025 - The Health Movement Podcast - Carly Kane - How to workout and build muscle like a future BMX Olympian

[00:00:04] Hello everybody, welcome to episode number 25 of the Health Movement Podcast. Thank you all for joining us again. So excited that we're still doing this. I'm Derek. I am a certified personal trainer and a teacher of over 20 years. I'm Tim. I'm a certified athletic trainer, nationally registered ENT and a wellness coach. And before I introduce our guest, and I'm not lying, I'm incredibly excited to talk to her today. We're not doctors.

[00:00:33] So things here are our opinions, what we think before you're changing any nutrition or new workout programs or whatever you happen to do. Check with your doctor, please. Also, you can find us over at the Health Movement Podcast on YouTube. We're on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever else you may find it. I'm sure you're listening on one of them. So obviously you found that. You can jump over to our website healthmovement.us and sign up for our newsletter on there as well.

[00:01:04] So I'm going to introduce this guest. I'm super excited. Carly Kane is with us. She is a professional BMXer and the first professional athlete in over 20 years from Huffy. Carly, thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm super excited. I just got to start and ask how you got going with BMX and what led you to this being a profession.

[00:01:30] So my dad raced motocross when he was a kid and he got my sister and I into BMX. I was eight. My sister was six. And I actually did not. I was not interested. I didn't want to race. I had no, no desire whatsoever. My sister was the one who was pretty excited to try it and she ended up hating it and I ended up loving it. And here I am. Nice. And how old are you now? I just turned 23.

[00:01:58] All right. It's 15 years. That's great. So what, how often are you doing this? You said you're in Indiana. Yeah. I imagine the wintertime in Indiana, are there indoor tracks that you start going towards or is it all indoor? Like I'm, I'm very new to all the BMX world.

[00:02:15] Yeah. The Midwest winters are tough. Um, so usually I'm, I'm traveling a lot. And so I kind of avoid part of the winter at least. Um, two years ago I went to Florida for a month. Last year I was actually in New Zealand and Australia for a month. And so like I got summer, which was wonderful. Um, and then I actually am going to go to Florida for six weeks.

[00:02:34] I leave on Saturday. So it'll be nice. I'll have like, you know, some nice weather to train in. Um, it's hard, like the, you know, November, December, I'm always here because, you know, Christmas holidays, all that stuff. And, uh, you just have to kind of make the best of it. I've been riding, you know, subpar tracks. There is one indoor track, but there's no heat and the roof leaks. So it's pretty, uh, it's not really indoor, you know, but it, you gotta do what you can with what you got. So that's what I do.

[00:03:06] Nice. Can you, can you give us a little insight? So what, like, what are the variances in like distances or like, you know, what's the, what's the typical, like the amount of, you know, the overall distance that you end up riding or, you know, obviously different terrains or that kind of stuff.

[00:03:22] Yeah. So we have different tracks, but honestly, usually it's anywhere from like 30 to 42 ish seconds for a lap. No more than that. Um, and we have qualifying rounds. And so usually it's three qualifying rounds, total points. And then you transfer on to the next, the next round, whether that's quarter finals or semifinals.

[00:03:44] And it's top four from each of those rounds transfer on. And so the final is the best eight of the day. And so it's always eight people in a gate for like a full gate. Now for qualifying rounds, you don't always have that many people, but for a final, you always have eight. And how many, I missed that. How many total laps? Is it just one or is it?

[00:04:05] So it's three, three qualifying laps. And then depending on how many riders you have, you'll have semifinals, quarterfinals. Sometimes you have eighth finals, but usually that's just for the men's class. Usually the women's class doesn't have that many. Um, and then the final. Um, and then the final. So it depends. It can be anywhere from four to, you know, eight, if you have a ton of riders. So it just depends on the race day and the size of the race.

[00:04:35] So it's not super endurance. No. I mean, it's quick for kind of, yes, it's all anaerobic explosive power stuff. Yeah. I was watching a couple of the videos. How varied do the tracks themselves get? I know distance changes, but in terms of obstacles and jumps and bank turns and everything.

[00:04:57] I mean, there's a lot of variation. Uh, there's also variation in like, you know, some turns are dirt, some are paved. And then there's also limestone tracks. There's dirt tracks. There's, yeah, there's tracks that are made of like the surfaces, glue and sand. And so it's like, cool. It is. It's a super hard surface. It's paved essentially. So if you crash, it's not fun.

[00:05:24] No, no. Yeah. Um, have you had any bad crashes, any, any injuries that have kept you out for a bit? Yes. Uh, definitely. I've had my fair share of falls on the BMX track, but my worst one was actually, uh, racing pump track, which is a different discipline. Pump track is just, it's a paved track. Some of my videos that you may have seen on Instagram, I'm riding a pump track. You don't pedal at all. You just use your body weight to get around the track. Oh, okay.

[00:06:19] Tip of my collarbone, which I don't know how I didn't break it, but I just like crushed it. So, um, yeah, that one took a while and the collarbone was not that big of a deal, but, um, the concussion was really bad. I had to have like a month and a half off the bike. And then when I started riding again, I was having a bunch of balance issues.

[00:06:40] And I ended up seeing that my pupils were different sizes. And so, um, I had to do a bunch of vestibular physical therapy to kind of like help with the fluid in your ears or whatever. Um, and that's why my pupils were different sizes. Um, but yeah, it was a, it was a process. And I was like, I didn't race for like six months. I rode as best I could, but it was, it was hard mentally and physically. I, yeah, I imagine.

[00:07:08] That was, that was a little over two years ago. Is that what that was? Yes, that was. How long ago was that? Of 2022. 2022.

[00:07:15] That's what it took about two years ago. So, I mean, that's, and that's, and that's a lot of the stuff I've worked with a lot of, you know, TBI kind of stuff. And it's a long road and there's, there's so many different components to it too, that you have to, the vestibular stuff is tough. That's a, that's a tough, uh, um, you know, there's a lot of, a lot of post-concussive symptoms that go with that.

[00:07:38] But it's, uh, it's definitely, especially doing something that like you're doing where you're, it's quick motion really depends on balance. Like it's, uh, that's a, that's a hard road to come back. What, so aside from the vestibular stuff, like did you do any physical therapy or, um, did you do any like balance training or did you see like concussion specialists or anything like that?

[00:08:01] I went to a few different concussion specialists. I talked to a couple of people who work with USA Cycling and it was really just like nobody, I didn't see anyone in person except for like just the regular doctor that I went to to get my MRIs and stuff. And they did MRIs of my brain and my, my collarbone too. Um, but it was hard because some of the stuff was virtual.

[00:08:22] And obviously I don't think you get the full, uh, understanding of like what's wrong if it's not in person. Um, and like, it was, it was horrible because every time I went off the lip of a jump, I felt like I was falling over to one side in the air.

[00:08:34] So the lady that ended up giving me my vestibular physical therapy, it was, uh, it was virtual and I still do it. Actually, I do it every single day. I like, I feel like I have to just stay on top of it, but it is, it's just balanced stuff. I just like stand on each leg, close my eyes and like turn my head up and down side to side and just 30 seconds on each leg and then 30 seconds with like my feet touching and, and that's it. And I just, it's a, I've made a routine of it, but, but yeah, that's all.

[00:09:03] I really did for the pupils. And the pupil, did they balance back out?

[00:09:11] Yeah, they're back to normal for the most part. I think my, my left one still adjusts to light a little bit slower. Um, but they're not different sizes anymore. And it was pretty significant. Like, especially it was weird when I got tired, it would be way, way different. And then in the morning it would, it would kind of even out a little bit. And then throughout the day it would change again. It was very, I don't, I don't know. Very weird.

[00:09:35] Yeah. That, yeah, that must've been shocking the first time you noticed it. You know, like, well, that, that doesn't look right. Yeah. Something's off. It wasn't, it wasn't me. Yeah.

[00:09:45] So I, uh, I had a friend who had a bunch of concussions from BMX and he was talking to one of our mutual friends together and we were like, oh yeah, like your pupils are different sizes. And so like jokingly, I was like, oh, are mine? Cause like I had a concussion and they looked and they were like, yeah. And I was like, oh my gosh, what? Like, this is horrible. So that's how I found out. That's crazy.

[00:10:10] Well, and especially going through something like that. Like if you, you talk about people at, at, you know, the, the USA level or the, you know, the, those kinds of athletes have whole teams of doctors or, or like, you know, people that they can see in person. And so going through that over virtuals, virtual visits and stuff like that, that's a challenge. So it's like, you know, it's a testament to you to, to put the work in.

[00:10:37] And, and that's the thing that you're talking about putting in the, you know, still doing the vestibular stuff. Like some, you know, a lot of that stuff is, it, it's gotta be, it's gotta be, especially after something like that, a serious injury like that. And then, you know, what about your shoulder? Did you have any, any complications with the shoulder? You just kind of waited for the bone to heal and you were good there?

[00:10:59] Yeah. I mean, I think I have scar tissue in both my shoulders. I, uh, separated one and then I just, like I said, crushed the tip of my collarbone in the other. I didn't ever do like physical therapy for that. Just, you know, I think the more you use something, the better it feels.

[00:11:14] So like whenever I have an injury, I, you know, if I'm doing something in the gym that requires me to use that body part, I'm like, sweet, we're making it stronger. So, I mean, it, it doesn't bother me much anymore. Sometimes doing cleans, if my elbows aren't coming through great, like I can notice it. Like I'm like, ah, I need to, my elbows gotta come through better, you know, but it doesn't, there was nothing, no complications from that.

[00:11:39] That's awesome though. That you're able to, to, to self-regulate there as you're doing the different functional movements and realizing like, all right, I was off. Let me figure out why. And then you kind of fixed it and go from there. Cause a lot of people just keep doing it the same way and keep making it worse and not, not, think about it. I think, I think you learned from, from trial and error. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. You don't want too much error cause that's when you get hurt too much.

[00:12:07] But talking about training, I have to ask you about your hat you have on cool knit. We had, uh, Craig Guile on, uh, episode 11 or 12 or 13. I don't remember what it was. Incredible guy, incredible product. And obviously you're familiar with it if you're sporting the hat. So shout out to Craig. Uh, can you tell us a little bit about your training? Yeah. So, well, let me just, let me start from the beginning.

[00:12:35] So I actually had an Instagram follower who sent me a Huberman podcast episode. Um, and it was the one about the cool knit, um, because Huberman has. I remember that. Yeah. Yes. And I remember like getting the podcast and opening Spotify and I was like, oh my gosh, this is like, you know, three hours long. I'm not going to listen to all this. That's crazy. Like, and I turned it on. I started listening to it and I was hooked.

[00:12:59] And I listened to the entire thing. I was like, wow, like I really want to get one of these. And so after I listened to it, I emailed cool mitt. So Craig, and I told him that I wanted to get one. And so I ended up getting my hands on one. I started using it and it is, it's crazy. Like how much it does change the way that you feel during training and after training, especially when you're doing stuff where you are getting that muscle burnout.

[00:13:24] Um, so anyway, uh, I started just doing my own thing in the gym. I didn't have a coach or anything. And then I reached out to Craig because I was wanting a strength coach specifically for, you know, what I do. And so he actually got me in contact with my current strength coach and he works for, he's the strength coach for the Washington wizards.

[00:13:44] And so Craig is like my go-to if I need somebody. I'm like, Hey, do you know anybody like who's, you know, who can help me with this or whatever, but you know, that's not a bad idea. Yeah. Reach out to him. Yeah. He's, he's got connections and. Oh, go ahead. How, how often are you like, do you still use it frequently? I do. Yeah. Is it part of your regular training?

[00:14:07] So yes. And it's, it depends on the block of the gym that I'm into. Um, and it's hard in the winter. I was telling Craig when it's cold, like I don't get nearly as hot, obviously. Um, whereas like when I go to Florida, I can't wait to have it with me. Cause I'm going to be, you know, dying of heat.

[00:14:26] So I'm used to the winter here now, but, um, especially like on race days, it's been really helpful because, um, you know, I'll look at my whoop data and my heart rate just will like stay at 110 for like an entire race day. And obviously our lap, our laps are short. Like I said, it's 30 to 45 seconds, but we have anywhere from, you know, 30 minutes to an hour and a half in between laps. So if my heart rate stays up all day, like I'm exhausted, I'm completely fatigued.

[00:14:55] And so when I use it and I have my hand in there, I can usually get my heart rate down to like 80 on a race day with the adrenaline. And that's huge because it's saving, saving energy. It's cooling me down. And so you recover a lot faster. And also I'm not wasting energy, you know? So that's, that is the biggest thing I think.

[00:15:13] Like, and then, um, I used it during a crazy training block. My coach had me in this insane training block where I was doing sets of 20 for like 15 different movements. And I was like, are we supposed to train this way? Like I'm supposed to be explosive, you know?

[00:15:28] And he sent me like all of this information about like sprint training and how this would help. And so I was doing these insane, this insane volume. And it was unbelievable. The strength gains that I saw in three weeks with using the cool mitt during that time.

[00:15:44] And I also, my resting heart rate went from like 54 beats per minute down to 38. It was unbelievable in three weeks. Unbelievable. I've never, ever seen gains like that in such a short period of time. Now that's not sustainable.

[00:15:59] I was literally lifting six days a week, but, and it was just a 45 minute session. It would murder me. And you know, it was, the gains were insane. That was actually when I was coming back from the concussion. So I wasn't doing a ton of on-bike stuff and we were just conditioning. Um, but it was, it was crazy. So yeah, no, I, I really, really value the cool mitt and it helps a lot, especially like I said, with that higher volume stuff.

[00:16:25] And that's, it's incredible that you could, especially with the, the whoop we've, uh, we've, we've, we've had a conversation about the whoop on here. Cause I'm about probably two and a half months into using it myself. Oh gosh. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. I like, I don't have the, I don't have the fancy band yet. Oh, she's showing you up there. You'll get that. But that's your, your, well, that's the whole thing, you know? So, but I, I love it. I, and it's, and I told Derek, like it's, it's made me.

[00:16:54] Hey, Hey, it's motivating me, but it's also like, it, I'm a bit obsessive about it too. But with the cool mitt, like you, it's, you're your own case study. You know what I mean? It's like, it's, you can track it yourself and track your data. And it's a, that's a big, um, you know, the big aspect to being able to see that, like tangibly see those results and know that it's a, you know that you're feeling the difference, but then also being able to see the difference on, on paper makes a big difference too. So yeah. And that's pretty cool.

[00:17:24] Yeah. I love, I love proof, you know, like I want to know why I'm doing something. So I actually, I would love to, Craig was talking about using it before you go to bed because like you have to get your core body temperature down to go to sleep, obviously. And I haven't tried it, but I want to try it. I should try it. There's no reason it's sitting in my room. Like I need to try it. It's an easy time to do it. You just have to remember. Sure. Yeah. It's usually like you crawl into bed and you're like, Oh shoot. I forgot. But I am. Yeah. You're not getting up at that point.

[00:17:53] Exactly. Yeah. You're good to go. But, uh, I'm, I'm wondering if I would see, I'm sure I would see an impact with the sleep score on, on my whoop, you know? Yeah. See, I have an Apple watch and Tim keeps trying to get me to go to the whoop, but I, I, I, this works for me and I'm happy, but I do love the data. Um, and the more information you have, the better it is. And I'm, I'm even thinking of like writing down workouts in your rep ranges

[00:18:21] and your weights and tracking your meals. And also like, if you realize, all right, I'm not feeling great and you can look back at what you've been doing, what you've been eating. You can usually find a pattern or a reason for it. So the more data you keep, it's like running a business, you know, you, you want to keep as much information as you can so you can see trends and see what works and what doesn't. Well, the other thing with that, and not to get off topic here too much, but the, the Apple watch, like they, they kind of feed off of each other. Like your whoop will pull

[00:18:50] stuff off your Apple watch too. So I'll just throw that out there, but that's, you're not sponsoring us. Yeah, I know. I know. But like, but it's like, you know, honestly, I'm the, I'm the nerd with both, both on at the, like my wife loves to make fun of me. Well, you have both on? Yeah. Well, this isn't a watch, you know what I mean? This is a, this is just data. Like the watch is like so much more. Hold it up. Let me see both of them on you. No, my, my, I charged an upstairs.

[00:19:16] So it died when I was halfway through my workout. So, uh, but that's, you know, that's the kind of stuff that it, it, it does like the, the data behind what you're doing, especially when you're at your level, Carly, like it's, it, it, you're looking for that 1%, 2% difference that's going to set you apart. And that's a, you know, that's a big, it's a big difference to make it for sure. Do you tell any of the competition when like you're sliding your hand in the mitt and they're like,

[00:19:44] what are you doing? Or do you like hide in the back so nobody can see you? I, I like it. I'll tell people if they ask. Um, I usually, I'm kind of like in my tent and like people don't see it that much, you know, I don't know, but no. Um, but I, I have people about it. And I, and I, like I said, I'm sold. I think it's hard for someone to see the benefits without using it. Um, and I can say the same, actually kind of going back to our concussion thing.

[00:20:12] I just started wearing, I don't know if you guys have seen like the cute collars. Do you know what that is? No, it's a, it's like a house. Yeah. There's a lot of football players who wear them now, but it's like, um, like a rubber and steel band that goes around your neck and it squeezes your jugular. And I started wearing it last year and that's something that I should have brought up when we talk about concussions, but I am completely sold. I used to get headaches

[00:20:37] all the time, just riding, like even before my concussion, I just prone to headaches. Don't get headaches anymore at all. And I, I just, yeah, I'm fully sold. It's supposed to make your brain retain more blood so that if you hit your head, you essentially have like more cushioning. Um, and my dad was like, Oh, like no way. Like that's just placebo placebo. And I was like, I'm just going to try it. Yeah. I got one from him and it a hundred percent like sold. But again,

[00:21:03] that's something that like, if you don't try it and you see for yourself, like it would be hard to be like, Oh yeah, I'm going to get one of those, you know? That's awesome. Now I, I some, I've been trying to learn the software a little better. Can I show a clip of you racing and actually see if it works? Sure. Yeah. We'll try it. Is that all right? I'm going to try and share the screen here. I'll try and describe. Oh, where is it? Oh, here we go. I'll try to describe what we're seeing

[00:21:32] in case you're on, um, Spotify or whatever. Um, can you guys see this? Yep. All right. So Carly's going down. You have to watch this though. Cause it's, and I liked the slow motion effect in it too. And the, um, the one coming up right here, I thought was a great view, the head

[00:21:52] on view, but like, this is everybody's dream to be able to do this. And I am like, I, I, I'm not, I won't say jealous, but I'm a little jealous because I had the, the GT performer. It was like this neon blue with mag wheels and pegs on the front. And I would go down my driveway. And then that's as fast as I would be like, we'd go down the street, but we'd hit these little jumps

[00:22:20] that are like six inches high. Like, dude, you see how high I got? And you'd be so excited. But then I watch you doing that and I'm like, wow, I was such a wuss. No, I didn't do anything cool. I was little, don't worry on my Barbie bike. I had a Barbie bike. When I was little, that's what I was doing. This wasn't the last look or anything. I'm saying like, I did the same thing, even though I was a little bit younger, I did the same things. Yeah. No, that does

[00:22:46] seem incredible. Do you, do you have any races in Massachusetts? Cause I imagine that's a hot bad at BMX biking. No, I think that one track in Massachusetts. Maybe, maybe I'm wrong. We have a lot of motor, we have a lot of motocross, but I don't think we have a lot of, uh, like BMX racing. Yeah. I mean, honestly, there's not a lot of BMX racing. Like even here, even

[00:23:13] when it is summertime, I drive two hours to Louisville or an hour and 20 minutes to Columbus, Indiana. So there's nothing close that's, um, you know, like there's a couple of small tracks, but there's no big tracks close to me. So I'm driving pretty far to practice. No. And how frequently are you doing that? I mean, in the summer, usually three, four days a week. Um, and then in the winter it's

[00:23:41] literally whenever I can. So it's less, but you know, if I have a week where it's three days or four days that it's nice out, like I'm gonna, I'm going to go ride three or four days. Yeah. That's a heck of a commute. Yeah. Yeah. If you, if you were really serious about this, you would just ride your bike there. I know. What am I going? Slacking. So what's the, when, when do the races start picking up?

[00:24:10] So this is, so usually it's pretty much year round. Like last year I raced my last race of the year over Thanksgiving weekend. It's always Thanksgiving weekend. And then, um, last year I left for New Zealand on like January 26th. So it's a little bit of time off, but not really. Um, this year I don't race until the end of March, which is, awesome. I've never had, um, like an actual off season. And so I'm excited. Like I, I want

[00:24:37] to get some good work put in and, and, you know, have a solid base going into 2025. And where's that race? The one at the end of March? That is in Rock Hill, South Carolina. So that's actually where the world champion. I love Rock Hill. Really? I was just, yeah, I was just there last week. So I used to work as an athletic trainer for, uh, a basketball team and we, we did a, uh, a, uh, tournament at Winthrop, which is in

[00:25:04] Rock Hill, uh, Winthrop College or university. Um, so we spent some time down there for, I was there for an entire weekend before Thanksgiving last year. Yeah. So that's where, um, the world championships were this year too. They were in the States, which was really cool. Okay. Yeah. So what, what are your aspirations with this and like how, I guess I don't know much about the professional circuit with, with BMXing. Um, and now I'm going to, I'm going to start

[00:25:33] paying attention to it a lot more closely. Um, but where, where are you in terms of your profession and where you're, you're heading with this? Um, I mean, honestly, and, and it's kind of like, it's a bummer because I wish I would have started taking BMX more seriously sooner. Um, but so like this year I got sixth at the world championships. If I would have got third, I would

[00:25:58] have had an automatic spot for the Olympics. Um, which was a bummer cause I, yes. Uh, cause I came out of the first corner and fourth. So I came out of the first corner and fourth and I was like, like, Oh my gosh, like, um, you know, I'm one spot off right now. And then, and then two people passed me ended up sixth. And it was, it was like bittersweet because I, I was really, really close and I didn't even like believe that I could be in that position, but also I had never, I had never

[00:26:25] had like a national plate as an amateur. I'd never had a world plate as an amateur. This is my first year as elite. And so to be a first year elite and get my first world plate ever is like awesome. Yep. So cause they only give out a huge deal. Yes. And they only give out, uh, one through eight because it's eight people in the final. So there's not like there's, there's not a world, you know, nine through whatever. Like it's literally just top eight. And so, um, it was really cool.

[00:26:54] Like I said, it was like, it was bittersweet cause I was so close, especially like when I came out of that first corner and fourth, I just remember being like, Oh my God, this is crazy. You know? When was that rate? That was in, like, when was that qualifying race? That was in May. So that was the world. So you were, you had only been back riding for like about a year after, right? If that.

[00:27:20] Yeah. So the injury. So I got injured and then November of 2022, my first race back from that injury was May of 2023. So yeah, it was almost exactly a year. And actually it was crazy because so I raced world champs and then the next weekend I raced in Nashville and Nashville the year before. So my first race back from my concussion is where I got my very first pro podium on the USA BMX circuit.

[00:27:50] So it was cool because it was like, wow, like, you know, in a year, like, you know, I've got, you know, way more podiums and, and now I'm world six. Like what the heck? Like this is crazy. So it's cool to see like, yeah, it's cool to see the progress in a year. Um, but back to what I was saying before, it's kind of a bummer because I didn't start taking it seriously at all until 2021. Like I had never done a gym session in my life. I had just rode my bike for fun and I didn't really

[00:28:20] care about like being fast. I just wanted to ride my bike and have fun and, you know, screw around. And, and so 2020, I turned pro have the pro class and then they have the junior elite class. This is going to be a little confusing. So if you guys have questions, let me know. So junior elite, 17 and 18 year olds, but it's birth year. So it's not based on your actual birth date. It's just

[00:28:45] the year that you were born. Okay. So I'm born in December, December 4th, which is horrible for my UCI birthday. Thank you. Um, and so, yeah, yes. So all of the girls that I race, you're the younger ones. Yes. And I shouldn't say all, but majority of the girls that I was racing, they were still junior elite and I was not junior elite anymore. I had to either be pro or continue to race amateur.

[00:29:12] And so with junior elite, you can race junior elite and you can race amateur. And the difference is you're racing off the pro hill for junior elite and you're getting that practice on the bigger hill and an amateur you're racing on the smaller hill. So I being probably a little bit stupid, I was like, okay, I'm good. I'm just going to go pro, you know, like this will be, this will be great. I'll get practice on the big hill. I'm going to turn pro. Like all will be, all will be well. And so I turned

[00:29:37] pro and immediately they canceled all of the races because of COVID. And so they had all of the pro races canceled, but they still had amateur races. And so at these amateur races, I could race a pro open, but I was racing against men. And I don't know if you've seen any men BMX racers, but it is not a close race. So anyway, that whole year, I just kind of like, again, rode my bike, had fun. I was

[00:30:05] like, I'm going to be good. Once I race, like, you know, girls in the pro class 2021 hit and my very first race, I was like, wow, these girls are fast. Like I'm going to have to do something. Like if I want to, if I want to do something with BMX. And so long story short, which wasn't really short, but I started training pretty late and I feel like I'm still catching up, you know, but I do want to, I want to, you know, I want to go to the Olympics in 2028. There's no reason. I was just going to ask that. Is that still the goal?

[00:30:35] That's awesome though. You've got four years to plan it out. You know what you need to do. You've got, you got Craig in the cool minute, you got your coach and you can set up a plan and now, you know, or you're learning, you're improving on, all right, I need to do this for this reason. It's going to take this amount of time. Yep. Um, that's awesome. That's super exciting. I got like 1280 days or

[00:31:00] something. So, so the 2020 who's counting? No, not me. I don't know. That's great. Um, is nutrition playing a big part in this now too, or is that something you're focusing on in terms of training? Yeah. So that was kind of an ordeal. Uh, so after

[00:31:25] May of 2023, I was like, okay, I want to, I want to start like actually eating better. And I love, I love food like more than anyone. I love food so much. I will eat anybody. And I, I can't even express to you like my happiness is food. I love it. So anyway, I was like, I want to, I want to, you know, start tracking and kind of having a plan.

[00:31:49] And so I reached out to this person who had given plans to some other athletes in BMX and he was a bodybuilder a long time ago. Um, super fit guy. I was like, okay, yeah, this, this seems right. You know, it gives me macros and I leaned out probably way too fast. I lost weight. Um, I was like, wow, like I feel great. Like I'm super lean. Like this is awesome. You know, like this is what I want.

[00:32:16] And then I started having like a bunch of issues because I was, I wasn't eating enough at all. And so like, uh, yeah, like it was, it was not even close to enough. And it was like, I had my calories set at like 1700 calories. I burned like, it was low. With how much you're exercising in the, in the intensity of the races and everything you, yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. That's, that's, you need a lot.

[00:32:43] Not good. Yeah. And so I like felt great for like two months. I was like, this is awesome. And then after two months I was like, I feel really like, like bloated and like, I'm like, I'm holding onto stuff. Like I just feel kind of horrible. And it wasn't that I had like gained weight back, but I didn't feel like I looked the same and I cared about that. Whereas like, I, you shouldn't, first of all, like I'm, I'm an athlete. I shouldn't be worried about

[00:33:08] like physique. I'm not a bodybuilder, you know? And so even though that would be really cool at some point to be a bodybuilder, so maybe, but again, I like food. After BMX, you can, you can turn to that. Yeah. But so I kind of like kept with that and I kept eating that amount of calories and I was just kind of frustrated and super irritable because again, like I like food and I was just restricting, restricting, restricting. And so back in November, I ended up meeting with

[00:33:37] a nutritionist. He's actually Iowa state football teams, nutritionist, super cool dude. And he kind of got me on the right track. So my calories needless to say are a lot higher now. I'm a lot happier. I feel like I've got a lot more energy in the gym and it was crazy. I actually, he said I was drinking too much water. So I was drinking like over a day and I'm a small

[00:34:01] person. And so I was just very, I just was very, very bloated. I didn't feel good and I didn't know why obviously eating more helped with that, but also drinking a little bit less helped with that too. But yeah, nutrition is, it's a big part. And I feel like I have like a little bit of a new outlook on it since November because I was doing everything wrong for what I'm, for what I do, you know? Was that your first time seeing a nutritionist?

[00:34:30] Yes. Like an actual certified nutritionist. Yeah. And I put it off for way too long and I just kind of thought like, oh, I can do this myself. And you know, I just, no, like I needed somebody to tell me and give me information. And that's what I'm talking, that goes back to, again, you talk, you know, these division one athletics programs or these professional sports programs, but they have all of this set

[00:34:56] up in a program, right? And they have their athletes doing all these things. So in this type of sport or the environment that you're in, you don't have that necessary support system to maximize that performance too. So that's where, you know, just trying to dial all that stuff in is going to make a huge, that'll make a huge difference for you performance wise. Like that's, you know, go ahead. Go ahead. Well, I was just going to say, I'm really excited, especially because like I said, now I have like

[00:35:26] this, this building block in this off season. And like before I was trying to build on, you know, not even eating nearly enough. And so now I'm going to, you know, hopefully have some, have some extra juice, you know? Yeah. And you can, I was just going to say, you can like pack on some muscle now in the off season and then work on the, you know, more of the, the power can do. Well, if, if you, if there's sprints, you want to build that explosive muscle as much as possible. So that's

[00:35:54] going to be, that's going to be great. Yeah. And then you go back to that, those three weeks that you were talking about where you saw those gains and those, you know, you're doing six workouts a week. Like if you're not fueling that correctly, you're good, you're not going to get as much out of it as you possibly can. So now if you think of, if you're doing, you know, you, you got your training dialed in, which are you tripping? And it's a, it's a deadly combination.

[00:36:19] Yeah. I'm really excited. And, and especially because like, I was actually, I just started working with, um, an actual like sprint coach for my on bike stuff. So I still have my strength coach and then I have my sprint coach too, but I was just talking to him about this and it's, it's weird. Like, uh, I feel like I'm more, uh, inclined to like be better at lifting for volume. And so like,

[00:36:43] naturally, if I, you know, I'm doing like a 10 rep max, I can increase that amount so much more than a single rep max. So I'm actually hoping that I see gains with my, like, you know, one, two, three rep maxes instead of like my, my higher volume stuff, because in, in this sport, like it doesn't really matter. That stuff's just for conditioning. You know what I mean? For the most part, like you just want to move weight fast. And so I'm hoping that, you know, I can kind of move the needle a little bit

[00:37:11] with my heavier lifts. Yeah. And I've, I've known a good number of starting coaches that barely ever wouldn't rep max anything when you just go off of 85% or whatever you're, you know, it's like, it's just doing the math equation where it's just, you know what I mean? So it's, it really is just trying to figure out, you know, what works for you and what works for your sport, you know? And,

[00:37:37] um, you know, and, and that's where it's, are there people that are specifically like, have you, like, uh, your strength coach, you said was the wizard strength coach. Is that what you said? Yes, he is. Um, so that's like, those are two different sports, you know, two different, very different athletes, you know, it's, you know, you're working with, I mean, I've, I've, worked in the basketball realm, um, for, for a couple of years and, and that's, uh, you're

[00:38:05] training those athletes differently than any other athlete that you're working with because they're, they're literally, you know, trees. They're trying to get a tree to do a squat, you know? Yes, exactly. So, and it is, it's totally different. It's funny because I'm, you know, I'm four 11. So I have, you know, me and my coach is coaching, you know, super tall basketball players, but, but no, so I, when I first started working with him, he was a collegiate strength

[00:38:31] coach for a collegiate basketball team. And, um, right from the get go, I was like, I am not a basketball player. Like we need to, we need to figure out what's going to work for me. And so over the past couple of years, like we really dialed in what, what we are doing and he knows what I need and like what is required of me for my sport and what I need out of my gym sessions. Refine everything that we do. I know why I'm doing everything. Like that's, that's,

[00:39:00] that's a big thing for me. Like I have to know why, and I have to be able to, I love that you asked him too, when you were doing the high rep stuff for, for 12, 15 different, different exercises. I love that though. And that the fact that you asked him and then he knew what he was talking about. It wasn't like you weren't challenging him. I can't imagine it was more, you want to know why you're doing what you're doing so you can, you can continue to improve.

[00:39:24] Totally. And he's super receptive to that. And you know, we're virtual obviously, but like if I need a two hour explanation of why we're doing something, like he will hop on the phone and give it to me. Like he, he is super, you know, flexible and we'll change things if I don't like something. And it's, it's just, it's good. It's a good partnership we have. What do you want to give him a shout out? What his name is? Yes, I will. BMX racers listening. You don't have to. I don't know if that's allowed.

[00:39:54] No, no, no. I'm just kidding. His name is Matt Johnson and he's awesome. So he's a, yeah, he's fantastic. Sorry. I'm just writing that down. All good. And so, So you've got your strength coach, you've got your nutritionist, you've got your recovery guy with, with the cool Nick going on there. Um, that that's most of it. Are you sleeping? Do you, do you make sure you get your seven, eight hours of sleep a night?

[00:40:23] I mean, I'm lucky. I don't usually have to set an alarm. So, uh, I get my fair share of sleep for sure. I think I can be better about it. Um, I actually, so I actually just got, my mom was like reading about grounding sheets and she bought me one for Christmas. And so I just started using a grounding sheet and the first night, actually, that's not true. I've been using it for four nights now. And seriously, I have never had so many dreams.

[00:40:50] I was like, mom, it's like, I go to bed and it's like a movie. Like I just keep dreaming. Like it's insane. So, um, I'm liking that. But yeah, no, I'm, I'm lucky to wear it. Like I don't usually have to set an alarm. Um, and so, you know, if I'm getting to bed a little bit later because I'm riding late at night, two hours away, like I can sleep in, but I would say typically, I don't know. I like to go to bed early. So like, usually it's like 10 30 at the latest.

[00:41:19] That's early. Oh boy. At the latest. At the late. At the late 30 shows up, I'm like, oh, I'm so tired. No, usually I'm like, I'm like, you know, cuddled up with a book at like nine, but like 10 30 at the late. Okay. Okay. That's good. Well, and that's another thing that the whoop has made me kind of obsessive about is sleep. And it's, it's constantly telling me I need to go to, I wake up early. So

[00:41:45] it's constantly telling me, especially like I'll look at the peak time. Right. And then I'll look at it before, you know, but so it's like, I'll change, I'll change it, but I'll, I'll look at it before my workout and then I'll go, I'll look at it after my workout. And it's like a full hour earlier than I have to go to bed. I'm like, come on. And I, I wake up at, I, well, yeah, it's like that. Yeah, exactly. Like sometimes it's like, Hey, you're going to go to bed at 615. I can't do that. Like, I just can't, it's not possible.

[00:42:16] Yeah. And mine's the same way. I'm like, oh my gosh, how am I supposed to hit this a hundred percent sleep? Like, I don't think I could sleep that long, even if I wanted to. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I'm probably going to show my ignorance here, which isn't anything new. Um, but what, what's the, how old do people or how long do people usually ride for in terms of their age? Is this like mid thirties, forties? Like I.

[00:42:41] So BMX is, it, it, it depends on the person for sure. Um, right now the current world champions are 33 and 34 years old. So, um, Oh, okay. It's a pretty old sport. I would say, I shouldn't say old sport, but like, you know, you can ride for a long time so long as you don't, you know, hurt yourself. But, um, but yeah, like that's, I always, you know, like I said, it's a bummer that I didn't take it seriously earlier, but at the same time, like I have to

[00:43:08] remind myself that I have time, you know, it's hard to see people. Yeah. You just turned 23, you said, right? Yeah. But it is hard. So the Olympic, the trials were at 22, you'll be at 20, you'll be 26 for the next ones. Like you've got a couple more runs in you here. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. But it is tough to see, you know, girls my age or girls younger who like did get to go to the Olympics this year and people who like, I, I compete with and it's like, ah,

[00:43:36] like, you know, FOMO, like, Oh my gosh, watching the Olympics was horrible. It was like the worst thing ever. So it's like, Oh my, like, I have to be there next time. Or like, there's going to be a problem. Like I have to, that's, that's what you need sometimes though, is that, that reminder, like, all right, this is what I want. I didn't get it this time, but I'm getting it next time. So, so get out of my way. Cause again, and think of where, where you are from May till now, right. And just the things that

[00:44:03] we've talked about and, and just dialing all that stuff in. And now you've got three years to really work on it. Like the three and a half years, like that's a, that's a long time. That's a, that's a, you know, and like you said, like it, and I think that the thing is, is like you mentioned injury. Well, you get, you get hurt in any sport. You're going to get hurt. You're going to have mixed aches and pains, but then you also have serious injuries. Like you've already dealt with.

[00:44:31] And half of it is just how you bounce back and how you react to it. Right. And, and doing the things and putting the time into, to make yourself feel better. And that's, you know, I think that's a big thing where I saw a, a quote from, I don't know if you follow the NFL at all, but Michael Penix, who's the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. Yeah. And he, I think he had three torn ACLs of the

[00:44:54] same knee or in college. And so, but he said, you know, I, I would be more worried if, you know, people, I mean, he's like, he basically was like, I understand where people are coming from, but he was like, I'd be more worried about the person that didn't get hurt and hasn't overcome those things. I'm not saying that you want to have those things happen, but at the same time, like you find out a lot, and I'm sure you found out a lot about yourself going through that process.

[00:45:21] Yes. It's, you know, you probably hit some of the lowest points in your entire life and you have to pull yourself out of this, this hole that is, it's hard and it's not easy. Yeah. And that's, and, but think of, think of where you've come from there, you know? Exactly. And I think that's like, you know, obviously like, Oh, Oh, go ahead. I was going to say, it looks like he had four

[00:45:48] season ending injuries. I was like, what? Which is rough. Yeah, no, that is, that is, but I think that, you know, you're completely right. You kind of have to go through those things because looking back at any injury that I've ever had, like, yeah, it sucks, but also like it, it created me the way I am now, you know, it made me the way that I am. Um, and 2022,

[00:46:16] at the beginning, the beginning of 2022 was rough. So, and the end, cause I, you know, killed myself on a pump track, but the beginning I went to, I was going to go to Florida for a month, had a race in Florida and I was going to stay down there. And so, um, my boyfriend and I drove down to Florida. I raced the first day, the second day I separated my shoulder. And so I was like, well, I mean, I guess, I guess I have to drive home now. And so it was really funny. He's gonna,

[00:46:45] he's gonna not be happy that I said this, but, um, he, uh, he five years older than me and his parents never had a manual growing up and like, you know, six speed. So he does not know how to drive six speed. My car is a six speed. So, and I separated my right shoulder. So we shift. Yeah. Uh, so, and it, it was bad. Like I didn't realize how much you use your shoulder until, you know, you don't have one. And then I'm like, gosh, like what am I going to do? So

[00:47:15] he was originally going to fly home and I was staying in Florida with friends. So he canceled his flight and we drove home together, but we had to drive through a snowstorm and I had to drive with my arm. And so I was like driving, I would grab the bottom of the steering wheel with my bad, my bad shoulder. I'd reach over shift with my left hand. Oh, he must've felt awful the whole time too. Yeah. So it was not a quick 10 minute drive.

[00:47:41] That's a, that's an adventure. Well, and it's not like he can, you can't learn how to drive in a snowstorm either. So it's like, it's, it'd be different if you could go to a Walmart and try for like, you know, a couple hours and try to teach him how to do it. It's like where you're coming through something like that. That's pretty wild. So it was horrible though, because we drove, it was a 17 hour drive to West Palm and we drove to West Palm. And so we had on the way back. And

[00:48:07] then once we get, got to Knoxville, it was just, it was snow so bad that we had to stop. And so that was the bad part. Cause it was like, Oh my gosh, you know, we're five hours from home and we can't, we can't get home because of the snow. But anyway, so I had that injury. I trained through it. Like I, you know, as much as I could, you know, I couldn't do front squats or anything, but I was still back squatting. I put a band over top of the bar and I was holding the band in my, in my, in the

[00:48:33] front of my chest. And then my very first race back, I was feeling really good. And they, for some races, they have like an A final and a B final. So in like the semi-final, if you get bottom four, you go to the B final. And so it was raining at this track and it was actually at Rock Hill. They have a lot of races there. And, um, the corners are really, really slick when they get wet because they were sealed and I probably shouldn't have raced the B main. It doesn't, it doesn't really

[00:49:00] count for anything, but I was like, no, I'm going to race it. And so I was in second going into the first corner, went for a move and crashed. So again, very first race back broke my, my hand long ways. It's like my first, whatever this meta metacarpal or whatever. Metacarpal. Yes. Broke that long ways. And they misdiagnosed me because they thought it was my, uh, scaphoid because you

[00:49:26] couldn't see it on an X-ray. And so I was like, no, like, it's definitely my hand. Like, it's not my wrist. It's my hand. And so I had to wait like two weeks before I could get it casted. And so then I had that happen, came back, obviously didn't feel great. I'm coming off two injuries. And then I had my, my concussion at the end of 2022. So it was just, it was kind of a rough year. Um, but, but yeah, it made me, like I said, you need those things because it made me the way that

[00:49:54] I am now. I think, you know, it's character. Maybe I know it, it sucks right now having to watch the people in the Olympics and you not being there and everything, but maybe that also, you know, maybe that, that was a level of motivation and lit kind of a fire to pursue this even, even more in, you know, hook up with the nutritionist and get everything going. And like, so maybe it's kind of a blessing

[00:50:19] in disguise that that sucks right now, but in three and a half years when you're taking the gold, like maybe that's one of the reasons why. Well, I mean, everything happens for a reason. Like that's like a hundred percent. I believe that everything happens for a reason. So, um, you know, my sister always gets stressed out about stuff and I'm like, why are you stressing? Like just chill. It works out. It always works out. That must go over well too. So like, okay, big sis, that makes sense.

[00:50:49] Yeah. She doesn't get real happy when I say that, but yeah, no, that's funny. Um, well, we're about 50, 50 minutes in here. We don't want to keep you forever. Um, um, Harley, I, we can't thank you enough. This was, this was awesome. Um, to have you on, um, I really, where can we watch these? Are they televised? Are they streamed online somewhere? Like how do we watch these races?

[00:51:16] The USA BMX races are streamed on YouTube. Nothing's on TV besides like the Olympics, obviously. And that's once every four years, so that's not going to help. Um, but yeah, I mean, they, they have some of the races like actually broadcasted overseas, but nothing here. Um, so yeah, just YouTube basically is the best it gets. All right. Cause I, I, we definitely want to stay, stay up to date and stay in touch and see how all

[00:51:45] this stuff is going for you. So maybe follow up in a, you know, during the season and have, you know, meet up here again and see how you're doing. I'm down. See how things are going, you know? So absolutely. Awesome. Well, thank you very much. How can people get in touch with you if they want to follow you? Is it just, uh, your Instagram? Yeah. So is that the best way? Instagram is my main platform. Uh, everything that I have though, is Carly races BMX. Um, so

[00:52:12] TikTok, YouTube, Instagram. Um, the only thing that's not, I think under that handle is Facebook and it's just Carly Kane. My, my athlete page or whatever is just Carly Kane. I'll put all that stuff in the show notes so people can find it. Um, but again, thank you so much. It was, it was such a fun time talking to you. So we're excited to see. Awesome. We'll be in touch, uh, I guess in, in a few months to see how everything's going. Perfect. Perfect.

[00:52:38] Awesome. Oh, and thank you. I, I always forget the, the outros here, Tim. I had to put an extra one in on our last show cause I forgot to do it, but thank you everybody for listening. We really appreciate it. Head over to the health movement podcast on YouTube, on Spotify, on Apple podcast, head over to the website, health movement.us sign up to our newsletter and have a wonderful, wonderful rest of your night or day or whenever you're listening to this. Okay.