The Masters Athlete Survival Guide
We explore thriving as an athlete after 40. Each episode, we’ll dive into tips, hacks, and inspiring stories from seasoned athletes and our personal experience. Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a competitive pro, this podcast is your playbook for staying fit, strong, and motivated
The Masters Athlete Survival Guide
Defying Age: Masters CrossFit with Coach Natalie Rankine
CrossFit coach extraordinaire Natalie Rankine joins us on an empowering journey into the world of masters athletes, defying stereotypes and proving that age is no barrier to fitness. With her deep expertise, Natalie enlightens us about the unique motivations and challenges faced by older athletes who begin their fitness journey later in life. From health scares to the quest for longevity, we uncover the stories of courage and determination that inspire these athletes to embrace a healthier lifestyle against all odds.
We dive into the personal narratives of athletes living with type 2 diabetes, exploring how physical activity becomes an essential part of their health management. Natalie shares her coaching wisdom, emphasizing the transformative power of strength training, especially for women. We celebrate incredible successes, like Brian's progression from struggling with a sit-up to becoming a steadfast gym-goer, and explore how scaling workouts and community support play crucial roles in fostering an inclusive and motivating gym environment.
This episode also highlights the diverse backgrounds of athletes in our masters conditioning program, emphasizing the blend of former Olympic weightlifters and first-time exercisers. The stories of Randy, Karen, and others reveal the humor, perspective, and resilience that help older athletes redefine their fitness goals. We discuss the importance of embracing discomfort for personal growth and how a supportive community can be the backbone of fitness success. Join us as we promote a practical fitness approach, encouraging older adults to maintain their independence and confidence through dedicated physical activity.
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New episodes come out every other Thursday!
Welcome to the Master's Athlete Survival Guide, where we explore the secrets to thriving in sports after 40. I'm John Catalinas and, along with Scott Fyke, we'll dive into training tips, nutrition hacks and inspiring stories from seasoned athletes who defy age limits. Whether you're a weekend warrior or a competitive pro, this podcast is your playbook for staying fit, strong and motivated. Let's get started, and we're back. I'm Scott. I am still John, and today we decided that we're not nearly as smart as we've convinced ourselves to be in most episodes. So we have a high powered guest today Natalie Rankin, a CrossFit coach from Michigan. Hi, natalie.
Speaker 3:Hi, how are you guys tonight? That is so much pressure, Wow yeah.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 3:Thank you for that introduction, oh there's no pressure whatsoever.
Speaker 2:If you've listened to our podcast, which I'm sure you have, you're going to find that you're easily going to be the smartest one here. Yeah, no, you are already Just the fact Very exciting, just the fact.
Speaker 1:So Natalie is a CrossFit Level 1 instructor in Michigan, like I said, and why we have her on the episode today before our other 100 listers. Don't go running to the couch for Cheetos. Thinking CrossFit.
Speaker 3:CrossFit oh, crossfitters, we eat Cheetos, it's okay.
Speaker 2:Oh damn, we might get them as a sponsor. John sponsor, we might not get him as a sponsor yeah, we would definitely know.
Speaker 1:But you know what, honestly, when, when our friend dom, who is your friend dom, who I'm assuming, I'm assuming he pays you the same, he pays us, um nothing that's the guy.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna miss him now.
Speaker 1:He's far away from me now, but we were neighbors. We're taking good care of them, it's fine good, good good but, um, when he mentioned that you did crossfit I and we're a coach I literally went right to like rich froning sarah sigman's daughter and I'm like I don't know if that's super relevant. But then, in reaching out to you, I find out that a lot of your athletes are even older than we, old gentlemen, and many of them are beginners right, exactly so I coach the regular mainstream crossfit class and then I mostly coach.
Speaker 3:85 of my classes that I coach during the week are what we call a master's conditioning class, and it's streamlined for 40 and over, although most of my athletes are 50 to 70. I've even got a couple of 75 year olds in my class as well. Um, I'll, so. They're my. I'll be 52 on wednesday oh, happy birthday.
Speaker 1:Happy birthday, I hope you get that. I hope you get that thing we sent I.
Speaker 3:I don't know if it'll fit in my house, though really big, you could just leave it.
Speaker 1:Leave it in the driveway.
Speaker 3:I will. I will Probably. Yes, yeah. So most of my athletes are my age and older. I have a few in their 40s, but most of the people that are in their 40s, they choose to do the regular CrossFit class with me, so I really enjoy my older athletes and these are people who've never most of my athletes, this is the first time they've ever exercised in their entire lives.
Speaker 3:So they've never. They decided either, you know, because they had to go on medication for diabetes or they had heart issues or you know various reasons decided I'm finally retired, I'm going to, I have time to work out now because I'm not working so much that this is the first time that they're going to exercise up. Just, you know, really, I really commend them for that. I I've exercised my whole life. I haven't crossed my whole life. But see, I don't know that I could have started what I'm doing now at my age. Right, I mean, it's starting from zero.
Speaker 2:So what do you think you mentioned? It could have been disease, it could have been things like that. What do you think is pushing the majority of folks? Because if you're talking folks, I mean, like John and I are in our mid to late 50s. Okay, and you said I don't know if I could have started something at this age. What do you think really is, besides just the? You know the disease, because we've talked in a couple of previous episodes about the impact of chronic disease, but you know, is there anything else?
Speaker 3:I think that, uh, and I don't know about you guys, I was always a runner and that was my thing, and I started CrossFit nine years ago. And I started CrossFit and lifting because I, my mother, has osteoporosis, so it scared me and she's fallen. Um, she had a a. She actually just had surgery recently from fall and it scared me because, you know, her mobility's limited. She gets around very well, but you know, that's that's me and my mother had me. She's 20, so that's me in 20 years. Right, that's scary.
Speaker 3:Um, I think it is probably mortality. Um, I think it's this age, our schedule, not mine. I still have college age kids. I'm working a couple of jobs, but I think that our schedules are more free. We have more free time.
Speaker 3:A lot of people had kids and their kids. I don't know if you guys had kids, but your kids are grown, you have more free time. You're not shuttling them to baseball games or what. So you know what have you? You have maybe a little more money, you know, because gyms are expensive, right. More money, you know, cause gyms are expensive, right, let's go to kind of fitness and you know how that those don't really those are just mills, they kind of turn. I mean there are people that work for and that's fine, I'm not dogging it, I'm a big advocate of like any kind of exercise. You're just moving, like movement.
Speaker 3:But I think, yeah, disease, I think mortality, I think something to do. You know a lot of um, masters athletes are also friends, so they do things outside of the gym as well, and so they invite their friends and then they come, so for them it's a social hour and I joke with them. Sometimes I'm like you guys, we can't be talking while we're doing this, like, just give me time, you know, and it's great, because that's that keeps them coming back right. Um, so I think it's. It's those things as well, at least for me. I mean, that's what lit a fire under my butt to lift and to do CrossFit in my forties, because I was just running you know, I had already gotten one stress fracture at that age.
Speaker 1:I think, natalie, you just summed up our entire podcast because we advocate movement, just basically. The thing is, and when we, when we joke about Cheetos, it's because we always say you know, you're sitting on a couch eating Cheetos and you need to get up and do something. You summarized both Scott and I, as we're both diagnosed type 2 diabetics. Scott's is well controlled with diet, mine's a roller coaster. Well, sometimes you can't control controlled with diet, mine's a roller coaster.
Speaker 3:Um well, sometimes you can't control it with diet, right? I mean, like my dad has high cholesterol and he has to take meds and he is really active. I mean he plays in a in a 16 over hockey league with a bunch of guys, you know. So he, he needs to take meds no matter what. So you can't always it's genetics. A lot of times it's not, you know so no I get that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, mine is so weird. I actually got a doctor's appointment because I went and crushed it in the gym for a very long time. One day I came home and my blood sugar was higher. So there's.
Speaker 3:Interesting, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's one of those diseases I don't think everybody knows everything about.
Speaker 3:Right, yeah.
Speaker 1:But, like I was saying, we advocate movement. You know Scott and I both come from a strength sports background. You know Scott has done Highland Games and martial arts and now Strongman. He was a national silver medalist.
Speaker 3:See, there you go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I just paid the judges. The judges, yeah, and I'm the opposite. I did sit on the couch between like 30 and 40 and then I went into master. I went into master's track and field. I was a collegiate track athlete okay, field athlete distance or sprinter uh distance or sprinter, uh shot, put and hammer oh, okay, I'm sorry, you know those guys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, you know it was a very, very short distance the walk between the circle to the end of the road was very tiring.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I. But I have a zillion friends like you that are runners and still, to this day, are runners, and I'm kind of jealous of you guys, by the way, because it's really easy to just throw on some sneakers and go do your thing, like anywhere yeah, but I think I the more that the older that I get and the more people that I know.
Speaker 3:Um well, first of all, crossfitters do not like running like real, true crossfitters don't aren't big runners, I mean they lift that's their thing, right, and I can't.
Speaker 3:I was the opposite of you guys. I did not come from a lifting background. I was a runner my whole life. I, when I had my kids, I stopped running for probably maybe five or six years. And then one day, you know, I started gaining weight, like I'm having to buy bigger clothes, right. So I'm like, yeah, that's not going to happen. So I went out that day and I'm like I'm just going to go for like a three mile run, right. I didn't make it a quarter of a mile and I, I cried, I cried, walking, like, walk, running, and I thought I cannot let this happen to me again.
Speaker 3:So then I started running again, and then I was training for a marathon and I got a stress fracture and my doctor said to me if you don't start, he says your mother already has advanced osteoporosis. He's my mom's doctor and he said, if you don't start lifting now and I was 43 at the time he's like you still have time. You still have time to start lifting. If you don't start lifting some weights and I'm talking heavy weights now, you are going to be in the same position as your mother. It's going to happen. I'm telling you right now I'm little, I'm 5'6", I'm 135 pounds, so I'm not a big person, and he's like you need to start lifting. And I tell that to all my friends who are my age. I'm like it's not too late, you know, and I got my first bone scan last year. I'm like I have bones of like a 25 year old. You know how good that felt. So, but I had never touched a weight in my life. I had never touched a barbell or free weight.
Speaker 3:Girls didn't do the. You know, I was on the track team and girls didn't lift weight. We did. We did sit ups and lunges. We didn't even do air squats at all, like in high school. We did lunges across the track and sit ups and like little ab exercises to make us look cut. But we didn't do. You know, the guys hit the weight room. Our coaches had us do zero lifting, which is crazy because we could have been doing deadlifts to make our hamstrings stronger. You know, we could be doing all these things. So it was a very long time before I could do anything. I could not. I walked into that gym. I could not do a pull-up. Now I can tend strict, I can kip. Well, you know how you get the crap of CrossFitters kipping.
Speaker 3:But, I can kip. I can climb a rope oh wow, I can. You know all these things, but it took me, you know, nine years to get all these skills. There's still a couple of things I want to learn, but I tell women my age I'm like it is not. I've seen athletes, you know, do their first box jump like 50-year-olds, jumping on the top of a 20 or 30-inch box. Never even, you know. We had one athlete I don't even care if he won't care if I use his name but Brian came in and he could not do a sit-up. Shout-.
Speaker 1:Brian came in and he could not do a sit-up.
Speaker 2:Shout out to.
Speaker 3:Brian Shout out to Brian. Well, no, now he's. I mean now he's lifting like crazy. He even runs. He hates it, he complains about it the whole time.
Speaker 2:But that's okay, man, he's still doing it right.
Speaker 3:But he's great on the bike. He's an exceptional rower. He can do box jumps now. He can do sit-ups. He is strong as an ox um, you know. So I see these people that come in um and we've got. I joke around because probably 20 30 percent of my athletes don't have the original parts. We joke about it like knee replacement, hip replacement. I've got a girl out right now um karen, who had a kidney replacement a year and a half ago and she's back with us, had to stay away from everyone for six months.
Speaker 3:It was a crazy thing. Now she's got her knee replaced. She'll be back in a week on the bike. You know ease back into it and you guys know getting surgeries now is not like it used to be. They didn't keep you in bed. They get you up from a hip or a knee replacement immediately. What do they want you doing?
Speaker 2:Moving around. Yeah, they want motion, you're walking. I mean, within eight hours you're walking around the floor. If it's something major, if it's not, you're out the same day. I mean it's, it's incredible how, how far music, how far music has come. It's also incredible how far medicine has come. At this point, both of them.
Speaker 3:But what far from music has come. It's also incredible how far medicine has come at this point both of them but what do they want you to do? They want you moving. It helps blood flow, it lessens blood clots, right, I mean. They don't want you laying around um. So I think I think a lot of athletes are scared to, like I know, women, especially my age. For you guys, you probably benched in high school and stuff, right I mean yeah, but still so.
Speaker 3:This is the point in every episode where I bring up my weird obsession with pickleball because I have a weird I have an obsession with pickleball I haven't played, but I did play tennis, so I feel like, do I have to play now?
Speaker 1:I mean, everyone is doing it yeah, it's, it's fun and I play at a local park and there's there's a app for if you're going to play.
Speaker 3:You guys are like the new CrossFitters, you know that right, yeah, basically yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:So I mean there's 300 people on this list.
Speaker 3:He's off now. It's on you pickleball people, yeah, basically.
Speaker 1:I can do a kipping dink. How's that A kipping dink, there you go.
Speaker 2:I've ever heard that. I know I want to go back to what you said a minute ago, though. I mean I am so talked out about John's pickleball Whoa.
Speaker 1:No, I actually was going somewhere with that, though.
Speaker 3:All right, go ahead, go somewhere, because this is actually one of the questions I wanted to ask you.
Speaker 1:Because there's two kinds of pickleball players there. Well, three there's the young kids that are still bulletproof. There's. There's older people who can move and older people that can't move, and I bet 80 of those that can't. It's self-imposed, they're afraid, they had a surgery, they need a surgery. And how do you? How do you, as a coach, like if athlete off the street comes to you and is super like I don't want to say terrified, but really cautious, how do you overcome?
Speaker 3:that, oh, I have them. Yeah, I have them. So we obviously do a medical history at the gym. All of our instructors are trained in AED, you know, and actually we did have a gentleman who had a heart issue and my boss, who owns the gym, shocked him and brought him back to life with CPR.
Speaker 3:Oh, actually was at the gym today. He has. He has a um, and I'm not gonna I don't want to talk about it cause I don't really know what it is. He has a device that now keeps his heart in rhythm.
Speaker 1:Wait, did you say he was in the gym today?
Speaker 3:He was in the gym today, yeah.
Speaker 1:He's back His doctor approved. He's got a pacemaker, something like that. There's a thing that kind of is ready to give you a shock. Yeah, it's an internal decision. I don't want to misdiagnose him.
Speaker 3:No, it's fine, I don't think he would care either, because there was like an article in the newspaper about how my boss brought him back to life and I was there.
Speaker 1:It was scary.
Speaker 3:But anyway. So his doctor did not tell him to stop. His doctor wanted him to keep going. Like you know, he obviously they had to go in and get to all these tests and things like this doctor's like no, I don't want you to stop working out like.
Speaker 1:That's not why you dropped well that's drop the workout that's uncommon because that's another hurdle. A lot of medical professionals out there really want you to. You know you're getting older you should sit and relax. Do they? Because they do. They do, but it's, it's less.
Speaker 3:It's it's less prevalent, but it's not unheard of anymore so we do something in crossfit um that is called scaling. I mean, you guys obviously have heard of like the crossfit games and they talk about um rxing, which is like prescription weight for things, different weights for men and women and different calories for men and women and different distances for men and women, because no matter how hard I work, I'm never going to be as fast or as strong as a man Rude okay, I'd love to be, but it's just not going to happen. We do something called scaling, so we modify a lot of things. I do have a couple athletes who have hip issues and they're unable to do a 20 inch box step.
Speaker 3:So we have a little box, you know, and they're, they're cool that, like they don't really seem to mind at all. Um, I also have athletes that are. I mean, I've been injured, haven't you guys?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah I think that scott and I both have a couple nagging things that really never go away yeah.
Speaker 3:My bad shoulder is my right shoulder and my bad leg is my left ankle, and when they act up I have to either, you know, not do this or not do that. So we do something called scaling and we ask the athletes at the beginning of the class like, hey, you know, blah, blah, blah, do anything going on this weekend. And I know, you know, I've coached for years, so I know all of my athletes. But when we have athletes that come in, I think that you know, I just, I think that it's the environment that we provide at the gym that makes them more comfortable, because they see other people scaling as well. So it's not like your neighbor's, not, you know, your neighbor, not everybody's in a 20 inch or 30 inch box. They've got a couple, you know, so they're, they're comfortable with it and they all know.
Speaker 3:And I think you guys, I don't know me, me, I think the older I get, um, the more that I know my body and I'm not willing to push myself because I don't want to be out of the gym for two or three weeks because I was stupid. You know what I mean. I think that younger people, younger people, will push themselves, but I think when you get over 40 or 50 years old, you're no longer have that tip on your shoulder I have to do this or I have to do that, or at least I don't think so I don't know.
Speaker 2:I agree with you. I think that ego sort of it checks itself a little bit. I had a great experience this past week and I was a friend and I were in an event down in Pennsylvania and I was doing a deadlift, started pulling and my back said do you really want to do this?
Speaker 3:Well, now you shouldn't feel a deadlift in your back. You should feel it in your hamstring and everyone knows that.
Speaker 2:And that's exactly what happened, because I was pulling, you know, for a pretty decent amount of weight and I got it up to about my knees and I got the old uh behind wink and my butt went backwards and my back said you sure about? That and I'm like yo. Yeah, I'm sure my hands open up down the way it went so you're right yeah thanks.
Speaker 1:Someone that just met you knows you have crappy deadlift form.
Speaker 2:Do we want to talk?
Speaker 3:about grip. I love deadlifting. I love it I don't know if it's because I'm a runner like I weigh 135 pounds and my one rep deadlift is 310.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's better than John Maybe.
Speaker 3:I love it. That's the only thing I'm good at, though, seriously, I mean I'm good at other stuff, but like that is my. Don't ask me what my bench is, okay.
Speaker 1:No but you know, what you're good at. You're good at two things You're good at taking care of yourself and moving and inspiring others to move, because man that, that is.
Speaker 1:That is a gift which? Um? So these others, these these older newbie athletes, what are their backgrounds? Are these people like you know, I used to be a collegiate athlete or my daughter, my son or daughter said I better get in the gym and are you in a? Are you in a traditional, like crossfit box? Are you in a box or are you part of a gym box?
Speaker 3:but our box also has. So the majority of our box is crossfit. And then we have the master's option. We don't call it master's cross that, we call it master's conditioning okay because we, for many reasons, I think um, mostly, I think that people were intimidated by crossfit. They people don't really understand what the term master's means. I think it's like mastering something. You know what I mean. So Masters is actually like the Masters Golf it's the older people. It doesn't mean that you're older it doesn't mean you're ancient.
Speaker 3:I think Masters now can be 35 or 40, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially endurance sports. We interviewed a coach that does triathlons and Masters triathlon starts at 35.
Speaker 2:I mean for a lot of what we do you know a lot of what we do in the strength sports. It's 40.
Speaker 3:Anything 40 and up.
Speaker 2:But then they'll break it down 40, 50, 60. And then you know, within that again they sort of double it over with are you 40? And, as John likes to say, a Clydesdale, or are you 40 and more like a Shetland pony?
Speaker 1:That is really a term, by the way.
Speaker 3:Overweight class in triathlon is called a Clydesdale. Yes, no, they are, yeah, they are Uh-huh.
Speaker 1:Scott makes fun of me.
Speaker 3:We call them Clydesdales, yeah.
Speaker 1:But I give you credit, I give your athletes credit because that invisible barrier between the parking lot and the doors of the gym. I think a lot of people have real trepidation with breaking that barrier.
Speaker 3:I think so too, but you were asking about the backgrounds of my athletes, so I have some of them who, like Randy, is, I want to say he's going gonna be mad at me if I miss his age. Randy's either in his late 60s or early 70s and he was a guy who did like olympic weightlifting when he was like younger okay right. So his mobility is challenging for him sometimes because he he kind of beat the crap out of his body when he was younger but he is still really, really strong, um and really fast on rowing and the bike and the cardio.
Speaker 3:Um, for someone his age, I mean it's amazing to watch him right um. And then I've got a couple, you know a handful, of my women master's athletes who were like runners, like me and kind of just decided when they got older that they were going to start lifting.
Speaker 3:Um, my karen, who just got the kidney transplant about a year and a half ago, she'd never worked out in her life. Karen is taller, probably 5'8 or 5'9 is tall for a woman, but Karen is 350 pounds, over 350. I think she started the Weight Watchers program and when she started that she lost weight but she was not firm. You know what I mean. So she decided to do CrossFit with her sister, like her sister was doing it, and she decided to get into this because she just wanted to kind of firm up her body after a drastic weight loss. And what's interesting is she didn't lose her weight until she was in her 40s well again.
Speaker 3:Her kids were grown, she had more time, you know that's always the formula more time more money, more time I can focus.
Speaker 1:I can focus a little more on myself, because my kids are focusing on themselves.
Speaker 3:Yep, finally I've got a handful of, like, ex-collegiate athletes that you know, rowers, um, guys who played football in high school, like you know, that kind of stuff and they're funny because they they do this thing. You know, always teasing them. They do this thing where they're. See, I have no baseline. Like me as a runner, right, I'm way slower than I was when I was younger, but I know I also do like 5ks and I see the I'm running people rinse and I'm doing okay against them. You know what I'm saying, right? So I don't have a baseline when it comes to lifting. So I don't have that like I used to bend. I have a friend who I work out with all the time and he's my age and he's like, well, I used to do this and I'm like, but you're 54 now, like dude, you know, but I don't have that baseline. So I guess I'm not bothered by that. But a lot of them do compare themselves to their younger selves in terms of strength, because you're going to lose strength when you get older, right?
Speaker 2:How do you approach that with them? I mean, that's a great point. How do you approach that with them? Because if they don't have a baseline or, like you said, if they do and like, oh, in high school I could bench 400 pounds, Well, you're right.
Speaker 3:Well, in high school you could also like eat whatever you wanted. You could eat a whole pizza. That's kind of my thing.
Speaker 3:I'm I probably, I don't know if it's a good way but I probably deal with it more sarcastically, like okay, that's great, in high school you also did this, and in high school you also did that, and you could also drink all night and then go to work the next morning. Can you do that? Now, I don't think so. You know what I mean. So we're not the same, our bodies are not the same and I know, like I said for me, I'm not that married to that, because I'm proud of what I've done at my age um.
Speaker 2:Oh, there he is, there's my puppy oh, what's your puppy's name?
Speaker 1:he's odin odin is his name. Look at, that fits with the whole island thing. Yeah, yeah my last guy was zeus, so oh I lost zeus last year and he, and then so odin, replaced him, so we're the god thing, scott, why don't you tell us some dog things about namings and puppies and stuff?
Speaker 2:so, my wife and I, when we name our dogs, we um, for a very long time there was some sort of mythological name to it where they were gods and goddesses or muses or whatnot. So we are now into greater swiss mountain dogs. And to make a long story short, the puppy that we have, the litter, was extra, extra read, all about it. So you had to have some sort of a headline. Sure, the headline was prohibition ends at last. The dog's name is bourbon, yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh, I love that. That's so cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great, I love that I think he named the dog that. So he can say honey, I'm just going upstairs with bourbon, With bourbon.
Speaker 3:That's it. You're covered every single time You're covered.
Speaker 1:Basically.
Speaker 3:Bourbon made me do it. Bourbon made me do it. You know you could come up with all kinds of things.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, I'm writing that one down.
Speaker 3:It wasn't me honey, it was the bourbon. It was the bourbon. Yeah, it's perfect, perfect.
Speaker 1:So, with your master's athletes, this conditioning thing, what does your programming look? Because, again, I'm trying to really fight against what I know about CrossFit, because I did train in a gym that you went left and it was CrossFit, you went right and it was more of a traditional barbell Like a HIIT class. Okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker 3:So I'll tell you an example, like for today's workout. So I did today's workout for CrossFit and my workout was an AMRAP, which is as many rounds as possible, and we obviously do warm up and we'll warm up with barbell and stuff first, but, um, it was three movements and you just did as many as you could for 22 minutes. But then there's also like we rode in the beginning to like warm up and we warmed up the barbell, so we did an am rep of 10 front squats, 10. Um, I did. Do you know what ghd sit-ups are or no?
Speaker 3:yes okay, so the grunt, why don't?
Speaker 2:you explain it? I do, but why don't you explain it? I'm sorry okay.
Speaker 3:So the ght machine is actually for a glutes and hamstrings, but you can do like those reverse upside down sit-ups on it and you can do like you know. It's basically like sit-ups hanging, kind of upside down. Okay, so I did 10 of those 10 front squats and then what was the third movement? Oh, five push-ups overhead. And the weights today for regular CrossFit were 65 pounds for the ladies and 95 pounds for the guys, and you did that for 22 minutes. That's one of the workouts.
Speaker 3:So what we do is we take that same programming at my gym and we make it into a master's program. So that same program for the master's athletes would be 10 goblet squats, so holding like a kettlebell or a dumbbell to your chest and squatting below, parallel or as close to parallel as you can. That's part of the other thing is like a lot of these athletes are not physically able to get to parallel, especially when they start. I mean, I wasn't right and which was shocking. So 10, 10 goblet squats, 10 sit ups, and they did 10 shoulder to overhead with two kettlebells or dumbbells, so they'd use like 10, 15 or 20 pounds to bring it from their shoulders to overhead. So it's the same programming, just not with a barbell right, and we do do barbell. We will use barbell in that class. We do deadlifting, we do push presses from the rack um minimal squatting, like occasionally they'll do front squats and things like that, but we don't. We basically do the same movements without the olympic lifting or like handstand push-ups or pull-ups.
Speaker 3:We'll do um something called inverted rows where you'll put like a barbell lower on the rack, or we have ring rows that they'll do. Or some of our athletes, the more advanced ones, in the master's class, we use like a band for pull ups. So it's taking that weight off of you. You know, instead of doing like the gymnastics movements, like like bringing your toes to the bar, they'll do just raises, which is a great, you know, ab exercise. So it's just taking those movements that we use in the CrossFit class and then modifying them.
Speaker 1:Okay do you to kind of their level? Do you stress form over weight, weight over where? Where is that 100%?
Speaker 3:and they do not. Some of them do not like that, right? So, yeah, no, we I mean my number when I was taking my CrossFit L1, you know, you go for the weekend Like we've got to study and then you go stay there for the weekend and they like quiz you on stuff and they actually watch. You watch you like coach someone.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so they give you tips on coaching. But your number one, my number one the reason I'm licensed is because I have to keep people safe, right, and especially the old, especially when they're older. You know that if you don't squat properly and you're bent over and you're hunched over, that's going to hurt your back, or you know. I even stress to them, we, I joke with them about picking things up off the floor at their house. How many old people have you heard that bend over to rethink at something and like throw their back out just from bending over right?
Speaker 3:So we want to learn to squat. I'm like when you are taking the laundry out of your washing machine. I would like you people to squat. When you pick up that barbell off the ground or you pick up that weight off the ground, don't bend over to get it squat down, to get it right, you know. So we really stress that, um, at the gym, even at home, like you're picking up something, or you know, um, we do burpees and I tell them like that's a great way to literally pick your ass up off the floor, like there's no value in being, like what if you fall?
Speaker 3:right, right you want to be able to pick yourself up off the floor.
Speaker 1:Well, it's funny because I have a friend I just went to lunch with who he's very active, but his wife it's. You know she tries and um he was. He was kind of, you know, goading her on a little bit by saying you know you want to be able to pick up your grandchildren or go on the floor.
Speaker 3:Go on the floor and play with them and then be able to get up or we even talk about like I'm like what if amazon brings your cat food or your cat litter? You don't want to have to like call your neighbor over to pick up on the porch. Like, you want to be able to bring that 40 pounds in off the porch. So we do a lot of like farmer long farmer carries. We have a parking lot there and we'll like go outside in the parking lot and do laps, um, so we do farmer carries. We'll do odd object carries where we'll have like sandbags on your shoulders or on a shoulder. Or we'll do odd farmer carries where we'll do like one weight in one side and one weight the other because carrying the groceries in, you know things like that. So, um, I know people like dog crossfit, but we are not like the CrossFitters that you see.
Speaker 1:I went to the games last year and it was great, I didn't go Okay let me say it was cool.
Speaker 3:I didn't go to the games.
Speaker 1:Oh, you could have left it there, I wouldn't have asked how you finished or? Anything.
Speaker 2:We would have totally bought that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Well, it was cute, because my people, they really just don't. I have like one guy who follows CrossFit. He like loves Danny, he's in love with Danny Spiel and I don't think it has anything to do with the CrossFit Games.
Speaker 2:I just think he likes Danny Spiel, that's fair.
Speaker 3:So he's the only one that follows. But the rest of them were like when I told them that I was going to the, I'm not going to the games, you guys, Like my kids, got me tickets for my birthday and I'm going to the quad, would you?
Speaker 2:recommend for that person you know john sort of hit it earlier there's a lot of trepidation about them coming out of the parking lot and walking into the door. If you were talking to, you know a master's person, not necessarily an athlete who's never worked out before? Never worked out before. What would you tell them to? Just you know, try this. I want you to do this, okay so what?
Speaker 3:I think the key, at least at my gym, is if you are a master's person and you, everyone has that annoying friend who either is like a runner or everybody has I mean, or he's a podcast co-host, yeah or a co yes, a podcast host.
Speaker 3:But everybody has that one friend who is really geeky about like working out all the time, right, and I'm, you know. I would find that friend and ask them Can you take me with you to do whatever it is you do, because I think that there is a value in just the moral support of being there, like I think that you need to, you need to show up and you need to be accountable, and it's fine, but you're never going to walk into a place and you're never going to do anything If someone doesn't like support you. Does that make sense?
Speaker 3:Whether it be a friend or cause I think that like I get, I do get random. Like I have a new member, angel, and she just began three weeks ago and they she just came in off the street, she didn't know anybody there, and they have really my group is really really good at like they've already exchanged phone numbers with her and they but.
Speaker 3:I think that's just my group, you know. So now she's coming. She came three times a week the first time and she was so sore I told her I was like, look, I am a teacher and an architect. I am not like a medical professional. But listen, sweetheart, drink a lot of water when you get home and do not be weird about taking ibuprofen for the first week. Like, don't get addicted to it. You know you shouldn't take it all the time, but like your body's going to be sore and that's a good thing You're probably not going to like it, and she did. I mean, she was like Natalie, I couldn't even. You know it hurt and I'm like, yeah, I get it, but like you haven't moved, so you got to give it six to eight weeks before you can like quit in on them or them partnering up with a buddy or friend who's really passionate about it, um, I think that the is like making that connection with someone there and that's hard.
Speaker 3:Especially feel like you're introverted person, um, and you don't have a lot of connections as well, but someone off the street, yeah I mean, I always read that thing about like the best time to plant a tree is now, right, because you're never going to do it if you don't start today. Right, right, no Like if you wait, if you wait because you want to. I have had people come in and say, well, I don't want to do it because I want to lose some weight before I come into the gym.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:Because I'll be embarrassed about you know the way I look, or I'll be too slow or um, you know, I just I really don't think my gym is like that, and I don't think a lot of other gym environments are. I mean, you obviously see these videos of people making fun of people, but, um, I just think that anyone who's super passionate about fitness really isn't like that. I mean, would you feel that same way? Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I think one of the things that scott and I talk about frequently in this is the is the power of community. Um and again. That's why I brought up that whole the barrier at the front door, because once you're in, if you're in a, in a good and there's so many a good, reasonably attended, friendly gym. You know, high tide raises all boats. There's going to be someone that reaches you and it's not like there are those gyms that will glare at you.
Speaker 3:Right, right, right. And don't go to one of those Like, walk out and find your gym, like do not stay at a gym who's going to poo-poo the way you look, or the fact that you're too slow or that you're a look a certain way. Don't do that. And not everybody needs that motivation. My son works out and he, you know, is one of those. He could work out anywhere and he has to work out every day or he'll be in bad shape. You know he doesn't like, he just needs it. You know he needs the movement and he doesn't need anybody to motivate. He's just like I gotta go to the gym. You know, even if he's like we're on vacation, stuff, he's got got to go do something. So there are those people who are just intrinsically motivated and they get their kicks off. That that's fine but if you're not one of those people.
Speaker 1:You need people you know yep, you need to high five every athlete in under your care because the the working out not knowing anything, becoming a community accepting, like the thing I said yesterday, based on me failing in the gym, was you can't fix what you can't face yeah, that's true yeah you, just, you just got to do it um well and not everybody's gonna have like listen.
Speaker 3:I have days where and I tell them I think I don't know why I tell them.
Speaker 3:I just feel like it's me as a coach like, look you guys, I felt like dog crap today when I was working out and I did not do well and I did not lift as heavy as I should and I was dead last in the class because I'm a 52 year old woman and all these kids in my class, the kids that do regular CrossFit, are 20 and 30 years old and sometimes I beat them and sometimes I will come in dead. Just did because I'll coach on ADM on Saturdays and then or excuse me, I do ADM class on Saturday before I coach. They come in kind of hot and they're like how'd you do? I'm like came in dead last, like you know, and there was no good reason. I slept well, I ate well the night before. You know, like I didn't drink, I like I don't know you guys, just sometimes it's the way it is, like you know, um, scott and I, scott and Scott and I competed at one of my favorite strongman competitions ever and we competed with 20-somethings.
Speaker 1:It was Scott and I and a bunch of kids and I came in last in mostly everything I might have done okay in a grip event Got crushed by kids, but there are three or four events that I just hang my hat on because I did something.
Speaker 2:I think the greatest thing and what John is not saying there is we were doing this event and the event that John came in like fourth out of 20 some athletes was the Hercules Holder. We're standing on a stage. There's probably a thousand people.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't stand a chance in that. I would be like oh yeah, I'm done.
Speaker 2:Yeah but I mean, you know, you talk about culture and you talk about the community that you you've built. This was our first time competing in this and john is doing this. I mean, john, one of his true super powers is just getting people to smile and building that culture, that community. He's up on the stage, like you said, probably a thousand people out there watching him hold this thing. He starts singing while he's holding this weight in these hands. It was hilarious as one will.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know where that came from, but sure, you know what, you know what I look back on that because it was goofy that in the middle all this, this weight in my hands, I was singing some German song, going with an oompa band, yeah, but you know what it came from, and I encourage everybody that wants to break that barrier to walk in the gym. I was on a sunny day, surrounded by friends moving my body at an accelerated age, and I was still at it, I was still doing it and that's the's the win.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I feel the same way too. I've done I.
Speaker 3:I get picked a lot for these um local crossfit competitions because I'm old and some of them give more points for your age oh, you know what I mean have like a cougar, sugar daddy competition or they'll have like um, they had a one that was like no boys thought it was just women only, and they gave an um points for an age, like the older the woman was and the more kids she had they I had two kids and stage and I did it with this young girl who's a maniac, I mean she's she's very, very talented athlete and we actually ended up winning um, but I was up against a bunch of 30 and 40 year olds and that was scary, you know. So I tell that I kind of try to tell my athletes, I think, like you guys, I was terrified. They're like you. I'm like, yeah, like it's okay to be scared, even if you're good, even if you are competent, um, and I also think, doing those things, I always tell my athletes like we don't really, as we age, ever put ourselves in uncomfortable situations.
Speaker 3:Like when we're kids we're forced to go to gym class that we hate and we're forced to read in front of the class and we hate that, and we, you know, we do all these things. Like I couldn't swim in um, my mom, mom cannot swim to this day, but my sisters and I not, uh, could not swim and I could not swim when I went to high school. So I was a shallow end friend, right, and I couldn not swim. And I could not swim when I went to high school. So I was a shallow end friend, right, and I couldn't swim. And my gym teacher took me aside and like met with me after school and like taught me how to swim. So I learned how to swim when I was like 15, which is embarrassing, right. You know going places and things, but I'm a pretty decent swimmer now.
Speaker 3:But I think that there is value in getting uncomfortable as you age, because we never put ourselves in those positions right Ever. We do what we're supposed to for work, we, you know. So I tell them you got to get. If you're going to grow as a person, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Whether it be walking in the gym and people seeing you in your shorts or, you know, whether it be because I am, I sweat like a man. I sweat like a man. I sweat like a man and it's horrible. My, some of my athletes are embarrassed. I go you know what, come here an hour earlier than you work out and sit there in a lawn chair. You can bring a beer, if you want, and watch me work out watch me sweat in the summer.
Speaker 3:You will feel better about yourself, like it's okay. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Um, nobody cares no, bring a little towel with you and honestly, as long as you clean up your sweat and wipe everything off yeah like we have cleaning products like nobody cares. Yeah, you know, I mean that, that competition I talked about.
Speaker 3:I feel like scott and I immediately forged friendships with a lot of the athletes, because they they gave us so much respect for trying, for doing, for still being there and but but when you're somewhere, like if I'm at a race, like everyone cheers for the last person, right, I mean everyone cheers for the underdog. They want them to finish, they want them to do well. So I think I know that it's awkward for people to be in that position, but I've certainly been in that, not with running, but like the other things. I've certainly been last. You're all you know, everybody's last sometime in their lives, and that's okay do you think?
Speaker 1:do you think that like, like the perception that you know working out isn't for me? I can't do it? People are going to look at me in my in my baggy shorts and crummy old t-shirt and stuff. Is that far more fallacy than I think we all admit to? Because I've I've not run into that, I've seen it on tv.
Speaker 3:I've never really I've seen like instagram videos when he makes fun of someone like I don't know, I just I maybe because I'm not like that with. I just am so happy when I find that someone works out like um. I don't know, maybe I just have a different mindset. It's such a big, important part of my life like I don't know how I would be mentally if I didn't work out. I would probably have to be in therapy and I'm not exaggerating um, but I think for me it's not. I don't know, maybe maybe not not where I work out, but I'm certainly probably other places. I'm sure if you go to like a mill, you know where they. Just I don't know, I've not experienced that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe, but I haven't either. I mean, I think, at at worst, people are apathetic Like they don't.
Speaker 3:They truly don't care, they don't care yeah. Cause, that's the other thing is people looking at you trust me, right? Um, yeah, I I don't know. I think everyone's kind of in their own head.
Speaker 2:I think once you're in the door, you're okay I think, you hit on something when you said you know and you said it sort of tongue-in-cheek about yourself, but in a serious manner when you said you know, if I wasn't working out, you know I might be needing therapy. I think this is therapy for so many people.
Speaker 3:I mean, I noticed for john and myself when we go into the gym it's as much the catharsis of lifting as it is the actual you know, talking with somebody or the community that you're talking about right those things are such an added benefit to this, especially at a master's age well, and there are days where I'll just have a really bad day with the kids at school or something, and I will be angry when I'm working out right and I'll feel better when I'm done, like okay, I'm like okay now, you know, yeah, um, so, uh, yeah, I don't know, like I said, what it is.
Speaker 3:You know it's the endorphins or what it you know, because you do release endorphins when you're working out or you make I don't know what the term is, but you make them or whatever. But I think that you know, yeah, I think yeah it is therapy for a lot of people and, like I said, for my people. They forge friendships and I've made friendships. I've made some of my closest friends at CrossFit. You know I hang out with a. It's really weird, I hang out with younger group of girls, and they're all.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, that's so weird. Oh my God, you're such a weirdo. No, no, no but.
Speaker 3:I didn't intend on making friendships with people you know for 20 years younger than me but it's just people that I worked out with right um, that I lifted near, and I have girlfriends my age as well that I work out with as well, but they're very supportive and very like you can do it now, you know, and I'm the oldest one there, right, but I can lift as much as some of them I was gonna say that that can be.
Speaker 1:That could be a sense of pride some days. I I I will freely admit I love kicking some kids ass every now and then when it comes to a to a movement or two, oh, yeah, no there.
Speaker 3:And it's weird because I think, with lifting and crossfit and combining lifting, cardio, crossfit or just like movements, or gymnastics movements like pull-ups and toes to bar and things like that, I think that I like it because really, other than crossfit games athletes no one's ever going to be good at everything. Do you know what I Like? I am terrible at back squats and overhead squats, not bad at front squats and I like thrusters, but I hate an overhead squat. I'm so bad at them and I really have to be careful about doing them. But then other movements I really kill. So I think for me it's like okay, well, today's not going to be great because this is the lift and I'm just going to have to get through it and be uncomfortable, but then, like tomorrow will be deadlifts and I'll be like, yay, you know. So I think finding whatever it is that makes you want to come back, whether it be running or swimming or your pickleball, or you know, I'm not advocating just for CrossFit, because I don't think that's for everyone.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you realize this, but you really haven't advocated for CrossFit as the way that guy on the street thinks. You haven't.
Speaker 3:No because I see athletes come in all over the place. You know what I mean. I think I maybe if I only coached regular CrossFit I would. But like I see everybody, you know, I've even subbed, for we have a kids class and I've subbed for them, you know.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I definitely I mean your intelligence, your, your, your coaching intelligence comes through in this discussion because I can clearly tell that you both take care of the person as a person and easily accept their limitations and help them, either accommodate or work through them.
Speaker 3:But we all have limitations, don't we? I mean? That's the thing Like you're not right. I mean not you, but like everyone else not you and not, not the Olympic athletes and not the CrossFitters, but everyone else except you, crossfit and Olympians, exactly.
Speaker 2:Please, please, natalie, the ego here. The studio is getting a little full. We're recording this. This is going to be my ringtone. I got to tell you. Okay, I'm going to try to reign John in a little bit here.
Speaker 2:One of the things that you said that resonates with me and really always has, but you put it just about perfectly was when you said people need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and you talked about that, yeah, it is hard, and the thing that you talked about, that you you do brilliantly and I mean we've never met but just this, this 45 minute or so conversation is this idea of scaling it to what they can do, making it comfortable, letting other people know that, hey, just because I'm standing here in front of you or moving amongst you as your coach, I'm uncomfortable doing this too. I just can't. You know, like you said, I came out of my eight o'clock class where I either kicked butt or got my butt kicked.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:And that uncomfortableness is going to change every time you're trying to do something, because you know, like I've got a really wonky left shoulder. So there are certain movements that you're right. You know I baby them and try to figure out how to do it so it's getting comfortable sometimes.
Speaker 3:I'll be fine with it. Like it's weird, you know it varies, yeah, cool well, I think we're starting to wind down, so here's what?
Speaker 1:here's what I need from you, natalie okay, go go on. I am person on street. I don't love my health. My blood sugar is elevated. I don't like the way my clothes fit. I'm thinking about a gym. What would you say to me as I broke through that barrier nervously and said to you I think I want to start working out at 40, 50 and above.
Speaker 3:Okay, I would if I were a person on the street.
Speaker 3:I and I've done this with people as well I will go to class with you what time works for you.
Speaker 3:First of all, because I feel like put it in I've had friends that I've had to go to different classes for to get them to come to CrossFit with me because they will not go Right.
Speaker 3:So I think number one is letting you know that I'm going to support you by physically being there for you, right? Not just saying, oh, great job, and like not going to class with you, even if that means that I have to take a different class than I normally have to take during that week. Ok, even if that means, or I have to hook you up with a coach that I know. Like hey, claire's going to coach today and I let Claire know that you're going to be there so she can take you under her wing, and I let a few of other of my Masters athletes know that I'm going to be there and I'm going to tell you that it's not going to be easy. Like I'm not going to lie to you if you haven't done anything and I tell people that, like, you are going to feel okay, today when you go home, but tomorrow you're going to be sore, and then the next day it's actually going to be worse, sadly.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:Second day sore.
Speaker 3:So, um, I will not lie to you, um, because the problem when you do that is that if they're not as sore, then it's great. They're like, oh, I wasn't as sore as I thought it was going to be, but if they are, then they are not going to want to come back, right, like that is a normal expectation. And I tell them that sometimes, like you guys have, it happens to you. Like sometimes I'm sore even when I work out all the time. Right, I work out five or six times a week and sometimes I'm like, wow, that really kicks my butt, like I I'm dying, you know for so, um, and then just you, you have to promise me that you will give me six weeks If you want to quit after six weeks.
Speaker 3:You may quit after six weeks, but you have to give me three times a week for six weeks. Can you commit to that? Because you can't just try to convince someone something and talk them into something without them making a commitment. Like you just told me that you want to get in shape. Here's what you have to do. You have to come whatever time works for you. We got all kinds of times, you know. You have to go three times a week for six weeks and then you can tell me that you want to quit after that six weeks. Can you do that, cause it takes about six to eight weeks for your habit to form Right.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:And then that time, then then we make friends and we show you your progress and and sadly though, like with lifting, and you guys know this you don't lose weight sometimes. No, but you lose inches and you're stronger. Um, I have this friend who I always give a hard time, like I always. I always want to weigh 125 pounds, I don't know why I just want to weigh 125 pounds, right, and he always like, you need to do 25 pounds, I mean, I don't look bad, but and you can't be like, worried about the scale um, you will lose weight eventually and you will lose inches eventually, but for the first six weeks you may not, and that is okay yeah, it's not going to be instant fix yeah, I think boy doesn't that feel like it comes from the diet supplements industry?
Speaker 1:oh yeah, not blah industry.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, you're not getting me started on Ozempic right now, because I will just lose my mind on it. It's not going to be good. I predict that in a year or two or five years they're going to be like yeah, we didn't know, this caused blankety, blank, right, oh God. Yeah, I think it's a disaster waiting to happen, but that's just my own opinion.
Speaker 1:You're allowed to your own opinion, we're fine. Well, natalie, you are clearly one of our tribe. I think everything you said is something that came out, and I understand why Dom is friends with you. I do not understand why you are friends with Dom but then you know what?
Speaker 3:Me either, that would be a whole episode. He's a good. He's a good guy, you know and know, and I, I love this. He had a great family too, like the kids. Our kids used to play with each other on the street, but we miss, we miss having him here yeah, dom's got great kids again.
Speaker 1:I just question your, your taste in friends, with being friends, you know I'm working out all the time. I don't have time to make real friends, so I get what I can, you know. Yeah, hey, neighbor, that's about it.
Speaker 3:That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Thank you for joining us tonight. It really this. This set us in a whole different direction. I really love where we went tonight. Well, thank you, Natalie, I'm still Scott.
Speaker 1:I am still John, and that was Natalie Bye.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Bye, Bye. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post it on your social media or leave a review. To catch all the latest from us, you can follow us on Instagram at Masters Athlete Survival Guide. Thanks again. Now get off our lawn, you damn kids.