Ep.2 S-3: "What We Wished We Knew"

In episode 2 of the new season, Travis and Carl talk about do's and don'ts, things they wished they knew early on, and argue about 50kg plates.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:01

And we are back with the podcast this week. This podcast is brought to you by SUPDOG Supplements. Use code CAVECAST to check out to save on your order. Shout out to John Flag, RebuildStronger, and Zone Smelling Sauce, our two main contributors for this season's episodes. And now the podcast. And all the things that have torn me apart, nothing has made me more whole, covering the good, the bad, and the shit that keeps us going. Straight from the head refs table. I'm your host, Travis Papa Bear Rogers, and you are listening to A Force Through the Trees, a Cave podcast, back for season three, and our second episode with my wonderful co-host who makes my days easier. Especially this one, Carla Master.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Hey, what's going on, man? Hey. I'm sorry, I was uh I had to take my phone off uh ringer mode. Um my action button. They have have you seen the new the new iPhones with the action buttons? No, I need a new iPhone. So this one, I have it set to this thing. When I'm going to sleep, I hit the button. It plays like nice sleeping music to go, you know, go to bed to. But uh I was I was about to hit it and then it started, so I had to stop it real fast. Yeah, sleepy sounds. Yeah, I was gonna start. Well, I was gonna fall asleep right on the podcast. Yeah, so I had to go change it to like silence.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

Lead me to my own devices over here. Um, we have a podcast episode. Um, I actually like a lot of the topics we're gonna talk about today, and more conveniently, we've had an influx of new lifters kind of coming around. Um, some a lot more green than others for lack of a better word. Um, so I think this podcast is definitely dedicated to them and would make a lot more sense for that sort of listener. And of course, if more experienced lifters and you're around those type of people, that maybe this will help you um understand, cope, relate to all those different issues that you used to have and maybe you don't have any more.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

If anything, it's a refresher for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:54

Refresher, yeah. Remembering that you were once at that point, right? Also, how's training, bro?

SPEAKER_01 2:02

I feel like you're pretty strong. I want to talk about the fun things before we get into the other fun things. Like we have training fun things, then we have podcast fun things. So you want to talk about what fun things first? Training things. Oh, okay. You go first. Tell them tell them what's up. So uh we are in the middle of our eighth week out right now.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Are we?

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Yeah. You don't even know. Not a real power lifter, you don't know how many weeks are how you are. You don't have to get ready if you're always ready, Carl. I told you that. I I lived that life, bro. So uh we took a recent squat that was a fun one this past weekend, and we both hit PRs on it, I believe, right? Mm-hmm. We both uh chain duffalo squat. Um both ended at 703 plus the chain, which I wanna re-measure what that chain is. Okay. Because I feel like I know I've told you this before, I feel like you just keep upping the chain weight in your Instagram uh like uh captions.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

No, I'm pretty sure it's 240.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not, but I matched it just for to make you feel better. I'm almost 100% positive it's 240. I'm gonna measure it right after we're done recording this. Okay, I mean that's fair.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Oh, dude, speaking of that, did I tell you I found the orange hook? No! Yeah, the one we lost? Yeah, well, did lost. Where was it? You're not gonna be happy when I tell you. It was right in the fucking open, bro. No, it was in the supplement thing. Over here? Yeah, I swear to God.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Oh shit.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

Bro, if it was a fucking snake, it would have bit you in the taint, bro.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

It's like I'm sure I think I looked over there too. I was looking in the drawers and okay, cool. Well, we got it. Yeah, so we we literally can remeasure them after this if you would like. Good deal. Um, so squats went awesome. I think I'm learning how to squat again. Yeah. Not that I forgot, but I kind of like.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

And that was the most either one of us have taken weight wise and pick wise.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

That was my heaviest pick ever. That was like that was like a if it's if it's full 240 chain, that was like a 940-pound pick. I mean, even if it's not, if it was still like a 90 pound pick.

SPEAKER_03 3:56

It's 200, it's a 900 pick. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Um I'm stoked. That's going really well. I'm pretty happy with that.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

And I'm just happy to fucking move because I weighed in at 209 today, so I am at an all-time low. You're going for that five times bodyweight squat. Not five times, dude. We're not five times. Uh I have my goals for this meet. My goals currently in this meet is. Do you want to put them out in the open? Well, sure. This one's important. Uh, have a shirt that works. Okay. That's important for me. No, I think we both should have that one. I just got two shirts back that had holes patched in them, so we're gonna see how that goes tomorrow, actually.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Yeah, definitely. So we're gonna have fun with that.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

Fingers crossed that I walk away with like at least something to like a one or two board that I'm like, okay, I can make this work.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

You have like six shirts right now. You've touched in three of the six, I think. So like I don't think. I don't think your problems are that big. If you've touched in three of the shirts that you have, you can just throw whatever shirt you want on. Carl thinks I'm that good in a shirt where I can just like wear what I want and do what I want. Well, thinking it and seeing it in person is different. So I've literally I've I've seen you touch in Whatever I feel like. Yeah, pretty much. You would you put on three shirts the other day and you and you ended up taking like a 620-pound touch. Okay, get out of here. I'll figure it out. Um, I have not touched in my shirt yet, so I am seven weeks out pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

And then the new move for me, since I've lost weight, was Carl told me to do this, so Carl's been Carl's been right. Uh briefs under the single ply suit to fill in the legs for me, and actually, now that I'm smaller, I don't have a problem with external rotation in my shoulders making me feel like my pinkies are going on the bar, so now I can actually grind something, and I actually had a deadlift PR.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

You've had two very good max effort blower back to back.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

And now if I just find a shirt that works, we're in we're in pretty good shape.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah, I think so too. So gallant return to 198, here we come. Right, and maybe I'll pull 600 sometime soon again. I would love to see that. Me too, dude. Me too.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

All right, are we ready to get into the podcast? We can we can go to the podcast. Alright, so this first topic, I think, is super undervalued and under talked about, but is such a simple concept that a lot of people miss it. Muscle is easier to build with muscle.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

1,000%. Now, people might misconstrue that and be like, well, the newbie gains are like the super easy part, and it just gets harder from there. But like, it's not exactly what we're saying. No. We're saying, like, once you have muscle and like the ability to use it, you can then utilize that to put more on easier. It's like, here, I'll break it down in a way you can understand.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

Thanks. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm a kindergartner. I mean, let me give you a. No, it's not even about the kindergartner. You play DD.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Give me my box of crayons and I'll just listen. No, motherfucker.

SPEAKER_03 6:39

Alright, so in DD terms, you're upgrading your character, right? Yes, yes, yes, yes. So, like, once you get to a certain level, low level, of that new muscle, it unlocks new quests and characteristics and attributes for you to choose from. That's right. Because what you previously could not do, you may have the strength to do now. Like, for example, if you could only do um JM press with the easy curl bar, right, with some weight on it, because you couldn't do the barbell or a JM press with the SSB with the handles off, right? Like once you become stronger, now that new piece of equipment or technique becomes unlocked to you.

SPEAKER_04 7:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

You know what I mean? So like that's what I'm thinking of it. Like, it's it's like a you get to a certain level and you unlock the next level. You're getting more spells in your handbook, like bro. Yeah, I'm fucking casting shit over here, bro. Casting shit. I like that. That's a good one. Casting spells and injecting mad potions.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

The witch's brew, as they call it. The witch's brew.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

Uncle Jimmy John's bathtub witch's brew. I like it. You blended it up in the trailer part, sent it to us.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Big pot of green juice. Yeah. Yeah. Stirring it around.

SPEAKER_03 7:55

I heard if it's the color of like the Jurassic Park fly amber stuck in the that time period. I feel like that's the that's the goodens. The taste test. It's gotta be sweet. We're so dumb.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

It's gotta be have a little spice to it. A little clean pepper.

SPEAKER_03 8:09

A little spice. So, muscles use your bit of muscle, but when you unlock those techniques, and then you can kind of advance your accoutre mall of things you can do in the gym. I gotta look that one up. Now, that's not crowns again, you need it. We're upgraded to colored pencils. This one tastes purple. Get you an edge or sketch. I just need you to shake that shit in between. Um, so like when you have that to your advantage now and you can kind of like think about surveying the gym floor with more options to you, right? Maybe things that you were previously done you could only do on a machine now become because you're stronger and you can stabilize a little bit better, now they become unlocked as dumbbells.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

I was just thinking, like, if another like instead of DD, just video games, like the map was grayed out there. And once you're like leveled up, you found that part of the map and it opened up.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

Yeah, that's all powerlifting is is you start in the middle of the map and it's all grayed out, and you're trying to push to the outer reaches of the world to reach level 99.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Level 99, too. Then it resets. Yeah. You reach level 99 and then start the game over in hard mode, and then you blow your quads off and you have to restart the game at hard mode. It's too too close to home, bro.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Too soon, too close to home. Um, but also when you're talking about like advancing techniques and advancing equipment you can possibly use to your advantage, right? Like, I think one of the things that's so lost about that is that as a coach and as a like a newer lifter reading resources online, or more importantly, and now you know, in this day and age, is seeing all kinds of like different accessory movements and auxiliary bars and things you can do in the gym on Instagram, right? Right. So, like, of course, you're gonna see, and I'm not talking about the wild shit where you see a dude like chain a bench to his waist and then go do like kipping pull-ups. I'm not talking about shit like that for like views. I'm talking about like actual workouts. Um, but like when you have those available to you, I think one of the things is looking back at a new lifter, most new lifters always think they need some of those things, like a specialized bar, a specialized program, a specialized equipment when really within those first couple years, man, you're weak all over. You just have you and you're weak in mind, not just body. You're weak in mind. That's a good point.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

You don't know what sore is fragile mental state of strength gaining.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Exactly. And you don't know what, like, your definition of hurt is gonna change.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

A thousand percent.

SPEAKER_03 10:44

Yeah, like you, you like, oh, I stubbed my toe. Like, you think you're hurt, bro. You don't know what hurt is, and that's not like a brag or anything, it's just like over the years of powerlifting, if you commit yourself to the sport, like those things do change over time. There's an there's an inherent hurt to it, so yeah, you have to be really willing to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

And if not, like I feel like the sport itself will weed you out very fast. I was talking to a co-worker of mine the other day, and he was like, Is there ever days you're not sore? And I'm like, I dude, I haven't felt good in like nine years.

SPEAKER_03 11:18

Yeah, yeah, like the idea like you feel good, but I think like, and I was watching a lot of stuff on this recently, like really high level and good athletes of all sports, not just talking about powerlifting, is like when you lift, you put those feelings aside. Yeah, right. Like, it doesn't, it's not about how you feel or if you're sad or if you're sore.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Uh, didn't Stu just post a video talking about it.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

It was, I it might have been Stu, and I was watching some other thing. I think I was watching a documentary on it before Stu. Yeah, yeah. Um, but like very smart guy. Yeah, but like when you have those things, like those athletes push those things aside, and they literally, like I was literally just talking about, you function. Yeah, you operate, right? Right, you turn everything else off and you do what needs to be done.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Right.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

Now that's not saying you go all out and ignore all the warning signs of system failure, but like there is a dimension to it where like the switch needs to be turned off. You leave those things, for lack of a better term, an overuse phrase, leave it at the door.

SPEAKER_04 12:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:23

Right? When you come in here, it's time to do your thing. And like the ones that truly get better at the sport understand that quality and how important that quality is to have.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Isn't there like a position in like most major buildings that have like a threat assessment job? It's like you're internally doing that for your body. Like, what is a what is something that's like a super present threat that I should worry about? And what's something that I can put on the back burner until it like gets a little bit more serious? Or is just gonna stay at that level of okay, it's not great, but it's not. Can I deal with this?

SPEAKER_03 12:53

How minute is this detail? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I go through with it anyway? Right, exactly. And I mean that makes sense. Like, for example, like one of my I dude, okay, I'll use me for an example. One of my biggest first worries, and this is back when I was still training at the high school and teaching and coaching. Uh, I I had a great bench as a 181er. Like, my bench got up into the 400s at at 181. Subtle brag. I I'm just saying, but like, like, bro, I remember the first time I had like serious cases of like tennis elbow, yeah, or like bencher's elbow. Bro, I and I had never had it before, like, that freaked me the fuck out. Dude, I would come into that bitch lathered in tiger bomb. Like the kids, the kids' eyes would water when they went by me. Like, it was so potent. But like, I remember those feelings of like that first initial, like, am I hurt? If I keep going, is this shit just gonna like pop off? Like, you know what I mean? Like, you start to allow those thoughts to creep in. Yep. But now, like, I've had an entire elbow replaced. Not a humble brag. Um not a part of the club you want to be part of. Not my club. Um, but like the other day we did uh jam press, right? We spent on jam press. Yeah, I love it. And you said, you know, your elbows are a little bit afterwards, spicy. I mean, it is a more elbow dominant movement, right? Let your triceps up, but also lets you bench up. That's why we have flossing capital letters on our program on Mondays. I love that. We'd be flossing each other's elbows. We be flossing. We'd be flossing. We be flossing. Um, but like when you have those things, like you've flossed me, I've flossed you. God damn, I'm trying to make me lose my train of thought. But I remember how how bad that used to feel, and like how scared and worried I was for my elbows, but now that I've had like basically the worst happen to me. Now when we're done that, and I'm like, oh my elbows hurt a little bit, Carl, we've lost my elbow. Like, I don't even think twice about it, you know what I mean? And I'm just trying to like the what I'm trying to really say is like people don't understand those things until you get to a certain point. Because I remember when I was younger and you were worried about it, like when it hurt, like that was your first hurt of that kind, no matter where it was in your body. Yeah. And if it like hurt bad, and I'm not talking just like, oh, I was sore, like something actually hurt. Like to the point where you're like, oh fuck, like, do I need somebody to like push on this?

SPEAKER_01 15:17

When you stand up and start moving around, like, what's what's going on?

SPEAKER_03 15:20

Or like I remember my second meet. I mean and Jess had both like fucked up our hips, and I sat on like a yoga ball for like half of that school year. Like I couldn't, yeah, I couldn't sit at a normal teaching desk like special chairs that you can put. No, no, I just had I um Petty John was next to me, and she was always work lifting up here, and she had a giant, giant fucking bosu ball that was like three feet tall, and I just rolled that bitch around my head, and every time you sat down, like, and it just worked, man. And then like I remember when I got better from that, I was at Pure Fitness with the kids, and we were deadlifting, and like one of the deadlifts, it literally popped, and it's like my hip went back into place and it had been out of place for all that time. That's strange, and then I was fine.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

You think like after it sits out for a while, it's not gonna go back in correctly.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

No, it just it just went back in. Highly don't recommend though, don't listen to me. I'm just telling you my experience, but I I don't say, hey, ignore it, maybe it'll just pop back into place. Like that's not a good advice. I'm just telling you my experience, but like the idea of pain, pain tolerance, what pain really is versus when you're starting and where you get to are completely different things, man.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Yeah, very true.

SPEAKER_03 16:32

And I mean, I think that's that's to be said too, with the muscle is easier to build, you know, with muscle. Like you don't understand like what movements are really hard until you get stronger either. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like how many movements do you think you and me have started, like you had never done before you and me were really working out together, that you were like, yo, this shit is fucking hard. But then once you develop the skill and the muscle to support it, you're like, now this is like my daily thing.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Yeah, no, definitely that's definitely true. Like you adapt to it. Right. We toss like accessories in that we haven't tried, and we usually run them for like four to five weeks, and then by that point it's like, okay, we're we're rolling.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

This is what we want to keep or we don't. Right. But we usually do give them like at least five, four to five, maybe most of the time, like six. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But like, because I'll keep them in through a D load. But like, I think that's super important too, and talking about this topic is like the rotation of accessories. You have so many clients, especially like, dude, me and Jess talk about this all the time. Yeah, like you know how you get better at accessories? No, never happened. Doing the same fucking accessories over and over again because they have a unit of measurement. It gets boring, but like you get good at it. But that's how it's supposed to be. Like, dude, if you think you signed up for powerlifting to have exciting training days, you're a fucking idiot.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Yeah, no, no. The accessories are super boring, but if you get good at them, it's gonna make everything else easier.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

It's dumbbell scrawl crushers from here until you put me in the fucking casket. Yeah. Honestly. Like, I mean, like, you just you don't, and it's a big proponent of like you don't change what's broken.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

Or I'm sorry, I messed that up. I mess up. I I am broken, so I would mess that up.

SPEAKER_03 18:11

I am no not quite close, close. If it's not broken, don't fix it. Yeah, it's not broken, don't fix it. But like with your accessories in that manner, you have to do them for a long period of time. And we've even adopted this more so I really like the way we've been running the chain waves this block.

unknown 18:33

Ah.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

Over the squat, you know what I mean? Like the same for DE's to so now we're really like pushing in on measuring. I said the only thing I wanted to change was the squat doubles, I wanted to change the squat singles just because of the overload.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

We're getting closer to the meat, too.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

Yeah, but I mean it makes more sense, but I think even in general, like I I like those more like that. Um but I think a lot of people don't understand that, and it's something you gotta remember.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Yeah, accessories are like the most important part of your training from when you start powerlifting or just training in general to even when you're like an elite top-level world athlete.

SPEAKER_03 19:06

If you wanna, and also like on a side note, if you want to look like you lift and you power lift, like you gotta do a lot of accessories.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Yeah, yeah. Accessories build the muscle, muscle stores the energy, use that energy to make your single lift stronger.

SPEAKER_03 19:18

You know, yeah, but like I see kids like, especially like nowadays, like running SPD like three times a week.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Yeah. And I'm like, bro, what? For one, I mean, obviously they conditioned themselves to do that, so that's fine. I couldn't imagine doing it. I think you can get away with it as a younger lifter.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

I think you can get away with a lot. Because you're well, you're reinforcing practice patterns and things of that nature.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:39

I mean, hopefully with lighter loads. Right. But like, yeah, yeah, you're not.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

You're not going balls to the wall all the time. If you're if your a coach is telling you to do that, then probably get a new coach. Probably get do some. Speaking of coaches, do some research.

SPEAKER_03 19:51

What's your and I I know we're supposed to get to this later on in the podcast, but like skip some parts. Yeah. Like, what's your thing? I mean, no, we're actually on that part. It says, what do you need as a new lifter versus what you don't? Let's talk about what you need as a new lifter. Okay. Carl, do you think you need a coach as a new lifter?

SPEAKER_01 20:05

I feel like this is a controversial take. Yeah, because I didn't for a long time. I I think it's really good. Is that your home that is that your humble brag?

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Is that used to be a motherfucker? I didn't even need you. I didn't. I I probably did need one, but I didn't have one.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Um I think I don't think you do. I'll stay on that. I don't think you need a coach as a new lifter. I just think you need the tools to do smart research and know where to find good direction yourself. Because if you if you learn how to find good information, that'll that'll carry you way further.

SPEAKER_03 20:42

I think I like what you said there, and I'm gonna piggyback on it.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

I think it depends on who the personality type of the lifter. Now, you're describing a need-to-be educated go-getter.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

I want to know stuff, so I will read, I will watch, I will follow, I will digest.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

I feel like in this day and age, it's super easy to read, see, and watch anything is the click of a button.

SPEAKER_03 21:06

It is. But I will tell you as a school teacher, do you know how many younger people actually do that?

SPEAKER_01 21:14

No. But if you're in the sport, you're in it for a certain you're in it for a reason. Like you want to nobody just goes to the gym when they don't want to get better in some sort of way. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 21:26

Regardless of the alternative motive.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Right. So like they're gonna they should. I there's always outliers. There will be be people that don't, but like I feel like it's pretty common for if somebody's in the gym on their own time, they're gonna wanna in some way, shape, or form, find information to make that better for themselves.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

You would think, man, I see a lot of people and I really question uh Yeah, there's always outliers.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Like when when me and when me and Jess go to PF Chang's and I'm watching people work out, yeah, and I know I'm in a judgment free zone, I'll tell you what, you'd be judged I'd be judging. You'd be judging. Judge it because I'm like, are you in here to get better?

SPEAKER_01 22:02

You can't judge at Club Purple, dude.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

Well, the worst part is Club Purple has like some pretty instructional shit. Like, there'll be TVs playing like how to do different like movement patterns on the machines.

SPEAKER_04 22:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

Yeah, yeah. And then you'll literally watch the dude in front of the TV while it's playing how to do it. Do the complete opposite doing the complete opposite. And I'm like, how does that happen?

SPEAKER_01 22:21

This guy knows more than the machine.

SPEAKER_03 22:22

You're making an active choice to do this wrong.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

He knows something that you don't, and you can't accept it. Dude. His goals are beyond your comprehension. My favorite is the the the dick sucking machine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The ab crunch. That's what it's supposed to be. The ab crunch, bro.

SPEAKER_03 22:38

The DSer, bro. Every week I watch this guy, I'm like, he's getting close, man. Does he have a six-pack? No, no. No. But if he did and he had less belly to bend over, we'd be at DSing range. He's like three sets of 12 almost there. He's like one rib away. He's like a three by ten of like just brushing the tip. Oh. Like whispering to it as he goes by. Like.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

And remember, you can't judge him.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

One of these days. Like that's how I imagine the conversation going through his head. But like that machine always trips me out. Um the tr I don't know what it's called. I honestly don't know what it does. Um, I call it the uh the Disney teacup. You know how the Disney teacups like spin around? You hold the thing in the cup.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

It's for your obliques, dude. Is it? It's for your obliques.

SPEAKER_03 23:35

Well, any person I've ever seen use one doesn't have to find a bleat.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Yeah, I don't know. Ever. No, that's not a good machine. Oh, is there also one that like you can like throw your legs up and like over? Like like your knees come up. It's like a it looks like a roller coaster almost, right?

SPEAKER_03 23:51

Right, right. Yeah, I've seen that.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

I've never seen, yeah, I've never seen somebody with like actually good core development.

SPEAKER_03 23:56

Like, I've never watched someone do that and be like, look at that guy. I should probably do that. That's what he's doing.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

He's paying off for him.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

Yeah, that guy's straight killing it. It's a good point. I didn't even know that. Then we have like older guys that like tri-set everything. So they'll occupy like three sets of like three different like a cable. Are you talking shit on supersets right now? Dude, you know I love supersets. But we superset on like the same thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like if we superset on a cable, we'll like flip handles real quick or flip position or whatnot. Bro, I'm talking like the low row over there, the tricep push down over there, and the leg press over there. This motherfucker making a loop.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

As dumb as it looks, imagine his shoes, though. You just got off work, you got 25 minutes to get a workout in front of you.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

But bro, you should speak the No, but you don't understand. You should the tricep pushdowns, dude. It's just like he's just whipping his wrist, dude. It's like this.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

And it's like not even coming down, and I'm like, and then like he'll get on the back the low row and be like, and I'm like, That can't even be. It's like he's stuck in place, dude. Like sometimes I have to watch it for a really long time because I feel like I'm in like a time lapse. Yeah. And I'm like, like there's a glitch in the matrix, and I'm just watching it's like, I'm like, bro, is everything stuck right now? Am I real? Yeah, like it's so weird. Anyway, we got way off topic, but for those people, I'd say that guy needs a coach, he needs to hit me up. Um, but I would say, like, if if you're not one of those people, I think accountability is a huge thing. Some people need coaches for accountability, period. True. You know what I mean? Like, you're smart, you're more than capable of looking up programs, finding good outsources, like looking, you know, finding all the things you need to find to make a halfway decent program.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Even if it's just like a 5-3-1.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

Right, but then there's tons of stuff like Wendler, Cube Method, like all that stuff, so many free resources. I mean, shit, I've put out tons of of me and other coaches have put out tons of elite FTS articles. Remember back in the day, T Nation?

SPEAKER_01 26:03

No, before my time.

SPEAKER_03 26:04

Oh, well, T Nation was a big thing. Dude, I always felt when I was younger as a lifter, like reading stuff on T Nation, because that stuff had more like no-holds bars, like you would see like steroid articles and stuff. Oh my god, I'd be like, this. I mean, this is way before.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

You click on it, you figure out breaking the line.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Yeah, when I was natty, I was like, and I'd be like, oh my god, what is what is fucking D ball, bro? Shit's wild.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

The furthest I'll go back is some on the very like scraping the edge of the bodybuilding.com articles. That was about it.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

Okay, yeah. T-Nation was like T Nation was weird. They had like authors, but they would also be like, I just saw that article on Elite FTS. It would like rehash and compile other articles from other places. It was like your catch-all, but I mean, with that, there's also comes bad information. Bottom of the barrel, like yeah, like some blogs, but like you could you could see a little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Um that's how do you how do you as a new lifter, how do you decide like what's good and what's bad information? Bro. Um is that who puts it out, or is that like uh so hard. Like if you see a picture of that person and they're built, do you like, oh, I'm gonna take that person's word as that.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

Well, okay, so there's dude, and this is a hard thing to talk about because you already know where I stand on this. Because I'm a firm believer in you are your business cards, right? So, like, if I see you and like you looked apart, and then you can look them up and see the credentials as well. Right. Like that's usually a pretty solid sign.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

If you're like, man, I want to look like a fridge and you saw me, you'd be like, I'm gonna go to that guy.

SPEAKER_03 27:31

If I was like, if I saw you, Carl, and I was like, hey, there's a guy who's an endomorph that doesn't believe in that shit, I'm gonna go talk about body types with him. He could probably help me.

SPEAKER_01 27:42

You would annoy the fuck out of me, dude. If you if you can't be like, yeah, let's talk about body types. You'd be like, it's not real. I just eat what I eat. I just have some chicken parm and I go about my day. And Jello shots. It's yeah, yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

Um But no, I I think you I think it depends on the person. I think accountability is a huge issue with a lot of people's, especially if they don't feel confident in the gym. You know what I mean? Like if you're a person that struggles with accountability, period, and also is worrisome and doesn't feel at home or know their way around a weight room, even a little bit, I think that does help a lot.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Yeah. I feel like weight rooms are a very uh it's it's hard to navigate them in the sense of when there's other people in there. Like you'd want to go talk to somebody that looks like they know what they're doing, but it's also like generally known for as like a person that's not no. Like, uh no, I'm not gonna go talk to that person. They're getting their workout in, like they're doing their thing.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

Or like, and it and also it goes both ways. Like, obviously, like if you and I saw somebody and we're like, man, I should really say something before he like fucking blows his shoulder out of the socket. You go up to me, like, you're so close. You're not you're not supposed to give unsolicited advice. So it's like it's it's a double-edged sword, it's both ways for sure. Um needs, we kind of talked about that, it's dependent on the goals, but like most people in our sport is to go to a meet.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

Not even compete, just go to one.

SPEAKER_03 29:06

Define compete. Compete? No, I'm serious. Compete means different things to different people. When you go to a competition, okay, competition is supposed to be you versus somebody else in order to win. It's like almost by definition competition. Okay, yes. Right? But some people go because they want to compete against their own numbers, compete against self, feel something for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

When I say compete, I just mean you're at the meet signed up and you're lifting there. I think you can do a meet, and I think you can compete at a meeting. That's very true. But like when I said it, I just meant like you're there, you signed up to compete.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

Like, for example, when I go, I go to compete. When you go, you go to twirl your dick around in a circle and just be there. Not this time! Not this time. Carl goes to me specifically to make sure he doesn't make it a higher squat. He's like, you know what? Today's the day. I'm gonna miss that shit too.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Toda this meet will be the meat that I get first place in the 220s, alright? That's all I'm saying. Might I be the only one signed up for 220 right now? And I probably will be the only one that.

SPEAKER_03 30:08

What about if I miss weight on purpose?

SPEAKER_01 30:10

I would be so upset.

SPEAKER_03 30:11

What about if I wait in a 199? Dots daddy, that's what you said. Dot's daddy. I whenever I say dots daddy, I always think of like the Hot Pockets voice. Yeah, yeah. I hear it. Yeah, yeah. I don't know why. I'm gonna do that.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

I'm gonna do that at the meet. Okay. Coming out of the rack. You really should just hit 198, though. I'd be really upset if you're not. No, I'm I'm definitely gonna do 198.

SPEAKER_03 30:37

The weight's coming off really well, so. And obviously, I'm impressed the squat move this weekend, so we'll we'll be good to go. I'd be really upset if you still outsquat me, though. I dude, I am 100% confident you will outsquat me. And I told you, it'll simultaneously be the best thing and the worst thing ever. You're gonna be the man of the house, bro. I'm probably gonna cry. Just saying. Yeah, be ready for some waterworks. Oh, you're gonna cry anyway. There's gonna be sweat in our eyes, there's gonna be sand in our assholes. You chose to do a multiply meet at the fucking beach when it's hot.

SPEAKER_01 31:05

Yeah. Yeah, after I bench my 300 keys, I'm gonna go make a sand castle. So in my bench shirt.

SPEAKER_03 31:11

Probably with the sand that's in your bench shirt. You won't even have to go to the water. It'll just be. Oh fuck. Oh well. Um, less ego. Yes. That's something you need as a new lifter. Less ego, bro. You don't know shit. And I think like uh, you know what's really helpful for me to think about that too? What? All the new people we've recently got at the cave, yeah, that actively, and I don't mean this as an insult at all, but have actively say, like, hey man, like I thought I knew like a okay amount, a decent amount, and then I trained with you and Carl, and I'm like, I don't fucking know anything. Yeah, and I wouldn't say like you and me are like end all be all by any means, but I'm just saying, like, there's also levels of like knowing stuff, experience things, like knowing how to dictate like good from bad as far as like what might yield more results and what won't. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

You know what I mean? Like, there's a lot of and that I feel like that goes for everybody though. Yeah, for sure. When when I took this trip up to Deathwish, dude, I walked in and I was like, alright, I know the least in this room. I'm gonna start asking some questions. And I was talking to those guys for a good bit about my squad and what they were doing. So, I mean, you just gotta do it, you gotta set your ego aside when you're walking into a new space because you don't know what you're gonna learn.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

100%. I think that's really important at Meats, too. Like, bro, just because you're like, think you're hot shit, like, doesn't mean you can't share a rack with somebody. Drop the ego, bro. Like, you're all there for the same reason. That's right. Um unless say you're on like three plates and they come up and they're like, hey, can you strip the bar? Then you can tell them to go fuck themselves. Really? What? Three plates? That's what you draw the line at?

SPEAKER_01 32:44

That's like three warm-ups. That's like uh you go one plate to three plates, though. Who? You should. Me? We do. The fuck we do. We did it at our last meet. We went one plate, three plate, five plate, six set. Not by choice. But we did. We did, but not by choice. And we did it very well. So we should continue. Oh god, I hate you so much.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

I'm just saying, like, you know what I mean? Like, I'm I mean more it figuratively, like, okay, yes, the warmup jumps, yes, yes. Four different, three to four different warm-ups and someone's like, hey, can you strip this for me? Like, bro. That's tough. Especially if they have a coach and they're like, bro, your coach blows.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

They didn't even let you know when to warm up. You know what would make the situation way easier if they just use like the 50 kilo plates, so you can just pull a plate off and then boom, you're so we can risk everything.

SPEAKER_03 33:34

Dude, okay, so keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_01 33:37

I'm gonna ask the people listening real quick.

SPEAKER_03 33:39

Nope, nope, you're not going back, and you're not getting out of this one. Okay. Why it's fresh on my mind, you're gonna make me forget and then you're gonna move on. Okay, good. Alright, so this is like the third time you've mentioned this to me in like one week about the fucking 50 pound that 50 kilo fucking loading that shit. Sure. By the way, that's like, for those listening, it's a black plate of 50 kilo is 210 or 220.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

50 kilos is not 220.

SPEAKER_03 34:02

Why not?

SPEAKER_01 34:02

50 kilos is all kind of.

SPEAKER_03 34:03

Oh, you're right, you're right, you're right. I'm so sorry. Yeah, it's one. You teach English, right? Not math. Yeah, that's it's a you know shut the fuck up. Anyway, there's no reason we don't load us. Yeah, I'd fuck it up anyway. But like the people that warm up with you at a meet that you don't know, how many meets have we been to, and you and me, and whoever's with us, like literally took over a mono. Not because we were being rude or anything, but just because we realized, oh shit, we will run this efficiently, get everyone that's not us and our not our athletes through this and ready for the platform in a fast and safe manner. Timely manner. I mean, we do it pretty well. Right. So take that away and be like, hey sir, that doesn't look like you know what you're doing. Do you mind lifting this 50 kilo plate on one side while the other guy doesn't know you're loading it so we can flip this bar at the same time? Do you know how many people are gonna eat those? Do you know how many how many barbell sleeves are gonna end up in people's two front fucking teeth? Look at our one me. We didn't even have collars, bro. You think your wrist wraps gonna save that bitch from sliding off? Get out of here, Carl.

SPEAKER_01 35:15

Dude, that the wrist wraps held like 700 on there.

SPEAKER_03 35:18

I mean, they were clutch, but I mean like that's because you and me thought of that real quick.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

Well, yeah. I I don't know. I don't think I dude, if you have access to those kinds of things. If you're strong enough to be at a powerlifting meet and you're like the guy that's like loading plates for the people warming up, typically that's the people that are more experienced. You're not gonna have the new guys loading plates in the warm room. So they should be confident in holding a 50 kilo plate and putting it on a squat bar. And it makes the jumps easier.

SPEAKER_03 35:48

Okay, I will stand by that. You know what? And I'll die on this hell too. Um, how many of the guys are our size?

SPEAKER_01 35:55

Meaning like five foot five and 220 pounds?

SPEAKER_03 35:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:58

We're very particular about that. I think that's just us.

SPEAKER_03 36:01

Right. I don't want to load a 50 kilo for someone Diops height. I don't want to do a fucking 50 kilo shit.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

Well, that's why you that's why you use you use the tools you have. It's a monolift, typically, where we compete. Why?

SPEAKER_00 36:16

So I can jerk off for a half hour crazing it up.

SPEAKER_01 36:20

Not a half hour usually takes like way less time than that. You can just slide it on, like when we take our squats, you put it on at your height, which is like right here.

SPEAKER_03 36:35

I don't you just want to look cool. I know, no, I think it's more efficient.

SPEAKER_01 36:40

It's not. It's not? It's not. You would never know because you don't do it.

SPEAKER_03 36:43

Okay, so what about all the other lifters that are taking in-between jumps?

SPEAKER_01 36:47

Well, that's why you prioritize like people that are taking jumps that are around each other. How many people are gonna add that on the go?

SPEAKER_03 36:55

Nobody. What do you mean? How many people ask you and me while we're warming up what's on the bar? Because I don't know math. Or I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Oh, they just don't ask you because you look scary. They ask me all the time.

SPEAKER_03 37:05

But that's my point. Like, so now you have to do math for everybody too? It's super easy math. Bro, it's amazing. It's in intervals of 50. Okay, you know what? This conversation's over. I've just determined you're way too fucking nice, and I'm not. Or never mind. You're more efficient? I think so. Alright. Well, you're more efficient ass better outsquat me this fucking meat. And then when you do, we'll use whatever fucking plates you want. Can I get that in writing? Sure. I'll write it down on the elite FTS pad and I'll leave it right here. We'll pin it to the fucking wall behind me. Look, we got a spot right here.

unknown 37:38

Alright.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Make sure it's all camera, though. It's gotta be on there.

SPEAKER_03 37:40

I'll flip the camera and we're gonna.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

If I outsquat them, we get to use 50 kilo plates. Well, I mean, we only have the one pair. I'll I'll get another set just for you. Those are fucking expensive. I was saying they're hard to find, so good. We got 100-pound plates. We can use those.

SPEAKER_03 37:56

That's fair, fair. Almost. Alright, so practicing patterns to progress.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:00

I think you, and you just talked about this. I think you're really good at this. Because we talked about how red you turn on one plate. Right? Because of how hard you're bracing for warm-up sets and practicing that consistency in the brace over and over again. And we're not just talking about brace, though, we're talking about literally the other parts of the movement. The whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 38:18

Yeah. Um, there's like, I mean, you hear it from like the very beginning when you start lifting. Make everything look the same, you know? And it's it's treat your warmups like your top sets. Right. And as goofy as it might look, throwing one plate around, like you're not, you shouldn't You shouldn't throw it through the roof and it's like literally popping off your back.

SPEAKER_03 38:34

It should not come off your back. Becoming a game.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

You should just move it with intention.

SPEAKER_03 38:38

Yeah, moving with intention is the best way to explain that.

SPEAKER_01 38:41

Um, yeah, so everything should stay the same from your either walk out or your pick from a monolift, uh, to your you know, taking your air in, bracing. Uh practicing bracing was a huge thing for me. Um, I still say like I don't know how to do it entirely because I, you know, there's days when I don't. Um but uh as a newbie lifter, that is something that you should prioritize. Like if you're if you're getting into powerlifting and you're like, oh, I want to get strong, wrong thought. You should be like, I want to get really good at bracing, then I'll get really strong.

SPEAKER_03 39:15

I agree. And like movement patterns build strength. Like once you kind of master some at those movement patterns, the strength does come. Right. I mean, as long as you're not you know eating like a moron, like you gotta actually eat the fuel Mr.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

Nutrition character.

SPEAKER_03 39:31

I'm just saying I've been talking about nutrition a lot for more than just me, a lot of different people.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Yeah, yeah. But like it's crazy. And if you were gonna put me on a nutrition plan, what would you uh say first?

SPEAKER_03 39:41

Uh it'd just be one line at the top that says clean out the fridge. Damn every night. Seriously? Yeah, I want you to clean out the fridge so you can continue to look like a fridge.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

Oh, you meant like eat all of it. It's the fridge fridge diet. I thought you meant like clean it out, get rid of everything so you can like and stop being a fat ass.

SPEAKER_03 39:57

Well that too, because I did watch you walk out of here with a tray of rice crispy treats last night and said you'd finish them. They might be almost done. There might be like two left. Dude, that's fucking fine, because you're 220. That's right. So that's I can't I can't get management for that. You're not even over 220, so we're good. We're literally walking right in.

SPEAKER_01 40:13

I'm I'm the king of walking in the meets without you know having to help me.

SPEAKER_03 40:17

I mean, hey, I'm I'm not a hater on that. That's good for you. Uh consistency, man. Consistency. If you're a new lifter, one of the things you need is consistency. Like, it doesn't matter how many days a week, but you better make those days a week count and you better show up for them.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

If it's three, do three. If it's four, do four. Don't do, I'm gonna say five and I'll do three.

SPEAKER_03 40:35

Yeah, and if you're and and speaking of that, if you have a coach and you ask him for five days, knowing that your dumbass schedule is gonna get crazy, like make sure you think about that and plan ahead. Like, be very open, talk about your coach with that. Don't go, hey, I need you to, you know, I usually work out four days a week, but I'm probably thinking about trying five when you know your schedule's been crunched and you're barely handing it on three and a half.

SPEAKER_01 40:58

Yeah, and the worst thing to do at that point is to be like, I'm gonna take two of my days and put it into one, so I do like a super long day, and then I go into my next day super fatigued, and I'm gonna hurt myself.

SPEAKER_03 41:06

Miss half of it, and like, you know, then it's just a you know, a snowball effect, right? The whole block's shit by the time you get to week three. Yeah. So um, consistency is the key. And I mean that's that's planning, that's making your days, that's consistency with your warmups, the everything, man.

SPEAKER_01 41:24

And it's even on the little things like consistency and what you're eating, drinking, sleeping, uh, consistency and what we just talked about before, movement patterns, making sure they're all the same. It's just a common practice that results uh or results in very good outcomes.

SPEAKER_03 41:40

I think one of the big things too with consistency is dude, know consistently what your warmup jumps are. I still can't believe how many meets we go to. Yeah. They don't know. Yeah, dude. That's kind of crazy. Hey man, what you need on the bar next? Like trying to be nice and they're like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 41:54

Oh, what's this weight? Even even saying what's this weight. I'm like, you don't know. You should know the plate jumps.

SPEAKER_03 41:59

Yeah, you should know your your own at least your own plate jumps.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

It's kind of ridiculous.

SPEAKER_03 42:02

It's kind of ridiculous. What do we need to make this weight? Like, that would be a better phrase question. Yeah. Hey, if you're not familiar with the plate math or what's on pound plates in the warm up room, right? Exactly. But you should be like, hey, what can I do to like ballpark around this weight?

SPEAKER_01 42:14

This is usually my next shot. Right. I'm just super weird about it, and I will be like in the Airbnb hotel the night before writing down what plate jumps I'm making in the warm-up room.

SPEAKER_03 42:22

I just make the same ones you and me make in training, which is a great consistent play to make. Yeah. If you practice how you play, it usually works out a little for you guys.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

Typically, we're just on kilos, and then it was pounds out there, so I was like, oh, what's this?

SPEAKER_03 42:33

Yeah, it is a little bit different when you do stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 42:35

And then it threw a wrench in it when I was like, oh, let's just go one plate, three plate, five plate. Somehow we ended back here. I don't know what happened. You gotta roll the punches sometimes. Sometimes I just don't know what happened. Yeah. Sometimes you just gotta roll without collars, bro. Yeah. Sometimes you just call it.

SPEAKER_03 42:49

Life doesn't always give you collars. Sometimes you just can't be consistent, and it's okay. Sometimes life gives you a thick bar with a lot of plates and slick sleeves, bro.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

Speaking of the thing, sometimes you just gotta deal with it. Thick bar. The F8 squat bar, 70 pound, crazy thick bar.

SPEAKER_03 43:05

Oh, you had that one at um at uh that thing was five, right?

SPEAKER_01 43:08

That thing is because we have the we have the 65, we have the 30 gauges. Yeah, they had like the slightly bigger one.

SPEAKER_03 43:15

Yeah. Because mine's a sport craft.

SPEAKER_01 43:17

It is a sport craft, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:18

And the other one's sport craft too?

SPEAKER_01 43:20

It was F8.

SPEAKER_03 43:20

Uh well, they usually manufacture through sport craft.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Do they?

SPEAKER_03 43:23

Yeah, I I know my Delith bar is sport craft that's manufactured.

SPEAKER_01 43:26

Thing was wild though. I just wanted to make a side note. That's it.

SPEAKER_03 43:28

Because like my bench bar, I'm pretty sure Sportcraft manufacture that.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

Yes, that's a sport. Yeah, okay. Yeah, there we go. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 43:34

So I think that's who they were going through. Oh very good. Don't hold me to it. But I'm pretty sure, if I remember correctly. Sorry, just had to ring that up. That was a really cool bar. No, that's dope. I like that bar. Uh, don't need specific programming.

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Yeah. Bro, you suck at everything. Get over it. You're like a shrimp. Like you you you built like a shrimp. You need to just put size and mass on it.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

You're like my shoulders, my my triceps are the weakest part of your bench. Your bench is the weakest part of your bench.

SPEAKER_01 43:58

You know, like Ferret. Like you just like their body's so flint.

SPEAKER_03 44:02

Oh, they're like very like malleable. They're like roly-poly. Yeah, malleable is good. If you were a Pokemon, you would be Ditto. No, it's like you have no definite shape.

SPEAKER_01 44:12

What's that one that's like a purple goop? Like a blob thing.

SPEAKER_03 44:16

Isn't that Ditto?

SPEAKER_01 44:17

That's not Ditto. Ditto's like the brown uh that comes out of the dirt and looks like a turd.

SPEAKER_03 44:23

No, that's Daylit.

SPEAKER_01 44:25

I should know these. I feel like I like Pokemon more than you.

SPEAKER_02 44:28

Nah, Brad, it's Ditto.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

Okay. You're probably right then.

SPEAKER_02 44:30

I think I am.

SPEAKER_01 44:33

We need somebody like this off to the side, so we'd be like, hey, can we fact check this? What's what shit colored Pokemon are you describing? It's like the there's like three of them that come out of the dirt. They're shaped like uh obelisk.

SPEAKER_03 44:45

Dude, I would do anything to remember the term Jessica just taught me. It's like when you see like if you go in a power plant factory like the Indian River or something, and you see poop floating in the water, yeah. There's like a certain term for it that like her and her brother say from like Baltimore, and it's fucking hysterical. I'll think of it and say it when I figure it out. I'm just randomly gonna shout out on the podcast. But I thought it was the most fucking funny term I'd ever heard in my life. Oh, I want to hear it though. Hopefully it did, but it's it's something really it's something fish. Jamie, can we fact check that? Hold on a minute. Um, so you don't need specific programming. You need to you need to learn your way around the gym.

SPEAKER_01 45:24

When I was first working out, I just did whatever machine was next to me.

SPEAKER_03 45:27

I sometimes would just go right down a row and just I don't mean, and that might not be the most productive, but like it's a good way to learn the gym.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 45:33

I definitely find out what things do. Yeah, like I mean, I think that's one of the biggest drawbacks, and one of the big intimidation factors is like you literally don't know what shit does. Like, so I mean, you should either, you know, phone a friend or like read some instructions. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:47

If you're at PF Changs, watch TV. My friends who worked out with me back then, they hated it because I'd be like, all right, we're done with this one, let's just like do three sets on the next one and just work our way down. Oh, just each one.

SPEAKER_03 45:58

It's like running the rack, but you just run the machines. Yeah, dude. Just run run down the rack. Like halfway through, it sucks. Uh, and it's I think this is super important one for this generation. Brand new equipment, kilos, and all the belts and whistles. Yeah. Bro, stronger people have been made with way less. And I know you want the latest SPD colorway, and I know you want the rogue everything, and I know you want the Aleco bench, but like, dude.

SPEAKER_01 46:22

If we went back to ace bandages and tennis balls, could you do it still? I think we could for sure. I think so.

SPEAKER_03 46:27

I would yeah, but I mean, I think that the nuance of lifting and like the flashy warehouse shims and everything that's popped up has really made that a popularity among powerlifting communities. Like, everyone has this idea and impression that like every gym, eight, every training session needs to have those things. Like, you have to be on kilos, you have to have comp collars on there.

SPEAKER_01 46:50

Right.

SPEAKER_03 46:51

We have fucking four pairs of comp collars, and I don't know the last time you and me used them. We never do at the meat, yeah. We never do. You know, we we got the magnet pro locks that are all reliable because at least if you put them on the monolith, I know they'll be there when I look for them.

SPEAKER_01 47:05

I gotta use my lucky purples though. Yeah, can't can't skip.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

I do like the purple ones, purple ones are good. Um, but like, yeah, as far as equipment, as far as what you're wearing and the bells and whistles of like having all these things like brand new and like oh I can't what was the big thing a couple years ago? People started sumo deadlifters, it had a deadlift ruglift rugs to simulate carpet feels like on a platform. Right.

SPEAKER_01 47:32

And now now okay, as a sumo puller, bringing a previous life. Um previous life when the wood's slippery, it's dangerous. Scary. So like I totally understand bringing a rug for that.

SPEAKER_02 47:45

Uh I don't want to ouch you. Oh no. I just love you too much. Oh no. What were you gonna say? Go ahead and say that. I say was your pussy also slippery when you had the rug? Alright, alright. Was it also? Did it make a little splash?

SPEAKER_01 47:59

Sumo deadlifting is scary, and I have a lot of respect for guys who do it. That's only because your back sucks. And gals. So it's extra scary for you.

SPEAKER_03 48:07

If you don't get it right, I know how it ends. It goes, hey coach, we're switching back to conventional. I need a couple weeks.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

Give me like two weeks, I'll be back. Yeah, I know how it ends for you. It always works. You're back to the correct side. Can't judge my methods. They always result in a 590 to 600 deck.

SPEAKER_03 48:26

I always judge your methods. End goals, man. As a new lifter, you don't need end goals, man. Keep it open-ended, keep an open mind. Like, as you go through different phases in your powerlifting career, weight classes, divisions, like things will appear, things will like catch your attention. Maybe you want to try raps one day, maybe you want to stay raw the whole time. Maybe you're gonna do your second decade in equipment like I am. But like, you know, like surprise. Yeah, things change, man. And just don't try to limit yourself in the mindset like this is where you need to be, and this is the only way to power lift, and this is how it's gonna be forever and ever and ever until you stop doing it or can't do it anymore.

SPEAKER_01 49:08

Honestly, this might be uh different for you, but if I'm talking to somebody and they tell me, like if I'm training with somebody and they tell me that this is their end goal, like I once I get to this, I'm gonna just bow out. Yeah. That changes my opinion on how to how I want to train with them. Yeah, yeah. That just like That's like putting an end cap on like here's where my idea of me getting better ends. Now, uh once I reach the once you help me reach this goal, I'm no longer gonna help you. That's what it is.

SPEAKER_03 49:34

Yeah, or like the the ultimate thing is you just reset. You set a new goal. Yeah, you'd think so. Yeah. I'm with you on that. That yeah, when people say that to me, it strikes me as very odd and weird. Yeah. It's like you almost don't know what to say to them about it. It's a foreign concept, dude.

SPEAKER_01 49:50

You understand it because it's a good one.

SPEAKER_03 49:52

A cool goal, man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:53

Good for you, bro. Nice job reaching your limit.

SPEAKER_03 49:56

Yeah. Are you at your genetic potential? We have tools for that, by the way. Um what are some things you wish you knew when you started?

SPEAKER_01 50:10

I knew everything when I started, so you still know everything. That's where I learned everything. No, um, things I wish I wish I knew how to pull slack better in deadlift so I wouldn't have hurt myself.

SPEAKER_03 50:21

I think you meant to say you wish you knew what slack was. Yeah, yeah, I didn't know.

SPEAKER_01 50:24

I didn't know what that was either. Uh I wish.

SPEAKER_03 50:27

You didn't just yank it and crank it? No, no, no, grip it and rip it, brother.

SPEAKER_01 50:31

That was the saying. Yeah. Um I think I wish I knew how to find better information when I started. Because, like I said, I was just going down the machine list and I was just doing whatever. And uh I wasn't really lifting with any like plan. Like I never really did a 5-3-1. I never did like the free programs. I was just like, what am I lifting today? I'm just gonna move some weight around and see what happens.

SPEAKER_03 50:53

Um I followed some I followed a lot of linear periodization when I first started, and a lot of my articles uh either I'd gotten from friends who had gotten them from more reliable coaches like football coaches and stuff. Um because our football coach wasn't great. But like at the time, we won state champs this year though. So that's pretty dope for Delaware. Um, but like I remember like when I first saw these programs and looking at like the math part of it, and you know I mean I'm not a math guy, so I was like, this actually makes sense, like the progression. So I was like, this looks like if you followed it loosely, like you could end up loosely at where this says you're gonna end up. Right, right. So it was it was a lot of like linear progression and plug and play. Like you put your number here, it did the division here, you know what I mean? It was like if spreadsheet was not on a spreadsheet, which is how I like it. I can't stand spreadsheets. You like spreadsheets? I hated it, dude. I used to do it for Kabuki. They were like, enter your spreadsheet. I'm like, Yeah, I don't know if I'd now I know I used to keep I keep like an elite FTS journal. You've seen all my journals and stuff I keep them. Um and now most of the time I just keep it online. Got it all up here. Well, no, like literally online, like it's on my Google shit. Mine, right? Mine's all there.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

Oh, yours all there. It's Carl's Big Brains. Big brain Carl. I know all of my variation PRs and what reps I hit them at. That's BBC right there. What is it?

SPEAKER_03 52:18

Big brain Carl. Nice. Never been told that before? No, no, that was crazy, man. I figured like I figured everyone called you Big Brain Carl. Let's keep that one rolling. That's a good one. Keep that one rolling. Welcome. Don't tell me I didn't give you anything you didn't deserve. There we go. I think it is really hard to find good information as far as like to like make sure your information is coming from a good source. Because I mean, a lot of it is regurgitated from other people's platforms. Like it's constant, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 52:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:53

Especially with the idea of like stitching content, where it's like someone will watch someone else's video, stitch their face over top of it, and talk positively or negatively about it. So it's a lot of like secondhand, third hand information constantly being recycled.

SPEAKER_01 53:07

Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I also think like it's where I started depicted what tunnel of like information I was fed. So like I was very much on the bodybuilding side before I even knew what powerlifting was. And it took me finding out that like I like to eat food and lift heavy weights to find like at the more tunneled like powerlifting side of it. But the information that I was fed from like bodybuilding stuff, like I started watching like a lot of uh what was his name? Uh I don't know. I watched a ton of that dude, uh, Callum von Mogert. Okay. I watched a ton of his stuff.

SPEAKER_03 53:47

Yeah, I guess that is more your age. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:50

I didn't watch a lot of him, but like that was later. Right, right. This is like 2018. Yeah, yeah. So like I was on that. You're already in the powerlifting. I was already in powerlifting, so I wasn't watching something. Exactly. So when I was like on that, I'm just like, oh yeah, I'll do whatever this is, just some bodybuilding stuff.

SPEAKER_03 54:04

Who is you know, I want to see who uh I you know what? I would love to talk about people who like I know we've talked about people who like influenced us, like on a different podcast, but like people we like watched a lot and read shit about.

SPEAKER_01 54:17

Like, you know, like people who didn't influence us, like we stayed away from watching them like nah, that shit's wrong.

SPEAKER_03 54:24

No, what they do. Uh so I will say, like, and who is who was some of the big ones for me? Um, I really liked watching uh not so much anymore, obviously, but like way back when I want to say like probably like 2014. Okay. 2014, 2015. Micro Sheed.

unknown 54:48

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 54:48

I liked Micro Sheed. And at the time he was rolling a lot with like Big Boy and C T Fletcher and a lot of them. Now I never I never was a CT Fletcher guy. Like I never I never got balls deep in the YouTube, like it's still your motherfucking set, like all that stuff where people would watch those videos before they lifted like every fucking. I never got into that, but I liked Micro Sheet, and like he he was into more like powerlifting movements, but like wasn't just you know, a lot of those guys would be like, it's your set, they're all hammering just bench. He was squatting and deadlifting a lot at the time, so like that appealed more to me because he looked like a really like bigger version of like men's physique, like he still had really good legs and stuff, yeah. But he was doing a lot more power movements, so like the aesthetic, like how he was lifting, like all that appealed to me. Huh.

SPEAKER_01 55:34

So I really I really liked watching his stuff. You know what's funny though? I just put the pieces together. I was introduced to the powerlifting equipped side before I even knew what it was. Because I used to watch some like Rich Piana stuff. Okay, Rich Piana had videos with like Scott Mendelssohn and Dave Hoff. Right. And like I didn't know who either of those guys were at the time, but like I was just watching it for Rich Piana. Okay. And now I'm like the gears are turning like, oh shit, I remember this, and I remember that, seen these videos before. Hmm. Weird, weird connections.

SPEAKER_03 56:04

It is, it is. I you know, something we didn't write down on here that I'd really love to hit before we end the podcast is like, and I think this is super important about it, and I want to talk about it like very clearly, so like if we could get a cut of this, and like all the people who don't watch our podcast or listen to our podcast, like could take away for like these two minutes, like it would mean something to them is when is the right time and the best option to do your first meet? Because we literally just talked about this before one of our new lifters walked out the door. And I think this is super important for those people to hear, right? So let's preface this by saying, Carl, how many meets did you try, and this is an insult at all. How many meets did you try to get ready for before you did one? Three. Three.

SPEAKER_01 56:54

And what happened? Each time I get to like a couple weeks out, I'd hurt myself. And I'd be like, ah, I'm not gonna I can't I gotta pull out of this one, I can't do it.

SPEAKER_02 57:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01 57:01

Because I knew if I did it, I'd hurt myself even more and put myself deeper into whatever hole I was in. Right. So when is the proper time to do your first meet? You want me to answer that?

SPEAKER_03 57:15

Yeah, you can go off on that. So I think one of the first things that everyone discusses, I'm gonna do my first meet when I'm strong enough.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

I was big on that.

SPEAKER_03 57:26

And I'm sure I told you this too at that point. If you say you're gonna compete when you're strong enough, you will probably never do a meet. Because powerlifting, and I'm sure bodybuilding and other strength sports as well, becomes a cycle of a never-ending assortment of resetting your goals. So once you compete once, you want to do it again, but do better. Once you hit this record, you want to do better. Once you have a four times body weight deadlift, you want to do better. Like it never ends. It's a cycle of forever being unhappy with what you've achieved already. And I know that sounds like a negative spin on it, but it's not. It's how you realistically reassess and set new goals. Sure. Because you always want that open-ended mindset, that furthering of that goal, that ultimate pursuit of how much better can my better be. And I think when you say, Well, I'm gonna compete when I'm when I'm ready, when I'm strong enough, that never ends once you start competing. So by limiting yourself and saying you're not gonna start until you're at your point, you'll never do it. By doing what Carl said and like reassessing situations while hurt or half-assed prepped going into a meet, and further like degenerating your idea of what a powerlifting meet and what powerlifting is to you by going and doing that meet anyway, and then possibly hurting yourself worse, having a huge setback, even you know, bombing out your first meet, is gonna further enforce the idea that's like powerlifting isn't that positive thing that you first started out to accomplish and do by reinforcing the negative parts of that because you were trying to rush it. Now, there's a difference between rushing, like I said, well, I'm not I'm gonna go when I'm strong enough, right? That's not a true thing. So, like, you need to nip that in the butt and get that out of the way because your first one should always be about experience, right? You're gonna get commands wrong, you're gonna get this wrong. You might show up to your weighing and think you're gonna have to pee test, and they don't do that till after the meet and hold your pee for like six hours. Like, you're gonna fuck something up. But it's part of the joys of like having your first meet and understanding that concept and going into it with a mindset like I'm here to get my feet wet, to do something I've been preparing for, to do something that I'm probably gonna fall more for even further in love with that got me up until this point. What I'm saying is don't do that meet if you're risking ruining the rest of powerlifting for you. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Whether that's mentally, you know, defeat or physically like getting hurt to the point where like your setback becomes a step away. Yeah. It's very, very well said.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:33

I like that a lot.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:33

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:35

I want to leave somebody with something, man. Yeah. One day. The first one's the most important one. It changes the direction of where you further or not.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:44

Because if yeah, if you do that and you you fuck it up when you're not ready, like it does derail your aspect of powerlifting. It changes how you feel about it, it changes what you want to do with it.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:54

You might walk away from that meet fucked up, bombed out, super down on yourself, and be like, well, this wasn't for me anyway. And then that's it.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:02

I know, like we said it before, but after I almost bombed on the bench only, and you're you're good at you were thinking, like, man, he's not gonna do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:08

Dude, I was so scared. I was like, dude, I just got Carl here. Like, there's no way he's gonna compete after this if he bombs out. That changed the trajectory of my time in the school. Dude, I thought it was going to. I was like, I was watching that shit in real time from the doorway.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:21

I was like, oh fuck, here we go. Yeah. But I can say I've never benched under 400 pounds in a meat, which is cool. That is subtle flex.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:30

That is, that is a subtle flex, I will say. And and what did we say? You're all your meets have been at 220?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:37

No, no.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:38

We did one at 198? 198. Okay, okay. Two of them, I think at 198. 198 and 220.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:43

Right? Because we were trying to go through all the weight classes.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:45

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I'll eventually get up there into like the 275s, you know. Dude, you at 275 of your day. I'll be back to 181.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:53

We'll be going in reverse. I'll give you all the weight I lost. Uh what's past a fridge? Uh, a cargo container. Oh god. Like one of the Amazon storage ones. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:10

But tilted up instead of laying fridge. That'll be me, yeah. Yeah. I'll graduate past fridge to that. Yeah. That'll be a good look for you, dude. Thanks, dude. I'm probably going to swap it so much too.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:21

Dude, your breathing's gonna be so bad. You're gonna like run out of wind talking to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:24

Yeah, the podcast is gonna turn into me doing this. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:29

Dude, if that I'm gonna tell you if that does, as soon as it picks that shit up, I'm gonna be all in your ass so hard. Alright, guys, thank you so much for tuning in for episode two of season three. We appreciate you guys. Uh, comments, questions, concerns, man, please hit us up with DMs. We're always looking for new pod uh podcast ideas to talk about. Uh what you guys want to hear, questions you want to answer, anything like that. So, with all that being said, with peace and grumpy paws, we're out. See that noise right there? That's the start of it. I know.