Jennifer Thompson (00:00):
How are you?
Sevan Matossian (00:01):
Hey, we’re live. Good morning, Jen.
Jennifer Thompson (00:03):
Good morning, Jen. Good morning to you.
Sevan Matossian (00:05):
Uh, Jen, the gentleman in the black shirt, his name is Andrew Hiller.
Jennifer Thompson (00:09):
Hi, Andrew. Hi.
Sevan Matossian (00:11):
How are you?
Jennifer Thompson (00:12):
Good morning. Pretty good, thanks.
Sevan Matossian (00:13):
And Andrew’s a friend I made, uh, through the internet, kinda like how I made friends with you or I’m making fun <laugh> and, uh,
Jennifer Thompson (00:20):
He’s, we’ll be friends by the end. <laugh>. Awesome.
Sevan Matossian (00:22):
Yeah, you’re, you’re, we’re off to a good start. We’re all drinking coffee. Well, not Andrew. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, uh, Andrew. Andrew is, uh, we’re both in, we both cover a lot of CrossFit stuff in the CrossFit space. And Andrew was, uh, tr was out in California this weekend, uh, listening to Greg Glassman, the founder of CrossFits, doing a, a talk out here. And while he was out here, he’s at my house for the week. And so, and I do a podcast, live podcast every morning. So like how Discovery Channel would have Shark Week, I figured. Okay. I’ll have Andrew in studio. He’s across from me. And this will be Andrew Hiller week. Nice. Nice. <laugh>. Yeah.
Jennifer Thompson (00:54):
Shark Week. Is there, uh, any relevance to that? <laugh>?
Sevan Matossian (00:58):
No, no, no. Just, I just thought it was, uh, Kenzie. It’s like my ninth favorite animal, so. Oh, it is not. Okay, good. I didn’t know that. Top 10. What’s
Jennifer Thompson (01:06):
Number one?
Sevan Matossian (01:07):
What is number one, Andrew? This show has no superficial talk like that, but let’s do it. I like gorillas. Oh, <laugh>. Um, I, I like it. Now, you know, Jen, there is a, uh, uh, a young lady, 21 year old lady, uh, named, uh, Alex Gza. Maybe I could show you her, I could pull this up. Are you on a, you’re on a phone?
Jennifer Thompson (01:27):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (01:28):
Okay. So this might be a little bit small, but I’ll show you. Um, I’ll pull up her a video of her.
(01:35):
Oh, that’s funny. When I put in her name into my computer, her husband pops up and her Alex, yeah. Oh, there she is. Miss Alex Gza, a young lady. Uh, she, she, she’s been on the show before. She stumbled upon CrossFit and then, uh, and then started getting serious about it, um, in, in the last couple of years and a few days ago. And she’s an outlier in the bench press. Uh, and I’m trying to find the, I’m trying to find the video, but a few days ago she benched, um, 270 pounds. Nice. And she got, and she got so much shit. O obviously this isn’t gonna be any surprise to you. Uh,
Jennifer Thompson (02:11):
A big arch
Sevan Matossian (02:12):
<laugh> that, um, that she was, that she’s using drugs. Right. And of course, those of us in, in the space and who’ve been watching her are like, Hey, you’re outta your, you’re outta your mind. She’s not on anything. Oh, you’re
Jennifer Thompson (02:23):
Gonna tell me she had a giant rainbow arch <laugh>. Oh,
Sevan Matossian (02:26):
It’s actually the opposite. I think she’s got way more than
Jennifer Thompson (02:29):
She’s usually the number one.
Sevan Matossian (02:30):
If she found out a little bit of technique on that, I think she could add 10%. Let me see. I’d like to hear your opinion on that too. Yeah, of course. God, there’s so much to talk to you about. Um, she doesn’t do it like that. So, so here she, so here she is. Um, oh, this is a last set at 2 25. Where is her two 70? I apologize. I thought it was gonna be easier to find. Let me see.
Jennifer Thompson (02:53):
That’s alright.
Sevan Matossian (02:54):
Lemme see here. How far back does your roll? Do you think it’s pretty far back? No, it’s more recent. Tell me if you, is that, is that Granite Games dude, go to the top, you crazy? Or is that the top? And she pinned them? Yeah, I think she pinned them. Here she is at, uh, at the semi-finals with the dumbbells with the sixties. Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Thompson (03:15):
<affirmative>.
Sevan Matossian (03:16):
Um, so she does two 70. Oh, here it is. Here it, it’s, I apologize. Here. It’s, so she does two 70. There we go. We’ll look at this on the right. And she’s 21.
Jennifer Thompson (03:24):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Sevan Matossian (03:26):
And in our whole community, we’re kind of like a cult. Th this, this whole CrossFit thing and our whole community, you know, the majority of the community’s like, oh my God, this is incredible. And the co couple people, um, were like, Hey, she’s on something. And, um, so then I started thinking, who is the strongest woman? Uh, bench press, natural <laugh>, and I, and quickly the internet’s littered with your name. And I say this, what a refreshing human being you are to see in this space.
Jennifer Thompson (04:00):
Oh, thanks
Sevan Matossian (04:01):
<laugh>. Yeah, you, you, you are. Uh, man, it’s great. It was great seeing you. Um, correct me if I’m wrong, uh, some of the feats I think I saw on your Instagram was a 300 and, uh, 25 pound bench.
Jennifer Thompson (04:14):
Uh, my best is 2 97 and a half in comp.
Sevan Matossian (04:17):
Oh. But I’m, but, but at home, anywhere. Oh, at home.
Jennifer Thompson (04:20):
Yeah. I’ve been three 30 at home.
Sevan Matossian (04:22):
Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. Yeah. To me that’s what matters. I the, well,
Jennifer Thompson (04:25):
And that’s with a pause. Just throwing that in there. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (04:28):
And what is that? What is that? What? Tell me what’s a pause?
Jennifer Thompson (04:30):
So for competition, we have to hold it on your chest to where it becomes like motionless. Okay. And then go. So you basically, you can’t touch and go it, you gotta hold it and then go.
Sevan Matossian (04:40):
Okay. Is that where that 30 pound difference comes from?
Jennifer Thompson (04:44):
30 pound. Uh, cause
Sevan Matossian (04:45):
You put your best outta competition was three 30. Yeah. I think she said she paused at home too
Jennifer Thompson (04:51):
To, yeah, it was all paused. All I do is pause because that’s what I have to do in competition. Makes sense. It doesn’t really make sense to No. Get out a groove and start getting bad habits.
Sevan Matossian (05:00):
<laugh>, could you bounce? Um, could you bounce 3 35 then off your chest, do you think?
Jennifer Thompson (05:05):
Oh, easy. Yeah, I think so.
Sevan Matossian (05:07):
<laugh>,
Jennifer Thompson (05:08):
So you want me to try it? I’ll give it
Sevan Matossian (05:09):
A try. Yes. Yes.
Jennifer Thompson (05:11):
Carry Monday’s my bench day. I’ll give it a try on Monday. Although I met the very beginning of a training cycle, so I’m probably not there yet. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (05:18):
And, and, and, and what’s your best back squat? I’m not worried about comp just ever.
Jennifer Thompson (05:23):
Um, 360 2.
Sevan Matossian (05:25):
And, and your best, uh, deadlift
Jennifer Thompson (05:27):
4 57.
Sevan Matossian (05:29):
Yeah. Cool. Crazy
Jennifer Thompson (05:30):
On, yeah, my squad’s clearly the weakness, but <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (05:34):
Jen, before we get into too much fun stuff, I want to go back, back, back. Okay. Did you ever show her to Zen’s Bench or are you saving that for later? I did. Oh, I didn’t even show it. You didn’t? You showed
Jennifer Thompson (05:43):
It. I saw
Sevan Matossian (05:44):
It. He played it. Oh good. Good. Thank you. Yeah, it
Jennifer Thompson (05:47):
Was good. She just needs to widen her, uh, arms a little bit. A little more arch would be better. Um, but she’s real close, like, you know, real close grip. She, if she started moving that grip out a little, she’d get even stronger.
Sevan Matossian (05:59):
How? Any take on her wear and sandals. Everyone is staying.
Jennifer Thompson (06:03):
Well, sometimes I do slippers, so <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (06:07):
But but what? You wouldn’t say that that’s going to make a huge detriment or improvements, would you?
Jennifer Thompson (06:12):
Well, cuz she’s so far up on her toes. No. Okay. Like if she was flatfooted for sure.
Sevan Matossian (06:19):
Coming from the record holding bench pressure. Thank you <laugh>. You’re welcome. What about who was driving me Insane. I mean, funny.
Jennifer Thompson (06:26):
I mean that’s the only thing. I mean, I’m sure depends on how much leg drive you’re throwing at.
Sevan Matossian (06:30):
Listen dad, it doesn’t do anything <laugh>.
Jennifer Thompson (06:32):
Well, if you’re up on your toes, really, you’re just trying to hold your position. You’re getting a little bit of leg drive in there, but you’re just trying to hold your position, you know?
Sevan Matossian (06:40):
Uh, uh, before I go further, I want you to know that anyone can go, and I’m sure a lot of you are gonna wanna do this, uh, by the time the show’s over, cuz you have a wealth of knowledge. There’s a website called, hold on, hold on. Uh, 132 pounds of Power, correct?
Jennifer Thompson (06:56):
Well, my, my, yeah, my YouTube has like tons of stuff on it. It’s 132 pounds of power. And I did, um, I just finished a whole quick bench tips, um, series of just like tiny little things. Like, they’re like four, three to four minute videos and they’re, I, I think I just finished like 14 of ’em just breaking the bench press down into micro pieces. So if you wanna work on your grip, you wanna work on your take down, your foot placement, your arch, anything, it’s got a little video so you get to it really quick. One of the things I hate about YouTube is like, they’re 20 minutes long and you searching for the one piece of information that you really wanted to know. So I made tons of little, little quick ones
Sevan Matossian (07:36):
And, and, but people could hear, you can contact Jen. She can come out to your gym and do a seminar and, or you could subscribe to her app and you can get on one of her training programs.
Jennifer Thompson (07:45):
Oh yeah.
Sevan Matossian (07:45):
Yeah. I I would think I
Jennifer Thompson (07:47):
Have a bench, I have a bench program. Like, I have like 11 programs. So one of ’em is just about making your bench better.
Sevan Matossian (07:53):
Yeah. I would think that, uh, every uh, every CrossFit coach in the, uh, ecosystem, uh, would want want to, uh, take one of your programs and, and just plagiarize like, Hey, here it is. Come come get it,
Jennifer Thompson (08:07):
<laugh>,
Sevan Matossian (08:08):
Come, come. I’m, come get it from the champ. I mean yeah. It’s, it’s, it’s uh, you are a wealth of knowledge or you can go to YouTube and get it for free.
Jennifer Thompson (08:15):
Sure. Make everyone better. Ventures,
Sevan Matossian (08:19):
Where were you born?
Jennifer Thompson (08:20):
Um, I was born outside of Detroit and Southfield, Michigan.
Sevan Matossian (08:24):
And uh, you, you trained with your dad from a young age?
Jennifer Thompson (08:28):
Uh, no. <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (08:29):
No you didn’t. You you did. You did. I, I thought I heard, I thought you were, uh, you were a long distance runner and you did some of that with your dad. Yeah.
Jennifer Thompson (08:36):
Oh yeah, I did running with my dad. Sorry. Okay.
Sevan Matossian (08:38):
You
Jennifer Thompson (08:39):
Did do something. Yeah, I ran cross country in high school and then I ran with my dad. Rode, rode races till I got to college and then I found weights and that was it. <laugh>,
Sevan Matossian (08:47):
When you, um, do you remember your earliest, uh, endeavors in, in physical activity? Were you an outside kid? Did you run, did you any sports?
Jennifer Thompson (08:56):
Um, I think, well I always, well, I mean, I mean I, I was born in 73. We didn’t have the intranet or uh, cable tv, <laugh>, so everybody went outside and played. Right.
Sevan Matossian (09:07):
There’s three channels, right?
Jennifer Thompson (09:09):
There’s three channels you did most The news was on one of ’em. So X ex went out all the way. So yeah. Yeah, we were always outside playing games in the neighborhood, things like that. Um, and then I got into, um, you know, uh, fitness and stuff when I got into, uh, high school cause um, I didn’t have a lot of friends and uh, that’s how you made friends was joining things. So that’s what I did.
Sevan Matossian (09:33):
Um, and did you ever have any thoughts when as a child, like, boy, I’m pretty strong. I’m stronger than the other kids. Like you would be doing arm wrestling or you could do a pull up or anything? No, I
Jennifer Thompson (09:42):
Wasn’t strong <laugh>. It was a skinny little girl <laugh>. We actually, um, we had this class I took, um, one of our gym teachers when I was a freshman said, you have to take this class. It’s called Marine Fitness. I almost think it’s kind of, was kind of like an early CrossFit kind of deal. Um, I dunno if you’ve heard of it before, but I took it every semester in high school after freshman pe and it was all around the marine fitness test. So you had to like do um, like a hundred sit-ups in two minutes. You had to do I think 60 pull-ups, a hundred pushups, all this different stuff. But we did rope climbs, we did stadium runs, we did all these different jumping exercises, box jumps and stuff like that. So, um, that’s where I started, uh, gaining strength was just being in that class.
Sevan Matossian (10:30):
Why did you take that class and were there other, were there other ladies in the class?
Jennifer Thompson (10:33):
Um, there was just two of us. The rest was, uh, boys and a lot of them were intending on going into the Marines, so that’s why they were in it in the first place. Um, but I took it just because my gym teacher was like, you’d be really great at that. And I was like one of those quiet, insecure kids that tried to hide. And the fact that he paid attention to me and thought I would be good at something was like, oh my God, I stepped outta my shell and I signed up for this class <laugh>. I was scared shitless, but I did it anyway. And um, they were just very all like, all the guys were super welcoming. It was a great community. They cheered you on and you’re always trying to outdo yourself from, you know, your last, last session. I ended up just loving it. And I think that’s kind of where I got a lot of my upper body strength. And what’s made me kind of good at the bench press was I had these three years of doing upper body exercises that most girls don’t do.
Sevan Matossian (11:24):
Uh, freshman, sophomore and junior year
Jennifer Thompson (11:26):
I did, uh, sophomore, junior and senior year. Freshman year we had to take PE and we had in Michigan you had to take swimming and pass swimming before you could graduate high school.
Sevan Matossian (11:36):
Yeah, go figure. They should still have that. Yeah,
Jennifer Thompson (11:38):
I know.
Sevan Matossian (11:40):
Um, Jen, so, um, that teacher tells you that, so that means he saw something.
Jennifer Thompson (11:44):
Yeah, like, and I was like, I just, no one ever really. I just, like I said, I just blended into the crowd. Um, I didn’t wanna be noticed. No one, I don’t know, I just wasn’t to anyone giving me any attention. So the fact that he picked me up was like, oh my gosh,
Sevan Matossian (11:57):
<laugh>. And do you have siblings?
Jennifer Thompson (12:00):
Um, yeah. Yeah, I have a younger sister and I have two a half brother and sister, but I’m the oldest.
Sevan Matossian (12:05):
Do they, um, did, do, did either of them or any of them go take the similar route as you? Did they do that marine fitness class or show signs of the athletic talent?
Jennifer Thompson (12:16):
Uh, well they, my dad ended up being divorced and they ended up moving to Boston. But my, my youngest sister, uh, played field hockey and she was excellent. She played for, uh, university of New Hampshire Field Hockey for, and got a scholarship for a few years. So, um, my dad always wanted his boy to be like the athlete. And I always think it’s hilarious cuz his girls end up being his athlete. <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (12:40):
You. Um, so you go into that, that, that uh, Marine class, do you reme, could you even do one pull up when you went in there?
Jennifer Thompson (12:49):
Uh, I might have been able to do one or two. I mean, it was, I was so little, like it was just scrawny. I didn’t weigh a whole lot. I weighed like a hundred pounds. Um, but by the end I could get into the twenties. I never quite got to 30, which I think was the max out, but I can do it now. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (13:05):
Do you Oh, what your 30 pullups now?
Jennifer Thompson (13:08):
Yeah. My, I think my, we went to the Arnold, you know, have you guys ever been to the Arnold Classic? I know
Sevan Matossian (13:13):
What it is, but I’ve not been, they,
Jennifer Thompson (13:15):
We usually have like a military set up where they encourage the crowd to come up, do Pullups with the Marines. Yes. And then you’ll earn a prize based on how many that you do. And they’ll have like a record board. And I think I did, um, 35
Sevan Matossian (13:29):
Holy when
Jennifer Thompson (13:30):
We were there. And like our, when we did pullups, we did them very wide and your chin had to touch over the bar and you couldn’t swing your legs. So it was always done very strict, you know. Pullups,
Sevan Matossian (13:41):
How tall are you, Jen?
Jennifer Thompson (13:42):
Five. Five.
Sevan Matossian (13:43):
And, and how, what do you, what’s your walking around weight?
Jennifer Thompson (13:46):
Uh, right now it’s 1 44.
Sevan Matossian (13:48):
And, and and and is that your fighting weight too?
Jennifer Thompson (13:51):
Uh, no. Um, well our weight classes just changed. Oh. So now I either have
Sevan Matossian (13:57):
What you hate when they do that
Jennifer Thompson (13:59):
Pisses me. They’ve changed so many times in my career, so now I either have to go down to 1 32 or eat up to 1 48 0.8. So I’m gonna eat up <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (14:10):
A Andrew. The, uh, sorry, Genta just objectify. Well, I’m, that’s okay. Sorry. <laugh> this she has like, this is, you have like the most perfect physique in expression of, of woman that, that that they’re, or, or you look fucking amazing. Thank you. I I show you this Andrew cuz this is, this is what, you know, 30 pullups, this is 30 pull ups Looks right, right. That looks right. Yeah. This looks like what uh, God intended us to look like. I cannot believe how normal, and here’s the thing. I see pictures of this and I, and I can’t just believe how normal, um, you look because when I think of the power lifting community, I don’t think of, uh, normal people. But you just look like a normal, careful. That’s offensive. If you say that sometimes normal. I notice, how dare you say, she looks normal. I mean she
Jennifer Thompson (14:53):
Usually is normal though.
Sevan Matossian (14:55):
Well, by normal, by normal, I mean your body is expressing itself in, in no way. To me that looks out of, um, uh, I don’t know, balance. You don’t look like a specialist to me. You, you, you look like a very sh uh, uh, healthy expression of, of of, of what we’re supposed to look like, like, like, like a, like a strong, um, sunflower plant in the, uh, front yard. You’re like, yep, this one’s gonna make it through the year. It’s not gonna blow over. Just a real, so, so Jen, when you were in high school, you said you were scrawny and at what point I’m not believing it. I’m not believing it change. I’m not believing <laugh>. So that’s what you look like present day, right? Yeah. Has, have you looked like that for, I don’t know, five years, 10 years? When did that all change?
Jennifer Thompson (15:37):
Uh, in college, like when I started lifting, I start, that was one of the reasons I kept going. Cause I started, well I was, um, super skinny and I had like no shape at all. Was just, you know, it was like a stick. So it was exciting to get shoulders and pecks and muscles and like look less like a stick. So I guess I really kind of did it for aesthetic reasons. Honestly, in the beginning I just,
Sevan Matossian (16:00):
Oh, Andrew knows, enjoyed it. He does everything for aesthetics. He knows I I love aesthetics. Yeah.
Jennifer Thompson (16:06):
This is my, I had no boobs and they told me if I started lifting I’d get boobs and it was, it help cheaper than an implant. Oh heck yeah. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (16:14):
So like, I dunno, sometimes it goes the opposite direction. But would that be maybe the let goer conditioning that you were doing When, when women do a whole bunch of conditioning, sometimes they say that they lose their boobs?
Jennifer Thompson (16:26):
Well, I didn’t have any. So anything, uh,
Sevan Matossian (16:29):
You had none nones. Okay. It
Jennifer Thompson (16:30):
Was, it was all gains. Awesome.
Sevan Matossian (16:32):
It find, it finds that medium ground <laugh>. If you have none, you get some If you have too much to lose
Jennifer Thompson (16:37):
Some. Yeah. Right. Well, yeah. I mean it’s, the boobs are fat. Right? So did
Sevan Matossian (16:41):
You ever go through one of those stages where you were trying to throw down as many calories as possible to throw on the additional mass?
Jennifer Thompson (16:46):
No. No. I was always too worried about getting too big.
Sevan Matossian (16:51):
Isn’t that a weird balancing act? I mean, especially considering you wanted to throw on the muscle mass, you’re mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you got the bench press world record and you’ve been doing this for so long. Uh, most people I know went through a stage where they’re throwing down weight gainer shakes and they’re eating everything in sight. And
Jennifer Thompson (17:07):
Are those all men?
Sevan Matossian (17:09):
No. No. I know women that do that too.
Jennifer Thompson (17:12):
I, I guess I, I, I probably have a slight case of body dysmorphia. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (17:16):
We all do, dude. I think we all do.
Jennifer Thompson (17:19):
I just like to look a certain way, you know, I like the way I look. I work hard to look that way, you know? So,
Sevan Matossian (17:24):
Dude, you look amazing. I’m telling you. It’s crazy. Uh, it’s crazy
Jennifer Thompson (17:28):
Stuff. Yeah. So I, I am careful. I mean, I’m really, right now I’m carefully trying to put on a lot more protein to try to gain mass to get up a little bit higher in this whe class and not, you know, put on fat. So we’ll see how it go. I like
Sevan Matossian (17:42):
How you loaded that dumbbell to yourself. Let, let me, let me, let me, let me clear something up here really quick. The main reason why I asked Jen to come on is two reasons. One, because of the bench press and the relationship to Gza you guys, and two, because she’s natural. Andrew, do you have any doubt that she’s natural? Uh, that’s why I asked the question about how long she’s looked that way because, well actually my fiance Alexis was incredibly scrawny and what was it, maybe 2015. She put a, she was probably one 20 soaking wet. She’s about five six and she’s got all the way up to one 60 and it’s just been CrossFit training and she would be considered one of the stronger women in our circle. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
(18:21):
And I’ve actually seen a lot of women go through just the, it’s pretty cool when a woman in their thirties gets introduced to sport or weight training for the first time and they completely change and throw on what would be considered an unnatural amount of muscle mass. She put on 40 pounds Andrew in five years. She put, uh, on one 20 to one 60,000, 2015 through 2021. And she’ll be very <laugh>. She called herself the fat gorilla mom when she was in the sixties because she put on, she, her diet needed to be cleaned up. But she kinda walks around at about 1 48 to 1 53 present day. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Okay.
Jennifer Thompson (18:59):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (19:01):
But she put on definitely like, gradually
Jennifer Thompson (19:02):
Put on weight time. But, um, I did put a lot of weight on in the very beginning. You know, you got the newbie games, you know, and you’re putting on all that muscle mass. And then
Sevan Matossian (19:10):
How much would you say that was,
Jennifer Thompson (19:12):
Um,
Sevan Matossian (19:12):
From, from where you were a rail to where you’re kind of fighting weight is right now? Yeah,
Jennifer Thompson (19:16):
I was, I was probably went from like one 14. Um, and then after I put was in, you know, competing for a couple years or, or just even training for a year, couple years, I got up to about one 30. And then, uh, I’ve just been gradually from one 30 up to where I am at 1 44. But I, I eat pretty well to stay at the 1 44.
Sevan Matossian (19:38):
Dude, look at her. She’s the same age as me. Look at her fucking skin. She has no weird veins. She doesn’t look, she doesn’t look like a saltwater fish. You’re your veins. Veins are cool, dude. She looks I know, but I don’t see, I don’t see any. Jenny, what do you think about veins?
Jennifer Thompson (19:52):
I’ve got a lot of them in my legs. <laugh>,
Sevan Matossian (19:54):
You know what I mean? You’re cool. Right. You know what I mean? She doesn’t have the giant vein down the forehead. She doesn’t have this crazy snakes. I mean, do you see, I she looks as natural as as as can be to me.
Jennifer Thompson (20:06):
I’ve just
Sevan Matossian (20:06):
Been doing You’re not buying it. You’re not buying her. No. She’s gonna like this compliment. Come on. Come on. Dude. Your girl is not natural. You talk, talk about Alexis. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, you’re a girl. Oh my girl, man. Hey girl. Oh. Oh. Thank you David. Hey, David is but do you think Jen is is natural? Yeah. Look at Sean says she’s natural for sure. Yeah. And Jen, how do you, how do you feel about those, those comments? I’m sure you’ve seen ’em roll in. People have to be accusatory.
Jennifer Thompson (20:32):
It used to bother me at first, you know, um, but you just get thick skinned about it and just realize that, um, people have to say things like that to explain maybe your extraordinary strength or how hard you’ve worked. Cuz they can’t themselves do it or aren’t dedicated enough to do it. So, you know, it’s a and it’s an explain away, right? So if anything explain away, it’s a explain away.
Sevan Matossian (20:54):
You know, she just flexed her peck. Did you see that? She’s has the habit. Look it, she has the same habit as you. Cool.
Jennifer Thompson (21:00):
I just posted something like that on my last Instagram post. We were in Miami and there was a bodybuilder there and we were at this party and we were doing a peck dance off <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (21:09):
Awesome. Did you win? Did you win shift?
Jennifer Thompson (21:12):
I dunno. She was pretty good. And she had, she had way more chess than I had. She was a big lady. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (21:18):
Lemme see if I can,
Jennifer Thompson (21:20):
I was, I felt like I held my own <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (21:22):
You definitely held your arm here. Here it is. Oh cool. That’s the exact same shirt I put my, my boys only wear that white tank top that you’re wearing.
Jennifer Thompson (21:33):
Well, it was funny cuz it was the Battleax gym and they were having their 11th year anniversary and, um, we had just flown in and they’re like, we’re having a party tonight. And it’s a Wolverine theme party, so you have to wear something Wolverine like, and I had, I just happened to pack, you know, the weight tank top and jeans. I’m like, okay, I’m good to go <laugh>. I’m ready to wolverine out anytime.
Sevan Matossian (21:55):
I love Wolverine. Listen, listen to this guys. Here’s another reason. Do not let this resource, Jen Thompson, uh, fall outta your, uh, reach anyone. Do not forget her. Uh, she start, when she started, uh, she, I mean she was already strong when she started, which is kind of unfair. She started, uh, with a back squad of 180 5, a bench of two 15 and a deadlift of 300 in ba That was in basically 1999. In 25
Jennifer Thompson (22:21):
Years, one
Sevan Matossian (22:22):
In 25 years, she has lost, uh, she’s only made gains basically. And she’s never been injured ex Well she, she’s never lost, not had gains except for the couple times she’s been injured. And at 50 she’s extremely healthy and never had shoulder issues. Is that, is that That’s correct. Fair character. Yeah. It’s nuts. No. Shoulder issues is crazy. You don’t hear that very often from, uh, expressing
Jennifer Thompson (22:43):
I get all, yeah, everyone always asks me that. But I do think it’s just, um, a lot of technique and, um, listening to yourself while you’re training, you know, not going too crazy sometimes when you’re not feeling it. You can go a little overboard sometimes, but I just think we’ve always had a really great training program in the way we do things and it’s, um, served me well over all many years. <laugh>,
Sevan Matossian (23:04):
Do you ever get any body work done? Do you have like a chiropractor or a PT that works on you regularly or ever? No. No. That’s awesome
Jennifer Thompson (23:12):
That I’ve only gone to PT when I’ve had an injury. Um, and, uh, and then I just, that’s it. I do some Where
Sevan Matossian (23:19):
Are those injuries?
Jennifer Thompson (23:21):
Um, well I, I had to have hip surgery. Um, I’m a sumo dud lifter. Okay. And, um, over years of sumo, I like, uh, wore like a divot in my femur, which made like a calcification that like shredded my labrum tendon. So I had to go in and have them, um, fix that just laparoscopically. But that was a little bit of a comeback. And then, um, I tore my ator muscle, uh, squatting. And then that was a little bit of a rehab.
Sevan Matossian (23:52):
And what, what did you call a abator? Ap
Jennifer Thompson (23:55):
Ator. So it’s the muscle, like if you were to take your foot and you were to turn it to the side, it’s the muscle that turns your foot out.
Sevan Matossian (24:01):
Uh, like that. I, I spelled it wrong, but I think I found it.
Jennifer Thompson (24:05):
I think I said that right.
Sevan Matossian (24:07):
<laugh>. Wow. That, oh, here we go. This is a good comment. That does not look like a, uh, um, too mochi. Hold on. Before we get to that, I just need to see how, I just want to see her facial reaction to this comment. <laugh>, she goes one of two ways. She’s like either, oh no, not, or no, it’s not. Gimme one second. Gimme one second here. Okay, so you tore this muscle here?
Jennifer Thompson (24:27):
I think so.
Sevan Matossian (24:28):
Oh, sorry. You’re on a phone.
Jennifer Thompson (24:29):
It’s way deep in the glute. It’s way deep in the glute.
Sevan Matossian (24:33):
And, and you have to have surgery for that.
Jennifer Thompson (24:35):
I didn’t, it was like, um, it was like a gr they, they called it a grade three tear, which I guess is fairly significant, but not all. That’s, that’s
Sevan Matossian (24:43):
The worst of them. Yeah.
Jennifer Thompson (24:44):
That things
Sevan Matossian (24:44):
Done for <laugh>, but it’s not. But yours healed.
Jennifer Thompson (24:48):
It’s still going. Yes. As long as I keep up with, uh, certain exercises, it’s, it’s pretty good. If I fall off then I start feeling it tug again. But I’ve worked with SWAT University, um, on it and I feel like that guy is a genius and a miracle coworker. <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (25:05):
A and um, uh, one of the things is you’re a big proponent and anyone who subscribes to your um, training will see your big proponent of sets of five. Right. But with squat, um, you’ve reduced it to two or three, but mostly for mental issues right
Jennifer Thompson (25:20):
There. And Basical, like my, my hip can’t handle the volume anymore. Okay. Like it used to a volume of heavy weights. So I’ve had to kind of muck around with that a little bit cuz after I’ll do a few, then I’ll start feeling that muscle start tugging a little bit. Like, okay, we’re good. So a lot of it’s like training, like listening to what your body’s saying and when it’s done, it’s done.
Sevan Matossian (25:41):
Why are these guys saying you do a fake deadlift? I mean, besides the fact that they’re meathead. Oh cause
Jennifer Thompson (25:46):
It’s sumo. People think sumo is fake
Sevan Matossian (25:48):
<laugh>. Oh really? And why is that? You, you’re still, you’re still, because your legs are, are just wide and you’re bending onto, it’s a little
Jennifer Thompson (25:54):
Bit of a shorter pull for some people. Like I did a post on it a long time ago. The difference between my conventional and my sumo pull was like three inch difference. Um, but people that say sumo is not a real deadlift or people that can’t sumo, so they say it’s not real cuz they’re bad at it.
Sevan Matossian (26:11):
Well, especially when you’re in the CrossFit community, there’s never been a heavy sumo deadlift, which would be actually awesome if they pulled that out at some point. Oh,
Jennifer Thompson (26:20):
It just depends on the person. Like some people, like your game is conventional. Like I can’t pull a conventional for shit. Um, your
Sevan Matossian (26:27):
Skeleton just doesn’t fit it. Conventional is your hands are on the outside, is that what you’re saying? Well, we’re used to,
Jennifer Thompson (26:31):
Well your feet are together, like your feet are like shoulder width apart. Yeah. And your hands are the outside. Um, I’m just, it’s like almost a hundred pounds difference between my conventional and my sumo. My sumo is like great. But then we have people in our gym that can conventional like a shit time, but barely pull too well. They just can’t do it. So I think see
Sevan Matossian (26:49):
It’s just the way you’re made up, right? I think
Jennifer Thompson (26:51):
It’s just the way you’re made up, the way your muscles work. You’re
Sevan Matossian (26:53):
God, it’d be cool to have that at the CrossFit games this year. They pull I think so too lifted everyone. I think so too. I think,
Jennifer Thompson (26:59):
Well some people will take it crazy kind of like what the bench arch, you know, some people real short, people take their feet all the way to the end, to the plates and then they’re pulling it a couple inches, you know? So I improve. Same thing with bench. You know, some people get those rainbow arches and move the barn inch so people, you know, they go a little crazy about it. So Sumo gets a bad rap.
Sevan Matossian (27:19):
What about, what about implants? What about implants? Women who have implants Does, is that my help? <laugh>. So, so that is, wouldn’t that be cheating?
Jennifer Thompson (27:28):
Oh, I don’t know. I I, dude, holy
Sevan Matossian (27:30):
Moly, I would get the biggest implants if that was my game.
Jennifer Thompson (27:35):
My husband has made that argument with me a few times.
Sevan Matossian (27:38):
Or, or does he have a a, an agenda <laugh>? He might. Where is he? He might <laugh>. He might. Or, or you know, what else you could do is cra that you could also wear a bra that pushes them closer together to make them stand taller. I’m surprised there isn’t that kind of cheating.
Jennifer Thompson (27:56):
Well, I mean, you still have to have the control to be able to bring that heavy weight down to that level. Of course. Yes. And bring it back. So you’re kind of doing a partial rep anyway. But yeah, I don’t know. I mean, there’s not that much money in this sport, so I don’t know why you would completely <laugh> change your body for, you know, a little more pounds on the bench press <laugh>,
Sevan Matossian (28:16):
Uh, Jen. So, uh, so you, so you get, you’re in that marine fitness program, uh, sophomore, junior, senior year.
Jennifer Thompson (28:23):
Mm-hmm.
Sevan Matossian (28:23):
<affirmative> in, in, in high school. Um, does your dad say anything to you? Does anyone notice that your body’s changing? Do you notice that your mindset changes? Does it change like what you want to do with the future of your life at that point? Are you, are you thinking you’re gonna go to college and become a math teacher?
Jennifer Thompson (28:38):
Uh, no. I, I mean, it didn’t really, I, I mean, I was just kind of skinny with some muscle now <laugh>, so I wasn’t, you know, that huge, huge of a change. Um, I knew I wanted to go to college. Everyone in my town went to college. We, we were kind of like the poor kids that lived in a really rich town, so everybody went to college. So I knew I needed to go, but I knew I had to work to get there. So I mean, I was more just focused on, um, getting out of there and, um, being successful. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (29:10):
Did you, in, in that Marine class, did you ever touch any, any weights or bars or was it all calisthenics? Was it all pushups? Pullups, our,
Jennifer Thompson (29:16):
Our high school didn’t even have a weight room. We had like, do you remember the old universal machines? Yeah, we, yeah, that’s all we had one universal machine and that was it. There was no, like weights or even for our football team, nothing. There was just, it wasn’t just wasn’t a thing back then where we were anyway.
Sevan Matossian (29:34):
Did you consider going into the, uh, into the military after three years of hanging with those dudes?
Jennifer Thompson (29:39):
Yes. And uh, my current husband talked me out of it. <laugh>. He, was he in that class? No, he’s seven years older than I am actually. But he was in that class when he was in school and we, um, he was actually our high school wrestling teacher or coach when I Wow, wow. Uh, freshman or, uh, senior in high school. We.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
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