WHOOP Podcast - Scout Bassett on Physical & Mental Resilience, Confronting Fear, and Pursuing Her Passions

Episode Date: September 21, 2022

Scout Bassett, Paralympic track athlete, joins the podcast for a powerful conversation on resilience, what fear teaches us, and how things often get harder before they get better. Scout grew up in an orphanage in China, having lost her right leg in a chemical fire as a newborn. After being adopted, she was introduced to sports, and ultimately, made track and field her career. That journey has been nothing but linear, and she joins the podcast to discuss growing up in China (3:11), how she prioritizes her mental health (8:05), getting into sports (14:29), moving to California (21:29), transitioning to triathlon and ultimately track and field (24:42), the 2021 Paralympic Games (28:00), what her goals are (34:15), how she uses WHOOP (39:12), what she noticed about her metrics that helped her understand she had COVID-19 (42:23), the importance of sleep (50:54), and how she prioritizes self care (52:38).Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

What's up, folks? Welcome back to the WOOP podcast, where we sit down with top athletes, researchers, scientists, and more to learn what the best in the world are doing to perform at their peak. And what you can do to unlock your own best performance, I'm your host, Will Amit, founder and CEO of Woop, and we are on a mission to unlock human performance. An amazing episode this week, we've got Scout Bassett, Paralympic track athlete, and member of the Woop Women's Performance Collective. on the podcast. She's joined by Jeremy Powers, our sports marketing manager of endurance sports. Scout grew up in an orphanage in China following the loss of her right leg and a chemical fire when she was a newborn. She was adopted and moved to the U.S. going on to graduate from UCLA, first starting in triathlon and then moving to track and field, though she nearly quit in the sport in which she's now the American record holder.

It's a powerful and honest conversation really underscores that success doesn't come easy, and there are many struggles and challenges along the way. Scout discusses how she got started in sports, how she overcame her sense of otherness, the power of therapy and how it got her through the darkest moments of her life, the importance of asking for help and putting pride aside, living out of her car when she was pursuing professional sports, navigating feelings of failure, especially on the public stage, and using that as fuel, taking risk and embracing failure as the true differentiators for greatness, what it's like to be a

woman and a disabled athlete in pro sports, and what she's learned from her whoop data, including a powerful story about whoop helping her realize that she had COVID-19. It's a story we've heard before. Very powerful conversation, and Scouts very, very honest. If there's something you're curious about or a reminder, please email us podcast at whoop.com or call us at 508-443-4952

and it might just get answered on a future episode. And finally, if you're new to whoop, use the code will when you're checking out to get started and you will have a $60 credit on whoop accessories, battery packs, bands, whoop body apparel, and more.

That is join.wup.com to get started. Without further ado, here is Scout Bassett and Jeremy Powers. Thanks, Will. Hey, everyone. I'm Jeremy Powers, and I'm so excited to have this opportunity to have Scout Vassett onto the show. Scout, welcome to the show. Thanks so much, Jeremy, for having me. It's great to be here with you. Your story is larger than life, what you've overcome, achieved, and how you become a role model in a lot of ways to to so many with your accomplishments and the hardships that you've had in your life, it's hard to put into words, I think, how unique your journey has actually been.

I'd love to start out the conversation with having you describe a little bit of your childhood from your life-changing injury, being in an orphanage, being adopted and making your way to the U.S. Well, for those that haven't heard of my story, I was born in Nanjing, China, and when I was an infant, I lost my right leg in a fire. And was then just dropped and left on the streets of Nanjing, found at about a year and a half old and taken to the local government orphanage where I lived for the next seven years. And I would say there are a few experiences that I've had in my life that I could say there wasn't an ounce of joy or really even a glimmer of light. I'm somebody that can find that in all situations. But I would say that was a chapter in my life

that there really wasn't any of that, at least none that I remember. And unfortunately, none of the memories that I have there were really that positive. I think the one positive thing was just the bond that you form with the other orphans, knowing that you are in this really traumatic horrific situation together. The will to survive to make it through each day is something that really is a shared and unique connection that you form with each other. I think those are the bonds that really leave a lasting impression on you. But our day-to-day life, I would say, was extremely heartbreaking in so many ways. And I was adopted when I was seven years old and came to the states in a really small town in northern Michigan.

And when I say you couldn't have more extremes, I truly mean that. I go from living in this orphanage where obviously everybody is Chinese to a small town in northern Michigan, 1,600 people. I could count on one hand the number of minorities that lived in this town. and obviously the only person there with a disability, a physical disability, an amputation more specifically. And you can just imagine all the struggles and the heartache that comes with trying to navigate these two very extreme worlds of highs and lows. But, you know, I say all of that not to have pity for me. I never want people to feel that way.

but to paint this scenario and this picture of I needed all of that to be who I am today. And I always say that I would never change any of the experiences. I wouldn't have my leg back if I could have it back. I wouldn't trade that orphanage experience as heartbreaking as it was. And I would say that was one of the experiences in my life that truly broke me as a young woman. But I wouldn't trade any of that because the qualities. the skills that I developed, the strength, the mindset that I needed to live that life to come here, to navigate life as an immigrant here. All of that has been needed on this journey, and I'm really

thankful for that. I think I read also that in the orphanage, there's no formal education, that there wasn't a prosthetic for you to use that you had to make your own. There's so many things that you overcame. I think one of those, to me, would be such a massive piece to overcome, but combined, it makes your story who you are. Absolutely. Thank you so much. I think there's probably because of all that, I would say even to this day, there's still a process of healing, right?

From navigating all of that and still a journey where, you know, I'm trying to figure out who I am and who I want to be. And there's so many different identities that are layered in that story that's difficult to wrap your head around. And in many ways, some that are difficult to. accept and I just want to say for people I think that have heard my story and see me today they are so surprised right by who I am now and I want to be honest and say that that journey of healing of finding wholeness is lifelong it's not linear and it's not this upward

trajectory there are many high and low seasons that you navigate and you you come back to And I think anybody that has experienced a tremendous trauma in their life can understand that while you may heal from those experiences, the scars are there forever, right? And so, you know, you even just having that is a reminder of the things that you've lived through and overcome, but that the encouragement is that there is healing and wholeness on the other side if you're willing to pursue it. I'd like to just talk about the mental health and therapy and things that you've gotten into,

although we're going quite deep right here. I think in one of the interviews that I had listened to, you had said something along the lines of, you really had to tear it all down in order to kind of come out on the other side. It's a beautiful way to frame it, Germany, because I've had to do that many times in my life. And I'm about to basically go through the same process

in my next chapter, in my next phase. I think that is the one thing that I realize so many people struggle with quite often is going to those places, right? We never really want to be broken down in that way. It's natural to be avoidance of pain, of suffering, of struggle. And what I've realized is that when I was willing to be broken down to say, I'm going to face this head on, I'm not going to run from it. I'm not going to hide, avoid it. I'm not going to mask it by having worldly accomplice. or athletic achievements, but I'm willing to address it and face it head on, is when I started to see just this tremendous growth and healing in my life. And it really started with a trip back to the orphanage in 2016. I don't think you can ever be prepared for an experience like that. I had

always known that I would want to do that one day, but I don't think I ever really thought I was ready, right? And so I go back to the orphanage only five days after competing in the Rio Paralympic Games. And of course, just the very scent of walking through the doors, it was still the same facility that I grew up in. They have sense moved, but I was blessed enough to be able to still see it intact and visit it before they moved. But just the scent alone takes you back. And they say smell is one of our strongest forms of memory. And as soon as I walk through the doors, I remember that smell and living in that place every day. It's not a pleasant smell, I would say.

But just seeing the other kids and realizing that so many of them are likely not going to have the opportunity that I've had to make it out to reach the highs that I have and have, you know, just the opportunity to live it very full. and meaningful life is heartbreaking, you know, knowing that obviously not 100% of these kids are going to be adopted. I think the most important thing I wanted to convey to them is just that over 90% of the kids now, they have a disability, but that just because they have a disability doesn't mean that they don't have worth or value. And I think people with disabilities, that's something that's very difficult to understand because so much of our lived experiences are that we don't have worth, or we have less worth and less value than other people. But to be able to bring sport to them,

something I never got to experience while living in the orphanage was so incredible. And then you go from this incredible high of like, okay, I've closed the full loop, right? Of coming back. But then I had no idea how difficult it was going to be in the weeks and months and even years after that, where I come home and I'm just bawling my eyes out for weeks and months on end. And I realized, okay, I really need to. I thought I've done some work in therapy about this, but I have some unresolved things because clearly there is a pain that is still there. And so that's when I started. But I fell into this deep pole and walked through probably one of the darkest tunnels of my journey in that process of going to

therapy. And I realized that in that process, you know, people sort of have this idea. You go to therapy and you start feeling great right away because you're letting out all these suppressed emotions and experiences and feelings. But a lot of times it feels awful before it feels better. And I think that's the part that I didn't really quite realize I was going to get myself into. So when I say it felt awful and I mean like I couldn't get out of bed. I was depressed. I didn't know how I was going to make it to the other side. And I realized that I had had so much trauma and pain that really affected me and impacts the way that I think and live and who I am that I hadn't really addressed and yet sort of it was like climbing my Mount Everest of figuring out how I was going to do

that, right? And I ended up having to, you know, at the recommendation of my therapist seeking a psychiatrist and even getting some medical help and treatment during that time and season of my life that I was navigating this. But for a few years, it was a, a long road and a very difficult one. But I'm so glad I was willing to do it because on the other side of that, I saw so many incredible rewards in my life, both personally, but also professionally, that wasn't a coincidence. And so I share that journey to say that I've been through so many difficult things in my life and in my journey. And I consider myself incredibly tough mentally. Obviously, I'm an athlete. Paralympic sport is not for the faint of heart, and especially track and field. And I couldn't even believe that I was struggling with the things that I was struggling. I mean, I'm so strong. I've overcome so much. And I say in quotations, accomplished by worldly standards. How could I be struggling with the things that I was struggling with? My point is that so many people, I think, are in those places where perhaps,

they see themselves as one way, right? And they can't really understand why they might be struggling from a mental aspect. But that any mental wellness issues or whatever they might be is not indicative of your strength or your courage or anything. If anything, getting that help is an even greater sign of the strength and courage that you have. But it's okay and not to be okay. and that it's worth walking that journey. It's worth being broken down and rebuilding yourself because when you're able to do so, you're going to become an improved, better version of yourself

that you will absolutely love. When you were young, and after you came back from the orphanage to the U.S., you stuck yourself into a lot of books, you read a lot, and then sport came after that. It started out. Initially, I got involved in sport in grade school years because I didn't look like everybody else.

Didn't speak the same language. And I was obviously struggling to fit in, right, to belong. But I remember going to school and hearing the kids talk about youth soccer and softball and the sports, youth sports that they were doing. I had no idea what it was. I mean, we are not a particularly athletic family, nor are we sports fanatics. And so I didn't really know anything about sport. I can honestly say that the first time I signed up, for soccer. I had never watched sport up to that point, like even on TV. So I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but I just remember them talking about how much fun they had. And obviously somebody who's come here and not having a whole lot of fun, just the idea of

doing something that wasn't school-related where I'm struggling with the language or to read to write, maybe something outside of school would be a good change. And so I told my parents, I wanted to do soccer and they were like, really? And I said yes. And of course, I think in their mind, they were wondering, well, how is she going to do that? She has a prosthetic. And so none of us really knew, right? And I got involved and I just loved it from the beginning. I think it's the feeling of being outdoors for me that I have a really strong connection with. And maybe that's because for the first seven years of my life, I rarely went outside. I rarely got to experience the outdoors. I lived in the four walls of this orphanage, right? I think just the idea of being outside

of feeling a sense of freedom maybe was something that was really alluring to me. But quickly, I found out, oh, I could always be there. I could come to practices that could come to games. And mind you, this is only second grade, right? We're not talking about competitive sports or anything like that, but I was often the girl that didn't get to play. So everybody else is in the game, gets a turn in, but I spent most of my time on the sidelines, on the bench. I quickly realized that having a disability was a hindrance for me in sport and that people had a perception and a judgment about me because of that. And this is something that I was largely unaware of before I came here because when you're in

the orphanage, you're with these other kids and you're all living the same day-to-day lives. It's not like somebody has more opportunity than another. So you're really largely unaware of how my disability was, you know, it was sort of negated in the orphanage, right? Whereas here it was more magnified. And that's how I grew up thinking that because every season of every year, Jeremy, I signed up for a sport because I wanted to do something outside of school. And I just love the activity. But I almost hardly ever got to see game time. And so I just grew up sort of thinking like, okay, this is the experience of people with disabilities. And I talked about earlier about how a lot of our experiences are about being marginalized, about the way people treating is that we are not as worthy. or as valuable. Well, and that was a perfect example. But fortunately for me, I found sport at running in particular at 14 when I got a running prosthetic. And because up until then, I had done

sports on my everyday walking leg. And for people that are not aware, unlike you who can maybe put on a pair of shoes or an equipment or an outfit change and you can do a sport, when doing sport with a prosthetic, it's quite different. The everyday leg is not really meant for. or high performance activities. And so to have a running leg really completely changed my life. Yeah, at 14, you went to Florida. You met with someone that was able to make you a leg for running. And then I heard even pushed you into your first event.

All the great things that I would say have been able to experience in my life came from a place of trepidation, of total fear, of anxiety, of I don't think I can do this. I tell people if you experience that, if you feel that way, it means you should do it. That's how my first experience with running was. I get to this track meet. It's only 60 meters. And I am absolutely terrified of getting on that star line.

I'm not running with these other girls. I don't want to do it. I'm only 14 at the time. These girls are adults, world-class Paralympic athletes. And I just feel way in over my head. and not to mention, the running leg has only been finished maybe a couple hours. So how is this going to go? Is it going to stay on? And my prosthesis said to me that we're not leaving this meet until I run this race.

And if he has to go to the meet director and say, you know, we're not leaving until Scout runs this race, he will. Up until then, I always had a cosmetic cover over my walking leg. And if you've seen these cutting edge carbon fiber, C-shaped blades, there's no way to make that look like an anatomical limb. There's no amount of cosmetic covering where you could hide it, right? And I realized that this was the first time of my life that I was going to have to be seen. And I just think at 14, I wasn't sure if I was ready to step out into the world on a track. and say this is who I am. Because I never had to do that up until then.

I could always hide it. That was really hard. So that was really what was terrifying for me. But of course, I'm like, all right, I got to run this race or else we're never going to leave here. And it's funny how the minute you start doing something, all the things you're really afraid of you realize are so insignificant. And I can tell you in that 60 meter race,

not one time did I think of like, did my leg look like, like an anatomical limb, right? I just was like, I want to survive. I want to make it to the end. But it was the first time that I really felt so free in my life of all the chains that had helped me down as a young girl. Being able to run was a sensation, an emotion, a feeling that I had never had. And I think as a young girl who struggled with self-confidence, self-belief, really found a moment of purpose, of clarity of I'm going to be okay. And no matter what happens in my life, I found something that I can hold on to. So you graduate and it sounds like California is calling you. You get a full ride to UCLA, I believe. And then you also, is it, did you go to the OTC in

Trula Vista? Yes, I did. There was a little four-year gap in between college and going to OTC where I I worked a full-time job for medical device company, and then I got the, it came on the back of not making the 2012 Paralympic Games and realizing that in order for me to make this happen, I have to be all in, and I have to be willing to sacrifice and to suffer and in some ways be broken down once again, right? And that's what led me to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. But, Jimmy, when I went there, I had my car, friends, couches, and spare rooms. And that's about it.

And I remember this year, again, anxiety, panic, fear of this is crazy, what are you doing? Paralympic athletes don't make a living. What am I doing when I've just come from like a really, successful job where I had full benefits and to trade all of that for poverty basically just seemed absolutely insane. But again, another part of the journey that really built me. And getting through that, I realize, as I have with my orphanage experience, nothing that you face in the present or in the future is going to be as hard as what you've lived through, Scout. So therefore, you're going to be okay. You're going to figure it.

out. You're going to make it. The point is that so many times people are afraid to go after a dream, a goal, because they don't want to go to those places, right? Of leaving the comfort zone, of what they know they've had and to be willing to suffer to that degree. And oftentimes, to achieve a level of greatness, you have to be. I don't know a single person in my life that I would consider really successful, both as a person and professionally, that hasn't suffered or sacrificed a tremendous amount. And that really is what separates the good from the greats is not the ones who work the hardest. Everybody works hard. You know that, Jeremy, in your sport. Like, people work hard in all industries of life. Lots of people work really hard. That's not the

differentiator. The differentiator of greatness is the ones that are willing to take on the most risk and to fail the most. And I can look at, and I'm about to go through another season of that, but are the ones who are willing to do that. People are willing to leave what they know, their comfort zone and say, all right, I'm willing to lose a lot. I'm willing to fail a lot. I'm willing to risk everything or a lot for greatness. Obviously, it's worked out. But, I don't think it would have worked out had I not been willing to go to that place. You started out, it sounds like obviously there was the running when you were younger with the prosthetic doing the run at 14. And then you started into triathlon. I think there were three

silver medals, a bronze medal at the paratriathlon world championships. Is that right? Yes, exactly. You know, it's funny because triathlon was something that I'm really involved with a nonprofit called the Challenge Athletes Foundation. And that's sort of where their roots start from is a sport of triathlon. So naturally having been involved with CAF, it was just like, okay, well, I should do triathlon, right? I could run and swim not well, but like I could swim. This is going to be kind of a shocker, but I didn't learn to ride a two-wheel bike until I was 17. Up until then I rode one of those like sit bikes where you sit down and there's two wheels in the back and one in the front because I just had a hard time with the

prosthetic figuring out how I could ride a two-wheel bike and we had tried and it didn't work and so at 17 I finally was like all right it's time to I want to be like everybody else I want to ride a two-wheel bike let's figure this out and so I figured it out but that was sort of the last cornerstone of the triathlon that I hadn't really figured out or you know hadn't grown up doing and so I loved endurance sports I actually did several marathons and half marathons too. But, Jeremy, the thing about endurance sports is a lot of alone time. It's a lot of training on your own, which is great for some people. I realized that was not for me. I need to be around. People, coaches, it just was like, I just found it a little lonely. And I think for me, having been

far away from home and all of that, I just needed something that was different. And all the equipment, oh my gosh, traveling with all of that. I still to this day, like, I see triathes and I'm like, I forgot how you said. I did that at one time. I hold all of that everywhere around the world. Really what pushed me out of triathlon was the fact that at the time, triathlon was not in the Paralympics. It wasn't a Paralympic sport. It is obviously now, but at the time it wasn't. And I had not even heard about Paralympics until I was a sophomore at UCLA. and was contacted by a high-performance director slash recruiter for U.S. Paralympic track and field. And obviously, Kathy Sellers, who was the director at the time, knew that I could run because she had seen that I did triathlons and distance running.

Well, maybe we can convert her to be a sprinter. And that's how I got involved in track was the opportunity to compete at the Paralympics on the biggest. stage for people with disabilities, the third largest sporting event in the world, I wanted to do it. And so that's really what got me into track and now to triathlon. Of course, now it is a Paralympic sport, but I've loved doing track. And I don't know, maybe in the distant future when I'm done with track. I don't think I'll ever get back into triathlon, but I might get back into distance running, maybe. You've set some records and you put yourself in the history books in this as well.

So can you tell us about that experience going to the Paralympics and your success? Well, I didn't make my first team in 2012 and that's what spurred me to go to the Olympic Training Center and pursue track. But that was a year before Rio is when I made that decision. And obviously it paid off all the sacrifices, the living out of my car, living off of Incinct Cup noodles, was with it because I made it to Rio and finished fifth at the Paralympic Games and along the way set many records. But I think people also know that have followed me recently. I didn't make Tokyo. And that was really devastating. That extra year really hurt us. We were in really good position to make the team and to compete at the games the year before. But unfortunately,

year of the games of the trials. We suffered a pretty severe foot injury. And we just fought it all season long. And it was just not able to be our best at the trials. And that experience alone was really devastating, right? You go from having a lot of success in the sport, being one of the top in the world, the top in your country to not even making the team and the games. And just being devastated by that. The kind of, you know, heartbreak that I felt after those trials was hard to put into words. And I had a really difficult decision to make of, okay, you know, I'm not exactly young anymore, spring chicken in a sport. Is this something I still want to continue?

Where do I go from here? But, you know, for a while you're just left with that overwhelming sense of failure. That it's hard to move on from that, right? And so you're just trying to process that. And the thing about being an athlete is failure is such a huge part of what we do of our sport, but it's also out there for everybody that wants to see it, can see it. It's not like a traditional job where, you know, if you fail, maybe just the people at your colleagues or your immediate team or maybe your boss knows.

But being a professional athlete, the failure is out there for everybody, you know. And that's a hard thing in itself to navigate is public failure. and dealing with that in a public way and how you navigate that. But obviously, I had the opportunity to commentate for NBC at the Paralympic Games last year, and that was such an incredible experience. And maybe I needed to have that experience of commentating the games for me to realize, oh, I still love this. I still have a lot more to give.

My best is still ahead of me. And so that's what brought us to here. I spent a year at San Diego State. So I made it. I left the training center after seven years. I had one season at San Diego State. It wasn't a great fit. And so now, even though we had a great year performance-wise,

obviously won nationals, our seventh title. And I know many people would say, oh, but you've won your seventh national championship. You had a great season. You ran a personal best. like, why would you just completely uproot and shake it all up? And I'm still trying to process this myself. We're kind of doing this podcast in an interesting time. I'm making a cross-country move very soon. Really what led me to that is I know I'm good. I know I'm one of the best,

but I want to continue to trace my greatness. And I feel like I haven't reached my full potential as an athlete of who I can be and what I can do. And I felt like staying here while I could probably still be good. And I want to be great. I want to chase that level of greatness. So I'm moving cross-country in just a matter of a few weeks to Florida. And it's terrifying. I only know the coach there. I'm going to be training at IMG Academy. And again, like when I made the decision to come here and live out of my car and in my friends' couches and spare rooms, it feels crazy because obviously I've had a lot of success. But I also believe that, like I said earlier, the difference between the good and the great are the ones that are willing to take on the biggest risks and willing to

fail, to grow, to improve, to reach your best. You've got to be constantly evolving. You've got to be willing to step outside of your comfort zone to challenge yourself physically, mentally, emotionally. And this is a great opportunity for that to train at an elite place program with an elite coach and see, okay, am I willing to go to those places of physically, mentally, of doing something new, stepping outside, and going for it. And, you know, I only have a short window left to pursue this career of being an athlete. And I felt like this is the time to do it for that, like, last little bit that I have. And can we be all that I know I can be in these last few years? And I believe I can. You've made history. You've got medals. And I think in the 100 meter and in the long jump. And the designation is T-42. Is that right?

It used to be. So Paralympics is crazy. They constantly change the numbers. So I used to be a T-42 and now I'm a T-63. It's the same class. They just change the numbers, basically, is what they think. So, yeah. So then my question for you, of course, is, You want to chase greatness. You're willing to take the risk. You're not adverse to that. So what would you like to accomplish? What is the big goal then?

Obviously, athletically, there's an American record out there that I still want to beat and still want to improve on. So I know that I can do that. Getting back to the Paralympic Games is a goal. Paris. And getting on that podium, you know, that's sort of the one event that has a lot. me. I've only had one opportunity being real, but, you know, have medals at every level and every stage and every other international competition, but the Paralympic Games. So that's the big one athletically. But personally and professionally, the reason why I still do this journey is

because there are so many young girls that I mentor that have disabilities. And when I grew up, I didn't have somebody like a Scout Bassett to see. People like Scout Bassett weren't as visible as they are now. They weren't part of something like Whoop, and they weren't on women's collectives or anything like that. So I grew up feeling that I was extremely alone. And there just weren't people that looked like me, doing the things that I wanted to do,

having the dreams that I had. And why I'm still very involved in this, involved with the Challenge Athletes Foundation. I sit on the board of the Women's Sports Foundation is because I want every young girl that has a disability to believe and to know that she can be whatever she wants to be. That no matter what society has told her,

that she has tremendous worth and value. And she can make incredible contributions not only to her community, but to her world. And those are the things that really move me to do what I do is to be a voice, to be an example, to use the whatever platforms that I have to be able to push for change. Paralympic sport is still extremely underfunded. We receive far less money and support than our Olympic country. counterparts. Opportunities are far less than able-body athletes. And even at the Paralympics, we don't see equal opportunities for women as we do for men. Even at the

Paralympic Games, there's far fewer events for women and far fewer sports. And unlike the Olympic Games, we don't even see 50-50 gender representation. There's barely 40%. I don't even think they've hit 40% participation at the Paralympic games. And it's even worse for the winter games for women. And so I'm doing this because I want young girls and women to know that sport is possible for them, that it's a pathway for them, that whether you do it at an elite level or whether it's just a daily activity or a hobby, that it can change your life from the inside out. in that activity, health, wholeness, wellness is important for your quality of life, how you see yourself, the confidence, the qualities that you're going to have to be able to make

those contributions to your home, your workplace, wherever places that you reach. And that's really my goal is to continue to be an advocate, to push for opportunities for women with disabilities. I want disability to be normalized. I think culturally and societally, we still have this collective discomfort when we see and talk about disability. It's this thing that while we, in this day of inclusion and diversity, we often forget about people with disabilities, right? Yet they make up 15% of the world's population. And so it's not a small, small group of people if you think about, you know, the total percentage and numbers. And so, you know, those are the things, the conversations that I want to continue to have, educating

kids that, you know, maybe they do things differently or maybe they have a piece of equipment that makes them different. But at the end of the day, they deserve the same opportunities and rights as everybody else. And we're still quite far away from achieving equality for people with disabilities. I wanted to ask about that because you had touched on kind of wholeness and some other things there. And I wanted to talk a little bit about the women's performance collective about WOOP because you've been talking so much about not just your journey through being an athlete and having so many hardships, but also like a wholeness. And I've read that you've been a really big advocate of using WOOP over the years. And I wanted to talk to you just a little bit about

how you found it's been helpful. Well, first of all, being part of the collective and WOOP, is meaningful for me because the statistics for the amount of research that goes into women athletes is appalling compared to the research that has gone into serving male athletes, right? And so to be part of the collective, we're helping to change that. We're helping to create data, evidence that supports and shows how women athletes are different. And as much as sometimes you hear like, oh, you know, an athlete is an athlete. Well, the physiology of being a woman is quite different than obviously being a man. And it affects our performance, our ability to train, even our day-to-day lives in very unique in different ways.

And I'm so happy that Whoop is investing in this research because it's necessary and it's so important. I mean, even before joining Roop, I had no idea how menstrual cycles affect a woman's training cycles, right? When she should taper down, when she should get more rest, when she should perhaps push her strain based on our time of the month. And so that's huge. And also how just those hormones affects your sleep, your mindset. And, you know, I really believe just having gone through my, and I only speak for myself of my mental health journey that so much of that has been tied to sleep, and both in good and bad ways, right? I've noticed that little sleep to no sleep, it's indicative of other things going on in my life. I'm not able to rest because I have

perhaps other mental things that I'm struggling with, perhaps stressors, life stressors, perhaps it's a hormonal thing. There can be so many things tied to that. And when you don't get enough sleep, it really affects everything else in your life, in your sleep or in your day-to-day ability to perform at your best. And as an athlete, I'm always looking for the best ways to maximize my time, my efforts. How do I get my maximum performance that day every single day, whatever that might look like? And one day, my maximum performance might only be a 10-strain, you know, but the next day it might be an 18 strain. And so how do I get my my best every single day, and really at the foundation of that is the recovery, is enough rest

and sleep. And so being able to track that, I mean, I'm like such a nerd every day. It's the first thing I check on my phone, not my messages, not my emails. It's just so helpful to be able to have that because so much of what I used before as an athlete in terms of recovery is just how I felt. Well, how do you feel today? But to actually have the hard data that backs up how I feel is just so great. And I don't even know how I would like continue to do my day to day life without it. It's become such a part of me that I don't even know how I ever like lived before I had all this information. And one of the reasons why I love whoop is, and I'm only going to share my experience, but I got COVID over New Year's Eve in Paris. Okay, Paris. We had like been planning

this trip forever. My friend had a reservation at this like Michelin Star restaurant in Paris. that she's been trying to go to for like years. And I'm like, yeah, so excited. We're, we're all excited. Two days before New Year's Eve, I start to not feel like that great. But I'm like, okay, I've been here many times before where with the amount of travel that I do, you're kind of used to feeling like sometimes a little bit run down. And then, you know, two days later, you're good, right? Or a day later, you're fine. So I was like, I'm not really feeling like that great but then two days in a row my whoop app showed me that all my signs were like alert alert right like aren't in red one of the things that said is that like you might be getting ill

or one of the reasons all these all your regular signs are completely through the roof is because you might be getting ill well sure enough new year's eve like tested positive for COVID and so I say all of that now I really pay attention to those signs if it's telling me something is off completely off. I'm like, okay, am I getting ill? Do I need to test? Do I need it? You know, especially with the amount of events that I do, I'm really conscious of like, okay, do I need to take a tester before I leave, right? So it was really helpful because I told my friend, I said, I'm pretty sure I have COVID, but we still hadn't tested positive for it, right? And so, and then of course, two days later, we tested positive. She's like, how do you know you have COVID? I'm like,

because all my signs through the WOOP app were through the roof. So it just was really really helpful in that time. And now, like, as we're sort of approaching this winter season, I'm grateful and appreciative that I have this information because now I know next time if I'm sick or ill, like, what to look for. I'll know when all my signs are, you know, off to get checked out. It's very helpful for, you know, somebody who's on the go a lot. It is a really beautiful time to be living in with so much information at our fingertips to be able to have these tools that can tell us more about ourselves when we have this inclination because you're on the road you may have been in a dry airplane for how many hours right and then you're

like oh yeah that's just the airplane and then it's like no actually actually this is the little thing on my shoulder that I feel this this is telling me and this is confirming it and then in training with your periodization everything it's just it can help a lot with just knowing yourself over a long period of time it paints a picture for you that well you just wear it and then it's there. It tells you about yourself. Yeah, and even me as an athlete, I'm in my offseason right now. And obviously I'm about to take on this move, but I've just even noticed like how the stress of this impending move and trying to get all that organized and finding a place to live all

that. Like that's shown up in the data, right? Like I can see how the stress is, is affected my sleep. Yeah, yeah, I could see you had sent over like your monthly performance assessment and I could see in your data that you had kind of a big, it looked like a big August was a big month of training for you. And now as you prepare for this, it also, you can see that there's that there's been like a little bit of a dip as you kind of prepare maybe for your move or as a D, like a D training of some kind or just a rest period. But yeah, it looks like August was a big overreaching month for you with regards to like, yeah, running around and doing things. Yeah, some of that was Grace really helped me going clubbing every night.

I really helped me to overreach on my strain. That's awesome. So even something fun, y'all, and you can hit your goals that way too. Yeah, all of that stuff ties back to good results, right? You can't just live like a, yeah, like a monk, you know, only doing one thing all the time. You have to have variability. You have to be moving around. And mentally, you need those breaks.

Even as athletes, it's like I needed to take this last, you know, couple of weeks off. And I'll probably take off most of this month, you know, before I move. And you got to have that time, down time to just refresh, reboot. for me do things completely unrelated to track where I'm not even thinking about sport because the grind is so intense and so long and it really is constant that mentally you've got to give yourself time to, you know, rest and to recover. So I'm all in favor of that. Yeah, I can also see in your data that you don't, there aren't a lot of red days. I think there's data here for the last like maybe six, eight months and there's only, you know,

I could count on one hand the amount of red days you have. So we can tell that you do, in fact, get into bed early, and it looks like you really do prioritize getting that sleep. So that's huge because it is a lot. You do see a lot of red days, you know, depending on the athlete or this or that, when they're really overdoing it. They're traveling too much. They're not sleeping enough.

They're not really taking care of themselves. You know, there's a lot more red than you have. And so I think it's, you should be proud of that. Thank you. It's funny because my friends make fun. of me like wait you know you're already in bed and I'm like but here's the thing if I don't get into bed early before you know it you're getting in bed at midnight 1 a.m you're starting to wind out then you're not falling asleep till to it because I've done that too and this last year I really made it a priority of like

I'm going to start getting some sleep I'm going to start getting rest because I felt like so much of my mental health was tied to feeling drained worn down run down depleted emotionally mentally physically. And okay, what's one way that I can really improve that is by getting sleep and rest. And so I've just made that a priority. But, you know, if you don't set yourself every day a timer to start getting in bed, start winding down, turn off that phone, you're not going to get the rest and the sleep that you need. And as a result, I had a phenomenal year performance-wise. I trained really well this year. We ran PBs. And I don't think that's. a coincidence. I know it's not a coincidence. And so it really worked for me. Obviously,

everybody's different and some people can operate on less. But I think the fact that when I am out training, when I'm at events, when I do a talk, like I'm at a, you know, 10 or above all the way, right? Like, I'm giving it everything I have. And as a result, it takes up so much of my, you know, I don't want to show up to an event and be like, hey, guys, it's great to be here. You know, like I really have to like show up and be my best self and so everything I give I do I just give you know 110 percent and when you do that as a result like the back end of it is you have to have a lot of rest and a lot of recovery time and the easiest way for me to do that is just to get into bed and get my sleep and it's really been a game changer focusing a lot on that and I think

a lot of athletes and a lot of people don't do that right I mean so many people walk around and they're just empty and drained and depleted. And maybe it's selfish, but just prioritizing myself in that way really helps me to have a great year. I think people that are listening would really love to know like, hey, what does Scout do to like show up at her best? Or what are some of the things that she's tried or that she's learned through using the product? Because that is always a, you know, for the listeners of the WooP podcast, people are going to be into that. Okay. Well, a little fun tidbit. Turns out dancing can really increase your strain. No, I'm not a good dancer. And no, I don't have any moves. But I went to Grace for two weeks. And it's funny because I was

just looking at my monthly report. And we went to Potteros, an island for one of those weeks in grace. And if you know anything about Potteros, it's that it is the clubbing island. You go club every single night. We're talking like midnight to like six to eight 30 a.m. And I literally remember being after the first day, like, I do not think I'm going to be able to do this for another six nights. And somehow I rallied. But I would wake up the next morning after like two hours of sleep, right? And I'm not recommended. And I'm like, how was my strain at 19 last night? And then I was like, oh yeah, I went out dancing for like six, seven hours straight. So anyways, that was just so funny because, yeah, I went out clubbing with my loop band. So I saw how like my sleep was in the

red that week, right? And then the next week, clearly the body has to recover from that. And then I got like above my recommended sleep the next following week because I needed a whole week to recover from from that. But it's even just funny, like completely unrelated to training how it tells you exactly what you need to know about you know even things that are because we're human too and and um i found a really helpful when i was traveling i travel a ton i fly 100 000 miles a year and um i think for the amount that i travel it's really helpful because i'm on planes a lot so a lot of that you know is sleeping recovering on a plane and obviously you can tell you know the quality of sleep is usually not as good or whatnot. But it's good information to know. So when I get there,

okay, how can I time my sleep wherever my destination is to get more rest? But that's the advice that I would have is just to prioritize your sleep. It's good to have fun. It's good to enjoy life. But in terms of when I'm in season, I really prioritize my sleep. I mean, this is going to sound so granny. And I'm not really all that old. I mean, I'm getting older, but I'm not like old old. And I'm in bed most nights by like 8.39. Now, I'm not asleep at 830 or 9, but I'm in bed just to help myself wind down, you know, at that time. And yeah, I think my in bed time is like through the roof on the app, right? You know, just prioritizing that. And the other advice I would give, and sleep is part of it. But self-care needs to be a priority. I think so many of us, like,

if you're like me, I grind hard all the time. I work a ton, train a ton. There is very little time for downtime in my day-to-day life. And that's exactly how I want it because I'm the kind of person that needs to go constantly. But what I've realized is I have to also prioritize my self-care. And whatever that might be for you, if that's sleeping, one of the best ways of self-care is just saying no. And that's what I've had to learn. That is a form of self-care, is saying no, no to work stuff, even having to say no to friends sometimes. No, I can't go out with you on time, you know, because I practice on Sunday or whatever that might be. But just for, you know, that it's okay to say no because I think so many of us get run down. We get ill. We get sick. We feel fatigued, drained, depleted because

we're saying yes to everybody but ourselves. I've learned that the hard way because I work a lot and just learning to say no. And, you know, I am an extrovert in many ways of when I'm out in the world, I like to be an extrovert. There's an opposite side of me where I just need to be home and I don't want to talk to nobody. I don't want to call nobody. Sunday, all I did was watch NFL. Like, that's all I did. It was just sit on my couch and watch NFL. I did not move at all. And that for me is a form of self-care, taking that one day a week to do nothing. And so I think that's a really good piece of advice. And it could be anything. You know, for some women, it's getting their hair or nails done. Whatever that self-care looks like for you, do it. Because if you take care of yourself,

you're going to be better to serve other people and to help other people. It's counterintuitive, right? Because a lot of times we do so many things for other people and then we're the ones that are left with, like, nothing. But you're not really serving other people at your best. if you are not at your best. And you know what I, a great piece of advice I got is every time you say no to something is an opportunity that you can say yes to something you really want to do, right? Something that is fulfilling, meaningful. Because so much of you're running around, you're saying yes, yes, yes, to things that maybe don't align with your vision, your purpose. And I'm just trying to focus more on that. Everything that I say, yes, I wanted to have meaning,

I wanted to have impact. I wanted to serve the mission and the purpose. that I'm on. And if it doesn't align with that, the answer's going to be no. And when I started doing that, I started to just feel so much more free. And I started to feel that I can give a lot more to the things that I am saying yes to. And it's meaningful. And it's important to me. It doesn't have value. It doesn't have a significance, purpose, importance. Yes to that and no to things that aren't that. I love that. I love that. And there's no better way to really kind of wrap. I think that there's just been so much that you've been talking about that will resonate with our listeners and with the community here at Woop. It's been really, really special to get to have this time with you,

to learn about your story, to be able to have your energy in this world is really special. So thank you for taking the time to work with us. Thank you for your help on the women's collective. Thank you for all of the support from the Woop side. And we wish you all of the best and your big move coming up and your season and everything that's coming down the pipe for you. Thank you so much, Jeremy. Thank you to Scout and Jeremy for coming on the Woop podcast. If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, please leave a rating or review. Don't forget to subscribe. You can check us out on social at WOOP at Will Ahmed. If you have a question, you want to see answered on the podcast,

email us, podcast at Woop.com. Call us 508-443-4952, and it might just be answered on a future episode. New members can use the code Will, W-I-L, to get a $60 credit on W-W-A-Saccessaries when they sign up for a W-W-M membership. All right, that's it, folks. We'll see you week. Stay healthy and stay in the green.