S02E78 2022 LEGENDS COMPETITOR AND BISON ATHLETE AMY EDELMAN

What is it like to be a high level CrossFit athlete competing in Regionals, then take time off to have two children, and then resume competitive CrossFit? Amy Edelman @amyfitnyc was a 2014 Regional team member who is now back to competing, a top five qualifier who will be headed to Cookeville, TN December 8-11 at the 2022 Legends Masters Competition @_legendschampionship presented by Mayhem Athlete @mayhemathlete.

Dave and Sam talk to Amy about her time as a Regional athlete, why she decided to come back and train at a high level @crossfitbison, and how she balances motherhood, life and family with her competitive aspirations.

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S02E78 2022 LEGENDS COMPETITOR AND BISON ATHLETE AMY EDELMAN

[00:00:00] David Syvertsen: All right. Welcome back to the Herd Fit Podcast. I am Coach David Sarton here with my cohost, Dr. And Coach Sam Re And in between us, we have a very special guest today. One I'm very excited to talk about. Gonna be spending a lot of time with her over the next 10 days in Tennessee. This. Bison Beast, Amy Edelman, who just recently Qualifi.

For the Legends Championship in Cookville, Tennessee at CrossFit Mayhem. She finished top five in the online qualifier for her age group, 40 to 44, and we are going to eventually dive into the Legends Championship, the preparation that she's been going through. She's as dedicated as anyone, as I have seen over the past, I would say six to nine months in terms of reaching this goal.

And I'm really excited to see here that work be put on display. But before we do that, we're gonna get, kind of get into Amy's backstory because I think it's gonna be a very interesting one that a lot of our listeners can relate to males and females, but especially the females because I don't wanna spoil any of the story, but Amy's got a really extensive history in the.

and the overall fitness program of CrossFit, and she has been on the top end of the sport in two different stages of her life. Two completely different stages of her life, and I know there's a lot more to it than just those results. So I'm really excited to get into this. These are a lot of the things I haven't even don't even know about Amy yet, so I am gonna be with you guys and just kind of gonna listen as much as I can.

I'm also. Coming off of being sick. So I think even better news for you listeners, you're not gonna be hearing me talk much, . This is gonna be very much Amy and Sam but Amy, welcome to the Herd Fit Podcast. We know you're not nervous at all. No, I'm not

[00:01:44] Amy Edelman: nervous, but thank you. It's great to be here. Yeah,

[00:01:47] David Syvertsen: it's awesome.

So, Sam, any opening thoughts? Because I think you and I are kind of in the same boat, you know, we've been with bison for such a long. And Amy kind of came in, I would say a few years in. I'm gonna kind of give some of the backstory on how she came in from my perspective at some point. I bring that up.

She has not been here from the beginning, but she's been here a little bit longer than people think, and she's been involved in CrossFit longer than almost everyone here, and I think that's a really cool part of her story. Sam, any opening thoughts? Yeah, Amy's one of

[00:02:16] Sam Rhee: those people who, if you've ever watched her, I think we Recorded and talked about one of her, your qualifying workouts.

Probably the, one of the most impressive performances I have ever seen. And I think most people at the gym would ever hope to see not in a professional setting. And it's funny because we actually have some people that we know in common just from your days back in New York City. Yeah. And. You, I think it's, your story's so interesting because it's going to, to me it shows how a lot of the younger CrossFitters, when you first started, when the sport kind of came about, have progressed over the past decade and have found.

You know, how do you not burn out? How do you stay within the sport? How do you achieve even higher heights in the sport? You know, we see a lot of people kind of do it for a couple years and burn out and, and you're someone who has gone through different life stages and actually done better now than arguably.

At your peak when you were younger. Yeah, and I, and I love hearing that because that gives me hope too. Maybe in another five years I might do better .

[00:03:20] Amy Edelman: Yeah. I mean I definitely went through peaks and valleys and just. Needing a break, which I think I'll get into

[00:03:29] David Syvertsen: Absolutely. Yeah. When we start. Yep. So let's, let's get into what Sam calls your CrossFit start story and just get a little bit closer to the microphone if you can.

Sure. Crank up the recording a little bit too. Go ahead. Yep. And so your CrossFit start story basically how did you get into it? What led you to. Again, I always think, you know, these questions always get repetitive when we talk to people on the podcast, but I always think it's really important to know Yeah.

Where you were prior to CrossFit, what got you into it. Yeah, let's go there first. Yeah,

[00:04:00] Amy Edelman: so I mean, I always played sports, loved playing sports through high school. Didn't play in college, but I always continued being active and working out. Mm-hmm. primary sports. Basketball and soccer. Okay. And I played pretty much all year round.

Okay. In like different leagues and things like that. And then Ralph and I were getting married. My husband Ralph were getting married in I think 2012. And I think I know it was 2012 . And we were training with somebody at Newark Sports Club, and he was a coach at a CrossFit gym. This was in Manhattan.

Okay. And he was putting us through like CrossFit style workouts in Newark sports. To the extent that he could was allowed, right? Yep. And then after we got married, we're like, why are we doing this here? Why don't we just join his CrossFit gym? So we joined there. That was in, I think in 2012, but probably like late spring, summer.

Okay. And then I, I loved it. Like I loved it. I got hooked on it instantly. I loved. I focused like a lot on Olympic lifting and that was like my thing. Mm-hmm. and I loved it. And then I was working at United Healthcare at the time and I was like, I don't think I wanna do this. Yeah. Anymore. I was doing health insurance and then I, I quit and I got a bunch of certifications and I got hired at CrossFit two 12, which I don't think is even open anymore.

[00:05:23] David Syvertsen: That was one of the OG gems

[00:05:24] Amy Edelman: in the city though, right? Yes. Yeah. And the gym I was at prior to that was CrossFit Metropolis, which was definitely one of the, one of the very few in, in Manhattan? Yeah. At the time. Yeah. So I started working at CrossFit two 12, and then we started training, I guess in 2014 is when I started working there and we started training as a team.

We kind of put together a team. Okay. To hopefully go to regionals. Okay. In the following year, 2015. Okay. So yeah, we did the open in 2015 and I think it was a little different than it is now. Mm-hmm. . As far as team goes, like anyone score could have counted. Yeah. I, I, for

[00:06:10] David Syvertsen: the open, I believe that they kind of went away from that.

Yeah. Now it's back in that the entire gym can contribute. To the score of that, of your team? Yeah. So like example bison has, we'll have 250 people on our team this year. Right? Anyone can contribute to the score. Yeah. But if your team does advance, you have to have a preset. All right. These two guys, these two girls with one backup of each

[00:06:34] Amy Edelman: gender.

Yeah. And it was the same then too. But you had to declare who was on your team, literally the day of Signin Prior. Prior to the open starting? Yes. Yeah. Nope. Prior to re the first day of regional. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. . Interesting. That creates some dynamics. Yeah, so it was, obviously we had, it was three girls, three guys that were gonna be in regionals, but we had four girls, four guys.

Okay. So like a backup. Right. So at the time, shocker, I couldn't do, I could not do ring muscle ups. Okay. And I think the workouts were, the regional workouts were released after the open and there were ring muscle ups in it and there were strict handstand pushups. Both of which I could not do, which actually in 2014 was not that uncommon.

Oh, for

[00:07:21] David Syvertsen: sure. Yeah. I can remember 2015, I believe, was the first open ever where ring muscle ups were at the start of a workout in the open. Yeah. Was that one had like seven ring muscle ups, 50 wall balls, a hundred double unders am wrap 12 or something like that. Prior to that, it was always ring muscle ups at the end of a workout.

Meaning, hey, you could be really fit, crush the workout, and if you got there, hey, you didn't get any. But that was kind of the norm. Yeah. And that's why, that's why CrossFit programming back then was put the really hard stuff at the end of the workout only. Yeah. Because most of us could not do it. Yeah.

[00:07:53] Amy Edelman: So I remember the one workout that had the ring muscle ups.

If you couldn't do them, you had to make like three attempts and then you could move. Wow, really? And then you could move on to, I think it was power cleans. Okay. So when we were practicing it, it was fine because I would just fly around for a little bit and then I would just move on and then go the power cleans and then do that.

So there were obviously four girls and then two of them were definitely in, and then it was me and another girl who was a little bit better at muscle ups, but I was better, I think, on barbell. Okay.

[00:08:33] David Syvertsen: She had, she had a skill, you would've had a little bit more fitness.

[00:08:35] Amy Edelman: Yes. Yeah. And then I think kind of last minute there was also a, a a hang snatch.

Okay. And at the time, I think my max was like one 50, which again, in 2014 for a team. Yeah. Amazing. For a team person. That was a lot. That's a home run. Yeah. So they were like, because we don't, we can kind of just push you through the gymnastics like you're in strictly to move the barbell. Got it. So I ended up going in kind of last minute.

Which was a little crazy. Mm-hmm. . Cause I think I had like gone on vacation like the week before. Cause I'm like, screw it, I'm not in it, I'm out. And they're like, no, no, no, you're going. So put the drink down. Yeah. Yeah. And I had always like, kept training and stuff. Of course, for sure. But like, I think mentally I was a little bit out of it.

Mm-hmm. . So we go there and then once you check. with your three athletes, you cannot change. Yes. So if you got hurt in warmup prior to the first workout, it did not matter. Your team was out, the team out. Oh wow. You're done. Okay. So we check in and again, like my job is to move the barbell, right? That's kind of it.

We go in, we start warming up, and I'm like, oh. Like this is heavy. I'm like, everything feels like garbage. I'm like, but I'm gonna keep my mouth shut because maybe when I get out there, I'm not gonna make anyone else nervous. Like I'm gonna get it together when I get out there. Right. I think the first workout was the hang squat snatch, and it had to be a squat snatch, and we had like our number set up, your teammate had to change your weight for you.

And I go to do my first lift. I miss it. And I'm like, you gotta lower it. Lower it. Like I can't go higher. And they're like, what? What is happening? I'm like, lower it. I go out again, I miss my second lift. I'm like, you need to lower it more. And they're like, what is happening, ? I'm like, no, take more off. Cuz I'm like, if I don't get anything, I you're gonna get zero.

No score. Yeah. I go for my third lift, I miss it. Mm-hmm. . So I missed all my lifts. Okay. That was it. That was the only, so I blew that one up and then there was another workout that was. I think it was heavy. It was like 95 pound thrusters. And in practice I did all of them. Like most of 'em, not all of 'em.

Yep. Most of 'em. And the barbell cannot hit the ground. Yep. So you have to like pass it to your teammate. I remember that. Let someone take someone, take the barbell. I can't. I'm done . So there were a lot of moments where I just kind of like, I. Couldn't, I couldn't hold it. I could not hold it together.

Right. I think I told Sam this story. Yeah. And like I was, I was crying the whole weekend. I believe it. Yeah. Like, I was like, just miserable.

[00:11:17] David Syvertsen: Team, team competing can be a lot more stressful. It was stressful than individual because you feel the pressure. is part of the pressure is weighing other people down.

Yeah. Where if you screw up individually, right. Take the, take the, you take it on the chin. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. You don't hurt anybody else. But, so I, I

[00:11:33] Amy Edelman: empathize with that. Yeah. And I think going in there, being like, I have one job to do and then being like, I didn't do my job. Right. Like that was hard. Right. So I don't think we did, we, like, we didn't come in last, but we were certainly towards the bottom.

Mm-hmm. . And then I kept, like, even when we got home, I was so, like, I kept so emotional I couldn't get it together. And then I think five, six days later I was like, something is off. Something is wrong. And I took a pregnancy test and I was pregnant the whole time. Oh,

[00:12:06] David Syvertsen: wow. The whole, oh

[00:12:08] Amy Edelman: my. Yeah. So I was probably like, I think like seven, eight weeks.

Oh my God. So it. And I know people are probably like, oh, like how could you not know? And people had asked me, how could you not know that you were pregnant, Uhhuh? I'm like, listen, the amount of training Yeah. That I did. Yeah. It's very easy for me not to know. Yes. Because hormones and everything else, I just did not, it just was, I wasn't normal.

Right. So, yeah. Wow. But then, yeah, that is an amazing story. Yeah. So I'm like, well, that's why I was crying the whole time. . Yeah. I'm like, my hormones were going crazy. Yeah. I was under stressed. Yeah. I overstressed. I was just nervous. And I'm like, that's, I mean, I just couldn't keep it

[00:12:49] David Syvertsen: together. Yeah. I mean, we've talked about this so many times how the mental state impacts physical performance.

Yeah. And it is, it is a make or break. I don't ever want to come across as exaggerating to make a point when the mental state something especially so uncontrollable like that. Yeah. There's no way to avoid it impacting your, your performance. Yeah. You know, and that's why they're, it takes so much. There's so many components that kind of bring you to the peak of, of competing like we are in a week and a half.

Yeah. It's not just training hard, it's not just eating right and recovering. There's so many components, but I would say that is the one that is most important. Yeah. Is, is the mental state there and if there's something you can't control like that. Right. It's, I mean, you're just kind of trying to climb a slippery slope.

Yeah. You know, with, with no traction. Anywhere on your feet. I mean,

[00:13:39] Sam Rhee: gimme a break. She was pregnant for God's sake. Yeah, I know. I mean, come on. That

[00:13:43] David Syvertsen: is unbelievable.

[00:13:43] Amy Edelman: I know. It was, it was crazy. I was shocked and I was kind of like, well, like, is everything okay? Right. But like really, I was fine. Obviously I gave, I had my daughter in January of 2015.

Got it. Because, oh, the regionals were in what,

[00:13:58] David Syvertsen: in, they were in May or June. Yeah, they were in May. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Back then.

[00:14:02] Sam Rhee: You know, it's funny, I was just looking up your leaderboard for the 2014, oh God regionals and you. Were in, there were five workouts. You guys did 21st, 11th, 24th, 27th, 26th, and 21st.

Yeah. So you guys finished 26th? Yeah. But you guys really killed a second workout. I don't know what that was. What was that? It doesn't say. Yeah, I was dying to look. I was

[00:14:22] Amy Edelman: trying to find, I couldn't find, oh, you know what, in, so there was one workout, and I told this story before too. There it started with a hundred double lenders.

Okay. And you go out with a partner. And your male partner. And I remember I had my rope, I think it started with the row. Okay. So you had to put your rope, rope down. Probably dominated that. So I was fine on the row. I got up, I went to go grab my jump rope. It was literally a knots. And this was after I missed like all my lifts.

And I'm like, someone take my barbell, like I'm done. And then I go to do double unders and my rope is in knots and I'm like, Seriously . But, and then I ended up being fine and we actually, I think we, we did really well on that one and kind of caught up. Yeah. But I mean, it was like, it was like just one, it was just one thing after

[00:15:07] David Syvertsen: the other, one thing after

[00:15:08] Sam Rhee: the year, we're gonna be talking about pressure at some point in one of our episodes, like listening to what you had to deal with at that point.

That's, that's a

[00:15:13] Amy Edelman: lot of pressure. Yeah, it was a lot. Yeah. It was a lot of pressure.

[00:15:17] David Syvertsen: And can you look back at something like that and, Take the positive out of it now. Like what, what's a positive you can take out of that situation? Now maybe, maybe not in that you're gonna go through that exact same situation again, but there are things that you learn from that experience that you say, all right, like, let's use Legends for example.

If something doesn't go your way, if you start to lose it a little bit, lose your concentration I mean that's a little bit different story when you're pregnant, but is there something you could take from that experience and apply to what you

[00:15:44] Amy Edelman: do now? Yeah, I think mental prep kind. Expecting that things are not gonna be as they are here at, at home.

Yep. Right. And there were a few things there that were not, it was outside. Mm-hmm. , we never trained outside. Oh, I forgot about that. That's right. We were in Manhattan. Like we couldn't bring, we could barely run around the block. Like, you can't bring like barbells outside. Right. So I think it's kind of training and expecting the unexpected.

Mm-hmm. like cross at 1 0 1, things are gonna happen. Mm-hmm. . It's not gonna, you're not gonna be comfortable. You're gonna feel a little off at any moment or at all moments because it's just, you're not on your normal

[00:16:24] David Syvertsen: schedule routine. One thing, and Amy's done a really good job of this prepping for Legends.

I know we're gonna get into more Legends talk soon, but one thing that we found out recently is that all of our workouts are gonna be afternoon at in Cookville. Oh, I see. They're doing the older age groups in the morning and the youngers in the afternoon at night, and we're both morning people. And we have made a point to, I would say, at least a handful of times so far, that we're like, Hey, let's meet at two o'clock, three o'clock, 12 o'clock, just to kind of get used to being awake for six, seven hours.

You have to get a meal in. You're gonna sit around, you're gonna get stiff, and now you have to go warm up and work out after, you know, it's, it's just out of our norm. And that's kind of. What I will call mental prep. You know, you can call it physical a little bit with the nutrition, digestion, all that, but mentally, what is it like to wait that long to get after?

And we both hate it, you know, like I feel like every time we do it like this sucks. But, you know, that's, I come in and I'm like, I'm

[00:17:17] Amy Edelman: ready for bed. I, it's dinner and bed.

[00:17:22] David Syvertsen: Let's not a workout with 50 crossers in a row. Yeah. And I, I think that's, that's cool kind of to see what she's talking about, put into practice the mental.

Right. We have people right now in the gym training for a competition that they're doing next Saturday, and I love that they're getting after it, working hard, getting to know each other, and I hope that they are also mentally prepping and knowing them. They probably are. You know, anyone that's partnered up with Dave Allen, a competition, you're gonna be mentally prepped for the comp.

Is he such a planner? . You know, little things like not getting the pull up bar you want, right? We talk about this at the gym sometimes Sam, as coaches, like, Hey, you're not gonna get the pullup bar that you want. Like go figure it out. You sound like a jerk sometimes, right? But if you are gonna ever compete, you're not gonna get the pull up bar you want.

You're not gonna get the box you want, you know? And if you want compete, stop getting the black boxes every single time. It just won't happen that way, right? So those are little things that you can do to mentally prep yourself for something big, like what Amy's doing. And I think she's done a really good job.

And I think, I think that backstory is only gonna help you.

[00:18:24] Amy Edelman: I, I hope so, because I do have a tendency to get, like, I get nervous for sure. I get very nervous. Yeah. And I think that is going to be, could be my downfall. Mm-hmm. , I think. Yep. As long as I can keep that under control. Yeah. I think I'll be okay.

It's my nerves.

[00:18:41] David Syvertsen: You will, you're you're gonna do great down there. You're so, you're so fit. And I think. I think you're just a completely different person than you were back then. A hundred percent. You know, like you've been through so much. So, so you, you get pregnant, you have now two girls.

[00:18:54] Amy Edelman: That was my first, that was your first

[00:18:56] David Syvertsen: And now I have two.

Yeah. So now you have two. Yep. And that 2015 to 2020. 2021 window is when you, your start story with bison was, I remember Scott Dowd messaged. and I, Scott Dow is a member at our gym and, and, and friends with family, friends with you guys. And he says, Hey I have a friend Amy that wants to come cross it out.

She used to coach across it. She made the games and no, no, no. And but the funny part is when Scott said that, I'm like, man, You know, he was still pretty new to CrossFit. Yeah. But he had like the CrossFit shoes and shirts and like, they feel like they're really in it. Right. And whenever someone, this has happened so many times over the years.

Oh, I know someone that made the games. I'm like, oh really? Let me see you look them up. Yeah. Like, oh, they did a local CrossFit competition down the road. They just don't know what the games are. Yeah. But then, so I remember looking you up. I'm like, oh, she actually did go pretty far, like further than I ever went.

And I was like, this is a, this would be really cool. And you start to sporadically come as a 10 packer. 10 packers. Yep. A membership at bison where you don't come. As frequently as like a monthly member, right? Monthly, unlimited. What kind of got you back into wanting to train at a gym again?

[00:20:10] Amy Edelman: So I had my younger one, Avery in 2000 December, 2017.

So I didn't come in until after I had her.

[00:20:18] David Syvertsen: Okay. Had you been CrossFitting at

[00:20:19] Sam Rhee: all since then?

[00:20:22] Amy Edelman: Yes and no. So after, after the regionals, I obviously had. Olivia and then I started training, cuz obviously I went into my pregnancy very fit. Mm-hmm. , right. So I was able to come back after pretty quickly.

Mm-hmm. . So I trained again for the following, open at a different gym in Brooklyn. Mm-hmm. , was with

[00:20:43] David Syvertsen: the, was with the intentional competing? Yes. Okay. Yeah.

[00:20:47] Amy Edelman: Yeah. So that was with Cross Virtuosity who had went to the game. Oh yeah. Those are high level, I think the year before. And like, I wasn't sure if I was gonna even be on the team.

They had one girl I think who was like, hurt. And I was like, well, we'll see. Yeah. But we ended up not making it. Mm-hmm. , and then didn't make it to regionals. And then I kept training there a little bit, and then I got pregnant with. Avery. Mm-hmm. . And then we moved here a month before she was due out to Jersey.

Out to here. To sub? Yep. In November. Moved here in December in 2017. Got it. So I had been like, kind of CrossFitting between that time. And then I, I had like, I had a miscarriage before Avery, so I kind of scaled things back. Right. I thought I Miscarriaged ave. and I didn't obviously, so I kind of like started scaling back a little bit more.

Not, and like, everyone's like, no, no, no. Whatever you do is fine. Like you're not gonna, it's nothing's your fault, but understandably you're still, but I was still like, you know what? It's not worth it to me. I'm gonna keep working out. Mm-hmm. , but I don't need to. Go super harsh for sure. So I started kind of declining then, and then not declining, that's a bad word.

Yeah. But scaling. Scaling it back. Scaling back, yep. So then moved here and then after Ava was born, I think I came in once or twice actually, to the old gym. Yep. With, with Avery. Yep. I remember that. Yep. And then I think it. and then we built out our own gym at home. Mm-hmm. . So I started working out there and I kind of just got like into that routine.

Mm-hmm. of like, I have a newborn. Mm-hmm. , it's hard for me to get out of the house. Right. I can just go downstairs. Mm-hmm. very convenient and it's very convenient. Mm-hmm. and like, I have no problem, like, working out on my own. Like I can somewhat push myself. Mm-hmm. , but only so much, like, it's just a completely different atmosphere.

Right. So I definitely. CrossFitting as much. We got like a Peloton. I started doing like Peloton, but I would do like Peloton strength training, which I think helped. Mm-hmm. , me not lose a lot of strength. You kept your baseline high. Kept my baseline cause it was like dumbbell. So I felt like that was helpful, like unilateral, like great.

And then c and then I really stayed home. Mm-hmm. . And then I think one day I walked into my gym and I'm. This effing sucks . And I think I, I like, got emotional. I'm like, I need to get outta here. Yeah. I'm like, I need to get back into the gym. Human connection with people. I need some push. Cuz that's just who I am.

You are

[00:23:19] David Syvertsen: like that.

[00:23:19] Amy Edelman: Absolutely. Or why like that? Yeah. I, I played sports. I love being competitive. I like being around that energy. So finally I was like, I gotta go back. Yeah. So I started coming back here a little bit more regular, and that was, was that

[00:23:33] David Syvertsen: 21? This is where I kind of get a little gray here.

Here's a question. Would, did you start coming back on a regular basis when we were wearing masks or was it after? No. Okay. So that was at the very earliest. It was the fall of, no, it was after the 2021 open, so it was probably the summer of 20. No. Like I remember, yeah, like May of, may, June of 21 is when we stopped wearing

[00:23:58] Amy Edelman: masks.

Yes. So I think I came back a couple times then in the summer, probably, like, I used like a 10 pack through the summer or so, and then I started really coming back, I think in the fall. Fall. Yeah. And then I had a really tough run with my kids and getting sick and Like stomach bug C Yeah, like everything.

And I literally could not get in the, in here for like a month. Okay. And I think that was like all of. M January. Yeah.

[00:24:24] Sam Rhee: I wanna say you're, you came on my radar during last year's open. Yes. In, in, what was that? February? Mm-hmm. . So this is

[00:24:31] David Syvertsen: March.

[00:24:33] Sam Rhee: I, I saw you on that dumbbell workout, the 35 pound dumbbell. Was it snatch

[00:24:38] David Syvertsen: workout?

The dumbbell snatched wall

[00:24:40] Sam Rhee: walk one. Yeah. And I was like, she went unbroken for a big chunk of it flying. And I said, who is this tall athlete who just kind of gritted her teeth and did these ginormous chunks of unbroken sets? And I was like, I don't remember. And then I talked to you and then the whole two 12 connection where I knew a couple people from there and I was like, wow.

that's gritty. And then that's when I felt like, at least on my radar, you were like, who?

[00:25:08] David Syvertsen: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:25:08] Amy Edelman: So that was what, 2021, right?

[00:25:11] David Syvertsen: Yeah. So 2022 is what he's talking about because your kid's getting sick, you getting back out of that rut and then trying to come back into it. You did the open, did very well and made the quarter final.

Right, the top 10% in the world. In your age group in the 35 to 39 group. Oh, really? So very, very

[00:25:29] Sam Rhee: competitive at the very end of the, the 39. So

[00:25:33] David Syvertsen: you were 39

[00:25:33] Amy Edelman: at the time. Well, so I will be 40 December 23rd. I see. So the cutoff for legends. Is like couple days after that. So I am literally the youngest that I could be.

[00:25:45] David Syvertsen: Perfect. Yeah, it's perfect. Yeah. So she'll be a young, but for the quarter finals, what she made qualified for, she was on the older side, which is the most

[00:25:53] Sam Rhee: competitive division,

[00:25:54] David Syvertsen: the 35 to 39. So like that right away, like that's a good thing to bring up Sam's. That right away kind of brings you into like, okay, we have something here.

Like, not that we don't have something with someone my age making it, but it is easier as a 35, 36. To make the quarter finals in that age group. If you're 39 making that, you know that you're a year away from the next group. Is that when she

[00:26:16] Sam Rhee: showed up on your radar?

[00:26:17] David Syvertsen: Mentally? A little bit, but it was also the opening quarter, final night where she The opening quarter, final night where we did the cross at total together all of us masters.

Oh right. And then we also did the three rounds of 20 to bar 20 dumbbell snatch. Girls had to use a 50 guys had to use a 70. And I remember watching her toss the 50 around like it was a, like a, like a, a paper weight, you know, just like chucking it back and forth. And, you know, I, I'm around the sport and the athletes so long that you look at Amy and she does not have.

The traditional dimensions of a

[00:26:51] Sam Rhee: say that you're way longer and taller than most high level

[00:26:55] David Syvertsen: CrossFit athletes

[00:26:56] Amy Edelman: that I've ever seen. I'm, I'm five 10. You're five 10 in a long. I very, very long. Five, 10. Your WINGS fan's probably

[00:27:02] David Syvertsen: close to six

[00:27:02] Amy Edelman: four, right? It's, yes. It's much longer than my body.

[00:27:05] David Syvertsen: Yes. So, and I want bring that up.

That's important to know. We should have talked about this on our beginner episode. Sam, there is a, a body type that I don't wanna say responds better to fitness, like the fitness of cross. Everybody type responds to it. All right? But competitive CrossFit you have, if you have short femurs, short thighs, and short forearm.

You have a lot easier time in the sport and I know that everyone's short out there. It's gonna be like, well, we have to do wall balls and rowing and box jumps, right? You got two? Alright, you got two . Just trust me on this. I know professional coaches, games coaches, they won't work with you if your forum is, is past a certain length.

And it's because you can get, as Amy moves as fast as anyone, but her movement takes longer than a lot of people because she has more distance to go. And here's a metric that if you guys ever wanna see. I look for this all the time. If someone puts their barbell above their head or they're in a handstand, right?

For YouTubers, look where someone's elbow is, right? See, like mine is well above my head, right? There are athletes. Their elbow isn't loud with their ear, so they, they are literally pressing up. So in, even in whether they're short or tall, the, the distance that they are actually. It's a good six to 10 inches lower every single time on any set of overhead or handstand pushups.

If you don't understand how hard that is, go do a six inch deficit handstand pushup, and then tell me it's the same as your normal handstand pushup. Now, there are different movements where Amy will have an advantage with her because of her height, but the fact that she's doing so well at her height makes it eat.

To me as a coach, even more impressed that she is at this level. And I just remember watching some of what she was doing in the online quarter final, knowing that she really had not amped up her training that much yet if that was just like fitness that got her there. And then since then, I'm gonna stop talking cause I'm starting to lose it.

But the, since then Amy has upped her training. So that was, that was April. She has upped her training so much that she is now a fitness background, fitness baseline. Combined with extra training, complete dedication. And now she's one of the top five athletes in her, in our age group at at Cookeville.

So you

[00:29:27] Sam Rhee: always probably had some sort of, I don't wanna say stigma, but bias or what made you say, you know what, even though maybe I'm not built the way most CrossFit athletes are, I'm gonna keep doing this. And did you encounter that, like when you were younger, like, wow, look at this. This is not your typical sort of build for your CrossFit athlete.

[00:29:48] Amy Edelman: Yes. Yeah, for sure. I mean, even just like talking about regionals. Mm-hmm. like I had a job to do. Right. Like, who cares if she can't do gymnastics then fine. Right. Like, I tried to work on it and I had people try to work with me on it. Mm-hmm. , but it definitely, it wasn't my focus. I, it was still building what I'm good at.

Mm-hmm. , because again, at the time I didn't have to be super well rounded. Mm-hmm. like, let's just build Yeah. What you can do. That's a lot of what team competing is. But yeah, I mean it's, it's always been a struggle for me in CrossFit. Mm-hmm. , but I think this recent go, I guess yeah. Has, I've been more focused on it.

Mm-hmm. and I think it's better than it, like gymnastic wise it's better than it, it was when I was younger for sure. I mean, I love

[00:30:33] David Syvertsen: your response to it, Amy, is that like you do, you are always wanting to work on your weaknesses almost to the point where you have to slow her down a little bit, but also, She has strengthened her strengths to the point where she is at the top 1% in the world at movements that someone taller could be at.

Now it's like, so

[00:30:51] Sam Rhee: what are your natural strengths that you would say?

[00:30:53] Amy Edelman: I think rowing. Okay. Machines, I think like the

[00:30:56] David Syvertsen: machine work

[00:30:57] Amy Edelman: dominates machines do, I'm gonna dumb that, but No, you don't, don't say it with the machines. The machines and wall balls. Okay. I think I can cycle the barbell very good at cycle, although I'm not like, I don't have strong one rep maxes.

Mm-hmm. , like I'm not like ridiculous up there. Mm-hmm. . I just think I just can naturally move. I think my hip flexors and I have good mobility. Yeah. Right. Yep. Which helps and I've always had that, so it's more of like just a natural movement

[00:31:26] Sam Rhee: for me. What do you feel like you have to work on? I know I, I hear you talk about it all the time, but I'm just,

[00:31:31] David Syvertsen: I'm

[00:31:32] Amy Edelman: setting you up here.

Let's see. So there's . Let me get my really a lot of stuff on, on the rig. I mean, and the rings ring, muscle ups chest of bar, pullups. I struggle with a lot handstand pushups. But you've really

[00:31:43] Sam Rhee: addressed those deficiencies. I mean, I've watched you train over the past couple months. You've really addressed those

[00:31:48] David Syvertsen: deficiencies.

I have,

[00:31:49] Amy Edelman: and I've really focused on it. And it actually started, I. I think it was after the open, so the open, I, I just did classes like prior to mm-hmm. , that was my training was classes. Even between the open and quarter finals. I just did the, like normal classes, but I think after the, the open mm-hmm. and I may have told like a couple people just cuz I'm like, if I tell someone I'll actually do it.

Yeah. I wanted to get my strict muscle out back. And not so much that I just wanted a strict muscle up. I wanted that goal. I wanted something to like work for that I knew was going to build my other strengths. Yes. Like I knew it was gonna build cuz I had done one, I had, I had gotten my strict muscle up before after I had Olivia and then I lost it obviously cuz I went in my basement and didn't do a single pull up for three years.

Cause why would I ? So I started building that back up because again, like I just wanted the strength. So that is where I think I started to really build, kind of ramping up my training. Cuz then, then I was like, you know what? I wanna do this, but now I feel good. Like I wanna keep going. Momentum. Yeah.

And I was like, I want more goals. Mm-hmm. . And then I think I went to you and I said I signed up for legend. I wanna do this. Let's do it. Yeah. Well I think I said I wanna do really well. Yeah. But in my head I'm like, I wanna f and go to Legends. I didn't say it to you. Cause I'm like, I don't wanna sound like a

[00:33:18] David Syvertsen: No, it's hard.

Yeah, it's hard. I think, I do think that the, one of the opening conversations there was you have a shot, you know, be for two reasons. You're at this fitness level without any extra. You have the training age to be able to hold in capacity to be able to hold more volume, but then also you're aging up Yeah.

To a new age group. And that's one of the things I like about Masters at competing, that you really can go after something for three or four years and be like, all right, take a couple years off and get ready for, for the next age group. And that's one thing that I think could help keep a lot of people in the game that have competitive fire is at some point you will be the younger person.

And you know, since that time, Definitely exceeded my expectations. And I don't think it's just the training that, that, I think you really went all in.

[00:34:00] Amy Edelman: Oh

[00:34:00] David Syvertsen: yeah. A hundred percent. This lifestyle. So let's talk about that a little bit. Yeah. Because the amount of, if, if I have one more person come up to me like, yo, Amy is shredded , I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my mind, right?

Because but. What was, what were the things, nutrition, lifestyle that you really said, all right, I am going to go all in on training, but I know that I need to line other things up or else I'm just gonna end up getting hurt or burning myself out. What did you do to really kind of line the lifestyle up?

[00:34:27] Amy Edelman: I think as I was doing, like re trying to reach my goal of a strict muscle up, I was, I was not comfortable where I was weight wise. Mm-hmm. , like, it just wasn't, where I felt good, like I felt like I wasn't moving as well. Right. I didn't, wasn't recovering as well and I knew it just came down to what I was eating and I'm always been like a fairly healthy eater.

Mm-hmm. , I eat well, but I never really looked into. What I should be eating with what and when and things like that. How much Yeah. And how much mm-hmm. . Yeah. So I think I had asked like two members, Kelly and Jenny. Mm-hmm. . It's like, what do you guys do?

[00:35:09] Sam Rhee: They're

[00:35:10] Amy Edelman: they're athletes too. Yes. Yeah. So I'm like, what do you guys do?

And they're like, oh yeah, we, we track what we eat and we do like macros and. Okay, cool. So I downloaded like that, the app, and I kind of literally Googled. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Like what should I, like, how many like calories, what should my macros be? Mm-hmm. , and I just played with that, played around with that for a little bit and just kind of found like a groove.

Mm-hmm. , and you've never done this before. I had done like zone when I first started CrossFit as like a a January reset thing. Right.

[00:35:45] David Syvertsen: Which is what CrossFit always

[00:35:48] Amy Edelman: advocates zone. Yes. Yeah. And that was too restrictive for me. Very. And I did very well with it. But, and then at some point I was like, I can't live like this anymore.

Like I'm done. Mm-hmm. . And then I could never get back into it because mentally I was like, this is terrible. Yeah. But now kind of figuring out like macros and stuff, it's, it's a little bit easier for me to mentally handle mm-hmm. and I enjoy it. Mm-hmm. because I know how I'm fueling my body. Mm-hmm.

So once I started doing that, it was actually fairly easy for me to get to where I am, cuz I think my body just needed it and that's where it

[00:36:24] David Syvertsen: should be. Mm-hmm. good. How much do you sleep?

[00:36:27] Amy Edelman: My sleep is not good. Yeah. Parenting, yes. So I probably only get six to seven hours a night. Hopefully. That's terrible.

Seven. It's not terrible, but I mean, I, but I wake up at five pretty much every morning just because I'm like, I need a minute Yes. Before

[00:36:46] David Syvertsen: my kids get up. Yes. a little grace. Yeah, I can hear that. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:36:51] Amy Edelman: So, I mean, I wouldn't say my sleep is great cuz even when I do get. Let's say seven hours, which is a lot for me.

Mm-hmm. , it's a little interrupted.

[00:37:00] David Syvertsen: What about your prep and recovery? Immediately pre-workout? Immediately post-workout? Cause I think you're, you're pretty diligent and disciplined with that, and I think some people need to

[00:37:09] 2022_1127_0959: hear

[00:37:09] Amy Edelman: it. Yeah. So pre-workout like I used to when I was first doing it, be like, all right, let's.

That was it. Like, let's lift this bar, let's get this workout in one, because I didn't have a lot of time mm-hmm. because I was like doing in between classes and things like that. And it was a lot of training. But now I come in before class I get on the bike and I make sure that I am warm. I have kind of the same routine that I do.

Yep. Cuz I know that that's what makes my body feel ready. What is your. I always jump on the bike, the Airine bike. And then I always do pass throughs good mornings and overhead squats for, and I do three rounds at least of 10 each. I don't know why I don't, it's just what just hits everything that I feel like I need.

Mm-hmm. . And then from there I always make sure I roll out my calves and my Achilles cuz I feel like those are two things that always mm-hmm. . Oh, that always will bother me.

[00:38:07] David Syvertsen: Yeah. If they flare up. If

[00:38:08] Sam Rhee: you don't take care of 'em. Yeah. Yeah. How long does it take you to do your pre, pre-work at warmup?

[00:38:13] David Syvertsen: Probably like 20 minutes. Okay. Yeah. She's here 20 minutes before class, at minimum, I would say most times. Unless something happens with life.

[00:38:20] Amy Edelman: Right, right. Yeah. And then if it's like, oh for a Like for legends, I would come in even Oh, sure. Earlier. Yeah. Just that, so that way, like if I wanted, or someone was talking, I wanted to talk to somebody, or I had to do this and do that.

Mm-hmm. . Yeah. I didn't feel like rushed, overly rushed or out of. Sync with what I wanted

[00:38:42] David Syvertsen: to do immediately post workout. You're pretty disciplined as well. Again, unless you have to, you know, run out, go be a mom. Yeah. Is there something that you, if you, if time's not an issue, what is your preference on immediately post

[00:38:53] Amy Edelman: workout?

I always stretch. Mm-hmm. , I always grab like the foam roller. And I always like, again, I. Usually my, my calves and quads and whatever is like, okay, that's gonna be flaring up later. Yeah. And I actually just started take drinking just like electrolytes. Mm-hmm. , like I don't do any other Like powders or anything.

[00:39:13] David Syvertsen: I was gonna ask, so you're not into any other supplements other than just something that, to add a bit more hydration

[00:39:19] Amy Edelman: to your Yeah, that's it. I mean, I take like, you know, multivitamins and things like that. Right. But but no like proteins or CREs or anything like that. Sponsorship

[00:39:27] David Syvertsen: opportunity . But yeah, so

[00:39:30] Amy Edelman: no Stevia though.

I was talking

[00:39:32] David Syvertsen: to him about that. Oh, Stevia. Why?

[00:39:33] Amy Edelman: I just don't, it hurts my stomach and. I just don't find it necessary. Like I can handle little real

[00:39:39] David Syvertsen: sugar. Right. Oh good. Yeah.

[00:39:42] Sam Rhee: How do you balance your family life and your kids with your training? Because I think a lot of us are like, I would love to do more and be more competitive, but I have a And are you working as well at this point?

[00:39:55] Amy Edelman: No. Okay. So I think that's a big, a big. Is that I, I don't work I stay home with my two kids who do go to school. So I'm very lucky that you

[00:40:06] David Syvertsen: have, you have windows of time. Yes. And you did have to, you had to be patient with that though, like Yes. You had to wait.

[00:40:12] Amy Edelman: That took a while because didn't go to school.

I don't. Right. And my younger one is only four. So this is really the first year where she was in school more than. two,

[00:40:25] Sam Rhee: three hours. Right. So this is the first opportunity you've really had as a mom to Yeah. Spend some time training how support, like I know, I see your husband, he comes for all the, your comp stuff and I just saw him yesterday or the day before.

Yeah. With your kids, how important is it to have like a supportive group around you who are helping you? Because obviously it, it's, By yourself. Yeah. So what is it that they do to help you, like be a better athlete?

[00:40:54] Amy Edelman: Yeah, I mean, honestly, Ralph's gonna be like, yeah, you gave me a shout, . I mean, he really enables me to do this.

Mm-hmm. , like, I come in here on Sundays for hours. Mm-hmm. and Saturdays for hours. And then if I'm like, Hey, I gotta go in in the afternoon, can you make sure you're home with the kids?

[00:41:12] David Syvertsen: Yeah. Yeah, sure. Yeah. There have been a lot of times where, you know, we've had to plan and we've tried to up our training together over the past couple months just because, you know, it's always good to have someone next to you and kind of compete a little.

Yeah, but we, you know, my schedule's all over the place. I've had a lot of different things going on lately. So I'm like, Amy, can we move this to that? I'm always nervous to ask her. She goes like, yeah, sure. And I know, I know. That's not just her that's saying yes. Like there, there's a very supportive system behind her that is enabling that.

Yeah. And I think that's a huge deal that, you know, we talk about this with Ash all the time. It's not the most fun. To be kind of married to, paired to, because there are certain times of the year where it really does take priority. Yeah. And if you don't have that support system behind you, it's almost impossible.

Yeah. I would say, yeah. To, to really kind of put all your

[00:42:03] Amy Edelman: effort into it. And he gets it. I mean, he, he did cross it for a little bit in the beginning. Mm-hmm. unfortunately, just has a lot of like residual injuries and things like that. So he was

[00:42:13] David Syvertsen: here on Wednesday last night. He was Oh, yep. He's a tall guy too.

He's fit. He worked out. He worked out. He's fit. Yeah.

[00:42:19] Amy Edelman: He, so he gets it. I mean, he played, he played sports, he played football in college. Like he understands like, And he wants me to do well. That's huge. He wants me to do well.

[00:42:28] Sam Rhee: So yeah. Have you always been competitive because you've never, ever sort of given it up like you've always wanted to compete at some super high level,

[00:42:37] David Syvertsen: even

[00:42:37] Amy Edelman: as a kid?

Yeah. I, I think I did. Like I always, I loved playing sports. I loved playing soccer and basketball. Like I loved games like soccer, you know, it was game day and I was. I was in, I was ready. I've always enjoyed it. Yeah.

[00:42:54] Sam Rhee: What are your aspirations now? Like, what do you think you're gonna do at this point?

What's, what's your, I know you had your secret goals. Is there anything you wanna say out loud right now? You're like two weeks away from the competition. Yeah. You finished what, what did you finish in the online qualifiers for legends? Fifth. Fifth. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. From never having competed in a high, on a high level for years.

Yeah. And then suddenly coming. of the darkness and suddenly being fifth, like how has your expectations sort of ramped up now that you're sort of getting

[00:43:27] Amy Edelman: near? I mean, I definitely think I feel more confident mm-hmm. , and what I can do. Mm-hmm. , I mean, I don't expect to be like on the podium there, but I would like to, for me, I think just meet my.

expectations of how I've been training, like I wanna be able to do there, what I've been doing here, and walk away being like, that was what, that was what I could have done. That was it. You know, I don't wanna walk off the floor and be like, shit, like, I should have, I should have pushed a little bit harder there.

Mm-hmm. , there's always a should of woulda. Mm-hmm. . . That's what I, I don't want, I want to be able to say I pushed as hard as I did when I was back at bison, if not more, you will. So that's, that's really my goal. And if I can make that afternoon session on Sunday, that would be great. Ooh, . Yeah.

[00:44:22] David Syvertsen: That's, that's actually, that's a very attainable but very difficult goal to get to.

Yeah. But it's attainable for you. Yeah. And I think one thing that will go in Amy's ad advantage is she has. In my opinion, elite at 20% of CrossFit really, really, really good at 70% of CrossFit and really struggles with 10%. Yeah. And those 10% things, if they do show up, it's okay because there's only 30 people in your group.

If you are in an online format with 3000 people and you finish top 10% in that, you're kind of screwed.

[00:44:54] Sam Rhee: I was gonna say that's better than your percentages.

[00:44:57] David Syvertsen: Yeah. Cause you're sort of like, I agree. No, we're very similar. In that cause only

[00:45:02] Sam Rhee: 10% you struggle at could. That'd be really good if you only struggled at 10%.

[00:45:06] David Syvertsen: I would, when I say struggle, I mean what she like would probably be, she would, might be, there's like a strict handstand pushup workout. That's just one workout. Her worst possible standing would be 30th. I was just breaking your ball. I know you are. It's fine. But, but I feel the same way with heavy lifting.

Like I could be bottom three. Bottom, honestly. Last place in a wonder at max. But it's only coming in 30th place as opposed to 2000th place. Mm-hmm. , you have, you have opportunity to make up for it because she's so good at so many other different places. Right. You

[00:45:37] Sam Rhee: mitigate your weaknesses and cover cover

[00:45:39] David Syvertsen: for everything else.

The playing field helps her in that regard, and I think that she should be optimistic that she's definitely. She is, I would say, one of the top athletes I've seen here when it comes to grit in a competitive setting. Oh yeah. Like I'm going to try and beat you. I've seen

[00:45:55] Sam Rhee: that a couple times and it, it's, some people don't have it.

You just, when you see an athlete with that, you see it. Yeah. Like you can't build that in, you can't train someone into that. Like Exactly. You can make them better fitness wise, but that sort of, Don't say, you know, don't say die. Mindset is, it's

[00:46:12] David Syvertsen: hard to come across. Yeah. And that's where I think she's gonna have an advantage, because I think she will be one of the athletes that feeds off of live competition and she's doing so well not in live competition that I think it's gonna be brought to another level in live.

All right. So guys, that's Amy Edelman. She's gonna be competing at Legends Master's Championship in Cookville t. Starting eighth through 11th, December 8th through December 11th. If you guys see here at the gym, wish her luck show her as much support as possible. Amy, thanks for coming on. Thank you.

We'll be talking to her next week.

[00:46:43] Amy Edelman: Thank you. Thank you.