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Barbell Shrugged

Finding Your Authentic Self Through Physical Movement – What We Can Learn From Competitive CrossFitter, Surf instructor, Firefighter, and Coach Vanessa Lambert — Muscle Maven Radio Episode #16

Barbell Shrugged

Doug Larson

Fitness, Health & Fitness, Nutrition

4.72.8K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2019

⏱️ 90 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ashleigh chats with Vanessa Lambert, co-founder of Bee the Wellness, a health coaching and luxury healthy adventure retreat business, about her varied and eclectic background in fitness ranging from gymnastics to competitive surfing to CrossFit to firefighting and beyond, about the ways in which challenging yourself through physical activity can teach you who you really are.  

 

A health and fitness enthusiast since childhood, Vanessa came into coaching quite accidentally. As a promising young gymnast, her coach asked if she would instruct the introductory classes at her gym. Her natural love of the movement was only deepened by sharing it with others. No stranger to competitive sport, Vanessa played soccer, basketball, swam competitively, and was also co-captain of her cheerleading squad. In her early 20's she moved to Maui to improve her surfing practice and became one of the first female surf instructors in the Hawaiian islands. She and Adam were also an integral part of the CrossFit NorCal team that took third place in the affiliate games in 2009. It would be her years at NorCal Strength and Conditioning training under the tutelage of Robb Wolf and his wife Nicki, and later working with Mark Sisson, that her ancestral wellness practice would deepen. Working closely with Mark at the Primal Blueprint headquarters over four years, Vanessa developed their personal coaching program and luxury retreat vacations. This experience is what motivated her to co-create the Bee The Wellness program with her husband Adam, whom she met through their mutual work as firefighters. These days, her focus is to help as many people as possible become the very best version of themselves.

 

 

Minute Breakdown:

 

2 - 15  Introduction to Vanessa and how sports helped her build confidence from a very young age  

  

15 – 19  The sports Vanessa and Ashleigh think are ideal for young people in terms of body awareness, strength, and confidence   

19 – 35 Vanessa's experience learning about surfing and moving to Hawaii to compete in surfing and become one of the first female surf instructors in Maui at the time  

 

35 – 45  Why she decided to get into firefighting, and the challenges of the job as a 5'3, 125 pound woman; why the job is incredibly hard on your health and how to work around its challenges

 

45 – 55  How she and her husband got into CrossFit in the very early days, and what competing in the sport taught her about strength, capability, and goal-setting  

 

55 – 1:07 How Vanessa and Adam developed their coaching business and luxury retreats company; a discussion of some of the coaching programs they offer, including her Authentic Self program  

 

1:07 – 1:16 How she combines spirituality and mental health with physical health

 

1:16 – 1:19: Why "adventurous" retreats are so revelatory, especially for women who may be traveling or going on an adventure alone for the first time

 

1:19 -  What she's learned about the human condition and physical and mental strength through her work coaching and going on adventures for a living  

 

Learn more at beethewellness.com and follow along on Instagram @beethewellness

 

Reach out to me on Instagram @themusclemaven to say hi and tell me what you thought of the podcast, head to ashleighvanhouten.com to sign up for my weekly health and fitness newsletter, and if you enjoyed the episode please share on social media and leave me a nice rating and review on iTunes!   

 

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Show notes: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/mmr-lambert

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Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals.  Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since.

Along the way we've created successful online coaching programs including The Shrugged Strength Challenge, The Muscle Gain Challenge, FLIGHT, Barbell Shredded, and Barbell Bikini.

We're also dedicated to helping affiliate gym owners grow their businesses and better serve their members by providing owners tools and resources like the Barbell Business Podcast.

Find Shrugged Collective and their flagship show Barbell Shrugged here:

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey everybody, welcome to Muscle Maven Radio. I'm your host of the Muscle

0:04.9

Maven. No real name required. I hope you're all doing well and I hope today's

0:09.3

interview is as inspiring for you as it was for me. I may be a little bit biased

0:14.0

because she's my friend but I think Vanessa Lambert could definitely be in the

0:18.4

running for world's most interesting woman. She has a super crazy story. She's so

0:24.6

full of energy and enthusiasm and curiosity and positivity and she has tried

0:31.3

and accomplished more things during her time on earth so far than many people

0:35.9

twice her age. And I think that the very least maybe her story will inspire you to

0:41.0

I don't know try that hobby you've been wanting to get into that you've been

0:44.8

putting off or looking to that job that you wanted to try out for or just put

0:50.3

yourself out there for something you care about because as she will tell you

0:54.4

in this interview she's done that many times over and challenged herself and

0:58.8

taken risks and it's really paid off for her in her personal life her career

1:03.0

and just her happiness. So Vanessa right now is a health and life coach she runs

1:09.0

a company with her husband Adam that also includes a number of sort of fancy

1:14.9

healthy adventure retreats all over the world. They go to places like Costa

1:19.2

Rica and Peru. It's pretty sweet I mean they get to plan these amazing super

1:25.5

luxurious but beautiful and challenging and fun retreats and that's part of

1:31.6

their job. Anyway they've got a cool one in Montana coming up in September that

1:35.6

I'm actually going on so you can stay tuned for that but she has also been a

1:40.5

competitive cross-fitter. She's been a competitive surfer and surfing instructor.

1:45.4

She's been a firefighter and that's kind of like the tip of the iceberg so see

...

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