Fixing The Broken Fitness System with OPEX Founder James FitzGerald— Barbell Shrugged #381
Barbell Shrugged
Doug Larson
4.7 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 13 March 2019
⏱️ 116 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Inaugural CrossFit Games Champion and industry-leading educator, James FitzGerald, has dedicated his life to bringing honor to the coaching profession. As Founder of OPEX Fitness his Coaching Education and Gyms Licensing Programs have provided thousands of coaches with the tools needed to professionalize their passion. James' flagship program, The OPEX Coaching Certificate Program reflects his 20 + years of coaching expertise and is set apart by the breadth of coaching theory and practical application taught. In early 2019, James achieved another career milestone with the release of Mixed Modal, a groundbreaking course specifically designed to educate coaches on the long-term development of competitive Functional Fitness athletes
In this episode of Barbell Shrugged, we talk about James' background, what the system is selling vs. what you actually need, the key components of OPEX gyms, basic lifestyles guidelines, how to fix broken gym culture, creating alignment, fitness for teens,why you are not an athlete, the deeper questions of existence and why we are all here, and much more.
Enjoy!
- Anders and Doug
Episode Breakdown
⚡️0-10: James' background, why he is the person who can change the coaching system, and asking the tough question, what is the point of exercise?
⚡️11-20: The key components of OPEX gyms (hint: it's not that complicated), what the system is selling vs. what you need, and figuring out what fitness means to your clients
⚡️21-30: The system of OPEX fitness tests, the specific fitness tests OPEX uses, and why personal training often turns into babysitting
⚡️31-40: Leading others toward being self sufficient in fitness, basic lifestyle guidelines, how bodybuilding reps add up to great expression of fitness, the "blackmark" that the fitness world put on James when he started participating in functional fitness, and the broken model that many gyms are operating under
⚡️ 41-50: Creating success for the client, coach and business owner, fixing a broken culture, creating alignment in a gym, and what do you really want as a coach and business owner?
⚡️51-60: Why you are not an athlete, the importance of language, the assessment process in OPEX gyms, and the importance of quality food hygiene practices
⚡️61-70: Changing people's mindset around nutrition, why intention is king, how building a relationship with your clients creates a successful coaching practice, James' research on fitness tracking technology, why the majority of the population do not need fancy recovery protocols, the seven fundamental systems
⚡️71-80: Why health is not the focus of athletes, the recovery protocols elite athletes engage in, the definition of Mixed Modal, fitness for teens and why it's not a good idea for them to be competing in functional fitness, and the price (health) childhood athletes pay in adult life
⚡️81-90: The STEM vs. physical activity battle, the privatization of physical education for future generations, the new fitness and health education platform for coaching kids, getting functional fitness into the Olympics, and who James has learned from
⚡️91-100: Diving into the deeper questions of life, thoughts on death, hashing out tough topics through conversation, the importance of love, the toll social media takes on young women, and the current state of the world for young women
⚡️101-113: Paul Chek, getting unplugged, losing identity, and where to find James
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Show notes at:
http://www.shruggedcollective.com/bbs-fitzgerald
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
@organifi - www.organifi.com/shrugged to save 20%
@sunlighten:www.sunlighten.com "ShruggedCollective" for $200 off + free shipping
@PerfectKeto - perfectketo.com/shrugged for 20% off
► Subscribe to Barbell Shrugged's Channel Here
► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here
http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe
📲 🎧 Listen to the audio version on the Apple Podcast App or Stitcher for Android Here-
http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedApple
http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedStitcher
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:
SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES ► http://bit.ly/ShruggedCollectiveiTunes
WEBSITE ► https://www.ShruggedCollective.com
INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/shruggedcollective
FACEBOOK ► https://facebook.com/barbellshruggedpodcast
TWITTER ► http://twitter.com/barbellshrugged
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It looks like just a barbell, but that barbell, the way it holds, and the rackets |
| 0:06.1 | sits on are the catalyst for everything that has happened in my life. On Monday, |
| 0:10.5 | Mike Blitz oversigned as the CEO of the Shiroc Collective. His legacy had shrugged, |
| 0:15.0 | along with the eyes of CTP and the soul of Chris Moore radically shifted the |
| 0:19.6 | landscape with strength conditioning for the rest of time. My name is Anders |
| 0:23.1 | Varner. I am not here to fill shoes or take away from these legends. I'm here |
| 0:27.6 | to tell you a story about strength. The way I see it. For over two decades, the |
| 0:32.2 | weight room has been my sanctuary. I have coached thousands of athletes, trained |
| 0:35.9 | with the most famous athletes in the world, and I have something to say. I |
| 0:39.2 | believe in strength. I believe that inside every single one of us there is in |
| 0:43.8 | the innate desire to uncover our true potential. I believe that developing a |
| 0:49.0 | physical capacity like air, food, and water is essential to life. I believe |
| 0:55.0 | there is a species of human, distinct from the masses, more equipped to evolve to |
| 0:59.5 | the demands of life. A species that over time has decided the best way to live an |
| 1:04.4 | easy life is to live a life committed to confronting adversity. We no longer live |
| 1:09.5 | in the jungle, but the law of the jungle lives inside us. Our home is the |
| 1:13.9 | weight room. To defy the ease of modern society, stand up to the perils of |
| 1:18.5 | entitlement and understand that over time effort conquers all. The Barbell is a |
| 1:23.6 | symbol of our commitment to always press forward, deeper than reps and sets, |
| 1:27.6 | exploring the animal that lives inside us. Because this journey of physical |
| 1:32.5 | adaptation pushes past the musculature, bleeding into the way we experience life. |
| 1:37.7 | Strength is a choice. Doug Larson, thank you for trusting me with Barbell |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Doug Larson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Doug Larson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.