Massenomics Podcast - Ep.122: Camp 17

Episode Date: August 6, 2018

This week we welcome guests Lu and Shantell from Camp 17. Camp 17 is a program they run that uses principles of movement, breath, proper structure, and mindset to help women find their way to strength both from inside and outside the fitness space. We talked about some of the common issues we see in the way CrossFit gyms program and prioritize competition, and the dysfunction that can cause. 

M-M-M-M-M-M-M-Massanomics Welcome to Massanomics, the world's strongest podcast. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Massanomics. Make sure you go visit massanomics.com. There you'll find the rest of our powerful content. While you're there, check out our store and buy yourself some of that sweet Massanomics gear. Just in case, what if I went like this with my hands? That's weird.

That will not give anybody any reason to trust you. What are you talking about? You don't trust me now, Tyler? No. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this week's episode of the Mastanomics Podcast. I am Tyler. There is no Tommy and no Tanner this week. Tanner is in Florida all by his lonesome, not doing Mastanomics things. And Tommy, by the time you're listening to this, Tommy will be fully wed. So he's doing wedding things at the moment and gets hitched this weekend, which by the time you hear this will have been like yesterday.

Tommy got married. If you're listening to this today, it comes out. Oh, very cool. Yeah. So congratulations, I guess, to Tommy. But I am joined by, on my left is Lou, and on my right is Chantel from Camp 17. Say hello. Hello.

Hello, everyone. I guess we didn't even get into what you're here for. But you did introduce us. I did introduce you. Yeah, that's good. Also dropped the ball on, I think you're supposed to introduce someone and then have them say their thing so that then they attach the name to the voice ah okay but that's not what we're doing now so it's too late you're not gonna know who's talking um but uh so

yeah we uh i brought you guys are from medford oregon yep um and we had met at well how about this i'm gonna have you just say what you're here for. That'll be easier than me just doing all the talking. So why are you guys in Aberdeen, South Dakota? Chantel, why are we in Aberdeen, South Dakota? We are in Aberdeen, South Dakota because we met Tyler and in San Diego in December, um, we shared with him a little bit about what we did and he said, I want you to come to Aberdeen, South Dakota. And we run, I don't want to go to Aberdeen, South Dakota. I don't think I shared with him. I just asked him to pick up a really heavy sandbag so that I could see if I could hold it. I never even told him what I did. So I assumed it was you

and, uh, and then she assumed it was me. But then Tyler said, hey girls, you want to come to Aberdeen and do what you do here? And we're like, sure. We've never done what we do anywhere else besides home. What do you do? What do we do? That is a million dollar question.

It really is. And even ask anybody that came this weekend. They're like, you guys, it really is so hard as to what you do. anybody that came this weekend, they're like, you guys, it really is so hard as to what you do, but we use fitness to strip you down, strip you down and help you get honest. Uh, no, we use fitness really just to help, uh, people maybe understand what's holding them back, uh, in their training, maybe even in their performance, but also in their life, in their relationships with their children, with their spouse,

at work, in friendships. Because what we've realized is really we can't compartmentalize any place of our life. So what you do in the gym is kind of what you do in life or what you don't do in the gym might not be what you do in life either. And so we've just created this really cool thing that just changes people's lives, every area. But no dudes. There's no dudes yet. No dudes allowed. No dudes yet. Yeah.

Dudes need to do it for dudes. It's a very different thing for dudes wouldn't it yes it would have to look very different yeah although we have a lot of dudes that ask us if we'll do one for dudes and we're like no because we're not dudes yeah dudes need to do it for dudes it's gotta do the dude thing dudes gotta do the dude thing yeah um so so you guys are here basically i asked you guys to come and basically host a seminar slash what would you call it course thing at my crossfit gym in town here for the ladies of the our community here and uh well it's hard to even describe it as seminars even really the thing but it's more or less just like a bunch of sessions of doing the things that you guys do it's like a hands-on introduction to

yourself yeah and with a whole bunch of like yeah basically whether you like it or not kind of thing with like a combination of like almost like lectures anatomy conversation uh breath work exercise self-defense self-defense and then some other other practical applications to what we do so back up a little bit further what is your guys is like talk to me about your like training background let's start with the ninja. That'd be me. That would be Chantel. That would be me. Yes. So I, I'm a six degree black belt in Chungkuk Do or the Chuck Norris system. So I have been a martial artist for the majority of my life. Started when I was eight, got my black belt when I was 12. And so it's been pretty much my entire childhood and then adult life up until now. I started CrossFit about four years ago.

And so the idea of CrossFit never came into my world as a job or even as a coach. But it kind of ended up in that in that area. I definitely I love CrossFit. But then when I met Lou, Lou is like a CrossFit OG. And so we when we cross paths, that's kind of how martial arts, kicking and punching kind of came into a bigger picture of us both working together. Now I want to back up because we talked about this earlier, the sixth-degree-ness of your black belt. Is that an adjective? Sixth-degree-ness.

The sixth-degree-ness of it seems to get glossed over. What is the minimum amount of time that that is possible to be accomplished in it's like 20 some years yeah it's about 20 years yeah yeah that's bananas it is it is bananas does anyone do anything for 20 years anymore i know right yeah for real and it's not even something that you that i even like set out to be, you know, it wasn't like, Hey, I want to be a, when I started karate, it, it was just cool. And then it just continued to get cooler and you just keep training and then you just get better and better. And when, if you were to start and say, I'm going to be training for 20 years,

that's a little overwhelming. It's totally overwhelming. And then it just, you, if you were to start and say, I'm going to be training for 20 years, that's a little overwhelming. It's totally overwhelming. And then it just, you, as you get degrees, it just kind of happens, you know, it's, um, I mean, no doubt you earn it. It doesn't just happen. Like walk in the door and it just happens. It just happened upon a black belt. Yeah. Um, and so it is that, uh uh when you really look at the time that it takes to get that rank it's it's a lifetime for sure that i don't i can't even grasp that i don't even think i've how old am i i don't even know if i've known how to read for that long so i have a the extent of my martial arts experience is uh i, I saw the Karate Kid movies when I was five and six years old.

And I said, dad, I really want to take karate. Cause I was like, I'm gonna do fucking flips and it's going to be the best. And I'm gonna kick people. It's going to be awesome. And he was like, certainly, but we're poor. So instead he enrolled me in gymnastics at the YMCA and tried to tell me it was the same thing. It was not the same thing.

No. However, I can still do cartwheels at my age, so I got some benefit out of it. That's good. That's about all the carryover I got. But that's literally all I've ever done as far as any martial arts at all. So I would get worked over. Most people would i actually when i was a kid every time we would drive by it's called chip rights champion karate and it was in town and every time

we would drive by i remember being like mom i really want to do karate and i never did karate and you know however many we probably still wouldn't be friends if we became friends when we were like eight years old. It like would not have worked. Probably not. Probably not. Yeah. Because as much as we're business partners, we're also best friends. So.

Yeah. And still best friends even being business partners. That's very true. And currently roommates. So we can actually stand each other for long periods of time. That's like, that's fighting the good fight. It is fighting the good fight. Sometimes the fights look like sister fights, like big sister, little sister. And let's be honest too. Like I was just thinking about this. I probably would not have gotten my black

belt if it weren't for, because karate was expensive. Like you said, Tyler, like it wasn't, it wasn't cheap. And my mom was like, okay, if you're going to do this, this is the only thing that you're going to do. And I'm going to pay and you're going to get your black belt. And I said, okay, cool. And then it got really hard. And then I was like, I don't want to, I don't want to get my black belt anymore. She's like, well, I paid for it. So you're going to, and so there were times where if my mom was not such a stickler for commitment, I probably wouldn't have. You know, she definitely pushed me. Like there were times that I was kicking and screaming and didn't want to go in the door because it was hard.

And, you know, growing up in a generation where you either did or you didn't, it wasn't you didn't. And let's just charge you more money and say that you did. It was, it was one of those things where it was like you, you either were a black belt or you weren't. And that's changed a little bit nowadays as there's so much more questionable operations. Yeah. Like if you pay the money, I'll give you the money. I'll spend the time. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. At that time too. So, and you started really young, right? Really young. Yeah. Eight. So, but you, I'm assuming then even as say like a teenager, we're pretty advanced at some point. When are you dealing with like adults every day in order to like be on the same level? Is that always the case? It was, it was always the case. Like from

the beginning it was, you know, you started and you were in kids classes, but then as an intermediate and advanced student, you were training in the adult classes. And so it was, you can either hang or if you don't hang, that's okay. You just come back when you're older and you can hang, you know? So it wasn't, it definitely, they didn't, uh, um, what do you, what do you want to, how do you want to put it? They didn't like, wasn't like gift wrap for you. It was like, you have to do the thing. You have to do the thing. Yeah.

Like when I tested for my black belt, there were, I think there were like 16 of us and two of us were under the age of 15. And so I was 12 and pretty much everybody else was an adult. So it was, yeah, this it's different. It's different nowadays. Nowadays it's, there's a little bit of conformity. So yeah. And Lou, you are, um, I don't know if I

know personally anybody who's had a CrossFit affiliate as long as you, I think maybe one person that I know. Yeah. There there's and so when did you open your affiliate uh 2006 when was the first crossfit games like the like the one that was like at the ranch where it was just like like some really really subpar fitness going on i remember that remember that they were like yeah there were people like failing 135 pound power cleans. People were like, you should go down to California and watch.

And I was like, eh, nah. I remember I participated in sectionals when it was considered sectionals in 2009. So first games must have been I think like 07 or 08. 07 or 08. It had to had to have been yeah because they did the one and then they decided to do the sectionals and then if you maybe kind of made it close enough

in the sectionals you could do um uh what they call it last last call or something and then you could do three more workouts on video on a video and send it in and uh you could maybe try to make it there so i ended up although it's at that time sectionals was every section did their own thing oh so it was like yeah so our sectionals was you uh there was a one rep max press there was a one rep max deadlift and then we did a workout that had sumo deadlifts, wall balls, and muscle-ups in them, which, shoot, I didn't know how to do muscle-ups then. Yeah. Yeah, that was a long time ago. Flailed around on the rings a little bit.

Watched a lot of people flail around on the rings. It wasn't like the first one in 07. It was like anyone could just go. Yeah, you just showed up. Like I could have gone. Mm-hmm. I would have been very ill-equipped for that. I would have been very ill-equipped for that.

But that is – so in – you said when was that, 2006? 2006. Yeah, you actually didn't even need to be certified before you got affiliated. You could just affiliate and then go get your certification at a later date because they just weren't – So you could run the gym. They just – Yeah. Do you think – like what was the the

perception of crossfit then so so now there's this general perception it's like oh yeah it's this pretty hard thing but like i think it's kind of a known commodity now where like people are at least aware of what crossfit is but then wasn't that like really the crazy thing like that was where it was like people were like i don't know there's just these people and they just exercise there's just dirt on the floor and they throw up and you're like i've actually never seen anyone throw up ever i mean maybe they drive home and throw up on the side of the road but i yesterday i haven't thrown up sober in a really long time and from fitness i'm trying i was actually trying thinking about that i i'll back up i'll tell you the story so we were we worked out and i had like

just one like intense piece at the end it still was like little thing was gonna be like 45 seconds of work right yeah it was just like finish empty tank. And I had that written on the board first. And yesterday was like not a training day. So it was just like I'll play around and just like get some exercise. So we did some stuff and played around and then finished with like just one sled sprint until it wasn't a sprint anymore. And I went until it, as soon as it stopped being a sprint, it stopped. And then you just fire the sandbag, throw it as far as you can for 10 reps

and I made it six and was just overwhelmed, like you're done. And I went right around the corner and just threw up all over my neighbor's gas meter. You threw up longer than you actually worked out. Definitely, for sure. I have that on video. Yeah, yes, you do have it on video.

Not you throwing up, you just tucking around the corner for a minute and then coming back out that video is on my instagram not the actual puke but like the process is there um we uh but i got to thinking i was like i don't know even in high school sports i don't think i don't know that I've ever thrown up from exercising before wow and so that just like really just out of caught me off guard really wrecked my shit but um we feel honored yeah thank you I didn't even know you were puking I was pushing the sled I wouldn't even know if you hadn't told me I wasn't I wasn't as proud of it then as I am today I thought you were just holding up the wall because you could see you kind of walk around the corner. And then your hands up against the wall.

He's just really tired. That's funny, though. We had talked. We'll get back to it. We've talked with, you know, Julian has mentioned Julian Pinot, which is we met at the StrongFit seminar, right? StrongFit seminar, yeah. His seminar. But he has always mentioned, too, like back in the day, you know, CrossFit workout was supposed to be like, you know,

the conditioning portion of the Metcon intense to the like, you know, the, the conditioning portion of the Metcon intense to the point where you don't actually finish it. You know, where like, if it was 30 reps, you'd choose a weight and an intensity that like you get 27 and then you're done. And that's what it was for me yesterday. The sled and the throws, I got six out of the 10 and I was done. There was no, there was no need to do four more. There was no benefit to be had. I was done. Uh, So that was, that was actually probably the first time I'd like personally experienced that sentiment and I'd be okay if I never did again. So you don't want to do that again today?

Not today. Okay. We'll just go to the pool. We'll go to the pool instead. So, but so back then, what was it like for you say as like a business owner? Was that, was that your job then? or was that a part-time gig? Yeah, I started a personal training facility. So just doing personal training in 2004.

So I'd been a personal trainer since 2002 after I graduated from college and was working in big globo gyms. And then I thought, you know what? I was living back in my hometown. I was like, I'm pretty sure in big globo gyms. And then I thought, you know what? I was living back in my hometown. I was like, I'm pretty sure that I could start a business. Like, I don't, I don't think I need to keep working for 24 hour fitness because basically they're taking all my money. Uh, and so I, uh, there was this other girl and she, um, we just decided to share space and we started doing personal training. And then I kind of got a little bored and, um, randomly came across a, uh, like this

horrible video, like old school, old school, um, a guy in his, uh, like military, like PE clothes. I don't know if that's what you call them, but it's like little tiny shorts. What are they called? Yeah. Well, Ranger panties. Ranger panties. Yeah.

Something like that. I don't know what they're actually called yeah i know i can't remember what they're called i think they're called they're like they're silkies silkies yeah silkies yeah anyway he's doing a silky or he's in his silkies he's not doing his silkies he's in his silkies doing a muscle up in this like very pixeled out video and i saw it and i went wow and i i was like i definitely could not do that but then i kind of dug around the website a little bit more and i was like hmm and then out of nowhere i'm working with this lady who's a massage therapist and i'm training her and she said my my friend he's doing this crossfit thing i was like oh my gosh i heard about that and so she said well we'll connect you guys so he

came he came over and put me through this not in silkies darn this is not what i expected yeah in my uh in my pretty little uh personal training facility that was air conditioned and eight foot ceilings and uh definitely not conducive for CrossFit. And he took me through this workout and it was horrible. It was horrible. It was way too many reps of way too many things. And it was August and August in Southern Oregon is hot. So it was probably 108, maybe 109 outside. And I remember I had both my hands kind of like you yesterday, both hands up against the wall and I was dry heaving and I came back inside and I said, whatever that is, I want to do more of that. So I'm an ex division one college athlete. So you're,

you know, you're sort of sometimes like a glad how I react. Yeah. So I was like, wow. And so I started doing some research and next thing I know I had a CrossFit facility. But as a business, like nobody knows what you're talking about. They look at you like you're crazy. Yeah. Especially then that was the first one in Southern Oregon. And, uh, so it was plowing a field that no one had ever plowed before, you know? Um, so lost a lot of clients, um, lost a lot of clients because I said, this is the direction I'm going. And so you, you know, if you want to come with your regular training, did you go the, did you immediately go from then? like your, your PT one-on-one model to the group? Um, no, cause it didn't say that style of training and it kind of started to evolve. Um, which I think for me was, uh, I think it, it helped me obviously be a better

coach because for, you know, four years before that I watched one body move so many times. So there's, you know, having 20 people in front of you and trying to help 20 people all move really well all at the same time when you haven't watched, you know, one body move a hundred times, it's, it's a lot more challenging, you know? So you, I, I think it, it gives you a better eye as a coach when you watch one body move over and over and over again. So then, and then I would get to, you can get to like your, your, your end, your action very quickly. There's 20 people. You've seen that. You've seen that same thing. You can very quickly recognize a problem, communicate it and move on to the next. Yes. Whereas probably for someone like me who hasn't coached for very long, I get into a

group setting and it's like, all right, I got to take a minute here. You know what I mean? You just, you just end up taking longer with each person, you know? Um, so at that time you, you, you had a bunch of your regular clients were like, I'm not doing this. Some. Yeah. I had, um, there were, I think there was more that was like, Hey, we trust you. We'll go where you want to go. Um, but there was definitely a lot that was like, I don't want to work out. Like, I don't want to do that. And you're like, okay, I, you just, I couldn't, I just couldn't sustain both. And so it was really like, do, if this is the direction that I'm going to move, I'm going to have to take the chance and I'm going to have to risk losing the people that

I will lose, um, in order to, to really do this. Yeah. And it paid off. Yeah. That was a business. I mean, it's just the way it is, you know? Um, so that goes on, you do that as though, let's just pretend that was really easy the whole time. Right. So you just did that for how many years? Yeah, I did that for a long time. Uh, but then probably in, I think it was maybe 2007, 2008, I actually, um, I did, uh, I started traveling with Mark Ripito on the CrossFit, uh, barbell certification. And so I was, yeah, that's what it was called. Yeah. It was barbell.

Yeah. So he as a curmudgeonly in person as, Oh, he is just the same. Oh yeah. There's no, who he is. We saw on camera was who he was we had a we've had a running deal here where it was uh what did somebody say it was like if mark mark ripito was a dog what type of dog would be and the answer is if mark ripito was a dog he'd be a cat because he doesn't give a shit about you or the fact that you exist i mean he was never mean to me but like

who you watch him be in all of his videos was exactly, there was no wondering who you were going to get. Yeah. Yeah. Unless he was hungry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, I did that for a little while and then ended up, uh, at Jeff Tucker's gym doing a barbell cert. And he said, Hey, uh, you want to come coach on the gymnastics seminars? And I'm like, like bro i am not a gymnast he's like that's okay you can coach crossfit so i can teach you yeah exactly so then i really matter then i was doing that as well as running the gym so i was with the barbell and then i was with gymnastics some weekends and then uh got went and did, my level one and level two of the pose running with Brian McKenzie.

Um, and then I was like, I can't keep doing this. I'm so tired. I'm trying to run a gym and do this at the same time. So then I just stopped doing all of them. Um, but it was, it was a really, it was amazing. And it was such an honor to be, um, coaching with those guys. So I think I got such a, um, I got such a solid foundation at the very beginning and everything that I did, um, that it just helped so much in the long run as, as a coach, you know, because when you're with those guys watching them teach people and you're helping people, you can't help it get better. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. That, um, and so how long, how long, how long was that block we're

talking where you were traveling? I was traveling. It was probably about a year, year and a half. And then I just, I couldn't do it. The gym was growing and I was moving from building to building and I would leave on a leave on a Friday and come home on a Monday and then coach the rest of the week. And I had like one stand-in guy to help and so I was working like eight days a week yeah oh it was it was too much I was like okay I'm gonna I'm gonna kill myself this is not good that does become like the sneaky thing though with all of that is like there is like just like shit you have to do yes yeah yeah no kidding yeah but it but I got such a level of experience that that hard and fast there was, it was such a big payoff, I think. Because I became exponentially a better coach in a very short period of time.

How did that, so how did all that stuff carry over into, were you still coaching? Yes. Everything at your gym? I still did everything, yeah. into, were you still coaching? Yes. Everything at your gym? I still did everything. Yeah. I was an extremely, um, extremely big perfectionist control freak. So I really didn't let anybody at that time really helped me with much. So then I was like, I'm so tired and no one will help me. And then I was like, Oh my gosh. Yeah. Okay. And then I kind of, uh, when I was 29, I, uh,

I had to step away for a while. I was, yeah, I ended up selling the gym in 2012, but I stepped away for a six month sabbatical and had to, had to figure me out. Uh, because I was a, I was a train wreck. Was that like near burnout from coaching? Was that just, I think it was like near burnout of, of life and it all just compiled all at the same time, trying to be something for a whole lot of people when you don't even know how to be it for yourself. And I didn't really like myself and I didn't like how impatient I was and how frustrated I get with like the dumbest things. And so I tried a lot of things. I tried to pick up different sports just to like be a more gracious coach where you like say, Hey, here's how you we're gonna deadlift today and people will be like what I don't remember what you told

me I'm like how do you not remember what we talked about so I went to go do jujitsu because I was like I know nothing yeah we just went over this totally so I actually went um I went and I thought okay what could I do that I do not know I I'm pretty athletic in general. I can kind of pick most things up. So I thought, okay, well, I'm going to go try jujitsu because I have zero context for any of this. And there's no, you know, basket or goal involved, no ball involved. And so I learned very quickly that I was like, wow, okay, you need to be more patient with people because my coach would tell me to do something.

I'd be like, I don't remember what that was. Can you show me that again? And so it was such a good learning thing for me. So you sold the gym in 2012. And then where did you go from there? I actually went to Hawaii for a while went to hawaii for a while i went to cambodia for a while i went and did like mission work like i went and like had nothing to do with fitness at all nowhere um and just did like service i was like if i was like a missionary

like i had no money i had no money i no gym. So very similar to when you had the gym. You still have no money. I still have no money. Actually, well, I was running the gym by myself. When you run a gym by yourself, you have money. You just don't have any time to do anything with it. No, you don't. Nothing to do with your money. You're like, wow, I have a lot of money. I don't have any time and I'm so tired. I just want to go home and eat and go to sleep. Yeah. Those are, you don't need money to watch Netflix and eat.

Every people can, everyone can do that. Yep. Yep. So how did you two like converge? Like, like how, where did your paths cross?

Do you want to real, do you want to really? Well, okay. So like, so in, I would say in the very beginning. So I met Lou. I actually started at CrossFit The Den, the gym she used to own.

At this point, I had actually seen when she started CrossFit in the Valley, we had, I had seen just like articles about CrossFit and people had told me that I need to do CrossFit. And I'm like, I do not need to do something as stupid as CrossFit. I have a six degree black belt. At this point it was like, I think I was like a third degree black belt. Yeah. I'm like, I do not need to deadlift to kick someone in the head.

I'm sorry, but it's just not. And they're like, no, you'd really like it. And I'm like, I really like what I'm doing. And that's that. And I did like the element because it did have like a militant kind of feel to it to begin with, you know, where it was just like ready, set, go. And like your coaches, like the feel was that they were yelling at you or, you know, and then people would puke and you just go until you like die and crawling outside. And, um, and so I kind of, that intrigued me a little bit. And as, as like grotesque vision, like the, like the, like CrossFit monster grabbing people and dragging them back into the building, try to get out.

And so, um, but then like years went by and then I thought, okay, I'm going to start. Actually, I started at another CrossFit gym. That pissed Lou off. I actually didn't own the gym at the time. She didn't own the gym. I was still away. I hadn't come home yet. And so I was at that gym for a while, and it was all right.

The feel was okay. It was too early in the morning for me, honestly. And so then, um, I then decided to try the den and I walked in, um, and I was like tall and lean. I was flexible and you know, I wasn't, I wasn't strong by any means. And so, um, I, my dad, I grew up, my dad power lifted. And so I kind of had like an idea, like, I know how to deadlift and I know how to bench and I know how to do this kind of stuff. And, um, I, my dad, I grew up, my dad power lifted. And so I kind of had like an idea, like I know how to deadlift and I know how to bench and I know how to do this kind of stuff. And, um, and so I walk into the gym and lose in there and she introduced herself to me and she's not a coach at the time. She's just kind of in there wandering around. And, um, and I had

heard her name before and, and so, but I didn't know how big she was like in the industry at all. And, and so, but I didn't know how big she was like in the industry at all. And, uh, so then I did CrossFit for probably like a year. Um, and then, and she did some PT while she was in there. And then, um, we kind of like started chatting and I, they actually threw their first CrossFit competition at the gym. And, um, and I just wanted to do something different. Like I just wanted to, um, I was really good at what I did and I actually enjoyed being bad at something.

And because it, and I know it comes from like a place that sounds like totally arrogant, but I was really good at what I did because I had been doing it for 20 years. And so, um, and I say, man, if you've been doing something for 20 years and you're not good at it by that time, you need to stop. It's time to move on. And so, um. The fact that you would make it that far and not being good at it. I got like a six month window before I quit. Yeah.

Yeah. So we, um, yeah. So when I was there, I, I really enjoyed just being at like the bottom and having so much room above me to grow without it being like, like really small, like, like minute, you know, changes or, you know. And so, uh, we, she's like, Hey, we've got this CrossFit comp and I'm like, I don't have my double unders. I don't have this. I can't snatch yet. And she's like, well, you're a coach. What would you tell your students if you wanted them to, you know, compete for the first time? And I looked at her and I was like, well, shit. Okay. Okay. I'll do it. So I, I practiced and it was, it was awesome. So I went from like two days a week to then three days a week to then four days a week. And then I was a five day a weeker.

And then it was just, I, I loved the competition aspect of it. And, um, and so then after like, she said like little things like that to me, I was like, okay, like there's some, there's something like deeper here than just like a CrossFit coach, you know? Um, and I knew like martial arts, there was much more to martial arts than just kicking and punching. And it was a vehicle for, for growth and personally, and you got to see people's ugly when they couldn't do something or they got the crap beat out of them. You know, like what would happen when they get mad or would they cry or would they quit or, um, would they pretend like they're throwing up or fake an injury or and so at the at the gym it was kind of the same thing that she saw in people like when they completed a full deadlift like I did

like I I went and it was one rep max deadlift and I pulled I don't even remember what it was off the floor and I went over to her and I was like okay this is my one rep max and she's like well okay what what number did you fail at and I was like well I didn't I'm not a failure you know like I choose I like chose to do it and I did it you know like it was like that was like my mentality and and she says well just go and I want you to put 20 more pounds on the bar. I was like, 20 more pounds? You're freaking crazy. Like, what? And she's like, well, did you feel, when you first did it, did it feel hard? I was like, yeah, it felt heavy.

Like, it was heavy. So I went and I put 20 pounds on, and it was ugly. I mean, it was like the one leg straight, the other leg was like shaking, you know. And I pull it off the floor, and all the way off the, and I was like, wow, that was 20 pounds.

She's like, okay, put five more pounds on. And I was like, no, that was really hard. Did you not like see how hard that was? And so it was just that mentality of like, she, she like squashed the idea of, uh, that failure was bad, you know, because you actually were testing your capacity and you don't know your capacity until you get uncomfortable and until like your body just can't do it. And I made a decision before, like mentally that I wasn't going to be able to do more. And so I was comfortable with that because it didn't fail, you know? And so, um, I just then started to feel something from the point of view of, uh, like learning obviously in an

atmosphere that was different than martial arts. And yet it exposed a lot of, uh, the things that I just, that were keeping me back from growing in my life. And so, um, so we then like had multiple conversations after that on like, even what it would actually look like if she did what she did and i did what i did and we did it together and what would it look like if we challenged women to be better versions of themselves by doing hard things and um not definitely not easy things like what if we created an atmosphere where it was safe enough to fail and they actually got to then succeed then succeed yeah um but it actually the real like where our friendship friendship started she tried to get me in a rear naked choke and i showed her what was up okay so mind you i coached

her crossfit class for a while and i had no idea what she did there was you know five or six girls in this class and they all just hung out and And did you just, were you just like, I did a couple of jujitsu classes. No. So really I didn't know, I didn't know what she did. And then, and then I found out she was a karate coach and then you're like, okay, cool. A karate coach. And then in the newspaper, um, the guy that owns a gym now, Austin was like, Hey, um, Chantel just got awarded like coach of the year and whatever things that I'm like, Oh wow.antel just got awarded like coach of the year and whatever thing. So then I'm like, oh, wow, she's like legit. I should choke her out.

And so then I was like, no, there's a thought. There was the thought. We'll see how this goes. This was like months. I was like, I wonder, I wonder. But it wasn't, I wonder if I can choke her out. The thought was, I did jujitsu a couple of times. I wonder how long it would take for her to choke me out.

Like just like how long could I actually hang, right? And so I like planned for months and I was like okay and then I was such a coward I snuck up on her after she had done some hero workout that involved uh kettlebell swings uh single arm overhead kettlebell squats and Turkish get-ups so I mean it was dirty it was gross a mile run in between there somewhere. And so I go sneak it up and I have this thing. She's actually putting her hair in a ponytail facing the wall and doesn't even know I'm coming. Right. I mean, I'm like full on yellow coward and I go and I run over and I'm like, and I giggle, I jump. And basically I just jump like a monkey on her back. I have no move. And literally within 30 seconds, I'm on the ground, tapped out. And I found my earring stuck in my hair two hours later.

And that's from that day on, we were best friends. But I didn't know that it was like etiquette that if you're like a six degree black belt like that, like you don't do that. Like they don't do that to each other in the karate school. I had no idea that there was fortunately like etiquette. Fortunately, you're not. I was totally fine. But she's like like nobody's ever done that to me before i was like well i just didn't really know so we've been best friends and doing what we do ever since i

envision like the dumb and dumber scene where they're wearing their orange and blue suits and just like smack her in the back of the legs with your cane just to keep her on her toes oh it was so bad but so funny and it was really where yeah it was where the dream of cancer so you guys had done had both trained crossfit one of the things you guys address quite a bit in your program is um i guess i don't know that it's it is somewhat a symptom of crossfit just the way it's built but like some of the like the training dysfunction that comes from the way a lot of crossfit program just the way it's built but like some of the like the training dysfunction that comes from the way a lot of CrossFit program is structured where it's just

like constantly trying to measure yourself up every day yeah um did you guys ever personally fall into that trap in your training or is that something you just noticed and then realized you wanted to start to steer people out of it was totally something that i found myself in for sure i don't know about lou but i uh you know what it's like to be a gym owner you're like lucky if you work out yeah i'm just trying not to get fat as shit yeah i'm just trying to barely keep it together you're gonna lose some credibility after that but it was always it there was always like for me i mean i was a i was a college athlete and so there was always that performance for that equated somehow to value that i believed right um and so you could see it but then in the gym i saw it so much so i would do sneaky things like take the clock away for a week or um do uh partner workouts where

you know somebody was counting for you. So you made sure you actually did the reps that you were supposed to do instead of just shortchanging it. So you could be the first one on the board, you know? And so, um, I don't, I never, I mean, there was like a stint of time where I tried to be really good at CrossFit. Um, but I think that I was just, I was so busy like running a gym that that, it never was the big issue for me. That was the issue for me when I was in college and I was playing sports. But when it came to CrossFit, I just never had time to try to be really good because I just didn't have time. Yeah.

What about you? Will you describe your deal with that? Yeah. What's your deal? What's your deal with that yeah what's your deal what's your deal with that gentle um i'd say yeah i think that it kind of carried over uh just from even even from martial arts i think that there was like a because there's always like a, the top athletes or even the top fighters or top competitors, people would, um, they measure themselves up against whether or not, you know, they could beat you or, um, or, and so it kind of, the culture is there in martial arts. Cause it is like one, one-on-one, you know, um, it's not team, team for team, you know, the players don't change. It's the same player, you know? And so in CrossFit,

I think it was to begin with, it was actually really nice because it's kind of hard to like, to, you just want to like breathe and train. And, and when there's always somebody trying to like, or like nipping at your heels or, you know, gunning for you, um, it was, it was not stressful, but it was just like, man, like, why can't we just like hang out and spar? Like, why wouldn't you, when you like, you catch me or like kick me in the head? Is there some, like, you have to, can we replay that? And can I take a picture, you know, or like, you know, where it's like something like that,

where you're like, man. So it was almost like a relief going to CrossFit because it didn't really matter like where I fell. Um, but then getting better, it, it was kind of like a marker where people would come in and they'd be like, okay, well, Chantal got this time or Chantal got that time or, Hey, I beat you yesterday. And I'm like, that's great and I'm like that's great you know that's great we're now I'm gonna wreck your shit yeah um but I would I would find myself like there's still like when her and I work out together I want to beat her yeah I do like shoot I want to beat her and then I'm like it's depending on what workout it is you know know, um, she doesn't, depending on what it is. But yeah, I think, I think you, you fall under the trap too, as a coach, like wanting to help people get better and the, the constant competition, you know, you're constantly pushing people there. Um,

and wondering like, should I have pushed you that hard today? Or did you, did it just need to be like a chill, a chill kind of day? Um, and so as a coach, I definitely, you know, look back and I, I wonder, man, did I, did I push, did I push too hard sometimes? Um, you know, but you also watch the potential of people and you're like, man, I wish you believed in yourself as much as I believe in you. And I wish you saw what strength I actually see in you that you could, you know, go farther. Because one of the things that you guys do a lot of is now almost in teaching people to almost dismiss the, the end result, like quit worrying so much about winning, um, and

focus more on like actually the process. Right. And being aware of your body. Like what is your body doing? How do you feel? Talk to me a little bit about how you guys relate to, say, breathing, awareness, and then how people can actually build their work capacity in that instead of just redlining all the time.

Do you want me to do that or you want to go? I mean, you both have microphones. You'll probably kick it around if you needed to. Yeah. Well, we could just kind of build on even what we're doing with the ladies now, which really just identifying your breathing pattern just in general. From not just when you're working out, but just in your daily life, you know, how do you respond to stress? Not only when you're

actually choosing and stepping into, um, a place of fitness or exercise to just how you sit and when you breathe, when you have a conversation, whether it be a stressful sitting and really trying to pay attention. Normally what happens is i sit with this microphone and you can hear like the fat so go on but mind you we're like no breath experts here like we're we're still we're still in the place of just bringing people to to to awareness of oh my gosh am i breathing at all or am i holding my breath? Or do I know what it feels like to breathe in my nose and out my mouth? Or am I constantly just like, you'd be amazed at how many people will train, especially in CrossFit as they get going,

that just like won't breathe. They'll just do reps and reps and reps and not breathe. And then, and then go. And it's like, man, no wonder you are just super, super stressed about this whole process. You know, I couldn't even tell you in workouts what I ever did before focusing on my breathing. I don't know. I don't know if I was a breath holder or like a crazy hardcore mouth breather or like a, I don't even know what I did because I have no idea. hold my breath while simultaneously only breathing through my mouth like yeah yeah that's impressive do it wrong on every level yeah that's impressive but yeah I think that there's a there we we start with like breath needs to be primary you know and

then from your capacity like of your breath and your awareness of your breath and how you're breathing then let's start moving but people start moving and then they just breathe. However, whatever happens. It's well, and that's, that's actually like, probably because I'm not in very good shape, like as far as those things go. Like if I get on, say the assault bike or a rower, well, the way it always usually is, is i'll get on it and i'll start going because it's the work is first right if i need to row 500 meters i'm going to row 500 meters and i will just breathe based upon the demands of that work right but then the pace is only dictated by my ability to tolerate pain or not breathing and uh and that's i think where you said so many people end up missing the

boat there it's like yeah like breathe do your work within what you can maintain this breath state and then you you can like grow that system yeah i don't go as fast as i did before it's like god forbid yeah yeah yeah and i And you lost your Wednesday CrossFit trophy. Yeah. Whatever we give out every Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, you know. And I think the most amazing thing about breath and awareness is for definitely for us as women, I think, uh, in the place of coaching that, that we hold that so different from a man coaching women is that we realize what it is to be a woman inside of the body of a woman thinking that your body needs to look a certain way in order to be loved, to be

seen, to be beautiful, to perform. You're not supposed to suck it in the whole time. I know, right? Like, yeah, just stay here. Right. And so, and the value of being able to help women actually reassociate their hearts and their minds with their bodies. Um, because like we, like we tell the girls, we're like, you can't like Tyler, you and I, I mean, maybe you, maybe, I don't know. But if I was like, yeah, I know. If we were actually going to be friends then every day I just looked at you in disgust and said horrible things to you about how terrible you were, how ugly you were, how fat you were, how many stretch marks you had. And then I expected us to like have a really good relationship. Most women, that is their relationship with their

bodies. They wake up, they're looking in the mirror, they pick apart every place they grab things. They're like, that's so gross. Whether they say in their heads, whether they say it out loud, whether they roll their eyes, whether they at themselves, and then actually expect their bodies to do great things in the gym, um, get stronger and, um, lose weight and do all the things that we want to do without pain, without stress. But that's not like we have to, as women, like we have to become friends with our bodies where we are and work from there and actually reassociate ourselves with ourselves. And that ends up though in the short term, like stifling performance on a day, right? And I think it's really important, especially in crossfit training like you know most of our audience a lot of power lifters and things like that we don't ever measure our performance based

on a day like you have good days we have bad days but it's never like people don't come in and there's not a win or loss necessarily there is more of a oh just don't you come in you do the work and then you move on and you know we only only test there, but it's, it's almost, it seems very unique to CrossFit is that, that dynamic where it's like people want to like redo workouts and they want to do, but you even look at like women step on the scale every morning and their value and their worth is determined by what the number says before they even go and work out. Like you are terrible. You are a piece of crap and you should go hide when you've got five pounds, five more pounds on the bar and, or of the five part on the scale. And you it's light enough, then it's going to be a good day and you're worth it. And if it's not, then for so many women, you're like, well, you're a really big piece of crap and you should go starve yourself today. Or just go eat all the things and not go to the gym and watch Netflix for the whole day because you're not worth it. And then pay the price again the next day. Exactly. Until you

hate yourself so much that then you'll go back to the gym and then the training seems to take this shape of just like self-abuse punishment yeah you always say you're never going to be able to punish yourself into a smaller pant size you can but you're not going to maintain that pant size if it's always just punishment why is it it seems like so many roads end up there to that place like and like within fitness it seems like it ends up that way um you know i'll get you know you'll get crossfit athletes come in they'll come in somebody come in new and it is it's just work and it's learning and they get they gradually start to get all this progress. And there isn't a lot of necessarily, as long as I feel like expectations are set in the beginning, there's not all of this.

They're not set up to be disappointed. They're not set up to try to measure up every day. Because usually by the time, if you get somebody who's an average person come in the gym, you've already talked down the competitive. You know what I mean? Because you're already, you're like, no, no, no. It's not that crazy. What you see on TV is not what we're doing here.

It's not a contest here. We're just here to do the deal, which that is what it is. And so those people for quite a while live in that. They understand that and they do that until they start getting a little better they get they can do this now that they couldn't do and they can do this all of a sudden they're able to do some of the things with time that some of the people they looked up to when they started could do and then next thing you know it's oh shit i got 10 reps less than sally over there fuck's wrong with me you know or like yeah and, and then they get mad or they check it all day

or they only gun to beat the one thing. It has nothing to do with actually how they did it. It only has to do with like what number ended up at the end. Exactly. It seems like it's almost inevitable if done, if coached and taught the way that it's traditionally coached. And you coached for a long time. it's traditionally coached and you coached for a long, but like, but at some point, but at some point, like I think that it does it,

it always ends up there with the framework that CrossFit is set up at with the group class. Um, and, and unless you can really be out in front of those expectations every day, um, that's, it just, it seems to me like that's that's where that road ends and then you start seeing turnover because of it because people burn out you know yeah totally or they rush and they do things irresponsible on a we said like a wednesday workout it's like you're an accountant why you gotta max out your snatch today? You've only been here once this month. Yeah. You know, why don't you just take it easy? And so that's a piece that I think, you know, as coaches, we all have to, like, try to iron that out. Like, it's your job because you'll see if you're in it long enough,

you're going to see that that just happens. And I'm sure you did. Yeah. And I think in most sports settings where you get a bunch of people that are comparing themselves to one another, the goal is just to beat other people instead of like, hey, what is the best version of you look like? Like what if you stopped just trying to beat that girl and you just didn't even look at the scores and you just went and did your best? Like you're trying to beat her by two and all of a sudden you don't even pay attention to it and you do your thing.

Because your best might be 20 reps. 20 reps. Yeah. Yeah. I think too, though, I think that if you look at, if you look at the board, the board is up there and the board, why is the board up there? That's the purpose. That's, that is, that is honestly.

So it's like. It's the carrot you're's, that is, that is honestly, so it's like the carrot you're dangling. Yeah. So you, we, as coaches, we get upset that people are doing that. And yet we are actually like providing the source as to where they get, you know, that drive from. And so it's, it's, it's, you can use it in a healthy fashion as well, but then like, but if you're, if you're just, I mean, even, even if it goes from, um, I talk about this in, in camp when you talk about just, uh, like who was, it was Travis Pastrana who did like the first backflip on a motorcycle and then nobody, everyone can, then everyone can. And then he was like, okay, nobody. And I think some other guy

did too. And then Travis did too. And then he's like, we and i think some other guy did too and then travis did too and then he's like we'll shoot well how about three you know let's do three similar like the was it like the five minute mile yeah or something like that like it will never be done yeah and then everybody does it yeah yeah it's it's so it's so crazy how you just you limit your own growth to what where everybody else is standing but if you think like beyond that, but that's, that's the part too, that we try to instill in our ladies is that we do, we compare, um, even like the status of our marriage or, um, how much money we make or all of these, these, you know, things that you compare to just, uh, you know, I don't know, find your value

when it all comes down to it. It's like, if you know, you're valuable, whether you were shit in the gym or whether you were a rock star in the gym, like it's still the same. You had a good day, you had a bad day. It's, you know, and so it's, I think it's, um, it's such a parallel with just life in general, but I do think that we put the board up there and then we were like, man, like if you took the board away, it would just, it would change a lot. Yeah. You know, some people would be floundering for a man like if you took the board away it would just it would change a lot yeah you know some people would be floundering for a long time if you yeah yeah but it would be good for them it would be a good because for some people we know that their identity and their worth is wrapped up in where they finish on that board on a daily basis and

it's tough too because from like a just purely like a strength and conditioning standpoint things should be measurable they should be able to be progressed so it's good to have data just even as an athlete to know yeah i did this i did this at this weight and so i know that i can do that but i did this yes yes but not you know this person did this and now I have to get there exactly I like though the idea too though we do it sometimes as we try to kind of shift things around it's like you said you do more partner stuff you get more things where really like you can enjoy the process and there isn't like really a score that's relevant to first if you're doing three-person team stuff the score isn't really a reflection of you or your own personal value and that makes it a little bit easier to do

so you guys are here putting together like kind of a new framework i guess for what you guys do right now your system is set up at home where you guys run what is it two classes a week six week we run six week Camp 17 every nine weeks. And so we'll have a morning crew that meets two days a week, and then we have an evening group that runs two days a week with that, depending on which tribe. We run them all in tribes, so tribe one until we're launching registration for 14. And every time you open one up, they just sell out?

Yeah. They're selling. I mean, they don't., they just sell out. Yeah. They're selling. I mean, they don't. The evening class sells out. It's a little bit more popular than the morning class. I suppose morning is always tricky. Morning's tricky. But yeah, now that people are a little more like, I don't want to say used to it, but

they know that's coming. People can hear from somebody what it is too. Yeah. Makes it a little better. That was always the interesting thing here when we were getting this set up, trying to find a way to one, get it on the road, you know, in a way where you don't have to live here for six weeks and only work two days a week. Yeah.

And also, so putting it together in like a pretty intensive version or, you know, platform. Then trying to explain to people what it is who have no idea. Because that was the thing is like, I was the only person who knew what you guys did. Yes. So, and I'm a dude. So it was really not my best, not the good salesman for the thing. Yeah. But so there's still, I don't think anybody, even, even, you know, of the, all the ladies

that have gone, that have been gone through it with you guys in the last week have, even them when they got in, didn't know probably exactly what it was going to be. I mean, one girl said in her testimonial at the end, it was awesome. That said, what would you tell people camp 17 is? And it, and she said to know that you can be better, but then to actually want to be better. Yeah. And you're like, whoa. Not that there was anything wrong, but it was just like knowing that there's more for me, right? And not feeling ashamed that like, oh, I should probably grow, but just the desire to grow and be like, wow, there's areas where I didn't know that I could actually do that.

Yeah. Yeah. And so going forward now, though, you guys have, I think you guys have a pretty good base where you're at. Yeah. Right. And now what's the, what's, how are you going to do this? Because what's, what's your guys's, I know the answer to this question, but what's your guys's like goal?

Let's take this show on the road. Yeah. So like, so like, so like, but like, like big picture, what's like your mission statement that you wanted to do with, with Camp 17? We want it to go everywhere. Change the world. Yeah. But like, like big picture, what's like your mission statement that you wanted to do with, with camp 17? We want it to go everywhere. Change the world. Yeah. So when people said, when people said really, they said, you know, gosh, you're going to Aberdeen.

Like what's an Aberdeen. And I was like, women are in Aberdeen. We have those. Yeah. Like women are in Aberdeen. Women are, are all over the world. So it doesn't matter where we go. It doesn't have to be this – there's no status to where we go.

Or as far as like the only requirement is that there are women there. That's it. Because Camp 17 is for every woman. We've said it from the very start. I suppose that there would be enough to where you can fly there and stay. There does have to be enough. There has to be that. Yes.

But so going forward. But if there's enough in Aberdeen, South Dakota. If there's enough in Aberdeen, South Dakota, you guys will be just fine. So going forward, like so we had talked this a little bit and obviously you guys aren't married to this format. But what is the format that you guys think you'll use as you kind of take this on the road? It will be like a long weekend thing or. Yeah, I think after, I think we've had a great, uh, a great opportunity to see some really cool things. Um, I think probably like a Friday night, all day, Saturday, all day Sunday would be amazing. But the really, really fun thing that we've been able to do from the weekend is we're

hanging out this week and running just training sessions in the morning and the evening, Monday through Wednesday. And so we're getting to build relationships. And now it's like, oh my gosh, we have to leave. Like we have to leave. Like we've made friends with these women. Like we're all getting together tonight and having dinner after we get done with our training session. And so that place of, you know, do you you stay do you not stay long enough to build relationship yeah yeah do you stay a little bit longer so really just figuring out you know what's conducive for like hey could we do one week a month um you know in a place where you know you do the weekend intensive and then maybe we stay and train just because you get to...

We see this week that we're doing now is basically like... What did you say yesterday? It was really good. You said this is basically like... It's like activation week. Yeah, like implementing all the stuff that we talked about in the weekend

in the training sessions. Yeah. So they get a pretty good understanding and can feel everything over the weekend. And then in the week, it's like, all right, let's just play with it a little bit. So yeah. So you guys are going to take the show on the road. Yeah. That's the plan.

So we have a few coaches and places that are kind of knocking on your door here soon. But if anyone's out there, it sounds like something you guys to want to host uh how can people get a hold of you guys uh they can email us at info at camp-17.com or what's the dash you guys is that no that's the sideways dash you want to know why because we tried to get camp17.com and it's an old man hunting camp in like i don't even know where that owns camp 17. It's a little creepy. You're like, is this some underground weird, like I don't know what.

So don't go to that one. Don't go to that one. Or they can just go to our website, camp-17.com. Yeah, and you can check out everything. We're on social media too. Yeah, go follow us on Instagram or Facebook. Yeah, I think Instagram and Facebook are pretty good, like really good representation of what people can expect.

The other thing is, this is what I found when trying to explain to some of my clients what they're getting themselves into. As I just would post or show them, you guys have a ton of reviews on your Facebook page. So I usually just read the reviews and that pretty much kind of sells it for you. Yeah. You know, like that's, uh, if you read those reviews, you're like, holy shit. Yeah.

I mean, we tell them you don't have to give us five stars, but we just get five stars. Yeah. And usually like pretty intense raving reviews. Yes. Which is very humbling. Yeah. So while going forward, what's your Instagram handle? Camp.17.

Camp.17. That one's pretty doable. Yeah, that one's pretty easy. That's on Instagram and Facebook. It's just straight Camp 17. It's just straight Camp 17. So, but yeah, so that does have us like at our time. Is there anything else you guys want to get out there?

No, thank you for having us. And again, if you want us to come, just get ahold of us. We'll figure it out. We still need to make our 2019 schedule. So, oh yeah, that's right. Yeah. I don't know. So, well, now I got to run all the massonomics stuff.

So you can make sure you go to mastanomics.com. There you're going to find our store, all our articles, videos, podcasts. Everything we have is archived there. In the store, you're going to find shirts, hats. Nobody's wearing. I do have a hat. The lift hat is available. We still have the Huge Life shirt, lift shirt, all the OG gear.

I think we still have the Flex Flasks in stock. All sorts of good stuff there. Make sure you like us on Facebook. Go to youtube.com forward slash massonomics and you can follow the official massonomics page on Instagram at massonomics. I'm Tyler. You can find me on Instagram at Tyler F. N. Stone.

That's Tyler E-F-F-I-N Stone. Thanks a lot for listening, everybody. We'll talk to you next week, and stay strong. You just heard the Masanamics podcast. With your ears, you're welcome. Check us out on Facebook. Find us on Instagram at Masanamics, and make sure you visit Masanamics.com

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