June 29, 2021 • 40 mins
Co-hosts Adrienne Herbert and Tamara Pridgett speak to Monica Jones, boxer, trainer, and UA athlete. Monica gets personal about her fitness journey and how an injury motivated her to learn how to better protect her body through strength training.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you can really really have the discipline to honor
what you want most verses what you want in the moment,
then you can see such beautiful success going in a
long run. This is what The Details a collaboration with
under Rama and I Heart Radio, a podcast made for
(00:22):
women Buy Women that puts our training, journeys, balls, and
mindset at the center. I'm Tamera Pridget and I'm Adrian Herbert's.
Every episode will hear from athletes, trainers, and experts who
will give us insights into how our bodies and minds
work together in training and competition. In today's episode, we're
(00:42):
talking about strength training. We're diving into how we can
protect our bodies and build muscle through lifting weights. Our
guest today is Monica Jones. Yes, Monica crushes it in
everything that she does, from her mindset to strength training,
to box into inspiring others to go a little further.
Monica really does do it all. She absolutely does. Adrian,
(01:05):
you and I are also trainers, so the three of
us have a lot in common when it comes to fitness.
We all know the importance of incorporating strength training into
a fitness routine. Yes, absolutely, And the Journal of Strength
and conditioning research confers the importance of strength training. In
a study looking at the effects of combined strength and
(01:25):
endurance training in young women, they found that in nine
weeks with twenty seven training sessions with women between the
age of twenty five to thirty with low activity levels,
strength and endurance training induced significant health benefits, including eight
point five maximal oxygen uptake. Yeah. I love that study.
I love any study that just like really shows people
(01:47):
the benefits of strength training, because I do think it
is a training modality that has a lot of benefits
for any type of training that you do. Um like
increasing your bone mass, your lean muscle mass, improved body composition.
It also improves your cardiovascular fitness, your strength. Like I've
even read studies that say it improves your well being.
(02:09):
So there are so many benefits of strength training that
also work with any other type of training that you do.
M Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's also seeing the
stats and the numbers is really really helpful for people
because often I think when we talk about the health
benefits of certain types of training, it can be quite generic.
Can we just say to people there's loads of benefits?
(02:31):
But actually I think yes, sometimes giving people like, why
am I doing this? If this is something that we
want to become a behavior, you know, a certain type
of training and actually sticking with it and making activity
and training a part of people's lives, then I really
think it's important to have that knowledge, and it's quite motivating,
I think to know this is how this is going
to impact my body in a positive way. Yeah. Absolutely, um,
(02:52):
and we definitely dive into that in this episode. So
I'm really excited to hear from Monica about all the
ways that strength training has impacted her life physically but
also in general. So let's just get right into it.
Are you ready to talk with Monica? I am so ready.
Let's do this. Hey, Monica, welcome to Sweat the Details.
(03:18):
We are super excited to have you on the pod.
We have a lot to talk about, so let's just
jump into it. Can you tell us about your journey
with fitness and boxing and strength training and how you've
gotten to where you're at today. Oh, thank you for
having me. This is so exciting. I am a performance
(03:41):
coach now and it's such a blessing to be able
to say that my journey with fitness was one of
so many hiccups. And discoveries, and those discoveries have fueled
me so much and where I am right now. High
school athletics is what fueled me to really miss and
appreciate movement and to transition into my years of going
(04:04):
to college and missing being able to play sports. I
started doing things like yoga and I would try to
run all the time, and I was chasing an aesthetic
that I didn't understand quite yet. And as the journey
of life took me through that discovery, I was at
this turning point where I had to decide, Okay, if
(04:27):
I want this body, I'm either going to become a
personal trainer or I'm going to go into the military.
And I attempted the military thing by going to our OTC,
and I was like, you know, I feel like I
can do this in a more empowering way locally. So
long story short, I pursued becoming a personal trainer, and
(04:48):
even with that education at time frame, I still had
to do a lot of internal learning. And every chapter
was like, Okay, this is my chapter for hit, this
is my chapter for a half marathon, this is my
chapter for boxing, for weight training, group fitness, and every
single journey within itself really helped me developed such a
(05:11):
love for movement and sharing movement with others. So that's
how I got here. Lots of hiccups, lots of self discovery,
and it is so wonderful to be here sitting virtually
with you ladies and getting ready to talk about strength
training and my journey in general. Yeah, that's awesome. We
have so many questions for you. So even the variety
(05:31):
there that you talked about and you know, describing it
as that movement, you know, moving our bodies in different
ways for different reasons. What was it out of all
of those different things that you mentioned, running, yoga, hit,
strength boxing, what was it that drew you to boxing
and to strength training specifically? What was it that you
enjoyed most about that? So I grew in my sports,
love playing soccer and lacrosse. I ran indoor track and
(05:56):
their team sports, and I really really missed that team aspect.
You know, you can do group fitness boxing, which I
tried back in I didn't enjoy the class. I felt
like it wasn't very personal, and so I was lucky
to have someone reach out to me and say that
they wanted to do mit work with me. And then
it felt like an interactive team thing because I had
(06:18):
a coach and then there was me, and it just
felt like the sweet science. There's nothing like boxing. It
just empowered me in so many ways, and it spoke
to the women that I was really looking to speak to.
And that is where I guess you could call my
career of influence really took off just sharing that journey
and discovering that I found a way to be an
(06:41):
athlete again that didn't require me to step on the field.
It didn't require me to compete just yet, but it
also helped space for that if I wanted it to.
And you know, the same went for for weight training.
I could go to the gym when I started to
discover how important strength was for me, and this was
through injury that I discovered that fractured my hip. Early
(07:01):
on in my personal training career. I was in a
car accident and I was amazed at how easy it
was for my hip to fracture because I was so young,
It's like really in my early twenties, and it was
because I wasn't doing any weight bearing exercise at that point.
All I was doing was running, and so I started
weight training, but I didn't have a coach, and I
(07:21):
didn't have a trainer, And when that started to shift
for me was when I decided to get a coach
that was really really invested in me learning my body,
learning my strength and my patterns, and becoming better and
more regimented at the entire process of gaining strength. So
both of them really came from having a coach and
(07:42):
feeling like an athlete again and taking on every realm
of that discipline in that lifestyle that it takes to
be your best. Yeah, strength training is so important. I
feel like no matter what type of physical activity you're doing,
it's super important. So do you have a favorite type
of strength training or do do a little bit of everything? Yes,
(08:03):
I truly do a little bit of everything. Being the
program director at BASH, we are hit style boxing, conditioning
UM and doing strength and conditioning there has been just
the light of my life. Being able to create that
program day in and day out is something that I
am so absolutely fulfilled by when I see not just
the women that come into our studios and I see
(08:25):
them start to feel empowered doing Bash picking up dumbbells
that are heavier than what they might usually pick up,
or doing the power portion of our programming which requires
so much triple extension and control and acceleration and deceleration.
It lights my heart up. I feel like that's a
chapter in my life where I gained some confidence, in
some excitement for exercise again doing hit and I do
(08:47):
feel like in athleticism, you know, you kind of have
your tears. And I went through the hit and then
I started to do a hyperchasee program in the gym
because we got to get the booty right. And then
you get into how do I literally get this kinetic
chain to just be a well oiled machine? How can
I pick up this barbell and move it from point
(09:07):
A to point B seamlessly with massive amounts of weight
on it, and you know, just make it look easy
and then live and thrive in your five to ten
minutes of rest before you try and do it again.
That is a chapter that I really really have loved
starting to blossom in. Well, you mentioned quite a few
(09:28):
different points around, you know, technical elements, but also the
word discipline. You know, you talked about that with the
boxing and also with the strength, and I'm really interested
to hear for you personally, like where do you feel
like that comes from too. I guess seek something that
requires you to have disciplined in your life. Is it's
something that you've cultivated or do you think it's something
in eight that's just always been in there? Oh, that
(09:50):
is such an exciting question. Um. I think it's developed
in time in my womanhood. Honestly, I have incredible influence
my parents. They are the most disciplined minorities that formed
a team and just gave us everything that they could.
But for me, I used to really shy away from things.
I didn't want to be discipline. You know, I am
(10:10):
a college dropout, and I can say it probably because
I found so much passion in what I do now.
But I was not the disciplined person. And when I
started to understand that even with passion, you can't give
more to people if you don't find discipline to do
the things that you don't want to do, uh, then
I started to really lock in on it. Discipline is
(10:33):
the most wonderful quote, the highest form of self love.
It's truly understanding that if you can really really have
the discipline to honor what you want most versus what
you want in the moment, then you can see such
beautiful success going in the long run. So that started
to really develop for me. I had to start visualizing
and starting to practice seeing myself the future, mon being
(10:55):
proud of what I decided to do in that moment.
And I just want to disrupt what society is teaching
people and women and our future generations, because discipline really
is self love. It really is so rewarding. I love.
That definitely wasn't an eight though you mentioned earlier, and
(11:17):
I feel like it's super important to this conversation. But
also your story that you fractured your hip. Can you
tell us how you were able to regain strength after
such a major injury fracturing my hip? There was so
there was do surgery and it's so weird how that works,
Like it was my pubic ramis, which is like this
(11:37):
tiny fracture. However, it was painful enough to the point
where I was like, Okay, they need to get this
looked at. And there were elements of embarrassment and hurt
pride because I had just become a personal trainer at
the gym I was at. I had just moved myself
down to Arlington from an Aaronto County, Maryland. I worked
so hard to get there, and then I was the
(11:58):
new girl in the gym on crutches, and in my mind,
I'm thinking to myself, people are going to look at
me on these crutches and think I don't know what
I'm talking about. And then I also had the elements
of my body is not doing the things that I
really really was motivated to do, so I had to
lock in and decide on which narrative I was about
(12:19):
to believe, and I kept telling myself, Hey, it's tend
to learn yourself. You got hurt because you were missing
some element of stability, some element of bone mass density
and element of resistance training. And if I can create
that connection now I can come back better. And if
I can share myself getting over this hump, than so
(12:39):
many other people who are getting injured in this way
can really feel some hope. It was truly a blessing
in disguise, but that journey was hard. It really took
a toll on my self confidence at first. And if
I didn't practice gratitude, if I didn't slow down and
think about what lied ahead for me, then I really
wouldn't have been able to stand stronger literally a metaphorically
(13:01):
after the fact, I can completely relate to that. I
had hip surgery felt similar things that you were saying. Um,
So with your actual rehab recovery program, were you working
with like a physical therapist or a trainer or were
you kind of just like freestyling it on your own
because you're certified and you have this like knowledge of
(13:23):
strength training. Yeah, so this is one of my favorite
things to address in my journey of wellness. I wanted
as much help as I could get. I was going
to physical therapy, and I had to educate myself more
because unfortunately, I was just showing up to do things
(13:44):
that I could do on my own, and then there
wasn't any guidance once I was done there. So I
just took it to the books. I literally took it
to the books and did everything I could to bridge
the gap between getting back into training and like continuing
to care for my weaker points, which wasn't even just
(14:05):
from my hips down, it was literally all the way
through my spine, how I sat, how I slept everything
from my recovery into my nutrition, into my programming. And
I've just loved any resource of recovery. I'm all about it,
and I've really really come across some incredible practitioners along
(14:27):
the way, and they have changed my mindset on injury
recovery that it's literally not something that should just feel
good or feel like nothing. It is something that's a
little bit invasive and it's tough. But I really appreciate
that learning experience. I think for anyone listening who's either
had an injury or who is injured right now, I
(14:49):
think that's really for me. Anyway. Two key takeaways from
what you're saying, one being that it's so frustrating whatever
the injury is, and you know you said it knocks
your confidence, that impacts how you feel about you know,
the frustration of not being able to do what you
want to do. But secondly, you know, it's kind of
really empowering message I think to say to people, you
know what, you can go here, you can ask there,
but take that responsibility on yourself and to say, you
(15:10):
know what, I'm going to get advice and I'm going
to get help, but I'm going to read, I'm going
to learn because what works for you might be slightly
different for me, and I'm going to do these things
to take me on that journey to recovery. Yes, yeah,
even with my background as a collegiate athlete, as a
personal trainer, someone who's worked as a top like experts
(15:32):
and fitness, no one believed me about my injury. Like
it took me six months to convince him that I
had a labor tear. It took me so long to
just get someone to give me an m R. I
all of these things. So it's such a fight. Yeah,
it's And it's like, at the end of the day,
we always know our body better than anybody else. So
(15:52):
anyone listening remember that. Yes, we obviously have talked a
lot about strength training and your journey, but how has
strength training improved your confidence and your self image from
a physical standpoint? My posture, I mean, I'm standing proud.
(16:13):
There's so much to my stature now because I know
exactly what built it. I built it, and the investment
of my time, my emotions, um, and just you know,
the discipline. There's so much that's gone into it that
has literally improved me physically. But my confidence has increased
so much because I've dedicated time and energy to myself
(16:36):
and I deemed myself worthy of hiring a coach and
having them pushed me. And I also decided to stand
beside the best athletes that I could to make it happen.
And knowing myself and understanding myself in that process has
increased my confidence as a woman drastically and dramatically, And
(17:00):
it's so beautiful to see that my community also sees
that in me, whether it's on social media or the
people that stand beside me. The confidence is just incredible
and it literally comes from investing in myself. Yeah. Well,
you mentioned, you know, social media and the community and
also showing up. And I think something that I definitely
see from you is leading by example and saying, you know,
(17:23):
like you mentioned empathy, you know, I'm here, I'm showing up.
I'm doing it too. And you also use social media,
You've spoken and used your platform to talk about social
justice issues such as Black Lives Matter. So how and
why did you feel like using your platform using your voice,
And I guess the kind of crossover between your message
in fitness and also your message in activism it has
(17:47):
clicked one day where I was, you know, I've been
at this for years, and I want to empower women,
and I also want to show them what strength can do,
what's getting uncomfortable can do. And then just when George
Floyd was you know, wrongfully murdered, and when it just
(18:10):
shocked the world, I immediately had to speak on the
black men in my life, including my father, the love
of my life, anyone that I absolutely love and hold dear,
and I had to start to speak on why it
is I am who I am, and that is because
of those people in my life. So if anybody loves
and appreciates me, if anyone loves to follow me, to
(18:31):
interact with me, you know, has developed any sort of
relationship with me, then they have those men to think
and they absolutely cannot turn a blind eye to who
I am, the color of my skin and how it
very very much defines the person that I am. And
so with that I had to just speak up. And
health activism in the way that I've decided to share
(18:55):
on social media has actually become the greatest passion point
from me because I was always encouraging women to take
care of themselves. But you absolutely cannot fight your best
fight if you don't put yourself first. And so at
the most molecular level, that's still my messaging and it
still carries through in that. But then there there becomes
(19:16):
the topics of Okay, well, now that we're taking care
of ourselves, what can we do to dedicate just a
moment or you know, just our effort into doing that
for other people. These messages that you've been sharing about
social activism and health activism, have they been received positively
(19:38):
by your community? Since you're going beyond just like sharing
fitness related content, they have been massively received well and
the support has been incredible. That is definitely the result
of always living by the same principles. And although it
(19:59):
wasn't in every single thing that I posted in the past,
like you know, Black Girl, Fitness, Blaze and Fitness, I
wasn't going off about being specific. I was just living
as the example. But then when it got very specific,
it shined through so much. It was just such a blessing.
And the negativity that I did receive, there were conversations
(20:19):
that helped us both grow and I feel really blessed
to say that. You know, there's a couple of ways
and go. You can respond with negativity to someone and
get into an argument, or you can literally open up
your heart, open up your ears and be willing to
go back and forth constructively and have that conversation and
that that was a huge area of growth for me,
which I really appreciate, and I'm sure it was huge
(20:39):
area of growth for that couple of people. Positivity has
come from it, and I never turn a blind eye
to the negatives because we must learn from them. The
mindfulness has been just an incredible evolution for me. That
is the perfect place to take a short break. But
then we'll be right back. Hey, everybody, welcome back to
(21:09):
sweat the details. And so for anyone listening who is thinking, Okay,
this sounds awesome and they are looking to maybe get
started for the first time, what would your message be
to them, Come on down a bashbox. But now, honestly,
there are a few steps you can take to try
and get into your realm of fitness, and I think
that obviously there are a lot of things we can
(21:31):
consume on our timeline and just sit with general media.
If you find something that resonates and looks fun to you,
definitely schedule out of time to go and try it out.
Another cool thing you can do is just call upon
your friends, family members, someone to come and do that
with you. It's always nice to share that experience, that
accountability and also that comfort in person that you already
(21:52):
know can help a lot. There's so many ways to
approach that, but you have to put yourself in a
mindset of fun, in joyment, and fulfillment. What is going
to lead you there? And if you can get your
foot in the door there, then it starts to open
up so much more confidence in so many more possibilities.
It just creates a habit, it creates a lifestyle, and
(22:14):
it becomes so fulfilling. But no matter what, this life
is so precious. Do not do things that are not fulfilling.
Because we can go to the gym and try to
force ourselves to put on a good playlist and lift
up some weights. But if it's not sustainable because we
don't enjoy it, then it's time to find something else.
And maybe you'll work up to that. But do what
(22:35):
really serves you and and brings joy into your life.
Is definitely my number one piece of advice when it
comes to wellness. Absolutely. If someone is specifically interested in
starting like powerlifting, what advice do you have for them?
The basics are everything, No matter what, You're going to
start by learning how you can balance on one foot
(22:57):
and then how you can change directions from there, and
then you might pick up an item and move it
in a different direction, stable to unstable, and then you're
gonna to start to increasing weight and just trust that process.
Sometimes we get so caught up in seeing what the
beautiful top level movement is and we don't want to
do the work that it takes to get there. It
(23:18):
is absolutely necessary, So trust your process and really get
in tune with what it is you're doing. I've had
a lot of clients before in the personal training space
that they show up they don't want to think about it.
I'm like, I'm sorry, you have to think about it.
You have to acknowledge what you're doing right now and
how great you're doing it, or how you can improve
at it, so that when you go home, you eat
(23:40):
what you need to eat to fuel you getting better
at that, and then when you go to sleep, you
get enough sleep so you can return and progress. You
have to think about it a little bit, and you
have to understand yourself and get help. Of course, obviously
it's tending to get a coach, for sure. Yeah, that's
when my mind was that for sure, because I think
for some people that is the barrier when it comes
to lifting or you know the equipment. So I think
(24:01):
that you know, getting a coach for sure, and knowing that,
as you said, there's a process the steps to getting
you there. It's not just okay, go for it and
do it on your own. So Monica, what does your
lifting program look like right now? And how has it
evolved and how has it changed since you first started lifting?
Right now? My lifting program is four days a week
(24:22):
and we're on the basics of movement, but in a
very athletic way, so plenty of squatting, deadlifting, working through
right now a cycle of pull ups or chin ups,
and then also doing bench and of course working through
some rotational stuff and lots of great excess relifts and
(24:44):
working with an incredible coach, Um Jay Morgan, who is
out in d C at Urban Athletic Club. It's a
black owned gym. It's an amazing program and he's absolutely brilliant.
And that is my prior right now is continuing to
increase my athleticism. However, boxing is life, so in order
(25:09):
to put out the best product possible, I am also
taking part in at least two bash boxing workouts a
week so that I can continue to create that programming
and then of course doing network or sparring at least
once a week. And I'd say the greatest evolution in
my fitness regiment in my training is putting sleep over
(25:33):
socially working out with people. Because in your girl was
running around all of the d m V doing every
single workout possible because I just love to move, and
then I wasn't getting any gains, and I was like,
all right, it's time to make the priority and I
can cycle on and off of that. So I'm getting
(25:53):
at least six workouts in a week, and then I'm
also coaching six to seven classes a week. We often
talk about the three sixty of training, so not just
the physical aspect but as you were mentioning, like the
recovery portion um, but also we talk a lot about
the mental aspect of training. So for you, is it
(26:17):
similar when you're doing like your boxing training versus weightlifting
mentally or do you have to kind of like prep
yourself differently for the two by competitive spirit is I'll
die before you outwork me. It's just I will work
absolutely so hard if there's someone beside me working hard.
(26:39):
You know. That's why we love group energy too, it's
like it fuels you in the most supportive way, but
also you're like, I see you over there and about
a one up you. It's great to step into training
and literally be like I know myself, I know what's
about to come of this, or there's beauty in the
anxiety of it too. Sometimes I'm like, I just don't
know about this, and I just love that feeling because
(27:00):
I'll never take movement for granted, the anxiety of whether
I can do it well or not, or the confidence
that comes from it. I will never take it for granted.
And being injured or being under recovered, you really miss
the moments where you were thriving and you're like, Okay,
it's time to lock in so that we can continue
to thrive that competitive spirit that you're describing. I'm so
(27:21):
interested to hear from your monica. I heard recently that
when it comes to the competitive motivation, there's two camps.
So you either love to win or you hate to lose,
and whichever one you fall into is like what drives
you most. And and it's basically saying, once you figure
out which one that is, there's no shame in either.
There's no better worse, but which one do you think
it is for you? Oh my gosh. I have never
(27:44):
been phase of this the hard question because I feel
like both exists, right, But I am going to pick one.
And I love to win. I do because I don't
really hate losing, to be honest, and it's not something
that I get comfortable with. But I learned a lesson
in every single loss. I call it getting out the mud,
like we learn literally from coming from the trenches of
(28:09):
whether it's emotional battles or from your toughest workout. And losing,
to me, doesn't actually always correlate to underperforming. Sometimes it's
just not your time. Someone trained harder, they went harder,
Their conditions before they got into the race or the
task were just better. And you know, for me, I
(28:33):
love to win because I celebrate the winds with the
people I care about, whether it's the people that crossed
the finish line before or after me, the people who
have been training beside me, or the people who just
support me. Honestly, winning for me represents brown girls winning,
It represents women winning. It represents more than just me,
(28:55):
and I absolutely love it. Yes, and we love to
say it's a great and sir, Yes, we are going
to take a short break, but don't go too far
away because we're going to be right back. Hi. Everyone,
Welcome back to Sweat the Details. I think we're having
(29:17):
so much fun, but I think this is a perfect
time to go into a game that we have um
to play Monica called this or that, So just like
a fitness rapid fire type of game, let's get it.
We'll start off with the easy one group workouts or
solo workouts, group workouts, jump rope or box jumps, jump rope,
(29:44):
front squats or the traditional back squat. Oh, the front
squats all day, They're so great. Why uh? The counterweight
really allows for me to just feel really grounded and
I I'm just loving them so much. Dumbbells or cattle bells.
(30:04):
Cattle bells so technical, so awesome, just to be able
to do different things and and really build a solid,
solid synergy in your body. Clean and jerk or a snatch.
I'm gonna put the snatch over the clean and jerk
because it is something that I've really am honoring and
(30:26):
looking towards. I attempted to barbell snatch back in twenty sixteen,
and I was going to a random CrossFit gym that
I found no group on and I nailed a snatch
like adventurously, and that was really cool for me because
I was like, oh, I just approached the barn, did it.
And I also had a black female coach leading the class,
(30:47):
which I was like, Wow, I never expected to walk
into this, so it was really cool, and um, it
was an empowering moment that I'm really looking forward to
getting back to with greater technique and discipline early workout
or evening training session early workouts, because as much as
I think that more food in the evening would fuel
(31:09):
me to perform better, my grip is just trash later
in the day. And also like it's just there's so
much of a chance that it won't get done. I
have to do it early. Awesome, Monica, thank you so
so much for coming on Sweat the Details and talking
to us about everything strength training, but also just you know,
giving us all those little life tips and refreshers that
(31:31):
we definitely needed to hear. It was much appreciated. Yes,
I'm sure the listeners are going to enjoy this episode
as much as we did, so please do come back
to Sweat the Details anytime you want. Yes, Oh my gosh,
y'all really boost in my life. I want to thank
you both so much for taking the time to actually
get to know me. That's really wonderful and this was
so empowering and I'm ready to go empower more women.
(31:55):
So thank you both so much. I really appreciate it.
Thank you again to Monica Jones for being such a
wonderful guest and sharing her journey with us. Yes, thank
you Monica. She was so much fun to speak to.
She had such an inspiring story and she also just
had me ready to just go into the gym and
(32:17):
throw some weight around. Um. But also, you know, she
spoke about the injury that she had and just being
able to like hear her come back see where she
is today was super inspiring because I too recently had
an injury, and like, it's always just nice to have
like that motivation around you when you're trying to get
back into a routine and into fitness. M Yeah, I
(32:40):
really enjoyed it too. I really loved Monica's just encouraging energy.
I feel like she's such a natural encourager and I
can only imagine like training with her and being part
of her community would be really fun. Actually, you know,
even though I think sometimes I don't know if you agree, Tommer,
but sometimes I think the strength training world has this
kind of like intense vibe, which some puts people off,
(33:01):
whereas I felt like with with Monica, it just seemed
really fun and accessible and achievable. Actually, yeah, she definitely
made it seem like so much fun and also like
I just want a track of her like giving motivational
tips because her voice is so perfectly soothing, you know,
I'm like, yes, just like hype me up, I want
to I want to playlist of it um. So you know,
(33:23):
we always talk about our our favorite takeaways from each episode,
and so I will start. There were so many gyms
in this conversation, but I think when she said, like,
you know, initially she was kind of just chasing an
esthetic at first when she started like training, and then
she kind of just shifted into like, I want to
be stronger, I want like x y Z performance gool.
(33:46):
I loved that because it is so easy just to
get caught up with like a certain look or something.
But I think at the end of the day, you know,
just being like I'm stronger, I'm faster. In her case, like,
you know, I'm a more power lifter, I'm a more
powerful boxer. I think those are so much more important.
And then also just like her stressing how important recovery
(34:10):
is in her routine and just in general, is like, yes,
because I feel like people don't do it enough. M hmm. Yeah.
We're both probably guilty of that a little bit sometimes. Yeah.
I think for me key takeaways from the episode, as
well as her encouragement and energy, it was probably her honesty.
You know, she was so honest about you know, we
all have things that we like to do that we
(34:31):
don't like to do. We all have strengths and weaknesses,
but sometimes I think we can yeah, maybe trying to
cover those up and and not really lean into that
vulnerability of saying, yeah, of course, you know, these things
are difficult, These things are hard to do, but I'm
still going to do them anyway. I really loved that.
I just loved her energy. It's really given me a boost. Yeah,
absolutely so. For those of you who are new listeners,
(34:53):
at this point in every episode, Adrian and I check
in with one another about our fitness goals, and we
just get real about our progress. We talk about where
we may be struggling and the type of support that
we need to achieve our goals. Yes, And if this
is your first time tuning into the podcast, then over
the last few weeks we have both had our eyes
(35:14):
on different goals. Tamara is training for the heptathlon and
I am currently training for a PB in the half marathon.
So I would love to know how you're doing when
it comes to training for your half marathon. Yes, so
lots of updates. There's been a lot of changes actually
to my schedule this week, and the weather here in
the UK is exceptionally bad, so I'm not gonna lie.
(35:36):
It is really trying to bring me down. I'm a
fair weather runner, you know. I don't want to be
out running in the rain and it's been raining NonStop
for days. So there's been a few changes to the schedule.
But I'm just going to have to adapt and do
my best. So I'll keep you posted absolutely. So. I mean,
obviously that seems like you can't control the rother too much. Um,
(35:57):
but you're gonna do what you need to do, but
how can and we support you as you're approaching race day.
I think what I need to focus on right now
is what I can control and not the things I can't,
as you said, So I think how you can help
me is maybe, yeah, just giving those reminders of I've
put in the work I've trained and just trying to
(36:17):
eliminate those distractions would be good. I completely agree with you,
and I feel like that's such a good tip for
just life in general, not even just this race that
you have coming up. Like my college coach used to
always tell us, like handle what you can handle, because
there are so many things out of our control. And
like you said, just focus on your running, your training,
you know, like you've done so well up to now,
(36:39):
so we got you. We're gonna be in your d
M reminding you about that. Thank you, Thank you so much.
And how's everything going with you? How's your training this week?
For the tough one. I just came off a really
nice like recovery week, which I love because I feel
like it just like it's got me ready for this
(36:59):
next phase of training. Like I'm just trying to be
like confident a similar situation with you, like just like
really trusting that what I've done up to now like
has prepared me for what I'm going to do shortly,
like really trusting that and just staying present and being
focused on each workout. But yeah, that's where I'm at.
(37:20):
So great that you're resting and taking that time as
you stay recovery. If you want to perform at your best,
we will hear it, but often it kind of is
the first thing to go. So that's awesome that you're
feeling rested and ready to get back into your training.
I'm hoping it's going to be great from here on out,
almost an upward strength for your hip. Do you need
anything from us? What can we do to help you
(37:40):
stay calm in this moment? Yeah? You know, I love
that question because, like you know, support, community is so important,
and I'm always like, what do I need when you
ask me? Um? Yeah, having people remind me to just like,
you know, stay present, Um that I'm fine, I'm healthy,
I'm strong. Kind of just like, what is it a mantra?
It's gonna be my mantra. You're fine, you're healthy, you're strong. Yeah,
(38:02):
just like that type of support right now would be
I think the most beneficial. Great, Well, I am with you.
I love hearing those mantras, those positive words of affirmation.
I think that they are really powerful and we also
want to hear about the listeners and how you're all
doing too, so please do reach out to us on social.
If you reach out to me, you can find me
(38:22):
on Twitter and Instagram at Adrian under School l d N. Yes,
we want you to cheer us on for our goals,
but we also want to do the same for you,
so definitely share them with us. And as Adrian said,
if you want to reach out directly, you can find
me on Instagram at TAM's go and Ham and on
Twitter at Tamera Bridget. That's it for this week's episode,
(38:44):
but don't forget to listen next week when we are
speaking with Dr Joanna sca researcher of breast health, on
how important good sports brat is for your performance. I'm
so excited. I can't wait for next week to come.
But until then, stay tuned in, day motivated, and don't
forget to sweat the details by everybody by. If you
(39:13):
like what you heard on the show, subscribe for free
or follow the show on the I Heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen, and don't forget to
leave five star rating and review. But the Details is
a collaboration with under Armour and I Heart Radio. Our
show was hosted by me Tamera Pridget and me Adrian Herbert's.
(39:33):
Our executive producers are Jess Schribe, Stein Chazelle, Luis Archibald,
and Molly Sosha. Our supervising producer is My Coole. Our
producers are Ellen Kaplan and Kelly an Taul. Our assistant
producers are Natalia Tamayo and Bella Welcome, and our sound
editor and engineer is Sarah Gibel Laska. Keep up with
(39:56):
the latest news and women's fitness by following under Armour
Women on Instagram at under Armor Women
If you can really really have the discipline to honor
what you want most verses what you want in the moment,
then you can see such beautiful success going in a
long run. This is what The Details a collaboration with
under Rama and I Heart Radio, a podcast made for
(00:22):
women Buy Women that puts our training, journeys, balls, and
mindset at the center. I'm Tamera Pridget and I'm Adrian Herbert's.
Every episode will hear from athletes, trainers, and experts who
will give us insights into how our bodies and minds
work together in training and competition. In today's episode, we're
(00:42):
talking about strength training. We're diving into how we can
protect our bodies and build muscle through lifting weights. Our
guest today is Monica Jones. Yes, Monica crushes it in
everything that she does, from her mindset to strength training,
to box into inspiring others to go a little further.
Monica really does do it all. She absolutely does. Adrian,
(01:05):
you and I are also trainers, so the three of
us have a lot in common when it comes to fitness.
We all know the importance of incorporating strength training into
a fitness routine. Yes, absolutely, And the Journal of Strength
and conditioning research confers the importance of strength training. In
a study looking at the effects of combined strength and
(01:25):
endurance training in young women, they found that in nine
weeks with twenty seven training sessions with women between the
age of twenty five to thirty with low activity levels,
strength and endurance training induced significant health benefits, including eight
point five maximal oxygen uptake. Yeah. I love that study.
I love any study that just like really shows people
(01:47):
the benefits of strength training, because I do think it
is a training modality that has a lot of benefits
for any type of training that you do. Um like
increasing your bone mass, your lean muscle mass, improved body composition.
It also improves your cardiovascular fitness, your strength. Like I've
even read studies that say it improves your well being.
(02:09):
So there are so many benefits of strength training that
also work with any other type of training that you do.
M Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's also seeing the
stats and the numbers is really really helpful for people
because often I think when we talk about the health
benefits of certain types of training, it can be quite generic.
Can we just say to people there's loads of benefits?
(02:31):
But actually I think yes, sometimes giving people like, why
am I doing this? If this is something that we
want to become a behavior, you know, a certain type
of training and actually sticking with it and making activity
and training a part of people's lives, then I really
think it's important to have that knowledge, and it's quite motivating,
I think to know this is how this is going
to impact my body in a positive way. Yeah. Absolutely, um,
(02:52):
and we definitely dive into that in this episode. So
I'm really excited to hear from Monica about all the
ways that strength training has impacted her life physically but
also in general. So let's just get right into it.
Are you ready to talk with Monica? I am so ready.
Let's do this. Hey, Monica, welcome to Sweat the Details.
(03:18):
We are super excited to have you on the pod.
We have a lot to talk about, so let's just
jump into it. Can you tell us about your journey
with fitness and boxing and strength training and how you've
gotten to where you're at today. Oh, thank you for
having me. This is so exciting. I am a performance
(03:41):
coach now and it's such a blessing to be able
to say that my journey with fitness was one of
so many hiccups. And discoveries, and those discoveries have fueled
me so much and where I am right now. High
school athletics is what fueled me to really miss and
appreciate movement and to transition into my years of going
(04:04):
to college and missing being able to play sports. I
started doing things like yoga and I would try to
run all the time, and I was chasing an aesthetic
that I didn't understand quite yet. And as the journey
of life took me through that discovery, I was at
this turning point where I had to decide, Okay, if
(04:27):
I want this body, I'm either going to become a
personal trainer or I'm going to go into the military.
And I attempted the military thing by going to our OTC,
and I was like, you know, I feel like I
can do this in a more empowering way locally. So
long story short, I pursued becoming a personal trainer, and
(04:48):
even with that education at time frame, I still had
to do a lot of internal learning. And every chapter
was like, Okay, this is my chapter for hit, this
is my chapter for a half marathon, this is my
chapter for boxing, for weight training, group fitness, and every
single journey within itself really helped me developed such a
(05:11):
love for movement and sharing movement with others. So that's
how I got here. Lots of hiccups, lots of self discovery,
and it is so wonderful to be here sitting virtually
with you ladies and getting ready to talk about strength
training and my journey in general. Yeah, that's awesome. We
have so many questions for you. So even the variety
(05:31):
there that you talked about and you know, describing it
as that movement, you know, moving our bodies in different
ways for different reasons. What was it out of all
of those different things that you mentioned, running, yoga, hit,
strength boxing, what was it that drew you to boxing
and to strength training specifically? What was it that you
enjoyed most about that? So I grew in my sports,
love playing soccer and lacrosse. I ran indoor track and
(05:56):
their team sports, and I really really missed that team aspect.
You know, you can do group fitness boxing, which I
tried back in I didn't enjoy the class. I felt
like it wasn't very personal, and so I was lucky
to have someone reach out to me and say that
they wanted to do mit work with me. And then
it felt like an interactive team thing because I had
(06:18):
a coach and then there was me, and it just
felt like the sweet science. There's nothing like boxing. It
just empowered me in so many ways, and it spoke
to the women that I was really looking to speak to.
And that is where I guess you could call my
career of influence really took off just sharing that journey
and discovering that I found a way to be an
(06:41):
athlete again that didn't require me to step on the field.
It didn't require me to compete just yet, but it
also helped space for that if I wanted it to.
And you know, the same went for for weight training.
I could go to the gym when I started to
discover how important strength was for me, and this was
through injury that I discovered that fractured my hip. Early
(07:01):
on in my personal training career. I was in a
car accident and I was amazed at how easy it
was for my hip to fracture because I was so young,
It's like really in my early twenties, and it was
because I wasn't doing any weight bearing exercise at that point.
All I was doing was running, and so I started
weight training, but I didn't have a coach, and I
(07:21):
didn't have a trainer, And when that started to shift
for me was when I decided to get a coach
that was really really invested in me learning my body,
learning my strength and my patterns, and becoming better and
more regimented at the entire process of gaining strength. So
both of them really came from having a coach and
(07:42):
feeling like an athlete again and taking on every realm
of that discipline in that lifestyle that it takes to
be your best. Yeah, strength training is so important. I
feel like no matter what type of physical activity you're doing,
it's super important. So do you have a favorite type
of strength training or do do a little bit of everything? Yes,
(08:03):
I truly do a little bit of everything. Being the
program director at BASH, we are hit style boxing, conditioning
UM and doing strength and conditioning there has been just
the light of my life. Being able to create that
program day in and day out is something that I
am so absolutely fulfilled by when I see not just
the women that come into our studios and I see
(08:25):
them start to feel empowered doing Bash picking up dumbbells
that are heavier than what they might usually pick up,
or doing the power portion of our programming which requires
so much triple extension and control and acceleration and deceleration.
It lights my heart up. I feel like that's a
chapter in my life where I gained some confidence, in
some excitement for exercise again doing hit and I do
(08:47):
feel like in athleticism, you know, you kind of have
your tears. And I went through the hit and then
I started to do a hyperchasee program in the gym
because we got to get the booty right. And then
you get into how do I literally get this kinetic
chain to just be a well oiled machine? How can
I pick up this barbell and move it from point
(09:07):
A to point B seamlessly with massive amounts of weight
on it, and you know, just make it look easy
and then live and thrive in your five to ten
minutes of rest before you try and do it again.
That is a chapter that I really really have loved
starting to blossom in. Well, you mentioned quite a few
(09:28):
different points around, you know, technical elements, but also the
word discipline. You know, you talked about that with the
boxing and also with the strength, and I'm really interested
to hear for you personally, like where do you feel
like that comes from too. I guess seek something that
requires you to have disciplined in your life. Is it's
something that you've cultivated or do you think it's something
in eight that's just always been in there? Oh, that
(09:50):
is such an exciting question. Um. I think it's developed
in time in my womanhood. Honestly, I have incredible influence
my parents. They are the most disciplined minorities that formed
a team and just gave us everything that they could.
But for me, I used to really shy away from things.
I didn't want to be discipline. You know, I am
(10:10):
a college dropout, and I can say it probably because
I found so much passion in what I do now.
But I was not the disciplined person. And when I
started to understand that even with passion, you can't give
more to people if you don't find discipline to do
the things that you don't want to do, uh, then
I started to really lock in on it. Discipline is
(10:33):
the most wonderful quote, the highest form of self love.
It's truly understanding that if you can really really have
the discipline to honor what you want most versus what
you want in the moment, then you can see such
beautiful success going in the long run. So that started
to really develop for me. I had to start visualizing
and starting to practice seeing myself the future, mon being
(10:55):
proud of what I decided to do in that moment.
And I just want to disrupt what society is teaching
people and women and our future generations, because discipline really
is self love. It really is so rewarding. I love.
That definitely wasn't an eight though you mentioned earlier, and
(11:17):
I feel like it's super important to this conversation. But
also your story that you fractured your hip. Can you
tell us how you were able to regain strength after
such a major injury fracturing my hip? There was so
there was do surgery and it's so weird how that works,
Like it was my pubic ramis, which is like this
(11:37):
tiny fracture. However, it was painful enough to the point
where I was like, Okay, they need to get this
looked at. And there were elements of embarrassment and hurt
pride because I had just become a personal trainer at
the gym I was at. I had just moved myself
down to Arlington from an Aaronto County, Maryland. I worked
so hard to get there, and then I was the
(11:58):
new girl in the gym on crutches, and in my mind,
I'm thinking to myself, people are going to look at
me on these crutches and think I don't know what
I'm talking about. And then I also had the elements
of my body is not doing the things that I
really really was motivated to do, so I had to
lock in and decide on which narrative I was about
(12:19):
to believe, and I kept telling myself, Hey, it's tend
to learn yourself. You got hurt because you were missing
some element of stability, some element of bone mass density
and element of resistance training. And if I can create
that connection now I can come back better. And if
I can share myself getting over this hump, than so
(12:39):
many other people who are getting injured in this way
can really feel some hope. It was truly a blessing
in disguise, but that journey was hard. It really took
a toll on my self confidence at first. And if
I didn't practice gratitude, if I didn't slow down and
think about what lied ahead for me, then I really
wouldn't have been able to stand stronger literally a metaphorically
(13:01):
after the fact, I can completely relate to that. I
had hip surgery felt similar things that you were saying. Um,
So with your actual rehab recovery program, were you working
with like a physical therapist or a trainer or were
you kind of just like freestyling it on your own
because you're certified and you have this like knowledge of
(13:23):
strength training. Yeah, so this is one of my favorite
things to address in my journey of wellness. I wanted
as much help as I could get. I was going
to physical therapy, and I had to educate myself more
because unfortunately, I was just showing up to do things
(13:44):
that I could do on my own, and then there
wasn't any guidance once I was done there. So I
just took it to the books. I literally took it
to the books and did everything I could to bridge
the gap between getting back into training and like continuing
to care for my weaker points, which wasn't even just
(14:05):
from my hips down, it was literally all the way
through my spine, how I sat, how I slept everything
from my recovery into my nutrition, into my programming. And
I've just loved any resource of recovery. I'm all about it,
and I've really really come across some incredible practitioners along
(14:27):
the way, and they have changed my mindset on injury
recovery that it's literally not something that should just feel
good or feel like nothing. It is something that's a
little bit invasive and it's tough. But I really appreciate
that learning experience. I think for anyone listening who's either
had an injury or who is injured right now, I
(14:49):
think that's really for me. Anyway. Two key takeaways from
what you're saying, one being that it's so frustrating whatever
the injury is, and you know you said it knocks
your confidence, that impacts how you feel about you know,
the frustration of not being able to do what you
want to do. But secondly, you know, it's kind of
really empowering message I think to say to people, you
know what, you can go here, you can ask there,
but take that responsibility on yourself and to say, you
(15:10):
know what, I'm going to get advice and I'm going
to get help, but I'm going to read, I'm going
to learn because what works for you might be slightly
different for me, and I'm going to do these things
to take me on that journey to recovery. Yes, yeah,
even with my background as a collegiate athlete, as a
personal trainer, someone who's worked as a top like experts
(15:32):
and fitness, no one believed me about my injury. Like
it took me six months to convince him that I
had a labor tear. It took me so long to
just get someone to give me an m R. I
all of these things. So it's such a fight. Yeah,
it's And it's like, at the end of the day,
we always know our body better than anybody else. So
(15:52):
anyone listening remember that. Yes, we obviously have talked a
lot about strength training and your journey, but how has
strength training improved your confidence and your self image from
a physical standpoint? My posture, I mean, I'm standing proud.
(16:13):
There's so much to my stature now because I know
exactly what built it. I built it, and the investment
of my time, my emotions, um, and just you know,
the discipline. There's so much that's gone into it that
has literally improved me physically. But my confidence has increased
so much because I've dedicated time and energy to myself
(16:36):
and I deemed myself worthy of hiring a coach and
having them pushed me. And I also decided to stand
beside the best athletes that I could to make it happen.
And knowing myself and understanding myself in that process has
increased my confidence as a woman drastically and dramatically, And
(17:00):
it's so beautiful to see that my community also sees
that in me, whether it's on social media or the
people that stand beside me. The confidence is just incredible
and it literally comes from investing in myself. Yeah. Well,
you mentioned, you know, social media and the community and
also showing up. And I think something that I definitely
see from you is leading by example and saying, you know,
(17:23):
like you mentioned empathy, you know, I'm here, I'm showing up.
I'm doing it too. And you also use social media,
You've spoken and used your platform to talk about social
justice issues such as Black Lives Matter. So how and
why did you feel like using your platform using your voice,
And I guess the kind of crossover between your message
in fitness and also your message in activism it has
(17:47):
clicked one day where I was, you know, I've been
at this for years, and I want to empower women,
and I also want to show them what strength can do,
what's getting uncomfortable can do. And then just when George
Floyd was you know, wrongfully murdered, and when it just
(18:10):
shocked the world, I immediately had to speak on the
black men in my life, including my father, the love
of my life, anyone that I absolutely love and hold dear,
and I had to start to speak on why it
is I am who I am, and that is because
of those people in my life. So if anybody loves
and appreciates me, if anyone loves to follow me, to
(18:31):
interact with me, you know, has developed any sort of
relationship with me, then they have those men to think
and they absolutely cannot turn a blind eye to who
I am, the color of my skin and how it
very very much defines the person that I am. And
so with that I had to just speak up. And
health activism in the way that I've decided to share
(18:55):
on social media has actually become the greatest passion point
from me because I was always encouraging women to take
care of themselves. But you absolutely cannot fight your best
fight if you don't put yourself first. And so at
the most molecular level, that's still my messaging and it
still carries through in that. But then there there becomes
(19:16):
the topics of Okay, well, now that we're taking care
of ourselves, what can we do to dedicate just a
moment or you know, just our effort into doing that
for other people. These messages that you've been sharing about
social activism and health activism, have they been received positively
(19:38):
by your community? Since you're going beyond just like sharing
fitness related content, they have been massively received well and
the support has been incredible. That is definitely the result
of always living by the same principles. And although it
(19:59):
wasn't in every single thing that I posted in the past,
like you know, Black Girl, Fitness, Blaze and Fitness, I
wasn't going off about being specific. I was just living
as the example. But then when it got very specific,
it shined through so much. It was just such a blessing.
And the negativity that I did receive, there were conversations
(20:19):
that helped us both grow and I feel really blessed
to say that. You know, there's a couple of ways
and go. You can respond with negativity to someone and
get into an argument, or you can literally open up
your heart, open up your ears and be willing to
go back and forth constructively and have that conversation and
that that was a huge area of growth for me,
which I really appreciate, and I'm sure it was huge
(20:39):
area of growth for that couple of people. Positivity has
come from it, and I never turn a blind eye
to the negatives because we must learn from them. The
mindfulness has been just an incredible evolution for me. That
is the perfect place to take a short break. But
then we'll be right back. Hey, everybody, welcome back to
(21:09):
sweat the details. And so for anyone listening who is thinking, Okay,
this sounds awesome and they are looking to maybe get
started for the first time, what would your message be
to them, Come on down a bashbox. But now, honestly,
there are a few steps you can take to try
and get into your realm of fitness, and I think
that obviously there are a lot of things we can
(21:31):
consume on our timeline and just sit with general media.
If you find something that resonates and looks fun to you,
definitely schedule out of time to go and try it out.
Another cool thing you can do is just call upon
your friends, family members, someone to come and do that
with you. It's always nice to share that experience, that
accountability and also that comfort in person that you already
(21:52):
know can help a lot. There's so many ways to
approach that, but you have to put yourself in a
mindset of fun, in joyment, and fulfillment. What is going
to lead you there? And if you can get your
foot in the door there, then it starts to open
up so much more confidence in so many more possibilities.
It just creates a habit, it creates a lifestyle, and
(22:14):
it becomes so fulfilling. But no matter what, this life
is so precious. Do not do things that are not fulfilling.
Because we can go to the gym and try to
force ourselves to put on a good playlist and lift
up some weights. But if it's not sustainable because we
don't enjoy it, then it's time to find something else.
And maybe you'll work up to that. But do what
(22:35):
really serves you and and brings joy into your life.
Is definitely my number one piece of advice when it
comes to wellness. Absolutely. If someone is specifically interested in
starting like powerlifting, what advice do you have for them?
The basics are everything, No matter what, You're going to
start by learning how you can balance on one foot
(22:57):
and then how you can change directions from there, and
then you might pick up an item and move it
in a different direction, stable to unstable, and then you're
gonna to start to increasing weight and just trust that process.
Sometimes we get so caught up in seeing what the
beautiful top level movement is and we don't want to
do the work that it takes to get there. It
(23:18):
is absolutely necessary, So trust your process and really get
in tune with what it is you're doing. I've had
a lot of clients before in the personal training space
that they show up they don't want to think about it.
I'm like, I'm sorry, you have to think about it.
You have to acknowledge what you're doing right now and
how great you're doing it, or how you can improve
at it, so that when you go home, you eat
(23:40):
what you need to eat to fuel you getting better
at that, and then when you go to sleep, you
get enough sleep so you can return and progress. You
have to think about it a little bit, and you
have to understand yourself and get help. Of course, obviously
it's tending to get a coach, for sure. Yeah, that's
when my mind was that for sure, because I think
for some people that is the barrier when it comes
to lifting or you know the equipment. So I think
(24:01):
that you know, getting a coach for sure, and knowing that,
as you said, there's a process the steps to getting
you there. It's not just okay, go for it and
do it on your own. So Monica, what does your
lifting program look like right now? And how has it
evolved and how has it changed since you first started lifting?
Right now? My lifting program is four days a week
(24:22):
and we're on the basics of movement, but in a
very athletic way, so plenty of squatting, deadlifting, working through
right now a cycle of pull ups or chin ups,
and then also doing bench and of course working through
some rotational stuff and lots of great excess relifts and
(24:44):
working with an incredible coach, Um Jay Morgan, who is
out in d C at Urban Athletic Club. It's a
black owned gym. It's an amazing program and he's absolutely brilliant.
And that is my prior right now is continuing to
increase my athleticism. However, boxing is life, so in order
(25:09):
to put out the best product possible, I am also
taking part in at least two bash boxing workouts a
week so that I can continue to create that programming
and then of course doing network or sparring at least
once a week. And I'd say the greatest evolution in
my fitness regiment in my training is putting sleep over
(25:33):
socially working out with people. Because in your girl was
running around all of the d m V doing every
single workout possible because I just love to move, and
then I wasn't getting any gains, and I was like,
all right, it's time to make the priority and I
can cycle on and off of that. So I'm getting
(25:53):
at least six workouts in a week, and then I'm
also coaching six to seven classes a week. We often
talk about the three sixty of training, so not just
the physical aspect but as you were mentioning, like the
recovery portion um, but also we talk a lot about
the mental aspect of training. So for you, is it
(26:17):
similar when you're doing like your boxing training versus weightlifting
mentally or do you have to kind of like prep
yourself differently for the two by competitive spirit is I'll
die before you outwork me. It's just I will work
absolutely so hard if there's someone beside me working hard.
(26:39):
You know. That's why we love group energy too, it's
like it fuels you in the most supportive way, but
also you're like, I see you over there and about
a one up you. It's great to step into training
and literally be like I know myself, I know what's
about to come of this, or there's beauty in the
anxiety of it too. Sometimes I'm like, I just don't
know about this, and I just love that feeling because
(27:00):
I'll never take movement for granted, the anxiety of whether
I can do it well or not, or the confidence
that comes from it. I will never take it for granted.
And being injured or being under recovered, you really miss
the moments where you were thriving and you're like, Okay,
it's time to lock in so that we can continue
to thrive that competitive spirit that you're describing. I'm so
(27:21):
interested to hear from your monica. I heard recently that
when it comes to the competitive motivation, there's two camps.
So you either love to win or you hate to lose,
and whichever one you fall into is like what drives
you most. And and it's basically saying, once you figure
out which one that is, there's no shame in either.
There's no better worse, but which one do you think
it is for you? Oh my gosh. I have never
(27:44):
been phase of this the hard question because I feel
like both exists, right, But I am going to pick one.
And I love to win. I do because I don't
really hate losing, to be honest, and it's not something
that I get comfortable with. But I learned a lesson
in every single loss. I call it getting out the mud,
like we learn literally from coming from the trenches of
(28:09):
whether it's emotional battles or from your toughest workout. And losing,
to me, doesn't actually always correlate to underperforming. Sometimes it's
just not your time. Someone trained harder, they went harder,
Their conditions before they got into the race or the
task were just better. And you know, for me, I
(28:33):
love to win because I celebrate the winds with the
people I care about, whether it's the people that crossed
the finish line before or after me, the people who
have been training beside me, or the people who just
support me. Honestly, winning for me represents brown girls winning,
It represents women winning. It represents more than just me,
(28:55):
and I absolutely love it. Yes, and we love to
say it's a great and sir, Yes, we are going
to take a short break, but don't go too far
away because we're going to be right back. Hi. Everyone,
Welcome back to Sweat the Details. I think we're having
(29:17):
so much fun, but I think this is a perfect
time to go into a game that we have um
to play Monica called this or that, So just like
a fitness rapid fire type of game, let's get it.
We'll start off with the easy one group workouts or
solo workouts, group workouts, jump rope or box jumps, jump rope,
(29:44):
front squats or the traditional back squat. Oh, the front
squats all day, They're so great. Why uh? The counterweight
really allows for me to just feel really grounded and
I I'm just loving them so much. Dumbbells or cattle bells.
(30:04):
Cattle bells so technical, so awesome, just to be able
to do different things and and really build a solid,
solid synergy in your body. Clean and jerk or a snatch.
I'm gonna put the snatch over the clean and jerk
because it is something that I've really am honoring and
(30:26):
looking towards. I attempted to barbell snatch back in twenty sixteen,
and I was going to a random CrossFit gym that
I found no group on and I nailed a snatch
like adventurously, and that was really cool for me because
I was like, oh, I just approached the barn, did it.
And I also had a black female coach leading the class,
(30:47):
which I was like, Wow, I never expected to walk
into this, so it was really cool, and um, it
was an empowering moment that I'm really looking forward to
getting back to with greater technique and discipline early workout
or evening training session early workouts, because as much as
I think that more food in the evening would fuel
(31:09):
me to perform better, my grip is just trash later
in the day. And also like it's just there's so
much of a chance that it won't get done. I
have to do it early. Awesome, Monica, thank you so
so much for coming on Sweat the Details and talking
to us about everything strength training, but also just you know,
giving us all those little life tips and refreshers that
(31:31):
we definitely needed to hear. It was much appreciated. Yes,
I'm sure the listeners are going to enjoy this episode
as much as we did, so please do come back
to Sweat the Details anytime you want. Yes, Oh my gosh,
y'all really boost in my life. I want to thank
you both so much for taking the time to actually
get to know me. That's really wonderful and this was
so empowering and I'm ready to go empower more women.
(31:55):
So thank you both so much. I really appreciate it.
Thank you again to Monica Jones for being such a
wonderful guest and sharing her journey with us. Yes, thank
you Monica. She was so much fun to speak to.
She had such an inspiring story and she also just
had me ready to just go into the gym and
(32:17):
throw some weight around. Um. But also, you know, she
spoke about the injury that she had and just being
able to like hear her come back see where she
is today was super inspiring because I too recently had
an injury, and like, it's always just nice to have
like that motivation around you when you're trying to get
back into a routine and into fitness. M Yeah, I
(32:40):
really enjoyed it too. I really loved Monica's just encouraging energy.
I feel like she's such a natural encourager and I
can only imagine like training with her and being part
of her community would be really fun. Actually, you know,
even though I think sometimes I don't know if you agree, Tommer,
but sometimes I think the strength training world has this
kind of like intense vibe, which some puts people off,
(33:01):
whereas I felt like with with Monica, it just seemed
really fun and accessible and achievable. Actually, yeah, she definitely
made it seem like so much fun and also like
I just want a track of her like giving motivational
tips because her voice is so perfectly soothing, you know,
I'm like, yes, just like hype me up, I want
to I want to playlist of it um. So you know,
(33:23):
we always talk about our our favorite takeaways from each episode,
and so I will start. There were so many gyms
in this conversation, but I think when she said, like,
you know, initially she was kind of just chasing an
esthetic at first when she started like training, and then
she kind of just shifted into like, I want to
be stronger, I want like x y Z performance gool.
(33:46):
I loved that because it is so easy just to
get caught up with like a certain look or something.
But I think at the end of the day, you know,
just being like I'm stronger, I'm faster. In her case, like,
you know, I'm a more power lifter, I'm a more
powerful boxer. I think those are so much more important.
And then also just like her stressing how important recovery
(34:10):
is in her routine and just in general, is like, yes,
because I feel like people don't do it enough. M hmm. Yeah.
We're both probably guilty of that a little bit sometimes. Yeah.
I think for me key takeaways from the episode, as
well as her encouragement and energy, it was probably her honesty.
You know, she was so honest about you know, we
all have things that we like to do that we
(34:31):
don't like to do. We all have strengths and weaknesses,
but sometimes I think we can yeah, maybe trying to
cover those up and and not really lean into that
vulnerability of saying, yeah, of course, you know, these things
are difficult, These things are hard to do, but I'm
still going to do them anyway. I really loved that.
I just loved her energy. It's really given me a boost. Yeah,
absolutely so. For those of you who are new listeners,
(34:53):
at this point in every episode, Adrian and I check
in with one another about our fitness goals, and we
just get real about our progress. We talk about where
we may be struggling and the type of support that
we need to achieve our goals. Yes, And if this
is your first time tuning into the podcast, then over
the last few weeks we have both had our eyes
(35:14):
on different goals. Tamara is training for the heptathlon and
I am currently training for a PB in the half marathon.
So I would love to know how you're doing when
it comes to training for your half marathon. Yes, so
lots of updates. There's been a lot of changes actually
to my schedule this week, and the weather here in
the UK is exceptionally bad, so I'm not gonna lie.
(35:36):
It is really trying to bring me down. I'm a
fair weather runner, you know. I don't want to be
out running in the rain and it's been raining NonStop
for days. So there's been a few changes to the schedule.
But I'm just going to have to adapt and do
my best. So I'll keep you posted absolutely. So. I mean,
obviously that seems like you can't control the rother too much. Um,
(35:57):
but you're gonna do what you need to do, but
how can and we support you as you're approaching race day.
I think what I need to focus on right now
is what I can control and not the things I can't,
as you said, So I think how you can help
me is maybe, yeah, just giving those reminders of I've
put in the work I've trained and just trying to
(36:17):
eliminate those distractions would be good. I completely agree with you,
and I feel like that's such a good tip for
just life in general, not even just this race that
you have coming up. Like my college coach used to
always tell us, like handle what you can handle, because
there are so many things out of our control. And
like you said, just focus on your running, your training,
you know, like you've done so well up to now,
(36:39):
so we got you. We're gonna be in your d
M reminding you about that. Thank you, Thank you so much.
And how's everything going with you? How's your training this week?
For the tough one. I just came off a really
nice like recovery week, which I love because I feel
like it just like it's got me ready for this
(36:59):
next phase of training. Like I'm just trying to be
like confident a similar situation with you, like just like
really trusting that what I've done up to now like
has prepared me for what I'm going to do shortly,
like really trusting that and just staying present and being
focused on each workout. But yeah, that's where I'm at.
(37:20):
So great that you're resting and taking that time as
you stay recovery. If you want to perform at your best,
we will hear it, but often it kind of is
the first thing to go. So that's awesome that you're
feeling rested and ready to get back into your training.
I'm hoping it's going to be great from here on out,
almost an upward strength for your hip. Do you need
anything from us? What can we do to help you
(37:40):
stay calm in this moment? Yeah? You know, I love
that question because, like you know, support, community is so important,
and I'm always like, what do I need when you
ask me? Um? Yeah, having people remind me to just like,
you know, stay present, Um that I'm fine, I'm healthy,
I'm strong. Kind of just like, what is it a mantra?
It's gonna be my mantra. You're fine, you're healthy, you're strong. Yeah,
(38:02):
just like that type of support right now would be
I think the most beneficial. Great, Well, I am with you.
I love hearing those mantras, those positive words of affirmation.
I think that they are really powerful and we also
want to hear about the listeners and how you're all
doing too, so please do reach out to us on social.
If you reach out to me, you can find me
(38:22):
on Twitter and Instagram at Adrian under School l d N. Yes,
we want you to cheer us on for our goals,
but we also want to do the same for you,
so definitely share them with us. And as Adrian said,
if you want to reach out directly, you can find
me on Instagram at TAM's go and Ham and on
Twitter at Tamera Bridget. That's it for this week's episode,
(38:44):
but don't forget to listen next week when we are
speaking with Dr Joanna sca researcher of breast health, on
how important good sports brat is for your performance. I'm
so excited. I can't wait for next week to come.
But until then, stay tuned in, day motivated, and don't
forget to sweat the details by everybody by. If you
(39:13):
like what you heard on the show, subscribe for free
or follow the show on the I Heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen, and don't forget to
leave five star rating and review. But the Details is
a collaboration with under Armour and I Heart Radio. Our
show was hosted by me Tamera Pridget and me Adrian Herbert's.
(39:33):
Our executive producers are Jess Schribe, Stein Chazelle, Luis Archibald,
and Molly Sosha. Our supervising producer is My Coole. Our
producers are Ellen Kaplan and Kelly an Taul. Our assistant
producers are Natalia Tamayo and Bella Welcome, and our sound
editor and engineer is Sarah Gibel Laska. Keep up with
(39:56):
the latest news and women's fitness by following under Armour
Women on Instagram at under Armor Women
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