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Jason Ackerman, co-founder of Best Hour of Their Day
365 Plays2 years ago
Jason Ackerman, co-founder of Best Hour of Their Day, joins us to discuss creating something from passion and care without the end goal in mind first, taking on challenges to grow through fitness, parenting, the Dose, and more. Jason is an OG in the CrossFit space whose enthusiasm, positivity, and genuine care for what he believes in can inspire anyone, fitness coach or not.
Jason can be found at https://www.besthouroftheirday.com/
Instagram @CoachJasonAckerman @besthouroftheirday
Please subscribe, review, and/or share if you find this valuable.
Curious in The Dose? Join for $9/month or $99 for the year at https://ethos.btwntheears.com/the-dose
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Transcript
Introduction of Jason Ackerman
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Between the Years podcast. This week we have Jason Ackerman from Best Hour of Their Day on the show. Jason is a four-time CrossFit affiliate owner with over 25 years of experience in health and fitness. He rose through the ranks on the CrossFit Seminar Circuit to take a position as a level four CrossFit trainer. It's the highest there is.
00:00:21
Speaker
on the CrossFit seminar staff team. That is the cadre of instructors who teach the CrossFit methodology at level ones and level twos.
CrossFit and Best Hour of Their Day
00:00:31
Speaker
Now, best hour of their day provides affiliate ownership and coach development, even if that's not what you're into.
00:00:43
Speaker
I think you'll get a lot out of this episode because of who Jason Ackerman is. We kind of started off talking about that. We don't talk about the air squad or how to run challenges or things in your CrossFit affiliate. Frankly, if that's what we were talking about, I would have just got up and left. So we're not going to do that to you. We talk about real things, talk about human stuff. And one of the things that Jason Ackerman is, is curious, fun, light, positive, enthusiastic.
00:01:12
Speaker
and willing to push the limits of his own comfort zone to expand his ability to help others in this way. The way he helps others is through coach development and affiliate ownership consulting and whatnot. So if you are one of those, obviously check out best hour of their day, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who, you know, has, has kind of
00:01:39
Speaker
checked all the boxes as far as the CrossFit space is concerned, owned affiliates, sold affiliates, works for CrossFit, did events, judges at the games, like coaches, like the dude eats, sleeps and breathes CrossFit.
00:01:51
Speaker
But he's also more than that.
Challenges and Successes
00:01:53
Speaker
And that's what's kind of great about interacting with Jason. We've known each other for a very long time. Him and Kay go way, way back. OGs for sure in the Northeast. And that's really cool. We talk about challenges for sure. That's like a trend line throughout this. Anything from cold plunges to fire plunge in the dose. We dosed them. Jason shares his experience with that. And I found really cool that
00:02:19
Speaker
the best hour of their day, which is super successful. He started that, him and Fernandez started that, Jason Fernandez down in, he's a Virginia Beach guy, CrossFit Rife owner.
00:02:32
Speaker
without knowing what the end goal was. And I found that really refreshing because in a world now where everything is, Hey, reverse engineer things and have the end in sight and backwards planned. And yeah, there's value to that. He started best hour. Him and Jason Fernandez started best hour of their day from a place of caring and wanting to provide value.
00:02:56
Speaker
Now it's very successful. They've got a whole team and I don't care what you do. I feel like there's a beautiful lesson in that. So Jason talks about that, which is really nice. We talk about ego and challenges from parenting to workouts and everything in between. It's a very real episode with a very real human being, which is Jason Ackerman. And I think you'll smile, laugh, think as a result of this episode. If you want to find Jason Ackerman,
00:03:26
Speaker
at best hour of their day. Um, obviously best hour of their day.com is the, is the website best. Um, that's all their Instagram handles coach Jason Ackerman on Instagram as well. And if you'd like to support the show, please go ahead and like subscribe, review, share, comment, post, not really sure what other things there are to do or even what that does, but they say to say it. So it's been said, if you also want to experience the dose for yourself, which is,
00:03:55
Speaker
a very low cost, high impact program we have. It's a mindset and a workout once a week. That is $9 a month or $99 for the year. That would continue to help support our efforts and the show. We'd appreciate that. We have links in all of the captions and stuff, but without further ado, enjoy the show. Here's Jason Ackerman.
00:04:52
Speaker
Make sure it's uploaded and whatnot. No, but you just were the first guest to fuck up the intro talking about nonsensical items.
Podcast Listening Habits
00:05:01
Speaker
Class. Maybe this is the best intro. You know, you can edit for the record. Amateurs don't edit, OK? Editing is for professionals. All right. Well, hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. It's good to know that you don't listen to our podcast.
00:05:21
Speaker
because there's a sense of honesty and truth with that that I appreciate. So thank you. Thank you for joining. And in fairness, I don't even listen to my own podcast. Yeah. No, never listen to your own podcast. Do you not listen to a podcast guy?
00:05:40
Speaker
I will listen to clips on YouTube, but I don't listen to any podcasts, like, exclusively or the full show, no. Interesting. Yeah. I think, you know, I've realized, tell me if you guys do this. I used to be guilty of, like, if I start something, I had to finish it. And now that I've gotten a little older and busier, I'm just like, if I'm not enjoying it, it's done. I shut it.
00:06:05
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know. Some of them, like now if it's, yeah, I get what I got. And then I'm like, okay, I don't need to see this all the way through, but it's definitely been harder to listen to. Some of the ones we like are, there's so much information and it's like, you'll be listening. I'll be walking the dogs. I'm like, I have no idea what I just heard for the past 10 minutes. Like,
00:06:25
Speaker
It just, and then you have to re-listen. Yeah. You think you can listen passively, but you can't.
Business Evolution and Growth
00:06:31
Speaker
If you want to gain anything from it. Okay. You're a show bill and you take over. We're in it. We're in it. We're just free flowing. So Jason, why don't you share like what, I mean, many people know you, but like how, I mean, how do we know you obviously through CrossFit we've, you know, we've worked together, but what, what do you do now? Like,
00:06:55
Speaker
Who is Jason Ackerman now? What are you doing with your life? You know, if you say who is Jason Ackerman now, I hope the first thing I would give you wouldn't be what I do for work. That's good. That was a test. That was a test. Do you like that? On to question two. Okay. What do you do? And I'm like, like, my work is just a, should ideally be just a very small, small part of your life.
00:07:25
Speaker
Yeah, or yes, at least not defining you completely, I would say, maybe of yourself. I think for the three of us, we are lucky in the sense that we do what we love. So there's a ton of overlap. Right. Yeah. So what do you do? What? For work? Yes, yes. Answer that.
00:07:49
Speaker
work, you know, and also, I should say, there's a lot of pleasure and fulfillment in it. But we coach affiliates, we help affiliates become in by affiliates, I mean, CrossFit affiliates, become better at what they do, from business to coaching to mindset, all that bill doesn't like that word. But all those things, all those things, you know, we, we, we try to help affiliates do what they love.
00:08:17
Speaker
Cool. How has that changed? I mean, you started this, how many years ago would you say? It was like the inception of Best Hour of Their Day. Coming up on four years.
00:08:30
Speaker
Do you feel like it's evolved and in what way? What do you feel like you do now that you didn't do that? I think people start a business or for sure we've talked about this. You have no idea where it's going to go. Is this where you thought it would go or do you feel like you've evolved into something else? To be fully transparent, it is so far beyond what I ever dreamed it could be. No.
00:08:57
Speaker
When I say four years ago, Fern and I started, you know, Fern being Jason Fernandez, we started also part of seminar staff. We started hitting record on a podcast with really no end goal in mind other than put something out there. Along the way, it evolved from just some coaching development,
00:09:17
Speaker
to a full blown curriculum with there's eight of us on the team now, plus a few other like kind of subcontractors within there. So no, I had it.
00:09:31
Speaker
It is grown. I love it. Like I'm so proud of it. I enjoy every day. I'm truly at this computer for eight hours a day and I wouldn't change it. I mean, I would change it to be fair, but I enjoy what I do. Um, but no, we, I don't know how we got here and I'm just very grateful that we're here. That's awesome. That's really cool. I have a lot of, I have a lot of respect for that where it wasn't, you weren't handed a roadmap.
00:10:00
Speaker
and an implementation guide for how to get from where you started to where you are. You followed this intuitive calling, desire to serve, curiosity, creation, whatever that might be, and allowed yourself to follow some leads and
00:10:19
Speaker
you know, just follow the scent of what people that you were serving were perhaps asking and developed and blossomed and unfolded into what it is today. That's, I have a ton of respect for that. That's really, and I'm genuinely like happy for you too. You're obviously like someone we, whenever we think about you, we, we have a smile. And so it's like really good to like smile and see you happy and successful.
Creativity and Personal Value
00:10:40
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:10:41
Speaker
Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And yeah, I think it's it's just been fun to slowly let it evolve. I remember before and as we were actually getting started, Bill, having a few conversations with you and you are very much like that, you know, almost like.
00:10:56
Speaker
opposite of what people think. You're very much like, it's a butterfly and it will evolve and all this, right? But it's true. And like, I think sometimes when you kind of let go of those expectations and truly let it kind of simmer or sit or breathe, whatever term, you know, it's, it really, it becomes what it should be. Yeah.
00:11:19
Speaker
Um, Bill likes to read, like, and when I say likes to read, it's borderline, uh, you know, like, I mean, if there was a book, like we gotta buy it, we gotta buy it, we gotta buy it. And, um, but recently on the note of podcasts, do you know who Rick Rubin is? Oh, yeah. The producer of Beastie Boys. Yeah. He's got a great podcast. I have listened to a couple of hits. Oh, really?
00:11:44
Speaker
Well, he's been on a few podcasts that we listened to, Huberman, Joe Rogan. He's been on Rich Roll because he just released a book. And it's about the creative process, which is kind of a nice break in what we maybe normally listen to. But one of the things he said that was, I think, so applicable for everybody, but even in business, like you building a business, what we're building, is to not create for other people.
00:12:14
Speaker
Now, obviously, we all serve other people, but creating something that you believe in that you think has value, because you don't know who's going to need that. And if you're trying to just hit all the people's needs and create for all those things, you're probably going to miss the mark.
00:12:33
Speaker
finding something that you think is valuable, creating something that you want to put out there, people will gravitate towards that. Otherwise, it's a backwards approach that I think you're always feeling like you're missing who your audience is, what you're trying to do. You don't have that sense of grounding. It sounds like that's what you guys did. Yeah.
Health and Fitness Routine
00:12:57
Speaker
On that, I've read a couple of books about the Grateful Dead because I really love the Grateful Dead.
00:13:03
Speaker
There's, I forget the exact title, but it's like everything I learned about business, I learned from the Grateful Dead. I like that. And one of them, it's similar to what you're saying, Kay, where it's kind of like, let the audience kind of help create it, right? Like, whether it's they were putting out live shows or touring and, you know, giving everything to the fans. And yeah, I think even way back when, when I owed my affiliates, accidentally, I think because that was kind of the way I grew up,
00:13:31
Speaker
That was one of the things I always enjoyed. And yeah, I think it still kind of sticks with me. Cool. You said you came back from jujitsu. What are you doing these days for your health? What does that look like for Jason? Oh, I love talking about this. This is like, if you say, who am I? I think at the root of me, it's like I really just enjoy health and fitness.
00:13:54
Speaker
So we're in a new house in Boulder and our gym, similar to yours, nice little kind of affiliate, but it's in my basement, not in the garage, which makes it so much easier to train.
00:14:12
Speaker
I'm not having to go outside so most mornings I'm in there by like six thirty five days a week I try to do a I follow you know like cap CrossFit affiliate programming. Actually I did David Asorio you know David Asorio we have like a little challenge going for the year so I did that workout this morning every we're doing it once a month every 30 seconds for 20 minutes one squat clean to overhead.
00:14:38
Speaker
So today I did a 175 or my goal for the end of the year is 225. Oh, so it's the same thing every month. That's cool. It's a month. Just like to have one kind of consistent workout. Yeah. I like that. That's cool. Yeah. It was cool. Well, David did it like in December and I was like, Oh, I like that workout. And it's cool when it's they connected with other people too. We have nothing that we can talk about every month. Um, I train, so I do CrossFit stuff at five days a week, jujitsu, ideally three days a week.
00:15:07
Speaker
you know, for talking overall health, I try to eat right. Like you guys, cold plunge every day. I got the cold plunge like in the room next door here. Um, like the, the tub one, not, I'm not sponsored by Rubbermaid like you built. Um, maybe one day you can, you know, do it. That's not, you don't, you don't create it to with the end goal in mind. But wait, you have a bathtub or it's called the cold plunge. It's like, hold on a second.
00:15:36
Speaker
Am I showing up here? Don't have a little line. I see you. It's us. Oh, okay. I'm just wondering if... Sorry. You guys are like one. You've been together long enough. You're not one. The producer will edit that out. You actually have the cold plunge. You're giving me shit for getting sponsored by Rubbermaid and you have the cold plunge. The cold plunge. Now, full disclosure, we built this house and we built it into the mortgage.
00:16:02
Speaker
Okay, that makes sense. That's smart. Smart. Yeah, so we bought it, like the builder bought it. So we need to buy a new house. We need to buy a new house. Yeah, it's a very expensive cold.
Routine and Identity
00:16:15
Speaker
No, I had the ice barrel at my old house. Look, anything's cool. For me, it was more about the act of having to go get ice every day would be a limiting factor.
00:16:28
Speaker
whatever time of day I want, I try to do it every day. I'd say realistically, it's like five days a week I get in it for like, I try to do like somewhere between six and eight minutes and 40. Yeah. What, how do you decide like you're going to go in that day or not? Or what do you like? How do you feel your relationship to going in like missing? Yeah, no, that's, I, I,
00:16:58
Speaker
I wanna get cold every day. So, but it's more like a couple of things. One,
00:17:05
Speaker
I try not to do it immediately post-workout. They say like for recovery, it's good, for hypertrophy, not as ideal. And I am still trying to make gains. So I don't do it then. We have a membership at Lifetime. Ross coaches at Lifetime and we go for like Madison for swimming. So I'll steam her sauna and do cold showers. And that's like so easy compared to the Plunge.
00:17:28
Speaker
I feel like this, okay, okay. Yeah, I do agree. I think a shower is harder than the plunge. Yeah, it's so much easier like coming out of a steamer. We're like, Oh, this feels great for a minute. Okay. Yeah.
00:17:42
Speaker
So this winds up being like usually like post like five o'clock at night. It takes every ounce of energy to get in it. Like I see what you guys are posting and it's so true. Once I'm in it, I can suffer for like six, seven minutes, but it's the physical act of going downstairs and actually getting in it. Yeah, we do it in the morning first thing. Like, but I think it's better when I,
00:18:11
Speaker
At night, if we let the dogs out, the thought of going out at that time of day is painful. But in the morning, there's just something different. Yeah. I think I'd have a hard time sleeping. What's that? I think I'd have a hard time sleeping. Maybe it's just that it's the beginning of the day, but I feel like I have an uptick of significant energy once I get out of it.
00:18:38
Speaker
I agree. I think if I were really going to do it, ideally it would be first thing, get dressed, work out. Yeah. Right. I haven't wrapped my head around that yet, but the other day was like four degrees here and I couldn't get in it. I was like, and you know, I, to be fair.
00:18:56
Speaker
It's inside, but it's just so cold in Colorado. And I tell you what, I didn't think about this until we got on. I knew I was coming on here, and I've been thinking about you guys a lot, and partly because Kay's been blowing me up, making sure I don't miss the podcast, which I've never not shown up to something. But I was like, and I feel like this is something you would say, Bill. I was like, it's okay. Like,
00:19:24
Speaker
This does not define me if I skipped going like I'm not a weak person because I don't want to be cold today. Like I still worked out. I still ate right. I still did more than 99% of the world. And I was like beating myself up about it. And I was like, who cares? Like go take a warm shower and chill out. And that's what my body needed more than the cold.
00:19:45
Speaker
But I was thinking about you when I did that. I put up a post recently about day 31 because we're kind of in like a 30 day challenge. We went out to visit Miranda and Julian and they had started doing the cold plunge and we thought, Oh, that's cool. We'll start. And the challenge for me is not the hard part, like doing all 30 days. It's like day 31.
00:20:06
Speaker
Like, okay, now how do you define the choice to get in? I think it's a, it's sometimes, you know, I was saying to Bill, I went to therapy and I brought up this ice bath as like a metaphor for some things. And she's like, what if I asked you to take a day off from the challenge? And I told her like, that makes me like 1000 times more uncomfortable than
00:20:36
Speaker
what it feels like to sit in 34 degree water. And I think it's just something, yeah, it's a good reminder. This is not defining me, this is something I do and having agency in it, but it's really been cool for us to have that psychological experiment and what thoughts present themselves, how your relationship with that water changes and
00:21:02
Speaker
It's been really an interesting experiment, I would say. And you guys are probably familiar with Alex Hormozi. Yeah.
00:21:13
Speaker
He said something similar where it was like, if you need this, and this being a cold plunge, a workout, to eat a certain way, and it's now a crutch, it's just as negative as if you're not doing it. And that's how I felt. I was like, if I need to get cold, you feel like I'm a good person. Losing the point of doing it.
00:21:38
Speaker
It's different like you're in the midst of a, I think being in the midst of a 30, 31 day challenge where you want to commit to something is one thing and now you should be comfortable, no different than a nutrition challenge and a box. The challenge is always, okay, what's on day 31, 32? Okay, now I do it five days a week or I do it when I feel like it's appropriate and I don't feel bad. I don't beat myself up when I don't do it. I think it's one of those things too that
00:22:08
Speaker
It's so easy to fall into allowing the external to sort of apply the label for us as opposed to creating the label that we want and then self sort of embodying it or whatever. And so we get into these things like, well, uh, you know, Seth Godin, the, like the, the Seth Godin marketer kind of guy has a thing like a marketing can be summed up as people like this do people like us do things like this.
00:22:35
Speaker
as crossfitters, we do blah, blah, blah. We wear these types of clothes. We shop at these stores. Okay. But then in like one's own personality, it's the same thing. And we construct a personality based upon the things we do. And while yes, these, those are expressions, it's so easy for that to, for that to consume and control. And it's like, so how long have you been doing the cold plunge for?
00:23:04
Speaker
probably three years now? Jesus. All right.
Consistency and Personal Growth
00:23:10
Speaker
You think I've been doing so longer than everybody, longer than everybody? By the way, you acted like I created cold water, guys. So, you know, so the three years, like who then who the fuck were you before about four years ago?
00:23:28
Speaker
Because if you're the type of person that you are because of a habit that you've been doing or a practice that you've been doing for these three years, then to say that, if I don't do this, then I'm that. Well, what about before that entered your existence? What does that say? And logically, you'd be like, wait, yeah, no, that doesn't make obviously any sense. But how quickly people fall into this
00:23:53
Speaker
Yeah, letting it trap of identity construction. And yeah, like, you know, so that's great to hear you have some freedom, some liberation and some truth. That's, you know, a lot of people that 75 heart has become pretty popular. Yeah. Yeah, not. Yeah, me neither. Mostly because I've seen people that finish it and they kind of go a little crazy at the end. Like they're like,
00:24:20
Speaker
i need to eat like i'm not working out for an hour and a half a day who am i like bill is suggesting and for me i'm i'm kind of looking at it like i'm like 365 hard like and i don't mean that like i'm like do like i work out almost every day i eat right almost every day i drink water i i try to read just i'm not obsessed like bill but i read at least 10 pages and then it's like
00:24:45
Speaker
Cool. You're living what modern man woman should be doing because you did it for 75 days. It's a big thing. I'd rather you do it forever and take a rest day and enjoy a treat once in a while, whatever you want to define that. To me, that's far more impressive than
00:25:06
Speaker
I can do anything, I'll fast for 75 days, right? I'm an edit one. Yeah, I think it's the intentionality. Often it just becomes like checking that box and not really the purpose of reading is to like be curious and to learn. And if it's just like opening your eyes and looking at words and being like, okay, I did it, like the more missing something, so.
00:25:26
Speaker
That's a really good way of looking at it. It's like, cool, like, are you doing it to check off day 34? Like, because you're no longer, like we were talking about with podcasts, like, if you're just putting it on, because you think I need to be listening to something to be productive, but you're not actually taking anything in. Like, you're just checking a box. And that's not, and I think that is where a lot of the world has gone. Like, I'm doing this because I'm checking a box versus like, I'm actually trying to grow as a human being.
The Dose Program
00:25:54
Speaker
Yeah, I agree.
00:25:56
Speaker
Well, what a nice segue to the little experiment that we hope you did. Is that workout the dose or is the dose a monthly workout? Yeah, so the dose is actually a weekly workout. It's a monthly subscription. It starts on February 6th.
00:26:22
Speaker
every week is a workout. And they're generally challenging physical workouts, but they all have a intention, mindset, whatever you want to call it, framework to think about something, not just getting the workout done. So this first workout, we actually did it and
00:26:45
Speaker
did it every week for a month just to kind of see the evolution of it, just for fun and to experiment. But we thought it'd be cool to ask our guests to do a dose workout and then kind of see what came up. So what was your experience of the tolerance workout? I mean, in any way you want to answer that, maybe physically and also the mindset. OK, so when I first saw it, I was
00:27:15
Speaker
you know, somewhat nervous knowing we'd talk about it also. Also, it's based on body weight and I'm heavier than I want to be. Right. I was joking with card. I was like, so we're basically going to talk about how I'm chubby right now. Um, you know, so I'm just one 60 and it's 10% of your body. So 16, it's all even numbers, which was cool. 16 calories, five rounds equal to 80. 16 calories for me is hard to do in a minute.
00:27:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I will say at first, you have this feeling of like, Oh, okay, I'm gonna fail. Yeah. When did you have that before you even started or when you got into it? No, no, before I even started. Yeah. Uh huh. So I was like, that's not possible for me to replicate five straight minutes. It would literally be like a five minute straight workout for me. Right. But then you know, I text you and so what it wound up being is every other minute.
00:28:09
Speaker
Which isn't easy for me. Because you still have to get that 16 calories, right? It's like, oh, the time. It's like, yeah, the effort though. Yeah, that's a big effort for me to get that. But it was a cool challenge. I really enjoyed the workout. And, you know, again, training in my basement, I look at workouts as like, oh, that's an easy, repeatable one where I can see if I get better.
00:28:38
Speaker
I'm just like, no brainer, like I can do it. Either I can lift something and then do it at the end. If it's all I want to do for the day, it's like still gonna leave me on my butt at the end. So yeah, it was a minute on, minute off, nine minutes, because the 10th minute was rest. I think I did the first minute in like 40 seconds. And I didn't go for the second minute, because I was like, I will not hit it. So I went into it intending to do every other minute.
00:29:09
Speaker
If you were wrong, you know, there's no rule number one. So back in like when I was in the military, you know, there's like the rules of special operations rule. Number one, always look cool. All right. I love it's cool. Rule number two was don't be lost. Rule number three was if you're lost, look cool. All right. But for between the years, you know, rule number one, like our primary rule is be honest.
00:29:38
Speaker
That's all it is. Just be honest. And if that was your honesty, like, hey, this is honest. This is how I want to do it. There's only one person who knows that, and that's going to be you. How I did the workout, how Kariana did the workout, how you did the workout, how Chris Hinshaw did the workout, how our members are doing the workouts, those are all different because the individual honesty is what it is. If it was a competition and we wanted to have standardized, it's like, yeah, of course. But that's the point, really, with the
00:30:08
Speaker
some of the dough stuff, where it's not so much what are the rules and regulations, like the rogue challenge, but what's the invitation? And the invitation is, to be honest, is to have this concept, explore it through movement, and have it be this mirror in which you reflect back upon yourself, and this window through which you can look into yourself. And all that to say, if you did it honest, you did it right. Yeah, and I think I can do it.
00:30:38
Speaker
meaning I can do it five consecutive minutes. And that's kind of, you know, along with what I was saying about that workout with David, I think that's one of my goals too. Now I want to be able to do that. It would be a challenge, but in my mind, I'm like, it's only five minutes. Yeah. The first, um, so the first week to the last week was vastly different for both of us. Yeah. Um, and the first week, like,
00:31:07
Speaker
I was like, I can't do this, the paint, the discomfort. And the last week, it took me out for the day. But it was cool to see that and know, OK, this is going to be hard. This is going to be uncomfortable. It wasn't exactly. I mean, it was linear, but it might not be linear.
00:31:30
Speaker
But that's also part of the tolerance, very similar to the, ironically, to the cold plunge, the first time you went in.
00:31:39
Speaker
to now. I mean, yes, there's always a hurdle. I don't think anybody gets like, oh, yeah, it's just getting in a sauna, like a hot tub. But you definitely build that resiliency to like, OK, I know the discomfort I'm going to feel, but it's worth it because I feel good after or whatever the reason is.
00:32:03
Speaker
So what was your experience, your relationship with that notion of tolerance and the discomfort? I think the longer you do this fitness thing, you kind of know what something is going to feel like. And I think sometimes you build it up in your head.
00:32:22
Speaker
to be worse than it's gonna be. So it was almost once I was like two minutes in, like, all right, I've been here before, like, I'll survive this, which, you know, means I probably could have done it a more challenging way. But also, you know, showed me like, sometimes we build these things up in our head to be these big monsters that are even the cold plunge, like you said, it's like,
00:32:51
Speaker
I know what it's going to feel like. Just get in there. Right, right. Not as bad as you think it's going to be. Yeah, the anticipation and the projection. It can be far more far worse than the actual reality of it. And the over like the building it up to be worse than it is, you know, there's many reasons perhaps, but one of them is that that's a really good
00:33:20
Speaker
protection mechanism. This is going to be excruciatingly painful to try to convince ourselves to overestimate the pain. And then it's not, you know, and it's like, oh, this is actually really, so it's this, it is this
00:33:37
Speaker
protection thing. But there's also the point of, you know, what you hit on was that, okay, I've been here before. I've felt this before. I've survived this before. I can stay in this while it doesn't exactly feel like a massage. It doesn't feel like the steam room, but like, I've been here before so I can do it. You know, going from the fitness to the mental health side of it, that's a,
00:34:04
Speaker
That's a gem. If somebody, especially with anxiety or whatever, or any challenging state that presents itself with a psychological component, for them to be able to recognize, accept, and action through that is, in many ways, one of the ideal aims for that type of functioning through life.
00:34:31
Speaker
You don't think your way through that. You experience your way through that by putting yourself in these states safely and of one's volition with agency intentionally so that you can say, look, I've been here before. I recognize for what it is, as well as have clarity with what it is not. And that's what I think is so amazing about
00:34:57
Speaker
fitness, about what CrossFit has done, about the adaptation occurring between years. I think that is so much part of what that was.
00:35:07
Speaker
And not to say that, you know, the industry has lost sight of this, but you had said like, you do this long enough and you kind of get this known thing, right? You kind of get into the autopilot, like, like most people get in the car accidents closer to their home because they're not paying attention because they've always been, they just know what it's like. You know, you can pretty much try that with their eyes closed. And these types of things are hopefully for people, you know, new and well experienced to, you know, open their eyes. Well, have you guys heard of Mark England and lifted?
00:35:36
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. You were telling us about him last time we talked. So anyway, I did one of his, he has like a level one level two and Fern and I went through his level one and a lot of what he talks about is thinking about what you're thinking. I think that's, it's kind of sounds like what you're saying, Bill. And that's something just as I've matured, I try to really dig into like my own thinking. Like when I'm having emotions,
00:36:04
Speaker
Like why am I think like, what is this about? And almost always it's like, oh, it's like ego related. Right. Cause even if you break down this, like this work, I'm like, okay, I'm a little stressed. Like what is it? Oh, I'm going to not pass. I'm not going to finish this thing or I'm not going to do it up to the standard. I want to, or that I think Bill or Kay think I should do it too. Right. So it's all, you know, ego related is a lot of what I've been like wrestling with in my own head.
00:36:33
Speaker
or like completely off topic, you know, Jewish family over here. And my mom and aunt are like crazy, arguing. And I'm always like in the middle. And like, I want to tell them some of the things that they're crazy about. And I'm like, Oh, that's me. Like, that's for me. Because I know they're not gonna listen. They're 70 year old Jewish women, like they're, they are who they are. Right? Like, so like, I've really battled with like,
00:37:02
Speaker
What am I looking to get out of this? And I think when you break a lot of that down, it's like, oh, that's for me. And when you eliminate that, it truly makes life easier. And when it comes to working out, like we were saying, I think all of us have thousands of crossover workouts.
00:37:23
Speaker
and behind us and the workouts you know are the workouts that scare you the most because you know how they feel and you also have something to measure yourself against. So going back to the workout with David, it's like, man, I know what I did last time, so I do want to beat that or this work, but I know what 16 calories feels like.
00:37:45
Speaker
And I want to be. And I think that's the fun part about it, but it's also the scary part. If you're like, Oh, this is a 20 minute AMRAP and there's four different movements. I'm like, who cares what I get. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's one pitfall for people to just be aware of in their workouts is just.
00:38:04
Speaker
not maybe repeating things or not stepping into the unknown, like staying very much in that known place. And we've talked about like kind of old school CrossFit. Everything was unknown, like, well, you know. And so maybe you didn't have the repetition, although I think we all did, like Fran, we've all done it like many, many times. But then there was a curiosity and like, oh, what's this? What's that? I'm not sure. And I'm going to step in and experience it.
00:38:34
Speaker
that was what lent itself to that other intangible thing that everyone felt like translated into their life and was so much more meaningful. And I think some of that has gotten a little blunted and people hide behind all kinds of, you know, maybe programs or excuses or, you know, I don't know. But I think everyone could get some value out of just a little more, just taking a look at that. Like, am I,
00:39:03
Speaker
doing both? Am I retesting and testing not necessarily for performance, but putting myself in that situation? And also, am I doing some things that I'm just not sure how they're going to go and let go of that? One thing I've gotten in the habit of is I keep track in my notes app of my workouts. And after every workout, I write down one win from that workout. So whether or not I did
00:39:34
Speaker
PR or just did well. Like what was the win? Sometimes the win is like I showed up today. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But a lot of times it's like, okay, I went unbroken on the pull. I did Barbara last Saturday, right? And I've done it numerous times and I knew it wasn't going to be my best Barbara ever. And I was like, cool. My one main goal today is to go unbroken on all five rounds of the pull ups.
00:39:58
Speaker
You know, and I was able to do that. And I was like, cool, no matter what the score is, I feel like I've done something successful. I think as you get older, that's important because your times are going to get worse. Right, right. At some point in time. Right. Like, you know, yeah, and you're what's valuable to you. That's not the most important thing. If you were to, you're not going to put your Barbara score above your child. You know what I mean? Um, and even the fact that we can say we can do Barbara,
00:40:28
Speaker
Right. It's pretty like impressive compared to, you know, not that you need to compare yourself to the rest of the world, but it's probably about 1% of the population could do Barbara. Yeah. 100 pull ups in a workout.
00:40:43
Speaker
How long have you been practicing that, acknowledging a win post-session? So in January, January 1st-ish, I was like, I made an effort to get back into consistent training. That was around the time we moved in and the house was done. So it just worked out well. And I was like, OK, what can I do different this year? So getting up early in training is not.
00:41:05
Speaker
Now it's like, I love it. But that was not something I was enjoying. And I had found towards the end of the year, like I was getting stressed out and I realized, oh, it's because every day I'm anxious to whether or not I'll work out. Right.
00:41:20
Speaker
And I was like, well, what solved that is just getting your lazy ass out of bed. And yeah, I'm like, you're up anyway. Like my wife wakes up at six. I'm like, she thinks like, oh, you're not waking up. Like you think your noisy ass in the bathroom isn't waking me up. Like I'm up. I'm just being lazy. So instead I'm just like, I'll just get up when she gets up. I'm up anyway. And then I feel like the moment of like weakness when you're like, I'm tired. Like it's like, you know, I read this book every day.
00:41:48
Speaker
Meditations, Marcus Aurelius, and he's like, got a chapter of like, um, you know, I lay in bed because it's comfortable that chapter. I don't know how familiar you guys are with it. And, um, it was like, Oh yeah. Like even back in the 1400s, people were dealing with it and beds are way more comfortable now than they were then. Um, but it's like that moment of like, just get out from under the covers. Like my entire day is better. Yeah.
00:42:13
Speaker
I think that's why we, why I feel, and maybe it is, it's funny how you can kind of go in a loop though, like, so it came up that like, I need to do the cold plunge in the morning. Because if I don't, I know I'll have anxiety about it all day. Yeah.
00:42:29
Speaker
And it was like, but is the challenge that should I make a challenge out of the challenge? Cause is that being weak that I meet? And it's like, Oh my God. Because for me, it wasn't like, I don't want to work out. It was just like, I really make, like I try my best at four o'clock to be done to spend time with Madison. Right. It was more like, okay, now I have to choose between spending time with her and working out. Right. And I was like,
00:42:58
Speaker
and I have the time in the morning and I feel better. I'm way more energized all day long. It just fits into my routine better because like you said, it doesn't keep me up later. What you're describing to me sounds like when your bed is warm and it's four degrees out, you just are unwilling to get up. It's not that you're unable to get up.
00:43:26
Speaker
It's not that there's this necessity to rest. It's not like you got home at three o'clock in the morning. You're like, no, no, no. I legitimately go to bed at nine p.m., right? You're tipping into hour nine. You know what I mean? No sleep. You're like, all right. So is it a question of me just being, I'm just not willing to literally get up. And a lot of times I think that what I hear from people is a negative
00:43:55
Speaker
fuel or a negative driver that goes against oneself. And it's like, if I don't get up, I'm a ship bag, right? So it's like, okay, so what's the intention? To not be a ship bag? That's kind of like, to CrossFit's point in Glassman's thing of like, health isn't the absence of illness. You are not, like we started saying, who are you? You are not who you are because you are not someone else.
00:44:23
Speaker
You're not like, Hey, I'm not, I'm not firm. Like that doesn't say who you are. And if you're unwilling to do something, okay, fine. So let, so are you willing to do it? And we have this thing that what is willingness and willingness is saying yes to you. If you're willing to do something of the personal sort of type of development we're talking about, you're saying yes to you.
00:44:47
Speaker
which is a good compliment to willpower, which is saying no to something else. And when those two connect, we have this nice woven collaboration with ourselves instead of the constant conflict with ourselves. Because it's like, who wins that? When we're in constant conflict with ourselves, where does that end? It's this endless sort of war that
00:45:14
Speaker
You take a casualty on either side and you took the casualty. And simply, not simply, but looking to say, hey, by getting up, I'm saying yes to me and how I want to live and how I want to start my day. And having this be a more positive, empowering fuel to go out and do good things where you can also then say, yeah, I want two things to exist in the same 24 hour period. I get up.
00:45:43
Speaker
I work out, I prioritize my health, I close it down, I'm present and engaged with my family. Like, how would we want to, why would we ever want to jeopardize that? Yeah, I like the sounds of that. I like, you know, saying yes to yourself. Yeah. And I think part of it, for anyone, it's like, it took a couple reps.
00:46:07
Speaker
And when you start, you know, just like you guys are talking about with the cold, when you start seeing the results, how good it, like knowing what the outcome will be makes it easier. Like staying in bed for an extra 30 minutes, getting, you know, no real sleep versus like, wow, if I just get up, I feel better for the next 24 hours and then make a lot better decisions along the way. Because it's like one of those small wins. Like I work out that I eat a healthy,
00:46:37
Speaker
you know, a shake and I get all my calls energized. Like it really, it really does kind of snowball for the rest of the day. I am more likely like today, like I did that workout the 20 minutes. I went to you just to like, my body's tired. I'm like, I'm, I know after this, I've got a couple more calls. I'm like, I'm going to get in that plunge because my body needs it. Right. Right. So it's like, I don't want to, but I know it's good. I know like,
00:47:05
Speaker
The hard work I've done is now going to be like, there's like the exclamation point at the end. So it all really just continues to compound. Yeah. We actually start our sessions here with asking clients, what would a wind be? And just like what you're saying, how the first few reps, you're like, you know, psychologically no different, you know, physiology and psychology, they're, they're expressions of, of, of experience and they're like kind of very much in the same. And so we ask people, Hey, what would a wind be?
00:47:35
Speaker
for this workout, for this session, for you. And it's amazing how a lot of people, when they first get asked that, they're like, ah. What? You have no idea. You tell me. And it's like, no, I'm not playing. I'm not you. And we had a very, very high level athlete in a session last night. We'll go on and
00:47:58
Speaker
make an impact at the division, at the high division one level or whatever. And it was like, hey, what would a win be? How do you know when you've won an effort? She's like, I don't know. I'm like, okay, let me ask you this then. Do you know when you lose or lost? She's like, oh yeah. I'm like, what's that about though? You know what I mean? We're really good at recognizing and being like, I lost because of this. And it's a self-defeating mindset.
00:48:28
Speaker
as an untrained many athletes are is, well, how do you know you've won without the scoreboard? It's you versus you. So how do you know when you've won? And it's just something that there's not a singular answer for, but other than go explore.
00:48:46
Speaker
go experience it, go do things that make you open your eyes that have you be like, I don't know, like, there's expectations and I'm not really there. And yes, exactly. Stepping into those with eyes open, heart open, mind open, you know, body engaged, like, well, that's how you learn. And that's how you that, you know, for us, that's part of exploring the physiology of, of psychology, which we kind of try to do.
00:49:13
Speaker
Yeah, it sounds like you do a lot of, you know, we try to pair fitness and exploration and considering your, we'll use the word mindset for now. And that's, that's awesome. It sounds like that has obviously been a positive and serving you well. And that's growth, you know, so it's cool.
00:49:38
Speaker
Yeah. I think, I think something you guys were saying too, you know, we get on our calls with affiliate owners and a lot of times it's like, like you're suggesting bill. It's like, this didn't happen. Like that's a loss. And then we get on like Mondays, we have a motivational call, like give us wins that have happened. And a lot of times it's like, you know, I don't know why, but we got four new members or I don't know why we had our biggest January ever. And one of the things we say is like, repeat after me or write this down. Like,
00:50:06
Speaker
When I work hard, good things happen. And I think it's easy to look at the loss. And then when you win, you're just like, ah, I don't know why. And then you don't attach it to like, well, I worked really freaking hard.
00:50:20
Speaker
Cause you need to remember that cause you're going to work hard again and you need to remember, Oh, that's the outcome. And it's like we're saying about getting out of bed. Like it's hard work. Like as silly as it sounds like getting out of bed, getting dressed, you know, going into the basement. But when I do it, good things happen. So to transition into some questions, this is a good, um, rapid fire.
00:50:45
Speaker
Well, you've talked about all these positives. Someone actually asked us, and I think it was a little play on words, but it was funny. For me, I saw you posted. Did I get any questions? Yeah, you did. You did. You did. I did. I figured that it'll be for Hinshaw. He paired me up with Hinshaw. He was a rock star. One of your questions, because you're called the best hour of your day, is what is the worst hour of your day? Ooh. Somebody asked that for me? Yeah.
00:51:16
Speaker
What is the worst hour? That's a great question. Who was that? It's someone that Bill actually played soccer with. I don't think you have to have a worst hour. What's part of your day? What is the worst part of my day? Yeah, what's the worst part of their day?
00:51:39
Speaker
Now that we said we have those positive thinking, we're like, what's the worst? Maybe you don't. That's great. I don't really have a worst. I can tell you and you guys probably can understand as a parent, it's like, man, now that like she's getting older, like when she's upset, you get upset.
00:51:56
Speaker
Right. Even though I'm like, you're upset because of like now she's like very picky about even like what Coco Mellon episode she's watching. Like, no, no, no, no. I'm like, I'm upset that you're upset, even though I think this is crazy. So I think just like when your kid is upset. Yeah, that's upsetting to me. But it's not. I don't have a I don't have a worst. Yeah, that's a good answer. That is good. I'm happy to hear that. Yeah, it gets some
00:52:26
Speaker
It gets challenging, like when they're upset and it's not as simple as changing the episode. Yeah. It's just like nothing you can do to fix it. That's tough. I'm very concerned about what's to come with a teenage girl in the future. You've got a ways. I think you'll do great. I'm not worried at all. I'm whole. I am. Yeah, she like she had her first like injury. I see injury like she put her hand in the door. Uh huh. It was fine. But man, like I felt it.
00:52:56
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And like, I was like, really like upset. And Ross was like, what's wrong? I was like, so upset that she was hurt. You know, meanwhile, she's like fine at this point. So I'm like, Oh, man, this is gonna get challenging when like, her friends are mean to her or like, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of
00:53:18
Speaker
So, you know, Roz and I did a counseling session with a, you know, a counselor. Yeah. And the counselor says,
00:53:28
Speaker
You know, Jason, when you were growing up and things were going on and you had like emotions, like what were those conversations like? And I was like, oh no, we didn't do that. And she was like, well, like when you did. And I was like, no, no, we never did. And then Roz, like we were purposely like in different rooms on the group. And I saw her face like, oh my goodness, this is why you are, why you are. And I was like, and you guys can probably attest, like, I don't know,
00:53:56
Speaker
Like growing up in the eighties and nineties, like my mom, I was thinking about it for like, I've really reflected on that. Like breakups at school, losing big matches, like friends being mean to you. Like no one was ever like, how are you feeling? Right. And.
00:54:12
Speaker
And I don't fault my parents. I know my grandparents didn't do that for them. But I was like, oh, that's where you can be a great parent and have those difficult conversations. Even yesterday, she goes to gymnastics now. She's not too yet. She'll be two next week. And she was wanting to go on the trampoline, went on it, didn't complete the task, and then went on it and finished it.
00:54:36
Speaker
And I was like, I'm so proud of you. And she was like, you know, she doesn't understand. She's like, and I was like, but I like my parents never said that. And I was like, Oh, I want to be a parent like that. Yeah, that's really cool. Yeah, being a parent is very challenging, but also like super rewarding. And that's cool to see when they're like becoming humans and
00:55:02
Speaker
They do listen and they do, you don't always think they do, but they like take on, they'll like say something or do something like, wow, you did listen. There's something did process in that brain. So what is your other other questions? So you, this is interesting thing. Speaking of what we're coming off of, you have an interesting presence on social media.
00:55:32
Speaker
in that I got to ask what, what version iPad is that? Oh, it's upstairs. It's like an old, it's pretty old. It's a mini. It's like a mini five. It's at least like five years old. All right, good. So literally all I use it for. So you post statements on the iPad.
00:55:53
Speaker
And I don't mean this in a character judgment way, by any means. They can be provocative statements in the sense that you have people think. They provoke thought and perspective. And let me think about that. Do I agree with that? Let me pick that apart. So in a not positive, negative, good, or bad way. And not all the time, but statements to provoke thought and discussion.
00:56:23
Speaker
Where did you learn that? Because I think you do it in an interesting, you have a genuine way about it. That's not preachy, that's not dogmatic, maybe a little bit every now and then, but that's my interpretation of it. Probably a little dogmatic, yeah. Kinda kidding. But yeah, I mean, you have your borders, you have your lines, you have your kind of like, no, hey, this is what I believe in and I'm not gonna apologize for it. But it's not really this like,
00:56:53
Speaker
I don't think this like overly dogmatic preachy thing. Tell me a little bit about how, where'd you learn to be provocative in a sense, in this sense? And do you agree with that? Do you even agree with that? I would say, huh, that's good. I want to say it's not provocative because it's how I feel. Like it's truly my feelings and opinions, but I suppose it could still be true and provocative, right?
00:57:23
Speaker
in the sense that if someone is, if it's a question or I guess that's where that word comes from, right? Provoke, it provokes people. Um, so I think for one, every statement I make, I truly believe I'm never putting it out there to be like, like, uh, go fight over this. Something I don't believe in.
00:57:42
Speaker
Right. I also, but I think it's interesting because I was having a conversation, our builder has become a good friend and he's very religious and not preachy about it, but very into Jesus. And I said, like, I love, like talking religion is.
00:57:56
Speaker
my favorite thing because I think it's like philosophy and there's so much and it's like I'm never going to take away like you truly believe in that and like I want to learn more about it but you know I want to talk about it and I think a lot of those statements are like I'm putting it out there but I am interested in your opinion and I know the way I say it comes off as like you're saying either dogmatic or provocative or like almost like
00:58:24
Speaker
you know, one sided, but I'm never intending it to be that way. I am putting it out there to hear people's opinion. I think people interpret it. When, when people get angry, it's like, I triggered something in you. A hundred percent. And that's almost always, it's like, for example, one of the like easy ones is like, coach, just stop working out with your class. I believe that. Like I believe that fully. And then the people that are arguing, I'm like, no, you just start making excuses because you're working out with your class and you're a shitty coach.
00:58:54
Speaker
That's truly how I believe it. There's no example, like, oh, this one person comes in, and she really wants me to like, OK, cool. If that were the case, you wouldn't be arguing with me, because you would know it's such an extreme example. Sure. The fact that you feel the need to defend yourself says more about you than me. Mm-hmm. Yeah, which is, yeah.
00:59:23
Speaker
I don't say this arrogant, this will come off as arrogant. So as opposed to, you know, I do say it arrogantly, but I think you two can, you two are, I would, I would lump you guys into this category. I was thinking about it this morning. Like, and I'll say, I'll say it as an I statement so you don't get lumped in. I am the best in the world at what I do. And I know that's arrogant, but I fully mean it. Like you two have made it on seminar staff. What percentage of CrossFit coaches make it on seminar staff?
00:59:54
Speaker
the biggest affiliate sale in the history of affiliate sales. I've run a now company with a lot of people and I don't say that like it's hard work, but it's like, do you curse on this show? I don't know. Like you on the internet, who the fuck do you think you are? Like I'm like the fucking best. Like if Michael Jordan was like, this is how you shoot a free throw. I'll be like, Oh, well that fucking guy is pretty good at this. Like I'm not going to argue. Like people are arguing with me. I'm like, all right,
01:00:22
Speaker
You with your fucking 20 clients at your shitty affiliate, like, cool, work out with your people, dude.
01:00:29
Speaker
Yeah. I think there's something about that, and I like the thoughts coming in and out. But the difference, and we were talking about the other day, actually just last night, and was it Alex Formosi? Was it him? Yeah. So he was saying that, and this is something Bill was sharing with me, I didn't hear, but
01:00:53
Speaker
You know you kind of have to earn the right to certain things so like we could say for instance I'll make it about us like well so and so wrote a book and they're on they wrote a book on whatever and they're on ritual and like we should be on ritual like why why are they on ritual like we're not we know more about whatever.
01:01:13
Speaker
It's like, well, we haven't written a book. His example was a 17-year-old giving relationship advice. The people that are saying maybe arguing with you or saying, you don't know what you're talking about, but have you led other people? Have you stepped up and said, I'm going to do this and I'm going to have this experience? And the answer is probably no. So it's very easy to sit on the internet, as you say.
01:01:43
Speaker
spew these thoughts, but if you have not actually done anything or you have nothing to show or to say like, yes, I've successfully helped these people build their business or become better coaches or whatever, that piece is actually kind of really important in like, you know, having a position. And I'm not saying it like I said, I don't mean to be arrogant about it, but I was truly thinking about it.
01:02:05
Speaker
for some reason today. And I think it's like, man, I put like the 10,000 hours in coaching. Like I've literally made it to the pinnacle in the CrossFit space. There's other coaches that are, that's equally impressive, right? But like you asked the average L1, they're like, what's the hardest thing to achieve is a CrossFit coach is probably, you know, whether it's L3, L4, make it on staff, done them all. And it's like, I've had four successful affiliates. Now I've had like, and you're like, you're saying it's like, cool, like you on the internet,
01:02:35
Speaker
arguing with me like you've not put in the work. Period yeah and also going back to your question i think two things one. Three things i don't ever are i never get involved i see people arguing on my post i'm like i don't respond and i have to have that rule that was kinda like a joe roban thing like.
01:02:57
Speaker
I'll respond with like an emoji only usually if I think it's funny or it's a friend. If it's an argument or if it's like a internet, you're not getting in the middle of my balls. I'm like, that was funny. Right? Or like if someone puts an emotional response, I'll like hit a little heart or whatever, like just to show them like it's, but I'm never going to get into an argument with you over. So like, you know, you guys know Adrian Conway. Yes.
01:03:22
Speaker
He was in this like heated argument on that post I was referring to. And I, I actually chimed in. I'm like, it was like, I looked at the kids bro. It's like young kid. I'm like, you're literally arguing with Adrian Conway about whether you should be worried. Like this dude is an expert. Yeah. Like in my mind, I was like, how dumb and ignorant can you be? Um, but I, I want to argue. And then I also always think.
01:03:48
Speaker
There's a handful of people arguing, but there's like a thousand likes. The point being, the people that think it's true are likely to be like double tap. The people that have nothing better to do are the ones that are going to write this long argument. But you still have to look at, as a whole, more people are agreeing than disagreeing. And also, I don't know who to attribute this to, but they said something like, the best thing you can do is get both sides to want to share it.
01:04:18
Speaker
Yeah. And I think in order to do that, going back to your original statement, like it has, if I just went in there like, Hey guys, it's best practice to coach your class. But if there's only one person, consider working out, like then all of a sudden people like this is milk toast, right? So you have to word it in such a way that it does get some feelings.
01:04:38
Speaker
I'm sorry, it's what? Milk toast? That's the furnace of milk? You never heard that? I learned it from Fern. Milk toast? Milk toast is like bland block. Okay. Okay. All right. Yeah. I didn't understand it either at first. Yeah. And I suppose that is some of the... I mean, and that can be taken to an extreme where I think it becomes too much, but where it's...
01:05:00
Speaker
right winging it out there right like trying to get like people offended like and that's never like I never am trying to offend people and in fact I have tried I've made a concerted effort to try to think about how to word things in a more positive way yeah yeah because I mean and and I and I'm sure every I don't know maybe every industry is not like this I don't know I can only speak to what I've seen in the fitness industry I think that you what you are doing is
01:05:29
Speaker
you're stating what you believe, you're having a stance and you're not apologizing for that stance, but you're not taking the low hanging fruit of clickbait. And I think in the fitness industry that has become with people's different approaches. That's become the thing for engagement on the post as opposed to genuine
01:05:59
Speaker
provocation in terms of thinking about the, about the message. And it just, you know, is that for sure. And I can tell you like behind the scenes, the number of people that have reached out.
01:06:12
Speaker
like DM that I don't know, they're like, I took my level two because of you, my level three, I opened an affiliate. I left my affiliate because you showed me like, I want to get developed as a, like, that's what really is important to me. Like ultimately, you know, and then truthfully, it's a tool for our business. Like, I think,
01:06:32
Speaker
The one thing I've tried to do, I'm not like a social media, I'm like, I remind people like I put up a post yesterday that was backwards. That wasn't on purpose. Like I'm like, I'm a 44 year old person trying to use social media. Like I don't know what I'm doing more than anyone else. And it's truly just me. But it's like, you know, I'm trying to go, you know, an inch wide and a mile deep, like,
01:06:54
Speaker
I stay in my lane. Like once in a while I'll put something motivational because I still do this thing. I still get in the cold, like all that stuff, but it's like, I'm not trying to like be the next, you know, everyone's a motivational person. I'm just like, let's get better at this thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I have a lot of respect for that, man. I do. I've seen it done in ways that's, Hey, you're shooting outside your lane, uh, and whatever. And that's not what you're doing. And I have a lot of respect for that because I think you're doing it well.
01:07:24
Speaker
We're a little short on time, and the producer is saying, stop. But I think this is an important question that I selfishly want to ask. All right. Override. How would you mind sharing how many CrossFit affiliates you work with, have worked with, kind of ballpark? I think since our inception, we're at about 200. OK.
01:07:50
Speaker
That's a lot. That's, you figure, I mean what, anywhere from maybe 50 to 300 per like 50 members to 300 over members. Like on average, a hundred members on average, a hundred members.
01:08:02
Speaker
That's a lot of people, that's 200 businesses that are, yes, CrossFit is whatever CrossFit is, that we can all kind of point to as sort of this North Star, but the individual application of each affiliate is its own sort of uniqueness, which is, I would assume like one of the things you probably help encourage while still being oriented North towards CrossFit. In your experience, how does the CrossFit affiliate evolve?
01:08:32
Speaker
I think it really comes down to the coaching leveling up. I think that's perhaps the most important thing an affiliate can do. Like the coaching, that was the post I put up yesterday. Like the coaching is your product. If you went to a restaurant, you know, in Morristown and you're like, man, that waiter was so friendly. The food was terrible. Like the worst food, but the staff was friendly and like you still wouldn't go back.
01:09:00
Speaker
And that's, you know, maybe give it one more chance, but that's what an affiliate is. It's like your product, your service is that class and affiliate owners are not developing their coaches. Partly they're not paying them well enough. And then questioning why they can't retain members, get new members, why we can't professionalize this thing. And I think it really comes down to coaches becoming better. And, you know, and
01:09:30
Speaker
You can continue to snowball that, but it's like affiliates need to know their value. So many of them are like, we charged $120. I'm like, you know, that's dirt cheap these days. Right. And, and remembering like the problems you're solving for people, not just mentally, emotionally, but physically, like if someone comes in consistently to your gym and you're doing a good job, like you're saving them far more money in healthcare.
01:10:00
Speaker
expenses than their membership costs. Like if your gym is not charging 160, 180, 200, depending on where you live, you know, we're not going to be able to pay our coaches and we're not going to, you know, that's when it kind of spirals downhill. Yeah. I love it. Cool.
01:10:20
Speaker
Um, Jason, thank you for your time where people can find you. Let's do that whole kind of shout out thing. If you don't mind, Google, Google Jason Ackerman to what happens. There you go. If you get my only fans first join their best hour of their day. And you guys have not only like
01:10:44
Speaker
You can go and do your course, but you guys also have some in-person seminars and such. We've got everything. You got everything. Cool. Everything. Maybe you guys will be there this year. I know. We're still waiting on that calendar. We haven't booked anything yet. We've got so much going on. By the end of the year, we'll have a workshop, and we would love to have you guys there. Cool. Yeah, cool.
01:11:07
Speaker
Awesome. Well, best of luck with your plunge today. Let us know how it goes. I have two more calls, and then I will plunge. It is going to be four degrees here tomorrow morning. So we will let you know how that goes as well. Enjoy. But like Bill said, it's OK if you don't do it. Well, it's still the 30-day challenge. OK. After the challenge. It's not OK tomorrow. But after tomorrow, it's OK. All right. Cheers. Thank you guys so much. Appreciate it. That was a great chat. Appreciate it. Thank you so much.