and I just, I loved running. And people looked at me like, you love running. Not many people say that. I just, I liked being outdoors. You're probably like, why would you want to run? I'm laughing because, uh, Blair Morrison used to come in glistening with sweat.

Like he doesn't actually like sweat like normal. He like glistens and he'd come in just beaming and he'd be like, what? And he'd have his shirt off and he'd be all ripped and everything. And me and Ben would look at him like, so weird. And he oh i just had a great time i just i just did an awesome trail run i'm gonna and then he's coming into like deadlift and stuff and he was super strong too i'm like this is so annoying yeah you're jacked you're lean you're a good looking guy and you're kicking ass and you're able to lift heavy weight and everything i'm like this is this is too annoying he's like i just got done with a five mile trail run. I feel great. I'm like, dude, that's so gay.

I got no choice but to tell you that it's gay. I don't know. He's like, what's gay? And then he asked everybody in the gym.

He's like, is it gay? And everyone's like, yeah, it's kind of gay. You're kind of out there. Yeah. I think,

yeah, I think, I don't know. I like, I like the running. I like doing something different. And I think just being able to put myself

in a different environment. And I think just the going through the motions of doing something physical and like feeling how you feel afterwards and not everyone feels the same. And obviously the intensity is different, but I think that does something good for your body. And you're like, all right, maybe I do that again next time. Whenever that next time is. You get done with some of these workouts and when they really wipe you out, like I know like during it, it's really but when you when you're finished are you kind of like in some way like fuck that was awesome like i want to try that again yeah you're like all right i did it like i didn't think it was possible but i did it's like cool like i

can kind of do like a little check mark next to that and say all right i got that in my portfolio i did that now i'm gonna try it a little heavier or on track a little faster or different rep scheme or whatever so you get nervous doing any of this stuff i think i get nervous with like retesting workouts because it's like i have a a number or a weight or expectation that i hit like all right i want to hit that again so i think i get a little nervous there where it's like i put that expectation on myself um and i want to either do a better time or do a bigger weight, that's, I think, where the nerves come in. And then obviously, like, being able to perform, and it's like, not that I can't do it because I know I can,

but it's just I don't know that answer. I don't know that result. So it's that unknown that makes a little nerves. I don't know if you ever feel like that. Oh, absolutely. I mean, you know, I did pro wrestling and being a power lifter and being around other top athletes and just seeing the intensity. Yeah.

I think sometimes we have a tendency to, like, not give ourselves enough credit and not realize how badass we are sometimes. Like, sometimes you're doing a great job and you don't recognize it, but you see somebody else going through it and you're like, holy fuck, man, they're really bringing it. Yeah. And then you're like, I don't know, can I, can I do that? And you might even do more, do better than them. But for some reason you're not, it's maybe the competitive spirit. You're not viewing yourself maybe in the same, maybe in the same light as, as where they're at.

Yeah. I think, I think it definitely comes down to that because I've seen myself accomplish X, Y, and Z. And it's like, all right, that's good. But then you're like, what's the next thing? And you're looking to the next thing in the future, whether it's a lift, a workout or a goal, you never give yourself that pat on the back to say, Hey man, I am bad-ass. Like I am qualified to do this. I have done this amount of work in this amount of time. Like I'm legit. And I think it is, it's tough to do that. Like you you're humble as an individual, but it's like, all right, cool. Like give yourself that recognition to say,

all right, I've accomplished all this. Like F you all, I'm gonna like, I'm gonna do more, you know? So I think it's something that maybe some people struggle with and I struggle with, but I think the more I can give like back to myself, then the more in time I'll be like, okay, yeah. I'm like, I am legit. I am the baddest ass ass, badass, badass.

Badassery. Badassery. When I go to powerlifting meets, I often will look at the weights they have on the bar. Even sometimes just here in the gym, and I'm like, man, these motherfuckers are crazy. And I forget that I've done a lot of those things. I'm like, oh, well, okay, it makes sense. It's achievable. You can do it.

Totally. But you have to really be in the right frame of mind, too. You know, like a lot of times, you know, if you're not competing, you're not doing something at that very moment. It's different than you getting warmed up and you getting hyped up. How hard is it to compete against some of these other people? And then on top of that, not only is the competition level always raising up. But also you guys end up competing in front of a lot of people. That's got to factor into the nerves a little bit too, right?

It's interesting because in the environments and the situations I've been in, being around tons of people and having people watch me has never really bothered me or created the nerves. I think it more comes down to, all right, this is the timeframe I want to hit or this is how I want to execute it, making sure I do that to the best of my ability.

And I think it comes down to that mental capacity or your mental game and being able to say, all right, I've done this so many times. I've practiced, I've warmed up, I've gone through what I need to do to be where I'm at. And the more you are confident in your mind with what you've done, I think that definitely helps ease a little bit that physical or the nerves or the adrenaline going through your body. And I think like also like telling yourself, all right, I can do this,

like positive affirmations or something in your mind that says, all right, I've done this before. I'm going to do it again. I'm just going to do it in a different environment. And it is challenging. And I think people that are able to do it in the, like in the comfort of their home gym or the comfort of their local gym, and then be able to do it on a stage where there's multiple people, thousands of people. I think that's, can be a different differentiating factor for some people. Has it ever sunk in? Like you've been to the CrossFit games five times. Have you ever kind of just look around and has that ever like hit you to the point where

it made you feel a little sick or just insanely nervous or it never bothered you? No, I think, I mean, now I'm like, all right, I have done it five years in a row. And it's like, that's an accomplishment that not many people can say or even like a claim to be. So it's like, all right, like I need to kind of walk around, like have a little more confidence in myself and not think, oh, I'm just like another average person. Not to take away from what people are doing on the average life, not negating that at all.

But it's like, I am not the average person because of what I've done through my life up until this point. But it's like, all right, give myself that little like fluffing of feathers because I need it almost, whereas other people maybe don't need it. I think that has helped me, that will help me going forward. Yeah. When it comes to ego, I think everyone uses the term ego as a negative and people will, they'll say, oh, you know, somebody's real humble. And they say as if that's a great thing. And yeah, of course, like you don't want someone like flashing stuff in your face. And, but I just, you kind of need an ego.

Yeah. Like Jeff Bezos, the guy who owns Amazon, he needs like, needs to have something. Like he needs to understand that he's special. He needs to understand that he's different. Rich Froning needs to understand that he's different. You know what I mean, just, you just look at some of these athletes and, and everything they do is a little different. Totally. I mean, even just the way he walks across the field, it's like, you're kind of like, who is that? You know, even if you didn't watch a lot of CrossFit, you'd be like, that guy's, that guy kind of stands out. Yeah. Something about that

person. Yeah. Matt Frazier. And like, you just kind of know he's a badass and he's he's got to know it otherwise he's not going to be able to prove it yeah exactly you need to have some of that right yeah you need a little bit of that like swagger in your walk or just swagger and what you're telling yourself to say hey like i have done this like i i deserve to be here and i'm going to continue to be here in whatever form that is a lot of that's got to come from the training. Yes. That's where the confidence is, is built up. Do you do anything kind of outside the box?

Do you do anything that's like specifically, you know, maybe quite a bit different? Like, do you, you know, run a little extra or do you do extra reps or is there something that you do that's maybe a little different? I would say in the beginning before CrossFit, I would run. That was something like I did a lot of running. And as we've done training throughout the years, more running. You writing this down, Ben?

Ben's powerlifting coach, Mark Bell, who knows nothing about CrossFit, used to tell him to run all the time. That's awesome. It's true. And he would never run. Never run. Oh, man. You're the only person. We got to get him out there running.

Yeah. And I think that's what, at least for me, that was something a little different. And now leading up to it, I think you're doing the training and everyone's doing the training in the gym allotment of hours. But what are you doing outside? Like, are you reviewing the film? Are you thinking about the situation that you're in? And I tend to be someone that's like, all right, I do things a methodical way. Like, you tell me to do something or I say I'm going to do it like this. I have to follow exactly that plan. And then recently I've worked on, you know, maybe deviating from that plan.

That deviation is actually going to be beneficial because it's like, if I have to do this way, what if something happens where, I don't know, a rock falls in my place and I can't run over that rock. I need to go around it. So my path needs to change. It needs to kind of be evolving as I'm going, whether it's in a workout or my training. And so I think that's something that I've done recently trying to work on with my coach and it's helped. Who's your coach? Alex over there.

Oh, hey now. And Ben will actually, so both of them. So we actually brought on Ben recently to help build my legs, getting stronger, but not only just in strength, but just overall in terms of what I'm doing for training. So I'm excited to have both of them on the team. I've known Alex since like 2012.

He's helped me since then. He's programmed and coached me since then. And then we've known Ben for 2013, so like five years now. And so it's cool to be able to see what i've done up into this point but also add into what i'm going to do going forward and i try to take like one year at a time one like one month at a time with what i'm doing versus trying to get ahead of myself and i think it's important that people set goals future goals like long-term goals but also short-term goals as well how do you think think CrossFit ends up with similar champions

often, you know, at least so far in about 10-year time span that's been around? They are, you know, constantly varied movements. They have had, I don't mean probably in the history of the CrossFit Games, there's probably been 100 or 200 different exercises thrown at people, all different kinds of swimming events, throwing a softball. I mean, there's probably been 100 or 200 different exercises yeah uh throwing at people um all different kinds of uh swimming events throwing a softball i mean there's been all kinds of all kinds of tests crazy things but yet we've had um some repeat champions why do you think how do you think that's happening i think i mean the first one i think of as rich as he won it four years in a row and i think i remember reading his book and growing up. I personally think it's rigged just for the record.

Okay, go ahead. I think I look at like his lifestyle and what Rich did. He was, he was, if you think of CrossFit, like constantly varied

functional movements at high intensity. He was doing that long before it ever was actually CrossFit or there was a name or title to it. Bring up a picture

of Rich Froning. He's got the best pecs. He's got the best pecs in the game. I mean, I ain't afraid to say it. Those bouncing pecs. I's got the best pecs in the game. I mean, I ain't afraid to say it. Those bouncing pecs. I remember at the CrossFit Games, he ran by and he was just like going from like one event to the other.

He wasn't competing. He was just kind of almost like running through the crowd, which was kind of weird because he's, you know, the GOAT, right? And so seeing him run through the crowd, it was great to see all the women with their broken necks just watching him. It was like a Baywatch reenactment for them with his chest muscles bouncing up and down. They were just like, oh, my God. I thought they were all going to pass out. They're just like falling over as he walks by and runs by. Yeah, I think, I mean, he's been doing it for so long.

And I think he's such a good mover. I mean, you've seen him do tons of thousands of repetitions over and over and over. And his consistency in his movement and in his training got him to where he was. He squats really well. Yeah. You know, whether he's doing like a clean or any of the movements that he's doing that involve a squat, he's so efficient at it. And Matt Frazier is the same way. Yeah.

And I think, again, like before they even got into CrossFit, I mean, Matt was doing weightlifting. Yeah. And it's like the repetition and movement. He's a really good weightlifter. Yeah. All that time under their belt, I think, set them up to a good position to what they do, to do what they want to do. And I even think of Ben Smith. Like he's been in the game almost for years. He's a machine.

Yeah. He's amazing. But it's like, I mean, he still won. He didn't win back-to-back or didn't win multiple years. But it's like i mean he's still one he didn't win back to back or didn't win multiple years but it's like that amount of time under your belt and he's been there for like 10 years or something right yeah like for so yeah i think 10 years now yeah um it's just amazing to see and i think that creates a solid foundation for them to be on that position where they're constantly winning either back to back or having repeating, uh, championships. So like, uh, you know, running has been utilized in, uh, MMA. It's been utilized in boxing forever.

You think running just provides like a good base for you to rely on for some of these, uh, longer workouts and maybe perhaps, uh, you know, running 10 miles, maybe it doesn't make a ton of sense, uh, because maybe you're not asked to do it in competition, but maybe it makes sense because it helps you recover from your workouts faster. Yeah, I totally think running is a huge component. Not only like myself coming in from a running background into CrossFit, I think that helped me create a good base

for the longer workouts. And I even look now, whether you're doing short interval runs or long chill runs, I think that's going to help you be in a better position, not only interval runs or long chill runs i think that's going to help you be in a better position not only to recover chill runs as in like i never heard that i never heard that before yeah so those long chill runs again every say everyone's gonna be a little different but like 20 to 30 minutes or even 40 minutes maybe not 10 miles but i mean if you look for example if you look at sam like she used to do long runs, like, and her ability to do anything that's aerobic, long distance, like running, rowing, like she crushes it. But look at her background.

Like she has had a number of years doing any of those biathlons. She's jacked. Yeah. She's amazing. She's an awesome athlete. And it's like, all right, she's created that huge base with all that. So I definitely think running is a component that you can incorporate into training, obviously depending on what training you're doing.

But I think it's really important for letting your, like one, getting a full body workout, but also putting your body in a state where it's like you're trying to keep a sustained pace for X amount of minutes. How far do you run? Like in general, like on a given week, I'm sure it depends on the training cycle and stuff, but.

Yeah, it could depend. I could do like, I did last week, I did like a three mile run just like all at once. And then I did like, I think a mile and a half in terms of repeats, meaning 400s, 800s, 1200s. So you're not going to necessarily run really far. You're not going to run like 20 miles a week necessarily. Yeah. Like there it's. Maybe if it's off season, you might run more if you're lacking or something, but in general, you're not going to run a lot. Yeah, and you think of like the tests that you're going to see,

like at regionals, we've had a mile run to 400 meters. So anything within that timeframe, I see you want to train for that, but it's like after regionals, the running could be more. It could be three miles, two miles. So it's like, all right,

we need to do longer durations. And it could be two miles, but like split up, like last year was a mile, then a swim, and then a mile run. So I think not only for training, it benefits you, but also what are the tests and what are they having, what are they going to possibly test us at? In 2013, they had a half marathon row,

which if it was a half marathon run, I think that would have changed. Like a lot of people might've not been ready for it, but it's like, what if they do put a half marathon run it's like all right let's lace up and go how far was the run that they did uh where they had you guys uh do the deadlift ladder after that um that was i think is it 10k 10k like seven and a half okay i think something like that yeah so that's pretty brutal that was gnarly and it wasn't that the distance was gnarly, but the trails, like going up and down, like sliding on your butt down the rocks and the dirt. I actually ended up wearing those cargo pants.

Those are little things you don't think about. Yeah, for sure. Your feet and your ankles and your hands and all that shit. Your knees. All those components come into it. It's like, all right, if I have a rock in my shoe for seven and a half miles, like, how am I going to feel? Probably not amazing.

Am I going to get a blister? Hopefully not. So those are the things that kind of add up. Yeah. And well, and your hands get just chewed up too. I mean, you guys are,

when you're at the CrossFit game specifically, you're outside. Yeah. It's, it's hot. And the stuff that you're using is, uh, the barbells and the things you can do,

pull-ups on and stuff. Those are, those are really hot. And your, your hands are just getting beat to hell. Right. Yeah. I mean,

that part of it is like, there's all these little things that you don't, that you don't think about. And the CrossFit games is, um, is it, uh, it's five active days over the course of like six days or something like that

or five. Yeah. So they've changed it in the, like this past year was four days, like back to back to back. And previous years, it was a Wednesday, like two events, Thursday rest, or like an active rest. In 2016, it was a swim and then three more days.

So that was the five days. I could see them going back to that this year where on Wednesday you have two events, Thursday you have an event or two, and then you have full like three to four or even five events on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Seems like it's got gotta be extremely mental. I see when the open comes out, I see everybody wanting to retest and it seems like a huge mental battle. How do you make sense of when to really push and when to pull back? When to decide

to do a retest? How do you decide to do some of these things? I mean, obviously you got coaches and stuff too to help, but. Yeah. I think it's, I mean, if you look at the environment you're in now, like the open, for example, the five weeks we just finished, it's like you have four or five days to do the workout. So you totally could retest it. If you do a great job and you great job, you have a great score,

you don't need to redo it. But I think it definitely has come, it's so mental because you see like, oh, this person got this and this person got this. It's like, is that a real person's time or that's not possible? Yeah. And it's like, it's tough because you do,

I mean, it is a test to compare to other people. And if you're looking at the world and everyone in that pool, it's like, man, like these people are hitting these numbers or these times. You have to think, all right, is my important priority at this moment to be the best that I am right now? Yes, I want to be good. I want to be primed.

But I would rather be in a better position to make sure that I'm ready for regionals, to win regionals, place top five, and then continue on the games. And obviously the games, like being the best position. So I think mentally not getting so wrapped up in it and it's hard like as much as i say it like i catch myself saying all right cool well this person got this it's like how the heck did they get that like that's impossible they didn't do that it's like maybe they did maybe they're lying we don't know but it's like for those that do advance they will be in a stage where they do have people there then judging their reps in a stage where they are like can they physically and mentally handle themselves and the environment when it comes to regionals and if you can't then that's where it's like all right they they're not stable or they're not able to be in that position explain the crossfit open to us a little bit for some of my fat power thing fans

that might not follow a lot of crossfit stuff yeah so the crossfit open is five weeks of workouts one workout a week they'll be released on thursdaynoons, and then you have until Monday afternoon to complete the workout. So, for example, it could be some gymnastic movements like toes-to-bar, burpees. It could be a barbell movement like a clean or deadlift. They actually used dumbbells this year again. So maybe like dumbbell snatch or dumbbell, one dumbbell, power clean and jerk overhead. So it's a combination of those movements. And the test could be different.

The first workout was like a 20-minute AMRAP, as many rounds as possible of three movements. So it's a test where it tests all different types of domains, like short, fast, heavy lifts, lightweight. And it's fun because we try to get, as a CrossFit community, we try to get people that maybe don't ever compete or don't do CrossFit or do CrossFit, but they just do it in the gym setting. Say, hey, like, try this workout. Try this environment. Try this test. So just see how you're doing.

And we've gotten a lot of people to sign up from the community that maybe don't have any intentions of competing. Right. But they want to get involved in the local gym or the local affiliate. And that's great. Then you have people that do want to compete. and that's great, then you have people that do want to compete. So for people that maybe don't know what CrossFit is, it's cool to kind of introduce, hey, like for those that maybe want to test their scores or times against people that do compete,

they get to be in that environment, which is really cool. 200,000 people or something that compete, right? Yeah, I think this year was close to 400,000 or a little over 400,000. That's insane. So it's definitely getting bigger in terms of each year, the amount of people signed up. So I think it's growing out there. I think CrossFit's trying to reach out to the people that maybe don't have any interest in competing,

but say, hey, like, this is a fun event. Let's do it for the community. Let's do it for the box. And then I think there's like that friendly competition. Now you can look online and you can see like not only where you rank in the world, but you can see where you rank in your country only where you rank in the world, but you can see where you rank in your country, where you rank in your state and even like down to like your city and stuff. Right.

You can go, you can kind of narrow it down. You can go age group and you can, it can really be a lot of fun for a lot of people because maybe there is a, you know, 65 year old woman that can't compete with the people in the open class, but she can kind of stay in her own lane and see how she's comparing to other people. I mean,

it would be amazing if something like that existed for something like power lifting or Olympic lifting. I know people have kind of tried, but I think CrossFit has really done a great job of the backend of all that. The internet has been the biggest part of of crossfit i think with you know without the internet it would have been a very hard thing to oh totally get off the ground because i i do think that that comparison uh is what makes everything click and yes greg glassman has been stated as saying you know men will not just men but he is quote men will die for points and uh it's a great that is a great, a great point because people

do want to compare themselves. They want to see like, oh, maybe I can get Margo in a, in a dead lift, but okay. She, you know, every time we run, she can kick my ass, but maybe I can get her here. Maybe I can get her there. And so it's fun for people to compare themselves and then they get to, you know, test and they get to over a period of time, get better. Yeah. Stuff like that. I think it's really great because again, like you said, you break it down by age group or sections in terms of the state or the city. And I think people that are across the world,

like maybe you're in Europe somewhere and you don't have tons of people in your environment that are doing CrossFit, but you get to compete or get to compare your time to someone in the country next to you. And I think it's creating that camaraderie and that community of like, Hey, even though we're not physically close to one another, we can help each other, push each other to get better. Yes, we're competing. But again, it's that competition to say, Hey, I want to be better, but also want to help you get better to essentially be better.

Not only individual, but like being a healthier state so that whatever comes up in life, you can counter that. And to be able to see that grow into powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting or other avenues. I know, like again, back to running the OCR, the obstacle course running has elevated itself because again, it's that community coming together, like challenging yourself, the tough mutters that has blown up because people are coming together and they're,

they're having a story of like, Oh my, my father passed away or my, my husband was going to do a race and I'm going to do a form now. And they're coming together to say like, let's push each other to get better. So it's really cool. I think that's great.

My wife just walked in the room. So now I have to talk about your wine. We have some wine for you. She's a connoisseur, I guess you'd say. Yes. She's a fan. Let's put it that way. She's a big fan.

I'm a big fan, too. And you actually make wine. How did some of this come to be? Yeah. So we have some property in Southern Utah that we planted grapes on in 2011. And every year I've gone back to harvest. And I brought Alex in 2014 and we started harvesting. And the intention was to be able to share the grapes and the wine from Utah, make them in Paso Robles and share and say, hey, this is amazing. And in the beginning, we've hit some kind of broad bumps and obstacles because I think

people think, oh, grapes from Utah, wine from Utah, not that good. And it is good, but it's just young. So we've also hit a lot of obstacles and struggles because of licensing and regulations. So we evolved to still doing that, bringing the grapes from Utah to Paso, but we're also sourcing wines and grapes that are already made and the juice in Paso and getting that under our label and building our brand. Alcohol is a tricky thing because everybody has to make their money off it. So the government doesn't really, you can't really just, it's not like a slingshot or some of the products I created where you can just, you know, have it on the internet and sell it everywhere, right? Totally.

So how do you sell it? So we've done, our biggest platform has been direct sell it everywhere. Right. So how do you sell it? So we've done our biggest platform has been direct to consumer online. So we have our website. Can you kind of only sell in Utah? No. So we have our California license and we sell through our California license. You have to get a license in every state? Pretty much. Yes. That's awesome.

So it's like, it's the damn government. I know everybody wants a piece of their pie. So if you think of the U S you have the 50 States, well, the state isn't a state, it's like a 50 different countries. So it's like, all right, I want to get a license in Arizona.

All right. So I want to sell in Arizona. I need my license. I need to make sure all the paperwork goes through. I need to pay my fee, excise tax, sales tax, all that stuff.

So every state you need to do that, you have to do that through that same process over and over. So it's, yeah, very time consuming. And again, everyone wants a piece of the pie. We've been working on different avenues and routes

to get it in and sell it. So the biggest has been direct to consumer online. The next has been actually, we're looking to get into Vegas and we talked to a wine director there. He likes it. He wanted to bring it in. So now we're working with a distributor to get it in.

And in most places you have, it's like a three-tier process. So say you're a restaurant and you're like, oh, let's bring your wine. And I'm like, all right, so I need to go to a distributor. Hey, this restaurant wants to bring in the wine. All right, cool. Well, what's the price point? How much are you going to bring in?

I want a piece of the pie before I give it to them. Andy Bell, why don't you come over here for a second? She's got something to announce to you. Oh, yay. I do? I think so. First of all, try the wine. We'll start with that.

Make sure you talk into the microphone there. What is this? Taste test. Yeah, so this one is, it's called the Goat. It's a blend of Petit Syrah, Syrah, Tenet, Petit Verdot. Oh, it's really good. Yeah, I'm glad you like it. And it actually has a picture on a goat, but we want to do greatest of all time, kind of

an acronym, but also play off of literally a goat on the label. We bottled it in, like you said earlier, like a unique bottle. It's a Hawk bottle. It looks like a Port bottle. I love Port personally. So people see it. This is my mom. Yeah, didn't she?

Oh, that's awesome. So it's a little different, but I think the uniqueness of it, people are really attracted to not only the label the name and then the bottle itself yeah it's like old school and you know anybody that would uh be interested in maybe buying some wine like maybe if somebody owned like a wine well that's not official yet yeah no it's not um yeah mark and i are um uh take well there's a wine bar downtown that's going out of business oh that's awesome we're in the talks to purchase the wine bar. So we're kind of in talks with the landlord to take over the space because it's already been a wine bar. So it's already all ready to go.

So we would come in if it all works out in the next couple of months and opening in September. That's incredible. That's amazing. So we're really excited. And it would just be called the wine bar. That's perfect. I know. That's perfect. That's amazing. So we're really excited. And it would just be called The Wine Bar. That's perfect. I know. That's perfect.

I think something like that is simple. Because it was previously was called Vini and everyone just was like Vini. Oh, you know, The Wine Bar. Might as well go with that. Right. So anyway, so yeah, that's our next project that we're working on. That's so rad. It's still very early, so we're not really sure if it's going to happen.

But it's my brother-, but it's, my brother-in-law actually works for Young's Market, which is the distributor of alcohol. So he would be our kind of our expert. The go-to, yeah. And then my sister would also be part of it. That's so rad. Yeah, so that's our next project. We could bring some wine, do some wine tastings there if he has one.

That would be awesome. We could feature, yeah, and have a whole thing. And the concept is it's the machines that do the tasters. So you do like, you put a card in, does a two ounce pour. Oh, nice. And that's the technology developed in Germany. And then we brought the machines over here. So San Francisco has a wine bar like that.

It's kind of a new thing. And then we would also do flights at the bar. Oh, that's perfect. So we do the machines and then the things. That's really cool. bar like that. It's kind of a new thing. And then we would also do flights at the bar. Oh, that's perfect. Do the machines and then the things. That's really cool. I love that. Hey, babe. Yeah.

Hi, babe. It's so nice seeing you. It's so nice seeing you, yeah. I'm getting a good workout. Thank you. After the wine. Yeah, exactly. That's so exciting.

I thought you'd like that little fun fact in there. That is cool. I love it. How are you mixing in the wine with all the working out? So we have a lot of people, oh, ask about that. So we actually have been kind of incorporating as part of our lifestyle piece. So we created an online like wine club, but we're not doing just a wine club. You think of people out there that I mean, wineries and places that already have a wine club set up. So we're thinking,

all right, let's create some fitness and some wine. So being able to kind of club those or marry those two together and have that as a package to get out to people and share, hey, like you can work out, you can work towards your goals and you can drink a glass of wine at the end. And I think- You can have some fun, yeah. Exactly. And I think a lot of people in the beginning, they think, oh, I'm training and working out.

I can't drink. I can't have any fun. And they need to make sure they're cutting anything out of that, out of their diet like that. But it's like, no, like it is, it's something that's going to help you recover. It's going to have something that's going to help you relax at the end of the day and creating that lifestyle piece of training hard, enjoying yourself and enjoying a glass of wine, I think is.

Also too, if you, if you're going to drink to the point where you get drunk, well, that's when the decision-making skills aren't so great. And that's when, you know, that's when you can run into like eating stuff that's way off your diet. And like a bag of Cheetos. Exactly. Just crushing a bag of Cheetos or being like, oh, you know what? Fuck it. I'm going to go in the gym and I'm going to tear it up. I'm going to retest. Exactly. I'm like, oh, I feel great right now. Yeah. That wouldn't, wouldn't be a good idea. But yeah, having a few glasses of wine, you know, I've, I've been able to lose

70 pounds recently and a hundred pounds total. And the whole time, you know, I've know i've been able to lose 70 pounds recently and 100 pounds total and uh the whole time you know i've i've been having not not every day or anything like that but um yeah i have glasses of wine here and there i've points in my training where i i cut it out more yeah i got points in my training where i drink it yeah i have more of it yeah yeah exactly so i mean um i think a lot of times people what i'm trying to share with people when it comes like diet, nutrition, when it comes to training and all these different things is you do have to be disciplined, especially if you're behind, then you're in a tough spot. You're going to have to really have some hardcore discipline for a while. Definitely. spot. You're going to have to really have some hardcore discipline for a while.

So you have some really good willpower to rely on so that you're developing these really strong habits that you can always kind of, no matter whether somebody says, hey, it's my birthday, I have a piece of cake. You can say, ah, it's not for me. Now, some people will say abs aren't built in a day or this or that, but I think when you're behind, I think that's when you got to make the decision, you know, I'm not doing that for a little while. Let me build these habits. Let me be stronger.

And then I can mess with that later when I'm feeling better, when I feel like I'm in a little bit better shape. Yeah, I think that's a hundred percent true. And like you said, creating that foundation in the beginning, yes, it must be challenging and it might be hard to do that in the beginning. Yeah, it'd be really hard. Yeah, but it's like, the more you can do that. And if you're in an environment where people are

supportive and they're understanding versus like, oh, come on, have the piece of cake. It's like, hey bro, like give me a break. But if you are able to do that, then that's going to set you up for a better position a month, six months down the road so that, all right, cool. I'm going to have a glass of wine or I'm going to have a piece of cake or I'm going to have two cookies or whatever. Right. Giving them that ability to say yes or no. And I think that willpower, I think it's huge. And again, it comes mentally like, all right, I'm going to say no. But then in your mind, like, oh man, I really want it.

Like I deserve it. I went to the gym. It's like, yes, you did. But let's again, lay that foundation in the beginning. So then later on you have that flexibility. Isn't it crazy how quick we are to talk ourselves out of something? Yes. You know, you're like, I'm doing this and I'm going to start doing that.

You know, tomorrow I'm going to start implementing that. And then as soon as you wake up, it's gone. Yeah. Like whatever that thought was, you wanted to lose weight. You wanted to get stronger. You're going to really work on your squats. You're going to really work on this or that. Then you get in the gym and your knee kind of hurts and your brain's like, fuck that. We've got a totally, totally different plan. How do you combat that? How do you battle that? That's a great question. I think it's something that if I'm not really feeling, I'm like, you know what?

Let's just take it like not necessarily one minute at a time, but let me just focus on one at a time. Like I'm going to come in here. I'll do the warmup. And it is. You're literally, you can be your own worst enemy because it's like your mind's telling you one thing. But then you're like, oh, I know I need to do this. Or I know I want to do that. And I think just taking it a little bit by a little bit and not placing

expectations or putting yourself, holding yourself to the flames. It's like, I have to hit this number or I need to do this. It's like, Hey man, like, let me just go in and do what I'm doing.

Like if whatever I do is maybe not a hundred percent of my one rep max, but it's close to it. I'm putting in some effort and work that's actually going to help me get better for next time. And that I'm doing something that I wasn't even going to do. It's like, at least I did something. And we were actually talking about it the other day. You're saying all the right things to please your coaches over here.

They're like, yeah, yeah, that's right. And again, I will admit, like, it's so much easier to say and to repeat it and tell people than to actually do it and follow through. And there will be days that are better than others. But Ben and I were talking the other day and it's like, you know, what do you do next after this moment? If it's like, if you say, okay, I'm not going to the gym, then it's like, what do you do after that?

Or if you do go to the gym, like, all right, what am I going to do next once I get to the gym? Let me just warm up and then let me just do a little bit of stretching. That's the worst when that pops in your head. I think a lot of times people just think we're totally nuts and insane about fitness. And that desire is not always there. Yeah. And when that pops up, when you're like, I don't feel like going to the fucking gym today. That's a, that's a weird thing to deal with.

It is. And I think, like you said, you know, you do something for so long, you're just used to that. So then when feelings or thoughts are to pop up, you're like, I don't want to go to the gym or do really, I don't really want to do this. Then it's like, well, shit, how do I, how do I respond? Do I not really go to the gym or do I say, no, fuck it. I'm going to go to the gym and then just take it from there. And I think it's, you have to look at other scenarios and situations. And I think something that I've tried to establish is like in my mind,

it's like, all right, I'm not just a CrossFit competitor. I'm more than that. And I think just telling myself if I'm just one thing, then it's like I'm leaving all these other like pieces of the pie out. And it's like I want to be able to do multiple things in my life. And I have up until this point and I will continue to it. But it's like, all right, this is a goal that I've focused on right now. Let me continue to focus on this and give myself almost like that short term like goal sets. Like, hey, this is what I'm focusing on now. There there's other things i'm doing but this is maybe going to be at

the top other things will be below that or to the side yeah training can be negative you know it's uh it is a stress and uh the the way that we view it is um it's going to be more stressful and you're still competing and you want to be the crossFit Games champion more than anything. And so a lot of it, you know, a lot of it's going to end up being stuff that you'll have to try to filter out. And you're like, what's going to help me and what's going to hurt me? How do I decipher between the two different things? How do I not get hurt? You know, sometimes if you don't really want to be there and you go in, you got to do something heavy. That's where you get, or you got to sprint or something that's when you're gonna get hurt yeah you'd be

really cautious and really careful with with things like that but i really like what you said about uh you're not just a crossfitter yeah because i think a lot of people get tied up in allowing that to define them too much yeah and they're so tied up in in their numbers and so tied up and it's it's just you would like for someone to come along and say, hey, you know what? Like, there's some other people that are doing better than you. And I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can really change about it at the moment. We can change some of your training. We can play around with some different things.

But you getting sad, mad, pissed, saying a bunch of cuss words or whatever, isn't really helping at all. Yeah. You know, we can look at the drawing board and say, you're weak here, here and here.

And maybe we can work on it. And guess what? We can work on that really hard. And we still might not be, we still might, might not get the, we still might, might, might get the result that we want.

Yeah. Right. And I think of like, we looked at, we took it, we actually look at pieces of my training. It's like, all right,

where, where can I get better? Where can I improve? And I can, I can improve on my sprint positioning and my takeoff. And I might improve and it might be better than I was before. I may not be as the best. If I look at like Tia Tuomi,

who's a great sprinter who has ability and background in that. Right. It's like, I may not be the best, but if I can get a little closer, maybe they'll put me in a better position to be more consistent overall. But it's like coming back to what you said, like I am a CrossFit athlete and I'm going to do my best in my goal and my focus there. But it's like, that's not just like who I am.

And I've talked to people about this. Like, well, who is Margo Alvarez? Like, what do you do? What do you represent? Like not besides just CrossFit. And it's like, well, I'm an i'm an individual that i mean i'm a coach but i also want to go and help people like i want to inspire people to make changes in their life so they're living a little bit better life whether that's eating a little healthier whether that's losing a little weight so they can be around for their grandkids or help their kids and how inspiring is it when you if you get done with a workout where you did shitty and you're a bad sport about it. Yeah, exactly. And you're like, oh, they, you know, they cheated or you kick the bar or you yell or you swear.

Like people are going to be like, I don't dig that. Exactly. They're going to remember that. They're going to remember like what score you got in that workout. I don't admire that at all. You're like, what's that person doing? Why are they acting like such a maniac? Yeah.

And it's tough because I think emotion can get the best of us or get the worst of us in those scenarios. But again, like what happens like at the end of the day, people are going to, if you interact with them or you treat them in like a shitty position, you're like, oh, I can't take a picture. I'm busy. You're like, oh man, like all I ask for is a photo. It takes like two seconds.

It's like, why not? They're looking up to you. Sorry, I didn't realize you were a big deal going to the CrossFit Games five times in a row. Exactly. So I think it's like, hey man,, like, take some time and, like, appreciate people around you. Because it's like without the community and without the support of people in the community, you'd be nothing. Like, if no one watched CrossFit, we'd just be another sport or another exercise or another thing that is on TV or that is on the Internet.

And it's like, be appreciative and thankful for that support because that's what makes it where we are now and where it was a while ago. Something that defines addiction is when things start to creep into other aspects of your life. You know, if you're so involved in CrossFit that it's affecting your relationship in a negative way, maybe there's an issue. If you're so into, and you can insert whatever you want here, you know, it could be any sport. Yeah. But something that you view as being positive could be hunting, could be fishing, could be, it could be literally anything, but something that you view as positive for yourself, we know it's important to do stuff for ourselves.

And we know that fitness is, can be, can be healthy, you know, but at the same time, if it's taking time away from relationships, family, and it's just starting to pull on too many different things. It's it's kind of pulling you apart. Yeah. You know, and it's like the sex you. Yeah. It's slowly but surely kind of jacking up your life in some way. And again, I think, you know, my dad has always said, you know, part of knowing who you are is knowing who you're not.

And I always like that. That doesn't mean you don't try like hell to do things that, you know, that maybe you're not great at. But it does mean that that's a good view. He's a good vantage point of, yeah, you know what? Like Ed Cohen's the greatest power lifter that ever lived. He's, you know, he's ridiculously strong. He deadlifted 901 pounds, weighing 220 pounds. And at some point you got to look at stuff like that and say, I'm never going to do that.

I'm cool with that. And I'm just going to go on being myself and be the best, you know, quote unquote version of myself, which is you hear that quite a bit, but that's all you can really do. Yeah. Right. Totally. And I think going like to that quote, like being the best version of yourself. And it, I think people place like, and I've heard people reference it before. Like they see like all these numbers and these times, like I should be hitting this and I should be hitting that or that person's doing that. Like, that's great. But it's like, maybe that's not what you're destined for. Maybe that's not what you actually want. You just think you want that because someone else has that as a goal or as a focus point. And it's like, if that's not really what you want, then it's like, that's fine. Don't put that on yourself, but create what you want.

If you want to be able to go to the gym three days a week, or you want to spend time with your family, you want to go to the park with your dog, like finding out what you want and what you don't want. And then meeting that and enjoying that. And I think we actually just talked about this, Ben, Alex, and I, and Steph yesterday about, you know, getting so caught up in that finish line, like, oh, we're working so hard to this, to this goal. And that finish line, it's like, what if you don't actually get there? Like, what if something happens in your life where it gets taken away? It's so possible, like anything can change the drop of a hat. And so it's like, if you never get to that finish line, did you enjoy what you did up until that point? Were you happy? Were

you satisfied? If you look back, you're like, man, I get to that finish line, did you enjoy what you did up into that point? Were you happy? Were you satisfied? If you look back, you're like, man, I wish I would have done more of this or more of that. Then it's like, okay, let's make some changes so that you are doing that. So that if something happens where you don't get to that finish line, you're not like, man, I just wasted X amount of months or years of my life. Yeah. You might be miserable.

Yeah, totally. You might be totally miserable in your effort to try to be the best. Yeah. You know, I've told people that many times that it can be, you know, something that can, it just consumes too much of your time. And it can turn you into somebody that you're not. Yeah. It can turn you into a lot of the values and stuff that you learned as a kid. You'll find that if you are just so out of balance that you're going so far one,

I think that when, when we see somebody that's great at something, we automatically assume that they're like working harder. Yeah. And that's definitely not the case. They're not necessarily doing anything harder. They're not necessarily doing anything really any different. They're just doing it better for X, Y, and Z reasons. You know, there's only one Michael Phelps, only one Michael Jordan.

You know, it's just, you got to look at it and just go, man, that sucks. But hopefully I can be, you know, hopefully I can work on being better at some other stuff so I can make my own niche. Right. Exactly. And it's like, don't get caught up in what someone else is doing. Like do your own thing, you know, like everything that you've built and you've established,

you've done what's best for you. And I think it's hard because sometimes you, at least I catch myself, like I want to help other people's other people and I want to give back to the community and I can, but I need to make sure that I'm helping myself first. So I can be in a position to help other people. Cause I'm not happy and I'm not enjoying what I'm doing.

And it's like, how is that going to be received by the people? Like, Oh, she doesn't look happy. Why is she doing this? So I can be in a position to help other people because I'm not happy and I'm not enjoying what I'm doing. And it's like, how is that going to be received by the people? Like, oh, she doesn't look happy. Why is she doing this? Like, it's going to look like it's strain or it's a forceful thing. And it's like, no, I think it's important that you're doing something for yourself. But then in turn, again, whatever you're working towards, you can help with whatever else you have in your agenda that you want to do. What's the best thing that ever happened to you through CrossFit? Oh, man, that's a great question.

I think. You coach the certifications and stuff too, right? Yeah, so I coach with CrossFit Level 1. And I think that has been an amazing opportunity. And that would definitely be something that being going to the games. And that is cool because like you end up seeing so many different body types and so many different types of people. Yes. And so many people coming from so many different walks of life.

And I think that definitely has been one of the, one of the great things that I've had having that door open and talking with Dave and Nicole with CrossFit and being able to do that. And I've been able to travel to locations, not only within the U.S., but across the world. That's cool. Hong Kong and Australia and Canada. And I just, I think, and I get to meet other people and hear their stories. And I'm thinking, man, like all these people, they just want to become a little better or they love CrossFit so much. They just, they love the fitness.

They're like, I want to get better. I want to get like stronger. And I hear people that have lost tons of weight that want to be around for their kids or that were addicts and they were able to like kick their drug addiction and be able to be in the gym and replace the drug addiction with maybe they're a little more addicted to fitness, but it's a little bit healthier because it's like, all right, you're there. Oh, it's a way better option. Yeah, way better option. And I think it's really cool because it's like, man, like

I'm blessed to be able to travel and see those people and hopefully impact their way, their life in a positive manner. And anything that I can share with them to help them like with their life is awesome. That's really cool. And on top of that, you get paid for it. Yeah. And you also get to hang out with people that become your friends. Yeah. And it's like, I get to travel and like that I create communities or friendships with people all around the States or the country. And it's like, man, that's awesome. Like not many people have that opportunity. And I think a big part of wanting to help other people reached and like reaching out to other people stem from like feeling that i didn't i wasn't able to save or help my sister because she passed away in 2008 and i think as much as i i think in my mind like oh if i could have done something different so

she didn't pass away or did something different that i could have helped her it's like i think that's a big stem of like what i want to do now to be able to help other people or help change their life to the positive. And obviously we as outside factors in someone's life only have so much that we can do. We can't tell them to do certain things. We can suggest as a, Hey, this is what worked for me, or this is what I found helped me. But it's like, if there's something that I can share and they take that and that actually deviate their path to a better path.

Awesome. What did she die from? In a car accident. Like, yeah, like she was she was 20 yeah 20 years old uh she was heading to work and she just had this crazy car accident crazy snowstorm got t-boned um from a ford explorer and died on impact and so stuff like that is so tough because you're like oh what if they took a different route or what if i call you know yeah what if i called her and she like left later left earlier yeah but i think something that's really important is like and and I think it's tough.

Everyone has different beliefs, but it's like things happen for a reason and don't happen for a reason. And we can't change the timing. We can't change certain things, but it's like, what can I learn from this? Or how can I learn from this and move forward and be a positive impact? How can I take how she lived life and like, and use that as a motivator for me to live my life and then help others that are maybe in duress. Yeah. That's, that's the way I've always viewed it too. I've had a lot of people die and that are in my circle and having my brother pass away

years ago, it was kind of the same, kind of the same thing. It was like, you know, uh, my brother was addicted to drugs. He's also bipolar and stuff. So he didn't, you know, a lot of the, a lot of things I remember about him are negative, unfortunately. But the things that I do remember about him that are positive, I was like, you know what? I'm going to try to take on some of those characteristics, take on some of those traits

and have those traits kind of live on. That's all you can kind of do, you know? No, totally. And I think that's being able to, you being able to do that, like that's something that not many people have out there. And I think you as an example of that and people seeing that like, hey man, it wasn't the best environment or the best situation, but it's like you turned it into that. And I think people can see that as

like, oh man, like I'm going to do what he did. And then from there, it's kind of a cascade where other people see that you reach other people and then more people can do that as well. Do you kind of work out for your sister in some way? Like, does that come up sometimes or is it too powerful of an emotion? I think it's, it's definitely, there's been times where I think I, I'm like, Hey, her name was Chirsten. I'm like, Hey, Chirsten, if you can just help me with this workout or like, if you can channel your inner fireness for me to help me, that'd be awesome. And I think whether she does or not, or where something miraculously comes out, then it's awesome. But I think she's definitely a reminder of when I met, like, hey, man,

I really don't want to be here. I don't want to do this. It's like I have this opportunity to do this. She didn't. Other people in the same scenario don't have that opportunity. Or if they were in an accident where they don't have legs or arms, it's like I still have a body that I can function and use. Like, let's try to change that mindset.

And it's, again, easier said than done. But if you can kind of remember that on a day-to-day or monthly basis, then I think that helps you shift your mindset. Where are you from originally? Montana. So I was born in Southern California. Oh, I was going to mention that in the beginning, yeah. Yes. Born in Southern California, but pretty much grew up in Montana. So we were like wild mountain kids. Yeah. It's fucking cold there.

It is. It's super cold. And it's funny because we would, I think back now, like we, Alex and I lived there in 2016 for about a year. I was like, man, I don't remember being this cold when I lived here. But I think as a kid, you're like, snow, this is awesome, snowman, everything. And I think just being in that environment, just love the cold. And it was fine. The summers felt hot. But after being there a couple years ago, I was like, man, not as warm as I remember.

Are your parents involved in any of your fitness stuff yeah so they've been super supportive my dad lives in utah and my mom lives in montana and they've uh they've been super supportive they've gone to regionals and the games um and they just they love seeing me do what i do and that's just super supportive which is really good um yeah i've tried to get them do a little bit of it and they've dabbled in it a little bit but they haven't maintained it but it's it's i think it's everyone has their own thing that they found and they just love that I find this and they support me with that. So.

That's really cool. Do you have your own gym? Yes. We have the Vineyard CrossFit. We affiliated our garage gym. And that's just a little, little garage attached to the house. But we're actually, I think depending on where we move next and what we do, we'd like to be able to have that as a spot where we can kind of introduce the wine and not only have like a physical like workout place, but also like, hey, like we could do a little wine tasting afterwards and incorporate it into the lifestyle.

I'm sure people hate that idea, right? I know. They're like, oh, wine, workout. Like, heck yeah. I think people like it. Where are you guys thinking about moving to? So it's up in the air right now. Is it all like CrossFit dependent?

Are you like crossing things off because certain people live in certain areas. No, it's funny. I haven't even thought about that. Um, I think cause we've moved around so many times during the years, um, and competed in different regions. And now I'm to the point I'm like, all right, well, whatever I go, I go, but I think it's more, what's going to be best for what we want to do with the wine. And a couple options are either up here in Northern California, as we have tons of friends here. We used to live here in 2014 or the Bay. And then the other option would be Vegas.

So people are like, man, it's completely opposite, like one state and the other. And Vegas has a lot of opportunity just because the industry in terms of wine, being able to have our wine there and having it in the MGM would be awesome opportunity and physically having a wine tasting room there with some connection to a gym, I think would be great. And the amount of people that go to Vegas, it's like a hundred billion dollar industry with tourism. Insane amount of people. Yeah, like the amount of people that go there,

not only for vacation, but for conferences. So it's like, that would be a great hub to be able to introduce it to people, not only within the US, but I mean, worldwide. So we're kind of deciding on which two of those two, yeah. You know, some people, you know, when they're powerlifting or weightlifting or CrossFit, they're trying to focus in on, you know, weakness. And other people are like, well, you know, I'm always going to kind of suck at that,

so I'm going to kind of focus in a little bit more on my bread and butter. Yeah. What do you do? You do a little mix of both? I would say a little bit mix of both. Yeah, definitely improve, like keep my strengths, my strengths, continue to work on them so they don't falter off. But at the same time, I have weaknesses that I've worked on. And one of them was just my snatch positioning and getting stronger.

And so we've attacked that the past few months and it's definitely improved. And so I think it's making sure you're juggling between both. And it's tough because at regionals, they have so many different tests. Gymnastics has always been there. So that's something we've hammered as well, like handstand walks or legless rope climbs. So it's like, all right, I know I'm not good at it. So I'm going to hammer it almost every single day. And it's tough because if you're doing things that you're not good at doing or doing things

that you don't like, it's like, oh, man, do that again. But it's like, hey, man, like, I'm going to get better. Like, if you switch your mindset and say, hey, all right, this is something I'm not good at, but I'm going to work on it. Like, and again, just whatever you do is better than not doing anything. Yeah, I'm not that good at it yet. Exactly. Right. Exactly.

Totally. You got to have a lot of positive self-talk. Yes. And, like, just continue to tell yourself that and continue to be in an environment where it's's like, Hey man, like, that's okay. We're going to work on it tomorrow or whatever you did today is going to help you get a little stronger or a little better or more gymnastic. So then that you're kind of like putting that like in the, in your notebook and then you turn the page for the next day. How are some CrossFitters gaining so much strength? Because it's, it's unconventional training. You know, when you, when you talk to strength conditioning coaches,

they'll look at the programs of, of CrossFitters and they'll be like, this is fucking asinine. What are these people doing? I can't, yeah, this is way too much. You'll never recover from this. And meanwhile, there's, there's CrossFit, some of the guys, you know, deadlifting 600 pounds, squatting 500 pounds. These are all usually guys that only weigh about 200 pounds. And the females are unbelievably strong. 400 pound deadlifts are becoming more common. How are CrossFitters able to obtain, you know, be able to get this amount of strength? I think definitely the increase of volume, what people are doing. And like you said, people

may say, oh, you're not recovering or you're, it's too much for your body. I think our bodies can actually handle a lot of training and adaptation. And it's, yes, recovery is important, but making sure it's not just the rest of recovery, but also eating, make sure you're getting enough into your body. And I think there hasn't been much research or any research in terms of CrossFit and how long it's been around. You think of when did we first start seeing the dot-com workouts, like 2000 to 2018. So it's 18 years compared to people that have been lifting or weightlifting for decades,

almost maybe even centuries. You don't really need much of a study because look at, I mean, the guys are impressive, but we've always seen guys with some muscle on them. We've always seen guys that are strong, but it's the girls are really the most impressive. I mean, you haven't seen that for so long. And now you're slowly starting to see that increase. And obviously with CrossFit becoming more popular, then you're seeing more people go into the weightlifting, more people go into the powerlifting,

which is awesome because it's building that sport and those sports and building that attraction to that. So it's like, it's almost like it's never been tapped into. So everything that we're seeing is like, oh, this is crazy. What are they doing?

It's like, well, they haven't really done it before. So it's like, there's no ceiling. We can continue until obviously we get more time under our belt, this is crazy. What are they doing? It's like, well, they haven't really done it before. So it's like, there's no ceiling. We can continue until obviously we get more time under our belt as more years pass. Well, the more people, more people too, you know, a pool of 400,000, that's only the people that competed last year, but a pool of 400,000 people is a nice pool to, to pick and choose

people from. Yeah. And there'll be more, like when you start getting, uh, like, like Ben's kids, Ben's kids are, they, they're into CrossFit, they're into lifting at such a young age. We get more kids that, you know, rather than being born with a football by their side, they're they're getting into barbells earlier. Totally. That's going to make a huge difference. And some of the stuff that Rich Froning did or Matt Frazier did, people are going to be like, it was nothing compared to what these guys are doing now. Yeah, exactly. And like the kids are getting involved in it and like not forcing it,

but if they want to do it and I'm seeing it more and more, like you see CrossFit kids classes or kids wanting, like I see kids they'll walk by a CrossFit gym and they see a playground and the parents like, ah, don't go in there. But it's like, they see the rings, they see the bar, they want to hang, they want to lift, they want to play. And I think cultivating that environment, you're going to see a shift over the next few years.

That's true, a lot of parents are like, oh, you're going oh you're gonna get hurt yeah and it's like what about the playground the rubber like floors that you fell on and knocked yourself out of breath like what were those like i mean i remember playing on those and swinging from that and that was okay but now it's in a different setting like oh careful yeah it's like well you want them sitting on a couch eating bonbons and playing video games all day like that's probably a little unhealthier than that sounds like that sounds like a great time. I want to sit on the couch and eat bonbons. How do you, how do you eat?

What's your eating like? So I'm not super restrictive to what I want. I know for me, I'm looking at more of my macronutrients, like how much protein I'm eating, how much carbs I'm eating, how much fat. So I'm,

it's pretty much all right, cool. I'm gonna have breg, bregs. I'm gonna have eggs and like bacon for sausage. You've been doing that a bunch. You've been mixing words together. I kind of like that.

I think I get so excited in my mind and I'm like, I'm thinking. Like eggs and bread, bregs. Like I like, I, yeah, that's like a, that's like a new thing. Bacon and eggs though, bregs. Yeah. Like an example of bregs would be French toast. Right? Bregs.

Give me some bregs. They just look at you like, what did you say? What is that? That's not even English. French toast. Bregs. Give me some bregs. They just look at you like, what did you say? What is that? That's French toast, you dumbass. What, I got to spell it out for you? Oh, that's hilarious. I definitely do that a lot because I get so excited.

I'm like, oh, all these words at once. But yeah, so I'll have like, I almost said bregs again. For breakfast, I'll have like eggs and bacon or oatmeal and English muffin. It's like, I know I need to be eating X amount of food. So it's like, all right, if I want a hamburger, I'm going to have a hamburger. If I want fries, I'll have fries. But it's like, I'm usually, all right, for dinner, I'm going to have steak, chicken or fish. And I need some sort of protein or I need some sort of carbs. So it's like, all right, sweet potato, potato or rice.

I want some greens. So I'm not super picky. I know a lot of people have like regimen. They're like, I'm going to eat this at this time. And this is what's worked for me. When I first started CrossFit, I got into that paleo diet. And I was like, oh, man, this is great. Like I'm going to eat tons of fruit or tons of protein, tons of fat, no carbs.

And then as I got interested in competing in CrossFit, I was like, I'm going to do more volume. I'm going to work out more. I'm going to eat one sweet potato a week. And it's like, oh, that's not going to work. Yeah, it's like, oh, shit's falling apart. Yeah, like literally I would work out and get a migraine. And so it was like all these exercise-induced migraines. I was like, I have fly vision.

I can't see. Like, this is not good. And so changing my diet, cutting back the amount of fat and adding more carbs in was like, all right, this is better for me. And obviously everyone has a little. And it's crazy because nutrition, I feel like, is like the black hole. Oh, yeah. There's so many different things. A lot of people get so mad, too. Yeah, it's like, oh, you can't is like the black hole. Like there's so many different things.

People get so mad too. Yeah. It's like, oh, you can't eat that. It's like, well, yeah, you can. Or like, I shouldn't eat that. It's like, I can say, hey, I drink milk. And they're like, you should drink milk too. It's like, well, I shit my pants when I drink milk. I'm like, okay, so maybe you shouldn't drink milk.

Yeah. Maybe that's not a great idea. Yeah. Let's cut the milk and cream out. And so it's been, again, I've noticed like I, the one thing I do need to make sure of is if I'm not eating enough, then I feel crappy the next day i'm a little tired lethargic my maybe workouts don't go as well because i don't have enough fuel for my workouts and people like oh you're doing too much it's not that i'm doing too much but it's like i'm doing x amount of work my body's used

to that work so i've adapted that over years but now i need to fuel my body for that work if i'm going to do two metcons a day and six hours of training, I need to make sure I'm eating enough protein, eating enough carbs, eating enough fat to recover. Yeah. And you have to kind of train yourself too, out of being too fragile, you know, because sometimes, you know, sometimes you're thinking like, oh man, I should, I should have had an extra meal today. And you know, you have a tough workout, but it's like, well, that ship has sailed. It's time to work out.

Exactly. And you can't be thinking about that anymore because gotta let it go yeah you're gonna you're gonna uh talk yourself into having a shitty workout and be like oh you know you are i i knew it was gonna go shitty well of course gonna go shitty because you told yourself it was you already had a shitty mindset how do you kind of prep yourself for some of that kind of stuff do you it's yeah you're getting mentally tough i think it's funny. So I usually, I'm all like,

I have to eat breakfast and then I train, but it's like, you don't always have that luxury when you get to regionals or the games. And for me, I usually get nervous before events.

The games, they like woke you guys up like in the middle of the night or something, right? It's like, hey, three o'clock, be downstairs.

We're going to the Aromas to do a workout. You're like, okay, cool, awesome. Like, well,

let me get my breakfast. You know, it's like, doesn't always going to be perfect. And I think in a way that's benefited me where I'm like, all right, if I'm traveling or on the road and I can't eat exactly what I want, like I'll just get up and I'll do a workout. And I think I've changed that a little bit this past six to seven months.

So it's actually good because it helps me. All right. If I can't physically eat, I know that I've already done this scenario where I have done a workout with an empty stomach or just having coffee or water that I can do it. And I think putting yourself in those environments and challenging yourself to try something different versus being all right, nine o'clock I eat breakfast, 12 o'clock I work out, et cetera, et cetera. And I think changing that up, even though it might be uncomfortable and you can't control the factors that will actually help you. So when you do get in a situation where things are awry or aren't perfect and you're like, all right, been there,

done that. I can like, I can let this just be the way it is. Cause I've done something like similar to that. What do you think CrossFit has done for females? Cause I've seen, you know, over the years, just so many more women lifting and it's like more acceptable for women to be lifting, throwing around some heavy weight. And it's more acceptable for women to have some muscle on them. Yeah. I think it's definitely opened that door to have it be more acceptable. And you still see the haters saying, oh my God, you look like a dude. Or yeah, you're not real. Like you take stuff. It's like, hey man, you're quick to say this, but it's like you haven't even like looked at the other side of it where it's like more people are lifting weight. More people are actually, especially women too, like it's okay to lift weights. It's okay to be strong. And it is shifting to get to the masses. Like you think of like mass media or like hollywood it takes a long it's gonna take a long time and it'll continue to take another good number of years for that power to pass but i think it's slowly changing and it's funny we were actually talking about this the other day i think women will check women out more

than men will check women out and i think it's because it's like oh my gosh look at her arms look at her legs and i've had people strangers come up to me and they actually grab my arms like, oh my gosh, your arms. Yeah. And I'm like, that's cool, dude. Like you could ask maybe. I mean, I'm not super squeezing your butt. Like, wow, this is amazing. Unbelievable. And it's, and again, like it's only been women that have done that because I think they're like, oh my gosh, I want what you have. And so people are seeing that and they like, oh, I want it. And it's like, all right, cool. Like you can totally get it. But I think they're like, oh my gosh, I want what you have. And so people are seeing that and they're like, oh, I want it. And it's like, all right, cool.

Like you can totally get it. Yeah. But I think it's out there more. So people see it more. And hopefully, again, not everyone will be acceptable to it. But I think it's becoming a little more common or more like more of a reality or more of something that's a reach. Yeah. And I think a lot of people don't understand the intensity behind it.

Yeah. You know, like you got to work out intensely for a long time. I think a lot of times people think, you know, you've heard females over the years say, oh, you know, I don't want to get too bulky. Yeah. Well, man, you really have to work out really hard to get like really big or to get jacked or to gain a lot of, you know, to gain a lot of muscle. It's not an easy thing to do. Exactly. And I think people, and it's tough because people see me like, man, like, I want to look like you, but I don't want to look like you like you're a little bigger than i want i'm like okay thanks uh i don't know it's a couple that are not but it's like you won't get like me

because i'm you're not working out six hours a day like you want to get in shape you want to have a little bit of like definition your muscles cool awesome an hour a day or two hours a day will help you get that how have you overcome some injuries you've had some pretty bad ones or not no so pretty good yeah i've been pretty good i think i spent a good amount of time like mobilizing and like prehab work yeah when i walked in you were stretching your hip yeah so i do tons of like mobility prehab work shoulders and back the one big injury i had was a broken rib uh in 2014 right before the games and it's like couldn't really do much for that like it's broken okay like heal up let me put some glue on there um but uh brutal you can't breathe yeah you can't breathe when i

first felt it i was like man i think i might have like strained my neck yeah the first rib up here so i was like oh my god i think i like pinched something or i thought maybe it was my shoulder and so i went to a friend who's a chiropractor and i was like hey i think i like have a pinched nerve or something in my spine he's pinching so he like took an x-ray he's like no your spine's fine but your first rib is broken and i was like uh he's like what'd you do like i don't know like how do you break a first rib so it was uh i think that was really one big injury that i've had um that i really just needed to let time pass together get massages you go to chiropractors often chiropractors massage i love body work.

Dry needling has been great. I've done cupping a couple years ago. That was cool. Something different. Just like any and everything, huh? Yeah, anything, everything. Hot, like hot bath or hot baths and ice baths, like a combination of that.

Just anything for like recovery. Epsom salt baths. It's kind of tough to get into that cold. It is. It is tough. And it's funny. I used to do ice baths all the time in the summer. Then winter comes around.

I'm like, man, I'm good. I'll take a hot bath. Do you go back and forth between the hot and the cold?. I used to do ice baths all the time in the summer. Then winter comes around. I'm like, man, I'm good. I'll take a hot bath. Do you go back and forth between the hot and the cold? I know some people do that too. Cause it's a little easier to tolerate. Yeah. I think just spending like a couple of minutes, there's a place actually called a refuge in like Carmel area.

And they have like hot baths, super hot baths, and then like cold baths and super cold baths. So you spend a little bit of time kind of like a minute here, a minute here. And I think that actually helps better than just sitting in a bath for 10 minutes, just because in terms of getting that blood flow and circulation, plus by the time you get out, you're like spent, your body's like, whoa, I'm ready for bed.

I think it's pretty cool. Just the mental aspect of that. Yeah. When you get into that cold water and yeah, of course you could freak out. Start shivering like uncontrollably. Right. But you can kind of talk yourself out of it. And it just goes to show you how powerful your mind is

during some of these workouts and stuff. I'm sure you get into a place where your lower back is totally on fire or your hands are ripped up from all the deadlifts or you get into these positions. And if you're training that way all the time, make your mind tougher, the workouts should become easier

over a period of time, right? Yeah, I definitely think it's like you, if you let your mind go away and like, oh my gosh, my hands are torn. It's like, hey man, just stay calm. That'll definitely prep you not only for that workout, the rest of the workout, but then later on for future training or future workouts. Have you used a lot of different kinds of coaches?

Like I know some people will reach out to like a running specific coach or they'll reach out to even like a sports psychologist. They'll reach out to all different kinds of coaches because you got gymnastics, Olympic lifting, powerlifting. Yeah, no. So we've had, I mean, I've had Alex as my coach since the beginning. We've before, before I found Alex, when I first found CrossFit, I was like, what do I need to do? I need to get better. So I, at the gym I was at, I would, I would do CrossFit there.

And then I actually would go to Jesse's gym when he was in Pleasanton and learn like, I'm like, cool. I need to learn how to power lift. I need to know how to do these movements. And then I would go. Where the great Katie Hogan is. Yes, exactly. And it's funny, actually, quick story about that.

I was coaching at Pleasanton at this time as well. And it was 2012, I think before regionals. And I remember Katie coming in the gym. She had a like side ponytail, her short shorts. And I was like, oh my God, that's Katie Hogan. And like she was meeting up with Jesse to train. Yeah, so jacked. It's funny because I think I've told her this story like once or twice.

But I was like, oh my gosh. And it's just, it's cool to like make full circle and like be able to come like really be friends with her and Jesse. But yeah, I would travel around. And then when I met Alex, he's like, hey man, like if you want to get better, you got to spend less time driving and more time training. And so we've just worked together on everything and I've gotten better and improving. And now we brought in Ben to work on getting a little stronger to improve my strength, but also just being able to kind of carry that through to.

How did you find CrossFit? I found it through a friend. I had actually a couple of friends, different friends. It's like Fight Club. Everybody asks, like kind of heard from like a buddy exactly it's funny because some uh this guy his name is dusty soul and he was a trainer at another gym and i i just left the gym that i was at um in terms of like marketing and personal training and he's like hey i told him i was a personal trainer i want to try something different he's like okay i'm gonna

give you this workout and i did it and i didn't know what it was, but it was Filthy 50. And it was like, I just remember the push-up, the push-press was the heaviest thing ever. I never did anything overhead. I was like, oh, my God, I'm going to die and drop this on my head. But I did that. And he's like, hey, this is, you know, I should check it out, CrossFit. I was like, okay, like, sure. Never did because I was like, I was into my running and like the obstacle course racing. And so I was like, I never did.

And some other friends that I did a Tough Mudder with like a few months later down the road, they was like, I never did. And some other friends that I did a Tough Mudder with like a few months later down the road, they're like, you should check out CrossFit. I was like, oh man, someone told me about that before.

But I just waited and waited. And then in 2011, right before the Open, a friend of mine was like, hey, there's a gym down the road I'm going to go to. I was like,

cool, I'll go with you. And then I tried it and it was snatches and burpees. And I was like, oh my God, this is terrible. Like I've never Olympic lift any bar

and I have a short thumb. So like wrapping my thumb around the bar was like super hard and challenging. And I just remember, I was like, God, what is this snatch and burpee? But I loved it. I love that challenge of like not knowing how to do something. It hurts. Exactly. It does. I was like, my thumb. Yeah. It feels like someone smashed him with a hammer. You're like, what is this? Like, this is normal. Like, no, I can't feel that bad. Yeah, I'm like, this is terrible. And now, obviously, it's gotten to the point where I'm like, it's just what you do. Nerves are dead or whatever, right? Yeah, I'm like, oh, I don't have any thumbs.

I can't feel anything. Do you read up a lot on training or you leave that to coaches? In the beginning, I did a lot of reading. And then it's kind of stopped for a little bit. But it's like, there'll be articles that I'm intrigued at. Or if I'm like, I want to learn, I need to research more. And well, Alex and I will talk a lot about stuff. Um, and he's done tons more reading than I have. Um, and like his knowledge and insight to a lot of stuff has helped me learn, but then I was like, all right, from time to time,

when I have extra time, I'll try to read up or learn about it just because my knowledge is what I have. But obviously if I want to become better and learn more and coach and help others, I know I need to continue to expand that. Yeah. It helps a lot. You know, the principle of awareness, knowing what you're going to do is important. And that's a good coach too. Cause a good coach is going to, you know, not just flat out tell you what to do.

They're going to give you at least some instruction on why you're doing it. What the point is. I'm sure you guys talk game plan all day. Yeah. It's like, well, okay, well you want to do this? Why do you want to do this? Like, how's it going to benefit you? Like not do something else or if this is happening why is that happening and really analyze it versus like okay just do this yeah you might see somebody else

do something and you bring it up to him and he's like nope yeah like don't do that you're like okay i'll do something different like so and so was doing lunches and i i should be you know like no that's not what we're doing and it's tough because you see that on like social media like instagram or facebook like oh my gosh so and so is doing this or they're lifting this, that's not what we're doing. And it's tough because you see that on like social media, like Instagram or Facebook, like, oh my gosh, someone's doing this or they're lifting this. Like, that's cool. That's good. Like it might be their highlight reel or it might be their best thing. That's why they're putting it on there.

And you let them wait next to their mailbox for the social media awards to come flowing in while you're going to the CrossFit games again. Right. Exactly. Yeah. So you can't get caught up in that. I think that comes back to the mental game is like, alright, let it go. It's like water off your back. Don't let it permeate you

and what you're trying to do because it doesn't benefit you. Just let it flow. What's something else that you want to attack while you're doing CrossFit? I know you mentioned the wine. Is that something that you want to try to really expand? Yeah, it's something we're definitely building and we're actually working on the Barbell Wine Club that we started recently.

Not only just for people that want to lift, but we're also thinking of other platforms. So we have our open program that's designed for people that want to do better in the open. We have the barbell wine club that people want to lift and get better at Olympic lifting and just get stronger. And then we're actually looking towards building a home fitness program. We call it fitness on the go, something that doesn't require any movement or any equipment, but just movement. So say you're traveling or in your hotel room, we want to be able to create, or even if you're at home, just, I can't go to the gym. I have three kids and I have to stay here.

So we're trying to create and build that program because it's like, all right, we want to be able to help not only people that I think CrossFit or in the lifting arena, but also people that are just looking to get a little bit better. They want to be in shape for summer or they want to make sure that they're staying healthy for their kids. And so we're working to building that the next month or two. So yeah, the whole time that we were gone in Washington, DC,

my wife and I were gone for about seven days. We were in a hotel room banging out pushups. Yeah. You know, we're just doing pushups doing a little bit of like hip circle stuff. That's awesome. Our kids are like, you know,

thinking we're crazy. What are you doing? And you don't really want to do it because of the setting. Yeah. Because the setting is so different than what you're used to. Yeah. You go to the gym, like you drive to the gym. It's a whole, it's a whole like ritual, you know, for me, I stop and get coffee a lot

of times. It's like a, it's a whole thing. I play a song, I get all fired up. Yeah. Jessica plays my theme music when I walk through the door. Andrew's got this smoke thing going, a smoke machine. And I come bursting. Strobe lights. Yeah. Bur I walk through the door. Andrew's got this smoke thing going, a smoke machine. And I come bursting through the door. I hear.

Yeah, yeah. It's a whole ritual thing. But when you're trying to work out in a hotel room or even just at home, sometimes it's kind of a drag. You got the TV on or whatever. But once you just start moving, it's great. Once you just start doing something, it's great. And so, you know, we just got on the ground and she's like, hey, let's just, you know, let's just make it a thing to do 50 or 60 pushups every day. That's perfect.

And I was like, yeah, you know, let's get it done. And we were using a hip circle and we're doing some squats and stuff like that, too. Just squats off of one of the chairs that was in there. And that was it. I think that's perfect. It's like, again, like it's so hard to get going, but once you start, you're like,

all right, cool. Not that bad. And it is different. You're like, oh, I don't know if the intensity is the same, not getting the most out of it,

but it's like, you're getting something out of it. Cause you're doing something versus nothing. Right. And I think it's like, all right, the more we can expand that and reach other people. I mean,

if you look at YouTube and you look at the amount of people out there that are just putting out videos and content, it's like people are out there like scrolling, spending hours or days on, on whether it's YouTube or social media, looking for stuff. It's like, they may not physically go to a gym, but they're like, Hey, this quick little workout is going to help me like get my butt a little perkier or my arms a little more sculpted. Awesome. Let me do it. You know? So it's like the more we can create that and hopefully put together a package for them and include wine with it, like the better. Yeah. I mean, I can bang out push-ups you know pretty easy i've you know been doing them since i

was a kid and i still do them at the end of a lot of workouts and stuff but awesome i was using my product i was using a slingshot push-up at the end just because um you know or in the beginning rather because i just i didn't want to get down and have any negative feedback at all you know like sometimes your elbows hurt or this or that. And I'm like, you know what, I'm just going to start with that on. I wore that for a few sets and took it off and then did the rest of them, you know, without it. But it's just almost like a little bit of a warmup because it's kind of hard to, there's no machine or no nothing to get warmed up with. Exactly.

And I think that's something that you can like literally stuff in your bag or put in your suitcase and you're like, take it everywhere. And it's like, that can help you with training or help you warming up or helping you doing a workout. It's like, why wouldn't you bring that? It's like, oh, just another piece of my clothing, my attire I'm going to put in there. Yeah, exactly. What's something you learned over the last couple of years that has really helped you, whether it be in business or just in life or in CrossFit in general? I think putting yourself as a priority and like doing what you need to do for yourself. It's tough because you,

I mean, at least in my, what I've done. Everyone's like, man, she's selfish. I know it's tough. And it's like,

I, I, I mean, people would say this and I, I would say like, I am probably one of the least selfish people out there. Like I'm always, how can I help someone else?

Like, what can I do for someone else? What can I do to help elevate what they're doing? And that's great. But it's like, if you want to reach your goals, you have to cut out things that maybe aren't benefiting you. You have to give yourself a little more time and say,

Hey, like traveling five hours a day isn't helping me. Like, how can I minimize that? Like, how can I cut out either things that are sucking my energy or sucking my time and, or,

and, or people or situations or an environment that are not helping me. If someone's around me and sucking my energy dry and it's like, man, I can't be around this person anymore. It's like, unfortunately, as much as they may be a great friend,

like I need to be able to cut them out or I need to be able to spend less time with them so I can do what's best for me. And it's hard because sometimes those people may be family or friends. It's so hard. You're like, oh man, I don't, I don't want to do that.

But if you want to elevate yourself and help yourself grow, whether it's your business or your goals, personal, professional, you sometimes have to do that to put yourself in the best environment. So it's the best cultivating place for you to grow. I see a lot of people, you know, I talk about it often, people being behind because they're not like preparing for anything. So for you and talking about, you know, kind of making sure you're taken care of, a lot goes along with that. A lot of preparation, you know, you don't just work out, you don't just, you don't just randomly go to the gym at random times you train and you're training for something very specific and you need to think about your food and your height, like, where's my food going to come from for the day? Hydration, you know, do I have this this prep that prep um you need certain shoes on certain lifting days and certain piece of equipment and like yeah maybe you got to go to a certain gym or maybe

there's a lot of a lot of prep that goes into it uh but if you just wake up every day kind of blindly then you won't have enough time you're going to be behind the whole day yeah and you'll be super stressed out i just see a lot of people making that mistake. And I've been in that position many times. And that's why I share it with people. Because I think a lot of us are kind of fighting this uphill battle. If we just got prepared, we would be fine. Yeah. We'd be able to breathe.

We'd be able to get all the shit done that we need to get done. Yeah. And you wouldn't be stressing or rushing around like, ah, I look like a chicken with their head chopped off. Right. And it's tough, but it's like the more you plan to prepare. And again, it can be like prepping your meals or prepping your clothes the night before. But just that little extra time or emphasis that you put beforehand will help you during and after. Exactly.

Yeah. Where can people find you? So on Instagram, we have 321GO for myself, G-A-U-X. I play off of my name. And then the Vineyard CrossFit. And then we have, on the websites, we have the vineyard.space for all the wine and the wine clubs.

And then the Vineyard CrossFit for apparel and also upcoming projects as well, like blogs. What are you training today? So training, we're going to be doing some deadlift today. Oh, awesome. Yeah. And then I think we have lots of other things after that, like handstand push-ups, power cleans. Lots of other things after that, like handstand pushups, power cleans.

Lots of other confusing stuff that involves you staying on your head. Exactly. Yes. Being inverted. More time upside down. Yeah. My wife told me a long time ago, she goes, don't get involved with those CrossFitters. She's like, all they do is stand on their heads.

And the first CrossFit gym I ever went into, that's what they were doing. I was like, oh my God, she's right. She called it. That's perfect. There you guys were just all standing on your heads. That's so funny. But it's crazy. Like you think about that, like you're walking, you're like, huh, this is definitely not normal. We walk on our feet, not our hands. Yeah. Yeah. No. And, and just, uh, seeing all the people just, you know, they're trying, they're trying to execute on something that, you know, we otherwise,

you know, wouldn't be doing just a handstand pushups against the wall. And a lot of them, like, you know, it's just what's common to them, uh, isn't common to us, you know, we otherwise, you know, wouldn't be doing just a handstand pushups against the wall. And a lot of them like, you know, it's just what's common to them is uncommon to us. Totally. You know, and in powerlifting, somebody tears a pack or tears a hamstring. We're like, oh, okay. That's sorry, buddy. But, you know, you'll come back. Yeah, you'll be okay.

You'll be fine. And you guys are hitting yourselves in the head or having barbells fall on you or any number. I mean, there's so many different things you can get just jacked up on. Those, uh, those fails are always really good to watch. Oh my gosh. I've seen some of those. I'm like, oh, I'm so, I hope they're still alive. Isn't that the worst when people send those to you?

Oh my gosh. You're like, hey, look at this. Like I'm still active in that sport. Don't send me that, you asshole. Leave that away. I do not want to see this at all. Delete it. All right.

That's it for today. Strength is never a weakness. Weakness is never a strength. See y'all later.