The Sevan Podcast - #419 - Athena Perez

Episode Date: May 29, 2022

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Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by car and other conditions apply. Bam, we're live. Uh-oh, where's the guest? Good morning, Travis, Alyssa, Brandon, Susie, Carol. I like how the Brazilians always put their flag.

You ever notice that when you watch like CrossFit Games events? If it's the Americans, it's all Chatty Cathy. The Brazilians are just all Flaggy Cathy. Just tons of flags just cruising down the side. Kenan, good morning. I don't think I've ever known a Kenan. Kenneth, good morning I don't think I've ever known a Kenan Kenneth good morning I was just pulling up the tabs

that I wanted to show you for today's show today's guest it's cool it's crazy because I first met her on the CrossFit podcast I kind of want to show it to you guys but I'm afraid to show it to you

because I don't want to get this fucking guys over there at CrossFit will report me lickety split to try to get me off the air. But I think it was 2017 or 18. I should wait till she gets on here. I bet you she has a way better memory than I do. Jiggy Josh. Anyway, when I met Athena Perez, it was like, it was just sparks and fireworks just right away. It was just cool. Like, I was like, it was like just meeting a good friend just right off the bat.

It was cool. We just could cut through the bullshit. I mean, more than that, it seemed like just like someone – and I was hugely interested in her story, and she's very intelligent and articulate. So yeah, oh, special, special delivery day, Travis? Oh, that would be awesome if my shirt showed up today. God, you're a good dude. It was just, we were, we were just kin. I just knew I like listening to people who have good stories and she's a great storyteller and she's lived an incredible journey. her book you can get her book on uh audio it's called um lifting the weight you can i bought the book i don't know um two years ago and never read it i was like well i already had her on the podcast i already know all this and i've talked to her periodically you know two or three times a year

we'll have a phone call but i listen to the audiobook of of this. This is so good. It kind of, she's like the smart version of Forrest Gump. Her life really just kind of just trots along in this pattern or in these twists and turns that you can't even imagine with the FBI and police and just all sorts of wild shit, all sorts of wild shit. It's interesting. It says a story about faith, fitness, and perfect timing.

In the opening chapter, it's like really God-centric. And I was like, man, is a lot of this shit just going to be over my head or too preachy for me? And not even close. Not even close. close i don't i don't know if i have a um i don't know if the whole god thing's a trigger thing for me or or or i don't know i don't know what it is but i'm always i'm always like on guard as soon as i hear that and and i didn't even got through chapter one easily and then it was just to the races hey hey what's up how are you good how are you i had to make like two extra cups of coffee so i have like one cup right here another cup right here i uh i have this podcast right after

um this one what i don't even know if i'd call it a podcast it's uh we're going to talk about the games and i and i asked my wife uh this morning i was like so can you just have another cup of coffee ready for me? That's kind of what I did. Are you addicted to coffee, you think? Yes. You think it's a bad addiction? No. Oh, good. Okay, good. Me too.

But I don't like the idea of being addicted to anything. You know what? I've actually thought through this a bunch of times. Okay, good, good. Justify, justify. Yeah, I'm trying to justify am I actually addicted to it? what i i've actually thought through this a bunch of times okay good good justify justify yeah i'm trying to justify am i actually addicted to it i don't know if i ever drank coffee for the caffeine i drank it because i genuinely like drinking warm things and i oh right i've tried to do tea and i just can't do tea i don't do it every now and then, but it's not. Sorry. When I say coffee, sorry. What I really mean is caffeine.

Oh, I don't know. Cause this is the only caffeinated beverage I drink. Right. And you do put cream in it. Is that what you said? No, no, no cream. Well, if I get an iced coffee, I'll put a little half and half in it, but hot coffee. No, I do my first cup with a heavy cream oh and then if i have other cups i don't

because my first cup i kind of justifies breakfast or i'm strong coffee has some shit you can put in in it too and and if i'm if i'm really feeling freaky i'll do that yeah uh it's not addictive like uh like like smoking right so like i've i can taper off of coffee and then just be okay without it but like but cigarettes aren't like that i tapered off years ago and i'm still like not every once in a while i'm like i should i should go down to the store and get myself a vape pen i mean i don't i don't but but it doesn't go away. No. It's like, like a bad X. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. It's crazy. Don't that's the thing. Don't ever start smoking that. Cause that one will stay in your head space. That one will stay with you until you're dead. Hey, that that's an interesting thing.

Your book, your book really is another way to characterize your book. I didn't think of this till just now is it's about headspace. Oh yeah. It's about, it could be called that, that could, that could be the title of it.

Headspace because almost every chapter has some tools. Well, it explains some sort of, um, uh, it explains your headspace and then gives you tools on how to navigate it. Whether it's with the police, with your diet,

with fucking scary things like rape, with just like all the different things and then there's always there's a character in your book named sarah and right yeah and you and her always uh or you utilize a lot of books too to like to to deal with headspace yeah yeah i did what there was You're talking about like the lessons, right? The end of chapter stuff? But yeah, no, just even just throughout, just even your conversations with, there too. Right, right. Okay, for sure there. There's a quote in there that stuck with me that I've already shared with like five people. And I just finished the book in the last three days.

I don't know if it's Bernard Shaw or who it was, but it was basically like, if you can't change your mind, you can't change your life. That's right. Bernard Shaw. It's true. And there are, it's, there are so many people right now who need to be able to change their mind. Agree.

Yeah. Totally agree. They, um, yeah. agree yeah totally agree they um yeah uh what you brought that up because we're gonna talk about that okay tell me go what is there you want to dig in there do you want to say something about that before i say some other stuff too no go ahead i'll give you okay okay uh the the two reasons why you're – so if you go back to – I don't even know what year this is. Okay. But if you go back to this year and you want to see when Athena and I first met, here it is right here. This is 2018, and this is the CrossFit podcast.

And what had happened was – tell me how you ended up there. I have my version, but I want to know how you ended up there. How did you end up at the CrossFit podcast? How I ended up on the podcast? Yeah. I got an invite. Because I saw the video that you did with Mr. Kozloff. That's right.

The video came out, and I want to say that was in oh april and then you saw the video well you helped produce the video yeah yeah but i didn't know i i mean kozlov hit it i watched it and i cried i mean kozlov hit it out of the park and even i think i mean maybe i'm making this up we'd have to have him on but i think even he came back from that and was like, kind of like, holy shit, I fucking hit this one out of the park. Me and this girl connected. I mean, I think even he was kind of like couldn't believe what the goldmine he landed with that piece. What is that piece called? I should pull that piece up too.

Everyone should see that piece. First of all, Kaz is amazing. Yes. Like the guy is so amazingly talented. What had happened though, I think it was kind of a surprise to both of us how that actually transpired because when we were sitting down at the table,

you know, having that conversation about just, you know, kind of what had happened and the abuse and just some of the stuff that had happened. We got through that set. I don't know what you call it. I'm not a videographer, right. But we got through that set and he's kind of got this shocked look on his face and he goes, so I just recorded that whole thing. I didn't know. I didn't know that the camera was on. And, and I was like, oh, okay. And then he looked at me and he was like well how do you feel about that and I was like hmm hmm you know I I wasn't sure even if I was ready to you know

broadcast that out to the world but I was like you know what fuck it let's just let's just do it and so I I think it turned out that real because I didn't know the camera was on. How old were you when that happened? That video? When the video was filmed? Yeah. Oh, 39. No, I was 40.

40. Is that the most? So in your book, you say when that video was 40. 40. Is that the most? So in your book, you say when that video was made and sorry guys for being so abstract, we will dig down. When that video was made, that was the first time in your life that you had been that open, right? With the world about it. I mean, people in your lives knew or no, you had been that open before.

I think I'd always been open, but I certainly had never been around cameras before cameras of any kind. I mean, I didn't even like people taking pictures of me at all. Right. You know, it's people always joke around like, Athena, why do you always use like the same before picture? You know, when you're showing your progress, because it's the only one I have. Right. Right. And, you know, damn it. Thinking back, I wish one I have. Right. Right. And, and,

you know, damn it. I thinking back, I wish I would have taken a shitload of pictures, but I didn't. And so anyway, um, have you learned to like yourself on camera? I don't mind. Yeah. I don't mind. I mean, it's not a fear anymore. No. When I was on that podcast, like I was, everybody's like, Oh, you did so well. Like if you really only knew how I felt at the time, like I was scared shitless. It's a long podcast. I look like a paralyzed deer the entire time. Not true. It's, I just went and looked at it. I can't believe, I wonder how many pee breaks I had to take.

It was two hours and 45 minutes. That was long. It was great. If you haven't seen that, you have to see that. Since then, since then you've published a book. Yep.

I mean, you've done a ton of stuff, but the two main reasons I brought you here is because you published that book, lifting the weight and you, and you're about to launch the beta or you have launched the beta of this, this, this seminar, right? Yeah. The beta launches next Saturday. Okay. So now, so now we laid off, laid out a bunch of

shit I want to talk about. I want to ask you this real quick in the book, by the way, the books all over the place. You have to read this. It's so fun. It is truly fun. And at some point, there are some chapters that are so like heavy and intense. And I was thinking, same when I read Kayla Harrison's book, there's a there's a book written by Kayla Harrison, the greatest female fighter alive right now. She won two gold medals in the Olympics, the only American ever to do that in judo. I think she's the only one ever to win one. And she wrote a book about how she was molested from the age of 8 to 16 by her judo coach and that's what the whole fucking book is about and when i had her on the air i said to her hey i don't know if i'm a better person for reading your book you know what i mean like i'm glad i read it but like it like it rocked me and and it and like maybe even made me paranoid you know what I mean? And because I have kids. This book is not like that. This book, there are some there is are some really heavy things, but there are some fun adventures, too.

Probably not fun for you, but there are some fun adventures, too, with the police and the FBI. And there's some great stories. And you're not held underwater. By the way, I love Kayla's book, by the way. And it's not a shot at it, but you're not held underwater in this book. So I want to talk about one of the fun things real quick. That case with the FBI and the – you couldn't – is that the case you couldn't talk about or was it the previous case with the police and the um and the uh landlord that wouldn't give you your deposit back which one was it that you or is it both i couldn't talk about both of them i mean the the time has expired now it's been over 10 years so the what do they call that the gag order yeah so yeah it's expired now so and they both got squirrely

especially the one so basically she had she in an apartment. She wanted to leave. She asked for her deposit back. They wouldn't give it back. She gave her landlord a certain timeframe and said, hey, if you don't give me my money back, I'm going to come back, and there will be legal actions. Then she went away for a couple weeks on vacation. When she came back, she was supposed to meet her landlord at the apartment. She came back. She was supposed to meet her landlord at the apartment. And while she was waiting there, the landlord called the police and got arrested for trespassing and kind of like and then basically said, yo, bitch, who gets the last now?

That was the start of my criminal. That was the start of my criminal record. So so my criminal record, too, by the way. And the reason that I got arrested for trespassing is because he processed an eviction on me while i was gone and i didn't know and you were just sitting in the backyard that what a sneaky thing to do and you're just sitting in the backyard and he's like hey meet me meet me at the house and you're just waiting there oh god what a tool right so he he he made it sound like he called me up on the phone and he made it sound like he wanted to like come to an agreement. Right. And so he's like, okay, meet me at the condo. And again, looking back, I'm like, why did I even go over there? But it didn't seem unusual for me. I lived there. So I was like, oh, let's meet in a, you know, like a public place and we'll get together and we'll, you know. So

when I got over there, it was pouring down rain. So I was trying to get out from under the rain. And I knew that the back patio area had like a cover. And, uh, so I just went around the back to sit in the back. And then by then all your furniture and everything was out of the place, empty place. So what a joke the cops couldn't just look and be like this. So the cops were on the take. Well, so in Texas, you don't have to have criminal intent to trespass. But you, but you could have just said, Hey officer, it's obvious. I'm not like, no, it was different. Like he knew exactly what he was doing because I, because he processed an eviction on me while I was gone. The eviction stood as a trespass order. This is how it works in Texas. So if you show up back on a property after you have been trespassed, it's automatic. Now, now you have trespassed with a little tag that says habit shelter, which means,

according to the law, that you, you, you've been been told to leave you've been ordered to leave and now you insist on coming back to the property it's like a it's like a squatter even though you're only there for a few minutes and you could be like hey look at the text messages i'm just meeting him here yeah it doesn't matter yeah crazy and then what ended up happening from there was a cascade of things that made you think that maybe the police were on the take, right? Or he was somehow affiliated with the police? No. So that was the first one.

Uh-huh. So that's kind of what, like, so in the book when I was talking about it, it's like the first thing that happened that kind of got me in that mindset of, you know, I need to fight the world. You know, because things like that make you bitter. Yeah. Yeah. And then the next situation was totally separate. Okay. And that was with, that's when it started getting weird like the slash tires and stuff. Yep. Okay. Then I, then I conflated the two. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What a great story. Are you going to write a second book?

Yes. It's already almost done. Wow. Yeah. Did you, did you enjoy writing the first one or the second one better? Definitely the second one. The first one, the first one was harder just because you have to go back through everything. And, you know, I was remembering stuff that I had forgotten about.

And then, you know, you can get to a point, like even in therapy, where you feel okay talking about it. But then at some point, you know, you still feel it. You still feel it, you know? So it was just, it was mentally exhausting to write that book. Mentally exhausting. The second one, the second one is just basically kind of a pickup of where I left off. And a lot of that just has to do with everything that's happened over the last couple of years. So that one was a lot of that just has to do with everything that's happened over the last couple of years. So that one was a lot more fun.

There's a theme in the book. I actually didn't think of it until just now about your weight. Nope, not correct. Your thoughts about yourself holding you back from completing things. Yeah. And, um, the,

the one that stands out the most is you had a t-shirt business, uh, not specifically around skateboarding, skateboarding and snowboarding. Yeah. And it required, and the business was taking off. It did take off.

Yeah. It got, Oh, your, your logo was being used in some movies It got, Oh, your, your logo was being used in some movies. Um, your, your, your, your partner was young and invigorated. You were crazy invigorated. It was, it was obviously a passion project that had caught on fire. It's the kind of thing you were working on obviously a hundred hours a week and it didn't even phase you. Yeah. Yeah. True.

It started requiring you to interact with people in person. Oh shit. Yeah. So, um, we started getting invited to a lot of events. It just took off. I mean, it was just a cute little, I call it cute. Dennis would probably kill me if I said that. Uh, it was just a cute little brand, you know, and, um, had a cool meme brand you know and um it had a cool meme you know this yeti character and and yeah we started getting invited to a lot of events and i and i think the one the first one was like um it's a thing here in minnesota called sound set and it's like all the bands kind of get together and it's like a it's like a know, like a festival of all the cool kids, you know? And I hated, I don't use that word. I strongly disliked being there because I felt so out of place.

One, because I was older. It wasn't because I was older. It was more like, I just felt like a, I stuck out like a sore thumb. You know, you have all these teens and early twenties and, and then I was the, the, the fat older lady. That's how I felt at the time, you know? And so I didn't want to be the face of our brand. I always kept pushing Dennis to the front cause that was his thing, you know? And how old was he? Uh, when we started the business, he was 17. Okay. And, um, and did he skate oh yeah okay so he was

perfect he's a perfect frontman yeah yeah um yeah and that's why it made it so fun is because i didn't have to i didn't have to be that person but when i started to have to be that person and then we got media started getting involved and then we get this invitation to the Kids' Choice Awards. I was like, I can't go looking like like. I can't I literally thought I would single handedly take down our brand and I thought that it would. It would hurt us. take down our brand. And I thought that it would, it would hurt us. And eventually those thoughts killed the brand, killed the project, right?

Destroyed us. Yeah. So just to be even more clear, there was some events that you needed to go to that basically you refused to go to because you weren't comfortable in your own skin. You didn't want other people to, you had a story spinning around that you didn't want to deal with, which was like, hey, people are going to basically make fun of me and laugh at me for being too big. Correct. And did you ever – do you tell Dennis this? Or is he too young to know or you don't have that relationship with him? Oh, I mean, Dennis is like he he could be my brother um like he's the closest thing in the world to me even today um no it's not i did not have these conversations with him at the time one because

i knew it would it would kill him you know and two i think at the time he was so young that I don't think he was going to understand like the big picture. Dennis didn't know about my past. He didn't know everything that I had gone through. So it was just too complicated of a conversation to have with him at the time. You know, I know we briefly chatted about it, and I told the story about going to Disneyland, and just how shocked I was by what I saw, just by how big everyone was and how bad everyone was eating. If you are that big and you go out in public, you have that same fear. Because you know that there's people like me who are just like, holy shit.

Totally agree. I'm glad that you brought Disneyland up. We're going to cover that today. Oh, you scared me the way you said that. Oh, look, look, look, look. Oh, no. Oh, no. I got notes, look. Oh, no. I have notes. Oh, no.

I got notes, too. So that's one. And I want to point out one more. There was another event, even more specific, where it just wasn't your own thoughts, but it was people being vicious. You went to a pool. Oh, yeah, yeah. And the story starts off so good. I'm like, yeah, go, girl. You get a bathing suit. You go to a pool. You go to a pool oh yeah and the story starts off so good i'm like yeah go girl you get a bathing suit you go to a pool you go to a gym you get in the pool and some people

fucking basically talk shit to you not basically they do talk shit to you two groups of people one group from afar and one group basically right to your face as you walk by right and you get in the pool and you get stuck in the pool. Yep. Because. Well, I say stuck, right? Because I wasn't. Psychologically, you get stuck. Psychologically stuck in the pool. Yeah.

You brave enough to get in. Yeah. But when you, while you're in the pool, because these people are being jerk offs. Yeah. A story spins up. Right. And, and it's like,

Hey, I don't want to get out and give them more opportunity to make fun of me again. So you stay in the pool for two and a half hours. Yeah. Brutal. And even after 30 minutes, you were like a prune, you say.

So after two and a half hours, after two and a half hours, you must've been like just waterlogged. I was. I felt like it was awful. Did you cry in there? Not in the pool. I think I did a really good job growing up and kind of going through that first part of my life.

Not letting people see me cry when they would do that what if you would have swam over to those girls who are adjacent to you and just been like hey i'm gonna get out of the pool can you guys not make fun of me oh fuck that can you imagine how that would have gone over because i don't know it'll rock the shit out of them i think i mean you do something like that well you do something like that. Well, you take the risk that either one of two things is going to happen, right? Either they're going to just leave. Right.

Or it'll get worse. Right. So, you know, you pick your poison, right? But it's just fun doing stuff. That's totally out of the norm narrative once in a while, which I know, you know, you know what I mean? I know now. Yeah. Yeah.

Just to just, just face it. Be like, Hey, this might just be me, but could you not laugh at me when I get out of the pool? Oh shit. You know what though? That brings up a bigger topic. Yeah. Go. And I think it comes up in the book a lot because I think it happens so often for a lot of us is these stories we create. Because you and I both know that those two girls could have been in the hot tub over here talking about, they could have been talking about, oh, something that happened over the weekend or somebody said a good joke and they were laughing. Right, right. You're taking a huge risk by, by,

by suggesting something that might not be true. Right. Yep. Yep. So I always say vibes are a real thing and vibes deceive us, but vibes are also our guide, right? Things like that do happen and you can pick up on it and you know, what's happening. So I don't want to discredit that, but I think just as often we make it all up. Yeah. I get it. That's the whole thing with relationships, right? Someone, you know, reads into something you say and misunderstands you and then responds to it. When I look at the at the youtube comments 90 of the people are trapped in their head they see something they make an analysis of it and then they respond to their own analysis they're talking to themselves it's it's it's it's uh it's it's how most humans live it's why they can't get along it's why they don't have happy relationships with their mates do you ever feel that way no because i can well only uh feel trapped in your head

no never never um there was a time in my life when i did um you were uh it's um i think the road to that unfortunately it ends up being suicide but not not suicide like you actually kill yourself but i think it ends up being um when you're in that journey and you're trapped in your head and the conversations get so loud, eventually you have to start contemplating your own death. I think that's where that road leads. I could be wrong. Well, no. No, I think being trapped in your head can be much more simplistic. Okay.

Simply like digging your heels in the ground and not wanting to change your mind. That's being trapped in your head can be much more simplistic like okay simply like um you know digging your heels in the ground and not wanting to change your mind that's being trapped in your own head oh back to back to back to bernard shaw if you can't change your mind you're not going to change your life yeah when i'm by myself i'm much much more soft in my thoughts. I know. I'm much more supple. I'm willing to explore so much when I'm in my own thoughts. Why do you think that is? Well, it's just you. Well, at least for me, maybe not for some people who are even scared of themselves,

but for me, I can just be vulnerable to myself. Whereas with other people, and that's what, that's kind of what makes the podcast so fun too, because you're actually doing it in front of other people. Well, here's, what's really interesting about that is you, you are much different right now than, say, when one of the. How do you know I'm not? How do you know I'm not? I sent him an invoice before the show. You are you are much different right now than you are with, say, when Matt is here. Oh, right. OK. That's the energy I'm talking about. Right. Whatever strongest is going to propel forward.

And then everybody jumps on board, whatever that energy is. Right. Right. And you do it. You mean, you mean, uh, uh, uh, I, I turn the energy up and lead the, not the cavalry, what are the guys who like go to people's houses? Your energy goes on your podcast depending on the crowd. Right, right, right, right. Well, also what I'm interested in.

So like I just, in the last three days, I just sucked down your book. I'm glad you finally read it, by the way. You've had it for like a year and a half now. Yeah. Well, to be honest, I didn't read it by the way you've had it for like a year and a half now yeah well I did to be honest I didn't read it I listened to it god you read good I really I thank you that was my first attempt and I was just listening to some of the things last night and I'm like god you're good um you know it doesn't doesn't translate well in the book are the um lessons at

the end of the chapters like to be honest with you I didn't figure that out until like the last three chapters, what was going on there. I was like, what is this stuff at the end every time? But, but I'm kind of a, there's parts of me that are kind of like a rock. Okay. Tell me about Disneyland. Well, uh, uh,

tell me about Disneyland. I did a whole show on it. Tell me about it. I remember. Tell, tell me about Disneyland. Was I, was I, do you think i was mean i was uncouth i was uh i think i i think when it comes to topics like this that you you lack a little self-awareness man okay and let me tell you why you i believe i believe at the heart

that we both want the same things okay we absolutely want everybody into crossfit so that we can get healthy that's the goal right so our goals are the same right with the individual but with the impact on the planet right right but you take um a drastic drastic approach okay and to me it comes across as that approach is very and i don't think i'm not going to say that you do it on purpose. It just comes across as being very. In a very shaming way. OK. You know what I mean? And like if you eat sugar, you're a piece of shit.

Pretty much. Thank you. That's a great example. If you eat sugar, you're a piece of shit. All right. That this method, this method is not going to get people to stop drinking sugar. Like, how can you give me, can you give me an example? Was there something I said on that show that you wrote down that you're like,

wow, I can't believe my friend said this. I just so you know, just an example that is I had a friend come over to my house a couple of weeks ago. It kind of, it fucking rocked me. And they're a really good friend. And they said, Hey, you said on your show that any parent who's a who puts a mask on their kids a piece of shit and you know we put a mask on our kid like oh fuck well i love and i love these people and i don't think they're pieces of shit i know i know um okay let's go through the, I'll revisit that. Cause I,

cause I know why you do that. At least. Okay, good. So I did change, uh, Caleb changed the name of the show to a therapy with Athena and forget about the Athena Perez founder of a scaled nation. That's a silly title. Go on. It was a really silly title. Okay. Okay. So you start off. Is Caleb is Caleb. No, no, no one's here. It you start off. Is Caleb, is Caleb? No, no, no one's here. It's just us. Oh, I was like, is he powering this? Cause the visuals would be great.

Okay. Okay. So you start the podcast, right? God, I'm glad he's not here. Go on. You start the podcast. Yes. Caleb's, I mean, uh, Matt, this is over here. here you're already over here and the very first thing that happens on that podcast is this this picture that pops up on on the screen and it's it's a larger

woman first of all where did you guys get that picture i don't need i don't remember it was it was it when i took at disney you just picture of a random larger woman and you posted it on your podcast oh i thought we couldn't pull up any of those pictures basically when i was there to sort of uh i made it a the first hour i was there i was just taking pictures of just people just like i just couldn't fucking believe like we're just taking pictures of random heavy people not not random like i would have a uh there'd be like like there was a whole like like it would be just stuff that I thought was like just stereotypical. You know what I mean?

Like the man – like the family with the – like a family with like all the daughters had blue hair and were sitting around eating ice cream. And I just started just like spinning narratives about them. Uh-huh. Like those assholes in the pool. Okay, go on. So you were creating stories. You were creating stories. Yes, yes, yes.

And it's really good that I have this because check this out. Are you ready? Yeah. Here we go. So this lady comes up. Oh, here we go. Holy cow. I might have some options here. so this lady comes up yes so who who was that just some random person yeah just some random lady just just totally just totally random okay so that's how it starts you don't know who this woman is no no ma'am you know you don't know anything about her right you don't know who this woman is. No, no, ma'am. You don't know anything about her. Right. You don't know her story. You don't know her struggle.

You don't know why she said you don't know shit about her. But there she is. Yep. The meme of this Disney show. The the me. OK, like she's the opener. She's like, yeah, I'm basically saying, hey, Disneyland is a place where people are just going and just chugging sugar. And this is the typical prototypical looking person who I'm sharing the park with. You say Disneyland.

Right. But this has been a theme across since you've been doing the podcast. This is when it comes to heavier people, period. It doesn't matter whether it's at Disneyland or whether it's down at the dock you know what I mean fair fair right for you so let's take the fact that it happened at Disneyland since I've been a little kid actually you want to know the truth since I've been a little kid it's been like so on were you ever heavy as a kid uh yeah but not like not yeah Yeah. I mean, I thought I was heavy. Like I want to tell you, yeah, I was a fucking chubby fat kid.

But like if you saw pictures of me, you might not think that. You know what I mean? Were you teased? Because you were a bigger kid. No. And there's something in your book. There's something in your book about that too. You say in your book, I've said worse stuff in my head about myself than anyone has ever said in their life. And I was like, oh shit. Yeah, that's probably how – that's exactly how I am. I do not – I have some stories in there that are just – I just assume that no one likes me. We all assume that that by the way yeah not in a bad not in a bad

i never assume someone does like me the best i get is is like oh i'm not i'm not tripping right now so you never got teased when you were young uh in i got teased yeah i got teased i got i was short i was i got started getting teased. Not so much about being short. My big nose. Junior, I was in junior high. I played Dungeons and Dragons and shit. Like, I got teased. I got teased.

I got picked on. I got teased. I didn't realize I was short, but I was an easy target. Or that I was little until I got to college. And all the girls were like a foot taller than me. But I got, I realized in hindsight I was an easy target because I was little. So I was scrapping and fighting and being teased. It was just normal for me.

To some degree, I think that getting teased when you're a kid is normal for everybody. But nothing like – nothing harsh. Nothing that I ever went home and cried. I was never like – I could go 30 days in high school people making fun of my nose in a row, but I never went home and cried about it. When I left school, it was over. Was it? Yeah. You talk about it today. Well, you know what I mean by over. Like I didn't, I didn't do, I don't do cry over it or the dwell on it, but it, it had to have pricked some part of your finger.

Uh, and Salon's defense. I remember that Disneyland plug as it designed is. Yeah. Yeah. Athena. Yeah. About that.

What about that? I totally agree with that, but that's not what we're talking about today. Yeah. Yeah. Shut it, Susie. We're not talking about Disneyland. So, so just give it to me what tell me what a piece of shit i'm saying

no i know so what i'm saying is some part of your finger got tricked it left mark it left an impression because that's what you project um really fucking bothered you it hurt you whether you admit it or not or whether you cried about it or not right oh yeah it hurt recurring theme the fact that you were short right got picked on a lot you even talk about it a lot right girls didn't want you i'm sorry but when you're young that's hurtful yeah yeah yeah hurtful when you're young, that's hurtful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very hurtful when you're a teenager or whatever, right? Everybody's dating. Siobhan never got picked to have a girlfriend. I'm sorry, dude, but it leaves a mark.

It does. Because that's what you project. What do you mean by that? That's what you project? I think it shows up a lot for you. That's what I think. Like that story? maybe not the story but i believe that my personality filters through that yeah like it does for all of us right right

that your personality filtered through those things my personality filtered from my experiences getting teased or whatever and yes you can deal with them as you get older and you know, but it's still a part of who you are and it does come out. The reason why I want to talk about this is because, and I was curious as to whether you were ever teased as a kid, because the way that you talk about heavy people, way that you talk about heavy people um i i listened to that podcast three times yesterday and oh shit when you're when you're talking about i wish you wouldn't have done that well yeah it was i have ptsd now oh too late so so you talk about it in a very like angry way yeah what are you angry about? Well, like, are you like, how did, how does that happen? Are you so angry at heavy people? Are you angry about the situation?

I'm trying to figure out how that anger transports to somehow inspiring people to make healthy choices. If you're going to project anger and say, the world needs to get healthy. And then you're saying, I just don't understand why, why, you know, we can't inspire more people to lose weight. It's because of stuff like the show. How does that work? Wait, wait, explain to me.

I want to answer your first question first, but I want you to get that point out. How does the show not help? What I'm saying is I can fix that. This show is a great example because what I'm trying to figure out is what if I was a heavy person, I'm coming to your show and you say you want to you say you want to play your part in fixing the world. Fixing the world, right? If somebody that you didn't know was heavy came and listened to that show, what would that heavier person taken away from your show that was going to inspire them to go in and join a CrossFit gym? Right, right.

Can you think of anything in that show that happened that would have inspired somebody to take action in an inspiring way, empowering way? No, but I can't. But I also can't think of anything that wouldn't. was there some shit that i said that would drive them away fuck yeah tell me okay so let's start off and then i want to and then i want to answer to you that question i want to go back and answer you said are you angry i want to tell you what my process is but go on so what did i say that would push people away? Well, one, you said after looking at all these heavier people, you have PTSD. I use those words.

Yeah. Oh, OK. And and then and then you said. And why and why does that push people away? If I say I saw all these heavier people and I and I basically are implying when you said I'm seeing all these heavy people and now I have PTSD that this is literally like I think you actually said it in the show that it was literally like one of the worst days of your life to see all these heavier people. Right, right. So I see I totally see what you're saying. And I think you're probably correct about how it comes across. It's not about those people. It's about the implications of those people. But i'll circle back around to that in a second but those people that you're talking about are

those people that you're talking about are they're the ones that are suffering from a much bigger problem but the bigger problem right as an individual they are but as a collective they're not but they're not there as a collective right i i hear you i hear you they're not all getting together to dance in front of seven and be like look at us right right happening right okay so then you said that was good by the way that that might be able to be a real yeah um there's all these 400 pound people there wearing mic Mouse has. They've never worked out a day in their life. Really? Yeah, I don't know that.

Right. Do you? No, I don't. Was that your story? Yes, it's definitely my story. His shirt was a quadruple X tied around his gut in the background. Matt's over here laughing his ass off. Like, what is funny about that?

Yeah, fuck you, Matt. Sorry. What I'm trying to say is you're you guys are laughing through this entire show. Yes. And how does that. Wait, wait, wait. Angry Athena or am I laughing? Well, there's parts that you're laughing. There's parts that you're you're just straight up pissed. We'll get to the anger part later. OK. you're laughing, there's parts that you're, you're just straight up pissed. We'll get to the anger part later. Okay. But so what I'm saying is if somebody comes onto your show, wants to be, you are part of the CrossFit community, right? You, you are passionate about people getting into

CrossFit. You talk about it on every episode. We want it to change lives. What I'm asking you is how are you doing that? Right. How are you doing that like me personally you personally or your tribe right your tribe are the people on your show right how is my tribe every single time that a heavier picture gets posted how are you inspiring people to take action if you're mocking them you know what i mean We're not going to get to any of my notes today, I can tell. Probably not. How? How?

How inspiring. This is a rhetorical question too, right? These are rhetorical questions. Yeah. Okay. I'm not like, I'm not, I'm not saying that this is, I'm just asking you to be objective in your own stuff, man. Yeah, yeah. I'm open.

I'm open. I'm fucking – yeah, like Christine Y says. Look, Christine Y doesn't even look like a real person. I'm here for this. I'm here for this. Let's fucking do this. Okay. And I'm now taking notes on your notes, on your feedback.

Okay. Okay, good. Caleb, change the name of the show again. Feedback on the Disneyland show. So, so I'm asking you, here's more. Ready? Because, well, can I just say this? So I go there and I think of all the complaints that the world has.

Oh, wait, hold on. Sorry. Are you ready? Yes, yes, yes not probably not probably i'm probably this this group of people can't possibly think straight yes i remember saying that you're looking at one of them right now right now am i not thinking straight no you are thinking straight so you know what i mean. I'm not going to take this stuff personal. I'm not going to come at you and be like, oh, I'm sad.

What I'm saying is. Too late. It's not. It's not matching your goals. Athena, if I think that if you eat, if you're if you're a five year old kid and you're starting to be fed fucking Twinkiesinkies and Ding Dongs and Coca-Cola and you live that life until you're 30, then you will have a fucking hormonal imbalance that will fucking make it so you don't think straight. You'll think in a brain fog, and I also think this. I also think this. I think as people become more capable, they start to be able to take on more personal accountability and more personal responsibility.

You found that. you found that you found that i would from reading your book yeah i hate to use your book into by finding god you found ultimate empowerment because you found god other people schmoes like me find it through crossfit and be like oh i can jump over a fence oh i can do a muscle i i start my value starts going up that way. And then you also find it through CrossFit. All of a sudden you're like, okay, I can go upstairs to my bedroom. Okay. I can do this. Oh, there is a group of people. So what I'm saying is, is those there's we, but, but going back to the diet thing, I think that if you have a shitty diet, I do think that it affects the way you think and when you i think that um uh people who are

immobilized by their diet or by somehow in their lifestyle that they they there's a fear that creeps in that makes it so that they don't think straight about how the the planet functions how how the planet functions do you do you hear me on that or no? Am I not connecting that dot for you? No. Okay. I think watching too much news and shit can affect your brain. For sure. For sure. Like I was talking about Twinkies. I mean if you watch too much news and post too much shit on the daily world and stuff happening, it can affect your brain.

You don't think that you think clearer as you get healthier, as you eat cleaner, as you start, you don't think that there's a. Oh, I definitely do. I mean, does, does, does diet play a role in just how we feel? Oh yeah. A hundred percent. But, but you just said something, let's go back to that. Cause you said, they, they, they get fed the Twinkies and sodas and all this stuff when they're five. Right. Right. So is it that person that creates that path for them?

Who created the path? Who set that person up from the very beginning? Uh, their parents, but why is that relevant? Well, it is relevant because that's, that's the world that they're introduced to. These are right. Right. This is the, this is the world that they're introduced to. These are right. Right. This is the, this is the world that they know. Right. They don't know any better. This, these are the foods and the culture and the environment that they grow up in older. Right. But, but we're

going to look at them and say, Oh, you, um, you're unmotivated. You're, you're just a glutton. You, you know, all the words that people use, fat, fuck, whatever it is. But but but we're saying that that was somehow their fault. Well, if that becomes irrelevant and you also realize that in your book, right? Not irrelevant because it plays a factor at some point. Yes, we become responsible. Right. We become responsible and we are responsible for our own stuff. What I'm saying is, is that we, we put that burden on that person. Yes. They're responsible for fixing it, but let's be honest. Like they were never set up to succeed

from the beginning. Right. I'm slack. Right. You know what I mean? You don't know what you don't know. It's like, uh, I was just talking to somebody the other day about this. You know, this woman, she grew up in the South. They it's just it's part of your family. It's part of your culture. I mean, a meal times making sure that your plate is cleared. I mean, all of these things matter. Right. It creates who you are. Right. Shit. I don't even think I broke that until like I was in my mid 30s. These things matter. Right. It creates who you are. Right. Oh, shit. I don't even think I broke that until, like, I was in my mid-30s. Well, but you did.

But you did break it. And that – it's the miracle morning. Never blame full accountability. I don't. Yes. You're right. And so why are you now – why are you now – it's like someone said in the comments. This is the best example I can think of. I apologize.

Someone said in the comments when I asked Stacey Tovar, she was feeling uncomfortable when I asked her about her menses or what birth control she was on. If you ask her today, she'll say that that was fucking an amazing moment. Like why should I avoid making people feel uncomfortable if that is that is the path to to to their miracle morning never blaming full accountability i'm not saying don't make people uncomfortable i'm saying i'm saying do it respectfully okay okay okay okay fair fair the the the laughing and the pictures and the all right there's definitely i'm not in denial. There's a component of a temper tantrum on there. For sure. You have an incredible platform.

Right, right. Incredible opportunity to inspire the people that you say you want to help the most. Right, right. And are you doing it in a way that's going to get them in the box, the gym? No. I can do better. I can do better. Okay. I can do better. I think you can. I can do better. Okay. I'll let you have your notes now.

I, um, uh, man, I love you. Thank you, man. I can do better. I can do better I can do better I well thank thank you like look all I'm saying is the way that you are doing this man

I'm sorry like I love you too but this is not it's not the way honesty and directness is okay but how do you do it honoring someone else's humanity respectfully yeah yeah honesty and directness. Okay. But how do you do it? Honoring someone else's humanity.

Respectfully. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. This is, this is a, this is the Athena podcast. Oh, Susie,

but eat it. When is your first, uh, when is your first seminar next Saturday? Okay. So let me, let me set the ground rules because really, um, the, the betas are really just to test the content, you know, like we're not going to have the, the PowerPoints are going to be pretty rudimentary. It'll be kind of a work in progress because we don't want to go through all the hassle of doing all the fancy shit when so many of those sections could change. And admittedly, I'm going into this not knowing what I'm doing. I don't know how to put on a seminar. Right. But I'm doing I don't know how to put on a seminar right um but but I'm learning

hey when Greg when I went to Greg Glassman's first seminar I mean there was not there wasn't an outline but he just did the um he just he just did the whole thing himself he just stood up there and did it and sometimes he would wander off this way and wander off this way and there'd be like some staff maybe who like got him back on point but but, but yeah, it was, it was, it was a three day event of him just talking. It was incredible. Yeah. And then, and then it just got over the years, it just got more and more structured. Dave and Nicole put it into more and more cubbies. By the way, after I had you on that podcast, that CrossFit podcast, Nicole Carroll reached out to me and asked me for your contact information. She goes, that's the kind of people we want on the L1 seminar staff i was like holy shit that's a that's a crazy compliment it's funny that you say that

why is that i heard this are you like maybe i shouldn't are you like maybe i shouldn't go here no i think that i yeah yeah she's a she's a wonderful judge of character for that too obviously for that her and dave were wonderful at picking people for that like she wouldn't there's no she wouldn't just say that for any reason unless she felt it at least she meant it you know what i mean there was no you know what everybody everybody has crossfit superheroes right right um you know people always ask me you know like who your favorite females and the people that come to mind for me are not like um you know sarah or or uh who did you have on yesterday i don't fucking know come on it's one giant fucking our icelandic

queen oh yeah yeah annie miss door's daughter athena don't judge people come on it's one giant fucking our icelandic queen oh yeah yeah annie miss dora's daughter athena don't judge people by their looks also athena the guy's knees are hot oh okay i don't even know what that means but i just like he gave me five dollar write that down in your notes hold on i'm gonna write it in mine okay so he's addressing the knee thing but hold on let me okay damn it bobby go ahead go ahead go ahead and write it down and then let's talk about your superheroes go back to annie thor's daughter annie hey we're gonna have to have a part two to this podcast i can tell we only have 30 minutes left we're never gonna get this shit but go on okay so um but your superheroes nicole she she really is like

she's my i i i have so much respect for her you know i think of the educators you know karen and some of the some of the seminar staff nicole you know like the teachers nicole could be on the cover of time magazine as like woman of the year it's fucking nuts it's pretty amazing okay so bobby's talking about the knees. Okay. So what they're talking about is the community sends me pictures of knees from all the guy athletes. So if there's a, so if there's a picture that's got, that's got really nice looking knees that day, then they send it to me and I share it on my stories. So how that started. That probably makes my wife feel horrible by the way, because she's,

she's really, she had surgery on her knee and one of her knees, she's like really like insecure about the way it looks. You guys are fucking mean. Sorry. Go on. What'd they say? No, no one, nothing. I'm just being a pussy. So it's the, you know, it's the, it's all that muscle group around the knee. And I, and I, I have some weird, I don't know how it started, but there's, I have some weird, you know, uh, yeah, you like it. Like Sam dancer probably has amazing knees, right? Yeah. So, um, yeah, I have this weird, everybody's got weird body parts that they like, you know, like some people are attracted to somebody's eyes some people's attracted whatever yeah girls armpits crossfit girls armpits are amazing where the where the arm and the the armpit i've never even thought of an armpit

as attractive but the way it's highlighted by like their lat and their arm it's like oh that's a nice armpit yeah yeah yeah yeah thank you eric thank you thank you eric yeah so what bobby's talking about yeah i like that so what bobby's talking about is the this knee group this muscle knee group and and my eyes when i'm looking at a guy it always starts here but then it always goes down to his knees and i i don't know why but i think that came from i i grew up with very um you know screwed up knees i had blounce disease that they corrected a couple years ago with the double knee replacements did that work yeah oh fuck congratulations thanks my leg isn't crooked anymore wow congratulations thanks that's nuts it is uh it it it that was a long recovery was it was there any part of you thought you part of you that thought you would never walk again?

Like a bad acid trip? Like after the surgery? Like, I'm never going to get better. Well, yeah, because after the surgery, the knee wasn't, I wasn't able to pick up my leg. And, you know, after, they tell you it takes a couple weeks, but after six weeks, it still wasn't firing. They tell you it takes a couple of weeks, but after six weeks, it still wasn't firing. And we went to the doctor and the doctor said, look, you know, Athena, this was one of the risks and you knew that. And I lost it because I thought that that was it.

It's not going to fire on its own and I'll have to walk with a, you know, a stick. Like the nerve was damaged in the surgery. Yeah. But it came back. It took almost damaged in the surgery yeah but it came back oh it took almost three months but yeah it came back holy shit yeah it was a scare there for a while but you know i accepted my fate you know i'm writing matt a note here to reschedule our project for our next podcast for 2026 after I heal from the therapy from this one. Okay. So back to the seminar.

Back to the seminar. Maybe Matt could use a session. Oh, no. Leave Matt alone. He's just I pay him to laugh. He knows if he doesn't laugh at my shit he's fucking off the show he's the poor guy so this

tell me what the seminar is what the inspiration for it is I really just want to dig in I want people to leave here knowing that not only am I a callous asshole that shames people but that we're launching our first seminar

working with large bodies is a full day in-person seminar that will cover not only how to physically train and progress athletes through movements commonly seen in crossfit and other types of functional fitness training but also how to educate and empower trainers and gym owners to make their gyms welcoming and compatible environment for large bodies. By the way, when I do see you're in the comments, I kind of check myself too. Why is that? Like if I'm watching a podcast, cause like, I don't want to, cause I, cause I'm just don't want to be offensive. Like I, like I toned my shit down a little bit around larger bodies. Like if I see you're on the, like, I might be like, if you're, if you're, if I saw your name on there, I would immediately like, I won't be like those fat people. I'll be'll be like oh i was at the mall the other day with some larger bodied folks you know i mean

like like it's good it's healthy for me so so you're saying i'm a good influence yeah i mean yeah i tried yeah you are a good you know what like you're doing god you're doing god's work in in satan's kitchen i appreciate what I'm trying to do. Satan's kitchen. Thank you, Susie. Susie, Susie, someone's digs. Marionette is what we prefer. Marionette. I don't like to put my hand up anyone's ass. I prefer to move them from the top. OK, our first. What what is it? Does that sum it up? Can I hear it in your own words? What is this seminar? The Scaled Nation Training Working with Larger is a little bit different. One, just because of what that person is bringing into the gym, which is a little different in a lot of cases. And then teaching that coach, you know, the level one seminar is great. The level two is great, but it doesn't teach you how to be a coach, unfortunately.

And on top of that, it teaches you the nine crossfit functional movements but it certainly doesn't teach you everything we do in crossfit it's very limited and you know as well as i do that you know your typical wad is not just the nine foundational movements you're doing all kinds of shit in a box and that's where coaches need the most help it It's not everyone else. Can you give me an example? Yeah. Like, you know, how to, it's not, you know, it's not a scaling course at all. What we're trying to get coaches to do is step back from the movements and try to strip them down to the most fundamental, basic you can possibly think, take it back to ground zero, and then learn how to look at every movement and build somebody forward. Like there's nothing more than I can't stand was we're always scaling backwards. And it's really

defeating for most people. Instead of scaling them forward, we're constantly scaling people backward. And it's just the wrong approach. I don't, I don't tell me what's the difference. Give me examples of that. Okay. So, so, you know, somebody, somebody that's larger body walks into a gym and it's their first day there, the coach in the coach's mind, because the coach has never had to live in a larger body, right? They make a lot of assumptions too. And one of the, one of the assumptions that they make is, oh, well the, the WOD calls for a 20 inch box. Um, 12 inch box should be super fucking easy. They pull the 12 inch box out and guess what happens? That athlete isn't prepared for the 12 inch box. So the coach is like, oh shit. So all this is happening live on the floor. Oh, shit. Oh, you can't do that. OK, so what does he do? He grabs a 12 inch box. He pushes it to the wall and then they bring something smaller out. Why are we doing that?

You mean to be to know that ahead of like pull that person aside, recognize, OK, that person is maybe 100 pounds over their weight and they shouldn't be jumping, period. Or like I'm not following what you're saying. Like so if you coaches are not going to get in that position if they just start people at the building blocks. This coach has never seen this person before. So the best assumption to make is they can't do it at all. Always make that assumption. Right. So what would be the first place to start somebody out if box jumps or box step-ups is in the workout?

Right. We all know the answer to that, but that's how far back you need to take somebody. And then if they get the, say it, say it really is just a step forward and then a step back, right? You're going to be able to give that person a win on the very first visit. So guess what happens? You're like, oh man, that's great. I can, I can see that you have balance. You've got good stability. I'm going to pull out, say you're going to pull out a little plate and it doesn't even have to be that big. It could be a 10 pound plate. So then you pull up the 10 pound plate and you have them

step up to that. And then if you can see that they're handling that well, great. They just got another win. Yay. So when they go home that day, you've never met them. You've given them a bunch of wins. And then that person is sitting home at night and they're like oh shit guess what i did today you know it's not that's the experience that they're gonna have not hey i'm gonna walk into a gym the coach had to to bring out three different fucking boxes and i couldn't do any one of them and i'm never going back the big picture there is make sure you're setting people up who come into the gym new it sounds sounds like this is applicable to any human being. It really is. Give them wins.

It's interesting you say that. I heard you talk – in your book, you talk about getting on the floor. Or no. I'm going to paraphrase. But basically, you ask the instructor, hey, I want to learn paraphrase, but basically the, you asked the instructor, um, Hey, I want to learn a burpee. And they say, okay. And they say, get on the floor. And then you stop them. And you're basically like, that's the part I'm worried about. They're like, what do you mean? They're like, I don't know how to get up. And I remember in 2017 or 18,

an affiliate owner, I know probably one of the top 10 biggest affiliates in the world. Definitely one of the most successful in the world told me, holy shit, all of this work you guys are doing in media now showing larger body people doing CrossFit. We had someone come in the other day who was 100 pounds overweight, and we got them in the prone position, and they were stuck. And this is a world-class coach, games athlete of highest fucking level said, I didn't fucking know how to coach someone to fucking stand up. Thank you. And then, and then, and he said, and he was so embarrassed. He was like, how the fuck do I not know that? And so one of his other coaches knew they came over, they coached him up, but you're saying that this is what, um, um, this, uh, working with larger body scaled nation seminar will teach you like hey those are the things you have to be prepared for these are so

common yeah and you know what this this course actually stemmed I'm sorry but we're going to talk about it oh this from my Disneyland episode no no no I'm done I beat you over the head I was like I inspired you wow the Disneyland episode was good

no it was not okay my bad okay so so like I inspired you. Wow. The Disneyland episode was good. No, it was not. Okay. My bad. Okay. So, so, so the, the course came from my level two seminar. I mean, yes, I've been thinking about it for a while, but I think the level two seminar was the cherry on the cake and you are getting world-class, um, educators. And what I'm saying is that none of us have so much education that we cannot learn more. So what happened was, um, the knees are still pretty sensitive. You know, I can't get on my knees because of the, because of the cut lines. So I'm in, I'm in the middle of this level two seminar and we were just, when was this, when was this, uh, a year ago. Okay. So you had your surgery and then a year later you took, went to go take your level two year ago. Okay.

So you had your surgery and then a year later you went to go take your level two. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Go on. Yeah. So it started out with like the warmups. And unfortunately, there was nothing prepared for warmups, but it's so fundamental.

We forget sometimes that we have to be prepared for everything. And there was this really awkward freeze where I'm standing there, everybody's on the ground. And it was very clear that the coach, nothing against the coach. He's freaking incredible. But what I'm saying is there was a pause because it, shit, what do I do? But if we had just thought about the warmup, the same way that we think about a workout, what are we doing in it? What's the point of it? That there could have been a scale ready.

We have to scale, not just workouts, but warmups too. So it was just one example. Like how should that be done? The coach should come over to each person, like just do a quick, Hey, do you need anything scaled? Do you need anything scaled? No. You have to offer options in the warm-up activities the same way. Okay. Just to the group in general.

Because a lot of – So you're saying if you say, okay, everyone, we're going to do 10 burpees. Before we start, I'm going to show you three different burpees. And one, you just show someone like lean against the wall push themselves exactly you need to you need to show that first option as the most fundamental ground zero yeah always offer ground zero on everything yeah and then always offer and allow those people to choose but we need to do it with everything. Warm up, stretching,

all those is really complicated for large body because you can't get into those positions. Pigeon pose is one of the toughest things to get into for a larger body. Cause man, you got, you're going to have trouble everywhere, but it's just understanding that it's not that these people don't want to get healthy. It's not that they, it's not that they don't want to be there. But if they get put in these situations, you're unprepared as a coach. They're never coming back. You know what I mean?

Yeah, I'm trying to see what pigeon pose is. Oh, it's... I see it. I can never do them. Still can't. It looks like it's bad for my back. Everything's fucking bad for my back. It's that one?

Is it that one? Yeah. What I want you to do is it's a gif. You see where she's got her belly on her leg right there? Imagine if you are front. If you you got a belly like me in the front how are you going to do that movement right how you can't physically now there are some

lba that are incredibly flexible oh lba wow i never heard that before i like that okay oh thanks larger bodied athletes yeah i think he would too travis um the uh that's what was going on downstairs by the way at crossfit hq when i left there what was it was it was a program that greg wanted to start down there it was only for old people and larger bodied athletes that's all it was for like you had to be fucked up to go to work out there and that's where i saw michelle moots and west pyatt and those guys uh teach in jenny loud they taught people like that's one of the first time i'd seen a burpee where you just lean

against the wall and push yourself up yeah and we had those stories that you tell in your book too, where like people would be in their car and they wouldn't come out. They'd come to the gym and they would just be out there. And then one of the trainers would be like, Hey, you got to walk in. They'd be like, no, they're like, no, you got to, they'd open the door and like walk them in the gym. They're like, now what? They're like, you just sit down and then I walk you back to your car. That's day one. Then you come back tomorrow. It was cool as shit. Right. So cool. Tiny, tiny. Well, and this is the overwhelming theme of the level two, right? It's really focusing on giving that person micro wins. Don't make those steps too high.

Not the level two, the, the, the scaled nation seminar. You said. Seminar two. Yeah. Seminar. I, I, yeah. Ours is just essentially a reminder of, of the education that we've already got. It's, it's essentially how to apply it to this demographic and do it well. And you know what? Yeah. I don't even think eight hours is enough to be honest with you. I'm, I'm still struggling even right now. We're a week away and I'm like, I don't, it'll be interesting to see what we can fit in eight hours. And the course may, it'll be interesting to see what we can fit in eight hours and the course may,

uh, the course may evolve very quickly. I could see it turning into a two day seminar very easily. Um, have you ever gone, have you ever been to a CrossFit gym where you met a coach and they, you were just like, Holy shit. This person's like off the chart.

Good or bad? Good. Oh yeah. Yeah or bad? Good. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm incredible. I've met some incredible coaches. So there are people who are thoughtful enough from just taking what's out there.

No, I don't think there's anything out there that's going to teach somebody how to have a little more empathy. There's no CrossFit training that talks about empathy, which is what you really need to have. You're either going to be a good human or you're going to be a shitty human. But it's more than empathy too, isn't it? It's being intuitive. It's having empathy.

It's understanding the body. Yeah, understanding the body. Movement, right? Movement. It's all of it. Like it would be obvious if you saw a guy come in with one leg and there were 400-meter sprints in the workout to walk over to him and be like, Hey, dude, it is his first day. Be like, hey, we're going to have you on the

rower if you don't want to run or something. Right. You know what? You just said something really interesting. You said it should be obvious. Right. Right. To me as a, as a larger body person and only knowing this life, that's, I had to stop thinking like that too. There's nothing obvious about anything because, and this is what we talk about in the course to, to an, to an athlete or a coach, right. That has never struggled. That's never been in a larger body, never under has never been able to understand those challenges to them. They're like, Oh, well, you know, somebody should be able to just do a sit-up. It's the most fundamental movement there is. It should be easy, right? We hear easy a lot.

I'm going to give you an easier option. Well, there's nothing easy about it. So when you say like, it should be obvious. No, no, we can't even use those words. They don't know what they don't know. It's not their fault. Run, Forrest, run. Yeah, they're responsible once they are aware,. It's not their fault. Run Forrest, run. Yeah. They're responsible once they are aware, Hey, these are the challenges.

These are what we want coaches to understand once they have awareness, then yes, but we can't, we can't fault any coach for not understanding or not connecting the dots that they just can't comprehend. And it's not their fault. Yeah. And, and, and just go to the uh um larger body seminar that scaled nation does exactly get on fuck uh we only have 10 minutes i gotta ask you what was your favorite part about the book to write because i have a a million is there one part when you think of that book you're like oh that was fun writing that part? Um, oh, wow.

Uh. And then I'll dig in there. OK. OK. Are you hoping I say something? No, no. I'm kind of fascinated by what it would be, though. I'm like wondering, is it going to be there was some definitely some cathartic shit in there.

Yeah. You've had some you've had to deal with some crazy shit like that dude who drove you to the end of that dirt road that's some gnarly shit by the way you go into some um really uh intense detail throughout the book which is which is nice i i appreciated that i the details are like so important to me i don't like to fill i don't like to uh fill in other people's shit for them um but there's stuff like that. But then there's... Did you enjoy writing the highs or the lows the most? Hold on. Stop.

You said, I don't like to fill in shit about people. Hold that thought. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Back to Disneyland? Hold on. You do this you do this all the time man you gotta stop doing it this group of people can't possibly think straight

out as they never worked out a day in their life yeah yeah you just said i don't like to fill in shit about people you do it all the time oh i i trust me i yeah that's fine i do a lot of things i don't like to do somebody and all of a sudden you're like, oh, my gosh, this person is like they must have been here. They must have been here. They did this. They did this. Like, how does that happen so fast for you? I don't want to pick my nose and I'm just a chronic picker. There's a whole list of I hear you. OK. Guilty. Guilty. OK. OK. What's my favorite part? Okay. Okay. What's my favorite part? You know, actually, I think my favorite part of the book was writing about how I found CrossFit. Oh, I'm going to get emotional. It just, it was a, it was a finding this community, finding this life is, um, it was a game changer and it still is evolving for me.

It continues to be a struggle for, for a lot of reasons, but damn it. I'm in there doing it. Hey, that was my favorite part of the book too. And that's the part of the book I was thinking about this morning that I kind of wanted to start the show with. You walked in there and people were fucking nice to you. Yeah i i don't want to take anything away from your gym but i know why they were nice to you they were nice to you because that was the culture set at the very first gym in crossfit santa cruz if you ever met grass greg glassman for the first time he walks over and fucking hugs you and that's what the l1 sets that culture when you take your l1 on the first day,

everyone's awkward and just kind of like looking around, oh, that guy must have the fastest fran time. And by the end, you guys are all buddies. I would say that the level one is like that. I felt so taken care of at my level one. It was the best day of my life. Yeah. But I will say that, that, that culture does not carry over to every single gym. No, no, I agree. I walk through just as many boxes and I'm like, holy shit, and walk right back out. I agree. I've seen Greg full pelvic to pelvic, chest to chest, hug every kind of person you can imagine in this world.

Every kind of person you can imagine in this world, any fucking like – scramble it up, fucking albino lesbian from fucking Jamaica with two arms missing. Like I've seen him. He's traveled to all the fucking continents, and he has been welcoming to everyone. Have you met him, Athena? Greg? Yeah. Have you met him, Athena? Greg? Yeah. In person?

I mean, we've talked on the phone. No, TDC doesn't hug so much. TDC doesn't hug so much. TDC and Boz don't hug so much. They have boundaries. TDC. That's the Dave Castro. Oh, the Dave Castro.

That's right. And you say you're a Christian. Sorry, guys. Sorry, guys. Sorry, guys. No, it's early. OK. Not early enough to fucking rake me through the coals on my own podcast. Sorry. That has to be done.

You invited me. I know. I'm inviting you again, too. So so you go into the gym and they're crazy welcoming you went to the 2017 um open announcement which is a really tough place to fucking get introduced to crossfit right because it's kind of the hardcore it's the most hardcore i know uh that was the first introduction across the very first day they were doing uh 17.5 and you go in there yeah i go in there and um and you open the door and everyone stares at you just

like they would stare at everyone anyone who walks in who's this new girl i mean they're like you know yeah uh but it didn't take long everybody was coming up and introducing themselves by the way this is uh my five fitness in lakeville minnesota awesome i. I love it. Um, they're de-affiliated. Are they? I don't know. You didn't say you said my five fitness. Uh, I don't know if they are still affiliates or not. Okay, fine. Go on. Um, walk in. Yeah. Walk in. And, um, within a minute or two, they were all coming up. Hello. Are you new here? It was, it was pretty amazing. Never had that happen in my life and then so i'm sitting around we're watching you know scary for people to do that too not just to any not just not just to anyone but to walk up to

someone who has who's a larger bodied person it it's it's not um it goes both ways yeah it goes both ways it's not easy for some fucking 100 pound dude who's 5'5 to fucking walk over and introduce himself to a 500-pound – because it's the unknown, right? That's all it is. It's no judgments, nothing. It's just you're afraid of the unknown. It's the same reason like you don't pet strange dogs. It's just the unknown. But go on.

So people – and CrossFit transcends that. Yeah. Yes. It can, yes. Yeah, it it can yes yeah it can't sorry it can it can uh it can uh so i'm watching everybody and and and they were like hey athena uh you know a year from now that's going to be you and i was like bullshit and at the time it wasn't even something that i could fathom because i was on canes you know like how can you how can you you can't process walked in there with canes yeah i was on canes two walking canes that's how i had to hate that i strongly disliked it yes

did you have the kind that went around like the like like the the like a forest gump had like that the steel thing wraps around your uh yeah they had steel but they did have the kind that went around like the like like the like a Forrest Gump had like that? The steel thing wraps around your. Yeah, they have steel, but they did have the the canvas now. But yes, same thing. Yeah. When I see those, I think those that means you're going to have those for the rest of your life. Like when I see those kind, I'm like, oh, you're fucked.

Yeah. But I'm not that judgmental. You're not? You just created a story. Oh, they're fucked. They are fucked if they have those. Okay. So, let's see.

Just how welcoming it was. It was incredible. incredible. And your life, to be fair, also, your life had not been that way for the first 35 years of your life. Your story is your book is littered with places. Well, except for your drug friends, your drug friends seem pretty cool. They were cool. They were cool. They were cool, huh? You know what? I would never condone, you know, that type of behavior now, but that was some of the best times of my life. Yeah. That first crew that you smoke weed and cigarettes and do coke with and drink and you guys watch like old episodes of Beavis and Butthead. Yeah.

That shit is so fun. It was fun. Those were good memories. People falling asleep on couches. Yeah. I think, you know, everybody's got to go through that stuff you know yeah part of but besides that um uh there weren't too many places where you were welcome without without being basically hazed. Well, interesting question. Was it really because I wasn't welcome or was it because that was the story I created?

Damn, you're good. I take full responsibility for creating those stories do what because do i know that i wasn't welcome anywhere no i don't the miracle morning yeah never blame full accountability that's right um do you think scott pancheck should be fully accountable and responsible for landing on that rope and twisting his ankle hurting his knee do you know that story um yes i do yes i do isn't that isn't that a trip um i sent scott uh a message in my story he ended up reposting it and there's only you know what i not gonna, I'm not gonna appoint blame on anybody. It's unfortunate.

God, he's a good dude, isn't he? Fuck, he's a good dude. I felt terrible for him. Me too. I felt terrible for myself that I didn't get to watch him compete the rest of the week.

I sent him some prayers and, you know, but he's got great news. He does? Yeah. He has fabulous news. His wife's pregnant again. Yeah.

Wow. Hey, is, is that the, is that the road to happiness? Taking full accountability and responsibility? Is that? is that i think that once you once you get comfortable in your own shit um it changes everything uh the journey could be long you know like i said i'm still working online we're going to be working on our own shit forever right right but um yeah i i do i do um there are reasons and there are factors and there are things that ignite and reasons why we are the way we are. You know, we could talk about my weight and how that started. I understand it. I understand how it started.

I understand how it perpetuated. I understand how it still perpetuates today. But I'm owning it and I own all of it. but I'm owning it and I own all of it. Congratulations on the book. Thank you. Congratulations on the second book. Thank you. Congratulations on the seminar. Thank you. I know that, uh, we're not, I know we're finishing prematurely. That's a hundred percent my fault. We're finishing premature. Oh yeah. Yeah. Are we? mean i could talk to you i'd like to talk to you for another hour we have a shitload of people watching i think we could talk for another hour i think are you going

i have to i have another i have a i have to talk about with the the boy i have another podcast in nine minutes jeez louise i know it's not my fault. It is my fault. I'm fully responsible. Uh, a beautiful having you on. And, um, I am.

I'm so, so this, uh, one final thing, one final thing. So you will do this beta, the scaled nation beta. And that,

and that will be on what day? The first beta is June 4th, which is next Saturday. It's in Des Moines, Iowa. And it's sold out already, right? It's closed. Yeah. Okay. And then our second one is in Wisconsin, July 9th. Okay. And then we have our first live course in September that is in Austin is going to be the first one. Hey, scroll down, Savant. Oh yeah. Yeah. Put your name there. You want to come to, you need to come to this course. I think that you would benefit the most. Savant Matosi would benefit the most. Savon Matosi would benefit the most? Yep, fill it out. You gotta put your name there

and your email address. That's an incredible photo. He is amazing. Who is that? That is Morgan's husband. Oh boy, she's gonna kill me adam his name is adam wow good job hey good job hey i would have never been able i can't even remember your name what's your name uh empowering people to live without in a without a circle and yell limitations okay what did you want me to scroll down oh shit here we go june 4th july 9th september 10th in austin texas oh shit this

thing's rolling oh yeah so we got we got a partnership where me and tosh are oh my goodness yeah and then we got the brazilian tour wow savant uh brazil is um carol pasqual uh oh yeah i know her oh god i love this woman chick yep great um she is helping me set up the brazilian tour and i am super excited about that it's going to be like uh four different cities around the around. Hey, she's a pretty hardcore OG that a lot of people don't know. She's amazing. Amazing. Yeah, she's pretty gnarly. She's that's a that's a committed. I was going to say young lady, but I mean, I think I've seen her around for over 10 years. She has been just a complete such a supporter of this course um she's been involved oh i love you rosemary right there she is yeah it's a great picture too she um she is helping me with this it'll be um

four four or five cities four or five boxes, 50 coaches, give or take, and we're hoping to get some education down there. And we can start helping the larger body demographic in Southern Brazil, which is very problematic right now. Yeah. So this is where we're putting, more is going to be added but this is what we have up there right now and as the course launches it'll be that first one in september um we'll be ready by then thank you talk to you soon thanks for having me everyone who thought that um i won uh stay listening everyone who thought athena whooped my ass uh fuck off and go somewhere else okay bye