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Primal Foundations Podcast
Welcome to the Primal Foundations Podcast! We will dive into what I believe are the 4 essential foundations you need to live a healthy lifestyle.
Strength , Nutrition , Movement , and Recovery.
Get ready to dive into discussions that will guide you on your transformative journey to unlocking your path to optimal health.
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Primal Foundations Podcast
Episode 44: Building a Fitness Community with Lauren Zallis
Meet Lauren Zallis, the unstoppable force behind Shift Performance, Chicago's premier kettlebell gym. Known as the Duchess of Bells, Lauren's journey from soccer athlete to fitness entrepreneur is a testament to resilience and vision. Despite six knee surgeries, she transformed her love for physical activity into a holistic fitness approach as a Strong First Kettlebell 1 instructor and mental performance consultant.
Whether you're a coach or fitness enthusiast, her story offers invaluable insights on resilience, personalized training, and fostering inclusivity in fitness.
Connect with Lauren:
IG: @bellzonbells
SHIFT PERFORMANCE
IG: @shiftbybellz
Website: sethigherintentions.com
PRIMAL FOUNDATIONS PODCAST-
Instagram: @Tony_PrimalFoundations
Website: Primalfoundations.com
The Strength Kollective:
Download Kettlebell Programs (Click Here)
Book a free 30 minutes consultation (Click Here)
and welcome to an episode of the primal foundations podcast, where we talk strength, movement, nutrition and recovery. Our guest today is lauren zelis, aka the duchess of bells. That's right, lauren is the opera operator and owner of shift performance. Chicago's only kettlebell gym and she is a strong only kettlebell gym and she is a Strong First Kettlebell 1 instructor, certified Mental Performance Consultant, corrective and Performance Exercise Specialist, licensed Professional Counselor and Head Varsity Girl Soccer Coach at Oak Park River Forest High School. You do it all.
Speaker 2:What do they say? Master of all trades or jack of all trades, master of none? I guess it's a lot of labels, yeah.
Speaker 1:Holding a lot of hats, you know, but I'm excited to get you on the podcast. We've been trying to get you on for a while and now we're in the studio, which is awesome. I know it's intimidating in the studio, which is awesome, I know it's intimidating. Uh, I want to start off by kind of giving some background about how we met, which it was a crazy weaving thing of how we met. I don't know if you want to start it off yeah, fate, uh, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I worked as a coach at chicago primal gym, which is formerly chicago's only kettlebell gym, and it had to have been what? 2015 wow, yeah 2016 I think um you remember oh yeah, yeah, um, and so I would just have random coaching hours on the floor. I remember seeing you there, but like only interacting in kind of like a coach athlete capacity right with group training, and then paths crossed again because you're at Latin.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:And you needed somebody to fill in for a paternal leave.
Speaker 1:Was that it? Yeah, we had a paternity leave and I had to fill in for a physical education teacher and I'm the department chair and I'm just looking through resumes trying to figure out. Right, we got to hire somebody as uh did I apply for that?
Speaker 2:was that online? Did I submit my application?
Speaker 1:you had to uh.
Speaker 2:I forgot if it was like a reach out or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so no, yeah, I saw. I saw the name and I'm looking at it and I go, I like, I feel like I know this name and all I did. The first thing I did was just Google Lauren Zalas. And all of a sudden, you just see a one-arm swing with a bell like this and a big picture. I go, oh yeah, I'm going to try to hire her for sure I remember that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I looked over your resume. You had a knockout resume and then I ended up reaching out to you interviewing and then we had you stay on or come on to the team teaching PE classes, which we loved having you, and then you actually stayed on longer after the fact.
Speaker 2:Trying to just get the position grounded. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You did an awesome job and it's just so crazy, as we were talking in the office and everything, you're like oh yeah, I run workout classes out of where was it at again oh the, it was formerly like a crossfit gym island cross.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah and it it emptied out into like goose island was only on the first floor and then I rented space from somebody who's like the renter primary renter of the second floor and I was just trying to like hustle up a business. At that point it was like I I had a semi-set schedule and then it was like as the business kept getting more members, it just like the schedule became a little bit more like diversified and a little bit more permanent yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:So it was there, yeah, and you started coaching some classes for me at that place when I needed a break.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was. I always think the dynamic is like cause I was your boss for a little bit. Yep, but then you were my boss for a little bit too, and I was just like, oh, this is super cool. You're like, do you want to coach some bells? I'm like, hell yeah, I want to coach bells.
Speaker 2:It's also.
Speaker 1:Me too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, it's such a weird, I don't know it's, the structure is hard when you get to something like that Cause you've had so many relationships is like yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So but yeah, it was just a crazy thing. And now you're, you're launched, you've launched your own own gym and everything which is amazing we outgrew the space that I was renting from her and, uh god, yeah.
Speaker 1:So now we're at a space on lincoln in north center, so awesome yeah um, I want to kind of go take a little bit of a step back to your athletic career and your background of, like, what sports were you playing? How did you get into fitness you know kind of getting into before you started becoming like a trainer.
Speaker 2:Buckle up, buckle up people this one's gonna be a long, long-winded answer there we go.
Speaker 1:We might run out of tape um, okay, played soccer.
Speaker 2:I started playing soccer when I was seven and it was the one sport. That there's this big thing now where parents are trying to diversify their kids' sports and they want to, I only wanted to play soccer ever. So from I remember, from seven years old on, the first time I stepped on a soccer field. It was just this like small little rec league in Tulsa, oklahoma, and a little seven-year-old, lauren, went out and played for the first time and I remember coming off the field and being like I love this, like I can't get enough of this, and so therein began the journey into soccer. And so, like I said, I tried other sports but I never felt competent would probably be a good word. It never felt like it's natural. So played soccer, played club, eventually got a scholarship to play at Northern Arizona University.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 2:So Division I school. Between eighth grade and my senior year of college, I had six knee surgeries.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I understand the importance of diversifying your activity now because, I feel like a lot of my injuries could have come from overuse and a lot of my journey and I'll get into this is hindsight has been 20-20 for me and I'll get into this as hindsight has been 2020 for me. So it's almost like after I have the experience, then I have this like learning epiphany about the experience and that learning epiphany kind of helps me guide my athletes, exercisers, the people that I work with now. So a lot of the experience that I've had has helped kind of carve out what I want my gym to be like or what kind of uh counselor I want to be. So ultimately, I tore my first ACL in eighth grade, um, and then I had three surgeries on my right knee between eighth grade and my sophomore year of high school and I never wanted to stop playing Like I. I just there's something in me that was just like the passion for the sport. People talk about flow and sometimes you can achieve it in meditation. That's probably the closest thing that I've ever experienced to soccer, where you just get in this state where, like nothing else matters, you could have the worst day in the world you could have. You know, I remember it didn't matter homework, breakups, friend things, family things, whatever I could get on the soccer field and I could lose myself and whatever you know. It was like just this perfect little universe that nothing else mattered but the game Right. So three surgeries on my right knee from eighth grade, sophomore year, and then um got into college no injuries.
Speaker 2:Between my sophomore year of high school and then my sophomore year of college I tore my other ACL and it was like surgery, rehab, get back to the field, but nobody was pressuring me, nobody was rushing rushing me, but like I just wanted to play so much that it was like I will as soon as I can get back on the field, like put me in coach, right? Um. So tore my other acl my sophomore year of college and then had two subsequent like smaller tissue surgeries my junior and senior year and then, uh, my senior year. My injury was so early on that I could have taken a red shirt and played a fifth year and I remember my body just responding to me in that I was going to try for it.
Speaker 2:And the end of my senior year, my body responding and just being like I don't know that this is a good long term solution because things keep happening Right, so you might love it. Long-term solution because things keep happening. Right, so you might love it. You might not like mentally be done with it, but physically your body's telling you to like slow down and, um, I had to start listening because I was literally breaking down, right, so, um, enter in. I wanted to pursue, uh, sports psychology, uh, selfishly, because I wanted to understand, like, how to cope with that. Like my, my body is a 21 year old, not being able to do the thing I want to do.
Speaker 1:Your identity. Yes, your identity is soccer, so rolled in there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and like, like I said, I was so into it that like that's it's how I made a lot of my friends. It's how I, my family, moved around a couple of times between, um uh running joke, my family, we've never lived in a house for longer for five than five years. And so, um, when I was six, we moved. When I was eight, we moved when I was 13, we moved and these are like big moves across the country. Iived in Tulsa, lived in Seattle, lived in Chicago, and so it made me friends, it made me feel secure, it was like something that I felt like just my foundation was in it and I knew that, no matter what, like I'd have teammates that were friends and yeah, so it was just, it rolled into every part of my identity.
Speaker 2:Um, and so losing that is uh, it's kind of shocking and jarring and probably one of the first like real big transitions for me. Where it was, it was like hard, it was like depressing. So, um, yeah, trying to figure out the mental side of that pushed me into sports psychology. Um, and then that's a great, that's a great attribute to have when you own your own gym, because a lot of times, private clients, group sessions, even people, when they start moving their bodies. You know you release energy and you know you get moving and things surface for people, and so to be able to understand that and understand the mental and emotional side of it was, I think, a pretty cool thing.
Speaker 1:So if, if you can look back at you, know your younger years, as you're starting, as you've gone through, like specializing in you know sports psychology, and you can look back at yourself at that age when you were starting to lose that identity as a soccer player, what advice would you give yourself?
Speaker 2:Man, that's a great question, tough one right, yeah yeah, totally.
Speaker 2:I would probably say that this is one part of you. This is not the whole part of you, and there are going to be different parts of you as you journey through your life that are going to come up, that are going to surprise you. You know there are going to be things that you learn about yourself.
Speaker 2:Another one I love cooking, right, so, and really like the nutrition piece falls into the fitness piece as well, but like that's something that I identify with now, like I love, like that is a hobby that I love, and so, like you will face or you will find different things that add to you, right, and so it might feel like all your eggs are in one basket at the time because you have such a. You know, me at 34, almost forgot my age 34 has more lived experience than me at 18, which you know has a much more limited view of the world and limited experience, right. So it feels like everything at that time because you can't see the future. But there will be other things that you experience and like parts of yourself that you will begin to identify with that are surprising or new, you know. So, um, yeah, don't feel like that Once that's gone.
Speaker 1:That was the only part of you, so yeah, and where does your mindset or methodology of training start to kind of veer off into this? You know functional kettlebell training.
Speaker 2:Totally Okay. I believe that when I was in college they didn't train like the mobility piece of it. So a lot of lifts we were doing and by no means are these bad lifts, I think there are different lifts that have their, uh, their time and their place and their purpose, Right. So we were doing a lot of barbell power lifts.
Speaker 2:So a lot of clean snatches, front squats, um, and bench press, which I disagree with in a soccer capacity, Like I mean you know, maybe I'm getting a good stiff arm every once in a while, but, like um, so the movements that I felt like I was training with weren't super functional and, uh, they were explosive and they were powerful, but they didn't involve a lot of variety like rotation, lateral movement, change of direction, and maybe when we were conditioning there was, you know, sprints, change of direction, stuff, um, but one of the things that I felt like was, um, as my training career advanced, or my coaching career advanced in in the physical body, um, I started learning about things like hip cars, right or so we're talking about being able to identify, or like, how a joint has a very like, what is my range of motion at my head and what is my potential for the range of motion and then how much control do I have over that range of motion.
Speaker 2:Things like that aren't taught at the. They could be now, when I was playing, in my personal experience, we weren't taught about, like, the mobility side of it as much, and so it was like putting a lot of weight on your back and trying to lift as much as you could. Um, but not learning about like, should I be moving that much? Can my body tolerate that much? Um, something very small core engagement, right, we talk about like tilting of the pelvis and elevation depression of the rib cage. So, like I didn't know, until I was done with 24 years old, I remember learning this I didn't know how to engage my core.
Speaker 2:I just always thought it was like you know and I don't know, like how I'm doing that, but I'm just doing it Like nobody taught me the small fundamental things that are so important to movement. And so when I started learning, like oh wow, these small things actually add up to how you move in a much larger capacity, like that wasn't taught then. But as I learned it, I was like if I would have known that then maybe I could have prevented some of my injuries, maybe I would have lifted smarter, maybe I would have moved better, maybe I would have recovered faster if I had these tools. So it was kind of like, oh wow, I know this now. If I would have known it, then maybe it would have been different. And I don't regret any of that, for, you know, I think everybody in my sphere was doing the best they could with the knowledge that they had.
Speaker 2:But, like now, I see some of these things as being fundamental to how we move. And so, really, my gym now I mean kettlebells are awesome and they're so functional because you can move with them in so many different planes of motion you can. There are so many different focal points. You can get power, you can get endurance, you can get. You know, what have you I just want people to have longevity in their movement because, honestly, that's what I'm striving for is longevity and also, I would say, with that, becoming aware of their own body, because when you start to generate these moments of awareness and the kettlebell is a great tool to do that because of how technical, it can be um, yeah, that's, that's so empowering I think with.
Speaker 1:I think this is really good to hear, especially if there's coaches listening to this, if there's young athletes listening to this too. It's really cool looking in a college weight room on Instagram, right, when everybody's standing around and they're doing these big barbell cleans and everybody's going crazy. But I'm looking at the cleans and I'm just like that, don't look right.
Speaker 2:So true.
Speaker 1:It's like and I tell this to everybody, especially now that I'm like working with more youth athletes it's like I'll see them squat on a barbell or do something. And I'm like they're like, yeah, I did it. I was like well, if your goal is to get the weight from here to here, yes, you achieved that. You did it. Great, it didn't look good, but you did it. And some of those barbell lifts, especially the Olympic ones, like people spend their entire careers like as an Olympic lifter to master a few skills. Yes, and you're like a freshman or sophomore in college never did before.
Speaker 2:All right, clean it up, let's go well and you want to like the social media piece too. Like it looks cool, that's what you're after, that's what you're motivated by, and like, um, but the the tiny details of that. Like you can't. If I'm doing like a front squat, you know you're not gonna. I'm not gonna be cuing you on how to hold like. You know you're not gonna. I'm not gonna be cuing you on how to hold. Like in the video You're not seeing how somebody's like maintaining their core tension or like, yeah, there are just so many little things.
Speaker 2:And also the fitness industry, too, is like I. There is this interplay of you want to build a business and you want to service more members. But does more members necessarily equate to quality service? Because if I'm getting more members in and less eyes on those members, like am I going to be able to really give people the individual attention that they need in order to feel what's going on in their body? And then? So I also think like, oh, it's so.
Speaker 2:That is one of the most um, difficult things as a small business owner is like you want the capacity to grow, but you want to do it the right. Like you want the capacity to grow, but you want to do it the right way and you don't want to lose your values in that. And I think, like at those big, like if you see a big college weight room or whatever, um, you know, unless you have like very specialized and individualized coaches for certain sports and things like that, like a lot of those people are working crazy hours, they have a lot of teams, they have a lot of bodies.
Speaker 2:They have a lot of people and I can't imagine that having, I mean, I don't know how big a football team is, but like 60 players on a football team that are all on the same training program yeah, that is like, and then good coaches will find ways to give people cues and individualize it. But it is hard, you know, like there's this contradiction between growth and numbers and like also individualizing. So, yeah, maintaining your values and knowing what's important.
Speaker 1:That is a struggle for me, even as, yeah, I worked my way through on a gym If you're lucky enough to be like, uh, you know, university, alabama, michigan, and you can have four or five or six strength coaches, just for the football team, that's one.
Speaker 2:That's the way to do it. Great that's awesome.
Speaker 1:and then they got ipads on there and they're on the, on the racks and they can like like, here's my program, here's where my percentages are, and people do it right for sure. But then you have those smaller division one or division three, teams or schools that will have one strength coach for the tennis, the rowers, the everyone, and that's very difficult.
Speaker 2:We had one strength coach and maybe, like that strength coach had two assistants and so if you and I was at a division one school, like that's nuts, so yeah, it's. And like I said, no, no fault. I think they're doing the best they can, you know, with what they have but, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you start finding bells. And how did you even like find kettlebells?
Speaker 2:Oh, this is a good question. Um, so, uh, I worked while I was going to grad school for sports psychology. I actually worked in Equinox and I was like the grunt of the Equinox, so I was like the lowest one on the totem pole. They're like come in 20 hours a week towel service, hand them out to members, try and build your business that way, like we'll try and filter in people, you know what. And it was a good experience because, uh, at the place I was at in particular, they did a really good job of like coaches, education. So there were a lot of workshops where I got to like dig into, you know, different elements of fitness and things like that and learn from the people that were co-workers. And so I had that experience.
Speaker 2:And then when I graduated from grad school so it was kind of the thing that was like pat in my pockets right while I was in grad school and then when I graduated, somebody reached out to me I can't remember who. I wish I remember who, because this is a good life move. But, um, and they said, hey, there's a training studio on the North shore, it's called redefine fitness. Um, it's in Wilmette. Uh, I think you'd be a good fit for it. They're looking for a coach. Do you want to do you want to go? So I was like I'll interview for sure. So I went up there and, uh, ended up staying there for three years and they really valued functional fitness. Your body is the thing that you're moving against gravity. So it was more. It was getting closer to the thing that I wanted to work with, or the elements of fitness that I was embracing in my own body Right, and so I did private sessions. I did small group sessions. Their group classes were like no bigger than six. It was a grind. I am telling you, 50 to 60 hour weeks, but that's like 50 to 60 FaceTime with clients. And so when, like when you're in the fitness industry, an hour is an hour of like FaceTime with that person. So like you have 50 of those a week. That's not like the program, including programming for people. So I was grinding right and I was.
Speaker 2:It was like my first big person job, you know, like out of school, whatever Enough to pay the bills, live independently. I was feeling really good about myself, but the hours I was putting in were like burning me out, so much so that, like I remember when I would take vacations, like Christmas or whatever. I would take my first day off and immediately the next day after I rested I would get sick because my body was just like go, go, go, go go. Then, when I had time to rest, it was, like you know, the floodgates opened, right. So, uh, three years of that and I was like, oh, I don't know, should I keep going with this? It was I was pushing myself at the time. Also, I had gotten back into soccer after school.
Speaker 2:So, like I was learning more about fitness, I was trying to do my own like rehab. I was, you know, looking at things. I'd torn an ACL in my right leg again that I never got fixed after college. So, yeah, I was rehabbing myself. I started playing more recreationally, just for fun, rehabbing myself. I started playing more recreationally, just for fun, um, and one of my buddies at the time was like, uh, hey, like there's an opportunity for you to play semi-pro. Chicago's creating Chicago city is creating the semi-pro team. Would you want to try out? I'm like there's that side of me, you know, knocking on the door again Like, hey, you love this yeah and um and again.
Speaker 2:like this is after my body. I didn't want to keep playing college because my body kept sending me the message of like Nope, you got to pump the brakes, but that ego was like get it you know, like you, want this, do this.
Speaker 2:So, um, you know like you want this, do this, so enter in. I wanted a person who would train me for being ready for that experience. Okay, so I had reached out to a classmate that I had, whose husband at the time owned or was a co-owner of Chicago Primal Gym, and so ultimately I saw this, you know, coach Grant Anderson and I, you know, I started training with him to get stronger for trying out for a semi-pro team. So, yeah, so I'm working these crazy hours. I want this coach to like get me ready for soccer. And he starts training me with kettlebells and I was like, what am I doing? This is like how training should be. I left sessions with kettlebells feeling like I get better than when I walked in. My body was moving better, it felt like things were flowing. I, I just I would leave feeling worked but also not in pain, which was new for me, Cause, like strength training before, with my joints, with my knees, it was like, oh, I'm a little achy. Pedal bells were the thing.
Speaker 1:How many people can say that as they walk out of the gym in certain places, that they feel better when they leave, which is an anomaly, because most gyms are like, if you're not on the floor, dying at the end. It wasn't a good class.
Speaker 2:And you and me both know that once you get in the mindset of I have to feel like I just killed myself in that class, when you get in that mindset and that's what your expectation becomes for what a good workout is. You are not affiliating your workout with how you feel and like where you're feeling things in your body. You're just affiliatingating your workout with how you feel in it, like where you're feeling things in your body. You're just affiliating a good workout with like oh, I blasted myself, you know, and that's not what people need a hundred percent of the time, Like sure, there's a time and a place for it, but if that's your training a hundred percent of the time, I would venture to say you're training incorrectly and you should check engine light should be going on, you know. So yeah, kettlebells were leaving me feeling better when I left them, when I walked in, and I was noticing it significantly on the soccer field, with no ACL in one leg. So like I was noticing the differences in an injured state and imagine what the differences could be if you were like healthy body, you know, like not previous surgeries, whatever. So I was amazed at what that was giving my body and I like looked at this other gym that I was at and I was like, oh my God, shit, I know better now. So I got to do better.
Speaker 2:I got to change the way I'm training because like this is it, Like this is, and, yeah, this is, this is where it's at so, fast forward, started playing a little bit of semi-pro I owe a lot of that to kettlebells and my experience in training with Grant and I left my other gym because I was like kettlebells are where I need to be. This is, this is amazing. So they had a position open up at Chicago Primal Gym and then it was much nicer than 50 or 60 hour weeks. It was like a normal let's go 40 hour work week. Only 20 hours of that were on the floor. The other 20 were like all the other things that you know coaches do at the gym. And so, yeah, it like almost brought like more balance to my life instead of these like huge ups and downs. It was just like, oh, okay, Like kettlebells are finding me balance in like both the sport I want to play and in the work that I want to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like every trainer goes through kind of this whole thing. It's like I need to get clients, I need to get as many you know touch points as I can, but you find out very like, very fast, like wow, I can't sustain this anymore. And then this is why a lot of people just leave training to do burnout for sure, yeah, yeah, yep.
Speaker 1:Now you've uh, you've gotten into kettlebells. You start working at a gym. You know we go through a whole you know COVID thing gym shutting down. Gyms are. You know, everything's virtual and this and that, and we start to kind of come out of this and now you have this idea of, like I want to create shift performance, the Chicago's only kettlebell gym. You know, at this point, and you know why, did you feel like this is the? I know that you said a lot of the things about kettlebells, but like, why put two feet down on this niche? Um, and you think that this is going to work in the city?
Speaker 2:oh, I've been trying to get out of the training industry for years, like um. Being in the training industry was not like my end game when I started, so first I was a PE teacher then In Arizona, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I remember your resume. Yeah, flag staff Arizona, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And so then after that, with the mentals, like the sports psych stuff, the psychological side of things, that was the route I really wanted to pursue, because I felt that I had like lived in this physical body, that I'm learning it really well and I'm understanding it really well, but the the psychological part was always felt like maybe more of a challenge, like I didn't understand enough. So I was always really curious about it and I wanted to keep pursuing it and learning about it. So I really was pushing to go into sports psychology and I I was pushing to go that way. And then it was like, oh, but you're going to be at, uh, you know, chicago primal gym and you're going to be a coach there. And I loved that and like, uh, I had a good foundation there.
Speaker 2:And then it was like COVID happened Jim started shutting down. And then it was like I, I want to go the sports psychology route, but the opportunity honestly for training people was so like it was almost like it just like landed in my lap and it was like take this, like there are so many people right now who don't have access to gyms or to kettlebells specifically in gyms, and you have, you know, a network of people who are looking to get back to training in person. Why wouldn't you do this?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So it like wasn't my number one passion, but it was something I was still passionate about. So yeah, it was. It wasn't scary, like I knew that upon making the decision that I would have at least 25 to 30 people off the top of my head that would train with me. And so COVID was really like a branching out point for me where it was like, all right, just do it Like you've had, you've acquired, you were at. You know your background is just do it Like you've had, you've acquired, you were at. You know your background is in physical education. Like you've you've done all the classwork for that. You've trained it in Equinox. You trained at a small, you know gym on the North shore. You trained at CPG. Like you, you've coached all these places and you've seen all these different modalities of business and how different people ran their business and the different levels.
Speaker 2:And I got I. It was awesome, cause I got to see like there wasn't one way that worked, there were lots of different things that worked. And so, from each place I was at, I could pick and choose. Like I like this, I don't like this, I would change that, I do want to do that. And so by the time I was like okay, I got the people like I just need to find a place, let's go. And so that place in the Goose Island CrossFit that building teammate former teammate from the semi-pro team she was the one who was primary renter of the space and so once she said I could sub-rent from her, sub-lease from her I was like all right, it's on, just make a schedule and go. And actually the I was like all right, it's on, just make a schedule and go.
Speaker 2:And actually the ironic part about this is I actually, when I was doing most of the work, like the groundwork of the website and putting things together, I had COVID. So it was like there were like two or three weeks where I was like isolated in bed and I couldn't move and whatever. So I was like I can just like build everything now. So like it's weird how like certain situations or scenarios happen in the world that like lead to so like I was settled and I couldn't do anything and I was sick. So I was like all right, well, like if I'm gonna sit around, maybe I'll sit around and like start uploading things for like how I want the gym to look and whatever. So, and then it just like it happened. And now we're like three years into it. I I still have these moments where I'm like I get to wake up and do something that is so fun, and not only that, but see people that I, I genuinely love every person that comes to the gym and, like I, it's so like crazy to me.
Speaker 1:I, yeah, I'm very lucky, yeah I always remember the uh the article that came out and I think it was it was either gq or men's health where it was like the great uh kettlebell shortage, the great kettlebell shortage of 2020, because you're right, like the opportunity, like a lot of if you had your already, like if you're in the space and you were already doing like virtual programming and virtual stuff, like you were going gangbusters, like it just so happened because everybody just went to the gym, yeah, um, but then people are getting. You know, working from home, I have a kettlebell, I'm able to work out, I don't have to go anywhere, it saves me time yeah and I feel better and I move better, which is great.
Speaker 1:So that whole shift, shift see what I did there.
Speaker 1:That whole shift changed the game for a lot of people, businesses and gyms in particular. But how? But there's a lot of gyms that like just didn't make it or just decided we're going to shut down, or what have you. So now the opportunity comes by. Now here's my question to you like starting a business is hard, especially like a fitness space. Like you're competing against box gyms, crossfit, orange Theories, all this stuff. You know what were some of the challenges that you had. Starting a brick and mortar location?
Speaker 2:oh, okay, this first location, and I say first because there will be another one. I guarantee we'll do another one you heard it.
Speaker 2:You heard it here um, I, uh, I got so sick when it was going on because of how stressed I was. Like I, I, man, it was so many challenges. So, um, first it's like the whole idea of um, so first it's like the whole idea of. There's a thought of Am I going to, can I afford this? Like, can I make ends meet? And if nobody showed up tomorrow, what would I do? Nobody showed up tomorrow, what would I do? Like it's just a natural fear response of, like signing a lease One. Finding a space in the city of Chicago is very challenging If you're ever going to open up your own brick and mortar like single location and you're not part of a, you know, larger company. That I mean. Finding a space that is conducive to a gym. A lot of people don't want to be neighbors with a gym. A lot of landlords feel like it's a liability to have a gym in there because it's not. You know, we've got a pottery painting studio next door, like that's pleasant.
Speaker 2:You know, there's always like nice, relaxing, music playing and people are, you know, like colors and relaxing and whatever. And like a gym is, you know, I think sometimes people think liability, risk, whatever. So one it's about finding a landlord that and love my landlord where I'm at now, and so that's a challenge. Integrating the space into what you want it to be is a challenge, because a lot of places that you look at I didn't look at places that were formerly gyms. I looked at places that just had, like, open spaces, because you need a lot of, you know, area for kettlebells. You're swinging weights around, so I didn't want things that were closed off in lots of rooms, I just wanted big open space and, ultimately, the build out for the space, holy cow. One it's a huge financial investment. Two, like I don't know if you you do know you've had remodeling done before it never goes according to planner, on time or within budget. It never goes according to planner, on time or within budget.
Speaker 1:There's always something that goes wrong Totally.
Speaker 2:So, like I, it was like the timing of you know, as we transition from one space to the other, the timing of, like, the rent ending here and the you know rent starting here, and all my clients are they going to follow me to this location? And what if there's an extra x amount of money that needs to be put put down? And then are people gonna show up? And so you, just you have a laundry list of things to worry about. But, like you, if you're convicted in the thing that you're trying to bring people, I, I have a, an advisory board, um, three people that I trust so much and know things about marketing and business that I never learned because I'm a body person. Right, I'm not a, I'm not a business person. I have no education in business, actually and I remember one person on my board. I was like, should I do this? Like am I ready? And he was like you don't have to do anything. You could, you could just do nothing, like you could keep things the way they are. And when he said that to me, I was it like sparked something. I was like, oh, I actually want to do more. Oh, I actually want to do more. So the desire for wanting that space of my own and that next step outweighed the fear that I had. Even though the fear was great, the desire was greater, right? So, um, yeah, yeah, I can keep going with other fears If you need more than that.
Speaker 1:That was the top of the cake I'll never forget well, because I remember like you were still kind of working um at the school with me, as like you're kind of making the transition and we were talking about things in the build out, and then like all of the stuff you were talking about of like yeah, I gotta get this done, I gotta get, uh, you know, the floor's got to be pulled out and the turf and this and that, and I will never forget this is a funny story. We're not going to mention names. You already know where I'm going with this. I'm not going to mention names.
Speaker 1:The first day of classes I walk in and like I've seen the space and it's cool, but we haven't, like you know, coached any classes or whatever. First day classes was like whatever day. And I walked in just to like see everybody and check it out and and I look at the corner of one of the walls and it's got a huge dead net and there's drywall on the floor and I'm sitting there. I'm like what is going on? What happened? Like I don't. I'm like I'm thinking is the building settling, like what's going on? And apparently somebody decided to just drop something a kettlebell on a handle and it just took a chunk out of the corner, and that's chunk day one tony.
Speaker 2:Tony walks in and he's like, oh my god, what happened?
Speaker 1:I was like too soon yeah, yeah, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it, but there's, there's those things with buildings in like having you know, like all, like, all right, where's? I mean, you've moved the desk like three times. You know. We've moved the bells from the turf because, like it just didn't really work out and we're just cutting turf, like why don't we just put them on the other side of the?
Speaker 2:gym, where there's better space to utilize the.
Speaker 2:That is another thing I've noticed about the gym and this is a big like psychological piece as well. Your environment matters, like from from the location of the bells to the location of the front desk, the. Any athlete that has been a high level athlete their coach will tell you what the details matter, right? So when you're like an elite level athlete, it's not huge. You know differences in talent that separate people. It's how you manage your sleep, how well your your nutrition profile, your recovery. Are you doing your mobility on the days to like flush out your little things? It's like the little things that matter and that as a coach and business owner, the way it seems like such a small thing but it is such a big deal because that front desk Okay, originally the placement of the front desk when you walked in the gym you walked in the front door and then the desk was like over here, right, and it was like facing the front door at a weird angle.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Why didn't I like that the front desk should be in front of the front door? Why didn't I like that the front desk should be in front of the front door so when people walk in, you can greet them by name and say hey Susie, hey Joe, hi. How are you doing today Recognizing somebody by their name when they walk into the space, so that they feel like into the space, so that they feel like, whoa, they remember me here, they know me here, and wow, I really love the feeling of that. And when you're about to enter in into a mindful place of your body or your workout, to know that the person that's leading you has remembered your name, you has remembered your name, knows how you move like, remembers that you had a first date with you know somebody you met online last week.
Speaker 1:How'd it go? Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2:When you make those connections and people feel how much you care, then when you coach them, there's an emotional component, a trust component, a rapport component that I am convinced. I mean I can't give you. I mean I could give you proof based off of the way that members are retained at the gym. But like I can't give you.
Speaker 2:Like you know, I haven't done a study on it, but like that emotional piece and again part of the sports psychology program leads into, I think, a better workout for the member and so, like, where the desk is placed matters, where the bells are placed matters right, because it's creating a flow of how we use the space.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, there's one thing space. So, yeah, details, oh yeah. Yeah, there's one thing. I've always taken this and I've always tried to um, this is like more of like an educational piece with, like young athletes in schools, but like even yesterday I did the exact same thing. Uh, learn like classroom management, right and connection and score test scores and all that stuff. They go up when the teachers go to the kids games no, yeah, I believe it that's so cool, somebody actually looked at that yes, oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:So like if I have the opportunities to like go to their game. Like yesterday I stayed for the seventh game, I stayed for a little bit the eighth grade game, just like when I want to see them play in a different and it's a different thing. Yeah, but they know that I'm invested in how they do. Yeah, on the court, off the court, in class, outside of class, like that is a is a way better, like I have more buy-in from them and the athletes than than anything I do. It's not even like how I teach. It's like show up to. Can you show up to my game? Showing up, just and just and go like ask me, that's so cool yeah, 100 and that's what you're doing with your people.
Speaker 1:It's like you're asking them questions. You know them outside of the gym, inside the gym, and that's building the community which is people like strive for. That's what they want. They want to go to a place they feel safe, they feel heard. They you know where I am. The old whole cheers like everybody knows my name. Yeah, exactly, cue, the music time, uh, but I want to talk about this too, that because it's it's very unique. So you're the. It's called shift performance, uh, and, and shift is all capitals and it's an acronym. Can you talk about why you named it this, why this acronym, and how does that, like you know, shape the experience of the clients?
Speaker 2:Yeah, um. So shift is an acronym for set higher intentions for training. Um, we touched on this a little bit earlier. One um group training can be very random. So, like I know, um, crossfit has like wads workout of the day, right, so you go in, there's a workout on the board, you have to achieve 100 of this, 75 of that, 50 of this, 25 of this, and then, like dude, run a mile, whatever you know. Like there's like a numbers game, right and um, before you mentioned, like the kid who's doing the squat. Well, well, you got the bar from here to here, but did you do it the right way?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:When the workout is focused on achieving a number or an end goal, you're not focused on the process, and so your body is. It's like it wants to get to that end result with the lowest utilization of energy possible, like we just want to do the task right. We just want to get it done. And as a coach, I struggle with that because I think a lot of that mindset of do it get it done, do it get it done led to my injuries. I, and like I, if, if you can't be in your body when you're training, um, what's the purpose? Like you know what I'm saying and so, uh, for me, set higher intentions for training is like we work off of a program. It's not a random workout of the day. We're building towards something right. And not only that, but like one of the elements of my gym is people have to take two introductory classes before they filter into group classes. Right, why would I have somebody do that? Well, they learn the swing and the get up, which are two foundational movements for the gym. They're so technical. If you didn't know kettlebells and you walked into a group class and they're like okay, we're going to do a get up on each side today and then you're going to do 20 swings and we're going to keep repeating that for you know however many minutes and you didn't know those things. Like you would feel so isolated. You feel it's almost like the stereotype of the kid who gets picked last in gym class. You're like isolated, you're by yourself, you don't feel good. You know that. Like goes against every community vibe that I'm trying to create. So spend a little extra time with a person who's new. Teach them the technique.
Speaker 2:I say two classes. One class, we focus exclusively on the swing. One class we focus exclusively on the get up right on the swing. One class we focus exclusively on the get up right, and so you have the individualized training that then you take with you into the group setting right, um, so yeah, and that set higher intentions for training.
Speaker 2:Like I don't want people to come into my gym and check out and be like just tell me what to do, you know. Just tell, just choose my weights for me. Like I want people to come in and I want them to feel love and I want them to feel support and I want them to like, go in and then I want them to know what light means for them and I want them to feel where they feel light, whatever we're doing. Press squat, you know, you name it in your body. And then I, you know I want them to learn, I want them to use it as an opportunity to get in touch with and in tune with, probably because I felt like I wanted to do that at some point with my body and I felt like when I had the opportunity, I had already like had consequences from not doing that.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, well, like really boils back to one thing I I for a long time was really really um upset with myself and my body that like it couldn't do the things that I wanted it to do, like I couldn't play soccer in the way that I wanted to. And like now I look back at that and I'm like, literally, lauren, I was just laying the groundwork for what you do today and why you're so passionate about it. And you can't see that when you're like, when you're in the shit, you can't see. Sometimes you can't see through to the other side and you don't know why and you don't have an explanation and things feel like super overwhelming. But like I had that experience. So now, like I, I can learn from it and hopefully I can help other people's experiences be different or better or you know whatever you know, whatever, uh.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it's, it's a lot of care too that I'm hearing, because how many gyms have, like you have to take a foundational class before they're like what, I want to sign up for this gym, like let me do the thing, let me do it, but it's, it's smart, like it's smart, it's the right thing to do, especially when you're getting super technical with bells I don't care Bells, barbell, whatever it may be. Yeah, like throw, I mean, because group classes are very hard to instruct in. And I think, like group class, like people that teach group classes, like we all teach group classes, like that's a skill set where you got to be able to manage the space, manage the time, but also give the feedback that people need. And you're going to have to toggle between this one person with this and this one person with that, but saying, hey, like we really want you to like succeed in the classes. You need to take these foundational classes, but I'm an athlete Like great, you're still taking them. Yeah, you know that taking them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, that's important. I can't tell you how many times I've come across people who are like you know they'll sign up for a class and I'll reach out to them and I'll be like, hey, you know, just so you know I'm not going to say you can't come to this class, but we strongly suggest that you do these two intro classes.
Speaker 2:First, how familiar are you with the swing and the get up, yeah, and a lot of people are like, oh, no, I'm good, I got it Right. And then they get into class and they're like, oh, this is maybe I don't got it, you know, uh, and and not to anybody's fault, but like you just don't know what you don't know, like you probably haven't know, obviously, the way they teach, and so, yeah, it's eye-opening for a lot of people.
Speaker 1:And that's the next thing I want to get into is do you feel, whether it's in Chicago land area or just in general, like this uptick of people who are preferring bells and coming to you specifically because, like you, have a kettlebell gym?
Speaker 2:yes, uh, I would say people specifically, especially over the last year, since, uh, you know, year and a half, since we've been at the space on lincoln, people will search kettlebell gym and that's how they find us. I always try and ask people you, you know, what were you looking for? Were you looking for any place where you're looking for? And all the people we get kettlebells specifically. So now I would like to figure out, like, if I'm going to work with them on my own, like I want to be safe when I do them. So a lot of people I feel right now that are drawn to the gym are drawn to the kettlebell portion of it. But and I don't know this for sure, but I do feel like the bigger box gyms, like they appeal more towards people with kettlebell, like I feel like kettlebells are trying to be integrated more in those spaces.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean.
Speaker 1:I don't know. The last time I was at one. Yeah, I think I think you're right. I think because when you see the movements done right, they're flashy, they look great, just like a barbell lift, just like anything else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:But you mentioned earlier like we're both strong first instructors and there's a standard there you have to actually go in for your certification and perform the movements properly to show I can do this and I can teach it. Yep, you know, you gotta talk the talk, walk the walk, yeah, everything yeah. And like it just so happens like, if you look at all, like a majority of the coaches that have been on this podcast are like all strong first, because I feel and not to say they all have been, but like a majority, because I feel it's like a gold standard, like these are very, very tight standards that we want you to hit and we want to make sure that you can do the movements and not only that you have to recertify. So if you're going to continue to hold this certification like you got to continue to do it.
Speaker 2:And also, too, there's an element my experience with people that are in that community. There's, because you invest more time into the learning and more time into the actually having to perform what you've learned and tested like a very high level. Because you spend more time with it, you find people who are like very like-minded to you. But also there's like a passion and an empathy, because a lot of the people that want to learn those things feel so strongly about it they want to other people.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so there's this like also natural, um, uh, pull towards, uh, I guess empathy for others would be a good, but then, within the community, like you feel, coaches wanting to network with each other, and not in a, not even in a business sense, just like let's get together and share this kettlebell swing thing we know how to do, you know and like we've done it a number of times, just like work out together, work out with a group of people who are certified in that way, and there's no end goal other than to just like be together and swing bells and connect, and whatever you happen to connect on, it ends up being great.
Speaker 1:And that's the thing. I just feel like there's enough business for everybody. There's enough business for everybody like yes, but the connections that I feel like if we look at all of like the kettlebell instructors like and that strong first map, if you go onto the thing like, half of them are like affiliated with shift or we know them personally on the map and I think that I think we're becoming like a hotbed for kettlebells, which is, you know, kudos to you, because you know you're pushing that you want your people to be strong for certified and again, strong first. I would always say like it's always a gold standard.
Speaker 1:Rkc is great too. They go hand in hand. It's just like the divide of the two but, um, but I think that it's something that we all feel like. We can all go to each other's workshops. We can all like get together and like there's no ego, no, like we can all like I'll coach one with like a group, and then somebody will pick something up, yeah, and then somebody else will coach one day and I'll be like, oh my God, I like how you did that, yes, and there's just like it's not like my way is right, you know.
Speaker 2:Totally. I like how you say there's enough for everybody, because I feel like that's true and like I think for me personally it's this like psychological, like be in your body, you know, feel like warm and fuzzy kind of thing that I try to integrate into it. But for somebody else it could be like I want to work with athletes and make them more explosive and they have their way of making the exact same movements, but the way they coach it like special to that and so like it's almost like it allows for each person's personality to like flourish with the coaching. And I think that like different people, so like I might I even see this at the gym there are certain people who I feel like will always gravitate towards my classes because they like the way that I coach.
Speaker 2:You will get the same thing from you coaching a class and you will have people who prefer to go to your classes because they feel more connected to you and I don't care where they're getting or who they're getting their service from. I just want them to have the knowledge to like be movers for life and to be like confident movers and know what they're feeling in their body. So like doesn't matter if it's me or you or you know, whoever down the street like, yeah, we're, the end game is the same yeah better, safer movers that are healthier and happier, you know building strong, resilient people yes, yes, that's healthier and happier, you know.
Speaker 1:Building strong, resilient people yes, yes, that's awesome. And another thing that I want to talk about, because you mentioned, like the programming piece of I want them to know what a heavy bell is. I want them to know a light bell and I've seen the programming, like I've coached the programming, I've seen it like the grand schemes and I think the beauty and lies in kettlebells, because the jumps of bell sizes are are, you know, you got like a four kilo jump or even some of them are an eight kilo jump. Yeah, just big, yeah. But can you kind of talk about like mastery before of like like intensity stuff?
Speaker 2:yeah, absolutely, well, one to that point I can have a um. So the bells at the gym range from eight kilograms up to 56 kilograms 56 kilos so that's a wide range, very wide range, and in at the lower weights in two kilogram increments, building up, and at the middle weights four, and at the bigger ones eight, right, so I can have a, with swings and get-ups are so universal, because a kettlebell swing is full of power, right, and you've got the aerobic conditioning that comes with it, versus a get up is a little bit more endurance, mobility.
Speaker 2:You have to be able to get into these different positions with your sweeps and your stands and whatnot, so I can have my. I believe my oldest client at the gym right now is 77, 76, 77. I can have her work out in the same class as a 23 year old and the reason I can do that is because she has gone through the fundamental elements of learning how to do the swing and the get up safely with weight that is appropriate to her right, and so has he. And he might be, you know, exercising with uh whatever k over here and she might be exercising with a whatever k over here, like your, your age, like you can.
Speaker 2:You can encompass so many people because it's so variable on the weight, right. So light to a 77 year old might be different than light to a 23 year old, and and heavy might be different to, you know, one person versus the other, but if they both come in and have the foundation of where you're supposed to feel the movement, what you're supposed to feel in the movement, good, solid coaching. Then they can start to discern, okay, what is my light, what is my moderate, what is my heavy, what is my very heavy. And then you can run a class where you're saying, okay, we're going to be doing you know light, get up, followed by 10 swings, and then they both can benefit. So, uh, yeah, I mean a hundred percent, that's, yeah, it's super cool.
Speaker 1:I, I've. I've gone to CrossFit. I've been a member of certain CrossFit's. I'm not throwing CrossFit under the bus by any means. Crossfit's cool if you want to do a lot of different things and get good at things and have a community again. I don't feel I need to be panting on the floor. It's pretty funny. I've gone to some CrossFit's and everybody's on the floor at the end of the workout and I'm still up and I'm like good job, good job, good job, because I I saw the prescribed, like I saw what that was. I mean, I'm all for doing hard shit yeah, I'm all for it, but not every day. Yeah, not every day.
Speaker 2:And um, that's a person who works with middle school kids on the regular.
Speaker 1:That's saying that oh, yeah, um, and I I would love when they would be like really focusing on lifts, and then they would just put on the chain, those little change plates or the micro plates on. Yeah, and it's like all right, we're going for a pr from last week by like a half pound and I'm like what, why? Like why? What's the purpose? What's what's the?
Speaker 1:purpose intention yes, and I'm like are you really getting better? Like if you keep doing that and I and I preach this a lot and this will be like a reoccurring theme in all, like podcasts that I do but this linear progression of keep going up and up and up is just like your body's gonna break down, like your, your ligaments can't like if you keep just going up there's and up is just like your body's going to break down, like your, your ligaments can't like if you keep just going up, there's going to be a wall you hit that you can't push through. You have to like master the lift and get good at the skill before you go up. And the kettlebells, because of the jumps it's like built in. Like if I want to do a 32k, get up, yeah, I gotta do the 28 and I have to do it well and I have to master it before I go up and that in itself is its own progression.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love that because I can. Maybe I can work for, like you know, five reps, you know singles left and right with that 28 and get really good and then I might be able to PR with my 32 one time Totally, but then I still I don't. 32 is not my new bell, that's not my working bell, correct, and I think that I love that and I love that in the programming that you guys have, that it's, it's built in. There's a purpose. You have dated like different days are for different things. Yeah, things and an overarching goal.
Speaker 2:So this year we also have a in the program that you see on each day we have, because, let's be real, like life does not look like this, like you have these right.
Speaker 2:So let's say I got a really bad night's sleep, um, not really feeling myself, maybe really stressed, and I go to the gym in the morning and I see this like behemoth of a workout that I have to do, even with kettlebells, like even from a kettlebell standpoint, like sometimes the workouts are like you know, like, oh, okay, all right, uh, that's a heavy day. Um, we've now integrated a card on our slides. That's uh, if you need more recovery time today, so one, it's getting people to check in with, like, where are you at today? How did you sleep, how does your body feel? Because if you go into a workout, your body's not feeling great and then you're trying to do that extra two and a half pounds on each side or whatever. I mean that's not going to, that's not going to end, what, what, like that's not going to serve you, you know. And if the point is to get a good workout, and then you could even go into like, what is a good workout for me?
Speaker 1:It's a great point.
Speaker 2:The definition of a good workout is not increasing my weight every time, it's increasing my body awareness. And you know, it could change. Like Monday, it could be like yeah, I want to get my heart rate up, I want to sweat, you know and you know. And then a couple weeks later it could be like no, I really want to start like getting maybe like a heavier getup or something like that. I don't, I don't know, it can be fluid, right, and so on this recovery card, if you walk in and you're like man, I'm not feeling it today, it's an option where it induces more space for you to recover between your sets or for you to grab lighter bells.
Speaker 2:And I feel like a lot of people when they walk into a gym, they don't think about what does my body need right now? What is it saying to me? They think about like, get it done, and so, yeah, one of the things we're integrating this year is like hey, need more recovery time, follow done. And so, yeah, one of the things we're integrating this year is like hey, need more recovery time, follow this card. Um, because different. And again, it's like one of the most challenging parts of like group training yeah, not everybody's going to be in crush it mode. You know, maybe 80% are right, um, but that doesn't have to be your journey if you've, you know, had X, y and Z happen. So yeah, trying to integrate things like that now too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it gives it, gives them the autonomy, right. If I'm feeling good, if I'm at a hundred percent today, I'm going to give you that. But if I'm feeling like 65, I'm, and it's the culture in your gym that it's. It's okay. It's not like you're slack, like nobody looks at a person, like, oh man, you must've, like you had be stressed out. You must've, like you know, went really hard yesterday. Or like you got a new baby and you haven't slept in four days. Right, so that culture is so. It's so important. Um, you know, versus, I'm going to kick the music up as high as it goes and we are going to be like redlining and just getting after it yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And if everybody's doing that.
Speaker 1:Have your energy drink next to you, also your Celsius. If everybody's doing that, I mean I don't care anymore, I don't give a shit. I'll be the first one in like workouts, like I've gone to gyms where it's like, all right, we're doing a hundred burpees over bar or something, and I would walk straight up to the person and in my younger days I'd be like, yeah, I'm doing that, I'm going to crush it, I'm going to finish first. Yeah, now I'm like, hey, coach, I'm not doing that, like I am not doing that. And then most of the coaches are like, all right, cool, like they know. In their head they're like, yeah, that's a lot of work. I'm like, I'm not doing that. And it takes. And it takes a lot from the culture, it takes a lot from the person, of being educated, like educating the clients, like to identify, like when it's OK to push, when it's OK to bring it back. But that's the one thing I love about and I'm trying not to be biased because I coach there.
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah, keep going, tony, yeah, yeah yeah, keep selling it, shift over on the corner.
Speaker 1:No, but I think it's important to like highlight. I mean I think there's a lot of gyms that do things very, very well.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I've seen it done well. I've seen it done really bad. You know, we're just again that whole of like coaches are, you know, giving them the hip hop, hip hop, whatever speech? Like getting everybody jacked up and then like being like, come on, you got it, you got it. And just screaming across the room yeah, that doesn't. I don't think that translates into those long-term goals of like I want to be physically fit for a lifespan and I want to be able to accomplish the things in life and the tasks in life, and that's what I feel like a lot of good coaches purpose are. Is like can you do the things that life demands of you and are you resilient, are you strong? Are you metabolically healthy? Like that that I have. No, we haven't even talked about aesthetics Like that's the back burner, that's just a byproduct of doing those things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I've heard kettlebell training Also. I really love this comparison compared to martial arts, where it's like you don't do the martial art for like anything other than the technique, like it is the art of learning the movement. That is what makes it up Right. And I feel the same way about kettlebells it's like it's the art of learning the movement. And then the exercise part, the calorie burn, the aerobic conditioning, that just comes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, exercise part, the calorie burn, the aerobic conditioning that just comes, you know. So it it really reframes the mindset of um exercise to developing a skill. And because I fully want, I want people to like if you leave my gym and you move, or if you're just there for a short period of time, take the skill with you wherever you go, you move, or if you're just there for a short period of time, take the skill with you wherever you go. You know, like, take the skill of knowing your body, take the skill of knowing the bell um and and bring that with you. That's like, ultimately, what we're trying to do. So, yeah, it just when you reframe it to learning and developing a skill and then the exercise is just like a byproduct of yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I love the martial arts piece because, like, if the, if you meet like really high level martial artists or MMA or whatever, like maybe not like a Conor McGregor, like that's a personality or whatever, but in the majority of people that are like, that's why I love like combat of sports, like wrestling, jujitsu. If, when people meet like the high level people there, they always say how wow, they're so nice, they're some of the most dangerous people on the planet earth, they're so nice. Yeah, well, because they, they didn't do the. The sport to beat people up like that's not the goal, it's the, it's the pursuit of athletic excellence, it's the pursuit of getting better in skill.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you like, you don't have to demonstrate, like you can beat people up like you know what I mean. Like they're just the nicest people in the world. They could kick your ass right, it's so sweet. What's the yeah, what's the uh, the strong first thing. I've heard it a bunch of times like be is like, be as strong as you look. Right, we want you to be as strong as you look like I heard that, but that's cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like you know we want to be, you want to be able to walk in confidently and do the things like and move well and and be resilient. But the thing is like if you, like, are care about aesthetics, you can be like two percent body fat be shredded, but like yeah, your muscles might be popping up, but like can you do the things you can't do the things you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah uh, one of the last things I want to get into is like the difference of like coaching, especially like as a female coach. Um, you know your relationships and with that like psychology background of like coaching, especially like as a female coach. You know your relationships and with that like psychology background of like relationships and or the the style of coaching like male and female clients.
Speaker 2:Oh, God Oof, I, I feel that I am one person with one lived experience that, and so when I, when I speak about this, I might have experiences that fall in stereotypical, you know, fashion, like with what we stereotype as being female and what we stereotype as being male.
Speaker 2:So I've, I've coached both, like on a uh, in a gym setting and in a soccer setting, both males and females. Um, I, I try and maintain like who I am and my authentic authenticity and just like my values, no matter where I'm at, no matter who it is. You know, um, there are innate differences. I feel like that happen and I, I, man, narrowing it down to like, let's say, a capacity of a gym, I find that, um, gym, I find that sometimes, I, god, I even hate saying it because I don't want, I don't want to offend anybody and I know that, like, talking about gendered things is very like we like to put things in boxes and we like to label things as being male and female and whatever. And, um, you know, I, my male clients, let me put it that way tend to be the ones that I feel like it's harder to detach the ego from the lift. And that is just my personal experience. I'm not saying that's everybody's experience.
Speaker 1:I have that too. I see that too.
Speaker 2:And and um, it happens in soccer as well, Like when I, when I coach boys, ego will sometimes get in the way. Okay, so in a soccer setting, uh, ego will sometimes get in the way of letting feedback be received, because now I know this and I don't, I don't need help you know, do you feel that's because, like, if there's that toggle between, like if they're getting feedback from a male coach or a female coach?
Speaker 2:I think I'm still too young in my career to know, especially with coaching boys in soccer. So I felt that from some of my players uh, recently, not all and but also like when I experienced something like that. Or I feel that I'm wondering if I'm projecting my insecurities of being inferior because I'm female on to that situation. So it could, it could very well be like a male female thing, or it could be me seeing the situation as that and like I have an insecurity, a personal insecurity of like how is this person receiving me Because they're a man and I'm a woman? Right, that's a. That's a real thing that exists for me. You know, when I, when I coach, it more so happens in the soccer world than in the training world, and I don't know if it's because I've been um training longer than I've been coaching, like specific high level teams in soccer, but, um, when I'm in the weight room room, I find that my feedback is accepted.
Speaker 2:I feel that my feedback is accepted, but it's like the push to show strength. It's not about what I'm saying to them, but the ability to like turn that part down, to do something that serves your body better is more trying, I think, with with men that in my experience, um with women, um, there's uh, a real like emotional and empathic dynamic. For me that is different. Emotional and empathic dynamic for me that is different. So in a soccer sense, sometimes it's very hard because there's, in a high school level, a real fear, high school soccer I'm talking about. There's a real fear of not being liked by your teammates or maybe being too good at a sport for standing up for what the group doesn't believe. Like if the group thinks I'm simplifying this to a huge degree but if the group thinks this color is red but I see it as blue and I'm gonna speak out and say that like I'm, I'm not gonna speak out and say that it's blue, I'm just gonna say that it's red, even though that's not how I see it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I see with the girls a lot of times them sort of like letting the social dynamics control how great they're willing to be, because they want to be liked rather than to the performance, yeah, the performance versus something, confidently, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, in the gym setting um, man, uh, I, I would say generally with women they don't, and it's a confidence thing as well. They don't know how, how strong they are, they don't. It's the confidence to be able to lift heavier. And they're like, oh, I've never, I've never touched that bell, I'm not gonna, I'm not, I I don't think I'm strong enough to swing that and I'm like, oh yeah, you are, for sure you are, and I wouldn't tell you like you were ready for it, you know, if you weren't ready. So I would say, if I had to group together and categorize male ego, female confidence, and so that's a dynamic that I see. Again, I don't want to shed that, that is a blanket experience. I understand that. I also want to recognize that not everybody identifies as male or female, so there might be like a trans group that feels left out of that. Understand that.
Speaker 1:I also want to recognize that not everybody identifies as male or female, so there might be like a you know trans group that feels left out of that.
Speaker 2:I and I actually have not, uh, had, uh, you know um, an experience in working with somebody who maybe doesn't identify with a you know they them. So it would be hard to say for that, and I don't want people to feel left out. So yeah, it's just a sticky time.
Speaker 1:No, it is, and I but I think it's important to kind of talk about, to like identify those things, because I mean, these are lived experiences, like when you said the thing about the males. My lived experience is somewhat similar but just some different like variations of that. You know. The female one would be like I would come over and be like I'm swapping your belts for you or I'm swapping the weights for what, and I'm like you are a badass mofo, like you need to be doing this yeah, yeah get the heavier stuff.
Speaker 1:yeah, um, my. I feel that I, especially if I have a client or inside of group classes that is a former athlete who's like in shape, whatever it's like, I would suggest things, my feedback is only taken seriously if they know that I can do the thing or more.
Speaker 1:That's my opinion and this is again, this is my living experience because you'll get like oh, so like, what's your, what's your, what's your? Again, this is, guys, I'm just saying like in general, like in the space of like ego. Oh yeah, I I mean, I was there too, I had ego too like, oh, what's your, uh, what's your? Get up, yeah, can you do the 56? Yes, I'm like I've never tried the 56. Do you think you could do it? I'm like maybe. Yeah, I don't, I'm not, I don't think I'm gonna try, though. Yeah, I'm like maybe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1:I don't think I'm going to try, though. I'm like, and they're like, oh, blah, blah, this and that. I'm like they're like, well, what's your, can you do the 48? I'm like I've done the 48. They're like, oh, you could do the 48. And I was just like then they like respect me more because they know I can do the thing, and it's just like how did we get here.
Speaker 1:Right and I'm like, and first of all, like you're six foot, I'm five, nothing but, um, you know, and that's where I get a lot of the well, could you do this way? And then that, and if only, if I can do it and I can demonstrate, I feel like I get more of that, um, that, that feedback, that is more respect, receptive to those clients. But again, it is a thing where I think, females that I've been interacting with, I'm always like you can do better, like you can go heavier, like you got this, and that's the piece that that you have to navigate and it's hard as a coach.
Speaker 2:Also thanks for sharing that, because I don't think I've ever really asked that to anybody before. So to like hear that on the other side is uh, it's just interesting and uh, because you can feel really I, I can feel very isolated in my experience, you know, to like I don't know. Is it me, you know? Is it me, I don't know? Is it me, you know? Is it me that they don't trust? So to hear that from another coach's perspective is actually pretty profound.
Speaker 2:The part that you said about the what was it? The? Can you lift the whatever? And then, if you can, then I'll give you my respect. Yeah, that part to me when I started coaching was always a piece I had in the back of my mind like they're looking for that. I think that's faded over time is my values have integrated differently into training and I used to be very worried about that. But now I'm like the product that I'm delivering is not guaranteeing you a heavier PR. The product I'm delivering is you getting to know your body better, and so that's one interesting element. The other have you heard the hot take that every PR is an ego lift?
Speaker 1:We're doing a hot take hot takes.
Speaker 2:Have you heard that every PR is an ego lift? It could be, I guess, maybe Isn't that interesting Like, if you think about it, I, I know that that's a, it's like a, but if you think about it, I, I know that that's a, it's like a, but if you think about it, really like, all you're doing is proving to yourself that you can do something, yeah, do something heavier than you did before yeah maybe there's a purpose for it. Like maybe you're training for something right.
Speaker 1:Like maybe you're training for like the iron maiden or the you know whatever like beast tamer yeah, but I just thought it was interesting something to chew on no, no, yeah, I think like, and prs also don't have to look like prs of weight, it can be prs of skill, right like I love that right like I can do I?
Speaker 1:I find myself when I really like, if I'm like regressing a little bit, like how slow, like right now I like I'm doing a lot of barbell stuff, yeah, and it's like how slow and technical can my back squat be for five at like a moderate weight? Awesome, yeah, that's my whatever. And I'm like I really don't feel like I want to build right now. I just want to get better at the lift and just like take my time with it. Uh, that's my PR sometimes.
Speaker 2:We need to like.
Speaker 1:people need to have access to more information, like that Well, if they go to the Primal Foundations podcast, they have access to all this information and a wonderful guest, no, but this is important. I think these are the things that. And then you asked me what is your end goal? As we're walking in here, what's your end goal of this podcast? I'm like I don't really have an end goal. It's like I'm going to talk to people and talk to doctors, trainers, nutritionists, whatever of of things that I think are important, that have helped me, like, find my path in life, of like being more confident, right, um, understanding my relationship with food, understanding like what it is to be strong, what? What is the purpose of that? Why do I want to do that in life? And that is like the goal of this. So, like everything you're speaking, right, this is like you might get like four people or a thousand people, but like if you could just get one of them to be like you know what, that makes sense to me, that's a win game changer.
Speaker 2:It is a game changer.
Speaker 1:Uh, in our last minutes here, what is what's the future? I know you just said, you know you dropped a little bit of a nugget, like we're opening up another location, uh, but what is like? Where do you want the shift to go?
Speaker 2:uh, and like future aspirations okay, I struggle with this question a lot. Um, I I know that this community is something very special. Um, I would love to expand so that more people can feel a part of a community like that. So I have thoughts like that. I still have a deep love for coaching soccer. So if you're to ask me right now and this could change by tomorrow but if you're to ask me right now to have a space that had a field but also, I think, like a training area specifically for you know, kettlebell based stuff, like kind of what shift does right now and then recovery, like that would be a trifecta for me to just like have all of all of that in one area the intention of like bringing like better training to people.
Speaker 2:I feel like my, my community that exists is the. The primary demographic is like 30 to 50 year old. Primary demographic is like 30 to 50 year old, um, and I think it's like 65 female, 35 male, um, but I don't have a lot of athletes that I work with unless I'm coaching soccer. So it'd be cool to have a space where you could have like the vibe of community but also like there could be attention to athletes in a different setting there where they're learning about their body at a younger age. Like that would be really cool for me. And then, obviously, just like, if there was ever an opportunity to work with teams, that would be cool.
Speaker 2:And yeah, then like and when I say recovery, I mean like a coffee bar would be nice there, but also like, uh, I think infrared saunas are really cool areas that, like you know, cold plunges, you name it like. There's so many fun and interesting components of recovery. But, just like I'm, I envision this like space, like a bigger space than what exists right now. So, uh, that's like a yeah, kind of like a next step. But, uh, I don't want to move far away from soccer, I want to stay coaching. That too, and if sports psychology knocks on my door, I'm ready for it. So, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's all. I mean, that's all good stuff. I'm I'm looking forward how shift shifts into like, and it shifts and evolves into some different things and you know I'm rooting for you every step of the way and, yeah, I appreciate you, you know, coming on the podcast and you're you're a great coach, great person, a great friend oh so thanks, so, but, um, yeah, let the people know how do they get ahold of you, uh, whether that may be Instagram website.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so uh, my Instagram handle is shift by bells, b, e, l, L, z, so my initials are LZ. Well, change to LW after I got married, but people used to call me, yeah, yeah, um love you, gabby. Yeah, wifey, um, love you Uh. So, uh, shift by bells on Instagram, uh, or you know um, you can always just stop by the gym. We're at 3851 North Lincoln in Chicago, so if you're local, um, we have a website. You can access us. Uh, at set higher intentionscom. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome. So, yeah, well, thanks for coming in and thanks for everybody listening to another episode of the Primal Foundations podcast.