The Sevan Podcast - Spencer Panchik & Jelle Hoste | 2023 CrossFit Games Prep
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It's that
crazy time of year. Bam!
We're live live we did it
yeah look at people in the chat people in the chat look at this
how many burpees are we making seven do for being late geez
15 thank you that's that's that's that's a palatable amount 15 is good um are you home uh no i'm actually out in utah oh okay those how about those i think there's a delay
there is you're you're you're pretty broken up how's your how's your signal are you on your phone
yeah i mean it says i'm it says mine's all the way up let me get off of
wi-fi and see if that yesterday i did a podcast with um bronislaw in poland he looked like he
was parked out in the middle of a field and the connection was amazing
oh i know exactly what your question is jake chapman i have a question for spencer i know i
know yeah i know you do
is that uh yeah now now they're saying i have to do 50 burpees because of this delay
great is that good?
Yeah, that's perfect.
Sweet.
Thank you.
How's that for you?
Did the delay go away?
Yeah.
Awesome.
Hey, stairs like that, does that interfere with your training?
Are you like, if like you have to go up and down those an extra 10 times?
As long as there's a bathroom up there.
Why are you in Utah?
Training?
Vacation?
What are you doing?
My coach is out here, so it gave me a chance to come out and work one-on-one with him.
And who's that?
Nick Fowler.
Oh, that's right.
That's right.
Okay.
So you're in Salt Lake City.
Yeah.
I'm out here.
Arthur Seminoff's out here, too.
Oh. How's his English?
It's getting better.
I mean, it's definitely a little challenging, but it's getting better.
He's coming on tonight, and I'm just dreading it like no other.
Like, I cannot fucking believe I'm going to have to deal with the translator.
Oh, is there a translator coming on?
Yeah, that's smart probably, yeah definitely crazy god i'm so i'm such a prima donna i just don't want to speak
to anyone who doesn't speak english how is he i saw a photo of you with nick fowler on your
instagram i wonder if i can find it and there's a dude standing next to you, but I can't see his face. Is that seven off? Yeah, that's him. Oh, is he big? Oh, he's massive.
I'm like, uh, I'm so small next to both of them.
Who next to Fowler also? Yeah. Let me see if I can find that picture. Oh, is this it?
Yeah.
Let me see if I can find that picture.
Oh, is this it?
Oh, yeah, this is him.
Yeah, he's huge.
He's massive.
I think I can pull this up.
That's the dude?
Yeah.
Shit, I had no idea he was big like that.
Look at his feet.
They're even like fucking skis. big is he um probably like six two
and and wow and that that's funny i haven't heard anyone talk about his size um is in that dude nick
fowler was um roman's coach for for a minute too right basically got Roman to the games yeah he worked
with Roman yeah cool shit and are you at elevation um it's a little bit of elevation um I'm training
in a Chris Miller's gym oh okay do you see him uh I'll see him here and there I think he was traveling does he jump in any workouts no he hasn't jumped in any yet um let's say you had a workout you were doing and he wanted to jump in what's the etiquette
on that could he oh definitely yeah definitely i mean it's a workout with the crossfit og for sure
and and put it to him and spank him? It depends
what it is. That means good at body weight stuff.
Hey, is this the first time you've
ever... Oh, no. I was going to say, is this the first time
you've seen him, but you saw him when you were a kid.
You saw him all the time. Yeah.
Yeah, I got to see him.
I saw him his last year he competed
in California. Okay.
Okay. Okay.
Second year to the Games.
Are you pretty pumped?
Two consecutive years?
Yeah, I'm really excited.
Excited to show up and showcase what I've been doing.
Tell me about the semifinals.
You made it by the skin of your teeth, right?
Yeah.
Is there a reason for that?
I feel like my fitness didn't really showcase
I feel like the leaderboard didn't really showcase
where my fitness was at.
I had some issues with my sled in event one
which was really frustrating
and it just put me kind of at a deficit
um through the rest of the weekend but just happy i was able to to get it done when you took 12th
um when you take 12th is there anything that gives you um solace like well fuck it um
justin shit the bed too like do you to, do you say that to yourself?
I mean, at the end of the day, it's just getting to the games and then the leaderboard resets.
I mean, there's been, I mean, Justin's first year he won the games.
He didn't win his semifinal.
But yeah, I think it's just getting to the games
and there's a lot more events at the games.
It's frustrating when, I mean,
for me, I felt like something kind of out of my control happened, but again, our, our sports still
growing and stuff, stuff happens. And it's just really being able to, to overcome that and,
and really show up in the rest of the events. There's it's's it's not a one event weekend for a reason um what about the
the the kind of workouts that there are like i would have not thought in a million years that
luke parker would have beat you at the semi-final yeah that's not a dig at him he's just it's his
it's his first you know he's just coming off team, and I just wouldn't think that he could beat someone like you.
Yeah, I mean, I think when I look at it, I mean, the average,
I think somebody put out the average weight of the games athlete this year
was like 6'2", 207 or something crazy like that.
So I think, obviously, as you get more events,
you're going to be able to test more things.
And I definitely think there
was like a little bit more of like a bias towards like a a bigger higher output athlete over the
course of semi-finals um but i mean that's i mean that's just where the test was this year and
really it's it's it's getting to the games and being able to successfully do that. I mean, tell me about that. Uh, 51st place that is, that is bizarre, right?
Yeah. I was like 12 minutes faster in training when I did it. 12 minutes. Yeah. I was like just
under 20. It was like, I think it was just under 20 or 20, some, somewhere in there. Um, and then
I got capped. I like, I would have been well over, I think it was a 30 minute cap. Um, but I would
have been well over 30 minutes. What was the minute cap um but i would have been well over 30 minutes what was the workout again it was three machines and then and then
what was the other yeah i believe it was uh 3k 3k bike um sled pull 2k run and then a 1k ski
and then sled pull and your sled got your sled came off it's it's a piece of toilet paper no my like i mean they're sliding off a little bit but like my buckle like
kept rolling underneath it um so i tried to go up and fix it and then i'd fix it and then i'd
pull it again and it would just roll back underneath it so i was like pulling the sled
like the buckle was underneath it if that makes sense yeah and and did it did it feel um did it feel weird
i mean it felt like a one rep pull every time i mean i pushed the bikes in training i was like
oh like this will be fine like i'm gonna push the pace a little bit um it's supposed to be a pretty
good event for me like i've been working so hard on the machines and then i got to the sled and i
was like oh man like this is not what it's supposed to feel like.
Damn.
Yeah, I mean, that is bizarre.
51st and 12 minutes faster in training, that's a trip.
When you come off the field like that, is Nick there?
Is Fowler there?
Yeah, he was there.
What's he say to you?
I mean, there's nothing you can really say there's no uh there's no good advice there's I mean there's there were six events so
there's still five more events to really make up for it and um we were the first semi-final
there was 60 athletes so nobody really knew how the leaderboard was going to be so what would it be possible to
come back absolutely but it's it's how how are the rest of the events going to play out because
we've never seen a 60 person roster uh in place yeah just from a from a quick glance to show you
just to how big of a hole you had to dig out of every single person above you,
the worst they ever gotten to work out there as a 29th.
Yeah. I think the hardest thing was,
so you dug out of a crazy hole, dude. I wonder if any,
I wonder if anyone made it to the games this year at a,
like at a real semifinal, I don't know, not Africa or Asia where,
where they got a 51st and made it i wonder if you dug out of
the biggest hole well it's like somebody like gee um because i don't know if i don't know what
happened something happened to his letter or what but like there weren't enough athletes to get in
between uh between him in order to jump back up i think he could have won out the rest of the
competition and i think it still would have been really hard for him to to qualify so like that's what's i mean that's there's like perks and benefits to to being in a i mean a
stacked field because you're going to be able to see it uh you're going to be able to see it change
um i i love i love your optimism and you actually and you did it um someone is saying sydney wells
yeah i remember i wonder what hers was i wonder if she took a last i remember it was pretty crazy that she made it
yeah i think she she had a pretty big comeback and i think uh bailey roe had a pretty big one too
um overall something like that positive for your career right i mean that there that's going to be
the biggest um did anything weird happen after that did you cry after taking the 51st like how now no i uh i think
it was you did you did the voice come in you're fucked you're not making it uh i mean i'd be lying
if i said that didn't come in um but it's really just putting your head down and i mean all you
can do is really just give it your all and wherever the cards fall,
they fall. But I just knew I, I, I knew it was a good weekend for me.
And I just needed to go out and execute, but I will say it,
it forced me like when you're in a position like that, you, you,
I don't want to say you can't take a risk,
but it's harder to really go out there and like
throw it all out in one event because you can't you can't have another placing like that so it's
i i need to ride the line but i still need to be a little bit conservative
um because you know second grade spencer pancheck is in there's like uh spencer uh this is you from
the second grade i can do math and i'm doing some simple math here and you're fucked you should go out and hang out with saxon and scott
for the i mean you can't not it can't not creep in yeah absolutely i mean and so you have to kick
that voice's ass so you do you do you talk back to that or you just push it away you just or you
i just push it away yeah shut up you're fucking in the second
grade shut the fuck up hey do um does scott say anything to you or or uh saxon are they there
like does saxon be like dude the family name dude i already fucked up i already yeah i mean
i mean what happened to saxon was definitely a little bit more motivating because i'm like we
got to keep our name we got to keep our name in the sport um it's like somebody somebody has to make it we
got to keep this streak going um so that was definitely a little bit more motivating but um
yeah I mean it was just really just putting my head down and just going like I've been in
like I've had this happen to me in a couple competitions and I've fallen short probably
like two years in a row um Um, so it's just,
it's, it's really just going in and just leaving it out on the floor in every event.
That being said, you brought up a really good point. So of these events, you were saying that
like you had to really be smart. Yeah. There were, there was no room for risks. Can you give me
an example of what that would be? Is that like the, I mean, you had a great, what a great, uh,
snatch 285. Congratulations. That's bad-ass. But, but would you have tried to 90? Is that an example
or, um, yeah, I would've tried. I probably would've, I would've jumped. I think I would've
probably tried to take one more left, but I probably would have jumped to like 290 or 295.
And that's all because of that first place finish.
Yeah.
I mean I knew 285 would have been good. I knew it would have been conservative, but I knew I could hit it.
And how about – also I'm thinking on – which was the Linda one?
That was event three? Yeah. I'm guessing on event three you, which was the Linda one that was event three.
Yeah. I'm guessing on event three, you have to be, you took 10th.
I'm guessing there's a spot where you're on the bench or something.
And you're like, I could squeeze out one more rep.
Better not. What if I get stopped and you have, and you took a rest?
No, not so much. I mean, I needed to throttle it down.
I think Linda was one.
It was really challenging to be in the second heat
on um because you're not feeding like I think it was me and Tyler Christoffel we were one and two
in our heat um and like we were kind of battling it back and forth but like when I went back in
and watched it I think there were like five or six other people that were within like five seconds of
us um so like I think whenever you're in that final heat you're able to really push off of like five or six other people that were within like five seconds of us.
So like, I think whenever you're in that final heat,
you're able to really push off of each other a little bit more. It's, I don't want to say easy to fall asleep, but you become almost complacent.
You're like, ah, like I'm winning this heat or I'm like,
I'm doing well in this heat. And it's just, yeah,
it kind of hurts you a little bit.
I felt like in Linda and then the 800 meter run were like two events where I was in like a, I don't say a slower heat, but I wasn't feeding off of faster times.
Um, and, and then you go look at event number five.
Um, you took 20th.
That was, that's your second worst finish.
Yeah. That was the run finish yeah that was the run
so that was the eight snatches and then the run yeah that was one i just was too conservative on
and once i realized that it was too late meaning you're on the runner you have 100 meters left and
you're like shit i i i have more in the tank i'm gonna finish the tank with a little something in there yeah and that was just that just wasn't the event to do that on um when i
did that in training i ran too hard and blew up so i was like trying to find that line and uh
it was too conservative they're too hard in training so it's just fine in that middle ground dude look how close that is too um uh 16th place 313 19th place 314 uh
or no sorry 16 313 17 314 um 18 316 19th place 317 oh right by tyler christophal again wow
and then uh and then uh and then you're just a second you're less
than a second after that holy shit i mean you're you're uh 24 100th of a second after tyler
christophal and then the guy after you comes in right basically at the same time as you nate
ackerman yeah that event was crazy because there was i I mean, no matter where you were, I mean, anybody could have done well in that event.
Yeah, six guys came in in like three seconds.
Yeah, that one was a close event for sure.
Spencer, when you take that 20th, are you tripping again?
I didn't really think anything.
Yeah, I do remember it.
I didn't really think too much into that event.
I just finished and I was like, man, like I messed that one up.
But I knew the next event would have been a real,
was going to be a really good event for me.
So I knew I'd be able to make up some points there.
And then the event's over and you're you're basically sitting there on the um
the event's over and you're just waiting for them to like announce who's gonna go
how how how nerve-wracking is that do you know does someone yell at you don't worry dude you
made it or or does someone tell you hey you didn't make it no i just i i knew who i needed to beat
in that workout and if i beat them i was fine um it's like i i knew when i finished um so like
that definitely took that definitely took a little bit of the stress off me but like last year i was
in the same position and i didn't know i didn't know how i did um and then it hit me whenever they announced it. Um, uh, for some people it's
crazy emotional, especially the person who's on the cut. It was a crazy emotional for you too.
Were you overwhelmed with emotion? It's always emotional qualifying. It's just, it's, it's, um,
it's a very difficult process, um, getting back to the games and, um i mean it's just it's being grateful every time
you do it it's just it's it's a blessing uh elise car riddow i don't know where this question is
coming from this is a weird question i apologize uh spencer will you let someone cover you in the
behind the scenes i i mean if i were if there if i were to be there i'd love it well so wow
flattered thank you you're crazy at least i never leave
my office why would i why would i be going i do have a ticket to chicago which is kind of weird
um uh heidi krum is saxon coming to the games um he said he was
he said i don't know what day he's getting out there, but he said he'd be out there. He better be out there. I'm, um, I'm, I'm projecting, but I think all of us, when we
think of you and, um, Scott and Saxon, we just think you guys all share one brain.
So like, if you have it, like, like if you sit down for a steak, you're like, guys,
I'm eating a steak. And then you, you know what I mean? Like, like you guys are in communication
just every second. It's so funny. Cause I will walk into the gym and um because scott and i both work
with born primitive and like we'll walk in and we're literally wearing the same outfit like
every time you know it's a trip is you you well because we all knew scott first before we knew
you you guys um it's it's like you guys are turning into him.
Like when I was yesterday, when I was researching you and like going through and look at all your Instagram posts, my brain wants to say you're Scott.
Like as you get older and older, you look more and more like him.
But I mean, the only reason why I think like that is because he came first, right?
Yeah.
We get called each other's names all the time when we're competing or traveling.
It's like, hey, Scott, hey, Sax, hey, Spence.
Does your mom do it too?
No, she doesn't do it.
Oh.
Because I'll do that.
I'll get angry at one kid, and I'll say the other two kids' names first,
and then finally get to the right name.
You know what I mean?
My dad will do it.
Yeah.
He wants to yell at Spencer. He's like, Scott, don't do it. Yeah, like he wants to yell at Spencer.
He's like, Scott, don't do it.
Spencer.
Yeah, that's how I get.
I get all fucking flustered and shit.
It's like, ah, you can't be mad anymore.
You have a kid.
I do not.
Okay, Saxon does.
Okay.
Well, congratulations.
Good. Smart. Do you Well, congratulations. Good.
Smart.
Do you have – are you married?
I'm getting married right after the games.
No shit.
Yeah, two weeks after.
And how long have you been with your fiancé?
Two years.
Why do you think you're getting married?
I like the way you said that.
Why do you think? Why do I think?'re getting married? I like the way you said that. Why do you think?
Why do I think?
I think it's time.
It's something you're excited about?
Very excited.
Very excited.
It'll be fun.
And then you'll start – do you guys have plans?
You know where you'll live.
You'll have a kid.
You'll get a dog.
Is there – or is it just like, yo,
getting married's enough?
Getting married's enough right now.
Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and how is it being an uncle?
Saxon has one kid and Scott has one kid or Scott has two now?
Scott has two and then Saxon has two twin girls.
Oh, right. Okay. Thank you. I do remember that. so you have four nieces and nephews are you
enjoying being an uncle i love it i mean my oldest brother has four kids too so um
i love being an uncle it's so much fun
is who's what's your older brother's name sean is he um oh all Everybody's. Yeah, there's six of us.
Sean Spencer, Scott, Saxon.
Steve and Shayna.
Oh, shit.
Wow.
Well, does the whole – oh, okay.
Bye.
See you.
I wonder if you take the whole family there.
If you're a games athlete, is it – I wonder if it's like being married
or having a wedding.
Everyone in the family feels obligated to come because it's kind of big.
She's a twin too.
I think – I wonder if they have two sets of twins.
That would be crazy.
Hey, do you have two sets of twins?
Are Shayna and Steve twins? No. have two sets of twins that would be crazy hey i don't know what sets of twins are are i'm shana and steve twins no you're the only twins yeah we're the only twins and you guys are identical
twins yeah we're the um we're scott's kids identical uh sc Scott doesn't have twins.
Sorry, were Saxon's kids identical?
Yeah.
Crazy.
Twins are – God.
Was he stoked?
Did you ever talk to his wife about that?
Was she stoked or was she tripping?
Well, she's a twin too, but they were so excited.
Oh, that's what someone was saying in the comments. she's a twin too but they were so excited oh that's what someone was saying in the comment she's a twin too holy shit okay yeah okay there
we go okay thank you jessica everyone getting me up to onto that pan check uh trivia hey so
when you get married i'm like people in the family like you like feel obligated to go right all your
siblings are like yay congratulations and then they get off the phone with you they're like
fuck i gotta rework my schedule i gotta is the games like that too do your siblings all feel
obligated um to come to uh madison no it used to be like that and then what happened life sets in
people got jobs and kids and yeah everybody has uh everybody
has a family which is totally understandable but again it's my job and i'm not going and
watching them do their job so you're cool with it yeah i'm fine with it i get it my sister she'll
be on her honeymoon then what about um your wife's family do they come to madison uh i don't think i think her
sister might be coming to madison um most of those guys work so they'll i mean they'll pop
to like guadalupalooza and some other events like they were at semi-finals how does your um
how is your wife doing with you going to the game for the second year in a row
pumped still for you yeah she's excited she'll do everything she can uh to help me and just take
some stress off is she is she a um how involved is she is she like does she know the ins and outs
of your of your crossfit career? Yeah. She does.
So she's a bit of a fan too.
Like when I talk to Jake Gazan, Alex's husband, he's like not only the husband, but he's a huge fan of his wife.
Is she a huge fan too?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Yeah, because she came out here to Utah with me. She works remotely, so she's able to come and do everything with me, which is awesome.
Yeah, you like that?
Yeah.
If you didn't, if you needed to go somewhere and you didn't want her to come, would you tell her?
When I told my mom I'm going to – I better rephrase this.
If I tell my mom something like, hey, I'm going to, or even my wife, I'm going to go film something
somewhere. Let's say I'm going to, I don't know, Paris to film something. They might say, oh,
can I come? And I'll be like, no, it's fucking work. No, you can't come. I'm up at 5 a.m.,
get home at 10 p.m., and you're just going to stress me out. Yeah, I mean, there'll be times,
I mean, we'll have a conversation about it if we don't think it's a good choice but um yeah i mean we're just very transparent with each other
yeah yeah that's huge because it's it's not that you don't
want them to come it's just like it's like you're trying to make this like streamlined as best as
fast as you can so you then can get back and yeah back to your life yeah because i mean there's some stuff that we'll do we're like oh man like this will be a cold trip
or this one's more i'll be there for 24 hours like it's not really worth it how old are you spencer
27 and in how how many years did you try to make it to the games before you um made it last year i mean in my head i said
it i've said it since scott went in 2012 um no shit when you were that young was it realistic no
um but i i feel like that's what really drove me because i was always chasing his numbers and
um until i was 15 then you were 15 uh right somewhere that what year were you born are you born in 97
96 96 okay so you were like yeah 56 so from 16 years old you were like determined yeah i was
really i was really young um and definitely wasn't realistic i don't think until i was like
probably 20 it's just i think that guys it's it's we don't really grow into our bodies and get that band strength until you
hit your twenties. I feel like.
And so did you ever see the, um,
I'm guessing at some point you were certain you were like,
were you certain like at 19 years old, were you certain? Okay.
It's inevitable that I'd go to the games. And then did that ever dim?
Um, before last year, were you ever like,'s inevitable that i'd go to the games and then did that ever dim um before last year were you ever like fuck i might not this might not happen yeah i mean i feel like it's dimmed a little bit um like i went in like try to do like different
things i just kept getting pulled back in the cross but it's just it's an addiction to me like
i can't i can't stop i didn't want to So, so a couple of years ago before you made it to games,
there was a chance where you let your brain go like, okay,
maybe I should do this.
Well, I went, so I went in, um, I did like the police Academy. Um,
cause I thought that was something that I wanted to do alongside CrossFit.
And, um, then I was like, no, like I'm not, like,
I'm not stopping this. And I came back and yeah, I just,
I couldn't give it up.
Like I couldn't walk away from it. How was the police Academy? Tell me about that. How far,
how far down did you make it? Um, I made it really far in. And then I ran into some issues
with our gym. We lost like, uh, cause I had a, an affiliate with my twin brother Saxon and
we lost a couple coaches. So I ended up having to pull out of the academy to go back into running the gym.
And then once I got back in there, I was like, no, I need to stick to CrossFit.
This is what I want to do.
Is that – are you good at managing stress?
That sounds crazy stressful to me.
Like be doing the academy and then have to pull out and then you lose some coaches and then to make a life decision, you go back to wanting to go to the game. Sounds.
Yeah, it was really stressful. Like, cause I had to drive an hour into it. So I was up at like
three 34 in the morning and then I'd go in and I'd get out at three coach classes and then train
and then do it again. Um, so I did that for probably like three or four months.
And then I was like, I need to like,
once I ran into that issue with the coaches in the morning,
I ended up coming back in and doing some of those classes.
And it's like, this is what I need to do.
And you just pull, you just pull out of the academy.
You just tell your instructors, Hey, I'm out.
Yeah, it was really,
it was really hard to do because I don't like walking away from anything but at the same time I felt
like I was walking away from CrossFit too um and that was like that was I just felt like that was
where I belonged um I feel like I was given like these gifts to to be like an athlete and like we
were going through like the PT tests and stuff like that. And for me, it was really hard because a lot of those guys couldn't pass the PT test.
So like, I mean, I offered a free membership to everybody that was in my class or everybody that
was in the academy to come into my gym. And like, that was how I wanted to give back and
really help those guys out because I don't know, I felt like I was being called in that direction for a reason. And I think it was more so on the
fitness side of it. So, um, yeah, I ended up offering a membership to a lot of the people
in the, uh, the Academy so that they could finish their, uh, their PT tests and pass.
Even though, even though you were leaving, you still offered it to them.
Yeah. I mean, some of them were coming in before and then um yeah i just let everybody come in and uh some people did some people didn't it's just uh yeah
and when you say that you it sounds like what you're trying to say is that they made a mistake
like hey dude if you want to become a police officer you should take me up on this and get
in shape it's yeah i did the job yeah and i think with first
responders i think fitness is the most important thing um because i actually went through i did
like my emt before the police academy like two or three years before because i felt like i was
being pulled in that direction too when i was younger we had an accident and the firefighters
um we fell this accident i fell off a cliff when we were accident and the firefighters, um, we fell off a saxon and I fell off a cliff
when we were younger and the firefighters, uh, they weren't fit enough to get us off the, uh,
the cliff. They couldn't carry the stoke baskets up. Um, so my brother ended up carrying the stoke
baskets up to us and they're like, my back hurts. Like, I can't do this. And it's like, this is your
job. Like, how, how can you, how can you step in and, and try and save people's lives if if you don't feel like you're fit enough. So like that was, that was why I was really kind of led into the direction of like first responders, but I believe I have a bigger platform to be able to do that through CrossFit and social media. And yeah, like really being able to like spread awareness of how important it is to be healthy to do your job.
able to like spread awareness of how important it is to be healthy to do your job i can't remember it was either you or saxon the first time i interviewed you gave me a very gave us all a
very detailed account of that it's probably saxon of that event it was a wild fucking story but i
don't remember that part so you're telling me that there was a basket that they had to put you in to pull you up off
and it was near near death uh experience you guys had and um you're telling me that they had to
which one of your brothers carried the basket there steve no shit because it was like it was
like a cliff and then like it was like a hill, and then it dropped off to a cliff,
and then there was another hill that came up to it.
So he showed up at the accident.
He was actually the first one to find us, believe it or not.
And he wasn't even there hiking with you guys?
Mm-mm, because I called 911, and all I saw was a railroad track,
so he ran down there and was running.
He was running the railroad track and was able to find us first.
Holy shit.
Hey, when they couldn't do that, carry the basket to you,
and he offered, did they push back at first,
or did they just accept his help?
I think he just grabbed it and went.
I think the one guy's like, my back, or something like that,
and I think he just grabbed it and went. I think the one guy's like my back or something like that.
And I think he just grabbed it and went.
Holy shit, dude.
That's crazy.
And that story sticks with you.
And that's why that story has obviously influenced you.
That stuck with you.
Yeah, I feel like I had a calling to like go in and do something with the first responders.
And I think that's what I wanted to do. Uh, that's why I kind
of kept stepping away from CrossFit, but I feel like there's a bigger plan to be able to keep
doing CrossFit and really just spread awareness of fitness. Um, and I, I like, I'm not, I love
first responders. Like my, my, my oldest brother's a police officer. Um, and I think there's, there's
like, I just think it needs to be a priority to really put your health first in order to do your job.
And, yeah, I just think I know the schedule so hard with what those guys do.
And I just wish like departments and stuff would give these guys like more time to be able to really prioritize that.
Because I feel like when you step out, it's like you have your family time and it's just a very overwhelming job um where's your brother a cop at
uh he's in pennsylvania in every way it helps everyone the better shape they're in and every in every fucking way just it's kind of like um
uh i i was at the park the other day and there was a couple kids getting crazy there
young kids you know six seven years old and my my son was there and he was with a bunch of his
friends and one of the kids started getting like crazy and violent and hitting all the other kids
and i remember all the other kids like getting aggressive back but my son's been
doing martial arts fucking i don't know five six seven days a week for three or four years and he
just went over and kind of disarmed the kid like put his arm around him took the stick away from
him teased him picked him up over his shoulder and carried him didn't even know the kid but just
just so confident in his movements and in his body and it's like yeah you get a cop out there who's in fucking amazing shape
feels fucking amazing and someone's losing their shit they don't have to go straight to fucking
hey we got to fucking grab a gun or a taser or the spray right i mean yeah like blade one of the
guys in the audience here he's six two he's in fucking great fucking shape you see him
and you're like all right i'm not gonna fuck around yeah you know what i mean he shows up
with this fucking little police uniform on yeah yeah and i think there's i mean there's a lot of
people that really i think uh alex uh vina is that yeah yeah he's a cop right right right right so like it's possible to really be
able to to do it all um but yeah i just think i think health is just like the number one thing i
think when you look at at these first responders jobs like you have people's lives in your hands
and i think that's such a priority to put your health first it's funny too what sucks is is
that could be that could be that could be driven by the general
public like if they gave if they truly gave a shit like they say stuff like cops need more
training or more this or more that but how about just giving them the fundamental respect to like
let them get in shape yeah like the people at facebook have a fucking cafeteria with
shit food in it why not make cafeterias for all the cops where there's like good food in it yeah uh michael banyan banyan good luck spencer oh shit that's a lot of money
do you know who that is i do not oh thank you michael shit like he's got an og shirt on
Shit. He's got an OG shirt on.
That's what's up.
A lot of the people who've been coming on the show have been saying that this is the hardest training they're doing now of the year, just leading up to the games. Is that your story too?
Yeah, I just said yesterday was like my peak training day. So we'll start going into a taper leading into the games.
But yeah, I was like, man, because I flew home for a wedding and then i ended up coming back here so i was like home for like 24 hours
and i was just like oh my goodness like what is going on spencer why do that why fly home why not
like um just tell the wedding people hey i just can't it was my sister. Oh, all right.
Is there anything positive about it?
Like, are you glad you did it?
Like, you get to – is there any recharge?
Is there anything redeeming about it? You get to hug your mom and get a little energy off of her.
You get to see your – like, or is it like, fuck it?
No, it was perfect.
It was like a little – I think this point of training, it's like –
it gets a little bit, like, just really of training, it's like, I think it's a little bit like just really like mentally like grueling. And, um, for me, I just
did to like change up my environment. It just, it's really like energizing for me.
Oh, okay. Good. All right. I like to hear that. Uh, Bernie Gannon, uh, to close on the police
thing. Uh, yeah, this is what I was trying to say thanks bernie for summing up uh my word salad in police work just being fit prevents bad situations and obvious lack of
fitness invites disrespect and potential physical challenges yeah no no i don't respect anyone who's
like holding up their pants while they're fucking talking to me you know what i mean they're
constantly doing that like a yeah humpty dumpty's yelling
at me sorry dude i'm trying to be a dick but yeah i wish i just wish it would be uh prioritized
whether through the department or on their i i think right now most people have to do it on their
own um which like i mean that's your i mean that's your career path you picked. So I agree. Elise Carr-Ridau, how rude to plan a wedding during game season.
Heidi Krum, I agree.
When do you head out to Madison, and where do you stay?
I'm leaving next Friday, so I end up getting an Airbnb out there.
The 28th.
Yeah. So I guess it's a couple of days to just get used to like the,
cause there's no humidity out here in Utah.
So just to get out there and get used to some humidity.
And, and you,
and you see that the games now don't start on Wednesday with the Thursday off.
It looks like they start on Thursday, the third, any, any implications?
Like, does that tell you anything? It looks like they start on Thursday the 3rd. Any implications?
Does that tell you anything?
No.
I mean, I feel like in years past, it's said one thing and we've done another thing or they've done another thing.
So you're open to anything.
You're open to getting switched back to Wednesday anyway?
Yeah.
Last minute.
Okay.
I feel like at the games, it's always like a constant.
The schedule's always changing.
So just being ready for anything.
And the Airbnb, same one you had last year?
No, I stayed in the hotel.
I'm actually staying with Scott this year.
Oh.
And he's going Masters.
Yeah.
Yeah, he'll be Masters.
And he'll be there with your sister-in-law? Yeah. Yeah, He'll be masters. And he'll be there with his, with his, with your sister-in-law.
Yeah. Yeah. So he's going, I think the masters are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
So I'll get a chance to pop in and watch him a little bit and then we'll switch roles Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
No shit. So does he have a coach's pass?
I think he does, but I'm not taking it because I don't want to commit.
And I'll be doing other stuff too.
So I'm going to pop over when I can.
But, I mean, will he be back?
Who goes in the back for you?
Is it Nick?
Nick will be in the back for me, yeah.
Nick will be in the back.
Awesome.
And did you have him last year?
Oh, bye.
See you.
Nice talking to you. That was fun.
Jelly's coming on.
I know I'm saying his name wrong.
I better figure that out in four minutes.
I don't know why it keeps going out.
I like it. It gives me some alone time.
And was he your coach last year?
Scott was in the back with me last year.
So this is your first year with a Fowler.
Yeah.
So I had a chance to work with Nick at semifinals and, um, just the importance of being able to, uh, have some experience in the back together.
This semifinals.
Yeah.
Okay.
But, and how long has he been your coach though less than a year
uh i worked with him a little bit last year um but he didn't come to semi-finals
so i ended up having scott scott was in the back with me at the games last year
awesome all right dude uh thanks for coming on once again i'm sorry about the 15 minute delay
oh you're good sorry about my thing going out.
Perfect. I'm glad we got the connection fixed. Was this whole interview on cellular?
I think so.
Yeah, that's cool.
I had to take it off. I don't know. The Wi-Fi kept going in and out.
All right. Well, your cellular is awesome. All right, dude. I hope to see you soon.
Awesome. Thanks for having me on. I see you yep cheers bye uh spencer panchik did i call him scott at
all at the end there i thought maybe i fucked up and called him scott uh poor boy i tell spencer Tell Spencer to close his Pornhub tab. That'll help.
Okay.
Solid advice from experience.
Yeah, I think this guy's name is Hella.
Helly?
Hella?
But it's spelled Jelly.
J-E-L-L-E.
You know why I was late?
You want to know why? I don't really want to tell you guys why I was late? Do you want to know why?
I don't really want to tell you guys why I was late.
This dude who's coming on might be the baddest dude at the games this year.
Oh, there he is.
There he is.
Hey.
Hello.
God, I'm so sorry.
What a jackass. You even sent the text that said 8 a.m
and then and then i was like see you in 45 minutes i'm sorry no worries
schedule is crazy scheduling is crazy are you in a dungeon no i just finished my workout five minutes ago that's me yeah look at this
a long time ago hey dude you might be the toughest dude at the games this year
toughest okay yeah like if there was a fight you would my money would be on you
my money would be on you.
Thanks.
Are you kidding me, Andrew?
He says that Noah could beat you up.
Andrew Hiller says Noah could beat you up.
Not badder than Noah.
I'm telling you.
Can Noah fight?
No, Noah can't fight.
Maybe Noah has like a smile. He'll smile at you and you won't be able to punch him because he's too nice.
Yeah.
I've never heard of that superhero that could smile and stop a punch hey will you pronounce your name for for
me i've been calling you jelly yeah that's my american name what's your what's your real name? What's your mom call you? Jelle.
Jelle.
Like the rapper, like Yellow Wolf.
Jelle.
Probably, yes.
I don't know.
And then say your last name for me.
Hoste.
And is that a – in what country are you from belgium and oh um
that's the same company um uh same company company i guess i guess you could say that
it's the same country that um mano uh onganes is at Yes indeed We are in the Two most
At most corners of the
Of the country let's say
Yeah your country's
Your country's only this big
You could still throw a rock
And hit her house
If you compare it to the states
Probably yes
In two hours you're in the
Other side of the country
Jelle Do you speak Dutch? In two hours, you're in the other side of the country.
Jelle, do you speak Dutch?
Yes, that's my mother language.
Yeah, okay, okay.
And she's Italian.
I don't think she spoke Dutch.
She spoke French.
No, her native language is French indeed.
She's from the lower part of Belgium, and I'm from the upper part.
You're going to the CrossFit Games.
Yes, indeed.
And you won three events at the semifinals.
That's pretty crazy.
Yes, if I reflect to it, indeed.
Everything went well.
And was this your first year competing at that level?
Had you ever competed at a, I don't know what they were before,
at a semifinal or regional, whatever the fuck they call that?
No, it was my first time at the semifinals, yes.
Yeah, this is nuts.
Look at the people who were there.
A Lazar Djukic, Henrik Hapalainen, Moritz Fiebig.
You took fourth.
Are you tripping a little bit? Or are you like nope i'm this is what i trained for
no the results are what i expected because we had a lot of time to to practice it and to
prepare for it i didn't know where i would end up in uh
I didn't know where I would end up in amongst the fields, of course.
Yeah, they're no good.
What can I say?
I'm happy.
You beat Jan Akoski and Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson.
In some workouts, yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and you finished above them.
I mean, and these are kind of like the – those are two of the best of the best. Are you the first guy from, um,
has anyone from Belgium ever made it to the games before? I mean, besides that year where everyone got to go. When your celebration of life is prepaid in advance, it becomes a gift
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In this format, for sure, like with
the semifinals
and everything, but there were
some national champs
who went to the games before from Belgium.
So in that regard, I was not the first one.
But yeah, I also qualified as national champion in 2019
where they cut the field because of Corona.
And yeah, it doesn't have the same value to me.
If you qualify like through regionals or through national champion,
because Belgium is pretty small and yeah.
I agree.
That's at least that's my opinion.
Yeah.
This,
this,
this is crazy.
What was he doing?
Let me see.
Someone's Lazar was blowing smoke.
Oh, he was? Lazar was
talking some shit about Yella?
Always. Was that on this podcast?
I can't remember.
First place
on the
machine sled pool
workout.
Any surprise there?
Are you like, yeah, I'm a big guy.
What do you expect?
Yeah, I felt very excited about that workout because it was all grunt work and machines
and actually dream workout for me.
So yeah, turned out good.
And then you go to the fifth workout and you take first place again.
And that was the eight snatches and then the 800-meter sprint.
I mean, your snatching is good already?
No problem with the snatches?
Yeah, I love snatches.
It's my favorite weightlifting movement, let's say.
So, yeah, snatching and running is also a good combo for me.
So the big guy can snatch and run.
And then the final workout, that was the bike toes to bar and then carry that bag.
No problem with the toes to bar for a big guy?
carry that bag no no problem with the toes to bar for a big guy well i struggled a bit with the with hitting the mud at every rep the yeah the flooring because it was pretty low the the
regional standards of the height but yeah i my love toes to bar and 20 unbroken is not a big issue. So it was basically how fast can you pull open the bike?
I heard you say that you're 1.9 meters.
So that would be six feet and you're over six feet, two inches tall in my language.
Yeah, I think so. Yeah.
Are you like obviously tall? You walk into a room like you is it rare that you see someone taller than you when you walk around during the day are you the
tallest person you usually see yeah usually i i don't have to look up a lot to yeah literally literally when I enter a room. God, this is going to be...
Only my brother-in-law is two meters and two.
So that's...
Yeah, this is the only guy I really have to look up to
in the air when I see him.
And yet at six foot two,
you're still extremely agile.
Yeah.
Crazy, dude.
This is going to be so fun to watch you there at the games.
Yellow, are you married?
No, I'm engaged.
So we're marrying next year.
And do you guys live together?
Yeah, we've been together for 10 years now, 10 years and a half.
And we live basically five years together.
And how old did you say you were?
28.
28. 28.
And you didn't start CrossFit until you were 21?
Yeah, correct.
Man.
Good research.
I'm trying to understand this video here.
This is a picture walking out of your house into
your backyard and then and then poof a home gym yeah so explain that to me i don't understand this
room so this is your backyard looking – shouldn't that be like – I don't understand this room.
I've never seen a room like this in a house in America.
You have a room downstairs that exits out to your backyard that's a gym?
Yeah, it's – I started – yeah, because I have a pretty busy schedule, and I started working out a little bit on the attic
so the upper room in the house but yeah my wife sleeps under it so when I do early workouts and
I do double unders it's not so pleasant so then yeah I was playing with the idea of having a home
gym in the in the backyard and yeah it turned out like
kind of pool house without pool and yeah the only requirement for my wife was it had to be nice
looking from the outside and i just wanted to space outside without disturbing her sleep or the
breaking the floor in the house so So I think I understand this now.
This building is not attached to the house?
No, no.
It's like the house is here,
and then we have like 10 meters of grass,
and then it's the opposite of the backyard.
It's the end of the backyard.
No shit.
Oh, now I get it.
Yella, you built your own gym on your property
yes indeed wow that's serious you you did judo for 14 years could you can you practice judo
in there too or have you kind of abandoned judo i mixed it a bit in the beginning, but in the end, the risks of getting injured or niggles are too big if you take CrossFit seriously.
So, yeah, I abandoned it completely now.
Hey, what's the worst injury you've had during judo?
You've broken some fingers, broken a leg?
I have a whole library of documents with the doctor
a lot of things broke three times my arm basically every toe some a lot of things
ligaments yeah it's a high injury rate that's judo and and basically you can't afford to have a broke you can't break your hand or a cup even
a couple fingers just fooling around with judo it would just stop your crossfit training or it
would impede it dramatically yeah and it's it affects a lot the crossfit in judo when you break a toe yeah you can tape it together and
yo yeah you want some of this
yeah sorry i'm at no i didn't make it home at time so i'm in the yeah i don't know supply room
or something where it's it's so you? So you're not training at home?
You're at some local affiliate?
No, yes, I'm at affiliate now.
So it's...
Look, it's the
everything room. There was a spot for little
kids in there too.
Yes, his car and his diapers.
What's the highest
level you took?
It says you took a third
place in the Belgian
championships.
So you took judo seriously.
You took it to the highest level?
Yes, but this year
I was already
not training a lot anymore.
I just went with friends, some sparring one time a week, but here I was already not training a lot anymore. I just went with friends, some sparring like one time a week.
But here I was probably doing already a lot of CrossFit.
And it was even a category higher.
I didn't want to cut my weight anymore.
But yeah, let's say national level judo,
I tried some international international competitions European competitions but
it's a big gap in level let's say to make uh yeah to make it there
what do you think what do you think about the difference in your sports in judo it's you
you're fighting against another guy there's another guy's trying to stop you and in crossfit
there isn't it's just you right yes indeed it's a it's easier to train for sure because
i was in yeah in a weight category in a small country where we don't have a lot of partners so
there's a lot of travel to all the edges of the country to to find good sparring
partners and then you have one or two so in bigger countries it's a bit easier and yeah for crossfit
you just need a barbell and it weighs and stays the same everywhere you are so yeah and do you
like it that no one's trying to stop you from doing what you want to do it's just
you it's all about you yes indeed it's all in your hands and also the outcome is mostly the
same in crossfit like if you can do a certain amount of one movement or you lift a weight
you will probably be able to lift it in judo you can be five-time world champion and you can lose to a lower level guy with one
step in the wrong direction so it makes us interesting but also more stressful
when i when i think of europeans um this is what this is i I saw this on your Instagram.
This is what I think of you guys.
I think that you're all like this.
I imagine all of you in Europe getting in a pool that has a piece of ice over it.
That was still dope.
Yeah, look at you.
I can't tell if the water's hot or cold.
Look at this guy screams.
This guy screams.
Who's that guy?
That guy screams.
It's my father-in-law.
Hey, does he ever go in?
No.
That's it for him?
Yeah, that's it.
Hey, is that burning your... Yeah yeah i was trying to control my breathing and
do a proper warm-up and control the mind that he was like freaking out from the first second we
yeah we went out and if you don't control your breathing and your mind you you will not stay in for long. It stops all the time.
Where is this?
It's at
the house of my
parents-in-law.
Hey.
Dude, crazy.
Whose idea was it you would go in there?
I think it was on easter or something or yeah we were just having a family gathering dinner and we look out and oh the the pool is frozen i saw a guy doing it i think i can do it too and then yeah
hey is that burning your skin is that burning your skin? Is that burning your skin?
Like it's so cold it burns your skin a little?
Yeah, it's definitely a weird experience.
It was the first time I did it.
And when you go out,
it tingles everywhere.
And it takes like 50 minutes
to get back to homeostasis.
Hey, look at the end of the pool
how the ice is cut the same
shape as the pool did you have to push that
ice away from the edge so you could climb in
is that one giant sheet of ice and you pushed it
down so you could get in
so you have a line
yeah there are
some
the water is flowing in from
the other side so there it doesn't freeze.
It only freezes in the middle.
Crazy.
Yeah, that's what I think.
When I think of Europeans, I just think that's the kind of stuff you guys are just always doing.
Just cold and swimming around in ice.
and swimming around in ice.
Where I'm from in Belgium,
right now,
in the 2020s,
it barely freezes.
It snows only one day a year anymore.
Before it was more,
and now it's only one day,
two days.
What do your in-laws think about your CrossFit habit?
Excuse me, what is in-laws think about your CrossFit habit? Excuse me, what is in-laws?
Your wife's mom and dad.
Yeah, they love it.
They support me 100%.
They are even coming to support me to the game.
So, yeah, it's crazy.
It's nice. They support me. They come so yeah it's crazy it's uh it's it's nice they support me they come to
watch the competition they yeah do you like that support do you like them do you like your in-laws
you like your uh yeah and yeah i like them a lot yeah good family stuff it's nice to have uh
Yeah, good family stuff.
It's nice to have in-laws like this because if you have to fight or disagree all the time, I think we never had a dispute or a fight about something that matches well.
Also, it's her parents and my parents, so it definitely makes a lot of things easy.
my parents so it definitely makes a lot of things easy.
Hey, how old were you when you learned English?
I think when I was
10 or 11 years old when I had my first Game Boy and I was playing Pokemon.
That was the first time I was in touch with English.
Do you think playing video games helped you learn English?
Yeah, of course, because I wanted to beat the game and I didn't understand a single word.
So I was on Google Translate all the time.
Wow, that's the first positive thing I've ever heard about video games.
I love it.
Because now your English is great.
You know some big words. I heard you say format and dispute, and your English is solid.
Okay, thanks.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Are those your two languages, Dutch and English?
Any others?
French.
I also speak French.
I think French is my least good language.
This guy, Christian Kettler, says the dude's hammer was never seen again.
Tristan Kettler says, the dude's hammer was never seen again.
Meaning after you went in the cold water, your penis disappeared and it never was seen again.
No one ever saw your penis again.
Yeah, in that weather it was even negative.
It was in sight, I think.
That's healthy.
That's how it should react.
That's what a healthy penis does.
This – look at this video here.
I was – look how you get on the bike here.
I don't know if I started the video too soon. Let me see if I can – how do I make it go away and come back?
Let's see if I can do this. Look how you get on the bike here from the back like this i don't i'm only five foot five i'm one meter
one meter yeah i'm just one meter you're 1.9 meters that that's that's how a big man gets on a bike, right? Normal people don't get on a bike like that.
Yeah.
That's for me the most efficient way to get on it.
Yeah, the rest of us normal people, we get on from the side.
You get on from the back.
I think you can do it.
No.
You adjust the pedals well.
I'd have to jump.
Hey, who's your coach, Jelle?
Andre is coaching me.
Andre Houdet from No Shortcuts Training.
And do you ever get to see him?
Yes. I went two times to Denmark to train,
to have a semifinal prep camp and to train together early this year.
Yeah, we have a lot of calls.
I saw him at semifinals.
I see him often enough, I think.
He's got a little bit of a scientist vibe to him like like he's very
serious about his um and meticulous about his uh his job his position as as the coach is that true
yeah of course yeah it's also a thing i appreciate a lot about him like if he says something
or he gives a word or he commits to something
you are sure he will do it
he will reach it
he will get it
it means a lot to work with somebody
who is like this
I really appreciate that
because I'm also like this
and it matches this way.
When, when, and you're new with him, right? Like in the last year?
Excuse me, you're new with him? Your relationship with Andre Houdet is new.
Maybe one year. Yes, yes. Yeah, we started December last year.
So yeah, pretty new, yes.
And when he sees an athlete like you, what does he say?
Do you tell him, hey, Andre, I want to go to the Games?
And he says, okay, I can help you get there?
Or does he say, hey, you need to be more realistic.
You're too big to go to the Games.
hey, you need to be more realistic.
You're too big to go to the games.
No, it's actually... When I started No Shortcuts,
I started with a generic program
and he directly reached out and said,
hi, welcome to the program.
I think it's a basic message everybody gets
and you have to put in your goals
and what you're training and everything and then
I put their CrossFit games and he's like yeah check out the program for this cycle which was
one month and if you need anything or let me know how it was and I liked it a lot and I said to him
after one month like yeah it's a cool program I like it it's very structured I know where it's
heading to but I miss
some more work on my
weaknesses and then
we jumped on a call and he said
goals are making to the CrossFit
Games I said yes that's the goal
it's like
he didn't doubt it or said it's too high
or it was just like okay
let's make a plan and
let's see how it works and that was that yeah it's crazy if you think about it but it's so crazy
um you're 28 you started when you were 21 when you were 21. When did you have yellow?
When did you have aspirations to go to the games?
How long were you doing CrossFit before you're like,
okay,
maybe I want to go to the highest level.
I think even before I started CrossFit,
when I saw the,
the next Netflix series and the YouTube videos,
it's like,
I think I can do that
it would be nice but then I was too much
into judo
still and
then a box opened nearby and then it was like
you do one competition
you do two competitions and
you do it open every time and you
see like the gap getting
closer and like three years ago it
was like starting to get very close and then you dial more things in more seriously and seriously
and yeah till the point now um let me use this as a guide when was the how long were
you doing crossfit before the first time you did two workouts in one day?
One year, probably.
Okay.
So you were addicted quickly.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, and you see other people training two times a day, so we directly think like if they do it i think i needed to do it as well and right yeah but um
in the beginning it was it's built up progressively i'm not doing the volume
back five years ago that i'm doing now but it's like just starting dialing in morning workouts,
like one morning workout, two morning workouts,
then three days a week and just some cardio, some running,
then starting some weightlifting in the morning,
trying out what works, what doesn't work.
And yeah, basically what suits my schedule at that time.
And yeah, progressively.
And I think that's the way to go.
That's always how I worked.
Mr. Olsen, good morning.
Just dropping in to say good morning to Yella.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning.
And thank you for the money, always.
How old were you when your judo peaked, Yellow?
It had to have been after you started CrossFit, right?
And how did CrossFit affect your judo?
Did it help it?
I think I sucked pretty hard at judo
until the point I was 17 years old.
Then I was a national champion. Then I was like, okay,
this might work. And then I got picked up by the national team. And then you go to nice
training camps and have better trainings. But yeah, it's progressed and progressed.
it's progressed and progressed but uh till the point that how would you say the sacrifices get too big for the gains i had and yeah then crossfit came and i wish i practiced crossfit
before much more before because like the the picture we showed at the Belgium Championship I did only one time judo a week and
I felt like my best like
not the techniques they were not like
dialed in anymore
like before but like
I could keep going like yeah
the physical aspect
was at my peak there I think
so you
there was a little bit of crossover but you wish there would have been more.
Yes.
I had some like supplemental training or training to the judo,
which was a bit of running and a bit of weight training, bodybuilding.
But I think CrossFit is a much better addition to judo
than training it all separately.
Yeah.
And for people who don't know, judo is a pretty serious martial art.
You see the best fighters in the world in the UFC. You see judo in so many of the fights.
I mean, it's not a – especially at the level you did it,
it's not a wishy-washy martial art.
It's the real deal.
You know what's crazy?
We don't even have judo in my town.
If we had judo – my kids do jiu-jitsu and striking and kickboxing.
But if we had judo or sambo here, I would sign them up for that 100% also.
It's weird that we don't have judo.
Do you guys have sambo there?
No, sambo is not really common in Belgium.
I think there are some clubs in the Netherlands.
But this, for example, is less known here.
But judo is very popular. In every town you have a club and um how about jiu jitsu is jiu jitsu pretty popular there
in the end of my judo career like
seven eight years ago there start to pop up first in the capital brussels and now like also you have
pretty much jiu-jitsu brazilian jiu-jitsu clubs jiu-jitsu not super much
uh johnny says i doubt you're gonna need a translator for the next guy you're doing good
i'm telling you semen off no yeah i watched a bunch of yellow's uh podcasts
already his english is amazing semen off english i think is not so good
someone can you have yellow pronounce the name of his gym what's the name of your gym that you go to
oh it's a mirrored it's mirrored it's called Kortrik Kortrik
Kortrik
Kortrik
Kort is basically
in English
short
and rake is rich
so it doesn't make sense
in English
short rich
short rich
that's like me
I'm short and rich
I'm short rich
short rich
I like that
that should be my nickname
Kortrich
Kortrich
and the I like that. That should be my nickname. Courtridge.
And the
although you wish you would have done
CrossFit
sooner as a supplement
to your judo career, there's
still judo
prepared you. The discomfort
and the struggles that you
experienced in judo prepared you the discomfort and the struggles that you experienced in judo training
made you perfect for crossfit that you you training judo at the highest level was extremely
extremely hard yeah it's uh i cannot compare it to other martial arts sport, but it's very tough, especially the training camps.
When you have to spar two times two hours a day, if you do it the first time, you're wrecked. It's crazy.
Would you say that your judo career was harder than your CrossFit career?
That your judo training was harder than your CrossFit career? That your judo training was harder?
Can you compare them?
In terms of
it's different
in terms of damage to the body
judo is a lot harder because
in CrossFit you only have
like the
the damage you do to yourself
like the muscles that contract and the
weights you lift but in judo you have to contract all like the muscles that contract and the weights you lift.
But in judo, you have to contract all the muscles,
but you also have the external damage,
like all the throws and the falls and the kicks.
You cannot kick, but there are a lot of kicks and hits.
And yeah, you have a lot of bruises and itching knees.
Since I started CrossFit, I didn't have an injury, like a serious injury,
like breaking an arm or a leg or hearing something.
Right, right.
So in that view, it's easier.
But intensity can be harder in CrossFit.
Elise Carr-Ridau, she has a question.
Yella.
Am I saying your name right?
Yella?
Yeah, it's pretty good.
Yella?
By the way, do you rap?
Do you do any rapping?
Rapping?
No.
Yeah.
No, you don't rap.
Okay.
Elise Carredao, are you willing to let
Sevan get inspiring
behind the scenes footage of you
this year that for some reason
these people think that there's a chance I'll be doing the
behind the scenes this year if I
were in Madison would you talk to
me with the camera during the week Mr.
Yellow
if it's outside the events yes
but if it's in the warm-up zone,
I might be not very talkative.
Yeah, that's okay.
I'll do all the talking.
I'll do all the talking.
But if it doesn't affect my performance, yeah, sure.
We can have a chat.
Oh, you're a good dude.
All right.
Yeah, if I'm there, I'll be like a ghost.
But if you are putting the mic when I'm running, then I think I will ignore it.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Yes.
Are you good at ignoring stuff?
I'm good at focusing.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Good.
Wow.
You understood the question.
Fantastic.
I love it.
You understood the question.
Fantastic.
I love it.
Is Houdet going there as your coach?
Will he be your coach there?
Yeah. We do one final week of preparation there and dial him some last physical
and mental stuff.
And he's also competing
so
he will not be like
there all the time
but
for me it's fine
I think in the end
he cannot change
or do a lot
he can prepare me
the best possible
but once there
you have to do it
yourself
who will get your coaches pass my girlfriend's my
fiancee and is she prepared to see you and does she know how to handle you in this situation
by the time sunday comes you're going to be a different person yeah she knows how to handle me the best when she can talk when she cannot talk to me when she
yeah it's good we don't have to talk and she knows what to do it
i think after 10 years there that's the result
and yellow you've never been in a situation like this five days this will be your first
time in your life with five days
of of intense competition a judo tournament's maybe two days semifinals is three days this
will be your longest competition ever right most demanding mentally and physically yeah on paper
yes yeah let's see how it goes it it will probably be less volume that you're used
to in training but the intensity will be higher so it will definitely be
interesting see how the body reacts um Corey Leonard oh I don't know if I'm
gonna like this comment clearly yellow has never seen the behind the scenes seven does 90 of the talking
and everyone he talks to just pops their pants from what seven says oh poops jeez louise okay
i knew i wasn't gonna like that yeah okay thank you thank you cory uh remind me uh to not have you be my agent.
Have you peaked your training yet?
Have you had your hardest training day of the year yet?
Are you tapering already?
Yeah, I think this week will be the last hard week, hardest week. And then from next week on, it will be...
Deload will start, Able will start I'm just
finishing touches, I think now
in this stage you can only
fuck up or get injured so
yeah
Do you feel
you are absolutely peaked?
Like when you
climbed into bed last night, were you like, yeah, I'm good.
I can't wait to take this guy out for a little test ride.
Yeah, exactly.
I think I'm at the best shape I've ever been.
I cannot complain.
The body is holding up and the mind is in the right place.
I would directly sign to be in the States if I knew it before.
Say that again.
I didn't understand that.
You would what?
I don't know if it's an English saying as well.
And that we say we should sign for it.
It's like, yeah.
You're ready.
Yeah.
Like the way you would sign for a package you're ready
when you sign a contract like if they give you on paper like yeah this might well be like this
do you want it and then yeah i sign for it yeah i appreciate i appreciate you trying some uh some
some belgian phrases on us, translating English for us.
Look at you.
You're like a real athlete.
You've been sitting too long already.
You need to get out there and run some laps.
Hey, did you almost make it to the Games last year, but you had a filming debacle that kept you out?
Yeah, exactly.
I heard yesterday or the day before you had mano on it
you touched it already a bit and uh it's basically we were doing it together with
me and mano and yeah i wanted to do a redo to maximize my score and
to do it as late as possible to maximize my rest
and
we were convinced the deadline
was the same as the three years before
we didn't check it so that was
100% on us
and yeah when we wanted
to submit the score
we saw that the time zone
conversion is different
because summer and winter time
is different in the summer and winter time is
different in the States.
And here,
I think it's two weeks difference when we change it.
And yeah,
basically that fucked it up.
And that was for going from quarterfinals to semifinals.
That was your quarterfinals workout.
Yeah,
correct.
Do you think you would have made it last year?
I'm sure because we, it was basically the first day that
we fucked up and then we were like a little bit yeah distracted and we knew we would possibly
not make it anymore but we had still hope like yeah if we explain the situation it's human and
they will probably we had like to hope that we
that that they would rectify it but yeah so we finished all the workouts we put in the rest of
the scores and if we like put in the time we were not able to put in you see i was around 30 or
something i think it's even higher that I finished this year in quarters.
So, yeah, we would have both made it, me and Manon.
That's crazy.
That, like, changes.
God, did you cry from that?
Did you cry, go home and cry?
Cry not.
I had sucked and I was a bit disappointed.
it sucked and I was a bit disappointed
but first I just
wanted to fix it, mailing
to CrossFit HQ
to Adrian and
yeah
but then
once I got the final mail of
yes sorry we cannot do anything about it
good luck
for next year then
I not cried but i was a little
bit down about it like for two more days and then it was basically i told the story on my instagram
already i went up to the bathroom and i was like writing games 2023 on my mirror and ever since then every time i go to shower i see this and
i lift one year to like one year 30 to this moment yeah one year and a half sorry yeah i know what
you mean i know what you mean fucking nuts i like one year 30 that's good that's like mixing uh
time domains days and minutes minutes. One year 30.
I like it.
A coffee pods and wads.
Imagine the feeling of your heart falling through your asshole.
This is how Irish people talk.
When you realize you missed the deadline.
Yeah, that's, I mean, did you want to get sick if you didn't cry?
Did you feel sick to your stomach?
if you didn't cry did you feel sick to your stomach it makes a weird feeling in your stomach when you open the submission site and you see like deadline is closed and it's like no it's not
possible refresh and yeah like what and i had we had basically like already uploaded the videos like
six hours before from the first attempt.
Just because it's a ritual, you finish the workout,
you crawl to the iPad and you directly upload it
because you don't want technical errors.
Yeah.
And we sent screenshots.
We proved that we did it in the right time,
that you have to submit it in the right time,
not just do it.
So, yeah.
Crazy.
Hey, this
5K event, is that
a win for the
tall Belgian man?
Jelly
Hostess?
I was not mad about
seeing that event drop.
Yeah.
You've said that it would be nice to win an event.
And now you see that event.
Do you know what it means to salivate?
Yeah, it's when your mouth makes water, when you see food.
Yeah, it's that. Yeah, water when you see like food yeah it's that yeah you salivate it a little bit you got a little yeah saliva is that not like the yeah you got like you're ready to eat you saw that and you're like
okay i was actually just going to run this morning when i saw it. So when I woke up, I saw the event and then I had a running session planned and I feel great.
I still don't know who the scenario will be.
Will they add a ruck or will they put a vest or.
Right.
I don't know,
but cross country.
Yeah.
I like it.
Hey, thank you so much for coming on, man. I appreciate it. Yeah. I like it.
Hey,
thank you so much for coming on,
ma'am.
I appreciate it.
Yeah.
I know you're counting every minute and,
and I really appreciate it. And I look forward to meeting you and you're as cool as I thought you were
going to be,
man.
What a,
what a good group of athletes that are going to the games this year.
Good people.
Yeah.
Thanks for having me.
It was a nice chat.
Thanks.
Yep.
Anytime. And, and hopefully I get to see you in Madison.
Yes. All right, brother. Probably will. All right. Thank you. Cheers.
Have a good one. Have a nice day. Bye.
Jelly hostess.
That's good, dude. You guys ever see that movie Young Guns?
Emilio Estevez has that line,
smile, I'll make you famous.
You know that song?
He would say that to people before he killed them.
Let me see.
I wonder if I can go to YouTube and just get that.
Young Guns. Smile, I'll make you famous.
Oh, man, it gives me a four-minute clip. That's my choice. How about just like a, oh, let's see.
Oh, it just says I'll make you famous. I thought there was a – maybe it's from Young Guns 2.
He's in the staircase.
I thought he was in the staircase.
Smile, make you famous.
Maybe he doesn't say smile.
Does he say smile?
Does anyone know?
I know.
I should have.
Hey, I actually planned on asking him.
I thought I could get away with it for him I just forgot
Billy the Kid
does he say it
does he say smile I'll make you famous
because the only part I could find is I'll make you famous
but I thought there was
and it's not where I remember it
I remember him being in a stairwell with a guy
or like going up some stairs.
Eaton Beaver, Sevan, what is this?
Hopefully, just commit already.
Oh, he says I'll make you famous.
Are you sure, Matt?
He doesn't say you don't remember Smile? Maybe it's Young Guns 2. Maybe it's Young Guns 2. Let me see. Young Guns 2. damn I might have to watch both those uh god
darn it if it's not that
it needs to be that
young guns 2 at 42 minutes
are you fucking kidding me Andrew
you're a beast
uh how would I find young guns 2 42 minutes. Are you fucking kidding me, Andrew? You're a beast.
How would I find Young Guns 2?
Oh, Young Guns 2, full movie on HBO.
Or on YouTube.
Oh, it's just a...
Oh, that's just I'll Make You Famous, though.
Right, Andrew?
Dang, you're good. Where is Andrew? Oh, shit's just I'll make you famous, though. Right, Andrew? Dang, you're good.
Where is Andrew?
Should I saw it?
Oh, yeah, there he is.
Young Guns 2, 42.
God, that's such a good movie.
Hillary, you like that movie?
Oh, shit.
I was supposed to be gone.
And, um... I'm going to skate park.
Surprise, surprise.
Okay.
Thanks, guys.
I can't tell you why I was late today.
No smile.
Yes, no smile.
Yes, no smile.
How about in the stairwell?
It's 100 against 5.
For what?
The smile part?
Or what?
Wait.
I think it's in Young Guns 3.
There's no Young Guns 3, is there?
Hiller equals the GOAT.
Shoot.
I want to be the GOAT.
Get to the chopper.
All right. All right.
I'll see you guys this evening.
Arthur Seminoff and Kelly Baker.
You know who I think we have lined up also.
Two new people I saw come onto the schedule
in the last couple hours is Daniel Brandon
and I saw another Greg Glassman show come up.
That's kind of cool.
I always like to see both of them.
I feel like I have to redeem myself with Danielle.
I'm going to do like – oh, yes, please.
Yes, please.
I have to do a good, wholesome show with her.
Oh, there it is.
Okay, talk to you guys later.
Bye.