The Sevan Podcast - #781 - Sara Sigmundsdottir | It's always real with Sara
Episode Date: January 30, 2023Support the showPartners:https://cahormones.com/ - CODE "SEVAN" FOR FREE CONSULTATIONhttps://www.paperstcoffee.com/ - THE COFFEE I DRINK!https://asrx.com/collections/the-real... - OUR TSHIRTS... Learn... more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Discussion (0)
Yeah.
Bam, we're live. I don't even remember sending you that.
How, a long time ago?
You just, you do so many generous things,
sometimes you forget them.
That is
true. Good to see you, Ryan.
When's the last time you've been on, Ryan?
Uh,
after Waterpalooza, I think.
God, it feels like forever.
Oh, that's right. God, it feels like
forever ago to me.
Damn. Damn. I can't tell you God, it feels like forever ago to me. Damn.
I can't tell you how good it feels to be out of the snow and back at home.
Oh, I bet.
It's snowing here.
It is?
Yeah, it's been snowing for two days.
Oh, wow.
That's kind of nice, huh?
I mean, I had to clear my car off four times yesterday you have one of those scrapers yeah
i don't have one of those the rental car i had in tahoe had one
that's so much in santa cruz it's the little things that matter so much that that table that
i sat at in tahoe when with the last four shows we did my there's uh my knees don't go under the table so i have to sit back here like this you know
what i mean like oh yeah oh and i mean yeah it wasn't even a table it was like i was working
on a dresser the one behind me looks nice though and the little things oh man you should see that
i am setting up here. Look at that.
The couch is gone.
Yeah, and there's two chairs, and I got the new table.
We're going to have in.
I'm going to try to set up a show and have Kalipa in here as a test run
and Dave back in here as a test run.
Awesome.
It's evolving.
Look at it.
Look at the evolve.
The couch is gone.
Is that a mic hooked up to it, too?
Yeah, you see that?
Oh, real-life podcast studio, guys.
You better get ready. Yeah. This is going to gonna fly brian out every show i don't believe that
yeah don't don't take back that comment about all those generous things you did i got all worked up
uh i was i was researching uh sarah yesterday and i couldn't find another podcast she's done since February, since the one she did with us, February of 2022.
Damn.
And she did that interview with Lauren on the boat.
That was at Waterpalooza, right?
Yeah, I was supposed to be on that boat, but I didn't make it in time.
Hey, why didn't you make it in time?
The FAA was not operating that
morning oh your entire flight and everything was late the entire country was late
the love seat is gone uh mom the i'm you know what i'm thinking about doing
is it's it's here it's just right over there by the way when my mom says love seat she means that
like in the traditional sense no one get it
it's not like the way i would use the word i even think about it like that too so um
that's like a technical term for a kind of uh furniture
but mom i'm gonna come mom come over later on today and let's hang out i haven't seen you in
four days or i'll come over to your house and we'll talk about how i'm going to organize this
i'm still i'm going to try to incorporate the love seat. Let's just call it a
couch. That'll be my spot. I'll sit right behind you. No one can see the love seat. Uh, seven.
Do you think if you get, if you moved your family to a different part of the country that your mom
would follow? Yes. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. I mean, I mean, I moved 70. I tested
her out already once i moved
70 your latest comment you might be in trouble wait what did she say uh say it isn't so
which uh which part which part that one no no no she's fine she's she'll she'll be happy with
the new setup she'll be over here today she'll be like oh you did a really good job she might be talking about
the fact that you shaved
no no she's probably ecstatic that I shaved
no one in my family likes anything I do
trust me they don't like the podcast
they don't like the hair on the face
they don't like it that my kids don't go to school
I'm a
but they suppress it
they suppress it
my mom says only if the couch comes with us of course the
couch whatever you want mom dark lord rev on uh ten dollars i was catching up with the show
and the hunter show is awesome thanks keeping it real how often do you have him on i hadn't had him
on in a long time yeah i feel like there was a time where he was coming on quite regularly and then
i don't know he wanted he wanted to be a reg everyone wants to be a regular until until it's
time to be a regular and then they tell us how to put that work in yeah it's not it's like you know
you call them up you're like hey we'll do one show a week guys yeah and then when you start doing one
show a day you don't understand why they can't do it. Right, exactly.
Other people have lives.
They need time to eat, go to work.
Oh, my goodness.
What did you think about, before Sarah gets here, what did you think about Sarah's performance at Waterpalooza?
I mean, I think everyone knows I was concerned about the fact she was doing both competitions.
I was personally more invested fact she was doing both competitions.
I was personally more invested in the individual competition.
I thought she did very well there.
Are you talking about me?
No, some other blonde Icelandic girl.
And he asked me how I thought you did at Wadapalooza.
Oh, yeah.
And I thought that you did very well on the individual side of things.
I thought you made good choices.
I thought it was a good performance.
You could build some confidence off of going into this season.
Yeah.
And then I actually really enjoyed watching your team.
I thought you guys had a great attitude.
You guys had fun.
Yeah.
And it was a cool team. A lot of the teams there were like,
all the people were from the same part of the world.
So you had like team Sweden or a team from South America and you guys did
total opposite. You got someone from Brazil, someone from Iceland,
someone from Oceania and made a nice little team there.
Who is the team again, Brian?
It was Campos.
Campos was a late add on to the team.
They were supposed to have Emily Rolfe,
who was from yet a different part of the world,
but she obviously had an injury that couldn't do it,
so it was very nice Victoria,
and she joined Sarah and Katlyn Van Zyl.
Oh, yeah, that's right.
I always forget Van Zyl's name.
How do you say her name, Sarah?
Call her Caitlin.
You call her Caitlin?
Yeah. Okay, and then do you ever say her last name? Call her Caitlin. You call her Caitlin? Yeah.
Okay. And then do you ever say her last name?
Van Zyl.
Van Zyl. Yeah, that's how I
I'm cool with that because that's the way I pronounced it.
Van Zyl.
Caitlin Van Zyl.
I don't feel like it's an Australian name,
like a second name.
Well, she married, she's
married to Johan Van Zyl, i guess and and maybe he's from
somewhere else yeah hey sarah does anyone ever call you just like when i um when i talk about
when i talk about matt suza i always call him suza i don't really use his first name matt does
and same with uh like andrew hiller i don't call him Andrew. I call him Hiller. Does anyone ever call you like Sigmund's daughter and not never use your first name?
My first name is Ragnar.
So I've never called him my first name.
I was wondering if we were going to go here again.
I was to say in my notes, avoid her first name.
Avoid it.
Like, but let's hear it.
Let's do it.
Okay.
Let's try again.
What is it?
Ragnar.
So it's Ragnar Sara. Okay, let's try again. What is it? Rakhevish. Rakhevish.
That's my first name.
Rakhevish.
Yeah, same, same.
It sounds about right.
Rakhevish.
Do it one more time for me. I'm really going to try.
Rakhevish.
I got the first part right
Yeah
And then it's
It's like hard Icelandic
Oh wow
Those are some mouth skills
I know
This is what we learn from
Yeah
Iceland I'm going to go back and watch this I know. This is what we learned from... Yeah, Iceland.
I'm going to go back and watch this
so I don't bore the people in the audience
and really try to get down.
I was so proud of myself
when I started being able to say
Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson.
And now that I can't say his name,
I say the whole thing.
What do you mean pretty good?
I mean, have you heard what his his town is called that's even harder to
pronounce so he's from a town called kvara gerdi yeah yeah it's amazing good morning it makes me
feel like i have a low iq like i don't have control over my tongue or my lips or my mouth
it's like wow just live in iceland for a few years yeah we'll we'll
get it sorted where are you where are you uh sada i'm in iceland i just came back yesterday
is that home for you now i know that's a weird question to ask you i mean i would say uh
bag is a home for me. I travel so much.
For now,
I mean, I'm based in Iceland, so
I'm going to spend
some time here and then probably go back to Dubai
and train there.
So, yeah, I just finished
a three-month trip now, and
I was very ready to just
go home and calm down
a little bit.
And when you say three month trip you
mean you were like you were moving from place to place for three months yeah i just haven't been
in iceland for about three months uh short of us but so i started in dubai went from dubai to miami
then went from miami to the uk and now finally back in iceland in snow. You spent a lot of time in Dubai.
Does it feel at all like home when you're there?
It definitely feels like home.
So I went there.
So I took a lot of time off after last season.
I was just very beat up, my body and mentally.
And so I just decided to take a long time off this year.
And when I was starting to train again, I was like,
I feel like I'm starting a lot of compensation here.
And I feel like I need some extra eyes on me.
So I decided to go back to Dubai and work pretty closely with the physio
that I've been working with since surgery.
And as soon as I went to Dubai, it just felt like home
because I stayed there for about like three months last year.
And all the people were like, oh, we've missed you.
Like I'm a part of so many gyms there and just met so many great new people.
And yeah, it almost feels like home there now.
Do you have a place there or do you stay with someone?
I stay with my best friend, Carmen.
Okay.
And I think we talked about her on the last show.
Okay.
Yeah.
And she's still, she's been living there for a while.
She's been there since 2016.
She was going to stay there for two years and she's still there.
So I don't think she'll ever going to move.
Sarah, when you came on the show,
the last time you were on the show was February of 2022.
And when you came on that show,
I think you had just started also at a training think tank.
Well, you'd Max had been your coach for a year,
but that was the first time actually,
after a year of training with him,
you actually landed there and spent some time there.
Are you, are you still with training think tank? Yes, I'm still with training think tank, but I'm
working more closely with another coach and that, so I moved in with a coach and her name is Perrin
and we just connected in a very good way. And, and me and max are still very good and he helps me if i need help
but um so i just decided that perrin would be like my my main coach this year so i'm still
with training think tank but gonna work uh with a different coach how many coaches have you had When did you come in? 2013? 15? 13.
So since 2013, I've had Yami, John, Phil.
Who?
Phil Mansfield.
Okay.
Yeah, so I've had four coaches. I'm now pairing. And then Phil Mansfield. Okay. Yeah.
So I've had four coaches.
And now I have Perrin.
First female coach that I'm working with. So it makes a small difference.
It does.
Can you articulate that?
Are there words for it?
What makes a difference?
It's just more understanding of
what girls have to go through like we have our cycle we have our hormones and and i think girls
can relate a lot to that well guys pretty much are afraid of that let's say that hey is that a
good thing that they can relate to it maybe let me just play devil's advocate here maybe that they
show too much compassion and empathy whereas a male coach might just like just push you through
it like like a woman wouldn't care about a guy's balls hey just ride the fucking horse and shut up
i don't care about your balls i think that but i've never experienced that with that with a guy
coach but it's more just like oh i have something in my back or something like that and then a female
coach maybe relates more like
this could be connected to your cycle or this could be right okay or like you have cramps or
something like that and it's like okay you have to do this and this and this because i've gone
through this with other girls or something like that so it's like female coaches are maybe more more experienced in the flaws of being a female when you're not.
Right.
Yeah.
So I took it to a place where it might be a weakness, but you're saying, no, actually,
there's also the other side, which makes perfect sense.
Working around those things or knowing how to deal with them.
This concept of programming and training around a woman's cycle is something
that i've been seeing more and more over the last six to twelve months it is so interesting
so interesting i know you know savon used to have kate gordon on the show quite a bit down
from australia and she was and continues to be very vocal and educational for women in that regard. I think I even had a conversation with,
with like Camille and down in,
in a lot of clues and she was becoming more and more sensitive to this as she
even become a mom and all this other stuff.
Is it something that has also become more like relevant,
like,
like that you've become more aware of,
or is it something you've always had to kind of deal with?
I mean, that you've become more aware of or is it something you've always had to deal with? What I find so interesting
is just
different times a month
your ligaments are looser
because your body's preparing you
because you're more fertile.
When I did my ACL,
I was ovulating.
Holy shit, that's fascinating.
It's very very interesting
of like what like i don't know like i think these are still a bit of theories now like not in quite
proof yet but there's a lot of thought about like when you're ovulating you shouldn't be doing
specific stuff you should be doing very light work more cardio when you're uh just got your period you're your strongest then
you should be pushing weights again like you can program throughout where you are in your cycle
so that is where i'm interested in i'm i'm not quite there yet we're having babies and stuff
like that that will be later on when i have my training. Right. But now we're focusing on injury-free and how, like,
what is the smartest thing to do with training when you are, like,
and I think it's also very individualized of, like,
I've always been very hyper-mobile, so if I get even more flexible
and I'm doing a one-rep max, that's more dangerous,
versus maybe a girl that's not mobile at all.
And she gets a little bit more flexibility when she's ovulating.
Okay.
She can hit better positions now.
So that's better for her.
So it's very individualized.
Let me ask you this because I know, you know, I work at a gym, obviously a lot of women
there.
And sometimes I've been having these conversations a little bit, but when, when the
schedule comes out for the year is some people are very calculated. Some women are like, they know
they can look two, three, six months ahead of time and expect I'll be ovulating at this time or
whatever. And you see the schedule for a semifinal or the week that's chosen for the CrossFit games.
Is it possible to look six months ahead and say, Ooh, that's a really good week for me
for weightlifting or, Oh dang it. That's oh, that's a really good week for me for weightlifting?
Or, oh, dang it, that's falling on the week that's worse for me.
Yeah, that's exactly the problem.
You can't really or that's what I try to do is like I'm not going to overthink because I think that adrenaline can't help me through anything when I'm competing.
Like this is just my belief.
I have no idea if it works or not.
So if I'm ovulating when I have to qualify for the Games
and I have to do a Wonder Mox,
I'm not going to be like, guys, I'm out.
I think that adrenaline just does wonders for you.
So when you're in the right zone and headspace,
I think that small part doesn't matter as much
as when you're fatigued from training
and you could actually just be smart with it.
So maybe Sarah, can you can you change that?
Sorry, Brian, can you isn't it if a group of women get together and they're with you and they live together, don't their cycles start lining up?
Could you could you change your could you somehow change your cycle by a few days here and there by who you're hanging out with?
Yeah, you're good yeah you're gonna i know that sounds weird i'm navigating to no man's land but
i've heard that shit and i was like that's fascinating it is so fascinating i'm nice
quiet siri sorry that was siri i don't know why she's listening she's just fascinated also she's
jealous because we have a different woman with four letters and an S and an R. And Siri doesn't menstruate.
She's bummed.
Is this true?
Yeah, I don't think that all girls can align together.
I think it's very also independent of how good your hormones are and everything like that.
I mean, when I'm training hard, it's very hard for me to get my
period so that's a sign of okay I'm in overtraining now I need to calm down a little bit my system is
is in protection mode and in stress mode and that's why I haven't had my period like
so it's it's a very interesting topic and very like I would love to study this a lot more when i'm done with my career to help
girls optimize their career around this because it can have a huge effect on you like like having
to worry about that you're on your period when you're competing and you're doing a swim event
like this takes focus from you and like if you could do something to help like to help girls deal with it i i would
love that i was um i was at crossfit mayhem last week and i got a chance to meet jim hensel and he
was talking about the mayhem mindset there yeah and just the general idea was if you have more
things in control in your life then then when you come to compete,
those things won't be in the way and you can focus more on competing. And I think this is just
an extra thing in life that women have to worry about that men in this sport don't.
Exactly. And we worry enough already. Come on now. Our mind is insane. So if we can simplify this
a lot, I think that would make a huge change in the female side of athletes
i mean at the bottom of that pyramid for crossfit is nutrition and the premise for greg's whole
idea for using the zone diet was to balance your hormones that was all it was just to get your
hormones as as regulated as possible yeah because if you don't that's where sickness happens but
wow yeah um and did
you choose her because she was was was that one of the factors why you choose a parent no i just
i lived with her for a year and like last year for me was a very mentally tough year i mean i
just coming back from an injury is way tougher than i ever expected. And especially if you get hurdles on the way,
and if you don't achieve what you were working for, and, and we just experienced a lot together.
And I just felt that I connected better with her because she knew me better than Max knew me. Like
it's easier to open up to a girl that you've lived with for a year and that, that sees exactly how
you work and when you work your best versus
having a coach that you just see sometimes a day and and talk to a little bit like it's more like
I chose her because I just felt that we had a personal connection and I thought that she calms
me a lot down like she she sees when I'm triggered and when I'm in a stress mode and she knows exactly
how to approach me versus maybe it's harder for a guy to read me. And yeah.
I really like that because, you know, it's, it's often very tempting and we've seen a lot of
athletes make changes in the last couple of years to go towards the big name coaches,
the big name programs. And obviously those people
are in those positions for a reason as well. But I think that sometimes the thing that's missing
is that personal touch, that personal connection. And that's cool that you guys have developed that.
Yeah. I mean, me and Max, we were great together also. It's just when you're at this level,
you want everything to be up to 10 or up to T like and i just felt like okay me and max we've
done great stuff together he's taught me so much i think i need to get this personal connection a
little bit better and i think perrin is the better one in that area when i watched you compete in um at wadapalooza i was um i was nervous i was thinking uh last time we saw her here she
she pulled out with with the scare yeah uh she um i i saw her i was like oh no is this um you know
in the horsing world if a horse breaks its leg they fucking kill it and i'm so and so i see you
sign up for both events i'm like what is she doing
like i just want to see her go out on the floor and like smile and lift some heavy shit and leave
like i don't i don't want to see one of my favorite people who i enjoy taking the floor and
kind of engaging with the crowd to get hurt i don't care how she places can you just go on the
court floor lift something heavy run across the finish line go like this and we get. I don't know why I was so stressed out about you being out there.
Yeah.
You are not the only one.
Let's say that.
And then are you sure?
Are you sure?
And I was like, I am sure.
And then I got sick on Friday and I was like, fuck, why is this happening now?
Like with the cold, with the flu, something.
Yeah.
Okay.
I lost my voice for like
four or five days so yeah it's um it was um vodapalooza was the everything that i got out of
it was exactly what i needed i had okay good i was completely myself on the floor okay i what i
realized is that i'm not so far behind as i thought i was and i did a lot of
mistakes which is a very sad thing to do and and learn from it so i just this was exactly what i
my body was great after it i was very nervous on how uh my knees would respond because the last time I competed, I was just very, like, I just swole up right away
and was just not recovering well.
Was that semifinals?
That was semifinals and last year's qualifier.
Last year's qualifier was just, was even worse
just because I pushed two semifinals
and then you didn't get a lot of break
because it was like three weeks between
and traveling back to Iceland back to America just like everything around it was just there
was a lot of stress let's say that and uh was there any thought about not doing the last chance
qualifier last year no I was always going to do it I was just wondering if I should do it in Iceland or if we should do it in in Atlanta and I yeah and I think I took the right decision and I I have so much faith that
everything that happens to you happens for a reason there's something like somebody's teaching
me something and and I realized after last year's qualifier was like I haven't taken an off season since after the games 2020 because
when you when you have a major injury there's never an off season you're not maybe training
as much but your mind is on hundred like your mind is working a thousand times more than it's
ever worked before like I would go to bed every night and think about how can I not lose what I've I've achieved how can I
be close to everybody after this like how can I not make this injury my like my last uh like my
last move in my career like how can I come back how can I believe like your mind is just on hundred
and then you get then you get some wins then you
get some losses again and your mind goes straight into okay it's over it's done you're never gonna
be as good again you're never like that bad voice in your head and I just felt it after last year's
qualifier was like I've been for two years an athlete I never took my hat off after a competition
or anything because I've been fighting so much to try to come back.
And after those two months of being a human being again and seeing my friends and just have fun, it was like all of a sudden I was myself again.
This is a cool, actually a really cool thought as well. You know, the concept of
taking an off season or, or taking some time for yourself after whatever competition it is,
is something that I think CrossFit athletes have to figure out for their own. But the mental side
of it is a totally different game because you can say, okay, I'm not going to train for a month.
But during that month, if you're still going on Instagram and you see all the people that
you know what you want to be better than or that are trying to be better than you doing
something, how do you handle that mentally?
Yeah, exactly.
That comparison starts right away.
And like, why?
Why is she starting to train now?
And I'm not.
Oh, my God, she's going to be ahead of me now.
Wow.
She did this much.
You're constantly comparing yourself to what you're
seeing on social media and this was probably my hardest thing when I was coming back from injury
was like I was constantly getting the verification of how far I was behind and I was like they're
lifting these much weights now and I can even do an air squat like you know what I mean like
you're constantly breaking yourself down because you're so afraid of coming back. And I think that's what just, that's what made me think I needed a break.
Sarah, people think that they're going to have these thoughts and they're going to have another
thought that's going to help it, right? They think that like, like you have this thought,
Hey, I'll never come back. I'll never be as good as I used to be. And people start looking for
another thought that's going to fix it without realizing that, Hey dude, it's the thoughts that
kind of get you in trouble. Yeah. It seems like always that the root is to the cure for that is
just to accept that thought, right? Yeah. I have to accept the fact that I have to accept the fact
that I might not be as good as I was before. I have to accept the fact that I might have these
thoughts. I have to accept the fact that I can't accept these thoughts. I have to,
it just has to just be this, like looking into two mirrors, right? Just accepting, accepting
into infinity, right? Because you're not going to come up with this thought all of a sudden and be
like, oh my God, this thought fixes all of those thoughts. Yeah, no. And it's also like what I
study a lot. I like, I love neuroscience and everything and everything and like there's a theory in neuroscience
that like you if you connect an emotion to a thought it becomes 100 times stronger and then
it affects you and it takes you about 90 seconds to connect an emotion to a thought so my rule was
as soon as I got a bad thought I would would try to be as neutral as possible and just talk to myself in third person.
I'm like, Sarah, this is a thought.
There's nothing right behind this.
This is just your, I don't know if you read Chimp Paradox, but this is the chimp side of your brain.
The one that just wants to protect you so much and wants you to just be home and never go out
of the door again so you won't get hurt just like it's just a thought it doesn't matter at all just
let it go away so if i want to remember something i just i just take a hammer as soon as i have the
thought just hit myself in the hand that thought will stay forever yeah a strong emotional response or you can also use that in a different way
of like when you
are like
there's a thing in psychology
that you have a band around your hands
and so you're in a workout
and you get these bad thoughts of like
I can't oh my god everybody's better
than me and then you hurt yourself
oh yeah I've seen that I saw that in some
movie just like and Bergeron has done that at Comptrin but he's better than me. And then you hurt yourself. Oh yeah. I've seen that. And I saw that in some movie,
just like, yeah.
And Bergeron has done that at Comptrin.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah,
exactly.
So as soon as you hurt yourself,
you should switch off from that victim mode and you should continue because
that was the trigger of like,
Hey,
I can do this.
So you've already connected that pain to something that's going to get you back on your feet again versus being like in overdrive in your mind.
I'm going to get a shock collar.
Yeah.
Can you share it with me?
That film The Buttery Bros made that just came out a month ago.
Have you seen it?
It came out a month ago, but it looks – I think it's from 2019 regionals.
I have not watched it, no.
Okay.
You might want to watch it.
I mean, you might want to watch it.
It might inspire you.
I mean, you look absolutely amazing in there.
I mean, it looks like you're running on all cylinders.
Yeah.
There's no question there.
Okay. Fine.
Did you ever end up
seeing Jimi Hendrix's penis?
I didn't hear you. You broke up.
I didn't have a question. There was a long, uncomfortable silence.
That's it. So I'm switching to something more comfortable.
Jimi Hendrix's penis.
Did you ever see Jimi Hendrix's penis?
Jimi Hendrix's penis is in Iceland in a museum.
I understand.
And I'm wondering, I've done my research and I'm wondering if you've seen it.
I'm not, but it's on my bucket list.
I'll promise you that.
And you haven't ever even been to the penis museum.
No. No. see that and you haven't ever even been to the penis museum no
I didn't
know about
this penis
museum until
like yeah
May last
year when
Snorri told
me and it
was actually
in the news
in Iceland
that Timmy
Hendrix's
penis was
coming to
it
it's not
his actual
penis is it
Snorri says
I know
something that
will keep
your mind off of training.
Have you heard of this museum?
Yeah, I think you should go there.
But they have like all kinds of, like I call it, peckers there.
Yeah, peckers.
That was a great word that you and Snorri used.
I like that word, pecker.
It's gentle.
We learned it from the UK.
It's gentle.
It's like a little bit more positive.
What's the longest you've been anywhere in the last five years? It's gentle. You're learning from the UK. At Seattle, it's like a little bit more positive.
What's the longest you've been anywhere in the last five years?
What's the longest you've stayed somewhere without flying away?
COVID, Iceland.
And how long did you stay there?
Oof.
From, it was actually a long time because I tore my ACL right after COVID.
So it was actually from February 2020 until July 2021.
Oh, okay. Wow. Okay.
A little bit more than a year.
But since then, maybe three months is the longest since then you like to move oh she froze oh you like to move sarah since then it's probably only three months that you
ever stayed in one place are we talking can you guys hear me probably three months is the longest
so is there an ice storm
in Iceland?
Is she frozen or is she just standing perfectly still?
Am I frozen?
No, you're Sarah.
I'm Sarah. Okay, good.
There's actually not
a snowstorm.
You love
moving.
You don't want to stay in one place and just
and just and just train your ass off you like moving every couple months you want to hit the
road i uh yeah i mean i just get a lot out of being a butterfly and meeting new people training
in a new environment and just changing it up i i mean i've i've tried the the recipe of just
staying in one place for a long time.
And I mean, I even did that last year with Atlanta with a little bit of breaks to Iceland.
But I just, I get so much energy of just listening to my heart and be a free bird.
And I mean, I don't get this opportunity ever again of what I'm doing. I can travel the world and work from all over the world while I'm meeting new people and learning about new cultures and everything.
So like when I'm 80 years old, I want to talk to myself and say like, Sarah, you did well, like using all the opportunities that you got.
I was listening to an interview a friend mine did with matt fraser the other day
yeah released the other day at least and he talked about this a little bit because
zach teelander asked him he said you know you're so regimented and you didn't have these like
changes and matt was like yeah i mean it was wild i would see people make these big life shifts one
month before the games move across the country and i couldn't comprehend it but what he qualified
that with was but that was that made sense to them.
And what made sense to me and what made sense to them doesn't mean that one's right or wrong.
It was just different.
Yeah, exactly.
And I mean, he is in such a comfortable setting of like, he has a girlfriend that cooks for
him, make sure that he, very limited things.
While I am,
I get my self esteem from being very independent and like do things myself and
be like, I am doing this. Like, I, like,
it's just a different, like different way that people get self esteem and how
they like, I like to go to bed at night and think I did everything that I could
today to be better. And I don't have to rely on anybody.
And that's my thing.
I thought it was really cool and actually important interview for him in that part of it.
Because when he first retired, he wrote that article that came out on Morning Chalk Up.
And it was talking about these regimented details and attention to all these specific things.
And I think people may be like, man, if I want to be great or my greatest, I have to do all of that stuff. And
that's so intimidating. And this puts in a different perspective, which the things that
you individually have to do to be great are not necessarily the things that he did or that I do.
Exactly. Yeah. And everybody is so different. And I mean, I I I listened to his podcast I think it was with Joe Rogan or
something and he's he's talking about that his best friend was getting married and because of
the flight or something or the change of routine or something like that he didn't want to go
and this was like I wouldn't say quite far off the season but still like a month to go or something like that
and like this would have a worse effect on me not going because like that's just the different
personalities of like I would get energy of going and seeing my friends for these two days and then
I'm back into the zone and I that as energy of like okay i already did this now i have to push harder because
i took time off and i did this so i have to make up for it while he's focused more on like i need
to have the routine complete up until the games because then i get my verification of like i did
everything i could it's it's so for everybody. I had actually a really personal experience with that in college.
I was playing soccer.
I had an important family or friend obligation that I wanted to go to,
and I was going to miss a practice.
And the coach came back to me and said,
you're the captain of the team.
You can't miss a practice for something like that.
I skipped my grandmother's funeral for a game.
And I'm like, well, we just have different values.
And he's like, well, you're on my team. So if you don't have the same values, then you can't be the captain. And I was like, well, we just have different values. And he's like, well, you're on my team.
So if you don't have the same values, then you can't be the captain.
I was like, and I don't want to be on your team.
And we just couldn't see eye to eye on those things.
But now when I'm thinking back on it, I'm like, man,
both of us could have had more empathy, I think.
Yeah, a hundred percent. And it's also, you,
you can get so lost in the things that don't have to matter so much.
Like, I mean, before last year's qualifier, my grandpa died
and I had to choose if I was going to do the last year's qualifier
or if I was going to go to Iceland to the funeral.
And I chose last year's qualifier because I thought,
okay, he wants me to make it to the games again.
He wants me to have a comeback. Well, he wants me to um have a comeback well like maybe one practice
of being a captain and you can you have to skip a funeral it's like it's like it's not worth it
it causes more stress and more sadness and then you don't perform as well because your focus is
different and and you feel that um like, regret of not going.
How did your grandfather die, Sarah?
Yeah, it's very, I, just the age. He was just, yeah, reached that age and just died peacefully, thank God.
And, yeah.
What a crazy decision to have to make make it's like something out of a movie
yeah it was and it's so insane when you look back like I was like what if I had just done
last year's qualifier in Iceland I could have done both and like your mind is just it takes
so many places and then you just have to remind yourself of like this was the best decision at that time
that's why i took it and you can't regret it and you have to also think um another way to think of
it is if you had a granddaughter you would not you would never want her or a grandson you would
never want them to pass up an opportunity to go to your funeral i would i would never want my
i would never want my child to to miss an opportunity for their life to go to your funeral. I would, I would never want my child. I would never want my child to, to miss an opportunity for their life to go to my funeral.
It's completely unnecessary.
Yeah. And he, he was such a proud grandpa.
So he like,
he had so many photos of me from the newspapers or stuff like that,
just on his, in his living room.
So I knew that my career meant a lot to him also
newspapers well if there you know if he was uh if he was a fan if there's anything like your
parents there i was down on the floor in miami and you know in miami it's wild like it's difficult
to get a spot you want but every time i look up in the stands and lo and behold, they're your parents front and center.
They always find your parents came to Miami.
They,
my mom shows up four hours before I start just to make sure she has the
right seat in front of the right lane.
And she makes sure of this,
like this is a priority.
That's how much of a fan they are or like how much they know.
I love their support.
And you said you were able to be yourself at Waterpalooza.
You're able to be yourself around your parents?
Yeah, always.
Yeah, that's fantastic.
And are you glad they come or does it stress you out?
No, I love when they come.
But I like to be in my own zone before the competition.
But I know that they enjoy also just making a trip from friggin storms in Miami and having a meeting in their trip.
So I think they enjoy it as much as I enjoy getting their support.
And it's also good to have somebody if you need something, it's always easy to ask your parents for it.
So like, Mom, can you go to Whole Foods and get me this right now?
And she knows that it's important.
So having somebody like that.
Yeah, totally.
And you don't feel bad asking them.
You know that they want to be a part of it.
And so it's easy on your mind too.
Yeah.
Hey, as an athlete now so since 2013
we're approaching 10 years there's got to be so many things that people that you didn't think
specifically hardships that come with what you're doing that you never even imagine when you're
when you're uh how old are you 20 how old are you now you're 30 i'm 30 now yeah imagine when you're 30 when you're uh i don't know how old are you 20
how old are you now you're 30 i'm 30 now yeah so when you're 20 and you're like okay i'm gonna
start this journey i'm gonna put the marine biologist thing on hold i'm gonna start this
journey to be coming uh across the athlete are there things you're like wow no one told me that
or i got god i never even thought it would be this hard or holy like i am still just in shock
that i'm at the place where i am like still okay yeah like this is still just very unreal for me
it's like i mean if you would have talked to me when i was 16 you would never see any athleticism
in me you would see that i'm strong or something like that like strong feels but you would never think that like i gave up on everything before i even tried i just i had so little faith in me and
i had zero just yeah zero goals and my thing was just to have fun with my friends all the time
like they were boys like you um in 2000 and when you were a 16 year old
girl boys have always liked me usually okay okay i didn't know i didn't know i mean now they really
like you as soon as you came on like i think some guy already asked to marry you oh really in the
comments yeah but yeah i i was um like i just started high school at that time and just was a total babe.
There he is.
There he is, Dante.
There he is.
Dante, let me think about this.
Let me think about this.
Yeah, so it wasn't that.
It was just, yeah, I still am just reminding myself of how freaking lucky I am to have had this experience and of course when I'm dealing with injuries and
especially tearing my ACL and going through all that I was just like is this worth it am I
am I just destroying my body am I gonna be like have injured knees the rest of my life if I
continue and like the health of my body is it is it in stake like you think about all
these extra things and then it's just like come on shut up just live in the moment and enjoy what
you're actually experiencing when I go to the store and and I'm and I let's say I check out I'm
at you know Whole Foods or wherever I'm at I can see every most of the people are just going through
the motions. Yeah.
They're just on autopilot.
They're, they're not like, they don't, they're not being present with me.
They're not engaging me.
It's almost like, um, as I walk around the world, I just, I'm with zombies.
Yeah.
Cause I'm present and I just see, and I, they're just faking it and slowly they, they fall
asleep and then you run into someone who's awake and you're like, oh, here's two of us
who are actually awake.
Yeah.
I don't, you can't do that as a professional athlete, right?
You can never – it's not like working at 7-Eleven where you can just be like 3.95.
Do you want a bag with that?
No.
I mean it would be –
Marlboro Lights, Marlboro Lights.
We're out of Marlboro Lights.
Sorry.
Yeah.
Like you can never – it seems like it would be so hard to do what you
do that. Like, here's what I was thinking this morning. I was thinking you're 20 years old.
You want to be a CrossFit games athlete. Now you're 25 and you're pretty good at it. And you're
like, fuck, what have I gotten myself into? I have to wake up every morning and give 100%. I can
never fake it and just be like, here's your change, sir. No, I've always just been so driven and loved what I do.
I love waking up.
I love the feeling of hard work.
And it's almost like I wish my body could just handle more of hard work so I could do more.
But it's never been.
You're addicted to it.
Yeah, I'm so addicted to it.
And I'm so addicted to the feeling of knowing that I'm working for something.
And I think that what I experienced in 2015 of like, I could have been the first rookie
to win the games and then I lose it in the last workout.
Like, that still sits with me and that's still my drive of like, I haven't reached what I
can reach.
And going through all injuries and all the bumpy roads on the
way is like, it's what makes you the strong character that you are.
And I think also like sports are,
are preparing you for a lot of things in life.
And like you go through the same stages in when you lose somebody as when you
have an injury, like the the grief stays the sad states the
anger states like so it's I I just try to be that person that never regrets anything and and tries
to see what I actually have because I think that people that get lost in oh I have to do this
or I was like everybody's expecting this from me so that's
why I'm doing this you're never gonna be good at it because you're not doing it for yourself
could you teach someone that to be
because you weren't always like that do you think you could teach someone to enjoy hard work and be
the best at what they and be the give it their most every single day and to enjoy that i think like my theory around this is that i gave up on everything
because i had no self-esteem i was just very fragile like i would try sports and then a girl
would say one comment to me and i would quit because i was so afraid that um that she would
comment again something about me so i was like if i was so afraid that, um, that he would comment again, something about
me. So I was like, if I was playing basketball, if some guy said to me, Hey, you don't have the
right body for basketball, I would quit. Yeah. That's exactly how I was. And I would never do
anything unless I was with somebody because that was my security. So like my best friends would
have had to do something, some sports for me to be able to do it,
or else I wouldn't do it. So that's why I was more into music at that time. I was just,
I loved to just sit on the piano and just play because that was like my, my zone and nobody
was around me. But sports was like, you got calm, especially when you're in a fragile age of like you got comments
of oh my gosh why does Sarah always turn so red in her face like you were different and that would
be like oh my god I never want people to see me as different as what I should be so I'm not gonna
do it so like that that's the reason why I didn't do anything. And then when I start in this boot camp seminar and there was a coach there that saw something in me that I never expected anybody else to see or didn't even know about myself.
He's like, you're very determined.
And I was like, no, I'm actually not.
I'm a...
And he's like, no, you're not.
You were able to do this and he like actually made me think like oh
i actually did this and the other girls didn't do it which made me different what was his name
his name was uh good nosh good nosh yeah i called him good man. And he said something to you that's what we call in my family stuck.
Yeah.
Someone said something to you that stuck.
They believed in you and it stuck.
Yeah.
Like you have like my rule in life now is just like if I have a compliment for anybody, I compliment them.
Like as soon as I can because that one compliment changed my life because I
never thought that anybody saw anything in me like I had just accepted that I was born in this world
with zero talents and I was just supposed to float with uh with the crew yeah and that's so far
yeah so so uh just getting this one comment and seeing actually oh there's something
different with me i wanna i wanna get a compliment again so we're running today and i'm not gonna
show him that i'm tired like i just made up these games in my head and from there i started seeing
results and from seeing results i started to get addicted to hard work. And it's just it's so insane how self-esteem plays the biggest role in everything you do.
This is actually I'm glad you got back to the hard work because I was thinking about this a few minutes ago.
You know, as you become more and more addicted to that, a lot of times, especially young athlete, then it becomes more time in the gym, more time lifting weights, more time on the track. As you age and go through these last 10 years and you put more
toll on your body, have you had a progression of realizing that there are other ways I can
apply that addiction to hard work, like making sure that I get more sleep or making sure that
I do my meal prep? And what's that transition been like? That's been very hard.
And I feel like Sam Briggs is probably one that connects a lot.
It's like, it's so hard for you to accept that you can't do as much as you want.
And you're in denial.
And as soon as you're in denial, you get injured.
So it's like, fuck, I should have listened to my body.
And as soon as you're in denial, you get injured.
So it's like, fuck, I should have listened to my body.
But I find it very good to just like, actually, like what I've done the last 10 years is that I've, how do I say this? Like I've made almost what I do autopilot, like everything, like all the experience that I have and everything.
it like everything like all the experience that i have and everything like i can use that as an advantage of like not having to do as much now because i have that experience am i saying this
right do you understand what i mean i don't i don't i don't i don't i don't i don't can you
talk to me like i'm a three-year-old don't quit looking at me like i'm a seven-year-old. Quit looking at me like I'm a seven-year-old.
Okay.
Okay.
You're saying that you've built up enough.
You have a reservoir of experience and strength already?
Okay. So what I mean with this is a person at my age.
You froze.
I would say that if a person that's 30 years old is starting CrossFit now, I have a better background than them because I have some experience in it.
While that person at 30 would have to do much more volume of everything to
learn everything from scratch while I was lucky enough to start it at earlier age that's what I
mean with this is like the volume that I did the last 10 years doesn't have to be the same because
I already have the foundations of everything okay well a person that's 30 years old would start
crossing now and it's going to be a athlete, they would have to put loads more time just to get the foundation right and work on that.
On an older body.
Yeah, on an older body.
So like what I try to remind myself of now is like, okay, nutrition actually is 80% of success.
Let's say that.
Like if you get the right fuel, your body reacts in a way
different and better way. So if I can optimize my nutrition, if I can optimize my sleep,
this is my recovery routine, I have to do an ice bath for total of 30 minutes a week, I have to do
a sauna total of 90 minutes a week, I have to stretch four times a week like i make these goals of recovery
versus like instead of just having a training plan i also have a recovery plan i also have a
like a nutrition plan so like all of these things combined together gives me the same hours that i
used to train at when i was at a younger age let's's say that. It's like, I don't know, 12 or so years ago, I lived in the Dominican Republic and there was
no hot water. So I just got used to taking cold shower. And then, you know, now it's like a
popular thing, like you're mentioning to do these cold plunges or whatever. Well, sometimes it's
cold here in Chicago, the water doesn't turn on and it's not hot. And I don't have time to wait around
for it to warm up for 10 minutes, but because I have a history of doing cold showers, I can handle
it better than someone who's never been in that situation. And you can build in these patterns,
healthy patterns to prepare yourself for situations that are maybe less than ideal as well.
Yeah.
yeah destiny sarah i have an idea for you i just thought of it because you were because you were telling me everything you were saying that 80 percent of uh
of uh of train let's say it's nutrition you were just giving like a hypothetical i have this idea
you can share this with snorri okay yeah yeah okay here we go it's a snickers it's a snickers ad oh my god yeah but
and you actually write you actually i eat this shit and it's a picture of you holding it not a
lot and then on the bottom it says not a lot of it just some but you actually i and i it's a million
dollar idea yeah i mean one million dollars get it because it's authentic yeah by
the way i had no idea that snickers had peanut butter i was so happy when i saw this yeah same
and i also found m m&ms and biscoff oh my goodness there's so many good ones i don't think we have
snickers peanut butter in the united states i don't think we do. No, I found this in Denmark. Imagine that.
So Snorri, I only want 3%. 3% of a million would be $30,000 for that idea. It's a small,
it's a small. There's a post you made that I really, really like. I think it's your most recent post. And I'm wondering if you could tell me what inspired this.
It says, if you see me less, it's because I'm doing more.
Oh, this isn't actually a post for me.
This is a photographer that tagged me in that post.
And I read that caption and I was like, she's speaking from my heart or yeah.
Yeah.
But I mean, that's you.
You haven't done you haven't done a podcast since the last time you were on this podcast i've been in uh in the dark now or what do you call it is it in the
dark training in the dark in the dark and like not not too active social media i've just been
tunnel vision of training and just getting back into it. This is a super relevant topic for me because I'm preparing a top 100 list coming into the season.
And I have, you know, there's a lot of athletes out there that do the offseason.
And so they're visible and you see what they're doing and you can make these data points.
They're doing well or not.
They're getting stronger or not.
But there's a whole nother group of athletes that choose to do nothing in the off season.
We haven't seen them since semifinals and no one really knows what they've
been doing and what we're going to see from them 12 months later.
Yeah.
This is the exciting part also.
What,
what happens to,
what happens when you have to cross,
uh,
stop doing CrossFit and this thing that you've built,
built your self esteem on is no longer there.
Are you like an alchemist?
Do you know how to switch it to something else?
Yeah, I'm already there.
I mean, I always have so many hobbies and so many things I want to learn.
Such a long list.
many things I want to learn such a long list so like I started uh studying uh private pilots after last year's qualifier this year so I mean I've always wanted to be like in some way connected
to the airplane world and I just took the decision this year I'm just like I might as well try to be
a pilot we either go all in or we don't, right? Because she never wants to stop traveling all over the world.
No, I never want to stop traveling.
I love it.
And it's also just such an interesting world of like, yeah, being like just this thought around that there's an airplane that flies.
It's insane, right?
It is insane.
it's insane right it is insane yeah that somebody just found the perfect drag thrust lift ratio for a airplane and like i've just always found this very fascinating and there's this also
i don't know i think it's very um i mean crossfit has been a big part of like making
I mean, CrossFit has been a big part of like making strong females or like normalizing the strong female image. And I think that in the pilot world, it's also getting better there.
Like females are allowed to be pilots now.
Like before, it would be like a very weird thing if a female was flying your plane.
And like maybe some old school people would be like, I don't trust a female was flying your plane and like maybe some old school people would be like i don't
trust a female to fly this plane like and this is something that needs to be changed and it's
already changing and i think that's one of the the fascinating things about it is like it's a
challenge of being a female in this world the flight world when um but i i i hear you on the flight thing but i'm thinking more like can you change
can you transcend self-esteem
i think that you have to build two two different type of self-esteems and that one self-esteem is your athletic self-esteem and
that's I'm I don't have the same self-esteem when I'm out with the girls and in a dress or something
I have a way different self-esteem then compared to when I'm in my crossfit gear and going on to
the floor and there's heavy dt like that's two Saras. And I think that if you don't forget your like self-esteem one, let's call it that.
I think it will transfer into everything else.
That's like the base self-esteem that you have.
And you have to be sure that you're actually working on it every day like you do with your athletic identity.
So I think like, of course, you get more self-esteem from achieving a lot of things but you shouldn't define yourself of what you've achieved
and like it's I read this quote I think it was just three days ago I'm trying to remember
exactly how it was but it was like what is your identity without any of your achievements like when you're completely like your CV is just
completely naked like what who are you who are you without your achievements and that's your
that's the identity one as I call it it's like who am I without anything that I've accomplished
and without me going to school and be good at something and getting my self-esteem from being one of those type of people?
Yeah, that's the question.
I think that's right.
That's that's the question.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome.
So I think that if you work on that or like your core values and stuff, I think that's easier to transfer after your athletic
career i guess that is what it you just explained it to me you explained it perfectly there i never
even thought like that you the two types of stuff is self-esteem is sort of the superficial one and
i don't say that in a negative way but it's it's um i have this podcast and and brian's a coach and
a sports analyst and you and you're a you're a professional athlete who loves being on the floor performing.
And then there's the other one is your values.
And you can get a shitload of self-esteem by really having high values.
A ton.
Yeah.
By staying true to your values.
Yeah, exactly.
And yet at the same time they're nothing they're
they're nothing compared to going out on the stage and lifting 300 pounds over your head
yeah but they are so strong yes yes yeah exactly i'm gonna remember that the rest of my life i
wish i had like a rubber band or a hammer to hit myself. This is a huge breakthrough
for me. I love this. Yes. You're welcome, Simone. You're welcome. Because my whole life, I've always
wondered about values and morals and how when people had values and morals, I'm like, I don't
think I have any of those. But lately, in the last few years, I've noticed I'm like cultivating them
because I have kids, right? Yeah. And your values can change, like, and what you're doing and everything
like that. But I think that your core values are always the same. It's like, depends on what kind
of personality you are. Like, I, I'm an empath, just since I was little, like, I loved helping
people. And I always thought I would end up as a nurse or something because I just I get so much
out of knowing that I've helped somebody so well a different personality can get so much out of
just making somebody laugh or something like that like so like your values are they can change and
but I think the core values are always the same god what it's hard yeah i'm gonna teach my kids this yeah you know what part of that is as
like really resonating with me as though what what are you wearing like you talked about when i put
on a dress and go out the girls i feel different than when i put on a sports bar and shorts and go
out to compete and it's because i you know there's times that i put on an, uh, an outfit and it does, I don't even
have to look at it. I'm just like, this isn't me. Like, I don't feel good in this. Yeah, exactly.
Hey, um, we all, I, I so much, I get it too also because I so much rather seeing the girls,
uh, walk out onto the floor with a ponytail in their hair and singularly focused on the task
at hand. I find that so much more attractive
than a woman who i can see has put in a lot of work and she's uh on her appearance and is um
and is it just doesn't sometimes i almost feel like wow you should never do a shoot not you
personally but i think about this when i see these models on instagram you should never do a shoot
unless you're you just worked out like that is your fucking most attractive look hair and a
ponytail with your Lululemon's on and a sports bra and like sweat dripping off
you.
Like it's your look.
You're doing it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
A hundred percent.
I agree a hundred percent.
It's also just,
Yeah. Yeah. 100%. I agree 100%. It's also just, there's so much attraction to what a person can do. And I think that when you're in that type of zone of you know that you're gonna fuck shit up, your self esteem comes there. And that self esteem is almost like, it shows off. And it's like, you see that a person is in their element.
Well,
like,
let's say that Victoria's secret model model is in a way different element than me.
When I'm in a athletic photo shoot,
he's in a,
in a bikini photo shoot or something like that.
Like,
or,
or those wings on them.
There's no practicality to those wings.
I don't find anything like I'm not interested in watching the Victoria's Secrets shit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You have to remember that they're angels.
Okay.
Hey, I was thinking about this, too.
I would rather see a huge diamond used to cut a piece of glass and then you sneak into the building and rob the shit than a huge diamond on someone's finger.
Diamond on someone's finger does nothing for me.
But then when they take the diamond and cut the hole in the glass and sneak in...
Yeah.
I agree with you there.
It's a diamond in action.
You want the practical application.
Sarah, does it bother... I've never heard anyone
accuse you of being on steroids.
Does that bother you? Are you like,
what the fuck? What am I doing?
What's going on here? How come no one's accusing you?
I can't hear.
Can you hear?
No.
Pretty much says everything.
I've been accused a lot in person, let's say that, or on social media of just like you post a photo of you from a competition and your muscles are very obvious. And it's just like, ah.
You can't hear me.
Yeah, barely.
So so you're saying you have.
Here's the.
Hear me now.
Yeah, I can hear you.
Let me let me ask the question again and I'm going to give you a part B to it.
No.
OK, fine.
I won't.
No, I know she didn't mean that.
Sarah. If I can't hear you.
If – one, because I'm talking.
I don't see people accuse you of doing steroids.
And the other thing is when you start – when you're 20 years old and you come into this sport, you just want to be the best you can be.
And those aren't the things people prepare you for no one whispered in your ear at 20 by the way at some point when you get really successful
people are going to call you a cheater like no one tells you that right yeah yeah no
uh and it's also it's extra hard when you're a girl because before i would say that well it's
more normalized now but being a girl and having muscles, it was like, especially when your muscles are a little bit on the bigger side of like, it's not natural for girls to have muscles.
And it's like, yeah, it is.
We just haven't shown the world of what we're capable of until now.
And that's why we have bigger muscles like and so I think that the beginning of my career and and when my body
was developing into this muscular female I was very insecure and if anybody would bring any
comment it was very hurtful because you put in so much hard work and then somebody just accuses you to go the easier route and like the easier route is not like on the menu like if you
go the easier route you will always it will always hurt you in some other way in like that's what I
believe and I think that steroids and finding the the easy way It's just gonna, why would you choose the easy way
when you can actually go through the hard work and stand on that podium and think it was me that did
all of this instead of I wasn't enough. I had to cheat to get to where I am now. And now I have to
continue to cheat because I don't believe
that I can do this without
something more than my body is capable of.
Plus the mental stress.
This is how I would get steroid use.
It's like you're almost cheating
on your self-esteem at the same time
of telling yourself.
Yeah.
Damn, I wonder what happened to the connection.
The connection got so choppy.
Can you tell it got choppy?
I don't know if you're just messing with me always or if it's choppy.
No, it's choppy.
I try not to mess with you.
I try not to mess with you.
It's okay.
I can handle it though.
But no one tells you that those are the things there's all sorts of things that come with the sport that no one tells you i want to go back to the thing
that you said you're you're an empath you're you're very empathetic that doesn't make your
life any easier uh also right um you don't want to be an empath and have over a million followers
on instagram it sounds like a fucking nightmare.
That's why I have Snorri to help me.
Yeah. Does he?
Yeah, he helps me a lot.
He is the reason why I'm even active on social media.
Let's say that.
I was so lost in this.
When I was starting CrossFitFit I had no idea even what
Instagram was I had posted one photo and that was because my best friend got a free bag and that's
my first post of all time and then I competed the CrossFit Games and I get like 300,000 followers
or something after it and I was like how do i deal with this and um and then thank god i
met snorri to help me a little bit with how you look at social media and how you use that platform
for the benefits of it seven do you mind if i ask a fun question about snorri no no please go ahead
don't let me i want to ask her if she has a boyfriend don't let me forget go ahead right
it's like this is like a dating show, Sarah.
It's how well do you know story and how well does he know you?
So my parents were going to Iceland last fall and I asked him for two restaurant recommendations in Reykjavik.
And he told me what he thought was his favorite and your favorite restaurant.
Do you know them both?
I mean, my favorite restaurant.
I know that.
But his favorite restaurant, fuck.
I mean, I'm sure that he loves food.
So there's probably many that he could choose.
But what would you say?
Place, yeah.
Some kind of steak place in Iceland.
And what would you say was yours?
Mine is Sushi Social.
That's correct.
Sushi Social. And he chose fish company actually
yeah i was gonna say that oh yeah i was gonna say that you guys passed the test
yeah yeah sushi if i had to just pick one food to eat the rest of my life i think it would be
sushi also oh my gosh so when you come to, Simon, again, because you've been here before, you're social.
You know, Sarah, one of my friends just went out.
He just bought a really nice sailboat.
And now he can go on any sailboat anywhere in the world.
Basically, you buy a really nice sailboat and you put it into like a…
Like an Airbnb type of thing.
Yes.
Or like…
Yes.
And he said he goes… What? like an Airbnb type of thing. Yes. And so, yes. And,
and he said he,
he goes,
what?
Now you're making me add to my list of what I want to eat.
Hey,
checks out.
So he takes his family onto the sailboats out in the middle of the Caribbean.
He says the chef jumps off the boat and catches a tuna or some big fish,
brings it onto the boat,
cuts the fish open and you just start eating it right there raw like that.
He says it's the best tasting thing you've ever had in your life.
I mean, I could see that.
Yeah, doesn't that sound amazing?
Just like fresh sushi, just right there.
Yeah, that's insane.
Do you like so much wasabi that it burns your eyes?
I don't like wasabi.
That's the only thing I don't like.
I like the wasabi.
I like it to burn my eyes.
You have to mix wasabi with soy sauce.
It makes it a little bit better.
Patrick Clark, Sarah, when is your next yacht?
When is your next yacht party?
My next yacht party?
I mean, next to the Palooza, of course.
Ross Lewis.
It's becoming a tradition now.
A dollar and nine.
Sarah and Brian Fender are two of my favorites.
Hit the like button.
Oh, that's so sweet.
I feel left out.
Sarah, do you have a boyfriend?
I don't have an answer for that.
Is there something else I can help with?
No, Sarah's talking to Sarah, not you.
Please be quiet during the show.
Thank you.
Yeah.
No.
No.
But there's always someone courting you, right?
I feel like she's now you're messing with us.
You're pretending for me. You're pretending for me.
You're,
you're pretending,
uh,
you don't have an answer for that.
You don't know if you're always being courted.
I'm just messing.
No,
I don't have a boyfriend.
And no courtship.
No,
what courtship?
There's no one.
Is there anyone actively pursuing you?
No comment.
Okay.
Let me.
So I've interviewed a lot of people.
And one of the themes that I've come across with men, these very, very alpha dominant men is that they don't, um,
they don't chase women. They stay focused on doing whatever they do, hunting Buffalo and, uh, and,
and the women come to them, right? Um, here you are this very focused woman who has a job, a vocation, a hobby that's all-consuming.
And you can tell me I'm totally wrong, but if the natural order of things is for women to pursue a man, how would you have time to do that?
Oof, you don't really have time to do that. Do't really have time to do that it's either do you
even know how to do that would you know how to pursue me well have you ever pursued a man what
happens if you pursue a man i think it very it depends on the man you know it's a it's a very
interesting topic actually and especially because they you have very different type of guys and
like um guys that maybe aren't quite alpha or secure with themselves they are very insecure
uh when a strong female approaches them let's say that so i think that it's a very it's a very interesting topic but
i mean i'm not much of of an approacher to guys i usually let them come to me but it wouldn't
if i would see something that i like i would approach it but i feel like when you're very
focused on what you are striving for these things come to the side a little bit.
And then what happens happens.
Either the guy that you're seeing fits into your life or your routine, but you're never sacrificing that for a guy.
fact that um people there's there's the sarah in their head that's this public sarah versus the sarah that is and that someone has to uh people in your life either man or woman have
to reconcile those like oh wow sarah actually pees and poops too and oh wow sometimes she
sometimes she uh has food or a booger hanging out of her nose like people like uh how do people recognize do you see people having trouble reconciling that very often or they try to keep you in a box
yeah or they have already made a specific opinion of how exactly i am just from watching videos of
me or something and it's like i how i am in competition and in documentaries and stuff is not how I am in all areas it's like
I have more to me than only crossfit and I think that people like I think my biggest fear would be
seeing somebody that's only seeing me for what I have achieved and being dating uh sarah sigman's
daughter like getting that that tick mark like how how can you see that like how i feel about
having you on this podcast oh great i got sarah sigman's daughter yeah but it's different if it's
personal you know of course of course of course i think it's another
i think it's another really interesting thing about this sport is you've seen we have seen
over its timeline people that have very um you know very consistent and kind of public
relationships do very well we've also seen people with very consistent and private relationships do very well. We've also seen people with very consistent and private relationships do well. And then we've also seen people that have, you know, relatively no relationship do well in
the sport. In your case, do you think that, uh, do you ever talk to yourself and think that it's
an advantage or a disadvantage one way or the other? No, I just think that everybody's so
different. And I think that it could a hundred% help somebody a little bit I mean we saw
the change in Cara Webb when she just went out of a marriage that she wasn't happy and met a new guy
and and just found a guy that I would say like is her soulmate and them two together it's just
the sweetest thing and I think that's an advantage of finding something that fits with you
and doesn't change you in a worse way.
But I think that from where I am is that I get so much from being independent.
And I would be afraid that I would get addicted to something
that wouldn't be reliable later on.
Like, let's say that, like Tia, for example, if Shane would break up with Tia, what would Tia do
with her career? You know what I mean? So it's like a different, I would say that everybody's
very different. But I, I've always been that type of person of, like to do things by myself and i like to have something else
on the side like i don't want that to interfere with my goals i saw this thing this uh the other
day and it i think it ties in with the women's independence a little bit and i've personally had
this struggle sometimes in relationships in my own life snorri won't let you carry your own bags
yeah yeah but snorri can do it yeah but if i i would be like no this is mine yeah there's been
times that i've opened a door for a woman and she said i can do that myself and i'm like okay yeah
but it has to like that that's just being a gentleman.
And I love that.
Like, we don't have any gentlemen in Iceland.
Like, everybody, because all the girls are so independent almost.
But then you meet an English guy and they open the door.
They can't go through the door before you because that's so rude.
And it's like, that's the difference.
Like, I would give in on that. Like, a guy that's a gentleman, that's so rude and it's like that's that's difference like i i would give in
on that like a guy that's a gentleman that's that's a but it is different sarah sarah um
basically what i'm hearing is this oh god you don't want you don't want to be
i i feel like my wife there's a rule in my house that no matter what the
fuck is going on, right before I go on to have a podcast, no one can pick a fight with
me.
Don't talk to me.
Don't pick a fight with me.
Even if I'm in the wrong, set me up for success.
Be nice to me.
Love me.
Kiss me.
I don't give a fuck.
I slept with your mom.
You better not like bring it up now because like I have a podcast to do and, and, and
you don't want to put yourself in that situation you don't
want to be so you know that if you were with someone and it was uh three uh an hour before um
you went out onto the floor to compete that if they hurt themselves or they got upset or you
found out they cheated on you the whole fucking thing you don't want to be vulnerable you don't
yeah it's a chink in your it's a chink in your armor. I fully fucking get it.
Like, lie to me before I go on a podcast.
I don't care.
I need to be completely confident and strong.
Exactly.
Yeah.
That's exactly what I mean.
And it's... You don't have control of what the other person is going to do.
And you make...
If you get too reliable on that person,
it can interfere with what you're striving for.
Yeah. And you... And there is there is no like if my wife um if my wife has any emotional fluctuation i feel it like immediately
i'm completely lost and twisted up in her shit i have no i have no barrier like if she came home
you sad now i'm sad i mean there's no like it's one person you're saying you're an empath like me
oh i it's crazy empath empath empathetic yes crazy crazy i hate i hate i don't even like to
be around other people i don't want to hurt anyone because i i feel like i would just
immediately hurt myself yeah yeah it's horrible but but um yeah, yeah, that thing you brought up with Tia and Shane is really, truly remarkable.
I mean, obviously, we don't know what goes on behind the scenes.
But, yeah, what if she found out he had another girlfriend?
I mean, how the fuck would she manage that?
I mean, I think their trust and their reliability on each other is just next level.
And I mean,
it's like,
there's used to each other that they know,
like they almost know that nothing's ever going to happen,
but I've never been that type of person.
I like to just trust in myself and myself is enough for me.
And,
and that's a little bit like if I would change what
I have been doing for the last years and start relying on somebody else, I think that would just,
yeah, I don't think that I would work well in that way versus they work very well in that way.
You have to push your own shit down. Like my, i know my wife has to push her shit down
yeah and suppress it because i'm a baby yeah and i'm sure i'm guessing frederick has to do the
same thing he can't he can't be having any of his own shit happen around annie because annie has
shit to do yeah exactly and like now they even have a kid so like he's probably for their for them both so and he doesn't feel it and
and i think yeah i think it's just very different depending on a person what works and what doesn't
work do you feel like you're missing out maybe like that like um no no that's the problem i
right that is right well and she said this earlier
it might just not be the right time
there's no reason that 10 years from now
she might be in that situation
yeah I mean I'm gonna
I'll find my prince charming
after 5 years when I'm gonna
settle
I know that but for now
I just wanna be able to
go to Brazil when Victoria sends me a message and ask me to train with her without getting permission from somebody and there's drama around it or something like that.
Right.
Yeah, everything you're saying makes complete sense.
There's this, I guess that there's some excitement in it.
this um i guess that there's some excitement in it um uh it's it's like the difference when you take a shower by yourself there's really no excitement but when you take a shower with
someone else there's excitement like you're naked in the shower i think that you'll be
i think if you ask sarah or i would that showering is actually one of my favorite parts of the day
and i do it by myself and it's and it's very rewarding i'm serious yeah i agree i i'm not i'm not disagreeing
i'm not disagreeing showering is a fantastic thing to do but but there's a there's a there's
a component to when you do someone else that's exciting it's there's a um and for me and sarah
there's a component of doing it alone that's exciting it's the end of the day i've put in
the hard work and now i'm going to spend this 10 minutes in this hot water and let my body refresh.
Yeah.
The woman should never walk on the outside of the street, ever.
Savon, what's your take on guys walking closer to the street?
Yes, the woman should never walk on the side of the street.
That's just the way it is.
I'll get into that rule, okay?
Now I know.
Yeah, a man should always walk on
the on the curbside always and he doesn't he shouldn't be you shouldn't even notice it
shouldn't be weird what about get a guy sleep closer to the door than a girl wherever she
wants to sleep you sleep on the other side that's my answer but there's the there's a rule with being a gentleman is that the guy has to
sleep closer to the door to protect oh what well i maybe for me it's so i can get up in the middle
of the night and pee without waking her up yeah or maybe it's based on the most comfortable
sleeping position so you can both sleep in the way that you want oh that's deep brian that's very
deep sarah how how is your um body when you look at uh the open coming around the corner
it's excited it is yeah it is very excited and um like i've been traveling so much and it's just good to come home and settle a little
bit and i've been um just taking it very easy since waterpalooza so i i am very excited to
get all the doms that i will get this week from starting training again so and just ready for the
open you know sarah last year before the open ready for the open, you know,
Sarah last year before the open or during the open,
you put something out on Instagram that caused has caused a big stir this entire year.
You know what I'm talking about?
Stirred me.
I loved it.
I hated it and loved it.
What was that?
Something.
Then your notes that was for you that said that the open doesn't matter.
Yeah.
I mean,
it,
it does. I hate it that it doesn't matter, but I'm open doesn't matter. Yeah. I mean, it, it does.
I hate it that it doesn't matter,
but I'm glad you wrote it.
Yeah.
It,
it does matter,
but when you're going to peak at the right time,
it doesn't matter.
But for Susie in my gym,
that's testing herself out of where she was last year compared to this year,
open matters. That's their main goal of seeing where they stand and having fun with it,
like having Friday night lights and everything. I love open and I love that time of the year when
you're just like, you're so excited to watch an announcement and see what's going to come out and
you're guessing. And yeah, so it doesn't matter, but it matters.
Now, there's something going on this year that's a bit mysterious,
is that CrossFit has said there's going to be a ranking system
and that some way the ranking system will affect the number of available spots
to qualify for the games.
Do you know this?
She froze.
Yeah. Have they released that yet brian no the the exact nuances of that have not been released yet i thought they were supposed to be released last supposed to be
by the end of january sarah we're not talking over you you actually froze so we're just like
filling dead air while the audience waits for you to come back because they're really here for you
the end of January.
Okay, so we must be getting close.
I think maybe she should disconnect at this point and come back.
Brian, the technician, says you should hang up and come back.
Patrick Clark for Simba.
I don't get it.
Who's Simba?
That's likely a dog.
A guy sleeps wherever she tells you to.
The side of the bed she doesn't want to.
The couch, the garage, the hotel room.
Oh, these hotel room. All these are,
these are,
uh,
accurate.
And she's gone.
Maybe she took our advice.
Uh,
just like fit wars too,
is supposed to be announced at the end of January.
Do I know?
There might be some information coming on that regard before the end of
January yet.
Kenneth,
we'll see.
Is that wad zombies thing? Fit yet, Kenneth. We'll see. Is that WAD Zombies thing?
Fit Wars?
Yeah.
We're very close, actually.
I heard he sold it for a half million dollars.
In fact, I wrote the first version of the workout
that we might do for the next iteration of it yesterday.
Oh, I can't wait.
Send me a text.
Sevan is a beta, so he wouldn't know.
That's not nice.
I don't think that's nice.
That's not a compliment, right?
I'm not sure.
I think he misspelled beta, so I don't know.
You think he meant alpha?
Sevan is an alpha?
We're just going to – maybe we need more information i'm gonna see if she's oh i'm
gonna see if she what's at me let's see uh are you uh are okay maybe she's gone for the day
well hopefully not but if she was she was amazing yeah it was a good 90 minutes. And I was able to work in the Snickers.
Yeah, I know that was the top of your list today.
God, I was like, it wasn't as smooth as I wanted, but I'm glad I got to work it in.
There's definitely people in the comments that appreciated it.
Thank you.
No one misunderstand me.
I'm very, very, everyone can do exactly what they want.
Enjoy yourself. Well, I'll finish this thought for you that I was going to have for her. one no one misunderstand me i'm very very uh everyone can do exactly what they want enjoy
i'll finish i'll finish this up for you uh that i was gonna have for her and uh if she comes back
maybe we'll is it about her showering with you no no it's about the open because oh that's right
you know obviously that comment last year made a big people have been talking about it and
referencing it throughout the entire year but if you look back at you know at sarah specifically um guys i'm so sorry my phone died that's all right we did our best to fill the air
while you were gone and okay good everyone's it was a different aura when i left right everyone
loves you so much they stayed around anyway the two people in the audience killed themselves. Oh, I can imagine.
So, Sarah, this year, there's the possibility, we don't know all the details,
that the Open could actually have a direct impact or some kind of an impact
on the number of spots that the European women get to the CrossFit Games.
Yeah.
You missed in Europe by one spot last year.
So one extra spot can make a huge difference or for you know people from your continent first of all wouldn't it be nice if they told us what
was going on it would be very nice why why what do you care why i would love to get more spots
in europe oh but i mean would it but would it affect your training i
guess is what i'm asking like if you guys did know what like why why do you think they should know
brian because this is what i've what i know so far is that there's a possibility that going back
at least two years can have an impact on how many spots each continent gets or semi-final gets
and additionally it it sounds like the the results from this year's
opening quarterfinals will also contribute to that but how much they will contribute to that
is what i'm really curious about because i put this thing up on instagram yesterday
because i noticed this weekend for whatever reason there's like half a dozen competitions
going on around the world with athletes who have hopes to go to the CrossFit games that are competing in it.
But in a lot of those cases, they also compete in regions that if they do competitively well in the opening quarterfinals in the next six weeks,
could potentially earn one or two extra spots to qualify.
And there are a lot of athletes that if they had had that chance, one or two extra spots in the past two years, their career could have looked a lot of athletes that if they had had that chance one or two extra spots in the past two years
their career could have looked a lot different yeah i what's your opinion about these spots
being made from the open and quarterfinals versus the game spots oh great question yeah great
question great question well i you know i've been writing and speaking about the distribution of game spots for years
now, because I, I think very clearly,
there's been a discrepancy between the performance at the top of the sport
from women and men in different parts of the world.
And specifically the women in Europe and in Oceania have been doing very well
for the past five to six years. And, and similarly,
the men in North America have continued to be the standard, and they're
still doing better than the rest of the men around the world collectively. So I had thought there
might be... The sport of CrossFit has always been, and I think Austin praised for the fact that it's
equal opportunity for men and women. Prize purses are the same, same number of game spots, etc.
But in this case case it's not that
we're taking women out of the field or men or adding men to the field and making imbalance
this way what we're really just what i'm in pursuit of is the most competitive field at the
games and if that means that we have 18 men from north america and 16 women or 14 women from europe
and 10 men i don't care where they come from. I just want the best at the games. Yeah, then you have the right competition.
So I had thought that
to your question,
because we never knew in the past
that the games or semis or quarterfinals
or the Open could have an impact on qualifying
spots, we should have just started with a clean
slate this year. Give one spot
to every semifinal and let
this year's Open and quarterfinals determine
how the other 33 are distributed yeah yeah and then you can build upon that does it affect your training at
all though sarah no no okay i mean these are just stuff that we pretty much don't have control over
but i i heard some rumors that the girls in Oceania would meet up
to make sure that they push each other in the open
and get a very good score to get more spots.
And I mean, I don't know if the European girls will do the same or not.
And I find that when it comes to that, it's not a fair game anymore
because it becomes a competition way too early
of something that shouldn't be in our control.
It should be like, I mean, you look at other competitions
of just like, let's say Rogue, for example.
How many were in top 10 at Rogue?
How many were in top 10 at the games?
What are the same names there?
If it's always like seven out of ten
are from europe why wouldn't europe get an extra spot like it just makes makes sense but it also
makes sense of what you say of like getting a clean slate this year and then learn from this
year for next year yeah it's by no means is it an easy you know an easy decision and it's a lot
of responsibility that cross to make to try to get that right right yeah and and the women in oceania is a great example because tia's not
competing this year will her where her performances from the last two years have an impact on the
number of spots they get or because she's not in the field will they not even include her
yeah exactly and then i i also heard rumors that cara won't be competing, but I don't know if that's right or not.
But so it's already too.
I have this thought that maybe she wasn't going to, but since Tia's out this year, she might be like, ah, let's go one more year.
I'm going for it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But of course, there's also this exemption rule.
So Jamie Simmons hasn't lived in Oceania for a long time.
If she applies for an exemption, will she be able to compete in Europe if she wants?
And let's just say that Tia and Cara.
She's back in Dubai.
Yeah.
Oh, is she back there now?
Yeah.
Exactly.
And she's been in Dubai and she's lived in Dubai for years and years.
I mean, the last time she lived in New Zealand or Australia was probably eight years ago.
Yeah.
So if she applies for exemption and competes in Asia, and which we're, we don't know. And if Cara doesn't compete and Tia doesn't compete.
And I know Ellie Turner applied for an exemption because she's living in North America now, like
didn't, like if that, and I don't know what's going to happen in any of those cases, but let's
just say that those four women aren't there. Then do they even deserve the three spots that they're
already guaranteed? So there's a lot of factors in play.
And, you know, I don't envy that CrossFit has to make that decision. No matter what they do, someone's going to say it could have been better. Yeah, always. There are always those
comments, but they just have to make a decision to stick with it and make it as fair as they can.
Going back two years seems ridiculous to me. I can't think of one good argument why you would
go back and include people's scores from two years ago.
No, I don't understand that either.
And two years ago was also
COVID and people didn't even have
gyms to do
the Openette, so they were doing it at home.
Yeah, Adam says that Maddie
Sturt is the only happy person on this.
Yeah, that would be great for her. And she deserves to go to the games.
Yeah. And Caitlin. Yeah, that would be great for her. And she deserves to go to the games. Yeah.
And Caitlin.
Yeah.
Caitlin Van Zyl.
Van Zyl.
Van Zyl, yeah.
And look, there are other really talented women in Oceania that have not had hardly any opportunity to make it because of the limited number of spots they've had.
And the fact that the great performances from those women have not opened up other doors.
And that's why I have in the past written that you can have a rolling performance,
but I only took it from the games.
So I would say if the qualifiers you have are making the games,
and I think you were saying similarly, Sarah, if those are doing well,
that should be an indication that there needs to be a spot added in those regions.
And if they need to add a spot and they keep doing well, then they get another one because if they're doing well,
that means that someone else isn't doing well.
Yeah, exactly.
Sarah, I'm going to ask you a leading question.
I apologize in advance.
Are you at home?
I'm actually at Snorri's place.
Snorri's new office.
Yeah.
I saw a guitar back there and I'm like,
I was going to see if I could catch you at your boyfriend's house.
I was like, oh, she's at her boyfriend's house this whole time.
Not that good.
Yeah, not that good.
All right.
Screwed that up.
Good job, Sarah.
I was going to ask if there was a piano there,
and you could play a little outro for us.
Yeah.
I mean, I have a piano at home, you know.
That's why I'm not there, so you couldn't ask me.
That's why I'm not there. So you couldn't ask me.
Sarah, I can't tell you how appreciative I am that I can get a hold of you and that you come on the show.
You are a true blessing to the show. I was just looking at I'm looking at the live numbers here. It's crazy how many people love you and tune in wherever you go. Thanks for always coming on.
Thanks for being so vulnerable. um i i think um you and
brian both touched on it at wadapalooza you did seem uh like you were totally yourself i think
people love you for how vulnerable you are and i know it's it uh it can take a lot of energy but
thanks for always doing it yeah pleasure is mine i enjoy it a lot actually cool so it's a win-win
for both of us yay okay tell snorri i said hi um yeah maybe
i hate only if it's convenient for you maybe you could tell uh um uh your buddy uh bjorgvin
carl goodmanson he's he's become a little uh more difficult to get a hold of lately maybe you could
tell him i'd like to have him back on yeah i'll talk to him slap him around a little bit okay
he's also he's also training in the dark he's got something to prove this year how to trade in the dark yeah i have i have he's on my radar
this season yeah oh he yeah he should be i saw a hunger in his eyes at the end of last year's games
that told me that he was uh he's wanting more let me ask you one more question okay sorry one
more question i'll let you go How important is it to be,
um,
let's talk about weight loss and hormones again.
How important is it to be when you get to the games to be as skinny as you
fucking possibly can without losing any strength?
Is there,
is there any,
do you have any thought on that?
That's important to be crazy lean,
but without losing strength,
I would say it's even worse for you.
Really?
So with like all the gymnastics and all
of that shit i mean i think that if you're as skinny as possible that your system is in a
stressor like i would say that it's okay to be like let's say that it's okay to be lean but
when you're trying to be as skinny as possible and as strong as possible, it just leads to injury and that you're quicker tired.
And when you have a five day brutal competition, this should not be your priority.
Your priority should be that your glucose storage is or glicogen.
Am I saying it right?
Is is full and like that you are able to actually.
Are you laughing at me?
Right?
No, no. Just your pronunciation. Just your that's it it's okay it's okay um yeah i think that's like
the most important thing is that you don't fear that i think that if you're trying to be as light
as possible and then you have no energy so you force yourself to eat more than you usually do
to get that light or lean it's's going to mess with your head.
So it's not the marathon.
Like in the marathon, when the guy finishes the marathon,
every marathon winner is dehydrated.
No one ever wins hydrated.
But this is a five-day event, and you have to be smart.
You have to be smart.
You can't just be like, hey,
like maybe what I was saying would have more validity
if it's just one workout,
and you knew it was going to be a lot of pull-ups, muscle-ups to bar shit like that but you're saying hey this is a five-day event you
can't just you almost need to have some something a little bit extra just in your system and i mean
i think it's also very individualized i've always been a person that has like has a very hard time
getting lean while tia was probably born with a 12-pack.
And like, you know what I mean?
So it's very different for everybody.
And it's like, if I would lose a lot of weight now
and just try to have a six-pack before the games,
it would have maybe more effect on me
because I've never been like that before.
You did look very lean at the 2019 regionals. You looked very lean. Yeah, did look very lean at that night at the 2019 regionals you
looked very lean yeah i was very lean at that time and i was very under fueled i was okay yeah i was
a vegan and yeah you're not doing that anymore you're not plant-based anymore no i i've added fish back and felt a huge difference there.
So I'm just slowly seeing what my body needs.
Yeah, congratulations on experimenting with your body.
Thank you.
I mean, you never know unless you try, right?
Yeah, it's what life's about.
Yeah, exactly.
All right.
So yeah.
yeah yeah exactly all right so yeah so to answer your question i think it doesn't matter that you're as light as possible as long as you are fueled enough that's your priority yeah just
having having yeah full gas and just like be like, it's so individualized of how lean you can get with
the amount of training. Like some girls even just get way too lean and they're trying to eat enough,
but, uh, they still just get lighter. So I'm definitely not one of them. I'll tell you that.
I wish I was. Sarah, thank you, Brian. Do you have any, uh, farewell part,
parting message for, um, Ms. Sigmund's daughter? No, I was laughing because, uh, two things. Brian, do you have any farewell parting message for Ms. Sigmund's daughter?
No, I was laughing because two things.
It's glycogen.
But more importantly, I think it's been a really good podcast.
It's been really good for people to see how intelligent you are and thoughtful you are
and how much you know about a variety of different things that contribute to your success in this sport.
Thank you. That's a very good compliment brian well and for those of you who are more superficial and shallow like me i think the importance is is that she's single
okay sir thank you so much uh for coming on the show you're wonderful uh don't forget to slap
mr goodman's in around and tell us we said hi. Thank you. Thank you so much, guys.
Bye.
Bye, sir.
Now that you're home again, Sevan, says Wad Zombie.
Are you going to do four shows a day again?
No, I'm chilling.
I'm chill.
I'm chill.
I'm not.
I don't think Dave's coming on today.
I don't.
I need to fix that.
I'm going to fix it.
Where was that?
That skate park that your kids were at?
Was that on your trip?
Yeah. Indoor one. Yeah. So there's these skate parks called woodward they're named after a pro skater like bob woodward or something and they have um and there are these four like
i guess they're the premier indoor skate parks in the uh in the united states i think the first
one is up there in truckee so i had an opportunity to go up there for four days my kids skied every morning and then skated every night it was nuts my both my
kids all my kids are very very very sore right now is that is skateboarding on those ramps and
in the indoor is it a lot different than what you guys usually do like was it challenging for them
in a new way i mean they had mega ramps there but they're basically these huge drop-ins where you
launch into foam no they loved it they it's very different but they absolutely loved it i mean they had mega ramps there but they're basically these huge drop-ins where you launch
into foam no they loved it they it's very different but they absolutely loved it i mean they
yeah they absolutely loved it okay did they ever ask you to do it to skateboard with them
dude if i get on a skateboard in front of my kids they'll start crying
like literally tears will come down their face don't don't you're gonna hurt yourself don't
Like literally tears will come down their face.
Don't, don't, you're going to hurt yourself.
Don't.
Don't.
Oh my gosh.
Thanks, Omar.
I didn't feel like I was myself today. My sinuses are just getting back to normal after being in Lake Tahoe.
So I was kind of having trouble like getting my breathing cadence down.
So I didn't feel like myself.
But it was nice having Brian here.
That's for sure.
It's fun.
Good cop. We could do like good cop, bad cop. Lay off for sure. It's fun. Good cop.
We could do like good cop, bad cop, lay off of each other, teach each other up.
I got time if you want to, you know, maybe you don't,
but you want to keep it going. She, she got bit by a dog. We didn't, thank you. Brian is very kind to you. She got bit by a dog.
I forgot to ask her about that. I didn't know that.
I like it. um speaking of building your self-esteem on on other people's
shit i like it when people say yeah i like coming on the podcast like when she said that at the end
i was like yeah that's a conversation about the self-esteem was a pretty good one yeah there's a
lot in there for i will be reflecting on that a little bit say that again i'll be reflecting on that that conversation a little bit me too i'm going to
keep turning that over in my head when i'm showering by myself that is what that is like
fuck values and morals for the sake of them being values and morals have values and morals um so
that you can have something that's kind of more abstract to be part of who you are
instead of all the superficial things. You're not your Ferrari. You're not your Fran time. You're
not your your beard, Brian. I know you're deeply attached to that beard. You're just jealous because
everyone's giving you a hard time about shaving yours. It'll be back in two days. Don't worry.
Be back in 10 minutes. I actually thought about doing it last night. I'm like you a hard time about shaving yours. It'll be back in two days. Don't worry. It'll be back in 10 minutes.
I actually thought about doing it last night.
I'm like, no, I'll be stubbly by the morning.
But yeah, I like it because now I can – I need things explained to me for practical value.
It's not, Stefan, you need to have morals so you go to heaven.
I'm like, morals and heaven are too abstract for me.
Morals so you go to heaven.
I'm like morals and heaven are too abstract for me.
But this is, yeah, what we stumbled upon today, what the young Sarah Sigmund's daughter was able to explain to this old dog was valuable to me.
Very valuable. She speaks so well.
And you asked her a couple of questions that, like I was putting myself in her, like, man, if you asked me that, I wouldn't be prepared for that question.
I wouldn't know how to answer necessarily.
And she was always ready.
You think – there's got to be – do you think that there is some sort of natural law to that, to the courtship process?
Like I've seen my friends who are very, very nice to women, like exceedingly nice to women, pursue women, do everything the woman wants to an unsustainable level.
And then after – to a point where I think some people would call them like beta males.
And then after a couple years the um it's not sustainable
and so uh and and i don't know i feel like at some level the women start wanting direct not
direction but they don't want to be making like the decisions like that there's like a natural
order maybe to men and women like the man's gonna yeah but i don't know i i don't know what i was this is what
i was kind of alluding to with the door thing it's like sometimes you open a door for a woman
and then they're very appreciative of it and they find it chivalrous and that you're being respectful
and kind and other times you open a door for women and they're like i can do that myself
and i'm like i know i was just trying to be nice. Well, that's obvious what that is, right?
Because if any – I'll be willing to bet, I don't know, someone's life on this.
If you hold the door open for anyone and your immediate response isn't thank you or you just go through the door and don't say anything,
and anyone who – any woman who does that or a man who does that who says, I can hold the door open myself, that person is living their life trapped in their head.
There's no reason ever to say that unless you – like that woman is exposing her own insecurity, right?
Some sort of narrative she has in her head.
So let's flip it around.
Yeah.
So let's say –
Same with if a girl held the door open for me and I said I don't let women hold doors open for me.
That's my own insecurity.
I'm being a douche.
For me, and I said, I don't let women hold doors open for me.
That's my own insecurity.
I'm being a douche.
So let's say I'm going to meet a woman, or I'm picking her up, and it's the first time, and I get there, I park, and I walk around the car, and I get out and walk around the car and open the door for her.
Yeah.
She obviously appreciates that gesture.
Am I not expected to do that every single time I pick her up?
For how long? Like two years later, should I still be doing that?
God, I was going to say something really crass. I'm concerned my mom's still listening,
so I'm not going to say it. Hey, you know, I'll tell you this. I don't know. I don't know. I
haven't know what the answer is for that. But for me, if it's, if it's convenient and it makes sense, I always, I'll do that.
Especially like with people like my mom or my wife, meaning if I'm walking towards the
car and the door, I'm going to see the passenger side door before I get to my driver's side
door.
I'll probably open the door for my mom.
But if I'm not, if I'm already on my side, I'm not coming around to open the door for
you.
Yeah.
Or if it's like, I know we're late, so I'm not going to take this extra 20 seconds to do that is that a good excuse or it's yeah yeah i actually i just did a hunt 300
air squats yesterday and getting out of the car one extra time it's not happening so open it what
was your time do you know your time on that i'm just using examples oh 16 years later my husband
still does it yeah that's cool so if he didn't do it one day very very nice
and you're the only listener we've ever had on facebook sorry oh yeah yeah good question jessica
what if he doesn't do it anymore so those are you know and those are the things it's like that's why
communication is important is that you you know sometimes you're going to have these ebbs and
flows the level of expectation might change from one person to the other and you have to then you
know this is the classic of pick
your battles like if that's really important to you to open the door okay i can open the car door
do you can a healthy yeah i guess this that's that's it's going to be interesting to see how
a man i would just be i would love to be a fly on a wall to see what it's like to a man to pursue her
what you know or the or the opposite way around yeah i'd like to see
what happens if yeah if she pursues a man like what that looks like can you imagine if she like
asks you out and you're so fucking intimidated and scared by her you you freeze you get like
some sort of paralysis well you know one of the things she said, she said, if I like something, I will go for it.
Yeah.
Which I think that, again, that's a good question for people to ask themselves.
When you like something, do you go for it?
Or do you shy away from it?
Or do you find a reason maybe not to sometimes?
She does not.
She does not.
I think she also explained very clearly.
She doesn't want to do anything to expose herself to that would interfere with her goals.
That's some championship mindset shit.
I don't know if it's healthy or bad or good, but...
So I want to put this in perspective for you.
The last time that Sarah Sigma Zutter finished the CrossFit Games, meaning did the last workout on Sunday, 2017.
Great. And she's still pursuing it last workout on Sunday, 2017. Great.
And she's still pursuing it.
It's been five years.
Yeah.
2018, withdrawal injury.
2019, cut like most of the field.
2020, online.
2021, injury.
2022, one spot short from making it.
If she makes it back this year.
Yeah.
It's pretty remarkable.
Yeah.
I hope she's like Vellner and she'll come on during the events. I don't think this year. Yeah. It's pretty remarkable. Yeah. I hope she's like Velner and she'll come on like during the,
during the events.
I don't think she will.
Maybe.
She's good on the podcast,
right?
Amazing.
Like brilliant.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I think that like,
I never panic.
Like there's going to be too much quiet time with her.
No.
And she's thoughtful.
And I mean,
the other thing is that a lot of times, you know, people can get into this, this career, this pursuit of this
career, and they become so focused on that one thing she has mentioned. She's maintained hobbies.
She's maintained relationships. She's trapped. She's continued to travel the world. So she's
continuing to gather experiences and knowledge and information and trying to apply it to her
ultimate pursuit of her goals. And I think that it shows in the way that she answers the questions and and the
thoughtfulness that she gives to her responses i'm glad you came on i know you had to sacrifice
make some sacrifices oh no it actually was canceled for me i didn't even have to make the
hard decision oh isn't that great yeah oh i have
ray flesher on tomorrow ray fleecer my man from uh ocean state cross it hey that's gonna it's for
the affiliate series yeah reflet ray what time is that 7 a.m you've never invited me to an affiliate
series before can i come on this one yeah i would love to have you on it uh 7 a.m i can come on for
yeah i'll come on for at least an hour good wow that'd be really
cool i like ray a lot and um some of you may know of ray fleecer because he and his wife apparently
well i can ask him about this tomorrow both failed the drug test two years ago at semifinals of the
granite games uh after making it their team had qualified for the first time in five years 2017
or then to 2012.
What was it?
What was he taking?
Anything fun?
He was taking,
he knew he was taking steroids.
He was doing it intentionally.
He thought his correct competitive career was over.
It's a really interesting story.
I wrote it.
I wrote about it.
You should go look that one up before the article tomorrow or before the
podcast.
So it's on morning chalk up,
but,
um,
it it'll be,
he's just a cool dude because he's made it to the games.
He's also like done steroids and then made it to the games and failed that test.
He's competed with his wife.
Hey, how did they know to test them?
He qualified for the games.
So everyone, I know, but they don't test everyone.
Oh, uh, that year they might've, it changes every year.
Oh, I wonder if someone told on him.
Um, I'm not sure, but he also owns and runs two very, very successful affiliates in Rhode Island.
Like I think 600 plus members each or something like that.
Wow.
Wow.
And he,
I have like,
this guy blows my mind.
I have never met someone who can like go as hard as he does from 4
AM till 10 PM and then wake up and do it again the next day.
And sometimes he'll do that seven days in a row and then he'll go
out and party all night and then he'll still be back at work
the next morning like he is a totally different breed
of character well it sounds like me Brian you just
described so I think that we'll
have a good one soccer mom he's
a very nice guy
he's also a savage rugby player
you got to look up to some of his rugby stuff
and ask him about it then we have Jake
Lockard on Tuesday no way
really? that's crazy right?
wait Jake's coming on?
and then on Wednesday
for those of you Jake Lockard is
the programmer over at Mayhem
gosh
I would love to come on that one too
however I have a very important meeting that morning
that I'm definitely not going to reschedule
then on Wednesday we have Dr. Asim Malhorta will be coming on for the uh second time
yes you got a killer lineup this week and then um and then uh on thursday we have seth gruber on
he's like the foremost like expert on why you shouldn't do abortions. It's going to be fucking nuts.
It may turn me into like a... I may like see Jesus or something on that show. I'm open to it.
Open to something weird happening.
And then Friday, we have the
UFC fighter Alex Caceres. I think he might
be the longest tenured UFC fighter
on the roster.
Well, look at that.
That's a good week.
I don't know if thereza left or not but yeah
send me the meeting for tomorrow brian i will okay well brian has a meeting with the calisi
what's going on what's going on over at the morning chaga brian let's finish on that what
the fuck is going on over there what can you tell us can you tell us anything
prefer not to.
All right.
Fair enough.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will have Brian on.
We will ask him about the morning chalk up.
I'm only letting him off the hook because I have to pee so darn bad.
But there are definitely some changes there have happened, right?
Let me ask you this.
Is something changing or are they in some sort of weird holding pattern?
I'm not sure.
Honestly, I'm trying not to focus on that.
Okay.
How are things at the bar bend, your newest home?
That's where I have been focusing, and we will have hopefully a lot of really good stuff coming out leading up to the open starting this week.
I know you guys will.
They're killing it over there. Those of you who don't know, just have them work on their search feature and put the Cross out leading up to the open starting this week. I know you guys will. They're killing it over there.
Those of you who don't know, just have them work on their search feature and put the CrossFit shit up in the front more.
I don't have to like – I hate having to have to type your name in and then go to Google and type in Barben Brian.
Just want to – even when I go to the CrossFit – Just save it as a bookmark.
Just do it one time and then it's done.
Oh, okay.
Just do it Brian Friend Barben.
Click on the author's page.
Make it a bookmark. You'll never have to type anything again that's what i did is is is is is patrick uh
writing there also or just taking photos or video or yeah patrick clark same thing if you want to
find this stuff it's on the author's page something that he started recently that i think is pretty
cool is the performance of the week you're gonna win an award basically for having
a uh a great performance and he's i think three or four weeks into it now and it's also just doing
that i think has increased our overall awareness of the competitive crossfit space quite a bit
because we're like ear to the ground all over the world trying to find some cool stuff hey since you
and patrick have come on there have you guys like is the amount of CrossFit stuff on there like just doubled overnight?
I think it's like 50 times.
Gotcha.
Okay.
Like look at all these things that.
Yeah.
That's from Patrick's.
Yeah.
So Patrick does, he does a lot of the in-person competition recaps.
Most of the times at these competitions, I'm doing something else.
So I try to carry the load in the buildup.
And then during the competition, he does a lot of work.
Yeah.
So Matilda Garns was selected as performance of the week when she won the IF3 World Championships in Mexico.
I already subscribed.
I already subscribed to all that.
I already subscribed.
All right.
Thank you, Brian.
Thanks for coming on.
Thank you.
I'm glad your family shit was canceled.
Maybe we'll see you tomorrow with Ray.
Yes.
Not maybe.
You will.
Guys, thanks for tuning in.
I don't know if we're doing any more shows today.
That's it.
We do a disc golf show later.
I'll be around.
Okay.
Disc golf show with Brian later.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
Brian, how much do you make every year?
Jay Hart.