Season 2; Inspirational Interview #2: Strength Training Through Chaos | How One Barbell Athlete Stays Consistent With Barbell Training While Raising & Homeschooling 5 Kids

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Progressive Rehab & Strength Podcast Inspirational Interview Series

Inspirational Interview: Strength Training Through Chaos | How One Barbell Athlete Stays Consistent With Barbell Training While Raising & Homeschooling 5 Kids

In this episode of the Progressive Rehab & Strength Podcast Inspirational Interview Series, Dr. Rori Alter sat down with Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy, an athlete who faces life’s toughest challenges and emerges stronger every day. Anna Marie shares her personal journey through the hardships of raising and homeschooling 5 children, demonstrating resilience, and the transformative power of strength training. As a mother of five—including a set of twins—she balances her role as a dedicated parent while excelling as a barbell coach, homeschooling her children, and running a successful business. From overcoming significant obstacles to finding empowerment in lifting, her story is one of perseverance and inspiration. Listeners will be moved by her candid reflections on how she navigates setbacks and finds purpose in both training and life.

Anna Marie discusses the mental and physical battles she endured and how she leveraged strength training as a means of grounding herself. She opens up about the crucial role of a supportive community and the guidance she received along the way. Her experiences highlight the power of mindset and how shifting perspectives can turn adversity into an opportunity for growth. Juggling motherhood, coaching, homeschooling, and entrepreneurship, Anna Marie provides an honest look at the challenges she faces daily and how she stays focused on her goals. Whether you're an athlete facing challenges or someone looking for motivation to push through tough times, this conversation offers invaluable insights.

Throughout the interview, Anna Marie and Dr. Rori Alter explores key themes such as goal setting, adapting mindsets, and the importance of consistency in training and life. Some of the thought-provoking questions she answers include:

  • How do you find balance between raising five children, running a business, and staying committed to your own strength journey?

  • What advice do you have for other parents who struggle to prioritize their own health and fitness?

  • What were the biggest mental barriers you had to overcome, and how did you work through them?

She also shares how she integrates her passion for strength training into her family life, setting an example for her children and encouraging them to build confidence through movement.

This episode serves as a reminder that even when circumstances seem insurmountable, persistence and a strong support system can pave the way for success.

Join us for this powerful and uplifting conversation with Anna Marie. Whether you’re a working mom of one or a stay-at-home-dad of 5, her journey will leave you feeling inspired and ready to tackle your own challenges head-on. Listen now and be reminded of the strength that lies within you!

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[00:00:00] Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC: You know what mom brain is, right?

 

[00:00:02] Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy: I do. I still have it. It used to be, but it is still there now. I might also just be perimenopause brain, like, I don't, I don't know.

 

[00:00:12] Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC: Well, I mean, how old are you now? You're 40.

 

[00:00:14] Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy: 42.

 

[00:00:15] Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC: Oof! I mean, not at how old you are, because honestly, like,  how long has it been that we've been working together?

 

[00:00:25] Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy: Ten, eleven years?

 

[00:00:26] Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC: Eleven years. So, yeah, you're still, like, in your 20s and I'm still in my 20s. But yeah, but we've had kids. You have a lot of kids. So how this works, well, we were talking about mom brain and now perimenopause brain. I just think that it's like the ultimate manager brain. Like you don't have an assistant, you know?

 

[00:00:54] Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy: So having a lot going on and having to manage where everybody is all the time. Yeah.

 

[00:01:00] Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC: Alright, so welcome back to the Progressive Rehab & Strength podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Rori Alter, head clinical coach here at Progressive Rehab & Strength with probably my second longest client ever, which has been really freaking cool. I think that I started PRS in 2014 maybe. Well, yeah. You and I have been working together for 11 years. It's 2025. I don't think I had the name PRS, but I started working, like, outside of working for someone else in 2014 and we have been working together since then. We don't have to get into the details of how. We won't get into the details of that. But anyway, so Anna Marie and I have been on a journey together for a very, very long time. You are extremely inspirational to me in many, many ways and I wanted to bring you on the podcast because you have inspired me. I mean, listen, I wish I could live up to how awesome you are. Every day I have two clients who are both moms, you and and Melissa. She's been on here. She's been on our podcast. You guys just put your blinders on you, even if you, I say you never miss training in the sense that there's no long gaps in training, right? Like, maybe you have, like, you got in a car accident, and I really don't even think you missed much training after the car accident.

 

[00:02:41] Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy: Probably should have, but I didn't. I got accident on a Wednesday of that week, and I didn't train the rest of that week. And then I trained the following Monday.

 

[00:02:50] Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC: Right. And I mean, listen, I mean.

 

[00:02:55] Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy: To be fair, I didn't break anything, so there wasn't.

 

[00:02:57] Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC: She didn't break anything. It was more.

 

[00:02:59] Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy: Of broken limbs. I had a concussion and I had stitches over my eye and a big bruise, and.

 

[00:03:06] Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC: Right. Were there some repercussions from that? Yeah, but we modify everything, and we've worked through all of it. And like you, I mean, listen, you had a baby. We'll talk about that. You had a baby and you've got five kids. A set of twins in there. You know, so you really never had a break in training. So that's what I mean when I say when you never miss training. So perhaps you didn't do the training on the day that you thought you were going to do the training? Yeah. But it got done, and it got done in some capacity at some time. And we kept going. Now I can't say the same for myself. And that's what I mean when I say that you're inspirational is because you've just been able to get your feet back under you even at the smallest blip or largest blip so that again, training is continuous. It's done probably within a week. I think probably the longest it might take to get done for you is a week within when it was supposed to happen. And that is a stretch. A week is a stretch, you know, you would get it done.

 

[00:04:22] Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy: Usually within a few days.

 

[00:04:23] Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC: Yeah. Yeah. So to start, why don't you tell us a little bit about who you are as a lifter and how you got into strength training and what role it plays in your life?

 

[00:04:34] Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy: Okay. So I'm a lifter, I compete well, sometimes I still compete probably once a year. I compete, but I mostly just lift as an example for my clients. I feel like it's unfair to ask my clients to do something that I won't do myself. But as a lifter, I'm just a consistent lifter, somebody who makes it a priority in my life. Getting into strength training, I started with CrossFit, and because I was fascinated by how those athletes looked. I had spent at that point 14 years training in a gym on a regular basis, just like going to the gym doing bro stuff, you know, machines, lat pulldowns, goblet squats, things to make my thighs smaller, like all that stuff. And I didn't really look like I trained. I'd gotten leaner, but I didn't look super muscular or like I worked out. And for me, I was like, all this work I've put into my body, and I just look smaller, cool. But I want to look strong. And so it was after I had the twins, which was 2013, I had gone back to the gym and weirdly, my body wasn't responding like it normally does to training. And so I decided to go to a CrossFit gym. And they had they had a strength program where we would do a lift, and then we would do the Metcon and I had 4 or 5 coaches at the gym be like, you need to start lifting. You're built for lifting. You will be a great lifter. I think the most we're talking about Olympic lifting because that's what part of CrossFit. But there was a woman in the gym who never did CrossFit who squatted 300 something pounds and just was getting leaner and leaner and meaner. And I was like, what is she doing? And so I got to know her, was doing Starting Strength. And so she ran a free class and I took her free class. And even though I did it wrong, even though I was still doing CrossFit five days a week and doing Starting Strength three days a week, I still put 45 pounds on the back squat in six weeks, and I think I got this effect.