In this short solo-cast Tony discusses people who "cherry pick" their training and only do workouts they want to do, often skipping the ones that would be the most beneficial to them and making excuses for why they do it.

This is the first "solocast" of the Podcast.  Tony talks about the biggest obstacles he sees people facing when it comes to getting back on the wagon with their workout routine, and gives you a structured plan of how to build it back into your life again.

Dr. Andy Moon is a physical therapist, avid BJJ athlete with over 8 years experience training Jiu Jitsu, and founder of Back On The Mat physical therapy.  He offers a rare blend of clinical skills with "in the trenches" experience on the BJJ mats.  In this episode we discuss a myriad of injury mitigation and rehab topics including knees, lower backs, necks, fingers & toes, what you can do to off the mats to help minimize risk of injury, and what positions and moves are high risk for injury that you need to be extra careful with.  

Chris is the founder and owner of The Base Jiu Jitsu in Vancouver, Washington.  He is a 2nd degree BJJ black belt under Leo Vieira of CheckMat, and his rank is certified with both IBJJF and USBJJF.  He is an avid competitor including being a 4x gold medalist in the black belt division at IBJJF open events, and recently placing bronze at the 2022 IBJJF European championships.  He is also a 1st grade brown belt in judo under Andy Hung and Roy Kawaji or the former Portland Judo dojo.  In addition to his time on the mats he is a fitness enthusiast and is a Suples Training Systems Level 1 certified trainer.  In addition to being an academy owner for the past 8 years, he is also a husband and father to three boys and two French bulldogs.

Some items we discuss include:

• What training BJJ was like in the "early days" before many people knew what it was
• His journey through the colored belts
• How it feels and what changes once you are promoted to black belt
• The journey of being an academy owner and challenges that come with it
• How he handled the pandemic as a small business owner
• His time spent working security at bars
• His background with the Suples system of fitness training, specifically with the Bulgarian Bag
• What it is like competing as a black belt at an international level, and lessons for aspiring competitors
• Different grappling skills needed in different contexts, such as street self defense, sport BJJ, and judo
• If he were to create a perfect rule set for BJJ / submission grappling what would it be and why

Cris is a former reserve goalkeeper for the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns. She earned All-Big Sky honors all four seasons of her collegiate playing career, including being named the Big Sky Defensive MVP in 2009. She is currently the Director of Player Development for the Bridge City Soccer Academy, and recently earned a US Soccer “B” License. Cris has experience coaching at several impressive levels, including Division I, the US Olympic Development Program, and club levels in the state of Oregon.

On this episode we discuss progressing through the ranks as an athlete, what is was like to realize the dream of playing professional sports, differences and challenges in coaching different age groups ranging from youth to Division I, bouncing back from injuries, how social media and smart phones cause distractions and other challenges for athletes and fitness enthusiasts, and how Cris is trying to help more women and young ladies get involved in soccer.

Lindsey is a Nurse Practitioner who graduated with honors with a Master's in Nursing, Bachelor's in Nursing, and Bachelor's in Exercise and Sport Science. In her healthcare practice she specializes in obesity medicine, metabolic disease, women’s hormonal health (reproductive through menopause years) and common gastrointestinal disorders. In addition to healthcare she has also worked as a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor. She is an avid gym-goer herself, is the holder of a long-standing record in a local push up competition as well as achieving impressive benchmarks in kettlebell lifting.

We discuss her formal education, her time spent as a fitness instructor, why strength training is important for health reasons (and not just for looking good), what she wishes more health care providers knew about strength training, the most important nutrition considerations, and the #1 strategy for stress management, especially as it pertains to hormone balance.

Nick is a Master's World Champion in the sport of weightlifting, a brown belt in judo, a retired Marine officer including 20 years in the Marine Corps and two combat tours in Iraq, co-founder and co-owner of Magnus Strength & Conditioning, and father of two children.  We discuss how military fitness training has evolved, what it was like training for and competing in weightlifting at the highest level, and if judo and BJJ athletes should include weightlifting in their training.

On the inaugural episode of the Get Ups & Gis Podcast we have Ella Maliska as a guest.  Ella has a long list of credentials including a Master's of Sports Science in strength & conditioning and being a 3x All-American tennis player.  We discuss her athletic career, how she got into strength & conditioning, and how pregnancy has changed things for her.  She offers fitness advice for moms (and moms to be) as well as for aspiring female strength & conditioning coaches.