The Masters Athlete Survival Guide
We explore thriving as an athlete after 40. Each episode, we’ll dive into tips, hacks, and inspiring stories from seasoned athletes and our personal experience. Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a competitive pro, this podcast is your playbook for staying fit, strong, and motivated
The Masters Athlete Survival Guide
Valkyrie Strength: The Age-Defying Secret: Intensity Over Volume
We chat with Denny Labresh, founder of Valkyrie Strength Team, about thriving in strength sports after 40 and his journey from basketball player to successful strongman competitor and coach.
• Denny shares how he transitioned from basketball to strongman in his late 20s and is now hitting lifetime PRs at age 41
• The evolution of strongman from showcasing athletes from other sports to becoming its own codified discipline with specialized athletes
• Why recovery becomes the most critical factor for masters athletes compared to younger competitors
• Training philosophy changes for masters: intense but less frequent training (3 days/week) versus high volume for younger athletes
• The importance of weighted carries like sandbags and husafell stones for developing functional strength for all masters athletes
• How Valkyrie Strength Club developed from making equipment during the pandemic to providing high-quality, affordable strongman gear
• Denny's coaching approach focuses on teaching independence and progression rather than creating dependency
• Online coaching benefits: more economical, provides accountability while promoting independence
• Key advice for masters athletes: "Enjoy the process" and remember why you fell in love with the sport
Find Denny and Valkyrie Strength at valkyriestrengthclub on Instagram or valkyriestrengthclub.ca online.
@masters_athlete_survival_guide on IG
New episodes come out every other Thursday!
Welcome to the Master's Athlete Survival Guide, where we explore the secrets to thriving in sports after 40. I'm John Catalinas and, along with Scott Fyke, we'll dive into training tips, nutrition hacks and inspiring stories from seasoned athletes who defy age limits. Whether you're a weekend warrior or a competitive pro, this podcast is your playbook for staying fit, strong and motivated. Let's get started.
Speaker 2:And we're back. I'm Scott. Hi, I'm John. John, we have someone special here today. Well, they're not really here today. Well, you know, I mean, in the beauty of Aurora Studios and the incredible technology that we have here that I'm struggling with today, that you're struggling with badly, today, we are truly blessed. We have denny labrash, who is the founder owner of the valkyrie strength team. We're going to give denny a second to introduce himself in just a moment here, but denny reached out to me what two, two and a half months ago, I think, through an organization called iron podium. It is where, you know, weightlifting events, strongman events, sort of post, their stuff to allow people to register. And he reached out to me through that for the foundation trying to, um, you know, get involved with it. And once he and I spoke, you know, denny said nope, that's it, I'm hooked, I'm part of you guys now. So, denny, thank you for joining us here in Aurora Studios. By way of the magic of the internet. Let's hear from you.
Speaker 3:Thanks guys. Yeah, happy to be on here and chat about some strongman stuff. So you know kind of little two-minute bio about me. I've I've been competing in in the sports of strongman, of powerlifting, for for quite a long time, going on 14, 15 years, something like that. Um, you know, got started like most people, kind of a washed up athlete and and just kind of got obsessed with lifting the heavy things. Uh, probably about about 10 ago I started down the path of coaching and you know I'll be the first to say I'm a way better coach than I am athlete and really kind of became obsessed with that part about helping people. And you know, I know how much the iron, strength sports, strongman, powerlifting have helped my journey personally, professionally, mentally. Strength sports, strongman, powerlifting have helped my journey, um, personally, professionally, mentally. And then now you know I have the privilege, the, the honor to help other people on that journey, which which means a lot to me. So you know, bottom line, I'm just a dude who likes to lift things I love it.
Speaker 2:You're talking to a couple here and, uh, we've got several that, uh, you know, joined our sort of journey, that agree with you as well. I want to take a step backwards here, though. You said a washed up athlete, I'm gonna disagree with you but what do you?
Speaker 3:mean, and I know you were joking, but yeah, yeah, and and you're, you're seeing that change now. Right, and the sport of strongman is actually very similar to professional wrestling in a way, brother. And you know, way back in the Hulk Hogan era, brother, right, all those guys, they were just like washed up football players, right, guys that were done their career. Then you slowly started to see like the John Cena era where he kind of planned on being a wrestler right Now, into guys like Seth Rollins where, no, like they were going to be professional wrestlers the entire time.
Speaker 3:And you see that kind of uh, uh, paralleled in strongman where, way back in the day, the original world's strongest man, what do you got there? You got a couple bodybuilders, you got a couple football players, right, and that's kind of how the sport went. And and you start to see it a lot where you know people play hockey, football. I was a basketball guy my whole life and you know my hoop dreams ended but I'm still competitive. So then it become became now what? So I say it with the utmost love when I refer to myself as a washed up athlete, where you know, I found something as I got into my later years where I could remain competitive. And the crazy thing now in the sport is you're seeing people you know in their late teens, early twenties, that are gravitating to strength sports as the sport, so they're kind of planning on being strong men, where for most of us it kind of just happened is essentially what I mean there.
Speaker 1:No, I get it. And Denny Scott and I are both like geeks for like seventies, early eighties. A world's strongest man, oh yeah. And all the you know, all that like oh, let's get this guy who was a shop putter and this guy who's a bodybuilder and this guy who weighs 500 pounds and let's get them to like leave dean baby. Yeah, let's get them to like squat some playboy bunnies or like do some other ridiculous thing that they you know. Let's get them a sumo wrestler or or bend rebar over their head for sure.
Speaker 3:Man, yeah, and strongman was a lot like the early days of mma. Yeah, where that was the idea who's who's the best fighter? Is it a boxer is? Is it a Muay Thai, is it a Jiu-Jitsu? And eventually it evolved into MMA and we've seen that as well. Where now strongman is a sport, it's not who's strongest of other disciplines, it's who's strongest of strongmen.
Speaker 1:With now focusing on it, yeah, and we are blessed and I'm going to call him a friend just because it's recorded, and are blessed and I'm going to call him a friend just because it's recorded, and this way I can say I can point to it forever. But west erwinski, who's a fellow canadian, uh, has trained at our, at the compound, our gym, for a while, you know, occasionally, and he finished what?
Speaker 1:sixth at world's strongest man six two years ago and just missed the cut this year for finals you're not wrong, strongman has definitely turned into more of a like a codified sport, with, you know, actual measurements, actual you know, like calibrated weights and stuff.
Speaker 2:Specific rules yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I get it. But the other thing is that you can't drift in from some of these other sports and do well at high levels like Strongman, like you used to, because guys are, they're just a different breed, like you said, you know.
Speaker 2:Wes has been training.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wes has been training since his late teens to like be a strongman.
Speaker 3:To be this right yeah. Whereas you know my journey, I didn't start focusing on strongman or powerlifting until I was 28.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:I was in the gym. I was doing you the gym. I was doing, you know, flex magazine workouts. I was in the gym, but I wasn't focused on strength sports till my late 20s, and now you're seeing guys, guys like moose, where, like I said, no, this was the plan. Right, this was the plan from the start of I'm gonna be the strongest human being I can be. Yeah now.
Speaker 1:Now, denny, how old are you now? Are you just 40? I am 41 oh, welcome the club. Yeah, no, I. I got that without even knowing your age when you said you did like the flex magazine workouts, because that was that was literally the only resource, right like like I remember subscribing to powerlifting usa and muscle and fitness yeah walking around with it in school yep like I think.
Speaker 3:I think my deadlift program for 10 years was it was bull stewards out of powerlifting USA, because I always tell the story of me as a baby bro, where you know I was 18, 19 years old and I go into the gym and I do Lee priest arm workout.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right.
Speaker 3:And and it was, it was like six biceps and 10 triceps and five for him. I'm like I couldn't take my t-shirt off for like three days, right and and you know, it was such a different time of not nearly having as much accessible knowledge, whereas now it's it's almost the complete polar opposite. Where there might be too much knowledge when it comes to training of of now you see young athletes, just paralysis by analysis of there's just so many voices that who do they listen to? Whereas when we were just starting, well, all right, that guy's jacked, I'll just do what he did magazine yeah, but you know what's funny?
Speaker 2:I just we just came back from nationals and down in north carolina this year and competing as one as the middle old guys is what one of our dear friends, tim Lally, calls the 50 year olds. You know, cause you haven't got the, the 40 year olds, the fifties and then the 60 pluses. The fifties, the 60 pluses and the teens were all in one lane, so we're doing our thing. I mean, you've got kids who are like kids, six kids who are like 16 years old, I mean young enough that, like my children, could be their parents that are out there doing this stuff. And you see them and you know they're pacing off the distance, that they're going to step away from the bag over bar and they're doing these things. I'm thinking to myself, jesus, you know, like my trainer says, get stronger, pick the fucking thing up and do it.
Speaker 3:You know, yeah, yeah yeah, and, and that is definitely one thing, um, I don't want to say that irks me, because you're really nothing in this sport like this. Sport's beautiful, I love it, but I think a question is you see all of that on Instagram where you're majoring in the minors, right, you're looking at things that are penny smart, dollar foolish and sure, pace out. I am all about pacing and having a system and having a plan for sure, yes, but at the end of the day, it's a strength sport, right, and we've all seen it. We've all seen the show where someone goes out and they adjust every atlas stone to be just where they want it and then they only get two out of five right, and I think a lot of times, especially now with younger lifters, they're losing that just put in work yeah right, uh, cliche, I use all the time from from the sports world.
Speaker 3:The best ability is availability, and the number one way you're going to get better is just by showing up and showing up for a really long period of time, and that's something that kind of gets lost in translation with how much information is out there.
Speaker 1:Well, I think that's true. I mean, that's a founding tenet of all Masters athletics, like step one one show up because get off the couch, put the cheetos down. Not a sponsor, I think if we went in any corner bar between here and you and asked there would be some guy sitting at the end of the bar talking about that touchdown he scored in 1984 for high school. That that you know well. You know, if I went back in the game right now I'd probably be pretty great dude. Bruce springsteen wrote a song about it. Oh yeah, glory days, whatever. Hey, you know what you. You asked denny to like introduce himself and then we immediately went down the old man rabbit hole of these you took it over.
Speaker 2:I'm going to plead innocent this time, denny, I'm gonna shut john up, turn the mic off. Do us a favor if you would bud. You started telling us about yourself and you know I asked the question because you poked fun at yourself, which made us both fall in love with you, because I mean, that's what we do all the time is poke fun at each other. Tell us a little more about yourself. Tell us you know what you do right now and a little bit about your journey. You said you played some basketball and then you know you sort of fell into found, fell in love with. You know lifting heavy things. Tell us a little bit more.
Speaker 3:Well, for me, like, a big part of it was, you know, watching Old World Strongest man, and up here on TSN that's our ESPN equivalent. You know, they're showing Wsm and canada's strongest man at like 3 am on a saturday, and I watched this stuff when I was a kid and, like I was, I was enamored and obsessed, and I was a wrestling kid as well, right. So you know the, the, the big, strong, look like I love that, right, it's the c-man generation and but I felt I could never be that guy. Right, I've never been a big guy, even now I'm five foot seven. Um, you know, I graduated high school at that, like 150 pounds. I was never a big guy. I didn't think I had that option, right. So I start lifting weights for fun, mostly for sports, like most of us did and then started to see in my late twenties was like the advent of weight classes in strongman. Like, well, man, like I could compete in a weight class, right, like I don't have to compete with these giants, I can do this. So finally get my foot in the door, do a novice show and obviously fell in love with it, like we all do when we pick up rocks and flip tires and all that. And you know, lo and behold, pretty much the next like five and a half, six years I just competed open, right, and always undersized but I was strong enough to compete with open level athletes at the time. So I did and you know, went on that and did some weight class stuff. I've competed at 105. I did OSG at 90 kilos. I've been kind of all over the place.
Speaker 3:And then kind of the big struggle was in my late 30s, where it's kind of just post COVID, right, and you know I lost some weight and suddenly like I'm not capable of competing open anymore, right, and the weights are just too heavy and people, people are passing me that you know I would have been stronger than in the past and mentally it was really really tough and uh. So we go in and then 40 comes right and I always said to myself like I'm gonna keep lifting till someone puts me in a box. I'm always gonna keep lifting. I'm never gonna you know, quote unquote retire'm never going to, you know, quote unquote, retire. And 40 comes. And you know I decided at 40, clean slate, I was going to forget everything that was on open powerlifting. I wasn't going to think about any strongman shows. That I did before 40. I was a brand new athlete, I was starting over and luckily I came into 40 healthy, which was great.
Speaker 3:But uh, you know, I went out and I did a power lifting meet and uh, I put up the biggest total in canada as a 110 kilo master, which you know. That was kind of like step one, um, I did static monsters worlds. I got fourth um in the open master and, like man, I was probably outweighed by like 60 70 pounds at that show. And and then the big one was uh, lynn morehouse announced a lightweight masters at osg. I know it's sitting close so I'm like, okay, like this is it right? Like I want to support master stuff. I think that's absolutely huge and that's a big area for growth in the sport and I know how valuable it was for me. So go all in, do osg. Uh, lightweight masters. I sneak into the top 10, which has been, like you know, man, pretty much any strong man would be like that's a dream, right to make day three of osg. So I make day three.
Speaker 3:Uh, from there I got an invite to the lightweight masters at the ar first time. They did that. So I'm like, of course, man, I'm going to try to support this. I go there. I ended up finishing fourth, super, super happy.
Speaker 3:And then a friend of mine up here decided to run a masters only Canadian show. And I'm like, dude, I'm all in because I'm trying to support growth of masters and this it was so fun it was. It was an old school like side of the road kind of strongman show, very circusy, absolutely loved it. Um, ended up finishing second there. And so now I'm I'm 41, uh, you know, I'm settled in, I'm officially a master now and, uh, training's going great. So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna stop cutting. Right, no more cutting, I'm just going to compete Open Master, because for any Masters athlete to go do OSG as an Open Master, that's the all-star game. You see Big Z do the show, you see Mark Felix, you see Jerry Pritchett. This year Hickson and Caron and Dimitar are doing it. So that's kind of been always my endgame. So flights are booked Going to kind of been always my end game.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, flights are booked going to dallas, gonna do that up. And the crazy thing is that now, approaching 42, um, just four weeks ago I pulled the biggest deadlift of my life, like ever. Uh, not body weight, not wilks, pound for pound, the biggest deadlift I've ever pulled. Uh, my press is right there too. So now I'm sitting here being like, well man, like I'm damn near 42, I may be as strong as I've ever been. Right, how much further can we take this? And that's kind of something that I try to instill in in other masters athletes or young athletes or any athlete that man like, the beauty about this sport is you can just keep going Right.
Speaker 3:And kind of my whole time being in the sport, I never wanted to be Eddie Hall, I never thought I could be Hafthor Bjornsson, but if I could be Terry Hollins, if I could be Mark Felix, if I could be one of those guys that has a place at the table for 15, 20 years, that's kind of what I've always gravitated to, that sort of longevity. So you know, that's kind of what I've always gravitated to, that sort of longevity. So you know, quick, kind of five minutes, that's kind of my history as an athlete and where we got right now to you know, being in the sport for 15 years and arguably probably the best athlete I've ever been, right now that sounds a lot like the Scott Fike story, where I think he would mirror a lot of that, including scott honestly, strongest he ever been probably yeah, yeah, so yeah, that the only difference is yeah I'm about 15 years older.
Speaker 2:Well, there's that and that's that's where I was significantly heavier.
Speaker 1:That's where, well, I was going to go more with, uh, so denny injuries like because I think one of the, because you're right, it there are. I mean, they're practical limits, but the limits that people impose on themselves are somewhat ridiculous when it comes to all master sports, not just silly strength sports. Um, I think everybody worries about injury. Have you had any major ones?
Speaker 3:oh man, you know. Going back to that whole kind of longevity angle that I take, um, if there's one cliche that I throw out every day with clients listen to your body, modify as needed, right. Um, no one's getting rich off this sport. I'm obsessed with this sport. No one's getting rich off of strongman. So you know, your, your life, your family, your health have to always take priority to that. So for me, from a training standpoint, it's always about listening to your body. I've been lucky enough that in whatever 14, 15 years, I've had one lost time injury that was completely my fault and 100% preventable.
Speaker 1:Did you? You looked like an electric fence or something, didn't you? It was something like that.
Speaker 3:No, no, I was. I was a complete jackass and I was doing a deadlift ladder, nice. And um, I was. I was adamant that I was going to win this event. James Jeffers was competing at that show and the goal would be Jeffers at this deadlift.
Speaker 3:And so, get to the last bar. It was 675, and I felt it slipping out of my hand because I was rushing. So I just pulled it mixed grip and I felt it slipping and I sucked it back in and pop, pop, pop. There goes the bicep. And the funny thing is, you know, this was a show that didn't matter, right, like this was a show in the Home Depot parking lot that got me absolutely nothing. You know, I was already qualified for a national. It literally meant nothing. And I went out and redlined in this show and Gift of Injury. You know, it really kind of changed my outlook on how to approach shows. That, quote unquote don't matter, right? Um, so now a show like that, you know, I'll get athletes to look at it like preseason, right, you're not going to go kill yourself in preseason. Save it for the regular season, save it for the playoffs, save it for the super bowl. Um, you know, don't jack yourself up for something that doesn't matter, right.
Speaker 3:So, you know I tell athletes all the time listen to your body, modify as needed. You listen to your body for 360 days a year so that, like four or five times a year, you can tell your body to shut up and do its job Right. But yeah, in terms of injuries, like, obviously I'm 41 years old and I do strongman, obviously I'm nicked up. I never feel 100 percent, but the goal is to try to mitigate that as much as you can, and a big part of that comes in in training, in changing your, your training methodology Right. How are you going to approach training? How are you going to approach recovery, the things you do, the things you don't do as an athlete?
Speaker 3:Now, like, I don't do a lot of accessory work, I do heavy compound work and that's just about it. I only train three days a week at this point because that's what gives me the best recovery. So you know I hate the tenet that injuries are going to happen in strong men. A lot of things are preventable and I think so much of that just comes down to how you approach training and what you're doing in training and being realistic about what you're capable of day to day, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2:No, 100%. And it's funny because I just had a very similar conversation with a colleague of ours that is competing at the Oktoberfest in Columbus this weekend. Luke, and you know, the opening log is you can do 250, you can do 300, for you know, sort of a Trump log. And he said you know, I'm just hoping to make it through the show. Okay, this guy is strong. And we're going back and forth and forth and I said, dude, I'm going to tell you what I tell everybody listen to your body and, because this is a show, ignore it. You know. So we were joking back and forth, so I get what you're saying. You know, yes, you're nicked up. It's funny. We're sitting here in the studio and we did some keg work last week and john's shins because he didn't have socks on or the pants he wears are just shredded.
Speaker 1:right now I look like I fell off a motorcycle, dragging kegs up my shins.
Speaker 2:I get what you're saying. So you started talking about your training, okay, and at 55, I'll be 55 in a couple of weeks I do the same thing. It's three days a week. You know a couple of fitness type of things. You know yes, there's some ancillary fitness sandwich in my mouth shut up. There's a couple of ancillary type of days. You know active rest things in there. But when you because you mentioned clients in your training when you work with athletes, what's the difference between when you're working with those athletes that are in their 20s or 30s versus those who might be in their forties or fifties? What you know? Talk to us a little bit about that difference that you see.
Speaker 3:Well, I would say probably the biggest is is in recovery, right, like you know, I twist up my ankle. I'm going to feel that for four to six months. I got a 17 year old kid who had a little back tweak. He was completely, a hundred percent fine, like five days Right. So if there's one big difference, it's going to be recovery in terms of of, you know, maybe mistakes or miscues that masters athletes might make, it's doing too much, right.
Speaker 3:When the older you get, especially depending on your training age right now, this is a very different conversation. If you're talking a 40 year old that just started strength training, right, they're going to get the beauty of those newbie games. Um, everything's going to feel right. You know, you don't have to have to play that so careful. But for for guys like myself that have been doing this for a very long time, the training age has to be taken into account as much as the physical age. And because of that, like I don't need a lot of direct technique work, I've done that. I don't need a lot of direct accessory work, I've done that.
Speaker 3:For me, it's about you, you know, keeping the intensity high on something compound and then modifying. Uh, I have a lot of people that I run three-day programs with just because of recovery, right and and often at the start they think it's a punishment. But it's not it's. It's a less is more philosophy, where you know it would be amazing if training seven days a week made us better. But in reality, especially for a master's athlete, you're getting better. You're improving on those rest days, not on the training days, right, you need the rest days as much, if not more, than the actual training.
Speaker 3:So the biggest differences are going to be in frequency, in overall training load and volume and a lot of planned and unplanned deloads. Uh, there's often times where I'll just end up taking a week completely off. Um, because I know my body just needs it. Right, my body decides when I train, not my head. I don't listen to my head anymore, I just let the body kind of take the wheel. And you know, trying to instill that in clients, it can be really, really tough. And I have one Masters athlete I'm working with down in Texas and oh, he was fighting me on this, on scheduled deloads, on three-day work weeks, and then he hits a press PR.
Speaker 3:And then a couple weeks later he hits a deadlift PR and then he goes and does a show and he's ready to train the next day, Whereas, you know, prior to working with me, he said he'd feel broken for weeks after a show, right? So with Masters athletes I tend to train really really intense, but not much. Right, you're, you're going to hit something really really hard and then that's about it, whereas, you know, with a younger athlete, like in early 20s, holy hell, I bomb them with accessory work. Right, we are looking to just make a mass monster out of these kids. But then with the older athletes, it's a lot more about control and, you know, really focusing on the recovery.
Speaker 1:Well, I think I understand why you and Scott get along, because I think we're we're all from the camp of, as a master's athlete, uh, compound movements with less frequency but more intensity, uh, I just find and this is goes beyond strong men, I think the people that are afraid that they're going to hurt their back twist their ankle, something like that. I don't think there's a better panacea than doing large whole body motions. That you know, especially in non power lifty planes. You know, in awkward planes and you know the. You know if you stumble you need to catch yourself with your feet. You know, if you don't have some leg strength you're going to fall, and I don't even know why anymore. But old people that fall, it's like the first domino in the you're going to die early.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, think about it. You know, the keg lifts, the stone lifts, the sandbag lifts and carries those types of things. It changes perspective in the way you're moving. It's not in those linear planes that you see in most weightlifting or powerlifting and it allows you to build that sort of weird everyday strength.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think, I think, I honestly think I don't care what sport, as a master, you're trying to do, even if it's something as simple as pickleball there it was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know I had to work it in six minutes. I had to work it in um some sort of weighted carry.
Speaker 1:I think some sort of front like weighted carry for some distance is is just. It's like a cheat code.
Speaker 2:It's funny you went there, john. Oh no, we have, yeah, at the compound. Okay four and I've got to get. I think there's a couple more that I haven't gotten from you yet, denny, I know this. Four. Who's the Felt sandbags? Denny.
Speaker 1:I like you but I hate you. There's this thing laying on the gym floor that looks a little like I don't know seven manhole covers tied together, made of sand, and it stares at me and it beckons and it's like you can't lift me. Ha ha, ha, ha ha. And what I absolutely?
Speaker 3:love about them. It's it's so funny and it's come up so often, like every time I touch a sandbag. Honestly, the first thing I'll say is man, I hate sandbags.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah and like every time, people be like like bro, like, like this is your business, like you sell these, you do this to people on purpose. And Matt, like uh, I couldn't agree with a more, with with the sentiment of a way to carry Right, and I've had that question come up from people that are super, super busy. They're like Danny, I got 15 minutes three times a week.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know what's that? Bank your box. I'm like go do farmer's walk, go grab, go to the gym, grab the two heaviest dumbbells you can Take a lap. Go pick up a sandbag and carry it on your shoulder. You know, front carry, whatever Right, Bang for your buck. There's really nothing better from a front carry, and I think a lot of that, or a weighted carry in general. I think a lot of that is why you can see strong men be very successful as power lifters. Far less likely to see power lifters be very successful as strong men. Right, I think it's a lot easier for an overall freak like a Graham Hicks or a or a Hapthor to go in and put up a huge total then. It would be to see Dan Bell step into the world of strong man.
Speaker 1:Well, in a, in a multi ply belted, to the bejesus uh, the Olympia a couple of years ago, I mean we watched the guy do a 1200 pound squat and literally he had no skin because he was covered in some sort of neoprene denim oh, it had to have been an inch thick, without exaggeration, easily an inch thick.
Speaker 2:The guy couldn't move it. It looked like you know that the 60s sci-fi, where the arms are out in the space suit and they're sort of waddling side to side. But weight went down. Weight went up.
Speaker 1:John and I looked at each other like holy shit, yeah, and I mean it's so funny because I power lifted a couple times back in the 80s, you know, single ply bench shirt and it still took like four people to get me into the damn thing and I couldn't wait to get out of it. But you know, did it add 30 pounds to my bench instantly? Absolutely, I mean you basically have to pull it to your chest, right? So, yeah, I could, yeah, I could see what you're not wrong. Strong man and again with the carry, strong man definitely could go into a big bench Easier than a big bencher could go into, I don't know, a yoke, a log, yeah, or a log, definitely a log.
Speaker 2:But I got to tell you what I love most and I hate it most Cheetos, cheetos. Not a sponsor, okay is when with the husafel bags is you know, I can do a 400 pound husafel.
Speaker 2:You know, like the titan I can do a 400 shut up john, like the titan metal husafel beast that they have, you just start loading it, can pick it up, and I can do a length on our track with it, okay, but it doesn't move on. You right, you pick up, like that 350 bag that we've got from you. You pick it up, you get it to your lap, you pull it into the chest and it just flops over your arms like, oh, this sucks, you know. But when you're done it's like, okay, you're breathing heavy, the heart rate is like a trip hammer, but guess what? You know, you did something and then you feel better and that's why I love sandbags, you know, scott.
Speaker 1:So we started this podcast and we just went into like talking like old men will, and then we we took a step back and let denny introduce himself. Yes, well, now we've gone into how much we love his equipment, but we haven't really said anything about like kind of what he does for a living, which is, you know, I don't know, cart before horse times two.
Speaker 3:So Denny, you know like I'll own that as well, because I'm a guy who, kind of you know, prefers to be in the shadows, right, and I've actually had people come up to me and and be like, oh man, yeah, they're using those Valkyrie throw bags. They're just awesome.
Speaker 2:They're awesome.
Speaker 3:They're the best Like like it's literally my company.
Speaker 2:That you are.
Speaker 1:Valkyrie, yeah Right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. So you knowrie started during the pandemic. Um, my partner, hannah, uh, a world-class strongman herself, um, she was a welder by trade and during COVID you couldn't get any toys. So she starts hammering out logs and dumbbells and farmers and like this is some of the best kit I have ever used in my life. Like it was crazy, the, the quality of equipment she made, um, but victim of her own success. And, uh, she couldn't, she couldn't keep up. Right, it was just her. She's doing this out of a garage, you know, in our house, in the middle of nowhere, canada. And uh, she's like, dan, I just can't do it anymore. So we're like, okay, how can we pivot this? Right, because she'd already established a little, a little brand with valkyrie and I'm like, okay, well, number one, I'm gonna put my coaching under with Valkyrie. And I'm like, okay, well, number one, I'm going to put my coaching under the Valkyrie banner. So we started doing that. So now it's Team Valkyrie instead of just Team Danny LaBresse, because I was awful at marketing myself.
Speaker 3:And then we're like, okay, well, we've promoted, oh my God, more shows than I'd ever care to admit. And we're like, well, how can we give back to promoters? How can we help promoters out with equipment, because that's part of what she wanted to do, right, like get good kit to promoters. We're like, well, man, sandbags are everywhere and only growing and the cost on these things are absolutely astronomical. So we're thinking, okay, if we can get a high quality product and we keep the company just her and I, man we could sell great products to promoters at a fraction of the cost of some of the other bags out there. So we're like, okay, let's give this a rip.
Speaker 3:And like I was terrified the first time, right, like all the money invested was completely out of pocket and terrified on the quality. And the bags we have got are like I put them head to head against any, any other bag. Our throw bags hold up great, um, you know we've, we've probably sent out damn near 700 bags. Um, we've had one seam defect in all of those. So you know, everything's gone really, really well. And then, thankfully now like we're we're in a lot of shows in the us, um, and some big shows in the? U that are using our bags Right. So for us it's awesome to be able to give back to the promoters, to the athletes, to the gyms and, you know, let them get high quality products at a very reduced rate, because we don't have a lot of overhead and unfortunately, we're just putting more sandbags out there in in gyms and shows, in garages and and, yeah, home Depot is just selling out of sand because of people like us.
Speaker 1:Well, I can tell you that for sure. Yeah, I will say it because Scott won't. But your bags are of such high quality and the price is so great. Please don't raise it just because I said that. But we have one or two like when we first started, like cheap bags in the gym oh, from 1.0 yeah, and you get. Sometimes you get what you pay for, because they're crap they're crap.
Speaker 3:I don't even terrible, yeah, we they're horrible and that was kind of. The goal is, like you know, a rogue quality at an amazon price. Yeah, it is what we were trying to, trying to get to oh, you got it.
Speaker 2:I'm telling you got it because we've purchased. You know, the ofg compound has purchased four of your husafelt bags and combined the price is two bags from one of the other competitors. I'm telling you, and we're not gentle on, these things.
Speaker 1:I mean, I hate them. You suck a little. And that giant Husafell yeah, they're awful. You're a horrible human. Yeah, you're a horrible human.
Speaker 3:Throwing is amazing, yeah, but it carries the Husafell.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're supposed to be Canadian. Throwing is amazing, yeah, but it carries the Roosevelt. Yeah, you're supposed to be Canadian, you're supposed to be nice and you're like from middle of nowhere, canada, right, like where are you? In Saskatchewan, or? Saskatchewan, yeah so are you in Dog River? You're in Dog River, aren't you? No, no.
Speaker 3:Regina Queen City. Probably like four hours from Williston North Dakota, which we are, our like focused US neighbor. You know, williston North Dakota is the middle of nowhere, too right. So you are like north of nowhere. Yes, Four hours past the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 2:It's so funny talking to athletes in like Florida, right, they're like oh you know, show looks fun, but it's like a two and a half hour drive I'm like'm, like brother man I'm driving like six hours to anywhere yeah, exactly, you know it's nuts well, and I'm gonna throw something your way, because no, throw bags, huh no, it wasn't going that way, okay, cute nice, nice pun.
Speaker 2:Thanks, just eat your cheetos grandpa so one of the things, like you said when I first started this whole, you know this conversation. Tonight, denny reached out to us because he likes helping the promoters. Well, when we told him you know what this, what our event was, the uh, the second annual llb and he went above and beyond so to say the least, yeah.
Speaker 2:I really I want to compliment you and Hannah and everything that you guys stand for and what you did. Denny, just when he heard that it was all about, you know everything was going to my son's foundation, and excuse me and that you know we're trying to keep the costs down and we're giving to the athletes, and that you know we're trying to keep the costs down and we're given to the athletes and whatnot. You folks stepped up. I mean stepped up to a level that you don't expect from you know a small company and you're not a rogue, you're not a Cerebus, you're not. You know those types of things which means even more in the sentiment.
Speaker 2:And what you did for our athletes. You know giving them discounts, giving them. You know gift certificates, the whole nine yards. You know from myself and my wife, from all of our board, from John, who is on the board he's the vice president of the foundation. You know we can't thank you enough for what you guys did, so truly, we are blessed to you know, to have you part of this. You know now and in the future. But yeah, it's what you guys are doing. It is exactly the sentiment that we founded our foundation on yeah, absolutely I.
Speaker 1:I. The swag bags were insane and athletes were commenting about yeah, all day, and we're with one athlete. I went through your whole website like they were immediately looking for something to buy, and they it was actually one of the female, it was one of all day. And with one athlete, I went through your whole website Like they were immediately looking for something to buy, and it was actually one of the female. It was one of the female athletes and as soon as she hit the t-shirt swag that said Valkyrie on it oh, I'm sure. Yeah, she was all over that. So, yeah, thank you, thank you so much. I mean.
Speaker 3:Well, I appreciate that guys. Yeah, you know, from our side, like I'm, I'm a victim of never feeling like like we're doing enough, like we can always do more. So it means a lot to hear that Cause man, like I wish we were in a boat to just write checks, right.
Speaker 3:And and and you know the the, the goal of of Valkyrie. E-commerce, um has never really been for profit, right? That's never really been the goal. The goal is to roll back into the sport. I'll be completely honest, like, I make my money from coaching. That that's, that's my job. The e-commerce side is, you know how we can keep being involved and keeping giving back to the sport, since we're not promoting anymore, right? So whenever I see causes like, like what y'all are doing, I try to help out as much as I can, right.
Speaker 1:Oh, you do really good. Yeah, you went over and above. What's your website address, Denny?
Speaker 3:Valkyriestrengthclubca.
Speaker 1:Okay, I've been there. I just wanted you to say it. Yeah, yeah, and we're on Instagram as well. Valkyrie strength clubca. Okay, I've been there.
Speaker 3:I just wanted you to say it. Yeah, yeah, and we're. We're on Instagram as well. Um, yeah, dude, you've got some great pictures on Instagram.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry to interrupt, yeah no, and I apologize for talking over your, your Instagram account Some of the stuff that you've got up there, that you folks are doing, and what the strength team is doing, what your athletes are doing, you know, be them young or masters athletes it's really worth a look. So I urge everybody to go to you know, to your website for that or to your uh, your Instagram for that. There's some great stuff up there.
Speaker 3:You appreciate that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, with the team like you know, you see a lot of people in my position as a coach where, um, they're kind of specialists, right, or even headhunters, where they're just looking for talent. They're looking for, you know, the next world champion and, honestly, like I, I of course want to see all of my people be successful, um, but for me one of the biggest goals goals is them becoming better people through sport, right, and that's kind of the number one of. I know what iron therapy has done for me. I know how important strongman and powerlifting, competing, promoting has been for me and being able to help someone else with that to maybe navigate everyday life by having this, this wacky hobby. You know that they focus on that's kind of the big, the big goal.
Speaker 3:So you'll see, you'll see a ton of diversity. You know, on on team Valkyrie where, yeah, I got a bunch of masters athletes, I got a bunch of high level open, I got some brand new novice, I got teenagers Right, and then not even to mention all the the general fitness stuff that we kind of do as well. So I it's cool that that that comes across right, that we're kind of all over the place and, um, you know, kind of working with any demographic so, denny, you did mention one of your quote-unquote, one of your athletes in texas, so you do remote coaching, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that is 90% of what I do. It is all remote. So I think at this point the team's a damn near 50-50 between Canada and the US. Cool, something like 22 states represented Pretty cool, right. So we made the decision early in 2024 to expand into US online coaching and it went absolutely incredible right Like way better than I would have expected.
Speaker 3:And then now that's like, quite honestly, the majority of what we do or focus on our e-commerce side is 90% US at this point, and then, like I said, the coaching is about 50-50. So I love my Canada, I love my people, but we're literally a tenth of the market, right. And when you're looking at such a niche market as strength sports, you know, man, like I could name all of the promoters in Canada right, like the sport is still that small here.
Speaker 3:So for us it was kind of a no brainer. Um it just. It went a lot more seamlessly and and efficiently than I would have expected.
Speaker 1:Cool Um. Are you accepting new athletes if anybody's interested?
Speaker 3:You know what man? I don't play those games. Those three spots remaining? Oh, yeah, yeah yeah. You see that all the time.
Speaker 1:I have one new opening, if anybody's interested.
Speaker 3:It's only $5,000 a day, dude, anyone who's ever been in this industry or any appointment-based industry? You ain't saying no to money, yeah.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:No mechanic is going to be like no, no, no, I'm not going to change your oil today, right? So no, I'm always taking new people I'm, I'm more than happy to work with, with anybody, um, any background, any demographic, uh, cause, you know, I I think the, the sports of strong man powerlifting, just being in the gym in general, um are so beneficial and so healthy, um, so no, I'll never be that guy that caps my roster. I'll.
Speaker 1:I'll figure it out. Well, that's good because, like in just this brief conversation, especially for what I would consider non-strong man athletes, you just have the right mindset, like you. I literally like if I were like interviewing you to see if you should be my coach.
Speaker 1:You should be my coach, no matter the sport because, because you could just tell you have the fundamental of let's do what we can do, let's do all we can do, let's do it with some consistency, let's not break ourselves, but let's push those boundaries and I think that's really no matter. The sport a recipe for success. Well, it's like we said, John, Don't fucking stop, yeah and get off the couch. Get off the couch. That's very true, All right. So let's go into the Denny Coaches Corner. Denny, I'm going to ask you a question. I am 58 years old or I am a master's athlete, whatever. When's your birthday, John? Day after Christmas? Yay, Is it a? Do you deal in diet nutrition supplement? Do you address any of that in your coaching?
Speaker 3:For sure. Yeah, that was like 90% of what I did before I transitioned to strength sports. So I wasn't that guy who did one strongman show and then suddenly said he was a coach.
Speaker 1:They're out there, you know I spent years.
Speaker 3:Oh my God man, I spent years coaching people for free. Um, you know, it wasn't until I put the coaching under Valkyrie that I could say I was confident in what I did and had success. Before that, um, but yeah, before doing strength, 90% of what I did was just general fitness, uh, overall nutrition, blah, blah, blah. Um, obviously that has changed to more sports specific nutrition now, but, yep, still a big part of what I do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I only ask as sort of an avatar for people listening, because I find that like people need to hire coaches. I think there's value in every buddy to get some coaching at some point in their physical activity pursuit. It's new perspective, it's a learning journey. You always can learn something new from somebody, no matter what. Well, it's a different perspective.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:But I think the online coaching has such a benefit. I think it used to be sort of a shorthand for trying to get as many athletes as possible, but I think the reality is that a lot of people that especially masters athletes that want to be coached, are a little like they wouldn't just walk into a gym up to a guy in coaches shorts which I miss a lot with a whistle hanging around their neck.
Speaker 2:Which you miss even more yeah.
Speaker 1:And say you know, uh, hi, I need help. I see that we've moved into a culture where I think a lot of people are more comfortable with. Here's an email, here's what I'm looking for, here's my limitations. Can you help me? I think that that is a far more productive relationship in 20 and 25 and going forward. So thank you.
Speaker 3:For me, you know the the the sheer economics of it are kind of a big part of it where I never I've done personal training for God, 20 years, something like that. I've never truly loved personal training because after a few sessions, a few weeks, it kind of feels like I'm just being paid to spot and load Right the right, the knowledge has been given. Now it's all just programming. So I started dabbling with, I guess, hybrid coaching, where you know one session a week and then programming. I started dabbling with that early, maybe 2014. And it was kind of how I would retire a personal training client of okay, you don't need to see me three days a week for $100 an hour, let's just do programming and I'll send you what you need to do. You do it, we can follow up with a session anytime you like and saw a lot of success there.
Speaker 3:Obviously there's pros and cons to online coaching, but for someone that at least has a baseline of what they're doing in the gym and how to move, it's just such a much more economical way to do this right, where you know you don't have to be tied down, you're not doing these sessions, you go and you do your work and it gives kind of that feeling of independence but still has that layer of accountability.
Speaker 3:So, again, it's not perfect, right? Obviously, if I could teleport to every client as they're training, that would be ideal. But you know there's so much benefit to it and I couldn't agree more that I think everybody at some point needs some kind of coaching and other coaching, right? You know, probably the most common email you get is hey, you know, I'm so sorry, but like I'm gonna try something else. And man, I'm like the weird coach is like brother, go for it, do it up, find that new perspective. And I've had multiple clients leave, come back, leave again, come back again. Um, it's just part of their journey, right? So, uh, yeah, I think it's super beneficial for anybody to to kind of get that little bit and the online can take, you know some of the awkward edge off it, right when, like you said, you just get an email, then you get a workout, you do the workout, you get some feedback and the cycle continues.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like you went about a minute or so ago, you talked about the idea of that sort of progressive model where it's, you know, might start out with complete handholding my term and you know progress to the concept of here's your workout for the next two weeks. Take your numbers, take your, your sets, take some videos, maybe send it to me, let's discuss, let's keep moving. How often do you use something like that with any of your clients, let alone your master's clients?
Speaker 3:like just kind of like a theory of progression. Yes, with everybody. Yeah, like I, you know, I, I man, probably 15 years ago doing personal training that if I have a PT client, for five years I failed that client, I, I failed to teach them, and that's kind of how I've always looked at this is, you know, my role is that of a teacher, right, my goal is to teach you how to do this, because there's no one better to talk about you than you, right, you know you better than anyone. My goal, my job, is to kind of guide that. So for me, progression is everything. And I've had those clients that are, you know, kind of three-time-a-week PT clients that went to once a week, that went to just online programming, that went to remote, went to once a week that went to just online programming, that went to remote. Um, but for me, really the the big secret to the online side, it all comes down to communication and both ways, right, there has to be really really concise communication or it won't work, right.
Speaker 3:Um, myself, personally, what I do is is I'll recap every session individually and, and you know, I've said to people often where programming is about 30% of what I do Recaps, messages, discussions that's the other 70. And that's the coaching side. And that's the big difference between coaching and programming. Programming is isming. Is you know us grabbing muscle and fitness 20 years ago? Programming is just getting an e-book. Coaching is the recaps on sessions. Coaching is talking people off the ledge. Coaching is explaining what's going to happen at a show and what they might feel afterwards. That's kind of the big meat and potatoes of it. So progression, man, like all day, every day, that's what I'm always striving for.
Speaker 2:Excellent. I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but there's gotta be. I feel like and this goes back to like my old gold gym days Like there's there's 10% of personal training clients that really just want someone to bullshit with while they're training. That's for sure I. I feel like, especially before the, before the phrase jim bro was actually coined, I feel like that was a lot of jim bro trainers.
Speaker 3:Like you know, let's do uh, 80 sets on the peck deck and, uh, we'll talk about what you're doing this weekend and you know those people for sure, and and like some people need that just to keep them going right they need that accountability, which all the power to them, just just not the game I play, Right Cause when and man, I tried, I tried to be that guy and you know, I honestly just felt guilty when I was in these sessions because I, I, I up sitting there being like man, like you're, you're not getting out of this what you should, Right, and I actually had a few clients where I'm like okay, how about this?
Speaker 3:How about you just train when I train, right? So it's not a session, right, Right, but you'll, you'll, you can. You can still have that accountability because I expect you to be there, but we're not going to put this session on the books because I feel like I'm just stealing from you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, that's. That's very noble of you because I think again. I think especially these. You know, I got my certification online. I go to the local big box gym, I'm a personal trainer and I will help grandma understand how to do a leg press. I think that there's. It's not dishonesty per se, because a lot of people need that, but you are not going to progress to any sort of athletic peak, or even your personal best, without some of the things you've spoken of, of really instilling the knowledge and the drive right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, Scott. Danny, I got one last question for you oh, oh, I was gonna be a wise ass I was worried he was gonna say can you make a bigger husafel bag?
Speaker 3:that's, that was my concern oh god, we can't actually, man. They're on the way now.
Speaker 1:I can't hear you coming back, oh no nice I think there was something wrong with the. The modem doesn't work. John still uses dial-up.
Speaker 2:I'm on aol, uh I don't know for much longer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know if scott told you, but we have a goal of going to, uh, iceland, iceland, and actually lifting the non-sandbag husafel and uh well, you know, the best training for that would be a 400 pound sandbag.
Speaker 3:Who's a fell?
Speaker 1:I agree with you. No one likes you people. Canadians are supposed to be nice and scott you're supposed to just shut the fuck up all right.
Speaker 2:My question, now that john took us down uh, amnesia lane there. What is this? If a Masters athlete came up to you and said I've heard great things about your team, I've seen you guys, I've seen what you do, what is one piece of advice you could give me? What would you say? That's a good question.
Speaker 1:Once in a while. I know right. Who knew we were going to get this deep?
Speaker 3:New to the sport or been around the block let's go new new type of thing.
Speaker 2:They may have started, but they're not brand new okay, one thing enjoy the process.
Speaker 3:You know we get so hung up in shows. Enjoy the process. You know we get so hung up in shows and titles and invites and Arnold and OSG and PFL and all this stuff. And you know, one conversation I've had with so many clients is I ask them two questions. The first one is why did you do a strongman show the first time? And generally that's going to be like like all of that. I was curious. I watched it when I was a kid. I wanted to see how I could do Cool, great, whatever. The second question is always the same answer why did you do the second one? And the answer to that one, 99 times out of a hundred, is because you absolutely loved the first one. And so often as athletes, the longer we compete, we lose sight of that right. We should do better, we should win this show, we should deadlift more, we should be invited to something bigger. So if there's one piece of advice, I have never, forget why you did that second show and enjoy the process.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that. You know, it's one of the things and I often compliment John and he just doesn't realize it because he usually can't hear me what Exactly John has said this before. You know, one of the things we're average athletes. We're, we're, we're okay at what we do. You know, as we get older, we like to think that we're average athletes, we're, we're okay at what we do. You know, as we get older, we like to think that we're better than we really are at times. You know, speaking for john and myself but one of the reasons we get invited to shows is because we always have fun at the shows. Yeah, you know, and I think that's that speaks to what you're saying if, if you're going to do it, do it and have fun. Life is too damn short not to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that second show. The other thing about the second show is you will find you suddenly made 15 friends, I mean the community and I think this speaks to most sports like-minded humans that are willing to stand in the Home Depot parking lot and carry heavy things or whatever it may be. I mean, it's like this is so easy to talk to you because I think the mentalities just run in the same vein, even though you're Canadian and much nicer than me Everybody's nicer than you.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, I am trying to kill you by sandbag. Yeah, you will. Oh, he admitted to it.
Speaker 1:Oh, you will get pictures very soon, yeah, of me with a toe tag underneath a 400-pound sandbag.
Speaker 2:All right, any last words, any last thoughts you have there for us, my friend.
Speaker 3:I appreciate the time. Man, I love this sport. I love talking about it on a cell phone, on a podcast, on a Zoom call, in person at a show. I just love this sport and it's so awesome to see how the sport has expanded the way it has. Now, as a Masters athlete, you have a full-ass calendar of just master shows. As a teen athlete, you can go to OSG as a teen, right. The growth of the sport and the expansion and the accessibility has been so amazing. And then now, because of that, you're starting to see like individual shows and PSL is the best example where now we're celebrating weight class athletes, masters athletes, on their own as part of shows. So, yeah, matt, thank you guys for having me and you know I love what you're doing to just spread more about the sport and especially in in spreading about masters athletes. Right, like you know, of course, father time is always going to win, but, man, we can damn well make them work at it. Amen, amen to that.
Speaker 3:I'm so happy to say that, at 41, I'm probably the best strong man I've ever been, you know, and I have some miles on the tires. It's not a death sentence, right. So I'm happy to be here and still lifting at the level that I'm lifting, which is amazing. And so much of that comes down to, you know, people like you guys celebrating the sport, advancing the sport, running shows, all of that. So, yeah, just happy to be part of this weird wacky world.
Speaker 1:Cool. Well, before I let you go, I'm going to make you be a little less self-deprecating. Tell us again about your website, your how can we reach you what we? Can reach you, for you know I want to buy some stuff that might be 400 pounds. Where do I find you?
Speaker 3:Well, the 400 pound who's felt doesn't exist yet, but I don't. I don't think I love the yet part because I feel like I accidentally laid down a challenge. Matt, you want to do something that sucks. I don't think we have any left, but the body bags we had on our website.
Speaker 2:I looked for them. You don't what's a body bag?
Speaker 3:They were the worst thing. We loaded one up to 200. Yeah, and legit was. This was as hard as a 275 pound standard bag. Trying to manipulate this thing and throw it on your shoulder, what are?
Speaker 1:they terrible. What are they shaped like? Like, what are they?
Speaker 3:oh uh, a giant rectangle right, but you load them to purposely be a little sloppy oh, that's literally like a body bag.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:We got a funny, funny video on our Instagram of me and Hannah throwing one in a trunk and legit Like it. It looks pretty suspect anyway.
Speaker 1:Yeah, way to way to, way to lay way to lay in a good excuse in case you ever need to put something else. It's just sand guys, it's just sand but Good move.
Speaker 3:It's just sand guys, it's just sand but yeah, you can find us at velcrystrengthclubca on Instagram, velcrystrengthclub, or me at Denny Labrush. I'm monitoring both because, like we pretend, but the company is just me and Hannah. Right, we try to make ourselves look a little bigger, but you know, this is a mom and pop company and, honestly, it always will be Right. I don't have any ambitions of making this something bigger than what it is, because what it is allows us to give back and that's kind of always the goal. So, yeah, find us on the website, Find us on the socials and, yeah, always around.
Speaker 2:Cool, and I got to tell you that that's one of the things that draws john and I to companies like yours, especially yours is that that mom and pop, that family, feel that that's that's the greatest thing, man. So we absolutely love it. Folks, please reach out to them. Their stuff is incredible. I gotta tell you. It's absolutely incredible. We will, once the body bag gets repopulated no pun pun intended, we will be getting some. So keep your eyes out. You'll see us reaching out real soon and then you'll see pictures of John being stuffed into one of them.
Speaker 1:No, I'll be pinned under the 400-pound sandbag. That's fine.
Speaker 2:As always, folks. Thank you for listening. I'm still Scott.
Speaker 1:I'm still John, bye, bye, bye. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post it on your social media or leave a review. To catch all the latest from us, you can follow us on Instagram at Masters Athlete Survival Guide. Thanks again. Now get off our lawn, you damn kids.