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Episode 8: Lexi L.: Overcoming addiction with CrossFit.
8 Plays6 months ago
Today we sit down with Lexi L and talk about how much her CrossFit journey has meant to her. From using fitness to help with recovery to becoming a coach, Lexi has a great story that's worth sharing.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Levels' Podcast with Lexi LaFontaine
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Levels, the podcast where we get to know our members here at All Level CrossFit a bit better.
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Speaker
We've got some amazing stories that happen inside this box and outside the walls of the box, and we want to share them.
00:00:11
Speaker
Today we have Lexi LaFontaine on our show.
00:00:14
Speaker
Thank you, Lexi, for being a guest today.
00:00:17
Speaker
She's going to share some stories and how she started the gym, all that kind of good stuff, and we'll get to know you a little bit better and let people in the community get to know you a little bit better.
Lexi's Background and Early Life
00:00:26
Speaker
Cool.
00:00:26
Speaker
Okay, so tell me a little bit about yourself.
00:00:28
Speaker
Where did you grow up?
00:00:30
Speaker
I grew up in LaSalle.
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Speaker
Yeah, in LaSalle, always lived there with my family, my mom, my dad, and my two sisters, and then my dog, Pia.
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Speaker
I'm 24 years old.
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Speaker
L.A.
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Speaker
Always lived in L.A.
00:00:47
Speaker
We've never moved.
00:00:48
Speaker
I've always stayed at the same house ever since I've been there.
00:00:51
Speaker
Well, that's all right.
00:00:52
Speaker
Yeah, there's some continuity there.
00:00:53
Speaker
Cool.
00:00:54
Speaker
Now, where did you go to school?
00:00:55
Speaker
I went to school, like, grade school.
00:00:58
Speaker
Sure.
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Speaker
So grade school, I went to Sacred Heart.
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Speaker
It was, like, two blocks away from my house.
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Speaker
So it was easy.
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Speaker
We always walked to school.
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Speaker
And then high school, I went to Sandwich Secondary School.
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Speaker
And then I went to St.
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Speaker
Clair College for about one year in the fitness, health, and promotion program.
00:01:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:01:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:19
Speaker
I think that just circling back to the grade school thing, like being able to walk to school is really underrated.
00:01:25
Speaker
Like my kids ride the bus.
00:01:26
Speaker
I love if they'd be able to walk because I remember when I used to walk to school as a kid, like there's some cool conversations you have, you see stuff, you know, it's a time to chat, be away from parents, be away from supervision a little bit.
00:01:37
Speaker
I think that's something that it's missed in today's world.
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Speaker
I loved walking to school.
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Speaker
Everyone's worried about this and that, but I think they're,
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Speaker
Kids need a little bit of freedom.
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Speaker
They need a little bit of freedom to grow.
00:01:48
Speaker
Cool.
00:01:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:49
Speaker
Okay.
00:01:49
Speaker
Did you play any sports when you were growing up?
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Speaker
It was like,
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Speaker
dance kind of a sport of course it is yeah i mean i know some parents that pay a lot of money for competitive dance so yeah we'll call it a sport sport yeah i did dance yeah um i danced at kathy's dance studio did hip-hop jazz um tap ballet tap was probably my favorite was your favorite yeah that i did didn't really wasn't very much of a ballet like person but tap and hip-hop were my favorite i did that with my um
00:02:20
Speaker
My older sister.
00:02:22
Speaker
Cool.
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah.
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Speaker
Do you still have your tap shoes?
00:02:24
Speaker
I do still have my tap shoes.
00:02:25
Speaker
Christmas party's coming up.
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Speaker
I don't know if they'd fit me, though.
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Speaker
Christmas party's coming up.
00:02:29
Speaker
That'd be pretty fun.
00:02:30
Speaker
Okay.
Discovering CrossFit and Its Impact
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Speaker
How long have you been doing CrossFit?
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Speaker
So I've been at the gym for like five years now.
00:02:36
Speaker
Crazy.
00:02:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:37
Speaker
I still remember when you started.
00:02:38
Speaker
That's five years.
00:02:40
Speaker
They go by so fast.
00:02:41
Speaker
I say this every time I have a guest on here.
00:02:43
Speaker
It's like eight years, five years, six years, and it feels like yesterday.
00:02:48
Speaker
Yeah.
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Speaker
That's awesome.
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Speaker
Okay.
00:02:51
Speaker
How did you get started?
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Speaker
What prompted you to start CrossFit?
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Speaker
Was there a specific thing?
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Speaker
Like, was there a reason you started?
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Speaker
So I started CrossFit because I was like a previous opioid addict and I wanted to find a different out.
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Speaker
I had to kind of get rid of all of my old like like people that I was hanging out with and being around and I needed some sort of new healthy addiction and my therapist that I was going to at the time she mentioned
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Speaker
here and said you should go see John and talk to him and like meet up with him and I was really scared to come into the gym especially at that time because I was like fresh fresh in recovery and I was like debating between a normal gym like just like a commercial gym or like a CrossFit gym and I've never been to one so when me and my mom we came in here I talked to you and I was like I was like really scared because everybody's doing like rope thing climbing you know what I mean
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Speaker
And like my mom was like, well, did you want to like, did you want to do it here?
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Speaker
And I was like, well,
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Speaker
I'm like, I'm not, I'm not sure.
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Speaker
My mom's like, yeah, we're just going to sign her up.
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Speaker
We're going to do it.
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Speaker
Like, I remember my mom like doing that push because she's like, saw like the community here.
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Speaker
And it was either that or I went to commercial gym and like headphones and stuff.
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Speaker
And that, that really probably wouldn't have helped me because I needed some sort of social aspect of it.
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Speaker
So once I got started, I started with Steph, like do four, which I
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Speaker
We did like lots, I remember lots of PTs to help me be comfortable to just even just movement and stuff like that.
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Speaker
And like ever since like then, even like watching you, Zach, Steph and all the coaches, like coach, for some reason, just like found this like obsession, new obsession of like, I want to do what they're doing.
00:04:48
Speaker
yeah like and like my goal ever since i started here was like i wanted like i said the stuff like i wanted to become a coach here so it's like crazy how it's kind of making like full circle yeah because that was my like main goal and it really helped me um to find a new healthy addiction and like this this i think this like the gym kind of like saved me in a way because like whenever i had like an issue or even if i just like wanted to just chill
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Speaker
or hanging out was having a bad day.
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Speaker
Like any of the coaches I'd come here and just like, just let me hang out and just like talk.
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Speaker
Yeah.
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Speaker
If I like had an urge for like to go, to go grab or go somewhere that wouldn't be very good for me, like I would run here.
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Speaker
And that was a perfect like out for me because like I was having such a hard time.
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Speaker
So it helped me to create such a great new environment and community with people that we all enjoy doing the same thing.
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Speaker
We all have the same goal.
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Speaker
We're all trying to be healthy.
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Speaker
like fit and we're all like cheering each other on.
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Speaker
I never had any of that where I had so much support from so many people.
00:05:55
Speaker
It was, it was really great that I'm glad that I started.
00:05:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:59
Speaker
Well, we're really glad you started too.
00:06:00
Speaker
So I just want to circle back on a couple of things because, um, you know, we've,
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Speaker
I think that's an underrated aspect of CrossFit and CrossFit community.
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Speaker
And it's starting to come out a bit more where CrossFit is doing a lot of stuff with groups in recovery.
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Speaker
Like, you know, we've done stuff with the Phoenix in the U.S. and they're a huge organization that helps people in recovery.
00:06:23
Speaker
They just need 24 hours of sobriety to come and attend some of their programming.
00:06:27
Speaker
That's part of it is that, you know, it's great.
00:06:31
Speaker
You know, it's hard enough to get
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Speaker
clean or be in recovery.
00:06:35
Speaker
But if you don't have anybody, like you said, to talk to, to hang out with.
00:06:39
Speaker
Because you have to get rid of those people.
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Speaker
Right.
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Speaker
You have to, you pretty much have to start over and you, and you either choose, you know, being alone and just kind of hanging out in your house or hopefully find a community that welcomes you in and says, yeah, you know, let's whatever, let's just go and work out.
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Speaker
Let's have fun.
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Speaker
And I think that's something that, that is, is really underrated about our community, our community, CrossFit community in general is,
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Speaker
we don't really care what's gone on or what you're doing.
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Speaker
You know, as long as when you're here, you're a good person, you contribute to the community, right?
00:07:12
Speaker
And you kind of integrate yourself that way.
00:07:15
Speaker
I think that that's really, really cool.
00:07:17
Speaker
I'm really happy you shared that story because that's part that not a lot of people get to hear about, right?
00:07:22
Speaker
You know, they hear about weight loss and they hear about getting stronger and they hear about, you know, all that kind of stuff.
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Speaker
But your story is another aspect
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Speaker
that, you know, I know personally more than one person who's gone through a similar journey and, and CrossFit has helped them along the way too.
00:07:38
Speaker
So that's really cool, Lex.
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Speaker
And then, as you said, coming for a full circle now, spoiler alert, you're a coach here at all CrossFit, which is, which is really, really cool.
00:07:48
Speaker
And you're doing a fantastic job running some kids programs and coaching classes.
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Speaker
So that's awesome.
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Speaker
Awesome.
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Speaker
Okay.
Overcoming Challenges and Building Confidence
00:07:56
Speaker
Um, do you remember your first class or your first session?
00:08:00
Speaker
My first session I was definitely with Steph.
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Speaker
I think I remember I did like over like 200 PTs with Steph before I started in the class.
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Speaker
I think I was just having a lot of social anxiety, like fresh out of recovery, obviously.
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Speaker
It was like having a hard time like talking to people, socializing and stuff.
00:08:22
Speaker
So it really like Steph really helped to make me feel comfortable and like find my strengths and stuff.
00:08:30
Speaker
doing like i remember steph talked to my mom after we did so many pts together and i was i was doing so well i was progressing so well that she was like i think it would be good to get lexi into doing the classes and i think she should try the classes and i remember when i start when i i was like i was like okay yeah i'll try it and then i started to do the classes and like i like that even more
00:08:55
Speaker
like even more and like because like I was finding like friends like community and like the whole like aspect of it like with the mindset the question of the day like everybody getting involved engaging with each other so like that's where it kind of like filled that social aspect first it was kind of like finding myself first and that's what Steph kind of helped me do is or during our like personal training sessions then like in the class it kind of like kind of put it together with like
00:09:24
Speaker
my personal the stuff that i was going through personally and then um like the social aspect all together it kind of like i kind of just put together two and two and then i i really enjoyed the classes yeah and they've been like they've been great like they're they're so fun no they're they're my favorite way to work out i mean i i look back on training in regular gyms and
00:09:51
Speaker
I wasn't sure how I stayed motivated.
00:09:53
Speaker
I was not very motivated, but I love being in class.
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Speaker
I love banter with people.
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Speaker
I love talking to people.
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Speaker
I love high fives, a little bit of competition, all the things that are in a class, the social aspect, just make it a great hour.
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Speaker
I look forward to that hour and I know that I need to do it as frequently as I can.
00:10:13
Speaker
If I don't, then I miss it.
00:10:14
Speaker
And then I get a little grumpy.
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Speaker
I get a little out of sorts.
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Speaker
That one hour where I can hang out with people and just kind of, you know, throw around some weights and high five is super, super important for me.
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Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:28
Speaker
Okay.
00:10:29
Speaker
What PR or accomplishment in the gym are you most proud of?
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Speaker
Probably.
00:10:34
Speaker
Well, I miss my back squats, but probably my back squat.
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Speaker
I worked really hard to, um,
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Speaker
get to 200 when I PR'd my 200 pound back squat.
00:10:46
Speaker
Nice.
00:10:47
Speaker
That was, that was pretty sweet.
00:10:50
Speaker
Cause I had probably for about, probably about six, six months, I kept on hitting 195, like matching it so many times, so many times.
00:11:03
Speaker
And I was getting so frustrated.
00:11:06
Speaker
So when I hit that, that was probably like,
00:11:09
Speaker
It's just like that five pounds is like, I didn't think it can make a difference, but it just feels like 200 more pounds on it.
00:11:19
Speaker
I've been there before.
00:11:20
Speaker
And it's that, it always seems to be those rounded numbers, right?
00:11:25
Speaker
It's like a 200 or a 300 or whatever it is.
00:11:28
Speaker
And there's a mental aspect to that too.
00:11:30
Speaker
That five pounds, like you said, feels like 200 pounds because in your head, it's this barrier.
00:11:35
Speaker
And then once you break free of that or get past that,
00:11:39
Speaker
it seems like, okay, now I can start climbing again.
00:11:41
Speaker
It's one of those plateaus where you get here, then you do one of these for a little while.
00:11:46
Speaker
And then mentally you get strong enough to do it.
00:11:48
Speaker
And then boom, then you start going up again, you know, and that's, that's your fitness journey, right?
00:11:52
Speaker
And I know that right now you say you miss your back squats because you're going through some, some injuries.
00:11:57
Speaker
But what I really admire about you as well is the way that you continue to come to the gym, regardless of what's going on in your body, if it's not cooperating and you find stuff to do, which is,
00:12:08
Speaker
perfect, which is the perfect mentality that we want out of athletes is don't tell me what you can't do.
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Speaker
Tell me what you can do and then we'll work from there.
00:12:16
Speaker
And you find that out yourself, right?
00:12:18
Speaker
So you're always in here doing things, you know, ring rows and planks and riding the bike and you're still as consistent with an injury as you were when you were injury free, which is perfect.
00:12:30
Speaker
That's great.
00:12:31
Speaker
Okay.
00:12:32
Speaker
If you could give your day one CrossFit self some advice, what would it be?
00:12:36
Speaker
Don't think, just do it.
00:12:37
Speaker
I like it, right?
00:12:38
Speaker
Don't overthink it.
00:12:39
Speaker
I think that's big.
00:12:41
Speaker
I'm a big overthinker, so I'd say just do it because I would always procrastinate and then my mom would make the decision for me so that I wouldn't procrastinate because I'd be like, oh, one more day to think about it.
00:12:54
Speaker
And just like, no, we're doing it now.
00:12:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's becoming more and more prevalent in today's society that we tend to overthink things.
00:13:02
Speaker
I don't know if it's social media.
00:13:04
Speaker
I don't know what it is, but...
00:13:05
Speaker
even I find myself now overthinking things that shouldn't, don't require that much thought.
00:13:11
Speaker
And it's like, should I do this?
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Speaker
Should I not do this?
00:13:13
Speaker
And it's like, whoa, just do the thing.
00:13:15
Speaker
Right.
00:13:16
Speaker
And I think that's amazing.
00:13:17
Speaker
Amazing thing to tell people is, you know, people are a lot of times, as you said, they're scared and they're anxious when they come here.
00:13:24
Speaker
And it's, and that's a big step to get in the front door, but almost everybody says, you know,
00:13:31
Speaker
What's your advice to people who want to try CrossFit?
00:13:34
Speaker
Just try it.
00:13:34
Speaker
Just try it.
00:13:35
Speaker
Just try it.
00:13:36
Speaker
Because they do.
00:13:36
Speaker
They overthink it.
00:13:38
Speaker
What if I don't know how to do the movements?
00:13:39
Speaker
What if I look silly?
00:13:41
Speaker
What if no one remembers my name?
00:13:44
Speaker
All those things.
00:13:45
Speaker
But you know, once you walk in the doors, right?
00:13:49
Speaker
Yeah, that's the biggest step is just getting through the door.
00:13:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:54
Speaker
It's hard to come in, and we appreciate that.
00:13:57
Speaker
That it is hard, but we just say, once you get here, we'll take care of you.
00:14:00
Speaker
We will totally 100% take care of you.
00:14:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:03
Speaker
Okay.
00:14:04
Speaker
Has CrossFit helped you in your daily life any way?
00:14:07
Speaker
I mean, obviously we've gone through it, but can you think of any examples where you've utilized, you know, strength from CrossFit or mindset from CrossFit or anything?
00:14:17
Speaker
smart like even just like the shelves because they have a lot of like when I used to be on the stock team there like dog food bags and stuff so it's kind of like sandbag like carry or like stand by clean I'd be like every single time I go to go pick up one of those bags I'm like and then pick it up like pick it up so like probably like any like lifting stuff as well yeah um
00:14:44
Speaker
probably what I've used in everyday life I'd love to see a video of you doing that because you're a really good mover and you're very conscientious about the way you move and I'd love to see you like approach a 50 pound bag of dog food and just like grab it you've you've seen obviously you've seen it on Instagram where the people do that where they get into like Costco and they're picking things up but they're yeah doing it like you're in the gym I love it
00:15:06
Speaker
We need a video of that.
00:15:08
Speaker
My co-workers, right before I said, they're like, you're good.
00:15:11
Speaker
Lexi, before I'm going to pick it up.
00:15:13
Speaker
I said, just give me a second to pick this up.
00:15:17
Speaker
I'm just putting my belt on.
00:15:20
Speaker
I'm just brazing.
00:15:20
Speaker
Nice.
00:15:21
Speaker
All right.
00:15:21
Speaker
Do you have a morning routine?
Daily Routines and Applying CrossFit to Life
00:15:24
Speaker
Yes.
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah, I usually, so I usually, the one thing that helps me in the morning is that the night before, I like to get everything ready the night before so that when I wake up in the morning, it's easier and I can just grab and go.
00:15:38
Speaker
Which is to like pick my outfit before I go, like set up if I have any medications or like my breakfast, like my skincare, all that.
00:15:48
Speaker
I like to set it up all before so that I can just get up and go.
00:15:52
Speaker
I don't have to, because usually...
00:15:53
Speaker
I like have a hard time waking up.
00:15:56
Speaker
And so I just end up just setting it all up the night before.
00:16:00
Speaker
And then so it's just like one, two, three, I can just do it all, all the things.
00:16:05
Speaker
I love that.
00:16:06
Speaker
I love that.
00:16:07
Speaker
I basically, the only thing I set up the night before is the clothes I'm going to wear the next day.
00:16:12
Speaker
But I think that makes it so much better to wake up and know that everything's taken care of.
00:16:17
Speaker
And I've seen senior notes when you prepare for class, you're a very prepared person.
00:16:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:21
Speaker
You know, you've got,
00:16:22
Speaker
pages of notes for one class and it's awesome.
00:16:25
Speaker
So I think that that is something that I would love to incorporate, not only my own routine, but also my kids as well.
00:16:32
Speaker
They do a little bit of that now.
00:16:34
Speaker
They're starting to learn.
00:16:35
Speaker
The better they're set up the night before, the longer they can sleep in the morning.
00:16:38
Speaker
Yeah, well, that's the same thing for me.
00:16:40
Speaker
And sometimes I was really bad with time management before.
00:16:43
Speaker
So like getting everything ready the night before really helped me.
00:16:46
Speaker
And like, for some reason, like,
00:16:50
Speaker
We have like, I have a laptop and I have all that stuff and like, but just like typing, it doesn't like, it doesn't really stick in my head for me.
00:16:58
Speaker
I really liked, I really, I love to write and I love to write all my notes, like every idea I have because I can just like write it out and like,
00:17:07
Speaker
on the computer if I'm typing and then or I go backspace you know I want to like jot it all down like scratch it out and then again like you know I mean oh this one didn't work and then it just it just helps me to be if I have like a set like plan on how like the class is gonna run yeah like for example if like I'm like setting up how like the the class is gonna go I just have like an outline where if like I get lost
00:17:34
Speaker
that I can go back to it and if I need to change something I can change something like quickly but like just looking back at that plan helps me to really change that quickly if I don't have anything to see I kind of get a little bit flustered so that really helps me to really get back yeah they say there's there's a connection there's a much more of a connection when you physically write something out then if you type it like you're more likely to retain that information more of a mind-body connection because you are
00:18:03
Speaker
you know, when you're typing, you're making your body do something as well too, but, but being able to see it all happen before you.
00:18:09
Speaker
And I'm old enough that I took notes in university and school, you know, by hand, because it wasn't really another option, but I don't think I could go back to, I don't think I could use a computer to take notes.
00:18:20
Speaker
It just doesn't seem as real as silly as that sound.
00:18:24
Speaker
It doesn't seem as real.
00:18:25
Speaker
Like, and I love your notebook full of notes and then you can just refer back to it.
00:18:28
Speaker
Right.
00:18:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:28
Speaker
I love that.
00:18:29
Speaker
It's really cool.
00:18:29
Speaker
So that kind of,
00:18:31
Speaker
Your morning routine kind of showed us what your night routine as well is.
00:18:36
Speaker
Yeah, it's setting up for the morning.
00:18:39
Speaker
Ready?
00:18:40
Speaker
Take as much sleep as I can by setting up the night before, which is perfect.
Favorite and Least Favorite Workouts
00:18:44
Speaker
Okay, some rapid fire questions.
00:18:45
Speaker
You ready?
00:18:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:46
Speaker
Favorite movement in the gym?
00:18:47
Speaker
Favorite movement in the gym?
00:18:49
Speaker
Probably, can I pick my top two?
00:18:52
Speaker
Power clean and back squat.
00:18:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:55
Speaker
Yeah, I agree on the power clean.
00:18:57
Speaker
Back squat, maybe not so much.
00:18:59
Speaker
I love squats.
00:18:59
Speaker
Yeah, that's my own personal thing.
00:19:01
Speaker
I love a good power clean.
00:19:02
Speaker
Okay, what's your least favorite movement?
00:19:05
Speaker
Probably thrusters and gymnastics movement, which do like chest bar.
00:19:13
Speaker
Tough.
00:19:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:14
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:19:15
Speaker
Chest bar are a tough movement.
00:19:17
Speaker
Okay, you prefer morning, afternoon, or evening classes?
00:19:23
Speaker
It's different for me because I remember before I used to be like a big morning person where I would come in the morning and then I'd be like kind of middle of the day and then afternoon.
00:19:31
Speaker
But lately I've been like afternoon, like later in the day, which is, which I like because there's, um,
00:19:38
Speaker
The 5.30 classes always bump in.
00:19:40
Speaker
So I think I get to talk to a lot more people in the afternoon.
00:19:44
Speaker
But I do really like the morning classes as well.
00:19:47
Speaker
That's a good point too.
00:19:49
Speaker
Each class time has a different vibe to it, right?
00:19:53
Speaker
5.30 a.m.
00:19:54
Speaker
no one wants to talk because they're probably still sitting there.
00:19:56
Speaker
And then 5.30 p.m.
00:19:57
Speaker
is a party in here, right?
00:19:58
Speaker
You've got 5.30 p.m.
00:20:00
Speaker
class going on.
00:20:01
Speaker
You might have kids class going on at the same time.
00:20:03
Speaker
There's the crossover for the 6.30 class.
00:20:04
Speaker
The place is packed.
00:20:06
Speaker
The music's going.
00:20:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's a pretty classic meme where you have the morning people, you know, like this and then the 5.30 a.m.
00:20:12
Speaker
And then noon's like a mixture of both.
00:20:15
Speaker
It can be, yeah.
00:20:16
Speaker
It's like a mixture of both where it's just like people that are very nonchalant.
00:20:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:22
Speaker
The 930 has become a busy class at the AM as well too, which is really cool to see a good group.
00:20:27
Speaker
Okay.
00:20:28
Speaker
Long endurance workouts or short sprinty workouts.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:33
Speaker
You know, it's so funny.
00:20:34
Speaker
I think I mentioned this before that I prefer probably a long endurance workout now just because I'm scared of like short sprinting workouts.
00:20:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:42
Speaker
Because they just tend to hurt a lot more.
00:20:44
Speaker
They do.
00:20:44
Speaker
And my desire to hurt has gotten less and less as I age up, right?
00:20:48
Speaker
And I'm just like, I'll just settle into a nice pace as opposed to like push myself to the red line.
00:20:54
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you.
00:20:56
Speaker
Okay, what's your favorite indulgent food?
00:20:59
Speaker
So if you're going to indulge and you're like, I'm going to have this.
00:21:03
Speaker
Probably donuts.
00:21:04
Speaker
Donuts.
00:21:05
Speaker
I love.
00:21:06
Speaker
Steimars donut, I love.
00:21:08
Speaker
Like, every single time I go in there, I usually get their bread.
00:21:10
Speaker
And I always say that I'm going to get one and I end up eating the two.
00:21:13
Speaker
Those are serious donuts.
00:21:15
Speaker
Like, you have a Steimars donut and you don't have to eat again for three days.
00:21:19
Speaker
And now, you know, we've got that donut connection in the gym.
00:21:23
Speaker
Louise works at Taurus Donuts and she'll occasionally bring in some donuts, you know, and we get to sample some of those crazy fancy donuts.
00:21:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:30
Speaker
All right.
00:21:31
Speaker
What's your favorite healthy food?
00:21:33
Speaker
I love blueberries and bananas.
00:21:36
Speaker
Those are probably my top two fruits lately.
00:21:39
Speaker
I think that's probably I love fruits.
00:21:43
Speaker
I'd have to have a top five.
00:21:45
Speaker
But bananas, the only cheap thing in the world anymore.
00:21:47
Speaker
And then blueberries are packed with antioxidants and just really delicious.
00:21:53
Speaker
Bananas are so easy.
00:21:54
Speaker
Even in the morning when I have to get up and go to work for 6 a.m., ground banana.
00:22:00
Speaker
Just so easy.
00:22:01
Speaker
What would be your top five fruits?
00:22:03
Speaker
Probably banana, blueberry, raspberry.
00:22:09
Speaker
I like watermelon.
00:22:10
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to say, don't forget the melons.
00:22:11
Speaker
Don't forget the melons.
00:22:13
Speaker
Okay, what's your favorite pre- or post-workout snack?
00:22:17
Speaker
Well, pre-workout snack would probably be, well, I love egg whites.
00:22:26
Speaker
I like egg whites where they usually do ham and feta cheese.
00:22:30
Speaker
That's been my go-to.
00:22:32
Speaker
Like an omelet?
00:22:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:34
Speaker
Like I make it into like an egg white like omelet and like my family thinks I'm crazy because I love that so much.
00:22:41
Speaker
I could eat that for breakfast, lunch, dinner.
00:22:43
Speaker
You stick with what if you find something good, just stick with it, right?
00:22:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:47
Speaker
Perfect.
00:22:47
Speaker
Okay.
00:22:47
Speaker
What's your favorite way to relax?
Relaxation and Mindfulness Practices
00:22:49
Speaker
My favorite way to relax lately, it's been the sauna up here.
00:22:53
Speaker
It's, I forgot how much I love the sauna.
00:22:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:56
Speaker
Just like to relax in there.
00:22:58
Speaker
It just like helps calm, relax my muscles.
00:23:02
Speaker
Um,
00:23:03
Speaker
Yeah, and it's a good way to get a little bit of a sweat.
00:23:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:08
Speaker
There's research that says having a sauna is like doing zone two or low-intensity cardio because your core temperature gets up, it gets raised, you sweat.
00:23:18
Speaker
So all the things that happen when you're doing quote-unquote easy cardio, same thing happens in a sauna.
00:23:25
Speaker
Another good thing that saunas can be used for, besides the fact that it's minus 14 out today and it's nice and warm in there, but...
00:23:32
Speaker
it's a good way to acclimatize yourself too if you're going to be working out in the heat, right?
00:23:37
Speaker
So sometimes if someone's got a run or a workout that's outside in the summer, you're going to hit in a few saunas before, you know, you get there.
00:23:46
Speaker
The heat acclimatization happens fairly quickly.
00:23:52
Speaker
So you can do it in a week.
00:23:53
Speaker
And then by the time you get to your workout or your run or whatever you're training for, you know, your body is kind of set up for that because it can really –
00:24:01
Speaker
It can really get your heart rate up a little bit too.
00:24:04
Speaker
And like, I've noticed too in there where it's like getting really like getting really hot and I'm like, Oh, I like, I can't like be in the sun anymore.
00:24:12
Speaker
I just kind of like, that's what really helps relax me is to find my breath and like calm, calm my breathing down.
00:24:19
Speaker
Cause that's what I feel like sometimes when I'm doing cardio workouts, I'm like,
00:24:25
Speaker
in the middle of it and I'm like, I can't do it anymore.
00:24:27
Speaker
Like I can't do it anymore, but I can still do it and I just need to find my breath.
00:24:32
Speaker
And that's what the sauna is helping me do it is like to find my breath.
00:24:36
Speaker
And since my injury, I haven't been able to do much like weightlifting, but I've been doing more cardio and I feel like I've been able to like,
00:24:44
Speaker
sustain like the longer endurance workouts and like find my breath without like giving up super quick.
00:24:50
Speaker
And then like being really like heavy out of breath where I like just kind of like stop.
00:24:55
Speaker
So it's like, I just kind of like find my breath and I can still keep going.
00:25:00
Speaker
I love that.
00:25:01
Speaker
That's a great mindset.
00:25:02
Speaker
Find your breath, right?
00:25:03
Speaker
Cause finding your breath can help you whatever in a workout, in a stressful situation, you know, whatever that is, just find your breath and then center yourself again and then breathe through it.
00:25:13
Speaker
Perfect.
00:25:14
Speaker
I think it's a good way to end, Lex.
00:25:16
Speaker
This has been awesome.
00:25:16
Speaker
Thank you so much for coming on.
00:25:18
Speaker
Thank you, John.
00:25:19
Speaker
And sharing your story.
00:25:20
Speaker
No problem.
00:25:21
Speaker
And yeah, we'll see you around the gym.
00:25:24
Speaker
Oh, yeah, for sure.
00:25:25
Speaker
Okay.
00:25:25
Speaker
Bye.
00:25:25
Speaker
Thank you, John.
00:25:27
Speaker
That was awesome, Lex.
00:25:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:29
Speaker
That was fun.
00:25:30
Speaker
I like those fun questions.
00:25:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:32
Speaker
I think it's cool.
00:25:33
Speaker
Like it's just some people get a little bit.
00:25:35
Speaker
Just.