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All right, guys, welcome back chasing excellence.
I am, uh, filling in for Patrick comp train episode of the month.
So training specific.
We had some great feedback from a bunch of folks on having a more training biased conversation on the platform.
So plan is to do this at least once a month.
And so I'm here with Ben.
And instead of Patrick, you got me and we are with Emily or Ivy, Nile or the pit bull, WWE superstar, many names.
And so obviously you just shared a little bit, just kind of, about framing up this conversation today.
But I would love to just start with an opening on a little bit about you.
It doesn't have to be a crazy deep dive kind of autobiography, but just a little bit about who you are.
And then very particularly set us up for success in this conversation by walking us through the lifestyle of somebody in the WWE who has the career that you have.
Walk us through a week.
It doesn't have to be in crazy detail.
We don't have to know the very first thing you do when you wake up in the morning, every single morning.
But just kind of day to day, what does your travel schedule look like?
What is the lifestyle of somebody in the WWE look like?
So we travel every week, different country, different city.
We travel abroad.
I was just in Saudi Arabia the other week, just in Australia a couple weeks ago.
So we are worldwide.
And so I travel every Sunday.
I leave every Sunday.
It's a big travel day.
And then TV all day Monday, come home Tuesday.
And that's every single week.
And sometimes it's more.
Sometimes...
It's longer.
Sometimes I leave before Sunday, but week to week, that's usually what it is.
And so my mentality going into the week.
Sundays are usually everyone's kind of universal rest day to where it's my pre-travel taking care of myself before flight, because you never know what's going to happen on a travel day where it's delays or it's canceled or you're there at the airport for hours.
Blah blah, blah.
So usually on a Sunday, I do treat it kind of as a rest day, but also active recovery day.
So I'm going in the sauna, I'm going in the cold plunge, I'm stretching, I'm doing all these things before flight.
And then on the flight day.
Hopefully that goes well.
Get into the hotel.
Go to bed early, because TV days on Monday are extremely long.
We're there for, gosh, 10, 12 hours on Monday.
And whether I wrestle or not, that's pretty consistent.
Where I wrestle, pretty consistent on a lot of Mondays, to where I first thing Monday morning, Regardless of how well or how not well I slept on Sunday, the best thing that I found out is the more that I slept in and the more that I think I needed it.
I always find time to find a gym Monday morning, no matter where I am.
And that's really cool too, because I will find...
The coolest gyms in every city that I go to.
A lot of CrossFit gyms.
I'll find a lot of cool gyms around the area.
That's one of my favorite things to do is to just find the go-to place for a gym.
And I found some really, really amazing places along the way.
And I've always found that sets me up for success for the entire day.
It depends if I have a big match like I did this previous Monday.
You know I won't go as hard, but I feel like moving and conditioning and waking up my body and triggering muscles like it just doesn't seem like it would be easy, unbeneficial.
So I definitely prioritize that.
And that helps me tremendously because like, if you're just kind of taking it easy the rest of the morning and I just feel like your body's not, you're not locked in.
So for me, that's a huge priority of mine.
Yeah.
And then I get to TV and then we're there literally all day.
And Monday nights are pretty brutal.
You know, we're, we're up late.
We usually have flights first thing out on the morning on Tuesday mornings.
And, you know, we get home anywhere between like kind of mid morning afternoon.
And I don't know like if it's the best thing to do.
I'm kind of back and forth on free travel, health benefits.
I'm not really sure.
I know there's a lot of things about working out post-flight and all this stuff, but I always find it for me.
I'm on a plane sitting for hours.
I think the best thing to do is to move.
If I come home and I lay down, I'm never getting back up.
If I come home and like even sit anywhere, it's over.
So usually what like, I'm not just saying this, you can ask everyone here.
Like I work out immediately as soon as I get home.
You know, I'll have breakfast or I'll have something and then I do the programming of the day.
I do like it.
That's just how I move.
And it's honestly, too, it's it's a Tuesday.
It's not like.
It's like yes, I'm traveling and I'm big day Monday, but I feel like for me, that's what keeps me different from the rest.
I'm not going to waste a day just recovering.
I can do that later.
So I'll do, I'll come home and kind of treat it as a normal day, do the programming.
And then the second half of the day is my recovery.
I'll do the sauna cold plunge and the, our compression boots and stuff like that.
And then throughout the rest of the week, it's consistent programming.
And there's really, there's really nothing that will kind of take me off that unless it's a huge week for WWE.
Like we're in Saudi Arabia.
That was, you know, that's a whole nother situation, but I still find time.
Like there's a lot of girls that I've kind of hopped on the bandwagon with me.
You know, like they always know, I'm the one that finds the gym, the ones that gets up every morning, the one that's always like consistent, like no matter what I'm going to be there, no matter how I feel.
It's just, that's the discipline.
And so when I'm home Wednesday through Saturday, I am doing the programming for Comp Train.
I am going to practice my craft in the ring very consistently.
I am doing recovery.
I am being the athlete that WWE wants me to be.
And that is, I take great pride in that because I think people can see it And that is who I am.
And it's not something that I fake.
It's not something that I cut corners on.
I take it very seriously because this is the discipline and everything that I've done has brought me this far.
And I know that it works.
And that's basically my week today. a few things like life gets in the way.
Of course I'm exhausted all the time.
I can't make sentences by 9 PM.
Like I'm, I'm a zombie, but it feels amazing that I'm putting in the work.
I have no regrets.
I'm never going to regret that.
Like maybe I didn't put in the work that much, or maybe I wasn't this or that.
Like, I will never have a problem sleeping because I know I did everything that I could have done.
And that's how I sleep so well, because I know a thousand percent that I give it my all every single day.
There's not a day that goes by that I don't work on myself.
And it's always going to be positive, like working on yourself, either it's working out, taking time for recovery.
If it's learning a new craft, if you don't do wrestling, if you're in another sport or whatever it is.
As long as you're working on yourself, there's always going to be a positive outcome.
So, like I said, life gets in the way, but with travel and stuff, it's just.
That's just what I'm used to and it's go go, go.
And I love it.
And, like I said I'm, I am absolutely worn out all the time, but I wouldn't have it any other way because that is just who I am.
And I love it.
So it's such a inspiring level of discipline.
Honestly, it was so easy to uh.
It's not even giving yourself an out because it's not the expectation, right?
You get home from a competitive athletic event.
The norm is to back off and recover.
But this idea of your commitment to yourself, commitment to the best version, you said, it's what got you here.
You can lay on your bed at night really comfortably. kind of happy with who you are.
I came across this recently, which is we tend to look at our future selves.
The relationship we have with our future self is that of a stranger.
We don't relate to our future selves.
Do you feel like that is something it sounds to me and that's something that you very much don't fall into the trap of that you're constantly looking like I want to make my future self proud.
I don't want to give myself an out.
I don't want to give myself an ounce of regret.
I want to be able to look back on this thing, whether it's today or this week or my career, and know that I did everything possible.
When you think of your future self, what is that relationship like?
Very insightful.
Wow.
That's really cool because I think off the top of my head.
That's always what I'm striving towards is when I look back and see what all I've done.
Like I said, it's kind of like having no regrets.
It's looking back and being like.
You know, I gave it a thousand percent and I'm still.
I'll be 34 this month.
I am probably in the best shape and the best mindset and I am loving who I am.
I am still growing and like it's, I'm so happy with the person that I'm becoming.
And it's like I don't feel a stranger to my future self, because I know like I love the track that I'm on and who I'm becoming.
And I feel like that's very reassuring because I think a lot of people worry about the future and they worry about what's next.
And for me, my track record is...
And gosh, like 10 years ago, when I was on this journey of I was like I'm really good at this fitness stuff.
I don't know what's going to happen.
You know, I don't know.
Like, I'm really good at like building muscle and I'm really good like at being an athlete.
And this was before like anything happened in my career.
So yeah.
I was, you know, I was just like head down.
I had no plan.
I had no goals.
I didn't know what was out there.
I was from a small town in Tennessee.
Kind of hard to see what all is out there.
But I knew...
I didn't want to close off any ideas.
I love people that have that one idea that they always dream about, but that also kind of closes doors to where you don't know what's out there.
So I feel like I just knew that something was better for me out there.
And then I feel like whenever that was 10, 15 years ago I'm becoming that person that I was thinking of what I was back then.
And that's pretty cool because gosh, if you would ask me 10, 15 years ago in Tennessee, you know I was just training aimlessly, had no idea what was in the future.
That was before I did Titan Games.
That was before I did MMA.
That's before I joined WWE.
And like it just on and on and on.
And I had no idea.
But all the training that I did, all the training that I've done, just like it all aligned into who I am now.
And of course, I'm never going to stop.
I'm more motivated now than ever.
You know, there's so many more things that are opening up and wrestling.
And it's such an amazing life that I kind of feel like I got off track a little bit with that question.
But I love the answer to that question.
So I think we have two different kind of cohorts of listeners on this in particular.
I think everybody very likely.
If you're listening to Chasing Excellence, you are a kind of a hard charger, high achiever, a striver, if you will.
And that always has to get balanced against well balance and a sense of contentment, not complacency.
And so I think of those kind of two groups, Of that group, I do think we have two cohorts that are maybe listening to this in particular, and it's people who don't know of you because they're not in kind, of the WWE space and they don't have awareness of that.
And so I think that was helpful in terms of like laying the groundwork in the context, for why is it so impressive that you've accomplished what you've accomplished in spite of a lot of those obstacles?
I think the other cohort is maybe people who are listening to Chasing Excellence the first time, because you are on it.
Yeah.
And they only know Emily as Ivy Nile, or they only know Emily as the pit bull.
And so, as we're kind of working our way into what I really think people can walk away from this conversation with today, I'd be interested if you'll speak a little bit to the other side of that, of the kid growing up in a small town in East Tennessee.
If people only knew you as the pit bull, if people only know you as Ivy Nile, what is it you would want them to know differently, or to know more of, kind of outside of that character, that persona.
Yeah.
So like I said, I was actually born in Florida, but I was raised up in Tennessee for the most part.
For 20 years I was in a little bit of Johnson City Tennessee, and then I was in Knoxville for a very, very long part of my life and have a sister and two brothers and an awesome mom and dad.
And we were homeschooled all the way.
All four of us were homeschooled.
I was the most quiet little thing you'll ever meet.
I was so, so shy.
I was not good at communicating or talking.
It was just... I was just...
In a small town, there's not much.
And like we were homeschooled.
So it's, you know, there wasn't much to me.
So I did martial arts ever since I was about five years old.
And since I've been doing it forever.
And then when I reached high school, I really wanted to be like, I'm short.
I'm 5'2".
I kept getting my head knocked off by these girls who are bigger than me.
And I was sick of it.
And I was like, how do I get in shape?
How do I beat up these girls?
I'm sick of it.
And I'm done.
I was losing everything.
I was like, I'm just over it.
So that's when I really started to lock in.
And I was basically that was the trigger for me.
I kept getting hit in the head and I was sick of it.
So I was the first of all, I just want to get in shape so I can stop getting hit in the head.
And you know, before you know it, I started getting really competitive in martial arts, as far as that took me.
And then I wanted to learn self-defense as a woman.
It's extremely important to be, to get comfortable in the uncomfortable is what we like to say in jujitsu, because you're rolling your mom with men on the floor.
It's really uncomfortable and But I think most of the demographic of if something happens is men are going to attack.
That's just plain and simple.
That's self-defense 101.
That's what I'm going to deal with.
So I wanted to get uncomfortable and uncomfortable.
And I wanted to learn how to take care of myself.
And I think that is extremely important for every woman, of all shapes and sizes, all ages.
Firm believer in that.
We can get into that too, but got into jujitsu, got into boxing, basically got everything I can get my hands on in martial arts, because shortly after that I wanted to get into MMA.
So as soon as I got into MMA, I did a fight and I lost my first fight, but I went to a decision.
It was a really good learning experience.
And as I was about to train for my second one, I started to venture out into other things.
I literally auditioned, put in a basically just a not audition, but I filled out this form to be on Dwayne Johnson's show, the Titan Games.
Small girl from Tennessee tried out for the Titan Games.
Like, I just put in videos I had on my phone as a tryout or whatever.
And next thing you know, I was going to California.
I was like a Beverly Hillbilly going to California.
Never been there before.
And I... Next thing you know, I was on this NBC show.
Like...
It's all like the first thing I did was take a step.
You know a lot of people where I'm from in Tennessee.
When I go back and visit in the same spot I left.
15 years ago or however long it was ago.
And people just don't take that step.
And it's scary.
And you never know what's going to happen.
But because I was sick of getting hit in the head, because I was sick of being out of shape.
I wanted to dabble into every single martial art there was.
It's all steps that I took to get better.
And I really feel like once you just take that step, all these doors start opening.
Because as soon as I got on the Titan Games, WWE opened their door for me.
It's just one thing after another.
And I do feel like looking back at it, if I didn't even take that step to just get better at one thing.
And then that leads to the next thing, at least the next thing and the next thing.
And I firmly believe that because that's how I got to WWE.
That's how I that's how I'm going to get to the next level in this industry, which I'm super excited for.
And you know, it's just.
It teaches you so many life lessons along the way that will help you with when life hits you hard.
Kind of how to handle it.
Of course, you have your people to help you along the way.
But like all these disciplines that you learn over the years, I really feel like the fitness world just goes hand in hand with life decisions.
I think I was listening to, I think it was Joe Rogan.
I can't remember who said this, but they're like, the harder that you put yourself in the gym makes life easier because, like
At least I don't have to do like this morning.
I did the programming this morning.
Like, I don't think anything's going to be worse than those 50 deadlifts that I did this morning.
You know, like that's like the rest of the day is so easy.
That's today's comp training program.
You already did it.
Yeah.
I already did it this morning.
I had to get up early.
Oh my gosh.
It ruined me.
But I know, I think I just sat there afterwards and just stared at the wall for a minute, but um, But yeah, I think, if anything, I think a lot of people see me, as you know.
People think I was born with a six pack or born with all this stuff.
And I definitely was not.
I was about 15 when I first started to learn how to lift and learn how to take care of myself.
And you just become obsessed with the journey.
And I think people just kind of go through phases of... taking care of themselves.
And it's not a phase.
This is a beautiful journey if you let it be that for you.
And I feel like I work with a lot of people that kind of go through phases.
A phase is driving me nuts because as long as you find out what works for you, fall in love with it and just realize how much you're capable of.
My sister has taught me a lot of lessons about you can do so much more than you think like.
We are such resilient creatures, like we can, we are capable of so so much and you know, once you can really lock into that person, you can do anything.
And I feel like I learned that at a very young age and like On Monday I was just wrestling in front of how many people
It's insane.
And I'm so proud of myself.
I can say that because I've come from literally nothing.
And I've worked so hard to be in this position that I am now.
And I feel like people just kind of assume something about me or they just assume this or that.
And not saying that I'm...
Anybody can learn how to do this.
It's just deciding to do it.
It's deciding to take those steps.
It's deciding to make those steps every day because you can't like.
There's days like I'm tired today, but that's just a day.
Shake it off.
Some people will kind of just get in a rut or they just don't want to be better.
And life is hard.
I know that.
It's just I don't want people to think that I'm just a meathead or, you know, I just grew up.
I learned how to do this.
And it's kind of hard to...
I want to be relatable too.
I don't want to feel like people can't achieve what I'm doing.
If you would have met me back when I was 15 years old, I started off like this, like anyone else.
It's just, I decided every single day to be better.
And that's literally every day.
If you're taking one step to be better than you were the day before, I think that's something very valuable.
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I wanted to Ben up to get into like training specific things.
And I think to do that one of the things we talk about and Ben, you and I have been talking about at length and you and Patrick have been talking about and we've been putting out on chasing excellence in particular, is this idea of drift.
And I really look at a lot of Emily's success as just like anti-drift, honestly.
And the extensive success that compounds whenever you just as you said, Emily choose to just like, do a thing that is different than what would be comfortable or seen as normal or the status quo.
That kind of stuff compounds so significantly.
And so I have other questions that aren't about training that maybe we can get to at the end.
But I would be interested to hear Ben's thoughts or questions of how to distill.
Like you said, you don't want to be somebody that is seen as unattainable or not relatable.
And you can't avoid that in its entirety because you're a very impressive person.
And so...
But what I do think is possible is for people to apply the same principles that have gotten you where you are.
I think that's what's relatable.
So just interested in what's in your head Ben, whenever you kind of like hear that framework of like Emily is a powerful example of like somebody who just hasn't drifted through life.
And so where could we take that in terms of helping listeners apply that kind of same principle?
So when we say drift, what that means is essentially just kind of like taking your foot off of the gas pedal and kind of like just aimlessly doing life.
And life, society has a current.
And that current, in most cases, will pull us to a place that we don't necessarily want to be.
Whether that's I'm chasing someone else's definition of success or I kind of lose my my focus and my discipline.
I was a high school athlete.
I haven't really been very intentional with my health.
And I end up amongst everyone else who ends up with a chronic disease.
What I found really interesting with what Emily just laid out for us was almost in back-to-back sentences you said like I'm obsessed.
And then you followed up with like, and it's such a beautiful journey.
Those two things.
So obsessed would be the antithesis of drifting. right?
Like you are swimming so hard against the current.
Most people would see that as the opposite of a beautiful journey.
They would see it as constant struggle.
The beautiful journey for most people is you're on the inner tube floating down the lazy river.
That seems to what most people would say is like, that's beautiful.
I get to like sip on the drink and look at the scenery and talk to my friends and we're floating down a lazy river.
It's so beautiful.
Sounds boring.
Yeah, right.
That's what I'd love for you to kind of like Yeah, why is that boring?
And you kept on saying like I learned how to lock in and locking in was taking one step, one step better, every day.
Again, that's to most people, not what the goal would be.
The goal is to just like enjoy, have pleasure, like Netflix, like have some good tasting food.
How is that drifting away?
Boring and miserable, while this disciplined life, the obsessed life, is the beautiful journey.
Well, I would say it's not the, like, I don't know.
I really have a hard time finding, like you said, like the analogy of floating down a lazy river.
It's not, I feel like I haven't earned that yet.
And that time will come.
And it sounds ridiculous.
And I feel like I am uptight 90 of the time because I have to get certain things done in order for me to feel like I achieved such and such.
And I feel like those times, I don't know.
I just feel like this constant feeling of earning something.
And I don't know.
Like I said, it's obsessing with the journey.
And I'm not saying you can't enjoy those things because I do to an extent.
But for me...
I get my pure joy, actual joy from grinding it out.
And I cannot, it's just not the way I'm wired.
It's not the way I'm programmed.
It's not the way that there's nothing wrong with it.
Some people really do enjoy that and they do find joy in it.
And for me, it's just, that makes me like kind of freak out, like just thinking about it.
Maybe I am a little bit too uptight.
Maybe I am too wired.
Maybe I am too obsessive.
Whatever that is, I don't think I am.
I think because of the way that I am is how I got here.
And I feel like some people are a little bit too complacent, a little bit too comfortable to where.
I just feel like I'm not there yet.
Yeah, that's so interesting.
And it's fun to have this conversation because obviously you and I have had the opportunity to connect and have some conversations on some of these things.
And it's interesting to hear you just kind of flush your thoughts out to that question, because that is such a human place to be.
Is I'm trying to figure it out, man?
And so I think it's helpful to hear that you're trying to figure that out and i wonder some language on this exact thing from arthur brooks has been very helpful for me and he from just kind of behavioral psychology and behavior change and and lots and lots of of studies and research and expertise that i do not have but i do love to read.
It is he has broken down this idea of like happiness into macronutrients And what's interesting is he talks about pleasure is not what we were actually looking for, but it's enjoyment.
And enjoyment requires the ingredients of other people being a part of it and it becoming like a memorable experience.
He's like, so pleasure is essentially the breeding ground for addiction.
And pleasure is often absent other people.
And it's also absent of something that you're creating memory for.
And so he talks about slamming back a six-pack by yourself in a recliner at 10 p.m.
He's like, that is pleasure.
That does not involve other people.
And it does not create some memory that you're proud to recall.
He's like, so you're not actually creating enjoyment.
You are creating almost like this escapism of pleasure.
And that's just so interesting for me to think about.
But then the other ingredient, one of the other macronutrients of happiness that he talks about, is satisfaction.
And satisfaction from like a psychological and a neural perspective, like from a measured perspective.
Satisfaction literally only comes from after you do something difficult.
And so, like you live such a life of satisfaction rather than a life of just pleasure, because pleasure is like fleeting and typically leaves you worse off in the end, because it doesn't involve people and it doesn't involve these like creating these memorable experiences.
And then it's also not like the satisfaction you accomplish as you see the sunrise at the top of the mountain.
Like You only get to enjoy the sunrise at the top of the mountain because you've chosen to endure the climb of the mountain.
Right.
And so, yeah, it's really interesting to hear you kind of flesh that stuff out.
And I'm curious how in interviews like with the Creed brothers, with other WWE folks, I've like listened to some of those.
They refer to you as like the one that keeps people on track, like whenever you're, whenever you guys are on the road, and such
And I mean, I think it's like some of it's a joke and some of it is like truly like a call out of what sounds like gratitude, even to an extent of like Ivy.
She keeps us from going off the rails.
And almost like playing the mom role.
Mom's here, behave yourself.
Yeah, basically.
So to Ben.
So all of that kind of coming back to Ben's question how have you found a way to play that role is very anti-status quo, is very anti-drift.
You know what you want is satisfaction.
You know what you want is the kind of feel good that comes on the other side of discipline.
You know you want the kind of enjoyment that exists because it's being surrounded by other people and creating these memorable moments that fuel the rest of your life.
You know that.
Cool.
How have you found a way to be that person in function without it being like You're just annoying.
Like how are you doing that in a way that's compelling to other people, that doesn't look just like repulsive and like you're just like the stick in the mud and you're boring and you're whatever.
Because I know that you have to get those comments like from some people.
Yeah, I think, let's say, it was maybe, gosh, it was many, many years ago.
I did not like who I was.
I kind of had an ego at the time.
I was doing Titan Games.
I feel like I'm better than this town.
I'm better than all y'all.
I'm sick of better than everyone.
I did not like that version of myself.
And I felt very ashamed because that's a ridiculous way to look at it.
I did not like the feeling of people looked at me as if, like I was like all right, so you can work out.
So what?
I just felt like it wasn't my purpose.
So I started to.
Even today, there's a lot of girls that find it intimidating to come work out with me, or they find it intimidating to even just go to the gym with me on the road or whatever.
And my goal is to never unmotivate.
It's to motivate.
And, you know, I never want anyone to think that what I do, like I said, it's not relatable.
Like I.
I want to show everyone that it is possible.
It's possible to stay motivated.
It's possible to to show up even if you don't feel like it.
And you know I never want to make anyone feel that what I did before, because that was a terrible feeling.
And I just want to also show people building these habits and building what I've learned over the years like it works.
It's not a gimmick.
It's not something that's it just it works if you let it.
And I just want to show people like I love eating good.
I'm telling you like it's annoying.
The girls really find this annoying.
Like I don't eat crap.
I don't.
Like I'm not tempted by a cookie that's sitting and catering all day.
And they'll just eat it because it's there.
It's like...
I don't want it.
It's gonna make me feel like crap.
I'm gonna perform like crap, like it's just, it's not worth it to me and you know, it's just those.
And then, if they're in the back and they're eating it, they look at me and they're like I'm sorry, I was like what I was like I didn't even say anything.
I swear to you like guys girls, they all do it, they all like, as soon as they're eating something they're not supposed to, they just look at me and they're just they freeze.
I'm like I'm Just because I'm not doing it.
That is the actual standard that I have now.
It's kind of funny, but also I don't want people to think I'm judging them.
Emily, in terms of the habits and stuff you said.
The habits are the kind of things that have gotten you to where you are eating good, obviously training.
What are some other things that you've mentioned?
Sauna, ice baths, getting up early, the routine of train right when I get home.
What are some other habits that, when you think of the habits that you've instilled into yourself, that you feel like have been super productive, what comes to mind?
Yeah.
So You named a lot of them.
What else?
Really just getting the work done, no matter what, even if you're just doing it for quality, if you're just doing it just to move.
Our bodies are meant to move.
We're not meant to lay horizontal all day.
That's not what we're meant for.
And I always 1,000% feel better after.
There's never a time where I feel worse.
I always feel better.
And of course, I am the worst on rest days.
I really need to take those more seriously.
But that would be my biggest... no, no is rest days or that's I'm, I'm bad on that.
But some of the other things I do consistently is Ari and I are are very much on the same page of.
You know he's my biggest supporter when it comes down to this.
Like he knows, I need to get the work done, no matter what.
And that's consistent every day.
And gosh, like if you follow me around, like it's a very exhausting day.
Boring.
That's your definition of boring.
I find it very exciting.
That's my life and I love it.
But other than that, it's simple.
Like, I don't want to complicate it.
I don't want to get, there's something like, I also too am very kind to myself.
I'm not, I don't want to be harsh to myself or like punish myself.
I understand I'm on the road a lot.
I wrestle, I'm beat up sometimes, like I'm bruised up, I'm beat up.
And I just know like to be kind to myself and understand where I'm at in life, what I'm going through.
Lack of sleep, that's a huge one.
And just being in the moment of knowing what.
I just went through understanding that and then just kind of feeling everything.
Like, we're human.
We're going to feel certain things.
But I feel like we have to really understand and, like, give ourselves kindness, but also not too much to where we're like, I'll do nothing today.
Not like that.
It's just, I'm going to do this and this today.
But, like, no more.
So it's definitely a balance.
I think it's so... such an underrated aspect of discipline is being kind to yourself.
And this idea that, you know, it's not zeros and ones, it's not all or nothing.
And what you're essentially saying is understanding that it's okay to have some grace and that I am beat up and I just came off the travel.
But the other thing you're so, so dang good at from this conversation is I know I'm going to feel better afterwards.
So yes, it's going to be hard, but I also don't need to go and try to kill myself to try to get a top score on the leaderboard.
It's not about that.
It's about we're built to move.
This is part of my identity.
I know that I'm going to feel better afterwards.
And it sounds like you have some sort of like, which I love, is these non-negotiables, right?
Which is, I'm not going to eat the cookie and I am going to move.
But The movement has a lot of, I'm going to be kind to myself.
And if I'm not feeling like I'm ready to rock and roll and throw down because I got really smashed from my, what do we call it?
An event?
What do we call it?
Match.
Match.
Because I got smashed from my match last night, I'm just going to go and move.
I've been working with this sort of like framework with a buddy of mine who's been on the show Dr Rich about sort of like the evolution of discipline.
And in the beginning, discipline is I'm going to do it no matter what, right?
It's like that's like I'm going to – but what you end up becoming is sort of a slave to the process.
And that can work against you on a lot of different levels because we are humans.
We're not doing this thing in a vacuum.
And there's different outside forces working on us.
If we always say, I'm going to do this no matter what – that always is the most productive thing to do.
Your level of these kind of standards.
I say no to the cookie I move, but having the grace and the kindness yourself as we navigate those is really.
I hope that people can pick that up because it's phenomenal.
Meaning like, we're going to go to the gym.
Just go to the gym.
You don't need to Make it bigger than that.
You don't need to make it bigger.
And that's what I think people end up doing is like, if I can't do everything at the gym, George St.
Pierre, coach used to talk about this a lot.
He's like, we'd have, our thing is we have to go to the gym and we have to warm up.
That's our standard.
We do that.
Then from there, we can start to make decisions.
And there's no 10, like, but all we need to do is make sure we get our ones.
It's that saying that a 1K run has more in common with a 10K run than a 0K run.
I know I'm going to do this thing.
To what level, what degree, what intensity?
I'm going to have a lot of grace and a lot of flexibility with that.
So maybe coming back to it after you have discipline which is at all costs, no matter what, what ends up being the higher level of discipline is with extreme flexibility.
And that extreme flexibility actually serves people really, really well.
So I think it's really cool that you've found that good balance.
And that's what always one step forward is.
It's not what people think, which is 1% fitter every day.
It's that dedication to the process and stacked on top of each other.
That's how we end up where we want to be.
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That makes the little moments count.
I love that we're kind of having the opportunity to speak a little bit on behalf of our experience of Emily, of like how we have interacted with you, which I think says a lot about Not I think.
I know that it says a lot about you.
I, prior to relationship with you and Ari, hadn't really been in like the WWE space.
And so there's so much about your world I didn't know.
So when we met and first connected, the majority of our really interactions and relationships were I was with Emily.
It wasn't with Ivy Nile.
It wasn't with the Pitbull.
It wasn't with your kind of resume.
And...
That says so much about how you have carried yourself through the process.
Like you're just a person.
You're a person who has achieved extraordinarily unique things and impressive things.
I think, because of what Ben is saying, you have structured non-negotiables with extreme amounts of flexibility.
And everything above zero compounds, and you've just compounded and compounded, and compounded, and compounded.
But the thing that I respect the most is like I didn't know that you were a WWE star when we were hanging out.
Like you were just Emily.
Yeah.
And it's like, that's so, there's so much value in that.
So maybe as a as a landing place for the final bit of this conversation, in particular, you have had our long standing relationship with comp trains in terms of it being your training platform.
You've had a longstanding relationship with Ben as coach, kind of as like mentor, virtual sensei.
You've gotten to spend some time with him up in New England as well.
So I want to spin this a little bit at the finish.
So I want to set Ben up for success by giving him a second.
But Ben, I wonder as you are listening to Emily share here, put your coach...
I'm Emily's coach hat back on.
And what would you say to her regarding her kind of continual development?
What, from your perspective, looking at her process as an athlete, looking at her process as a person holistically, what would you say to her as a coach?
To just continue to evolve, to continue to elevate her process.
So we'll end the episode there.
Emily, as Ben's thinking about that, I'm interested just to hear from you what, like let's just get really, really athlete specific.
What about comp train in particular, has like been compelling to you for you to have stuck with it for so long?
And then, how does it transfer to like athlete performance, like what is happening in matches?
Like why does the training transfer to what you're doing in the ring?
I'm watching you do this stuff And like I mean, I've never turned wrestling on before our relationship, but now I'm like very intrigued.
Crazy, right?
And I'm like, what did they just do?
Like the mechanics involved in what just happened there is wild.
I know, I think there was one time you messaged me and you go, I don't know what you just did.
And like, I'm still, I'm rewatching it.
I still don't know what you did.
I'm like, I don't understand how that person was in that position.
And then you both ended up in this position that you're now in.
So yeah, I'm interested.
What about CompTrain has been so effective for you?
And then how does that transfer to performance?
What are the most important things?
Strength, your engine, durability, skill.
And I'm so interested and intrigued at how it's not normal for your industry.
And it has to be what makes you a bit of an outlier in terms of your performance as well.
I'm an outlier.
Yeah, for sure.
So yeah, nerd out on that.
There's no way that you can mimic...
The wrestling ring, because if you're training in one sport like, it's better to just train that one sport.
But for me, the ring is extremely unforgiving.
Sometimes it is tough on the body.
You are lifting people up.
You're getting slammed.
You're getting kicked.
You're getting all these things, which martial arts set me up for that.
But with CompTrain my favorite workouts are between 10 and 15 minutes, kind of like today, where there's up, there's down, there's jumping, there's lifting, just like the ring.
I am getting kicked on the ground.
I'm getting slammed on the ground.
I have to get up for the, like, I'm lifting people up.
And the moment that I so, let's say, I'm in zone four, zone five, I'm freaking out and I have to pick someone up.
I have to slam someone and I am exhausted.
I'm blown up.
Worse fear.
We all hate it.
Every time we're in there, if we're blown up, it's one of the scariest things that you can feel, because you just know you feel weak.
You're not, but you feel weak.
If you can't pick someone up, it's one of the scariest things ever because both of your lives are in each other's hands and you can't.
That is something that i just refuse.
Like, of course, it still happens, like this this past monday, like i wear my whoop out there, like i got to zone four like, trust me, i did, but in comp train i was just talking to ari about this the other day learning how to breathe through zone four is zone five.
Even learning how to breathe and learning how to handle your heart rate at that kind of level is all I think.
But people in this industry need because zone two whatever,
Zone four and zone five.
When I'm doing these workouts, where my heart rate is that high, learning how to breathe, learning how to control, learning how to stay calm in those zones is extremely important.
And it's the closest thing I found to ring to the ring.
It's the bar none, the closest thing I could ever find.
That's why I've never strayed away from it.
And, of course, the biggest pet peeve I have is like people who just get, don't get out of zone one, zone two, and then they go to the ring and they blow up.
And like, that's, we have to challenge our lungs.
We have to, because every time we're out there, that's what we're doing.
We're running around, we're jumping, we're like it's a very, very serious thing to do is to take care of yourself and stay conditioned, and that's why, when I stay disciplined and do this, it's not just because I do it for aesthetics.
I do it because I need to challenge my lungs, I need to push myself because I'm not about to be the person that the most jacked one out there gets blown up.
Are you kidding me?
That's never going to happen.
Of course, I'll be nervous, especially with nerves.
Your heart rate's going to spike.
I try to do some breathing exercises before to make me more calm, but that's the biggest thing I found.
Calm train is the closest thing I can find that has similar movements.
Burpee.
We do like a lot of those kind of stuff in the ring, you know, learning how to clean properly, learning how to deadlift properly, using your legs properly.
If i pick someone up with my low back, you know like it's.
It's just the everything like.
I guess i am telling you there's nothing that is close enough to what we do in the ring than the programming that comp train has.
That's why I've never I was like I don't want to do anything else
Like I, it does, it works.
Like why would you move on to something that works?
You know, I just, yeah, that in a nutshell.
And I've had girls that have come and tried it and they, and they love it.
And we start from, if they can't do a certain weight, that's okay.
We start to build and, and they say the same exact thing.
There's like, this is the closest thing we can get.
Like if it's a 10 minute workout where in our match, we have a 10 minute match.
It's pretty equivalent.
So that's why I tell them to come over here.
It's challenge ourselves and like, learn how to breathe through it, get through it and, of course, when you travel and all this stuff, like you, it's all very challenging, but I I find that it's the closest thing.
Yeah, it's so good it's.
I love that because what it does is it pulls back the curtain or pops the hood on the real value of fitness and we've talked a lot about like the new definition of fitness or the new era of fitness should really just be synonymous with capability for most people's understanding.
And it's interesting to hear you talk about like in your industry, there's the need to be like, physically dominant in aesthetic, or to look physically capable, or to look physically dominant.
But when you actually put yourself in the position where your body and the systems inside of your body have to perform at a dominant level, you can't hide that.
It really is possible to look a way that you don't have the actual ability to match it.
And so the way that you're training plugs those holes and fills those gaps.
And obviously you are known.
It's interesting just listening to other people talk about the fact that you're the one that trains a lot because you're jacked.
It's like, yeah, but she also has capacity, capability.
It's not just aesthetic and it's not just the physical prowess of the way that you look, but also the way you perform.
So it's cool.
It's cool to know that you're you're working with friends who are seeing that same thing of like all right, looking impressive for the camera.
Part of the job necessary.
Being an athlete is a very different thing.
And so like training, actually training like an athlete it's cool to see that that is transferring for you in a real life arena, for sure.
Cool.
Last question for Emily and then Ben, take it away.
What would you say to somebody?
Because you are a very extreme example of discipline.
You are a very extreme example of performance.
And frankly, you're an extreme example of like even physique as well for a lot of people.
So I think we talked a little bit about how to not be disciplined in a way that turns people off.
But frankly, just like the things you've achieved and the way that you look makes everything people who are drifting down that river go.
I can't do what she's doing.
I'm too far away from that.
So what would you tell somebody who looks at you and goes I can't do what she does because I'm too far from it?
Yeah, I honestly do hate that because I started just like everyone else.
I don't think people even know that.
I try my best to find some, you know, I tell them something that you can attain.
Fall in love with something that is fun for you.
Fall in love with something that makes you feel like a stronger version of you.
And I feel like...
Whether it is CrossFit for you or whatever that thing is.
You know I'm very pro.
Just get moving, just do something.
That is, whether it's spin, I don't know, like whatever it is.
Like I said, I always want to motivate.
And I am that person on the road that people know they come with me and I motivate them.
And I, if they're tired, I'm like, it's okay.
We're just gonna, we're gonna go.
We're gonna move today.
And that's what we're gonna do.
And gosh attaining something you know.
I just, I really just try to tell them to find something that motivates them.
I have that innate feeling in me at all times.
And it's really annoying sometimes.
But I hope that's contagious more than it is... I want it to be contagious, not unattainable.
And I hope I do a good job of that.
I really feel like people find it intimidating or they feel like they can't reach it.
I want it to be contagious and I want people to be motivated, not the opposite.
And I don't know how I can get that across because...
You know, like I'm going to get my stuff done.
I'm not going to waste time.
Wasting time is my biggest pet peeve.
I'm going to get it done.
Get out of my way. that might be the intimidating part.
So maybe that's what it is, but I'm just very focused.
I'm very motivated.
I'm going to get it done.
And, you know, I feel like that may be the intimidating part, but I always want it to be contagious.
I wanted it to be motivating and cause that's what worked for me.
And like there wasn't anyone that I looked up to, that I, When I was younger, like I was like oh, I want to be that person.
I wonder what she did to get there.
I was like, I just became that person because people will let you down.
You look up to certain people and you find out they're not all that.
And then you're just like, oh, I don't want to.
So you just kind of become that person that you want to be.
And, like I said, I don't want it to be intimidating, but it's just find that version of you, I guess.
Yeah.
So good.
Do things in a way that are contagious.
Yeah.
That's a great takeaway.
I want people to be motivated by it.
I don't want them to be the opposite.
Yeah, that's great.
All right, Ben, what words do you have for Emily?
How can she elevate her approach to training and life from your perspective of how you've kind of watched her from the outside looking in, and even from this conversation?
The normal approach would be Let's talk about your goals.
What about your goals?
Create intrinsic motivation and drive.
From there, let's create your environments, establish some habits and hold ourselves to some standards to create discipline, to be able to achieve those things.
That's how you create the ecosystem of achievement.
That's not worth a discussion with Emily.
It's dialed.
From everything we talked about, she knows exactly what she's trying to do.
She has incredible drive.
She has an incredible environment and she's protecting what she values most, meaning her training time, her sleep.
It's what outside looks boring, but to her is incredibly fulfilling.
She has the discipline, just as she said, like, get out of my way.
I'm going to go and do this.
So what normally would be the conversation you would have with an athlete is not.
So what we would chat about is some other stuff, which is you're not Ivy Nile.
Who are you?
Right.
So you just said, okay, guys, thanks for listening.
You have these people, these are your work, right?
You have these people that you look up to and you find out that they're not all that.
What is all of that?
Right.
So a It changes this thing from I look this way, I perform this way, and I compete for titles.
And I'm in front of 35,000 raving fans.
And that is such a high.
And it's so addictive.
And it can be so self-reinforcing. to the point that it becomes detrimental.
So you look up to these people and they're actually not all that.
The people that are all that have incredible character.
So what we would have the conversation about is what does that mean to you in terms of having incredible character?
Because when Ivy Nile goes away and it's Emily, the character doesn't.
That's what we want to have built.
And if you, God forbid, get pushed out of the sport earlier than you want to, what happens then?
So this is working with the person and the athlete.
It's not one or the other.
The person is the athlete.
The athlete is not the person.
So what I want more than anything else is for Emily, who I've been lucky enough to get to know her a little bit, is such a sweetheart.
She's such an incredible person. person.
Yeah.
Right.
I'm sorry.
Oh my God.
Pitbull.
Yeah.
Emily, not Ivy.
Ivy's a bad guy.
But Emily is awesome.
And she's, she's what you'd want.
Like she's who you want your, your daughter to be best friends with.
It's that type of person.
So the first part of this journey is how can we understand who that person actually is?
And And then all the same stuff which is we set up, the goals which create the drive, which create the environment, which create the habits to morph ourselves farther into that person.
The crazy part about that is, as you do, that what starts to melt away is expectations and judgment, because you are so secure with who you are.
And as expectations and judgment float away, performance goes up.
When we talk about competing in a flow state, that is a state absence of judgment.
So, while it looks like we're leaving the athlete behind to work on the person, we're working on the person to elevate the athlete.
Because now, every single time you go to train, compete or do anything, you're doing it for pure.
You try to use Jameson's words, but I think it was not joy, but enjoyment or satisfaction.
It's for something.
The way I like to frame up those words is if you inject meaning behind them, right?
Once there's meaning behind those things, because it doesn't need to be naturally struggle in my mind.
I know Arthur Brooks said that, but in my mind, as long as there's meaning behind it because, like you, going and working with underserved kids might not be a struggle.
You might, it might be joyful, but that's, that brings intense, intense, fulfillment.
So if we're what we're truly trying to do and this is where I kind of like wrap it up I believe that we're all here to do the same thing, which is to live meaningful, fulfilled lives, live the good life in air quotes.
We want to make sure that the paths that we're choosing are filled with the right purpose to get to that end.
And if we are able to have that as our North Star, the judgment that we carry around on ourselves starts to melt away.
If that is the case, not only do we have more enjoyment in the moment, performance also goes up.
And this is the people that compete the freest do the best.
Wow.
That, like a piece when you find that.
Yeah.
It's another way of saying that would be like peace of mind.
And the opposite of peace of mind I think is, is judgment.
So good.
All right.
More conversations to come for sure.
But to wrap this up, Emily, think about 15 year old you in Knoxville.
What would almost 35, 34 year old you right now in one sentence say to 15 year old you?
You are becoming that person that you wanted to be.
So good.
I am.
I became my own little hero.
I did.
That's so awesome.
Kind of.
You know, like I said, growing up homeschool there wasn't very many people to kind of look up to and kind of those roles.
You know, I didn't have coaches and stuff.
So I feel like it's weird.
I didn't have very many.
I wasn't. opened up to very many things.
And I just knew that I was like, okay, well, I guess I'm all I got.
And it turned out it was enough.
We all got, we all we need.
Amazing.
All right, folks.
Yeah.
More to come with Emily in the future for sure.
Check her and Ari's new YouTube channel out.
If you guys can follow along their journey opening up their gym down in Florida soon as well, hop in and train with her in the comp train app.
A follower on Instagram.
And then you're on Tik TOK as well.
Yeah.
I am on Tik TOK.
Cool.
So keep up with her, Emily, Ivy Nile, the pit bull, and then also affectionately known as Bentley's mom.
So we didn't talk at all about Bentley.
That's a totally different podcast for another day.
Yeah.
There's not enough time follow for those.
I don't.
It's a dog, it's not.
It's a dog.
It's not really a dog, though it's like it's a.
It's a hybrid of a dog.
He's like a.
I've referred to him as a bit of a brand icon, if you will her.
Sorry, i'm so sorry.
Yes, don't tell her.
Don't tell her telling her right now.
Yeah, follow him on instagram, follow along, keep up and we'll talk again soon.
Thanks, Emily.
Thank you.
Thank you so very much for tuning into the show this week.
Two quick things before you go.
First, if you want even more from this episode, go check out the full five three, one breakdown.
We give you the five big ideas from the episode, three reflection questions to help you process it all.
And one key takeaway that you can put into action right now, the link is in the show notes.
The second thing while you're there, check out the chase club.
It's our premium membership, where we include bonus content, add three episodes and the brand new chase tracker app.
Check it all out at chasingexcellence.email.
