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For a Long Time,
Fitness Had Me.
Then I Found the Way Out.
What CrossFit broadcaster, affiliate owner, and father Chase Ingram understands about inadequacy, identity, and using fitness as a tool instead of letting it own you.
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For years, Bryce Smith was a competitive CrossFit athlete chasing the Games. And for years, he didn't have fitness — fitness had him. If he didn't hit a back squat. If he didn't nail a snatch. The rest of the day felt like a failure.
When Chase Ingram sat down with him, that's the admission that cracked the conversation open. Because Chase had been in the same place. And what he said next about how he got out of it stopped everything.
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"What a privilege it is to be scared of the round of 15 in Fran. There are people who go their entire lives refusing to even put themselves in that position. The win isn't the result of the step you take. The win is choosing to take the step."
Chase Ingram CrossFit Broadcaster, Affiliate Owner & Father
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Chase has been at this for 18 years. He's a D1 swimmer turned CrossFit athlete turned broadcaster. He now represents 645 affiliates across seven states for CrossFit HQ, runs his own affiliate out of his garage, trains two private clients in their 70s and 80s, cohosts Get With the Programming, and is up at 4:20am every single morning to train before his kids wake up.
Not because he loves alarm clocks. Because that first win sets the tone for everything that follows.
Most people's fears and inadequacies come from not knowing who they are. They don't know their ceiling or their floor. That uncertainty is what causes the most stress — not the workout itself.
CrossFit puts you in that position fast. And the people who stay with it long enough stop hanging their identity on the outcome. They get comfortable not knowing — and that comfort translates everywhere.
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The Lesson
The goal was never to be owned by fitness. The goal was to use fitness to find out who you are — and then take that person into every other area of your life.
When fitness has you, your whole day hinges on the workout. When you have fitness, it becomes one win among many — a tool that builds momentum, not a report card that defines your worth.
Failure isn't a final destination. You learn more from failures than from successes. And who knew a five-minute Fran could teach you that.
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Simple, not easy. Disseminate the things you can control from the things you can't. It's the things you can't control that cause the most anxiety. So focus on the ones you can.
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This conversation covers grief, preparation, the evolution of CrossFit media, what 18 years in the sport teaches you about life, and what it actually looks like to build something sustainable as a father, husband, and competitor who's still showing up at 4:20am.
Chase Ingram is one of the most credible voices in fitness. Not because of a title. Because of the reps.
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This Week's Question
Does fitness own you right now — or do you own it?
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Listen to the Full Episode
Chase Ingram on CrossFit, grief, identity, broadcasting
and what 18 years in the sport teaches you about life
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