The Sevan Podcast - Victor Assaf | WheelWod - CrossFit OPEN 1st place

Episode Date: August 24, 2024

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Travel better with Air Canada. You can enjoy free beer, wine, and premium snacks in economy class. Now extended to flights within Canada and the U.S. Cheers to taking off this summer. More details at aircanada.com. Good morning, Bam. We're live. Victor, what's up, dude? What's up, man? How's it going? Good. Something's wrong with my Huh, I wonder what's going on there too bad. I don't know how to operate this thing that there's usually at the bottom there's a Underlay of all my friends

Who give me money that lets me put food on my table, but I don't see it me money that lets me put food on my table but I don't see it. Alright no love for my friends today. September 19th it's coming up. Wheel Wad you can see Victor kick ass and do his thing. San Antonio Texas it's going to probably be not probably be it's going to be the biggest CrossFit adaptive games in the history of the sport. Also the first one. Well, first one where it stands solo. But I was speaking to Lisa Gall yesterday and everything seems like it's great. Sounds like just the promotion, the athletes,

everything looks like it's running on all cylinders. Yeah, I think it's gonna be a great year. I think based on all the changes and the new partnership across with I think things are gonna be a little bit more, you know, we're gonna have a little bit more of a showcase, maybe brands and sponsorship is gonna get like a little bit more invested in it. But yeah, I mean, we're just hoping to have a great show. Yeah, I know it's gonna be a great show.

And the athletes are amazing. They're fired up. I think it's the fittest cohort of athletes who've ever shown up to the adaptive games. And you have probably one of the most experienced leaders in the entire CrossFit space. Kevin Ogarr, absolutely killing it with the with the with the event, the promotion, the workouts, everything, getting the athletes happy. You're stoked. Are you pretty pumped up for it?

Are you nervous? What's your what's your mood? I'm not nervous. I'm excited. I've been I've been getting ready for a long time for this. I don't think I have any like nervous like I don't feel nervous yet. I feel more like anxious like I really want to it always happens like this like I don't feel anything till I have like maybe a week a week and a half and then I start getting like pumped up and I'm getting anxious and I just want to be there already and I start what like I just want to compete And work out and then just have fun and be with my friends You feel any pressure since you won the open you feel any like hey, I gotta go out there and really perform

It's not a fluke like you it's almost like I always feel like if you win the open you're kind of already defending your title I mean it is a serious It's a it's a crazy accomplishment to win the title. It's probably it's it definitely in CrossFit. It's the most under rated achievement by far in the In the games, I mean the opens nuts. Yeah, so it's not like I was not expecting to win the open It was one of my goals like I was like, you know what? I'm gonna try to win it. It's maybe it's gonna be the first time that I'm actually gonna try to win all the workouts. Everything went right, I did it.

It was really fun. I enjoyed the workouts. To be honest, it was a little bit easy for me. But I really, I don't, the only pressure that comes, it comes from me. Good. I don't have, I don't have any other pressure from outside more than me trying to perform at my highest level. Um, try to dominate, which that's what I have in mind.

Um, and like I said, have the best time and just put my name like I've been doing it for a long time. Victor, say your last name for me. Assaf. Assaf, what kind of last name is that? So Assaf, it's from the Middle East. It comes from my mom's side. Half of my family from my mom's side, it's from Lebanon, Middle East.

Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, and the other half is from my mom's side. It's from Lebanon, Middle East. Oh, that's true. Yeah, and the other half is from Galapagos. So I was born in Galapagos, in Ecuador. Oh, I didn't even know that. The Galapagos, you were born on the Galapagos Islands? Yes, sir. There's residents there? Yeah.

Wow, I had no idea. And I had no idea that the Galapagos Islands were owned by Ecuador. I don't know who the fuck I thought owned them. I would have thought it was like Great Britain or something. A lot of people think the same. It's like it's like Hawaii with the US. Right. How many people live there? So we have a we have a certain like we have a big number of islands. We have like seven islands if i'm not mistaken and there's like maybe three or four that are actually like flooded with people but I don't know maybe santa cruz we have like

20 000 25 Wow, uh, yeah floriana has like I don't know like maybe 7 000 like it's not that big How old were you when you left the islands? Eight. I was eight years old. Eight years old. Have you ever been back?

Yes. I went back when I was, I think it was 14. And then from that, it just kept going and kept going and kept visiting and kept visiting until I moved to the States. Gotcha. Okay. So you've been there plenty of times. Gotcha. Okay, so you've been there Plenty of times. Yes Go ahead when I had the accident I I actually spent like three four months there

Okay, and we'll get to that. I know nothing about I know nothing about your accent, but I seen you you you're missing an arm for sure How does your how does a man from Lebanon meet a woman on a small island out in the middle of the Pacific? So that's my mom's from Lebanon and my dad's from Calabria. Okay, so how did they meet? This cruise ship, it was like a... They were like research. They were divers. So they met there. Both of them.

In college, it was like part of some sort of college like expedition or it was some sort of employment? I think that was more like my dad's job and my mom wanted to like experience a little Bit of you know, what's out there in the world And was it a dive ship off of Galapagos was your mom? So your mom's a Lebanese girl? She's got this dream. She goes to school and she's like and of course everyone knows about the Galapagos Islands I mean, I mean she lived in the States she grew up in the States She's like more like Americanized on that side and then and then they and then she She moved out to Ecuador first like She was like, I don't

know, maybe four years old, six years old when she moved down to Ecuador. My grandparents were escaping the war down in Lebanon. So that's how they came down to Ecuador. The reason why was because there was like a textile something going on in Ecuador and Lebanese and Middle-Isterns are like good good with it so they started a business there so they brought my mom or my mom came down with them and then when she grew up she started like you know she started studying in the US she went to college in the US and all that and then and then when she you know she reached her point she was like you know I don't want to like it to know the world a little more

and then you know was your mom born in Beirut yeah yeah you know my dad was born in Beirut I'm Armenian yeah I'm Armenian and so my whole family was escaping the Armenian genocide you know my grandparents did as little kids and my great-grandparents and so the French brought them to Lebanon and so I mean I have a lot of roots in Lebanon and I've been there many times and then um eventually when my dad was 18 he came to the United States and that's where he met my mom. But also a lot of my uncles and aunts also my dad brought them here because like you said because of the war.

Because yeah crazy wild. God the earth's a fascinating place. Is the Lebanese contingent of your family still in Ecuador working? Some of them, yes. Most of them. Yeah, wow. Yeah, most of them are still there. A lot of them are really old now.

Like my uncle is like, you know, but yeah, I mean, they're still there, man. Is Ecuador the... I get Ecuador and El Salvador mixed up. Is Ecuador the country that has the leader that just went through and arrested like 1% of the population and threw them in jail recently? Was Ecuador like the murder capital or am I confusing that with El Salvador? So yeah, El Salvador just changed. I think you're talking about Bukele.

Yeah, God told him to clean up the streets and he just fucking just grabbed all that's added guys and threw him in that jail for life Yeah, that's that's a that's El Salvador. That's El Salvador. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, it's okay. That's more like central You know, we're more like down in south. We're next to Peru and Colombia We're right there on the coast like we're coastal right and I'm in El Salvador Central America. Yeah All right. Sorry my bad. And what's the crazy part is is I've been to both coastal right and I'm in El Salvador Central America. Yeah. All right. Sorry my bad And what's the crazy part is is I've been to both those countries and I still I still don't even know. It's all good. Okay. Um, tell me about so, um

Do you speak Spanish? Yeah, do you speak Arabic? I Don't but I understand some gotcha Wow Wow. Okay. Any other languages? I grew up in I studied in an Italian school so I understand Italian. I maybe can like defend myself a little bit speaking Italian but not that much. Are you married? No. Do you have a girlfriend? No. You said could you defend yourself? I was asking could you hit on an Italian girl? Yeah. You could. You have those skills. I could try. I could try. I know some words that I could just present myself or get to know someone. But you know know I think as I recall and I apologize to Fisa Gaffi if I'm getting

it wrong she has a similar you know genetic makeup as yourself I think she's Iranian and Mexican yes yeah interesting yes I met I met see I think a year ago in power monkey camp yeah she's cool's cool. She, right? Yeah. Yeah. She's cool. Yeah. Yeah. What a nice lady. Yeah. Okay.

Um, so, uh, Victor, how old are you? I'm 35 and you've been doing CrossFit 17 years. Yes. Yeah. That was, that's wild. And you're fully immersed athlete coach, the whole. 100%. I've been doing this for a long long time right it was

thanks to my older brother he was the one that introduced me to CrossFit and my younger brother yeah both of us and where were you born like I said I was born in Galapagos right sorry thank you and then at eight years old and then at eight years old you left Galapagos Islands and you came to yeah my parents got divorced and then we moved down to Guayaquil and we lived there with my grandparents. And where is that? Guayaquil, where is that? Guayaquil is the city. Okay.

The capital, it's gonna be Quito and then Guayaquil is like the main, like, you know, the port. That's the coastal where everything gets in and out. So that's where I was. So you will get the idea, living out in the wild, literally it was like a park. I was out all the time outside. And then we moved down to an apartment,

big apartment, and I felt like I was caged. So I started to have this, I was already a hyperactive, I felt like I was caged. So I started to like having this, I was already like a hyperactive, like I was already like a super active kid. I didn't care about anything. I was climbing trees and running and jumping from the bridge and like whatnot. And then we moved to the city

and then it was like a little bit more difficult for me because I was like, literally I felt like I was in prison. How old were you when that happened? Eight, nine years. You moved to the city at eight or nine. So you weren't in the country very long. No. Look at, so he has several girlfriends.

He said, probably. Like I said, okay, okay. No more, I'm not listening. All right. And then from there, were you playing the traditional sports? Were you doing soccer? I did soccer, I did basketball, I did swimming. And then after we stayed there for till nine, from eight, nine years old till I was I think eleven, twelve.

So I finished school and then we moved to the beach because my older brother, he wanted to study like marine biology. And then there was like a good college down in the beach in Ecuador called Salinas. And we went there. Obviously, I loved it. My younger brother loved it. My mom loved it. And for my older brother, like he didn't actually loved it. My younger brother loved it. My mom loved it. And for my older brother, he didn't actually like it.

So he was like, you know what, I'm just going back to the city and then figure out what I want to do. So my older brother went back to my grandparents and then we decided, like my mom decided to stay with us and then just try to make her life on the beach. We had an apartment right in front of the beach. It was some good memories. You know, where are you right now? Where do you live now? Florida, Jupiter.

I live right now. I live in Jupiter, Florida. I moved down from Raleigh, North Carolina, like seven months ago. And what and how long did you stay in this beach town and in El Salvador in Ecuador in Right to seven right it down write it down in Ecuador. Yeah, we stayed there until I was I Think it was 17 16 17 and and then where did you go then we went back to the city because I I had a little bit of too much of a

freedom my mom was working a lot and I was barely at the house so like I I got a little derouted from a child's life and I got to know a lot of shit that was happening like on the streets and you know drugs and shits and all that shit of all the experience that you get if you get it when you're growing up you know. Yeah and kind of the stuff boys do maybe selling some weed weed maybe me hanging out. Yeah, like all that shit Yeah, I was hanging around with gang people like all that shit. It was what it was crazy. It was great motorcycles Motorcycles more when I was a little like older like I really like I like motorcycles, but like to be honest

I never thought I was gonna get one or I was gonna buy one until I got one Um, is it crazy stuff that happens in the United States that you're doing or stuff that's unique to Ecuador? I'm sorry The crazy stuff you did as a kid is it stuff that we do in the United States crazy stuff as a kid or is it Stuff that's unique to Ecuador. Yeah, it's kind of the same thing You know you go out you drink with your partner you put your buddies and then you get high Then you get in trouble and then you fight and then you know you that shit grows it's just like a snowball right and a few of your friends if your friends maybe go to jail maybe someone gets killed i was i fucking got to jail you did

yeah yeah how many times did you go to jail once once okay yeah just once how long did you just overnight and you got out or uh no i think i was there for like a week, a week and a half. How was that? So this was already when I had my motorcycle and, uh, apparently the guy that's try to stop me, he said that I passed the red light, which I didn't. It was already 12, like 12, like it was midnight. So when it's midnight, the lights are like blinking. So you can actually go through,

just have to be careful. So I did. And then this guy like stopped me. And then I was coming from the gym party. I had, I didn't drink, but they were throwing alcohol and shit when we were dancing and all that. So I like, I had a lot of shit on my

Like on my clothes and then he stopped me and then he was like, oh you smell like alcohol a lot And I was like, I'm gonna park my motorcycle right there because they cannot get in like private property, right? So I went and parked my motorcycle and then he tried to pull my motorcycle and then I hit him and then things started I'm like with one of these Yeah, like I just like slam his hands like get your fucking hands out of a mic and then it was like ramping up ramping up and then like I had two or three like cop cards coming in and yeah I got pulled over like I got actually was my mistake because there was like a bunch of cops and then I decided to step out from the garage

Lisa Cabella Victor is my favorite I distinctly remember him in the crowd at water Palooza this year cheering me on during my 2k row When I wanted to give up because my body was quitting he's a badass athlete That's awesome That's awesome. Awesome. Awesome. I'm from Manny Serrano. I'm from Ecuador. Not El Salvador. Let's go one day there, Seve. I'd love to. I'd love to go. Last time I was there was many years ago. 20 years ago. So you go back to the city, kind of a change of venue, change of friends, and what ends up eventually bringing you to the United States? Is that where you find

CrossFit? Do you find CrossFit in Ecuador? Yeah, my older brother introduced me to it when I was, I had an episode, I was I was dropped on a competition on a fucking club and I was on drugged you. Yeah, yeah. They someone drugged me, put something in my drink. And then I was like, you know, like drowsy, what the fuck's going on? And then I got like everything blurred and I just got really aggressive. Then someone put me in a taxi or whatever, a cop. And then and then I remember like then I remember exactly what happened. I got in that car and then the guy sitting right next to me, which was driving, he was like,

hey, do you want some to drink? And I was like, I know he was testing me just to figure it out if I was already like gone in here. So I said, yeah, why not? And then I drank some of it. I couldn't fucking resist. It was alcohol. It was like a beer with some bullshit, like more of that bullshit that they had like a scapulamine, like, you know, and then I had more of it. And then I remember pulling in my house. I was living alone by the time pulling in my house and then I and then this guy asked me for water he was like hey can you give me some water and I was like yeah but wait here I remember saying that and then I got off the car and then he got off the car and I saw that but I couldn't say anything I was like what the fuck and then he walked behind me

and then as I was opening the door I probably blacked out or he knocked me down And he robbed you Yeah, they rubbed a lot of shit inside the house clothes shoes watches my computer But oh shit Okay, and in that was a turning point for you that was the turning point that was like I was like going through really aggressive point for you? That was the turning point. That was like, I was like going through really aggressive times. I just wanted to fucking kill someone or fight someone and just get that shit out of me, get rid of it. And my brother was like, hey, man, I think you really you should just come over and

try this. I think you're gonna like it. And I was doing MMA by that time. So he was like, I really think you're gonna love it. And I was like, ah, they're not really don't I've heard like somebody like people fucking throw up. I really don't want to do that shit. That was what came out of my mouth. And then since he was like really persistent, I was like, you know what, let's do it. Let's go. So I went with him for like a week or like a month. But I remember my first workout, I think it was like, it was like burpees and kind of thrusters, box jumps and like pull-ups. And to be honest, I like fell in love with it immediately.

And I should not, Sevan, I threw up like 14 times in that fucking workout. Like in the term of an hour, like I was getting in, coming into the bathroom, getting out, going to the bathroom, getting out, going to the bathroom, getting out. But I finished the workout. Wow. In the term of an hour, like I was getting in going coming into the bathroom, getting out going to the bathroom, getting out going to the bathroom, getting out, but I finished the workout, like, I was like, Holy shit, what is this? And then after that, like, I remember, I don't know if I had like some type of rap dough or some shit, but I could not

move it. I was like this, like, both of my arms, my legs, my everything was just tight as hell. So I couldn't move for like a week, a week and a half. And then I stopped. And then one, one of the, like it was like, it was growing in Ecuador. So one of those opened next to the place that I was living. So I was like, you know what, fuck it, I'm just gonna go.

And then I started going and started going. and then I started getting better and better and better and I had like strict muscle ups out of nowhere and then everything was like falling into place. I had like a 450 deadlift out of nowhere. Like everything was like, I was like, holy shit, what's going on? And then, and then one of the coaches was like, hey, I don't know if you would like to, you know, start like maybe helping me, you know, and I was like, I had a panic to talk to masses or people. Like I it was it was horrible. I remember just trying to have an exposition at the school or whatever and it was like

I it was impossible. And I said that to them. Like you're gonna get social anxiety. Like you would just wanna run away. They'd be like, okay, you're a Victor and you would just picture yourself running away. Yeah. Can you hear me?

That's how I get to speaking in front of groups. That's how I get around groups of people. I feel like I start thinking I should just run away. Like actually I see myself running. Yeah, dude, it was not good. Like I really didn't feel good. So I started warming them up. Right. I started warming them up and like 15 year old kids. Were they kids at school? Who's this we? What do you mean? We know I was I was what what do you mean? What you said you started warming them up? You started warming yourself up?

Yeah, like warming, no, like warming the class, like warming, like warming the next class. So I was warming the people up, like the members, and then he was explaining the workout. Oh, okay. You're across the gym. Okay. Sorry. For some reason I pictured you at like some sort of junior high. Okay.

No, no, no, no, no. Yeah. Yeah. We moved down after that. Okay. Okay. And, no. Yeah. Yeah. We moved down after that. Okay.

Okay. Um, and basically that's how kind of like I started to fall in love with, you know, like coaching and trying to help people get better. And I was always focusing about like forever. And this is from my, my older brother, like drilling my face you need a good form you need a good form it's all about form it's not about weight you know and I I think you heard about Carlos Andrade I mean he's one of the biggest heads in Ecuador for CrossFit so he he was also one of my coaches so I I think I had a really

really good school back then. And I was just like a sponge. I was just trying to learn from every single one of them, right? It was still a little hard for me because I was still super aggressive inside. So my way to work out, it was different than the way that people was coming to the gym to workout. And back in the day, it was like, you do this shit, and you do this shit. You're not here to just fucking fuck around. You're coming here, you're going to go do the workout as it is. That's how I was. And then eventually, I grew up a little more. I was getting a little bit more education from coaches. I got my level one and a different certifications and all that.

So I learned. And I also wanted to move up and like find better places to be so I can get better in the, you know, a better coach. So with the time different gyms were opening. And I was like, you know what, I want to, I want to, I want to, I want to learn more. I want to grow. I want to be, I want to be with the best. So I was moving from gym to gym to gym to gym. I might want to say, one of the reasons why I stepped out from one of those gyms was because

one of my coaches forgot to put one of my open scores and I was fucking six back then. And after that I was like there's no way this fucking thing I'm not going to stay here. So after that I decided to change gyms and start back again from zero. And that's what I've been doing. A gym in the same town. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Everything was in the same town, dude. Like in Ecuador, that's the thing. Like one thing opens and then you should, that shit spreads like. Like in flu. Let me ask you, Victor, let me ask you this. Where does this, um, um, hardness, this come inside of you? Did you have some... why as a young child... I have two questions. The first one is, why as a young child, when did you become so aggressive?

When did you feel like... I mean, you definitely have... I mean, when I met you at the games, you definitely have warrior spirit. Like you remind me of the UFC fighter, Alex Pahaya. Like people know when they're in your presence. You know what I mean? You have a very strong gaze. You have a gaze like some sort of like either like deeply religious,

you're across between some deeply religious man and a warrior. Where do you get this from? I get this mostly from my mom. You know, I grew up with my mom. I grew up with my brothers I Saw my mom suffering a lot and You know growing up you go through so much shit that you sometimes you don't even talk about that

sometimes it's just fucking sometimes you don't even talk about that. Sometimes it lets just fucking. I don't know. Just, did you feel helpless as a kid? Like your mom was suffering and you couldn't help her. And so a kind of a rain milk inside of you. You're like, fuck it. Because you really, everyone obviously wants to make their mom happy.

Yeah. Yeah, of course. And, and I don't know. I think like, this is how I see it. When I, when I used to give like multi-listened speeches, I used to say like, I've been fighting my entire life and I'm not used to something that it's not that, like fighting for something that I want,

fighting for my fucking dreams, fighting for my job, fighting for my life, fighting for a competition, fighting for a fair competition, fighting for something that needs to be fucking right. And that's how I've been my entire life. And then obviously I moved down here and it's a challenge all the time because my family, it's not with me. You know, I mean, they're far, not that far, but they're far.

They're in a different country. Like they're down in Ecuador and I'm here and I've been, and I've been like that for almost four years now. Like I've been here in the States for almost four years and I can't go back because I'm still working on my citizenship. So it's a little bit of Victor against the world If you want to put it that way it's it's me against whatever the fuck is trying to stop me right And you have a strong survival instinct Yeah, and I I think I had that since I was a kid When you say you saw your mom going through suffering, just being a single mom or was

she sick or? Being a single mom, you know, going through stressful shit, myself putting her in like hard times when I was growing up. You were doing boy shit. Yeah. Dressing her out. And I was just not giving a fuck. I was like, I'm invincible. I don't give a fuck. I'm going to do whatever I want. Right. And then once you grow

up, you understand. Or once you go through something really hard, like when I had the accident, you actually flip that shit and understand that you have a different perspective of what's going on and really should be important. Um, and, um, and we'll get to that. And then the other piece that I'm curious about is, your life doesn't happen. Even throughout these threads that you've shared with us, this quick crash course on your life, there's obviously been just discipline and structure and not afraid to work out. Where do you think you got that from? It sounds like no matter what the chaos was in your life, you had some sort of exercise regiment or some sort of discipline to do some sort of training. Ever since I was a kid, I saw my mom working out. Oh, wow. Really? Yeah.

I joined her to the gym every single day in the morning. Was she doing cardio class? No, she was lifting weights. Wow. Yeah. Where did she get that from? I'm guessing my grandparents. I don't know. She's fearless, dude.

She's fearless, dude. Okay, so you saw those patterns in her. Yeah. It's just always a go-to. It's like, oh, it's not just that. Like I was with her when we were running on the beach and with her when she was skiing, like on the water with her every single time. So I think that's where I get like, where I got that from her.

Like that's totally from it. I saw her like going through like, you know, lifting and shit. And I was like looking at her and I was like I I I like looking at what she's doing but I remember when I was a kid I was like I fucking hate weights I don't like this yeah that's that's what a great story there about the importance of having good parents this company they just gave just gave $4.99, this equipped products. I just got turned on to these people the other day. You know?

They're the best. Yeah, do you know this? Yeah, this is crazy. What a wild website. Yeah, Mark and Dana, they're the ones that brought the adaptive equipment to the world. Yeah, I had no idea and it's a beautiful website and I had no idea this stuff even existed.

And what's crazy is it's, I mean, obviously it's probably inspired by adaptive, but I mean, there's equipment there for everyone. I mean, it's 100% that you also have collaborations from you know, like great minds from you know, the Vic from victory grips Victor Pellegrino or Dave Newman from our X mark here great guy, you know like Hey, what is this one? What is what do you what is this one in the last year? So that's just a thick rope a heavy one and yeah

It just have the same stimulus that you have when you're jumping that rope You're just going back back back back and forth. Okay back back and forth Yeah, what a cool it's it's crazy that I didn't know about this until the other day I can't remember who I think I just Saw them put a donation So I went to their website. They have really cool stuff They're they're the ones that created the the the monitor that flips. So yeah wheelchair athletes can see when they're you know ski Pulling the the handles from the bike. Oh, yeah That was so funny to hear Tim Murray say that like, you know

He would go for like some sort of record and then go around to see his time in the monitor Run around and then check it out. It's like oh shit. Oh my god. Oh My god, I hate I would hate that I would hate that, you know, it's funny though even I have the assault runner and I'm five foot five and even for, the monitor is so high that like, I have to run really fast for a second and kind of lean up. If I was just one inch taller, I was just one inch taller. But yeah, Morgan Dana, man, they are the owners from Acre products and they're the ones that

created all this for adaptive athletes and it's making our know our sport even better. You said you took your L1 I know that's not a cheap endeavor and it's only two days what inspired that? You want me to be 100% honest the first time that I got my level one I took it for free tell me that was awesome. It was given to me By Pat Sherwood Wow Wow you remember back then when he was like cruising down South America and it's more like oh Yes, he stopped in one of my in one of the gyms that I was working and we threw a workout We had like a whole episode like you can find that I'm like lifting shit with one arm like recently when I had the accident and shit and And he was like hey, man. I I really, I really think you should get this.

I really think you should do it. And I'm going to give you the opportunity to go and take your level one. I want to tell you this story real quick to show you how connected everyone is. So I can't remember where I w I can't remember why I was there, but I was in Tahoe for some sort of CrossFit event and there was a guy there filming for us named Ian Wittenberg. Yeah, it was Ian too. So Ian said, he was looking for a job and I was running the CrossFit media department. And I said, hey, I'd love to hire you.

I'll get you a job. And he's like, sure, I'd love to hire you. I'll get you a job." And he's like, sure, I'd love to. And so so he came to the office and he got the job. And him and Pat immediately sat down and they walk in my office one day and they lay out this map. And they're like, hey, we want to ride all the way down to South America and in back and we want to film at gyms. And I was like done. done and that day I just bought them two motorcycles and I sure were part of that shit Yeah, I bought them the motor I bought them the motorcycles and I told them they could keep the motorcycles even when the trip is done And and they took off on that trip Yeah crazy, right

Yeah, wild wild wild And you know those were the good old days he probably met you said this guy needs L1 He probably called Dave or Nicole and was like hey, can I give this guy an L1 and they were like sure no problem Yeah, I mean he gave me the curse. It's like the curse like the the whole it's not like he gave me the this the Certificate he was like you should go and get it. And that's how it happened. Oh, the courage. Oh, he didn't give it to you for free. Yeah, no, no, no, no.

He was like, you should go and get it. It was for free. It was everything for free, but it's not like I got, but it's not like they gave me the certificate. Oh, right, right. Yeah, go do the test. Everything's gonna be for free. You're gonna be okay.

Just go and do it. Crazy. Wow. Crazy. I got the to be okay. Just go and do it. Crazy. Wow. Crazy. I got the good old days. That was so fun. Hey, that was just on a whim. Literally they just came into my office

and put down a map and then they had all the stops they were going to make. I'm like done. Go do it. That is so wild. Tell me a little more specifically, how did they meet? So you just showed up to the gym one day and there's these two fucking dudes.

I was already there, dude. And I knew knew I knew that they were like just cruising around I knew because it was a it was a loud loud voice from everyone like all the Um, you know the gyms etc So like hey, there's two guys from HQ riding down to south america on the motor tables and they and they stopped on every single affiliate down in Ecuador So they stopped in this and this cross that I was coaching. It was a cross of Machete. That was the name and They stopped there and they wanted to throw a workout in and and they wanted to get yeah you get to know the place what's that and That's I mean, that's how it happened, dude.

Like we started working out. I know Pat was like, fuck that. I've never seen this. And then Ian was just like everywhere, just fucking getting pictures and like footage and everything. And then we're a filmmaker. He's such a guy. Yeah.

Then we sat down and had a conversation and that's how it happened. He asked me, like, do you have a level one? And I'm like, no, but I really want to do it. I'm just trying to save money. And then he was like, yeah, forget about that shit. I'll give it to you That's awesome. Yeah, it was really really good And so you're there and by that point you're doing the open you told the story about how you did the open one of your Scores didn't get submitted. So you're already like getting into the competitive aspect of it

Did you have another job too at the same time or were you doing everything was around CrossFit? aspect of it. Did you have another job too at the same time or were you doing everything was around CrossFit? Everything's been around CrossFit for a long time. Okay so the struggle is real for you because it's not it's not an easy road to ho right? No and you know when when we when we approach the competition and we at least me you know I was expecting that we were gonna have like a prize first like something for real You know, that's something that really that's one of the things that really annoys me and bothers me because I mean, yeah Okay, we have the CrossFit name, but what is CrossFit doing for us?

Besides just putting it's not even a stage because the stage and everything is being managed by will walk But like if we have your name like At least give us 10,000 dude, like I'm not even asking for 365,000 Because people like us we also need that shit Like some of us we fucking do this for living man the the You're saying you're saying you want a substantial prize money. Exactly. Yeah.

A 1600 is not going to do shit, man. I make more than that in my job. Right. So that's one of the things that really like at this point in my career, well, you know, I'm like, come on guys. Like we are athletes too. We fucking move more people than an elite guy. Because we do shit with one arm, with one leg, on a wheelchair, blind. Like yeah these um, I was watching this video yesterday on your Instagram.

This is pretty nuts. on your Instagram. This is pretty nuts. This is pretty nuts. That's a, I think it's deadlift, yeah. I was doing a weight less than that with two hands the other day and it was slipping out of my hands. Yeah, that's wild.

That's absolutely wild. Is that the gym you're currently at? Yes, CrossFit Seedog. And do you have a coach there? My coach is Jason Lennon. Oh. And do you have a coach there my coach is Jason Layden Oh Um Conquer athlete is that up in the east Milford Connecticut. Yeah, I I know him from god that guy's been around forever. I know that guy from Rob Orlando. Yes, sir

Wow Rob Orlando. Yes, sir. Wow. Yeah, good people. Wow. Yeah. It really is a small world. It is, dude. It is. It is a small fucking world. It is a small world. That's why it sucks when we're fighting. Okay. And so you're down there and you're training and at this time you have both your arms all these stories up to this point When I was with Pat, I already had the accident you did have the accident. Yeah, and what kind of accident did you have? What happened? So I had a motorcycle. I told this story Dude, I was a multi-visual speaker. So okay in five five thousand more than five million. Like I don't know it's forever All right, it doesn't matter. I have don't know it's forever. All right. It doesn't matter I have no problems with it. Okay. Thank you. So um

I had a motorcycle accident Back in 2012 coming down or coming off of a strongman competition Back then I was kind of like 205 pounds 200 pounds. I was jacked dude. I was big How old were you? 21 okay 21 22 and I had my motorcycle like I got it like probably six months before having the exit and I got on my motorcycle and like I said,

back then I was like this really hot head guy and I was just focusing on whatever the fuck I wanted. And it was not sharing with anyone. So some of my friends, they were like, hey dude, we're gonna go eat and like, you know, just meet and like just have fun for a little bit. I was like, oh, fuck that. I'm going to the beach.

Just that's what I do. I go, that's my place, my place to be. So I put my helmet, put my gloves and everything. I geared up and then I zoomed out like fast, really fast. So to clear this up for you, there was, there's two bridges that connect the place that I was competing with the rest of the city. All right?

And there's one long bridge that it's over the Waiakeel River that is just a mile and a half, maybe a little more. The bridge is that long? Yeah. Of just a straight road Straight line So I was like I think the speed limit there. It's like I don't be like 15 20 25 miles something like that. I

Was going at like 70 70 miles 80 miles per hour so the first bridge, you know was was I zoomed immediately from that one. And then there was another one that was, it was like a, like a small bridge, like a small connection that had a very pronounced curve. So I coming up, I felt how my motorcycle was pushing me to the side of the bridge, which is where the guardrail was. And with my body, I was trying to push my motorcycle to the left. So I didn't hit the guardrail.

And it was not happening. So I- Nick, how many times did you cross that bridge prior to that? Five hundred times. Five hundred times. So you knew the bridge. It was a fun bridge. You liked it. Yeah.

Yeah. The problem is that I forgot totally that it was a pronounced curve right over. So it was like this and then boom. So I was going up, going up, going up. I felt how the motorcycle was pushing me to the right. I downshifted and tried to push it to the left. Nothing was happening. I kept going and kept going.

And then this road was damaged. So I had like bumps. So my rear tire lifted up, touched the ground, lifted up, touch the ground. And on the third one, when it touched the ground, it made that wobbly effect, the deadly one. So with my head and with my eyes and with my arms, I was trying to just stabilize what was going on. Try to control it, control it, control it, control it. I kind of like got to control it a little bit. And when I raised my head, like there was a light post right here. Right in front of me.

So my only reaction was to move my head to that side. So I hit my arm this way. So I was like holding my motorcycle and I hit it. My god, you're so lucky. Oh, I know. I know. I know. Holy shit. So my arm went this side. My arm was still attached with me. I didn't rip it up. So it went to this side and then my head went this way or that way. And then the nerves completely just got ripped off from my spine, which means your brachylo... my BPI, which is a brachylexis injury.

Oh, God, you're lucky it didn't fuck your spine up. Dude, that's because I was 200 pounds. Man. And all the muscle that I was like coming out of a competition that I was swirled up, it absorbed the entire impact from everything and that's not it. So once I hit that for the first like that was the first impact boom I'm in between like the front tire my leg it's like stuck in between the bridge and the motorcycle and the back tire or the rear tire is still spinning. So when it touched the ground because of that first impact my

helmet raised up a little bit so it was like up here and then I don't know what happened when he touched the ground because it was still going fast the motorcycle it pulled me forward and then I hit my jaw in the guardrail. And then I hit my like I destroyed my jaw in like three different parts. Wow. And then I dropped like maybe five feet from from from where my motorcycle was. And my motorcycle was like parked right next to the life was like right there. So what really what really really like, and one of the craziest things that happened and why I can kill you this with so much detail. It's because I, I really think I died

100%. And I had a full out of the body experience where I saw myself having the accident. I relived it twice. Like you were like literally in space watching it. I was in front of it. In front of it. I was like on the other side of the road and I watched everything from the ground like from down there like how I was coming up and then how I I was like losing that control and how I was pushing to the left and then how that how I hit the light post and then how I hit my face.

I saw everything. And then on that second time that I was reliving it, when I hit my head, I came to my body. And then I woke up. And when I woke up, I was without my helmet and without shoes. I have no idea why. And I had like a t-shirt wrapped around my neck because I was bleeding everywhere like from my mouth, from my nose, from my ears. And obviously I destroyed my teeth like I was spitting

fucking teeth and blood. I took a side of my like a side of like a piece of my tongue. And I couldn't feel my arm at all. Like I was trying to move it, but I couldn't feel it at all. And then like, I was like getting conscious and unconscious, conscious and unconscious. And then meanwhile, that was happening. Like people from the competition saw me. So they stopped.

And then some of them I remember that I was like with some of the gym people that I would used to work with and and and like they were all there a bunch of people from the competition and then there was like a circle and then I remember having someone next to me I don't know if he was a firefighter or some type of a doctor and he was like asking me all these questions like how old I was I where was I going where did I came from what was I doing and I remember like hitting like bling bling bling every single question and then I passed out again and then I woke up and then when I woke up there was more people and then something there was something like over like right above them like that I couldn't understand what was it. It was like shapes.

I don't know maybe they were angels dude I really don't know and then was it an entity do you think it was something that was alive? Yeah I think I think it probably was my grandfather my grandfather yeah he was definitely there. I remember talking to my mom on the phone, dude. I stood up, I talked to my mom and I said, yeah. I said, no, I'll be home in a little bit. Then I passed out again. Obviously somebody was holding me, I guess.

After like 30, 45 minutes- Wait, what year is this, Victor? 2012. Oh, it gets even fucking better, man. Just wait. So once I got in the hot, like they put me in the stretcher and then they put me in the ambulance and then they drove me down to the hospital. When I rolled in, I saw my mom and I think I saw my younger brother.

And everything started fucking hurting. Like all the adrenaline went away. I was like, okay, I'm safe. And then when I saw them, like everything fucked. I completely blacked out and I started like swinging and kicking. And then they just induced me into a coma and then I was induced in a coma for five days so they fixed my chin and they were trying to figure out what was going on with my arm I woke up after five days my mom was right there And I remember that I asked her, I asked her two questions.

The first one was, where is my key? From my worth. Wow. Yeah. And she just did this like, hey, here it is. And then the second question was because I had her, I made her sign a paper and I grabbed that paper and then I took that to a tattoo artist and then I had that tattooed on my arm. You knew to ask that then when right as you

came out of a coma? Yeah. So I asked those two things. I was like, where's my keys? And then how's my tattoo? How's your name on my arm? And she was like, it's my keys? And then how's my tattoo? How's your name on my arm? And she was like, it's okay, nothing happened. Everything is good. And then I went back to sleep. Maurice, Saf, is this your brother? Yeah. All the muscle and bone density were strong enough

to stand the impact and he broke his jaw in three places. Jedidiah Snellson, Victor competed with two arms for a long time. Yeah. Victor competed with two arms for a long time. Yeah. What was the total stay in the hospital? I stayed there for 21 days. So after five days, woke up,

and then all that transition between all the medicine that you have, waking up, falling asleep, waking up, falling asleep, waking up, falling asleep, waking up, falling asleep. When I woke up after like maybe seven days, like you know, waking up and falling asleep, like I felt, I felt like someone like someone different. Like when I used to do the motivation of speeches, I used to explain it as like I had a like a soul swap. A soul swap a Soul swap. Yeah, all the bullshit that was running into me fucking died that day And then when I woke up I woke up like someone different like

Everything was different about it. I had a similar experience to that it was like But it was like the old Sevan died, but I could still use everything that he knew. I had all of his tools, but he was gone. Yes, 100%. You know what I mean? It was like someone gave me all their tools, but I was a new person. But they weren't me anymore. I didn't identify with them, but they were

mine if I wanted to access them. 100%. That's exactly how I felt. And you have not put it in better words than that. Yeah, it was a trip. Yeah. So, were you a religious person prior to that? Not that much. I mean, I grew up with, you know, my grandmother, she's very religious. My mom, she's religious. But I grew up with that side. Like, it's not like I don't, but I did grow up with it. It's not like I'm crazy about it. But I do believe. Like, I do believe.

Did you search for answers? Did you start reading books or start looking like, hey, what is this experience that I had? What's the explanation for what the... You know what? More than reading books, I was trying to figure out what could I possibly do to feel like I felt before? Because it was just very weird for me to feel the way that I was feeling. Like I felt like a new person. But I was kind of like trying to seek for that, like,

where is that guy? Right. You know? And for me, it almost felt like I was going crazy because I had to rebuild part of me I had to rebuild my identity again, but part of me didn't want to rebuild it because it was so free Did you have that also like who the fuck am I kind of cool not being attached to anything yeah, it was like I Didn't I didn't feel that anger anymore, man. Oh, interesting. Yeah, it was different. And now I can, it's like a, if I'm approaching a bar that I know it's heavy,

or if I'm approaching a workout or a competition, I go back to that place. And that's what I feed from. And then once I'm done, I snap out of it because I can't control it. And that's what I've learned from myself having the accident. Where can I go to complete the task that I have to complete and then snap out of that shit and just be me again? And that's how I work out. And that's how I approach that shit every single time. Um, uh, so five days, unconscious, uh, seven days in and out of consciousness.

In and out, in and out, in and out. And then, you know, you have the fucking visit from the doctors and then one of the doctors just come over and says like, Hey, what, what, what, what were you doing before having the accident? I was like, yeah, I was studying to be a chef and I was like, you know, I'm an athlete. I compete. And he was like, well, you have to forget about all that shit. Forget about it. You're not going to do that ever again. And that thing fucking gave me like an aneurysm, dude. So I had to stay even more days in the hospital.

Why did he say you wouldn't be able to do that stuff anymore? Because it's doctors, dude. They don't know anything more than science or medicine. They don't even know that. And when did you come to, when did, were you, did you know right away that your right arm wasn't doing what it was supposed to be doing? No, I remember that when I woke up, I was like, fuck, I can't move my arm, but I'm pretty sure it's because of all the that because of the impact that I had and because of

how swollen it is. So I was I was not I didn't ask about it. I was kind of afraid. And then I remember on day 19 or 18, I was like, dude, my back was hurting because I was just laying in bed for so long. Right. And I remember telling my mom, like, mom, I don't know. I want to do something. She was like, well, fucking stand up and do some squats. Did you have a catheter in? So you were just peeing in a catheter? No. No. So you would get out of the bathroom? When I was asleep, when I was like in coma. Yes after that No Yeah, so she was like, well fucking stand up and do some squats And then I did like 20 squats and then I felt dizzy as shit and I was like

Well, that's exactly what I needed and then I laid back down But that was the first glimpse From her encouraging me yeah to go back and do your own shit again. Right. And tell me about the process of realizing that you didn't have a right arm anymore. A functioning right arm. So is it just dangling there? It was, yeah. It was like a fucking kettlebell.

It was a farmer's gary forever. So... How much did it weigh how much does an arm weigh do you know it was like 20 20 pounds dude it was like 1825 pounds it was it was heavy yeah sure was heavy so 21 days go back home lock myself up for eight months. I didn't want it to do or know anything. Just denial? I was in denial. I was in denial for a little bit. And I was pretty narcissistic. So I hated the way that I was looking. Every healthy 21 year old boy is narcissistic So I hated the way that was looking Every every healthy 21 year old boys narcissistic fucking no teeth

Wall that's fucked with my face like all beat up like fucking bruises everywhere Yeah, so I was like fuck me and you come from this place where you already were just loving your body You were a beautiful powerful 21 year old man girls liked you You rode a motorcycle and then all of a sudden, bam. Everything changed, dude. Yeah. Flipped. So, it was eight months. In those eight months, I did a lot of shit.

I got hooked up on painkillers. I went back and did a lot of shit. I was drinking a lot. I was kind of grieving. Yeah. And then my mom had the amazing idea of, you know what? I was drinking a lot. I was kind of grieving. Yeah. And then my mom had the amazing idea of, you know what? Let's get the fuck out of here and let's leave.

Let's go to Galapagos. And then we went to Galapagos for like three months. Out of those eight months that I call it like the darkness, eight months of darkness. So I woke up one day after, you know, fucking being in pain and everything and I was like, you know what? Like I'm going to try, I'm going to try to move my arm and see what the fuck happens. Like I walked into the bathroom and I was like, I locked myself in the bathroom for,

I don't know, maybe three, four hours crying. And you're in Galapagos at this time. No, no, no, no. This was, this was, uh, um, after Galapagos. Okay. This was after Galapagos. So I, I like, I came back and I was like, I came back from Galapagos and I was like, Oh, fuck, I'm going, I'm going to get back into the same exactly.

That's the squat, dude. Oh, that's the moment. That's exactly the moment, dude. And you can see that I was a little bigger than that. Like at least my upper body it is. Dude, look how swollen your right arm is. It was fucking huge, dude. There was so much blood in that shit.

Wow. What a trip. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Sorry. So you come back from Galapagos. Yeah. So I came back and then I was like, like, I felt like I was getting on again in the same cave. And then my family was getting the same cave with me like nobody wanted to come in my room, nobody wanted to talk to me nobody I wasn't even eating like I was just fucking

chugging pills. So I stood up one day, like and lock myself in bathroom. And I was like, you know what? I had a lighter, a needle, and some of my teeth. Looking myself in the mirror, I was like, you know what? Fuck it, I can't give up. I can't let this shit fucking bring me down. I can't bring my family down to the same hole that I'm going. So I need to fucking figure it out.

So I looked myself in the mirror and I started talking, like, all right, let's try to move your arm. So I put my arm in the counter and then I try to like move and like try to lift something and it was like, it was like you, I don't know, if you have ever tried to lift like 500 or something pounds on a bar, you feel how like it kind of not even moved at all because of how heavy it felt the same way. Like I was like shaking and sweating and nothing was happening so I was like all right that's done I can't move it now let's see if I can feel something so I grabbed that fucking ladder and then I started to lock my fingers on fire and my forearm

nothing happened nothing happened all right I I can feel this shit now the needle So with a needle I started like literally that just fucking Stopped with a needle No, I felt something but it felt something inside of my arm Which for me it was just a reaction of me looking at what was I doing? Right, right? And then I'm telling you this should hurt because you could see it But if you look the other way, you wouldn't even know. Exactly. Okay.

And then the last thing was like, all right, I'm gonna try to bite my fingers. So I tried to bite my fingers, but without arm that it was dead and nothing happened. So three hours had gone by, cried my shit out. And I was like, you know what? Let's fucking change this I'm gonna go to the gym now. No teeth, all fucked up, not knowing what the hell was

I gonna do and I come to my younger brother and because he was sleeping in the same room that I was and I was like hey dude I'm going to the gym now you want to come over? Like you want to come with me? He was like the fuck are you doing? I'm like I'm going to the gym now. You wanna come over? Like you wanna come with me? He was like, what the fuck are you doing? I'm like, I'm going to the gym now. Do you want to come? He was like, fuck yeah, let's do it, let's go. And then we went to the gym, walking into the gym, dude, I literally heard this

from everyone. Was your arm in a sling or was it dangling? Yeah, yeah, exactly like you saw in that picture. Okay. And then everyone's like, some of them were like, what are you doing here? Why are you not sleeping? I'm like, I didn't say anything more than get the fuck out of my face. And walked in.

I started doing kettlebell swings. I started doing burpees. And I think box jumps. And that's how it started dude. That's where everything just flipped. Everything changed from that day. I was like, well, I think I can do it. I just got to keep coming and keep coming and keep doing it. So it must have been for your little brother. For a dude, share a room with you and watch his brother go through that.

What a experience he had. No. Yeah. Oh, my entire family, dude. Like it was, it was wild. It was wild for them. And that's one of the reasons why I have this, you know, that's that fight mode spirit all the time, because I, everything that I do, I do for them. Everything that I I do I do because of them like they're the ones that supported me since day one and they are still doing it um you know there is a I believe that there's a responsibility that you have to your two brothers and that they have to you to persevere because you guys are examples for each other, right? Yeah.

And just it's because I have three little boys and I let them know like, hey, when one of you is being dramatic, look'm not saying you can't cry. I'm not saying you can't process your own shit, but at the end of the day, you have a responsibility to those boys to keep the spirit alive at all times. Like you can't just like fucking give up because you're telling your other, you're telling your other brothers, it's gonna, you're hurting your other brothers. You have to remember that. You have to be selfless at some point.

It's the same thing with my wife, right? If I'm in a bad mood and I know it will pass, I don't want her to feel it because I, because she'll's the same thing with my wife, right? If I'm in a bad mood and I know it will pass, I don't want her to feel it because I because she'll she'll take it on herself, right? Like just in and I'm assuming you have a very intimate relationship with your brothers. Like you guys are almost like one machine. We are 100%. Yeah. Yeah. And to be honest, like we build that relationship after everything like after what happened Yeah, because we were not closed dude like if we were something We were even though you shared a room with them. You weren't close not at all, dude

We were yeah, we were not we were not that close at all. And then I had the accident and a lot of shit changed Everything of shit changed. Everything. So, and that was it? You were off to the races? That was just then ever since that day? It's basically you've been in the gym every day since? Yes. Nonstop. And you were how old at that point? 22? 22, 23. And god, your mom must have been so happy to see you make that shift.

Yeah, everyone was, dude. Like, I don't think I don't think anybody was expecting. The way it turned out to be. This it was just it was just wild. It was just wild the way the way I was getting attention in my country, like getting interviews and calls and like all this shit just because of what I was doing. So you, so your story became a story of inspiration for, uh, for your countrymen. Yeah. And then I remember in 2021, when I got to the games, like I was the only one

walking with the quarter-orient flag, which it was a big deal. It was for me, it was fucking emotional, dude. Yeah. Because for me, when I reached that point, it was like, fuck, I'm in the highest, highest level of competition and I'm the one who's here with one motherfucking arm. Right.

Holding the flag. And it's not a hater moment, but fuck all those people that said no to me, dude. Yeah. Thank you. Fucking thank you. You light that fire in me. That was 2021. You showed up at the games and carry the flag. Yeah. When did you have the arm removed? So the arm removed was a long story. Um, I remember after year one, year two, coming to my mom and be like, Hey, I want to take these off.

This is, this is in, you're already training. You're back in the gym. Yeah. I'm already in the gym. Like I'm already in, like, I got my mindset already. Like I want to compete and get my shit done. Like, let's see what happens. I was already competing, dude. I was competing with people with two arms. Like I didn't care. Yeah. And doing the same way.

It's like, fuck it. I was like, I don't care. Let's do it. Let's go. Yeah. Oh, oh, we're doing pull ups. Yeah, I'll do pull ups. Why not? Yeah. So the arm thing, like two years, four years gone by. And I'm like, I still want to cut my arm. Like I want to chop it off. And she was like, no, no, please no. We're going to still like figure out, like there's some doctors that I'm talking. Like we can do a lot of things happen and just, just wait,

just wait a little bit. So I waited a little longer and then I met someone, this someone became my girlfriend at that point. She's a really good person, her family is really good person and they had a connection with some of the doctors in the hospital. And I decided to make my own research

and work by their side. And finally, I got everything checked. My insurance was good. The doctor after the test that I did said, hey, I think you are ready for this next stage. I don't think there's a way to save the limb. So I think you should be proceeding with this next step. So coming to my mom and be like, hey mom,

I love you, you are the best. And this is what's gonna happen. If you wanna be with me in this surgery, I love you. You're my mom, fuck yeah. If you don be with me in this surgery, I love you. You're my mom. Fuck yeah. If you don't wanna be in this surgery, I love you. You're my mom. Fuck yeah.

But I'm still doing it with or without you. What was her argument? She was hoping that the nerves would grow back and you'd get used to your arm again? Yeah. Before that, I had a surgery that was involved with getting nerves out of different parts of my body so they connect that. Some of it helped and the rest of it didn't. So I told my mom, alright, if you want to be with me, hell yeah.

If you don't want to be with me, hell yeah. I still love you. You're my mom. But I'm going through it. Like I'm doing it. Whether you like it or not. And then she was like, yeah like yeah okay let's do it and then I was like that's fucking awesome because we're going through it tomorrow she was like what

the fuck and that's how I did it dude and then shit you not as soon as I woke like I woke up from that surgery this is the first thing that I started doing. Holy shit. I would now I can move some of it. And, Oh, you couldn't even do that before the surgery. Not at all, dude. It was dead because of all the weight. Wow.

Um, uh, um, let me ask you, does any part of you regret getting rid of it? No, dude. Not, let me ask you, does any part of you regret getting rid of it? No, dude. Not, not even a little. Nah. Um, and what about, um, uh, phantom pains? I knew a guy who was a one-armed arm wrestler up in Canada and he said sometimes, sometimes he would just feel burning over here. Yeah.

So usually I have a like neuropathic pain. Like I do have nerve pain. Like ghost? Yeah. I don't because that usually happens when you have a trauma that involves your limb being ripped immediately. When I amputated my arm in my head, I was already like, my arm is dead. Like I have no nerves.

Right. So when I, when I chopped it off, I, everything is good. I do have pain, like crazy thing. I have the craziest and most wild pain when the full moon hits. Or if my CNS is completely like Jack. So if you do, if you did, if you did some crazy like deadlift workout, high repetition deadlift workout. That's let's say, let's say fucking I did the

Lasari Dukic workout. Yep. Holy shit. And then full moon hit. Yeah. So I was in pain like for the past three days. I was like, ah fucking, I couldn't even talk. Where's the pain? The pain is mainly here and in the back, like where the past three days, I was like, ah, fucking, I couldn't even talk. Where's the pain?

The pain is mainly here and in the back, like where the injury is. What a trip. It's like Bernie. Oh look, Peter Dias Nelson same, wow. Yeah. He had an accident too, so he knows about fucking nerve pain, dude.

Wow, what a trip. Maurice, say your last name again for me, Victor. Asaf? Asaf, yeah. Asaf. He called me after a couple hours and he went, do you remember Nemo? And I started wiggling that shit all over the place. That was me doing this shit. Victor, have you ever seen those videos where the guy has, the person has a mirror here? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I tried that therapy when I had my arm Yeah, but dude in my head. I was already relentless I was like, I'm not doing this shit because I know my arm is dead, right? I went through therapy. I went through PT That the PT was like people doing this to my dead arm. I'm like the fuck are you doing? And then they were like, yeah, you should lift it yourself. And then I was like, you know what? Fuck this. I'm not doing this. My therapy is going to be in the gym. Are you right-handed or left-handed? Yeah, I had to learn everything with my left, dude.

So you're a right-handed man? Yeah. Wow. I mean, I'm assuming you can do everything. You can brush your teeth and everything? I can do everything. The only thing that doesn't translate from a right arm to a left arm, it's the way or the skill to throw. Oh, interesting.

Try it. Once you want to throw a ball with your left hand, you're going to look like a... Yeah, I do a lot of that with my boys. It's weird. It's like your whole body goes with it. It's so different, man. Yeah, I do a lot of... I put my boys regularly, at least once a week on a treadmill, and we throw right and left-handed

tennis balls in coordination with each other. Boy, the left is a trip. Do you have practices? Will you just sit there and write the alphabet with your left hand? Like, are there things you do to? Not anymore. No, but you used to. But I did.

Yeah. Like fanatically where you like, fuck it. I'm getting this. With my mom. Like she was like, all right, let's try to do this shit. Cause you need to learn. You fucking need to fucking learn how to, how to sign again. Like your signature, whatever you need to do all those things again.

So that was your weak arm too. Of course. You're right. Wow. Crazy. Yeah. And, um, how quickly did you, uh, did you start seeing muscular adaptation to that arm right away and some of these pictures when you're doing stuff, you're

right, you look like a fiddler crab. I mean, your, your fucking left arm is so overdeveloped. Your forearm is nut looks nuts. as my Jesus criminy. Yeah. And you're and when I shook your hand, your hand is so thick and you're and I looked at your wrist and your wrist is so thick. Did that how long did all that take before that started happening? It took years, dude, because my hand it like it adapted to it's wider than it used to be. Yeah. My wrist and my forearm, everything just, it got, for some reason, it got bigger.

Yeah, it looks mad. I'm guessing not only because of the overuse, but I literally do everything. So I don't know if the bone density, something, I have no clue, dude. Right. Wild. So, um, how long so you're going to San Antonio, how long have they had, when did they introduce the the what is it called? Is it just a dude with one arms like No, we are, we are at that upper standing adaptive upper standing, it could be a or

be like a it's above elbow and B it's below elbow. Same thing happens on BK or AK like above knee or below knee. So you wouldn't compete with guys? And this is where I wanted to get. Yes. So you don't compete against guys if a guy's just missing his hand, he wouldn't be in your division. He shouldn't.

He shouldn't. He shouldn't. He shouldn't. He shouldn't. And I know some of the people from Willow are listening to this. Oh, it's a fun, I'm glad you guys have these problems. And this is where the fuck I wanted to get, because I've been competing with one arm and solely one arm for my entire adaptive life and my career as a CrossFitter.

Why in God's name do I have to compete with people that have a full arm? Why? What advantage would they have over you? Let's say putting a bar over your shoulders. What do you mean? You're actually show me. So if I'm doing a clean, you can see how my bar is resting only on this point. Right.

Now let's talk about a guy with a full arm that maybe hasn't, maybe he hasn't have a full range of motion, but if you put a bar on that frame, meaning a front rack, what makes you think that I can lift 300 pounds and you are not going to go for 400? Oh, right. I see what you're saying because you're only pushing, you have one point of contact and they have two now. You can see that shit. Yeah.

Yeah. The same thing happens on a bar. If I'm doing a pull up, why the hell are you using a strap? The fuck out of here? You're a one arm athlete, they fucking do it with one arm. The same thing happens on a deadlift. Do I use a strap? No, am I complaining? I'm not complaining I get it

But then if you want to compete a fucking next to me or in this level then fucking do it, right? Right a same thing happens with the with the organization like why am I the only one? Doing shit with one arm and then I have three or four guys in my division that have a full fucking arm. You can actually use that to hold the ball if you're doing wall balls. Not me, boy. Right. You do wall balls? Yeah. You just have to... Wow. Wow. That's wild.

Yeah, dude. I do wall balls, handstand push ups. I do everything. The only thing that I don't do, it's handstand walking and ring muscle ups. Handstand walking. Part of me thinks that you've tried. You've tried, haven't you? I've tried everything, dude. I even tried fucking ring muscle ups. I was like, maybe if I can get the ring in the middle of my body, maybe I can get all the way up there

I'm fucking that I'm not how tall how tall are you? Yeah, I'm like 595 10. Oh man, you seem like you were six foot to me when I met you and how much do you weigh? Right now I'm think I think I'm like 185 Okay So you're not a small guy. What good problems to have? You know what I mean? Like, hey, are there enough do what if they did break the division into would there be enough do in your division? That's the other problem. No. And you know what, they also do that because they know that I don't give a

fuck and that I'm still going to go through it. Right. That's how I am. Right. Even though things are not right. I'm still there supporting. Why? Right. Because it's the fucking sport that I love, dude. How did you win? How did you beat those guys in the open? If they had their shoulders just because of the nature of the workouts? Because I'm a fucking savage. Yeah good. And I like I do not give a fuck when it's time to compete I don't care. You can have three arms. I

Don't care I You talk shit to those guys when you're on the floor No, you don't say hey good job with that shoulder No, everything I do is when I do it I do it and then I show it dude. I show it. And then of course there's people like hey why is not a guy doing that with that thing and you are doing this with your only arm. I mean that's a good question to ask but it's not a me you should ask. Do you compete anywhere else? Someone says you does Victor and compete in the Paralympics? What is that? That's like the Olympics but for people who are missing body parts and stuff. Yeah

I I tried when I was down in Ecuador. I tried to do a javelin throw and I was really good at it Dude, like really good, but you know politics down in Ecuador is really hard. And since I'm not a citizenship I'm not a citizen here. I don't know if I would be able to do it. And I'm already 35. Like I, I don't know. I would love to like, and I know that I can bring fucking males, dude. I know that. Yeah. I know it. Do you own a javelin? Do you have one at your house now? No, I don't. No, I don't.

God, that what that sounds like a really fun sport, especially if you have someone who will run out and grab it and bring it back to you. You know what I mean? I remember I was throwing that shade like 25, 30 meters and then go back at it and then come back and then keep practicing. Then 32, 35, 40. It was really good, man. This experience you had on the motorcycle, would you describe at any point of that as a rock bottom?

Have you heard that term, rock bottom? Yeah. Would you experience like you hit a rock bottom? I did. I was going through a rough time back then and to be honest, it was maybe not like that but it was something that it needed to happen like with the way that I was living my life and I was handling myself I will probably be dead if that wouldn't happen and I and I would say this every single time if I have to go through it again I will go through it

again and again and again and again and again. Right. Because otherwise I wouldn't be the people that I, or the person that I am and, and the guy or the athlete that I am today. Would you say that moment in the bathroom was rock bottom or was it a different time? The moment in the bathroom was a moment of realize, of realize, realization. Yes. And the moment when I woke up from that coma and I... No.

Yeah, no. Realization was the one in the bathroom. And then when I had the accident was the rock bottom. Rock bottom. Yeah. Did you cry a lot? Was it like that? Yeah.

I cry by myself, yeah. Yeah. Like a why me God? What is this bullshit I'm having? More than that it was frustration. Like why the fuck is this not moving? Why am I in so much pain? And then obviously like why are you trying to teach me?

Like what is going on? What are you trying to say here? And then I know that my life is a fucking mess, but why are you trying to teach me here? And then obviously everything I know that my life is a fucking mess, but why are you trying to teach me here? and then obviously everything like their perspective of life and their Relationship with my family and my friends the relationship with myself Yeah, a bunch of things happen and then I grew up a lot from it like I'm still learning dude Like it's not like I have everything figured out. I

don't. I'm still learning and I'm still going through some rough paths and shit happens dude. You live and you learn. When did you come to the States and why? So I came to the States because I qualified for the games in 2021, right? And then some people from Will Watt and some friends from Raleigh, they were like, or people that I knew from Raleigh, they were like, hey, I think you should stay and then wait till the games and then you can leave. Because I qualified for a bacon beatdown. That was like a few months prior to CrossFit to the games. And that was in Daytona. So I went to that competition and then my friends were like,

hey, I think you should stay. Like just stay here for a couple of months and then you go back. How was your English at that point? My English has been good all like forever since I was a kid. My mom always speak like that's our first language. Okay. And then these friends that were asking you to stay, are they Ecuadorian? No, they're all from Raleigh. Okay. And then these friends that were asking you to stay, are they Ecuadorian? No, they're all from Raleigh. Okay. Yeah. Just your typical, just whitey American dudes. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, exactly. And then obviously I said,

I said, yeah, why not? I'll stay. Like, why not? It's a good opportunity. Like I'll stay. And I already, like, I had a gym going down in Ecuador. Like I was, I had my own gym. And I decided to stay for those next two months. I was like, yeah, fuck it, I'll stay. Then my gym was still running. It was a little hard because I was here and it was not there. What's the most valuable thing in the world?

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After the games and the competition, like they were like, Hey, would you like to stay here working like People like you. And if you stay, we will work on your papers, your documents, things that you need to work here and don't be bothered. And I'm like, yeah, why not? I mean, if you're offering it, I'll just fucking stay. I'll do it.

Sure. And that's how it happened. And that's why I stayed. And your mom and brothers were still in Ecuador Yeah, I obviously talked to them and they were like fucking stay. Yeah, don't come back And you've been here ever since Do you have to do that thing? I know like some people I'll hear like from Australia or England like they have to every six months

They got to go home touch bait or they have to go to somewhere else for a second I put their foot down and come back. Do you have to every six months they got to go home touch bait or they have to go to somewhere else for a second to put their foot down and come back. Do you have to do that? I was supposed to but I didn't and then I have my working visa. Oh cool. So when I got my working visa and then I exchanged states I changed everything so I have my working visa. I'm actually working on that visa right now here and I already have my like my social. I have almost everything but I'm still working on like those little things that it's gonna help me for me to get or be able to get my citizenship My citizenship in a few years

What a pit that shit must be such a pain in the ass dude, and it's a lot of money to like it's fucking wild Oh, it is a lot of money like paying lawyers to like yeah push papers around for you like this this first part It's like I think it would take it's gonna be like 15,000. This first part. Holy shit. Yeah. That's more expensive than a DUI. Yeah. And then obviously you have tiers, right? And if you want to get it quicker, it's going to be like, yeah, all right. So pay 50,000. Same thing happens with the fucking citizenship is wild. Like, oh, you want to get into five days? Well, this is how much you pay. Or you want to get in three weeks? This is how much you pay.

If not, you go through the whole year. I don't know how long it's the process, but it takes forever. Victor, do you feel, do you feel alone here? I used to feel alone when I was in route, like that last year in Raleigh was one of the worst years ever. Like I was. Like homesick. You I was in route like that last year in rally was one of the worst years ever Like I I was like homesick. You miss your mom. You miss your brother. I was in the version suicide Like I was fucking nuts. I was getting no shit. Yeah From what what caused that I was depressed dude, I was just like I felt like

Nothing was going like nothing was happening. I felt really sad and lonely and just the fact that I was living on a, I know it's not cold, but for me that shit is fucking cold. So I was living in a colder state. So that, that I am a warm nature guy. Yeah. And if I'm in the woods too long or somewhere like rally for that many years, like I'm going to start losing my shit. So last year, like I literally I had a gun with me, dude. Like I was like fucking it was crazy. I was about to finish like and all that shit. And then obviously you got that, you know, those thoughts of your family

and your brothers and your friends. And you're like, you don't want to go and you don't want to go and put them through that fucking hell ever again. How did you get out of that spot? I had an offer to come over here. And that was it. You think that's something that you're going to have to, it's going to resurface again, something you're going to have to like exit? No, I don't think so, dude.

I am I don't think I've ever been this happy here that you are in jupiter florida yeah I'm in jupiter florida I have my freedom I have my own like not my own house but I have a place where I can stay like where I can live yeah I'm fucking working if I feel like shit I go to the I live fucking three minutes away from the beach I don't need car. I drive a motherfucking golf cart. Like, dude, I'm loving my life. Yeah. I'm enjoying the moment that I'm going through right now. I'm enjoying it 100%.

And I've never been this happy. Like I have, like my relationship with the gym now, it's, it's, it's beyond of what it was. I don't, I don't hate it anymore. Explain to me when you say, explain to me your relationship with your gym. What do you, what do you mean by that? Like. Like your responsibility there?

No, like. Just going and working out. Just going and working out. I was like, fuck this shit, dude. I have to go and do it again. Fuck this fucking thing. Like, I don't want to go like I don't want to do it. Like I was like, kind of like burnt out. But I was burned out from the life that I was having down there. So here, like I want to be there all day. I want to coach we have like

300 fucking members, dude. Like I'm talking at Yeah, it's crazy. It's a lot right now. It just keeps growing and growing and growing. So what's the name of the gym? CrossFit Seadog. CrossFit Seadog. You said that. Wow. Who owns that gym?

Adam Davis and Kelly Davis. Um, uh, it's so, it's so cool to hear all this because it shows you the, I mean we all know this, but just the healing power of those gyms. They're just so fucking amazing. All the CrossFit gyms are so amazing. They're so invaluable to communities. And the fact that, let's say I wake up one day and I feel like, I don't know, dude, I feel fucking whatever.

And then I go to the gym and then I'm like, I don't know, fucking, we all had a fucking bad week. You know, we all been there. Like just try to think of something that makes you happy right now and something that you're thankful for today. And then if you feel that shit inside of you, this is the moment to get rid of that shit.

Like you're in the gym, you come with that bullshit. And then as soon as you leave the gym, you leave the gym as a new person someone lighter And then it makes it makes even it's like therapy for myself Because you think you can win the games I'm gonna win it. I don't think I can win. I'm gonna win that shit And when when will you travel down there if it's on September 19th? I'll be there the 18th What just one day before yeah? God, I hope the airline doesn't I hope your flights not fucked up. So it's everything is gonna be okay

And and and do you guys know how many workouts you're doing not yet? That has not been released yet. I know we're gonna have some Some released because of you know the experience that we went through at the games recently. Yeah. And I know they canceled already some events. Oh, like like you guys were gonna swim but you're not gonna swim. Yeah, I was looking forward to it. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah, I mean, you're a water guy. Yeah, but it doesn't matter. Like, whatever it is. They're trying to, you're a water guy. Yeah, but it doesn't matter. Whatever it is, they're trying to get the sport and make the sport better. We've also been complaining for a long time.

It doesn't matter. What's being done today, right now, it's supposed to help the sport. So let's see how it shows up. Do you think they canceled the swim because of the sensitivity? Like at a sensitivity that athletes may have been traumatized by the thought of drowning or do you think that they cancelled the safety? I think one part could be that and the other one is safety.

Just because you have a bunch of fucking, and don't get me wrong, you have a bunch of cripples fucking on the water. Yeah, but I kind of want to see that. I want to see... Yeah, everybody wants to see it, man. I want to see the one arm I like just watching the one-armed dudes or the one-leg dudes do stuff because you can't kind of as you can't you can't get your Head wrapped around it. Does it look trippy to you too when you watch the one arm and one leg guys, too Is it like are you like what the fuck is this? Yeah, I'm like you never do you ever get used to it? Or is it just like man? This is an incredible shit

I I'm used to it, but it's every's, every single workout and every chance you get to see them compete, it's always an incredible fucking eye opening moment. Cause then you're like, fuck, then if I sit down on a bench and then try to do wall balls without me standing up with a 20 pound ball, you're gonna feel what the athlete is feeling and then you're gonna start having a relation between, holy shit, I know what that is. Right. In difference of just, you know, doing a regular workout. Like I'm, dude, I'm 100% positive that we can bring so much more to CrossFit than a regular elite athlete without bashing anyone. No, it's not even bashing, but dude, it's such a fucking spectacle. It's like the difference

between you can see a guy ride a bike and then you can see a guy ride a bike doing a wheelie. You know what I mean? You know when you see those kids doing wheelies and you stop everything you're doing and you watch them? It's like that. Like you don't get to see every day a guy climb a rope with one arm. Matter of fact, if you go to San Antonio, maybe the first time you see it. And so it's such a great spectacle. It's so great. I remember even when we had Tim Murray break the world record for, or try to set the world

record for burpees on the show it was fucking crazy you don't get to see a dwarf do fucking 100 burpees as fast as you can it's such a it's such an awesome thing to watch you want to know something funny yeah when i had like after the accident in a few years one of the first challenges that i did was a thousand burpees oh my god yeah it was supposed to be done during the week, but I was like, if I do 500 today, I'm not coming back tomorrow because my problem, like I'm not gonna be able to hold that.

Yeah. So it took me five hours and 49 minutes. Wow. With one arm obviously. Hey, you ever fall off the rope? Yeah. Actually, I fell down, I fall off the rope? Yeah. Actually, I fell down, I fell off that rope, like on that competition, I felt like 10 feet

landed on my back. Yeah, because there's not- From there, I fell from there, literally, from there, like there, like that, I fell from there, like boom, down. Landed on my back and then I just fucking stood up and go back at it like, you're fucking I was okay, nothing happened. I mean you can see like, like you could imagine a rope being at a park and there being like on hanging and the sign saying use both hands.

Oh yeah. Do you know what I mean? I mean I've never seen that but you could totally see that right? For safety purposes always use both hands. And then you show up and you're like, what? Listen, when I'm coaching and there's some movements that I have to teach and some things like, for example, like when I'm doing wall squats and obviously I'm doing wall squats with one arm, right?

Yeah. Then you see like the entire class. What's a wall squat? It's like squat therapy when you're facing the wall to make sure that you keep your back. Yeah. Yeah. So you can keep like a straight, like a good form, you know, you can just not go forward and mess your lower back just because of it. It works when you're trying to go for front squats. Right. So I'm trying to teach that. So I want to warm up and things and you see everyone doing the same shit, like one hand down and the other one up here like guys guys

Unless you have one arm you do it with both of your arms. Oh, that's awesome Yeah, and it happens a lot. It happens a lot. It's funny I I wonder how many um, I wonder how many people today will try after watching this video will try things Uh with one arm. I mean, I don't know if you remember because you've now it's been so many years that you've only had one arm, but even the For for a two-armed person Even grabbing the bar With one hand just even like an empty bar is a very, very awkward.

This is a very awkward, you know what I mean? Like even like for, even for someone who could, you know, clean and jerk 200 pounds to do it just an empty bar with 45 pounds is a very bizarre phenomenon because of this, this shit, right? Yeah. And they just can't do it. They don't know where to grab the bar. They don't know how to do this. bright brains all firing they're off balance I wonder how many people will try that oh yeah well if you try it you need to understand that if you have two arms you can get away with

them with with a with a not so good form you know no no explain with two arms you can you can get away if you like miss some of the... You can put your other arm out for balance and shit like that. Yeah, or no, like let's say you're doing a snatch or a clean and like... If you're a one arm or a one leg, your lift has to be fucking flawless because there is not another arm that is gonna balance the other side. Right.

You get what I'm trying to say? Yes, yes. You can get away with your poor form. That's what I'm trying to say. We can't, because we can get fucked. I have a lot of experience with it. Like I know how to deal with the barbell. I know my way around

things in the gym, in the CrossFit space. Hey, tell me this. Do you grab the bar directly in the center or is that not true? Yeah. No, you do grab it directly in the center. Yeah. Yeah, you have to. I was thinking like maybe you'd be like, no, you grab it off to the side a little bit because this side of your wrist is trying to know dead center. Oh that's center It also it also

Affects if you're doing a hook grip or not because it tilts the bar a little bit right if you're a one-arm Hey, you think that there's um You think that there was a benefit to two armed athletes to do to work on their one arm stuff? Scientifically, it's proof that you get stronger working one time, like one side at a time. Yeah, I wonder how many people do that. So let's say you've read, let's say you're stuck at your clean and jerk for a year, right? Let's say whatever it is, let's say it's 250 and then and you're a two-armed guy then hey go back to your

roots start with the bar again and just start doing one arm and you would think that there could be some crazy adaptation there oh believe me do you know any athletes that do that no more than I have a body that a friend that just started like I know he saw me doing rope climbs that we'll what last year and then I think you know, memes for time. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Roderick. Yeah, he has like a mullet.

Yeah, so he fucking showed he posted a video recently of him doing a one on rope climb because he was like, I want to try this shit and I'm gonna get it and I will show it to you and I will tag you and I will let you know. Yeah, he did it and I was like, I want to try this shit and I'm going to get it and I will show it to you and I will tag you and I will let you know. And he did it and I was like, holy shit. It's the first time that I see actually someone with two arms trying that shit with one arm. And he did it perfectly. Beautiful dude. Great. Great. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's after looking at, looking at you, like your arm development and your tricep development and your forearm development and your wrist in your hand It seems like a no-brainer. It almost seems like something that

to be Frank if you were a beginning lifter, let's say you were a kid at 12 Maybe just start that way and I remember Greg always said that he thought dumbbell training was far superior than barbell training And that's all 100% Yeah, that's why my full year when I was trying to get back into it, I only did dumbbells and kettlebells. That's the only thing I did for a full year. Yeah, crazy.

Do you have plans after the games? My plans is try to stay in the CrossFit world, keep coaching, make my career as a coach bigger. If there is some opportunity at some point for me to try to get behind the organization with WheelWatt, not CrossFit, but with WheelWatt, I would love to. Coming from an athlete's mind, I think it would be a better perspective to just try to change the sport a little better just not money wise or lawyers fucking trying to get the best interest out of it right um outside outside what do you really do you think that there could ever be a um you know the the the adaptive games have that kind of like that WNBA piece

to it right it's like hey why would we watch the women when we could watch the men why would we watch the people with one arm one leg when we could watch the people with two legs you think you think that there is a you think that there's ever a I don't know like an aha moment or like a, like where it just clicks over? I don't think they have that moment yet because we are saved for fucking last. What do you mean? In every single show or every single competition, we are always put in last because we are the

adaptive. Let's talk about what water polusas. Right. Like you have a big crowd, you have a big following. Right. And you want, you want to have a showing, right? Like you have to have the same exposure that the other athletes have. Right. Why that doesn't happen? Well, you want to know why I think? Cause they're afraid to exploit those people and they have to be exploited. have to this is what I seriously think you have to like whittle it down to it's just I'll use Tim Murray and Mike Whittiest you have to roll it down till it's just them

then right before the final event where the males go out you bring those two dudes out and the final event where the males go out, you bring those two dudes out and the final workout and you make it a fucking spectacle and you exploit them. I think that they, there's this like balance between like, like dude, this is weird shit. This is so foreign to every, you know what I mean? Most people don't know a guy with one arm or one leg or they don't know any short stature people. And so I honestly think like, Hey, the whole crowd would get behind it, but you got to dose them with it in a small exploitive dose. Like here's Casey Acree. Here's fucking Victor Asaf, the winner of this, they're three points

apart. They're going to come out here and they're going to do fucking grace. And I think the whole fucking place would be like, Holy shit. That's what I think. Like you don't make them watch the whole thing. They don't even want to watch all the athletes who have all their limping. Of course. That's what I think. I mean, that's what I think like you don't make them watch the whole thing They don't even want to watch all the athletes who have all their blimpers. Yeah, that's what I think I mean, that's what I think and that's what they actually try to do that They do know they were like they try to do it I remember being there because I was the head judge by that time and I was in in there like I was in the shit They in the arena where it wears this hat

No, I want to lose it like like a few years back. Yeah a few years back Yeah, I remember being there as a head judge for the division Yeah, and and we had fucking uh, I remember I think it was uh, justin medeiros and uh some other some some few other athletes just coming in and like be like, um Handler for the wheelchair guy or you know helping someone with a handler for the wheelchair guy or you know helping someone with mostly wheelchairs. It was mostly wheelchairs because they need a handler. They need somebody to hold that fucking wheelchair. But then they were

like, oh Justin is gonna be there. We should go. Like do the same shit everywhere so you can have more crowd. So you can make the sport of adaptive athletes grow so you can have Whatever that is for the business you can have more money you can have more people you can have whatever the fuck you're looking for But just give us something that is not your fucking name But it also has to be a spectacle like you know like the same way like But it also has to be a spectacle like, you know, like the same way, like 100% it has to be a fucking, I mean, I mean, look at like the wheelchair sports that all the wheelchair sports that I've seen that like go viral, it's like the guy going off a jump, right?

It's like the guy fucking goes off a jump. So it's a spectacle and everyone's like, holy shit. But I did one time accidentally watch wheelchair tennis because I was waiting for another tennis match to come up. It's fuck, it was unreal. It was absolutely unreal. But you have to somehow get it in front of people. You have to somehow get it in front of people

and make it like, and it has to be okay to, it has to be okay to just like, has to be it has to be used for the spectacle that it is it can't be like I think I think this year is gonna be some positive like way more than it's been for the past few years yeah like I really think that's I mean it's freakish shit what you're doing because no one else can do it the thing is is like freakish shit what you're doing because no one else can do it. The thing is, it's not that you're doing adaptive shit. You're doing shit that other people can't do.

The strongest man in the world can't do what you do with one arm. It has to be like... I don't have my head fully wrapped around it. And I'm not poo-pooing anyone else. I mean, things take steps. But it has to be just fully exploited. It has to be a spectacle. It has to be like the same way the outfits are

for the fucking games athletes. No one wants to watch. I mean, the smaller the outfit, the more fucking eyeballs it gets. It's just the way it fucking is. Do you know who Mitchel Hooper is, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So he came to the booth at Victory Grips in Waterpalooza and he was like,

hey, you're the guy that can do a muscle up with one arm, right? And I was like, yeah, I am. I use a band usually, but I am. And then he was like, do you mind if we can do like a video of both of us just doing this shit, like a muscle up? And then we had, dude, it was like the entire Waterpalooza just sitting, watching us doing muscle ups in a five by five that we had for the year.

They want to come stare. That's the weird thing. The strongest, biggest fucking man in the world. We shouldn't be able to do one in the one arm guy. Come look. Yeah. It's got to be circus shit. But, but that will be, I mean, it's just like in basketball.

It's like the slam dunk contest. Lisa Gall. God, I fucking love this lady. Seve, you're spot on on the marketing side. I get pushed back even from trying to get sponsors. They're afraid of saying anything wrong, marketing wrong way and offending adaptive athletes. Yeah, gotta get past that.

And not because people aren't gonna be offended. Always people are gonna be offended, but it has to just be like. Listen, we are also athletes. We make this as a career. We don't want shit for free. Right. And that's spot on, Lisa. Right, yeah. Do you know her? Yeah, of course free. Right. And that's, that's, that's spot on.

Right. Yeah. Do you know her? Yeah, of course I know her. She's great. Isn't she? Yeah. All of them are, dude. Yeah. All of them are. Yeah. Like that's what I'm, that's what I, I, I made a post about it. Like, I don't remember, like a few, like a week ago or something like that. And I was like, you know what, whatever you do, just try to, try to get something more out of just CrossFit. Go study, go finish whatever you're doing, go get a job and find that something, that goal that is outside of the gym that is going to make you feel better and more completed as a human. Don't just lay your entire basket on a sport or a business That whatever it is with the matter of times that we've had

They just don't care. It's not that they don't care about you They just don't pay attention to what it's actually important and what actually could potentially bring tons of money Ken Walters, this is what I was trying to say thank you Ken an older wiser man than me. As humans we appreciate and are amazed at seeing people do things we can't even imagine trying. Yeah that's that's it bingo. If only they would listen how to treat themselves and how to speak to each other they would learn just a little. I don't know what that's in reference to but I'm gonna use I'm gonna tell my kids that That was a good one Mari

All right, I mean it's just it's just a matter of making this for better greater and healthy for everyone man That's the only thing that I want like I if I'm not competing anymore The only thing that I want is this sport to keep growing and growing and growing and growing um hey dude I got a favor to ask you and um and and hopefully people outside who have my phone number will do this too but if you as information comes when you know you're going to compete when you get your schedule and you know where it's going to air on YouTube. I'm assuming it'll be on YouTube. It should be. Please let me know because I'd love to have fucking watch parties on my channel.

Hell yeah. I'll let you know. Yeah. So anything and I know you're going to be busy. So if you don't, so if anyone else wants to keep me posted, I kind of just live minute by minute by the fly of my pants. I know you're going to get messages. You're going to get messages from my brothers.

Like they, they, those dude, they were definitely would shoot a lot of like scary shit that is gonna happen for our games. Yeah. But if they should send it to you and you should text me, text me way faster. Okay. Yeah. Stay in contact with me. Because I want to be invested in a few guys that I like and that I can cheer on and travel the journey with. And so it would be cool to just see what you and Tim are doing. And I know these guys would like it and we can fucking... It'll be fun watching you go to war there. Yeah, hell yeah. I'm ready.

Keep it close and stay pertinent in the finals. I can't wait to. Yes, sir, dude. Yes, sir. Thank you for sharing so much your life. Thank you for the vulnerability. Thanks for just fucking being a badass now Thank you for for the space. Thank you for the for the time. Thank you for let me share all this It's been it's been a while. I've been chasing you for a little bit just to get something like this Oh, and and yeah, I mean I've been watching you for a long time, dude, and I respect you a lot. So me being here and talking to you

and just getting to know you a little more, like it's a lot for me. And I just keep to have like the same connection, the same communication that we keep having so we can, whatever happens, we make this shit greater, man. Okay, and hey, don't ever hesitate to text me like no one can bug me Do you know what I mean? Like if you have anything you want, like don't be hesitant at all Like I don't I don't sleep but next to my phone

I you know, I always just whenever I sit around a lot in a car. I watch my kids play tennis I'm just sitting around so text me anytime any ideas anything you want to share we can chop it up Oh, yeah, thank you, man. All right, brother.. Talk to you soon and we'll be watching September 19th to the 22nd. Alright, safe travels. Yes. Let me finish with this one. This is a full circle. This is a full circle.

September 22nd is the same day that I had my accident 12 years ago. And I'm going to finish the fucking games with a full circle. September 22nd, dude Awesome. All right. Good. All right. Good. That's good motivation. Hell. Yeah, dude. All right, buddy guys. Thanks for everything. Ciao Victor a soft soft soft. We will be back. I hope not we fuck it. I'll be back in Just a second. Yeah. Yeah, Andrew. Biggest BAM we're live! Yeah. Yeah, Andrew.

Biggest month ever. It's crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy. Yes, Mr. Hiller. That is spot on. Boy, I've been... No, no pee break. I just wanted to show that the new trailer for the San Antonio event, September 19th

through the 22nd. All kids get in free. I don't even know if that's true. Dude, Auden, you're on Twitch? My god. Get out of there. What are you doing? Get out of there. What are you doing? Auden you're in fucking you're on twitch my god What are you doing

Get out of there I Maurice what's up, dude? Thanks. Everyone was great. By the way Tron Travolta is our oldest brother. Oh shit. All right Seve that dude could really use an exercise or masturbating with your non-dominant hand feels the first time you get a handy from a girl who just yanks it and hopes for the best. I've never had anyone who just yanks it and hopes for the best. What are you talking about? No such girl exists.

Poor boy, you must be stoked that your lady's coming home. Okay. Boy, I've been really enjoying all the comments from the last few shows. um Regarding the uh pfaa and um And and just all the people who uh I'm not sure if they're misunderstanding me or they're in a they're unable to um See all the perspectives. It's really wild and all the components, the complexities of it, but and then of course the fact that Lazar drowned and instead of

him being plucked out in three seconds, it took two hours or whatever it took. Or people say stuff like, hey, you should do more research and read the Men's Health article or the New York Times article, which it's so funny because you read those and they say absolutely nothing. They give you nothing. Or like the Men's Health article had quotes, but didn't attribute them to people or anyone. I mean, it's just, they are unable. Janelle Winston.

Yeah, but I've been thoroughly enjoying it. With no guilt. People's emotions are overriding facts. Well, they're overriding facts and justifiably so they're saying stuff that they want to blame me for muddying the wall. It's not just the facts, but some people just want to just zero in on the thousand foot view. And I don't blame them. The one thousand foot view is, hey, that guy fucking drowned. No one saved him. What the fuck? Right?

Right off this coast while fucking 500 people could have jumped, any one of 500 people could have jumped in. Why the fuck wasn't he saved? Why didn't the fucking person on the paddle board save him? All that. All fair shit. But, you know, there's, and this is going to piss some of you off, but there's the three million foot view too, that is if his parents wouldn't't have fucked he wouldn't have been alive and so he couldn't have died I mean these are one of these is not more true than the other this is just the this is just your ability to navigate

The reality. It's just your ability to navigate reality in an honest way with yourself. And then there's all the different perspectives and different views. But then what really gets funny, what really gets funny is that when Brent Fikowski inserts in. Why are we still talking about this? Jonathan Ortega. I don't know. Ask God. Is that when Brent Fikowski inserts in? Why are we still talking about this Jonathan Ortega, I don't know ask God ask God why we're talking about it And so I was I've been really Thinking of all these they're just come to, all of these metaphors that describe what the actual, what Brent's organization, what's the professional fitness athlete associated really just cracking up more and more I think about what they're doing. Yeah, it's funny, but I'm just queuing up for their next, you know what I mean? Just fucking loading the canons. I never know if I should just preemptively just fucking

I never know if I should just preemptively just just fucking Unravel their shit and explain Like just what a piss poor job they're doing or wait and save it to I guess I could rehearse But it's so funny So fucking funny I mean, yeah I'm leaving in an hour to take Avi to Marchetta and then his piano lesson at 11 30. Oh, I think it is his piano lesson. I think is his piano at 11 a.m. What's crazy is the comments are never like the comments are never like hey seven the bars eight feet long not seven feet long like there's never any

correction like the negative comments or like the comment it's always like you're an asshole or take Dave's cock out of your mouth to take Dave's cock out of your mouth ones are kind of funny when they're said creatively. But it's so funny that no one will like stay on subject. No one will actually refute anything I say. Oh, today it's the 1130 all right I watched spins podcast yesterday that shit was fucking incredible With him and John and Tyler that was some funny shit. Identify what you can control. Make a list of things you can control.

Accept what you can't control. Try not to get frustrated when you can't control others actions. Instead, you can try to inspire them to make their own decisions and then let them be. This is just Google shit I'm reading you. Develop a plan. Consider how you can perceive, react, and respond to situations. It turns into nonsense. It turns into nonsense. What does control what you can control mean? It's a prescriptive offered by many helping professionals, helping professionals, to take the focus away from what is outside of our power and help reframe our negative thoughts

and emotions into more palatable foci. Fokai. Fokai? Is that a word? Fokai? If you want to make, if you want to be a part of something, if you want to be a part of something, you have to become invaluable to those people, right? Like just completely invaluable. So that's why babies like their mom so much because the mom is just inherently fucking like, is that the word invaluable? I better look that up.

Invaluable. Extremely useful, indispensable, yeah. Those, that mama in those hands, in those titties, and that blanket and warmth and like, that's like the, I guess the paragon of paragon. What's paragon mean? Pinnacle, paragon, paragon.

Paragon, meaning of paragon. What's paragon mean? Pinnacle? Paragon. Paragon. Paragon. Meaning of paragon. Model of excellence or perfection. Yeah, that's the definitive, you know, part of indispensable. I guess maybe oxygen is more important than your mom Like if you had to get rid of your mom or oxygen you get rid of your mom But other than that man You have to make yourself invaluable and then there and then there's like and then there's you know that that's how you um That that's how you that's kind of like how you make your place in the world. Your only offering is what you can, your only true offering or meaning of existence is what you can offer to your fellow man. And that's sort of the premise of capitalism.

Like you're just bringing stuff to market. You just bring like invaluable stuff, right? And so what I used to do at the CrossFit Games is I would I would come home and I would after I took pictures of all the athletes I would print them out and send them to the athletes. Hundreds just for free. I spent thousands of thousands and thousands of dollars doing that because I wanted to do it. Because it was fun. It was cool. I was proud of my pictures. And I wanted someone to enjoy them.

But I'm guessing from also from the athletes perspective. They're like that's really cool having Sevan around. He adds value. He sends me pictures. And the other day, I don't know if you guys have seen the video, but we put up a video the other day, Suzy goes, Oh, dude, I'm having the SWAT team to come do a hero workout. I was like, Oh, bitchin'. I'm like, can you put it in the calendar? I want to come bring my boys and have them see the SWAT team guys and I'll film it. And then we can send the footage over to Patrick Rios and he can edit it up into something cool. Right. And I didn't, I'm never going to see those SWAT team guys ever again the Then we can send the footage over to Patrick Rios and he can edit it up into something cool right Hmm and I didn't I'm never gonna see those SWAT team guys ever again the rest of my life but I'm guessing it added value to their life a memory and

then and then it probably added about it added value to the To the to the YouTube station it got 2,000 views or whatever it has and that wasn't the point of it And I think Suza liked it right how fun is it to like have a video forever of your? Of your gym and then probably other people watched it and you know Some people in the comments are like it made me cry or something. Maybe they worked out better But basically you're just offering something Knowing knowing gets paid for it, you know No one gets paid for it. Me and Rios and Suza.

Suza doesn't charge those SWAT guys to do the hero wad there. I get to take my kids and they get to watch me film something. I think that was the first time they ever got to see me work. They got to market of value. And I'm guessing that's what agents do too, right? Like if you have an agent, it's because they do all the paperwork and they look out for your best interest and they get you sponsorships so you can focus on what you want to focus on. You don't have to be like dredging through paperwork or calling a lawyer to have them

approve the contract or worried about like you don't have to worry about making posts and stuff. You know what I mean? Let's say like I don't have to do like the SUSE is my agent so like I don't have to do anything, right? I don't have to do I like the sues is my agent. So like I don't have to do anything, right? I don't even know how stuff works. I don't have to do Mike Mike Mike. I don't you know, he takes care of everything Everything money related. I never I never like look at anything like that. I Never look at like like like like FID aid like we have this sponsorship with FID aid and I fucking love them

And they want me to sign some contract So that they can pay us but but they haven't paid us because I won't sign the contract because I don't do that I don't sign the contract. I don't know who's supposed to do that, but I don't want to do that So then suza has to figure that out. He has to talk to those people Or maybe they don't pay us whatever 40% off. But like I don't worry about it at all completely. Like that's the he bring he brings all of that value, right? And I just fucking sit up at night and like just fucking obsessed on Victor as soft.

That's my job. I don't know if he's getting in the agent biz, but I think he's everything to me. He's like my lawyer, my agent, my accountant. I'd even throw him in the friend bucket. Why not? And so then you think about, you think about like, I was thinking about players associations the other day. I went over to the NFL players association and I'm guessing, right, for them, they don't want

titties or oxygen. What they want is they want security, right? They want financial security. And I'm guessing that's the only, I don't know this, someone can feel free to unfuck me if you want. I'm totally open to it. But I'm guessing that all any of those players associations, it's all about money, right? I don't mean that with any negative connotation. I mean that with positive connotation. They're all about money. Money, money, money, like in a good way, like because the athletes need to keep their heads down. But they also need to make sure that like when they done when they leave, that they got an escalade to drive them home, right? With tinted windows so they can just fucking split, right?

And they need to go to a nice home with a nice bed because they've just been fucking playing sports all day. And that's how the world works. It's just all about making yourself invaluable. Oh, yeah, a school train. NFL players want security for themselves and their families, especially if something happens to them. Yeah.

And so I'm guessing right that the, um, that's what the, where the players association offers that value. And so that's how, that's how, that's how, that's how that's how that's how all healthy relationships are. That's how your relationships are with a girl, right? If you want to hit on a girl, like you're trying to figure out how you can add value to her life, right? And some girl might just be looking for a rich guy who can provide her a house. Someone else might be looking for a rich guy who can provide her a house. Someone else might be looking for a friendship. A guy might be, I'm just using sweeping broad generalizations, but a guy just might be looking

for a girl who's just like horny all the time and will fuck him into oblivion. But whoever that is, they add value to you. And the more value they add to you, the more value they add to you the more fierce your loyalty gets the more fierce the more intense the attraction gets right so I thought I loved my wife more than fucking anything could possibly you could love someone until she had kids for me or for herself I don't know who she had them for but then I loved her even more I didn't even know there was like another I don't even know if love is the word.

It's like transcended love. Like there's like, like um, maybe that's why it's so painful if a spouse dies. Because it's like you died. You know what I mean? Like I need like, she's invaluable to me. Because of her relationships with the other invaluable things uh, to me. Because of her relationships with the other invaluable things to me. The fact that she does all the paperwork for not only like buying a house or any of the adult shit, but just the way she manages and takes care of and loves all my boys. Like there's no one who loves my boys more than my wife. So fuck, that's fucking amazing.

Right. And if you don't have kids, that's going to be that it's, it's, um, I don't know. I mean, I'm sure you could experience it without kids, but that, but it's a kind of a rude awakening for you uh when you have kids The shift in your relationship because of how important that person is to being a part of your I mean It's my sistine chapel, right my kids and and my wife also gets to paint on that wall with me I'm not sure if I'm going to drive this one home. I'm thinking about abandoning it.

I'm just rehearsing. It's a little long-winded. It needs to be cut down. I need some better examples. But there's also a difference. There's also a way. And so that's how you get stuff. You bring stuff to market.

You bring stuff to value. You bring value to things. My wife's not married to me because I bring misery to her life. Oh, cats work too. Fair enough. Yeah nice My wife's married to me because the value the value add that I bring right? And it wasn't money because she fucking was with me when I was fucking homeless But I but but I don't even care if it is money like like I'm not not like outside of that. Like people do your own thing, you know?

Like if you want to be, if money's really important to you, then you should be attracted to someone who can provide you money. Like it's on you, no judgment. You figure it out, you go down your path and it'll eventually, you'll figure it out. What works for you. But taking from someone else and giving something to someone else, if that's the way you add value,

if you're leveraging what someone else has, instead of doing it yourself, if you take from others to give to others, is that what Robinhood did? You're noise in the system now. in the world. You're kind of like a...not kind of, you're handicapping the whole system. You're kind of a leech on the system. Like what value did you bring to the system, to the machine Oh, Sevan, you're being so vague. I'm going to tax Sevan's little podcast and take money from him so I can have a needle exchange program somewhere else. That's how they're adding value. There's someone who does that.

There's someone in this world who does that to all of us. They take money from us and they use it to buy needles and then give the needles to drug addicts. That's it. That's all I got for now. Almost like our government. There's people who make a fucking living doing that. This is not going to go, this is, this one, this one's going to sting when it finally comes, when it gets full, fully developed. When you look at the CrossFit ecosystem and you look at like the necessities of the organism, the necessities of the organism are, you know, are the CrossFit HQ. The necessities of the organism are the... The necessities of the organism of CrossFit HQ are the seminars and the affiliates.

The seminars and the affiliates. The seminars and the affiliates. Right? That's like the heart and the brain, right? Call them what you want. The affiliates are the heart, the seminars are the brain. They're vital to the existence of the organism. It will not exist without those two. So what would you call the CrossFit Games? Like a hat?

I wasn't going to say a pair of socks, but a pair of socks are good. I mean, they're not vital to the organism. But a hat or like a purse? It's an accessory. It's an accoutrement. Not vital to the organism at all. Organism has to be completely stable first and then it can put on a hat. put on a hat. Not vital to the organism at all. Zero. I'm not saying it doesn't have value. I'm just saying zero vitalness.

Like zero, not even a tiny bit. Not even like one tiny, a wristwatch. Wow. You're a little biased. Because you love your wrist. But okay, a little biased. Because you love your wrist. But okay, a wrist rot. No, it's not even a pinky toe. I don't even think it's a pinky toe.

I think I'm going to go with wristwatch. But what's even less important than owning a wristwatch is what kind of wristwatch you own. Meaning, what's even less important than the CrossFitwatch is what kind of wristwatch you own. Meaning what's even less important than the CrossFit Games are the CrossFit Games athletes. And so when you listen to all these other podcasts speak and or when you listen to them the athletes speak or when you listen to the and I don't mean

that in a negative way By the way, there's no negativity in this. This is i'm just painting the i'm just painting Just this is just facts. These are just facts. These aren't even like opinions And so what's even less important than the than the wristwatch is what kind of wristwatch it is and so when I was listening to um, uh, uh, um, Patrick Clark and Brian talk yesterday, and they never mentioned the affiliates, they never mentioned the seminars, which is okay, their show, but then there's this presupposition like that there's no context or relativity. Well what if all the athletes walk?

It wouldn't matter. It does not matter what kind of wristwatch you have. It doesn't even matter if you have a wristwatch And so the fact that those who are talking about the situation aren't putting it in context or in Relativity makes the whole conversation Disingenuous and reduces the value of it. I mean it just crazy reduces the value of it It's just it's just fucking it's nuts to talk about it without putting it in perspective. Absolutely wild to me. And they're become like these presuppositions like there'll be a statement like in a news magazine that will be like the PFAA requested

information to CrossFit and CrossFit said that they would not give them the information. Good! Good or not good like but there's this presupposition from people who are suggesting that like it's bad. Like how is that bad? That's what I mean, it's just like so ambiguous like if you asked when the start of the event was and they didn't tell you that's kind of weird. and they didn't tell you? That's kind of weird. Like you need to know when the start of the event is. I mean at some point, because you've got to get there and participate in it. I get it. But then say that. I think people are, um...

And then you have to look at the athletes, right? There's athletes like Angelo DiCicco from CrossFit Mayhem. Angelo comes home from work as a firefighter, walks into the house, looks at his wife. He looks fucking like he's had a hard day and she goes, what happened Angelo? And Angelo says, holy fuck, I went to a call today and my best friend from the second grade. She's like, yeah She's like I went to his mom's house and his mom was dead His mom had a heart attack And she's like, holy fuck and she hugs Angelo and she makes him a grilled cheese sandwich And Angelo goes okay, I got to go to the gym and train.

I love you, baby. And she's like, I'll drive you there, sweetheart. And he's like, thanks. She drives him there, drops him off at the gym, hangs out in the Mayhem coffee shop, flirts with other athletes. I mean, hangs out. And then there's other athletes who come home and they're like, they come home from training all day.

They look at their phone and they're like, holy fuck. I can't believe my, my shoe sponsor came out with this colorway that I'm going to have to wear. It's so fucking ugly. And they start calling all their friends being like, dude, I'm not going to wear these fucking shoes. They call their agent. I'm not going to wear these fucking shoes. They call their agent. I'm not gonna wear these fucking shoes. They're ugly. And there's like all of these things are like that ecosystem. It's all just like there's so much there's so much context and relativity that needs to be put into place. By the way, I made that story up about Angelo.

It's probably worse than that, but that's just the one off the top of my head. Something's up with my voice right now. Thank you, David. This guy. I hope that those people at CrossFit recognize that the influence, the people who have the greatest influence... What is this? What is this? I thought of this today too. What did I... Sorry, standby. I text this to a buddy. Athletes have the highest profile role in CrossFit with the lowest value to the ecosystem. They have the highest profile role with the lowest value to the ecosystem. God, I hope Don recognizes that. I hope the board recognizes that. They have the highest profile role with the least value to the ecosystem.

I was kind of laughing. I was kind of laughing that I'm part of me thinks that like I shouldn't even even recognize the PFA oh, you're gonna love this one David. You're gonna fucking love this one Think about what they've done versus what this podcast is done I should be in charge of the PFA Who's added more value to the cross to the crossfit athletes lives the PFAA or this podcast? It's like not even we're not even in the we're not even in the fucking same like Universe it's like it's like thank you David and that's crazy for you to say it It's like, it's like, thank you, David. And that's crazy for you to say it.

Would you rather have a, oh, that's a great picture. Donald Trump with Mr. Epstein. Nice photo. I'm just thinking like, what value add have you given the athletes in order to steer them in any direction. All you're trying to do is take from other organizations to add value to your organization. That's all you're doing. You're trying to take control of their events to get sway with the athletes.

It's like what? You're trying to take from events, you're trying to leverage, you're trying to take from events to get to like, hey, events, give us power over your event and then they tell the athletes the athletes. Hey look we have power over these events You should join us It's like telling a woman to date you so you can protect her from getting raped like just imagine walking up to a woman I'll sure be like hey, you should date me. It's safe because then I'll protect you from getting raped like that that's that like what like That that's your courtship. I thought Christoph's post was pretty good too. I actually I saw I saw Christoph's post.

I thought it was pretty good. I wonder I hope him and Gabby are okay I really like Christophe. I really like Gabby, too I interviewed her she was the sweetest girl in the world and then she started hanging out with Laura and shit went sideways with with Her I get in my opinion from it's not that it's like I don't have any deep insights, but shit got weird Matt Susa David weed left a nice comment about me. I don't know why, but it feels like a big win. It's like, man. Yeah, maybe I should start the I'll start the SPFAA the Super Professional Athletes Association.

I give you guys a list of books to read best training practices. I'll curate them from the greatest athletes in the world. I'll interview people and get advices for you. I'll go to war with you if you guys don't get what you want. I'll help you promote your sponsors. It's fucking... Spa-Sevon's Professional Athlete Association. Oh, Sevon's Professional Athlete Association. That's not bad. I'd rather call it Matt suzes I assumed he I assumed David had been taking mushrooms solid I haven't spoken to Dave day. I've only spoken to you guys. I

Stayed up late last night just perusing Victor's Instagram I reached out to a couple other adaptive athletes and a coach. I told my wife I was going to bed at 930. I finally got up, went to bed at fucking 11. And then I woke up. No one else was awake in my house. I came in here and started talking to you guys. Oh shit. Wow.

Really? Hey, I don't know if you guys have seen, man, where is that? Did you guys see what uh, it's so this is just fluoride, uh, iq. Did you guys see the uh, this is great. God, this is so good. I can't believe how how I can't believe how humble I am. How often I'm right, I mean, sorry that came out wrong. U.S. government report says fluoride at twice the recommended limit is linked

to lower IQ in kids. Oh, thanks. Oh, thanks. U.S. government reported expected to stir debate including that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked to with lower IQ in children. The report based on analysis previously published research marks the first time a federal agency

has determined with moderate confidence that there's a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. Guys, I say this to you with the utmost confidence, the correlation between getting vaccines and autism are higher than smoking and lung cancer. Get your fucking head wrapped around that. You think that everyone doesn't know fucking fluoride is poison who's fucking done 15 minutes of fucking research? That there's a link between higher levels of fluoride is poison, who's fucking done 15 minutes of fucking research, that there's a link between higher levels of fluoride

exposure and lower IQ in kids, while the report was not designed to evaluate the health effects of fluoride in drinking water alone, it is a striking acknowledgement of potential neurological risk from higher levels of fluoride. Hey dude, if you start looking at these studies, if you wanna go deeper, it's like 100% across the board. Like there's no variance in the studies that have studied fluoride and IQ levels

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities it does strengthen teeth and and it does reduce cavities because it strengthens teeth, but the the Amount is so negligible and all you have to do is not eat like shit and that goes away. But also, just get methoothian. I wish the fucking QR code was up there. Just go to Doc Spartan and start brushing with methoothian. According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health

achievements of the last century. Oh yeah, just like vaccines? Oh, interesting. Wow. That's weird. It goes on and on. It's just... In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first US city to start adding fluoride to the tap water. In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridization to prevent tooth decay and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later.

The fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans. Our drinking water. And you know, I did that previous story that showed the science director for the Obama administration had proposed sterilizing...look it up yourself, guys. I pulled the article up before. The director of technology for the Obama administration...oh, sure, go ahead. Go ahead, go ahead, boy. Had proposed putting things in the water to sterilize the American public. That was a proposal.

I remember I said that to my mom and then I got a text from her, can you send me that article? I was like, no problem. I mean, it's written all over. There's tons and tons of articles on it. Oh, but vote Democrat. Can you imagine having that idea and saying it out loud tons and tons of articles on it. Oh, but vote Democrat. Can you imagine having that idea and saying it out loud that you wanna put something in the water to sterilize the American public?

And then you become part of the Obama administration. Fucking crazy. The science czar. Hey dude. Hi honey. What's up? Good. Is your headphone too loud?

No I'm fine. It was my leg just dropped, knocked over my leg and I fixed it. Oh. I thought I had a start over but I didn't. Did you cry? Oh yeah. You did? Which leg?

Which leg? Tell me how it went down. Tell me the story. You did? Which Lego? Which Lego? Tell me how it went down. Tell me the story. Tell me all the details. The one that I was building. Oh, where were you when it got in the Yoda? Yeah, I fixed it. Where were you when it got knocked over?

I was doing dominos with Joey. So you were playing dominos in the Jiu Jitsu room and then what did you hear something? Yeah. He looked at me like I was crazy. playing dominoes in the jujitsu room and then what did you hear something yeah you looked at me like I was crazy Joey so like you heard Joey looked at you like you were crazy so you're in there playing dominoes and tell me story you hear something and you jump up and run into the living room and what do you see my leg on the floor and what's meds might be doing she's standing right next to it.

Is she putting her hand over her mouth? Does she feel bad? I know she loves you to pieces. And did you scream or just start crying? I took a couple breaths, sat down, and then when I saw when I when I'm like, oh no I have to start over and then I realized the bottom was backwards. So I just But tears were coming down your face Why do you think why do you think it's so? You you've spent time building this Lego It's sitting there it's half done and then you come in the room and it's broken, it's sitting there, it's half done, and then you come in

the room and it's broken and it's emotional for you. Why do you think that is? Well, you worked so hard and it's something that you love. Yeah. And it don't look like I, I would suck if I, if that Lego is like broken or like you couldn't fix it Like one of the pieces were snapped in half like that. Yeah Hi. Hi. Oh, you're leaving. Yeah, he's going to market this first time. Oh, okay. I love you

Bye baby Bye you can leave that open just shut the screen. Bye, Avi. Bye, Avi. Love you. You can leave that open. Just shut the screen. Thanks, dude. Are you ready for your tournament on Saturday? Yeah, I'm a little nervous. And then I have a tennis tournament after that. On Sunday?

How do you think you're going to do in the Jiu Jitsu tournament? You're doing gi and no gi? Yeah. Since Joey's in there, I'm going to be a little more confident so I think I could win. I mean you always... You get double gold. Oh yeah, double gold. I'm always so close.

I always get gold. My last time I got silver and bronze, which was surprising to me. And then... Why? Because you think you should have got double gold? I mean I never get bronze and... Bronze is just ass. And so... I? I mean I never get bronze. Bronze is just ass. I mean I've been playing bronze. I think you're gonna get double gold too. Before you go in there will you have a plan of attack? Like will you be like

okay this kid's getting arm barred, this dude's getting rear naked choke or like do you have a plan? Well I see them uh, when I see if the guy I'm going against, the guy I'm going against, I see him like submitting all that people then I'm in like, Oh, I know what he's going to do. And then I'll just probably win. And Joey and I just might just go to the finals and yeah, I mostly win my matches and such a jit-to room. So I might lose because I need a hard round before I do a really, I need someone to go. I need I need some here.

It's hard to explain. Go ahead. I have time. Go ahead. I need someone. I need someone like better to go with me for the tournament. Like I keep winning all my match with Dre Gwen I took wins back yesterday

Joey I keep any top mount psych control And I just need like something like Milly Avi yeah, why not Avi why not? Is Avi a good challenge for you or you smoke? Yeah, he's pretty hard London's pretty hard to Hey, it's like Avi. Um so What it so you and Joey in are you guys in the same bracket and gee and no gee? we're in the room 60s

what if um What if you and Joey are both in the finals? Will you go against each other or will one of you just be like, because I don't want one of you to get hurt going hard at a tournament against the other. What if you guys, one of you just decided ahead of time, hey, you're the winner?

Today, I'm just, since I don't have double gold, I just really wanna get double gold. So I'm just, if we go to the finals, Nogi and Gi, I'm gonna really I don't have double goal. I just really want to get double gold So I'm just if we go to the final snowy and ghee I'm gonna really try to win But what if it's you and Joseph in the finals will you just say to him? Hey, dude, let me win or I'm gonna beat your ass I guess I can say that He's pretty good, dude He gets he gets he's so close to getting arm bars triangles

Taking my back choking me out and I get on psych control top now. I almost get an arm biome I actually he's gonna go crazy in the tournament, dude. He's hardcore. I Triangled someone yesterday you did who who? I triangle someone yesterday. You did? Who? Kai S, that new kid. But he goes hard. Really hard. Wow. He thinks he's the best, but he isn't. I don't like that straight.

I haven't seen that kid. He's straight, he's like... In your tennis tournament, you're playing with Joey. It's doubles tournament? Yeah, which is a little weird. I'm against him in the jiu-jitsu tournament and I'm trying to I'm trying to like go with him in my tennis turn. Yeah, I'm glad I did doubles because Because it's my first time doing the tennis tournament. I graduated I can do it to the next tournament now. I passed the test Yeah, what ball you playing Green ball or yellow ball?

I think I'll be playing orange ball. I might play green ball as well. Um, do you ever think about how much value I add to your life? Let's talk about the things I do. I bought you a sandwich. You want me to say, I rub your back when you go to bed at night. I don't feel that. What are you talking about? Eyes are closed. I rub your back when you go to bed at night. I don't feel that

What are you talking about eyes are closed I scratch your back like almost every night when you go to bed You don't feel that no, I see you're like a cat your body like stretches and shit and like you undulate and shit You don't feel that what? How many times do I hug you every day and fucking scratch your back on average? How many times do I hug you every day and fucking scratch your back on average? How much you told me is like no like just throughout the day how much do I like you don't like Wait no no no 81 81 times a day I hug you and scratch your back. Probably like 50 something like that. Yeah good all right good all right.

I'm just kidding like 20 30. I know I know I know. I buy you sandwiches and scratch your back and drive you around unlike your personal taxi. I know you're my taxi every day instead of when I'm a driver. Hey tell me about your haircut. You got a new haircut? You told me the other day we were near the salon and you're like, hey, you were watching and you're like, I wanna go in there and get the treatment. Yeah.

They said no, but you have to get an appointment but I was okay with that because I know you could cut it or I could go to super cuts. And you went to super cuts? Tell me about the experience. Well, I just did a normal buzz cut and I washed my hair. They washed my hair. Is that the first time you've had your hair

washed? Uh, no, they did it before at um, at this different cut at this uh, super at this different hair shaving place. Um, when the late, was it a lady who washed your hair? hair shaving place. Um, when the late was it a lady who washed your hair? And once you washed your hair, did your body get all tingly and shit? I mean my neck my like head was so uncomfortable because I was laying on like Oh that porcelain she didn't put a towel down. No, this other lady did it for Alfie and joey And she put a towel there. Yeah, obviously got his hair washed. I was like, oh my god

But she was her hair color is nice. Mm-hmm Gee she did it nice Joey come Has Joey ever been on the show? Why doesn't he want to come in? Everyone's nervous. It's okay. It's part of it. I would be so much Everyone's nervous. It's okay. It's part of it. I would be so much Family day at super cuts. Mr. Pool boy. Sorry, go ahead He's more nervous to be probably more nervous to be on the podcast than the cottage on

more than the jiu-jitsu tournament Hold on I want to read this comment real quick This isn't going to make sense to you Seba modified the crossfit pyramid to show the different levels of importance to the overall brand the bottom of the pyramid would be the Affiliate second level seminars and it topped the games. Oh, I like that. What I'll squeeze in right above seminars Yeah, the sebon podcast. That's a good idea The hierarchy of value add and the PFAA could be a fucking helium balloon that the pyramids holding Did she leave already leave already I said goodbye hi we're live did you call me I just wanted to see if my phone is in the car. Oh, oh, OK. All right. OK, OK, bye bye.

All right. Oh, the old Bluetooth. I don't know if my phone's in the car, so I call someone, right. All right. All right. Well, I'm excited for Saturday and Sunday. It's going to be cool. I wonder. I wonder if I have a pod. Oh, shit. What?

I have killed Taylor on Saturday. Like, did you turn it? Oh, shit. What? I've killed Taylor on Saturday. Like, did you turn it? Oh, yeah, I'm going to have to move, kill Taylor. Oh, shit. What a complicated life I live. Hi. Let me see. Let me see something real quick. You want what you want? We'll call. Let's call Taylor really quick

Hi Joseph you can sit down The camera can see you. Yeah, I know. I know, it sees me. It sees you and it can hear you. Joey? Yeah. It can see all that shit. Well, well, well, well. Wait, it can hear him? Yeah, if he talks.

Hello? Don't say anything. I'm not saying anything. I'm just saying, Wait, it can hear him? Yeah, if he talks. Hello? Don't say anything. Gotcha. Hey, we're live. What's up?

Hey, hey, what's up? Oh, can we what time can we change? What time are we doing kill Taylor Saturday? I just realized my kids have a jiu jitsu tournament. What time is the tournament? I don't know. It's fucking it's probably like all day like if could we go at 6 a.m. Pacific Standard Time again? Oh 9 a.m. yeah. We

could do that? Yeah. Okay. Because they yeah I'm sure the tournament's not to like 8. Yeah yeah that's perfect. Early early is good late's not good I don't like late. Do you already know the workout? No, I'm making it up today. Alright, you and Bryson are gonna do some programming? Yeah, after we fuck. Oh, my kid's on, my kid's listening. Okay, dude, you shouldn't have insinuated that then.

Oh, he took off there. Which kid? Which kid? Which kid? Ari, Ari. What? Ari! He took off to that side. Which kid? Which kid? Ari, Ari. Ari, stop. Don't listen to me. Ari, your dad implied that. I was just making a joke. No, I said you guys were programming.

Hey, you're going to meet... Ari and Joseph and Avi are going to see you. You're competing at NorCal Classic. We're all staying in the same house. The kids are pumped. Yeah, I'm so excited. Are you going to Italy soon? Yeah, I'm so excited. Are you going to Italy soon? Yeah, I'm going to Italy. I'm leaving for Italy Sunday.

I need you and Susan to confirm that Kil Taylor on Friday next week. Friday. Yeah. And it's gonna be like a, yeah, it'll be like an at-home workout, probably some type of shit like that. Okay, I'm looking at the calendar now god

and i'm gonna be in italy and i'm gonna be in italy so you have to i suzanne figured out the time but you're gonna i need you to redo that and send it to me um so that we have everybody knows what time it's gonna be at and it's supposed to be in the afternoon for me and i think that's gonna be kind of morning watch out for that camera don't pull the camera out okay okay good sorry um that camera. Don't pull the camera down. Okay. Okay. Good. Sorry. Yeah, I'm stoked for California. Oh, and then you're coming here and you're staying with me. Yeah, I fly. You and Lizzie. You and Lizzie. Yeah. Yeah, we're coming to San Francisco airport.

Are you there? Yeah, I'm here. Okay. That's the right airport, right? We got tickets to San Francisco. Yeah, it's closed. Oh, and what day do you arrive? I think September 3rd, we fly in. I don't know what time though. Should I send you a driver? So you're like a baller? Yeah, that'd be sick. Okay. Remind me of that. Send me a text and I'll send you a driver. Send me all your flight information. I'll make sure that you guys get it. Do you need a car when you're here? I guess we could get one if we get here.

Yeah, you'll want one. You'll want one so you and Lizzie can cruise around. We can get one once you get here. Who's Lizzie? Wait, how are you getting home? I'm gonna fly straight home from Sacramento. Oh, that's bitchin'. Okay, I love it yeah um I don't you maybe we'll need a car do I'm not when I land dude I'm just gonna sleep and and

like do computer work for probably a day I'm probably not gonna do all right I'll watch you guys skateboard teach you guys how to Oh. I already know how to do that. Well, all he does, I don't really know. All right, cool. Okay, so 6 a.m. I'll send a text to the boys now. Tyler's already complaining. It's fine. I wonder if Hiller's gonna come on this week.

I wonder if he's over his PTSD. Okay. What? Yeah, me too. Me too. I hope he comes on too. I miss him. Okay. 6 a.m. Alright. Alright. Hey, did you see? Did you see what I got yesterday? I told you. Never mind. Alright. Alright, uh, wow. Oh, I just, uh, just sent out a, uh, alert next year. All athletes will be wearing helmets the entire games.

Oh my God. They did not. Do they have a list of athletes best practices out yet? No, they don't have anything. They offer no value to the affiliates. They fucking, they take from fucking event organizers. They take from events and hold events hostage and leverage that to try to get athletes to jump on board with them.

It's fucking it's socialism at its finest. It's so it's it's I I'm going to start my own organization. I already decided I do way more for the athletes than they could ever imagine. I just start my own. What do you think about the NFL Players Association? Yeah, they get money. I'm assuming that they get secure money for their athletes and deals and days off and shit like that.

Hi, mom. Oh, oh, Anari. Does he need to to play the piano oh, okay, are you leaving? Okay, I'll come out and say hi to you in one minute. Don't leave yet Okay It's a whole family affair on the podcast today I'm guessing that those those those the only reason why athletes join those is because they offer a fucking tremendous value to the financial, to their finances, right? Right. So, like.

I don't know. I'm just wondering. I gotta ask Andy about that. I think he was a member. Does he still get money? Does he get a little paycheck or no? I have no idea. Probably not.

All right. I gotta go. Okay. Bye. Bye. All right, I gotta go. Okay. Bye. Bye. All right. You have anything else you want to say?

We're done. Um. Want to say bye? What is today? Thursday? Oh, shut up and scribbles on today. Just shut up and scribble. That's a JR's and oh, I don't even know if it's on

Is that did they even do that show anymore? I don't see it on the schedule. I Don't even know. All right. Bye. Bye. Uh I'll see you guys Tomorrow on my day. What? Um, don't say anything inappropriate, please no, I'm not Can we go to lighthouse today? Sure, whatever you want? Okay, we're off to the lighthouse. Oh, bye. Bye. Bye. Oh should I play the exerciser commercial? Yeah, the fit aid one Dude, no do your song cuz he added on. I'll do the Fidead one. Thanks for watching!