Armchair Anonymous: Crazy Gym II

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

In this episode of Armchair Anonymous, Dax Shepard and Monica Padman hear wild gym stories from listeners, including a trainer who vomited m

Key takeaways

• Unexpected group fitness challenges can lead to extreme physical reactions even for experienced athletes.

Main topics

• Gym mishaps

Notable quotes

"I'm vomiting. I'm putting my hands up to like involuntarily try to catch it."

Conclusion

The episode ends with humor and empathy, underscoring how vulnerabilit

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Anonymous. I'm Dan Shepard and Miniature Mouse is walking here. Today we have Crazy Gym Part 2. Tell us a Crazy Gym story. We have four that really, really deliver. Be careful in the gym and please enjoy Crazy Gym Part 2. Speaker 5 (0:41) Is Speaker 2 (0:41) it Maisie? Speaker 5 (0:43) Maisie, like the department store. Oh, love Speaker 2 (0:45) it. Maisie, like the department store. And when people fuck it up, what do they most regularly say? Speaker 5 (0:49) Maisie, which honestly, I don't really even notice the difference. I get a lot of Massey. Oh, no. Yeah, whatever. Monica, happy birthday. Oh, good job. Thank you. You're Speaker 2 (1:02) a Speaker 5 (1:02) hardcore arm Speaker 2 (1:02) cherry. Speaker 5 (1:03) I'm so excited to be here. Thank you. We're Speaker 4 (1:05) excited Speaker 5 (1:05) to have Speaker 2 (1:06) you. Now, when you were getting ready this morning, you have a very fun orange, like, let's celebrate. Let's be positive. Was that in the mix today? You're like, I'm in a good mood. Speaker 5 (1:15) Yes. And I knew that Monica is a fashionista. So I was like, what are my colors? How do I come off as my best self? Wow. You're really doing it. It's Speaker 2 (1:24) a Speaker 5 (1:24) great color. Thank Speaker 2 (1:25) you. Where are you? I Speaker 5 (1:27) am in a place that you were recently visiting, Dax. So Speaker 2 (1:30) Denver or Birmingham? I'm Speaker 5 (1:32) in Denver. You're Speaker 2 (1:33) in Denver. Okay. Are you from there or did you move there? Speaker 5 (1:35) I have moved around a lot, but I spent most of my childhood in the Denver area. And I actually went to your guys' Denver show when Monica was a guest. Speaker 4 (1:42) Oh my goodness. Wow. I forgot. That was a long time ago. Lots changed. I've gotten much older. I Speaker 2 (1:48) was reflecting on that while I was in Denver. I was like, oh, the last time I was here, we did that show. Speaker 4 (1:54) Wow. Speaker 5 (1:55) Fun! Fun, fun, fun. Speaker 2 (1:56) It Speaker 5 (1:56) was very fun. I had a great time. Okay, so Speaker 2 (1:59) you have a crazy gym story. I Speaker 5 (2:00) do. I work full-time in communications and PR, but my like passion job is I coach group fitness classes on the side. So like 5 a.m., 6 p.m., coaching classes. I've done this for a long time. I've taught just about everything that is available. But right now, I really just teach like HIIT and strength training. But I've taught spin, anything you can think of. Speaker 2 (2:21) Have you seen an explosion in females entering the weight training space? I feel like there's a good and positive movement towards that. Speaker 4 (2:28) Yes, and I love it. Bone density. Do you do privates? I Speaker 5 (2:32) have in the past. Let's do it. I'm not ruling this out. Speaker 1 (2:36) I Speaker 5 (2:36) love it because, you know, you get to see people at all different stages of life. Like we have women lifting their entire pregnancies or coming back from back surgery. In my free time, I like to try different gyms and like go take classes at other places where I can be anonymous. No one knows me. Just show up, have a good workout and also learn from other trainers, see what they're doing, what works, what doesn't. So this story takes place in 2021. In that time, it's hard to remember because it feels like forever ago, we were still doing group fitness classes in COVID facial. mask. I was teaching spin at the time. So I got these really nice Under Armour branded masks that were athletic material. So they soak up the sweat better. And then they were kind of like shaped so they didn't collapse into your mouth when you're like running around and breathing really hard. So I was no stranger to working out in masks is the moral of the story before I tell you what went down. I'd heard about this gym that was like in my neighborhood. And the really cool thing was they offered altitude training. So in one of the rooms, they changed the oxygen level so that it simulates you training at high elevation. Oh, Speaker 2 (3:42) this feels dangerous. Like if this machine goes awry. And everyone just slowly dives in there because there's no oxygen. Oh Speaker 4 (3:49) my God, like final destination. Thankfully that didn't happen, but it is a little risky. Speaker 2 (3:55) You're also already at altitude now, or this didn't take place in Denver? Speaker 5 (3:58) No, it was, but we all like to be extreme. Speaker 2 (4:01) You want to be at base camp for K2? Speaker 5 (4:03) Yeah. So they offered that workout and it's mostly strength training in that room. And then they offer another class, treadmills, a little bit more like HIIT style cardio and lifting. That morning I taught two spins. classes, 6 and 7 a.m. I went to work and I signed up for the strength training class after work in the altitude room because I was like, this is cool. I've never done this. I chugged my protein shake. And if you do a lot of workouts, you know, you have your routine. I wore my shoes that are specifically for weight training. And even like my sports bras, not the one I would wear on a run. You're fueled before. So I'm all ready for like heavy lifting. And I get there, check in, very nice facility. And everyone's kind of like huddled in the main area. There's like 30 people in the main area. And they're like getting hyped up, bouncing around, high-fiving. And they're like, benchmark 5K, you know, like getting really pumped up. And I was like, what's going on? And they're like, we're on. all running a 5k for time today. That's just not what I was expecting. It didn't say anything on the schedule or anything. And I'd already done two spin classes that day. But I was also like, I paid $30 for this class and I need to prove to these people that I can run a 5k. Like this is about to be a competition. How Speaker 6 (5:15) it worked since there were so many people Speaker 5 (5:17) just now in this one room, you had a partner. One partner would run the 5k for time and you would mark down their time when they finish and you'd hype them up, cheer them on, and then you would switch and you would run. So I decided, you know, I'm the new girl. Why don't you go first? But in my head, I was like, I need to know what time to be. Of course. Speaker 2 (5:36) Because this is Speaker 5 (5:36) now an unspoken Speaker 2 (5:36) competition. Speaker 5 (5:37) Machiavellian. Yeah, you are. I Speaker 2 (5:38) know. I Speaker 5 (5:39) love your spirit. The people in this gym are phenomenal athletes. She was crushing it. I was starting to doubt myself, cheering her on the whole time. We're all in our masks. She finishes. I congratulate her. And I'm like a little bit nervous at this point. So I come out hot. I jump on the treadmill, really pushing my pace. Speaker 2 (5:56) I'm scared already. I Speaker 5 (5:57) get to like mile two and a half. Since I do run, I have that like mental game where I know the last part is always going to be the hardest. Your body can keep going. Your brain will tell you you're tired. You know, I'm doing all the coaching in my head. I'm like, you got this. You got this. A lot of times when things are about to happen with your body, you might get like a hot flash or a little tummy rumbling. But I think my body was already in such a stressed state from pushing this pace. There was zero warning whatsoever. And no. unauthorized evacuation from my mouth begins to happen. Okay. With a mask on. You're Speaker 2 (6:31) looking at an aspiration here. Yeah. And Speaker 5 (6:33) you're on the treadmill. Oh Speaker 2 (6:35) my goodness. All Speaker 5 (6:36) of this happens in like .005 seconds. Speaker 2 (6:38) You're just vomiting in your mask. Speaker 5 (6:40) I'm vomiting. I'm putting my hands up to like. involuntarily try to catch it. While that's happening, I trip over my feet. And it's like a belly flop onto the treadmill. Speaker 2 (6:52) Can I ask what speed you had the treadmill set at? I Speaker 5 (6:54) normally run it like a seven. So I'm thinking I was like at an eight. Okay. So Speaker 2 (6:59) it's Speaker 5 (7:01) like full frontal. Smack onto the treadmill. In the process of that happening, you know, when you like pop a bag of chips or something, it was like all the vomit squished out of my mask. Speaker 2 (7:13) Water balloon. Big explosion of vomit. Fuck, all over the treadmill. And now just quickly, if I can imagine, now you have a ton of vomit on the spinning conveyor belt that's going to also pelt. And you're flying off of it, I assume. This is an unmitigated disaster. Speaker 5 (7:28) Yeah, I fly backwards. Thankfully, it wasn't like the one where the person was taking their sweatshirt off. That's one of my favorite stories of all time. Speaker 4 (7:36) I mean, going around and around. I just skid straight Speaker 2 (7:39) back. Speaker 5 (7:40) But vomit's flying everywhere. My partner's standing there like, what do I do? Speaker 2 (7:44) And you said you had. You just pounded a protein shake smoothie? Yeah. So you had, what, 20, 30 ounces of fluid? Speaker 5 (7:50) Just pure protein coming out. Oh, yeah, Speaker 2 (7:53) yeah. Speaker 5 (7:53) My partner was very good. She stayed very calm. And she was just like, we need help. She didn't yell. But yeah, vomit splattering everywhere. I'm just kind of in shock. Like at this point, my mask is not on. I have this stuff like into my hair because it all like squished across my face. Speaker 2 (8:10) You're laying on the ground behind the treadmill at this point. Speaker 5 (8:13) Yeah. But my inclination is to pop up and just be like, everything's fine. Yeah, nothing happened. And I was like, do you have a mop? I'll clean it up. And I just like went into fix it mode. So all the coaches, because all the coaches were there for this big celebration run over. And they're like. Speaker 7 (8:28) This is a badge of honor. You pushed yourself so hard that you Speaker 5 (8:32) threw up in class. This Speaker 2 (8:34) is where that workout community tips a little bit into insanity. Like you can imagine if you had died, they'd be jumping up and down with excitement. You pushed to Speaker 5 (8:42) the ultimate Speaker 4 (8:43) goal. Speaker 2 (8:45) It Speaker 5 (8:45) was crazy. The coach was like, I'm an EMT. This is nothing. So he was really great. He cleaned it up. Speaker 2 (8:51) Did you start thinking it might be a meet cute? Was he like tenderly wiping puke off your cheeks or anything? My Speaker 5 (8:56) mind was in other places. They got my partner like a new shirt to put on. So they really wanted everyone to stay and do like a little circle, you know, hand. That's Speaker 7 (9:05) over. And I was like, I really got to Speaker 5 (9:07) go. And they were like, no, you, you are the champion today. You need to stay. No one wants to stand by me. I'm just huddled. This is a Speaker 2 (9:14) sad Speaker 4 (9:15) story. Speaker 2 (9:16) This, Monica, you would, can you even imagine? No. No. That'd Speaker 4 (9:20) be the last day I was alive. Speaker 2 (9:21) Yeah, yeah. If you had to stand there while people were celebrating. No, by the way, no, I just wouldn't. I'd be like, Speaker 4 (9:26) I'm going, and then I would just run out. Speaker 2 (9:28) Cry, you'd be crying. Of course. And then the cry Speaker 4 (9:30) would make the vomit like wash it off. But it would be thinner. I'm so sorry that happened to you. It's Speaker 5 (9:36) OK. I mean, it made for Speaker 4 (9:38) a Speaker 5 (9:38) good story. And I did email the owners the next day and I was like, great thing you have going on. Really excited to try the altitude room. I think it would be helpful in the future if you can just update the schedule, like if there's a special class so people know what they're getting into. And they were very receptive. So kudos to them. I've been back since then. So Speaker 2 (9:55) are you still exercising at this pace? Speaker 5 (9:57) Yes, I tore. my ACL two years ago, so I kind of slowed down a little bit after that. And then I recently broke my collarbone, so I haven't been lifting for like the last six weeks. Speaker 2 (10:08) On a bicycle? Yeah. Oh, Speaker 5 (10:10) no. Speaker 2 (10:10) Same with Speaker 5 (10:11) Dax. Speaker 2 (10:11) Well, motorcycles, but it's all the same injury. When you go over the handlebars, right? Did you go over the handlebars? I Speaker 5 (10:16) did. Yeah, Speaker 2 (10:17) yeah. That's a bar. That's so upsetting. Were you doing downhill or what was happening? We Speaker 5 (10:21) were gravel biking in Denali National Park, and I think I was just like looking at the scenery. Movement is dangerous. Speaker 2 (10:28) And life-saving. Speaker 5 (10:29) Yeah. Speaker 2 (10:30) Well, Macy, that story was awesome. You went through the ringer, my friend. It Speaker 5 (10:34) was visceral, too. Yeah, so be careful on your treadmills. If I can just, like, give you a little shout-out, Monica. My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for, like, the last year, and I've had a handful of miscarriages, and it's been a rocky road. And I recently started listening to Race to 35 because I think we may need to go down that avenue with some medical assistance. And I was like, I know what to expect because Monica, my friend Monica, has it. And she survived. I did survive and you'll survive too. That's amazing. Thank you. Speaker 6 (11:03) And Speaker 5 (11:03) just the bravery it took you to do that in such a public way is really inspiring. I Speaker 4 (11:09) appreciate it. I'm going to send you all the love and all the luck and it's going to go great. Thank you. Well, Speaker 2 (11:15) lovely meeting you, Macy. I Speaker 4 (11:16) told Speaker 5 (11:17) my friend Erica, who's my Callie, that I'd give her a shout out because I got her hooked on Speaker