S06E128 BISON 15 - CrossFit Skeptic to Convert to Elite (and Pregnant) - Mia Pagano
We sit down with Mia Pagano @miapagano to trace how a former CrossFit skeptic becomes a fiercely consistent athlete who builds strength, gymnastics, and confidence one small goal at a time. We also talk honestly about training while pregnant, scaling without ego, and why fueling well can change everything.
• getting humbled by a first CrossFit Open workout and choosing to commit anyway
• building progress through small goals like heavier lifts and new gymnastics skills
• learning to compete with confidence in online qualifiers and bigger events
• moving back to New Jersey and choosing CrossFit Bison for culture and coaching
• navigating pregnancy fatigue, performance swings, and the mental side of scaling
• keeping strength as the priority while modifying movements and training volume
• rethinking body image, femininity, and what “fit” can look like
• fixing nutrition after restrictive dieting and seeing performance jump with more food
#crossfitcoach #CrossFitCommunity @CrossFitAffiliates #supportyourlocalbox #crossfitaffiliate #gymowner #HealthyLiving #GymLife #CrossFit #FitnessJourney #BotoxAndBurpees #podcast @botoxandburpeespodcast @crossfitbison @crossfit
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TRANSCRIPT
Sam Rhee (00:00.727)
Alright, welcome to another edition of Botox and Burpees, the Bison 15. I have with me my incredibly capable teammate from the intramural competition we just did two weeks ago, the bison bowl. This is the shirt that we all had. and this is Mia Pagano. Mia Pagano is now been at CrossFit Bison full-time since February, but she has dropped in a bunch of times. I remember seeing her coming up from Florida for the past couple years.
and imagine my surprise when I was when I found out that my teammate was pregnant at the time of the competition. we still killed it and she was amazing. She probably clearly the best gymnast out of all three of us, me, Andrew and and her. So thank you so much, Mia, for joining me.
Mia Pagano (00:38.314)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (00:51.618)
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Sam Rhee (00:53.069)
So, Mia, you are a really amazing athlete. a lot of capacity, a lot of skill on the rig, gymnastic skills, strength as well. So tell me your CrossFit start story.
Mia Pagano (00:59.81)
Thank you.
Mia Pagano (01:12.43)
Okay, so I started CrossFit in twenty twenty-one. and I had many arguments to start. So I was an athletic training major in college and I knew a lot of friends that were doing CrossFit and I would just yell at them, like, that's awful for your body. What are you doing? These movements aren't natural. you're gonna hurt yourself. I studied body mechanics, so I was just like, Why are
Why are we doing this? so it took a lot of time and my one friend eventually was like, my CrossFit Gym does an endurance class every week.
So why don't you come to the endurance class? It's running, it's body weight movements, you're not picking up a barbell, if anything, you're gonna pick up a dumbbell. And at the time I was doing like circuit classes, so I was like, I could, I could do that. So I go and it was like a long grueling partner workout for 45 minutes, had tire flips, sled poles, and I was like, this is cool. I like this. And it the following week.
I believe around that time was the open. And the first workout got posted, and it was like wall walks and double unders, and was like, I don't know what that is. The second week got posted, and it was the 50-40 all the way down to 10 dumbbell snatches and 15 burpee box jumpovers.
Sam Rhee (02:42.496)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (02:43.307)
And I look at it and my friend was like, you should try it. I was like, 35-pound dumbbell snatches, I could do that. Burbie box jumpovers, I could do that. So I was like, all right, I'll go. Friday night lights, I go. My friend's my judge, so I feel no pressure. And I remember like I did the set of 50, I do the 15 burpee box jumpovers, and I get to the set of 40, and I'm smoked. I am like, what is happening?
And it got to the point, maybe my third set of Burke B box jumpovers, I could not physically but like jump over the box anymore. I had to step. I was so humbled when my quads would not work.
And it was the first workout in my entire life, like through sports, through anything that I've ever wanted to throw up in. I had my shirt like this. I was like, I need to just finish this workout. This is awful. I finished the workout, somehow got through it. And I just remember after that, being like, I'm gonna sign up for this.
I'm not sure how that workout feeling that way or anything I experienced in that time was like, let me sign up for CrossFit. And I started with like a three-day pass. My gym did like three times a day, or three times a week. And I was like, let me start with that. I can decide when I want to come. and I started going like three times a week, and I would like cherry pick the workouts.
Sam Rhee (04:11.135)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (04:23.487)
So I was like, exactly, I was like, I don't like that day. I'll go this day. And then all of a sudden, maybe three weeks, I was like texting our gym owner, like, hey, can I come more? Do you care if I come like Tuesday and Thursday this week? And then all of a sudden I was like, I'm just gonna start coming every day. And I don't think I took a day off for I wanna say.
Sam Rhee (04:24.16)
We all do.
Mia Pagano (04:52.235)
Like the first two to three years, I had I had Mike Warren mentality. I tell him all the time. I was the same way, I never wanted to take a day off. and I just became like fully invested in CrossFit. And I was like, I'm
an internally competitive com like athlete. So I was like, okay, I can do this, but like next week I want to do more. And I would see people doing pull-ups and I was like, okay, I'm gonna do that. so even like so that was in February, so Murph is in May, I was like, I'm gonna do Murph, no vest, but I was like, I'm gonna do it for the like, and I'm gonna do my pull-ups not banded. And I got through Murph.
with the first time ever doing unbanded kipping pull-ups. Ripped my hand awful at the end. But I was like, okay, that's a win. Like I was like, I'm g doing it. And I've yeah, I've been hooked ever since.
Sam Rhee (05:58.775)
So you r I could tell when you would drop in, you were really, first of all, a really good athlete and and yes, I could tell internally competitive and you you definitely had drank the Kool-Aid at that point. What was it what so what were your goals and aspirations at that point after you had really started going hull time for a couple of years and and and why?
Mia Pagano (06:26.121)
I honestly I think my biggest goals and like still to this day is I wanna lift like I wanna lift heavy. I wanna lift heavy but still be able to like move weight. So like I think in CrossFit it's really hard to find the balance of like the goal weights that you might wanna hit.
Sam Rhee (06:32.011)
Yeah.
Sam Rhee (06:40.556)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (06:49.952)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (06:50.889)
and still being able to like do a workout versus being the what the best like gymnast and being able to move weight. Like body weight pays pays a factor, endurance pays a factor. so my biggest goal especially in the beginning was like I need to get my my weights up. I need to be able to move these weights that are in RX standards
Sam Rhee (06:56.523)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (07:01.064)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (07:16.352)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (07:18.061)
And I still need to be able to complete workouts with them. so it my a first goal was to be able to move big weight. And then once I was able to move big weight, my second goal became, okay, let's master gymnastics. And I had a competition with synchro pull-ups and my partner couldn't kip.
So I was like, okay, I have 10 days. 10 days to learn butterfly pull-ups. I'm gonna learn them. And I practiced every day. they were awful and my hands hurt, but I practiced them every day. and in the competition, we like started out with like a set of like 15 unbroken. So I think my goals are more like small ones.
Sam Rhee (08:06.081)
Wow.
Mia Pagano (08:11.423)
in the sense of like, okay, I'm gonna f do this goal first and then I'm gonna move on to this goal while I'm still achieving. like for example, lifting heavy and then making sure I master something else. Like rings, I think I practiced for like three months straight, gave up for like a month, and then on a s random Sunday I was like, let me try one. And I started getting my first ring muscle up and then I just would practice them every week from then on.
Sam Rhee (08:14.356)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (08:21.343)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (08:40.192)
What is your overall arching goal at some point? Like how competitive do you plan on taking it or how how what have you achieved so far?
Mia Pagano (08:49.829)
I just I think a lot of like I like bigger competitions in the sense like I've done Monster Games before, which is hosted in Kansas City. which is a a competition I had to qualify for. I qualified individual Rx and I was on the cusp. but I had to do online qualifiers for that and I think for myself,
Sam Rhee (09:00.32)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (09:18.637)
I started with Fittest of the Coast online qualifiers, and I was going through like a really hard struggle of being able to push myself. and not necessarily being embarrassed, but being able to like feel confident in an online qualifier, even though nobody was watching me. Like the open, you know, eyes are on you when we do Friday night lights, like people can see how you're performing.
Sam Rhee (09:42.721)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (09:44.586)
Online qualifier, like it's it's you and your camera. so I started working with a coach that reached out to me after like a local competition in Daytona, Atlantic Coast Classic. and I was like, I do want to have more individualized training. Like I liked what we were doing in my gym. however, I don't feel like I was getting enough of like
Sam Rhee (09:46.796)
Right. Right.
Sam Rhee (10:06.956)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (10:10.987)
the lifting and or I would do like back squats once and then like three weeks later then I would do them again and I was like I need to be a little more consistent if I wanna get better. my goal I've n I mean I commend all the the athletes in the games. I know I'm not at that level. I'm not gonna be at that level but I like to just I honestly my biggest goal now like
Sam Rhee (10:23.305)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (10:40.159)
I tell everybody is to be the best well-rounded athlete that I can be. so I started working with a coach and I w I told him I was like, I need to get better at being like confident.
Sam Rhee (10:43.436)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (10:50.986)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (10:52.171)
Teammates are great. I love a teammate like competition. I love when I know, like, okay, if I'm really dying, like I can tag this person in real quick and take a breather. And an individual competition, like, if you mess up or if you're tired, like it's on you. Like you have to finish that workout. so I think I want to stay in like those bigger comps here and there are good. but I like
Sam Rhee (10:54.624)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (11:02.785)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (11:09.386)
Right. Right.
Mia Pagano (11:20.735)
A lot of my like competitiveness is just within the gym and myself.
Sam Rhee (11:23.98)
Mm-hmm. So what is your athletic background? So what did you do growing up and what sports did you play or and then what got you into athletic training through college?
Mia Pagano (11:37.358)
So I played soccer and softball mainly. I had a few years of basketball, but I was on travel teams for soccer and softball as well as like high school. Sorry. Yep, I grew up in Park Ridge. So I played for like Park Ridge and then I played like Arsenal for soccer and then travel teams for softball. And then I sprained ankle.
Sam Rhee (11:41.237)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (11:46.43)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What was this in Jersey?
Sam Rhee (11:57.645)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (12:04.801)
over like a hundred times growing up and playing sports and I was always in physical therapy, always in my athletic training room. and I really was like, I want to stay around athletics. And I want to help people like overcome injuries and kind of like help the athletes that were like me, where it's like, okay, this is recurring, but like you can play through it. So that's how I got into athletic training.
Sam Rhee (12:08.64)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (12:22.848)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (12:32.925)
And I did that for three and a half years out of high school in Florida on my own. And it was a lot of fun. Saw some crazy stuff, but it was a lot of fun.
Sam Rhee (12:40.618)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (12:45.238)
What's the craziest what was the craziest stuff you saw?
Mia Pagano (12:48.333)
I had a femur fracture on a kid. Yeah, football. mm-hmm. Yeah, football. My kids came running off the side and they were like, I heard it snap, I heard it snap. And I was like, I don't know what you're talking about, but okay. And I had two USF students at the time, and I just see this kid's thigh looks like a rainbow. And I was like, Okay, here we go. I was like, I like.
Sam Rhee (12:51.05)
Whoa. On the field? wow.
Sam Rhee (13:10.932)
Ew.
Mia Pagano (13:16.723)
looked at my a my ad and I was like you need to call EMS I looked on my one student and I was like check if he has a pulse the mom came out in the field crying and EMS was like well how long do you guys like how fast do we need to get there and I was like that's a possible medical emergency this kid broke his femur like I need you ten minutes ago like I need you now so that was probably the craziest one for me
Sam Rhee (13:20.14)
I looked at my last student and I checked if we had the polls.
Sam Rhee (13:38.548)
Mm. Yeah. Yeah.
Mia Pagano (13:46.581)
I've put shoulders back into place, put a wrist back into place, so yeah, I like that stuff.
Sam Rhee (13:51.841)
Yeah. That's crazy. I do not. I I remember being in the ER and seeing Ortho reduce a femur fracture and they did it while the guy was still away. It was so tight, like the muscles, they are fight they had to fight it so hard because like the ac most of the time they'll they'll put the patient down so that like the leg will relax so they could like distract it and put it into position. It was h it was horrible. I
Mia Pagano (14:07.574)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (14:15.775)
Yeah. Right.
Sam Rhee (14:21.398)
That's that's not something I enjoyed hearing, much less watching.
Mia Pagano (14:24.125)
Yeah, the the fire medics tried to tell me that their traction splint was too small for my kid. I said, put it on. I don't care. I said strap it to the bottom of his calf if you have to. Put it on. I was like, he like you need to fix this. So yeah. Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (14:32.406)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (14:36.246)
Mm.
Sam Rhee (14:40.764)
that's crazy. so then what brought you back to New Jersey in February?
Mia Pagano (14:48.159)
So I was living in Tampa for ten years. I went to nursing school. Yeah, it was a long time. I went to nursing school when I was out there too. and I started my career in like pediatrics out there. And I wanted like a fresh start from Tampa. Like I was I was like ten years is a long time. I never really planned on staying there for forever.
Sam Rhee (14:51.31)
wow.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (15:12.502)
Uh-huh.
Mia Pagano (15:14.093)
And my family still lives up here. So I was, you know, talking to my dad, reaching out, and I was like, I don't wanna pick up from Tampa and just go to a new city just because I'm like, that city sounds cool. Let's go. without really having an idea of where I what I wanted to do. So I was like
Sam Rhee (15:25.611)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (15:35.202)
How do you feel about me moving home? you know, kinda like saving some money, getting my head on right, getting settled a little bit, and then if I feel like I want to go somewhere else, I'll figure it out from there. And my family was happy about it. They were like, perfect. They'll miss Tampa, but like, they were happy like I'd be home and hanging out more than I was, so.
Sam Rhee (15:37.376)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (15:41.708)
Mm-hmm. Getting my head on the getting settled a little bit.
Sam Rhee (15:48.886)
Got it.
Sam Rhee (16:00.571)
so when you would come home you would drop in at CrossFit Bison, how did you find bison and what made it your gym then?
Mia Pagano (16:10.613)
So I f I dropped into the Parker CrossFit first, and they were fine.
Sam Rhee (16:17.022)
Okay.
Mia Pagano (16:20.779)
But I wasn't like in love with the programming. And I was like, I have so much time. Like, I don't have to go to a gym five minutes away from my house. And then I had dropped into Allendale and they were on Mayhem and they were a little like smaller, where I was like, I don't know if I can do any extra. I was like, let me keep looking. And I think the first year I ever was doing CrossFit and I came home, I saw Bison's website, and I think there was something about like
Sam Rhee (16:33.58)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (16:38.678)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (16:45.355)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (16:51.597)
you know, like how a lot of gyms are, you know, like before you can jump like just drop into a class, we need to kind of know a little bit about your CrossFit background. And I was like, I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. And I was like, I was like, I'm still super new. And so my next year home, I was like, let me try it. And I just remember I like bit the bullet.
Sam Rhee (17:07.243)
Right.
Right, right.
Sam Rhee (17:14.123)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (17:18.419)
And I was like, I'm gonna drop in. And I was like, just the people, the atmosphere, the workout. Like I was just like, yeah, I'm gonna stay here. Yeah, I do. I had Mike as my coach. and it was a rowing and burpee workout. So it wasn't even anything like
Sam Rhee (17:30.54)
Do you remember that first day?
Sam Rhee (17:36.768)
Okay.
Mia Pagano (17:43.678)
ridiculously crazy, but I was like, okay, this is perfect. Like I just traveled back home, first workout in. and I was like, this is great, but just the people in general, I I remember I texted one of the girls I used to work out with all the time in Tampa at the time. And I was like, you know, you never know
Sam Rhee (18:01.58)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (18:05.877)
What a good gym, good ownership, and like good members are until you come into contact with it. And I just remember like when I met Dave, he just like was utmost respect. Like, okay, here's how we run it here, but like, what do you need? What do you like to do? How are you as an athlete? Like, just trying to get to know me as an athlete before really like throwing me into the fire of like.
Sam Rhee (18:15.446)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (18:26.538)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (18:31.045)
you know, anything like as a CrossFit gym. I walked into CrossFit gyms in other cities and I don't even know who the coach is or they don't really do like an intro. They're just kind of like, do you know how to do the movements on the board? Okay, cool. so it just was very different. And I I do remember texting my friend and just being like, then I was like, you need to come visit and drop in here because like the environment is so different. Yeah.
Sam Rhee (18:31.733)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (18:57.797)
that's pretty cool. So so you've been here since February and
Mia Pagano (19:03.063)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (19:05.206)
Well you were gonna say something. and then and then I sort I had seen you around. I'm a I'm a morning, like early morning person most of the time and you usually work out around what time of the day.
Mia Pagano (19:06.943)
No
Mia Pagano (19:14.189)
Mm.
Mia Pagano (19:18.817)
Now I'm in the afternoons. I used to work out like the open gym 8 a.m., 9.30 time. And then I've I've had a couple of 5 a.m. classes. Not my favorite. Not my favorite. Only if I have to.
Sam Rhee (19:25.12)
Yeah.
Sam Rhee (19:28.554)
Yeah. I know. Right. Well, I think everyone at five AM only goes if they have to at five AM. But then I I got paired up with you and Andrew for for Bison Bowl, which is our in house comp I mentioned two weeks ago. And I had seen you before, but I I had not really seen you up close. Like you're pretty complete in terms of you said you kept working on all these little small things.
Mia Pagano (19:36.819)
Exactly.
Mia Pagano (19:55.213)
Mm.
Sam Rhee (19:55.607)
But you got all those small things. You can lift heavy. You have your motor, you have all this. But you're also you're also pregnant. You are pregnant right now. So what how did that impact your because obviously your progression as a as an athlete and how you how you perform is very important. So how has that been? How how far along are you again and and what what is that process been like for you?
Mia Pagano (20:02.241)
Yeah, yeah.
Mia Pagano (20:15.085)
Right.
Mia Pagano (20:22.089)
I'm about 22 weeks now, so just over the halfway mark. so finding out I I was not really like I didn't really know. I had no idea, but I was like very tired, very tired. And the first day I like now like looking back, I realized I was like, I was competing in Guadapalooza at the time. And
Sam Rhee (20:26.069)
Okay.
Sam Rhee (20:48.388)
my god.
Mia Pagano (20:50.101)
And I had no idea. And I just was like out of it. I was like, I don't feel like competing. I'm so tired. I could not wake up. And I was just like, like my attitude was just so poor. And like, I mean, I'd step on the comp, like the comp floor and I'd be like, fine, I'd perform great. But like I was just like.
I'd be done, and I'm like, I don't want to come back for a third workout today. And I remember, I, you know, I saw Dave L and Brit out there, and I saw Coda and passing and stuff. And I remember I did my open workout and I saw Dave and Britt after, and I was like, I feel effing awful. I was like, I don't think I can do another day.
Sam Rhee (21:17.652)
Mm.
Mia Pagano (21:39.924)
And I was so happy that Sunday was ended up being canceled. I was just like, my body, I don't know what's happening. I was like, I don't know with traveling, moving, all of this stuff. I said, I'm not sure what's going on. So three weeks later, I decided to test and I found out. And I was like, I was already committed to 908 at the time. So I was like, okay.
Sam Rhee (21:50.109)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (22:06.741)
And I'm like asking Chat GPT, he became my best friend. And I was like, you know, can I compete? I would be like around 13 weeks at that time, 12, 13 weeks. I was like, can I still compete? And I'm looking at the workouts and I'm like, these are fine, I can do them. But I just remember like I like wasn't gonna tell anybody yet, but I could tell.
Sam Rhee (22:17.932)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (22:32.725)
Like people are like, what's going on? I would be texting Nick for like, I'm like, how's you doing in today's workout? And he was like, I feel like I'm out of shape. Like, you know, he was he was out with a back injury. So like we were talking and I was like, Don't worry about it. I feel severely out of shape. Like without trying without trying to like pressure him to be like, hey, if you don't want to do it, like I'm okay.
Sam Rhee (22:49.206)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (22:58.157)
And I remember there was a workout, it was like one of our Murph preps, and Sean looked at me because Sean smoked me in that workout. And Sean was like, so you're just gonna let a big guy beat you in the workout with like running and pull-ups and body weight movements now? Like, what's wrong with you? Yep. Yes. And and I just looked at Sean and I was like,
Sam Rhee (23:15.53)
Wait, Sean O'Hara smoked you in that workout? Yeah, so there's definitely something wrong with you. Like definitely, like definitely.
Mia Pagano (23:27.219)
My body's just been so tired lately. I don't know. I don't know. I was like, I don't know what to tell you. And yeah, he's he smoked me. I will fully admit it. And I I think I might have been like the last one it like done completely. I was just like, and I was like rolling on the floor. I was like, this is not going well. So the biggest thing was like just the fatigue for me. I feel like
A lot of people like, you know, it's not really a symptom people talk about too much. and I remember there were days like I'd be at work and I'm like, if I blink, my eyes are gonna stay shut. Like I don't know how I'm gonna get through this day. And but for me, I was like, if I can just make it to the gym, I don't care what kind of workout I have, if I can just make it to the gym and move, like that's all I wanna do.
Sam Rhee (24:08.396)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (24:18.102)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (24:24.439)
I don't want to just, you know, because I'm tired, you know, make the excuse, like give myself the the slack when I'm like, I can still get through it. so training was very different in that aspect. And then now I've noticed just like I can still lift and I still have my good days. but there's days where I'm just like, I can't.
Sam Rhee (24:27.137)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (24:34.933)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (24:39.692)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (24:52.095)
Lift a weight that I'm like, I can cycle. I remember we had a snatch complex and I I'm failing 105 just repetitively. And I was like trying to like look at Bobby for advice, and he was like, You're just on your toes. And I was like, I know, but this is a weight like I was cycling like seven to ten reps in a workout. I was like, I shouldn't be failing this. so I think mentally
Especially in the beginning when I wasn't really like, you know, I wasn't showing, a lot of people didn't know. It was hard to give my myself some grace. Like I was just kind of like, yeah, I'm pregnant, but like I I do this every day. I'm not that pregnant yet. Like, I remember telling like people all the time, I was like, I'm not that pregnant yet. Like, I'm I'm only seven weeks. Like, what do you mean?
Sam Rhee (25:24.34)
Mm-hmm. lot of people did it well.
Sam Rhee (25:30.176)
Yeah.
Sam Rhee (25:42.816)
Yes, I I think he's I think he said that during the comp too and I was like, Mm, okay, like all right.
Mia Pagano (25:48.814)
Yeah. Yeah, I it's it's really hard sometimes mentally to like to adjust and to like to see the adjustments. Like I remember before the competition there was a workout with bar muscle ups, and it was after 9 08 and I did bar muscle-ups with in them and and I felt fine.
Sam Rhee (25:59.01)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (26:09.962)
Yeah.
Sam Rhee (26:13.793)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (26:14.901)
And I did a a workout and I was failing. Like, I could not get more than two. And I was like overthinking it. I was like, well, I don't want to hit too low on my stomach. So now I'm gonna catch like all the way at my chest and really just wiggle myself up. And I was like, that's not good either. Like, your form looks awful. And I remember being like, yeah, I need to I need to stop doing those. And
Sam Rhee (26:20.993)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (26:26.134)
Right.
Sam Rhee (26:33.61)
Right. Right.
Sam Rhee (26:41.217)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (26:42.185)
It gets to like it got to a point where I was like, okay, like you need to understand your body's changing and you're not gonna be able to do some things and that's okay. And like you're still gonna get a good workout in without being able to do those things. So I just think like knowing when to really stop was like or adjust was and still is probably going to be like the biggest thing for my training now.
Sam Rhee (26:54.284)
Yep.
Yes.
Sam Rhee (27:10.89)
Yes. I agree. And I I'm glad you're giving yourself grace. And I wasn't gonna mention bar muscle offs, but since you did, I know Dave told me that when he paired us up, he thought you'd like bang them out for us. You know, 'cause there's one workout where the last one where you have to divvy up all these different it was probably the most complicated workout I've ever done in my life, actually. But with the lifting and the mo and the machine and the rig work. And then when we met, you're like
Mia Pagano (27:16.838)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (27:22.102)
Mm.
Mia Pagano (27:26.337)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (27:32.693)
Mm.
Mia Pagano (27:36.065)
Mm.
Sam Rhee (27:40.723)
yeah, no, no bar muscle ups for Mia. And I was like, I mean, I understood because I knew you were pregnant at that point, but I was like, Great, thanks, Dave. You just gave me all the bar muscle ups because I know Andrew doesn't have them yet. And so I was like, and he's like, no, really, I thought she did. I'm sorry. And I'm like, it's all right. But I will say this like, it was a good push for me. And and I did seven unbroken in the comp, which probably is a PR in terms of number of unbroken BMUs for me.
Mia Pagano (27:44.429)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (28:01.281)
Mm.
Mia Pagano (28:05.58)
Yeah.
Sam Rhee (28:10.484)
s and and my shoulder's still fine, it's all good. So yeah, so, you know, sometimes it's those moments where like you push yourself where you didn't know you I'm sure you have those all the time in your training and and and that's why you comp, right? Is like you wanna see what you can do under those circumstances that you might not ordinarily want to do or or get to do, in your everyday workout. And so so that was a lot of fun, honestly. I I felt a lot of pressure but
Mia Pagano (28:10.709)
Mm-hmm. Good.
Mia Pagano (28:27.052)
Right.
Sam Rhee (28:40.34)
It was I hadn't been in a comp in a while, even in in house and that sort of pressure it it was familiar because I had done it before, but it it was good. I mean, I'm not gonna go back and comp every week or something like that, but but it was like it was it was a great sort of nervous like anticipation, like what can I do, push and then having you and and Andrew there was like freaking awesome. I
Mia Pagano (29:01.749)
Right.
Sam Rhee (29:06.64)
I I really, really thought that was great how how well we work together and so that was special. But at at this point now, what restrictions do you have and what is your training gonna look like from here on out? And I've s I've seen a lot of other pregnant people at the gym too, so I'm kind of I'm kind of interested to see what your take is on it.
Mia Pagano (29:13.899)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (29:23.181)
Right.
Right. So and once I announced I was pregnant and more people at the gym found out, I did start talking around, you know, kind of asking other moms like, you know, what did you do? How did you taper down? How did you scale? And I remember talking to Tara and she was just like, You have to understand like your fit your fitness level before
like having a baby and like before getting pregnant is so different than everyone else's when they got pregnant. So like I can tell you what I did, but your fitness level is just a different, like pretty much different level than I was. And and I was like, you're right. So right now I'm still only not doing bar muscle ups. That's the only thing I've completely cut out.
Sam Rhee (30:16.332)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (30:16.973)
burpees I'll just do, you know, I'll drop to my knees first and do more of like a strict kind of like push-up on my knees, strict burpee. which those are a lot harder than than I've ever like given credit for. I was like
Sam Rhee (30:23.814)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (30:31.146)
Yeah. Yeah. I I I flop so hard on burpees, I my stom if if I have anything in my stomach I'll probably throw up because that's that's the only way to go fast. Yes.
Mia Pagano (30:38.985)
Yeah. I'm so used to just falling. I'm like, and now I'm like, my God, I gotta control myself. and then my biggest thing that I've talked to multiple coaches about is like I wanna keep my strength up as best as I can. the skills will always come back. I'm not gonna, you know, it might take me a little bit to get
Sam Rhee (30:57.025)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (31:04.095)
you know back to a thirty six max chestabar PR but but I'll have chestabar at some point after I have birth. But I wanna maintain as much strength as I can throughout and then just be able to to build from there afterwards. So my biggest goal right now is to just keep lifting. you know I can't I don't wear my belt anymore so
Sam Rhee (31:14.966)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (31:24.416)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (31:28.812)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (31:33.568)
It's more of like a con I'm very dialed in when I lift now consciously about like my core and how how I'm lifting. So I don't necessarily hit the same weights, but I'm still within 70% and up of my weights previously. So I'm trying to keep it in a higher threshold.
Sam Rhee (31:39.314)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (31:51.638)
That's amazing. Wow.
Mia Pagano (31:57.708)
For as long as I can. I know it's not gonna last forever. And I was doing just like back accessory work, and I was like, I lost my back muscles. What is happening? and I'm like, it's okay, like you're still like you can you can still lift. So your muscles not be might not be showing, but like you can still lift. so that's probably my biggest goal now, and then training just as I get bigger and I grow,
Sam Rhee (31:59.085)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (32:17.441)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (32:23.712)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (32:25.697)
Barbell path is gonna change. So it's gonna be more of like, yeah, an adjustment. Like, you're telling me to keep my barbell close to me the entire time. I'm gonna try. I'm gonna try. It exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the best thing too. I think my gym in Tampa, I don't I I wanna say I saw maybe like
Sam Rhee (32:28.348)
Woop yeah.
Sam Rhee (32:35.884)
I have seen that swoop around the bump quite qu quite graceful, actually, a lot of of the pregnant athletes at our gym. Yes.
Mia Pagano (32:54.081)
Maybe two or three women. Yeah. Three maybe three women pregnant when I was there. So it wasn't really a decent amount. And I don't know, CrossFit bison, like I've seen so many and just so many come back after having their kids. So like the encouragement and like the goals like are just they're there and they're like achievable because you see it so often there. Mm-hmm. It really is.
Sam Rhee (32:55.786)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (33:18.55)
Very impressive. Very impressive. Yeah. And it to me it I mean, having seen pregnant people not sort of more of in a clinical situation and not in a like fitness situation, it's sort of redefined to me what a healthy, normal pregnancy could be in someone who is particularly fit and and that is
Mia Pagano (33:38.464)
Right.
Sam Rhee (33:44.961)
Very different. I mean, o obviously pregnancies come in all shapes and sizes and there are so many different conditions that people have to go through and so so it's not like it makes everything like fixed, but I will say it has been very impressive to see the number of athletes at at Bison who who have gone through that process. now, I know you take classes, but what other program do you follow? Do you do your own or do you follow a particular track of of something?
Mia Pagano (33:50.293)
Right.
Mia Pagano (34:10.759)
working with a coach for a while and then I when I found out I was pregnant I was like this is too much for me so I told him I kind of gave him just like a little like flimsy excuse because I wasn't ready to tell anybody and I was like you know I'll be back but like right now I just I was like I need to get settled in my job and I don't have time for it so I stopped working with him
Sam Rhee (34:17.932)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (34:27.51)
Yeah.
Sam Rhee (34:35.659)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (34:40.479)
I saved like a bunch of stuff, just knowledge, especially just from working with him. but right now I'm just kind of doing my own extra on the side. just making sure I'm still squatting a lot, still like benching, all the lifts that I can do, plus accessory stuff. And I'm
Sam Rhee (34:45.216)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (34:50.537)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (34:54.293)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (34:57.718)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (35:01.983)
Trying to be good about stretching. I'm really bad at stretching and warming up. So and like the cool down aspect of CrossFit. but I know it's so exactly, exactly. So it's still hard for me to like think like, okay, like you need to spend even if it's five minutes, I'm like proud of myself. I'm like, just stretch a little bit because it's gonna help me in the end. Like, there's so much research on like
Sam Rhee (35:03.756)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (35:11.338)
I don't th I know no CrossFit athletes that do any like very few actually do any of that. So Yeah.
Sam Rhee (35:21.502)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (35:30.046)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (35:30.293)
Prepping your body for what it's about to entail. And I know you know CrossFit's gonna prep it enough. but it's only so much, so I have to do more, and it's just more like tedious stuff. Like I I can't sit still. So stretching on a mat, I'm like, I'm bored. That was good.
Sam Rhee (35:47.179)
Yeah. Yeah. I I I know. That every time I have to do PT type stuff, it it just drives me nuts because it's very, very, very, very boring. So where do you get your motivation, your drive to do this? Like, this is painful not painful, but difficult, hard stuff. And what is it about you or w what motivational factor or can you point to something that was like, Okay, this is my why or or this f this is what kicked off me w wanting
Mia Pagano (35:53.632)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (36:13.045)
Mm.
Sam Rhee (36:17.323)
To do this.
Mia Pagano (36:19.255)
Think that the biggest thing for me was like knowing that lifting and like resistance training is such a a key factor in health and fitness that a lot of people don't do, especially women. And when I was in college, you know, during that time frame it was like ideal to be so skinny and
Sam Rhee (36:35.233)
Mm.
Sam Rhee (36:39.38)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (36:43.276)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (36:47.807)
All I did in college was run and I was very restrictive with calories. So when I started CrossFit and I started weightlifting, and I was like, wow, this like my body feels great. I don't care if people are like, you're getting too bulky or whatever. Like, that's fine. My body feels great. I'm gonna do that.
Sam Rhee (36:49.867)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (36:53.291)
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (37:10.251)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (37:13.952)
I was I would ask you that because I we were just watching the CrossFit games and these women obviously don't look like your average build. how does that at this point now that you're a CrossFit person, I would assume you think that that is aesthetically good or attractive to see these women look the way they do?
Mia Pagano (37:17.847)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (37:24.194)
Right.
Mia Pagano (37:33.687)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (37:37.73)
Think that like personally for me, like I think that there's like a balance. Like, I still want to look feminine and I you know, still wanna have those attributes as well as being like, I love like I know I'm different than many girls. I love getting complimented on my arms. When people are like, your arms are great, I'm like, yes.
Sam Rhee (37:56.844)
Mm.
Mia Pagano (38:01.47)
I don't I love it. I I love it. I had a construction worker one time in publics tell me I made him feel like he had to go lift some weights. And I was like, that is the best compliment I've ever gotten. I absolutely love getting complimented on my arms. So I like I don't mind having like the bulkier build in that sense. And I know by all means, like you can put me next to some other female athletes and I look tiny. but I
Sam Rhee (38:27.681)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (38:30.217)
I like having that build, but like I still also like having like a feminine aspect to it, but I don't think that I don't think that any of the girls in the games are really to the point where I'm like looking at them and being like, you still don't look
Sam Rhee (38:47.838)
Mm. Right. Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (38:48.149)
feminine or and I'm like you guys look great and there's plenty of athletes I've been on the competition floor where I'm like my god if only I could be as big as you right now and I can lift these weights that you can lift like I'd love it. So you know I exactly exactly so it's just like I
Sam Rhee (39:01.27)
Right. So being functional is so important. That's like the primary. Yeah, I get that.
Mia Pagano (39:10.837)
My body takes a long time to build muscle. So it took me a long time to get where I'm at. And my muscle mass size-wise definitely doesn't correlate to some of my weights. And it really it used to not to. I used to be a lot more lean and people were like, How do you lift what you lift? But my body just doesn't put on mass that way. So like everybody's different. so a lot of it's like
Sam Rhee (39:13.26)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (39:32.03)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (39:37.696)
learning your body and I took a lot of time like researching into nutrition and stuff on my own because I was so restrictive in college and CrossFit, you just don't you don't have the choice. Like you're either just constantly hungry because you're not eating enough or you're not having like an the right balance of food. So like it's a big learning curve to like adjust all that. But I know that once I started eating
Sam Rhee (39:42.016)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Sam Rhee (39:50.868)
Right.
Right. Right.
Sam Rhee (40:00.417)
Yes.
Sam Rhee (40:07.062)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Pagano (40:08.205)
Properly for CrossFit, I saw those numbers and my body structure changed like drastically.
Sam Rhee (40:09.887)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (40:15.872)
Yeah, I think so many women and also nutritionists I spoke to have sort of gone through that same journey of restrictive calorie restriction, trying to l you know, lean out and lili literally starve themselves and and almost everyone has to come around to that epiphany of like, gotta fuel your body, you gotta you gotta eat more, not less. And that's something that Kelly and
Mia Pagano (40:38.454)
Right.
Sam Rhee (40:44.652)
Kayla and all the nutrition people have sort of harped on and and it's so funny because a lot of them it had to come from within where they went through that same process where they tried it on themselves and they're like, This is not feeling good, it's not w really what I need to do and and they ultimately felt better, looked better and performed better once they figured out the proper nutritional sort of guidance, I guess.
Mia Pagano (40:59.563)
Right.
Mia Pagano (41:12.167)
Exactly. It takes it takes a lot of time and like you you actually have to put effort into sometimes like thinking about what you're gonna eat. I don't count macros or anything, but it's still effort to be like, I need protein in every every snack I have and I'm like, where do I freaking get it at this point? Like where do I get it?
Sam Rhee (41:16.522)
Yeah.
Sam Rhee (41:22.814)
Sam Rhee (41:31.148)
Yes. Yes.
Mia Pagano (41:35.309)
But I told people when my when I first started lifting heavier, I had people in my gym like, what are you doing differently? And I'm like, eating lunch. I was like, I used to not eat lunch, and now I eat lunch and I can lift more. Yeah.
Sam Rhee (41:38.41)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Rhee (41:42.952)
Ha ha ha.
Sam Rhee (41:48.524)
There you go. Mia, I l love this journey that you've been on so far and that you're continuing. I'm so glad that I was able to sort of see you perform, and I can't wait to see you continue during your pregnancy and post and
I think we're gonna probably I wanna have you on in another six months or like a year and just sort of like look back and see how how the process has been for you because like I said, I don't know where you get it exactly, but you are s as locked in as anyone I've seen at the gym in terms of their training, their prep, their their performance and it's it's it's pretty exciting to watch. It's very inspirational.
Mia Pagano (42:13.089)
Yeah.
Mia Pagano (42:33.399)
Thank you, I appreciate that. Yeah.
Sam Rhee (42:35.884)
Well thank you so much, Mia. I will see you at the gym and I'm gonna I'm gonna go eat lunch now and a and feed myself. Exactly. All right. Thank you so much. Okay.
Mia Pagano (42:40.397)
Perfect. Exactly. Alrighty. Thanks for having me. Bye.
Sam Rhee (42:50.093)
That was awesome.
