8. One Of The Fittest Fathers And Businessman In The Country

Talk about the gift that is Chris Manoradi.

Such a gift.

I'm going to put that at the start of our episode now.

Yeah, good.

Excellent. Did you do your hair for this, mate? Haven't got rid of those grays yet. Oh, look at this. They won't be able to see those biceps if they're not watching the YouTube channel. They're just gonna hear you laughing. And I'll say it right now, the microphone's excellent. You've done well. You've done well, mate. Those biceps look good. Some extra arm curls.

Always.

Yes, guys, you got to check it out. You got to watch the first 20 seconds on YouTube. G', day, everyone. My name is Big Red, but you already know that. Welcome to the Real Dad Movement podcast. We've got an amazingly delicious guest today. Not sure if that's the terminology. Is that what you prefer? Use that word a lot? Mr. Chris Christopher Manoriti. Yeah.

Luscious lips. They call me luscious.

Welcome to the show, Champion. How are we? How's your day been so far?

Yeah, good. Rest day is always a good day. Spent it down at the beach with.

The kids, so they're just.

They're falling asleep now, so perfect time to jump on the podcast.

Oh, lovely, lovely. No more Nintendo DS for the little man. That his birthday present recently. What's that?

I say he's asleep, but he's playing it and she's asleep.

What's that show that we got to start a TV show as Bad decisions by good Parents. I love it.

You can have it.

But just look, guys, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. That's it. We'll see you next week. So thanks for joining us, Chris, mate, what an amazing journey. I've known you for a while now, and Chris, for those who may not know, is one of the top athletes in, well, the Southern hemisphere, to be fair. And Chris competed at the Down Under Challenge Championship, which was in Wollongong. Previously known as Regionals. It's where the best athletes and some from international come to compete, throw down, showcase their wares, so to speak. And a lot of hard work, not three months, not six months, years goes into that moment, experience. And I should know. I've been there. And that's certainly not in a toot. My own horn light. I wore lots of red tights, and there's some. There's some eyes that will never be healed because of that. So I do apologize, guys, but I can't take it back. Those tights are still real. They feel like it's healed. My Eyes. It's healed. It's healed. Yeah, there we go. Well, it depends on how you look at it, I guess. And when I say it, I'm not talking about parts of my body, I'm talking about the circumstance of a large man out on the floor wearing red tights. This isn't about, this isn't about what I do on Friday nights now. Chris, I'd love to start with you, mate, and what got you into CrossFit, which starts, I believe in the army and you experience some of the values, the principles, the disciplines that can come with that, which would be awesome for you to initially start off and share with all of us, mate, those watching or listening, your experiences with the army. Because we know the army, know what it is, but we, a lot of us haven't been there and done that, so to speak, in the trenches and going through what looks like a pretty disciplined period of people's lives. So talk to us, mate. How did it all start with yourself leaving school or whenever you left school, getting into the army and then progressing through and obviously starting your CrossFit campaign and career?

Yeah, well, so it all started back in, I think it was early 2008 or mid 2008. I was doing my half yearlies for year 12 and I had no idea what I wanted to do once I got out. I'd done a few work experience weeks with like trades and I did carpentry mechanics and can't remember something like even like a chef and cooking and all that sort of stuff. And it just never resonated with me and I just never wanted to, just felt like I didn't want to go down that path. And basically a couple of weeks after finishing all those, those weeks of work experience, a mate that I used to go surfing with, he funny enough got drunk, rang the defense hotline and signed up to go do a session and, and get an interview, him and his mate. And so they went and did that and ended up getting in. And I just thought what a great opportunity to follow in their footsteps. I looked up to them, they were older than me as well, and I always went surfing with them. Every morning we'd be down at the beach. So I took in what they had done and about a year later, so that was. That brought us into 2009. I said that if I get in then I was going to leave school and if I didn't then I'd finish year 12. But I ended up getting accepted and the process moved quite quickly. So that was like, as I started year 12 and I pretty much left straight away. I sold my car, use that money to live, off to train. And it was July. I ended up enlisting and did my initial training down in Wagga at Kapuka. And from there basically my life just turned completely upside down. I was just a little surfy boy from Bateman's Bay. Remember sleeping in that bed thinking, what the fuck have I done? Like as soon as we got off the bus, they were into us, just yelling at us, we're all scum, we're all at the bottom of the food chain, all that good stuff. And I remember that first night going, oh, this is going to be hard. Like what am I doing? Am I going to do this? But I'd never been one to quit. So I stuck it out. Just everyone was saying, get through the first two weeks and just remember that it's a game. And this was not what the army and or the real army was like. So long story short, got through it all and stuck it out and I, I ended up being posted out to Brisbane in Inaugura and I was in cavalry and being in the army sort of thing mentality. We're all six foot tall and bulletproof, but for some reason we're all shit kickers. Like the way that the discipline worked. I look at it now and I just laugh because like they bring you up to be such a, you know, you're here to fight wars, you're the best of the best, but then when you do something wrong, you know, you're scum, you're below us, you're this, this, that. Like it's a mentally screwed sort of way to bring people up.

What, what is, what is cavalry? What's, what's cavalry? Can you explain that as well quickly.

Well, we're not riding horses these days anymore. It's only the old guys that do that sort of stuff. So I ended up being a commander of an Aslav, which is a, it's an eight wheeled looking tank, so to speak. If anyone here was cavalry and they heard me say that it's an eight wheeled tank, they'd probably hate me because we're not tankies, we're cavalry. We're a completely separate entity. Hated that, everyone. Yeah, we're not, we're not tankies, we're cavalry with the tip of the spear.

That's right.

No, no, we were basically. They say we're on the front line, we're the recon sort of stuff.

Yeah. Okay. And why do you just. Before we continue on with your, with your journey in Going through the army, why do you think right at the start that they do that? Is it to grill and gruel and weed out the week or something? Or like why is there that intimidation and that sort of level of command and authority from the get go?

I think it's more like a very. It's that they. Everything they do is very old school. Like there's only when I left in 2016 were they starting to bring in new things like mental wise and they. The way they seen it was they like to break a person down to rebuild them from their foundations up. So everything that you've gone through, they just like to make sure that they nut all the crap that you've been throughout, they don't want you to deal with or they don't want to deal with all the stuff that you've experienced in life already because this is what they want you to experience. And basically someone's easier to build from the foundations up than it is with someone who's already got a, you know, a full glass.

Yeah, okay.

That's the way I seen it anyway. That sort of, it does weed people out. If someone has already got a full glass, like people left within the first couple of weeks. Grass we had people leave within four weeks left. So if you got a month ago, just stick it out. So.

Wow. Yeah, there you go. Well, yeah, I guess right or wrong, it does make sense that they would put, put things like that in place, I guess. But look mate, you get stationed at Brizzy and you're spending some time there, what happens next?

So being in the army mentality, everyone's at the gym, everyone wants to be that 6 foot tall and bulletproof kind of guy, you know. I started hitting the gym with the boys. I mean when I joined and when I got out of employment training, I was 67 kilos, I think I was, and running a 2.4 kilometer run in under eight minutes. I couldn't imagine doing that sort of stuff now. But that wasn't the cool thing. You can't flex cardio. So everyone was down at the gym getting buff, getting big back tries and buys, all that sort of stuff. And I think I did that for about three years until it kind of. I realized that it was becoming a waste of time in the fact that I was, I was getting all these gains and I was putting on weight and I started to lift more weights and get stronger. But then we'd get sent away for six weeks and then I'd go back to the gym and I was back at square One. I said, what? Why am I doing this? Like, I'm just going back and forth. It's like Groundhog Day every couple of months it was just Groundhog Day. So I think it was about 2014 or 2013. A mate signed up to a CrossFit gym and fell in love with it. And then he dragged me into it and I remember, I think I did my. The first CrossFit work that I ever did was Fran and the 2115, nine pull ups and thrusters at 42 kilos and man, it took me like 15 minutes. Now I did that in like under three, three or under two and a half minutes now. And I remember doing that and just wanting to throw up. I was dying. But the funny thing was like, I just felt so good. Had my protein shake afterwards and I just felt, I felt really good. And so I continued it and I stuck it out. And what I noticed was that when I went away and then came back, I hadn't lost anywhere near as much gains as you want, however you want to put it, compared to what I did when I was isolating and doing bodybuilding stuff. So that kind of just went into like a full time thing. And I, I tried to do it every day, but it was hard. When I first started it was like once every week. I think that was enough. And I was sore for the rest of the week, too scared to go.

Excuse me.

God bless me.

Thank you, sir. Excuse me, apologies. Yes. Yeah, well, that's interesting, isn't it? That whole concept of putting muscle on and looking buff and looking at the goods. But obviously there's a huge element I'd imagine to endurance and conditioning with the army and. Sounds like, mate, you found a perfect blend in starting CrossFit to mesh the two. Putting on some muscle and getting or retaining your fitness as well.

Yeah, absolutely. And it kind of got me a bit hungry to show everyone else in the army because it works so well with what we do in the military as well. So it helped in every aspect of our careers. And that's when I became a. I guess it would be a personal trainer. And I then became responsible for 300 and something blokes, basic fitness levels and, and that's what, that's basically where I fell in love with fitness was, was back around there in 2014.

It was cool.

Even got to put the Prime Minister through a session which was pretty sick. The man wasn't Tony Abbott back then. He was fitter than half the boys had. It was embarrassing.

Oh, Jesus. Yeah, well, he does, I think yeah, well, it looks like he's. I remember pictures and that sort of stuff floating around of him in his Speedos. Not sure why. It's the only memory I have of our previous partners.

That's the memory.

Seems like he kept pretty fit, but that would have been pretty funny to watch.

Yeah, it's great.

So, look, you started training people PT and looking after sounds like a fairly large amount of crew to get them up to speed and up to scratch. What happened from there, like, was it CrossFit started to take priorities or things happened and you didn't feel like you wanted to be part of. Like, how long were you part of the army for? And then what made you decide to move on and look at different. Different part of your life, a different career.

So basically, that was kind of the turning point. So I'm very thankful for my mate to introducing CrossFit, because that was kind of the turning point for me with the military. I started to notice that especially our core, we were very stuck in our old ways. And that's why I became the personal trainer to change the mentality on fitness and what we do as a whole. And it worked. Like, I became very respected in that regard for very good sessions and keeping people's standards. I know it's a very minimal standard. Like, it's a very easy standard to hold, but a lot of people didn't want to do that. And I was just very good at motivating those people to stay above that standard. And basically it kind of got to the point, though, where I started to realize it was good for the soldiers and the people around my age, but the people who were above me, like the hierarchy and that, like, they started cheating their basic fitness assessments whilst I was running them, and it was just to get themselves over the line. And I remember I ended up catching one out, catching a guy out, and I was like, no, I'm not. I'm not gonna hide this or. Or say that you par. Like, he put down a time that was on the run that wasn't. That was. I knew he didn't get. I watched him cross the finish line. I knew. I knew the time that everyone had to get. And he crossed that line after that time, and I ended up putting it forward. And he got stuck, actually, because that stopped him from being promoted. And he got stuck in his role for quite some time because of the cheating. And it kind of made me realize that it was happening a lot more. Guys weren't even participating. And then because they were in that position of authority, they could sign themselves off. And I just hated that mentality from higher when that we're supposed to look to them for respect. And I tried my best to change it and get everyone involved. I even. We had a massive hangar that was being used for nothing, like there was nothing in it. And I tried to. I got Alpha Fit involved and they were ready to fit it out and rig up the whole hangar with cages and everything and barbells. A whole CrossFit gym setup essentially like the one at CrossFit. Raw Commando, funnily enough. And I put it through to the committee and every soldier was on board with it but. And we had a lot of money in the soldiers bank which is supposed to be for us. And it got knocked back because the warrant officers and the older guys wanted to spend it on a function and spend it on alcohol and piss and like on this one night and whatever. And I try to. I tried again and again and it just didn't work. And it just got to a point where I just started to realize I wasn't going to make a change in there and. But this is the path I wanted to go. And I even made the intermediates for what a palooza. And so I put it forward to try and get sponsored by the armies as well to go on, go over to Miami and compete. And they just didn't recognize that. They didn't know what I was talking about and they just didn't care. So that was kind of the end of it for me. And I continued to be away from. Sorry I mentioned that whilst all this was happening I found my wife and we had two beautiful children and I missed everything. I missed all the first, first steps, first birthdays, first words. And they weren't the greatest of pregnancies because I was a positive blood type. My wife, she's a negative blood type and the kids become positive blood type. They got my blood type and her body just was fighting it as if it was an infection. So the pregnancies were horrible and they just didn't care and I was just away a whole lot of the time and it just wasn't healthy for us. And so I had to start thinking about the family and I decided to get out in 2016 and mind you, I spent four years prior to that trying to transfer. But I was too valuable to them so they didn't want to let me leave the corps so I decided to leave the Defence Force altogether. That's when I became a plumber or an apprentice plumber.

Yeah, well that's. That's quite a, Quite a story too, mate. But that's crazy. So now I know where the term fat cats comes from. It sounds like to me you're in an environment that this isn't judgment, this is pure observation. From what Chris has told me, you're an environment where people are looking to skip the system, especially those in power, in a higher level of authority, which they feel it's their right to not hold a bare minimum standard, which from the sounds of things, like you said, is fairly achievable. That's pretty toxic, mate. That's pretty poisonous. And you doing your due diligence and being fair across the board and being structured and disciplined in what they've trained you to do, ended up backfiring because it caught someone out who was in a higher role. And I'm sure, you know, things would have spread around and from that position, it's gone from, well, we're not going to let him leave and we're going to make it very hard for him as well. Which they wouldn't even let you transfer. It's really too valuable. Yet they wouldn't even take some of those. Yes, it was a very, it was.

A very stressful time. Especially the whole. I had to, I was declining promotions as well, because if I knew that if I took the promotion, then my, my feet were concreted and set in stone in that, in that position, they were definitely weren't going to let me leave. And, and there was the whole trader mentality. I was a trader because I wanted to leave. So I was like, well, if you don't let me transfer and stay, like, I'm still an asset if you don't let me transfer to something else. I want to stay in the Defense Force, but, you know, I'm just gonna leave if you don't let me go. But yeah, unfortunately that's, that's the way it worked. And I just got out of there. I had to do what was best for me and what was best for my family. And yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't take it back at all. Like, all that sort of stuff gives me the drive now because I know even though, you know, there were hard times and there was a lot of shit that went on that, you know, I wish I didn't do and, and the person that I was, I still look at that now and I know that it's like you talk about the two sides of the coin. I get. I can see that to double side now. Like, I can see that side that, that's not who I want to be and know what that creates. So now at least I can consciously push and try to be the person that I want to be.

Oh, definitely, mate. And you know what? Not to shift gears, but it would appear to me, even from a metaphorical or philosophical point of view, many, many people in their lives probably have similar scenarios to yourself. Not in the army, not in being controlled, manipulated, but in restricting themselves and remaining a part of an environment that obviously isn't serving them anymore, which I feel happens to a lot of people in today's world, mate. And they settle, they accept it. That is their life, it's what they do. And they've got that little bit of bitterness or resentment where everything is about cohesion and relationships and you want to get that win, win, even if there's a period of slight compromise, a win lose or a lose win, no one wins in the end. And credit to you, man, that's a lot of respect, especially that environment. Be a lot of pressures, like you said, the trade of this, that. Now let's try and get you to conform instead of living your truth and credit to you, mate, for sticking to your guns and coming out the other side. Because if you didn't, mate, you wouldn't have met me.

Yeah, that's right.

So I'm sorry for that. I'm just kidding. So look, mate, you started your plumbing ends. Talk me through it. Where are we at now? Just before we dive into the CrossFit and what you've just competed in, which is phenomenal. But where are you up to now with your career as starting as a plumber? Where are you at now?

Yeah, so coming from the drive from the military and knowing that I was always going to have a boss, if you look at the military, there's someone always above you, no matter how far you push, if you're from, you know, you joined when you were 16 and then you were in until you were 60 for the forced retirement or whatever it is when you turn 60, doesn't matter how great of a soldier you are, you always have someone above you. And that's why I went into a trade, because I knew a lot of guys from school who went into the trade industry and were making quite a lot of money being out on their own. So it was either choice of becoming a electrician or a plumber. They were the two that I wanted to do. And I ended up getting a plumbing job and I, and I took that straight away and we moved from Brisbane to Canberra to start all that. And yeah, ever since I Started. I was keen from the start. I was the only guy who wanted to do overtime. Everyone was laughing at me. They were like, oh, you get over it. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Like, this is sick. In the army, I never got overtime pay. It's like, it's actually come to me that I can work harder and the harder I work, the more money I get. I was like, this is sick. Like, I never got that before. You know, it was just service allowance. You know, work two weeks straight, night in, day out. Like you don't get any more money, you're just stuck on the same way now. It's like, I do nine hours, I get a bit extra cash, it's good. And so that got me really excited. And then I started hearing about like cashies and what it was like to be out on your own and how much money you can make being out on your own. And I started like, I'm gonna do that straight from the start. I think it was in my first year being there. I knew I wanted to do it, but obviously it was a lot. It was gonna be a long journey. I needed to learn basically how to cut pipe. Like I was back at the bottom. So that, that was a bit shitty, but ended up getting short and now I'm a fourth year apprentice. Four years on and I've already started my own business and I'm just doing for the time being, drain clearing as I don't need my license or to be a fully qualified tradesman. So I getting the head start building a client base now so that I can basically when I'm ready to leave and I am fully licensed, I'm not just going out into the, you know, into the wild with, you know, just hopes and dreams. I'm actually set up and ready to go. And it was funny because as I, as I'm doing this, I know what I want for my family and I know what I want from my kids. And the only way I'm going to do that is by working for myself because I know the harder I work, the more rewarding it is for me. And that reward doesn't get split. That doesn't go to someone else or that doesn't go to another company. That goes to me and a little bit obviously goes to the tax man, but that's obviously life and there's no avoiding that. But already it's, it's, it's funny, people just get upset by that and I, and it's, it's exciting. Like I've had one Guy ring me up saying, you know, he's, you're not even qualified yet. You shouldn't be doing this. You know, I've already had people ring me up saying, you know, they're pissed off that you're doing this sort of stuff on your own. And I was like, that's sick. Great. They know who I am, they know what I'm doing and I know that I'm not doing the wrong thing. I've gone and checked. I was like, you need to tell him to go look at his stuff. It's like, he's obviously just upset that I'm a fourth year apprentice and I'm just starting to kill it. And he's been in the trade for how long and he's making nothing. And I even had my boss come out to site. He said to me that, he actually said he was, he was disappointed in me. And I said, I don't understand what, what for. And you know, he's like, you've started your own business and you know you're going out on your own and you didn't tell me. And you of all people, he was in the military as well. He was in the, in the Navy. And I said, you of all people should have known like, or should know better. Like, I'm not going to make it working for this company. Like, I'm always going to be under someone. Unless he's going to pay, decide to pay me a million dollars a year, I'm not going to get what I want for my family and for myself. Said, I need to do this on my own. He's like, when I remember when I did the interview with him is I told him from the start that I wanted to start my own business and get out there. And he said, that's great, we love that. You know, that's really good. And all of a sudden I started doing it and it's just like, what are you doing? I'm really disappointed. You're disappointed that I'm doing well for me and my family. Like, okay, no dramas. I'll see you on the other side.

Isn't that mate? Wow. Isn't that amazing? And it's that whole tall poppy syndrome. I don't know. I'm sure it doesn't reside just in Australia, but far out, man, that cracks me up. And this isn't stereotyping any trade or industry. But you, you are certainly someone that I see that can shake up the industry and put a very, very clean, honest, transparent line and face in line and sand and have that New face that really spins it around on its head and delivers maximum value. Not just. And again, guys, this isn't stereotyping or judging, but really be clean and sharp in more ways than one in the position that you're in now, coming from where you were with unbelievable dedication and drive and commitment, which I think comes from not just what you had in the army, but an intrinsic value that I absolutely believe is there. And then when you showcase that, when you add that initial support, someone tries to push it down, especially a superior open and close parenthesis or inverted comma, sorry. And when you look at that stuff, it's like, that's amazing, isn't it? Because I feel like when I see that stuff you should be looking at them and going, well, don't you enforce your own insecurities because you weren't trying to do that as a fourth year apprentice or you know. Or don't you try and put it over me and pull me back from my own goals and dreams and ambitions. This is your life, mate. You should be able to do whatever you want. And good on you for doing that. And if that means shaking up the industry, then so be it.

Oh yeah, and I didn't realize I was going to start shaking it. That was the plan. But even I was going to start shaking it up now.

Already.

I haven't even fully gone out on my own and it's still, it's already started. So be careful what you wish for. Really, whatever you think, you turn it into reality.

Well, credit to you as well for that, mate. And the thing is, please don't take this wrong way, guys. If some of you listening or watching this do connect or resonate with these terms, but geez, they're a joke. Work smarter, not harder. Passive income. Like, if you want to really achieve in your life, get rid of those two things right away. Like people think I have an investment property is passive income. No, it's not. It's not passive income. There's lots of things you need to actively do and engage with to make sure that. And you're not going to retire on one or two investment properties. That's not the way the world's turning. So when it comes to work ethic, which absolutely sounds like you've got a huge amount, Chris, which we've seen, I mean, I see you and I train with you, but when it comes to work ethic, work harder and smarter. Harder and smarter. You need to put the time, you need to be flexible, strategic and be malleable in your approach to the setbacks with the strategies that will work for you, the lines of service that you can dive into. Like you've jumped into jetting which seems to be an undernourished or underutilized market for serving households. That's amazing. Good on you, mate for doing that. And it is exactly that attitude and that outlook in working hard and earning your stripes and being in the environment of not necessarily like minded people but the environment of opportunity through experiences, through what you're doing right now and engaging how people are approaching you. Like you said, people are getting their nose out of joint. It's like awesome. That's a good sign. I'm self included. Like when I run ads to do things with my dads or certain things and I get a few people. I don't know why, honestly, because of the vision of what I want to do. But bagging or slagging or. What about us dads that have been killing it for 20 years. Awesome, mate. Good for you. You want a pat on the back? You want me to get away from the helping dads who need it to give you a pat on the back. You rock star. The more you have of those, it's funny, the more critics, skeptics, which there's never been statues erected to mind you as well. So don't be one people if you're, if you listen, the more you have, it seems like the more you're on the right path. You could almost connect those two. But that's. And you're doing all these things, mate, while. Which will shift gears a little bit now and go into your crossfitting career. You're doing all these things and making all these progressions whilst you've developed yourself and you've just competed in one of the biggest comps in the country.

Yeah. Which is still, still surprising. It's still so surreal that I was there and I still look at the pictures and that's not me. It's a crazy thought to think that I actually got there and you know, I started that CrossFit and I remember, I think it was where we now 2019. So back in 2014 and I was sitting there and I watched my mate compete in the first Open and they did the, you know, the old Friday Night Lights and yeah, this is what I want to do. I want to compete. I said I can do better than that guy. I can definitely do more than him. So I ended up because I had the kids and the family. I didn't want to be away too much because the army took up a lot of time and what I ended up doing was buying basically a whole gym and I kid it out the garage. And my wife didn't like it too much but we started believing in street parking more than she liked. And the whole garage turned into a gym and I just went at it and I just went hard every day and did my best. And I didn't have a coach and I didn't have mirrors or anything like that. I just sat there with YouTube and filmed myself. It was a bit, I don't know, I'd hate for people to walk in on me filming and then looking at myself. It's not ego, anything to do with ego. Just trying to better myself. But I look at it now, it's funny. It's a funny little stick man trying to lift some big weights.

You need to show, we need to get some of those videos. Have a look.

I actually think I just found like the USB or sorry, the hard drive that had all my old sort of stuff on there. So.

Wow. I'll try and attach some of this to this episode at the end. Best fails. I mean, I mean best lifts. Best lifts.

Oh yeah, there's some good fails in there. I think I put it up on fail. I remember we just bought a new car and I dropped like trying to do a snatch and I remember dropping like 80 kilos on the back of my head and it like squished, squished the barbell. Squished my head between them, the barbell and the mats and then the bar went flying. It was almost going into our car like a brand new car. It was great.

Yeah.

I started in the garage and that's where it basically all began. And I started getting like minded people.

As well.

From the army. I'm still best mates for them. They came down, all of them came down except for one. Unfortunately he just bought a house. So I understood money was tight and whatnot. So they all came down for the down under championship and it was great to have us all back together. And I remember just we started a thing called Bucked Fridays. So every Friday we, we just come up with the worst, longest, grueling possible workouts that we could think of and nutted it out until it was dark. And these, these workouts went for hours. Like the first one we ended up doing was like well we introduced, got introduced like burpee, broad jumps. I was like, oh well how far can we take this? Oh, we'll do a couple hundred meters. This is like, oh, we'll do 500. Let's just do a kid and see how long 1km of Burpee Broadjust is.

Going to take almost basically a thousand reps, I guess if you jump about a meter, meter and a half.

It was ridiculous. It was. I remember wearing gloves and everything and my hands were still like all grazed up and yeah, it was good fun. And then it kind of was just the birth of something crazy. And it's like, I remember we started filming it as well and they'll become like the Dave Castro and would start surprising the boys of what we're doing. It was funny because I watched him do the announcements for the opens and I was like, I was doing that before you.

Like.

It was kind of the birth of pushing myself mentally and physically.

Yeah.

And seeing how far I can take the body.

Yeah. And you've done that and you did that for. Well, you're still doing it now obviously, mate. But five year period and that's got you to being one of the fittest athletes in the country, which is, which is amazing, mate. And how. Well, two things. What was it like? How was that experience competing down at Wollongong and what did you learn over the 5 year period and the culmination of all your hard work in that moment?

So the experience was out of control. Like I still can't put it into words of how, how good it felt to finally, you know, tick a box. That was a long term goal.

And.

What I actually was worried about was like it going so quick because it was going to be something that I wanted to take in. And yeah, being present for every moment whilst I was there was, it was great. Like taking it all in, taking like the crowd being there and all the athletes who are there to help push you. And it was undescribable. Like the feeling inside, it just ignited a new, a new person in me to keep pushing and see how far I can take this again. And like, I don't think I've ever thought about having a goal past regionals but now it's like, why not? Like, why not try and go for the games? Like, what's, what's the point in getting here and then just stopping. No, I don't want to do that. I've started a business and I'm ticking that goal. That's going to be a progress, progression sort of thing. And I'm doing it and I've already ticked this CrossFit goal which I've started so long ago. I can't just stop and give that up now. So I think now I just want to keep pushing that to the limit and see how much better I can get. I forgot what your other question was.

What was that? Okay, mate, that's. That's why we. That's why I'm here. It's not just you on your own. I've got your back. So you have a name, mate, please let me know. The other one was, you know, looking at what you've done and what you've achieved, which, like you said, the moment. That moment, it's amazing, it's surreal. It feels like it's slow mo, but here we are. It's a period of time after it's already been and gone. The other one was, what did you learn? And what I mean by this is, I want to get your. Your views, your beliefs, you know, your outlook on the journey versus the destination. Because sometimes, sorry, or most of the time, people focus so much on the destination if it does, which can change in our lives many times. If the destination does or doesn't come, is it greater than the journey? And who've you continued to become in that path over the last five years?

Yeah, it's funny, like, all the motivational stuff that I read and I got into, you know, spiritual sort of mentality on CrossFit and goal setting and all that sort of stuff along my CrossFit journey as well, because I knew it had to be something more than just how far I can push my body. Because your mind's got to let you push your body. Your mind's the one that controls everything. So I knew there was a. There was a. Another barrier that I had to break mentally before I could push my body physically. And during that process, you hear it all the time. It's all about, you know, like all these Gandhis and that's. It's all about the journey, not the destination. And it just flew over my head. I was like, no, I just. I know where I want to be and that's where I want to be. I don't give a fuck about the journey and how hard it's going to be. I'm just going to be there. And I said it to the other week when we were training, when I was training that Sunday afternoon on the deload before the comp that I put on that motivational mix that I first listened to in the garage. And I remember sitting there taking it all into my warm up, picturing myself out on that floor and all of a sudden, like, that was the moment. That was the moment it just clicked. And I was like, I know exactly what they mean now about the Journey. I was like, holy shit. The journey's been sick. Like, yeah, it's had ups and downs. Like, I wanted to quit, you know, it started to impact the family a bit with the competing side. Like, I just. I've got to be in the gym. I've got to be in the gym. I got to be in the gym. But now I've learned to involve the kids. They're a bit older now, and they can jump on in, and it's great. But playing that mix again just took me. It was like my life flashed before my eyes. It's just everything on that journey come back and hit me. And I was so happy in that moment just there. I said, I don't need to go. I even said, I don't need to go. Like, I could pass it off and say. And decline the invitation, say, oh, I'm injured, or I'm not coming. And I'd still be so happy, like, because I know that I can do it. And it all kind of came and hit me. And the whole reason why I started in the first place was because I had the mentality at the start, like, the army gave me. It's like, you know, you're a shit kicker. You're this, you're that, and. But you're 10 foot tall and you're bulletproof. You know, it makes you think. Or it made me realize my goal again, which was, anyone can do it. Like, I like. And if you think you can't, just have a look at who I was and who I am now is like. And I know if I can do it, anyone can fucking do it. And that's. That's not a word of a lie. And that's not me trying to be egotistic or anything like that. Like, anyone can do anything as long as they put their mind to it. And I think once you realize that getting there is what creates you, not wherever it is you're trying to get to. Once you realize that, you're instantly happy. And I still can't get the smile off my face from thinking about how far I've come. I'm not thinking about that weekend and how I performed or who I was with or how it all went down. I don't care. Like, I really don't care, because I know that I can get there now. It's just a matter of what's this next journey gonna be like. I was so keen to get back into the gym and see how far we can take this again and how fun that's gonna be and how how good that's going to be. So, yeah, it's just.

It's.

I hope I can explain it good enough so that people can understand that it sits. It really is about the journey and you find happiness within that and not in what you're looking for. So the old happiness with what you've got and not what you want.

No, absolutely. That's a phenomenal belief to have within yourself, mate, and I get it. And Look, I got 30.3 in year 12 in my HSC exam, so I'm sure everyone else out there got it.

At least you sat yours, I didn't sit mine.

It's time I'll never get back. Maybe I should have just gone to the army for a while, but, yeah, absolutely, because my next question is that that belief and those values you've got, would you have had them if someone came to you at 2014, four weeks after you CrossFit, and said, hey, mate, I've got a spare ticket to regionals, you want to go compete? Would you still have those values you've built up over the last five years?

No. No way.

And that's where it's. Yeah, exactly. And that's where it's what Chris is saying, and it makes absolute sense. Mate, you hit the nail on the head there. It is not a singular moment that defines us in our lives. It's the echoes, the drop in the ocean, the ripples. It's what that continues to help us form, mold, fortify ourselves into becoming consistently, day in, day out, week in week out, year in, year out, becoming who we want to be in this life and what that looks like, not just externally, where we live, what we do for work, what our jobs are, but internally, because all that stuff on the outside, none of that, none of that's going to be around forever. None of that's going to be around for as long as you are around. And that's exactly what you do. And what you said then as well, mate, you've achieved that. That's great. You've ticked that box. That's awesome. But what it is, that is symbolism for how you've shifted and changed your life, which is going to carry you into business, into fatherhood, into the next goal, because it never ends. I feel there is no end destination. Because once you achieve that, like once you went down and competed at regionals or Down Under Championships, you're not rolling over tomorrow and retiring and the rest of your life's just sitting down, you know, there's more to do. Let's go again. We've got different. And we've got different stages in our lives as well. So that's. That was awesome, mate. And that really, that. That was great for me to hear as well and help me remember and remind myself of what's important. And it's not always just the perceived definitive moment of this is success to me. It's a collective of, like you said, the ups and downs and who you continue to forge yourself into. And here we are, we're looking at doing programming together again. And I'll try and keep up. If I get half the result you get, then I think you're on par because you should dominate and destroy me now. So if I take twice as long as your workouts are about right, you're in good shape.

But that's what I did want to say as well. Like, when I. When I had my goal of, you know, saying that if anyone can do this, then I can. Like, and the goal is up in the gym as well, to inspire others. And I want to say that I never had any specific training. There was never any. I never went to you and said, write me something. Up until like, the last six weeks were before the comp, obviously, where I was like, shit, I've got some weaknesses. Can we just fix these up? Like, when it needed to be specific. But for the five years beforehand that led up to that, I did that through classes like CrossFit classes that were programmed for everyone. And Ben Bergeron's comp train, I did that for about a year and a half. And that's just general program for everyone to do better, you know, all round. That's not targeting anything specific. So I definitely want to hit home that, you know, even if you think that, you know, you need specific stuff, because I was very into that. Like, I was like, I'm not gonna do any online thing that, you know, is generalized or anything like that. That's not gonna help me. Like, that's just a load of shit for someone to make money. It's like, no, but it's not like it's in how you approach that training and mentally and physically, like, we see it day in, day out in the class. Like, you can attack a workout and get nothing from it, or you can attack the exact same workout with a different, different mental state and gain a lot from it. Not so that's what I've definitely learned. Just, you've got to have a intent for every. Even every movement that you do within that one workout, have an intent for that workout and have a goal for that workout and have an intent and a goal for that one movement within that workout. And that's how it's done. And that's how you, you know, from the physical and the, you know, training side of things, if that's your goal. But you know, it can come from anything. And I just think that it all does come from how you think about it and how you think it's actually helping you. So if you think it's generalizing it isn't going to help you, then fuck, it's not going to help. Not going to do anything.

Yeah, and you're right, mate. And you know what? It's that look. And I don't believe you're talking about blowing yourself out of the water every workout either. It's about purpose. That's something I spoke on one of my other shows once. And purpose. And you know, what's the point of doing this? Or what can I get out of this? And I don't feel it's that much more work. You know, this is what I'm doing with this squat clean complex. I'm going to try and shift this here and improve this there. Ask the coach. Can you just have a look at my position here? Is this weight? What's this weight like? Can I push a little bit more? And this isn't about anyone can be an athlete. That's a definition based off someone's viewpoint or opinion. It's about becoming an athlete within yourself and just demanding that excellence. Those little 1 percenters which, like you said, class program, you could do a minute of burpees and make it a warmup or make it one of the hardest things ever. And I did that the other week. I did a minute of burpees as hard as I could. And when I PB'd at 4 reps, it was unbelievable. You know, it's like awesome. I'm nearly under 15 seconds a rep.

Mate.

That's awesome. Look, it's been great having you on the show, Chris. A lot of our listeners will know who you are. The local fan base. I just do have one question. Not from me. It was sent in from one of our other viewers or listeners in preparation for this. They wanted to know. I've got it written down here. Hi, Chris. Congratulations on your CrossFit down on a Championships appearance. Quick question, though. How come you didn't ask to borrow Big Al's red tights from an anonymous?

You got me all excited.

That's my question. I'm your fan. That's my question.

Just the one.

Even though they Wouldn't look at the.

All the same brand on the swim event. They just weren't long, they were short.

That's right. Absolutely awesome, mate. Well, look, final views and thoughts. Just wrapping up on business life, the adversities, your crossfitting career which continues to develop and grow. All of these different things, how have they molded all. What have you taken from them in really shaping you to continue to be the best man you can be and partner and. But father to your kids as well? Because I've got a lot of dads who are listening.

Well, it's a hard one to keep short. Like, I just think you can't be too hard on yourself and you know, when you fuck up, even with the kids, like, I know it's hard to say this without people knowing, you know, what you're talking about. Like, it doesn't, it doesn't matter. Like, don't. You can't get caught up on it. Like, and even when you do make a mistake in anything, like you've got to be grateful for it because that's where you start to, you know, if you actually make a mistake and you feel bad about it or you have a feeling towards it, obviously that means it means something to you and you want to make a change because of it. And, and that's how you improve. Like, I stuff up all the time with the kids and you know, like with discipline or, you know, they do something, but that's not what we want to be as a family. You know, it's a great opportunity. There's always a great opportunity there for you to fix something that you, you know, wish to have or fix either yourself or what's happening around you. So I think the biggest things for me would be that you can't. Things happen because of you and things don't happen to you is the best way to kind of explain it. And I think once I started taking responsibility for everything that I've ever done or anything that's ever happening to me, I take responsibility for. I think you can learn from all those moments because you can change anything that happens to you. You have the power to choose your perception on it. So anything that bad that happens now is very easy for me to turn around and say, nah, that's not how I want to see it, or that's not how I want it to be. You know, how can I change that? How can I, you know, change the way that I'm going to approach that or how, you know, or how do I stop that from happening again? So I think Change seeing. I really liked your video about the two sided coin that, that really hits home for me. You know, there is a way to look at things and it's the way you choose to look at it and then it doesn't matter. Even if you do want to choose the bad, the bad side of it, don't kick yourself for it later on because that's what you wanted to do in that point in time and you can just learn from it. So, you know, don't be hard on yourself no matter what. It's. Every shit's gonna happen in life but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all. You, what you want the rest of your life to be and you know, like we go through things with my wife at the moment, you know, like the old me and the army mentality sort of stuff. You know, that was me. But now I'm doing this. This is, this is what I am doing now. This is who I am trying to be now. And that's all that matters. Not, not what you've done and not who you've been or, you know, you're not your mistakes. You are who you are now. I hope people understand that and I hope that's.

That was an amazing, yeah, amazing way to finish our show. And I wrote a note then because that really hit home with me. You make mistakes and you feel bad about it. That means, it means something to you. So then you can go and take that lesson and do something about it. And yeah, that's, I wrote that down. So I'm going to steal that, put in one of my quotes and post that on social media.

Alex Rennan.

Alex Renny. I'll put a little picture of you in the corner. Powered by Nunaridi muscle. That was awesome, man. That was really, really cool. I hope everyone else got the message out of that, that I did. And you're absolutely right, mate. And it's not about being. I don't believe you're talking about being a control freak and controlling things. It's about liberating yourself from that feeling of being trapped and going, okay, what can I do? Physical or not even in terms of your feelings and your thoughts, what can I do to turn things into A plus and move my life forward in a consistent manner? And that absolutely came through, mate. So you're a legend. Thank you for joining me, mate, and giving me your time. We're doing this on the, on the weekend, so I appreciate it. It's important for yourself and family and kids. Thank God the kids are having A power nap and crin's down in Sydney at the moment with my girls. So that worked out well.

No, they're not going. I was just waiting for them to walk in the door. Daddy, I'm hungry.

That's right. So this is the warmer for the crowd. Can we get your son knowing who's the real star of today's show, please? And little champion in Georgia, look, thanks. Thanks again for joining us, mate. It's been amazing having you on. This has been one of my favorite episodes by far, and it's been great, mate. So I love what you're all about and what you're doing, and I feel blessed being part of your journey, programming or not just supporting you, trying to beat you in workouts that'll never happen ever again. And unless we do a 2k row. Actually, even then, I'm probably still a bit rusty, but it's been awesome. And look, I hope those you guys either watching this or listening to this. I hope you got a lot out of this, guys. And really enjoyed Chris's story where he's at his time in the army business, touching on fatherhood and expressing himself as best as he can, using that vessel of physical performance and that drive and motivator for, well, I guess excellence in all areas of his life. And thanks, Ian, for joining us, mate.

Pleasure to be here. Thanks, mate.

Thank you awesome, guys, and have a lovely afternoon, morning, evening. Whenever you're listening to or watching this, if I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night. Okay, we're back. We're back. Just Chris gave me a better sign off, and I'll let him sign off on this one. He's embarrassed now.

Am I saying it? I thought you were gonna say it.

I thought you were gonna say it, but you say better. Sorry.

And that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Quick question. Do you always take in a little bit of helium every morning? I mean, I don't have the deepest.

Voice, but I noticed that when I hear myself talking again, videos and stuff. It's that beer, the Gilliam beer. I have used that.

That's amazing. All right, guys, take care. I'll chat to you.