Motherhood and Games Memories: Cassidy Lance-McWherter

Lance McWherter(3)-Lance-McWherter
 

Hi everybody and welcome to another edition of Two-Brain Radio with Sean Woodland. On today’s episode, I speak with five-time individual Games competitor Cassidy Lance-McWherter. You know, they say it’s lonely at the top. What if entrepreneurs didn’t have to go it alone? Now you don’t have to. Chris Cooper has compiled more than a decade’s worth of hard-won wisdom into 15 free guides on everything from marketing and retention to hiring and firing. You can download them all for free at TwoBrainbusiness.com/free-tools. Cassidy Lance-McWherter debuted at the Games as an individual in 2013 and she had her best career finish the following year when she took eighth overall. She also won the worldwide Open in 2018 before finishing 10th in her last appearance as an individual in Madison. We talk about her time as a competitor, including a very memorable moment in 2018, what she and her wife Aly went through when they decided they wanted to start a family and why Cassidy is teaming up with Camille Leblanc-Bazinet aid to help people improve their well-being. Thanks for listening everyone. Cassidy, thanks so much for doing this today. How are you feeling?

Cassidy (01:19):

Hi. Thank you. I’m excited to be here. I feel great. Everyone. Yeah, it’s been an easy pregnancy so far.

Sean (01:27):

So you’re 22 weeks in, correct?

Cassidy (01:30):

Yes.

Sean (01:31):

What are the biggest changes now that you’re kind of going through?

Cassidy (01:35):

Now I feel like my belly’s poking out. I was like, nothing, nothing, nothing. Then all of a sudden it’s like, OK, it’s there. So, I mean, day to day is normal. Working out like squats, I’m definitely a lot wider, like deadlifts. I usually deadlift really narrow. My feet are wider and just, I mean, certain things like accommodate the belly.

Sean (02:03):

What was your athletic background growing up?

Cassidy (02:07):

I did gymnastics my entire life. So grew up doing that competitively and then went to college for gymnastics.

Sean (02:17):

What was it about that sport that, that made you kind of want to commit to it at a young age?

Cassidy (02:23):

I’m sorry that made me what?

Sean (02:25):

that made you want to commit and be good at it at such a young age.

Cassidy (02:31):

I actually have never been asked that question. That’s a good question. I think it teaches you a lot. I’m a mover. Like I definitely cannot sit still. So for me just having the discipline of something that it’s kind of like CrossFit, you can always get better, right? And you can’t take a step back. So you’re always moving up each year. I dunno. It’s a lot of hours. You put a lot of time into it. And so I think that was like the biggest thing is I always had something, I wake up every morning and you know, I had goals to do. And it’s not just like a basketball game where you win or lose, right. You’re improving every single year and building skills and adding things kind of exactly like CrossFit is that you can never be fast enough, right? So you’re always trying to build that engine and build your strength or that capacity of what level you’re going to be. So I think those play hand in hand, but I just really, I can’t sit still even to this day. So I think that really helped me just to like focus on one thing.

Sean (03:41):

Competitive gymnastics at any age is a total grind. And you mentioned how many hours that you had to put in. How were you able to get through that and then ultimately go on to get a scholarship in college?

Cassidy (03:53):

Yeah, I think it just comes down to like, the ultimate goal is like, I always tell like the goal at the end of the tunnel and you know, you’re trying to always achieve that perfect 10, so trying to be better every single day. I think that motivation just comes from within you. You either have it or you don’t have it.

Sean (04:10):

What did it mean to you then to get that scholarship offer from the university of Washington?

Cassidy (04:18):

Oh man, it was a wild ride, right? We had, me and my other friend were recruited at the same time. We had 17 college coaches come out and look at us and we had many offers from different schools and we ended up choosing our school of choice. And I mean it’s anyone’s dream, right? To get to the end. Like I was never going to go to the Olympics, but college was that, it was that big, big competition, big championship that you could finish out and play.

Sean (04:58):

What is it like competing on a division one stage with so many other talented athletes?

Cassidy (05:08):

And now you have to pull my memories back because it’s been a long time, it’s like 10 years. It’s awesome. The crowd, you know, the fans, you do it for the fans, but also you work so hard and you finally get it. And especially in gymnastics, you work the hours and day, gymnastics or college gymnastics is just a show. So you get to perform for the fans and show them everything that you worked for, you know, your entire life. When you’re in a club gymnastics, you do competitions. But it’s usually just like your mom and maybe some family in the stands. So you’re performing. But when you’re performing to a huge NCAA stage, I mean the world knows who you are now, right? Or at least you think they do.

Sean (05:57):

You decided that after you get done at the University of Washington, I want to do some more schooling. So you go to Texas Tech and you pursue a master’s in rehabilitation counseling. Why did you decide that you wanted to do that?

Cassidy (06:09):

So honestly I was going to go into case management and medical malpractice. So my mom does the medical side and then I would do the rehab side. So if someone, we can take Kevin Ogar for example, he got injured, he needs a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Well, what else does he need? Does he need therapy? Rehab?

Cassidy (06:33):

You know, a one story house, all those things. So I actually worked with her for a couple of years on cases and stuff, so I was going to do that. But then sitting all day like that really kind of like got to me, so I’ll have that as a back fail if something ever happens with CrossFit and the gym right now. But that’s kind of how I got into it, but that was my goal. That was my career. And then all of a sudden CrossFit happened.

Sean (07:06):

Yeah. How did you find CrossFit?

Cassidy (07:08):

So I was actually injured in college and one of the girls told me, Oh, you can get in shape in five minutes. And I was like, there is no way I’m so used to training, you know, for six hours a day. I mean, obviously college goes less, it’s 20 hours a week. But after, you know, I couldn’t do gymnastics conditioning for the rest of my life. So I went in with her one day and I don’t remember the exact workout. I just remember I cheated.

Cassidy (07:39):

It’s funny though, but everyone was so fast and I couldn’t keep up with them and I was like, all right, I’m hooked. So ever since then, I’ve been doing CrossFit. Yeah.

Sean (07:52):

When did you decide that you wanted to be a competitor?

Cassidy (07:57):

So actually we went to the Games, we got an invite from 2010. So the first year that I did CrossFit, we went as a team and they asked me to be part of it. So that was cool. But I had no idea what I was doing and I mean, you know, it’s like rookie of the rookie, like I didn’t even know what my numbers were and it was strict press and shoulder to overhead and I was like, I have no idea, 65 pounds. That’s great. But then as the years kind of went on, I just did it like I was a 6:00 AM-er I went in, did my workout and then went to work.

Cassidy (08:34):

Then Aly deployed and I was distraught and I had tons of time by myself and keep myself busy. So I kept myself busy by working and then going into the gym a lot. And then so 2013 I made it to the Games and I didn’t do too well. Then I decided like I don’t want to compete at the Games. I want to be competitive with those girls. So since then it was OK, let’s work. Let’s go.

Sean (09:14):

You mentioned going to the Games for the first time as an individual, 2013 you take 29th, what did you learn about what you needed to do then to be competitive with the best in the sport?

Cassidy (09:26):

I don’t know if I knew like exactly what workout I needed to do or what I needed to dial in, but I know I needed to put in work and I knew how to put in work just from gymnastics. So whatever it was, you know, I had a coach and everything, so whatever he gave me I would do, if it was written on paper, I would do it and I would do extra and I would ask for more. And I tell the athletes that I coach today that I’ve done the work. I have a good base now, so don’t follow me. But if you guys are where I started, you know, ask me or do more, if you’re missing your snatches, if you’re missing your clean and jerks, you know, do some extra. Don’t just do your five sets of one and say, oh, that’s good for the day. Really get after it and spend some time doing that stuff. And you know, me and Camille have always talked about that too, people say they want it, but they’re not out in the snow. You know, doing burpees out in the snow because it’s too cold or they’re not going for a run outside or in the rain or it’s too hot. It’s 80 degrees. I can’t go, you know, 90 degrees, a hundred degrees. It’s too hot. You’re not going to get out there, like you’ve gotta be willing no matter what the circumstances are to put it in.

Sean (10:44):

You go back again in 2014, you take eighth overall, how then did that affect your drive and motivation as you moved forward in your career?

Cassidy (10:55):

That was a really fun year. That was like the best year. Yeah, that was a just a really fun year, I loved the programming. I loved they experience, Dave did a great job with secluding us outside. You always want that feeling, you know of those memories again. So you’re always trying to repeat, OK, why did I perform so well? Why was it so fun? What were those reasons? So trying to always like mimic or replicate that stuff that goes on. So that, I think that happens each year.

Sean (11:37):

In 2015 you take 26 overall and then you just miss making it back to the Games in 2016 when you took six in the Atlantic Regional, what did you think about your competitive future after those two years?

Cassidy (11:50):

Yeah, so, I’m going to blame Aly on this one again.

Cassidy (11:58):

So actually, so we go back like, she deployed to Afghanistan, right? I ended up training in the gym. Well she ended up coming back, right. And then we moved to Savannah for a couple of weeks and we’re moving to Florida in this time period. I don’t really have a gym to work out with like a lot plays into your training. You know, she wanted—I shouldn’t say she, we both wanted to hang out and you know, work and we didn’t really, she didn’t really understand what CrossFit was. And so it wasn’t really a priority to me at that time. But then you miss it. I missed, I took sixth and I think I just like was like, what happened? And you look back and you figure out all those reasons of why and you sit down. And when we sat down and talked and I said, Hey look, I’m going to do this and these are things that have to change and these are my goals. These are my priorities. I’m not saying that you’re not my priority, but this is kind of a separate passion of mine. And we both we became a team. And you know, for two years, 17 and 18 we busted our butt working so hard to make sure that everything was right nutrition,

Cassidy (13:17):

recovery, training, you name it, extra work, less work, whatever you needed to do to make those things happen. And you know, I missed 2016 because I didn’t have strict muscle-ups.

Cassidy (13:33):

That’s 100% my responsibility, but then she was also a good partner and OK, we’re doing 20 spotted strict muscle-ups or however many it takes you a day. And so she would sit there and spot me in the gym and you know, while no one sees any of this, and it’s always the things that are hidden behind the doors that people don’t see, but, and then I could do one by myself. OK. And then finally I could do two by myself. Then I was able to like 2018 I was finally able to do like four in a row. Like they’re still not like a strong suit for me. And people say, well, you did gymnastics, you should have this. But you have to remember girls never touched the rings. And I’m a better athlete with using my body, kipping-wise and you know, understanding that, that the strict portion for me is a lot harder anyway. So working super hard for 2017, 2018. Those were really, really good years as well. So you can look back and you know, it’s an entire year of hard work. It’s not just, Oh, I want to make it to the Games. Oh it’s July. I have one month to make it or whatever the goal is. Right. It’s a process and everyone needs to understand like each month means something.

Sean (14:57):

You mentioned 2017 and 2018 you went on a tear those two years, you won the Open in 2018 first in the world. What do you remember about those five Open workouts in 2018 and how you performed in them?

Cassidy (15:14):

So that was actually the first year 2017. And I know a lot of people say they don’t look at the leaderboard. I look at the leaderboard on all the other years, but 2017 was a year that, you know, I missed 2016. I didn’t want to, I turned off the social media. I wasn’t looking. I unfollowed a bunch of people, so I wasn’t looking about, Oh, what they’re lifting or what they’re doing. I just really kind of put my blinders on and, you know, that song Work Like a Racehorse. Like, Imagine Dragons. I literally listened to that song every day going to the gym. I put my blinders on and worked as hard as I could and harder at that point. Ryan Elrod was with me and we would get to the gym and you know, we would push each other. So that was a really fun and cool year, but leading up to the Open, I don’t remember the workouts just because it was another day of training. We honestly just, we did that workout. We did it once, moved on. I think I had to redo one workout because I had some missed rep in that year. I remember 2018 more than 2017. But Tia texted me and was like, Hey, you’re going to win. I want you to, here’s my score for the last workout. I just want you to make sure that you’re around there. And I didn’t even know where I was on the line leaderboard because I was so focused on just doing everything that I possibly could in the gym every day and outside the gym that I would put my score in and just move on.

Cassidy (16:54):

And so it wasn’t until the end that that someone told me and I looked at the leaderboard and I was like, is that real? Wow, that’s cool. But then you also go in knowing like, OK, that’s one piece of the puzzle. Now we have to get through Regionals. Right? You can’t just say, Oh, I won the Open. I’m going to slack or I don’t have to work so hard because I am the best at this. I think that pressure was, I have to work even harder now. I have to put more time in because now it really happens. Now everyone’s watching me on the stage. It’s not just a videocamera, you know, my score’s uploaded on the video, the big stage is happening and then there’s one past that. Right. OK, great. We knocked out Regionals, checked off that box. Now what are the goals for the Games? So it wasn’t just hit one, it was, there was a goal and a future and a plan for the entire season.

Sean (17:51):

You go to the Games in 2018 you take 10th and I think you had one of the more memorable moments at that competition in the speed clean and jerk ladder.

Cassidy (18:00):

Yeah, that was fun.

Sean (18:01):

What happened during that event?

Cassidy (18:06):

I was super stoked for that. So I loved that when it was, was that a 2015 workout?

Sean (18:12):

That was the first time they did the ladder, I think it was in 2015.

Cassidy (18:15):

Yeah, I love ladders. I did GRID and just the speed of that I can lift, I can lift heavy fast, but I can’t max out very high so I can move really well at like 80%. But I can’t max out high. So as soon as that came out and I was like, Oh, this is going to be super fun. I’m on, I’m ready. And again, like blinders went on. And you know, it’s a battle because you have to control with your judge too. And so my judge was right with me the whole time and made sure that each rep counted because you can’t miss a rep there. It comes down to seconds on that. And that was just a really fun workout. And then we got to the heavier workouts, which, the crowd was just electric then, it was electric. It wasn’t a squat PR, but it was definitely a power PR. And by the time we turned around, there was no time to really warm up a squat and for those heavy cleans. And that was maybe that was my fault for not warming up in earlier heats, but I didn’t really need to. And so I guess it came down to that final bar, but, the teammates and you know, the girls surrounding that event and then the crowd just cheering as loud as they could. That was so memorable. It was really fun.

Sean (19:38):

The first time you touched that 225 bar, I remember you missed the attempt and then you said, no, I’m not going to do it anymore. And then what did I think it was Tia, Amanda Barnhart and Kara Saunders were all right there. What did they say to you to get you to go and make one more attempt?

Cassidy (19:53):

Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if it was necessarily, I mean, they both were like, come on, you can do it. And I was like, yeah, but in my head I’m like, well, I already took fifth. Like that’s fine. It’s not a big deal. But then I like quickly turned it around and said, in my gyms, I would never say, oh yeah, you’re the last person, you’re done. Like it’s fine. You can move on. I would always be like, no, there’s time left. Like try your hardest. And so when they were doing that, I was like, Oh, OK, turn my head around, let’s go, you know, we have time. Let’s hit this bar. And you know, always finish with, you know, the best that you can and don’t just walk away or quit anything. So, and then they got riled up and then the crowd got riled up. So I was like, come on, just move the barbell.

Sean (20:38):

Yeah, it was definitely one of my favorite moments of that competition. I love that whole thing in the way it played out. How did you know that after 2018 that the time was right to you to maybe shift your focus and start thinking about a family with Aly?

Cassidy (20:50):

I didn’t know when I finished because I was actually a little disappointed with the finish of 2018. I really wanted to be top five and there were some errors that I had made as an athlete in certain workouts to drop. I was a little disappointed and you know, I still had it in me of like, OK, one more year, I can do this. I can get that top five, I can finish those goals. That was in the moment. And I promised Aly in 2017 that we would go, cause she wanted to be done. She wanted to start a family, which I don’t blame her, right. But I talked her into it and I said, let’s go one more year. Please let me just do this for me. I want to make sure I can see where my limits are and stuff. And then like a month goes by and OK, you talk to your family and you talked to your mom and dad and your father in law and your mother-in-law and friends and you know, they never talk about their athletic career. You never hear them say, Oh, I was this NCAA champion and blah blah blah. Because you don’t want to ever listen to that. But what you really want to listen to is the stories of the children and the families and all those memories. So I think it just really clicked that, OK, we’re in our thirties, you know, there’s no, we can’t go even later. You know, I’ve done CrossFit for the past 10 years. I’m still gonna continue to do CrossFit. I have three gyms.

Cassidy (22:33):

You know, it’s still going to be a big part of my life. But what can be an even bigger part is creating those memories with a little baby and watching him grow and her grow and seeing, you know, take them through sports and take them through, you know, piano lessons or whatever they want to do. Like those are the memories that you want to share and you can share with, I can share that with Aly and we can share that with the grandparents and we can share that with our cousins and sisters and brothers. And you know, you can’t share athletic careers with, hey, remember that one time I won the clean and jerk ladder? Yeah I was there.

Cassidy (23:16):

But she wasn’t a part of it. So I think, you know, you have to look bigger than just yourself and you really have to be selfless to have a family and take that away. So I think that’s where we’re at. So then a couple of months, like it was still hard because I was still working out and I was like, Oh, I could still do this competition. I could still do this. But then finally I was like, I’ve got to stop coffee, I’ve got to stop all of these things. Cause we had a lot of issues, but we’ve got to buckle down and get this going. We can’t just be half in half out. So that’s where we are right now.

Sean (24:01):

We’ll be back with more from Cassidy Lance-McWherter after this. Ever wished there were a step-by-step guide to business success? Well now there is Chris Cooper spent more than a decade making mistakes, learning from them and paving the path to wealth. Now he’s mapped it all out so that you don’t have to fly blind. Available to Two-Brain clients, the Two-Brain Growth ToolKit lays out the exact steps you need to take to grow your business and reach wealth, all with the help of a certified Two-Brain mentor. To learn more and see if mentorship is right for you, book a free call at twobrainbusiness.com. Now more with Cassidy Lance-McWherter. What did you think about the IVF process before you even set foot into a doctor’s office?

Cassidy (24:50):

Honestly we didn’t know about the IVF process itself. We knew that it was one, more expensive, two, you would get better results. But we started with the IUI process and we’re like, we’re healthy. We’ve got this. We’ll time it, like it’s fine. I know you went through this so it’s like hello going on in your head. Like why—it’s just like crazy. I don’t know how to explain like how naive and innocent we were starting the process and nobody tells you anything.

Sean (25:41):

No, you’re absolutely right. It is amazing how the perception from when you first walk in to when you’re going through it changes. And for all the reasons you just said, how did you cope with everything that you had to deal with during this whole process?

Cassidy (26:01):

I think we were just a really strong team for each other. I mean, we tried not to tell our families at all because we wanted it to be a surprise, and we learned later on still early on in our process that that was a big mistake because the support, we could support each other like no other. And we grew stronger and we were a team and we had much more deeper conversations together. But the support that we had from our family and friends once we told them, I think really set everything at ease and we could finally take a deep breath and we weren’t hiding things and we weren’t missing birthdays and all these things because I was at the doctor’s or whatever, you know, they understood and they knew why and they weren’t upset with us and they could just really give us more love than we needed. And I think it all came down to support and love and communicating with everyone and everyone wants the best for you. You know, they’re not going to say, Oh, I don’t want you to have a baby. So, you know, you want to miss the appointment or whatever. They don’t wish that on you. And I don’t wish that on anyone else. Our support for each other really helped cope through all that stuff.

Sean (27:24):

There’s obviously some, you know, some very low points during this whole process. Even when you went through those, how did you keep going?

Cassidy (27:34):

Well, you have to keep going, right? What else do you do? You don’t have a choice. You can either get knocked down and stay down or you know, get up and figure out what went wrong and how to fix it and what you need to do. So the only option is to keep going.

Sean (27:54):

You mentioned that financially this is obviously quite a burden. How did that factor in to your decision to say, you know what, we’re going to keep pressing forward here?

Cassidy (28:03):

I don’t think there was any money too great to say I can’t afford a child. Right? I don’t want a child because it’s too expensive. No matter where you are in your situation of life. If you don’t have a lot of money or you have a lot of money, like a child is priceless. So you’re going to make it work no matter what.

Sean (28:28):

What was it like then for you to finally get that news that, Hey, this worked. Congratulations, you’re pregnant.

Cassidy (28:34):

I was in shock because I had heard so many times negative, negative, negative. And again, it was kind of like the Open, you know, I didn’t look at the leaderboard. All the other times I cheated and I did home pregnancy tests before I went in for the blood tests. And this time I was like, forget it, I’m not doing the home stuff. I’ll just go in my two weeks. And I kind of went in like, ah, it’s whatever, like, just let me know if it’s negative or positive. And the lady’s like, well, we’re not going to leave a message if it’s negative. And I was like, just leave me a message. I’m coaching tonight. Like it’s fine. And she’s like, OK, well I’ll call you around four. She calls me at two.

Cassidy (29:16):

And I’m like Jennifer, why are you calling me?

Cassidy (29:20):

And then she was like, well, I have some news. And she’s like, you are really pregnant. I was driving to the gym at the time and I was like, what do you mean really pregnant? What does really pregnant mean? And we didn’t find out till later what that meant. But, I was so in shock and I was so excited. I was screaming inside. And, but I knew I had to wait for two days to tell Ally because in two days it was her birthday. And so I thought, what a great gift. Now first I don’t have to buy anything.

Cassidy (29:59):

Secondly, what a cool gift to give her. Right? So but the issue is we still had to do all my shots. So, you know, I kinda lied to her. And I was like, well, the numbers are low, but they’re not, they don’t know yet, so I have to go back in Thursday and so you have to keep giving me shots. And she was like, what does this mean? I didn’t know there was a maybe I thought there was like a yes or no, you’re pregnant or you’re not pregnant. I was like, well, I mean like, I guess it’s better than nothing. Like I don’t know if I even made sense or whatever at the time, but she still had to give me my shots. And then on early Thursday, November 14th in the morning, I woke her up and she was like, Cass, I don’t need a shirt at six in the morning, it’s fine. I’m like, just get up please. There’s a card over there. So I give her like a little scavenger hunt and the video’s on my Instagram so anyone can go look at it. But, and then in the middle of the scavenger hunt, her sister calls from Philly and I was like, Oh my gosh, just, let’s go, and she’s talking like 30 minutes to her sister. And I’m like, OK, Melissa, I love you. I know we we’re not gonna to talk to you for six weeks, but we really have to go. And Al’s like, Cass, it’s just a shirt. I know, it’s fine. And I guess I give shirts a lot for gifts. And so she finished the scavenger hunt and started crying and we both started crying. So, yeah, it was just the most amazing feeling in the world.

Cassidy (31:44):

You look at, like you’ve said, the clean and jerk was a very memorable moment. Being pregnant doesn’t even top or I don’t know how to say that, but this tops every single athletic accomplishment ever in the history of athletic accomplishment. So having a baby and going through the year and a half journey of all the ups and downs and emotions, you know, this really just solidified our love for each other and how bad we wanted a family. And we even to this day, we can’t stop smiling. So it’s just super fun. I mean, I’ve bought so many baby clothes and everyone’s like, stop buying. How can you not?

Sean (32:39):

You deserve it, go nuts. Why did you and Aly then decide to write an ebook about your whole experience?

Cassidy (32:47):

I had documented a lot of videos going through just like our emotions and all of that stuff. And I haven’t even like posted that and it’s just kind of what I wanted for my personal memories. But she’s a phenomenal writer. And so I told her while I’m doing the videos, why don’t you document, you know, what our emotions are, what we’re going through, appointment by appointment. And then after, you know, we told people that we were going through this and hundreds of people reached out to us on Instagram and it was more than I have ever gotten on messages through CrossFit or anything for help. And I was like, I had no idea so many people were going through this and it was just eye-opening. You know, you’re think you’re alone but you’re not. And I said, why don’t we finish this book and make it a book and you know, give it to people.

Cassidy (33:46):

It’s kind of our journey and our experience, but you know, it can also be a guide and let people know what to expect. And you know, when they go in there, what questions they need to ask or what they can answer. Because truthfully you go into the doctor’s appointment and think that they’re going to tell you everything and they don’t. And you don’t know until you’ve already, it’s already too late. Right. So if we could help people with that and be kind of ahead of the game, then maybe it wouldn’t take them a year and a half to get pregnant, you know, and some people get pregnant on the first try and that’s awesome. But if you are struggling like I did, then maybe you can have these questions to answer. You kind of have an idea of what to expect with that kind of stuff.

Cassidy (34:34):

We actually have another book coming out now that we are pregnant and it’s just not quite finished yet, but that will be a little bit later. As our journey continues.

Sean (34:46):

What is the one main piece of advice that you give to people who may be going through a similar process right now?

Cassidy (34:56):

I think, you know, you don’t know what questions to ask, but come up with some type of questions every time you go into the doctor’s and you know, they can reach out to friends or me or you who have gone through that, find someone that has gone through that and ask them like any advice that they have. But I guess the biggest thing is just really love and support each other and it’s going to be emotional and people are going to take it different. Like Aly reacts different than I react.

Cassidy (35:27):

And you know, she always wants to talk about it and sometimes I’m like, just be quiet. I don’t want to say a word about it. But then sometimes it’s the other and like vice versa. I’m like, Al, what are you thinking? What’s going on? Like, why aren’t you saying anything? You know, having those, that deep connection, making time for each other because there is so much going on versus the shots or the negatives or just all the information that you get, you know, there’s tests and no tests and you’re doing things every day for a week and then you’re not doing anything for four weeks. So it’s just, you don’t really know where to stand. So this having open conversations with each other and I think that’s the biggest thing in supporting each other.

Sean (36:15):

You have recently joined Camille Leblanc-Bazinet with her Feroce Fitness endeavor. Why did that appeal to you?

Cassidy (36:26):

I think she’s doing such a great job with her outreach to people. Sitting down and talking to her, all she wants to do is help people, you know, she really doesn’t care about—everyone needs a financial backing and we all need to pay our bills, so if we take that piece of the puzzle out, really her number one goal is to help people. And I love that because that’s all I want to do as well. I just have a smaller reach but a different reach. I have my three gyms and then the support around that, she has followers from around the world that she can reach. So it’s very different and mine is very, my reach is very personal and in place with people and interactive where hers is on online basis. So if I can team up with someone to get the best of both worlds, why wouldn’t you do something and help people with whether it’s fitness, nutrition, we’re working on a moms’, I can say that now because she finally released that she’s pregnant. So, we’re working on, you know, pregnancy workouts and first trimester, second trimester and then third and then postpartum. But those aren’t yet because neither of us have gone through that. But I think she’s just such a good team player and we work really well with each other. We both work really hard and you know, we’d give each other a task and we just kind of go get it and independent in that restraint. So it’s really cool just to be part of something bigger than yourself.

Sean (38:24):

You mentioned this, you know, when we first started talking about what does fitness look like right now for you that you’re pregnant?

Cassidy (38:30):

Yup. So still fitnessing every day or working out every day, being as healthy as I can. And definitely not training. So the first trimester was a lot different because, you know, we had so many issues, we didn’t know where we were. So it was a lot of body weight stuff, still working out moving. But you know, my heart rate didn’t go very high and I would walk around more than I probably worked out. I did light dumbbell work, not a lot of barbell stuff, which is different than other people’s journeys. Because they got pregnant easy, they might not have to think about that, but I’m so worried about it took me a year and a half to get pregnant. Oh my gosh. But now I have to make it through 14 weeks. Right. And we’re going to the high risk doctor and so we hear so many more things than, you know, Miranda, she only has two scans this whole time. Well, I’ve probably had 14, eight scans at this point. So our journeys are a little bit different. Once we hit the second trimester, it was kind of a deep breath, you know, but you’re still not out of the woods. Right. I started picking up the barbell more and I told myself I wouldn’t go above 50% of what my max loads were. So that’s what they are. And you know, I still work out with the competitor group every day. I just scale to what I need to. And I’ve talked to a lot of the other CrossFit moms and they kinda gave me their guidelines. Emily Bridgers was really helpful and she gave me like weeks to week of what she took out and what she did. And we’re smart, like we’re all coaches and we’re all top athletes and we know our bodies as well as we can so we can go by feel. You know, my mom called me this morning and she was like, you should probably take out those box jumps. It’s like, I’m fine for now, but they’ll probably come out in a couple of weeks, you know? And she’s like, well, I just don’t think, and I’m like, mom. And she’s like, OK, Cass. OK, bye. I’m going to let you go. We know our bodies and no one wants your baby to get hurt inside. So I think I’m extra cautious with everything. So, you know, I don’t hit on the barbell, I don’t bring it up to my hips anymore. I just don’t think that I could whack my baby and smoke the baby’s face, you know. Well it’s probably his leg at that time, but now it’s his face so that’s not good. But you know, every week it changes and every day changes like double-unders just came out because it was just uncomfortable and you’re not going to push that. And you know, running has been on and off depending on the day. So I’m still working out as much as I can. To answer your question, it’s every day. But surfing is Sundays now that it’s warmer and it will probably continue to look like that up until, you know, we give birth.

Sean (41:35):

Are you done competing?

Cassidy (41:39):

Well, like local competitions?

Sean (41:47):

At the level that you’re used to?

Cassidy (41:50):

Yeah, I’m done. Yeah.

Sean (41:52):

Why did you make that decision?

Cassidy (41:54):

Because I want more than one kid and I’m 32 years old now. You don’t want to keep putting that on the back burner. So if I, once I have my two or three kids that I want, then I’ll look at where I’m at age wise and fitness wise. Right. And if I can make a small comeback, I mean then it would be masters. Right. Definitely masters. So that’s always, I could always do that. Or maybe it’s teams or maybe it’s just local competitions or maybe it’s just helping out with the competitions and events. So I’m definitely not out, out. But as an individual CrossFit Games competitor, I don’t think I can compete with the 20-year-olds.

Sean (42:39):

Yeah, it was getting crazy how good the field is getting. Final question for you. What has been the best part about your whole CrossFit journey?

Cassidy (42:51):

I think, that’s a tough one. I don’t think I can name one thing, but I think if you look back at the entire journey, like look at all the friends that you make, look at all the family, you know, you create and all of that. And that goes from the Games, I have so many friends from the Games that I reach out to. I have so many friends from around the world that I can reach out to and go and do things with the opportunities that that’s brought, but also like inside my gyms, like all my friends are inside CrossFit WaterSide. I don’t have very many friends outside of that. And I think of, well, what would happen if something, if I didn’t have this, where would my friends be? I don’t know. Like, I’m sure you make friends, but you know, we all go to the gym together. We all go out to eat together, you know, and we have our little cliques and niches and our bonds and similarities that we create together. And so I think overall, like the opportunities and friends that you come across are probably the coolest thing looking back at 11 years of CrossFit.

Sean (44:11):

Well, Cassidy, I appreciate you taking the time to do this. Congratulations again on the pregnancy. Congratulations to you and Aly, and I know you two are going to make fantastic parents. When’s the due date now?

Cassidy (44:23):

Thank you so much. Due July 18th and right on track.

Sean (44:26):

All right, perfect. Well, yeah, everyone will be sending good thoughts your way. And again, congratulations. Thank you so much for doing this.

Cassidy (44:32):

Thank you, Sean. I appreciate it.

Sean (44:34):

Big thanks to Cassidy Lance-McWherter for taking the time to speak with me. If you’d like to follow her on Instagram, you can find her @cassidy_lancemcwherter, and the link to her ebook is in her bio. If you’re in business, you need to know something. Certified Two-Brain mentors have been through it all and they’re available to help you reach success. To learn how a mentor can help you transform your business and add $5,000 in monthly recurring revenue, book a free call on TwoBrainbusiness.com. Thanks for listening everyone. We’ll see you next time.

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