Joe Rodonis’ Ironman Strength Training
474: Joe Rodonis’ Ironman Strength Training
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What We Covered:
Peloton is expanding its pre and postnatal fitness offerings, with Peloton instructor Selena Samuela earning her official pre and postpartum fitness certification and Peloton instructor Anna Greenberg rolling out a new prenatal Pilates class. We break down what these certifications mean for expecting and new parents on the platform, and what content to expect next.
Also covered this episode (474):
- Peloton podcasts are now available on the Entertainment portal
- Breathwork instructor content is finally live on Android
- Tread Pace Targets are officially live — how they work and who they’re for
- Peloton’s engineering team gets profiled by TechTarget
- Is Peloton finally building the ability to create multiple lists? What we know
- Peloton is hiring a Senior Product Manager — what the listing tells us about priorities
- Robin Arzon’s upcoming PSL residency
- Alex Toussaint’s PSL Meet & Greet details
- Katie Wang named a Bustle Beauty Icon
- The new artist series featuring Ne-Yo
- Peloton drops a 90-minute Global Goals scenic ride
- This week’s TCO Top 5 — listener-recommended classes you need to try
- Tonal coach Joe Rodonis breaks down his Ironman strength training strategy: how he’s structuring periodization phases and fueling for race day. (interview timecode is 45:00)
The Clip Out is the longest-running independent Peloton podcast. New episodes every Friday. Hosted by Crystal O’Keefe and Tom O’Keefe theclipout.com Instagram: @clipoutcrystal
Transcript:
Crystal: Welcome to the Clip Out Podcast, episode 474. This is Crystal O’Keefe.
Tom: And this is Tom O’Keefe.
Crystal: Hi.
Tom: Hi. What have we done to ourselves?
Crystal: I know. Guys, we’re so old.
Tom: We’re so old. We just, we just last minute booked three events that we will go to in four days.
Crystal: I- that’s-
Tom: And we’re like- I’m not sure
Crystal: I have the stamina.
Tom: And
Crystal: we’re like, “
Tom: How much[00:01:00]
Tom: PTO do we have to recover from this nightmare?” “What have we done?” So I was like I w- saw that Bryan Adams is coming with Pat Benatar- Benatar … and her husband, who insists on also being billed along with her, which is kinda gross, but she’s been doing it for 30 years. Whatever.
Crystal: Remember, we’re not in the bonus.
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: And, uh, and I was like- Brandon Adam tickets in the lower level, clo- the section closest to the stage for 34.50 with… So we got two tickets plus parking for under $100.
Crystal: I’ll take it.
Tom: And then I, and then on Saturday we have to go to a trivia night, which it, it, we don’t have to, but it’ll be fun, but-
Crystal: It’ll be fun.
Tom: I don’t know if-
Crystal: It’s a little bit of a bougie trivia, though.
Tom: It is a bougie trivia. And also trivia nights I think are kind of a St. Louis thing.
Crystal: Yeah. I don’t I’ve never heard anybody outside of St. Louis talk- Yeah … about it, so that, that could be
Tom: You put together teams, and then they have 10 rounds of 10 questions.
Crystal: All, about all different things.
Tom: Yeah. And-
Crystal: This one’s about all different things. Yeah. Sometimes they have a theme.
Tom: Yeah. And so- And yes we [00:02:00] have won on multiple occasions. Yes. Not always, but it’s not uncommon. And-
Crystal: Due to my excellent note-taking skills. Yes. Because it has nothing to do with the trivia.
Tom: And then and then Sunday we’ll have off, and then Monday I was like, “Hey, I wonder if Benson Boone has cheap tickets,” ’cause Benson Boone’s in town on Monday.
Tom: ‘Cause
Crystal: when I started looking at Benson Boone, when it first got announced, it was over $200 per ticket. That was the cheapest seat they had at the time.
Tom: Yeah. And that was, like, upper level. Yeah. And I’m like, “Look, guys-
Crystal: Hell no. Hell no …
Tom: I don’t do upper level.”
Crystal: No.
Tom: That’s, I mean- We
Crystal: don’t do pit. We don’t do standing, only- We
Tom: don’t do, we don’t do lawn.
Crystal: No.
Tom: Yeah. And so- … I’m like, I know it’s very snotty, and some- Oh, yeah … people love the lawn. Some people that- that’s what they can afford, so no shame. It’s just hard pass. And so I found seats that are called side view, and I bought, that were 50 bucks, and I was just like, “You know what? The stage, I can look at the stage.
Tom: It’s built for a side view.” Mm-hmm. “I’m gonna roll the dice.” And I bought $50 [00:03:00] seats, and literally the seats next to us, they want $175 for, so. So
Crystal: we’ll just lean.
Tom: So we’ll
Crystal: lean.
Tom: And I’m also thinking nobody’s probably gonna buy that $175 seat when the seat next to it is 50.
Crystal: So we’ll just scoot.
Tom: So, like, they’re probably gonna be empty.
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: Maybe.
Crystal: Maybe.
Tom: Who knows? So- Who knows … two shows under 225, including parking.
Crystal: Yeah, but that one’s gonna be late. That’ll be a late show, like eight-
Tom: It’s 8:00 on a Monday.
Crystal: On a Monday.
Tom: Benson.
Crystal: What are you doing? Benson. He’s young, that’s what he’s doing.
Tom: Benson.
Crystal: He’s, like, 20.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Yeah. He can do back flips.
Tom: Yeah. So. That, and that was the other thing, I was like, “Well, let’s see this dude while he can still
Crystal: do the back flips.” I, I know, right? I really wanted to see it because, like, he’s, he puts on such a good show. Yeah. Like, everybody just raves about it. I don’t, I don’t- So I’m excited …
Tom: I don’t wanna see him in 20 years when I’m 75-
Tom: and he’s 38.
Crystal: And we’ll be in the, ’cause I’m a woo girl, so I’ll be like, “Woo.” If I’m, wait 20 years
Tom: And he can no longer, he just has to hire kids to do the back flips- Yeah … because he can’t do them anymore, so. [00:04:00] I guess what I’m saying is pray for us- … if you’re a praying type.
Crystal: Also Tuesday, my coworkers, I will not be in.
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: So, uh, so what Pray Tell do you have in store for people this week?
Crystal: Oh, yeah, the episode. Oh, yeah. Um, there’s some really interesting things happening here. Uh, Peloton has been adding a lot of new features. One that, we don’t even have it on the list because it just came out last night- Well, I was alerted to it last night.
Crystal: I don’t know when it came out.
Tom: Right.
Crystal: But a lot of new features. So we’re gonna talk through all of those. I feel like Peloton is really on the cusp of some big things based on w- what is happening in the background, the new hires they’ve been doing. We’ve talked about the last few weeks what’s on the list this week.
Crystal: It is all coming together. There’s a picture being painted. Uh, so I wanna talk a little bit about that as we go through some of these new these new features that are being rolled out. Um- You’re
Tom: like, “What? How can I say ‘features’ without saying the word ‘features’ again?”
Crystal: I couldn’t think of the word- [00:05:00] Yeah.
Crystal: features. It was gone that fast. Thank you, brain fog. Also like I said, we’re gonna talk about this new hiring, but then we have some instructor in the news. There’s… It’s a slow week, and yet they still manage to do amazing things every week. Yeah. So we’re gonna talk about where the instructors have been.
Crystal: We’re gonna highlight a few of them. And we’re also gonna talk about new content that people have been waiting forever to get. Also, what I feel is rolled into this Peloton is kind of on the precipice of- Mm-hmm … like the next stage. And so I’m pretty excited about where Peloton is, and I feel like because we don’t have tons of individual content, we’re gonna be able to dig into that just a little bit.
Crystal: Okay. Also, we have a super exciting interview this week.
Tom: Oh, yeah.
Crystal: I forgot. We, we are gonna be interviewing, Joe Rodonis … Joe Rodonis from Tonal. He’s one of the Tonal coaches. I know you’re thinking, “Tonal? Why do we have a Tonal coach on here?” Well, first of all, because he’s still fitness, and it definitely-
Tom: Yeah.
Tom: He knows things.
Crystal: Yes. He
Tom: knows the things. And [00:06:00] people more than ever in the Peloton world are getting into to the strength end of the training pool.
Crystal: But one of the, the most exciting things about this interview, which is why we all were excited about doing it, was that Joe is in, he is going down the path for the first time of doing triathlon training.
Crystal: Joe’s a big dude. Yeah. Like a big dude. Like, not just tall, but also very muscly. Like- Right … that’s his thing. And, uh, so it, he has like special thought processes around how he is training and how he’s approaching fueling. And so we’re gonna get into all that. It’s a really cool conversation.
Crystal: He brought some really fun energy to it. So looking forward to
Tom: that. It’s also a fun talk when he talks about being a big dude- Yeah … and having to, uh, drop some of that muscle in order to be competitive or even achieve a triathlon. And so,
Crystal: And his thoughts about
Tom: that … and just like the psychological impact that has on someone whose muscle fitness has kind of been his-
Crystal: Identity
Tom: his [00:07:00] identity for probably 15, 20 years. Yeah. Right? So, uh, I thought that was a real interesting conversation. So- I have the same problem where it was like- But I’m the short fat guy.
Crystal: You did. It was just a
Tom: little in reverse. I’m still short, I
Crystal: haven’t fixed
Tom: that. And I’m slightly less fat.
Crystal: A lot less fat. You need s- you need to take credit.
Crystal: Yeah. Take credit.
Tom: Well, before we get to all that shameless plugs, don’t forget we’re available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, iHeart, TuneIn. Wherever you find a podcast, you can find us. While you are there, be sure and follow us so you never miss an episode. Maybe leave us a review. You can also, uh, if you would like to support us with more than your ears, you know the one thing you can do, doesn’t cost you a dime, and it’s probably-
Crystal: The most o- underrated thing
Tom: Yes. The most valuable thing you can do for any online content that you value- Yep … is share it.
Crystal: Absolutely.
Tom: Better than a like or a love or a laughing, a share-
Crystal: Mm-hmm …
Tom: that’s the-
Crystal: It tells the algorithm that you value it enough to share. Yeah. And so- So
Tom: if we do something you like, feel free [00:08:00] to share. That’s super helpful.
Tom: If you would like to support us with more than a share, if you would like to share your money, it’s only $5. It’s $5 a month. It’s our Patreon, patreon.com/theclipout. What do you get for that? You get early episodes, you get ad-free episodes, you get our undying love and affection, and you also get bonus content galore.
Tom: Weekly, we record a, a additional episode of all the stuff that we just didn’t have time to get to in the regular episode and, uh, it gets a little bit more loosey-goosey over there. You can also this week hear us talk about why runners are suddenly running with their balls in their hand.
Crystal: Okay. Well, tennis balls.
Tom: Well, I was trying to do a tease.
Crystal: I know you were.
Tom: And you ruined it.
Crystal: But remember, our listeners are 80% women. So I thought they might wanna know that you meant tennis balls.
Tom: Well, they might be like, “Well, well, but why?” “Why are you so gross? What are you doing?” Yes.
Crystal: Yes, I’m sure there is a contingent- Morbid curiosity
Crystal: there is a contingent that would be [00:09:00] disgusted. There is also a contingent that would have it, they really wanna know.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: But I was just hedging our bets to make sure- Okay … we covered both.
Tom: Okay. That’s okay. Yes, you definitely wanna cover both balls when you’re running with the… Also, the Wall Street Journal has a comparison on fitness trackers and, uh, Camilla took her dad to the World Cup.
Crystal: Yeah, that was- And- That’s a really cool story, guys …
Tom: and it made me laugh out loud. Her dad made me laugh out loud, so- Oh, I can’t wait to hear about that … I will talk about that over in the Patreon. Also, don’t forget that you can watch all of these over on the YouTube, find us on the Facebook, and then of course you can sign up for our newsletter at theclipout.com where we will send you the links and whatnot in a mostly weekly fashion.
Tom: So there’s all that. Let’s dig in, shall we?
Crystal: We shall.
Tom: The Peloton entertainment portal now features you.
Crystal: Me. I’m there.
Tom: You are there.
Crystal: I’m on [00:10:00] the equipment. I don’t know if, uh, Dan Greaney listens to our podcast, ’cause he makes his own podcast.
Tom: Yes.
Crystal: So he’s a busy guy.
Tom: He used to be on Reel Spoilers.
Crystal: He did. But he is the one that alerted me to this.
Crystal: Yeah. He messaged me the other day, and I was like, “Oh!” Look out there That was really fun. That was a really fun surprise to see. Um, we never- we recorded this way back when in, uh, March, February? Mar- February. I don’t know, somewhere around there. Yeah. E- at the time, Peloton even said they weren’t sure where they were gonna be posting the videos.
Crystal: They left it very vague- Yeah … that it could show up on the equipment, but I didn’t wanna get my hopes up about it. It’s just kinda cool to see. Yeah Like- It’s
Tom: very cool …
Crystal: I mean, I’ve used this equipment for 10 years now. In fact, 10 years last week. Yeah. It was 10 years on July 15th is when I got my bike, and, uh, so that’s a pretty special anniversary.
Crystal: Thank you, Peloton. Yeah. That was really f- really cool.
Tom: And so, uh, it’s not just you, we should say.
Crystal: Oh, yeah. I [00:11:00] thought- All the podcasts that Peloton produces-
Tom: Yes … are there. Are also there.
Crystal: Yes.
Tom: They also were like, “Well, we can’t just put Crystal on there.” “We’ll have to, we have to, like, put the other stuff we’ve created on there just so they don’t feel bad.”
Tom: I just
Crystal: got excited. In my head we
Tom: had already- As well you should.
Crystal: In my head we had already said that. But yeah, it’s all the Peloton podcasts that you can find all of them in the entertainment portal, and, uh, it’s, it’s neat that they’re all out there because there’s a lot of people that don’t do a traditional podcast, you know?
Crystal: Yeah. There’s a lot of people that they won’t even give it a try. Right. So this is a great way for you to take a walk or a run or a bike ride and get some different content than you would normally get, uh, it’s, it’s fun.
Tom: Absolutely. The, uh, Breathwork instructor content is now available on Android.
Crystal: Yes. This is a big deal because Breathwork was available to everybody who had a Peloton subscription, but you couldn’t see any of the Peloton instructors on Android at all.
Tom: That’s so weird.
Crystal: I, it… Don’t get me started.
Tom: Like, I get that you develop for Android second. I don’t understand from a [00:12:00] technical standpoint why you could push out content through the app on one device and not the other.
Tom: You would think once the app is, is built for that ecosystem, it either can accept the content or not accept the content. But
Crystal: it wasn’t built for that. Like- Yeah … like keep in mind, Breathwork wasn’t owned by Peloton. Sure. So they had to, they had to change it. Yeah. And if you look at the way Breathwork works it- Functions
Crystal: functions. Breath
Tom: function.
Crystal: It has like a couple of different… it has one point of entry, it’s just like their homepage, but the way that they have the Peloton instructors, they’re listed as like the daily wind up, get started and then wind downs. Yeah. And that’s where the Peloton instructors come in.
Crystal: That seems to have just kind of been tacked on. And so I don’t know enough about technology to say this in any educational way, but, but I, I can tell that they tacked that on. And so my guess is the Android UI was more complex- Right … than adding it to the Apple- [00:13:00] UI. But at any rate they had told some folks about a month ago that it would be showing up in a month, and Stephanie Caputo, be better, #bebetter.
Crystal: That’s our leaderboard name. Oh, I
Tom: thought I was doing something wrong.
Crystal: No, it’s- I was like- … B as in B, like B, like a BB-
Tom: Yeah,
Crystal: I
Tom: just thought
Crystal: I
Tom: was
Crystal: getting scolded. Um, so- … not this time. Uh, but Stephanie said that, uh, it showed up almost exactly a month to the day, so that’s pretty exciting.
Tom: Yeah. Uh, tread pace targets are live.
Crystal: This is such a confusing concept. Yeah. The pr- pace targets have been live for a long time. That’s not what this is. So, so everybody has a range of pace targets that you can set up. So, if a person is brand new to the tread and they’re, they’ve never done running pace targets before, they might wanna start with, like, a one.
Crystal: And it goes up to, like, I don’t know, 10, 15, something like… Like, there’s a whole bunch.
Tom: Are these miles per hour?
Crystal: No.
Tom: Oh, okay.
Crystal: But it
Tom: is- Is somebody running 15 miles per hour? Is that even possible?
Crystal: Not on the tread.
Tom: Okay.
Crystal: But it is saying that, like, you’re within these ranges, so when we call out-
Tom: Mm-hmm[00:14:00]
Crystal: easy, you’re gonna be within this range. A level two is gonna be within a slightly different range. Level three is slightly different range, so on and so forth. Right. Well, there’s seven different levels to running, okay? So it’s, they are very specific to your skill level. That’s the wonderful thing about pace targets.
Crystal: So this is where it’s like Power Zone for running- Right … and walking. They have walking pace targets too. Okay. But the part that’s new, and this is so cool, they’ve always had shortcuts on the tread where you could, like, have a shortcut menu on your screen and you could say, “Okay, I wanna go seven miles an hour, four miles per hour,” whatever.
Crystal: They’ve been there since the tread arrived day one back in 2018. Now, though, they have a secondary set of shortcuts, and they are linked to your specific pace targets. So when the instructor says, “We’re gonna go to moderate in the next effort,” now a new set of pace targets comes up. They’re, they are shortcuts for your specific range, so you have the top of your range, the [00:15:00] midpoint of your range, and the lowest point of your range, and it’s specific to you.
Crystal: It’s
Tom: customized.
Crystal: So when the instructor says moderate, we might all be getting different things at home- Right … if you have it turned on.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: But it, and it just shows up just for, like, maybe five seconds as you’re changing to the next level, that next effort. Mm-hmm. And then it goes away. Okay. Um, you can still change your pace level targets at any point, so you can say, “Oh, I was starting to do a three, but I’m not feeling it today.
Crystal: I gotta back off to a two.” No problem, you can still do that. You can also turn this com- this completely off or on. Right. You don’t ever have to use it if you don’t want to. It’s a setting that you can use or not use. And you don’t, you’re not giving up the shortcuts you already have, so those shortcuts still live there.
Crystal: They’re in a slightly different place on the screen, so- Okay … you can’t see them both at the same time, but you really don’t need to because you’re either using your own shortcuts or you’re using the instructor call-outs. Gotcha. And these, for obvious reasons, only exist in classes that are labeled as pace targets.
Crystal: So- That
Tom: makes
Crystal: sense … i’m really excited about this because it [00:16:00] changes your… You don’t have to hit the, you don’t have to hit the forward button. It changes it automatically for you. Yeah. Now, there are people that say, “Well, I really like the satisfaction of, like- Hitting the button. Sure. You can still do that.
Crystal: Yeah. It doesn’t take away that option. But it’s really nice, especially if you have a big jump, like if you’re doing… Let’s say you were doing a r- an easy pace, maybe it’s an intervals run, and now you’re going all the way up to, like, your top end of your speeds. Mm-hmm. You can do it with just one click.
Crystal: Instead of rolling and then trying to find it, you can easily hit it. It’s- Gotcha … it’s just super nice. It’s just a really nice add.
Tom: Awesome. Uh, and that, I guess, comes courtesy of the engineering team, which was featured by Tech Target.
Crystal: It was. And you know, there’s a lot happening here. They’re using AI to cut costs.
Crystal: They’re using AI to do more testing. Uh, and the thought process is that we’re gonna get better, right? Because the more you test and you use things, like testing- Mm-hmm … you’re gonna get better. [00:17:00] So in general, this article was written in a very positive light about the engineering team and how Peloton is working so hard to move quickly and be nimble.
Crystal: However, the response to it was not. First of all, I got a message yesterday from a person who wishes to remain anonymous that reminded me that, uh, and it’s a very fair reminder people have been complaining for, oh, months now that all, across all equipment, there are people that have zeros for all of their metrics in every class.
Crystal: And Peloton knows about it. Yeah. Peloton said they’re working on a fix, but it’s not fixed, okay? And- A little disconcertingly, it’s not listed on their issues, on their dashboard. It doesn’t say anything. Right. So they’re not publicly saying, “We know it’s here. We’re working on it.”
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: That is disconcerting to people.
Tom: Yeah. I mean, one of the perks of buying the equipment is the metrics, and so if you’re not providing that, at some point [00:18:00] I would think if I was that person, I’d be like, “Am I getting a discount?”
Crystal: Right.
Tom: I should be getting the at price then, right? I mean…
Crystal: that’s a fair point- Yeah … in my opinion. So you have that.
Crystal: Then you have the Peloton Whisperer.
Tom: Remember this moment, listeners who say that all we do is suck up to Peloton.
Crystal: Yeah, for real. They won’t.
Tom: No.
Crystal: Because it’s, it’s the people that read articles, and they only read- For sure. Yeah … they only read the headlines. Yeah. So they have no idea what we actually said.
Crystal: So then you have the Peloton Whisperer, who I believe used to work for Peloton, and he says that, like, uh, you can’t, you can’t even use an auto update. You should be filming every update you do to your equipment, because some of the updates have been linked- Yeah … supposedly to your screen, your tablet no longer being responsive.
Crystal: And Peloton will tell you that the only way to fix it is to buy a new tablet. Now, if you film the update and you show, you show that it worked before, responsive before, film that I did the update, film it’s not responsive after, they have no choice but to give you a new tablet [00:19:00] for free.
Tom: But who thinks to film it before
Crystal: you do the update?
Crystal: Well, if you, if you read, if you read the Peloton Whisperer- Yeah … then that’s how you would n- know to do that. And so- And
Tom: actually, what he said was, “You should film it.”
Crystal: But so, so the point is there’s a lot of negativity in response to this article- Yeah … because it’s like,
Tom: guys- It’s this kind of fluff piece about how great they are and peop- but I will also say there’s probably never a point in time when there isn’t something not fully functioning-
Crystal: Anywhere
Tom: in, in a software, piece- Yeah … of software that is complex. So, like, if you wait for that moment, it will never come. It
Crystal: will never come.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: And I will also say that on the last few earnings calls Peter Stern has talked about the fact that the engineering team is working really quickly and nimbly, and he’s talked about R&D and how the two of them are working together to bring out new products.
Crystal: We’re expecting to see new products. We’re expecting that some kind of Pilates repor- reformer is going to be on that [00:20:00] list. That all goes to talking about engineering and this precipice I’m talking about because they’re making all these little tweaks in the background. They’re also buying up companies.
Crystal: We talked last week about how they have a person coming into HRR- HR for mergers and acquisitions.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: I got a message from another one of our listeners who, believe it or not, I didn’t even know this was a thing, their whole job is an HR specialist in mergers and acquisitions.
Tom: Oh.
Crystal: If this person was looking for a job and wanted to live in New York-
Tom: This
Crystal: would be a good one
Crystal: this would be a great job for them. Yeah. So they explained to me that, uh, what’s actually going on here is they want this person to come in and create… The reason it’s contract is they want them to create- procedures, like a, a checklist of due diligence before you were to purchase a company. They, and also once they’ve already been purchased, how to bring everybody on board, what all that looks like.
Crystal: It’s a very [00:21:00] detailed process. So thank you to our unnamed sources. Yes. But I just I feel like-
Tom: The acquisition whisperer.
Crystal: Yeah. I feel like all of this is telling us a story. We’re seeing Peloton say we’re doing acquisitions. We’ve got money. We paid off our loan earlier than we thought we were gonna pay off our loan.
Crystal: But we can’t reinvest it, so like… Or we can’t, we can’t just pay off all of the loan, but we have this extra cash, so what are we gonna do with the cash? We’re gonna reinvest it. We’re gonna put it into new things like Scop Breathwork. We’re gonna see these things. And we also have this engineering team working in the background to be more nimble and to be faster.”
Crystal: All of that says to me that Peloton is really doubling down on what they said they would do, which is to become a wellness platform.
Tom: Right.
Crystal: Also, to those people who reach out to me and say, “Why is Breathwork on a separate platform? Why isn’t it just within the Peloton platform?” Because it’s not for you.
Crystal: Like, it, it’s, it… Keep in mind that Peloton picked up a million [00:22:00] subscribers by buying Breathwork.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: And then they featured all of the Peloton instructors on there to bring those million people over to Peloton. Think of it like-
Tom: It’s a conversion tool.
Crystal: Exactly.
Tom: I won’t say it’s a loss leader, but it’s- No
Tom: but it’s designed to be a funnel.
Crystal: Right. And so there’s a lot of things happening right now that are really pointing to some big things. It’s, it’s got me excited about the direction that Peloton is headed, and it’s, it’s been a hot minute-
Tom: Yeah …
Crystal: since I’ve been excited, so.
Tom: That’s true.
Tom: So while we’re talking engineering and new things, is the- over on the Reddit, they’re discussing it- the possibility that we are going to be able to create multiple lists, create and maintain multiple lists.
Crystal: Of classes. Yes. So right now you can go in and you can bookmark a class, but you have no way to say, “I wanna- I’m bookmarking this to take it in the future.”
Tom: Right.
Crystal: Or have a separate list for I- “I’m bookmarking this ’cause I took it and I loved it.” [00:23:00] Like you can’t make those two separate lists. Here are
Tom: my favorite strength classes. Right. Here are my favorite yoga classes.
Crystal: Here’s, here’s my arms classes. Right. Here’s my… Y- none of that, you just have one bookmark- Yeah
Crystal: class. Which is, people have been asking for this for years.
Tom: If you’re a pervert, here’s the class where, uh, Dennis stares into the camera.
Crystal: I don’t think that makes you a pervert.
Tom: Okay.
Crystal: I mean, I might be a little personally called out by that.
Tom: I- yeah, I see. Um- She’s very upset.
Crystal: This is one of those things though people have been talking about forever.
Crystal: And apparently there was a usability study that came out a while back, and this was one of the potential rollouts that Peloton was looking at. And Peloton sends out these studies all the time, they send it out to different cohorts. So you, you really- it’s hard to keep track of because you’re not supposed to share them.
Crystal: People do- … but, uh- Right … you know, it- and nothing’s set in stone, right? Just because you fill out a survey doesn’t mean it’s ever gonna come to fruition. Yeah.
Tom: Oh just- yeah, just ’cause they asked a question. They could have found their- they could have done their survey and it found out that people don’t want that.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: So they’re like, “No point in putting [00:24:00] resources into it.”
Crystal: Exactly. And then one more just really cool thing that is coming out, or is out- Mm-hmm …
Tom: for
Crystal: sure that Chris Sea sent me S-E-A, sent me, um, in our Patreon group.
Crystal: Peloton now has, on your Apple Watch, you can start a walk or a run without your phone.
Crystal: Boom.
Tom: How about that?
Crystal: People have been asking for that since day one.
Tom: I know you have.
Crystal: I have.
Tom: Every time we walk the dog, you’re like, “God dammit.” Dah, darn. “I forgot to start my walk.” Oh. And yeah.
Crystal: Yeah. It’s a whole thing. Now you can just start it on your watch. A downside from some people is, “Oh, but it eats your battery.”
Crystal: That’s true.
Tom: Mm.
Crystal: Apple Watches in general just have a battery issue.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: It’s, it’s a thing. Uh, I don’t really feel like that’s on Peloton though. Yeah. But that’s a really cool thing. Like there… That’s what I’m saying, like so many little features are coming out. It’s… I feel like it’s notable.
Tom: Yeah.
Tom: peloton is looking for a senior product manager.
Crystal: They are.
Tom: What does this mean in [00:25:00] people? Translate this to people.
Crystal: Well, it means that you’re taking the strategy of what they wanna do technically, in a, on a technical basis- Mm-hmm … and working with all the teams internally to actually make it happen.
Tom: And I felt like this was maybe leaning more towards the commercial end of things?
Crystal: It is leaning more towards the commercial thing. Yeah, you’re absolutely correct. It’s, uh, it’s specifically the commercial software team, so that’s your pre-course side of things. That’s that new Peloton equipment that is built to last a really long time, but still has the connected fitness aspect of Peloton.
Crystal: So that’s what you’re looking at here. Um, so you’re looking at apartment buildings. You’re looking at gyms. You would be building for that group. Yeah. And you would be implementing new things for that group. Cult,
Tom: cult compounds.
Crystal: Yes.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Yes.
Tom: We’ve been watching Big Love. We’ve moved on from Six Feet Under.
Crystal: Yeah. It took a hot minute to move on from Six Feet Under, though. Yeah. Whoa. [00:26:00]
Tom: It’s a lot.
Crystal: Whoa. And I know lots of… That resonated with a lot of people. Yeah. A lot of people wrote, and they said the same thing, like, that was the best ending that they had ever seen. Yeah. Like, it- It’s a good
Tom: one …
Crystal: woo. Uh, but anyway, yeah, so this is, this is another indicator, lots of growth on the horizon, and, uh, Peloton is growing in a lot of ways.
Crystal: But if you are a senior, senior product manager, you too can move to New York or live in New York and make around, uh, $200,000 a year.
Tom: Which that’s about, like, $40,000 in St. Louis.
Crystal: Wouldn’t it be like 400,000?
Tom: Oh, I was going the other way. Like- I know. I was like, I think you- … if you lived in St. Louis, you would need to make 40,000. Yeah, never mind. Yeah.
Tom: Coming up after this.
Crystal: More math by Tom.
Tom: More math. More Tom math. Now you see why I’m a mass communication major who got his degree at 45. [00:27:00]
Crystal: That damn math class.
Tom: We will also talk instructors in the news. We got all sorts of updates of things going on at PSL for all y- those of you over in the UC, and we’ll also talk about Celine Samuela and getting certified and what she’s now allowed to teach, so stick around.
Tom: Robin Arzon has all sorts of classes over at the PSL. It’s almost like a Vegas residency.
Crystal: It is, but, um-
Tom: But with no sphere …
Crystal: the real headline here was that she almost missed it.
Tom: Oh.
Crystal: Uh, that was really what this article was about, or this note was about. Gotcha. I can tell you always read my notes so well.
Crystal: I’m just teasing you. But, um, what happened was her travel from New York got delayed. She was supposed to do a two-for-one for Ha- with Hannah Frankson, so Hannah had to do it on
Tom: her own. It was a one-for-one.
Crystal: It was a one-for-one.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: But y- she did end up getting there, uh, and she was able to do the rest of her classes.
Crystal: She had [00:28:00] a tw- 20-minute walk plus run, she had a 20-minute ’90s hip hop run, and she also had a power walk and a ’90s run. So lots of classes she still did, but not as on time. And the reason the two-for-one was kind of a, a big whomp, everyone was looking forward to it. I’m sure Hannah still did an amazing job.
Tom: Sure.
Crystal: She’s awesome.
Tom: She’s a trained professional.
Crystal: She is, but it was a specific Madonna Confessions run. Ah. So it, it had a whole theme. I’m sure there were outfits that were chosen that they were going to wear. Yeah. Like, it was a whole thing. Just- And it just, it just sucked that it happened … here’s the
Tom: confession, Robin ain’t here.
Crystal: Yep, that was it. All right, next.
Tom: Uh, speaking of PSL, you have an upcoming Alex Touissant meet and greet.
Crystal: Yes. So, uh, as we’ve talked about, lots of Peloton instructors coming from the US over to the UK. They are visiting, they’re doing these mini residencies. Well, Alex’s classes, like Cody’s, sold out super fast.
Crystal: Mm-hmm. And so they did a whole separate meet and greet with him. Uh, and that is going to be [00:29:00] taking place on August 1st. You already missed your opportunity to sign up for it, though, so if you didn’t, you missed it. It’s gotta- It’s too late. Gotta- You might be able to still get on the waiting list, but good luck.
Tom: Gotta go on StubHub.
Crystal: No.
Tom: Hit the secondary market.
Crystal: They’re not even there.
Tom: Uh, Katie Wang was named a Bustle beauty icon, and my old eyes, when I first read this-
Crystal: Oh, dear …
Tom: I thought it said busty.
Crystal: Oh.
Tom: And I was just like, “Well, that’s kinda weird.”
Crystal: That is weird.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: And I was like, adjusted my glasses and then I was like, “Oh, that’s much better.”
Crystal: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that is much better. Y- Kinda laughing at you. You should. Uh, she’s had quite the summer. She’s done her recent appearance at Coffee and Chill Wellness Cup in Venice, and then she has that headline spot of Faces at Fitness Chicago, which is taking place this weekend- Yeah
Crystal: coming up on the 25th. Uh, not to mention, of course, being a Bustle Beauty Icon honoree in the Bustle’s 2026 Beauty Icon [00:30:00] Awards. That’s pretty big deal.
Tom: Yeah. What’s up her?
Crystal: So congrats.
Tom: And then, uh, finally for this segment, Selena Samuela has earned pre- and post-partum fitness certification. So I guess she could have taught it before, but now we know with certainty that she knows what she’s talking about.
Crystal: See, she actually couldn’t. The way that it works- Is that
Tom: actually
Crystal: like a rule? It, I mean- Like a, uh, you
Tom: can get arrested or
Crystal: something? I don’t know exact- You can’t get arrested, but I would hope… That- Peloton back me up here. I would hope that they have these people that have certifications before they teach things.
Tom: Sure.
Crystal: Also, we haven’t had a ton of the specific pelvic floor physical therapy type of classes- Mm-hmm … that Selena specifically got certified for.
Tom: Gotcha.
Crystal: Um, so we are all hoping that means that Selena is going to be bringing classes like this to the platform. And as a matter of fact, she posted a week or two ago that she was like, posted some of like one of her routines.
Crystal: Mm. And [00:31:00] somebody in the comments had said, “Oh my gosh, I really hope you bring this to a program,” and she said she’s working on it. So we’re hoping that Peloton is leaning in. All the things I said earlier about that precipice and- Yeah … newness, uh, we are seeing that with, uh, Selena. We’re seeing that open up.
Crystal: We are also gonna talk about Anna in the, the next segment here when we get to content. Uh, we’re gonna talk about that. There’s just this lean in to new things. And so I am hoping that means we’re gonna see new things from Selena in this area. Um, but specifically she said that pelvic floor physical therapy gave her support navigating her twin pregnancy.
Crystal: She had some issues she talked openly about after her first birth that, uh, with Torin, that like she had trouble running after she first gave birth, ’cause she was going to get into her journey of tri- long triathlons then- Mm … and found out she tried to do too much too soon. Gotcha. And so this is her attempting to do the [00:32:00] journey differently this time, and she said it gave her a lot more support.
Crystal: And I just, I think the whole thing is very cool, and it’s very inspiring, uh, not only to moms to be, but also us ladies who are in the perimenopause. Yeah. We have some of these same issues. For sure. And they happen, they just happen. So like you can still do a lot of work here even when, even if you’re not pregnant.
Crystal: So very cool.
Tom: Well, I mean, I guess technically you’re still postpartum, right? I- You’re always, you’re always on the other side of it. That’s true. Yeah. That is true. It might be 20 years on the other side of it, but, uh, but it’s, it, that’s still post. God, it is 20
Crystal: years.
Tom: Yeah. That’s, that’s something. That’s,
Crystal: that is
Crystal: something. I
Tom: just thought I’d use this moment to make you feel old.
Crystal: Thanks.
Tom: You’re welcome.
Crystal: Appreciate that.
Tom: That’s what I do.
Crystal: Yesterday was such a great day anyway. So, so glad you put a little tip on that, just
Tom: a little- Just a little bow … boop. Yeah.
Tom: the latest artist series features Ne-Yo. [00:33:00]
Crystal: Yeah, now I am not familiar with Ne-Yo.
Tom: I know the name.
Crystal: I know the name. He’s
Tom: been around for a while.
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: But,
Crystal: uh- But I just, I don’t, I it’s one of those artists that, like, I am aware he exists. I am aware that he has music. I just, I don’t know it by sound of here’s the title of a song.
Crystal: I won’t know.
Tom: Yeah. I have no idea. I will also say for the first five or six years that Ne-Yo was around I low-key thought he was a Pokemon. So- So you
Crystal: gotta catch ’em all …
Tom: Neo, Squirtle- … Charizard, like they’re all. And I’m like, and then the kids were like, “No.” And I was like, “Um” Are
Crystal: you sure?
Tom: He must be a Yu-Gi-Oh.
Tom: Oh. Can you be a Yu-Gi-Oh?
Crystal: Boy, I tell you what, between the Care Bears and the Pokemon and teaming up with all these shoes and athletics, like I am, we’re gonna spend so much money. I saw yesterday, I saw this morning-
Tom: Yeah …
Crystal: that Sydney’s favorite Pokemon, the Pikachu-
Tom: Yeah …
Crystal: they’re doing a all suede shoe, and it’s [00:34:00] all yellow.
Crystal: I’m sure she’s gonna be wanting that.
Tom: I’m not gonna lie, having Pikachu as your favorite Pokemon, it’s kinda basic.
Crystal: Wow.
Tom: I mean, like-
Crystal: Wow
Tom: It’s just like, well, everybody knows Pikachu
Crystal: Okay
Tom: It’s like if you asked me what, what my favorite Monkees song is, and somebody says, “Oh, Last Train to Clarksville.” It’s like, lame
Crystal: I think it’s lamer if you say I’m a Believer
Tom: You’re like, you know one Monkees song.
Tom: That’s what I think when I hear you say that. So-
Crystal: All right. Well, thanks for that
Tom: So it’s Going Down
Crystal: Okay
Tom: That’s my favorite Monkees song
Crystal: Okay
Tom: Oh
Crystal: At least it’s not one of those ones that’s like bloop, di-bloop, di-bloop, bloop, bloop,
Tom: Bloop I don’t know what that means. I th- I
Crystal: don’t either
Tom: But I think it is
Crystal: Is it that song?
Tom: It is that song
Crystal: Oh, man
Tom: I love that song
Crystal: Sorry, babe
Tom: Yeah
Crystal: Sorry. I
Tom: s- Song’s,
Crystal: song’s a jam … I
Tom: stuck to the- Hey, that song was used in Breaking Bad. That’s how good that song is
Crystal: Okay
Tom: Just pointing it out
Crystal: All right
Tom: Okay. Well, coming up after this, we got content. There are so many classes to choose from, and, uh, we thought we would give you [00:35:00] a little direction, maybe a little nudge in something you should consider.
Tom: But we also do it with your help- We do … because we’re lazy like that. So that’s all coming up after this.
Tom: It is time for the TCO Top 5. And once again-
Crystal: Thank you guys for all the nominations …
Tom: a record-breaking week for submissions.
Crystal: It is.
Tom: It’s almost getting problematic.
Crystal: Well- But it’s
Tom: a good
Crystal: problem It is a good problem. But yeah, I, I have to, like, roll a six-sided die to decide who gets included and who doesn’t.
Crystal: It’s getting… I’m, like, asking the children, “Which of these?” Yeah. Like, I, I, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna give too much weight to it because sometimes people that I know and love send in their submissions- Right … and it’s really hard. You don’t
Tom: wanna turn it into, like, w- you’re just picking your friends over other- Yeah
Tom: people. And then people feel like, “Well, I don’t understand. You
Crystal: just-” Right. Yeah. So, so now it’s just down to it’s the best nominations.
Tom: Well, that’s what it should be.
Crystal: So that’s what I do.
Tom: Yes.
Crystal: Uh, but every single [00:36:00] nomination this week had multiple submissions.
Tom: I will say, when you talk about best, the best submissions, there are times, a little peek behind the scenes, there are times when you’ll be like, “Okay, I got three quotes.”
Crystal: Yep. “
Tom: And I’m gonna read them to you, Tom.”
Crystal: Yep.
Tom: And then I will pick the quote that I think is the best. Not on all of them, but when you feel like you have a lot and you don’t tell me who they are, and let’s- I
Crystal: purposely don’t
Tom: say … and let’s not kid ourselves, even if you did-
Crystal: You wouldn’t know
Tom: unless it was, like, Dr. Jen submitted this one, I’m probably not gonna know who it is anyway. But, uh-
Crystal: I’d have to start showing pictures.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: Um- You know, you know the faces.
Tom: Yeah. And and so, uh, and then I will pick without any idea of who said what.
Crystal: Mm-hmm.
Tom: So we do our best to keep… ‘Cause we know people are wagering on these.
Crystal: Absolutely.
Tom: And so we don’t-
Crystal: This, this is, this is deep-
Tom: We try to s- …
Crystal: information …
Tom: try to stay above board. There, there’s
Crystal: a lot at stake here.
Tom: Yes. Yeah. So number one is your favorite sing-along ride.
Crystal: It was the 45-minute Epic [00:37:00] Sing-Along Ride that was taught by Jen Sherman, of course, on July 19th. We had so many nominations for this.
Crystal: We had four different nominations. Uh, the one chosen to feature this week is from Nancy Nielsen. She said, “Has to be the JSS Epic Sing-Along. It was a nonstop party on the bike you never wanted to end. You know when the towel swinging starts early in class it’s going to be fun, and she didn’t disappoint.”
Crystal: By the way, little side note-
Tom: Yeah
Crystal: I’m a believer, was on this.
Tom: How about that?
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: The real version or the- The Monkees version …
Crystal: Smash Mouth version?
Tom: No, it was the Monkees version. I, and I don’t hate the Smash Mouth version. I know. Some people get really pissy about that, but I’m like, it keeps the band relevant.
Tom: Yeah. Like, it shows it’s still a great song. But
Crystal: no, it was the Monkees. But
Tom: cool. Yeah. As it should be, though. As it should be. Number two, your favorite Power Zone ride.
Crystal: I feel like a lot of people submitted this simply because I was the last person- Yes … to be excited about Jess King. They
Tom: were like, “Let’s make Crystal suffer.”
Crystal: Yeah and so the four- And
Tom: suffer she did.
Crystal: The [00:38:00] 45-minute Power Zone endurance ride taught by Jess King for the first time ever, uh, w- was submitted multiple times. The highlighted quote was Patty Lamana. She said, “Don’t hes-” I feel like this was directed at me. Yeah. I really was, like, “Crystal-
Tom: Yes …
Crystal: do not hesitate to take Jess King’s premier Power Zone ride, Power Zone endurance ride.
Crystal: I was a road rider for many years and I always enjoyed her sweat steady rides, which were like that style. I’m not always a fan of her music choices, but they are a great beat to keep my cadence at a consistent 90 RPM for the duration of the ride. I look more… I look forward to more Power Zone adventures with Jess.”
Tom: Crystal.
Crystal: I know, right?
Tom: I feel like every sentence ends with
Crystal: Crystal.
Tom: Crystal.
Crystal: Crystal. I know. I’m sorry, Patty.
Tom: Well, here’s proof that it’s not just you picking the classes you
Crystal: like. It, it is. Well, I mean, four people nominated. Yeah. Like, I’m just a shitty person if I don’t include that.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: It’s about what the people want.
Tom: Absolutely. They’re
Crystal: not all for me.
Tom: No. And also, like, you can’t take that many classes, so you wouldn’t- No … if you were just picking things
Crystal: you like. That’s kind of the whole point of [00:39:00] this. Yeah. I can’t take all the classes- Yeah … and I don’t wanna just be stuck in… Like, it, otherwise it’s just a freaking echo chamber.
Crystal: That’s no fun.
Tom: No fun at all. Uh, what are we, Facebook? Uh, number three, your favorite outdoor walk.
Crystal: Okay, so, uh, this was a really tough choice. I went with the 15-minute Hilit Plus easy walk, week two, day four. It was on 7/15. Now the reason I say this was tough is Rebecca was nominated for like eight classes.
Crystal: Ah. Multiples on this one, multiples on her 60-minute walk. The reason I chose this was Kim Barnsley’s very captivating nomination. Yes.
Tom: Okay.
Crystal: She says, “Rebecca’s 15-minute outdoor walk from week two of Hilit Plus is unlike any other. You definitely do not need to be taking the program to enjoy this gem.
Crystal: In fact, my 73-year-old mother added it to her outdoor walk this morning and loved it so much, she says she’s gonna repeat it, too. I really don’t wanna give away too many spoilers, but to sum it up, Rebecca takes us through a journey of running into our [00:40:00] 80-year-old selves on this walk. We get to chat with this person, and she poses questions that had me thinking long after the walk was over.
Crystal: Highly suggest to take outside as a cool down and to do it alone without dogs, kids, significant others to distract you so you can take it in fully.” Looking at you, Tom.
Tom: What did I do? It does not say that.
Crystal: It,
Tom: it- You added that.
Crystal: No, I did not. I did not. It doesn’t say- It’s not part of her quote, but it was part of it.
Crystal: I sent you a freaking picture of this the other day- … so you know it’s true. You know it is. Trying to take
Tom: this- My 80-year-old self wouldn’t be able to hear anything I said.
Crystal: What?
Tom: What? I’m already like that.
Crystal: Oh, don’t I know. Yeah. Ugh, whispering with you about people is getting so hard.
Tom: I know. We’re gonna get in so much trouble.
Crystal: So much trouble.
Tom: But by the time you get in trouble for it, you’re old enough that you don’t give a shit.
Crystal: And people won’t hit you anymore, ’cause, like, you get to a certain age-
Tom: Anymore, you sound like I’ve been getting hit my whole life. Where’s-
Crystal: No, I just mean [00:41:00] that like- I meant it more about myself that like at this age, people might still hit me.
Crystal: I think- … I think they wouldn’t feel like they’re hitting an elderly lady, you know? But, like, at a certain point you, you look frail-
Tom: Right …
Crystal: and they’re not gonna hit you.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: You just get yelled at. But we are not safe yet, so we need to, we need to be real careful. Yeah. And we, we are not pulling off those whispers.
Tom: We are not.
Crystal: We are not.
Tom: No, we are not Peloton whispers. Number four, your favorite yoga class.
Crystal: Oh, okay. So this was nominated by Tanya Sinclair Tulan. It was a 45-minute Dennis Yen yoga.
Tom: And he’s staring into the camera.
Crystal: Oh, “If you’re looking for a hip opener class, this one is for you, Tom. Not a word.” “Dennis starts this class by saying this is an extension of the class he called Hips, Hooray.
Crystal: This will be in my rotation of Yen classes. Also, holding [00:42:00] fire log for several minutes isn’t for the faint of heart.”
Tom: Come on, hip opener and fire log? A little penicillin will clear that right up.
Tom: Number five, it’s your unstackable and it’s a Tabata ride
Crystal: It’s a Tabata ride by Robin- In yellow … and she’s wearing yellow.
Tom: Even I know that.
Crystal: Yes. Jason Johnson and Catherine Kimes both nominated this, but I went with Jason- The only
Tom: two people to live through it.
Crystal: Yeah. I went with this because Jason Johnson he’s a newer nominator.
Tom: Ooh, look at you, Jason.
Crystal: And, uh, Jason actually gave me some details this week, ’cause I’ve said, “Jason, tell me more.” Mm-hmm. Like, I need some… I can’t put it in the article. It’s kinda hard to give you a quote. The quote
Tom: can’t just be like, “This was good.”
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: Right?
Crystal: So s- so he did. He said, “This was a true yellow ride, Robin’s Tabata.
Crystal: The sheer challenge of the ride. Any time it’s a yellow ride, I know my butt is gonna get kicked.” And, uh, this is from July 16th, so it’s the [00:43:00] newest
Tom: Tabata. Okay. There you go.
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: Uh, moving into other stuff, uh, Peloton has dropped a 90-minute global goals scenic ride.
Crystal: Yeah. Don’t get a lot of really long scenic rides.
Crystal: Yeah. So that’s pretty cool all by itself. But also, uh, these are all the countries that were represented on the field, uh, during all of the,
Tom: World Cup?
Crystal: Yes, the World Cup. So isn’t that neat? Yeah,
Tom: that’s cool.
Crystal: I, I thought, wow, what a great way to, like, really get a look at where all of these countries, like, what they look like.
Tom: Right.
Crystal: You’re only getting a snapshot, ’cause-
Tom: For sure …
Crystal: I mean-
Tom: And it’s gonna be, like, where you can ride a bike.
Crystal: Right.
Tom: Right?
Crystal: Right.
Tom: Like, yeah.
Crystal: Or run. Okay. But, but yeah. It’s, it… But anyway, it’s really neat. I thought that was a really cool idea. No,
Tom: it’s, that’s a clever idea.
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: And then finally, Anna Greenberg has prenatal Pilates, even more stuff for the natals.
Crystal: This is really cool because, uh, Anna is expecting number two due December 1st, I do believe. Mm-hmm. [00:44:00] And, uh, she is dropping Pilates classes. It’s the first time we’ve had prenatal Pilates, so again-
Tom: Yeah …
Crystal: big full circle moment. Yeah. Programming. I see Peloton leaning in. This is very cool, very exciting.
Tom: Absolutely.
Crystal: So congrats to An- congrats to Anna.
Tom: And then, uh, next week birthdays will return.
Crystal: Right, because it’s August.
Tom: It’s, August will be just around the corner.
Crystal: And we are gonna have so many bir- like, just buckle up- Yeah … because every week we’ll have multiples.
Tom: You’re… if, uh, the Hallmark store has a special program- Mm-hmm
Tom: this would be a good time to join it.
Crystal: Yes.
Tom: Because you’ll be purchasing lots of cards because birthdays a-plenty. We will make up for the July drought-
Crystal: Mm-hmm …
Tom: in August. We will. So, but, uh, we will not wrap up here because we have Joe Rodonis online.
Crystal: What a delightful conversation.
Tom: Yeah. So, uh, without further ado, here is Joe
Tom: Joining us today via the [00:45:00] magic of Zoom tube, all the way from Tonal. He’s in a Tonal lab right now. The Tonal
Joe Rodonis: labs we’re talking about, he’s in one. I live there. He li-
Tom: Yeah. They don’t let him leave.
Joe Rodonis: No.
Tom: Yeah. They all, they share, they all have bunk beds. It’s like being in a submarine except it’s a Tonal lab.
Tom: That sounds
Crystal: terrible.
Joe Rodonis: It’s like a Vegas showroom. We don’t have time. We don’t have sound. Yeah, I don’t know what time of day it
Tom: is. Yeah. You think submarines smell bad- Oh … imagine what-
Crystal: All
Tom: the sweating … what a whole room full of people who sweat professionally must smell like, so.
Crystal: That sounds delightful.
Tom: Welcome to the show.
Crystal: And on that note, aren’t you glad you’re here, Joe? It’s
Tom: Joe Rodona
Joe Rodonis: from Tonal. It’s
Tom: great to be back,
Joe Rodonis: man. Yeah. It’s great to be back. It’s been so, it’s been too long, man. If we- I feel like the last time I was out here was, like, our, my first year with the team, so it’s awesome to be back here.
Crystal: It is great to have you. Yeah. I think it’s been, like, two, two and a half years, maybe longer.
Tom: And
Joe Rodonis: I, I sh- I’m just gonna be honest, I think it’s been four years-
Crystal: No way …
Joe Rodonis: time has passed, I swear to God. Yeah, man.
Tom: We were s- We were still wearing N95s- … during that interview. [00:46:00] However long ago it was. And we, w- we should say, the, so when we talked to you last time, it was on our Tonal-specific podcast- It was
Tom: called The SuperSet. Yeah. Yeah So for listeners- Yeah … if they’re trying to be like, “Back? I don’t remember that,” it’s, you’re not crazy- Yeah … unless you listen to both.
Crystal: Yeah, then you are.
Tom: And if you are, then we like you better than the other ones. But yeah, so the, so for the listeners, this might be their first time ever hearing from you.
Crystal: It’s, it is possible. For
Tom: Clip Outlet.
Crystal: Yes. Yeah. Very possible, but I’m sure they know Tonal. So we have so many people who listen, whether they ha- listen to the podcast or not for the t- the SuperSet, they love Tonal. Yes. So we are a very, we have Peloton, we love Tonal. We are all the things here. Yes. Yeah, it’s
Joe Rodonis: awesome, man.
Joe Rodonis: The crossover is great, honestly, for training, right?
Crystal: It
Joe Rodonis: really- And Tom, Tom, I hear you’ve been crushing it lately, man. I just, Kristin was telling me that you’ve been on a roll, dude.
Tom: Yeah, I mean, I, I go down in the basement and I do the things.
Crystal: He’s so nonchalant about it. What- He’s lifted over 14 million pounds.
Joe Rodonis: Oh, [00:47:00]
Tom: dude. 14,000,001.
Joe Rodonis: Some serious weight, Tom. You’re beating me, man.
Crystal: That’s not true.
Joe Rodonis: There’s no way. Yes. I just hit the 10 million mark, like, a month ago. Mm-hmm.
Tom: Okay, but I’m gonna g- I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you’ve lifted some non-Tonal weights in your day. That’s- So- … that’s true … you have that
Joe Rodonis: I’m lifting weights 24/7.
Joe Rodonis: That’s what I do, yeah.
Crystal: Oh, yes, he’s done amazing. He’s also lost so much weight. He’s lost 70 pounds between changing his nutrition and using Tonal. Wow. And it’s really cool, so I wish he was prouder of it.
Tom: I don’t know. Well, I mean- I just feel weird talk- I just feel weird- … being like, “Look at what
Joe Rodonis: I did.”
Joe Rodonis: Well, we’ll, we’ll give you the flowers, man. You ain’t gotta talk about it. But that’s imp- that’s impressive, you know? You gotta celebrate it, Tom. You got to, man. Yes. It’s a beautiful thing. I
Tom: think it- Not easy to
Joe Rodonis: do, either …
Tom: I think I feel- It’s great … if I say it too much- It is … and then if I stop or something, I feel like I’m jinxing myself.
Tom: I under- I get that … so I just, I-
Crystal: [00:48:00] I get it, but it’s, it’s been, like, six years. It’s okay, I think. Yeah. I think you got it.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, it’s solidified, man. You did it. You’re doing it. It’s been done. You’re gonna keep doing it.
Crystal: Exactly. Well said. Well said. Well said. I was super stoked to hear, Joe, that you’re on a journey that is a little bit different than your typical journey.
Crystal: You’ve been weightlifting forever. Well, I mean, as long as I’ve known of you. But, uh I w- it was so stoked to hear you are training for an Ironman, your first Ironman. That is so cool.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, I’m really excited about this. This is a big change for me, for sure. ‘Cause like you said, I’ve pretty much been, like, lifting my whole, my entire life.
Joe Rodonis: It was like the goal was just to get as big as possible which for me, I feel like I did. I felt pretty good about the size. And I got to a spot where I was like, “I cannot continue to buy new clothes. I’m running out of space in my wardrobe.” “We need to tailor it back.” So yeah, I got… I was like, “Let’s change it up a little bit.”
Joe Rodonis: But yeah, it’s been a, it’s been a fun journey so far. Big [00:49:00] change.
Crystal: Yeah. So, okay. Which Ironman are you doing? And I should clarify for our listeners- Yeah … this is the full Ironman, not a half Ironman.
Joe Rodonis: No, actually it, it’s a half. I’m doing a 17.3. You’re going-
Crystal: I’m going half … see, this is why I gotta clarify. Okay.
Crystal: Yeah, yeah. Now, please clarify. People get weird about it. They do get very weird about it. They,
Joe Rodonis: they get very territorial. I mean, I, I understand, man. Yeah. It’s serious. I mean, these people are very serious about, about this race, and I completely understand why. I mean, they are, they’re a dedicated bunch.
Joe Rodonis: Takes a lot of focus, so I am easing myself into this style of training. I am in it for the love of the game right now, but I’m gonna be targeting next June, the Eagleman course is gonna be my goal race. So that I got a full year to kinda load up and get ready for this bad boy.
Crystal: That’s amazing. I’ve heard so many good things about the Eagleman course.
Crystal: I’ve heard that it’s, number one, it’s great for a first-timer. Yep. Because it does, you don’t get lost as easily, which for me is a huge issue. And number two, that it’s just a really fun course as well. Um-
Joe Rodonis: Yeah.
Crystal: Which, which of the three disciplines are you [00:50:00] most concerned about?
Joe Rodonis: It’s a great question.
Joe Rodonis: Going into this, so I’ve been training now for about three months, and going into it, the biggest concern for me was definitely the swim. Okay. That has been the most intimidating by far. Biking, I used to cycle in college, so I kind of have a little background in this. I went to Indiana University, and I don’t know if you guys know about IU, but they have this race called the Little 500.
Joe Rodonis: Have you guys ever heard of that race before? I’ve never heard that, no. It’s
Tom: Indiana University. Hang on. I’m gonna put on my nerd hat.
Crystal: Oh, here we go.
Tom: And it’s gonna tie into cycling. I’m gonna, I’m gonna do the whole thing. Wow. Yeah? Watch this. Okay. Watch this fanciness. I’m gonna… It’s gonna be real spoilers.
Tom: Come on. It’s gonna be the clip out. It’s gonna be tonal. It’s gonna be cycling. You’re gonna love it. Indiana University is, I think, where they filmed Breaking Away.
Joe Rodonis: Yes, man. Thank you.
Tom: Yes.
Joe Rodonis: Tom, yes, dude. Thank you. He knows.
Tom: Yes.
Joe Rodonis: He does know. Yes, man. Dude, the history. It’s all filmed there. Yes, dude. That whole movie is about this race, man.
Joe Rodonis: It’s… Oh, man, IU people are gonna be so stoked that you know [00:51:00] that. That’s huge.
Crystal: That’s amazing. I’m stoked that he knows that. And wait a second, this whole movie is about the half Ironman?
Tom: No, it’s
Joe Rodonis: about- It’s about bike racing …
Tom: IU.
Crystal: Oh, the bike racing. Yeah. Yeah. The bike race. Okay. Yeah. Got
Tom: it, got it. It’s pro- I mean, it’s arguably what the best, most, and s- most successful movie ever about bike racing, right?
Tom: What,
Joe Rodonis: what- I mean, yeah, it’s a, it’s a huge, I guess like maybe a cult classic now about, like, cycling, but I mean, that race at IU is, it was mocked after the Indy 500. Okay. So it’s like, you know, you have, I think it’s, it’s been a long time, but I think it’s 32 teams that can qualify. You have, like, quals, right?
Joe Rodonis: And it’s a really cool race. It’s one of the largest intramural events in college. So you get the same Schwinn bike. It is a one-gear Schwinn bike, so everybody has the same exact layout. You have four people on a team, and you have to do, I beli- well, 500 laps, and you go around a cinder fields or cinder course, and you can change out riders if you want, but it’s whoever gets through the 500 laps.
Joe Rodonis: It is a intense race. It’s pretty fun.
Crystal: Wow. Yeah. That sounds really cool.
Tom: And that [00:52:00] movie’s really good.
Crystal: Okay. Well, you need to put it on the list- Yeah … and
Tom: I can see it. And it was turned into a short-lived television show as well.
Crystal: Really? Yeah. I didn’t know
Joe Rodonis: that.
Tom: Yeah, and yeah, with, I think H- I think Jackie Earl Haley was in the movie.
Tom: He, you might know him as Kelly Leak from The Bad News Bears. He was their hitter.
Crystal: I mean, I remember that movie- He was like- … but I don’t know their individual names …
Tom: the guy who rode the motorcycle.
Crystal: Okay.
Tom: The cool kid that was, like, too good for the team, and then-
Crystal: Sort of ringing a bell. Yeah. Sort of as the-
Tom: He was also in Watchmen.
Tom: He was Rorschach.
Crystal: Oh, okay. Yeah. That was more, yeah, bring it up to date a little bit. Yeah. And so- You
Joe Rodonis: know this stuff, man. This is wild knowledge.
Tom: Yeah. This is my weightlifting.
Joe Rodonis: Oh, by the way, it’s like I got this covered.
Tom: Yeah. Well, I’m-
Joe Rodonis: So s- Yeah, so tell us about- So yeah, I got, I got a background of cycling from that race, ’cause I was training my senior year for that.
Joe Rodonis: So, you know, the run, I figure I’ll figure out, right? I’ll be on land. You know, we can figure this part out. But that swim, I’ve been super intimidated about. And I can swim, but [00:53:00] the freestyle itself is obviously a totally different beast in that race, you know, doing a mile. You gotta be very efficient with how you’re keeping your heart rate, and you don’t wanna waste energy there.
Joe Rodonis: You don’t wanna use- Yeah … your legs too much during that swim. So I’ve been probably the most scared of that, and that is exactly where I’ve been spending most of my time so far, and kinda making the most progress.
Crystal: That makes a lot of sense, and I believe it’s an open water swim, correct?
Joe Rodonis: It is definitely an open water swim, which I think Eagleman, though, is, to your point, like, kinda generous.
Joe Rodonis: I think it, like, helps you, it pushes you out, but then on the way back, I believe the current kinda helps pull you in a little bit.
Crystal: Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. I remember I participated in a half Ironman relay. I wanna be very clear, I only did the running portion of it, so I’m in no, by no means, I don’t get to say the 70.3, okay?
Crystal: But when we were there, I was watching the swim, and that was, first of all, insane how fast people are. The, these swimmers are so fast. The
Tom: transition.
Crystal: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And second of all, they had this, there, there was this [00:54:00] black stuff in the water, and everybody that came out was covered in black. They had been breathing God knows what in, and it was terrible.
Crystal: It was like- Oh, Lord … I was like, I have never seen anything like it, and it kinda scared me away from open water swimming, to be honest. Yeah. I’ve heard- Yeah … Eagleman is a lot nicer- I mean, you were- … than Atlantic City, so. You were in
Joe Rodonis: New Jersey.
Crystal: I know. I was- … it was Atlantic City. Oh, Jersey
Joe Rodonis: water. Oh,
Crystal: yeah.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah. That stuff. Okay.
Crystal: Yeah. Eagleman is gonna be clean. You’re gonna be okay. I don’t wanna scare you, but it really worried me watching all those people come out, and they had black around their mouths and… It was crazy. It was crazy. Oh,
Joe Rodonis: man. It’s intimidating. I mean, the open water is a totally different beast.
Joe Rodonis: You know, I’ve been in the pool, and I’m gonna have to get out to this open water pretty soon just to start training. I mean, it’s different. I mean, seeing the bottom of the, of the pool, obviously you have your lane marker, you know, you know you can touch the bottom. And j- just getting into open water, just that whole, the depth effect, right?
Joe Rodonis: That alone- Is, I mean, it messes with you. We were kind of in Italy, we were in Italy actually like a month ago for a quick little vacation. We were at Lake Orta, and we [00:55:00] had a chance to go in that water, and I was like, “You know what? I’m just gonna kind of play around in this water right now and get used to this, see if I can, like, swim.”
Joe Rodonis: And I was like, “Oh, man, I got a lot of work to do. This is intimidating, man.” ‘
Crystal: Cause it also is the waves and stuff, too. I don’t know how much a lake is compared, and I have no idea what the conditions are at Eagleman, but I just know some places have really strong currents, and sometimes the waves come up over your head.
Crystal: That is really intimidating as well. You have- It is … so many things coming at you. I am in awe of people who take on these huge challenges. I mean, that, that is really cool. I also am really curious how you’ve adjusted your training, going from strength training has been your primary modality. Yeah. How do you bring in all this cardio?
Crystal: How are you doing that?
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, it’s be- i- it’s been a massive shift, and it’s cool to talk about ’cause I think when I joined Tonal in 2021, I guess it was, I was… Before that, I was doing a lot of strength and performance training, so I kinda had this background in football style, like weightlifting, right?
Joe Rodonis: Yeah. A lot of speed and power and sled pushes, stuff like that, like fast twitch, like sprints and things. [00:56:00] For, for the last four years, when I got to Tonal, I was going pure hypertrophy, which is basically like bodybuilding style lifting, right? I just wanted to kinda change it up, slow my style of lifting down.
Joe Rodonis: So to your point, I was more isolating, doing slower lifts, and putting on a lot more size. So I was, like, getting, bigger, which is what I wanted to do at the time. But like everything, there’s a cost to that. So the cost is that, you know, you don’t, you lose a bit of power. You lose your explosiveness if you’re going 100% in on that.
Joe Rodonis: So while I was gaining size, I was noticing I was honestly getting a little bit sluggish in, like, my runs and my sprints, and, like, kinda losing power in the jump. But I was having fun with this style of training, so the transition, part of the reason I wanted to do it was to get back to feeling like just…
Joe Rodonis: I miss that feeling of strength training. You feel very powerful. You have a lot of density and control in the body, and I thought it was time to switch it up. So it’s been… That’s partly why I wanted to give myself, like, a good runway of, like, just over a year to [00:57:00] make sure that I didn’t have to rush that process.
Joe Rodonis: I want- I really wanted to take some time, especially the first, it’s been these last three months, to ease back into it. So it’s been a, it’s been a gradual process where I was like, I’m not so concerned about how fast I’m going, like, on a swim or how fast I’m running or how fast I’m biking. It’s been more about getting acclimated and getting back into the weight room, meeting yourself where you are, and slowly building up there and building capacity, kind of in those disciplines, the three disciplines.
Joe Rodonis: And that process has just honestly been a lot of fun. It’s just, it’s just kinda like you’re just enjoying yourself, you know? There’s no pressure. You’re just kinda getting used to the new way of moving.
Tom: So I’m just curious, you know, obviously when you change those styles of exercise, that it’s, that’s a deliberate choice, right?
Tom: You’ve- Mm-hmm … you went into it with your eyes open. But psychologically, how does that feel when you see your body changing? You’re so, for so long the metric is, [00:58:00] am I getting bigger? And when you not only stop getting bigger, but maybe you even get smaller, not that you’re not still in great shape, but does that mess with your head?
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, I, I mean, that’s kind of like the question I’m kind of getting the most, dude, is like, are you going to lose, like muscle mass and size? Right? Yeah. And like, how does that kind of mess with you? I have leaned out. I’ve been like leaning, like losing some body comp. Mm-hmm. But I haven’t really lost muscle or size.
Joe Rodonis: Like actually I’ve noticed that my weights have been going up. I’ve been seeing an improvement in my lifts.
Crystal: Oh.
Joe Rodonis: So, ’cause I think there’s a lot of compliment. We can talk about kind of that structure. Mm-hmm. It’s a lot of like fatigue management you gotta play with.
Tom: Mm-hmm.
Joe Rodonis: But it’s definitely something that you think about, man.
Joe Rodonis: Like, I- Yeah … that was partly why I wanted the year to take my time with this. ‘Cause if I had only been thinking like, I want to prepare for this race, and I got five or so months to prepare for Eagleman or for the 70.3, I would’ve had to drop my weightlifting almost entirely. You would have to go to like maybe one to two ses- sessions a week, and your focus would just be on your runs, on your swims, on your [00:59:00] bikes, and doubling up.
Joe Rodonis: And so to that end, I would absolutely, you know, lose some size. You would like lean out. You would just have no choice. It’s like the direct line. You would have to do that. So the idea now is just more giving myself that time so I can like train in these phases and I can hang on to muscle and size.
Tom: Yeah. ‘
Joe Rodonis: Cause I’m not so, I, I don’t have to be so rapid, to get there
Tom: That makes sense. It does. But that would probably be difficult to take, you know? Yeah. Even, like you said, even though you’re doing it on purpose, and there’s an end goal, and you’re trading one type of fitness for another-
Crystal: I, yeah, I
Tom: mean, still
Tom: yeah, one, one’s more tangible.
Crystal: Well, I think this is what most people in any kind of fitness quandary come up against, because when you ask somebody, “What are your goals?” it’s always to be, it’s always to- Mm-hmm … um, do multiple things at one time, whether that’s, “I wanna l- I want to lose fat and I wanna gain muscle,” or, “I wanna get faster and more powerful, and I wanna lose this kinda size,” or it’s never just, “I wanna do this thing.”
Crystal: It’s always three things. Mm-hmm. And you can’t do all the things at once at the [01:00:00] exact same pace, and so I mean, I know you know that. It’s, uh, it feels like it’s a really tough thing to manage, and I feel like even more pressure on somebody who’s a Tonal coach. Yeah. I mean, people look up to you. You know people look up to you.
Crystal: They see you on their screens, and that’s kinda part of, that’s part of your persona is to be big, you know? Yeah. You’re Joe, rah. Yeah. And so it’s, you know?
Crystal: Yeah. And I would think that plays on your mind. I would think you have to keep that in consideration when you’re making these choices.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, it does. It honestly does. I mean, so part of the reason I wanted to do this was to prove that you could keep size and still be, a bigger guy and still compete in these lanes, right?
Joe Rodonis: I’m not going into this expecting that I’m gonna win the race, right? I’m not training like this- Sure … like I’m gonna win this half Ironman, you know? I’m going into it for my own reasons in the sense that I, one of my goals is to keep size, is to keep power and muscle as I’m building capacity in [01:01:00] these lanes, and I want to do well in the race, you know?
Joe Rodonis: Mm-hmm. And being the first time doing it, y- you know, you just wanna have a good experience. I just wanna like… It’s a big challenge in itself, so you know, zoom out sometimes, right? I’m always like, listen, this is, could be a new hobby, a new sport, and something that I really enjoy, you know? It’s a great way to spend your time, and kinda, you know, to get on the bike and swim, I think it’s really meditative, so I kinda do it for those reasons, too.
Joe Rodonis: And so I wanna have a good experience while keeping this muscle and proving to people how to do that. And as you build that capacity, you know, who knows? If you keep going down this road, you know, the training can get a little bit tighter, but to that end, you know, there’s something about training maturity too.
Joe Rodonis: I mean, the longer you do something, the better you get at it, right? So there, there’s some patience involved in the process too.
Crystal: Sure. And I wanna talk specifically, like, how you’re changing your training and how you’re adjusting the blocks, and- Yeah … I wanna hear what your schedule looks like. But I also am curious why you chose to go straight to a [01:02:00] half Ironman as opposed to trying a sprint triathlon, or maybe you’ve done that, or, you know, some of the other lengths or, or even an Olympic triathlon.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah. I’ve done a sprint before. Or
Tom: a 5K. Or a 5K. Or just a 5K.
Joe Rodonis: That counts too.
Tom: And then you go home and take a bath. Maybe get- Like, that counts.
Joe Rodonis: Isn’t that great? Get- Get on a Citibike. Right. You know, walk a mile,
Tom: you know? A little, get one of them little scooters.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, dip your toe in the water. Yeah, man.
Joe Rodonis: No, it’s funny ’cause I was talking to a buddy of mine, and he was like, “Let’s do the full Ironman, dude.” And I was like, “Du- no. Holy cow.” “Let’s do the half first.” So I thought, you guys think I’m crazy for doing this. This guy wanted to go full out. Holy cow. He’s like, “Let’s go to Hawaii.” That sounds like something,
Tom: that sounds like something said while drinking.
Crystal: It does.
Tom: Like- It
Joe Rodonis: does. Yeah. I’ll tell you another thing. Actually was very sober. Yeah.
Tom: Full Iron.
Joe Rodonis: We’re doing it. We’re doing it, man. We can do it. And I was like, “Buddy, the road to the full Ironman is the half first anyways. Let’s just get there.” “Let’s just [01:03:00] do that. Let’s chip away a little bit.” Yeah. So no, I want, I wanted the challenge.
Joe Rodonis: I… There’s two parts for this for me. One, one is the mental side of why I wanted to do this. Like, I just, I wanted the challenge. I wanted something that was gonna demand my full focus and, like, I couldn’t mess around with. Mm-hmm. So, like, I wanted to be nervous. I wanted to have something I could train for that would be like, I am scared, I do not know if I’m gonna be able to do this, I’ve never done this before, I don’t know if I’m gonna be good in the water and swimming.
Joe Rodonis: ‘Cause that kind of, man, that kind of, like, nervousness is, like, an excitement, you know? It makes you feel like an athlete again before you go into a game, you know? And I think that kind of feeling makes you just lock in incredibly hard ’cause- I don’t wanna have a bad experience during the race day, so it’s like you better prepare, you know, the right way, right?
Crystal: Yes. Yes. And also, you have a lot of public pressure on you. Yeah. I mean, even if it’s only in your head. Your public would be totally supportive even if you decided not to do it, but I know from my experience, once I said, “Okay, I’m doing a marathon,” there was [01:04:00] nothing on the planet that could stop me from doing the marathon, you know?
Crystal: Yeah. And it’s ’cause once you’ve just put it out there, you’ve spoken it, you’re gonna do it. Yeah. So it does. It does put excitement in there. Yeah. Okay, so tell us how you’ve adjusted your training blocks to be able to fit everything in and keep your size.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah. It, this is a huge point, ’cause I think this applies to…
Joe Rodonis: I try to get this point across to, like, e- everyone in our community, is the same way that you would plan like a business and a CEO plans their year and their annual goals, you can think about how you train the exact same way. So, like, this comes from periodization principles, which is just, like, in training terms, it means that you’re training in phases, right?
Joe Rodonis: So, like, you don’t have to get so detailed and so specific with this, but just take the main idea that I have a goal that I want to accomplish that’s 12 months out. I know what my priorities are, and then you can break that down into how I’m gonna train each quarter, each month, and each week within that month, right?
Joe Rodonis: So you break it down into these phases where you [01:05:00] can do it. So- To your point, Chris, that you said this, like you can’t do everything at once, right? Or you can’t make improvements in everything at once. So know your priorities. They should only be one or two at a given time of what you want to develop. So the first three months, it was– it’s been that I wanna maintain and prioritize my lifting.
Joe Rodonis: So that’s been four days a week of strength training, where I’m doing two upper and two lower. That’s been my split. The change has been from hypertrophy into strength, so that moves you into more power-based movements, more compound lifts, and you’re going for a little bit faster movements. You’re trying to generate force when you’re strength training, right?
Joe Rodonis: You’re trying to improve velocity. As oppo- as opposed to hypertrophy, it’s a slower lift. You’re stretching the muscle. You’re creating, like, isolation within the muscle. This is a very different, like, style, right? I want speed. Then with my triathlon training, it’s been more familiarity and creating a cadence.
Joe Rodonis: So not a lot of pressure, like we were talking about on the times that I’ve been [01:06:00] putting out or the paces. It’s just been get in the miles, get in the time. So the swim has been twice a week paired with my upper body days. The bike has been twice a week, and running for me has been once a week ’cause that’s where I’ve been doing the most.
Joe Rodonis: So it’s like running I’m gonna, I’m just gonna hit once a week. I’m gonna improve in these other areas. And slowly kinda build up volume there. So that’s been the first three months. Going into summer now, I’m going to keep my lifting, but I’m gonna be more conscious of fatigue management with my lifts to make sure that I’m not lifting so hard that it’s gonna ruin or start to dip into my conditioning sessions So there’s kind of, you’re starting to balance, kind of toe the line a little bit, where I’m still doing both, but I’m gonna start paying attention to the amount of sets that I’m doing.
Joe Rodonis: I might take things down a little bit. Instead of doing four sets of a movement, maybe you take it down to three sets, and you play with your percentages very well, and you listen and you pay attention to the [01:07:00] fatigue, taking deload weeks very seriously. As you ramp up the volume now in the bike and in the swim, you know, you’re gonna be adding more to that over the summer.
Joe Rodonis: So does that make sense so far? Absolutely. Just kinda like moving through these, levels. So now, that’s kinda like, I see that first, like, quarter as like a build phase. Then you get into a volume phase, where it’s let’s just crank it up with volume. Then we’re gonna go into, as we get closer to race time, where I’m like four months out, you’re gonna see like a shift happen, where my lifting will start to become maintenance.
Joe Rodonis: It’ll start to take a backseat, and now the disciplines of the triathlon will be the priority. So I will have more focus on those days where I will be concerned about pacing. Like, I’ll have threshold days where you’re like, these are hard training sessions, right? You’re like, you’re going at your max paces for longer durations, longer zone two days, and longer rides, longer runs.
Joe Rodonis: So you’re gonna have intensity the same way that you do with lifting within [01:08:00] those modalities. And then your lift days are probably, they’re gonna start to go from four days, then they’ll start to go to three. And then once we get into the real season, like peak season, I’ll probably be lifting one to two days a week there.
Joe Rodonis: And that’s where it gets pretty interesting, the one to two days a week of lifting.
Crystal: Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: There. Yeah.
Tom: And you- What does that look like when you’re down to that little lifting?
Joe Rodonis: One to two?
Tom: Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: The, the idea there that I think is, like, cool to understand is, like, it’s just called, like, the minimum effective dose.
Joe Rodonis: Like, what’s … The idea … This is, like, such a cool thing to understand, is, like, the longer you’ve been lifting, right, the more mature you are in your lifting, where you’ve been, like, you’ve been on a rhythm for 10 years, 20 years. You’re like four, five days a week, just consistent, right? You do not need more volume to see improvements.
Joe Rodonis: You do not need always more intensity. In fact, it’s, like, more precision, more refinement, and it takes a lot, it takes more [01:09:00] focus to develop an area, right? So building muscle, it’s gonna take way more volume, way more focus to build. But once you’ve built something, maintenance is much less. So I could do these maintenance sets, like the minimum effective dose.
Joe Rodonis: If I do two to four sets a week on a muscle group at hard sets, I am gonna be great. So I could do a back squat two sets in a week, a deadlift two sets in a week. Like, these sessions become just a lot tighter so that you’re just, you’re maintaining the muscle, you’re maintaining the power, without fatiguing the muscle so that it ruins, like, your rides, your runs, and your bike.
Crystal: It makes perfect sense. I, I feel like I th- I think the average layperson, including myself, always thinks, “Well, but if you needed to do, I don’t know, eight sets to keep building, then two sets isn’t gonna be enough to do the maintenance.” It doesn’t… It seems like it should be a ratio that is closer to the same as [01:10:00] what you were doing before, if that makes sense.
Crystal: Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: It’s kind of a head game, man. Mm-hmm. You think that for a long time. Like, I think that’s more psychological. Like, I felt that way for a very long time, that, I mean, think about the simple idea of, like, you’ve been lifting, you’re in a good flow, right? And this is just general, generally you’re just lifting.
Joe Rodonis: That’s, like, your priority. You’ve like, you’ve made this progress. Think about the mind, the, how it messes with you when you go on vacation You feel bad for taking two, three, four days off, a week off not lifting, don’t you?
Crystal: Yes, very.
Tom: Yeah, we just got back from Mexico, so you’re- Yes, and- You’re… This is my inside voice
Crystal: the guilt was real.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: I
Joe Rodonis: have to start all over. And you feel like you’re losing progress. Yeah, that’s the idea. You’re like, “Oh, my God, I gotta do this all over again.” It’s back to
Tom: 2019. Yeah.
Crystal: Oh.
Joe Rodonis: But yeah, I mean, thankfully that’s not the case. I mean, thankfully it’s like, again, as you keep this rhythm, you’re not losing anything.
Joe Rodonis: And in fact, I think it probably does you… It’s more of a benefit to take that time off and to rest. Like, [01:11:00] you know, for, I tell this to our tonal community all the time, like, they’re always asking, like, “What do I do on vacation?” I’m like, “Enjoy the vacation, man.” Rest up. Enjoy it. Like, take it as a deload week.
Joe Rodonis: Take it as time to chill out. Like, you should be, especially for people that, like, we’re not pro athletes, man. We’re living our lives, right? Have your lifting be so in, ha- be locked in when you’re at home. Be more strict when you’re at home. Have your routine. And then when you go away, allow yourself to recover and relax.
Joe Rodonis: And when you get back, I mean, that, that’s your rest, that’s your recovery, and then you’re gonna be able to go, a little bit harder when you get home.
Tom: So what I’m hearing is when we saw people exercising on our trip, we, I was- They
Crystal: were so silly.
Tom: I was right to mock them. I was right to openly
Joe Rodonis: mock them.
Joe Rodonis: You’re doing too much, nerd. You’re
Tom: the nerd
Joe Rodonis: now. Oh, my Lord.
Crystal: Yeah. 8:00 AM, these people- No, just eat your pizza, Sam … sneaking out of the gym. Yeah. And we’re, yeah. We’re over here stuffing our face on the beach. Yeah. They’re walking around, looking all great, 8:00 AM. Jerks. Yeah. Totally [01:12:00] joking.
Tom: Mostly totally.
Crystal: Honestly, yeah, like.
Tom: Mostly totally.
Crystal: What, uh, and, but speaking of food, how are you fueling all of this? How is that shifting? Oh, man. I feel like you must eat 8,000 calories a day to maintain all that muscle. I
Tom: feel like there’s just an IV drip of protein shakes.
Crystal: He’s probably doing it right now.
Joe Rodonis: I got it on tap, yeah.
Joe Rodonis: Those
Tom: aren’t headphones. Those aren’t headphones. Yeah.
Crystal: Yeah, dude. It’s
Joe Rodonis: why, it is a lot of food, dude. It’s, so I, it’s gonna get, it’s gonna be real interesting as I get into this volume phase, ’cause, like- Yeah … as that volume goes up and you’re getting into, like, 50-mile rides or 60, 70, right? That’s gonna be a big shift for sure.
Joe Rodonis: I’ve noticed so far that it’s, like, the type of foods that make a little bit of a difference. Like, when I was just building muscle, I feel like you have a lot more leniency. Mm-hmm. You can get away with a lot. Like, you keep your protein high when you’re building muscle, obviously. You wanna keep your carbohydrates at a good level for energy for the workout, right?
Joe Rodonis: That’s where you’re, like, pulling that energy from and you’re repairing. But I was [01:13:00] always like, you know, if I missed a meal ’cause my appetite was low, it’s not a big deal, right? You go into the gym, it’s a 30, 60-minute session. Like, you can get away with some things, right?
Crystal: Yeah. That’s a different world in cardio.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it’s, if you miss some meals or you’re under-fueled and going into a conditioning session, like, dude, you feel Every single bit of that
Crystal: I had the strangest thing happen to me. I- you’ve probably run into this before, being a coach, but I had no idea that if you go into ketosis on accident, ’cause I was on acci- Oh, yeah
Crystal: I wasn’t trying to go in ketosis, and your sweat smells like cat pee. That was new. That was new. Yeah. Yeah. I was, “What is happening?” That’s like a… It’s
Tom: not a good feeling too, is
Crystal: it? It’s not. It’s not. It’s not. It’s terrible. I had no idea that’s what that was, and I was googling like crazy. I thought I was dying.
Crystal: And I was like, “Oh, looks like I just need to eat more.” Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: Oh, it’s such a bad feeling. Like, you’ve heard that feeling. Like, you’ve heard the phrase, the bonk. Yeah. Like, just bonking. [01:14:00] Yeah. That’s when you’re, like, just n- you got no carbs left and you’re just pulling fat as, like, a resource, and it’s not great.
Joe Rodonis: Like, you’ve… Like, I’ve hit it a couple times, like, especially on the bike, ’cause it’s been an, an adjustment period. So the first, like, couple months, I’m eating. I’m, like, seeing w- how my body’s responding to certain things. You know, I need more carbohydrates, for sure. And the timing of your meals definitely make a difference, right?
Joe Rodonis: I have found, for sure, that it’s much more about keeping a consistency and a rhythm with your eating. And it’s probably different for everybody, but I like small meals that are consistent throughout the day instead of, like, big meals all at once. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I would rather have, like, kind of these smaller meals broken out.
Joe Rodonis: And so if I miss a couple and I try to catch up with eating something before the ride it, it’s not enough. Like, your body’s not absorbing it fast enough.
Tom: Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: So the timing has been, like, really important. The consistency has been important, ’cause if you hit that spot on a ride or a run where you bonk, it is…
Joe Rodonis: What used to be, like, a run or a ride that, you know, you’ve done before and you’re like, “This has felt [01:15:00] great. I feel good on this. I know I can do this type of ride,” the RP goes through the roof. It feels significantly harder. Your mind starts to kinda feel a little bit heavier. Your body feels heavier.
Joe Rodonis: It’s not a good feeling. So that has been an adjustment, for sure
Crystal: That makes sense. What are your go-tos when you’re working out? What kind of… How are you fueling yourself when you’re out there?
Joe Rodonis: The… Yeah, well, that’s a different thing, which is an important one. The biggest difference is the fueling during the sessions.
Joe Rodonis: Okay. So as you’re getting… Right, so there’s eating, like, before, but then obviously as you’re getting into sessions that are 60, 90 minutes, two hours, right? You need to hit a certain amount of carbohydrates every hour to keep your energy levels up, so that’s a lot of gel packs. As you’re getting into, I think the rule of thumb is 60 to 90 grams per hour, as you’re- Mm-hmm
Joe Rodonis: getting past that, like, two-hour mark.
Crystal: Mm-hmm.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah. It’s, it’s playing with gel packs. I’ve just been having these things, like, on hand, making sure that my stomach is getting used to, um, having- Have you done a- … those things on the run.
Crystal: I- I’ve heard of people, and I’ve met a lot of people who have tried it.
Crystal: Have you tried [01:16:00] the peanut butter and jelly? Have you tried that on a run or a ride?
Joe Rodonis: No. Uh- Like actual peanut butter and jelly?
Crystal: Yeah, people- I was gonna say, is
Tom: that a flavor or something, or you mean actually just making-
Crystal: No … a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? No, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Crystal: In fact, as- Oh my heavens … as the weather gets warmer, what a lot of people do is they get an Uncrustable, like the Uncrustables you can buy at the grocery store, and as you leave the house, you take it with you. It thaws on your body, and then by the time you’re ready to eat it- Ooh … it’s ready to go.
Joe Rodonis: Ooh.
Crystal: I mean,
Joe Rodonis: it, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
Joe Rodonis: I’m gonna have to like, you know… I do like Uncrustables. Well, you can
Tom: use promo code, you can use promo code TCO to check
Crystal: out. Something like
Joe Rodonis: that. I wish. I wish
Crystal: you
Joe Rodonis: could. Do you get free Uncrustables every year? I wish. No. A sponsorship, man. I wish that I did. That’d be insane. It’s like these are the sponsorships we want.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, right? Give
Crystal: me Uncrustables. Yeah. I would be like, “Send me all the Uncrustables. I will work out every
Tom: day.” Yeah, dude. I need a
Crystal: Coke Zero. Yeah.
Tom: I need a Coke Zero sponsorship- …
Crystal: is what I need. There you go, Tom. Um,
Joe Rodonis: yeah, those are the real ones, [01:17:00] man. No, I haven’t tried that yet. I have, I’ve been using the gels obviously.
Joe Rodonis: I have seen people that have these bites that are like peanut butter and jelly, like little bites that are in a packet, to your
Crystal: point. Yeah, yeah. ‘
Joe Rodonis: Cause it’s like maybe you want some food during the race. Mm-hmm. You know, where it’s like a little bit harder food, not just gels.
Crystal: Yes.
Joe Rodonis: You know?
Crystal: Yes. Well-
Joe Rodonis: So your stomach can settle a little bit.
Crystal: I will be curious to hear where you land on this, because when I was doing marathon training, I found that I felt better when I mixed the gels with real food. Because if I just did gels, by the end of it, my tummy was a little eh. Um, especially- Yeah, I could see that … I swe- You want to win
Tom: on the run, not on the rump.
Crystal: He’s got nothing.
Crystal: He’s my husband. He can get away with it. He’s
Tom: like, “He’s not my husband.”
Joe Rodonis: Dude, I do not need that happening during my first
Crystal: Ironman. You do not. You do not. No. But it’s really important that you try out [01:18:00] different gels too. The, the SiS gels were a game changer for me. I had been using… What was the other brand?
Crystal: He’s like, “Taking notes.” I’m taking notes. I was using a different one- I am taking notes … before that, and I can’t remember the name of it, but I loved them. But if I had too many of them, they did upset my stomach. But the SiS gels, they, I had no problem with them. They are giant though, which is why I recommend that you switch.
Crystal: You- I will be curious, but I think adding real food in is very nice for-
Joe Rodonis: No, I think you’re- … the whole day … I think, I think you’re right. I mean, I’ve been listening to some pros that kind of do this, and they echo that. It, ’cause it, it’s a heck of a lot of fueling, man. I mean, like, when you get- Yeah … it’s a big strategy.
Joe Rodonis: I mean, like you get out of the water, and I think the strategy is take a gel immediately. And then you get on your bike, and you gotta have, like electrolytes and, like carbs within your water. So I’ve been like using Tailwind- Yes.
Crystal: Yes …
Joe Rodonis: in the, in the water, right? Yes. And that’s a popular one.
Crystal: Very popular. Um,
Joe Rodonis: yep, and that’s like, it can be like 100 grams of carbs a bottle.
Joe Rodonis: Mm-hmm. So you have like a couple of those. But to your point, you’re, and then you’re doing gels every hour [01:19:00] for that to prepare for the run. And so yeah, I could see your stomach being like, “I need some substance right now.” I mean, you’re… How many gel packs can you take? I mean, this is gonna be like… I’ve seen people pulling them out of their jerseys, just handing them over.
Crystal: Yeah, the wildest thing I’ve ever seen is the people at the transition getting out of their little scuba suits into their, their little bike bibs. And then mo- their food is already loaded in their bibs whenever they transition. They just take the- Yeah … the top part off, and they have people peeling them off.
Crystal: It’s wild at the transition station. Mm-hmm. It’s wild.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, it is. Have
Tom: you practiced your transition? Yeah. Do you
Crystal: practice
Joe Rodonis: it? We’re get- we’re get- dude, we’re getting into that this summer. I mean, the brick training. Oh. Yeah. Yep. That’s coming up. That’s coming up like this month, man.
Crystal: I’ll tell you one thing that’s scary to me is the transitioning onto the bike.
Crystal: Those people take off with literally no shoes on. Are you worried about that?
Joe Rodonis: I do not plan to do that.
Crystal: Smart. First-
Tom: He’s like, “Remember when I said I’m not worried about winning?”
Joe Rodonis: No, I know what you’re talking about. I’ve been seeing the pros, right? They’re like, they’re sockless- Yes … and they are going in.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, ’cause they’re saving, [01:20:00] like, every millisecond, and I’m like, I- it’s okay. I can put some socks on.
Tom: Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: You know?
Crystal: That’s good. That’s the right call. Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, I mean, listen, if I do, like, halfway decent at this and it’s, “Hey, you have potential, man,” then this could be a very different conversation. But right now- Then
Crystal: next year we’ll worry about- Yeah, later
Crystal: the next training cycle we’ll worry about your sockless transition.
Tom: But you know, that’s true of anything, right? You do it, and then if you have aptitude, then you start developing, “Oh, I can work. I can level up.” That’s true. But for, you know, but that’s true of whether it’s playing guitar or writing- Yeah, man
Tom: or, you know what I mean? It’s anything. You don’t start here. Yeah. No.
Joe Rodonis: No, I- dude, I think it’s such a big point, man. This is something I wanted to drive home, and one of the reasons why I’m doing this is I wanted to be a beginner again, right? Yeah. Because I’ve been lifting and doing all these things that I’m, like, really, that I’m just good at, that I’ve been, like, naturally good at for a while.
Joe Rodonis: And as you do things for years and years, you get really good at it, right? And so I’m, like, lifting’s been… You know, it’s like second nature to me. I’m like, “Yeah, I can do this,” right? But you get to a point where you’re like, “I wanna test myself in a different way.” And so being a [01:21:00] beginner, it puts you in a totally different mindset, man.
Joe Rodonis: It ma- it makes you, like, slow down. It makes you just, “Let me just focus on the process again.” And that’s kind of a big takeaway that I wanna drive home to people. I think, like, in the fitness space, we always see people that are doing extremes and doing things insanely well, and, like, professionals at the highest level, and you learn a lot from those people, man.
Joe Rodonis: Like, it’s inspiring. You can learn, like, the highest degree of how to train, how to track, you know, to do things, beautifully and precisely. But I’m like, but you can also dial that back and just be like, “I want to also enjoy this process.”
Tom: Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: And the first time through this, you don’t have to be so rigid.
Joe Rodonis: You don’t have to be so serious. Like, you know, I’m not tracking everything to a T. I’m not tracking my times like I’m an elite athlete right now. I wanna have a great time. I wanna build a great relationship with the water. I wanna get acclimated into the pool where I’m very comfortable in there. I wanna get used to the bike to where I just feel comfortable on the bike, right?
Joe Rodonis: And then to your point, [01:22:00] zoom out. You got the long game, man. You do great, you have a great time, then you can refine. As the years go by and the decades go by, you can get tighter and tighter and tighter, but then I feel like it’s a natural process instead of you, like, forcing the process and trying to be elite off the bat.
Crystal: Yeah, that’s… What a great point. And I, I struggle with… I think a lot of people struggle with that because we read the books, we read the suggestions with all the things, and it’s like they tell you how to optimize everything. Mm-hmm. You know, I mean, opinions you don’t even need to hear, they tell you.
Crystal: And the thing is that you’re trying, you wanna be the best that you can be, not necessarily win, but be the best that you can be. But you’re right, if you do too much too quick, it can really ruin the entire experience. It really can. Yeah.
Tom: You know who doesn’t- You’re the best Because it doesn’t, man. Yeah, you know who doesn’t struggle with that?
Tom: Me.
Crystal: Yeah, I was gonna say you.
Tom: Yeah. ‘
Crystal: Cause you
Tom: don’t- ‘Cause I’m just like, “I’m not gonna be elite.”
Crystal: I know that. I’ll just- Let’s- I’m just- Yeah … I’m cheering. Just be, just be over here. Sounds like, “I’m just in, I’m just in.”
Tom: Just be over here with my Coke Zero.[01:23:00]
Joe Rodonis: Tom, you know what, man? I freaking love it, dude, ’cause you’re in here and you’re vibing. You’re here for the vibes. Yeah. Tom’s like, “I’m doing it. I’m having a great time,” you
Crystal: know?
Tom: Just do enough to try and still be able to walk around Disney World when I’m 70.
Crystal: Love it.
Tom: You know?
Crystal: I mean, I’ll
Joe Rodonis: be there with
Crystal: you.
Tom: Yeah,
Crystal: seriously.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah. Seriously.
Tom: Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: That’s, that’s what it-
Tom: That’s plenty. Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: That’s what it’s about, man. That’s what it’s about. No, that is the bigger picture, right? I h- I hope people understand that. I just, man, I, we’ve gotten to, like, optimization culture, which is like there… Again, there’s things to learn, but I think if you’re trying to be efficient and optimize everything, it kinda sucks the fun out of the whole process.
Joe Rodonis: And, like, I see people do it with weightlifting all the time, where it’s just like you kinda enter the space and you’re like, “I want these results ASAP, and I wanna, like, do this hardcore right now.” But it’s like you haven’t had that intensity for a long time, and then all of a sudden you just wanna get into it at that level.
Joe Rodonis: It’s like, ease in, man. We got time. And that’s how you get- We got decades in front of you …
Tom: and that’s how you get hurt.
Joe Rodonis: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it [01:24:00] is.
Tom: Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: Truly. Mm-hmm. From a training side, yeah. And now you…
Tom: Yeah, and then now you’re definitely not gonna get where you wanna be. No. Right?
Joe Rodonis: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ‘
Tom: Cause you’ve injured yourself.
Tom: But I will also say as I see other people my age, like people I went to high school with, like, I’m really starting to see the branch off in terms of people who stay active and people who don’t. Mm-hmm. And that resonates in my head, especially on days where I’m just like, “Ugh, I don’t wanna go downstairs and do the tonal.”
Tom: And I’m just-
Crystal: He’s always excited to do the tonal. Yeah. Always.
Tom: I, I, I think about that- Amen … that jackweed I went to high school with that I’m Facebook friends with but I don’t really like, and what he looks like now.
Crystal: Yeah.
Tom: And I’m just like, “I’m gonna go do the tonal.”
Crystal: Good for you. Yeah.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, we’re gonna move today.
Joe Rodonis: We’re gonna lift today. Yeah. Right. No, it’s important, man. We’re gonna do the thing. It’s important. No, you do see- Yeah … these paths, man. Like, I just turned 40, and you start to see, like, how these decisions in your life start to, like, really create these different lanes, you know? Like, the compound effect- Yeah
Joe Rodonis: is very real. [01:25:00]
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: So true. I, I wanna make sure we give you a chance to tell, is there any aspect of the journey you’ve been on, that you’re on, that you wanna make sure and share that we haven’t covered?
Joe Rodonis: I think just from like a kind of a coaching side, just to kinda, uh, uh, ’cause I think this is an important thing when we’re talking about, like, development and, and going back to kind of maintenance and development and making sure you’re not doing too many things at once, is I always echo this, is like have a long-term perspective when you are training.
Joe Rodonis: You can have… There’s this balance that you have to strike where you have a sense of urgency, where you care to do your best work deliberately at a high level right now, while also having a high degree of patience with yourself to where you’re like, “I don’t have to be perfect today. I don’t… If I don’t execute today as brilliantly as maybe the plan said, it’s okay.
Joe Rodonis: Don’t beat yourself up, ’cause we have years,” right? So the example with this that I keep [01:26:00] coming back to is this phase development, just think about your year like that. Like, you can make your goals and your training goals year-long so that each quarter you can focus on a certain thing. With muscle development is the clearest example.
Joe Rodonis: Like, the best example I can give you is, like, in the bodybuilding world, is you have this goal of saying, “I wanna grow a specific part of my body. Like, I want a bigger chest, or I wanna focus on glutes or quads,” right? Focus on that for three months and develop that, meaning you are driving your volume into those areas to grow, right?
Joe Rodonis: ‘Cause you have a limited amount of energy, you have a limited amount of sets, and a limited amount of time. So if you went into that quarter and you said, “I wanna develop chest, shoulders, traps, arms, quads, everything,” then nothing’s gonna get done. You can do nothing. So focus on an area, develop it. It could be speed, it can be conditioning, it could be building [01:27:00] muscle, it could be strength, but develop it, and then move on to the next one.
Joe Rodonis: Move on to quarter two. Be like, “Now I’ve developed this. Now I can maintain that. I can develop this. I can maintain that,” go into a new, another development area. But always try to be specific with that. Don’t try to do everything at one time. And it’s a more fun process that way too.
Tom: All italics is the same as no italics.
Tom: That’s what I like to say.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, the master… What is the master of many is the master of none. Yeah.
Crystal: That’s right. That’s right.
Tom: Yeah.
Crystal: That’s right. You
Joe Rodonis: know?
Crystal: Well, first of all, thank you for doing this. Yes. I’m really excited for you and your journey. Excellent. I lo- I love seeing people do these kinds of events.
Crystal: I think it’s really fun. I think they are fun events, and it’s- Yeah … the cardio side of life comes really easy to me. It’s the weightlifting that’s really hard for me to stay focused on. So I, I love seeing people be able to do both. I think that’s really cool.
Tom: I think it’s great to see someone who is fit at the level you are still [01:28:00] find things that are challenging and is honest and vulnerable about that, right?
Tom: Yeah. It’s, that’s not always easy to do, and it’s also really easy to look at somebody who has worked as hard as you have to be where you’re at physically and just be like, “Well, he’s fine.” And-
Crystal: He doesn’t have to work on anything. Right. He’s perfect.
Tom: Yeah, and, and to hear that you’re like, “No, now I gotta figure out how to swim, and I gotta do this, and I got…”
Tom: Yeah. You know, it’s like you, you have your own things that are, maybe don’t come as easily to you as people might think at first blush.
Joe Rodonis: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I’ll… Yeah, it’s a good closing thought, honestly. On a personal level, man, I felt like, yeah, like I, I was achieving things that I wanted to do physically, right?
Joe Rodonis: And, like, I had felt good about the physique that I was creating, and I’d worked really hard at that. And you get to a spot where you’re like, “I could hang here for a while,” right? Like, I could stay in this lane where I’m just doing things that I’m kinda comfortable with. And I was toying with this for a while, man, but I always came back to this feeling that I was like, the point of training for me is not to [01:29:00] get to a spot and just hang there.
Joe Rodonis: It was, there’s also a mental component to me that if I’m not pushing myself in a meaningful way, in a way that I care about, and I’m not learning something new or challenging myself, I don’t feel at my best. You know? Like, I really think there’s something about being a beginner again that you learn something about yourself, and that vulnerability, I think, is a really powerful place to be.
Joe Rodonis: And, like, as a coach, I wanted to be that beginner again ’cause it makes me a better coach. ‘Cause I can be like, “Hey, man, I know what this feeling is like.” “I know what the nervousness is like.” And so yeah, I encourage everybody to do that, man, is you… There’s a great quote from one of my favorite books. It’s about the New Zealand All Blacks.
Joe Rodonis: It’s called Legacy. And the principle from that is when you’re at the top of your game, change your game. Mm-hmm. Continuously evolve. Do not just hang there. You’ve made it. You’ve done some great things. Change it up. Like, that’s the whole process, I think, with this.
Crystal: I love that. Yeah, absolutely. I love that. I think it serves people well throughout their lives, too.
Crystal: Yeah. [01:30:00] It’s good advice.
Tom: For sure. Good advice. Well, well, thank you so much for joining us. Before we let you go, just let everybody know where they can find you in all the places.
Joe Rodonis: Oh, man. Well, obviously on Tonal. We’re lifting weights and throwing down on there. And then mainly on Instagram. I’m on there at Joe Rodonis.
Joe Rodonis: Awesome.
Crystal: Awesome. Thank you so much.
Tom: Yes, thank you.
Joe Rodonis: Thank you, guys.
Tom: That was a fun talk
Crystal: Such a fun talk
Tom: Yeah, he’s a good dude
Crystal: He is Yeah I really like him
Tom: Eh, so, uh, I guess that brings this episode to a close. Until next week, where can people find you?
Crystal: People can find me on Facebook at facebook.com/crystaldoekeef.
Crystal: They can find me on Instagram threads, BlueSky, and the Peloton leaderboard @clipoutcrystal.
Tom: I almost said until next time, because on the super set I always said until next time ’cause it wasn’t weekly.
Crystal: Oh. So you got yourself all-
Tom: I got all… ‘Cause we were talking to Joe Rodonis. That’s- We
Crystal: haven’t done a super set in a long time We
Tom: have not Yeah Well, I guess we kinda just did
Crystal: Okay, that’s fair
Tom: Yeah.
Tom: So, uh, and you can find me on, uh, Facebook at facebook.com/tomokeef, or on BlueSky and Threads @tomoekeefjr, and you can find the show [01:31:00] online at facebook.com/theclipout. While you’re there, like the page, join the group. Of course, don’t forget our Patreon. All sorts of bonus content over there, and there are free seven-day trials if you’ve never given it a shot.
Tom: So you can check it out, download a bunch, and then never come back-
Crystal: And
Tom: dip …
Crystal: if you don’t like it Dip if you want
Tom: Yeah, like, whatever. That’s fine I
Crystal: mean, we won- Yeah … you know, no one got hurt or anything
Tom: Yeah. We’ll like you for seven days- Yeah … and then, yeah That’s it But, uh, but anyway as always, thank you so much for listening and supporting the show, and we’ll talk to you next week.
Tom: Until then, keep pedaling
Crystal: And running
Tom: And rowing
Crystal: Bye
Tom: Bye
The Clip Out is an independent Peloton news site with reporting, analysis, and community insights. We deliver breaking updates, feature reporting, and expert context on the stories driving the community and the industry.
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About the Author: Crystal OKeefe
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