Alyssa
I loved Triforce, and I know it’s kind of lame. People, you know the question earlier like, what are your hobbies outside of working out? I’m like, hanging out at the gym. I don’t know. Like, I guess probably most of our listeners are people who’ve already been at Triforce. But on the off chance you know that others are listening, that hasn’t been in yet. If you’re scared, just take the first step coming in as the hardest part, and then we will make you feel very loved.
Chris
What’s up, everybody. I’m Chris Davis with my wife, Megan Davis, and we are your hosts for my blank fitness journey podcast. This podcast will reveal our secrets to help our community become healthier, fit, and confident. And also hear from some amazing people in our community as they fill in the blank and tell us about their fitness journey. Listen in and be ready to be inspired by our guests who, just like you, are superheroes as we dive into their origin story. Welcome to episode seven of my blank fitness journey podcast, guys. I am joined by beautiful, beautiful co-host, Megan Davis, also known as my wife. Can you say Hey, Megan? Hey, guys, my audio today will be amazing because Megan is recording from a special place. Megan, do you want to let everybody know where you’re recording from?
Megan
You’re going to rat me out. I am at the gym, and we put air conditioning in the bathrooms. So I am staked out in the bathroom to enjoy this nice AC.
Chris
Yes. So despite what it might look like, Megan is not in a jail cell, and she is indeed just in the bathroom at the gym.
Megan
Bathroom. So someone walks in; they’re going to be as surprised as I am.
Chris
It’s going to be weird. We do weird things and always like to discuss our fitness journey. I thought I would lead out, but I am rekindling an old fire.
Regarding my favorite activities, I recently received a pair of rollerblades for my birthday slash Father’s Day. And I know that this will get us a lot of listeners because there’s a very, very large crowd of people who are as passionate about rollerblading as I am, so yeah, do what you said and also in their 30s. Also, they are in their 30s. Okay, so unlimited sidebar, but there is like, it’s a bunch of people that are hitting like their pre-midlife crisis where we’re going back and hitting all of our nostalgia. So probably the same people playing Pokemon with me are those who like buying rollerblades and pretending we still have the agility and flexibility to do it. So I took our boys to the skate park class last weekend, which was awesome. I did it fall. I helped a miss fall several times going down a ramp. But dude, like, dropped in on his very first time at the skate park. And it was super fun. And so if I go missing, and Megan and Alyssa are now the hosts of this podcast, you know that I have been brutally injured rollerblading. But, you know, if it’s not being chased by a bear or brutally hurting myself working out, rollerblading will be my favorite way to go. Megan, what are you doing with your fitness right now?
Megan
Well, it’s ironic because we’ve recorded the podcast on motivation. And then I’ve struggled a little bit with motivation. Recently, I have a little bit different schedule during the summer; I’ve had to kind of lean back in on some of the things that we talked about; I’m redefining my why because I found myself just putting off my exercise or not enjoying it or just not having as much motivation. And so, I wrote some new goals for myself. And I didn’t have, you know, told a couple of people about it. And in that way, they encourage me they bring my gym bag when I’ve forgotten it conveniently and things like that. And so I’m getting some workouts in, and I’m just trying to be nice to myself, so I’m feeling extra stress, then I do something like focusing on weightlifting. And then I just apply discipline and do some things I don’t necessarily want to do that I have to work on. And it’s been fun. I’m feeling better. So yeah, having t done what we talked about.
Chris
It’s kind of page one from my book. Be good at giving advice and struggle with it. But that’s life, right? It’s hard to follow through on things. So, hey, I saw your goals on the board; remind you of one of them you want me to hold you accountable for.
Megan
I would like to get strict handstand push-ups, which will put me one level up on our level method board. And I have had that goal for a while but not intentionally worked on it; you need some strengthening stuff that I haven’t done. So I have all the pieces, and. I just haven’t been doing it. And so that’s why it’s the number one goal so that I work on it. Yeah, so I need that discipline.
Chris
There we go. Okay, you guys are responsible now, just like I am, to hold Meghan to getting her four straight handstand push-ups. So when you see her at the gym, just see if her shoulders look like they’re getting a little bigger. And if so, then she’s on her way. All right, Megan, before we bring on, coach, let’s hit me with our weekly nutrition tip.
Megan
All right, so one thing that we’ve been talking about a good bit with our members is over the summer of travel, it’s just part of summers. And rather than feeling discouraged about having to eat fast food or eat on the road, what we wanted to do was encouraged people that you know, having fast food or having eaten fast food can be a part of a healthy diet, you have to consider what you’ve ordered. So our top tips are to run through them real quick. And then I’ll give a few tips on each one to keep your portion sizes small, choose healthier side dishes, find something green, try to find a grilled item with grilled meat, watch your drink, and then don’t be afraid to have it your way or make those modifications. So just to give you a couple of examples of those things. So to keep portion sizes small, something as simple as just ordering the kid’s size. You know, like the kid’s meal, the kid’s size burger, just having a smaller burger will drastically reduce the number of calories you’re getting from that. That item. So if you want a regular-size hamburger, that’s fine. Just try to avoid something with two or three patties or the added bacon and things like that on there. You know those can happen more than 900 calories a piece. And just by going with a regular-sized hamburger that can help you. I’m also ordering the small fry instead of the regular size fried can save you 200 calories alone. So that’s another really helpful way to just when you’re watching that portion size going with a smaller option is going to help you and you can order completely normal things. When it comes to making some swaps like choosing a healthier side dish. A lot of places now have great sizes. We went to colors the other day, and I got the broccoli; it was hard to do. It was hard for broccoli and not fries. But I did it. And I found that I need to ask for salt next time. So just getting a little bit of salt on it. But it was really good. The broccoli was good. A lot of places have, you know, a side salad that you can do. They also have fruit, things like that to find something you like, as another healthy side. Going Green. You don’t always have to order the salad, but many places have a good salad. I know we found that Wendy’s has a really good salad. They kind of make fresh money and order it.
Chris
It was amazing. I just got the what do they call it? Southwest salads, like a whole grilled chicken breast guacamole like fresh greens, a whole tomato cut up the really good salad.
Megan
Yeah. So it’s like, some of them are sketchy, like, you know, so it’s nice to find one that you like. So we found Wendy’s one and the Chick-fil-A one are really good. So, um, you know, and when you’re getting that, like you mentioned, up for the grill, you know, the grilled meat on it. So try to avoid the fried chicken on your salad. Try to get that grilled, which will help you stick with those lean protein options. The dreams, you know, when you’re getting a drink, it can be 32 ounces from there, and so if you’re getting something, you know, like a regular tea or soda, it’s a lot of sugar. You know, maybe 400 calories worth or so, just from sugar, and you don’t feel it, so that’s a great place to order unsweet to get Splenda to get water or even try out some of the diet stuff. I know a Taco Bell and now have the Mountain Dew. What is it, Chris? The Baja Z Bro.
Chris
Oh yeah. So good Baja zero; you need to drink Baja zero while rollerblading, so that’s perfect.
Megan
Perfect. So just by looking for that other option, we could find that drink that we both enjoy when we’re having fast food or whatever, with less sugar. And then, you know, when I said Have it your way, sometimes it’s hard when you’re in a car full of people, or you feel the pressure or the people in line behind you because it’s supposed to be fast food, not to make substitutions to your order. I like to look stuff up ahead of time on my phone. I find it decisive, so I look it up ahead of time. But you know, don’t be afraid to ask for those other things. When you get in line, they don’t mind doing it. They have it there as an option. So you know, just go ahead and try it. And usually, I find that we never just say we never regret a workout. I never regret making healthier options. I always feel better about it.
Chris
Absolutely. And eating fast food is almost inevitable. It doesn’t want you should know it shouldn’t you shouldn’t make it choice number one, but sometimes it’s going to happen when we travel or when we’re behind. Everybody’s lifestyle is a little bit different. So those tips she gave sounded like they could swing a meal like 800 calories in the better direction. That’s awesome. Okay. So there you guys have it. Follow those tips, one or more, to make a huge difference in ordering fast food with you and your family, which will happen over the summer. So this week, guys, we are bringing on Alyssa Marie she. Is today a pretty powerful day? Alyssa is celebrating her third anniversary working for Triforce. So she is now the last of the Oh geez. Maybe she had started with us just as a baby crossfitter baby coach, knowing nothing about anything, and I had kept her on mute when he said that, right? Yeah. I taught her everything that she knows that is good. And anything that she doesn’t do well is not my fault. So we are; we’re incredibly lucky to have Alisa as a coach; she heads up our world golf village location, keeps all the coaches and members on track, and helps deliver amazing workouts. She’s hilarious. She will be hugely entertaining for us during this podcast, and you might learn something from her too. So Alyssa, welcome to the show.
Alyssa
Hi, that’s the meanest and nicest you’ve ever been to me. So yeah.
Chris
People who listen to this probably have many questions about our work relationship and how I’m allowed to be a boss. Oh, cool. So, Alyssa, this is going to be we’re probably going to stick to script on some of this how we normally interview our folks, and then I’m sure it’s probably going to go off script to some, and that’s completely fine. It could get ugly quickly. That’s true. Oh my gosh, you’re not being is listening to this. Oh, my, all my homies at night. All right. So Alyssa, tell us a little about your fitness journey, what brought you to CrossFit, and what you’re doing now?
Alyssa
Oh, where do you want me to start?
Chris
32 years ago?
Alyssa
I’m 31st of all
Chris
okay, well, back 32 years.
Alyssa
Oh, well. I was just a zygote with a dream. And so, I grew up as a gymnast. That was like my first sport, which I always teased my parents because we’re like a super tall family and like, why the heck would you encourage me when I said like I wanted to do gymnastics? They’re just super supportive. So I was a competitive gymnast. And then a competitive dancer did a little professional dance circuit and tried cheerleading. I was a swimmer. I liked swimming. And then when I got to college, I just started the fitness thing, if you will. My real like focus on fitness started, I guess, when I was 18. I started competing in the Miss America organization. And I started working with the first trainer who kind of showed me, you know, the basics of lifting and progressive overload and stuff like that, but my goals are much different than and then the year-
Chris
What were your goals like then?
Alyssa
they were all aesthetic based, right? So it was I wanted to be 130 pounds. I wanted to be a size zero. I wanted to be skinny. You know, this was like my new 2000 Watt tin. So beauty standards were still painful back then. Right? So I ended up winning Miss Delaware in 2012. If you’ve only met me in the last three years, I know it’s shocking. But yeah, so when I won, I was 128 pounds. Very hungry. And probably a word that I won’t say on your podcast. To start with, it starts with B. Okay. There’s everybody now. Yeah, if I wasn’t a nice person to be around, I’m sure. Yeah. Yeah, that’s it. Um, so once I won Miss Delaware, I got hooked up with this trainer. And he kind of sponsored all of the Miss Delaware’s for Miss America. And when I went to him, I was like, hey, I want to be skinny. I want to see at least three ribs on each side. And I want to win a swimsuit at Miss America. And he said, No, I’m not doing that for you. He worked with me once, and he was like, You’re a power athlete. I’m not making you lose any more weight. So we talked it over and revamped my goals. And I ended up putting on like seven pounds before Miss America muscle. And he was kind of the first person that was like, Hey, I Why are you training against nature, like you should embrace this. So then I kind of got more into the weightlifting side. But I still had that, oh, well, I don’t want to get bulky, which is hilarious. Now, if you know me, I had that I don’t want to get bulky, I don’t want to look like a man thing. My first experience with CrossFit was really bad. It wasn’t a Triforce; I just didn’t feel welcomed. It just wasn’t for me. I kind of toyed with it. I would drop into a local box when it was something I liked, like overhead squats, back squats, front squats, or anything with a barbell. And that was about it. You know, I didn’t love CrossFit. So, you know, my first like, being a part of a CrossFit family. And, you know, embracing across it was at Triforce, like three years ago.
Chris
Yeah. Cool. So you have done a lot already in your cross. Tell us about what your journey is looking like.
Alyssa
My goal is to get as strong and awesome as possible. So I love that CrossFit and, specifically, the level method make that easy for me to track. So I can look back on my open scores from two years ago and see where I was versus where I am now. And I can redo those workouts and see, you know, where I fall now. As I told Chris yesterday, I’m confident I could finish. What was the one we’re doing tomorrow as a partner rod? Spoiler, I guess they won’t see this before tomorrow. Ground to overhead and burpees over the bar, right? I remember Megan finishing that one.
I was so excited for her. And I think I could do it now. So I keep a running list of small goals. And so, my goals are much more performance-based than they used to be. They’re not aesthetic anymore. I’m 30 pounds heavier than I wasn’t Miss America, which is absurd when I say it out loud. Because like, I’m not big, I mean, five, nine, but I’m not like a big athlete, you know, so it’s kind of crazy to look back on that. Um, I don’t want to quantify many goals right now. I’m kind of in an I don’t know, like, numbers-wise. I know that I want a 175-pound snatch. And you know, I’ve said to somebody recently that I don’t care what looks like my dream body as long as it snatches. 175 and clean and jerks to 25, and you know real thunder. Can you guys hear that?
Holy moly. Um, yeah. So goals are just kind of to create my tornado shelter. So I’m fine over here. You’re fine. You’re safe. I’ve got windows all over. I’ll be fine. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. Yeah, so as far as goals, they’re all numbers related now and performance space, which is cool. For me. It’s much more exciting to hit those goals than when I was chasing them, more like an aesthetic space approach. And as far as getting to my goals, I just kind of trained like a maniac and signed up for a local competition because I feel like I was a little bit like Megan was saying earlier with motivation. I feel like I struggled a little bit, and sometimes that kind of lights the fire on Are my, but again, it’s competing and getting out into the community. So yeah.
Megan
I wanted to ask you recently. I think you hit a big PR with your overhead squat, your party trick move. Yeah. So how much did you hit for three that day?
Alyssa
I hit 200 pounds last week for three overhead squats. It’s only a five-pound PR, but just the two is that. I’m going to squat.
Megan
Right? We were talking the other day about, I know, we said this; I was bragging on you about how strong you’ve gotten. And I was saying that. Not only you’re strong, but you’ve gotten good at the things that take a lot of work that take a lot of like showing up every day and being disciplined in the small things, you know, doing your accessory work, like you’ve gotten good at Olympic lifts, and things like overhead squats, which you can’t just accidentally get good at like, and like, once you’ve hit like a point, to see those new press. And you said five pounds, you know, it takes a lot to get that next five pounds. And so I think it’s cool. Like, you know, a 200-pound overhead squat for three is awesome in and of itself. But knowing what you’ve done to see that happen this year, I think, is cool. Like you’ve just been, you know, so consistent. As you said, training hard, you know, showing up every day. And like, I just think it’s cool to see you’d be able to reach those goals and have fun with it, you know?
Chris
Oh, that’s, um, I promise that is how serious this podcast will get serious for the remainder of the episode. Unless what is your favorite office episode?
Alyssa
man, I’m off my laptop my a dinner party. Oh, the plasma screen TV that just goes right into the wall.
Chris
How big is that plasma screen TV that Michael is so proud of?
Alyssa
Was it That like 22? Is it like 18 inches or something?
Chris
Pretty exciting stuff
Alyssa
writing stuff. I also the Benihana Christmas, I think is also really underrated. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. When Dwight’s talking about butchering the goose over the other people. And then Michael Marks the girl’s arm because he can’t tell the waitresses apart. I underrated, I, you know? Yeah, I think dinner party is off the top of my head.
Chris
The dinner party is amazing. We watched that episode when we were doing the 20 Minute roast. Yes.
Alyssa
And that was the first time I noticed the tripod.
Chris
Yeah, some well-placed props in that episode, alluding to some hazardous activities.
Alyssa
I love Jan, love, and am single, though.
Chris
She’s great. Would you say that she’s the character that you’re most like,
Alyssa
Oh, absolutely. No. What’s embarrassing is that I was zooming with my friends over locked down, and we were deciding who would be what office character and put in my they’re a married couple. And they were like, Alyssa, we almost don’t want to tell you, but we’ve decided who you are already. And I was like, no. Am I Andy? I’m Andy, and they go, no, you’re somehow both Kelly and Ryan. I was like,
Chris
Wow.
Megan
Are you surprised?
Alyssa
No, we are, and I think about it; it keeps me up at night. Worse than Andy.
Chris
Apart from the office, work, and working out, we’ve talked about this. What are some of your favorite things to do?
Alyssa
Meal prepping.
Chris
Getting ready to go to the gym,
Alyssa
I am getting ready to go to the gym. Caffeinating. I listen to a lot of podcasts. Mostly true crime. I watch a lot of true crime on Netflix,
Chris
And the first six episodes of this podcast, right? You’ve listened ten times each.
Alyssa
at least, Yeah, today. I like to cook too. Cooking, baking, anything like that. So I do enjoy meal prepping. That’s kind of a joke but also like an actual hobby. I also like going to the beach when I make time to do it. Sure, yeah. Being outside in general.
Chris
It is outside.
Alyssa
Oh, yeah. Yeah, just anything with dogs.
Megan
Yeah. They are letting Fancy come in love with you.
Alyssa
The best I you know, I love the gym dog.
Chris
Sidebar. We don’t have a gym dog anymore because Fancy turned into a demon whenever-
Alyssa
fancy wasn’t the best. Someday if I ever get a dog, it’ll be a gym dog. But I don’t see that in the cards right now.
Chris
You could get a dog like a little pee and have him in your pocket while you’re coaching.
Alyssa
I need to see proof that he’s a dog, and it doesn’t make sense to me.
Chris
It will be as if Joe and Monica have a literature tea cup. He’s s bite-sized poodle,
Alyssa
so very small. And it’s smart. But his brain has to be like that make sense?
Chris
Yeah. Yeah. Megan, yes. What workout would you want to partner up with Alyssa on? Oh.
Alyssa
Not running, not running, holding a rope together.
Chris
We didn’t do that.
Megan
You are worried you were not when it was me. That was when Chris was like, gosh; I was like, you didn’t get last place; we didn’t get last place. It was.
Chris
I can’t remember. That’s not our crowning glory. We might have lost Megan. Oh, no. She looks paused or like, or she’s just, or Botox?
Megan
I lost my train of thought now.
Chris
What workout are you doing with Alyssa?
Megan
Oh, I said any. I’ll do any workout with Alyssa. Because I know she’s going to take most of the reps. Yeah.
Chris
So, Alyssa, you are the head coach at our world golf village location, and you’ve gotten to know all the members in a super powerful way. Like, I don’t know, we did a post today on Facebook. And it was just as cool to see everybody chime in and talk about how awesome you are. So I guess they tell us what the members mean to you and how to like, you know, getting to know them has changed you.
Alyssa
Oh, man. So you all know I’ve had a tough last year and a half. So the listeners were about to trauma dumb. My stepdad passed away last year, like super unexpectedly, he had a stroke and just kind of fell out in the middle of their day. And I think Chris was like the first person I told I walked in, I was like, Hey, I’m okay. But my stepdad is dying. And he was like, oh, and it was like right turn to open to like, there’s never good timing, but it’s bad timing. And many of the members were there for me, like other people who had lost parents were kind of like reaching out to me and everybody checking in. And then, after that, I had a long-term relationship, and my ex-fiance and I called things off and canceled a very high-stress wedding. And just kind of the way people stepped up for me. And again, everybody was just there for me and checking in, and then recently, I bought a new apartment. And through that whole process, it was like my realtor was not a member of our gym. But she’s neighbors with Chris and Megan, and I used to live next door to them. So, you know, she helped me with all of that. And then Joe and Monica were there for everything. They went and looked at like a bunch of different places with me. And Monica’s dad Stanley, a friend of Triforce, picks it all up for me. And like, I genuinely am not exaggerating when I say that I don’t think I would have survived the last year and a half without Triforce because when I moved here, I moved here to Florida with no family; all my friends are in Delaware. Like I kind of came here with no community. I was ready to go home the first year I lived in Florida. I hated it. And, you know, I just bought a place. And my number one priority was that it was within a 20-minute drive to both Triforce locations. That was the first thing I told my realtor. So the members have just become like my family, my friends. This morning, I had a little car issue and had to drop my car off at one of our coach’s dad’s shops. And one of our members picked me up and brought me here so I could be here for my 9 am appointment. And then, of course, every member you know is like, oh, I can take you back to the shop later this afternoon.
As you know, this has been kind of my Florida family. The members have gotten me through a lot, specifically the last year and a half. I know every I feel like every CrossFit box specifically always says they have the best members. But I think they’re all full of crap to try for. We have the best people in the world. I know I’m biased, but I think that biases aside, we have the best people in the world.
Chris
I’m pretty sure it’s objective-like and measure the amazingness of our members, and we got to figure out how but yes, or number one,
Alyssa
a double-blind study is something I don’t know about. You’re a doctor figure it out.
Chris
my heart, my heart is
Alyssa
I want people to fear how much they love the callback back to the office earlier.
Chris
There are going to be a few people that understand that obscure reference,
Alyssa
Three. And those three people are my people.
Megan
Listen, we’ve heard a lot about your fitness journey. I would love to hear what your fill-in-the-blank is to describe your fitness journey.
Alyssa
I had to think about this for a long time. And Chris said, I couldn’t say, hot girl. Shit, As my word. It’s three words technically. So it’s not, you know, cheating—just hot girl. Anyway, um, I went with healing. So not to get too serious, because that’s not my jam. And already trauma dumped on everyone. But for me, CrossFit has healed my relationship with myself and my body with food with exercise. You know, exercise used to kind of be like a punishment. Whenever calories I ate, I was like, Well, I got to make sure I burned this off later, which is a horrible mentality to have. So it kind of healed a lot of things in me.
My self-confidence, specifically, the way I view my body especially. And that goes all back to that switching from the aesthetic to the performance goals. I’m just so much nicer to myself now. It’s ridiculous how many years I spent kind of hating having muscular thighs. And I’m like; I can offer a squat 200 pounds for three, I don’t care. I don’t care what I look like at this point. So really healed a lot of my body image and relationship with exercise. Now I train because I love training. Somebody the other day was like, why are you doing all of this? Because I, you know, have high volume training schedules. I was like, why are you doing this? And I was like, huh, man, are you trying to make the games, and he’s like, no, I just I guess I just really enjoy it. Like, it makes me happy. So now I get to train because it makes me happy. I get to eat because I love food and because it feels like my body. And I can look in the mirror and objectively see my body as, you know, the sum of all of its parts: I can do all of these cool things that I couldn’t have done ten years ago. So I think healing is my word.
Megan
That’s awesome. I love that
Alyssa
crap is second.
Megan
we didn’t allow you to use that one
Chris
I think that’s trademarked, Maybe?
Alyssa
Probably I got to talk to Megan thee stallion. I’ll shoot her a message.
Chris
Megan, you said Megan thee stallion
Alyssa
that’s a callback, but no one else will get that one.
Chris
Man, okay. So fitness means a lot to you, and what made you decide? Hey, fitness is something I could see myself doing as a career.
Alyssa
So my background, I was a high school teacher before I came to you guys, you know this, I was a Spanish teacher, the world’s widest Spanish teacher, and I loved the teaching aspect. And I loved working with kids specifically. But as you know, the public education world is not a great place to be employed right now, unfortunately. So it was all the external factors of teaching that I just didn’t love. And I love being able to, you know, teach somebody a new skill or work with a child kind of one-on-one to help them master something new. So fitness was a natural jump for me because I had just started my fitness journey on my own. And I love the coaching aspect. And the cool thing about where I’ve found myself now at Triforce is I have started working with a lot of one on one clients, and I get to work specifically with a lot of women and a lot of young female athletes. So I’ve worked with quite a few swimmers and gymnasts, which makes sense because that’s my background. I’m working with a softball player.
I called the other day to give her a pep talk because she got called to pitch. And she was nervous, but she did great. So it’s cool to do everything I love about being a teacher. But without, you know, government Uncle Sam breathing down my neck with standardized tests. The one gymnast I worked with on Wednesday had just leveled to level five, which is exciting. She’s 10. And she got five strict pull-ups, which is a PR for her. That’s awesome. Yeah, it was amazing. She’s Alyssa; she’s her. Her name is also Alyssa. She’s the cooler, Alyssa.
Chris
we call her the better Alyssa
Alyssa
better Alyssa. That’s fair. She’s awesome. So that was super exciting. And, you know, I just get to do all the things I loved about teaching in an environment that’s more suited to what I love. And yeah, it’s super fun.
Chris
It sounds like you enjoy empowering people.
Alyssa
Yes, that’s the one.
Chris
No, that’s super cool. All right, so we’re picking up where we left off. If we had sponsors, that would have been where we would have put them, but I think you have to get over to under downloads, to have sponsors. With your help, we could get there. Share it with all your friends, like and subscribe, and do everything I always tell you to do. Back to our program with Alyssa, our members are completely different, like everyone. I would not say that we have a stereotypical Triforce athlete, as they come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and colors. For every demographic, we have a representative that Triforce. So I guess. Can you tell me a little about why you think that’s the case? Why we’re not like a certain stereotype of the gym?
Alyssa
Yeah, I think that has been, you know, we were always super welcoming as a gym. But I think since we’ve introduced the level method, specifically, our demographic has just kind of really broadened. And I think that’s because for 99% of athletes level method prescribes, really easy to digest workouts so you can kind of look and see exactly where you are, and I think so that for sure, I think helps with the just kind of being a safe place for everybody. I also think that we have a diverse coaching staff. I think that with all of our backgrounds combined, I think when you take a class from a different coach, you’re always getting something new, even when I take our coach’s classes or sit and just like listen, or if I’m working with a client in the background, I can usually pick up a new cue from everybody. We’ve got my gymnastics background, Aaron, with weightlifting and powerlifting. Alan with football, Nina with basketball, and Danielle was a dancer. When Nick’s here, golfing, we’ve got everything covered. Meg is also a physical therapist. So I’m just naming the World Golf coaches honestly because that’s who I see coach regularly. I also think that offering physical therapy and nutrition as well because then we’re drawing in people who might not be your typical CrossFit client. Still, they’re coming to us because they feel safe that we have four doctors of physical therapy on staff. So I think that we kind of cover a lot of bases that maybe people don’t see in other gyms. So some combination of those things.
Chris
Yeah, I think that’s huge. And there are so many gyms that people can choose from. And I know one of the main things I get when interviewing a potential member is an I’ve seen CrossFit, and I can’t do it, or I’ve seen CrossFit, which looks super scary. I think what you do as a coach, and as a head coach, and what our coaches deliver what level method brings, I think he does a fantastic job of allowing people to jump in no matter where they’re at. Can you explain to the listeners a little bit, like a quick overview of the level method and what that looks like?
Alyssa
Yeah, so the level method, what we do when somebody joins the gym, we take them through 15 different assessments. And those range from three seconds, like going for a one-rep max deadlift, for some people, all the way up to 17 minutes, which is our aerobic power intervals. That’s everybody’s favorite workout that we do at TriForce. But, when somebody comes to Joe’s force, that’s a joke. It’s terrible. So when somebody joins, they have six one-on-one sessions with one of our coaches. And by the end, the app tells them exactly where they are for 15 different things. And then, when they get the workouts the night before from our app, it tells them exactly what level they should do that day. So they can come in and say, Okay, I know today’s based off of upper body pull and aerobic power intervals, I’m orange and upper body pull, and blue and aerobic power intervals, I’m going to default to orange because that’s my lower level. And that’s what’s going to keep me safe. So level method is just a way to keep all our athletes safe. And it helps us to identify and address their weaknesses. So if somebody is purple or blue in anything weightlifting, and then it’s like yellow and running, rowing, and anything that’s ventilation based, we know what we need to work on with that, and we need engine work get Chris I’m looking at you.
Chris
Guilty as charged.
Alyssa
our goal is to make well-rounded athletes; everybody will have strengths and weaknesses. But the level method helps us identify and address those more easily than any other programming I’ve seen.
Chris
Yeah, it’s almost, it’s almost sad to me that there are people with these experiences with CrossFit or with gyms that are like me. Oh, like, they’re going to bring me in, and they’re going to make me do burpees until I puke on my very first day. Still, you should feel what it feels like to do Fran on your first day, like, What in the world are you trying to do to people? Like, we want people to be successful and have fun working out. And yes, doing thrusters and pull-ups or Ring Rows is a part of CrossFit. Like it’s a part of it, but it’s not the thing. And so, it’s been fun to be a part of reshaping people’s experiences working out with CrossFit. And with that, I think we see the ability to do things like what you’re experiencing in your fitness journey like it can be healing, it can be empowering; you can overcome some negative body issues are some negative feelings through working out. You can have this incredible experience where now it’s while I’m strong and I love being strong, or I’m fast, and I love being fast. Like we’re able to do that for people because they come in and they can have a customized experience and see their weaknesses, see their strengths and work in the areas they need to work on. Alyssa, there is a question that we ask everybody, and that is, what is your real-life superpower? And it can’t be? It can’t have to do with working out; we’ve talked about working on a lot so tell me another real-life superpower. I know you would say overhead squats, but that’s boring. Come up with something else.
Alyssa
If I had a superpower, it would just be like making friends, like making people feel comfortable. Sometimes to a fault, like I was at a target once checking out. The cashier told me about her adoption journey and asked if she could pray with me and helping hands and pray with me. There was a whole line behind me, and it’s like Christmas time, and you know, I kind of felt bad for everyone behind me, but I’m not going to not, so I think that making people feel comfortable with me is a Super Power? I don’t know.
Chris
Yeah. What is that called? Empathy. Empathetic? Yeah. Good for you. I’m glad that’s why we have you because of what’s the opposite of empathy.
Alyssa
I fill in the gaps. Why we work well together
Chris
We do. Then, the yin and the yang. I suppose.
Alyssa
You’ll feel everything while Chris feels nothing, correct? Correct.
Chris
Okay, we’ve covered a lot. And I’m sure that you will be a repeat guest. We can do some deep dives with you. Alyssa not only does our head coach position at World Golf Village, but she’s also a nutrition coach. So she has a lot of experience in helping people be successful with whatever their goals are in their health and wellness, whether that’s weight loss, weight gain, or athletic performance; she’s worked with many athletes. If you are somebody or you know somebody ready to, like, do a serious dive into your fitness, she is the person to work with. She can help you get more explosive, get faster and swim, get your back tuck, tuck round off 360. Sure, she is going to help me get my first soul grind on my rollerblades so you can divine you can devise a rollerblading personal training program,
Alyssa
You’ll have to learn how to rollerblade first but yes, after that.
Chris
Yeah, just watch a YouTube video, and that’s what all the trainers do.
Alyssa
Yeah, exactly.
Chris
So, yeah. So if somebody’s thinking, hey, I’d like to do some personal training with Alyssa or with one of the other coaches. But I’m a little nervous; I’m a little scared, don’t want to get bulky. Whatever the thing is, like I guess, help, help talk, talk me into doing personal training with you or with one of the coaches.
Alyssa
So to address those individually to the fear of getting bulky. I hear that one from women; I don’t think I’ve ever had a man tell me he doesn’t want to get bulky. To that, I would say that I train three to four hours a day, and I eat about 3000 calories a day. And I am trying very hard to put on a little bit of muscle, which is difficult. So the fitness program is like an hour a day, five, six days a week. Slim to none. So that’s a nonconcern. That’s like saying I don’t want to drive my car because I don’t want to become a NASCAR driver. You don’t become Dale Earnhardt jr. Just by casually driving to work, raise hell praise, Dale.
Three, and then as far as being afraid, I would tell them I kind of work with a really broad group of people for personal training. So I’ve got a division one college swimmer that I’m training to work on exclusivity off the blocks, specifically, developing some lower body power; I work with a distance swimmer who’s also swimming in college. We’re trying to, you know, kind of increase her endurance, but we’re also working on more exclusivity and sprint strength with her. I’ve got a higher-level gymnast. And then I have clients who, you know, one of their goals is to get up and down off the floor more comfortably and to be able to perform basic life tasks more comfortably. And all of those are reasonable goals. And all those are goals that your trainer will get excited to work with you on.
We just want to see you guys succeed, whether that means your goal is squatting to depth. Whether that means being able to unstrap your feet from the rower is exciting. Those are all cool things for us. If that means you’re hitting arm three on deadlifts, I will be super pumped for you. If that means you’re making the Olympics as a gymnast, I will be super pumped for you. Every goal is important because that’s what we’re there for. We’re there to support you. And, you know your trainers. I mean, we love our people. Today’s Facebook post got me a little in my feelings this morning. I’m not going to lie. Yeah, I mean, as I said, we have the best people. And it’s hard not to love the people you work with, especially because we attract such good clients. So your coach will celebrate every milestone with you, no matter what it is, no matter what level you’re at. We’ll meet you where you are and help you get better.
Chris
I love that. And I hate when I’ve been in gyms I’ve been in places where because I’m going to this place that my goal has to be the same as everybody else is there like that’s, I, I don’t like that I want to go somewhere and to be able to tell somebody, this is what I want to accomplish. What will I do if I go into the store and buy a pair of shoes? I don’t want you just to sell me what everybody else buys. I want you to hear me hear my goals like I’m going to play back basketball, but you’re trying to sell me running shoes because that’s what’s popular know hear me know what I want to know what I need and then help me get there. And that’s what you’re saying you do is you make it personalized. You celebrate those victories because how many times in our life do we accomplish things that should make us excited that we should like go out and tell the world about, but we don’t get that celebration? Nobody celebrates it. We don’t ring the bell right like, right? How cool is it that you can do that with people and post a bright spot Friday where you talk about hey, so and so did this amazing thing, and then we get like ten other people who say, Yeah, that’s an amazing, great job? Here’s what I did too. We need more of that. We need more people on our team celebrating and helping us be excited for every step in the journey. Megan doesn’t have any other questions.
Megan
no further questions; thank you
Chris
It sounds like we’re done interrogating Alyssa Alyssa. Do you have anything else you’d like to add that is relevant to this? Whether it be something funny, hilarious mildly inappropriate
Alyssa
full well, mildly kind of cuts off a lot of what I would say, honestly, that qualifier. Yeah. Yeah, I just obviously loved Triforce, and I know it’s lame that people you know the question earlier like what are your hobbies outside of working out? I’m like, hanging out at the gym? I don’t know. Like, I guess most of our listeners are people who’ve already been a Triforce, but on the off chance, you know somebody is listening that hasn’t been in yet. If you’re scared, just take the first step; coming in is the hardest part, and we will make you feel very loved. I hope
Chris
Yes. As long as it’s not me that you’re working with, apparently because I have no harder soul. That that’s what I want everybody to take away from this is that Chris is completely mean and heartless. Well, yeah, most people already knew that. Thank you guys so much for listening. You can contact her directly to hear more about Alyssa’s story. I’m sure she’d be happy to share with you if something was like, hey, that like that. That sounds like where I was or where I am. Hit her up like Alyssa is an open book. And so she’ll share with you and help you out because she’s very passionate about helping people out. If you want to do a personal training session, I’ll buy a PT session for you so you can experience how awesome it is. Yeah, I said that. I’ll stick to my word. Yeah. So everybody, have an amazing day. Thanks for listening. Subscribe, join, listen, hit the like button, comment Bell Well, one URL, whatever all the other podcasts people say, do those things for us, please. It helps. That means a lot, and share it with somebody that you feel like this could make an impact, and we will see you guys next week.
Megan
Thanks, guys.
Chris
Thanks for listening to this episode of the I blanc fitness journey podcast. If this inspired you, subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you use. If you’d like to reach us, you can check us out at Triforcecrossfit.com. Just send us a message.
