1 00:00:00,120 --> 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 --> 00:00:09,440 host Cam Smith. So Power Lifters Den family want 4 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:11,360 to wrap the podcast and look good while doing it? 5 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:15,560 Check out my official merch store at PL. den dot company dot 6 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:17,920 site. We've got Tees, hoodies, 7 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,120 beanies, hats and more in gear that'll keep you motivated in 8 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,600 and out of the gym. Every purchase helps support me 9 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,040 and the podcast and keeps the den growing strong. 10 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,560 So whether you're hitting a heavy squat session or just 11 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:31,320 lounging in style, we've got you covered. 12 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,520 Head to PL. den dot company dot site and grab your merch today. 13 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,480 Hello everybody, welcome back to another episode of the pile 14 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:40,800 lifters den. I'm your host, Cam Smith, and 15 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,360 today I want to bring on bring on Priyanka. 16 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:49,080 We're going to talk about her journey from raw into an injury, 17 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,040 into her best total today and everything in between. 18 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,240 So Priyanka, why don't you introduce yourself? 19 00:00:55,360 --> 00:01:01,920 Hi, I'm Priyanka Santiago. I started powerlifting in 2014. 20 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,000 I was raw. I stopped for a couple years 21 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,080 because I had a baby, came back and now I'm going to quit 22 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,160 powerlifting. Is that? 23 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,800 Yeah. So just to get started, I like 24 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:19,160 to get the background on everyone. 25 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,840 So before you kind of stepped out of the platform in 2014, 26 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,240 maybe tell us about what got you there in the first place? 27 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:33,800 OK so I was in the army in 2012 that's when I joined and believe 28 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:38,160 it or not like I couldn't pass APT test when I first joined and 29 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,240 like I worked real hard on it. It was only push ups, sit ups 30 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,160 and running. And I remember at the time there 31 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:47,240 was like a group of kids or dudes in my platoon that would 32 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,360 like always bitch about the standards between females and 33 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:56,400 males and like how women had to do less push ups than men. 34 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,920 And I remember it was just like really grind my gears and they 35 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,120 worked out at the gym like a lot. 36 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:07,280 So I would see them and they were strong. 37 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,639 And then I like I heard about powerlifting like through the 38 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,440 Grapevine and like I made it. It just made me so mad to hear 39 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,800 them talk shit about like women not being strong. 40 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,120 And then like on the flip side, when you would see them at the 41 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,040 gym and they would see a strong woman, they would be like, Oh my 42 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,680 God, I can't believe she's like trying to get stronger. 43 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,880 So I made it my, my life's mission to be stronger than 44 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,120 them. And I think that I've 45 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,120 accomplished that at this point. I don't even know where they are 46 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:36,480 at this point that. Exactly. 47 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:43,840 Yeah, but yeah, so like, I was married before this, before my 48 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:47,120 my husband, currently my first husband passed away on a 49 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,880 motorcycle accident. But he was really into like 50 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,240 weightlifting. So I started going to the gym 51 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,560 with him and I started getting stronger and stronger and 52 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,320 stronger. And I was like, I'm actually OK 53 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:04,120 at this. And I like, Googled, like 54 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:08,880 parallel federations. And there was an RPS meet nearby 55 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,680 to us in North Carolina. So I like walked up their 56 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:14,160 records. At the time, I was like, oh, I 57 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,240 could totally beat them. So then I went to that meet and 58 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:20,720 I broke them. And all the time I had no idea. 59 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,000 Like I thought I was like, wow, I'm the best in the world. 60 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:28,240 I think I squatted like 240I benched 135, and I think I 61 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:32,720 pulled like 300. And yeah, I thought I was a 62 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,280 shit. Yeah, I think it's funny kind of 63 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:38,640 watching like the evolution over the years. 64 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,680 If you look back on like your own career or just like maybe a 65 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,240 friend that's been doing it for a few years. 66 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,720 And kind of like when you first start, you're like, oh, I want 67 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,120 to go for this regional record or the state record. 68 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,520 And now every now once you're like involved and you're hanging 69 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,960 out with like these top dogs, you're like, fuck a regional 70 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:54,320 record. I want a world record. 71 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,640 Like I want to be top ten all time. 72 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,160 Like I don't care about this random feds local record. 73 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:01,600 But at the same time, it's still something to be proud of. 74 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:07,640 Yeah, I think I actually, I still hold RPS military records. 75 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,760 But anyway, the like, so the like I eventually started 76 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,519 looking at the rankings, right. And at the time it was called 77 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:21,279 like powerliftingrankings.com or something like that. 78 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:22,880 But you had to pay to look at the rankings. 79 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:24,720 They didn't have open powerlifting at the time. 80 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:30,280 So I did that and I remember I was in one the £123 weight class 81 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:34,960 at the time, and I went to the that page and I found whoever 82 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,520 the top person was at the time and it was Susan Salazar. 83 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,200 And I hired her coach because I was like, I want to be the best 84 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,520 in the world. And yeah, that's kind of how 85 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:48,040 that went. Yeah. 86 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:53,040 So from going into obviously you started raw and most multiply 87 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:58,480 does from there kind of once you decided to hop into a multiply 88 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,080 meet, maybe tell us about what inspired that? 89 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:07,520 Oh, man. So I did my first two needs raw, 90 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,320 and that was like back 2014, two, 1015. 91 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:16,080 And my coach at the time was Gracie V and she was an equipped 92 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,800 power lifter. And like, to me, powerlifting 93 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,920 was all about lifting the most weighted humanly possible. 94 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,320 Like, it didn't matter what I was wearing. 95 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:27,120 So I was like, hell yeah, let's do this. 96 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:34,360 I ordered my friends, I had, I think I had an SDP and whatever 97 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,600 suit at the time. I'm like, I ordered all brand 98 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:41,760 new from anger because I didn't have anybody to, you know, 99 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,840 switch with or to like, you know, borrow their gear. 100 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:51,240 And that was like the first, my first like, OK, I'm going to do 101 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,240 this. But then so my husband passed 102 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:58,120 away in August of that year and it was actually before my year 103 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:03,000 ever got there. So like it had always been like 104 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:04,880 a thing in my head, like I want to do this. 105 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:14,400 So then when I came back, it was like 2022 and I hired Laura and 106 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:17,040 I didn't. My first mate was her was raw at 107 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,080 the pro AM. And then after that I was like, 108 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,200 actually I was on lifting large and they sell like a single pie 109 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,720 kit with everything in it. So it's like I I got that kit 110 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:28,680 and then I talked to Laura and she was like, OK, yeah, like 111 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,040 this is a good idea. And then once I was in single 112 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,000 ply, I was learning it. I actually went to go see 113 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:35,400 because I didn't have anybody to train with. 114 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:36,920 I went with Amber and Jimmy Cole. 115 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,960 Like I went to go see them and they kind of taught me 116 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,680 everything. And then I saw Andy Pope in 117 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:44,840 Florida. Like I was just because I went 118 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:48,440 to go visit my in laws, but I was like, this is like not 119 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:50,440 enough. I wanted to do more. 120 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:51,960 Like there could be another layer. 121 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,160 I wanted it. So that's how I got into 122 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,040 multiply. I never ended up doing my single 123 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,360 ply meet. I just went straight into 124 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:05,160 multiply and I my first goal, like I don't know, I don't know 125 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,480 why I'm like this. I know there's a lot of people 126 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,800 like this, but my first goal was like, OK, I'm going to get my 127 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:11,640 pro total and multiply on my first meet. 128 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,040 And I did, and it was really hard. 129 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,960 I like, hit it on the number. Yeah, on the fucking number. 130 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:19,600 And I didn't have anything left in the tank. 131 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,320 Nothing. Yeah, for for me it was that was 132 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,720 my mate like that and squatting 800 was my main goal and I could 133 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,520 not get the second bench in for the life of me. 134 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,800 I was having the yips on bench. So that's the one that 135 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,600 strengthened here as I went for that ridiculous pull on the 136 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,840 third attempt, just got folded by it. 137 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,400 And just because I was like I the difference between 1935 and 138 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,800 like 1955 meant nothing to me. It was either 1935 or 2K like go 139 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:48,640 for. It yeah, that's kind of what 140 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:58,400 Chris did at this last meet for me, but yeah, so and then I 141 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,840 don't know, I'm trying to think what else like. 142 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:09,920 Talking about going from Laura, working with her. 143 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,760 Oh, yeah, Laura was great. So like, that was like another 144 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:16,920 thing where it's like you kind of have to set your goals super 145 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,000 high because like all of Laura's clients are like the best in the 146 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,680 fucking world. And then you have Laura, you 147 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,720 know, like, like, what am I living up to here? 148 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,480 Like there I just wanted to be like, I didn't want to be 149 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,000 another person on there. Like I wanted to be one of the 150 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,520 people that was like higher up, like harasser, you know, but 151 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:42,799 like knowing that I could never like truly because I could like 152 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:44,520 there's no fucking. Life. 153 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,160 But like, you know, I would ever, you know, there's Dina and 154 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,680 then there's Leah, there's Taylor and there's Jordan and 155 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:53,120 you know, it's like all of these people, but those are the people 156 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,760 that I had to look up to. And like, you know, as as long 157 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:59,040 as I could keep chipping away, that was good enough for me. 158 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,440 And it still is. You know, I like, I have no 159 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,160 aspirations of the like being a world record holder. 160 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,720 Of course, like if that were to happen it'd be cool, but like, I 161 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,640 don't, I don't try not to go into meets anymore like thinking 162 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,520 about what numbers I'm going to hit. 163 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:16,800 Yeah, and I kind of feel the same way as you. 164 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,680 Like I just obviously I'm starting with Skiba now, so 165 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,120 everyone in that crew is fucking animals. 166 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,120 So and I mean being in 275, that's like one of the toughest 167 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,200 weight classes. So like I'm trying to be 168 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,040 realistic, but yeah, I'll probably never hit an all time 169 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:32,560 world record. But the same time I'm still 170 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:36,680 gunning for every single person. And I think, but I also think I 171 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:39,840 like your mindset of if you're worrying less going into a meet, 172 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:41,440 you're probably going to perform a lot better. 173 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,320 Oh yeah, yeah. And like, I think also to like 174 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,280 this last meet, I was definitely like, all right, I'm just going 175 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,760 to go in. Anything that I squat was going 176 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,920 to be APR, Anything that I bench was going to be APR, the 177 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,360 deadlift, whatever. Like if I got a 5 LB PR, got a 5 178 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,040 LB PR and I did. But like when I went like the 179 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:07,520 WPO for the the Pro AM before that, I remember going in and I 180 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:12,520 wanted like for the Pro AM of 2023, I wanted to squat 600 lbs. 181 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:16,680 Like that was the goal, but it just wasn't there. 182 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,560 Like, it might have been there, but like, my mentality was not 183 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:22,600 there. And like, you know, you set 184 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,600 yourself up for disappointment that way. 185 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:31,640 Yeah. And then for the WPO and like 186 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:33,560 every like people probably think I'm fucking crazy. 187 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:35,680 So it's like I never even squatted 600 lbs. 188 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:38,880 I was like, I want, I'm going to squat 7 like it's MPO like 189 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:41,760 that's the goal. And then when I got on the 190 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,760 stage, like I, I took my opener at six O 6, I missed it. 191 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,480 I got my second, but it was terrible. 192 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:56,000 It was absolutely horrendous. So I scratched my fur it just 193 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,200 and like, that's not even close, you know what I mean? 194 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,000 But like during that prep, I wasn't even stuck. 195 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,120 I didn't even my old like what I had hit at the WPO wasn't even 196 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,080 what I like close to the numbers that I was hitting during the 197 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:10,480 prep. But it just like goes to show 198 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,000 that like whatever is there, I mean like that's just what's 199 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:14,480 there on me day. I didn't even cut weight. 200 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,080 Like I have no excuse for it. And I think that's something 201 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:22,360 that with multiplied kind of they always say, like they 202 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,400 always told me, like, let's just get a total first because you 203 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:27,680 never know it can go wrong. Like you, your squats could be 204 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:31,760 money that day and then you can't touch or you forget how to 205 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:36,160 press or you you're gassed because you hit two massive PRS 206 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:38,560 in your squat and bench and then you can't even pull your opener 207 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,000 or just just so much can go wrong or like your gear doesn't 208 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:44,720 fit right or your bloat. Like there's so many more things 209 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:46,080 that can go wrong. Multiply. 210 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,880 I mean, Speaking of things that went wrong, I think we can kind 211 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:54,040 of talk about your injury and kind of the the road to recovery 212 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:55,800 on that. So tell us about how that 213 00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:00,080 happened. Oh man, so this is also at the 214 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:04,200 WPO. There's like no videos out there 215 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,200 of this and I think that they cut it out of the street. 216 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:14,960 But anyway, the WPOI, you know, I didn't get. 217 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,920 I scratched my third. It didn't hit anything close to 218 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,440 what I wanted to for my squat. So I was like, all right, I'm 219 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,800 going to send bench. When I took my opener and 220 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:30,480 training, I think I wanted to open at like 375, which is also 221 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:35,600 stupid because like I my bench before that, the most I ever did 222 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:40,240 was 350. I ended up opening at like 345 223 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,320 or 335 something like that and it was smoke. 224 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,920 So we went up to 37. It would have been like 360. 225 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,600 I think it was 370, whatever, it doesn't matter. 226 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:57,440 I like I did it and I got it off my chest, but like I don't know 227 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:01,520 if I was like into my lap, but I just kept going like this at the 228 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:03,920 top. Like it just kept like I just 229 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,160 couldn't get it like this. And I think I was under the 230 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,320 weight for so long while I was doing this fucking weird thing, 231 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:16,440 but it just snapped so I broke my radius. 232 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,520 I actually didn't break. Ulna. 233 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:26,600 Yeah, so I didn't break my ulna, which I guess like for everybody 234 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:28,360 that I know, all the other women that I know that got this 235 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,440 injury, they broke both. I don't know how that happened, 236 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:38,240 but I was lucky because Kelly was there and you know, she is a 237 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,560 nurse and she splinted up my arm with like this box. 238 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:44,840 It was like a, it was like a garbage, like a makeshift 239 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,520 garbage. She splinted up my arm. 240 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,560 Chanel was there who had also gone through the same injury and 241 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:56,560 she like at the same place at the WPO and she like told me 242 00:13:56,560 --> 00:14:02,840 what hospital to go to. So it was me Mags in Dakota and 243 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,920 we all, you know, went to the hospital. 244 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,000 It was terrible, but it was like being at the hospital was kind 245 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:11,600 of funny because I was like kind of fucked up. 246 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:15,040 But like, I remember like I don't do well with painkillers. 247 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,840 So like on the way home I was like, we, I remember we like 248 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,000 pulled over until we were trying to get my meds. 249 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,680 We pulled over until like a Ruby Tuesdays and there was like, you 250 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,960 know, families going out to like, dinner and I'm on the like 251 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,360 in the parking lot puking on the floor with my broken arm. 252 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,640 Oh my God. It was terrible. 253 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,840 So yeah, that that happened. And then I remember. 254 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:44,040 So like, I didn't get surgery at the hospital because I had to 255 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:48,400 come back to New Jersey and I get my health insurance through 256 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:54,320 the VA. So it took five weeks between 257 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,600 the time I broke my arm to the time I got my surgery. 258 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:01,000 Oh my God, it was yeah. So they, I remember I asked the 259 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,760 surgeon afterwards, I was like, was it really bad? 260 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,280 And he was like, it wasn't easy. You know, the bones were like 261 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:17,240 going back together long. So around that time, well before 262 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,080 that I have was going to see Chris. 263 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:22,560 So like for the WPOI was under Laura, Laura was doing my 264 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,480 program, she was coaching me, but I needed help. 265 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:30,200 And like for all the preps prior to that, like I was going to 266 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,960 Hellbent to train like or at least a squat. 267 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,360 And then like eventually Chris like reached out to me. 268 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:42,640 He's like, hey, when are you going to come train? 269 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,120 I was like, thank you for asking because I would love to. 270 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:48,520 So he helped me through the entire prep. 271 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,200 So after I broke my arm, I was kind of just like I wasn't 272 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:54,360 lifting. And it was like a natural 273 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:57,280 transition because like, he had already be helping me through 274 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:01,400 everything and he had eyes on me like during this recovery, like 275 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:05,560 he was able to see if something hurt, you know what I mean? 276 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,880 Like there was a lot of things that didn't feel right so he 277 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,040 could modify things on the fly. And that's when I started with 278 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:16,680 Chris for real. So from when you broke or I 279 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:18,400 guess when you got the surgery toll? 280 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:20,200 So when did you have the surgery? 281 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,440 December. Of 2023. 282 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:29,600 So yeah. It was like a year before the 283 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,000 meet. Yeah, it was like exactly a year 284 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:32,720 before. Yeah. 285 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:36,520 So I guess over that course of the year, I obviously getting 286 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,840 back to it has obviously physical barriers, but as far as 287 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,560 like the mental of trying to get back under some heavyweight 288 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:45,760 obviously, what was that like for you? 289 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:53,280 Oh. God, it was hard and it's still 290 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:58,560 hard. My grip strength isn't there 291 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:04,160 anymore. Like there's this weird thing 292 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:08,359 like now when I like grasp onto something like really hard, like 293 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:12,960 if you're holding a bench it and you let go, it hurts really bad. 294 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:14,440 It's not as bad as it used to be. 295 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,560 And then like when you would go back into the bench and you 296 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:22,079 would hit like, you know, the safety like that reverberations 297 00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:23,680 that goes down the metal in my arm. 298 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,440 So that was like awful. It still is kind of and like my 299 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,640 grip strength isn't at all like there was for a long time. 300 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,440 I couldn't hold anything over 365 for a deadlift. 301 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:43,320 Once I got back into benching and it's still like not cool. 302 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,880 I remember like and Chris like he God bless him because he has 303 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:50,200 to deal with me complaining all the time. 304 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,800 I was convinced that my like my other arm was going to break 305 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:58,440 through this prep. We switched into a banter. 306 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,520 So I was in Poly when I broke my arm and then I went into the 307 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,720 banter because I thought that at least mentally like and still 308 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,080 that like that groove is just slightly. 309 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:16,840 It's different enough that I didn't have that fear, but it 310 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,400 was still so like a banter is still so hard. 311 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:23,440 It's not like Polly's hard, but I was used to it. 312 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,440 My shirt isn't like super aggressive, my SDP or whatever, 313 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:34,400 so I was super duper fina. It's it, it wasn't super tight. 314 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,800 It was just easier for me to touch with that shirt. 315 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,320 With the bad shirt. It's not. 316 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,440 And like I didn't want to, you know, you don't want to put so 317 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,920 much weight on the bar that like you can't hold it. 318 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,720 You know, it's like maybe you could press it, but your arms 319 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:51,560 aren't used to it. And that was like a big fear of 320 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:55,920 mine as well. So getting that the bar down to 321 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:57,920 the touch was like almost impossible. 322 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,960 Like it always felt impossible. Bellying up was like the biggest 323 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:03,400 thing. And then I remember at the meet 324 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:11,800 in December, my second attempt, so I took a token for my first 325 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:17,640 attempt and then my second attempt was four, 19418, 326 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,840 something like that. And I don't even know what have, 327 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,760 I don't even have my bench videos, but I remember having to 328 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,560 hold it at the top, you know, because you have to. 329 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,400 But like it felt like a fucking eternity and I started to freak 330 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:31,920 out. Like there could have been a 331 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:33,880 million other reasons why I was red light and I really, you 332 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,880 know, like you don't really know what happened because you're 333 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:39,360 under, you know what I mean? Like you, you're just like 334 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:41,840 trying not to die. But I. 335 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,160 Remember, I was like, take it, take it, take it like at the top 336 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:46,400 because I was like, I don't want to hold it anymore. 337 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,840 I was so scared. And then I ended up getting it 338 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,120 on the third, but I was like so relieved that it was over. 339 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:00,280 Yes, there's breaking my arm like. 340 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:03,080 It's not just like my arm so much anymore. 341 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:04,920 It's like now I'm afraid of like, breaking everything. 342 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,040 Yeah. And I think that's something 343 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:12,240 that a lot of people in this sport go through when they not 344 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,320 just breaking something, but any sort of setbacks like that, when 345 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,160 you kind of come back to it, it's always going to be in the 346 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:22,840 back of your mind. And I think it's the the not the 347 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,280 drive, but the the continuation to keep pushing through it is 348 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,400 what sets people apart. Yeah. 349 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,480 Yeah, but like, I still feel like I'm a giant pussy, you know 350 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:35,280 what I mean? Like, I like, I, I want to be 351 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:37,640 able to like, yeah, I gave my, like, give myself so much credit 352 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,240 for it. Like, I am proud of myself for 353 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,040 coming back. But like, I like, there is no 354 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:48,040 doubt that I was a big baby. And like, even if like you, you 355 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:51,440 know, you could ask Brian. It's definitely like Chrissy, 356 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:55,040 Chrissy and Chris. But so like, there. 357 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,280 I remember one point, My other arm, you know, you have your 358 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:00,320 wrist wraps, right? And they're made out of Velcro. 359 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,760 And like they, they it doesn't just stay the way that it is. 360 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:08,080 So I was benching and then I hear like the Velcro pop and I 361 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:09,240 was like, oh, there goes my other arm. 362 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,440 Yeah. So those are things that I'm 363 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:13,920 still trying to get over. Yeah. 364 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,240 So. I guess since that meet 365 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,600 obviously that went well, you're kind of as the we like to say on 366 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:24,000 the Internet are back maybe for Next up kind of what do you have 367 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,120 lined up for the for the rest of the year? 368 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:33,120 So I'm doing AI, don't know why I did this, but I'm doing a 369 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:37,520 strongman competition in April. It's at the gym that I work at 370 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:44,680 which is like local to me and it's like 3 of the five events 371 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,280 are all group events, which whatever, but I'm signed up as 372 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,840 novice because I've never touched any of those implements 373 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,240 before. I did like a yolk walk the other 374 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:58,440 day at Chris's and then it's not easy. 375 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,680 It's like weird. It like it's like running with a 376 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:06,720 camper bar, you know, like, and then the other events like a 377 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,280 farmer's carry car deadlift, like I don't know if I'm going 378 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:12,880 to be good at it, but whatever I feel like I need. 379 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,880 You know how there's like dips and valleys in powerlifting 380 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,160 where you're like, I don't know if I want to do this anymore. 381 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:24,680 I'm coming up off of the the bottom, so I need something 382 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:29,520 that's like a change of pace. You know what I need that will 383 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:34,560 keep me strong and in like, and you know what I mean? 384 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,360 Like I don't want it to be like I'm hammering, powerlifting, 385 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:40,640 powerlifting, powerlifting. I'm the kind of person that gets 386 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,640 bored with everything. Yeah, and. 387 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,000 I think on a deeper level, I think that's something that 388 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,080 personally me, that's kind of why I did multiply, I guess, 389 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,640 quote UN quote earlier than I would have expected myself to 390 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,440 because I want to be changing things up. 391 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:58,880 That's why I went from multiply back to Rob going back to 392 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,360 multiply. Maybe I was thinking about maybe 393 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:04,280 doing a 10K at some point. Like I want to keep it 394 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:08,320 interesting from not burning out because I love it so much that I 395 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,240 want to stay in it for the next 30 years. 396 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,640 And if you just go raw, raw, raw, raw, you're going to be 397 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:15,600 done in 10 years. Or you just stick with one 398 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:16,760 thing. If you don't change it up, 399 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:21,200 especially with someone like me who's like OCDADHD as fuck it 400 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,360 you have that hyperfixation, Once you burn out of that 401 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:26,640 hyperfixation, it, you never go back to it. 402 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,360 Exactly. Yeah, I'm the same exact like 403 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:36,320 you could I have got like 1000 hobbies and I don't do any of 404 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:37,960 them anymore. You know, like I used to be like 405 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:42,440 big on Rudix cubes and like I used to be do art and I used to 406 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,040 sell art and it, you know, once it fades, it fades. 407 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:48,960 We're trying to get back into art though. 408 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:51,640 But yeah, I don't want that to happen to powerless thing. 409 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:56,760 Like I love the people too much where I'm like, I don't want to 410 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:58,800 leave. And then like, I know if I, if I 411 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,600 were to just be like one of those people that shows up to 412 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,880 the gym just to help, like Chris would never let me do that 413 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,040 anyway. So like I have to find like, I 414 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:08,640 have to not just like find the love again, but I have to keep 415 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,280 the love that I have for it. Literally the drive to keep 416 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:13,960 getting better. Exactly. 417 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,080 Especially if when you're investing so much into it, if 418 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,400 you're not necessarily hitting the numbers or the, the goals 419 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,360 you're wanting to hit on the time frames you're setting 420 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:24,720 yourself, that's when you're kind of setting yourself up for 421 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,480 failure. So feel like, all right, well, 422 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,320 maybe I'm not going to be ready to do this this year. 423 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,040 So let's, let's do something else to keep, keep me occupied, 424 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:35,040 yeah. Yeah, so strong, man. 425 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,880 Is that my other? So I, I know that you had 426 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,200 mentioned this on the podcast that you had with Amber where 427 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,840 you're like, remind me never to like trade through the holidays 428 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,080 again. That is me right now. 429 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,160 I'm like, I can't do it because like I have my mom, like my 430 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,200 like, and it goes like October is my son's birthday and then 431 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,680 it's Halloween and then it's Thanksgiving and then it's 432 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:57,720 Christmas. But it's like it's just nonstop, 433 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,840 like I can't do that again. So I was like thinking like, 434 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,960 what kind of meats are right before that all starts and 435 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:08,320 Shawna's meat is in September, which would be perfect. 436 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,480 And that gives me enough time to like, I personally think I need 437 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:15,720 to like relearn how to squat out of bench. 438 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:20,160 You know, like there's a lot of bad habits that I have accrued 439 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:24,480 over the years from like having like I started out in multi. 440 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,960 This is like a big tangent, but started out multiplied by myself 441 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,320 in my basement. Like I bought monohooks for like 442 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:32,960 the rogue rack that I had downstairs. 443 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,040 Like I couldn't even stand wide enough in that rack. 444 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,080 So like my feet are up against the thing. 445 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:44,880 I have no slaughters obviously. And then once I started going to 446 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:49,680 the gym and doing it, I had like nothing like nobody to tell me 447 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,600 what to do. So all, like, I watched Laura's 448 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:58,320 lips and I was so wide, like super wide because that's how 449 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:00,560 Laura lifted. And then I remember I would send 450 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,280 the videos to Laura and she was like, you know, you could bring 451 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:06,600 your feet in a little bit. And I was like, no, not now. 452 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,080 This is working for me. And like, eventually I did do 453 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:14,320 it. But yeah, so I have a lot of 454 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,200 those habits to I'm like picking the bar, like you just have to 455 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,160 stand up, right? But you don't like who knew? 456 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:20,440 It could be. So it was so hard. 457 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,320 It's it's. So funny that you say that 458 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,640 because like that's one of those things that in multiply it's 459 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:29,720 like a lot of the time if you can pick the weight, you can 460 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,040 squat it. So some people literally just 461 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,760 can't get the weight. Like prime example I could think 462 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:40,000 of is Charlie, like phenomenal squatter, but he was had a point 463 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:41,960 where he was struggling to pick some weights that he was 464 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,400 definitely able to do. And it's there's so many small 465 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,880 nuances that you can learn from other people. 466 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,160 And that's why I guess I will go into a little rant here on a 467 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:53,920 deeper level. That's why you go to other gyms. 468 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:55,160 That's why you train with other people. 469 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:56,560 That's why you talk to other people. 470 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,560 You don't stay in your bubble, and staying in your bubble makes 471 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,920 pile lifting not fun, no. No, definitely that. 472 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,080 And I'm like, I have traveled. I'm well traveled when it comes 473 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,200 because like I didn't have a crew for so long. 474 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:15,440 Yeah, yeah, I so we got to meet in December. 475 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:20,360 I couldn't, I didn't even know what my my last attempt was for 476 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:23,200 squat, but I remember like I couldn't get the bar out of the 477 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,600 rack. Like I tried to pick it and it 478 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,760 got stuck and then John was behind me and he's like, drop 479 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:31,720 the rack, drop the rack and they're like, it's as low as it 480 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,360 goes. And I'm like, OK, well, I kind 481 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:36,760 of like move my feet in a little bit. 482 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,880 And I was like, well, let's just give it a go. 483 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:41,120 And I came out of it came out of the rack. 484 00:27:41,120 --> 00:27:43,160 But it was like, so obviously I did something different. 485 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:47,480 Like I must have done it better. Like besides just moving my feet 486 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:49,840 in a little bit because whatever. 487 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,200 But I'm just not consistent enough. 488 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,240 And that's something that the goal of mine is to be more 489 00:27:54,240 --> 00:28:01,520 consistent because like, imagine, like, like Chris always 490 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,000 says that I do, like, everything is like brute strength with me. 491 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:05,440 Like there's no technique. And he's right. 492 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,280 So like, I just like, imagine what it would be like if I were 493 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:13,040 to have some technique. You know what I mean? 494 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:13,800 Yeah. And I. 495 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,760 Think that's why, kind of touching on what you said 496 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:21,560 earlier of like you shouldn't really model what you do off of 497 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,680 other lifters because everyone is different and like some are 498 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:30,240 way wider, some are more narrow. Like when I think of super wide, 499 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,080 it's like, yeah, like Laura squat is super wide. 500 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,280 And then like Danny Tonejero squats pretty narrow and 501 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,600 multiply compared to like most of the other people. 502 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,240 But that's what works for him. He's one of the best lifters of 503 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:42,480 all time. Like, if you model what you're 504 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:44,640 doing after other people, it's probably not going to work out 505 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,360 for you. You know, you got to find the 506 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:48,600 sweet spot. Yeah. 507 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:50,440 And. Then I guess the raw comparative 508 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,120 is like, I actually literally said this at the gym last night. 509 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:55,320 I was like, if you obviously John Hack's one of the greatest 510 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,440 raw lifters of all time, if you were to try to model his 511 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,600 technique, you are probably going to be out of the sport in 512 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:01,480 less than three years. Yeah. 513 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,320 I know I like watching squat like it's all the way up on his 514 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,080 tracks. Yeah, like that. 515 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:09,760 Looks crazy. But. 516 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,040 On a back to the kind of community aspect of it, 517 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,240 obviously we have a lot of similar friends and we're a 518 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:18,160 bunch of goofballs who like to lift crazy weights. 519 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:23,000 So over the years, obviously Laura and Chris and and Kriti 520 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,280 are big influences in you. But who are some of the other 521 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:26,560 people that have inspired you? Oh my. 522 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:33,800 God, so like my so the first program that I did RAW was one 523 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:41,320 main event came out right and I was the that was the girl that 524 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,880 they sponsored that year. Like they sent me to the pro am 525 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:49,880 or whatever, which was fucking awesome and like I owe like 526 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,840 Amber, Leah, Tara Allison a lot for that, because like that 527 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:55,600 really got me back into the sport. 528 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:05,480 So Susan Salazar is the reason why I lift conjugate why I would 529 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,280 ever gotten like she's a raw lifter, but that's why I got 530 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,880 him. Like, if you, you know, do all 531 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:17,440 those points, this makes no sense. 532 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,640 So Susan Salazar was raw, but she was doing conjugate with 533 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,360 Gracie, who was equipped, who trained with Laura. 534 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,520 And then when I came back, I came to Laura and I, you know 535 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,280 what I mean? Like all of these things like, 536 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,360 like Susan led me here somehow. Yeah. 537 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,320 It's like the. The six degrees of separation, 538 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:35,480 but in powerlifting. Thank you. 539 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:37,040 That was what I couldn't think of. 540 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,760 And then like my second meeting I saw Janine Whitaker. 541 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,120 Like I'll never people have heard the story probably 1000 542 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:46,720 times. Maybe. 543 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:51,800 No, like I'm sure whatever. But anyway, I like I saw her 544 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,600 squat. It's like well into the five 545 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,880 hundreds. I'd never seen anybody squat 546 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:02,160 that much late in my life. And like, I think on her first 547 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,240 attempt, she broke a world record and then she took her 548 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:07,080 second and she missed it, but she still went up on her third 549 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,560 and got it. I was like, you're incredible. 550 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:13,080 Just like I like, I could not fathom that somebody could have 551 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:21,840 that much weight on their back. Like besides like Chris, Laura 552 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,800 and Ryan. I don't know. 553 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,160 I like, I mean, I like I the whole, the community as a whole 554 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,320 is what makes it special, right? It makes it it's very different 555 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,040 from raw, even though there's like raw people in this circle 556 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:40,880 exactly actually to touch. On that I think that's why with 557 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:44,240 the whole like raw versus equipped like segregation, I 558 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:47,840 think it's so stupid because I'm still a raw lifter. 559 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,080 I train with equip people I know people that are in equip cruise 560 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:53,840 that are raw like just because you're a raw lifter doesn't mean 561 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:55,200 you can't be part of a community. 562 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:58,560 It doesn't mean you have to wear your singlet and your headphones 563 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:00,400 and sit in a combo rack for four hours. 564 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:02,720 You can go lift with your friends. 565 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:05,600 Yeah, I. Think I think it like it's at 566 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,840 the gym that I work at now. It's like it's a power looking 567 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,840 straw man type of thing. And like when I'm like hey, do 568 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:13,480 you need help? Or like, you know, did you want 569 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:16,520 me to go grab sides for people who are, like, taking big weight 570 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:17,440 or weight that they're not sure of? 571 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:18,840 Like, a lot of times they say no. 572 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:19,480 Yeah. Like that? 573 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,600 Which I think is crazy. Like I could, we know we I could 574 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:22,840 just make sure you don't get hurt. 575 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,080 But. Yeah, I, I agree. 576 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:32,280 And I, I think like this like circle the equip community and 577 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,760 the raw lifters within the equip community and like, I feel like 578 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:39,360 they're very special. Like I, I don't know, like when 579 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:42,040 I like look on Instagram or social media and you see like, 580 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:46,600 there's so much drama going on. I don't want to just say like, 581 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,120 well, I guess it is mostly the raw community, but it's just 582 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:52,280 they're like always talking shit about each other. 583 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:56,360 And I guess there, there's a fair amount of that here, right? 584 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:58,240 I feel like there's a lot of competitiveness, especially 585 00:32:58,240 --> 00:32:59,480 among men. Yeah. 586 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:04,040 Honestly, it's yeah, I think seeing both sides of it, it's 587 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,440 definitely different and multiply versus raw, like 588 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:08,720 multiply. Like, yeah, it's like, I'm going 589 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:10,080 to beat you. I'm going to chip you on the 590 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,760 squad or the stupid, crazy come like AR variation. 591 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,120 I'm going to throw an extra chip on there just because like fuck 592 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:19,600 you, but and and raw, it's like, no, I want to see you miss this 593 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:20,880 lift. I think that's what the 594 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:24,200 separation is. And like prime example, like 595 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:27,640 let's think about this. The first the the best raw total 596 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,120 of all time. Dan Bell, guess who he trains 597 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:31,440 with? Danny Denaehero. 598 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:35,520 A quick lifters like it's If you're going to model the 599 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:37,520 community after anything, look at that one. 600 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:40,360 Look at other people who have the best totals in raw. 601 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:41,920 They're still training with equip. 602 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:43,680 Shane Haller, one of the strongest guys. 603 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,240 He's friends with Dan. He's friends with both of them. 604 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:49,920 He has been in cruise with raw people and equip people like it. 605 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:52,600 You learn a lot of things back and forth. 606 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:55,960 Yeah. I agree and I think that like so 607 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,960 like what I can under this is so random, but like an underrated 608 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:04,280 aspect of like lifting and multiply and then going back to 609 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,600 raw like your total goes. Up a lot, I'll tell you that 610 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:09,159 right now. Yeah, that's what I was saying. 611 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,560 Like there's, there's it's people don't realize like that 612 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:19,159 being able to prime your CMS for like lifting heavy things, like 613 00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:21,600 when you're doing it, you know, multiply, single ply, whatever 614 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:23,159 it is. And then you go back to doing 615 00:34:23,159 --> 00:34:24,639 raw, like you're not really afraid. 616 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:27,400 Oh yeah. No, you go to pick a squat, 617 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,120 you're like, oh, this is fucking easy and like. 618 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:32,880 What I I. Can think of like I just hit 619 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:37,960 like a 30 LB bench PR and for me that is a massive PR. 620 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:41,040 Like I was stuck at like 3:45 for three years. 621 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:47,000 So going from slowly chipping up to 360, then 363 to hitting 390 622 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:49,880 with maybe 400 in the tank like that. 623 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,199 Obviously I trained and got stronger, but I did six months 624 00:34:53,199 --> 00:34:55,679 of equipped lifting. Like there's no way I didn't get 625 00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:57,880 carry over. So that's why I hate when people 626 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:02,840 like the gear does all the work. No way, no way. 627 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:08,760 And like, I think so the you did the two years ago, you were in 628 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,640 strength of heroes me, right. You did the the raw day. 629 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:13,280 Yeah. So. 630 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:18,800 I I was supposed to do that to me raw as a full power meet, but 631 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,160 then I was like fuck that because Ryan is was doing full 632 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,360 power the next day and he would be the one handling me and I was 633 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,840 like that's not cool. So I ended up doing bench only, 634 00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:33,440 but I into like going into that meat prep, like my best squat 635 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:38,680 before that raw was 3 05. I don't know, whatever it was, 636 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:43,440 it was like low 300 and then I was going to open at like 425. 637 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:46,720 And it wasn't like it was scary because like it's you don't have 638 00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:48,760 the same support. Like, you know, you stand up and 639 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,040 you're like, Oh my God, like it's my hips feel a little bit 640 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:53,280 funny. But like that was going to be my 641 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:56,800 opener and that was huge. I don't know, that's like the 642 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:58,720 the stuff that people don't realize. 643 00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:02,400 So you just like you have to push yourself. 644 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:05,760 And I think. Yeah. 645 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:10,160 And something that I think people need to learn too is 646 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,920 finding that balance of pushing yourself but not being stupid. 647 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:17,760 This came up the other day. The line between bravery and 648 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:22,040 stupidity is a very fine line. And I think the prime example of 649 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:24,120 people who teeter that is multiply lifters. 650 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:26,720 Oh yeah. Yeah, that's me. 651 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:28,760 Or that was me. It's not me anymore. 652 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:33,560 I'm, I'm very changed this cat, like breaking my arm definitely 653 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:35,080 changed me. I'm a lot more cautious when it 654 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,600 comes to these kind of things. And I'm like very happy to take 655 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:42,200 the small wins, even if like there are bigger numbers there. 656 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:44,600 That's just like, I'll save it for another day. 657 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:51,680 But yeah, before that, like for the W, the WPO was like, I was 658 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:53,120 just so dumb. I think I was dumb. 659 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:55,880 And I can't believe that, like, Margaret, for instance, like 660 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:57,320 didn't tell me to shut the fuck up. 661 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:03,600 Like, imagine like telling your friend like, I squatted 580 at 662 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,480 the program a couple months before. 663 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,960 And then I go, hey, so I want to squat 700. 664 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:10,520 That's the goal. And she was like, yeah, sure. 665 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:12,040 Like, yeah, it's good idea. Great. 666 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,240 But I mean, that goes to show Margaret has like, like, more 667 00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:18,800 faith in me than anybody that I know. 668 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:19,760 Yeah. And I. 669 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:25,680 Think I think people like that are what makes having a crew and 670 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:29,320 like friends in the sport so good because some people are 671 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,480 people that won't attempt things that other people think you're 672 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:35,680 capable of and vice versa. Sometimes you need to be reeled 673 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:37,280 back. I'm definitely someone who used 674 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,560 to be reeled back. I have, I set goals probably a 675 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:45,720 little too high and then then I get delusional and then we set 676 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:48,120 myself up for disappointment. And then, but at the same time, 677 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:49,680 there's people on the other end of the spectrum. 678 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:54,200 And I think that's why having a coach is very important because 679 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:55,880 they can kind of bring you back to reality. 680 00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:58,840 And I always say that everyone needs a coach. 681 00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:01,760 It's just whether that coaches your gas pedal or your brakes. 682 00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:05,920 Yes, yes. And Chris is really in tune with 683 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:10,120 like, not only is he like in tune with what you can and can't 684 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:15,840 do, but he's also like I'm diff, you know, like I'm different in 685 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,520 the sense like where I'm like, I, I could, I'll stop. 686 00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:21,680 Like you're like, oh, I hit 540 on my Max effort squat. 687 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:23,480 Like that's enough for me. And he's like, what do you mean? 688 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,160 You have like six other jumps? I was like, hey, but he's like, 689 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:32,240 he's like finesse it in a way that it's like, oh, you know, 690 00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:37,640 like, like he doesn't do it. So I get nervous, if that makes 691 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:38,760 sense. Like he won't be. 692 00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:41,720 And he's not like, like interface like, yeah, you can 693 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:42,960 fucking do this. No, no, no, no. 694 00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:46,720 Because like, I'm not the kind of person that, you know, is 695 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:50,360 motivated by that. Like he's just, I don't know, 696 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:54,600 he's very in touch with how to handle me versus the rest of his 697 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:55,760 lifters. Yeah. 698 00:38:56,320 --> 00:39:00,160 And I know you said that kind of the winter mute was like one of 699 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:02,680 the first meets where you had that full, I guess, crew 700 00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:06,960 handling experience. So maybe tell somebody, if 701 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:10,880 somebody was this and that has never had that, tell them why 702 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:16,200 it's important. My God, it's like life changing 703 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:17,640 really. Like I can't believe that this 704 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:21,160 is how people live. You know, like I went to all 705 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,080 these meets before. Not that I didn't have help, I 706 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:25,800 did have help, but I was getting help from people that I didn't 707 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:32,160 normally train with. My first, the the pro am meet, 708 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:37,880 the first multi play program. I had one of my friends come out 709 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:41,800 to specifically just to wrap my knees and then Margaret and then 710 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:45,200 there was the hellbent crew. But like so Andrew was handling 711 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:48,440 Jordan and Bobby was handling Denise and like they helped me 712 00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:51,520 when they could, But it's one of those things where it's like you 713 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:53,480 know, you're there to handle another person and it's like 714 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:56,600 it's I've handled before and it's really fucking hard. 715 00:39:57,280 --> 00:39:59,200 It's. More stressful than competing, I 716 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,920 agree. 100% it's very fucking high. 717 00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:06,080 So like I completely get that. And then like going into the WPI 718 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:08,920 had Dakota, who I don't normally train with, and I had Mags who I 719 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:12,000 don't normally train with come with me and it was super 720 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,320 helpful. But it's not the same like, you 721 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:15,760 know, they don't see you all the time. 722 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:23,280 And then having it was Chris, Chrissy and John and then me, 723 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:27,880 Tom and Jeff were competing and they like ran that thing, you 724 00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:32,120 know, like a well oiled machine. Like they had everything and 725 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:36,720 like changing things on the fly. It was just like incredible to 726 00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:37,760 have. I didn't have to pick my 727 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:39,680 attempts like I did, but I didn't. 728 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,120 I remember I was like, I took my second squat and I was like, I 729 00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:45,520 could cut it here, right? And he's like, you can if you 730 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,520 want, but I think you have another jump. 731 00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:52,480 And I was like, all right, well, you do whatever you want. 732 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:55,800 And I wouldn't have picked 700 or 705. 733 00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:59,360 I would have like maybe taken like a 10 LB jump. 734 00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:04,800 But, you know, he saw that that day and it happened and that, 735 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:07,160 you know, I'm, I'm grateful for that because that was always 736 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:11,760 like a huge call. Yeah. 737 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:13,920 It's like it really. You don't even have to ask for 738 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:18,920 help, you know, like, you just have everything, like having 739 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:21,240 straps tightened, whatever. Yeah. 740 00:41:21,240 --> 00:41:23,160 And like. The prime, like this past 741 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:26,080 weekend when I was competing, like I was down by, you know, 742 00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:29,000 the platform just sitting and waiting and like Brittany was 743 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,960 wrapping my knees and I didn't have to go looking for them. 744 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,760 I was just sitting there. And then all of a sudden I'd be 745 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,600 4th out and John and Brittany would come over and I didn't 746 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:39,400 have my headphones and didn't have to say a word. 747 00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:42,480 Didn't even know was I had an idea was on the bar because I 748 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:46,520 had a game plan, but I didn't care if he moved it up or down 749 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:48,280 because I trust in my hand handlers. 750 00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:50,480 And I think that's a huge thing is trusting your handlers 751 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:54,000 because if you're there on your own, you maybe think you can go 752 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:57,080 for a lift that you're not going to get or maybe you think, oh, 753 00:41:57,120 --> 00:41:58,480 I'm tired, I'm not going to get this. 754 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:03,080 I'm going to scratch it. So I guess like, for example, I 755 00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:06,360 hit my 670 on the squat. I smoked that we went for seven, 756 00:42:07,240 --> 00:42:10,520 got a depth call that not going to go into that much. 757 00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:15,200 But so we had to readjust the game plan and I'd hit, I smoked 758 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:19,040 my open arm bench, hit the 375 on my second like nice. 759 00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:23,040 And then it was kind of like a coin toss whether we were going 760 00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:26,920 to go like 390 or go go for the 400 because that was another one 761 00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:30,480 of my goals. But the main goal is 1700, so we 762 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:33,960 went for the 390 and I think if we went 400 I might have missed 763 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:35,360 it. But if I was there alone, I 764 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:37,800 would have absolutely put in 400, yeah. 765 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,200 Yeah, yeah, that's how that works. 766 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:44,400 And like, I feel like before this I was an overestimator of 767 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:46,240 myself. And then after I broke my arm, 768 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:49,040 I'm like a perpetual underestimated. 769 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,000 I'm like, it's good enough. Yeah. 770 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:52,560 So it's good. To have somebody there that 771 00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:54,800 pushes you and definitely good to have somebody there that 772 00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:56,440 could pull the brakes if you need it. 773 00:42:57,120 --> 00:43:00,200 Yeah, and. Then as far as actual like meet 774 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:04,160 day mechanics, when you have that crew with you, like I 775 00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:07,240 always say, if you were to rank like what parts of the meet are 776 00:43:07,240 --> 00:43:09,920 the most stressful? Spotting, loading, obviously 777 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:13,160 that shit's exhausting, very important, but very exhausting 778 00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:16,640 handling is second. That's you have to worry about 779 00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:19,000 all the numbers and all if they're wrapped and all that, 780 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:21,600 especially equipped. And then I say judging because 781 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:25,040 you can make a bad call or you slip up or something like that. 782 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:28,600 The easiest part of powerlifting is actually competing. 783 00:43:29,240 --> 00:43:31,360 I. Know and it like that's like 784 00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:33,640 another. It doesn't drive me crazy. 785 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:36,280 Like I know people like get into their zones and shit like when 786 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:43,920 they're they're lifting, but I just wish people were like, I 787 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:46,000 don't want to say took it less seriously because like, you 788 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:47,880 know, you have to respect the hustle. 789 00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:50,320 Like people like obvious, like if you. 790 00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:52,840 I just wish people would smile more sometimes. 791 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:54,440 I know, yeah. But. 792 00:43:54,760 --> 00:43:57,840 You know, and I usually I like haven't had this issue in like 793 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,920 forever where I felt like, oh, that person hates me, you know, 794 00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:05,400 but like it hasn't been like that for a while. 795 00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:08,880 But I do get those vibes. Yeah, and I think that's why 796 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:13,560 something that I learned in football was don't be too 797 00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:15,760 serious. Like, yeah, focus, get hyped up, 798 00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:18,120 don't go crazy. It's the same thing a pile 799 00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:20,680 lifting. If you get too focused or too 800 00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:23,920 worried or start thinking about everything and or get super 801 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:26,720 hyped up and take like 20 hits of smelling salts and have 802 00:44:26,720 --> 00:44:28,720 someone slap you across the face like you're going to miss the 803 00:44:28,720 --> 00:44:31,720 lift. But if you're focused and you 804 00:44:31,720 --> 00:44:34,080 you're confident, I think confidence comes into play. 805 00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:39,600 If I think, OK, let me back up. I think the more aggression and 806 00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:44,000 hyped up and like focus that whole like locked in, the more 807 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:46,440 you try to do that, the less confident you are you're going 808 00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:48,480 to hit the lift. When you're standing around 809 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:51,360 joking with people up next or sitting there getting your knees 810 00:44:51,360 --> 00:44:52,720 wrapped, cracking jokes and stuff. 811 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:55,000 That's just pure confidence. That's like, I'm going to go out 812 00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:56,080 there. I'm going to do the damn thing. 813 00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:57,600 Yeah. Exactly. 814 00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:01,800 I totally agree with that. Like, and I do think like, you 815 00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:06,200 know, whatever works for people, honestly, because like, I also 816 00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:08,320 just don't have it in my personality to be the kind of 817 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:12,520 person that's like, you know, like I'm like, do this and I'm 818 00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:18,600 the best in the fucking world. I don't know. 819 00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:22,680 But I do admire it. I just say it could never be me. 820 00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:23,760 Yeah. And I. 821 00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:25,360 Totally. Like I said, I totally get 822 00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:28,160 sometimes you do need to hype yourself up. 823 00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:32,000 You might not be confident going into a lift and that's OK, but 824 00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:35,400 do whatever it takes it Don't don't leave anything out there 825 00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:37,640 on the platform. Don't go out there and be like, 826 00:45:37,640 --> 00:45:41,480 oh, I missed it because I wasn't focused or but it definitely 827 00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:44,000 don't go out there and say I missed it because I hyped myself 828 00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:46,920 up way too much and I couldn't see because someone slapped me 829 00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:53,520 across the face. Yeah, I don't know, I feel like 830 00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:57,080 it's always like, what's it called Anti climactic when that 831 00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:02,720 stuff happens, you know? Yeah, but like there's something 832 00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:04,960 that I wanted to say about Chris in that regard. 833 00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:11,800 Oh, so Chris like is this is so he's like amazing because he is 834 00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:12,840 a world record holder. Whatever. 835 00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:14,600 He's super fucking strong, one of the best in the world. 836 00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:18,520 But like, if you train with him, he's the most unserious fucking 837 00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:24,640 person ever, ever. Like you, well, like get under 838 00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:27,000 the bar and then he'll say something so fucking dumb and 839 00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:30,960 like, you know, you're, you're I'm trying real hard to get into 840 00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:33,280 position and pick a star. And then he'll like, sit there 841 00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:36,280 and say something really stupid. And then you can see it in 842 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:38,240 Chrissy's video. She just like, kind of, you 843 00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:40,560 know, like she's laughing. You like completely let go of 844 00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:42,520 that. But like, even Chris, like the 845 00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:46,200 whole time he just do like they're being an idiot, you 846 00:46:46,240 --> 00:46:48,480 know, And I think that's what makes it super fun. 847 00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:49,360 Yeah. I. 848 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:52,640 Think yeah, on a the least the less serious you can do and 849 00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:56,400 still get the The caveat here is if everyone's still getting the 850 00:46:56,400 --> 00:46:59,400 work done, everyone's still focused and keeping people safe. 851 00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:04,400 If you can have a crew that does that, can be safe, efficient and 852 00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:07,040 strong but can joke around, you can't beat that. 853 00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:08,400 Yeah, I. Agree. 854 00:47:09,400 --> 00:47:12,800 I agree it makes me miss lifting with Ryan and Brian to be 855 00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:14,240 honest. Yeah dude, it's like a whole 856 00:47:14,240 --> 00:47:15,440 nother beast. They. 857 00:47:15,720 --> 00:47:18,960 Those two combined, there's fucking like rodeo clowns. 858 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,520 It's awesome for real. Like it's and it's one of those 859 00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:23,560 things that you can't even properly articulate. 860 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:28,160 You just have to experience it because it's like the most awe 861 00:47:28,400 --> 00:47:32,200 like outlandish off color shit. Yeah, they're just fucking 862 00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:33,360 crazy. Well, I think so. 863 00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:35,920 The first time I met them was at strength. 864 00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:37,400 The heroes. What was that? 865 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:39,840 Three? And they're like, yeah, this is 866 00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:43,200 gritty and this is Whopper. And I was like, OK, these dudes 867 00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:50,480 look funny already. Oh my God, I didn't even like. 868 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:52,560 I don't like. I look back in those times. 869 00:47:52,600 --> 00:47:54,400 I'm like, how did we ever get anything done? 870 00:47:54,480 --> 00:47:56,480 Yeah, I like we would. Exactly. 871 00:47:58,680 --> 00:48:02,440 But I think before we wrap things up, as far as like I know 872 00:48:02,440 --> 00:48:05,880 you're looking forward to Frank the heroes, but as far as maybe 873 00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:11,000 just some some personal goals or some final words to say, what 874 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:18,400 what do you have? I know over here it says if 875 00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:21,840 Chris was answering you want to squat 800, but Oh yeah. 876 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:27,480 It's like the first time I see him after that, he's like, OK, 877 00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:29,360 so you know, you got to squat 800, right? 878 00:48:29,400 --> 00:48:33,000 And I'm just like, do I have to, you know? 879 00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:37,080 I mean, sure, yes, that'll be a goal, right, Eventually to do 880 00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:39,200 that. How soon that's going to happen, 881 00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:43,560 nobody knows. And that would definitely be 882 00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:45,720 something really cool to do because I think there's only 883 00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:49,040 four women who have done it. Four or five, right? 884 00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:51,920 There's Leah, Amber, Crystal, Tate, Becca. 885 00:48:52,560 --> 00:48:54,360 Becca and. That's it, right? 886 00:48:54,640 --> 00:48:57,520 I believe. So Jordan will definitely. 887 00:48:57,520 --> 00:48:59,120 Do it? Did DNA do it yet? 888 00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:03,480 I don't know. I want to look it up, but I 889 00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:04,440 don't know. Yeah, no. 890 00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:07,880 We'll just yeah. But either way, 800 LB squat for 891 00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:10,080 anyone is really impressive. So. 892 00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:14,040 But yeah, I think I'll ask you my final question for wrap 893 00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:16,320 things up. If you could give a new lifter 894 00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:18,600 or someone going into their first meet a word of advice, 895 00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:22,200 what would you say? Don't take it so seriously. 896 00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:26,760 Like, go in, have fun. Like, yeah, you know, especially 897 00:49:27,240 --> 00:49:28,720 don't cut weight. Yes. 898 00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:30,200 Agreed. That's like. 899 00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:35,000 That would be #1 besides, even before having fun because you're 900 00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:37,960 not going to have fun if you're like worried about cutting 901 00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:41,600 weight. I like, I did that for my first. 902 00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:44,680 It was terrible. I don't know why I did like. 903 00:49:44,680 --> 00:49:47,720 Why would I do that? Yeah, anyway, it's. 904 00:49:47,720 --> 00:49:51,240 Like unless you're like already super like you came from like a 905 00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:53,760 wrestling background, anime background where you're like 906 00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:57,000 you're, you know what you're doing, then whatever. 907 00:49:57,000 --> 00:49:58,280 But like I wouldn't recommend it. 908 00:49:58,320 --> 00:49:59,760 It takes away from the experience. 909 00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:05,280 Go in, have fun, smile at people, make new friends because 910 00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:09,600 like really like besides just being fucking strong and cool, 911 00:50:09,600 --> 00:50:11,360 whatever. And like the best part about 912 00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:14,240 powerlifting is the community. So like for more people that you 913 00:50:14,240 --> 00:50:18,120 meet, go to different gyms, you know, I guess that's not really 914 00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:20,440 going into a different like, you know, this is your first 915 00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:24,160 competition, but after that, you know, go around train with 916 00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:26,880 different crews. Everybody has something to teach 917 00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:31,360 you, you know, like even people you know, like they, you might 918 00:50:31,360 --> 00:50:34,400 think are not as strong as you, but there's always something to 919 00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:36,120 learn from everybody. I fully agree. 920 00:50:36,120 --> 00:50:38,280 Well, I want to thank you again for taking the time to come on. 921 00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:40,560 It was my pleasure. Thank you so much for 922 00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:41,120 everything.