6. Obese To Athlete

Foreign. Movement podcast. This is your host, Al. And in today's episode we are diving into a little bit of my personal story, expanding on, I guess, what I've, what I've gone through and talking about obese to athlete. It's really interesting as I move towards, you know, being a high performance coach for fathers specifically, you start to see patterns. And patterns are things that happen a lot. Right. Frequency the same things that happen a lot. And I see patterns in fatherhood, but I see the same patterns that are in fathers in the second half looking to get ahead and create changes in their life the right way and become a high performing father, that ultimately the seed was planted when they were young. And we all have these, we all have these patterns. Yes, they may be personalized or specific and there might be some slight variances and your name's different or your hair color's different or it's this different state or country or suburb. It's something where when we identify and recognize these though, we start to see the pathway to what can be and the possibility. Which is why I wanted to just do a short, sharp episode talking about obese to athlete and just expand on that a little bit. I know I spoke about it in my first episode, but just zoom in on that a little bit more to really highlight key things I was not aware of at the time. You'll see them throughout all episodes and all future episodes just trickled in here and there and everywhere. Not the same message, but the fundamentals, through many different messengers of these messages that really determine whether you want to have a life of greatness on your terms or not. Obese to athlete. See, here's an interesting part. I started off very young, when I was young, very fit and healthy and strong and got into soccer when I was three. Three and a bit. Dad being full wog, hence the last name Ranieri. If you roll a tongue, it's Ranieri, but it's riddled. In Australia anyway, there's not that many Ranieri's. There's a few but in Australia. Bloody hell. They love their vows, don't they, the Wogs? But dad loving soccer got me onto it and I loved it and I carved up. I was a big boy as well. Not fat, but like a big boy. Strong lad, good legs. So by the time I was actually six in under sixes, ah man, it was game over. I was destroying the field. It was, it was all too easy, you know, I'd score anywhere between three and seven goals a game and then I'd go into goalie to give the other kids a turn. Like, this is crazy stuff. Not tooting my own horn. There's nothing to brag about when you're, you know, five, six or seven years of age in life. Like, that's just one area of your life. There are stories I remember and there are some that I don't, of course, but dad would tell me and just be incredible, some of this sort of shit that I'd be doing. And, you know, I wish I remembered all of it because I'd be drawing on some inspiration from that sort of stuff at times when it gets tough, as it does for all of us through the daily grind and what life can be with fatherhood and whatnot. But it's something where I can't completely identify where and why. I took a bit of a. It's not a wrong term because of who I am now, but I took a bit of a turn away from that. And I'm not quite sure, I don't know if it's an environmental thing or what, but ultimately what began to happen was as I was seven, yeah, I was still pretty, pretty, pretty red hot. And then I was eight, started to put some weight on and put it on. I'm not sure where that came from. Like, there was a love for food. Yes, Mum and Dad still had good food in the house. We had shit food in the house, like a lot of families do. Obviously it's a lot more established the right way for me, my family and household. And I learned a lot from that. But, yeah, we still ate lots of good food. We were all very sporty and very athletic and strong throughout the course of entering into adulthood. But there was a period between 8 and 16 where I was heavily overweight and it was a love for food and a gluttony for food, and then cordial and drinking green cordial and getting McDonald's and takeaway and all this sort of shit. I just blew out, man. Like, I ended up becoming 114 kilos when I was 12 years of age. And, yeah, I wasn't, you know, I wasn't sloppy cellulitey, just sat down and did nothing. You know, I built some muscles and all that sort of stuff from playing sport and still sporty, but you couldn't really see the muscles either, so. So it wasn't like I was just slopping on a lounge. I still wanted to do things. And I played cricket and I played soccer, although it was more and more depressing because my abilities were lacking and lacking as they do with the Physical ability and health that comes with performance going hand in hand. But yeah, I just put on the weight, man. I couldn't, Couldn't believe where I was going. And that in itself was a habit. It was a behavioral pattern that came down to a choice in who I was. And that's when I say, I don't know where it come from. I'm not sure where the trigger lied, but it was a belief in who I was and that was my identity. Was it something that brought comfort? Yeah. Was it a broken house that I was raised in? No. You know, like, did I have two older brothers that wailed on me but also loved and protected me? Well, yes. So I went both ways. You know, I'm blessed for my brothers protected me. And then I love the good times we had together and also didn't like the times when they picked on me. Just like I'm sure they didn't appreciate the times when I was a pain in the ass to them. This is life, right? Family of four, four boys. It is what it is. But, you know, mum and dad were unbelievably loving and great and guiding and incredibly influential in my life. And then also there were crazy times when they could have done things better as a parent. Just like I can do things better as a parent. Like, it's not something that seemed out of the ordinary, but for me, it certainly became a reinforced habit and behavior. How I turned up that defined who I was. The fat kid who loved playing sports. I still had some ability, but I could never sustain it. And I just loved food and computer games. So this unfortunately spiraled into an identity and a choice that I stuck with that then became a socially accepted and a socially ridiculed position where, yeah, I got bullied, I got picked on, and, you know, it's something that was really hard. Like I used to look at myself in the mirror and spit at the mirror and call myself a useless fat piece of shit. And just like, I hated myself at times. And there are other times I resort to pleasures and I reward myself and do all sorts of forms of, I guess, gluttony with food and technology and playing computer games, all that sort of stuff. But yeah, there are also times where I really didn't like who I was. And then whilst I defended myself and stood up for myself against a lot of people behind closed doors, even right now, thinking about all these weird memories that are just pop into my head literally right now doing this is like, fuck, man, that's some heavy. You know, some, some times where not that I ever took any attempts on my life. But there were just times where I was like, ah, man, what. What's the point of living? And, you know, all that sort of stuff. But even though sometimes we might throw our hands in the air at life with some crazy curveballs and that hits us. And we say that as a young boy and a teenager, I look at that, I'm like, wow. Like we. We got to remember how much we are balancing on a knife's edge with all those hormones and everything going through, where being in the wrong environment or taking one wrong turn or acting out of one bad thought can have irreversible damage. So I do feel blessed in that respect, but in saying that it was hard because here I am having this identity crisis where I still had snippets and memories of being a good performer in sports and a high performer in those areas when I applied with schoolwork and other things and a great friend and funny and all that sort of shit. But then also there was just this big fucking set of baggage, both physically and ment. Mentally, that was pulling me down and pulling me apart. This is the crazy part, though. And I only ever realized that. Well, probably into my late, not Even my late 20s, I'd say early 30s, I realized this. And what I realized was the transformation in my life. Whilst it had an element of a love for greatness, it also had an element of a fear of failure. That drove me to change. Isn't it interesting? Moving away from the alternative, moving away from what will happen if we don't change, moving away from the pain that will be. That will inevitably consume our life. That's what drove me. Girls weren't talking to me, didn't have girlfriends, guys were picking on me, bullying on me. Perceived power in society and community standards is performance. How you stand up posturally, how you carry yourself, how you perform in sport, in life with girls, with other guys, your popularity, all that sort of shit, Right? And it was really hard to see that at the time, but it drove me now. Yes, there was a deep burning desire that wasn't that now the inner flame was a love for greatness. I absolutely believe that. Like, there's a higher version of Al who is whispering in that version of Alzy. Just like right now, there's a higher version of Al who's whispering in the current version of Al's ear, saying, hey, mate, this is what you can do. You can do it. Breakthrough, get uncomfortable, Push, strive, achieve, get after it. We have that, whether you want to listen to it. Or not. You all have that. And for me, that was there, but the bigger flame surrounding that, that was more noticeable and more obvious, was a fear of failure. What did that look like? Because fear's a funny word when it comes to males. It's like. Well, it's not like I was afraid of getting a fight or punch on. I had plenty of punch ons in school defending myself. Not that I'm saying I'm some, you know, amazing combat fighter or some bloody sort of UFC bloke, but at the same time, yeah, I defended myself and I stood up for myself. But fear of failure was me going, fuck them. I'll prove it to them. I'll show them. I'll show everyone what I'm made of. I'll show them what I can do. That that is a pathway for a lot of elite athletes and a lot of successful. And when I say successful, I use it with, with speech marks or verticals. Like, success to me is not something that is completely driven by a fear of failure, but that has gotten a lot of people a lot of fame, fortune, a lot of opportunity. It is absolutely a tool and a vessel that can be used. Unfortunately, it's not fulfilling and long term, it's detrimental to the point where you don't know who you are. You have no identity, and there is no fulfillment or significance in your life because you've used external factors and external points of validation to determine who you are. That's a dangerous, slippery slope, my friend. You must be careful of that. It can help you, though. It can drive you. And that's what I used. Started training when I was 13 years of age and trained for over 20 years now and took. Took the training cut out cordial, used to go down to the oval and just start walking around. And my wife was asking me this. She was like, what? What changed? Like, how did you start. How did you change and turn it all around? I was like, I don't know. Like, I wish I knew. I wish I knew. When I say that in a fire, it's almost like you look back over periods of your life and it's like, wow. I don't even know if I was consciously aware in that time. It's just a blur. It really is. And I'm sure a lot of us are like that. Life is fast. It is a flash in the pan. But I was like, I don't know the day. Like, I wish I had a journal. I wish I had video or technology like we do today. I wish I just saw. I just want to know what was going through that version of Al's head. I just wish I knew because I, man, I feel blessed to be here. Like I feel so blessed to be here. I feel blessed to be alive, as we all should. I've lost friends already in their 30s and 40s, which is crazy, you know, they've passed. We had a couple of school friends and whatnot that died early too in the teenage years and early twenties and suicide and other things that were pretty tough. So I'm blessed to be here. But I was like, fuck, man. What, what stoked that fire inside of little Al that got him fucking moving. Because I'm so grateful for that and where I am and how I impact thousands of fathers lives now and help fathers all across Australia and help families and lift my family. It's just a blessing. And I don't know, but there was something. And I do know how it started though. And maybe it was one bully going too far. Maybe it was something my brothers said, maybe something my parents said, I don't know. But what I do know is I took action. I went down to the park, it was about a kilometer away. I walked down there, walk a couple laps of the oval and walk home. I cut out green cordial and no more McDonald's. That's all I did. I do remember that. I remember that. Couple of habit changes. That was it. I walk down, I walk a few more laps around the oval. I'd eat a little bit less shit food or drink a little bit less coke. I started running, started jogging, keep lifting weights, keep doing my weights, looking at pictures of Arnie. We had heaps of black and whites of Arnie originals. They were awesome. They were epic and had them in the garage and used to train hard. Dad was awesome. He set up an amazing home gym. Like it was so good. We had everything from a leg press, like a pull up bar, dip bar. Obviously couldn't use them at the time or not when I was at that age anyway. But obviously I got strong and changed. But so much weight. Like we had about nearly a thousand kilos in weights that we use for leg press and other bits and pieces, heaps. It was unbelievable. Like pulleys, machines, sit up machine. It was unbelievable. Dad did an amazing job and I'm incredibly grateful for him for that lift me weight, started running and hooked in and started hooking in and more and more and more by the time I was 16 and then when I was nearly 17, did the beep test, got just under 10, which is a pretty good score. Like, I know there's guys who get 11, 12s and then 15s and 16s, but for me, where I was at the shift was when one of my schoolmates, Josh Ball, reached out and said, man, fucking the chicks. The chicks, man, they're like, fuck, look at Red go. Look at him go. Like, he come third in that beep test. I look at him, he's like, yeah, he's turned all his muscle into fat. And obviously didn't have the heart to tell him that's impossible, you know, because, you know, fat's an energy source and muscles living tissue. But I was like, yeah, man, that's what I'm doing. Because obviously I started researching this, I started diving into becoming passionate of mine. It became an obsession where it was just incredible to see the changes in my life, my confidence, and now seeing that externally, which is why when I say fear of failure, I was driven by that. Let me show you what I can do. I became the arm wrestling king. I was the best arm wrestler in our grade in year 12, which means I was the top in the school because I was doing weights and done weights longer than anyone else. And I was bigger than most and bigger than any of the year Eleveners. And obviously there are no year 10s that could compete with an arm wrestle against me. So I turned into this funny thing where all of a sudden all I did off the back of just those little micro changes and commitments and habits, I moved them and I moved them into becoming a better version of who I was. And I moved it into a powerful person, a powerful man. And I was ripping in like I went out of nowhere. I was playing touch footy, playing footy with school, doing all sorts of different sports. And I was ultra competitive. Had to win. Nearly had punch ons with him, mates, everything. I had to win, no matter what the cost. Touch footy at school, touch footy at home, at the park. Everything was a competition. I had to beat everyone like I am when I'm thinking about it right now. I am an ultra competitor. Like, there is, I'm sure there are, maybe there aren't, but in my own head, when I turn into that robot mode, I will not stop. Like, you will not beat me. It just doesn't happen. It's why, you know, I became the fittest man in the world in the arena of CrossFit for my size. There's no one doing what I was doing.112 kilos and 6 foot 4, doing ring muscle ups and handstand walks and handstand push. Ups and cleaning jerks and snatches and all this sort of crazy shit against guys, you know, half a foot smaller than me and 20 kilos lighter than me and beating a lot of them that people would look at that and go, I don't know how the fuck is Al doing that? And doing it clean and natural, mind you not. Not that this is an episode to talk about drugs in sport, but yeah, it's certain exist largely in the CrossFit world, unfortunately because of the regulations. But it's something that was just a part of me, A, because of ethics, but B, because it's just what it was, playing elite sport and getting drug tested all the time. With rugby league it was the norm. It's like, well, why would you even do that? Why would you take that chance? I didn't quite understand. But anyway, each to their own. But for me, yes, ultra competitive. And this turned into this monster where it is now transitioned to an ultra competitive man against the current version of who Al is to become, the next version of Al can become. And that means I will not stop until I win in family. I will not stop until I win in service. I will not stop until I win in myself. Can you. Can you believe. And I left a gap which I'll go back into obviously becoming an elite athlete. But can you believe off the back of just cutting green cordial, it's called GI Lime. I think they changed the name to cooler. Cutting that shit out, cutting McDonald's and just walking around the oval turned into this. Can you see how just like people talk about compound interest or playing the stock market or interest rates or the compound investments and over the long game with other areas. People talk about this in all things people, places and things outside of themselves, but they don't actually explore, search and discover this beautiful opportunity of compound interest inside of themselves. This is someone who went. And I'll fill that gap in now from playing one game, one year of rugby league when I was 13, one year when I was just that big fat fucking slop that just did nothing and was on the bench and did nothing, literally and threw it away. Actually I gave up to then coming back off the back of finishing year 12, doing weights for five, six years at that time. And I'm just going to chance my army. I'm going to try it for the St. Mary saints. They won it the year before. That was C grade under 19. So they won it the year before. Why not? If we're going to go for it, may as well go for the best. Like this was this was the confidence and also the love for challenge that was inside of me. It wasn't arrogance. I knew I wasn't the best rugby league player, hadn't even played. I played one year in under 13s and did nothing. I went in there and it was a squad of 40. They won it the year before. St. Mary's and St. Dom's St. Dominic's I think they changed their name to Brothers. It was those two teams always that were the two best in C grade. And I went through C grade pre season, destroyed everyone. Like I was doing the sprint and speed stuff and fitness and beating the backs and, and dominating the forwards and just because of my work ethic and obviously because of the base I had. I wasn't somebody who went out and got on the piss. I had a girlfriend who kept me grounded. Like I didn't go and do all that sort of silly that boys do. And the coach just looked at me and said, man, I don't know how well this guy can play, but I've got to have him. His name was Troy Castle. Cass. And I feel blessed. Cass, don't know if you'll ever hear this episode, mate, or even if you follow me anymore, but. Or if you ever follow me to start with, but Cass obviously saw something in me and gave me a shot and I was the black sheep. Like you had the tight crew from the year before. You had all the guys who'd been to different clubs and they all knew each other. So, you know, and I put it on a couple of guys when there was this friction, I was like, look, I don't know what problem you guys have with me, but I'm here to work hard. I want to win. And I just, you know, what do I need to do? Like, why are you giving me flack? And I guess that's what I love most anytime I've ever had issues in my life. Always. I've always been direct and gone to the source. Like fuck whingeing or complaining or bitching it, like straight to the source. They respected me for it. I was someone who went from nothing making that squad to obviously then getting onto the bench to then getting a shot at starting front row lock to getting men of the matches and. And I went from that exploding into the finals to having those guys who used to wow me. We were a tight fucking crew. We lost the grand final against St. Dominic's or Brothers and made some good mates from there too because out of that I had four clubs chasing me from Tigers, Roosters, I Think Sharks and then obviously Panthers and then half of the basically panthers was half St. Dom's and half St. Marys. So I met a lot of those guys after the GF and that GF hurt me as well because I worked hard and I'm a very competitive man and it was crazy to see this. Then roll into Jersey flag under 20s for the Panthers, then roll into that year again on the bench, starting forward, man of the match. Then into reserve grade. Played a couple of reserve grade games which was Premier League at the time for the Samaris Penrith Cougars, which was the Penrith Panthers reserve grade team to then that year after turning up, turning up at the wrong time and day to Matt Elliott who'd just taken over the team and it's like the first grade squad and Tracy who was the woman there, like the, the not welfare officer but she was looking after, you know, operations and that sort of stuff for the, for the club and it was almost like I guess shepherding me or trying to shunt me out of the meeting because Matt Elliott was giving his first address because he just joined the club as the head coach and he's had his coaching staff there. I met Carol Jennings as well, which is a phenomenal guy. He's, he's an incredible man. But to him going, no, it's all right, don't worry about Tracy, you just stay mating and just train today and we'll sort you out. And I got to meet Tony Puller tour and Joel Clinton and Luke's. Luke Swain would gone at the time, but I worked with him the year before but he was still sort of, he was part of that, that Premiership winning group, right? And Trent Waterhouse and oh, just, just legends, absolute legends. Great, great crew and tight crew. But I trained that day. Trade the fucking house down. And he's like, just come back tomorrow. What do you do? I study at tafe, mate. I'm doing network engineering, graphic design, all this sort of stuff, computer stuff because I still love computers. He's like, I'll just come back tomorrow if you can make it come in and blah, blah. I ended up doing the whole preseason with first grade and I didn't get the trial with them but I crushed and dominated reserve grade trials and I was the top there. I was even performing better than guys who were legitimately in their first grade squad. And they love me and I love them and it was fucking amazing. I couldn't believe it. But at the same time I could, but I couldn't believe it because there are things you can't control. Like, he could have shunted me, Cass. Troy Castle could have gone, oh, mate, you haven't even played footy. Don't worry about it. Don't even worry about preseason. Like, there are so many times where if you just back yourself and you go, don't ask for permission, just do it. Just fucking go. And then maybe ask for forgiveness if it turns out to be the wrong thing or, you know, seek reassurance in going, yeah, you know what, maybe I could have done this or kind of that. But, you know, this is what I went for and this is the value I can offer, this is the value I can add, and this is what I stand for. If you do that out of a place of love and back yourself as a father, as a man, as a husband, chances are the odds will be in your favor and they'll turn in your favor against all adversity. Like, can you believe this? Right? This is a kid who was heavily depressed, overweight, obese, all the way through to about 16. So, you know, 16, I was still a big boy, but it started to turn. So even if we said 15, four years time, I went from nothing, never even playing rugby league, to being on a first grade rugby league squad. And even if you want to like shorten that up a little bit more in the, in different contexts, I went from playing my first rugby league trial, my first real one, because under 13s didn't even exist. That was, that was a clown show for me where I just sat on the sideline. I was just making up numbers. I went from that first preseason, well, the first preseason training session, which was an absolute dust bowl horrific heat, and I crushed it. Like, I look back now and I get excited talking about it actually. Like, I wish, I wish I could relive some of it because I look at some of the hardships, some of the adversities, I'm like, holy, man, I need to tap into some of that again. Because there are times as a father where we're struggling, where we're tired, where we're a bit burnt out or a bit run down. It's like, man, I need to tap into that. Hear that Youth is wasted on the young. Like, you know, I'm in my mid-30s saying that I can't imagine people with a 40, 50, 60 looking back and relishing the chances they had when they've got that youth, that zest. Yeah, I remember dad wrapping up, putting lead around a shop put that I borrowed from school and I worked and practiced and practiced. Year 11 Year 12 I came second in the state, second in New South Wales. And I would have won the all ages if. If they had let me or if they had have Emmaus. The school I went to had given me the opportunity to register on the day for a small fee because I missed the cutoff date to register. And I would have fucking destroyed the 18 year old that was competing. I came second because the 17 year old was a gun and he won his all age across the country he won that one. But the 18 year old undershot what I shot in the New South Wales championships and I was like man, I can't believe I just did that shit and I came second in the state. But can you believe going from. Please understand too this is not an episode about me gassing myself up. This is just reminiscing over a recognition of action from fucking backing yourself and doing what's needed to be done and breaking out of the pattern or the norm or the habits that you believe that you choose make up your identity to form a new identity. I went from my first preseason training session in 18 months to training with first grade rugby league team at Penrith Panthers. Recovery, food, the gymnasium, everything. It's video sessions. It's fucking amazing, man. I didn't have a glamorous career. I had nine operations over a six year period. Body was shot to shit. My time at the St. George Dragons was fucking horrific. Especially with Wayne Bennett. That guy was a fucking nightmare. Like when you want to talk about true leadership or authoritarianism and that line of almost dictatorship leadership, to me that was fucking ridiculous. Like he should have won way more premierships than he did. But maybe that's for another time. And again I'm not here to talk shit about him. All I do is simply observe actions. Me heading into the second half in life as a, as a leader, spearheading the greatest movement in this country, forefathers, which is real dad movement. I look back in the times when there were guys who are supposed leaders because of the influence power and control had over others and I see very, very few leaders and he definitely was not one of them. But going through that with the Penrith Panthers, that was a phenomenal experience. The Dragons destroyed my life in many different ways. And the South Sydney Rabidos reserve grade and first grade squad, like all of that sort of stuff, it crushed me. Ended up playing for Italy. It was amazing. Lost my career. Popped my shoulder overseas in Serbia 2011, gone like six years. That was it. Like 2005, 2011, bang. Nine operations. So whilst I didn't have a glamorous first grade career. I couldn't believe that going from obese to an elite athlete was something that purely became a part of my life and started with a shift in identity because I took that into becoming the fittest CrossFit competitor in the world for my size, my height and weight. So as an elite athlete, over the course of doing 43 CrossFit competitions over an eight year period of being an elite athlete for 15 years, six to six and a half years with footy, eight, eight and a half years with CrossFit, running gyms, running businesses, inspiring others, helping coaching people, running various programs for fathers and obviously birthing RDM in 2018. And here we are. But this is something that when I look over, I'm like, man, it is purely a choice of identity. Going from obese to elite athlete, from simply a man to leading fathers across the country. It is a choice. You have those choices as well. Don't waste that. Use those choices wisely or use the opportunity you have to make choices wisely to decide who it is that you want to be, why that's important for you and how are you going to get there and just start taking action. Man, all you need is 1%. Plant that seed and it's a seed of identity. That's what you're planting. Being a free thinker, using your free will, exercising that right with your choices, who you choose to be, who you define yourself as and what that looks like and what that identity looks like. And yes, you might fantasize, you might dream, you might visualize their goals. It's all there. And it might seem like it's far away, but bit by bit, fuck, man. Have a look at what I'm doing now. Can you imagine if I keep doing this, if I apply that same approach 10 years time, 20 years time and my mid-50s, what a fucking empire we'll build. All because of that identity shift. And just following that and just, just having it just far enough away, you just got to chase a little bit and being ultra competitive, but not against others with yourself and the current version of who you are, knowing full well you might be great, you might be a great man, but great will ultimately be relinquished back to good if you steal more time in life, staying at the current version of you are, of who you are, take that great and make it great even more. Make it even greater, make it even greater. And if you feel like you're just good, no worries, mate. Turn good into great and shift that paradigm inside your head to create a new identity of who you choose to be. For yourself, for your family, for your children, for your wife and fucking. Move into that space. Occupy that space immediately. That's yours, man. Claim it. Make it yours. It belongs to you. I hope you enjoyed this podcast episode and got a lot out of it. Make sure you tune into more episodes and really follow the journey in the path of what we do, how we operate, and apply action above anything else. Apply action to your life and make this stick. Make this part of who you are. Because this is your life, man. This is your world. And it truly can be within the constructs of what you need to do over time. Putting the work in. I understand all that. We're not just going to grow wings and fly away. But this truly can be whatever you choose it to be. You can create whatever you want in this world if you're willing to visualize it and put the time in and put the work in and shed the skin of the older version of who you are.