In this episode, Rachel tells the story of the day she found out she’d qualified for her first CrossFit Games. The people around her were her besties and her family, all cheering for her, and ready to celebrate. Then she got back to the gym, and it was back to training alone (for the most part).

At first, Rachel didn’t set out to qualify for The Games. Her only goal was to try her best. “I knew it was probably unattainable, honestly,” she told me. “It was always like, I’m gonna try my best, and if it doesn’t happen, I can say that I gave it my all.”

Her process: show up regardless of how she feels that day (habit, not motivation), trust that consistency beats intensity, and let go of the all-or-nothing thinking that kills most people’s progress before it starts. “You can keep going even if you mess up,” a line that applies to a missed lift or mistake in a workout, as it does to anything else.

That same mindset shows up in how she coaches. Every athlete she works with gets the version of Rachel that spent years proving to herself, alone, that discipline outlasts feeling ready.

Her experience is a core muscle moment belief: confidence isn’t something someone hands you. It’s something you build in reps when nobody’s watching.

In this conversation, Rachel and I chat about:

* The real difference between motivation and habit

* Why “you can keep going even if you mess up” beats all-or-nothing thinking

* How coaching other people makes her a better athlete

* What confidence looks like when you’re alone

On the personal side, we get into her less than glamorous years playing goalie in college soccer and why working harder than everyone else, even when the outcome wasn’t guaranteed, became the thing - the habit - she leans on today.

Rachel steps onto the floor at the 20th anniversary CrossFit Games in July 2026. Whatever happens there, the real work already happened — quietly, alone, on a few thousand normal afternoons very few saw.

Listen to the full episode now.

ABOUT RACHEL Rachel Noel is a coach at CrossFit 801in Utah, and a first-time qualifier for the 2026 CrossFit Games. She’s been training in CrossFit for eight years, most of them spent training alone after the friends she started with moved on. Before CrossFit, she played goalie in college soccer, an experience she credits with teaching her that working hard has a value that outlasts the outcome. She brings that same philosophy into how she coaches: consistency over intensity, habit over motivation, and confidence built through repetition.

GET IN TOUCH WITH RACHEL

* Instagram: @RachelKNoel

Reminder: The first five episodes of Muscle Moments and all companion content is available for free. After, all podcast episodes will remain free and other content will be made available to paid subscribers who make this work possible.

Enjoying Muscle Moments? Tell your friends and earn upgrades!

In this episode, Laura tells the story of the day fear showed up somewhere it wasn’t invited: her sacred gym time. Mid-warmup on her leg press — a machine she’s used every week for years — she caught herself talking herself down from her usual weight because of something scary happening in her business.

Thank goodness she wrote herself a note in her training journal the week before reminding herself she needed “to go heavier next time”. In that movement she chose to trust last-week-Laura and ignore the unease she was feeling. She’s done this enough to know what she’s capable of. Her process: name what she was feeling (fear), load the bar as she had noted (more weight with confidence), execute at a high level (mechanical tension and control to complete the set).

Later that same day she talked about the scary business project, without fear. All born from a place of self-trust she created for herself in the gym.

Her experience is a core muscle moment belief: what you practice under the bar, you can practice everywhere.

In this conversation, Laura and I chat about:

* Why “compartmentalized confidence” isn’t a thing

* How to tell the difference between fear and being under-warmed-up

* What it looks like to stop being the bottleneck in your own life or business

* Laura’s ritual for walking onto a competition platform without losing her nerve.

All things she practices in her life.

On the personal side, we talk about the boudoir photoshoot she gave herself for her 40th birthday, and why it hit different than the one she did at 26. That grown-ass-woman confidence.

Laura’s experience in the gym; the sense of empowerment, the confidence in knowing what she’s capable of has bled into every part of her life. She actively chooses to use the gym to learn how she can show up and perform better each day. By the end of this episode, you’ll understand why and get some practical tips on how. Listen to the full episode now.

ABOUT LAURALaura Dionisio spent 18 years as an aerospace systems engineer before founding Lead Intact®, where she works with high-achieving founders who’ve scaled to high six and seven figures and quietly run everything themselves. She helps them stop being the bottleneck in their own business by building operational structure that fits the person, not just the company.

She’s been training seriously since 2010, with roots in CrossFit and competitive Olympic weightlifting. She credits the gym with teaching her most of what she knows about fear, progress, and what it actually means to trust yourself under pressure — and she brings that same philosophy to how she works with founders. She treats the gym as a lab for discomfort, knowing firsthand that the confidence you build in one place transfers everywhere else.

Laura is the host of The Pivot Point Podcast and stays most active on Instagram @laura.m.dionisio.

GET IN TOUCH WITH LAURALinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laura-dionisioInstagram: @laura.m.dionisioFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauramae.d

Reminder: The first five episodes of Muscle Moments and all companion content is available for free. After, all podcast episodes will remain free and other content will be made available to paid subscribers who make this work possible.

Enjoying Muscle Moments? Tell your friends and earn upgrades!