Meet the Athletes of Invictus – Episode 270

This week, we went over to CrossFit Invictus in downtown San Diego — where Mike did his Level 1 class in 2008 (memories!) — to meet up with some of the very best athletes in the world. This week’s six-for-one special includes insights from four Games competitors and two Invictus coaches about what it takes to go from great to the greatest.

Part I: Garret Fisher (Instagram: @garretmfisher) and Holden Rethwill (Instagram: @holdenrethwill)

Training for the Games is a tremendously long season, and CrossFit is a sport that tends to attract athletes who don’t take breaks. In the first segment of our show, we talk to training partners Garret and Holden about how they resist the temptation to train during their short off season, how to relax or rest, and how to know when to power through versus when it’s time to let their body heal. We also cover:

• How their different workout styles compliment and challenge each other
• How mental burnout has impacted past performance
• What it’s like to train for an athletic event with so many unknowns

Games athletes Garret Fisher (left) & Holden Rethwill (right)

Part II: Maddy Myers (Instagram: @Maddy.myers1) and Lauren Fisher (Instagram: @LaurenFisher and @grownstrong)

We noticed that a lot of people threw around the term “insanely talented” when talking about 20-year-old Maddy Myers, who just set records in both clean-and-jerk and total at Worlds. She’s been lifting for only three years. At 23-years-old, Lauren is the veteran who provides wisdom. They’re both top-tier athletes. In the second segment of our show, we talk to them about:

• The difficulty of being elite in both weightlifting and CrossFit, and why they’ll likely need to pick a specialty in order to stay elite
• How Lauren’s hyper-competitive family life brought her into this profession, and how Maddy’s non-competitive, academic family support her in a somewhat befuddled way
• What they eat to bulk up without moving into another weight class

Games athletes and international level Olympic Weightlifters Lauren Fisher (left) & Maddy Myers (right)

Part III: Coaches CJ Martin (Twitter: @CJInvictus) and Tino Marini (Instagram: @tinomarini)

Finally, we talk to Invictus owner CJ Martin, who’s coached over forty individual athletes to CrossFit Games, and Tino Marini, who’s coached at Invictus since 2012. What we most want to know from them is what they think sets these four athletes apart from other elite performers. Listen in as they describe:

• The competitive drive that makes Lauren uniquely good
• The resilience that allows Garret to shake off setbacks to move forward
• How Maddy balances impressive natural talent with being a new athlete
• How Holden’s work ethic keeps him ahead of even the most elite competition

From left to right: Host Doug Larson, Invictus Coaches CJ Martin, Tino Marino and Host Mike Bledsoe

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Enjoy the show!

Mike

For more:

• Learn more about CrossFit Invictus here
• CJ Martin on The Mindset of a Competitive Athlete – Episode 262
• Follow CrossFit Invictus on Facebook, Instagram
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