Barbell Shrugged - 76- Interview w/Kendrick Farris and Aja Barto at the CrossFit Games

Episode Date: August 14, 2013

This week on Barbell Shrugged we interview national champion weightlifter and 2-time olympian Kendrick Farris and 3-time CrossFit games athlete Aja Barto at the 2013 CrossFit games!

This week on Barbell Shrugged, we interview National Weightlifting Champion Kendrick Ferris and three times Games Athlete Eja Bartow at the CrossFit Games. Hey, this is Rich Froning. You're listening to Barbell Shrugged. For the video version, go to barbellshrugged.com. Yeah, it's Pete. I was with you and Andrew not too long ago. I've been watching y'all episodes, bro.

Hey, guys. Mike Bledsoe here. I'm here with my friend, Andrew. I'm here with my friend, Andrew. I'm here with my friend, Andrew. I'm here with my friend, Andrew. I'm here with my friend, Andrew. I'm here with my friend, Andrew.

I'm here with my friend, Andrew. I'm here with my friend, Andrew. I'm here with my friend, Andrew. I'm here with my friend, Andrew. I'm I was with you and Andrew not too long ago. I've been watching y'all episodes, bro. Hey, guys. Mike Bledsoe here. We're at the CrossFit Games here in Los Angeles. Sitting here with Kendrick Ferris. Oh, yeah. Progenix booth.

We're upstairs where we can get away from the big crowds and all the noise. And we're just hanging out, man. Just a little bit. Yeah, you were on the podcast a few months ago, University Nationals. You put on a good showing there. And you were talking about doing Isabel here this weekend. Talked about doing it, man.

What was your prediction? I forget. Just to make 30 snatches. I was like, I've never done a CrossFit wide before, so I was like, I want to do one that was weightlifter-friendly. So I was like, yeah, I'll do some snatches and stuff. I didn't want to do anything that involved burpees. I had no prediction.

He even asked me, he was like, you want me to rewind the tape? I said, bro, you can rewind the tape. I didn't give a timeout at all, if I'm not mistaken. I remember people throwing the times out. I was like, I think I'll be fine. I just want to make 30 snatches. Just finished. Just finished.

What was your time? 321. 321. 321. Proper form only. Proper form only. Proper form only. What is proper form? Man, getting down, being set on each one, not shooting the butt up crazy.

If you watch the video, if I did one bad snatch, please let me know. Did you power snatch or did you do that? I did. I was going to do full snatches. And then when I did the first one, I kind of messed up. I was like, ah, forget it. I was like, the clock is already going. I did power snatches after that. And I was like, bro, I was gonna do full snatches. And then when I did the first one, I kinda messed up. I was like, ah, forget it. I like, the clock is already going. I did power snatches after that, and I was like,

bro, I was burning up. My quads were burning up, bro. Yeah. I know you had a lot of respect for CrossFit already. Oh yeah. Did you feel like maybe a little more respect for CrossFit after that? For sure.

Like, dude, I can already look at what these people are doing, and I'm like, this is crazy. And I respect them, man. And like, to actually get out there and do one for the first time. I was like, okay. Yeah, these people are on another level bro I was in the weightlifting. I was in the weightlifting before I found CrossFit Yeah, one of the biggest things I always said was you know CrossFitters just got to get stronger and I get said a lot but you're like the strongest weightlifter we got And you come in and do it.

I mean, strength is definitely not the only thing that's going to slow somebody down. That was definitely, you were probably in a whole new energy system. Oh, yeah. Dude, I don't ever do anything over five reps, bro. For real. We do five reps in the snatch. I did six times there, man. Well, you do like ten reps on like rows and snatch deadlifts.

On the rows? You said rows? Rows. I don't ever do rows. Oh, no rows. No rows. Oh, no rows from 10 reps. What kind of rows? Barbell rows.

Oh, yeah, barbell rows. I think rows, I was thinking about getting on a rowing machine and rowing out. No, no, that's silly. I don't do those. That's cool though, I don't do them. But yeah, rows, back squats, stuff like that, deadlifts. That's cool. I actually got on a rower a couple times last week.

I went whitewater rafting the other day. Yeah. I was like, man, I got to get prepared. So I was like, I'm going to row 2K. How did it go? Painful. It was painful. Oh, my goodness.

And I was like, now I got to get back in shape. Got to get back in crossfit shape for sure. No, for real, man. If you're going to be doing it, yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm going to in and out. Put my foot in, pull real man. If you're gonna be doing it, yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm in and out. Put my foot in, pull it out. Oh, okay.

Just get the toes wet. Get toes wet and get back to weightlifting. That's how I felt. Like right when I was done, I was like, bro, I just need to be in the gym lifting where I can sit down in between reps, catch my breath and I don't know. It's crazy, man.

In a faction on the weightlifting side, we got chairs sitting in the middle of the gym. Dude, we got chairs there in the middle of the gym. Dude, we got chairs. And all the CrossFitters are laughing at them. But, hey. But, bro, that's how we roll, man. We are the ultimate paradox, man.

We're the lazy workaholics, man. For real. We get to sit down and catch our breath and then go back and hit it hard, man. You going to do the American Open this year? Probably not. I don't know. I'm not planning on doing it. No? No.

You're just not interested in doing it anymore? No, no. American records are cool, man. But it's not my focus. I think we're going to break records in the process of doing what my goal is. You understand what I'm saying? So what is your end goal? What is your eye on the prize? To shut it down at the 2016 Olympics. I'm so tired of people talking about all these foreign lifters, bro. Like, they don't impress me. Can I be real with you?

They don't impress me. They're lifting the weight. They're doing whatever, but it doesn't impress me. I've been seeing some of these guys lift since I was in high school. They ship people in and out. But I've been seeing these countries lift since I was in high school, and it doesn't impress me. I promise you, bro, I can barely name any foreign lifters, bro.

People are like, do you know this guy? I'm like, I don't know him. They just, they don't do it, they don't motivate me like this, so I don't know. What does motivate you? Anything, like seeing people, seeing people that I know or that I can get a connection with, make progress or do something that I consider special. You know what I mean? So like I know you. Like I can get fired up watching you hit a PR lift versus watching some lifter that I don't even know

anything about lift. You get excited about other people's journey. Yeah, that gets me more fired up bro. So I don't know, but that's my focus though man. Be ready for 2016 bro and shut it down. And you went to University Worlds. University Worlds, yeah. Was it like two weeks ago, three weeks ago? Yeah to University Worlds. University Worlds, yeah. What was it, two weeks ago,

three weeks ago? Yeah, going on three weeks now, yeah. Yeah, man, I watched, I didn't watch the snatches. We'd run a weight gain or a muscle gain challenge. Yeah.

And we had like a private Facebook group and all the guys were posting your videos up. We're all talking about your lifts on that. I got to watch your cleaning jerks.

Man, you guys are some really big jumpsters. By the way, you placed third place. Third jerks. Man, you got some really big jumps there. By the way, you placed third play. Third, third. Yeah, we got third, yo. Yeah, but the jumps, man, honestly, dude, they're not even big jumps, bro. Seriously, man. The way we've been doing the training is like, so I got my weight up now,

so now I can hit numbers that I was hitting like rarely and stuff. I can hit them more often now. So, look, the strength is not even where we want it right now. We're just building that base so at the right time, dude, we're going to hit some crazy numbers, man. It's going to surprise some people. Because you got people say, oh, we won't be able to do this. And then once you do it, they'll still have something to talk about. They'll be like, well, he's doing that now, but he won't be able to beat this person.

Like, bro, listen, I've been doing this for a while, and I'm starting to figure things out. It's crazy that it took me a while to actually learn this. But, man, it's all in the right timing, bro. So I'm not worried, man. Just stay focused on training and everything's going to come together when it's supposed to. Yeah, man. Tell them about Rich. Talk about doing the.

Yeah, talk to Rich Froning, man. Yeah. You've heard of him? Have you heard of Rich Froning? Is that? Talking about Rich Froning Sr.? The guy that's on the back him? Have you heard of Rich Froning? Is that, talking about Rich Froning Sr.? The guy that's on the back of the truck?

That's who I want to meet. That's who you're talking about, the senior, right? Have you met him? I haven't met him. He's on my list. I want to meet him and Trainer Bob.

Those are the two people I want to meet. Oh, yeah. Yeah, man. I haven't met Trainer Bob. Doug has. Okay. He met him in Colorado

a while back. But I got to eat dinner with Rich Froning Sr. That's who I want to meet. A couple years. But I got to eat dinner with Rich Froning Sr. That's who I want to meet. A couple years ago, I had a steak dinner with him in Colorado. He's a very cool guy. I'm jealous of his beard. I'm trying to get mine out there.

But, man, Mr. Froning, man, he has to be the most interesting man in the world, bro. He just seems so cool. Like, I don't know. I just want to meet him. Just talk to him. I don't even drink drink beer but I would have a beer with him. We went and shot guns at his house. Did y'all really? Look at how cool is that. Y'all just rubbing it in my face now. Next time we go hang out. Invite me bro. Rich doing Olympic lifting? Yeah Rich is going to come do uh You know what though I've talked to Rich every year for the last couple, two, three years. Every year he's like, oh yeah, I'm going to do some more weightlifting after the games.

And then every year he kind of circles back and does the games instead of weightlifting. So I'd be interested to see him come in. But he'd be in the same weight class as you are. Yeah. What are your lifts right now? What did you do at the University Nationals? I don't know. What are your lifts right now? What did you do at the University Nationals? What is that?

I don't know. What do you mean? At the University... Oh, okay. So at the University Games, I did a 161-kilo snatch and a 211-kilo clean and jerk. So the snatch is...

I mean, it's a PR snatch. It's one kilo, but it's going to be out of here, bro. That was 20 kilos more than what you did at the University Nationals. Something like that. I don't know. University... Oh, man. The great thing about That I mean is a PR snatch is one kill, but it's gonna be out of here 20 kilos more than Something like that, I don't know University. Oh man, it's a great thing about University Nationals, bro It's got everybody talking like people out of their mind. I'm like y'all don't understand I took so many months off and it just came back to get a meeting

They like oh man, it's first being you know, I'm like bro. Have you seen my numbers practice basically? I'm like have y'all seen my numbers from 85.? I'm like, these dudes not even hitting that total yet. I'm like, they got to do that total. So we fast forward where we are now, bro. The focus was go in that competition, make lifts, and just see if we can get a placement. The first place guy, he was out of here, bro. So that's where we want to be some years from now. But make lifts and get a placement.

We were able to do it. I've been hearing rumors about how much you've been jerking in training. What is your best jerk in training, like off the blocks? 225 kilos. 225. That's nice, man. And I didn't even have any weight on me then, really. That was before you got to a full 94?

Yeah. I was about like 88-something. Maybe. So the last time I saw you lift live was at University Nationals. Yes. Was that March? April. April?

Yep. You were a really lean 94. Were you full? No. You weren't a full 94 that day? I was eating a lot, and I was only weighing like 90 kilos. Okay. Because I would normally walk around like 88-something kilos.

I was like, dude, you're getting weight, and you look shredded. I see your abs through the singlet. No, I'm getting, dude, I'm getting fat now. Me and my wife, we were just like, went out shopping a little bit and I was trying on like a suit and she was talking about how I look like the guy from The Hangover, Zach Milonakis.

Like, so I'm standing, she got the pictures, bro. I just sent them to you. That's so funny. She was like, yeah, your stomach. You got a fat belly now. I was like, yeah. I'm like, I'm eating good. Eating good, man.

How's the pancakes coming? Oh, do I love them, man? You can't have enough of pancakes. Pancakes make the world go round, man. What happened to our pancakes t-shirt? Oh, it's coming, bro. It's coming. Oh, I got the design.

You want me to show you guys now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We might as well break it off. Bro, that was our exclusive. Look, I've never showed anybody the design, man. So I'll pull it up and let me know if you can see it, bro. Talk about something else. I'll pull it up and let me know if you can see it, bro. Talk about something else. I'll pull it up.

Do you have a favorite pancake? I like plain pancakes, bro. Whether it's buttermilk pancakes or wheat pancakes, I like them plain with just a little bit of syrup. I don't do all the extra stuff. Do you do them homemade? Do you go somewhere? What's your favorite place? Man, Bina's Pancakes.

That's what I call my wife, Bina. Bina, okay. So if she makes them up, I love them. But, I mean, we can get them wherever, man. So last time we talked to you, though, I think we talked to John North. Okay. And we talked to you. Okay. And I think we're supposed to have a pancaking

contest at some point. Yeah. That boy can't eat more than me. In Memphis, on October 20th, 50th, 27th, we're having the Barbell Strug Way of the Thing Championships. Yes. And I think we mentioned this before, but I can't remember specifically. But we'd like for you to come out.

I think if we get you and John to come up to Memphis, we're going to have a pancake eating competition right there. We can do it. Elizabeth. What's Elizabeth? Cleaning Jerks. Cleaning Jerks. Oh, the Grays.

Yeah, Grays. I was like, hold up. I was like, Elizabeth, he's making up a word. I was like what's going on? That's Power Cleans and ring dips I think. Oh no. No ring dips bro. God bless. You're not a gymnast? No. No. We can do it though man. I'm telling you it's all about the dates. I told you. I think we were talking on Twitter. I'm like bro hit up my people man so we can make it happen. I got the hill. Here's the design. Can you see that? So it's like, it's paying homage to the big boy burger.

You know, he's like holding the deal up. So if you can see that, let me know. Like Austin Powers. Yeah, man. So you got me right there. And if you notice the stance, that's my kick jerk stance. My little funky kick jerk stance. And then the butter on top is the crown.

I dig it. Yeah, man. So that's it. We have some more different things. But that's going to be the first one the crown. I dig it. Yeah man, so that's it. We'll have some more different things, but that's gonna be the first one, man. Limited edition pancakes with VR. I'm gonna be wearing this shirt, no doubt. I'll make sure I get y'all some, bro.

For sure. So you've been doing, I see you traveling all over the place. Yeah. Doing, are they seminars, are they certifications, or what are you calling them? Nah man, it's? Nah, man. It's just workshops, man.

Workshops. I call them workshops, man, because that's all we're doing is just working on stuff. I can give people a sheet of paper, but to me, I'm like, what are they going to be certified to do? It ain't going to be nothing. Let me give you a sheet of paper. I don't like playing with people, man. I'm like, we're coming in. We're working.

It's about the education. Yeah, it's about the education. Now, if you want a sheet of paper, we'll print something up and I'll give it to you. But you can't go off and go teach nothing. Like, you still got to go do your USAW and all this stuff, right? So, nah, man, we've been going a lot of places, man. Went up to Mexico, Canada, and a few places around the United States. And we'll be making some more moves this fall as well.

All right, where are you going? I can't even remember. My God, we're going back to Mexico. We're going to Ecuador. We're going, what, Dallas, D.C., Miami. And if people want more info on where to find it? Just go to blessedgym.com. Very simple.

Blessedgym.com. Blessedgym.com. Very simple. The emails and everything are there. Excellent. If people want to follow you on Twitter, what's your Twitter and Facebook if people want to find you? If they want to look for me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all that stuff is the same.

Kendrick J. Ferris. So if you know Kendrick Ferris, just put the J in the middle. There you go. Yep. Anything else you want to promote before we take off? I don't know, man. That's it, man. Anything else we're leaving off?

Oh, Lord. Did I turn my thing off? Okay, cool. I think it's on. I think it's on. All know, man. That's it, man. Anything else we're leaving off? Oh, Lord. Did I turn my thing off? Okay, cool. I think it's on. I think it's on. All right, cool. I don't know. Anything y'all can think of, bro, you have to let me know.

Tell Rich, Rich Froning, man, tell the boy, look, just go ahead and come to a weightlifting competition. It'll be great for USARW. He should go ahead and just get in the meet and just do it. How about we get you two together? We just did a podcast with him last week. Let's get y'all together. We can do it, man.

Simple. I think Rich Froning should do the Barbell Shrug weightlifting championships. He needs to come. He's in Tennessee. He's right there. It's only a four-hour drive. Oh, he needs to come on then. Yeah, we'll see if he can make it out.

What else is he going to be doing? He has to come now that we're talking about. Yeah. What else is he going to be doing? Nothing. You hear that, Rich? He has to come now that we're talking about it. Yeah. What else is he going to be doing? Nothing. You hear that, Rich? He ain't got nothing else going on, bro. This is the big thing.

So he's probably going to win this thing. So if he wins this thing, he can just relax, bro. He is. He is killing it. He's got a big spread there, no doubt. He is killing it, bro. So I don't know. That's about it, man.

I got a question. Yeah. So a lot of our fans are trying to gain strength and muscle for the first time Strength and muscle trying to get bigger and stronger Do you remember obviously you? Top of the top now, but do you remember back when you were just starting how you felt and kind of got any advice for these guys? I think the number one thing is man is really just staying healthy, right? So like in it look if you can remain remain healthy you should be able to do the

work that you need to do you know what I'm saying and it should line up with your goals so we go back talking about your goals the behavior has to match your goals right so you can't be out doing all the crazy partying and all the extra stuff man just focus on the training get whatever work you can get done learn how to gauge it every day is going to be a sunny day. If every day was a sunny day, it would just be a day. So going to the gym, know there's going to be some ups and downs. You just got to work it, man.

Very simple. Find a program and stick with it. There's so many people bouncing all over the place. I'm like, find a program and stick with it. Man, I've been doing the same program since I was 16, 17, 27 now. I'm like, just find a program and stick with it. I think that's something you see, you find a lot in CrossFit.

I think what draws people into CrossFit a lot of times is the fact that it's different all the time. Yeah. But then they try to find a program to follow because they find that one goal, I want to get bigger and stronger, something like that. And they find that one goal and they're like, and they'll follow that for about two months

if they're lucky and they're like, oh, it didn't work. It's like, man, you've got to stick to something much longer than that. You've got to stick to it. I'm going to tell you, whatever Rich is doing, right, dude, it's obviously working. We can see that. But I know he's not bouncing all over the place. I ain't going to tell you everything that he's doing. And it's not like it's some big secret, but I'm pretty sure they have a set routine,

even if they don't know what they're going to do when they come in. They know how to engage. Yeah, they're in there, and they know how they're going to engage. Consistency. Man, that's what it is. You got to be persistent. You got to be consistent. You're right.

All right, man. Appreciate you coming out and hanging out with us. Appreciate y'all coming by, man. It's all love, man. All right. Yes, sir. Thanks, man. Bless you, brother. It's all love, man. All right. Yes, sir. Thanks, man. Bless you, brother.

Thank you. Hey, guys. Mike Bledsoe here with Barbell Shrug. We're here at the CrossFit Games hanging out in the Progenix tent. These guys have been nice enough to let us take over the top up here and do a little bit of podcasting. We got Asia Bartow here, CrossFit Games competitor over multiple years. How many years have you been competing in CrossFit Games now? This was my third year. Third year? Awesome man. I talked to Mike McGoldrick. He had the joy of getting to compete against you

side-by-side at regionals and he came back and I remember him talking about how like zen you were able to keep things. That's what he said he was most impressed with because I think he said that there were certain situations where like things weren't ideal right i.e the toes the bar you know the bar was a little low for you he was really impressed like how well you were like oh yeah i'll figure it out like where do you where do you get that from is that from like years of competing or yeah you know what man i just i think it's just kind of my perception perception and the way that I look at this sport and the way I kind of take this sport and take myself. But at the end of the day it's exercising. It is a professional sport and it's grown significantly in the past four years, but at the end of the day it's just exercising. So I want to have fun with this sport. I don't let the little things get in my way, like the height of rings or the height of the pull-up bar,

or maybe my feet are scuffing the ground under toes of the bar. You know, I just kind of give it all I got, and however the results turn out, they turn out. You know, I'm not big at looking at leaderboards. Honestly, I have no clue where I finished, or even if I would have made the cut today, I just have someone tell me that. I just, you know, leave it all on the line, and however they turn out, they turn out. But just stay level-headed, never take this sport too seriously, never take myself too seriously.

That's awesome. So you feel like maybe you measure your success by your own progress and you don't pay attention to others? Is that kind of? Yeah, definitely. I think within this sport, I mean, it's tough to really compete against another guy. It's really just you against the workout. You know, you don't actually ever beat anybody.

You just perform the workout better than everyone else. And I come in with goals, you know, and I want to be better each year and progress and be, be better each day. But, you know, just focusing on myself and coming in and, and having a goal and sticking with it, but also having fun and enjoying the moment is, is, is the means to success in this. Yeah. I just, are we, uh, I remember when, uh, I guess you tweeted at us or something at one point, and we realized that you were listening to our podcast. Yeah. We're all pretty stoked about that.

How did you find our podcast? Dude, I was stoked to meet you guys out in Ohio, man. I was. When we were at the Arnold at the same time. Yeah, when you guys were at the Arnold. Yeah, I was totally starstruck. I'm sure you guys were the complete opposite too. But I had a friend turn me on to it.

I know there was multiple people that were like, hey, you need to check out this podcast. You know, they talk about a lot of the same stuff that you're interested in or like, you know, a lot of the other affiliate owners in Houston would talk to me about similar stuff. And they're like, dude, you've got to check out this podcast, Barbo Shrug. You know, they talk business. They talk, you know, strength and conditioning, CrossFit, and they just bullshit. And it's great. And so I didn't really, you know, they talk business, they talk, you know, strength and conditioning, CrossFit, and they just bullshit, and it's great. And so I didn't really, you know, think about it much, and then I dove into one of the episodes.

I guess, I think my first episode was when you guys interviewed Rich Froning. I figured you guys were legit enough if Froning was able to come on the show. It's not really true. Rich is just a nice guy. Yeah, he is a genuine dude. But, you know, I listened to that episode, and I was, you know, cracking up with a lot of the comments and getting some valuable information from the podcast. So, you know, I went home, hopped on iTunes, and downloaded, you know, the first however many, 30 to 40 podcasts you guys had and just started chipping away

and really, really enjoyed it to the point where I tweeted it out and was like, hey, if you guys aren't on Barbell Shrugged yet, you know, you need to start listening. So I'm excited I found you guys. I thought Justin Thacker sent me an email from the Lab. Yeah, man. He was like, Agent Bartos sent me an email. He was really excited. He was like, I guess you listen to that podcast and then you turn around and do it.

Oh, absolutely, dude. And I've used y'all's resources. Like, Justin Thacker I've reached out to. Granted, I haven't been able to do much stuff with him with how the gym's going and training but man he had some awesome concepts on Olympic lifting and like I just wanted to pick his brain a little bit more yeah hopefully I can do that when I get back to uh back to Houston but he's doing a he's doing a live seminar down in Jackson Mississippi yeah I think the 28th of September really yeah I think I'm gonna do my best to get down there and be an assistant coach.

Dude, that'd be awesome. That's not too far from Houston, man. And, you know, I would definitely be interested in getting out there. But, I mean, even a lot of the technique stuff, the warm-up stuff, you know, with the pre-snatch warm-up stuff where he kind of opens up the ankles and then opens up the shoulders. The ABCs. Dude, I utilize the Thacker method in a lot of my warm-ups as well.

So if I'm not giving him credit, Justin, there you go. I just gave him some credit. Yeah, I renamed it. He called it ABCs. I was like, no, it's got to be the Thacker Method. I remember that, yeah. It's the Thacker Method. For sure.

I do utilize the Thacker Method in my warm-ups. How did you discover CrossFit, and what were you doing before that? Were you a fat guy? Yeah. I was heavily overweight. No, I was an ex-professional athlete, I guess you could say, a fringe professional athlete. I played three years minor league baseball with the Texas Rangers. Oh, excellent.

And one off season, my strength coach was like, hey, man, you need to check out CrossFit. I was always a gym rat, you know, fives and tries and back and shoulders or whatever. The glory days. First one in the gym, last one to leave. That's the kind of guy I was. So, you know, he told me to look it up, and that one off-season I looked it up, and, you know, he told me to start with one of the girls, whatever it was. I picked Helen, figured it was decently easy, did it in my garage,

swung a dumbbell, did, like, terribly strict pull-ups and, like, ran 600 meters, but I was just destroyed at the end. And, you know, it's the same story with anybody that ever starts CrossFit you know they get absolutely crushed by the workout but they keep coming back from yeah that type of character and person that that uh that sticks with it you know CrossFit's not for everybody anyone can do it it's for anyone but it's not for everyone I heard that quote somewhere and I think it's a beautiful quote it It's probably me. I'll give you credit. How long have you been cross-fitting?

Four years. Four years. So you were cross-fitting for about a year and then you rolled into the games like the next year. Yeah, 2010 I started. I found an affiliate after I did that terrible workout in my garage and started working out there. I think two weeks down the road the owner was like, hey, you should probably sign up for this sectional thing. I was like, all right, whatever. Went out there, had a blast like the most

fit strongest people I've ever seen in my life I was like this is an amazing environment and you know regionals were shortly down the road and once I went to regionals I think I was you know they took four from our region I was sitting in fourth going into day two you know didn't know how to do a do a muscle-up and was they had 30 inch wide handstand push ups and you had to do them strict. So I got destroyed by that last workout but ended up finishing 10th, something like that. I think if I get a little training under my belt I could be decently good at the sport and I think I could qualify

and go to the Games out of our region. So I kind of worked my weaknesses and spent a little bit more time under the movements and things of that sort. And the next thing you know, that's kind of where the story begins. Awesome. Well, we are at the CrossFit Games, and the final event is about to start. Am I wrong? Yes. We're going to wrap this up.

Do you have any sponsors other than... No, I'll tell you what I'll tell you about real quick. Go ahead. So, our audience is big on, like, these guys are to get strong, gain strength and muscle for their first time. Do you remember being in that position where you were just starting to try to get any sort of strength back around? You know, I was always a little bit stronger than the field, so I came into it with a good strength background. But if these dudes are honestly trying to gain strength, stop Metconning yourself to death, man. Dedicate some serious time to getting strong, and that's kind of where it lies. You've got to dedicate yourself to that program if that's your true desire.

Stop fucking Metconning. Don't worry about the six-pack too much. Right, exactly. Exactly. All right, so besides the sponsor of Progenix here, which we're in that tent, we all love them. Is there anyone else you want to give a shout-out to? Just Progenix, Rogue, Pure Pharma, and Skins have helped support me to get here and helped me through the weekend, helped me recover and keep me clothed.

So I just want to thank those guys for supporting me throughout the year. And if you're in Houston, where should you train? Behemoth CrossFit, where else? Actually, real quick, touch on that. You started Behemoth CrossFit this year, right? Right, yeah. Actually, last year in June. Okay.

So, yeah, if you're in Houston, man, look us up, Behemoth CrossFit. Come unleash your inner beast. Excellent. All right, guys, make sure to go to barbellshrug.com, sign up for the newsletter. That way we can inform you of all the cool stuff that's going on and some of the stuff that may not be popping up on the podcast. Later. Thanks, man. Good show, dude.