Welcome to the Shark Bite show, where we dive into the stories of our members, coaches, friends, and family Shark Bite fitness and nutrition. All right, let’s go. I guess this afternoon. We have a coach with an amazing story. We’ve got Jess Selzer. She is one of our coaches here at Shark Bite Cape Coral. She’s been a friend of mine for a long time. I don’t want to give too much of this one away because this story is awesome. So, Jess, who are you? How long have you been involved in things like CrossFit and functional fitness?
Jess
I’m Jessica Sulzer. I am a civil engineer. I have been involved in CrossFit due to my sister’s sense; I want to say in April of 13 that I joined CrossFit thoroughbreds after she had been doing CrossFit on the East Coast for a while. And she, I don’t want to say conned me into it, but was just like, hey, just try it out. Shout. I tried it out. Absolutely. I tried it out at thoroughbreds. And then I moved into the cape. And that just location was just too far. And she knew ABA. Through her best friend, Jennifer is jumping. Yeah, no. And she’s like, go to crossfade Cape Coral. And I was like, Sure. When do they open? Because I moved to the Cape in October. So you guys weren’t open in October. So I was the first one open to the public on January 14. Yeah. So, it’s coming up on seven-plus years, seven-plus years. It’ll be eight years in April. Yeah. It’s all crazy. But yeah.
Nick
How cool is that? Yeah. Well, so like, what did you do before that? What kind of what were your athletic endeavors before functional fitness?
Jess
Here is my issue. I did four sports during high school. The entire time I did swimming, I did tennis. Then I did water polo and soccer. I lettered in all four sports; it was nonstop. Then I left for Florida State for college. And I was doing water polo over there. But it wasn’t this intense nonstop feel that I always had. So, of course, that freshman 15 turned into the freshman 30, which turned into more and more and more because then you start, you know, dating and going out, and you just so needless to say, my athletic background went from totally full force to doing absolutely nothing plummeting. And then it was just like the Globo gyms. And that just didn’t do it for me. To be honest, it didn’t mean that the stimulus you were used to having this constant varied for sports that I did with Mind you. I was a swimming instructor and water safety instructor at a swimming facility. So I was teaching kids and adults and all that have a swim. So it was constant to nothing. And I was constantly looking for that drive. And yeah, CrossFit. How Yeah,
Nick
I don’t know that I ever thought about that before. So you played sports. At the same time, you were literally looking for like, almost like confusion, like you needed more constant changing stimulus, right?
Jess
I needed more than just bicep curls and leg pushes and running. It needed to be this constantly varied functional fitness, which is what we do. I can’t get this man on my face when I say it. And people look at me like you’ve been doing it for that long, and I was like because you didn’t see me before. But again, it’s not so much about, you know, getting to that, you know, CrossFit Games. It’s about longevity, for me, to be honest with you.
Nick
Yeah. And I think like, that’s something that a lot of us have kind of those of us who’ve been coaches for a long time, I’ve learned is probably much more important. And those of us who’ve been like doing this athletically for a long time, I’ve realized it’s way more enjoyable when you approach it that way anyway, you know,
Jess
Don’t get me wrong, you always strive to do better. And you always strived to correct the other day, I was doing back squats, and Jim corrected, you know, just my back squats to, you know, be able to lift more but at the same time, you know, have proper movement, you know, but you’re always striving to do better, but I have no desire to you know, back squat 500 pounds or, you know, snatch 200 pounds overhead. There’s no point in that. At least for me. That’s not my goal. My goal is to be able to snatch 45 pounds when I’m 85 years old.
Nick
Jim talked about that a bunch, too. When he was on, he was talking about longevity, right? And being able to do cool things for the rest of your life. Not just a lot of cool things right now. Absolutely. Yeah. We talked about being a gym member and one of the first-ever members. At one point, it was like, who is number one, who’s number two? Who’s number three? I can’t remember what they are. But you were in single digits or double digits, right? I was single and didn’t start. Well, what did you do? Take from like, let’s think about like, way back in the small, small original gym back when you’re called CrossFit Cape Coral. What is bindi? Like watching it evolve over the years? It’s what we are now; what does that mean for you?
Jess
This is now a part of my life period. It’s not just where I go to get exercise; it’s my family. It’s like an appendage. It’s a small habit that has progressed that is life-changing. Piece of Me, you know, but what have I learned? I mean, there’s, there’s comes in it goes with people, and we impact them. Regardless, if they’re no longer here. They have that, I guess, staple, if you will, and they have that knowledge. And that’s longevity for them that that knowledge is on replaceable.
Nick
Yeah, cool way to put it, right. It’s not our care for people; they’re no longer members here. One of my favorite moments is when somebody takes a break and returns, and they’re like, ‘I didn’t know if you guys want me back.
Jess
Brian; He took a break. And he came back. And I saw him from the back of the gym, and I was just a mad dash to him, give him a big hug. He’s like, Oh, man, it was like I thought I heard your voice straight to you. Because again, he was here, and he took a break and returned. And I was so excited. And there are a lot of people that have taken breaks, and I just can’t wait for them to come back. Yeah,
Nick
Sam, Sam, because you’re they’re always experiences together, and you have all this fun, and you do all these cool things. And you, like I say all the time, Barbie sucks. But it’s fun when you do burpees with friends like you do that stuff to learn.
Jess
about burpees being a fun period. But still, you’re right. When you struggle with people, it just makes it more enjoyable. You know, I just finished working out with Holly. And we did 100 burpees. Because that’s what it ended up being. And we did them together. And we did them synchronized. And it was just cool to do them. And you honor burpees, which is not a big deal. But it was 100 burpees.
Nick
So you know, you’re a coach now, right? You started as a member. And most people don’t know this, but I asked you to be a coach way before you came and became one, right? It was like six or eight months before that? No, it was longer than Okay, so maybe as a full year, my memory has not served me correctly. So I remember when I was like, Hey, I think you’d be really good at this. I think we really live in the second. Remember in the place next to Kia, and I was like, I think you’d be really good at this. I think you’d be really good for the members. I think you’d really enjoy this, and you were like, Nah,
Jess
it was just a lot on my plate. At that time, though, Nick, I think the way that not the way that you asked was just the pivot point, a pivotal point in my time. I was going through a divorce and dealing with having to do with a parenting plan and who will take care of jewel, my son Julian and all that. It was just not the right time. And then once everything kind of settled, like the dust, all the pieces got into play. Don’t get me wrong, during this entire time that I was going through all this. I was still coming. I was still here, but just that extra responsibility, you know, at the same time, you know me, I don’t do anything halfway. That’s true. Neither. I’m gonna do it right. I’m just not going to do it at all. And it’s not that I’m going to ignore it; if I can’t do it, I’d say, hey, I can’t do that. This is I’m not gonna have half of it, you know? And it just wasn’t the right time. But then, you know, eventually. Yeah, I mentioned I came to you. And I was like, Hey, are you still looking? And you’re like, hell yeah, I’ll do it. So yeah.
Nick
Well, it’s funny because Brad was on the podcast recently. He’s on the show. And you guys started right around the same time as your internships. Was it like, the same day? Same day? Yep. We’re talking about my Coach Brad. And it was actually kind of a gift that you said no, originally, right? Because I got the time. We didn’t have an internship process. No, that was back in the days. It was like, Oh, hey, you’d like to coach. Here’s a key, you know. And, of course, it wasn’t that short. But it was comparatively like we didn’t prepare. I don’t think in the way we do now. For someone to become a coach, Absolutely. What changed, and what made you want to do that? Why did going from someone who comes in work out to I want to help others get this? What changed in your mind? What made you want to do that? Other than your, you know, your position in life at that point?
Jess
Just as self-reflection, I guess, if you will, I see people come in here and I, and that’s probably why you picked me because I would look at them and I’d be like, I don’t want them to hurt themselves. Let me not say something because, again, you have this, you know, I talked about semi-personal trainers, and I understand, but you have about 1012 people in the class, you know what I mean? And if you have that, I was just like, You know what I If I can help people, I have that knowledge skill set, and the desire to learn and be better at all times. So, yeah, that’s why I was like, I can do this. Yeah.
Nick
Yeah, I think you’re hitting on, like, what the number one thing that’s most important to be a coach. And that’s empathy for people who care for others, you know? Yeah,
Jess
I mean, I think I mean, it was, it was like, Jackie and Angie and all of them, they’d be doing something like completely wrong and be like, Oh, overhead squat like this, and then be like, no, just, you know, one of those, it was like a silly thing, but you just didn’t want them to hurt themselves. Those are just little cues that the coach will tell you 30 times the same thing, and you weren’t picking it up. And you have that glassy-eyed look. And then if somebody says it a little differently, they’re like the light bulb turns on. So that’s why I was like, yeah, I can be that light bulb. Turn it on.
Nick
That’s a fun moment. You’ve been working with somebody for so long. And then another coach comes up, and they’re like, Hey, how about you, push your knees out, and they PR their back squats?
Jess
They were doing it like a bunch of dogs with EJ, and EJ wasn’t getting it. Let me see them real quick. She’s like, ” I’ve been trying; just slow down your hands. She’s had some profanity to me. I love her.
Nick
uh, you know, the stuff that we said beforehand, that was the building blocks, and you were able to kind of just put the last piece
Jess
I was the one that lit the candle. That’s it or a light ball? What are you gonna call it?
Nick
Yeah, guys, if you haven’t heard of it yet, just as the best sayings, so. Alright, so like, that’s important. I mean, I’ve not told you this. It was your obvious care for others. That was like, okay, she’s gonna be a good coach. Like, I wasn’t, I wasn’t worried. I don’t think anybody else on the team was worried about whether you could or could not teach people cleans yet, right? Like, that’s easy to teach. We can teach anybody that, but that care for others can’t be taught. Like, that’s got to be something that you’re bred are born with or adapt over time, you know? And you definitely had that. Thank you. So thank you. You’ve got a little side project, right? Most people at the gym don’t know that you are wearing your stuff, right? Oh, yeah.
Jess
Yeah, I wasn’t sure where you were going with me. Honestly, like, where are we going with this? Yes.
Nick
Most people who have worn row straps at any Shark Bite gyms were at many of the competitions we host, like masters or fitness or reindeer games. Don’t know that, and they may see they’re wearing wrist wraps made by you. Right, sir? Well, so what is the name of that? Just just just just racks. Right?
Jess
Just simple. Just that. And just to quote, you know, Nicole.
Nick
So what got you into that?
Jess
I can do so, and I went to. Funny enough, I went to regionals. And, you know, they were selling restaurants for 30 bucks. I was looking at them. And I’m not kidding. I just picked up the restaurant, and I’m looking at them. And again, as I don’t want to say seamstress, but as a novice, I would just say, Man, I could do this. This isn’t a big deal. And then I was just like, I have all the machines already. I have your regular, you know, sewing machine. I have my serger. I was like, I can do this. And boom. I did buy the $35 wrist wrap because it had, you know, some licensed character on it. I was like, Man, that’s expensive. So I was like, You know what? I can do it. Yeah. So I just did it, and they came up pretty good.
Nick
They do. I wear wrist wraps for every workout and always wear versions of what you’ve made. Many people don’t realize that you go to local competitions like bloodlines.
Jess
I take myself with me. Yeah, I’m taking myself with me. I’ll be honest with you. I don’t want to say in my free time, but in my free time, whenever you know, there’s a fabric that comes out because I like to do it. But whenever there’s new fabric, new prints that come out, I go out there and I just, you know, I’ll go there be like, you know, what, can I get a yard of this? And just, you know, dabble. I remember Laurie was asking me, hey, do you have any shark fabric? And I was just like, You know what I think I do. And I went, and this was, I think it was like quarantine or right before the quarantine. Do you have any shark fabric? And I was like yeah, I do. And I want to make her summer sprouts. And that’s because she is like this. She loves them. They’re like sparkly fabric. They have sharks in them. That’s pretty cool.
Nick
Well, then you also come, if I remember correctly, and come drop off all of our houses. Nice. Oh, yes. Homemade masks are here.
Jess
So during quarantine, everybody was freaking out and the masks, so everybody was like, alright, we need this. Gosh, I forgot the name of the fabric. It’s not cotton fabric, but it’s a double-woven fabric. We need double woven fabric. Because that’s what stops because again, this was before like the whole we’re talking about last April last May. Yeah. 22 And I was just like, and I did the same thing for my family with you guys. I was able I’d make like 50 masks, if not more. Okay, I made them all and just mailed them to my family. They live in the Fort Lauderdale, Miami area. And then I was like, You know what, we’re gonna go for an outing, and it was my we want to get out of the freakin house, we’re gonna be right. I put everybody’s little mask in either a Ziploc bag or an envelope. And I basically dropped it off on your doorstep or dropped it off in your mailbox. And I just let you guys know that that was it. So I wanted to take care of my people. Like I hate to say this, not that, you know, the rest of Shark Bite isn’t, but you know, you guys weren’t really giving me your address.
Nick
Be I remember we were doing our at-home workouts, and I was out running? Oh, yes. Yeah. And I see a car. I’m probably, I don’t know, a good 575 100 700,000 feet away from the house. I see a car pull into my driveway. I see someone run out, sprint in the front door, and quickly get in the car in the driveway. I stopped running and asked, should I return to my house? What just happened? I thought someone dropped off like a bomb or a bag of dog poop.
Jess
And it was Julia. And it was my son that was in the backseat. He was a deliverer. Everybody was already, although the mask had their names on it. I put them in the back. And he was just like, I was like, just putting right in the front. Just so yeah, you’re right. And it was funny because he did that for a bunch of them. Yeah.
Nick
And I’m sure it looked perfectly normal if I hadn’t been watching it happen from just far enough away to not understand what I was seeing. Over stopping for 30 seconds and being like, is it safe to go home? Thank you for that, though. That was a long time. Alright, so you used to run our kid’s training program? Right, sir? Yeah, we had a CrossFit Kids program. We stopped it during and due to COVID. But very possibly going to bring it back soon. Spoiler alert. But while you were running it, you loved it. Yeah. Right. It was clear to anyone around that you looked forward to that. And I know you look forward to it because you would come in at 12 out of 10 energy ready to run that class after a full day at work.
Jess
Which is like every other class; it’s just that way. People, it’s pretty badass, you know what I mean? They look, they look forward to it. You know, they see the adults doing it. And there, you know, you know, pretty awesome. I think it was like, you have this twist when it’s a kid, you know what I mean? So everything’s like, we’re gonna do animals today? Well, what are animals? What’s gonna be a bear crawl and a spider crawl? Do you know what I mean? And a frog jump, which is essentially where you’re asking them to do as a burpee broad jump, it’s a frog. Come on now. It’s one of those things; it was pretty awesome. And, you know, the kids were pretty good.
Nick
I thought you did a good job of making the kids practice balance and coordination and getting stronger. But all the while I like playing.
Jess
Yeah, absolutely. That’s you have to, I don’t want to say trick. But that’s what you’re doing, making sure that playing. But you’re these core principles, your balance, the agility, you know, yeah, most of them want to do weights, and you have to incorporate that, you know, to a bare minimum. But that’s not the principle of it. The principle is that, you know, not that they can lift, you know, 20 pounds overhead. Can they balance their feet, touch their nose, and blink their eyes while on one foot? That’s, that’s the main purpose of it, forget about them doing, you know, just holding this weight overhead. That wasn’t the important part of that call, you know, because that’s the core. If you think about it, if you don’t have that balance, you will not be able to balance that weight overhead period. So you can’t balance without weight. How are you expected to balance with weight,
Nick
right, and like, it’s in a time where kids are getting more and more technology-based like play is kind of going away, you know, gym classes are going away, sports teams are going away.
Jess
And that’s why I made it a point that it didn’t matter what we were doing; it was always going to be a game at the end. They love playing pizza, a balancing, quick foot action drill. So you get your ab mat. And then you just need to tip over average each other’s add mats, you know what I mean? Or just like hops on plates, where you play Rock, Paper, Scissors, you make it a point to your plane during the entire class. But again, this is kind of like for them. It was free to play and they got to pick whatever game they wanted to play.
Nick
The adults love to detail. So that’s still one of my favorite warm-ups. People in their 20s and 30s get amped up to play pizza or tic tac toe, and we’re excited to take that into a scary thought.
Jess
Yeah, tac toe is scary, but it’s super fun.
Nick
Cool. All right. So we are gonna go ahead and talk about a super sensitive topic. Right, you know, we’ve been friends for a long time. I’ve known about this for a long time, but I think the vast majority of people that have interacted with you at Shark Bite don’t know. With this, no, the bombs getting dropped. You were diagnosed and live with Ms. Yes, right? What is ms for
Jess
people who don’t know what that is? MS stands for Multiple Sclerosis. It’s an autoimmune deficiency or disorder, where your nervous system attacks backward, and your immune system attacks your nervous system. So it is constant. It varies from person to person. So it’s essentially just if you think about your nervous system as your electrical wires that send signals from your brain to everything in your body or imagine your immune system being that little rodent that is just eating up that little wire. So if that rodent eats up that wire that takes your brain signal or your brain, the signal from your brain, to your bowels, or to your legs, or to wherever that disconnect, so you lose bowel functions, or you lose strength in your legs, or you stop breathing. And I mean, it varies. It’s constantly varied.
Nick
It’s funny, so we’ll dive into different pieces of this. And again, thank you so much for being willing to share this. How old were you when you found out, and what was that period?
Jess
I had just turned 21. I went to an engineering school. I had a part-time job. I was a waitress at Roadhouse, where you put all the peanuts all over the floor and was a part-time waitress at Roadhouse. And during one of my shifts, I picked up plates and served them. And later that night, downshifting down, my hands were full of blisters. And the reason why it’s because the plates are so hot, and I didn’t notice it is
Nick
so because you couldn’t feel it. I couldn’t feel it. Yeah, I didn’t
Jess
feel the heat on my hands. And I ended up with blisters on my hands. And it wasn’t just my hands. It was my arm too. I didn’t feel it. So, of course, you go to the emergency or emergency room. And they did a spinal tap and an MRI. And then they first thought it was a stroke. But then they diagnosed me with Ms. I was 21.
Nick
That’s, that’s insane. Just,
Jess
yeah. The first time it was really scary. Nick, I’ll be honest with you because the first couple of doctors that I saw, their first reaction was like, Oh, you’re going to school? It’s like, yeah, because that’s like, that was my thing. I wanted to graduate from engineering school. You know, like, No, you need to put all that aside, go and travel the world, like making your bucket list. You know? Well, Doctor, you know, almost, you know, almost 20 years later,
Nick
she said. Almost 20 years later, I’m
Jess
not 41. Okay, just making sure we know this, almost 20 years later, and here I am kicking ass, in my opinion,
Nick
not just your opinion by fact. I mean, I don’t. When people hear this, the vast majority know you’re gonna be pretty surprised about that. Right? So something I want to know specifically is sure. How do you manage it? Right, because I think that’s important, right? Like a lot of people don’t know. And it’s to you. It’s been important for that to be the case. Right. So how have you mentioned,
Jess
Thankfully, I don’t have one of the severe cases of Ms. There are always degrees. So if you think of cancer, it’s the lower eight. For me, it’s the lower end of cancer. I have relapsing-remitting MS. With me, it’s always been sensory. So I feel. So think about going to the dentist where you get that numb. So whenever I have that relapse or that exacerbation, I just take a step back. Do you know what I mean? I may not be as active as I need to be in the sense that I’ll go to my nine to five, come here, and go straight home and basically veg out and do absolutely nothing. But again, it’s just staying busy and listening to your body. It’s really listening to your body. I have a great working relationship with my doctor and manage it through treatment. I do have a treatment regimen.
Nick
That’s good to know. When asked if someone with MS should be working out, this is a big portion of your life. You’re your professional coach. So
Jess
Like I said, I have this great working relationship with my doctor, and he told me right away he’s like, just if you don’t use it, you lose it. That’s essentially what it is. And it’s not about lifting those 200 pounds. It’s about lifting that 45 pounds with or 25 pounds, whatever, and making sure you use every piece of muscle in your body. Okay, it’s critical for you. Now he doesn’t want me in the hot sun for four hours, you know, drenched in sweat, but at Shark Bite, you’re talking about an hour workout, you know, three, four, or five times a week. Definitely what the doctor recommends. It is. He is ecstatic that I was, I’ll be honest with you. He’s not the favorite in competitions because of how many workouts we do and how long they are. But he’s okay with it, you know, because of how well I’m doing. But again, it’s about listening to your body and ensuring you’re doing well, you know, but he is so far away. He is definitely for it.
Nick
So would you say that? Do you feel like it’s helped you having something like that?
Jess
Yes. Yeah. Extremely. It’s kept me active, Nick. It’s kept me active. If you know, like I said, I’m coming up. I was diagnosed in 2002. So here I am coming up on my 21-year mark; I’m sorry, 19. year mark. Well, the 19-year mark, okay. And it’s kept me active. And I note that you need to compare yourself to others. But I know others that were diagnosed when I was diagnosed because I met them then at the hospital, and everybody takes a different path in life. And I’m not kidding, but Shark Bite. And shark fit is at a completely different place in the art in that my fellow MSOs are very debilitated, you know, handicapped. And granted, we all have different levels of Ms., But I would not be where I am. As if it wasn’t for all the wasn’t for this. And Nick, it’s not just, it’s not just the fitness portion. It’s the entire package. Yeah, it’s a fitness portion. It’s part of nutrition as well. So it’s that nutrition aspect as well, which is very important. By the way, with the MLS, you need to make sure that you identify certain food groups that do better with you or don’t do better with you; you have to listen to your body, you know what I mean? But working with a coach helps you not just listen; you can, you know, have that dialogue with the coach, you know what I mean? And then this family community is pretty badass.
Nick
Yeah, that’s a big part of it. I know it is for me, as the fitness part, that being around people who care about me and who I care about regularly, who want me to succeed, and who I want to succeed is cool. Well, so I know, like, a background here. I know you didn’t really want to originally talk about this. I know; I didn’t. The reason I think it’s so important. And I’m really proud of you for doing this right, is that everybody has struggles, you know, and a lot of times, I think it’s really easy for us to accidentally let those struggles kind of be what and who we are. You know, and I think you said something really, really, like, profound the other night we were hanging out, right. And I really liked the way you said it. If you want to go ahead and no.
Jess
Oh, I said that just now. MS doesn’t define me. Yeah, it doesn’t. It doesn’t dictate my life. I push the limits, you know, and again, I listen to my body, but it’s not doesn’t define me those restrictions or you know, everything you read, don’t get freaked out because if I did it to me and I said, You know what? I want to live my life and explore as much as I can. And I’m not kidding. I would not be where I am if it wasn’t for shark fit. And just being part of who we are here. I mean, like I said, I’ve been doing it for eight years. And it’s gotten me stronger, mentally, physically, and emotionally stronger. And
Nick
I, it’s we’ve had situations before was like, other people have commented on like, Oh, it’s you know, it’s really impressive. Justin’s doing that. And I’ve always, I’ve always, I’ve always wanted to say like, if you only knew how impressive it is, like, I’ve always had to hold my tongue, you know, saying that next step. You know, we’re in the middle of like, a super stressful open workout or hear a lot, you know, we’re,
Jess
yeah, I beat married by one second 19.1 or whatever it was. Okay, now I’m married. I’m burpee work on this what that right? Sorry, Mary. Don’t forget that one.
Nick
I’m not gonna put Mary on the podcast to combat that because there’s not enough recording on my phone. But I’ve always wanted to be like, if you only knew how impressive it is that she’s doing a 90-minute workout right now, you know, but I’ve always kind of had held that back and said,
Jess
I don’t like what I said; I don’t want it to define me. Do you know what I mean? It’s just part of my life, and I go with it.
Nick
So that’s awesome. Thank you for sharing, seriously. Hey, welcome. Off of that, we have the CrossFit open coming up, right?
Jess
Yep. I’m not, so I’m not so excited about the opening. I’m just excited about the intramural. Oh
Nick
my gosh, yeah, the universe, the internals can be awesome. It’s very when maybe this is too far behind the curtain. But everyone’s asking; we’re recording this the night of the announcement of the first workout,
Jess
This is Ms. Awareness Week, and the seventh through the 13th is Ms. Awareness Week. March is Ms. Month. So that’s why I was just like, You know what, let’s do it. He asked me to do it. And I looked at my calendar, and I even texted him. I was just like, man, it’s Ms. Awareness Week. He’s like, we can talk about it, if you want us to say, yeah. We have a good family. So we’re
Nick
good. Yeah, it’s where you can feel safe talking about that stuff. And like I told you offline, I think many people will hear that. And they’re gonna think, okay, like, if jazz can do this, I can do this. You know? How? Yeah. All right. So let’s talk about maybe, maybe, happier stuff. So we’ve got seven-plus years of history in doing these open workouts together and in doing competitions together, and what are some fun memories? Because I have one, I’m going to bring up, what are some fun memories you have, like, open situations or competition situations, or events we’ve done?
Jess
I remember the first open that you guys did at the first gym? Yep. And it was a thruster. And
Nick 31:28
burpees is the one I was gonna bring. Oh, my God. Oh, my God,
Jess
and I was judging you. Yes, you were. And I mean, here I am. I am just a year, maybe a year, into CrossFit. And there’s this. He didn’t look like he looks now. Okay. He’s definitely. You guys need to look at those pictures. But there’s this kid, and granted kid because I’m older than you are, like this kid on the floor. He’s freaking dying. But he’s a frickin amazing athlete. But he’s dying on the floor. And here I am. And if you guys know me, pick up the bar. Let’s go. And I will count you down. I’m like, 321. Let’s go. And I’m not kidding. I thought this kid was going to kill me. Because here I am pushing him, and I thought he would kill me. And then the whole time. Granted, I’m doing this and thinking, Oh, gosh, I have to do this tomorrow. It was bad. Well, yeah. So
Nick
some insight for Nunez. No, we’re talking about what we used to do is on Thursday nights when the workout came out, like six or seven of us idiots would do the workout.
Jess
right then that night. And keep in mind, it’s after 8pm On a Thursday. Yeah. So it’s
Nick
late at night. We’re all tired. We’ve all worked a full day, and many people have to be up to be at the gym or at work very early the next morning. And like any hits, we would do the workout. Right. And this is the first one that didn’t have a time cap. Nope. And it was a thruster.
Jess
369 increments incrementing to three
Nick
it was like 21, down to three by three.
Jess
Yeah, and I was 27 down to three. And it could
Nick
I am 50 years old, and I remember how it felt. It didn’t have a time cap well before the scale division. So you’re doing it.
Jess
So you didn’t do it at all.
Nick
And I remember just judging me. And I realized very quickly in this workout that this would not work well for me. And I don’t think we knew each other well enough at the time; we had worked out enough together for you to realize that, so you were pushing me with some intensity. And I was optimistic, I think, and I was aware that that was not what would happen. So 25 minutes, basically just screaming in my face. Sorry, MC got oh, and me trying so hard to be like, Dude, I can’t. Every time you open comes around, I think of that. Oh my gosh, I really hope this doesn’t happen again. And if it does, I hope he doesn’t scream at me for 25 minutes.
Jess
It’s kind of like a class, but you are my entire class.
Nick
25 minutes. I had your full attention. Minutes.
Jess
I’m glad I didn’t know rep you, though.
Nick
I want to do this whole podcast just so we can get that story. So I can tell everybody. I mean, you were with me for 25 minutes.
Jess
Suck it up, buttercup.
Nick
Thank you very much. I’ll be stepping out in the open if that workout comes out tonight. I won’t be doing it. But so
Jess
you’re in the circus or legs. You need to do some type of scaling issue for you to get points.
Nick
Get our team of trainers right. We talked about that real quick. So here we did, the regular CrossFit open for a long time. Why do you like it?
Jess
Honestly, it takes a different pressure to a different level and morphs it, and it’s just so much fun. It’s interactive. You know you don’t need the open; you need someone that saw the videos that had criteria for it to be judged and all that here; it’s just about you know you’re being counted, your reps are being counted by one of your gym mates. Or maybe someone that you don’t know that you just got to know that day, and you build a bond with them. Because, again, you’re dying, and they’re there with you, counting these reps with you. Do you know what I mean? Friday Night Lights, I’ll be honest with you, will have been my I look forward to them because it’s not just, you know, this one person counting for you. You have other people; it’s like cheering you on and screaming at you. The music is blaring, we have other activities, we’ll have food, and we’ll have, you know, just events are going on. And it’s just so much fun. Because again, you’re doing the same workout. It’s just a workout. That’s all you’re doing. Okay. But again, you’re focusing on that workout. Because again, you have someone counting on you. And people are cheering for you. You know, you’re part of a team.
Nick
Teammates literally cheering you on.
Jess
Yeah, it’s just, it’s a lot of fun.
Nick
Yeah, I mean, I’m really, really glad we started doing it. I think this will be our fourth or fifth, and I can’t remember the fourth.
Jess
it’ll be our four yet for a missed one. And I was so upset about it.
Nick
Yeah, I’m really excited about it. I really will be when
Jess
it’ll be the first time you when I want
Nick
to do the inaugural? Rainbow Unicorn if you want the first one. Okay. Yeah. That’s so you. If you’re talking to someone who’s brand new, right? Yeah, trying to think eight years ago, you talk to someone who’s brand new at this. And they’re scared to get started, right? Whether it be the shark fit or maybe a CrossFit gym or any type of healthy fitness lifestyle, or they were scared to get started? What would you tell them?
Jess
Try it out. There is no place to go. I mean, what’s there to lose? Do you know what I mean? Just try now. Come in. Talk to someone you know if they want. Are you looking at them just coming in, watching a class, talking to you, Crystal, or one of the Fort Myers gym coaches? But as far as anybody, I would tell them, it’s nothing like you’ve ever experienced. Okay, it is fun. It is a pain. It is enjoyment; it is soreness. But again, it is fulfilling; I think that would be the right word. It’s really fulfilling. And it’s, it’s not boring. It’s not boring. And that’s the thing about it. I think that based on my background, doing four sports at the same time it’s not boring. And that’s what makes it fun. It is constantly being varied. And you have someone that tells you what to do, man, I don’t know. But it’s that same time. It’s like mindless. I spend all day at work, you know, focusing and calculations and things that I like to do, which is fine. But then, at the same time, when I come in, I work out, I look at the workout, and it’s just your brain goes somewhere else. And you just get to work. You know you chip away at it and are good to go. Yeah, like
Nick
that. Turning my brain off and just having a good time.
Jess
Yeah, sometimes you need to do that. Oh,
Nick
Just thank you very much. I’ll have a good time. Thanks for hanging out with us today on the Shark Bite show. If you’d like to get a hold of us, you find us on Facebook or Instagram at Shark Bite fitness Nutrition or on our website at SharkBiteFitness.com. If you’d like to learn more about our guests, their information will be in the show notes. If you’d like to talk to us about getting more fit. Feel free to schedule a free no-sweat intro at one of our locations in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, or Naples, Florida.
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