Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 155. Akin Akman, Coach & Co-Founder AARMY

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155. Akin Akman, Coach & Co-Founder AARMY · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

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Speaker 1: Everything that happens is happening for you in support of you.
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Speaker 1: It's building you, it's sharpening you, it's preparing you to
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Speaker 1: actually live the life you were meant to live. And
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Speaker 1: that means you know, at some points there's going to
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Speaker 1: be uncertainty, and as long as you're certain in yourself
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Speaker 1: and who you are and your mission, there's no stopping you.
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Speaker 2: Hey everyone, Emily ABOUDI here you are listening to episode
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Speaker 2: one fifty five of Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast where
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Speaker 2: I sit down with inspiring individuals to talk about big wins,
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Speaker 2: tough moments, and everything in between. On the show, you
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Speaker 2: can expect vulnerability, motivation, and candid discussions with everyone from
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Speaker 2: top athletes and CEOs to aspiring entrepreneurs and what it
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Speaker 2: really takes to follow your passions. My mission is simple
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Speaker 2: to inspire you to be your best self, move with intention,
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Speaker 2: and have some fun along the way. Today, I am
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Speaker 2: so excited to bring you my conversation with Acin ackman Man.
1:21
Speaker 2: I have known Achen for a while and this conversation
1:24
Speaker 2: has been something that we have been talking about for
1:26
Speaker 2: what seems like forever. Growing up, Acen tells us in
1:30
Speaker 2: today's episode, that he was a tennis whiz. He trained
1:34
Speaker 2: alongside some of the greats, including Maria Sharapova and Tatiana Galovin,
1:39
Speaker 2: and he dreamed of being the best and of course
1:44
Speaker 2: going pro until a back injury totally sidelined him. Now
1:49
Speaker 2: coming to terms with his circumstance during that hurdle moment,
1:52
Speaker 2: it was not easy, and he says in today's episode
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Speaker 2: that he probably went through a bit of depression at
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Speaker 2: the time, but looking back on it now, he can't
2:01
Speaker 2: imagine his life without that happening, and that's because that
2:05
Speaker 2: injury led him down a completely new path, the path
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Speaker 2: of becoming a coach. In today's episode, acinshares the details
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Speaker 2: surrounding the first spin class he ever taught in Miami
2:16
Speaker 2: and how he ended up moving to New York to
2:19
Speaker 2: pursue opportunities in the modeling industry. What started is him
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Speaker 2: teaching some classes on the side at a crunch gym,
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Speaker 2: turned into him getting scouted by Soul Cycle, where he
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Speaker 2: would ultimately become one of the most in demand coaches
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Speaker 2: in the city, with thirty plus classes each week, all
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Speaker 2: of which would sell out in just seconds. It was
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Speaker 2: during this time that his boot camp classes also became
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Speaker 2: wildly popular, and he became inspired to create a concept
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Speaker 2: of his own. Acin talks me through the challenges that
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Speaker 2: came hand in hand with launching Army shortly before a
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Speaker 2: global pandemic. I was so intrigued to hear about akens backstory.
2:58
Speaker 2: But what I think is super interesting about him is
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Speaker 2: really his mindset and how dialed in he is to
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Speaker 2: the correlation between how we move our bodies and how
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Speaker 2: we feel and what we feel empowered to do. His
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Speaker 2: goal really is to help someone graduate from what they
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Speaker 2: thought they could do, what their baseline was, and taking
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Speaker 2: that to the next level, not just again in fitness,
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Speaker 2: but in life. And honestly, I think he has a
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Speaker 2: lot of qualities of a great coach and that he
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Speaker 2: inspires his athletes both physically and mentally, so that when
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Speaker 2: they leave his class, when they leave an environment with him,
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Speaker 2: they want to level up in other areas of their lives. Now,
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Speaker 2: if Army sounds familiar, that's because not all that long ago,
3:44
Speaker 2: I had Atkins co founder one of them, Angela Manuel Davis,
3:48
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Speaker 2: you there. Link to sign up and register is in
5:50
Speaker 2: the show notes. Make sure you are following along with
5:53
Speaker 2: Hurdle on social media. It's at Hurdle Podcast. I am
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Speaker 2: over at Emily a Body and this week fun fact,
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Speaker 2: I am going to be choosing one lucky winner to
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Speaker 3: To enter for your chance to win this awesome prize.
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Speaker 2: Click on over to the show notes and click leave
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Speaker 2: me a voice message. I am crowdsourcing questions from the
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Speaker 2: hurdle community to put into upcoming episodes, and these can
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Speaker 2: literally be about anything. They can be about career, being single,
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Speaker 2: All right, I'm excited for this episode. Let's get to
6:38
Speaker 2: it with that. Let's get to hurdling.
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Speaker 4: Today.
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Speaker 2: I'm sitting down with Acan Ackman. He is the co
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Speaker 2: founder of Army. How you doing, Bud, I'm doing great.
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Speaker 4: I'm so happy to be here seeing you again.
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Speaker 2: I know it's been so long since we've seen each
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Speaker 2: other in the flash, but I'm happy that we've finally
7:07
Speaker 2: found the time to make this happen. So much has
7:10
Speaker 2: happened since I've last seen you. Why don't we start
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Speaker 2: off with you just talking to me a little bit
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Speaker 2: about what Army is. I know the hurdlers have been
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Speaker 2: exposed to it briefly because Angela was on the show,
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Speaker 2: but give me the four one one.
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Speaker 1: Well, Army is it's a training facility, and it's it's
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Speaker 1: more than just training physically.
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Speaker 4: It's training physically to unlock the mental.
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Speaker 1: So that you're prepped and equipped to handle everything that
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Speaker 1: life has in store for you. And it's a space
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Speaker 1: to unlock the greatness that is already inside of you.
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Speaker 1: And and we do that through physical exertion and finding
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Speaker 1: those moments where we can reset and recondition the mind
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Speaker 1: to actually be on your side.
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Speaker 2: So when we're reconditioning the mind, so to speak, talk
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Speaker 2: to me about what kind of movement someone could expect
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Speaker 2: if they were to come work out with you, whether
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Speaker 2: it be virtually or hopefully soon in the studio.
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Speaker 1: It's it's a lot of different movements each each month
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Speaker 1: we have a thematic series, which are programs and UH.
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Speaker 1: And this month it's all about balance, So we have
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Speaker 1: a bosu and UH and you'll be you know, learning
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Speaker 1: how to balance on the bosu and doing basic movements
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Speaker 1: that you do on the mat on abosu with added
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Speaker 1: appropriate reception and UH. And in those moments where uh,
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Speaker 1: you know, we've all felt the burn or we've all
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Speaker 1: felt uh, the exertion where we're pushing to a certain point,
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Speaker 1: And in those moments where you have a choice whether
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Speaker 1: you can give up and nothing changes or you stay
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Speaker 1: in and and you know, check in with your body
8:52
Speaker 1: and check in with your thoughts and that's when you
8:55
Speaker 1: can create new pathways, not just neuromuscularly but neuro new
9:00
Speaker 1: neural pathways, which is self talk basically. So right now
9:07
Speaker 1: you would expect that. But before that, we had functional
9:10
Speaker 1: training for sports, and then we had sports specific training
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Speaker 1: where we basically mimicked you know, tennis or basketball throughout
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Speaker 1: all the movements.
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Speaker 4: And it just changes.
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Speaker 1: Monthly, but the prior month feeds what we're going to
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Speaker 1: do in the next and so it does the messaging
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Speaker 1: that surrounds it.
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Speaker 2: I know that we'll definitely jump into some champions mindset
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Speaker 2: stuff in a little bit. But you mentioned tennis, which
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Speaker 2: I know originally was your bread and butter. So why
9:43
Speaker 2: don't we dial it back and you talk to me
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Speaker 2: a little bit about your upbringing and how you got
9:49
Speaker 2: into sport from a young age.
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Speaker 4: My parents put me and my sister in the tennis.
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Speaker 1: I was five years old and I was playing in
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Speaker 1: my club in Turkey and is marri Turkey, and and
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Speaker 1: my dad read a book about this man Nick VOLATII
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Speaker 1: and uh and that there was an academy in Florida,
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Speaker 1: in Brandonton, Florida, and that and then he decided that
10:16
Speaker 1: me and my sister had to go go there, So
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Speaker 1: we went to Brandonton, Florida.
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Speaker 4: This is two years.
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Speaker 1: After I started playing tennis as seven years old, and
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Speaker 1: and at the time, they weren't admitting, uh, just anyone.
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Speaker 1: You had to be a certain level at a certain age,
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Speaker 1: and they weren't really taking seven year olds unless you
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Speaker 1: were at a certain talent or caliber. So we had
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Speaker 1: to basically audition, you know, go on the court and
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Speaker 1: uh an audition and and and then we made it
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Speaker 1: into the academy and we were put in next group
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Speaker 1: with Maria Sharapova, Tatiana Gullivian there on accorny Kova was there,
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Speaker 1: like everyone was in that group, and you just trained
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Speaker 1: in different courts. But it was led by Nick. So
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Speaker 1: that's where it started, and I played tennis my whole life.
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Speaker 1: The training was intense. That's kind of where a lot
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Speaker 1: of my philosophies flourished as an athlete, but then as
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Speaker 1: a coach as well. You know, Nick is still he's
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Speaker 1: ninety something years old and he's on the court, still coaching.
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Speaker 4: All day long.
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Speaker 1: He loves it, and I would hope that I can
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Speaker 1: be that someday, you know, no limits, always shows up
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Speaker 1: and just like you know, determined person. And I feel
11:40
Speaker 1: like I am.
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Speaker 4: Very much that way as well.
11:45
Speaker 1: And so I trained every day there except for Sundays
11:49
Speaker 1: because he always wanted Sundays off, that was like his thing.
11:55
Speaker 1: But I kept training on Sundays too, secret because you know,
12:00
Speaker 1: when you want to be, when you want to be
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Speaker 1: the best, you want to you want to work harder
12:05
Speaker 1: than anybody else. And so that's where my mentality in
12:10
Speaker 1: a lot of ways came from. But then also there
12:13
Speaker 1: was this community that bred in IMG where every UH
12:18
Speaker 1: student athlete basically was there to be a professional. And
12:25
Speaker 1: that was such a great energy, like a different world.
12:31
Speaker 1: Like you go into the academy and it's a different
12:33
Speaker 1: world and your community isn't that you're missing out on
12:36
Speaker 1: all these other things, which is not a bad thing
12:40
Speaker 1: to want to go out or like be a kid,
12:43
Speaker 1: but like, but that was all of our mission and
12:47
Speaker 1: and UH and we would be missing out if we
12:50
Speaker 1: weren't a practice, you know.
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Speaker 4: And then we would go and play tournaments around the world.
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Speaker 4: So that's where my intro to training started. And then
13:03
Speaker 4: and then.
13:04
Speaker 1: I coached for the first not for the first time.
13:07
Speaker 1: But I used to coach my sister in like fitness
13:13
Speaker 1: because she was a phenomenal tennis player too, but I
13:15
Speaker 1: would basically train her outside of tennis sometimes. And then
13:21
Speaker 1: and then I trained my brother who's nine years younger,
13:24
Speaker 1: and my cousin who's like fifteen years younger, so that
13:29
Speaker 1: I was their first coaches. And I started coaching when
13:32
Speaker 1: I was fifteen. And then I got hurt. So instead
13:37
Speaker 1: of going pro, like Nick wanted me to try going pro,
13:41
Speaker 1: which was really exciting to hear. You know, this coach
13:48
Speaker 1: who's basically coached four generations of top ten players tell
13:52
Speaker 1: you to not go to college but to grow pro
13:56
Speaker 1: is pretty exciting. But then I got hurt, so I
14:00
Speaker 1: I only applied to one college and I went to college,
14:02
Speaker 1: but there I got hurt even more so I couldn't
14:05
Speaker 1: play UH, And I went to IMG again and I
14:09
Speaker 1: coached with Nick and UH and he kind of reinvented
14:14
Speaker 1: me as a coach there as well, and kind of,
14:17
Speaker 1: you know, got the opportunity to see the difference between
14:21
Speaker 1: a player and a coach.
14:22
Speaker 2: Before we keep going with this, talk to me a
14:24
Speaker 2: little bit about what the nature was of the injury
14:27
Speaker 2: that prevented you from going down the pro path.
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Speaker 1: I had two her needed discs in my lower in
14:33
Speaker 1: my lower back L four L five, and it was
14:36
Speaker 1: pretty major.
14:37
Speaker 4: I couldn't I couldn't even walk, and it's like high.
14:41
Speaker 1: School and and I had actually transferred. I went to
14:47
Speaker 1: Boston because I wasn't at IMG at that point, but
14:50
Speaker 1: it was a IMG collaborative club and in like outside
14:56
Speaker 1: of Boston, it's called Manchester Athletic Club. And Mike coach
15:00
Speaker 1: from the academy that Nick appointed a travel coach for
15:03
Speaker 1: me and my sister, and his name is Francisco Montoya.
15:07
Speaker 1: He was leading the Manchester Athletic Clubs tennis.
15:13
Speaker 4: Tennis program.
15:14
Speaker 1: So I went there and he was training me, and
15:17
Speaker 1: so I got injured there, not because of anything that
15:21
Speaker 1: they were doing, but just overuse. And one hit was
15:25
Speaker 1: more flexible than the other. So every time I would
15:28
Speaker 1: twist hit my backhand, I was putting pressure on it
15:31
Speaker 1: instead of just like taking a second and building that
15:33
Speaker 1: mobility and flexibility back so I could, you know, have
15:37
Speaker 1: a greater range of motion and really stiffening the core up.
15:40
Speaker 4: So he's just the little things that actually.
15:43
Speaker 1: Taught me how to be a better coach, which in hindsight,
15:46
Speaker 1: I'm really grateful.
15:47
Speaker 3: For for you when you went through that injury.
15:49
Speaker 2: I mean, I can't even imagine how scary it must
15:52
Speaker 2: have been for you to not really be able to
15:54
Speaker 2: walk at that time. I mean, now, through training and
15:57
Speaker 2: so much of the stuff that we'll get into really
16:00
Speaker 2: strengthened the mind as a muscle. But when you're a teenager,
16:03
Speaker 2: like you don't have those resources. So how did you
16:06
Speaker 2: get through that time?
16:08
Speaker 1: You feel like everything's like happening to you, Like You're
16:12
Speaker 1: like why me?
16:13
Speaker 4: Why is it? Like why now?
16:15
Speaker 1: Like I'm about to, you know, finally get to the
16:19
Speaker 1: things that I've been working.
16:20
Speaker 4: For my whole life, like why you know?
16:22
Speaker 1: And you kind of like sit in that a little bit,
16:24
Speaker 1: but those thoughts don't really do anything, you know, and
16:28
Speaker 1: in the moment, I think, you know, looking back at it,
16:31
Speaker 1: it was also caused by stress because I was an
16:35
Speaker 1: exchange student. Because it was my senior of high school.
16:39
Speaker 1: I switched you know, countries and cities like and and
16:44
Speaker 1: schools and and I didn't know anyone. But then I
16:47
Speaker 1: also was living with a family that wasn't my family,
16:49
Speaker 1: and it was just kind of like not the best experience.
16:55
Speaker 1: So I think that also you carry a lot when
16:58
Speaker 1: you aren't inmotionally. I guess I call it mature, And
17:02
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that you're young or immature. It just
17:05
Speaker 1: means that there's a level of emotional matureness that you
17:09
Speaker 1: have to achieve to not let certain things and emotions
17:13
Speaker 1: kind of take it out on you physically. You know,
17:16
Speaker 1: learn how to separate things or deal with things in
17:19
Speaker 1: a different way that I didn't know how to do then,
17:22
Speaker 1: but it taught me because I had to go through it.
17:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, the vibe that you're explaining right now
17:29
Speaker 2: is probably how a lot of people felt at this
17:32
Speaker 2: time last.
17:33
Speaker 3: Year, that idea of Wow, I feel.
17:35
Speaker 2: Everything's happening, it's all going so great, and then literally
17:38
Speaker 2: just dead.
17:38
Speaker 4: Stop on the world exactly.
17:41
Speaker 1: Yeah.
17:41
Speaker 2: Wait, So when you didn't have this level of quote
17:43
Speaker 2: unquote emotional matureness or emotional maturity, how did you cope?
17:49
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like I probably was a little
17:53
Speaker 1: bit depressed at the time.
17:55
Speaker 4: I don't know.
17:56
Speaker 1: I didn't like talk to anyone or anything about it.
17:58
Speaker 1: It was more like I made this decision, I'm going
18:01
Speaker 1: to stick to it. I'm going to, like, you know,
18:05
Speaker 1: stay in Boston and h and finish out this year
18:09
Speaker 1: and then uh, since I'm not going to go pro now,
18:13
Speaker 1: and I have to kind of figure out I'm going
18:14
Speaker 1: to go to.
18:15
Speaker 4: School, so it's just like making decisions.
18:18
Speaker 1: And then I realized too in it, I'm like, whatever happens,
18:23
Speaker 1: you can always find a way to be okay.
18:25
Speaker 4: So then that.
18:26
Speaker 1: Stress level just also drops, like the expectation or like
18:31
Speaker 1: proving yourself to other people, like all of that stuff
18:34
Speaker 1: kind of like dissipates, and you're and then you're like, okay, well,
18:38
Speaker 1: I trained my whole life for this thing, but I
18:40
Speaker 1: can use what I learned from that in many different
18:42
Speaker 1: ways and apply it to my future, even though I
18:45
Speaker 1: don't know what that's going to look like yet, I'm
18:48
Speaker 1: just going to go go into it. And in college
18:50
Speaker 1: as well, I lost my scholarship and and I had
18:54
Speaker 1: to figure out a way to stay in in college,
18:57
Speaker 1: and you know, I.
19:00
Speaker 4: Coached, and I.
19:02
Speaker 1: Was like a loan officer for a second, like I
19:06
Speaker 1: worked at like a store because I also broke my wrist.
19:09
Speaker 4: And I couldn't coach tennis with my right hand. But
19:13
Speaker 4: then I also taught with my left hand, so like you.
19:15
Speaker 1: Figure out everything and there's going to be obstacles and roadblocks,
19:20
Speaker 1: but there's always a way through if you're open to
19:24
Speaker 1: finding the way. I really appreciate having gone through all
19:29
Speaker 1: that because it really prepares you to handle things that
19:32
Speaker 1: are way bigger now, like a pandemic that nobody expected,
19:38
Speaker 1: and be able to pivot a startup and just always
19:41
Speaker 1: find a way forward, even if it's not the expected
19:44
Speaker 1: way or the way that you trained to move forward.
19:48
Speaker 2: For sure, So you go through the stage where you're
19:51
Speaker 2: dealing with your broken wrist, after you were dealing with
19:54
Speaker 2: your hernitated discs, and that stint as a loan officer,
19:57
Speaker 2: when do you get to the point where you start
20:00
Speaker 2: to realize, you know, what I could really thrive doing
20:04
Speaker 2: just coaching.
20:05
Speaker 1: First of all, I loved training, so that was never
20:07
Speaker 1: gonna stop. And uh, and I loved coaching. So I
20:12
Speaker 1: loved coaching. But but it was still the stigma of
20:16
Speaker 1: this ego. That's like, you know, growing up, all your
20:19
Speaker 1: friends were like, well coaches, like you only coach if
20:23
Speaker 1: you didn't make it kind of thing, like you kind
20:26
Speaker 1: of had have this I did. I don't know why
20:28
Speaker 1: I had this thought process, but I loved coaching and
20:33
Speaker 1: and it was just a different value you felt when
20:38
Speaker 1: you actually help someone do things that they never thought
20:42
Speaker 1: they could do, or win a match, or.
20:46
Speaker 4: Or even like help them through more more of like how.
20:52
Speaker 1: They're gonna, you know, go about life just through teaching
20:56
Speaker 1: them how to play tennis, you know. I but I
21:01
Speaker 1: had to come to terms with it, and it didn't
21:03
Speaker 1: really shift to what it became until I decided to
21:08
Speaker 1: go all in on it. So I coached, but then
21:11
Speaker 1: I also got, you know, recruited to model. I was like,
21:13
Speaker 1: let me start trying acting and let me start doing
21:17
Speaker 1: like all these different things because I wasn't I never
21:20
Speaker 1: had the chance to experiment with like where else I
21:24
Speaker 1: could go because I was already.
21:27
Speaker 4: Tunnel vision on becoming.
21:29
Speaker 1: A pro tennis player, which I loved, and that taught
21:32
Speaker 1: me a lot because when you are specific about what
21:34
Speaker 1: you want, that thing really has a chance to be extraordinary,
21:39
Speaker 1: and you really build the skill to a certain level
21:43
Speaker 1: that you couldn't if you were kind of having your
21:46
Speaker 1: hand in many different things.
21:47
Speaker 4: So that happened in New York. Actually I came to
21:50
Speaker 4: New York.
21:50
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, I got into group fitness in
21:52
Speaker 1: Miami at Crunch.
21:55
Speaker 3: When did you go to Miami.
21:56
Speaker 4: I lived well. I went to college in Boca. I
21:59
Speaker 4: lived in South Beach.
22:00
Speaker 1: I also taught at Flamingo Park tennis center, which was
22:06
Speaker 1: run by Nick's son, Nick Military's son Jimmy Boltay and Uh,
22:13
Speaker 1: and I work with him and I loved working with
22:15
Speaker 1: him and and and during the time, I also would
22:18
Speaker 1: wake up and go running. And I started cycling because
22:22
Speaker 1: of my back injury because I was the first one
22:24
Speaker 1: of the first things that I was clear to do.
22:27
Speaker 1: Cycling and swimming. It was the first thing I was
22:29
Speaker 1: clear to do. And I fell in love with cycling.
22:31
Speaker 1: I started taking spin classes at Crunch and and and
22:37
Speaker 1: then I went into all of the boot camps and
22:38
Speaker 1: abb classes and the instructors were so nice and phenomenal,
22:43
Speaker 1: and I was like, wait a minute, I love doing this.
22:45
Speaker 1: Let me ask this instructor I always take if they're hiring.
22:49
Speaker 1: So I asked this woman Roya and Crunch Miami, who
22:55
Speaker 1: I talked to, and She's like, well, you talk to
22:57
Speaker 1: me and then uh. And then I was like, okay,
23:00
Speaker 1: well I'm getting certified and this and that, and I
23:03
Speaker 1: studied sports medicine. Let me know what I need to
23:07
Speaker 1: do and I can start, and she's like, well, give
23:09
Speaker 1: me your number and I'll call you to sub and
23:11
Speaker 1: if you're already in the process, that's okay.
23:15
Speaker 4: If you're already in the process of getting certified, we
23:17
Speaker 4: can like hire you.
23:19
Speaker 1: And then the next day she called me to sub
23:22
Speaker 1: a cycle or a spin class, and.
23:26
Speaker 4: I went. It was a full room, and then they
23:27
Speaker 4: all became my athletes.
23:31
Speaker 2: This is funny because you're the second person that I've
23:33
Speaker 2: had on the show that randomly got asked to sub
23:37
Speaker 2: a spin class having never taught a spin class before.
23:41
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, no, I wasn't. I was just like really excited.
23:45
Speaker 1: IM like, yeah, of course I can do it. And
23:46
Speaker 1: I've already taught tennis and I taught kitesurfing and I
23:49
Speaker 1: didn't even talk about that before.
23:50
Speaker 3: When did you teach kitesurfing?
23:55
Speaker 1: When I was like seventeen, I taught in Turkey, So
24:05
Speaker 1: it was right after my I healed from my back
24:08
Speaker 1: injury too, so I was like, well, well, I might as.
24:10
Speaker 4: Well just go and start teaching kitesurfing.
24:13
Speaker 2: I feel like that's like a pretty risky thing to
24:15
Speaker 2: start teaching because of the unpredictability of the wind.
24:20
Speaker 1: I know, Well, I did it and then my and
24:23
Speaker 1: then I needed a summer job, and my mom was like,
24:27
Speaker 1: they're hiring kitesurfer instructors. I was like, mom, I've only
24:31
Speaker 1: started doing it two weeks ago, and she was like,
24:34
Speaker 1: so what, you can do it? And I was like, Okay,
24:36
Speaker 1: I think you're right.
24:37
Speaker 4: I can do it. And then I was actually a
24:38
Speaker 4: really good kitesurf instructor.
24:41
Speaker 2: Let's go back to the part where you're teaching spin
24:44
Speaker 2: on a wind, So talk to me about that experience
24:46
Speaker 2: in the room and how you felt when you left.
24:48
Speaker 1: Well, it was so funny because it's like they also
24:51
Speaker 1: didn't have microphones in the one I taught it.
24:54
Speaker 4: It was out and road and I had to scream.
24:58
Speaker 1: And uh, and I'm really like I have a lot
25:01
Speaker 1: of energy, and when I'm screaming, my veins are like popping.
25:04
Speaker 1: I'm like, I don't know if people can hear me.
25:07
Speaker 1: I can't hear myself. Music's blasting. I had, Like it
25:11
Speaker 1: was such a high, Like I was so excited and
25:15
Speaker 1: nervous and at this point, you know, being an athlete
25:18
Speaker 1: my whole life, I can channel my nerves and my
25:22
Speaker 1: energy into action, and I like went all out and
25:26
Speaker 1: I was like cramping while I was like screaming and
25:30
Speaker 1: like and then it ended and it was just like this,
25:33
Speaker 1: like such a high that I was so exhausted. Afterwards,
25:37
Speaker 1: I'm like, I don't know, it just happened. That was awesome.
25:39
Speaker 1: I can do this all the time. And then that's
25:42
Speaker 1: like how it started in group fitness. And so I
25:46
Speaker 1: transferred over to New York when I decided to move here,
25:51
Speaker 1: and I came here also because Ford Models wanted me
25:54
Speaker 1: here and I did well when I visited, so I
25:57
Speaker 1: decided to move and then had me re audition that Crunch.
26:02
Speaker 1: So I read auditioned at Crunch and they took me
26:05
Speaker 1: on and I had a regular schedule and bit by
26:09
Speaker 1: bit everything like actually my my Crunch sessions, they were
26:15
Speaker 1: full immediately and whenever I would sub out, everyone would
26:19
Speaker 1: be so upset. And that's kind of where it started.
26:21
Speaker 1: And they were like, akin, you need to make you know,
26:24
Speaker 1: a website or a Facebook page and let us know
26:27
Speaker 1: when you can't you know when you're gonna sub at
26:30
Speaker 1: six am and this and that, and I was like, Okay,
26:32
Speaker 1: I'll do it. And I made a Facebook page and
26:34
Speaker 1: they told me, they said, call us Akins Army and
26:39
Speaker 1: and they told me the name. I was like okay,
26:41
Speaker 1: and yeah, they're like call us Atkins Army.
26:45
Speaker 4: I was like okay.
26:45
Speaker 1: And then I started building that and I went on
26:48
Speaker 1: Instagram and made Akins Army there as well. And then
26:52
Speaker 1: they would ask for clothing or merchandise and and I
26:55
Speaker 1: was like, okay, I'll do that too, and I would.
26:57
Speaker 4: Go to American Apparel.
26:58
Speaker 1: I made my logo photoshop an illustrator and like screenprinted
27:03
Speaker 1: all these things on like Blank's merchandise at American Apparel,
27:08
Speaker 1: and then I would give him out to everyone.
27:10
Speaker 4: And that's kind of how it all started.
27:12
Speaker 1: And then I made my website from the logo too,
27:15
Speaker 1: and my now partner I would go to his office,
27:19
Speaker 1: Lared and Partners.
27:20
Speaker 4: He had this huge branding firm, so I'd be like.
27:25
Speaker 1: Hey, can I like, can I download photoshop from you guys,
27:29
Speaker 1: and like and what do you think about this logo.
27:32
Speaker 4: And try to like, you know, get him in on it.
27:34
Speaker 1: And he helped me with that too, and that's kind
27:38
Speaker 1: of where I started convincing him to work with me
27:41
Speaker 1: too and build what is now Army.
27:44
Speaker 3: Wow.
27:45
Speaker 1: But it was it was like a process and when
27:47
Speaker 1: I when it was funny because at the time, like
27:50
Speaker 1: none of these studios existed, like Soul Cycle was. I
27:53
Speaker 1: didn't even know about it. I didn't know about Flywheel.
27:56
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, they were all recruiting me.
27:59
Speaker 1: They were all coming to Crunch and taking my class
28:02
Speaker 1: there and recruiting me. And and so when I went
28:06
Speaker 1: in and met Julian Elizabeth, I really like them and
28:11
Speaker 1: their energy. So I went in and Julie offered me
28:16
Speaker 1: the position, and I was like, well, okay, well I model,
28:20
Speaker 1: and so I can't go too far away from where
28:22
Speaker 1: I live because I like after the you know, after coaching,
28:25
Speaker 1: I need to come back change and like run to
28:28
Speaker 1: an audition.
28:28
Speaker 4: So I need the mid days free.
28:30
Speaker 1: I can work in the morning or in the afternoon,
28:32
Speaker 1: and then I have to sub out whenever for any
28:36
Speaker 1: gigs that I have because I'm also in that world.
28:39
Speaker 4: And she was like okay, okay, okay.
28:40
Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, I had thirty two
28:43
Speaker 1: to thirty four classes a week there, and I was
28:47
Speaker 1: on top of it still at Crunch doing my boot camps.
28:50
Speaker 1: So I was teaching forty five hours a week. And
28:55
Speaker 1: meanwhile I had told them that I needed these windows,
29:00
Speaker 1: but that freedom gave me like the you know, the
29:05
Speaker 1: the chance to go all in, and when I did
29:07
Speaker 1: go all in, it kind of all changed.
29:16
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31:00
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31:05
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31:11
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Speaker 2: get back to the show before we keep going here.
31:47
Speaker 2: Julian and Elizabeth obviously soul Cycle. I've had Charlie on
31:51
Speaker 2: the show before. She's saying their praises as well. I
31:54
Speaker 2: know both of you have a history with the company.
31:57
Speaker 2: For you, when you started teaching that many classes a week,
32:01
Speaker 2: did you at the beginning ask yourself like, am I
32:04
Speaker 2: capable of this? Or did you always just have this
32:07
Speaker 2: unwavering belief in yourself that you were strong enough to
32:10
Speaker 2: handle what you were getting into.
32:13
Speaker 4: Oh? My thing was like, I've been trained for this
32:16
Speaker 4: my whole life.
32:18
Speaker 1: And not to mention, if I'm going to be a
32:20
Speaker 1: coach and I'm going to demand a certain level of
32:23
Speaker 1: excellence from my athletes and I want them to have
32:27
Speaker 1: a space to grow. I, as the coach, need to
32:30
Speaker 1: show up and put in the hours so that my
32:35
Speaker 1: athletes have a chance to actually grow into that expectation
32:40
Speaker 1: or that vision that I have.
32:43
Speaker 4: It's more for the people.
32:45
Speaker 1: And it didn't start right away where it's like, you know,
32:48
Speaker 1: first they gave me like five six ams, you know,
32:54
Speaker 1: five or six am, and then I had a nine
32:56
Speaker 1: thirty PM.
32:57
Speaker 4: So it was like, you know, they get me the midday.
33:00
Speaker 1: Free, really, and so when I started being able to,
33:07
Speaker 1: you know, sell out, because they also like not Julian Elizabeth,
33:10
Speaker 1: but the training program would say like, well, you you know,
33:15
Speaker 1: can sell out classes at Crunch where they have a
33:20
Speaker 1: membership and it's free to train with you basically, but
33:23
Speaker 1: can you sell out when it's you know, thirty two
33:28
Speaker 1: per class?
33:31
Speaker 4: And I was like, of course I can. I'm the best.
33:36
Speaker 1: And I was like, and no one is going to
33:39
Speaker 1: show up the way I'm going to show up, not
33:41
Speaker 1: only just physically, but in terms of learning everything that
33:46
Speaker 1: I need to know to be a coach. I'm always learning,
33:49
Speaker 1: always growing, always building in every way because once my
33:53
Speaker 1: athletes reach a.
33:54
Speaker 4: Certain level, it's up to me to bring them even higher.
33:58
Speaker 2: And I think this, I think this mentality is really interesting,
34:01
Speaker 2: right because a lot of people struggle with saying a
34:04
Speaker 2: sentence that you just said, like I am the best,
34:07
Speaker 2: or I can do this, or just having that like
34:10
Speaker 2: unwavering sense of self belief for you, I mean you
34:14
Speaker 2: were at the beginning arguably despite being good at what
34:16
Speaker 2: you were doing, like, you were still relatively early in
34:19
Speaker 2: your career, especially compared to where you are now. So
34:23
Speaker 2: where do you think that came from your background in tennis?
34:26
Speaker 1: Well, when I went into sul cycle, I already had
34:28
Speaker 1: like seven eight years of experience, you know, as a
34:35
Speaker 1: group fitness coach.
34:38
Speaker 4: So that was one and two.
34:41
Speaker 1: I have already been through times where I let other
34:47
Speaker 1: people's limited thoughts affect mine or let them dictate who
34:53
Speaker 1: I can be, and I was no longer doing that
34:56
Speaker 1: and there was no space for that. And I was that,
35:01
Speaker 1: you know, I know who I am and how I
35:04
Speaker 1: show up and all the time that I put into.
35:10
Speaker 4: This world.
35:10
Speaker 1: It's literally my whole life. So in the way, nobody
35:15
Speaker 1: has the experience I have. So that was my mindset
35:20
Speaker 1: coming in. And then I was also not saying that
35:24
Speaker 1: I'm you know, done learning able to also see and
35:29
Speaker 1: learn from everything else that was happening around me and
35:32
Speaker 1: everyone else that was also doing well in the in
35:37
Speaker 1: the field.
35:38
Speaker 2: It must have been crazy for you when you started
35:41
Speaker 2: to sell out those fives, those sixes, because I remember
35:47
Speaker 2: when we met, this is probably a little over five
35:49
Speaker 2: years ago. Now, you were an instructor where if I
35:53
Speaker 2: didn't sign up within thirty seconds of your class going live,
35:57
Speaker 2: you don't sign up, you don't get in.
35:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, And that was for Imagine.
36:02
Speaker 1: That was for thirty four classes a week at Solo
36:06
Speaker 1: Cycle and all the thirty four classes. So even like
36:09
Speaker 1: the times that other people will say it's like, oh,
36:13
Speaker 1: it's the time slot, Like that time slot is bad, Like,
36:16
Speaker 1: there are no bad time slots if you have a mission,
36:20
Speaker 1: because the mission is not about me selling out. The
36:23
Speaker 1: mission is to create a space for people to come
36:27
Speaker 1: in and actually grow. And through teaching them a skill
36:31
Speaker 1: and giving them the time to actually build the skill,
36:35
Speaker 1: you get to build their mindset and then they can
36:37
Speaker 1: go off. And I call people my champions, like champions
36:42
Speaker 1: in all different walks of life, applying the same mentality
36:46
Speaker 1: and philosophy that you learn in practice to raising your kids,
36:50
Speaker 1: to leading your team, to running your company, to even
36:56
Speaker 1: running a marathon. Like there's so many different ways that
37:00
Speaker 1: you can use this. You train for life, and then
37:03
Speaker 1: also the people that you get to surround yourself with
37:07
Speaker 1: your team. Your community also gets to step with you
37:11
Speaker 1: on that journey.
37:13
Speaker 3: What year did you run the marathon?
37:16
Speaker 4: I think we ran it twenty sixteen.
37:18
Speaker 2: So let's just give the hurdlers like a little snippet
37:21
Speaker 2: into your marathon story. What inspired you to.
37:25
Speaker 3: Run a marathon?
37:26
Speaker 2: And what would you not advise someone listening to this
37:30
Speaker 2: podcast to do if they want to run a marathon.
37:33
Speaker 4: So I got so I wanted to run the marathon.
37:37
Speaker 1: So I started doing these things where I kind of
37:40
Speaker 1: speak what I want out loud into the universe and
37:44
Speaker 1: then the universe yeah, and the universe gives you the
37:48
Speaker 1: opportunity or the shot. So I was like, I really
37:51
Speaker 1: want to run the marathon. And then all of a sudden,
37:53
Speaker 1: I get a DM from A six and they're like, hey,
37:57
Speaker 1: you want to be on our team for the New
38:00
Speaker 1: York Marathon. I was like, yes, yes, I do. And
38:04
Speaker 1: then they had this whole program where you run with
38:06
Speaker 1: a coach or you train with the coach, and I
38:08
Speaker 1: was like, okay, but I don't have the time because
38:10
Speaker 1: I have work, because I have, you know, thirty four
38:14
Speaker 1: classes at sohul Cycle and then I have like eight
38:17
Speaker 1: to ten more.
38:18
Speaker 4: That I teach at.
38:20
Speaker 1: Now I think I was either at Crntstale or I
38:22
Speaker 1: had switched to Bandier with Army for the Akins Army anyway,
38:26
Speaker 1: so I was.
38:27
Speaker 4: Like, I don't have the time to do that.
38:30
Speaker 1: And I literally ran twice or three times before the marathon.
38:35
Speaker 1: Twice I did a four mile at Barry's and once
38:40
Speaker 1: I ran on my own for ten miles and I
38:45
Speaker 1: was like, I'm not going to look at my watch.
38:46
Speaker 1: I'm just going to run. And I was like that's
38:49
Speaker 1: got to be twenty miles. And then I had to
38:50
Speaker 1: really go to the bathroom, so I had to stop running,
38:54
Speaker 1: and then it was ten miles so that was it.
38:58
Speaker 1: And then we get to the race and I'm, you know,
39:03
Speaker 1: sitting in with like we got access to the VIP
39:06
Speaker 1: section with a six, so I was sitting in the
39:10
Speaker 1: tent and some of the people on the team were like, oh,
39:14
Speaker 1: like did you know, how did you train? And I
39:17
Speaker 1: was like, I didn't really run, but I cycle a lot.
39:20
Speaker 1: And they're like, oh, what do you want to get
39:22
Speaker 1: as your time? And I was like, I want to
39:23
Speaker 1: get like three hours, three hours and fifteen minutes is
39:27
Speaker 1: my goal.
39:28
Speaker 4: And they laughed at me.
39:30
Speaker 1: And they're like, if you didn't run, there's no shot
39:33
Speaker 1: that you're doing that.
39:34
Speaker 4: And I was like, this is what I needed. Thank you.
39:40
Speaker 4: And then of course do you remember this. I think
39:42
Speaker 4: you were with me.
39:43
Speaker 3: I was with you.
39:44
Speaker 2: I don't know if I was with you at this
39:46
Speaker 2: moment when the people were like, you're crazy. We were
39:48
Speaker 2: on the bus together. We were on the bus together,
39:51
Speaker 2: and I was just sitting next to you being like.
39:52
Speaker 3: Who is this superhuman? Give them the outcome.
39:57
Speaker 1: I did three eleven and and actually I was still
40:02
Speaker 1: projected to finish in two forty five at mile eighteen,
40:07
Speaker 1: but no excuses. But like my music died and I
40:11
Speaker 1: had already like I was so sore. So I wouldn't
40:14
Speaker 1: recommend you to go and run a marathon without running,
40:20
Speaker 1: because it is I mean, my breathing is fine from cycling,
40:25
Speaker 1: but you're you're using muscles that you don't use while
40:29
Speaker 1: you cycle. So my legs were like I had to
40:33
Speaker 1: talk to my legs. I was like, nope, we are
40:36
Speaker 1: not stabbing. You get your shit together and you finish
40:40
Speaker 1: this marathon. You do it under three fifteen, that's the goal,
40:44
Speaker 1: and I did.
40:45
Speaker 3: I'm glad that he said this. I'm just going to
40:47
Speaker 3: reiterate it again.
40:49
Speaker 2: No one on this podcast is advising anyone to go
40:53
Speaker 2: run a marathon without running, just like going to put
40:56
Speaker 2: that into the universe.
40:57
Speaker 3: At least three times you should train.
41:02
Speaker 2: So what that story basically established is you are a nut,
41:06
Speaker 2: of course, But in all of your years of being
41:10
Speaker 2: this active, what has your experience been working with either
41:15
Speaker 2: like physical therapists or talking to doctors about like what
41:18
Speaker 2: it is that you're putting your body through.
41:20
Speaker 1: I haven't needed to really go to too many physical
41:25
Speaker 1: therapists appointments or anything. I've been really good about my
41:31
Speaker 1: mobility and flexibility and my pliability. Right after the back injury,
41:36
Speaker 1: like it was, you know, the way you come back
41:39
Speaker 1: from that is a first you don't do anything then,
41:43
Speaker 1: and you just like my physical therapist at the time
41:46
Speaker 1: was also a chiropractor, and he would basically realign me
41:50
Speaker 1: every day, and that's all I could do at first,
41:52
Speaker 1: realignment and electric stem and then I started to be
41:57
Speaker 1: able to stretch without pain. So that's all I did,
42:01
Speaker 1: stretch and foam role and then I was clear to
42:04
Speaker 1: swim and cycle and then that's all those things is
42:08
Speaker 1: all I did, you know, So I kept that as
42:12
Speaker 1: a part of my routine, and that's become Army Stretch
42:17
Speaker 1: now and cycling is obviously huge in army. And then
42:23
Speaker 1: the boot camps are also a lot of the movements,
42:26
Speaker 1: especially at the base of it, are all corrective movements
42:29
Speaker 1: that I did in PT.
42:31
Speaker 4: And what I did growing up at IMG training.
42:35
Speaker 1: So I developed this method that is, you know, it
42:43
Speaker 1: is functional training for people's lives, and if you're.
42:48
Speaker 4: Doing it correctly, it's going to really benefit you.
42:51
Speaker 2: Talk to me about the transition from soul cycle to
42:56
Speaker 2: going out on your own soul cycle.
42:58
Speaker 4: I have to say it was really, really great.
43:01
Speaker 1: I had a non compete obviously, and uh, and I resigned.
43:08
Speaker 1: And then I said, because I'm not going to be
43:10
Speaker 1: able to do anything for twelve months, we can activate
43:14
Speaker 1: the resignition, but I can still stay and and teach
43:19
Speaker 1: if you if you guys will have me, And they
43:22
Speaker 1: did and and so the transition was pretty smooth. Initially
43:26
Speaker 1: it wasn't all sold out, but I mean, but we
43:30
Speaker 1: did have a great base and and so we had
43:33
Speaker 1: to build that. The business side is different. Training coaches
43:37
Speaker 1: is different. Teaching people your method and your language is different.
43:41
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot that goes into going off
43:43
Speaker 1: on your own and with a team, because it's not
43:47
Speaker 1: your on your own uh you partners, you have people
43:51
Speaker 1: that depend on you. You you know, you set the
43:54
Speaker 1: uh the example, and and so you have to build
43:58
Speaker 1: this whole culture within and then that has to be
44:03
Speaker 1: felt for the people that are on the outside of
44:07
Speaker 1: that as well. So it's been a really, really great
44:11
Speaker 1: experience in terms of learning and growing, not only as
44:16
Speaker 1: a coach, but as a person and an entrepreneur.
44:20
Speaker 2: I mean, you launched shortly before the pandemic really kicked
44:24
Speaker 2: in here, So what was that experience like for you?
44:28
Speaker 2: I would assume that it felt comparable to when you
44:32
Speaker 2: had those hernated discs in your back and you were like,
44:35
Speaker 2: I worked so hard to get here, how is this
44:37
Speaker 2: happening right now?
44:39
Speaker 1: Well, actually it wasn't that. That thought process wasn't.
44:44
Speaker 4: There at all.
44:44
Speaker 1: It was more like, Okay, how do I figure out
44:47
Speaker 1: to how do I figure out a way to keep
44:50
Speaker 1: showing up. I didn't know that it was going to
44:53
Speaker 1: be you know, nobody knew it was going to be
44:54
Speaker 1: like a year. My thing was like, Okay, what can
44:57
Speaker 1: I do today? I'm shutting down for the safety of
45:01
Speaker 1: the community. And the athletes and the team, the internal team.
45:07
Speaker 1: But then how do I keep showing up? Because we
45:10
Speaker 1: were always meant to be digital, but we aren't there yet.
45:12
Speaker 1: We haven't built out the app. So I'm like, okay,
45:15
Speaker 1: I'm going to go live. So we close on Friday
45:20
Speaker 1: the thirteenth, Friday the thirteenth, and then Friday the fourteenth
45:26
Speaker 1: or no, Saturday the fourteenth. I went on Instagram and
45:30
Speaker 1: I just did two live sessions, one or two live
45:36
Speaker 1: sessions and use their platform. And I used to do
45:41
Speaker 1: that when I did BANDI Air. I used to do
45:44
Speaker 1: lives and then everyone went on the lives and I
45:47
Speaker 1: was able to reach more people, and I was like,
45:50
Speaker 1: we got to keep this momentum with my athletes. It
45:52
Speaker 1: wasn't even about like the brand is about the community,
45:56
Speaker 1: you know. It's about showing up for the people and
45:59
Speaker 1: making a space for them to get their mind right
46:02
Speaker 1: and go and execute on everything that they want to
46:04
Speaker 1: build outside of here as well. So I'm like, I
46:07
Speaker 1: just need to keep showing up because I feel like
46:09
Speaker 1: people a We've worked so hard to get here, not
46:14
Speaker 1: as the brand but as athletes and be I feel
46:19
Speaker 1: like people need it more than ever to get their mind, right,
46:23
Speaker 1: So we did that and then.
46:27
Speaker 4: And then we loop. I looped in the.
46:29
Speaker 1: Whole team, and I was like, Okay, let's let's build
46:31
Speaker 1: out a whole program with all our coaches around it
46:35
Speaker 1: and try to keep everyone working and active and and
46:42
Speaker 1: you know, tell people that they're not alone and that
46:44
Speaker 1: we can still reach each other even when we're meant
46:48
Speaker 1: to you know, be apart. Yeah, and there's all these
46:53
Speaker 1: platforms out there that we can use, so we did that.
46:56
Speaker 1: Then I posted stuff like all like some of the
46:59
Speaker 1: workouts that I say, from Instagram on YouTube and then
47:03
Speaker 1: so that like I made like an on demand thing too,
47:06
Speaker 1: and just like tried these different platforms and then one
47:09
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty days of free content like that. Later
47:14
Speaker 1: we were able to pivot and build the app on
47:16
Speaker 1: the back end, but also change our pop up, which
47:21
Speaker 1: is now the permanent space into a filming.
47:25
Speaker 4: Like studio, a production studio.
47:29
Speaker 1: So I mean it really for me at least, I
47:33
Speaker 1: know everyone has different experiences through it, but for me,
47:37
Speaker 1: I think probably because of everything that I experienced leading
47:42
Speaker 1: up to being a coach, I was just excited that
47:47
Speaker 1: there was other ways to do it. So there was
47:50
Speaker 1: you know, like I said in the beginning, there was
47:52
Speaker 1: no obstacle. You just learned to look at it differently
47:55
Speaker 1: and you just keep moving forward.
47:57
Speaker 2: When I ask you, what is your purpose? What is
48:02
Speaker 2: your answer?
48:03
Speaker 1: My purpose is just to share my insight and to
48:08
Speaker 1: bring whoever I can touch to a different baseline so
48:14
Speaker 1: that they don't necessarily have to go through everything I
48:18
Speaker 1: went through to get there.
48:19
Speaker 4: But then they can take it from this baseline further.
48:23
Speaker 1: I feel like my purpose transcends me and self is
48:28
Speaker 1: just kind of like sharing insight and then teaching people
48:31
Speaker 1: what I know, and through teaching them we can open
48:35
Speaker 1: up our minds two more.
48:37
Speaker 3: Who inspires you to be great?
48:40
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot of people that inspire me
48:42
Speaker 1: and my mom and dad because of their unyielding and
48:50
Speaker 1: basically at some point relentless trust and support in me,
48:55
Speaker 1: my brother and sister, coaches that have come before me,
49:00
Speaker 1: that I look up to, like Nick mil Terry, like
49:02
Speaker 1: I said earlier, that he you know, is still on
49:05
Speaker 1: the court coaching all day long and.
49:07
Speaker 4: He's ninety years old. He's even on Instagram.
49:11
Speaker 1: He does these like Nick nuggets now, which is like
49:14
Speaker 1: I love it. He basically gives like a quote or
49:20
Speaker 1: like a sentence a day his mindset and it's.
49:23
Speaker 2: Like giving me content ideas here, so exciting to see
49:26
Speaker 2: he's giving me content ideas too.
49:28
Speaker 1: And he's ninety years old, so that's really exciting to see.
49:33
Speaker 1: You know that you can, you can do what you love,
49:36
Speaker 1: you know forever.
49:39
Speaker 2: We we mentioned the phrase champions mindset earlier to you.
49:44
Speaker 2: What does adopting a champion's mindset actually mean? And what
49:48
Speaker 2: tips would you offer to someone who is in pursuit
49:52
Speaker 2: of doing so.
49:53
Speaker 1: I think a champion's mindset is someone who can see
49:57
Speaker 1: that everything that ha happens is happening for you in
50:02
Speaker 1: support of you. It's building you, it's sharpening you, it's
50:06
Speaker 1: preparing you to actually live.
50:10
Speaker 4: The life you were meant to live.
50:11
Speaker 1: And that means you know, at some points there's going
50:15
Speaker 1: to be uncertainty, and as long as you're certain in
50:18
Speaker 1: yourself and who you are and your mission, there's no
50:22
Speaker 1: stopping you. And to that extent, I think a goal
50:26
Speaker 1: is also you know, I think champion also thinks that
50:29
Speaker 1: a goal is something that you aim at. It's not
50:33
Speaker 1: always something you're going to achieve, Like my goal my
50:37
Speaker 1: entire life until I switched to being a coach was
50:41
Speaker 1: to be the number one tennis player. And even though
50:44
Speaker 1: I didn't hit that target, that gave me a place
50:47
Speaker 1: to aim at. And now you know, I'm doing something
50:52
Speaker 1: that I didn't even imagine myself doing. If you would
50:55
Speaker 1: have asked me what I wanted to be when I
50:58
Speaker 1: was ten years old, you had my answer and it
51:01
Speaker 1: wasn't this. You know, So just being open and uh,
51:05
Speaker 1: and you know, staying in what you're doing, but letting
51:09
Speaker 1: sometimes life guide you to where you're supposed to go.
51:13
Speaker 2: For someone that has difficulty adopting kind of this fluid approach,
51:19
Speaker 2: right like understanding or taking a step back and looking
51:22
Speaker 2: at the bigger picture, I'm sure you you deal with
51:25
Speaker 2: athletes that are kind of in this like limbo place
51:27
Speaker 2: of limbo Sometimes.
51:28
Speaker 3: What do you what do you say to them? How
51:30
Speaker 3: do you adopt that mindset?
51:32
Speaker 1: It's a process, I mean, it's it's if you've already
51:35
Speaker 1: built certain mindset habits, uh, it's going to take a
51:40
Speaker 1: little time to break it. So it starts with affirmations,
51:45
Speaker 1: and and it starts with affirmations not only speaking it
51:48
Speaker 1: out loud so that it can be yours, but also
51:51
Speaker 1: applying action behind it. So take action, and in the action,
51:56
Speaker 1: that's where you reset the affirmation.
52:01
Speaker 3: And I think, like to your point, it's also setting smart.
52:04
Speaker 2: Goals, right, Like if your goal to become the number
52:07
Speaker 2: one tennis player, like that's a huge goal, but you
52:10
Speaker 2: set smarter, smaller goals along the way prior to your
52:13
Speaker 2: injury that we're going to help you to get to
52:15
Speaker 2: where you want it to be.
52:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a process. I say this too.
52:19
Speaker 1: It's like as an athlete, think about an athlete's trajectory,
52:24
Speaker 1: Like you train multiple hours a day until you know,
52:30
Speaker 1: most people are like eighteen nineteen twenty when they go
52:34
Speaker 1: pro and they already have this fit like ten fifteen
52:38
Speaker 1: years of experience coming into going pro and they're like
52:44
Speaker 1: considered a rookie until they finally turn pro and then
52:48
Speaker 1: they have to prove themselves again, you know. So there's
52:51
Speaker 1: this whole journey and it's not something that happens overnight,
52:55
Speaker 1: but you experience it and you accumulate things that you
52:59
Speaker 1: want to take with you as you move forward, and
53:02
Speaker 1: you don't have to take everything with you, or you
53:05
Speaker 1: can look back and make sense of what's happened in
53:07
Speaker 1: the past that used to stop you before. And I
53:09
Speaker 1: think it's also rebranding things and not giving words and identity,
53:18
Speaker 1: like identifying with something as like the.
53:22
Speaker 4: The end all.
53:23
Speaker 1: Like I think a lot of people don't identify with
53:27
Speaker 1: being an athlete until you change what an athlete means,
53:30
Speaker 1: Like an athlete is someone who is a professional mover.
53:34
Speaker 1: And at this point, everyone, all of you are professional movers.
53:38
Speaker 1: You know, we've been moving our whole lives. So to
53:42
Speaker 1: be a pro athlete and a specific thing, then you
53:45
Speaker 1: move in a specific way that builds new neuromuscular pathways
53:49
Speaker 1: so that all that movement starts becoming second nature.
53:52
Speaker 4: You know.
53:52
Speaker 1: So if you think about it, we're all athletes and
53:56
Speaker 1: now if you're training a certain way, now you're trying
53:58
Speaker 1: to perfect that certain training or movement and then you
54:02
Speaker 1: can excel in it.
54:03
Speaker 2: I love what you said before about the idea that
54:06
Speaker 2: you don't have to take everything with you, because I
54:08
Speaker 2: think a lot of people struggle with that for sure.
54:12
Speaker 1: I mean people hold on to like things like I
54:16
Speaker 1: didn't get picked in middle school for the dodgeball whatever.
54:21
Speaker 1: Like I'm like, let that go. That's not something you
54:23
Speaker 1: need to take with you. What happened then doesn't define
54:27
Speaker 1: what's going to happen now, you define what's going to
54:29
Speaker 1: happen now with the mindset you go into.
54:31
Speaker 3: Now what excites you right now?
54:35
Speaker 1: We are going to open soon. So I'm excited about that.
54:40
Speaker 1: It feels like we're coming out of this kind of
54:43
Speaker 1: limbo phase and that there seems to be that light
54:48
Speaker 1: that I know a lot of people have been talking
54:51
Speaker 1: about at the end of the tunnel. I'm just I'm
54:53
Speaker 1: excited to see where this goes.
54:56
Speaker 2: When someone comes to your Instagram page, they see a coach,
55:00
Speaker 2: they see a guy that's got a lot of people
55:03
Speaker 2: following him for fitness advice and so on and so
55:07
Speaker 2: forth and doing some crazy stuff. When you look in
55:11
Speaker 2: the mirror, what is it that you see looking back.
55:13
Speaker 1: At you, I'm actually like, I'm pretty much that guy
55:17
Speaker 1: that you see on on Instagram. I am I like
55:21
Speaker 1: I even the things I say, it's all also personal.
55:27
Speaker 1: I'm someone who's you know, also growing and someone also
55:32
Speaker 1: sometimes makes mistakes and learns from him. And I'm you know,
55:37
Speaker 1: a dog dad, I'm an uncle, I'm a brother. You know,
55:41
Speaker 1: there's a lot of things that I am, and I
55:44
Speaker 1: bring everyone that I love into what I love to
55:48
Speaker 1: do as well.
55:49
Speaker 2: So all right, accin right now, you have an opportunity
55:53
Speaker 2: to offer the act in a piece of advice when
55:56
Speaker 2: he finds out that he is not going to be
55:59
Speaker 2: able to go pro looking back on it, what do
56:03
Speaker 2: you tell him?
56:05
Speaker 4: You know, I don't know.
56:06
Speaker 1: I don't know if I told myself something, then that
56:09
Speaker 1: would it be different now, Like I like everything that
56:14
Speaker 1: I had to grow through, so I don't think I
56:18
Speaker 1: would tell myself anything, so that nothing changes.
56:23
Speaker 3: I'm so appreciative for your time. I'm so appreciative to
56:26
Speaker 3: know you Akin. How do the hurdlers follow along with you?
56:29
Speaker 3: How do they keep up with Army? Give me all
56:31
Speaker 3: the details?
56:33
Speaker 1: Well, you gotta you're in the Army. Well you've always
56:36
Speaker 1: been in the Army. So if you're not on the app,
56:39
Speaker 1: you gotta go on Army dot com or download the
56:41
Speaker 1: app in the app store and train with us. And
56:45
Speaker 1: there's going to be many different ways to train with
56:47
Speaker 1: us going forward. The live in person is opening safe
56:52
Speaker 1: in that capacity. We also have Zoom globally, so wherever
56:57
Speaker 1: you are in the world, you can join our Zoom lives,
57:02
Speaker 1: and then we also have our digital platform with a
57:05
Speaker 1: whole VOD library. I think we have over eight hundred
57:08
Speaker 1: sessions there with many different programs. A reminder that it
57:12
Speaker 1: is pretty tight. Like it is, it's hard, but you're
57:16
Speaker 1: not meant to do it all at once. Just like
57:19
Speaker 1: my goal as wanting to be the number one tennis player,
57:22
Speaker 1: it doesn't have to happen all at once. It's not
57:24
Speaker 1: like you decide that one day and the next day
57:26
Speaker 1: you're it. So don't be so hard on yourself. Show up,
57:30
Speaker 1: do what you can do what you can do your
57:33
Speaker 1: best is valid and that's gonna unlock something for tomorrow.
57:38
Speaker 2: Thank you for your time. I'm over at Emily a
57:40
Speaker 2: Body and at Hurdle Podcast. Another Hurdle conquered. Catch you
57:44
Speaker 2: guys next time