This time around we were able to talk to a whole Games Team! CrossFit 417 Games Team!
Resources and links mentioned in this podcast
CrossFit 417
– CrossFit Team Profile
– Instagram Profile
Jared Stevens
– CrossFit Athlete Profile
– Instagram Profile
Baylee Rayl
– CrossFit Athlete Profile
– Instagram Profile
Tyler Christophel
– CrossFit Athlete Profile
– Instagram Profile
Christine Kole
– CrossFit Athlete Profile
– Instagram Profile
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If you would like to read instead of listen… here’s the transcript
Joe Bauer:
Welcome to the get better project where I’m excited to have the CrossFit games seem CrossFit four slash seven and right now I am talking with jared Stevens. Jared, how are you doing today?
Jared Stevens:
Good. Good, good. Thanks for having us on.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah, jared. And if you don’t mind introducing your teammates here real quick, that would be awesome.
Jared Stevens:
Yes, this is great. This is tyler.
Joe Bauer:
Awesome. Very cool. Very cool. I appreciate you guys taking the time. Um, the way that I figured out who I want to interview for this particular show is that I asked a bunch of different people and see who they want to hear from. And your name came up several times. So here we are. I appreciate you taking the time.
Jared Stevens:
Are you in a van?
Joe Bauer:
I am in a van. Yeah, I am an event. Uh, my, I don’t usually get into too much on the podcast, but my story is that my girlfriend and I are driving a sprinter van around the country with about 350 pounds of CrossFit barbells, racks, all that fun stuff and we’re going to just see cool things so we can both work from our, our laptops and have a good time. So.
Jared Stevens:
Very cool. And You should stop by the gym.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah, if we’re, if we’re in the, in your area, we will definitely shoot you a message and see if we can drop in and we can. Maybe we can do an in person interview too man. Cool. Well I want to jump right in here and hear more about you guys. Um, so first off, jared, what is, what was your story as far as like growing up, what did you do as far as playing sports? Was there anything interesting that you did as you were growing up that got you to where you are right now?
New Speaker:
So I grew up on a farm in Idaho. I was homeschooled until eighth grade.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah,
Jared Stevens:
I do feel like growing up in the farm taught me a lot about hard work, doing things that are uncomfortable that you don’t want to do more forced to do, but it had a lot of good life lessons they’re learning to take, take care of things and just get stuff done. I had some siblings too, so we had to do a lot of stuff together. So it kind of helped to learn how to work together as other people and all at the same mission, you know?
Joe Bauer:
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Actually homeschooled until high school myself. So that’s why we’re so uncomfortable through both really weird.
Jared Stevens:
Yep, exactly.
Joe Bauer:
Cool. So did you play any sports growing up or what type? I’d also be interested, like what type of farm was it that you grew up on?
Jared Stevens:
So uh, it was kind of our place was connected with my grandfather’s place. We had 60 acres of ALFALFA fields so we haven’t changed pipes and do all that stuff and then he had a few cows, horses and things like that we took care of.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. Okay. And then what kind of sports did you play?
Jared Stevens:
So I played football, ran track, and played a little bit of basketball. Football is my main.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. And do you feel like the playing of the football helped you when you got into CrossFit or what was that kind of transition like?
Jared Stevens:
Right. Maybe the competitive side of it, but I feel like football just kinda broke me, made it a little bit harder to do CrossFit and first year so that I was doing CrossFit. It was more just getting my shoulders opening up to be able to hold the bottle over my head. But I do think that a lot of the weight lifting I did for football translated over really well because I was already strong when I started CrossFit, so I was able to focus a lot on gymnastics and different things like that and I didn’t have to worry about strength.
Joe Bauer:
So are you, were you, were your numbers pretty similar then as they are now? As far as your pure strength numbers?
Jared Stevens:
I would say my squat was probably close to 100 pounds higher when I was playing football might clean technique is so much better now, but I was probably just like raw strength. That was a little bit stronger. I’m a lot more sound movements.
Joe Bauer:
Cool. And what, what did your, what did you, other guys, what sports did you play growing up?
Christine Kole:
Um, I did gymnastics all growing up and then in high school that track.
Joe Bauer:
Nice gymnastics background. I wish I had a gymnastic background.
Christine Kole:
Yeah, that helps a lot with really, really good though. Like the next stage was trying to the Olympics, right? Yeah. Wow. Wow. So she really sucks.
Joe Bauer:
Very cool. I, yeah, I think it’s super interesting to hear about what people’s backgrounds are. Ended was gymnastics. Did you stop competing in gymnastics and then find CrossFit? Was that like a transition for you or how, how did that work?
Christine Kole:
I actually stopped gymnastics and I was because of an injury all through high school.
Joe Bauer:
Cool. And then was CrossFit a competitive outlet for you or were you just like, Hey, I’ve done gymnastics, I need something else to do.
Christine Kole:
Yeah, I found it and then pretty soon after I started I was like, I want to compete. I think growing up like.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah. And were you guys good at CrossFit when you first started?
Christine Kole:
I’m pretty good. Yeah.
Jared Stevens:
Yeah, it was then a year on our place after one year. So you’re going to have been. She made our Games team last year and went to the CrossFit games. She was really good and like for me I was kind of good when I start back in 2012, so it seems a lot more for these guys to be good within a year or two at this time and age because everyone’s so much better. It’s so much higher.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah. How old are you? All these things.
Jared Stevens:
Thirty three.
Christine Kole:
It’s Tyler’s birthday the day.
Joe Bauer:
Oh, happy birthday, tyler.
Tyler Christophel:
Yeah, thanks.
Jared Stevens:
Bailey’s twenty two, a youngster. You Wanted to ask about his sporting career?
Joe Bauer:
Yeah, absolutely.
New Speaker:
He’s probably the most athletic person.
Tyler Christophel:
So I have a football, basketball, baseball background, uh, carried on, into college with college baseball.
Joe Bauer:
What do you, what position do you play?
Tyler Christophel:
I converted from a middle infielder to center field.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. And what about baseball? Did you think transitioned you into CrossFit, if anything?
Tyler Christophel:
The mental game, the mental game of baseball, especially as a position player, you deal with failure a lot in CrossFit a not necessarily being the best at anything. You just kind of feel like that helped out.
Joe Bauer:
Absolutely. Cool.
Joe Bauer:
And lastly, Bailey.
Baylee Rayl:
I played, I didn’t play but I did gymnastics too, like casino and then I also played basketball and then I got into golf and actually just played golf in college. So.
Joe Bauer:
So you’re 22 years old, right. And you were transitioned from golf into CrossFit?
Baylee Rayl:
Yeah, I was actually doing both at the same time, which was probably not a good idea for mobility reasons in golf, but I loved it so much that I just like, it was my passion.
Joe Bauer:
Okay, very cool. And you probably have some really cool mentors from these people that have been doing it for quite a while and have a lot of life experience.
Baylee Rayl:
Yeah, it’s awesome that you want to look up to you and they’re not only like amazing athletes but amazing people too.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah, that’s very cool. That seems to be a trend that I’ve found when talking with a lot of you get you high level athletes is that it seems like, you know, whether or not it’s the CrossFit community or whatnot, but everybody seems to be really cool people. Um, have you guys found that now that you’ve been to I guess jared or you know, a couple of you guys have been to the Games a couple times. Have you found it there? It is a really good crowd of people or am I just getting lucky with who I talked to?
Jared Stevens:
Say everyone’s. Everyone’s pretty cool. They are at least Nice.
Tyler Christophel:
Yeah. Yeah, everyone’s pretty great encouraging.
Christine Kole:
I feel like especially at regionals this year in the back, like everyone was, like everyone was talking to each other. Like, what are you most excited for? I don’t know. I was really impressed by just encouraging each other.
Joe Bauer:
Very cool. And what are your guys? You’re obviously headed to the CrossFit games, but what do you guys current goals, if you had individually? Is it just straight up, I want to be a CrossFit athlete or I want to go from the Games again? What are those goals look like?
Jared Stevens:
So are you saying like our goals as a team for this year or are you saying as individuals what our goals?
Joe Bauer:
I would like to hear as actually both. Let’s go with both because I think goals are really interested in what drives people behind those goals is also very interesting.
Jared Stevens:
Yeah. So I would say our goal this year is obviously the goal is always to win, but really controlling what we can control and not having any huge mistakes that cost us, you know, being consistent. Like we were pretty consistent issue at regionals. Do small mistakes but nothing that costs us big time and then carrying that over to the gains being top five would be really awesome.
Joe Bauer:
Very cool. And then actually individually, what do you guys have? Anything individually that you’re super focused on?
Baylee Rayl:
My main one is to just like, I feel like it’s such a cool experience and it’s so easy to get caught up in all the competing, but I think that my biggest goal is to soak it all in and actually see the experience just to give our best values. What do you think, jared?
Jared Stevens:
It’s something about individual goals.
Christine Kole:
Yeah. When you’re on a team right now individually. One of my goals is to just read a really great teammate. Being a gymnast right up. Like I was always an individual apple news to me. I mean I did it last year, but it’s still like a challenge to like always thinking about other people and like, I don’t know, just like transitioning from being an individual athlete to being on a team.
Jared Stevens:
She’s doing great.
Joe Bauer:
Absolutely. Let’s get into the training a little bit. Unless there’s anybody else that wanted to share their goals.
Tyler Christophel:
I will be the best teammate I can be. Pretty much nailed it on a team. That’s all you can really do. Strive to be the best.
Joe Bauer:
Sure. Do you feel like as a team at this point everybody has to have a certain competency at everything, whereas in the past you could kind of have like bigger hitters in certain areas of the CrossFit or fitness game?
Christine Kole:
Everybody has a pretty good in everything.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah. And how many hours a day do you guys spend training? This is an interesting one that I ask everybody and I get so many different answers, so it’s fun to fun to hear what you have to say.
Jared Stevens:
So I’d say we have, we train five days a week. We take two days off. Yeah, we’ll take Monday, Thursdays off. And I would say we hit pretty much two sessions, sometimes three on the training days. So total hours that you count like warming up and resting between workouts and stuff. We’re probably close to four or five hours a day.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. And so, and of those four to five hours a day, um, and um, another interesting question is right now as you guys are leading into the games, what is that combination look like ofour to five hours, like you said, some of it’s warming up. How much of that is spent like weight training versus endurance training versus CrossFit specific style stuff as you’re leading into the games? And I’ll ask you again, you answer that, what it looks like in, let’s say different style or different parts of the season.
Jared Stevens:
So right now I’m Nick Fowler from brute strength has been helping out programming. So me and him kind of come up with what we’re doing and he, before we started training I should say right after regionals, he kinda got with me and asked what everyone’s weaknesses were and then he’s trying to kind of build that in to our program. So I would say a lot of times our first session today is strength or gymnastics type stuff, whatever we need to work on and then we have liberty to kind of change it for each person what we need. And then would you say a little bit shorter metcons in the morning and then we come back in the evening and most evenings we’ve been doing team workouts or the EMOMS together a really long thesis together. So like we’ve got a lot of 20 to 40 minute workouts for the last few weeks or more unit? Yeah, more like one type stuff mixed in there. On the weekends but kind of keep the same thing on the weekends except for Saturdays we go down to our good friend Melissa Westerns House and we swim in their little. What is that called? Cove cove will take the warm down there, sandbags and do stuff. It’s a good time and then we’ll use, usually hang out on the boat for a little bit and then we’ll head back home to the gym and train again in the evening. Barbell stuff.
Joe Bauer:
Gotcha. And then the backup question of that is how does that change, like let’s say a, you’ve recovered from the games and you’re going into the off season, um, what does that look like and how’s it different?
Jared Stevens:
So our off season training this year, the plan is to take it easy for probably two months, just do workouts, train one or two hours a day. Kind of been the goal last couple of years. We just get so anxious we start getting back into it. But this year we’re really gonna try to focus on having a good recovery. And then there’s a couple of competitions that we really like to do. So we’re us four signed up for the heart of America competition that we do every year. It’s local, that’s a good one. And then Granite games, a lot of times we end up doing so maybe Wodapalooza. The goal is like Trans folks on too much, you know, because we’ve done so much training leading up to the games. It’s myself. I’ve gotten in trouble trying to train all the way through the year and start having injury issues, sickness and something like that in some kind of being smart the season big goal.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. So does the off season just mean lay or you know, being smart and doing less or do you guys tend to focus more on, let’s say strengthened the off season or maybe if you have strength, are you focusing more on endurance in the off season? Do you guys do that type of stuff? I know that as I’ve talked to a lot of different people, there are different strategies and some people are doing CrossFit all year around and making to the games and some people are like, you have completely different training methodologies.
Jared Stevens:
I think we, like for me, Nick will have me doing some base conditioning stuff like the machines bike, stuff like that. No longer pieces has an intensity way down and then like rehab type stuff, just really just bringing it down and the volume down.
Joe Bauer:
Does, does nick program individually for each of you when you’re in the off season or how’s that work?
Jared Stevens:
No, he programs for me and then we have competitors training program for that and then pull some of his conditioning pieces that were all kind of going against each other all year but then help them build out their string stuff that they need.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. And do you. So do you find that you’re doing kind of like LSD test our cardio in order to build up your engine and is our other people then are you, you guys that are in the van there, are you guys doing focusing on other things so that they’re completely different pieces or you guys kind of trying to do the same stuff?
Tyler Christophel:
I would say for example like we all have something that’s like our bottom line so we try to get with jared and have been like kind of format or whatever we may not be so good at. So like for me for example, is a weakness of mine was snatch and being on stable overhead. Bailey may work on something different than I am working on like my snatch snatch technique, weightlifting stuff, Jared maybe working on low intensity. So we kind of like it is a little more individualized in the off season. We try to prepare us for this three stage games season going into the Open. The main goal is jalong season that going into the Open healthy, being confident in your lowest inabilities are really important.
Joe Bauer:
Sure. Did anybody else have anything they wanted to say about that?
Baylee Rayl:
Well this will be my second. I feel like I’m just getting to the point where it’s like okay, like what is going to be. But I feel like a big thing for me individually is staying healthy and taking care of my body and then course just like trying to improve on everything. But just like staying healthy.
Joe Bauer:
Is there. Is there a point where you guys all get together and start to ramp up for the open?
Baylee Rayl:
When did we have a meeting this year? He had a team meeting when they announced that they’re going to be the four groups and team and figure out like what the team’s going to be and then from there I feel like that’s my training. Serious.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. And this is pretty cool to have a whole team that I’m talking to right here because I know that there’s a lot of interesting stuff that comes up when choosing the team. Do you, did you guys actually set the team beforehand?
Christine Kole:
We did this year.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. And what are. Were there people on the bubble that that caused issues for?
Christine Kole:
We didn’t really have any issues with that. Like when they first announced that we were like, oh man, like what is this? Our other girl from last year or two had kind of said some things about like wanting to go individual. I’ll try it for 3 years. So we. Yeah, we all thought. I think we all just like really it individually and wanted to see him challenging himself that way and I think that really pushed him. It wound up being really good thing.
Joe Bauer:
Let’s, let’s transition into to food. How would you. Let’s start with jared, how would you explain your nutrition habits or your dietary habits?
Jared Stevens:
So right now um working with wags, working against gravity and check in every week. I’m trying to eat more quality food. Previously I’ve done carb backloading so I would eat like cakes and stuff in tons of trash, too much sugar as I’m getting older and I got to start eating a little better. So which I’m saying that I’ve been doing it for six weeks or eight weeks now over the last year and a half step because we didn’t know she had our gym do a whole 30. Okay. So I did that and that Kinda helped me to see like, Hey, he’s a lot better if you’re not, you can trash all day. So then like I held some of that, not the straight hold 30, but I kept some of those principles and then once I started working with them, the bags, I’ve kept it decently clean.
Joe Bauer:
Do you, do any of you guys know what your exact calories and macros are? Yes.
Jared Stevens:
Mine are 202 protein, 375 carbs and 135 grams of fat.
Joe Bauer:
Okay,
Joe Bauer:
cool.
Jared Stevens:
So around 3500 to 3,800 calories.
Joe Bauer:
And how much do you weigh? Jared?
Jared Stevens:
I’m 210, but some days. Some days a little heavier but
Joe Bauer:
Okay. Anybody else know what their macros are?
Christine Kole:
So I just started working with Working Against Gravity two weeks ago. I focus a lot on quality, like eating like this very real food and of trying to figure out like what exactly like my body needs. So calories 2576, protein 154, carbs 310, fat 80. .
Joe Bauer:
Okay. And what do you weigh?
Christine Kole:
Between 150 and 55.
Joe Bauer:
Okay, cool. Very interesting. Anybody else? No. No. Or want to share? I think this is super interesting to hear.
New Speaker:
Bailey’s number.
Baylee Rayl:
My numbers are 150 protein, 315 carbs, 69 fat, and then I think my calories or 2481.
Jared Stevens:
Tell him how many carbs you were eating last year before the Games.
Baylee Rayl:
475.
Joe Bauer:
Wow. Holy smokes.
Baylee Rayl:
You know, trying to put some mass on.
Joe Bauer:
Alright. And how much do you weigh?
Baylee Rayl:
130 and 135 this morning. Oh Hey cool.
Jared Stevens:
Tons and tons of yeses. Chicken, Broccoli.
Tyler Christophel:
I just started explain as I possibly can.
Joe Bauer:
Okay, so do you just eat as much as you feel like you need to tyler or do you just or do you have your macros down as well?
Tyler Christophel:
Kind of you’re trying to use as much as I can with my, my timing, like my food timing is a little off and usually I try to take in more in the evening. I do kind of play off of it. I do better with playing off how my body feels, so if I’m feeling down or if I feel like I don’t have enough energy, I know that I need to increase my calorie intake. My tells me like my floor, I can kind of tell how I need to eat and I asked her to come back to life I guess.
Joe Bauer:
Cool. Yeah. Think that’s interesting. Do you guys all use some sort of data tracking like a Whoop or something like that? Yeah, we do.
Tyler Christophel:
We all have the Whoop band and Whoop app.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. Yeah. Cool. I’ve been using it for awhile. I think it’s very interesting stuff. Um, boat, uh, let’s go with supplements and if you guys want to drop supplements as far as like sponsorships or whatnot, that’s totally cool. I feel like CrossFitters do not promote themselves as, as much as they should. So whatever you’re taking, whatever’s worked or nothing is cool. Let’s hear it.
Baylee Rayl:
No, no. I take our Aminos in from a company and I really liked, it just keeps like artificial flavors or anything. So that’s something that I have been experiment. And we just stared using creatine.
Joe Bauer:
Nice.
Jared Stevens:
So I’ve been sponsored by Driven Nutrition for a while now, I guess six years maybe. So I take their protein, amino acids, fish oil. That joint complex is really good. Creatine take a lot of their products. It’s nice since I know the owners, I know it’s actually going into the jugs whereas a lot of companies you don’t see the lab so you don’t know what’s actually in there and there’s no regulation on the companies, so it’s kind of Nice to be able to see what I’m taking. And then also I carry our gem program so I’m able to carry it and give it to our members, which is awesome.
Tyler Christophel:
That’s where I get mine from.
Jared Stevens:
Tyler is also for driven nutrition. So cool.
Christine Kole:
I’ve been with Vital Nutrition, which is like they like whey protein shake, but I take fish oil and then just recently started taking creatine multivitamins.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. Very cool. And do you guys work?
Tyler Christophel:
I do some project management stuff for the stone company full time. Very cool.
Joe Bauer:
And is that a full time job?
Tyler Christophel:
Yes.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. So you get into the gym in the morning and then again in the evening.
Tyler Christophel:
Um, I really hate to get up that early if I have to. I will. Christine’s then it was um, no, usually my days consist of working, kind of go into the house, grabbing my bag, maybe grabbing a snack, a little 30 minute window and then I come to the gym and they’re usually waiting on me to get started with some type of my nights going along on the last one out, so.
Joe Bauer:
Okay, cool. Yeah. Cool. It’s cool to hear. I’m really interested in whether or not you know, everybody in this car is working and how that works and how you think that that works out. And then um, do you think that, like if you could do it full time would you or do you have a passion for what you’re doing?
Tyler Christophel:
If I could do it full time, I would in a heartbeat. I would love to do that. Cool. What do you other guys do?
Christine Kole:
Healthy food prep. Basically full time during the season, but I’m a manager at the store. It is Kinda nice though. They understand that I do CrossFit. I feel like the lifestyle that we promote cross over into what I’m doing, so it works.
Joe Bauer:
Okay. Very cool. Do you, as you’re going into this a more hectic season, are you able to pretty much make your own schedule?
Christine Kole:
Yeah, I’m actually in control of the schedule, but yeah, I can kind of tweak the schedule, our training and that’s a really nice.
Joe Bauer:
Okay, cool.
Jared Stevens:
Yeah, Eating to Go sponsors to me, which is really cool. So they hook up our team a lot. We just got to go on this trip where worried about prepping and then my job, I own, I own the CrossFit gym of one seven with my life. So my coach clean. I’m like a babysitter for the kids.
Joe Bauer:
How long have you owned it?
Jared Stevens:
Since 2011, so that’s my job and then
Christine Kole:
He does a lot for the team.
Jared Stevens:
You guys are able to maintain jobs for the most part. That’s awesome.
Tyler Christophel:
Bailey has the coolest job at all.
New Speaker:
Bailey, what’s your job?
Baylee Rayl:
But now I’m working at a digital marketing agency so I build websites and do coding that’s not even close to the realm that we’re in, but I really enjoy it. Well to bring somebody to like to like live on the Internet and I think that that would be something cool that you can get into like I don’t know, promoting themselves through websites and I’ve been seen some athletes make their own websites so maybe someday correlate.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah, absolutely. Have you started picking that up for you guys on the team or for the team or even for Jared’s gym?
Baylee Rayl:
What do you mean?
Joe Bauer:
Like building websites for and promoting them? Yeah, like you were saying, because I agree with you and I do a lot of that stuff myself.
Baylee Rayl:
Yeah. I haven’t really done anything with our. We actually have a different web developer, but make me make some sort of team blogs or videos or blog, moderate training, but it sounds so easy to do, but to me it’s like this big huge project that takes a long time. Started on it yet.
Joe Bauer:
Cool. Cool. So as you, as individuals, what part of being high level athletes are the most difficult for? You?
Christine Kole:
Just hang out a lot which is great and awesome, but then it’s like you have family and friends were all these other things that you’re expected to be really good at. Like as a season, like towards the Games. Everything is focused on a team. Then you’re like, oh my gosh,
Baylee Rayl:
I’m talking about that yesterday about how the training is all. It takes so much energy that it’s hard to like maintain relationships with people who are outside of the CrossFit rhelm for part of that circle.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah, absolutely. And what are your guys? What do you guys look at as the most fun? So the flip side
Christine Kole:
Roadtrips.
Jared Stevens:
The lake is really great.
Tyler Christophel:
If someone’s more people that just say he’s just a blast, enjoy working out. So it’s great.
Joe Bauer:
Nice. Have you guys ever been injured?
Jared Stevens:
Never get this.
Joe Bauer:
I’ve, I’ve probably interviewed, you know, 15 or so Games athletes at this point. Um, and a quarter of them I would say have said I have never been injured.
Jared Stevens:
And they’ve legitimately made it to the Games?
Joe Bauer:
Yeah.
Jared Stevens:
Wow, let us know.
Joe Bauer:
Yeah, absolutely. I haven’t been able to figure out the secret sauce yet, but um, I think it’s pretty interesting to hear people say that and maybe they’re just not telling, being honest with me, but I think that the majority of people have said yeah, and you know, having training a lot myself, I get it, you know. Um, so have you guys have any, have you had any really bad injuries that you’ve had to come back from that you think would be inspirational for people to hear about?
Jared Stevens:
So a lot of my stuff was preexisting from football but CrossFit much worse at some shoulder issues when I started CrossFit. So I started my first regional by 2015 after the Games I was pretty much done. Just because I kept ripping my shoulders more. I had stem cells put in and then we’d rewritten. So I was to the point where I couldn’t snatch, I couldn’t be chest of artists, I was going to call it quits and then I got hooked up with active life RX, Sean passed and Jeremy and they were three groups and I feel like that’s really helpful. Whereas now in painfree I had a lot of imbalances in my shoulders and neck. So I guess that my horse to CrossFit and gravy, but luckily I was able to get it fixed with stem cells. That balancing stuff.
Joe Bauer:
The question I had is around stem cells. I hadn’t heard anybody mentioned that before. So can you explain how you got into actually testing out the stem cells and then what is the process of that? I mean, as, as I know it, you know, the last time I heard about stem cells are like that it was not necessarily legal in the United States and there’s people flying to Europe to get it done. But I am the, I am not informed. So if there’s any information you can share about that. I love to hear.
Jared Stevens:
Uh, yes. So stem cells, they are legal in the US. They just can’t be taking taken from someone else. You can use your own. So what they did for my first procedure is took is that blood and then drilled into my bone in my hip and took out bone marrow and then spun it down because there’s stem cells in all three of those things and they spin it into a paste and then inject it back into the injury.
Jared Stevens:
So my first one, my first procedure, I had a shot in my shoulders. I had a torn labrum and so in two weeks I was cleared to do like skilled workouts that I was already doing because the injury was so bad. And then at the eight week mark I was in a competition in and was able to clean and jerk 365. So like my labor, I’m going super fast and then I’ve had it done in my hip. I had tennis elbow shot into my shoulders like two or three other times for Infraspinatus, supraspinatis. And then just in December I had it shot into my elbows and my right knee at a tears through my patella tendon.
Joe Bauer:
Wow. And does this is just your normal doctor that’s doing this or how does that work?
Jared Stevens:
No, there’s a guy locally that, what do they call it? Yeah, innovative sports medicine. Dr Reed. Um, I guess it’s considered experimental medicine or something. I don’t know. They have a name for it, but you just got to place doc at a hospital place.
Joe Bauer:
Very cool. I think it’s super interesting to hear about that stuff and does. Are you able to get your insurance to pay for that or do you have to pay out of pocket? I’m just curious.
Jared Stevens:
So that’s out of pocket insurance. usually on touching it because of that medicine or whatever they call it. Yeah. Okay. Cool. Well thanks for sharing that. I think it’s really interesting. I hadn’t heard anything about that before, but I feel like that’s the direction that medicine should be headed. And like I said, really interesting stuff. Um, so second to last question here guys, when you have somebody, which I’m sure you get regularly asking you how to make it to the CrossFit games, what kind of answer do you give you? Can each go around and answer this if like to or do it as a team?
Jared Stevens:
Okay, go ahead. Can you go that?
Christine Kole:
But I feel like our gym, like we have some athletes like have a bunch of athletes do that athlete programming and I feel like everyone just kind of knows that. It’s like if you want to go to the Games, you just have to work really hard really into like.
Baylee Rayl:
I think you have to do things that other people aren’t will to do and put in the extra work.
New Speaker:
You got, want it, wanted to get.
Jared Stevens:
Find other people that are way better than everyone else and that’s what we do. What they said, man, you gotta be willing to sacrifice a bunch of things.
Christine Kole:
And I do think training with people that are better than you though is a really big thing that I actually, I lived in Michigan and I was training by myself and really wanted it to see process seriously. And then the owner of the gym I was at, his brother, brother-in-law should move down here and I was like, yes. Like I just knew that I needed to be around me that were better than me and I feel like I’ve gotten so much better now. She’s better than all of us!
Jared Stevens:
Seriously. She’s so strong. I know I can.
Tyler Christophel:
I can attest to that too. Like when I came into the gym, one of the things that held me back was maximal strength and when I came across I was surrounded by really good CrossFit athletes who did not struggle with maximal strength Jared Stevens, Austin. So then being around him and surrounding myself with them forced me in a position to be able to move in that broad my bottom line up. So definitely surrounding yourself with people that are better than you and humble you literally every single day.
Joe Bauer:
I think that that seems that’s a great, great philosophy. I believe guys. I mean that’s what I’ve done with business and things like that, so I. I think that that makes a lot of sense. Do you think it’s possible for people that aren’t able to pick up and move to get that same type of environment maybe through a coach or something or is it have to be in the same room?
Christine Kole:
Search it out though? Like I think that if you’re like, I want to go to the CrossFit games, like you would be willing to move across the country. Like I moved without a job. You know? It’s like that’s something that I wanted so badly that it’s like you’re willing to make those places.
Jared Stevens:
I think it definitely takes a certain personality type to be able to do it just because you have to be accepting of how uncomfortable going to be training because it’s, I would say the training for the Games or to be a Games athlete. It’s not training to be healthy anymore. It’s more, yeah. I would say detrimental to your body and overall health. Every time I get bloodwork done, my white blood cell counts are out of control because of training, not action sick. It just looks like it when a certain type of person and then like they said, I feel like you’ll go find someone to train with a few people who can do it right out of their garage. You know, like Matt Fraser, he’s so motivated that he can make it, train them by himself. That’s pretty rare. But then other, yeah, with a program or get a coach, that kind of thing. Compared to other coaching. I know that’s what Brute Strength does for a few, uh,
Christine Kole:
When I was in Michigan. I started doing their programming and even though I was still in Michigan, compare against and that really helps too, you know? Sure. Yeah. I probably do it that way. It is very beneficial.
Joe Bauer:
I loved your point about if you really want to be a CrossFit games athlete, you’d be willing to move across the country in order to get it done. I like that a lot. See, it makes sense. It makes sense for sure. Great time chatting with you guys. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. Is there anything that you guys would like to promote? How can people find you? All of that stuff?
Jared Stevens:
Yeah, it’s follow our probably best to follow our posts, stuff about us, a lot of stuff, a better gym, CrossFit_417, and then mine’s JaredWayneStevens, all caps. And then I’ll show you the other is BailyRayl. I don’t know if you didn’t see it.
Joe Bauer:
Kind of. I’ll make sure I’ll put it up in this, in the show notes if you just say it off real quick and then people are listening.
Christine Kole:
Yeah. Bailey Rayl and then tyler is TChristophel12.
Jared Stevens:
That’s probably way to follow.
Joe Bauer:
Cool guys. Well I know the Internet connection has been a little bit sloppy and I, I’m sorry about that, but it’s been a pleasure talking with you and I appreciate you taking the time and sharing all of your knowledge and wisdom and I think that some of the stuff that you said really helpful, help people that you know want to know more about how to get to where you guys are. So I really appreciate it. And, uh, if you ever need any help from me to promote anything or whatnot, just feel free to reach out and I’ll be happy to share it on my social channels as well.
Jared Stevens:
Awesome. Cool.
Joe Bauer:
Alright guys, take care. Good luck of the Games and I’ll talk to you soon.