Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Levels, the podcast where we explore the people and the stories that make up our awesome community here at Oliver CrossFit.
Speaker: Today, I'm thrilled to have as my guest Coach Steffi Doof, Stephanie Dufour.
Speaker: I'm probably missing out some nicknames.
Speaker: Almost anti-Stephanie.
Speaker: Almost anti-Stephanie.
Speaker: Yeah, we're really excited to have her here today.
Speaker: Thanks for coming.
Speaker: I know that this is not your favorite thing, but it's all good.
Speaker: It's all good.
Speaker: We're excited to get to know a little bit more about Steph and dig into some reasons why she's here at the gym and it's become such an integral part.
Speaker: So, Stephanie, tell me a little bit about your background.
Speaker: Where did you grow up?
Speaker: Where did you go to school?
Speaker: Did you play any sports?
Speaker: Tell me all the things.
Speaker: I grew up in LaSalle.
Speaker: I'm currently back in La Salle.
Speaker: Nice.
Speaker: I went to Monseigneur Augustin Caron.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yep, very French.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: And then I did the immersion program at Villanova.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: And then I continued my studies at the University of Windsor.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: I did a double major in criminology and French.
Speaker: Ooh.
Speaker: Thought I was going to become a police officer.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: A French one.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What else?
Speaker: I played sports growing up.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: I started with swimming.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: My dad gave me the option.
Speaker: He sat me down one evening.
Speaker: He always had me on Wednesday nights.
Speaker: That was his night to... Right.
Speaker: have me.
Speaker: And he sat me down one night.
Speaker: I think he recognized that I wasn't, like I was really clumsy as a kid.
Speaker: He's like, oh, I'm gonna try to fix this.
Speaker: Put her in the pool where she can... Yeah, well he's like, he brought out like the Windsor activity guide.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: for like the winter season and he brought it to the hockey page and he's like, oh, what sport do you want to do?
Speaker: And he's like, you can pick anything.
Speaker: So I like went right to swimming.
Speaker: I was just always like cool as a kid.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So we started with like life-saving lessons, started with all the levels going up, and then eventually did bronze cross, bronze med, and then started pursuing competitive swimming.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So I used to swim for West.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: And then did that, continued that a little bit into the first couple years of high school.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And then I had some issues with my shoulder.
Speaker: I had shoulder surgery in the 10th grade and then again in first year university.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then I stopped swimming, but I continued to play high school sports.
Speaker: So I did basketball, volleyball.
Speaker: I played badminton.
Speaker: Nice.
Speaker: Was never a runner.
Speaker: Didn't get into track and field or anything like that.
Speaker: But yeah.
Speaker: And then...
Speaker: Then it stopped.
Speaker: Then I played intramural volleyball with a group of other students at the university.
Speaker: And just very intermittently went to the gym, didn't know what I was doing.
Speaker: And that was about it.
Speaker: I feel like that's a lot of our experience with the global gyms before we came into a functional fitness space is going to the gym, not really know what you're doing, getting your information from back
Speaker: when I was young from a magazine or something like that.
Speaker: Oh yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And, and like, even after that, I started to notice that I was gaining a lot of weight, just like not playing sports.
Speaker: I was like going to practice doing, you know, games and stuff on the weekends throughout high school.
Speaker: And then you go to university and you don't know what to do in the gym.
Speaker: I'm playing intramural, um,
Speaker: every Thursday night, and that was it.
Speaker: Intramural means drinking.
Speaker: Oh yeah, we'd go out to the bar and drink after.
Speaker: So then one of my girlfriends and I started doing P90X in her basement.
Speaker: And then that became a little bit of an unhealthy obsession.
Speaker: I was doing it like once, maybe twice a day, and then I would supplement it with like running.
Speaker: So then I'd go out, I started getting obsessed with running, I'd go out,
Speaker: every day when i first started i couldn't even run down the block like i'd run a block i'd walk a block and then i'd continue like that and then i started running at malden park like doing the loop yeah um and i would do that alone typically like late at night that became kind of like part of my regular routine and then once i started being able to run consistently i would go longer and longer and longer and then
Speaker: I kept pushing and pushing and I signed up for a marathon.
Speaker: Did you do a full marathon?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Oh, nice.
Speaker: Yeah, I did a full, God, I don't know, probably 2017.
Speaker: I'd never run like a 5K.
Speaker: That was my first race that I'd ever signed up for.
Speaker: Yeah, I learned from that.
Speaker: Go big, go big.
Speaker: I don't know if I'll ever do one again.
Speaker: It was really hard.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, so I started – I did a marathon, and then once I started coming here, I laid off the running, realized I didn't like running that much.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But it seems like movement has always been a part of your everything.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's always been there for you.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I know that still – I still marvel at when you swim.
Speaker: Like, you obviously retained your swimming abilities pretty well.
Speaker: I feel like I've lost a lot.
Speaker: Well, I mean –
Speaker: from peak competitive, but I also think that that translates.
Speaker: I feel like swimmers know how to suffer and like how to get to that lactate threshold and hold it and, you know, go anaerobic obviously because you're holding your breath and do a lot of stuff.
Speaker: I just feel like if you're a swimmer, they can suffer and it's translated well into, into what you do now in the gym.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Well, let's backtrack a little bit.
Speaker: How long have you been doing CrossFit?
Speaker: I've been doing CrossFit for just over six years.
Speaker: Just over six.
Speaker: I feel like I have been doing it forever, but then on the other side of it, I'm like, I can't believe it's been six years.
Speaker: Still pretty new, right?
Speaker: Still pretty new in the game.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So what kind of prompted you to start?
Speaker: I knew a little bit about CrossFit, like just seeing snippets of the games and stuff online.
Speaker: but I went to a Christmas party.
Speaker: My cousin threw a Christmas party and one of your old members was there and she knew like the person that I went to the party with and she, she, they were schmoozing and she's like, Oh yeah, I follow you online.
Speaker: I really think that you would love CrossFit.
Speaker: And I have this thing called the golden ticket.
Speaker: Do you want it?
Speaker: So she got me set up with the golden ticket.
Speaker: I contacted,
Speaker: I think whoever was running your Instagram account at the time made arrangements to come and do a class and then do a couple of onboarding classes, which I didn't show up for and I got flack for later.
Speaker: Yeah, so golden ticket.
Speaker: Somebody was like, I think you'd love this and they were right.
Speaker: Yeah, I know.
Speaker: It's funny because you remember certain athletes when they come through and especially
Speaker: athletes when they come through and you're like, you sure you haven't done this before?
Speaker: Like, you're pretty good at doing the things and the pull-ups and all that stuff.
Speaker: So I do remember, I remember that first class when you came through and we were like, who's this girl over here doing strict pull-ups or whatever you were doing?
Speaker: It's pretty fun.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's awesome.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So I know we chatted about this briefly.
Speaker: You don't really remember your first class.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: You sort of remember your first class, but it was kind of a blur?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I remember trying...
Speaker: different movements that like I wasn't familiar with.
Speaker: The coach of my first class had athletes go through progressions for a kipping pull up and I've never seen them before.
Speaker: So after class I asked him if he could show me and he taught me how to kip and then I did my first set of five kipping pull ups.
Speaker: which is pretty cool.
Speaker: That's really cool.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't know if that was my first class or one of the first ones.
Speaker: I also remember doing inverted burpees.
Speaker: on the wall.
Speaker: Candlesticks.
Speaker: Yeah, like a candlestick into a handstand on the wall.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker: So I learned how to do that probably within my first week.
Speaker: And prior to that, I had no experience kicking up, like ever.
Speaker: I have no gymnastics background whatsoever.
Speaker: So that was scary.
Speaker: But I remember feeling so accomplished.
Speaker: And then I left here and I still had a membership at Crunch Fitness at Malden.
Speaker: And...
Speaker: Anything that I learned here, I started doing at that gym.
Speaker: Oh, nice.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I had like a small corner that was kind of tucked away and I started doing inverted burpees.
Speaker: in that corner.
Speaker: I just saw that video on my Instagram like not long ago.
Speaker: Really?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: There's a video of that?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Oh, I like it.
Speaker: I have it on private.
Speaker: Oh, all right.
Speaker: But yeah, so I started and then I started learning how to snatch here, like doing power snatches.
Speaker: I remember just feeling so uncoordinated, but then I'd leave here and I'd go to crunch and I'd be using the 45 pound bar and I hated it because it was so thick and doing power snatches like in the corner.
Speaker: And the people are giving you the stare.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I was really strategic about the times that I'd go.
Speaker: Cause I was like, Oh, I don't want people to see me move like crap.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Um, I don't think they would have known if you're moving like crap.
Speaker: No, no, no one knows what a person knows.
Speaker: No offense, crunch fitness and all the people that go there, but probably don't know how to give.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: The good mechanics of a power snatch.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But no, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker: Started as a closet crossfitter.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Kept it quiet.
Speaker: Um, okay.
Speaker: Let's,
Speaker: let's fast forward a little bit because the end of the six years, you know, starting from your first class to where you are now, one of the top 115 female CrossFit athletes.
Speaker: 116.
Speaker: 116.
Speaker: I was close.
Speaker: 115, 116.
Speaker: That's an incredible accomplishment.
Speaker: Being that high up the leaderboard and still working your way up.
Speaker: I know I've just seen you finish in qualifiers for a lot of blues.
Speaker: What's,
Speaker: the ultimate goal for you as a CrossFitter?
Speaker: Oh God.
Speaker: My current goal would be to go to in-person summies.
Speaker: Nice.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But definitely want to go to the games eventually.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And not have to pay for a ticket.
Speaker: Correct.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I don't want to pay for my ticket.
Speaker: I want to pay for registration.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: And that's it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Or have someone else pay for registration and just go and compete.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Perfect.
Speaker: With that, obviously,
Speaker: if we didn't mention it, you are a coach at the gym.
Speaker: You've been a coach at the gym for six years.
Speaker: Yeah, close to that.
Speaker: Five and a half.
Speaker: Six years.
Speaker: I know when you're kind of doing both spin and working somewhere else and doing some classes here, you've always been pretty good at juggling a few things.
Speaker: But you've also gotten into coaching competitive CrossFit as well.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Right?
Speaker: Because you had two athletes that you coached who both went to
Speaker: their respective games this year.
Speaker: You had Kerry Jack, who went to the Masters games and competed, and you had Adam Faze, who went to the Adaptive games and competed.
Speaker: What is it like being a competitive CrossFit athlete yourself and then coaching other competitive CrossFit athletes?
Speaker: I imagine there's got to be some good carryover, but there's also got to be some stuff where, like,
Speaker: you know, this is the way I do it, but it can't be the way that you do it.
Speaker: Cause it's not the same.
Speaker: Every athlete's a little bit different.
Speaker: So have you found some stuff like that in coaching?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Um, I'd say coaching another athlete who has, um, like very good solid goals, um, has been way more stressful than trying to achieve like my own stuff.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Um, but yeah, it's, it's,
Speaker: different.
Speaker: Like I've learned a lot programming and reviewing movement and analyzing movement and giving feedback and giving feedback in ways that they're able to understand.
Speaker: So the way that Carrie is able to receive feedback is different than the way that Taylor or Adam received feedback.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So I'm constantly trying to come up with new ways to communicate or show these people how to make adjustments to their movement.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: A lot of what I give my athletes is obviously tailored towards their weaknesses, like making their weaknesses or their holes maybe not as defined as they've been.
Speaker: So I think one of the things that I've struggled with a lot as a, maybe not a lot, but I've definitely struggled with and been mindful of as a competitive CrossFitter is
Speaker: Knowing that there's a reason why I keep failing movements.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And I try to let the people that I'm working with know that, like, expect failure because every time you fail something, you're that much closer to eventually learning how to do it and then mastering it and then getting to a point where you're so good that you can't get it wrong.
Speaker: Awesome.
Speaker: Um, but yeah, definitely.
Speaker: I'm always learning as a coach in the gym, as a programmer, um, as a personal trainer, I'm, you know, learning from my faults, learning ways to be more efficient as a coach.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: And yeah, I like the research part of it.
Speaker: There's a lot of research that I've done in terms of like aerobic capacity, building strength, working on techniques, spotting errors in Olympic lifts.
Speaker: Like it's, it's gets down to the finest detail.
Speaker: I've learned a lot.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But it's been great.
Speaker: I really love it, but definitely way more stressful.
Speaker: Making sure that I'm taking care of the people that trust me to take care of them than taking care of myself.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: And I like the way that, you know, every athlete is an individual and like you said, receives feedback or can do things.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: that the other one can't.
Speaker: So you got to be flipping back and forth to the different ways that you coach and the different ways you teach, the different ways you program.
Speaker: I know when I used to program stuff that I had to get out of my own head because my own bias would get in there and say, oh, I don't like Toast-to-Bar, so I'm not going to program Toast-to-Bar, but that's exactly what this person needs, right?
Speaker: So like you can't always program to what you like.
Speaker: It's got to be totally tailored to them, and that's a really cool approach.
Speaker: cool thing to do to be able to look at that athlete as a whole and say, okay, where can we, where's the biggest opportunity for us to get better?
Speaker: Prioritizing things that need work is, can be challenging too.
Speaker: Like there's, there's different things that I'll look at.
Speaker: I'll look at endurance.
Speaker: I'll look at power output.
Speaker: I'll look at strength.
Speaker: I'll look at gymnastics capacity and
Speaker: I'll pick and choose a few from each and then I'll put them on paper and I'll come up with different programs to make those things a little bit better.
Speaker: And then all of a sudden I'm like, Oh my God, I, these people are going to be working out for four hours a day and that's not feasible.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So you have to take a step back and.
Speaker: pick what you want to work on for how long until you see a certain amount of measurable progress.
Speaker: But then there's also the other part of it where you have to throw them a bone every now and again.
Speaker: A hundred percent.
Speaker: If I'm constantly having people do stuff that they're bad at or they think that they're bad at, then they're going to lose, you know, they're not going to want to do it anymore.
Speaker: So yeah.
Speaker: Finding a balance between working on stuff and maybe not feeling that great.
Speaker: And then,
Speaker: feeling rewarded when they get to do something that they're good at.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Everyone needs a juicy pitch once in a while where they can just take a big swing at it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: A wheelhouse workout.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's cool.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Um, let's get back to kind of the script here.
Speaker: So I know you've been, you're constantly progressing as we can see you move up the leaderboard and see your capacities go up.
Speaker: What's a PR that you're most proud of in the gym?
Speaker: Oh God.
Speaker: Wow, I don't know.
Speaker: A PR that I'm most proud of.
Speaker: I'd say my snatch is one that I'm really proud of.
Speaker: PRing and hitting 185 was like, I never thought I'd be able to do that.
Speaker: That's crazy.
Speaker: Just to hear you say that, that come out of your mouth is crazy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I'd love to hit 200 eventually.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But I have to be patient and keep working, obviously.
Speaker: But
Speaker: Now that I like dialing it back, I think my progress with my handstands is probably something that I'm really proud of.
Speaker: Like I have no background in gymnastics.
Speaker: Like I said before, I've always struggled with pressing.
Speaker: Like that's just something that I'm always going to have to work towards in my career here.
Speaker: And just like being scared to kick up and kicking over and falling on my back to
Speaker: being able to consistently handstand walk or do strict handstand pushups in a workout.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I'd say it's something that I'm proud of.
Speaker: I definitely know that it's still a weakness and it'll probably always be a little bit of a weakness for me or just harder to get better at.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And I'm usually really hard on myself when there's workouts that involve handstands, but...
Speaker: I'd probably say taking a step back and remembering Steph from four years ago who couldn't walk on her hands to being able to do it in a workout and transition smoothly.
Speaker: That's pretty badass.
Speaker: That is.
Speaker: That's really badass.
Speaker: It's a really cool accomplishment.
Speaker: Yeah, both those things.
Speaker: And it's cool that both those things are from kind of opposite ends of the spectrum, right?
Speaker: You've got like a really technical Olympic lift and you get a high skill gymnastics and you're good at both now.
Speaker: I'm okay at both.
Speaker: Pretty good.
Speaker: Pretty good.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: If you could give your day one CrossFit self some advice, what would it be?
Speaker: To be patient.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Getting better takes time.
Speaker: Like a lot of time.
Speaker: Even now, working out as often as I do and doing my programming and failing and failing and failing and failing and trying and retrying and all that stuff.
Speaker: It takes a lot.
Speaker: Like you see failure all the time.
Speaker: with movement.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Just being patient.
Speaker: I think a lot of people come into the gym, especially people that either have a background in sports or they used to do like commercial work or workouts at commercial gyms.
Speaker: I think a lot of people come in and they like expect to be the best person.
Speaker: in a CrossFit box and you're exposed to movements that you've never seen before, you've never learned, or like different shapes with your body that you've never done.
Speaker: And I think people get caught up in like, oh shit, I'm not top dog anymore.
Speaker: And sometimes that can be a little discouraging.
Speaker: And we see it all the time as coaches, like,
Speaker: You have people come in and they're eager to do CrossFit and they see CrossFit online and they follow us on Instagram and they see people doing tricks and stuff and they think that it's going to be easy to pick up, but it takes a long time.
Speaker: It takes a long time to get better.
Speaker: It takes a long time to get stronger.
Speaker: Yeah, so just be patient and give yourself some grace.
Speaker: You're not going to be good at everything.
Speaker: Yeah, I think that people have to be comfortable with having that slice of humble pie because it's –
Speaker: You're right.
Speaker: It's something, and admittedly, when you first go into the gym, your progress is pretty quick.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: You start to learn things, but then it levels out pretty quickly.
Speaker: And some people, to be honest, too, about the gym, and we've all seen it, is that it's not easy.
Speaker: None of this stuff is easy.
Speaker: It doesn't matter if you're doing, you know, kettlebell swings or squat snatches.
Speaker: They're not easy.
Speaker: So you have to be all right with working hard, and that's one of the big things that,
Speaker: People see, they see CrossFitters and they see like high level people and they look at them, they're like, oh, I want to look like that or I want to do those things.
Speaker: But they're not always willing to put in the work to get there, right?
Speaker: They're like, oh, that'd be great.
Speaker: I'll do CrossFit and suddenly I'll be ripped and be able to snatch, you know, my body weight.
Speaker: But that's a long journey.
Speaker: And like you said, a lot of failure and a lot of time.
Speaker: Speaking of, what do you think about how many hours a day do you work out?
Speaker: Um, I take two rest days a week.
Speaker: Let's start with that.
Speaker: Do you?
Speaker: I take two rest days a week.
Speaker: I take one full rest day.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then the other day is active.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Probably more active than it should be.
Speaker: Disclaimer, an active rest day means doing a workout.
Speaker: I'm like, wow, I can do class.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Um, on average, uh, with music changes and sips of my energy drink,
Speaker: Probably two and a half hours.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Two and a half, close to three.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And that's the thing.
Speaker: A lot of people don't see behind the curtain.
Speaker: They don't see – they see the finished – not quite finished product, but the stuff that's here now.
Speaker: And they don't see the, like, being in the gym late at night, being in the gym early in the morning, squeezing in your training when you can, right?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Obviously, we haven't really touched on it yet, but you've got a very –
Speaker: busy life, right?
Speaker: You, you coach CrossFit here.
Speaker: You have personal training clients.
Speaker: You, you are a volunteer firefighter with LaSalle and you do a lot of hours there and then a competitive CrossFit athlete.
Speaker: And that's a lot of hours in the day.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: A lot of hours in the day.
Speaker: So they don't see, and I think that's pretty typical of high level athletes.
Speaker: People just see the finished product and they don't see the, the hard work and the sweat and the blood and the tears that go in when no one's looking, you know, we were lucky enough to have,
Speaker: like another competitive CrossFit athlete here that worked out a fair bit and same thing squeeze it in when you can yeah get it in early in the morning get it in late at night get it in when nobody's at the gym get it in when there's lots of people yeah right like it's it's about prioritizing the important stuff and fitting it in even when you don't feel like it yeah oh yeah that's a that's a big part too is like I'm not always motivated to work out right I think a lot of people assume I am but I'm not there's a lot of times I'm like
Speaker: I could just quit right now, but I go back to how badly I want to go to semis this year.
Speaker: And then I go back to, I want to go to the games and somebody that wants that bad enough is going to do it even when they don't want to.
Speaker: I've found myself increasingly with the change in my schedule since May,
Speaker: I'll come here like late at night.
Speaker: I'll work out at 8.30, 9 o'clock on a Saturday or I'll come in midday on a Saturday when I'd much rather be at home with Zach and the dogs.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I'll work out for three hours and I come home at 6.30 p.m.
Speaker: and I'm just I've got nothing left.
Speaker: So I go home and I sleep.
Speaker: But yeah, a lot of it's doing it even when you don't want to.
Speaker: For sure.
Speaker: I know a lot of the time we tell people, you know, you should come in X, Y, and Z amount of times in a week.
Speaker: And you can't always do it when you're motivated.
Speaker: You have to do it when you're not motivated too.
Speaker: Yeah, 100%.
Speaker: The old saying goes, if you have a strong enough why, you can endure anyhow, right?
Speaker: So your why is strong, right?
Speaker: You want to go to semis in person.
Speaker: You want to go to the games.
Speaker: That's like your North Star.
Speaker: When things get really crappy, you can come back and go, okay, is this what's going to get me there, right?
Speaker: And that's awesome.
Speaker: That's a really good example for people.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Some lighter stuff, maybe.
Speaker: Do you have a morning routine?
Speaker: uh when i'm coaching 5 30 a.m or no either or um when i'm coaching 5 30 a.m i do not yeah i make my coffee the night before we have like an auto brew yeah so we have it set for 4 20 yeah is there a reason we have it set for 4 20 yeah we're blazing okay whoa um no i'm just kidding um i've actually well i'd say i kind of do um
Speaker: I've gotten into the habit of showering in the morning.
Speaker: It just wakes me up.
Speaker: I didn't used to, but yeah, I'll usually, coffee will brew, I'll hear it kick on, I'll get up, I'll hop in the shower, throw my clothes on, grab a cup of coffee.
Speaker: I always drive with a mug.
Speaker: That's a fun fact.
Speaker: Like in one hand as you're driving?
Speaker: Well, no.
Speaker: Oh, like a ceramic mug?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So I've always got a ceramic mug.
Speaker: Drives me bonkers.
Speaker: So in the morning when I'm coaching 530, that's about the extent of it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: If I'm not coaching 530, odds are Zach is probably already at the gym.
Speaker: So morning routine changes a little bit.
Speaker: I still wake up and shower.
Speaker: I pour my coffee before I shower so that it cools off.
Speaker: And then I'm responsible for feeding the dogs and letting them out.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So there's like the added component of making sure that the dogs don't get sprayed by skunk.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Number one, because that's happened before.
Speaker: And wiping their paws, which I'm very anal about making sure that there's no wet dog in the house.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But aside from that, not really.
Speaker: I try to stay off of social media first thing in the morning.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I'll usually call my mom either when I'm heading out the door or while I'm in my car.
Speaker: Even early in the morning or not early in the morning?
Speaker: If I see that she's up, I'll go on Messenger and see if she's online.
Speaker: And then if she's online, then I'll call her.
Speaker: Or she'll call me.
Speaker: She has my location, so she knows I'm going to work.
Speaker: But that's about it.
Speaker: It's not complicated.
Speaker: I don't typically eat first thing in the morning.
Speaker: I'll eat right after I coach class.
Speaker: Do you put anything in your coffee?
Speaker: Yes, I do.
Speaker: I put R&F creatine and R&F vanilla protein, one scoop.
Speaker: Give it a stir.
Speaker: Shameless plug.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Very nice.
Speaker: I pretty much do the same thing minus the pre-routine.
Speaker: I'd love to say I have a more well-rounded morning routine, but it's pretty similar to yours other than reading ESPN and The Athletic for about 20 minutes every day.
Speaker: Yeah, that's okay.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Other than that, you know, I wish I stretched.
Speaker: I wish I had a breathing routine, but I just haven't been able to fit it in yet.
Speaker: Maybe.
Speaker: Maybe.
Speaker: We're still working on it.
Speaker: It's early, too.
Speaker: Like,
Speaker: A lot of the time we work split shifts.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: So we're coming in in the morning.
Speaker: We have PT or specialty class at night.
Speaker: And then you've got to train somewhere in between there.
Speaker: So there's another two to three hours.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We do our best.
Speaker: So I like my sleep a lot.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, you put in a lot of work.
Speaker: And that's as a sidebar.
Speaker: That's what most people don't do.
Speaker: They're like, I want to do more.
Speaker: But they don't.
Speaker: put in more time and recovery, right?
Speaker: So obviously, sleep, sleep demand goes up the more you train, right?
Speaker: Nutrition demand goes up the more you train, relax, relaxation, or stress relief goes up the more you train, right?
Speaker: And a lot of people don't balance that out.
Speaker: They're like, more, more, more on the training side, and then neglect the recovery side.
Speaker: And then eventually, things are going to catch up, right?
Speaker: So it's whenever people are like, I want to do more, like, hey, are you willing to put in
Speaker: more recovery, more sleep.
Speaker: And, you know, they're like, ah, I don't know if I can do that.
Speaker: It's like, well, you know, that's a, that's a tough decision.
Speaker: I've had to adjust through the years for sure.
Speaker: Like I sleep more, um, not ideal, but a lot of it is that night, like I, I very regularly will sleep during the day just because that's what my schedule allows for sure.
Speaker: And then being on call with fire sometimes that's interrupted at night.
Speaker: So then I'll need a little more.
Speaker: And I recognize that if I'm not feeling like I can work out at 9.30 in the morning after PT, I'll go home, I'll sleep and then I'll come back.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So it's good that you prioritize that stuff.
Speaker: It makes a big difference.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: What is the hardest part about being a competitor, a CrossFit competitor?
Speaker: For me, probably not getting caught up in
Speaker: the leaderboard, they're getting caught up in other people.
Speaker: I think social media has made it really easy to have access to everybody at all times and you get everybody's highlight reel.
Speaker: I only post my highlight reel.
Speaker: Like very rarely will you see me post a crappy lift or failed gymnastics or me falling on my head because I went to failure on a handstand pushup.
Speaker: So yeah, it's tough not to get caught up in that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I'd say body image wise, I've struggled a lot with that too, through the years.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: My obsession with running and doing P90X, and then running again in a day came from like,
Speaker: oh, wow, I'm finally starting to lose weight.
Speaker: Like, oh, I can see my top ab.
Speaker: I can see my rib.
Speaker: My legs look more defined and trying not to fall into that again or seeing other women online who are big and strong.
Speaker: And I'm like, oh, my God, I want to look like that.
Speaker: When at the end of the day, like, yeah, I want to look hot.
Speaker: But I also...
Speaker: Like doing well in the sport is way more important to me at this point.
Speaker: It wasn't always.
Speaker: But like making sure that I'm fueling for performance and not under fueling so that I look a certain way has been something that I actively work on.
Speaker: I know for a lot of people counting their macros or tracking their food,
Speaker: is like something that people typically don't enjoy.
Speaker: Um, but I found that I'm eating, yeah, I'm eating way more, um, of the right stuff.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Now that I'm back to tracking, I feel way more energized.
Speaker: My workouts feel way better.
Speaker: I'm lifting more.
Speaker: Um, so that's helped.
Speaker: That's something that I introduced or reintroduced with Zach's nutrition challenge.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What a couple of months ago we started a little before that.
Speaker: And, uh,
Speaker: that's helped but definitely you know being kind to my body yeah and recognizing like hey what what my goal is is performance it's not to look a certain way that's a bonus yeah if it if it works out if it doesn't and I'm performing well that I'm happy yeah you know but yeah actively being conscious of that and not
Speaker: being over critical of the way that I look.
Speaker: Yeah, I think that's, I think that's super important.
Speaker: And I think that's something that CrossFit itself has helped to change in that kind of space.
Speaker: Obviously, I'm not a female, so I can't speak to that.
Speaker: But I know that like, they've made a really big point to say strong is the new sexy, right?
Speaker: Like skinny is not, you know,
Speaker: shouldn't be what you're working towards.
Speaker: It should be functionality.
Speaker: It should be strength.
Speaker: It should be, you know, I'm a badass woman.
Speaker: Look at me, all the things I do.
Speaker: And I think that CrossFit has taken a really big,
Speaker: part in pushing that and saying, look, we're not looking for stick-thin model-type people that you see on the runway.
Speaker: We're looking for strong ladies that are capable and functional.
Speaker: And I think that's really, really, really cool.
Speaker: And for myself, having two daughters and having them literally grow up in the gym and be around really strong women and great role models, they get to see that.
Speaker: And they're not...
Speaker: you know, they're flexing their biceps and they're like, look at me, I can do this.
Speaker: Like I can pick you up.
Speaker: And that's, I think a by-product of being in the gym, right?
Speaker: There's other environments where maybe that wouldn't be celebrated as much.
Speaker: And that would not be nearly as cool because I love the fact they've got women like yourself and, you know, other, other girls in the gym that they can look at and be like, Whoa, look at the things they can do.
Speaker: I want to do that.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Look how bigger muscles are.
Speaker: That's cool.
Speaker: I want to have big muscles too, because I would be,
Speaker: you know, I would be gutted if they were like, no, I want to be stick thin and, you know, do this just for aesthetics because that, that would not be what we kind of believe in here and what we want to put forth to everyone, not just, not just women, but you know, men as well.
Speaker: Like you, you need to be functional.
Speaker: You need to be strong.
Speaker: And like, if that means that you're heavier than you want to be,
Speaker: So be it.
Speaker: Like, if you can do more things, like, increased work capacity is always the goal.
Speaker: And if that comes with some, you know, body changes, then cool.
Speaker: I'm cool with that, right?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Even, like, on the note of your girls being around, like, them seeing their mom.
Speaker: I know Grace isn't into competitive CrossFit, per se, until the Open.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: Like, your two girls seeing Grace come to the gym and bring her massage stuff upstairs and then come down and do a 930 class and do overhead squats and do bar-facing burpees and do hanging knee raises or toaster egg and then showering and massaging people for a day and then going home and, like, cooking dinner.
Speaker: Like, that is...
Speaker: I think that's something that is really unique is that like in CrossFit is we want the family to be part of it.
Speaker: And for me being around other women, whether it's, you know, somebody older than me, like Lana, like
Speaker: having Lana in my corner cheering me on and being like, you're a badass and you know, you can do it, you can push harder.
Speaker: Like she holds me to that or being a ground grace and then having her text me after a qualifier and being like, oh my God, you're amazing.
Speaker: You know, and then having Ella sit on the GHD in front of me while I'm doing like fricking heavy squat snatches and like coming over and giving me a hug after a qualifier like that.
Speaker: that is something that is so special that we have here and i just i don't know i love women i just love like it's it's so empowering for me to be around women and i think knowing how much stress we've like innately had on us like all throughout life you know ella and cali they're
Speaker: they're diving and they probably already feel pressure to look a certain way.
Speaker: They're so young.
Speaker: And, and then, you know, before I started CrossFit, I was like, Oh, I want to be skinny fit.
Speaker: And now like that's gone out the window and I'm like, Oh, I want to be three sizes bigger and full muscle.
Speaker: Like there's still that pressure to look a certain way.
Speaker: Um, and I think being around other women that feel the same pressure, maybe to different degrees,
Speaker: like we have like an understanding.
Speaker: 100%, yeah.
Speaker: You know, I kind of like that.
Speaker: It's hard, but yeah, we definitely have a common.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's nice too that stuff like that, when they see you working so hard, it normalizes hard work.
Speaker: It normalizes, you know, women grunting and, you know, swearing and sweating and doing all the things and that for them is normal.
Speaker: That's like, oh, this is what we do at the gym.
Speaker: We work hard, right?
Speaker: And that's, sometimes that's not always...
Speaker: the image that's projected to people and I don't want them to have that image.
Speaker: I want them to have the image of hard work, sweat, blood, tears, all the things, because you know, that's going to help them in life.
Speaker: It's not going to be like, Oh man, I've got, you know, I can look a certain way by doing this thing.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: But having them see all the positive role models here is by far one of my favorite things about the gym.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Favorite things.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Okay, so we have the JD CrossFit Classic coming up November the 29th.
Speaker: It is a CrossFit competition that you've put on for the last four years now.
Speaker: This will be the fourth year?
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: This will be the fourth year.
Speaker: Can you tell us a little bit about the JD Classic?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So JD Classic, John Dupour Classic, is named after my dad.
Speaker: So my dad was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder.
Speaker: at the very end of his life, unfortunately.
Speaker: So my dad passed away in April of 2021.
Speaker: Years ago, we had some close family friends, Jocelyn, who's like considered an aunt to me, who was my dad's bestie.
Speaker: Her parents died within a few months of each other.
Speaker: And as a way to help Jocelyn honor her parents, my dad started a fundraiser scholarship.
Speaker: for the University of Windsor or a graduate degree scholarship, sorry, through the University of Windsor in their name.
Speaker: So in Jocelyn's parents' name.
Speaker: And that was in 2008.
Speaker: So every year since 2008 that my dad continued to work, he would put on a penny drive at their school and they would raise money
Speaker: All year they would do like this big assembly at the end of the year.
Speaker: They drop prizes for the people that raised the most all this stuff.
Speaker: It was a lot of fun.
Speaker: So they'd raise money.
Speaker: They donate it to the university for the first few years.
Speaker: The government was matching whatever amount they raised and then eventually the government stopped.
Speaker: So he like tried to come up with new ways to raise even more money.
Speaker: And then he retired due to his illness.
Speaker: He didn't know what it was at the time, but he wasn't feeling well.
Speaker: Kind of forced him into early retirement.
Speaker: But he was still, the other teachers at the school continued to run the penny drive.
Speaker: He was an active part of it, would still reach out to local companies, local restaurants, try and find different ways to raise money.
Speaker: And then after he died, I wanted to continue to put energy and time into raising money for that scholarship because I knew how much it meant to him.
Speaker: And then obviously having the connection that I have here and like you being open to running a competition and raising money for that has been...
Speaker: Amazing.
Speaker: So every year for the past four years, this will be number four.
Speaker: We put on a competition registration fee goes towards the scholarship and then any extra money that we raise through 50 50s donations.
Speaker: We get a lot of donations every year.
Speaker: that's also been donated to the scholarship as well.
Speaker: Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker: I know that every year it's gotten, you've raised a little bit more and more money, which is a pretty amazing thing.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Just a sidebar to the whole conversation.
Speaker: The school that your dad used to teach at, it's the school that my daughters go to, St.
Speaker: Anne French Immersion, right?
Speaker: So that's a pretty amazing connection.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So November 29th, it's a partner competition.
Speaker: Yeah, same-sex teams of two.
Speaker: Teams of two.
Speaker: And you've got divisions for pretty much anybody, right?
Speaker: Yeah, Rx, intermediate, open, which is like the equivalent of sweat.
Speaker: So like beginner.
Speaker: And then adaptive.
Speaker: I think it's just the four.
Speaker: Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker: Like I think one thing that people –
Speaker: have this preconceived notion if there's a CrossFit competition, you have to be good at CrossFit.
Speaker: But I know that with the divisions you have, you're going to have options for everybody.
Speaker: So it's like if you've never been in a CrossFit competition, if you don't go to a CrossFit gym, if you go to a regular gym, you can still compete and still have fun and still be part of something that's really cool.
Speaker: So I suggest that everybody find a partner.
Speaker: and come out and enjoy it.
Speaker: It's always a good, good time.
Speaker: Zach's emceeing and you're running around.
Speaker: Cam's emceeing.
Speaker: Cam's emceeing, even better.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Holy moly.
Speaker: Zach's competing this year.
Speaker: We're going to have to get Cam something to stand on.
Speaker: Yeah, I know.
Speaker: My shoulders.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But always a good time.
Speaker: I'll be competing this year as well.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Hopefully you have to talk to your partner.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, I'll figure it out.
Speaker: I'll figure out something.
Speaker: But yeah, that's such a good time and I'm excited for that to happen.
Speaker: And it's a good way to kind of roll right into, you know, the open, which will be coming up very shortly after that too, right?
Speaker: So it's nice to have goals like CrossFit or JD Classic as a goal and then kind of roll from that into the open as well.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I know we've been going for a while.
Speaker: I'm going to go rapid fire here.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Rapid fire.
Speaker: You ready?
Speaker: Favorite movement.
Speaker: Favorite movement?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Chest to bar.
Speaker: Chest to bar.
Speaker: You're really good at chest to bar.
Speaker: Least favorite movement.
Speaker: strict handstand push-ups.
Speaker: Strict handstand push-ups.
Speaker: I hear you.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Do you prefer if you could choose to work out in the morning, the afternoon, or the evening?
Speaker: Afternoon.
Speaker: Afternoon.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: I think that's supposed to be the best time to work out.
Speaker: Like you get the best results and everything if you can fit it in there because otherwise, you know.
Speaker: These are my ears.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Perfect.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Long or short workouts?
Speaker: Long.
Speaker: Long.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: There you go.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Favorite
Speaker: I don't want to call it a cheat food.
Speaker: Favorite indulgent food?
Speaker: McDonald's ice cream cone.
Speaker: Nice.
Speaker: We have one every day.
Speaker: Every day.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: And spicy dill pickle Miss Vickies.
Speaker: Ooh, that's quite the combo.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Favorite healthy food?
Speaker: Extra lean ground chicken.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Very versatile.
Speaker: Favorite pre or post workout snack or something you take all the time pre or post?
Speaker: Pre coffee with vanilla R&F.
Speaker: Nice.
Speaker: And then post either a banana or a Darryl's bar.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Delicious.
Speaker: Cookies and cream.
Speaker: Delicious.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: What's your favorite way to relax?
Speaker: A nap.
Speaker: A nap?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Straight up.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Nap with the dogs.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: You've mentioned the dogs a couple of times.
Speaker: Tell me your dogs.
Speaker: What are your dogs' names?
Speaker: Mosley.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Three-year-old Australian Shepherd, Golden Retriever mix.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Big black boy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then Charlie, obviously a girl.
Speaker: She's 11.
Speaker: Border Collie Lab mix.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Little black thing.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: cute.
Speaker: He's a cutie.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I think that's all I've got.
Speaker: Is there anything else you want to plug?
Speaker: You want to tell us anything?
Speaker: I also have a fiance, his name's Zach and I love him very much.
Speaker: Oh, we could edit that out.
Speaker: No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker: Who is also my brother as well too.
Speaker: So Zach is also a coach here.
Speaker: I know he's been mentioned a few times in the show.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Coach Zach, my brother, your fiance, father to Mosley and Charlie as well.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: My number one sports system.
Speaker: In every domain, firefighting, in the gym, outside of the gym.
Speaker: He's a rock.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker: He's my rock, yeah.
Speaker: Perfect.
Speaker: For sure.
Speaker: Okay, Steph, thank you so much for doing this.
Speaker: I know you had some apprehension before, but you did a great job and it was really fun chatting to you about all the things that you do in and around the gym.
Speaker: We appreciate you and we're happy that you are here with us.
Speaker: Thanks.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Thanks so much.
Speaker: I'm going to go work out.
