Liz Canada: 0:00

I know. This seems way more intimidating than it actually is.

Meg Trombley: 0:02

I'm not going to know the answers to the questions you're going to ask.

Liz Canada: 0:05

What do you think I'm going to ask you? All right, question one. Let's start with a simple question. Have you watched the movie Wicked, which you promised me you would? No. I have not. This podcast has been canceled. That was the one thing. Actually, I said to Phil earlier, this was actually an elaborate prank, and I was telling you you'd be on a podcast, but now we're going to watch Wicked. You're listening to New Hampshire Has Issues, and I am your host, Liz Canada. This episode might seem a little bit different because I'm not covering a political issue, but I am tackling an issue that maybe you also experience, which is how the heck do I take care of myself in what feels like an absolute dumpster fire of society right now? So although we talk extensively about CrossFit, because that is one tactic that I use to take care of myself, uh, this episode really isn't about CrossFit. It's about stress, or it's about uh aging, or it's about uh how one comment uh to a teenager can drastically shift the trajectory of that person. Which uh is terrifying as a parent. But I can't emphasize enough how excellent of a coach Meg is, whether you are in a class with her, or whether you are sitting in sort of the waiting area of the gym and just chatting with her, or she is uh so excellent and so caring. Near the end of the episode, she says, even if you never do CrossFit, if it's not for you, do something to take care of yourself. Uh try something new. She talks about how she has recently started a new activity, which is rock climbing. That that is something that she is really enjoying, learning that and trying something new. And I really wanted her to uh come on this podcast because the community that is fostered at our specific gym, I think, should be a model for all of us. That we should have people in our lives who are cheering us on, literally and figuratively, being around people who uh want us to uh try new things and push ourselves in a safe way, uh who care about our our physical well-being, our mental well-being. Because friends, uh, I know you are stressed. You wouldn't be listening to this show if you weren't slightly stressed out by what's happening, whether in New Hampshire or across the country. But it is winter, there is still so much snow on the ground, is it ever going to melt? So how are we going to take care of ourselves now and into the next few months and into the next oh, I don't know, uh, just about three years? So whether you ever try CrossFit, or if what you love to do is play soccer, if what you love to do is walk with a weighted vest, if what you love is rock climbing or racquetball or mountain biking or walking your dog around your neighborhood and saying hi to the people who live near you, this episode is for you. Quick reminder that this coming Friday, February 20th, I'm going to be one of the guests at Granite Goodness Live local podcasters night at 3S Art Space. Tickets are on sale now. Doors open at 7.30. Please come say hello. I'd love to meet you. If you would like to support this show, you can go to patreon.com slash nh has issues. And one other way is to share an episode with someone you know. Thanks for listening. Meg, people are really intimidated by CrossFit. I don't want this to be a CrossFit commercial. I said that to you. Yeah. But also, like it is kind of a CrossFit commercial, but just for our gym CrossFit commercial.

Meg Trombley: 3:54

And I I would say our gym. There are other CrossFits like our gym, but our gym is not typical of many CrossFits.

Liz Canada: 4:01

Yeah, I completely agree. What do people think about when they think of CrossFit? Like what do you what does a regular person rope climbs? Flipping tires, sledgehammers. When we think Katie just said this the other day, like when we think about like functional fitness, like if I fell in a pit for some reason, a rope climb would be helpful, actually. That would be a really helpful thing to know how to do. I still can't do a rope climb. So I'm stuck in that pit. I think you would you would will it to happen. So I would find a way. There was life or I know what my feet are supposed to do on the rope to help me climb up. So probably the intensity of the moment would fuel me to get up to.

Meg Trombley: 4:40

You just squeeze. Yeah. Just squeeze everything really hard.

Liz Canada: 4:43

That's right.

unknown: 4:44

Yeah.

Liz Canada: 4:44

People think rope climbs, tire flipping. Yep. I don't think I've ever flipped a tire here. I'm gonna say that that's my biggest complaint. I have not flipped one single tire while we've been here. They're back then. I consider that successful if that's your single complaint. That's right. We have two tires. Welcome to New Hampshire Has Issues, the podcast that dares to ask. When am I flipping a tire, Meg? It better be programmed in the next week. I want tire flipping happening here.

unknown: 5:11

Oh man.

Liz Canada: 5:12

You want to try one? Welcome to New Hampshire Has Issues, the podcast that dares to ask. Is it possible to take care of ourselves when we have all these issues?

Meg Trombley: 5:24

I don't know why. I don't know how I phrase this or why I keep coming back to this, but I think wouldn't it be nice to like be able to get up off the floor safely? Right. Like as we age.

Liz Canada: 5:33

Yes. Right. Welcome to New Hampshire Has Issues, the podcast that dares to ask. Can you get up off the floor without using your hands?

Meg Trombley: 5:41

Could I do that? Maybe. You could do that. Yeah, I think I could do that. You can l l be laying back, sit up, come to a tall kneeling position, like you're about to do a lunge, bring one foot out in front and stand up. Yep. Yeah, I could do that. Yeah, it doesn't need to be like a like a party trick.

Liz Canada: 5:59

But it could be.

Meg Trombley: 6:00

Yeah, like I don't know, warming up and then handstand while like no. It's just being functional.

Liz Canada: 6:05

Functional fitness. Yeah. That's the whole thing. I am your host, Liz Canada, and joining me today is a special guest on the podcast, someone who sees me first thing in the morning before I have had enough coffee or caffeine when I am at my most exhausted and ready to face my horrible days ahead of me, my CrossFit coach, Meg Trombley. Meg, welcome to the show. Thank you. You're welcome. Is that what I supposed to say? You can say thank you. Uh Meg is a coach at Dauntless Academy in Exeter, which is the CrossFit gym that I go to. And I asked her to come on the show because uh New Hampshire has a lot of issues. And one of the ways that I deal with the issues is I start my day with CrossFit. And Meg is the person that I see almost every morning helping me deal with the issues. And I asked her to come on to talk about what that looks like. How does she help not just me but all sorts of people and how they're facing the world? So thank you, Meg, for being here. All right, so people think of CrossFit as rope climbs and flipping tires. And people yelling at you.

Meg Trombley: 7:07

Yeah. Lift a lot of weight. Go heavy, go fast. Like, yeah. I think like an aggr like aggressive. I don't have that experience here.

Liz Canada: 7:16

Should I? Should I be complaining about that too, that you're not yelling at us enough? I mean, it depends on what you want. Do you want to yell at the same time? There are some people that I yell at. Do you wish you could yell at us more? Do you wish you were yelling at us more? No. CrossFit is very intimidating. I bring it up on the podcast I brought up with Christine Stoddard. There was an episode we did about Medicaid coverage. We sort of ended the episode with all of the things that are happening are so overwhelming and exhausting. How do we take care of ourselves? And she said she goes mountain biking in the morning because it lets her not think about work. And I come here, we're recording this in the gym. I come here, so I don't think about work, but then sometimes I do, because I have like my phone foolishly near me. But, you know, my podcast is New Hampshire has issues. And I talked about CrossFit because it is one way that I take care of myself. And I asked you to be on the show because I think you help people take care of themselves in spite of all of these many issues. How did you get into CrossFit? Were you a Division I athlete in, let's see, weightlifting? No. Softball? No. Gymnastics. No. Uh soccer. No. Football. No sports. Rugby. No sports. None of the sports. No. So how did this happen? How did you get to the CrossFit world? We graduated college.

Meg Trombley: 8:30

You and Phil? Yes. Sorry. Yes. Let me preface that. I just assume that everybody knows who Phil is. You know who Phil is. Yes, I know who Phil is. My partner, Phil, at the time we're dating. And we graduated college together. And I had a physically active job and he had a very sedentary job. And he played a lot of sports and was a division one athlete. Yeah. Very team motivated. Yeah. Always working out for the team. Flash forward, like, you know, a year or two, and I'm kind of have this haphazard routine, but I'm staying active and Phil's getting very inactive. And with that comes a mental feeling too, of maybe restlessness or anxiety. And then realizing, okay, when I was moving, you know, and playing sports, that felt I didn't have those feelings, and that felt better. And he's really wanting to, you know, have an outlet for that. And I had stumbled upon someone posting on Facebook that I went to high school with pictures of them at a CrossFit. It was just like a group of people working out, but not like what you think of as a traditional workout, like where you're all like following someone up front. Yeah. Like an aerobics instructor, and you're all doing like the same moves. Cause I know that Phil wouldn't like that and I wouldn't like that either. Like we're both not into that. So I messaged this guy and said, What like what is this? You know, these people are working out amongst each other, but not with each other. Near parallel play. So we're around each other. So it's kind of like a team. It kind of looks like a team. Yeah. And he said, Oh, this is, you know, this is CrossFit. And where he went didn't really help me. But he just said, This is CrossFit. Here's kind of what it is. I said, Oh, that's cool. So I booked this intro class for Phil and I to attend really for Phil. Um, for him to find a way to work out that kind of felt like a team and that maybe would be a little bit more motivating for him to go into this kind of structure setting, into a group class, instead of just trying to, he's just not motivated to do it on his own or kind of just like bop around. Like it just, it all just started from that. Booking this intro for him and us both doing it together. And then it like became my entire life and identity.

Liz Canada: 10:30

Just one little intro class. And now you're you're the head coach here, right? Is that your technical? That's your title here. I did something similar. I had lived in Denver for a while and I had moved to Cambridge for graduate school for nine months. It was a nine-month program. So I had thought I was going back to Denver. Went back to Denver just for the summer, and I was staying with my friend Kate. It was like, well, I'm moving back to Cambridge like full time, like for good. And she's like, Well, what life do you want to have? Like, what are the things that will make you happy? I know. Right? Like, but it was like I was restarting my life, and it was 10 years ago now. She's like, You care about yourself, like you're starting this new life. Like, how do you want to launch this new life? I was like, Well, I want to be like physically active again. Like I was a big softball player growing up. And she was into CrossFit if she had gone before. I had done CrossFit workouts online. Like they had posted them on the main site. So I would like look at that, go to 24-Hour Fitness, do the scaled version. And so she was like, Well, why don't you just join a cross-it gym near you, like where you're living? And so she like forced me to open up my computer, email the gym there, and be like, Can I come for an intro class? And the intro class was at like 6 a.m. And she's like, That will mean that you will really do it if you actually go. And then I I did and I kept showing up. What made you keep showing up after that first class?

Meg Trombley: 11:47

So I had some experiences where early on I tried to play sports, like in early high school, and I had a really fun time being on like the team and doing practice. But the way you do the physical movements didn't really ever click for me. Like I just felt really awkward in my body, but I was still having a good time. Well, after like freshman year, when everybody like gets to go like be on the team because it's freshman, in particular with volleyball, I had a coach, she cut me going into our junior year. So I had now played freshman and sophomore year. So I had played on the freshman team and the JV team. And she said, she cut me because all the rest of my teammates were making the varsity team and I wouldn't have made it and she didn't want me to feel embarrassed. What? This is after she cut me. And I'm like, well, that would have been a nice conversation to have with me because if we had had that conversation, you would have realized I didn't even care if I was playing. I honestly would have been totally happy, like never playing in the game of just sitting on the bench because all of my friends were there. Yeah, right. I'd had this routine established. I liked being in practice. I was staying physically active. I wasn't really sure what was going on with the movements, but like mentally, physically, like it was doing really good things for me. And that moment made me feel really bad about myself.

Speaker: 12:59

Yeah.

Meg Trombley: 12:59

Like I had wanted to, I had thought about going to school for athletic training. I had considered myself this athlete. Yeah. Wow. And that now looking back from an adult perspective, you know, I shouldn't have listened to what other people were telling me about myself. But I'm a sophomore, you know, going junior in high school, very impressionable. Yep. I threw away that identity because she was like, that's not that one moment. You can't do this. Even though I wanted to continue to pursue that, it stopped me from doing that. So when I found CrossFit and everything is infinitely scalable, that like I was like, this is my moment. If you want to show up and you want to try, CrossFit's for you because there's no nos. Like, no matter what, you can do it. I mean, I've worked with people who are wheelchair bound doing CrossFit. You have Spina bifida doing CrossFit. There's a way to modify and a way to scale everything. And that like really, really spoke to me and it truly brought my identity back to me of like who I was, like at my core. It's been a journey. It started to bring that back out of me and it empowered me again. Like it put the power back in my hands. So that really was huge for me for CrossFit is that anyone who wanted to try was given an opportunity to try.

Liz Canada: 14:15

That's so interesting that you had that experience in high school. I had something similar, but in my academic side of my life, like I was only an athlete. That was what everyone was like, Well, you're not the smartest, but you are great at softball. Like that was their thing for me. And it made me believe that I wasn't smart. And so when it came to college, it was like, I'll just go to whatever school accepts me. And so my whole identity was shaped by people saying things of like, Oh, you want to go to that school? Well, it's a pretty tough school. And it's like, oh, okay, then I won't go. I'm obviously too dumb. That shaped my life where it took me until junior year of college to be like, oh, wait, I I am kind of smart. I do know how I'm doing things. So it's like a sort of similar experience of like one or two people in like those formative years can set you off in a whole other journey. It's so tricky with teenagers like that. I think about that with the boys too. What is gonna be the thing that they remember 10 years from now that I didn't even realize I said or a teacher said, you know? Right? What you hold on to?

Speaker: 15:12

Yeah.

Meg Trombley: 15:13

Well, that's what pulled me into not only staying across it, but then quickly leading to coaching. I didn't even know how to do most of the movements and I was already like, I want to coach people. And then they were like, wait, wait, you need to like learn what's going on here. But I was like, I want to be a part of giving people that opportunity and giving them opportunities and the power back in their hands. Yeah. And like writing their own story. Like I wanted to help people in that journey because I didn't feel that I got that help.

Liz Canada: 15:35

When I started CrossFit in Cambridge, I also started dating. And I had been doing CrossFit for like two months. On this first date that I was on, she was like, So what do you do? And I was like, Oh, well, you know, I this is my job, so forth. I also go to CrossFit. And she looked me up and down. She's like, Really? Yeah. And then this date is over. This date is over. Checklease. That still happens to me though, because I have a larger body, I have a fat body, and I gain weight and I lose weight. And I think people have an expectation of like, if you quote unquote, do CrossFit. You're ripped. You're ripped. You have shredded abs, everything. And that's not really the case. So you talked about folks who have specific medical situations that they might be in. But what about someone who has a larger body, like regular people? Is CrossFit truly for everyone in that way? Yes. Yes. That's that's it. Unequivocally. Unequivocally, yes. Yes. Molly and I talk about we come to CrossFit so that as we age, we can still have a house that has two floors that we can go upstairs as we are older, or we can still, you know, she loves hiking, so like she can still do that. The reality of like aging is upon us. Like we are in our 40s, and this is where the scales start to tip a little bit.

Speaker: 16:53

Yeah.

Meg Trombley: 16:53

You can't just like rest on what you've been on right now. You have to continue to build and work to keep what we have. Which really sucks, Meg. It's horrible. But it keeps our brain also functioning well too, right? Like that challenge and even like the counting, we were joking before, the counting under a high heart rate, all of that keeps you sharp. I work with a woman who's 92 and I don't count her reps for her. I do I secretly do. I do count her reps for her because I don't want her just like doing a thousand step ups when it's supposed to be like 10. And I'll stop her, you know, within reason of okay, okay, I think it's time to move on. But I I want her to count. I want to introduce new movement patterns to her, you know, safely. That constant challenge, just like, you know, like reading, you know, keeps your mind sharp. It's the same thing. Like you the acuity and also just obviously here interacting with people, having the opportunity to interact with people on a daily basis. And that sense of community is huge too. So there's a lot, there's a lot going on in a CrossFit class besides just flipping tires, which I still have not done.

Liz Canada: 17:53

Yeah, I think the community piece is so, so huge. It's just like it's nice to be here. I don't know that every CrossFit gym feels like this. How do you get the community that we have? How did how did that happen?

Meg Trombley: 18:07

That's so weird that you just that question, because Elliot, and Elliot's the owner, for those of you in the podcast world.

Liz Canada: 18:13

He's the owner of John Fields is the owner of Dauntless Academy.

Meg Trombley: 18:16

Him and I were talking the other day. He asked me what I feel makes our gym unique and special in the world of CrossFit. And I said, I truly feel that there's no judgment here and that everyone is so accepted and we're all coming from different walks of life. And we all just really want to see each other do well and grow and be challenged. And there's no like animosity of like, well, she did that way. And like, or feelings of like jealousy. Like it's truly like good for you and not a good for you. Truly a good for you. Yes. No sarcasm. So I feel like that comes from this sounds so bad. Not bad, weird to say. I think it comes from the coaches and the fact that we are open and accepting. Like I'm the person that like gets lost in the grocery store because I somehow managed to like talk to a stranger and then we're like sharing each other's ideas. I've never had that problem actually. Phil runs away. Phil runs away. I guess and it's just me talking to people. And then he goes, Do you know them? And I said, Well, now I do. Right. Because I just talk to them, bringing it back to what I was saying before of what drew me to CrossFit to stay, is if you're willing to try, I'm willing to help you. So as long as someone comes in here with an attitude that they're coming from a place where they want to try and challenge themselves, this is the place for you. And I think the people who bring negativity and complaining, those people just don't last very long here. So they kind of get like filtered out. But yeah, we have we have such a diverse population of people that maybe would never be friends or hang out outside of here. But also that's just part of like being an adult, right? Like you just have like your world get smaller and smaller because you just like either work from home or you just like are with the people that you just work with. So it's really cool to have an opportunity to be in a place where there are so many different types of people. But I think we're just so open and we make people feel comfortable to be themselves that people are themselves and people feel comfortable.

Liz Canada: 20:10

And like we're in our most physically stressed of our days in the gym, I think. I am sure there are folks who have very physically demanding jobs, or there are folks who are doing things outside of the gym that are probably even more physically. Doctors, right, right, yes. But like at the end of the class, we are all sweating and fatigued. And I often am laying on the floor for 10 minutes. And like I would never do that in front of anybody else. Like it's only okay here. I could not in the case. You're taking all your clothes off. We're just gonna shoes are off. And everyone is like, yep, that's what we do here. That is how we that is how we operate here. And everyone is just totally fine with it. I think people don't know what a class is really like because gym classes are often those sort of mimicking the person at the front. Right.

Meg Trombley: 21:01

So maybe you could just talk a little bit about like well, let me backtrack and say if you're brand new to CrossFit, there would have been things that have happened before you've come into class. So you'd have some idea of what's happening, yeah, at least, but I might not know to what extent. You know, maybe they've been we just had a woman that, you know, did CrossFit two years ago, took two years off, and now has come back. So I really don't know what kind of shape this person's going to be in. They might have some idea of the movements, but I like to have that conversation with them before class. Are we dealing with injuries? Any medical conditions? You know, what have you been doing for physical activity leading up to now? Maybe they've been lifting, but they've been doing no cardio. And we're gonna talk about cutting this 20-minute workout in half. So it's hard, but it feels appropriate for today. I hope they show up early. Sometimes I can have that conversation with them ahead of time. But I don't know. I just like getting thrown in there. Like I like the unknown of like someone showing up and I'm gonna be like, What are what's gonna happen? What's gonna happen? What are they gonna be like? And no, I'm gonna be there to support them, but it's just like making a new friend. It's just a room full of friends. Crosshood. That's right. I'm I view them as a friend. They might not view me as a friend at their first class, but they will.

Liz Canada: 22:06

How do you make sure that that new person feels comfortable? Um, I read people for a living.

Meg Trombley: 22:14

Hmm. Well fancy. Hopefully, the hope is when you've been coaching for as long as I have, you start picking up on subtle cues. Even just watching someone pull up and the fact that they're sitting in their car for 10 minutes before they walk in the door. Right? Classic move. Yeah. You they come in the front door and they kind of like linger by the front door and they're like looking around. You can just start like picking up on all of these things and how you're gonna approach someone. Someone who walks in like that. If I'm in the middle of the room, I'm not going to shout to them, Hey, are you Liz? Welcome. Are you a new person who's never been here before? Everybody's like that to everybody in the room, right? I'm gonna walk over to them and be like, Welcome. How are you feeling today? Oh, you know, I'm a little nervous. That's okay. That's really normal. That's how a lot of people feel when they come here for their first class. Let me show you around, right? And just kind of meet them at their level is more what I tried to do. It's just kind of picking up on those just like really subtle, silent clues of we're we're always giving off information, even if we're not, you know, communicating verbally. The body language tells a lot. Um, or if they've emailed us, and sometimes they're saying certain things that are telltale of like, you know, it's been a lot, it's been a while, like I'm looking to get back into shape. So I kind of already have a sense sometimes. But yeah, when they walk in, just kind of picking up on those clues.

Liz Canada: 23:29

You talked about coaching someone who's 92. You have folks here who are extremely fit, can do all sorts of things that many people cannot. How do you make sure that we're staying the course for our own selves?

Meg Trombley: 23:42

Part of that, just like at a basic coaching level is just a providing and showcasing appropriate scaling levels and recognizing that no matter what level of the movement someone is doing, it is what's challenging for them. We are speaking about and showing those scaling options where sometimes some gyms may just imply, oh, and you can just like scale this or whatever. And even the language that you speak about scaling with when you put the word just in front of something, oh, just do ring rows. It like makes it lesser, like a lesser movement. And I think we really focus on kind of elevating every movement.

Liz Canada: 24:22

I recent, I don't know if I've recently said this to Julie or if it's like a long time ago. Julie's another coach here. She's like a newer coach. Like she was a member here. Yeah, she's been coaching for just over a year. And something that I have always appreciated about Julie is that she will say, it is not just a ring row. It is still hard to do. Like she always makes a point to be clear that like scaling is not easier. It is just as hard for the people who are scaling it as whatever movement somebody else is doing. And I really like hearing that about the language because when you hear something that's like, oh, just do knee push-ups or just do ring rows, you're like, I'm over here struggling. No, I'm I'm dying over here. I am boring sweat. But it makes it seem like you're less than the other folks who are in the class. And that is not true. Like, if what your ability level is doing a ring row, that is hard. That is very hard.

Meg Trombley: 25:18

And I think we have, we do a good job of having those almost individual conversations with people too a lot to figure out what that level is for you. Right. But I see that here on a weekly basis of I had a thought and I'm excited about this workout. My kids kept me up all night, I didn't have breakfast, flew in here late, and now I just feel really overwhelmed and this workout's not going how I wanted it to go. And then we have a little, we have a little chat in the corner. You and I have had that chat many times.

Liz Canada: 25:46

Many, many times.

Meg Trombley: 25:47

And we just say, hey, maybe that's just not the body we showed up with today, and that's okay, and we're just gonna do the best with the body we have today. That's right.

Liz Canada: 25:55

This gets to the true premise of this episode, I think. We finally got there. I use CrossFit as like there's a physical health piece, of course, yeah, but more so a mental health piece for me. Because when I have the hardest meetings ahead of me in the day, I make sure that I start my day here. Like that is how I deal with what's to come in my day. And in every episode, I talk with a guest about an issue that New Hampshire is dealing with. And people who listen are like looking for, you know, information about those issues, but also like, what do I do about this? Our state is feeling pretty stressful. Our country is feeling pretty stressful. Like you're feeling pretty stressed right now, I think. How do you help me and us take care of ourselves here? I'm so excited to answer this. Yes, good, right. Like, like you see me walk in, and there are some days where I'm like, I'm I'm gonna rock this workout, and some days that I'm like, I am stressed out, even though it's only, you know, I get here at like 645 in the morning. How do you help us make sure that we're taking care of ourselves?

Meg Trombley: 27:00

Um, I think in the big picture of just what we do here as a whole in a class, or what CrossFit I hope does at many other gyms is to handle stress, we need to be resilient. So we need to be able to handle that stress well and continue to live and continue about our day. You know, we're already encountering stressful things outside of here. And then we're trying to work out which can be something that feels stressful also. And it is, but a good kind of stress. Yeah. It's it's weird. You need resilience to handle stress. And the way to build resilience is to put yourself in stressful situations and come out the other side. Stressful situations could be walking into traffic. Well, that's not a very safe way to build resilience, right? Like it can be a little dangerous.

Liz Canada: 27:42

It's uh hit or miss, literally.

Meg Trombley: 27:43

Like how it's gonna go. But coming into the gym is a safer way to build resilience. So I'd like to say in the in the big picture, just coming in here and challenging yourself to work out and do things that are hard is helping to build that buffer against stress. So if we don't have a resilience to stress that has built, been built up, and you step on a piece of gum, that can feel like the end of the world. Where if you have that buffer built up, you can withstand a hurricane. So a hurricane of gum. A hurricane of gum. So we are trying to, in a safe way, put ourselves into stress so that we can handle things that are actually really stressful. Yeah. Like truly stressful outside of here. So that's like what we're doing, like on a like a big picture to take care of you guys. Giving us safe stress.

Liz Canada: 28:34

Yeah. Helping us conquer stress in a safe way where it's like, this is limited to 20 minutes. You're gonna do this for 20 minutes and then you're gonna come out the other side. Yeah.

Meg Trombley: 28:43

And that pro that shows you prove something to yourself when you do that. That like changes your the way your brain perceives threats and situations and the way you perceive yourself and your confidence and to and your ability to handle those situations. So like you start your day and then you go into this meeting where stressful things are happening. You're like, listen, I already like it.

Liz Canada: 29:04

I did a hundred wall balls this morning. Right. Like I can do anything. I can do anything if I can get through a hundred wall balls.

Meg Trombley: 29:10

But on a day-to-day, when we're coming in and maybe we haven't slept the best, and you know, we're not coming in at the with what we would feel is the hundred percent or the best version of ourselves, we need to assess that like battery life. That's like the analogy I like, right? Like we have a hundred percent battery. I had the most perfect night of sleep, right? Right. And I and I had this great breakfast that was so nutritious. And I came in here and I just feel like I'm floating on a cloud. You're gonna get after it and you're gonna give a hundred percent because you have that to give. But most of us are not coming in here like that. That's like the ideal once-in-a-blue moon situation. Right. Most of us are coming in here with probably anywhere from 50 to 80% battery if we're lucky. Maybe sometimes it's 10% battery. We just, you know, we have a new board at home. You know, that's a great example. We have a lot of families here. My hope of what comes across when I coach is that I'm helping you to not have a certain expectation of how you're going to perform today. And just as I'm going to meet you where you are, you need to meet yourself where you are. And to not have this expectation that you're going to lift the heaviest you can today when you're coming in here with 20% battery. You still have all your whole day ahead of you. And I'm sure you need some of that battery somewhere else. So you might only have 5% to give to this class. And that's still something. And I'm still gonna show up and I'm still going to take care of myself and do what I can with my body, but to not get frustrated. And I think pushing beyond those boundaries and not listening to your body is where we see people getting burned out and just the stress building, building, building, building, building, and no way to handle it. So just communicating. I think communicating and also those subtle cues I talked about of how someone's coming in here today and noticing that, you know, I'll see this sometimes of people getting frustrated, they're not performing how they want to perform, and even something like shaking their head in a no-motion when they put the bar down. And that really leads me to walk over to someone and say, hey, what's going on? You know, I I did this weight last week and it felt so easy. And today it feels like a million pounds. And we recognize that. And I say it's okay to feel that way. It's okay that you feel frustrated. I know you want to perform, and this is how we're gonna perform today. And we come up with a better plan where they can feel successful with how they're showing up today. In that instance, it would probably be let's take some weight off the bar. So we feel challenged, but appropriately challenged for where we are today.

Liz Canada: 31:25

I think that happened to me last week. It's like everything feels so heavy, it feels impossible. And you're like, I want you to feel good at the end of this strength. I don't want you to beat yourself up. Like I want you to leave this and feel good about what you accomplished today. And I think part of that is that you get to know us individually so well. I think that is such a value to having the structure of CrossFit, but this gym in particular, like whether it's you or Julie or Elliot, like you know us individually really well.

Meg Trombley: 31:58

I don't know where it would fit in, but I would like to say that it doesn't really matter what you do to work out as long as you work out. Like, you know, I know we're talking about CrossFit, but in the big picture, we're just really talking about showing up for yourself and taking care of yourself mentally and physically. And science proves it. I know there's a lot of questions about science being real these days, but it is proven that movement does many, many beneficial things for our body. It helps us sleep better, it helps us think better, it helps us be better people to ourselves, to the people around us. It helps us be physically stronger, build muscle, all things that help us live a longer, healthier, and happier life. And maybe CrossFit isn't for you, but I encourage everybody to move. Do something and do something. And if you don't know where to start, the internet can be scary. Scary, but it also can be a great tool. Ask, like, how you know, how do I get started in this? Something that you're interested in, and just try different things. Right now I'm trying rock climbing.

Liz Canada: 33:02

Yeah.

Meg Trombley: 33:02

And I've been having so much fun with that. And it's just like a cool way to use my fitness outside of the gym and just find something that you enjoy doing and that you look forward to and it feels a little challenging. Yeah. And you just show up ideally at least three days a week to do whatever that is for yourself. I think it's so important, especially for people with children, to step outside of that parental role and have moments for just themselves because they don't get that very often. And this is one of the ways that we can get that. So sometimes people leave here for whatever reason because they don't feel that crossfits for them. And I, my first question is, well, what are you gonna go do? You're gonna leave here and what are we gonna go do? Are you gonna go biking? Are you gonna do you decide you wanna run? You really want to go for a marathon? That's awesome. And if you want to talk to me about it, I'm still gonna be here to support you. But I really just want everybody to know that movement and exercise is for everybody. It just may look different for people and it may come in different forms. And there are a lot of great CrossFit gyms that have knowledgeable coaches, which is great because if you're really lost, they can help you figure out how to move correctly, especially if you're someone that's in a lot of pain. Get that a lot. People in a lot of pain are afraid to move because they don't want to make their pain worse. And they think if they lift weights and they exercise, they're just gonna be in more pain. And if you can go to a professional, and this is not even necessarily a physical therapy, and it can be depending on, you know, where you're at in your journey, someone can help guide you and show you ways to move that are going to make you have less pain and make you live a more fulfilling life and feel better in your body. And everybody deserves to feel good in their body. Mic drop. Whether it's my mic drop.

Liz Canada: 34:40

Thanks, Meg. You did it. I did it. You were on a podcast. That's it. I didn't cry. You didn't cry, you did it. One of the scaling options for handstand push-ups, which as I say this, I am sure a listener is like, what the f is a handstand push? Ignore it.

Speaker: 35:04

Ignore it. And you never even heard that phrase.