A Forest Through the Trees: A Cave Cast
A powerlifting podcast that talks about the good, the bad, and all the things that have kept us going. Raw, Real, and done in one take.
A Forest Through the Trees: A Cave Cast
Ep.4 S-3: "GGC Joins the TBC: Featuring Joe Gray"
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In the 4th episode of the 3rd season, Travis and Carl invite the community man and owner of the Garage Gym Competition online, to talk about the start, what it offers, and our favorite gym pieces.
Alright, this podcast is brought to you by SUPDOG Supplements. Use code CAVECAS to check out a save on your order. Shout out to RebuildStronger, our buddy John Flagg, and Zone Smelling Salt, our other two main contributors for this season's episodes. And now on with the show. 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, here with the man, the myth, and the guy who finally outsquats me, Carl Master.
SPEAKER_01Out squat is a loose term right now. Because it's not in a meet, you know. We know how it goes. It's not in the books. It's not on the books, not in the OP.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, see, I hyped you up. I thought you'd be like stoked to brag on that on air. Dude, I thought you were just like, I'm gonna shit on your life today.
SPEAKER_01If I'm only outsquatting you by like, what was it? 10 pounds?
SPEAKER_0215. I'll give you 15.
SPEAKER_0115 pounds at like 30 pounds heavier than you right now. I don't know if I should brag too much. Alright, what? That's fair, that's fair.
SPEAKER_02Because how many weeks are we out? Four? We are in the middle of our fourth week out. Fourth week out. And speaking of four weeks out, we got very, very lucky. Last prep, it kind of didn't fall into our meet prep territory, which disappointed us both quite immensely, considering the one before that, correct?
SPEAKER_01We make it a a scheduled thing. A scheduled thing.
SPEAKER_02We try to pick meets around this. I don't know if our our guest knows this or not, but we try to schedule this to correlate with his events just because we do enjoy doing it so much and being with the community. It's been a thin since COVID for us. But uh last time we won first and second and got our our medals next to each other. Yeah, we got them right up here. Yeah, we got him hanging in the gym next to each other. So who do we got here? What's going on? Alright, so our special guest today is no other none other than Joe Gray, who owns the GGC Garage Gym competition that we've been doing, like I said, since COVID, since the old Bear Cave Barn gym days, uh way before I had my own gym and bought this place. So, um, with that being said, Joe, please feel free to introduce yourself.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, uh Joe Gray. So I do a handful of different things in the home gym community as a whole. Uh I run my own YouTube and various stuff. Do I talk about gym equipment pretty much nonstop. Uh I run, I'm one of the lead moderators on Reddit for the home gym section. We've got a little over one million subscribers over there. Uh, and then I do the GGC, so the garage gym competition, uh, virtual powerlifting meet for people who lift at home. And so my goal has for a while been to be a little different than most of the other guys out there. Uh, everyone wants you to buy shit. I want you to actually use shit. Uh so that's kind of where it uh steers off on my end. And so the competition was originally kind of that piece to the puzzle was if I'm gonna tell you to buy a bar or a bench or a rack or something, I'm gonna give you something to help you put it to use.
SPEAKER_02So awesome, man. Yeah, great intro, dude. Couldn't ask for anything better than that. Uh, mad respect to you because we love, you know, as a meet director and gym owner myself, like I've always loved what you've done for the community. I've always loved your reviews and your videos, and even getting other coaches involved to, you know, even give out free lifting advice and articles and videos leading up to the garage gym to just help out the community as a whole, and you've always been very successful in pushing that towards everyone. So I definitely have a very high amount of respect for you. So we really appreciate it. Yeah, we really appreciate you being on here, Joe.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, thanks, man. I I I appreciate it as well. So I every once in a while I go back and I rewatch uh the I've got a story pinned on my account of you going, shout out to Joe Gray, the only motherfucking dude who can motherfucking run a beat with the mother, and it's like every third word is some form of a that that sounds about positive sense.
SPEAKER_02That sounds like man, yeah. That's about right. Um, so we do have a couple questions for you, and you kind of started pinpointing towards that uh with your intro, so I'm really glad I wrote this question down. So uh a couple different parts of this question, but let's start with the first part. What inspired the original Garage Gym for you? And then even after COVID, why do you think it still has such a monumental success?
SPEAKER_05Uh and we're talking about the competition itself, right?
SPEAKER_02Correct.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. So uh I started it right before COVID, and the idea was I kept seeing people, myself as well. We had equipment in the garage, we were lifting, but you never had this thing that you were working towards. And so you were kind of floating, free-floating. And as much as I had read, like, hey, you need to enter a powerlifting competition or whatever it was, it just never happened for me. I was getting my master's degree while working full-time, while trying to maintain lifting, and then when I finished my master's, my wife was getting her nursing degree, and then when we finished that, then she was pregnant, and so like things just kept adding into excuses for why I never, you know, uh stepped on the platform, and I went, I feel like there's other people in the same boat. I know there's other people in the same boat. What if we just toss this thing out there? And I kind of ran it past a bunch of my buddies who also did home gym stuff, and they were like, Yeah, cool, let's do it. And so we put it out there the very first year. I I made the flyers uh for Instagram and uh Microsoft Paint. It was like it was the the the like it my daughter can draw a better picture at this point, like it was trash. Uh, but it worked, like people were like, Cool, yeah, let's do this. And I had a handful of sponsors show up, and um, I think we handed out like 500 bucks in prizes or something, and I was ecstatic. We had 80 people participate, and everyone was like, Are you gonna do it again? And I went, uh, sure, we'll come back next year, why not? And so we came back the next year, did it again. I had a little bit more influence in the space, a couple more sponsors showed up. I started poking more of the companies I had worked with. We got it up to like, I think it was like$2,000 in prizes or something. We had like 200 people participate again, which was awesome. Um and so again, you gonna do it again? Sure. So luckily, the next year when we started prepping, I worked with a handful of my buddies. So uh Jake is the guy who runs Home Gym Con now. Um, I had him behind the scenes and a few others as my what I called my council. We were literally like, should we do this, should we do that, what should the rules be here, this kind of thing. Because like I said, the first year or two was just pull it out of my ass and just let's see what sticks. And trying to formalize a lot of stuff, setting up a website, like how are we gonna because you have to gather people's information, right? I have to know that you competed in some fashion. How do I keep that data secure? Like, there was all these different things. Uh, I worked in HR for a bank, so like privacy stuff was like something that was in my head, and so all these different things. Um, and luckily we did that right before COVID hit because that third year was when we went from 200 people to I think it was 1200.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_05And yeah, in year two, I was going or sorry, year one, I went through every single Instagram post of people who use the hashtag and manually wrote down their username, the squat, bench, deadlift, everything to track it. Year two, I got like 20 people who volunteered to do that, and then in year three, we were like, uh, maybe we should use a submission form, which very good idea, because 1200 people, I probably would have just fucking quit and said, sorry everyone, I'm dead. Like, I'm not doing that. So, um, so we made a bunch of changes right before COVID hit that made it way more sustainable, and that's basically been what I've been working on the last handful of years is how can I make this a fun, inviting event for all lifters? So whether you're Travis and yourself looking down a you know 1200-pound squat or whatever, or you're somebody who's like, I don't know what a barbell is, right? So those extremes we have had. Um, and how do you make an event that accompany or um accomplishes that, invites both those audiences, makes it exciting and and whatever, and rewards people for what I want to do in this, which is just showing up, um, as well as does cool things for nonprofits and gives out prizes and all kinds of good stuff. And so I think by not trying, so like I had a couple of people a few years back that were like, you should have judges, and you should have, and they were trying to make it like a real powerlifting meet just online, and I pushed back hard. Um, I had people who were like, you need to have literally no rules, and I pushed back on that, and so uh you asked like why is it still successful? I think it's because I've managed to stay in that same initial boat of like we're gonna be inclusive, but it's also not gonna be literally everything for everyone, and it's kind of worked, so yeah, it's like you found a formula that worked and you don't you know why change it if it's continuing to grow.
SPEAKER_02If it's not broken, don't fix it. Yeah. Yeah, but uh now go ahead.
SPEAKER_05Uh I was gonna say, because uh like I said, the handful of people who complained about like you know, it should be more like traditional powerlifting, and I'm like, there's already thousands of meats. Like, if that's what you want, you go do that, right?
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_05And and I even we even have articles on the website written by power lifters of this is how you transition from the GDC to a real meat. Like, I'm trying to help people make that happen if that's what they want to do. Um, but I don't I don't want to turn it into a real meat and then lose everybody else. Because like I've had people call this like the gateway drug, right? They they step in, they do it one time, they go, Oh, I I'm way stronger than I thought. Throwing a bunch of weight on my back was awesome. Like, I want to try this for real, and then they go compete. If you made it too restrictive in the beginning, that's never gonna happen.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, you're gonna you're gonna scare them away. Me and Carl are just smiling and laughing because one of the questions I had written down, I literally used the word gateway, and you just said it out loud, and I was like, hell yeah, we are all on the same page right now. Um, dude, super great answer. Uh again, very admirable of you because especially here at the cave, like we've hosted the the Texas first timers, like, and gave out free registration for lifters who are doing their first time on a real platform, and like a lot. I think one of the big things that I've always supported about Garage Gym, besides having the ability to, you know, give prizes and stuff to lifters myself, is you and I, as far as ideals and like getting people into the sport and giving them a chance and a place to do something, has always been very similar on the same page, and I vibe with that a lot. And I I just want to let you know, in good Travis Rogers pirate mouth fashion, I fuck with you. And uh I think you're a very cool guy, man.
SPEAKER_05I appreciate man. Yeah, no, I um uh a hundred percent like I've got you can't see it, they're over in the corner, but I've got like handwritten notes from people like thanking me for stuff. I've got uh because one of the things we always ask in the submission forum is like, you know, um any additional comments or something. I have people that have told me like the only reason I still lift is because this competition exists, right? Dude, that is so funny. Lifting and stuff, and so like my my stance for years has been I don't care how you use it, just as long as it's something that motivates you to lift, I'm good, right? Um, I had so my daughter competes uh in it, so she's nine now. She lifted, I think it was last year, and uh then a another mom put up a video of her son. First time he had ever lifted, and the the uh description was uh he saw Audrey's lifts, that's my daughter, and said, Hey, I want to do that too, and then now he competed. And I so then I got to have the awesome conversation with my daughter, like, dude, you influenced another person to pick up a barbell for the first time. Like, that's incredible, right? Your strength made somebody else go, I can do that too, right? So, like, everybody has the more people who participate, the more people will participate, kind of thing, and that it just keeps running, and yeah, it's awesome. I I I love it. So uh I'm glad other people uh as you say, I'm glad other people fuck with it.
SPEAKER_02So yeah. And dude, the fact that you can specifically state that story about your daughter influencing someone too, like, dude, like as as you as a parent, I can't imagine you being more proud than that, but like just knowing the simple fact that she's gonna grow up and like be like, man, when I was younger, like my dad did this thing, and like that's that's a fucking cool childhood story, and something she's definitely gonna remember forever, man. So that's that's super dope, man.
SPEAKER_05She, when we're when we're at the park, right? Because she so she does Ninja Warrior stuff and a couple of different other things, she's a monster. Um so she uh but like when we're at the park, she's she's a monster, and people be like, how can you do that stuff? And almost every time the first words out of her mouth are, I'm a power lifter. And then then the parents do one of these, like they look over at me like, what the fuck is she talking about? And I go, Yeah, right? And then they look back at her and she goes, I deadlifted, I think it was 86 pounds or something last year. And then and then they do again, they look at me like, and I go, Yeah, right? And so uh, yeah, she's she loves it and she gets to tell everybody else, and then now that's turned into like on Sundays, we've got her, we've got our Sunday crew that comes over. It's her and like three or four of her friends that are on our soccer and basketball team and stuff that are doing workouts, and then once they're done, then the moms do a workout, and so now the kids see their parents working out and everything, like it's it's the whole community aspect of I mean, you you know, man. You you run a gym, you know how much it impacts people's lives and everything to be a part of something.
SPEAKER_02So you're not only the GGC man, you are like literally the community man over there running it for the kids, the moms, everybody. That's awesome, dude. Yeah, so this this question will speak to you then, uh, because obviously uh this touches my heart a little bit because I think you and me have been through enough equipment and shit, so I figured this would be a great question to ask you. And that's why we were laughing when you pulled up your video screen. I saw all your smorgasbord of stuff behind you. Um as a gym owner and director, I've tried tons of machines, brands, been to other gyms, you know, tried different equipment, hosted different meats at different places, got to experience a lot of different brands and things. Um, but if you, as in you, Joe Gray, could pick your top three pieces of gym equipment, and this can range from bars to plates to portable, whatever you name. Just your top three things that you're like, hey, I've used this, this is the shit. Uh, if you just said, hey, what do you recommend? You'd be like, these are my top three favorites, period.
SPEAKER_05Um we use an unbelievable, ungodly amount of cable attachments. You can see them on the on the wall right there, right? Um, and so I for me, cable cable machines, they're so accessible to like every population of people. So we got five-year-olds who are coming over for workouts on Sunday, up to, you know, my mom now, finally, in the last couple of weeks has started lifting, which is awesome. Um so we use uh do you know what the Voltra is? That guy right there?
SPEAKER_02No, is it uh is it more of like the portable style ones that you can attach to racks?
SPEAKER_05Kinda, yeah. So it's it's digital resistance. So uh let me grab it.
SPEAKER_01Digital style resistance is pretty cool. I've seen some of those on there.
SPEAKER_02I've seen those too, and now I it makes me think of like our kabuki flywheel IMA. It's in a similar vein though. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So Ultra. So it goes up, so you I mean you see how small it is, right? It's like the size of a shoe. Right. It goes up to 200 pounds of resistance in that one piece. You can control the um, so there's three different pieces in the weight training mode that people typically focus on. So do you know uh you know Coach Cassom from N1 Education?
SPEAKER_02Yes, actually.
SPEAKER_05So I just had a conversation with him. So he's got a Voltra. He kicked off a new podcast with me that we're calling the Voltra Expert. And so you can customize the eccentric load. So say I lift 100 pounds, I can tell it to add another 50 to 100 pounds on the back end, so then that way it's a hundred here and 150 there. You can change you can add chains to it. So you can yep, so you can change the resistance profile by changing the so that's got chains and inverse chains. So same thing. Uh let's yeah, that's the same. So let's say, so let's say seated row, right? So one of the things I talked to him about was he said typically he's using about 70% uh inverse chains and 30% eccentric overload. So if you were gonna do a seated row with 100 pounds, it would start here. So you're strongest in the lengthened, right? When you're farthest away from you. So if it's set at 100 pounds with 70% uh inverse chains and 30% eccentric overload, it'd be 170 here, it'd be 100 here. As soon as you return back, it kicks on that 30 overload, so it'd be 130, and then it'd make its way all the way back to 200 because of that 70 that it adds back. And so it's kind of like a band kind of thing. It's it's fucking wild, man.
SPEAKER_02I'm so uh dude, I'm I'm laughing right now, my head in my hands, because I'm like, god damn it. I'm like, as soon as you hang up the webcam with this card's gonna be like, bro, so when are we getting one of these? I'm like, I cannot afford one of these right now.
SPEAKER_01That's the thing I I've been thinking about like a way to make something heavier at the bottom of a lift, anyways. Like any AR we use, it's always deloaded at the bottom. Correct. Or reverse band is the band is stretched at the bottom of the lift so you have less resistance from the weight. Yep. This piece of machinery here fixes all that. You can essentially load the bottom more than the top.
SPEAKER_02So just out of curiosity, for our listener's sake, not for mine or Carl's, um, how much how much do one of these run?
SPEAKER_05So uh let me give you that answer, and then I'll give you a few more pieces of the puzzle that'll make it feel a little bit better. Each one is about 2200 bucks.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_05So it's expensive, but so we use ours. So um you saw how it came off the mount that's up there, right? Right, right. So they have different mounts. So they have ones that it goes on the back, um, and then it's got what they call a bar mount. So it'll literally connect to um like a bar, uh anything that's round. So you're talking about like a machine. So say you got a hack squat, you can clamp this onto the um the actual weight uh uh posts, right? On the hack squat, then pin the carabiner down to the bottom because you can adjust the starting length of the cable, right? So it doesn't have to just be here. You can tell it to start like up to three, four, or five feet long. You can turn off the resistance uh and then turn it on like with an app or something like that. So then that way, if you're at the top of the hack, you can turn tell it to turn it off, get loaded, then your training partner can turn it on. Now it's on, you can do your lift, then say, Hey, I'm done, right? All these different things. So uh so you can connect it in the uh plate-loaded machines. We actually run it through our rack and down through a pulley system to do belt squats off of. Um we I run it through another pulley to do cable driven back extensions on one of the pieces we have. Um and again, can customize the strength curve on all of that, right? Um we do um God, I don't know, man. J just e fucking everything. And so um Uh it's got it's got settings that you can mimic a rower, a ski erg. Um it's got a dampener mode, which is like, you know, if you throw that big parachute on your back and you sprint kind of thing. So the harder you run, the more it fights you kind of thing. Uh we use it inside when the weather's bad, when my wife needs to do sled work, we just throw a belt on that and we can customize stuff. And they they get used a lot. And since they're portable, you can take them to different places, or like I said, just set them up in different spots in the gym. Um in a way, like even I'm sold.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I say in a way, like the way you were just describing with a hack squat, like you're literally taking something that can replace like an entire stack of weight.
SPEAKER_05Yes. So um Temple Gains is a company making a lot of machines right now. He just came out with what their leg press hack squat machine is called the quad send. And on the bottom back side, he literally has a Voltra mount on it. Because he's like, Yeah, if you have a Voltra, why would you ever load plates? You drop the Voltra on the back, you connect a carabiner, and he said, He goes, with just one of these, so again, 200 pounds of resistance, he goes, No one in his warehouse was able to max it out. And so part of that is because the magnetic resistance doesn't have the same like inertia issues uh like with gravity, right, as a cable machine. So it's a much more consistent uh resistance profile on its own. Um but yeah, plus all of the adjustments you can make, etc. It it's it's wild, dude. So it's a lot of the like smart shit, like the tonal and everything like that that came out for a while. Like all of us, you know, who will say actually lifted, we're like, yeah, fuck that shit. This thing is like, okay, we've entered the the realm of this is the future.
SPEAKER_02I feel like I'm in the future this year. Dude, this is a wild, I'm so glad you're talking about this. So when I was rehabbing my legs, uh I was still part of the Kabuki Pro team, and I got act early access to the Kabuki flywheel, right? The cr the Kratos. So, like when you were just talking about the inertia training, uh, we had different size flywheels I would hook on, and like, dude, the mediums would absolutely smoke me for upper body, and we ran it for like belts or anything like that. Like, the large wheel would take me out. Like, I and and you could load multiple, so you could do the medium plus the large, and I was like, dude, you never made it past one of the singular plates. So, like, when you're talking about no one being able to max it out, especially with the magnetic load on those, I have zero doubts. Like, yeah, that shit is crazy strong, man.
SPEAKER_05Wow, yeah. So, yeah, and then there's other things, there's other features in here that like I haven't even touched because it's just outside of my realm of knowledge. They've got isometric testing, isokinetic stuff, etc. So part of my podcast process is gonna be to talk to you know PTs and different people in the realm who use these in their day-to-day practices and try and understand how I can potentially use it as a normal meat head kind of guy.
SPEAKER_01So we gotta get in on this. We're splitting the cost, bro. I'm not buying that shit. We gotta run some studies for it. Get back to him with some research. Do some do some guinea pigs. No, throw in some conjugate training and just see what happens to our titles.
SPEAKER_02Alright, so so I'm super glad you spent a lot of time on that one piece, but you got two more pieces. Two more pieces.
SPEAKER_05So uh uh I gotta pair something with it. So the second one is gonna be mag grips. So uh cable attachments, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, oh yeah, we're very familiar with mag grips.
SPEAKER_05Yep. So uh I tell people typically, you know, I before I owned the mags, I owned your typical Amazon, you know, plated chrome nonsense. And and it worked nice. It was fine, right? And then uh and then I was on the it was the old bodybuilding and equipment forums, and people kept talking about these attachments, and I kept I was like, eh, okay, maybe no, maybe no, maybe no. Ended up buying two of them, got them in. The very first back workout I do, I pull back and I hear this kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, because all of a sudden I got an extra, because you get more range of motion, right? Your back actually engages the way it's supposed to. I like I went literally one rep in. I'm like, this is fucking it, right? These are these are my cable attachments. It took me, I think, to the end of the week, and I got rid of all the other cable attachments I had and went on a bender of like, I'm gonna find the best cable attachments. So they they started an understanding in me of like the nuances of slight angle changes, grip changes, um, that kind of stuff that can make a difference in how something feels and performs and how it actually impacts your body in different ways. And so um we use that like I don't know that I've done more than a there's like two attachments I use for back that aren't mags, um, and it's for like a like a pullover and a couple of things. That's it. Everything I we do seated rows, me, my wife, my daughter, every week, and it's always a mag grip. Uh, anybody who comes into the gym uses mag grips, and anytime they do, they go, Oh, those are way better than like using a normal bar. Um, or sometimes they'll walk in, like I sell stuff on marketplace, and someone will go, you know, I've seen those before, and I go, Let's try them. And then they try it, they go, I think I'm gonna buy a couple of those. So change your mind real quick. Yeah, so 100% Mag's gotta be second.
SPEAKER_02So Okay, cool. And that's definitely I think as far as like more affordable for your average like garage gym owner, too.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Third, um, so I was actually talking to do you know uh so Chris Chris Mosley uh is he's runs mutant metals. Um I'm not sure if you know him from home gym stuff at all. I can't say I do.
SPEAKER_02I I think I've heard of him, but I I haven't talked to him personally. They do a lot of welding, right?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so Chris Chris makes unbelievable stuff. He partners with Rogue on a couple of things. He makes what's called the UDA, which is the ultimate dip attachment. He makes the um uh snapback rollers, so you can kind of see them right there. So it's uh like a um mini monolift, right? So when I'm bent on the room.
SPEAKER_02Oh, are those the ones that always return the bar to center?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so instead of having to, you know, unrack out of a J cup by myself, it's here I just lift up a little bit and boom and I'm in position. Um, so and Chris is a power lifter or was himself for quite a while. Um him and I were talking yesterday about like if you could only do one exercise. And so I've always said if I was gonna do only one thing, like if for some reason I woke up and someone was like, hey, this is you I don't know, you're in jail and you get one piece, right? I would use um either a rickshaw or trap bar of some kind because I do dead I do a set of five deadlifts and then I'd carry it. So deadlifts less weighted carry combo. So um, because for me I get hamstrings, glutes, a little bit of quads, some forearms, erectors, uh, you know, all of the good movement stuff, core stabilization, etc. And there's just something cool about picking up like 500 pounds and walking around with it. Uh you're especially in a garage, because then your neighbors drive by and they're like, what the fuck is that guy doing? Right. Um we we've said for years the combination of that plus dragging a sled up and down the street is our um uh our security system. Nobody wants nobody wants to mess with the crazy people.
SPEAKER_02Are you the loud stuff? Are you the strong are you the strong dad in the Caldezac?
SPEAKER_05Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah. Oh hell yeah. Like even their daughters like over their 100 pounds. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, no, we um when we go out uh I more than a couple of times, so my mom goes to all of my daughter's sports stuff, right?
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_05And so, and she's really talkative. She she she's one of those, she shows up and she's like, I don't know anybody for five minutes, right? Then she knows half of the people there. And so so she's talking to them and they're like, Oh, you know, which one is yours? And she'll go, Well, that's my granddaughter, but that one's my son, and the response is always, oh, the big guy, right? So, yeah, I I I stand out enough being six foot, like 240, 250 or something. So uh most of the time they don't know that I'm a real you know, I'm I'm a real nice guy. So the the the big traps and stuff, you know, the traps of a of a deadlifter uh sends the the right message not to fuck with anybody.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, yeah. Awesome, dude. Well, I appreciate that. Carl, if you had to, I mean, Joe gave his three. What would you give uh like if you could just pick one? Like you and me and just my favorite piece of equipment that we have in here?
SPEAKER_00Um I'll let you do two.
SPEAKER_02I'll let you do one anywhere and one here. That way you don't hurt my feelings. Oh, jeez. That way I know I'm still good enough for you. Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_01I mean, can I count like one of the Invictus monoliths as a piece of equipment?
SPEAKER_02Sure.
SPEAKER_05You can you can we can shout Dave out because I mean number one, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's it's gotta be my favorite. I mean, I do like the monoliths.
SPEAKER_02Shout out, shout out Dave Shirley from Invictus for making super nice and also very portable monoliths. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And uh. I don't know. Okay, so I had a thought run across my head. Okay. My deadlift has never been the best, but I feel like I missed out on learning how good the kabuki deadlift bar was.
SPEAKER_02Oh, you you missed your your competition gapped. You you had that lap year where you never got to experience how whippy the double whip at the top. You got it at the bottom and the top.
SPEAKER_01I feel like if I was a good deadlifter, I would have thrown that in there as one of my favorites, but I can't. I'll still mention it because I've you know what? How about this? I'm holding on to it.
SPEAKER_02This summer, when when we're done prepping, when we're done in uh late May. Okay, right. You I we'll do a kabuki day together. All right, I like it. I I haven't I own two of them and I haven't touched one in forever. I'll do a kabuki day with you so we can both experience that. Watch, I can't wait. You're gonna be like, oh, so this is why people said it was cheating.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um I mean, we've all seen the videos, right? The only the outer plate is touching the ground while all the other ones are supposedly adds 20%.
SPEAKER_02I remember the the first uh American Pro, I was a side judge and I saw that and I was like, yeah, holy shit ref for Griggs 1074 on the kabuki. I was there that day. I think I was paneled that day. Oh, you're a panel, okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was paneled that day. Because I judged the other pro flight. Speaking of Griggs, man, he's putting up some big stuff.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I saw he's pulling again, man. He's looking strong again. What did he heard his ad, Doctor? Sunlight. Yeah, it's on the light. Some took him out for a little while. Yeah. Alright, my my number one in here. Um, hmm. Um, I'm a I'm a stickler for bars, and I'm also a bar horse. You are a bar horse. I have so many bars. Uh I, and Carl already knows my answer to this. The Elite FTS Iron Cowboy blacked out bar we have is my absolute favorite power bar of all time. There's the the tensile strength, the no-bend, the the knurling is just fucking perfection. I've never had a bar I enjoyed more, whether it's heavy benching or DE benching, than Elite FTS Iron Cowboy. That's a that's a good bar. It's a great bar. Damn good bar. And it's all like black, like it just looks sleek, man. Like it's I like it. What about an accessory piece? You have a favorite accessory piece? Favorite accessory piece? Um I will say during during rehab, flywheel was my my lord and savior. Flywheel, flywheel got me, especially when we couldn't, I couldn't squat yet on my back, but I could stand up on those boxes and load the the hinge and where it connected up through the floor, the plate. Um that was pretty nice. And that was before we had the Rhino belt squat. That was before okay, yeah. Okay, that probably answers your question already. Okay, there it is. One of if you if anyone's in the market for a belt squat and you're not gonna do digital, or you're not gonna do like a flywheel type for conservative purposes as far as floor space, uh, because this footprint, I would say it's a normal size footprint for a single single car garage, you can fit a rhino belt squat in there. Carl's Carl's opinion really sucks at stuff like this because if he likes it, it doesn't matter the size, it's fucking fit in there up and as far as like comparable, hey, you should put this in your garage, don't listen to Carl. Two pieces.
SPEAKER_01Autolift and a rhino. Yeah, that's terrible.
SPEAKER_02Um but I I have said on multiple occasions to people, uh, my biggest regret with the rogue uh rogue rhino belt squat is being a little bitch and not putting the money up sooner. Because I've been through three. Is it three? It was this is the third. This is the third. So I'd been through two other belt squats, didn't like them, the one was a custom, and I still didn't like that. Like the welds were off, and like I was so dude, my ass was chapped. Like I was upset. And like I finally sold a bunch of stuff, and I told Carl, I was like, dude, fuck it. I'm just gonna straight up. I don't even give a shit about the shipping. I'm gonna order one right off of Rogue and dude. We set it up one summer in the heat with you, me, Rob, and somebody else. Remember how big of a pain in the ass was because it had the giant fucking wrench for the only bolts it would fit. Um, dude, and it is just the most solid best piece of equipment for belt squats for rehab. We can do rows and uh good mornings with it. You can do uh the the belted marches with it. Like, dude, it is such a great tool for both strength and rehab. Uh, I would say hands down one of my one of my favorite pieces. It is pricey, but again, I I kick my own ass for not just saying fuck it. And you know, what what do they say? Uh buy once, cry, or buy once, cry later, cry.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, uh cry buy once, cry once. Yeah, yeah. You got it.
SPEAKER_02Buy bullshit, cry a lot, buy the good one later. That's my motto, apparently. So, yeah, that would definitely be my top, uh, my top.
SPEAKER_05So, do you know there's a guy, there's a guy on Instagram you should follow for Rhino stuff. Uh, I think his account is Pro Tim. I think that's right.
SPEAKER_03Pro Tim, okay.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so he's uh um he says natural bodybuilder. It's a little hard for me to believe that one, but it who knows. He could be a he could be a very could be a very genetic could be a very genetic elite. Uh it's possible. But uh, but his his he actually has a product, yeah. He has a product made by Rogue that he like collaborated with for the Rhino, and he does a tremendous amount of stuff off of that thing. So I'm sure you'd get some good ideas. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And then um similar experiences on my end for belt squats as you, you know. I think one of the ones I've always had like in a home gym setting, I've told people is like, oh, those like they have the lever ones, right, that like come off your rack and stuff and different things. I had a company send me one, and I'm like, dude, I literally have a video of me loading up 14 fucking plates and hitting a set of like 20 reps, and I get done and I'm like, I'm out of room, right? Like, what am I supposed to do from here? Right? And it's because the leverages are such shit and everything. Right, and so trying to find a good belt squat that works for stronger people and it doesn't take up a tremendous amount of fucking space is not an easy task. So um glad glad you glad you found one. Yeah, yeah. Us too, man.
SPEAKER_01I didn't even think about that. A lot of those um, you know, lever ones, uh uh, you're loading tons and tons of plates on there just because like the anchor points.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like think think about like the old handle one we used to have. You could load like five or six plates on each side. Yeah. And this one you can load like two, and you're like fucking smoked in the pants. Like, we don't do more than two plates. You're done, dude. At the end of a workout pre-fatigue, you are gone. Um I like that one too, because it has the band pegs, so you can just stretch the bands over the thing for extra resistance. And of course, if you want to do like the the banded belted marches, you can do them like that anyway. Sure.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. So, you know, one more with this guy. Like I said, the because we use it for belt squats. One of the other struggles typically at a in a home gym with a lot of them, so the rhino has like a lever or whatever, right? So like it it unit takes the weight off so you can get in the right position, and then you uh yeah. So a lot of those other ones, they have these weird kickstand things or something, and like if you're too tall or you're too short or you're whatever. Yeah. And so with the Voltra, you actually, especially if you're using the app, you can it's got auto load and auto-deload features, which means like I can um I can tell it, hey, I'm getting ready. I get my belt set up, I get in position, I hold steady for like three to four seconds, and then the weight turns on. Uh, so then that way I can literally like pull the pulley up and get where I need to. I do my set, I finish, I hold steady for another three to five seconds, and then it turns the weight off. So then that way I can unclip and go back where I want to. So like it it solves problems that you knew you had, but never would have imagined something would have solved for you, right? Right. Um, so yeah, it's wild.
SPEAKER_01Never mind, we can't get one. Well that's that's part of the reason why I'm around. I have to help you like load and unload. Yeah, Carl's Carl's here to take care of the handicapped AK and me. So if there's a machine doing it for me, I'm not needed, I can't get that.
SPEAKER_05You're you're you're you're talking about like with the rhino, there's guys who connect theirs to the rhino.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I imagine because it's got those crazy.
SPEAKER_05You can customize everything.
SPEAKER_02So he's like, you already got the rhino, you might as well buy the right. He's selling us, man. He's selling us. Well, you already got car.
SPEAKER_05I'm I'm sold. Uh it's it's just money. Who gives a shit?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it comes and goes. Says the guy who's probably not gonna foot the bill. Yeah. Travis, it's fine, dude. I'm gonna use it, so it's fine. Travis, my total will get bigger. It's okay. You can buy it. It's all about your total, man. It's all about your total. So uh speaking of totals, uh, we'll transition to the next question. Um, so I I it said, have you ever competed in powerlifting like a sanctioned event, but you said that never happened for you, so I know that. But um, do you ever be I don't know, it's such a weird way to ask this question. And I of course I don't mean it in a disrespectful way at all. Of course. But yeah, but since like I I really admire the way you're like, hey, we're not changing the garage gym for this particular reason. Has that also influenced you as a as an athlete, Joe, like, okay, so maybe maybe on that note, like, I never will do a sanctioned meet.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I've had multiple different iterations of what I will or will not do float around in my head at different times. So the it was like about five or six years ago. Um I think when I when the GGC started being more of a thing, uh, one of the articles I wrote was around like goal setting. And so, because that's that was something I worked on at the bank. I ran our performance management system, and so it was a topic I knew a lot of from a professional stance and brought it over to the lifting side. And so I was like, well, I can't tell a bunch of people to set goals and not do my own. So I wrote down like what was I chasing, what did I want to do, when did I want to do it by? I basically gave myself till I turned 40 to try and hit uh an elite total, and I forget which one I used. Um I I I have it in the office, but it was something like a somewhere around a 600-pound squat, 400 bench, and like 620 deadlift or something like that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that sounds about right, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and uh at that like 242 weight class. Right. Um and so those numbers were a I knew I you know had a kid, I knew what I was, you know, working towards, etc., and kind of just said, I don't know what I'm gonna feel like when I'm 40, my own body, but also. Like where my goals are and stuff and whatnot. You know, do I want to keep chasing, you know, one rep maxes or you know, what does that look like? So right now, I would tell you that that's still the plan. So I turned 40 this October. So I'll be able to sneak in one more GGC before I turn 40.
SPEAKER_02Uh so in the fall, that's when we're going for it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, my my hope is that that one is filled with uh PRs. So the one lift that really haunts me is the bench. So not not tracking down. So uh best to date is a 550 squat, uh, 370 bench, and 630 deadlift.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so like you're already there on the dead. Like everything else seems to be obtainable though. Like you're not, it's not like you're super far away.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so so squats. Um I so I just hit 530 yesterday for my submission. I had a phenomenal, phenomenal training, and then uh like about a month ago, we had to put my dog down, and so everything just kind of went to shit. And I was like, yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna do what I can do kind of thing. Yeah, uh, you know, I'm sorry to hear that, man. Yeah, it sucked. So he was a cool dude. Um, you know, I I work from home, so I spend like 12 plus hours a day with my dog when we got him, and so the like daily routine just gets totally fucked up. Yeah and so yeah, so doing better, we're you know, feeling more normal and stuff, but uh yeah, it was one of those it just wasn't I wasn't in the right headspace to do a legitimate you know prep uh at the end there. So hopefully this next one, I am, I show up and we'll see where it goes. Uh but I at 550 squat, I'm pretty happy with that. Like I think a 500-pound squat was my original. Like, if I got that, I'd be good. And then when I pulled out 550, uh, especially in sleeves, it's not in wraps or anything. Like, I went, okay, yeah. So if I got six, I'd be ecstatic. Uh bench, not hitting, like I just want that 400, right? Or 405. Like, that's I that's where I want just for that like mental, you know, uh piece, that nice round.
SPEAKER_02So then when you're 40, you can talk shit and be like, well, back in my day, I benched 405.
SPEAKER_05Like, you need to have that. Yeah. Uh deadlift, like, there's no there's no way I thought I was ever gonna deadlift 600 and being able to pull 630, like, I think I got 650 in me. Um, if it you know lined up correctly. But like I'm I feel like two out of the three lifts, if I like retired today, right, from from powerlifting, I'd be very happy with that. Bench is the only one that I really want to get by the end of the year. Um I have had ideas that if my daughter continues lifting and wants to, her and I might compete in a competition together. I think that would be cool to have a you know daddy-daughter first powerlifting meet together kind of thing.
SPEAKER_02We we actually have two different couples that do that at the cave. Uh John Flagg and his daughter, and then uh Katie Gaglione and her daughter. Uh they've both all competed side by side here as parents and and sons or daughters here.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, uh John John's competing in the GGC and uh Zach Flag? Uh uh Gaglio.
SPEAKER_02Gaglion, okay.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. He's and he's uh uh weirdly enough, him and I are partnering on a product review. So I sent him over. Uh I got a set of weight releasers when I went to Home Gym Con. And I used them for a while, wrote up what I thought, and then I said, Hey, would you be interested in doing your thing with them? Uh you know, I wanted a different perspective from a geared lifter, and so and he said, Yeah, and so he's I think he's supposed to put that out. It might literally even be today. Uh so yeah, yeah. John, John's one of the coaches for the GGC, submits uh he helps provide feedback uh to lifters who compete um and provides he's pretty regular in the newsletter in terms of providing training tips and stuff too for people.
SPEAKER_02So we'll be seeing him in uh June for RPS Nationals. Uh me and Carl will be down there handling some lifters I coach.
SPEAKER_05Nice. Yeah. So yeah, so um I think I would like to compete in a sanctioned meet. Well, I know I would like to. Is that the top priority for me at this point in my life as a running a business, dad, husband, uh, you know, I coach all my daughters' sports and you know, all these different things. It just isn't. And so um like I said, I think if she said, hey, let's do it, then I'd go, fuck it, let's do it. And I do it. That's awesome. But yeah, there's nothing in the back of my head that tells me like I like training. That's like my drive. I actually like I love the just the day-to-day of it. And so um I, you know, uh, even if I didn't lift for one rep maxes tomorrow, like I'd still lift heavy, right? Like it's too much fun not to. Um, you know, I still want to chase down, you know, I think I uh like even in my like bodybuilding-esque, you know, lifts, like I did uh uh 550 from a two and a quarter deficit for five. Like that's still part of my lifting, even if it's not chasing a specific one rep max deadlift kind of thing. So um, so yeah, so even if this is my last power lifting pursuit in the fall, I'll still run the GGC, I will still compete in every GGC, I will still work to get stronger. I just may not chase down straight bar one rep maxes. So straight bar hurts, man.
SPEAKER_02Straight bar. I told him as soon as we're done this prep, it is back to uh Duffalo Bar and uh Mars bar for me. Give these shoulders a break.
SPEAKER_01They say you can experience the sport in whatever way you choose. You don't have to do anything, you know, really. Yeah, one meet, a thousand meets. You're really taking it in your own stance of I'm gonna experience powerlifting in the garage gym. Well, in the way you want to. Totally separate from like an actual, like a like a functioning, you know, meet per se, but like definitely worthwhile and uh a good cause. Yeah. Alright, so um, oh I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_05I was gonna say, you know, so to your comment of like, you know, when people ask you, right, no one like outside of power lifters, no one's like, how much did you lift in a sanctioned meet, right? That is very true. Everyone just goes, what'd you squat?
SPEAKER_04What do you bitch, right? So, you know, I'm still gonna tell people. Yeah, still gonna tell people I deadlift 630, right? Right, right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um so speaking to that, so talking about you know, people like eventually competing and whatnot, how do you feel? And this is like the question we were kind of browsing around earlier, how do you feel GGC is a gateway or offers something possibly even better or different for a newer slash perspective lifter?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so when we the very first year when I had the idea for a you know virtual powerlifting me, it I it's not like I had like every rule written out or anything, right? They kind of just started coming up as we went. So it was as simple as saying, like, hey, you're gonna compete during this week and it's gonna be a squat bench and deadlift one rep max. And that that was really all we had. And then people kept asking questions like, can I compete at any time during the week? I said, Yeah, sure. And then it was, do I have to do all the lifts on the same day? And I was like, no. And then it was, can I wear wraps? Yeah. Can I wear straps? Sure. Can I wear a suit? I don't care, right? Uh one dude, the very first year was um he had uh stepped on a landmine in Afghanistan, so he couldn't squat or deadlift, but he could bench. So he was like, Can I just bench? Sure. Then the next guy was my shoulder sucks, so I can only squat with a safety squat bar and bench with a multi-grip bar. Can I do that? Sure. Next guy, my back sucks. You know, I can only deadlift with a trap bar. Does that work? Sure. Right? So like all of these things just came up as like a because we're not a federated meat, because I'm not handing out legitimate like money prizes, et cetera, based off of the biggest totals and biggest lifters, right? Like you guys mentioned, you you guys took first and second. You got a little wood award, right? Hey, that's it.
SPEAKER_01Hey now, we're we're proud of those wood awards. Yeah. I'm not taking the second spot. I was third or lift guy. Oh, were you third? I thought you were talking with the deadliest lift guy. That's right, Mark wrote the third, yes.
SPEAKER_05So so the awards are awesome. So like this year they're gonna be swords, right? Uh one of the guys, uh Joey who competes. One of the guys, Joey, who competes. Uh we made a we were talking last year because he kept putting up in his stories like he was baking pies. And I was like, Oh, Joey, you should sponsor the GGC with some pies. And at first it was a joke, and then it was like I did it again because he did it again, and then we were like, are we doing this? And then now he's doing it. So, like the the number so Travis, you're gonna be on my live stream next week, right? Uh yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh, can we can we uh instead of browsing through that real quick, can we kind of like shout that out just so we can remind everybody, give them a little more details about that on where to find that stuff.
SPEAKER_05Do you wanna you wanna come back to it in a second? Sure, sure. Yeah, okay. So so Joey's gonna for the number one person in each of those live streams that we're doing next week. So I'm doing one with you and one with my friend Christina, uh, Joey's gonna bake them a pie, right? So, like, like so you win some stuff if you are the top award winner people, but like all the barbells, all the plates, all the gift cards, all that stuff goes out at random to people who participate.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And so when legitimately, like one of the big things, so I remember this discussion when I was younger, a buddy of mine really likes uh really liked UFC. His dad was into boxing and stuff, and the discussion of like how confusing multiple federations was in boxing, where there's like somehow there's eight heavyweight champs, right? Uh, because there's so many different feds. Yeah, and that's how powerlifting is, right? Powerlifting, you've got seven different world records. Yep, yep. You got all the different feds, then you got in each fed, you've got men and women, and each gender, you got uh the weight classes, you've got uh triple ply, single ply, raw classic, classic, uh whatever, right? Yeah, single weight. Exactly, right? So there's there's 10,000 different variations, and so it was all these questions that came in and all that stuff, and I went, we're not doing any of that shit. And so it turned into a really simple like if it looks like a squat bench or deadlift, it counts. Um, and so if you're trying to compete in a federated meet, you've gotta find the federation, you gotta pay your dues, you gotta travel to wherever it is. That might mean hotel stay overnight. Uh you gotta weigh in, you gotta have the you know approved gear and all those different things and whatnot, which is all very important because we're trying to compare like to like, right? We need to know that your deadlift is better than his deadlift by using all of the same things. I don't give a shit when it comes to the GGC, so we don't need any of those rules. We threw them out and it's much simpler. So I think for people who are even the tiniest little bit interested in powerlifting of any kind, right? Even if it's like, hey, I've done CrossFit and I kind of do most of these lifts, let me try it, or they've lifted for a while, they've just never done a one rep max, or maybe they have and they want to do a meet, but they couldn't find one, or they don't know how to find one, or whatever it is. This is a really easy way to try it, and just say, Oh, okay, that sucked, I don't want to do it again, or it was awesome, or somewhere in the middle, right? Let me go from here. And what I and then what I tell people is I go, the literal worst case scenario is you compete, you hate it, you maybe win a prize, and you help me donate money to a nonprofit. Right. So, right, it's completely free, like the whole deal.
SPEAKER_01So that's a pretty good worst case scenario.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's true. Right? Pretty positive outcome on that. So, dude, but and it always once again, man, like, dude, seriously, uh, congratulations on your efforts, your success with it, how popular it's become. Like, I know tons of people saw like me do it, and then Carl did it with me, members of my gym do it, members I coached now do it, and it's just like so many people just I saw him, I saw him, I saw her, and it's just it really amplified throughout the years. Of course, we've gotten everything from I want a Transformer bar one year, I've gotten bags of chalk for the gym that I don't have to buy, which is great because we run out of chalk a lot. So, I mean, like, dude, it's a great opportunity for anyone, and obviously, if you're listening to this podcast, you can't help but fall in love with the idea of this man putting it all out there for everybody, and of course, in this day and age, making it free. So, um, once again, always big shout out to Joe. You are the fucking man. I appreciate it, man. Um, we got time for one more question. Yeah, how do you feel the GGC can prepare an average gym goer for their first possible meet? So we talked about like things it offers and possible, like, hey, dip my toes in the water as far as if I'm slightly even interested in powerlifting, but like how what are things about it that you think actually could be like, hey, in this in this shape or form actually prepares a lifter for a meet?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so we've got a couple of articles on the website that kind of detail some of those. So uh a friend of mine, Manda, she's uh we called her our um resident expert power lifter. So she competed alongside you know Dan Bell and all kinds of different people, so like she's a she's legit. Um and uh writing about like and she and she judged and all kinds of different stuff as well. And so she she wrote like GGC versus a real meat was the articles.
SPEAKER_02Nice, yeah.
SPEAKER_05And and so then on top of that, a lot of the stuff that I try and do in the newsletter, um, you know, the further out we are with the training tips is normally things like, you know, as a power lifter, do you need to train your biceps, right? As a power lifter, do you need to train your calves? What does nutrition look like for a powerlifter?
SPEAKER_02Like, so these are like like we could even compare that to like monthly as the incoming weeks in approach closer to the meat, almost like a meat director's notification or email.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yep. And so as we get closer to the meat, I tend to focus on more like how do you pick your three attempts, right? If you if you're gonna do that, right? How do you um you know, how do you eat on a meat day, even if it's at your house, right? Like how should you warm up, different stuff like that. And uh, and then on top of that, we have so you I know you've registered a couple of different times where we we call it uh our local meets. So people host at their house. Yeah, like they can come do it over and stuff. Yeah, yep.
SPEAKER_02Yes, we will be having at least, I think, five entries coming from my place. Four that I know of right now.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yep. Cool. And so so there's a handful of different things there where the goal is to get people to start thinking about it a little bit more than just hey, I squat on Mondays, so I guess I'll throw in a random one RM attempt or whatever, and then on Tuesdays I bench and Thursdays I deadlift, and a little more of like how do you peak and prep to hit that actual run one rep max, not just use it as a detour in your training, um, which is totally fine. Like I've done both at different times, and I know a lot of people use this as sometimes it's uh they're they're testing their one RMs to see where they're at for a meet that's coming up in a couple of weeks, or you know, whatever it might be, or it's their off-season training, and they're they're like, hey, I hit a one rep max and I'm in a hypertrophy block. Clearly, things are clicking, right? Um so but for the more average, newer people, a lot of the education piece I try and put in the newsletter is trying to get them to think through treating it like a meat and what that would look like. That way, if they did take that next step and compete in a federated one, they would have a little bit of that knowledge in their back pocket, you know, because trying to even just the concept of well, if I think I'm gonna squat 405, what should my first and second attempts be? Right? Um if I think I'm gonna uh and then how should I warm up for those, right? Like uh what does that look like? All that kind of stuff. And then like the eating piece, right? The day of looks a lot like when we host, well, I when I've hosted a couple of times here, my friend Christina who shows up, she eats like Doritos and shit all day long, right? I for whatever reason like don't really eat most of the day when I'm like lifting, if I'm lifting all day long. It's just different methods for different people, and I think part of that you gotta kind of figure out yourself. But um, whereas like I've seen like Chad uh Wesley Smith says like his was always like rice crispy treats, right? Um, and so by having a dozen or so different coaches share theirs, it gives people an insight into different ideas and how they can think about that and whatnot. And I I think a lot of people once they start, they hit a one rep max and they go, dude, that was awesome. Like they get a little addicted and they want to come back for more and more and more and more, and then they get more and more focused, and then what was just a random event that they did one time now becomes something that they're like it's on their calendar every year that they're prepping for, and then that's the now they're going into a real meet and that kind of stuff. So um, you know, like I said, I don't care how far you take it, but I I think a lot and I well, I shouldn't even say I think I know for a fact by means of feedback from people, uh the GGC has gotten kids, adults, grandmas, all of the above from uh maybe I want to try squatting one time to competing in federated meets. So um, so it whatever I'm doing, it's working. Absolutely incredible.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, man. You can't you can't define uh GGC as a gateway more than that, man. I think that about sums up everything, man. That's awesome, dude. That is like just ridiculously good work, man. Um Thanks. Yeah, for real. And and how long has GGC GGC been a part of now? How many years?
SPEAKER_05Uh 20 2018?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because I think my first one was 2019. Sounds right. Eight years now. Oh yeah, fuck, yeah. I've been doing it for a long time now. Because I usually do two a year.
SPEAKER_01If there, you know, it comes a time down the road when you hit your tenth year doing it. Uh uh Do you have a list of people who have done it every year? And do they like will they will they receive something for doing all 10 years? Yeah, a decade under the GGC. That'd be pretty wild if somebody's done all the time.
SPEAKER_05So there are there are a couple people, uh, myself and like legitimately it's like two or three others who have done every single event. Uh there's another like dozen or so who are like one shy. So, like my my buddy Chris, he's another moderator for uh Reddit with me. He's up in Canada, he's in uh military service. So he missed one because he got shipped over to like Europe or some shit. Oh no. Literally like like right smack dab over the top of one of the GDCs. So he now I think he's competed in I think it's every year, but he missed one event. Gotcha. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I think I missed the first year and I missed one event last year because of Army.
SPEAKER_05But so so we do right now we do uh the five-year club. So if you compete for five years, I'll send you out a sticker. I put you on the website. We are working on a 10-year piece. Um my guess is it'll be something along the lines of like a GGC Hall of Fame. Um I've got some notes from so one of my buddies, Christian Ernst, uh, last year was like, hey, if you ever need help with anything in the GGC, just let me know. And I went, yeah, actually, uh, there's some stuff that I could use.
SPEAKER_01Now that you mention that.
SPEAKER_05And so he's uh he's a stay-at-home dad and runs his uh family's like cattle farm. And so he's got intermittent intermittent uh availability on stuff. And so I've sent him things and said, Hey, can you do this? And he goes, Yeah. And so like he helped me with a lot of the social media stuff this year, just like prepping like posts and stuff. That way I could just post it instead of having to make a bunch of crap. Uh he's helping me with some of the research for my podcast, so instead of me digging through people's Instagram accounts and stuff and writing things down, he's doing it, so then that way I can just focus on the interview aspect. Um, and then uh he's doing some research around this uh kind of 10-year Hall of Fame piece as well. Uh, because I I want it to be a little bit more than just like you showed up for 10 years. I want there to be some other pieces to the puzzle. Um, I'm just not entirely positive what that would look like. Uh, but yeah, we're when we get there, we'll we'll have something for sure. Because if if you've if you've shown up for 10 years consistently, like that's that's pretty that's that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01So on year one, you weren't thinking like, oh man, I can't imagine what it's gonna be like. Yeah, I know, right? So it's gotta be a put a whole fame together for 10 years.
SPEAKER_02But gotta be pretty humbling. That's awesome, man.
SPEAKER_05It's it's wild, yeah. Uh I've told I've told people I'm like, I part of it, like I stuck because like you can hear probably the concepts of like the way I have designed it and put it out there, and like who I am as a lifter and a person, like it matches pretty well. And so I told people I go, look, if I compete and my daughter competes and my wife competes, I'll probably keep it going, right? Uh, so everybody else, the fact that another five, six, seven, eight hundred people show up and like it too, that's icing on the cake. So, um, you know, and I I'm really happy to bring everybody along on the ride with me.
SPEAKER_02So hell yeah, man. Very nice. Well, we are out of time, Joe. It has been an absolute pleasure, and I truly mean that. Can you go ahead and shout out where everyone can find you and also the website URL for actual the GGC uh submission sheets?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so if you look up either Gray Matter Lifting, that's kind of my personal side of stuff, or Garage Gym Competition. Uh luckily those are unique enough names. You'll find us. So uh that's there'll be websites for those, there'll be Instagrams for those, uh, you know, etc. Uh my YouTube is the gray matter lifting piece, but I do GGC stuff on there as well. So that's the easiest way to find us. Uh speaking of the YouTube, like we talked a little bit, me and Travis. So Travis is gonna join me next week for a live stream. So we'll have two next week. So right now, literally right now, the GGC is going on. Uh, it ends on Sunday. So that's the what's the date there?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because our our typical is uh we'll squat on the first Sunday, it opens, wait a few days, do our bench in the middle of the week, like Wednesday or Thursday, and then the day you have to submit it, we'll do our deadlift and submit all three of our heaviest that Sunday night. That's what we typically do. Yep. In case anybody was wondering how to spread it out. That's how we that's how that's how we're giving out the blueprint for free. Hey man, I'm just trying to keep it with Joe, give all this advice.
SPEAKER_05There you go. So, yeah, so this is what we call comp week. Next week is what we call awards week. So I'll go through and I'll dig through all the data and pick out all the uh top athletes, so top male totals, top female totals, most improved year over year. Uh so anyone who competed last spring and this spring will compare those. And then uh we do the two live streams. So one we call prettiest powerlifter. So that's with me and my friend Christina. Christina wrote an article called Powerlifting Ain't Pretty. And uh it was trying to break down like because she's had women over the years uh specifically be a little afraid of lifting because you can't really do a heavy squat and look really good at the same time. Um, and so the whole article was tied to like look at these ugly ass faces everybody makes when they do these wild lifts, and it turned into uh a live stream event that we do, so we go through and you know I show people the lift, and then I typically focus in on the face, and so we get to see everyone's like you know, going on. Max out face, yeah. Yeah. And so Christina uh goes through and she rates them on a scale of one, two. Uh do you know Ryan DiPompeo? Uh he's from Illinois. Okay, so Ryan, Ryan's a buddy of ours who used to compete consistently in the GDC. He's got a picture of him that Christina uses as her like 11 out of 10, where he's like this, and he looks like his face looks like every single ounce of life has left his body. And uh it's it's miserable. And you know, like he's probably only partly conscious to finish that squat. And so she she uses that as her 11 out of 10. And so we rank everybody. The anyone who shows up and joins the live stream in the chat can chime in as well. So I take the chat's ratings, and then we get to the end, and I pull up the top like five or so, and we boil it down to the top three winners. And then so you're gonna join me the day after for what we call most 10 RPE lifter. So Manda again wrote an article for us uh explaining RPE, uh, because it especially for a newer lifter, it is a very even for advanced lifters, can be a very confusing topic. Um, and so the idea is um going through and watching people's just terrible, terrible, terrible grinds to finish out a lift. And so you're gonna help me pick out and rate people on a scale of one to ten RPE, what those come out as. Again, the chat's gonna chime in as well, and then we'll come down to the end and I'll bring back up the top handful of people, and then you'll be able to pick the top three. So awesome, man. It's it it's a it's a fun way to laugh at ourselves, um, but also admire the work and effort that a lot of people put in. We had one last fall, uh absolutely beautiful deadlift. Like the his his technique was locked the whole time, but I swear that was an 11-second pull. Like it was it was the whole time me and so Amanda was on last year, are just going, how is he still going? Like, I don't know how he has it. Uh yeah, like it was wild. So um, yeah, he won by like a country mile. And then, but everybody else, I mean, there's ones where you watch people bench, they come down, it comes up, it comes back down two inches, it goes back up, then they get this way, and then this way, and then uh, and then they hit the J cup on the way back up, and then they finish it, and you're like, holy shit, dude, you should have died. Like, oh, yeah, it's it's it's good stuff.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm definitely looking forward to that, man.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's gonna be fun. So, and then, like I said, and then we get to hand out pie too, so that's a bonus.
SPEAKER_02Cherry on top. Pie is always a bonus. All right, Joe. Well, thank you very, very much for joining me and Carl here for episode four of season three. Uh, I will be back on your YouTube here next week, and we are gonna go ahead and get signed off here. We appreciate you, we appreciate the GGC, and we will be uploading our top lifts as well this Sunday. Yep, this Sunday.
SPEAKER_05Awesome.
SPEAKER_02All right, man. Looking forward to it. Yes, sir. With peace and love, grumpy paws, we are out. There it is. All right.
