Barbell Shrugged - Talking Training W/ Crossfit Games Athletes, Strength Coaches & More

Alessandra Pichelli was born in Montreal, Quebec. At age 2, her family moved to Bahrain in the Middle East and spent a few years there. Her family then moved to Yokohama, Japan where Alessandra attended St Maur International School. By age 8, Alessandra returned to Canada and grew up in Welland, Ontario. She remained in Canada through her highschool rowing career, which led her to a full scholarship to Saint Mary's College of California. It was during her final year of collegiate rowing that her coach, Nicole Young, introduced her to the sport of CrossFit.    Since then Alessandra has consecutively competed in the Reebok CrossFit Games for eight years; her best finish was during her rookie year in 2013 when she finished 4th.    In this episode of Barbell Shrugged, the crew breaks down what it takes to be an 8 time CrossFit Games Athlete, the training, nutrition, lifestyle, and how she has maintained her competitiveness with the competition getting harder and harder every year.   Minute Breakdown:   0-10 – Lea

Dave Meltzer is the CEO of Sports 1 Marketing, a Forbes “Top 10 Keynote Speaker“, award-winning humanitarian, the host of entrepreneur magazines podcast called, “The Playbook,” and two-time national best-selling author, with 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur.    I mean you name it and this man has done it. Not only is this one of the biggest names we’ve ever had on the show, but he drops some knowledge and little breadcrumbs that we’ve never tasted in any other podcast before.    He reminds me so much of Gary Vhee’s style, that I just thought I’d just dub him the “Gary Vhee of the West.” Get ready to get fired up for the week! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Show notes: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/rc-meltzer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe

As General Manager of The Resort at Pedregal, Fernando Flores brings more than 18 years of hospitality experience to the award-winning property. In his role, Flores is responsible for continuing the success of the prestigious resort while cultivating both domestic and international relationships with guests, colleagues and owners. From achieving financial results and implementation of capital expense projects and focusing on maintaining an efficient and profitable function of the day-to-day operations on property, to providing exceptional guest service and satisfaction property-wide, Flores has made an impact at the resort for over a decade.      Since joining the team in 2008 as Assistant Director of Food & Beverage, his innovative, fresh ideas and determination have enabled him to quickly excel through the ranks, holding various positions at the resort including Director of Food & Beverage, Director of Rooms and Resort Manager. Flores’ multifaceted experience and familiarity with The Resort at

Fitness Instructor who is known for sharing workout related content to his Instagram and for his over 360,000 followers. He is a published author and lecturer known for focusing on the importance of workout techniques related to glutes. He is also the owner of company and brand The Glute Lab.   He earned his PhD in Sports Sciences and is CSCS certified. He earned recognition in the fitness world for being the inventor of The Hip Thruster gym kit. He was then featured in multiple press outlets including Men's Health, Men's Fitness, and FLEX. In this episode of Barbell Shrugged the crew digs into coaching CrossFit games athletes, the journey of a professional CrossFit Coach, and managing business, life, fatherhood, and fitness.   Minute Breakdown: 0-10 – Speaking bro and not getting hung up in the PHD to connect with people  11-20 – Eliminating ego and always learning 21-30 – Why strength and conditioning needs to be lead by researchers and science 31-40 - The value of motor recruitment and soreness 41 -50 - Ge

Dr. Ray is the director of staff at Active Life. He works with one on one clients and is responsible for coaching the staff. If you have heard of the Active Life Immersion program, Dr. Ray runs that too. The dude is a stud!   A neuro surgeon told her she needed spinal fusion, an orthopedist agreed, and a physical therapist couldn’t help. Now she power cleans over 200# and she never had surgery. What happened between the scary prognosis and the heavy clangin’ and bangin’? Give it a listen.    Minute Breakdown:   0-10 - How did you know she didn’t need surgery? 11-20 - He told his wife to hide his gun. 21-30 - Is an anterior pelvic tilt bad? 31-40 - Turning off a false alarm.  41-50 - Even the smallest improvement can lead to the largest.  51-60 - What does the future look like?   Work with an Active Life Coach like Ray at activeliferx.com/shrugged Find Dr. Ray at @RayGormanDpt

Back by popular demand, Ashleigh brings on Dr. Ralph Esposito, naturopathic physician and hormone whisperer to talk about a subject that’s important to the fitness community but largely misunderstood: adrenal fatigue. While many of us have suffered the symptoms and perhaps even been diagnosed, our understanding of the mechanisms behind our adrenal system is often flawed, as is our approach to supporting our adrenal health. Ralph walks us through what’s really happening when we “think” we have adrenal fatigue, discusses many lifestyle and supplemental factors that can help us improve and manage chronic stress and fatigue, and we talk about whether or not it’s even possible to address these issues with young, healthy, type-A athletes, or whether they need to learn the hard way that rest and recovery is as important as training.    Dr. Ralph Esposito is a New York based naturopathic physician, acupuncturist and functional medicine practitioner specializing in integrative urology, men’s health and nutrigenomics.

Founder and head trainer at CrossFit Milford in Milford CT, which has been to the games 4 times and has had athletes at the games 10 years in a row. Team CrossFit Milford finished 2nd in the world in 2015 and Jason has produced 9 podium finishers. His professional focus is on personalized strength, conditioning and movement quality which ensures the foundation is properly built on an individual level so each athlete can reach genetic and athletic potential. He is an established, knowledgeable and respected teacher, coach and resource in the global fitness community. Jason earned his degree in Physical Education and Health from Eastern CT State University where he also played basketball. In this episode of Barbell Shrugged the crew digs into coaching CrossFit games athletes, the journey of a professional CrossFit Coach, and managing business, life, fatherhood, and fitness.   Minute Breakdown: 0-10 – Why to be a great athlete you have to be selfish  11-20 – Progressing as a CrossFit Coach and always learning 21

Barrett has a background in the military in a tiny special forces group called CCT. Originally enlisting with a dental assistant job, he quickly realized that his personality type was closer to the special forces people he had met while he was in. As soon as he could, he signed up for the qualification and process and did whatever he had to do to make it in this elite group.    Once the military was over for him, that personality type and drive eventually propelled him into a successful business in the clothing industry with a brand called “NFQ.”    Not having much experience in business and partnering up with a friend with nothing more than verbal agreements eventually led him into a few problems as the business grew... A lot happens in a small Window of time and Barret shares his experience throughout the entire ordeal. As well as sharing what he wish he would have done differently along the way.  This is a great listen for anyone looking to get into business!  ----------------------------------------------

Stuart Brauer is a 15-year student of strength and conditioning, and he was fortunate to find CrossFit in 2006; his journey consists of humble beginnings,making three figures and running park workouts to owning a million-dollar gym—Urban MVMNT.In 2015, his gym business was self-sustaining so he ventured into helping other micro-gym owners and built the media handle WTF Gym Talkto help provide solutions for the WTF!#%! moments we all have in our business. Today Jason sits down with Stuart Brauer (Stu) to lay out tangible toolsgym owners and business owners alike can use to boost their engagement. Having similar backgrounds and much exposure to the fitness industry, Jason and Stuart, provide helpful insight into areas of marketing, community development, and how to stay relevant in the ever-evolving fitness space. Minute Breakdown: 0-5 –Bootcamp for Business 5-10 –Referrals, Guerilla Marketing, and Operational Decisions 10-15 –Community Connection and Networking 15-20 –Tracking Your Efforts and ROI20-25 –Capita

Louis Simmons is an American powerlifter and strength coach. He is noted for developing the Westside Barbell method of training and applying it to powerlifting and other sports, as well as inventing several pieces of strength training equipment. Westside Barbell is a private, invitation-only, elite training facility in Columbus, Ohio that was created by Simmons. Simmons is one of only five lifters to total Elite in five different powerlifting weight classes. He has totalled Elite in various power-lifting organizations.  Minute Breakdown:   0-10 – Using box squats to increase olympic lifts 11-20 – Low Bar vs. High Bar for increased strength 21-30 – Why the best coaches in the world all come to Westside 31-40 – Velocity training with bands 41-50 - Programming using band tension 51 -60 - The importance of assistance work  61 -70 - Why you don’t need to work on technique   https://www.westside-barbell.com Westside Barbell on Instagram   Please Support Our Sponsors   Organifi - Save 20% on green, red, and gold jui

Dr. Lance Einerson is a one on one coach on staff with Active Life. He is the go to staff member for clients who need help with breathing and bracing. His extensive experience as a breathwork specialist and a physical therapist makes him uniquely suited to help Active Life 1 on 1 clients utilize their superpower, breath.    What do you do when you have tried physical therapy for months and they keep telling you “You just can’t do that stuff anymore.”? That’s exactly what we were facing when with the client who we discuss on today’s episode. How did this mother of three go from having pelvic dysfunction, multiple knee surgeries, arthritis, and day to day pain, to hitting PRs on her olympic lifts? You’re going to have to listen to find out.    Minute Breakdown:   0-10 - Her pelvis hadn’t detached, but it had shifted. 11-20 - What was the first step to decreasing pain? 21-30 - How to breath through your sticking point. 31-40 - Collecting wins 41-50 - Managing load. Work with an Active Life Coach like Lance at a

Today’s episode is about the transformative power of combat sports, especially for women, and the company doing its part to support those women. Lynn Le is the founder of Society Nine, a women’s performance and lifestyle brand that makes high quality boxing gear and activewear specifically for a woman. We chat about the importance of addressing physiological differences when designing fight gear; we talk training, competing, and fueling; we talk about women’s history and place in combat sports; and we touch on the truly life-altering and empowering feeling of knowing how to throw a good punch.     Lynn Le is the founder and CEO of Society Nine, a women’s performance and lifestyle brand offering high quality boxing gear and activewear. She was named to Forbes' 30 under 30 in Retail/E-Commerce for the Class of 2018, and Portland Business Journal’s 40 under 40 for 2017. Frustrated with the lack of quality options for women’s gear in boxing fitness, Society Nine is disrupting an industry that has underserved a pa

Hunter Mcintyre is Pro Endurance Athlete, Broken Skull Champion, BoundlessTV co-Host, Obstacle Course Racing Champion, and a Macho Man. With his unique catchphrase, “biceps win races”, Hunter strikes a brilliant contrast to the “skinny minis”, each and every time he takes the podium.   Hunter, AKA ‘The Sheriff” loves to perform with the showmanship of a WWF wrestler. He is, however, an inveterate lover of all things, particularly life. At 27, he has already been a lumberjack in Montana, a party “enthusiast”, and male model. His wild and crazy charisma shines. Hunter, was born to entertain! His passion for life is built around creating each day to be better than the day before. Thriving on daily challenges, you can find him crafting and creating new experiences, from climbing the biggest mountain to setting the foundations of new friendships.   In this episode, we talk to Hunter about his invite to the CrossFit Games, training over the last 2 years, what to expect out of his performance, and how the CrossFit c

An inspirational story that is sure to fire you up for the week! In this podcast Matt Paz outlines his journey from rock bottom to qualifying for the triathlon world championships in Kona Hawaii just a few years later.    Some would say that he traded one addiction for another, but if you ask me, I’d call it destiny. Matt was born to suffer, inspire, and share his love for fitness with the world. He just had a different path than most. And at the end of the day, he will tell you that he wouldn’t have it any other way.    Matt currently owns and operates Garden Grove Fitness in Orange County, California. His gym, brand, and community continue to grow at rapid pace.    Inspirational stories like this is exactly why I started this podcast! I hope you enjoy it, share it, and reach out to Matt on Instagram and let him know your thoughts. Happy listening!  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Show notes: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/rc-paz -----------------------------

You may recognize both voices on today’s show, as M.D.V (Matt DellaValle) is a seasoned guest and co-host of the Business of Fitness Podcast. MDV is the Chief FitnessOfficer at NCFIT, managing all fitness, coaching, and programming operations worldwide for the company. Over the past decade, MDV's journey has taken him a few different directions—coaching at some of the best gyms in the biz (CFNE, Reebok CrossFit ONE, CrossFit ONE Nation & NCFIT), leading seminars as part of CrossFit HQ Staff, and managing fitness partnerships for Reebok INTL. Before all this fitness stuff, MDV earned his law degree from William & Mary Law. He is passionate about coaching, fitness, and American traditional tattoos. In business, fitness, and life we have the tendency to want to over-complicate things and often end up biting off more than we can chew. Today, Jason and MDV, tackle this concept of the “Novice Curse” (thank you, Greg Glassman, for coining the term), and provide actionable steps athletes, coaches, and busines

There’s a lot more to a healthy pregnancy and post-pregnancy than just eating the right food and working out, according to Lindsey Mathews, the founder of BIRTHFIT.  Ashleigh catches up with Lindsey during a trip to Austin to chat with the founder (also a chiropractor and doula) about the company’s mission to cultivate awareness and enhance education throughout the parenthood transition through in person classes and coaches and workshops as well as online learning resources so moms and moms to be and their families can make informed and intuitive choices about their health and their pregnancy and their birth. They chat birth experiences, good and bad exercises for pregnant women, how to get sleep (and sex) post-partum, and above all how to feel empowered to make intuitive, informed choices during your pregnancy, birth, and life in general.     Lindsey Mathews is a doctor of chiropractic, birth doula, NLP practitioner, and strength and conditioning coach. Lindsey started BIRTHFIT in 2011 as a blog with a deep

Super teams are taking over the 2019 CrossFit Games. For the first time in the history of the CrossFit Games, the affiliate cup has transitioned into a team competition where athletes around the world can team up to create super teams.   One of the favorites to win the 2019 team competition is composed of Alec Smith, Jessica Griffith, Cody Mooney, and Camille Leblanc Bazinet. The team qualified at the 2019 Wodapalooza Fitness Festival and Dani Speegle, after finishing the CrossFit Open in the top 5, decided to compete as an individual.   In this episode of Barbell Shrugged, Anders Varner and Doug Larson sit down with Alex Smith, Cody Mooney, Jessica Griffith, and Dani Speegle to discuss Games training, going team, and the secret sauce to making a great team   Minute Breakdown:   0-10 – Alex and Cody Mooney training before being Games Athletes 11-20 – Team training vs. Individual training for the CrossFit Games 21-30 – CrossFit Games training camp 31-40 – Genetics playing a role in strength training 41-50 – Da

In this episode, Richard Diaz and I talk about one of the most controversial subjects in Crossfit. How do I increase work capacity while training less?? With so many different ideologies circling the sport under so many different coaches — it’s really hard to land on one solid piece of information. Everyone has theories, however Rich has more data.    We talk a lot about battling fatigue. We talk a lot about what’s truly right by science. And we talk about a new training style that Rich has been working on since he heard about CrossFit. In my honest opinion, his newest theory is the missing piece we’ve all been looking for. Welcome to one of the moments in sport when everything changes. I’m so excited to be part of it and I’m more excited to drop this episode in your eardrums.    God speed.    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Show notes: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/rc-diaz ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ► Subsc

Brooks Meadows is the host of Barbell Buddha Rediscovered where he shines light on Chris Moore who, before his passing, left a treasure trove of knowledge and wisdom about strength, family, philosophy, science, vice, and how to live an exuberant, self realized existence. He also owns Recess 901, a gym located in Memphis where they put the fun back in fitness bound by the same tenets that makes a school recess special: Community, Autonomy, and Simplicity. In this final episode of The Bledsoe Show with Shrugged Collective, Brooks and I talked about his early trials and tribulations when starting out his gym Recess 901, what makes the gym different, and we celebrated Chris' life by taking sharing some memories with him and how Brooks is honoring Chris' legacy through his Barbell Buddha Rediscovered podcast. --------------------------------------------------- Show notes: https://shruggedcollective.com/tbs-meadows ---------------------------------------------------   ► Travel thru Europe with us on the  Shrugged

There are some “universal truths” about food, health, and the wisdom of our doctors that we all take for granted – but in this episode of Muscle Maven Radio, Ashleigh speaks with practicing physician Dr. Ken Berry bout his book, Lies My Doctor Told me, in an effort to debunk some faulty research and flawed advice as well as empower individuals to do their own research, ask questions, and work with their doctors to achieve optimal health—rather than simply taking every piece of information we see at face value. We discuss the complicated topic of hormone health and hormone replacement therapy, we deep dive into different diet approaches including paleo, keto, and carnivore, and we ask deeply important questions like, are BBQ and coffee bad for you or what?      Dr. Ken Berry  is a practicing board certified physician, an Amazon best-selling author, and a passionate advocate of health on his YouTube channel where he has over 600,000 subscribers. Along with his online presence, he is active in his own community