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 --> 00:00:09,720 host Cam Smith. So Power Lifters Den family want 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:11,640 to wrap the podcast and look good while doing it? 5 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,840 Check out my official merch store at PL. den dot company dot 6 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,200 site. We've got Tees, hoodies, 7 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,400 beanies, hats and more and gear that'll keep you motivated in 8 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,920 and out of the gym. 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Book a session and tell him the 32 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,520 PL. then sent you Summit Performance Therapy. 33 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:33,600 Reach your Summit powered by Bear. 34 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:35,800 Literally. Hello everybody. 35 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:37,720 Welcome back to another episode of The Pile Lifters. 36 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,560 Then I'm your host, Cam Smith. And today I want to bring on 37 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,920 another Massachusetts native. David Kaler is pretty, pretty 38 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,680 strong in the raw world, so David wants you to do yourself. 39 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:49,720 Hi. Yeah. 40 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,800 So my name is David Kaler, actually from New Hampshire, but 41 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,360 close, close enough. Yeah, I'd say so. 42 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:03,440 Like, yeah, been doing this for 8:00 or so years now, off and on 43 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:08,120 a little bit more compatibly, like 3 or 4, but best total 44 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,080 would be 2034 at about 2:50 in sleeves. 45 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,160 Yes, Hello dog. Yeah, so. 46 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:17,080 It's dog Bell. So I think we're in for a pretty 47 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,280 interesting episode. We're both biomedical, both 48 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,080 biomedical engineers that somehow managed to get degrees. 49 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:24,920 We both questioned it to this day. 50 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,880 And they just issue those things to anybody is basically what 51 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:29,400 they'll what they'll fucking tell you. 52 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,400 Cam and I also train together pretty frequently, so. 53 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,160 So we're kind of going into your background a little bit. 54 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:39,520 Obviously you've been in the game for about 8 years. 55 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:41,480 What were the kind of early days like for you? 56 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:43,480 What kind of was your your inspiration? 57 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,280 What got you onto the platform? Oh, they weren't great. 58 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:52,080 So I started. It was right about after I got 59 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,040 into college, so I played rugby at Wentworth Institute of 60 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,960 Technology in Boston. When I got there, one of my good 61 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:05,480 friends, my wanted someone who became my college roommate, who, 62 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:09,840 you know, it was actually Bob. He had already started and he 63 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,920 had gotten into it. And so it was just like a hey, 64 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:15,320 this is what I do. You want to fucking come join? 65 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:20,080 And from there, I would like rugby was a primary focus, but I 66 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:25,240 gotten pretty strong around like towards my sophomore year. 67 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,160 And so like strong for what was back in 2017 for a bunch of 68 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,800 juniors, right? I think I was I and then in the 69 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:37,520 summer of that year I competed once I totaled, I think it was 70 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:39,640 we're just going open power looking for this shit. 71 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,960 I think it was like 1428 or somewhere around there when I 72 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:52,880 was like 20 and just as like a OK, I'm doing this for fun while 73 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,680 rugby's in the offseason and then college went through, like 74 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,760 finished college or whatever. Rugby was kind of the focus. 75 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:04,480 And then after that and then after COVID hit, I kind of got 76 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,400 back into it because I was still in New Hampshire and now the 77 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,040 gym's closed. So it was like, I don't want to 78 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,480 say I had nothing better to do, but like it was a good way to 79 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,720 keep distracted while I was like still working and all that kind 80 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:14,600 of stuff. Yeah. 81 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,160 And for me, I kind of had the the same journey into it as I 82 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:20,160 kind of dabbled with it when I was still in football and 83 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:22,120 college. And then soon as college ended, 84 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:23,600 we're like, all right, we're pile of shoes now. 85 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,000 And that's kind of just how it went. 86 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:27,840 Yeah, that. That's literally exactly what it 87 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:29,520 was. But it was like, so back then 88 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,280 there wasn't really like any type of meats in the area. 89 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:35,920 Yeah. Especially because like at the 90 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,600 time you could do like, I didn't even know what any of it was or 91 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,240 whatever. It was just there was a gym, it 92 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:47,040 was TPS in Baldwin, which probably like 25 minutes from 93 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:48,440 the school or whatever. And that was the only thing. 94 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,200 And it was like that it, it was mostly strong men there or 95 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,120 whatever, but they had a couple power lifters there. 96 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,000 And they said that they all competed in the USPA. 97 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,320 And so the closest me to add, you had to drive to New York and 98 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,240 I got it up, I totaled 1422. There we go. 99 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:04,920 Yeah, so. Two O 1. 100 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,640 So I know obviously the Boston area like New England now we 101 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,320 have a lot of great gyms, but the Boston area itself really 102 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,360 doesn't have a lot of powerlifting gyms. 103 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:15,720 So where did? Where's your kind of early 104 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,160 training days besides maybe the rec center at your school? 105 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,840 Oh yeah, no, it was. So you'd actually be surprised. 106 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:26,160 There's a few good ones in the Boston area now, but I know that 107 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,800 like they're not necessarily as best set up for equipped just 108 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,880 because it's all like the focus is just all gone to like 109 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,720 USAPLIPF style, which I know you're rolling over and frankly, 110 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:44,000 I'm too fuck it. So I was like it was literally 111 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,200 rec center like our school. So we had like it was crazy. 112 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,160 Our school gym had like we had one that was just for any like 113 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:52,680 anybody could fucking go in there. 114 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:55,360 And it was like that. No squat rack. 115 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,080 They had a Smith machine. You would have people trying 116 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,640 like free barbell squat by like taking a barbell off of the 117 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:06,560 bench, like off of the spotter stands and take a vertical step 118 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:07,640 down. Oh God. 119 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,600 And then walk out and squat. And then like you'd be trying to 120 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,800 Max out on the Smith machine as best as you fucking could and 121 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,000 then doing like whatever dumbbells or whatever that you 122 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:19,320 had there, right, because it's a tech school. 123 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,480 They were not investing in any fitness equipment. 124 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:27,760 And then they had the athletes gym, which was like, just, it 125 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:28,960 looks like a high school weight room. 126 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,440 It was literally just like squat stands with the roller bench and 127 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:32,840 then nothing fucking else. Yeah. 128 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,360 And so I would do like, my squats and poles in there. 129 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,240 And then like bench, I can do wherever. 130 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:40,040 Yeah. And then I guess as far as 131 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,640 obviously you started with the 1400 total, when you've worked 132 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,840 your way up to the 2000s for you, when was that kind of 133 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:49,920 tipping point of like, OK, I can actually be pretty good at the 134 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,320 sport? I did. 135 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:58,400 So it wasn't until 21. So I competed once in 20. 136 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,600 It was in 2017 and then rugby had kind of finished. 137 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:04,560 I had done that circuit like as best as I could. 138 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,600 I'd gone all over the country, like done a couple tours in 139 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,800 Canada. And then after that it was like 140 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,240 I was working and it was like, I don't really want to push this 141 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:15,400 anymore. Like what I'm going to tell my 142 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:16,640 boss. I split my head open. 143 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,360 I got to take 3 fucking days off, like come on. 144 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:25,560 And so when I got into that, I kind of like all through 19 and 145 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:27,720 20 was just like training. I wasn't really thinking 146 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,840 anything. And then I probably, I don't 147 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,120 know what the hell happened, but it was like something clicked 148 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,440 and I was like, you know what, maybe I'll drop into a meet. 149 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,320 And then so in 21, I got back into it. 150 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:47,240 And then March, I totaled like 1687 or something like that at 151 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:48,640 like, still the same weight class. 152 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,520 And so it was like I hadn't competed in five years. 153 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:54,080 And I got like third at this thing, which like, it's a local 154 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:55,520 meet that doesn't fucking mean anything. 155 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,880 But also at the same time, it was like to a 20 kid who had 156 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,480 just turned 24 and hadn't competed in six years in ages. 157 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:03,680 Yeah. And fucking. 158 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,760 And then it was like, OK, like, maybe I start doing this a 159 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:11,680 little bit again. And then like the next time I 160 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,320 competed was 18. I was like, all right, maybe I 161 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,080 have a reason. I bumped a 242 then and it was 162 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:20,280 like, all right, I totaled like 1820 and I was like, all right, 163 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:21,720 maybe I'm actually good at this shit. 164 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,080 Yeah. And, and for you and me both, we 165 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:28,320 both, I was kind of adamant on staying in the 242 class for a 166 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:29,720 while. I think you had that same kind 167 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,679 of debate with yourself and finally went, decided to go 275 168 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:36,440 and now we're both struggling to get up to the 275. 169 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:41,120 But for you, Yeah. And so for you, when was the, 170 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:43,200 when did you make that decision that you're like, all right, I'm 171 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,160 done with this 242 class? It was literally at weigh 172 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:47,960 insurance for the ghost clash last year. 173 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:55,800 So it was like I had I got into that meet by winning a meet that 174 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,880 was just held at ghost Gym, Alex after. 175 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,320 And so Alex Uslar, who owns ghost Gym and he runs the ghost 176 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:05,240 clash and he's involved in a bunch of other things too. 177 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,400 He held a local. So after the whole USPA like 178 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:11,760 scandal thing that we don't really have to get into dropped. 179 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,120 I was like, OK, fuck this, I'm out. 180 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:18,120 I switched over to the WRPF and then the 1st and but there was 181 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,080 no meets anywhere nearby. It was either I was like driving 182 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,960 down to Maryland or it was like, pick something on the calendar 183 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,320 And it was like, oh shit. Like there's one that goes gym. 184 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:28,760 Like yeah, fuck, that's kind of cool. 185 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:30,880 Let me drop in there. And I did that. 186 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:37,600 And then I after squats, Alex walked up to me and he was like, 187 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:39,320 he was like, what the hell are you going to total here? 188 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:45,440 Because I had like, I think I had I squatted like 7 33 or like 189 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:51,160 738 and had a miss at 766. And if we're at like a local 190 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:52,560 meet and he was like, dude, what the fuck? 191 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,000 Yeah. And so he walked out. 192 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:56,680 I was like, I'm probably total in here. 193 00:09:56,680 --> 00:09:58,040 Whatever. I think I might dot somewhere in 194 00:09:58,040 --> 00:09:59,920 the low fives. And he was like, if you win, 195 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:01,720 I'll give you an invite. Yeah. 196 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,760 And then it like you'll go to it was like, I'll give you an 197 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:06,920 invite protein for free. And I was like, OK, fuck, sick. 198 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,720 And I ended up barely fucking winning that meet thanks to a 199 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,320 last deadlift. But as we were going to do it. 200 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,360 So I was like, all right, I'm the weakest dude in this fucking 201 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,000 like on this day. It was like, I had like my 202 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:19,720 qualifying tool. They're dropping everybody. 203 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,160 And it's like, Hack's got a 661 shot. 204 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,880 It's like Hunter Henderson's there, Briani, Like every big 205 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,720 name you can fucking think of. Jamal Browner, like, name it at 206 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:31,720 the time. And so I'm like, I'm getting 207 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:33,120 dead fucking last. Yeah. 208 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,200 I'm sitting in the sauna by myself. 209 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,360 I'm like 7 lbs over the night before. 210 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,320 And I'm like, what the fuck am I doing? 211 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,040 Like I'm going to cut this hard and fucking kill myself to get 212 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,760 11th place as opposed to like fucking 15th of my weight class. 213 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:55,920 Yeah, there's no point. And so I waited at like I just 214 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:57,360 cut. I just thought the cut right 215 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:58,880 there. And I was like, there's no 216 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,080 reason for me to do this again. I was like, I know I'm 217 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,720 competitive at a certain stage, but it was like at like, I'm not 218 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,400 fucking world competitive. And 242 was stacked at the like 219 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:09,960 last year too. A lot of people have made the 220 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:11,640 bump. And so I was like, there's no 221 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:15,320 fucking point. Like now I'm just as compared. 222 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:17,360 I'm more competitive at 275. Yeah. 223 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,920 And so it's like it's much easier. 224 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,320 Like I can feel more comfortable training and stuff like that. 225 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,720 Like my body floats somewhere in the two 50s usually. 226 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:27,520 I'm trying to push that kind of like you're doing the same, 227 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:30,960 yeah. And, and I think one of the, the 228 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,560 one of the bigger things with that too is obviously like we 229 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:37,360 have relatively large frames and by staying in the 242 class like 230 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,480 we're kind of limiting ourselves unless we're like a 5% body fat 231 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:42,640 at 242, like it's not going to help us well. 232 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:45,520 Yeah, And you're just not, like, I've kind of noticed this too. 233 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:47,800 Like housing training is just not health. 234 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,000 I don't want to say healthy, but like, it does more damage the 235 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,600 leaner you are, it kind of seems, if you're not, like, 236 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:58,720 uncomfortably heavy. Yeah, like I can't fucking push 237 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,520 when I'm that lean. Like I need a little bit of 238 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,040 cushion to kind of like your joints are fucking dry. 239 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:08,000 Like you can't fucking do that. Like especially you or can only 240 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:09,680 imagine if you're on equipment and shit like that. 241 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:13,320 Like when you go to squat, especially with how wide it is 242 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,200 out of a mono and shit like that, it's like that must feel 243 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,240 like hell when you're that lean. Yeah. 244 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,480 And another thing too, I mean, obviously like being lean and 245 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:22,640 like healthy is like going to make you stronger and perform 246 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:23,800 better and make it through a meat. 247 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:26,200 But like someone that's like maybe a little bit on the 248 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,480 fluffier side, like kind of like where I'm at, Like you get more 249 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,760 compression out of the gear at that when it fits like that. 250 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,040 Rather if I was like the same weight at a much lighter class, 251 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,000 like I'm not going to get as much out of the gear. 252 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:40,640 Yeah, well, it's it's like especially 2 with you like 253 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:42,880 trying to cut and shit like that, like your shit would fit 254 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,240 so weird. Yeah, like it's like, at least 255 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,440 with mine, it's like, all right, I don't what? 256 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:49,280 I'm going to pretend I get something out of a fucking 257 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:51,360 singlet. Like who are we kidding? 258 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,640 Obviously there's the whole knee sleeves thing like you're 259 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:55,600 wearing. Let's get in the pair that I. 260 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,240 Have yeah, let's get in that a little bit because so for 261 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,520 everyone that doesn't know I just bought I just bought some 262 00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:03,760 A7 rigor mortis sleeves off of him because I I tell. 263 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:08,080 You how much you paid. $69 and which? 264 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:09,760 Was not the price I sent him by the way. 265 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:12,000 He said 70. I didn't change that on the 266 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,560 lower end because he's an asshole. 267 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:19,560 And anyways, I got his were three excels and they're tight 268 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:22,400 as fuck on me and I feel like I get £300 out of them. 269 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:26,040 So tell us about kind of just your experience with the 270 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,960 different knee sleeves and maybe your opinion on the whole 271 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,880 banning and stuff like that. OK, All right. 272 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:37,360 Yeah, 'cause like so I've been using so like those a sevens, I 273 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:41,440 use the same ones that you have once and then I don't I sides 274 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:43,920 down because they were a little bit fluffy in there. 275 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,000 They were a little bit loose like around the knee joint. 276 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,640 And so I sized down and I have two X's and they're fucking men. 277 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:57,320 But I think it was like probably 20, like early 23 that insert 278 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:58,760 dropped. They're like ergo pros and that 279 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,840 was like the first like stiffer, like everyone been using their 280 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,480 like SPD, like Gen. 2. It's the same trick that a bunch 281 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,600 of people had back then, right? And those were like they give 282 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:10,040 you a good amount, but they're not anything close. 283 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,120 Like it's not going to change how you squat or whatever. 284 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,760 Like if you have those on tight like it's it feels different. 285 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:17,600 Your motor patterns are literally different. 286 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,440 And it was like injure had come out with that and it totally 287 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:22,840 changed like the sleeve squat game. 288 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,680 It was like records left and fucking right were being 289 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,280 smashed. It like all over the place and 290 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:34,200 so everyone kind of got into like a big like how do we catch 291 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:36,800 up, right? And so it was like iron rebel 292 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,200 had that big thing where they tried to challenge the material 293 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,240 integrity of the of the actual sleeve. 294 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:47,640 And then it was like then after that, like it it got approved 295 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,440 right IBS like injured was approved and then it was like 296 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,800 everything fucking kept going like A7 came out with 1 Pioneer 297 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:57,400 has one. I think Titan has one now. 298 00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:59,520 I think a bunch of. Other F8 also has one now too, 299 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:01,480 F. 8 does. I remember trying to pull that 300 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:03,400 thing off of Rupo's leg. Yeah. 301 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:09,200 That took his foot off and so it's like every fucking company 302 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,400 came out with one of them now. And it's like, I mean, given 303 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:14,880 there's so many people that fucking Oh, I need to have this 304 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,080 absolutely perfectly. Like otherwise like, Oh my God, 305 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,360 I don't have like the right pair of sleeves or I'm bloated too 306 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:22,040 much. Like This is why everything 307 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,240 moves so shitty instead of just being strong enough. 308 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:29,640 But like I've been using them since probably I got it. 309 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,120 I picked up a pair like I want to say like around like April 310 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,960 23rd was like right as I had started a prep and it was like, 311 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,440 especially with the way I squat, I have a very like for a raw 312 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,640 squat, like a very controlled descent and then you just kind 313 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,280 of just out of the hole. I'm as fast as I can possibly 314 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,160 be, but like that type like loads that stiff type of 315 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:51,520 neoprene like very, very well. And so I get a ton out of it 316 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,760 kind of similar to a wrap, like you would said, just fucking try 317 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,400 wraps at this point. But it was like I did that and 318 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,080 then so I'd stuck with injure or whatever. 319 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,120 And like that taper too is different. 320 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,400 Like you've you've seen it compared to like an SPD or 321 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:05,760 something like that. Like a lot of them. 322 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,680 And they make them now both ways as like the inserts are like a 323 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,760 cone where it's like, or sorry, like the old ones are like a 324 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:13,400 cone where it's like it's just wide up top. 325 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,480 It's an angled taper down. There's no curvature to 326 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:18,560 anything. And so it's like if you have a 327 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:20,640 big calf, it doesn't fit very well. 328 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,120 Yeah, it's OK, but it's not it's not great. 329 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,840 And so it's like now, so a lot of them are coming out with more 330 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:30,040 of like an hourglass shape. Or if you have like a big calf 331 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,040 that fits really, really nice. Because like you can get a 332 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:38,200 really good size sleeve to your leg while still not like it's 333 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,920 not cutting off circulation at your calf, which is what would 334 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,280 always happen to me if I went like if I use like a cone 335 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,680 sleeve. And so I did that through like 336 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:48,200 in 23. I picked them up and I'd use 337 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:49,800 been using those inserts for a while. 338 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,120 I'd replace them with a couple pairs And then like it felt like 339 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:53,760 the material got like a little softer. 340 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:58,080 I don't know what I picked up a pair around like last year. 341 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,640 It seemed like the material was a little bit more pliable. 342 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:02,120 I wasn't getting the same thing out of it. 343 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,880 So I was like going all over the place and like I tried ghost 344 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,000 ones and they had the cones or whatever that material is 345 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:09,440 fucking great. It was the same thing I was 346 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:10,800 looking for, but it was the cone shape. 347 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:16,200 And so it kind of hit or miss. And then I used I picked up 348 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,000 those A sevens. I tried Iron Rebels and I miss 349 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:20,680 sized and had to cut them off my leg. 350 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:25,640 Dude, it was a heart attack. Like legitimately Bob had to 351 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,800 fucking wedge a knife in between my leg and the sleeve and just 352 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,040 yeah, like I almost got, he almost just sliced an artery. 353 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:39,000 But like, I tried a few out and then I had those, I had those a 354 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,560 sevens or whatever. And those have been mint. 355 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,800 And so I keep, I've kept those and I kind of want to just use 356 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,000 them for my heavier shit to just kind of preserve them. 357 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:49,800 And then I've got like those softer, they're still the ergo 358 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,400 pros, but they're the same, like that same ends or whatever. 359 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:54,120 They're fine. You know what I mean? 360 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:59,120 It's not a bad sleeve, but like all that happened and then it's 361 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:03,160 like now it's ever. It's so focused. 362 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,800 It'd be like the same thing as like you changing out a squat 363 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:07,160 suit, which is like totally different. 364 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,400 Yeah. Like two different suits or 365 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,400 whatever a different fit is. Like the difference between. 366 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:13,600 It's like 50 to 60 lbs for you. Yeah. 367 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,400 Like a sleeve should be 10, you know, like 20. 368 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,200 It's like if I switch out a different, it should still be 369 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:21,480 able to do the same fucking thing. 370 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:22,600 Yeah. And. 371 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,760 And so it's like now 2 with this whole IPF thing dropping, it's 372 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,880 like the whole thing's a fucking mess. 373 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:34,360 Yeah, and I think just to like pull, pull strings and to just 374 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:37,280 like kind of tease people like put trying to put like I was 375 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:39,520 putting on those sleeves yesterday and I was also putting 376 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:41,320 on my briefs. They were just as fucking hard 377 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,520 to get on as the briefs. And it changes how you walk. 378 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:48,720 And that's why I'm like, if it's if it's considered raw, like 379 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,760 it's doing so much to your squat that I mean, like I'm all for 380 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,560 all facets of pile lifting, whatever, like we want to lift 381 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:59,360 the most. But I hate when people are like 382 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:02,920 equipped is stupid because and then they're using these sleeves 383 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,560 that are giving them 60 lbs. Yeah, it's it's weird. 384 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,000 I think Pat Horvath had a really good fucking take on it where he 385 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,600 was like the idea of raw and it's like it's marketing idea 386 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:18,080 that is like you can you can walk into your normal fucking 387 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,680 gym, like your fit lab or your Gold's Gym or God knows what. 388 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,400 And you can probably see someone using not as good quality 389 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,640 equipment as as that. But you can probably understand 390 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,560 like, OK, that's it's better equipment, but it's the same 391 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:36,480 style of equipment that like anybody who walks into a gym 392 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:41,880 probably has, if they're like like a like a gym rat, right? 393 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:43,920 Like they might have some type of knee sleeve. 394 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:45,760 It's not going to be fucking good or anything like that. 395 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,200 They might even have like a soft like a bodybuilder style wrap. 396 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,400 You're going to have a belt of some kind, right? 397 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,200 It's probably fucking made of Velcro. 398 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,600 But what do they have it? And then they probably have like 399 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,240 some wrist wraps and everyone knows what lifter shoes look 400 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,480 like. So it's like that's about, it's 401 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,760 like, OK, I get it like that is it's better equipment, but it's 402 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:06,720 the same style. So I can see what that looks 403 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:09,640 like. And understand what that means. 404 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:14,120 You can't like, you know, you then obviously you get to like 405 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:16,640 single and multi and now they have unlimited and all that type 406 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:18,280 of stuff, right? Like that's where you kind of, 407 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,080 it's different. And that's where it's like you 408 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:24,000 kind of have to understand powerlifting and like the actual 409 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:26,840 idea of it to not just look at it and say, OK, this is someone 410 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,760 squatting 600 lbs. Yeah, I can compare that to what 411 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:32,040 I do now. Exactly. 412 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:33,440 And they're kind of going on that too. 413 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,920 It's like politics, way too small of a sport to like have 414 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:40,560 segregation within the sport. So like, yeah, you may not ever 415 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,000 want to do equipped or you may think it's a little silly and 416 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,320 maybe equipped lifters think ever competing raw again would 417 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:52,000 be stupid, but. But it's yeah. 418 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:56,400 And it sucks and it like it sucks that you kind of have that 419 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,440 beef. And it is kind of funny that 420 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,440 like each side thinks the same thing about the other where it's 421 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,040 it's like, all right, I think you people are stupid and they 422 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:06,720 think you people are for like all the same thing. 423 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,120 And both of them are right sometimes to be quite. 424 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:14,280 It's like everybody's right. I think the big thing that I've 425 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:18,000 noticed is in the feds that merge the two and offer both the 426 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:19,760 divisions, especially at the same meet. 427 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,840 I think it's a big learning curve and that a lot of a lot of 428 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,200 like feds are trying to fucking figure that out. 429 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,200 And I mean, like in the USAPL and the IPF, they have only 430 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,360 single ply, but it it looks about the same. 431 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:35,800 And again, single ply you don't get nearly as much like it 432 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,120 doesn't like it's not to the point where like everyone squats 433 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:42,840 the same, everyone pulls sumo, Everyone like does whatever, 434 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:44,840 right, because the wraps are shorter. 435 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:46,880 The it's only single ply or whatever, right? 436 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,840 They're still in the stiff bar. They're walked out like some of 437 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,040 those type of things. And like on bench, you can't 438 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:56,360 bring your own liftoff guy like you you, it's a one person 439 00:21:56,360 --> 00:21:57,360 liftoff. It's about 3. 440 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,360 It looks the same, but it's like I think in some of these other 441 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:04,480 meats that are trying to that were primarily equipped now 442 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,360 trying to bring in more raw lifters that it's like, hang on, 443 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:09,880 there needs to be some type of adjustment. 444 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,120 Like they don't know how to handle both at once. 445 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,080 Yeah. So I think we can kind of dive 446 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,920 into different like federation bias and standards for for you, 447 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:19,640 what's the biggest issue you see right now? 448 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:21,280 And like what do you think the solution is? 449 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,400 I think right now, so I don't necessarily know that it's a 450 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:30,360 federation thing, but I think right now it's it's a big issue 451 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:33,960 where, and this is so much more on the fucking raw side too, 452 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:39,840 where I think you see a lot of it's like a meat director wants 453 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,880 to bring attention to their gym or to their meat. 454 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,800 And in some of those in I guess you say about like federation to 455 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,640 some of those feds allow you to kind of pick like pick your own 456 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:57,720 judges to an extent where it's like kind of anyone can ref and 457 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:02,080 so and the standards for it aren't as enforced the same way. 458 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:08,240 And so now you have like this instance where it's like you 459 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:10,680 like the platform doesn't mean the same thing in the Fed. 460 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,760 It it's I don't know, like what's better or worse. 461 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,080 Like obviously I've competed in really only meets where they 462 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,920 fucking call you strict as shit. Like you look at the ghost 463 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,800 clash, like in which is power of the United used to be WRPF. 464 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,840 You look at that whole like you look at that, you look at USPA 465 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,600 to an extent, right? And I've done like their 466 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,680 international meets, like the IPL and you watch those refs and 467 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,480 they are like on all fours looking for your hip crease and 468 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:40,000 shit like that. And I think depth is the biggest 469 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,000 one that actually happens. Like, yeah, you know, sometimes 470 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,520 in bench you see like a bug come up or like a little bit of like 471 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,160 not an up and down, but like a wobbly bet or like a side bench. 472 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:50,320 I don't want to fucking describe it. 473 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,400 Or like sometimes you see like an unlocked knee on deadlift or 474 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:55,920 something like that, right? But like squad, I think everyone 475 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,600 can to look at and say OK wait, hang on, this is high as shit 476 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:05,560 like those because now there's not like 1 fucking in like on 477 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,200 the untested side. Mostly it's like because it's 478 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:15,080 like there's so many feds. One fed doesn't like a total on 479 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:17,280 one platform doesn't mean the same as the other. 480 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,240 Where it's like in the USAPL, the IPF, all those other ones, 481 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,360 it's like you have to qualify in their fucking fed. 482 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,760 You know what I mean? It's like I need a total 1650 in 483 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,920 this vet under this set of rules, under this same thing, 484 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,640 right? Whereas you know someone can go 485 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:42,520 squat 810 lbs in raps like and it's high as fuck and then all 486 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,040 of a sudden like it gets posted and then there's this big and 487 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:48,040 now everyone's trying to maintain credibility and just 488 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,680 becomes a shitstorm. Especially on the social media 489 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,200 too. Like if this was 5-10 years ago 490 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,600 or something like that. You just see something get 491 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,120 updated and then everyone be like what the fuck happened? 492 00:24:58,360 --> 00:24:59,840 Yeah. And I think that kind of goes 493 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,840 into a little bit about like records and stuff and records 494 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:06,120 being overturned and obviously like having video footage, 495 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:08,840 especially on squats where it's like, can you really judge it 496 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:10,600 from a video? And this is and from like an 497 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:12,880 equip perspective or even a raw perspective. 498 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,320 It's I think the the consistency of standards across feds 499 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:17,600 definitely need some improvement. 500 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,480 But as an athlete's perspective, I think you're doing yourself 501 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,240 injustice. Say if like Dave Tate said this, 502 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,320 like if you go to a meet and you can get a squat pass that's an 503 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:29,880 inch high, why would you want to get caught lower? 504 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:34,720 Yeah, I don't see why you wouldn't like me like to go in 505 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,160 there and set A and try to execute to a standard that is 506 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:39,480 tighter than what they're allowing. 507 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:41,760 Doesn't make sense. Yeah, I don't get like if 508 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,080 they're going to white light, you fucking cheat the rules, 509 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,200 you're not blatantly trying to mislead them, right? 510 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,560 You're not like sneaking shit into your singlet or something 511 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,240 like that to make it look like you're like your hip crease is 512 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:55,840 different or something. Like, you know what I mean? 513 00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:00,280 Like if you're not cheating, right, you're just taking 514 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:02,160 advantage of what is being allowed there. 515 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,640 It's like and you see it, I think you see it a little bit 516 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:10,400 more in Multiply and in other where it's like each meet gets 517 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,200 judged a little differently and you have to watch everyone kind 518 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,000 of adjust. And so it's like something like 519 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:17,760 you'll get to some of these and you're seeing it now with like 520 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,040 some of the like more pro beats that they're throwing on 521 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:21,880 together. It's like hang, you get there 522 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:23,800 and like hang on. They're calling this tight like 523 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,680 boys got to sing and some of them just fucking can't. 524 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,240 Yeah, and it's like a perfect example of that in the 525 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,120 multiplied worlds. Like you look at like the 526 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:35,800 perfect storm meet down in Florida or like the women's pro 527 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:37,280 AM. Like the people that show up 528 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,280 there, they know they're like, all right, it's strict today. 529 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,080 I might not be able to squat what I wanted, but I'll adjust 530 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,480 to it because I'm a professional athlete and I'll figure it out. 531 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:50,960 Yeah, and something and like you see it in on the raw side, you 532 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,600 see it where they just can't fucking adjust the amount of 533 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:55,920 meats I've walked into and someone's just bombed out 534 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,920 because they trained high and their hips just don't get that 535 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:03,760 way. And like it's it happens. 536 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:08,840 So back when I did, it was IPO N Americans in 23 or something 537 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,040 like that. And it was one of those it was 538 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,680 they had like this, it's an international championship style 539 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,520 meet, completely fucking. It was a low class meet with 540 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,200 some really with like some really strict judging. 541 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,080 It was extremely well run. But like the competitors there 542 00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:26,000 were just like not what you would like. 543 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,520 Like the field wasn't what should have been there for that 544 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,360 style of championship, right? Like they asked if I knew that 545 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:36,440 my opening squat that I put in was in kilos and not pounds. 546 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,960 They thought I could qualify for this with a 300 squad. 547 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:46,960 That's literally what it was. And so it's like at that, it was 548 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,320 like you had a bunch of like backyard guys just coming in and 549 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:50,960 they thought that they could do whatever they did and it was 550 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:52,360 like 6 people bombed out on death. 551 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:57,080 And so it's like on the raw side, they can't adjust as much 552 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,800 because it's like, I think the jumps are a little smaller. 553 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,280 I think it's a little bit more of your body's limitation where 554 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:07,600 it's like in equipped, like everyone seems like they can get 555 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:09,640 that low, but just not under a certain amount of weight. 556 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,000 Like they can't descend properly to get to the right position. 557 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:20,080 So it's like they can adjust a little bit easier, but like 558 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,040 it's, I don't know, it's, it's interesting. 559 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,280 Yeah. And I think like, I guess for an 560 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,520 example, say like your opener and a multiply squat is you 561 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,320 literally can barely get there. Or like you've been training 562 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,600 high, which I think that's the the basis, the root cause of 563 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,200 this whole problem begin with is people training high than not 564 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,800 adjusting on the fly versus training to the standard and 565 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,440 then taking advantage of a lower standard when you're there to 566 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,480 meet. But as far as like, say I'm 567 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,760 going to, I don't know. For me, we'll just say like, say 568 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,640 I'm going to open super light, like 750 and I'm binding up 569 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,560 hard. Like we can make adjustments to 570 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:56,840 the gear. Like maybe we'll go a little bit 571 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,120 looser on the straps, but maybe we'll open up the lace a little 572 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:00,760 bit. But if you're raw, it's like, 573 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:02,440 what are you going to do, loosen up your knee sleeves? 574 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,280 Like no, you should have been training to depth the whole 575 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:05,920 time. Well, it's like, yeah, what are 576 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:07,240 you going to? You're going to fucking stretch, 577 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:11,000 like you know what I mean? And so it's like you see all the 578 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,760 fucking time, like in equipped it you'll see like red light, 579 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:16,360 red light scratch and they just say fuck it. 580 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:22,240 Yeah, what you see in raw is you see red is you see red on depth. 581 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:27,640 Then you see either like another red on depth, but it moves 582 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:29,120 slower. And then the third you get 583 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,560 fucking stapled or those second and third just invert. 584 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:34,840 Yeah, like it's red light on depth. 585 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:38,040 Then someone tries to sink as low as they can go and they 586 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:39,680 can't get out and they get folded. 587 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:42,680 And then they try and cut it somewhere in between and either 588 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:47,680 passes or doesn't or whatever, or it's just like you can only 589 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:49,760 do so much. It like if you don't have the 590 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,440 motor pattern, the strength, the flexibility to get down there, 591 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:54,760 you can't. There's nothing you can do. 592 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,720 Yeah. Where it's like, especially in 593 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,120 equip, you guys are so wide too that it's like, you fucking 594 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:02,800 should be able to talk. Like you don't have to move that 595 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:03,520 much. Yeah. 596 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,440 And as far as the IPL N Americans, I know that you said 597 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:09,480 that one of your favorite stories in pile of you kind of 598 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:10,680 came from there. So you want to tell us about 599 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:12,560 that? Which one? 600 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:13,840 What did they even put on the form? 601 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,640 I feel N Americans, 2022. Fuck yeah. 602 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:19,200 Oh, that was in 22. Damn. 603 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,080 I lied to everybody. Yeah. 604 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,040 So that's how, yeah, that's how it was. 605 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:27,480 So I had, I had competed late earlier that year. 606 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:31,240 It was like I was kind of, I didn't want to say just getting 607 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,560 onto the scene here because it's like, like, First off, it was an 608 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,920 1800. I had an 1800 LB total, which 609 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:39,320 doesn't in the grand scheme of things doesn't mean all that 610 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:40,800 much. I'm sorry to everyone who totals 611 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,880 less, but like as a 275 or like, I know it's competitive. 612 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:46,440 It's very, very competitive at the local boat. 613 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,200 Like you got to be number one or two in the world to really like 614 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,320 make it. That's kind of what I'm getting 615 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:54,480 at. And so I was kind of trying to 616 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,600 like, I was starting to like make a name for myself a little 617 00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:00,000 bit, at least locally. And so I didn't know the scene 618 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:01,480 very well. I didn't know what was on the 619 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:02,880 pro stage. I didn't know any of that. 620 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,880 I think I had like a 496 dots for whatever, if that is 621 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:10,000 reference. And so I was like, all right, 622 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,000 let me try and find something bigger. 623 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:13,880 I wasn't qualified for the Ghost Clash yet. 624 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:16,120 I wasn't qualified for the American Pro. 625 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:18,520 There were some other options that I didn't know about like 626 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,520 Power Surge and a few other meats that had like qualifying 627 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:23,480 around there with like a little bit of cash prizes. 628 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:27,720 And so I just looked and I found it was like it was IPL N 629 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:29,880 Americans. And I was like, oh, this has to 630 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,480 be fucking legit. It was like, it was like 631 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:34,640 everything about this. I was like, this is probably 632 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:37,880 perfect because I was thinking of something that's more similar 633 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,720 to like USAPL Nationals where it's like you have a bunch of 634 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,360 platforms going on too. It's a massive, massive meat 635 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,800 that they throw on. And so I was like something like 636 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:47,240 that. I sent it to my coach and he was 637 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,800 all about it. Like it was probably, I probably 638 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,000 had like 6 months to like prep for it. 639 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:54,560 There was another meet in between there. 640 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:56,840 But I was like, yeah, this is this is a good idea. 641 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:01,760 And we get down there and my apologies to anyone from 642 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:04,960 Oklahoma, that state is a fucking shit head. 643 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,400 Like we get to Oklahoma City, we fly in. 644 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,360 It is myself, Bob, and my coach, Eric Hogan. 645 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:18,480 Bob almost misses his flight down there because he he tried 646 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,640 to bring baby powder in his carry on, which included his gym 647 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:23,240 bag because he didn't want to check something. 648 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:28,240 And so he, I guess they aggressively searched it because 649 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:29,480 they thought it was an explosive. 650 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:35,520 And so it's a mess getting down there. 651 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:37,320 We rent the car, we get to the Airbnb. 652 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,120 It's in the worst neighborhood I've ever seen. 653 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:44,800 It's like there's it's like a little like one story. 654 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,160 Airbnb, our neighbors cars on blocks. 655 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:47,680 Oh. My God. 656 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:52,240 We move in there and then we walk into this like this, just 657 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,680 whatever Airbnb, we're chilling there, we're driving around the 658 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:56,880 city. It's a shit hole. 659 00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:59,080 Like there's just humble weep. There's nothing. 660 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:03,520 And so we go to like, we scope out the venue for meat day and 661 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,920 like, as we're weighing in or whatever, and all of a sudden, 662 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:08,480 like everything just changes. And you realize Oklahoma City 663 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,320 has like three blocks of actual shit. 664 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:15,200 Like you've got this the most beautiful Convention Center I've 665 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,600 ever fucking seen that they're hosting this meet at, which was 666 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:20,880 also, they were also hosting a furry convention. 667 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:25,920 Oh God, There's nothing else I need to comment on that. 668 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,000 I didn't exactly, you know, head over there between lifts. 669 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,280 Yeah, well, I mean the fucked up part is the the furry convention 670 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,080 probably had more people. It did. 671 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:37,520 Unfortunately, it did. I regret. 672 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:40,520 Yeah. It had more people and they were 673 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:41,640 in costume. That is true. 674 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,320 And so it's like that was also in the Convention Center, and 675 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:47,920 it's right next to where the Thunder play, too. 676 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,760 So it's like those are the only two draws in the fucking city, 677 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:52,960 and they're right next to each other and everything else sucks. 678 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:59,480 And so like we get down there and we weigh in. 679 00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:02,480 The fucking thing about the squat happened where the guy 680 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:04,760 doesn't know. I put like, I, yes, I 681 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,120 understand, I can open a 678 lbs, I'll be fine. 682 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,840 We're OK, right? And I walk in and I have done 683 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:18,199 this entire prep thinking that I am going into a pro meet. 684 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:24,000 Every piece of my training, my nutrition, fucking every 685 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,440 extracurricular you could think of, I had dialed. 686 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:33,600 I walk in and realize I'm opening 150 lbs heavy and I'm 687 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:38,080 like, you have to be kidding me. Was like, maybe we can get on 688 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:40,800 the podium. And it's like, Oh no one. 689 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,920 I was like, oh, no one here in my weight class is squatting 690 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:45,199 over 550. Great. 691 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:47,800 I don't know what I'm, I don't know what I'm doing here. 692 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:53,080 And so like fucking I'm all like jacked up on pre workout and 693 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,400 shit like that. And I'm talking a bunch of shit 694 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,240 in the warm up room for some reason, I don't know, there were 695 00:34:59,240 --> 00:35:03,960 allegations I knocked over somebody like like walking out 696 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:05,520 to the platform to take my opener. 697 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,480 Like the whole thing was a mess and like perfectly run me just 698 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:12,760 didn't get the draw that they expected to get. 699 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:18,680 Like, and it was like Bob had, Bob had like one kid that was 700 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,640 around what he could do. The kid like out benched him or 701 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:24,920 whatever, but just couldn't pull. 702 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,680 And so he was like he had to be like relatively executing or 703 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:29,880 whatever. And I think I won my weight 704 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:33,320 class by like 260 lbs or something like that. 705 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:38,040 Jesus. We have data, we can go to this. 706 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,520 Yeah, I think it's funny though, when you kind of just thinking 707 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:45,440 about like a local meet when there's that like one guy like 708 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,120 like say like Josh Fleming, is that like our one of our local 709 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:49,840 meats around here? You're like, well what the fuck? 710 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:53,480 Yeah, he's a good fucking dude. Yeah, he's just strong as fuck. 711 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:55,040 And you're like, all right, well, who? 712 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,280 Why is everyone else here? Everyone else can just go home 713 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:58,640 now. Let's just watch Josh and go 714 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:01,080 home. Yeah, that's kind of what he 715 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,840 did. The meat that I did, yeah, I won 716 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:05,680 my weight. I'm looking at it now. 717 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,600 I won by 265 lbs. Jesus Christ. 718 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,760 And I mean, like, it's not that everyone else put up a bad 719 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:16,800 total, but it's not North American champion total. 720 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:18,680 Yeah, and that's what. Actually happened. 721 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:21,160 The meat I had done before. Joshua just walked in and 722 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:23,720 cleaned the entire thing out. Nicest man alive. 723 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,920 Yeah. Yeah, warmed up on bumper plates 724 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:31,160 for squat, got all the way up to 585 and like, do you want to 725 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:33,400 work in here or not? Like on a power bar walking out 726 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:37,560 585 with just rope bumper plates on, didn't throw his knee 727 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:41,360 sleeves on, took 140 LB jump onto the platform and just 728 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:43,880 tilled Yeah for the rest of the day. 729 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:45,840 Yeah, and like I said, it's funny. 730 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:48,240 Like they kind of just walk in and clean house like that. 731 00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:51,640 And when you go to like these local meats and stuff, it's like 732 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:55,400 someone like him like that, you don't see him on like the big 733 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:58,320 platforms and you're like, why is he not getting seen? 734 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:00,840 Is he not getting invites? And that's why it's like, I 735 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:03,800 think I forget who said it was a couple episodes ago. 736 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:05,760 There was someone that was saying like, oh, it was Nick 737 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:09,560 Forte about how like there needs to be a better like ranking or 738 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,560 classification system of like the weight glasses for invites 739 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:14,760 to these pro meets rather than just like, oh, I know this 740 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:15,600 person. He's cool. 741 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:17,800 Well, that's what, yeah, it sucks. 742 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:20,360 Is like there's a minimum expectation that you have to 743 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,280 hit, but it's not like someone goes on open powerlifting or 744 00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:26,840 whatever and like just picks the top ten and just invites them 745 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:28,920 all. I mean, like in a weight class, 746 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:31,960 obviously like you can name the top ten in sleeves or wraps or 747 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:34,080 whatever. Like you can do it in single and 748 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:35,920 multi. You know, who would go out, like 749 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,720 who would get that invite? But it's like there has to be 750 00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:41,360 some type of notoriety for you to like obtain that and know 751 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,720 that this person exists. And I think the other thing too 752 00:37:44,720 --> 00:37:47,440 was like, and I don't know the fix for this. 753 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,440 It's fucking expensive sometimes. 754 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:54,880 Like it'd be one thing if, and obviously this is what 755 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:56,680 everyone's going to fucking complain about, but it's like, 756 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,560 all right, say someone in California wants to host this 757 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:02,120 big ass me or whatever. And I'm not going to pretend 758 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:03,560 that I'd get the first invite out there. 759 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,440 But it's like, all right. He was like, hey, I want you to 760 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,800 come out here. It's like, all right, I got to 761 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:10,680 spend fucking 2 grand to get out there. 762 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,360 Yeah, to, to win nothing. Yeah, You know what I mean? 763 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:16,840 So it's like it doesn't it? It doesn't mean that I'm not 764 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:19,160 like grateful for being invited or something like that. 765 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:21,840 Or it's like it doesn't, it's tough. 766 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:25,600 But it's like with all, like we don't make enough to do this 767 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:26,600 full time. You know what I mean? 768 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:27,920 Like we both have jobs. Yeah. 769 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,920 It's tough for me to take a week and even to like even to go to 770 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:35,960 Miami or to go to like one of these other sometimes even when 771 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:38,560 they're like drivable distances. Like it's fucking like it's 772 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:40,480 tough. You're going to do a hotel or an 773 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:42,400 Air B. Like I like to do an Airbnb just 774 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,200 so I can cook all my food through like the cut to the 775 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:47,800 refeed to like what I bring to the platform, like all that type 776 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:49,560 of stuff. Like I want to have all that 777 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:51,640 prepped. And so it's like, you need an 778 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:55,160 Airbnb that's fucking expensive. You need all that type of stuff. 779 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:59,080 Like it's a lot to do. And so it's like, imagine like 780 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:02,280 internationally, like you want to bring someone over from 781 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:03,960 Europe. Or if I want to go to Europe and 782 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:07,400 compete, it's like, yeah, maybe I'm ranked #4 and fucking God 783 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,400 knows, whatever. But it's like, all right, 784 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,320 doesn't mean I'm going to go to some random big meat. 785 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:13,840 And there's so many like people wanting to throw up, like pro 786 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:16,680 pro or like throw money meat at something or whatever. 787 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:19,480 It's like there's only a couple that can be. 788 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:21,920 There's only one that's supposed to be like a pinnacle, you know 789 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:24,520 what I mean? Like the IPF gets it right. 790 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:28,040 They have their World Championship, which is the 791 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:29,600 second biggest meet that they host. 792 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,400 And then six months later they take what there is like their 793 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:36,920 showcase, their Sheffield, and that's only the Champions and a 794 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:40,920 couple wild cards. So it's like you have only those 795 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:42,720 two meets. There's no just there's no 796 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:44,400 discussion over what's bigger than another. 797 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:48,960 Yeah, we don't have them. Anyone can throw X amount of 798 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:53,320 dollars at at a competition or whatever and a few good and as 799 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:57,000 they should, and a few good and a few stars are going to show up 800 00:39:57,040 --> 00:40:00,360 and then they're going to fill the rest of the field with 801 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,000 people who are excellent but not at that level. 802 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:04,760 Yeah. And I think that's kind of it 803 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:08,240 kind of goes back into like the the IPL meet you did where it's 804 00:40:08,240 --> 00:40:12,360 like these meats that call themselves like nationals or the 805 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,640 pro Invitational or whatever the fuck, the World Championships. 806 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:18,120 And it's like, it doesn't mean anything, especially when 807 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:21,000 there's 20 different feds across the country that are all running 808 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:23,600 meats every weekend. Like if you want to have a world 809 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,000 championship, it's one fed. And that's why I think the whole 810 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,040 fed thing is like there's so many feds because so many people 811 00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:33,040 want to get their piece of pie. And kind of one of the things 812 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:37,000 with like the meat I hosted, like I don't, I would run it 813 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:39,240 under any federation. I think that's something that 814 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:41,640 any meat director should have that flexibility to do. 815 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,200 But with the cash prize and stuff, it's something that like 816 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,520 if you win, like if you can show up and win, it should be enough 817 00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:53,720 to cover your flight, your stay your dinner that night and get 818 00:40:53,720 --> 00:40:55,800 maybe get a new pair of nice leaves like. 819 00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:00,280 Yeah, it should be. And it's like, I think what some 820 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:04,080 of these feds need to do is they need to say like, look, you're 821 00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:06,600 it was like, you know what, you're going to host the prime 822 00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:07,960 time of this fucking championship. 823 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,320 It was like instead of you just could, it was like, I'm going to 824 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:13,360 use this as an example or whatever, But it's right are 825 00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:18,480 like when the USPA did pro raw or whatever, they were like, you 826 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,000 know what, we're just going to fuck it. 827 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:21,600 They were like, we're just going to do this. 828 00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:24,880 Like this is going to be the pinnacle for our fed this year. 829 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:28,080 It's there. It's not going to be like a gym 830 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:30,040 owner or something like that. And it doesn't mean that like 831 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:33,560 like Al Tusar runs an incredible me at the go slash every year. 832 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:39,320 But like the pros go to that. They don't go to the right. 833 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:43,400 They're not going to go to the IPL championships or they're not 834 00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:46,800 going to go to PLU nationals necessarily, right, because they 835 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:50,560 have money at this one and sometimes look like locations 836 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,160 matter. I think people need to like, 837 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:57,400 it's kind of conflicting because like these national events, you 838 00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:02,080 get so many athletes that come in that there's a lot of income 839 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:05,800 from it, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's the 840 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:08,440 national championship. Yeah, what some of those. 841 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,920 People like what they need to do is say like, this is fucking God 842 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,000 knows what, this is regional, this is whatever. 843 00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:18,720 And then your Nationals. Yeah, 2 fucking three flights. 844 00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:22,560 That's it. Qualifying totals 1900. 845 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:23,680 Go fuck yourself. Yeah. 846 00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:26,040 And I think that's why what you're saying. 847 00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:29,200 The so the ABS does it very, very well. 848 00:42:29,240 --> 00:42:31,480 Yeah. They have like a couple of meets 849 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:34,640 that they host in the United States a year and it's on my 850 00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,280 bucket list to do one of these next year. 851 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:43,000 And I'd like they have it's going to be one event and each 852 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,000 of their sessions they call something different. 853 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:46,880 Yeah. And so it's like the morning 854 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:51,400 session is like you're your amateur session or whatever. 855 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,600 Then they have like what they like your Grand Prix or whatever 856 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:56,000 they call it, like the middle session. 857 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:58,280 All of these each have different qualifiers. 858 00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:01,080 And then it's like at the end, it's like the top of it is like 859 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:05,520 either fucking invite only or it's like the QT is like the 860 00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:07,240 lowest qualifying total I've seen. 861 00:43:07,240 --> 00:43:10,080 My weight class is 19, and it's like, you know what? 862 00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:11,400 Like that's how it should be. Yeah. 863 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:13,320 You want to get to an absolute like fucking earn it. 864 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:14,280 Yeah. And it should. 865 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:17,080 It should consistently change with like the current state of 866 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:21,600 the sport. Like if the top 1% is 19, but in 867 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:25,200 two years from now the top 1% goes to 2100, then that should 868 00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:28,360 be the QD. Move it and it's like. 869 00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:31,040 The other thing I like too is that it's not dot based. 870 00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:37,040 It's tougher on our side because you don't have as many, you 871 00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:39,960 don't have as many athletes. Like it's just the way it is. 872 00:43:40,240 --> 00:43:44,680 And so having QTS based on weight class is difficult. 873 00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:49,000 And so with everything being on dots, they don't, no one cares 874 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,440 what the weight classes are. They just cut as low as they, 875 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:53,880 they cut as low as they can go in total as much as they can. 876 00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:56,400 And so it's a fucking mathematics equation, which 877 00:43:56,400 --> 00:43:59,640 maybe us as engineers kind of like, but everything else is 878 00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:01,040 just fucking bullshit. Like it doesn't. 879 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:04,000 There's no battles for anything unless you are sitting there 880 00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:06,280 with lifting cast open or whatever saying oh what if this 881 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:08,760 person hits like 5 fucking pounds heavier. 882 00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:11,120 Yeah. And I think that's, I think 883 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:13,720 that's why I kind of like the the reach rumble with or like 884 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,480 the you had the big dogs, you had the current like the total. 885 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:19,200 Yeah, it's like, you know what, there's no weight classes. 886 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:21,960 Go fuck yourself. Yeah, it's like you're going to 887 00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:26,880 total what it is or like so in in the ABS, what they've done is 888 00:44:27,240 --> 00:44:31,560 each they kind of lumped all the weight classes into couple 889 00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:33,520 groups. So I think it was like, because 890 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:36,760 when I looked at what obviously I don't really care what the QTS 891 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:41,880 are at under maybe 242. So it's like anything above 242, 892 00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,720 your total in 1950 to qualify or 1900 to qualify. 893 00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:50,200 And then that middle group is like 220 to 181. 894 00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:52,640 And then it's like then you have everyone else. 895 00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:56,600 Yeah. So it's like it's not O at 896 00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,920 148-160-5181, right? Like no, fuck off. 897 00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:03,600 Like are you a small person? Are you an average size person? 898 00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:05,880 Are you a big boy? Like exactly. 899 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:07,480 Those are the pools. That's it. 900 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:10,000 And if you think about it like from the strongman perspective 901 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,480 too, it's like they have like their middle weight or whatever, 902 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:14,520 then it's like all right. Everything else, it's like 903 00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:17,040 anything over 2. I think it's 231 maybe? 904 00:45:17,240 --> 00:45:19,080 Anything over that? It's weird. 905 00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:22,320 Yeah, it's weird. So they have what they call like 906 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:24,320 subclasses or whatever. And so they're, I know they're 907 00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:28,120 like 2 organizations that do it too, but it's like the weight 908 00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:29,640 classes are so much farther apart. 909 00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:33,960 I think it's like like they have like a they have like a one O 5 910 00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:37,000 S 231. I think in some comps they have 911 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:42,640 a 264 and then everything else is wide open and then it's like 912 00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:45,160 and then they have I think like a 181 as well and. 913 00:45:45,720 --> 00:45:50,080 Then kind of backtracking a little bit as far as like the 914 00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:53,240 maybe not the weight classes, but kind of what you're saying 915 00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:55,000 before about location kind of mattering. 916 00:45:55,880 --> 00:46:00,120 I think with like shout out Mike Skiba, obviously with like holy 917 00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:03,120 wars like him, it's going to a different gym this year, next 918 00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:04,240 year is going to move it to a different. 919 00:46:04,240 --> 00:46:05,960 Gym. Yeah, yeah. 920 00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:08,240 And then next year is going to try to move it to a different 921 00:46:08,240 --> 00:46:10,400 place. So having like, I think being 922 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:13,040 able to have like these pro meets, like even the WPO does 923 00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:14,880 that. They go from Vegas to Orlando. 924 00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:16,200 They're doing it in York this year. 925 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:19,440 Like if you want to have these high level pro meets and stuff, 926 00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:22,120 you should be able to move the locations around the country to 927 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:24,840 where maybe someone can qualify for it. 928 00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:28,800 But maybe they are just a blue collar worker or they don't have 929 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:31,240 the time to take off. But oh, it's in their their 930 00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:33,000 region this year, they can actually compete. 931 00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:36,960 Well, yeah. So it's like, OK, so like in the 932 00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:40,880 PLU right now there's I'll use last year as an example, right? 933 00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:44,760 There were three big, I think 4 really big pro meets right. 934 00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:47,800 You had you had the ghost Flash with the American pro, you had 935 00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:50,680 power surge and then also fighter quit. 936 00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:56,320 And so it's like there's one in Vegas, there's one in Chicago, 937 00:46:56,400 --> 00:46:59,520 there's one in Miami, and then there's one in I believe the 938 00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:03,720 American pros in like Virginia. And so it's like, but all right, 939 00:47:03,720 --> 00:47:07,640 so you have three of the most expensive places in the country 940 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:11,280 for starter. It's like, OK, Vegas is insanely 941 00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:13,680 expensive. Miami's very, very expensive. 942 00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:17,360 I've never been to Chicago actually, or Vegas, but like 943 00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:22,000 can't be cheap either. And so it's like you have all of 944 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:24,040 those and it's, I understand why. 945 00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:26,000 It's like, all right, all the sponsorship money is being 946 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:28,640 thrown XY and Z or whatever. It's like, yeah, you want to 947 00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:32,080 host this every year, but it's like, why don't you just, I 948 00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:33,440 think it was Mike Greeno had this idea. 949 00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:37,440 It's like just alternate years, Ron, you know, do the American 950 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:39,960 Pro and the Ghost Flash like 6 months apart one year. 951 00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:44,680 Then the next year do power surge and say fighter quit. 952 00:47:44,680 --> 00:47:48,360 Or if anyone else wants to get into the pot right, do those two 953 00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:51,000 meets the next year and then alternate. 954 00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:53,160 So it's like different locations. 955 00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:57,440 You can get like a probably a more competitive meet. 956 00:47:57,480 --> 00:48:00,240 More sponsored money, too. More sponsorship money. 957 00:48:00,240 --> 00:48:04,320 You can raise the the qualifiers to get more people to watch and 958 00:48:04,320 --> 00:48:09,360 TuneIn and then like it's also like it it otherwise it just 959 00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:10,840 dilutes the pot. You know what I mean? 960 00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:12,680 Like and so you have your pro meets. 961 00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:15,080 Be real fucking pro meets. Yeah. 962 00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:19,120 And I think kind of going back to you a little bit before we 963 00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:21,800 kind of wrap things up and it's kind of a not much of A Segway, 964 00:48:21,800 --> 00:48:24,560 but I know you've had some troubles with deadlifts and 965 00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:27,920 meets. So maybe tell us about what your 966 00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:32,200 biggest issue with the deadlift was in me and and how you 967 00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:34,320 overcame that solution or are currently? 968 00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:38,120 Assuming assuming I have I still I have not hit a third deadlift 969 00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:43,840 in years so at this is something I noticed as I started to bulk 970 00:48:43,840 --> 00:48:46,760 up. I have If you can see I have 971 00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:49,400 very meaty hands and it gets much worse during meat day. 972 00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:57,720 They fill up with water and so if you are cold, if you're fresh 973 00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:01,400 and you're training right, like I'm agile, I'm nimble, whatever 974 00:49:01,640 --> 00:49:05,280 my hands are very flexible. I can grab on to whatever I've 975 00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:11,920 I've held on to north of eight and no issues right after 976 00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:15,240 squatting, after benching and all of that. 977 00:49:15,240 --> 00:49:16,520 My hands. Are you packing a lip? 978 00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:22,040 Then. Same good boy after squatting 979 00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:24,440 and bench or whatever, like my hands are really cocked back 980 00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:26,400 too, because it's not something you guys see and equipped as 981 00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:32,000 much you do and bench to no end. But like, OK, you like can 982 00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:33,440 squat. Your hand is in a little bit 983 00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:35,840 more like normal of a position, I'd say yeah. 984 00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:38,280 So it's like it doesn't balloon like that or whatever, but like 985 00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:39,960 there's a shit to a fucking watermark. 986 00:49:39,960 --> 00:49:42,760 I can't make a fist. And so it's like I'll hit my 987 00:49:42,760 --> 00:49:45,160 opener and drop my second and third and I'm like you fuck, 988 00:49:45,160 --> 00:49:48,280 like fuck me, you know what I mean? 989 00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:51,280 And so it's like, I've always had that problem. 990 00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:59,200 Like I think I've, I haven't hit 3 poles in a meet in four years. 991 00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:03,160 And so it's like it was like, all right, what like what the 992 00:50:03,160 --> 00:50:04,800 fuck is the fix? I didn't know what to do. 993 00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,000 It was like, and as I got heavier, it became more and more 994 00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:11,080 of a problem. And so kind of what I've learned 995 00:50:11,080 --> 00:50:15,440 to do is kind of fix like because I used to cut pretty 996 00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:16,960 hard and I wouldn't do like a got cut. 997 00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:20,040 So like, I don't know if you ever like really had to cut hard 998 00:50:20,040 --> 00:50:23,160 for. So what you kind of do is 999 00:50:23,160 --> 00:50:24,760 there's a there's a few ways you can do it. 1000 00:50:24,760 --> 00:50:27,920 You can manipulate water and sodium and you can manipulate 1001 00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:30,640 like the like when you call it gut cut, where you just 1002 00:50:30,640 --> 00:50:33,920 basically load up on unsaturated fats and that type of shit and 1003 00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:35,440 kind of flush out a couple extra pounds. 1004 00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:37,240 That way. It's it's so you don't have to 1005 00:50:37,240 --> 00:50:38,640 manipulate water. And then if you have to cut 1006 00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:42,360 really hard to do both, Yeah, with the water one, right. 1007 00:50:42,360 --> 00:50:44,400 You're so depleted on electrolytes by the end of it 1008 00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:46,600 because you're you're manipulating and you're using 1009 00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:49,640 the loss of sodium to flush everything out that it's like, 1010 00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:50,880 all right, I can't compete this way. 1011 00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:53,000 You got to put everything fucking back. 1012 00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:56,760 And so you absorb so much fucking water and you have so 1013 00:50:56,760 --> 00:51:01,480 much sodium in your system that you absorb water, you become a 1014 00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:04,840 fucking balloon. And so that used to happen to me 1015 00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:08,320 all the time where it's like I drop fucking deadlifts or, and 1016 00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:10,520 it'd be I wouldn't know what was happening about it because it 1017 00:51:10,520 --> 00:51:13,480 wouldn't even happen if I like the first thing I was like is 1018 00:51:13,480 --> 00:51:16,360 like, all right, maybe we got to make sure we squat and deadlift 1019 00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:19,360 in the same like session. I'll do like a shit ton of squat 1020 00:51:19,360 --> 00:51:20,840 volume before I even touch a pole. 1021 00:51:21,800 --> 00:51:25,200 And it was like, all right, like I thought that would work. 1022 00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:28,440 Still kind of didn't. And it was like I switched from 1023 00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:32,320 sumo to conventional with that. I still hit or miss or whatever, 1024 00:51:32,320 --> 00:51:36,400 but so it's like, all right, what am I doing? 1025 00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:41,240 And then so it was like, I think the only time I had it figured 1026 00:51:41,240 --> 00:51:48,000 out, dogs going a little crazy over there, but it was like at 1027 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:50,840 the ghost clash last year, they had APT in the warm up room who 1028 00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:54,840 literally took my arms and threw them into Norma Tex. 1029 00:51:55,120 --> 00:51:57,520 Yep. And literally like I was sitting 1030 00:51:57,520 --> 00:51:59,840 there like this, literally just like fucking. 1031 00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:02,280 I just bought the leg ones, they're amazing. 1032 00:52:03,480 --> 00:52:06,200 He used the leg ones and he just threw my arms in them. 1033 00:52:07,400 --> 00:52:08,960 They use the leg ones on your arms. 1034 00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:12,880 Yes, they have arm ones. It's the coolest I've ever felt 1035 00:52:12,880 --> 00:52:16,080 in my life. Although my nipple was almost 1036 00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:22,760 removed as they were. And so it's like that fixed it. 1037 00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:25,440 But also, that meet was super slow. 1038 00:52:25,440 --> 00:52:26,760 It was kind of similar to what you guys do. 1039 00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:29,200 Where like, it was one session and four flights. 1040 00:52:29,240 --> 00:52:30,920 Yeah. So deadlifts took 2. 1041 00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:34,760 I had two hours between each lift where it's like some of 1042 00:52:34,760 --> 00:52:36,840 these meats like you look at like the app platform or 1043 00:52:36,840 --> 00:52:40,040 whatever. 20 minutes. Yeah, they absolutely. 1044 00:52:40,040 --> 00:52:42,560 They'll get through a session in 2 1/2 hours. 1045 00:52:43,520 --> 00:52:45,680 And so it's like you're fucked. You know what I like? 1046 00:52:45,680 --> 00:52:47,760 If your hands are blown, you have no time to get it out. 1047 00:52:48,160 --> 00:52:51,160 And so I've done like I've done icing like that helped a little 1048 00:52:51,160 --> 00:52:54,200 bit. Like when I did that IPL meet or 1049 00:52:54,200 --> 00:52:56,400 whatever, they had a complimentary drink cooler in 1050 00:52:56,400 --> 00:53:00,000 the warm up room and Carlos Reyes had given me the idea. 1051 00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:02,320 That's exactly what I did. Carlos Reyes was like, you 1052 00:53:02,320 --> 00:53:03,920 should try icing your hands or whatever to me. 1053 00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:04,560 I don't pass. Tonight. 1054 00:53:04,560 --> 00:53:07,120 I had a big issue and so I walked into the complimentary 1055 00:53:07,120 --> 00:53:09,640 cooler, just said get the fuck out of my way and just went. 1056 00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:12,160 Yeah, and. Just held it there for 20. 1057 00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:15,560 And that's something that that's honestly a very common issue in 1058 00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:18,920 multiplying. It's usually because when you're 1059 00:53:18,920 --> 00:53:21,600 benching seven, 800 lbs, like your hands just blow up. 1060 00:53:21,600 --> 00:53:24,640 It's the same thing. And some people just, they 1061 00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:27,000 fucking deal with it and they just don't have a good pole. 1062 00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:30,920 But I I've, I've known icing your hands worse, obviously 1063 00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:34,160 being able to like massage and remove that fluid from your 1064 00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:35,760 hands. Like there's, there's like 1065 00:53:35,760 --> 00:53:40,040 caffeine, yeah, there's caffeine creams that work too that can 1066 00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:42,920 reduce inflammation. There's there's you can try a 1067 00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:45,320 bunch of different things. Yeah, I haven't seen the 1068 00:53:45,320 --> 00:53:48,680 caffeine cream. I've done NSAID cream, that 1069 00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:51,840 helped a little bit. I did like AI got put on a 1070 00:53:51,840 --> 00:53:54,280 massage table and they did like some exercises to help flush. 1071 00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:56,520 That's helped. I've done the buckets of ice 1072 00:53:56,520 --> 00:54:01,160 that it's OK It's kind of a dumb way to think about doing it, 1073 00:54:01,160 --> 00:54:02,400 right? It's a little bit more old 1074 00:54:02,400 --> 00:54:06,120 school, but that still works to an extent, right. 1075 00:54:06,240 --> 00:54:07,680 The normal text has been aggressive. 1076 00:54:07,760 --> 00:54:10,200 And that's not exactly something realistic that you can expect 1077 00:54:10,200 --> 00:54:11,240 every single time. Yeah. 1078 00:54:11,600 --> 00:54:14,920 But like, all those type of things have kind of worked. 1079 00:54:14,920 --> 00:54:16,800 And I've become a much better meat puller. 1080 00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:19,320 Yeah, I will. Like, I usually, like, the first 1081 00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:21,560 time I ran into this issue, it was like I was expecting to pull 1082 00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:24,520 like 780 and I got stuck at 7:05. 1083 00:54:24,880 --> 00:54:31,080 Yeah, like I dropped 750 twice. And I was ready to do some bad 1084 00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:34,240 things afterwards, like it was not fucking good. 1085 00:54:34,720 --> 00:54:40,960 And so like now I think I have a better scope, like understanding 1086 00:54:40,960 --> 00:54:42,400 of it. And I think the meat that I'm 1087 00:54:42,400 --> 00:54:45,440 doing in December, which is RPS, it's kind of a platform at a 1088 00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:49,160 showcase, I think it's a little bit slower pace. 1089 00:54:49,160 --> 00:54:52,320 And so I might be able to like, kind of finally fucking hit a 1090 00:54:52,320 --> 00:54:54,120 third pole. Yeah, and I was going to be my 1091 00:54:54,120 --> 00:54:57,080 next question with the king of the platform kind of what's the 1092 00:54:57,080 --> 00:54:58,560 what's the game plan for that meet take? 1093 00:54:59,560 --> 00:55:02,200 Advantage of every RPS rule imaginable, which means I will 1094 00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:04,760 be fully naked for all three lifts. 1095 00:55:06,240 --> 00:55:09,720 And especially being in Florida, I kind of just want to compete 1096 00:55:09,720 --> 00:55:11,160 barefoot for some fucking reason. 1097 00:55:11,160 --> 00:55:13,840 I don't know why it's gross, but I kind of want to do it. 1098 00:55:15,080 --> 00:55:17,200 Interesting. And then I guess. 1099 00:55:17,600 --> 00:55:19,680 I'm kind of kidding, but like if I'm pulling conventional I'm 1100 00:55:19,680 --> 00:55:21,080 probably going to do a barefoot. All right. 1101 00:55:21,120 --> 00:55:23,720 I mean, I'm not I'm kind of a fan of it. 1102 00:55:23,720 --> 00:55:26,520 It's not like a definitely, especially if it's hot, you're 1103 00:55:26,520 --> 00:55:28,200 going to get that extra grip on the floor. 1104 00:55:29,480 --> 00:55:32,640 That's also true. And I believe the women go the 1105 00:55:32,640 --> 00:55:35,440 day after as opposed to the day before. 1106 00:55:36,160 --> 00:55:39,360 So the the platform will be a little bit cleaner. 1107 00:55:39,400 --> 00:55:42,720 Yeah, at least there will be a lot of sweat and blood on it, 1108 00:55:42,720 --> 00:55:45,160 but at least no other bodily fluids. 1109 00:55:45,360 --> 00:55:47,240 Yeah. So I guess kind of to wrap 1110 00:55:47,240 --> 00:55:49,240 things up. Kind of. 1111 00:55:49,240 --> 00:55:52,440 We'll talk about piss, yeah? Yeah, kind of beyond the 1112 00:55:52,440 --> 00:55:54,600 platform. So do you have any kind of long 1113 00:55:54,600 --> 00:55:58,000 term goals in terms of coaching, directing or maybe something 1114 00:55:58,000 --> 00:56:01,040 else with your your biomedical background and powerlifting? 1115 00:56:02,160 --> 00:56:06,120 So I don't really have any aspiration to coach, to be quite 1116 00:56:06,120 --> 00:56:10,440 honest. Like I don't it's kind of weird 1117 00:56:10,440 --> 00:56:12,400 now because like everyone fucking thinks that they're 1118 00:56:12,400 --> 00:56:15,240 entitled to a roster of athletes and things that they can make 1119 00:56:15,240 --> 00:56:17,920 this full time. Like and you see someone with 1120 00:56:17,920 --> 00:56:21,360 like a fucking 1100 LB total try and say like, hey, I'm ready to 1121 00:56:21,360 --> 00:56:23,240 take on fucking. So it's like, are you kidding 1122 00:56:23,240 --> 00:56:26,560 me? Like first I was like, you have 1123 00:56:26,560 --> 00:56:31,080 no business for starters. But it's like I've also, it's 1124 00:56:31,080 --> 00:56:33,440 like a little bit of imposter syndrome where it's like, who 1125 00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:36,680 the fuck am I to justify taking on clients or whatever and 1126 00:56:36,680 --> 00:56:40,320 charge a realistic rate for what would actually be Like this is 1127 00:56:40,320 --> 00:56:43,600 something that can truly supplement my income because 1128 00:56:43,600 --> 00:56:47,560 like I'd feel bad charging more than like 80 bucks a month. 1129 00:56:47,560 --> 00:56:50,720 You know what I mean? Because it's like, I don't have 1130 00:56:50,720 --> 00:56:52,960 a fucking like I haven't been coaching people forever. 1131 00:56:52,960 --> 00:56:54,440 And obviously I understand you ramp up. 1132 00:56:54,440 --> 00:56:55,880 There's only one way you can start. 1133 00:56:56,240 --> 00:57:00,080 But it's like, and at that rate, I don't like it's so much work. 1134 00:57:00,080 --> 00:57:05,560 Why would I fucking bother? And so it's like I I got AI 1135 00:57:05,560 --> 00:57:07,280 still. I was involved. 1136 00:57:07,280 --> 00:57:11,000 I've ref in the WRPF and then they transferred over the PLU. 1137 00:57:11,040 --> 00:57:13,840 And so I think I'm still in that program. 1138 00:57:13,840 --> 00:57:16,040 I still get to do the some of the trainings for it or 1139 00:57:16,040 --> 00:57:18,560 whatever, but just because there's no meats around me to do 1140 00:57:18,560 --> 00:57:20,080 it. But I'm happy to ref when I'm 1141 00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:22,640 not in prep. I do want to eventually direct 1142 00:57:22,720 --> 00:57:23,760 because it's kind of a big thing. 1143 00:57:23,760 --> 00:57:27,560 And like you've been a director, like it is a very rewarding 1144 00:57:27,560 --> 00:57:30,560 experience, especially fucking exhausting. 1145 00:57:30,560 --> 00:57:32,240 Oh. My God, I was dead. 1146 00:57:33,600 --> 00:57:37,440 The mental draining of it is fucking awful, but it's like I 1147 00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:41,680 do want to do that too, because like there's there needs to be 1148 00:57:41,680 --> 00:57:44,960 better meats that are like there needs to be a good model if meet 1149 00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:48,760 up here, to be quite honest, like I want to find a gym, 1150 00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:52,520 whether it be at evolve, whether it be at like, you know, like 1151 00:57:52,520 --> 00:57:56,160 lightning is a massive facility. I want to do like a real good 1152 00:57:56,160 --> 00:58:01,400 raw monolith with me and see who will go because I like I was 1153 00:58:01,400 --> 00:58:04,880 trying to direct for the WRPF last year, but their 1154 00:58:04,880 --> 00:58:07,560 requirements are very, very strict, which they should be. 1155 00:58:07,720 --> 00:58:10,480 Yeah, You have, you have to be a ref, you have to know how to, 1156 00:58:10,640 --> 00:58:15,600 you have to spot load, you have to do a bunch of other things 1157 00:58:15,600 --> 00:58:19,360 too. And so I was in the process of 1158 00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:22,400 get of like meeting those requirements and then the whole 1159 00:58:22,400 --> 00:58:25,200 thing happened where they split into this other and I was like, 1160 00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:27,760 I don't know. I don't know what to do. 1161 00:58:27,840 --> 00:58:32,000 Yeah. And so I definitely do want to 1162 00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:35,160 direct probably in like Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 1163 00:58:35,200 --> 00:58:37,520 you know, maybe Rhode Island or Maine or something like that. 1164 00:58:37,520 --> 00:58:41,280 Because like when I was doing that, I had 25 people say, let 1165 00:58:41,280 --> 00:58:45,240 me know when it drops. Like I want to do this, but like 1166 00:58:45,240 --> 00:58:47,000 I'm waiting for the right time to do it. 1167 00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:50,640 I think next next year I might want to and say, you know what, 1168 00:58:51,040 --> 00:58:53,880 whether it be whether I hit up RUPA would evolve or like 1169 00:58:53,880 --> 00:58:55,920 somewhere around there was like, you know, I want to fucking run 1170 00:58:55,920 --> 00:58:58,880 this. Like I have the it'll be like I 1171 00:58:58,880 --> 00:59:00,880 have the time because I don't really plan on competing too, 1172 00:59:00,880 --> 00:59:03,640 too much in 26. I want to do 1 meet. 1173 00:59:03,640 --> 00:59:07,120 I want a total 2K on a power bar and like walk it out. 1174 00:59:07,520 --> 00:59:10,120 And then other than that, I don't care because like I'm 1175 00:59:10,120 --> 00:59:12,520 competing in December, so I'm not going to do like 3 meets. 1176 00:59:13,280 --> 00:59:19,440 And so like, maybe that's the right time to direct, but like, 1177 00:59:21,120 --> 00:59:26,440 I, it just needs to happen. It sucks like New Jersey that 1178 00:59:26,440 --> 00:59:29,360 there's a group in New Jersey that runs fucking amazing meats. 1179 00:59:29,360 --> 00:59:32,960 It's run by the George Rosheni. And he has a couple people that 1180 00:59:32,960 --> 00:59:35,560 give him a hand and they do a fucking incredible job. 1181 00:59:36,280 --> 00:59:41,600 And like, and I've been talking to them about like, maybe like, 1182 00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:44,480 and they showed interest and slowly expanding up. 1183 00:59:44,480 --> 00:59:46,800 It was like, OK, we'll do 1 in Connecticut and then just see if 1184 00:59:46,800 --> 00:59:51,760 we can keep going right? But I don't know, like, I think 1185 00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:53,600 it's just they've had so much going on that there hasn't been 1186 00:59:53,600 --> 00:59:56,360 traction there. And so I like, I want to fucking 1187 00:59:56,360 --> 00:59:57,880 do it. Yeah, I think it'd be pretty 1188 00:59:57,880 --> 01:00:00,600 cool to see, but we can kind of wrap things up here. 1189 01:00:00,600 --> 01:00:01,840 So I'll ask you my last question. 1190 01:00:01,840 --> 01:00:04,120 If you could give a new powerlifter or someone going 1191 01:00:04,120 --> 01:00:06,280 into their first meet a word of advice, what would you tell 1192 01:00:06,280 --> 01:00:11,960 them? You said the only thing that we 1193 01:00:11,960 --> 01:00:13,520 can't say is have fun, right? Yep. 1194 01:00:14,320 --> 01:00:22,400 I think the big thing is so as you're leading, so at least no 1195 01:00:22,480 --> 01:00:27,840 people that like have competed before and they don't need to go 1196 01:00:27,840 --> 01:00:30,720 with you or anything like that. But like see if you can train 1197 01:00:30,720 --> 01:00:33,720 with some people who understand what's going on and make sure 1198 01:00:33,720 --> 01:00:36,560 you understand the rules or the cadence of how something's going 1199 01:00:36,560 --> 01:00:38,760 to go. Because like I can read the 1200 01:00:38,760 --> 01:00:41,320 fucking rule book and say, OK, it's kind of going to look like 1201 01:00:41,320 --> 01:00:44,440 this and you watch it and it's probably super fucking 1202 01:00:44,440 --> 01:00:46,400 overwhelming. Like that happened to me at my 1203 01:00:46,400 --> 01:00:49,560 first me too. And I, I had a handler. 1204 01:00:49,880 --> 01:00:52,680 It was my friend who was sitting in the crowd and he was baked 1205 01:00:52,680 --> 01:00:55,400 and just giving me a thumbs up for me to go up. 1206 01:00:55,720 --> 01:00:57,200 One of my best friends to this day. 1207 01:00:57,200 --> 01:00:58,720 But all that was all that happened. 1208 01:00:59,280 --> 01:01:01,200 I picked him up. It was a four hour drive to the 1209 01:01:01,200 --> 01:01:04,240 meet. So like I was all alone back 1210 01:01:04,240 --> 01:01:08,800 there for a little bit. And so like have an idea of what 1211 01:01:08,800 --> 01:01:11,960 it's going to look like, whether that means go into one, whether 1212 01:01:11,960 --> 01:01:15,240 that means like, you know, you kind of are around people that 1213 01:01:15,240 --> 01:01:17,400 do, whether it means trying to bring someone who knows going on 1214 01:01:17,480 --> 01:01:19,680 what to then can like handle you or something like that. 1215 01:01:19,680 --> 01:01:26,440 Like I think a lot of people know what the rules are and they 1216 01:01:26,440 --> 01:01:29,440 just kind of like have like a little bit of a brain fart and 1217 01:01:29,440 --> 01:01:31,920 just kind of fuck up and jump a command or something like that. 1218 01:01:31,920 --> 01:01:37,440 Or like because I know like in in some of the multiply meets 1219 01:01:37,440 --> 01:01:40,200 there's no start command on certain lists, like there's no 1220 01:01:40,240 --> 01:01:43,080 start command on bench. And I think it's the APF or 1221 01:01:43,080 --> 01:01:45,320 something like that. I'm not sure about them, but I 1222 01:01:45,320 --> 01:01:50,160 know for the IPA there is not. So it's like, say I were to do 1223 01:01:50,160 --> 01:01:51,840 it and I'm sitting there locking out fucking. 1224 01:01:52,080 --> 01:01:54,760 I have my own ground there for 15 seconds and I'm turning 1225 01:01:54,760 --> 01:01:56,960 around saying what the fuck? Like what are we doing here? 1226 01:01:57,480 --> 01:01:59,280 Right? Something like that. 1227 01:01:59,280 --> 01:02:02,760 Like understand the cadence of it and maybe you won't have like 1228 01:02:02,760 --> 01:02:04,080 a brain fart or something like that. 1229 01:02:04,080 --> 01:02:08,160 Or if it's like if you wanted to go do like a WRPF or fucking 1230 01:02:08,160 --> 01:02:11,160 whatever and it's like you just immediately get the bar and just 1231 01:02:11,160 --> 01:02:13,920 drop, you're like, you're going to look like a dumb ass. 1232 01:02:14,680 --> 01:02:19,120 So it's like I think the case if you understand that you won't be 1233 01:02:19,120 --> 01:02:22,800 as anxious going in and then like everyone's going to fucking 1234 01:02:22,800 --> 01:02:26,000 tell you to open light. But I think like I think that's 1235 01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:31,360 pretty fucking good advice. But it's but it's like, I think 1236 01:02:31,360 --> 01:02:34,760 it's like open light and under like I don't want to say 1237 01:02:35,120 --> 01:02:37,640 understand that you're having, but it's like, don't be afraid 1238 01:02:37,640 --> 01:02:41,160 to take a swing in a mess to be quite like open light. 1239 01:02:41,160 --> 01:02:44,400 So you hit like your first and 2nd and then like, you know 1240 01:02:44,400 --> 01:02:47,360 what, yeah, fuck it, you're not going to Like if it's your first 1241 01:02:47,360 --> 01:02:49,760 meet, you're probably not shooting for best lifter here. 1242 01:02:50,240 --> 01:02:52,920 Sure, take a stab at a 500 deadlift or something like that. 1243 01:02:52,920 --> 01:02:57,200 Like what do you fucking do? You drop it like at some point 1244 01:02:57,200 --> 01:03:01,960 in time, like you're be a little bit relaxed and you'll you'll 1245 01:03:01,960 --> 01:03:05,560 feel a little bit more normal. Yeah, I think I agree with you 1246 01:03:05,560 --> 01:03:07,440 with what you said before. I think kind of to put it 1247 01:03:07,440 --> 01:03:10,600 simply, like try to get some sort of learning experience 1248 01:03:10,600 --> 01:03:12,800 before you step onto the platform, whether it be like you 1249 01:03:12,800 --> 01:03:16,480 said, go into a meet talking to someone that's competed or even 1250 01:03:16,480 --> 01:03:18,960 kind of like running through like a mock meet type thing in 1251 01:03:18,960 --> 01:03:19,760 your gym. So. 1252 01:03:20,360 --> 01:03:22,560 Yeah, that does look very fucking corny though sometimes. 1253 01:03:22,560 --> 01:03:24,000 So. Yes, yes it does. 1254 01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:26,360 Depending on the gym that you choose, that may look really 1255 01:03:26,400 --> 01:03:28,160 fucking stupid. I totally agree. 1256 01:03:28,160 --> 01:03:30,680 Well, I wanted to thank you again for taking the time to 1257 01:03:30,680 --> 01:03:31,720 come on. It was my pleasure. 1258 01:03:32,240 --> 01:03:34,440 Yeah, no, of course. Yeah, this fucking kicked ass. 1259 01:03:34,440 --> 01:03:35,800 I'm definitely down to do it again.