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We cover the sport of CrossFit from all angles. We talk with athletes, coaches and celebrities that compete and surround in the sport of CrossFit at all levels. We also bring you Breaking News, Human Interest Stories and report on the Methodology of CrossFit. We also use the methodology to make ourselves the fittest we can be.
So the barn.
Rudy:Yeah. Retail barn.
Scott:We talked about this eighteen months ago. We did. And I finally get to see it. Yep. And it's so cool.
Scott:Thank you. What what was the reasoning behind the purchase?
Rudy:So the the reasoning behind the purchase is to have our own space that we could really grow with our family from a fitness perspective, our family and our friends that we could have dedicated to to just that. We had you know, we would work out at the affiliate chalk to us we were at. We would work out at home, like in our garage, spill out into the driveway. There's stuff in the basement. I mean, there's some workouts I did where I was running up and down the stairs in our in our house.
Rudy:And we're like, what? We just need a dedicated space that we can focus. And and the best part of this space is just getting the family and friends together and rallying around and just doing fitness. They're hey. This is our focus in life.
Lynette:So that that's
Rudy:the main reason.
Lynette:Like, Mason is benching.
Scott:Yeah. The reason is like You got you a bro sesh going on. Yeah.
Rudy:So that was that was the conception. And, yeah, it took us it took us about a year to refurbish the old barn. We expanded off the back because we had to have, you know, a 50 foot space under undercover because of those movements of handstand walks and sled pushes. We wanted a a longer runway. And, yeah, it just kind of came to that over the last year.
Lynette:Yeah. And between Rudy and our partner, Zach and Yep. Carrie he's a visionary. So like the scope kept growing. Like as soon as we were getting close, well, let's add this or wouldn't it be nice to have this or So it took a little bit of extra time to get all those wishes to come true.
Lynette:But we're at a point now that we just got power. And while the lights are not installed yet, that is the next project. So we we're not done, but we're getting
Rudy:closer. Yeah.
Scott:So I know you guys have this tight chalk dust community too. Right?
Lynette:Oh,
Scott:yeah. They're always there for you. They're always at events. Was there ever like a concern that pulling back to your own space would do anything to that part of the community? Or do you make an emphasis to like stay tight with that that whole group?
Lynette:Yeah. They are like family. I mean, they saw us. We we never tried CrossFit until we joined Choctaw. So it all started there.
Lynette:Yeah. I still coach occasionally when when, you know, they're on vacation or somebody needs coverage. I do have some clients still. I try to go to classes when I, you know, when I have the time. But more than anything, you know, they witness Rudy jumping in between, like, his work meetings or early in the morning or we stay after the gym was closed.
Lynette:I think, they understand, like, how we try to balance work, life, kids, and, adding this space is just like a natural next step to kind of allow all of this to happen. But the one thing that keeps us together, well, obviously we are friends, but we like to invite chop dosters to come here. And so before the gym was even this barn was even built, a bunch of chop dosters had a hand in making it happen. Yeah. Yeah.
Lynette:Back when it wasn't even a building. Yeah. So digging holes, tearing down walls. So it's still because like I mentioned earlier, we didn't have power until now. We wanna host the community, but we were like, well, there's no bathroom, there's no power, kind of need a couple extra amenities before we can make that happen.
Lynette:But we are getting closer. But you know, nothing replaces chalk dust and the feel of community that that brings to our journey. So barn or no barn, they are, they have a place in our hearts and that's never gonna change.
Scott:Yeah. Yeah. They had, it was cool that you got to do the games in your hometown.
Lynette:Heck yeah.
Scott:You know, and the crowd that Yeah. Was there to support
Rudy:Mhmm. It was, that was amazing. Just like the the I mean, being able to hear in the crowd specific voices of people I knew. And, I mean, I even remember that from Madison because we were in charge and loud in Madison too for those couple years. And just having a lot of the folks come up to us and say, hey.
Rudy:I'm really looking forward to coming. I haven't been able to see you at the games and have it in our hometown was it was just it was so special. Mhmm. Because you saw new faces that hadn't seen me compete before. And the the funny thing is was the reaction from my competitors.
Rudy:They're just like, oh, wow. You know, even especially the international competitors. They're like, oh, you know, Rudy, Rudy. Like, intimate or impersonating like our crown. They're just like they're like, Rudy, this is this is really cool.
Lynette:Yeah. And the cool part is, I mean, once you're part of the Choc Dos crew, you're part of it. Like, I mean, Chris Anderson, he's been part of our family really since 2022. And like all of our Chocolatas friends were cheering for him just as loud as they were cheering for Rudy. Yeah.
Lynette:And then Scott, Pancic, the heat later. So I think throughout this journey that we've been on, because we have such great support from our community, our community has gotten to know other competitors that have, like, even though they've never really met. Right. Other than cheering on the competition floor. Like I remember Chris saying like how special it was to hear him out on the run.
Rudy:You
Lynette:know, he would take a break, would they scream and he would pick it up. It's just, I tell everybody all the time, each community and each gym is unique and has its own culture and things, but Choctaw community is unmatched in many ways. And that's something that, you know, we hold very special to our heart.
Rudy:And and and I think it's important in the masters community because that is your support. You you don't really have sponsors or, you financial things. If this is your hobby, you want to be an elite masters athlete, your community supports you. That's who's behind you. That's really a difference that sometimes you see the elite starting to get away from is having that home affiliate or that home gym backing them.
Rudy:There's Mhmm. There's so much energy and power that comes from that that it's it's you know, I'm I'm privileged to have it.
Lynette:Mhmm.
Rudy:And it it just makes that's what CrossFit is all about. Mhmm. Yeah.
Lynette:So what are your
Scott:favorite what are your favorite parts of the barn?
Rudy:Yeah. So, really, my my favorite parts are actually, I'll show you the the best part here. If you walk over here and you take a look up above, this steel I beam that's installed there was part of a tractor engine hoist that was originally in this barn. And it was a really big contraption, and we ripped it all out, but I wanted to kinda save a piece of it. I was like, perfect.
Rudy:I'll mount it right at the 15 feet height for rope climbs and and bring muscle ups, and and that'll be kinda like an old piece of the barn that we kinda look at. So it's kinda unique. It's, like, rusty and, you know, cool looking.
Lynette:My favorite part is this post that we get people to sign when they come. So you gotta sign it before we make we usually make people work out, but we'll you know, you're technically working. So anybody comes and visits gets to sign the post, and it's just really cool. Some people are messages. Some people
Rudy:talk a little trash. But
Lynette:Yeah. Yeah.
Rudy:It's just a unique thing that we wanna remember. We wanna remember the visitors that have came here, worked out, been with us because that's what this is all about.
Scott:Mhmm. Yeah. And you're fully out fit. You got one of everything and a couple of some?
Rudy:Yes. Yeah. We basically have one of everything, you know, at the most part. Obviously, I still have my dream list of all the other machines and functional trainers and stuff like that. But we'll we'll build on it every year and just you know?
Rudy:And when we need something, we'll find it. We had a lot of the equipment in our house because we had already built up that arsenal of what I needed to train for, know, competition. So but yeah.
Scott:So what's Mason's favorite part of the gym?
Lynette:I'd say probably the the Hastings Walk there. Mhmm. Oh, the hands and what? Ramp.
Scott:Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Lynette:We built that. Up against
Rudy:the wall. Yeah. Yeah. That's the. Yeah.
Rudy:He's obviously supposed to be the.
Scott:Did you did Mason, did you see the mega ramp that Rich's running built?
Lynette:Oh, I have to I did see it today. I have to show you as well. No. I It's it's like a extra long like, I think it's two times the steps. And then, like
Scott:And they used they used Locks. Lifting locks
Lynette:Yeah.
Scott:To to ramp it up. It was two stories. Yeah.
Rudy:Yeah. Yeah.
Lynette:It's pretty quick there.
Rudy:Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome.
Scott:Awesome. Hatfield did it backwards.
Lynette:Yes. I saw that. Nice. Well, they gotta out there. Right?
Rudy:Get you to.
Scott:Rich was on a podcast today and said he thinks they can go one more level. Wow. A triple? Triple.
Lynette:I could
Rudy:I could see that.
Lynette:Yeah. Yeah. For sure. There's some ninjas out there that will
Rudy:Yeah. Crush it.
Scott:Yeah. You get in how many sessions a day out here?
Rudy:We during the season, we're we're out here usually twice a day, in in the morning before work, and then, yeah, in the evening. And in the evening is when Mason usually joins me. Lynette usually joins me. Sometimes Leah, our partner Zach, he'll come in either in the morning or the night to work out.
Lynette:But
Rudy:we're here I I'd say our longest extent that we're here is on Saturdays and Sundays Mhmm. Where we'll be here, you know, upwards of four, sometimes five hours.
Lynette:Mhmm.
Rudy:Just working out, resting, having snacks, talking, enjoying company, and then working out again. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Scott:Well, I I see my favorite part of the the gym, the barn. That's the barbecue.
Lynette:Yes. Oh, yeah. Barbecue.
Scott:You got the barbecue.
Lynette:Yep. We have a little
Scott:sitting seating area.
Lynette:Yeah. That is the burn pile. Dream about having, like, bonfires and things like that.
Rudy:Yeah. Still under construction.
Lynette:Yeah. And the cool part is that park over there. Oh, wow. Yeah. So, like, I like I mentioned, so we currently don't have a bathroom.
Lynette:So you see that at Porta John? That's our bathroom. Oh, wow. Or if that is not there, because it's only there during soccer season, there is, like, a nature center Yeah. Like, about a thousand meters from here.
Lynette:Yeah. So I will run or we keep the bikes around. So if anybody needs to
Rudy:Yeah. So
Lynette:you're able to do They're just we'll we'll just call them off-site facilities.
Rudy:Off-site facilities. That's a good way. And our daughter, she she runs cross country, and she'll train out here at these parks.
Lynette:Mhmm.
Rudy:And she'll she can put in seven or eight miles just at the parks that are connected to our property. It's it's really cool.
Lynette:Yeah. And frequently, she from our house. So it's, like, five and a half miles
Rudy:from our house. Miles from the house.
Lynette:And then she'll finish whatever mileage she needs. Yeah.
Rudy:It's pretty cool.
Lynette:And Mason either rides his bike. I think you're almost ready to run here.
Rudy:Yeah.
Scott:So what does that mean to you, having your family close to your your playground?
Rudy:That's everything. That's everything.
Lynette:It feels weird when it's just us.
Rudy:When when I like, rarely I'll come here by myself to work out, and it's it's quiet. It's lonely. I mean, having my family around, even if they're not doing the same workouts as me, they're usually into something. I mean, it it warms my heart when I'm you know, let's say I'm doing a strength progression back squat. Mason will be practicing muscle ups.
Rudy:He'll be going and doing bench. He'll be doing freestanding handstand push ups. Like, the kids in they just literally play in the gym just on skills and stuff that they're doing just because they, you know, wanna be active. They wanna be they wanna be fit, but it's it's fun for them. So the fact that they think it's fun to hang out at this gym and do stuff is I feel like you're doing something right.
Rudy:Mhmm. Because she's, you know, she's the main parent.
Scott:Well and I've known you guys now for a couple years, and the advancement that your kids have made in their fitness levels in those two years is earth shattering.
Rudy:It's crazy. Right? It's crazy.
Lynette:Yeah. This kid right here.
Rudy:Yeah.
Lynette:He's he's just crushing it. He's just shooting up overnight and just getting really strong and fast and
Scott:Miss mister free hands. Yeah. Stand what? Freestanding handstand push up.
Lynette:Yeah. It's mostly because of the meal prep. Oh, look at that.
Scott:Gum meal prep. Wow.
Lynette:He's such a good boy.
Rudy:So yeah. So, yeah, Mason, he he works out probably four, five days a week here
Lynette:Mhmm.
Rudy:Commonly when I'm here. Mhmm. And he's he's getting ready for wrestling season. Mhmm. And he he understands that this fitness space will carry over into any sport that you wanna do.
Rudy:So that's that's the cool thing.
Lynette:Mhmm. Yep.
Scott:So I asked a lot of athletes this over the weekend, and I'm gonna ask you what what's what's your why?
Rudy:My why? I mean, I do this for my family, for my community. I mean, when I started competing and my friends were showing up to the competition, which was amazing, I was I was I was just so glad they were there. And then They
Lynette:had no idea what CrossFit was.
Rudy:Idea what CrossFit was. They're like, Rudy's doing this thing. You know?
Lynette:Yeah. He's he's upside down, walking across
Rudy:the floor. And my high school friends, one by one, have started joining CrossFit gyms or being active. And they've transformed their lives because they saw what can do, what what I was doing. I mean, they're not gonna compete, but they're like, hey. Looks like this methodology.
Rudy:Looks like this is something we can do, and so it inspired them to to be fit. And and that's that's my why is inspiring one or two people, you know. Not not a crowd of of Instagram folks, but, like, people close to me, people somewhat close to me. They see it inspires them to be fit and be healthy. And also just I know, at least when my kids watch me and and and others that, you know, we went after a dream and we accomplished that and it just shows, hey.
Rudy:You're you're never too old to go after something.
Lynette:Mhmm.
Rudy:If you work hard and you focus on something, you can achieve those dreams. Mhmm. And that's as cheesy as it sounds. That's that's my why. Mhmm.
Lynette:Honestly. Yeah. And I would just say like
Scott:Oh, I'm gonna flip it on you.
Lynette:Oh, okay.
Scott:Yeah. You're not getting out of this. Yeah. So so when you started as coach, you were Rudy's coach. Mhmm.
Scott:Your why was pretty obvious. Right? Mhmm. You know, you wanted your husband to succeed. Mhmm.
Scott:Now you are coaching other people as well. Mhmm. So now your why has to be bigger. Mhmm.
Lynette:For sure.
Scott:What what is it now?
Lynette:I I just I have this passion for helping, like, achieve something that they that that I know they're capable of in helping them, like, realize that and not give up and hang on to faith and just persistence. I think it ties to what I have been learning throughout this journey is like the people closest to us know the highs and the lows, right? Like not everybody sees that because that's life, right? Like only the closest people to you have a front row seat to all the good things and all the things that you're like, well, here goes something. Yeah.
Lynette:You know? So I I think having that firsthand experience and being able to lift somebody up when they're like, I don't know about this anymore, and reassuring them that that's part of growth in pushing through something. Whether the goal is to be at the top or the top 10 or the top 20 or whatever, I mean, if I can be part of that journey, that fills my heart. And just to do it with my family, because whenever I get to work with somebody new, I'm like, you realize we come in like a package deal. You might be working with me most closely, but my kids are gonna be with me.
Lynette:Rudy's gonna be with me. It's a whole thing. I think everybody that kind of is okay with that ends up really enjoying it in a way. Like Yeah. Mason ends up being best friends with Max and Eric.
Lynette:Like I mean, we love In Dallas. When
Rudy:Yes.
Lynette:Like, when the whole family visits the pancakes, it's like a party. Their kids now love our kids. Our kids adore their kids. So it's just this thing that grows and you don't intend it to grow, but it just happens. And you're just following your why, which is just the magic in it.
Scott:Yeah. So now for one of the tough questions.
Lynette:Okay.
Scott:So you get into CrossFit. You know, we've documented your story so many times with the Christmas gift and giving you the okay to go for it. Year one, you win the CrossFit Games. Year two, you win the CrossFit Games.
Rudy:Ran it back.
Scott:Yep. Year three, didn't go so well.
Rudy:Mhmm. Yeah.
Scott:But year four, you come back better and stronger than ever. Yes. What did you learn in the loss that you didn't see in the wins?
Rudy:Yeah. Yeah. So in the loss, it affected me mentally. And the biggest thing it did was I I momentarily, for let's say a day, forgot why
Lynette:I did it. Mhmm.
Rudy:And when I forgot why I did it, it just weighed on me like, my gosh. I'm not performing how I've trained. I mean, my training was good. My preparation was good. Why am I not able to to perform on the floor?
Rudy:And I just I got in my head about it. And the end of the competition, I I turned things around just because my literally, my kids gave me a stern talking to. And they said, dad, you've never walked out on that floor without a smile. And and and they said more than that. But that very next event in in Birmingham, I said I'm gonna smile, I'm gonna make myself smile.
Rudy:And when I did, you know, my cheering section just you could see them energized. They're like, oh my gosh, Rudy's smiling again, let's go. And it just flipped that switch back on. And so I finished the games last year strong. Didn't finish where I wanted to, but still, I was on that podium.
Rudy:I'm I'm still very grateful and and and did really well. But that taught me the lesson of you have to enjoy this. Mhmm. You have to have fun. Yeah.
Rudy:It's hard work, but that's what makes it fun. And so this year, you can check every event. I was just grateful to be there, excited to show my fitness, and I was smiling and I was happy. Mhmm. That is the difference.
Rudy:When you walk on that floor and you're ready and you're happy, that your confidence is high and you're gonna enjoy yourself, you do. It it, at least for me, translates to higher performance. Mhmm. So knowing that, that I needed to enjoy myself and have fun, that's why it all came together again. Can
Lynette:I share what I learned from that loss?
Scott:That was my next question.
Lynette:Okay. Okay.
Scott:But as Lynette always does, she's she's one step ahead of me.
Lynette:It's I feel like it's just it was such an experience that in hindsight had to happen to exactly that, like recalibrate why we were chasing a certain thing. And as you know, Scott, our preparation is very methodical and we like to have a lot of control and plans. And event one of the twenty twenty four games blew up our plan completely. And a lot of it was outside of our control. And I and I think that for me was the hardest part to like, normally, when something doesn't go right, you kinda have a a reason.
Lynette:Like, you know, some you know, we made a mistake. Yep. Whatever. And and you can kind of, like, work yourself through that mentally and say, okay. So, like, when something happens and you understand why it happened, you can reason your way through it and just kinda you know, like, when an event goes good or bad, you, like, put it behind you no matter what because you have to move on.
Lynette:But this that particular time, it was outside of our control for many reasons. So we, like I struggled to comfort him in a way that was like, okay. Let's just move on. And he was really disappointed. So our kids were so important in reminding us to have fun.
Lynette:To like when we started taking things too serious and like kind of letting things kind of get away from us. Yeah. So fast forward to this year, on the competition floor, it may have been like he was the fittest, the most prepared, but this was a very rough season, training season. Things, we had a lot of obstacles along the way that made us question our why. Throughout the last few years, we've been growing our faith and there were moments that really tested, is this really what we should be doing right now?
Lynette:And I kept clinging onto, you know what, there is a plan. And if we are here right now, it's because we are supposed to. So we're just gonna live through that plan to the best of our ability and see what happens because it's our duty to honor our guests.
Scott:Our talents.
Lynette:Yep. Yeah. So I just kept hanging on to that. And next thing you know, it's the night before the CrossFit Games, and Leah put together a video for Rudy that was centered around, hey. Yeah.
Lynette:You're about to take that floor. Don't forget to smile. And that just put it all together.
Rudy:Yeah.
Lynette:And so before each event, before he would go out to the floor, it was like, don't forget to smile.
Rudy:Yep. Yeah.
Scott:I'm I am so glad to hear that because I was there in Alabama and I and I didn't see my friends that weekend. Mhmm. You were not the people that I've gotten to know over the last couple of years. Yeah. And I wanted it so bad for you guys.
Scott:Mhmm. But as an outsider, it's really hard to, like
Lynette:It was rough.
Scott:To convey that. You
Rudy:know? Yeah.
Scott:Yeah. Because right. Like, every time I see you guys, you're always smiling ear to ear. And and that wasn't happening last year. Yeah.
Scott:And we know some of the reasons were very public. They came out after the games. But I'm glad that that lesson was learned because this year, it was all back. Mhmm. It was cool seeing you out there again.
Lynette:Thank you. It was fun. Thank
Scott:you, Scott. It was very fun. You have this building now. Mhmm. It's rumored that people just show up sometimes.
Rudy:Right? Yeah.
Lynette:Oh, yeah.
Scott:Before the games, my understanding is the barn was full.
Lynette:Yes. The barn was ready.
Scott:Yes. Are there any plans to have like little training camps to invite people in to see how you do things?
Lynette:For sure. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that is like, you know, we wanna give back as much as we can and share pretty much anything we can with the people that we like and we love. So speaking of just before the games, like Chris Anderson spent the week prior to the games here.
Lynette:It was just really cool because, you know, in the days that we would come here and spend two, three hours putting up one single post or digging out one single we were like, this better turn out good. And so seeing the barn with like I think at one point we had like 12 people here on Tuesday before the game. Yeah. Looked around and we're like, yeah, This is why we did it. This is why we did it.
Lynette:Yeah.
Rudy:So There is it was cool because there is masters from every age group from 35 to 55 to
Lynette:59.
Rudy:Yeah. Represented from each one. And just having that as our community in this family, we've, you know, come together. It's just Yes. It's amazing.
Lynette:For sure. And so we had like, we didn't have an official camp this year because, again, the barn wasn't a 100% ready. But next year, whether we do the CrossFit Games or not, we are we wanna host people. And and, like, we actually hosted several international families, which was really cool because part of the games being at home, it's like Yes. You want to show them or feed them a or, like, invite them for some coffee.
Lynette:And so that was really cool, and we we wanna experience that again.
Rudy:Yeah.
Scott:But can't let that last statement go by if we do the CrossFit Games. Yeah. Is that a serious consideration?
Lynette:Yeah. Yeah. I think so. I mean, I feel like, you know, whether, you know, we had fun or not, we work really hard at this and we're not going to show up less than a 100% ready to give it our best. I feel like as long as the event continues to improve and, you know, and and like things continue to be elevated, it's a serious consideration.
Lynette:But like, you know, it it'll it I guess it depends. We'll see how things shake out.
Scott:Because I love these people.
Lynette:Mhmm.
Scott:Like, I I've gone to the elite games, like, seven times.
Lynette:Mhmm.
Scott:I would go to the masters games 10 times over the elite games.
Lynette:Yeah. And I love that they were together with the teens. That was cool. I mean, I don't know a lot of personal acquaintances or friends that had both a parent and a kid competing, but one of our family friends from Ireland that is in your age group, he didn't qualify this year because of some judging But rule or his son qualified. So that was really neat that not only was he here and his family here supporting his son, but Mason got to see another team compete.
Lynette:And so that from our perspective has a lot of value to be able to do that together because that's how we train. So like, if someday we have the opportunity for one of the kids to do it with you, I think that would be very special.
Rudy:Yeah. It's special.
Scott:Yeah. I think that was a good move. It has some logistic nightmares because, you know, the teams have to be the teams have to be protected.
Rudy:Right. Yes.
Scott:Right? Which makes it logistically hard, but I like that it's together. Mhmm. And families didn't have to be split up this year.
Lynette:Yeah. I agree.
Scott:That was good.
Lynette:And I think it allowed I know that there was a shortage of volunteers and some issues with volunteers and all that, but last year, I think part of the issue was that it was the same weekend and people were like, pool of volunteers was even thinner. So having the event at the same location, the same weekend is going to allow for a stronger base of individuals to be able to volunteer if they can.
Scott:Yeah. Exactly. So we talked about camps. You know, there's camps all over the place for the elite athlete. There really aren't masters camps.
Scott:Mhmm. It's true. I mean, it's it's kind of a an open market. Mhmm. And not that it would be a profitable thing.
Scott:Just be more of a community thing.
Lynette:Feel good thing.
Scott:But Totally. That that'd be really cool if that happened. Mhmm. Yeah. I know I had a couple of masters athletes DM me knowing I was coming here today.
Lynette:Oh, yeah?
Scott:And ask if you were going to do that at your barn.
Lynette:Okay. Well, let's talk. Let's talk.
Rudy:Tell him to reach out.
Scott:Yeah. Okay. Cool. Mhmm. Awesome.
Scott:Well, thank you, guys.
Rudy:Thank you for coming. Time you
Lynette:have to pop in and do a workout. I will. Bro sesh with Mason. You know?