Today with us on the Incite Change Podcast is Coach Mel. Former Olympic pro athlete and fitness coach who has competed on the big stages of Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
She’s trained Judo since 18 years old – martial arts, and grappling arts specifically, are a huge part of her life.She has a BA in Sociology from UC Berkeley and believes it has been very useful in helping her ask better questions as a coach
She tried for the 2016 Rio Olympics and didn’t make it. Spent 8 months training in Korea for it. Some crazy stories…
She then transitioned to BJJ, won Pan American Championships at blue belt, Silver at Worlds at purple belt
Strongfirst certs: SFG1, SFG2, SFL (barbell), SFB (bodyweight)
Iron Maiden
Sinister
Young Mel was always athletically inclined even though she had a hard time socializing. She was on the cross-country team in grade school and the track and field team in high school. Athletics gave her confidence and served as a space where she could express herself.
In high school, her mentor; CJ, introduced her to grappling. She developed more interest and saved up money to join a Judo club.
She tried for the Rio Olympics and didn’t make it due to injuries from overtraining and not resting well enough. After that snag, she regrouped and started coaching to help people achieve their fitness goals like her mentors in the past helped her. She says her favorite type of student is someone not training for the Olympics as she’s been there before and knows how stressful it is.
After her career in Judo, she switched to BJJ, intentionally moving away from serious competition to focus on having more fun. She used to train in BJJ to help her win in Judo so the switch was a natural transition with no pressure to perform in competitions.
To be physically healthy you must be mentally healthy. Be confident, be strong, and feel strong. Make sure your inner and outer realities match. Mel says her biggest regret was not resting and recovering well enough. She believes she would have been injured less and won a lot more matches had she rested more.
To prevent injuries don’t put too much focus on strength over function and don’t focus on too much range than you can control.. Don’t shy away from discomfort but don’t confuse that with pain as a way of working towards your goal.
People should realize that a lot of stuff put on social media is just the highlight reel. All these fitness influencers are not eating and working out the way they claim all year round. Its periodization and people are not always honest about how they achieve their goals.
To end this, Mel advises us to know Ourselves and know our Deep WHY – this will propel us to achieve our goals in a shorter time.
Also, in your day-to-day living, have a growth mindset instead of a fixed one. Nothing is fixed if you don’t want it to be. You can’t be helped if you have self-limiting beliefs.
EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:
[01:00] Coach Mel’s journey to fitness
[05:00] Training for Olympics and recovery
[12:00] Transition to BJJ
[17:00] Relationship with Discomfort
[21:00] Enjoyment of your fitness journey
[27:00] Training in the way you want to live
[31:00] Running Oakland’s Most powerful
[43:00] Using your environment to change yourself
[46:00] Mel’s last advice-Know thyself
Links Mentioned
Quotes:
“It’s just not worth it to link pain or discomfort for a certain nature with progress.”
“Knowing your mind, knowing your habits, knowing what keeps you ticking, knowing what lights the fire underneath you, knowing when you just chill is really important.”
“Whenever I hear someone say no pain no gain it kills me inside…I lived that for several years., my performances categorically will have been different if I had rested”
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