Peach Podcast
Two guys and an occasional guest breaking open topics on: Purpose, Energy, Attitude, Commitment and Health through shared experiences.
Peach Podcast
S2EP04: Unbreakable! From Prison to Podium: Ricky LaRocca's Strength, Perseverance, and Community Impact!
Ricky LaRocca's journey from incarceration to becoming a celebrated strongman and coach is nothing short of inspiring. This episode features his remarkable story of resilience, loyalty, and transformation that promises to leave you feeling motivated to tackle your own challenges. Ricky opens up about his path from bodybuilding to triumphing in strongman competitions, demonstrating how past experiences can fuel a competitive spirit and ultimately lead to success.
The incredible power of perseverance is at the heart of Ricky's story. From handling severe injuries to facing legal hurdles, Ricky's determination never falters. His recounting of a 1300-pound yoke walk and other heavy lifting feats showcases not just physical strength but an indomitable mindset that transcends sports into everyday life. Ricky stands as a testament to the belief that unwavering grit can surmount even the toughest obstacles, inspiring listeners to apply that same dedication to their own pursuits.
Beyond personal achievement, Ricky's tale is one of giving back, exemplified by his involvement with the San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby program and mentorship of youth. His positivity, despite numerous surgeries and significant health challenges, is infectious. Alongside his supportive wife, Ricky's commitment to fostering community and empowering others through coaching shines through. Join us to hear how his extraordinary resilience and uplifting spirit make this episode a heartfelt tribute to the power of love, community, and unwavering determination.
Check our this short film on Ricky's journey: https://youtu.be/JQ_VsNN2ceI?si=ckFsEzKV4_BPeMs7
Here's the short clip of him in the hospital while in excruciating pain as he still manages to smile and sign autographs: https://youtu.be/ovzVzZSswLw?si=EIbEL_XAs6VNnGpl
Hey, hey, hey, welcome to the Peach Podcast. Just a couple of dudes and an occasional guest breaking open topics from everyday life on purpose, energy, attitude, commitment and health. So, if you're ready, listen in as we live to learn from our losses, gain from our gratitude and laugh as we level up. To learn from our losses, gain from our gratitude and laugh as we level up. Always remember, if you ever feel stuck, all you got to do is just start. Come on, let's go. Welcome back. Welcome back, it's your friends Doug and Daryl on Peach Podcast. We have an amazing guest. I'll let Daryl introduce that guest in a minute, but Daryl, real quick.
Speaker 1:I just want to give a huge shout out to World Gym in Hillsburg. Man, I spent about two weeks and a few days in some change down there hanging out with Joe DeeDee, the whole staff it was Lily, lupe, lizzie, Adelise, man, they just brought me in like family and I had such an amazing and awesome time. We had a wellness fair last night and it was off the hook. We had HRC Healdsburg Running Company down there supporting Aaron Gutziat. I don't know if I said it right, but he's a chiropractor down there. Ask Joe about Aaron. He is legit man. That boy knows his stuff and he gets down on some chiropractic health. Also, we had Jacqueline Peters with SoCo Physical Therapy and Performance. She brought some high-end technology on how you load, how your legs carry the load left side, right side and all these things are just great for injury prevention plus just getting peak performance out of your body. Man, if you want to level up, go see Jacqueline Peters at SoCo Physical Therapy and Performance. Also, we had some hormone therapy hormone replacement therapy. That's becoming a bigger and bigger thing these days.
Speaker 1:Danielle was down there with Ageless. I forget what's Ageless. They're in Santa Rosa on B Street, but check them out, man. Awesome, awesome people, very informative, lots of education. We also had NorCal uh, body fat testing hydrostatic where they dip you in the in the in the water tank, man, that's like gold standard for body fat testing. And they showed up down there and they were giving people body fat tests. It's funny, man. A lot of people were coming down with their heads hung low going.
Speaker 2:Oh shit, you know because you can't have you ever done that test.
Speaker 1:I've never done it, you know I should have done it but I was busy, you know, on the microphone doing my thing and just. But Joe will have them down there again, but it was nice. So big shout out to them as well. It was just. And the trainers man, all the trainers that work out of Joe's gym there's Destiny, stephanie, dave and Clay man amazing people. And what's cool about those trainers? They're not, they don't compete against each other, you know they're. They each have their own special niche in the gym and it is so cool. They collaborate together, they work together and it's just really Joe's done an amazing job providing, you know, opportunities for the people to come together and build community and beyond community. It really felt like family. And then also a big shout out to Joe's wife, jessica, my sister-in-law. Wonderful, wonderful hospitality down there, man, she took care of me, made sure I had my little peanut butter, protein bars and and uh, you know, and some some great dinners and stuff like that, and also spending time with my, my godson, and who's also my nephew, little G Giovanni. That was man, that was such a blessing. So had a great time.
Speaker 1:I'm back from Hillsburg now and I'll miss them, but I'll be. I'm sure Joe will have me back to do some other events and whatnot, and I mean you and I will probably be down there again for the powerlifting contest and we'll work in that uh this year when it comes up. But uh, so that's that's. I'm glad to be back. I miss you. Big D, I see you working out like a beast on Strava man. So you can't. You can run, but you can't hide. I see what's happening so good job.
Speaker 2:Good job with you man, what's going on with you too much. Uh, thrilled to have you back. Um, man, I'll tell you what is fun following. Um, I can't, can't say enough great things Joe's gym is just doing just crushing it. Amazing people is really cool. I can't wait. We're probably going to get into a little bit of the wellness and everything else what you learned up there, uh, which is good. So just back to life. Uh, just me and my wife started back to school. Uh, this week teaching with Ava going back full-time.
Speaker 2:So we're back on our regular calendar, right, oh yeah, so very excited, all doing well, man, I tell you what we've talked about having Ricky on for about six months. Ricky is an amazing individual and I'm going to let him kind of tell his story. But I'll tell you what man. I've met Ricky through family. He married into the family with Jennifer, my niece, probably about seven, eight years ago, maybe a little longer than that. As far as I've known him and man, everything is from his growing up to his working out, to being a strong man, to his injuries, to coaching. We were just on before and he just started opening up and telling stories. I forget the podcast man, the stories this guy has got of some of the most world-class athletes born and bred in San Francisco and just super excited to have Ricky on the podcast. So welcome Ricky.
Speaker 3:Hey, what's up, brothers, how you guys doing man.
Speaker 2:Doing good brother.
Speaker 3:Doing good Doing good man.
Speaker 1:Good, good Doing good man. Good to have you on Ricky LaRocca in the house. Come on, yes, man, you guys are in for a treat. Ricky LaRocca has many accolades. He's probably one of the most generous people you'll ever meet. Very kind, but man. He is strong as an ox. But before we get down and talk about his accolades and how generous he is and how he gives of his time, ricky, tell us a little bit about yourself where you're from, how it was growing up, etc. Etc. Uh, go ahead, kick it off, brother.
Speaker 3:I was born in san francisco. I lived all over the bay um san jose, uh, I grew up in san mateo, lived in Oakland. You know, regular life as a kid. You know I got in a lot of trouble as a kid and shit like that. Right, right, I always worked. I grew up in a seafood business. So I always, every summer or vacations, you know I would always, since I was nine years old, I worked 40 hours a week. Wow, I did free work. I loaded, you know, loaded freezers up, worked with the crab tanks, the lobster tanks, unloaded trucks and shit. So I always pushed hard since I was a kid, um, but you know I got into a lot of trouble and shit too.
Speaker 3:And once I was like in I don't know sixth grade, I started going to juvenile hall and all of that quite a lot of time and, um, I lifted on a program that wasn't my own. My father made me lift since I was a kid. He always, he always had me lift outside or we practiced fighting every day. He was great like that. He really wanted me to be tough and my father was a tough man. So I always wanted to be like my pops. That was my dream be a monster. You know what I'm saying. But then I caught a big case when I was 16. And I don't know when I was 16. And I don't know, I didn't. Maybe I got out when I was 18 at a juvenile hall, right Like a camp I got sent to and then from then I was on the streets for maybe four to six months and I caught another case where I got sent to the penitentiary.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:I think I was 18 or 19 by the time I got sent to San Quentin. You know, it was a life-changing thing for me. To me it was like one of the best experiences of my life, like it really taught, like my mental focus and a true love for other people that, you know, I never felt before. You know, I don't know how it is in other places, but in california, there it's, it's by nationalities, and so my national, I'm puerto rican, huawei and filipino. So I got taken in with what's called the uso carvalho or it was like the islander car, right. So when I was in prison, maybe there'd be 10 to 20 of us together and we pray together, and we train together and we eat together, and when we go to war, we go to war together. And you know, a lot of times it may be, you know, 10 or 15 of us against 100 or 150 of the southern nationality, but you ain't, none of us was running, you know, and I was so thankful, I was young and they took me in, and in this every person involved in it would give up their flag. So maybe there was a Samoan from Long Beach or a Tongan from San Mateo, whatever, and one's a blood one's a crypt. They all give that up to ride with the uso car and I felt so blessed to be taken care of to make sure they was actually trying to get me home fast, to make sure I didn't get in trouble. That you know when I and then they had me training.
Speaker 3:It was my first time to ever train anybody was inside a prison. I was running, running the prison workout car. It felt great and I was so thankful I got my body weight way down. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to come home and do something athletic, but the whole time I was there training me to fight.
Speaker 3:I was learning how to wrestle different types of skills like that. I was hitting the bag. I'm running nonstop all the time and I got my body weight down to 168 pounds when I paroled Wow. So I came home and I was super lean and the one thing I knew I wanted to give back to the people that gave to me. So in my mind I'm thinking like how can I do this shit? But I didn't know. But it was on my mind and I knew I had a lot of catching up to do. Everybody else was going to college and all this positive shit, and now, like I'm on high control parole meaning I got this parole officer just on me all the time just giving me an issue I got to make up money like it was a tough time.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:I'm working like two or three jobs. Then I end up going to a gym to work out like my first or second day I got a gym membership. Then I end up going to a gym to work out Like my first or second day. I got a gym membership. Then I ended up getting a job managing one of the gyms Wow, which was a blessing, you know, and it was just because I went hard, I was training hard every day, every day, as soon as I touched a weight, like because I was doing, you know, a lot of conditioning work, we didn't have weights in the pen. Right, we had weights and the pen right, we had water bags and shit dude, we'd steal from the guards bags and put water through it and take the fucking broomstick out and do that whole gimmick. It was like in 98 they took all the weights out of, uh, california department of corrections. Oh shit, I didn't know that yeah yeah maybe when you look back.
Speaker 2:So you kind of had trouble and then you went to juvie and then you went to prison. Yeah, man, sounds like you learned something in there with community. When you came out, what was the difference between kind of like what you'd done before, kind of going back to the lifestyle which a lot of people do of you know, crime and things that are going to get you in trouble? Dude, seems like you came out with a totally different attitude. Well, like what, what? Uh, when you that doesn't happen to a lot of people you know at an early age all of a sudden flipping the switch and turning the leaf, talk about what happened.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know it was. It's weird, like you know, it seems like I had a completely different attitude, but it didn't change. And this is one of the truest things and this keeps happening along with me. Bro, this story it happened to teach so I could teach it to other people, right. Right it was.
Speaker 3:But I went to prison originally because I was doing shit for people who I cared about, but they didn't really give a fuck about me. But I'll do anything for the people I care about. I'm the most loyal people you ever meet. I'll ride for whatever. I'll give up up anything, I'll give up my body. I gave up my leg for the shit I believe in. It don't matter, it doesn't matter to me.
Speaker 3:But when I went to prison and the Islanders did so much for me and then I was like, okay, this is who I want to go back and do something for. I want to represent us. I want to represent us, right. I want to represent us to a different level. I want to do something positive with this shit and take it to the next level. And you know, I want to do something positive for these people. Maybe I can't help them in prison, because I can't. I don't want to be going back and forth in prison to help bring the car up, but what else can I do to get our car strong? Maybe I could help get our kids out of trouble. Maybe I could do something positive like that right.
Speaker 3:And so that's the hype I was on. I was like it didn't really. I didn't feel like I changed it, just felt like I needed to eliminate the weakness around me. You know what I mean. Like you know, people try to take advantage of you. You know, fuck people that quit all that stuff. You got to cut that shit right out. You know it's like a cancer. Yeah, I would say that quitting is a cancer. You got to cut that shit right from the get. Get it away from you, you know damn, hey, rick.
Speaker 1:So when? When did that? At what point? Because you're working at a gym, you're running the gym and, uh, you're lifting weights at what point? When did it switch in your mind that you started going down strongman competitions? When did that all kick?
Speaker 3:in. Okay, so originally I started out following a bodybuilder. There was a bodybuilder named Emmerich and this is like doing the whole being on the peninsula and you could look up Emmerich's last name Delzig is his last name you know he's kind of. If you look up his name you'll see he was involved in the whole Balco thing and that was when all this stuff was happening on the peninsula. If you're in the fitness industry you're kind of everybody's kind of involved. I guess I was a little bit more involved than most and so I would go and learn from him and he taught me a lot.
Speaker 3:But I wasn't really fond of bodybuilding. You know, it looks just kind of soft to me. I mean not soft. I appreciate what they do, but it just wasn't me. I don't like to. You know I couldn't do anything like that. But I kept getting approached by powerlifters about coming into powerlifting. At the time I didn't really want to do it because you know I was really lean and right. No, I always seen those guys as kind of fat and stuff like that and I didn't really understand what they were doing right and then I was blessed enough.
Speaker 3:I came across a real old school power lifting coach and john ford, who took me in and taught me a whole different style of training and everything was completely different than everything I've seen. I was like taking in all this knowledge. I was going all over doing powerlifting competitions but he used to always tell me he's like this isn't for you. He said you should be on TV doing strongman competitions Because he had done a couple of strongman shows and he had a little bit of a background in it. He's like that's what you need to go into. But I would see that on tv and I was like, first off it looked like the conditioning was. It looked fucking hell to go through. Everything looked so heavy. I was like, well, I don't want to do that shit. You know I can't do that.
Speaker 3:And then all of a sudden, you know, as I started, stronger and stronger, then the prison attitude kind of got to me. You know, when I was in prison they used to always say to us you know, each one of you should at least be able to be for three other people. So if it's one Islander, if we don't hurt at least or put down at least three of the other nationality. When get to the hole, my own people is going to fucking torture me. They're going to beat me. They're like right. So I have to fucking represent in our mind and our soul. We're praying together, we're eating together, training together. I love these people and I believe it. I believe it's going to take three of them to bring me down right you know, that's in my heart right.
Speaker 3:So now, when I'm starting to get into this, I'm starting to look at it. I was like you know what I can do, this shit, you know what, it don't matter. Like I know I'm I'm small for strong man, but I was like you know I could, I could do this. Uh, you know, it got into my mindset like I could, I could do this. Then all of a sudden, um, a contest came up and I had a friend who was involved in it, in strongman right, and he'd come out to this facility where we trained strongman at and there's a contest the next week. You could try it for one week and then you'll do a contest. I was like, well, you train for like six months for these shows or whatever. He's like, just come out, it'll be all right. So I go out, I just see what they're doing. I didn't even train with them.
Speaker 3:Then the next week I went to the show and I think I placed second place at the show, dang, and you didn't even really train for it. No, I didn't train at all. But then when I went the next week, brother, back to the training facility and I really went to go train for real brother, it was like the whole time I always thought like I was by myself in this world, right, and I was like I was alone and like nobody else felt like me. Nobody else was would push. And then when I went in there and I met, like there was my training partner, john anderson, and there was my, my training, rob Muhlenberg. There was other guys who I was like, oh my god, these guys are like me. They love to go through pain, they love to push themselves, they don't see any limitations in this world that could stop them. And it was crazy because it was in their life. It was the same way Like Rob. He was a nuclear scientist. He didn't let anything stop him. He worked for Lawrence Livermore behind the fence. I mean, he's one of the smartest dudes in the world. And then there was John, who had put all these companies and made companies and sold companies and did all this real estate project and he was just the most jacked guy I've ever seen in my life and his conditioning was so off the hook. And I was. I was like, wow, I've been looking for other people like me for so long, yeah. And then when we started, we started training together, brother.
Speaker 3:And then the first time somebody would go and maybe they couldn't breathe for a second, so they would take a knee on the ground, they would get kicked out and never allowed to come back again. Or they'd have a new person come out and then make them go back and forth against John and drag the 500-pound sled for 80 feet down. Then John would drag it back and they would go for five hours straight. Once the person stopped to start like trying to take that breath, they were out. They could never come back again. Damn, it was like we ran it so hard to make sure that like there was no, there was nobody to be like. Oh, maybe you should take it easy. Maybe you should break. Maybe it hurts, right, right like you.
Speaker 3:You love that. You know there was times out there when I trained, when I lost my eyesight, where I was training so hard actually, I lost my eyesight for a couple hours, but that's what we did. We didn't stop. It was just the luck, and it wasn't even for myself, I wasn't doing it for me, I was doing it for the crew, right, and this is the same thing. How it came back from prison, right, I was doing something that I believed in people that believed in me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, right, and john was going and like he was at a higher level than us. He was there before. So I remember I had like a contest coming up and I'm getting ready for it. But then he got called in to do this big show in brazil and I was, so I had a contest in a week and he's like Ricky, I know you have a big contest, but I need you to go really hard this week to push me so I can be ready for Brazil. And I was like, of course, it's not even a question, I don't care. There was times I'd go in there, I'd be injured, whatever, and I would go in there and help him. He would do the same thing with me it didn't matter, we all did whatever was best for the team and brother it was. It was the best experience of my life, best training experience ever. You know it was wow. Just such a solid crew that's amazing story, right, man?
Speaker 1:yeah, and to be around those kind of people oh my gosh, ricky, I could see why you are where you are today. Uh, man, to to have that, that community around you. That that's weeding out weakness, man, weeding out doubt, weeding out fear, like you guys are intentional about that shit.
Speaker 3:That that's badass it's like that in every aspect, like with the people I work with, when I'm working around with. I work around with youth teams, right, right, talking about like bad influences in their life. It's the same shit. Cut out that bad weakness in your life, get rid of it so you can keep making progress. Right, we're dealing with people in the tech world who are running some giant size company. You know, we gotta, we gotta keep it strong and motivated and keep this positive energy and any negative energy we get away. It doesn't matter what you're at in your life, right, it's all the same shit, bro. Take away the negative and don't accept nothing but fucking progress. You know progress every day of your life and as it is, the trip is, it is physical, is mental and spiritual right, if you ain't making progress in every aspect every day, you know you're just making excuses damn, hey, ricky, uh, a lot of our, um, our listeners and people there.
Speaker 2:You know we see strongman on tv and everything else and it's really cool and it you see some of the things and it's just almost like mind-boggling, right. You know, as a as a normal person, talk to me about you know yourself. I know you probably don't want to brag, but we're going to brag. I talked about something like the feats, like how much would you, you know, deadlift, how much would you do, kind of, because, because average people would not even be able to comprehend what a strong man does.
Speaker 1:So talk a little bit about the weights yeah, what are some of your, some of your accolades? What have you done in the wrong man?
Speaker 3:So early on I was recognizing a newsletter at first, for I think it was like a 420 farmer's walk for 40 feet. Uh, later on I end up getting up to 500 pounds per hand. Um, per hand, yeah, only for like 30 35 feet, but still for 30 or 35 feet there was one of. Early on. I was one of the first people to get a 1300 pound yoke.
Speaker 1:I think was the first one ever recorded on um so explain real quick for people who don't know what a yoke is, what? What is a yoke?
Speaker 3:it's, uh imagine, kind of like a, a thick squat bar on your back right there's bars where you only have to pick it, maybe eight inches off the ground and as you pick it up then you walk with it on your back. Yeah, you know you get to a certain distance. All right, right, I really enjoyed all the walking events. I love the heavy conan's wheel. I love, you know I you get to a certain distance. I really enjoyed all the walking events. I love the heavy Conan's wheel level. You know I loved car deadlifting. That was any side handle deadlift. I felt that was my event. You know I've beat some of the. I've beat some world's strongest man people at that event. You know the world's strongest man. I've beaten that event before. I love that type stuff. You know I've I've deadlifted, I think, one of the best deadlifters, but I think I deadlifted 886 or 88 pounds as my top deadlift.
Speaker 1:Reggie, how long did you compete in that kind of stuff with World Strongman and other events?
Speaker 3:I started competing in Strongman I believe in 04 or 05, I believe until 2011 is when I got injured and that was my last show.
Speaker 1:So I was watching your documentary the other day. I screenshotted a couple of quotes. I'm going to say one of the quotes right now and just say it and just tell me what it reminds you of or what it makes you think of. You said in the movie, in the documentary, you said I may not win the fight, but I don't have permission to lose.
Speaker 3:I mean, that's just the way I live, like you know, I don't back down from anything. You know, I have one leg. Right now I don't wear a prosthetic. You know, less than a year ago somebody tried to start some of my wife and you know, I beat him down at the bus stop. It doesn't matter if I'm on a scooter, it doesn't matter, like you know what. Still going, I'm still going, it doesn't matter. You know, it is what it is, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that reminds me of another quote that I got from your documentary that you had said. It says there's no battle. You can't win if you push oh, 100 man.
Speaker 3:You know, it just is not quitting, you know it's good believing like there's nobody in this world who's untouchable.
Speaker 3:Right, I've had friends in every aspect of business. That is weird, you wouldn't believe, but I've been in some of the top levels of different type businesses in the world and everybody had the same mindset that they came and they all started the same way from a small level and all took it because everybody believed that they can knock somebody down. Who's a top person? It doesn't matter if you're fighting, it doesn't matter if it's strong man. If you focus you can do this shit. You know what I mean. At least have a puncher's chance in that thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Ricky, you know, if you want to spend a minute, cause you minute because you've related to it. I know that your last competition you got injured and that led to kind of where we're at today. Why don't you talk through that and then what you've overcome? And then we're going to talk about your coaching, because you're a huge influence, coaching world class athletes, youth and others.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hold on, ricky, before you talk about it.
Speaker 1:I want to kind of just set the background, because that's a great, great lead up there. Daryl, I love that, but as Ricky talks about this, this is where this story is going to lead. Right, he ends up in the ER room and here's something that the ER doctor said wasn't possible. Said Ricky snapped his patellar tendons on both knees, detached his right quad and tore his left quad in half through the muscle belly. And then there's a quote the ER doctor said it wasn't possible, but not for Ricky LaRocca, even getting injured. He took it to a whole nother level. So go ahead and follow up with what Daryl was saying. I just want people to kind of know what the shit you were doing, man. It led to you to this statement from an er doctor oh yeah, so, um, I was doing this.
Speaker 3:Uh, these trips back and forth to canada, no, so I went. I competed in los angeles. I had a really good show there. Right then I went to um augusta, georgia, had a really good show there. Then I went somewhere up on the east coast in canada, had one of the best times of my life. It was a great time out there and I qualified for north america's strongest man, so I went back out there. Just from the beginning, the whole trip was a little bit off. Soon as I got off the plane, I got jammed up by the police because of my like past records.
Speaker 3:All of a sudden, I find myself in a cell in the airport and I'm like no but the guy who puts on the show is like a former police officer, it's like a hero kind of in that area, so he's able to get me out and get to the show. The next morning we go do this show and is it a hot air balloon festival? And you have to imagine like a whole, like I don't know, it must be like 20, 30, 000 people, this festival in like a village, where there's maybe like a thousand people who live in this village, just completely packed. So, um, we start off with um, a frame carry which is like a farmer's walk, except for his one piece. I forget how much, it wasn't too much, I think it was like 800 pounds or something like that and, um, I pick it up and I start running or walking as fast as I can. I'm starting to speed up.
Speaker 3:Then all of a sudden, like the it kind of twist on me and as it twists I feel my knee kind of turn sideways and hear it pop, and so I drop it down. I'm like, damn, I just popped my knee, but then I'm hearing the voice of this guy walking behind me who I'm competing against. So I'm like, well, it don't matter, let me pick it up and go. So I pick it up again and as I pick it up I'm hearing my knee just completely tear. I'm like sorry, you know, I can just push through it a little bit. So I keep going as far as I can go and I was lucky enough, you know, to do good on that one to beat the guy I was against.
Speaker 1:Because you beat him with the tore-up knee. You beat him.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I got lucky. He's a great athlete.
Speaker 1:I got lucky he's.
Speaker 3:He's a great he's a great athlete, okay. And then, um, after that, where you sit down and the arm over arm truck pulls, you use your legs and you're pulling that truck to you, right, every time I want to push that truck, I just feeling my knee just giving out and just like going out of place. I can just feel my leg tearing as I'm doing it. But it wasn't just like the competition for north america's strongest man, it's also a team competition. So is the us versus canada? Right? So you're on a team. So like you don't want to punk out on the usa, right? It's like patriotic, dude and shit. I love that shit man.
Speaker 3:So, I'm like, oh fuck, I got to keep going. Then the next event was a circus dumbbell. So it was like a 160, 170 pound dumbbell. You bring it up to your shoulder and you jerk it up over your head. Well, every time I jumped my feet up to jerk and landed my knee would buckle because my knee was bad. So on that event I got a zero and I'm like, oh well, I gotta make it up now. But the next one was, um, it was called a wheelbarrow carry.
Speaker 3:So they started with some ridiculous weight. I don't know what it was. It sounds heavy but it's like on a wheelbarrow, so it's not as heavy. I think it starts off like 1100 pounds in hand and then each time it keeps getting heavier or something like that. So the first time I picked it up and walked with it, you walked like 30 feet.
Speaker 3:I picked it up, I walked with it, I kind of threw it, you know, with the crowd, make a show for the crowd. And I remember I was like my knee is done, my knee is done, I felt so. It was in so much pain, but I kept going, you know. So they keep adding a weight and keep going until people drop out. So we finally get to the leg on those 1600 pounds and I get it, and I barely get it and I should be smashing this weight, you know right, I barely get it. And then I go up to our team captain and I was like, hey, you know, I don't know if I could do this anymore. He's like you know what the points would be really important if you could get one more, if you get it for the team.
Speaker 1:So I was like fuck yeah, you know, that's all you gotta say.
Speaker 3:Of course I'm gonna do it so I go back in there and I, you know, I get set up and soon as I start picking it, I feel my knees both of my knees explode. As I keep standing up, I'm feeling like my muscles start ripping through my legs. I lock it out and then I start to try and take a step because I'm like, well, at least maybe I can get a couple of points with it. As soon as I step, I couldn't even. I just went down. I mean, it was insane. The amount of pain that I was in. It was crazy. Yeah, so, um, then I didn't want to, you know, hold up the contest too long. So I'm trying to get them to drag me to the side so the contest could keep going. But since there was so many people going into this competition, they put me in a cart and they took me to the front waiting for an ambulance. But it took like an hour for the ambulance to get there. Oh shit, they end up getting me to the hospital. But I don't know that.
Speaker 3:That french-speaking hospital in canada I love Canada, I love the French being camp, but those hospitals take forever and they're horrible. I was there for hours and hours. I was trying to ask for an aspirin. Give me an aspirin. Give me something. There's actually a video. If you look it up on YouTube or something, you can see. The first thing that the nurses do when they do do something is they made copies because all the strongman guys went to go see me the american team see how I was. After the contest is over now, right, they came to see how I was, so they're all inside the waiting room with me and the nurses come and bring pictures of us and they're asking us to sign autographs, like I just want to I want to ask for it, I want so I have to wait till like the next day to get a flight out, just so I go in there.
Speaker 3:They don't know what's going on. I don't even get any test. Basically they just are you shitting me? No, I just wait in there for hours, nothing really happens. They get me to the hotel room. The guys come and bring me a bunch of beer, get me some aspirin or something, drinking a bunch of beer, just trying to get a buzz on and try to. And so now the next day I have to get onto a flight. My legs are out straight. I have somebody helping me. Somehow I'm still able to walk partially right Fall, but I have to keep my leg completely straight when I walk. So now I get in there. They carry my bags in there.
Speaker 3:I finally get onto the plane. I get an aisle seat, I sit down and then the stewardess guy was like you need to take your leg out the aisle and I was like bro, I'm injured, my knees are destroyed, my leg's destroyed, I can't. He says I will not let him start this flight until you take your knee out this aisle. So I just picked up my leg and forced it to bend one more time and popped it and put it in and got on that flight back home. And then when I went to the hospital, jen takes me to the emergency room for the first time, the first time in America, and I walk in. So they were like, well, they gave me an X-ray and I said, well, everything looks to be in place, we think you're fine. And they sent me home. Are you shitting me? They sent me home, are you shitting me? They sent me home with crutches. So I go home and then all of a sudden I keep falling over and they can't. I don't know why I'm falling over. I just be standing. All of a sudden I just drop. So then they, I go back in, and then they take the test and they realize yeah, one, my, my, basically my kneecaps came off. Uh, one quad torn half and the other detached. And so, um, I get the surgery to get it fixed. Everything seems cool. I go home, I go right back to work. You know right, I'm right back on it.
Speaker 3:About three days later I'm getting a fever at work, I'm sweating like oh hell, right. Then there's pus coming out from the wound, right, and people in my work are saying you got to go home, you got to get to the doctor. I'm like, no, I just don't finish my day. Well, somebody called my wife. Of course my wife comes. I listen to her. You know she's, she's the strong one in the family. You know she's the best influence of my life.
Speaker 3:So so we go to the doctor and then they're like okay, you got an infection inside of your knee, like something happened during the surgery, so we got to go back in there, said all right, so they go in there, they, I go in, they cut it back open or whatever. I wake up the next day and I feel horrible. And, uh, I tell them. I said, hey, I feel horrible. And I tell him. I said, hey, I feel horrible. I could tell I'm about to die. They're like no, you just feel like that because you have an infection. You just got it taken out. I said I do not care what you were saying. I said I feel like I'm going to die. I will go back to prison because I don't care, because I'm gonna die. I will beat your ass in this hospital room if you don't give me more tests. Yes, I'd argue and argue. Finally they did.
Speaker 3:When they did, they realized my left leg was completely full of blood clots all the way from my, basically from my ankle all the way up to my waist, or I mean from my knee to my waist then. So I had to immediately do that surgery and get it taken out. Then I get sent back home. I come back on the next friday because that happened on a friday, the infection. I come back the next friday. I'm not feeling good again. It turns out they forgot to look at the right leg. The right leg is full of clots. Now they take that full of clots out and my left leg clots screw back. They take that out and then they realize they forgot to look at the bottom, from my knees down, and those are all full of clots.
Speaker 3:So I ended up getting back and forth, I ended up getting it taken out, I think eight or nine times, getting the clots taken out, and then they start realizing that I have a blood clotting disorder that I guess I've had my whole life. Huh, you know, I felt signs of it before. I just thought. You know I was letting pain bother me, right. But now when I started thinking about it, when I lost my eyesight, when I had other things going on with my legs and my arms. I was like, oh, you know what, but I was just trying to push that, I was just really focused in it, right, um. So yeah, I had that. Then I also.
Speaker 3:So I started growing um, through all the surgeries I got a wound starting to grow in the back of my leg which got infected and kept my wound kept growing bigger. And it turns out because I have no, I have poor venous blood flow circulation. My blood flow could go down because the amount of blood clots it can't come back up very good. So the infection got so bad where they end up having to amputate my leg and then stuff kept happening like that and more clots. Basically, they've cut it up three times up. So far it's a through the knee amputation. Now I'm about 52, 53 surgeries in but, you know, I feel fucking strong still so.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know, and I feel fucking strong still so yeah, and you know.
Speaker 1:So he ricky says, you hear daryl ricky just said, but you know, and, and what he means by that is like in his documentary you see him with the amputated leg, he's trying to work with this prosthesis thing on and he's still over there dead lifting his 600 pounds and lifting weights and throwing weights around the room and even to this day, like he is just a beast man Like you know, ricky, you're, you know, I don't know if you've ever heard of David Goggins. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you got, you definitely got the Goggins effect, man, and maybe you know no disrespect to Goggins, but man, I'm telling you, man, I know he ain't lost a leg.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying, but you, ricky, I try to get 700 deadlift on that process. The goal is to get 800. But the prosthetics kept breaking and they keep taking them from me because the when I wear a prosthetic it causes me to clot more. Every time I've worn it I've grown a clot. So I try to find, but you're supposed to work your leg out to keep the blood going. But then they took the prosthetic from me and it is a whole thing, you know. But I don't let it stop me. I find different ways to keep lifting and keep smashing it. Man.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, well, doug, you know, we, we've known Ricky for a while and Ricky, when we first kind of got to know you, it was kind of right you know before, but then during your 50, some right you know, through all that process and everything else you know, and when we'd see you'd come up, it was of a Thanksgiving or for we were down in the city for maybe one of the kids' birthdays and we would see you the way you are talking today, lighthearted, positive. You were in the middle of your 52 surgeries and you sounded exactly like you sound today. I don't think I've ever seen one bit of and it's impossible frustration being down everything else. The way you are today is the way I've seen you every single time I've met you and your attitude is just absolutely amazing and infectious and kind of hard to believe.
Speaker 3:Yeah, every day I'm blessed, every day, brother, every day it just comes from god first, and then from my wife. I got the best wife in the world. But but seriously, like, if you don't, you know, just like what? If you just decide you can't do anything on this earth and there's nothing that could stop you, you know what I mean? Yeah, then it really comes down to like what do you want to do, right?
Speaker 3:yeah it's like to me. It's like it ain't about money. You know I wouldn't. What would I do with it? I wouldn't do anything, you know, except the only money I'm concerned about is getting my kids to all their school. Well, I always told my kids they could all. I'll put all the kids through college whatever they want or any type of education they want, and they won't pay for anything. That's but except for that, like you know, what I want to try to like I'm on all kinds of projects I try to work with right. That's what fires me up. Right Is trying to give something back. I work with the rugby teams. I'm working on some other project to try to help the whole world. I mean, that's what I feel great about. I don't feel like there's like I don't feel like I'm going to lose right. I feel like there's nothing that's going to stop me from accomplishing what I'm trying to accomplish.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I love about watching you, Ricky, on your Instagram feed. Well, I'm not on social media this year, but when I was watching you- yeah, me neither.
Speaker 1:I got a new phone and I was like you know there, like, but I see you when, when I was watching instagram, I love seeing you're always working with, with youth, your, your work. You work with, uh like, massively wealthy people, billionaires. You work with high, high-end athletes, um, and you're, you're kind of like, you know, like, like, not like. I know a lot of people know about you, but I don't think a lot of a lot. A lot of people know about you, but I don't think a lot of a lot. A lot of people know about you, man, and so it's like you, you fit this bill for what Daryl and I here do, because we always try to find, you know, ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Speaker 1:But I got to say, ricky, you know, when I, when I was thinking about that ordinary people doing extraordinary things, I'm like you know, ricky, ain't? You don't fit that, ricky, because what you fit is you're an extraordinary person doing extraordinary things, man, and you don't live it with words, you live it with actions, by your life. And, like Daryl said, man, I don't think there's one time I've ever met you where you felt down or you were going through having your leg amputated and going through all the doctor visits. Somehow, some way, you always greet people with a hug and a smile, man, and just lots of love and joy in there. Man, I appreciate that about you. I know, daryl does, we all do, man that the whole family loves you. Ricky, you're, you're a beacon of light, a beacon of hope, a reminder that, man, we ain't got shit to complain about, we just need to get to work.
Speaker 3:Our family is strong, bro. Life is good, man, yeah for sure, hey, I got to tell.
Speaker 2:I remember watching some of the Instagram. Covid was like Ricky was like forget, covid, you don't need some gym to work out. You'd have your boys on the street doing stuff and just outdoors and just crushing it, some of those things with the rugby teams and stuff. I was tired watching after like 10 seconds, man. So just, uh, as we wrap up, talk a little bit about your coaching, because not only are you still lifting and everything else, but your coaching to you know, business people, the youth and everything else is massive. To talk a little bit about your coaching.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I put everything into the coach and it means everything to me. Man, it really does. Um, that's why, like I, I I seen records I could break is amputee and things like that and I I said, okay, I could do this, but then I couldn't put, I'd be putting myself first and it's not time for that anymore. I've had that shit. I've done all that. It's time to put other people before myself. It's time for me to be like a little small piece of this big machine that I want to be a part of, to change the world and to help things go. And so, like, I train high end athletes and I train high-end businessmen, because that allows me to make the money, so I could train youth for free. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's to give a third of my time for free, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, to get back, if I, if people.
Speaker 3:If I'm just gonna do this job to fire people up, just to get money, like that's bullshit, like it's not that important to me. Money, you know it really. It really isn't. It's like I love the feeling of being able to help. We uh, we have a rugby program we work with. I've been working with them since I don't know eight, nine years now. I've had boys I've worked with. Now that I've worked with since they're in seventh or eighth grade. Now they come back home and have graduated college and shit like that and they're coming back and talking to the other kids. Because what happens now is now that rugby is in the Olympics, there's like scholarships and shit for rugby. A lot of these boys may not have had a chance to go to college. If it wasn't for this, they may have never left this area.
Speaker 3:It's a very mixed crew when it comes to rugby. You have some really rich kids. You have a lot of kids from the projects, but they all get together. We're a family and it means everything to work with these boys and to see them. When you hear them talking about, oh, I'm going, gonna go to the college and go see how I like it and you know, see how much money you're gonna give me to go to school and, like you know, build to help their family and just means everything to me. Man, I love those boys called sfgg, san francisco golden gate rugby best rugby program in the country bar none man. Wow, wow, that's that.
Speaker 2:That's so awesome I am blessed to have you on the show and I'm fired up. I got so many different things I've written down here. Cut that shit out, eliminate weakness around me. You've been doing that, man. It's just awesome, really really great. Hey, just one, as we kind of wrap up here. Anything else you want to add to the podcast, anything else, we'll kind of turn up here. Anything else you want to add to the podcast, anything else, we'll kind of turn it over to you and we got the quote card at the end. But just, ricky, anything else you want to add to our listeners.
Speaker 3:No, I love to hear what you guys are doing, man. I love hearing the stories about the bike rides and fucking almost falling off the cliff and all that. I love that shit, man. It's great, I'm going to that man I love that shit, man.
Speaker 2:It's great.
Speaker 3:Let's see how far you guys gonna push this shit. I listen every week and, man, I can't wait to keep your next adventure and and get past this next uh, uh season. See what the next season is going to be about, man hey ricky shit does. I'm hoping the quote's gonna have something to do with some foundations or some shit like that all right, hey, ricky, before we go to the quote card, ricky, you're, you're training a youngster.
Speaker 1:Right now, let's just spend two minutes, give him a big shout out, man, because you were telling us before we got on here and aired man, 14 years old, and this boy is breaking records and he's going to be a household name pretty soon. What's his name and and what. And you're training him now when is he headed?
Speaker 3:His name is Bubba Pritchett. He's my nephew. He's in Arizona, he's 14 years old. I believe he's going to be. I don't want to call his shot out here too early, but I believe he's going to do things that have never been done before in this world. I believe in him.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of people that do great at to want to compete as strong man and do good at strong man but to truly be good at it.
Speaker 3:That's why we all kind of get people love strong man, because this is a mixture of weightlifting, which is like Olympic lifting, of power lifting, of conditioning, and so if you really want to be skilled at this, you have to learn every single aspect. You can't just learn one. You can't just be like, oh, I'm gonna do this, know how to jerk, I'm gonna do this, learn how to get it. No, you have to learn every different skill and he's been learning these skills since he's been a baby and he keeps asking me for more and more information because he's hungry to learn and I've been blessed to work with him throughout his life and his father works with him and I'm so thankful to be a part of that family. Yeah, he's a part of the workout team. We're iron outlaws. It means everything to us. Yes, we believe in this and yeah, him and his father are two of the most important people in my life.
Speaker 3:That's so awesome man.
Speaker 1:Well, hopefully we can get him on the show one day. I'd love to interview the kid who's been raised up in the ranks you know under your tutelage and his dad and stuff like that, just to see how his mind ticks and maybe he can share some wisdom to pass on to generations behind him as well, even though he's a youngster.
Speaker 3:It sounds like he got some great wisdom to share he's a different level than anybody else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's, that's awesome. All right, big d, go ahead and give us man what you got a quote for me this this week and, ricky, you're gonna help me out with this one man.
Speaker 2:I I do, I do, I do, and it's a little different, but I think we're gonna relate it back to some things. Uh, I saw this and it said close friends are the ones that know all your stories. Best friends are the ones you live life with.
Speaker 1:Close friends are the ones that know all your stories. Best friends are the ones you live life with. So for me I'll start it off, rick, and then you can throw in your two cents. Man, that's a relevant quote there. I tell you what there's few people in my life that have come full circle in that quote, man, and I think best friends it's not.
Speaker 1:Best friends isn't about quantity of time, it's about quality of time, like just sitting here with you two right now. You know you two men are men that I could call up at the drop of a hat and share you know my ugliest moments, my darkest secrets, the drop of a hat and share. You know my ugliest moments, my darkest secrets, my biggest fears and challenges, and know that you know you're not going to judge me, you're going to love me and you're going to push me. You might bitch, slap me too and say, hey, get this shit done. You know you're going to call me up to be the man that you see me to be, and that's how that quote is. And that's how that quote is.
Speaker 1:I kind of relate to that quote. That's what comes to mind with me is you know, you may not have a lot and it's probably good that you don't have a lot of best friends that can do that stuff. You keep that circle small, keep it tight, and that's where I get from that quote. That's a deep one, darrell. Why are you making me go deep man?
Speaker 2:Come on, Ricky. What about you man? You talked about some pretty influential people in your life.
Speaker 3:Man, well, like, to me, this is like. This is, this is an important thing. Okay, it's kind of like how we're talking. You could like ask me about my records and stuff like that. I may say it quick, but I won't go into too much detail about that type stuff. Talking about the history of shit is like easy talk. Oh, we hung out that time. Do you remember that? Whatever, yeah, but true conversation and the people that are gonna push you we're talking about. Okay, how are we going to get you, daryl? How are we going to get you to the next level? How are you going to get me to the next level? How are we going to? Let's talk about a plan and make some shit happen. Let's talk about our philosophy make shit happen, fuck. Talking about history, let's talk about making history. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2:that's all that quotes about man yeah, yeah, well, wow. Um, this is an episode and doug, why don't you kind of close it out? Um, there's some amazing uh great uh links we'll put on. Um, ricky, I did find the one of the nurses asking for your uh autographs, so yeah, right put that on there. That's a cool, cool-ass video man. You're looking nice laying back in that. He's all laying back on the bed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, too bad, his muscle's torn off his damn bone.
Speaker 3:Still smiling, though. Still smiling, still smiling.
Speaker 1:You're a fucking beast, ricky man. I appreciate you, I love you, brother, you're an amazing man. You inspire me. Thank you so much for being on this show. Uh, Daryl, thanks for you, know, coming along and asking some awesome questions and man, I just that's what I love doing this podcast. This is what this is what this shit is about man, some real people doing real shit. And so, with that said, I'm just going to go ahead and sign off, like we always do, and say God bless and peace out, peace out.
Speaker 2:We're out, we're out.