RARE CrossFit and Complete Nutrition Partner Up in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and Stafford’s premier CrossFit Facility!

Hi All! RARE CrossFit sat down with Mitchell, owner of Complete Nutrition and one of our Community Partners.

We wanted to know more about him and why Complete Nutrition's decided to partner with RARE CrossFit and RARE Boot Camp.

#communitypartners

We are Building A Fit Community.

RARE CrossFit Interview with Mitchell Parks and Complete Nutrition

For reference, here's a video file of this week's interview. Click on it to listen!

Video transcription

Coach Adam: Hey guys Coach Adam from RARE CrossFit coming to you and today we've got Mitchell Park's from Complete Nutrition with us. Welcome, Mitchell. Thank you. I appreciate it. So, hey man, we, uh, we're on a mission collectively together. We have a couple of the partners in business, um, that are joining to make Fredericksburg. Ah, the healthiest city in America. Um, we've been in business 10 years. You've been working with Complete Nutrition for how long now? About three years now. About three years. Your business partner, Mike Silverman, spend with complete 10 years. Yeah, absolutely. Very relatable because we're on a mission. We really want to help people feel better, have more energy, and actually changed their lives. How do you want Complete to help that process to help Fredericksburg become the fittest and healthiest?

Mitchell Parks: Absolutely, um, I think what's really cool about Complete is that we love helping others reach their goals, whether they be, you know, losing a hundred pounds, gaining 30 pounds of muscle, fitting into that wedding dress. That's exciting for me and for our entire team. We get goosebumps thinking about it. So we want to do is we want to be that source for people to go to, um, when they need coaching, when they need motivation, they need help with their nutrition and someone just to be there to hold them accountable, you know, we use technology as the body comp analysis, the Inbody, that tracks muscle mass body, fat percentage. So we want you to come into the store and use that as like a test each week, you know, how much further you are getting closer to your goal basically. Um, so we want to be that, that source for people to go to that, that kind of, that coach I guess.

Coach Adam: Gotcha. Yea and something so for everyone out there listening or watching.  So um, Mitchell had an important thing coming in every week or every other week and doing that because what you measure you can manage absolutely. That's going to help you achieve your goal. So it's really to hear that you guys are big on that too. Cause that's, you know, and the hand-holding, you know. So these guys aren't just a supplement company they are really there to help you achieve what you're really looking to do. Um, that's other reason we partnered, um, because we're kind of on a mission together. Absolutely appreciate that going on there. What was it about Mike and complete nutrition that really, you know, sparked a fire in you like, hey, I want to be a bigger part of this.

Mitchell Parks: Well, I think for me, you know, and most people out there, you don't grow up learning about supplements. They're just not taught about they're not normal and even nutrition. So, um, so I was, I knew how to work out. I knew how to lift weights, I knew how to work hard. I knew nothing about nutrition, I knew nothing about supplements. So Mike, he was so knowledgeable and he took the time to walk me through every step and he let me try products and he let me experience them, and he taught me the why behind them and what they actually do. And then the quality of complete nutrition, um, everything's third-party tested, true to label. So I felt safe taking that in my body. And that's what I tried to instill in all of our success coaches, all of our consultant's store now, everybody, when you walk into our store, you get that same experience. They get to walk you through hand in hand. Hey, this supplements going to do this for your body. And they teach you about nutrition supplementation. It's much more than just, hey, here's the hot product of the month. So I felt very comfortable trusting Mike. I knew that, hey, this is my goal, what's going to get me there? And he would provide me the correct stuff.

Coach Adam: Ok, awesome. So tell me a little bit about you. Like, uh, I asked you right before we started you know hey, why don't you CrossFit? Your bodybuilding, so give the audience a little bit of history about your health and fitness.

Mitchell Parks: Yeah, I mean, I've been an athlete my whole life. I played sports growing up since I can remember football, baseball, wrestling, all of it. Um, didn't take care of my body the way I should've. And I just kept, you know, going through, I spent multiple nights in the hospital with injuries. My parents love that. Um, I did actually, I had an injury my senior year of high school, I had a two bulging disks in my lower back. Um, not knowing a whole lot about that, I just had that mentality of push through it and I continue to play college football for the next four years. Um, you know, taking pain management, uh, strategic ways to get shots, I guess in the back that would eliminate some of the pain so I could keep playing. Um, so definitely something that I'm working on now, as I'm no longer an athlete, I'm trying to find ways to be more functional in my movements, be able to touch my toes again. Um, things like that. And I found that you kind of have to kick the pride to the side and lower the weight and work more informed. And that's why I love RARE because you guys go really in depth on form and you guys make sure that everybody knows exactly what they're doing to prevent injury so you can perform better. So I love that aspect about rare.

Coach Adam: Cool. Well, we appreciate that Mitchell. The, uh, you know, you said you didn't know much about nutrition. We first started, now that you do, how much of an impact has that had on you?

Mitchell Parks: It's, it's unreal. Um, I have a passion to help everybody. I think my favorite though is definitely high school and college athletes because I know that I could have elevated my performance that much more if I didn't have cheeseburgers and mountain dews after practice, um, my parents supported me. They were great, but they didn't know much about nutrition either. So they just figured let's go to Mcdonald's after football practice and now looking back at it, if I would've known how to eat during the week, how to hydrate correctly, what supplements I should have taken, how much protein I needed, what to eat before games and after a game I could have been that much better of an athlete. And I think that's in all aspects of life it's not just athletic performance, but you're every single day. If you could just change the little things, you know, we give everybody the 80, 20 rule, eighty percent of the time live here or stick to the plan 20 percent of the time, either cheeseburger live your life, but if you were to make those slight little changes throughout your entire life, it makes a huge impact and that's what we try. We try to. It's preventative health care instead of spending thousands of dollars at the hospital, you know, let's eat the right stuff throughout the week and prevent that.

Coach Adam: With what you guys have, what um... I want to get into what's your top selling supplements, but if someone wanted to add protein or they want to lose weight, you know, what would you recommend for them to do? Um, so would be the one thing if I wanted to build more muscle or just have more energy every day, what do you guys have that could help? 

Mitchell Parks: Yeah, I mean I think it's different for everybody. So, you know, that's one thing that we do is when you come in our store, we work with you through the body comp analysis. But also we ask you questions and we try to fit the best products that would help you reach your goals. Um, so there's a couple of different categories I think that most people are lacking in nutrition through protein but also caloric intake, so we not only have good high quality protein shakes, we have meal replacements and if you can replace a meal that A, you're either skipping or B, you're going to fast food for that's going to be a much better option for you. So we've got that. Um, we've gotten what we call driver or performance-based products. They're either going to boost your metabolism so you can burn more calories through the day, give you that energy and focus so you can make it through your long day at work and get to the gym for products that are going to help you recover your muscles faster. Um, you know, if everybody ate a perfect diet, supplements would not be needed, but we don't, they fill the gaps, they're supplemental, just like the name. So if you need help recovering, we've got products for that. If you need help getting that metabolism kickstarted back to where it used to be, we've got props for that as well. Actually, a lot of the pain in your body and your joints, your bones comes from stress and so we have a lot of products that can actually decrease stress on the body. You get stress on your joints, so we have products that will do that, that will lubricate the joints naturally without having to load up on Ibuprofen and Advil and all those things that aren't as great on, on your insides basically. Um, so yeah, we had a lot of specific products that way that I take personally that have helped me, uh, for years now and I couldn't tell you the last time I've taken an actual Ibuprofen. 

Coach Adam: So really?

Mitchell Parks: Yeah.

Coach Adam: That's great.

Mitchell Parks: It's been great. It's great.

Coach Adam: Yeah. And so I appreciate you saying that because you won't hear many supplement company's saying that, you know, hey, if you do eat right and get enough greens, have enough protein, whatever, you need enough fat included, you don't need it, but you're right. It's a supplement and most people are lacking something in their diet.

Mitchell Parks: Absolutely. And there's no magic pill. There's no magic powder. We will tell everybody that, if we had a magic pill, I'd be a millionaire and I'd give it to everybody, but I don't have that, but we do have products that will fill your gaps that you're missing out every single day.

Coach Adam: What's the most common question that you guys actually address or hear?

Mitchell Parks: Yeah, I think that. So, um, a couple of things that we see people struggle with the most is how to eat, people. It's tough, we don't grow up learning about the basics of nutrition. I think nowadays it's more talked about, but a lot of people just still don't know what should I eat every single day, you know, um, how to eat also, um, what to eat, how much of their macronutrients they should have every day. Protein versus carbs versus fats. Um, and then other things as well. Um, digestion. Digestion is one of the leading causes to weight gain. And a lot of us don't realize that your gut health is directly linked with your mental health. If you're not digesting well. If you're bloated, you're going to feel lethargic, you're going to be depressed, you're gonna have increased stress on your body. So we really promote high or good gut health and probiotics through multivitamins, through Greens products. So digestion is huge. And I know I'm kind of going on a tangent but also sleep to. I couldn't tell you how many people struggle with sleep. I still struggle with sleep. You don't have to sleep eight hours every night, but you do need to get into a good deep restful sleep and a lot of Americans are stressed out. Um, we're highly caffeinated, highly stimulated. We stay on our phones all night and we don't get that good restful sleep and then we're in this downward cycle or stress during the day. We're tired during the day. We don't do as well in our workouts during the day, we make bad choices in our diet. And then we don't sleep well again. And so it just keeps going and going. So if we can tackle a couple of those aspects at a time, whether it's energy, sleep, digestion, you'll see a huge improvement towards reaching your goals basically.

Coach Adam: So yeah, so you said stress, digestion, and sleep. A few minutes ago we talked about, you said you know a lot of people come in and they want to try to tackle everything and you made an awesome suggestion of pick one.

Mitchell Parks: Pick one at a time.

Coach Adam: And tackle that.

Mitchell Parks: Yeah, yeah. So if, if you're suffering with energy, sleep and digestion, tackle sleep, it'll actually help your energy. It will also help your digestion to but tackle one of the time and your stress and your stress spread. So you focus on one at a time in, in tackle it, perfect it. Then move onto the next one because then it becomes a habit. It takes 21 days to create a new habit. So if you can sleep over 21 days, boom, you got it. Now move on to the next habit. So that's what we try to teach and that's what we love when people come back every week, every two weeks to check in with us because we can ask them, how's your sleep? How's your protein intake? How? How's your digestion? Let's be honest, you know, and that way we can keep checking with you and make sure that you're staying on track with everything. 

Coach Adam: Yeah absolutely, so good stuff, man. What else do you want to add?

Mitchell Parks: So big reason why I am in love with Complete Nutrition. Um, it's a way for me. I'm a, I'm a very passionate guy. You know, I'm one of those unique people that wake up at 5:00 AM with all this energy ready to go. Um, but I see the fitness industry is a lot of, look what I can do, look at me all this instagram models and stuff like that. If you're in the fitness industry, you're in the fitness industry because you have a passion to help others. You've already got the physical side down, you enjoy it. But we have this passion, I think we're put on earth to help others reach their goals, you know? So it's very exciting for me to see others lose that weight, gain that muscle, reached the goal they want. And that's what you get a Complete Nutrition in places like RARE CrossFit. You get investment. That's why I love partnering with you guys because you invest in your people, the way we invest in our people. We really see our people as clients, not customers. Um, so the investment in others is why I love Complete Nutrition. I love a gym's like RARE, um, cause it's much more than just, you know, look what I can do in the, in the weight room, you know, and, and, uh, how can I grow my business? It's how can I affect my community? Complete Nutrition is a very community-based organization. That's why I love it so much.

Coach Adam: Absolutely. You know, you're right, the, uh, that's exactly why we've been in talks, you know, um, you know, hey, how can we help this community? Um, and actually educate people because a lot of people are misinformed and you're right, they'll go follow the person on Instagram who looks just amazing. Um, now again, they probably are very smart and things like that as well. But, uh, you know, Mitchell said a little while ago that, you know, their products are all tested, worked on, right? What was it two years ago? And they've done, the FDA shut down like a hundred different supplement companies?

Mitchell Parks: Yea, so there's always, you know, unfortunately in the supplement industry there is some shady business that goes on, um, supplements and I'll be completely transparent or not FDA approved, which means that some companies, um, they will decrease the quality of their product to increase the margin of their product. Uh, so sometimes in the supplement industry, the more you see a product marketed, it means there might be more money in that marketing and then the actual product itself, right? So it's a funny line, um, but we stand by our quality. All of our products are third-party tested. So to get your product into Complete Nutrition stores, it goes through a lot of testing to make sure it's true to label. So that's huge. Um, you know, that you can look at that nutrition label and when you take a scoop of that product, it's the exact label going in your body.

Coach Adam: Right?

Mitchell Parks: Um, so you, what we tell people is you wouldn't put unleaded gas into a Lamborghini, you're body's a Lamborghini, don't get off brand supplements. You want to get high quality tested supplements, um, you wouldn't buy, reduce for a quick sale chicken every week either. So same thing. You're putting, you want to put quality into your body.

Coach Adam: Absolutely. Cool. Well, I appreciate being on Mitchell. Thanks for your time with us.

Mitchell Parks: Of course absolutely, thanks for having us.

Coach Adam: We appreciate it.

Friday 30 March

Warm Up

2 Rounds

10 Air Squats

10 Front Squats 45/35

10 Scap Pull ups

10 Scap Push ups

10 Box Step ups

10 DB clean and jerks (light weight)

A) Front Squat (15 mins)

3 @ 80%

1 @ 85%

3 @ 80%

1 @ 88%

3 @ 80%

1 @ 90%

B) 300

25 Pull Ups

50 DL, 135/95

50 Push Ups

50 Box Jumps, 24/20

50 Floor Wipers,

50 Dumbell Clean and Jerks (alt arms) 50/35

25 Pull Ups

*no time cap