Hungry Dog Barbell Podcast
Justin Mariano
How does an adrenaline junkie transition from extreme sports to becoming a dedicated CrossFit athlete and coach? Moving out West to chase his skiing dreams, he found a sense of satisfaction in the action sports community that team sports couldn't provide. But it was a severe injury that truly changed his life's trajectory, forcing him to overcome both physical and mental barriers.
Justin opens up about the pivotal moment after fracturing his fibula, a turning point that led him to embrace fitness as a means of recovery and personal growth. He speaks candidly about transitioning from a life of partying to one focused on regaining strength and stamina.
Follow me on IG & Threads: @justinmariano
1:1 Coaching & Custom Programming - Remote & In-Person at CrossFit Generation (Horsham, PA): https://calendly.com/justinmariano-gtwc/30min (https://calendly.com/justinmariano-gtwc/30min)
How does an adrenaline junkie transition from extreme sports to becoming a dedicated CrossFit athlete and coach? Moving out West to chase his skiing dreams, he found a sense of satisfaction in the action sports community that team sports couldn't provide. But it was a severe injury that truly changed his life's trajectory, forcing him to overcome both physical and mental barriers.
Justin opens up about the pivotal moment after fracturing his fibula, a turning point that led him to embrace fitness as a means of recovery and personal growth. He speaks candidly about transitioning from a life of partying to one focused on regaining strength and stamina.
Follow me on IG & Threads: @justinmariano
1:1 Coaching & Custom Programming - Remote & In-Person at CrossFit Generation (Horsham, PA): https://calendly.com/justinmariano-gtwc/30min (https://calendly.com/justinmariano-gtwc/30min)
What's up, dogs? Welcome back to another episode of the Hungry Dog Barbell Podcast. Today we're joined by Justin Mariano, crossfit coach and CrossFit competitor. Justin and I sit down to talk about his early days in action sports, finding CrossFit as an exercise program, being a DIYer and what he looks for in a good CrossFit gym. Tune in to hear more from Justin and myself.
Speaker 2:Always a sports fan, Diehard sports fan. Like Philly sports. I bleed Eagles green, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:So yeah.
Speaker 2:I've always had a lot of strong opinions on sports and, being like a Philly sports fan, my dad is extremely opinionated. I grew up in that type of environment so naturally when I got into CrossFit I just took that same energy.
Speaker 1:I got a lot to say, and I'm not afraid to say it, I feel I feel that dude, but what about playing sports and fitness for you, Like? Tell us about that background for you.
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah. So grew up like super active, played every sport you can think. Think of my dad was just really into me playing sports, team sports. I've played baseball and hockey mostly, but you know I dabbled in everything except for soccer. He never really wanted me to play soccer because he wasn't really into it. But, um, you know, I I dabbled in football for like I don't know three days and then I quit the team. But, um, mostly baseball and hockey. Growing up, uh, I wasn't great at basketball but I still tried here and there, but those were my two sports growing up. And then as I got older I got more into action sports. So I kind of got burned out on the team sport thing. It's like the classic, like dad's yelling at you and instilling that work ethic and stuff, and I don't know, once I got to be that work ethic and stuff and I don't know, once I got to be a teenager I was like I don't know if I wanted to do this in high school.
Speaker 1:So I didn't and I just kind of went my own path. You feel like you looked around and like you saw other dudes that were like not working as hard as you and that was hard to deal with. Is that kind of the vibe?
Speaker 2:Sort of yeah, like I mean was I was always a pretty talented athlete but like I would be really good at like two things, but like basic stuff I would be really bad at. So like I, you know, I would get benched a lot and uh, you know, like there was just certain things didn't quite click with me. So I had to work really hard to figure those things out and you know there was a lot of kids that were just naturally better at it. So I was was giving my 110% effort, right, like giving a full effort in practice and in sports, and then going home and practicing until my hands bled but then still not, you know, quite catching up to other people. So you know that that kind of burned me out a little bit. And then, like the politics angle of like team sports in in, in was was really annoying too. You know, like dad's the coach, so his son's gonna be I was a catcher for, for baseball, right, so like, yeah, um, you know it, my coach, his son was a catcher. So guess who didn't catch?
Speaker 1:that how that goes. Yeah, so you know just crap like that yeah.
Speaker 2:So I, you know that, combine that with like teen angst and stuff like that, and I was like more into action sports Cause I was like yo, I could do this with my friends and like push myself in this unique expression of movement and just have more fun. You know I'm not getting yelled at by anyone, so I guess I fell more into that zone.
Speaker 1:When you say action sports like tell us, what does that mean?
Speaker 2:So started off as a rollerblader. That was like my, my, my main thing, because I played hockey and you know this was like late 90s right, like x games and and people doing flips and grinding rails and stuff, and I was like yo, that's really cool. So I started trying it with my hockey skates and then eventually got a pair of aggressive skates and, um, you know, the transition was natural and then I started skateboarding too and and dabbled in bmx as well and just did all three of those things. Um, I got bullied to no end because back then it was like clicky, it was like the skateboarders hated the rollerbladers and the rollerbladers you know, hated everyone and the bmxers and the skateboarders hated each other and I was was like yo, I just actually like doing all of it.
Speaker 2:So you know like I just kind of beat to my own drum on that one. But yeah, I just I fell into that and that was most of my high school experience. Right towards the end of it I got into skiing Cause I was like I snowboarded here and there and I didn't really quite pick it up Cause I was, you know, rollerblading was like the best one. I was the best at rollerblading. So naturally that was like a natural transition to freestyle skiing and really started to dig in deep on that and want to make a push to like see what I could do with it. So towards the end of high school, once I graduated, I moved out West and wanted to chase that dream.
Speaker 1:So it's just a lot of different action sports from like teenage years to like early to mid-20s I love that and I I feel like, first, you just low-key describe the plot to freaking, bring right there. And then, second, if you're listening to this and you don't understand that reference, that you might as well turn the podcast off, because you're not going to understand, like a lot of the rest of the stuff we're gonna say. You know team.
Speaker 2:Poppin suds for life man hell, yeah, let's go.
Speaker 1:I was gonna say, like johnny tsunami, a little bit freaking, uh, because like the the ski, the snowboarded thing. But both of those first two movies were so sick man, like they don't make stuff like that anymore for kids no, dude, I had brink on vhs and I.
Speaker 2:That was like one of the the VHSs I wore out Because I rewinded it so many times I used to watch that that movie was another big motivator between the X Games and Brink. That's why I wanted a rollerblade, because I was like, yeah, this is cool. And I already knew how to do it, because I played hockey.
Speaker 1:Right Around those years is when freaking the X Games, the summer ones, was in Philly too.
Speaker 2:Right Around those years is when freaking the X Games the summer ones was in Philly too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember going to that Yep, I was there for golden years, yeah, so. So like you were talking about, like you would go home and push yourself hard to keep learning skills, like where did your competitiveness come from? And like your drive, is that from your dad, who was like teaching you all the sports, or did you just naturally develop it? Like, where do you think that came?
Speaker 2:from. Most of it came from my dad. He was extremely competitive dude, he was a pro bowler so and you know he worked a regular job like as a banker but like bowled like a nut on weeknights and weekends, and you know that. So we always kind of had that like in our family, like chase some crazy weird dream stuff like on you know when you can. So I got that from him right and he, he pounded that into me as a kid.
Speaker 2:And team sports was like you know, you gotta work hard, you gotta be able to do this stuff with your eyes closed, like you get better through repetition. You know you find little fun games to learn how to teach yourself stuff and you just do that in your free time and and that was how I was growing up and then, naturally, when I started doing my own thing, I kind of I just took the same attitude, like I didn't know how to turn it off, probably to a fault, but you know there was definitely some times where I made it a fun activity on, fun for sure. But yeah, you know what, whatever that's. That's who I am.
Speaker 1:Everyone goes through that. It's literally that's why burnout is so common among athletes. You know like, uh, it's like some things are hobbies and then some things. You want to put all of your chips into that barrel and like let it set you on fire and that's kind of how you get better at a lot of different things, you know. But the bad thing about fire is it burns you, you know yes, it does.
Speaker 1:It can certainly talk about moving out west and and you tried to pursue freaking like the, the snow sports, like, was that your goal after high school? Is that where you were headed like, what was? What were you thinking after high school? What was like, what do you want to?
Speaker 2:do. Uh, yeah, I wanted to be a pro skier or at the very least live like a pro skier and try to get like a job somewhere in the ski industry. That was kind of my. My goal is just make that my life and I follow.
Speaker 1:Did you have any like like I don't know outline, or like someone to look to like, okay, I need to go do these things because this person did these things and they are the position that I want to be in?
Speaker 2:Or were you just winging it completely and they are the position that I want to be in, or were you just winging it completely? A little bit of both? So you know, when I was like 15, 16, 17 and I had started skiing, so freestyle skiing was kind of like in its infancy, right. So like you had rollerblading and skateboarding and BMX and even snowboarding being super popular and growing throughout the 90s, early 2000s, but freestyle skiing wasn't really a thing. So like the x games used to have ski blading, which is like just like the little short skis that you can die on, so like kind of like rollerblading, but on the snow, and they wound up taking that out because people thought it was lame.
Speaker 2:So then they started this freestyle skiing thing right and you know, I kind of caught that wave right when it started and and I had some friends from Pennsylvania that were incredible at it and they had moved out West and started just basically became pros overnight A lot of like the internet stuff like making edits and videos and things like that blowing themselves up on the internet. Back then when the internet was, you know, content creation was like a super in its infancy so I just kind of rode that wave Big time yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, dude, I just packed my stuff, went out West, met up with my friends that were legit pro skiers at the time and just followed them around. That was that was it. So I had a little bit of a plan. It was like get out there and follow them, um, but you know, the rest was just kind of weighing it for sure.
Speaker 1:Hell, man, shit, that's like, uh, I don't know what I thought like I guess a lost art. Now people like facing the dream, like that, you know, like are you are you that type of person like do you, are you? Were you scared at that time? I guess I should ask no, not at all.
Speaker 2:I was sure what looked like I didn't, I, I didn't look too far ahead, like you know. I just kind of lived like for tomorrow, that was it. And today, you know, I was like, hey, let's, let's get somewhere now, and, and you know, let's do it again tomorrow, and then the day after that we'll figure it out, you know chasing the dream like that. Yeah, full send.
Speaker 1:So what does? What role does working out fitness have to play in all this? When did you start working out?
Speaker 2:So when I was a skier and doing that a lot, I got injured. I fractured my fibula, and that's when things kind of started to go a little downhill for me. You know I was having a lot of trouble with my knee. I didn't do any form of like rehab or anything like that, I just took time off. And you know I I was always naturally fit, right Like I was pretty skinny and I was always naturally fit. I was pretty skinny. I was like 145, 150. I could eat whatever I wanted. My activity level was super high and I was a kid.
Speaker 1:So you were a super active kid, yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, I rode that for as long as I can. I fractured my fibula when I was 20. And like three, four months of just sitting on your butt not doing much and then trying to get back into it, it wasn't quite the same. You know I'd lost some strength in one of my legs and you know I was also living an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle, like pro skiers do not live well. You know we live in crappy apartments with like 10 people and slept on the floor and you know, ate whatever we could and drank a lot and you know, just partied right Like that. That was it. We just partied, partied, partied and then got up the next day and killed ourselves on the mountain. So, yeah, that just catches up to you.
Speaker 2:And then, combined with the injury, I was getting very overweight. I had shot up to like one 90. I couldn't do the stuff that I wanted to do and I realized that I need to get in shape. And you know getting in shape is like working out. You know, like when I was 14, 15, I had some friends that were into that and you know we went to the gym and we lifted and did like the classic, you know bench and you know gym bro stuff.
Speaker 1:And I didn't really like it. You know I did it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Like I did it and I got so sore the next day I couldn't do anything, so I was like this isn't for me and I just kind of wrote it off. But I I went back and tried that, right, Like that was what I did and uh, just to try and lose weight and get back in shape after I had, you know, had like a rough like two years, right, Like recovering from injury, putting weight on unhealthy lifestyle. And yeah, that was where fitness kind of came in. It was just trying to figure it out and I'm always been a DIYer, so trying to figure it out while also not asking for help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I kind of picked that up and I want to ask you about that. You know like a little bit more to the conversation. But like tell me about, like that two years, like were you back on the slopes where you like experienced a lot of setbacks, like how was that going?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was, I was skiing. Uh, you know, I just slapped the knee brace on, and you know, honestly, just I would smoke the smoke weed to alleviate pain, but my stamina and my, just like, speed and all that was kind of really affected. I couldn't ski for very long anymore and I couldn't follow the people that I wanted to follow. You know, I just it was. It was rough, and you know, when you're, when you have the, the mental, but you don't have the physical and they don't match up, then your mental starts to go. And then, yeah, once that really happened for enough times in a row for me to realize, like yo, you got to start doing something about it. Then that's when I started doing something about it.
Speaker 2:So it took about two years, you know, I had moved to Vermont. I was back home for a little bit and then I went to Vermont to start going to school, cause I was like, well, I don't think we're going to be a pro skier anymore. You know, maybe start thinking about joining the real world. But we'll still chase a little ski dream here and there. But you know, when I was in Vermont, that's when I decided I needed to try and lose some weight and start getting strong and figure that whole thing out.
Speaker 1:So all that kind of came together at the same time. So what did you go to school for? First? I'll ask that what were you trying to do?
Speaker 2:I was going to school for graphic. I'll ask that, what were you trying to do? I was going to school for graphic design, web design, so I wanted to kind of pair that somehow in the ski action sports industry, you know, grew up making my own brands and, like you know, filming a lot of stuff, making our own videos, like you know, our own, like a lot of photography work, uh, yeah, yeah, web design, all that type of stuff. So that's what I was going to school for, thinking I could pair that with what I did and make a career out of it somehow.
Speaker 1:Put it together. So then, what takes you from like oh man, I don't really like this working out shit to like okay, I'm going to do this to get better at skiing and try to come back to it. What was it that finally clicked for you, that you started to like it?
Speaker 2:uh well, so I started to see some results right. So I grind. I grinded pretty hard and you know back then, like I said, I was super diy, I wasn't like asking for help. I was also incredibly broke, so I didn't really have a chance like a choice I was hiring a personal trainer.
Speaker 2:but you know, I, like you know, I went on like everything else in my life. I went on the internet and found bodybuildingcom forums and in there is where I learned about like strength programs, starting strength right. So I got the starting strength book and I was going to plan a fitness and like using the Smith machine and just like five by five and then hopping on the treadmill, run a mile, and I did that for, you know, six months and I dropped like 20 pounds and I look good.
Speaker 2:And then ski season hit and I was like on top of it, like I could do everything that I used to be able to do and I felt great and I looked great and it was awesome. So I guess that's that's when I started to get more bought in was like I got past that initial grind phase and, you know, I started to see results. You know, again I was like 21. So, right, like you touch a barbell and you stop eating crap and you curb the drinking and it's like you know you start getting, you start getting muscular and big and strong body fat.
Speaker 1:Just doing that, yeah Like real, real quick.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so there's a caveat there, but you know that's what kind of initially, I guess, hooked me.
Speaker 1:Love that dude, so it got you that buy-in that you were just talking about there. So when, when does crossfit come in? Like tell me, the first time you heard about crossfit and like, were you one of those dudes were like, oh, I hate that shit. That's how you get hurt, that's all. It's so stupid were you like into it right away no, I was.
Speaker 2:So I was never as an action sports guy. I was drawn to crossfit and I had a couple couple of friends from Vermont that were into it and they went to Champlain Valley CrossFit actually CBCF, home of Matt Fraser and Danny Horan, danny Horan's gym and that's where they went. So I was curious about CrossFit. I had absolutely no clue really what it was, because back then it wasn't super clear. If you went to CrossFitcom it was just a bunch of workouts and you're like what the hell is this? And I was educating myself on more structured like strength or bodybuilding, like training programs and nutrition, like I remember I was tracking my macros in an Excel spreadsheet. I was following starting strength or five, three, one.
Speaker 2:So, like I was trying to figure out CrossFit because I'm like, well, what the hell? Like this is how I know how to do fitness right now. It's like you do this this week, you do that this week, the next week, you progress on here, right, that was kind of what I had learned and that was all I knew. So I was trying to figure out what CrossFit was because it was random, right. So eventually I just wound up going and doing a free class at cbcf and I got my butt kicked and then I was like, screw this. But but they were planted the seed for for a later date which we can, we can get into so so you've always been like this do-it-yourself person, like learn.
Speaker 1:Where did you get that from? Like was that just born in you, or did you get that from your dad also?
Speaker 2:uh, I definitely didn't get from my dad, um, or both my parents. They were not. Do it yourself first. Honestly, I think I was an only child, so like I didn't have any brothers or sisters. And like I also didn't have a ton of friends growing up, like because I just lived on a block, that didn't, we didn't have any kids, yeah, and all my friends like were friends from school right and like philly's a big place, so like I, you know, like my friends didn't live close, so it was like if I wanted to go play with my friends it had to be set up and I'd be driven there or whatever. So like I didn't have a lot of neighborhood kids around me when it grew, so I just had to figure stuff out for my own until I got a little bit older and then, you know, I wound up meeting more people and riding my bike to different neighborhoods and stuff. But I think that's what it is, you're more independent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was just always independent and I had to make my own fun and my own stuff. So I guess that's it.
Speaker 1:Has it always been like good for you to be that like do-it-yourself person and independent like that?
Speaker 2:Or have you ever faced like, damn, if I could ask for a little bit more help I might get have things be a little bit easier uh, I think as I get older, I start I'm more willing to ask for help, right, because it's like you don't have to take all this on. But still, yeah, I, I need to be involved in some things. Right, like because that's how I learned too. Right like I don't. If you just tell me, do this like, I'm going to ask you why I need to have Brian for me to do it.
Speaker 2:And I think that first time I did CrossFit I wasn't getting the live, like right away. You know I had been. You know, doing starting strength and five by five, we put five pounds on our lifts. And you know, now I'm here and it's like, well, there's this nut job over here and he's snatching like 300 pounds. And like there's this guy over here and he's snatching like 300 pounds. And like there's this guy over here and you know he's got a shirt off and he's got a 12 pack, but he's like doing 100 kettlebell swings in a row and he can run a 400 and, like you know, almost damn near a minute flat. So it's like, like what's going on here? Like how are you guys doing this?
Speaker 1:like it's your program for the day, right?
Speaker 2:it's like you guys really just come in here and like coach, write something on the whiteboard, and then you do it and then that. Then you look like that and like I don't know. I just didn't. I didn't have the buy-in at the time and the workout made me want to throw up, so I was like this is, I don't know about this I don't love throwing up, so I don't know about this, yeah that's exactly what I was like. I could, like I can go do my the outlaw days of CrossFit, you know.
Speaker 2:Oh, I did that and I did the outlaw way actually for a little bit.
Speaker 1:We can talk about that. That was the time, so. But so like, let's talk about it right now, dude. Like, what gave you the why? What made you buy in more?
Speaker 2:So I think over time right so I had done that. You know, bodybuilding type, powerlifting ish, you know whatever starting strength, rip a toe Wendler crap, you know. Not, that's not crap, it's awesome.
Speaker 1:But you know there's everyone out there listening right now. If you want to get, if you want to get strong and you don't want to hire a coach, go Google Wendler and just do that you know follow that.
Speaker 2:I followed Wendler for almost two years Like it was, and then after you do it for six months or something like that.
Speaker 1:Then come to Justin and myself and get some coaching, because then we could actually get you like real, real, real strong. But yes, we keep going. So you, uh, you did that stuff for a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I did that. I wound up moving back home and finishing school at Drexel and I was working out of the Drexel gym a lot and I was getting burned out on the fitness thing, right, like I had gotten pretty strong. I looked good, like you know, I was pretty close to the body weight I am now and I was just getting bored. I was like I'm just going to the gym every day and like just doing this stuff, like I don't, I'm not competing in anything Like the competition, the desire is not there, like I don't have a social outlet. I see other people working out with each other and I don't have that. I'm like this is it's kind of lame.
Speaker 2:So you know we had a weightlifting platform at the Drexel gym and I had always kind of saw it in the corner of my eye. And you know there was this guy that came in one day and he was clean and jerking very heavy. You know, like we had kilo plates it was definitely over 120 and like the bars whip in and he had a CrossFit shirt on and uh, you know he was, he was an excellent lifter. Uh, even looking back like that, that image is burned in my mind of him clean and jerking like a lot of weight and you know like the bars bending and it's making all this noise and he's with his friends and they're like high five and each other and chalk's going everywhere and I'm like yo, that is like the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Speaker 2:It's like the cow strike videos, like in person right, like those old pretty much strength, hell, yeah, yeah dude, like they had like the old do-in lifters on and like one of them had the um, what are they? The adidas with the wood heels?
Speaker 1:oh the, the hattie, power boys, yes, yes, oh man, I love them.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, like dude, it was cool, Like this was probably 2012-ish right around then. So I was like that's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. So they had a CrossFit shirt on. I had no idea Olympic weightlifting existed, I just assumed they were doing CrossFit. So later that day I just kind of went further. All right, I was like, okay, we're going to learn about CrossFit.
Speaker 2:And I went on CrossFit. I found the CrossFit journal. I read what is CrossFit, I read all the you know the good journal entries from Glassman. I started to understand it a little bit more. Oh shit, Okay, this is kind of cool. And then I found the CrossFit games and I started watching some of that and I'm like, okay, like this is incredible, Like you mean to tell me I can compete in exercising. Like, yeah, Light bulbs going off in my head and I was, you know, one of the one of the biggest videos. I guess that you could say changed my life. I don't know if you've ever seen it, but it was when Savan followed froning around with it was like rich and Dan was like rich is so-called life.
Speaker 2:And I was like yo, these guys just hang out all day and just lift and like do crazy shit, like they walk on their hands. And you know, I'm like I want to do all this Right. So, um, I, I pick out a workout, I find one. For some reason, I think bear complex is a good idea for me to try the next day. And then so I go to the Drexel gym and I'm like I don't even know how to clean, so maybe let's start there. So I started trying to figure that out. I got pretty decent. Let's fast forward a couple of weeks. I'm like, all right, now I'm going to try a bear complex Did not get very far at all. I was like blew out something in my hip. I was like in pain.
Speaker 2:I couldn't walk for a week and I was like, all right, you know what I need help I can't do this on my own, so I Googled you know where the closest affiliate is, walked in, and then then I was a CrossFitter.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah. So when you talk about the, the true bear complex, where it's like the five movements for like seven rounds hold on the whole way, oh man I. Where it's like the five movements for like seven rounds hold on the whole way, oh man, I remember it was like a few years in before I actually tried that band and I'd only ever done it for like max load. And when I did the like the real way, I was like oh, this is, this is different, this is hard can't put the bar down.
Speaker 2:I I tried it with 95 pounds and I didn't even finish. And then like, yeah, like I, like I said, I just tweaked something in my hip and couldn't walk for a week and that was the first time I had ever tweaked anything lifting. So I was like, all right, you might get hurt doing this, so maybe go to a CrossFit gym. Because I knew that existed right, like I had already gone to one, but I wanted to wanted to do it.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I love that. So, oh, first dude, I think that that video you're talking about that's where, like, what's rich doing came from Right. Yes, that was a big thing.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure. Yeah, cause he like it was, it was funny, it was like he just followed him around. He didn't eat any food, he drank milk and he had peanut butter and jelly mixed together. I also tried that, by the way, with like horrible results. But yeah, it was just I like fell in love with his life Cause I was like yo, I want that life, cause I kind of did that already, like I would go to, I would stay at the Drexel gym for hours and I would lift and you know, figure out other stuff to do.
Speaker 2:You know, whether let's just do like you know, 30 minutes walking on the treadmill, or like let's hop on the rower and you know row some 500 intervals, or like I was kind of already doing CrossFit you know I was front squatting and all that stuff through five, three, one that I had exposure to, um, but yeah, I wasn't putting it all together in the form of CrossFit and I certainly wasn't doing it at any competitive pace. But you know I, I thought I could and, uh, you know I, I knew I would probably need a little help from like an actual coach and affiliate if I wanted to actually, you know, do what I wanted to do with it that's funny.
Speaker 1:So from the what's it called?
Speaker 1:Uh, from that video, just like you, it birthed dozens and hundreds of thousands probably of people that like walk in and say, hey, I want to do this, I want to live the crossfit lifestyle. Like, just a few weeks ago I had a girl walk in who's been a regular personal trainer before, like, hey, I want to, I want to do this full time. You know, all right, well, yeah, like you, a couple of years to go, try to dig in and figure out how to do that full time. You know, it's been like a process for me Like we've talked about it already of like figuring out, all right, how can I do this full time, how can I essentially live in the gym and be able to provide people this experience while also like, uh, making a living and then also getting my training? You know, for everyone out there that's on that path, good luck, bro, stick with it, you know, yeah, so as a as a do it yourself person man, like what was it like for you to go into affiliate for the first time?
Speaker 1:and like be coached on the regular Uh well, it was definitely humbling.
Speaker 2:Uh, I felt, you know I, when you lift by yourself and you know you get pretty strong, like for an average gym goer. I had later learned that I was not strong at all, but I thought I was strong, right. So I guess I had a little bit of an ego. I'm not guessing. I did have a little bit of an ego going into it and I was humbled very quickly by just being surrounded by very talented CrossFitters, you know, and they were really good and they were exceptional athletes and they had just great engine and I didn't. I have that. I had some strength, I could do some of the movements, but I didn't have much stamina or endurance training, none of that background.
Speaker 2:Uh, and I just got my butt kicked for a long time. I still get my butt kicked now, you know. But I didn't really know what that felt like. Right, like I went into the gym I put five pounds on the extra, you know, extra five pounds on the bar according to my program, and I hit it and then I didn't really experience much failure, like I really didn't. Um, and I learned that's because I wasn't pushing myself anywhere close to my potential and I had to get that kind of unlocked by coaching and all that stuff. But there was like an initial shock where it was like yo, what the hell is going on? Like do I just suck? Like what, what, what is this? So it took a little bit to allow that to drop down so I could start becoming a sponge and and learning, but that was the initial kind of reaction to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so when do you decide to transfer over, to start coaching other people and working with other people?
Speaker 2:So I started CrossFit, like I guess, officially in 2012 and I started coaching in 2016. So the first affiliate that I went to was very small it's basically just a garage you know like, and everybody was super tight knit and wound up closing down. And we moved to a different affiliate that was a little bit larger and there was a coaching opportunity there and I was like kind of always in the back of my mind like, hey, I want to get my L one Cause I love CrossFit and the methodology and all that. Like I was a nerd man, like I once. Once I was like all right, like you're not as good as you think you are, you're going to have to start learning, like break your barriers down and and just listen and be a sponge.
Speaker 1:Then I really started to nerd out on it.
Speaker 2:And coaching was something that I knew I wanted to do one day, but I didn't really necessarily have an opportunity to do it. And when we're at our new affiliate they needed a coach or coaches and they offered to front some of that L1 cost. So I signed up and took my L1 and started coaching and it really was just as simple. Other people and and use that work that I put in for that type of stuff to help other people that genuinely need it. And I think once I started to see that in front of my eyes, it was even more addicting than just doing CrossFit right Like it's like trying to spread the word you know too.
Speaker 1:So you feel like you're even more into it now, right, like you're like, okay, like I love even more into it now. Right, like you're like, okay, like I love this before, but now I love it even more. Um, as a person that's like picks it apart by yourself and like kind of picks things up easily or has the ability to teach yourself. What was it like for you to work with people that maybe don't have that ability?
Speaker 2:uh, so it took. There was definitely a learning curve with communication. In the beginning. You know, like I was super passionate and nerdy about this stuff, but it's like I can't tell a regular member, hey, you're not engaging your posterior chain, right? Like you don't know what the hell a posterior chain is, right? So I think there was a learning curve to like learn how to communicate the stuff that you know to people to get them to do what you want them to do.
Speaker 2:And once I started to kind of figure that out, that's when everything started changing for me, cause I was like all right, so like I'm kind of like a doctor, right, like the doctor knows everything about the body, but when you, if you need a patient to do something, like you're not going to just tell them all this technical crap, you need to kind of figure out ways to connect to them. So I just made that more of a priority and, um, you know, just trying to be a better coach that way. I guess that that's kind of how it was in the beginning and then how it started to go as I started to do it a little bit more. And then, once I started really connecting the people and seeing them get results, then that was like amplify that addiction even more.
Speaker 1:Right. It makes you double down on your commitment to it, you know, because now you get to share their results, not just yours, but you get to be a part of other people's. You know Exactly, yeah, I love it. So we are. I think what 14 years into the CrossFit Games, something like that, like it's 2024, 2007, so even longer than that. If you had to pick like a golden era or a golden time period of the CrossFit Games, like when would you say has been the best year or years so far?
Speaker 2:Or your favorite, I guess we should say man, that's hard because there's really just, I guess, two eras that I would have to answer that with. So the first one, kind of I mean the Rich Froning era, come on, man, like it just doesn't get any better than that. That was so cool. It was like crossfit was transitioning into like corporate, if you will right.
Speaker 2:So it was like a lot of a lot of grassroots, just like you know, crappy videos like just like crappy looking websites and dirty looking affiliates and like we made our own equipment and that.
Speaker 2:That style but it was just starting to get legit, right like that probably, realistically, is my favorite era across, because that's when I started to fall in love with it. But then the era that followed that like the first few years of like reebok and like getting more legit and like Matt Fraser coming up and like you know, that whole style was also incredible, cause just to see that transition from this is something that we, like you know, we do in our backyards, in our garages and these tiny, grungy little affiliates to like yo, you know, now you got like a $30,000 outfitted rogue gym and and you know all the amenities in the world and we're on, you know, espn and stuff like that was cool too, cause it's like I. I almost felt like I was a part of that in in some way. Right Like I, I was with it as it grew and now I'm here now and it's it's on the top. So I'm going to answer with with two answers, both of those love that.
Speaker 1:I mean, I feel like that's like right around my answer too, man. I mean I think my favorite era was, uh, the beginning of fraser, the end of for owning the beginning of fraser, like the 2016 through like 19. There you go like golden years of not only the crossfit games but also the crossfit open, like, yes, the end of the five-week era, the very beginning of the three-week era, when we still had regionals. You know, there was no quarterfinals, even though I think that's a great addition. Like I feel like everything was like almost as perfect as you could get it, because we combined that grass roots like you talked about. But we were like on ESPN too. You know I have a lifter right now who got across it because she read katrin's book and, yeah, the book was birthed from that era. You know, yeah, yeah, next up, who's your favorite male games athlete in all the years and who is your favorite female games athlete?
Speaker 2:uh, uh, I mean, favorite male athlete has to be matt fraser. There's, it's just, there's a lot of close seconds, but I just, first of all, there's a burlington connection. So you know we grew up around the same area, kind of. You know, like I was lived in, lived in burlington for many years. That's where he's from. Uh, yeah, you know he was a skier, I was a skier. He was a crazy devoted crossfitter working out in his, like parents basement. I did the same thing so that like there was just a lot of stuff that I I used him for a lot of inspiration, you know before oh, fraser, in the basement with the e-bomb clock and the rower man, oh man yeah, dude, I mean I I worked out in my parents basement too, like when we, when I was my first affiliate right, like I was just addicted to more right, so like I built a shed, shed in the back backyard.
Speaker 2:That was my shed gym. Before that, I worked out in the basement. I was doing extra workouts there. I was following the outlaw way. I was doing weightlifting programs.
Speaker 2:Like I was working out like six hours a day, right, and I used a lot of Frazier's, you know life as inspiration, so he's got to be my my favorite male athlete, hands down. Female it's a little tougher. I think I probably go more in stages with that right now. I would have to say Ariel Loewen, you know. Again it's. I'm an every man's type of CrossFitter Like I. I appreciate the extreme high level athletes that are able to do this as a career, but I appreciate the people that are able to make it work without all that extra help even more. And I know ariel lowen is a mom and she works out in a garage most of the time and she's extreme elite athlete.
Speaker 2:You can say the same thing for matt, right? Like yeah, matt came from nothing. Like matt was working out in his parents basement with the ceiling so low that he couldn't stand up a snatch. You know, like that, that's that's where Matt Fraser was born, right? Like he got a lot, obviously, you know, got a lot of help as he became a serious athlete. But you know, he didn't come up as a teen. And then, you know, start getting coached by one of the big training camps and then you know immediately like we're going to the games. Or 19, 20 years old, like no, you know, like I don't relate to those people. I think that's awesome, those athletes are great. I think the sport needs figures like that. I think that's healthy for the future of the sport.
Speaker 1:But personally I don't relate to those people, so I, you know, I'm not huge fans it goes back to the age old thing, right, like we connect with the cross, the games, athletes, because we know the pain of what the workouts are doing. They're doing, you know, like when we see them doing grace at the games, you know. Or the snatch ladder, like mostly every crossfitter has done something like that. Like we don't know the exact way it feels, but you know so see people work out in their garage gym. It's a very relatable thing, you know yeah, yeah, and it's.
Speaker 2:I also love that it can inspire ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Right like that's something that I grew up with my dad being a pro bowler. Right Like he worked at the bank but the guy could bowl like a like no other Right and and would bowl till his hands bled. And it's the same thing with CrossFit. You know some CrossFitters, right Like they're regular people, they, their moms, their dads, their, you know, they have regular jobs, whatever, but like they still train a couple hours a day and like they're just, they achieve elite levels of fitness and it's possible. Right Like there's a lot of other figures out there that have done it.
Speaker 2:And you know, I'm just drawn to that Right and on whatever level. Right, even if you're somebody, you know I don't want people thinking like, hey, if I started doing Cross, doing crossfit, I go to the crossfit games, because that's totally not realistic at all. But I'm saying like, but no, you can do crossfit and dedicate to it and structure your training and get better and do competitions and, you know, in your appropriate division and you can step on the podium if you put work in. You know like you can get hardware. You know like that that's totally a realistic thing. Um yeah, you know just different levels, you hardware, you know, like that. That's totally a realistic thing.
Speaker 1:Um yeah, you know just different levels. You thought you were. You could do things you thought you weren't capable of. You know by, by working hard. You know exactly and it.
Speaker 2:It will teach you that like impossible stuff is possible, right, if you just have dedication and that bleeds over to other areas in your life too. You know, yeah, do some competition training for a couple years. You know, get your butt kicked in some some crazy situations. You know, get close to you know, get a top 10 finish, step on a podium at a local comp or you know, like a regional comp or something like that, and your emails are going to be a lot easier that that's hilarious dude.
Speaker 1:So, like, speaking of like the training camp kind of thing, I want to ask you first, do you have a favorite training camp of like? What kind of the ones are out there, like Misfit, mayhem, proven, all those different ones? Do you have one that you lean towards more where you're like? I follow these people, I like what they're doing, I like their programming.
Speaker 2:Yes. So training think tank. Wearing the shirt shout out TTT, huge, huge training think tank fans. So I I started following them, kind of like right when they started to get a little bit more popular, like 2019, 2020, it was used to be called the TTT design and it was just their blog. So, like I was at that time working out in my garage, I wasn't an affiliate anymore and just followed that programming and then kept with it as it evolved and kept with it, kept with it, kept with it.
Speaker 2:I'm still following it today. I actually have a one-on-one coaching from train think tank. So I've been working with Mia Gianelli since October. So I'm really into them. I love just all their coaches and and Max Max Elhaja's way of thinking and the way that he designs programming and just the way that he approaches the sport, where they they're more about developing athletes and developing skills and that type of stuff than just beating you down right, like I have done all all the big name competitors programs and I didn't feel too awesome right like it's. It's, in my opinion, it's very cream rise to the top. B right where it's like if you're just this elite athlete, then you're going to do fine, but if you're not like, you're probably going to get beat up, injured and hate CrossFit yeah.
Speaker 1:A lot of them is like hey, anyone could like a lot of them. Program in a way that like, if you're elite and you come, do this, no matter what we're doing for you, you're going to get better, you know. Versus like we can take people that may not have it built in already and develop them to be better.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that's that's what training, in my opinion, has always been about. It's been about more development, sustainability. You know every, everything that they always like to say play a long game right Like what. What's your end goal? Right Like, and and how does?
Speaker 2:that fit in your daily training. You know, like, if your end goal is to do a competition in October and it's March and you feel like dog crap, then figure something out Like, don't, you don't have to kill yourself, right, Like you know. You know you want to be better in the open and you're really good at you know you have a great engine, right, but you can't do toes to bar to save your life. You can't string them together. Okay, well, we're going to work on toes to bar and we're going to figure out how we can make that movement more efficient and make your weaknesses better, right, like, that's what they're about. It's more about developing as an athlete over a long period of time, versus we're just going to beat you down every single day until you become this. This you know specimen right.
Speaker 1:So I think that, especially after watching this the past few semi-finals, one of the things that people should like walk away with, like especially uh, aspiring competitors, is that like, yes, your strengths can put you in a good position, but your weaknesses will kill you, they will take you out of competition more than your strengths will put you in the lead, so you got to go work on all those things. Um, so let's talk about, like what I call, like the big three of the training uh camps, like uh, mayhem, proven and hard work pays off right. Like I think Mayhem might be in a little bit of a different category, especially with this question. I'm going to ask but do you think that Proven and Hardwork pays off? Do they add to the collective CrossFit atmosphere or do they take away more from it? Like CrossFit training, crossfit games and CrossFit educational staff and all that Are they competitors or are they allies that help grow the brand?
Speaker 2:So I think they're all allies, you know. First off, I don't think they're taking anything away from CrossFit. I think that the market that they're hitting at this point has developed to become a more niche market of our community. So if you want to hop in the time machine, go back to 2014, right, you know, when competitors programs were in their their infancy outlaw way and comp train was just starting to get off the ground and stuff like that. What's rich doing? Um, you saw a lot more of the gen pop crossfitters thinking that was going to make them better at crossfit. Right, so they did it and they killed themselves. A lot of them got injured or maybe even wound up walking away from CrossFit because of it.
Speaker 1:I was going to say a lot of them are just walked away.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think back then those types of things were probably taking away from the community because it was just promoting a message that this is what you should do if you want to get better at CrossFit which isn't necessarily true Right, like it's. If you want to be fit and like look good, like you don't have to do this stuff, um. But I think nowadays, when you have your provens and your hard work pays off, like they're not taking away from anything. If you're wanting to follow those programs, first of all, they have like 60 minute options, right. So if you're somebody that's just a garage gym goer and like just wants to get a workout in, like you can get that from those training camps Right, but you know whatever, and they have different levels for competitive training. So I think that whole world has evolved so much and I think they're huge players because they have the names that are associated to it and a lot of it.
Speaker 2:What we do is based around motivation. So, yeah, if you're a big matt fraser fan or you know you like hopper or katrin or whoever like, yeah, you're gonna want to follow how it pays off. If you're a big tia fan, you know you're gonna want to follow proven, like it. You kind of connect to your favorite athletes and like, if you're in a position to follow your own programming, you're going to gravitate towards those and I think they're all good. Honestly, um, yeah, they take anything away from it I love that.
Speaker 1:So, like kind of going off what you just said right there, what do you look for? I could be one thing, could be a couple of things in a gym, like when you walk in or you start learning about a place, what makes you go like, oh, this is the place for me so first, I like to see a lot of more, more hands-on instruction.
Speaker 2:You know I think you made a post about this the time clock coach don't, don't be a time clock coach, right, don't be that guy. Yeah, if I see that, that right away is a disqualifier for me, because that that tells me that there's either some disconnection between management and coaching or if it's an owner that's coaching and acting like that, then they're checked out. So no, checking out. I want you to be passionate, and cause I know that that means that the people that are in charge of that building are keeping that spirit high in those walls, right, cause they're, they're all about their craft and they're pushing that passion onto their members.
Speaker 2:Um, and that I frankly, I just want to be around people like that and I don't want to be around people that just start the five o'clock class and say here's the warmup and then here's the workout and this is the weight and here's what you should do to scale. Okay, three, two, one, go beep. Right, that's not. I don't like that. So I guess that would be the first thing would be how do the coaches coach? How do they talk to the members? You know that type of thing.
Speaker 1:I love that too, cause one of my big pet peeves is like, uh, coaches that put their warmup on on the board. Because, like yo, I come in with a plan for my class and it's like not even just the fact that it's on the board, it's like I may have to pivot because of who walks in, or like something could, anything could happen. You know, it's like, all right, this warm-up's just not appropriate for what it is now and I need to be locked in enough that I can change it on a go. And it kind of like takes the instruction off of you and it puts it on to them Like, hey, this is what's on the board, go do this. You know.
Speaker 1:So, man, if, if I see a coach doing that, I'm like, I'm pet peeve. Wednesday, I'm putting you in as that and like know that if you do that out there, you're my pet peeve every week. You know, yeah, yeah, like you're there, you're there to teach, you're there to coach, it's in the job. If so, like next up man, like, what are you hungry for? What do you want out of your athleticism?
Speaker 2:and competitive. Next, like, what's what's what's motivated you right now? Um, so, right now, I, you know, I I dove into coaching a lot more recently. More recently, I've been coaching across the generation. They've been awesome to me. I love it, I love the members, I love the atmosphere. They're one of the coolest affiliates in the area, one of the first affiliates in the area, so I'm very happy to be there and, you know, just pushing that as much as I can, right, so, being the best coach I can, you know, harboring that community super into that. Uh, so that's that's side one of me, and side two of me is being the best CrossFit athlete that I can competitively.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, I went through a little bit of a of a rough patch more recently. Right, like I kind of got burned out on CrossFit around 2018, you know, I was just training a lot and not, it was that point in the sport where it was like, okay, well, now the super athletes are here, so like I'm not going to regionals um, you know, that's a pipe dream. Like, right, like what am I doing it? For? There wasn't a ton of local comps, like you know, your, your wadapaloozas and stuff like weren't super. They were around, but it was just kind of willy-nilly, so, like there wasn't a lot of competitive outlet for the sport. For, like, an elite intermediate is what I like to call. Like somebody that's, like you know, wants to be competitive, but like isn't going to be going to the crossfit games necessarily, um, so, yeah, I got a little burned out on it and took a break, did some other sports. I raced mountain bikes, I dabbled in mma, um, and then I had a couple injuries from those things.
Speaker 2:So once, once we recovered from those, I didn't know what I was doing and I started doing CrossFit again and was like yo, I want to like actually dig in this time and like, just be the best that I can be, cause there are way more outlets now to compete for, you know, the regular people. So you know, that's my, that's my goal. Right, be the best athlete possible. See how far we can take this thing. You know I'll be a master athlete pretty soon, so I'll have a new set of leaderboard. Right, Like, let's go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I see that with my wife. Right, like she competes in 40 to 44 and, uh, she crushes it. And like you know, she finished in the in the top 500, right, like so, like I, I want that for myself and you know I I'm not going to stop um anytime soon. So just training as hard as I can, as smart as I can. I have a coach now. You know it's the primary driver in my life at this moment is like being an athlete and then being a coach, and then I have my regular nine to five job, but we can talk about that too, that's funny.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say do you have any competitions on the schedule or or things you're looking forward to doing, like what you want to get into?
Speaker 2:Nothing. Yet I may have overcommitted a little last year Cause I was, like you know, I'm a very much like a trial by fire kind of guy. So I was like all right, so you know, I did some some comp training for, like you know, a couple of years, whatever. Like all right, let's start doing some competitions, and like got my butt kicked last year, so a little burned out on that one, so I don't don't want to overcommit. I didn't commit to anything this year.
Speaker 2:When I got signed up for one-on-one coaching, the training think tank, my primary goal was like, hey, we're going to listen to our coach and we're going to take my coaching stuff and try to just, you know, like put it somewhere else for right now, cause, like yo, you're, this is a professional that's going to come in here and make you better, so we're just going to focus on that and just really dig into that for at least like a year until we can start thinking about competing. But, um, you know, I, I, there's some things maybe October ish, I might want to do. Um, I definitely want to do all the qualifiers for water, palooza, tfx. Um, you know, know, like those types of things, I'll probably do the q just for fun. I'm not going to the rogue invitational at all, but I saw some of the workouts last year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, like I, I saw that. I just saw some of the workouts last year and they looked like they'd be kind of fun. So, um, just I guess more competing in in like a friendlier environment where it's just like yo, I'm just gonna just going to test myself on this leaderboard and if we go to the competition, we go to the competition. Otherwise, we know what we need to work on but no rush, I love it.
Speaker 1:Just see where you stack up as a big part of the game. You know like, see where that where you stack up year after year like that's you got to get your skin in the game and that's how you do it, you know yep, but I also want to do it safely and make sure I don't get injured.
Speaker 2:Uh, you know, I separated my shoulder fighting and it was a little shaky coming back with some movements. Basically I had to totally relearn how to snatch because my upper back was turned off. So, like that type of stuff just takes time too right, like I'm not trying to rush it, my endurance still sucks, so I'm also just pounding that and you know my strength is pretty good. Like at this point in my life I don't think I need to work on strength too much. So there's a lot of running intervals, cardio burpees, like all the stuff that I've more or less avoided.
Speaker 1:We're just hammering that and then we're also just trying to build that upper back, shoulder up and and try to be strong there I feel that man, I think that one of the first keys to be taking your athleticism to the next level is letting your coach coach so that you could just athlete and I'll have to be asked at the same time.
Speaker 2:Committing to that will take you so much farther than I'll just like, than just what's in your programming, you know yeah, yeah, and even even just because if you're following, like, a competition program or whatever, that can mentally tax you too, because there's so hard to fall into, what should I do? Do I need to scale it? What if I can't do all this? Well, what if I can't do this on this day and then I have my regular life? What if work was really stressful? What if I have to coach extra hours? Like, what if I didn't get great sleep this night? Right, like I had to make so many decisions, even following another program, that I felt like that negatively impacted my training.
Speaker 2:So now I am decision-free, dude, like, when it comes to my training, I am decision-free. I'm walking into the gym, I'm doing what I can with my best effort and then, if I have any problems, I'm going to ask my coach and she's going to figure it out, right, yeah, and that's the beautiful part about it, cause then I can actually have peace when I work too, which is a huge mental boost as well.
Speaker 1:Right, and you know, yoda said man, there is no try, there's only do you do or do not, so like when people try to think too much it just throws everything off.
Speaker 1:So right, yeah, hell, yeah, that's what it's all about. All right, bro, this has been a great episode. Dogs, we're about to get out of here. I hope you guys have. I have no idea which day I'm gonna. I'm gonna drop this. I hope you have a great day, whatever day it is out there. Justin man, thanks for coming on, dude yeah, thanks for having me, man.