Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community: Recent Episodes
Fit Mix
Hosted by Sara Yingling, get to know the people in the New Mexico fitness community.
Discover where their passion comes from and keeps them going day in and day out.
In this episode, Sara talks with the Vicente Alvarado. Vicente owns the local Training for Warriors facility. He has a pretty unique approach to training compared to other fitness facilities around town. Listen in to see why Training For Warriors is so successful. You will hear Vicente’s passion and desire to help people grow.
A common theme in our interviews with the fitness community is COVID-19. This episode is no different, but there is an exciting twist. TBE CrossFit has seen a better turnout than prior to the shutdown.
Running a box isn’t enough to keep Sal busy. He is also planning a huge health event geared towards educating New Mexicans on the importance of not only physical fitness but mental and financial fitness as well.
Check out this episode to get to know Sal and what he’s working on!
Kevin: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by FIt Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin: Episode 17. Mark Morgenstern with the UFC Gym. In this episode, Mark talks about the gym, winning Rio Rancho's business person of the year, the impact of the Coronavirus, and more.
Sara: All right. Well, hello mark. How are you doing today?
Mark: I'm doing well. How are you, Sara?
Sara: I'm doing great. Thanks so much for joining our Podcast. It really means a lot for you to take time out of your busy day to join us to talk about the UFC Gym. So thank you.
Mark: You're welcome. It's my pleasure.
Sara: All right. The first question. Easiest question. What is UFC Gym?
Mark: That's a very good question. UFC Gym is a fitness-focused community that brings the style of training a fighter might do to prepare for a fight. We bring that to the general public. We bring that to the fan of UFC gym, the everyday person getting off work that wants a really good workout in a great environment. And we also, you know, during that they learn some of the striking aspects that a fighter might use to step into a cage and do a fight.
Sara: That's really cool. So you have different classes there, though, like kind of a range of classes. Talk about all the classes that you offer there.
Mark: Yes, we have our most popular classes called DUT. People always wonder what that stands for, which is daily ultimate training. So you always need your daily dose of ultimate training. And that is a strength and conditioning class. It can be a circuit style class. It can be a HIIT class. It might be just a strength or a kettlebell class. So any kind of, just strength and conditioning style. And our coaches have the leeway to kind of program how they see fit for their style. Our other classes are boxing and kickboxing. Those are a lot of fun. They are cardio, kickboxing, and boxing. So we keep you moving, but you learn how to strike. You learn the basic punches on the bag and kicks on the bag. And we keep you moving the whole time. So those are a lot of fun. And then we also offer a Brazilian jujitsu class for adults and for youth. We have a really great youth program doing the ground submission, training Brazilian Jujitsu.
Sara: That's super cool. I can definitely attest to the DUT class. That class is so hard, but so much fun. I love what you do in that class.
Mark: Awesome. Thank you so much. And that's the cool thing, is that it is very hard. But anyone can do it. It's all scalable. We can always alternate movements. You can rest and go at your own pace. And it's really cool the feeling that the people get when they see a workout. And I know they're thinking there's no way I'm going to be able to do this, but with the right process and taking their time, they get through it. And then, you know, they're so excited that they actually did something so challenging.
Sara: It's like a really fun circuit style class. I know some of the ones that I've been to, we were rowing. And then we were doing some kind of lifting, like either that's like Olympic lifting or dumbbell movements. And then you have, like, wall balls and box jumps. You really get a bang for your buck in that class. Like, I've burned some of the most calories ever in that class.
Mark: Awesome, yes, definitely. And those are the ones I like to set up the most myself. Are the station ones, the circuit training, where you're at a station for a period of time and you know the rest is coming and you know you're going to rotate somewhere new. So it kind of inspires you to go really hard for that station. In my programming, I always try to get some sort of cardio, some sort of leg movement, some sort of core movement and an upper-body movement when it's those circuit style of classes.
Sara: It's really all intensive. I highly suggest that, like, I know a lot of people who are like CrossFitters around here will dabble with that class, too, because it's pretty similar. But I would say even more intense because it's 60 minutes straight as opposed to like, you know, a eight-minute workout or whatever that we're accustomed to. So I love seeing, like, people branching out and doing that as well.
Mark: Yeah. Very cool. Very cool. I like to see them come in to and try out. And we go to other CrossFit gyms to do their style of workouts. But we are told that often that a lot of the CrossFitters come here just for the change-up instead of doing a slower pace strength workout. And then one short cardio workout they get the whole time you're going. So.
Sara: Exactly. And I also notice that there's so many people of different ages. I've seen kids in high school there up to maybe someone like your mother or father's age there. It's awesome to see everyone of all different ages and like, shapes, sizes, colors, you know, like athletic ability all hitting the same hard workout.
Mark: Right. And that's something we always, I guess, stress here is that you can come into our gym, stand right next to a professional athlete as a, you know, if you're a 65 year-old lady, which we have taking our classes regular or, you know, the untrained student. You can stand right next to a professional athlete, do the same workout and you will both be satisfied and have a great time.
Sara: Yeah. And it's the same way with the boxing and kickboxing classes. These are great tools to arm yourself with no matter what age you are. Everything can translate over into real life if you're ever, you know, in a potentially dangerous situation.
Mark: Yes. Yes. And that's what we use our jujitsu for, more of kind of the hands-on. A lot of it, you know, true-life assaults or something do end up on the ground. And so knowing how to control yourself there. And our boxing classes, you know, if you're standing up in an altercation with somebody, the average person only has about 30 seconds of all-out fight in them. So even though we're not training, you know, professional fighters here, we're getting people in really, really good shape so that they could fend somebody off possibly.
Sara: Wow. Good to know. I didn't know that. The whole 30-second thing. Very interesting. Well, then I guess everyone who attends your classes will be well prepared.
Mark: Yes. And if not, they'll be able to run away very quickly.
Sara: Yes, exactly. I'm curious. Since we're in this global pandemic right now, how have you had to kind of shift everything at UFC Gym?
Mark: Well, I mean, we've had to alter our hours just because the gym is not as busy. So that's taken, you know, kind of a negative effect on sales and income. We're operating at less hours. We've taken a few time slots off the schedule. We're not running our youth program, which is really big. There's usually up to 20 kids in a class Monday through Friday. And that can vary. But on popular days, there's up to 20 kids and it's Monday through Friday. And so all of their memberships are frozen right now. The kids aren't coming in. We have a lot of members that only come here for our Brazilian Jujitsu program. So adults, they're not coming in because there's no Brazilian jujitsu. You know, so many people, not just at our gym, but at all gyms. They go to class-based settings because either they're not sure what to do or they don't want to program something. They just want to come in and have it ready for them to go and do it. And so even though we're providing programmed workouts because we're not teaching classes, there's a lot of people that aren't coming in. So we've had to adjust, you know, to accommodate not having the income that we're used to just to make it by and make sure we make it through this. And also, you know, expenses are different right now. So whereas before my expenses might be merchandise or new equipment or fixing things. Right now my expenses are sanitation, paper towels, toilet paper, make, you know, making sure the gym is clean, disinfecting tools and all that stuff to keep it safe. That's where the expenses are going right now. So it's definitely an interesting and challenging time right now to be a business owner.
Sara: Yeah, for sure. But I mean, going off of your point about how people look for that kind of class setting. Have you been offering classes or workouts online for members to take part in or day from home?
Mark: So that the online classes that we offered when we were shut down, they were great. A lot of them were the people that follow us pretty intensely and they know what to do. So they were able to follow the online. But most of the people that come in looking for that little bit of work, that push. It's just not the same being at home, online. But we do plan. I mean, we do offer now we offer personal training where people can come in and kind of find a spot and gym away from other people and feel safe with social distancing.
Sara: Yeah, I mean, it's a tricky situation. And then going forward we now have to require masks be worn in the gym. So that's just like another thing that, as a gym owner, you have to be mindful of. You're continuously in limbo with a different mandate coming out.
Mark: You know. Within 20 minutes of the announcement of having to wear masks while working out, we lost memberships. People don't want to come into a gym and wear a mask to workout. Because of the challenge it presents and I don't know how much you know, how much data's out there about, you know, lack of oxygen. You see so many things. You don't know what's true data and what's not. People just choose to not come in and work out in the privacy of their homes or something.
Sara: Yeah. I guess maybe you might have to shift to doing online workouts again or Facebook or Zoom or Instagram.
Mark: That kind of what it's looking like right now is, you know, if we can get members to keep their membership and we'll provide online workouts for them. That's what we're going to do. I'll absolutely do whatever it takes to shift my efforts so that we can survive.
Sara: Yeah, definitely. That's all you really can do these days, but how about on a positive note?You were recently voted, is it best business owner in Rio Rancho?
Mark: Yes. And then the gym got runner up for best fitness classes.
Sara: That's awesome. So how did that feel?
Mark: It's very cool. I took the day off to kind of celebrate my two year anniversary as owner. That had just come up on July 1st. I celebrated being the owner of this gym for two years. And on that same day, I got the email saying that I was voted best business owner in Rio Rancho. I thought for a second. Like, how could that even be? Because I make mistakes. You know, I'm not perfect. But it was just I smiled the whole way home. It was really cool.
Sara: Yeah, definitely. It's like a testament to all the hard work you probably put in over the years as an owner. Everything you've done to make it what it is today.
Mark: Absolutely, I mean, we've worked so hard and not just me, but my team. I have a great core group of people that are employed here and they have my back 100 percent. And I couldn't do it without them. I have some of my classes and certain things are a draw to get people into the gym. But without my amazing staff, they wouldn't stay here and they wouldn't do all the donations they did during our shut down and stuff. So I definitely have a great staff that probably made me look like a better business owner than I really am.
Sara: Yes. It's always the people behind the scenes that are truly helping a business succeed or a person succeed.
Mark: Right. And they don't get credit enough sometimes.
Sara: But I bet that helps to have that title. Hopefully, when things get back to normal, it will help. People are looking for a gym and they want to get back into it. Having that title will surely help people get drawn to your business, your gym over another gym.
Mark: I think so, especially here in Rio Rancho. Rio Rancho seems to be a very close community, very family-oriented, and they, you know, they follow or they do follow these kind of votings and what is going on in the communities. I definitely believe that will help us, not just when things get better, but even right now. You know, when we're slower, it might help drive people into the gym a little bit to check it out during a slower time.
Sara: So on a personal note, what's your favorite kind of workout?
Mark: I mean, that's so that's what I really love about the UFC Gym. I've never been to a gym ever in my life that you can literally do everything. So I kind of, right now, I workout based on how I feel. If I want to hit a bag and get some tension out I hit a bag, if I want to do a CrossFit style workout, I do CrossFit. If I want to train jujitsu, I'll jump into a jujitsu class. There's no other gym in the world that is sanctioned by the International Brazilian Jujitsu Federation. But then you can also step across the carpet and do Olympic weightlifting or jump into a kickboxing class or use our bodybuilding section. So I am an Olympic lifting coach. That's my passion and that's what I do most of. And that's what I love to train and coach people on. So I do that primarily. Some Olympic weightlifting. I always love to throw some sort of cardio in there, whether it's hitting a bag, kickboxing, or doing a CrossFit style WOD, as they call it.
Sara: Yeah, for sure. That is nice that you're able to mix it up on however you are feeling that day. Anything else that you would like to add?
Mark: The only thing I would ever add is the community here is so special. And that's what keeps me going during these shutdowns and these mandates. It's the community we've built here, the team of people I have here, and what we do here. You really just have to come into the gym and see it for yourself.
Sara: Yeah, I 100%agree. The first step with anything is just walking in. Getting into the door. And then once you're there, I mean, you've already done the hardest part. So you might as well just stick with the workout. Like we said earlier, everyone can do the work out whether it's DUT or boxing, kickboxing, Brazilian Juijitsui. Everyone can do it. So it's just getting in the door and giving it a try.
Mark: Absolutely.
Sara: And there's nothing to lose. You come out a better person in the end.
Mark: I've never heard anybody say, man, I'm like, I really wish I didn't do that workout. You know, if it was challenging, you might say that was hard. But nobody ever goes away pissed off that they did the workout and hitting a bag. I've never seen anybody hit a bag and not smile after you hit that bag or hit, you know, if you've been if you're holding mits it'sfor somebody hitting the Thai Pad or something. You know. The smile on people's faces to get in here and do it.
Sara: Exactly. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. I really loved hearing about you and UFC Gym.
Mark: Yes. Thank you so much. It's been a while since I've talked to you, so it is great to talk to you and hear your voice. Hopefully things get back to normal soon. You can come in and hit a DUT class.
Sara: I know. I really do miss those. Honestly, they really are terrible, but I really miss them. It's a love hate.
Mark: Yes, absolutely.
Sara: All right. Well, thank you again. Thank you, Sara. Have a good day.
Kevin: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcasts, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Sara Yingling Instagram: @yingers
Mark Morgenstern Instagram: @able.fit
UFC Gym Rio Rancho: @ufcgymriorancho
Intro/Outro Music: Jack McCarthy
Kevin: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin: Episode 16. Matt Avila with the Duke City Gladiators. In this episode, Sara and Matt dive into the fast-paced, high-scoring indoor football team, their work with the community, and some hints to changes happening in the future.
Sara: All right. Hello, Matt. How are you doing today?
Matt: I'm doing pretty good. Yourself?
Sara: Doing well. Doing well, can't complain. I wish there was some football. Some preseason football to be watching right now. But, you know, we're dealing with that.
Matt: I know the feeling. It's hard to, you know, realize that I look at the schedule. I have it to the right of me, and it's like, well, we would be in the playoffs right now. And, you know, but we're not. Nobodies Playing.
Sara: Yes, it's a bummer. It's my favorite sport too. So for those who don't know, you are one of the owners of Duke City Gladiators, is that correct?
Matt: My title is director of public affairs for the Duke City Gladiators.
Sara: Ok. Director of Public Affairs. Awesome. OK. So for people who also don't know who the Duke City Gladiators are. Tell us who you guys are, what you do, and all those good things.
Matt: So we are in the arena football team and it is professional football. So what it's very different from the outdoor game. We actually play, obviously, indoors and we lay down a turf. We put it inside Tingley Coliseum. We select players from all across the country, whether it's players from, you know, Big Ten colleges, top 12 colleges. And a lot of my players actually come from the NFL. And we move them here to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We negotiate, obviously, a contract for pay because they are professional ball players. And, you know, they play here in Duke City and they put on one heck of a show for all of the fans.
Sara: Yeah, that they definitely do. For people who don't really know arena football. It's so much more fast-paced, so much more intense and the action is packed in non-stop. Talk about how it's maybe a little bit different than outdoor football that we're all used to.
Matt: The big difference as a fan. Right. So as a fan, when you walk into Tingley Coliseum, you're going to notice that the field is only 50 yards in length. And then you're also going to notice that there's no sidelines. It's actually a wall. So if you picture a hockey stadium or a hockey arena with those walls and we put pads on it. And that's actually the sideline for these boys. And so there is no catch the ball run out of bounds. You know, you catch the ball. You try to run out of bounce. You're going to hit the wall. And then you're going to get hit by another player. So it's very, very fast paced. To the arena football player, the difference is actually the width on the field. So that's only twenty-five yards. That's the biggest difference, because that means that we only play eight on eight instead of eleven on eleven. Which is actually the outdoor league.
Sara: And is it two halves rather than four quarters. Is that correct or am I wrong?
Matt: Yes. So it is a four quarter game. It's the same as the NFL on that one. So same length and time on the quarters and then also same timeouts, challenge flags. All that is the same as the NFL.
Sara: Ok, and how many players are on the field at a time?
Matt: There is eight on eight.
Sara: Ok, so that's different from outdoor football. Correct?
Matt: Yes, definitely. So what you're really doing is you're taking away a couple of the linemen positions at that point.
Sara: And these are really high scoring games. I've been to a few games and the scores were in like the 60s and 70s or 50s. And so it's like really nonstop. If you're looking for a high pace-game which sometime outdoor football can be kind of slow. I remember a couple of games like Steelers vs. Miami Dolphins, it came down to one field goal. That was like way back then. So it's like if you're looking for more action, this is the place to be really.
Matt: Yeah, most definitely. It's so fast-paced and being inside of Tingley, every hit and every I mean, you can hear a lot of the language on the field as well. So that's one of the things is it almost echoes inside of that arena. Where it really gets so loud and that's where big-time advantage really does influence.
Sara: Yeah, absolutely, you really do feel like you're down on the field, and especially if you're on those bottom rows right next to the field. Yeah, you definitely feel like you're right there in the game.
Matt: Yes, definitely.
Sara: So you're 2021 would be your third season. Or how many seasons have you guys played so far?
Matt: This is actually going to be the Gladiator's 6th season.
Sara: Oh, wow.
Matt: Yeah, it'll be the 6th season. We did transition into different ownership, which really changed for the marketing to the public. A lot of people do think that this is our 2nd or 3rd. Before myself and Gina. Gina Thomas is the owner. Before we got here, they did have a few seasons under their belt.
Sara: But I saw that you guys would be going for your third championship and the 2021 season is that, correct?
Matt: Yeah, definitely. We did go back to back in the 18 and 19.
Sara: That's really impressive. So what do you think that means for your team? Do you think players are looking to play for you guys or does that make you guys kind of like a name in the indoor arena football league?
Matt: You know, it really does. Now, the recruitment side, because I am also in charge of a lot of the recruitment. What it does is winning one championship definitely gets your name out there. To these boys, their whole deal is to come play football, get some good footage and either go to the Canadian League or go to the NFL. And that's one of the things that we really want here. So we did hire a very good media team to get good media footage so they can send it off to the NFL. And, you know, one of the things is I just recruited... My whole defense within the couple months that we've actually been in the off-season. You know, I've got an NFL lineman, you know, from the Baltimore Ravens. I got a cornerback from the Atlanta Falcons, another quarterback from the Detroit Lions. I picked up a safety from Ole Miss College, you know, so the name is out there. These boys have never even heard of Albuquerque. And they're moving here, you know, because of the just the way that culture is. And, you know, obviously when two championships really big for us.
Sara: Yes, it's definitely huge. So given the circumstances that are currently going on, what does the season hold for you guys right now or what does the 2021 season look like for you?
Matt: Well, we do have tentative dates right now from Tingley Coliseum, and, you know, that's dates that we can actually play inside. They're saying once everything is lifted and we can actually have some sort of a mass gathering together. We are currently planning, as a backup, to play without fans. So, you know, we want to have that in our pocket just in case that does come up. But, you know, at this point, I'm already fielding 40 man roster for camp.
Sara: I gotcha. And so is the team practicing right now. Are they are not allowed to do that either?
Matt: No, they're not allowed to do any organized practicing right now just because, you know, it's considered off-season. So there is no getting together with coaches and doing anything organized. The boys can get together and work out together and run routes, things like that, but it cannot be organized with coaches.
Sara: That's a huge bummer for them that they're missing it. It's their passion.
Matt: Yeah. You know, in football. The closer you get to the age of 30, it's slowly going away. So that's what's really a game for young men. You know, on some of these guys, they were on the cusp of 27, 28 years old and they just lost the whole year, you know of playing ball.
Sara: Yeah, that is really disappointing, I'm sure, and frustrating for them. You said in the meantime, you guys are doing community events. So what are some of those community events?
Matt: Well, at first we started this... There's this organization called the Aging Long-Term Services Department. They called us and they actually said that they needed help moving boxes. It was really just moving boxes so they can start packing up more boxes and delivering to the elderly because they needed food. And it started off, we see we said, yes, let's do it. You know, one of the things was I did have to let them know, you know, I have the camera crew that actually follows me around right now because we were signing a like a reality show. And when we were in Dallas, the reality show, the camera crews following us around. And once they canceled our game, they said, hey, you need to record this. And now we're going to call it tackling the pandemic. So this camera crew followed us around what we were doing, all of that. And, you know, it just it ended up on TV and on the news. And then we started delivering and buying groceries to a lot of people who couldn't afford it and really just saying yes to anything. Anybody needed help. And after that, it turned out we were feeding called feed the frontlines. And we were feeding frontline individuals, whether it was a call center, the fire department. It could have also been a hospital. We were feeding or 45 meals every day for two months.
Sara: Oh, that's amazing. And that must be super rewarding for them. Granted they can't get out on the field right now, but at least they're doing something for the community that they basically play for and represent.
Matt: Yeah. And, you know, each and every one of these players had an option to go back home. And once we told them, hey, you know, this season is going to be canceled, we'll help you guys get home. You know, that was something that we all agreed upon the league and said, we'll help you if it's a plane ticket, it could be a train of bus, whatever it may be, to get home, we'll help you. And all of the players, you know, we only had six of them to go back home and everybody else said we want to move here. We want to live here. We'll sign or 2021 contract already as a player and we'll give back to the community.
Sara: That's amazing. Do you have somewhere for people to watch the reality show if they miss that?
Matt: Yes. So it is on the Duke City Gladiator Web site. Then also does link to all of our social media pages, whether it's Facebook, Instagram. We do have Twitter. So it's all on there. I could even personally send out the link if anybody does want that. We do have one reality show that was done this year, and then we have another documentary that was actually done last year.
Sara: That's awesome. I know a lot of people from Albuquerque and New Mexico are just super proud of their state. I'm sure they want to check out something that's bringing a positive light to Albuquerque in New Mexico.
Matt: Yeah, it's been you know, our slogan is called Community Champions. So what we really want to be able to do, because there is so much going on, I'm not from Albuquerque. So, you know, on the outside looking in when I wanted to move here, I looked up the city and you know what? Yeah, it's beautiful, things like that, but a lot of crime. And, you know, some of the negativity does come up. So I figured and I love this place. This is my home. And I tell everybody, I said, look, if we can put on a show for three and a half hours on a Saturday night and take everybody away from these streets that everybody say is so dangerous then we did our job and it just happens that we play pro football. That's what I love about this city. You know, from the first year that I came on, you know, I was seeing, you know, 800 to 1000 people in stadium as fans. And now I'm seeing six thousand people in the stands. And it is it's humbling. It's amazing to see how the community just got behind us on this.
Sara: I really hope that if, and when, things return back to normal, that, you know, the fans still continue to come out and support you guys. I think everyone's missing that community aspect, like you said, but also obviously being able to see sports again.
Matt: Yes. Yes. You know, and I think everybody's at the point right now where they're just there watching all these older reruns and games where it could be games from the 80s, 90s, whatever it may be. And they're all watching them, you know, just kind of watching something.And I think we can open it up and give that back to the community and just give that excitement of the indoor game because it is... You don't even have to be a football fan. And it is just so exciting to see what goes on on the field.
Sara: I guess I agree. And then while you kind of like, I guess wait for to hear what's next from the governor and everything else around that. Do you guys have anything else coming up? Plans? Any community outreach events or anything that fans can get involved in?
Matt: Yes, we definitely. Yesterday we had a meeting with the Hispano Chamber of Commerce and they're are putting together another program and they really want to help out all of the businesses that did get damaged, you know, during a lot of those riots. We want to draw more attention towards the city. Downtown Albuquerque. And we're going to put some together to where it promotes that whole area that was really, really affected by everything. The Gladiator's are going to be a part of every part of it. So they're going to do it in phases. And we're gonna go from all the way from Unser, all the way to Tramway. And we're going to help promote every single small business that's on Central. And we want to make sure that we let everybody know it's out there. These are small businesses. You know, you've got your professional football team that's out there. And one of the ways that we can do it is to say, hey, come meet the Gladiators and get yourself some gear. Some of our new gear, because we did change our logo. So we're going to promote it that way. Come get your gear and see these local businesses.
Sara: Very cool. That'll be awesome for people to be a part of. And I'm assuming you'll be posting that on your social media so people can make sure they can attend this event?
Matt: Yeah, it's going to be on our social media. Our Website. The city is also getting involved. And so is the Hispano Chamber of Commerce. So it's getting, you know, all three different demographics will be getting some outreach.
Sara: Awesome. So I guess I mean, I'm kind of just curious, personally. Given the circumstances again. How are you guys able to recruit people? Are you still trying to recruit people during the time, or is everything kind of just at a standstill and it's kind of just like a wait and see or hear? I guess, you know, whatever the governor is saying kind of deal.
Matt: Every every team is in recruitment mode right now. So the minute that they actually said the 2020 season was canceled, we were already moved into offseason, getting ready for 2021. So recruitment has started. The coaches, they actually, you know, get on the phone and they start calling, you know, the colleges. They start calling other players because of they're schemes, you know? Football is a big scheme sport. So you want to be able to make sure that these players work well with your coaches. On my end, I get in contact with a lot of agents from the NFL. So I'm currently talks with somebody, right. I can see its name just yet, but he is a quarterback and he is a national championship-winning quarterback. And he used to play for Nick Saban. So you have been talking.
Sara: Oh. I know who!
Matt: You know who?!?
Sara: I have a feeling.
Matt: I love that you know. So I've been talking to his agent. He is very, very interested in Duke City. So that's how I recruit. I talked to a lot of the agents and, you know, my job on that player personnel side is to bring in some of the best athletes, put them on the field. And let my coaches go to work and teach them the indoor game. You know, the talent is already there. Greg Dent already did sign his contract and he was a number one wide receiver in Florida state. He's already here. He's already living in Albuquerque. Joseph Putu, he's a cornerback from the Florida Gators and the Atlanta Falcons. He's already currently signed. A lot of these big names like that are already here and they're already actually living in Albuquerque.
Sara: Well that's awesome! Even more reason that we need to get a football season going.
Matt: I know exactly. We're going to do some big things. We do have a press conference coming up. We're looking at the 22nd right now of July, and we're going to reveal our new jerseys. We did bring out a new logo. So we did get sponsored by Under Armour once again. So we will show everybody our new Under Armour jerseys.
Sara: Awesome, I'm looking forward to seeing it. Can you give us a hint? How is it different? Let's back track? Why is there a rebranding going on?
Matt: Well, we really wanted everybody to know that the Duke City Gladiator's is New Mexico's professional indoor football team. So what we did at that point is we had to ask permission, but we did ask. We added the Zia to the logo.
Sara: Ok. Very cool!
Matt: So right behind our Gladiator mask you'll see a turquoise Zia. We did add a little bit of turquoise into the numbers on their jerseys. So you're really going to see, you know, a real nice, nice brand. And it just pops. When you look at it you see New Mexico.
Sara: That's awesome, I love it. So you got permission from Zia Pueblo to use the Zia symbol?
Matt: Yeah, we actually had to call, obviously the governor's office, everybody, and it's a bit of a process to do it. But, you know, they loved the idea. And one of the biggest things was they realized that we were doing a body, mind, spirit camp over at the high school called NACA. And we were doing a body, mind, spirit. So we were teaching them, you know, football drills, teaching them what to do, what life is like after high school. And then the spirit side is they were teaching us. So they were teaching us their culture. They were teaching us the songs that they sing every day before class starts and the songs that they sing to say goodbye to one another. It is really, really cool to find out there are so many different cultures just right here in Albuquerque.
Sara: Aboslutely. That's because one of the head coaches is Native American. Is that correct?
Matt: Yeah, that was a Dominic Bramante. He was our head coach, actually. And he was one of the founders of the Duke City Gladiators. You know, so that was obviously a nicely into the school for us. You know, since then, you know, Dominic has retired. And, you know, we do have new head coaches. We do have players who actually were former Gladiators, now retired. And they are now position coaches with the Duke City Gladiators.
Sara: Very cool. Very cool. It's awesome that you guys are incorporating all the different cultures that are in New Mexico. This place has so many different cultures. I think that's what makes Mexico truly different and amazing.
Matt: Yes. And this is as you know, I talked to the boys and I've gotten so close with all of these players. I'm about you know, I'm about to turn 34 years old. So I'm actually the closest one in age to all of them. So we can really relate on being a little bit younger and then also, you know, being an athlete myself, you could just see the Brotherhood come together in the locker room at practice, at the games. And what I really liked is that we actually housed them together, you know, at a local hotel. They all live together. And you could really see the bond that just it happens. And I think that's one of the strongest things that we have here in Duke City.
Sara: That's amazing. I'm looking forward to football coming back. I know you are as well. Is there anything else you'd like to add about Duke City Gladiators or anything else you guys are doing currently?
Matt: You know, definitely reach out to us to be transparent. If you need anything at all, let us know. You know, we've gone as far as personally buying some groceries for some individuals who couldn't get out of the house and deliver. We've done birthday parades. We've done them all the way to Grants before. So really reach out to us through the website. That's one of the best ways to do it. You know, comes support when we kick off everything. You know, we can guarantee we're going to compete and you're going to be entertained. So that's one of the things that we just want to let everybody know that we're there.
Sara: Definitely. And stay tuned to your Facebook page. Your Instagram page. Everything. For all the upcoming events that you guys are doing.
Matt: Yes. On Instagram. We are dcgladiatorsofficial.
Sara: Ok, cool. Good to know. Well, it was great chatting with you. It was great chatting about the football team because I miss it. And hopefully, we can have some football soon in our lives.
Matt: Yes, we're ready as soon as we get the green light we'll be on the field.
Sara: Awesome. Well, thank you again, Matt, for joining us.
Matt: Alright. Thank you guys.
Kevin: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcasts, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin: Next week, Sara talks with Rio Rancho's business owner of the year Mark Morgenstern. He owns Rio Rancho's Runner-Up for the gym of the year, UFC Gym. They cover a ton of topics that you won't want to miss out on.
Duke City Gladiators IG:dcgladiatorsofficial
Sara Yingling IG: yingers1
Intro/Outro Music: Jack McCarthy
Transcript
Kevin: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin: Episode 15. Anita and Ken with Elite Physique. In this episode, we get to hear about their great work with the community, the passion they have for helping their clients, all of their amazing services, and more.
Sara: Hey, everyone. We have with us today, Anita, from Elite Physique.
Anita: Hey, Sara. Thank you.
Sara: Awesome. So talk to us a little bit about what is Elite Physique.
Anita: So, Elite is a 13,000 square foot cardio, strength, personal training, gym, facility. We were established, it's going on six years now. We are out in Rio Rancho and we consider ourselves the next level or a level-up type training facility. So we're really wanting to take the average person and take them to an athletic status because we believe that anyone can be an athlete with the right mind, body, spirit type training. So we have a great team of trainers and excellent staff. We're definitely known for our cleanliness in the gym. We really brought together a sense of community locally, which is extremely important to us being a small, family-owned local business, to bring together that type of community that you really can't find anywhere else in the city.
Sara: Wonderful. And so your facility is set up in a way that in the front there's your cardio equipment and then you have different machines for lifting. But in the back, you have kind of a hidden gem. People don't really know about that. Talk about that back area that you guys have and what you offer back in there for people coming into your gym.
Anita: Sure. Everyone's really taken back by the gym when you first walk in, because initially from the outside it looks like it's going to be a small gym facility. But you go in and it's 10000 square feet full of Matrix, Life Fitness, Hammer Strength, Rogue equipment in the front with locker rooms. And then as you walk to the back, like you said, it's a hidden gym. And back there we have a punching bag rigged. We have place for a lot of our classes, and then also a power-lifting area where it's kind of away from everything. And we have a lot of our powerlifting stuff there. So there is a lot of versatile training that goes on in the back. So it's kind of like another gym within a gym.
Sara: Yes, definitely. And there's pullup bars in there, correct? Or like kind of like a rig that you would find at a CrossFit gym. Would you say?
Anita: Yes. Well, we actually have that Road Rig the front now. As the centerpiece of the front; but in the back we do have three power-lifting slot racks. You can do pullups back there. There are twelve punching bags. There's tires and ropes and dumbbells and sleds, spin bikes. Right now, there's benches and cardio equipment as well. So if people want to have a little bit more privacy and not be in the main gym, they can go back and have more of an intimate type workout in the back room.
Sara: Definitely. So you can do kind of functional fitness workouts, powerlifting, and you briefly touched on how they're spinning bikes. You guys recently added spinning classes to your gym, is that correct?
Anita: Yeah, so before the shutdown, we introduce our Stages spin bikes. And it was just getting ready to start taking off and it was doing really well. Due to the government mandate, currently, we can't offer classes. So we're definitely looking forward to getting back to being able to offer a variety of classes. We offered Sping. We offer Zumba. We offer a great class called Bustin Guts with Morgan and Box Fit style training with Jesse. So those are really our signature classes and we hope to be able to offer those again to our members in the future.
Sara: That's awesome. Yeah. Those are all great classes. I know personally, Kevin and myself have taken the spinning classes and we have loved it. I mean, I love spinning classes. It was nice being back there in your gym. It was more intimate. And as some spinning studios are a little bit bigger. But you have like a nice little group of bikes and you feel a lot closer with the instructor and all the members in the class with you.
Anita: Right. And there's a little more room to breathe. I know a lot of spin studios are kind of packed in there like sardines. It can get a little bit hot and humid and crazy. But being in the back room with 25 foot ceilings and it's a little bit more open and airy. It just feels really good.
Sara: Definitely, I agree. And aside from all the cool classes that you guys offer. I think when I was there, I saw that you also help people prep for physique shows. So can you talk a little bit about that as well?
Anita: Sure, well, that definitely goes hand-in-hand with our personal training. So we have top-level, pro-level personal trainers that are training in our facility. Trainers that have competed several times at Olympia level. And as far as bodybuilding and figure competition is what Morgain competed in. So she is an ICB pro trainer. Very high-level that can help people prep for competitions if that's what they want to do. But it's a variety of training. So it can be a competition. It can be marathon. It can just be rehabilitation. We have, for instance, Ken is training a lady now that has polio and she came in not even being able to walk. And as of this week, she was taking 200. I think she told me 268 steps unassisted with no cane. And he actually has her jumping. So it's so amazing to see that anyone can become athletic. It just starts with having the right trainer to be able to be knowledgeable enough to train you in a way that you can believe in yourself. And that really starts with the mind because people can train their bodies and have perfect bodies. But then they haven't trained their mind. They haven't fed their mind. They haven't done everything that they need to do for their mind. So our trainers are so strong, both physically and mentally and spiritually, to be able to guide people in the right direction for their fitness goals, whatever they are.
Sara: Absolutely. I think the mental aspect is very important. So joining us also is Training Director, Ken. Ken, talk about what makes you so special. I know Anita just mentioned it, but from your perspective, what sets you guys apart training-wise compared to other teams that people could go to in Rio Rancho or Albuquerque?
Ken: Well, first of all, thanks for having us on. And thanks for having myself on. You know, I guess what I could touch on with what Anita was expressing is that the awareness, the staff, and the trainers, and the entire community that the gym has is what I think separates this gym for most gyms. The awareness and depth we take into the clients and the members is, I think by far, what sets us apart? Training that mind, training the body, training the spirit as equally and as one is what I think, what we strive to help our clients with. No matter what their goals or dreams or aspirations, whether it's on the stage, off the stage, just to move better, I think we all kind of share that common goal.
Sara: And it sounds like you work with a variety of people, I mean athletes, and then Anita said you're working with a woman who has polio. So many people would be like, wow, I never thought someone dealing with that disease would come into a gym. But I bet that's been super rewarding, seeing her progress and the progress of all of your clients.
Ken: Oh, yeah. Being a part of people's fitness journey is something that I take great joy in. And I'm so humbled and excited to be a part of the Elite Physique team. To work alongside the clients that I've been a part of. And yes, it's just something I'm definitely passionate about. I think a lot of the team there share that same passion. And I think when you do what you love from a heart, it just produces a different kind of result.
Sara: I definitely agree. Is there any areas that you focus on as a trainer?
Ken: I don't know how to answer that question. I just I'm super compelled to help people connect with themselves in and out of their body, you know, especially with their mind and making that connection with their body and their heart and then synchronizing all three. And that in itself is quite a journey. But it's just something I'm completely passionate about. And I get a lot of joy with helping people connect with themselves and their surroundings. Whatever it takes is what I'm committed to do when it comes to working with people.
Sara: I just didn't know if you had a certain kind of clientele that you usually work with. If the trainers are paired up with people who fit their niche a little bit more than maybe someone else's type of deal.
Ken: Oh, yeah. Most definitely. We're super aware of making sure that the personalities match with the trainer. When it comes to personal training, you're definitely developing a personal relationship. So we want to make sure that the client feels as if they can build that trust and security and that bond with their trainer, because it's definitely a journey that you embark on once you're working towards a better herself.
Sara: Aside from the community aspect inside of gym, you guys try to embrace the community in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque as much as possible to0 by doing outreach events. I know specifically, you're trying to help out with veterans, helping to give veterans a membership. Can you talk about some of your community outreach events or opportunities that you provide?
Anita: Sure, I can touch on the veteran project that we started. We teamed up back then. I guess it's been about three years now. We teamed up with an organization called Lift For The 22. This was an organization that was coming together to provide free gym memberships for veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder. It was a fantastic idea and I was thrilled to be a part of it and thrilled to be able to provide free memberships for veterans. Unfortunately, that organization didn't really perform as expected, which was fine, because I wanted to just run with the idea. I think post-traumatic stress disorder is such a serious issue that has affected so many families directly in our gym facility. And I just wanted to be able to provide an outlet for veterans. We give preference to people who have already been diagnosed with PTSD. But we do offer a sponsored membership, free memberships for veterans as well that are in need or for some reason can't afford a gym membership because this is really where they come in to start rebuilding themselves. When anyone, anyone, veteran or not veteran, when they're kind of down and out and they're trying to really take the first step to better themselves. That first step is usually into some sort of a fitness routine or into a gym. So we just want to make it that much easier for people to not have to struggle and not have to worry about paying out money if they can't afford it. We're happy to sponsor veterans. We've also worked with CLN Kids. So we usually around Christmas time our members are so awesome about donating to CLN Kids. We'll have a wishing tree in the front and everyone takes off a children's wish and they provide the gifts for the children's need. We've worked with local farmers where our members will go out and participate with Wagner Farms down in Los Pablanos during the planting season to help them. Because, you know, as far as nutrition goes, the best type of fruits and vegetables that you can get are fruits and vegetables that are grown locally. And we definitely want to be able to help support our local farmers. So those are just a few off the top of my head. You know, we've sponsored teams and events and high school teams, middle school teams. So that's always fun to be able to see teams come in and ask for the sponsorship and to see how they do during the year. Like Rio Rancho Lacrosse is one that comes to mind that we have a really great relationship with and we sponsor them with free memberships and donations. So it's really great to be able to give to the community. And I think being a local business. That's one thing that you don't see too often from, you know, big box national gyms. They don't have a handle. They don't have their finger on the pulse as far as community goes. And that's something that I feel very blessed to be able to do, is to be able to give back to the community with the business.
Sara: Absolutely. Those are all amazing initiatives that you guys have done. I think it really ties back into having people connect at that level community wise. That's step number one in becoming like a healthier person, like physically, mentally, if I think it's like really amazing that you guys have this mission of getting to the foundation of the soul of a person.
Anita: Oh, definitely. And it's just amazing. The team that we have in the gym with Ken, Morgan as another one of our trainers, . Ty, Krista. I have an amazing operations manager, Deandra. If you talk to us together, or even separately, you know, there's so many similarities with our goals and being able to help people. With everything going on in the world right now. There's such chaos. It's really helping people to come into the moment. Into the moment of now and understanding, helping them to define what they really want with their lives. So many people are in such a fast-paced world trying to provide for everyone else that they really need to reflect on themselves. You can't really help anyone else until you are able to help yourself first. And I think that that's something that Ken can definitely touch on because I've talked to so many of his athletes and so many of my other trainers' athletes. The common theme is, is that this trainer has changed my life. So a personal trainer, a good personal trainer is not just training your body. They're really getting down. Like you said, they're at the full level to help you, to really ask yourself the hard questions of what do I really want? What am I here for? What's my purpose? What am I doing? And how is getting my body stronger going to help me achieve my goals? A lot of people don't even set goals and they don't realize how important it is to set goals for themselves to be able to expand on the vision that they have for their life. It's really creating a path, helping someone to identify their path and their purpose. It's just amazing that it all can start on the physical level just by stepping on the gym.
Sara: Yeah, absolutely. And so going forward, I know it's a tough time, like you said. Where do you see Elite Physique growing as a gym or anything like that? What does the future look like for you guys?
Anita: We definitely have plans for expansion. This year we planned on another Northeast type location, which is still in the works. However, know with everything going on, we're really just focused on rebuilding our Rio Rancho location and hope that in the very near future that we can continue our plans for the Northeast Hieghts. We definitely want to be able to expand the gym potential, you know, franchise. And also really focus on our personal training. That's something that's so important. And I think so many people right now could definitely benefit from having a highly-skilled personal trainer. And personal trainers are really life coaches to help people get geared up in the right direction. So we're going to be very heavily focused on personnel training and life coaching and then also expanding to other locations.
Sara: That's awesome. That's really exciting. Have you also added any kind of online services, given the times that we're in where we can't always be working with a trainer or something or maybe during this time when we have to stay at home order? Did you guys have any kind of online workouts or anything like that you may continue doing in the future as well?
Anita: Yes, definitely. Clarissa Gannon is our online trainer and she has put together a variety of workouts that are sent out to our members on a daily basis. Which is great. So they get online workouts that they can do in their home. Our Zumba instructor, Jessica, has also made her classes available for all of our members online. There's daily strength and conditioning workout with Clarissa and Krista, Ty and then Jessica does our Zumba workouts. We want to continue to be able to provide online workouts and then also online personal training will be coming here within the next month. So you can actually get personal training, guided personal training, and nutrition online with Elite.
Sara: Very cool guy. That'll definitely make people's lives easier I'm imagining going forward, given all the uncertainty going on in the world right now.
Anita: Yea! we know that people are a little bit nervous. Right. People are still a little bit nervous about going into the gym. So, you know, they feel more comfortable coming home than we can be able to bring our program to them.
Sara: That's wonderful. OK. One question for you. A personal question. What is your favorite kind of workout to do?
Anita: Personally, I like weight training the most. And I think that I'm still, it's always a progress. It's a work in progress. And you kind of think that you're doing it right for a while and then someone comes along shows you different ways of working out or different ways of lifting where you see even better results. So it's definitely something that's always been challenging for me. But I love a challenge and I always want to be able to do better. So weight training is definitely my absolute favorite.
Sara: Awesome. I 100% agree with everything you said. Yes. We love a challenge and getting better. What about you, Ken?
Ken: If I had to pick a favorite, I mean, I have to say, overall, I love anything that has to involve the whole body and mind. That goes to walking, tennis, weight training, swimming. You know, even just taking a hike, you know. So I really encourage people to do whatever they have fun doing. Do more of it. And then once you get more curious at the gym and learning how to wait, trained properly and then in a different way that really exercises your mind spirit, that, you know, the gyms always open for you at Elite Physique. The trainers are always there for you to help guide you. And that's I think what I'm most passionate about was learning how to do that with weight training.
Sara: Definitely. I think that is one important key that I'd like to just touch on, Finding something that you're passionate about and then working out doesn't feel like a chore. It feels like you are doing something you love every single day. So whatever that is, like you said, it could be tennis. It could be rowing. It could be yoga. It could be anything. As long as you find it and you just enjoy it and you stick to it, everything else should be easy peasy.
Ken: 100%. Think of the way from the way to supplement your body. All of us can use a little bit of weight training. All of our muscles can use that resistance training. No matter what our sport of choices or type of living, you know. So whatever your level is, whatever your age, there is no such thing as too late. You know, so I'm excited again to be part of Elite Physique. I'm excited to meet each and every one of you that decides to come in. Here's to a good future for all of us.
Sara: Definitely. And we're so fortunate to live in this amazing state where it's sun all of the time. So really, there's no excuse to not get outside and enjoy it, even if it's just, you know a walk. At least you are getting outside. You're doing something. You're getting some vitamin D. You're getting healthier during this time where we need to be at our healthiest.
Ken: Get out and enjoy the sunsets more. Albuquerque has some of the most beautiful sunsets, I think. So take your family out, even if it's just yourself. It can be so nourishing for your body and your mind.
Sara: All right. Well, do you have anything else you'd like to add about Elite Physique?
Anita: We're just super excited to be open again. And we're just looking forward to seeing new faces. Our regular members are already back and making gains and making changes. It's so great to see people trickling back in. We really look forward to welcoming any of our new members into a boutique-style fitness facility. If you haven't tried it before, we encourage you to come out and try us out and see what a difference that a small gym can make a big difference in your life when they're community-oriented. So we look forward to meeting all you new people out there.
Sara: Awesome. Thank you both, Anita and Ken, for joining us today. We really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us about Elite Physique.
Anita: Thanks so much.
Kevin: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin: Next week, Sarah talks with Matt Avila from the Duke City Gladiators. They dive into their fast-paced, high scoring indoor football team, their work with the community, and some hints to changes happening in the future.
Sara Yingling Instagram: @yingers1
Elite Physique Instagram: @elitephysiquegym
Intro/Outro Music: Jack McCarthy
Kevin: Mixing it Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin: Episode 14. Sean Plake with Elite OSM. In this episode, we get to hear about what makes Elite OSM special, Sean's experiences, and what the future holds.
Sara: Hey, Sean, how are you doing today?
Sean: Hey, I'm doing great.
Sara: Thanks for joining us. Really appreciate it.
Sean: Yeah, we thanks for having me.
Sara: So. You work for Elite OSM. Tell us what Elite OSM is.
Sean: So, Elite OSM. We have a number of great practitioners. We come from different backgrounds. Chiropractic care. Physical therapy. Nephropathy. Massage therapists. Yoga and personal training. So there's a team of us. We all are involved. We joined together and created that community and we can offer all of Albuquerque and treat whoever we can that is the need. So people that are feeling tight or in pain or have an injury. Anything that deems necessary for bodywork. We try to accommodate everything.
Sara: And so there's like chiropractors and then you guys. So are you guys similar to a chiropractor or do you offer other services outside of typical chiropractor practice?
Sean: Yes, we have adjustment only sessions to where if someone wants to just get their body realigned and adjusted, hey can come in and see us. And we can do that. But furthermore, what we are really known for is full service, like giving soft tissue work, cupping, Kinesio Taping. We have a hammer type of therapy that we do for realignment. We've tried to do as much as we can. All-inclusive in one session. So basically someone comes in to see us with an injury. Explain what's going on. And we just kind of dispatched from there how we need to treat it. And we have so many modalities that we can do. Dry Needling is another great modality. So we just try to add whatever we can and to help the person that way it is just not cookie cutter. You don't just come in and get this basic treatment or standard treatment that everyone gets. So every experiences is unique. And we there evaluate each person and give them the best experience and make sure that they're feeling good before they leave.
Sara: Definitely. And are those all things that you yourself do. Do you specialize in a few of those techniques or whatever you'd like to call them.
Sean: Yeah. Yeah. My background is personal training, massage therapy, and then Naprapathic medicine. So I kind of did that in order. Everyone has a different background. Dr. Hightower is the founder of Elite OSM and his background is chiropractic. But he really is leading the forefront on body work in general. And taught us all of these successful techniques that he's found that worked in his career. And so that was a big head start for everyone involved. And then different co-workers have different social specialties. So we have physical therapists that are really good at dry needling, massage therapists that are amazing at just hands-on bodywork. And then obviously, chiropractors can be great at adjustments. And Naprapathic is another form of wonderful adjustments. A little less forceful. We're considered soft tissue specialists. We can sort the fascia, make sure that everything's working really well along the spine and muscles. Yeah. So it just depends. Everyone that works with us has a different specialty or a different style. So no matter what. Whoever you see, whether it's a regular massage therapists. Most people have experience with that. Everyone has a different style. Just depends on what clicks with the person. And that's how you decide if a therapist works reading.
Sara: Yeah, that's very cool. I think that's what sets you guys apart from others in the Albuquerque area. That you have this wide array of services and techniques and everything else that you can offer people. So maybe some place isn't working. They can try out you guys and you can see if any of your techniques work on them. Do you think that's like kind of what sets you guys apart from the rest?
Sean: Yeah, we get that a lot. People will be seeing a physical therapy place for a while or they'll be coming off the surgery or they have a particular massage therapist that recommends us. We try to help and get to the root cause of the pain. So, yes, if someone's seeing a massage therapist, but they feel like they need to get adjusted, then they can come to us. Or they're not quite getting where they want to from physical therapy. Usually we're that place that gets the person to the next level. So if they're just recovering from a surgery or an injury and physical therapy, take some just that initial like 10, 20 percent. But they need to return to a sport or an activity that they love and they're really anxious to get back to running first day. We do whatever we can to make sure that happens. So we're all former athletes and competitors. We know how it is to not be able to.. or be told to not to be able to do what you love. Just so many doctors do that. There just like, all right, over your ankles messed up, so you should stop running. Obviously, that person's like, "running away. So I need to keep running." They seek out whatever doctor they can to to help them. And then typically we're the ones that are able to helped them get to that point because we know how important it is. And especially with athletics. So and that's the whole reason that we're located inside of Jackson Wink MMA Academy. Over time, we helped so many fighters get to the point to where they're just they're not pulling out fights because that happens often. If anyone is used to UFC or MMA in general, so many fighters pull out last minute. Since we started helping the Jackson Wink Academy, we've had a great success on making sure these fighters can go when they ready. That's how they make their living so if they can't fight then they don't make money. So we have to make sure that they're ready to go.
Sara: That was going to be my next question, because you guys are most known for working with all of these top athletes at Jackson Wink. Plus celebrities who just happen to be in Albuquerque, like filming movies or making a stop here along the way, some where and I guess they see Beau's probably Instagram page or something and they stop by. But more so it's about like you said, keeping these fighters healthy. But also, you know, your average person who enjoys running or like in my case or I know you guys work with a lot of CrossFitters. Making sure that we're able to keep doing our crazy workouts everyday.
Sean: Yea Absolutely. So many different athletes that come by. It's really cool to be in such an amazing gym like it's world renowned. So many fighters just come for their camps. They can stay there. There's dorms in the building. So it's like such an amazing facility that Mike Winklejohn and Greg Jackson have created. Yeah. It's just really awesome that so many fighters can stay there. And actors like recently, Steve-O just came to hang out with Jon Jones. They're doing a little project for Albuquerque. It's called The Care Project. And they're just keeping the streets good and helping the homeless and making sure that people aren't vandalizing. So this is a really cool project. Yea. Steve-O just came so that's cool. One of the major celebrities that's been by and then so many other actors and NFL players, NBA players, they all come by and just check out the gym. Whoever is into mixed martial arts. It's a great place to visit. There's like a celebrity wall and stuff that people signed. Really awesome that we have that here in Albuquerque since especially since there's no other professional sports and it's just such a hot spot for MMA in general. It's just really great to be a part of it all.
Sara: I don't know if you're allowed to say, but have you worked with any celebrity? Our athletes.
Sean: Yeah, absolutely. I won't mention too many names, but yeah. Since the movie industry has gotten pretty big here, we've had a lot of different actors. We've had a few bands and singers that have come by. So they come on tour and they're like, One in particular, had hurt his ankle and he had a concert the same night and he's about to cancel it. And he came by. They reached out to us. Yeah, we can treat him. And so we treated his ankle, made it for better use, and we'll get on stage and continue with his concert. So it's pretty awesome to have that kind of recognition and celebrities like that that seek us out.
Sara: What's your favorite part about your job or working with Elite OSM or both?
Sean: I have lots of favorites. There's so many things that are amazing about my work and what I do. The biggest thing for sure is just seeing the satisfaction of someone feeling much better. The satisfaction of relief from an injury that they've had for a long time. Or even if accute. Like if they have a competition coming up or race and they're just like bummed out because the doctor said they're not gonna be able to do it and then come by. It's two weeks from now. We can work this out. We'll make sure that you're able to run this race or do this competition type of thing. So just seeing the satisfaction of people that are desiring some kind of outcome and we just try to do whatever we can to reach out for them. And it's just amazing when someone comes in like that. Or if they've been in pain for six months to a year. Three years. And all of a sudden you're able to make even like a 10 or 20 percent difference that they just didn't have any hope for. It's such an amazing feeling. Yeah. Every case is unique too. Everyday is really fun for me. I never get bored with what I do because it's different. I've always seeing different personalities, dealing with different injuries, different tension. Like, every case is so unique that it's just really fun to be around and it just keeps me on my toes. I just never, ever get bored. So everyday flies by. Yesterday I had like 10 hour workday and it felt like three hours. back to back. So many people. Yeah. It's just it's just amazing.
Sara: That's awesome, and I know you're a former athlete, too, right? So, I mean, it's probably rewarding for you to see someone come in the pain and maybe that you experience in your path and being able to help them with that pain.
Sean: Absolutely. And that's the thing. Like every provider has done some form of athletics. And we all have hobbies and we like to stay active. So we know how important that is for everyone else as well. So when someone comes in that's an athlete and once again, their doctor said they should do what they want to do. We understand that. Right. Let's make this happen like we know this is you love like you don't want to give this up. So we'll do anything we can to help you accomplish what you want to do. Like me in particular. I did soccer, football, volleyball, track, rugby. So just tons of sports and I just love athletics in general and competition. And I just know how that goes, so. To take that away from someone, especially with their goals. Even if it's just an outlet for their daily stress or whatever the case is. Trying to lose weight. Gain muscle. Just for their personal satisfaction. It's just nice to be able to help someone along that journey and give them the best possible care and help to achieve that.
Sara: Yeah, absolutely. So nowadays, what is your go-to workout. What do you enjoy the most?
Sean: I would say like any kind of competitive sport. So if I'm training downstairs with some of the fighters, I enjoy that a ton. I want to get more involved for sure. Just because we treat so many fighters. I want to just really learn the sport and for so long, like, I never grew up with any of that. So for so long, I've just made excuses, being too busy. Having school or having this or that going on. And I've always had a busy schedule, so it's true. But now my schedule is a lot more open up since I finished school and I'm doing what I'm doing. So I want to get out there and learn a lot more MMA type stuff for sure. But just in general, just active movement. I love hiking. I love snowboarding. I play sand volleyball in a weekly league. Sometimes my friends will set up at the park. We'll go play. We'll play there. And then if I'm not doing any of that stuff like competing, then I love to hit the gym and get some good workouts in. I always change up my training style. It just depends. I cycle between yoga and CrossFit and regular strength training. So I understand that. And that's what a lot of people don't understand is like you need a variance of things to do. So, so many people get up on one thing and they go crazy on that one thing. Whether it's like powerlifting. Whether it's yoga. Whether it's CrossFit. And that's where people tend to get in trouble because they just go so hard for so long. I try to make people understand that you need a balance. Your body craves different kind of stimulus to progress and to be in the right place.If you overtrain, a lot of the MMA athletes, for sure, they use a overtrain so much. So a lot of what I do with them is just like getting them to calm down and balance out all the crazy training that they're doing, you know?
Sara: Definitely. I was definitely one of those people when I came to see you guys. Constantly overtraining and just working through those injuries and then came to see Beau. Then worked with Greg and worked with yourself. And it definitely helped. And then you guys provide homework. It's not like you guys are the end all be all. You still have to maintain these injuries that you're trying to work through by doing your own stuff when you get home or, you know, in the morning or at night. I think that's really important to add here.
Sean: Yeah, absolutely. You're an amazing athlete. You're probably one of the hardest workers I've ever met. So it definitely kind of helps out. Working with you for a while. And I knew you were that athlete I'm talking about. Get you to calm down a little bit here. You have to do this and this and this. Make sure you balance everything, because once again, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. So. If all you're doing is running or all you're doing is lifting, like you have to do some opposite type of things and make sure that you're taking care of your body to be able to continue doing what you love. So that's important to be able to educate the patient in doing so. And that's one of the things that sets us apart, is we're so big on self-care and patient education. As much time as we spend on someone, we also spend that time to show them homework and at-home rehab that they can do. So that's pretty much half of it. So it's like a 50/50 partnership. I can get you this far. You have to do this on your own and then we can succeed together. So that's a really cool part of it all is just to help people be educated and learn about their bodies and how to take care of themselves for the time being and future.
Sara: Absolutely. So what does the future look like for Elite OSM? I know you guys have kind of two locations now. One at Jacson Wink and one over off of the Alameda area. Do you guys see any more expansion in the future?
Sean: At the end of last year we expanded to Las Vegas, Nevada, as well. So currently we have one over there. And I'm actually working on getting myself over there as well. So I'm trying to get everything situated. But, yeah, we're trying to expand kind of regionally first. Get a few more clinics under undergoing.
Sara: That's exciting.
Sean: Yeah. So hopefully we'll grow from there. It's cool that it's all started from Albuquerque and Dr. Hightower has done such an amazing job creating a great team. Everyone's driven and passion about what they do. It's really amazing. So I can see this growing to be super huge. Especially Dr. Hightower actually with the following that he has. So many people are curious about the work. We get people that fly in from out of state, from all over the country, across the world even. I've had a lot of inquiries about like, hey, can you come out to London? Can you come out to South America? So we're kind of working on different ways to pursue that and expand what we do.
Sara: That is so exciting. I'm super happy for you guys.
Sean: Yeah, it's been amazing. So I was a patient before I started working there. Just to see it from almost day one. I think Dr. Hightower had been in business for about six months before I became a patient. There was this super small office. He was the only one working on people. He had a few assistants. But just to know how it was back then and then to see how it has grown has been really amazing. It's such a cool journey. He's the man behind it all. Everyone's so thankful for Beau. Yeah. He's having so much success now, too. He's traveling all over the states and working on different celebrities and YouTubers and just killing it, making some great videos. And so many people follow him on YouTube, like even people from Albuquerque had no idea about us. You ask them how you hear about this? And it's like, oh, YouTube. Okay, that's great.
Sara: Yeah, his Instagram and his YouTube have blown up. Even since I started seeing you guys. I'm like, wow, what? I was telling Kevin before you got on? Like, I would go see Beau. And then, like, as he just got more popular, I guess. like I couldn't ever book an appointment. That's when I started seeing you and Greg. I mean, it's not like that's a bad thing. I didn't mean it. You do a great job. But yeah, I was just saying he has definitely blown up in the four years I've been here.
Sean: Yeah, absolutely. I remember seeing his Instagram barely being a few thousand followers in the beginning. He does such amazing stuff. I know he is going to blow up. It's crazy that he hasn't so far. So far. And then all of a sudden the next year it just went crazy. And ever since then, it's just gotten bigger and bigger since. It's really awesome. That gives the businesses a lot of exposure and all of our different modalities like Orthotherapy in itself. And then the nacrapathy, which is very new to a lot of people. And we have four nacropathic doctors that are on staff now. So we're really trying to, like, just show people what we do and grow that profession as well. It's just such a great modality for people to have. We want to also expand that so it gets into several other states and hopefully across the country at some point.
Sara: Yes. All right. Well, that's all I have a question wise. Do you have anything else that you'd like to add?
Sean: So many people hear about us and like, oh you guys work on all of these athletes. It's only like major, high-profile people that come there with. That's not it at all. That makes up like 10% of our overall patients. So I just want to let people know that whatever the case is, any average Joe, or if you're just a weekend warrior, or not active at all. Anyone can come to us. So as long as you're in pain or have some tension, we can really do whatever we can to help you alleviate that.
Sara: Yeah, absolutely. And Fit Mix users can come to see you for a discount, is that correct?
Sean: Yeah. Yeah, I offer Fit Mix users a discount. It's such a great concept that you guys have created. So no matter if you're a CrossFitter, if you're a general fitness person, if you're a yogi, runner. You're just getting back into things like it's we have an option for anyone to come by and really help you get to the level that you want to get to.
Sara: Awesome. Well, thanks for joining our podcast today, we really appreciate you taking the time to tell these people about all of the services not only you offer, but Elite OSM. Hopefully open some eyes and open some doors for you guys.
Sean: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks so much. And we look forward to servicing whoever we can that is just wanting to be fit and be active. We need to really drive that going forward and making sure that people are moving and just enjoying themselves. Like It's important for people. Especially nowadays with technology. So many people are just glued to their phones or computer. We got to make sure everyone's saying active and keeping a healthy lifestyle that way you're just happy.
Sara: Definitely. I think you have a great day.
Sean: Thanks so much. Thanks for having me.
Kevin: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin: Next week, Sara talks with Anita and Ken from the Elite Physique. The conversation is jam-packed with information on what Elite Physique has to offer, they're work with the community, they're amazing trainers and so much more.
Sara Yingling Instagram: @yingers1
Sean Plake Instagram: @dr.sean.plake
Intro/Outro Music: Jack McCarthy
TranscriptKevin: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin: Episode 13. Amy Payton with Bear Canyon CrossFit. In this episode, Sara talks with Amy about her passion for helping people, the tight-knit community Bear Canyon has, how they're keeping members and staff safe from the Coronavirus after reopening, and more.
Sara: Hey, Amy, how are you doing today?
Amy: Hi, Sara. I'm great. How are you?
Sara: Good, thank you. So you are one of the owners of Bear Canyon CrossFit. Is that correct?
Amy: That is correct.
Sara: All right. In a nutshell, talk to me about Bear Canyon CrossFit and what all you guys offer.
Amy: Well, Bear Canyon CrossFit is obviously a CrossFit gym. But in the last five years we've owned it we have expanded into, not only the CrossFit classes that we offer starting at 5:30 in the morning going throughout the day. We also offer a full-body body workout class, which is called My Sweat Class. I teach that three days a week at 9:30. And then we also offer a functional body-building class, which is the class that focuses on the upper body. It's only upper body. And then on Thursdays, Beth coaches the lower body. So it's glutes and the lower body workout on Thursdays. And then also we've incorporated Olympic lifting in the evenings. We also do Strongmans on Sundays, although currently, that's kind of on hold right now. So we try to hit all different areas for people that don't or they're scared of CrossFit. Then we try to offer more than just a CrossFit gym.
Sara: I feel like something that sets you apart as all of the different classes that you guys do offer. So it's like more, maybe like you said, more friendly. The classes that aren't so CrossFity that maybe people are scared to take. You have a a lighter version of.
Amy: Yeah, I would agree with that. I think one of the hardest parts of owning a CrossFit gym is there's this perception that you have to be a certain kind of person to be able to walk into our gym and be able to workout. Like we're gonna ask you to clean 135 lbs. And so one of the things that we did is we offered this Sweat Class; really with a focus of not just CrossFit. Not just barbell stuff. And just to kind of reiterate, very few people are walking through the door and doing 135 lb cleans. So we try to make it a safe environment, no matter if you're coming from walking as your source of exercise or you've been doing CrossFit for 10 years. And so, yeah, we try to make sure that the doors are open for an 18-year-old kid and also for a 60-year-old person that just wants to feel healthier. So, yes, we try to do that.
Sara: I agree. There's definitely this misconception. I get it all the time. Every time I try to talk one of my friends into trying CrossFit. Well, I'm not in shape yet for it. And I'm like, when I started CrossFit 5 years ago I was not in shape for it and I could barely deadlift, you know, at 95 lb bar. I could barely snatch a 55 lb bar. It's like, were you in shape when you started playing CrossFit, I mean playing soccer when you were 5-years-old. No. It doesn't go like that. Walking through the doors the first step.
Amy: One of the things that I love about what I do is that sense of accomplishment, when people are sitting in the parking lot and they want to come in and they're nervous. I mean, how many times have I had people say, well, I came here for two weeks straight and I, you know, every other day and I sat in your parking lot and then I just drove away. Then that one time when they did walk in and then that feeling that they have when they finished the class and they're like, oh, my gosh, I can do this. Yeah, I was on an empty bar or yeah, I was on a train. A bar. Yeah. I had the wooden blocks on my bar to help me with the deadlifts, you know, but I was able to do it. So I think there's a sense of accomplishment when people get the courage to come in here and then they have the courage to finish the class. That's what I love about what we do. You know, it's these little teeny changes that we do in people's lives or put into people's lives.
Sara: Absolutely. So do you find your members doing the functional class or do you find people doing the CrossFit class also doing the functional class as well?
Amy: Well, so the functional bodybuilding classes is a pretty popular class. We have child care, so we have a lot of the same people that come into my Sweat Classes. If they want to train five days a week. They'll come 9:30 Monday, Wednesday, Friday in my Sweat Class. And then Tuesday, Thursday to Mark and Becs, functional bodybuilding classes. So, yes, but we also have our CrossFit athletes that want to work on their upper body and they want to take an hour once a week and just focus on upper body. So we have a full range of our CrossFiters doing it. And then we have, people that are what we call the Sweat Functional Bodybuilding people. To be honest with you, it's amazing. In the last what I've done Sweat for maybe two years now, almost 95% of them have a full CrossFit membership because they started out with a Sweat and Functional Bodybuilding. And then they're like, well, I can do CrossFit now. I mean, because Sweat is incorporating CrossFit and Functional Bodybuilding. It's incorporating both of those movements. We find that people are switching their memberships on that. So, yes, we get full range of people that are doing both.
Sara: So with the Strong Man class, I know you said it isn't happening right now. Talk about that one.
Amy: Well, we've had this epidemic that's been going on. I don't know if you're aware of it.
Sara: What?! I've been living under a rock.
Amy: It has taken the world a little bit. So we've been open now for three days when we were closed for three months. And so trying to figure out how to open a gym and make sure our members feel safe has been an unbelievably difficult puzzle. And I will give major kudos to Mark, who has been thinking of almost everything. So obviously, Strongman is flipping tires and keg lifts and heavy movements. Trying to do that in their block where they're working out is nearly impossible. So just like CrossFit Kids, the Strongman classes, we've had to put those on the shelves right now until everything kind of settles a little bit.
Sara: Definitely. What is one thing that you think separates yourself or makes you unique from the other CrossFit gyms in Albuquerque or New Mexico.
Amy: We're very, very lucky. We have a really strong community of CrossFit gyms here. From [CrossFit] Abq to Big Barn. I mean, there's a lot of really good, Duke City. And we have really good relationships with all of those, all of the CrossFit gyms. And I don't know if I would ever say that we are better than anybody. I think that we kind of keep our nose to the ground. We try really, really, really hard to not get caught in any of the gossip or get upset when somebody takes one of our ideas. We kind of are in this thinking as if somebody takes one of our ideas that we started with. It must have been a really good idea. And so I think one of the things that's made our gym successful, we have with Fit Mix included dropping in over, I think we had about 250 members. And I would say that we try to make this a really, really great community of people, but we leave the, excuse the expression, the bullshit out the door. So if there's drama or bullshit that's going on, we tried really hard to not get involved in that. We also want to be seen as more than just a CrossFit gym. We want to be seen as a gym that will get back to the community. We want to be seen as when a member walks through the door and they've lost their job or their kid is sick or they're going through a divorce and they can't pay for their membership. We know deep down that they need to be here will waive memberships. And so that gives me chills because really, truly, that is why I'm doing it, There's a sense of community and caring. I do a lot of the nutrition consulting here and the joy that I get from somebody that walks through the door that, you know, has an eating disorder or hates their body or feels yucky about themselves and they can express that and clean up their food and get off sugar. And, you know, whatever they do, whether they're like just watching what they eat and then the transformation mentally, maybe not even physically, but mentally is so gratifying that it's worth the time and effort that we put into the gym. So I would say that we care. And I think that all the other CrossFit gyms care too. So I wouldn't say that we are any different. We're just trying to continue to do what we're doing because what we've been doing has been successful.
Sara: Yeah, and community is a huge part. I think that's why almost everyone gets into CrossFit. They just recognized that there is more of a community aspect than you could at other gyms.
Amy: I think there's a sense of support. Like right now we're having showers put in, which is a really big deal for our gym. We are putting hours in, which is something we've been wanting to do for a long time. But we used our member, who is a construction guy. When our AC goes down, we send a message out and one of our AC guys, that's our member, does it. If we need a reupholster. We just redid our couches and we had one of our members reupholster the whole entire couch. So we really try to stay within it to help run this gym so we can support our members financially as well because they've supported us. We've had very, very little turnover during this time. Most of our members have stayed with us and a couple of them had to freeze their accounts for a month or so just to kind of get ahead and make sure their family was taken care of. And we completely understood all of it. We've continued to do Zoom classes and all that. Supporting people that aren't comfortable about coming back into the gym.
Sara: Yeah. And one thing maybe people may not know is you put on a decent amount of competitions throughout the years too. Talk about some of the competitions that you have.
Amy: Well, let's hope that continues. Right, Sara? We're right in a dilemma. I was just talking to Mark about our newest one, The Classic and how we're going to handle that and how we're gonna, you know. Yeah, we would love to throw huge competition to have everybody in here and see the different gyms come together in this amount of community. And I mean, we would do that in a heartbeat if we felt like it was safe. And those are the right thing to do. So trying to figure out what the right thing to do is the biggest question, right? Yeah. I mean, Autumn Games has been unbelievably successful. We've had, what are we, year five. Are we in year five already. Four or five. And it is as seamless as we possibly can do. I mean, last year those logs, those weighted pvc pipe logs to transport those from the gym to the field will never happen again. Let me just tell you, we've dropped one cleaning up on the way out of the competition. And I swear to you, I think we kept on driving. I mean, it was just like, which we didn't. But, yeah, you live and learn. We've had really great success with it. We love doing it. Feels like there's a sense of accomplishment when we get done. We try to do at least once a year. Open has been a huge thing at this gym, pulls a community together. We do always an in-house Christmas workout where everybody from a very, very new beginner of CrossFit is encouraged to come out and, you know, work beside somebody that's maybe got a little more experience. So we try to separate. So, yeah, we definitely try to do as many comps as we can. And I don't know what that looks like right now, but definitely in the past is something that we've definitely focused on.
Sara: Yeah, I hope it can happen. I miss those days.
Amy: I know we're just talking about it the other day. Whether we do with a classic, whether we do one event a day or what, I don't we're not really sure how to do it because we also have to be super respectful and careful of the situation right now. Right? If we open the door right now, we're allowed we're allowed 60 people in our gym, but we're allowing 16 in here right now. You know, can you imagine if we had a competition? You know, I mean, what do we usually have a thousand people? So we have to just be careful about all of that right now.
Sara: Definitely a tricky situation because you still want to go back to normal, but you also have to be respectful of the current situation. Everyone's health obviously is first and foremost.
Amy: For sure. We have one of our coaches here who's mom has cancer. And, you know, one of the members came in and, you know, high fiving, and one one of them left. This coach just looked at me and I said, that's it. This is the new rule. The new rule is no coaches are allowed to hug or high five or touch anybody. So there's a standard across the floor, across the room with all of the coaches right now, for right now, even though we're so happy to see everybody. We're gonna keep the social distance across the board. So that the people that really need it because they're going home to people that are sick, that we respect that. And it's been hard, but we've been able to maintain it. You know, so far. We're hoping to be able to continue to do that.
Sara: Well, on another note, on a positive note. Favorite CrossFit workout? Go!
Amy: Favorite CrossFit workout. Oh, my God. What would I choose? Well, I did DT Yesterday, I love, love, love, DT. I'm a big wall ball. I love wall balls and cleans. So you put those two movements together. I think in quarantine, I was doing wall balls and cleans everyday. I'm a little sick of them. Max effort on the rower. I love being able to challenge and try to get, you know, max effort on the rower in a certain amount of time. So, I mean, I just think that anything where you're moving and getting your heart rate up in the community. Bring it on. I've been watching you, Sara, and your workouts. And I take pictures of the ones that I did. I dont know. I did one of yours a couple of days ago. And yeah, I was like, well, that just kind of killed me. Anything like wall balls and cleans and a quick session of Fran. I mean, I think all that's great, right? I probably could stay away from the snatch, although I should probably be doing it more. We did front lunges today and I realized that I kind of suck at those. Love double unders until I can't get a double under and I whip myself and then I'm crying in the corner.
Sara: I'm here with you. With the powercleans. Love powercleans or cleans.
Amy: Me too. All day!
Sara: Oh my gosh. My first day back in the gym. My traps have never been this sore in my life. I mean maybe they have but I'm like, oh my gosh, this is CrossFit.
Amy: Think of all of the people who haven't done wall balls. Think about that full-body squat and then drive that ball overhead and then catch it as you're going down into squat again. I mean, you haven't done that for three months and then you do maybe a round of 50 wall balls. You can't walk the next day. I love it all. I mean, I love working out. I have since I was a little girl and I think that CrossFit is awesome. Right? I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't love it. I love the variation of all the moves. I love that everyone posts their workouts. You can take a picture of their workout and then do it at home or do it in the gym. So there's so much versatility in CrossFit that it's awesome. Everybody should be doing it right?
Sara: 100%
Amy: It changes people's lives. Yeah. I mean, I remember the first time I came in, I was like, oh, I can't do this. And now I'm like, oh, my God, I can't not do this.
Sara: Exactly. Drank the Kool-Aid as they say.
Amy: Yes. It's that special Kool-Aid. Everybody needs a sip of it, because even if you're a beginner. You drink that Kool-Aid and you become and we say that when people sign up. Oh, I think I'll try it for a month and then you'll always hear Mark say, oh, you'll sign on. It's addictive. And it is addicting. There is something about adrenaline and just sweating it out. Whether you're a beginner or not, you still feel better when you're done.
Sara: Definitely. Well, anything else you'd like to add about Bear Canyon CrossFit?
Amy: Just that we're here. You know, we're here. We're doing everything we can to keep people safe. We welcome new people coming in and checking out the gym, you know, if you haven't done it before. You're welcome to drop in. Fill out the waiver online. Come in and try a class. Why not try it? I guess that's what we always say to people. Why not? What do you have to lose with trying it out? And we're here to support people and we just continue to do the best that we can every day to help people feel better about themselves. But I'm excited. I'm glad you guys are putting this together. I think it's super cool. And, you know, it's a good way to do it for us to kind of talk about our gym and how special important it is to us. So thank you for having me. Come on. I appreciate it.
Sara: Our pleasure. Thanks for sharing so much with us.
Kevin: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin: Next week, Sara talks with Sean Plake from Elite OSM. We get to hear about what makes Elite OSM special, Sean's experiences, and what the future holds for them.
Sara Yingling Instagram: Yingers1
Bear Canyon CrossFit Instagram: bearcanyoncrossfit
Intro/Outro Music: Jack McCarthy
Kevin M.: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode 12. Alicia and Jonathan Montoya with Conquer Fitness Preps. They talk about how Conquer Fitness Preps came to be and where they are now.
Sara Y.: Hey, guys, how are you doing today?
Alicia & Jonathan: Hey. Doing well. Good.
Sara Y.: Thank you for joining us. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to join our podcast.
Jonathan M.: Yes. Thank you, guys.
Sara Y.: So talk to us about Conquer Meal Preps. How did you even get started in the meal prep business?
Jonathan M.: Well, OK. So it's kind of fun. So we started in 2015. We were going on a cruise with a bunch of friends and we're like, well, let's eat healthy. You know, we want to get ripped up for the beach and wanted to stay healthy. So we started meal prepping at our house with our friends. And, you know, from there we're prepping every single week. There's about 15 of us going on this cruise. And we would get together every single week and with meal prep. And then it kind of just became, after the cruise, we just started doing it for friends, family, and then from there and we just kind of started doing it as a business.
Alicia M.: Yeah. More and more people were interested because you would post stuff on our social media. "Hey guys! This is what we're prepping. We're getting ready for this vacation that's coming up. And people were like, "well, can we get in on that? Like, can we put our order in?" And we're like, "maybe this is something we should look into." And at the time I was going to school for nutrition and dietetics at UNM. Andall-in it kind of just like fit in perfectly. So then once I graduated, I could go all in with it since my husband was still working at his job. Yeah. And then we have just been going from there.
Sara Y.: That's awesome. So it's really kind of just a passion. Or maybe not a passion, but something you were already doing and it snowballed by word of mouth into this.
Alicia & Jonathan: Yeah.
Jonathan M.: Another thing was, you know, obviously we use we started into it because of the demand. But also we had a lot of family history where my grandpa had diabetes, high blood pressure. The same with my wife's family. So we're like, well, you want to be able to help people? That was another big reason why we wanted to start a business and actually help people. Obviously, we were helping body builders and stuff like that. We kind of switched in to more of the health niche where we're actually helping people get over those chronic diseases and stuff like that.
Sara Y.: Yeah. So it's definitely a passion project for you guys. Considering how it snowballed from you guys meal prepping for yourselves, into family members, into friends, and now into a company. Obviously, with that demand comes challenges. Talk to me about some of the challenges that you guys have had to face and overcome.
Jonathan M.: Yeah, so the main challenge when building the company was pick up locations. That was always the hardest part because there's a lot of things that go into it. Having to structure a deal with the gym and having to coordinate pickup times for that specific gym was probably the hardest part. And then at first when we started, we were like, "should we go in the gym, should we go into, like stores?" And then from there then you're like do you have to buy the freezer, you know, like just there's just a lot of stuff with that. A lot of logistics that were kind of challenging. But as we grew, it became easier. We make connections in town. Right now we're at three pickup locations. We still do delivery, but we like our pickup locations because it makes it easier for our clients to pick up.
Sara Y.: What are some of the benefits of utilizing a meal prep company such as yourself?
Jonathan M.: As a business owner? I think that the best part about our business is that we help people that are really busy. We work with a lot of professionals. Engineers, doctors, people that are always busy and don't have time to be cooking, cleaning. So that's kind of what we try to market. Why waste four to six hours prepping yourself when we can just deliver the meals. That's the angle that we have as far as meal prepping.
Sara Y.: Very good. It definitely takes the guesswork out of getting your lunch and dinners ready every week or everyday.
Jonathan M.: Yeah. They're able to eat healthy and have them all paired for the whole week. Pick and choose how many meals they want based on what they need.
Sara Y.: Yeah. So let's talk about that. What are some of the meal options that you guys offer right now? Are you guys doing like the Keto thing or do you guys have like different options or ala carte you can choose from?
Alicia M.: So we pretty much have four different meal plans you can choose from depending on what your goal is. If you're trying to lose weight, gain weight. Everyone has different goals. So you can take between those four plans, like one of them is a carb cutter. So, Tamzin, like your Teto question. Yes, they can get that if they wanted to, it would be like the carb cutter meal option that they would just have to add healthy fat. Avocados or nuts, or whatever they're trying to incorporate. But yes, we can do that. We have set meal plans to help you with that. If you do have your own macros. You're working with a nutritionist they have a meal plan set it up for you, then you can do that through our custom plan. So it's really, really customized to whatever you're trying to do.
Jonathan M.: Yeah. And another thing to add to that is that we try to make it really easy for people to order. So when we are building out the website, that was one of the challenges as well. We wanted it to be super easy on the consumer. But at the same time, it was going to be really challenging for us. So the way that we set it up is like they choose what options. So like like she was saying, we have our muscle building, our Keto, or a custom plan. They choose that option and from there then asks how many do you want. Then we have like a 5, a 10, 14, up to a 35. Obviously it's less expensive. Then after that it asks which meals do you want. Then from there you can pick and choose. It's 100% customizable to what you're trying to do.
Alicia M.: Right. We don't really believe in a one size fits all kind of thing. That's why we don't do meals already prepared. That's why we do everything through our website. Everything is customized. Even our meals, my husband's. They're different portion wise. And that's why we believe everything you are trying to do, you can do that on our website.
Sara Y.: That's awesome. It's great that you can pick and choose. Like you said, every body is different and everyone has different goals. When you guys spoke about macros, that's something big in the CrossFit or even the bodybuilding scene where having those macros at your fingertips makes everything so much easier when you have a specific number that you try to hit every day. I'm sure a lot of people out there that'll be listening will really appreciate knowing that you guys provide that.
Jonathan M.: I didn't do bodybuilder anything like that, but I was always trying to, you know, put on weight, put on muscle. Knowing that I knew what our target market wanted and what they needed. We designed the website to make it easy for them too and gave them what they need.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. In Albuquerque, there's a few meal prep companies that are around that have been around. Would you say that having those customizable meal plans is what sets you apart or makes you guys unique?
Jonathan M.: Yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, a lot of people are asking, well, do you have a place where you can go pick up without preordering? They're like, no, we customize. You have to order online. So, yeah, that's our specialty. Oh, yeah. Another one is my wife got her degree in nutrition and dietetics. And we can give nutrition advice.
Sara Y.: Definitely helpful and feels better for people to know they're getting their meals from someone who is actually knowledgeable about what they're doing. So right now, what pick up locations are you guys at?
Jonathan M.: We have 3 locations. Elite Physique in Rio Rancho. So we have one at Stretch & Strength Gym. I think they're on San Mateo and Central area. And then we have a gym is called Shockwave Defense and those are our three pick pickup locations now. And of course we do delivery, but we try to focus on the pick-up locations because it makes it easier for both of us. Customers can pick up whenever the gyms open.
Sara Y.: Speaking of that, what do you see you guys going in the future? What does the future look like?
Jonathan M.: I mean, obviously we want to expand. We want to be able to grow our company. We want to be able to maybe get into other gyms. We talked about going nationwide. Obviously, there's a lot more challenges when you start shipping meals. As far as nationwide it's something we're looking at, but we're not sure yet. And then another thing we're kind of looking at and we've kind of already implemented is our online. My wife her bachelors in nutrition. So she gives weekly meal plans, weekly workout plans on an online type membership where people get on. Like I said, they get those plans. So we want to expand that as well. And that's, you know, that's kind of just ties in with our business.
Sara Y.: Very cool. Anything else you guys would like to add about Conquer Meal Prep?
Jonathan M.: We're local. Everything we do is uhh, like when we get our meals we get the food the day of. It's super fresh, and then we cook it the same day. And then we actually freeze the meals, which, you know, a lot of people are like, "oh, you're free them?." Yeah. We freeze them right away and then it keeps them fresh a lot longer. So that's one thing that we do differently as well. Yea.
Alicia M.: We do, like our recipes and stuff, we know that New Mexicans love to eat are our green chili, our red chili. So we do a lot of like recipes that will also taste good you know. It's not just like plain chicken, rice and broccoli. We do like ground turkey calabacitas. Which has zucchini, green chili. And even during the holidays we would do stuff with, like red chili. We did a healthy green chili chicken enchilada. Stuff like that. That's pretty different. I don't really see any other companies or any other in general people making healthy alternatives to, like, the New Mexican foods that they love. So that's something that we did, too. So we kind of like to specialize in. We get a lot of really great response from that.
Sara Y.: Definitely. Sticking to the New Mexico roots. I like it.
Alicia M.: Exactly.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Well, thank you both for joining us today. I really appreciate it.
Alicia & Jonathan: Thank you.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With the Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin M.: Next week. Sara talks with one of the owners of Bear Canyon CrossFit, Amy Patton. We get to hear about Amy's passion for helping people, the tight-knit community Bear Canyon has, how they're keeping members and staff safe from the Coronavirus after reopening, and more.
Intro Outro Music: Jack McCarthy
Sara Yingling: Instagram
Conquer Meal Preps: Instagram
Transcript
Kevin M.: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals, along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode 11, Kendra Rickert and Ben Kramer with Nirguna Yoga. They give us insight into their personal journeys along with how Nirguna Yoga Studio came to be.
Kevin M.: Hey, Ben. Hey, Kendra, thank you both for joining the podcast today. I really appreciate it.
Ben K.: Hi Kevin. Thank you so much.
Kevin M.: No problem.So you both are from the Nirguna Yoga. So why don't you tell us a little bit about your yoga studio?
Kendra R.: Well, we've been open for about almost a year. We opened last April and we really were super duper excited to have our one year little anniversary mark until we kept his little COVID hit. I feel like a lot of yoga studios are either traditional or athletic. A lot of studios teach, what I guess I'd call like fitness yoga. And actually, that's kind of where I started. I started with Bikram yoga in L.A. about 20 years ago. And I guess I would call that very much fitness yoga just really hardcore. In other studios tend to be a little bit more. I don't. I guess you can call it traditional, although I'd say that some hardcore yogas are also traditional, Ashtanga and Bikram. I guess the studios that would call themselves traditional, don't necessarily sometimes seem to challenge the student, you know, physically. And so I would say that we really aim to do both. Our training is very traditional, but we feel strongly that it's important to, In my experience, to be pushed, you know? I want to be able to do a practice and I want to be able to see that change in myself. You know, I want to feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. So I would say that we aim to do both of those things.
Ben K.: The other thing I would say is that we're so proud of the teachers that we have at our studio. And we're picky about who teaches at our studio. And we're not... We are traditional in a sense, but we're not we're not married to any one yoga tradition, per say. But we do really believe in the beauty of yoga traditions. And we just we just like to have bad ass teachers and some of the best. We have teachers with, you know, it's very normal for a teacher at our studio to have 20 years of experience teaching. And then we you know, and it doesn't matter in some sense if they have enough experience from their tradition. Then we know that we can kind of stay out of their way. We don't have to micromanage as studio owners. We just get to highlight the superstars to teach the students that come to us.
Kevin M.: That's awesome. So do the teachers just set their own set schedule and their own style and then the way they're going to do their classes versus kind of collaborating with you guys and what you want them to do?
Kendra R.: Well, I guess it's a little bit of both. We have a morning class, three days a week that we call yoga for life. And that's for people who would like to focus a little bit more on, what tends to be an older crowd. Like poses that a lot of people come who have a lot of injuries and those things tend to be a little bit more like alignment based. So I had those teachers who I wanted to teach those classes specifically. And so we kind of collaborated with those classes would be like. And then the early morning class, I teach the 26&2 series, five days a week at nine thirty. And then you're Vinyasa class at noon.
Ben K.: So it depends on the teacher. You know, some of them are more consistent than others. But yeah, for the most part, the teacher decides what they're going to teach if they advertise a 26&2 class. There's kind of a famous 26 posture's and 2 breathing exercises that was made famous by the Bikram tradition. And when that's taught at our studio, we teach it in a very traditional way. And if that's written on the schedule, that's what the teacher is going to do. But for the most part, yeah. Teachers get a lot of their own say. And it's nice because you want to... I as a teacher, I want to watch the students. I don't know how a class is going to go until I see who came to class and what the students are up to and how the students feel. And it's nice to be guided by what's appropriate for who showed up that day.
Kevin M.: That's nice. So you can kind of find out who there and based on their immediate feedback, kind of guide the class based on their needs.
Ben K.: Yeah, yeah. Just watching their bodies.
Kendra R.: And I think that's a hard skill to have in your first learning to teach yoga. But I feel like all of our teachers, they have that skill to where they can see somebodies body and know what they need and know how to choreograph the class to that person, whether it's like a group of people who came to the class and one person's like maybe more advanced, the other person is maybe not. And so they can they can work with both people.
Kevin M.: Interesting. And so in the last year, what would you say is the most exciting or most interesting experience you've had owning a studio?
Ben K.: Boy, a, I don't know, in the last year... I mean, it's this is our first year. So it's exciting to get to highlight teachers that we're proud of. It's exciting to get to cultivate our own students and to watch students grow. It's so exciting to see someone get... It's such an honor to get people excited about themselves. Right. To see someone not, you know, not just get excited about yoga, but get excited about, oh, my goodness, look what I can do. I didn't know that I had that in me. I didn't know I had that capacity. Maybe I saw this or that. And I thought never me. And you see people start to... They start to stand differently in their everyday life that you just see their bodies change. You see this excitement about who they are, how they are, how they can be, what they can do. That's extremely rewarding.
Kendra R.: And I think to just like watching that, the relationships that have been budding in the studio, you know, like when we're first there, it's like we're just pretty new. So it's like we're like holding the conversations. But we're able to just see all these little relationships developing and people going and hanging out after class and and creating a little community. And it's just been really, really lovely to see.
Kendra R.: Yeah, yeah. And for somebody that wants to experience what you guys just talked about but are a little nervous when it comes to trying yoga. What would you tell them?
Ben K.: I mean, one of the things I would say is you don't know until you try what your capacity is. Everyone has. Well, I don't know what I call freak poses, but I sort of on both sides. Like, everyone has weird, freaky things they can do that they didn't know they could do. And actually, many of us have weird, freaky things we can't do, like for whatever reason. I have a hard time touching my toes, but there are other some things that I can do it for. I don't know what reason I was touched with the ability to do certain things that I've. I can just do. And everyone has those. And you don't know until you show up these weird little tricks that you have hidden so far up your sleeve, you can't even see them.
Kendra R.: And I think that's maybe one of the coolest things about being a yoga teacher, for me anyway, is getting to inspire that in other people. Getting people to see that they can do so much more that they they thought they could do. And just like watching that little spark and the light shining in their eyes and they're like, wow, I'm actually pretty damn good, you know. Even like my old dad, who doesn't seem like he can do anything with any comes, you know, and I get to play with him a little bit. It's like Dad. You're doing pretty good. You know, you're doing pretty good and having them see that about themselves. I think it's a really, really precious.
Kevin M.: Definitely. And what about you guys? How did that spark get into you and make you guys into yoga?
Kendra R.: Well, we've been. I mean, we've been blessed to have incredible yoga teachers. I've been doing this for like 20 years, teaching yoga and practicing yoga. I feel like my teachers were some of the best in the country. And I feel like the way that they saw me holding that vision of me that they had helped me reach the potential that I felt like they saw in me. And I felt like that was one of the best trainings I had in terms of how I want to be as a yoga teacher. I want to hold that potential for others.
Ben K.: And we met practicing together. We met at a school for yoga, philosophy, ancient languages, meditation. And we we lived there ten years. It was all we did for ten years. At the end, we spent three years of that in silence and isolation. So no contact with the world, no computers. No nothing. Just practicing everything that our teachers had poured into us. And with the hope that one day we could come out and and build a community where we could share those things. So, yeah, again, like you know, what's the last year been like? We're getting that opportunity now to start to share that. And it's just really exciting. And to see people get excited is uh... It's an incredible honor.
Kevin M.: That's so interesting. So three years of silence.
Kendra R.: Yeah. Yeah. And we prepared for it for like seven years beforehand to be like one month long meditation retreats by ourselves without each other. And then we went in and did that together. We built a little straw bale cabin off grid with an outhouse and it was all on solar and no technology in terms and cell phone and computers. And we didn't even talk to each other for three years. We were just in total silence and trying to embody the teachings that we had been taught in a way that wasn't just theoretical as more experiential.
Kevin M.: That is so impressive. I can't go an hour without looking down at my phone, much less a day or months or years. That's so impressive.
Ben K.: It's hard to go an hour without looking at your phone. I think we rarely do now either. And we're really lucky that we had the opportunity to get to do that. And we had a lot of support and doing that. A lot of people helped us. We had a lot of people helping us to make room for us to be able to do that. It is hard, but you can't bring your phone into yoga class with you, Kevin. And so at least for that hour, we won't let you use the phone. And that is it's like a little taste of that. You come into the room and, you know, when we went away for three years, we didn't. It was the plan was never to live there. It was so that we could come back and be of greater service to our family, to our friends, to the people that we love and come into contact with. And the same is true when you, I like to say in yoga class sometimes. Right? You are more available to your friends and family because you left your phone in the locker room for an hour.
Kevin M.: That such a good way of looking at it. I mean, it's really a time to focus on yourself, focus on others, but just connecting at the same time.
Kendra R.: It's just like taking care of yourself for that hour and a half hour, hour or however long it's going to be. You're focusing on your health, you know, your heart and your well-being, your joy. And then and then you're a little bit freer in the day to be able to, like, focus on other people, the people, our lives, who need our attention, you know, because we just took care of ourselves. And I did what I had to do for myself. And now I can be available to you.
Kevin M.: Definitely. What would be a misconception that people have about when they think about it?
Ben K.: I think, you know, one big thing that comes to mind is that people have some very weird ideas that yoga is like some kind of ancient religious thing. And it's... The word yoga. Right? It's a Sanskrit word, which is an ancient Indian language that is related to English. So, like we have the words yoke or unite or join are all related to the word yoga. And it means to, in a sense, it means union, but it means like union in the mind or concentration or meditation to join yourself with what you want to, whatever you want to in life, you see. And so people have used that for religious practices in history. And it's and it's beautiful and it's beautiful to use meditation in that way and to build your spiritual path around that. But this is up to you. If you use these techniques because you want to have yoga butt or yoga abs, whatever, that's it's there for you. And if you use it because you want to be stronger or smarter or more intelligent. If you use it because you want to be a more loving person, a more compassionate person. If you use it because you want from top to body, inside and out to be someone who just has the ability because they're mind is sharp and their body is strong to take care of people. You see, then these sorts of ancient tools have been handed down for millennia to help you become the best you that you can be. Whoever that is, not to decide who you're going to be, but to give you the ability to decide for yourself who you're going to be. And that's really what yoga is about.
Kevin M.: It's really just about you making it yours. What works for you more than fitting into somebody else's construct.
Ben K.: And it always has been and always has been for thousands of years and always has been. You know, it's the idea that there are techniques to being a happier, healthier, emotionally stable, strong person. You see that you can it's not accidental, right? There are things you can do. Tasks you can repeat day after day that create healthy habits and a healthy body. And that idea for, you know, thousands of years was called yoga.
Kendra R.: And it should be, you know, like Ben said, you know, it should support anybody's belief, you know. Whatever religion you are and it should make that faith even stronger.
Kevin M.: Totally. Well, I think we're getting towards the end. So before we end, though, I have a couple of last questions. Where can our listeners connect with you guys?
Kendra R.: You can find us on our Website, which is NirgunaYoga.com. And we're starting to post our classes online. Our free online videos. And you can find that, too, at the very top of the Website where says free online classes. And we are excited to... We're going to be releasing a podcast of our own here pretty soon. And that'll be on the Website.
Ben K.: We've got a teacher training coming up. You know, we hope, that that, you know, assuming that that works with the world. We're partnering with Hot Yoga Downtown. We've partnered with them in the past. And so we'll be working with them again this year to do our 200 hour teacher training. Any of these things you can sign up for the mailing list on our Website. I think you get like a free coconut water or something for signing up for the mailing list. But the point is that you get the mailing list for signing up for the mailing list and we'll tell you about all the cool things we do. Many of which are free. Again, those online videos, we just want people, especially now we want to be able to do things to release the practice that will be free. The podcast will be free. The teacher training is not free.
Kendra R.: We mentioned the 200 hour. But we're also partnering with Beryl Bender Birch for a 300 hour in November. She's a world renowned yoga. She coined the term "Power Yoga" back in the 70s. And she's going to be coming in on co-leading a 300 hour teacher training with us in November.
Ben K.: We also hold a lot of classes pretty often about the history and philosophy of yoga and meditation. In addition to our regular yoga Asana classes, which I think are some of the very best and toughest around. They're not all tough, but yeah, NirgunaYoga.com. Goc heck it out.
Kevin M.: Awesome. Thank you. And then what are both of you guys as favorite movement.
Kendra R.: Movement or I mean, I love dancing. I love yoga. I love. I just for me, I'm just like an athlete in that regard. And I just I love Vinyasa. I love the 26&2 series muscle. Some of my favorite poses are inversions and backward bends. Inversions are really super duper important because all day long it's like gravity is pulling you down to the ground. The blood is like pulling down, gravity's pulling you down. And so just going upside down, you can find in ancient text like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, where it talks about like the importance of doing inversions. They say that even like fights against our old age or sickness or death even, which is kind of a cold thought, which is going upside down, doing a headstand, doing it and doing a shoulder stand, doing any sort of thing where even just Foward folding, it's like that same benefit.
Ben K.: You know, backbends also. I mean, I think that one of the things that keeps us going to yoga and makes us scared to go to yoga is bending backwards. And I think that we get such profound benefit from those moments. And and there's something about yoga where people wonder, like, I don't know, like something weird can happen in yoga or something exciting can happen in yoga. And it I think it happens as you learn to bend backwards. As you learn to face the other way, as you learn to reverse things. Something happens at the heart and you feel those moments and those moments in the yoga class are where things get, I don't know, from scary to good to even almost trippy or like beautiful and fantastic. So that and Kendra, by the way, also on the free yoga video section on our website, just did a free class that's available to you on Backbends and inversions.
Kevin M.: Thank you, Ben and Kendra. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to talk with me.
Ben K.: It's wonderful.
Kendra R.: We appreciate it so much too. Thank you. And thank you for all you guys are doing. It's been really inspiring.
Ben K.: It's really nice.
Kevin M.: Yeah, I'm happy to do it.
Ben K.: It's beautiful Kevin. It's a beautiful thing to do.
Kevin M.: Thank you.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin M.: Next week, Sara talks with the owners of Conquer Fitness Preps, Alicia and Jonathan Montoya. Tune in to find out why they started Conquer Fitness Preps and how far they've come since.
Transcript
Kevin M.: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode 10. Marisol Enriquez with Hot or Not Yoga. Marisol talks about what makes Hot or Not Yoga different from other studios in town, the changes she has seen in her students, and more.
Sara Y.: Hello, how are you today?
Marisol E.: Hey, Sara, I'm great. How are you?
Sara Y.: Good, thank you. OK. So Hot or Not Yoga. Obviously, you're offering hot or not yoga. But tell us a little bit more about your yoga studio.
Marisol E.: Yes. So Hot or Not Yoga. We do offer heated and unheated yoga. People ask about that all the time. We offer heated yoga that's more of a static practice. It's traditionally known as the Bikram method. But we have taken a little bit of a different spin and created some modifications and a different attitude than the traditional Bikram method. We call ours Hot26. It's the same sequence of poses, but we approach it in a little bit kinder way for the human body. And then our non heated classes are a mixture of mobility yoga. So, you know, just creating some movement and strength and increased range of motion for people. And then we also have a traditional Vinyasa flow. We offer some slow flow classes. We offer Yin yoga and Restorative as well. So that is essentially, in a nutshell, what Hot or Not Yoga means.
Sara Y.: Cool. So the difference between the two obviously is hot or not. But what's the temperature difference?
Marisol E.: Yes. So the hot classes are held at 105 degrees Fahrenheit and approximately 38% to 40% humidity. And then the unheated classes are regular room temperature. We have a really beautiful fan that kind of pulls some of the heat and humidity out of the room, even when the room has been heated prior. So we can let that temperature hover around 75 or 78 degrees.
Sara Y.: What would you say is the most beneficial kind of yoga for someone who maybe has like aches and pains in their body and they're turning to yoga to try to get rid of those?
Marisol E.: I would ask a few questions first. I would ask about their activity level currently. I would ask about their age and whether or not they've been active in the past, as well as if they've got any known injuries or limitations. Before I would direct them to a specific type of yoga. So we we have a lot of people who have aches and pains, who are athletic people and, for example, runners who would have aches and pains in their lower back, tightness in their legs, hamstrings, glutes, because the running just requires that musculature to activate so frequently. Additionally, they've got pain in their ankles, their feet, their lower legs. And I would recommend something a little bit different for them than I would have for someone who say is mostly sedentary in an office job and hasn't really exercised for a few years or more and is experiencing aches and pains because of the seated aspect of their day. So it really does depend on what's going on with them. Before I could make a recommendation for where they started. If it's someone who reached out to me on email, I would ask those questions. And if they didn't really have a lot of forthcoming information from there, then I would say, you know, you could try any of our Yin classes or Restorative classes. Those would be really nice for addressing aches and pains. And I really like to get people into the mobility classes as well, because that's a really great start. A sort of gentle easing in and exploring range of motion for the body. Before we kind of dive into deep strengthening and more difficult poses.
Sara Y.: Very good. And aside from the obvious physical benefits that people can reap from yoga, maybe, what are some of the mental benefits people can get from coming to yoga classes like yours?
Marisol E.: Yes. So one of the greatest things I think that people experience and I get to see in their faces when they've completed a class or completed a succession of classes, is that they feel empowered. Empowerment is a very important thing to feel in one's self and in one's body. It improves competence. Additionally, we focus a lot; Yoga practice in general focuses a lot on the breath. The breath work that we utilize can really help to create a sense of calm and peace. So people feeling empowered and energized from their activity, but also a mental and emotional calm and peace just gives them a better way to confront things like conflict that they might be dealing with or sort of manage their responses in response to things like conflict. And also just the mundane day to day things that could create boredom. In fact, instead, they might feel grateful for the pause instead of feeling like they have nothing to do. So it kind of gives a little bit of a shift of perspective, appreciation for the body, an empowerment, feeling, confidence, as well as peace and calm. There's just a whole array of really amazing benefits that a yoga practice can provide.
Sara Y.: Yes, definitely. Going back to your yoga studio. How long have you guys been around here in Albuquerque?
Marisol E.: We opened in October of 2015. So in October of 2020, we will be five years old.
Sara Y.: And how have you grown or changed over those last five years.
Marisol E.: Well, I think one of the biggest things is when you first sort of start a business, I think you have this idea of what the business is going to be. What the community is going to look like. What your schedule is going to look like. What all of it's going to look like. You sort of have this idea and thought. And one of the most interesting things that I've learned over the years is that what really happens is when people start coming to the business, we start attracting certain communities of people and they are who actually form and create and build the heart of the studio itself. So we have in response to that, shifted a little bit in the way of what kind of classes we offer. What times we're offering. Our approach to the business itself. For example, we've switched our business model a little bit from just being like a random, anybody can come any time to shifting into a sort of let me work with you as far as on a wellness consultation before we direct you to create success and achieve your specific goals. So it's a little bit more personal now. I would say we follow a little bit more of the boutique model. Boutique business model than we do the large studio model. But we're kind of a mix between. So that evolution for our business has been really cool to experience and really eye opening. So it's essentially our customers and the people who are coming in are helping us shift into a place where we think that we should be.
Sara Y.: Very cool. Would you say that kind of personalized touch, that path that you put people on is what makes you unique?
Marisol E.: Yes, I would definitely say that. For sure. I don't know of many other studios who actually do that in depth, sort of one on one, consultation before creating a specific plan first for students to follow, to achieve and then checking in, direct, throughout the process after like a two week period, the 30 day period, the 60 day period, the 90 day and continually after that.
Sara Y.: And since making that transition into that kind of model, how have you seen your clients grow in yoga?
Marisol E.: I've seen tremendous growth in their physical body, but also their physical bodies I should say, but also with their... What I see when they're coming in, and even now that we're hosting virtual classes, there's a whole different level of dedication and tying it back to that empowerment aspect. People who come to the classes regularly, at the same times. They have formed their own little communities of cross communication and support, and they just help nurture each other. So what I've seen is that our nurturing has assisted their level of nurturing for themselves and for the other students within their classes and their communities as well. So, I mean, aside from the fact that they're getting stronger, they're getting more flexible, more capable, they're adding on extra activities outside of the yoga room. They're starting to join our strength classes, if that's what they're going to. Our older students are feeling way more empowered to go out and work in the yard, you know, things like that, where just that level of nurturing I think really helps, too. But it creates a connection as well, so that so that people feel open to tell us that they are growing in those ways outside of the studio. So aside from their physical growth, we also experience their external growth.
Sara Y.: That's wonderful, I love that. Where do you see yourself going. Um, Hot or Not Yoga going in the future? What does the future look like for you guys?
Marisol E.: It's such an interesting thing to consider right now because we are dealing with all of the closures due to the COVID-19. We are now implementing something that we wouldn't necessarily have thought to implement before. Which is the virtual aspect of classes. So while our wellness consultations have created, or have been held, over the phone and via text and e-mail, sometimes they're not usually held virtually. But we're now offering that. And we can see as Zoom we can still have a face to face conversation. So before someone even steps foot in the studio, they've already got a face to look for that's familiar that they can come in, which kind of breaks down some of the intimidation aspect of it. I think that perhaps as we grow further into this year, we might begin implementing more of the virtual aspect in conjunction with the in studio aspect and maybe even creating an offering, a regular virtual membership or adding some virtual options to the existing memberships that we have.
Sara Y.: Very cool. So this situation that we're dealing with right now is kind of a blessing in disguise.
Marisol E.: Yeah. You know, I've heard that from a lot of people. We're able to in our studio anyway, our studio community, they've created a different level of connection. And yeah, it's a different focus on what their health really means to them in the way of dealing with just the day to day that might be very different than their normal days. So, yeah, for me and for my community is that this closure has really switched and created a different ability to take a different perspective on on life, essentially kind of quieting down a deeper look and potentially a different way to emerge from all of it when we're able to resume our normal daily life.
Sara Y.: Yeah, definitely. Hopefully that's soon. Anything else that you'd like to add about your studio?
Marisol E.: Yeah, I want to say that our population of students is actually a little bit of an older crowd. And when I say older, I mean like over 40. I don't mean like 80. And I also don't mean that old is 40 because that's not the case. But I really love that we experience and have so many community members who are kind of reconnecting with their bodies after perhaps focusing on something different for a long time. For example, maybe their careers or their kids they were focused on. They're coming back to focusing on themselves and working to find empowerment and strength and dignity in themselves. And they're committed and they're dedicated and basically they're bad asses in the yoga room. They're really awesome. I think that just their presence is really what makes our community what it is.
Sara Y.: What's your, last question. What's your favorite yoga pose?
Marisol E.: One of my favorite yoga poses is something called Triangle Pose in the Hot26. It's a little bit different than the triangle pose in Vinyasa. It's a combination sort of Warrior 2 and the Triangle Pose in Vinyasa. And it's just a very powerful pose that requires that you breathe even though your heart-rate can be really high. It's just a super strong kind of warrior sort of feeling when you come out of that pose. Once you're done with it. So I really love that one.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Well, thank you Marisol so much for joining us today. We really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us about Hot or Not.
Marisol E.: Yes. Thank you so much for having me on and for doing the podcast.
Sara Y.: Of course, Thank you.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcast, we loved for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin M.: Next week, I will take the reins over for Sara and talk with the owners of Nirguna Yoga, Kendra Rickert and Ben Kramer. They give us an insight into their personal journeys along with how Nirguna Yoga Studio came to be.
Sara Yingling
Instagram @yingers1
Hot or Not Yoga
Instagram @hotornotyoganm
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Kevin M.: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode nine. Jonathan Smith with Big Barn CrossFit. On today's episode, Jonathan talks about the impact the coronavirus has had on Big Barn, what differentiates them from other Boxes, and more?
Sara Y.: Hi, Jonathan. Thanks for joining us today. How are you doing?
Jonathan S.: I'm doing as well as I can be. Good to be here.
Sara Y.: Good, thanks. So tell us about Big Barn. You guys have been around for quite some time. So give us some history, including where the name Big Barn came from.
Jonathan S.: Sure. Yeah. We are officially eight years old and Big Barn CrossFit is actually under our other company, the Institute of Community Wellness and Athletics. So Big Barn and the name came from the original owner who has a barn behind his house that he was doing CrossFit and other workouts out of. So and the idea came up to open a facility and they found a space. It was sort of a natural progression from the little barn behind their house to the big barn that was going to be open to the public. So we like the name. We kept that after we took over.
Sara Y.: And so you said since 2012. You've been around for eight years. That's a long time. So what has kept you going? What has kept you moving forward in the CrossFit community here in Albuquerque?
Jonathan S.: The biggest thing for us is our membership and the people and the community. And that's been the funnest thing for us, is just to see that grow and to watch people not only change physically, but emotionally to and develop friendships and relationships. So that's what keeps us going and keeps us enjoying ourselves doing this, it's that that community aspect? We all just want to have fun and work out hard. And this is a nice space to do it in.
Sara Y.: And with Albuquerque being kind of saturated with CrossFit gyms, what do you think separates Big Barn CrossFit apart from the others?
Jonathan S.: You know, there are a lot of great facilities and a lot of great coaches. We try to set ourselves apart by continuing to do our own programming and continuing to train our coaches. We want movement to be the priority, not just getting a hard workout in our full time starts have Masters degrees or higher in human movement science of some aspect. And so we utilize that to train our coaches above and beyond, even the CrossFit certifications. And we encourage and support our coaches in continuing education or leveling up in the CrossFit world. The other thing that sets us apart is we have our rehab side of things so we can treat a lot of the aches and pains that come with working out hard and CrossFit in-house. That's a nice offering to our members. But we also see a lot of other people as they get overworked or just a little bit over use injuries. We can help them take care of that and get them back to training.
Sara Y.: Yeah, definitely. I think many people may not know this, but Big Barn is pretty multifaceted. You have CrossFit classes. There's Olympic weightlifting. There's a functional fitness class for maybe like older people or people maybe not ready to join the CrossFit classes yet. Just talk about all the different options that Big Barn has.
Jonathan S.: Yeah, that's exactly right. Our goal around community is not just to bring in those who enjoy CrossFit. CrossFit isn't for everyone. That community isn't for everyone. But the community of fitness and health is. And so we offer, like you said, USA weightlifting, the clean and jerk and snatch, specific classes and we have a room for that. And what we call functional strength and conditioning. But that's just lower intensity classes, more face specific. Great for any age level. The majority of our clients and members and those tend to be in that 50 plus range who aren't as interested in the high intensity of CrossFit, but still like to move and challenge their bodies. And then we also offer our, we call it rehab, but our treatment side of things with a licensed massage therapist. And then Nathaniel on staff, who our postural restoration specialist. He does a lot to get people out of pain and injury cycles. And that's for everybody from every age group.
Sara Y.: I love the class that obviously, like you said, it's open for everybody, but you have like an older population. So it's really awesome to see those people who could be your parents age, really getting an awesome work on it. And it really just shows that, you know, CrossFit, or even just movement in general, like you've been saying, is for everybody.
Jonathan S.: Yeah, and we found it's a neat benefit. It's great to have multiple generations working out, even if they're doing different things in different rooms. It's just a cool environment and community to be a part with it. And the more crossover that we've seen as CrossFitters have gotten to know some of our strengthen and conditioning members and vice versa. That's just blossomed new friendships and expanded our community.
Sara Y.: How have things changed maybe recently with adapting to the current situation that we're in. Where do you see Big Barn going from here?
Jonathan S.: Well, that's a very good question and a tough question to answer. We're at a standstill. And really wanting to follow the mandates of the governor. But at the same time, nervous about the impact this has on us as a small business and the community of Albuquerque as a whole and how everybody is going to get through this time. Especially if we see this federal aid or not. Again, our passion is really working with people and developing a whole community. And the hard thing about that now is that involves being social and being around people. So while we have gone and posted some workout's online and done a little bit of that. We are doing some virtual coaching for our clients. Our goal is to really open back up as soon as we can and get that community rolling and hopefully be stronger because of this and rebuild that social aspect again, which I think we as humans really desire and need.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. Do you think that what we're dealing with will kind of bring the CrossFit Community here in Albuquerque closer?
Jonathan S.: I certainly hope so. Again, it's hard to predict anything at this time. As this stuff as this continues to go and their isolation continues. It'll just be interesting to see how we as a people adapt and change. I don't think everything will come back to how it was before. But I do believe that we need community and we need social interaction. And I think the CrossFits could really be a good place to show that and demonstrate to the larger community.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. On a positive note. What is your favorite CrossFit workout?
Jonathan S.: Oh, jeez. Favorite CrossFit workout probably of me...
Sara Y.: Or favorite movement?
Jonathan S.: I love Annie. So 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, double-unders and sit-ups. But my favorite movement is the snatch. One, I'm fairly good at it. And two, I like the total body challenge of it.
Sara Y.: I agree. It's definitely a challenging movement. Anything else you'd like to say about Big Barn CrossFit?
Jonathan S.: Just to our members and the CrossFit community out there. Keep strong, keep moving through this and we hope to have everything back and going as soon as possible.
Sara Y.: Wonderful. Thank you so much for joining us.
Jonathan S.: Thank you, Sara.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review!
Kevin M.: Next week, Sara talks with the owner of Hot or Not Yoga, Marisol Enriquez. She talks about what makes Hot or Not Yoga different from the other studios in town, the changes she has seen in her students, and more.
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Kevin M.: Mixing it up with the Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode eight. Andres Trujillo with the New Mexico Runners. On this episode, Andres talks about arena soccer and how it differs from outdoor soccer. He also talks about the first couple of seasons along with their goals going forward.
Sara Y.: Hey, Andre. How are you doing today?
Andres T.: I'm doing fantastic. How you doing, Sara?
Sara Y.: Good. Thanks for asking. OK, so you are joining us because you are the president and CEO of the New Mexico Runners Professional Arena Soccer team. Some people may not know that New Mexico has a professional arena soccer team. Talk to us about how that even got started in the first place.
Andres T.: So, yeah. So one thing is, is Arena Soccer has been around for quite a while since the since the 70s. And though we play in the Major Arena Soccer League and we actually got founded in 2018. And so we've been around for a couple of years. And we just rounded out our second season back in March. And so, yeah. Arena Soccer. It's one of those things where it's exciting, fast paced, high scoring and for most people it's kind of hard to understand playing soccer indoors. And they kind of don't understand how the how the mechanics work. As I get questions of, oh, do you play on a full size soccer field inside? And and the answer is no. It's actually playing soccer on a hockey rink sized field. So in New Mexico, there's been teams that have been around semi-professional level back in the late 80s, early 90s. But unfortunately, it disappeared or just there wasn't, I guess, popularity with it. And so it kind of disappeared. And I know leagues dissolved back then. And then there's opportunity to bring a team to this market. I jumped on that in. Yeah. And we're we're get ready for season three, which is at the end of this year.
Sara Y.: That's awesome. How did the first two seasons go for the runners?
Andres T.: First season was great timing. Kicking things off is a is always a challenge kind of building things up and building up your business, building up the organization, build up the staff required to operate a sports organization. And so first year was great. We got through it successfully. And and of course, the successes obviously showcased in season two as we had a successful season two. And unfortunately, it was tough because we our season did get cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And we actually got cut short three games. We had two games left to play in Mexico and one more home game that got canceled. So a tough finish for us in our second season. But at the end of the day, it's great. We've had successful two seasons. We and and we're just really focused on building up for for our season three.
Sara Y.: Yeah. When does season three start?
Andres T.: December of this year.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Do you think it will go on without a hitch, despite everything going on right now?
Andres T.: I'm hoping. Where staffed and we're planning on it, we're planning on we're putting the pieces in place to ensure we have a third season. Our fingers are crossed. We're lighting those candles and praying and hoping that it does. This this whole thing settles out and we can kind of resume our normal lives. But again, the uncertainty we just with the uncertainty, we just don't know. For us, it's we're planning on kicking it off in December.
Sara Y.: And where do you get the players from? Are you recruiting locally or is this like a national kind of recruiting process?
Andres T.: So it's both. My focus and our head coach focuses on local players. I think there's a lot of local talent in soccer that goes unnoticed. And I mean, we do recruit outside as well outside the state. And this past season, about 90 percent of our players were local and about 10 percent were from out of state like California, Colorado and Las Vegas, Nevada. So we do focus on the local talent. As I mentioned before, sometimes players go off to college. And and one thing that that happens is that when these players go off to college, they do their thing. They play soccer, they're on their pathway to run up the hierarchy of of of soccer. Well, unfortunately, in New Mexico, it happens a lot in our communities, is that these athletes have to come home and help their families with work and bills and in the household. And and so they end up kind of losing track on their dreams, on their on their career pathways, and they end up coming home. And so my focus along with our head coaches, to pick these guys up and give them a platform to play. A lot of these players have roots already established here. They may have wives or kids and they kind of establish their roots, but they are still talented soccer athletes. And so we pick those guys up and these guys come fromt. And they graduate from Cleveland High School, Rio Rancho, Volcano Vista, Del Norte, Highland. Played at you and UNM when UNM had their men's soccer program. So but again, our our focus is the local scene. That's that's what we like to to promote because, you know, we are a locally owned and operated. Professional sports team.
Sara Y.: Had many these players also play at UNM or other local colleges?
Andres T.: Yes. We've had i wwould say out 50 percent of our guys have played soccer for UNM. They went, they did those rounds, they played at UNM. Then they went to another level playing in USL or playing in a developmental academy or league or what not. And so but again, they end up coming back home and they're here and they're you know, they still have it in them. They still have gas in the tank and they want to play. And so we're able to utilize their talents on our squad.
Sara Y.: Yeah. And like you said, I think it's totally different from outdoor soccer. Which is probably refreshing to them if they've obviously played outdoor soccer their entire lives, whether it be like middle school or high school or college. And then they come into the arena style soccer, where it's much more fast paced, everything is much more exciting. So it's probably refreshing and fun for them as well.
Andres T.: Absolutely. And like you said, it said the different style of pace is very, very attractive to a lot of these guys. And when you look at at a soccer athlete, the one thing that's really interesting about indoor guys is everybody that plays indoor soccer or arena soccer can play outdoor, but not everybody that plays outdoor soccer can play indoor soccer, due to the proximity, the amount of, the frequency you touch the ball, on the frequency of of passing. When you are in the indoor game, you're passing and your touches are less than a second. And you're never on the ball more than two seconds because of the fact that that your it is so tight of an environment and just so everybody knows indoor soccer is Six V six so five field players per team and a goalkeeper. And so these guys run a lot more than they do outdoor. And I have a our coach will attest to that and tell you the our guys run a lot more than if you were to to play an outdoor game.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. And it's a lot of just sprinting, you know, back and forth. It's like one minute the ball is on the other end and in like a second later, it can be down at the other end. So you're constantly sprinting back on point. It's really tiring from experience.
Andres T.: Sometimes you get tired watching it I know.
Sara Y.: Yeah. Like outdoor soccer I was a goalie. But like, I refused to be a goalie in indoor soccer because, like, it's just scary. They can shoot the ball from half field, you know, and it would still be like a really powerful kick in your like. You have to be on your toes and like, ready at all times when your goalie indoor, whereas like outdoor, you're a little bit like kind of just chill back there sometimes if any.
Andres T.: Yes. So outdoor the goal is, is much wider. With indoor the goal is only eight foot eight foot tall by 14 foot wide. So the target is actually smaller. And like you said, when someone's coming up to take a shot a your you're literally maybe ten, I mean, ten, fifteen feet away from the goal. And they are lazering that thing in a in a smaller target. So you've got to be crazy to be a goalkeeper.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. But indoor, I played I play rec every now and then at the facility off of Paseo. Holy moly. That's a different level of soreness. Your hip flexors need to be prepared for that next day. It's crazy, just like the amount of running back and forth if you're not used to it.
Andres T.: Yes. And a lot of times yeah. When people asked, OK, well, when you see and experience indoor soccer, what's it like? And a lot of it I like to say, hey, it's like hockey and soccer put together because your free substitutions. Folks are going one hundred and ten percent, hundred and ten miles an hour, for, at least two minutes. And then they and then they do a quick shift switch in in the lineup and then another ship comes in and then another two minutes goes by and then it's another ship that comes in real quick. So, so that fast pace. I mean, the energy and the stamina required for for the game is is amazing. In watching our guys play, it blows my mind of how fit they are and how much they need in order to stay on top of their game, to be able to compete because it's not an easy game. Most people think, OK, well, out or soccer. We kind of you know, you kick the ball, the field is super, super wide and long. So so we could just kick the ball way over there and done that with the intent, with the indoor game. You can't do that.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. Yeah. Putting it that way, like a hybrid of hockey and soccer is definitely, I think, cool when people realize the speed of the sport a lot more that way. Think of the experience. Talk about like how this is kind of a great atmosphere for kids and families. I bet a lot of younger soccer teams enjoy coming to the games.
Andres T.: Absolutely. One thing we focus on our organization is families, I think. I mean, I'm born and raised here, so I'll graduated from Valley, went to UNM. I just feel like families are the focus in order to create balance with within our communities. And so, you know, we are one hundred percent family owned and operated. We're more 100 percent locally owned and operated. Born and raised. You know, we're New Mexico's born and raised only one half percent locally on professional sports team. And, you know, when I when I say this, it's it's in our organization. My wife does our game operations. My mom is our head of our ticketing. You know, my uncle helps with the sales and sponsorships. My sister helps with VIPs and partnerships and whatnot. So we are actually 100 percent local. We're all about that family unit and we want that message to be translated in what we do at our games. And so bringing families to our games, the engagement, it's what it's all about, bringing out these the local sports teams, youth sports teams, a soccer team, a four age club, the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, you name it. We bring we bring our folks to come out to the game to experience fun, exciting, fast paced and just all our entertaining atmosphere. As you know, we engaged with the fans. And so we bring fans onto the field during time outs and in quarter breaks at halftime to participate and do fun activities. And so being able to do that is a unique experience because you don't get to do that in most professional sports settings where you can bring people onto the field to participate in these kind of things. And so it just gives fans and families another way to to enjoy something together. And I mean, I know last year we had you out there and we had you competing a little bit and you were kicking the soccer ball all around from you. You tell me what your experience was with that. Let your listeners know.
Sara Y.: It definitely took me back to my days when I was like 10 years old and I grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We had the Harrisburg Heat. That was our indoor soccer team. That was those were the days, honestly, like we would go there with, like, ah, you know, U10, U11 team and we would be the ball girls that day. So honestly it took me back to that. It was like, yeah, life was so fun and simple back then. Where we looked forward to being the ball girls. And we thought it was like the coolest thing, you know, to do. I totally think that Having this indoor soccer team here is amazing for our youth to see. You know, if they want to pursue soccer, they have an avenue. Aside from just, you know, playing in high school and college, like playing for the Runners.
Andres T.: Yes.
Sara Y.: Getting them involved in the games and everything gives them even more hope and gets them more involved and excited about the process and being a part of it.
Andres T.: I think that's cool. I didn't. That's one thing I didn't know about you that you did go to Heat games. That is pretty cool.
Sara Y.: Yes. Purple and orange. Those were the colors. I think I still have Pompoms around somewhere. And a soccer ball signed by the players back them.
Andres T.: You know, I got to tell you, I, like, kind of come back to what you're saying about how it kind of brings you back and what not. One thing that's really cool about our organization and our players and our head coach and is that a lot of our players, their parents, their dads used to play together back when they were younger. And and so what it does is actually creates what we're doing when our organization is it creates a legacy with these athletes because now they say, wow, our dads played together, our dads played with our head, you know, with our head coach. And so it creates a legacy and it creates a sense of pride and passion and positivity in the community where we get where we're all doing this together. We all have a common goal to to provide this this community lift up. And and that's really, really one thing that's really unique about what we do with our organization and I and my experiences with the with indoor soccer's than any other sport that we have locally that I've been involved with is that it is brought everyone together on our staff level, on our athlete level. I mean, talking about our about our staff. The funny thing is, is that our P.A. announcer went to to high school with it with one of our game directors up in Los Alamos. But they didn't even know they were they were to basically reunite until, you know, they started working for the Runners last year and then and then cool thing is, this year is our P.A. announcer, his two boys, they play for us. And so it's the connections are so unique with our organization. It is very, very amazing. And this makes you feel really good because it really is. Bring everyone together.
Sara Y.: That's awesome. Looking forward to season three when will your schedule will be released. Or do you already know?
Andres T.: So we're looking to try and get our schedule out by September. Of course, with with all this going on right now, we don't know what's going to happen regarding scheduling. Unfortunately, because the MASL, the Major Arena Soccer League, had has definitely stopped operations for everybody. And I mean, we're still we're still out there doing our thing and preparing. But but the league itself. Yeah. And they canceled this last season. And so everything's on standby right now. And so, I mean, there's been there's been say there's talk of teams in California saying they may not even start until twenty twenty one, which obviously could affect us. Say California decides, okay, we're all going to just push all sports teams until 2021, then it will assume that the rest of the country will follow. But as of right now, we're expecting our scheduled to be released by by September. Hopefully that's that's the target date for the league wants to get our schedule out. Fingers crossed. We're just. We're, you know, we're just crossing our fingers or we're hoping everybody stays safe with everything. And that's our that's our first priority. And first concern is our community being safe. And of course, we want to make sure that everyone's safe before anything happens within our operations. But again, we're hopeful.
Sara Y.: Yeah. Im crossing my fingers and my toes for you guys. Do you guys host tryouts before every season.
Andres T.: Yes, we do. Yeah. We hosted tryouts every August and September. So every year we host in August, September, and we open it up to anybody and everybody that wants to come and try and see it, try and see if they can play play with the big boys, as they say. Last year we want to say we've had a couple of guys come out, try out and make the squad, just guys that play recreationally and they're like, hey, you know what? I'm just gonna try this out. And they come out and they they actually made the squad. So. So, yeah, every year we do host trials. So that's open and open to the public.
Sara Y.: And how do you like post about that? So if someone hears this and are interested in trying out how should they learn about that?
We put everything on our social media. We're where we we push most of our information, our social media, our Web site, you know, of course, our social media as Mexico Runners, @NMRunners. Our Website, NewMexicoRunners.com. But that's where we put our put our information so and we always announce our tryouts and whatnot. And interestingly enough, we do get a lot of folks who come out from out of state to come down and try it out. So it's it's really cool to see these guys come down and they want to they wanted to see if they can they can handle it and play at a higher level.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Well, yeah. So if anyone out there is letting us pay attention to their social media, if you're looking to try out or if you want to go to a game, keep your fingers and toes crossed, right?
Andres T.: Absolutely. And one things I wanted to mention is as a fan, coming to these games and supporting our local athletes. It means a lot. Supporting our local coaching staff. It means a lot because these athletes are our guys that have had dreams to play in the MLS, play in the Premier League or play around the world and whatnot. And so these guys are your local superstars. These guys are the ones that are that are out there. They get in the community. They they they're there for fans. I mean, I'll give an example. Our goalkeeper, Casey Gasson, he went to La Cueva and El Dorado. He's one of those guys that's all about the community and he's there for the game and loves what he does. You know, our head coach is a pro soccer Hall of Famer. Our head coach, Steve Famiglietta. He graduated from Cibola High School and he's in the Cibola Athletic Hall of Fame. He's in the pro soccer Hall of Fame. So when you talk about talent, I mean, our head coach, Famiglietta, he's the top of the line in indoor soccer that we believe. And he's and we're blessed because we have this individual here in our own community. And so, I mean, when you when you got guys like that, our coaching staff, and our athletic squads like who we have here, it's it's really important to get out and support these guys and their goal to to bring you lift you up as a community and bring you sports entertainment.
Sara Y.: That's awesome. All right. Anything else you want to add before we wrap up this episode?
Andres T.: Absolutely. We just want our New Mexico to get behind what we got going on here, going on our third season. We've proven to be successful as we've gone through successfully two seasons and we're gearing up for season three. And we want to get behind this. This is New Mexico's team. We appreciate our fans and thank our season ticket holders and and I mean, we have fans coming in from Los Alamos. Every year, I think this season we have a family come in from Los Alamos four our of six games we played. Fans are there. We have fans in New Mexico and want you guys to get behind what we have going on here. We're locally owned and operated and supporting this helps build our community and build a common denominator. I know we live in a divisive world. And it's unfortunate. But at the same time, you know, this is a common denominator we can all get behind. And the New Mexico Runners are that. We're a platform to bring everyone together and just support us, you know, get information out to NewMexicoRunners.com. We do have our season three ticket season tickets on sale now. So and they start as low as seventy three dollars for seven home games. So you get a big bang for your buck. It's the best and most exciting form of entertainment you can spend your dollar on here locally. And yeah, just go Runners!
Sara Y.: Very cool. Yes. Go Runners. All right. Thank you, Andres, for joining us today. I appreciate it.
Andres T.: I appreciate it, Sara. And we got to get you out again to to one of our games for season three.
Sara Y.: Yea. Definitely!
Andres T.: All right. Thank you so much.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fit Mix Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin M.: Next week, Sara talks with one of the owners of Big Ben CrossFit, Jonathan Smith. He talks about the impact the Coronavirus has had on Big Barn. What differentiates them from other CrossFit Boxes, and more.
Transcript
Kevin M.: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode seven. Heather Smelser with Mi Vida Yoga. Heather talks about what got her to leave accounting for the Yoga world, her work with trauma victims, and more.
Sara Y.: Hi, Heather! Nice to meet you. Thanks for joining us on our podcast today. How are you doing?
Heather S.: I'm doing good. How are you? Thank you guys so much for having me.
Sara Y.: We're doing well. We're hanging in there. How are you and your yoga studio kind of handling everything that's going on right now?
Heather S.: Well, this has been the wildest roller coaster ride, and I'm sure everybody is on it. We were told that shut down on March 17th. I've been scrambling to find a new business model and we are transferring all of our classes live broadcast from zoom.
Sara Y.: And how are those going?
Heather S.: This morning we had twenty-five people in the nine am class. It was beautiful. it was such a great way for the community to reconnect.
Sara Y.: That is awesome. Are they kind of liking this new format? In a way. I mean, they don't have to dress up. They can do it in their PJs. What's the feedback you're getting from it?
Heather S.: So I just got an e-mail this morning from one of our clients and he said, 'I absolutely love this virtual format. Are you going to keep this moving forward?' I said, 'yes!' This has been the push that I've needed to get out of my comfort zone and do this. I am not someone who is comfortable being in front of the camera or kind of in the public spotlight. I like to kind of lay low in the back. And so this is push me out of my comfort zone. But it's a nice way to grow and learn new things and again, get out of our comfort zone.
Sara Y.: Definitely. That's simply what this experience is teaching all of us. Talk to us about your yoga studio. Tell us about it. Your different classes, everything like that.
Heather S.: Absolutely. So we opened up about six and a half years ago, back in 2014. And this is not my first profession or career. I'm actually an accountant by trade. I went through a kind of a traumatic experience in my life and found yoga through that. And it made such a profound influence on my life that I decided to actually change career paths. And so I decided to open up the studio back in 2014 and jumped in with both feet. I actually left the accounting world and did it full time. We try and bring trauma sensitive yoga to the Albuquerque area. We work with groups with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and we work with breast cancer survivors as well as the general public in our general classes.
Sara Y.: Wow, that's amazing. Do you work with non-profits as well, or any local organizations here to offer that kind of yoga for them.
Heather S.: We actually work with a lot of different organizations. One of our popular classes is community class on Sunday before physical shut down. But we're looking at continuing that. And we've had lots of organizations bring people that are reintegrating back into regular society and really using that community class as groups with women coming back and rehabilitating from incarceration and also youth in youth detention centers. And so we offer that just to the general public but I've connected with a couple of organizations to help with that.
Sara Y.: Do you do any kind of work with first responders as well?
Heather S.: I have personally. That's what I'm kind of looking into right now, is offering a little bit more and looking into grants. Just right before the physical closure was mandated, we were getting ready to start a trauma sensitive yoga class, which would be a 10 week course. We would have a certain number maxed out people that could come in. And it's a little bit of a vetting process where we want to make sure that they have support outside of the yoga class and that trauma sensitive class so that they have that full support outside as well.
Sara Y.: That's great. What do you think it is about yoga that helps people through tough times, or like you said, transitioning into like another phase of their life?
Heather S.: What I have found in my own life is that yoga helps to calm the nervous system, help reset the nervous system. And I think any of us, whether we have experienced major traumas or on just the day to day little traumas, that we need to be reset from. The actual breath work and exercises, help to move some of that energy through some of that anxious through and actually physically calm the nervous system. It's kind of my passion what brought me into yoga, and it helps me to lead a relatively normal life.
Sara Y.: Does it feel good or rewarding to know that you kind of went through a traumatic time and now, you know, what helped you get out of that is now helping others in the community?
Heather S.: Absolutely. I think the only thing I ever really wanted to do with the studio was pass on some of that comfort that I found in the practice. And so the fact that anyone can find some comfort in their lives with this simple practice. Absolutely. I love, love, love that. That's the whole reason I like to do this.
Sara Y.: That is awesome. What are some of the classes that you offered? Do you offer different kinds of yoga or what can someone expect if they come to your studio.
Heather S.: Yeah. So we actually started out as primarily a hot yoga studio. That was what my training was in. And as my experience and knowledge and schooling expanded, we started adding other classes. Warm and gentles. We just recently expanded in August to double our studio size and brought in room temp. And so a lot of Yin, a lot of restorative room temp stuff. And then one of my favorite classes that I love that we have at the studio is Chair Yoga.
Sara Y.: Oh, what is that? I mean, obviously a chair. But what is that like?
Heather S.: I think people underestimate chair yoga quite a bit. It's one of my favorite things. The reason we started doing chair yoga at the studio was my mom had severe back issues and had major back surgery about, oh, 12 years ago. And so for her to come along this yoga journey with my sister and I and all of our yogis at the studio, we adapted yoga. And I didn't do this. I just continued kind of my own style of chair yoga. And we're doing yoga poses with the aid of a chair, either sitting, standing and using the chair. And it just allows people who may be new to yoga, a little intimidated, or recovering from an injury, just kind of help to enter the yoga practice.
Sara Y.: That's pretty amazing. I've never heard that before. That's so smart. I never even thought about that.
Heather S.: Yeah, and we use it to actually make connections in the corporate world as well. And chair yoga is stuff to do at your desk. And this last week, with all the craziness, accountants, friends and people I work with at ARA here in town had me come in and do a distress at your desk workshop. So I work with here in town. Nusenda, Be Well New Mexico. I've worked with in the past. Private practices and a couple of other places and bringing that into their corporate setting as well.
Sara Y.: Yeah, that is definitely so important with so many jobs being sedentary. My job included, I've recently switched over from being a TV reporter, which I was like very active running around all day to now a desk job. I just find myself hunching or just like getting tight is from sitting all day. So that's great for anyone in that kind of field to really take on.
Heather S.: Absolutely. It's a really cool, flexible practice to bring in so many different applications. I really love it.
Sara Y.: So what does the future hold for your studio? Do you see yourself adding any more classes or expanding anymore?
Heather S.: Well, I think given the current situation where, you know, just kind of treading water as a small business. I know all my other fellow small studio owners and small gym owners are doing the same thing right now. But I really anticipate us coming back once we're able to come back in person. We have such a strong community to continue forward. Not only with me in-studio classes, but trauma-sensitive support classes, but also now adding on virtual yoga. And it was so nice this last week. We had people coming into our live streaming classes from around the world. Some past students who had moved away, that were heartbroken about not being able to come back to the studio and now they're able to come back virtually. So a super exciting this week.
Sara Y.: That's great. Final question, what is your favorite yoga position or maybe your favorite kind of yoga?
Heather S.: Oh, my goodness. It has changed over the years. Yeah, hot yoga junky. But I have to say my favorite practice right now is Yin. And just because of the calming of a nervous system with everything that's going on around us now, I find that it's a really great balance to my hectic, fast-paced life.
Sara Y.: All right. Well, thank you so much. Do you have anything else to add?
Heather S.: Oh, my goodness. Did not do this without the support of my amazing instructors and community. I just have to say a shout out to everybody that really helps to put Mi Vida together. It's a community effort.
Sara Y.: Well, thank you again. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to join us on our podcast.
Heather S.: Thank you so much for having me. It was wonderful talking with you guys today.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With the Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin M.: Next week, Sara talks with the president and CEO of the New Mexico Runners on the Andres Trujillo. The New Mexico runners are the local professional arena soccer league team based out of Rio Rancho. Tune in to learn about this exciting, high scoring sport.
Transcript
Kevin M.: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode six. Anntonette Franklin with Blended Acai. On this episode, Sara talks with Antonette about why she started Blended Acai, the benefits of eating healthy, and drinking alkaline water.
Sara Y.: Hello, Anntonette. Thanks for joining us today. How are you?
Anntonette F.: I'm doing well Sara. How are you doing?
Sara Y.: I'm doing great. So! Today we're going to learn about Blended Acai. That's how you pronounce açaí. Is that correct?
Anntonette F.: Yes, that is correct. Most people you pronounce it akeye.
Sara Y.: It's a tough word to pronounce sometimes. So tell us about Blended Acai. What do you serve there?
Anntonette F.: We try to be as plant based as possible and we serve a variety of smoothies. Smoothie bowls. We serve juices. We have a coffee station. We serve poke bowls. I'm not sure if you've ever had a poke bowl. We're going to be coming out with salads. I think I touched on... Oh, and we have avocado toast and stuff like that as well.
Sara Y.: And you started a juice line, is that correct?
Anntonette F.: Yeah!
Sara Y.: Talk about those juices. Why are they special or why do you think people should take them or drink them?
Anntonette F.: Well, one I think that people should juice or at least add juice into their diet, because I don't think that we, as Americans, get enough nutrients in our diets. The standard American diet is heavily processed. We tend to be deficient in a lot of vitamins, minerals, and things that people normally would get from food. Since we don't eat a lot of grains or enough nutrients then our bodies become deficient in so throw in a green juice, yo!
Sara Y.: And that's kind of like the whole point of Blended Acai. Right? Just getting in those nutrients, like everything that you serve there is pretty nutrient dense. Is that correct?
Anntonette F.: Exactly. That was really my passion for starting it really. I wanted to just serve delicious food that tastes to me. And that is good for your body.
Sara Y.: Yeah. Let's talk about starting it. So aside from that, what really got you into this? Why did you want to start your business and Albuquerque?
Anntonette F.: I'll try to make it as short as possible because I could talk about it forever. I got married to my husband and shortly after we got married, something happened in my gut. And I don't know, I never got a finite answer that that it was like this. There was like no name. I went to the doctors. I tried natural doctors. I tried Western medicine doctors. And I never really got anything clear as to what really was going on. I really just had to take a look at what I was eating and what was going on in my body to say basically feel like my body stopped breaking down the food that I was eating. And I was just like bloated. And I thought I was dying like I had like, my quality of life was just terrible. So it took me like six years. I paid attention to what I was eating. I learned about foods. I had traveled with my husband to different places and we tried it on Acai Bowl and I just fell in love with that. Plus like healthy eating. And, you know, my body is fine now and I can eat whatever I want. But I think that it's just important for anyone that has any gut issues like, yeah, it's very important to take care of your gut.
Sara Y.: Yeah, absolutely. So would you say those was kind of like I mean, obviously putting nutrients in the body and making sure people are getting that is like kind of the main goal of Blended Acai or what's the main goal that you hope when people come in, they leave with?
Anntonette F.: I hope that they leave inspired to eat healthier. And I'm not saying that everyone has to eat like one hundred percent healthy. I like sugar, too, and I like to eat chocolate chip cookies just like anyone else. I just believe that the more that you can incorporate healthier foods into your diet in cleaner foods because they don't always have to taste bad. Healthy food can taste delicious. It's just trying different things. Throwing an avocado every now and then or whatever. I believe that when you're feeding your body the right things, that helps you and every aspect of your life, like when you feel good on the inside, you can be a better employee, a better friend, a better mother or father, whatever it is that you're doing. It just affects everything, every aspect of your life.
Sara Y.: Yeah, absolutely. I think now more than ever, with what we're facing with the coronavirus is exceptionally important to use food as medicine. And I think, well at least I hope, that people are now kind of realizing that. It's kind of sad it took a Pandemic to bring that to people's attention. I'm hoping that people will realize how important it is, what you put in your body.
Anntonette F.: I completely agree. I feel that it is sad that a pandemic had to really bring awareness. I think that people can take something positive from this and realize that, 'OK, we can affect our immune system somehow.' Eating heavily processed food all the time isn't going to help your immunity. It's not going to help you fight in a attack things that your body can actually fight off. I'm not saying that eating healthy is going to 100 percent not let you get Covid-19 or whatever, but you'll have a better chance when your immune system is fully functioning to attack things right away. Like flu symptoms, colds. You won't get as sick as often.
Sara Y.: Exactly. And another recent addition to Blended Acai was alkaline water. Is that something else that you can talk about with how that affects our bodies or how that can be beneficial to us.
Anntonette F.: Yeah. We're super come to to incorporate alkaline water into Blended Acai because it's kind of right in line with what we believe and what we're all about. So basically, alkaline water is super important for you and for your body, because the more alkaline a person's body is in, the less acidic disease cannot thrive in an alkaline system. So the more alkaline your body is, you just can you won't get cancer as easy or any kind of disease. Your body is just supercharged.
Sara Y.: That's good. Yeah, I've definitely seen the benefits, even just using alkaline water for other things, like aside from our body, like cleaning products. You can use it to like, wash your face. Another thing which is pretty crazy to me considering it is just water. People probably don't even realize how it can be used in all these different facets of our lives.
Anntonette F.: Yeah, it is awesome. A lot of the water that we get from... you can see it in your shower if you don't have a water treatment system. What it's doing to your shower. So just imagine your drinking that. Your body is going to have to work really hard to maintain optimum health because it's not as clean. So when in-taking clean water, it's you're more alkaline. Your body's not working hard to fight off whatever the water is doing since you're adding clean water.
Sara Y.: Yeah, for sure. Going forward, where do you see yourself and Blended Acai going in the future?
Anntonette F.: That's an excellent question. Obviously I have big dreams and big goals for the business. I'd like to see it open in multiple locations. I'd like to see it grow. There's really no end to where I think it could go. So it's pretty exciting to see that people are loving it and liking it and posting in just like, I don't know. It's pretty cool.
Sara Y.: Yeah, definitely. It's definitely been awesome to see your company grow. I'm really happy for you. Aside from nutrition. What is your favorite thing to do? Fitness wise.
Anntonette F.: Well, my favorite thing to do. Hands down, fitness-wise is yoga. I've been a certified yoga instructor for eight years. I fell in love with it and I do still love it. But I also have been noticing, like, wanting to just dive into other different forms of working out like hikding and recently, CrossFit. I think it's kind of cool. I love the whole team mentality of working out or your, like, together, and everyone's excited for you as well. Like, I don't know. I just think working out in general is awesome.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. What's your favorite yoga pose?
Anntonette F.: That's a tough one. My favorite yoga pose is probably the eight angle pose.
Sara Y.: What's that on?
Anntonette F.: Yeah. I'll show you. I'll take a picture.
Sara Y.: All right. For those who don't know, where can they find Blended Acai?
Anntonette F.: We are located at the one central building on 1st and Central. Right across from the train station and catty-corner to Tucanos and the movie theater.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Anything else you'd like to add about Blended Acai.
Anntonette F.: If anyone hasn't checked it out, please come visit us and try anything on our menu. I think that everything that we serve is super delicious and you're bound to find your favorite thing there.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Thank you for joining us.
Anntonette F.: Yay! Thanks for having me.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate and leave a review.
Kevin M.: Next week, Sara talks with the owner of Mi Vida Yoga, Heather Smelser. We get to hear what got Heather to leave accounting for the yoga world, her work with people dealing with trauma, and more!
Transcript
Kevin M.: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode five. Lawrence Herrera with the Performance Ranch. Lawrence has trained some of the best fighters in UFC history. He has taken that knowledge and now trains non-professional athletes. Let's listen in and learn more.
Sara Y.: Hi, Lawrence. Thank you for joining us today.
Lawrence H.: Thank you for having me. It's great.
Sara Y.: So the easiest question of the day. Tell us about your gym. What do you have to offer there?
Lawrence H.: Well, so the Performance Ranch is a training facility that's a coaching-based facility. Anybody who comes in has some sort of plan or a workout of some sort that's all based on the person's goals and the movement screen that we see. Every session, whether it's a class or a small group or private partner training, you know, they're all they're all coached. Again, the difference is, is just how much coaching you actually want based on the package that the client decides on. But we've had really good success with it. We've only been open for a little over two and half years now. December of 2017 was our official opening date. I've been doing this for almost 20 years now. I've helped out other gyms and things like that. But yeah, that's the kind of the gym in a nutshell.
Sara Y.: So how did the Performance Ranch get started. You said you've been in this business for 20 years,why did you decide to go off on your own and open Performance Ranch?
Lawrence H.: Well, it was it was a unique situation. Probably close to seven years ago now, I started training one of my more famous club clients, which is a Cowboy Cerrone, the ultimate fighter guy. I started training him at a different gym. Him and I just formed more of a friendship than anything because I was with him several, several times, you know. I don't know how many hours if we add them all up now, but it's definitely a long time of both training him. We had talked about it even after about a year of training him at the other place. We've kind of talked about, 'hey, would you ever want to do this on your own and have your own place?' And I was like, 'you know, that's kind of a thought of mine.' I was a partner at the other gym, but besides that, we were more on board of of working together and trying to develop different things for fighters because if you know him at all; he has a training facility at his house. So, yeah, it's really, really cool. The BMF Ranch, he takes in fighters there. He helps train them there. We wanted more of a commercial space. So we decided to open up our own gym and fast forward. You know, at that point, it was four years down the road that we decided to sign our own lease and do our own thing. So that's how it started. You know, we were kind of directed at the initial time, whereas helping fighters out and training fighters and those types of rounds. But a lot of my clients tell was normal, everyday people who just had more of a fitness goal than than anything. So it kind of developed into that. And that's the way we we started. It was more of an idea and we acted on it.
Sara Y.: So why do you make the transition from training fighters to now your everyday person?
Lawrence H.: Well, the reality is and obviously there's four big fighting gyms in Albuquerque. We're lucky for that. I was fortunate when I started with fighters. I was training UFC top fighters from the very start. I never had a chance to even train the amateurs or the up and comers. I was in the thick of it from the very start. So when we started doing that, we realized there's not that many UFC fighters in Albuquerque. If there are, I've trained most of them. Probably close to 15 or 20 of them here in town. But other than that, the reality is we have to keep our doors open and they don't have fights of all the time. So we're only training them for a certain amount of time every camp. We knew and I was already training regular people anyways. When I started talking to them about my idea, they are like, 'I want to go there. I want to train there.' So. 'OK, well, great! Let's just do that then and we're going to bring you in on a training basis of that's sort.' I would say 90 percent of our clientele is that every day average client like the average athlete type client that just wants to improve. We do have fighter classes. We do train some of them, but the majority is just our everyday athlete that wants to get better.
Sara Y.: Yeah, for sure. Going off on that. What kind of classes do you offer at Performance Ranch?
Lawrence H.: We have three different classes. Our most popular is our strong class. That's more strength training focused and strength training based. Your normal sets/rep/ rest time. Those kind of things. They're upper body focused / lower body focused type of classes. That's kind of our bread and butter there. And then our other one is burn. Burn class is more of a metabolic conditioning class. And that one, we use a lot of tech for that class. In tech, I say we use heart rate monitors. We use power meters. We use devices that have some type of metric to record and to monitor the effort of that client. So then we can always give them feedback later on either in that session, or sessions after that. Say 'look. You've improved your heart rate because of this or you've improved your power threshold because of this.' And we like to test and retest a lot. You just see where people are getting more fit. That a really popular one, too. The burn class. Then the other class, the third one is called Move. Move class is more active recovery based. It's very similar to yoga, but it's not long hold stretches. It's more taking you through ranges of motion that the joints can handle, but yet also trying to strengthen the joint in these kind of awkward positions. I would say, you know, working on the hip capsule a lot, working on the shoulder capsule as the experience we've had, we've seen a lot of people who come in injured are usually injured just because the joint itself doesn't move how it should. The ankle, the hip and the knee are the big ones and of course, the shoulder. So we just teach them how to teach those clients how to be better suited for that. That movement that's they're trying to do. But those are three classes that we offer.
Sara Y.: Very Cool!. Is that Burn Class the bike class? Because that's one thing I think is really cool about the gym. How there's road bikes connected to that software. Can you talk about that.
Lawrence H.: For sure. So Burn is actually different than that. So I was wrong. There is actually a fourth class, which is our cycling corral. The cycling corral is a whole separate thing. People bring in their own bikes. We do have one spin bike in there right now. That's just the Watt bike? So somebody who doesn't have a bike could use the watt bike and get on that and do their workout. Yes. All the bikes and the trainers that are connected to the computer itself and the computer pretty much dictates the effort how hard that clients should go based on the client's thresholds. And we know the threshold because we test the client with a simple ramp test. The ramp test takes about 20 minutes max. You know, obviously, the more fit you are, the further you go into that test. But normally we see people ending the tests between 15 and 20 minutes or so and we can establish good numbers for them. Then we will retest them again in about four to six weeks after that. We'll see how they improved. And basically those programs are set up to get that client more fit. It's been really, really good. We've seen some good success with some of our clients who who've never even rode a bike before. And they started doing the cycling corral. I have one client in particular who over the course of six months dropped 40 pounds and then end up buying a mountain bike because he liked it so much. 'This is fun. I actually want to ride outside now.' It kind of sparked a new habit for him and a new hobby. He's all in right now. He's done some races on it. He's done a whole bunch of cool stuff on his mountain bike.
Sara Y.: Yeah. I thought that was one really cool class or offering or whatever you want to call it.
Lawrence H.: Well, it's similar to that. Have you ever heard of the app Zwift? I think some of the cyclists and the endurance athletes use a Zwift class. Basically you get to workout at your house and you get this app called Swift and you can do a ride or whatever. This is a little more intricate because we actually have programs designed to help improve that client based on what we see in the thresholds. We can see a lot of stuff that happens just by doing the simple ramp test and then we can tell them, 'hey, you need to work more on this end of your fitness or this end of your fitness to help improve you overall.' So that's where that kind of device comes in.
Sara Y.: Very cool. You offer one on one training, too. Is that correct?
Lawrence H.: Correct. Correct. Yeah. Our bread and butter at our gym is small group training, which is a max of four. But we do private training and we typically, as far as private clients go, those are usually those clients that are coming in that want more personal time with the coach. They're working on specific things or they have some type of injury. We're very fortunate that we have a Elite OSM in our building. They rent an office space from us. We get a lot of clientele from them that come to us. They get fed to us after they're done with their with the rehab. We help get them stronger so they don't have to go back and do more rehab.
Sara Y.: That's definitely good. So it's kind of like a one stop shop almost in a way.
Lawrence H.: Correct. Correct. Yes. Yes. We've been fortunate. That was one big thing that we know. And Kaukab, when I first talked about the whole thing of what we wanted in there and one of it was we want, you know, someone like Beau Hightower or Beau Hightower, which was a perfect combination there. We talked to him and got him on board with everything. It's been good. It's been really good. Like I said we both started in there at the same exact time. We opened our doors and Dr. Char and Alicia, where we're in there from the very start.
Sara Y.: And for those who don't know what Ellie OSM is, tell us about that.
Lawrence H.: Yeah. Elite OSM is basically an ortho's therapy place where they do. It's kind of you know, Dr. Beau is a chiropractor. Dr. Char is a physical therapist. Alicia is a massage therapist and an ortho-therapist. So there's a big range of specialties that these particular people have. They use their specialties with soft tissue work and modalities and different type of rehab protocols that help improve a patient's ability to get away from pain. Because usually when they're coming in, they're usually coming in with some type of pain, whether it's back pain, hip pain, knee pain, whatever. Right. They're coming in for something. So when they come in, they get worked on by them. And the pain is usually getting caused by the lack of strength they have in a particular muscle or wherever they're lacking that range at. So when they work with them, they they can tell, 'You need to work on this to get stronger.' Usually it's the glutes. That's probably the biggest thing we see. So we get them in with us and then we teach them how to strengthen their glutes or whatever or their core. And we see some great results. I mean, we've had, I don't even know how many clients we've had from them. Probably close to 50, easily. And it's been a very good success for the clients, the patient and then for us and of course, for Elite OSM. Because then it's just a referral network that they go, 'OK, I want to go in and see a Elite and then I'm after that I'm going to go see the Performance Rantch to help me get strong. We're teach them how to work out because that's usually what we're really doing. We're educating the client on how to move better.
Sara Y.: Absolutely, which is very important. Also, you have Caveman Coffee there, right? And Onnit supplements.
Lawrence H.: Onnit, Yes. Caveman? No, we actually have Villa Myriam that used to work with Cavemen. But yeah, we have others like Michael Thomas and stuff like that. Actually it's kind of unique. Villa Myriam's our main coffee supplier. And again, our coffee is always free for our members and for a guest there. So we always brew fresh coffee in the morning. We have Nitro Coffee on tap. Nitro Tea. And Michael Thomas is a client of ours also. So the owner of the Myriam and Michael Thomas, which is Michael Sweeney, is actually his name. He's a client of ours. They come in and they do a workout and enjoy coffee with us. But, you know, we basically are coffee connoisseur. So I like coffee. I'm actually drinking coffee right now. Unfortunately, it's not either one of those brands because I haven't been to the gym in a while.
Sara Y.: Very cool. So last question. What's your favorite workout or your favorite.
Lawrence H.: My favorite workout. I'm a fan of Kettle Bells. You know, I'm not necessarily a kettlebell instructor. But I do like the kettle bells because of the versatility. And I like the kettlebell swing because it is a total body type of exercise. I like to pair up swings and pull ups and farmer walks. It's just something that's easy to do. You literally need one kettlebell. So when we have to close the gym, the only thing I brought home was kettlebell. I brought a 70 and 40. I was like, 'I can get my workouts done at home just with that. And I have a Coolabah bar hear, so that's what I'll do. I'll do swings. I'll do chin ups or pull ups and I'll do some farmer walks. Just hold on to the kettlebell there.' It's just an easy go to total body workout. It doesn't take a long time. It's something that you can do until you basically fatigue and then you just can't do any more. And it's always good to kind of test yourself against your time, right? You know that more than anybody else. I've seen you with your CrossFit stuff. You're always testing. You're always going to see how fast you can do something or how long you can sustain it. So it's always a nice workout. That's like my go to strength. My go to cardio is the mountain bike. I'm a big believer in cycling and I love to Mountain bike a lot. I've invested thousands and thousands of hours trying to be better at it. I've hired coaches and things like that. I'm all in when it comes to mountain biking. It's kind of like my big thing. I've been fortunate to kind of turn the fighters on to it as well. Cowboys into the biking. I think Cowboy owns close to 15 bikes now. It's crazy. You know, Ray Borg and even Jon Jones, you know, some of these guys, they all have bikes. It's usually, you know, because I've talked to them about it and how good it is and how, you know, just get your mind away from everything else.
Sara Y.: There's plenty of places to go here.
Lawrence H.: Yeah, we're fortunate. We are very fortunate. Ii it's not the foothills. We can go somewhere else. We have the mountains, close access. So that's it's been great.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Anything you'd like to add about Performance Ranch that we may have missed?
Lawrence H.: No, I mean, the biggest thing about Performance Ranch, again, we're just here to help clients. Obviously, going through all this stuff. We put up every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we've been doing three live classes on Facebook and on Instagram. So somebody can just tune in. On Facebook, there always saved so someone can go to our page. Facebook.com/ThePerformanceRanch and they can see all of our classes and go through it and try it out. It's literally me in my backyard. My daughter joins us at times, my little six year old. My dog will be there also. So those are the things we just want to help everybody out as much as possible. That's our number one thing we're here for is just to get people moving better and pain free.
Sara Y.: I agree. That's a great goal to have and it's something that America desperately needs.
Lawrence H.: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. You know, I've been fortunate. I've been doing this for close to 20 years, the majority of my, half my life. I'm 40 now. Almost half my life I've been working out in this kind of fashion and I, knock on wood, the only reason I'm ever hurt or in pain is because I've crashed on my bike. That's usually it. So as long as I keep my wheels on the ground and my body on the bike, I'm pretty good.
Sara Y.: Awesome! Well, thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to do this with us.
Lawrence H.: Thank you very much for hosting these. This is great.
Sara Y.: Of Course. Have a great day.
Lawrence H.: You too. Thank you.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe and leave a review. On the next episode, Sara talks with the owner of Blended Acai, Anntonette Franklin. We learned why Anntonette started Blended Acai along with the benefits of eating healthy and drinking Alkaline water.
Intro/Outro Music: Jack McCarthy
Transcript:
Kevin M.: Mixing It Up With The Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode four. Sean and Lisa Kehoe with Vivify Hot Yoga. On today's episode, Sara talks with the owners of Vivify. Sean and Lisa Kehoe. They talk about how they got into Yoga, what made them decide to open up the studio, their work with first responders, and more.
Sara Y.: Hi, Lisa. Hi, Sean. How are you guys doing today?
Sean K.: Doing pretty good, Sara. How are you?
Sara Y.: Good thanks. Thanks for being on this podcast with us. We appreciate it.
Sean K.: Well, thank you, guys.
Sara Y.: All right. So give us a little bit of introduction about you and talk about your yoga studio.
Lisa K.: My husband and I started Yoga some time ago, about five years ago when we opened up to the public here in Rio Rancho and kind of an interesting little back story without getting into too much of a deep story, is that we actually started as students and became teachers later. We wanted to open something from a student perspective and bring it to Rio Rancho. Yoga did a lot of change for us both. Sean can attest to that. We want to be able to have a place that would be able to provide the same opportunities for people like ourselves.
Sara Y.: Wonderful. Are you able to talk about maybe what got you into Yoga in the first place?
Lisa K.: Yes, I'll start with myself. I have been a dispatcher for police, Fire, and EMS for quite some time, and it was actually another dispatcher that got me to go. It was basically work-related stress. I didn't really have much of an interest in it, to be completely honest, at first. And she coerced me into it with the hope that it would help fix my hip issues. I learned real quick that it was a massive stress reliever since we were both police dispatchers. This was something that pulled me in pretty fast. Then I kind of drug Sean into it and he figured it out for himself, too.
Sean K.: So I'm a construction worker guy. And Lisa had taken that class and drug me with her. I had always been looking for something to help ease my stresses as well and find something that helped me with my lifting too. My flexibility was always real tight. My hips were always real bad. I went to that class with her and I just took a liking to it. It was something different. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the people and everything about it. I instantly became attracted to it and I didn't want to stop doing it. So that's how I got into it too; it was really because of that. It's become a lifelong thing now, I really enjoy doing it.
Sara Y.: So Lisa, I want to go back to the dispatcher thing. You do a lot of work with the community, right? Like with helping other kind of like first responders and people in that kind of position where they're faced with a lot of stress. Is that correct?
Lisa K.: That has been a very, very passionate thing about getting involved. It first started this for myself and then I realize that so many people need it. The first responders, especially, have been amazing to work with; from firefighters to law enforcement. And just the stress. The job related stress. I can't emphasize that enough. So it's been fantastic to work with cadets that are brand new and getting into the field and giving them wonderful coping mechanisms to get through their jobs. And for the veterans that have been doing everything they can to put everyone else first and forgetting to put themselves as a priority as well and helping them to reconnect to that so they can relieve the stress and do not just good at their jobs but to be able to go back home to their families and leave work at work, which is really hard for first responders.
Sara Y.: Yeah, definitely. And Sean, you said you did this to help with pain. Has it made your job easier, including Yoga, into your life?
Sean K.: Absolutely. You can try plenty of other options, chiropractors, you know, shots, things, all of that stuff I've tried. To be honest, the only thing that really ever has worked now up until this point is keeping up with my practice. So back issues, plantar fasciitis. I just got over some of that just by doing some yoga. And amazingly enough, it helps your insides as well. I had really high cholesterol and my levels are down after taking Yoga for the last five years. It's just happened naturally. It's pretty amazing stuff. Your body knows how to fix itself. It just needs a route to get there. So, yeah, it's worked really well for me as well.
Sara Y.: So what is something unique about Vivify that people don't know?
Sean K.: Well, I guess I'll hop in on this one first. A lot of people really thought that Lisa I we're already instructors, but just maybe had been laying low in the scene. But, no, we were both students. I didn't finish my yoga training until after we had opened. And then Lisa just recently finished hers not too long ago as well. The fact that we did open it from a student's perspective was really different from everything else that we had encountered thus far.
Sara Y.: Lisa, do you want to add anything?
Lisa K.: Yeah, just kind of reiterating what he said. Teachers have inspired us to what really got us moving in that direction. We had all these wonderful teachers getting it going and then we became teachers after the fact. So it was just kind of a backwards way of going about it. But I think it's also giving it a unique flair.
Sean K.: One other thing, Vivify originally was going to be a tanning salon.
Sara Y.: Oh, really!?
Sean K.: Yeah! We were trying to branch out and we've always wanted to open our own business in something that helped people. Amazingly enough, it was originally going to be a tanning salon. We went for a hike and came down from the hike with a totally different view and came up with the name on the way down and said, we're going to do Yoga instead. And here we are five years later.
Sean K.: Speaking of a name, what does Vivify means to you guys?
Lisa K.: Vivify means to make something better. It's enlightened. So literally, it's what Yoga has done for ourselves and our life. We want to try to summarize that in a quick, simple word, that just summarize it.
Sara Y.: What kind of classes do you all offer up by?
Lisa K.: A little of everything. It started off as being a just hot. So we are for everything from heat to no heat to room temperature just because there's all walks of life and as all walks of Yoga as well. So there's something literally for everybody.
Sara Y.: And how long have you guys been open again?
Lisa K.: Five years. We just hit our five year mark. To the public on March 23rd.
Sara Y.: Wow. Congrats!
Lisa K.: Thank you.
Sara Y.: What were some of the growing pains or hurdles that you guys had to get over along the way to reach that five year mark?
Sean K.: Oh my goodness. What did we not go through? Anywhere from, you know, the typical running out of capital to building a studio from scratch. You know, building your own brand from the bottom up is extremely hard to do. Especially in, 1) Rio Rancho and, 2) the yoga industry, which is pretty niche. The whole process has just been learning and growing from day one. Plus, not to mention, like Lisa and I had said earlier that we weren't Yogis. We were just taking classes before this. We jumped into this not really having a tremendous background in Yoga or anything else like that. It was just strictly from the love of how it made us feel. So we know with riding on that if we stay true to that, you know, something would come of it. And here we are.
Sara Y.: Any advice for people getting into this? I mean, I guess it's kind of just like sticking through the rough spots, because in the end, hopefully, it'll turn out to be like what you wanted it to be.
Lisa K.: Let's say trust in the process is the biggest thing and to not be intimidated. Just one step at a time, really, that's the biggest thing.
Sean K.: And then there's a lot of those motivational videos out there. You know? People hear a lot of stuff, but really, you have to jump in with both feet. You have to give it your all. There's no going halfway in and halfway out. And tenacity. When things get tough you can't give in. You have to keep going through it. There's always some better on the other side. A lot of people tend to give up way too early when there's always something good on the other end. You just got to have that perseverance to continue moving forward even when things are bad.
Sara Y.: Yea. That's a great mindset going forward, what does the future look like for Vivify? I know we're in a little bit of a tough patch right now, but let's pretend that that's not happening and that life is going on as usual. Do you guys see yourself expanding, adding more classes, anything along those lines?
Sean K.: Like a lot of other businesses right now, we are building our online platform as we speak. That's going to be an option now from here on out. Which is pretty cool because we didn't have that before. So the circumstances have led us to coming up with something. We had to come up with something to continue to give our clients some, I don't know,
Lisa K.: Peace of mind.
Sean K.: I wouldn't say peace of mind, but a piece of us. Right? Because everybody's fiending for the hot room. So we may not know to give them the heat, but we can still give them some classes. And then there's a few other pretty cool things in the works that we can't really talk about yet. Hopefully when all this stuff boils down, there'll be some really cool things that vivify is going to be pushing through here in the next two months. But the online thing is really is our biggest change right now.
Sara Y.: It just seems that what's going on now has been a blessing in disguise in some way, because, I mean, we've talked to a few other yoga studio owners who are talking about how they've had to adapt. And, add these online classes or Facebook live classes. Members are loving it and wanting more of it. So as tough as this is, it seems like it's almost, adding to their business in a way or making it more multifaceted.
Sean K.: For those of us that, especially like Lisa here, who has a lot of friends and family in other countries and anyone who has a lot of reach on their social media accounts. Now with our online option, those people can now chime in and they can start taking classes. It's really good. I agree with you, Sara, that the necessity of having to go to online has actually been a blessing. It's just gonna be another outlet for us to be able to reach as many people as possible which is one of our goals.
Sara Y.: Yeah. OK, last question. Favorite yoga pose or class.
Lisa K.: His and mine are very different. My favorite yoga pose is going to be Sirsasana, a headstand.
Sara Y.: Nice.
Lisa K.: Probably because it was the one I swore I'd never do. It was one that my sister actually taught me. She's also a yoga instructor. It's just for me personally that poses is an ultimate way of relieving stress and anxiety. It's a complete flip upside down, quite literally. That's got you my favorite one to be able to find calm and balance when you feel completely out of your comfort zone.
Sara Y.: Yeah, I love that.
Lisa K.: Sean?
Sean K.: I'm going to have to say for me, it's Savasana because that means I'm done.
Sara Y.: Is that the one where you just lay down the ground?
Sean K.: Yea. Ahhh, the jobs done. I can relax now.
Sara Y.: That's funny. Do you guys have anything else you'd like to add?
Sean K.: No, not really. We definitely want to think thank Kevin and Fit Mix and you Sara for giving us the opportunity to speak on this podcast. So we're truly grateful that we're part of such an amazing community of individuals that all really like to work together. Thank you very much for allotting us the opportunity.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Thanks for joining us.
Lisa K.: Thank you so much.
Sara Y.: Thank you.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With the Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review. On the next episode. Sara talks with one of the owners of the Performance Ranch, Lawrence Herrera. Lawrence has trained some of the best fighters in UFC history. He talks a bit about that, the move to training non-professional athletes, and more.
Intro/Outro Audio by Jack McCarthy
Kevin M.: Mixing it up with the Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode 3 Reese Killebrew with Republiq. On today’s episode, Sara talks with one of the owners of Republiq, Reece Killebrew. They talk about the history of Republiq as well as the workout you can expect when you walk in the doors.
Sara Y.: Hi, Reese. Thanks for joining us today.
Reece K.: Hey Sara. Thanks for having me.
Sara Y.: So tell us about Republiq. What is Republiq, and what sets it apart from all of the other gyms in Albuquerque?
Reece K.: That’s a good question. Republiq is something that we’ve been building for 15 years. We started with just boxing and kickboxing classes. Over the years, we’ve morphed into what we are right now, a community-based gym that does a little bit of everything. We have people who want to get that fighter’s workout. We have the bodybuilders who come in here and who just want weight training and then CrossFitters who come in and use our equipment for their CrossFit workouts. We just want to be the brightest part of everybody’s day, which right now kind of sucks cause we can’t do that for people [due to COVID-19]. But, you know, that’s what we’ve morphed into. It’s just a community-based gym for everybody.
Sara Y.: You guys offer a myriad of classes now. Like you said, anywhere from kickboxing to like HIIT style classes. Can you talk about the difference between the classes?
Reece K.: Yeah, sure. All of our coaches excel in whatever they are teaching at the time. We have a lot of coaches that used to fight or have trained in boxing/kickboxing for their entire life. We try to give members a fighter’s workout. Take a boxing class, for example. It’s a one hour class, and we’ll put these individuals through a dynamic warm-up. A HIIT type of workout in the beginning. Then we have them glove up. We have them take out their stress, whatever they’re dealing with on the bag. We try to get them to envision somebody’s face or, you know, a bad day or whatever they have going on, on that bag. And it’s a stress reliever. So one hour. Kick your butt, boxing class. Kickboxing is the same thing. It’s always different. But we add the kicks, knees, and elbows. And then we do have like a HIIT type class, which we call SWEAT. With that class, we try to introduce all of our members to every kind of modality that we have here in the gym. We don’t want somebody to come into our gym and not know how to use a piece of equipment. So we try to introduce that in the SWEAT class. Again, it’s like a boot camp type style class.
Sara Y.: I think that is one thing that sets your gym apart from others, is that you have these kickboxing and boxing type classes. But to probably like the average person, those classes may be kind of intimidating. I feel like, at Republiq, they’re not intimidating because you’re still doing like cardio stuff, but you’re getting a hit a bag and wear mitts. I think they like that. It’s a different kind of workout. They don’t feel like they’re working out. M
Reece K.: Yeah. The thing is, I try to make the classes as fun as possible. So I’m kind of an in your face type of guy, but I always have a smile on my face. So I try to ride the line of a drill sergeant and funny guy in the gym. I want to push our members to their potential, but I don’t want to turn anybody away. I want to treat them like a fighter while they’re in the gym, but I know that everybody’s got a little bit something different going on in their life. You know, sometimes I’ll talk with a member, and they’re having, you know, spousal problems. So I say, ‘Alright, let’s go on and envision what we’re doing here on this bag. Let’s take all of our stresses out and put it here.’ Or I have somebody who might be being bullied or something at school. And I’m like, ‘OK. This is what we got when I’m here. This is how you’re going to channel all that aggression into this bad workout.’
Sara Y.: Yeah, definitely helps. So with that being said, what’s your background? Why did you choose maybe this kind of avenue for a gym here?
Reece K.: Well, like I said, we’ve morphed into what we are now. We started out as L.A. Boxing, which was a franchise. This was almost 15 years ago. And way back then, it was just boxing and kickboxing. That’s it. So then we introduced what we called a conditioning class, which is kind of what we’re doing today. So we did that for about five or six years and then UFC came out and bought L.A. boxing. And when they did that we went with the UFC brand. Then with that, more minds were brought to the table. So they started adding different modalities and different type of training regimens into our program. But like you said, it is intimidating, especially with that UFC name. We had an octagon at the time, and we wanted to get away from that because that’s not us at all. I fought in the past and I still do jujitsu. That’s something that interests me, but I know that a housewife walking in the gym is not going to want to jump into the ring anytime soon. My background and our coaches’ background. You know, we have all that fight experience and what have you, but what we’re trying to do is bring it to the masses in something that’s in a non-intimidating and inclusive, not exclusive.
Sara Y.: I think that’s another thing that kind of sets you guys apart from others; that all of the coaches have fighting experience or in some way, shape or form. You know you’re getting a class or instructions from someone who is knowledgeable and not just maybe got their certificate online.
Reece K.: Right. Yeah. And I don’t want to say something that we’re not. I do have coaches that are strictly fitness people. But I also have coaches like G, for example. Everybody loves G’s class. He’ll have 40 to 50 people in every single one of his classes, and G’s never fought ever. But he’s been trained by fighters, and he’s been in this environment, and he’s been boxing/kickboxing for the last 12 years or so. He has the skill, and he can relate all the specific moves to an actual situation.
Sara Y.: Definitely. Since you have made a lot of transitions from where you started to now, what kind of growing pains you have experienced along the way, and how have you overcome those?
Reece K.: Albuquerque’s a very saturated market. In the beginning, when we’re UFC gym, there were a lot of fight gyms, and everybody’s territorial, and we kind of got grouped into that fight gym name kind of, but that’s not what we were whatsoever. That’s the struggle we’ve always had is, ‘are you a fight gym, or are you not a fight gym?’ So what we wanted to do when we rebranded is we wanted to have more of a community-based name, which is why we called it Republiq and Q for Albuquerque because we wanted to be local. But with that, we weren’t carrying a big brand, right? So when it was UFC, everybody knew what UFC was right. We had to pump a lot of marketing into that and a lot of dollars into getting that name out there. The problem is, while we have a good name for ourselves and everybody knows us; but when we put a new sign on the building like Republiq, nobody knows who we are. Right. So that’s definitely been a struggle. Another struggle is there’s a lot of boutique gyms that open up. So there are boutique gyms that are class-based, and they charge $150 a month. Right. So there’s kind of a prestige when you put a high dollar on your membership for some reason. People think, ‘Oh my God. That’s it’s gotta be good.’ Right? And then there are also gyms who come into town that are like $10 a month. And we’re neither. We’re right in between. We’re $60 a month for everything that we offer. So I think for a price point we’re very, very affordable for what we offer. But then it kind of puts us into that predicament, right? ‘Well, they’re not the cheapest. They’re not the most expensive. So, where do they fall?’ So that’s been a definite growing pain. Now with Coronavirus, man talk about a growing pain for sure. It’s definitely a curveball. But I think one thing that helps my wife and I sleep at night is knowing that we’re not doing it alone. Right. So whether we have competitors in the market or not, we never want to wish misfortune on any other gym whatsoever. So now it’s all of our competitors. We’re all in it together. You know, That’s the great thing about what we’re all doing on social media. It’s like, hey man, I’m putting these workouts up not for my members because it’s social media. I’m putting them out there for everybody because I want when this thing is done; when this epidemic is done, I want people to come out of it realizing fitness is necessary. Movement is medicine. And all of these like fitness professionals and gyms, there’s a value to that. And for a lot of people who were never like fitness-minded whatsoever, hopefully, they’re going to come out of this thinking, man, ‘I got to move more. So. Hey, let’s step our foot in the gym.’ And I think everybody will be more successful. And ultimately, I think that’s our wish. Whether it happens. I don’t know. We’ll see.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. Kind of going off of that, When we’ve spoken to other gym owners so far. They’re kind of saying that this is a blessing in disguise. Like you were saying earlier, this is forcing us to post on social media or get out there more outside of our comfort zone. Do you see yourself continuing to post workouts going forward once this is all said and done? Maybe continuing to do live classes?
Reece K.: Yes. I still think that people want that personal touch. Then there’s always going to be people who are going to have germophobe response moving forward. So I do think that there is a place for it. If you ask me two months ago whether I would do online classes or not, I would say heck no because even though I’m a Leo and I want to be in the center of attention, and I want to be jumping in front of a class and stuff. To be on camera and to work out in front of people with all the eyes on you is not something I’m comfortable with. But I’ve been doing it now for three to four weeks, and I’ve become comfortable. So, yes, I think app-based workouts and live classes is definitely the direction that all of us will have to go. Maybe it’s not classes for us. Maybe it’s more of online training. More of like a zoom basis so you can actually work out with people. So it’s visual. Not just written on paper.
Sara Y.: Right. So last question. What’s your favorite workout or movement that you guys do at Republiq?
Reece K.: Well, I would probably say Kettlebell Sport. It’s not hardstyle kettlebell. It’s not real rigid movements for low reps. It’s more rep based. So like a snatch for five minutes straight in a long cycle for 10 minutes straight. Something like that because it’s more of a mental fight rather than a physical fight. And when I say that, it’s like if you’ve ever done a workout and you have these little demons in your head that are like, ‘you can do it. No, you can’t do it. You gotta stop. You gotta keep going.’ That’s every time I pick up the kettlebell, and I do kettlebell workout. That’s the way I feel. So I know that’s how my members are feeling as well. That’s my favorite, at least Kettlebell Sport.
Sara Y.: All right. Well, thank you for joining us today. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to talk to us about your gym.
Reece K.: Hey, thanks for having us. We love Fit Mix.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Thank you.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing it up with the Fitness Community podcast, we’d love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin M.: Next time, Sara talks with the owners of Vivify, Lisa, and Sean Kehoe. They talk about how they got into yoga, what made them decide to open up a studio, their work with first responders, and more!
Sara Y.: All right. So welcome, Wendy, to our podcast. How are you doing today?
Wendy K.: I'm good, thank you. I'm excited to talk with you, Sara.
Sara Y.: Yay, so how's it been going over there 3B? I mean, with everything going on around coronavirus, how have you guys had to adapt?
Wendy K.: Well, really quickly, I had to learn how to use Zoom and how to get everyone taught like I was taught how to get on there and to participate in classes, which it took me a few days to get everything kind of going and smooth everything out. But I think we're in a good groove right now. We have a couple of classes streamed every day. I have a few of my instructors streaming classes from their homes as well. So I'm very grateful. But we've had a lot of members jumping on, and we've been keeping class sizes pretty regular. And so that's a great thing.
Sara Y.: Yeah, that's pretty amazing to keep that going despite this crazy time that we're in right now. My mom is a member there and taking your classes and loving it.
Wendy K.: She is. I love it when I read Shelby Yingling. Come on the screen.
Sara Y.: Does Sombra ever join the yoga sessions?
Wendy K.: Yes. Yes, she does. She was on last night.
Sara Y.: Little bit of poppy yoga. Yes. Well, for people who may not know what 3B is, tell us about your yoga studio. Maybe what separates you from other yoga studios here?
Wendy K.: Sure. So in June, I will now have been open for ten years.
Sara Y.: Wow.
Wendy K.: I know. I can't believe it.
Sara Y.: It is amazing.
Wendy K.: And I've just really grown it very organically. Ten years ago, the yoga scene was quite different. There wasn't much of one. It was very small and kind of concentrated around the university area. And I live out in Rio Rancho. So I needed something a bit closer. And there just wasn't a lot. Ten years ago. So I took it upon myself, got certified, opened a studio a few years later. And we're still a boutique studio. We're still smaller. I focus on my students that come in, helping them grow, really making it a personalized yoga session as much as I can. I get to know my students, their goals, what they want to get from their practice because everyone has a different reason as to why they come to yoga, and we offer a variety of classes. So we have like restorative yoga, we have yin yoga, we have gentle yoga, we have Vinyasa yoga and some meditation classes. But we also what really set us apart is that we have an Ashtanga program also where we were the only one in New Mexico that has this. We have the Mysore program, which is a self-paced kind of self-led practice every morning, Monday through Friday, and then we take Saturdays off to rest. And then on Sunday, we do what's called LED primary series. So, you know, my roots are Ashtanga. I'm a practitioner. That was important for me to have that connected to 3B as well as the other styles because Ashtanga isn't for everybody. I luckily have good, well-rounded instructors and students so we can kind of support both programs.
Sara Y.: For people who may not know what Ashtanga is, can you tell us about that, please?
Wendy K.: Yeah. So Ashtanga is a practice that's it's been around for many years. It kind of came into the United States more, I believe, in the 70s, 80s, and it's increasingly become more popular. It was originally taught by Pattabhi Jois, and he taught in Mysore, India, which is why we call it Mysore style. But it is a practice that has a lineage, which is why I kind of like it has set sequences to it. And you learn that sequence. If you're doing Mysore style, you kind of learn as you go. It's not just given to you all at once. You get it; you learn it piece by piece, you start small, and then you just grow your practice naturally so that it's healthy so that it's benefiting you. And it's just it takes different training. It's not like you can just do a teacher training to teach Ashtanga yoga, you have to be a practitioner of it yourself. You have to have teachers that were either taught by the Pattabhi Jois or his grandson or his daughter. You know, there's still a couple of teachers in India. But for the most part, it's a practice in itself. And gosh, there's just so much to say. I could Go on and on. But it's a self sequence that you follow. Yeah.
Sara Y.: Is it like a harder version of yoga?
Wendy K.: Some people are turned off by it because they say it's so hard. And that's probably because of the way they learned that they tried to like jump into a led primary series for their first time and oh, my gosh, yeah, that's hard. But if you do it Mysore style, you learn a little bit at a time, and you can build strength and flexibility and kind of get used to these postures, modify them as you need to for your body. So really, it's accessible to everybody if they have, you know, the right teacher, the right experience, the right space to practice. When you look at it, it seems hard for sure if you'll watch someone doing it for the first time, you're just like, oh, my gosh, you know.
Sara Y.: Yeah, that can be said about really, any practice if you take the time to really learn it, not just dive right in.
Wendy K.: Exactly.
Sara Y.: You know, it'll be easier in quotation marks or like right. Or you adapt to the situation like you would with any kind of fitness domain.
Wendy K.: Exactly. Like you don't just go and start lifting weights way beyond your capacity. Yes, you don't. You learn. You know, you have to learn how to do it. And that's exactly it.
Sara Y.: That's great. So I guess if you're someone living in Albuquerque, you're looking for maybe a challenging or you're looking for Ashtanga give 3B a try.
Wendy K.: Absolutely. Yeah. Like I said, we're the only ones. Some teachers teach Ashtanga classes, primary series, and that. But we have like a regular program of great teachers and people who practice it.
Sara Y.: Yeah. So you said I feel like just driving around, you see a lot of yoga studios in Albuquerque. It's kind of saturated. Did you have any growing pains getting through that and separating yourself?
Wendy K.: Yeah. I mean the first five years I was open, I kind of had the area sort of to myself in a way. And now and the last five years it's just been like you said, the market is saturated, and people are still opening yoga studios, and we're still set apart because of the kind of practices that we offer and that we are more of a boutique. So and I stick to my roots. Other styles are more popular right now, and that's fine. But that's not my style, and that's not what I've been taught. I stick with what I know and what I specialize in. And our practitioners are the same way. You know, they come for that experience, and they believe in what we do. They believe in our instructors. We just have a good little community, but a very open community. And I think that is what sets us apart. I've had people that have been coming to me since I got certified in 2007. I think that's what makes it special, as have been around for a little while. And we've established a good little community.
Sara Y.: That's good. It's definitely easy to get caught up in trying to change you or to adapt and be like the next best thing. But it's good that you stuck to your roots and you don't have that constant maybe change and then your members are then confused as to what's going on.
Wendy K.: Right. Because the big yoga trends change, too, and then what if you just stick with the roots back stick with the true foundation. And it's important to me to stick with what yoga really is. There are different ways to achieve the benefits of yoga, but you gotta remember what it’s all about. And I think that that's why people will come back to us. Sometimes we believe they'll try other styles or whatever, but then they come back because we're just rooted down or grounded, and we know who we are and what we're doing.
Sara Y.: Yeah, that's that's great. Do you have a favorite class that you guys offer at 3B, aside from Ashtanga?
Wendy K.: Yeah, I think it's so funny because when I started the studio and just started practicing yoga in general, I was into the difficulty of it. I love to be challenged. I love it. The harder it was, the better. And because I come from a gymnastics background. And so I just like the challenge of it and the strength that it gave me. It was like a workout for me. And then I quickly learned that that is not what most people like. They like the gentle yoga. They like the more, you know, they come into yoga to kind of quiet and chill out and, you know, just get some movement in their body. So I had to adjust and do some more training to learn how to teach that gentle yoga. And honestly, that's my most popular class are the B Gentle classes where it's just a focus on breath and movement.
Sara Y.: Yeah, those are great for someone who lifts like myself. I'm getting into yoga more and more because I'm feeling my body and use it more or more to recover. And it's like you come out feeling like a totally different person. And it's amazing, like not just physically but mentally. I feel like the weight is lifted off your shoulders. You just restored and rejuvenated, and you can go to bed light later; you feel lighter, I guess.
Wendy K.: Right. That means that you're getting what you should out of that practice is because the goal of yoga is to quiet your mind. It has other great benefits, but that is the goal is to quiet your mind. And if you can do that, then you do feel lighter, you do feel better, you do feel more restored. All these things come into play. And that's why yoga, that's why you keep going back to it.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. For someone who maybe has been wanting to try yoga, but they're nervous because they see people doing crazy positions or headstands and stuff. What would you say to them?
Wendy K.: I would say that there's a type of yoga practice for everybody. My teacher, one of the biggest things I remember from my teacher and she was taught this from her teacher, was that if you can breathe, you can do yoga. And I believe that everyone can do yoga. Yoga is for everyone. There are so many different types out there. You have to sit down and say, ‘OK, well, why do I want to do it? What am I trying to get out of it?’ And then you look for a class that fits that need. That sounds like it has what you want. Yoga is not all about weird poses and being upside down. And that's just that's for those of us have crazier minds that need more to quiet us down. You know, for those type A personality types, we need more to distract ourselves. That's all that is. You can get the same benefits from a gentle class that you can from an Ashtanga class. It's just a matter of breathing and connecting.
Sara Y.: Just find what suits you. So for people who maybe don't know where you're located, can you tell us.
Wendy K.: Yeah. So we are now located off of Alameda between Jefferson and Washington. So we're close to the Balloon Fiesta Park kind of by Oak Tree Cafe and Wise Pies. We're right there in the corner, right off of Alameda.
Sara Y.: Anything else you'd like to add.
Wendy K.: I don't think so.
Sara Y.: Well, thank you for joining us. I appreciate this conversation now. Thank you very much, Sara.
Sara Y.: All right. Well, thank you, everyone, for listening and have a great day.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing it up with the Fitness Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe and leave a review.
Kevin M.: Next time, Sara talks with one of the owners of Republiq, Reece Killebrew. They talk about the history of Republiq, along with his approach to training everyone from the experienced athlete to someone just getting into fitness.
Kevin: My name is Kevin Mathis and I'm the founder of Fitness for those of you. I don't know if that makes us a fitness membership that gives users access to a large network of gyms, yoga studios, CrossFit boxes and more across New Mexico. Fit Mix was really created to give people the freedom of choice when it comes to working out and really make it easier to try new exercises. For some time, I've been wanting to create a podcast that complimented the network. With that, let me introduce you to the host of future episodes, Sarah Yingling. Welcome to the podcast, Sarah.
Sara: Hi, Kevin. Thanks for having me.
Kevin: So when I was thinking about creating this podcast and trying to figure out the best person to host, you're the first person that came to mind. You have a passion for health and fitness that I've never seen in anybody before. I do have to know, though, why did you say yes when I asked you?
Sara: It just seemed, you know, like the perfect thing. Being a former TV reporter, I feel like, you know, this is kind of my niche speaking to people, interviewing people kind of right up my alley. So I was like, you know, why not? And we have some extra downtime. So the perfect combination, perfect storm.
Kevin: Totally agree. It's clear to anybody that knows you that you are passionate about health and fitness. Where did that start?
Sara: I'm very passionate. I don't know, honestly. Like, I've always been a very active person and always involved in sports. My parents got me into soccer when I was five. Got me into skiing when I was five. I grew up playing sports. And then once I got into high school, I was playing volleyball, soccer and doing indoor track. So I was always like keeping my time busy with playing three sports and all our sport throughout the year. Every season. And then after that, college decided to go the soccer rout, played soccer for two years at IUP, which is the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, located outside of Pittsburgh. But I had to give that up due to too many concussions. Any idea how many I had, Kevin?
Kevin: I'm going to guess seven.
Sara: People always say seven.That's really funny, but I kind of close first saying my family and I, we're going with twelve.
Kevin: My first guest was really eleven, but it felt too high.
Sara: Yeah. So I played goalie almost my entire life. Well now have I would say half my life I started out playing outside it and then center med but I got recruited in college to play goalie. But for some reason they ended up taking me out of the goalie position and moving me to center midfielder. And so that game I went up for a head ball and this girl and I ended up hitting heads.I fell down, blackout woke up to everyone around me being put on a stretcher. So a spark notes version of that. Basically was a vegetable for two weeks.
Kevin: No way.
Sara: Yeah. Decided it's probably the best route to avoid contact sports from here on out.
Kevin: So is that I'm assuming that was the last concussion. Did the first ones happen the same way?
Sara: Yeah. Growing up in club soccer I played on this national traveling team as a goalie. Was just getting kicked in the head a lot. Yeah. Fun times. And then going out for headers and stuff that. So I even wore one of those goofy head gear things. I don't know if you've ever seen those. They kind of look like scrum caps that you wear in rugby, but it doesn't cover the top your head, it just covers the front of your head and then your lobes and then the back of your head. So even wearing that stupid thing for that last game when I got hit in the head and still got a concussion, I'm like, yeah, this is my sign that I need to stop.
Kevin: When you got out of sports. What did you decide to do after?
Sara: Yeah. I was like, I need to, probably focus on schooling. And so I was like, I'm going to transfer to Duquesne University. And so that's actually in downtown Pittsburgh where they have a dedicated broadcast journalism program. So I went there. Focus on that. But the same time, I was like, I need a competitive outlet. And so my mom and I were like, what is a non-contact sport that I can do? And she was like, what about crew? And I'm like, I've literally never been in a boat, but sure. So I tried out for the crew team and I made it. And so I did crew for the remaining two years of my college career, which is so cool. I think crew is probably the most underrated sport. I mean, if you don't know about it, obviously if you don't grow up near rivers or like any kind of body of water. You don't have access to it, but like it is so cool. The practices were crazy because we would have to be up at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m., like it's still dark and you're rolling down the Monongahela River in downtown Pittsburgh with like the skyline lit up. It was incredible. And then the needs that we would have were so awesome because we would travel all up and down the East Coast, obviously, to all the other schools with a rowing team. It was just a totally different experience than any other sport I've ever played.
Kevin: When tried out for a crew, where there people that didn't make the team.
Sara: Yeah.
Kevin: So you had never done crew before and you just made the team?
Sara: Well, they had kind of had like an A in a B team. You know, I started out obviously on the B team, but then once I got better, I started moving to like the other boat. So it's like eight, four and two. So few times I did races in a two person boat, which is really hard. Mostly other times I was in an eight person boat. And after that, this is kind of like ironic and it makes no sense probably to a lot of people. But all my friends who went to University of Pittsburgh played on the rugby team. And there's a club team there called the Pittsburgh Angels. And I ended up playing rugby.
Kevin: Let me guess, you tried out and you made it.
Sara: Yeah.
Kevin: So you said, "I don't want to get any more concussions, let me go do rugby."
Sara: Yeah, let's go play rugby where they actually tackle you. I don't know. I didn't tell my parents until like a few games in, but I was wearing the scrum cap and in a mouth guard. But I played sevens mostly because sevens I wouldn't get tackled as much because I'll just run around all the people. But yeah, I would just avoid the really big scary girls.
Kevin: Well, seeing as you had all those concussions, you were probably extra motivated to not get hit. So that how they help you.
Sara: Yea and then I would also avoid tackling, which is probably not the best when people would run by you. I was like, nah, I'll just pretend to try.
Kevin: When did that end or when did you have to just move over to working out?
Sara: I want to say a year into playing rugby is when I finally discovered CrossFit and kind of realized hey I'm actually kind of good at this. And I wanted to start taking it kind of seriously, like I mean, seriously in the sense that I want to start competing locally. At Local competitions on the East Coast or just in like the mid-Atlantic region, basically. So started out at like this smaller CrossFit gym in the south side of Pittsburgh called CrossFit. Athletics. Spent a good amount of time there. And then eventually moved to another gym called CrossFit Mount Lebanon, where the CrossFit Games athlete and Anna Tunnicliffe and her husband were the owners. So I was like, wow, I want to know actually make it to regionals, because back then it was regionals. You had to qualify for the open. And then if you were at the top 20 or something in your region, you would make it to the regionals and then top five would make it to the CrossFit games. So I was like I really want tomake it on a team that would be so awesome. So I moved to that gym. And I want to say we like at one point had a shot of making it to the regionals. But our coach wouldn't let us go because he said we weren't experienced enough and he didn't want us to embarrass ourselves.
Kevin: Oh, no.
Sara: Yeah.
Kevin: What a boost of confidence.
Sara: Right? So there was my dream of going to regionals. Just down the drain. I was like my only chance. Come on!
Kevin: Is that still a goal of yours or has that kind of passed?
Sara: It was like when I first moved out here to New Mexico, I joined Cross Fit Albuquerque, which has a lot of good athletes. And in Whitney Cappellucci who has made it to the games and regionals and everything. I was a member there. with other really good girls and guys. But I don't think we were all really ever quite on the same page. So the dream of make it on a team out here to didn't happen either.
Kevin: But yeah, I mean, you went for it. You might have gotten it, but your coach said, no, that's OK.
Kevin: In today's world, what's a day in the life for you?
Sara: So still pretty passionate about CrossFit. Just not in the sense that like I am. Look, I don't have like a specific goal really anymore, whereas I did a few years ago. My only goal really is to just look good and be able to eat a lot of carbs. Because I love carbs. But also, I'm just a competitive person and I need an outlet. And so like everyday I feel like you're given a chance to be the best version of yourself if that's competing with yourself every day or if it's trying to compete like with members in your box. I feel like CrossFit gives you that opportunity to have a competitive outlet. So I just like I just enjoy just doing those workouts and. Trying to be like the best version of myself every day. I don't like pushing myself physically, mentally. I just feel better. At the end of day or after a workout like, yeah, it sucks in the moment. If you've done CrossFit, you'll know the pain of some of the workouts and how you feel immediately after. But honestly, I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything else because it's like a sense of accomplishment.
Kevin: For those of us who like carbs more than working out and struggle with their journey. What advice do you have for them?
Sara: So I don't know if this probably sounds really cliche, but it's not motivation all the time because you're not always motivated to workout. There's been countless days where I would much rather sit on a couch and eat Ben and Jerry's than go for a run or go do a workout. But I'm disciplined enough to know that the pros of working out and eating healthy outweigh the quote, pros of not doing that that day or eating unhealthy or skipping a workout. Like I was saying, the feeling that you get the endorphins obviously that you get from working out and eating healthy totally outweigh those that you would get from sitting on a couch or eating something that just makes you feel crappy. So it's just like, I don't know. I've just always been a disciplined person in that regard where I just I just know that the benefits of it outweigh those of the other option.
Kevin: Yeah, that makes sense. And sometimes the truth is what it is.
Sara: I think a lot of like athletes will say that like no matter what modality you're in, I'm sure you know, the U.S. women's team, soccer team. They don't always want to go to practice, but they know that in the end, the reward of putting in the work, the time and effort into practice completely outweighs that of maybe skipping that run that they have to do or skipping that weight workout. They have to do work, skipping that practice. The end result, or just like even the immediate, immediate gratification completely outweighs that. And I think you just keep that in your mind during all of it. Just remember that it's not don't look for an immediate satisfaction. If you put in the work, you'll see the results. I'm excited about that, too. I think people see me and they see my physical appearance and they think it happened overnight when like a I'm not going to lie, I was like super chunky in college, like freshman. Fifteen was a big thing. Like so much so that I literally had frat guys, call me Miss Piggy, like I was Miss Piggy on the soccer team. And that like superficially motivated me, but also is like, well, I don't want to be unhealthy either. I don't want to feel slow on the field, you know, or anything like that. So it's like this is taking years to get to this point. It's a constant drive and work to eat for my body like what it needs. Not starving myself, giving my body the fuel it needs and then obviously putting in the work in the gym everyday.
Kevin: That makes sense. to switch gears on you because it's been all about fitness and health. It's something that people don't know about you that's not related to fitness.
Sara: I feel like this is like the toughest question. I love reality TV and I know that people say it's mind numbing and a waste of time, but sometimes I just want to zone out and not think about anything and watch people with train wrecks of a life or people who live more glamorous lives than I do and I want to live vicariously through them.
Kevin: Or both at the same time. Ok, so then this last section is gonna be rapid fire questions. I'm going to ask you the question and you have to answer it without thinking about it.
Sara: Oh man!
Kevin: Okay, so are you ready?
Sara: Sure.
Kevin: All right. Two hours straight of hot yoga or 100 burpees?
Sara: 100 Burpees.
Kevin: What's your stance on toilet paper? Does the flap go over or under?
Sara: Over.
Kevin: Favorite time to workout?
Sara: Morning.
Kevin: If you had any superpower, what would it be?
Sara: Teleporting myself places.
Kevin: 50 ring dips or 50 pull-ups?
Sara: 50 pull-ups
Kevin: If you were arrested without an explanation, what would your friends and family assume you had done?
Sara: Public indecency.
Kevin: What's your go to cheat meal?
Sara: Donuts!
Kevin: If you could time travel, where would you go?
Sara: I mean, I love like. World War 2 era. Or World War 1.
Kevin: And then last but not least, what is your favorite workout?
Sara: CrossFit!
Kevin: All right, that's it. So that's the end of the rapid fire questions. And actually, it's the end of the podcast altogether. So thanks for agreeing to be the host going forward. And I can't wait to see what you create. Thanks Sarah.
Sara: Thanks Kevin.