Tough As A Mother: How Juliegh Bookout Balances Motherhood & Fitness

Moms are tested everyday. And everyday they perform. With boundless love and seemingly limitless energy, they are the ones who show up for us on the field and off, in the classroom and out, from far away from home and inside its protective walls. Today we celebrate the strength, love, and resilience of the moms in our lives.

Earlier this week, we sat down with C4 and Cellucor Superfan of over 3 years and Supermom Juliegh Bookout, to learn about how she balances health and fitness with being a parent.

"So when you have that confidence, I think it makes your life better because you feel empowered."

 

 

"Put yourself out there and don't be afraid because we were all beginners at one point."

 

What does a typical day look like for you?

All right. Cool. So every morning I wake up probably about 4:15 AM. Get out of bed. It doesn't even feel like a natural anymore. It actually kind of feels a little weird if I don't wake up that early, heading to the kitchen, just to get myself ready to go work out. Every day go to the gym or I go to CrossFit. I have one of my kids with me. So my 15 year old Jackson, goes and does lifting with me four times a week. My daughter Piper does CrossFit with me twice a week. So we get in the car, head to the gym. After that, after our workout, we get back, have breakfast, get them off to school. Then I sit down at my desk and start my work day. Work day wraps up and I'm getting kids home from school, doing laundry, a little bit around the house getting dinner ready for everyone. Finally, get to sit on the couch for a little bit of relaxing and then had to bed.

Why do you prioritize health and fitness?

To me when I go to the gym it's the one place where... It's funny, I just said that this morning to my son, Jackson, it's the one place where everything else just kind of fades away. So you can't think about folding laundry. You can't think about making dinner. You don't think about the one o'clock dentist appointment or performance day at school. You just let all of that melt away. So it was just you and basically whatever you're working on. You and the barbell or the dumbbells, and that's the only place your focus is. So everything else just kind of falls to the wayside. It's funny because it's really not until you get in your car to drive home from the gym that you think, "Oh, now I remember everything I have to do today. Now I remember there's laundry at home, and now I remember someone has a dentist appointment, and now I remember that 10 o'clock meeting."

How does C4 help you with your busy lifestyle?

Well, I'm not sure what I would show up to the gym looking like I probably wouldn't be physically, mentally or emotionally ready to take on a really hard workout at 5:00 AM without C4. It's been part of my morning routine since I can remember, and part of my training session. So when you look at your training, you have your programming, you have nutrition, and diet, and sleep and all these things that you put into training and C4 has definitely been a part of that. Even when I plan for meets or when I'm planning to go compete, I'm like, "Okay, I need to make sure I still have C4 with me on the days leading up to the meet. And then when I get to the meet, make sure I have it in my bag and ready to go," because I know it definitely helps me perform. And it definitely, I don't think I could do it that early in the morning without C4.

What are some tips you can give to other moms to help them with their health and fitness?

I think it would be don't be afraid to put yourself out there and try new things. I think a lot of people say, "Oh, I could never do that. I could never get up early. I could never competed a powerlifting meet. I could never run that fast. I could never be that strong." But I say to them, "Why not?" I thought maybe at one point in my life that I couldn't be that strong or that fast, but we all start from somewhere. So I would say, don't let fear hold you back or that's not who I think I am. Hold you back and just go for it. Put yourself out there and don't be afraid because we were all beginners at one point. 

What do you enjoy most about C4?

I think I liked the way that it helps me perform. I feel like I started off and my fitness, I guess, life not using any sort of energy supplement or a product. And when I started using C4, I suddenly felt almost gives you a superhuman ability. I suddenly felt like picking up the bar, it wasn't as heavy, or doing 50 box jumps. It didn't seem as hard and I could do them faster and I felt stronger and just more ready to take on workout. So when you have that confidence, I think it makes your life better because you feel empowered. You feel when you're at the gym that picking up a heavy dumbbell or taking on something that might seem intimidating, seems so much less intimidating. You just feel like you could take on the world and nothing is too heavy, or too hard or too long, that you can just then go for it.

What does being mom strong mean to you?

So being mom strong means you're not only strong for yourself, but you're strong for other people. You're strong, in my case for three other people. It means just being able to have the energy, and the ability and the mental focus, all of that has to come together to not only take care of the things you need to do to manage and run your life, but to also manage and run the lives of three other humans. So being moms strong, it's almost like you have the ability to not only be one person, but in my case be four people, and just take care of four people, not just one and just to make sure that everyone's taken care of and where they need to be and doing what they're supposed to do.

Do you have a message you'd like to share with other moms reading this?

So my message to moms would be, whether it's letting your child do something, or whether it's taking control of your own health and fitness, or getting your child into a new skill, whatever it is, never let fear hold you back. Never let the idea that you couldn't do something or be something, whether it's for yourself or for your children, hold you back.