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Angela Gargano joins us on the podcast today. Angela has a unique perspective on life and success. Her background includes studying biochemistry, starting her own gym at 22 years old, winning Miss Fitness America in 2016, 6 x Ninja Warrior and now a leading instructor in the field of pull-ups for women. Having suffered a devastating ACL injury which changed the trajectory of her career, Angela was forced to shift her mindset and reassess her identity. Learn insightful lessons around building confidence, overcoming setbacks, establishing your ‘why’, and on the relationship between mindset and identity.
Other key topics discussed include Angela's approach to overcoming challenges, the power of alter egos, turning vulnerability into empowerment, intuitive eating, foundational strength, the role of mindset in achieving peak performance, practical fitness advice and motivational tips, the debate on assisted pull-ups, and much more. '
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AFFILIATES
Other key topics discussed include Angela's approach to overcoming challenges, the power of alter egos, turning vulnerability into empowerment, intuitive eating, foundational strength, the role of mindset in achieving peak performance, practical fitness advice and motivational tips, the debate on assisted pull-ups, and much more. '
*** LINKS***
Check out our Newsletter - Food for Thought - to dramatically improve your health this year!
Join The Meat Mafia community Telegram group for daily conversations to keep up with what’s happening between episodes of the show.
Connect With Angela
Website
YouTube
Connect with Meat Mafia:
Instagram - Meat Mafia
Twitter - Meat Mafia
YouTube - Meat Mafia
Connect with Noble Protein:
Website - Noble Protein
Twitter - Noble Protein
Instagram - Noble Protein
AFFILIATES
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Creators & Guests
What is The Meat Mafia Podcast?
The Meat Mafia Podcast is hosted by @MeatMafiaBrett and @MeatMafiaHarry.
We're two guys who walked away from the typical path to carve out something different. Based in Austin, we’re on a mission to figure out what it takes to live a fulfilled life in a world that often pushes us away from meaning.
We have conversations with people we believe can help us, diving deep into the pillars of health, wealth, and faith, as the cornerstones of our mission.
Whether it's challenging the modern food system, questioning conventional health advice, or building something from the ground up, we're here to explore the tough questions and share the lessons we’ve learned along the way.
If you're tired of the noise and ready to find meaning, tune in and join us!
Angela, what's happening? This has been a long time coming.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I'm really excited to be here.
Speaker 1:We're really excited to have you.
Speaker 3:We've got a fellow New Jerseyan turned Austinite. Love that. We've got that we've got that in common. I think at Barton Springs, you told me that because that was the first time that we had met because you, Harry, and Delaney all knew each other. And then I think I met you one time when we hung out at Barton Springs.
Speaker 3:And I followed your Instagram account. I'm like, alright. And she's the pull up queen too. So it's perfect.
Speaker 4:Now a
Speaker 2:lot of people know that I'm from Jersey because I've been Yeah. So many different places. But then some people will be, like, no. We could tell. Like, you got the Jersey vibe.
Speaker 2:I'm, like, what's the Jersey vibe?
Speaker 1:No. What does that mean?
Speaker 4:Give them a
Speaker 1:little attitude back?
Speaker 2:Well, I guess
Speaker 1:a little bit.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I'm pretty nice.
Speaker 3:You are nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1:I think it's more of, like,
Speaker 3:maybe, like, energy and focus and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:You know, we're drive. That East Coast vibe. Yeah. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. The East Coast vibe stands out a little bit in Austin. I feel like
Speaker 2:Yeah. We hustle it's
Speaker 1:like East Coast edge. Yeah.
Speaker 2:We hustle everyone else here is a little more common. Probably a little slower with things. Yeah. Yeah. Like, they just kinda go with their own pace.
Speaker 2:We're, like, now we gotta get done tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, even at doctor Gabrielle's event and you're the reason why we got connected to doctor Gabrielle, so thank you. It was, like, all New York people there, I think, for the you're, like, these are all my old New York friends.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah. Yeah. She's fantastic. Everyone in there is fantastic. But, yeah, definitely a little bit more of a hustle culture on the east side.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I think that that's why we love Austin so much, I think, because Austin's a little like, for us, we're like, oh, we kinda need to chill
Speaker 1:out a bit. Yeah. There's, like, there's a lot of opportunity to, like, come in
Speaker 2:and make stuff happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah. For sure. What'd you think of, doctor Gabrielle
Speaker 2:Lyon's event? Well, I thought her event was incredible. I think the one of the biggest things from that event is that it was so easy to absorb a lot with the of, like, what they're saying. The doctors coming up and giving all their knowledge. I think so many times, it can get really confusing.
Speaker 2:Like, people don't really understand. Okay. Cool. You're telling us something, but we don't understand the why. Like, why did that happen?
Speaker 2:And I think they just made it so easily digestible. Every single person who went up there, like, I left there already having a ton of things that I could bring back to my clients, which I thought was great Yeah. In a really easy to understand way. Because we can over complicate saying all these things, but getting down to exactly what the root cause is and things that people can do is so important. I think scientists, again, sometimes just a lot of
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:A lot of words. And I'm, like, what what does that mean?
Speaker 1:The word salad.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's the
Speaker 3:thing with events is, like, the quality of speaker is so important, and someone might have, like, be a renowned name and be really smart. But if they don't know how to speak in an easily digestible way, it just becomes really boring. But she did such a good job, I think, of, like, hand selecting guests, not just with health, but also business and wealth as well, which is really cool. And also just the networking component of it. There were so many just awesome people that were there.
Speaker 3:So I feel like it checked all the boxes for an amazing event. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think it was definitely and hands down, I've been to a lot of events. Yeah. I think it was my favorite event that I've been to.
Speaker 1:Unreal. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we need to get into your backstory a little bit. But before we do, I wanted to say, just we have to give a quick shout out to Delaney because I feel like he's the reason why we actually know each other, and then we've since gotten to hang out a bunch.
Speaker 1:But, I wanna say this because Delaney and I would always just, like, be in the gym at the same time and never talk to each other for, like, like, months. And then we finally just, like, talked in the sauna, and he was talking about no talks, his app. And just seeing, like, his progression from that to what he's doing now has been so cool. And he's obviously your your, roommate and boyfriend.
Speaker 2:So Yeah.
Speaker 1:Just love him. He's the man. So
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 4:I think
Speaker 2:that sounds exactly like where you'd meet Delaney. Yeah. I met him at that gym too. Yeah. We were friends.
Speaker 2:We probably didn't talk that much, and then we wanna be dating, like, a year later, but for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah. He's a
Speaker 3:great guy, and he's also coming on the pod. But you beat him on. You've been on the podcast.
Speaker 2:So Oh my god.
Speaker 4:We won't
Speaker 3:we couldn't let
Speaker 1:that happen.
Speaker 2:Competition. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:But we're so pumped for this episode because, you know, we primarily talk about nutrition, which I'm sure we'll get into with you, but you have such an interesting backstory. So 5 time Ninja Warrior.
Speaker 2:Actually, 6. I I don't feel like changing it on all my stuff.
Speaker 1:No. Change
Speaker 2:it. I'm like, that's gonna take a lot. So it's actually 6, but, yeah, I haven't changed it anywhere yet.
Speaker 3:Dang. 5 time Ninja Warrior. Mhmm. 6 time Ninja Warrior. Just screwed that up.
Speaker 3:Were you college collegiate gymnast?
Speaker 2:It's a collegiate gymnast. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:What else? There's so many things.
Speaker 2:3 time cover girl, which is really exciting. I was Miss Fitness America 2000 16, which is a huge accomplishment for me. I was a former gym owner. So, all the different things. And now I do everything online.
Speaker 2:But yeah. A lot of big titles.
Speaker 3:And now pull up coach.
Speaker 2:And now yeah. Now I focus on just helping women get their pull up.
Speaker 1:Well, even before all that too, I I remember some of the things that we've talked to and gone a little bit deeper on is your story from, like, when you're in college to, like, studying medicine. Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, actually, I was a biochemist for, like, 3 years before any of these things happened. I don't really know why I chose biochemistry. I think it was because my parents told me that being a personal trainer wasn't actually a career. So I just had to, like, think of something the next thing that I thought I had some kind of interest in.
Speaker 2:So definitely yeah. So worked as a biochemist, worked at Brown University. That was actually one of my favorite things at Brown University because we were creating compounds to help prostate cancer. So I was literally like cooking. Like, when you see, like, Breaking Bad, like, I was that girl with the goggles, like, cooking with the stuff, making compounds, testing them, and things along those lines.
Speaker 2:And then I was hoping to get my PhD in it. But there was just something in the universe that didn't want that to happen because I took that GRE test over and over again. I was super smart. I had everything, but I could not do well on them. So I applied to all these places, did not get in, and then I got super super frustrated.
Speaker 2:And I was like, I'm just gonna go into large scale pharmaceuticals because you can make bank. I'm like, I'm gonna make money. I'm gonna go to pharmaceuticals. And I was super upset because when I started working in large scale, I just realized, like, how much they don't care about the people. And what I realized is a lot a lot of the reason I got into that was because I did wanna help people.
Speaker 2:Right? At Brown, you're trying to, you know, create this compound to help prostate cancer. So I feel like I really am moving a step forward. Whereas when you're in pharmaceuticals, they're like, let's make it. We're making it.
Speaker 2:Here's like the SOP. This is what you read. And it didn't feel like I was an actual human there. So I yeah. So I went up quitting that and that's when I opened my gym.
Speaker 2:So definitely completely different side of my life
Speaker 4:was
Speaker 2:and when I say pharmaceuticals too, by the way, I was hazmat suited in. So I mean, like, full pharmaceutical hazmat suit working from 7 PM to 7 AM, huge tanks. I'm, like, wrenching the tanks.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 2:My parents are, like, what are you doing? I'm, like, wrenching tanks. I'm, like, I literally am, like, handiest person at the house now between me and Delaney, because I'm like I'm like, I learned that. Learned those skills.
Speaker 3:I didn't realize that you meant I thought you meant pharmaceutical sales. So pharmaceutical. Okay.
Speaker 2:Like, I was making it.
Speaker 3:You're legit.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Earthbag. Right in that. Like, the last day tanks, like, they put me in the tank so small. They're, like, we can put you in there so you can, like, clean it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And, like, that's where they would mix up the drugs.
Speaker 2:Yeah. For us, we were making it was, it was at the place was called Genzyme. We were making make something called Fabrizyme, which is a drug for, Fabrazoside, which is actually disease where I'm saying I'm lisping it, but, where you actually can't sweat, which is a problem. So yeah. So this is compound that we're making for that.
Speaker 3:Wow. Yeah. It's so crazy too even just, like because, obviously, when you connect the dots backwards, everything that happened was meant to happen because it's put you in this amazing amazing situation. But the fact that, like, you can have, like, great grades be so into what you're doing, and then one test determines whether or not you can get your PhD. Like, it's so ridiculous that one variable like that is so impactful.
Speaker 2:It made me feel, like, not smart.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm, like, I don't I feel stupid. I I don't understand. I just this is not the way that I work. But let me tell you, like, hands on making things, had it down. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it was so interesting because working at Brown, there was a lot of people who were really smart, like, book smart, but they could not work with their hands like I did. Interesting. And it was so interesting. They come in, like, you know, with their, you know, chin up, like, I'm all better. And I'm, like, okay, cool.
Speaker 2:Like, let's pipette this. And they, like, can't do it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's interesting. Like, everyone has their own their own, you know, things that are good for them and that work for them. And I was just so frustrated because I'm like, am I stupid? Like, I swear I know a lot. I just can't figure this.
Speaker 2:I get I think it was also just the tests are stupid. I'm like, this is a stupid test.
Speaker 3:It really is.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's more testing for, like, memorization a lot of times than it is for actually being able to be, like, intuitive and learn and relearn and then, like, apply it. Like, I always felt like those tests weren't really testing intelligence.
Speaker 2:No. Definitely not at all. I definitely think that you learn more from, like, doing instead of sitting in the book and studying this test on, like, words and weird math problems.
Speaker 4:I'm like,
Speaker 2:I don't understand.
Speaker 3:So you get out of, pharmaceuticals and then you open up a gym. So you you must be pretty young to be a gym owner. Right?
Speaker 2:Super young.
Speaker 3:How old were you?
Speaker 2:I think I was, like, 22. Wow. That's wild. Ridiculous. And I don't know why I this is this is probably the wrong way to say it.
Speaker 2:In my head, I'm, like, I don't know why. If I look back now, like, why did I open a gym? I definitely had no experience in, like, running a business. But what had happened was I was actually during the pharmaceutical time, I was training for Miss Fitness America. So that was, you know, doing, if you you don't know if Miss Fitness America used to be on ESPN, like, back in the day.
Speaker 2:But basically, I do a gymnastics routine on the stage. We're flipping around. Then you do the posing, like, bodybuilding where you're out in heels, you're showing up your body, and then you do an interview. So it's kinda like it's definitely like Miss America. But, like, you're you're like super fit into fitness and all those different things.
Speaker 2:And that's where I really learned how to actually eat properly. Right? Because as a college athlete, I just worked out, like, 2 times a day doing my gymnastics routines with my coach. And then after that, I had no idea what, like, what how to gym. Definitely.
Speaker 2:I'm like, what's a gym? Yeah. Like, my coach has just been telling me to show, like, we were just doing routines, all those different things. And now you're telling me that I need to go in this gym and I need to, like, work out. I had no idea how to do it.
Speaker 2:So it was a perfect transition to teach me how to, like, eat right, actually go to the gym, like, what that next piece is and keep me going. But as I was doing that, people at the pharmaceutical gym pharmaceutical gym, pharmaceutical, place were just like, you look really good. Like, you're eating really well. Like, how like, how are you doing that? So I started to teach them, how to do it.
Speaker 2:And I've realized that, wow. Like, I'm actually helping more people directly by do just telling them how I'm eating and showing them the things that I'm learning. So what's interesting is I did that, and then I wanted to help more people. So there's gymnastics gym that I was like teaching at. And I decided that I was gonna try and teach the parents of the kids I was coaching, which is interesting.
Speaker 3:That is interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, I would stay after I taught all the kids and the parents would come in and I would teach them, like, workout classes and the gymnastics gym. There's a perfect place to do it, perfect place to start. And I literally started with, like, 0 people. And then I was like, when I quit, I'm like, oh, no.
Speaker 2:Like, I don't know how I mean, how am I gonna make money? Like, nobody's showing up to my classes. And then sticking through it for that same one person for a long time and all of a sudden it was 2 people, 3 people, 4 people. And then all of a sudden I had so many people that the next obvious thing to do is open a gym. Everyone's like, when are you gonna open your gym?
Speaker 2:When are you gonna open your gym? When are you gonna open your gym? So I was like, sure. Let's do it. Let's open a gym because I thought that I was just gonna, you know, be only training people.
Speaker 2:That's the only thing I thought when I was doing that. I didn't had no idea that opening a gym meant you're running a business.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, there's a lot of stuff that goes into running a business besides just, like, training the clients.
Speaker 3:Was it gymnastics style gym? Is that what it was? Or was it kinda like a bodybuilding style gym with weights?
Speaker 2:It was actually more functional training.
Speaker 3:Okay. Cool.
Speaker 2:So you're in there. You've got, like, you know, a lot of the rigs. Very much if if you've ever been I mean, you guys go to squash, very much like squash. Mhmm. Having some, like, ninja things hanging from the ceiling, like, just fun stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But typically, just more of, like, a functional training type center.
Speaker 3:Got it.
Speaker 1:How long did it take you to get the gym from, like, concept and parents being, like, when are you gonna start this gym to actually, like, opening it up?
Speaker 2:Honestly, I think I kind of was forced to do it pretty quickly because as soon as, like, my reach started expanding, I had a lot of people. The woman who I was renting from from the gymnastics gym, she was absolutely amazing. But then she was like she was like, you're making money. You gotta give me more money. And I'm like, so I'm like, I have to figure that out.
Speaker 2:So I really within a couple of months, after I had, like, been running it there, I think for like a year, a year and a half, I just was searching. I asked a lot of people, like, just talk to a lot of people. Hey, do you know anybody with a space? Anyone with a space? And I honestly opened it with, like, nothing in it.
Speaker 2:Like, there was nothing in there. Yeah. Yeah. It was just really wild.
Speaker 1:I love the gym story because it's like I feel like most people get caught up with just having an idea and never actually acting on it, but it sounds like you actually, like, literally didn't think twice about it. We're just like, I'm just gonna get a space.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, I'm a very messy action girl. Like, I don't think about anything. I'm just like, I'm a do it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna do it and, like, figure it out as I go. I think that's what's what's some probably part of my superpower is, honestly, I'm just gonna do it. Yes. And I'm gonna do it super messy, and I'm not gonna have anything figured out. But I'm, like, I know I'm smart enough.
Speaker 2:Like, I'm just gonna make it happen somehow.
Speaker 3:Yes. Messy messy action is a 1000 times more productive than, like, the perfectionist over thinker that ends up doing nothing. Right?
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The person who's just waiting for the perfect opportunity, the perfect moment, the perfect space, having enough money to bring all this stuff in there. I was, like, no. Like, literally, the people came for me. Right? So it's like, I could have an empty room Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we're gonna make it work, and we're gonna have a ton of fun with it. And as I grow, and I just started buying things, like, they're growing with me. They're excited about it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'd be super excited to be like, guess what? We're getting a new piece of equipment. And they're like, yeah. Let's do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's unreal. Yeah. We're oh, go ahead. No.
Speaker 1:Go for it.
Speaker 3:I was gonna say, were you doing, like, the what was the word, like, the Miss America fitness competitions? What were they actually called?
Speaker 2:They were called, fitness. Yeah. They're literally called Miss Fitness America. Okay. F f a p Fitness America pageants.
Speaker 3:And were you doing those while you were running the gym as well?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I was doing those, and that's a lot of what people are looking up to me for too. Because, again, I mean, bodybuilding wise, like, I'm lean. Like Yeah. When I look back at some of my pictures, I'm, like, I'm so freaking lean.
Speaker 2:Really? Just because I'm, like, eating really clean, eating healthy. I'm working out right. So a lot of people would look up to me for that. They would go and watch the broadcast of me competing, which got them really excited to show it for themselves, which is wild.
Speaker 2:I'm like, these people are so excited that I'm doing this, and it's making them wanna work out.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's awesome. Well, it's such a unique thing because you have to be so well rounded.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Especially having to, like, flip on a stage and then all of a sudden pop on heels. I mean, I've never really worn heels before.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I
Speaker 2:was, like, I don't know what I'm doing. This is this is so interesting.
Speaker 1:Do you remember the interview ask or interview questions that they asked you?
Speaker 2:Oh, man. I think one of them was, like, what are you gonna eat after the show? Because, you know, we we are dieting the whole time. Yeah. And we we are trained to answer it, like, really nicely and being, like, oh, well, I don't deprive myself.
Speaker 2:So Yeah. Like, it's fine. In my head, I'm like, I really want, like, a big pizza.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's funny. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:So when you're super lean like that, did you feel really good? Because I know some people with the bodybuilding stuff will be like, yeah. I was super lean. I looked great, but I, like, wasn't getting a lot of saturated fat in my diet. It was a lot of carbs.
Speaker 3:Like, how did you feel like a really low, like, body fat percentage like that?
Speaker 2:I think I I honestly felt really good at first because I was never eating clean like that. I'm from New Jersey, and I ate subs and pizza. So And just basically carbs all the time.
Speaker 3:And bagels.
Speaker 2:And bagels, everything. So I wasn't used to, like, not doing that. So my body, like, started to look really good, and my energy levels actually went up at first when we started. But then, definitely, later on, as I started to do do the last 2 weeks where you're cutting, really had I definitely had a hard time with that. Because you're performing and you're cutting.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So now I'm getting a little light headed sometimes. I didn't know anything really about, like, electrolytes, so I'm like down in the the big gallons of water. Yeah. I'm just peeing everything out. So I'm feeling a little bit light headed.
Speaker 2:So it definitely got to be a lot towards the end of the shows. And then at the end of that, when it's over, not only do you have something called a post show blues where you've now just competed and hit something, but now you're like, I don't know what to do with my food. Like, do I I guess I have to bring it back up slowly, but you're like, screw that. Like, I don't want a pizza. Like, I wanna just go all out for a week.
Speaker 2:So I definitely had a hard time fluctuating from the end of it to shifting into maintenance mode then after that.
Speaker 1:It's so interesting. Like, Nick Bare. Do do you know Nick Bare?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, like, watching his journey this year going into his show, I was like, you look at his blood work and it was, like, this guy was like a shell of a human if you looked at his blood panel, but he looked great. I was like, It's like crushing it, but it just goes to show that getting down to, like, that level of aesthetic and that low of body fat can really mess up your overall health.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You can definitely I think you can definitely do it right. There's definitely ways to do it right. For bodybuilding, it's definitely a whole other world. Like Yeah.
Speaker 2:If you see the way that they put together the meal plan, stuff like that, just way way different of a world to be on. Crazy.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Just so robotic and just measuring all of your food and having every macro tracked to a t.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Definitely. Again and it was super fun at first, though. Like I said, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was absolutely super fun.
Speaker 2:But definitely trying I wish I had more help, like, transitioning after that like, what it looks like to just maintain.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then you also have some, like, body image issues after that. Right? Because you actually might not be, you know, fluffy or fatter or whatever you wanna call it. But you look in the mirror and you saw yourself with a shredded 6 pack Yeah. For, like, weeks.
Speaker 2:And then you're, like, oh, like What happened? Yeah. What happened? But you're actually healthier. Like, you're actually way healthier like that.
Speaker 2:And I think that was, like, definitely interesting. I still have time times too. Like, I'll look in the mirror and I'll be, like, where's my 6 pack? But then I'm like, no. I'm healthier.
Speaker 3:You're gonna feel better.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Exactly.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So you, so how long did you do those competitions for?
Speaker 2:I did those for about three and a half years.
Speaker 3:Nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Straight there. Like, lots of competitions.
Speaker 3:I feel like you're probably really good too. Did you get to did you win any of them?
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I won this fitness America in 2016, so that's, like, the biggest title. And it was that was the pro division. So that was, like, literally the best people in the world. And I think the one thing I really loved about those competitions was the women I got to compete against. It was it was international.
Speaker 2:So I have women from Romania, people from Finland, well, literally the best of the best performing. And you got to know them really really well. I wish it was like a TV show because I'm like Yeah. They all had certain personalities, like, stuff like that. We all were friends, but also we wanna be each other.
Speaker 2:So it was super interesting. And, yeah. I I definitely feel like it was such an amazing world to be a part of when I was a part
Speaker 1:of it. I was gonna say I'm envisioning, like, the Arnold Schwarzenegger videos because there's so many good videos of him, like, behind the scenes, like Yeah. Like, talking trash to the guys that he's training with, who he's also competing against. And it's, like, there's this these layers of, like, the social dynamics of, like, when they're on stage, they hate each other. And, like, part of them when they're training, they're pushing each other and actually, like, very good friends.
Speaker 1:So it's literally that. I would jump into that.
Speaker 2:We're, like, best yeah. We're, like, best friends, but then also, like, the girls kinda knows it's in my routine, so now she's trying to one up me. It's, like, so interesting, like, at the end of the day. But, yeah, at the end of the day, we've all are just really close friends, and we did want everyone to do really well and win. But it yeah.
Speaker 2:It was definitely tough.
Speaker 3:What was the mindset like before you'd go out on stage for, like, the biggest show?
Speaker 2:Yeah. What's interesting is I'm the kind of person who, like, loves to perform.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, I'm a performer. Like, it's I feel great. Like, before I go up, like, that's something, that I really
Speaker 4:I
Speaker 2:don't know. There's just something I've become a different person on that stage, which I think is really, really cool. So I was actually never nervous to go out and perform because I just felt like I belonged on that stage. And I could be whoever I wanted to be. Like, I would become characters.
Speaker 2:Like, I had, the one I won was Jungle Book. The Jungle Book theme, so it was like a little like jungle person. Like, whole if you watch the videos, you're like crazy. There was another one where I was Mad Max. So I had a zombie come on the stage, and I'm like fighting off a zombie and like flipping around her.
Speaker 2:Like, we just you can become this whole other person when you're up there. And even walking in those heels, like, I never think I would have gotten the confidence in myself from I think the most confidence I got was from those fitness competitions. Yeah. So even though it was tough, it's like you're out there on stage performing, walking in heels, showing people your butt on stage. Like, you can do that.
Speaker 2:Like, you can do anything. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Have you carried any lessons with you from those competitions outside of just, like, probably the confidence and self esteem, but any other lessons with you into the other things that you've ended up doing?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I think definitely the confidence for sure, being able to, you know, really perform and stuff for sure. I think that's really been helpful. I think one of the biggest things is that things are gonna take time. I wanted to win that Miss Fitness America since the day 1.
Speaker 2:And it took a lot of stuff going through that. Like, I had a ton of stuff happen through my competitions. I had a I broke my foot one of the years on the stage. I had to keep performing and I was super pissed because I was like, I was so good. I would have gotten a better score.
Speaker 2:What the heck? Why is this happening to me? I'm so mad. I had one where my Mad Max routine where I I felt like I crushed it. And I'm like, this is gonna be it.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna win. My costume malfunctioned and my ass crack was out. So it slid down and I'm, like, performing and I can't get it back up. So I'm, like, still performing. So I got, points taken off because my my crack was out, which is hilarious.
Speaker 2:But also, it's super annoying.
Speaker 3:It's not even in your control. They're gonna take points off for that?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They I mean, I should have had the costume should have stayed up. Exactly.
Speaker 2:I was like, I was working so much on my glutes. I just didn't say. So I think the lesson for that is when I finally did win, it was when I showed up there and it was so much more than winning. I knew it was my last routines. I knew I was gonna, like, retire after I did the one routine.
Speaker 2:And I was like, you know what? It's okay. I feel good. And I'm like just really proud of myself for being here. And I get why I had to go through all those things.
Speaker 2:And then I won.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So it took much longer than I thought it was gonna be.
Speaker 3:It's amazing how that works, isn't it? Mhmm. And you finally just have the right mindset, then you get rewarded with the with the victory. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You're just like you know, like, you know what? I I it's it's okay. It doesn't I'm like, it doesn't it didn't matter what happened. I was like, I'm okay. Where the other ones where I was like, I wanna win.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Right.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I'd have to think too that it is such a superpower that you have now just like everything you went through performing at that level too because it's like, if you can do that, you can public speak. You can coach in front of people. Like, everything is just so easy at that point. And I think about, like, so many people have a fear of public speaking that's greater than dying.
Speaker 3:So if you can just be really good at that, it's a superpower. It really is.
Speaker 2:For sure. If you can become that character, like Yeah. You can literally become whoever you want when you're on this stage. Sometimes people, again, they're fearful of public speaking. I'm like, no.
Speaker 2:Before you get up there, be like, you know what? I'm gonna be I call it, like, the alter ego now.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm like, I'm gonna be my alter ego.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna be whatever I wanna be when I'm up there.
Speaker 3:It's a really powerful mindset shift of actually having that alter ego and embodying the fact that, like, I can choose to just be this confident version of myself that goes out there and crushes it. And so much of good public speaking is just having that, like, presence and charisma and really, like, owning the stage too.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Is there something that you that is, like, in your nature that you feel, like, makes you uniquely able to tap into that? Because it is different. Like, I've heard people talk about the alter ego and, you know, I've know people who have that when they go on stage, and it's incredible to see them, like, perform. But actually being able to tap into that is a totally different thing, and I think a lot of people just struggle to, like, think about themselves in that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I don't really it's like maybe you guys feel the same, but I always felt like I was meant for more no matter what. There's just something that I feel like was, like, inside me always. I was like, I feel like I was always meant to be on stage. I always had, like, this, you know, crazy imaginative mind and all these different things.
Speaker 2:I feel like it was just definitely ingrained in me that that, like, I'm like I know I meant to do something like this. I know I'm gonna perform. Gymnastics probably helped because that was also, like, a huge performance aspect of it. And yeah. I just always felt like when I was younger, I was the girl in in the room imagineering imagining these huge things and being on, you know, being on stages in some other way.
Speaker 2:So I felt like it was always just kind of a part of, like, of what was in me. That's amazing. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:So you had that vision. The other thing that was really interesting is you said that you actually surprisingly wouldn't get nervous before you would go out. And I think that's interesting because I think some of the people that are really good from a mindset perspective, they they're nervous or excited, but they reshape the nervousness as excitement. So they're like, I recognize that I have butterflies or, like, my hands are a little bit sweaty, but it's actually a sign that my body is priming me to perform, and I'm excited. I'm not nervous.
Speaker 3:So I'm curious. Would you get, like, the butterflies? Were you were you rewiring from nervousness to excitement, or were you just, like, ice cold killer? Like, I just feel amazed.
Speaker 2:No. I guess some people
Speaker 3:are like that too.
Speaker 2:Yeah. No. No. Definitely the nervousness to, like, excitement and being able to perform for sure. I yeah.
Speaker 2:I felt it definitely before I went up. I I I can't really yeah. Definitely if you feel, like, the the tingling, like, kind of thing. But then, yeah, you take a deep breath and you're like, no.
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Again, I'm not alter ego right now. I'm I could literally be whatever I wanna be. I'm gonna literally crush the stage. I showed up.
Speaker 2:I did the work. I did the routine over and over and over again. Like, I can do it this one time.
Speaker 3:Definitely. I really I liked what you said too about, like, having this deep seated feeling of just even when you were a kid, just knowing that you were meant for something more. And those moments of performing or public speaking, that nervousness is actually a sign that you're living life in accordance to who you wanna be. I used to think about that when I was younger because I used to get nervous for public speaking. Now I love it.
Speaker 3:And I would actually just say to myself, I'm like, if you don't have this feeling, that's actually a sign that you're not living your life the right way.
Speaker 2:That I you know, I that's that's, like, chills. Like, chills from that. Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like, how many people, like, live their life escaping that feeling? And it's, like, well, it's because you're avoiding that feeling. It's why you're not doing anything remarkable. Like, you have to get out of your comfort zone.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Having something get stirred up inside of you, like, if you've ever worked a job where you feel like you're being, like, tamed, you you don't encounter that those moments
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like, for months where you feel like something is being stirred up inside of you where where you're being pushed. And I think that like, I think all 3 of us can probably attest to this as you go and take steps into the entrepreneurial world. You're feeling that on, like, a regular basis where it's like, oh, I actually literally need to level up or, like, this shit's not gonna work.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. We can definitely talk about that. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So what was the transition like from the pageants to American Ninja Warrior competitions? I imagine it's obviously very different, but some some similarities.
Speaker 2:Definitely different. What was so interesting about it is that I didn't even know what American Ninja Warrior was. I had my one of the women who was, mentoring me, she was gonna try
Speaker 4:out for the show. And then my friend was, like, you should try out for this. Like, you were a
Speaker 2:college gymnast. You were literally I was really good at bars, like, swinging on the bars and stuff like that. But I didn't wanna, like, get in her way, which is interesting. So I didn't I didn't wanna try out because I was like, I don't wanna get in my mentor's way. This is something she wants to do.
Speaker 2:I don't wanna, like, overtake that. And this, this guy who was actually his name is Anne, Anne Barnard, my my friend from Rhode Island. He actually was the first person to take take any pictures of me for, like, modeling, which is really great. He was like, no. You you should do this.
Speaker 2:And I'm like, I don't know. I don't know if I should. And it was that faith and that belief from him that was like, you need to try out for this show and forget that your friend is doing it. You guys can do it together. Like, it's not that, like, she can only win.
Speaker 2:Right? Like, you can both win together
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Which I thought was something interesting. Because I always kinda you know, you think that way with a lot of different things sometimes. You think, well, if they have it, I can't have it too. Yeah. But it's like, actually, you can both have it.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. And you can both like cheer each other on along the way. So he helped me make a video, because he's making audition video to try out for this last minute, because he was just begging me to do it. And I like accidentally got on. I got the call while I was at another fitness competition and it was like an 818 number and I, like, put it to let let it go to, you know, to the inbox.
Speaker 2:I was like, I don't know who this is. And it's like, you've made it to American Ninja Warrior. I was like, I'm like, oh, man. And I'm like, well, when is it? And they're like, in 2 weeks.
Speaker 2:And it's in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3:Wow. And
Speaker 2:I was like, I don't know how to ninja. I don't even know what ninja is. I don't know what's happening. So now I'm like on Facebook at the time, like like, just commenting. Does anyone know how to ninja?
Speaker 2:I'm like in Rhode Island. Yeah. And this guy reached out to me. It was actually like we created an entire course in our backyard. If you wanna come, we'll teach you.
Speaker 2:And it was so nice. Like from that moment, these people, these strangers, I didn't even know. They're like, you're strong. Let's help we'll help you. And I thought it was so cool to, like, learn the salmon ladder, learn all these, like, monkey bar drills and things on those lines.
Speaker 2:And having the support of these people I never met before actually helping me. Because they were like, we just want somebody to get through the course. We don't care who it is. Yeah. We just want you to be able to get through it.
Speaker 2:So what I loved and what the big transition for me for that was, I now didn't have to care about what I looked like anymore.
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Because it wasn't about what you looked like in American Ninja Warrior. It was, can you get through the obstacles? Are you strong enough to do that? And that's where I really shifted my mindset from, I don't need to get smaller anymore. I just need to get stronger.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And that's when I actually started feeling really good. The energy levels were higher. Now I'm eating for performance and like, not the looks at all. And what's wild is I look just as good. Look just as good eating more, training, like, training more for strength and forgetting about all that stuff, forgetting about my weight, forgetting about anything.
Speaker 2:And I thought that was like the biggest piece of ninja why I loved it so much and why I decided to retire from doing the Fitness America competitions.
Speaker 4:I was
Speaker 2:like, I wanna focus on getting strong. I think this is really really cool. A a cool next step for me.
Speaker 1:Was there any overlap, for you between the 2?
Speaker 2:Yeah. They definitely were happening at the same time for a little while for sure. So I'm, like, doing that doing that and Ninja Warrior. But you you
Speaker 1:could feel yourself getting pulled towards the Ninja Warrior stuff just because, like, maybe your your mentality around it was just much more healthy.
Speaker 2:Like Yeah. For sure. And I was just getting super tired from the competitions. I mean, I had done, I mean, so many. Like, I just kept doing I was addicted.
Speaker 2:I was just doing, like, as many shows as I can find. I'm like, I'm gonna do another one. I'm gonna do another one. I'm gonna do another one. So it was definitely was a great next step.
Speaker 2:But again, like, I love those competitions so much. I think it really, like, changed
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Everything for me. I also met my mentor through that. She's the one who literally had faith in me and, right away was like, like, you are meant to do something. And I was like, what? A b?
Speaker 2:And she pushed me to do ninja. And she kept pushing me to do these things that I didn't think was actually, like, that maybe I could do.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So when you started training for ninja, what, like, strengths did you have innately? And what were the biggest things that you needed to work on to actually be able to compete?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I honestly think I was just not strong anything at first. It sounds wild to say that because, yeah, I had I had upper body strength, but it's so different to, like, have upper body strength, like, doing a bicep curl and doing a flip than it is to hang on something and jump from bar to bar. So I really had to learn how to have that upper body endurance, how to get better grip strength. I thought I would have better grip strength than I did.
Speaker 2:I literally could barely hang on to the things they were putting me on to. So I definitely had a lot of growing to do with this with the skills of actually being able to have grip strength and technique stuff. You can be as strong as you want, but if you don't have technique on those ninja obstacles, like, you're not gonna do good.
Speaker 1:Yeah. How great of a feeling was it just getting into something and having that beginner's mind again where you're, like, having to learn this whole new universe of, like, skills and, like, having to apply different, like, strength components and flexibility components? There's something magical about that, like, childlike beginner's mind.
Speaker 2:It was it was fun, but it was also frustrating.
Speaker 4:Because you're
Speaker 2:like, I should be stronger than this. Yeah. But you get, like, addicted to it. It definitely happened to me in gymnastics too. Like, if I couldn't get a skill, I just keep trying it over and over and over and over again.
Speaker 2:So I'll just be addicted to you know, my coach would be like, okay, cool. We're gonna do this little ledge thing. Your goal is just to get halfway. And I barely could get halfway. And then I come in the next week and I get a little further.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I get a little bit further. And then he'd he'd had this extra these people had this extra belief in you that that you can do it when you're frustrated that just makes you wanna, like, keep doing it. So definitely was super exciting because every time I show up and get a little bit stronger, I would get even more excited.
Speaker 3:Yeah. What about, you you said you felt like your relationship with food and nutrition got way better and you were in even better shape doing ninja. What what what kind of dietary changes did you make? Was it, like, more saturated fat? Was it more calories?
Speaker 3:Was it not was it just, like, intuitive eating? What did that kinda look like?
Speaker 2:It definitely was a bit more intuitive intuitive eating and then definitely eating more. I I needed more carbs. When they were taking the carbs out away for away from me, I know people react to carbs differently. For me, my body, like, really needed them. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I was definitely eating more carbs, like, more carbs, more protein, all those different things. And like I said, eating just as looking just as good. Yeah. I also allowed myself to cheat more. Like, it'd be called a cheat day.
Speaker 2:But like, I would be like, you know what? If I want that muffin from Dunkin' Donuts, I'm gonna have it.
Speaker 3:I'm getting that I'm getting that muffin.
Speaker 2:I'm getting that muffin.
Speaker 3:Well, the crazy thing did you know that the the Dunkin' Donuts muffin has, like, 700 calories and a donut has, like, 200 calories? Like, a glazed donut.
Speaker 2:You can see it in the back. Yeah. Like, it's like the oil is, like, leaking all over the back, but you're just, like, it's so good.
Speaker 3:But the people think the muffin is healthier than the donut, though, but they have no idea.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I I'm, yeah. Definitely sure
Speaker 4:that there's it's
Speaker 2:a lot of calories in that for sure.
Speaker 3:But there was no, like, emotional weirdness around food. You were just like, look, I'm training hard. If I wanna have a muffin, I'm gonna have a muffin. I'm not gonna, like, deprive myself of these things that I want. I'm still gonna be in great shape.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Definitely. I definitely, like, wouldn't probably show people as much.
Speaker 4:You know
Speaker 2:what I mean? Like, there would be times where I'd come back. I would do some of these ninja workouts. I, you know, was working at my gym till, like, 8 o'clock at night, and I would go literally drive an hour to a gym to work out at 9 Okay. PM, like, with the people.
Speaker 2:And then on my way back, like, the only thing open was, like, Sonic. So I'd be like, I'm gonna have Sonic. Yeah. But but it honestly, like, I felt good doing that because I was eating really well the majority of the time. And then I I don't know.
Speaker 2:It felt good to just be able to go have a sonic thing once in a while. I think it's important. Deprive yourself. Not deprive yourself. I think eating like, eat eat really clean, you know, give your body all the fuel that it needs.
Speaker 2:And then sometimes, like, doing that once a week feels really good.
Speaker 3:Totally. And Harry and I have said this too. It's like, the average person is eating, like, 14 to 21 meals a week. Right? So if 1 or 2 of those meals is something like sonic and the rest of your meals are really good home cooked meals that are animal protein dominant, like, you're gonna be okay.
Speaker 3:There's just so much weird, like, morality and just emotional behavior around eating that I think makes people, I don't know if they, like, second guess themselves when they're gonna do it, but it's okay if it's, like, 1 or 2 meals out of the week.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I think that, like, that's that's where it gets a little tough sometimes even, like, in Austin. Right?
Speaker 3:Because they've
Speaker 2:got, like, all this stuff and even, like, with your guys with your podcast, like, it's so great. But then people, I think, get, like, worried, like, I can't ever have processed food sometimes. And it's, like, I love that you just said that because I feel like food is, like, com there's so much more that comes with food. And I feel like if you just allow yourself to do that, like you said, as long as you're doing, like, really well the majority of the time and just really making sure you're feeling your body properly, having whatever that is, processing once in a while, honestly, my body feels better.
Speaker 3:Little Pete Terry's every once in a while?
Speaker 2:Little Pete I don't know. I still I I still did not love Pete Terry's. You didn't love Pete Terry's? Yeah. I went to Pete Terry's super excited, and I'm like, I don't really love this burger.
Speaker 3:What did you love about it? You just thought it was overhyped.
Speaker 2:I thought it was no. I just I felt like the burger was, like, peppery. Mhmm. No? I don't know.
Speaker 2:Maybe it's just in my head.
Speaker 3:Any It's pretty crispy burger. What fast food? Alright. What's what's your favorite fast food burger or just fast food?
Speaker 2:Okay. My favorite one for sure is the junior bacon cheeseburger from Wendy's.
Speaker 3:That's a that's a good choice.
Speaker 1:I've I've never had it.
Speaker 3:You never had Wendy's before?
Speaker 1:I've had Wendy's, but I've never had I mean, it was it's been
Speaker 2:That was a college thing.
Speaker 1:It's been a while. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, I haven't had one in a long time from there, because I can just get I can make sure a burger.
Speaker 1:Because your frosties are epic, though.
Speaker 3:Oh, they are epic. It's funny how you said it was a college thing too. Harry and I talk about this a lot. Like, being a collegiate athlete, none of us had any idea how to eat. No.
Speaker 3:We were eating, like, absolute gar like garbage.
Speaker 1:Crazy. But
Speaker 3:they don't even teach you. Like, even like, how do they not have a nutritionist come in and talk to your sports teams and teach you how to eat? Like, sometimes I wonder how much better would my career have been if I knew how to eat the right things.
Speaker 2:I wish they taught me how to eat. I had I was just definitely eating pizza, like, 3. Like Oh, 100%. Like, pizza pizza pizza sandwich, like, and I'm wondering why I'm feeling dehydrated sometimes. I need electrolytes.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Or I was definitely lacking magnesium. I mean, literally, nobody came in to tell me anything.
Speaker 3:No. Yeah. At that age, you
Speaker 1:can get away with so much. And I feel like the coaches are, like, we just need them eating, like, enough. So, like oh, yeah. Like, it I don't know. At that age, it almost it definitely does affect performing performance, but, like, at the same time, you're so young.
Speaker 1:You're so active. Like, it really probably makes, like, a more of a minuscule difference than, like, your average person who's just sitting on a desk.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I really wish that they would have taught us how to eat
Speaker 1:that. That would
Speaker 2:have been, I think, a 100% a game changer for, like, so many different things.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And then you're just binge drinking, like, every Friday Saturday.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah. I mean, the gymnasts and the gymnasts and the wrestlers were, like, best best friends in in college, and it was just, like, yeah, you're just out drinking all the time.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And you imagine what that does to your apparently, an ounce of alcohol sets your recovery back by, like, 4 hours. So I think about gymnasts, like, all the pressure on your joints and the inflammation that's built up, like, drinking probably is the worst thing you could possibly do.
Speaker 2:They actually had a speaker come in and talk about drinking, but we're all, like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Like, we just kinda, like but I remember him saying, like, if you literally drink tonight, you're gonna lose 2 days of practice, like, technically.
Speaker 2:And you're like, yeah. Whatever. Yeah.
Speaker 3:But they're actually right but they're right, though.
Speaker 2:But they're literally a 100% right, which is wild.
Speaker 1:The compounding effect of, like, taking that out of a collegiate athlete's, like, system week to week routine would be ins like, massively helpful for their performance overall.
Speaker 2:Oh, for sure. I definitely feel like, luckily for me, I wasn't a huge drinker. I definitely did, like, go out and drink sometimes, but it never was something that, like, I cared about.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, I still know I still don't really care about it now, like, at all. I didn't care about it when I was away. Like, just never really was something I really wanted to do. So I do it, like, once in a while. I was getting mad at the people who, like, did, you know, ton of drugs and were drinking a ton, and they were crushing.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's crazy.
Speaker 4:I was,
Speaker 2:like, but I'm trying so much harder.
Speaker 3:That's what's hard about sports though. It's, like, you could do everything perfect. Like, baseball is a perfect example. You could do everything perfect. And then as a pitcher, there could be, like, some fat Dominican kid that just throws 95 miles an hour.
Speaker 3:He's just got, like, a god given arm, and you can't do any you can't do anything about it.
Speaker 2:You're just like, this is not fair at all. Yes. But yeah.
Speaker 1:You're putting in all the reps, like, after practice, trying to do like, work on it every single day. Still can't hit 95.
Speaker 3:No. But I think that's why people what that's why health and wellness and fitness is amazing because, like, it's just a very fair pursuit where if someone does your pull up program and they stick to it, anyone can go from doing, like, 0 pull ups to being able to do a great number of pull ups. Right? Because you just put the work in and the body responds to it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Absolutely. For sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So Ninja Warrior, what were you like competition number 1 versus competition number 6? Was it, like, 2 different people?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I feel like it was like this. On my competitions, the first one just, like, had no idea what I was doing. I just haven't I just had a great time. I competed at, like, 2 in the morning.
Speaker 2:And yeah. Just really didn't know any idea what any of this stuff was. Then I got more strategic. I'm, like, oh, these obstacles are always an agility. They're always, there's always some kinda leche.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 4:So you
Speaker 2:get, like, a little bit more smart on, like, exactly what you need to be training. Because you don't you don't know what the obstacles are until you get there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But they're all kind of, like, the same kind of things. So as long as you can train specific things, you should be fine.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Speaker 2:So then I got a lot smarter with training. And like I said, started training the agility. People were setting up obstacles similar to something they saw. Got really good at like, lacheying, better grip strength, all those different things. And then I definitely started getting better and better and better, and definitely wound up hitting my peak.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But then, like, the last couple seasons, it's, like, definitely wasn't hitting wasn't doing as well. But I also wasn't training as much as I used to. Like, I wasn't going into those ninja gyms as much as I I just didn't have as much time.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Did you tear ACL too?
Speaker 2:I did. Yeah. So I actually on season 7 so I I got on the show 1 year, and then I got rejected for 2 years, which is super hard to to bear with because you're, like, why am I getting rejected? Like Yeah. You wanted me one time, but, like, you don't want me now.
Speaker 2:And then I got back on the show and, crushed the course, like, was gonna be a top female. Super wild. Like Yeah. I was blown away. I put all the training in.
Speaker 2:I put all the work. I'm looking at my coach. I'm like, I got this. And I had to complete compete one complete one more obstacle to be a top female. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So I complete the obstacle. And I'm like but when I landed, it blew my ACL out.
Speaker 1:So you had just become the top female?
Speaker 2:Top female and then blew my ACL out, like, on the course. I couldn't finish the rest of it. So they had to carry me
Speaker 4:off
Speaker 1:Dang.
Speaker 2:Which is awful. So that was a point in my life where everything was going super well for me too. The gym was running pretty smoothly. I got on a cover of Woman's Health Magazine randomly, which is super cool. Wow.
Speaker 2:And then that and then, back on Ninja. And then I tear my ACL and I'm like, wait a second. Like, so that's when a lot of stuff started going, not downhill, but I was just so upset because I felt like my identity was placed on all these things that I had. And then all of a sudden, in one second, like, it was all gone. So it was, like, all of a sudden, I can't walk anymore.
Speaker 2:I can't do those modeling things anymore. Like, who am I if I can't ninja? Like, it just it just felt like it was a huge it was a growth opportunity, but it was definitely a really down moment in my life for sure.
Speaker 3:How did you find those growth opportunities in the face of that injury?
Speaker 2:I think you don't really know it's a growth opportunity till after. After. Yeah. Because, like, during it, it's it sucks. Like, during it, it's definitely, like, it was a whole, like, why me phase.
Speaker 2:I never thought that I was gonna be able to get back to it. At at one point, I'd say this in a lot of my talks but like, I didn't wanna live anymore because I just didn't feel like yeah. I would show up to the gym to help my clients still and like have my whole brace on and stuff like that. And then I went, I'd go home, I'd be a mess. Like, I would just be hiding it because I didn't want them to see that I was struggling.
Speaker 2:And, I think there's just so much I learned from those opportunities. Like, the people who are, like, really close to you, they're gonna know something's wrong. So they, like, came and they're, like, hey, I see that you've been stuck here for, like, a while now. Like, what's happening? And they're, like, it's okay.
Speaker 2:Like, you can feel all this stuff. Feel the suck. You need to feel it. You can't just be, like, I'm strong and I can't feel it. Like, feel it.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Feel everything you need to feel, but then don't get stuck is what she had told me, which was a game changer, like, mindset switch.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And she was like, what can you focus on that you can do right now versus what you can't do? And that was a huge piece is my identity was tied so much to athletics and sports and all these big achievements I was doing. Right? Ninja, opening the gym, but, like, what was I without all those things? Yeah.
Speaker 2:I didn't feel like I was much. So it was a great opportunity for me to dive deeper into what was I without all those things.
Speaker 1:Yes. So how did you actually go about kinda reestablishing your identity after that injury?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I had to do a lot of, like, that mental work, a lot of the stuff that I was, like, this is so dumb, like, started meditating.
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Right? Sitting with myself a little bit more, writing out my gratitude, writing out on a piece of paper how I was actually feeling without being scared. Like, when I was writing, like, I don't think I wanna live anymore. Like, it actually felt better for me to put it on the piece of paper and then be like, wait, is that true? Like, do I actually not want it?
Speaker 2:No. That's that can't be true. Like, there's so many other things that I'm I'm good at. So sitting down and actually sitting myself, meditating, journaling, taking the opportunity when I couldn't actually use my leg to work on my mindset, which is something I clearly was just avoiding. I was just avoiding working on any kind of mindset type things.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's hard to confront that stuff, and then the injury forces you to confront it. And I appreciate you sharing, being vulnerable, being willing to share how, like, at that period of time, you didn't have, like, this this desire or this will to live. And I think a person that doesn't understand you might be, like, come on. That's, like, seems a little bit extreme.
Speaker 3:But when your identity is so tied to these things that you've been doing for a while and then that's ripped out from under your feet, you don't really know what to do with yourself.
Speaker 2:You don't know who you are. Like, what, like Yeah. What am I since it was so to only that, will people only love me if I have that? Mhmm. I know that
Speaker 4:sounds
Speaker 2:so wild, but
Speaker 4:you need to learn to love yourself without all those different things. Yeah. And I think that was
Speaker 2:definitely the growth opportunity that I had to learn through that. And I was able to turn it around. I started focusing on things that I could control Mhmm. Which is, hey, you know what? Maybe I didn't like, I tore my ACL because, I didn't have a strong core.
Speaker 2:I was focusing on super explosive ninja y things, but I wasn't going to the foundational pieces. Right? I was forgetting about, you know, simple movements like a dead bug or like stuff like that. I I didn't have a strong foundation. I was just only doing the big big thing.
Speaker 2:So it allowed me the opportunity to go back and focus on that. And then I started filming that journey. So I had, like, my my brace on. I'd go up and I'd show people, I'm just gonna work on what I can work on right now. And I was honestly just posting it for myself.
Speaker 2:This is before Instagram was like super crazy big. I don't really know what Instagram what was gonna turn into. So I just started posting those things and it's just they started going viral. It was just people being like, thank you so much for sharing this because because you got up with your leg and you're doing stuff that, you know, working what you can work on. It got me up.
Speaker 2:And that's when I started to click right there once I posted those things. Again, I was just posting it for myself to keep myself going. I was like, this is a bigger opportunity here.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Like, if I can get through this now that these people are messaging me, maybe they can get through what they need. So I realized that I had a way bigger purpose. Mhmm. That was more than just me winning a competition and all those flashy names that I had. It was so much bigger than I had ever thought.
Speaker 1:It's really an interesting insight into coaching and being able to help build. Where, like, I remember my high school football coach was the type of guy who would actually run the sprints with you. And there's this almost like power dynamic where a lot of coaches hold themselves above the people that they're teaching. But you as someone who's just being vulnerable and sharing, hey, I'm, like, on my ass right now trying to just, like, get healthy again, probably drew so many people into your world where it's like, wow, this person's actually relatable. Like, I can actually learn a lot from her, but also, like, you know, be kind of like a peer in some ways.
Speaker 1:Like, this is actually helping me get better or, you know, take the first step, which for a lot of people is the hardest step to take.
Speaker 2:The first step is a 100% the hardest step to take. And, yeah, I definitely feel like that really helps me relate to my clients right now. Because I always tell them if the beginning of any workshop I do, I'm like, let me just tell you a little bit about me right now. Because you're gonna look at all those big things that I did and you're gonna think that, like, she just has it all and, like Yeah. She just got it right away.
Speaker 2:And I'm, like, that is not the case. Like, that is not what happened. I had to go through a ton through these things and learn a lot as I was doing them.
Speaker 3:And that's why you're saying that is so important. Because I could imagine if I was a a woman that couldn't do one pull up, look at your Instagram at first glance, I'd be, like, it's hard to relate to her. That's why your story is so important. Because you're, like, I know what it feels like to, like, you know, blow up my ACL, not really have this will to live, be, like, the lowest of the low, and here are the things that I did to kinda pull myself out of that. And, also, with social media content creation, it feels so good to just create something, not to just, like, selfishly push a goal forward, but actually to help people too.
Speaker 3:I I forget who we were talking to. We were just talking about this the other day. We were talking to someone who is prone to getting depressed, and he said that whenever he feels that feeling of anxiety or depression, he just goes out and just does something nice for someone. And I feel like that's kind of what you're reminding me of right now of, like, when you're just creating to try and help other people, it feels amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Once it starts to click like that, like, if I keep going and help somebody else keep going, it everything is completely different.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It just it goes from, like, being feelings, like, selfish, I guess, in a way to, like, it no. It's like to to that's not like that anymore. And, yeah, I'm gonna I have a bigger purpose and a bigger why.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it really then comes down to your why. Right? Because a lot of times, when you were younger, we don't really have a why yet. We don't really know what that is. So when you have a really deep why and a deep purpose, it doesn't matter what happens.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Did you have any reservations about posting content when you first started posting stuff?
Speaker 2:Oh my god. Yeah. I definitely did. I I had no idea. Again, Instagram wasn't like like that yet.
Speaker 2:I didn't really understand, like, what Instagram was. And I didn't really know if people wanted to see, I don't know, me going through this hard ass time. You know what I mean? Me sitting there I have videos. We go on my highlights.
Speaker 2:You see me, like, crying during my thing. And I but I I just took them through the journey with me. I was like, I'm gonna be honest. Like, this freaking sucks. I woke up in the worst pain.
Speaker 2:I literally could not walk to the bathroom. Yeah. Like, I couldn't get to the bathroom. I had to crawl on the floor. Like, it's like those things that, you know, I was a little nervous.
Speaker 2:It's like, what's oversharing? And I wanna, like, overshare do too much. But I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna share just my journey because I feel like that's the that's the one thing that I feel like I can, you know, get bring to the world right now.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I think if you, like, meditate on it or, like, use your gut instinct, you typically know what's oversharing versus what's not oversharing, and you just lead with that instinct too.
Speaker 2:Yeah. For sure.
Speaker 3:So I guess in some ways, the ACL led to you, like, getting building this whole platform and this pull up offering and everything. Right?
Speaker 2:It was it was so funny because my coach one time had told me it's a blessing in disguise. And at that moment, I was like, shut up.
Speaker 3:Shut up.
Speaker 2:I'm like, this is not a blessing in disguise. When you see this, like, oh my god. A 100% a blessing in disguise, because, yeah, it definitely led me to these next things. When I tore my ACL, a lot of things, and when I started doing my meditation and and journaling more and and all those different things, I started realizing that, like, I didn't wanna own
Speaker 3:a gym.
Speaker 2:Like, I'd opened the gym because I thought that what I was supposed to do. But that's not what I wanted. I felt like the same way I felt when I was doing the pharmaceutical stuff. I'm, like, right back to square 1. So Exact gave me the courage to then say, I'm shutting down the gym
Speaker 1:Wow. Which
Speaker 2:is wild. So during that time, shut down the gym. I thought I was gonna disappoint so many people. But if anything, those people at my gym were so great. They were like, no.
Speaker 2:We support you in whatever it is that you wanna do. And I was like, oh my god. Thank you.
Speaker 3:What year was this, by the way, that you shut down?
Speaker 2:I shut down my gym. I'm I'm so bad with years. I need to, like, go back and do, like, a timeline, and this, like, happened on my phone.
Speaker 3:Was it pre COVID?
Speaker 2:It was pre COVID. Yeah. Pre COVID. So I shut it down, and I had nothing. I had no money.
Speaker 2:$0. I mean, I made no money off the gym. Mhmm. And I moved into my dad's basement in New Jersey.
Speaker 1:Wow. Dang.
Speaker 2:And we're back at square 1. But now, I was like I was on a mission. I was like, I'm gonna get my leg really better. I'm gonna come back for my next season. I'm gonna crush it.
Speaker 2:I just was like, I'm on like, I'm gonna do this. And I was commuting into New York City to train with the best people. I wanted to learn from the best. I knew that I was meant for more, like we had talked about. And I'm like, you know where the more is and that the really the people who are really, you know, learning from each other and doing the next big thing?
Speaker 2:New York City. So I went to New York City at $0, and I was just going to classes and meeting people. That's all I was doing. I was, like, working out, working on my leg. I had a, physical therapist who became, like, my best friend in the city.
Speaker 2:And that's literally all I did for, like, an entire year.
Speaker 1:Wow. It seems like that whole like, the whole arc of your story was just you laying these, like, foundational bricks to then have this reset that gave you the focus to go all in and, like, see what you could really make of the the whole Ninja Warrior experience, which I think is rare. Like, for a lot of people, they kind of, like, can get, like, half in half out on certain things. And for you to, like, actually sell the gym and be like, I'm going all in on this is unique. And, like, being able to actually spend that time to, like, develop a certain level of mastery around it was probably pretty refreshing, I would imagine.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And honestly, I felt so good, like, not have the gym or anything and just be, like, I'm gonna just focus on this. And at the time too, in between, I bought the last the last dollars I had. I bought a course on how to be an online coach.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Because I just wanted to learn about it. So it's like I have the extra time now clearly because I'm gonna be I have no money, no job, nothing. I'm like, I'm just gonna just learn from the best while I can. I had this extra opportunity to like live somewhere for free at my in my dad's basement. I was like, alright.
Speaker 2:Let's do it.
Speaker 1:Is there a better feeling than fully being able to feel like you're just, like, fully committing to that one thing?
Speaker 2:Yeah. It felt really good to just be doing what I knew that I want like, when I was sitting in the gym just always dreaming of doing. It just felt really good to actually, like, take the leap and actually go on there.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I bet you look back on that year in dad's basement really fondly too.
Speaker 2:Oh my god. Yeah. I mean, it was definitely a wild wild time. There's definitely some personal stuff happening along there, but I I won't share that at the same exact time, with my with my dad. But, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, definitely learned a lot. And, yeah, I just I really did enjoy that time, you know. Yeah. I was just I had no schedule. I was just going to classes and just meeting as many people as I can meet.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's all I was doing.
Speaker 1:I don't know
Speaker 3:if you, know Steven Pressfield. He wrote this book called Turning Pro, and he talks about this concept of, like, having a turning pro year where you go from amateur to professional. That sounds like that was kind of your turning pro year in a lot of ways. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I was like, if I wanna be like these people, I need to be in their room.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'm gonna get in their room.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Like, I and I wasn't doing it to get in the room to, like, get anything from them.
Speaker 4:I was
Speaker 2:like, I'm just gonna be in the room with them. That's all I wanted to do.
Speaker 1:Yes. Were there any, were there any coaches or people that you were training with that had a particular impact on you during that year?
Speaker 2:Oh, wow. I mean, I met so many people while I was there and so many great people that I know now that were at Gabrielle Lyon's event. Right? That were, at different pieces. So, yeah, I met a ton of different coaches.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to think if there's, like, one main one. There were I feel like there wasn't. There's just so many. There's just so many people that I met. One of the biggest relationships I met though is, with Liz Plosser, who she's the editor in chief of, Women's Health Magazine.
Speaker 2:And I met her because they you know, I was working at a really high end gym for free, so that I could just, you know, be again, be around these amazing people. And they asked me to, you know, teach a woman's health event. And I met Liz there and she was actually the reason why I started my pull up program.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Because she came to me with same thing. Like, so many people had come to me before. Angela, I just wanna get my pull up. Can I get it in, like, 14 days? I have a shoot for it.
Speaker 2:And I was like, let's do it. Let's make it happen. And just I loved her dedication, everything. And she she gave me, like, extra faith in myself, for my expertise. She really fully trusted me.
Speaker 2:And to have somebody like her who's so incredible, like, trust me, I feel like she gave me this, like, extra confidence.
Speaker 3:That's amazing. So how did pull ups become your niche and your thing?
Speaker 2:So it literally came from, again, people women just kept saying when they'd see me, oh, man. I just wanna be able to do one pull up. Like, you're a ninja warrior. Like, it's so cool. I just wanna be able to do one pull up.
Speaker 2:And then what I realized was when I was teaching them, is that they had all these, like, limiting beliefs and things ingrained from them from when they were younger. Like, I'm never gonna be able to do this. I'm not strong enough. I am too heavy. All these different things.
Speaker 2:But it was they're like, this is a goal that I've had for a long time. It's like was always in the back of their mind. Like, if you ask anybody and even people, like, listen to this podcast right now, you're probably like, shit. That's me. Like, I've always wanted to know.
Speaker 2:Like, women are like, I wanna pull up. Like, that's what they want. But they don't feel like it's actually possible for them. Yeah. So as I was teaching them, not only was I seeing this, like, extra confidence start to come out from them, like, they'd get a little bit stronger each week and they'd start to see that it was possible.
Speaker 2:And then when they finally got it, it just opened up so much for them. It was like a gateway. So I saw that emotion and I felt that emotion and I was like, this is what I meant to do. I I feel like there was nobody else out there doing it. There still isn't.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of male figures trying to teach you, but they don't teach it the way a woman needs to hear it.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So I felt like I was like, there's something about this, especially even after Liz. I was like, this feels like this is what I need to do because it's more than the pull up.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:And that's why I wanted to do it. And I wanted them to get through a lot of the humps that I got through with my ACL. Right? It's the same thing. If they can get through that, they can get through anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah. The there's something around, like, just a single pull up and a single mile that once you break through some of those thresholds, your whole mind is, like Yeah. Now expansive.
Speaker 2:Feel like, what else can I do?
Speaker 4:I can
Speaker 1:do so much more.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Like, I maybe I can go swing swing a kettlebell now. Maybe I can go try so it's great. I'm like, I feel like I am the gateway for them to get started on whatever it is they wanna get started with
Speaker 3:this. Yeah. Yeah. There's all these different gateways too and, like, a single catalyst. Like, for some people, like, I think for me, it was getting my nutrition under control and just eating carnivore for 2 weeks.
Speaker 3:That changed everything, and you become a different person a couple years later. For some people, it's the first pull up. For other people, it's something else. And, like, there's all these different niches that you can lean into. And for you, it's like you're teaching women how to do pull ups, but they transform as women and and people by the end of that process, which is so cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I feel like that's why I stuck to it. It really is that piece.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, it's cool that I can get your pull up, but that's not the whole point.
Speaker 3:It's so much more than that.
Speaker 2:It's more than that.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Well, even it being very focused around women too, like, I don't see a whole lot of women just, like, going up to the pull up bar and, like, doing pull ups. And it is probably because it's, like, kinda like male men are physiologically very different, more, like, upper body focused, like, more upper body strength, like, more of our weight is above the belt. And it's, like, interesting to actually even see, like, a rare to see a woman, like, going up to a pole bar and doing pull ups.
Speaker 2:It's intimidating. They, like, go to the gym and they're, like, I don't want them to, like, look at me Yeah. And think that I can't do this or they're shaking their you can see them shake their head before they do it. I can see it all the time. But, yeah, a 100%.
Speaker 2:I feel like for men, it's obviously a lot easier because you definitely are more up you have a lot of upper body strength. It's so funny because I always think, like, guys skip leg day
Speaker 4:and I
Speaker 2:always do upper body. And then women skip upper body day.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And they only do lower body.
Speaker 1:It's almost like there's guy workouts and girl workouts,
Speaker 2:which Yeah.
Speaker 1:Makes some sense.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. But at
Speaker 1:the same time, like, there should be some crossover, especially with some of these, like, calisthenics movements.
Speaker 2:Like Yeah.
Speaker 1:Doing work is great.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And that's something what happens is women are, like, more strong and like, they're stronger in their legs, typically, because obviously, birth and, like, all the, you know, like, kinda life. You gotta give birth and all that stuff. So their their legs are a lot, you know people put a lot of focus on their legs for that reason. So upper body definitely can be a bit tougher for them to achieve.
Speaker 2:So it's a different approach that they needed to it. And I think that sometimes, you know, again, guys will just, like, just hop on the bar and try it. Like Yeah. That is not what's gonna what's not what's gonna work. Yeah.
Speaker 2:We break down in my pull up program. We break down it into an easier, more manageable way, and we're gonna really teach you how to get those muscles to be working because you're not really using them in your everyday life.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And we do not do assisted pull up bands. Right? That's a cardinal sin.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it's so wild. I I always say this on on my thing, but I feel like people they always see, like, the most extreme piece of it. But, like, there are there are good tool. Like, they are a tool that you can utilize.
Speaker 2:But what you see all the time is they get very reliant on the band. Right? You'll be able to do a ton on the assisted band. You get rid of it. You still can't do it.
Speaker 2:And you're like, what the hell? Like, I don't understand, like, why I still can't do it. And that's because the band helps you with the hardest part, which is the bottom. Right? It's like flinging you up.
Speaker 2:Like, if you take your hair my hair tie and I literally just, like, go like this, it's flinging you up at the bottom. That's where you're stuck. So you hop off and it makes sense that you can't do the half last bottom piece. So why my program works is we focus on the bottom.
Speaker 4:Mhmm. So
Speaker 2:let's focus on the bottom piece. You probably already have the the rest of it, like, honestly. And then we also focus obviously on your mindset. Because I've had women who are a 100% strong enough. They have all the drills, but they do not think they can do it.
Speaker 2:So you're not gonna do
Speaker 3:it. Wow.
Speaker 2:So we have to really focus on shifting those mindsets, all the all the beliefs that you might have around this skill that it's not possible for you, how can we get you to show up as your alter ego
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:At the bar and say, I can I can do this?
Speaker 3:Do we like the assisted pull up machine or is that as bad as the bar?
Speaker 2:It's the same. I feel like it can definitely again, I think there's a great it's a great tool and we do utilize them still in the program, but we show them how to really use them properly. But if you're only doing that, like, it's gonna be very hard for you to get
Speaker 4:it.
Speaker 3:Got it.
Speaker 2:Some people will. Right? Some guys are like, I just did a couple and I took the band out. Okay. Good for you.
Speaker 2:Like, great. That doesn't really happen with most people.
Speaker 1:Yeah. What about negative pull ups? Are you pro negative pull ups?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, I love so the other the other issue online right now is I love those other drills, but they're super intimidating. Like, put a beginner on a bar and tell them go do a negative pull up. They're They're gonna drop they drop to the floor.
Speaker 3:Like, you
Speaker 2:go up there, like, just hold yourself up there. They don't know they don't know how to hold tension on the bar yet. Right? So they jump up and they just fall down. And they're like, oh, well, screw this.
Speaker 2:I don't wanna do it. So I really make sure we teach it in a more approachable way. Like, here, we're gonna break down how you can do that negative pull up, but we're gonna do a little bit of assistance first. We're gonna build you up to it so that you are more confident. So again, great great drills, but I just feel like it's just definitely super intimidating when a beginner hops up and tries that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Is phase 1 just working on, like, hanging in grip strength before you do anything?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, I always tell people, like, you can get started on your pull up if you don't have any upper body strength.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You don't need to keep waiting for you to be lighter too. People are like, I'm gonna wait until I'm lighter. It's gonna be easier. That's not true, like, at all. And you don't need to wait till you have upper body strength or the perfect body.
Speaker 2:You can literally start working on it, like, right now. Like, you can start working on it right now, for sure. Starting with, like, different hangs. There's mobility drills you can do, stability drills, a ton of stuff off the bar that you can do in order to start and lead towards that goal of getting your pull up.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. There's something about body weight movements that I feel like it has some level of, like, rewiring your your brain and your nervous system. Like, I recently really got into just trying to do, like, a handstand, which for me is, like, a massive deal. Like, a lot a lot of weight moving around to do a handstand. So, like, when I got when I started getting comfortable with it, I noticed that, like, my brain was firing at a different level.
Speaker 1:So to see people make that switch of, like, being able to actually move their body weight, you know, the 24 inches up to the top of the bar is probably, like, a huge unlock.
Speaker 2:Oh, for sure. Especially for your brain. So it's another thing we talk about in my program is the central nervous system. Right? So I don't know if you talk about this ever in your show but the central nervous system is basically your brain connecting to whatever it is that you're doing right now.
Speaker 2:So I always joke around because I'm Italian. I'm like, my brain is going to my hands. Yeah. You know, like, it knows how to do this because I do this I do this all the time. But we don't pull a lot in our everyday life.
Speaker 2:Like, are we pulling anything? Not really. We're typically everyday, we're pushing things. We're like carrying things, whatever. But we're not pulling anything down.
Speaker 2:So that connection in our brain is not there.
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Right? It our brain, like, you're looking at your lot and then they're like, what?
Speaker 4:Like Yeah.
Speaker 2:Your brain's like, excuse me, could you pull me? And it's like, what are you? Yeah. What do you want me to do? I don't get so it needs to, like, create that pathway just like your stuff with your handstand.
Speaker 2:Right? You're not just, like, upside down every day. Right?
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So creating that pathway is another thing that we really make sure we focus on with a bunch of drills because, yeah, you just don't do it in your everyday life. So how can we actually use science to get it to fire up and work? Because have you seen, like, really strong people and not be able to pull up? Like, I have.
Speaker 3:Oh. All the time. Especially guys too.
Speaker 2:Yeah. All the time. You're like, why can't they do it? They're strong. It's because they don't have the connection yet.
Speaker 3:Interesting.
Speaker 1:What's also interesting too is I've noticed that, like, I I worked up to do, like, an l set to a handstand, and I would take, like, like, a months off from training it. And then once I had developed it once, that pathway was open and I could, like, pretty easily just get right back into it.
Speaker 2:Oh, for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Shows that it's not necessarily a strength issue. It's just that pathway being open to begin with.
Speaker 2:As soon as you open up the pathway, it's once you get one pull up too, I'm, like, you can get, like, 3. Yeah. Yeah. Like, they come in like, they come into my program wanting 1 pull up. They leave it, like, 3.
Speaker 2:They're, like, wow. This is wild. I'm, like, I told you.
Speaker 3:Yeah. There's definitely that pathway too of, like, a true, like, strict pull up where you're not cheating at all. Like, the actual motion of being fully at the ground and then pulling yourself all the way up. I feel like for a lot of people, they don't know I don't know. They it's yeah.
Speaker 3:You have to, I guess, get that pathway and that feeling. And then once you do it once, you can do it multiple times.
Speaker 2:Oh, start somewhere. You gotta stop
Speaker 4:making the excuses
Speaker 2:of the again, I'm too heavy. I'm too old.
Speaker 4:Like, I'm not enough.
Speaker 2:Like, whatever. Like, you just gotta you gotta start.
Speaker 3:You gotta do something.
Speaker 2:What sort of breakthroughs have you seen people make
Speaker 1:after the pull up outside of kind of, like, gym stuff?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, I was telling you to you guys before I we did this show, there's just some some amazing things happening in the community right now that it just blows my mind. I had this one woman who's 61 or 63 years old in the program. I I mean, the oldest was 79, by the
Speaker 3:way. What? Yeah.
Speaker 4:I mean,
Speaker 2:I love That's
Speaker 1:so And I
Speaker 2:I literally loved them. Like, I just I, like, wanna hang out with them all the time, literally. But she had written, I just wanna let you know my goal in December was to, be able to sit like, if I'm sitting on the floor or on the floor, be able to get up and stand up. Because for most women or most a lot of people, when you get older, you can't do that.
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And that's like longevity stuff. That's like, I, like, I need to be able to get up off the floor if I fall or something happens. Right? And she was like, I just wanna let you know. She started in December.
Speaker 2:It's February right now. We're doing this podcast. She's like, I'm able to get up off the floor now.
Speaker 4:Dang.
Speaker 2:This has nothing to do with the pull up. Like, 0 to do with the pull up, but she can now get up off the floor, which is now gonna help her have a way higher quality life.
Speaker 4:This is
Speaker 2:a woman who had a hip replacement. And if you know the study is on, like, hip replacements and stuff like that, when you get older, if you have a fatal fall, if you have a hip replacement, a lot of people, I think it's, like, what is it, 70%? There's a there's a, 70% chance that you're, like, literally not gonna live for the
Speaker 4:next year.
Speaker 3:That's insane.
Speaker 2:Which is absolutely absurd and and wild. Right? Because you would never think that would be something. But now that she's moving now, she's working on her pull up, she's working on those things, she's able to get up off the floor. That means we probably extended her life by a couple years or more than that, which is mind blowing to me.
Speaker 2:So that for me lately has been, like I mean, I was really crying when I read that. Yeah. It was like a like a massive breakthrough.
Speaker 3:Because, again, it's so much more than pull ups. This is legitimately, like, life changing practices.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:What percentage of your clients would you say are older versus younger? Is it primarily older?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I'd say 40 plus, most of them.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I try that's literally who I cater to when I'm speaking, online. I'm speaking to those women. Like, I want those women to come in. We definitely have younger, women who come through and they they crush it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But I really like to speak to those older women because I know they're at a place in their journey where they're over weight loss, they're overall stuff. People want to everyone's talking about living longer doing these things now. And the pull up is a great first step in that. Right?
Speaker 2:We're gonna increase your grip strength. We're going to help you get more confident. There's a lot of things that's gonna come hand in hand with them getting their pull ups, so I really focus on those women.
Speaker 1:I love, I love goals that have very unintended consequences. Like and I feel like doing one pull up for a lady who's, like, maybe in her forties can have so many downstream effects, whether it's just, like, confidence, reframe, like, a fresh start, wants to change the job, and now is able to, like, feel like they can do that. Like, there's so many things that one single pull up can, like, fuel you to do. And so I feel like that coaching is just so valuable.
Speaker 2:It also helps your kids.
Speaker 3:Yeah. For sure.
Speaker 2:So I have these videos because they're they're filming their their pull ups for me because we actually coach them in the program. We don't just, like, leave them. We don't like we're gonna coach you. And there's these videos of the little children cheering them on behind behind them. And there was this other one that came in today and it said written out, this has made me be a role model to my my child.
Speaker 2:Because my child came up to me and said, I noticed what you're doing and I see you showing up every single day. And kids, they don't do what they hear. They do what they see.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:So they're seeing you show up every single day to get this impossible goal, and now they're gonna start doing these things and and being healthier and all those different things. So another huge connection of what they're doing. It's literally you're gonna be a role model for your kids.
Speaker 3:There's legitimately nothing more important than that as a parent. Yeah. And your hard work will imprint in their brain, and I guarantee you that your clients, their children will remember that, like, 20 years down the road of, like, mom or dad showing up to kick ass.
Speaker 2:Oh, exactly. And you don't think they're watching sometimes, but they're watching. Yeah. They're watching. Totally.
Speaker 3:Do you have any fitness goals for yourself now, or are you just so focused on, like, I just wanna help as many clients as possible? And I've competed a lot, and I feel like I'm in great shape, and I just wanna help my clients now.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I've been all in on helping these women get their pull up. That's all I've been doing. Yeah. We're refining our systems.
Speaker 2:We make sure as there's more people coming in, you wanna make sure that the quality is stays really high. So we're just, like, training coaches and making sure that, like, every single person's getting feedback while they're in there. So definitely a lot of that focus. I told you guys before this, I actually had taken my recovery era, because I had gotten some blood work done. My energy levels were super, super, super, super low.
Speaker 2:And I'd realized that there's been stuff with, like, my thyroid and some hormonal stuff. So what I've had to do is actually spend the time recovering, which can be really tough hard for people to do, especially, like, someone like me. So right now, my goal is just honestly to get all my energy levels back and figure out what, which is now definitely happening now. And then once I do that, I gotta figure out what I wanna do. I've always kind of wanted to, like, beat the pull up world record because I I think I can.
Speaker 2:But I don't know. I have to think of some cool thing that I that I can focus on.
Speaker 1:I think you should do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I
Speaker 3:wonder what I wonder what the record is for women.
Speaker 2:I think it's, like, 39 or something. Maybe 30. I mean, 39. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4:I think if I
Speaker 2:really put the focus in it, I could do it. You could definitely
Speaker 3:do it.
Speaker 2:And if you ever see the pull up road records, it's kind of annoying because, like, they're, like, half pull ups.
Speaker 1:A lot of kipping or is it
Speaker 2:They're, like, they didn't define what a pull up was, I guess, in the Guinness World Record thing. So it's literally, like, some of them are, like, these, weird things. Oh my gosh. I'm like, that
Speaker 4:doesn't count.
Speaker 3:Dang. Yeah. You could definitely break it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So that could be fun if once I heal my my thyroid.
Speaker 1:This has been an awesome combo. Where should we send the Meat Mafia to come check out more of your content?
Speaker 2:Yeah. You can go over to either, at pull up revolution. That's where literally all the pull up transformations are on there if you wanna see it. Or you can go at Angela underscore Gargano. And we host free pull up workshops every single month.
Speaker 2:So if you wanna come in and just I would tell people, even if you don't wanna get a pull up, like, come in and just get super motivated because we're gonna teach you a ton of things to help your mindset and get you past your limiting beliefs of just so many different things in life. That's a great place where we can literally hang like, hang out. I love saying that.
Speaker 3:Harry loves a good pun. I love
Speaker 2:puns. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So just women or can men go too?
Speaker 2:Men do come in Okay. And they do, to join in on there as well. But, typically, it's a lot of women.
Speaker 1:Nice. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 3:It might actually be good for men to go then if you
Speaker 1:see it.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Can I
Speaker 2:do, like, a singles one? Yeah.
Speaker 1:That would be amazing. Lost dating show.
Speaker 3:Well, we appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. A huge piece of why I wanted to come on your podcast specifically is I know you guys are focused on, like, bigger things, like longevity and things along those lines. So while a pull up is, like, a skill, I really feel like it goes hand in hand with you living that higher quality life with you getting that better grip strength so that you can get up off the floor. And, you know, again, we're not trying to just live till we're, like, 80 or whatever now.
Speaker 2:We're trying to, like, thrive.
Speaker 1:Trying to really Yeah. A 100%.
Speaker 3:And that's why what you're teaching is so important, so we just really appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Of course.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Awesome. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Angela.