• Original Bike seat post replacements shipping sooner than expected.
• All-For-One dates have been announced.
• PSNY adds a photo booth.
• PSNY is closed for Labor Day.
• Peloton will offer Malin-Goetz hygiene products in studio.
• Members can now rate a class’s explicit content.
• Peloton’s new metric graphic for the Rower gets a full release.
• John Lewis now sells Peloton.
• Australian listeners! Don’t miss Peloton at City2Surf.
• Jenn –  How to stop focusing on numbers.
• Robin Arzon had her baby!
• Erik Jager & Hannah Frankson heading to PSNY.
• Matt Wilpers got a PR on his half Iron Man.
• Kendall Toole responds to the death of actor Angus Cloud.
• Ben Alldis & Leanne Hainsby get closer to picking a wedding date.
• Oliva Amato got Lasik.
• Tunde has announced that she’ll start teaching HIIT classes.
• Chelsea Jackson Roberts talked about using yoga to improve mental health.
• Becs Gentry celebrates 5 years with Peloton.
• Marcel Maurer celebrates 2 years with Peloton.
• Angelo/MetPro – Out-eating your exercise.
• Nike launches its own fitness app.
• BowFlex launches a rebrand.
• AP talks to First Lady Jill Biden about her love of Peloton.
• New Motley Crue Lanebreak classes have been released.
• Barbie takes over the Peloverse.
• New Foam Rolling class drops.
• Jenn Sherman’s Epic Sing-Along ride returns.
• New Peloton Gym classes added to the app.
• Christine D’Ercole has a new 90-minute Power Zone class.
• Mila Lazar is doing a 60-minute dance music ride.
• Two new split-training programs were added.
• German Summer Break series has begun.
• TCO Top 5.
• Birthdays – Jess Sims (8/5), Alex Toussaint (8/6), Olivia Amato (8/8)

All this plus our interview with Christy Bullock

—

Watch the episode here

 

Listen to the podcast here

 

Robin Arzon Has Her Second Baby! Plus Our Interview With Christy Bullock!

We have a new website. The same old address, but a brand new website.

TheClipOut.com. If you haven’t been by in a while, it’s a good time to go check it out.

It’s very different. 

Things have changed a bit.

With all the helper bees, and all the content we’ve been creating. By we, I mean everyone but me.

That’s true. You are the only one that hadn’t done anything. That’s interesting.

I came up with the name of the show. Isn’t that enough?

It’s been six years. Are you still leaning on that?

Are you still calling it The Clip Out? There you go.

All right, fine.

With all the content, articles, and stuff, we got a website refreshed that makes it a little bit easier and more palatable to find those articles.

You don’t have to go to one place that says blog and hope for the best.

Also, scroll on forever on every story we’ve ever written chronologically. That’s a horrible way to do it.

You can also now search on mobile. If you’re looking for something, you don’t have to go to a desktop. Before, that was the only way to do it. If you’re like, “What episode was, fill in the blank?” Just go search. You can search.

No need to ask Crystal personally. Our website looks a lot better on mobile now too. We’re very excited about that. Swing by and check it out and see if you agree.

Let us know what you think.

What pray tell do you have in store for people?

We should share with everybody that we have a little bit of a change in programming. It’s very minor.

I don’t think it will feel radically different, but we felt lately like the episodes are getting longer and longer, so we’re making a change.

The big change is that we’re going to be more selective about what news we bring to you. We’re going to try to limit it to the things that are the most important that you need to know. The rest of it that we still want to talk about is going to be over on Patreon. Think of this as what you need to know, and then if you want to know, there will be more over there.

You will still get a very solid episode. We’re just being more judicious about what makes it into this episode and not bogging down with every instructor’s Instagram post and things like that.

You probably don’t want to know in this episode every single thing that the instructors now have a partnership with, for example.

There are like nine of them. The thought process is we will be a little bit more judicious. Also, we felt like we were racing through episodes. They were getting longer, but we were spending less time on key things because there were so many things to talk about. As I said, we’re getting more judicious about what we select, and then we will take the other stuff that isn’t as crucial, and that will live over on Patreon as bonus content.

If you are so inclined and you feel like you’ve been robbed of content, it will still exist. We’d love to have you if you want to come over there. You will also get the episode ad-free. You get them early when we get them early, and you get things like this. On Friday, the day this comes out, we’re doing a video chat with Patreon members. That’s things like that. I guess that’s a good way to segue into shameless plugs.

I don’t know if you still wanted me to go over what we’re going to go over because I never did that.

Let’s pause the shameless plugs. This will be very confusing for people on YouTube that like the chapter breaks. They’re like, “Where do I put that now?” What pray tell do you have in store for people?

We’re going to hit all of the highlights. We’re going to talk about the bike seat replacement, the new stuff at Peloton studios, and what’s going on in London. We’re going to be talking about the All-For-One dates. We’re also going to have a visit from Dr. Jenn on how to stop focusing on the numbers, whether that’s the calories, the scale, etc. We’re going to talk about the most important instructor news you need to know. We’re also going to be talking to Angelo at MetPro. We have some news about Nike and Bowflex, and celebrity content as well.

Shameless plugs, don’t forget, we’re available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, TuneIn. Wherever you find a podcast, you can find us. While you’re there, be sure and follow us so you never miss an episode. Maybe leave us a review. Don’t forget, you can also find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheClipOut. While you’re there, like the page, join the group. It’s a great way to stay up to date on things throughout the week, especially as much content as Crystal and the helper bees, that’s her band name, have been creating. You get it all right there in your feed, nice and easy.

I play the drums.

Look at that. You can also find us on YouTube at YouTube.com/TheClipOut, where you can watch these episodes. Sign up for our newsletter. We get all the links and stuff at the newly redesigned TheClipOut.com. Finally, don’t forget our aforementioned Patreon where you can get bonus content and you can get ad-free episodes and invites to special videos, Zoom calls, where we hang out, and who knows what else. We are always working on things. There’s all that. Let’s dig in. Shall we?

We shall.

—

Good news for people chomping at the bit to get their replacement seat.

Their bike seat-post.

It is now coming to them post haste.

It’s sooner than they expected. Some reminders. When this originally happened, you were supposed to get it fast if you were a person who was in the top tier, which means that on your Peloton profile, you had filled it out that you were over 5’11” and 230 pounds. Everyone decided to go ahead and ask for a new bike seat-post replacement. That was more than what Peloton has expected and that took longer. They had been saying it was going to be as long as December for some folks. Now they are saying that if you have ordered it by July 29th, you will have it by September 29th. It’s a lot sooner for those people who had a long lead time. That’s good news, and then we can forget about the bike seat post. That would be great.

We will forget about the bike seat post. Do you remember when everyone was losing their mind about shipping delays, and then it went away?

I thought it was funny because I posted this on the OPP, which is always scary when I do that. Some people got in a fight over this because there was a person that was like, “I got mine and I don’t even know if I’m going to switch it out.” This lady came for him so hard.

I don’t blame her. That’s part of the problem.

I know. Everybody attacked the lady for coming at him and it got really ugly. I was like, “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Thank you for the engagement.” That’s why there’s such a problem. Everybody was like, “I don’t need it, but give it to me.”

That’s all the lady was trying to say.

I don’t even mind someone being like, “One day, what if I gain weight? What if I have a growth spurt at 58?” I still get that you might be like, “I want one. If there’s a replacement, maybe eventually it will wear down at a lower body weight. It just takes longer,” but maybe let the people that are taller and heavier get it first, and then when it slows down, circle back around and ask for your seat post.

It’s unfortunate. We’ve talked about this before, but I wish that the powers that be in the government piece of this, the CPSC or whoever they are, had let Peloton say that from the beginning. I know they’re the holdup.

All you got to do is look at Canada. It’s handled differently in Canada. It’s not radically different, but they were allowed to say, “If you’re over a certain height and weight, this is more likely to affect you. We’re going to try and prioritize those people. For whatever reason, they didn’t let them do that.

We know the reason.

We’re glad to see that it is getting to people more quickly. All-For-One dates have been announced.

It keeps getting later and later. For those of you who joined Peloton fairly recently, you may not know, but this originated on the 4th of July. All of the instructors took place in the same classes, then we got so many instructors, and then COVID happened and that became impossible. It then started taking place in August. This year, it’s September.

It’s like Easter or Passover. It’s based on the calendar. It’s based on the moon cycles or Ramadan. I want to get all the big ones in there. It’s based on the moon cycle, so it’s constantly shifting. All-For-One fell later this year.

If you haven’t heard these specific dates, it is from September 7th through 9th. There will be 32 different artists, 56 instructors, all of the instructors, and it will be over three days. You will be able to do multiple classes and build your own festival at home.

In a Clip Out exclusive last episode, we found out that PSNY and later, PSL have added a photo booth.

It’s super fun. You get to go in and you get to choose what background you have. You get to choose what words you have. You can take one picture per person/couple/group, as many people as you can fit in there. They will print it off and give it to you or they will email it to you. Right now, people are excited about it. The thing is that London is getting theirs this week, but remember, London is closed from August 7th through September 22nd. They’re getting entirely refreshed. We can’t help but wonder what else is going to happen over at Peloton.

Do you think maybe they’re doing new fancy stuff in London that they’re also retrofitting into PSNY?

We’re going to talk about PSNY is going to be closed over Labor Day. It’s closed for an entire week. My mind is wondering about all of the things that are going to happen because they’re not just closed for the weekend of Labor Day. They are closed from August 31st all the way through the 7th.

This is my prevailing theory. They’re closed for Labor Day weekend because they know you will be in New York.

They were like, “F*ck this girl. No way. We do not want this woman in our studio,” but no, sadly, I have been saying this for a while now. I had a feeling this was going to happen.

They typically have closed on Labor Day in the past, haven’t they?

No. People have taken classes over Labor Day, but I had this feeling. There were people I had reached out to ask questions and nobody was answering them. It felt like, “We’re not going to be open but we can’t tell you that yet.” That was the vibe I was getting.

They can’t tell you because you’ll tell everyone.

Pretty much, which is fair. I had this feeling. This whole weekend needs to be about Brian anyway. We will be visiting him. It’s his first week in college, so that’s okay. I love New York. It’s not like I won’t have fun there.

Ultimately, it’s probably for the best.

It would’ve felt like getting pulled in two different directions.

We don’t have to contend with it. We would’ve definitely done our best so we could get you there but now it’s not even an option, so we can focus.

I do want to point out that when I was told about this, I was told that it is closed for studio maintenance and the holiday. Summer maintenance lining up with the maintenance that’s taking place in the UK. I think we might see some little cool things that are going to pop up, like the photo studio. Who knows what else is going to be there? I don’t know.

Maybe what you will see are Malin-Goetz’s hygiene products. That’s my theory as to what’s happening.

They’re already there.

What? How did I get that right?

You’re the Peloton Prophet.

I’m the Peloton Prophet. I got a button that says it. I also have a button that says parsnips. What is that? Is that a thing? Is that exciting? Is that a big deal?

It’s a big deal for people who go to the studio. It’s like you go in, you use the shower, and you’re like, “Oh my God.” It’s like going to a hotel and you’re like, “This shampoo is amazing.”

Is this a fancy brand? It sounds like a law firm.

It’s really expensive.

It’s like I got served paperwork.

It’s about the same for an hour’s worth of use.

It’s like I got served by Malin & Goetz. I had a processor show up at my door and just pour conditioner in my hand.

I’m kidding. I don’t know how much this costs. I’m not saying for reals that it’s $400 for that package, but I know it’s not cheap. This is exciting if you enjoy the products that you use while you’re there. Now, you can take them home. That’s why it’s exciting. It’s another way you can take the Peloton studio experience home with you.

It’s like when we go to Disney World and steal the Mickey soap.

It’s like that.

Every day, I would hide the new bar of soap that they brought us, then they’d have to give us another one. I think they were onto me, which is probably why they don’t do that anymore.

You are solely responsible for all the Mickey soap being gone.

Now they just have body wash.

They now have the entire thing like a jug on the wall, and you just squirt now, the body wash.

That’s good to know.

I know what you were thinking. I could feel a joke brewing.

I wasn’t thinking anything. I’m over here minding my own business. All of a sudden, you’re a red fox over there, which is a good time to talk about explicit ratings.

I wonder how people would rate us, explicit or not.

70% of people die immediately from internal decapitation and don’t even make it to the hospital. Only a small percentage survive it, and most of them became quadriplegics. Share on X

All I know is I’m the one who gets the bad rap. So far, in this episode, you’ve made a squirting joke and dropped an f-bomb, but somehow I am the problem here.

I learned it from watching you.

You’re welcome. They’re like, “Can we go back to the episodes where you rush through things? We’re missing those episodes right now.”

There’s a new update.

If you think there are too many naughties in a class, you can hit a naughty button. When you hit it, it giggles.

It’s more involved than that because you can not only rate it, but now they have versions of ratings like too explicit, just right explicit, and not explicit at all.

Here’s the fun part. If you rate enough classes, they will tell you Tipper Gore’s leaderboard name. First, it’s red fox and now Tipper Gore. My comedic references are as timely as today’s headlines.

I don’t think this is rolled out to everybody yet. This is rolling out slowly. I don’t know. Maybe it’s out there now.

I know I don’t use any of this stuff. I hate radio edits. I know sometimes it’s the instructors that are cussing and not the music, but it’s your rating ultimately like how many squares.

There are a lot of people that responded when I posted this. Is there a not explicit, like I want it to be more explicit?

Not explicit enough?

Yeah, and there isn’t, FYI. I think there’s always going to be a gap between people that care and people that don’t because you can drop as many f-bombs as you want in a class and it doesn’t bother me.

Also, this is nice because I feel like there’s a shifting parameter of what’s considered explicit. Fifteen years ago, shit was a dirty word. It’s still borderline. I saw a podcast today that actually used the phrase bat shit in their show notes. It’s a major podcast. It’s not NPR, but an NPR-style podcast. It’s called 99% Invisible, which is a great show, especially for nerds. I was surprised that they dropped the phrase bat shit crazy in their show notes like it was no big deal. I feel like ten years ago, someone would’ve redlined that.

I have no doubt when you make me go back and watch old TV shows, we see that all the time.

It’s also amazing sometimes that it wasn’t offensive then and now we’re like, “What are they saying?”

That episode of Mary Tyler Moore this morning was a rough one.

It’s a really rough one. This is also a good way to crowdsource that. It takes the onus off of Peloton of deciding what’s explicit.

I think that is the real reason.

To crowdsource it, then collectively, if someone doesn’t like it, it’s like the majority voted. If you don’t like it, that’s what storming the capitol is for. Peloton’s new rowing metric graphic that we discussed has officially rowed out.

It’s so pretty.

I’m trying to make a pun but instead, it sounds like I have a speech impediment, which I used to have.

That’s true. I love the new row metric. It’s beautiful to look at, but I love that you are able to see, “Should I be working harder? Do I need to move up to the next level or maybe I just need to spend some time here and get better at it?” It is officially out there though. Try it out and let us know what you think.

John Lewis & Partners, which is a department store, not a law firm that’s currently locked in battle with Malin & Goetz. For our American audience, this is a big department store over in the UK. We talked last year or the year before about their Christmas commercials. They’re notorious for having these amazing Christmas commercials. Some of them are more social media based and they can be 5 or 6 minutes long, but they’re amazing. They’re like little short films that tug at the heartstrings.

They also have a partnership with Peloton, which we talked about a couple of years ago.

They have started adding Peloton equipment to their website.

Very much like Amazon or Dick’s Sporting Goods, you can now go to the website and you can say, “I would like a Bike, a Bike+, and a Tread.” It is on there as well. I thought that was interesting. It’s smart for John Lewis to do. I think we will continue to see this growth of Peloton using stores, for lack of a better phrase, to do their distribution for them.

I would think that this means they’re probably in the stores too.

That was what we talked about a couple of years ago. They had a thing like Tonal does, where it was a popup. That’s how it started the conversation the last time we talked about them. We haven’t chatted about them lately, but that was where the partnership started. This is just adding to that.

For our Australian audience, don’t forget Peloton is going to be coming to City2Surf. They posted on their website everything you need to know about Peloton coming to the Down Under.

There’s a whole bunch of details here that you’re going to find out. First of all, everybody that’s going to the race gets a special Peloton singlet, which is the shirt for you, Tom. They tell you exactly where Peloton is going to be located, where to meet up, where to find Tunde, and when that’s going to happen because she will be there and you will get to meet her. That is super cool. This is a huge event in Australia. I think it’s cool that Peloton is going to be part of it.

Coming up after this, we’re going to talk to Dr. Jenn. She’s going to answer a question about how to stop focusing on numbers, metrics, and things that make you feel bad even when you’re still making progress.

—

Joining us once again is Dr. Jenn Mann, licensed marriage, family and child therapist, and sports psychology consultant. You may know her from VH1’s Couples Therapy with Dr. Jenn or VH1’s Family Therapy with Dr. Jenn or her long-running radio show, The Dr. Jenn Show. She’s written four bestselling books, including The Relationship Fix: Dr. Jenn’s 6-Step Guide to Improving Communication, Connection and Intimacy. It’s Dr. Jenn.

Hello.

I have a question. I believe this was meant as a joke. Let me say that first, but here’s the reason I’m including this. I think people do struggle with this. This was from one of our listeners and friends, Gordon Walker. He said, “The dang hotel bike is a full zone harder than his bike at home, Power Zone struggle.” He’s joking. The thing is that all of the original bikes, as you know, are all different. You could be on two different bikes and have two completely different experiences, but it still drives people nuts. What are your thoughts on that?

It’s the same thing with the treadmill. I’ve got the original treadmill and the mini-tread. I’ve got the Peloton bike and the Bike+.

They’re all different.

I actually have more PRs on the mini tread than the big tread, even though I like the big tread better because I like the big screen and having more room, so I get this. What you have to do is make peace with the whole PR situation. Anytime you get too focus on the numbers, whether it is the numbers on the scale, the numbers on the Peloton, the mileage numbers, or the step number, it’s good to be aware of certain numbers because the 10,000 steps are supposed to be good for heart health. I will give you that one.

When you do a 30-minute run, whether you’re on one tread or the other, you got to give yourself credit for doing the run. We get too caught up, especially us type-A’s, and there are a lot of us Peloton type-A’s. We get too caught up in the outcome and the numbers, beating the record, and all that sort of stuff. There’s a lot to be said for being focused more on the process than the outcome.

That makes total sense. It’s hard to give yourself credit when it doesn’t look like you did your best, even though you did your best that day.

I get it. I also think that there are times in your life when it’s even more important. For example, my mom just passed away. When I am on my tread now, I feel like I have sandbags attached to my ankles. Everything is a little bit harder. Grief does that. I’m giving myself credit for just being there. I know in the end, I’m going to feel glad I did it. I have moments where I’m enjoying it, but it’s a lot harder. It takes a lot more energy.

It’s important to give yourself that leeway whether you’re going through something in your life that makes your numbers a little off or you’re on a different tread or a different bike or whatever it is. You got to give yourself credit for exercising and moving because ultimately, that’s what makes us live much longer. That’s ultimately the end goal for all of us.

That’s the PR.

Exactly. Well said.

I feel like the ones you struggle through sometimes are the most important ones because it’d be so easy to not be doing it at all at that point. The fact that you struggled through it, at least this is what I tell myself because I struggle a lot.

It’s very true. I had a run that I’ve talked about before in the show. That was a 45-minute hills run. This was probably three years ago. It’s a Matty hills run. Before I did that run, I thought I could never do 45-minute hills run. There’s no way because hills are tough for me. They’re tough on my back, and they’re also mentally challenging for me. After I did that, I had this feeling of, “I conquered that.” If I did that, I could do anything. I could do this other thing that I thought I couldn’t do. It opened doors for me.

You could do 21 miles at Big Sur, where 2 of those miles are a hill.

Straight uphill with 30-mile-an-hour winds coming at me and you. It was the windiest marathon Big Sur has ever seen.

That was insanity.

I feel like I need to step in and back you guys up. That’s not hyperbole. The hill is crazy and the wind was crazy that day. It was difficult to drive.

Try being not 3,000 pounds.

I’m trying. You got to call me out.

It was so much fun. That was the weird thing.

It’s fun now that it’s in your rearview mirror.

 

Those last couple of miles were not fun.

The last couple of miles were a lot less fun, and also the blisters on your feet. I was thinking about the pictures like I’m having flashbacks right now.

I remember being like, “That one popped.”

I remember that. Whoever you saying that, you’re going, “That doesn’t sound good.” It wasn’t like a little bit. It was the entire pad.

When she first showed it to me, I didn’t see it because it was just her foot.

It was nuts. It’s one of those things where you go, “If I could do that, I can do anything.”

It is very empowering.

Thank you so much for all of that. Until next time, where can people find you?

People can find me on social media @DrJennMann. They can see our 21-mile run at Big Sur on my social media. I had a whole little montage video of our experience that I’m very proud of. Also, I do post my workouts on my stories.

Thank you.

—

Robin Arzón had her baby, and it’s a boy.

Atlas Sage was born on July 18th or something like that.

I don’t know. I wasn’t there.

It was only a couple of days after Jess King’s second baby. We are looking forward to seeing how the babies play together. I’m sure we will get lots of pictures of that. Robin was covered as an exclusive in People. I want to remind you that we had Mitch Slater on the show a couple of months ago. His daughter wrote this article.

How about that? Very spiffy. That was so cool.

He emailed it to me to make sure I saw it. I thought that was super cute. Her name is Georgia Slater. That’s neat. I love seeing these little connections with people.

I saw somebody on the OPP. Can I relay a cesspool story?

Yeah. There are so many.

It’s like, “I’m so glad she’s a fan of Ayn Rand,” because she named the kid Atlas.

Are you serious?

I was like, “You know that Atlas is a Greek god. Ayn Rand didn’t invent the name Atlas. It’s actually a reference to something else.” Since her daughter is named Athena, I’m going to go out on a limb and say she’s going with a Greek God theme, not with a right-wing ideologue theme, but I could be mistaken.

I’m going to go with you.

Erik Jäger and Hannah Frankson are heading to PSNY.

This is so exciting. By the time you will have heard this, the booking will have already opened and probably be completely gone. It opens up on Thursday at noon Eastern. You can book four classes. There are going to be two for Erik. He’s going to be doing a 20-minute glutes and legs, plus an intermittent core. It’s like a 30-minute class altogether that you get to spend with Erik, then a 30-minute EDM run with Hannah. There’s also a 30-minute dance music ride with Erik, and then a 20-minute ’90s ride and a 20-minute 2000s ride with Hannah Frankson. Even though Erik typically teaches in German, he will be teaching these classes in English. If you can’t be there in person, at least we can all enjoy his classes in English while he is over stateside.

Matt Wilpers competed in a half Ironman and not only completed it but got a PR.

My mind boggles at his half marathon pace after he had swum and biked, then he ran 13 miles at 6 minutes and 30 seconds per mile.

That’s crazy.

Isn’t it? That is some fitness there, folks.

Well done.

Congrats, Matt.

Sad news from the world of acting that Kendall Toole responded to. An actor by the name of Angus Cloud has passed away. You might know him as Fez on HBO Max’s Euphoria. He was a breakout character on that show. They’ve been a little withholding on information, which is something the media has done more lately. They’re worried sometimes when mental health is potentially involved that it can create copycats and stuff. I feel like the media has gotten a lot better about not just blasting out that sort of information in a way that they used to, which is ultimately for the best. Kendall was talking about mental health and stuff in relation to this actor because he had openly struggled with it in the past.

He had struggled with depression, mental health issues in general, and addiction. He had been very public about all of those things. He was my favorite character on that show. It is heartbreaking.

He was great on that show. We’ve talked about Euphoria on the show before about how that is a nightmare fuel for parents.

He was the bright spot. I know he shouldn’t be because of his character.

There was something about it. From what we read, they discovered him walking down the street and they were like, “You would be perfect for this character.” It wasn’t a far cry from his own personality. Not the criminal aspect of it, but the stuff that people responded to. Even though he was a criminal, there was still this inner sweetness of a guy trying to do the right thing in a dark world. It’s a shame.

It’s very tragic at 25 years old. Our hearts go out to his family. It’s so sad.

People magazine talked to Ben Alldis and not Georgia Slater. Although I understand Mitch Slater is in the process of adopting her. His goal is to be the father of the entirety of the People magazine writing staff.

I don’t think that’s his goal.

We wish you the best of luck, Mitch. I guess Ben Alldis alludes to the fact that he is planning to be married by the end of 2014.

They celebrated the two-year anniversary of their engagement. A lot of shit went down since they got engaged. That’s been on hold, but it’s going to be happening. That is something with the Peloton community. I’m sure we will be there for every detail watching every move they make.

As much as Ben Alldis has been in People magazine lately, you got to think they’ve already sold the wedding exclusive.

I would think that. We probably won’t know very much about it until about a week later.

Olivia Amato has a new outlook, literally, because she posted on the Gram all about her LASIK surgery that she was very excited to have received.

Apparently, she had been putting this off. She didn’t want to do it. She was scared to death to do it.

It would be weird to have somebody doing stuff to your eyes like that. I’ve read horror stories and I know that’s what they are. Horror stories are very rare occurrences, but things do happen. To have people in there mucking around with your eyeball would be weird.

It would, but the whole thing took seven and a half minutes. She couldn’t believe that she woke up and could see completely clearly. We’ve been hearing this story about LASIK for years now.

I’ve known so many people. I mean, 25 years ago they got LASIK and were stunned by it. I’m sure it has only gotten better.

Congrats to her for getting it done and being brave.

Tunde announced that she’s going to start teaching HIIT cardio.

She tried to tease it and people didn’t get it. She was like, “First of all, I’m not going to be teaching on the tread. Let it go.” She’s tired of that being everybody’s answer. Also, she was like, “Only two people guessed it.” She’s feeling like people are not excited about the HIIT cardio. “Pretend you are excited for Tunde.” That’s what she said. We’re excited for you, Tunde. Congrats on that HIIT cardio.

Chelsea Jackson Roberts was talking about yoga and mental health as part of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.

She was interviewed in a magazine. They talked to her about this. We’ve had Chelsea on the show before. You might remember, Tom, that when we talked to her, she had talked about her background was from bringing people who were in tough situations into yoga, and how that could heal them, and help them with their mental health. She also has an amazing foundation and organization that she belongs to and founded. That was part of her dissertation when she was doing her doctoral degree. It started there and then grew into the foundation. It’s something she feels very strongly about. I’m glad that she got to share that. I hope that it raises awareness for the foundation, and continues raising money for them.

We have a couple of instructors celebrating Peloton anniversaries. Becs Gentry is celebrating five years at the Peloton.

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I can’t believe it’s been five years already. It feels like yesterday.

Also, Marcel Maurer is celebrating two years at Peloton.

It’s so crazy. Two years feels like a blink of an eye since the German instructors started.

There are so many more Peloton instructors than there used to be. Honestly, we probably only need about 4 or 5 more and Hallmark will start making a card that you can get for a Peloton instructor. They are about at that tipping point where they’re like, “I guess there’s a big enough market for this now.” Coming up after this, we’re going to talk to Angelo. He has advice for someone who feels like they’ve been out eating their exercise. Stick around.

—

Joining us once again from MetPro is Angelo, here to answer your fitness and nutrition questions.

Thanks for having me back.

We’re glad you’re here. Courtney Marissa is looking for some help. She says that she’s been working out consistently for over two years. She’s done cycling, strength, yoga, and barre, but no weight loss. She knows she’s stronger and she’s very toned, but it’s frustrating. She eats pretty well, but she has an occasional sweet tooth. What do we do? What do we do for Courtney?

We can help with that. Courtney, you described the majority of people that reach out to us. The scenario is they’re doing most everything maybe not perfectly, but they’re doing all the right things. Simply put, here is why you’re staying the same weight. Here’s the technical reason. Your metabolism is acclimated to your current activity and you are in homeostasis.

Despite any nonsense where the treadmill says you just burned 600 calories, despite any height, weight, or activity charts that say if you eat this many calories, you shouldn’t be losing this much weight, your body has done what it’s supposed to do and is keeping you alive by acclimating your metabolic rate within a margin to keep you in maintenance. What has to happen is leverage needs to be applied to what you’re doing.

At MetPro, what we have discovered is there is a finite amount of levers, therefore, enabling it to become a mathematical process. It’s not as simple as two levers. We are biological creatures much more complex than math, which is why people study and train their entire life to master this craft of manipulating body and body composition, but it is not infinite.

Here’s an abbreviated tour of someone in your circumstances, and what I or one of our coaches would be taking you through to break you through that homeostasis or that plateau. We would be looking at the total hours spent in exercise over the course of a week. Can we increase activity or are you at a reasonable threshold? If the answer is we can increase without being a drain on time or your ability to recover, then we can increase marginally.

It sounds like there’s not a lot there, Courtney, because you’re already exercising. Can we optimize the type of exercise you’re doing? A lot of times, it’s not a matter of someone doing anything right or wrong per se. It’s simply a matter of not specializing enough to move the dial if weight loss is desired, so we would evaluate. Let’s say you’re exercising a total of nine hours over the course of one week. Can we allocate that time in such a way that you get a bigger metabolic return on your investment of whatever amount of hours it is? We’re going to optimize that.

We’re going to look at your food and your intake. We would baseline test to see what your average daily caloric rate is and what your intake is. We also want to look at the calories that are coming in that are most easy for your body to convert into energy and into body fat, which is your carbohydrates.

Once we know that, we would answer a simple question. Do we have room to decrease your caloric intake or decrease your carbohydrate intake without taking you too low or unsustainable, and to a point where your body and your energy would be decreased? If the answer is, “Yes, we have room,” then we would build a structurally sound approach to doing that where you’re not going to feel hungry all the time.

That’s by picking the right foods, having you eat throughout the day, including enough protein, pairing the right carbs and proteins, and timing your fat appropriately to optimize, but there has to be a change. I didn’t list them all, but if we go through every one of the levers and what we find is either everything has already been optimized or there’s simply not a big margin of anything that can be changed, then we will recondition your metabolism to burn more calories.

That’s a matter of eating more meals throughout the day, eating earlier in the day, eating smaller but more often, thus, the more meals, having you break your exercise up to maximize the amount of times throughout a seven-day period you get a metabolic spike, and systematically conditioning your body to get used to a little bit more carbs and a little more calories without gaining body weight.

Once your body is acclimated to that, it does not take as long as you think. It’s not months and months. It’s just weeks. You would then have the ability to cut, change, adapt, and switch something that will trigger more weight loss. It is doable. The key is it’s not a magic number. It’s a matter of contrast. If you can create enough contrast in your diet and training, you can lose more weight if that’s your goal.

I’ve seen it happen a million times. I love it.

I am still stunned for my first day, sitting down with all the food. It certainly felt like every piece of food ever. It’s like, “This can’t be right. How am I supposed to lose weight when I’m eating seven eggs?”

I’m not going to make you eat seven eggs, Tom. It’s weird.

I am weird. I put a very big asterisk on that, but it was so much food. It’s counterintuitive or at least to my intuition, but it will get you there. If people would like this tailor-made for them, where can they find you?

Thank you.

—

Interesting news from the world of Nike, which is they are launching a fitness app.

When we wrote this article, for some reason, people miss the part where it was an app. People are only reading the part where it’s a boutique fitness studio.

They are opening studios but there is an app to go along with it.

It’s directed for people to be able to workout at home. We can’t help but wonder if they are trying to be a direct competitor of Peloton. They have the money to back it up, just like Apple does. The difference between Apple and Nike is that Apple doesn’t seem to want to do studios or equipment and things like that. Nike definitely is going down the studio path. Will there be equipment? I don’t know. The feedback I got from this article was it doesn’t matter because there are no bikes. I don’t know if that’s true because Peloton feels very strongly about their strength game. They’re trying to be the biggest there. Let’s not forget the running. That’s a huge part of Peloton now.

Peloton is pushing their app. If they have a competing app, it doesn’t matter if there’s a bike on it or not because Peloton is more than a bike. Also, just because it’s app-only, it doesn’t mean they won’t insert their own bike classes. it’s not just about equipment sales for Peloton anymore. I guess you also then have to ask yourself the next question. If this starts to gain traction, does that start to then encroach on any instructors who have sponsorship deals with Nike?

I don’t know the answer to that.

That could get very sticky if they start to feel like this new app is a true competitor. They’re not going to want their instructors wearing Nike logos.

You wouldn’t but on the other hand, there was all the bruhaha between Peloton and Lulu and they seem to have made up at this point.

They haven’t worked together again. Have they? They’ve been suing the crap out of each other, and that finally got resolved.

It’s all done. I have a feeling that it’s not going to be long until we see something with Lulu.

Probably not. That wouldn’t surprise me. Also, don’t forget that Lululemon is trying desperately to unload the Mirror. You get one free with every purchase now. I think that’s what they’re doing.

Speaking of competitors, they have gone Mirrorless. You can do all of the app stuff now without a Mirror. You can use their app without a Mirror. I thought that was fascinating.

I didn’t realize that.

That’s new as far as I’m concerned.

It definitely seems like Mirror is not a true competitor.

I meant from an apparel standpoint. That’s where they were the competitor with Peloton.

That’s true. While we’re talking about that, we should also talk about the fact that Nautilus is doing a rebrand for Bowflex.

They’re doing a completely new rebrand. It seems to be a similar thing where they’re doing an app and they’re trying to be that brand for everyone to meet them wherever they are.

It’s funny that the picture is of someone on a bike. Is that a Bowflex bike or just stock art?

I truly do not know.

I was like, “Bowflex has bikes?”

They do.

I always thought that Bowflex is the big giant weird octopus with arms standing up in the air.

Remember, it’s not like the big brand, but they own all the things. Bowflex has a whole bunch of different things.

—

The Associated Press did a feature on First Lady Jill Biden. She talked about her love of Peloton. Not that she’s riding one here, just to be clear.

She is not, but she did say that she was doing classes all the time and it helps keep her fit. I knew that Joe Biden was a Peloton rider, but I did not know that Jill was as well. I thought that was cool.

This bike looks like the same bike Kermit the Frog road in the original Muppet movie.

I also hate that they use this picture of her because her posture is not great in this picture. She looks like she’s going to fall. It looks a little unsteady, and sand is not the easiest thing to ride on.

I wouldn’t think. I was like riding a bike on the beach seems like that would be difficult.

If it’s really packed, it’s not bad. You never know when you’re going to reach an unpacked part.

—

We have new Lanebreak classes and they are part of the Mötley Crüe artist series.

I’m so looking forward to this. A 15-minute warm-up level and a 30-minute level featuring the best from the most notorious rock band in the world. I love the Mötley Crüe. I am looking forward to this because I love the instructors and that is so fun. To have a class with no distractions and just the music, I love it.

Mötley Crüe would be perfect for something like that. It’s absolutely perfect.

Lots of changes in the music. It’s awesome. I’m looking forward to that one.

—

Barbie mania has taken over the Peloverse. It’s taken over just the verse. Everybody is excited about Barbie except certain specific men who have an issue and whatever.

The movie was great. I don’t care what anybody says. This movie was amazing. It is my favorite movie of the year thus far. It’s not Oppenheimer or whatever. Oppenheimer is a good movie. There’s nothing wrong with Oppenheimer.

It’s a different cinematic experience.

It’s very different. You’re going to hear all the Oscar buzz about Oppenheimer, but this movie is the one that deserves all of the awards. It’s amazing. Anyway, there are some wonderful classes. I’m not a huge bike fan lately. I’ve been all about running. I took Olivia’s Barbie class and it was phenomenal, the music and the energy. It was a fun class. It wasn’t over the top hard where you felt like you wanted to shoot yourself when you were done. She kept it a little calmer for folks like me. Great class. I haven’t taken the other Barbie classes, but there are tons of them and they’ve all got great soundtracks.

We have new foam rolling classes that have dropped for people, or I guess class because it’s singular.

No, it’s three of them. It’s supposed to be foam rolling class drops.

Class drops, not a foam rolling class drop.

Correct. There were three classes that dropped. The most exciting part of this is that Rebecca Kennedy has joined the foam rolling lineup. She will be teaching foam rolling classes as well. We love Hannah’s classes and I will continue to take those, but it’s great to see that Rebecca has joined because maybe that means we’re going to see more of these foam rolling classes and they are fabulous. Everybody should be foam rolling or using a Theragun, etc. If you’re doing a lot of classes, you need to stretch those muscles out. This is very important.

Do you know why Rebecca Kennedy started teaching these classes?

Why?

Because she had FOMO. You’re welcome, ladies and gentlemen. People love the Jenn Sherman epic sing-along rides, and it is back.

There’s going to be one 30-minute this Friday. The day this airs, it will be happening live. It happens at noon Eastern on Friday, 8/4. You know all the usual complaints. “It’s not 60 minutes. It’s not happening on a weekend. I got to work.” I know all that, people. I hear you. I do.

I’m looking forward to the complaint when people complain about the singing on the sing-along ride.

They did. We got that too.

I also don’t like that there are bikes on these bike rides.

I love her sing-alongs. It’s one of my favorite classes.

What’s all the running in the tread classes lately? I don’t understand.

You belong in the OPP, sir.

I look at it for three minutes today and see what happened. It’s like COVID. New Peloton gym classes have been added.

Four new workouts by four different instructors. You’re going to be able to take some more classes at the gym. Those are going over well. People love them.

If you like your longer rides, you are in for a treat. Christine D’Ercole has a new 90-minute ride and it’s Power Zone.

People love the Power Zone.

It’s for the true gluttons for punishment.

This is only the second one that’s in the library right now. There were old ones. They all got purged. If you like your longer rides, go take it. Show Peloton you want more of these.

They want data. Mila Lazar has a 60-minute dance music ride. Some longer classes are creeping in here.

We talked in the last episode about Tobias having the 75-minute, Matt Wilpers having a 75-minute Power Zone, and now we’re seeing a 60-minute dance music ride. We usually do not see these longer rides when they’re themed. Everyone, take the class. Show Peloton you want these longer classes. It’s awesome.

We also have two new split training programs for people to check out. We don’t, but Peloton does.

Ben has a three-day intermediate and Jermaine has a five-day split. There is a whole article over in The Clip Out that breaks out the differences between those two, and when you might want to use them. The idea is their class is set out for a week and you repeat them over and over again. As you do that, 4 to 6 weeks later, you can then see the progress you’ve made.

And learn to do the splits.

That is the takeaway.

Also, we have a German summer break series that began on July 31st.

This is something they did last year as well. All the classes will be in German and it’s to celebrate the summer series. Even though the studio is going to be closed on 8/7, this will wrap up before that. We have all of those classes. You can take a virtual tour of Germany’s vacation destinations while you take the class.

That’s interesting to see. We know where Americans vacation. We tend to go to Mexico or the Caribbean. It’s always fun to see where other people vacation. It’s one of the famous favorite aspects of being locked up abroad. You always find out where people in Europe like to vacation.

Are you going to go to take these classes then?

Absolutely not.

I thought I’d ask.

For our British audience, we should explain that over here, they call it locked up abroad. We know over there, they call it banged up abroad, which is actually a porn series over here.

—

We have our TCO weekly top five for people.

First up, we have the 30-minute HIIT row with Alex K from 6/26. This one is Power Pack HIIT, so it’s lots and lots of interval training. Kathleen Arthur loved it. Got into the red zone on the row. We have a Night Out with the Crüe, the 30-minute Mötley Crüe ride with Sam Yo on 7/27. I loved his class. Nikki is the one that told me about this class, then I took it. I absolutely loved it.

I heard him play Live Wire, which is my favorite Mötley Crüe song, so I approve of this ride I will never take.

The Clip Out, in general, loved this. We had so many people suggest this one. We also have the 45-minute outdoor Abba Walk with Jess King. Several members spoke up about this. The music was perfect. It had a great vibe from Jenny Davis. Nancy Nielsen said that it was a fun walk to do on a Saturday morning. We had a 10-minute core strength from 7/28 with Rebecca Kennedy. This is one that people absolutely loved. Maria Baranido said that she takes 10 minutes to break down the proper way to perform a bicycle crunch, which is not as easy as it sounds.

Number five, finally, we have the 30-minute Barbie ride with Olivia Amato. This was especially fun for The Clip Out riding team. Several of us jumped on together to celebrate that Tina was doing her 300th ride. That was fun to do live. The entire class was great. Everybody loved it. Of course, we love Brittany Allen’s Barbie-inspired fit as well.

—

It is August and the birthdays are ramping back up. We’ve got three. August 5th, we have Jess Sims.

Happy birthday, Jess Sims.

On August 6th, we have Alex Toussaint.

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Happy birthday to you, sir.

On August 8th, we have Olivia Amato.

Happy birthday, Olivia.

If you see the instructors online or I guess in real life, be sure and wish them a happy birthday on the appropriate day. Coming up next, we’re going to talk to Christy Bullock. She has a fascinating story and is a little scary. She was internally decapitated, which is something I’ve only heard about recently. It was a new story about a little boy who did it and survived. It happened to her and she’s going to tell us all about it. You’re definitely going to want to tune in and it’s coming up next.

—

Joining us is Christy Bullock. Christy, how is it going?

I’m doing well. How are you, guys?

We are so glad to hear you here. I know you’ve had a rough road, a crazy road. We are appreciative that you are here to share your journey. For those of you tuning in at home, you know that I typically start by asking people how they got involved with Peloton but Christy has a very different journey. We’re going to start on the other end of things with, what happened? How did you get here?

You don’t know this part of the story. I’m going to reroute that question. I got started in Peloton after I got COVID back in 2020. I was working as a paramedic and I got COVID from a patient. I had a bad bout with it. I was out of work for three months. I was in the hospital for two weeks and I had a long recovery from that. I bought Peloton to try to get some of my lung function back because it damaged my lung so much. I had it for about a year before my accident. We can talk about that if you want to but it’s interesting that I got into Peloton for a medical reason, then I got out of Peloton for a medical reason.

What a journey.

It sounds like you got COVID pretty early in before they had treatments and things for it.

I got it in October of 2020. I didn’t have to go to ICU, luckily. I wasn’t on a ventilator but I had a lot of problems with it. It took the wind out of me, so to speak. My stamina was nothing. I was always short of breath after that. I got into Peloton thinking, “I can do this in the privacy of my own house,” because I have a lot of social anxiety. Maybe I can get some lung capacity back. That was how I got into it.

Were you able to get any traction there before your accident?

I feel like I was. I never got intense with it. I was a slow and easy-time Peloton user but I did very much enjoy it. I don’t know how you pronounce her name. Tunde was my favorite.

She’s great. We were lucky enough to get to interview her right after she first started at Peloton. She’s a ball of energy. She’s a lovely lady.

We interviewed her right as the pandemic was starting because I remember I was in California on a business trip. My plane landed and I rushed here to do the interview. She was ten minutes into the interview as I walked in the door. I remember I was just starting, and this would’ve been February of 2020. I remember I’m like, “It’s weird.” About 30% of the people at the airport had masks on. That’s unusual.

It was just before. It was the next month that everything shut down. Isn’t that a weird time? That was a weird time. I say that to Tom all the time.

Because of COVID, I had to wait three months from when I ordered to when it was delivered. It was quite a while.

You would’ve been right in that window where those timeframes were long on the delivery. We talk about this all the time. That feels like there are two years missing from our life. Especially given what you’ve been through, that’s probably even more magnified for you.

Time is definitely a weird construct to me right now.

I bet. You had the bike. You were getting over COVID, and getting back to what normal was for you lung-wise and trying to exercise. How did things come about with the accident?

I was riding the Peloton and trying to get some lung function back. I was back at work pretty much as back to normal as I could be. One year from COVID, I had a motorcycle wreck. I was on my own bike. My dad was in front of me. I wasn’t a new rider. I had been riding for years. I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t doing anything crazy. For some reason, there was a sharp left curve and I didn’t make the curve. I hit a guardrail.

I was internally decapitated. I had broken multiple ribs. My back is in three places. I had a bad fracture of my leg. All of my internal organs were bruised or bleeding. I tore my carotid and vertebral arteries. I always forget something. There’s a list this long of all my injuries. I always forget something. It’s usually the back. I always forget that I broke my back. Two weeks after that, while I was still in Nuero ICU, I had a complication that is unheard of. It’s like a medical anomaly but I had a delayed onset of hydrocephalus. Basically, my brain had shifted a little bit.

The CSF fluid in your brain is supposed to circulate. Mine had got blocked up and they didn’t know. I went into respiratory arrest, blew my pupils, lost my gag reflex, and was entered into their system to be an organ donor. The only reason I know that is my sister works for that hospital and that’s what she does. She takes care of the organ donors until they go to harvest. They had to lock her out of everything. It is something I should not have come back from. I should not have come back from the initial accident from the hydrocephalus. There was a liver infection and bad pneumonia. It was an ordeal. October will be two years but I feel like I’m just getting to where life is not so difficult now.

I honestly cannot even imagine that. When I was hit by the car, I had a concussion and I had a couple of broken pieces out of my back. I had a broken collarbone. All stuff that heals fast and easily, with the exception of the concussion. That messed with my head because I couldn’t remember things. I couldn’t do things as easily. I felt so frustrated and lost in a couple of months that it was bad. I can’t imagine how hard that’s been for you for almost two years. There had to have been times when you felt so lost. I know that’s how I felt and it was such a small timeframe.

There’s no handbook. It’s like when someone passes away. Everybody surrounds the family for the first little bit then life goes back to normal. That family’s got to figure out what their new normal is. I think that was the part. On my YouTube channel, I talk about that so that people can see my process and everything because I had to learn to do everything again. I can’t work anymore. I had to figure out everything. My story was so crazy. People always want the details. That’s what started. It was the APM Group. We talked about it on Facebook. I love that group.

I posted there a little bit of my story. I was like, “Am I crazy? Would this be interesting if I were to start a YouTube channel? I feel like I have something people want to hear but I don’t know.” They gave me the courage to post that first video telling my story and it blew up. That very first video, I think it’s over half a million views now. That’s still my best video. It was the very first one I did. It was the average Peloton mom group that gave me the little push I needed.

The Peloton community is magic about that. We all encourage each other to do things that we wouldn’t necessarily have the courage to do on our own. I’m glad that they did get you to share that because we wouldn’t be talking if somebody hadn’t seen your post and connected us. That’s the other magic of the Peloton community. If you don’t mind, can we dig into what that internal decapitation means? I don’t think everybody is familiar with that term because it’s a pretty rare occurrence.

Are you familiar with NASCAR at all or Earnhardt? That’s what he died of.

I did not know that.

Internal decapitation is when all the ligaments that connect your head to your spine are severed, so 70% of people die immediately. They don’t even make it to the hospital. The rest of them usually die within the first 24 hours from either the spinal cord or throw a blood clot. The ones that make it out of the hospital, the very small percentage that survives it, most of those people are quadriplegics and have all spinal cord issues. Not only did I have the injury but mine was an extreme. It was four times what’s supposed to be survivable and I survived it. I can walk. I’m not normal. I have limitations, but for the injury I had, my recovery’s pretty much unheard of.

Are there any ideas as to why? Is it just a fluke? Did you get a good surgeon? What happened?

My neurosurgeon, Dr. Godzik, is a rockstar.

He wasn’t before. He is now.

He doesn’t know. It blows his mind to and blows my mind because he told my husband. They let my husband see me before they took me to surgery. He pretty much told my husband, “There’s a good chance she’s not going to live through this surgery, whether it be neurological complications or throwing in a blood clot,” because I had torn my arteries too. He was able to reduce it as much as he can. He couldn’t do it all the way because I kept my vital signs. I kept bottoming out. He had to fix me in place. I refused to die. I don’t know.

Yay for being stubborn.

Very stubborn.

How did you find out about all of that? I wouldn’t think you’re cognizant while the initial surgery is going on. Were you out for a week or two days? How do you come to and learn about your situation?

I don’t think I understood the full extent of it for a long time. I’m talking about months because one of my earliest memories, I remember I was still intubated. I was still on the ventilator and I had the halo that screwed into my head and all that. I can remember opening my eyes and seeing my stepmom. She was crying and I remember thinking, “What is wrong with you?”

“Get it together, lady.”

“I don’t need to see that.”

Every time I would hear my husband talking to people or I would hear them talking about my situation, I remember thinking, “Why are they being so dramatic?” I thought they were being very dramatic. When I finally got into rehab, I think I was in denial because I remember thinking, “I’m not one of these people. I don’t need all this help. You all are being dramatic. Is this necessary?” Looking back, I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t do anything. I would get in trouble all the time for getting myself on the bedside commode without help.

I would use my slide board and slide over then I’d get in trouble because I didn’t call for help. I remember thinking it was all a bit ridiculous. I don’t think it ever sunk in. It took multiple conversations with my neurosurgeon, talking directly to me months later for me to say, “It was that bad. They weren’t being dramatic.” He was like, “No.”

Was there a moment when something clicked into place that you realized how bad it or was it a slow realization?

It was probably a slow realization but I think when I heard the things come out of Dr. Godzik’s mouth, that had been coming out of my husband’s mouth. I thought my husband was being dramatic, but then I heard my neurosurgeon say all those things. I was like, “Lee wasn’t exaggerating. It was that bad.”

Normally husbands are more like, “You’re fine. How about the laundry now?” That’s how husbands are. When husbands are sweet maybe snow peas, “This is awful,” they’re probably telling the truth.

One of my earliest memories is when they told me what happened. I remember lying in the hospital bed. I remember hearing my dad talking to somebody and he was saying, “It’s the same injury that killed Dale Earnhardt.” I live in Alabama, so everybody here knows who Dale Earnhardt is. I remember him saying that repeatedly. “It’s the same thing that killed him. It’s the same injury.” I again thought he was being dramatic but he wasn’t. I was in denial. I don’t know.

How long were you in the hospital?

Three months. That included rehab too. I was in Neuro ICU for like 8 or 9 weeks. I went to a trauma ICU for a few days, then I went to spine rehab for three weeks, then I came home.

What was that last one?

Spine rehab.

What’s that?

It’s people who have had spinal cord injuries, strokes, and things like that. It’s the in-patient rehab to try to get you stronger so that you can go home. They help people learn how to function with whatever injuries they got to live with now. When I first came home, I couldn’t even set myself up in bed. I couldn’t fix my food, walk, and stand. I’m quite helpless looking back, but in my own head, I never thought of myself as helpless but I was.

 

I’m trying to imagine what that would be like. I feel like it would be this cloud of time. It wouldn’t feel real. Was that what you experienced? Did it feel differently to you? I’m trying to put myself in that position and it’s impossible.

It’s like a marriage. In some ways, it feels like you’ve been married forever. In other ways, it feels like it was just yesterday.

A happy marriage.

I don’t know if that makes any sense.

It does make sense.

I’m like, the first marriage felt like forever but the second marriage feels like what you said.

When I had COVID, that was just child’s play.

I bet you were like, “I thought I was just sick.”

COVID was my first marriage.

That’s a great analogy.

I can’t help but think I hope you have good insurance.

That’s what I’m thinking. I know what our bills are for and I was in the hospital for 24 hours.

We’re square on medical bills. I don’t want to put anything out there that makes people think we are asking for money. Do you know how you get the statements from the hospital? Not for the whole three months. On the first day, October 8th, 2021, the first 24 hours, we got that statement. It was $1.3 million.

We were shocked.

I don’t remember what the rest of it was.

Does it matter at that point?

I know that in less than 24 hours, that first statement was $1.3 million, then insurance paid however much they paid. We owed some of that, which there was a GoFundMe. We did have some help with that.

It stands the reason.

Don’t feel like you shouldn’t be proud of that because you should. That is not a small thing. Even a percentage of $1.3 million is a tremendous amount of money for the average person.

You can’t expect the average person to be prepared for an incident like that.

It’s sad that people have to use GoFundMe as a healthcare supplement now.

I always think that when you hear these stories where like, “It’s this heartwarming story of people banding together and doing this GoFundMe.” I’m like, “A more heartwarming story would be if people didn’t need to do that.” Especially in a situation like this where you can’t reasonably expect someone to be able to put the bill for something like that.

All I keep thinking about is a health savings account or those insurance plans where they have you on the high deductibles. That’s what I keep thinking about. How $10,00 for one person is how much their out-of-pocket max is. I remember the first time I saw that years ago. I was like, “What would have to happen to you to have $10,000 out of pocket?” I feel like you hit that easily.

I’ll tell you what else is messed up that a lot of people don’t think about until they’re in that situation. I was working as a paramedic when I had that accident. I had health insurance through my employer and it was free for just me. My husband also is a firefighter paramedic. Because I was injured so severely and couldn’t work anymore, they kept me on that insurance until January. I couldn’t go back to work, so I lost my health insurance.

Luckily, I was able to get on my husband’s plan through the Fire Department for not too much extra. We made it that way but I kept thinking to myself, “What if I wasn’t married? What if he didn’t have a job that had that? What would we have done?” People don’t think about that but it’s such a messed up system when someone can get cancer or be in an accident. They need health insurance but they get dropped from it because they can’t work. That’s where disability is supposed to step up. I applied for that and it took a year to get my first denial.

That was your first denial? It took a year for the first denial.

It’s like they always shoot everybody down the first time. It’s like in a situation like yours. What more do they need? I get that there are people out there that try to game the system but this seems pretty cut and dried. I know from the little bit I understand whenever you do finally get on, they backdate it to if you could approve when you started. You will get it, but that can be a long wait.

You then give however much to your lawyer.

The lawyer because you had to be able to navigate the system because there’s no way you’ll ever do it on your own.

The whole system sucks. Let me just say that.

It does but I thought a lot about what we would have done if I was a single mom or I wasn’t able to get on his insurance. What do people do?

They go bankrupt.

I can’t wrap my brain around that. It’s horrible. In that way, I’m very fortunate because we had enough to deal with. I couldn’t imagine adding that on top of it.

I would think that on top of that, your husband probably had to miss a ton of work while taking care of you. I would think that it had to be months if not a year or more before you could be left alone.

I think he went back to work in either February or March. He said he went back on February 4th.

When was the accident again?

October.

That’s a whole lot of work to miss.

I can’t help but think how suitable both of your lines of work worth though. For you to have all this training to understand what’s happening to you, and for him to understand how to take care of you. It’s not like that makes it easy. It’s one of those things that if that happened to Tom, I wouldn’t know what to do or how to do. I would have no clue.

Vice versa.

That’s another weird part of the story. Number one, it was my coworkers that ran me because I wrecked in the county where I worked in. The other crazy part of that story is my husband’s second job is at the same place where I worked. I was on A shift. He was on the B shift. He had taken off that day to go on a camping trip. Had he been at work that day? He was a supervisor and it was the first call today. He would’ve run that call.

We’re grateful that that didn’t happen. Fortunately, from the time of my wreck, the first people on the scene were people that knew who I was and knew who Lee was. I feel like that’s a comforting thought to think you’ve got that community that wants the best for you. I don’t know how I made it alive because they had to fly me. It was probably at least an hour from the time of the wreck until I got to the hospital.

That’s a long time.

At least because it was rural. It’s my accent. I cannot say that word.

I have trouble with it.

It’s a hard word.

It was in the middle of nowhere.

Just say BFE. That’s fine.

It was BFE and how they moved me without killing me is crazy when you think about all the parts.

Seconds matter in a moment like that and you had to wait an hour. It’s not like they were doing something wrong but by virtue of where it took place, there’s no quick way, and then helicopter rides aren’t known for their gentle soothing nature.

Luckily, I don’t remember much of that. The only memory I have of the helicopter was when I threw up all over the flight medic.

That’s understandable.

He took it like a champ and I had a barbecue sandwich before that.

Now barbecue is ruined for you too.

Getting through a hard time will make you appreciate your relationships more. Share on X

It is for him.

He took it like a champ though.

Do you remember anything from the actual accident? Do you remember anything from that day? I’m fascinated by this because of my own memories of being hit.

For lack thereof.

It’s like this weird surreal moment. I’m super curious about yours.

I remember I knew that I was going to wreck because I remember thinking I was confused about why I couldn’t make this curve. I remember trying to lean and go around this curve. For some reason, I couldn’t. I don’t know why. I wasn’t going fast. I wasn’t doing anything irresponsible but I didn’t make the curve. I knew that I wasn’t going to hit the guardrail.

As far as the moment of the impact, it was like somebody turned off a light switch. The next thing I remember is laying on the ground and I could look up and see the sky. I could hear my dad on the phone with 911. He was freaking out. I remember trying to scream but it had messed my jaw up, so I couldn’t open my mouth. I remember that sound of myself screaming. It sounded like a little squealing piglet. I remember that. That bothers me sometimes. Apparently, I went into work mode because the only thing I said to anybody was, “I need a helicopter.” I got one but I did tell them I need a helicopter like still bossy.

It worked based on the results.

That’s what I did for people. I ran Rex and flew people. I made those decisions for people. I don’t know what I knew. I just knew it was bad and I guess I was trying to tell my dad, “Tell them I need a helicopter.” That’s pretty much all I remember from that day. My next memories are probably a few days or a couple of days later. I’m not sure. My husband is back there chiming in.

We’re like that.

I don’t remember any of this but they let him see me in the ER. The nurses, I later found out because they found me on social media. We would talk and they told me that I refused sedation. They had intubated me but I would not let them sedate me because I wanted to talk to my husband. I don’t remember any of that. If that’s not true love, I don’t know what is.

No pressure there, Lee.

You were a very strong lady.

I’m curious. You said you can’t do Peloton anymore. You can’t do the bike anymore. Medically speaking, why is that? Are you not able to or allowed to do that?

How about I show you a picture?

Are we going to be grossed out? What are you showing us a picture of?

No, nothing too gross.

I have a weak constitution.

This picture right here is before my surgery. This shows my injury right there. That’s all supposed to be connected. That’s the separation. I’ll show you what my neck looks like now. This is why I can’t lean over and support my head. The only thing supporting my head now is that hardware. When I’m leaning over, the weight of my head hanging like that is too much on my neck. My neck can’t tolerate that.

Do you miss riding your bike?

Is it bad to say, not really? I think the only reason I say that is because I’m so grateful to be able to do what I can do that I don’t borrow trouble. If I can only do this, I’m lucky to be able to do anything. I’ll take what I can get and try not to complain about the rest of it.

I totally get that. You can miss it but it’s also a small price to pay, given what the alternative could have been, for sure.

I’m very happy to be here and very happy that I can get back to a place where I enjoy my life. I get a new perspective on things. It’s like you gain all this wisdom almost instantly.

That is so true.

I think I’d prefer to be a little dumb.

Don’t get on the motorcycle.

I’m far too big of a puss to do something like that. That is not my thing.

My husband is in the background giggling.

I saw Dirty Harry as a very young man. There’s a line in that first movie where he says, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” I know my limitations. I’m very well aware of that. Do you ever get on a motorcycle anymore? Can you still get on a motorcycle?

No.

Is that because of the same reason you can’t get on the bike or are you like, “I’m not doing that again?”

That’s the number one question I get asked. Do you still ride? Are you going to ride? If a cat has nine lives, I used all of them up on that. I’m not borrowing trouble. We have a camper. Before my wreck, we had bought two eBikes to go on our camping trips. My husband didn’t want me on that. I was like, “Come on, let me do it.” I rode it down the driveway one day and I was like, “No.” It was too scary. I was too nervous. My balance isn’t great anymore. I traded in my eBike and now I have an eTrike.

That seems like a smart possession. You still get to participate.

In a way that makes you safe and comfortable.

I’ve got two kids. I’m very happily married. There are so many things I want to do. It’s not even worth the conversation of getting on a motorcycle. Not to me.

I understand that. I can’t even compare what I’ve been through to you. It took me so much to go back out on the road and run again. That was so much. I had to do it for my own brain but I don’t do it on a regular basis. I just needed to do it to say that I could. I don’t like it. I can’t get in the same head space anymore and I can’t imagine.

I feel like yours is different in a way. I was doing something risky. It’s my own fault. I was a paramedic, for God’s sake. I’ve run so many motorcycle wrecks. I’ve seen and I still rode one like an idiot but you were out jogging. Who’s thinking about getting hit by a car when they’re jogging?

We’re the hardest on ourselves. Conversely, you’d ridden that motorcycle a million times. You knew what you were doing. You were a safe driver and so I could say the same to you. You weren’t drinking and driving. You weren’t speeding and you weren’t driving in the rain. You were just riding your motorcycle. Who would’ve thought that would’ve happened?

I think right back at you. Motorcycle riding, in theory, is riskier than running on a road. At the same time, I was going through a freaking intersection at a crosswalk. I would’ve never thought in a million years that girl was going to hit me. You wouldn’t have thought that you were going to not make that curve. I’m sure you’ve taken that curve before.

These things happen. I think what’s the hardest about it is we don’t have any control over what happens after that moment. It’s a very scary feeling for a person who is a self-described control freak. Having to be okay with how fast I healed and having to be okay with not remembering things and getting back to life, that’s hard. It’s hard. You have a lot of strength in a lot of different ways. I don’t know that you even realize it because you did it. That’s not something that anybody can do. You’re pretty awesome.

I appreciate that.

Are there other things that you have to cross off your list of things that you can do? This is going to sound like a dumb question. I’m a nerd. My first thought is if you go to Disney World, can you still do the ride or stuff like that?

Probably not. Getting in the car and driving to the grocery store. If somebody were to hit me like rear-end me, it could kill me. I still need another neck surgery because my injury was so severe that my bones weren’t able to fuse. The only thing holding my head to my spine is that hardware. My doctor wants to go in and he wants to take either ribs or part of my pelvis and put it in my neck. I’m not willing to do it now because everything I already went through was so awful.

We have an understanding. We’re playing it month by month. When he sees signs of a compromise in my hardware, then I’ll agree to do the surgery. Until then, at the risk of getting rear-ended and getting killed, I want to enjoy my life as much as I can and while I can. I am at a place where it may be stupid of me. I don’t know but I don’t want to go through that surgery now. We’re walking that tightrope of when to pull the trigger on that. I hate that it has to be like that.

You’ve had the medical world involved in your life at this point for so long that you need a beat.

It’s traumatic what you went through. That is trauma. I’ve been doing a lot of therapy, EMDR and it’s helped tremendously. I don’t know if you’ve ever looked into that but being able to accept things and process things because it’s easier than trying to push them down, which is what I was doing before. It makes perfect sense to me. Your body is rejecting the idea of you doing that surgery because it is putting yourself through that trauma again and you don’t want to. I don’t blame you for that at all. I can understand it.

I want to be smart about it, but I can’t do it now.

I get it. It’s a risk but it’s a calculated one. You’re still observing what’s going on. If there’s a material change, you’re prepared to address it. In the meantime, you want to catch your breath, which I can relate to as much as someone who has not gone through that can relate to something.

Do you get to do any movement? I don’t know if whatever you do, you call it exercise but can you get any movement or get your heart rate up at all? Does that even appeal to you?

Honestly, we went to Target. My husband and I went to Target and I was a nightmare of a human being because my heart rate was up. I was struggling. I was tired after everything that happened and being sedentary for so long. I have no stamina at all. Doing a few things around the house or going to the grocery store is difficult.

We bought a new camper and we have a trip coming up. There’s a trail around the lake that I’ve walked many times. It’s a little over 2 miles maybe. I don’t remember. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to but that is my goal. When we go on that cabin trip, that’s my goal. I don’t know if it’ll happen but I want to walk that trail. You’ll have to watch the YouTube channel to see if I make it. That’s what I want to do. I don’t know if I’ll be able to, but I’m going to give it the whole college try.

Please share with everyone what your YouTube channel is so they can follow your journey.

My YouTube channel is Little Trauma Mama.

That’s great.

 

That’s a good name.

I’m 5’1”. I’m very short and trauma because I was a paramedic and I lived in trauma. Mama Because it rhymed and I’m a mom.

Very appropriate.

Christy, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to join us and for sharing your story with us. It is fascinating. We’re so happy that you came out the other side.

You are here and thriving. We are so happy to see that.

Thank you.

I bet your whole family is and just enjoy.

I will say I don’t know about your situation but my relationships now are more special. They’re more appreciated. My marriage and my relationship with my sister and my family. It is a whole new. I’m not trying to make it into a romantic story at all but there has been a lot of good that has come out of it. I want to keep focusing on that and live my life.

It’s great that you can see the good in it because I’m sure it’s not easy. I’m also feeling pretty confident that some days, it’s easier than others. Thank you so much. This has been fascinating. We appreciate you taking the time to share with us.

Thanks for having me.

Thank you.

—

I guess that brings this episode to a close. I don’t know that we got it done quicker. I think a little bit quicker than normal, but we’re trying. We will get there. It’s a learning process. I feel like you’re disappointed in me.

I’m very disappointed not in you, but I’m disappointed though.

Now you see why we’re making some of the choices we make because there’s still so much stuff that’s going to be over on Patreon. If you want to hear all the stuff that didn’t make the cut, you can go over there and listen to The Clip Out.

It’s all the stuff that got clipped out.

Until next time, where can people find you?

People can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/crystaldokeefe. They can find me on Instagram, Twitter, Threads, and the Peloton leaderboard @ClipOutCrystal.

You can find me on Twitter @RogerQBert or on Facebook at Facebook.com/tomokeefe. You can find the show online on Facebook.com/TheClipOut. While you’re there, like the page and join the group. Don’t forget our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/TheClipOut. That’s it for this one. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, keep pedaling and running and rowing.

 

Important Links

• Christy Bullock – Instagram
• APM Group
• Dr. Godzik – LinkedIn
• Little Trauma Mama – YouTube
• Apple Podcasts – The Clip Out
• Spotify – The Clip Out
• iHeart – The Clip Out
• TuneIn – The Clip Out
• Patreon – The Clip Out
• Facebook.com/TheClipOut
• YouTube.com/TheClipOut
• Dr. Jenn Mann
• The Relationship Fix: Dr. Jenn’s 6-Step Guide to Improving Communication, Connection and Intimacy
• @DrJennMann – Instagram
• Facebook.com/crystaldokeefe
• Instagram – Clip Out Crystal
• Twitter – Clip Out Crystal
• @RogerQBert – Twitter
• Facebook.com/tomokeefe

 

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