Mark Bell's Power Project - Power Project EP. 146 - Shawn Frankl

Episode Date: November 28, 2018

Shawn Frankl is a bodybuilder, powerlifter, trainer and owner of Big Iron Gym. He has World Record totals in both the 198 lb and 220 lb weight class in powerlifting with 1055 lb squat, 825 lb bench, and 750 lb deadlift at 198; and 1060 lb squat, 875 lb bench, and 780 lb deadlift at 220. As a bodybuilder he has placed 1st on multiple occasions and in his most recent show, won 1st place open and masters and overall Men Master's Division at the NPC Mighty Muscle On the Mississippi. He has also appeared on Muscle and Fitness Magazine, Iron Man Magazine, and on the cover of Powerlifting USA magazine multiple times, as well as the cover POWER Magazine. ➢SHOP NOW: https://markbellslingshot.com/ Enter Discount code, "POWERPROJECT" at checkout and receive 15% off all Sling Shots ➢Subscribe Rate & Review on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mark-bells-power-project/id1341346059?mt=2 ➢Listen on Stitcher Here: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/mark-bells-power-project?refid=stpr ➢Listen on Google Play here: https://play.google.com/music/m/Izf6a3gudzyn66kf364qx34cctq?t=Mark_Bells_Power_Project ➢Listen on SoundCloud Here: https://soundcloud.com/markbellspowerproject FOLLOW Mark Bell ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell ➢ Snapchat: marksmellybell Follow The Power Project Podcast ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MarkBellsPowerProject Podcast Produced by Andrew Zaragoza ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandrewz

I guess that's just the way it is, right? What are you going to do? Can't do nothing about it. That's why I bring tall people. I can stand on their shoulders. Piggyback ride. How tall is the big man over here? He's like 6'5".

You're 6'5", 6'6". Damn. We rolling? We're good? Rolling, rolling, rolling. Today we're good rolling rolling rolling all right well you know today we're joined by uh sean frankel aka the freak show and when i was uh getting into powerlifting and um like not even getting into it but getting deeper into powerlifting uh sean was on top of his game with big iron jim and rick Husey. They had some great

execution with a team of lifters that were just dominant from the 165 class, I think all the way through to maybe even all the way up to 275 with Grandick doing 275 and 242, right? So just some really unbelievable lifts that Sean did in the past, 1,055 squat, an 875-pound bench, and a 780-pound deadlift. And I did hand off that 875-pound bench, right? That's right.

I got to take credit for something around here, right? It's like that piece of paper you're handing out. Yeah, that's right. Nice and easy, nice and easy. But it's amazing to have him here. Sean is somebody I looked up to for a long time, even though he's a lot shorter. We're going to try to break a world record for as many short jokes as possible. I'm still taller than Ed Cohen, by the way. I just want to put that out there.

Eddie, where are you at, buddy? Oh, yeah, you knew that was coming. Poor little Eddie. He just happens to be the greatest lifter of all time. That's all he can hang on to. That's it. Just the best. Simply the best. Simply the best.

But, you know, we're going to go all old guy on you guys today, and we're going to reminisce about the, you know, about how we had to go uphill both ways to the squat rack and things like that today. I'm really excited to have you here, and, it's, uh, it's awesome. So let's just get to it. How did this, uh, how'd this whole lifting journey start? How'd you get started with lifting period? Really? I just, at a young age, you know, uh, it seemed like I always had friends that were a little bit older and, uh, buddy down the road for me, you know, he was in

the lift and he was, you know know probably four years older than i was so i lived on a lake at the time so we were always outside doing something you know physical activity wise and uh he had some weights and he is lifting he's like hey come up here and try this out it was a bench press so i'm like all right you know we put on a little bit of weight and did those old concrete you know plates yeah plastic concrete ones and you know i got up to like 135 pounds i was probably like 12 years old you know i was pretty young right and he's like dude you're pretty strong for a young guy you know young kid and i'm like okay well maybe this is something i can be good at or whatever and he had another way ate up and told me what I'd benched or whatever.

And so I'm thinking, oh man, I wonder if I could do more. So like we did it every day, you know, and every day I'm like, I'm going to try and beat that. You know, you don't know what you're doing. You're like, yeah, this was fun. I'm good at it. Let's do it every day. A lot of sense.

But, uh, so that's kind of how it got started. And from there it was just just I wanted to beat him. Right. And he's like four years older than me. I'm thinking, yeah, I want to beat this guy. So it, you know, then as you get older and you're into sports and whatnot, you know, it just, it was, for me, it was like a stress reliever too. Right. So it's like, this is something I could even get my own weight set, have at in my own house and leave some relief stress. And it's something positive. Where did you

grow up? I lived in McCook Lake, South Dakota. So it's like kind of a tri-state area of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota. Play football or do any other sports? Played football, wrestled track. I did hockey a little bit, a little bit of everything right but but lifting kind of always kept kind of being the uh constant thing that would kind of pull you back in huh yeah that was the thing that i mean i just love doing it so i mean like even after football practices you know i'd be like the me and one of my buddies were like the only ones that would get done with conditioning and everything we're like well let's go work out now and everybody's like you guys are idiots right what do you want to do that for like everybody else is ready yeah like we're dead and We'd get done with conditioning and everything. We're like, well, let's go work out now. And everybody's like, you guys are idiots.

Right. What do you want to do that for? Like, everybody else is ready. Yeah, like, we're dead. Yeah. And you guys are in there bench pressing. So, you know, I just enjoyed doing it. Right. So, you know, so my goal, I kind of had, like, a goal.

I wanted to be able to bench 315 before I was a freshman. And so I was only, like, 135, 140 pounds. I was going to say, what do you weigh? That's amazing. I was a lot taller back then. It's hard to believe. But yeah, so,

you know, I ended up doing that before my, before my freshman year, I wanted to do it before high school. And at that point I was like, kind of cool with it. Cause it's like three plates. It's something everybody wants to do,

you know? So it's like, I didn't really try to see what I could do after that. Really. I just wanted to be able to maintain that while i was doing other sports especially with wrestling and stuff i mean you don't have any energy or you know you feel like weak right but yeah so that's kind of where it kind of started and then throughout like you know my sophomore junior senior year then there

there was actually power lifting meets in high school so like you could enter them and it was that was the first time i was doing like these meets right competitively but still not knowing what i'm doing i'm like i got a deadlift like two times before this meet you know it's like i you didn't know what you're really doing you just this is fun let's try it out was there a coach or someone that kind of pointed you in that direction like football coach or somebody who was like hey hey, you should try this? We really didn't. We didn't really have anybody coaching us. It's just one of the head schools in town that was one of the best athletic programs they had.

They put out these little flyers saying we're going to have this powerlifting meet to all the local schools around. And so I just signed up for the first one and just enjoyed it. So I'm like, man, I'm going to do every one of these I can do. And it kind of started with that. What kind of weights were you lifting? I mean, like I said, like I was benching, I mean, I'm benching 300. I always, I'm like, I cannot do less than 300 pounds in a week, even with a pause, like even back then.

But, you know, I was just squatting maybe like a little over 400 pounds at that time. And same thing with my deadlift. It was just a little like mid 400 to close to over 400 pounds at that time and same thing with my uh deadlift it was just a little like mid 400 to close to 500 even at that time which you know you don't know what you're doing there's no programs there's just like you just do it just lifting for fun just beating the crap out of yourself for the fun of it yeah pretty much and uh what did you do after after high school did you go to college or no it's a route after that didn you go to college? No, I didn't go to college. I just started working. That's one of the things.

I still wanted to be competitive in something. I was like, this is something, a sport that I can still be competitive in, even though I'm not going to college. I was going to go and play football. That's when I had my son. There was so much stuff going on and I was so young when it all was happening that it's like no man you just got to go to work and and start growing up fast right so and I'm like well I could still power lift that's a sport I could still do you

know doesn't matter how old you are you can do it forever if you want right so that's when I started getting into kept on doing it even outside of town outside of town, you know, they had, that's when like in Nebraska, there was always quite a few powerlifting meets and, you know, Rick, that's how I came across Rick and big iron is going to Omaha doing these powerlifting meets. So I kind of ended up hooking up with them after a couple of meets. And that's when I kind of got into the direction of training with big iron. What, um, what do you think you were getting from powerlifting? Cause you know, you might have some people, you just kind of got into the direction of training with big iron what um what do you think you were getting from powerlifting because you know you might have some people you just kind of mentioned finances like got to grow up quick and got to figure out a way to start making money

um and you've made some money through powerlifting you've had sponsorships and you've also won some cash and stuff but it's like definitely not a not a not a lit very far from making a living off of just making money from powerlifting so you know aside from you know winning some cash here and there um what what do you think what you were getting from powerlifting that just kept you determined to to stay with it i think it was just i was so focused on wanting to be the best at something. And it's like, you ever hear, that's like when you, somebody says, uh, if you want something done, ask somebody that's busy. Cause it'll get done. And it's kind of like that.

It's like, I love that quote. That's a great one. It's true. It's like, cause you have a plan. Right. And when you're seeking out. Somebody that ain't got shit going on, they're going to be like, I'll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow ain't ever going to come.

It's just, that's just the way it is. And when you're on a plan and you're on a mission and you're accomplishing things, it just kind of spirals into wanting more and wanting to do more. And so like I had a focus, I had a focus and I felt like I had a purpose and I was on a mission to accomplish something. And it was a big goal. I'm like, man, I want to be the strongest in the world. And that's just, and I believed in my brain that that's what I'm going to do. And at that time, at that age, I mean, I was far off from that, but it was like seeking out how am I going to get there? And I was determined that that is going to happen.

That was a goal early on was to be the strongest. As soon as you kind of like started powerlifting, you were like, I want to be the best at this. I had some other friends that were quite a bit older and they were big guys and lifting real heavy weight. You know, lifting over 500 raw benches. And I mean, some guys that were pretty decent in the sport. And I know those are the guys I'd kind of want to work out with those guys. Cause it's like, man, these guys are stronger. I want to work out with these guys, and I'll get stronger.

And I never understood the people that, like, don't want to train with you because you're stronger than them. I'm like, man, I want to train with someone stronger than me all the time because then I will get stronger. But anyway, I was training with a guy, and he was a big guy and lifting big weights, and I'm training with him. I want to get somewhere. And I, man, I'm training with him. I want to get somewhere. And I remember leaving his house one night and he had everything in his basement, you

know? And I'm like, man, you might think I'm crazy. I said, but I'm going to be one of the strongest people in the world one day. I said, I'm going to do it too. And he kind of just, you know, looked at you like anybody would when you're that age and pregnant. Yeah, whatever. This kid's nuts.

Right. But hey, good. It's okay to think that way. Right. Right. In my head, I was convinced it's just a matter of time. It kept me inconsistent. That drive of feeling like I'm going to achieve something and it's just a matter of when and not veering. I think a lot of people get on a plan and then they start going a different direction. They're not really all in on their plan. I mean, I think a lot of people get on a plan and then they start going a different direction or they don't, they're not really all in on their plan. Right. And I wanted to be all in on this. Did you know exactly what it meant at that time when you said you wanted to be like

the strongest in the world? Like what, what was the, you know, was there somebody that you were gunning for or was it the strongest that you can be? Was it the strongest of all time or was it the strongest for the time like what were you like did you have a specific goal because i know for myself like when i had goals when i was younger i was like oh i want to do this but it was like kind of general and as i got closer then it got more specific what i was i just was always thinking about pound for pound i'm thinking about pound for pound what i can lift over my body weight i want to be the strongest and that is what i wanted of all time and because i always end up doing like you were the first person ever squat over five times body weight right i mean that's amazing a 1055 squat and

you got 220 or 198 198 yeah that's absolutely ridiculous most of the time when i was 220 i really didn't weigh 220 i mean it was hard to get to 220 i was between 215 217 hanging around in there right even when i was trying to be 220 once you started to achieve some of these things um did like uh was that good enough or like what happened then because like you know you set a goal and uh you know somebody might set a goal to like make a certain amount of money like i want to make i would love to make six figures someday and then they get there and then the next year they don't want to make less so what happens when you when you or did you not really ever feel like you ever even accomplished your goal well i i just think like when you say somebody's

the best at something it's like there's a lot of different ways of looking at it and uh like one of the benchers i looked up to was ryan cannelly absolute savage right can i mean he was an animal the thing about ryan is is he was very consistent yeah so like you knew this guy was going to get one in he wasn't going to go and maybe bomb out half of them and you know he was very consistent. So, like, you knew this guy was going to get one in. He wasn't going to go and maybe bomb out half of them. And, you know, he's very consistent. So, like, when you think about being the best, I thought about you can't just maybe hit it one time and say, okay, I was on top one time.

And then you've got to defend your title, just like UFC fighters, man. To be the best, man, you can't just get there one time. I mean, you didn't really hold your spot, you know? So, to me, it's like getting there with step one and now being able to stay on top, that's going to be able to tell if you're a real champion and then you have pressure against you, you know, there's a lot of pressure. It's like being able to stay on top. So, I mean, like there's a lot of different avenues I thought about when I was there and then like thinking, well, who's coming up next that

maybe you don't know about? Like there's going to be somebody, it's just a matter of time. There's always somebody else that's going to come and beat your numbers. It's just a matter of time. So it's like putting my mind into a different thinking mechanism. Like, okay, so I need to, I got to keep going here because somebody is going to do this. It's just, you just can't see them yet. So you got to kind of open up your mind to that.

And I almost like was scared of the person that I haven't met yet. Right. And I thought about that during meets, you know, somebody else is going to come in this body where he's going to do more than you. I'm like, man, I better get going. Did you think about that kind of stuff in training as well? Kind of push you through those extra sets, those extra reps. I mean, it gets to be really nerve wracking.

You're handling, you know, 800 pounds, 900 pounds on the bench, handling 900 to 1,000 pounds almost every week in the squat. And you need something, right? You need like, it can't just be a coach. It can't just be the team. It's like you need something on the inside that's really shoving you towards that goal. Yeah, it's something to fuel you to want to keep excelling

instead of kind of staying stagnant. Right. And, you know, I had great training partners. I mean, and I had training partners that were strong. I mean, Jim Grandick, I mean, Justin Redding and, uh, Justin Grouse. I mean, I had a lot of guys that were squatting a thousand pounds. I mean, benching, you know, Brad Heck, even at a lighter body weight um richie briggs i mean jimmy i mean guys that were pound for pound they were doing crazy numbers benching you know and same with them i mean i had a lot of good training partners and my the best coach right and he knew how to get under your skin he knew the things to say to you that would fire you up you know and so those, he knew how to really fuel you to bring out the best in you. With you, did he use, like, positivity or did he use, like, negativity?

He was positive. Yeah. I mean, when I grew up, like, I grew up with negative. Like, my dad was, like, one of the reasons why I really power lifted and wanted to keep doing some of the numbers is my dad would kind of put it in ways where like, well, you'll never be able to put that over your head from just when I first lifted weights. Like that time I benched 135 as a 12 year old. Yeah. Yeah. But you'll never be able to put that over your head or you'll never be able to do more. And I hated that when somebody told me

I couldn't do something. Oh man, I hated it. It just, I hated it so bad. So I was determined that that's exactly what I'm going to do. And he knew that. He was just kind of using it against me at the time. Right. And it worked, but you know, it could be done in a different way. And that's where Rick would do it as a positive way. And he would tell you, I know that you're the best and you're going to do these things. And he'd fire you up in a different way. And he would tell you, I know that you're the best and you're going to do these

things. And he'd fire you up in a different way. And he believed in you so much that it's just like, Oh, Rick said it. I must be able to do it. I mean, like you really believe that you could do anything he said. So that I fed off of even better. Yeah. Your story with Rick Husey, you know, it kind of reminds me of like Rocky and Mickey or Tyson and like Custom Auto. Like Tyson said that no one ever believed in him. No one ever gave him a shot. And then here was this old man that for some reason believed in him. And he just thought like, man, like together, like we're indestructible.

Is that kind of the way you felt going to these meets? That's the way I felt being around Rick. Just his presence. I mean, you were around Rickick too so you get it yeah i mean rick wasn't some softy i mean he's a real hard house i mean he was wasn't he yeah i mean like if you could if you really got to know him i mean when you first meet him if you can kind of imagine like an old gangster guy like maybe back in the 1950s you know he wore that hat with a little, like, what is that little golf type of, you know, hat, whatever those things were.

Right. I mean, he was kind of like old school gangster looking. And I mean, the guy's got shot like three times. I mean, he's, he's rough, you know, I mean, the guy's been around and then you get to know him better and then he's rough around the edges, but man, he's like all in for you. Right. And that's the thing with Rick too. I mean, it's like, I mean, he's, he's one of the few guys I was just like, man, this, this guy's like the same all the time.

Like, he's not like this way around this person, this way around this person. I mean, if this guy, he's like, he's solid all the time. And that's why he'd also get pretty pissed off if you told him you're gonna do something you didn't do it right he took that pretty hard because like he didn't understand it he's like man if i say we're doing this we're doing this unless we're dead we're doing this that's just how he was but so you know because you you were around him yeah he was hardcore but man the guy man he just made you feel invincible at the same time he made you feel like and you could do anything remember you know probably get into this later but when he came out when they had the

cancer yeah yeah i mean here he is he's like 50 something years old and one night we all went out and leaving this bar then you know rick had that mustache you know yeah leaving leaving this bar and this guy says nice mustache and he's like standing over here where you were rick turns around this way just punches this dude punches him right in the jaw dude knocks the guy out he's like you just got knocked out by a 50 year old guy with cancer these guys are looking the guy this bouncer come out and maced him and everything. It was a mess. Oh, shit. But it's like, Rick was ornery,

but I mean, he was 100% in for you, though. Jesus. He's ornery. Yeah, he was a fighter, that's for sure. So like the, you know,

the training methods obviously were a big part of what was going on at Big Iron, but it must have been just the team itself too. It must've been really a big driving force. When you see somebody else squat a thousand, then it kind of opens up that side of your brain that,

that, that thought maybe that wasn't possible. And you see other guys that are lighter body weight starting to bench 700. And you're like, Oh, okay. Well, I've just been six 50.

Like maybe, yeah. Okay. That could be me. Like if I just work hard, if I'm consistent, I could probably figure a lot of these things out. How much of a factor was that? Just that, that camaraderie, having that team support around you.

I think it was huge. I mean, when you're around so many people that all you can, you're all so close to each other, who wants to be last so if the next number is 700 if it is 800 and you're all close to it right now you're gonna i don't want to be the last one there i want to be the first one there i mean in every all of us were that way so then you got rick as a coach where you believe you can so you put all that together and that's what makes it great. You guys were, were probably starting to get very competitive with each other, right?

Oh yeah. And Rick probably played into that. He probably liked that. He loved it. Oh, he loved it. Yeah, for sure. He, he knew how to push your buttons and each person different, differently. He, he like knew what to say at the right last second when you're about to pick

it up it's almost all kind of piss you off you know and he's like man i'm doing this and he almost forgot about the weight so then you did do the number and it's like oh because we had another guy that just hit this new record and that might be a new hundred mark you know when i was at uh west side barbell i remember louis simmons was really good at that kind of stuff where he would he would mention what another lifter was doing um um, to bring up their, you know, to bring up a weak point or to bring up their bench. And they just, and you just saw them bench like 25 more pounds than you or something. And you'd be like, oh yeah, you know, John Stafford over there, he's been doing, you know, uh, rolling tricep extensions. And he, you know, I told him, I, he's like, I told you about it a few weeks ago, but you're not doing them. And but you're not doing them and he's just like walk away and be like all right i gotta i gotta get

my shit together i gotta start getting their head yeah and then you're just thinking like and next thing you know like the whole gym is doing that exercise like he he figured out a way to get everybody uh to buy into the whole system and to buy into exactly what he was doing those two seem like they would be related almost. Like Louie and Rick, they'd seem like they're from the same mold almost, you know? Right. How'd you get your mind prepared for some of these lifts? You know, a thousand, you know, a thousand fifty squat and a 875 pound bench press.

How did, how did that, like, how did that happen? I don't know. Honestly, I just, I wanted to, my fear was not living up to my potential. And I remember like one weekend I was talking to Brian Carroll on the phone and I'd already squatted a thousand plus, you know, and I'm like, man, what if I could squat 1100 pounds? But I just haven't done it because my brain is being, you know, I'm okay with where I'm at. Right, right. And that weekend I went and squatted 1,105, that weekend. It's like, why wasn't I thinking about this a long time ago?

Right. It's like, you can get stagnant because you're satisfied. Right. And it's like, your thinking is what can hold you back more than anything. You can change your way of thinking and thinking differently than everybody else. That's probably the one of the most dangerous tools combined with somebody that believes in you.

You put those two together. It's like, you'll see some people do some crazy stuff, no matter what it is. I'm not talking weightlifting. It doesn't matter if it's business, if it's whatever it is, you put those combinations together and crazy stuff can happen

how how long do these workouts take i mean you know if if um if i'm thinking back to uh you know some days where you know maybe i used 300 pounds it's like a working weight well you know it it takes a little bit to warm up but you might use the bar might use 95 pounds and so on there's a small progression to get to 300 pounds. You get to 300 pounds, do a few working sets and you're in and out of the gym and you do a couple assistance exercises and maybe it took you 40 minutes. How long are these kind of workouts? How long are these workouts taking you guys? Well, we had so many people doing it too with the team, you know.

So, I mean, it would take a good two and a half hours to get through squat bench. It's going to take you two and a half hours for sure, uh, to get everybody through it, you know, and then you're still doing assistance work even after that. Right. But. It's kind of your job and your priority too, that, that the other guys get through, um, really well also that they get coached and they get attention and they, you know, if they need their knees wrapped or whatever it is that they need, you need to get attention and they you know if they need their

knees wrapped or whatever it is that they need you need to kind of that's what being a team's about right you can't just be off like posing in the other room or whatever i mean rick did a really good job of keeping everybody he humbled you i mean he made you always stay humble i mean even when some of the lifters started getting good and breaking these records man he brought you right back down to reality i mean if you're up we'll focus on you if you're not up you're either loading you're helping you're spotting you're doing something and he just he kept that mentality always so that's what a team is right i mean if you just do your set and then you're off screwing off over there dude guess what when you're up next no one's gonna help you and you're gonna see how

you like that i mean he he put it on you like that you know i mean don't help him i mean he just straight up in front of everybody don't help that guy you don't want to help anybody else you're not getting help i mean he just called it how it was and he was just real and he didn't care who it was it didn't matter who it was right so well team gets a message real quick after that right oh yeah and and for the most part i, everybody really did do a good job working together, especially when you have people that are all from just different ways of life. Right. I mean, you got convicts over here and you got like, like doctor psychiatrists over here.

I mean, we had. Is there regular people in that gym? I mean, there's. Oh yeah. If you call them that. Yeah. I mean, if you call them regular people, I mean we had is there regular people in that gym I mean there's oh yeah if you call them that if you call them regular people I mean but when you had this common denominator I mean if you didn't have powerlifting half of these people would have never met each other right but because of powerlifting these people all came together because they had that one thing in common

and then it was like one big family dysfunctional kind of family. But it made it interesting, that's for sure. What do you think you're most proud of in your powerlifting career? In my powerlifting career, depends on how you put it, but it's different than probably what you'd expect. Because I consider my powerlifting career as soon as really I started walking into big iron that's when i met rick and my proudest moment really was when rick came down with cancer and um when i know he wasn't really gonna make it i mean dude he was like he would be like you guys need to tell me what meat you guys want to do. Cause I got to schedule my next chemo and I'll do it around you guys' meat. And we're like, are you kidding me? I'm like, Rick, no, that's not how this works.

I mean, it doesn't work that way. But, um, is when, uh, you know, I shared my faith with Rick several times and, you know, we described how, what kind of guy he was. He was hard. Right. But over the period of, you know we described how what kind of guy he was he was hard right but over the period you know 10 years me and him really kind of developed a different bond and uh closeness and uh you know when he was getting down to the last couple months i remember him calling me up and you know he had the cancer and it went uh in remission for a while and then that second time when it came back he's like he called me up and he's like, man, dude, I can't go through this again, man. I got to go through all this stuff over again.

I got to do all this treatments to me again. He's like, man, I can't do this again. And that's not Rick, man. He's not, he doesn't say that to anybody. He would never let anybody know that. But when, but when that happened, you know, I knew this is not good. And I remember one time I was in my car, I was, or in my truck, I was in my work truck and I was going to a chiropractor appointment and he calls me and he's like, hey, what do

you think, how do you get into that Mayo Clinic? You know how Rick talked. He's like, how do you, he's not going to tell you really how he feels, you know, he's going to be like, so how do you, how do you get into that Mayo Clinic? You know how Rick talked. He's like, how do you, he's not going to tell you really how he feels. He's going to be like, so how do you get into that Mayo Clinic thing you were talking to me about? And really he's saying, dude, I'm about to die. I need help. But he's not going to say it like that. And I'm like, I'm sure you have to go through your family doctor.

And, you know, I go, man, let me call you back. I got to go to this appointment. I'll call you back. So I go up there and I'm in my appointment and, uh, all of a sudden I get a little pissed off. I'm right in the middle and they're working on me and I'm like, I'm, I'm good. I gotta get out of here. I'm done.

And I'm kind of pissed off cause I'm thinking. And I've explained to Rick a lot of times about his faith and like, I mean, you got this cancer and that's, I'm concerned about that. Very concerned about it. But, um, what's more, I'm more concerned about is your faith and like where, what's going to happen to you when we all, you're going to pass at some point in time. Right. And I want to know that you're going to heaven.

So I know I need to know that you're going to have a relationship with God. To me, that means a lot. And so he's my best friend. I should probably share this with him. Right. And I talked to him about this several times. So I'm thinking, man, this guy's not getting this. He's looking for something else again.

He's looking for somebody else to fix him. And how many times have I talked to him about this? Right. So I leave this doctor's office. I go down to my truck. I get on my phone and I call him. Rick doesn't call people, by the way. So like so like he don't he's not going to call you so when he calls you there's something wrong right so like he you know so anyway so i go and i call him and as soon

as he answers the phone i kind of scold him i'm like when are you going to get this through your head man no doctor's going to heal you it's just not going to happen that way i go i want you to have peace about whatever happens i want you to have peace about what's going to heal you it's just not going to happen that way i go i want you to have peace about whatever happens i want you to have peace about what's going on so you need to give it to god and i want to know where you're going and you know i had that talk with him it was just quiet he didn't even respond to me i'm like hello i'm like you there and then he's like yeah standing in this church right now i just pulled over on the side of the road. I'm like, I'd feel a little bit more comfortable if you went to a place that,

like somebody I knew, you know, and like a pastor that I knew, you know. And I go, hey, how about this, man? I'll set it up with you. I know a pastor that my brother goes to church down there, and he's just a super good guy. I'm like, how about we go sit down and have a talk with him? He said, yeah, I'll be up for that. So like two days later, I come down to Omaha. We go and have this talk with this pastor and it's just has a really good talk. Cause he was really uneasy, man. Like, it's like, he knew this wasn't gonna, he wasn't going to make it, man.

And so he was living under stress and worry and you could just feel it off him. And that is not Rick. That is not the tough brick that, you know, and he was worrying, man. He had that like a feeling that would come off him. Like he's just not Rick anymore. And I didn't want him to have that in his last days. I did not want him to go out like that. You know, I want him to be at peace where he was. So we went and talked to this pastor and he really, you know, explained some things to him that really made sense to Rick and his faith. know explained some things to him that really made sense to rick and in his faith i think half of it was really i mean i think part of him accepting

his life god into his life was i think he felt bad about his own things he's done in his life and it was hard to give them up and like man i can't be forgiven for these it's not there's no possible way but when he actually understood that he could and he did you don't have to be perfect you know no one is no one is man right and uh i remember the pastor you know kind of led him through the sinner's prayer and and he did it and um afterwards he said hey man what's he goes what's the hardest part about this for you like thinking maybe you make it not make it and he's like he's like all these people at the gym they need me and i don't know what'll happen to him if i'm gone yeah and he didn't want it he was scared for them to maybe go back to their old ways we had a lot of people that he kind of held together man he was like there's a dysfunctional family but he kind of held them together and with

him there it kind of held together and without him he didn't know what happened to him you know so right it was selfless but you, we went and ate afterwards. And he goes, man, I just feel so much better knowing where I'm going now. And I just, I feel good. And he goes, man, he goes, I feel like I got all the weight just lifted off me now. And so for me, that was my best powerlifting moment. That's cool. That's awesome.

I mean, you just put him at ease with, you know, what, what is, uh, you know, potentially going to happen. Right. Yeah. And there's, there's, you know, I think it's a, it's an important thing for people to understand that, like, there's going to be bad things that come your way, you know, and it's great to be accepting of the good that comes your way, you know, but you have to kind of know that like both things are there and each person is going to be a little

bit different on what is, what allows them to get through that. Yeah. For somebody, for a lot of people, it might be their faith, right? Yeah. But you need something. Yeah. You need something that, that allow, that allows you to kind of hold it together. Cause what are we going to turn to when something bad happens? We're going to turn to drugs or alcohol or doing stuff that we're not supposed to be doing and heading down a road that we're not supposed to be heading down. So I think that's awesome. I think it's great that you were able to share that message and people, people sometimes get weird. You talk about religion or you talk about, you know, there's certain things in life that people get uncomfortable with. Um, I've talked about it before on here. I

don't talk a lot about religion on here, but I believe in God and my, my parents are very, very religious. Um, maybe when I'm older, maybe I'll be more, maybe I'll be more religious. Maybe I'll want to start to go to church or some, some of those things. But, you know, for each person, it's like a personal thing that they, they can kind of, you know, um, have their own standard for, right. Yeah. And, uh, but it is important to like, just,

I talk to people all the time on here about, you should be having conversations with yourself, which sounds crazy, but you should know where you stand. You know, you should know where you stand. Like, do you have a relationship with God or not? And whatever that is, just determine what that is for you. And that's fine. Yeah. And then move on to like the next couple of things that you have a relationship with God or not? And whatever that is, just determine what that is for you. And that's fine. And then move on to like the next couple of things that you have to think about.

What are these, what is something that you want to do? What's a goal that you have? What's something that you want to, maybe you, maybe you want to get married someday. Like maybe you want to, uh, you know, bench 500 pounds, like whatever these things are, they, you have to have a conversation with yourself about it you have to set a goal for it once you set a goal then your actions have to start to match up to whatever that goal was whatever that thing is and so i think it's i mean that's amazing that you shared that message with him and um you know hopefully that that uh helped on his way out

and he suffered less you know because he he had a new belief and a new perspective, right? He, you know, at that point after that happened, it was only like two months went by and then he passed, but, uh, but you could tell he was, um, he was not worried. He wasn't worried about where he was going. He wasn't worried about anything. He was just, uh, he was at ease. Right. And it's like, man, who would want that for anybody to live their last days just panicking and worrying and anxiety nobody should have to have that you know and for me too and my own

selfish reasons i guess i mean it kind of helped me like when he did pass um knowing that you know i'll see him again someday right we'll reunite with him at some point in time and that kind of helped me deal with it as i was getting through it too right you know what was it like after he passed must have been tough i mean you guys all have that gym together it was tough i mean i remember like the day when he passed that it was late at night and it was like two three o'clock in the morning i had had my phone shut off so so they were trying to call me, but my phone was off, and I'm in Sioux City, so I'm like an hour and a half away. So I remember the next morning my wife got up to take the kids to school,

and she left. I'm still in bed. And she came home. She came home after she dropped the kids off at daycare she just came back home normally she goes to work she came back home and just she walked into the bedroom and i saw her face i knew something was wrong yeah and so i like jumped up and she's like um she said rick's name and then she started like crying and so man i'm like jump up i grab my jeans man i'm throwing my clothes on i'm like we gotta go i gotta go help something's going on i gotta get out of here and

go help and then she's like you know he's gone you know and i was just like oh it was like not for real you know yeah and then uh it just it felt not real for a long time and then even going down to big iron and trying to like kind of force something that it was just not the same. And everybody at the gym, I mean, gosh, it was, you know,

man, everybody lost him. It wasn't one person that lost him. It was a whole team. It was a best friend. It was, it was, he was so much to so many people.

I mean, it was just, it was never the same after that, you know, and not nowhere. It should be, you know, and it's okay that it's, it's not, you know, but so it just kind of,

just kind of dwindled away and everybody kind of went their own ways doing different things. And it caused some feuds and, and stuff, which is, which kind of stinks, you know? Yeah. But you know, now I think everybody's going to be, everyone's going to have their own view of like what he would want and it's hard to figure out and you're like well he's not here so you know it's like shit man i don't know what he would want and you know he's not around anymore right yeah and yeah it's it's it doesn't matter at that point you know i did everybody you know a lot of

people giving their opinions but man it doesn't even matter anymore he's not here the one thing we all wanted wasn't here. So really, who cares? Right. Go on and do something different, but always remember him. And, you know, with that, he was towards the end was like, you need to start your own gym. Call it Shawn Sprinkles Big Iron Gym. I'm like, I'm not doing that.

It's not Shawn Sprinkles Big Iron Gym. I'm like, no. And then he kept talking to me about, hey, I got some stuff, some equipment I want to bring down and get somewhere to put it. Let's get this started. He was like pushing me really hard to do it. It's almost like he knew it was getting close to that time or something. But so when he did pass, I did feel at that point in time that, you know, I would like

to keep going with what he shared me. And a lot of times it's not just the weightlifting, man. I mean, weightlifting is weightlifting. It's fun. It does a lot of good things for you. It guides you with a lot of aspects in life. But, man, the people is the best thing about the whole thing. It could have been anything.

You guys could all be rock climbing or hiking or riding a bike or something. It's all, it would, wouldn't be any different. You'd all be together. You'd all have a coach. You'd all be striving for something. And that's it right there. That's what made it what it was. I mean, it's just like a whole family, a whole team all behind each other, you know,

that made it what it was. And he was the leader. Yeah. When he, when he passed i mean did you did you even really ever think about power to thing again or was that you're just like that's it did you think about i'd like to do another meet kind of like in his memory kind of thing or i started training for a meet after that to try to help keep it going and And I think mainly it was just to kind of help keep it going. And then I kept getting hurt all the time during even that training.

And I'm like, man, you know what, man, I can just, I don't have to do this. It doesn't feel the same anyway without him. Right. And my body had been needing a break because it was just, I was getting hurt every training cycle anyway for the last couple of years. But, you know, like Rick said, he felt like he was living through me at that time. So it was like, there's no way I could take a break. Right.

But then when he passed, I felt like I kind of, I feel like I can take a break now and I can step away a little bit. And then, and then I just really didn't have the same desire to step back up because I'm not doing it with the one biggest part that I like doing it. I mean, I like, I love powerlifting. I love it. Right. But man, I really loved it with that guy and that team, you know, and when it wasn't the same anymore, it was easier to go, you know what, man, let's, let's try some bodybuilding or something new and let's let your body heal up and just try something different. And I kind of wanted to try a different avenue anyway, because it was like, okay, I've done this thing and I've done well at it.

Let's try something else and let's challenge yourself to see if you can do good at something else. What would he thought of the bodybuilding? He would have made fun of me every day about it. You know that. That's why you're laughing. He would have made fun of me every day. Oh, man. Yeah, he would have been like, oh, my God.

What's become of you? Yeah, that was a every day. Oh man. Yeah. He would have been like, oh my God, what do you, what's become of you? Yeah. That was a setup question. You already knew that. He totally would have, man. He had made so much fun of him, but I was pretty good at maybe giving a little bit back to him too. And then he would just smirk and then he would shut up.

Yeah. Well, looking at some, uh, got some video of you of you uh doing a bodybuilding show how many how many times you compete in bodybuilding oh i've done four or five shows um just a total different world but i enjoy it it's just a different challenge completely different challenge did you uh were you kind of um in shock on kind of like uh Were you kind of, um, in shock on kind of like, uh, were you in shock in terms of like how, like how fat you used to be, even though you weren't fat, like you weren't a fat guy. Like you, you didn't have a lot of excess body fat, especially for a power lift. You really had none, but being like a contest prep bodybuilder being on stage, uh, in comparison to in comparison to your powerlifting days is way different, right? Oh, yeah.

Completely different. Like, oh, shit, man. I was fat as hell. Oh, yeah, man. It's like you used to think like, oh, if I could see a couple abs, I must be getting kind of lean. Right. Underneath all those other layers. Yeah, right.

But, yeah, I mean, this is just, it's so far to the, to the next level, you know, doing the shows. I mean, you've been through the same thing. I mean. Yeah. You know, as soon as, I mean, even the first time of really dieting down to where you could like see a couple of abs, you're like, oh man, I'm feeling pretty good. I feel like I must be getting kind of lean.

And then your coach or whatever's thinking, man, you got so far to go. And you're like, really? You're like, you got got so far to go you're like really you're like you got a long ways to go and when you take it down to that to that complete next level where conditioning you learn what that really means what conditioning really means yeah it's like there's nothing left it's a it's an interesting look because you can't replicate it there's no way to fake it but if somebody's wearing like even what i'm wearing right now, someone's wearing like a long sleeve, uh, jacket type of thing.

You can see just how hard their body is right through the damn jacket. It's almost like you, you put a jacket over top of a, of a, uh, like refrigerator or something. It's just, it's just stiff and you can see the lines and everything. And it's, uh, it's amazing to, to get your body that lean like that. It's, it's really, uh, difficult. How did you adapt to, you know, the changing up the training and stuff like that? At first I felt like I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I'm like, I don't want to fail on anything.

I want to always want to be able to get my weights up. What are you talking about? And then I learned that, um, I remember one time I was training legs with Todd Smith. He kind of helped me through my first couple shows. And he made sure I failed. We'll put it that way. I remember being on the hip sled. And I mean, I did like 30 reps.

I had like loaded on both sides. And it's like he was just purposely wanting to go, this isn't powerlifting. So I was like, I think he was just purposely wanting to go this isn't powerlifting so i was like i think he was like laughing watching me do this and then he's like i got a number in my head i've already done like 20 30 reps you know and he's like 20 more and i was so pissed off that he said that i'm like i thought i had three left i'm like dude i got like three left and he's like 20 more and i'm like i was so mad that i ended up doing that but my legs were just shaking all over the place the whole machine was shaking right and then he was just laughing like

when i got done thinking huh what an idiot probably like right his brain is something wrong with it you know our boy uh jp sorry i didn't mean to cut you off i just thought you were done uh he was asking what was the difference in body weight from walking on stage to competing powerlifting? Like the first time or? Just in general, like were they like substantially different? Not very much. I mean, like really? Like, so I would, like I said, I would get up to like 217 around there, right?

like I said, I would get up to like 217 around there. Right. Well, like my bodybuilding show, like my first one, I think I was around 192 on stage. So like, really, that's not a lot of weight to cut. And then even like my last show, I was like 196 on stage. So it wasn't a lot of weight, but you just filled out right in it. The is just it's the whole thing yeah there's so much that goes into it the uh just a change in body composition is is really wild because i mean i weigh very similar to what i weighed on stage but i don't look anything similar like my body fat percentage definitely going up have you had a hard time with that like you know you get in good shape for these shows and then like you just can it doesn't really make sense for your body just to stay there all the time. It probably wouldn't be a smart move. Is that hard for you to deal with a little bit,

chubbing out a little bit in between? Not at all. I mean, really, it doesn't bother me a bit. And I think it does for a lot of people. They think, well, man, I need to see all these abs. And it's like, do you want to look the same the next time you go up there? I mean, there's always like the goal, like what is your goal for the next time? Cause then we got to figure out on how to get there. And if it's like getting, you know, I don't think you should get too far out of the box, but you have to be just a little bit so you can get some good growth. And I'm not saying look sloppy or anything. I'm just saying you can still look good, but you're not going to look like you did on stage.

And where that, where that is for everybody is probably a little different depending on how much muscle mass they need to put on. But it didn't bother me a bit, man. I had no problems just going right back to full feed eating, man. I,

I cut down. My lightest cut was I made the middle weight once 176 I had to get down to and I was like 185 the day before oh my god and I'm like well I've done this diet the whole time okay this isn't no big deal dude I've cut like 24 pounds on a power lift to meet in a day I'm like how about we just try and go all the way down I'm like I just decided the day before I want to make middle weight because I feel like I can just cut more and not thinking it's like dude it's not about that it's just looking the best up there you know right i just felt like i didn't like hurt myself enough to like you know like you do when you do the big cuts yeah so i'm like man i gotta i gotta dig in i

gotta go harder just stupid but anyway so i went to middleweight and weighed in at 176, but man, like a month and a half later, I was almost at 230. Shit. I mean, I gained that weight quick. Wow. Yeah, that is a huge. That's the heaviest I've ever been, but I didn't look like I did when I was powerlifting. Right.

I didn't look the same. When you were powerlifting, did you eat pretty good then? I thought I did. I mean, I just, you know, I tried to keep track mainly of my protein cause I didn't, man, I didn't know anything about nutrition really. Like I thought, you know, I thought, man, I just know I need to take in a lot of protein and I

ate whatever else I wanted. Fast food and things like that. Yeah. I like, yeah. And I'm, I didn't like really eat, I never was a real fast food eater, but I just ate a lot of fatty stuff or, you know, I didn't like really eat. I never was a real fast food eater. Right. But I just ate a lot of fatty stuff or, you know, I didn't eat bad necessarily. I just, I kept tracking my protein and everything else was just extra. Do you think it would have mattered that much?

I mean, who knows really? Yeah. I mean, who really knows? But I mean, I would have liked to known than what i know now right because i could probably feel better recover faster who knows if i could lift more who knows it's it's an interesting thing because when it comes to body composition um you know it's such a huge factor what you eat it's such a huge factor and uh in terms of lifting heavy, you know, I'd say the verdict's out. Like, I don't know.

I don't know what the, you know, I don't really know. I've read a lot of nutrition books before, and I've heard a lot of smart people talk about nutrition. And they can kind of say, like, you know, the Krebs cycle and this thing and that thing and carbs do this and fat does that. I've seen a lot of i've seen a lot of big heavy lifters lift some crazy crazy weights and i don't you know and i i know that they've all done it different ways some guys are kind of like steak and potatoes some guys eat pure junk some guys don't eat hardly at all eric spoto had the uh all-time bench record for uh for a few years there he he didn't really eat much he ate like soup

yeah it's like how the hell you keep your size you know he had like protein shakes and soup and it's like you know each person is so different and i've seen people blast up some huge weights i mean i remember being at west side and i think they like tried to survey everybody they were trying to get an idea of like you know know, what kind of protein these guys take in. And you figure most of those guys are 300 plus pounds. So you'd figure the minimum would be, you know, about 300 grams a day. A lot of these guys were getting in like a hundred grams, 200 grams, you know, like they,

they weren't even tracking that. Like there's no regard for any of that. And they, they broke all time world records, you know? So I guess, I guess the real questiontime world records you know so i guess i guess the real question would be you know could it have potentially made you better you know maybe but i guess there's a potential it could have made you worse too it's true you never know i mean the only way to know is by doing it both ways yeah while you're at that level right you know and that's not gonna happen how do you how do you eat now you know for now like

since you're you don't you don't have a bodybuilding show lined up and you're you're not you're done power lifting so what's the food like nowadays really i'm not really keeping track of everything and you know as you know well people think they're doing one thing when they start tracking what they're eating then they realize oh my gosh yeah right, I'm not eating that much. Or I thought I was eating this many grams of protein and carbs. And it's like, man, and fat. A lot of times people didn't realize they were having that much fat. But now, I mean, I'm not getting ready for something. And I've done this for so kind of long.

I just kind of in my head just kind of do it. But I mean, my meals. Just self-aware. Yeah, I my meals self-aware yeah I'm just self-aware and there's no certain numbers I have to hit but I eat four to five times a day and have a couple protein drinks and I just have a balanced diet you know I have protein carb fat with every meal and it's just balanced diet I don't not keeping track of anything I go off more or less how my body's feeling right and if I want to it, then I'll go in there and then I'll get to a point where I'll go, okay, I'm going to start doing this now. And then I'll, I'll kind of have a plan.

It's a, it's a great place to be nutrition wise, because as you go through some power lifting, as you go through some bodybuilding, as you start to acquire more knowledge and start to have a better understanding of, you feel with these foods you tend to lean towards healthier choices anyway because you're like i just don't the consequence of eating that not so much about like gaining body fat necessarily but it's just about i really don't want to eat that because it's just not going to make me feel very good you know i don't want to go smash a bunch of pizza because it's just gonna i don't know occasionally yeah you you want to just let that go and just do it. But I'm a cheat meal. 80%. You know, 90% of the time you're probably going to be eating something relatively healthy.

I'd imagine. Right. I don't know about for you, but like I could tell, like, I mean, as I am getting older, like if I have like sugar or my, my joints, my body does not feel the same. Yeah. It just, my body doesn't feel good. Even if I could have that stuff, I just would choose not to just because I don't like the way I feel. I think a lot of that has to do with getting older. And I think a lot of that has to do with

going through that bodybuilding stuff. I really do. I think that that, that showed me that I was, I mean, when I was powerlifting, I was crazy about it. And I felt like I was all in. But with bodybuilding, you couldn't take your eye off the ball for a split second. I mean, it was a 24-7 commitment. So when I look back at my powerlifting career, I kind of say like, you know what? Now I think about it, I think it was like 60% in, you know? Yeah. You could get away with a lot.

Yeah. I could have went harder. Like I could have ate more meals. I could have tweaked things a little bit. And I could have been, I mean, you could always look back and say you could have done something better. Right. But the, the, uh, bodybuilding show, I think really kind of taught me like, holy shit, man. Like this is what it's like. Precise.

Yeah. This is what it's like to be all in on something. And if you're powerlifting and you're listening to this right now and you think you're all in, I mean, you got to check off all the boxes. You can't, uh, you can't discard any of them. You know, are you drinking? Are you not sleeping properly? Are you not hydrating properly? Are you not recovering? You know, these are all things. Are you not doing your mobility work? Cause the mobility stuff, you know, I'm not, I don't mess around with it. I don't warm up a lot. I usually just squat. But if I was smarter, I would incorporate some mobility stuff because that stuff's going

to help you recover faster from your workouts. And it's going to help you to get in better positions, period. So it just, again, you have to, you have to really check off all those boxes. If you want to consider yourself that you're all in. Yeah. And how long do you want to plan on doing it for that's another thing and what you said in the beginning of the show was like you can't do it one time you know doing it one time that's not great like that's good rick always would say it might have been a fluke i don't know you only did it

once or twice yeah it might have been a fluke you need to do it more times i actually remember him saying that he said he's like you want people when you're done, you want people to know like, yeah, that guy squatted over a thousand pounds, like a bunch of times, like not just once you want to be able to say, I did it over 10 times. Like it just, it means that you hung in there for a while. Yeah. It must mean you must've been for real. Like, it's not like you only had the guts to like try this one thing one time and you

had a pretty good run for two or three years. It's like, no, man, that was a decade. Like that was a 10 year time span. Probably from when the time you started at the time you kind of exited was probably close to 10 years. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

But there's a lot of truth to all that, you know? Right. And it's just like we were talking about. It's like the way you look at things. And that's one of the way I look at it. How many times did you, were you consistent at doing it? You know, that's why when I named certain people that I looked to in powerlifting, it's like they were consistent for a long time. They weren't just one hit wonders, you know?

So I think that's kind of a way to measure up like how you did. How, uh, how in tune were you back then when you were hitting these thousand plus pound squats with like the way that you felt going into the lift, like where to put your foot, where to have the bar on your back? Oh, man. You know, you obviously it's a learning, learning progress every meeting. Right. When you think you got something figured out, you didn't. You get humbled pretty quick. But like, obviously towards the end, the reason why the numbers were there is because everything was more precise.

Everything was the same every time. And the last couple of years, that's, that is how I felt. I felt so much confidence. So like talking about even being nervous or anything, man, I really wasn't even nervous at the end. I was actually like, I felt like it was a training day with a bunch of cool other guys that are doing the same thing I'm doing.

And man, they can lift a lot too. So this is cool that we're all doing this together. It wasn't like, oh, I'm at this meet and I got to hit these numbers. And what if this happens? I didn't even think about that stuff. It didn't even cross my brain anymore. It was more like, cool, man. I remember standing out at like Worlds and where was it?

In Florida somewhere. And I remember just like, it was like a thousand eight i was gonna do on like a second attempt and i just remember looking at the bar and looking past the crowd thinking man this is gonna be cool these guys are gonna watch me do this thousand a this is gonna be fun and then just going up and doing it like there was no stress it was just like this is gonna be fun you know but everything had to be perfect. And obviously that took a lot of time and a lot of new lifters. It's not like there's just some freak that comes out there and he's just born squatting a thousand. I mean, it took me time and a lot of, I bombed out several

times, man. I had a lot of hard learning lessons, but I just continued to stay after it and want to get everything precise and, and to know like everything has to be precise and, and why you miss something is probably because of out of position or loosening up areas or to know why you miss something. So then you can fix it and then that makes you better. So you can, you can come away from a meet and have a bomb out meet and take away something good and keep that positive note of, you know what, I'm not going to let this happen to you because I know what I did wrong. And the next week you do better because of that.

So it's always taking away those tools to make you better. It does take a long time. I remember I was down in Texas and I was at the Onnit Academy. And there was this kid squatting and he squatted like 765 for like three reps, super young. And I always tell people, look, man, it takes a decade to be good at anything. Like you just, just to even be just good, like forget about great for a second, just to be good at something. It takes 10 years. I don't care what it is. It takes about 10 years. Every once in a while, someone will have a special learning curve and they'll come along a little faster, but it takes about a decade. And so this

kid nailed this huge squat. And I was like, man, that kid's really young. I'm like, maybe my 10 year thing's not holding up on this kid, you know? And, uh, so I asked the kid how old he is and he said 17. And then his dad was there and he goes, yeah, good thing I started him when he was seven. And I was like, there we go. I was like, yes, the decade thing is holding up. You're high-fiving yourself.

They're looking at you like, what's wrong with this guy? Where do you think the, like, your mindset of looking at the bar, seeing a thousand pounds, but then looking through it and being like, oh, this is going to be cool. Where does that come from? You know, I never really, like, looked at the weight and went, oh, wow, this looks heavy. I just remember almost like, I mean, it was on the bar. I didn't, you know, I didn't think about the weight. I was like, Oh, this is going to be cool. Looking past and looking at these people

and they're all like staring at you. Like, you know, I want to see this happen. And you're the guy that's going to make it happen. You just feel like, all right, this is going to be awesome. And just in your head, I think when you have that way of thinking, you've done it a million times. So it's, you don't, I don't, if you put a thought of, I don't, I think something bad's going to happen, something bad's going to happen. But if you tell yourself something cool and great is going to happen, that's what's going to happen.

Yeah. Especially once you've done it a number of times. I mean. Hey, speaking of that, we've been talking a lot on this podcast about this guy right here, jackson bo knows bo knows bo and we actually know someone that knows bo you got the hookup i got the hookup man he's right here six six he's ready he's gonna make that call we're gonna get bo on here damn we've been talking about it for years it's's going to happen. So he used to work with Bo Jackson, right? Yeah, my buddy used to work with Bo,

selling meat and whatnot. And yeah, he's got his phone number and he'll just call him up. There we go. Yeah, what's up? Tell him we want to buy his meat. Yeah. I'll leave that to my buddy to do that.

Hey, Bo, we want to check out your meat. Yeah, Bryce, call him up. He'd be like, heard a lot about this meat you got. And he'd be like, man, if I had a dollar your meat. Bryce, call him up. Heard a lot about this meat you got. He'd be like, man, if I had a dollar for every time I heard something. That's terrible. Somebody was asking about, you know, because you were able to stay lean, leanish, even though when you were trying to pack on a bunch of weight for, you know, your power lifting and stuff.

Is there any tips on anything for like a power lifter to do some cardio but not lose so much uh strength in the middle of it i mean you both can answer this one but it's just tough because like we we usually get from chicks like hey how do i gain muscle and lose fat and then dudes it's like how do I drop size but not lose strength? You want me to go first? Go for it. Yeah. What I would say for me is it's really going to be more about their diet. Because I can get you to look, I mean, you're not getting ready for a show, so we don't

need to go do any crazy cardio. And I hate doing cardio. So I can get pretty lean without doing any cardio. It's calories in and out. So maybe in their workout, they need to track how many calories they're burning during their workout. Maybe they could be pushing themselves a little bit harder. And then keeping track of their macros and their calories and what kind of calories are coming in and out. And if they can actually start tracking that, because a lot of times they're really not tracking it.

They're just thinking, well, I'm eating pretty good. I mean, I eat good. They say it all the time. I eat pretty clean. And then I, and then I say, Hey, write down everything that went in your mouth today. And then they're like, well, I did have this. Yeah.

And then they start writing it down. Like, Ooh, okay. Yeah. Okay. I see what you're saying. You know? So, I mean, like you can be in shape and still be strong without doing a bunch of cardio and look fairly lean you know and the more muscle you put

on your body obviously it's it's going to be easier yeah do you think there's like a happy medium as far as like body type these days now like between i mean you look at larry wheels he's a freak so all the muscle he's got. Yeah. Like, I mean, what's, what do you guys think is the most optimum then? I think it's different for every person. And I think you'd almost, uh, you'd have to, it's just, it's one diet probably doesn't fit for everybody depending on how they want to get from A to B. So, I mean, that's when like a personal, like program comes in for a person.

Like if they want to be specific and let's get specific. Right. And let's make that up for you on what you want to, where you want to be and your goals. I don't, I don't think I can just throw a random answer out there for everybody that would fit for everybody. Yeah.

I don't know if there's like an optimal body type. Like I, I, I would, I would say that like, uh, when you watch football you know the running backs are a particular size and they're not really too much different than that size uh when you watch

crossfit it's kind of the same thing and you watch uh whether it's the males or the females same height same body type same weight wide receivers in the nfl pretty much same thing you got the guys that are shorter guys are taller but they're all they're all kind of long-limbed they're all fast the defensive ends whether it's uh you know jj watt or someone else they're all like long they're super athletic but in powerlifting you don't have that same common theme across the board. And I don't think, I don't think you have to be a particular body fat percentage to be more optimal in powerlifting. I would say that, I guess you could be too high and too low. You could just be too fat, you know, where you're not, you're, you're, uh, too big and just maybe inefficient at a couple lifts just because your body can't move

well enough. And you can also potentially be too lean. And that may be an individual thing too, because if you're trying to stay lean all the time, even if it's just lean for you, then you might be opening up yourself to some to some injuries but i agree with what you said about the food i just think that power lifting probably doesn't require the amount of food that you might think i think that's the one thing it's like bodybuilding there's a lot of exercise involved a lot of movement involved there's a lot of sweating involved heart rates up um and if you're not doing that in your power lifting workouts then then, uh, you know, I can't make a determination on like how many carbs you need or how many of this or that, but in general, you may not need a crazy amount of, uh, calories just to get the job done and to, uh, stay as? And you mentioned to me, like you told me some of these stories about how you would just figure out a way to train. And like, you know, you were only allowed to train in like military issued stuff.

But you'd still wear like power briefs and different things like under your uniform and that kind of stuff, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. How long were you in the military and what branch were you in? I was in the Army and the National Guard for almost eight years. Right when I was about to get out, they extended me and that's when we did the tour to Afghanistan. But yeah, when I was over there, you know, you have,

you still have to wear a uniform, certain uniforms do everything. But I just had like Rick send me over some power pants, you know. So at least it could save my hips from being beat up and whatnot. But I could still train heavy without, you know, getting hurt, hopefully. But it worked out good, you know. I mean, I happened to be stationed in Kandahar Air Base. And at that time, it was, oh, man, there's only been like, there was the 25th ID. They were there before us.

So they were the only ones there. So they were there for like, I don't know, seven, eight months. And then we got there. So there wasn't a lot there yet. But they did have, it was one of the only places where they had like a gym, a tent. Sometimes they have a pretty nice gym sometimes, right? Yeah, they had, I mean, they had a lot of stuff there. I mean, out of any of the places I could have went, I landed at the place

that had a good, decent gym. And it was awesome. Cause I was like, man, what's the chances of this? I thought, man, I've already been training at Fort Leonard Wood, Texas, uh, or Fort Hood, Texas for, you know, it was like three and a half months that we had done that training before we went over to Afghanistan. So I hadn't lifted a weight in like three and a half months and I'm feeling like crap. And I got sick right when I got over there and lost weight and it was just terrible. And they ended up having a bench press competition. The week after I got sick and everybody's like, you need to do that. And I'm like, I haven't lifted weights in three and a half months.

And it was a transition point. So it might be under that 315 level that you want. Oh man, I felt like I was going to be, especially after being sick. But like, so we were just coming in. Well, the 25th ID, and then there was the Navy and Marines. They were shipping out as we were shipping in. So there was a lot of people on that base at that time. And then like a lot of the sf guys special forces so they had this meet while everybody was in

transition so i'm like okay fine i'll do it everybody must got hyped up for that right yeah it was it was yeah it was pretty cool and i was the timing was the worst i mean but all my buddies are like no frank you gotta do that me to do that. Me. So I'm like, all right, man, I'll do it. At this point, you're already accomplished power lifter, right? Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I go and I do it and I hadn't lifted weights in almost four months and ended up benching like 425 and ended up winning, uh, against a couple other guys.

I mean, they look like they could have benched a lot more. Right. Um, but I don't know how it happened i don't know how i did that after not training at all and doing a total different type of military training you're out doing stuff all day and running stuff like that yeah it wasn't good at that stuff very much but um yeah so i was over there for a year in afghanistan and then whenever i got back, I was done, done. Right. Normally I have to do two years inactive, but I was done.

And, and when you were, when you were, uh, there, were you able to like kind of regain some of your strength? Were you able to kind of get, get yourself back in shape with squatting in the briefs and stuff like that? Yeah. I, you know, I called Rick, he'd kind of tell me what to do once a week and keep me on track. And man, I would hear what everybody else is doing back home. And I'd be so mad that I couldn't be doing it.

So I remember one time, um, they were doing a meet one weekend and I'm like, you know what, I'm going to max out that same week that they're doing their meet. So, um, that week I'm like getting ready to do my little max out on everything. And when I'd come into the tent, a lot of people, they'd know me by that time. And they're like, what time are you doing your squats this day or lifts on certain days? So they'd come in and watch, you know? And so I went in there that day and I mean, it felt like for me, it felt like a meet because man, I had so many people and they're like all gathered around this squat rack you know and um you know i did like i don't know like eight 805 or something

like that and my briefs that day you know and i just stopped there but like everybody's like man how are you lifting these weights and like when i first got there i did not look like that it was like starting over right and like a lot of these special forces guys and whatever they're just kind of like yeah you're just kind of a punk whatever and all of a sudden through every week i'm getting stronger and stronger and then all of a sudden they're coming up and they're like hey man how you doing that like what are you doing i'm like man i don't know i'm just i'm just training and you're like he's got briefs under his uniform yeah i got to worry about it shoot him yeah exactly but yeah so so like by the time i was getting ready to leave man like all my lifts were up like as far as even raw like that's the first time i benched over 500 was over

there wow um deadlift 700 i mean all my lifts were actually up further than when i before i got there or you know before kind of uh maybe just the, um, concentration levels different and then just maybe limited, like just don't have the same resources, maybe get the workouts done quicker. Like, no, man, I just think I was pissed off. I mean, honestly, and I had time, like when, when I went there, man, I had time to be there. I was done with whatever I was doing that day. And I just, I didn't, I felt at home when I was in the gym. That's the only other place I felt at home.

So I wanted to stay in the gym. And then I was thinking about what I'm not getting able to do right now that I could be doing. So I'd go hard. So like before, when we left Afghanistan, we flew back into Texas to do our demob. And we were doing our demob. It was the weekend of senior nationals in detroit did you go to that that year i didn't go i don't think no well that's where it was and i knew about it because you know the rest of the team was going there and i said hey um is there any way that you

guys could just fly me to detroit instead of home and then they wouldn't let me do it and i didn't train in my gear or anything at that point i was just like i, I'll just have Rick bring it and I'll work it out. And I'll just, I just want to show up there. I want to do that meet. So obviously they didn't let me do it and I couldn't do it, which was probably a good thing overall. But that's why that next year at senior nationals that you did, that meet meant a lot to me because that was one year after I'd been home and that same weekend.

And I wanted to be there the previous year, but couldn't. So like that meet meant a lot to me just because I wanted to be there so bad. I've been thinking about it that whole year before. And then a second year before I actually got to do it. Yeah. And that, that meet that was in Vegas is the one that you guys have seen in bigger, stronger, faster. And, um, I mean, that was crazy. That was like, that was, there was a lot of great

lifters in that contest. And that was a lot of fun. It was like, I had like 22, I think about everybody had like 20 to 22 people in their weight class, every weight class. Yeah. It was a long day, but you know, what I liked about back then is you had to have a qualifying

total to get to seniors. And it was hard. And the top standards were good. Yeah. I mean, and then even when you got to have a qualifying total to get to seniors and it was hard and the top standards were good yeah i mean and then even when you got to seniors you had a place in the top three or four to go to like a world's or and then to the wpo semi-finals from the semi-finals then you get to go to the finals and go to the arnold so like you had to like work your way up you couldn't just like oh i got a good total over here so i'm in right like no i ain't gonna work that way you gotta work your way up i like that yeah it was it was it was uh it was an interesting time you know i i there was something about those meets and like the wpl finals and stuff like that that was it was just really special there was something to

it where it was like i don't care what you wear and i don't care what you do like do and wear whatever you want let's just throw down and let's see who's the strongest yeah it was like, I don't care what you wear and I don't care what you do. Like do and wear whatever you want. Let's just throw it out and let's see who's the strongest. Yeah. It was like a fight. Just bring whatever you want. Let's go. And it was crazy. I mean, it would get intense.

It's seen, you know, you'd see a blood shoot out of people's noses. Uh, obviously bloody shins that happens quite a bit. It meets because the bar scrapes you out. But I, I mean, you just see all kinds of crazy stuff going on. Snap and bones, some arms, some legs. Yeah. I mean, it was intense. It was pretty cool.

I mean, at that one meet at the senior nationals in Vegas, that's the meet when Chad, big Chad Ikes dumped the weight behind him. And I think it jacked the guy's finger up. Like I might've lost his finger. His finger got slammed really hard or I don't know exactly what happened to that guy, but it wasn't. It wasn't good. Yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't good.

And I remember when that Mike Brown from Westside was benching and you could just hear his forearm just breaking half. It was like a twig broke. It was like, you know. I remember that was, that started getting more common. Like people were breaking their forearms all the time. I'm like, am I going to break my forearm? Like what's going on here? I actually had one of my guys, it happened them but he was squatting wow and his broke and he over the last year he came back and and now he's good that's

crazy break your forearm squat break your forearm squatting how does that even happen like i'm sure he's had it had damage already and you know some splints in the bone and that just he was doing like a i don't know it was like 955 or a thousand reverse band set and he did his first rep went to go to do the second one before he even did a second one that thing just snapped and it's completely in the half compound that's crazy what's one of the crazier things you've seen because i mean that that gym's intense big iron gym was really. What's one of the crazier things you've seen? Cause I mean, that, that gym's intense. Big iron gym was really intense. What are some of the, obviously you lifted a lot

of weight, but like, what about some of the other guys or something crazy or wild that you saw? I mean, in the gym or in any, any powerlifting meets? Yeah, either one. We'll go with either one. I liked that, that Benedict Magnuson, you know, when him and Andy Bolton were going back and forth, like we were talking about in, uh, in Finland there that year, I went to Finland and that was probably one of the most intense, uh, lifts I've seen.

I mean, I've seen, you know, quite a few, but that one, I remember like that guy looked a little different in his eyes when he came up with that way. It was like a nine 70 pole or something. And that guy was just strong deadlifting guy man he he pulled it up and as he's pulling it up like blood is just running down his own you can't even see it in the video like you watch it on youtube you really can't see it like it was right i mean it was coming down like a faucet as he was straining it up the blood is just running like a faucet and then he gets it and stands at the top and, like, looks both ways, puts it down, and then jumps in the air. I mean, this guy's, like, 300-plus pounds.

I mean, the guy can actually jump. I was like, this guy looks like he could run through a brick wall right now if, like, he wanted to. It was intense. But you see it in the guy's eyes. When you're there and you can see it in the guy's eyes, I mean, he looked like he could just literally run through a wall. That was pretty cool. I don't know if anybody will catch his thousand 15, but I,

you know, I know that, uh, Thor is going to do a powerlifting meet coming up. I saw him do eight 81 for some reps the other day, but I don't know, like a thousand, thousand pound deadlift field,

hold that thing in your hands. There's only been two guys to do it. Powerlifting style. I think it's just been Bolton and him right yep but now we got some real freaks there's some guys lighter weight guys that are lifting like 900 pounds i mean you got larry wheels so you have kaylor woolham kaylor woolham i think has done 947 that's insane and i think he competes at 220 oh yeah here we go Here's the big man. This is always fun to watch. You want to get fired up for a workout?

Watch Benedict Magnuson hit up some deadlifts. And he has this thing where he pulls on his shirt. Right here. And he runs up to it. Like, he tippy-toed. Yeah, he tippy-toed. Yeah, you don't see big guys being able to tippy-toe. He snuck up on the weight to trick it, you know, to catch it off guard. Well, he did it.

Shit, man. And he had more in him. Like that was not a max out. So he, he's, he's told me about this before. He said that he said that everything was just right with this scenario, like where he was living, where he was training, I guess, like where he currently lives, where he currently resides. It's just, you can't get that good a quality of food. It's just harder, or maybe it's more expensive. But I think for this meat, he might've lived in the U S for a while and he was able just to, to eat really well and to get big and feel really strong. But he said for most of the time, he didn't get the opportunity to eat those kinds of foods. I mean, it's,

so for him, it, that must've made a big difference with his, uh, with his lift. I mean, fuck a thousand 50 in your hands. Yeah. That's wild. That's nuts. Have you ever handled a 900 pounds in a bench or a, um, or a thousand pounds in a bench? Um, yeah, I've handled a 900 to a half board um and i've handled up to 975 off a two board unless i've handled in my hands but once it's heavy it just all feels the same you know it all feels heavy yeah it starts it starts to be uh just kind of a relative thing at a certain point what is uh what uh, what is something that like, um, drives you,

you know, you, you power lifted for a long time. You did bodybuilding for a long time. You've run into a lot of injuries, but he had to, you know, keep kind of overcoming them. You know, what is something that has kind of led you to, to keep going back and to keep working on getting better? Um, I think just, uh, just being your absolute best absolute best and and if you don't think that you've reached that yet then you kind of feel like you cheated yourself and i didn't ever want to leave that on the line thinking like well you could have tried harder i didn't ever want to leave that behind saying like well you could have done these things and you didn't do them like so like and if you know that why aren't you doing them?

So I would always end up doing more and more and more. And sometimes that actually wasn't good too. So that's where it's good to have a coach. Right. Because Rick knew like, oh, something's not right today. Let's shut you down. And maybe I would have like kept going and that would not been a good thing. So sometimes it's not always more is better.

It's the right amount is the best, but I just didn't want to leave anything saying like, I knew I could have done something better and I didn't do it no matter what it was. If I was doing a bodybuilding show, like, you know what it's like, you know, when you're tired and you're like, man, man, just one minute, I can get off of here and maybe just do one less interval. I mean, like, what's the difference, right? The difference is you'll know. Right. And then I would kill myself for doing that. And I think that's an internal thing.

Like, in my own head, I don't know. I just, I can't cheat myself. So when you don't place, like, how you like, then I would just be, like, totally killing myself inside. Like, well, that was your choice. You choose to take the easy route. Right. And I would beat myself up. So I'm just like, I don't even want to hear myself to myself out. So I'll just go ahead and do it. It's easier to do that. When you were, uh, when you switched over to bodybuilding, you probably thought like, oh, this will be, you know, different. And I,

I'm not going to get hurt bodybuilding because you know, powerlifting looks dangerous and you're handling these big weights, but you ended up with some injuries bodybuilding too man i had more i had more like i said like my first show like two weeks out i tore my sartorius in my quad two weeks before the show i mean the thing was black and blue from my groin to my uh ankle i mean good thing that bodybuilding uh is so dark. It's so dark because man, my whole leg looked black and blue, you know, and it was holding water is terrible. But anyway, it was just, uh, I've had a lot of those injuries because I'm like, you want to do force reps. I mean, those force reps, oh, those were the growing reps. So like, let's go to complete failure. And then, uh, and that would took an adjustment because like learning to control that

in your head, like, you know how it is, like you're doing these reps and stuff's burning and stuff's hurting. And you're like, oh man, I'm done. I got to put this down. And then normally that's the point where I'm like, okay, now learn how to control your brain and your muscles. And now is when you're going to start growing. And it's very uncomfortable, but learning to train in those uncomfortable ranges of rep range, those are the ones that are going to count the most. Those are the ones that no one else will do. That's when you're going to get the most out of it.

My problem is it's a battle in my head. I'm like, well, you're going to quit now. I mean, like I'm, I'm something's wrong with me. So then I would always tear something off and I'd go too long. Oh yeah. There's one of them right there. That was me. I was in the hospital for a week for that.

Yeah. It's like black. That one's nasty, man. I tore my growing in my hamstring that time. Wow. I was in the hospital for a week. Well, I tore it squatting. And as soon as I got, as soon as I got done, I'm like, well, it's already torn.

So I put a knee wrap around my leg and I finished my leg workout, not thinking, well, it's still bleeding internally, dummy. So I go home. By that time, my whole leg and my hip is being twisted because there's so much blood that's formed up. And there formed a hematoma in it. So I was in the hospital for a week. That was one of my not-so-smart moments, I guess. being twisted because there's so much blood that's formed up and they're formed a hematoma in it so i was in the hospital for a week that was one of my not so smart moments i guess do you think that

uh you know as you switch to bodybuilding you could have maybe just used a little bit less weight and done like tempo type stuff like or or are you kind of like all or nothing well it just wouldn't matter so big deal i do less weight i would have done more reps you saw yeah it was still equaled the same thing probably would have happened it wouldn't have mattered i would have just done more right because oh it's not hurting it it's not hurting it you know right i don't know there's something wrong up there so now i need to push that off to somebody else and let these guys do it yeah my power lifters bodybuilders do it so now you have you uh you do have a gym and you do coach people and stuff. And, and what's that like? What's that transition like? Oh man, I love it, man. I mean,

you know, it's powerlifters, it's bodybuilders, it's guys, it's girls, it's everybody. Um, it's normal people that just want to learn how to be in shape and live maybe healthier and feel better. So it's not just like it's big iron gym. Just, just, just the power lifting gym. It's not, it's, it's literally a little bit of everything. And what I like the best about it all is, man, I got some great people in the gym. I got the best members ever. I mean, everybody cares about what each other's doing, even if they're not doing the same sport or doing what they're doing. I might have somebody that come in that's, they're 80 pounds overweight. Right.

And I might have a power lifter come over to them and be like, man, it's good to see you here. I mean, it is so different. Yeah, that's cool. It's awesome. I love it. But when I get to see that stuff, that stuff is when people are helping people do that. I love that because they really genuinely do care about where they're going. And it's just the fact that they came in the door and they're willing to start

their journey and whatever that is, you know, and they're for you. No, that's great. And it's something that gets you out of bed every morning because you're fired up to go to work. That's, you know, that's your, that's what you do. And you surround yourself with good people and it's just fun. Yeah. I love it.

I love it. It's a, it's interesting when you get to that point in your life, cause you're like, I didn't realize things could be like this. And I'm like in the middle of this. Like every day is fun, right? Yeah. And it's just like, and you're helping people out in so many ways that you can't even imagine. Like you were saying earlier, you had a guy from overseas say, man, I wanted to kill myself.

And today I entered my first meet and I went in this direction instead of that direction. Yeah. I mean, like I get those people too, you know. That's crazy. Or people that are going through life struggles outside the gym, but they come into the gym and they learn to funnel it different ways. Right. And then they have people there that they can connect with. And we're all going through this journey together and we all go through the same type of things but you just got help and we help each other through it and positive things happen in the

meantime you know so that's what i love you got anything else over there andrew yeah well my first question was going to be just what gets you fired up today but it seems like just coaching and seeing other people progress seems to be that yeah Yeah. I love it. I love seeing the whole big picture of other people's lives developing, whether it's them seeing somebody that, you know, well, when you're in your shoes, maybe it's hard for you to see you, but on someone on the outside, they can see the potential in you that maybe you can't see yourself. And I like to bring out that best potential that, that, that I see in them. I've had some people like start their own businesses up that never really thought they could do that, you know? But just those types of things, not just weightlifting.

Have you ever coached anybody for getting ready for the stage bodybuilding? Oh yeah. Yeah, man. I just coached a guy at Austin Bowman. Uh, he did his very first show. I don't know if you can pull it up. Yeah, but he did his first show and he actually won the overall, uh, bodybuilding did awesome. I got a gal that's actually a trainer, uh, Liddy Rudin. She's a trainer at my gym. She trains a lot of people, but I trained her for her show. She won the physique class two years ago, I think it was. And then she went on to nationals. Man, we've had a lot of, I've trained a lot of people at all different levels. That's cool. I know you have a couple of your guys right now in the chat room and one of them asked, who's your favorite lifter in the gym right now?

Put you on the spot. One of my guys said this? Yeah. Let me guess on who that might be first well i mean it's under maybe a different screen name so who knows i don't have a favorite we have aaron lister i was just gonna say aaron i thought i was gonna say so what name uh they just screen name is just cummins so i don't know whoever that person could possibly i don't know but it's aaron lister i don't know who that is when when i was gonna guess i was gonna say let me guess aaron lister yeah um and then someone else named todd they asked how do you stay positive through life's ups and downs it seems like even since you walked in you've been just like nothing but positive like a cool vibe to you and everything well hey man i'm

human man i have my ups and downs just like anybody else so i'm not trying to put on this act that like i don't have any hard times i I've had plenty of hard times, but I choose to look at the positive side of everything that, that comes up against me. And, and I have, I mean, for me, like we talked about, it's my faith, man. It's my faith in God, knowing that I don't really run my life. God runs my life. And I trust that whatever he wants to have happen with me, he kind of brings me through it. So I have strength through him. And it might sound weird or whatever, but, man, that's just what I live by. And it's solid for me, man.

Yeah. Do you have any ambitions to compete again, though? Man, I always do because I love competing, man. Yeah, that's fun. But I just, right now I don't have a plan to like compete at a certain time but honestly i kind of oh man if i say this my guys are gonna get me going but lately you know but training heavy with the with the guys that just got done with this powerlifting meet you know i've been kind of training with with them and i've been training a little heavier

than normal and it's been fun maybe it would be fun to do another raw meat but like not crazy like to the level that we used to do it at or anything just kind of for fun and then yeah maybe uh do another show i don't know i just i make random decisions now i don't like set out like to have this long goal and do it my my goals now are for my gym and for my people that i'm training and it's it's really about them more than it is me. And so if I decided to do something, man, it's kind of like for fun. It's not like it used to be like, it's different. Yeah.

It's hard. Yeah. When I, uh, was talking to you earlier, I was like, yeah, I'm just, I don't know. I want to lift heavier and do certain things, but I just don't want to get obsessed. And when I said that, you just started laughing. It's like, yeah. Because it's not really possible. It's not. I mean, look, once you, we've done the things we've done, it's like, well, okay, Mark, just go do this a little bit.

Okay. Just do this show a little bit. Okay. Don't, don't go crazy. Your wife would be agreeing right now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

It's true. She'd be like, yeah, right. You know, my husband better than that. Right. And same thing with like, you know, something like, you know, throwing on like a bench shirt. Like you can't really just throw on a bench shirt. Cause it's like, you know, it was something that you did with a real

purpose for a really long time and you took it to a real extreme. And then now to kind of throw one on, you're like, all right, well, I guess if we're going to put this thing on, then we're going to go back all the way. Yeah. We're not going to go halfway. It does're going to put this thing on, then we're going to go back all the way. Yeah. We're not going to go halfway. It does feel good to put gear on. I throw on some briefs here and there for some squats and sometimes for some sumo pulls.

And it just, it feels good. But for me, you know, my briefs are from when I was like 300 plus pounds. So they're super, they're super loose, which is nice. But yours would probably be just as tight, if not tighter. Your legs probably got bigger from last time you threw that stuff on. Yeah, I think it'd be good, though. I mean, like, I have my guys use power pants. They're not tight.

They're just to protect them through their training cycles. They take them off for the meet. They still hit the same numbers. I mean, they're not like these power, like the Predator briefs or anything like that. Yeah, it's not crazy. They're not that extreme. They're just enough to keep you from feeling beat up. Right.

So. Last question. Last question of the day. What's something that you would like to kind of carry on that you saw in Rick that you thought was a good characteristic that he had? What's something that you want to try to, because I always think that's a good thing to do when someone passes, like what's some quality they had that was, you know, positive and what's something that you can kind of share with other people.

For myself, you know, my, my brother, when he passed on, you know, he kind of had this, my brother was rough around the edges like Rick too, but my brother also did, he didn't take crap from anybody and so like i i think for me it's like that's that's one thing that i could do a better job but i mean still today i'll let people slide when they say certain things or do certain things but i i kind of think about my big bro in those moments and say hey you know what don't take that shit from somebody stand up for yourself or or say what's on your mind that kind of stuff well like rick was uh the big thing for rick was always be who you are no matter who you're around or no matter where you're at be you don't don't change who you are because of who you're around you see

that a lot of times i think people maybe it's insecurity i don't know what it is yeah but be you and just be you all the time. Don't be ashamed of that. You know? And that's how he was, man. It didn't matter if he was hanging around. It didn't matter where he was. He was always Rick.

You know, he's like these biker guys and they all hang around each other. They're wearing biker stuff. Rick liked to ride motorcycles. He still wears shorts. He didn't care. You know what I mean? He's, it was him. He didn't care what anybody else was doing.

He's doing his, the way he does it. And that's what I really admired about him is he's who he is all the time, man. He's not a different guy every time you're around different people. Cool. All right. Strength is never weakness. Weakness is never strength. Catch you guys later.

Thanks.