Valkyrie Garage

Monica Wroblicky is a Viking shieldmaiden who wears other women’s knee sleeves as her elbow sleeves, eats donuts when she damn well feels like it, and spends her free time helping at-risk youth heal through horse therapy at Heart's Landing Ranch. She’s been training in Strongman for less than a year, has already won several first place honors, and is just getting started. In this conversation, she shares her journey from struggling with her weight to doing bikini comps to eventually wandering into Untamed Strength only to discover she was custom made for the sport of Strongman.  Be sure to check out her IG @monicawroblicky, and support her ministry of strength for girls at @fearlesswarriorministry.  Also check out Curves Apparel and Til You Collapse to get leggings like Monica's! This is the final episode of Season 1 - thanks for an awesome first season for the Valkyrie Garage.

Rachel Carrillo won the lightweight Master's division at California's Strongest Woman this year. Before she got into Strongman, Rachel was a Crossfit regional games athlete and an Ironman athlete and ultrarunner. And before that, she started as an elite artistic roller skater, traveling the world performing with a roller dance troupe in a white leotard -- just like Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu! She owns a Strongman and Crossfit gym where she’s forging strong people and training to become the world’s strongest woman.  She’s also a mom, a cat mom, and a person who can make Forever 21 look like a million dollars after taxes. Someday maybe I'll have visible obliques to flex too! Until then, I am happy to live vicariously through knowing this powerhouse. You can follow Rachel’s journey to the Nationals this September in Vegas at @rachelannecarrillo. Or if you're in Southern California, you can come train with her and get inspired by her at Crossfit Divinity.

Maddy Stewart, aka One Rep Mads, uses strength training to help her flourish while living with mental illness.  I love her sweetness, her boundless enthusiasm for the bench press, her boyfriend, her dogs, overalls, and pretty much everything. As a lifter on the cusp of the Millennial and Gen Z generations, she shares what it means to navigate social media and its perils. If you know someone living with obsessive compulsive disorder, this could be a helpful episode to share. And if you just want to smile and know that whatever is going on in the world, an excitable Canadian is up there somewhere giggling and lifting heavy things, follow @onerepmads.

Deb Arana is a real-life Artemis.  Don't believe me? She's a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, she's a pole dance and aerial performer/instructor, and she's a bow hunter.  She's also a fierce Pilates instructor and grandmother who is killing some #physiquegoals at 58.  Deb is a body whisperer who holds space for women to find their power in the very different spaces of jiu jitsu and dance.  She shares about awakening our erotic nature, where to buy the best stripper shoes, her favorite gis, and how to avoid getting cauliflower ears. She inspires me to roll around on a jiu jitsu mat and then go give a lapdance to a Rihanna song.  If you need a little mojo of your own, check out her jiu jitsu classes (including women-only ones!) or join her for some feminine erotic movement. You can find her at https://www.debarana.com/ or on Insta here. For her shoes - Pleaser Shoes Gi - Senso Gis Mouthguards from Sisu Mouthguards

Fresh off her win at the Iron Gauntlet V Strongman/Strongwoman competition, our guest is Lindsay Hall!   Her strength journey started when she  walked into a gym to find some relief as a recovering addict.  At 35 she got into strength through group training classes and began competing in Olympic lifting.    A few years later, she was heading to the farthest flung corners of the earth to compete in events like the World Nomad Games in Kurdistan (goat polo, anyone?) and the World Championship of Mas Wrestling.  And she's just getting warmed up. She shares her journey to become strong, finding her tribe in the competition scene, and how she plans to age fiercely.  For more Lindsay, follow her @lin_zzee and her coach Chip @bodytribechip.  The fantastic image of Lindsay's Iron Gauntlet V tiebreaker came from Maverick and Atlas Photography.