Sevan Matossian - King of Content ”CEO” of CrossFitSevan Matossian - King of Content ”CEO” of CrossFit
The Elevate Experience
Angie Manson and Dallas Terrell speak with Sevan Matossian about using CrossFit, burpees and consistent routines as tools in addiction recovery and family life. The conversation mixes humour with frank discussion of discomfort, honesty, relapse risk and the realities of leaving rehab.
54:52•3 May 2022
Burpees, Truth and Recovery: Sevan Matossian on CrossFit, Kids and Sobriety
Episode Overview
- Intense exercise, like doing 100 burpees, can offer a fast, healthy way to break obsessive thinking and create mental space during recovery.
- Many addictive patterns are rooted in avoiding discomfort, and learning to be honest instead of dodging awkward moments is crucial.
- Embedding CrossFit-style training into rehab gives clients a constructive outlet for their drive and helps build confidence and health.
- For children, the real value of fitness programmes lies in patience, consistency and positive attention from parents rather than the exact workout.
- Longer treatment stays have a higher success rate, yet many functioning drinkers underestimate how much time they may actually need.
“There really is this Taoist saying, stop thinking and all your problems will go away… if you do 100 burpees as fast as you can, you will forget about all of your problems.”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? This conversation with Sevan Matossian, long-time CrossFit media mastermind, offers a unique mix of fitness, philosophy and hard-earned sobriety wisdom that fits perfectly for anyone curious about new tools for recovery and personal change. The chat with hosts Angie Manson and Dallas Terrell has an easy, joking energy, but it goes deep into uncomfortable truths. Sevan talks about learning to "use my voice" and the tightrope between sharing experience and bragging.
Angie relates, having run a rehab for years before she ever spoke publicly about her own addiction, and the two connect over using social platforms responsibly to help others. A big chunk of the episode focuses on CrossFit and intense exercise as a practical "life hack" for people in recovery.
Sevan describes how “if you do 100 burpees as fast as you can… you will forget about all of your problems and you will worry about just getting enough air,” calling it a cheap, healthy way to interrupt obsessive thinking and boost self-confidence. Angie and Dallas link this straight back to clients at Elevate, where fitness is built into treatment as a tangible outlet for that familiar addictive drive.
You’ll also hear Sevan break down his kids’ fitness and skateboarding projects, stressing that the real "magic is not in the programme, it's in the attention you give your kids" and the consistency behind their progress.
Dallas shares his own path from baseball star to heroin addict to counsellor, including the milestone of being "sober as long as I used drugs." Throughout, the episode balances humour with blunt reality: relapse statistics, traumatic home lives, jail time, and the intense anxiety of leaving rehab are all discussed plainly. If you like your recovery talk honest, practical and a bit philosophical, this one might leave you asking: where in your life are you still "avoiding discomfort"?
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