Noah Ohlsen - Happy But Hungry as the 2nd Fittest Man on the Planet

01:39 · Cold Open: What Happy But Hungry Means

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. That's cool. That reminds me a lot of what happy but hungry means to me. You know? Like, you're happy because you've achieved something or you've gotten to a certain place just like the Trident. Right? You might have gotten where you wanted to go, so you're happy about it, but you have to be hungry and continue to either maintain what you already have or to try to keep building for more. I'm Noah Ohlsen, and this is the Tom Rowland Podcast.

02:28 · Tom's Introduction: The Second Fittest Man on Earth

Tom Rowland: Hey, everybody. Welcome to the podcast today. I am super duper super excited to bring you this one. This one is with someone that I am I have been a fan of from afar for quite some time, and, I wanted to get this podcast together. And it was made possible by one of our podcast listeners who sent me an email and asked me if I would want to ever do a podcast with this person who is on my list. This person is none other than Noah Ohlsen. Noah Ohlsen is the second fittest man in the world. How can you say that with such such confidence? Because there is something called the CrossFit Games, and the CrossFit Games starts with an online worldwide competition called the CrossFit Open, and you move through different, opportunities to, qualify for the CrossFit Games. And leading up to a a a in person competition in Madison, Wisconsin, where they test all different types of fitness throughout this long process.

And for the past four years, there's been a man named Mat Fraser who has been the champion. No one else has even come close to giving him a run for his money until this year. Our guest, Noah Ohlsen, brought it down to the wire, and he is second place in the CrossFit Games this year, which is an unbelievable accomplishment. It is truly unbelievable. Several 100,000 people start, and he ends at the very, very top with right up there with Mat Fraser on the podium. And it's really incredible. I'm very impressed with Noah's abilities, with his strength and speed and all of that. But more than anything else, I am super impressed with the way that Noah carries himself with a way that he maintains this unbelievably positive, mindset. He has an unbelievable pause unbelievably positive, manner about him, and I like people like that. I wanna surround myself with people like that, and I wanted to meet Noah Ohlsen.

It was made possible by a podcast listener, Mark, who, put me in touch with him. And I went to his gym this morning, and Mark and Noah and I worked out together. We had a great time, did the podcast, went to lunch, and, I just had the greatest day. It was really fun. But I knew within about ten minutes of meeting Noah that there were a whole bunch of things about Noah Ohlsen that I wanted to be more like Noah Ohlsen. Unbelievably positive. He's a great leader. He's a great follower. He is just somebody that when he walks in the room, everybody's happy. You know what? And, those are the kind of people that I wanna surround myself with and learn from, and I did just that. And you are gonna do the same when you listen to this great conversation with a great person, Noah Ohlsen. So stand by. Hold on. Here it comes. Thanks for doing this, Noah.

06:01 · Dogs, Miami, and Getting Hooked in the Air

Tom Rowland: Alright. We're live. Noah. Beautiful. Noah Ohlsen.

Noah Ohlsen: We're here.

Tom Rowland: Awesome, man. Thank you for doing this. It really, been a fan of yours for a long time.

Noah Ohlsen: I appreciate it.

Tom Rowland: For a number of reasons.

Noah Ohlsen: Cool, man. Thank you.

Tom Rowland: So I started trying to come up with a list of of 10 ways that I thought that we were similar because when we when we started Stature. Yeah. Well, when we started kinda putting this together, which Mark, by the way, helped put this together, which listen is a listener of the podcast and a watcher of our shows and stuff like that. So I really appreciate that. Shout out to Mark. But when we started putting it together, I was like, wow. We got so many things I wanna talk to Noah Ohlsen about. But, like, wonder if it's interesting because I know that you have a you have a dog. Like, Max is your your training partner.

Noah Ohlsen: Sitting by your feet right now.

Tom Rowland: I know. And I'm a dog guy too. I've got I've got two dogs that are with me all the time. And so there's one. We train with a dog.

Noah Ohlsen: Love that.

Tom Rowland: Found CrossFit about the same time.

Noah Ohlsen: Yep. Around 2010.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Right around there. Both like South Florida.

Noah Ohlsen: Indeed. Yep.

Tom Rowland: Miami guy. And then you basically, do twice as many reps on every workout as I do.

Noah Ohlsen: I don't know about that.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. I'm sure of that. But then I started running out. So I started running out of other ways that that maybe we were similar because you you said that, that fishing's not your not your bag.

Noah Ohlsen: Well, I don't know that it's necessarily not my bag. It's just not something that I'm very well versed in. Maybe you can change my mind. Oh, yeah. We'll have to many fishing experiences.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, you told me the one fishing experience, which makes me wonder not I I doubt I don't wonder why you don't like fishing or or don't go much because you got hooked in the air when you were a kid.

Noah Ohlsen: I did. I did. And some I was saying goodbye to my friend and running the opposite direction, and he snagged me on a cast. So

Tom Rowland: Yeah. That would make you not want to go down. That was it. Game over.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. But we'll fix that. We'll we'll get you down

Tom Rowland: to the Keys, and you can get some good,

Noah Ohlsen: Sounds good. Good seafood. I'm sure you like seafood. Yeah. Yeah. I'm in. Sounds good.

07:59 · Where Noah's Positivity Comes From

Tom Rowland: So you you have to be one of the most positive people I've ever been around.

Noah Ohlsen: I appreciate that.

Tom Rowland: So where where does that come from?

Noah Ohlsen: It's a good question. I I think, honestly, I've just been lucky. Like, I I grew up and I had a great life. I had, two awesome parents that loved me and took care of me and, me and my sister. And I just kinda everything flowed and went well, and and I almost sound, like, privileged to say that. But I've had a good high school experience, pretty good college experience, and then I kind of found CrossFit, started getting good at it, and fell into being a professional athlete in the sport, found my fiancee, and just like I don't know. Everything was just going too well for me to get upset about anything. So I don't think it's that easy for everybody, and and it hasn't been that easy for me. Like, that's the big picture looking at it in a positive way. There's definitely been a lot of, rough stuff that's happened over the years. But I think at a certain point, I just chose to appreciate and hold on to the good stuff and try to let go of the bad stuff because I'd rather be happy than the opposite. Right?

Tom Rowland: That's interesting that you consider that a choice. Like, you you chose that. You chose and and it I I see that with a lot of people that are that are, super positive that they it's almost like you you choose it. Like, you can just choose to be positive. You can choose to not let things bother you. You can choose to have a smile on your face. You can choose to say hello to everyone. And that's, like, just we did this workout this morning, and, when you are the number two CrossFitter in the world, and we are, which puts you as a pretty much a worldwide celebrity. We I mean, you're you're being humble, but but you are. Maybe. And I appreciate it. Then we're at a regular CrossFit class. And the first thing that I see you do is go around and say hi to everybody. Make sure you shake people's hands. You're giving fist bumps. You're doing everything, just like a regular person. But, I mean, I I looked at that, and I was like, man, the guy's a good leader. Like, you're you're a good leader because you you not only are a leader in by example, but then you're a leader by becoming a great follower as well. Like, you didn't argue with a coach. You didn't do your own thing. You just very impressive, really.

Noah Ohlsen: Thank you. Yeah. And and as you say that, I think that's actually one thing that has helped me become a little more that way, and I've been sharing a little bit about that recently. But the reinforcement of being told something like that, so saying, hey. You're you're a nice guy. You you I noticed that you said hi to everybody. That feels good for me to hear. And so in my mind, now I kinda tomorrow, when I come into the gym, maybe not consciously, but subconsciously, I do wanna go say hi to everybody. So, naturally, I'm going to do that. And then on top of that, I'm going to probably remember that, hey. Somebody recognized this, and they enjoyed it. And so it just kinda is like this positive snowball effect where when somebody reinforces a positive behavior, it makes you want to be and do that even more so. So somebody says, hey. You're a nice guy. You're I always have a smile on your face. And I'm like, oh, cool. I like that. I like the way that made me feel felt when they told me that. So I'm gonna do that more. I'm gonna try to have a smile on my face more, and then somebody else will say it. And it just kinda naturally occurs that way. Mhmm. Something that I've been writing to.

Tom Rowland: That you you I mean, at some point, you made this choice to to be that way. Were you always positive?

Noah Ohlsen: I think so. I think that I used to be a lot more self conscious about every about myself. Obviously, that's what the word self conscious means, but, definitely not as comfortable in my own skin and not as confident in being able to talk to people. And so I think in the past, I would have walked into a room or a gym like we did this morning, and I would kinda sit in the corner, and I'd be afraid to go say hi to everybody because I would be worried about what people would think of me. And and then I now that I'm a little bit more comfortable in my own skin and confident, and I I don't feel like I have to put on this persona or be a cool guy at all like I felt like I used to, it's a lot easier to just be like, hey. I'm I'm gonna go around and say hi to everybody. I'm not scared to go talk to that person and this person. So, I think that has developed over time as I've become more comfortable in my own skin. And I'm sure every teenager and and somebody getting into adulthood experiences that. Right? Like, we're figuring out who we are, and it takes a little while to finally know. And and I probably am still in that development process. You probably still are.

Tom Rowland: Everybody. I mean, you should be. I hope you are. Right. Right. Because wanna

Noah Ohlsen: get stagnant.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. I mean, at at 51, I feel like I'm learning those things too.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. But

Tom Rowland: I think that a lot of people would would be surprised that an elite athlete or somebody that has has has been at a high level or is at a very, very high level I mean, within the CrossFit world, you're a superstar. And then I think maybe people might be surprised that you might feel that somebody like that, a rock star or somebody that that, has all this notoriety around them might feel like, well, I don't know if I should go say hi to that person over there.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: Right? I mean, that's

13:47 · Even the Best Get Nervous: Mat Fraser and The Rock

Noah Ohlsen: Well, I think we all end up thinking you see somebody that's a superstar, they've made it, or whatever. Just somebody that you see as maybe a a higher level than you, and you think, man, they've got it all figured out. They're super confident. They don't get nervous. And I I shared this recently, and I don't know if it's appropriate for me to share because it's not me. But Mat Fraser, who's the the only guy that was better than me at the Games this year, he's a stud. And I thought to myself, man, Mat is the best. Like, he doesn't have anything to worry about. Like, he must not get nervous nervous when he goes to competitions because he was beating everybody by such a wide margin. And it turns out we'd be in the warm up area right about to take the floor, and he'd run over to the garbage can and throw up because he was so nervous. Right. And I was like, what? This guy, he's like, he's been kicking all of our butts all weekend, and he's puking because he's so nervous. Like, I guess everybody doesn't have it figured out. And it's probably the same way with anybody. Like, I don't know. The Rock just came to my mind. Right? He's like the man. Everybody respects him and knows him. But I'm sure when he goes and speaks to groups of people or whatever, he probably gets super nervous. You know? It's it's just human nature.

Tom Rowland: But he is, you know, he's a performer. Yeah. And and Mat Fraser, in some way, is a performer. For sure. So he knows that whatever the ritual is that he has to do, if he's gotta throw up in that trash can to be at his best, then so be it. Right. Whatever The Rock has to do to be at his absolute best might surprise a lot of people. Like, it he might get super nervous. And you sometimes you even find out that people that are amazing entertainers are really introverts. Mhmm. Like, they really don't like

Noah Ohlsen: turn it on for the camera, and then they're completely different person. Right.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. It's interesting that that

Noah Ohlsen: For sure.

15:16 · Winning the 2016 Open and the Drake April Fools Article

Tom Rowland: You've had a an interesting path. So in 2016, you won the the Open.

Noah Ohlsen: I did. Yes.

Tom Rowland: And which is a really big deal. Not everybody that listens to this knows knows quite how big a deal that is. But in the CrossFit Open, it's a worldwide, online competition where the workouts are put out there, and everyone does exactly the same workout exactly the same way, and you're either judged or videoed. And out of, what, several 100,000 people Some like that. Yeah. I mean, maybe even more. I don't know. Some years or more than others. Right. Noah Ohlsen, my guest, rises right to the top and actually wins it. And that is gotta be that's one of the hardest things to do. I mean, because no one knows what the workouts are. Mhmm. You don't know what they are even minutes before they're released. They're released. You have a certain amount of time that you need to, to do this workout. Hundreds of thousands of people are trying to win, and and you win that which is great. And then but then, you know, that seems to be the peak. And I'm interested in this time at 2016 because then you would get an invitation to go to a regional competition, which was a a, in person competition where these athletes now compete head to head, and then that was another stair step towards going to the Games. The Games is the Super Bowl of of CrossFit. So then you decided you're gonna decline your your regional invitation to do something else, right, in 2016? No. Am I not No. No. Correct on that?

Noah Ohlsen: I'm trying to think of what you might be talking about.

Tom Rowland: Going on the on tour with Drake.

Noah Ohlsen: Oh my gosh. You know, that's funny. I apologize that you got caught up in that. That was, like, an April fools article. It was. They got you. It worked. That's hilarious. It was, who who did that? Flow Elite or something. Somebody in the That is hilarious. News industry reached out to me. They said, hey. Would you be willing for us to write this April Fools article? And I was like, sure. Let's do it for fun. Oh, I am super embarrassed. That's yeah. I'm sorry. I I

Tom Rowland: That is so funny because I was like, man, I gotta talk to him about this because I never heard anything else about it. That was

Noah Ohlsen: really funny. And it was just that one article, and that was it. But I had a ton of people reach out to me, and they're like, man, why are you doing this? What's the purpose? And I think I went with it for a little bit, and then I was like, no, man. That's I've never had drink in my life. I don't know what I would have done if I was actually presented with that because I'm a huge Drake fan, but I don't know if I would have turned down my last name.

Tom Rowland: Thing ever because I am so embarrassed. I can feel my I can feel my That's awesome. I've I think I just broke a sweat.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: So That is hilarious. You're good. Because, honestly, I the reason I wanted to ask you about that is because I saw that, and then I'm like, I never heard another word about it.

Noah Ohlsen: That's awesome.

Tom Rowland: I'm like, so what? He just took a year off, then he just comes back and starts kicking ass again.

Noah Ohlsen: Reason you wanted me on the podcast on because I knew Drake. He thought I was your connection. No.

Tom Rowland: No. That's not at all. Yeah. That's so funny, though. Yeah. And so other people well, the article was actually really well written Yeah. Kind of onion style, I guess, in hindsight.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: And it's like, damn. Well, they got me. April Fools.

18:39 · Best Year, Worst Year: Coping With Failure at the Games

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. Gotcha. I that's awesome. That was a few years ago too. It was, like, in 2016 that they read the article. But that year actually ended up actually in real life being my my best and worst year of competing ever because I won the Open, and I went to a few other competitions and did really well. And then when it came to the actual Games, which is like our Super Bowl and what really matters the most, I had my worst finish ever. So I was it was very disappointing to go from feeling like I was on top of the world to, like, I don't I wouldn't call it rock bottom, but really questioning what I did throughout the season that led me to my worst result. I took fifteenth at the Games and was like, man, do I should I continue competing if I'm so far off my goal of wanting to win the Games? And yeah. But it was an interesting contrast in one season to have your best and worst finish.

Tom Rowland: So how do you how do you come to grips with that? Like, what do you do when you get back and you're having all these doubts? And what how do you how do you adjust?

Noah Ohlsen: It's interesting. It's happened. There have been a lot of, like, the the ups and downs over the years, and I'm I I would imagine that a lot of other athletes go through that because it's not always gonna be perfect. You're not always killing it, and you're probably not always gonna be terrible either. So, my goal in CrossFit has always been to win the CrossFit Games. You know? That's, I think, why most of us are competing to get as close as we can to doing that. And every year from 2014 until really last year, and and, I mean, even still last year, I've I've always fallen short, whether it was by a little bit one spot on the podium like last year or 14 spots off, like, 2016, it always was, like, dealing with and coping with a little bit of failure. So I would finish the Games, and the weekend of the Games usually is very stressful as with most competitions. You know, you're you're anxious, and it's physically taxing on your body. So most of the time during the weekend, I'd be like, man, I'm I'm not enjoying this. I don't like this. And then I'd finish the weekend and be like, I didn't do as well as I wanted to. This kinda stinks. Do I even wanna do this next year? And then I'd take, like, a week or two off and start to get back into it and kinda find that fire again, and they would click. And I'd be like, yeah. Of course, I wanna do this. I love competing in this sport, and it would just start all over again. And, I don't know. This year, I was able to process it a little bit better. I I went into the Games with a little bit of a different mindset rather than going in and saying, hey. I need to win or I failed. I was kinda like, I've experienced that five times already. Let me, this year, just enjoy the experience. Take it for what it is. Maybe it's, like, pretend that it's my last year competing. I wanna go out on a high note. You know? I just wanna have fun, not worry so much about the placement, do my thing, and just, like, really appreciate it all for what it is because I'm not gonna be able to do this forever. And I know when I'm out of it, I'm gonna miss it a ton. And that ended up playing to my benefit a lot. I just was in a really good place mentally. I was having a ton of fun. I performed really well. I wasn't super anxious. I was able to sleep every night of the competition, and I had my best finish. I took second. So, hopefully, I'm able to recreate that next year at the Games or at some of these other competitions that I go and compete in, but that was a big difference maker for me.

Tom Rowland: Have any coaching or anyone around you kind of be like, look, man. When you're when you're training, you're having fun. Why aren't you having fun out there?

Noah Ohlsen: Not necessarily. I mean, maybe somebody had said that to me along the road, but that was kinda just a a personal decision. And it was almost I had actually had a really rough year. This whole past year of 2019 was difficult. We I mentioned to you earlier that my parents got divorced, and that was really nasty. The Open in that year was the first time that you could qualify directly out of the Open, and so there was a lot of pressure on that, and I didn't perform well. And so that was kinda rough to deal with not doing as well as I had in the past. Went to some other competitions and performed pretty poorly at at the Rogue Invitational. I took eighth place, which to me was very disappointing. And so dealing with all of that and finishing at Rogue, I I did have the thoughts in my mind, like, man, maybe I don't have it anymore. You know? Maybe I'm on the way out, and I can't hang with the big dogs. And I more. You know? Maybe I'm on the way out, and I can't hang with the big dogs. And I started questioning whether or not I wanted to continue competing. And I had qualified, so I was like, obviously, I'm gonna stick it out and go to the Games this year. And I think for that reason, because I had had these negative experiences, I didn't want to go through that again. And I was like, you know what? Let me just make this a positive experience. No matter how I do, let me try to enjoy it and have fun with it. And it worked. And I'm so thankful that it did because I think if I hadn't done that and I had performed not as well as I wanted to at the Games, I probably wouldn't be feeling too great right now. A few months later, I probably would still be in that period of doubt and questioning whether or not I wanted to do it. But because I did well and enjoyed the experience, it got me fired up, and I'm right back into it. And I'm like, heck, yeah. I got three more good years. I mean, four or whatever. Who knows? Let's just keep going. Whereas if I had taken tenth, maybe I'd be like, I don't know if I wanna do this. Maybe this is my last year.

24:07 · The Birth of Happy But Hungry

Tom Rowland: What do you think the lessons that, you know, spectators, your fans, people that are watching these things, you know, there's always lessons from athletes because it it's a it's a microcosm of life. What do you think the lessons are that people can take back to their business, to their family, to their, what, their own little competing, whether it's regional or or just within their gym from that from what you learned?

Noah Ohlsen: I yeah. I hope that they're able to take something from it. That that makes it even more worthwhile for me if I can have an impact on other people. I used to it used to be all about me and and my performing the best that I could. And now that my platform is growing and I'm I'm maturing and figuring out who I am, like, we were just talking about, it's been more important for me to have an impact on people in a positive way. And so, I think as cliche as it is for me to say, I think the whole happy but hungry approach to it, that's kinda my little, tagline that I came up with naturally. I was talking to my coach actually, and like you said, he said to me, hey. You, you seem like you're you're a really happy go lucky guy, and maybe we need to figure out a way for you to bring some aggression into training. And this is just in conversation, and I said, I don't know if I need to do that. I know some of your other athletes may perform that way, but I really enjoy what I'm doing. And I think I perform better when I'm having fun versus getting angry and worked up. And that that just doesn't work for me. I'm happy, but I don't want you to mistake that for me being content. And I'm not just, like, having fun, not caring what I'm doing. I definitely care a lot, but I'm gonna enjoy it. And so that was kinda when it came together, and I was like, I'm happy, but I'm hungry. I I'm still striving to do better and do more. And I think my experience at the Games is perfect for that because I was having a great time all weekend. I loved it. I really enjoyed what I was doing, but I was still, like, trying to compete to the best of my ability, and I still wanted to perform really well. And then taking second is the cherry on top to that because I was really happy to make it onto the podium, but it also made me super hungry to try to win the Games and take it one step further and realize that I was so close. I was actually in the lead for, I don't know the time frame exactly. But, yeah, it was until the last day. I was in first place, so that made me even hungrier to try to accomplish that finally.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, it was it was great to watch. I loved watching it. And it was the first time that I've ever seen Mat Fraser really since he won. You know, obviously, before he won, he was chasing. But I I have no one has seen him chase anyone Yeah. Since since he won.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. That was cool for me to provide that experience to fans because Mat is so good, and he's kinda been kicking everybody's butt for three, four years. And I think this is no offense to him, but I think people were getting bored of that. You know? Like, alright. Mat's in first. The race is for who's gonna come in second and third. And so to have the excitement, like, oh, is is Mat gonna be able to win and who I don't know. I I think it was cool, and people told me that they enjoyed it more this year. It was way more exciting, and I was like, I'm happy that I could help provide that a little bit.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. For sure. Yeah. He's he's a competitor. I mean, he is really a competitor. For sure. And I would imagine that being, around him is, well, I mean, you're you're just with world class competitors in the whole thing.

27:39 · From Lacrosse and Water Polo to Learning CrossFit From Scratch

Tom Rowland: So CrossFit for for many people that aren't really all that familiar, there are so many different things that are required of you. And so you see athletes with all different backgrounds being able to get into this sport and do very well. So what was your background in athletics? Yeah.

Noah Ohlsen: I don't know that I actually was set up for success coming into CrossFit. I didn't have a a specific background that really carried over well, whereas you'll see some people that are, like, weightlifters or played football where they did a lot of weight lifting or gymnasts. Maybe that gives you a really strong foundation to start CrossFit with because those are two major components. For me, I had always played team, like, stick and ball sports. So I played lacrosse for a long time growing up, played a little bit of football. In high school, I I swam and played water polo. Little things there carried over. Obviously, having a a decent aerobic base was beneficial. Being able to swim relatively well helps on the swimming events in CrossFit, but I kinda had to start from scratch in terms of all of the weightlifting movements. I didn't even know what a snatch or a clean and jerk was when I started CrossFit. And then all the gymnastics stuff. I did gymnastics for, like, a week when I was a kid, so I had to learn all of that stuff from the very beginning. It was tough.

Tom Rowland: Wow. Yeah. What did you think was the the hardest skill to pick up for you?

Noah Ohlsen: Ironically, double unders were the most difficult at first. I just took the longest period of time to find the rhythm on that. I've got those down. That's just a jump rope where it goes under your feet twice. I know you know that, but maybe other people don't. All the barbell stuff took a little while. And once I got the technique down for those, and I'm I'm still dialing that in. It's crazy. It's been ten years, and there are still little things that you can change and learn. But the building that strength base was huge for me because I didn't have much of a weightlifting background. So I had to I would be able to get underneath a heavy barbell because my technique finally caught up, but I didn't have the strength to stand it up. Right? And so building that strength base took years, and it's still in development. But I would say those were the the things at first. I I had a knack for the gymnastics stuff. I was able to pick that up quickly, but some of the skill stuff, like a double under and then the technique and heavyweight stuff on the barbell took a while. Yeah.

30:12 · Walking Into Peak 360: Guido Trinidad's Influence

Tom Rowland: So when when you first started, you're, what, 19, 18?

Noah Ohlsen: I was just about 19 years old. Yeah. I was a sophomore in college here at How did you find it? Kind of just stumbled upon it. I had heard the name CrossFit before, but wasn't very familiar with what it was at that time This is back in 2010. I don't think it was mainstream popular yet. And I was all about the aesthetics. I wanted to just be jacked and ripped. And I saw a poster of a guy who was just that jacked and ripped, And it was advertising CrossFit, and the guy who was on the poster happened to be the guy who owns the gym that we're sitting in right now, Peak 360. His name is Guido Trinidad. And, I gave a call to the phone number on the poster, and they were actually running a free trial class that weekend. And he said, come and try it out. And I went in and got my butt kicked and just it was such a different environment than I was used to. I was kinda global gym doing sets of curls and bench press and all that. And just the variety and the pace at which we were doing it was so novel to me that I was like, this is cool. I really like this change up. I wanna try it again and again and again, and I just eventually got hooked.

Tom Rowland: So you get hooked. At what point do you does Guido or I mean, Guido was a a competitive CrossFitter early on, very, very good, went to the Games, what, two or three times?

Noah Ohlsen: Yep. He competed individually in 2012, and then he qualified as a master in 2017, I think, in the 35 division.

Tom Rowland: So is he kind of saying, hey. You're pretty good at this?

Noah Ohlsen: I think there was a little bit of that. It was probably more from the other side. I was, like, his little shadow, like a puppy dog chasing him around. Like, Like, hey, I wanna work out with you guys. I once I realized that there were competitions in CrossFit, I thought, I wanna do that. I I think I can get good. I knew it was gonna take me a long time, but I would constantly be just bugging Guido, like, tugging on his shirt. Hey, mister. Can I come work out with you? And, he let me in. And slowly but surely, I caught up and then eventually was able to, I don't know. I hate to use the word surpass him by any means, but it was a a cool progression for both of us, I think, for him to kinda the master and the student, and then the student catches up to the the master. And now I'm able to pay that forward, and there are some kids down there that have just started that I can have a positive influence on. And I can be the Guido in that situation and help build up this other

Tom Rowland: We had one this morning.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. Logan, he's a good kid.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. That's that's awesome. I mean, he's 16 years old, and he's in here. And and that was another example of you just, I mean, without any any motivation. You just go right up. Hey, man. Jump in with us. And and you you get a 16 year old kid working right next to you. That's that's really cool. And it. But you also are fostering this environment. Like, you've built this or Guido has built this gym with this environment of everyone. It was like that. Everyone is is welcoming, saying hi Yeah. You know, giving the fist bumps. And then you are further fostering that.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. It's It definitely started with Guido. And I I mean, that's just one of the many things that I've learned from Guido. I think he was a huge influence on my life in the fitness realm, obviously, and then just being able to watch him interact with people. He's also very friendly, always had a huge smile on his face, confident, and I think I picked up a lot of things from him in general, and then I eventually started coaching. And I had to learn from him how to coach and interact with people and groups of people. And, yeah, just I he created this friendly family environment, and I think I took a lot of that stuff and kinda has become who I am as well. Yeah.

34:11 · Going All-In: Dropping Coaching to Train Full Time

Tom Rowland: It's cool. How much coaching are you doing now?

Noah Ohlsen: Man, unfortunately, right now, not much at all. I coached from probably 2011 all the way through 2016, '17, which is when I started working with Max El-Hag, who's my current coach. And when we first started working together, he said, I think you need to, like, fully commit to being a professional athlete and not be doing both right now as much as you love it. It's just there were times where I would rush and cram in all of my programming and finish up a workout, and the class would be starting. And I'd put my shirt on all sweaty and start coaching the class, and I just wasn't recovering properly. I wasn't giving enough attention and deep to the detail of my workouts. And he got me to pull back on coaching to focus fully on training, which I'm I'm thankful for because I think it did help elevate my performance. But I do miss coaching, and I think maybe for fun, I'll get back into it at some point.

Tom Rowland: You know, one of the themes that comes up here in this podcast a lot is is people following their passion, people people finding something that they really love doing, whether that's wanting to be a hunting guide or wanting to be a fishing guide. We talk about fishing guides a lot because that's my background.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: And there's always this period of time where you're standing on that ledge ready to make that leap. Like and it seems like that's kind of one of those times. Like, he's telling you you need to pull back from coaching. Well, obviously, you're gonna pull back from some of the financial benefits that are associated with coaching, and you're gonna have to jump into this world of being a professional athlete. How how does that work with like, CrossFit's kind of a new newer sport. Certainly, it's not NBA basketball or football. I

Noah Ohlsen: mean, it's

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, I mean, it's getting there. But how is that gone with with the financial side of, you know, jumping into being a professional athlete in really a a sport that is really in its infancy. I mean, there are sponsorships, and there are people that are that are doing it. But there since the time that you started to now, certainly, a lot has changed. What did that look like for you?

Noah Ohlsen: I think that I got lucky. Well, I keep seeing that word lucky, and it people give me a hassle for that because it wasn't luck. You know? It took a lot of work to be able to get myself to the place that I I did. But lucky in the sense that I fell right into being able to do that full time. I graduated college with my master's in 2014, and that was the first year that I qualified for the Games as well. So there wasn't this lag period of time where I graduated school and had to dedicate time to finding a job. It kinda happened where I could fall right into this job of just competing and performing. And in that period of time, one of my best friends from college had just graduated law school and wanted to get into sports management. So he was able to help me with some contract stuff, and it all started to slowly come together. And then I competed in late two thousand fifteen at a competition in Dubai. The prize purse was the biggest that it had been in a CrossFit event outside of the Games in a while, and I won $80,000

Tom Rowland: Nice.

Noah Ohlsen: Fresh out of college. And I was like, woah. This is a ton of money. My mom called me and said, hey. Let's take care of all your student loans. And so I did that. I was able to pay those off. And then just kinda everything again, this positive snowball started to build up, and I I got a few more sponsors that were able to support me in training and competing full time, went to a few of these other competitions, made money there, and it just started to kinda build up. And now I'm in a a really great place where I have some awesome sponsors that I love, that take care of me and support me financially throughout the season. Performing well obviously helps a lot with that, to be very transparent. It's not a crazy amount of money. Like you said, it's not NBA or NFL by any means, but taking second at the Games, I think, in total, I made a $150,000 just from that this year. So it's it's there. It's good enough for sure to support us. My fiancee and I have a a nice home, small, quaint little place in South Miami, and she's able to go to graduate school, PT school. So I feel very, very fortunate financially that I'm able to make a decent amount of money doing what I love. I know it's not gonna last forever, so trying to capitalize on it with cool projects and performing well now.

Tom Rowland: That's interesting because it's very similar to the fishing industry because you'll have professional bass fishermen or whatever, and they will win a tournament. And they may win anywhere between 500,000 and a 100,000, 80,000, something like that. So the money's kinda similar, and then that can kind of lead them into this professional career. They bring some sponsors into it. Mhmm. But there's all of these entry fees and everything, and and it seems like there's a lot of money there. But when you've when you factor it all in, it it it's very thin. Yeah. Right?

39:27 · Sanctioned Events and the New Season Format

Tom Rowland: But, for for this, you know, how do you select, the competitions that you're gonna do? Because there are more and more of these kind of regional competitions that have a prize. Mhmm. I mean, are you interested in doing something like that? Like, does do you look at that and go, Yeah. $25,000 there.

Noah Ohlsen: Right. Yeah. Tough to turn down. But this year, actually, they've created a ton of what are called sanctional events, sanctioned events. And I I wanna say that this season, 2020, there are about 30 sanctioned events, and they all not only offer the ability to qualify for the Games, which I think at this point, knock on wood, I've already been able to do. I can't find any wood. You mind knocking on that desk?

Tom Rowland: You got a chair. I mean, okay. There you go. I don't wanna I don't wanna mess you up.

Noah Ohlsen: I I was able to qualify through the Open. So I don't have to go and compete and earn a spot, but there's the opportunity to win a sanctioned event, get your qualifying spot to the Games, and also make prize money.

Tom Rowland: So when when that happens and there's the sanctional events, let's just say that there's prize money there. So you've already qualified, and you're gonna go to this. And Mat Fraser's already qualified, and he's gonna go to another one. And all the top athletes are gonna go. And let's just say that the top three people in that competition have already qualified. So does the qualifying spot go to number four?

Noah Ohlsen: Yep. Yeah. It's like the trickle down effect.

Tom Rowland: And that and then get the money, but they get the qualifying spot.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. They might still make a little bit of prize money from whatever that spot is.

Tom Rowland: Fourth place would be.

Noah Ohlsen: Right? It actually happened for one of my best friends, Chandler Smith, who's a stud.

Tom Rowland: Oh, that's another way we we have something in common. Oh, yeah. What's that? Well, Chandler went to West Point with one of my workout buddies, John Smith Schroeder.

Noah Ohlsen: Very cool.

Tom Rowland: So he had gotten in touch with Chandler, and he said, hey. If you're coming through Chattanooga, you gotta you gotta come by here. And I'm sure he would. Hasn't. But

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. He well, he's he's awesome with stuff like that. If somebody reaches out to him, he's like, he'll go through, remember that, stop by, meet the person. But Chandler competed at the Rogue Invitational that I was talking about, and I think he took

Tom Rowland: fifth or sixth. I watched that. He did great.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. And and that was enough, though, to get him that qualifying spot because first through fourth or fifth had already gotten their spot from another event or from the Open. So it it ended up working out in his favor.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, it's it's kinda neat, the the changes. I know a lot of people were very skeptical of the changes. Yeah. But it seems like there are lots of different ways that you can qualify. Do you like it better or or not as well? Or maybe you're undecided.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. We're still figuring it out. You know? Last year was the first year that all this change had happened, and everybody was pretty skeptical, myself included. When they first started announcing it, it it all seemed very, like, doomsday. They're getting rid of regionals, and I thought they were gonna get rid of the Games. And I was like, oh my god. This is my livelihood. And what am I gonna do if CrossFit doesn't exist anymore? Obviously, CrossFit as a exercise program is always around. You can do it at your house in your garage. But if they got rid of the Games, then I'd have to figure something else out. So little bit of panic at first, just the way the information was being, put out there. And then, eventually, it kinda more information came out, and we realized that it was gonna be what we knew just in a different structure and format. So I like it. I mean, we've only had a season of experience with it, but I think it provides the opportunity for more people to be able to participate, which is kinda cool. I mean, it used to be nice that at the Games, it was really, like, creme de la creme. You know, you were top 40 in the world, had to go to a regional in person and qualify, so you knew you were competing against the best. This year at the Games, they had the national champion of a 130 different countries that were able to perform and compete. So the skill level wasn't quite as high across the board. Obviously, the best of the best were still there, but there was a a little bit more of a discrepancy between them.

Tom Rowland: But they fixed that right away with the with the cuts. The cuts. Right?

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. Kind of. I don't know. I think there were still some people that didn't love it even as it panned out. Like, Patrick Vellner, who just won the Open, a couple days ago, I think he didn't even make the final cut, and he's Right. He is definitely one of the best CrossFit athletes in the world. So

Tom Rowland: And and Brent Fikowski is the same same kinda deal with, I noticed some of the cuts came at a time where there was a cut. Fikowski gets knocked out, and then there's a swim event after that

Noah Ohlsen: Right.

Tom Rowland: Which, obviously, you know, you and him and all the other swimmers are gonna do very well at. What if that event had been before the cut? You know, you start kind of thinking about things like that. Like Yeah.

Noah Ohlsen: I mean Yeah. You can't play the what if game, though, because you can do that in a million different ways. I was thinking the same thing for myself if I was in first place after event 11 instead of the Games being 12 events where I lost it on the last one or second to last one. What if they had just what what if the Games ended after the swim on Sunday morning? I won the Games. You know? Mhmm. And so it didn't happen that way, so there's no point in even doing the what ifs.

44:41 · Building a Brand for Life After Competing

Tom Rowland: Right. Right. Well, you mentioned, before that you don't believe that this can last forever. So what are you doing to prepare yourself for that? You said you had some special projects. I noticed on your website, you were doing some different things.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. Trying to diversify, within the fitness world and just do some really fun creative things. Like I said, I've got some awesome partners that we're really building, their brand and my brand together. I'm going up to Atlanta this weekend to work with with a company called EverTrain, a supplement company. We're developing some new products that are gonna be kinda my signature products. So those could be around for a long time even when I'm not competing, trying to do some cool media stuff like you're doing, obviously, on a smaller scale, just making YouTube videos. I I really wanna make a documentary style video based off this year's, either the whole season or just the Games. So that is something that we're working on. I really enjoy media and marketing, so that could turn into something eventually. My manager, who owns his own management company, he also represents other professionals.

Tom Rowland: From college?

Noah Ohlsen: Yes.

Tom Rowland: Okay. Cool. You still

Noah Ohlsen: So he started the management company. I'm actually a part of the fitness division of the management company, so I could step into that in a greater role when that's over and represent other athletes in the fitness world. He has guys in the NBA and the NFL as well and and some other sports, but that could be a business that I walk right into or play a role in. I think there are a lot of ways to just get creative and kinda basically keep the ball rolling with what we've got going now. I don't I don't think once it's over, I have to cut clean and get a fresh start in some other industry. I I like to build off what we've already created. So

Tom Rowland: Do you think all of the top athletes are thinking that way?

Noah Ohlsen: I don't, unfortunately. I mean and maybe rightfully so. Maybe they don't want to do all this stuff when they're done competing. But there are definitely some guys that I think everybody's done a little bit of a better job now that it's such a big thing having your own brand and social media and all of that. But when that first was kicking off, there were a lot of guys that were performing really well and could make these big names for themselves that I noticed weren't putting a lot of attention into building their brand. And I was like, man, it's unfortunate for them because I think they could be making a lot more money and getting a lot more opportunities to travel and do cool stuff, and they're just not taking advantage of it. But it's all good. I'm trying to.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. So what how did you kind of did somebody help you with that, or did you just I mean, you've got your master's degree. You've been to you've been to college. You you obviously are thinking in those ways naturally, or was someone kinda telling you, like, this ain't gonna last forever, man. Better be thinking about it.

Noah Ohlsen: No. I I've had a few people more so in the way that you just asked me. Like, hey. What what have you got planned for when you're not competing anymore? And that kinda was the catalyst to start thinking about it. But I think I have developed this mindset or, I don't know the right word for it, but and it it could be a detriment sometimes. I'm just always trying to do something. I don't like to waste time, so I'm always trying to be productive. Even on my rest days, I'm on my phone working with the companies that I work with or brainstorming ideas, trying to come up with a new this or a new that or or think of a cool thing that's not been done before in some way. But it's a lot of, like, go go go and how can I what can I do today that's gonna take me and and other people further? And so I think it's good in a sense because I'm able to get a lot done. But I think at sometimes, I can, like, just have a million things going on at once, and I need to stop and focus on one or two of them at a time.

Tom Rowland: How do you how do you balance all that with with your training? Because, like, this is this is serious deal. I mean, you're trying to be the best in the world.

Noah Ohlsen: For sure. That definitely takes priority. I think that I've done a good job of being able to shut everything else off when it's training time. I don't have my phone out on the floor with me. You know, I'm I'm pretty diligent with knocking out my list of programming, making sure all that's taken care of. And then once that's done while I'm recovering in some way, right, I might put my Marc Pro on and then get on my phone and start taking care of a bunch of stuff that I need to. But training is always priority. And then, obviously, maybe that will shift when I'm not competing anymore. I can make that other stuff priority, and maybe I'll be even more effective with doing all that behind the scenes stuff.

49:26 · Mental Training and the Five-Section Journal

Tom Rowland: Interesting. You talk a ton about training. And on your website, it said that you've been training six hours a day for the last ten years. Yeah.

Noah Ohlsen: It's a lot of Yeah.

Tom Rowland: It's a lot of training. Yeah. So that's that's obviously physical training. Mhmm. Do you do any kind of mental training?

Noah Ohlsen: I got into that a little bit in probably, like, 2015. I wanted I I think it was actually kind of pushed on me by people. They asked questions similar to that and then kinda urged me to, hey. To take it to the next level, I you're physically obviously doing well, but I think you need to work on up here. And so I started reading the sports performance books and mindset books and listening to podcasts. And, honestly, I think that it had the opposite effect, and it was a little overwhelming for me and made me just more anxious and stressed out. And I I tried to, like, change and focus on things that they were being suggested in these books, and it just didn't pan out. I like there was one thing at regionals, I think, in 2016 where I came up with a mantra. And and I remember saying the mantra and, like, like, changing the way that I was performing based on that, like, something about being calm and confident. And I finished the weekend, and I performed really poorly, and I just felt, like, really slow all weekend. And I realized I was like, I that was not me. Like, I was trying to get myself to be somebody that I'm not. I've gotten to this point by being me, having fun, like, really getting after it, not being conservative. And so by trying to be, like, this calm and confident, it just didn't work. And I I let go of all of it at that point. I was like, I need to do my thing, and there are definitely ways that I can improve on that. And a couple of things I've been doing recently are just working on, like, positivity and gratitude and being more conscious and aware of certain things. So doing some journaling, I think, has been a a positive mindset thing for me. I think it helped me at the Games this year. I was journaling every morning. It kinda helped me set an intention for the day, get in a good headspace, and be able to maintain that throughout the day and kinda check-in every morning with what intentions I had set and so on. So little things like that. But I'm not big into, like, the sports psychology and all that because I tried it and it didn't work.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. But, like, gratitude, in my opinion, is is probably the most powerful. I don't know if you call it an emotion or if you call it a state. Mhmm. Or but it just seems like it's the most powerful. Yeah. And when you're living in gratitude I mean, we have a way that we end workouts where we do this gratitude. Cool. It's kind of like a meditation, I guess, if you wanna get all, you know, particular about it. But, basically, we just kinda do this thing where we just think about the most important things in your life and how grateful you are. Yeah. And then it doesn't take more than five or six minutes, and then you start the day. You know, you're ending the workout, but you're starting the day in this gratitude. For sure. I love that.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. I I've noticed that there are often so many things that are right in front of us that if we don't acknowledge and really focus on, then we can look right past them. And so by doing this gratitude journaling, I've been able to recognize the small things and really appreciate them. Whereas on the days that I don't, I could have a lot of this positive stuff going on, but it's just like flying right past me. And So how does your gratitude journaling work? With journaling for me over the past few years, I didn't have any structure too. People suggested journaling to be able to kinda organize my thoughts, and so I would just kinda grab this little journal and write random stuff. And and for the most part, I recognized that I was only reaching for the journal when I felt like I needed to vent, and it was a lot of negative emotions. So when my parents were going through their split, I would grab my journal and be like, oh, I can't believe this is happening. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. I feel this way and just, like, get it off my chest. And I think that that is beneficial sometimes. But then to read through that, it's like focusing on so much negative stuff. And I don't remember exactly what was the catalyst for this, but one day, I thought, you know what? I'm gonna create some sections and put some structure to my journaling so that it's not this free flowing thing. I'll do it every day. I'll set a time to do it. And I did. And I I came up with these five sections on the first day, and I thought to myself when I first created them, maybe they'll change as I go. They ended up sticking, and they work really well for me. So the first section is gratitude. And for me, I just will write about half of the page. It's just little things that I'm grateful for. I wish I had it with me. I love sharing stuff with people. Some people are like, no. Your journal is private, but I like sharing it, and I'm actually releasing it.

Tom Rowland: Let's just think about it, like, today. Like, if you were to write it down today, so the gratitude section today would be like For sure.

Noah Ohlsen: If I was journaling right now, I would put grateful for the opportunity to meet a new person and have the opportunity to be on his podcast and have influence on even more people. Grateful that my body's healthy. Grateful that I've been able to qualify to the Open so I can take this week to rest and have fun with my training. Grateful that Max is happy and healthy and got a bath yesterday, so he smells good. Grateful that Joanne made it through her midterms, which was a stressful period of time. Grateful that our kitchen is wrapping up and that process is going well. Like, all really small things, but when they add up, you're like, woah. I've got so much good stuff going on. This is so cool. I'm so lucky and and grateful. Yeah. That just, like that sounds so stupid, but I'm almost, like, welling up with tears just because I like It's

Tom Rowland: not stupid.

Noah Ohlsen: And life is so good. And and, obviously, there is a lot of tough stuff going on. So Joanne has been stressed out. I was stressed during the Open. The kitchen was stressful. But when you look at it in a good way, it it just it's just a better way to go about it. Mhmm.

Tom Rowland: So that's the gratitude section.

Noah Ohlsen: That's the gratitude section. Right under that, I'll put currently. So it's just a quick reminder of, like, what's going on in my life at that period of time. So today, I would write, like, podcast day with Tom because that was the one thing I had locked in. On Monday, it was twenty point five redo wrap up the Open. Under that would be my intention for that day and whatever is going on. So my intention for today would be make Tom feel welcome at Peak, Have a great time on the podcast. Make sure that I am spreading joy and, just that people enjoy what we're talking about and have it be interesting content. It's small stuff like we talked about earlier. Say hi to everybody at the gym. Smile to everybody. Make sure that I'm available to take care of all the little things in the kitchen so Joanne doesn't have to worry about it when she's got her project going on. That's the intention section. Just small things so that you can reference them throughout the day, and sometimes we get so wrapped up in everything going on that you can forget about it. But if I've written it down, maybe later on, I'm like, oh, I forgot. I need to check-in with the kitchen guys and make sure I I know what's going on there. Under the intention is an affirmation. So just something to, like, boost you up to let you know, hey. You're gonna be able to meet all those intentions. So on the Open redo day, my affirmation was I am fit. I am strong. I am worth I've I've put in the hard work to earn this qualifying spot. Or on our podcast day, I would write, like, I am happy. I am friendly, and I am worth listening to. Just small stuff like that. And then the last section is usually serve, and that will be something that's not about me. That's one or 20 ways that I'm gonna just do something for somebody else. So serve, I would say, make Tom feel welcome. Like I said, again, make the podcast enjoyable. Sometimes I'll do, like, small little things, you know, like, bring a sandwich to Emilio, who's the guy that's working on the kitchen, or reach out to a friend that I haven't talked to in a little while. It's not always that specific. Usually, it's just, like, big general stuff, but those are the five sections. Gratitude, currently, intention, affirmation, and serve. And I feel like that has been a a big thing for me to take five, ten, fifteen minutes in the morning, write that stuff all out. I feel good. I've got my intention set for the day. I'm starting off on a good foot because I'm really grateful for everything going on. And yeah.

58:23 · Morning Routine and the Gains Box Journal

Tom Rowland: How does that fit into your day? You say it's in the morning, but, like, do you do that, like, right as soon as you wake up, or you No. You have some breakfast?

Noah Ohlsen: My routine has kinda become wake up with Joanne before she heads off to school. We haven't had a kitchen in about a month and a half, so I haven't been able to make her breakfast. But when we do have the kitchen, I'll get up. The same time she gets up while she's getting ready, I'll make us both breakfast. We'll eat together. I'll take Max for a nice long thirty minute walk. And while I'm walking with him, I'm either just kinda, like, appreciating appreciating nature or listening to a podcast or something productive. You know? I try not to just be scrolling Instagram or or doing anything else, something mindful. And then usually when I get back from our walk, I'll sit down, journal, and then start getting ready for the day, getting dressed, head to the gym, and all that stuff.

Tom Rowland: And so that's that's cool. And you've been able to instill that habit, for how long?

Noah Ohlsen: It's been let me think. I know I started when I went up to Atlanta for, like, a a Games prep camp. So it's been maybe six months that I've been journaling with that structure. I'm actually excited. This is, like, a a little plug, I guess. Not intentional, but I was able to collaborate with Gains Box, which is like a subscription box thing. And they let me pick every single product that was going the going in the box for my month. And one of the things that we made together with, what's it called, MyFitJournal is my journal. So it has my logo on the front, and then you open it up, and every single page has those five sections. Gratitude is the biggest section. Currently, intention, affirmation, serve. And so in everybody's box, they're gonna get one of those journals, and they'll be able to try journaling for themselves in that way.

Tom Rowland: Man, I was gonna say that's your first product for your I mean, that that's a great product.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. It could be cool. I hope it works. I know there's so many journals out there, and maybe that structure doesn't work for everybody, but it worked really well for me, still does. So I'm excited for people to be able to try it.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. I think anything that you can pick up, like a habit like that, and and stick with is, I mean, that that the only reason you're sticking with it is because it's working.

60:43 · The Games Documentary: Reading the Journal Out Loud

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. If if you don't mind, I wanna show you a quick little clip. It's gonna be in the YouTube video that comes out pretty soon. We made a mini documentary for the Games, and my media guy, Julian, was with me all weekend at the Games. And, so I I wanna just fast forward to this part that I was watching last night. This is kinda like a rough cut of the part two of the piece, and he did a really good job. Like I said, I like sharing my journaling. And so throughout the documentary, when we were back at home after I was reflecting by reading my journal, and I just so happened to read my morning's journaling out loud to Julian and Joanne on the final day of the Games. And he did this really cool back and forth of me and I didn't know he was gonna do this, but me reading it at home and then cutting to me reading it to them the last day of the Games, I think it's right around here. Day in gratitude. Wow. Wow. Wow. This has thus far been such a beautiful and fulfilling weekend. There are three more events left, and I am currently in the lead by 15 points. Grateful for that. Super grateful that I had such a different mental experience this year. I actually enjoyed the weekend. Currently, starting the day off with swim in the My attention is still not focused on a placement. It's on performing smart, being me, and enjoying the whole thing. I know that I maintain a beat, but I will not put extra I can do it. I can with the Games. I am loved. I am smart. I am the fittest. I'm going to celebrate, think, and love my people at the end of the day no matter what. So, yeah, that was just like a little example of

Tom Rowland: That's awesome.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. And and and it really worked for me that weekend. Being able to do that every day kept me in a really good headspace, and I hadn't journaled on other years of the Games.

Tom Rowland: So it's cool. So your journaling has morphed into something that really works for you. And, like, some of the other coaching and books and other things about mental training did not work for you.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. Not necessarily.

Tom Rowland: So what would you say to people that are kinda bouncing back and forth? Like, how do how do you find what works for you?

Noah Ohlsen: We are sweating, by the way. I don't know if you are, but I'm in this office that doesn't have AC, and I'm dripping sweat. Just had to point that out. The things we do

Tom Rowland: for for

Noah Ohlsen: Worth it.

Tom Rowland: The people that wanna listen.

Noah Ohlsen: Is probably sweating down there too in his fur coat. We're getting close. But, yeah, you know, I would say that you gotta try stuff out. I wouldn't have known that that other stuff didn't work for me unless I tried it and found out that it didn't work. And it's thinks that it happened to fail me in this big competition at the CrossFit Games, but as is life, you know, it's like trial and error, and some stuff's gonna work and some stuff isn't. Maybe the journaling doesn't work for you, and maybe it's at a really important part of your life. And I'm sorry, but, maybe it does. And maybe it ends up having this really positive impact and puts you in a great place and changes your life. I don't know. But I think just trying stuff and the things that, like, feel good and and stick, you have to make the effort to continue them. So I'm talking about how much this journaling has helped me. And there are some days when I forget in the morning because something happens where I I'm not able to do it on my routine. And then, like, much later in the day, I'll look at the journal on the table and I'm like, ah, I forgot. And so I I do have to make the conscious effort. Like, it is it's difficult. You know? It's it's taking some time, some effort. Sometimes I there are mornings when I don't wanna sit down and write. It's tedious, but it's worth it. And so I'm gonna make the small sacrifice to make sure that I do that every day. So I think once you find something that does work, you have to put in a little bit of effort to keep it going.

64:58 · Life Mission and the Happy But Hungry Lion

Tom Rowland: Yeah. I love it. So do you have, an overall mission for your life right now?

Noah Ohlsen: You know, I don't think I have it absolutely tied down to, like, my life's work. I'm figuring it out slowly. You know, I I like I said earlier, I'm realizing that I really do enjoy being able to spread joy and have a positive impact on other people. I think a lot of people probably are on that mission. I don't know exactly what that will look like for me yet. I also love fitness, so maybe it's a combination of that. I love dogs. Maybe it's something I don't know. I haven't figured out what my gig is yet that's gonna last me forever. But right now, I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing, having fun, spreading joy, just being nice to everybody, and we'll see what comes of it.

Tom Rowland: So on your happy but hungry, t shirt, that's a lion? There is one shirt

Noah Ohlsen: that has that. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: Why why did you choose that?

Noah Ohlsen: I it is just an image that really resonated with me. I enjoyed it. I was actually walking to a movie with Joanne years ago, and there was a street artist painting on this canvas. And it was a beautiful picture of a lion just like this. And I got the guy's card. I wanted I'm I'm impulsive sometimes, and I wanted to buy the painting on the spot. It was, like, $500 or something. We're going to the movies. Joanne's like, no.

Tom Rowland: Where are

Noah Ohlsen: you gonna put that right now? You're not gonna bring it to the movies. I was like, but I want it so bad. And so I got the guy's card. His name is Davell, or it's Dave l. And we just kinda stayed connected. And when I started kinda wrapping my mind around the happy but hungry, phrase, I thought, alright. I probably need an image behind this. So Joanne actually the I don't have anything with it on me right now, but there is a little like script that kind of goes with it. It's happy written in like a happy font and then the hungry is in like a little bit more of a bold, aggressive font. Joanne actually sketched that for me on an iPad. She's a bit of an artist. And so we use that and the image to go with it. I was just thinking about it one day, and I remembered that guy. And I reached out to him, and he said, yeah. Sure. Just go through and pick out what image you want, or I can do one custom for you. Went through his page. I saw the lion. I was like, I love that. It's like reminds me of Max. Yeah. I love golden retrievers. I love lions. They're just big, powerful beasts. And I was like, that's it right there. It's just like a strong, prideful, like I don't know. I just liked it a lot. It's colorful and cool. So Right on. That was the first one.

67:32 · Pre-Competition Rituals: Smiling Through the Workout

Tom Rowland: Just a couple of last questions. When you get yourself, you're let's say you're at a competition or even a training. Other than gratitude, do you do anything else to kinda get yourself kinda grounded and ready to go? Like, it's it's getting ready to be go time. Do you do anything? Do you have any kind of rituals or anything that you do other than the the gratitude and the the things that we've already talked about?

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. Once I'm in the gym, I think that I can often if I'm nervous, which happens for sure still. For example, 20.5, the last workout. I don't know what it was. We had a very stressful morning. It just happened to coincide that the day I had to go do twenty point five, there was so much stuff going on with our house, the kitchen. They were, like, installing the countertops. There was a guy coming to fix this, and the general contractor was there. And Joanne had a paper that morning, and I was just, like, gonna explode with all the stuff going on. And I was like, you know what? I'm feeling so stressed, which is very abnormal for me. Maybe I don't wanna do the workout today because of that. But I got over to the gym because I I wanted to try to stick to the schedule and started kind of just interacting with people. And there was a family that was visiting. There were these two little girls, Ella and Emma, and they were so cute and so sweet. And I just started to get into this really good mood by interacting with them. And the girl was, like, petting Max. And, I just started feeling good. And I was like, alright, I'm ready. Like, I'm gonna go do the workout now. The the stress and anxiety had left me. And so that, I think, is a perfect reflection of the way that I perform well now that I'm thinking about it. Because oftentimes in the warm up area, I can start to feel those nerves and, like, get overwhelmed by them and think like, oh, man. I don't know. How am I gonna perform? What if just all these thoughts. The times that I can let go of those and just kinda have fun in the warm up area and, like, hang with my friends, be happy, warm up, like, recognize that I love what I'm doing. I tend to go out and perform way better. And that actually kinda first happened for me at a regional back in the day. I used to take the floor very overwhelmed and, like, almost with that angry personality that we were talking about before that my coach said he thought I kinda needed. And so when one little thing would go wrong, because I was already so worked up, it was like panic mode. I'd get a no rep on a wall blah, and I'd be like, oh my god. And there was one time I took the floor and it happened to lock eyes with Joanne in the crowd, and I smiled. And I was like, let me just try to smile this whole workout and see how that goes. And I looked around and I was like, yeah. This is really cool. I'm gonna smile. And that just kinda has been the way that it has worked best for me ever since. Just enjoying it.

72:24 · Happiness Is a Choice — But Not Always a Simple One

Tom Rowland: Happiness is a choice. Yeah. I mean, it it that we've come back and forth on that theme that that you live this way because you choose to live this way. Yeah. And anybody can choose to live that way.

Noah Ohlsen: I I do think so. And and I wanna speak on that very briefly because I think people listening may think that's unfair to say because I used to think it was that easy. I've like, when my parents were going through their situation, my mom had a really rough time with it. They both did, but I'd be talking to my mom, and she'd be so upset. And I I wanted to just be like, mom, you just have to wake up today and be like, I'm gonna change everything. I'm gonna be happy. Today is the day. And she needs a snap like that. And she's like, it's not that easy. I I can't do that. I wake up and I'm miserable, and I'm thinking about this and that. I'm in this house that I don't wanna be in. And and then when I started to get more wrapped up in their situation and overwhelmed by some of it, I would wake up and I would have days where it usually is really easy to make the choice, but I would I would just be like, I can't. I want to, but I can't. I'm just, like, really sad today. I'm bummed out. I don't feel good. And I'm trying to make this choice, but I can't. And then I started to realize, wow. You know? I think for everybody, it's not always super simple. You know? It's it's could be situational. You know? If you're in a a tough situation, it's really hard to be happy sometimes. I I think that there are things that you can do to get yourself out of this situation by making a choice, but it isn't always that simple to be fair to everyone.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. No. It's it's not that simple. But, you know, oftentimes, like, I when you're saying that, I'm immediately going to the to to the things that happen in the gym. Like, you walk into the gym and you can't even conceive of doing a muscle up. You can't even hang from the rings or you can't even do a pull up. Like, but there are these small progressions, and you do things day after day after day after day. And then we make things a little more difficult, and you're making these other choices, and you're you're choosing all of these things that that play a factor in one day, you're actually able to do that.

Noah Ohlsen: For sure.

Tom Rowland: And Actually, you get And and I think that can be the same way with with happiness. Like, there there are certainly people that are very fortunate and they're just, you know, their their eyebrows are furrowed, and they're just trying to do their job, and they're just trying to get through this today. And Right. And if they have this hard edge, they're gonna be able to do it better because that's the way they've been doing it for a long time.

Noah Ohlsen: Right.

Tom Rowland: And somebody like that might be able to just make the choice. Like, you know what? I'm going to be friendly. I'm going to be nice. I'm gonna smile. Just all the same things that you've said. But there are certainly other people that have to have that progression of today, I'm gonna try to be nice to someone. Today, I'm gonna try to do something, you know Yeah. Nice for someone because that I did this event, SEALFIT Kokoro, and that was one of the things that we learned there is that and he told us that immediately, he's like, when you're feeling at your worst, help somebody out. Look to your neighbor. Help them out. And, and that that was, like, okay. Everybody saw that. And it was, like life changing. Yeah. It was it was a it was a big deal. And then I also did GORUCK selection, which is a similar event, but it almost exactly the same in the things that you have to do and the length and the duration. But the big difference there was in GORUCK selection, you couldn't talk to anyone. Mhmm. They did not allow anything. So in SEALFIT, it was like a team kinda thing. And everyone you were you were punished if you didn't look to your neighbor and help. Like, that person's having a problem. Why are you not helping them? Right? Oh, okay.

Noah Ohlsen: You got

Tom Rowland: And then you start feeling better, and then you start, you know, doing, much better as a team, and everybody's feeling better. And when you help someone in your time of in your darkest time, you start to rise up.

Noah Ohlsen: Yep.

Tom Rowland: And I had a big problem in selection because there was none of that. You couldn't you would see somebody hurt next to you or you were hurting next to you, and nobody's helping. Nobody's helping.

Noah Ohlsen: Yeah. That's a

Tom Rowland: nice That time that I did, Kokoro, I I was able to do it with a whole bunch of elite athletes.

Noah Ohlsen: That's really cool.

Tom Rowland: Becca Voigt was there and Elisabeth Akinwale.

Noah Ohlsen: I always wanted to do that.

74:42 · Earning Your Trident Every Day

Tom Rowland: It was it well, it's it's a great thing to do. Yeah. And you would probably not get a lot of physical benefit out of it because you're so fit, but you would definitely get mental benefit. And and, there are just there are just so many lessons. Like, one of the lessons is that the Navy SEALs, they say you earn your Trident every day. And what they mean by that is that you have gone through BUDS and all this other training to earn this Trident. And just because you've earned that

Noah Ohlsen: It's not over.

Tom Rowland: It's not over. Yeah. Tomorrow, when there's no training, nobody telling you what to do, you have to earn that. What are you going to do to earn that? And I just remember staring at the ocean in the middle of the night. This big tough Navy SEAL comes up behind me, and he says, Rowland, what's your Trident? And I said, it's my wife and my family. And he said, what are you gonna do to earn that Trident every day? And I just I said, I'm gonna be the best man I can possibly be.

Noah Ohlsen: That's cool.

Tom Rowland: And, you know, that really stuck with me. That was, like, one of the things. Like, the things that you have created, this gratitude, this way of living for you, this, you know, being being one of the fittest men in the world, it's not over. Like, you have to earn that every day. And people will say, no. Ohlsen, he's the nicest guy I've ever met. Well, you what what do you do to earn that tomorrow? What do you do to earn that in ten years? You know?

Noah Ohlsen: That's cool. That reminds me a lot of what happy but hungry means to me. You know? Like, you're happy because you've achieved something or you've gotten to a certain place just like the Trident. Right? You might have gotten where you wanted to go, so you're happy about it. But you have to be hungry and continue to either maintain what you already have or to try to keep building for more.

76:29 · When the Hunger Fades: Knowing When to Keep Going

Tom Rowland: Do you think when that hunger goes away, it's time to move on?

Noah Ohlsen: I don't know because I think it comes and goes in waves. And so I almost had the experience this year in the middle of the season where I didn't feel the hunger and thought about moving on. And if I had, I wouldn't have gotten second at the Games, and I would have missed out on so much positivity and opportunity. And so I don't know. It's tough to say because if I would have called it there, I probably would have missed out on a lot of good stuff and would have regretted that. So I think if you're in a situation where you're, like, about ready to call it, maybe it's worth hanging on a little longer. And there are vice versa. Sometimes people have been hanging on for way too long, and it's time to move on. So I don't know.

Tom Rowland: I don't think there's anything to There is that. That's interesting. Alright. You got anything we wanna leave us with? Because we're gonna dive dehydration in here.

Noah Ohlsen: No, man. I'm I'm good. I think that was some great conversation. I hope everybody enjoys it.

Tom Rowland: Well, you know, I just wanna to honor you and, tell you how much I appreciate, you know, watching from this is the first time we've been able to meet. But, sometimes when you meet people that that you've watched from a distance, it can be a little bit disappointing. Yeah. And in your case, it is, far better than I than I had hoped.

Noah Ohlsen: Thank you so much.

Tom Rowland: One of the things like my son you gotta give my son, Hayden, a shout out. He's one of your biggest fans.

Noah Ohlsen: Oh, really cool.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. He, he's like, I like that guy, man. Nice. He's cool. And, I think, actually, before the Games, he sent you a message. You might have to if you probably got a zillion of them. But, yeah, he did that. But, he, oh, man. I lost my train of thought. But, anyway, you're very positive. Thank you. Yeah. I can see that from a distance. And then when you get around you in in your environment, which is great that we were able to come and do this here, it it it was better than I than I had hoped. So you got a you've got an awesome you you've got an awesome thing. This life suits you, and you're doing awesome. I wish you the very best of luck, and hope you take it home this year.

Noah Ohlsen: Thank you so much. Same to you, buddy. Alright. See you.