The Stimulus Matters Podcast | Ep. 3
How Elite CrossFit Coaches Prep Athletes for Game Day CrossFit competition coaching goes far beyond just writing workouts—it’s about execution under p...
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7mHGgfGl8QDKIyh7Lbts3Y?si=XSzZuCR5RoCqUNVlJne2Dg
In Episode 25 of the Stimulus Matters Podcast, Kyle and Ryne are joined by special guest Mia Giannelli, a Games athlete and now one of the most effective gymnastics and skill development coaches in the sport of CrossFit. This episode is a deep dive into the real process of acquiring high-level skills, the psychology behind athlete development, and how Mia went from struggling with muscle-ups to coaching others toward mastery.
Whether you’re a coach, a competitive athlete, or just someone trying to unlock your first bar muscle-up or handstand walk, this episode provides practical insight and an inspiring story of transformation through skill progression.
Mia shares her early challenges with gymnastics skills, despite being a former athlete, she lacked body awareness and upper-body strength when she entered CrossFit. She describes being unable to do even a push-up or strict pull-up at first, and how drills often failed to translate into real movement proficiency.
Unlike Kyle, who learned a ring muscle-up on the first try, Mia’s path was slower and more frustrating. This contrast highlights one of the major takeaways from the episode: athleticism is not one-size-fits-all, and true progress often comes through conscious skill acquisition and self-assessment.
“I wasn’t unathletic, but I had no idea how to move my body in space. Drills didn’t click. I needed to understand why I was doing each step, and how it fit into the rep.” — Mia
One of Mia’s core breakthroughs came after paying for a skill review (a simple $15 bar muscle-up feedback video) that completely shifted her thinking. From that moment on, she began breaking down movements into step-based sequences that emphasized body positions, intentional transitions, and contextual awareness.
Today, she uses this framework with everyone from Games-level athletes to beginners trying to get their first pull-up. This includes:
“You don’t move on until you understand why you’re doing the drill and how it fits into the rep. Every piece of the progression has a purpose.” — Mia
Mia opens up about the emotional side of skill acquisition, especially how much shame many athletes feel when struggling with gymnastics. For years, she felt embarrassed about her inability to perform key skills despite training hard. That emotional experience now fuels her passion for coaching.
“I remember crying on the ramp in 2021, embarrassed that I still couldn’t do it. Now I make sure no one else has to feel that alone when facing a skill gap.” — Mia
This vulnerability is what makes Mia a trusted coach to many. She’s not just writing programs, she’s guiding athletes through the emotional blocks that often stand in the way of real progress.
Mia reflects on her journey to the Games and how even then, her skill execution wasn’t where she wanted it to be. It wasn’t until after competing that she truly unlocked the awareness and confidence to perform under pressure.
She and Kyle revisit her final year of competition, including the high-skill ramp event at the Games, and how that failure became the seed for her future coaching methods. Rather than seeing it as a setback, it became the exact moment that inspired her to teach others what she had to learn the hard way.
“Sometimes the skills click after you think they should. But if you stick with it and train smart, the growth comes—often faster than you think.” — Mia
One major theme of the episode is the disconnect between drills and skill transfer. Too often, athletes perform isolated drills without understanding how they relate to the final movement. Mia’s method solves this by ensuring that every drill has:
This makes her coaching especially effective for movements like:
Kyle and Ryne point out that Mia’s work is influencing a huge range of athletes across the sport, whether that’s helping semi-finalists overcome handstand walk barriers or unlocking new levels of skill execution for Open athletes.
Her programming focuses not just on the how of skill acquisition, but also the why, something many athletes are missing. Mia’s methods teach athletes to think for themselves, make adjustments mid-rep, and recover faster when things break down.
A highlight of the conversation was Mia’s detailed breakdown of handstand positioning, especially the difference between “banana” shapes and proper stacked alignment. She explains that many athletes are never taught how to build global tension in the handstand, leading to bent knees, anterior pelvic tilt, and excessive low back arching.
Mia emphasizes that fixing these issues isn’t just about “squeezing your butt”—it’s about learning how to organize your rib cage and pelvis, create a straight-line shoulder angle, and understand where balance actually comes from in a freestanding or walking handstand.
Kyle and Ryne reflect on how even advanced athletes often have to rebuild their foundations by spending time in statically stacked shapes, like:
Mia also points out that in most CrossFit gyms, handstand drills are rushed. Athletes skip foundational positions, jump right to walking, and end up plateauing for years.
“If you’re arching in the bottom of a strict HSPU, you’ll arch even harder in a HS walk. The problem isn’t the walk, it’s your shape.” — Mia
Selected handstand drills:
Alternating Wall-facing Mountain Climbers:
Wall-facing Handstand Hold –> Walk Away
This episode is a must-listen for coaches who want to improve how they teach skills and for athletes who feel stuck on a plateau. The key takeaways include:
If you’ve ever felt stuck, embarrassed, or confused in your skill journey—this episode with Mia Giannelli will change how you see the path forward.
