Ep.6 -S3 "APO Meet Recap and Plans"

In the 32nd episode, 6th of this season, Carl and Travis recap their weekend performance competing at APO Coastal Clash and what they plan to do next.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

It has started and begun. Oh damn.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

I was on the run, man. I didn't want to be here late, so I just skipped the gas station run. Oh shit.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

We should give a spon uh sponsor shout out. We should do that. Go ahead. This episode is brought to you in part by Sub Dog Supplements. Zone Spine Salt and John Flag's Rebuild Stronger. Stronger. Stronger. It'd be cool if we had like an echo, like a reverb thing. He's getting stronger right now. He is. He's looking very strong. Love you, John. And all the things that tore me apart, nothing has made me more whole, covering the good, the bad, and the shit that keeps us going. Straight from the head of refs table. I'm your host, Travis Papa, Bear Rogers, and you are listening to A Forest Through the Trees, a Cave podcast, here with the highest totaling gym goer at the cave because you're only as good as your last meet, or so they say. Carl the man, the master. Reigning champ, huh? I mean, you've always been number one in my heart, but now you're actually number one in the gym. In total, anyway. In total. I'm still Dot's daddy. Skinny boy legend. Uh I prefer the term victim weight. Okay. Under 200, right? Under 200. So speaking of victim weight and big totals, we are gonna give you some meat recaps from our meet uh two weekends ago now, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Two weekends ago? Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Uh, and then also catch up on we were actually at RPS Nationals at the training center last weekend. So that's why we had a bunch of shit to do as soon as we got back. So we skipped a week on the podcast because we suck. So um needed a break. Needed a break. But now we have all summer to ruin your ears with swearing and points you probably disagree with. So we are we are back on it. We're uh we are, as the kids would say, locked in. We locked in. It's locked in, bro. Uh this is episode 32, 6 of the third season. Um, so let's get on with the meat recap. Where'd we go, Carl?

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Do you want to do it like uh you do squat, I do squat, or do you want to do like you do your full recap?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

We'll go back and forth. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

So where we go? Tell them where we went, bro. Well, we were in, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, I think it's the first time they had a uh APO meet in Virginia. I believe so. It's their first time in AP. It's very uncommon in our tri-state region. Yeah, so it was the first um APO meet over there in Virginia Beach. It was held at a really cool venue. Um uh Chad Dunn was the meet director. He put it on with Southside Barbell at the 17th Street stage and like pavilion area. Um it's a big outdoor venue looking over the beach and the water. Uh it's not on the sand, so that was pretty sick.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

You know, yeah, it's because we hounded Carl for months leading up to this that we were gonna have sand in our briefs, and we were gonna be unhappy campers. But actually we were pretty happy campers. We lucked out, the weather held out very nice. It was it was still very sunny. We all got sunburned, all of us. Uh, Danielle, shout out to her, she looked the worst. Some worse than others, for sure. That was borderline sun poisoning, and I had my first experience of getting sunburn on my bald tattooed head. Yeah. It's fucking terrible.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Yeah, midway through the meet, you're like, dude, it's bravey. Spray me, bro.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Well, I had a bandana on, so it was like, I swear to God, the black bandana plus the tattoos on my head, it was like a fucking target for the sun, bro. It was like a kid with a magnifying glass on an ant. Like it was trying to get me. But um, yeah, our first uh our first APO meet, and probably the first one in the in the Tri-State region. Um we say tri-state for those of you listening, we're talking about Delaware, Maryland, Virginia over here on East Coast, if you're not familiar with where we are. The DMV, yeah. Um, and that was on, we had a weigh-in on Saturday. We traveled up Friday, all of us in the truck, me, Rachel, and Carl, because we were all competing together. And then Bo met up with us later on Saturday to complete our four members of the cave that were competing at the APO alongside Alex, who also did ABS, which was literally like what, two streets over?

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yeah, it was like down the block, and it was um their what do they call it, the East Coast classic.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

But that was their first ABS meet around here, too.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Yeah, that was the first ABS East Coast classic.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah, a lot of first for the power lifting and the DMV this weekend. So that that's pretty cool. I didn't think about that.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

It was a very busy weekend for that uh that beach. Like we uh Yeah, they had the strongman competition going on. So we got down, like you said, we we drove down there on Friday. Um we like did our you know, you did your weight cuts, we did it, we chilled out for the night. Um Saturday, Friday and Saturday, there was like a pro strongman league going on on the beach. So I got a glimpse of that between both days. Um they had like the steel wood cutting chainsaw championships going on.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Yeah, they had some random stuff. And they had the uh the BMX and skateboarding going on. Yeah, they had the what was that called? Do you remember? I don't, but there was like literally vert ramps on the beach.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Yeah, it was cool. It was like how they used to have Dutch set up in Ocean City. Yeah, yeah. But over there. Straight X Games mode. It was sick. It was sick. There was like dudes tightrope walking between buildings, and like there was a sky. There was a lot of shit going on. There was a skydiving event.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Gotta eat watch somebody eat shit coming down on sky. Oh yeah. Not very kind landing. No, not. It's in the soft sand though. Yeah. But Friday, like Carl said, uh, this was my first one back in probably four years for 198. So I did do a small weight cut. Um I uploaded a picture that got made its rounds. It got quite a few sure did. Quite a few Instagram likes. How many? Uh I don't know. It's a lot. It was a lot that millions. More than normal for me as a washed-up powerlifter. Okay. All right. Um, just because one of them's me like cut at like 205, which is like my walking weight. Uh, one of me ballooned the fuck out from water bloating and sodium manipulation on Thursday at like 214, and then another, excuse me, another one at me Friday morning looking shred diesel uh after I stripped all the water, weight, and sodium at 196.9 was my official weigh-in. And what was your official weigh-in, Carl? Light.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Uh for two. I was like 216. But you thought you were gonna be heavier too, didn't you? You thought you were like 218. I did, but I did, you know, restrict my water that day before, so that probably had something to do with it. Yeah. Um I I liked the I thought it was a pretty on par description when I said you looked like one of those um baby pit bulls when like they drink like a lot of milk or something like that, and their belly's huge and puffed out.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Yeah, I had the very distended belly. Like, I I looked I was not very comfortable. I was not having a whole lot of fun. Yeah. But it's part of the game if you want to know what you're doing. Um, and as always, if you would like to learn how to water and sodium manipulate leading into a meat, um, you need at least a week to do it generally, uh, if you're doing it correctly and safest way possible, um, as to not sauna or hot tub or what have you at the end of it. Um, the water and sodium part of it is crucial rather than just being like, hey, I'm heavy, I'm gonna try to sauna for like four hours, which is never a great thing for your health. So don't do that.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Um what was your what was your cut like once you got to the weigh-ins or the uh the the Airbnb?

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Uh I when we pulled up at the Airbnb, I was probably I because I I stay the heaviest I can for the longest duration possible. So I still ate breakfast that day. It was no carbs, but I still ate so it was no carbs. Uh I was allowed um six ounces of black coffee and about eight ounces of water. So it's like you know, 14 ounces of total liquid that had to be done by about one o'clock. Right. Right? Black coffee always, jumpstart the pee pee. Um if you still got some left, which you should if you've done the water and sodium manipulation. I was still peeing and I was still clear, so I was not at the uh brown rope, hey, hey, help help, my kidneys are shutting down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, inside functions and no go. Uh, which is scary. So again, terrifying. Even as we're joking and talking about this, uh, and like I said, I have written articles, they are available for you to read on Elite FTS. Um, please, please do this at your own discretion. It's never advised. And for dear God, if you're doing a state level meet or something like that, do not fucking cut weight. Like, this is for like invites, this is for like top 10, this is for like world records. Like, don't fuck around and just cut weight to cut weight because you're dumb. Yeah. Also, if you're chubby, no offense, not body shaming. If you're chubby, you do not lose the last three pounds like someone who is very muscular loses the last three pounds. Think about muscles like a sponge. You can wring them out. Fat cells, we ain't doing that shit. So you're gonna hit a wall and then you're gonna be like, holy shit, I feel like this is not gonna come off, and you are not gonna have a good time if you keep pushing on trying to make that weight.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Were you uh were you stressing that morning of after we got up and you were still like a 99?

SPEAKER_00 8:57

No, no. I had a I had a feeling I was gonna do one more round.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Um, so and I actually well remember when I stepped on the scale in the morning, it the scale because of the tile, one was saying 199, and one was saying 197, and I was like, fuck. Like, I'm either a pound under or a pound over, and I was like, I'm not gonna drive up to you with you to 17th Street and fucking be like, oh, you gotta re-weigh yourself at four. Like, so I went in for another 20 minutes just to play it safe, and it was fine. Uh, and all three sauna rounds were super easy. I use an infrared sauna tent. I think I went 40 minutes both times and then a 20 minute in the morning.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Yeah, I was surprised how well you handled it because I've been around before where you're like, yo, stick, stick around me and you know, just make sure I don't know. Where I feel like more delirious and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

No, man. I I've in my old age, I've really wised up. No, um, I did really, really well with my sodium manipulation and stuff and water intake. So like I was right where I needed to be where I didn't feel loopy or anything like the whole time. Good. Um now I will say this is the first time I've had insomnia. Yeah. Usually I can take a Tylenol PM and I bring those just in case to make me sleep so I can sleep off the rest of the water. Um, dude, I didn't literally not sleep a fucking wink.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

That's wild.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Yeah. That's wild.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

At all. Like, at all, dude. I'm surprised how well you did the.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

And I took two Tylenol PM and I still couldn't go to sleep. Like, dude, I could not fall asleep. Um, so yeah, I mean, that kind of put up against me. I'm I'm happy with my performance regardless. Um so yeah, I did the 20 minute and then we went to the sauna, wait in. Um I will say, uh, and I I I want to be honest on this podcast. I like to be honest. I'm a I'm a sky. Uh I will say um check-ins and registrations was pretty unorganized.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

It needed some help. I think um it being the first year doing this, like there's gonna be some things they gotta have worked out.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Yeah, yeah. They they definitely needed more on staff crew for the weigh-ins and the registrations. Like, they were stripped down to like what, one and one, and then the other guys were outside trying to get the monolift out of the trailer.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Yeah, it was like one person handling uh the check-in process of who you are.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

You gotta remember, it other people would cut weight too. So you had we had a line of like probably 20 people and one person checking them in.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Yeah, we got there a little early, and we were the first ones there, but by the time everybody was going and people were getting weighed.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

We we didn't get the first weigh-in, I was the very first weigh-in because I was the first one in line. We got there at probably like 8.25. Uh weigh-ins at 9. We did the first weigh-in didn't happen until probably like what like 9.10? 90. 9.12. It was it was a little bit past, but um did that, went outside, got our rackites and stuff uh in the mono, they were pulling off the trailer, and then uh we're good to go.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

Um we had a few surprises, I will say. Um as far as the bars go.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Yeah, we were we were yeah, go ahead and tell them about that.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

All um all APO meets that I've seen have been on uh the 30 kilo squat bars. Generally you get more like more equipped guys or they want like the denser bars. Um but that's when we were informed right then and there when we were doing the weigh-ins that we're using a 25 kilo uh Texas squat, so we're like, well shit, that's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

Not that not that me and Carl care about that, but it's like we would have trained on a Texas squat the whole time here in the cave.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

A little bit more whip than the regular bar we use, but like that's it's something we've done before.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Yeah, because I mean we trained on our big bar the whole time in order to prepare for that, and then when we got there, we were like, oh shit. Well shit. The bench bar is still the same, though. Yeah, the bench bar was still the same. Um the monolift um was a fabricated, self-fabricated. They said something it was uh No, I think it was. It's it was self-fabricated. Yeah. Um, so it didn't have a brand or anything. Uh and we we got them to agree we could set the hooks uh, what were we both four fingers out? Four fingers from the middle. So it reminded me a lot of like the Texas Power Systems mono, where like if you went all the way in, it would clip your biceps on wide, wide uh gripped lifters. So it would clip me and Carl's biceps on the pick, not a little bit either, by like a lot enough to shift the bar when you were picking it. So we're like, hey man, like this is really gonna mess us up. Like it's gonna cause like somebody to drop a bar.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Chad was on it. Come meet like meet day when we were up there. Like, I saw he was up there handling making sure the monolith was in the right place. Yeah, he was. Without even us telling, he like remembered like, oh, we gotta get this like the right.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Because we had we had written him down and both agreed too. Like, and we told you know, Matt and some of the guys that were with us on the stage on the platform, we're like, hey, like, make sure you check and call this out because like that's kind of like a weird request. Not a real request, but it's one that would have kept us safe.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Something off of the ordinary. So like if in the flow of things when you're doing a meeting up there, I mean I've spotted loaded plenty of meets, so I know like there if it's something out of the ordinary, um, it can be missed. So it's good to it's it's nice when you see that that's noticed and picked up on when you're in it.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah, yeah. Definitely the the respect and like you know, the hospitality was very nice from Chad. So we really appreciate him doing that. It was good seeing again. I've known Chad for many years now, or especially like before when I was a role lifter. Um I think one of the big things too is we were very nervous about the benches.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

The benches were very slick. They were Hansus. Yeah, not a fan of the Hansu benches at all. Um, the pads were very slick, so when you try to dig your back in and set an arch in your shirt and then pull in, you would slide like a foot back. It was very easy to move. Um so that that was a little worrisome because we had that same problem on Bobby's Texas ones, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:40

That was the ER racks.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

No, yeah, right. It wasn't Texas, it was the ER, yeah. Not a big fan of the ER racks either. They feel so rinky dink. Classics, but like yeah, definitely in the impression that they were using the Southside barbell benches, which are elite FTS like I have here. Yeah, yeah. So we were thinking we were, oh, we're gonna be on the the heavy duties, the tanks, bro.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Plus, they got cool color schemes over there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

So we thought that, but it ended up working out.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Purple and greens.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Luckily, me and Carl Carl are two Ps in a pod, so we were the same arm width, the same rack height on squat, and then the same liftoff and face saver height for bench.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Yeah, everything was easy.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

And me and him were literally one after the other in every flight. Yeah, except for every equipment, yeah. Well, Deads didn't matter. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Because it didn't matter, they don't have to set anything. But it was nice because, you know, like if we checked it off for one, like they would just adjust the weight if they had to, because we took some of the same attempts too. So it was like, you know, that that probably helped a little bit. It was a very equal day for us. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It helped a lot. Because it made sense when we were warming up too. It was very nice.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Yeah. Um, so like that went through our weigh-in, check-in process. Um, what did we do after that? We asked for some nice breakfast. I had to, I had to luckily there's a spot right next to us. There was, there it was.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

What was it?

SPEAKER_01 15:59

It was a the log cabin.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Log log cabin pancakes or waffles? Waffles, waffles, right? Waffle house. Um, pretty good. It was like dude dish cheap too under like 20 bucks, all you can eat.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

It's like 18 bucks for a full buffet or whatever you want.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I got really lucky because they had watermelon. Yeah. Sliced watermelon, so I was like, bro, citrulline, get this water back. Like I was, I was I was hydrating. Um, so I had orange juice and water to drink. I always do orange juice after for a refeed. Um, but I I did I did the Travis Rogers thing when I refeed. I did the thing. It was impressive.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Yeah, it was like four four full, full, like stacked plates of food. It was like four full breakfasts to like a regular person. I saw him put down and maybe like a.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

And by the time when I went back for the fourth one, and I told Rob, I was like, hey man, I'm just gonna go back for like a small one. And Carl laughed because he knew it wouldn't be small, and of course when I came back, he was like, That's a full-size plate. That's not a that's not a small plate. That's another breakfast. It was a great breakfast, though.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

It was, it was pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

It was pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Especially for being so close to the mini waffles.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

I ate a shitload, I probably had six or seven fried eggs. Um bacon, they had the sausage patties, yeah, the watermelon, we had biscuits and gravy. They had the uh, I was super stoked because we uh I usually like to go to crackle barrel with everybody, but they had the apple fix-ins, like the apple fix-ins for the top of your biscuits. I fuck with that, so we had a lot of good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

No, it was cool, and there's a bunch of us that went. I mean, like all of us that were like competing, including uh Rob and his girlfriend, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

We were with us, so yeah, and then Bo and his wife and his whole family and his kids. Um and then we took a walk. We walked on the boardwalk and went all the way down to the BMX and back.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Saw all the cool shit that was going on, walked off some of the like got some digestion going. Yeah, it's always good to take some steps after. I was hurting a little bit. I was a little full. I bet. I was a little full. We walked probably like a mile. We walk yeah, we walked pretty far. Um we get back to the Airbnb after that, you know, kind of just get the rest of our plans going. We stopped by and saw um the ABS meet that was going on.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Um that venue was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Dude, that that water room, tight son. Yeah. Um it was just like in a hotel, like in a regular hotel meet. Uh, but the venue itself was like a long venue, but like slender, you know?

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Yeah, yeah. Um a little tight for that volume of people for sure. It was it was packed, it was shoulder to shoulder. Um, shout out though, I did get to see a lot of old friends from my raw days that day. Um, I got to see uh an old lifter um I used to coach to from across the water. Um, so that was super cool. And I saw some friendly faces. I got to talk to Jaffey, and I got to talk to uh Landry, I gotta talk to a bunch of people that I hadn't seen. Rob was there, he was handling um Rudy. Yeah. So, and then of course, like uh Delko was back there, and like a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a while. So it was super cool just to say hi to everybody and get to see them do their thing for a little bit before we went back and I got to eat some more.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Which I did. I think it's really cool to be like, I mean, if there's another event going on with like a lot of notable people in the sport, I'm gonna go see it even though even though it's like a chill kind of like we're just supposed to be eating kind of day. Right. I'm not gonna not show up to an event like that. Just because like I met a lot of people there that I typically wouldn't have the chance to talk to.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Um, so it was fun.

SPEAKER_00 19:22

We uh I like powerlifting. Carl's obviously just in it for the popularity. Yeah, yeah, totally. He's just trying to put his FaceTime in.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

You know all those followers I have, so Carl's like Carl's like an influencer.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Yeah, I influence maybe myself. Me and putting bad decisions in a program.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

You influence me directly. Yeah. We went out to dinner that night for some hibachi. Where do we go for lunch? Did we go anywhere for lunch? I think uh what did we do? I think we just snacked and chilled at the Airbnb. Did we? I know I fucking ate all day, bro. Yeah, dude, you were s you were chilling on the couch watching Spider Spider Noir.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Yeah, Spider Noir, I went through a half bag of pretzels, I went through like whatever. I was getting it in. You were getting it in.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

I was on like my third PDLate. I stayed true to what I was talking about before, where I was like, alright, I can't like overdo it this time. Because like I don't eat as much as you, but I whenever I did try to keep up with that, you're miserable. I was miserable and I was like extra so incredibly bloated the next day was not fun and it made everything harder than it had to be. Yeah. So I kept at a normal eating pace the whole day because I weighed in at a normal weight anyway. Um, why change anything?

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Yeah, yeah. Control your variables is the number one rule.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Um and then we w we got some hibachi at the end. We met well, we met up with Anthony. Yep. That man was busy. Yeah, he landed a flight and then drove out to see us pretty much as soon as he got into his hotel. So props to him for the battery. Yeah, that was fun.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Um because we've been podcast internet friends for a very long time. Uh, me longer than Carl and Anthony, but now me finally getting to meet Anthony face to face, and he was one of the judges that I say on the APO platform, along with the APO president Wayne.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Yeah, we got to meet Wayne. We got to meet the show.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Wayne was super nice, dude. I really like Wayne. He's very down to earth, and it's super cool to meet somebody that high up in a federation who's like a lifter.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Also, like he's shown up to be like be around it. Like it's the first one they held down there, so I'm sure I can't. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Like, I mean, he he was about it, and I love that about him. Like, he was super cool, very easy to talk to. Um, really nice guy. Yeah really, really nice guy.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

I can't say more positive things about him, but I'll s I uh at the very I'll talk about it later, but real quick, at the very end of the meet, um I pulled the last deadlift, um, and I go up, shake hands, you know, as you do. And he was like, What's what's the total? And I was in no place to do math at that point, and I was like fumbling over. I don't know, it's fine, I don't know. It was a good one for me, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

I just thought that was funny. That is funny. Um but uh I will say a few quick things about dinner, man. Um it's so surreal uh talking to Anthony because it's like with some of our life experiences and things and the way we both talk about powerlifting, it's really like looking in a mirror, dude. It's kind of creepy.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

And like, I know like other people have noticed that, like when me and him were together, like, dude, it's like it's like talking to your reflection. Like, and not in like a weird way, it's just like I think a lot of people don't have all those things happen to them, so it's like nice to kind of talk to someone who understands on that level and actually has like been through that shit. And of course, I felt for him because we had to put him on the end because he was heebo hobbling around with his knee, yeah, yeah. Going through it, and I was like, man, I remember those days, dude, it's rough. Um but it's really weird the the parallels between uh you know Anthony and Roman and then me and Carl, both with like senseis and their apprentices. So like I don't know, it's it's very cool to like get to talk to those guys and stuff. I was bummed we didn't get to see Roman last weekend at the end at Nationals.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

Yeah, yeah. He's um dealing with some I guess uh what do you say? His spleen is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm he could make it out. It's like some important stuff I heard. Yeah, it's probably some medical things he's gotta get to. Mad props to him though. He's still training. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Wouldn't have it any other way. Um, so yeah, then uh I actually slept that night, I think. But yeah, we all went to bed pretty early. What do we go to bed at? Like 9 30?

SPEAKER_01 23:41

I uh I surprised you like both nights. You're like still.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Yeah, I'm wide awake and Carl and I'm still eating, and Carl's like, I'm going to bed. I'm like, dude, what fucking time is it? 9 30, man.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

It's bedtime. We gotta be ready tomorrow. I'm like, bro, I I can't force myself to go to sleep that early. I may not be good on my nutrition, but I'm on it for my you're on it for your sleep, man.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

You got that. You got that for sure. Um, so next day we woke up early, packed up the car. Uh we did not go back to the Airbnb, so we drove home right after the meet, which was rough. Yeah, that was rough. Yeah, that was a that was a decision we made. That was a choice. Um but yeah, so we we had to have all our shit not only ready for to go for the day for the meet, but we had to have all our stuff out of the Airbnb and packed up, ready to go. Um, so we did all that, and then we got to the meet. Uh the warm-up room was actually in a tent outside, very similar to how they did on the blacktop for American Pro 3.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Yeah, it was like kind of like within the crowd, but like off to the side.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Yeah, now they and it was on grass. Now, at first the day before I was very nervous. I was like, well, anything you pick above like 400 pounds is gonna shift. Um, so they did have like a bunch of wooden platforms and reinforcements down the next day for the monoliths and stuff. Um, and actually didn't end up being bad at all.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

No, I have no complaints really.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

Yeah, yeah. Like I noticed like a slight sink once we got around like 600. Yeah, I say once like our last one. But like nothing that like I was like, oh my god, it's gonna throw me off for the rest of the day.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Yeah. I definitely felt more whip on the warm-up or more like shift in the warm-up squats than I did on the platform because obviously like the texture of the brand is different.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

So the movement pattern is gonna be a little more difficult because you already have you have the movement of you, and now you have the sinking of an actual platform. We all know I I move a little bit, you know. Yeah, you're I'm a little shifty. I heard you're strong, but I heard your balance is shit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

We have seen. We have seen.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

So uh let's should we talk about the meat?

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Yeah, yeah, get into the the events, yeah. I guess like the meat and potatoes of it. Alright.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Well, well, you have to go first because you squat first. Oh, yeah, that's right. Well, what do we what do we do for warm-ups? Let's talk about our warm-ups real quick. Uh warmups went well. We hey, I will give us both credit. We did our timings for flights very well. Yeah. We were on point with that shit.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

I was also doubling back and forth, like, oh, I gotta go see Rachel squat, and then I gotta go back and take it.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

There was a couple times I was like, Carl, I know she's the woman of your dreams, but bro, like, get the fuck over. She killed it.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

I got I'm gonna talk about her too. Sure, oh after it? After after after we get through. Just like she was warm, when she was on the platform, we were warming up. Um we took, it was pound plates in the warm-up room. So we took like what bar, plate, three, five, yeah, six, hundreds something, and then seven hundred some.

unknown 26:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

So it was five warm-ups. Five warm-ups total.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Um you were gonna take a in-betweener. I was, I was gonna take a few. And then you took the same jump as me, which was 725 to 800. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Yeah, I did that because like the gear. You just had to feel it. No, no, it wasn't like that. I think sitting in the sun, the gear felt a little bit tighter. And um, I don't know, I don't know if it was the right choice. I mean, it worked out fine. Maybe I should have done the opposite of what I actually did because it was tighter. But once I had the uh I took like the 600 some with briefs and wraps on, and that boogied. Um depth was fine. I felt like I was all good. Usually that's like one where I can tell how things are gonna go. Um and we put the full suit on. Uh it was tough taking the first one in full kit. Usually it is. That's like that's an uncomfortable jump, especially with all the extra equipment you're gonna put on for that. Uh so I just said, screw it, I wanna take one of these, be done with it, go up on the platform and get my opener.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

I I will say, and I didn't vocalize this out loud. Uh I the warm-ups felt heavier to me than they normally did. Really? Yeah. Oh, you didn't make it look like it. I know, and that's why when the my opener was like, remember I told you I was like, dude, I felt like they misloaded the bar. It was like, I like blasted my opener, and I was like, that's the fastest that's moved, period. Like, even in training. Yeah, it was very quick. I was really impressed. Because everyone's like, You're very strong. No, I just I just was not expecting it after warm-ups. Because when we put my straps up, I was like, all right, this might be a dogfight today. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um that's just how the first one is the straps. It's always like the So we both took uh 805 for our opener, correct? Yeah, yeah. So Carl was first. Um I was surprised. I thought I would be first because I thought they were gonna organize it by uh I was in the 198 division, he was in the 220, but we were both the last two lifters of the flight. So I thought for sure they would do lightest weight, take it, and then remain for the the same weight, obviously, for 805 back to back, and then have the heavier weight take it.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

But they did not, they had me at the end.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

So, I okay, I will talk about the squat. I got one more thing. I'm sorry, there's so much that happened that day. Um, we're we are walking up. We take our last warm-up, and the announcer, I mean, he was a great announcer, he's talking to the mic the whole time, like going over people's attempts, what they're taking, just you know, as you do. Uh, and we're walking up, we're like on the back side of the stage before you go up the ramp, and he says something like, There's like sharks in there's sharks in the water, but there's monsters up here on the stage. I was like, Oh, that's pretty cool. Like, I'm walking up to them here. Oh, is that us? Yeah, yeah, you can't even hear that. I'm like, yeah, that that gets me going. I'm like, I'm here for it now.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

Man, I wish I heard shit like that. I'm so such a different lifter at Meets than I used to be. It said headphones on, like fucking super aggressive. Like, and now I'm just like fucking around. Yeah, I'm fucking around. Me and Matt are like poking each other and giggling, like we're just fucking around.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

So, I mean, that was that was cool listening to that going up. Like, alright, here we go, it's go time, like we're doing the thing. Um uh 800 805, you said that, or 804, 805, whatever it was. I get up there, I pick. The the pick was like uh a little bit whip at the top, but um nothing I wasn't expecting with the bar difference. Um and how I felt in the warm-up room with like less weight. I definitely knew that one was gonna have a little bit of whip to it. Uh got the squat command, you know, you know, go ahead down, hear my 3-2-1. Matt's calling for me as he always does. Um I hear one, wait like that half second after he says one, and then I try to get out after that. I don't hit a dip, but I always wait like another half second. It's probably like less than that, but it feels like longer. Um get out. It was pretty quick. Get my rack command, put it back in, look to the side, three whites. I was uh pretty stoked on that, so I knew I was in the meet. That's always like the where my nerves are like the highest. Yeah. You know, you you it's the very beginning of the meet, so you want to get like the first one good to start off with a good foot forward. So it was uh very pleasant to see.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

Now I will say uh yours did move good and you got three whites, but that was the one where you had stayed in wraps way too long. Okay, yeah, I forgot about that. You you rapped way too early. And I I'm I have my wraps on with my legs stretched out, ready to self-wrap, and I'm watching Carl. I was already got both legs on, and I'm right behind him. I'm like, oh no, buddy. Dude, I can't help you now, bro.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Yeah, I was not on it with my rap timing that day. I had several times where I'm like, well, I'm here. I'm not gonna re-wrap and waste energy. Yeah. Um But yeah, I I sat in my raps for like an extra minute and a half, maybe. And um afterwards I got him off. It was no problem, really. But for the for the time sitting there, I was like, yeah, I definitely screwed up.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Yeah, because I remember you came off and I was like, you should you should not put them on that really. Um because I I don't even think I even started rapping my knees until they were like just about to call your name for the weight loaded. I def I saw you like start one leg when I was walking up. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'm I'm I'm well I'm also a fast rapper.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

I'm very fast self-rapper, so like I I knew what I was doing as far as uh wait time goes. Because I I know I know I'm bad if I'm in rap. I can't wait it out. Like, I'm a good rap squatter, but like, and I'm good at sitting in them, yeah, but it does affect my squat speed if I sit in them for a very long time. So I was like, I was trying to be super mindful of that. And obviously I timed it right because I that was the fastest I've smoked 805 this whole training cycle.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

It was crazy to watch. I I mean I was like off to the side, kind of like out of it still, waiting to the come down after the first squat, but I did see like the weight shoot up afterwards, and I was like, Jesus Christ, what the hell was that?

SPEAKER_00 32:14

That was good, and I actually I actually got a red light. Yeah, I had two going on the first one, yeah, which is very unlike me. I don't usually get called. Maybe I I favored a hip that day or something. I don't know. Maybe it's your stance, dude. Yeah, that is true. So actually, Anthony said something to me about it the next day just because a lot of multiply judges aren't looking, they're surprised to see such a narrow squat for a multiply lifter. Yeah, but Anthony's made said a comment, he said, you know, when I watch you on Instagram, you always look so far forward in your squat. But then he said, as a side judge, when he sat on the side watching me, it looked really good. Yeah. It looked, but he was like, but from the a video angle, like we train in the gym on Instagram, he said, it always looks like you're so prominently forward. But like in a side judge's chair, he's like, you stay very like balanced.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

So that that would like you think that would cause one to be like, possibly. It's just like a little illusion, you know.

SPEAKER_00 33:07

Maybe possibly. I mean, but you know, you gotta do what I gotta do. Which was fine because I fucking buried the next one, so it was fine. You were like, Oh, I gotta I gotta Wayne said something to me, he goes, Do you do the little dip thing? And I said, No. He goes, You might wanna. And I was like, Oh, fuck, alright. I was like, so I just dunked that bitch on the second one. Yeah. So we both went up to, oh no. Well, okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

You put in your planned 43. Yeah, I put in my planned 43.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

I planned for 54, but I was like, that's my my heaviest platform at 220 plus was You can say 242. I mean, but uh it's barely 243. I rechecked that. It was only 230, it wasn't 233. Oh, jeez. Um, that was my heaviest walking weight I got to um was uh 838. So this is the kilo jump above it.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

So I went 843 because I was like, hey, I want to see how I feel. At least I hit a PR. I know I'm gonna get for a platform PR at two weight classes down, which was like my big thing because I wanted, you know, pretty good well into a four times body weight squat. It's pretty good. Pretty pretty solid. Um I I took mine, I took a PR on the second one. Uh definitely felt a little heavier, but dude, for how shitty my picks were all prep, that was again the best they've been. Like I just did I did well under pressure that day for squats. You only gotta be good one day. Yeah. Carl had told me that all the time during prep. He was like, you're good, just not right now. You just gotta be good that day. Um, so yeah, that actually went really, really well. Uh, it actually moved really good. Um, I probably definitely could have taken another one, but like I was super worried about bench. Obviously, we talked about bench a little bit on our last podcast about how shitty the prep files had been for the switching of the shirts, my bad arm giving me some hell. So, like, I wanted to save as much energy as possible for that. And uh honestly, smoking that PR at that much lighter body weight meant a lot to me. And I was like, cool, so I saved energy in scratch so I could just chill and watch Carl. Yeah, as the mature power lifter you are. Try to be. Uh, my rule is why do what you can do in nine if you can do it in five. That's right. So what what happened with you?

SPEAKER_01 35:21

Uh well mine was still before you, so you got to watch this one before you went up. Um I put in after my opener, I put in I planned on 854, because that's what I took for or for two singles as my top weight in prep, but that the opener didn't move quite to like what I wanted it to, even though it's still quick, it wasn't as fast as I has I have moved it before. So I was like, alright, let me just take the one jump below, I'll go 48. Which is something I also took in prep. But you know, I said I handle around those numbers three or four times.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

You took five pounds above me, that's why I okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

So I put in, I know, I know I put in, I talked to them, I put in 48, but on the uh lifting cast when we're looking at the numbers, um, it was put in as the kilo below it at 48.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

Uh the same weight as me. That's right, that's what happened.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

So, so I was like, Rob, can you go up there and ask them if they can put that in? Because I know I told them 48, and they were like, I'm sorry, it's already in there like this. And I said, screw it, it's okay, it's no big deal. I mean, it's still a PR squat. It's right around where I want it anyway, and I'm not here for that weight. I wanted to go one heavier anyway. Right, right, right. So that was my reasoning. I didn't, it wasn't gonna bother me. I was I wasn't gonna let it bother me. Um I go up and uh you know, weights loaded, I wrap my knees a little bit better that time. A little bit better. I still waited for like another 30 seconds extra than I should have, but um I get uh I picked the bar, pick felt fine. Um, and this is where it comes into like what I saw during like training. Um I get like these these squats are like taking me out. Like it's getting darker, you know what I mean? Like the walls are closing in when I get these heavier weights. And uh as I'm going down, you know, it's fade. I'm I'm getting close. And I was like, man, I could like take this down like the to the I I knew it was like Matt called two, and I was like, alright, it's it's pretty dark right now. I could get out now, and I might be able to get it if I get a gift, you know what I mean? Because sometimes those happen. Or I take it down and have the uh chance of losing it and maybe hurting somebody because I got eight plus in my bag. So I took the chance, I got out early, um racked it, and I shook my head, I immediately knew that it was gonna be bad. I look over and I had reds. So I was like, alright, missed that one, whatever. That's not what I wanted, but I'm here.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

Um now I will say this is part of the meet where it lit a little fire, because I think there was a small chance either was like, this little motherfucker is gonna outsquat me today.

SPEAKER_01 37:52

Yeah, yeah, that was definitely there. Yeah. Yeah, I uh after seeing your opener and then I missed that one. I'm like, fuck, dude. Damn it. Yeah, because you've been you had me in squats all prep. So that I mean, whatever, we're rolling with it. I go up to the table, I was like, repeat, you know, put it back in. I don't want to secure it, so I knew with like how you know my vision was going at at that weight, if I put more on, it's not gonna help it any. So I might as well just like take the chance of taking this one again and and put it like two inches lower or whatever it was. Um and then get out with it. Because I know it could squat it like it moved really it moved really well. Um I did like as soon as I got out and I was shaking my head, I was looking to the side judges and I gave them like the you know lower symbol. Like, do I have to is that what I need? And like they're like doing this to me. I was like, alright, alright, that's fine, I can do that. So I put in just the repeat and I go back, sit down, and um watch this guy blister it. So that was fun to watch. You're welcome. Yeah. It's like alright, he did it. Well, I can't not do it. Um rotation went back through. Uh it came back up. We're wearing sunglasses the whole time because like the sun is sitting right over top of us.

SPEAKER_00 39:06

Which is which is a benefit for me because I'm used to it.

SPEAKER_01 39:09

Yeah, you're used to it. I'm used to being sunglasses all the fucking time. Um I was fogging those things up too.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

Yeah, yeah, yeah. See, I'm I don't even pay attention to it anymore.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

I was fogging them up. So I took them off for my last one. I was like, I can't I need I need not as many things blurring my vision right now.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

So uh now I will say too, uh in case you don't talk about it, um this one, we had some issues when they were going to they were taking a really long time to load your bar.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

Yeah, there was like a uh uh something with the computer, I think. Just like they can switch over.

SPEAKER_00 39:42

Again, there was another time where Carl had wrapped his knees. Well, no, because even remember on my second, I had to unwrap one of my knees. You did, yeah. Because I had unwrapped my left knee because they were all of a sudden slow down and they were talking in the monolift.

SPEAKER_01 39:56

I think that's what it was. Like the guy before me was walking, so I was like, all right, here we go. I'm wrapping, I'm wrapping, I'm wrapping. I get both my legs done, and then I look up and they're still watching. I'm like, fucking. The bar is still loaded from the last guy.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

Yeah, so they hadn't even started the bar yet. I'm like, geez.

SPEAKER_01 40:09

I'm standing here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, and then we go through it all. So third squats come around, you're done, you got yours and walked. I'm big cheesing, I'm chillin'. I was like, kinda happy, but also kind of like, damn, I thought he was gonna take more. It was like duality. I was like, ah, okay. I had to do that.

SPEAKER_00 40:28

Hey, well, we had our the original plan for this was this is your qualifier, go get qualified. Yeah, totally. So I was I had a plan.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

Yeah. Um I took my repeat, I just fixed whatever I did wrong with the last one. Yeah, you know, and he got it, no problem. Pick was the same. I listened for my calls, I get a 3-2-1, wait that half second, get out, rack it, look to the side, three white lights. Woohoo! I got a big PR for you. 33 pound meat PR. So I'll take it. Take taking a 33 pound meat PR as a second's kind of ballsy, but Yeah, yeah. We uh we had we had the Alright, we had data to back it in training. I I am a big data's guy.

SPEAKER_00 41:06

If it's if the numbers make sense in training, they can make sense on the platform. We don't do fucking miracle numbers though over here.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

Especially getting stapled by like 10 pounds less than that at my last meeting. I was super stoked to walk out with that.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

Alright, let's move on to bench.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

Uh so bench warm-ups. Uh, we had a bunch of people helping. My buddy Brad that I coached came down and helped us out with that. He was holding some two boards and stuff for us. Shout out, Brad. Uh, who's all gonna be competing not this weekend but next week at King's Cave.

SPEAKER_01 41:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Brad will be here, Kevin will be here. There's a bunch of guys I coach that are gonna be competing here while me and Carl also coach and jump in for five-man squat spots.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

Yeah, whenever they needed to. Yeah. We'll have a busy weekend coming up.

SPEAKER_00 41:46

We will. But I'm glad we have a chill one this weekend because your boy wants to pet a dog and sleep. He's cooked. Yeah, I'd be cooked. Um, so bench bench warm-ups actually went really good. Uh, surprisingly, my shirt fit pretty decent. It was a little tighter. I know Carl's shirt felt tighter that day. You saw it. You saw what I was looking like. Yeah, yeah. His warm-ups looked a little meh just because the shirt looked a little tighter, like he was struggling to get to a board a little more than usual. So I was like, uh. Um, but I I knew Bench was gonna be shit from the moment. I mean, I I knew Bench was shit going into this meet. So, like, my whole thing was like, I wasn't gonna shoot for the moon. I was gonna get the opener, and if I had more after that, I'd go for it. And if it felt like I didn't or shit was bothering me, I was just gonna shut it down, just took what it take what I needed to get for the qualifying total because I knew I could make up for the rest of it on deadloads. Yeah, so my opener was drastically lower than anything I've ever taken in multiply before. My best multiply bench uh is 640. Um, and I opened with 474.

SPEAKER_01 42:50

Yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

474, so huge shot to my ego there. Like, you know, not even opening up with a 500-pound bench, uh, which was very uncommon for me. So that was kind of sad. But um got the bench, uh, didn't do bad with that. Uh I I felt like I was a little quick on my calls, like I I should have been listening a little better. I was fine, but um I had to, of course, show the judge's medical exemption for my one arm that does not lock out all the way. It's negative three degrees, uh, where I had my tricep redone and stuff. And it happens to be the same side as my pec. So I of course even had a judge he like he stuck his hand in my armpit the day before. It was like, oh fuck, that's like completely gone. I'm like, yeah, dude, I have one titty wonder over here.

SPEAKER_01 43:35

Um I don't know if I told you. I may have, but I definitely like after you were off, I was like, yo, listen for your calls, man. I think they think you jumped it a little bit on that press command.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

Yeah, yeah. Say I was a little quick on my press command. Um which is weird because when you watch the video, it's very like it's pretty paused.

SPEAKER_01 43:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:54

So um either way, uh it was a pretty decent bench for me, especially with the way a prep was going. I will say the very problem was well when I locked out the top and I got the rack command, one of the side spots picked the bar up. The other one did not. So when they pulled me, when they pulled me in, it was like an airplane going down, and one side went under the J cup, which made me shit my pants a little bit. Just a little bit. Uh, which really made us shit us pants our pants because later on uh guy had dropped a what what was it, six something? It was six on a dollar. Six something on his fucking throat. Yeah. Like on his throat. He's okay, but like, bro, like all the way down, like cracked him right in the chest and throat. Yeah, it was an early to see. Yeah. Uh which in defense, like, you do get to set your own safe, uh, face saver height and check it, so he should have been a little more diligent about that. Yeah, true. It falls on the lifter at that point. Yeah, it does. I mean, you you check your own shit. Like, I roll mine back and check every time that it's not gonna fucking break my.

SPEAKER_01 44:49

I had you I had you like double and triple check. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

Like, yeah. Oh, I don't fuck around with that. Especially as accident prone as I am. Yeah, true. So yeah, I got my opener. Um I put in for one one four or four ninety. Like a bonus bench. A 490 bonus bench. Uh, it wasn't there. My the speed and stuff was great, but my left arm just wouldn't stay locked out at the top. Like, I'd go up, lock it all the way, and it immediately would start drifting. So I didn't get a rack command, unfortunately. So I just scratched my third and knew I could make it up on dead list, and I'd leave all the benching glory to Carl.

SPEAKER_01 45:24

He is in the meat. That's all that matters. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:26

So you talk about your bench because mine was rather uh lackluster. Lackluster, but keep in mind our time limit.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

Okay. So bench comes around. Uh warmups are great for me raw. As soon as I put the shirt on, like, oh, this thing's tight. It was sitting in the sun. Same as the fucking squat suits were. Uh I take like my normal three-board, two board, and then one board.

SPEAKER_00 45:48

I don't think it was the sun, motherfucker. I think it was all the food we ate the day before. Okay. Okay. You s I think, I mean, the shirt was hot.

SPEAKER_01 45:54

I felt like the shirt being hot.

SPEAKER_00 45:56

It's not a but it wasn't damp and then in the sun. It was just in the sun. It's not a fucking raisin. It doesn't dry up and shrivel. Bitch, it's a piece of cloth. You're acting like it's an organic living.

SPEAKER_01 46:09

Let's conduct some tests, yeah. Oh my god. So, okay. Shirt is tight for an unknown reason. Let's say that. We uh I take a one board like 20 pounds below my opener, and I'm I'm getting down and I'm hearing seams like stretch and pull, and I'm like, okay, kind of like barely touch it to the one board, press out. Press was quick, so I was like, if I can get that down to a one, I got the speed today, so you're I should have no problem taking an opener at 584. Uh I was the I think I was like the last opener. You were. You were because it was it was me, then the guy in the unlimited shirt, and then you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm the last opener. I get up there. Um we know what we're doing. Rob's handing off. Rob's the man for handoffs. He's been had plenty of practice doing it with us. Um we get it out. I had a little shiftiness right as soon as like the sides released. And um, I was just off balance kind of the whole time, getting down. And um get down, it's like moving forward on me towards like the bottom, it's kind of like drifting. And um I get I get a touch, so that's perfect. I'm where I need to be, but it's a little off, and then I get a press command, and then I just throw it back over my head, and they gotta catch it from me. So I threw it back over myself, I couldn't knock it out, they had to get they had to take it and put it back in the racks. I was you know, another one of those should have had that moment, you know what I mean? So you missed your opener. I did, I missed my opener, it was a bad spot to be in. I went two for three on the squats with a second attempt, and then I went, you know, I missed my opener bench first round. So I was like, shit, this is not a great spot to be in. Bench is going great, all prep, now here we are.

SPEAKER_00 47:49

That was my favorite line from you when we were done, because you were like, if they had put you and me next to each other, they wouldn't have been able to tell who had the good bench prep and who had the bad bench prep.

SPEAKER_01 47:59

Yeah, because we both came out with one bench. Um I uh did some adjustments with my shirt. Um I pulled like the shirt was getting bunched up back behind my triceps, so I had Rob pull it back before I laid down. Um take the same weight. I just retook 584. Uh I knew I got it down before I'll just do it again and fix it. Like that's that's the main thing. I just had a lot of like, alright, well, I screwed up the first time, let me just fix it this time, sort of deal. Um touch, get a press command, push it up, no problem, lock it out, get my uh rack, stand up, three whites, perfect. I'm in the meat.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

We're in the meat.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

Yeah, we're in the meat. I have a subtotal right now, and um, it's also a bench PR by like whatever, maybe 19 pounds.

SPEAKER_00 48:43

And again, I'm I'm already scratched my third, so I'm I'm already eating food and chilling. I'm I'm big chilling, I'm big chilling always.

SPEAKER_01 48:50

Uh so that was like, we're here, we can put in a bench now. I want to break a 600 bench, so I put in 606 as a planned second. Um and then right as like you like she said before, I'm the last one, the dude in the unlimited shirts for me.

SPEAKER_00 49:04

And I'm already out. So let me tell this because I was I was confused. Um, so obviously everyone knows I wear prescription sunglasses most of the time because I don't think I'm just the coolest guy in the gym and that's what I do. Actually, no, I have uveitis, which is an eye condition where the middle layer of your eyes swell up according to light sources. You get styes real easy, and like it looks like someone like punched me in both my fucking eye sockets. So my eyes swell up really bad, and once they get really bad, it almost gives you like a vertigo effect where like you start losing your balance and shit like that. So if you ever wondered why, that is why. It's not just because I'm the guy in glasses now. Um, but I'm down there eating nerds. I mean I saw you with your rainbow nerds. I'm eating a box of rainbow nerds, giggling and smiling with Jess, because Jess came and surprised me at the meet. I did not know my wife was coming to watch the meet, and she showed up with Danielle to hang out, so I was very excited to see her. So we're giggling and watching, waiting for Carl to go third. Uh, so we can all we're all cheering and videoing on from like the side stage uh in the front. And uh I can only see the guy lie down and the unlimited shirt, but like there's a five-man team, so I only see the feet. For whatever fucking reason, I think it's Carl. Because I'm used to Carl being after me. Yeah. So like 30 seconds later, this dude drops this bench and it hits him in the fucking throat. Everyone screams, dude, I thought it was you. You can ask Jess, you can ask anyone, dude. Both arms up, nerds flying fucking everywhere, and I just fucking take off in a sprint towards the towards the fucking back of the ramp. And I go, oh my fucking god, it's Carl. I go and just fucking straight booking it, plowing over people to get to the back. I run all the way up the platform out of breath, like, oh my god, Carl. And then you and Rob are just sitting there like, yeah, what's up, dude? I'm like, oh my fucking god, dude. I was like, I thought it was you. He goes, nah. I'm like, oh my god, dude. I was I was freaking out. I thought it was you. Yeah, I thought for sure it was you.

SPEAKER_01 51:09

I'm like, bro, my boy my boy is like dead. It was scary to see like right in front of me, and especially right before I go take my third around the same way. I was like, oh god. There's a good picture that Danielle got of me and Rob standing up there, like right as it happened. Yeah, yeah. Very scary.

SPEAKER_00 51:22

So he's okay. He's okay, very nice guy, too. We had to talk to him. I've talked to him on Instagram too since then. So he is fine. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 51:29

But uh He's recovering. Then, Carl, what happened? Okay. I got the bar loaded. 606. Here's here's my 600 bench. Been working on this forever. Been going well too. Been going well. I've been taking 620s, 630s in the gym. Like, all right, let's do this. Uh come down, get my press. The handoff and like the the descent was perfect. Yeah. I thought it was great.

SPEAKER_00 51:51

Yeah, I said the same thing to you.

SPEAKER_01 51:52

And me and Matt both were like, oh, he's got that. Yeah, yeah. I get it, I get a press command, and I sh I push, you know, I do my thing. I'm going. About midway through, something that I've never encountered happens. Go figure. Um my hamstring twists up and me cramps, which I've never dealt with. And I was like, Jesus Christ, that scared me. And then I pull it back over my head and I have to grab it. And I I get up and I'm grabbing my hamstring like, what the hell was that? What's going on back here?

SPEAKER_00 52:19

You need the pickle juice. So eagles.

SPEAKER_01 52:22

That that happened. No bench. Oh well. I went one for three. I got my opener, but it was still a PR. I'll take it.

SPEAKER_00 52:28

So that's funny because we've both I didn't think about it at the time, but up until that point, we both only completed three lists together. Yeah. Two squats and a bench a piece. Yeah. Look at us. So a reason you're right, man. Two feet in a pot. Um now uh deadlift. Uh they advertised this as a quick meet. It was not a fucking quick meet. Oh, we were dragging ass. We were dragging ass, dude. It was very late. Um, it was a long meet. And then, of course, the weather cooperated, like I said, it was breezy, but like everyone started getting sunburned. Um, we were lathering up, we all had hats on and shit, but like the sun was starting to take it out of everyone, and I was definitely slowing down. Uh warmups for deadlift, surprisingly, though, felt really good for me. I I I always get a little warm worried, and one of my key lines I say to Carl, I say to every client, is it's not about what you want that day, it's about what you have. So, like, I always modify deadlift that day because you need to lock in a total. And if it if your opener's too high and you're feeling that sluggish, like it's not a risk worth taking. So you need to go down. This is one of the very fucking few meets that I did not go with that logic.

SPEAKER_01 53:37

Yeah, there's plenty of times during this whole prep and meet day where I was like, you broke your rules.

SPEAKER_00 53:42

Yeah, so I was a rule breaker this prep. Um, so I actually kept telling Rob, I said, okay, I need a 2K on the dot. That'll give me an over 550 gloss and some change. Uh at 196 or 197 with a with a 200 with a 2K dot, it would, or 2K total, it would give me like a 556, 557 gloss. Right. So that's what we needed for for me for an APO or for WPO qualifier. So I was like, dude, I think I'm just gonna raise my opener and not risk a hand tear or going for a second. I think I'm just gonna bump it to 683. So I waited to like the last fucking second. I think I took 625 in the warm-up room.

SPEAKER_02 54:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:26

And then instead of going 661, which was my original opener, which was between the 650 and the 672 I'd been taking all prep. I said fuck it, and we went up another 10, and I went to uh 683. So that way my total would be uh 843. 843. Yep, uh, 474, and then 683, which would give me 2k point seven. Yeah, right on the right on the money. Right on the fucking money. So um I go up there, it was a little heavier than I I anticipated, which I actually knew like going into that. I was like, okay, this is a little heavier, like it's gonna feel a little heavier, and it was a little heavier. I can always tell. Uh there's two giveaway signs because I consider myself a pretty good deadlifter. Uh, two tail tons my CNS is going in, it's been a long day for me. Is number one, my grip fails, which thank God, since I've lost weight, that external rotation problem hasn't been happening. So I haven't had grip issues. Uh, and grip issues didn't happen that day either. I was good, I didn't rip a hand, I didn't do anything, I was fine. I could have held on to the bar. Um, but I my low back starts to give out, so I get more forward than I usually do. So I'll scoop less in with my suit in the hips, and my hips will raise further quicker so that way I'm forced to use my back for more of the lock. Uh that definitely happened on 83. Um, because I I started not not struggling to lock it out, but I could tell like I didn't have my normal like snap through like I normally do. I wasn't. Yeah, yeah. That's why, yeah, that's why I got the turtle shell to back it up. So I had to put the turtle shell to work and she did. Locked it out, really clean, hold at the top, and got it down. So I got my 2K. So everything after that for me, I was all smiles because it was just like your bonus points, though. It was bonus points. Whatever happens, happens. So I put in for 705 for my second attempt. Um I went to pull it. I got about halfway through. I was even more smoked out and forward than the first one. And my grip was good, but I knew if I kept fighting it, it was asking for an injury. Yeah. Uh so and I, because of the forward position on him, I usually know where if I continue to pull, I know it's still gonna end in. I'll be locked, but it'll be forward shoulders. So I was like, dude, I'm gonna risk getting hurt to get a lift that's not gonna count anyway. Right, yeah. So I I got it, and it moved pretty decent up to the part where it started to stick, and I was forced with my hips out. So I put it back down, waved, smiled. I was in a good mood, and I shook everybody's hand, and then after the meet was over, I came back on stage and shook all the judges and stuff and Wayne's hand and stuff. But uh, I was super happy. Um 2K at 196.9 for 557 gloss to qualify me for WPO. So hopefully uh I will get my WPO invite. Um, I know there was already some talk about it from Wayne and some of the other guys because they are sending out invitations still right now, but that's my game plan moving forward right now for a perspective meet for me. Is me and Carl are kind of waiting to see if that's that's gonna be we're going because I told him I wouldn't do WPO without him, but he has insisted that if I worked and got the invite that he would go handle me and I was I was going.

SPEAKER_01 57:39

For sure. Not gonna let it not happen.

SPEAKER_00 57:41

Yeah, so I I am going whether I like it or not.

SPEAKER_01 57:44

Um I guess deadlifts for me were uh uneventful but also eventful at the same time because I I don't know if you know this, I've never failed a deadlift at a meet.

SPEAKER_00 57:54

No, and Carl's also the hates deadlifts the most and has the shittiest, hardest ones probably in prep. Yeah, and then always do exceptionally well at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 58:04

Yeah. So I opened um very conservative at 540. It's a round like a usual opener for me, but yeah, pulls were going really well, so I I didn't even try to bump it up still, I just kept it where it was. Um 540 got me a PR total. That was like a 1970-something total. So anything after that I was happy with, but it's not what I came there for. Um put in for, I talked to you about this before it went up, and I was like, all right, uh, this number, this number, this number, this all equals 2K. So I secured my first 2K.

SPEAKER_00 58:31

Yeah, say our rule was you are taking exactly what you need for 2K and not a nut hair more.

SPEAKER_01 58:37

Right. So I put in 573 for that, which uh altogether gave me 2K. Um I go up there, I get, you know, da-da-da-da-da, go up, pull it, it was very easy. The first opener is actually a little bit far forward.

SPEAKER_00 58:48

Oh, yeah, I was forward. Now we talked about that too. Yeah. Matt said too, we thought it was the stage. Yeah. Because like the stage was kind of like maybe at an angle a little bit. I don't know. I don't know. Either way, I was on my toes. But we noticed it from almost everyone. Everyone was a little more forward than usual.

SPEAKER_01 59:03

Yeah, so easy fix though. I mean, like on my second, um, I pulled it no problem, didn't feel forward. Right. And I turned around, flashed the two over to Travis, and I was like, there's my two. Yeah, yeah, we were high. That's that's the big one. Um, and then after that, he pulled his seven, um, drops the seven, and then me and Rob kind of like looked at each other and looked over at you. We're like, oh shit, I have a chance to out totally right now.

SPEAKER_00 59:26

Yeah, because I shook hands and they knew I was I was I was all smiles and big chillin again. I was done.

SPEAKER_01 59:31

Oh, oh, oh geez, here it is. Yeah, this is your shot, big dog. I put in six because I was like, I've handled six twice in prep. I haven't pulled six since February of 2025. So I don't even I I hope it's I hope it's there, but I it's never guaranteed. I've never been a great puller, so I didn't think six would honestly be a good shot or not. Um and uh at that point I was like, oh, I have to pull six again, and also this also rides on me out-totling you. So, I mean, I I'd love to match a total with you, but that's kind of lame compared to like It is. Yeah. Who wants to match a total with you?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:05

Especially with me being lighter than you, that would have been.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:07

Yeah, kind of like. You would have dragged me for a long time.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:11

I'm I'm still dragging you.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:13

Oh, so I was like, damn it, alright, here's six to try and beat him.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:17

It wasn't astronomical, it was one more pull than I had. I know. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:20

So it wasn't like But I get no other opportunities. Like it's it's this or I don't.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:24

You had the you had the shot.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:26

Um and uh they call six. I'm you know getting myself hyped for it. I go up, and I just it felt like there was nothing on the bar.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:33

Yeah, you your adrenaline was going and like all of us were screaming at you. I'm already crying because I'm a little bitch. Uh, and there's videos of me behind you screaming and yelling and shit.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:44

Um It felt it felt like nothing, dude. I I I I get it off the floor. Like I like I said to you, like there's some like you pull on it, it's like this is gonna be tough, or I'm already stood up with it. You know what I mean? Yeah. Um, and that was one of them. I like I got the slack out of the bar, wedged in, and it's just like levitated up into the lockout position. I was like, okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:03

It was a good point. Stood there for like an extra. It's probably your best six ever at a meet. Yeah, regardless, yeah, because you've I mean, even if you've pulled it before to meet, that was the smoothest and nicest you've pulled it for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:12

I probably cut the time in half. It took me like 10 seconds pull the first time. Very sure. Five second pull this time. Correct, correct, 100%. Um, and you know, I held her for like an extra couple seconds at the top because you know, I was like, all right, it's done. I got it. That was awesome. I'm super proud. It was clean. Set it down, shook the hands. Wayne asked me like what the total was, and I was fumbling over the water. Good, good for me. And that was it. That was the meat. So I ended with a 2028 at 216. Uh, not the gloss qualifier, but I that was kind of like a shot.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:39

What was yours? 538, 539?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:42

539 at 216. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:44

Which explaining that to people, like that sounds like, oh man, he was right there, but I actually like I needed two other attempts to actually get my qualifier. Yeah, you needed quite a bit. Yeah, so I it was and it wasn't light attempts either. They were like Yeah, they were like legit, legit attempts.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:59

I would have had to take in a third squat heavier, and I would have had to have gotten the 606 bench. Yeah, yeah. You needed like a perfect day. And even with a perfect day, it would have been hard. And I knew that going in. Yeah, yeah. So like as soon as the second squat was like my my go-ahead, like that's the only one I got. I was kind of like, alright, let me let me just put together a total to try and beat them.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:16

Well, we've done Wilkes, we've done dots, and now we're doing gloss brenner, but like a good way to explain this to people is uh obviously this isn't perfection or anything, but the best way for me to think about it is a little bit under 10 times body weight total will get you towards like a 550. Because I hit a little bit above a 10 times body weight and it spared me like six or seven extra points above the 550 qualifying.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:40

Yeah, it was like right there.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:41

Right. So like you you basically, basically need a 10 times body weight.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:45

Yeah. If you're lighter.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:46

Now when you get to like the heavier classes, it's yeah, it does favor heavier classes, if you're like 260, 275. I think it it it it varies up there. It does, it does.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:54

If you're small fries like us, it's pretty close to that. Yeah, I think it's so funny. Like, you think 220, you tell a regular person I'm 220, they're like, oh, you're you're big. But like 220 is still like the smaller guys in that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:09

So like I I now qualify to go on Saturdays instead of Sundays. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:13

The little boys. And um I mean the rest of the team showed out too. Like, I was gonna say, Rachel was five. Yeah, yeah, go talk, give Rachel her flowers, man. She she had her first 400 squat uh in a meet ever. She squatted 402, and then she pulled another 400 pound deadlift.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:27

Which my that was my big goal for her as her coach.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:29

So I wanted to see her pull and squat four in the same meet. Two fours in the same meet. It was incredible. She had a deadlift PR and a squat PR. Um, she's always had issues with her left shoulder for the past like three years. So she got her opener bench at like 193 and then jumped to 215. But was a ballsy jump.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:44

It was, but that was still high enough to get us a PR total on her second pull. Yeah, exactly. And then another higher PR total on her third pull, which she completed successfully. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:55

So she she missed the second bench because she was gunning for a bench PR, but the shoulder said no. Yeah. Um made up for it with deadlifts, though. It was a crazy third pull.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:03

But had three, a total, a dead, and a squat PR. Yeah, so that was pretty dope. Very good meet for her, very good meet for her.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:10

And Bo got through his first equip meet, which was.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:12

And Bo did great, man. But he was a little overzealous on the uh squat. Missed her almost 14. Oh, so we love him almost 14. And we love him for it. 1399, 14 in R. So we we had a really good showing for the team. Um, I was very proud of the team. It was very nice. And then not only just the team competing, but like our team that came with us and helped other people, helped other people warm up. We're in the warm-up room, like obviously like representing the bear cave how I always want it represented outside of these four walls.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:41

Yeah. I even told Chad, I was like, man, this is gonna be one I remember. Like, this was a very fun meet.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:45

Like, yeah, I would even though I bitched at Carl the whole time for picking an outside meet in multiply. Uh, maybe next year I'll do it again with you, but I'll do single ply.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:54

We gotta get some more people in multiply out there next year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I want to have some more multiply people in, so does Chad. He was asking me. I was like, all right, I'll do my best. Yeah, yeah. So if you're listening and you're in multiply, or if you're not and you want to get into it, do that meet with us. That was a fun one.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:07

Well, we had a lot of other stuff to talk about for cues and nationals and stuff, but honestly, since the cues and stuff fit in with like our nationals recap for like coaching and stuff, and we can talk about some of the stuff from this meet as far as like cues and coaching. I think we should save that for next week. Dude, hold it. Yeah, we got it. Hold it, hold it. Keep you on the edge of your seat, up on them toes. We'd be holding, holding info.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:27

Um that was our recap. Yeah, man. It was a great time.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

It was a great time. I really enjoyed that meet, and especially with our first experience for APO. Uh, again, it was super awesome. I've known Chad for a while, it was very nice, and he was very hospital towards us. And of course, uh, it was always great seeing uh meeting and hanging out with Anthony for the first time in person, and then of course, meeting Wayne, the president of the APO. He was a very nice guy. Yeah. So that's a rat, then that's a wrap, man. So uh, like I said, we're we're currently looking for another meet. I've picked out another one just in case uh we don't have one that's a little more local for us. That's not a bad drive. That's not bad. We're gonna keep that under lock so you don't know where we're going. Um but uh yeah, uh hopefully by next week we'll know. Um I actually talked to WPO today. Oh, cool. Uh so they are finalizing the last ones they're sending out right now. So hopefully by next podcast we'll know if I'm I'm making moves or not. Oh, I'm excited now. Uh I am not excited to get back in the Super Cat. I have decided uh because Anthony, the first thing he told me was you need a more supportive shirt considering your bad elbow and bad, you know, not bad, missing chest. Um, which the Super Katana fits. And honestly, like I think I'm just gonna bite the bullet and spend like three months in it, like just breaking it the fuck in, just going to town and stretching it like every fucking day and shit.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:41

Yeah, dude. I'm gonna see you like chewing on sheet mail. We'd be so mad. Bro, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:46

That is not that is a gangster fucking shirt. So I think that's what we're doing. And I'm also staying 198. Cool. So you heard it. You heard it, heard it. Back to victim weight over here. Little boys do it better. I don't know. That should not be the hash. Don't say that. Little boys do it better. That's weird. Pause, pause. Yeah, yeah. Alright, guys. Uh thank you for tuning in for this week. We will be back next weekend with a new episode with Love and Grumpy Paul's. We be out.