Welcome to the shark light show; we dive into the stories of our members, coaches, friends, and family. Shark Bite fitness and nutrition. All right, let’s go. Hi, Holly. Guys, today I have Holly Simone. You might know her as Nick on Facebook. She has been with us for a really long time. She’s got a very cool insight on Shark Bites’ history. So I’m excited. Holly, thank you for doing this.
Holly
Thank you for asking me.
Nick
It took me a fair amount of time to convince you to do this.
Holly
No, you asked me a couple of months ago to do it. And I said, Nick, of course, I will do anything for you because you’re always a good supporter of the rest of us.
Nick
Well, thank you. And then you definitely hit me for three months about it. While I was getting podcast guests. Thank you for agreeing and then hiding for three months. I appreciate that. Holly, so you have been here for a long time. For the very few people who are gonna listen to this who don’t know who you are as one of the originals, who are you? Where are you from? What do you do for work?
Holly
All of that. All right, Holly Simone. I live on Pine Island, which is a key part of my fitness because it’s 30 minutes to drive into the gym and 30 minutes to drive home. I work at the City of Fort Myers and the Finance Department as Deputy Finance Director. And yes, you call me a secret, Nick, on Facebook. But the start of that was my husband had a Facebook page to stay in touch with his college friends. And then I got a smartphone and discovered Facebook and realized all this stuff was going on with the gym, competitions, and everything and pictures that I didn’t even know about. And once I got up to speed with Facebook, many pictures were already on his page. And I quickly realized that even though I was under Nixon’s home, people could still find me from work. And I just wasn’t comfortable with that. So I like being myself here at the gym, and I didn’t want to lose that.
Nick
We were talking about that right before we started recording right about how it is cool to have a place where you can be separate from work. I, Krystal, and Katie talked about this a lot. The idea is kind of like having a third place, you know, you need to be like you’re at home, you’re at work, and then like somewhere else. We try to be that perfect, and you’re demonstrating that. How long have you been working out?
Holly
You know, it’s funny because I ran into Janet Davis this week. And it was 730 class, and I hadn’t seen her since before COVID.
Nick
Yeah, Janet’s back.
Holly
I’m really happy about that. I am too. And when I saw her, her face was just beaming. So excited to see her. But she was actually the first person that I started working out with. She was teaching an exercise class on Pine Island, volunteering, and a lot of people were just coming into this church, and she was doing various exercises. And I think that was back in 2008 or 2009. A long time ago. And so I would go twice a week. And when she started doing step aerobics. I couldn’t keep up with her. This is funny when you think about where I’m at with CrossFit today. Back then, I couldn’t do step aerobics. Because I stopped going.
Nick
Janet’s pretty fit.
Holly
She’s amazing. And then I ended up at around-the-clock fitness and the boot camps. And one of the members: Troy, I don’t know if you remember Troy sheriffs. He was talking about the Saturday class, that was really cool. And he saw that I was competitive. And he was competitive. And he said, you know, you need to come to the Saturday class. Well, why would I want to leave the island on the weekend? When I’m driving downtown every single day. You know what the hell out of trying it. And Jim Mears was teaching the class. So I got through the class, got home, crawled to my pool, and collapsed for about a couple of hours. And that really started, you know, that was the cap for the boot camp for me. And then, you know, one thing led to another, and they fired the trainer that is my Bootcamp trainer, and Jim said, you know, you should look at CrossFit, and I looked it up. I had no idea what it was. Never heard of it. I looked it up on the internet. So the classes were, and I thought I can’t do that shit., there’s no way. And Troy said, come to the gym. We’ll try it. You don’t have to go back if you don’t like it. And so I tried it, and Jim was right; I could do it. And they fired my trainer around the clock, and I thought, alright, I’ll try CrossFit. And I haven’t looked back since
Nick
That’s probably a better time to go try something new, right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that’s cool. I’m glad you knew Jim back then. Because if not, I wouldn’t have met you. Yeah. Well, I want to get into that a little further in a second, but before, Did you play any sports or anything growing up? No, no. Okay, that’s like a recurring trend I’m noticing, right?
Holly
Yes. And I’ve listened to some podcasts because you and I talked about, well, you know, I had to come up with some things you wanted me to discuss. And I had some ideas. And I’m listening to the podcast, and other people are saying similar things. They weren’t really into sports. And, you know, I played kickball but in school, no.
Nick
I think a lot of people think that that’s the opposite of that. They think that all of us are former competitive athletes, and that’s the only way you can get into CrossFit or functional fitness style training. And that’s not true. Outside of the gym, what do you do? Because you are sorry, secret Nick posts cool pictures of you when you’re not at the gym. So what do you do for recreation away from working out and work?
Holly
Recreational, um, you know, when I lived in New Hampshire, I met Nick, who was an avid diver. You know, it’s very cold up in New Hampshire; it was never on my bucket list of things to do. So when I moved down here, I got certified and have been diving since 2003. So we’d like to dive. We’re actually going to the keys this weekend. Haven’t been in the water for a couple of years because of COVID. We’re looking forward to that. Boating, fishing, socializing. I just like to go outdoors biking. I have a yard that I’m converting into not having grass and just into natural Florida. Plants and things like that. Yes, that’s cool. I didn’t know that. Yeah. So because it’s not real grass down the crabgrass, right? Yes. And so I’m tearing all of that up. I don’t want to have a lot of mulch. Because that takes maintenance. I’m converting it slowly by sections and to native plants. So they don’t require a lot of water. Not much maintenance and checks on birds; these butterflies are all the pollinators we need. So I work on that on the weekends as well.
Nick
That’s so cool. I had no idea about that. How long? How long have you been working on that?
Holly
It’s coming up to three years. Holy crap.
Nick
That’s not. That’s not a light hobby.
Holly
It’s not, but it relaxes me. So I enjoy it.
Nick
How physical is it?
Holly
It’s physical if you think about coming here, and I do a Saturday class at eight o’clock in the mornings because Jim Mears is the only person that could get me off the island. So I really like coming in and doing the partner workouts. It’s a nice break from the workouts during the week. So then I get home. And like the real Nick, makes me breakfast, coffee’s ready. And then I like to go out in the yard for a couple of hours. You know, I’m trimming things. I’m squatting down, picking up mulch and shovel, you know, a variety of things. So I could be out there five hours easily.
Nick
That’s cool. That’s cool. So I feel like gardening is one of those things. I don’t want to necessarily call that gardening. But the idea about, like, working in the grass and with plants, people will think that that’s like a very light activity. And I feel like in the few times I’ve been forced to help somebody do it.
Holly
Well, that’s why we say yard work. It’s not yarded fun.
Nick
Five hours, that’s a lot. So imagine working out really helps with that, right?
Holly
A lot. Yeah, a lot. Because it sounds silly. You and I have talked about squatting and mobility and my flexibility. And even when I’m outside, if I have to lift a bag of mulch, I’ll throw it over my shoulder and be very careful to ensure I’m not rounded back, squatting down, and picking up things carefully. And yeah, that’s always in the back of my mind.
Nick
That’s cool. I know you and me; we joke about this. We’re, we’re both very immobile. And that’s putting it lightly. Right. It’s a lot better now, for sure. But we were both very, very immobile. And I’ve noticed a change in your ability to like squatting and moving. And I gotta imagine that makes it feel better, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that’s cool. So you are about as OG a Shark Bite member as they come; you’re, like one of our first, I don’t know, 5678 members, right at this gym way back. Like we were a CrossFit gym. Multiple buildings ago, you know, you and I actually both came together from a whole different gym. Right? I was thinking about this. Not too long ago. I think I’ve said this to you before. I’ve seen you almost every day of my life for almost a decade. It’s a crazy thought.
Holly
And that meant a lot to me when you said that to me first. Yeah, it made me stop and think because you can do everything. And so you said that just made me realize our investment in the gym, and I appreciated that. And you know, it’s funny because I think about it when the gym talked about the first gym being one of his favorite gyms in his podcast. I remember the day I walked up; I remember the day you left in you, and I’ve talked about that. And then I remember the day I called ABA and said, ” ABA, you know, I just want to check things out. I know you’ve got something going on. And he said, yeah, just show up in the afternoon. And you didn’t know I was coming.
Nick
I did not. I did not. And I can actually remember that day. Yeah.
Holly
And he looked at me, and you said, Hell yeah. It came over and gave me a big hug. And I thought, wow, this is really cool.
Nick
This conversation could go sideways. Many people seemed to think that we had attempted to bring many people with us. And I remember you being mad at me when you showed up? Because you were like, Why didn’t you tell me to do the right thing? I’m sorry. Yeah, but I remember that day; I was awesome. And I was very happy when you showed up.
Holly
Well, I was trying to be loyal at the time. But it became clear, you know, that there was a division, there are the good people, and then you know, back then, I still had a lot to learn. And people learning, we’re getting pushed aside. And you know, I can get that up. Charlie Thomas saw me walk out once and the second old gym, and he still calls me on it. But you know, I got to a point where I just like, all right, and you know, I wanted to try something new. And I can understand why you didn’t tell people that was the right thing to do. And again, I knew that you were leaving, that things were good, but I just wanted to stay out of that. I’m glad I made the change. And oh my god,
Nick
Me too. And I’ll always remember you. And Anna was another one. I got that. Why didn’t you tell me? I’m sorry.
Holly
It was the right thing to do.
Nick
I’m glad you made the change too. Because like, you know, with CrossFit que por el and now Shark Bite, you’ve been here for every phase of everything we’ve been, you know, and it’s there’s not a whole lot of people left who’ve been like that, you know, you mean, Jim, Mel, Jess, Charlie. Janet, that’s like really it. Christie? Christie? Sorry, Christine, don’t get mad at me. And it’s cool to see what your thoughts have been watching the last, I mean, literally eight years of this thing developing? Change so many times?
Holly
Honestly, it’s like watching you grow up. I mean, you have done so much. And it’s amazing. You know, I think about that first day I showed up in the driveway and that gym, which was completely different. Everybody was going to be warming up together. And I remember being out in that driveway, and we were doing whatever we were doing despite the same warm-up we did every day. I thought, Oh, my God, what am I doing? This is like being in a camp. If you know, why are we all warming up together? And it took me a while to adjust to it. But going from that, you know, it makes sense now and going from that gym to the second show, you know, and although all of those changes, and you know, some people say they don’t see clicks in the gym, that were clicks in the gym, and that slowly been phased out. I think all the changes are good and bad. Even the bad ones have come out to be good. If that makes sense.
Nick
Sometimes you must do the wrong thing to realize it’s wrong. How else can you be put back on the right path until you’ve tried it? Yeah, you know, that’s funny that you said that you didn’t enjoy that, especially at the beginning, like the fact that we all warmed up as a group. And I think that’s actually common when people come from other gyms. And that’s, that’s not just now, that’s the last eight years, you know if you came from a gym, and I’m not going to be the one who says that that’s wrong to not do that, right? It’s just different. But you come from a gym where maybe the warmup is on your own, or there’s no dedicated instruction on the movement you’re doing that day. You come from a place that doesn’t do that. When we do that, you’re like, I’m not a child, get away from me, like I don’t need this, you know, and then after a couple of months of it, you’re like, Oh, I really liked this. I like knowing what I’m doing today. I like being prepped for that. You know, like I know that I feel that way now. And because I am similar to you, I used to not do that. I used to come in, and I would warm up if I felt like it and not warm up if I didn’t
Holly
right and then, we were all in our own little corners. I think we are warming up together. Yeah, we chit-chat chat, but we try to keep it to him now. It’s like bonding. You know, we’ve all had, you know, a good day or a bad day. You come in, you warm-up that gives us a chance to chit chat, and then we go to work.
Nick
I think you’re totally right. I think the warm-up is like sets. Even the feeling of the class, you know, if I come in as a coach and I’m like our guys do this on the board, and then I start texting, right? Like the energy will not be high, people aren’t excited to be nobody’s gonna be excited to do groaners. If I’m like, hey, I’ll talk to you guys later, you know where you’re at, I feel like that, like, if I come into class and like, let’s say, Morgan is coaching, and he’s amped up, and he’s like, leading us together, I’m amped up to, I feel like I’m ready to do that. What have you noticed being in, let’s say, this building? Because we’re in our third building now, right? And we’re on our fifth, probably a hopefully final iteration of what we are as a gym.
Holly
Are you sure because every time I think you’ve got it, you turn around and do something? And that’s a good thing. So many good changes. And I don’t mean to be patronizing by saying, I’m watching you grow up, you’re like a little brother to me, and just seeing all the successes you’ve done. Amazes me, and then I think you can’t possibly do something better. And you do so and how you do it. It’s the vision that you have.
Nick
Well, thank you, I. Chris asked me something like that right about guys. Anybody who’s anybody, anybody who doesn’t give this answer, is lying. It’s like, without having people like you and people like jazz and be like Charlie and Jim who’ve been here the whole time. To support that, you know, like, that’s not possible. I seriously, it’s not, you know, I, I know that maybe the exception of jazz, like, none of you guys work here, you know, but having that those consistent people and the right people and people with the right values and the right belief and support system, like we can’t make these changes if you guys don’t buy into it, you know, because, you know, we moved the kettlebell rack and you say, this is stupid. Why is it a kettlebell rack here? New members are gonna be like, Yeah, that’s right. It is stupid. Why do they move the stupid kettlebell? Haven’t people, you guys on our team have, like, thoroughly and officially, like it really makes a big difference, you know? So you’ve committed to getting off the island for almost eight years, like almost every day, right? That’s not easy. Know, what’s been your favorite part of, I could say, coming to the gym, I could say fitness, I just whatever you view this as, like, what’s been your favorite part about what gets you to leave the island when you don’t have to?
Holly
Work, obviously, during the week. Like tomorrow, I’m off, right? Most people would sleep in and take the day off. I’m still gonna come in and do a 730 class. And then I have a session with Josh after that; to me, that’s a good day off. I’ll go home, have a cup of coffee, my sisters in town, go for a bike ride or something like that. It’s just having that. I mean, this is a focus for me. You’re talking about having your workplace and your home place. This is my third place. It’s a secret to me. I don’t bring my phone, and this is my time. Don’t interrupt me. Just let me have my workout. Let me see my friends. Let me socialize. That’s what gets me off the island and the coaching and the members you know coming in and partnering with Jess, Mel, and Amanda when she was here and other drop-ins like Katie from New Jersey. You know, all of that brings me here. There’s not a lot else that’s going to get us off the island. Yes, scenery
Nick
Is anyone listening to this who’s not from Cape Coral or Pine Island? Islanders don’t leave the island. It’s like the Gulf, the area where malta she is like a moat, and nobody will cross it. It’s wild. I didn’t know that when I first moved down here. Nobody will leave the island; there must be a strong motivation to get off the island. Well, what are several? What are some of the struggles that you’ve noticed? Because a lot of people, and I don’t know if you use this way, but a lot of people view you as a badass in this gym, you know, and like, I think it would be wild for a lot of them to hear that you had struggles of any guy because you’re doing like everything now. You know?
Holly
Almost everything. Pretty damn close. Pretty damn close. Yeah, pretty damn close. Yet my struggles. You know, in the beginning, you know, we talked about form. And you know, and we were talking about that video of the open when I was doing those cleans, and I’m looking at myself.
Nick
That was like 2013, 2014. Yeah.
Holly
And my back is to the camera, and I can see my form, but I didn’t know any better than trying to undo that. As you know, took a couple of years, and that was a struggle because I’m watching people do RX, and I’m big. I want to do RX and be back, and I’m older, so I’m watching younger people come in and just be able to knock it out. And that’s frustrating as hell. But it took a while, having people around my age like Leanne and Mel and just working through it and seeing what they could do. And what I could do is just we’re just learning what I can and can’t do, not getting injured, not pushing myself to the limit. For a while, I was running three or four miles a day and then coming in and doing CrossFit. And my ankles are paying for it. So I thought, Alright, I have to make a choice. I have to back off some of this. And pull-ups. For some reason, I did pull-ups at another gym and then couldn’t do them. But I fell off the bar at the other gym, smacked my head and probably had a concussion, and got up and went to gym boot camp class the next day. Not a good like, no, call it. So it took me a while to get comfortable with pull-ups, and Amanda and I were going to do a competition up in Punta Gorda, and I had to learn to do pull-ups. I could do them one by one and couldn’t string them. And I thought, Dammit, I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna pull my witness competition with Amanda, and we placed four. And I was super happy about that. And double unders.
Nick
I’m gonna bring up double unders.
Holly
That’s a struggle. And I had them; I lost them. Chained to the cable, it turned out the cables were too short. So I lost them again. But now I have another cable? Have I tried them? No. But I’ll get to it. You know, it’s on my bucket list. Toast a bar. I’ve struggled with those for a long time, which I keep saying to myself, which has come up recently. I should be able to do a toaster bar. You know, I am happy as hell, and the toaster rings. And you know, it’s not because that’s now considered part of RX for people my age. It’s because I’m happy as hell. Right. So I’m not worried about the toaster bar anymore. I’ll do my toes all day.
Nick
I think that’s really important. Like what you just said, right? That feeling of like I should be able to write, like, by what metric? Or by like, in whose rulebook? Does it say I should be able to do this, right? You and I just worked out together at four o’clock. And you saw that I was doing the toaster rings, right? How many people have you met in your life who can do that? Right, like, so just because some 22-year-old is doing that doesn’t make that like somehow better or more challenging, meaning toasted bars, you know, it’s really cool that we can hang from rings and pull our feet up into the holes and do that a bunch of times, right? And if that gets you a great workout, and it feels cool, and you don’t hurt yourself and have a good time, how is that worse. And that’s the thing that when people are doing their life cycle of like functional fitness, or CrossFit or whatever kind of fitness probably not just this kind, where they get to a point where they start to believe they should be doing something, you know, it took me two years to learn double unders. I mean, when we were at the other gym, I vividly remember an open workout that had muscle ups in it. And I was really amped up because I was one of the only people who could do muscle-ups. But I had to get through something like 100 double unders before that. And I had like, 12 minutes to do it. And it took me like 11 and a half minutes. And I got no muscle-ups. And I remember being so butthurt about it. I couldn’t believe it. Like I shouldn’t be able to do this, right? But says, Oh man, it was something I saw. Yeah. So eventually, you know, I practiced them when we got them. And you got double unders.
Holly
And I will eventually if I put the time into it, but I guess it’s just not that important. And that’s gonna take the should out of my vocabulary. You know, you just had the masters of fitness competition. And I was looking at the standards for the RX. And I thought I should do this, I could do this. But I’ve never done a competition by myself. It’s always been with somebody else. And I don’t know where my head was, but I wish I had pushed myself to do it. Because other people were saying, Why are you doing this and you should do it?” And I should have talked to Jim because he would have walked me through it. Imitating, and I kicked myself now for not doing it. But at the same time. I’m happy just volunteering and coming in and working out behind the scenes, and then I thought, what would mal have done if she didn’t have me, boss, around with the equipment? And that gives me more satisfaction in supporting the gym by volunteering. But I thought, you know, there’ll be another competition just because I feel like I should do it. I don’t like to compete by myself. And then I realized if I’m not happy doing that, and I’m happy you’re volunteering, take the should out of the equation.
Nick
I really like that we should write that up in the gym somewhere. Because that’s awesome. You’re right; Mel would have killed me if you weren’t there. Because spoiler alert, there was a behind-the-scenes mess up somewhere my fault that you guys did. They just know on a believable job of cleaning up. Like I don’t think anybody who came to master fitness knows we had technical difficulties on the equipment side.
Holly
And you shouldn’t say that there were because it was a great competition.
Nick
It was, it was, you guys were a really important part of that. Like, you, that’s all you guys are an important part of. Without that, you guys are doing it? That doesn’t happen. And you’ve done a bunch of competitions, right? Like you’ve scored for us before. Right? You’ve judged? Right? I feel like we’ve been a vital cog in many of the events we put on here.
Holly
CrossFit in this gym was a vital cog in my life. So if I can give back and support in that way.
Nick
That’s awesome. All right. So you were always an afternoon person. Right? And then you switch to a mostly morning person. Right? Where do you find yourself now?
Holley
Right, so nobody knows this. I switched from afternoons because it was getting a little Clicky. And I just wanted to get out of the environment. And I thought You know what, I’ll try mornings and see what mornings are like, the times are okay, you have a shower here. And I thought, you know, I still want to do CrossFit. I didn’t want to quit. So I figured, you know, I’ll do the mornings instead and see how that goes. And it worked out pretty well. I probably hugged the shower and took it over. But you know, it is what it is. And I still like the mornings now, because I have city council meetings every other Monday. And that gives me the opportunity. I don’t want to miss a workout. So if I can come in the mornings, I do. And it’s a different vibe. Different people, different atmosphere, a lot cooler, that’s for sure. It’s hard sometimes to lift a heavyweight, but I’ve adjusted. So it’s not that bad. And I like the balance. I like seeing the morning people. And I like seeing the afternoon people. I like seeing the morning coaches.
Nick
I found that when I work out in the mornings, especially the earlier mornings, I can’t lift as well, just personally, but my engine feels really good. Yeah, right. And then, I feel the opposite if I work out in the afternoon. And this is there’s no science to the statement. But I feel like it’s probably because I’ve eaten and moved around. So I feel more comfortable lifting. But it’s also a whole lot hotter. I remember when you switched, you were doing it at 6 am at the time, right? Right. One of our other members, Mike Bozic. He’s a younger guy, an outrageously good athlete. And he hadn’t really been pushed to that class in a long time. And anyone listening to this. He doesn’t know you very well and thinks from your calm demeanor that you might work out calmly. You don’t. You’re fucking animal. I warned Mike. I was like, Look, you haven’t met Holly yet. She might not look like it the first couple of times because she’ll be kind of timid talking. But like, she’s gonna kick your ass in some workouts and like, you’re gonna be like, Oh, this person isn’t going hard. And then you’re gonna realize he’s two rounds ahead of you. And I can actually remember when he texted me, and he’s like, you’re totally right. Like, I’m Oh, really? Yeah. Because, you know, he was understandably waning and his commitment level because he was like, I’m kind of bored. I have nobody to compete with, right. And you came in, and he was like, this woman is kicking my ass. He was so happy about it.
Holly
I had no idea.
Nick
Because he doesn’t really talk to people either.
Holly
I just came in, and I knew he was super good. And I thought there’s no way I’ll ever keep up with that. Not that I intended to, you know, I just came in, want to do a workout, and I’m happy. That No, I had no idea.
Nick
Whatever. He goes back down. You’re asking about it. It’s good. Because that’s one of the things that I think is really cool, right? As you know, I’m a 32-year-old guy, and the people I compete with in this gym might be too strong of a word. People I enjoy pushing myself against is like, not just other guys in their young 30s. Right, like in their early 30s. It’s you, Jim; Bailey, who’s much younger than me. Like we age isn’t a discriminator as to who you get to interact with here?
Holly
Yes, yeah. And that’s what I like. It’s just the whole mix.
Nick
Okay, so Jim will be upset with me if I don’t bring this up. So, the badass blondes, what is that? Talk to me about badass ones?
Holly
Well, that goes back to around the clock and our Saturday classes. I’m now because she was coming in and doing the class.
Nick
That’s Melanie Meyers
Holly
She’s gonna compete. So yeah, Melanie Meyers, Janet Davis. And for a while, we had classes indoors because that’s what they required. And Jim wanted to do more than that. And so he got us outside and was taking equipment outside. And we were working out in the back of the gym, the alleyway. And it turned, and then, at that point, at the other gym, I had met Leanne. She was a blonde. And I was talking to her about the Saturday classes and Jim, and she showed up, and she started, and it was really just the four of us. And Jim committed to us to have these great workouts. And yeah, we would do sit-ups, one barbell for bones on a bar, we would all do. I’ve seen pictures or videos. Yeah. And then the bucket, I’m sure you’ve heard about the bucket, which was this big plastic bucket that he filled with rocks and had us running up and down the alley.
Nick
It was such a gym workout.
Holly
And it was awesome. And we loved it. And I don’t know where we came up with that as was, but we did. And one of my favorite pictures is one of the forts when he started the 8 am classes at the first gym for a crosswalk Saturdays and Saturdays, and the four of us that are there, and we’re all posing like this. That was our reunion; reunion was that Saturday class we all showed up to?
Nick
That’s cool to think three of you guys are still here, too. That’s awesome. So you have been doing this thing, our version of this, for almost a decade? Right? There was a time when you were scared to start? You did. Right? So if you were talking to someone new, and they were scared to get started, or they thought maybe it wasn’t for them, what would you tell them?
Holly
CrossFit is not for everyone; I would say that if they’re interested, they think that they can do it more than they should. Because anybody can do it. If I could do it, you know, and I was intimidated, I would not have done it had Jim not said, go do this, go try it. Had Troy not taken me and shown me what the class was like. And even then, I was a little skeptical. Because we weren’t getting a lot of coaching and instruction. I mean, we just were sort of thrown into it. And I’ve learned with COVID in the gym shutting down. If I didn’t know what I was going to do. I came here to get equipment because I was in denial about the shutdown. I thought, no, it’s gonna keep it going. And I almost quit. Because I thought I couldn’t work out on my own. This has been such a central part of my life for so long. And Jim texted me that weekend, and he said, What do you have for equipment? And I said I have a barbell. And I really didn’t take that much. I wasn’t too into it. And I said, but I don’t know what I’m doing. And he texted back. He said, Don’t worry, I’ve got you. I’ve signed you up; this is what you’re going to do. And I thought, well, thank goodness because I just couldn’t fathom not coming to this gym and walking in, changing and going out, and doing the workout. But I learned I don’t always have to be on the clock. I don’t always have to be doing what the workout demands. I can scale it. And I learned that at home. So now, here is the workout we did today. There’s no way I can do all of that. But I looked at it and thought, alright, what can I do to get a good workout. And you and Jim were talking in the podcast about these things. And one of the things is that this will be achieved. Yeah. And I’ve just learned to make the workout be what I want it to be. And so anybody who wants to try CrossFit, don’t be intimidated by what’s on the whiteboard. Listen to the coach; they’ll tell you what you can do. You don’t have to RX; they’ll give you so many options that you need a board to be able to track them. And that’s key. Anybody can do it.
Nick
I like that. Somebody once said that. It’s not for everyone, but it is for anyone. Right? And that’s kind of like what you were saying. I feel like you know what I was just thinking about this way out of context. We’re not. It’s not connected. So this is probably not great for continuity, but I was just thinking about how, Well, it is right that like you’ve been at this gym, and you’ve been working with me and with us long enough that like, let’s say you have an amount of weight on your bar, and I’m just like, hey, Holly, take 10 pounds off. Like, we’ve now reached a point where you don’t look at me and ask, why? There’s just an understanding that I have your best interest at heart. And it’s so cool.
When we get to that point with people, we’re coaching. I know, Jim and I have talked about this, where it’s like, there’s only one thing we want here, you know, and it’s for you guys to get the most of what you want. You know, and I love, I absolutely love when I’m in a class, and I’m coaching, and I have a couple of people like you where we’ve passed that threshold already, where there’s no confusion about why, why is Nick saying this? You know, so like, oh, okay, like, he’s seen me do this movement for seven years. Now. He knows I should do this, and I’ll be happier. If I do.
I’ll enjoy the workout more if I do get more rounds. And I know, it matters to me to get more rounds or whatever, you know, and I was just thinking about all the times as you were talking in my head that, like, we’ve had that experience, you know, we were overhead squatting, I was like, Hey, I think you should add some more. And then you just go, okay, and you put more on these, jumping higher on this one. Or I think you should jump lower on this one. And this, we passed that threshold where there’s no confusion. I wonder why he’s saying that I’m not good enough. It’s like, okay, cool. I love that.
Holly
And people have to be able to trust that, you know, if you’re coming in and not knowing what CrossFit is or what the parameters are, you as an owner need to have coaches that people can trust, that they know that if the coach says don’t do this, or you need to swap this, that the member trust them that they know what they’re doing. And that’s grown over the years that I’ve been here. You know, there have been good changes, and that changes and learning lessons. And I think that’s it; it’s just what Chris Morgan said; he realized that it’s important for coaches to care. And you can see that here. Coaches will ask you, but I want to say that the members care about the coaches back at you. So it’s not a one-way street.
Nick
Cool. Is there anything else that you want to bring up?
Holly
Is there anything that you think that I could help with? I mean, you said I’ve been here for a long time.
Nick
You’re just one of our ambassadors. I introduced people to you the first chance I got.
Holly
Thank you. And I like being a champion. When I see drop-ins come in, try to make a point of saying hi, and, you know, saying to some people that if I see them coming from another gym, and they’re looking at us warming up? Yeah, this is a teaching gym. This is what we do. And you’ll get used to it, you know, just ask questions and be comfortable.
Nick
I’m excited to be doing this for eight more years.
Holly
Yeah, well, you better be here. Or yeah, you said that. You’re on the final iteration or something? Are you done? Yeah.
Nick
We’ll just have 10 More of these things. Okay. Holly, thank you so much.
Holly
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Nick
We are done. 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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