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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.
I was born to kill it.
I was meant to win.
I am down and willing,
so I will find a way.
It took a minute,
now it didn't have to ride away.
When it get hot in the kitchen,
you decide to stay.
That's how it win us, man.
Stick a fork in the head of Ramadan.
What is going on, everybody?
Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast,
where we are featuring the
athletes of the 2024
CrossFit Games Semifinals.
So excited to talk to my next guest,
Ellie Hiller.
Ellie, how you doing?
I'm pumped to be here.
It was fun two years ago
when I got to do it, so.
Yeah, yeah.
So I guess that's a great
question right off the bat is,
what happened in 23?
Yeah, good question.
Um, what happened in 23?
It really the the strength
of it is what kept me out.
I was really happy with all
my scores and the other
other workouts except for
for one that I should have repeated.
But yeah,
I just had to get a lot stronger.
That's what I've been
working on the past seven years.
So glad I finally made it
only seven years.
Only seven.
Well, yeah, only seven.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's been a long journey,
but it makes it more rewarding though.
When I do make it because I
know like I have to have
been hammering that about
as hard as I could.
Cause you can only get so strong,
honestly.
Like I feel like with
building an aerobic base,
not to say it's easier to
insult anyone that that's
their weakness because I don't,
nothing's easy in CrossFit,
but it just takes a long time, man,
to get stronger.
It really does.
Yeah,
so what's funny is all of my co-hosts
are athletes like you.
They're trying to build the
strength portion of their repertoire.
Jamie on my Sunday night
show now and Carolyn
Prevost are both great athletes,
and they're trying to build
that strength up,
and that's the only thing
holding them back from great success.
Yeah.
Yeah, well, Carolyn,
I know her from competing
against her at Atlas Games
and then way back in the
day at Granite Games when I
was a little baby, and she's strong.
So if she's having to get stronger, yeah,
that says a lot.
She's already a really strong girl.
Yeah,
what amazes me about her is just her
athleticism because of all
the sports she played
growing up and into the
college Division I level and all of that.
But, yeah,
it's just fun talking to her
because she's worked a lot
on strength over the years.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
She's so impressive.
I remember, shout out to her, like I said,
back at Granite Games when I was like 16.
I could barely deadlift.
We had like a deadlift workout.
I was like 285.
I could barely lift it.
I had no idea who she was.
And I was the last on the floor.
And she was just over there
like giving me tips,
really like rooting for me.
I saw the teacher come out in her.
And from that moment on,
I've been a fan of hers
forever just because I
remember how she treated me.
And it really meant a lot.
Yeah.
So, and when I say strength with Carolyn,
it's shoulder to overhead.
Yeah.
Like she's one of the best
deadlifters in the world.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Um, but she crushed it.
Yeah.
Um, but speaking of like the,
the teacher coming out in her,
one of the things she takes
a lot of pride in is that
she's a full-time employee, um,
working full-time hours and
still trying to do this
crazy thing called CrossFit
at a pro level.
Yeah.
you too work a full-time job
and squeeze all these training hours,
not only into training for CrossFit,
but running your own business as well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I am a nurse by trade.
So that is my job that I
graduated with a degree for.
And I also own my own business.
So I find a lot of joy in
having a career and
um,
things outside of CrossFit to kind of
help me just stay a little,
stay balanced.
Um, by no means is it easy.
There are days where I'm like, man,
it would be nice to be good
enough to be a full-time athlete.
But, um, I, I really do.
I,
I think I will say this forever and
never go back on it.
Um,
regardless of how far I may get in the
sport, I really,
really love having a career.
So,
and do you still work as a nurse today?
I do.
I started out in emergency
nursing and that became a
little bit too difficult to
juggle with training just
with 12 hour shifts and everything.
And you end up staying later
than 12 hours in emergency medicine.
So I now work part time in
pediatric anesthesia.
So it's outpatient and the
hours start really early.
So it's like five or six a.m.,
but then we get done at
like one or two typically.
So it's really nice for training.
Yeah,
it seems like I've had a couple
surgeries this year and
they're all super early in the morning.
Like doctors want to get in, get out.
Yeah.
Well, and the other thing too is like,
you know, you have to fast.
So we want to make it a
little bit easier on the patient,
especially if it's a little kid,
easier on the parents so that, you know,
they can just wake up,
have the surgery and not
have to fast all day.
Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
Yeah.
You own a nutrition company named Vulcan.
Why the name Vulcan?
Yeah, so I'm in Birmingham, Alabama.
Are you coming to the to the games,
the Masters games, by the way?
Of course I am.
OK, awesome.
I'll see you there.
So live in Birmingham and we have a.
I don't even know what you call it,
but it's like a statue kind
of overlooking the city.
And it's a really popular tourist spot,
but it's called the Vulcan statue.
And so if you've ever been to Birmingham,
you've probably seen
pictures of it all over downtown,
like murals and stuff.
But it basically has to do
with Birmingham being like the iron city,
which then became like the magic city.
And Vulcan has something to
do with Greek mythology, the god of like
iron which I'm not into that
uh but I just thought it
was cool to call it vulcan
and make it a kind of a
shout out to to birmingham
so so yeah I've never I've
never stopped in birmingham
I've driven through yeah on
the way to florida better
destination and um but I i
don't know I have so many
questions right now um and
I don't know which way to go
anyway we're not redneck if
that's where you're if
that's where your head is
going people think we're
really redneck but well I i
went through your instagram
you're a ttt athlete are
you still with them I am I
am and you're wearing north
carolina blue and north
carolina shirts but you
live in birmingham did you
go to college in north carolina
No,
I actually went to college at Samford
university here in Birmingham.
Everybody off.
Yeah.
So I went to a basketball
camp in North Carolina at UNC,
became a huge fan through
the basketball program.
But to be perfectly honest with you,
I have a problem where I
just buy shirts that I like
the colors of that team.
And it's honestly like a problem.
I wear Indiana shirts.
I have no affiliation to Indiana,
like same thing with kind
of UNC other than that camp.
So people make fun of me for it.
It's kind of a problem.
Yeah,
the only pair of Air Jordans I ever
owned were North Carolina version.
They're so pretty.
Their colors are the best, hands down.
If you look, like,
our blue is the Carolina blue.
Yes, I noticed that.
I love it.
That's my business colors as well.
Yeah, I did notice that.
Yeah.
Corey Leonard's in the chat
saying Ellie is incredibly friendly,
friendly and cheerful.
We did handstand pushups
next to each other at the
Southland camp in February.
I had no idea who she was
until I saw the video Hiller made.
Just knew she was super friendly.
Hey, Corey, he's he's in all the chats.
I love it.
Thanks for the shout outs.
Yeah, he's I supposedly he has a job.
I don't know what it is.
I've gotten to know corey he
actually was my roommate at
masters fitness collective
no way um we hung out
together that was the first
time we ever met in person
and uh got to know him he
killed it up there he's a
fit guy he's really fit and
he says I promise you I do
actually work we believe
you corey I'm you make us
look good in the chat thank you so
So I'm super excited because I'm actually,
I'm pretty sure,
pretty sure I'm going to be
in Knoxville as well.
Nice.
So I'll be covering the event there.
You have a year where you don't make it.
You're back at it again.
Does it mean more to you
this time around or the
first time at Atlas Games?
That's a good question.
Yeah.
I think it's in different ways.
So in Atlas Games, I was a backfill.
I got the call about, honestly,
a month after everyone else
found out they had made it.
And so it was kind of like, oh, my gosh,
this is awesome.
I had already come to terms
with not making it.
So it was just a surprise.
But I...
This year, making it, I knew I really,
really earned it.
And so that, I would have to say,
is a little bit sweeter.
Not that I didn't.
I worked my butt off the
first time I qualified.
But I have done nothing but
try as hard as I possibly
can to fill my holes.
And I really couldn't
confidently say I left
nothing on the table this past year.
My execution in
quarterfinals was about as
perfect as it could have been.
And I'm not one to really
say things like that.
Um,
so really I would have to say this year
means more, um, just because, you know,
I got 28 in quarterfinals
and it wasn't even really
close to a backfill, which I kind of,
to be honest with you,
I went into the
quarterfinals this year
thinking I was going to be
a backfill again,
which I know is not the best mindset, but,
um, it really meant a lot when I was like,
oh, I comfortably made it.
That's awesome.
So.
Yeah.
And in the East,
which is probably the
hardest and a reduced field
this year where they only
took 40 instead of 60.
Yeah.
So super impressive.
I was really thankful.
Yeah.
I have a really great
support system down here and yeah,
just really thankful to God
for a healthy year and that
I'm still loving it, enjoying it.
So hopefully I can go and do
the same at semifinals.
So for years you were on a team.
Um, you're on a team with your husband.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Yes.
One year we went to the Mac.
It was in 2021.
So what,
what made you change your mind two
years ago to all of a
sudden go individual?
That has always been the goal individual.
Um,
my teammates that I have been on teams
with, uh,
have always been really gracious
to allow me to give individual a shot.
And then if I don't make it, you know,
I go team.
Um, it's always been the plan B, but.
that's really not the best
approach like for anyone on a team,
right?
Like you want someone to be pretty,
pretty committed from the
start in my opinion.
Um,
so I've been blessed with teammates
that have allowed me to do that.
When I don't make it,
I have that as a fallback plan.
Um, but it has always been individual.
Um, and just with my skillset,
I'm not a great team athlete.
Um,
because I would argue that
good team athletes are
people who are powerful and
strong and can work for
short bursts of time with
the rare exception of, you know,
running events at the games
and stuff like that.
But typically a team athlete,
you need to be pretty
strong and powerful.
And so that's the opposite of me.
And so I've always just been
more inclined to do individual anyway.
And that's kind of how I
grew up playing sports.
So it kind of just fits better.
What was it like being on a
team with your husband?
um uh where do I start my
husband and I we get along
so well so it's not like um
it's just funny because
there were so many times
where I like I'm the
problem every time I'll be
the first to say like if we
got into any spat in
training it was always me like
And I'm being dead serious.
It was just like,
it would be a strength for me.
We'd be doing handstand pushes,
for example.
That's a strength for me.
And if I'm paired with him, you know,
that's not his strength.
That's his weakness.
And
I've had to go back and apologize for this,
but I'm like expecting him
to be at my level for my
best movement and his worst movement.
And so then I'll kind of like start,
I'll start counting down.
Right.
Like I'll do the like three, two, one,
like we're going to get
back on the wall and he's
totally not ready.
And so then we're just like
nipping at each other.
And I'm like, this is completely my fault.
This is not how you work on a team.
So we would have our,
our fair share of moments like that.
But overall it was an amazing experience.
It's just,
it was interesting just because
you have to kind of,
learn to compartmentalize,
which is not really how
I've ever gone about
anything in our relationship.
But it's kind of like,
there's a time where he
just needs to be my
teammate and we need to leave the,
we just need to act like teammates,
you know, not a married couple.
So it was interesting.
It was interesting.
Yeah,
my wife and I can't even do a partner
workout and survive.
I am ultra competitive.
She could care less if we win.
The minute it starts, it goes south.
Yeah.
Um, so we try to avoid that at all costs,
but it's funny.
I talked to, um,
Emily Rolfe and her husband, Kyle.
Yeah.
And Kyle tells,
told me a story where they
have to compartmentalize
cause he's her coach.
And like,
he had to be really hard on her
at right before she went
out on the floor for something.
And then he said, while the event started,
I'm writing the apology via text, um,
oh my gosh I think that
actually I am so impressed
by people that can do the
coaching husband and wife
thing tia and shane emily
and her husband um there's
a couple down here in
birmingham they did it for
a long time and I'm just
like I i don't know how
people do that it takes a
lot of emotional um
awareness and just a really
high emotional IQ,
I think to be able to say, all right,
this is my coach speaking,
not my husband.
And it's not personal.
He wants what's best for me, man.
That is, that is tough.
I respect people that can do that.
Yeah.
My gym owners are married.
It's,
and it's Christy Aramo O'Connell and
their, their coach athlete, husband, wife,
and they always seem to be getting along.
I don't know.
how they do it.
But anyway, I also look through your,
the Vulcan, um,
IG and I see your mom on there a bunch.
Yeah.
So do you work with her with that company?
Uh,
Yeah, that's funny.
She not it.
I don't work with her at all.
It's really just a product
of she found that her I
don't even want to say fan base.
She has a huge following.
She's like 100,000 something followers.
Her following really was
interested in nutrition.
She found that some of the
content which she would
have me on her podcast.
Or even just have me like
put out something on a reel.
They really responded well to it.
And I think I took for
granted the fact that just
the spheres I'm in,
in health care and then in CrossFit,
people hear about nutrition, you know,
kind of all the time.
It's just common language.
But then there's people who don't.
hear proteins important
often or the importance of
strength training and so I
found that her following
was really receptive to
that and they wanted to
learn a lot so we just have
started to produce more
content together and it's
been super rewarding and
it's opened my eyes to not
just take for granted just
because I'm in the fitness
world everyone knows that
protein's important or kind
of the simple things that
we would say you know with nutrition.
And, and please help me figure this out,
but midlife something is
what it's called.
Yeah.
So I created a course called
Midlife Savvy and it's an,
it's almost like a master,
it's a masterclass essentially.
If you've kind of seen the
ad ads for any of those
masterclasses from cooking or whatever,
making sourdough bread.
And it's,
it's a course targeted to the
midlife woman.
So anyone who is anywhere,
I would say midlife could
technically even be like mid thirties,
even though you're still super young.
But then all the way up until like,
you know, the seventies,
just because there are specific,
things that I think that
demographic has been told
from a nutrition and a
lifestyle standpoint that
are really just bad.
Like don't lift weights,
stay away from fat.
Carbs are going to make you fat.
You know, if you eat too much protein,
you'll get bulky.
If you strength train, you'll get bulky.
So our goal is to really
kind of like reverse those
myths and just help women feel better,
get help,
become healthier and really know
that the best years are not behind them.
Just because you're 50,
you can be the healthiest
you've ever been at 50.
Yeah,
I watched the one with the sourdough
bread.
Yeah.
And your mom was like the excellent,
the perfect Vanna White
showing off the sourdough.
Yeah.
As you were explaining that, you know,
bread doesn't make you fat and that,
you know,
this only has a couple ingredients.
And if you can just kind of
keep that like that, everything's cool.
Yeah.
I mean,
from what I've heard about that
generation,
they were all told like bread.
bread is terrible.
Stay away from bread.
It's going to make you fat.
You know, any type of carbs,
stay away from all carbs.
And it's like, no, like you can eat bread.
It's just, if you eat too many calories,
you'll, you'll gain weight.
Yeah.
But absolutely you can
incorporate it into a healthy diet.
So I am part of that generation.
And so we were told everything we're told,
you know, fat free diets, the way to go,
then no carbs.
Then like,
it just kept cycling a different
trend and none of them worked.
yeah none of them worked it
wasn't until like it became
more balanced in my life
that things worked for me
so yep yeah you hear all
the time the best plan is
one that you can follow and
I'm just I'm such a big
proponent of that obviously
there's better plans in my
opinion than others even if
you can follow both of them
but sustainability is is
the key or else we're not
really helping people you
know if people lose 30
pounds and they're back
three months later, even six months later,
it's like, did you really help them?
No, honestly,
I would say you might've
actually hurt them.
Cause then you get in this
rat race of like diet culture,
diet industry of like,
it's going to be this ebb
and flow my whole life.
And I don't think that's,
I don't think that's
helping people regardless
of how much weight you lose three months.
I love how you talk about your pillars.
And the first pillar is that
you shouldn't need us forever.
Yeah.
And that's so cool.
I tell my coaches,
I have three coaches on staff,
not including myself.
And I tell them, like,
you're going to have to fire clients,
you know, and that sounds like a terrible,
terrible marketing strategy.
But if they obviously we
have a conversation, we're not just like,
bye.
But if they are doing this
well on their own.
that's the goal.
Like fly out of the nest.
We want you to do it on your own.
If we're keeping you forever,
then we're a crutch.
And so, yeah.
So I told my coaches, like,
if you feel like they're
good and you need to fire them,
set them loose and give
them the confidence to do
it on their own.
Did I,
did I see in your Instagram that you
are a former swimmer?
Yeah, actually I am in high school.
I swam, but I could never do it year,
which I know you're a
swimmer or you were a swimmer.
Um, but I could never do it.
I listened to your podcast.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
I think I've listened to a lot of yours.
Um, and I really enjoy them, but yeah, no,
I, uh,
I never could swim year round
because of basketball.
Um, so I interfered,
but I did summer swim and, um,
I got a D three like D
three schools were asking me to swim,
but obviously you don't get
scholarship money.
So,
Yeah.
Yeah.
I didn't swim a year round either.
I,
it just was with the sport I was best at,
but I actually was a four sport athlete.
Oh, wow.
So I played football, swam, uh,
did track and then baseball.
Oh, dang.
And those all are kind of
conflicting seasons, I guess.
You had to have run together
with some of them.
Like baseball was over and
then I had like a month
break before football season started.
Yeah.
Football ran over swimming.
So as soon as it was done,
I had to like jump in the
pool and suffer for two
weeks just to get into shape.
Yeah.
They need two different body types too,
right?
So like I had to,
I would play football at
over 200 pounds and I'd swim at 175.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
That's insane.
I can't imagine that.
And it probably wasn't
healthy and it probably
taught me bad habits back then.
I just, but as I keep preaching,
I was a kid and I got to do
all the things I like to do.
I wasn't pigeonholed into one thing.
And then I was good enough
at swimming that I got a,
I got a division one scholarship.
That's outstanding.
Where did you go?
Ohio state.
Okay.
Yeah.
My coach, Kyle Ruth, uh, swim in Indiana.
So, uh, he's big into the swimming world.
So you probably know about him.
Yeah.
I interviewed Kyle and we
talked about that.
Um,
and he always loves the competition
with a swim event.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You don't even have to be D1
level to typically win a
swim event in CrossFit.
So I love a swim event too
because I'm definitely by
no means as good as you two were.
But I pretty much can always
know I'll get top three if
they're swimming.
So really,
really wish there were more of that.
What's funny is I've been a
judge in the sport.
And watching people swim,
I get like twitchy.
Yeah.
And I watched your video of you swimming.
You know how to swim.
Yeah.
There are a lot of
CrossFitters that do not
have that skill at all.
And it's wild how much efficiency matters.
Like, I...
We went to,
at that Southland camp that
Corey was talking about,
we had a session where we
went to the pool and
there's some really
athletic people that are
swimming a 25 and they are
more out of breath than if they had done,
you know, 50 burpees for time.
I'm like, this is insane to me.
Like, you know, you do a 25 and we're,
you're not even breathing at all.
It's a,
it's crazy how big of a difference
skill makes in swimming.
Yeah.
You should be relaxed when you swim.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it should be long
strides unless you're doing a sprint,
which never really happens in CrossFit.
Right, right.
Yeah.
I wish it would pop up more,
but I got to make it to the games,
I guess, before I ever can do that.
Corey says, man, he's talking about me.
Nah.
Well,
when we got to Masters Fitness Collective,
there was a swimming event.
I think Corey just didn't want to drown.
That was like his only goal.
That's a good goal.
And he didn't drown.
That's a good goal.
I mean,
I know in some competitions like at
Granite Games,
they actually gave people
like life jackets or little floaties,
which it, you know,
it's kind of embarrassing.
Everyone would say like,
I don't want to attach this
floatie to myself.
But I mean, it was an 800 meter swim.
I'm like, you're out in a pond.
You better,
you better use it if you don't
know how to swim or you're in trouble.
Yeah, I mean,
think about old-school CrossFit.
Like, hey, easy,
go out there and swim in this ocean.
Yeah.
You can't swim.
And then he's, like,
hanging onto a paddleboard
for life in the middle of the ocean.
And ocean swimming is not –
I don't care how good of a
pool swimmer you are.
Ocean swimming can expose you as well.
It's so different.
It beats you up in ways if
you're not used to it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's rough, but –
And you were asking in that IG post,
you gave yourself a four on the dive.
I'd give it a six.
All right.
Thank you.
I was like, I hate videoing myself.
Like it really is like cringy to me,
even though I know it just has to happen.
But I was like, please,
I hope no one can see me.
I hope no one can see me.
And like someone was walking
out onto the pool deck when
I was like about the dive.
So I'm like, you know what?
I don't even have time to
make this look pretty.
I'm just going to record it.
So yeah, it was pretty bad.
so one of the off-season
things you did was crash
crucible yeah uh which my
co-host jamie did um jamie
latimer I don't know if you
you guys met I think I met
her we talked yeah I don't
know if she'd remember me
but we talked yeah um she
knows who you are trust me okay
So it was such a cool competition.
I'd never really seen it
until the Savant podcast
broadcast it live.
And all the cool toys that
you guys got to play with
in that weekend that you
don't see at normal competitions,
even up to semifinals.
Those were like game style, weird objects.
Yeah.
I, I will,
I probably said this on every
podcast I've been on.
I think crash crucible is hands down.
First of all,
the best competition I've ever done.
I've done it three years, no two years now,
I guess.
But yeah,
you don't get to do peg boards at
any other competition.
You don't get to do handstand hurdles.
Like you don't,
you've never even seen that
in a competition really.
I don't think up until crash,
we got to swim one year
with GHDs at the pool and,
That was an awesome event,
which took a lot of planning.
I know on JR's part,
but it's really interesting
because it does kind of
select for a specific athlete.
I tend to historically do
really well at crash
because I like the higher skill stuff.
And I practice that,
which there's girls that
are really probably a lot
more talented than me that
I can beat at crash just
because the skill is such a separator.
And you just don't see that at,
at local competitions,
even if it's a big local competition.
So it's,
I think I enjoy making Crash
more than I do, honestly,
a semifinal sometimes.
So it's just a great competition.
That is so cool.
And I hope it stays that way
for where people can
qualify because I know
after it got broadcast,
more and more athletes want
to be a part of it now.
Oh, for sure.
And I think it'll grow
exponentially even just
from this year to next year.
But I know JR has mentioned
that I think he wants to
keep it at his gym.
I don't think he wants to grow it out.
I mean, I know he wants to grow it,
but I think he likes the
feel of having it at his affiliate,
which I really like.
Well, it's a huge gym.
It's got two floors.
You have the carpeted floor.
You have the rubber floor.
It was great.
I'd love to go down for it.
You should, you should come.
I mean, he runs a tight ship too.
So even with a smaller space,
he would still make it run so well.
And he treats the athletes
like we're at the freaking
CrossFit games.
He's just, JR's outstanding.
Yeah.
I have, I have family in Charlotte.
Well, I, my wife does.
Yeah.
And so I could have her stop her,
drop her off in Charlotte,
let her hang out there and
then just head to Spartansburg.
You should come.
I think it's October the
like first or second week in October.
So.
Yeah, it'd be fun.
I really do want to get to more smaller,
like what I'm calling
mid-major competitions.
Yeah.
You know, not the Rogues, not the Dubais,
not the Waterpaloozas,
but like Metcon Rush and
Crash and some of those fun competitions.
I think it's more
community-based and needs more public,
more eyes on it.
And you might find some up
and comers that people
don't spot until later on in the season.
Like Jason Hopper burst onto
the scene at crash.
You know,
he won crash and no one really
knew who he was until I
think Brian friend said
something about him at crash.
Same for Taylor.
So, so yeah, it's awesome.
So you're heading to semis.
All the workouts have been released.
Are you excited?
Oh, I'm thrilled,
especially now that it's more OG CrossFit,
in my opinion.
I'm like,
this is back to like the regional days.
You know, I, I, I am thrilled.
I could not be more excited.
Is there one event you're
looking forward to more than the others?
Um, from a performance standpoint,
like I know I'll do well in it.
I'm really excited about the
running and the clean and jerk.
Um,
but that one hurts so bad that I'm not
looking forward to it from
that perspective.
Um,
I just know it'll hopefully be a good
finish for me.
And then I also am really,
I think the legless workout
is a really fun one to do
and it's a fun one for
spectators to watch.
So I'm looking forward to
that one as well.
Yeah.
I think a lot of these are fun to watch.
It is old school CrossFit.
Yeah.
It's easy to see the story
develop on the floor, snatch ladder.
You're, you're, you know,
you can see where everybody stands, uh,
the rope climb workout.
Don't you move the box down
a little bit each time?
Yeah, you do.
Yeah.
So it's like, yeah,
I think it's going to be awesome.
Is there a workout that just
personally has something
that you've been working on
that you want to test yourself?
Hmm.
Um,
Yeah,
I think obviously the obvious answer
would be the snatch ladder.
I think that's little,
that's less of an
expression though of like
the strength that I've gained.
So I would actually have to say event two,
which is the front squats, you know,
the double unders and the toes to bar.
That one,
even though I think I'll do well
in that one,
the front squats two years
ago at 155 would have,
been an issue like I would
not be doing them on broken
you know and so um I'm
really at least in how I've
tested it I'm really I
think I'm able to see the
fruit of all of my strength
work more than maybe even
the snatch ladder which
people perceive as the
strength of it um but I
think it shows up more in
event too so I'm really
pumped for that after
watching Europe I think the
final event is as much
strength as anything else I
would agree those dumbbells
ate some people up
Yeah, especially the guys.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Have you played around with the 70s?
I have.
Yes.
They, uh, again,
another thing that two
years ago would have wrecked me,
but they are very tough.
And I really think it comes
down to the lunges.
You can do everything really
fast at the beginning,
but someone there's going
to be fun races because
people who even break the muscle ups,
I think we'll catch some
girls who don't break the muscle ups, um,
on the lunges.
Cause if you can go unbroken on that,
I mean,
you're going to catch a ton of people.
So yeah.
Yeah.
I think that'll be a really
fun race and I'm excited for it.
So.
Yeah,
I think I've talked to three TTT
athletes out of the last
four interviews I've done.
So I was talking to Will
Morad this morning,
and he said that you and
somebody else can have a
completely different plan
on that last one and both be right.
That's interesting.
Yeah, that's interesting.
Because if you break up the
muscle ups so that you can
hang on to the dumbbell,
you could be right.
You could go unbroken and
like just grit through the
dumbbell and you're still
going to be right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And there's a, I think that's one too,
kind of like the
quarterfinal workout with
the snatches and the rowing
where you can really play
to your strengths.
Yeah.
And really, like you kind of said,
have two totally different strategies,
but because you're
different athletes and
you're able to identify
where you're going to
succeed and where you need
to just be able to like
manage in that workout.
I think you could have an
even result between two
totally different strategies.
Yeah, that's interesting.
Do you like workouts like
that that you have to strategize for you,
the athlete?
Or do you like it just where
it's this is what it's on
paper and it's go time?
I, to be honest with you, Scott, I,
I hate workouts with all
the strategy just because I think it,
a lot of it comes down to like,
how good is your coach at
helping you strategize?
Um, I hate to,
I don't say that about Kyle.
No, no, no, no.
He would actually be the first to tell you,
I'm really bad at strategizing.
But then secondly,
I'm bad at asking him for
his opinion with strategy.
But like TTT,
if you're familiar with some
of the coaches there,
there are some coaches
there that are so analytical that it...
is so it blows my mind like
down to the every single
detail and Kyle and I are
not like that you know I'm
sure Kyle is like that
maybe with himself or some
other athletes but just
with our relationship we
don't get that nitty-gritty
and I like it it helps me
not get too in my head like
truly if I had a coach I
think that was way too into
the nuances then I would
just forget how to even just
grit and you know push
through a workout mentally
but to be honest I just
love the ones where you
just turn your mind off and
it's like who is willing to
hurt more and because you
can really have a less fit
person with a much better
strategy and they come out
on top and to me that just
frustrating but I get it's
a part of the sport so yeah
yeah so like of the workouts
this in a week you have that
row handstand walk which is
just gas pedal down and
either you have it or you
don't yeah you have you
have the run clean and jerk
do you have the engine to
hold it or not yeah are
those the workouts you like the best
Yeah.
Yeah, they are.
And I mean, and even on those,
you can still at least have
a little strategy, but not overthink it.
Right.
Like you saw Amy Kringle go
touch and go for a majority
of that workout on the
clean and jerks and you know,
the last round she didn't,
but it still came down to who's fitter.
Right.
Like in my opinion, it,
the strategy wasn't really
going to help you win.
It could help.
It could make you lose if you,
if you blow up, cause you're,
trying to go touch and go or
whatever and she she did
amazing in that workout but
those are the ones I like
yeah where it's kind of
like let's just go out
there and and grind and
kind of like the war of
attrition that dave castro
is known for when he
programs the crossfit games
like way back in like you
know 2014 let's just do
murph and see who's not
gonna have a heat stroke
you know yeah yeah well and
you talk about amy kringle
and gabby mcgowan
Right.
Right.
yeah yeah and I mean they
know themselves so well it
could have been that yeah
it was just like that's how
you know in order to pace
the runs going touch and go
on the clean and jerks like
helped her not go go out
too fast you know you never
know what people's strategy
is so I don't want to like
assume but yeah it ended up
being a net zero I think
yeah yeah and both are
going to the game so top two so yeah
Yeah,
but it is fun to watch when you when
you can't watch the run.
That was the frustrating thing, right,
of that broadcast,
because I'd love to watch it.
You only get to see the
weightlifting strategy,
not the running strategy.
Yeah, you're left to just kind of assume.
So I'm assuming you watched Europe.
do you like like I talked to
fee this morning she's like
I had my notebook out I I'm
watching the workouts I'm
taking notes um I talked to
will he's like yeah I'm
looking for data points
I've talked to other
athletes that are like I
can't watch it it just
makes me too anxious really
yeah um I watched it uh and
I definitely like looked at
splits you know what people
were holding on the rower um
and stuff like that.
So I definitely would
probably be more on the analytical side,
like with Fee and Will.
I kind of watch it once for
enjoyment and then secondly for data.
Yeah, that's very much what Fee did.
Yeah.
One time through for fun,
another time with the notebook,
kind of looking for things, tips, tricks,
anything she can find.
But she said by the time you're week three,
like everybody's doing that in her mind.
Right.
And like the thing I've
never understood really about, like,
you know,
some athletes are really
hesitant to share scores
like testing times and
quarterfinals scores and all that.
And while I've had my
moments where I'm kind of
hesitant to show that stuff in my mind,
it's like, all right,
you're as fit as you're.
You're as fit as you are.
Right.
And so if I'm looking at
these girls and all their
split times and stuff, to me,
it's not like threatening
or it's not anxiety
provoking because it's like
that can only help me
further refine the fitness
and the plan that I already have.
But if Laura Horvath is
pulling a one forty five
pace on the row in the handstand walk,
I don't care what strategy I
have or what data points I
take from that workout.
I'm not going to be pulling that.
And so it's kind of just like,
and maybe it's just my personality,
but I'm kind of like, if I,
if someone knows my
quarterfinal score or
someone knows my semifinal testing time,
I mean,
you have to still get significantly.
It's kind of like you can
only improve or utilize
that so much to your
benefit in my opinion.
So.
I am so glad you said that.
So I'm going to hit you with
this line of questioning.
Yeah.
Last year they did this
Taylor versus the world
where Jason Hopper and
Colton Mertens and Dallin
Pepper came to town and
took him on for quarterfinals.
They brought in fee to go up
against someone from crash to do that.
And they got all this exposure.
I've talked to a lot of
female act or athletes who are afraid,
not afraid.
I shouldn't say afraid.
Yeah.
Who want to hold their
scores close to the vest as
you described.
I contend that's the way to
grow the sport by
televising another aspect of the season.
Are you telling me you would
be willing to do that like
live and put it out there?
Yeah, 100%.
I think, like, for example, Lindsay Lane,
she's, you know,
the other girl that competed against Fi.
She did crash in one crash,
and I know her decently well.
And she is an amazing athlete that has not,
I don't think,
individually been to semis.
She's been on a team.
But, like, she deserves, like,
that spotlight...
get her name out there.
She did amazing on the workouts,
like Fi being willing to go
and do that as well and
then compete against each other,
I think is so good for the sport.
It shows a lot of confidence too, I think,
in just themselves being able to say, hey,
like, you know,
I'm going to put it out there.
If you're fit enough to beat it,
like props to you,
you're fit enough to beat it, you know?
And so I think that is the
way to push the sport forward,
get names out there that
people don't know about.
If someone asked me to do
that in a heartbeat,
I would do it.
And I mean,
you can retest workouts if you want,
but I just think that was
so cool that they did that.
Well, and the guys did that, right?
They had the, the,
the attempt that they share,
they shared with the world
and a couple of them redid
some of them just to like
get better placements.
Yeah.
And so you're open to that,
especially on when they
give you six weeks to
finish four workouts or whatever.
Exactly.
Yeah.
But it's, it's,
it becomes like people are
now watching the quarterfinals.
I can guarantee you no one
other than Andrew Hiller
was looking at quarterfinal
videos two years ago, you know?
So it, I just think that's so,
so good for the sport.
We could even do that in the open,
you know, it would be amazing.
It's kind of like getting
you excited for semifinals.
Well, and they did that.
They, you know,
someone came in to take on
Taylor every week for the open,
but I think all of that can
be expanded to,
I'll be just blunt with you.
I'm putting your name down, right?
For next season.
Let's do it.
My only contention is all my
co-hosts are female.
I don't think there's enough
female representation in the media,
in the space.
And I would love to do it
with a group of women who are willing to.
That's cool.
We like that.
And so that's my plan for next season.
And I'm glad you said that
you'd be willing to do that.
So yeah.
Yeah.
And it helps the,
I think the media platform as well too,
because you know,
people want to see
strategies and they look up tip videos,
but nothing really beats
watching someone do it.
So yeah.
Well, and if you watch, if you watch,
and JR's great at what he does and,
and John Young's great at what they do,
but they really focus on
the male side of the sport.
Yeah.
Like that's why I brought on
Carolyn Prevo because she
gives a perspective that is
different and that is more,
more appropriate for people like you.
You don't know what she has
to say about the women's side and,
and is it scaled or is it, are the, the,
is the programming appropriate?
Things like that.
And that's sorry.
I know we're wrapping up on time, too.
But like, that's interesting.
You bring that up, too,
because I hear a lot of commentary.
I like this podcast a lot.
So I listen to them a good bit.
And John Young specifically
and a lot of the guys like
they and they are very
quick to say the girls
weight should be heavier
pretty much every single workout.
While there are some,
I do agree with them.
It's kind of frustrating because I'm like,
okay, you know,
if the girls barbell was
135 for this clean and jerk run event,
like that changes it completely.
Maybe not for like the strongest girls,
but it's like, I just,
it's kind of frustrating hearing,
you know, some people say every single,
single workout, like, oh,
it should be heavy for the girls.
It's not heavy enough, yada, yada, yada.
I'm like, okay, like that's,
try being a girl and doing
that and just see, you know, so,
and I know I'm a biased
athlete cause I'm more of a,
on the aerobic side, but yeah,
I think it'd be good to
have some female represent
representation to,
to push back on that and be like,
that changes the workout completely.
It doesn't have to be one 35
to be effective.
And here's why here only,
they only pay attention to
the top 10 athletes in the space.
Yes.
Yeah.
Laura Horvath,
she can throw around that kind of weight.
Gabby McGowan can throw
around that kind of weight, but,
I've been for three years
now trying to get exposure
for the semifinal athletes 10 through 50.
Yeah.
Right.
That's the only way we grow
the sport is if you know
the players on the field.
Right.
Right.
And so I agree with you.
And Jamie says it all the
time because she is a smaller athlete.
She's 5'1".
She's doing her best to keep up.
But making the barbell
heavier is not an advantage for her.
And sometimes, yes, you should.
But it's like getting all up
in arms about the barbell
being 85 pounds versus 95
for that snatch quarterfinal workout.
It's like...
like for some,
for most people that doesn't
make a big difference, but so like,
let's just keep it at what
it's programmed at and just chill.
But you know, maybe that's just me.
Sometimes it just drives me crazy.
So I'm glad you bring that up.
In the comparison between men and women,
none of that matters.
The men don't prevent you
from taking the podium spot, right?
Right.
Like why does it have to be comparable?
Right.
To get it as close as possible,
but you want the sport to
be fair and equitable for each side.
Yes.
100%.
I think that's a great, yeah.
I love what you're doing too.
I really have appreciated
how you've really tried to
get out everyone else's
name other than just the
top 10 because yeah,
you work really hard and no
one knows who you are sometimes.
And so it can just be really, uh,
it can be mean a lot when
people like you guys want
to get our names out there.
So, yeah, it's funny you say that.
Cause that's what I feel.
I feel like I'm one of you.
Yeah.
right like I'm not the
biggest podcast in the
space I don't get my name
out as much as the others
and I think together we'll
work our butts off to get
there heck yeah everyone
loves it everyone loves a
proverbial underdog even
though we're we're making
it I mean we're making a
name for ourselves but I
guess relatively we could
be a little bit of underdog so
My dog is losing his mind upstairs.
Um, so anyway, the last question,
and I'm sorry, I've kept you so long.
I said, um, your goals for the weekend,
right?
You're coming in in the
highest place you ever have
after quarterfinals, right?
What is your realistic goal
going into semis this weekend?
Um, first and foremost,
I have more support than
I've ever had coming to
watch me this year.
My family's never been to a
CrossFit competition that I've done.
I don't think they even
really know what's going to
hit them when they show up.
I think they kind of think
it's a little local competition.
So for me,
it's going to be the most
important thing is going to be able,
like being able to soak that in,
like taking this as potentially like
It could always be my last
year enjoying the fact that
my family is making the
trip and all my friends are
coming to watch me.
But then secondly,
I am someone who likes to
have a goal like a quantitative goal.
And I would I think top 20
is very realistic for me to say.
But I'd be really happy with
the top 20 finish.
And then I would love to
have some workouts or at
least one workout.
I think I can get one in the top.
So I'm going to be bold and say that,
but there's one that I think I can.
Yeah, I think so too.
And I hope you get that.
Did you get your athlete
packet to see where the
family gets to sit?
So I saw something about
they get to sit at the
finish line or something.
I'm like, I mean,
depending on what heat you're in,
it's going to matter more, but...
So you've been there, right?
In Knoxville at that Coliseum.
And yeah,
right there where I think you're
going to run out for the
loading dock for event one.
I hope so.
As long as it's not TSA line.
Right there is they put
those temporary stands at
the finish line and you
generally like they shuffle
the families in and out per event.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
I'll have to make sure they
know to do that.
Cause they're going to have no idea.
So I actually should read that packet.
That's a really good idea.
Yeah.
And if you have to go down
the flights of stairs to get there and I,
yeah.
And that's what this goes to.
So that's how I know.
Okay.
I'll look out for you too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I made hotel reservations.
I'm hoping that hoping I can
get there next week.
Heck yeah.
I hope, I hope you get to be there.
It's a, I enjoy following,
following it last year when
y'all would interview people.
So.
Yeah.
Well, cool.
Well, this has been awesome.
Denise.
Well, actually,
Corey says never made sense
to me to hide my scores
times from anyone.
You're going to do what you're going to do,
regardless of what I do.
Agreed.
And Denise Moore,
my favorite 65 plus athlete
who is going to the games, says good luck,
Ellie.
Thank you, Denise.
Good luck to you as well.
I'll be watching you in Birmingham.
Yes.
Are you there just as a spectator?
Yeah.
I mean, honestly,
I should look into volunteering.
Um, I think that'd be really cool.
Never been to the CrossFit games.
Um,
and so when I heard the masters is coming,
I'm like, I'm for sure going to go,
but I actually might find
if I could help out in some way.
So hang on one second.
And then what I'll do is I'll say goodbye.
Yeah.
I'll talk to you for a second.
Amy Hill says, good luck,
Ellie cheering for you.
Thank you, Amy.
With that, everybody in the chat,
thank you for being here.
You guys are awesome.
And we'll see everybody next
time on Clydesdale Media Podcast.
Bye, guys.
See you, guys.