CrossFit Legend Meets Literary Icon: Dave Castro x ‘Life of Pi’ Author Yann Martel (EP. 030)
The CrossFit Podcast
CrossFit LLC
4.3 • 757 Ratings
🗓️ 25 August 2025
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT – Yann Martel, Author of “Life of Pi”
Yann Martel is best known as the author of the modern classic “Life of Pi.” But he also happens to be a longtime member at CrossFit Brio in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In this conversation with host Jocelyn Rylee, Yann shares how CrossFit became part of his life more than 14 years ago, and why he still shows up to class five days a week.
The two also discuss his writing process, the symbolism behind “Life of Pi,” and how fiction and fitness both shape how we understand ourselves and the world. Surprise guest Dave Castro crashes the conversation midway through to meet the author and share why “Life of Pi” is one of his favorite books of all time.
EPISODE TOPICS
- Yann’s first CrossFit workout (and why he loved it)
- How Dave and Yann first connected
- The symbolism behind “Life of Pi” (and what the ending means)
- How Yann structures his writing process
- How fiction makes us better thinkers
RESOURCES MENTIONED
- “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
- “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck
- “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
- “Call of the Wild” and White Fang” by Jack London
- The Bible, Quran, and Book of Mormon (mentioned by Dave)
- Yann’s upcoming book: “Son of Nobody”
Community Highlight
Shannon Schleifer has been bringing CrossFit to public schools in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the past decade. At Fremont Academy, she built a CrossFit elective where students learn to move with intention, and understand how it connects to what they’re studying in science class.
The setup is simple: folding rigs, barbells, dumbbells. But the impact is huge. Her classes stay full, and kids are gaining confidence in what their bodies can do.
Shannon retires this year, but she’s not done. Her goal is to expand CrossFit in public schools because for many kids, this is their only shot.
Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So when I wrote the very first word of life, I knew what the last word would be. |
| 0:05.0 | As soon as I finished it, I was like, this is absolutely one of my top ten reads ever. |
| 0:11.0 | The Glow. You do a really hard workout and afterwards that deep feeling of well-being. |
| 0:17.0 | That stayed with me. You know, it's nice about CrossFit. It's unbelievably well curated. |
| 0:22.6 | I mean, the workouts sometimes seem forbidding, but actually they still are doable. |
| 0:33.0 | Hey, everyone, Jocelyn here. Thanks for listening to the CrossFit podcast. This is a new project for us. What you may not know is there's a whole crew in the background here dedicated to bringing something awesome to you, the listeners in the CrossFit community. And what's a key piece of our culture as CrossFiters? It's feedback. So we want to hear from you. We would love it if you'd share, respectfully, what do you like? What do you not like? What would you like to see more of? Do you have ideas for guests or topics you'd like to learn more about? Just shoot us an email, Podcasts at crossfit.com. That's Podcasts with an S at CrossFit.com. Our producer, Maggie, driving this bus in the background, is even looking for a few of you to hop on a call one-on-one to discuss more of your ideas of how we can make the CrossFit podcast even better. |
| 1:18.6 | Welcome to the CrossFit podcast. Today's episode is a little unconventional. First of all, |
| 1:23.9 | I'm your host today, Jocelyn Riley. I'm a longtime affiliate owner and a trainer |
| 1:28.0 | on CrossFit Seminar staff. Denise is off doing some awesome things with both our education |
| 1:32.5 | and our sport department. She'll be back, but in the meantime, I get to take the reins on the next |
| 1:36.6 | few episodes. With me here today is Jan Martel. Jan is an author of one of the most popular |
| 1:42.4 | books of all time. The book has been transformed into |
| 1:45.5 | over 50 languages. It won the prestigious Man Booker Prize, was nominated for 10 Academy Awards |
| 1:52.3 | and won Best Director. The book is Life of Pie. Yeah, and welcome to the CrossFit podcast. |
| 1:58.3 | Thank you very much. I'm Jocelyn. The world knows you as this literary |
| 2:01.5 | giant. I have the privilege of knowing you as one of the longest tenured, most consistent |
| 2:07.0 | members at my affiliate, CrossFit Breaux up here in a little old Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada. |
| 2:13.0 | So you've been a crossfitter for close to 14 years now. Here's a fun fact for the audience. |
| 2:18.9 | You started in 2011. |
| 2:20.9 | I looked it up this morning. |
| 2:22.3 | Since then, you have done 1,537 workout of the day classes at CrossFit Breyo. |
| 2:28.1 | Can you believe that? |
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