Corrisa Sivirot | Canadian Kettlebell Athlete & Coach

Welcome to the platform podcast. I'm your host Jordan Kunde-Wright, founder and head coach of the Twin Cities Kettlebell Club And I'm on a mission to help others build sustainable healthy habits I know how hard that can be because I've struggled and succeeded to varying degrees throughout my life But I've lost over a hundred pounds and kept it off for over a decade now the key for me was discovering my passion for lifting weights in Kettlebell Sport on this podcast we'll talk to athletes coaches experts and everyday people about Kettlebell's fitness programming nutrition mindset making an impact and generally striving to grow and leave a legacy of positive change Please join me. All right, welcome into the platform podcast. My guest today is Karissa Sivirot She is a Kettlebell coach and athlete and she is the co-owner of West Shore Warehouse Thanks for coming in Karissa, appreciate having you on. Thank you for having me So I always like to start with having people tell us just a little bit about your background How did you grow up? Where did you grow up? What was your what was your background growing up as a kid? Oh jeez, so I grew up on Vancouver Island in Sanich, Tun, BC, Canada And so I was kind of out in the farmlands out there Born raised in the same house, so lived there for 19 years Pretty standard childhood I guess Active as a young kid I was lucky enough we grew up in a cul-de-sac So lots of our neighbors had kids that around the same age, so a lot of outdoor play Wrote her by to school, walked to school Got involved in sports at a young age, but never really excelled at anything It was just kind of okay, you know basketball sat on the bench a lot volleyball I don't think I made the team by grade nine But did did Did enjoy activity Got into rowing in grade 10 and that's kind of where my love for competition began And so barely straight by to make the team And what what position were you in for for crew if for for people that are unfamiliar and uninitiated to crew What what position were you in on the boat? I was stroke So I don't know if I was stroke because I was good at setting the pace or if I was stroke because I was Uncord needed and couldn't follow anybody else's pace But that's the first the first the first seed in the boat so mainly mainly swept so that's using one or And eight was our the boat that we competed in the most so eight rowers and then we had one cox in at the front this steering and Directing the boat but also did some sculling did some Uh races and pairs um and sculling the two the two ors. Yeah It's generally not good to have a fat cox in but if I was going to be in crew I would probably be the person that they wouldn't want on an or they would just want me yelling at people I don't think I would be very useful, but I don't think I would make a crew team because they'd be like uh You throw off the physics too much We don't want people that are 110 kilos on the front of the boat that's How they balance the boat out right? Yeah That's a good you have already want me to go here. Oh no, I just I love You're the first person I've talked to that that has a competitive crew background which is um yeah I'm fat. I'm fascinated by crew because it's one of the sports that For people that that aren't familiar with it like you have to come out like as hard as you can at the start right because Gaining momentum and getting off to a fast start is what is what really Determines whether or not you can whether or not you can win a race So it's it's one of the few sports where you can't pace yourself and you basically have to be able to suffer because you immediately go over Lactic threshold almost within the first you know portion of the race because you're going you're going really really fast Right am I am I right about that that's one of the yeah definitely about about crew Well, I mean the race is 2000 meters so you know that's that's depending on what the weather is like that's anywhere between six and eight minutes So it's like you don't have a lot of time to to mess around So it it is a fast start usually start with a power 10 so that really really strong 10 strokes And then you just set your pace from there um Yeah, I mean it goes by really really fast That's that's really interesting. I find I find crew to be a really a really fascinating sport But I don't I don't know very much about it I love the first person I've ever known that that that that competed in crew So that's at least at least at any level. That's that's awesome So how did how did you how did you come across how did you come across kettlebell sport then when did when did you get into kettlebells and and How did you stumble upon upon this sport? So that was a one so my rowing career ended at 17 Um, and then I started kettlebell using kettlebells hard style um When was that my 30s I think Um, and then so I did hard style for about four years and then got into kettlebell sport and how I got into kettlebell sport It's actually kind of funny story. There's another local Corrisa coach that was doing kettlebells and I actually studied under him for about six months before I did my certification through a got to because I thought If I'm going to teach this, I should probably know what I'm doing Um, I guess backtracking there What happened is I got into the fitness industry um To learn how to personal train myself. I looked into hiring a personal trainer and I thought wow they're pretty expensive So how much is it going to cost to teach myself to do this For myself So I went into the fitness industry not necessarily looking for a job But my uncle at the time was working at the local rec center and he He's he contacted me and said hey, I'm hearing all the stuff about kettlebells Can you come in and strike the kettlebell class here? I thought I've known nothing about kettlebells. So maybe I should figure it out So um, I I saw it out one of the coaches here on the island um He was the only person I could find And so I studied under him for about six months before I took my uh certification And then from there we kind of stayed in contact on and off you know through Jim Jim stuff you kind of We kind of staying contacts here and there through uh social media and he sent in um a email out to our gym Because at that point I had opened up a gym Where we did heart sound kettlebells and he was doing the fundraiser um and it was I think four or five different events and they were about three to four minutes So they're all very varying times But it was you know double front squats with the kettlebells. It was uh double push brass. It was half-snatch Um farmers walks a lot of a lot of really fun at the fun events And I went and I brought a crew down there and we did a little competition And I was like this is really really fun like I'd never had done like a time set like that I was just going to use them for for fitness, right? Yeah, that's how we got like a crossfit kettle like a kettlebell crossfit competition Kind of like but only for kettlebells. That's that's really cool. Yeah, so it was really fun And then he said you know that they do uh kettlebell sport, right? And I was like heard really nothing about it And he said yeah, there's a competition that they do on the island and at that point Linda Gilmore was another kettlebell instructor. She had been posting kettlebell sport events on the island and think only for a couple years by that point She was one of the first over here And they had one coming up. I think this is in November Um in in in May and I thought oh I could train for that. That sounds really fun Um, so I had no idea what I was doing and uh went in there with hard spell technique So that was that was pretty fun So definitely learned a lot from my first competition. So that was 2014 Um, so that's where my kettlebell sport career started That's Nice, that's fantastic and and how has it how has it progressed over over the last over the last six years From going from your first competition only doing hardstyle to Uh over the last six years you've you've evolved to a very high level lift during now Um Well, that's what Uh, thank you um Well, how did it evolve? So I only did one competition that year Um during hardstyle and I went into 16k one arm by athlone um and I didn't really know a lot again about the sport. So I just looked at the ranking charts and so so oh I got rank one that means I should be ready to go up to the next size weight still kind of clueless And so I started training with the 20 kilogram for one. I'm armed athlone But my technique was not there at all Started getting some shoulder pain like could not make The length of the sets that I wanted to make so Switch to one arm long cycle because I was stubborn and thought well I still want to lift the heavyweight Even though I'll just do a few reps but move the weight further Yeah, right so I'm not gonna stop Long cycle is a little bit easier to one arm long cycle Move up and weight than it is for something like snatch where it's so so technical right like you can rest in the rack position If you've got a good rack position one arm long cycle. So my next competition was almost a year later I went down to the ice chamber Um in San Francisco because everybody had been talking about and some of those ladies had actually come up and competed in that competition I went to you have to go and see these ladies lifts right lift right and they're all Lift in the green kettlebells and right and so Um just to be I see and Cassagna and yeah, right and so you get really excited like oh this is awesome, okay So at that point so when I first started kettlebell sport one of my Friends who I had actually worked with for a while she Was asking me about kettlebells and I said hey wanted to teach I'm gonna Train for this kettlebell sport competition Um, I have no idea what I'm doing But if you want to do it with me you can and she said sweet, okay, let's do this So I just trained her with no idea what I was doing So we both competed in May that first one and then we both went down to San Francisco Uh, the next February so that was February 2015 and that's where I took kind of my first real kettlebell sport seminar um With the ice chamber crew down there and then that's when it was the eye opening in the fact that like I wasn't even swinging properly so So from there it just I really just honed in on technique because I realized like if I want to progress and be able to make any sort of uh High repetitions in any lift. I'm gonna have to really focus on technique. It's not just about Strength or mental grit, right? So from there. I just sought out as many um Uh as many seminars as I as I could find um and research videos and videoed myself a lot um And had two coaches in that time and then finally thought okay, it's time for me to really Buckle down and get serious here and so a higher dentist was still left in 2016 I believe And so at that time I hadn't really seen a lot of women do doubles Am I going too far? Is this a hot job? No, no you're no this is this is fantastic. Okay So um in 2016, I think it must have been I hired Dennis Basilif and um, I don't know if you like me saying this but I hired him to Progress in 20k snatch and he with my program Said that I had to do doubles and I was like well, why do I have to dub doubles and he said You're not a real kettlebell lift or unless you lift double bells So as an as an aside, I have also had Dennis Dennis as a coach Uh, I worked with that I worked with Dennis for for a little over a year And I had a similar conversation. It wasn't about whether whether or not to do doubles But when I had started I was I was recovering with Dennis I was recovering from some injuries and and uh, and I was like I'm like I'm really You know, I'm a I'm a big guy. I'm a heavyweight. I'm not going to catch I'm not going to catch even Dennis of anytime soon, you know And I was like I was like I really want to I really like these five minute events because you know I really suffer at the seven minute point And that's really where I really hit the wall and I'm not I'm not doing well in the 10 minute events But I'm doing I do really well in these five minute events. So I really I really think I want to focus on trying to go five minutes I mean it was a very similar thing you just said you're not a real kettlebell lifter and you're not doing kettlebell sport Unless you're lifting 10 minutes. We go lighter and we go the full 10 minutes. I don't care It was really I mean he wasn't that blood like you know Dennis. He's very nice. He was very kind He was just he was just like he was just like well Basically if you're not doing 10 minutes, you're not actually doing kettlebell sport You're kind of exactly right That's how I interpreted it like Real kettlebell is 10 minutes. Well, you know what and the further I get into it the more I'm like I agree, right Like and I'm so glad that he got me on doubles. Well, there was two two kind of ego Glass at that point because when I hired him I was like okay I'd already worked up to six or seven minutes with the 20k snatch doing quite super slow like 12 RPM or something and He put it he put you at 20 RPMs. I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say he put you 20 RPS. No, he took me down to the 8th So my trainer yeah, yeah, I was gonna say I would meant he probably took your weight take your weight weight down And was like no, you need to go 20 reps for men hit So I started my training program by Athalon with eight kilograms And I worked to cycle through eight kilograms and 10 kilogram and I was like oh you know like Try not to get angry about it, but like again During and then also looking back at like it made such a huge difference in In my lifting and my progress taking taking the weight down So it was like but it is the cycles with the aids the cycle with the tens the twals the 14s, right? So I'm really thankful for him Getting me into lifting doubles because I'm not sure if I would have because I felt they're kind of awkward I mean who knows who knows who knows if I would have got into it or not, but he did kind of force that that Path I guess And just the amount of 10 minutes sets you get in when you go into those lighter bells, right? It's like I think when you're Working at close to your capacity Um, you can't constantly be doing 10 minutes sets, right? It just breaks you down with that weight so just A amount of 10 minutes sets that I got in and pushed through and worked pace and then now a number of reps where I wasn't struggling just to hold on to the weight where I could just Pump out solid sets I think it really really helped build that foundation to become the liftoe that I am today So I'm really thankful to him for that Yeah Dennis is fantastic. He's he's he's a great. He's a great coach I don't know if he'll ever hear this this podcast, but if he does you know shout out to Dennis He's one of the he's one of the legends of the sport obviously and he is truly truly a great coach as well as a phenomenal lifter I mean the proof is in the pudding when when the what nine-time world champion tells you to go down to eight kilos You go down to eight kilos, right? He didn't he didn't very similar with me. He took me from I was I was trying to push for 24s And he was like not 16s We're working with 16s. I was like 16s. I'm I'm 265 pounds like 16s. Yes It's like yes, but you can't finish you can't finish 10 minutes at 20 rpm So you you need to go like you know is You're a very push me very very well So what are some other coaches that you've worked but you said you hired another coach as well I know you said Dennis My first coach was the guide from Corrisa and I'm like coach Kind of friend, I guess like I went and saw him maybe four times Before I competed in that first competition just for some personal training just to get an idea of What I was supposed to be doing he gave me some programming here in there. I basically just looked up my programming online Looking back on it was kind of funny What I followed there and then from there I worked with Linda Gilmore for very short period of time um, and then coach myself Again, I think it's hard to find a good fit, right? And then I worked with Dennis for nine months as great of a coach as he is I don't believe any gave me a lot And I'm really thankful there was just something that was Missing for me at one point so I coached myself for about a year and a half and went to South Korea Um, I really love the doubles level long cycle especially I went to Cali California Open 2017, I guess Yeah, and then I went to South Korea. I made the national team and I represented Canada in Seoul um And then from there I was hosting I've been hosting kettlebell competitions at our gyms since I started so so from 2014 on I would do um Kind of an in-house competition nothing serious no ranking right just as a good way to have people get introduced to lifting and have fun and nothing serious um, and so In 2017 we hosted ours after we came back from Seoul and we had Charlie Fernelli and And Slava I can't pronounce his last name because Slava I want to say anyways, I'm always terrible with the Eastern European name I feel so happy yeah, I butcher the crop out of them, but I'm not gonna try Slava like Slava um, they came down from the open-oggin to the competition and I just asked hey Do you guys mind doing a seminar after because I always love going to competitions and then the day after doing a seminar because You're coming fresh out of your left and you're ready to learn right Uh, you've been humble or you're or you're happy one way or another and you're just you just you want to get better Okay, so now I've done this now. How do I get better right so uh They taught a seminar At my gym And it was great and I just reached out to them after and I said hey, I've been doing my own programming Do you mind if I send it to you because I want to work up to the 20s for a long cycle and I just want to make sure that I'm on the right track And Catherine said oh, I don't know. I don't really want to I don't really want to mess with anyone's program I'm not a coach. I mean she'd be she'd given me a lot of uh To bits like there's a lot of coaches or lifters that will give you give you feedback Um, that are great that aren't necessarily coaches and Charlie said I'll do it. I said okay So I sent him my programming and he I don't even know if he looked at it He just started sending me programming his own programming which was so much different So much different than any of my programming. I was like oh, I guess you're my coach now. So he can't He kind of accidentally became my coach Um, and I really enjoy his programming and it pushes me in a way that um, I'm not able to push myself um, and he's so good with Feedback and video analysis that um, it just took my lifting to the next level and where I wanted to go So I've been working with him since The end of 2000 maybe I'm not sure if the programming started it in December 2017 or January 2018 But some are around there. So he's been programming for me and we've been working together since then Nice Which is kind of funny because the very first competition I went to in Corrisa here um I remember seeing this dude lifting reds and I was like what is this guy doing He's lifting He's lighting Three events with these reds and I remember sitting there just being like I don't watch this dude I watched all three of his events and I was like blowing away because I'm like I've never seen this before new to the sport. I thought green was like the heavy weight, right? Yeah, yeah, right. Oh my goodness Anyways, so it's kind of funny. I didn't had no idea who he was, but now he's coaching me Um, so that's not true. Charlie. Charlie's a freak. I mean he's I mean as far as as far as lifters go I mean there are not many people that can do a triathlon with the 32s. I mean that that is like to me That's the pinnacle, right? Like that's I would love to get to that point at some point in my to have the conditioning and the technique and the mental toughness to be able to do Three 10-minute sets with the 32 kilo bells. I mean that's uh that's super super super impressive. Yeah And he actually got me into triathlon Um, my first triathlon I did before he was coaching me But it wasn't technically a true top triathlon. It was in the cally open because what they do is their events are Split up over the three days So they'll do jerk one day and then snatch the next day and then long cycle the next day And I always feel like if I'm traveling for a competition. I don't want to do I feel like one event is a bit of a waste So I've always wanted to do either like anytime I've I've competed. It's always like I got to do biathlon or I got to do two vents or whatever I'm even more proven than that. I'm just like if I if I put money down I'm getting my mind I mean that my I made that my mistake my first that my first competition ever I was like one signing up for all three events even though I only trained for long cycle I still try I still tried to do all all three events because I was just like well I spent 75 bucks to register for this thing Why wouldn't I do all three events? I didn't obviously I didn't I didn't realize how how Much of a shock I was in for trying to do all three And usually they put long cycle is the last event of the day So if that's what you want to focus on you're like I just blew myself out doing two other events before Before your main event, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah So so you said that you said Charlie's programming was very different from your own. How so um So I do a lot of weight a work with different weights A lot of volume there's a lot of volume um There's he doesn't do the uh take take you down to lighter weight for a while and go back up You're always working with the mixture of weights um um And a lot of like so like if you're if your competition weight is 20 kilos at uh We'll just say whatever 10 reps a minute for a long cycle you might do some sets at at 16 with a higher rpm And you might do some sets at like a 24 with a lower rpm. Is that Yeah, well like so Rarely am I working with a weight heavier than I'm going to lift unless I'm working towards that next weight So say if I'm working like yeah, 20 um 20k long cycle or whatever right and I'm working 10 rpm You know my first set might be a four-minute set at 10 rpm with the 20s and then my next set would be you know Two or three minutes with the 18s at a faster pace and then 16s um and the 16s are just basically like I'll do like two two-minute sets at whatever 14 15 rpm um But I've been training triathlon with him since I started so my week will usually look like except for right now I'm doing a lot of long cycle but my week in general would look like A jerk day a long cycle day a jerk day And then if I needed to work an extra day on Queens then there'd be some queens in there and then snatch would be on my jerk days and then a glove snatch on an in between day So I'd be doing four days of lifting But my glove snatch, I don't know if we really count that as a day of lifting because it'd be like you know eight or ten minute glove snatch with a 12k Not really supertaxing but just to get that It is for you to get that technique down, right? Yeah, yeah Yeah, so speaking of technique I just I have to get I have to get a shout out both to you and to to Audrey who's one of my athletes She was the one who who pointed me to your Instagram profile Yeah, a couple months a couple months back because she was she had never done much snatch work And I was encouraging her to do snatch work to get into triathlon because she's a she's a good lifter And she started sending me some of some of your content and was like I really like her I really like her break down here. I was like I was like oh, yeah She's got she's got great technique and then I started following you following you and and some of the content that you put out is fantastic So I want to give you a shout out for for putting out quality content on technique and everything and I really I really appreciate that so That will Segway me into my my question is when it comes to the three lifts um You just wrote you just wrote a little poem about the three lifts. I won't put you on the spot and and have you and have you recited but Tell me tell me what it is that you like Like and hate about the three lifts because you I won't spoil I won't spoil your message I really enjoyed that I really enjoyed that post So to tell everybody about your your own your own to try out one Oh, that's an old to long cycle. Oh, yeah, you know, I'm sorry. It was a long cycle because I was trying to make up to To long cycle for not giving it a chance Because I was so what I was really focusing on snatch it was because Uh at that ice chamber event the two heads of the ck a came up and said hey, do you want to compete? Uh at a world event like you we want eight on team canada you'll have to make the team Nationals and then you can go to Ireland But women only compete in snatch now like well perfect. I like snatch. That's my favorite looked anyways Well, I'll move from that one on my cycle, but I didn't really like anyways. I just was doing it because I had an ego Um, so so snatch was kind of like the lift that I really enjoy So the old to long cycles more like sorry long cycle. I didn't give you a chance, but now it's my favorite look um So things that I love and Like and dislike about each lift So I really enjoy snatch when you can get into rhythm like sometimes you're snatching and it feels like you could Snatch forever. You just get into a zone Everything's flowing your breath You're just breathing and you're moving right Um, and then all some of your drips gone and you're like what the hell? So I really like the flow of snatch and the rhythm of snatch Um, I like the weight transfer. You're like you're rocking rocking with the bell um But I also find it one of the most frustrating lifts Because if you're doing something a little bit off It eats away at your grip and your and your forearm just blow up, right So you don't feel it you don't feel it until you're you know too deep into fix Totally, right? It's just like all of a sudden it's like oh, okay. Well, I've got maybe 30 seconds left, right Uh feels good feels good, and then it doesn't um, so it is one of the most frustrating lifts for me in that respect Because sometimes you don't know what you're doing wrong You know, you're done Or even what you're doing right sometimes too, right? Like I've I've had that experience where you're like you're like oh god That was awesome. What did I do You gotta go back you gotta go back and watch the video and like put it in slow motion. You're like like oh my god Lo is I had that with actually one of with one of watching one of your videos where you were really exaggerating the deflection into the drop And and staying really close on your path on the drop to save grip strength on that on that that that bell dissension right and and I was like Oh my god, look at how far that she's leading And then I looked at my own video and I'm like I felt like I was leaning back, but I really was And then I started then I started then I started really exaggerating it and the first time it really felt good I was like oh my god. I saved like so much grip strength. I hit I went from 18 RPMs to 20 RPMs for this whole set That was like oh my gosh. I think I tagged you in that post I hope I hope I did but I was just such a like such an aha moment, you know, but I still I still find myself struggling to recapture that every set because You know every set is a little bit different, but like I know that I know that I need to get that habit ingrained where to flex back short in the path on the drop, you know, both those things but Until it becomes unconscious and and you're just doing it because that's that's the thing with snatch two is like sometimes you start focusing on too many things and the whole thing goes to shit, right? Yeah. Yeah. Let's try to work try to work those Technical points without overthinking too much and that's the other thing about snatch two is like Just do it don't overthink it, but Here's our Audrey Audrey make note just do it And so I try to try and I also say just to to my my students as well as like You know think of one thing per set maximum two and if you are gonna think of two things like split it up In the set so your first minute it might just be like if your breath focuses your your focus It's like the first minute just focus on your breathing and then get into your rhythm and then all of a sudden it's like okay That next minute or maybe the third minute is like hand insert hand insert hand insert and you just like thinking about that one thing You can just like if you're like okay breathing rhythm okay hand insert all right deflection all right It's my arm connecting oh hips wait Everything is just it just wait wait wait wait shift that yeah wait shift right it's I mean there's like 75 things to think about when you're Snatching there's so many little intricate details of like for the reasons why I love and hate it so much and get our Those intricate details but it makes it so exciting because every time you lift it's not the same like as much as we're and I'm Imagining you probably feel the same like Yes, we're performing the same three Lifts over and over again, but there's so many intricacies within those lifts that it's like You never get bored You're always chasing the dragon I mean you're never gonna get there, but it's still fun to try never gonna catch it But but you know you feel like some days you get closer than others. Yeah, I was so close that day So that's what I love about now Um Maybe you shouldn't leave jerk to me and Jerks are jerks um So uh long cycle I like the rhythm of long cycle um, I like the flow. I like the relaxation that you can get in That's so funny. I tell my lifter. I feel like this is so relaxed This is not relaxed at all But like just finding those little points of relaxation, you know, and your cream where it's like okay Don't pull you got to get to a point where the bells start to separate or your arms are Separate from your body in that split second. That's where you're bringing those bells and like you got to find those little spots where your arms are just like ropes attached to the bell Um and just hitting the perfect position for your wrap so that your watch feels Super strong to overhead Um, it's a really great rhythm and I love the cardio blast like I like I like Maybe this comes from rowing. I don't know. I like just feeling like I'm Chokes but I keep going like I'm so out of breath Um, but there's just just so that little bit more like you're burning, but you can still You can still get a little bit more out of yourself Um like more Just when we're at the knife find that's what you can get a long cycle more than snatch or jerk is like It is that cardio vascular um, I I guess Challenge within lifting Somewhat heavyweight. I mean, it's not I mean, it's obviously it's not going to be a max max weight Submaximal, but I mean it still has that strength component of the jerk where it feels really powerful Um, so I like that that pairing together of the strength and Feeling out of feeling out of breath and gasping for air, but still being able to push Um, yeah, and then jerk. I mean jerks are pretty powerful movement I like the power of Something those bells under up and then landing underneath them Um, that feels good, but jerk can get a bit monotonous in the fact that like Your rest is in rack or overhead Yeah, so If your rack position is getting uncomfortable or your beller in the wrong spot in your hand and your Just like you get those little pressure points that are Still painful or can be a horrible Experience I know you get through it, right? Yeah I kind of have my I kind of have my my my my like succinct summary of it is is jerk is all about Being able to tolerate localized suffering because you can't spread it out Long cycle is all about the cardio and mental grit components of it and then Smatch is like the lift for perfectionist because you can just you can just never quite get it Exactly right, you know, that's a good way to put it. I like that Yeah They're all they're all challenging in their own unique in their own unique ways and I I started I started out hating jerks Hated hated jerks and it was coach Sivirot Aaron Sivirot from Texas kettlebell Academy Told me no, you're gonna love jerks. You just don't realize it yet You know, he's just like you're gonna love him because that's what you're built for Yeah, the other one's not so much That's what you're built for and he was right like once I once I started getting a feel for jerks and could start getting a decent rat position I had started to fall in love with jerks. It's probably still my how he's still my favorite lift now But originally it was long cycle. I still have a love hate. I still have a love hate with snatch because it is so awkward To get those like it's like golf for me. It's the same thing It's so technical and there's so much so many moving parts and like When you're when you're when you're flowing and it's going well It's it's amazing and it just takes those few reps that feel perfect. They keep you coming back But they're sitting in between that you're like, uh, what did I do? Okay, you know You focus on one piece of the time like you said and do Just one swing thought or one movement thought and for that for that set and that's uh, that's been really helpful for me During that same kind of focus one one thought at a time because otherwise it's it's too much They also do me so frustrating to you watch people that are really good and you're like Oh, it looks so easy Like the bells is floating right? No, that looks so easy. I can do that and you're like no Why isn't it so easy for me? But like those people are working. They're still working It's just like they've worked so much that they're making it look easy like like gymnasts, right? You're like fully and they're just flipping around jumping around like it's nothing But I mean the amount of years and practice they've put into be able to make it look like that Yeah, yeah, absolutely like uh Danielle from the Texas state about Academy I love what I love watching her snatch when she snatches it looks it looks so easy and just Jess Carman with her with her cleans and Charlie is another one like when he's when he's moving Dennis Dennis obviously like he just looks like a metronome and I'm yeah, I'm I'm like 90% certain that Dennis is actually a cyborg but That's a whole other that's a whole other a whole other thing but So now as somebody he's been lifting for 20 years that's how I Yeah When he's I mean and he's he's obviously genetically gifted for it Yeah, some people are just just built the right way for the sport and just you know like to have the right proportions and And those types of things but You know, that's that's you can't you can't change those things But you know as somebody as somebody who's who's been in it now for you know for almost a decade You know including your your hard site your hard style years What what's something that you wish somebody had told you when you first started like if you could go back and And tell you know, tell tell you're on with yourself or you get a brand new lifter like what's something that you wish you would tell Somebody would have told you when you first started um It's hard for me to say because I feel like I was so stubborn back then that I don't know I wouldn't listen um, but and I did get These throughout like as I as I got further into it just be just the importance of staying light I'm working your technique and like not being afraid to Drop the way down to work on your technique I think that was uh That was eye-opening when I started working with desk um and not being in such a rush to get get anywhere right like if you love this sport It's just just take the time just You know, don't get hung up on you know The upcoming competition that got to be here and this is like the number I need and that's like there's so many competitions There's going to be another one if this one isn't fitting into the training cycle that you need like To get to where you feel like you should be like just let it go or go later, right? I don't know um feel like it's easy to get caught up in uh Have you have your faster more More right where it's like actually a lot of times in the sport less is more You know like it if you if you're continually continuing to fail Your sets and take take the weight down right um, if you're not making 10 minutes on the platform Then you need to make 10 minutes with the bell size One one or two sizes later three sizes later. We got to we've got to work that endurance first um and at that ice chamber uh Seminar they said, you know endurance first endurance first it's totally drilled that in and I'm like okay Okay, like you know strength strength is a last like endurance first then you work your speed then you go up and wait um So maybe maybe that but like I said, I don't know if I would have heard it until I needed to hear it whenever starving um So that um, I also And maybe this is the life thing is like just like don't take other people's opinions on things as your own Um because I did when I was taking some of my certifications to do hardstyle one of the Leite leaders there Briefly brushed over pedal bell sport. I what I don't know if I was ready to hear it or didn't really pay attention much but he had said It's so boring like why would you do it? I just keep doing the same thing over and over for 10 minutes that I was like so I kind of had that impression in my head of like oh, this is like a real boring sport so I never looked into it So you know don't take other people's opinions on things as as your own because we all enjoy different things um So I think that's important you know go go try it for yourself see if you like it and also don't just try it for a week, right? It's easy to get frustrated first week of trying anything you Like if you want to give it a good decade before you realize Yeah, like you suck at everything you try for the first time Um, and then maybe just like exploring at a Lex because again, right? I got so stuck in like oh, I'm going to be a snatch Snatcher that like I wasn't open To try and long cycle or jerk with a double bell and tell our coach basically forced me to do so Yeah, that's that's one thing that that's one thing that I find really interesting about the kettlebell sport Sport as a differentiator between like powerlifting right because in powerlifting if you're gonna compete in powerlifting Most people do all three lifts right you you bench you squat and you deadlift you don't see many You don't see many people enter a powerlifting competition and say yeah, I'm just gonna bench or I'm just gonna squat right because you don't win You don't win the overall meat by Being the best in any one lift you win by you win by being the best in three lifts It's an interesting thing in kettlebell sport that you have people who are very specialized in like in one lift or two lifts If they're a biathlon specialist, I just I find that to be kind of an interesting dichotomy between the very words And I think there's I think there's a it feels like there's a shift towards triathlon happening in the sport I don't know if you would agree with that or not, but I see a lot of I see a lot of people going going that direction A because I think it's more fun and more interesting But but also I think there are a lot of people who really respect the Being a really well-rounded blifter Totally and with all three lifts you do become that and like you watch like Dennis's training program right for himself And I think how he's programmed for his lifters right he's got like part of the year Is biathlon and the other part of the year's long cycle so it gives a body of break in between and mind a break in between And like we can take a lot from him in in terms of what looking at it long-term. It's like you're not going to lose anything or much if you Decide to take Six months and work long cycle only and then the next six months you work biathlon only like you're still Those those lifts lifts still complement each other right you might feel like I literally just told one of my athletes this morning When in doubt long cycle she was like I missed a day and we've got another session tomorrow So what do I do today? I've got time today and I was like hey when in doubt long cycle. You're never gonna you're never gonna go wrong by doing long cycle Totally and I always like long cycle to this like such a short usually a shorter training Like I love my long cycle days because I'm like, oh, it's a short train. It's not gonna take me forever, right? Yeah, you're like you're like wait a minute. We're done in 45 minutes. It's not 90 minutes Biathlon training can get a lot, right? You're like, okay, so I got to fit my jerk and my snatch and Clean your knee and your GPP and your mobility and your gtp And your mobility. Yeah, right it becomes a lot to be overwhelming. So So speaking of which if I did the math right earlier, it sounded like you trained like eight days a week Between all of the different things that you do Oh What No, I said that because you're talking about a glove set on one day and it's that's it but but how how do you how do you typically? I mean obviously right now times are a little bit crazy. Everybody's routine has a little bit off But typically how do you how do you like to structure your your your program? Do you like to do everything all at once and in a few days a week or do you do Your cardio on your off days and your mobility on your off days and then under the bells on your other days or how do you go about it? So I mobilize every session because I enjoy it And it's a good way to warm up my body and I find that The heavier bells I lift with the more I need to be prepared mentally and physically and I find that mobility kind of like sets my head straight as well because um I work a lot and Sometimes it's hard to quiet the brain because I also work out at my work so A lot of times you're getting ready to work out and you're like oh shit. I forgot I had to Adjust this person's membership over there. I've got to clean that corner or I got to reorganize this So it's you got to try to like just block that stuff out and train so I find that the mobility really helps me just Ignore that stuff and check into my body And get a unique challenge of being a gym owner that works out like that's a really unique challenge of being a gym owner that works out in your own facility because you don't have and you don't have that That mental transition that like if you were working in a separate office building and coming to the gym You have that that differentiation of the spaces right when you go to the gym. It's time to work out right for sure When you work there and it's your facility It's like oh shit. I just noticed that the squat rack needs oiling or oh I noticed that there's there's a spill over there that I need to clean up and you're like oh wait I'm supposed to be starting my long cycle set in two minutes. Yeah Yeah totally and it's there's oh there's always something to do there's always and I go ahead to just be like I'm never going to be caught up on everything so like getting to the point of that too right and with the COVID stuff too like it's just It's just more work We're just fine. We're happy that we can operate with you people say but um So that's why I mobilize every session um so In terms of lifting bells. I generally I'm lifting three days a week but I have previously lifted four days a week And like I said one of those days was just a glove snatch day And so depending on what I'm lifting like if I'm jerk if I'm doing a biathlon day That will usually take me two hours with warm up and clean up chalking and clean up Sometimes I can get a shower in there too And then I run three days a week so my next day would be a run day And I vary my run distances or times so Sometimes it will be like a 30-minute run or sometimes it will be Five kilometers, but they usually try to do two 30-minute Uh cardio days and one about four-year-forty-five, but recently I've just been doing kilometer Five kilometer run seven kilometer run and then 11 kilometer run in my week Um and on the five kilometer run day if I was supposed to do a glove snatch that would be the day like I'd do my five day run and then I'd do a glove snatch and that would be it I have let my strength training slip and slide since we reopened um Just I don't want to be at the gym anymore And by my strength training is that is that adjunct like uh like deadlifts like deadlifts and barbell squats and things like like GPP strength training is that okay? Totally yeah, and I love that stuff, but it's it's something that comes in last for my programming Totally totally as it as it should if you're if you're doing legit if you're doing legit kettlebell volume and you're doing cardio And you're doing mobility right those things are all higher priority to me than gpp in my in my opinion Yeah, and and really the gpp like the strength stuff I do is not it's not specific for kettlebell It's more just like keeping my body strong like so I just try to balance out with you know, I'll do deadlift squats pull-ups Dips or some sort of like shoulder stability exercise some sort of a core Stability dead source dead bug type exercise just to try to try to keep my body in a in a good and strong and healthy Physicians so that I can continue lifting and running um But like I said I haven't brought I haven't it's been at least two months since I've been doing that But I had built myself up to do that consistently about one day a week um But prior to that um Since training with Charlie with all the volume I dropped all of my strength training for probably two years so Yeah, it hasn't been a regular a regular part of my training I started to make it a regular part and then COVID happened and it's not a regular part again So that's that's the thing that usually falls to the wayside Yeah, so and then I have a rest day so so I was just I was just gonna ask do you have a day where you do absolutely nothing like is there a day when it's just like sit around and You know just just chill Holy I love those days So yeah, so Right so I'm going three days of good days and we could kettlebells three days a week of running and then I have one day And so usually I try to book my rest day on my busiest work day because my busiest work day is The last thing I feel like doing is training at the end of the day and now with COVID we can't We have to use both sides of our gym for classes. So where I would usually be training on one side We're using both sides for classes so There's no personal training or training myself From five p.m. onwards five p.m. until like eight and like I'm not going to come back to the gym and do anything So um, I usually book my days off on the busiest days I have at the gym so that I don't have to worry about trying to squeeze it in somewhere Because sometimes I'm looking at my day and like I got 45 minutes and I'm like yeah, I can do something 45 minutes I'm like wait, I gotta eat like I haven't even used a washroom or whatever, right? So um Those are usually my rest days and then I don't have to stress about trying to get my training and because I don't want it to be stressful either Yeah, the the joy of being an entrepreneur is that you get to decide which 14 hours of the days you work Yeah Damn it No, it's good. I'm lucky. I'm like I shouldn't complain No, I it's a lot Absolutely, but it's but it's clearly something that you're passionate about which is which is great I mean, it's you it seems like it seems like you're having fun So that's so that's good Um, tell me a little bit about nutrition. We haven't touched on nutrition very much and that's something that I mean I need to do a better job about asking my guests about because I think it's I think it's really important and obviously with the type of volume that you're doing you got to feed the machine So so tell people a little bit about how how you approach nutrition Um, I eat what I want when I want Okay, I look you're right Whoo So um Take the approach that no foods are off limit Um, I've been there before I didn't find it was a very healthy mindset for me Um, it so was like a kind of a slow roll into like Just being way too strict with like with all my food like I'm not gonna eat nuts unless they've been soaking overnight for 12 hours and like um juicing everything and dehydrating and yada yada yada So I went that route and it wasn't healthy. It wasn't a weight loss thing It was more like I've got to be uber healthy uh, and it wasn't healthy um, so now I take the approach of Listening to my hunger cues Which sometimes is hard when you're busy um and stopping eating what I'm full But other than that, I don't limit myself and I've found that I've just worked to a place of I'm having protein at most of my meals like for breakfast. I'll have a three egg omelet with egg whites and um mushrooms and spinach and whatever some goat cheese and then like my lunch will be My lunch will be some sort of a wrap and I usually have a pretty big breakfast My lunch will be some sort of wrap filled with some meat whatever would have ground turkey chicken Uh, we just made some full pork last night um some sort of vegetable and like whatever sauce um in my snacks in between I'll have some fruit sometimes I'll eat a bar You know depending on what the day is like um usually if I'm lifting devils I feel like I need to eat more carbs. So I'll eat like like a cliff bar or like something that's like a high carb um Sometimes it'll be a chop of our Sometimes I've eaten a donut um But no judgment here carbs for performance. That's that's right. That's where that's where we have our donuts is before and after training That's great. Yeah, so and then um for dinner, it will just be again Some sort of protein vegetable on carb whether that will be my carb will be rice or pasta or a wrap or Very occasionally we don't really eat a lot of bread so there's no one bread about but sometimes like a burger or whatever um, but yeah, it's just uh I'm pretty plain Um, I do love cooking and I do love to experiment but I haven't really taken the time to do a lot lately So pretty boring like so my partner is uh he's a bodybuilder and he's very strict on his food Any ways and new measures everything um, but because he does that he does a lot of bulk cooking So it's pretty nice because I can just open the fridge and it'll be like well There's a whole tray full of chicken breast So whatever I need to eat I'll just look in there and cut up a bunch of chicken breasts and put it together with whatever veggies and part of my want and There you go um So yeah, so I mean, I'm not it's not really that exciting But I also it's super super useful though because uh honestly in your house you have kind of the two ends of the spectrum Right you as far as two ends of the spectrum for what I would consider like the healthy the healthy approaches to eating is like You're your partner is on the the end of Measure and weigh everything because I have a very specific physique goal and I have to I have to be very regimented in order to achieve the goals that I want And you have a much more intuitive mindfulness based approach where you're going to listen to your hunger and hunger and full cues and But you're both trying to make healthy choices about what you're putting in your body You're just approaching how much of it to put in your body and when to do it in different manners based on your goals I mean those are both completely valid approaches and and one might work well for for one person's goals And the other might work well for a different person's goals. I mean it sounds like it's an awesome I think that's an that's an awesome approach. It sounds like it's working really well for you I mean obviously the the results kind of speak for themselves as far as What you what you can live with and the results that you get on the platform. So that's that's fantastic I mean, I can definitely tell when I have an 8 and a You know if I've had a busy day and then I go and try to get anything out of my training and it's like no And honestly on those days it will be like go get yourself a brownie like I'll just eat something that's like just straight sugary carb because I'm like this is what I need right now and I just make such a big difference in my It's it's insane right like I've noticed that same I've noticed that same thing and it wasn't until I started getting back into tracking during COVID because I was doing very much a mindfulness approach but prior to to COVID But now things are so nebulous and like you know sometimes you're you're you're working from home sometimes you're homing from work and it's it's very it's very weird And I'll notice kind of like you were mentioning like there are times when I'm like oh crap But I haven't eaten for for four or five six hours and then I'm like oh but it's it's I've got I've got 30 minutes And then I've got to be on the zoom call with all my athletes and Shit, I'm 700 calories short of where I'm supposed to be right now So I'll go either I'll go eat a banana or something because I don't want to have I can't stuff 700 calories or I'll be sick You know, so yeah, I'm just gonna go go crush this banana and hopefully that'll be enough And you know some days some days that's enough that it works But there are also days where I've noticed like if I'm not I'm not where I need to be caloric We might my lifting definitely definitely suffers. So it's yeah And brain power too like especially if you're like leading a zoom class You can't think Just gone right you're like Unfortunately my athletes suffer the consequences of tenser than I've mentioned before or they're like like oh yeah All right, it's time to go. We've had our three minutes of rest and they're like coach. It's we've got another minute yet We've still got another minute. I'm like oh good. Oh, okay Get the y'all are paying attention because I totally I totally would have started us a minute early or I have started people a minute early And then yeah, you cut us on a minute of rest. I'm like well now I know that you can do it on two minutes Well, I know you I know you're super busy, and I appreciate you taking taking the time So I want to be respectful of your time. I know you're very very busy. So I'm I'm gonna let you go Absolutely I appreciate you coming on so much I'm gonna ask one I'm gonna ask one more question before we go I want to know what is what is your mindset when it comes to your approach to kettlebell sport are you trying to be The best or you trying to be your best My best. I honestly could care less. Well That being said I couldn't care less I do get inspired by other people's Stets and numbers and it does make things feel more achievable when I see people put up some really good numbers And then sometimes as someone's close to you it kind of lights a little bit of a fire under your butt But I've never been super concerned with what anybody else is doing and I think that stems from Maybe the fact that like There Wasn't a lot of competition When starting like Any competition that I've gone or used to go to and still do I'm up there by myself like there's no there's no one In my weight category or there's no one doing the same lift as me or it's no one's doing the same event So it's very rare that I actually have someone I'm competing again. So it's it's all like for me. It's all about Me progressing like I just want to see my numbers improve and I want to see my technique improve with Certain lifts and as I increase and weight right like that I want to see that that jerk portion becomes stronger and stronger right so Yeah, it's never really been about anybody else. It's always been about just seeing How far I can push myself and how far I can go and what my potential is and and maybe this also comes back a little bit to the the rowing thing in high school was that So my first year rowing I I think I told you I just barely made the Uh the team I was I was on as a spare There's me and another girl that were the bottom two and I beat her on the run So I got to be on there at the team as a spare and in that growing season I ended up Getting to the top of that group and my coach at that point was like I think your earth scores ranked like six in the world and I was like really And so that kind of was like okay, this is crazy and then I got called for by the the Vick City coach And he said you want to come and join our varsity team and I was like all right So that was like my first year rowing So obviously like I had potential then but I didn't really know What to do with it and I also assumed that it was always going to be there So over the three years I rode I think I stopped putting the effort in because I felt like oh Well, I'm pretty good now, right? Like this is like yeah, I'm right like I I'm talented therefore don't have to work as I yeah right and I forgot how much work I put in Starting at the very bottom of the team to get to the top of the team because it was like oh, I suck I got to work real hard to get anywhere and then also knows like oh you're at the top of the team and you kind of feel like Oh, I'm just going to stay there, but you don't and then like My last year rowing I got moved to the junior varsity team and I was like what Yeah, I used to beat all those people Um, and then you know you're 17 and your friends are partying and you want a party and maybe you want a life that doesn't involve Waking up at 5 a.m. And going to practice and getting on school and going to practice, right? So totally and one of the Ladies that I rode with as actually a family friend ended up continuing on and she was someone that I used to beat and she Made the Olympics and she won a silver medal in the um How many years ago was that wasn't very long ago maybe five four or five years Um in the lightweight pair and she she won silver and she took herself pretty far and I was like I always looked at that with a bit of regret and being like Oh, if I really Like I should have just tried harder like what was I doing but I wasn't at the age and like it wasn't the time I wasn't ready, but so I kind of take that a little bit into like my kettlebells for is like I'm never Gonna sit back and just be like oh, I'm here now Because it's constant work you got to continue to work and and I want to see where my potential is And I never got to see that with growing because I gave up so That's something that kind of drives me to keep going and to get better is like I don't want to give up again, right? Like I don't I don't want to just be like okay. I'm here now time to maybe move on to something else Like let's let's see where I can go let's see where my potential is like let's keep pushing that that limit Uh and see where the edge is That's awesome. I won't I won't ask you what you think the limit is. I'm gonna ask you what's next What's the next what's the next goal that you're trying to just the next what's the next goal you're trying to Oh next goal. Well, I I want to I want a strong 24k tryathlon I want I want I did 24k tryathlon Last year in Oakland, but again, it was split over the three days. So Friday was long cycle and jerk and then snatch or whatever right So it was over the three days. So it wasn't a true triathlon and yeah, you were totally cheating Well, it's totally cheating the only set that felt good was I mean not even the snatch was probably the one that felt the strongest and so like they weren't solid wraps that didn't feel strong Um, I mean my numbers were okay But like I just wanted to feel strong with those bells and I want a strong Set and a strong result with those three lifts. So that's what I'm working towards Now so I'm just just starting to to get back into those 24s again. I did a couple of Five one and one to the 24 with long cycles the other day and I was like Okay, okay, we're here again like I remember this battle um, so that's that's what I want to want to work towards now I just want I just wanted to feel good. I don't I don't know when I'll get there, but I'll know it when I feel that is That is truly a credible athlete right there Yeah, we all have those sets where you're just like oh, I felt so strong like not like it was easy right you finished the 10-minute set No, yeah, but you're like that this felt so strong Yeah, that's what I've never had an easy 10-minute set, but I've had some that felt good and some that felt like a walk through hell Totally right where you're like minute one you're like this is this is gonna suck But I gotta do it like and then you're just like oh my god, it's been 30 seconds. I'm gonna die, but you don't um Yeah, anyway so that's That's my goal who knows how long we'll take to get there, but I'm working for it Well, I'm I'm sure you I'm sure you will will get there and I'm I'm excited to I'm excited to see what that what you and some of the other bad ass women of this sport are starting to do with uh You know doing 20 don't do on 24 kilo stuff is awesome to see to see in the women coming and throwing around throwing around serious weight and and putting up numbers that You know a few years ago, you know, many of the many of the Russian coaches or many of the athletes would have been like oh no No, women shouldn't do that, you know, I love I love seeing that it makes me it makes me so happy especially as as I'm now getting my my daughter into into kettlebell She's six years old and she's starting to do kettlebell kettlebells next to me, you know On occasion it it makes me it makes me very happy to be able to show our videos from from people like you and you know And Kim Fox and Jesse Viasi, you know to to show them that you can you can kick ass at this So it's great. Yeah, cool. That's exciting Well, Corrisa, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate your time and it's a lot of fun And I look forward to uh being able to get out to BC at some point after the travel Travel whistle out and everything and getting getting on a platform in your gym. So I really appreciate your time Cool. Well, good talking to you. Thank you for having me on. Thank you so much Cool Have a good one You too. Bye Bye Thanks for listening to this episode of the platform podcast. I'm Jordan Kunde-Wright If you have a question, please email me at Twinsities kettlebell club at gmail.com Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Twinsities kettlebell club on Twitter at tckb club Online at twinsities kettlebell club.com And please help us grow our reach and give us a review on apple podcast spotify stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts Until next time