Back Room Talk Coach Spotlight: Burnout Made Me Rethink Everything About Exercise: Mizar Fuente Ortega Spotlight
This episode of Back Room Talk explores the remarkable journey of Mizar Fuentes-Ortega, a former elite gymnast turned holistic coach who discovered that true health extends far beyond performance metrics. From his early gymnastics aspirations to burnout as an engineer juggling competitive fitness, Mizar shares how his perspective evolved to prioritize sustainable health practices over podium finishes – a philosophy that now guides his coaching approach at OPEX Montreal.
The Athlete's Journey: From Performance to Health
"I started as a gymnast when I was seven years old," Mizar begins, sharing how his early athletic career shaped his trajectory. "For a gymnast, that's actually quite old to start gymnastics at that age. I had aspirations of becoming an athlete or an Olympian. Going to the Olympics had been a big dream of mine."
This pursuit of excellence led him through gymnastics and into coaching gymnastics before expanding into rock climbing, weightlifting, and eventually CrossFit – where he met James FitzGerald, founder of OPEX, who would become a pivotal mentor in his development.
The turning point in Mizar's journey came through personal experience rather than academic learning. While pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering with a specialization in biomedical engineering, he was simultaneously training as a competitive athlete. This dual path eventually led to burnout:
"I was an engineer full-time and I believed that if I would train like an athlete, I was gonna be very successful," he recounts. "I came to realize that I was burning the candle from both ends... I am a good athlete. I'm pushing hard, competing quite often, and yet I'm not healthy."
This realization sparked a profound shift in his understanding of fitness: "I didn't feel necessarily energized. Competition, three, two, one, cortisol levels increase, adrenaline increase. You get a slap in the face and you just go into beast mode. That's where I actually realized that the mind is so powerful and can push the body beyond its limits."
The Engineer's Perspective on Coaching
Mizar's background in engineering provides him with a unique lens through which he approaches coaching: "I feel that that's the mindset that kind of separates me from other trainers... seeing what are the trends and what are principles. Ultimately, that's what comes up."
This analytical approach allows him to look beyond the surface-level data to identify patterns and principles that guide sustainable health practices. It also taught him to question commonly held beliefs about the relationship between performance and wellbeing:
"When I actually became an athlete and pushed into those levels, I realized that I wasn't necessarily that healthy. I had shoulder injury, hip pain, lower back, being exhausted, needing to take a nap, supplements – I mean, that's the big awareness process."
This awareness led him to reframe his understanding of what fitness truly means: "How much do you need to do in order to maintain yourself? We need to have some sort of discomfort to maintain your muscle mass or you need to do some cardio in order to keep your aerobic capacity."
The Evolution from Group Classes to Individualized Design
Like many coaches, Mizar's professional journey began with teaching group classes, but the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed a shift toward more individualized approaches:
"The evolution from the CrossFit gym to now happened through COVID. That's where it was the main opening of my mind into the individual design. Because I saw that people needed a bit more specific approach as opposed to the 20, 30 group class where, if you have a back pain, a shoulder pain, if you want to lose weight, if you want to gain muscle... we all have a different specific goal."
This realization led to the creation of OPEX Montreal's new space, designed specifically to facilitate deeper connections with clients:
"When we open the new space, it really allows us to align ourselves. We really want to connect with each person because we realize that we have different backgrounds, we have different beliefs."
The pandemic also expanded his vision beyond local coaching to a global reach: "What I saw through COVID is that we can connect with people around the world. They are looking for coaches that can guide them. Because through TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, some of them are going to tell you to eat watermelon for a month and you're going to lose weight."
This explosion of often-contradictory fitness information highlighted the need for educated coaches who could help people navigate through extremes and find sustainable approaches.
The Coach-Client Relationship: Building Trust and Autonomy
For Mizar, coaching is fundamentally about building relationships that empower clients toward self-discovery and autonomy. His approach begins with thorough assessment and honesty:
"That honesty, that openness is starting from the assessment to where we're at today and where we need to be in whatever goal is," he explains, referencing a pivotal moment when his own coach, James FitzGerald, candidly told him he would never make it to the CrossFit Games due to his physical limitations.
Rather than discouraging him, this honest assessment allowed Mizar to make informed choices about his athletic pursuits: "That honesty, actually, that's what I appreciated because it allowed me to position myself into the reality of what it meant to compete in CrossFit."
He brings this same candor to his clients, coupled with compassion and an understanding that life happens. This represents a significant evolution from his earlier, more rigid approach to programming:
"The programming aspect – as an engineering mind, things should make sense as in a four-week cycle, eight-week cycle... But what I realized is that life happens. Understanding that things go through phases. So adapting that, that used to be very into my way. But the reality is that sooner or later, we need to start adapting through the process."
This flexibility allows him to prioritize consistency over perfection: "What I realized is the consistency sometimes is way more important than actually the peak progress."
Skill Acquisition: The Power of Small Wins
With his gymnastics background, Mizar has a particular passion for helping clients develop fundamental movement skills. When asked about his favorite skills to work on with clients, his answer might surprise those expecting advanced gymnastics movements:
"Skills I would say their first pull-up and their first dip. Because usually that's a big milestone, once you start gaining that upper body strength. That's where other levels in gymnastics open up."
These foundational achievements create the "aha" moments that keep clients engaged: "My favorite part about coaching is when people recognize that they've evolved. When people recognize that they are able to do things that they were not able to do at the beginning. To me that gives me goosebumps because it was part of the process but between you and I, I didn't do anything. It was them coming in, being consistent, having the discomfort."
These breakthroughs transform a client's relationship with fitness: "That first kind of aha moment is priceless because now they actually fall in love with the process. And that's where I'm like, okay, job's done as in now that they've understood."
Mentorship and The Coaching Community
Mizar's commitment to education extends beyond his clients to other coaches through his role as a mentor in the OPEX CCP program. This one-on-one mentorship allows him to address the specific challenges each coach faces:
"It really depends on each coach's starting point. Because some of them just want to understand a bit better about progressions... others want to open an OPEX gym. What are the different steps?"
He sees mentorship as essential for creating a supportive ecosystem in the fitness industry: "I had the great opportunity to work with different mentors that showed me the way. And I feel that it's important to have that support system... We need to elevate each other, as opposed to feel that we're competition and taking and punching each other away."
This collaborative approach serves a greater purpose: "We need to assist more people because the health of the worldwide population, it's quite bad."
Balancing Coaching with Life: Quality over Quantity
Despite his many professional roles – gym owner, remote coach, mentor – Mizar maintains balance through clear priorities and boundaries:
"I have some times where, for example, the gym, I have certain times where I'm most productive or most aware in the morning. So everything that requires numbers, everything that requires emails or important things to do, it's going to be in the morning."
He emphasizes the importance of identifying essential activities: "It's bringing awareness to what are my essential things that I cannot dismiss. Within that for me, it's sleep. I try to have regular hours of sleep."
This awareness extends to nutrition and energy management: "I could do fasting for five, six, eight, 12. I've done even seven days of fasting... But understanding that these to me are things that are essential to have my mental clarity in order to have my energy."
Mizar stresses that each coach must find their own rhythm: "Finding your own what makes sense to you. There are some people that feel are more productive or more creative in the evening. Perfect. Recognize that."
Back to Fundamentals: What Modern Sports are Missing
From his vantage point working with various athletes, Mizar identifies a concerning trend in contemporary sports training – the lack of fundamental physical development:
"I feel that we're forgetting that we're human beings that need to evolve and we need to be exposed to those things. For example, let's think of Jiu-Jitsu. Jiu-Jitsu, I've seen that the beginner's lack of that foundation, as in doing a plank, doing a lunge, doing a squat, doing a push-up, a pull-up, a dip, which is basic strength movements."
This missing foundation creates vulnerability: "Let's say it's the kindergarten level of fitness. And then we ask them to now we're fighting an individual that could be your body weight or not. Sometimes we throw them into the fire as in survive or die, natural selection."
He sees similar patterns across different sports – from skating to baseball to running – where early specialization without fundamental physical development leads to injury and burnout: "It feels that now they're more into the performance, or we are into the performance. I need to do a marathon because it's my bucket list. But the truth is that you need to start running and build that volume to run and have fun, as opposed to no pain, no gain."
Falling in Love with the Process
When asked about his top advice for coaches and clients alike, Mizar emphasizes one core principle:
"Falling in love with the process more and more... that it becomes like breathing. As simple as that, you take a shower every morning or at night, you brush your teeth every day. What are the other things that you do that are part of your life?"
This process-oriented mindset removes the pressure of perfectionism and allows for growth through discomfort: "What are the different vulnerable moments that you have or uncomfortable moments that you have? Because that's the only way that the body is going to grow and adapt in any kind of area of your life."
He encourages embracing the beginner's mindset: "Having that vulnerability and openness to become a beginner, adapt, learn, integrate things in order to master. Often we get very discouraged because, you're right. You're starting something new. Well, the odds are that you're not going to be good at it."
This realistic approach to growth creates space for development without undue pressure: "That would remove so much stress into the performance, that would remove so much stress into the 'I need to be perfect' because we're trying something new. The margin of error is quite big."
Looking Forward: The New OPEX Montreal
As our conversation concludes, Mizar shares his excitement about OPEX Montreal's new facility:
"It feels that it's everything that we've done from starting part-time coach to having that industrial space to now, kind of, for me, I'm a bit more conscious of how I can assist individuals in the process. Instead of imposing my will as in, 'look, this is CrossFit, this is a methodology, this is what we need to do.' No, it's not my methodology. It's where you're at today and what are the different principles we need in order for you to evolve and grow."
This represents the culmination of his journey from performance-focused athlete to holistic health coach: "I'm so excited that we're more in line with what we want and how we can help individuals and how we can take them step by step, each and every single one from the beginner teenager or mom that has never trained in her life to an elder that has years and experience that wants to maintain their autonomy."
Connect with Mizar
Those interested in learning from Mizar can reach out through:
Instagram: @coachmizar
Email: mizar@opexmontreal.ca
"The first action is the hardest action to do," he encourages, "so send me a message. We can connect, talk. If it's a great fit, awesome. Once you made that decision for yourself, that's where the adventure begins and that's what matters."
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