Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 341. How To Get Stronger: CrossFit Champion Laura Horvath On Learning New Skills, Navigating Self-Talk & Fueling For Success

Transcript

341. How To Get Stronger: CrossFit Champion Laura Horvath On Learning New Skills, Navigating Self-Talk & Fueling For Success · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I really tried to just like focus on myself and
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: do the best of my abilities, and I believe that
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  Speaker 1: if I do that, it's going to work out.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: What is going on, Emily Body Here, You are listening
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  Speaker 2: to episode three hundred and forty one of Hurdle, a
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  Speaker 2: wellness focused podcast where I talk to inspirational people about
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  Speaker 2: everything from their highest hies and toughest moments to essential
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  Speaker 2: tips on how to live a healthier, happier, more motivated life.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: We all go through our fair share of hurdles. My
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  Speaker 2: goal through these discussions is to empower you to better
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  Speaker 2: navigate yours and move with intention so that you can
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  Speaker 2: stride towards your own big potential and of course have
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  Speaker 2: some fun along the way. For today's so three forty one,
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  Speaker 2: I am chatting with Laura Horvath. She is a professional
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  Speaker 2: CrossFit athlete. She won the CrossFit Games in twenty twenty
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  Speaker 2: three and when you do such a thing, they refer
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  Speaker 2: to you as the fittest woman on Earth. Now, Laura
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  Speaker 2: is not the first crossfitter that I've had on the show.
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  Speaker 2: I've had the opportunity to chat with many strong, fierce ladies,
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  Speaker 2: including brook Wells, Tea Claire Toomey, Annie Thoris's daughter, Catherine
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  Speaker 2: David's daughter. The list goes on, but I digress. For
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  Speaker 2: my conversation with Laura today, we are talking a lot
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  Speaker 2: about strength, what strength feels like for her when she
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  Speaker 2: first remembers feeling strong in her body, reflecting on a
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  Speaker 2: childhood in Hungary spent climbing that eventually segued her into
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  Speaker 2: the sport of CrossFit and jes so we're on the
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  Speaker 2: same page. Strength is interpretive. Everyone has different strength goals.
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  Speaker 2: I myself am on a pull up journey. I just
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  Speaker 2: got three consecutive ones last week, thank you very much.
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  Speaker 2: But for context, Laura can squat over three hundred and
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  Speaker 2: fifty pounds.
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  Speaker 3: She can deadlift.
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  Speaker 2: Something like four hundred and fifteen pounds, so these are
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  Speaker 2: not small numbers. Now, having been to the CrossFit Games
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  Speaker 2: a number of times as a spectator and going through
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  Speaker 2: a CrossFit phase about ten years ago myself, I can
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  Speaker 2: say without a doubt that the athleticism this sport demands
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  Speaker 2: is next level. You have to be someone that has endurance,
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  Speaker 2: you have to be able to do these heavy Olympic
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  Speaker 2: lifts and also the dynamics of gymnastic based movements. No
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  Speaker 2: two workouts are the same, no day is the same
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  Speaker 2: when it comes to training, which is something that Laura
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  Speaker 2: says she really enjoys. She offers up her advice for
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  Speaker 2: anyone else who wants to get strong and incorporate lifting
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  Speaker 2: in their regular routine, and gets open about the struggles
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  Speaker 2: that she herself has had in the past with body image.
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  Speaker 3: A big thank you to.
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  Speaker 2: One of her sponsors at red Bull for connecting us.
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  Speaker 2: I was certainly sipping on a Red Bull zero while
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  Speaker 2: we recorded this conversation. Make sure you are following along
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: with Hurdle over on the Socials It's at Hurdle Podcast.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: I am also over at Emily a Body. I'm doing
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: something new on Instagram. It's the Daily Hurdle Every day
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Over on the Hurdle podcast page.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: You can follow along with our subscriber.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Channel to get inspiration and motivation to kick off your morning.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: If Instagram's not your thing, We've got the Weekly Hurdle Newsletter.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: It's a substack that lands directly in your inbox every
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Friday with so many of the things that you love
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: from the show, plus a gear picks, what I'm listening to,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: what I'm watching, quotes, I'm loving and so much more
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: to subscribe. Head on over to the show notes. With that,
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: let's get to it. Let's get it to a hurdling. Today,
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  Speaker 2: I am sitting down with Laura Horvath. She is a
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  Speaker 2: CrossFit athlete, the twenty twenty three fittest woman on Earth.
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  Speaker 3: How are we doing today, Laura, Welcome to hurdle.
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  Speaker 1: I'm very good. Thank you so much for having me.
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  Speaker 3: I'm so excited to have you here. You know, I'll
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  Speaker 3: be honest with you.
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  Speaker 2: There are a lot of women that listen to hurdle,
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  Speaker 2: but I don't necessarily believe that many of them are crossfitters.
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  Speaker 2: What first drew you to CrossFit?
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  Speaker 1: So it's funny, but to be honest first, but like,
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  Speaker 1: introduce me. It's my brother because I used to do
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  Speaker 1: rock climbing growing up, and it's more like an individual sport,
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  Speaker 1: like you're alone on the wall. Obviously you need someone
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  Speaker 1: to belay you done below, but I always felt like
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  Speaker 1: it was more of an individual sport. So it's CrossFit.
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  Speaker 1: But first my brother introduced it to me, and it
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  Speaker 1: just like you know, I did the birk houspit him
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  Speaker 1: together and another community like in a CrossFit gym. So
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  Speaker 1: I think that was the first thing that really caught
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  Speaker 1: my eye and I really started enjoying it.
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  Speaker 2: So the community was something that really brought you in
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  Speaker 2: the strength aspect of it as well, something that you
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: were not unfamiliar with. Having that background in climbing what
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  Speaker 2: drew you to climbing at the start.
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  Speaker 1: So my parents are both educators. They are both were
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  Speaker 1: pee teachers, and my mom was also biology teachers. So
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: at the school where they taught, there was a big
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  Speaker 1: hall like the pea hall. So my dad was I
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  Speaker 1: think he saw climbing on TV ones and he really
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  Speaker 1: like fell in love with it and he decided to
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  Speaker 1: build an actual climbing wall inside the gym. So it
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: was like a slow process, but they started building it
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  Speaker 1: when my brother was born, so like thirty eighth years ago.
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  Speaker 1: And then I basically was introduced to climbing because I
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  Speaker 1: was hanging out there all the time ever since I
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  Speaker 1: was born. So I think just hanging out in this
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  Speaker 1: environment really like inspired me to also climbed, you know.
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  Speaker 1: And then when I was like five, six, seven, eight
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  Speaker 1: years old, I started I wasn't just hanging out at
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  Speaker 1: the climbing gym anymore. I was actually like started to climb,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: and you know, there were like trainings that my my
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  Speaker 1: parents hosted, like there were other kids, so I just
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  Speaker 1: joined them in their training and that's how I started climbing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you really excelled at that too, not so surprisingly.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I did, all right.
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  Speaker 2: Do you remember from a young age what it felt
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: like for you to feel strong?
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  Speaker 1: Yes, so, my both my parents, especially my mom, like
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: did check and field growing up, and they also like
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  Speaker 1: competed in it. And I think for me, it was
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  Speaker 1: like inevitable to like compete and do all kinds of
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: sports because I was introduced to all kinds of sports
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  Speaker 1: at a young age. So being strong and like being
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  Speaker 1: like just too able to do whatever you want to
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  Speaker 1: do and not like need to ask for other people
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  Speaker 1: help to you know, like yeah, I like, if I want,
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  Speaker 1: I can move my couch or if I want, I
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  Speaker 1: can like carry all these boxes upstairs or something like that.
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  Speaker 1: It's has always been I always been taught to you know,
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  Speaker 1: like if I need, I obviously can get help and
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  Speaker 1: keep ask people or my family or friends for help.
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  Speaker 1: But like, you know, like I'm glad that if I want,
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  Speaker 1: I can you do whatever.
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  Speaker 2: I would like that isn't necessarily something that is the
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  Speaker 2: status quo for a lot of young women right Oftentimes
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  Speaker 2: we are taught to ask for help. So how interesting
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  Speaker 2: it is that you had that positive association with strength
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  Speaker 2: from such a young age.
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  Speaker 1: It taught me. I think that it's awesome to have
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  Speaker 1: brothers because they can help you in whatever you want.
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  Speaker 1: But at the same time, like for me to be
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: more independent a little bit, you know, because they always
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: hang out with their own friends, and I was like
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: the girls, So sometimes you needed to fix things on
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  Speaker 1: your own or do stuff on your own.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, do stuff on your own and find that sense
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  Speaker 2: of independence. When you got into cross Bit, you were
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  Speaker 2: brought there by your brother. You said you really liked
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  Speaker 2: the community. Was it hard for you at first despite
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  Speaker 2: having that background and climbing.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, definitely. So climbing is is very good at the beginning,
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  Speaker 1: Like obviously it like moves your whole body, like strengthens
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  Speaker 1: everything because you have to like climb up a wall.
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  Speaker 1: People think it's more like upper body, but you also
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  Speaker 1: have to really use your legs and core muscles. So
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  Speaker 1: I think it was a very good base for me.
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  Speaker 1: But like baightlifting on Olympic bightlifting or powerlifting, or like
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  Speaker 1: even endurance. I didn't really have much. I was very
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  Speaker 1: good in like upper body pulling strength and basically like gymnastics.
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  Speaker 1: But then when I got introduced to weightlifting like an
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  Speaker 1: Olympic bar bell, it's like so different. So I think
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  Speaker 1: that was like a learning process for me to learn
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  Speaker 1: the Olympic lifts and like you know, running by all
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  Speaker 1: these like endurance aspects of CrossFit as well.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, as you put it so well, there
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  Speaker 2: there's so many different things involved with the modality of CrossFit.
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  Speaker 2: I do want to focus a little bit on weightlifting
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  Speaker 2: right off the bat, because I do believe for many women,
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  Speaker 2: especially when it comes to using bar bells, there is
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  Speaker 2: a certain level of intimidation, not just because it can
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  Speaker 2: be challenging, but also because you don't commonly see women
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  Speaker 2: all of the time by the bar bells in a
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  Speaker 2: big box gym. Right for you, if someone comes up
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  Speaker 2: to you and they say, where do I begin, what
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  Speaker 2: do you even tell that.
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  Speaker 1: You know? Yeah, definitely like makelifting or like in any
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  Speaker 1: kind of gym, if you go into a global gym
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  Speaker 1: or like a powerlifting gym, or any kind of gym
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: like maylifting has always been associated with like men, and
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  Speaker 1: I think it's definitely intimidating to walk into a gym
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  Speaker 1: and be like I'm going to do some squads or
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to do deadlifts, and like overall, just walk
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  Speaker 1: into a gym is already intimidating because it's like a
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: new space for you. You like maybe haven't done any
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: spitness or any sports and you just want to like,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: you know, maybe get stronger or like just live a
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: healthier or better lifestyle. You just have to get started,
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: you know. And also you should probably ask for help
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: because if you this is the first time you keep
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: into a gym or want to start makelifting or do
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: some kind of new sport or some kind of new training,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: I think it's very important to have some kind of help,
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  Speaker 1: Like someone can teach you how to do the movement,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: you know, like and then when to add extra weight,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: when to back down, when to have a rest day. Like,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: I think it's very complicated obviously bay training, but I
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: think that the hardest part is probably just to like
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: start to get into a gym and like get introduced
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: to this whole new word, you know.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's so funny because yes, the barrier to entry, right,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: So starting already a hurdle, but then after you start,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: you're probably going to be really sore after the first day,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: so you question, do I even want to get back
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: and do this at all?
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, Yeah, And with that, I think it's just
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: like a routine, like if you start, don't just buy
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: a day pass. You should probably like by like a
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: month or like a thirty day pass or something like that,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: or even a longer term, so you have the regulation
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: that you have to go like maybe not every day,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: but go like every two days or every three days.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: So like don't just go once, but you have to
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: get into like a method of like going multiple times.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: Right, set yourself up for success.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: And I appreciate that you said that the community was
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: what drew you back in for more, and that was
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: also a tool that you leaned into because it was
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: hard at the beginning because it was unfamiliar. And then
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: also mentioning the importance of having someone there with you,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: whether it's a trainer or a friend who's maybe well
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: versed that can help you along the way, And that
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: in particular is excellent advice because so off in we're
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: like intimidated, right, We're intimidated to start, We're intimidated to
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: admit that maybe we don't have all the answers. But
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: especially within fitness, when we're talking about our health, our
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: well being, our safety, you want to make sure you're
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: taking the utmost care with your body so that you
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: can go after your goals. As you got more integrated
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: into the CrossFit world, do you remember from the get
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: go what were some of the most challenging aspects.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: I think for me, it was like I'm very competitive
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: in overall, in anything, and I was already very competitive
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: at the get go, you know, when I couldn't really
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: perform the movements as they were prescribed or like safe,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: or you know, like when I cann't really do like
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Olympic like a snatch or like a clean and drink,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: and I already wanted to like add more weight and
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: like do more. Like my issue was always that I
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: wanted to do more instead of like, Okay, take a
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: step back, you need to do less, you need to
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: go back to the bar, but you don't need to
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: add so much weight at first, you know, like taking
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: smaller steps for me would have been more beneficial than
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: just like Okay, give me more, let me do more,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: you know.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, because one would assume that taking on too
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: much too soon could lead to injury.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: Is that something that you dealt with?
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Yes, definitely. I did have some like smaller injuries at
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: the beginning, but then I learned how to, like, you know,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: take care of my body, because when you start something,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: you just think like, Okay, I'm just going to go
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: to the gym, but you but I did it very regularly.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Sometimes I did twice a days even at the beginning,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: but I shouldn't have. I also needed to, like, you know,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: you have to get the massage, or you have to
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: take a rest day, or you have to go to
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: the sauna, or like all kinds of other things that
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: would benefit me in the long run, just to take
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: care of my body so I can either train more
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: or train better.
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  Speaker 3: You mentioned massage, sauna, rest day.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: I think that this is probably a popular question that
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: you get as an athlete of your caliber.
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: How does Laura recover right now?
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: I mean at the beginning, I wasn't very good with
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: all of these things, like recovery aspect of it. But
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: as I got older and I more mature in the sport,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: I realized that I really need to take care of
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: my body if I want to really push its limits.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: So obviously I do all those things that I just mentioned,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: and I also do more like I always look at
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: new new things that I can improve my recovery bit.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: So so yes, I do a lot for my body
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: so I can take a lot from it, you know
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: in the gym.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: Are what are the new things?
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: The things that I use most rere massage, like just
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: pure like a sports massage. I think that's the best.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: I also really pay attention to my sleep, like go
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: to bed at the same time, bake up at the
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: same time, like how I feel, you know, like after
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: my sleep am I rested? Am I not rested? Or
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: like you know, like how my training impacted my sleep
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: or my sleep score. I were oring for a while now,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: and I just like to check my sleep if anything.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: And yeah, all kinds of other recovery metals that I
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: found and I use obviously sauna, I like cold therapy
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: is very popular these days, so I obviously do that
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: a little bit, not as excessive as people might do
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: it on the internet as makeup a five am and
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: do a five minute cope lunch. I don't do that,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: but I use I like cold therapy when needed.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Do you ever feel a little overwhelmed by the data
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: from your or ring as I sit here staring at
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: mine as well?
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: No, to be honest, no, I don't because I only
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: use the things that I know I need, Like, like
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: you know, I don't really check like stress or daytime streps.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: I really just use it for my sleep and not
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: for like activity, and like you can already, I think
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: check your period now. With it, you can do so
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: many things with it, but I really just use the
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: only better piece that I need.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you mentioned a buzzword there that I'd love to
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: ask you about, which is period. A lot of women
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: that are training at your path really need to be
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: mindful of their cycles to use that time period to
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: your advantage. Can you talk a little bit about how
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: you keep tabs on that and how you make it
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: work for you.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So I've work with my kindcologists. We actually like
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: I can. I don't know if you know that, but
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: you can adjust your period to like I have a
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: big event coming up in like a top of months
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: and I can or we can together adjust my period.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to be at the best period in
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: my period to perform at the best of my abilities,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: because females have their periods and they can affect your mood,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: your strength, your overall like well being on the day.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: So I think it's very important. Obviously there are hurdos
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: in the gym, but then maybe when you're on your
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: period or like it's coming or like you're past it
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: and you everyone has their days when it's like verse
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: for them or better for them, so like don't push
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: yourself on those days, or like just be aware that
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: it's something that other people like men for example, don't
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: really know how to handle, and you need to take
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: care of yourself. And obviously, if you compete and it's happening,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: you can't really do much. You just have to like
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: kind of suck it up. But if it's like a
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: training period or like you know, like just on a
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: day to day's basis, I think it's very important to
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: take it into consideration.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's super impressive that you have that level of
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: awareness to dial and play with that. Was there an
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: a event or an occurrence where it put you at
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: a disadvantage and you realized, Okay, I need to learn
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: more about this and see what I can do moving forward.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Yes, definitely. So at the beginning of my crossbeit career,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I didn't really pay attention to it. I did have
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: periods of time where I didn't have a period. So
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: I found this geologist who I work with now, and
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: she really helped me with like this whole process and
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: how to adjust things and how to how I can
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: take the most from my competition and my training. So
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: like my period is not going to affect on those
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: important days, you.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: Know, Yeah, I can really relate.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, yesterday wasn't a particularly important day in my life,
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: but I went to go do a treadmill workout and
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: I was doing these intervals and really struggling, and I
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: was thinking to myself, like, you are so capable of this,
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: Like why is this so hard today?
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: You're getting good sleep? What's up?
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: And then literally I was like, oh, it's the first
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: day of the cycle. This is entirely why you feel
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: like you are totally inadequate right now.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: And it's a frustrating thing, right.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, definite, it's frustrating at the beginning, but I think
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: when you learn to like obviously liberty and how to
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: deal with it, this can be also I think good
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: to like take those days and maybe you know, back
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: off a little bit, don't go to the gyms, take
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: a day for yourself and go for a walk instead
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: of bit run.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and this also leans into a conversation about balance.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: You talked about being someone who at the first really
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: wanted to push all the time. Now you have a
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: lot more of an understanding about what balance and recovery
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: looks like for you. When you think about balance and
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: you think about things like self care, what is it
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: that you do to give back to you so that
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: you can then show up within sport?
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: What does balance look like for you?
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: Laura, Yeah, definitely at the beginning, I didn't really have
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: a very good healthy balance because I was just always training, training,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: training that came first. And then I got introduced or
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: like found out more about how recovery can help me
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: perform better. And then I realized how rest days are
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: very important, or even a longer reci periods, not even
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: a day, Maybe you can take a weekend of like
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: sometimes your body or your mental health needs a little
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: bit more in time off from just training, training and
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: competing competing. So I learned to learn what really works
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: for me, you know, like how to take care of myself.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: I like hanging out with my dog, or going on walks,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: or just hanging out with family, or sometimes even just
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: staying at home reading a book, or just like not
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: really going into any social setting. It's very very good
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: for me. I don't really have a very good, great
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: social battery, so that runs out very fast. But also
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: going to the gym sometimes without a plan, you know,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Like I think it's very important when you start to
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: like tele a plan and have like some kind of
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: an understanding what you're going to do at the gym
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: before you step foot in the gym, if you're not
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: doing like a class, if you go alone into like
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: a global gym, so like the equipment there is very overwhelming.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: There are so many things going on at the same time.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: So if you don't have a plan at the beginning,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: I don't think that's very good. But when you are
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: like me and you just like follow a plan every
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: day of the year, sometimes it's also good to like, Okay,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: now I'm just gonna go and buke for forty minutes,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: or just do something that feels good at the moment,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: and just like you know, like do something for you
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: and not like kind of against you.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, finding the fun within your fitness.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: And that's not to say that the program days can't
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: be fun as well, but there is like such an
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: exhale when it's like today, I don't actually have to
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: do anything. I can just do whatever feels good for me.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: You mentioned the buzzword mental health. I do want to
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: talk about your inner dialogue and what self talk looks
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: like for you and how that's evolved over time. When
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: you started with CrossFit, what would you say your inner
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: dialogue was like?
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: To be honest, when I started, I think mental health
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: wasn't the thing. It wasn't something that we talked about.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: You just like got through whatever you had to get through.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: And I think the last couple of years mental health
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: has been not on the taboo list to like talking
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: about it. I didn't really pay attention to it at
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: all because I didn't even know I had any kind
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: of issues, or like I had I am able to
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: have these problems. You know, mental health is very important,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: and I think if something is not right with you
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: or your mental health, obviously your performance is going to
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: get affected, or like your overall life is going to
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: get affected if you don't take care of it, because
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: that's the first thing that you should take care first,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: and then comes everything else.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: So when you started, you didn't really have a lot
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: of awareness over your mental health. These days, what does
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: your mental health routine look like? Do you have a
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: positive inner dialogue or do you still struggle with negative
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: self talk?
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: I have a very healthy now in their dialogue with myself,
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: but obviously there are days or periods of times where
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I struggle. I think that's normal for everyone to struggle
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: in any aspects of life. I think most days and
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: most times it's very good and healthy, and it can
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: help me compete or train or just be. And sometimes
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: it's not so great, and then I just take an
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: extra couple of days or I need some extra time
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: for myself for it to get better.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: Taking your break from today's episode to talk to you
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: about my partner at OPEN. Everything changed when I started
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: doing breath work. For so long, I was living in
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: a constant state of fight or flight, and it was
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: through using OPEN that I realized I had so much
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: more control over my reactions than I even realized. Your
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: nervous system plays a role in your every aspect of
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: your health and well being, and your breath is the
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: most direct and scientifically supported way to regulate your.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: Body and improve your mood.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: Every morning, I do five to ten minutes of breath work.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Right now, I'm doing Open's Nervous System Reset program. And
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: when I tell you it is something I look forward
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: to from the moment I get out of.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: Bed, well, that's kind of an understatement.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: With Open as a part of my routine, I feel
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: more calm, more capable, and more prepared to handle anything
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: that comes my way. Join me for opens Nervous System
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: Reset too. It's absolutely free. Head on over to the
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: link that's in the show notes and again that's for
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: thirty days of free meditation. Again, head on over to
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: the show notes and join open for free today. What
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: is your process when you're not feeling so shiny and
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: awesome realizing that these negative thoughts are creeping in?
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: How do you flip the script?
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: I think it's different for everyone, but like I just
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: like spending time with my dog and also my family.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: My friends are just going a walk. I sometimes journal.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: I write down with my thoughts. Mostly journal have it
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: in their dialogue with yourself, like kind of talk to
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: yourself but not really saying out loud of things, but
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: to like have it like a chain of thought with
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: myself and then just fix things if that happens.
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: And I mean listen for anyone, regardless of what you're
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: working through, whether you're competing to be the fittest woman
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: on earth or you're just trying to show up for
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: a day in the office, there's gonna be some anxiety
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: that comes with that.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: That's part of life, right.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: But to have the tools like the ones that you
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: mentioned that can make a profound difference.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, for sure. I think if you just you
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: just have to find what works for you, you know,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: and sometimes that like you need help, you reach out
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: for like you start bringing me the therapist, or you
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: just talk to your parents, or you talk to your
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: friends or just journal. Just I think everyone has to
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: find the best way for themselves and then use those
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: tools that they found best for.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: Them, use the tools that work best for them.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Speaking of tools, something we haven't talked about just yet
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: is nutrition, which is a huge piece of the puzzle
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: when it comes to you performing at your best. When
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: would you say you started to holistically understand the impact
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: that your nutrition could have on your training.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I started to understand it already when
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I when I was in climbing, because maybe not understand
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: but I started to pay attention to my nutrition when
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: I was in climbing because obviously when you climb, you're
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: working against gravity, so your goal is to be as
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: light as you possibly can, so you have less way
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: to carry. But I think I already learned it in climbing.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: That's not the best case scenario because you also have
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: to be strong, so lighter doesn't always means better if
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: you're stronger than what means better. So I think I
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: learned from those times when I was like, okay, I'm
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: just I just want to be lighter so I can,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: you know, hold onto the wall longer and I don't
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: fall down, because that's the goal. And climbing, I learned
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: there that that's not the case, and I think I can.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: I carried it over to cross it very well because
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: here also you have so many gymnastics. You have running
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: obviously a basis thing where people say bait, you know,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: mass moves mess, but then you have to run a
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: mile and then you have to do x amount of
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: pull ups or push ups or anything like that. So
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: the best takeaway from me with that is just like
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: you know, lighter is not always better. It could be
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: sometimes better, but most case scenarios, stronger is better.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: You needed to adopt or incorporate a diet that really
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: helped cater to building that strength. If you had to
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: give us a picture or snapshot of what your diet
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: looks like these days, what does it look like?
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: It's very simple. I eat the same foods most days,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: like it's nothing crazy. I make sure that I eat breakfast, lunch,
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: and dinner on roughly the same times every day, and
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: then I have two three snacks a day as well,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: so I have like five to like six meals a day.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: I was tracking for a while and then I did
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: it and I sawed again. I think I learned what
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: I need, and I just make sure that the enough
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: amount of like protein, fats, and carbs in each meal,
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: you know, So it's it's a balanced meal for me
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: to do all these great things in the gym and
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: outside of the gym, I need to fuel my body.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: So I look at food as fuel and not just
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: as like you know, food is not the enemy. Food
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: helps you do these very amazing things outside of the
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: gym or like in the gym or in a competition floor.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: So my relationship with food has not always been great,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: and it's still a work in progress, but I think
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: I've got them myself into a space with it where
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: where it's like a very it's a healthy relationship.
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: Now understandable, and thank you for sharing that.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: I think this probably goes back to what you were
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: saying about when you were young and with climbing and
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: having this assumption that less is better, right, So during
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: that point in your life, would you say that maybe
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: there were times where you questioned the underfueling.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, for sure. I probably was underfueling for a
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: long long time, and then that it took me a
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: long time to like view the whole situation as like,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: you know, less is not better, but you have to
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: fuel to perform a way you want to perform. So
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: I think I learned that the hard way by you know,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: not eating enough and not giving my body what it needs.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: And it can be so frustrating, right because you think
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: or you feel as though you're doing what you're supposed
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: to be doing, when in actuality, you're incapable of doing
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: what you want to do because you don't have the
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: foundational building blocks to go ahead.
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: And get after it.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, when you say there are a certain amount
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: of proteins, fats, and carbs that you're aiming for, you
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: have some of the same foods that you're eating all
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: the time.
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: Give us an example of what some of those foods
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: might be for.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Carves that eat like rice, be potato, potato mostly, And
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: then I eat meat, So I eat chicken, beef, all
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: kinds of fish, all kinds of meats, and yeah, those
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: are mainly what my protein and carb sources. But I
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: also eat like eggs in the morning, I eat bread sometimes.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: I you know, it's just like I try to eat
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: like a little bit of everything. There is not something
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: that I refuse to eat or I don't think it's
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: good because I think all everything is good in motivation.
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: You know, Yeah, for sure.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: So as your relationship with food and nutrition has evolved,
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: I'm sure also your relationship with your body has evolved.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: How do you feel like your personal body image is
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: these days?
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Well, there are good days and bad days, obviously, but
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: I think now I'm the happiest with my body and
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: overall I've ever been, you know, Like, I think it
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: takes some time to accept who you are and what
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: your body looks like, because you can try to change it,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: and there are all kinds of tools now out in
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: the world that you can try to change your body.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: But I think for me, I think it took some
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: time to accept that this is me. If I want,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: I can obviously, you can get thinner, you can get bigger.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: This is me, and I just have to accept that,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: and I just have to be okay with that that
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: I there are genetics that I have that I will
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: never look like other people. I can want to be
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: someone else, but that's not gonna get me anywhere. You know,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: they're just I'm just gonna get miserable, like wanting to
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: be that person or that body type or that's something.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: So I just have you just have to be accepting
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: and okay with who you are. And obviously there are
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: good days and bad days that I said, but I
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: think I'm very happy with my body image.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: I love that, and I think that to your point,
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: there are always good days and bad days, right, There
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: are always going to be no matter where you are
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: in your journey. You could feel so solid and good
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: in everything that you have to offer, but there's still
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: going to be that sporadic moment where you look in
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: the mirror and you're like, Eh, don't feel the best today,
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: And that's okay, right, that's part of it.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you just have to accept it and probably maybe
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: or probably other people see that even more beautiful because
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: you have those insecurities, you know, like everyone, even all
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: the girls in the magazines and the models and the
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: whoever you look up and you want to achieve that
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: like they also have insecurities. They also have things that
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: they don't like about their body, and you just have
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: to get to terms with that, you know.
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, six months ago on Instagram, you were to caption
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: my body is worth more and does more than just
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: what it looks like. Was there something specific that inspired
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: that caption or have you been inspired to write on
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: that before?
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: Back in the day, But I didn't have as many
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: followers as I do right now. I thought more about
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: what I posted and what my caption was than right now.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: I use social media now as my digital journal a
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: little bit. It's more like for myself than for other people.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: And if they see some value in it or if
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: they like it, it's great. If they don't, that's also great.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: It's just something that I put out for myself, so
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: maybe some day I can go scroll down or look
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: at it or something like that. But definitely everything I
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: post there is something that maybe I had a conversation
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: that day, or I had a you know, I read something.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: It's something that can inspire someone or even inspiring to me.
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so that day in particular, just having a moment
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: to write yourself a reminder. And sometimes I think that
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: that can be the beauty of social media, right It's yes,
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: our thoughts can be good to write out and beneficial
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: for us in that process, but also then in turn
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: have the opportunity to impact others, hopefully for the better.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, definitely. Yeah, So probably that day I had
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: some kind of issues with my body or you know,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: a conversation with someone. So yeah, your body is like
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: you're really at home, so like you have to take
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: care of it because at the end of the day,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: this is what you got for the rest of your life,
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: so you so you have to you know, like accept it,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: appreciate it, and use it as.
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: You wish, use it as you wish.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: I love that sentiment, and especially with a CrossFit, I
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: feel like body is such a topic of discussion, right
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: largely in part because it is a sport where people.
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: Are wearing very minimal clothing and doing extraordinary things.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: So for you, have you felt as though that has
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: either impacted your performance for the better or for the worse.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: I think it's to be honest, it's not just in
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: cross but it's in all sports. What's great about CrossFit
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: is that it's not really how you look like. You
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: don't compete like for looks. You could look like not
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: the fittest person in the room, and then you'd be
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: the fittest. I think it's very important to appreciate our bodies,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: and it's great they what they look like, but appreciate
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: more what they can do, obviously, because that why we compete,
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: not for looks, but it's for the benefit of what
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: your body are capable of.
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: Right, that's just a byproduct.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: You mentioned the growing number of followers that you have
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: on social media. How does that make you feel that
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: so many people are keeping tabs on what's going on
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: in the world of Laura Harbeth.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, as I said before, at the beginning, when I
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: had like a fraction of these people, I was paying
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: more attention. But maybe because I was just younger and
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: I thought that those people really care what I post.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, I realized that
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: people don't really care, you know, like and also it's
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: like one second of their time that they pay attention
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: to like read the poster. They might not even read it.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: They just look at the picture and scroll too. Like
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: the world is so fast and everything is happening so
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: quick that even if I post something that, oh, it's
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: not that great, or like I don't look my best
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: in it, like, people won't even notice. It's just me
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: that I overthink these things that are like, oh, I
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: don't know, like my arms looks bigger here, or my
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: belly is out, or I don't even know, like something
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: that other people wouldn't even notice. And obviously, you like,
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: I noticed it for myself because I overthink my own
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: post or over my own pictures, or I used to.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: And now it's just like, you know, I just post
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: whatever I feel like. And if all these people are
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: interested in what I post, it's great. But if they're
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: just like, you know, some people follow me a couple
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: of years ago and they just forgot to Some people
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: don't even see those posts. Like it's really just like,
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: you know, all, we are all just people, and like
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: we're just always trying to do our best. And if
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: someone can take away from these posts a little bit
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: and it helps them a little bit, that's already great.
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: Do you think that there's anything negative about it?
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Oh? Yeah, I think social media could be an amazing
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: and a terrible place at the same time. There could
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: be like one hundred good comments about how good everything
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: is and how amazing I am, and then there's one
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: comment that says something negative about me or my actions
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: or something, and that's the one that sticks with me,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: you know, like not the other hundred that we're like, oh,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: you're so great, like whatever. The good ones are just
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: like okay, they are just they're great. But then there's
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: one negative or two negative comments, and that's the one
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: I remember.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's entirely understandable. That's human nature, right. But
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: then you get to decide what to do with that.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: You get to decide whether you're going to let that
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: one comment make for a bad day or you're going
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: to let that just be a bad moment in the
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: scheme of so many other moments. You said that you
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: wanted to do a lot early on, from the get go,
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: really leaning in heavily to the sport, and although you
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: have to learn some lessons with that, you leveled up
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: rather quickly, excelling rather rapidly. What would you say the
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: biggest change was for you after you won the CrossFit Games?
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: Surprisingly, there were not too many changes, you know, like
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: people think it's like this urch othering it's amazing. I mean,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: it was a great moment for me, and it was
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: a very good weekend for me, But my life didn't
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: really change drastically. Like I came home, I was still
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: the same person, Laura. I had the same friends. Like
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: my friends know what I do and they know like
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: they know me as the athlete, but they also know
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: me as the person and they always going to relate
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: to me more Laura as the person. So I don't
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: think a lot of things changed other than I got
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: a nice medal. The people around me didn't change. I
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: didn't really change. I stay the same person. So it's
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: not like whinning got into my head or like I
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: wanted people to treat me differently just because I want something.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: They say that the destination is not as important, but
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: the journey is. But I think it's so true because
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: all those people were there with me when I took second,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: and then when I didn't play very well, and then
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: I placed second and third, and then finally I won.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: And like to them, I think my parents or my
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: brothers or my friends, like they they really saw the
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: whole process and it was just like we all knew
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: it's going to happen. It just took some time, you know,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: like from the beginning when I when I took second
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: of the games, like we were just waiting or like
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: they were just waiting for it to happen. It just
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: took some time, and there were some ups and downs
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: in between. Like in life or like any sports, there
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: is you know, it's not a lineal upward line. It's
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: always like there is good days or bad days, or
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: bad competitions or good competitions and just have to take
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: them as they come and learn from them and then
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: move forward.
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: What would you say the biggest challenge has been for you,
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: the biggest hurdle perhaps as you navigated that nonlinear path.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: It's just like accepting it because at the beginning, I
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: obviously improved a lot from the beginning because I was
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: a new bie. That was my first introduction to CrossFit,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: and at the beginning, you improved so gradually, so much
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: so quickly if you stick with anything, I think, and
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: now the improvements are so little, like it's a one kilo,
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: you know, like you improve one kilo and it's huge.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: And back then I was improving like fifteen or twenty
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: kilos in like a workout or like a in a lift,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: and it was like, oh, that's good. And then the
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: next week I improved again five more kilos. And here's
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: just like now you just want to take those one
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: percent or one kilos or one second or you know,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: like these little small improvements and you have to always
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: celebrate them. I think it's very important. But yeah, just
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: like learn that things take time and is always room
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: for improvement.
• 39:02
  Speaker 3: There's always room for improvement.
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: Did it feel some kind of way as more people
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: started to pay attention to your journey? Was there a
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: level of pressure that ever made you feel uncomfortable or
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: made it hard to focus?
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: Not necessarily hard to focus. I think there was pressure,
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: for sure. There was externally and internally pressure because I
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: put a lot of pressure on myself to perform to
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: the best of my abilities, or to perform the way
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: I know I can perform. I really tried to just
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: like focus on myself and do the best of my abilities,
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: and I believe that if I do that, it's gonna
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: work out.
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: I would be remiss if I didn't mention that along
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: with success and hard work also comes the benefit of
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: things like sponsors. What has it been like for you
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: to be able to secure these sponsorships enabling you to
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: make this a full time occupation.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: I couldn't have done this without them. Obviously. My first
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: sponsors were my parents, because without them, I couldn't have
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: done anything. They just like helped me at the beginning
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: and and then when I got better results. I've gotten
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: all these amazing sponsors and I'm very fortunate to work
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: with them. They helped me in ways that I never
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: imagine sponsors can help. It's not the financially help, but
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: also introducing me to other athletes or other things and
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: recovery methods. For example, the Red Bull use the athlete
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: performance in terms and use all their amazing people there.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: So sponsors are amazing and without them what we do
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be possible.
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, years ago, I visited the Red Bill Athlete Performance
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: Center in Santa Monica and was absolutely blown away at
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: all the different tools and technologies.
• 40:38
  Speaker 3: That they have there.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they have everything.
• 40:41
  Speaker 3: They have everything.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: Someone comes to your Instagram page and they see you
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: as this crossfitter with something like almost five hundred thousand
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: followers keeping up with you every day. But when you, Laura,
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: look in the mirror, what is it that you see
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: looking back at you?
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: Just like a regular girl? You know, like, obviously I
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: did these great things, but I don't think those achievements
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: define who I am. You know, like I'm Laura the
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: person first, and then comes to the athlete, and then
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: comes all these achievements which are great. But with the time,
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: I think they all fade away and you're just gonna
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: end up with who you are like as a person.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: If you are happy with yourself and who you are
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: as a person, that what really matters at the end
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: of the day.
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: That is what really matters at the end of the day.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: Right now, Laura, you have an opportunity to offer yourself
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: a piece of advice, maybe when you're in the thick
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: of the This is taking a lot longer than I
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: had hoped. It's after twenty eighteen. Your podium, You're not podium.
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: You're trying to figure it all out and you're just
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: having to exercise a lot of patience. What advice would
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: you offer your younger self knowing what you know now.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: You know, just like good thing takes time and you
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: just have to be patient and work hard for your goals.
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: But if you work hard, you're gonna get there.
• 41:57
  Speaker 3: You're gonna get there.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: Laura Horvap's so happy that we were able to sit
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: down today for Hurdle. For those that may not be
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: following along with you just yet, give us your info.
• 42:06
  Speaker 3: How do we keep up with you online?
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: And just look up Laura on Instagram Laura Hormaz and
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: then you'll find everything about me.
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: You'll find it.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: I'm over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle Podcast.
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: Another Hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time