1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,920 Grab your pre workout and turn up that volume. 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,040 It is time for a new episode of The Power Lifters Den with your 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,680 host Cam Smith. Hello everybody, welcome back to 4 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:10,440 another episode of The Power Lifters Den. 5 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,480 I'm your host Cam Smith and today I wanted to bring on 6 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,360 someone I met down at the perfect storm down in Daytona 7 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,360 Beach. Danny, why don't you introduce 8 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:23,560 yourself? My name is Daniel Tanjaro. 9 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,880 I've been powerlifting for roughly 24 years. 10 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,640 Located down in Holly Hills to be specific, which is new 11 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,040 Daytona at Perfect Storm Gym. Yeah. 12 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,040 So I was taking a little bit of a look at your open powerlifting 13 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,680 before this and you said you've been competing for 24 years. 14 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:44,600 I've been alive for 24 years. So you definitely have your 15 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,240 experience in the game and looking at all these meets and 16 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:49,640 stuff. I think one of my first 17 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,840 questions for you is kind of, I guess over the years, what's 18 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,240 been able to let you compete at this high level for so long? 19 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,280 Definitely delving into the bio mechanics side of things, but I 20 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,960 didn't really get into that until around 2015 or so. 21 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:13,360 And even that first few years it was just trying to apply things, 22 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,880 experimenting and finding out what works and what doesn't. 23 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:21,200 But the 1st 15 years, I was very adamant about having as good a 24 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:25,360 technique as I could, even though looking back, not 25 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:28,840 everything was perfect. But I was still like super 26 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,920 strict about how I did things. And that definitely helped laid 27 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:37,520 a good base and somewhat kept my ego in check. 28 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,000 But I started training when I was 14, so, you know, I was a 29 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,080 teenager, yeah. What was your first meet 30 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,760 multiply? My first powerlifting meet 31 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,040 technically was a push pull. I didn't roll. 32 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,600 I was still a junior in high school, but I competed in high 33 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,120 school. We had we're all bench press, 34 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:05,000 clean and dirt. I didn't get into multiply until 35 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,360 after I was done with my weightlifting season and that 36 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,880 was like later in 2005. Yeah. 37 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,800 And I know down in Florida, that's kind of like how a lot of 38 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,440 high schoolers get into it because there was a kid on my 39 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,000 football team in college who was from Florida and he was like a 40 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,360 state champion for like the the bench and clean and jerk and 41 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,000 thing. So it's kind of interesting to 42 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,280 see people kind of transitioning that into like full 43 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,480 powerlifting, whether they decide to go the powerlifting 44 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:32,640 route or the weightlifting route. 45 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,320 Yeah, I feel like it. It laid a really good base for 46 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,960 me. And I was super torn, like after 47 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,800 I graduated because I love powerlifting and I just happened 48 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,680 to have a few friends that were power lifters already, and they 49 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,520 just kind of coerced me into, you know, taking the dark route. 50 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,600 Yeah. So I, I know you competed at the 51 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,600 the meet a few was almost a month ago now. 52 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,400 Maybe tell us about a little bit about going into that prep and 53 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,600 kind of preparing for a meet like that. 54 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,760 Oh. Man, this one was particularly 55 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,320 rough. I was super excited. 56 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,280 Like Tommy. Tommy and Gary always put on a 57 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,640 good meet, but this year in particular was fucking static. 58 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:20,920 I mean, you saw the line up and the kind of numbers the majority 59 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:25,000 of the guys are throwing around. So even though my training was 60 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,360 very lacklustre, I was dealing with a few different injuries 61 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:30,680 and stuff like that. There's no way I was going to 62 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,080 back out of that if I could still compete just because I 63 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,840 fucking love competing and especially getting, you know, to 64 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,800 do it head to head with guys that are right there on your 65 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:42,960 tail. It just like that's to me, 66 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,640 that's what sports about. So I was super excited about it, 67 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,160 even though I knew I was going to take a hit on a few of my 68 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,720 lifts, dealing with some shoulder stuff that's been long 69 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:57,240 term. And then I just reaggravated my 70 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,200 knee that was previously injured in January and I haven't been 71 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:02,560 able to get it straightened out since. 72 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,360 So it's just doing a lot of dancing around the flames and 73 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:06,840 trying not to fall into the fire. 74 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,920 Yeah. And I, I know this meat was, it 75 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,960 was very, very hot in that meat. So especially if someone is like 76 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,720 a multiplier and all that gear and stuff, maybe what are some 77 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,760 of the things that kind of got you through the day itself? 78 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,840 Luck, I mean, you know, I tried to hydrate. 79 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,680 Thankfully we got you know, the liquid ugly or I'm sorry, the 80 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,120 element packs. I had like three of those 81 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:36,960 throughout the day and then I have like 1/2 gallon of water 82 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,840 jug that I'll throw some salt in and a few other things like some 83 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:42,720 creatine and I'll use that water. 84 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:44,800 Like if I need to mix a pre workout or whatever. 85 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,280 Everything I drink that day contains some form of 86 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:51,080 electrolytes because otherwise, you know, I would have just been 87 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,720 worse off. I won't say I wasn't fried by 88 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:55,520 deadlifts because I definitely was. 89 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,160 There was just no escaping the heat on that particular day. 90 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,720 And I know over the years you've competed obviously at other high 91 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,200 level meets and stuff like such as the WPO and stuff. 92 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,400 What was the first time you competed at the WPO? 93 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:18,560 20 So I was supposed to go to 2018 and that's when I blew my 94 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,120 knee out. So that was that was fucking 95 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:23,920 heartbreaking. I can't remember. 96 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:31,480 I want to say it was 2020. I was at 2018 and like I I was 97 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:33,840 just spectating and helping out in the back and stuff like that. 98 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,080 I'm sorry, I can't remember if it was 19 or 20, but it was one 99 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:41,520 of those next years, yeah. Well, and obviously like 100 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,080 Multiplies community is kind of unmatched in terms of the 101 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:45,360 camaraderie and things like that. 102 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,840 So kind of going to these big level meets like the WPO, how's 103 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:52,000 the experience compared to like a local meet? 104 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,840 I mean, for me, it's probably a lot different than someone who 105 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:00,640 was going there for the first time and doesn't, you know, have 106 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,520 the experience in the sport. I've been doing this since I was 107 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,200 14, so I know most of these people on a relatively personal 108 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,360 level. So every time I go to a meet, 109 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:11,520 it's almost like a family gathering. 110 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,240 You know, it's, it's a good time, It's catching up with 111 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:17,360 people, it's bonding, you know, sharing our passion for the 112 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,400 sport. And there's always some family 113 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:20,920 members who just can't fucking stand. 114 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,880 And just remind everybody maybe with some of your best lifts are 115 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,640 and I guess each division, whether it's single ply, 116 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:36,360 multiply, raw. So currently my best total multi 117 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,000 was just under 26. I think it was like 2596. 118 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,600 The open powerlifting single play total I think they have is 119 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:49,640 still a bit skewed. It shouldn't be like the 2350 120 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,880 something one of the lists. I think the deadlift in 121 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,360 particular that got put in was inaccurate, so that one should 122 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:01,880 be closer to just under 2300. And then for raw two years ago, 123 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:03,960 I finally cracked the 2000 LB raw mark. 124 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,200 So that was one of my bucket list goals. 125 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,400 But the the ultimate goal is still to multiply total that I'm 126 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,360 trying to work on, so I try not to get too distracted with the 127 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,080 other disciplines. Yeah. 128 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:23,480 And I guess from a guy who's mainly multiply, at what point 129 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,520 did you kind of know you were ready to go into a raw meet and 130 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:32,360 hit that two Ki? Had been chasing it several 131 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,920 years back before I blew the knee out and honestly I I had 132 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,200 the strength to do it and I just had a bad meet where I lost 133 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,040 balance on the squad and I knew that was going to cost me my 134 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,200 total. So I used to time it out to 135 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:51,400 where I would do a raw meet early in the year, a multiply 136 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:55,120 meet midway through, and then usually single ply would be like 137 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,960 Olympia that I went to for I went four years in a row. 138 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,600 So I had to wait like an entire year to get back to my raw 139 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,360 training cycle. And unfortunately, when I was 140 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:11,280 prepping for my multiply meet in July of 2018, that's when I got 141 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:13,200 injured. I was also scheduled for a 142 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,280 strongman show like two weeks after that. 143 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,840 Bad planning on my part, but it helps keep me distracted 144 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:22,760 whenever I can't powerlift the way that I want to. 145 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,520 But I just knew, you know, I had, even though it wasn't top 146 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,120 priority for that role total, it was something that if I don't 147 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:32,640 get to do, I'm going to be very upset. 148 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,520 So I figured I would take a swing at it and I did hybrid. 149 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,240 I can't remember when that was, but it was when COVID was big 150 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,320 because I had COVID going into the meet like 12 days out. 151 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,760 I got hit with it and thankfully I recovered enough to be able to 152 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,760 complete the meet, but I felt a little bit short of my 2000. 153 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:58,600 So then I think it was the next year is when I did the vice 154 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,560 barbell vice meet and that's when I told 2000. 155 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,240 Awesome. So, yeah, I think that that's 156 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,760 obviously like one of the those those totals that every raw guy 157 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,200 hopes ahead eventually and. I mean, it's not, it's not what 158 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,480 it once was, but it was. So that was the number that I 159 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,840 had set in my head so. Yeah. 160 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:21,280 And so you mentioned before that you're kind of the the key to 161 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:23,760 longevity for you is really focusing on the bio mechanics. 162 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:28,560 I know you do coaching too. So I guess maybe discuss about 163 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:31,720 how you kind of implement your knowledge of bio mechanics into 164 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:36,800 your coaching? Like gets pretty in depth and 165 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:41,320 tricky, but to oversimplify it, we take a look at the body. 166 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:45,760 You have certain ranges of motion that should be, you know, 167 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:47,720 adequate just to survive as a human. 168 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,640 Now, what we do in powerlifting doesn't require nearly that, you 169 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,680 know, level of range of motion. However, if I know that I can 170 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:01,120 maintain those ranges of motion, I'm pretty safeguarded against 171 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:03,280 most injuries. Not everything because shit 172 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,320 happens, but I know if I'm severely limited in any one of 173 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,240 those ranges of motion, whether it's a shoulder, a hip, you 174 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,600 know, even the knee and elbow, you know, rotate a bit, Little 175 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:17,840 things like that, if you don't keep up on them year after year 176 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,440 after year, what we just chalk up to it's part of the sport or, 177 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:23,800 you know, general wear and tear, which is fucking bullshit. 178 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,120 That'll eat away at the joints. So I don't let any little thing 179 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:33,720 like that really go. We can't control everything and 180 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,360 I won't harp on it, you know, obsessively, but we're always 181 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:40,080 going to be working to improve whatever ranges of motion we're 182 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,880 lacking the most in because absolutely guaranteed that's 183 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:45,040 where you're going to fucking get hurt. 184 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,560 Yeah, and I I think for for some people too is, I mean, I know 185 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:52,840 personally from experience with dealing with like very small 186 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,040 injuries and stuff that when you go to a physical therapy, they 187 00:10:56,040 --> 00:11:00,240 just kind of overdo bullshit and like it's not something that's 188 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,720 like catered towards athletes. So I guess maybe what are some 189 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,120 of the resources or if someone's looking to get that like 190 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:09,880 actually high level like recovery that they need, like 191 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:11,440 what some of the things that they can do? 192 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:17,440 So if you have like a true injury, I still have faith in 193 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:19,800 physical therapy. However, my experience after 194 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,000 injury with physical therapy was not good at all. 195 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:24,320 Honestly I feel like they made it worse. 196 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:29,680 But if you can seek out a cash based physical therapist. 197 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,560 You're always going to be better off because the way that they do 198 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:37,000 things and they actually follow up on continuing education is 199 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,520 much more effective. Even if it costs you more 200 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,640 upfront, it's going to be so much better and cheaper in the 201 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,400 long run than if you go to one of these Cracker Jack, you know, 202 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,680 geriatric mills because they're not like you're saying they're 203 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:51,680 not dealing with athletes. They're just trying to make sure 204 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:55,480 you can, you can function enough that it looks like they know 205 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,160 what they're doing right. And unfortunately they don't. 206 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:04,400 So a big part of what I do is rehab and prehab for athletes. 207 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:08,240 Like I have other coaches, athletes sometimes come to me 208 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:10,760 specifically for that. And I'm I'm totally cool with 209 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,160 that and you know, their coaches as long as their coaches are. 210 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:18,200 But either seeking out someone like like what I do or an actual 211 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,280 physical therapist, like I said, it's most likely going to be 212 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,760 cash based and there's, I mean, there's thousands of them 213 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,920 online. So it is tough to sift through 214 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:30,680 who knows what the fuck they're talking about and who's full of 215 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:33,560 shit. But I would just say like, if 216 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:35,960 you know someone who's gone through a catastrophic injury 217 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,480 and they worked with a physical therapist and they really felt 218 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,600 like it made a difference. Word of mouth, honestly. 219 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,000 Yeah, I mean, I don't know how many times I've walked into a 220 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,400 physical therapy office and all they have is fucking therabands 221 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,120 and 5 LB dumbbells. And I'm like, this is I'm not 222 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:54,840 going to get because I had to go back there for a shoulder 223 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:56,440 injury. And they're having me doing some 224 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,520 exercises. And I was like, hey, do you have 225 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:00,160 any heavier dumbbells? Because like, this side 226 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:01,360 literally just don't feel anything. 227 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:03,280 They're like, sorry now. So I'm like, how do you expect 228 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:05,600 me to get better if I can't progress on an exercise where 229 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:07,640 I'm starting at the heaviest dumbbell you have? 230 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:12,640 Yeah. So something I kind of wanted to 231 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:16,920 talk about, too, was obviously you hopped back into a raw meet 232 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:20,560 to hit that 2000 total. And I know some people in the 233 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:23,520 multiply world like to kind of occasionally jump back into it. 234 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:27,640 And someone like me who's just getting into gear that has plans 235 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,680 to go kind of back and forth, maybe what is it? 236 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,880 How big of a difference is it kind of going back into that 237 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:39,200 raw? Depends on the person. 238 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:46,040 So not to be the old guy, but back in my day, all of our 239 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:50,840 multiply crowd basically scoffed at anyone that wanted to lift 240 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:55,040 raw or bounce back and forth like what it like what I did. 241 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,960 But if you train accordingly for it throughout the year, it's not 242 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,640 too bad. And that's how I've always 243 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:04,440 trained. I've never wanted to give up my 244 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:09,160 raw base, even when I was solely multiply because at 1st, from 245 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:14,560 2005 probably until I'm sure we could look it up. 246 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:18,880 Raw Unity three was my first raw meat, full raw meat as a 247 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,920 powerlifter. So I had probably eight years, 248 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,240 give or take, before I jumped into a raw meet after my high 249 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,200 school, you know, adventures. So I always kept up with my raw 250 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,400 lifts even though I wasn't doing them bio mechanically well at 251 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,360 the time because I basically lifted the same way I do and 252 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:42,600 multiply raw. And I think at raw Unity, eight 253 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,480 was one of the last straws where I tweaked the shit out of my 254 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,800 knee and I was standing ultra wide. 255 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,800 I hit my sudden 49 at like 2:20 and you can just see the left 256 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,680 knee like quivering real hard, my knee wrapper shaking and it 257 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:02,320 was all downhill after that. So I realized that I had to 258 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:05,040 change my mechanics because my body wasn't going to hold up for 259 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:09,840 that nowadays. Like I still keep a decent 260 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,400 amount of role training and even if I'm training for an 261 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:16,000 equipment, so it's not hard for me to bounce back and forth. 262 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,720 Like I don't, I don't know if you saw me in the warm up room, 263 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:24,160 but the way that I warm up role very close dance, low bar, and 264 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:26,240 then as soon as I throw the briefs on, it's back to white 265 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:27,440 stands, high bar. Yeah. 266 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,680 And thankfully my bench is like I don't change my grip or 267 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:33,040 anything. I have long arms, right 268 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,200 shoulder. So I've never really had much to 269 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,240 change there other than the bar path. 270 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:40,480 And then deadlift is pretty much the same. 271 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,400 Yeah. And for me, I'm like a very 272 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,080 narrow stance and low bar squatter too. 273 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,960 And so going now into the gear, trying to get used to that super 274 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,000 wide and stands in that high bar is definitely been one of the 275 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,160 biggest challenges for me. And same with you. 276 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,960 My, my bench grip is the same. I, I mean, I go like middle 277 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:03,480 finger on the ring and then I go Max legal for the shirt. 278 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,560 And like I've had the most success in the shirt so far. 279 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,920 So it's kind of kind of interesting to see that when you 280 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,160 emulate it in different like raw versus gear, you get kind of 281 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:19,760 more out of it. So what do you have next to 282 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:21,240 soar? Like what's kind of the the next 283 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:22,760 meet for you? When are you hopping into your 284 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,600 next prep? I was really wanting to do the 285 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:31,080 F8 bench Invitational next month and I just I don't think I'm 286 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,600 going to be able to swing it. The left shoulder got really 287 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:39,000 flared up after our meet and I've taken 2 heavy bench 288 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:43,520 sessions since then and neither one has worked out very well. 289 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,640 So I I just recently got someone local to do like deep tissue 290 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:50,360 work and stuff like that because I can't work on myself the way 291 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:54,240 that I work on other people. And it is getting better, but 292 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,000 it's not getting better fast enough for me to be ready at a 293 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,640 month, you know? That's the mute with the, it's a 294 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:06,960 single ply multiply Poly, right? And that's Sandy, Yeah. 295 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,079 Yeah, single, multi and then unlimited. 296 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:12,960 And that's part of the reason why I was so excited about doing 297 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,000 it, because I've never been to a meet like that. 298 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,359 And it just seems really cool because I know a lot of the guys 299 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,960 that are great in band shirts aren't great in Polly and vice 300 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:25,000 versa. And I feel like I'm relatively 301 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,319 well-rounded, but I don't have very much experience in band 302 00:17:28,319 --> 00:17:31,600 shirts. I've used like the slingshots on 303 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:33,040 Weirdo Makers and stuff like that. 304 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,880 But I'm the least experienced in the OR the band shirts. 305 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,080 Yeah, I think of me like, that's pretty cool. 306 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:43,520 It's kind of interesting. And like there's a the strategy 307 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,520 aspect to it. And I think I think Mark's 308 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,920 competing in right. Yeah. 309 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,240 So he's someone who's like pretty good in all three. 310 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,080 So he definitely has a different approach as someone. 311 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:56,240 And then I can't think of his name right now, but he's like 312 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,240 Sir Bench a lot or whatever. What's his name? 313 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:02,280 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so just like seeing these 314 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:06,000 massive ventures, trying to juggle the all three and try to 315 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:07,920 have a good strategy going into. It's pretty cool. 316 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,280 That's my favorite part about it is you do have to have good 317 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,880 strategy because if you, you know, it's not like a normal 318 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,960 meet where you get 3 attempts and as long as you get one, that 319 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,080 lift goes toward your total. If you miss any one of your two 320 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,360 attempts in the three categories, it's going to cost 321 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,440 you quite a bit. So you don't have to go balls 322 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,280 out. You know, if you went like 90% 323 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:34,640 and then 95% in each of those 3 categories, you would probably 324 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,840 line up really well against some of these guys that are going to 325 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,720 be missing touches or just getting burned out by the end. 326 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:43,520 By the time you get to unlimited benching, you know, you're 327 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:45,880 already 4 reps into heavy benches. 328 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:47,640 Yeah. So. 329 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:49,560 I'm excited to see how it goes. Yeah. 330 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,680 And kind of while we're on the topic, obviously the the band 331 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,520 shirts somewhat relatively new in the sport and it's kind of 332 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:57,680 have some pretty polarizing opinions. 333 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,520 So maybe talk about a little bit about your thoughts on the 334 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:09,160 introduction to it to the sport. Oh, man, you know, it wouldn't 335 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,800 be right of me to speak out against it wholeheartedly 336 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,920 because it was the same thing when I was starting in the sport 337 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:18,320 and Multiply was relatively new. And then you had, you know, the 338 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:20,360 Goggins and the cones and stuff like that. 339 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:23,760 And it was like not it was not apples to apples, right? 340 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,360 And the same thing applies here. But the problem is a lot of 341 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:33,320 these guys either like to gloat like they're the best ventures 342 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,320 in the world and they've only been doing this for one or two 343 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:37,200 years. And it's like, well, 344 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,200 motherfucker, anyone can throw on a band shirt. 345 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,240 It's it's dummy proof. You know, as long as you can 346 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:43,880 roll bench, you can bench on a band shirt. 347 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,160 Learning to handle those heavy weights and not panic under 348 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,240 pressure and stuff like that is obviously you got to train for 349 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:53,480 that. But it's not like learning a 350 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,760 bench shirt, just black and white, you know, I don't think 351 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,480 anyone can argue that. I don't think it makes it less 352 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:02,360 impressive. It's just easier. 353 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:05,920 So. That's kind of where I stand on, 354 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,560 you know, I'm not, I'm not totally against it, but I do 355 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:13,520 not, I don't respect it as much because it's easier to attain. 356 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,800 Yeah, for sure. And I mean, obviously now that 357 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,760 I'm trying to like learn the the Poly shirt, like it's getting a 358 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,440 little difficult and I've been kind of keeping it loose because 359 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:24,480 I'm not ready to like crank the collar yet and handle those 360 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,240 heavy weights. But I threw on a band shirt once 361 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,480 just like having fun and like threw 500 lbs, which is well at 362 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,400 the times like almost 200 lbs with my Mac. 363 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:38,160 So it's definitely a lot easier to touch and like the bar path. 364 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,760 Like I guess the the bubble that you guys talk about is 365 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:43,680 definitely a much bigger area to touch on that shirt. 366 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:50,480 It doesn't restrict you unless you have one of the Super tight 367 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,560 heavy duty ones that are, you know, multiple, multiple plies. 368 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:55,840 It doesn't restrict you at all in the same way. 369 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:59,200 It's still a lot of fucking pressure and it's still hard to 370 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,840 do heavy weights. But I mean, there's nothing like 371 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:04,720 being handcuffed in a multiplied shirt. 372 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:07,560 Yeah, you know where? You're just helpless down there. 373 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:09,800 Yeah. And you use the the overkill 374 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,160 gear, right? Yeah. 375 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:17,080 So I do know that that shirt has a little bit more, I guess 376 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,240 variability, not variability, but it's a little bit different 377 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,440 than like an STP or something where the way you like cuff the 378 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:23,880 collars, a little bit different stuff. 379 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:28,480 So kind of what's been some of the shirts that you've used over 380 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,400 the years and like what makes this shirt better? 381 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,520 Are you referring to the Gray one that I'm in right now? 382 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:40,760 So far of the shirts I've gotten from Rudy, honestly this 383 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:45,960 probably is my favorite. If you asked me before I had 384 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,360 gotten my Gray shirt, the maroon material was probably the most 385 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:51,720 comparable to this and that was my favorite. 386 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:57,800 That was the first one I hit 8800 and and then I outgrew it 387 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,320 unfortunately. But this one is much more 388 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,560 forgiving than like the previous red line or the black line 389 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,240 shirts. It's still difficult. 390 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:11,840 It it will hit a hard block and you'll you'll not go anywhere. 391 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,480 But if you can learn to make it work, it's definitely less rough 392 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,920 on the joints. And that's what's important for 393 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:22,080 longevity because my, my biggest bench is still done in the red 394 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,560 line, but there's no way I'd be able to train in that year round 395 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,120 and for years to come because it was just too fucking rough. 396 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:32,800 I've been in damn near every shirt you can imagine. 397 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,920 I started in the the worst of the worst, like the Inzer heavy 398 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,720 duty blast shirt. You know, I was a poor college 399 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:44,080 kid so I paid like 45 bucks for this shirt and it would make 400 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,400 much myself to bleed. And I benched like 5 extra 401 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,240 kilograms. Definitely not worth it. 402 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,560 And I could go on a whole rant about the whole marketing 403 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:55,600 scheme. You know what's good for 404 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,840 beginner lifters? What's good for intermediate and 405 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,880 advanced? Fuck, I'm just going to throw 406 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:02,400 this out there. I think it's fucking bullshit. 407 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,320 These companies are trying to say like, oh, this gear is, you 408 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,360 know, great for beginner lifters when it's the most 409 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:14,360 uncomfortable, you get the least out of it and it's just, it's 410 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:16,600 fucking miserable. Like, if there's nothing good 411 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:18,560 about it and if that's how you're going to introduce 412 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,360 someone to the sport, the likelihood of them staying isn't 413 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:23,560 very high. You know, thankfully I was 414 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:25,960 retarded enough. I just, I just kept going and I 415 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,680 kept pushing and I had a really good group, you know, of guys 416 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,000 that I was training with. So I figured it out over time 417 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,720 through them. But you know, you can't listen 418 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,160 to the manufacturers. They're full of shit. 419 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,640 I know. I mean, I've heard and I have 420 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,400 the SDP and I've heard that that's one of the easier shirts 421 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:46,800 to learn. So I guess one of my questions 422 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:51,520 would be, what kind of makes a shirt difficult to you? 423 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,560 The stretch of the material and the fit, those are the two most 424 00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,760 important things. And I, you can ask me and my 425 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,120 clients about this because I harp on it a lot. 426 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:04,760 A shirt doesn't make a lifter, right? 427 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:09,400 It has to fit you well and it has to match your strength and 428 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:11,920 experience level. As long as those two things are 429 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,200 on point, any shirts, a good shirt within reason, right? 430 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:23,320 Maybe like, you know, STP katanas, single fly, I don't 431 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,160 like their multi. And then obviously overkill. 432 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,160 I'm a little biased because I I hit my best benches in the 433 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,280 overkill shirts and I just really like them. 434 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,840 They're more comfortable. They don't cut and dig in the 435 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:39,200 way some of the other shirts do. But the biggest outlier about 436 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:43,080 the overkills is the durability. You won't blow that shirt out. 437 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,040 The shirt will outlive you. You will outlive everyone else. 438 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:51,920 They don't, they don't die. My experience with the SDPS, if 439 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,680 you get one that fits really well, they're miserable to break 440 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,040 in. They're good for like 2 cycles 441 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,080 and then it looks like a little kid wearing dad's shirt. 442 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:03,200 You know, they're just stretched out so much. 443 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,880 Yeah, and it's it's funny that you're saying that Cortana, the 444 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:11,720 single versus the multiply kids, Rupo has both of them and he 445 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,320 uses the single ply like the low cut and he has the the multiply 446 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:16,680 1. And he said it's like an 447 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:18,840 absolute fucking nightmare to try to touch on that thing. 448 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,200 It's it's honestly not worth it. And most people think like, oh, 449 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,320 I just need to get stronger and I just need more weight. 450 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,760 It is literally just not a good fucking shirt. 451 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:32,400 It is not material that should be two layers thick. 452 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:37,000 Yeah, you know, you got guys like Cole who's yeah, he's just 453 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,000 a fucking freak. But to be benching over 1000 and 454 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:45,680 single ply Greg Powell, you know, very very high adventure 455 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:50,000 at 22242 at fucking 50 something years old. 456 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,600 Like those are good shirts as long as you know how to use them 457 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,080 well. The problem is everyone just 458 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:59,040 falls into this trap like more is better, thicker is better. 459 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,520 And then they get this four ply evil twin or Cortana or those 460 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:05,520 stupid fucking boss shirts that they make. 461 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,840 Literally no one can use them. No one. 462 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:13,000 Yeah, it's like, it's like the the classic fucking just we need 463 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,120 more weight to touch and then then they get stapled. 464 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,120 Yeah, or you break your arm and then. 465 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,760 Yeah, and so for the, I guess we'll talk about the squat suit 466 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:25,840 too, while we're kind of talking about your gear, you use the 467 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,520 canvas, right? Yeah, that's the same one I got 468 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,880 originally in like 2014. So. 469 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,320 I fucking love that suit. Yeah. 470 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:36,840 And so on. I, I'm, I haven't got into the 471 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,200 suit yet, but I'm going to be using an LUP just because it's, 472 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,320 I guess more user friendly and it has the more adjustability 473 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,560 and stuff. And I know the canvas is kind of 474 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:46,720 something that needs to be more custom fit. 475 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:51,880 And do you think the the canvas itself is something harder to 476 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,160 learn or is it just something that's harder just because 477 00:26:54,160 --> 00:27:02,520 they're more tight fit usually? My experience canvas wasn't 478 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:06,360 hard. It is harder in general compared 479 00:27:06,360 --> 00:27:10,120 to Poly because there's less flex in the material, but 480 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:13,000 assuming you know how to squat well and you're very good at 481 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,760 holding your position, it's not any harder to use. 482 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:22,000 I felt more natural squatting than a canvas way way back when 483 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,000 I was with Titan. I pushed and pushed and I like 484 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,080 asked questions frequently if they were ever going to make a 485 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,080 canvas suit and unfortunately they just weren't open to it. 486 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:37,080 But the first couple of times I got into a training partners, I 487 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:42,360 think he had a Jenny's canvas. It just naturally felt good and 488 00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:44,800 I was coming out of like a metal ace at that point. 489 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,280 And I'd like the ace. It worked well, but I like the 490 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:52,240 fact that the canvas didn't have to fit me as tight to still get 491 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:54,280 good, you know, support and carry over. 492 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,120 Yeah, so the you mentioned the metal. 493 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:00,400 So I'm currently using metal jacks for my briefs. 494 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,920 Actually, Rodney Woodward actually reached out to me and 495 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,000 said he he sent me a pair luckily because then that's 496 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,680 another thing that we can talk about too, is how just how nice 497 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:10,080 and awesome the multiply community is. 498 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,920 Just for someone to reach out to me and do that was awesome 499 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,680 because I haven't even been in a multiply meet yet. 500 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:20,000 So it's always exciting to have that kind of community. 501 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:24,360 But something about, I know a lot of people were actually huge 502 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,120 fans of like the Metal Gear and that it's you kind of still seem 503 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:30,800 around here and there. Do you think if metal didn't 504 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,360 have like the situation that it did, you still think it would be 505 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:35,840 one of the the Top Gear manufacturers? 506 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:41,560 Probably not, they got a little weird with the designs. 507 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:46,280 I'm not sure around what year but little back story. 508 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:51,920 My first suit that I ever bought multiply was the metal ace and 509 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,880 that suit was fantastic. It didn't have the length of the 510 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,360 legs that they started making like in the last 10 years or 15 511 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,880 years. So I had a little shorter leg, 512 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,000 but the material had seems strategically placed in a way 513 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,680 that even though it was Poly material, it did still lock very 514 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,720 well on the leg and the hips. So I, I love that suit. 515 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,800 I squatted and deadlifted in it for as long as I possibly could 516 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:22,160 and then I outgrew it. As far as the bench shirts go, 517 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,640 they really left a lot on the table with the the shirts. 518 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,720 I did really well in the metal Pro, in the metal Viking, and I 519 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:36,000 know only a few others that did. And then I know a large majority 520 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,520 of people didn't do very well in those shirts. 521 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:41,840 And then everything after that they came out with the ace and 522 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:43,760 the Jack and the poker and all that dumb shit. 523 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,040 Those were fucking garbage. It was like a flak jacket may 524 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,720 have stopped a bullet, but it wouldn't help you bench a lot. 525 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:55,560 The guys that did well in those shirts were just fucking strong. 526 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:02,400 That just kind of reminded me. I, I remember when I when I was 527 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:06,280 down at the meet, you're kind of talking to John about the, the 528 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,120 length of the, the briefs and the suit and stuff for single 529 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:14,000 ply versus multiply kind of how that in single ply you kind of 530 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:15,600 want it to be a little bit long on legs. 531 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,080 You want to maybe tell us about kind of the reasoning behind 532 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:19,400 that and kind of how you figured that out? 533 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:25,720 Honestly, that part I figured out through Rudy and Overkill 534 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:33,320 when I got picked up in 2014. I was previously with Titan so I 535 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,400 was used to wearing all my single place centurions for 536 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,760 Olympia and stuff like that. And man, they cut into your 537 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,720 adductors and just like the real soft sensitive bits up there 538 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:45,480 around the groin. I was like this fucking sucks, 539 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:47,800 but you know, this is the the best of the best. 540 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,320 Well, once I got picked up with Rudy and I wanted to do Olympia 541 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:55,720 that, you know, next year, he got me my single pie squat and 542 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:59,480 dentist suit. And discernibly there wasn't a 543 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,080 lot of difference. There was a few seams maybe that 544 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:05,880 were a little different, but very similar cut the thickness 545 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,800 of the material, the roughness of it was similar. 546 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:14,440 Not quite as rough as the Super Centurion, but very comparable. 547 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,800 The main difference? The leg length was like an inch 548 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:22,720 and a half longer on my squat suit and that equated literally 549 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:27,920 to like on a good day, close to 75 lbs better of a squat in that 550 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:31,520 suit than my Super Centurion. Yeah. 551 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:36,280 Is that just something? The mechanism there is the 552 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:41,800 bottom of the leg is what locks right onto your quad as you're 553 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:44,960 coming down into descent. As you spread the legs, that 554 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,160 crotch panel is really what gets stretched, assuming you stay 555 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:49,680 upright. If you lean forward, there's a 556 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,200 little stretch of the glute panel, but I don't think you 557 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:53,520 should be leaning forward in gear. 558 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,880 So basically that lock kicks in faster to stretch the crotch 559 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:04,640 panel the longer the leg is. Yeah, and it's it's funny too 560 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,880 that you're saying how like they just the single pie can just dig 561 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,520 into some crazy places. Because one of the things that 562 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:12,400 when John was going through prep, the biggest thing was 563 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,720 saying just how much it fucking hurts compared to like multiply 564 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:18,280 in that it it hurts more and you get less support. 565 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:20,240 So I don't get why the fuck people do single fly. 566 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,560 Well, that's the cool thing too. I mean, the same thing could, 567 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,480 you know, if you're talking about raw lifters looking at 568 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:30,440 multiply, like, oh, that's harder to do, it's very 569 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:32,480 uncomfortable. You look like you're going to 570 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:34,200 die. Why do you do that? 571 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:39,720 It's just about what you're willing to put up with and you 572 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:43,360 know what you get out of it. I rose to the top super fast in 573 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,160 single ply and that was kind of the appeal at the time because I 574 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:50,920 was still climbing multi, but there wasn't a lot of guys that 575 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,160 were a lot stronger than me single ply. 576 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,520 So I was like, fuck it, I'm going to make this run and I 577 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:58,320 want to be the best. And for the most part, you know, 578 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,760 I don't know if they keep single ply all time world records or 579 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:04,520 whatever, but in that time that I was running single ply 580 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:07,960 regularly, Olympia, I was undefeated. 581 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:13,000 So it was a good time. Yeah, and I know obviously like 582 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,560 a big thing and the like social media specifically, it's kind of 583 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:19,000 like the the raw guys hating on the multiply. 584 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,560 And to me, I think the biggest thing that the reason that they 585 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,560 diss it and saying it's just cheating and stuff is ignorance. 586 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,120 But I wanted to kind of hear about maybe some of your 587 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,520 experiences with that and kind of what are some of the things 588 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:36,360 that you could say to tell people that it's actually way 589 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:44,520 more difficult? So we have an IPF guy, USAPO guy 590 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:46,160 in our gym. I was just having this 591 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:48,440 conversation with him earlier because apparently they have 592 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:50,680 some drama and politics going on always. 593 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:54,160 I don't know because I'm I'm not super affiliated with anyone 594 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:59,840 that competes there. They're just different sports, 595 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,400 man. Like it doesn't make any sense. 596 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:05,600 Let's say I'm a sprinter. Doesn't make any sense for me to 597 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:09,719 be upset about that guy that covers the same distance much 598 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:14,000 faster than me on a bike or on ice skates. 599 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:18,239 You know, I don't understand the hatred between the different 600 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:21,520 classes, but it is like you're saying. 601 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:23,679 I do feel like it's a bit of ignorance because they don't 602 00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:26,480 understand how difficult it is and they don't understand the 603 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:28,639 difference. But how could they, right? 604 00:34:28,639 --> 00:34:31,560 Because I've never been in it. It's not something that's super 605 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:35,679 easy to describe. I don't think one is any better 606 00:34:35,679 --> 00:34:39,199 than the other. One is harder than the other 607 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:44,679 without question. So it's, you know, the the 608 00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:48,280 age-old rebuttal is, well, throw on a shirt or throw on a pair of 609 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,000 briefs and see for yourself. See how easy it is. 610 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:54,360 You know, everyone thinks like, oh, I squat 6 or 700. 611 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:56,199 I'll be able to squat 1000 in a suit. 612 00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:58,920 And we all know that never pans out. 613 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:04,280 Yeah, not that fast anyway. And, and obviously like a lot of 614 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,840 people like person to person, they get way different amounts 615 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:09,840 out of the gear. Like some people only get a 616 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:12,960 couple 100, some people literally get like 5 or 600. 617 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:16,040 Like it's it's so variable and it's comes down to that skill 618 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,600 component for sure. A big part of that. 619 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:24,680 So the the contrast there in the list was much bigger like when I 620 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:27,960 started because like I said, none of the geared guys were 621 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:32,000 very big into raw lifting. So I saw guys and I trained with 622 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,120 guys that would only bench 315 and they would throw one at 623 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,240 Karen's double denim and bench seven O 5. 624 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:41,240 Does that mean they were weak raw? 625 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:44,760 Not necessarily. They just didn't put in the time 626 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:46,280 to have any real conditioning raw. 627 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,280 All we did was warm up raw and then train on the gear. 628 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:53,600 There was no raw training. So like when I got into that 629 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:57,560 first raw meet, it didn't take me very long to take my squat 630 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:02,720 from like 6:50 to 7:50. It was like 2 training cycles. 631 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:08,040 Did I get 100 LB stronger? No, but I was able to display 632 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,360 £100 more because I was training role at that time. 633 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:15,280 So it's just, you know, you look at a guy that's like, oh he only 634 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:19,240 squats 400 in his warmups and they look kind of tough for him 635 00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:21,640 and then he squats 900 in the suit. 636 00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:24,680 That doesn't mean he's weak role, he just doesn't put the 637 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,240 time and effort there, you know, into training it. 638 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:32,320 Someone who goes back into like, say you go into a raw meet after 639 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,640 a multiply meet, obviously you're used to handling much 640 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:38,440 heavier loads with on squad bench and deadlift. 641 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:42,320 Kind of what's that adjustment like for like the first few 642 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,160 weeks when you're like you go to pick something and then you get 643 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,000 to the hole and like, holy shit, it's, it's actually way harder 644 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,600 now. I mean, what the way that I 645 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,880 typically trained and my coach, I like I said, I like to keep 646 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:57,720 the raw base up so that we don't have that shock factor. 647 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:03,280 But yeah, if you didn't ever challenge yourself with raw 648 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:07,400 lifts, it would be pretty sketchy, particularly at the 649 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,680 bottom, because that's where you're the most vulnerable and 650 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:12,440 that's where the gear helps us out the most and the leverages 651 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,760 are the most different because we got different stance and grip 652 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:20,880 width and stuff like that. So me in particular, normally 653 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,920 after me, I would take some downtime, train hypertrophy, 654 00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:27,160 indoor conditioning, try and shed some weight and get healthy 655 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:29,800 for a little while. And that's all raw stuff. 656 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:35,320 So I get like a very gentle, you know, send off of the the 657 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,480 multiply meat into solely during raw stuff. 658 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,760 And then I'll start picking up some intensity and volume and 659 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:46,400 whatnot as I go along. But if you do it smoothly like 660 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,080 that, it doesn't feel terrible. If you just tried to jump into a 661 00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:51,400 raw prep, it's going to be a rough one. 662 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,080 Yeah. And so you said you like to keep 663 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:57,720 that raw work in when you're training in the gear kind of 664 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:00,560 maybe how, how do you incorporate that raw training 665 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:03,160 into like whether it's an offseason or a prep? 666 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:10,080 Typically if I'm offseason I do enjoy hypertrophy training. 667 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,400 I have no interest in bodybuilding whatsoever, but I 668 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:15,920 also like to look like a not fat piece of shit. 669 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:21,400 So you know, I'll keep in a decent amount of volume on like 670 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:27,280 squats and deads and then bench stuff reasonably well, but 671 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:29,560 that's not super great for hypertrophy so that may go 672 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:31,480 toward more toward accessory stuff. 673 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:37,400 Shit, I'm sorry I just lost my train of thought. 674 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:40,360 What's the question? Just about how you're 675 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,040 incorporating the the raw training into like a gear 676 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:45,040 lifters programming or you're programming itself all. 677 00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:48,240 Right. Yeah, so a big component at this 678 00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:50,480 point in my career, I don't do speed work. 679 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:54,000 I don't. I don't want to say I don't like 680 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:55,400 it. I just don't like it for most 681 00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:58,760 lifters because of how people have bastardized it. 682 00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:03,560 The whole set is not supposed to be done as fast as possible. 683 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:10,200 It's concentric, fast eccentric, maybe tempo, maybe normal speed, 684 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:12,800 but not fast eccentric. You know, it doesn't make any 685 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:16,240 sense to rag doll your body around and then expect it to be 686 00:39:16,240 --> 00:39:18,600 explosive. You look at any explosive 687 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:21,480 athlete, long jumper, high jumper, sprinter, they're not 688 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:24,520 doing super janky shit right before they need to explode, 689 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:26,560 right? You're not putting your joints 690 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:30,560 into like compromise unstable positions to be explosive. 691 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:32,880 So why would you do that with a barbell? 692 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:35,120 Yeah. So at this point, I like the 693 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:38,400 rapper foot method a lot better than the dynamic effort method. 694 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:44,800 I will still utilize it, but I just treat it more as like 695 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:49,800 techniques solidifying and work capacity and stuff like that as 696 00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:52,080 opposed to just being as fast as I possibly can. 697 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:55,480 Yeah. And for for someone like me who 698 00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:01,400 is like a narrow stance, low bar squatter, say like I have a top 699 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,160 single and briefs or the full suit or whatever and my 700 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:08,120 secondary is like a raw squad. Is that something that you want 701 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:11,920 that person to kind of emulate that that wider stance or kind 702 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:14,000 of go back to their competition raw stance? 703 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:20,080 I'm always going to aim for the most optimal biomechanical 704 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:25,400 positions. Very, very few, like 1% of 705 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:28,680 people are great out wide stand efforting. 706 00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:31,080 Fucking freak. I don't know how it squats like 707 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:34,720 that. Jordan Wong, insane hips, you 708 00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:37,240 know, and it really does come down to hip structure. 709 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,280 But otherwise like even though I made it work for a very long 710 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,960 time, standing ultra wide roll does not fucking good. 711 00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:48,920 So no, I wouldn't have you trying to emulate that because 712 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:51,640 it's not. You're not recruiting the same 713 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:55,320 musculature without that external stimulus of the gear to 714 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,320 fight against. Think about the Super easy 715 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:00,960 examples. Think about deadlift when you 716 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:05,600 have to fight to get down to the bar and then maintain that 717 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,480 tension. Get your core tension and drive 718 00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:11,840 up at the same time. That doesn't feel anything like 719 00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:13,960 bending over and picking up a deadlift for raw. 720 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:18,080 So there's just a lot of external factors that go into 721 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:21,880 equipped lifting that don't apply to your role set up or how 722 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:24,880 you execute the lift. So it wouldn't make sense for me 723 00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:28,480 to think that even though my feet are the same in this raw 724 00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:31,120 lift, that that movement is going to directly give me carry 725 00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:32,960 over to the complex. Yeah. 726 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:36,920 And for for me, I was a conventional polar before and 727 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:39,680 now that I'm in the breeze and stuff, I'm obviously training 728 00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:41,200 sumo. And it's actually been going 729 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:42,800 surprisingly well. I kind of wish I switched to 730 00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:47,600 sumo like four years ago. But I guess I know a lot of 731 00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:51,040 people whether it's like, for example, like Kayla Woolum, like 732 00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:54,760 he was a sumo polar in competition, but it's a lot of 733 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:59,080 his training was conventional. So what are some of the things 734 00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:01,880 or what is your opinion on kind of being able to switch up 735 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:06,320 between conventional and sumo? I'm a big fan of being 736 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:10,520 proficient in both stances and I will have almost all my lifters 737 00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:15,240 trained both stances at some point throughout the year as 738 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:18,520 long as it's not detrimental to some, you know, imbalance or 739 00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:23,000 whatever they have going on. I like when I first started 740 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:26,120 following programs and stuff like that. 741 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:29,720 I came across one of Ed Cohn's old programs in like a 742 00:42:29,720 --> 00:42:33,320 Powerlifting USA and it was super basic, very linear. 743 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:37,040 You had one work set sumo, you had one work set deficit 744 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,360 conventional. I was like, well, this fucking 745 00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:43,080 guy pulls £900. He probably knows what he's 746 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:45,520 talking about. And I had a lot of success 747 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:49,360 running that program over and over, time after time, as long 748 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:51,080 as I didn't let my ego get in the way. 749 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:54,320 And base your percent off the number that you want instead of 750 00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:55,600 what you're capable of. Yeah. 751 00:42:56,600 --> 00:43:02,280 So I'm like, if you're having a bad day and your knees are 752 00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:04,480 killing you, you can still pull conventional. 753 00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:07,920 If you're having a bad back day, you can still pull sumo from 754 00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,840 most people. So I like to keep something in 755 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:14,640 there as a, as a Plan B that's still salvage today, rather than 756 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:16,800 just saying fuck this, getting pissed off and going home, you 757 00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:17,440 know? Yeah. 758 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:21,080 And I guess while we're on the topic of deadlifts, I know a 759 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:25,120 larger problem in the multiply community is kind of it's 760 00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:28,040 there's a grip issue in the the like dropping of deadlifts 761 00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:30,480 mostly from like hand inflammation and benching and 762 00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:32,800 stuff. Have you ever had any troubles 763 00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:37,320 with that? I mean, I definitely have some 764 00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:41,360 of the fattest hands, the the meat around the thumb in 765 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:44,760 particular is very swollen all the time on me. 766 00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:49,800 So whether or not that's affected my deadlift, it 767 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,600 certainly doesn't help. And I have noticed quite a bit 768 00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:56,360 of swelling after benching in meats and stuff like that when 769 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:58,760 we're already swollen anyways from the weight cut and then 770 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:02,800 bloating back up and everything. But I don't feel like it's 771 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:07,200 directly sabotage any of my actual deadlifts out of me. 772 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:10,440 But it does make it a little harder for sure because you get 773 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:15,520 a lot of saturation in the lower legs and the hands after a full 774 00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:19,200 squat or heavy bench workout. Yeah. 775 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:22,720 And I guess maybe what are some of the things that someone can 776 00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:26,160 get do to try to mitigate that and kind of not have that be 777 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:28,480 like their main issue going into a deadlift? 778 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:33,480 I mean, I know a lot of guys after benches will be icing 779 00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:35,600 their hands. You know, we all bring our 780 00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:37,840 cooler with the food and stuff and you'll just see like five or 781 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:41,520 six guys lined up with hands on the ice and stuff like that. 782 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:48,960 I've never really done that with any efficacy, but honestly it's 783 00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:53,280 just I guess getting stronger, making sure you can hold on to 784 00:44:53,280 --> 00:44:54,720 whatever it is you're trying to pull. 785 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:58,160 Unfortunately, there's no great secrets around that one. 786 00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:01,920 However, I will say typically by the end of the day when I'm 787 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:06,160 dehydrated and I'm sweating a lot, that does help kind of 788 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:08,240 deflate the the bloating you have going on. 789 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:11,120 Yeah. And I guess kind of before we 790 00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:14,320 wrap things up here, as someone who's getting new and to 791 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:17,440 multiply, maybe what are some of the things that whether it's 792 00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:19,720 coaching points you use or just some of the things you've 793 00:45:19,720 --> 00:45:22,320 learned for someone new learning the gear? 794 00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:33,520 Without telling you to take several courses and get a 795 00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:38,000 fucking degree, learn the basics of bio mechanics because that 796 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:42,880 will never treat you badly. What we do in the gear is very 797 00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:47,000 abnormal for normal movement patterns and if you can 798 00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:51,960 differentiate what is natural and what isn't and then do your 799 00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:54,600 best to merge the two in the gear, you're going to optimize 800 00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:59,440 it because the gear is there to help supplement your strength. 801 00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:03,840 If you're solely relying on the gear to move weight and move in 802 00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:09,240 and out of positions that you can't really control raw, you're 803 00:46:09,240 --> 00:46:12,160 going to be left unstable and high likelihood for injury 804 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:14,640 there. So you know these guys, and I 805 00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:17,200 used to be the same way. When I deadlifted, my feet were 806 00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:20,040 out to the plates. When I benched, I would hyper 807 00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:22,840 tuck elbows in by the ribs because I was using that super 808 00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:27,720 tight fucking denim shirt. And then the squat stance, you 809 00:46:27,720 --> 00:46:30,560 know, feet out to the mono legs because the range of motion was 810 00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:32,440 short. And I can be super explosive and 811 00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:36,880 pretend I'm truck V, but over time that shit breaks you down 812 00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:39,720 really fast. And all the guys that squat 813 00:46:39,720 --> 00:46:42,720 really wide to now fucked up hips and it cost them their 814 00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:45,400 deadlift. All the guys that have super 815 00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:47,760 tight shirts and externally rotate the shit out of their 816 00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:49,720 shoulders, they don't last very long. 817 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:53,960 Everyone from my area that was in denims, there's, there's 818 00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:57,480 almost none of us left. So I don't think that's 819 00:46:57,480 --> 00:47:00,480 coincidence. The closer you can stay to 820 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:05,160 assuming you're optimized raw, the closer you can stay to your 821 00:47:05,160 --> 00:47:10,480 raw groove and still force the gear to stretch you're most out 822 00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:12,560 of it that way. And you're going to minimize how 823 00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:15,800 fucked up you're getting using it because there's nothing good 824 00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:17,480 about the way that we use the gear. 825 00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:20,720 Even though people say like, oh, it helps protects my joints and 826 00:47:20,720 --> 00:47:23,480 stuff like that. And yeah, like if I put it on my 827 00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:26,920 hip will stop hurting, but when I take it off my hip still 828 00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:29,680 hurts, right. So it didn't fix anything. 829 00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:34,040 The the shit is still there. So just learning a little bit 830 00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:36,640 about bio mechanics and then not training like an asshole. 831 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:42,960 When I trained at my first handful of gyms, it was just, it 832 00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:45,560 was a very similar, like Westside Barbell Mart. 833 00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:47,560 I said it was just the wild, Wild West. 834 00:47:47,960 --> 00:47:49,960 It was Who can survive the longest? 835 00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:52,520 You know, we'd just go on our rotations until there's only one 836 00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:56,080 man standing. And while that was super fun and 837 00:47:56,080 --> 00:47:59,400 we got strong, we also got really fucked up doing that. 838 00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:03,880 So eventually I had to learn there's got to be some strategy 839 00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:08,640 and not overstepping bounds, especially as I got older into 840 00:48:08,640 --> 00:48:11,720 my 30s. I'm a lot more mild than I was, 841 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:15,960 you know, at 20. So I think we can kind of wrap 842 00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:17,760 things up here. I'll ask you my final question. 843 00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:20,520 If you could give a new powerlifter or someone going 844 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:22,880 into their first meet a word of advice, what would that be? 845 00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:28,560 Going into your first meet is honestly just about surviving 846 00:48:28,720 --> 00:48:31,760 and having a good time because honestly, the biggest thing that 847 00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:33,760 you can take away from this sport, like you touched on 848 00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:41,560 earlier, is the camaraderie and just the positive result. 849 00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:44,920 That isn't a number, right? Of course, hitting PRS is 850 00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:48,640 awesome and we all want the records and, you know, getting 851 00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:52,480 the gratification of, you know, whatever state record when I was 852 00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:55,120 a teen was awesome, you know, and I I love that stuff. 853 00:48:55,680 --> 00:48:57,800 But the stuff that you're going to carry on for the rest of your 854 00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,840 career and the rest of your life is the bonds that you build and 855 00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:03,240 experiences, you know, that you form. 856 00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:06,560 You know, I've been to other countries several times. 857 00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:09,600 I met people and I have friends all around the world and I have 858 00:49:09,600 --> 00:49:12,920 clients all around the world simply because I kept an open 859 00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:14,640 mind. I wasn't in my own little 860 00:49:14,640 --> 00:49:18,240 bubble, you know, all these guys that throw their headphones in 861 00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:19,920 and they only live in their own little bubble. 862 00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:24,640 Like you're missing out on so much in this sport that you, you 863 00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:26,320 know, you should be benefiting from. 864 00:49:26,680 --> 00:49:30,720 So just really making it a part of your community and your 865 00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:33,280 brotherhood I think is the most important aspect. 866 00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:36,800 And just have fun with it, you know? 867 00:49:37,040 --> 00:49:39,160 Yeah, awesome. I think that's definitely one of 868 00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:41,200 the best things about powerlifting is a community and 869 00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:44,160 kind of meeting new friends. So I want to thank you again for 870 00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:45,840 taking the time to come on. It was my pleasure. 871 00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:47,600 Thanks for having me, Matt.