‎Kolby Smallz

What does a typical day in the life of Kolby Smallz look like - from food, to personal care, to fitness, to time with family and friends?

Typical day starts around 5:30-6. I take the dogs out for a 5-6km hike every morning. I've been following an intermittent fasting protocol for around a year now so my morning food just consists of Water with salt and black coffee. I do an 8 hour feeding window so I eat my first meal around 12PM. I usually try and get in 5 big meals within the 8 hours; gain train baby.  Training goes down around 3:30-4 everyday now and I am not there much longer than an hour. I head back home, stretch and then take the dogs for another cruise before dinner.

Most weeknights are spent chillin out at home with my gf and the dogs but the odd occasion I still like to get a little wild with the boys on a school night. Usually aim to be in bed winding down around 8:30 and read for an hour before lights out. I don’t follow intermittent fasting on weekends and follow a much more YOLO protocol.

How important is mindset for you in your training? Why is it mindset important?

Mindset is huge. I have been consistently training with no real lapses since I was 15 and that comes down to mindset. Intrinsic motivation is the backbone of longevity in your training and you need to have a well-defined 'Why' in your head to keep yourself motivated. The 'why' is going to be different for everyone but you need to do some internal reflection on what makes yourself tick so that you can lean on that when the workout gets hard and you want to quit, or you don’t want to get off the couch.

You’re obviously committed to training – looking and feeling your best. Why is this important to you?

I have been fortunate enough to integrate training at such an early age that it is now not even a question of 'if' I will train but 'when'. I do not feel like myself without getting some sort of sweat each day. I am a pretty strong believer that struggle and overcoming that struggle is absolutely necessary for growth in all facets of life. I relish the challenge of wanting to quit in a brutal workout or a nasty hill climb and channeling your inner David Goggins and telling yourself to stop being a bitch. I also have an undergrad in Kinesiology so I have a strong understanding of the health benefits that come along with training; I want to ride bikes and lift weights for a long time and consistent training will help me do that.

How important do you think who you surround yourself with is as it relates to training and overall health and fitness? 

This is huge. Even the most motivated and disciplined people will slip on occasion. This is where surrounding yourself with people who will call you out is so important. I am lucky enough to have a large group of very athletic and fit friends. We are extremely competitive with one another which definitely elevates everyone's training and fitness game. Iron sharpens iron: having a group of people to question, encourage, coach and challenge each other is key.

What is your weekly routine? How do you break up your training? What do you prioritize and why?  What does your current split look like? 

I have been doing crossfit for the last few years now so I don’t have a specific routine/split but my weeks usually consist of:

I train M-F and take weekends off (not ideal but this is what my schedule allows for) 

Within a given week have

• 1 heavy squat day
• 1 heavy oly day (snatch or C+J)
• 1 longer monostructural conditioning day
• 1 upper body focused heavy day
• 1 long metcon day
• All days have some sort of metabolic conditioning and functional related movements thrown in

What is your favourite total body workout?

Personally, I think the thruster is the most bang for your buck exercise you can do. I also believe the simpler the workout the worse it can be. This is a brutal workout but you feel very accomplished when you're done, if you make it. It is called Kalsu.

• For Time
• 100 Thrusters (135/95 lb) and 5 Burpees to start and at the top of every minute

Start with 5 burpees. Then complete as many thrusters as possible until the minute is up. At the top of the minute (1:00) complete another 5 burpees. Repeat each minute until 100 total thrusters are completed.

Score is the total time it takes to complete all 100 thrusters.