SHAWN STEVENSON: If you're going to transform your body and transform your health, there's a huge part of the equation that is often overlooked. We know about the exercise, we know about the dieting. We know about all of these things that we do in the world to get these physical changes started, and that's the key. These are starters. These are igniters of change, but the real change happens when our bodies adapt. When our bodies heal, when our bodies recover from the implement, from the input. That we give it. So exercise is a great form or igniter of physical change. When we're strength training, when we're lifting those weights, getting swollen or getting toned and tight, whatever you want to call it. When we are doing those things, we're actually delivering these little micro microtraumas to our bodies, to our muscles and sending a signal that, yes, we've got this implement, we've got this signal that we're giving ourselves, but we need to recover from this.

We need to adapt, we need to come back better. If you and I were to go and do a strength training workout together, maybe do some super sets, so we're going from one exercise to the next, back to back, like the cover of Lethal Weapon. You and me back to back. We're doing the work. We're putting the work in, getting a great workout in. And you might feel like I'm fitter now after completing this workout, but if we were to go get some blood work done, we might look a little messed up. Stress hormones are gonna be elevated, our blood sugar's gonna be a little wonky. It could look like there's something awry, there's something that's off.

But what we did was we just went through a great workout, and when we recover from that workout, our blood work is gonna look even better. It's just a temporary signal in order to get this adaptation response. But again, the other part of the equation that is so often overlooked is the recovery part. And today you're going to learn that there's a big difference between relaxation and actual recovery. If we're gonna recover, if we're gonna come back better, we've got to put some intention into our recovery. And our special guest is, I'm talking about elite world class in this subject matter. She regularly is working with the top athletes in the world, N-F-L, N-B-A, Olympic athletes, you name it.

They are coming to train with her and with her husband. Her and her husband are both world class athletes as well. We're talking about top tier best in the world in their respective sports. Now, of course, they're a little older now, so they're not participating at the level or doing what they were doing a couple decades ago is so far beyond the average person in their age bracket, let alone people decades younger than them. These are the individuals that we need to be learning from, and sitting, listening intently, like story time or circle time when you're in elementary school. Sit down, listen to the teacher and learn something. And so again, this conversation is so important because yes, we need the training, we need the nutrition, but we also need the recovery.

They go together like hand and glove, like Jordan and Pippin. Well, maybe not Jordan and Pippin right now, but back in the day, all right. They go together like spaghetti and meat bowl. All right, peanut butter and thought I was gonna say jelly. Peanut butter, banana sandwich. All right. They go together. They just go together. And I'm so excited to share this with you today because again, the results speak for themselves. She's gonna mention some of the athletes that she's worked with and you know, we see these individuals performing on the biggest stages and just doing these remarkable things. And it's not an accident. And even the things that they've gone through to be in those positions, the adversity that they've had to overcome, she's gonna share that with you as well, because some of these insights can also help us to not just recover from our training, but what about if we face a major setback or an injury, right?

And so all of this is applicable, and again, I'm very excited to share this with you today. Now, before we get to our special guest, whether it's my training, whether it's cognitive performance, because I actually. Just utilize this before the show today, we've got to make sure that we're honoring and supporting our cellular health. Our diet is absolutely critical, obviously. But one of the things synonymous with sports performance are electrolytes and for good reason, we're talking about powering the mitochondria of ourselves and actually the creation of energy. We're talking about managing the environment around our mitochondria and all the cellular function with the sodium potassium pump.

And keep in mind again, when it comes to the mitochondria, another key electrolyte. So we got sodium, potassium, magnesium is critical in something called mitochondrial genesis of the creation of new mitochondria. This is serious cellular business. We absolutely wanna focus on high quality foods that are rich in electrolytes and supplementation with electrolytes in particular with sports. Performance is one of the best things that we can do, but we need to be mindful because the game has changed. The days of the power aids and the Gatorades and the hater aids and all this stuff is over. All right? With the artificial sweeteners, with the insane amounts of sugars and artificial colors, that's done.

We're not doing that anymore. The number one electrolyte supplement in the world utilized by professional sports teams by high level military like the Navy Seals. The list goes on and on. The team USA weightlifting team. It goes on and on are utilizing the electrolytes from LMNT. Go to drinkLMNT.com/model right now, and with every electrolyte purchase, you're going to get a free sample pack of their four most popular flavors. You're going to get two servings of each, two servings of their four most popular flavors. It's by demand people's like, I want one, and I also wanna share it with my significant other, with my boo. We wanna get salty together in a good way. I wanna share one with my coworker. We'll each get one to share, so it's great way to be able to share and to try their most popular flavors.

But again, head over to drinkLMNT.com/model right now. That's drinkLMNT.com/model right now with every electrolyte purchase, you're gonna get that free sample pack as well. And as always, element has a no questions asked, money back guarantee. So you have nothing to lose and only better hydration and performance to gain. Go to drinkLMNT.com/model to take advantage right now and let's get to this special YouTube comment of the week. 

YOUTUBE REVIEW: Another YouTube comment of the week by @CEKBrooks. I never comment on videos, but oh my God, he's impressive and inspiring. I really don't think there's a better ambassador for science and common sense than Shawn Stevenson.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that and sharing your voice on YouTube, on the Model Health Show YouTube channel. YouTube is popping, right? YouTube is popping. I think we're somewhere around as of this recording 200,000 subscribers over on YouTube, which is pretty dope. It's something that we didn't really put a lot of focus into the YouTube medium, but now we're creating original content just for YouTube. And so of course you get access to that. And also the Model Health Show, these incredible masterclasses and interviews, you get to hang out in the studio with us and my special guests. And so it's just a vibe. It's a good vibe. Make sure to subscribe to the Model Health Show YouTube channel.

Share your voice over there. And of course, if you wanna leave a review on the audio platform at Apple Podcast or Spotify really does mean a lot. And without further ado, let's get to our special guest and topic of the day. Gabby Reese is a volleyball legend. A trailblazer in health and fitness, New York Times bestselling author, wife and mother, and she's the host of the wildly popular Gabby Reece show. Gabby is also the co-founder of XPT Extreme Performance Training and LAD Superfood, and she's here today to talk about maximizing recovery, the psychology of high performance, and the secrets behind XPT, extreme performance training. Enjoy this conversation with the one and only Gabby Reece. Gabby. 

GABBY REECE: Hi. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: So good to see you.

GABBY REECE: I feel like I've, I've struck a lottery. I've seen you twice in two weeks. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: I know. This is awesome. I love hanging out with you. Truly. 

GABBY REECE: You gotta come up again to bring your family to my house. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Oh, it's already done. I told my oldest son.

GABBY REECE: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: About all the things journey. He was like, when let's, what are we waiting for?

GABBY REECE: Open door. Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Well thank you for that. First of all, I want to, I want to talk to you about something that isn't discussed enough. Because especially being individuals who love to train, who love the physical aspect of life, we don't place enough value and intention on recovery. Let's start off by talking about recovery. Why it's critical for our health, our fitness, our performance. Why is recovery so important? 

GABBY REECE: That's a great question. It's funny, active recovery, right? When I, when I was coming up, it was like, oh, I have a day off. And then as I got older, probably in my forties it was, oh, I'm gonna participate in my recovery so I can heal and actually perform better. And I think what happens is, it's so interesting, we have to get people going, right? So, 'cause we were just talking about biology. So the natural instinct to conserve, relax, do nothing is part of what we're doing because you'd chill and then you'd go full throttle and hopefully catch something or work really hard and then you'd, you'd recover. But what I started to really learn later in life was just training and doing, and kind of, once people get going and then they become obsessive or they just pound their bodies, you're, you're really taking a lot of things off the table. You know, whether it's your quality of sleep, your ability to perform maybe at a, at a higher level throughout a week or a month versus sort of this steady performance that a lot of people will get because they're not recovering.

They won't have this room to make these recoveries emotionally. I think it really kicks our butt. It shortens our fuse. I think our hormones, our cortisol, all of these kind of biological things that occur when we don't get that chance to really restore and rest and we don't give it enough value. I think we can only give it value though when we have the other end of the spectrum. And then the other side of that is I see a lot of people living in a way that is really difficult, right? They're, they're running around, they're dropping kids off, they're working really hard. We're on our telephones.

Maybe we're not eating in a supportive way. We're drinking coffee to stimulate, to get enough energy. Then we're maybe a lot of people are taking something to sleep and they get in this cycle. And so also kind of the emotional recovery. Because when you're just in fourth, fifth, or sixth gear, depending on your vehicle, I think being in those high RPMs doesn't give you, we were just talking about that distance between stimulus and response. So I think it's on so many levels and you have so many tools. Is it your food? Is it your sleep? Is it your emotionality? You can't just lean in and attack everything all the time. And then, you know, things like ice or sauna or swimming in water instead of, you know, maybe on the day you think you wanna bang iron if you're really listening to yourself, maybe doing something a little gentle or going to meditation or breathing or yoga. So I think it, it's, it's so exciting because there's so many tools. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. As soon as you said attacking everything. I was like, but I want to, I want to do that. And so being able to reel it back in, listen to your body and see the value in it. You know, to again, focus on recovery, you know, do a sauna session or you know, just doing, doing things a little bit different can be challenging for a personality type like mine. And I wanna ask you specifically about recovery in regards to getting better, like physically performing better, changing your body. Because world class athlete I have sitting in front of me, same thing with your husband.

GABBY REECE: I was a world class athlete. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Stop it. It's there. It's in the DNA. And you've consistently worked with some of the greatest athletes in the world as well. Like they're just coming through and training with you guys all the time. So how important is that recovery piece and you know, that physical change that we're looking for? Because again. We get focused on doing the thing. We break our bodies down and we miss out on the other part. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. I think we were working also from a place of fear and from a cultural message. Right? So let's take a person who is, let's say you have an athlete who is still competing. They have to maybe have a different strategy, right? Because they're gonna perform on a Saturday or a Sunday, or we were just talking about tennis. Maybe they have a two week period where they have to perform. So you're gonna, they have prehab and rehab and all these things built in to try to buy small windows for recovery. But if we're talking about a person who's hard charging and has training in their day-to-day life, but they don't maybe have a season that they're competing for or vent per se. I think that culturally we're told more is more, and we really hold up kind of that grind mentality which I, I personally really understand. But what we're missing is if we wanna be not only better and get those small bumps and improvements and let's say with aging, maintain a level of strength because maybe, you know, you can get stronger still as you age, but if you can stay as strong, that might actually be the win.

Right? And so I think it's learning to have the confidence and to know when it's time to back off and take that the value of doing less or taking the sauna will actually for your long-term story and goal. Make you more bad ass. And, and a lot of times people just lock and load and they're competing. They're talking to their friends, they're looking at their, they're tracking everything and they're saying, well, the only way for me to get gains is to crush myself. And I think it's really antithetical to long-term performance and gains. And I live with somebody who is 61 and still rolling in their seasons and their, and Lord season is different 'cause it's like, be ready but you don't know when.

So that's even a little different where you go feel really good today I'm gonna go very, very hard, break my body down, tear some muscles, do some stuff. And then I'm gonna have the confidence that doing a breathing practice in sauna and making sure my food is dialed in is gonna serve me, so that in three more days I can go crush it again. People don't have enough of a relationship with the practice over an extended period of time to say, yeah, that's the the way to do it and competition. That's the problem. I think for men, it might even be something tricky because if you're training side by side with other people, you, you think, oh, I'm gonna get a, I'm gonna lose a step, or I'm not as good as that person because I'm gonna choose to back off.

It's very, it's very hard. I've gotten so much better at it. And it's weird. You have to also calibrate not becoming lazy 'cause sometimes I'll be like, oh, I need a recovery day. But part of it is maybe I'm actually emotionally burnt out and not physically burnt out. And so it's also kind of staying honest with yourself about, well which thing is this? Because actually what do I really need to work on? Is this a physical thing? Is this an emotional thing? Is this a lack of sleep? I didn't actually, I'm not on my sleep. So it's also understanding the nuance, even within that. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Already something is jumping out. There's a big difference, especially today in our culture to be aware of this between relaxation and restoration.

GABBY REECE: Mm. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: So we, and not that there's anything wrong with relaxation, by the way, we need some of that. But if we are actually wanting to perform at our best to restore ourselves so that we could show up and get the gains that we're looking for. We've got to implement proactively restoration practices. And since I have you here and I've been to your wellness Wonderland, what are some of these practices for us to be mindful of for that restoration, for that recovery? 

GABBY REECE: So, I'm, I'm gonna say that, you know, a lot of times you could come to my house and be like, oh, you're the most fortunate person to have these tools here, right. The other side of this is, these are priorities for laird and I and so rather than maybe a certain trip or a certain thing, I would have a red bed or we just recently, Laird got his second hip and we got a real hyperbaric, like a hard one with, it's a two seater, it's like a cockpit. And so I just wanna say it's taken us years and years, but, so these are some of the tools we've had for, you know, 12 to 15 years.

Saunas, old practice. What I would say to people is hard to fit 'em in your house, expensive. You could, I've heard people doing it with friends or now gyms and there's recovery centers everywhere you can become a member, right? Sauna, I think it really keeps showing up as one of the number one kings. If you want data, I know you love all the data, just the all cause mortality and cognitive function and dimension, all these things, it just really shows up. Detoxing, muscle recovery, heat shock, proteins. I mean, the list goes on and on. I love Rhonda Patrick's work in this area, so I bundle it with my pool training because I, for me to go and put a bathing suit on and whatever go out in the sauna, that's harder for me. Laird's better at it. So I bundle it with my pool training.

So I use it as a way that, okay, I'm already wet and gross and in a bikini, and so let's just go in there. That's how I do it. Ice now, you know, we have cold plunges. I will say that I've learned if someone has a thyroid issue, maybe the ice isn't their friend, but pretty much for everyone else, it seems to be pretty, pretty good. But again, bundle that with heat. Makes it bearable. Get hot first, then go in there and then go heat up again. And also just that learning how to thermoregulate is a great practice for us in general. When we're cold we can warm ourselves up and when we're hot we know we, our bodies are more efficient at cooling themselves down and, and we also burn a lot of, I think we burn some of the most calories throughout our days, thermoregulating in life in general.

Then you're not always worried about, oh I need a code or things like that. And for an athlete, the great thing about Asana is I think what crushes most of us as athletes was when we start to overheat. So if we increase that capacity where we can be in that sauna longer, I do think it translates also to, on the field, on the court and so forth. We have the red bed, I like to, when I can do the red bed. Prior to hyperbaric because it's sort of like boosting the body and then oxygenating the system. And this actually came from somebody that was doing protocols with friends who were dealing with illness. Because I know, I think a lot of times people will think, oh, I'm, you know, they're just into raw.

But I'm also, the idea of health wellbeing is really great. So we'll do that. Now, there's another tool that is not expensive and doesn't take up a lot of room, which is a hypoxico, so you're actually, it's just a tank, kind of like training at altitude, but you lay down. And you can put on the tension and you put the mask on and they, they have these really incredible protocols where you learn how to be breathe in a hypoxic state. And there's a lot of data suggesting how good it is for your mitochondria and for your overall metabolic health. And this is something you can do laying down. It's a little uncomfortable at first 'cause you feel at, what do they call it? Air, air hunger a little bit. But again, even that practice of, I feel uncomfortable, I'm just gonna calm down and relax into that.

So those are are some of the tools. And then we have the pool that we use for training. But then there's a lot of things in the pool training in water. So lymphatic drainage, 'cause you're in that pressure. So your system, you're draining your system, you're, you're in pressure all the time. So your muscles are not only sore, but you're kind of moving everything around at a much more accelerated rate.

I have a friend of mine who's a neuroscientist, who also talks about when water brushes on the back of your neck at in a forceful way. So when we're jumping from the bottom to the top and water is over the brain, it also can push the fluid that you use when you sleep that rinses your brain at night.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Glymphatic.

GABBY REECE: It pushes through there. So I think, and you're outside in sunlight. So that's the other thing that people, I, especially if you're in a city, I know it's harder, but the deeper we go into all of these sort of little niche practices, you realize that the number one thing you could do for your health is to go out and look at the sun. All of the things that the sun does for your system, we don't give it value because it's free. It feels primal. So it can't be that special. How do I hack it? And really the deeper I've gone into all of this, learning is right back to, hey, if I can look at the sun, and obviously people talk about sunrise and even sunset, this is a very, very powerful tool.

Maybe one of the most powerful for your health. So we use all of these. I try to pretend like I have to make an appointment, 'cause otherwise I will never get into it. It's like people who have a home gym, you don't use it. But if I make an appointment or I have a class, I'll go and drive to it. So actually I try to almost make it like it's an appointment like, oh, I'm doing this at this time. So I utilize these tools. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Love it. I love it. So you talked about basically contrast therapy. And I wanna ask you a little bit more about you. You, you said the S word a couple of times, but I wanna ask you more about it. It's not shit.

GABBY REECE: Oh.

SHAWN STEVENSON: sleep

GABBY REECE: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Sleep. Mentioning, you know, this interaction with the sun and how this is something we evolved with getting all of our, you know, the circadian rhythms. This is one of those areas I've been talking about for years and years and years. And I, I know that it's still to come as far as like a focus in medicine, being circadian medicine.

GABBY REECE: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: But with that being said, a part of that circadian rhythm, a large part of that is regulating sleep and our sleep and wake cycles. And so how important, again, working with all these athletes, your lifestyle, how important is sleep and what are you doing in that domain and what are you coaching for people? 

GABBY REECE: Well, listen, these are adults that I deal with. And so it's more about we all have the information and so for example, we know a few drinks before bed can disrupt your sleep. But going back to the sun, that's how your melatonin, it's sort of 14 hours from that point from what you look, your body will go, oh, in, in, you know, 12 or 14 hours, we'll release some melatonin. So if people can start thinking about their sleep earlier in the day, right? So not caffeinating past a certain hour maybe, they say two o'clock. I actually think for most of us it would be before that kind of minimize some of those drinks. And if you have a late afternoon lull, I really like nicotine and I like ketones. If it's three, four o'clock and you know, you've got a solid two more hours of work. So it's finding which tools could give you that boost.

SHAWN STEVENSON: So nicotine and ketones. So you're talking about like a fatty cigarette.

GABBY REECE: Oh no, sorry. No. Like I use something, I use a brand called athletic Nicotine. The p it's a pouch, it's a low dose. 'Cause the whole thing is, is not having smoke to your lungs and in low dose, 'cause it is addicting, right? So I use a 1.5 or a three, and when I want that kind of little boost, but later in the day, I'm a terrible sleeper. I always have been, I've been, since I was a kid, hyper alert. So it's something I'm always dealing with.

And, and people talk about sleep hygiene all the time. You know, cold rooms, no light, things like that. I believe in that. But it's going, I go to the bed probably within same timeframe, maybe 30 minutes here or there. We're getting crazy and likes we're playing games or something, but Laird likes to be in bed by nine, I th. I personally am like, that's too early, but I'm in bed. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Compromises within a relationship. 

GABBY REECE: Well also when the other person has the more valid point. Yeah, because I don't want to, and I put that in quotes, he's still right, so I yield to it because I know it's better. So I think for a lot of females, that's oftentimes the only time they get that pocket for themselves to read or do something else. So I will kind of weigh that out and look at that. The other part of it is, I heard of a couple great tricks if people are in a, with a partner, is to actually, 'cause I like sleeping in the same bed, but you'll, you hear about people doing sleep divorce, it's very popular. Actually just have different sheets and blankets so when they roll or you roll, you don't disrupt each other.

That really can positively support better sleep. So you're together, so you have that silent energy exchange. But you're not, you know, disrupting each other. So cold room, same time I get up around the same time and just kind of navigating. Sometimes I have an, not anxiety 'cause that's a strong word, but I am aware that I'm not a great sleeper, but I'll take a little magnesium before bed and just say, tonight's gonna be a great night for sleep. Because that, especially when you have a new baby, a lot of times you go, why bother? Why am I getting into bed? I'm not even gonna sleep. So it also depends where you are in life, but it's going to bed at the same time, getting that sunlight and sort of figuring out what is making, am I worrying? Okay, write it down.

Is it my hormones for middle aged women that will kill your sleep? Right. Progesterone, a lack of it. So it's sort of just understanding and dealing with it. Because a lot of times we'll just be like, oh, I'll just keep rolling. I'll just have more coffee or more something. And I think in the long run it can really get you.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like just, again, being aware of your temperament and just doing what you can, but also having some balance and not being too hard on yourself because it's very easy, again, knowing like, this thing is so important, I'm supposed to do this thing, and it becomes another stressor. And so, and again, I've had the opportunity to work with many people over the years. And, you know, just being a little softer with yourself, you know. 

GABBY REECE: I think an being anxious, I don't know, unless it's like you're jumping out of the way of a moving vehicle is really good ever. I think it's really natural and it's, it's, you know, I like, I feel I can worry about my children and I think it's good to honor it and say thank you, and like, I'm gonna choose something else. I'm gonna choose a different response and around sleep, it's a big one. There's somebody I listen to a lot that's very co you know, he sort of. Pretty harsh, but I think he's right. And this goes back to the sunlight, which is Dr. Jack Cruz talks a lot about the sun. And you know, we put all of these things in front of some of the most I important things and the sleep, it's gotta be up there as, you know, equal, you know, to one, two, or three. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: For sure. For sure. You know, you mentioning that exposure to sun and especially again in the early part of the morning and really setting the stage for sleep at night. There was a study, you know, in my first book, this was what, 12, wait, wait, 11 years ago when I first, you know, reviewed the study. And it was published in Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. And they found that getting exposure to sun in the early part of the day helped cortisol levels to drop at night as well. 

GABBY REECE: Mm-hmm. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: So, and cortisol and melatonin can kind of be at odds, you know, like that stress. And so it's really, it, it is like the opening act. For good sleep at night. And that was the sentiment that I put into the book and into popular culture, which is a great night of sleep starts the moment you wake up in the morning. 

GABBY REECE: That's right. And, and I, I think we, you know, I, I can sleep when I die. You know, we've had all, we've gone through all of that. Right. And I, and it, it's really about, it's so much more than can you, of course you can, you could go without the sleep and you could probably run your whole life like that. But how do you feel? How are you responding? How do you recover? I think my mind gets jumpy when I don't sleep as well. I think I'm much more deliberate and present in my relationships in everything. So I think sometimes we think, oh, well, I get away with it. It's like, yeah, you do. But there's sort of all these other invisible pockets that I think it would support us even more.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. I think this story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is based on sleep derogation. 

GABBY REECE: Well, it's the number one, right? If we want to torture somebody. Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah, that's right? 

GABBY REECE: It's the sleep.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah.

GABBY REECE: So, so I think.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Go crazy.

GABBY REECE: And now listen, if somebody's a rock star or a night worker, right? And or an athlete that's competing at 10 o'clock at night, you do the best you can because again, to put stress around any of it, I think it's, it's counterproductive. It's like, hey, this is what you're doing. So what does the rest of your life and day look like to either mitigate some of the damage or to support you that when you do sleep, these are great hours. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Something else, and I'm so grateful that you brought this up, because it's such a big part of recovery and just our life in general is the emotional burnout potential, because we do not, as a culture, really give credit to how much our emotions stress. Just mental, the weight of things can impact our physical health, right. When we have a physical problem, it's just like we look at something mechanistic for the vast majority of us. But I've found so often, even, you know, our mutual friend that you introduced me to, Maya. Recently, she shared this again and looking at how she had this physical manifestation of this issue, and after talking with her, I see this emotional component was such a big part of it. And so managing the emotional burnout. I want to talk more about that because this is something that I feel like a lot of people listening are dealing with or have dealt with, and to arm yourself with more awareness around this, that it's not just restoration with all these physical practices, but restoring yourself emotionally as well.

GABBY REECE: You know, I was listening to something where they were talking about perception versus perspective. And I, and I think sometimes again, this is very quiet, unsexy, not celebrated. You don't get paid more for it out, out front usually. It's like we, we don't teach our children, we don't learn our, we, I didn't learn right? How to try to choose how to respond and how to look at something in a situation and ask myself what outcome am I looking for and how best would I react or act? What would I say that would get me to that outcome? And I feel sometimes a lot of us are running around. It's a runaway train and we're just moving into pockets and in our work and our personal relationships.

And the reason I have a physical practice and do all this is so I can get to this part. So that I can emotionally try to be as honest with myself and with the people around me as kind to myself and to the as kind to the people around me that those practices. That sleep, that food, that's really, so I can do that because that just makes everything else easier. And it's, it's slower. It takes restraint, it takes a certain kind of discipline 'cause it feels good sometimes just to MF somebody and just be like, yeah, I showed them, you know? It's like, yeah, what did they say? It's the best 30 seconds, you know, of something that you're gonna say and then put that fire out for three hours.

But what really made me look at it also was. I read somewhere that you could have like an emotional outburst, like in a parking lot. Maybe it's by yourself in your car and you're flipping out. Somebody took your space and they didn't see your blinker on, right? It's just you, unless I'm gonna get out and really get into it with somebody. But that the hormone damage or reaction or you know, for my body was like three hours to come down from that. So for that 30 seconds that I like, got to just let all of my frustration out 'cause it might not have been about the parking, it might have been about a million other things, and I needed that place to just let it out.

I was gonna pay for three hours hormonally. In my system, and when I read that, I thought maybe I could honor myself a little, I could do a little better. And if there were stuff I needed to deal with, or conversations I needed to have or just go take a walk to open the valve that I could find the way to do it without further hurting myself. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: This is so good. It's so good. Got a quick break coming up. We'll be right back.

Many of us are well aware that coffee can improve mental performance, but few people know that regularly drinking coffee has been shown to help prevent cognitive decline and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. This attribute referenced in the Journal Practical Neurology is yet another reason why smart coffee consumption makes the list of neuro nutritious beverages. Now, what happens when you combine the highest quality organic coffee with science backed medicinal mushrooms? Like lions made scientists at the University of Malaya discover that compounds and lions made are able to significantly improve the activity of something called nerve growth Factor in the human brain.

Nerve growth factor is essential in the regulation of growth, maintenance, proliferation, and survival of various brain cells. This is powerful stuff. Combining high quality organic coffee with science backed organic medicinal mushrooms like lion's mane and like chaga. This is what four Sigmatic has been delivering for years. Four Sigmatic is now found in major grocery stores and even pharmacies around the country, but you can get access to up to 20% off their phenomenal organic coffee blend called their Think Blend. When you go to foursigmatic.com/model, that's F-O-U-R-S-I-G-M-A-T-I c.com/model. You're gonna get up to 20% off plus access to some other goodies according to the prestigious mine site brand health study that was just published. Four Sigmatic is ranked number one in customer satisfaction, so you're absolutely going to love this coffee and absolutely love the company behind it. Head over to four sigmatic.com/model right now for up to 20% off and now back to the show.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Okay. Recently, I, so there's, there's, we'll just say I'm driving down Ventura Boulevard. Right. Iconic songs about this. But it's two lanes each way. And in la, which I don't remember seeing this in St. Louis, but there's just like random in the streets, crosswalks. 

GABBY REECE: Oh, yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: For pedestrians, it'll be like a flashing yellow light. 

GABBY REECE: Mm-hmm. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Just, it ran. It's not at a stoplight. Flashing yellow. Somebody's just, they're on their phone.

GABBY REECE: That's my favorite.

SHAWN STEVENSON: They're on their phone walking across Ventura Boulevard. I am in the left lane. There's a car on my right lane. They don't see them. All right. And they're going a little bit above the speed limit. And this person, their head is down, they're just walking across the street.

GABBY REECE: Mm-hmm. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: I'm hitting my horn. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Like my ancestors went into hitting this horn. And I got the driver next to me to wake up and to catch.

GABBY REECE: Pay attention.

SHAWN STEVENSON: This person, I saved their life.

GABBY REECE: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Alright. And I feel this stress in my body. And I'm just like, of course I'm saying all the, you idiot. What the, what are you doing? This, you talk to their parenting stupid bone, all this stuff. And then because of the practice. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: I quickly reeled myself back in and I, and I laughed about it, you know, everything is okay. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: I don't, they don't, none, none of these people are gonna interact with me again, but I can carry this with me. And I was able to like, laugh it off and to, and to actually like find the humor in it. You know? Which again, some shit, some shit just don't be funny. But I found like Shawn, like just, it's okay, let it go. Like this isn't helping anything. Something good just happened, you know? Like an accident was avoided.

GABBY REECE: Yes.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And it's okay. Yeah. 

GABBY REECE: I think you need to have that gear though. That's what the whole thing is for.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right? Yes.

GABBY REECE: So I think we need to have that urgency. We need to be able to think clearly and move accordingly because stuff happens. So I think it's great that you have that you could do it. And then how do you find the way to downregulate as quickly as possible.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yes.

GABBY REECE: Now, if it's just some person pissing you off and it isn't life and death, then try to avoid that big spike. Yeah. But if stuff's happening, we need to have that gear. You know, and just the tool to be like, oh, okay, you know, what, is it longer exhale than inhale downregulate and just be like, oh, thank goodness that idiot person whose parents didn't tell them. If you, I tell my girls all the time, if, if you ever cross the street and you're looking at your phone, I, I'm like, that's what I'll come for. You know? Yeah. Like, I'd rather you steal my car and joy ride than you walk across a crosswalk looking at your phone. 'cause you're, you're trusting and assuming that everyone is paying attention and you're, you know, sort of foregoing the number one thing, which is pay attention and, and it's on you to be able to survive. Because not everyone's paying attention. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: That part. Yeah. 

GABBY REECE: You gotta pay attention. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: I've been to a lot of places. LA is like the worst for that. 

GABBY REECE: Well, they're gonna stop. It's a crosswalk. Can't you see the paint? That paint will stop the car for sure. It's like.. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: You wouldn't have the audacity to hit me. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. And you don't think any drivers on their phone. Right. You know? 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Oh man. 

GABBY REECE: I went to a camp years ago in Italy with the technology and, like maybe 10 years ago, a little less. And, the, those self-driving car or you know, self-driving cars were there. And I thought, this is so ridiculous, you know, freedom and I like to drive my car. And why would you give that up? And now, after being on the road and literally looking in all the lanes and seeing people on their phone, I'm like, yeah, great. Get 'em. Yeah. 'cause it's, people are doing, they're not doing what they're doing ever. Right. 

They're eating, they're on their phone. They're talking, they're on their phone, they're driving, they're, it's like we're always doing something else. We're here, we meet, we have dinner, but then somehow I'm texting someone else for something for tomorrow.

So I think it's a, that's another thing that I think makes it a lot easier on us, hormonally, which is just try your best to do what you're doing. And then do the next thing. And multitasking is a, it's a myth anyway. Yeah. Right. So to the best of your ability, you know, it's, I know life is busy, but if, if you can do what you're doing and if, if your ability to do what you're doing is quickly. Right, great. But try, 'cause I think it's easier on your system. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. This is so good. Just to take a step back really quickly, you said how valuable and important it is to have that go button, right? To have that, even that warrior ready, if something goes down. And even, and this is the thing too, a lot of our practices are training us to be able to handle certain situations. And you also talked about the importance of being able to down regulate. And I think that, that, that might be one of the most valuable things in our world today, especially today. 'cause I think, again, nature, nature does that automatically. You know, animals, they, they down regulate, right?

Threat is gone. You get back, you shake, literally shake it off. Taylor Swift it. And you get back to doing your, your elk thing. Shout out to the elk from Jamie. But with that being said, and also our ancestors too, there would be threats. There'd be things that happen. But today we're just constantly inundated with things to stress us out. And we don't value, we don't have a cultural value of being able to down regulate in the self, self maintain, self-regulate. And the thing is, you have it all like it's built into you to be able to do it.. And so I remember this quote from, uh, Kelly starred, we might have collabed on the quote, but he said that we are very good at going zero to a hundred.

GABBY REECE: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And we're not very good at going a hundred to zero. Right. We can go to a hundred zero to a hundred real quick. But not being able that it wasn't Kelly Starrett and me, it was Kelly Starrett and Drake smashing together. But being able to go from zero to 100. I mean, 100 to zero to down regulate. And so let's talk a little bit more about that. Like you, you mentioned earlier, before we even got rolling about a negativity bias. Right? That certain people tend to have a negativity bias that can get us really amped up and over time you found ways that you're able to wrangle your mind down, regulate, calm down, and to keep things in perspective. 

GABBY REECE: You know, it's interesting and I think we get addicted to the, we, we sort of, it's a, it's a it, it's a permission to really just let it all out because we're not letting it out. So we can use hysteria, we can use anger, we can use rage, we can use aggression to get that feeling. And it makes us feel alive and on. And I feel like if we had those put healthfully in our lives, we would then welcome and embrace this idea of downregulation, because we wouldn't need to be in that other thing. So we're living in a, we're living unnaturally. Right? Our biology is still the same. And we live in a world that I'll use young men as an example.

You know, it's there, it's like the, the neutering of right, the flat, the flattening of where they're, it's like not getting out there, rabble rousing, roughhousing, getting cut, you know, chasing stuff, doing stuff. It's just kind of, uh, and so our biology for all of us is yelling for Man, I need, ugh. And, so I think we use those opportunities to get that and stay there. And then we, and because it's not done in a natural way, it's usually done in an artificial way. We, we don't understand the importance. If you're chasing an animal or, you know, feeling like someone from another tribe was threatening you, you would embrace the opportunity to downregulate, like, oh, we're good.

It's okay. So I think we're not aware of how, I mean, obviously we are, but our biology is mismatched in so many subtle ways too. And it, it's been a great observation for me to live with Laird who has these gears very big and deep. You know, like if there's a threat or something is happening, this is a person who knows how to activate straight away and then okay, turn off and go on. And, and so it, it really made me think about how we, we don't live in a world where we get that opportunity and we're not gonna seek it out. Right. That's hard. And, and also how do you seek those things out? It's tricky. So now we've, we've gotten flattened and so we use parking spaces and conflict with a person over nothing to be able to experience that feeling. Because it's part of being alive. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Yeah. So how can we proactively, again, it's not that these feelings are bad, you know, they're there oftentimes, again, for a reason. 

GABBY REECE: Mm-hmm. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: How do we express these things or metabolize them so they're not spilling out on people that, you know, who are honestly a lot of times innocent bystanders. 

GABBY REECE: I'm assuming. Yeah. You know, I think it's, I think it's hard because you, you don't wanna artificially insert these things, but I think for example, just being out in nature would provide opportunities that would be unexpected. That would make you have to be a little alert. I think even trying something new, let's take a juujitsu class for example. There's sort of a time maybe that you would feel scared or you wouldn't know what to do or dominated, or you would actually be in a situation where maybe you're locked up and rather than pressing, which would be the worst thing you could do, you'd have to in that moment think and go, what should I do here?

So you'd be exercising it in different ways. I think for young people to, you know, when we were, when I was a kid, it was like, go outside and play and you know, you think you're gonna fall off a tree 75 times, like, I thought I almost died. Of course, maybe you didn't. But just that feeling of, oh, that was scary. I think it's, it's so important for us instead of feeling like artificial things are a threat 'cause they're not. And so like, you know, the idea of, I'm offended. It's like, okay, you're offended, you know? So I think nature would be good. Trying new things. That's why I also think, you know, in control combat sports with a sense is very good. 'Cause there's all these kind of hierarchies and just dynamics that allow people to experience all kinds of things in a really productive way. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Hmm. Yeah. Wow. This just reminded me of something, because competition is a big part of how we evolve, right. And being able to test ourselves, being able to find out things about ourselves. It's one of the ways that even, you know, in the same thing in the animal kingdom, you know, it's how with just lion cubs, you know, and they're like roughhousing each other, fighting. They're really practicing. Yeah. Right. And being able to prepare to be able to survive and to handle yourself in this world.

And so we do the same thing, you know, and this is why it's so important and valuable to have that competition. And you've been around some of the greatest competitors ever. And I want to ask you about the psychology. Like what do you notice about these phenomenal competitors? Somebody when I, when I left your house the other day, you mentioned Noah being at your house . And then I went through a stream of thought because I play him on the, all time bulls on, I'm playing my son in 2K, which is that competition can be a little fierce as well. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: But you know, again, just. You've been around all these incredible athletes from different domains, right? From the Olympics to basketball to you name it. How, like, what are some of the things, and, and I'm asking because if we are interested in taking that on right. In how we're showing up in our own lives, and also there are many athletes who listen to this show. 

GABBY REECE: Mm-hmm. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And there are many parents of athletes, grandparents of athletes. What are some of the things that you notice about their psychology that makes them so great?

GABBY REECE: Okay. The, you know, there's a couple things. First, we'll start basic, nothing ever goes as planned, right? And so what you see pretty commonly with athletes, Joe Kim McCaffrey's, Christian McCaffrey comes over, Kaw Leonard, Jaylen Brown, like serious people, and nothing goes as planned. But what they, a lot of them will do is if you give them, let's say you say, Hey, I'll, I'll give you some tips, instructions. So if this is what's happening, this is what you'd, you'd be trying to do. And if it doesn't go as planned, what you see is every single one of them will revert to, okay, well what should I be trying to do? They don't dive into, uh, oh, I'm uncomfortable. This isn't going the way it's supposed to. It goes right to what should I be trying to do?

So there is a good decision making in the, in the stressful moment. That's why they can obviously play at that level. Because it, it never goes as planned. And you're playing against people as talented as you that are, have the same goal as you. Right? So they, they're there to win as well. The other trait over and over is the level of persistence. So, oh, I didn't get it. I'll try again. I still didn't get it. I'll try again. And whether they all use different fuel, some will go, they get calmer and more, you know, ninja, like some will get use, you know, anger is a great emotion in the right way. It's an activator. Some will use, like Joe Kim is very passionate, right?

So he would just lean more into it. A guy like Kwa Leonard or Jalen Brown, they, they're not using that type of energy. So it's, it's seeing people go, oh, here's discomfort, here's failure. Yeah, great. I'm going right towards it. I'm not gonna avoid it. I'm not gonna make an excuse. I'm going to keep at it and figure it out. And, and the other idea would be making new mistakes. So if something isn't working, they're not just gonna keep doing the same thing. They'll either ask a question, get help, try something different. It's kind of like fighting with your spouse. It's like, let's have a new fight. Let, who wants to have the same fight for 10 years or five years, or one year or one day?

Okay, we, let's figure that out and let's move on to something else. And so I see that, and I see sort of an acceptance or a humility to like, not. Yeah, not getting it, not being good at it there, it's like this doesn't deter them from going forward. A lot of us are scared of failure. That's why we don't wanna try new things. I experienced this myself from time to time for sure. It's like, Hey man, that's gonna be uncomfortable and I'm gonna look bad and maybe I can't do it and I'm gonna be in a room full of people who can do it. And versus, you know what? Cool. Because the other thing that's so interesting that we forget is to go and Laird talks about this all the time.

To go from novice to proficient is big. It's great. So steep and fun. To go from proficient or great to mastery is this big. It's so, it's it's percentages. These guys are now working at the level of percentages, right? So we, we don't celebrate how good it feels to not be able to do something and to be able to do it a little bit. And so I, I think a lot of athletes also have enough of a sense of humor about themselves and they know the formula. They've been kind of been through it. You've been wildly embarrassed and you survived. You woke up the next day, you've learned how to win, so you understand that formula you've lost and, and realized that was, that's where unfortunately all the lessons really came.

So I think that there's so many things that go into athletics. That you're practicing all the time. Now. I think it also helps if you're on a team, 'cause you're in a sisterhood or brotherhood and you look next to each other and you're like, ugh. You know, doing it sometimes together, that's where that community aspect comes in can be really helpful. 'Cause on the days you personally don't maybe have it, that you just wanna go f it. Like, I don't even wanna do this. You know, you, you kind of draft off the energy of your teammates. Or having a great coach who knows exactly what to say to you to activate you, to get you to do it. So that's why I really enjoy and I'm inspired working around and near and with athletes 'cause they remind me of how great, how much greatness is in all of us.

And, and listen, I see certain athletes where they're God-given genetics as off the charts. You know, we were joking one day, Kawa Leonard, if anyone's ever seen him in person, you know, his lower half of his body, like you could train your whole life. Good luck. You'll never be as powerful that came from the gods, you know, 'cause he's doing what he's supposed to be doing. But typically still you have to, there is so much greatness in all of us and it doesn't have to be expressed athletically. It's like when we can dig deep and when we can try things or do things that we didn't think we could, that's in everybody. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: I was surprised that you let off with things never go as planned. And it makes complete sense. 

GABBY REECE: Think about a game. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yes. 

GABBY REECE: You can call plays, but you know, the defense or the offense or whatever. 

They have other ideas and, that's, that's life. That's why adaptability for me and performance. I think it's, it's the number one. It's your ability to go, oh, I had this plan, they did this, I'm gonna do that in that split second. You know, it's, it's, it's parenting, it's being the boss, it's, it, it's, it's, its everywhere all the time. So how quickly can you make the right choice? And that's the other thing, can you make the right decisions in that moment of pressure? And that is really, besides, you know, obviously you talk about like certain athletes, they're giant, but there's a lot of giant people that are good athletes, but they can't handle that. And they don't make those decisions in that moment. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: So true. So true. It's, it's so funny, like you said it out loud and now I see it so clearly because. I think a lot of people who are aspirational about being great. They just think that greatness is just, you know, they're just showing up and just being great, but it's really adversity. Yeah. The adversity is the greatness. And you are 100% signing up for adversity if you're going to be at that level. Like to say it never goes according to plan is so true. Like, you don't know you, I mean, of course there are patterns, there are things you don't know exactly what the other team is gonna do, what the other, what the other play, what, how all the pieces are gonna happen.

I was just watching, this Joe Montana documentary. It's on, I think it's on, I think it's on the, the Peacock. Right. There's so many freaking apps. But. I just remember, of course, like growing up and first of all, he's got the greatest football name ever. I know. I mean like how Joe Montana, but the story, like it's riddled with so much adversity. Like this kid was like, he was like seventh on the football team as far as like when he, he went to Notre Dame. He was seventh on the depth chart, right. And he got in the game and like brought them back from, it was like some crazy sequence of events to put him in that position and he brought them back to a victory and he did it twice, but then he had this terrible injury and was out for like a year.

Right. This kid does all this AC claw his way into this position and then it's just gone. Right. And what all, all of the resilience that it took for him to come back and not to mention the high school experience and he was always kind of known, poked fun at, for being so lanky. Especially his lower body opposite Kawhi Leonard's.

GABBY REECE: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Polar opposite. All right. And he found a way to make the most of what he had, but what really, as you've said this just now in this conversation, the thing that makes him stand out the most and why a lot of people consider him the goat. 

GABBY REECE: Mm-hmm. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Tom Brady is in the documentary, by the way, saying he was my. 

GABBY REECE: Oh, can you imagine?

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right? Yeah. That was his talent. He was there at Candlestick Park when the catch happened. Like Tom Brady was there as a little kid. And he was terrified. Like there's a picture of him being scared as shit because like, like his mom's like holding him because everybody's going crazy. But what made him so great was the adversity that he overcame. And he was so great in those moments when all the odds were stacked against him. And for him it was fun. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. That's hard. And I was gonna say, there are few athletes, very few I think. That they reveled in that man, they love it. They're, oh, this is now, it's getting sticky. You know? And they're more playful, maybe self-belief. And there's something else that I think maybe great artists, it's, you're only gonna be able to really do it your way. I can't be you and you can't be me. And so the other thing I think you'll learn in sports and in other areas of life is you have to know yourself well enough to know how you do it.

Because I even say this about my game in volleyball. I was so late to volleyball and I was very, very good at a couple of things, and I just leaned into that. I made a career of that and I wasn't going to. So I think it's understanding. Who you are and the way you do it. Somebody might get into this stressful thing and they need to ramp up and let's go and they're all verbal and talky and all this stuff. And other guys might drop down, down, down and quiet and slow it down. But it's also the confidence to go, this is me. This is how I do it, this is my game. 

And I'm just gonna try to do that the best I can. And I think in life, especially for young people, the world is so loud with social media and other that we think we're, we gotta be like everybody else that we see and mimic versus going back in and go, wait a second, who am I? What am I interested in? What would I be good at? And trusting that, and I think a lot of people who are good at whatever they do, they get a relationship with that. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah, for sure. Oh my goodness. Alright. I jotted them down. Okay. Things never go as planned. 

GABBY REECE: Mm-hmm. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Number two, persistence. Number three, making new mistakes. Number four, courage to fail. Having the courage to fail. And then number five was being able to have some humor and to be able to not take yourself so seriously. Embarrassing things are going to happen, and to have a spirit to move beyond that. And so all these things are so valuable, especially again, for people who, parents of young athletes, the athletes listening to embrace the adversity piece. To know going into it, that's the name of the game. And to, if you can even find a way to look forward to it. 

GABBY REECE: Mm-hmm. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Sometimes you might find yourself so far ahead of, of things that you have to manufacture it. Like another person jumping to mind, Michael Jordan. Like he would manufacture adversity. He's so far ahead of everybody. Yeah. He would just create these slights in his mind like. And I took that personally. You know, I'll show you. 

GABBY REECE: Oh yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And, you know, being able to go into it knowing that this is going to be, this is, I'm going to face adversity and it's gonna require me to make certain decisions to possibly go beyond what I think I'm capable of. But one of the biggest takeaways for me personally, and I can't wait to share this with my, with my youngest son as well, is to know going into it, that you're gonna be up against something that is gonna challenge you beyond what you're comfortable with and look forward to it. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Have the audacity to look forward to it. Because if you're gonna be great, that's what you're gonna face. If you're not, if you're choosing to just be mediocre and just play it safe, play down. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: That's fine. You know? But if you are looking for greatness. Adversity is built into the package every time. 

GABBY REECE: And it's scary, right? It, it's really, it's like, oh, here we go again. You know, that tension, the, you know, even when you get ready to go do it, your bot, you know, like, you're like, Ugh, here we go. You know? And, and then you maybe switch gears and go to something else. And, and that goes back to that fuel part, right? Everybody using different fuel to get it done. The other, the other thing that's really important though is you're, you are gonna be at a high level of whatever you're doing for a period of time. And the other thing to figure out though, is where it should live and how not to let it kind of burn up your whole life. Because sometimes we open valves that we, we don't, we don't know how to control. And so it can kind, so in a way it's like a lot of the good gets lost because we also kind of crush our lives with it.

And so the important thing is to find the place where it's healthy and good and it should exist and when we should move away from it. And, and then that idea of pursuit of excellence. So what happens to a lot of athletes is of course you miss miss those apex moments 'cause it's like a note on an instrument. There's a beauty to it. It's so precise it, and there's not a lot of opportunities in life to experience that. But there kind of is in different ways. It's quiet when you're in pursuit of excellence. So again your practices in your life, your words, the way you treat people. All these things weirdly, are also opportunities to be in pursuit of excellence.

And it is really different than sport. And so sport always holds a special place, but I think you can sort of turn that into other areas of your life because otherwise you'll be kind of sad or frustrated when you're not competing anymore or there's something about that. So rather than it becoming that, it becomes this incredible. Place and school that you learned all these things that then you bring forth hopefully into anything you choose. It's like I tell young athletes, maybe they get a career that's is cut short by a real injury and, I'm like, listen, but you, you are like a loaded gun, so what's your next target? Because once you understand that, you can aim that in a lot of ways. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. You know, so valuable. I wanna ask you about this really quickly. Just in case.

GABBY REECE: Okay.

SHAWN STEVENSON: People are not familiar. 

GABBY REECE: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: We talked about the athletes that you're, that you're working with and training with in your training as well. These pool workouts.

GABBY REECE: Oh.

SHAWN STEVENSON: If you can give people a little insight into what that looks like. What do you mean by that? 

GABBY REECE: So, I, years ago we built a very large pool at our house. My husband is a surfer. And, he, his, the waves he likes are large and, so he doesn't like to swim laps, so, but he's always in his off season gonna, he was trying to figure out how to be better in the water. So kind of lo and behold, myself and a handful of, kind of a ragtag team of us where his crash test dummies and we ended up creating a curriculum called XPT Trial and Error, which was basically deep water and shallow ways to be ballistic. So jumping in deep water so you're not crushing your joints.

So you're dump jumping in like our pools, like 11 or 12 feet with these weights, but you get to take a breath in between, you're, you're working horizontally, so hypoxic, so using less air, being more efficient with less air. So there's probably 40 exercises or more. There's sequencing. So there's ways where literally there's ways where drills where I say, Hey, listen, this is a patient's drill. This is not a get after it drill. So task completion. So if I say to you, okay, we're gonna go there and back with no breath, with a dumbbell. If you think, okay, I'm gonna go as fast as I can. No, it's task completion. So how hard you hold your weight, how open your eyes are. By the way, when you open your eyes wide and move side to side and process information, you're burning oxygen.

You wouldn't know that out here 'cause you have air. When you go in the pool, you know it very quickly. So you now are learning your state. You are understanding, oh well where are the leaks? Where's their tension? 'cause the water tells you very quickly. So there's so many opportunities to train the organism. Not only ballistically, not hurting yourself. So I get a lot of athletes that are coming off of a Achilles injury or something, and that's the first place they can jump safely. And also that's an emotional thing when you've hurt yourself. I have an artificial knee. It is scary to go back on the hard surface and start moving in that dynamic way.

So the pool is also a great place to go. Oh, I can be snappy, but I'm not gonna hurt myself. So there's a lot to it and it's, it's really, really wonderful. And as you get older, I will say, it's a place you can work very, very hard. You can be with your friends, you can touch the curtain, you can hit that edge, but you don't have to damage yourself. And so it's really a great tool. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Awesome. Where can people get more information about that type of training? And also tell people about your show.

GABBY REECE: Oh my show.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Which is so amazing. 

GABBY REECE: Oh, thank you. Okay, so they can find pool training xptlife.com and if they're, you know, if there's an athlete, and by the way, you don't have to be a professional athlete. 

We certainly, people DM me and I let them come over and I show them the training 'cause it's meant to be shared. And then my show, it's, you know, I'm interested in learning like you, but you and I had a conversation, you know, that, and actually it's out this week. But it, you know, you move so deep into the details and the data of performance and I feel like I'm at a place where I wanna have conversations with people, where I can learn and hopefully make it really simple for people to have takeaways that they can hopefully help them here and there in their life.

But also to remind people that this is an ongoing story. There is not one answer. There's not one way, not one way to move or to be, or to breathe or to eat. And that it is. An ongoing ever changing story that I wanna encourage people to keep looking at it and saying, okay, well, what do I need to change right now? How do I make changes or improvements? Because I want them to do it forever. And Laird and I are certainly in that pursuit. So it's just being a part of that conversation to help people, because I know people are overwhelmed. And besides our loved ones, I know without a doubt that our health is really the greatest thing that we own. And I, I do think it's something you have to fight for and even more right now. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Name of the show. 

GABBY REECE: Oh, the Gabby Reeece show 'cause I'm so original. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: We'll have that for everybody in the show notes where you're listening to this. Of course you could find the Gabby Reese show. Yeah. 

GABBY REECE: And if, I think if people want, they can backlog by the time they hear this and hear your show, I think they'll get to see a very different side of you. And I really appreciated your openness and vulnerability because I think we need to give each other permission to understand that the real strength is the capacity to be vulnerable. And it's very nuanced. But I think when talk about those gears, that spectrum, the stronger we are gives us the greater capacity to be more vulnerable. And so to encourage people to explore both sides, I think is, is really important. Yeah. So thank you for doing that. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Of course. Thank you for making the environment to where it was, it was natural and it felt really good. Like leaving. I, first of all, let, let me just be clear with this, all right? Okay. It was a lot going on, even getting to you that day. And my mind was trying to opt out and it was the best thing that I've done in a long time, was sitting with you and talking with you. It was so needed and so good for my spirit. I didn't even know how much I needed that. And so thank you because it's not just, it's not this, this stuff. It's, it's who you are.

You can't shake it off of you. You made it. So I felt comfortable and I felt seen, you know? And there's, you're just, you're, you're a very special person. You're a great person. And I just appreciate you so much. Thank you for even, I know it's a trek even to get over here, so. 

GABBY REECE: It's nothing. I'll go anywhere to see you and you'll tell my teenage daughters right, that I, I'm just kidding. I wanna, I wanna end this conversation when we talk 'cause we talk so much about athletics. So most of us have to have a screw loose really, to be good at that, at sport, right? It's something you're proving something. There's a few people I'm always interested in, like, you know, they all like certain people.

You go, well, the Manning brothers seemed like they're emotionally well adjusted, but they somehow were great. Okay, good for them. You know, they might be the one or two. So I just wanna remind people that sport is just a stage, it's just a classroom to learn all the valuable lessons. And it's really those lessons that they, how they help your life is really actually what you want. So if people could find their stage to get those lessons, I, I think it can be as beneficial as, oh, you were a college or a high school or professional athlete. Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Thank you for sharing that.

GABBY REECE: Yeah.

SHAWN STEVENSON: You're the best.

GABBY REECE: Thanks.

SHAWN STEVENSON: The one and only Gabby Reece, thank you so much for tuning into this episode today. I hope that you really enjoyed this and got some value from it. Recovery, there's a difference between relaxation and restoration, and much of the good stuff is one of our favorite F words. Free. Free, all right. Getting access to some sunlight whenever we can. Getting some fresh air, getting some time in nature, but just making it a priority.

I know it can be complex in different environments. I'm from Ferguson, Missouri. I grew up in South City, St. Louis, east St. Louis. All right. These were not bustling places with access to nature, but regardless of the environment that I was in, there is always a way. And we've got some pretty cool parks in St. Louis and just making a priority to make my way there from time to time. Shout out to Forest Park. Shout out to Tower Grove Park. Everybody in SEL knows what I'm talking about, but just being able to make it a priority to get some time outside, get some fresh air, helping to set those circadian rhythms to the best of our abilities, prioritizing our sleep quality.

These are some of the most powerful things in our universe. And of course then we can get into how can we get 5% more? How can we get that extra 2% over here with some red light therapy? With some hyperbaric oxygen, with some saunas? One of the greatest tips that Gabby shared today is in regards to the use of the sauna and thinking about that beyond just how on earth am I gonna get this fancy expensive sauna at my house when she brought the idea of a community sauna, right? So maybe we're investing in this with a couple of friends or neighbors, right? That we all have access to, or utilizing our gym membership, right? And maybe this means getting a gym membership that might not be like directly like your close neighborhood gym, but you gotta go a little bit further, right?

Where there's a will, there's a thousand ways, there's all kinds of ways to slice and dice it, but you know, if that's something that we want to try out our value right now, there's also all these different little kind of wellness centers popping up that have saunas and red light therapy that we can consider or invest in as well. Or if we're gonna do it, the DIY. We're gonna do it yourself. You know, simply one of the things that we did, again, when I was living in Ferguson and we're doing the DIY sweat lodge, basically we boiled a pot of hot water. Again, keep it safe. Put a, honestly, it was a Whole Foods paper bag on the floor. Put the pot down, sit next to it.

Somebody puts the blanket over top of you, maybe a couple blankets. All right? And you get that, that robust sauna action right there. DIY style. All right? There's many ways to slice and dice it, so, but just thinking bigger, thinking differently, thinking external of our day-to-day routines that is so good for our minds and our bodies as well. It's a challenge, it's adversity, and it's figuring things out. That's another thing she reiterated today. So, so many great nuggets of wisdom. Again, I hope you got a lot of value out of this. If you did, share it out with the people that you care about. Take a screenshot of the episode. I want to see you. Share it on Instagram.

I'm gonna keep an eye out for it. Tag me. I'm @shawnmodel on Instagram and tag Gabby as well. Show her some love. All right, I'm gonna be looking out for that and I appreciate you so much. I wanna know that you were here with us and hanging out with us today. It really does mean a lot. We got some epic masterclasses and world class guests coming your way very, very soon. So make sure to stay tuned. Take care, have an amazing day and I'll talk with you soon. And for more after the show, make sure to head over to the model health show.com. That's where you can find all of the show notes. You can find transcription videos for each episode. And if you've got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well.

And please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that the show is awesome and I appreciate that so much and take care. I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering, great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.