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Episode 10: Emma McG. Water Polo Player, Med Student, Educator and CrossFitter
11 Plays28 days ago
This week we sit down with Emma who manages to juggle, med school, a social life, and working out! Emma shares that CrossFit has helped her build a resilient "one more rep" mindset that allows her to keep going when life and school get overwhelming. She talks about her athletic background in water polo and what's really going on beneath the surface in the super physical sport. Emma also is passionate about educating people on REDS (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) and it's prevalence in the female athlete population. So much to get into!
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Levels' Podcast and Emma McGinnis
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to Levels, the podcast where we dive deep with members. I'm going start that over again. Yeah. Okay. Welcome to Levels, the podcast where we take a deep dive with some of our members at the All Level CrossFit community.
00:00:13
Speaker
Today, we are delighted to have em Emma McGinnis in studio with us. And Emma's going to answer some of our silly questions. You ready for that,
Emma's Background and Education
00:00:21
Speaker
Emma? Yeah. All right. say it Awesome.
00:00:23
Speaker
So tell me a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? Where'd you go to school? So i was born in Vancouver, lived there when I was a kid, but mostly grew up in Ottawa. I went to a French school in Ottawa and then went to trent University for my undergrad. Oh, awesome. It's funny because I almost have ties to all all those places. i grew i grew up in Vancouver.
00:00:45
Speaker
yeah. Then my grandparents live in Peterborough, not far from the Trent campus. So that was, I played basketball there when I was young with my grandpa and all that kind of stuff. A very hippie school, shall we say.
00:01:01
Speaker
Yeah, hippie school, but a good school. I mean, I love the campus. you got the lift locks. Peterborough is a cool little cool little community as well. Yeah, it's gorgeous. There's a river running through the middle of the campus. Yeah, the Trent goes yeah right through there.
00:01:13
Speaker
How long did you spend in Peterborough? I lived there for four years. Four years? Yeah. Awesome. And what was your undergrad? I studied biomedical science. Oh, so you were ready. You knew where you were going.
00:01:23
Speaker
I thought so. Yeah. Yeah. I like I always kind of liked the idea of medicine and then I did well in school. So my school, I think there was like 40, 50 people that went into biomedical science from my high school. It was a very intense sports and academic high school. So they kind of shuttled people into that. Really? Yeah. What was the name of the high school you went to? It was called Franco City. OK, it's a French high school, but it was like the French sports high school in Ottawa. Now, how did you end up in a French school in Ottawa? Because I know when I came from Vancouver to Ontario, when I went to school a long, long time ago, we didn't do French in school in Vancouver. And then going to Ontario, where that's part of the curriculum, I was like, what?
00:02:07
Speaker
You know, we're doing French now? So did you have that same experience or were you... so I was lucky. My mom is French. okay My grandma only speaks French pretty much. okay so I grew up completely bilingual. so Then moving to Ottawa, the transition was like very smooth. I could like easily adapt to the French school, but also speak with people in English fluently, which is pretty cool. That is. and Then from high school, you went to Trent. and Then from Trent, then you went to is it Western? Yeah, yeah. Western, but the Windsor campus. Western Windsor campus for medicine. Yes. Awesome. Yeah, a little spoiler alert. Emma's becoming
Pursuing Sports: Emma's Water Polo Journey
00:02:44
Speaker
a doctor. yeah
00:02:45
Speaker
Now, I know a little bit about your background, so I'm going ask you, what sports did you play growing up? So when I was young, I tried like every sport in existence. I did like swimming and soccer and hockey. But in grade five, I started playing water polo.
00:03:01
Speaker
And my dad signed me up because he had played in high school and he loved it. And so I joined and I initially trained to be a goalie. And eventually I found myself kind of loving the water. i was a very strong swimmer and I made some really good friends.
00:03:19
Speaker
And then I stuck with that all the way through high school until I graduated. Wow. I know we've talked about this before. it's It's a sport that doesn't come up very often that people have a background in. And I've heard it's one of the hardest sports to play because you're you're treading water out there. for If you're not swimming, you're treading water, right? like When I first saw it, I'm like, oh, they're just touching the bottom. But no, you're not touching the bottom. Nope. It's always in a deep pool as well? Yeah.
00:03:44
Speaker
Yeah, deep pool, 25 meters. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's cool because you do need that mix of endurance and being able to swim, but you also need the power to tread water and you know you're catching a ball with one hand. So you have to be able to get high enough out of the water to catch it and throw it.
00:04:01
Speaker
Have that explosive power in your hips to get out of the water to snag that. Yeah, I've seen that and they wear helmets as well because you do take a couple cracks in the head. Yeah. Yeah. We always have ear coverings and then it's kind of like like some people will wear those like helmets, the concussion helmets, but at least the ear coverings we needed. Now, is it as physical as I think it is?
00:04:21
Speaker
I think it's more physical than you think it is. Yeah. Because like when, as I was also a referee and having watched it, you really only see what's going on from like above the water. Right. But a lot of the sport is played below the water. Like there's a lot of of grabbing swimsuits, a lot of physicality and and like wrestling in the water as well. Really?
00:04:41
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Tell me as a, as a player and then as a referee, as a referee, do you call fouls that happened underwater? So that was the challenging part about being a referee is that you're you're supposed to call the fouls that happen, but it's really hard to see. yeah And there's two refs standing outside of the pool watching 14 players in the water all wrestling each other. And so that was the most challenging part was that often there were was things that would be missed or a punch that I wouldn't see. And then you could, you know, the parents in the stands were obviously upset that their kid got hurt. Yeah. But yeah, you only call what you can see, which is challenging. So the refs are on the on the pool deck. Yeah.
00:05:24
Speaker
Okay, cool. I thought they were in the water and i was like, wow, you got to be pretty fit. Oh my gosh. No, you just need to walk back and forth. Yeah. Okay. Well, still still tough. Okay.
CrossFit Beginnings and Rapid Progress
00:05:34
Speaker
How long have you been doing CrossFit?
00:05:37
Speaker
Just over two years now. Really? So you started with us? That was your first CrossFit experience? Amazing. It seems like you like the way you do CrossFit, it seems like you've been doing it for five or six years. No, you're very you're very good and you're making all these big strides and it's like, I thought you had a background in it before you started with us. That's amazing.
00:05:54
Speaker
yeah I'm going to backtrack a bit. Normally I ask what you do for work, but I know that you're in school, but also you have done we've talked about this before presentations on something called
Research on RED-S and Presentation in Scotland
00:06:05
Speaker
Reds S. Right. So yes can you tell me what Reds S is?
00:06:09
Speaker
Yes. So it's called relative energy deficiency in sport. So that's a syndrome. It used to be called the female athlete triad, where essentially it's where athletes are not taking in enough energy to meet their output demands.
00:06:26
Speaker
So as opposed to an eating disorder where there's that purposeful restriction and overexercising, it's more just that you're you're not matching your body's demands. right And so classically, it's typically seen in females where you know they would notice very high levels of fatigue, challenges with performance. They would get amenorrhea or their period would go away or just not come in the first place. yeah and they would have troubles with bone health as well. So frequent fractures, things like that.
00:06:57
Speaker
Yeah. And then, but then that really can be expanded to men as well. It's not only in women. It's, it's just that men obviously don't get the amenorrhea. Right. there's the decreased performance, the fatigue, the mood changes, decreased libido is a common one or all things that can be seen in any gender. I might have to check myself. Right. You know, mood swings, performance, all the things. And I know you you went to Scotland and presented in Scotland on it. Yes. How did that come about? Yeah. So in medical school, everyone's expected to do at least one research project on something which is kind of cool because it lets you pick and choose.
00:07:37
Speaker
And so I paired with a clinic in London, the Fowler Kennedy Health Clinic. There's a researcher there, Dr. Jane Thornton, who does a lot of red S work. And having experienced that in the past, that was something that I was interested in kind of seeing how physicians like how much they understand it and what they understand. kind of how they approach it And so myself and a team, we created a survey and sent that out to family physicians kind of all over Canada, just to see whether they knew what it was, how they approach it, how they manage it And then like do they even feel comfortable? What sort of information would they want more of?
00:08:14
Speaker
And so what it sounded like is people know what it is. But they don't a lot of family physicians don't feel comfortable managing it or kind of because there's so many different ways that it can present it can be really hard to identify and know that that's what's causing the problems.
00:08:31
Speaker
And so they were wanting more information more teaching sessions, things like that. And so that's what I went to Scotland to do was to present that research and show that in Canada, there's increasing awareness of it. But family physicians are wanting more resources and more information on how to manage that.
00:08:49
Speaker
Right? Yeah, that's awesome. Now. So to treat something like that, is it more on the education side? So you educate the athletes on their energy needs and how to meet those so that they don't get into that energy deficit, I guess. Yeah.
00:09:02
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. So a lot of it is, you know, if you've identified it, it's all a spectrum. But if you think that that might be what's going on, then that's when you have to educate the athletes on you know increasing their intake, making sure that their intake is balanced. So carbs and fats are there too, not just protein.
00:09:19
Speaker
Sometimes it is toning back the exercise. yeah And so but for sports, there's actually like a tool that physicians and coaches can use now called the Redis Cat 2, I believe. okay And that helps guide decisions on when to pull an athlete out of sport versus when to kind of like just hold them back and and decrease the intensity versus kind of green flag to going back to full sport. Right. So that can be helpful, at least in in guiding that. Yeah. Because I know we've spoken before as well that I've got two young daughters in, you know, diving and it's it's a sport where
00:09:55
Speaker
body image comes into play a lot. They're in bathing suits all the time. You know, and I feel like that's something that, and they train very hard. That's one thing that people don't see is that there's a lot of dry land training that goes on as well. And Especially for it seems like for females and of course, I'm coming from a male perspective, but it's, it's like, under eating is definitely a thing. Yeah. And, and that's something that it would be great to be able to get that kind of education out to more people because i know in the past, even touching on this subject that
00:10:26
Speaker
that in the past it was like oh if you train hard enough this is going to happen to you and it's just normal which is completely not normal right like i feel like the symptoms from reds red s is your body going into like a survival mode and protection mode and saying hey like we're fighting for our lives here. We're not going to procreate. We've got to save ourselves first, right? That's
Balancing Fitness and Life: Emma's Approach
00:10:46
Speaker
exactly it. Yeah. your Your body is shutting down something that's not necessary for our survival right to to help us get through a time where our body's aren't being met. Yeah, that's crazy. that's It's amazing work. and i
00:10:59
Speaker
And I still do want to set up something with the yeah with the Dive Club. And now that I'm working with Dive Ontario, we can get that out to all the clubs in Ontario as well too. And yeah and dive Canada yeah cool yeah especially with diving because like any sport where you kind of your body shape and your body mechanics play a role in your performance in the sport I think is especially hard because it is a fine balance between you need enough energy to perform but you also need to make sure that you're maintaining kind of the right body mechanics to do the sport so yeah it's definitely need more education is better on on all of that
00:11:35
Speaker
I love that. I love that. yeah I love having smart people like you in the gym. Okay. What prompted you to start CrossFit? Did you have a turning point? Was there something that made you want to start? was it Was it just like, that looks cool. I want to do that.
00:11:47
Speaker
What made you want to start? So another athlete who was at the gym at the time was the husband of one of my friends in medical school. And it was kind of a bring a friend week. And I'm someone that I've always liked physical activity. I'm in like the running club and I play intramural volleyball and I'm kind of very engaged in sports in general. And so he asked me if I wanted to come.
00:12:09
Speaker
And I came for that first week and right away I never stopped coming. that's yeah That's awesome. It seems like your personality is a great fit for what we do here because you you never, seems like you don't want to ever settle. and i're like, oh, I'm good enough at that thing. It's like, okay, I can be better at that thing. Let me do more of it. yeah You're always in here working on stuff. I it. Okay. Do you remember your first class or session?
00:12:31
Speaker
Yes. It had wall balls in it. oh And I was very confused. yeah Those were hard for me. They still are. yeah But I really liked the the like community atmosphere. like I had no idea what was going on, but i it just felt very supportive. cool And I had like at least the physical foundation enough that I felt like I could come back and and kind of figure it out. Although really, even if I wasn't fit, I think...
00:12:58
Speaker
it would have been, yeah, I would have come back. i think that you're brave if you had wall balls, your first, come off strange enough, my first workout had wall balls in it too. I did fight gone bad. And, in yeah, it's wall balls are a whole nother thing.
00:13:11
Speaker
okay. Do you, what PR or accomplishment in the gym are you most proud of? Ooh, Hey, yesterday, i don't know if you heard. So I'm doing the NorCal online qualifiers right now.
00:13:25
Speaker
And there is a workout that was really scary to me. It was rowing 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 cals. And then in between there was 20 toes to bar, 20 box jump overs. Yeah.
00:13:38
Speaker
We had 30 minutes to do it or 35 minutes to complete it. Right. And I was just doing it to see if I could get through the workout. Sure. But I finished it with 11 seconds left. Oh, nice. Yeah. That's a killer workout. That was a lot. I've seen a few people tackle that. And that's a high volume of everything. Right. Of all the movements. Toast to bar is tough to hold on to for a 35 minute workout. That's crazy. Good job. it was mental for sure. And then you also PR'd your split jerk like the week before. Yeah. 175. and just got bar muscle-ups consistently not too long ago, and just... No, just kidding. there's lots. There's lots.
00:14:14
Speaker
Okay, if you could give your day one CrossFit self some advice, what would that be? Ooh, that you... don't have to like be good at everything from day one. I think I'm someone that's very competitive and especially at the beginning, I think I was kind of comparing myself to everyone around me yeah when that's not fair because everyone is at a different level and a different place in their life. For sure.
00:14:41
Speaker
And I think that's the thing with CrossFit is like, there's always going to be something that you can improve on or work on. And so if you're trying to be the best at everything, it's frustrating and yeah it's not fun. Yeah. You're just constantly trying to run from one spot to the other and fix this, fix that. Yeah.
00:14:55
Speaker
Putting out fires instead of saying you know what? Just kind of take it as it counts and you'll see the progress. Something you touched on there that I wanted to talk about is how do you balance your school life, your social life, your gym life, all the different lives together? Because you obviously are a very capable person. You seem very organized. You got a lot in the go, but that just seems like a really full plate.
00:15:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's hard, definitely. It's not always perfect. like There's been months where I've had a hard time getting here. But I think overall, for me, I've gotten to a point where I know how important it is to do physical activity every day. And I really enjoy coming here and seeing everyone and so it's something that I actually look forward to at the end of my day and it's I've kind of incorporated it into my routine where it's it's just something that I do yeah and if I really can't make it work then that's okay I'm not going to kind of give up I'll just keep going the next day yeah But I think I've been lucky to, I have good friends, I have a good community here. And so it doesn't feel hard to kind of get myself here. Yeah. But it it definitely takes some sacrifice. Like it's, it's hard. Some days I I'm home and I go right to bed. Yeah. But it's worth it. Yeah. I know that.
00:16:11
Speaker
One thing that you mentioned there that I think iss important too is that a lot of times when people get really busy, the physical fitness is the first thing they they cut out of their schedule when I feel like that should be the anchor because it's like physical fitness, mental health, all those things are tied into that. And it's like when you're busy, when you're stressed, when you're struggling, this can be the anchor that helps kind of like ground you and get you level set again. So that's the one thing. It's a hard mindset because I understand it. Like i just don't have time for the gym. Yeah.
00:16:40
Speaker
You probably do. Yeah. It's just about, like you said, you got to make some sacrifices and you got to, you got to really have the desire, I guess, to be here. But I think the, all the benefits that go into that yeah outweigh skipping it. Agreed. And I think for me too, it's when I'm, when I'm active and I go to the gym, I'm so much more productive and efficient in everything else that I do. yes Like all my days off, I'm,
00:17:05
Speaker
I'm feeling more lazy, more tired. It takes me longer to do things. And so I've been lucky to learn how much the gym helps me, even if it's an hour out of my day. yeah But I think that takes time for people to experience. No, that's a really good perspective.
00:17:18
Speaker
Okay. How has CrossFit helped you in your daily life? Can you think of any specific examples, whether it's physical, whether it's mental or any other way? i think it's I think it's helped me in so many ways, but i think just like helping me with that resilience.
00:17:36
Speaker
CrossFit can be very much a mental sport of like you just have to push through the workout or you know so some sometimes it's really frustrating and you're not you know you're not performing as you want to. and i think that I've learned to kind of take it in stride and just push through and that's come up in all points of my life. I've had some really hard and busy days in the hospital where I feel totally out out of my element.
00:18:01
Speaker
But I think that kind of having that practice with CrossFit of just kind of setting your mind to something and just getting through it, I've kind of been able to apply that to other parts of my life and it's been really helpful.
00:18:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's something that's come up a fair bit with some of the people we've talked to is that it creates that resilience mindset that one more rep, I can do one more or I can just keep going just a little bit longer. And that does 100% translate into everyday life. I love that.
00:18:26
Speaker
love that answer. Okay, do you have a morning routine? Oh, I actually don't, mainly because my every two weeks this whole year, my life has completely changed. Sometimes I start work at 6 a.m. Sometimes I don't start till 10. So i guess my morning routine is basically I I get up, I brush my teeth, I have my coffee and then it kind of depends what my day looks like from there. yeah but just getting up, brushing my teeth, having my coffee is it's a grounding thing in the morning and I always look forward to it. Yeah, no, I'm kind of the same.
00:19:02
Speaker
Actually, that's not true. I get up pretty early all the time. But i need to have I need to have coffee and need to brush my teeth. Two things I have to do. Okay. What is your favorite movement in the gym? Ooh, I'm going to say bar muscle ups right now because I can do them. Yeah, they're pretty cool. And they are fun. you kind of feel like you're flying little bit.
00:19:20
Speaker
What's your least favorite movement? Brusters. Well, guess what we got tomorrow. I know. our Morning, afternoon or evening workouts. Ooh, I'm an evening girl. Are you? Yeah. yeah Afternoon or evening. Yeah. Yeah. I think I've become a morning person just by default, like by necessity.
00:19:40
Speaker
I'd probably prefer to work out in the afternoon, but yeah, morning works for me. Yeah. Okay. Long endurance workouts or short, intense workouts. I think long endurance. Yeah, that my the heart rate spikes still get to me in the short ones. Yeah. And and I feel a bit more panicky during those. So yeah, I like the long ones. Yeah, I hear you.
00:20:01
Speaker
Although, yeah. Depends. Depends. Depends on the day. Okay, what's your favorite indulgent food that you're going to indulge? Oh, ice cream. Ice cream. What flavor of ice cream? Chocolate. Chocolate? and Is there any brand in specific or is it just like whatever is there? No, I'm happy with whatever. Yeah. yeah No Kortha Lakes? like Oh, those are good. That's really good. Yeah. Down from the Peterborough area. That's true. That's probably the best. Yeah. Kortha Lakes really good actually.
00:20:26
Speaker
Okay. What's your favorite healthy food? Greek yogurt. I love Greek yogurt. Any favorite flavor or is it just plain? I like plain because then you can I can kind of do whatever I want with it.
00:20:36
Speaker
Greek yogurt or skier? Ooh, I do like skier, but Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt? Yeah. Okay, cool. I like both those as well too. Favorite pre or post-workout snack?
00:20:46
Speaker
I like toast with peanut butter and banana. Delicious. Delicious. Can't go wrong. An old fave. Okay. What's your favorite way to relax? Ooh. You get to relax at all. Massage with Grace. There you go. A plug for Grace. Massage with Grace. Yeah, Grace is upstairs. Love massage therapy. Shout out to Grace, also my wife. That's a great answer.
00:21:07
Speaker
Yeah. Okay, that's all I've got for you today, Emma. Thank you so much for spending time with me. I know we talked about how busy you are and carving out a little bit time to do this is much appreciated. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Okay, we'll see you soon. Bye. Bye.
00:21:21
Speaker
Okay, thank you. Yeah. See that was quick and painless right? Oh yeah, that was not bad. i'll forget No. a