On this episode of the Get Better Project I have the privilege of talking with 3 time CrossFit Games athlete Cody Anderson!
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If you would like to read instead of listen… here’s the transcript
Joe Bauer: Welcome to the The Get Better Project where I’m excited to have CrossFit Games Athlete, Cody Anderson on the show. Cody, how you doing today?
Cody Anderson: Good. Thanks for having me, man.
Joe Bauer: Yeah, I’m really excited to have you on the show. I appreciate your time and uh, I’d love to get to know, you know, your background and where you come from, how you got into CrossFit, how did that get you to, you know, I guess your first Regional slash Game appearance and then where you are today.
Cody Anderson: Yeah, you just want me to jump into it?
Joe Bauer: Yeah. Let’s go for it!
Cody Anderson: Cool. Um, yeah, so I started CrossFit right out of high school, so I graduated in 2010 and uh, I originally wanted to join the military. So my mom heard about like this CrossFit thing that um, you know, they had a, a box right next to her office. She’s a massage therapist, so she signed me up and just thought it’d be a good way to get me in shape for basic training.
Cody Anderson: And then obviously the military thing didn’t work out, so, um, I just fell in love with the sport. Um, when did I start?
Cody Anderson: I started coaching probably less than a year after, so I got my Level 1, um, probably like nine months later and started coaching, um, and then uh, started competing probably around that same time.
Cody Anderson: Um, I did terrible in my first competition. I was like 35th out of 40 people or something like that. So, um, yeah, I think my story is just a testament to like consistent CrossFit works and you know, it’s got better and better over time. And um, I guess got me to where I am today.
Joe Bauer: And how many, how many years ago was that when you first started?
Cody Anderson: 2010. So it will be 8 years in September I think when I started.
Joe Bauer: And did you, did you start coaching right when you started CrossFit then?
Cody Anderson: A couple of months. So I was coaching gymnastics when I started CrossFit, so I kind of already had some coaching experience. Um, and uh, yeah, so I started coaching. I think I got my L1 around my birthday, which was in June, so September to June, however long that is. I started coaching like around them.
Joe Bauer: And you’re doing gymnastics for CrossFit? It was at your whole life even doing gymnastics?
Cody Anderson: No, I quit when I was 12, so I only did it for probably like a four and a half year period. I’m like eight to 12. And then, uh, I was just lazy in high school. I just played a lot of video Games and stuff and then decided to try and get my life together and that’s Kinda when I started CrossFit. But um, oh that stuff, like I’m super grateful to have that background, like even with those six years in between because I think a lot of people say like wrestling and gymnastics are probably like one or two of the best sports to have experience in if you’re getting into CrossFit.
Cody Anderson: And it definitely like definitely helped me just with body awareness and learning movements. And all that kind of stuff.
Joe Bauer: Were you competitive or wanted to be competitive when you first started? Was that like an outlet for you or did it kind of mature into that?
Cody Anderson: I think it kind of matured into it. I didn’t, I’m trying to think back. I don’t think I really even knew there was like I didn’t know about the CrossFit Games or that there were a CrossFit competitions because it was still like. I mean, when did you start CrossFit?
Joe Bauer: I started in 2009 or 2010 actually. Dave Lipson was a trainer at my gym and he pretty much forced me into it.
Cody Anderson: That’s awesome. Yeah, if you’ve been doing it long enough, like back then it was still pretty small, um, at least where I live. So it’s like, I mean there’s like a local content that people did, but it was the first time I did it was just local. But um, yeah. And then a team from my gym went to the Games in 2011. Uh, and I really kind of started taking it seriously after that I was on the team in 2012 when we went to Regionals and then individual every year after that.
Joe Bauer: So when was the first year that you made it to the Games?
Cody Anderson: Uh, 2014. A few years of solid training in there.
Joe Bauer: And did you, what were your major weaknesses that you had to overcome in order to get from, you know, or I don’t want to be competitive. I made it to Regionals on a team and then in 2014 the Games happened.
Cody Anderson: Yeah. Uh, I mean I think it’s, for me it’s always been like an issue of size and strength. So like I said like gymnastics background, muscle ups and that kind of stuff came to me easy.
Cody Anderson: Um, but I don’t know, I get a lot of messages on instagram and stuff of people asking like, you know, what the secret is to success and I just like, I don’t really have like a huge secret other than like consistent hard work. I think it’s, I think I sounded like Ben Bergeron posts that or something. I don’t know where he got it from, but he’s basically saying like, conditioning you can develop in a couple months, but strength takes years.
Cody Anderson: I think, you know, that’s just what it came down to for me is like, I never took more than like a day or two off for years at a time. So he’s got stronger and stronger as the years went on. But that’s, I mean that’s always been my weakness was like strength. So.
Joe Bauer: And when you first started, like what are some of the, do you remember like what, what some of the numbers you had then versus what you have now? Yeah. I love how far you’ve come.
Cody Anderson: I think there’s some old youtube videos out there of me and like the gym I started at stuff, but uh, yeah, I remember I’m like snatching 175 was like a huge pr, uh, you know, maybe like a year in or something, maybe a little bit more than a year in. Um, I think there’s a video out there of me cleaning like 255, super ugly and terrible for my knees and stuff.
Cody Anderson: So yeah, it’s fun to, it’s fun to think about how far things have come and how much we’ve improved, but
Joe Bauer: How much do you weigh and how tall are you?
Cody Anderson: I’m like five, eight and uh, right now I’m like one 70.
Joe Bauer: What’s the heaviest you’ve ever been?
Cody Anderson: Like 175. This is based like where I’m at is like all hovered between 170 – 175. So the goal probably not this year, probably within the next year it’d be to get up to like one 80. I’m the, this is the heaviest I’ve ever been. When I started CrossFit I think I was like 130 or 135, so I just kind of gained like 5 pounds a year and um, you know, after like 2016 I kind of plateaued there. So I’ve been, we made a lot of changes my nutrition this year. So, um, that’s been a big Game changer.
Joe Bauer: Cool. I can’t wait to dig into that a little bit, but before that, what are your current goals? I know you obviously made to the Games this year, which is awesome. Congratulations.
Cody Anderson: Thank you.
Joe Bauer: Do you have anything else above and beyond that, that you’re striving for?
Cody Anderson: Um, I mean right now we’re trying to make like manageable goals.
Cody Anderson: So, um, right now I’m just focusing on this year, so I was 15th at the Games last year. Um, so I guess my personal goal would be like top 12 or top 10 for this year and then beyond that and just kind of like taking it, you know, one year at a time and seeing where I place and figuring out, you know, what threw me off and you know what my best event finishes were and what my worst ones were and we’ll evaluate from there.
Cody Anderson: But yeah, for now, top 12 – 10.
Joe Bauer: When you’re in the competitive training season and versus when you’re not. Also, how many hours a day do you spend training it?
Cody Anderson: I’m training is actually stayed pretty consistent all year. Usually it’ll probably be somewhere between. I have to do math in my head, sorry.
Cody Anderson: Probably like an hour and a half with a weightlifting. Um, and then two or three hours worth of other stuff. CrossFit or accessory work or aerobic work, whatever. So yeah, it’s usually like anywhere from like four to six hours.
Joe Bauer: And does that change based off of what part of the season?
Cody Anderson:
Cody Anderson: It is a, it does a little bit. So we’ll like um, like now with the Games coming up or like adding a lot more swimming back in and a little bit of strong men work and stuff like that. Whereas like during the open and like when we found out the Regional workouts, we weren’t focusing on stuff like swimming because we knew we weren’t going to have to do it anytime soon. So the, I mean the program will change up a little bit at the amount of time I’m spending probably doesn’t change that much just because there’s always stuff we need to work on. Um, and I did, like this year I made, I just made the transition just to being a full time athlete.
Cody Anderson: Uh, so I quit coaching in August of last year. Um, so that obviously opened up a lot of time to just be able to train and stuff.
Joe Bauer: Yeah, absolutely. And how does your program, if it changes, it all changed from off season to let’s say, coming into Regionals. I know I’ve talked to quite a few high level athletes at this point and some of them have completely different philosophies on this. Um, so I think it’s really interesting to hear that.
Cody Anderson: Yeah. Um, so just like what, what changes is the competitive season gets closer.
Joe Bauer: Yeah. Like do you folks, since you need to focus on strength, you know, as your number one maybe weakness, do you just do a bunch of strength in the off season for a certain amount of time or does, is there still CrossFit sprinkled in there or does that happen at all.
Cody Anderson: Right, Um, yeah, I’m not a big fan of taking conditioning out at all. So I mean there’s definitely a strength bias in the off season. Like I think probably most athletes do that, like the off seasons of time to work on strength.
Cody Anderson: Um, but excuse me, I’m never stopped, like doing like CrossFit stuff, a conditioning or anything like that. Just to kind of like, I think the off seasons more about kind of maintaining your engine and then the Open gets closer. You kind of start working on that a little bit more.
Cody Anderson: So I, I guess I would say yeah, it’s a strength bias, but for me it doesn’t really stop until like we’re tapering for something like Regionals or the Games. So we’re still doing, you know, another strength cycle here and like the eight weeks that we have leading up to the Games. So, um, I think just because it’s the thing I need to work on the most.
Joe Bauer: Gotcha. Gotcha. And I know that there’s another thing that people tend to have different opinions upon and that is the conditioning or the cardiovascular component as far as it relates to doing building an engine and doing steady state. Maybe like what I used to call like LSD long slow distance training versus like the CrossFit hard, intense all the time. Do you have any philosophy on that?
Cody Anderson: Uh, I think my opinion’s changed a little bit this year because I had never, uh, so I just started working with a coach too. It’s all kind of happened around the same time of, of when I quit coaching, so I started working with a coach right after Regionals last year, um, and then after the Games made that transition to being a full time athlete, um, and she has a background in weightlifting and she was also a track athlete in school so I had never gone out and done like just a bunch of like running work for an hour on a track or like road for an hour. And I’ve seen a lot of benefits from adding that in. It’s not the most enjoyable thing in the world, but I mean it was definitely, it’s definitely been helpful.
Cody Anderson: So like, I mean rowing was also a weakness. It just anything related to being a smaller athletes. So, um, yeah, I mean we do kind of longer stuff like that. We won’t go and like run 10 miles or anything, but I’m like yesterday I just did four miles of intervals on the track and stuff like that, which I didn’t do before. So I think there’s definitely value in it.
Joe Bauer: And is when you were doing before then, is it just like met conditioning versus just like running as a single domain?
Cody Anderson: Yeah, I mean, you know, every once in a while, like on the main site or whatever program you’re following might come like a mile run test or something or like run a five k, but that’s once every like, you know, three to six months or something. Uh, so yeah, most of my like, like just pure aerobic conditioning, rowing or running or anything like that was just coming from CrossFit metcons.
Joe Bauer: Okay. And does your coach program specifically for you?
Cody Anderson: Yeah, she does have own program. That I follow.
Joe Bauer: Cool. How, how much of your time do you spend with accessory work?
Cody Anderson: Um, we’re doing a lot more in the off season, uh, now it’s probably like 30 to 45 minutes to finish out the day. Um, so yeah, not, not a ton, probably more, probably closer to like 30 minutes.
Joe Bauer: Okay. And how about, um, what are your thoughts or your favorite recovery methods? Recovery methods?
Cody Anderson: Uh, don’t know. Uh, I, I’ve been really blessed position to have like, so, so my coach, she and her husband moved to the area last year, two years ago and they basically own catalyst athletics. I don’t know, I mean, I’m sure some people have heard about it. Yeah. Yeah. So Greg and Amy Everett, Amy’s, my coach. Um, but, so they moved out to Oregon about two years ago.
Cody Anderson: They owned a gym in California and so they basically turned their house into like the ultimate athlete kind of area to train, um, just because that’s what they’re passionate about. So they have, they converted the garage into a gym and so outside the gym we have a, like a contrast bath, so they have like a hot tub and a cold plunge, sauna and then we have stuff like, you know, NormaTec boots and everything to sit in. So play around with a lot of that kind of stuff. Um, I’ve found a lot of success with the sauna. I liked that a lot and I think there’s a lot of research to back up, like just the benefits of that. Um, and then uh, especially during like competition and stuff, just like popping the Normatec on, um, I think especially on the legs, just to get them flushed out. It’s like a good, like quick thing to do, especially in between events or stuff like that.
Joe Bauer: And do you do the song a little bit? Do you do regular sauna or infrared sauna? Because I’ve been kind of researching both.
Cody Anderson: Yes. Uh, don’t have any. I don’t really have any experience with an infrared sauna. I think I’ve been on like one so I can’t really speak a lot to like my personal experience with it. So there’s, there’s just like a regular sauna. Um, but yeah, so I’ll do, um, I haven’t been doing a lot lately. We did a lot more in the winter. Uh, yeah, like just 30 minutes in there after a training session and kind of you’re not really cooling down but recover I guess. I don’t know.
Joe Bauer: Cool. How much time do you think you spend per day on the recovery component of CrossFit or of your training?
Cody Anderson: Um, I think it varies a lot based on how I’m feeling. So I get regular body work, is he a chiropractor at least once a week? Um, leading up to Regionals, I was getting acupuncture every week to a and my mom’s massage therapists. So that makes things easy. Yeah. Um, so I get a lot of body work, so probably like most of my recovery isn’t that.
Cody Anderson: So, um, that’s, I don’t know, maybe a couple hours a week of that. And then, um, yeah, other than that just kind of depends on if there’s any injuries I’m dealing with so I’ll focus on those areas more than just kind of stretch whatever’s bugging me or um, you know, try and give a little more attention to what’s hurting. So I guess it just changes based on how I’m feeling.
Joe Bauer: And switching gears a little bit, how would you explain your dietary habits?
Cody Anderson: Uh, I can have like a, I can eat whatever I want. I’m kind of Diet, uh, but I do, I count my macros. So, um, I worked with working against gravity so they gave me macro numbers to hit. But, um, I don’t know.
Cody Anderson: The biggest, biggest thing for me is probably not like what other people necessarily need is like, for me, it’s just getting as much food as possible into my body because I don’t really have the appetite to eat what I’m supposed to be eating, so I’ll do a lot of stuff like juice after workouts and um, I don’t know, they’re kind of like high sugar kind of things. They get carbs in which most people probably wouldn’t want to do, um, you know, just as a regular part of their diet. So it’s a little bit different for me. I try to eat clean tray to eat vegetables every day and get as much like real food and as possible, but a lot of it’s supplemented with protein powder and carb drinks and stuff like that.
Joe Bauer: Okay. And how does your diet change based off of what time of day your training and do you think about that?
Joe Bauer: Uh, on the day. I mean like you do like fasted in the morning or you know, that type of stuff.
Cody Anderson: Um, I don’t do any fasting. Um, in the, in the morning it usually just looks like some oatmeal and like a protein shake because I don’t have much of an appetite and coffee, so I’m usually eating most of my fat at night when we’re competing. Uh, it’s, it’s kind of similar so, so my nutrition coach, I’m pays a lot more attention during obviously like Regionals and the Game. So we try and do fat most of the fat and the beginning of the day and at the end and then the middle when you’re actually working out, just try and do more carbs and protein. So it’s not like, you know, how much of heavy stuff sitting in your stomach.
Cody Anderson: So I think I kind of follow that anyway. Um, most of my fats at night or in the morning if I’m doing like eggs or something every once in a while. Um, but yeah, and then kind of during the middle of the day, it’s just a lot more getting the carbs in, especially after the workout. So when your body’s kind of needs that stuff the most for recovery.
Joe Bauer: And you mentioned that you do kind of like a sugary type of post workout or something like that. I know that, um, that was traditional kind of like a bodybuilding style recovery thing. And is, is your coach telling you to do that or have you just decided that that works best for you? Or is it something that you feel like is, should more people do something like that?
Cody Anderson: Uh, it’s just something that I kind of decided to do. Um, I’m just out of the meeting to get more carbs. And so like I, I’m not quite as high right now. I’m like 440 carbs a day. I was up to close to 500 earlier. So I just, yeah, I didn’t have the appetite for that. And so it was just an easy way to get that stuff in.
Cody Anderson: Um, and so it Kinda, what I figured is like if I’m going to drink something sugary, it needs to be around some exercise that my body’s going to use it right away and I’m not going to give myself diabetes or something.
Joe Bauer: Absolutely. Do you happen to know what your post post-workout ratio is, like protein to carbohydrate?
Cody Anderson: I’m not exactly. Breadth is probably usually a. If I have apple juice, we’ll just do like 16 ounces of apple juice, which is like 62 carbs I think. Um, and then I’ll do just to um, I have like single serve packets of protein that my sponsor who send me. So that ends up being about 36 grams of protein. So probably like a one to two about carbon.
Joe Bauer: And if you want to mention your sponsors, your, you can absolutely do it. I know they liked this stuff.
Cody Anderson: Shout out to elite fuel. Thanks for giving me clean protein and stuff.
Joe Bauer: Cool. I find that a lot of times the CrossFitters I talked to, I’m like no, mentioned the people that are supposed to and you because that’s what they want.
Cody Anderson: Yeah, for sure.
Joe Bauer:
Cody Anderson: Cool. So you mentioned that you kind of have like an eat whatever you want. Have you ever adhere to like a cheat meal or a cheat day or anything like that? Uh, I think the only time I did that was like after I took my [inaudible], so I really liked the um, I don’t know how they do it now because they changed the information over time, but I really liked their nutrition lecture on the CrossFit Games.
Cody Anderson: So they talked about zone back then and like, I mean it’s basically macros, like, you know, you have these blocks and you need to arrange it there. So they kind of like encouraged like a Paleo zone ish kind of thing. So I did that for like a month just to do it and I was excited about it. So back then, um, you know, I would do something like a cheat meal, like ice cream once a week. But like I said, now it’s Kinda, it’s not for me, it’s just about hitting my numbers and you know, working against gravity doesn’t really specify like, you know, you need to stay away from these foods. It’s like if it fits your macros, go for it. Um, and if you want to be more strict, obviously eating stuff like vegetables and nuts and all that is going to be better for you. But uh, yeah, they don’t really police that very much so I can, I don’t really eat that much, just like I’m just don’t really like junk food very much. So not really a struggle for me, but yeah, I guess that answers the question.
Joe Bauer: Yeah, sure. Well I think the statement of that you don’t really like junk food that much says a lot and I feel like I hear that quite often from, from a high level athletes where it’s like when I asked the question, they may be like, well sometimes I have to do like a refeed to try and get, you know, if I’ve been training really, really hard, I might need to just pack in calories and like you said, I’ll go get ice cream or pizza or something like that so that I can get more calories in. But it’s not like I’m craving those particular foods.
Cody Anderson: Yeah, it’s Kinda, I mean it’s, I think it’s kind of one of those things where it’s like if you go long enough without eating sugary foods, it’s just, you don’t really crave it anymore, so yeah, sure.
Joe Bauer: Do you take supplements?
Cody Anderson: I do. So I’m gay. Should they take just like whey protein? So elite feel gives me most of my supplements. And then I also do, so they make fish oil, vitamin D and vitamin K , how they just came out with a protein aminos. What else? Creatine, magnesium, vitamin C like emergency. I do a lot just to keep my immune system up.
Joe Bauer: Okay. So of those supplements, do you, is there anything that you find that works the best or that you recommend? Hey guys, this is something you have to have or you mostly just you need to eat good food.
Cody Anderson: Yeah. Yeah. Um, I mean I think supplements can help. I think most people probably get a little too worked up about them. Um, yeah. I think what’s going to make the biggest difference, like if you’re for the average CrossFitter is just gonna be like eating clean and working out regularly.
Cody Anderson: Um, and then now when I did coach and people would ask him about that as like, you know, probably the first thing you would want to start with is just like a protein shake after a workout and then beyond that, I mean if you want to get really into like the, you know, being super competitive or just trying to get that one percent better. Um, you know, probably creatine would be second on my list and then um, I don’t know all the rest, I don’t know how I’d rank but I’d say like hard work and like actually like, you know, having good diet and good sleep is probably the thing that’s gonna move the needle the most for you.
Joe Bauer: Sure. And you, uh, you just mentioned that, how is your sleep?
Cody Anderson: It, it varies. So, um, yeah, usually are, I just like to stay up late so I’ll stay up until like 11 or midnight most nights. But then it’s nice now because I don’t have to coach so I’ll usually sleep in a little bit more. So I, I mean I usually average probably around eight hours a night.
Joe Bauer: Does sleep come easy to you?
Cody Anderson: Kind of depends. I think it depends on if I’m like looking at my phone a lot at night or something. So, um, yeah, I try to try to like wind down and just like read a book or you know, stay away from a screen or anything. So my brain’s not so stimulated but yeah, sure.
Joe Bauer: I mean being a coach myself and having a lot of people that want to be competitive that I’m talking to, I find that sleep is probably one of the hardest things for people for sure. Um, so you, you think that just staying away from the screen is something and you know, paper book, those are the things that have worked for you.
Cody Anderson: Uh, yeah. I mean I’m probably not the best person to ask about it to be honest. Um, but yeah, I mean a, it’s one of those things that it’s like, I think we all know like we should sleep more and be more disciplined about not sitting in front of the TV or anything, but, you know, it’s a lot easier said than done. I think living in the culture that we do. So, um, yeah, I mean, but I know that’s like one thing, it’s like proven. They’re like if you, if you’re looking at a screen, it’s going to keep your, keep you stimulated and keep your legs. I’d be a huge thing to do if you’re looking to sleep better. Anybody listening?
Joe Bauer: Sure, sure. Um, so I’m a big, I would say like self improvement junkie myself and always try and experiments and things like that. Have you ever done any experiments in the past few years that have gone good, bad or otherwise? And this can be like dietary or it could be training wise or whatever. Maybe.
Cody Anderson: I’m trying to think back across the years now. I mean, I always, like, I did a lot of like experimenting, um, I think with like training, uh, but I think it was just more of like a, like I kind of just followed the evolution of like competitive CrossFit, so it’s like nobody knew what an EMOM was in 2010, you know, and then they kind of got popular in 2014, 15 and everybody started doing. I’m like, okay, I’ll throw that in. Um, but really I think it’s more to spend like an evolution of a, you know, more information being out there and like having other people being able to mentor me and teach me in better ways to recover.
Cody Anderson: Like, like I said, I started working with a coach and like a nutrition coach and stuff like that. So, um, yeah, I think I mostly the stuck with like the basic principles of CrossFitted in experiment too much in terms of like, you know, fasting or, you know, messing with my sleep or anything like that.
Joe Bauer: Before you had your personalized programming with your coach now, what kind of program did you follow?
Cody Anderson: Uh, the, for the two years before I did Comptrain, um, so I’m still a big fan of it, like if anybody’s looking for free program, that’s usually where I point them. Um, and then before that, the first year I made it to the Games. I was just doing like the whatever the workout of the day was at our box. So you kind of get away with it more back then probably now, not so much, but um, yeah. So it was Kinda Kinda went from there, just the workout at my gym and then Comptrain and then uh, working with a coach now.
Joe Bauer: Cool, cool. And you’ve been a high level athlete for some time now. What aspects of that are the most difficult for you, if any?
Cody Anderson: Hardest parts of being a competitive athlete? I mean, there’s a lot that goes into it. I think I’m probably the biggest thing is consistency in like showing up to the gym every day because it does become your full time job. Um, if you take it seriously enough. So I mean there’s times when it’s like, no I don’t, I don’t necessarily have to.
Cody Anderson: Most of the time I don’t have training partners, so I’m just doing stuff by myself, uh, and it gets to be a grind. Um, so you gotta, I mean a lot of people are talking like kind of the past couple of months in a year about knowing your why and all that kinda stuff. So I think it’s important for those kinds of things.
Cody Anderson: But uh, yeah, I think that’s probably the biggest struggle for me is like staying consistent and like putting the work in day in, day out. It’s easy to put yourself on one workout or work really hard for a day. But when it comes to doing that for weeks and months and years at a time, I think that’s when the rubber meets the road of like the people who really want it and you know, we’re willing to put the work in.
Joe Bauer: And on that, like being hard to go at a hundred percent every single day. Just kind of digging into that a little bit more. You’re like, there’s A. I don’t know how to exactly say it’s like you should, you think you should go 100 percent all the time? Um, or do you feel like there are certain days that you’re going at 100 percent, like a competition versus other days where you’re like, man, I didn’t sleep so good last night. Uh, I know I need to get this metcon done and I’m going to do it, but I’m only going to go 80 percent. Do you mean by that philosophy?
Cody Anderson: Uh, I think there’s some value in it. Um, I tend to just try to do the very best of what I have each day. So I mean I guess like, you know, at Regionals, at the Games, like the hope would be that like you actually have like 100 percent of your potential to give or just like in training, that’s probably pretty rare.
Cody Anderson: Um, that’s like a, I tell a lot of people like I, I just, I appeared my snatch a couple of months ago, but before that it took two years for me to even, you know, match that. And, you know, for two years I was only lifting it 80 percent or whatever, 90 percent.
Cody Anderson: Um, so sometimes you know, the best you have is, you know, less effort than you would normally be able to give. I think that’s okay. Uh, the only time that I actually intentionally hold back as if I’m just doing some for the purpose of recovery or like tapering off for Regionals. Like I’m just going to do a metcon district, kind of like move and just breathe a little bit. Um, but I think that probably gets more important to you as you get older. Um, you know, and recovery becomes more of a factor that you need to pay attention to. So I think there’s value in it for sure.
Joe Bauer: And do you measure anything like HRV or any kind of other internal measurement?
Cody Anderson: Um, yeah, I have a mean. I have like a one of those Garmin watches that keeps track your heart rate. So, um, I don’t know how much I actually do with that information is kind of just like more interesting and something for me to geek out on and Kinda think about. So we did, we did some work in the off season of like, you know, run for 30 minutes trying to keep your heart rate at a certain level or something like that. But, uh, we haven’t done a ton of work with it.
Cody Anderson: I know I’m and Christian Lucero was living, uh, with amy and Greg, uh, my coaches, they, I’m, his coach is really big on like heart rate levels and paying attention to that kind of stuff. So I kinda got to experiment with it with him, but I haven’t played around with a ton of that other than wearing the watch and looking at what my heart rate is.
Joe Bauer: Cool. So I kind of got off on a tangent a little bit there, but it’s all good. What are the, what are your favorite things about being a high level athlete?
Cody Anderson: Favorite things? Um, I mean it’s fun knowing like you’re getting to be an encouragement to people. So like, I, I mean for me it’s like there’s a, there’s a spiritual aspect and a faith aspect to it and I believe that I’m not just in this position by accident, you know, I feel like God’s the one who got me here, so I feel like I have a responsibility to steward that well.
Cody Anderson: Um, so it’s always fun getting to like, you know, if I get messages on instagram or something like getting to speak into somebody’s life or encourage them or, or anything like that. And there have been over the years just, you know, a lot of those kinds of things that have happened. So, um, yeah, I mean the, the fame of it is, you know, the that wears off pretty quickly. Um, you know, and it’s fun.
Cody Anderson: Like the actual, like competing and like, you know, having people cheer for you and all that is fun. But I think like the actual most rewarding thing is like getting those one on one interactions with people and you can actually like just have a conversation with somebody important to their life. That’s the most rewarding for me for sure.
Joe Bauer: Very cool. Very cool. Um, have you ever been injured?
Cody Anderson: Uh, yeah, pretty much all the time. I don’t, I don’t think, you know, if, if you’re trading as a competitive athlete, not just in CrossFit but you know, in any sport, like there’s gonna be injuries that you have to deal with for most people out there if you’re just doing CrossFit to stay in shape, you shouldn’t be injured. Um, I mean stuff happens every once in awhile of course, but if you’re constantly dealing with pain, there’s probably something wrong in your program or the way you’re moving or something like that.
Cody Anderson: So yeah. But um, yeah, I had some chronic back stuff for, I think it started in 2013 and really just got better within the last year. So, um, so that, that was, that was a big, big one. I just kept putting myself over and over.
Cody Anderson: Um, I’ve dealt with stuff like knees and hamstrings and shoulders and basically had the toe. I’ve learned a lot about human anatomy and like my body just by like asking my Chiro questions as I’m like getting parts of my body fixed. So I guess a positive coming out of that, I guess.
Joe Bauer: What do you think had the, what do you think made the back injury go away?
Cody Anderson: Um, the biggest thing was giving it enough time to heal. So I, I think the first time actually the first time I heard it was 2012 actually I remember because it was during the Open, um, and there is some drama about who was going to get to be on the team because I didn’t get to, you know, I didn’t perform on the Open because my back was hurt.
Cody Anderson: Um, so yeah, that was the first time and then I heard it at Regionals in 2013. Um, and you know, just a couple times after that, uh, they, I think the biggest thing was not giving it enough time to recover. So like the second I started feeling better and try to start working out again and like lifting heavy and it would just go again.
Cody Anderson: Um, and then the other thing, probably what made bigger difference was just gaining some weight. I was trying to, I mean, trying to deadlift 400 pounds and you weigh like 140 is I guess some people do it, but um, for my frame I think I just wasn’t really equipped to handle the weight of his train to move. So getting a little more mass definitely helped, like protect stuff a little bit more think.
Joe Bauer: Sure. And this next question comes from the. All of these questions actually come from me asking other CrossFit athletes what they want to hear from people like yourself. This is one of them that came up and maybe I should change the way that I word it, but I’ll throw it at you anyway. Do you ever feel like giving up and if so, what keeps you going or keeps you from quitting?
Cody Anderson: Um, yeah, I think so for sure. Like, I mean we were kind of talking about it before, like, you know, there’s times when you’re not feeling good and you got to go to the gym by yourself and you know, it’s a hard part about being an athlete. Um, I think it comes down a lot too, like remembering why you’re doing what you’re doing and then also having people that will keep you accountable. So like it’s good that I have a coach because otherwise I wouldn’t feel like going and running four miles on a track just doesn’t sound like a fun thing to do on a Wednesday morning.
Cody Anderson: Um, but yeah, so I think it’s probably. So the answer would be yes. Um, and then, uh, yeah, I think it’s a combination of, of knowing why you’re doing what you’re doing, keeping yourself encouraged and surrounding yourself with people who are hopefully going to be a positive influence on you.
Cody Anderson: Um, yeah. And the other thing to remember is like a, this probably applies to more just like competitive athletes. But I know for me like if I’m needing a backoff week, um, especially like strength wise, like the way I’m feeling physically will affect the way I’m feeling mentally and emotionally too. So if I’m feeling like physically, like just worn down and I’m like approaching that time of like needing a week to back off, like, you know, start thinking like, oh, like I’m seeing on instagram like all these guys are posting these pr lists and I’m like here feeling like crap.
Cody Anderson: So I think keeping in mind like what time, what period of like your strength cycle or like just your cycle in general, you’re in, if you’re a competitive athlete, doing those kinds of things is important to keep in mind.
Joe Bauer: Sure. And do you know what you’re going to end up doing after your competitive career ends?
Cody Anderson: It’ll end for sure. Uh, yeah. Um, yeah, I, I’ve thought about that a little bit. I and I can see my life going a couple of different directions. So we’re, we’re thinking about opening up a gym right now. I’m probably after the Games in the couple months leading after the Games. So I mean I guess that would be like a midterm, you know, not necessarily short term but maybe not longterm thing either know, uh, for probably like 3, 5 ish years.
Cody Anderson: Um, and then, uh, I don’t, I, I do a lot of things besides CrossFit consumers my life pretty much, but I have a lot more passions other than CrossFit, so I’m, I lead worship at my church. They’ve always kinda like, felt called to ministry and um, and, and just stuff like that, so I don’t know and I’ve met a lot of people just in my, you know, getting to, to travel for, with, with CrossFit and just like, you know, I feel very blessed because I get to live this life and so it formed a lot of relationships with people that would open the door for, you know, things like ministries or opening gyms and other places or something like that.
Cody Anderson: So I don’t know, we’ll see. I don’t have an exact idea yet.
Joe Bauer: Okay, cool. And you’re unique. Well it seems like it’s coming up more and more, but you have, uh, how many brothers do you have?
Cody Anderson: 2.
Joe Bauer: Do you have any sisters?
Cody Anderson: No just brothers.
Joe Bauer: Are they both? Are they both in the CrossFit?
Cody Anderson: Yeah. So they actually, they have a competition this weekend actually. Yeah. So they’re twins and there 21. So 4 years younger than me. Um, but yeah, they’re, they’re awesome. They started, um, so they’ll train with me. They, they both work full time, so we’ll train with me after work a couple days a week and they’re just getting crazy strong. Like I think Levi snatched 104 kilos, which is like probably close to 230 and I think he weighs like 150 or something like that. So He’s already ahead of where I was, you know, the first year I made it to the Games .
Cody Anderson: So there their goal is to make it to Regionals. So, um, we’ll see if that happens next couple of years, but it’s definitely fun to have some, some people in the family that, you know, share that same passion.
Joe Bauer: That’s awesome. Do they have the, the goal of making it to the Games like you or is it a different goal for them?
Cody Anderson: Um, I think the goal right now is for Regionals. Um, if that happens, I’m sure they’ll probably get hungry and want to do something else. Maybe a team or something like that. So I don’t know, we’ll see how to ask them a, but, I think right now the biggest thing for them is that they’ve been taken it seriously for probably like two years now. So they’re still encounter those beginning stages of like crystal, a lot of room for improvement.
Cody Anderson: Um, but they’re definitely on the, on the road to get there. They’re getting better fast.
Joe Bauer: Sure. This is very applicable to them as well. But when someone asks you, you know, hey Cody, I want to get to the CrossFit Games, what kind of answer do you give them?
Cody Anderson: Um, uh, I, I kinda, yeah, so I get, I get a lot of those kinds of messages on instagram and stuff and um, usually what I tell people is like the secret, and I mentioned it earlier, it’s just like consistent, hard work, like don’t take a bunch of time off and like stick to stick to a program.
Cody Anderson: Um, I think that’s another big one is like people, I don’t know if people do it so much anymore, but you know, you get bored of doing comp trains, you know, move over to misfit. And then I’m like, what these guys are doing and try brewed out and theater really don’t give a program a chance to like actually do a complete cycle of training or stick with them for a year or longer. I think you’re doing yourself a disservice. So that’s the, that’s probably the biggest thing I tell people is like, just pick one thing and stick to it consistently.
Cody Anderson: Um, and then, uh, yeah, if it gets to be like a little bit longer conversation, I would say like, you know, the Games or the Games are cool, but it’s a thing that happens for 4 days out of the year and you know, it’s not the be all end all my existence, nor is it, I think anyone else says that actually makes it there. So it’s definitely a cool experience but it’s not going to like fulfill your life and the way you think it might some. Sure.
Joe Bauer: Yeah, for sure. It is. So as we’re wrapping things up here, um, is there anything that you think is important for the listeners to know that we haven’t already talked about, about you,
Cody Anderson: About me…
Joe Bauer: Or that you think that they would want to know about you? You know.
Cody Anderson: Man, I don’t know. I’m trying to. Trying to think.
Joe Bauer: Um, mustache tips, maybe…
Cody Anderson: Mustache tips, wax once a day. I don’t really know. I guess I would just tell people like, uh, you know, I, I appreciate anybody men out there that follows me and um, you know, I just appreciate that, you know, people support and um, you know, especially during this year, like at Regionals and stuff, it got a lot of like encouraging messages and you know, people just saying like we’re pulling for you and praying for you and stuff like that. And I really do feel like that’s what carried me through the weekend, especially starting off, uh, with not a super good start on day one. So, um, yeah, I guess just thanks for leaving in me following my journey and feel very blessed to be where I’m at right now.
Joe Bauer: Well, it seems like you have an awesome message, so I appreciate it. I know other, everybody else as well appreciates it. I’m so completely wrapping up here. Is there anything that you would like the listeners to know about, whether that’s promotions or things that you’re going to be doing or just things you’d like to throw out there into the universe?
Cody Anderson: Um, if you want to support me at the Game as you can keep an eye out for. I think PRX is going to be doing some shirts, so that’s my equipment sponsors, so if you want to help support that, you can check that out. Um, other than that.
Joe Bauer: Is that prx.com or what’s their website?
Cody Anderson: PrxPerformance.com, I think. Um, I’ll make a post on instagram when stuff happens, so just keep an eye out there if you want to help out, but that’s all I can think of for now, I think.
Joe Bauer: Cool. And what’s your instagram handle?
Cody Anderson: A CodyAnderson2_34
Joe Bauer: Okay. Very cool. Well, Cody, I really appreciate this. Thanks so much and I wish you all the luck in the Games and everything else that comes, comes at you. Awesome. Thanks man. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Yeah, you bet.