The Sevan Podcast - #673 - Shawn Ramirez

Episode Date: November 17, 2022

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Starting point is 00:00:19 Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by car and other conditions apply. Good morning. Bam, we're live. Jeff Birchfield, Spiegel, G's, Louise, Jethro, Cardona. We are starting five minutes and seven seconds.
Starting point is 00:00:45 Early, the guest today will be Sean Ramirez. Pretty excited to have him on. Five times CrossFit Games athlete. We'll get all the juicy details of how he did at the CrossFit Games. I did a bunch of research on Sean over the last couple of days. Not a lot to dig out on him in the last couple of years. He's been pretty silent.
Starting point is 00:01:13 He showed up at what I believe is called the Masters Fitness Collective. He showed up there with a bunch of other people. Ron Ortiz was there. Those were two names. When I used to film behind the scenes, I would see those guys. They were natural superstars everywhere they went. People stared at them. They had big smiles on their face. I didn't spend a lot of time with them in passing. It was always a handshake or a hug, always gentlemen of the highest order.
Starting point is 00:01:42 And when I heard he was back in the scene, I was excited to have him on the show. I do believe that Sean tested positive for something in his final year. I think that was also going to be his final year. I think he was thinking about retiring. It was one of those situations where he had his supplements tested and his supplements also tested positive, something that was like, you know, wasn't supposed to have Austrian in it or whatever that GW one five one six thing that, uh, Mr. Our friend, Mr. Hiller has educated us about. And, uh, it was like one, one 20th of a thousandth of a whatever. And, uh, so that'll be interesting to hear that story. Uh, but there's, there's much more to them than that, uh, obviously, but it is one of those stories. And after that,
Starting point is 00:02:34 he kind of dropped from the scene. So I'm actually pretty stoked that he's back. It's very charming, uh, charismatic, uh, character, Lisa, Sevan, do you do the raw vegetables diet after the podcast with i do a lot not completely so last night i did eat uh last night i chopped up a shit ton of broccoli and put it in a pound of uh ground beef and uh i ate that that was the first time i've made myself meat in probably two weeks i've had some meat meat, but I've really, really, really, really cut back on it. Basically, what I told myself is that any meat that was put in front of me, I would eat, and I would absolutely stop eating processed meat, and I've done that. No processed meat.
Starting point is 00:03:17 I don't eat any deli meat of any sorts anymore. There's a guy named the WOD father who's told me for years, I shouldn't be messing with anything processed. And, uh, I feel great. I've, I've, I've been eating like a banana every day and an apple every day, or, you know, um, or a persimmon or just whatever I've been eating. I started, I started eating fruit. I love vegetables. I've always loved vegetables. Uh, but I've been eating quite a bit of, uh but i've been eating uh quite a bit of uh steamed broccoli yeah yeah you got it you understand yes i ate a ton of uncooked broccoli too yes and uh you know when you open broccoli yeah well you guys know if you don't understand this comment that can be for another show i want to tell you a story last night i was putting my three uh playing brothers to bed
Starting point is 00:04:02 uh it was early we had a crazy day yesterday Every day is a crazy day with those guys. They work so dang hard. Um, it's, uh, lots of tennis, skateboarding, uh, piano, lots of, uh, CrossFit training in the garage, lots of jujitsu. Um, they, the boys just had a jujitsu tournament this weekend. Anyway, I had them in bed. We're all laying there. We're cuddled up. It's cold. And so we're all cuddled up. And Avi, my oldest son asked me if it hurts if a girl gets kicked in the vagina. And I told him I didn't know because I didn't have one, but that I assumed it did hurt and that I had heard from others from watching the UFC that it does actually hurt to get kicked in the vagina. He then proceeded to say, well, why would it hurt?
Starting point is 00:04:51 I think it was him who asked the next question. Why would it hurt if they don't have balls? And I said, because they have other stuff. The point of me telling you this story is because I want to show you how I respond to my kids and the fact that I don't tell them too much more beyond what they ask. And the reason for that is not because I don't want them to know, but because I don't want to give them any ideas beyond what they want to know and beyond what is healthy for them, deemed by what I think is healthy. They went on to ask, why don't women have balls? And I said, because they make eggs and we make seeds. And then they said, where do they make?
Starting point is 00:05:35 And now they're all chiming in. They said, where do they make the eggs? And I said, they have these things called ovaries. I think of them as balls, but they're inside of them. And those are their egg making factories. And they said, oh, I said, yeah. And they said, boys make seeds. And I said, yeah. And they said, where do we make seeds? And I said, in the balls, the balls make seeds. And it's quiet for a second. And my youngest son said, so you have to plant the seed the woman has to get the seed and then and then and then it goes to the egg somehow and you uh and the baby starts growing i said
Starting point is 00:06:13 absolutely i said the egg comes out of the ovary and hangs out in a spot called the uterus i don't even know if what i'm saying is true hangs out in the uterus somewhere i said it goes down a tube goes into the uterus and then it waits, it goes down a tube, goes into the uterus, and then it waits for the seed. And then the seed goes in there. And when the two meet, the baby starts to grow. They're like, wow. My youngest son already said, how do you get the seed in there? You put it in their mouth? I said, no, you don't put the seed in their mouth. My oldest son, Avi starts to laugh. I said, oh, where do you, how do you think the seed gets in there? He said, it goes in the vagina. My son Joseph said, oh my goodness, does that hurt? I said, what part?
Starting point is 00:06:55 He goes, when the seed comes out of you. I said, no, I go millions of seeds come out of you. He's like, wow. He goes, I don't want to do that. My other two sons start laughing. One of my sons tells my other son, Joseph, who said he doesn't want to do that. He goes, you don't have a choice. You have to.
Starting point is 00:07:14 Then my son, Joseph goes, does it hurt? Does it hurt when you make millions of seeds? Do you pee them out? I said, no, you don't pee the seeds out. He said, but they come out of your penis. I said, yeah. I go, it, I go there. It's another, it's another, uh, it's something else besides pee. It's like, Oh, I really don't
Starting point is 00:07:30 want to do that. Does that hurt? And I go, no. He goes, what's it feel like? I said, it feels like eating ice cream. And then they go, okay, we'll do it. I said, all right. They go, is it just one seed? I go, no, it's millions of seeds. They're completely perplexed. They go, how do you know when you're supposed to plant the seeds? I said, when you're old and you're in love. He goes, they go, the way you love mama? I said, yeah, the way I love mama.
Starting point is 00:08:09 They said, all right. And we went to bed the end mr ramirez what's up bud also with three boys yeah almost an empty nest but not quite there yet how old are your boys one's a sophomore in college at FSU. I have one that's a junior here in high school and another one in eighth grade. So I got a few more years. Oh my goodness. Are you loving it? Did you love it? Yes. That's the best job in the world, man. I can't tell you how amazing it's been. And yeah, man, having one in college is cool. Cause when he comes back down, it's, you know, you, you start reliving those days and you're like, man, I remember those days. And it's just, it's nostalgic, but it's also scary. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I want to introduce you to a guy who's on the back end here. This is Caleb Beaver. Uh, he's on the back end. So
Starting point is 00:09:03 any pictures that come up or anything, uh, Caleb uh serving in the u.s military he's overseas in undisclosed location but any pictures you see thank you sir in this cat i'm a army brat buddy clean texas my dad was a ranger all about it then yes sir uh your dad was a ranger he was wow yeah i was born in texas he was out there based in killeen just shortly thereafter uh elvis left that's that's his claim to fame he was uh he was he was lined up with elvis um vietnam he served and so yeah it's uh it's it's part of the life that's why this weekend meant a lot, when you say he was lined up with... No, he says that. That's my dad.
Starting point is 00:09:48 Okay, I was going to say, he's too young for that. Oh, man. That's my dad being the storyteller he is. That's Ramirez folklore. Yeah, man. Good times. Where are you now? Are you working at a high school?
Starting point is 00:10:02 Yeah, I'm the athletic director here at a high school in Miami. And how long have you been doing that? This is my seventh year. It's our eighth year as a school. We opened up in 2015, and I haven't looked back since. We're up to six schools now and starting to spread across the area code and state eventually, but it's a great opportunity um my my brother-in-law actually founded the school and it was just a small little pipe dream
Starting point is 00:10:33 where he wanted to make a change in education and uh here we are seven years later and it's uh 3100 kids on a waiting list um you have a bunch of dignitaries here that come to the school, like movers and shakers in Miami. So it's a well-sought-out school educationally, and then athletically I'm just attempting to get to the bar that my brother-in-law has set, and it's a tough feat. How many schools? Six.
Starting point is 00:11:03 So we have the 6-12, which is the one I run right now. So 612, so middle high. And then we have three K through five, like the smaller, like the feeders. And then we have some preschools as well. So that's that's really like it's a charter. So it's a public school. And it right now we're we're we're turning some heads just because we're the number one performing school in the state in academics. And we don't teach the test. In fact, the new curriculum for the state of Florida is a watered down version of our curriculum that our founder actually wrote. He was a legislator in the House of Representatives for four terms. So it's it's good. also representatives for four terms. So it's, it's good. It's, it's a, uh, it's a nice little change for on the education side for the state of Florida, which has always been, um, let's just say not, not above average and little subpar, but as of now we're making a big turnaround and I'm
Starting point is 00:11:57 excited to be a part of it. Uh, that makes me feel great. I homeschool my kids. I never thought I would do that. I thought the people that homeschooled their kids were batshit crazy. And then you have kids. And so you scratch the surface a little bit. And I was like, Oh, Nelly. Yeah, no, you're spot on with that. We had to homeschool for three years, our kids to develop this curriculum to open up the school. So I know all about homeschool and just got to keep the kids active and keep them out. But I mean, the Singapore math, the Latin, like there's things that the schools don't offer that once I started seeing my kids put into play, it's they're off the charts on their academics now, which we all know the importance of that and not many do. And we're here to educate those that don't try to be a strong movement moving forward. Yeah, I don't have any girls, so I can't speak to it.
Starting point is 00:12:48 And I'm guessing it's very similar, but you nailed it. You have to keep them out and active. I recently had Jeremy Kinnick on the show. You probably remember him from back in the day. Yeah, of course. And he posted something on his Instagram. He said, all you have to do as a parent, I'm paraphrasing, between the age of zero and six is make sure your child spends 80% of their time outside.
Starting point is 00:13:11 And I thought, wow, what a great, simple way to explain, but it's raining. Doesn't matter. But I can't, sorry. There's no excuses. The Boys have to be outside. They have to be outside. They're not they're not made to vacuum cleaners are meant to be inside. Not boys. Yeah, they're they're they're wild. And soon it's kind of like soon as you put them outside, they're not wild. It's true. No, they're they just they look like at one with their landscape yeah inside they're breaking shit outside it's just like oh look they're just peaceful little they're like squirrels just little creatures doing their thing yeah no no no you're spot on that's great i love jeremy he's got he he gets it um but yeah i agree 100 you must be stoked i always i always would say
Starting point is 00:14:03 um when i was at crossfit and even what i'm doing now i'm so proud of what i do because i get to tell my boys that i'm um what do you do for living well i save people's lives you know i point people in the direction of how they can take control of their own life and save their life so and live the most fulfilling life and you get to tell your boys as a role model like i'm an epic epic role model, but you also get to say, hey, I'm focused on kids. And every mature adult, that's one of the, I guess, one of the litmus tests that you're a mature adult. What is that? Well, that you care about kids.
Starting point is 00:14:39 Yeah. You can make it a priority. Yeah. No, you're right there. And I really haven't settled into seeing that until this year. This is the first year we have a graduating class and it's one thing, all the little ones that I've, I've, I've been coaching in PE because I coached PE when I first got in here, they're all coming in now to, you know, to high school.
Starting point is 00:15:03 And those are the ones that are coming back going, man, you remember when you taught me, you know, the, the, the, the habits of life and cause we have like virtues of the month here with respect and it's different. And it's those life lessons that these kids just hold on to that really I'm starting to see now that, I mean, I get goosebumps thinking about it. And then now I'm taking them on college trips. I just got back from Southeastern University up in Lakeland by Tampa.
Starting point is 00:15:29 And they're like, coach, remember in sixth grade when you were the one that got me into football flag? I'm like, wow. And here these kids are ready to play, you know, college football. And that's where it's just, it that that that whole life lesson all throughout you know these last six seven years starting to see it come to fruition and man it's it's beautiful it's it's beautiful to see and i i couldn't be happier to be in a position i'm in here at a school being being an impact in these lives and you won't even hear the majority of the story sean you won't even 99 of them you won't even hear but the impact you had on them will be massive it's true uh karina rain uh thank you i wasn't able uh to give during
Starting point is 00:16:11 the zealous coverage i really appreciate seeing sean on here more power to all thank you thanks um i'll go back to the um to the army thing so when you say you're an army brat you were born and you were born onto uh an army base that's where you were yeah you say you're an Army brat, you were born and you were born onto an Army base. That's where you were. Yeah. Had you on an Army base? Yeah. Clean Texas. Yeah. Yeah. My dad was a Ranger and he was stationed out there in Killeen. And and I was born out there. I was there till two and a half, three.
Starting point is 00:16:41 And then my family, my mom and dad are both born and raised in Miami. So they came back to Miami and that's where I spent the rest of the 45 years, just aged myself, of my life. And then I went to college in Minnesota. That was a little bitter. So I got a little wake up there. But yeah, it was, it's good. I mean, having that background and having that structure and having that was, was definitely something that, that helped shaped who I am today. But, you know, it also, there, there's the cons of it too. You know, he, my, my dad who didn't raise me was, was a little, let's just say he, he's a conspiracist you know he's one of those guys that bought like 1200 acres in missouri thinking the apocalypse was coming back in the
Starting point is 00:17:32 late 90s like you know so he may only be 20 years off he only may only be 30 years off hold on he saw a couple too many things there and and uh and, uh, it affected him, but you know what? Great guy. He's, he's there. Um, obviously, um, through, through any, any tough, uh, challenges in life. He's a guy that, that, uh, you know, we'll have your back and have your side. So it's good. It's good to have that. Is he still on those 1200 acres? He still owns them, but now he lives now he lives in in the middle of florida in arcadia and he's got like pet alligators wow like 80 acres up there and he literally hand feeds
Starting point is 00:18:12 alligators like it's it's insane seven it's insane is he a good granddad yeah no he's he's he's good to the kids i mean we don't see him as often as we should, but, you know, he's good. You're 47? 48. 48. Yeah. Are you back in the game? The guys saw you at the Masters Fitness Collective. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:35 People were really excited to see you. A lot of buzz, a lot of people sending text messages, posting things on Instagram. Are you back in the game? I am. This is where, look, I'm excited just to, oh, nice. I'm excited just to move on. And I'm, you know, now that I'm a free man, I feel like I've been, you know, in prison for the last four years, wrongfully accused. So I'm here
Starting point is 00:18:58 ready to do something that I love, something that has been a part of my life for, you know, close to two decades now. And this is, this is where I belong. So being able to come back in, uh, I will say I was ill prepared. I was telling some of your guys, I was like, like, Hey, you're doing good. First place after day one. I'm like, yeah, I'm doing great. However, I haven't really trained CrossFit in over three years, four years. So, you know, that for me was an eye-opening experience because day two, I started fading. By day three, I want to talk about just complete, you know, Berlin. I hit that wall. I had no muscular endurance. Mentally, I was there. I thought I can persevere through. But, man, I tell you, Saban, it's different.
Starting point is 00:19:49 These guys, I was thinking 45 to 49 is a different group. I haven't competed in that yet. There was a couple of games guys there. And I'm like, nah, I'll be able to hang. I hung. But, boy, did I fall at the end, man. I'm not used to falling. So it humbled me, but it also made me hungry.
Starting point is 00:20:06 Meaning you will make a, you will make a run in 2023. Correct. Yeah. The plan is to, to do the, uh, the open, to make a run, just seeing where I'm at health wise, seeing where I'm at with injuries. I've been lucky enough not to have any, I do a lot of low impact stuff, my man. I mean, beach volleyball, I do a lot. That's where I build my engine. A lot of mountain biking, which could be high impact, but on the body, it is low impact until you hit a tree. But I've been fortunate to stay away from those. And swimming. So, whoa, there you go. that's been my life for the last few years. There's my boy. That's the one in college right now, Ty. So it's been, it's, it's been good in terms of staying healthy, but bad in terms of moving a bar, man, like that barbell has been, you know,
Starting point is 00:20:57 collecting cobwebs for quite a few years now. So I picked it back up like two months before I went into MFC, which just, you know, just to get some, some, um, some of that blood flowing again. But I tell you, brother, it's, it's, uh, to make up for three years and six weeks was not a possible task. And I didn't think it was, but I went in there thinking I would still be able to, to kind of pick up, um, close to where I left off. But, man, I was really mistaken. Those boys got strong too. Yeah, man. The whole field is getting like – the whole field is –
Starting point is 00:21:34 every Tom, Dick, and Harry, the 80-year-old woman in your CrossFit gym has gotten stronger. It is truly nuts what's happening. Here's the problem, Sevan. These strong guys that usually are one dimension right hey you're gonna beat me on the strength you're gonna beat this and i always i'm major strategist in any competition i get out there and i'm looking at this workout with four legless world crimes three two one it was a descending or four three two with a 155 pound thruster right
Starting point is 00:22:03 so i'm like i'm gonna destroy this Cause I can do legless all day. And the strong guys are going to get choked up on the, on the legless. The guy who ended up winning it freaking look like a damn Ninja. He was going up so fast and I'm like, Oh, first four. Yeah, whatever. Just wait till that heart rate kicks up to about one 40, man. I'm sitting there and the announcer was spot on. I'm in the lead. I look over.
Starting point is 00:22:27 He comes up next to me off of the thrusters, unbroken. I broke mine up. I look over at him. Next thing you know, he's climbing up the rope on his two. I'm like, oh, I can't wait to watch this guy start kipping and failing. He came up, up, up, up, up, came down. I looked at, man, at there that the announcer goes, Oh, looks like Sean is,
Starting point is 00:22:46 is going to be content with second place as he looks onto his competitor. I'm seven. That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm like, I am happy to take second. If you can go up that rope one more time. And sure enough, he did. So that's the scary thing. These strong guys are now gymnastic. They have that gymnasticness and they're well-rounded. I'm like, this is not, this is usually like Neil Maddox. He was one of the ones that shocked me. Like I went in there, I'm like, yeah, he's going to beat me on the snatch. He's going to, but I'm going to take him in all the other, man, he did his homework. He started working with
Starting point is 00:23:19 Chris Henshaw, who was my coach, which to this day, I want to, because I didn't know he was working with him. And the guy beat me in the swim. The guy beat me in all the, you know, the Met cons. I'm like, this is not right, man. But just goes to show, man, a lot of people are, you know, reluctant and hesitant on working on their holes and working on gaps. And you can't have gaps anymore in this game, man. So everybody's working on them, getting good coaching,
Starting point is 00:23:44 getting great programming. And this game has so everybody's working on getting good coaching getting great programming and this game has definitely gone to the next level so that's where right now i'm in the process of getting a new coach um i love my coach but right now i'm just looking at options and uh see where that leads me and and let me tell you when i step back in full, come back in the open, it's going to be back to that head down and tunnel vision and just going for the kill. Chase Ingram with Get With The Programming. Let's go, bro. Welcome back, Sean. Love you, Chase.
Starting point is 00:24:18 That's my buddy. I heard. I'm not. Are you a UFC fan? Well, yeah. I saw Chandler like, whew, this week. Yeah, I don't watch it as much as I used to because wrestling is my background. I mean, I wrestled in college, but that's where I was really into it.
Starting point is 00:24:36 But recently, man, it's just been all work. You know, I can't keep up anymore, man. But, yeah, I watch this weekend. Dana White said something in the, in the press conference. He said that, um, 30 years ago when the UFC started, they were always concerned that no one would really understand what they're seeing. And that in this last fight in the stadium, when, um, uh, Israel Adesanya got one of his hooks in around Alex, Alex Pahea.
Starting point is 00:25:07 Yeah. Yeah. That the whole stadium screamed and stood up and he took that as, as like how educated the fans have now become. They understand even a nuance move like that to the layman of getting a hook in how valuable that is. And that's, what's happened in CrossFit too,
Starting point is 00:25:23 not only in their understanding of it, but in the caliber of the athlete you know if someone had a seven minute fran at an l1 in 2008 you're like wow that dude's a beast and then all of a sudden you know flash forward to 2000 you know 18 and every l1 has a guy doing fran and you know sub four minutes right yeah and you got noah kicking in what 148 or something like nuts ridiculous do you still see him he's around like he's literally like from where i'm at now he's two miles east of me he's right here in south miami um like we don't train together but we still talk i still text him like you know we're we're we were really close when he first came in the scene when he was still at um and that's when i kind of took him under my wing me and ron you know ron ortiz and like we would always come together and that's when wadapalooza just started um but and then nike we were with nike for for three years together uh but you know we don't train together. Like I'm starting to step back in. And now like, you know, Anna,
Starting point is 00:26:26 Tana Cliff, I always say Tana Cliff, but she's down here. She wants to get back. She's, she missed the Olympics in Tokyo by like 10, one hundreds of a second, like the girl. So she's back down here training. So we're going to start training together in the Grove. i'm going to start stepping back into peak which is where because i just need to get some some rabbits and some some um some you know some elite athletes to pick me and that was one of my secret success uh you know um secret uh success stories is i would always just find those,
Starting point is 00:27:05 those athletes to just run with not all the time, but I would travel up and just grab some guys and, and, you know, just to, once I started feeling confident and my numbers are going up, I'm feeling good. Let me go get humble. Let me go run a, you know, a Fran with, with the, the Noah Olsons of the world. And that's, as an athlete, you got to do that. You always got to just, you know, play at a higher level, compete, you know, practice at a higher level in order to sustain that higher level.
Starting point is 00:27:33 So I'm definitely going to be stepping back into him to answer your question. He doesn't know it yet. So if he's seeing this, Noah, you can get to your text when I reach out to you. But yeah, man, I'm in it to win it, man. When I come back in, it's going to be full force. I want to educate everybody on what's really going on out there.
Starting point is 00:27:52 I want to, you know, just tell the story, which is why I'm here today, and be able to just move on and get back to my love. Did Anna have a kid? No. No, she didn't. Okay. But she had gone to the olympics before right yeah she was a gold medalist in 2008 sailing she's a beast man she killed the mfc
Starting point is 00:28:13 um she was phenomenal out there oh there she is yeah now she is she's great and she's she's on the rx team you know with uh david newman who to this day is i would have to say arguably the best um forget sponsor friend that i've ever had he's the guy that's always stayed you know by my side and and even at mfc like you know we were uh it's i don't even know he's going to be there uh he ended up giving me, giving me one of those beaded ropes. And I could not do a crossover to save my life. I could not do one crossover two weeks before the competition. And cause I had a shorter rope and he's like, Sean, here, let me send you a rope. And, and my son, my eighth grader, he's like, dad, are you sure you want to compete? Are you sure
Starting point is 00:29:03 this is a smart thing to do, dad? I don't think you're ready. I'm like, dad, are you sure you want to compete? Are you sure this is a smart thing to do, dad? I don't think you're ready. I'm like, what? Man, I tell you these kids. So I'm like, Hey, it's a technique. Don't worry. I'm going to figure it out, but I just need some help. So, uh, that was one of those things that again, it's, uh, I've been out of it too long, my friend. So when those things came up, I'm like, dude, I used to do this in 1986. Rocky soundtrack in the background. I got this. I could do one. By the way, I spoke to Dave yesterday, just gave him just a courtesy call just to say, hey, what's up? And I agree that he is a class act, a rock of a man.
Starting point is 00:29:45 Yeah. Community is lucky to have him. Just so you don't feel left out, I take my kids to the skate park, you know, three, four, five times a week. And if I stand on their skateboard, they will literally start to cry. They think I'm going to hurt myself. Yeah, they think I'm going to hurt myself. Yes. No, no, don't, don't, don't. You're old.
Starting point is 00:30:04 You're old. They run over to me. I'm like, damn. I love it. No, no, don't, don't, don't. You're old. You're old. They run over to me. I'm like, damn. I love it. No, man. That's, that's awesome. That's, that's love right there. I'm a big, I used to build half pipes. I'm a big skateboarder. I took my kids there early. Yeah. Early in their years. So I'm, I'm all about with, with raising kids is just a balance of life, you know, like surfing, skateboarding, all those extreme stuff, snowboarding, we go. And then you go to the other side of that and the traditional sports. Like you just, and that's, that's like here at school, that's what we do.
Starting point is 00:30:34 Like every six weeks we introduce a new sport. You know, we introduce lifetime sports with golf and tennis. And cause you know, it's so sad. So when you come here and kids that are coming from other schools don't know they don't even know how to throw with the opposite foot and i'm like we don't even they don't have no mechanics they have no just nobody's teaching it anymore man it's like and they're not taught at home and everybody is working multiple jobs and trying to make enemies and don't have time like they rely on the schools to do it
Starting point is 00:31:05 or coaches for their club and it's just sad man so like you know i try to give that balance with the kids and get them out there and um but skateboarding man it's it's it's fun a little a little extreme but it's uh it's it's a good time i don't think people realize the that basically you can take any subject and completely dive into it and you will you will be get the history of the world so let's say for example you were into horseback riding uh right let's say you liked horses eventually you get into the biology of a horse you're going to learn how to treat animals you're going to get into the physics of horse jumping you're going i mean everything that you dig deep you're going to learn how to treat animals. You're going to get into the physics of horse jumping. You're going – I mean everything that you dig deep, you're going to get into math. Everything you dig deep into eventually gives you all of the answers.
Starting point is 00:31:53 It really doesn't matter if you can get your kid. And even just training with my kid, two, three, four years old, all of a sudden one day you realize, oh my god, they know addition and subtraction. Because they're three years old. And you're like counting reps and you're on seven. And my three year old will yell, you have three left. And then I know he did. He did the math. Yeah. Yeah. It's all it's always unfolding as long as you have them engaged. It's always unfolding. Yeah. No, it's beautiful. No, I love I love where you're going with that. And and that the one thing is just leading by example. And you do that well. I follow you. And that's the one thing that I'm taking thing that that you know hit me uh four years ago was one of those things where i'm like man to hear my kids go dad what happened like and then once
Starting point is 00:32:53 i explained to them hey this is what happened and they were like we still love you i was like man and you're you're our hero i'm like and that's when it's just nothing else matters in the world it's a healthy pressure that they put on us yeah it is that you know we we don't we don't want them to seek external validation and yet they are our greatest litmus test by getting validation um from them and if your kids can keep you on the straight and narrow then then then you know leverage that part of your ego and run with it that's that's what i try to do no well said right uh you um you know i always use this example but someone cuts you off in traffic and you're 18 years old and you tell them to fuck off you have your kids in your car and you want to show your kids what a peace and happiness and security and and and and and, and re what real men do.
Starting point is 00:33:45 And real men don't give a shit. Real men are just in control of what they can control. And you're like, all right, even though I want to flip this guy off, I'm not because my kids are watching and I want to show them like, Hey, you can be just give the guy the peace symbol or be like, sorry, even after he flips you off. And they're like, wow. I'm guilty. I'm guilty of the other side of that, my friend. I know me too.
Starting point is 00:34:11 But what I do do is when I do react and it is impulsive. Yes. I do. What are you thinking? You almost caused an accident. And then it escalates. Right. And then my kids like that. Don't stop. And then it hits me. Yes. I go, you're right. I'm sorry. I roll my window. I pull back. And that's that's when you got. I know, I know we're all human. We, we, you know, we want to defend our right, but right. I'm like, once it affects them and they're like, dad, please. All right. You know what? I'm sorry. And that's when, that's when you have to, to, uh, and, and the, uh, that, that overreaction. What was your first sport you played?
Starting point is 00:34:47 I was a multi-sport guy which doesn't happen anymore right so i was a seasonal so you know i would play football and then soccer and then basketball so all the traditional sports and then it turned into some of the why soccer and not baseball so baseball actually i i did play um seven, but at five years old, just because of the technical side of it, baseball was, you know, at the time they had T-ball. And I did T-ball and like when I got into it for one season. But no, I did those four. Those four were my sports for eight years. And then in between all that is when I did a lot of the surfing, the skateboarding and the, the BMX, I did some BMX for a little bit. Um, and then wrestling is what really changed my life.
Starting point is 00:35:33 And that came in in sixth grade. And once I started wrestling, I had never looked back. That was cause I was a little guy. I mean, I graduated high school wrestling, 119 pounds. Wow. As a senior. Yeah. How tall were you? No, I was 5'8". And then I went my first year in college. I was recruited as a 126 pounder.
Starting point is 00:35:54 I go up there and I ended up coming back after year one, six foot, 190 pounds. Well, 165. But that's when I said, I can't go back and wrestle man like i'm not a a big boy wrestling i'm a takedown specialist ankle pig duck unders like i'm not a guy that's throwing going back up wrestling 190 in a d1 school like it's not like you know it's a whole different style so um but let me tell you like being that small like that's where the baseball i didn't have the long bond you could still play baseball the second base i was a shortstop um football i played all you know till till middle school but um wrestling it's all weight class based so i was able to go
Starting point is 00:36:38 in there and do really well in middle school and and uh got recruited into a high school and and uh it was it's a great great sport for me and that i credit a lot to the successes in crossfit there's a lot of similarities in that a lot of guys the chris spielers of the world and uh the matt chance the guys that rest that wrestle that man that mental toughness and that grit and that determination and that fight is, uh, is something that it definitely is, is what I value most in, in, in, in my current day and age. And it's something that has carried over to, to many of my children. And, and my, my son wrestled, we just started wrestling program here yesterday. Oh, congratulations. I'm excited, man. It's just,
Starting point is 00:37:23 cause I know what it did for me in my life um so yeah that that was it so your traditional sports extreme in the middle of those and then wrestling uh justin madaris the current two-time games champion uh his first year as a as a wrestler he went one in 49 no way lost 49 of his 50 matches get out of here how tough did that make him that then he turned around was like what two-time state champion or something yeah i don't know if he ever he ended up going to the championships in california he ended up going to uh to the state championships i don't think he won but imagine yeah losing your freshman, 49 of your 50 matches and staying with it. And, you know, his mom and dad will say, yeah, the kid has no quit. That's cute. Yeah. No, you can see it. I can't get his repeat.
Starting point is 00:38:12 I was like this guy and like, you know, because that's the toughest part. Oh, there it is. The Naga. Yeah. Are you doing jujitsu also? So I did that for two years when I came back. And that's where the wrestling background, my son was in. He was in a jujitsu dojo. So we started doing the NAGA, the National American Grappling Association. That was one of the coolest things. Like coming back, that one on the bottom there, he ended up having the fastest submission in the tournament.
Starting point is 00:38:41 It was four seconds. He jumped and did a flying armbar. I don't know how he did it. He just shook the hand, he blew the four seconds he jumped and did a flying arm bar i don't know how he did it he just he shook the hand he blew the whistle he jumped up landed on his back with the guy's arm tapped him out in four seconds how old is he there he's i want to say nine yeah a lot of uh i don't know if that's in my in my kids division my oldest kids eight they wouldn't even allow that yeah oh really a flying arm bar no no yeah this was back in the day before that's awesome this is this was like 10 years ago um but no it was neat be able to come back and compete with my kid in the same tournament and
Starting point is 00:39:16 him in my corner and me and his and i i actually i ended up winning the the open division for 30 to 39, and then I won the Masters division, the overall Masters. I was in two divisions there. And what was cool is, like, those are the lessons in life. So I'm on the corner going into my final round. The guy that I'm going against submitted his guys, like, all less than 30 seconds. He was this 5'6", 190-pound pound is yoked individual where I'm not going to, I'm not going to lie. I was terrified. And I, you know, I'm not scared of many things.
Starting point is 00:39:53 This guy scared me. So when I was like, yo, I got it in for me here. And so I'm there headphones trying to disconnect, doing my thing. Ty comes up behind me. He's like, dad, are you ready? I'm like, yes, son. I'm hugging him, trying to get power, trying to get, up behind me. He's like, dad, are you ready? I'm like, yes, son. I'm hugging him, trying to get power, trying to get, you know, my boy's good fortune. And he goes, who are you wrestling? I was like, it doesn't matter. Trying to avoid that question.
Starting point is 00:40:16 It doesn't matter. So I'm going out there. I'm going to do, and he goes, is that him there? I go, yeah. He goes, oh my God, he's big. Oh no. So I went, son, size doesn't matter. Are you kidding me? Look, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. I'm just going to go out there. I'm going to throw legs on them. I'm going to make, and he's just like, he's like, but he's strong too, dad. I'm like, Oh crap. So right there, I was like, this, this is going South. And meanwhile,
Starting point is 00:40:43 my heart rate just probably elevated 30 beats per minute there. And I said, son, can you go over there? Just go to that corner. Daddy's got to go to work. Go give that guy a pep talk. Go tell that guy how great your dad is. Oh, man. So I ended up going in there and actually beating him.
Starting point is 00:41:02 I rear naked choked him in the final minute of the match. And he came running on the mat, jumped on me. I hugged him. I fell back. I was so exhausted. It was one of the best feelings and best memories I've ever had. And, yeah, when he sees this, he'll remember that. To this day, I still bring that up.
Starting point is 00:41:23 And it's just one of those things where you know it's that dad was definitely the underdog there and um i was getting tossed around like a freaking like a like a doll like a rag doll and uh i just stuck to it i was down like eight two and came back and stuck him or submitted so when you submitted him you were down eight two yeah no he awesome threw me awesome oh. It was embarrassing, man. Like he just toyed me. But, you know, that's one thing I will say. All my years of wrestling, even in college, I've never been pinned.
Starting point is 00:41:53 Wow. Never been on my back for three seconds. So that's one thing. They used to call me Gumby. I used to like literally like dislocate my arms to try, you know, to avoid getting pinned. But that's like, he, he thought he had me, you know, a couple of times, um, submitted where my chin was down enough, but I was turning purple. Um, and, uh, it, it, that, that, that I take, I take to the heart, man. I don't, I don't ever give in, man. So, um, yeah, man, it was, it was good. You grew four inches your senior year in college?
Starting point is 00:42:28 Five months. The doctor's like, you're on a rapid growth spurt. I've never seen anything like this. He said, but you're – he goes, you are at 2.5% body fat. I'm concerned that I may not see you for the next doctor visit. And that was before they had any regular. You couldn't eat enough to sustain the explosion of growth? I didn't know I was growing at the time.
Starting point is 00:42:53 When I went back, it was after Christmas break. It was at Christmas break. And so Thanksgiving, I went with my roommate to his house, ate like a pig, went back. I had to weigh in for the Bison Open, North Dakota Bisons. And they had like a five pound weight allowance. So it was like 131. I came back at 146. I was 15 pounds overweight. They threw me in the sauna, put a body bag on me. And I sat there on a bike for an hour, lost 12 pounds, then lost another three throughout the day,
Starting point is 00:43:29 passed out on the scale weighing in for the event. Luckily, in college, you can weigh in the day before. So I was able to recover for the tournament. But let me tell you, that was just, I was so malnourished. I was just killing myself, literally. And that's when I kind of woke up. And then after that, they started regulating it. There was kids that died. I think it was oklahoma there was like a couple kids that were dying from excessive weight loss so now they they manage it they monitor it but let me tell you i was close man i was really close so what you're saying is you were growing so fast you didn't even know it were you did you not go through what was that was that did you are you a late bloomer like did you not go through puberty like it's a sophomore in high school? Yeah. I wouldn't even wear like tank tops in like my junior year.
Starting point is 00:44:09 And like senior year is, you know, you start seeing a little bit of growth under the pits, but it was embarrassing. Like I would just keep my arms to the side. Like everybody there has beards under their arms. And I, you know, I was bare skin under there. And I'm like, so I was definitely the late bloomer. Fascinating. God, in hindsight, I think you really do want to be a late bloomer. Yeah. No, it's kind of like crawling. People want to get their kids walking as fast as they can.
Starting point is 00:44:36 I'm like, dude, I think of crawling as the holy grail of fitness. And if you're, you can, if you can have like my kids, I feel like we're world-class crawlers. I mean, they were savages, but, but once you stand, you're going to stand your whole life. Yeah. So you might as well just get as much reps in as you can crawling. Right. That's awesome. No, I love it. That's cool. Good for the brain. Good for the, you know, the shoulders. Good for the hips. Good for every, I mean, crawling has, there's no downside. Yeah. No, I, I, I never thought of it that way, but yeah, that's pretty primitive, but brilliant. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:45:11 Thank you. I come up with a couple things here and again. I want to go back to soccer. Do you think soccer is probably like the greatest, maybe one of the greatest supplemental sports. Like people always talk about gymnastics as being, you know, a great sport for kids. But whenever I see this insane metabolic capacity or just incredible
Starting point is 00:45:34 footwork, you know, in other sports, I always feel like people are always like, yep, they played soccer. Like all the greatest tennis players in the world seem to have some mad soccer skills.
Starting point is 00:45:49 And that's why I was thinking soccer seems so much more if you're not going to be a professional baseball player, I guess even if you were like soccer would be the one to mix with basketball and football because they just lend so much capacity to those two sports. Yeah. No, look, that's our biggest sport here in our school. I mean, we have almost 300 kids in our soccer program. Wow. And the results speak for themselves in terms of building the capacity of the engine. You're running up and down. It's great for the footwork, the whole team, the camaraderie. Like, there's so many benefits of it that, you know, it's from, I would say, the five-year-olds all the way to the nine, ten.
Starting point is 00:46:24 That's our strongest sport. Then once they get there, that's where they start going into, you know, some of the other, look, even basketball, basketball for the one thing I will say with soccer is, you know, the hand-eye coordination is the only thing that you lack in where the combination for most of our kids is soccer and basketball or soccer and flag football or all three. So I think there's something to say about that with the hand eye and being able to, to actually, you know, learn how to throw the ball and things. So that combination I think is, is, is the way to go at the early age. And then from there, anything is possible. I'm a big gymnastics guy.
Starting point is 00:47:00 So all my kids with the exception of one did three to four years of competitive gymnastics. But if you're not at the exception of one, did three to four years of competitive gymnastics. But if you're not at the, you know, level eight, level nine, when you're, you know, 10 or 11 years old, and you don't have OTC track, you know, if you're not that at that level, it's just too much on the body, man. I like, but for that baseline fitness, and that baseline foundation of strength and flexibility and and you know like power i've i'm a huge fan and my kids to this day like my kid is a tight end now six two football here junior and after the game he's going and they're all celebrating a big win for our conference championship and here he does doing a back layout. And everybody's like, what?
Starting point is 00:47:45 And they're freaking out. And I'm like, yep. How does a big boy do that? It's called gymnastics, buddy. Never leaves you. Are you kidding me? So that's something that you'll carry on forever. And his power that he has from that, even his power cleans.
Starting point is 00:48:01 He was cleaning 225 the other day. And I'm like, my God, like his hips, just everything. And I definitely think the gymnastics background for a short period of time, you know, because his body did start getting beat up. He was starting to compete, getting into 11, 12 years old. And I knew he wasn't going to go much further than that. I'm like, come on out. Then he went into wrestling, my oldest. And he did lacrosse, is big and football so football in the fall wrestling is in the winter
Starting point is 00:48:32 lacrosse in the spring and that's what he did in high school and it was a good combination the great things about the other great thing about gymnastics uh obviously it has kind of that wrestling piece that it requires some some grit and some balls but no one's trying to stop you but gymnastics and skateboarding they demand a high level of precision from day one yeah there's you will pay the price in skateboarding if you're not precise i mean you will get slammed on the concrete and gymnastics is like that too you know there's just a hype right away it's you know you don't learn that type of precision in other sports until you like progress but in those sports like they're they're drilling it into you early right yeah no absolutely no and it's just very technical and and the thing i love about the gymnastics and the skateboarding is that that whole mental toughness man no matter
Starting point is 00:49:20 how many times you fall on that skateboard no matter how many times you fall off say the beam or you're coming off the ring like you got to get back up and you got to just just dust it off and keep going. And you have nobody to turn to, you know, you and the board or you and that floor. Right. So that's the same thing with wrestling. And I think instilling that in a lot of colleges now. And I've I've been talking to recruiters. They look at that. They want a well-rounded individual. Yes, the academics are top priority. Then it goes, okay, did you do a team sport? Oh, you show good where you can work well with others and being able to conform to a team.
Starting point is 00:49:58 But did you have any track or any individual sports? Because that shows that you're able to work well with yourself and, you know, mental toughness. So that's where even at the collegiate level, I'm getting questions from recruiters saying, what other sport did he play? And like, they want to hear that. Interesting. No, it's telling you it's one of those things. And then the leadership side, you know, being a captain, being like, they look for that, like West Point, my son is looking to go to West Point. They're big into leadership. You know, obviously you go to West Point, you're coming out an officer and, you know, you have to serve five years with, you know,
Starting point is 00:50:36 with the force, but that's something that, you know, they look for that individual team leadership. look for that individual team leadership. And that starts early on that, that starts, you know, at the earlier years and in, in growth. And, you know, that's where a lot of these parents in today, they're like, no, we're going to play soccer. And he's sticking with soccer. I'm like, the kid's nine years old. No, but the club, I go, it's a business. I'm like, give this kid some very, you ever heard the variation principle look it up and they're like very look okay maybe that's the exercise phys guy talking to me and the kinesia but look he's gonna get burnt out he's not gonna like the sport anymore his body's gonna be taking
Starting point is 00:51:17 too much of a hit in the same areas he's gonna start getting like orthopedics love orthopedic surgeons love these parents that that specialize young because these kids are getting ACL tears when they're 12, 13 now. It's ridiculous, but it's just overuse. So I constantly have conversations with parents like keep your kids in multiple sports. Give them the variation so that they can learn new things. They can work on different aspects of the game, on their mindset, get different loads to their body and on the physical realm, and not get bored and still have a zest for and a want to be out there on the grid
Starting point is 00:51:59 and on the court or wherever it may be. So, yeah, man, that's huge. Sean, do you remember Travis Bajent, the commentator at the CrossFit Games? Yeah, Travis. Love his voice. Yeah. Yeah, he's great, right? Mm-hmm.
Starting point is 00:52:14 So you said something that made me think of him. I don't know if you're familiar with what's happening in his life right now, but his current high school son is maybe the best quarterback ever to play high school football as quarterback no in the country and his oldest son is about to break the all-time college football touchdown passing record in the history of football his name is his name is tyson bajan shepherdstown he. He's going to for sure be drafted in the first round. He's got fucking agents crawling all over him. He's considered one of the 10 best players playing football today.
Starting point is 00:52:51 He's five paths away. He just broke whatever the Division II record is. He just broke it, that all-time record. It's a really special situation that that kid has put himself in. And everything you're saying to me is like making sense. This kid had crazy variance. He's a crazy leader he's all around great kid i had him on the podcast i shouldn't even call him a kid crazy crazy man i mean that's how i'm doing anyway uh and last year he won the um harlan uh trophy award it's the division two heisman really wow yeah and and it's going to be
Starting point is 00:53:24 it's going to be a kind of a freak thing because he's going to go from division two Heisman really wow yeah and and it's going to be it's going to be a kind of a freak thing because he's going to go from division two straight into the NFL and he's probably going to go in the first round here's the thing that caught me what you said last year in one of his final games in his in his last two final games he played last year I think in the last two seconds he threw touchdown passes to win the game two games in a row and later i asked travis are those your best moments in watching um your kids play football and he goes yeah and i go what did you like about him he goes i liked it that my younger son came up behind me and jumped on my back and hugged me not the fact that his older son threw the winning touchdown and i and i was
Starting point is 00:54:00 like holy shit and there's travis yeah and and you said that when you were at that Naga tournament, you went over to your son to hug him to get the power. Do you know what you meant by that? Because I don't think a lot of people realize until you have kids. I don't even know how to put words to it but there's uh it's almost like an electrical current i don't know what it is yeah it's a stimulus that i feel is just immeasurable it's something that like no matter and that's why you always see me at the game save on with you know an entourage just a flood you know of of family because whether it's my son or whether it's my, my nephews or even my wife, my, my, my brother-in-law's like that love, like, let me tell you, I have,
Starting point is 00:54:54 it's, it's just family. And that's why this shirt family over everything, like for me, like that, that gives me this surge, this power, this, this belief where nothing else matters. Doesn't matter how big that guy is. Doesn't matter how bad I am at the movements coming up. Doesn't matter how much of a deficit I am at halftime, whatever that is, it's, it's all out the window. Once I get that feel and that's, and sometimes I have to create that where I go and I, and I go and search for it. But like with Travis, when it comes behind you and it grabs you and you're in that moment, there is nothing that can just replace that feeling. And let me tell you, like, I'm about to like break down, but that's what life is.
Starting point is 00:55:45 And that's what I've been blessed to have in all my years of competing. And, but I create that like, cause that's what feeds me. That's what feeds my soul. That's what feeds my hunger. That's what gives me the power within to be able to put that out. And so, you know, when you say that, like it brings chills because, um, it it's so, it's just special. I don't know how else to describe it. It's so, uh, it's just special. I don't know how else to describe it. It's just one of those things that as a parent, if you're lucky enough to have that relationship, um, you're blessed. And if, if that's where there, there's a missing element or component in life, um, I, I would
Starting point is 00:56:22 just, I would just say like, just, just be there for them. Like I'm at every one of my kids' games, everyone. And, and also the main thing I feel that a lot of, a lot of parents fall victim to is living through their kids. Right. And I'm, I'm just as guilty. Sometimes I get there. I'm like, what are you doing? And I step back. I'm like, but you'll look at the Ray Allen. Like we have, you know, he's a basketball dad here at a competing school. He comes in our gym, good friends with him. And the top of the echelon of athletes, what do they do at their kids' games?
Starting point is 00:57:00 They sit as far away from their children. And they don't say a word. And they sit there and I've, I've often like looked at it. I'm like, and I learned from them. I'm like, how come like, you know more than anybody out here? How come you don't? He's like, cause that's not my job. He's like, now I'm taking notes, mental notes on everything happening. Now, after the game, I'm going to talk to him. I'm going to tell him what he did wrong,
Starting point is 00:57:21 what he did right. And I'm going to, but during the game, he needs to figure it out. And I'm letting that coach do his job. I'm like, wow, I love you, man. Like, thank you. So those are the kind of things that I feel like a lot of like people just get sucked into the moment and they start just living those years. And we're all guilty of it, but you got to like at that point, just pull back and go let the coach. Now, if you have a problem with the coach, that's a different story. Address it after and be professional. Don't sit there and express your thoughts to the whole community and to your kid who you're embarrassing.
Starting point is 00:57:54 Right. And, you know, with that in place, I feel that kids will pull more to forming that relationship and respecting you more and not wanting to shy away, scared of what you're going to say or, you know. And so I've picked up a lot of lessons in life from some all different aspects. Even my brother-in-law, um, who just played, he's the founder of the school. He played a high school soccer, but he's the guy that just calms me. I had to call him before this. I'm like, man, you know, I haven't come out for three and a half years, four years. Like I am not an anxious guy. I'm like, man, I'm actually nervous. He goes, what are you nervous about? He's like, Sean, this is the exoneration. This is you just talking about your story and your life. And I'm like, I know, but like, I just, you know, I don't know if I'm ready. He goes, what?
Starting point is 00:58:56 You were born ready. And anyway, it's people like that, that just bring you back to the ground. And who does that better than anybody our kids our kids are the ones that just humble us and keep us grounded and and um give us that power on the other side of that and it's uh it's it's a beautiful thing well nothing matters right like nothing matters about sean when he's focused on his kids so like if your kid let's say your kid falls down and there's an alligator five feet away from him. Yeah. There's like, absolutely. It doesn't matter whether like your mom just
Starting point is 00:59:31 died. You have cancer. You got, you're cheating on your wife. Like whatever the insanity, it's irrelevant. Yeah. Child has, it just all fades away into nothing. It's just like, I tell these people, like I'll have these conflicts with people just like in the world. But as soon as you hold it up against like what if my kid was in the hospital, like those are like my best friends compared to that situation. I'd have a beer with my best enemy and love them and tell them I'm sorry for everything before I'd wish one fucking hair to get broken on my kid's head.
Starting point is 01:00:05 You know what I mean? It's just like, they just put that shit in perspective. Justin Medeiros' mom, Shayna Medeiros, family over everything, family and friends. They are blessed.
Starting point is 01:00:14 Our squad is deep. Boy, their squad is deep. They go, they travel huge. It is the best. That is the key. Just simply be there for them.
Starting point is 01:00:23 Yeah. Champ's mom. Yeah. So at what year um does how old are you and tell me about your um your your paths crossing with uh crossfit so i mean that's pretty broad statement there seven um we'll dig in anywhere um so i mean for for everything that happened um in a nutshell you know when 2018 after i finished um the games that's where you know there was a uh i received an email from crossfit stating that there was trace metal. Before we get to that, I'm just curious, like earlier, like 10 years earlier, how did you find CrossFit?
Starting point is 01:01:17 And then we'll work our way into this. Into the 120th of a milligram of something. It's crazy. 120,000. No, it was a nan something. It's crazy. 120,000. No, it was a nanogram. It was 0.04 nanograms. I have it embedded in my head. So, yeah.
Starting point is 01:01:32 So 2008, ironically enough, CrossFit wasn't around down here. Like you guys in California, since 2003, 2004, you were at the ranch in 2007. You guys had it, right? Here, there was i think crossfit mia at the time crossfit miami and there was um i am crossfit and one other place called um right i am crossfit is that still around it is yeah i mean they expanded they're the ones that did crush games so they expanded and they kind of split where mike asuna now has crossfit train um eight nine which is in the grove um which is what i was talking about where anna
Starting point is 01:02:11 uh trains at but you have um like those guys were the the ogs right that started it and then i was a personal trainer at the time, right? I had just graduated. Well, I was getting into more of the athletic directing side of things and working with the county. And my wife was like, have you heard of this thing, CrossFit? I'm like, yeah, it's like this new thing. Yeah, it's crazy, right? And she's like, I want to do it. And she was a spin instructor.
Starting point is 01:02:44 By the way, that's what Greg Glassman was too. Greg Glassman and she was a spin instructor so i started that's what greg glassman was too greg glassman was he with one with what with one leg yeah spin instructor yeah in in santa cruz california supposedly the hardest spin classes you could do in the state she's still to this day does uh there is she's still to this day does uh teach a spin which is crazy 20 years later or more um so here we are right like no not knowing anything about it i did my research ended up just walking into im crossfit which is like you know in dural area and i'll never forget dre who was in the first crossfit he was on a team in in the games in 2000 I'm gonna say eight nine he was running by himself sweating comes in hey I'll be right with you I'll remember this to
Starting point is 01:03:31 this day kept running and I'm like looking around I'm like wow okay not the customer service and relations that I expected and he comes back in he's, he looks at me and, you know, meanwhile, this guy's like 6'3", you know, 240, just chiseled. And I'm like, all right, I'm definitely not going to be coming into this place. So I literally walked out. And then I found IMT CrossFit, intense muscle training. square foot facility, walked in right away. They greeted me. Hey, how you doing? I'm like, yeah, I'm looking for my wife. She was, you know, interested in me possibly joining. He's like, Hey, we have a, we have a, um, a workout in about 30 minutes. Why don't you jump in? Cause I gave my background. I'm into, you know, exercise physiologist, blah, blah. I'm a trainer, but I also, you know, uh, collegiate wrestler. And's like oh okay why don't you try this workout oh my god seven it was i will never forget it it was like a combination of like fran so it was like thrusters pull-ups with tire flips so not only did you blast your body full like with that nasty
Starting point is 01:04:40 couplet what a way to welcome a new client oh Oh, my God. The old days. I threw up. I almost passed out. But I was hooked like everybody else, right? 2009? 2009. So after that, I'm like, wow, this is something that I've never experienced, just being just flattened like that. And so it hooked me. So then a month later, he hired me as one of the trainers.
Starting point is 01:05:05 Wow. Yeah. And the old days were wild. Then we expanded in 2010 to five. We doubled five thousand square feet and then to ten thousand square feet. I became partners when we expanded and I started competing in 2012. 2012. And that's where I went just rallying up and on, on an individual campaign with, with Dave, when I'd see him at regionals, I'm like, man, when are you going to drop masters is 40 everywhere else. What are you guys waiting for? We're talking about it. Why, what was masters then?
Starting point is 01:05:58 45, 45 to 49, 50 and 55. So the following year, and that was 2013, I begged and pleaded. They said, look, you might have your wish. We're seriously considering it. Just pay attention to the website. And sure enough, they put it out there. And that's when 2014, I turned 40 in May and became the youngest of the 40, 44. And that's when I went in with no expectation. I won the open and I'm like, wait a minute, this could get real. And then it was in Carson at the time on the track. And I won that 2014. And that's when I was like, man,
Starting point is 01:06:44 I can really do this. But what was good is the vision. Like everything is for me is visualization. I'm all about you got to see it to be it kind of guy. So I went in 2013 to Ron Ortiz out in Carson and watched him win the CrossFit Games. And that's when I got that whole just. Did you know him? Yeah. No, Ron. Ron and I, we, we, we connected through
Starting point is 01:07:08 the CrossFit community, but, um, he was a West Palm beach firefighter and I worked for the county as a wellness director. And we kind of linked up, um, just, it was through peak through, um, you know, what year was that that you met him? 2011. It was, it was that love at first sight when you guys put your eyes on each other, because it is really weird. You guys were a very special combo. Um, you guys stood out at the CrossFit games. You were both very charismatic. Everyone loved you. People gravitated to you like no others, uh, masters athletes in an individual or team even. Um, do you remember that first encounter with Ron? I remember it like yesterday. Yeah, it was in peak performance,
Starting point is 01:07:50 but they're in a little where they're in another warehouse district. There's my dog right there. And so what happened was I go in there and that's when Noah was still at UM. He was just a little jit. He was like 19. Yeah. Just stepping into the space. They called him mini Guido at the time. They were like, hey, little Guido. And and it was like the whole hustle hard crew. So it was like Big John and all those guys. And so I'm like, oh, oh, my gosh. Yeah, that was right after that. That's awesome.
Starting point is 01:08:20 So here we are in this gym and I didn't know anybody. And right away, Ron just came up to me. He's like, he's like, Hey Ron. I go, yeah, I know about you. And he was right away. He just gave me this, that big Ron hug that he gives. And I felt it. And he's like, Hey, glad to have you on board, man. Glad to have you, you know, on the team.
Starting point is 01:08:39 And I'm like, team was like, wow, this is great, man. So, so after that, it was, it was, it was just brotherhood, man. Like he's that, he's a brother to so many and he's just, he's always there. Like that guy, even through all this stuff, like he's Sean, Hey, if you need anything, just let me know, man, you know, and I love that guy, man. And, and, um, you know, I was glad to see him at MFC, you know, we were up there hanging out and, and, uh, he recently surprised to see him there. You guys didn't. He's the one that got me back in. He's like, Oh, you gotta go, man.
Starting point is 01:09:13 I'm like, Ron, I'm not ready, man. Like this is two, you know, two months before he's like, listen, I can, I can get you an invite. Like, you know, the guys that run it are really cool. This guy, Bobby. And I'm like, man, whatever. What if I do team? He goes, no, man. He's like, you got to, if you're coming back in, you got to come in as, as Sean, the Ram. I'm like, all right, man, that's fine. So I did it. They gave me an invite and then I got cold feet. I'm like, Ron, this is four weeks before I go, Ron, I don't think I can do this, man. Like I haven't been competing. I haven't been training. I haven't been doing anything like my shoulders. Gimpy. You know, I messed it up playing beach volleyball, landed on the ball and it like sublax.
Starting point is 01:09:57 It went out and in. I'm like, I just, I can barely do anything overhead. No shoulder stability. So right away I talked to chad at crossfit arm my my coach and he's like dude start doing some sauce presses start doing some pvc with you know with the bands and the kettlebells and get some stability there i'm like damn you're right man so every four to five days a week every day of the week week. It's all I did here at school. So you were scared. I just looked. You had to kind of face a fear. You'd like face the community, face yourself, face.
Starting point is 01:10:33 No. Community was not, was not the fear. So the community, I was eagerly anticipating that reunite. Like I had so much, look, I only had had a couple trolls and those trolls i punched in the face well i met face to face it was like listen first of all get the facts second of all i've been taking the same stuff before like like and third like who do you think you are calling me out on you know like who are you to talk meanwhile some of these guys got popped the next year. Like, and did I go back? Always like that, dude.
Starting point is 01:11:11 Come on, man. It's always like that. Yeah. That, you know, want to shed that, that, that, or cast that shadow on those to, to give them more light. And at the end, they're, they're, they're the ones that are hiding and um so anyway i didn't take it personal and again i could count on one hand how many of those there were and out of all those i would say oh that's beautiful there's that that's what we were talking about right there by the way that's gary roberts on the left love that no, Gary was the man. He was the man. I love that guy.
Starting point is 01:11:49 So, look, at the end, just circling back, that was more of the main reason I went back is because of that community. Let me tell you, all those Masters guys, they came up to me, Sean, everything that you've gone through, you coming back, it's so good to be competing next to you. But then on the other side of that is like, you're so like, like different than what I imagined. Like, I'm like, what? No, in a good way. Like you, you don't hold what, you know, all the, the accolades that you have, you don't hold it above. Like you're,
Starting point is 01:12:19 you're so grounded. I'm like, man, that's who I am. Like anybody who knows. Yeah. But I've never competed with you. Like, it's just, it's good to see man and hugs and guys that just truly were, were excited to be around competing with me, but like just genuinely happy that I was back in the space and that, and it wasn't them just trying to blow smoke and trying to just like, you know, And that and it wasn't them just trying to blow smoke and trying to just like, you know, build an ally or hook up with me like, you know, and get my get my contact. It was just you could just see it, man. Like and they were coming out of everywhere, like even the commentators like Jeremy, like they were just all coming around me. And that was what I was so just excited to get back to. Now, competing, terrified. Because I have everything to lose, right?
Starting point is 01:13:10 Like I go back there and I get trashed and I don't even get on the blocks. Like everybody's like, dude, he's, man, that guy fell off. What's wrong with that guy, right? And that was the fear. Because I haven't trained. I was weaker than I've ever been. And I went to Ron and said was weaker than I've ever been. And I went to Ron and said, Ron, I'm not ready.
Starting point is 01:13:29 Bro, you're ready, brother. You got this. I'm like, oh, shit. How old is Ron? He's in the 55 group now. Wow. I believe. Maybe he's at the 54, maybe the end of the 50s.
Starting point is 01:13:45 I know when I go to 50, he ages up. So he might be like 54. So anyway, so that was the fear, my friend. It's just, you know, going in there and like, look, at the end, I really don't care what people think. And everybody says that, but I really don't. Those that are close to me, I do. But coming, you know, being a four-time world champion, going back into the space and not being competitive was a huge fear of mine. And I didn't feel like I was ready. But after day one, with the handstand walk, I came out on first, you know, and I felt just on fire. I was like, man, I'm back. Um, and I stayed, you know, I stayed on a good pace, but over 10 workouts, I just couldn't sustain it. I couldn't hold on. And, uh, it, it, but what's good is after
Starting point is 01:14:33 that, like I truly got that, that, that edge back and that, that, that, that, that, that need for competition and being able to go and just claim what was mine and get back on that set. So anyway, yeah. So when you say four times games champion, that's because the fifth year they stripped you of the title. Well, second. I lost to that that uh mr nm neil maddox oh in in your fifth year you took second correct and at that point he was coming
Starting point is 01:15:14 in at 40 and you were 40 right 445 yeah which does make a difference we all know that um but i just knew him as being the strong guy. I didn't think that he was going to come in with, you know, the tools that he came in with. He's a special athlete, man. He's a special athlete. That guy, look, he camped out there like a month before and acclimated. Like, dude, he, and he even said, this is my last competition. He was there to win it, right?
Starting point is 01:15:41 And he retired his shoes and all that. And I give him credit when credit was due um and he earned it he put in the work but for me to end like that and and you know for for me to to to not be able to i don't need to win on top but even if i got that that second place um i wanted to end with that honor and the integrity and be able to not have any, you know, asterisk or, you know, tainted my image and my name. And that's what I want to come back. That's why this next time coming back, I already got a guy who's going to document everything. Document, like, everything from everything I'm eating and training and, and supplementing and doing, Hey, I want to put everything out there so everybody can
Starting point is 01:16:31 see. Cause I, I'm, I haven't hit anything my whole life. In fact, I've been more than transparent to CrossFit because nobody knows this, but in 2015, when I won my second year, I tested positive for Adderall. So it was, and that was a PED because it's an amphetamine. But I don't even take it coming into the games because it suppresses my appetite. But it was in my system. But I've had a therapy, I mean, I've, I've had a prescribed since 2008. Um, that was also a late blooming discovery, adult ADD. Um, and it really, and I went, I text Dave, Dave, are you serious? I submitted this last year. No, you got to do it every year.
Starting point is 01:17:18 So seven from, and you probably knew this from that point all the way until 2018, I was on probation. Oh, I didn't know that. Every three months I had to give them my whereabouts. I had to go. Yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah. I mean, so I had to report everything to them, random drug testing, like, so that to me, like, even if I wanted to cheat, I couldn't cheat. So, and that's what I disclosed and told a lot of these people. Like, listen, I've been so, why would I try to fix something that's not broken? I've been doing the same thing for years. So, why would I try to change? You sued the supplement company, right?
Starting point is 01:18:02 Correct. Yeah. So, how does that play out? Well, we settled for an undisclosed amount, and we settled out of court. So you won? Yeah. Oh, I won. I won. That's great to hear. No, it was awesome.
Starting point is 01:18:17 Do they tell you how that happens? How does that happen? No, I mean, look, when we sent it to Corvo Labs, when Corvo Labs came back, which is a very reputable source, originally CrossFit's like, wait a minute, this is an open container. Do you have clothes? And I'm like, yeah, they sent me so much product. And that's when I was a little taken back with CrossFit. Oh, do you have proof of purchase? Proof of purchase? Never purchased a supplement in my life. Like in the last five years, I can give you tracking numbers. I can give you- Oh, because they're all given to you by sponsors. But that's what they were hanging it up on. Hey, I need proof of purchase. I'm like, what are you talking about? So all this was happening, which delays the process. And then they're like, oh, we're not going to extend the you know the the allowance for your submission and your appeal so it was a mess is that what ended up being the big ding on you
Starting point is 01:19:10 is that you couldn't get in the information when i gave them that look in december 15th is when i actually got the results from a sealed bottle so i had an open container which i was taking and it was i can disclose what um what type of product it is i can't disclose the name and it was, I can disclose what, um, what type of product it is. I can't disclose the name. And it was a B12 drop. It was B12. So it was a liquid. It was a liquid B12. Is that the same supplement that Katie proved that was tainted also? I'm not sure in her case. She popped the same time and she proved hers was tainted. Right. So I proved it. Then they wanted a sealed bottle.
Starting point is 01:19:44 So I proved sealed and then after that they're like well we're not going to take that um because the full product name wasn't disclosed from the beginning and i'm like it was just i felt like i was just wrongly done as the the poster child on the other side all right we can we can just take this four-time world champion and rake him across and no matter what he's going to, you know, no matter what he's going to give us on his findings, we're going to find something just to keep this sanctioning. Just give me the two year release, you know, release it on the press, let them know that I did have positive findings in a closed and a sealed and an open container. And fast forward a year later, we settled out of court.
Starting point is 01:20:28 We actually settled. We won the case and there was no denying that. So they didn't even deny it. They couldn't even deny it. No, they tried to deny it. They tried to go back. But like, how are you going to deny a sealed container? And it was the exact same product that it was the the gw 15 16 and and the aust what
Starting point is 01:20:49 was it austereen but it was like the you know and it was in in in that sample it was trace amounts as well as the same 0.3 oh identical trace amount wow yeah so it was like look they couldn't deny were you tripping when this happened to you're like this is supposed to happen to people other people like look and i've always pride yeah man i've always prided myself with taking natural services and just like really being this this you know this example for all of not only the crossfit community like hey because i've never been the strongest i've never had the best engine i've never done like there's nothing that was great about my my my game other than just a good balance of of capacities so then like when this came out i'm
Starting point is 01:21:39 like are you freaking serious so immediately i thought it was deer antler because the deer antler has had like so i tested that right away and testing's not cheap i don't know if you know that yeah no but i i always think about that i go i wouldn't if i i mean i know it was your life at the time but it sounds crazy to have to pay for all that shit yourself but i wanted to exonerate myself it was like 500 a hit wow 500 a test so you have eight supplements that's four grand five grand seven supplements so i had deer and there was the first one i'm like all right it's got to be the deer then i thought i was taking it was like a natural product with tribulus and it's like a a test booster but it's all natural it was called stacker two they looked
Starting point is 01:22:23 it up nothing in the ingredients is illegal. You could take up to five pills a day. And I would take that getting close to the games just to enhance my own natural testosterone stores. But it wasn't chemical. So I thought that was it. I tested that. That came out clean. Then I'm like, oh, crap.
Starting point is 01:22:40 What could it be? So I tested my BCAAs, right? Because I had some. This is like Russian roulette. You just want to find it. It was so annoying. Yeah. And I'm like, so then here we are like six weeks in.
Starting point is 01:22:51 They're like, hey, and they gave me the time to test. But then it got to the point where they're like, well, we're not going to accept any other testing at this point. Or, you know, you've already, you know, gone over the allotted a lot of time for the appeal and i'm like look i still have four products i'm just i mean you know two thousand dollars that i've already kicked out it's not you know something that oh trust me i know so anyway so then you have three kids at fucking home the last thing you want to do is spend four thousand dollars on so it came down to the sixth out of the seventh one and it was the b12 right so right there i was like oh it was that was a smoking gun i was so and that was this november like 20 like right after thanksgiving i remember going like
Starting point is 01:23:38 being thankful like yes we found the smoking gun i was was so excited. So then that's when like, they're like, well, do you have a sealed bottle? I'm like, crap. And I had three extra bottles. So I sent that in and that came back positive. And I got those results December 15th. But by then they had already blasted me. They put it out there and I was just, and you know, all I asked was just wait until all my testing is done. Cause if they, if nothing comes up negative or everything comes up or nothing comes up positive, then I did my due diligence and I don't know what the hell happened and I'm guilty, but give me at least the chance to test my products.
Starting point is 01:24:18 Did they ever retract it? Why didn't they retract it and say, Hey, uh, we're going to give them a waiver here. This is a final decision. And the guy who did it, I'm not going to name names because I don't want to be that guy. But, you know, you know who's behind the testing. I love Justin. It's not Justin. That's my dog.
Starting point is 01:24:35 I'll let you narrow it down. But I'll never forget in the 2017 games, the last games at Carson, you know, he's like that gatekeeper. And it was something so trivial. It was, I had like a band. I always wear bands. Right. And the band was a band I had gotten that meant a lot to me. And it was there. We were getting ready to walk into the, the stadium, you know, to get our medals. And I'm there with Ron and I'm like, we're giving the Ron hugs and we're celebrating in the tunnel. And this gentleman comes up and
Starting point is 01:25:11 he's like, Hey, you need to take off your bands and this and that. And I looked and I was like, okay, like didn't even think about it. Cause I'm in the moment, man. I literally just won the games for the third time. It was my three pete and then i'm getting ready to walk out three minutes later and he comes and just lays it on me brother i i thought i told you to take that all you're trying to get one past me huh i'm like what are you talking about man and i'm like dude i forgot man you really think that i want to have this out this isn't even a sponsor this is something personal. You mean this is for the closing ceremonies?
Starting point is 01:25:48 This is for the award thing? This is for the awards, man, on the podium. And then I'm like, and he's like, you know, you deliberately disobeyed my order. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Seriously? You need to stop right now, bro. I just got my three P. Seriously, you need to stop right now, bro.
Starting point is 01:26:03 I just got my three P. I'm here celebrating with all my boys. And you're sitting here hounding me for a freaking silicone band, thinking that I want to sit there and promote a product. Like, what is wrong with you? What's wrong with me? And then Ron goes, Sean, Sean. I go, Ron, like, seriously, like, this is just unjust.
Starting point is 01:26:23 Like, what? I don't get it, man. And I took my band off and I put it down. I'm like, and he was like, seriously, like, this is just unjust. Like, what? I don't get it, man. And I took my band off and I put it down. I'm like, and he was like, thank you. And I was like, no, thank you, man. Ever since then, stink eye every other games. When I won it again in Carson, same thing. If I didn't have, if I had headphones on and I was walking towards an area,
Starting point is 01:26:43 you had to have them off. He was like, headphone, like everything was a punch in the face. So when this happened, it was like, it was almost personal, at least to me. Was he doing his job? They have to follow their policy. They have to do what they have to do. I respect that, but follow policy. If I give you a result that results in a reduced sanction give me that at least that right and that's the one thing that you know i just it sat it it's it
Starting point is 01:27:16 didn't sit well with me and my attorneys my attorneys are like you know you can go after crossfit because you know um you know uh that that's a defamation of character. And I'm like, listen. I'm not going after CrossFit. First of all, nobody wins. Even if you win, you still lose. And I'm not going to go and pick that fight with somebody that I'm going to be back in that space again. And, you know, it's not worth what an extra few, I mean, what's it worth? And they were just thinking money. They're like, no, it's more than you think. You know, we can go and get it, go after them for this. And I'm like, listen, as much as that sounds
Starting point is 01:27:54 very appealing right now, that's not my interest. My interest is just clearing my name, getting back in competing, doing what I love again and moving on, man. And so they respected that. I didn't say anything. I didn't bash CrossFit. And to this day, I'm still not. Do I think that there could have been some decisions that were made from the higher level to help mitigate this and to help exonerate me and, you know, give me what I thought was fair? And yes, absolutely. But what a it's for me, I'm not holding that against anybody. I'm not going to sit there and hold a grudge that life's too short. But I am here to tell you that it has empowered me beyond measure.
Starting point is 01:28:38 And when I do make my comeback, which is now, those competitors that are out there just all i gotta say is be ready be ready because uh um it's it's a ram 2.0 brother so the the takeaway here is the only person you really cared about is your three sons and then your family at the end of the day you just you didn't want to cause them headache or have them think ill of you. And everyone else can go pound sand, and it was kind of a dick move to give this chick Katie. That was the part when I looked into this, and I didn't look too deeply into it.
Starting point is 01:29:18 But the fact that another person who also proved the same thing you did got a two-year ban and you got a four-year ban right yeah no i mean were you the first person ever was that no no there were others no no no okay but you know in addition high profile though probably yeah for sure and that's what i think that ultimately they they kind of wanted um but you know, when you talk about just like me personally, the kids love me. They're going to accept me no matter what. It was, my concern
Starting point is 01:29:56 was the backlash that they would get outside of our household, which they didn't. Like there wasn't guys, like to this day like even Ty the kids that know and can look up my name aren't going to sit there and be like oh your dad you know got busted like because like that's why I'm doing this the truth is going to get out there people are going to see what really happened and we're going to move on from that. It wasn't like, you know, I had like as I saw, you know, with the interview with with with, you know, Gerard, like he straight out had like was it durable?
Starting point is 01:30:35 I don't know. So I'm like, but he came out and said, yeah, I knew what I was taking in this. Like and I respect if I came back and smashed it. Right. And I respect if I came back and smashed it. Right. That's not my case. Like, I feel like I was a victim of a contaminated substance that I feel like I was. I was. You were. You were. And it sounds like a nightmare to tell you the truth. It sounds like like this is like something when you're a kid, like you see happens to like some Olympian. And now you're like, what's your luck? No, man. and look and and that's the hardest part was me to just accept that um and but if i didn't have the family behind me and didn't have the people in my corner like i would have never survived and that's where
Starting point is 01:31:17 look so it was hard on you so you're but you were let me tell you man and look i wasn't going to put this out there in fact i was i was um I was advised not to from my family members. They just said, if you do, just keep it simple. But I am a guy that holds a lot in, right? Most men do. this has been stressful. She's like, well, just talk to me. That's not who I am. I don't, that's not, I'm not this emotional guy. So I kept a lot in finally, as it was getting close to the end and we finally settled, it all came out and I was just relieved. But to the point where I was exhausted mentally, I was exhausted emotionally and I didn't know what to do. And like, I also pride myself on being just a clean cut where like, I didn't even drink my first beer until I was 21. Like I never partied. Everything was right. Like, so, so that's where I started finding myself just, you know,
Starting point is 01:32:22 doing my sports and stuff. And then on the weekend when I would do my lawn work, I'd have a beer here and there. And I was like, and then it got to it where my son was dad, I've never seen you drink beers. Like I go, no, it's hot out here. And I kept on making excuses. No, you know, I'm doing yard work or, you know, I'm building the shed. And then it affected my kids. And that's when they're like, but are you going, I'm, I'm building the shed and then it affected my kids. And that's when they're like, but are you going to train again, dad?
Starting point is 01:32:48 When are you going to go back to the CrossFit games? And it, that man, you want to talk about pain? Did you have to, did you, how, how, how bad did the drinking get? Not bad. But it hurt to hear that from the kids, right? Yeah. No, I mean, two beers is a lot for me. I mean, so, but it was just the principle of it. It was the point of it. And then hearing that from the kids, I'm like, Oh my gosh, like this is, this it's affecting like my lifeline, my, my boys, like my family. And I finally came out to my wife and just said, look, like, she's like, no, I'm just concerned because you've never drank. And I'm like,
Starting point is 01:33:31 I'm not drinking like, because I need it. It's just, it helps me relax on the weekend. And she's like, but that's not you. I'm like, I know. But so finally, once it started affecting that saving, this was last year, Christmas Christmas like right before Christmas I just went just 100 said I'm done just done and um that would let my first actual beer was at Bobby's house at the MFC after I got a podium finish at MFC and I was like, and what's funny is after that beer, I go, I woke up the next morning, just groggy. I go, this is horrible.
Starting point is 01:34:11 One beer. I know Craig. It's amazing. And look, everybody knows me like at the games. They always say, Hey, you know, I never drink. And that's one of my things. Like I don't drink, I don't put any drugs, nothing because even supplement wise, because I met, it's such a mental game. So when I go in there, I got to be so mentally dialed in that if I know, Oh, I drank, you know, on at this bachelor party and got waste, like that'll come up and it sounds crazy but i'll be like man if i fade on the work ah i see what you're saying i'll process that be like damn i even if it's after that that i didn't do everything i could could be the best and it'll put a thought in your in your it'll ponder i'll
Starting point is 01:35:00 ponder those thoughts i'll sit on them and it'll affect my performance so I don't let any of that come into my system and that empowers me and the the the meditation side of it the the visualization side like all that there's so many components and that's what moving forward when I start to do my documentary when I when I have this run these are the things that I want to share because just at this MFC, Sam and I alone, guys are like, how do you do it? What's your secret sauce? Like, how do you do?
Starting point is 01:35:31 And I'm like, well, you know what I don't do? I don't do a lot of, even in CrossFit days, I don't do a lot of CrossFit. They're like, what? I'm like, look, I'll do my, like my little couplets and triplets. But box jumps, box jump up, step down.
Starting point is 01:35:46 I haven't bounded. Like only going into the games. Now, if I know that there's – I'll do it just to get that stimulation and to get my body to kind of feel it. But like there's so many things that I don't do that people are like shocked. And I'm like, look, a lot of swimming, a lot of rowing, a lot of biking for my cardio. If I do run, it's only two months before the games and I'm running on a track or a runner. I don't do a lot of running. It beats up my joints. Really? Yeah. And so these are the kind of things that people are like, oh my gosh, why do you think I've never been sidelined with an injury? Okay. Well, it's these practices that I put in play. Not crashing, like, you know, not, well, do you guys visualize? Do you guys meditate? Do you guys do yoga? Do you? No? Well, I do that at least twice a week leading into the games. Really? I watch sunrises on the weekend't talk about. One, it gets frowned upon by many. Oh,
Starting point is 01:36:46 they're lost. And, you know, they might as well go to Tibet and, you know, become a Buddha with, you know, the Dali. And a lot of people just don't understand it. But they're like, well, how do you get into that state? Like, I'm not a big meditating guy, but I listen to the right stuff, puts me into it. All I'm doing is just breathing deep, just being able to focus on what I need to do in the events that are coming up. And I'm able to just get away from everything and reconnect with the self. And these are the kinds of things, and this is one, two, three examples of many things that I would love to educate and get all the, cause I'm not before I was like, I don't want anybody to know. Cause this is,
Starting point is 01:37:29 this is, this is why I do what I do. But now it's like, what am I going to hold onto that for? They won't even do it if you tell them, dude, it won't even do it if you tell them. But if I say, I say, I give 10 tools and you take one that, that helps your family or helps you, you know, on, on that half pipe, you know, or you're not going to break your bone or it helps you and it helps this guy competing, getting mentally like, that's, that's the change I want to be in this world. That's the
Starting point is 01:37:57 difference. I want to, I want to be an impact. I know it sounds cliche, but I'm tired of holding everything in like, I'll give like noah like hey this is a book that changed my life boom you know oh you read the bob rutella book too that thing changed my life i saw that on instagram yeah oh what is that the championship mindset book oh yeah championship mindset yeah oh my god i listened to it on audio. It was unbelievable. These are my books up here. Let's see if you can see them. Yep. Yep. I see them. Yeah. There's some good ones up there, but anyway, but look at the end, all I want to do is just exonerate myself. Just,
Starting point is 01:38:38 just be free of, you know, this, this imprisonment that I've, I've experienced, which I am. And I thank you for helping me do this and just go back to, to, to my love, man. And that's, that's competing. Cause I, I fell back for it again. Um, amidst the, the, the subpar results. I mean, third is not bad, but, um, you know, you got the master's fitness collective third. Yeah. Look, I, I won the last event. Actually I took second in the row. It was a thousand meter row, but I blew up, man. I was averaging 138. Right. So I come off and I went to toes the bar, which I can do 30, 40 and broken. 10 i barely got dead i had no forearms welcome back to crossfish and uh and i just at that point i went to threes and then twos and then singles and that's when i'm like man you know what but if i would have won that last event which i was on pace then i would have won i would have were
Starting point is 01:39:38 you sore the next day what did that do to your body did that beat you up pretty good so day one and two no because the programming was very generous, thanks to CJ Martin. Love that dude. So you had to swim. We had to run. We had a little couple of gymnastics, handstand walk, some jump rope. Very light.
Starting point is 01:39:56 Day three crushed me. It was freaking 40 deadlifts and box jumps and rope crunch, man. It thrusters. It destroyed me. So that's where like Monday, I was tender. Tuesday, I was, let's just say I was close. I was teetering with rhabdo. My forearms were blown up.
Starting point is 01:40:20 I didn't get the dark urine, but I was close. Hey, so as you get older it takes longer for the soreness to set in that's what they say mine set in right away brother oh okay but on tuesday you're saying it was worse than monday always the second day yeah always the second day is always the worst even as a kid it was like that but I will tell you all my years. I mean, it's always been that second day has always been the worst. But I will tell you, you know, who saved me that day? Miss Martin, CJ's mom. She is a blessing.
Starting point is 01:40:54 I don't know if you've met her. No. Oh, I met his dad, I think many years ago, but not his mom. She had this hospitality where she had like mush, you know, the oatmeal. So I was like constantly getting my energy with her. And then she had the Norma tech boots, which I have here. She had the hyper ice, that belt that heats up, that has like the stimulus, like the vibrate. I lived on that. Let me tell you that I ended up buying one that saved my life recovery. Unbelievable.
Starting point is 01:41:25 Got to look it up. It's, it's the most amazing discovery. Oh, I saw one of those things for sale at rogue. You, you had the back one. Hey, I'm telling you now for old men and young and any women look, she was telling me she like she has her female athletes use it for menstrual cramps they put it in front she's like it's unbelievable with the heat and the vibration yes that's it unbelievable i'm like really she's like i you don't know how many women have come up to me saying this has alleviated all their pain on that time of the month i'm like wow that's pretty let me ask you this because i saw the venom back and i was like god i'd love
Starting point is 01:42:12 to have that as a just in case yeah because i've had some back issues although knock on wood it's been a few years since i stopped lifting man weights and i have little little kid weights now um but um i i do you remember when uh when we were young electric blankets were all the rave yeah they were yeah and then it was like hey those fuckers aren't good for you because like all those electrical cables and they're on you yeah i always just wonder about that so yeah i don't know look in terms of like but i really tempted them though it's not an electrical stimulation. All it is, is just a little like a vibration.
Starting point is 01:42:47 Like it's not like STEM units where you're attaching and you're getting, so it's just more of just like, um, like a stimulus, but not, it gets hot. It gets hot. Yeah. So it heats up, it gets hot. So here's what I did with it. I took it to, well, at least what I thought would be the best practice is I got it heated up. I got a little stimulus and then I did some low back stretches with it on. Yeah. Yeah. I've never had my back open up like that. It felt like I was at a chiropractor and I wasn't manipulating my back and twisting it. It was just simple, just like hip flexor stretches, just some IT stretches, you know.
Starting point is 01:43:25 And let me tell you, it opened me up. And then I just took it off after a good seven, not long, seven, ten minutes. And night and day, I walked around feeling just so just fresh. And I was like, and I went back to her and I went, this is brilliant. She's like, I know. I'm like, and if you stretch with it, it's even better. She's like, yep. I'm like, and I went back to her and I went, this is brilliant. She's like, I know I'm like, and if you stretch with it, it's even better. She's like, yep. I'm like, wow. So I even brought one back to my athletes here who have been having like
Starting point is 01:43:53 back pain. And I gave one to a basketball player. We just played last night and he's like, Oh my God, he ended up going out and buy one. And then another, our, our manager, you're about to sell me one, careful. I'm telling you, man. How about I, I'm going to, if you don't buy one, I'm going to get one for you, man. How about that?
Starting point is 01:44:13 I'm so tempted. Caleb, have you heard of these things? Have you heard of these? Yeah. Yeah, they're pretty cool. I've never used them myself, but I know people have used them and they say they like them a lot so i use that with the gun so i take the hypervolt gun and i use that for my glutes because that's where a lot of the tension and i do the
Starting point is 01:44:35 glute with the stretch with that and i'm telling you my is it battery operated It's a rechargeable battery. Rechargeable. Yeah, no, I'm telling you. It's. Sorry, go ahead. No, I was saying everybody, even an orthopedic surgeon, he just got one. I have another guy who's another doctor that I play volleyball with. I brought it out there at volleyball and I was just taking bands and stretching. What is that? I'm like, Hey, this will change your life. They tried it and they're like, Hey, this will change your life. They tried it. And they're like, Oh my gosh. Like it's, and especially if you stretch with it, like if you just have it,
Starting point is 01:45:11 the other thing you can do is you have back pain. You can put your feet up on the, some pillows, lay down with it, take the pressure off your low back, just put it on with a little stem. And that's also good as well. It just relaxes the muscles. It helps increase, you know, any kind of circulation or oxygen. And it also just acts as an aid to be able to open up those vessels and get a good stretch in. Because a lot of times, even when you stretch, you're not fully warmed up. This gives you that warmup to to where when you stretch your muscles are already loose and it's like it telling you so those are the kind of things like i want to line up with these guys and go hey you have a great product like i could be a great ambassador for you i don't need to be a tier one athlete and get a monthly stipend and better than a tier one athlete you're a fucking guy who's 48 years old i have a really look i'm blessed to
Starting point is 01:46:06 have the job i have um i run a summer camp here and and um you know let's just say that that's a great business um and outside of that all i'm doing is competing i just want to compete i don't want what comes with that look at this one look at this height this one is cold and hot you're getting out of control hey what do you mean you have a summer camp so we have it's called camp it's camp tnt um and it's look we have over a well right now 1900 kids in our in our schools um of the k through five which is what the camp holds in a couple of six and seven graders. We had to stop registration. We had 165 campers register for two, three week sessions in the summer.
Starting point is 01:46:58 So I run a whole summer camp. I'm the camp director. And then they sleep there. Do the kids? No, no, no, no, no, no. It's just a, it's just a camp where we offer like i told you sports so every week we bring new sports i bring in the smes on that some great volleyball coaches football basketball we offer like i'll bring in parkour guys to teach them you know all the uh ninja training yeah warrior on season eight so i use that that as a kind of a leverage to get the kids excited. Wait, you were on season eight of Ninja Warrior? Yeah. Oh, that's dope.
Starting point is 01:47:30 I didn't know that. So like, and they tried to make a mockery of CrossFit. Like they thought I was going to three-time world champion. He goes in and I got to send you the video. It's hysterical. But like CrossFit, I made it all the way just the one before the war ball. I went through five of them and I didn't have the grip. I was 200 pounds. It was
Starting point is 01:47:50 a good run though. We do that. We offer because a lot of these kids are just scared to go outside like we spoke of. Let's get them to be comfortable in open space. Have them understand how to scale a fence or a wall,
Starting point is 01:48:05 you know, to where as crazy as that sounds, like the parents are like, oh my gosh, but they do it and the kids love it. And it just gives them that different aspect in life that a lot of parents are scared to open their kids up to. Now, there are some some kids that are terrified and but none of them out of the 165 none of them not one single camper refused to participate when ninjas when the ninjas came over which is awesome but you got to encourage them and it took a little little time for some but after that now we take them to the ninja lounges you know on field trips instead of movies or chucky cheese or any of that crap yeah um and it's good like we get we expose them to all these different sports all these different avenues of of releases and at the end the kids
Starting point is 01:48:58 love it the parents have some place to drop their kids off a safe space um where they're having a good time and uh i love it man this is this is what i do so to get back to your point though nobody realizes the nike whole different world you don't post enough or whatever you're getting an email you're you're in breach your contract like then you have like you know all the other supplement company or any of the other companies where they're um it's rough like they you know i don't mean to attack when you're sponsors but when i see someone who's sponsored by nike a piece of me just thinks that they're a world-class piece of shit with no integrity
Starting point is 01:49:36 and a complete sellout i'm gonna tell you another reason why i why i jumped into nike yeah yeah it's my kids dad nike oh my god and i'm like yeah they are bad they are bad people over there they are very very bad people over there they know they're bad they know their sellouts they know their corporate fucking stooges you know what they did right sean they fired all their employees who didn't fucking take the experimental injection shut up oh i remember you talking about that actually i do they fired all their employees who didn't fucking take the experimental injection shut up oh i remember you talking about that actually i do they fired all their employees up in portland who didn't take the experimental injection and and i i hate to mix this but uh yesterday out of australia they are now in the country that had the worst lockdowns that had the fucking worst mandates they have now made it illegal to give kids under the age of 30
Starting point is 01:50:28 the fourth booster because now they have realized that it's causing more myocarditis than it is preventing covid this came out yesterday and so i just can't stand those piles of shit over there they are scumbags and i know that all the people that i know who are sponsored by Nike, I know they've given a piece of their soul. Now, it was different when you were sponsored. It was a little bit different. Yeah, look, the Nike training department was kind of different. But they've sold out. Yeah, and he was so good to me.
Starting point is 01:50:56 Sure. It was a different era. It was a different era. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I know. The direction they've gone is a little extreme, and I get it. Look. It's not a healthy environment for your kids. And nor would I ever go back to something like that because it didn't end bad, but it didn't end great either, right, with them.
Starting point is 01:51:17 So, like, moving forward, the guys I'm lining up with, just get it. They get it. I like these guys hyper-ice. I approve. Good. All approve. Good. All right. Not that I fucking matter. By the way, you look so incredible. You do, man. You have a strong voice out there, and you're a great person.
Starting point is 01:51:33 You look incredible. Your skin is amazing. I'm looking at you, and I'm like, yeah, that's from just not drinking. That's from years of just not putting that shit in you. I can't see. I can barely see. Like now I actually see. No, no.
Starting point is 01:51:47 Take your glasses off. You don't want to see. There's nothing to see over here. I'm trying to see what you have in the back. There are some books I can get off your shelf. They fired Kyrie. I know. The whole thing just makes me ill.
Starting point is 01:51:58 Oh, yeah. Nike. I know. So, yeah. So, look. Moving forward, I mean, I just want to, so yeah. So look, moving forward, I'll, I mean, I'll, I just want to say, thank, I don't know if you're wrapping it up now, but I, I, I wanted to go pee.
Starting point is 01:52:14 I'm going to pee into the skate park. I just want to thank you, Sam, because look, I, at the end, I only know you from, from being the man behind the lens that you've been. And you've been very loyal and consistent in our space. Even after everything that happened, I've seen, you know, you still you're a man of honor. And I respect that more than anything. And your opinion is strong, but it's also the truth. And that I can't say enough about.
Starting point is 01:52:43 And this isn't me being diplomatic or being PC. Like I just just want hats off for that and having me on and being able to to get my my, you know, my my my life story out there. I appreciate. And I'm looking forward to to this next run, my friend. Hey, let's do it again. I'm super excited. I know you're going to I know that you're going to invigorate the whole entire master's class. I'm sure is Ron making a run this year? Yeah, I think you stay away from injury. That guy, he knows no bounds, man. That guy is always getting dinged up. But when you when you're carrying around 240 pounds and he tries to keep up with the young bucks, he's always been trying to keep up with me. And even though he's like, I could do that. he's he's got a will of a warrior man um but yeah he's
Starting point is 01:53:30 gonna make a run and then rich froning it'll be a special year with with all you guys yeah yeah would you be in the same would you be in the same class as um is it jason grubb yeah man jason jason's turn is a at first jason grubb that guy's become kind of a homeboy of mine you go easy on him holy shit you're gonna go hey man this is the nicest man in the world you're gonna try to take his title from him dude no the first year he competed i think he ended up getting top five he might might have even podium third. But I remember him coming up, hey, Sean, big fan, this and that. It came up to me, the salt of the earth, right? Hey, just it's an honor. And I walked away going, bro, I'm going to eat this guy up, bro.
Starting point is 01:54:15 Like who comes and goes, hey, it's an honor. You're going to get like, you know, bottom half 10. You're not going to make it on the final event. Boy, did he prove me wrong. He came out there and I'm like, hey, he lacks a little on the strength side but damn this guy's gymnastic oh he's got a gymnastics background okay oh this guy has an engine oh crap then i started looking at him i'm like this guy's a true contender and for him what he went two or three i think he won now i think 40 to 44 and two in a row in this one so i'm like damn but to his hey dude he's owning it he
Starting point is 01:54:46 fucking took his motor home and his family and parked outside of rich froning's house for the last month i mean this guy this guy's he's got the starling set up i mean he's the real deal he's he's one of the ones and look him my boy is michael kern that's my dog that's a good old country boy but he's stuck in new york but he's my guy man like and it's such a cool little click in there and yeah the guys that always was just like my dog and i've always turned to him in fact the masters fitness collective he's like hey these are guys you gotta look out for this is a new you know he just aged up blah blah blah rubs a wolf in sheep's clothing i tell you he's like grub man he goes, I had him and I had him right there.
Starting point is 01:55:26 He's like, but damn, that guy is, he's just, he doesn't have any holes, man. He finished top five and on, then he dropped on one. And he was like, I couldn't catch him, Sean. I'm like, damn, man. So now I'm sitting back going, that's, that's my guy right there. But let me tell you, like having that target on your back. It's not fun. My friend gets lonely up there.
Starting point is 01:55:46 And I think he's going to, I think he might be the oldest guy. He's going to be the oldest guy in the division this year. No, he's one year under me. I think he'll be 48. I'll be 49. Okay. Okay. So that's if I make it.
Starting point is 01:55:57 He's a young buck compared to you. Okay. But yeah, that's if I make it. But you got, you know, it does, it does get lonely up top. And you know, he's, Hey, he owns it right now. That's, that's his space. So I have to go and, and, and fight for it. And it'll be a fun run. It'll be a fun run. Thank you so much for coming on. I have your phone number.
Starting point is 01:56:21 I hope it's okay that I stay in touch. Anytime my friend. All right. Even if you want some, some, you know, half pipe pointers or anything along. Oh, you're the man. You're the man. I got you. All right. Have a good day and we'll be in touch. Pleasure to finally,
Starting point is 01:56:39 I know we've run into each other and shook hands and hugged a bunch, but good to finally talk to you. Likewise. Appreciate you, my man. All right, brother. Ciao talk to you likewise appreciate you my man all right brother ciao thank you see you i enjoyed that me too that was cool yeah he's cool as shit he seems like a athletic director like i haven't met him yet but as soon as he started if you're lucky your athletic director looks like that at your school that might be the that's the fittest athletic director on any school on the planet that's how they are in nebraska at least they're very like that just hyper aggressive like football coaches basically or wrestling coaches hey do i get a
Starting point is 01:57:19 point for do i get a point for him crying would you say he cried on the show if i could have gotten one tear out of him i would have given this a 10 out of 10 but it was close i give it a 9.2 yeah i think his ducks turned on but that's about it he felt them he felt the tear ducts turn on. What school is it? I don't even think I asked him the name. Since he didn't offer it, I was kind of wondering if he was avoiding it. There's seven charter schools in Florida. It sounds like a guy who was fed up with the system started them.
Starting point is 01:58:05 It sounds like it may even have been his brother-in-law if i'm remembering correctly yeah that's what he said excuse me all right um today is the last day to sign up for um fight for the fittest for for the zealous games no for fight for the fittest oh oh thank you yes oh let's pull that up okay so two things to sign up for i think today is the last day for both of them the zealous games and fight for the fittest uh will you pull up that fight for the fittest thank you god kayla you're what is this? Oh, and you just use seven on five for that for fight for the fittest. You use what?
Starting point is 01:58:53 Say that again. Seven on five. That'll get you $5 off registration. Oh, seven on five S E V a N five. The M F L H fight for the fittest partner series. Uh, what's the website? I just put it in the chat but it's um on conquest events it's listed on their instagram page so if you go to fight for the
Starting point is 01:59:14 fittest on instagram you should be able to find it as well um and how many do they have different classes yeah i think they're yeah they have rx and scaled male male male female female female teams so three different three different uh team versions what about what is their non-binary team i don't know i think you might have to designate your respective sexes on that one unacceptable okay uh thank you everyone um i hope that uh man he's a great ambassador for the hyper ice yeah it looks pretty dope yep all right uh great job beaver doing the chad took me 70 minutes wow that hardcore. I'd even say it goes far as that's to say that's bad programming. 87 minutes. Oh my goodness.
Starting point is 02:00:08 You guys are so slow. What did you do it in? I think it was like an hour, five, 65 minutes. Wow. He's tall. Bruce 87 is great.
Starting point is 02:00:19 Don't listen to him. The fact that you got on the box once with that vase weight vest is insane. Uh, Spiegel premature donation. That's what your mom said. All right. I will see you guys tomorrow. I don't think we have a guest tomorrow, which would mean we do a live call-in show, which I'm kind of excited about. I always sleep better the nights that we have live call-in shows.
Starting point is 02:00:45 Are you here tomorrow, Caleb? Yeah, I should be. All right. We'll have a great party. All right, guys. Thank you so much. We'll open up the phone lines tomorrow. We'll party.
Starting point is 02:00:54 I am also trying to schedule a show with Andrew Hiller just to hang out. That's all I got for you. Tons of great guests coming up. Talk to you guys soon. Bye-bye.

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