Jana Redwine-Landfried: Oxygen Challenge 8

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For the past five years, Jana Redwine-Landfried competed in every Oxygen Challenge. (Yes, this is her fifth time.) She participated in OC3, OC5, OC6 and OC7, when she was named the Biggest Team Player. She was never crowned the winner—until now. Yet that grand prize was never her motivation… 

“Each time I finished a challenge, the journey itself gave me satisfaction,” Redwine-Landfried says. “So to say that I won is just icing on the cake.”

Strong Beginnings 

Fitness has always been part of Redwine-Landfried’s life in Lubbock, Texas. An active teenager, she was a three-sport athlete, competing on the volleyball, basketball, and track and field teams in high school. Her athleticism caught the eyes of others;during her freshman year, a coach for the Colorado High School’s powerlifting team recruited her to be a member of their first all-women’s team. 

“It was really fun, and I saw my cross-training capabilities,” Redwine-Lansfried says. “It was a big deal, because in Texas, girl’s powerlifting was sort of far out there. It opened up my eyes that women could be strong, too.”

Years later, when she became a mom, staying healthy and fit became even more important. She wanted to be able to run, play, and do active things with her children. This desire spurred her to join her first Oxygen Challenge, just eight weeks after giving birth. 

“I like having muscles and I like being strong,” she says. “And when I started having kids I knew I had to upkeep my body.”

Strengthening Friendships and Muscles

During her first challenge, OC3, Redwine-Landfried says she poured herself into the workouts, but didn’t put the same effort into the Oxygen community. She didn’t attempt to connect with any women also taking on the challenge because she didn’t know the fun, support, and friendships that they would bring. Instead, she took a nose-to-the-grindstone approach. 

That changed during OC4. “When I did my second challenge, I started to interact with people and it was a blessing,” she says. “I continued to follow the girls after the challenges were over and when Oxygen would announce the new coaches for the next year, everyone would get online and get excited. It was almost like summer camp for us where we could reconnect with each other and do something together.”

Redwine-Landfriend maintained these friendships—even as the challenges ended. In 2021, she and two other Oxygen friends conquered the Spokane to Sandpoint Relay in Spokane, Washington. And last October, she and a fellow Oxygen Challenger hiked the Cascade Canyon Loop in Grand Teton National Park.

“That’s what kept me coming back to the Oxygen Challenge,” Redwine-Landfried says. “I’ve met some amazing friends and have gone on some epic adventures with them.”

OC8 Routine

When it came to OC8, Redwine-Landfried chose to follow Coach Carmel Rodriguez for her functional fitness plan. 

“Carmel merges the world of being in the gym with real life,” Redwine-Landfried says. “She helps extract the strength you gain in the gym and put it to use in other parts of your life.” 

As a full-time physician’s assistant and mom, Redwine-Landfried opted to get her workouts in at the crack of dawn—before waking her kids up at 6:30 a.m. for school. 

“The way my life is structured, if it doesn’t get done in the morning, it doesn’t get done,” she says. “Most of the challenges have mixed cross training and cardio, so I had a good balance of both most mornings.”

Her kids – Slade (3), Sloan (5) and Sutton (7) – were very involved in the challenge. Redwine-Landfried often invited her kids to the gym, so they could watch—and maybe even join in. 

“Carmel had so many gymnastics moves in her workouts and the kids found that so fun,” she says. “I want my kids to find a love of movement but I don’t want to preach it to them. I want to show them how fun it is.”

She gives her husband, Greg, all the credit of being the chef of the house. He prepares whole, healthy meals and some treats, as well. Redwine-Landfried approached all her Oxygen challenges with a balanced mindset about nutrition and diet.

“I’m really cognizant about not showing my kids things that can be construed as disordered eating,” she says. “I eat what they eat.”

Redwine-Landfried leads by example for her children when she’s in the kitchen. She’s intentional when it comes to discussing food and nutrition, talking about proteins and carbs providing fuel for healthy bodies. Growing up a ‘country girl at heart’, she generally cooks with locally-raised meats and vegetables. Her favorite family meal? A good beef filet and roasted peppers and brussels sprouts. 

Quick Q&A with Oxygen Challenge Winner Jana Redwine-Landfried 

Oxygen Magazine: What’s your favorite protein source?

Jana Redwine-Landfried: “A good filet. A good beef tenderloin goes a long way in my world. My father-in -law raises cattle, so we always get his grass-fed beef. I get the real organic stuff. We actually even have some wild game in our freezer now. A close second to lean beef is an elk steak. I do prefer the local-sourced stuff, and living in rural Texas, it’s not hard to find.”

OM: Favorite form of cardio?

JR-L: “The cardio I do the most is running. Before I had kids, I cycled quite a bit. I think my favorite form of cardio is anything I can do outdoors, getting fresh air and disconnecting from my phone. Sometimes I feel like when you get outside, time sort of stops— even when you’re doing those hard-timed intervals.”

OM: Coffee or tea?

JR-L: “I am not a coffee drinker. I love the smell of it, but I just detest the taste of it. If I do take caffeine, it’s in pill form or ice tea. If we’re traveling and stop at a Starbucks, I’ll order a chai.” 

OM: Do you have a fitness inspiration who got you into Oxygen Challenges?

JR-L: “To be honest, the person who drew me into fitness in the first place when I picked up my Oxygen Magazine 20 years ago was Jamie Easton Middleton, one of the Oxygen Challenge 3 coaches. She’s my age, and I’ve followed her throughout the years. But it’s not one person. Oxygen has brought in so many different people throughout the years, and it’s been so fun.”

OM: You’ve conquered OC8. What’s your next fitness goal?

JR-L: “I’ve got a couple road races on the schedule. I’m considering meeting up with one of my gal pals for an epic trail race, which is super far out of my comfort zone because I don’t have the schedule to get out to the hills in my area. I am really looking forward to my trip to the Grand Canyon, and I’ll have to train for that one. It’ll be fun to mesh my running and cross training to have the stamina to do that.”