UpLIFT You: Strong Body, Strong Mind
Join host Leanne Knox for an in-depth look at the stories behind the barbell, lifting and life. We give you the tools and resources and chat with the leading experts to help you build physical and mental fortitude for whatever stage of life you're at. Tune in every Saturday at 7 AM AEST and prepare to be Up Lifted.
UpLIFT You: Strong Body, Strong Mind
27 | From Classroom to CrossFit: Kevin Wood's Story of Transformation
What happens when a dedicated physical education teacher discovers the world of CrossFit? Kevin Wood, owner of CrossFit Moncton, shares his inspiring journey from the classroom to the CrossFit gym, revealing how this intense training method reshaped his philosophy on fitness. His story is a testament to the power of structured workouts that are as precise as personalized medicine, which build physical stamina and fortify mental resilience. Kevin's experience underscores the unique challenges and triumphs of embracing CrossFit, setting the stage for a deeper understanding of how structured, high-intensity workouts can transform lives.
On today's show you'll learn:
- Why integrity is the cornerstone in fitness training.
- How fitness journeys can be genuinely transformative when participants focus on self-improvement over competition.
- The magic of positive thinking and visualization, where belief in oneself can lead to incredible transformations.
We explore how positive "what-if" scenarios can propel individuals to achieve unexpected goals and how a supportive community can amplify these efforts.
This episode is packed with inspirational stories and practical insights aimed at fostering resilience, integrity, and empowerment in your own fitness journey.
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Welcome to Uplift you creating strong bodies and mind. Get ready to power up your day with practical strength training tools, inspiring stories and build resilience of body and mind. It's time to Uplift you, together with your host, leanne Knox. Welcome to the next episode of Uplift you, the podcast that helps you create a stronger body and a stronger mind through practical tips, tools and inspiring stories. Today, we welcome Kevin Wood.
Speaker 2:Kevin is the owner of CrossFit Moncton and has been involved in the CrossFit community for many years. His background includes extensive experience in fitness and coaching, particularly within the CrossFit methodology. Over time, he has cultivated a strong community at CrossFit Moncton, which has grown significantly under his leadership. In addition to his work at the gym, kevin has a keen interest in resilience, which he explores through his podcast called Resilient Humans. This podcast often delves into topics related to mental and physical resilience, drawing on his experience in the fitness industry and his personal insights as an unlifted level two coach. He also helps people get unstuck from their limiting beliefs, shines a light on their wins and guides them through a new way of goal setting. Thanks for joining us today, kevin. I'm very excited to have you here and the tables are turned because I've been on your podcast as well.
Speaker 1:Thanks for having me, leanne. It's great to be here. Yes, it was awesome. Your interview was excellent as well, and I'm looking forward to being on the other side of the microphone this time 100% and before we get delve into your journey, into your coaching and into where you are today.
Speaker 2:Kevin, one word that really stood out to me just then, for our listeners to, I think, for them to be able to understand, is the word methodology. Understand is the word methodology. So, right up before we get into the meat, can you please explain exactly what the CrossFit methodology is? Is there a definition for that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so CrossFit. In and of itself, the standard definition that we use is constantly varied functional movements done at a high intensity, and a lot of people mix that up with random, and it's definitely not random. I spend a lot of time. I've programmed for our gym since day one and that hasn't changed. I tried to hand it off quite a few years ago. It lasted like a month and then I took it back and I spend a considerable amount of time programming and we do waves. We don't just do random workouts that I pull out of a hat. So there is a method to the madness and that's where that methodology comes from.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, kevin, and we will delve into that a little bit later in our conversation. I like to set the scene for our listeners, because I have so many different coaches on here that coach slightly different aspects of strength. However, crossfit is well known for its ability to develop strength both of body and mind, which is the theme of this podcast. So before we get into that, I've got a question for you, kevin. Can you tell us, tell the audience, what was your first memory of CrossFit playing a role in shaping you into the coach that you are today?
Speaker 1:So I'll back up a little bit. Even further than that, I've never had a gym membership. In my entire life I'd never been a member at a gym or I dabbled in high school phys ed class and stuff and went up to the weight room every now and then, but never signed up for anything like that. I was just like an active guy and I was a phys ed teacher prior to doing CrossFit for five years, and part of physical education is there's a fitness component and so I would just do the standard stuff like sit-ups, push-ups, running, flexibility tests like the sit and reach, just basic stuff. And one day at a parent-teacher interview, one of my student's parents came in and he was a police officer in the local town that I was teaching at and he told me about this CrossFit thing. He said I think that you could do this with your students as part of the fitness component. I kind of looked into it. I kind of like almost forgot about it for a couple months and then it was December in 2006.
Speaker 1:I went on the CrossFitcom website. I looked up a workout that I thought I could handle. I found out very quickly that I could not. The workout was called the Filthy 50s. It's 10 different exercises that you do 50 reps of. And I think I got just over halfway through and I had to stop because it was like over an hour into it and I just couldn't. I couldn't do anything else and for the next three days I had to ask the secretary of the school for a key to the elevator because I couldn't walk down the stairs properly. And that was my first introduction to CrossFit.
Speaker 1:Now, literally dozens of certifications later, thousands of hours on the floor. I would never subject a new person to what I went through. It's not trial by fire. We take people through a very regimented incremental process to get them onboarded so that they get the proper dose of CrossFit. So, just like we wouldn't, if you go to your doctor, you don't get the same dose that CrossFit. So, just like we wouldn't, if you go to your doctor, you don't get the same dose that the person had just prior to you. It's very specific to you. So that's where that methodology comes into play.
Speaker 2:So it sounds to me, kevin, sounds like to me, kevin that you love a challenge, because when that parent-teacher interview was on and you became aware of that, you took that challenge up Whereabouts in your life. Can you remember thinking I really love a physical and mental challenge before that?
Speaker 1:I'm glad you asked that. That takes me all the way back to. It was called Cape Challenge and when I was in high school, one of our teachers gave us this opportunity to go to an event and it was a week-long event that we had to pack everything up and just show up and just live there, and they put us through a lot of physical and mental challenges. Some were classical things like kayaking, climbing, rappelling off of 150-foot cliff, and then I kept going back every year because I just enjoyed that challenge. They'd also come up with events they called them, where we had to problem-solve as a group, and if we didn't work together as a group we would often fail, and so I loved being part of a group, problem solving being put to the test, and in my fourth year of going, we did what's called a solo camping event.
Speaker 1:So we went out on the kayaks way way out. We found a spot on the beach and all we had was our sleeping bag, a sheet of plastic and eight feet of string, and they said go find a spot to sleep and that was it. That's all we had. So I set up on the beach. I just liked being closer to the water.
Speaker 1:Other people went into the woods and set up under trees and they'd taken all of our watches, like we didn't know what time it was. And then the next morning it was pretty bright and they go hey, everybody, we slept in, we got to get back because the next group need the kayaks for the day. So we're paddling against the wind, like the wind and the water the salt water's blowing in our face and we're paddling as hard as we can. Making it back. We have to take the kayaks up a hundred, and I think it was 122 stairs, all of our gear, everything up to the top. And then they say oh, by the way, it's only seven o'clock in the morning. We didn't have to go that hard, but we did and it was cool to be challenged in that way. So I like throwing in unknown challenges to our members at CrossFit Moncton as well, where they don't know that they're going to be expected to do more than what they thought they were at the start.
Speaker 2:And that challenge that you had as a teenager. In that moment, what was the one thing that you most remember about that challenge? What was the one thing that you think back of and you think that really touched your heart or your soul?
Speaker 1:Instructors. His name was Wayne Chamberlain. Actually, just recently it was a couple years ago I found out where he worked. I was able to Google him and I wrote him a handwritten note to say how much I appreciated the amount of care and thought that he put into the program prior to us arriving. Because now, looking back, when I showed up as a teenager, you're just doing the things and you're having fun, but now, as a leader myself, I can look back and say, wow, he really put a lot of thought and effort into this. And now that's what I'm looking back on and that's what I think of is his amount of care and the amount of trust that we were able to put into him. He showed that through his actions and through his belief in us, and I've taken that he's one of my, we'll say, core memories, one of the people that I have a core memory of, and I've used that as my own values and principles in the way that I coach and treat other people as well.
Speaker 2:So it seems he had a massive impact on shaping the values that you have, that you, how you guide people in your community.
Speaker 1:now, Very much.
Speaker 2:And in saying that, what is one of the most difficult hurdles that you faced in developing your community at CrossFit Moncton?
Speaker 1:That's a good question. It's really about doing the right thing for the right reason, regardless of who's watching, and that's it's really the definition of integrity. The other one is giving a shit about people, and it's one of the values that we have when it comes to hiring new staff. We hire based on values, not based on skills, and I didn't have that when I first started. It was just just somebody said, hey, I want to help as a coach and be like okay, that was it. So it was harder to build that culture because it was just a bunch of people doing their own thing at the gym. And now, because we hire based on values, it's more streamlined and more consistent. And that was the hardest thing to get over was I have to. Actually, I can't just hire my friends because that's not going to work, because they're just going to have the same. You know it's not going to work that way. So when I started hiring based on values, it changed things dramatically.
Speaker 2:Can we look into that statement of regardless of who's watching being, you know, doing the right thing? Regardless, um of who's watching what? What do you mean by who's watching and what are they watching?
Speaker 1:think of that. Remember there was a. There was a test that some gym owner did with his members and he laid out a $20 bill in the I think it was in one of the change rooms and he did it 10 separate times and all 10 times the members returned the $20 bill to say, hey, I found this so obviously in that gym. One of their core values is honesty and that's doing the right thing, regardless of who's watching. Nobody was watching and all 10 of those people could have just pocketed that $20 and nobody would have known, but they did the right thing anyway, regardless. And that's what same thing for me. If I go into one of our washrooms at the gym and there's paper towel on the floor, I don't say, eh, that's somebody else's job to pick up. No, it's my job to pick up because I saw it. Therefore, I'm responsible, and so that's part of the. Regardless of who's watching Oftentimes nobody's watching you still need to do the right thing.
Speaker 2:Okay, oftentimes nobody's watching, you still need to do the right thing, okay, this? This leads me into a really good memory of a crossfit memory that I have um, regardless of who's watching, doing the right thing. So take that value and take that for the audience that hasn't done crossfit or for the cross people that have done crossfit and are listening. How does that translate into workouts? Because I know that CrossFit workouts have a lot of counting in them. For a start. Okay, and you've got a coach, you're a coach, but you're not standing there counting people's reps. So how does that translate into a workout? That same value.
Speaker 1:It's funny. You say that my wife was judging me for one of the CrossFit Open competitions just this last season and there was one we had toes to bar and one of my reps. My toes didn't touch, she counted the rep, but I took it away. Could have let it slide. It's just one rep. What's the difference? It wouldn't have sat well with me that I gave myself the rep that I knew I didn't deserve.
Speaker 1:And when our coaches show that and do that, lead by example, it is our hope and intention that it also affects our members and their behavior and their choices that they make. Now we're well aware that there are cheaters out there. Just like you can't say that 100% of CrossFitters count 100% of their reps, just like 100% of accountants count every single penny. That's not how it works right. So we understand that. We know who they are and we know that they're cheating themselves. That's it. We can't force them to. You know there's some.
Speaker 1:There was one lady when she was doing skipping she was counting double unders and she was finishing way ahead of everybody else and I'm pretty decent at double unders, like I'm fast at them and she was always beating me by like a lot. I was like some sort of adding up. So we have security cameras at the gym and I was. I went back and I looked. I was like she's only doing half the reps every time. So we talked to her about it and she was just counting them incorrectly. Instead of counting the jumps, she was counting how many times the rope went under her feet. So it was really like a two for one, which explains why she was only doing half the reps. So all it was was an education piece or a conversation, for we're like no, no, you have to count the jumps. She's like oh, no one's ever told me that before.
Speaker 2:Okay, that was simple then that's amazing actually that you bring that up, kevin, because there's people that don't understand that they're not counting correctly, because they don't understand the movement properly. And then, of course, there's a component of people like everywhere in life, as you said that are cheating the reps, as in they're avoiding doing the reps. What do you think's behind that? What do you think is behind that avoidance?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's failure of losing. That's the biggest one. And I have one person in mind that we used to. At the end of every class we'd have everybody's name written down on the whiteboard and then we'd always ask for the scores hey, how many reps did you get? And we'd write them down. Did you do an RX? Yes, we'll put an RX beside your score. So the idea was that the next class coming in could say oh, I'm pretty much in line with Frankie or Ellen or whoever, and then you could see their score. And then that would be something that you push for, which, inherently, there's nothing wrong with that. You want to be able to push yourself and you know about who you're in line with.
Speaker 1:But what we found was that people were getting a little too competitive and they would end up cutting some reps or not running the entire distance and shorting it out a little bit on the other end. So what we did? We just got rid of the scoreboard. There's no public display of a scoreboard at the gym. Now we have a digital one and people can log their results that way. But there's no RX anymore because we've changed our system. Where there's, we could have 10 different people in the class doing 10 different versions of the workout. You can't compare really with anybody unless they did exactly the same version of the workout that you did. So it got rid of, or almost got rid of, the cheating. It just doesn't happen as often anymore.
Speaker 2:And for our audience that are listening, that go to the gym regularly, whether they do CrossFit or not. There is a really big obstacle that people face when they step into any gym, whether it's a CrossFit gym or a gym, and I'd like you to delve into this a little bit, because I know from your background as both a coach and an unlifted coach, that this is something that can really be a stumbling block for people in the training world, especially if they're new, and that is the word comparison. So can you talk about how comparison can either empower you, if you approach it the right way, or it can give you that feeling of not wanting to lose or not being good enough?
Speaker 1:give you that feeling of not wanting to lose or not being good enough. We both agree Comparison is the thief of joy. That is a common saying. It's detrimental when you're first starting out because you have nothing to compare to. You don't have the experience, you don't have the skills. You're just not there yet. That would be like me walking into a dance studio and expecting to know all the routines. I'm not a dancer, I have two left feet, so for me to compare myself to others when I first walk in would be absolutely ridiculous. For me to do Same when I first started swimming lessons when I was six years old I cannot compare myself to those that are on the provincial swim team Doesn't make any sense. So it's the same idea, and we're well aware of that when people do start a gym. I just posted this recently a picture of our front door. That's the hardest part about joining anything, whether it's a gym or a new activity is walking through that door for the very first time. Once you walk through it, though, you're going to breathe a little bit easier.
Speaker 1:Our process is that we interview everybody before they are able to join as a member. So we sit down, we interview everybody, we ask them questions. We want to find out what's their main goals, what's their current habits like, how can we change them slightly? And then we find out what's the best prescription for them, kind of like that doctor's office. We're not going to give everybody the same prescription. You get one that's very specific for you and then, based on that, we start people with where they're at. We want to find out, based on an assessment we call it our fundamentals. We want to find out where you're currently starting from and then build from there.
Speaker 1:What I find a lot of people have is these preconceived expectations of where they should be. Again, comparing themselves oh, I see these people on Netflix or ESPN or whatever, and they're all doing these crazy things. Well, I could never do that. Well, there's still some things that I could think that I could never do, but if I work towards them, I could get closer. Again, ages, shapes, sizes of the people that are in our space. They generally say or see, that person looks like me. So therefore, I feel like I belong here, and that's why on our social media for the gym, we don't just post ripped guys and girls with their shirts off. That's a very small subset of a population in a gym. It's all shapes, all sizes, all abilities, and we want to highlight that specifically.
Speaker 2:So it sounds like you put a lot of effort into understanding the person, the person both, not only where they are physically but also where they are mentally, before you start them on their you know, on their fitness journey. And so what advice would you have for our listeners who may be sitting back and thinking I'd really love to start CrossFit or weightlifting or powerlifting or some sort of strength training, but I'm just, I'm just too scared to walk through the door. I'm just too scared. Everyone's the door. I'm just too scared. Everyone's better than me.
Speaker 1:The best advice I have would be to join with somebody.
Speaker 1:That's the easiest thing, to do, find a buddy to go with, and it makes it that much easier because then it's not just you, the eyes aren't all on you. They're actually split between two people, and we found that people that join with their significant other stick around longer and have better results than those that join solo. This is it's just facts. At our gym we have a wall, back wall, we call it our thousand wall, and it's a banner for every person that has ever attended 1000 classes. The amount of couples on that wall is measurable. You can see it. The amount of the last names that are the same up there is crazy. And so that's that's one. One way to do it is just to find a friend and join with them, and it takes a lot of that pressure away.
Speaker 2:So it's a shared journey. Yeah, it's a shared journey into the gym, but then it's a shared journey in watching yourself, seeing yourself and seeing your friend partner develop. So that's a really powerful suggestion for the audience that think oh look, I'd really love to join the gym, but you know, I'm just not good enough. Everyone else can do this and I don't know where to start. And in saying I don't know where to start, do you remember a time where you felt like that as well, kevin? Like did you ever feel like you are just don't know where to start, when you were right at the beginning of this CrossFit coaching time?
Speaker 1:Yeah, because when I first started there were no coaches. I was the only one doing it in my town, or so I thought there were others, but Facebook wasn't really a thing back then. So my coach was my video camera in my family room at my house, because that was my gym. I turned my living room into an at-home gym, so I'd set up a camera and just watch myself do things and then be like, well, that didn't look right. And then I'd match it up with a video that I downloaded off the internet to see if they were the same or different. I didn't have anybody to compare to because there wasn't really anybody else, so for me that was kind of a self-diagnosis. I still have a video of myself doing an overhead squat with a PVC pipe in my living room camera set up. It was horrendous, like absolutely horrendous. I had no depth, my knees were caved in, I was on my toes and the bar translated forward because my shoulder mobility was terrible and I recently, just overhead, squatted 250 pounds and for the Australian.
Speaker 2:What is that in kilos?
Speaker 1:Oh, God, now you're having me do math, I'm sure 114 114, 114.
Speaker 2:That's amazing, for that is overhead squat. That's it. And what is? Uh, your? This is one arena where it's not actually impolite to ask someone what their weight is.
Speaker 1:So what's your weight, Kevin? Body weight would be 89 kilos.
Speaker 2:All right, so 89 kilos. So we're looking at one and a half times your body weight around. Okay.
Speaker 1:Am I correct? Yep?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So for the audience that know their strength, that are strength athletes, they'll understand the significance of that. For those that aren't strength athletes, it's an achievement to even be able to back squat one and a half times your body weight, okay, which is significantly easier than holding the bar above your head and overhead squatting it. So that's a great achievement. And in talking about achievements, kevin, what's one of the achievements that you're really, really proud of, thinking back over your past 20 years or even longer?
Speaker 1:It would be the overhead squat, because that was the one thing that it was my Achilles heel for a long time until I focused on it and said this is something that's important to me and I want to improve. And for me, I was always like I could run. I was a runner, I could run marathons, triathlons without training and just win and it was fine. But weightlifting, that was a struggle. I could not squat clean. I could power clean like crazy, couldn't squat clean just because my mobility was terrible. So again, I spent focused time and effort working on it, being in the bottom of a squat for longer than half a second and my overhead squat went through the roof. And a couple of years ago I ended up qualifying for the Pan Ams Masters competition and ended up coming in fourth or fifth, I don't remember.
Speaker 1:It was just a wild experience to see that progress of where I was to getting on this international stage. To me that was mind blowing. Now, outside of the personal, it's developing others in that same realm and I know as a coach I'm not supposed to judge a person's potential, but I'm really good at it. And we had this one lady come in when she joined. She was overweight, not by a lot, but through the onboarding process I could see something in her. She had a drive and I knew that she could be an amazing weightlifter. And she ended up going to nationals and I saw it almost from day one. And so that's what I'm most proud of is being able to take people from where they are to where they never expected that they could go, and then celebrating with them along the way. That's what lights me up.
Speaker 2:That's an amazing coaching journey and so rewarding. And I and can you think of a time like a recent time where you've coached someone through that process and and just seen the transformation? Um, and how did you feel when, when you did that, and how did they feel? Because people that are listening, who may be in the beginning parts of their training, can't imagine a time where they could step onto an international stage, just like you probably couldn't have imagined that time stepping onto an international stage. So can you lead us through one of those journeys so that the listeners can really understand? You know the process of that.
Speaker 1:So recently this was a he was a young kid. He's in seven or eight, so that would put him at. I think he's 13 years old. Young kid football player Came in he was like you tell me what to do and I'll do it. I'm like, yes, I love that, cause it's like it's the difference between having a rock and you have to chisel it and clay where you can actually like mold it. And for me he was clay and I could just turn them into whatever I wanted and by the end of our training he goes. I remember the day he goes.
Speaker 1:I am now the fastest guy in the field. I'm like, yes, that was the point, it was to make you faster. And he goes. I'm outrunning guys that used to outrun me last year and you know they look like they're way fitter than me, but I just have way more in my legs now. And just to hear a 13 year old kid, it was a boost of confidence. It was palpable. You could feel his level of confidence just go off the charts. He felt stronger, he felt faster and he ended up playing better as a result. So to me he had the drive and that's important. I can't make you driven, that has to come from inside. But if you come in with a willingness to adapt and to change, a coach can work wonders with you. But if you're resistant to change man, that's an uphill battle.
Speaker 2:So, in another way that you can describe a willingness to adapt and change is simply just to be coachable. Yes, so if the audience that are listening, if you feel overwhelmed, maybe you feel like you're never going to get to the goals and I know that's another thing that you're really passionate about, kevin is helping people achieve their goals then being coachable, which means being willing to step out of your comfort zone and do something that someone's asking you to do. Sometimes you may not see the point of it, but having that trust in that person to lead you, um, when you don't, when you can't see what the point of some of the, some of the stuff that they're asking you to do is and that's what being coachable is. It's, it's trusting the process of that particular coach that's leading you through.
Speaker 1:I'll add to that Part of being coachable is removing the word can't from your vocabulary.
Speaker 2:That's it.
Speaker 1:You take the word can't out. You can substitute it with I'll try or I haven't had enough practice at that yet. That's different. It means that you could. You could make progress. It means change is possible. But as soon as you put up the C word, it's like a brick wall. Yep, you're right. Whether you believe you can or you can't, either way you're right. So if we get rid of the word can't, it instantly makes you coachable.
Speaker 2:So how would you help someone who instantly thinks I can't do that. Okay, today we're going to do 50 body weight back squats for time. And then they instantly think and when I say that I mean people who are physically prepared to do that, not a beginner. But whatever the challenge is, if the first thing that comes into someone's mind is I can't do that, what would you be saying to them?
Speaker 1:How about we try?
Speaker 2:And what would be their reply? See what happens.
Speaker 1:That's it See what happens. So the mindset is the mindset of curiosity. Let's see what happens. If you fail awesome. Now we have a learning opportunity. If you succeed, great. It means that we have more learning to do.
Speaker 2:And I love that, because what you've done there, what you've done there, is, instead of turning it into failure or success, you've turned it into the words that I like to use, and that is what do I get to do more of, so that I can do whatever that challenge is. So that's a learning opportunity. What do I need to do more of that I can do whatever that challenge is. So that's a learning opportunity. What do I need to do more of? What do I need to get better at? Because I'm not there yet. The word yet.
Speaker 1:Yep, love that word.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So that's yeah yet, Because it's really easy to look back. For you now it's not, I wouldn't say really easy, but it's easier to look backwards than forwards. So you're coming at it from. You never thought you'd step on that international stage and now that you have stepped on that international stage, you look back and think and know that because you've done it, you can empower other people to do the same thing and you know the process to get there.
Speaker 1:I've also influenced others in habit changes so I started out God, it's almost, it's coming up five years now. I started out a 30 day challenge to just no drinking, zero alcohol. 30 days, it's like no problem, I'm not a heavy drinker anyway, it's just casual, so no problem. I get to the end of the 30 days I'm like I'm going to go for three months. See how that goes. Three months goes by, six months goes by. It just keeps going. I'm a streaks guy, I love streaks.
Speaker 1:So I'm on almost a five-year streak of no drinking and this has influenced other people in my gym to also attempt this no drinking thing and the results that they had as a result absolutely insane. One of them's a weightlifter who also qualified for Pan Ams. He gave up drinking. His body physically changed dramatically. He's ripped. For a 60 plus year old man, it's crazy. And then another current one, a woman that I'm coaching as well. It's like, hey, what would happen if you gave up drinking for, let's say, two weeks? She goes, I don't know. Let's try it out. She hasn't had a drink since. It's now like four or five months now. Body has absolutely changed, her mind has absolutely changed, because it was a crutch for her and it's no longer a crutch. She can go out into these social situations which were physically debilitating, like I can't go here without a drink. And now she's initiating conversations with strangers as part of her challenge. That's her homework Go talk to new people that you've never talked to before, and prior to this drinking challenge, she would have never done that.
Speaker 2:And that is an amazing way to empower people mentally as well as physically, because it has a twofold effect. Right, the no drinking is going to help them physically and mentally. And one word that comes into my mind when you talk to people about giving up a crutch, as you called it, is awareness. People become aware. Can you explain how people become more aware of why they're doing the things that they're doing?
Speaker 1:A lot of that comes down to story work and being an Unlifted coach. You know all about it. You dive into their reasons for doing so and when they look at it and they read it, and they read it slowly, and they read it slowly with breath they start to recognize that it's not really a reason. It was an excuse. And once you identified the difference between a reason and an excuse, it really has no power over you anymore. But that's an excuse, it's not really a reason. There's a reason I need to breathe oxygen right now. That's different, but an excuse is kind of light, fluffy. It doesn't have any value or meaning to it, and so that story work definitely helps break down those barriers for them.
Speaker 2:And while we're on that topic, that very topic, kevin, I'd really liked something I'd really liked to delve into. As a strength coach and being in the CrossFit community myself, I started out in CrossFit. It's how I discovered weightlifting, because I, like you, realized that I didn't know anything about Olympic weightlifting and that's how I got into Olympic weightlifting. But I am very curious about the mindset of people that you coach, that walk into a CrossFit gym and what do you see people want to get out of CrossFit? Why are they so drawn to it and what do they get out of it?
Speaker 1:So that's a two-parter. Get out of it so that's a two-parter. The reason people start CrossFit is not the same reason people stay with CrossFit, and I'll dive into that. So again, we interview everybody that walks through the door. So we have a sheet of paper that literally has all of the reasons people start. Top three I want to lose weight, I want to gain strength and I want to keep up with my kids. Top three answers.
Speaker 1:I've asked all of our members that have been with us for over I think it's over six months why do they stay? They remembered why they started. I said why are you still here? Those three answers aren't even in the top five anymore. The number one reason is mental health. The second reason was community and the third reason was that they have new goals that they never had before, such as I want to get my first pull-up or I want to run 5K without stopping. Whatever goals that they have specifically, they have something specific that they want to work towards. They didn't have that before because they didn't have the awareness, they weren't aware that getting a pull-up or a push-up off the floor was important to them until they were exposed to this type of environment where everybody's working on these amazing goals and they also get caught up into that. So it's this excitement that builds as a result, and we do now.
Speaker 1:Again, going back, crossfit's not random, it's definitely planned. There's a method to the madness, and we do strength cycles just like you would in weightlifting or in powerlifting. So we did a full strength cycle leading up to the summer. We used the Wendler program, 5-3-1. And people got crazy strong as a result and at the end, we did what's called the CrossFit total. You find your one rep max back, squat, shoulder press and deadlift and then 100% of the people that showed up for that final day every single person got at least one PR. The majority got two and a lot of people got three PRs, and I was one of them, which blew my mind.
Speaker 1:And I was one of them which blew my mind being 43 years old and increasing my deadlift by 20 pounds. To me, it blew my mind. I was like this is crazy. How can I still be getting stronger at 43? Because everybody told me when I was 27, when I started CrossFit, they're like oh, wait till you hit 30. Okay, I'm still getting stronger in my 30s. Oh, just wait till you hit your 40s, 30. Okay, I'm still getting stronger in my 30s. Oh, just wait till you hit your 40s. Okay, well, I'm still getting stronger in my 40s. When's this age thing going to kick in? Because it hasn't started yet.
Speaker 2:I need to step in there, Kevin. So that sounds like a story that you no longer prescribe to. Is that correct?
Speaker 1:I never had that story to begin with, because I always thought that was kind of baloney. I see people in their 60s still getting stronger, so I'm like well, I'm going to be like them, I'm just going to keep improving by showing up. If you show up consistently, you put in the work under a trusted coach, you know you're going to get the results, and so that's the difference. If you just show up and do whatever you feel like doing, you're going to. You're going to. You're going to miss out on a lot. You're going to avoid your weaknesses, and that's where you'll see the most gains is when you dive into your weaknesses head first, which is actually one of the core principles of CrossFit.
Speaker 1:It's called the Hopper model, and we actually run an annual competition based on the Hopper model. It is the idea that if I have a giant bin and I put every conceivable exercise in there distances, different weights, you name it and I reach my hand into that bin and pull out an exercise, what's the one exercise that you don't want to see? Well, whatever that is, that's the one thing that you should be working on the most. So, for me, I don't want to see strict handstand pushups come out of there. I'm not good at them. I will avoid them. I do not like them. That's the one thing that I should be working on, and that's how I'm going to see the most improvement in everything else.
Speaker 2:Okay, I know that's fantastic, and I'm so glad that you brought up that story of number one about not being able to get stronger as we get older, because that's a big misconception. It's a story, okay, and it's a big misconception, and it's a. It's a story, okay, and it's a widespread story. Um, and secondly, the not wanting to do the thing that you dislike the most. Uh, of course I'm. You know the word I'm going to come up with. It starts with a, b and ends with an E. Yeah, yeah, and it's yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So, uh, I was talking to was talking to another friend of another enlifted coach for the audience that I would love to have on this podcast one day soon. Mr Ryan Waller and him and I came up with me doing a one-month burpee challenge, because that is the one thing that I would not want to see come out of there. Right, the burpees. There you go, yeah, okay. So, going on from that, the second part to that question was what are they getting out of there? Right, the burpees, yeah, okay. So, going on from that, the second part to that question was oh, um, what are they getting out of it? So, your three, that their top three things. Where can you repeat their top three of why they remain in crossfit?
Speaker 1:yeah, so they uh, mental health was the number one, um the sense of community and then working towards a specific goal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, okay. And it sounds to me, kevin, like you are a very conscientious, committed and passionate CrossFit coach. Okay, and you run your CrossFit box with values and with a lot of planning and a lot of proper approach to physical fitness being. And we know there's three components of CrossFit. One is cardio. Okay, I call it cardio. What do you call?
Speaker 1:it. The technical term is monostructural, so it's things like running, rowing, skipping, cyclical, take movements, yeah.
Speaker 2:All right, then you've got your gymnastics component.
Speaker 1:Body weight stuff.
Speaker 2:Yep, body weight stuff, gymnastics, and then you've got your weightlifting component.
Speaker 1:Barbell, dumbbell, kettlebell, wall balls, stuff like that, Yep.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, okay. So you are doing as you said, like the Wendler Program 531 for strength, for example, you're doing blocks of training that are physically preparing your community to be as well-rounded and prepared as possible. Now, from my observation, there are some CrossFit boxes around that appear to me to be quite random, that aren't following such a structured approach. Correct and unfortunately, you know, that is where a lot of joint issues, tendon issues and ligament issues come in with CrossFit and it's widely known in the strength world that known in the strength world that CrossFit, not properly programmed okay, can be actually quite harming for some people, especially if you're a little bit older and your tendons are getting older. So have you seen that? What's your experience with that in the CrossFit world?
Speaker 1:So there's enough studies out there that when you talk about injury rates, it's number of hours per thousand training hours. That's the injury rate. So in CrossFit it's around three to five per thousand hours For running. If you're just going out as a runner, that number doubles. It goes up to like 10 to 12 per thousand hours of training. So when you look at sports in general, CrossFit is actually one of the safer things to do. Rugby very high risk for injury. Soccer is high in injury, so there's lots of things that are more dangerous to do.
Speaker 1:When we think about CrossFit, though, there's that misconception and, again, every gym is different. They can program however they want, and that's part of the good and the bad of CrossFit. Again, I take great pride in how we program and I make sure that every week we have at least one day where our arms are not over our head. We have because I'm aware of the impact that our shoulders go through in these high intensity style workouts. We have to have at least one day a week where our arms stay below our shoulders, and so those are like we're doing lunges or planks or deadlifts. Shoulders kind of stay out of it.
Speaker 1:I have a program or a program set up in a leveled style system so that everybody's doing what's appropriate for them. So I know that if I'm working out beside my mom, if I'm doing 200-pound overhead squats in a workout, she's doing a five-pound sand-filled PVC pipe for hers and I know that that's appropriate for her, and I also know what I'm doing is appropriate for me. But that's the leveled system that we have to make sure that it's safe for everybody. It works both ways, though you also don't do what you're less than you're capable of doing. So that moves the progress up while keeping you within that safety zone. So we keep you in that safe and progress zone very, very efficiently.
Speaker 2:And that's absolutely fantastic, because what that means is that you are aware of who your clients are, what their capabilities are, even what their mind is going to allow them to do when they're with you, and you have all those systems set up For the audience that are trying to navigate the world of CrossFit. If someone's trying to start the world of CrossFit and they go and join a CrossFit box, can you please tell them what are some of the things they need to look for to make sure that they try and find a CrossFit box and or a coach that has that structured, caring approach like you provide to your clients, to your members?
Speaker 1:I'll say a few things here. One I know that patients don't mean a whole lot in CrossFit. They kind of do If you can find a level three or a level four CrossFit coach. They know their shit, they know what they're talking about because it's very challenging. It's the tip of the spear when it comes to CrossFit coaches. Very challenging, it's the tip of the spear when it comes to CrossFit coaches.
Speaker 1:For the level three, it's a 150 multiple choice exam. It's a three and a half hour test. You have to know everything like mechanics. You have to know nutrition, mindset, everything. And the questions weren't like A to D, it was A through M and you had to get all of them right in order to pass the test. So level three, level four, would be the easiest way and you can usually find that on any of their websites. The other one would be how they bring you into the gym. If you come into that CrossFit gym and their process is throw you right into a class, I would turn around and walk out because they do not know who you are, they do not know what your goals are, they don't know what you're capable of and they're chucking you into a class right off the bat. To me that shows somewhat a sign of negligence. That's why we interview everybody before they start. Everybody goes through an onboarding process so that we get to know who you are and what you're capable of doing. So those would be my top two.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks, kevin, because I have come across you know we've come, as we're both in the strength business. I've come across quite a lot of people who come to me and it may not be here, it could be anywhere in Australia and they give me stories about how they were thrown into classes and were expected to do exactly what the you know, the long-term members were doing, maybe with just a little bit less weight. So for our audience that are listening, if you're looking for a, you really love the idea of CrossFit, and what I love about CrossFit is the constant variation. Okay, so it's not. It's certainly one of the most exciting sports, because you never know what's going to be on the menu today. Right, that keeps you interested.
Speaker 2:But in order to ensure that it's going to benefit you and not harm you, that second, it might be hard for people to find a level three or four CrossFit coach if they've only got one or two boxes to choose from in their own towns. So your second suggestion is fantastic. So the audience, that's I would put that as as number one. How are they introducing you to the gym and to the movements, correct?
Speaker 2:absolutely okay, um, so we're we're quickly run out of time, kevin.
Speaker 2:I could sit here and talk all day about about what we've been talking about and I and I'm thank you very much for explaining um, you know the the nitty-gritty of what crossfit, what a great crossfit box and a great crossfit coach looks like, because if I wanted to do crossfit, everything you've talked about today is is something that I would be feeling a lot more confident about walking into the doors.
Speaker 2:Um, because CrossFit can be quite intimidating for for people when they want to start, because you know they walk in and they see they might walk into it and just watch a workout and there's so many levels in there and, of course, being humans, we always we gravitate to the top level and and then we go. How am I ever going to get up there? And for someone, and if people look for a coach like you that understands where they're at and gives them a process and gives them an overall view of here's where you're at, and this is how I'm going to help you get to where you want to be and be able to explain that and also not only explain the physical side of that but also some of the mental challenges that go with that. That's fantastic. That's a fantastic empowering way for people to step into a CrossFit box.
Speaker 1:And I guess that's the other thing is the experience right. I've been a CrossFit affiliate now for over 16 years. I've coached thousands of people. I've seen it all. A lot of people think that their problems are unique to them. They're not. I've seen it all. People are like oh, I have this thing in my knee. I'm like we have people with knee problems, it's no problem, we can modify for that, it's not an issue. Like, oh, I can't lift this arm up over my head, no problem, we have dumbbells, you can use your other arm. They're like oh really, it's that easy. Yeah, it's that simple.
Speaker 2:So it's not so you remove those barriers.
Speaker 1:Easily Right off the start.
Speaker 1:We always ask, we want to know what are your preconceived notions about CrossFit? That's actually the very first question How'd you hear about us and what do you know about CrossFit? And then we go right like we start debunking myths right from the start, because people come in with those preconceived notions about what it is. It's too hard, it's too intense. It's not too hard because we're going to make sure that you're doing what's appropriate for you and it's not too intense because you're the one that sets the intensity. I can't tell you how fast to do something If I say I need you to run five kilometers in sub 20. Well, I can't do that, I know. So you're going to run it as fast as you can, just like you're going to do the workout tomorrow as fast as you can. I can't force you to go faster.
Speaker 2:Exactly. You can run, walk it or you can walk it, Doesn't matter. Yeah, there's so many different ways to scale it. So every single person can be involved in the sport of CrossFit at some level, at their own level.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you one last story. This is my mom. She only started when she was 59 years old. I called her a chronic walker. That's all she did was just walk, and she has a swimming pool in her backyard. She swam a little bit as well.
Speaker 1:She could not do a single body weight sit-up when she first joined, so that was her limiting factor For her. In her mind she's like I can't even do a sit-up, so why would I bother joining? I can't even do a sit-up, so why would I bother joining? Stop me from motivating her or inspiring her to join, because I said look, when I'm older I'm going to have kids and you're going to want to keep up with them. And she goes oh yeah, that's right. And then she joined the next day.
Speaker 1:She's now 75 years old, she's been with me or 76, and she's able to do medicine ball sit-ups. Now she's survived. So in the time that she's been a member she's survived breast cancer. She has rheumatoid arthritis, diverticulitis. She's had two strokes and no limit, no long lasting effects from it, and currently has an aneurysm on her aorta. So if her blood pressure goes too high, her heart's going to explode and she will die instantly. She still comes three days a week Monday, wednesday, friday. Every week, if she is able to do it and I tell people this, look, nothing you tell me is going to be worse than what my mother has gone through over these last 15 years. And when she survived her second stroke the doctor said you wouldn't be walking out of the hospital today if it wasn't for CrossFit.
Speaker 1:That's why I'm so passionate about this because I know it will save your freaking life. It can literally save your life. If you sign up, walk through the door. That's it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, walk through the door. So that's a through the door. So that's, that's a great, great last message for you know, for the audience. Walk through the door. And I just want to put an a caveat on that. Walk through the right door to the right person, um, and you have given the audience a fantastic way to vet whatever fitness venue they're walking into. It doesn't necessarily have going to be CrossFit. It could be the local gym, it could be a weightlifting gym, it could be the triathlon club. The processes should look similar. Do they understand where you are currently at? Do they understand your goals and do they understand some of your limiting beliefs? And do they feel like to you? Does that person feel like to you that they can help you overcome those limiting beliefs? And obviously they're limiting physical capacities, like your mother. That is amazing, an amazing story. So, to finish off, kevin, one thing I love to ask people is this question bringing it back to you is how do you uplift yourself? What is your favorite way to uplift yourself?
Speaker 1:I recently used this. I used it at the Pan Ams actually, and it's by what if-ing the good stuff. I used that. I wrote down six what if statements, or five what if? Statements, in a journal prior to the competition. Like the morning of of, I read them, I embodied them, I breathed through them and all five of them came true. As a result, and I remember I lifted my last clean and jerk at the competition and I jumped for joy. I ran backstage. My wife was my coach. I grabbed my journal. I said I didn't show her before this. I check it out. They all came true. Both started crying. It's like that's that's powerful stuff. Celebrating wow.
Speaker 1:Look what I think the good stuff instead of the opposite, in which most people do. Is they? What if? The bad stuff? What if I miss all my lives? What if? What if I fail? What if people laugh at me? It's all bad. You're filling your body with tense and badness. Well, try doing the opposite of that and see what happens. Be curious and I bet amazing things will happen. We call it magic, but we know what actually it is.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm curious, Kevin, and if you've got space for it, could you please tell us what those five what-ifs are?
Speaker 1:I have them upstairs, I just remember a few of them. So one was what if I make all six lifts? Because bombing out is a fear for a lot of weightlifters. So what if I make all six lifts? What if I PR my snatch? What if I PR my clean and jerk? And I don't remember what the fourth one was. And the last one was what if I PR my clean and jerk? And I don't remember what the fourth one was. And the last one was what if I have a great time? They all came true, oh, the fourth one was what if I PR my total?
Speaker 1:That also came true. So three PRs, everything came true, made all six lifts and I had a great time doing it.
Speaker 2:Wow, what a wonderful way to end this conversation. So my advice to the audience, coming from this, is right now pick up a pen, go and write down a what-if statement about something that you want to see as an outcome of your fitness journey and work on that over the next week and say it to yourself, say it out loud, take a breath Every time you walk into the gym. Just choose one and see what happens. Yeah, thanks, kevin, and I'll look forward to another conversation in the future, and I'd really like to delve a little bit more into your Enlifted coaching experience. Today was a lot. We had it in there a little bit, you know, weaved in through the conversation, and I think you know that's somewhere that you're also very passionate about and the audience could benefit from that. So thanks for being here and stay strong everyone.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much.