Tell us a little about you…

Hi there! I'm Tayler, a competitive crossfit athlete, crossfit coach, nutrition coach and a major agriculture/beef industry nerd!

Where did your fitness/athletic journey begin?

I have always been an active person. I grew up playing basketball, volleyball and competing in the sport of rodeo! I also took a "weights class" all the way through high school and loved it, I have always been naturally strong, primarily from my background growing up on the ranch. Moving "odd objects" is pretty much a prerequisite for being a ranch kid!

After my freshman year of basketball and volleyball in college, I went on an internship for a professional barrel racer. When I met her, I remember specifically she took her jacket off and her traps and arms were JACKED and I immediately needed to know what she did for fitness, which was of course, Crossfit. I originally started at her gym with the intent of staying in shape for my upcoming basketball and volleyball seasons but quickly learned I was not near as in shape as I thought and that only made me more hungry to get better at this Crossfit stuff. The rest is history really, been hooked ever since.

What’s your favorite part about your sport?

What is unique about it or what drives your desire to compete in this sport/category? : My favorite sport about Crossfit is how genuinely it transfers to real life. Coming from a background in ranching and spending as much time in the fire service as I did, everything in Crossfit does genuinely make us fitter for what we ask our bodies to do outside of the gym.

I'm also a competitor at heart, after leaving sports in college, I needed an outlet to still be competitive and CF gave me that opportunity for the rest of my life really.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I was my hometown rodeo queen for 2 years! I'm not a super girly gal, so that was kind of stretch for me ! But I actually really loved it, it was a cool chance to advocate for our Agricultural community.

Do you currently coach?

I do! I coach 4 days a week at the gym I train at. I've been a CF coach for 8 years! Crazy!

What’d your favorite kind of dessert?

I'm a sucker for any good cookie! Crumble cookie, homemade cookies, oreos...I'm a big cookie gal!

What’s been your most memorable time as an athlete?

So far, my most memorable time as an athlete was competing at the Syndicate Crown last season, with my husband as my coach for the weekend. It was a really cool experience to have him alongside with me the whole weekend at my first semifinal.

What have been some trying times in your athletic career and what have they taught you?

I was not the athlete that started trying to be competitive at CF and was immediately successful. It has been a long road and I'm still working my butt off to hang with the top dogs. I started trying to be competitive in 2017 and my first time making it to semis was last season. I've come up short of my goals a lot since 2017, but luckily I'm pretty stubborn and just kept working towards it, and I'm far from done.

Tell us a little about your accolades

I am 28 years old, I have spent the last 7 years as a professional firefighter and loved every second of it. Last year I made it to semi-finals as an individual, and placed 13th at the Syndicate Crown, while balancing a crazy shift schedule at a busy dept. 

I competed at the Granite Games on a team in 2019 and had a blast.
I own my own Nutrition coaching business.
My husband and I own 12 head of cattle and are building our own direct to consumer beef company!

Not sure these count as "accolades" but their certainly things I'm proud of! :)

What does your diet/nutrition look like? Any advice to others on things that you've had to learn the hard way in this are of your health and fitness?

Any advice to others on things that you've had to learn the hard way in this are of your health and fitness? : Currently I track macros, I mostly make sure I am getting enough to fuel my body through all of the training I ask it to do. My biggest piece of advice is to focus more on performance and what your asking your body to do, the aesthetics will follow. Set a performance goal and focus on that.

Tell us a little about your training regimen - do you follow specific training program(s), coaching/coaches, etc.? How do you prioritize your training over other aspects of life to reach this level of competitiveness?

I follow HWPO programming and train under the watchful eye of my coach Stine Pinilla. I train anywhere from 4-6 hours a day between two separate sessions. 

I left an amazing job as a firefighter/emt, where I worked with the best humans, all in an effort to give everything I possibly can to this sport. Excited to see how far we can make it the next few years.

What’s the biggest piece of advice that you’ve been given, that’s made an impact on you as an individual, that you wish to share with others for their journey?

The best advice I've been give recently is that life is short, you don't want to look back and regret something you didn't take a chance on, but that in order to make it worth it, it was gonna take a really GOOD team. The best advice has been to build a really great team of really great people, because without great people, the journey, the success, all of it..it's not gonna be worth it.

Why do you choose Swolverine?

I wanted to make sure I worked with a company I could be genuinely proud to represent and one I could count on to be a clean, safe product. There is a lot to stress over as an athlete, I wanted to be completely confident in what I was using to fuel myself.

What are your favorite products to use from Swolverine?

My go to products are always their clean carbs and whey protein! I also love their pure beta-alanine !