Barbell Shrugged - A Governing Body For CrossFit and the Best Feeling In Sports and Business with Jen Widerstrom and Kenny Santucci — Barbell Shrugged #380

Episode Date: March 6, 2019

Jen Widerstrom (@jenwiderstrom) is a personal trainer and fitness model. She is well known for her role of a trainer in the NBC’s long-running and hit series The Biggest Loser, replacing Jillian Michaels where she worked as a body coach and guided the participants through a well-planned exercise regime and also provided the required emotional support to them during their journey to a fitter body. Jen worked with the popular faces including Bob Harper and Jessie Pavelka.   Kenny Santucci (@kennysantucci) is Program Director & Creator of Body by Solace, a total conditioning program using bodyweight movements, kettlebells, Assault Bikes, rowers, and more. Kenny is a dynamic leader, who encourages clients through his no-bull approach to training. When training with Kenny, expect plenty of tough-love. He nicknames his class and clients ‘Team Beautiful’ because he encourages members to exude positivity in all facets of life.   In this episode of Barbell Shrugged, we talk about having a sanctioned event without a governing body for the sport of Crossfit, cheating the judges course, why having “Crossfit” in your gym name might not be good for business, the best feeling in sports and business, using your influence to lift others up, PEDs, and much more!   Enjoy! - Anders and Doug   Episode Breakdown ⚡️0-10: The CBD oil massage tent at Wodapalooza, opinions on CBD, and how can you say something is a sanctioned event if it doesn’t have a governing body?   ⚡️11-20: Cheating the judges course, qualifications for being a judge (does CF really care?), the problem with having the word Crossfit in front of your gym name, and becoming so successful that you can take care of your parents ⚡️21-30: The illusion your parents created during your childhood, Kenny’s first childhood memory, and how being on the microphone elevates conversation ⚡️31-40: Seeing a Starbucks across the street from ancient ruins, teaching entrepreneurial skills to your children,  being awarded for nothing, and one of the best feelings in sports and business ⚡️ 41-50: You can’t celebrate by yourself, how you get people to want to be part of something, using your influence to lift others up, and the future of Strong New York ⚡️51-60: Taking on others people energy, keeping yourself grounded, the image people put on vs. who they really are, and the life of service ⚡️61-70: How the personality of an event determines the size, the future of Wodapalooza, and why you should be looking back at coaching greatness ⚡️71-83: Ryan Fischer, PEDs, getting popped for taking C4, and what happens to your body when you take the juice   ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Show notes at: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/bbs-santucciwiderstrom ----------------------------------------------------------------------- @organifi - www.organifi.com/shrugged to save 20% @sunlighten:www.sunlighten.com "ShruggedCollective" for $200 off + free shipping @PerfectKeto - perfectketo.com/shrugged for 20% off   ► Subscribe to Barbell Shrugged's Channel Here ► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe 📲 🎧 Listen to the audio version on the Apple Podcast App or Stitcher for Android Here- http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedApple http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedStitcher Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals.  Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since. Along the way we've created successful online coaching programs including The Shrugged Strength Challenge, The Muscle Gain Challenge, FLIGHT, Barbell Shredded, and Barbell Bikini. We're also dedicated to helping affiliate gym owners grow their businesses and better serve their members by providing owners tools and resources like the Barbell Business Podcast. Find Shrugged Collective and their flagship show Barbell Shrugged here: SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES ► http://bit.ly/ShruggedCollectiveiTunes WEBSITE ► https://www.ShruggedCollective.com INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/shruggedcollective FACEBOOK ► https://facebook.com/barbellshruggedpodcast TWITTER ► http://twitter.com/barbellshrugged

Getting your MBA the thing that you need to do to increase your gym, training, and coaching business. Shrugged family, we're back. Jen Widerstrom and Kenny Santucci on the mics this week. This is the best question I got on Instagram all week. I have an MBA. I also have owned a gym. So I think that I know how to answer this question very well. Before we get into is it going to help your small business,

we need to understand what exactly is going to happen when you go and get your MBA. On the plus side, you're going to be surrounded by a network of people looking to make themselves better. There is never a time that that is a bad idea. You're also going to be around phenomenal teachers that are willing to help you become a better person. That is never a bad idea. The problem starts to come into the curriculum. Most MBA courses are designed to teach you the skill set to insert you into a large corporation with a specific skill like accounting, marketing, finance, operations. Most MBA programs do not have specific entrepreneurship programs. They have classes in entrepreneurship. There's a massive difference because most of the curriculum is geared towards

large corporate jobs. When you own a gym business, your core business is coaching. You are not going to become a better coach by getting your MBA. When you think about marketing, you already know how to do marketing better than the people that wrote the book. You have an Instagram account. You can turn a microphone on and start a podcast. You have a video camera that you can record yourself doing movement demos, building trust with people. You don't need to understand marketing through a textbook. You already know. For finance, you don't have enough money to play the market, so you don't need to worry about that right now. And for accounting, depreciate your equipment

assets, cash in, cash out, revenues and expenses. It's very simple. Running a training and a coaching business and a gym in the early stages is a very simple business process. The difficult part is becoming a great trainer. I cannot recommend people go and get an MBA if their sole goal is to open a gym. I think that your effort should be spent focused on finding a way to become the best coach possible, surrounding yourself with other great coaches, and having great conversations with them. The MBA is a phenomenal process, and you're going to learn a ton, and you're going to meet a ton of great

people. But if your sole goal is to get into an NBA program, there is no real need to go and start a NBA program. This week we want to thank our sponsors, Organifi. Get over to

Organifi.com forward slash shrugged, saving 20% on all the greens and the reds and the gold drinks every single morning. Look, people, I'm trying to live a strong life here. I get to the gym six days a week. I'm trying to eat all the meats to keep the muscles growing. I'm trying to eat all the vegetables to keep all the things happening. But let's be honest, I got a kid.

I don't have time to be doing all the vegetables every single day of my life. That's why Organifi is here. They've got these beautiful drinks. I throw the coconut water into the blender or the coconut milk, not into the blender, into the shaker cup. I put my two scoops of green. I feel delicious every single morning. I feel like the micronutrients really help me throughout the day. Stay alert, stay awake, and I know that I can trust Organifi. So get over to Organifi.com forward slash shrugged. Also got a sweet box of Perfect Keto bars this week. So if you get over to PerfectKeto.com and use the coupon code shrugged,

here's the three things I love the most. Exogenous ketones. They give you some energy. I have a very low carb life. I don't, I'm not, I'm not slamming the rice all the time. So I need some exogenous ketones in my life. Perfect Keto's got the spot. Also make sure you're trying out the perfect keto bars they're delicious i got a whole box of them they're about half gone i've only had them for two days you need to go and check those things out because i am a huge fan of the bars and then the nut butter it's got the macadamia coconut oils the mct oils, some brain cognition, some energy, some deliciously healthy fats, all to keep you in ketosis, keeping your muscles strong.

Make sure you get over to perfectketo.com. Use the coupon code SHRUGGED to save 20% on your order. As always, make sure you are taking a screenshot of this. Tag me at AndersWarner and hit me with the hashtag go long shows are crushing these days we've had a really really hot Wadapalooza and I'm super stoked our girl Samantha really helped out with a ton of these guests she's been with us for three months now just want to give her a shout out for all the hard work she's putting in. And let's get into the show. Jen Wiedestrom, Kenny Santucci. Let's go.

Because I have this CBD cream on. Take it there. Smells like fucking Bengay. Super disappointed. We'll start with that because it smells like Bengay. Do you smell that? Sort of getting high all at the same time. Let's just break down Ben Gay.

What? Is that someone's last name? I hope. Yeah, was that the only name they could settle on? Ben? Okay. It's only one E. Imagine they throw a second E in.

It changes the whole product. I feel like most guys named Ben wouldn't be gay either. I don't know any gay Bens. Yeah. I only know Ben Alderman off the top of my head. I don't know any gay Ben's. I only know Ben Alderman off the top of my head. I know Stevens. Gay Steven?

Yeah, gay Stevens. I don't know any gay Ben's. Test, test. Every Ben I know is actually pretty hot. Really? Fit, driven. Good business. If I have a son, I'll name them Ben, then. Benjamin. Did you hit the button? We're recording, I'll name them Ben, then. There you go. Benjamin. Benjamin.

Did you hit the button? We're recording. I'm just playing with the audio. Yeah, good. The gain. So I have to tell you, I did the CBD as well. Beyond the fact that I was completely, like, they were supposed to stretch me. I was like, yo, bro. My back is on fire.

Yeah, on fire. It was like an information collection thing. Like, they took my email, took my phone number. I go, I don't even. Kenny's eyes are making me water right now. It's fucking just spitting mint all over my eyeball. Why do you think I'm standing over here? I told her, I go, my elbow really hurts.

If this is a topical cream to make anything feel better, could you put some here? Yeah. No. No? Could I put some on there? The only thing that actually hurts. Because she rubbed my back with a gallon of this shit, and my back is on fire. Of course she did.

She's like, can you take your shirt off, please? Did you go shirt off? Yeah. Oh, wow. But my back is on fire. It's a very intimate experience. And your back's on fire, elbow still hurts. I can't talk.

Still hurts. I had the opposite. My back was, like, freezing cold, like, two nights ago for, like, an hour. I was just, like, shaking. From the CBD shit? Yeah, yeah. It was all in my whole back. All right.

So what's everybody's opinion on this shit? Everything's got CBD. We're going to have to break it down. Pick or pass. Pick or pass. I'm going to pass. I'm passing. Dude, how about this?

I want Tiger Ball. I'm not saying anything bad about the company that did this because they're super friendly people. I partially tore my fucking bicep tendon right and somebody sends me a dm let me send you some cbd oil to rub on that look people the shit is not some magical fucking cream it's weed without getting high it's not even a good part of the weed however there is a lot of how is rubbing that gonna reattach my fucking tendon but do you understand what it does? They get your email.

Flushes blood. Exactly. They do get your email. Yes, they do. But biologically, it helps with your inflammation and blood flow, which really the root of a lot of disease and dysfunction is inflammation. Yeah. I totally think there's a place for it.

I just don't know if mixing it with Bengay and rubbing Kenny's back is the spot. Well, it's almost, I think of it like you go for a long run, right? And you could sip a water or you could fucking down the water, right? Yeah. What's going to be more beneficial for you? Maybe a sip? Yeah. I don't know.

But everybody's trying to do these beneficial for you. Maybe a sip? I don't know. Everybody's trying to do these low-level, it's never going to help you completely, but it's just this low-level of, hey, this might work. Whether low or high, I don't care. It's the consistency factor. If you're consistently sipping water, we're going to be okay. If you're consistently putting CBD in your

diet, it's going to help you be better. If you stop, you stop. Same with breathing. We were just listening to the XPT talk. If you're doing your breathing, you're going to see benefits. When you stop, it's going to help you be better. But if you stop, you stop. It's the same with breathing. We were just listening to the XPT talk. If you're doing your breathing, you're going to see benefits. When you stop, it goes away. This weekend, I've been consistently smashing Focus Aid, and I woke up in a freezing cold sweat this morning at 4.30 a.m. Could you stop that, please?

Because I have two more podcasts with you today. I ain't going to make it, man. I'm not going to make it unless you put vodka in there, and that might slow you down, too. We might have to have a drinking show at the end here, but Gabby's such a pillar of life. I don't know if we could bring the show that low to have her here while we're just getting hammer time with her. Let's just see what happens. Maybe she'll never know. She's down to party.

She's pretty rad. Her little spot up in Malibu, putting people in ice baths, beautiful saunas. Kemp, are you excited about going? Excited is a unique word. We'll talk about it with her, but I miss going because I'm kind of scared about it. And Kelly Surratt said not to be, you know, a loser about it. He's like, woman up. You got to do it.

It's fun. Get there. Hey, let's talk about this weekend. Yep. This is the first sanctional event. I feel like a douche. Is that a word? I've been saying that word.

It's like the sanctioned event. I don't know. Is it a word? No, Doug's with me. It's kind of becoming a thing. Not a word. It's definitely not a word. However, if you said that to 80% of the people,

they'd be like, yeah, we're out of sanctional for sure. I think it's like sectional and sanctioned, and he made it a sanctioned event. That's right. I thought he just misspoke. Sanctioned and regional. Event. San for sure. I think it's like sectional and sanctioned, and he made it a sanctioned. That's right. I thought he just misspoke. Sanctioned and regional. Event. Sanctional.

I made this. I like it. I made this comment the other day. Word. How do you say this is a sanctioned event when you're not governing it at all? Like, CrossFit's like, all right, we're going to say what you guys are doing. What if they were like, I don't know, fucking impaling people down here? No.

They'd be like, that's what we wanted. Well, one thing that's actually fired this, I just learned this this morning and went asking because I have seen zero fitness events. That's a lie. We watched about four group power cleans together, and then we're like, okay, we're going to go back to the booth where the fun's happening. But the people that are winning this competition here, there's a little bit of drama going on right now because the coaches of the

people that are winning also are the ones that wrote the workouts. Yep. Henshaw. Henshaw. I did not know that. Henshaw wrote a workout. Misfit wrote a workout. Those guys are all in first place.

Yeah. Get out. Yeah. But it doesn't make any sense. Like, that's what I'm saying. How are you going to have someone else who's coaching you need a governing body so i i once feel like if you look at any sport i was talking with um blair and ben um about this they were talking it's like

any other look at track and field look at weightlifting look at you know nascar you have these events that go throughout the year and that event is a standalone business that they can do and do whatever they want standalone business that they can do and do whatever they want, have whatever sponsors they want, do whatever entry fees they want, but the governing body of them is the one. You have to answer to a commission. Yes, there is a standard of rules that you have to be a part of and that you have to meet to not even have a video

and a time tracker at the finish line to double-check those chips in those athletes' shoes. I mean, they have people. Yeah, you were talking about there was some drama with that. And every, in every race that came through, like one of the athletes was in probably seventh or eighth place. And they have her, her chip clocked her five minutes after the very last person.

So it's like, especially, I mean, that's the elite women's gym as well. So even those women are so tightly together, tight together and scoring that that placement matters. Yeah. And by the way, so tightly together, tight together in scoring, that that placement matters. And by the way, it's like she was put last. Another girl

that she'd beat was ahead of a lot of the leaders. So it changed the entire shakedown for the next heats. So then people were in the wrong heat. And they said, well, if you can prove I need a video or a photo of when you were there, then we'll change your time. It's like, no, that's your...

So we're relying on the fans then to decide who goes to the game. Exactly. Some of my girls would tell me. You would think it was all recorded ahead of time. I just kind of assumed it was at some level, especially for the elite people, was recorded. And I get it. There's going to be a learning curve at any of these sanctionals,

but I think that... We're going to use it. Sanctionals. I was so against it now I'm off one. Yeah, go ahead. But the people that run this event usually do

more concerts and different activities so they're stepping into the CrossFit space. So it's really cool to see the expansiveness and the growth of this community but if you

don't know what you're doing as far as those kind of corners that are really necessary I don't know. It worries me. Well, this year is going to be a complete fucking botch.

We can just put that up there. Here's the thing, though. Who gives a shit? Frazier's going to win. Tia's going to win. No one cares. Nobody at the top cares. It's just going to happen.

I feel like there's a lot of people who put a lot of effort into this. We're going to be really upset. I agree. Even I heard the Dubai event. They didn't even have a rule book out yet. The judges, there was no consistency in judging and what were reps or non-reps. I saw the amount of mistakes I saw today between the judges. And by the way, effort is high.

Work ethic is high. No one's questioning that. But if there's not a commission, as Kenny said. Did you ever make the regional? No. How annoying was it? Did you go to the regional? No, man.

I never competed. That's just two of us. Hey. It's very obvious where the real athleticism is here. Weightlifting. Yeah. MMA. Yeah.

Real fighting, not just fitnessing. Yeah, we literally just worked out. How annoying was it, though, when you would go to the events, and you literally spent your entire year, you get through the Open, and then you show up to Regional, and all of a sudden now you look over your judge, and you can tell that they're just there for the T-shirt. Oh, isn't it brutal? And you're just like, oh, dude, you don't even speak the same language as me like it's not even remotely i don't know in socal they did a good

job i mean there was a lot of mistakes still but it's not like they were bad it's just if we're going to make this as important as it is presented to be it should be very good not just good well that's the thing and i said that I was talking to Bretton about that. I was saying, had CrossFit never came along and made everybody drink the Kool-Aid of, hey, we're going to give you a free pair of sneakers and a t-shirt. They have to pay all the people who are moving the weights and all the people judging, all the people doing this extra bullshit. This business model doesn't work unless you have 500 volunteers.

Yeah. The volunteer thing, when you see it at the games or regionals or whatever sanctional thing, it's insane. It's crazy. Who's organizing that thing? Those people have to really care. At the Granite Games this year, it was madness to see the amount of weights that get moved around.

And they've got 2,500 competitors from teams. And they've got like 19 different team regions. Does part of that make you kind of happy? I mean, it's actually part of the culture. There's pride in being a judge and doing the work. I mean, I actually think it's pretty phenomenal from that point of view. This has been a competition since, what, 2009? So now it's almost been 10 years, or it is 10 years, that this has been going on.

I'm surprised the company, all the fucking companies, everybody's trying to make new grips and new bars and new proteins and all this shit, new drinks. No one's come along and said, hey, I'm going to create a rep counter. Right? If you had a machine that just, like, you sit in front of it and you're doing cleans and it counted the reps and scored you on like that would be that's what grid grid was working on that in in a very effective way i thought like we're counting double hundreds and things like

that so you really could see like point for point for point like how well someone was doing on a really fast rep like double unders but i haven't seen it implemented anywhere else or just like is there a computer that can see your hip below your knee? 100%. Seems pretty easy. Seems like you should be able to find a way to get it to stand up. But it also seems pretty easy that me, as a human that understands the movement standard, can call consistently reps and no reps no matter who they are.

You can. Wink. There's 100 people out there who cannot. Well, yeah, I think that that's really the thing is you have to – you don't even need to be like when the CrossFit Games Open thing comes around and you have to take the quiz to be the judge in your own gym. First off, I used to cheat on that thing every fucking year. I never passed that test on my own,

and I would just make our coaches take it and give me the answers. How do you like that, Castro? Cheated your test too. You – I never took it. Mo, just take it and give me the answers. How do you like that, Castro? Cheated your test, too. You. I never took it. We're all, by the way, just silent laughing. Letting Anders eat that. But, Mo, if you just had, like, a minimum experience level,

I think it gets rid of a lot of things. Instead of having, like, I've only been at CrossFit for a year, and I just really wanted to be a judge. You don't know what movement looks like. It's too fast for you. If I can take a two-day, eight-hour seminar to own and run a CrossFit affiliate and be qualified to teach the snatch or muscle-up after 16 hours, do you think they care about who's judging?

Come on. Good point. Hold on, CrossFit.com. Jen Wieterstrom is on the mic right now well i just there's no quality control and that's the that's the only issue here that i see with crossfit so i i feel like there were a lot of diehards i think there was that generation of people who came in the the early adopters who came in and jumped into crossfit and opened gyms and ran it like a mom and pop shop and then you had the survivors What do you think the next wave?

I mean, are there people opening up affiliates still? I don't know. I think in other countries. Internationally, I would say yes. But we're closing them down here for sure. Yeah, I don't know of a single gym that has opened in SoCal. Actually, one of my friends just opened one. Now that I think about it.

But it's like part of a multitude of gyms that this person owns. And he sells the equity to them to run it. And he just runs a bunch of them. Well, and I see that. But what I also see is people changing that were CrossFit affiliates and dropped CrossFit. Look at PJ Stahl. He's created an amazing program over there. What is the name of his gym?

Oh, what is that? This is terrible. It's got a good name, too. No, no, no, gym? Oh, what is that? This is terrible. It's got a good name, too. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, my God. PJ, don't be mad at me. Oh, my God. You just turned your phone on, and there's literally no phone.

No, I mean, listen. I took CrossFit out of our name four years ago. CrossFit Lockbox. Lockbox. There you go. And he's got all kinds of program, like Project Steel and all these things, so it's overall wellness. And the CrossFit off the title, just like you were starting to say with New York,

and Solace, it's opened up this wealth of range of now people that are coming in because they don't see as CrossFit. Everyone wanted to be CrossFit when that was a way to differentiate yourself. And now it's no longer a way to differentiate yourself. Now you're a commodity product, so to speak, and so you have to further refine your offering that's kind of CrossFit-y but more specific. Like, solace is very unique.

It's not just a CrossFit gym. Yeah. Well, the problem was that when I was pitching it to people and I'm trying to sell people on the product, CrossFit's a household name. People know what it is, and they have an opinion about it already. Me and Aaron were talking about this. You either love it and you're doing it,

or you're one of these people who's heard about it, you've tried it and you don't like it. You have to move away from it. Now it's kind of a stigma. It's got this name that you... Yeah, but in a lot of ways, my mother, 70 years old, is proud of CrossFit. I CrossFit.

Your mother? My mother. She's never missed a Strong New York event. She's a part of it. And by the way, she sits in every seminar. She does the deadlift pull. She's proud to be there. And not just, I mean, yes, you're her son, but she's proud to be in there working alongside other people. I missed

Miss Santucci this year. She was there. I know. I didn't get an introduction. Hold on a second. I want to talk about Miss Santucci right now. I want to see her deadlift. Your Christmas present. Was that you? What? That did the Christmas present on Instagram? Use more words.

Use more words. When you relieved the debt and paid off the house and all those things? No, I didn't do that. I thought it was fucking you the whole time. I said, I go, I wish I could do that. Some baseball player. Some, yeah, he plays for the Astros. That's why I wrote you the message. I was like, dude, you're the

fucking man. Dude, I wish. You can't just look at the pictures of this man and not read what he says. That's sexualizing our friends. But what I've learned is there isn't much past the looks. No, man. That was dirty. No, but

I thought that was so cool. I was literally like, man, I want that was so cool. I've always thought that was amazing. I was literally like, man, I want to do that, too. You were talking yesterday. He bought tickets for his entire family to go see Sebastian Maniscalco. Yeah, last night he said he was going to fly out of here, couldn't leave, was busy here being here with FitAid, and didn't leave. So this whole family who he bought the tickets for went without him.

So he missed the whole concert. Yeah. My wife bought a, like, 14-day vacation to England because that's where, like, my in-laws' family's background and everything is. And she's actually, my wife's named after a couple, like, A Castle and then her sisters. So that was a really cool thing that we did. It was really rad. Super cool to be able to go and do that stuff.

Well, I just think, well, I mean, rabbit hole, but the thought that you could provide something for your parents. Right. Oh, my God. Do you ever – You were saying the other day you want to take your mom to Tulum? Yeah, we're going in April. Oh, right on.

Are you really? Shit's closed. Why Tulum? So my mom is one of the most intelligent, incredible women I've ever met, and she was an ancient history, ancient cultures and history teacher for years. But she's really been out of the country. You know, Mexico, sure. But she's never been in Rome.

It wasn't part of that generation. They didn't go. So now at 70, I'm like, where do you want to go? And I was thinking she's going to say, like, Egypt or, you know, Greece. And she's like. Cancun. I'm like, geez, man. I'd like to go on spring break.

She's like, I've been following this stuff on Instagram. I saw this guy, Kenny, looking. He was drinking at a beach. Can we go there? So mom and I are going to Tulum. Take her to the gym on the beach there. Get a pump on. Oh, my God.

The wooden jungle gym. But what she is. Oh, yeah, that's right. But what's cool is, like, she, I mean, literally, she started texting me. She started listing all these. She's like, well, about an hour from there, on the other side, there's some Aztec ruins. The only Aztec ruins on the eastern shoreboard of the Gulf of Mexico. I was like, blind blown.

Like, she knows it all. So we're going to go and still see history. But, you know. There's a lot of cool stuff to see. They have those, like, underground water caves yes sick yeah i went it was unbelievable what are you saying uh so there's this great little place that has its own little villas and i just i book with her directly and i have like my own like metal like entranceway so it's secure off that main drag and then i have these own little vibes it's like 200 bucks a night that's

it that's great i love did your parents do like little vibes. It's like $200 a night. That's it. That's great. I love to. Did your parents do, like, super crazy shit for you when you were a kid? Like, one of my parents sent me to, like, a private high school nine hours away. But my sister even, once I left, I was like, oh, you guys finally have a little bit of space. And then my sister started playing softball, and they were driving to D.C. like three and a half hours every single Saturday and Sunday, like flying all. And I just look at them like, you guys are crazy yeah what are you doing I'm so average why would you spend so much money on such average return your kids are young now right yeah six

months and I look at him like oh my god you're gonna end up doing that yeah I know you turn into a looney tune right you just gotta provide gotta do it yeah but I think that's the beauty of being a parent I mean there's nothing crazy they just just worked their asses off, and they worked extra jobs. They were both coaches. So we could go two weeks out of the year to Bonita Springs or to drive through, you know. And it was a minivan, and we drove, and that was their trip. They would literally buy money at Sam's Club, cart it with them because they couldn't afford the drinks at the restaurants because of how expensive it was. So they would cart it from Chicago down to wherever we were, which, by the way, my dad

says he got Tito's off the ground because we were somewhere in Texas, and they saw this bottom shelf 175 liter of Tito's, and he's like, oh, American made. Let's try it. So they started saving money to get the Tito's to bring it all back, you know, and that's the work they did. It didn't matter. It was anything to do things with the family together, and that was it all back, you know, and that's the work they did. It didn't matter. It was anything to do things with the family together, and that was it. It was a really, really crazy thing.

The fact that people, well, my parents, all of our parents, spend that much time and money, and when you're a kid, you have no clue. You have no idea. It's just like, well, mom's going to send, we're going to go. That's what we do. We have to go. You have no idea what finances mean. You have no idea what finances mean.

You have no idea what time means, energy. You have no clue. And then all of a sudden it's like, oh, my God, you guys did so much. Oh, yeah. I'm so selfish still, even though there's a little one. I'm like, ah, what are we going to do if I can't go hang out with Doug next weekend? When was the first time you saw your parents as, like, people? I think I was, like, 30.

Oh, that's a great question. Go. Before I looked at my parents and I'm like 30. Oh, that's a great question. Go. Before I looked at my parents and I'm like, oh, wait, you guys have feelings. Yeah. Yes. Oh, you guys want, you're supposed to have a good time too? No way. You know what's so funny?

I remember vividly, I was out of college or in my last year and I went grocery shopping with my mom. I had just flown in. I just was like, let's pick up dinner. We went down the ice cream aisle and she's like, do you want one? I'm like shopping with my mom. I had just flown in. I just was like, let's pick up dinner. We went down the ice cream aisle. And she's like, do you want one? I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I grabbed one. And she grabbed like an ice, like an Italian ice.

I go, ew, who's that for? She's like, me. I go, you like this one. And she's like, no, that was your favorite. And I didn't realize that she even would have a favorite ice cream.'t occur to me and i was like 22 years old that everything she bought and the money that they had was a choice for someone else we knew what your favorite was we knew what you and and the fact that i'm like i've known my mother for 22 years i didn't know she liked italian ice i didn't even consider and i'm like that means if she has a favorite ice cream

that means she has things that she's fearful of. Maybe she's afraid of the dark. Maybe, I mean, I don't know. We all have stuff. Mine was actually like the opposite of that, of I didn't know that they liked things because when it didn't even occur to me until my sister left the house

and then I saw them start to make choices that weren't around us at all. It was like instead of being chasing softballs and hockey pucks around, it was like, oh, you're going to go to the fall festival this weekend. They'd be like, you go to festivals? I didn't know you liked the fucking leaves changing colors. I didn't know you pay attention to that. Like, oh, okay.

Like, great. My parents did an exceptionally good job of always appearing to be on the same page, which I totally aspire to do with my kids. But it wasn't until I was, like Kenny was saying, almost 30 where I realized, wait, you guys disagree on things? Oh, yeah. I thought you agreed on everything all the time. And they were like, are you fucking kidding me?

Absolutely not. We would talk about it when you guys weren't in the room. We'd come back with whatever we decided. We would always put on the we agree on this thing face. And now that I've seen how well that worked, like I never had a conflict in my family life growing up. I had a great childhood. Like that's what I want to put forward to my kids.

They always feel the stability of me and my wife being on the same page. United. So you don't have your first real memory until like five to seven years old. Are you kidding? You're a years old. Are you kidding? I feel like. You're a slow learner. Are you sure? I feel like around three or four.

I was easily three. Easily three. Do you remember what it was? Well, yeah. I hope so. It's a memory. I almost died. I don't remember.

I don't remember my first memory. I was three years old, and at my third birthday party, my parents had a Hulk Hogan impersonator. Oh, well, that's different. Well, the Hulk showed up. Of course you remembered. Well, the next day or the next two weeks, I was in the hospital. So I had spinal meningitis. I almost died.

You did not? Oh, my God. So I remember being in the hospital. Like, my mom pushed me around in a wheelchair and stuff. Wow. And there was this other kid there who had the same thing. And we were like quarantined. His mother and my mother and the two of us were like

in this one wing of the hospital because we couldn't be around anybody else. Because it's like super contagious. So I remember just like my mom pushing me through it and she'd get me like chocolate milk every day because that's the only thing I could remember. No way. Yeah. And I remember it so vividly. It's weird.

Wow. And then I don't remember anything until about night. The reason I think about that now of, like, my first memory, I think I was, like, six and I was at Wrigley Field with my dad. Like, that was, like, probably the first big thing. I was sitting on his lap and he looked up and Harry Caray was singing the seventh inning stretch. He was like, you're going to remember this one day.

And that's all I remember about it. I don't remember the game, the ride, any of it, but, like, just watching Harry Caray sing the seventh inning stretch. He was like, you're going to remember this one day. And that's all I remember about it. I don't remember the game, the ride, any of it, but, like, just watching Harry Caray sing the seventh inning stretch. So I was six when they were, like, 35. So everything now having a child, I'm like, I am the person now that I, like, met my parents. So, like, I assume that, like, when parents so like I assume that like when I was

six I was like you guys know everything and now I'm their age when I like met them and I don't know shit and I'm like oh my gosh oh yeah they didn't know shit either they didn't know anything no way I thought they knew everything I remember like mom how do you build a house

and she would make a story up and I'd remember like, Mom, how do you build a house? And she would make a story up. And I'd be like, wow, my mom knows how to build a house. Mom, where does the street sign come from? And she'd make a story up. Oh, my God, my mom knows everything. She didn't know anything. I know nothing. I remember thinking that kindergarten, I had an eighth grade buddy.

Eighth graders are like 13 years old or whatever. Like an eighth grade buddy. I was like, this guy is like a legit adult, like a really mature, responsible human being. And now I look back at him like, he was a 13-year-old. He didn't know anything about anything. Right? Yo, this is the first weekend you've been co-hosting. Yeah.

How fun. I mean, yeah. I'm actually, I was a little worried. I'm like, how do we get off certain subject topics? Because we're together. And then off camera camera we're together and we're talking and then it was funny we've not only had more than enough to talk about but I wish we were recording other times too like our conversation last night I was like oh man yeah well I think that this Doug and I actually I don't know if we've even said this to you guys but when he comes out to California a lot of the times we'll just go in my garage and just put the mics on and just talk to each other

because this conversation, when it sounds so crisp and is so, like, it becomes more intimate when you can just, like, communicate so clearly. Yeah. You just always want to have the mics on because it just elevates the conversation. But you know the other thing, too? We all have this go-fetch, I think i think tendency you got something in front of you your phone lights up you're like wait what was i saying oh yeah yeah yeah you know like this forces you to be in the conversation yeah totally yeah and having the mics on almost gives you permission

to talk about real things you're not going to talk about a bunch of bullshit if you have the microphones on well is anything bullshit now i I mean, I think everything's relevant. I mean, we're talking about, like, memories from when we were three and my mom's favorite ice cream. I mean, it all kind of stems, it goes somewhere. Yo, what I want to do, I've told this to Anders many times, we were just talking about our parents. I want to get me and my two brothers and then my mom, my dad,

like, you know, all the family members. I want to interview each of my individual family members. I have kids now. Like, to interview my mom on a three-hour long in-depth podcast telling, like, her whole life story, like, and to be able to have that high-quality audio for anyone, for anyone in our family to be able to listen to, like, you know, 20, 30, 40 years from now would be totally incredible. It's kind of cool you bring that up.

So I've been filming a documentary all year, and I don't know if anybody will see it. Thanks for holding out on the cool shit. You're welcome. Is this your E! True Hollywood story? God, I hope so. Is E! still around? Sure is, yeah. Oh, cool.

I don't know. So I don't know what's going to go in it, but part of it started from that ancestral mentorship that we talked about in our podcast back at Strong New York. And so what was actually really fun is a lot of the content, and I had video and just my parents talking about, yes, that, but how they met and different components of them. I learned things about my parents I didn't know because we have a lot of Native American artifacts in our home.

Kachinas, buffalo skull, the paintings, the spears, the shields, everything. Are you part Native American? Zero. At some level? Zero. And so my parents congruently had such a respect for Native American culture because of the way they took care of the land, and there was respect, and they were the pillars of that culture that they really took to.

And because of that is why we had a garden plot like so we grew our own vegetables our parents still do you know so we had our vegetables and respecting and they would have their own compost pile i had no idea that was the source of why they did it all but it was respect for another culture and the way we were brought up and not to be wasteful and to earn what you get like yeah if i wanted a slushy at white hen which is what it was back in chicago then my dad's what are you gonna do for it and i've had to pick a bucket of weeds and and he's like and he would smash it down with his foot he's like that's a half a bucket yeah i'm like i'll take the 50 cents what did you know like yeah like what did your summers look like or were you working a lot as a kid always so so so we we we

had first of all our list of chores that we didn't get an allowance for. You live here. You work to stay. You pull your weight. Had that. And so then as I got older, I mean, we had sports. All the kids always had extracurriculars. But we always had stuff to do. And if I wanted something, I'd have to pay for it.

And if I needed help on it, I had to explain why. But we were old. I mean, garden plot. If we wanted to eat, like your mother's going to cook but we were oh i mean garden plot if we wanted to eat like your mother's gonna cook you have to we have to like yoke the water so all the leadership kids were like tearing the water through the wiener strubs are coming with the water dude oh yeah yeah you had to pump it yourself you had to bring it through it was it was it was i never had like a summer break no no no no you get out of school and it was like now you go to work i was saving

for college and I was 14. I was bussing – my first job was bussing tables at a restaurant. I had to pay for high school on the back of a lawnmower. Push. Don't you guys find – Throwing molds to the works. Don't you guys find you gravitate towards people who kind of had the same upbringing, same values?

It's like, I had a – my first job, I was like 12, 13 years old, but before that, I was going and painting with my dad and hanging sheetrock. Yeah. Doing stuff like that. Those jobs were, I actually think about it all the time now, of like how many people know how to hang sheetrock? Most don't. None.

Like everybody goes to school now and they're like, I'm going to be a computer engineer or whatever it is. Like let's go to school. It's like that dude hanging sheetrock over there is making, like, $200 a year. Because he's the only guy in town that knows how to do it. He's like, $500 an hour. And they fuck with you. Oh, yeah.

Contractors are warm. When was the last time you called a contractor? You're like, so when can you get out? He's like, two months. Oh, well, well fixed. Oh, these specialists. Yeah. You can get into that.

Yeah, there's like, nobody's like, I'm going to go to trade school and learn something. Well, nobody wants to work hard anymore. And I don't mean just like, I feel like people go to school because they don't know what to do. And they're like, I'm going to go back. And I'm like, but what? That didn't solve the problem in the first place. I think it's a way to like, you know, continue to maybe seek more, learn more. And I'm not downplaying that.

But working hard, having a physical labor component, I think changes you. You were just in New York, right? Yeah. When you look at some of the older structures, you're like, man, somebody put a lot of time into that. Yeah. Now it's like you can see here, everything's made of glass. It's just like, all right,

what's the cheapest way we could build something really expensive? And quickly. Yeah. Let's throw it up. Well, I didn't know what, like, old was until I went to Europe for the first time. Oh, yeah. Totally. I thought, like, New England had old buildings.

The Liberty Bell. Yeah. Super old. That thing's two generations ago. Like, what was Rogan's joke? He's like, that's three people ago. Your great-grandma was there when the liberty bell showed up just looking at rome and being there like even in the in the um in the vatican city you can pay like two euro to walk the steps

there's nothing holding those bricks together they were just stacked and they're just there and then you go by the coliseum and i was looking and i remember I remember talking to my mom because I had, like, the phone card. Like, boop, boop, beep, beep, like the 100 numbers. And I was like, there are a lot of holes, though, like in the building. Are there rats? Like, I didn't understand. My mother's like, no, Jennifer, because that's where it was. But when there was war, there was actual steel rods that the bricks were built and held them in place.

So they excavated the steel out of the Coliseum in order to use that for weaponry. And I'm like, oh, so it's not rats. Got it. I'm like, you know, how many generations, as you put it, have gone by and that's still been there through it all. It's weird to

see a Starbucks across the street from it now, but I think it's like, we're a young country. You see Parliament in London, and you're like, this shit's old. Who built this? And there's so much detail. We were talking about it today, and we will probably get down that rabbit hole too.

When you look at the pyramids, and you look at Stonehenge, and we're talking about these ancient civilizations, and were there aliens, and all this stuff, and you're like, man, but who did move that shit? It's really big. Kidding aside, who the fuck did this? No, well, there's a great book my parents got me onto.

It's called Chariot of the Gods. And it goes through and talks about the possibility of what the markings are on the planet, what the structures are, how they're there, what it would take to replicate that now, how that technology we actually don't possess. So it's like, what is it? You know, and how does that go? So it's like fascinating to me. Secondly, you were talking about how you had chores to do.

There was part of being in the house. You don't get money for them, et cetera, et cetera. I think that's really important to have something like that. But beyond that, I was listening to Cameron Harreld. He has a TED Talk where he talks about many many things but he references how he does chores with his kids because nobody not as many people would teach their kids entrepreneurial skills growing up unless you happen to be an entrepreneur most people aren't entrepreneurs they go through regular school and like they want you to have a job you get money for the job and that's just

how quote unquote how things work one thing i really liked about what he was saying was that he taught his kids how to look around the house, figure out what needs to be done or what could be done, and then negotiate a price for that service. That's how their chores were growing up. And so he was just used to looking around for opportunity and then negotiating a price, and he could get paid whatever he could negotiate. Well, it's kind of funny. I think it goes even a layer deeper into being awarded

for nothing. And I have to tell the story because it just happened at Strong New York. So Joe DeFranco has come to Kenny's event, I think, two, three years in a row. Like, he's the best. And he's up there talking about how his daughters came home with like a little trophy at like their field day. He's like, wow, this is great. What did you do? Did you win? She's like, no, everybody got one. He's like, at the DeFranco house, that shit goes in the trash. He's like, they cried a little, but then I explained to them why. And it was kind of like, yeah, you didn't earn it.

Everybody just got one. If you just get money, you don't know the value of it. Do you think about this a lot with how the kids are going to go through sport? Yeah, I mean, it's just kind of how things seem to be now. I try not to get too caught up in it. I think explaining to your kids that there are winners and losers and all that is really important, but it doesn't really ruffle my feathers too much at this point. Yeah, we haven't really gotten into it clearly.

I was listening to somebody else talk about that on a podcast, they were saying they they want their kids to win and lose oh i know i went to go see um what's his name uh jaco yeah and jaco was explaining how he treats his kids yeah and he was telling him he's like i pushed them a little too far because i made them lose all the time i pushed them into heavier higher weight classes when they were doing jiu-jitsu and stuff. He goes, and I screwed up on the opposite end. He's like, but I wanted them to learn how to lose and how to win. I think jiu-jitsu for kids is the greatest thing ever. It's such a tangible way to lose. If someone chokes you until you say, I give up, and you indicate tap, tap, tap, I am admitting that I have lost, there's

nowhere to go. You have to admit defeat. There's a very – I don't know if mature is the right word, but you have to – You're going to die if you don't admit you lost. I think there's a level of humility. You don't breathe. Humility is the perfect word, yes. It's very humbling. When I was 13 and 14 years old, it's like I was like, I'm the toughest guy.

I'm the baddest guy. And then I wrestled all through high school and college. So now it's like even in my, just on my team, there were guys who would beat the shit out of it. Yeah. So you learn at a young age, it's like, I can't really run my mouth to this guy because he could kick my ass. It's not just jiu-jitsu, then it's sport. I think that's the cool thing about sports, whether it's an individual performing sport or not, because I did hammer throw in college, and I did gymnastics

before that, but I thought I had a good squat, and I was the weakest on the team at 315 pounds of all the girls. Damn, we were strong. That's what I'm telling you, though. And it wasn't about more or less. That's just what my body did, and we all trained to apply that to what we were doing.

So it wasn't about that. I just knew people were going to be better than me, and it didn't make me less. And I think there was something about being where you're at and owning it and then applying it because, like, even though they squatted more, nobody threw a hammer farther than me. So it's kind of like I can let that say something about me or I can use it and be hungry where it counts. So there's different layers and lessons throughout it all.

I really enjoy playing hockey because every time, like it's its own policing system where like if you're allowed to do whatever you'd like, but if you take a cheap shot, there's a guy sitting at the end of the bench right now that's going to eat your fucking lunch and it's going to hurt. So let's just keep it clean. Make sure we're creating some space for the people that need their space. And if anyone gets out of line, there's a system in place where we get to check each other. Part of it is just having each other's back.

Even American Gladiators, I remember I had a really crazy outfit, and the girls would always try to pull my top over, so I would let go of the rings or whatever, so my boot would just be out, and I'd never let go. And then Karano would be like like she'd be going into like the wrestling event she's like i got her you know and i'm like god that feels good yeah don't pull my top off or you're just gonna kick your ass you know you know so it's just kind of fun because i felt like somebody had my back and that's something

with a team orientation that's cool yeah that i'd never really experienced in sport so i think she's a great person to have your back for the record. I know. I was like, oh, cool. I think you get that in business too. It's like when you find people who you really trust and who support you, I think that's a really good feeling as well. Like when you're going into a business venture, you know, people are like,

hey, don't worry, I got your back. I want to help you out. Like I try to do that with, you know, my staff and the people I work with. It's like if we all elevate each other together, we'll wind up at a better place. And so many people aren't doing that anymore. And so that's what you said like 20 minutes ago about how people that grew up that way, working hard, loyalty, follow through, you find each other. Because I'm seeing such a discrepancy on the way people work, whether it's in the gym or business. Who follows through?

Who can I count on? Who does what they say they're going to do? Like, it's a whole different spectrum, and my eyes are open. I think something that's really cool about all of us at this stage of business and life and where things we've been through, it's like your bullshit detector is so good at this point. Oh, yeah. It's unbelievably sharp. And by the way, yeah, to others, but the way yeah to others but you guys to me

you guys would call me out in a second like the people that surround you like what do you what the fuck is that you told me i was impossible to like yeah and look at that you're better today i'm a better person making you a better person you're gonna say something the tough truth oh on the on the trust and i have your back thing uh with my with my three and a half year old you know i think most people would think what's the last thing you say to your three year old when you put him to bed? You say I love you and you leave. Certainly I say I love you

to my three year old fucking constantly but the thing that I always say to my three year old to let him know that I have his back is right when I leave I say hey look at me I make him look me in the eye and I say if you need me you come get me and I'll help you and I leave just to know I want him to know that if he wakes up scared or whatever it me, you come get me and I'll help you. And I leave. Just to know, I want him to know that if he wakes up scared or whatever it is,

he can come get me no matter what. That's really important. I'm going to say that in my next sleepover. If you need me, come get me. I got you. Yeah. Dude, I want to hear now that we have some time, we're not just finishing a show, I want to know, just like,

Strong New York and that whole event. Like what do you see the vision of that turning into? It's a question I get a lot. Yeah. It was my first one. We had a freaking blast. And I feel like the last – every time you've been co-hosting, you get like 30 seconds to be like throw it out there.

But we don't get the full like how does it make you feel and where do you want it to go and who are you inspiring and all that fun stuff. For me, and me and Jen talked about this a lot because she was one of the, if not the first person I pitched it to. But I just wanted to create something special where it's like I could help other people out. I could do other stuff. When I called you up, I was like, dude, listen, I can't afford this right now,

but I think you guys will be great here. I think you guys will do really well. I loved working with you guys at the games. I'm like, this will give you an opportunity to have so many great people around that you guys could grab some interviews of people who could, and I think Jen's one of the best people to do this. You know who's got a sauna? Doug Larson's got a sauna.

You know who else has a sauna? Anders Varner has a sauna. You know who needs a sauna? You do. And you know the best place to get? Anders Varner has a sauna. You know who needs a sauna? You do. And you know the best place to get that sauna is? Sunlighten. They have the infrared 3-in-1 sauna. It's so incredible.

It goes right in your garage. It's super easy. You just plug it in. You can make it by yourself. There's a beautiful video that I'm following to build the sauna in my garage. I don't even need a handyman. I don't even need a handyman. I don't even need a handyman. And trust me, I am the most incompetent fixer-upper person that exists. I don't know how to do anything. I barely even know the difference between the Phillips and the

standard screwdriver. But you know what I can do? I can build a sunlight and sauna, three-in-one infrared. I'm here to live the strongest, healthiest life possible. And with that, I need some recovery. I can't just go clang and bang all the time. I can't be banging the barbells and think that I don't need my recovery. That's why you need to get over to Sunlighten.com. Work on some heart health. Work on the cardiovascular games. Get the blood pumping.

Increase your core temperature. The 3-in-1 Infrared Sauna from Sunlighten is hands down the most beautiful addition to my recovery that has happened in a long time. I even spent a lot of time up at Laird Hamilton's house. They do the cold bath with the Infrared Sauna. Yeah, big combo there. Heat and cold. Get over to Sunlighten.com. Use the coupon code SHRUGG heat and cold get over to sunlight.com use the coupon code shrugged collective and you're going to save two hundred dollars on your sauna sunlight.com

schedule an appointment so they can talk about the dimensions the benefits all the things specific to your needs and use the coupon code shrug collective to save $200. Also make sure you get over to 30 days of coaching.com. You're going to get 30 emails every single morning delivered to your inbox with the best podcast articles, technique wads, Olympic lifting, you name it, to live a leaner, stronger, healthier life. 30daysofcoaching.com, T-H-I-R-T-Y, daysofcoaching.com. Let's get back to the show. To bridge the gap between general fitness and the CrossFit weightlifting world. Yeah.

And I wanted to just kind of create something special where it's like I can be proud of it. And I was happy to be a part of it. And I'm just one of the pieces. You know, it doesn't work without everyone. You know, and I wanted to bring in a lot of people that I admired. One of the things I wrote down years ago when I first started training was I want to be in the fitness space, not because I was on television or anything, because I'm respected by my peers. And what could I offer?

What could I lend to the group to make it part of a team? You know, I was a part of a team. I was the 171-pounder in high school. I was the 174-pounder in college. I had to do what I had to do for the betterment of the team, not just because I want to win, but because I want to see everyone do well. And I kind of took that same philosophy when I was on television. When I would win, I wanted my friends to be there at the finish line.

If we're going to get to the finish line, I'd rather win with everybody than win by myself. Because then you're standing there by yourself. Like, I'm a jerk off. Who am I going to high five? No one's here to high five me. It's almost impossible to celebrate by yourself. Exactly. You can be happy by yourself, but you can't celebrate by yourself.

And then it's all over, and you're sitting there by yourself. I i'd rather every time we won i was with three or four of my friends and we'd stay an extra week and hang out and things like that but i wanted i there were just so many opportunities where i was like hitting them in the face where i'm like i need to create this event i need i've had this idea for like five years yeah i went to i went to the Mr. Olympia contest ten years ago. Yeah. And I'm like, I want to do this. I wish there was one in New York. Right?

It just kind of dawned on me. I'm like, why do I have to come all the way to fucking Las Vegas? I hate Las Vegas. Me too. Me too. It's awful. I hate it. And then I went to.

I wish it was in Vegas. We all liked it at one point. I love Vegas. It went from like, I love it to this is the worst place in the world in about one trip. My 25th birthday, I'm like, this is. Took me three trips for me, actually. And then I went to the Arnold. And then I went to, it was like little stupid things.

It was like a coffee festival and then Comic Con and all these things. And I'm like, if they can get all these people to show up for coffee or food, we could get a bunch of people to show up for fitness. So I was trying to figure out, all right, how do I make this happen? So I started making deck after deck of like, all right, what are the pieces? What are the elements? What we were talking about with Guido yesterday. How do you get people to stay?

How do you get people to want to be a part of it? How do you get people to see the value in it? And it was, you know, one thing led to another. And then Brett had called me up from Reebok, who I work pretty close with. And he's like, hey, I want to do something in New York. We got some extra cash in the budget. And I was like, dude, I have an idea. I've been working on this for a while.

We'll start small and then we'll grow it. I looked into renting out the Javits Center. I looked into renting out, you know, the Armory in New York. And everything in New York is stupid expensive. They're like, oh, it's only 40 grand for the day. But then you need security and you need generators and you need all these things. It's a $100,000 event.

Now you're looking at $150,000. That's why when I come down here, I'm like, how do they even pull this off? For me, it was just like creating this thing that I want i would want to go to yeah you know it's like you guys are there and she's there and you know hunters there and all these people i'm like wait for a hundred bucks i could go and meet all these people a hundred bucks is going to get donated to yeah the uh you know whatever charity we end up working

with yep um and it kind of pulls people together and it's not bullshit when i all these other things, I'm not, there's a lot of great aspects to the Arnold and all these things. Yeah. But for the most part, you go into the main room and it's all supplements. And I get that's what drives the money. Yeah. But at the end of the day, we could all agree that most of those bodybuilders aren't taking fucking creatine to look the way they do.

There's one specific supplement missing. I think a convicted... Somebody's probably selling outside. Yeah, for sure, in the bathroom. Well, the thing that I really like about it, and, like, our piece of it, clearly, as much fun as this is, we are kind of working,

and it's like we get to invite our people. Like, I think we had eight or nine shows, and four or five of them were the people you brought, and then four or five of them were the people you brought, and then four or five of them were the people we brought. And what's so dope about hanging out at the Fit Aid booth or going to Strong New York is, like, when you invite your people, I don't want them to be at the Fit Expo. Yeah. Like, that's not my vibe.

That's not the thing that, like, doesn't, like, create that, like, really good feeling thing that goes on that if you hear us laughing it's because we all genuinely like each other and we all genuinely enjoy this thing and there's people around and you can even though we're just talking to microphones you can like feel what's going on behind us and when a guest shows up to a place you want it to be strong new york you want it to be the fit aid booth you want it to be this thing that you're really proud to be a part of and everyone we interviewed that we brought in on our own

when he turned around like four hours later Dr. Gabrielle Lyons spent the entire day there because she was more blown away with the guest list that you had brought in and literally every single person came for the interview stayed for the event and that is like

exactly what you want. From another total different point of view, what Kenny has done is created an opportunity for leaders in the industry as well as up-and-comers. A lot of people that maybe aren't on your radar or were like the me 10 years ago

where you're starting, give them a platform to share. And it gives us such opportunity, it's service, to give back. We've been in this community a long time. There's a lot of people, I think with the four of us that have helped us, been there, given us a point of view. I've slept on Kenny's couch before, you know what I mean? Like to be there for somebody already creates, it's a disarming environment to know that you're taken care of. All are welcome. All can learn and then take that and then go do something with it yeah it's not where it lives and dies and i think that's what's so cool about

strong i just the biggest problem i think that you have right now is that you've out you've outgrown your space you know and it's that leap of faith of holy fuck yeah do something big well and even after talking to guido yesterday like how do you when does that kind of leap for you? Are you just like, fuck, man, I know it's there. I know the feeling. I know the vibe. How do you kind of make next year? Everybody's trying to do that.

Everybody from Papel to Guadalupalooza to all these companies, everyone's trying to do it, and they all are chasing the thing that Kenny does naturally. And that's what's so funny. They have the money side. Just give Kenny a little bit more budget and he will create the world's best fitness possible. Are you trying to go bigger and bigger and bigger? I don't want to keep it.

I loved the community, communal feel. It was very intimate. It was very warm. Everybody was friendly. I felt like it was the perfect size. You don't necessarily have to go bigger to make it better. Would you say? Well, you talk.

Well, I wanted to keep it intimate. The fact that you guys got to hang out and go to dinner. We were out until 3, 4 in the morning. Periochian. Sean Booth is reprogramming his workout at the bar. I'm like, oh, my God, Sean. Cocktail down. Let's go.

Can you pass me a napkin? I've got to write my god but there was a thing it's like he's he's not in the realm we're in he's not in the cross but he's an up-and-comer he's trying to make a name for himself yep and when i'm meeting people who are who i'm like well my friends have this gift of running the best podcast in the fitness space. And my other friend has a great following, and she's the bridge between general fitness. And I go, everybody's got their gift. If I could bring everybody together and everybody shares it their way. Can you tell the soup story? It's my favorite thing you've ever said to me.

He literally brought me to tears one night. Yes, I had drinks. I was having a blast. I put it up on Instagram. Somebody's like, you're misinterpreting it. The guy fooled them. Yes, I had drinks. I was having a blast. I put it up on Instagram. Somebody's like, you're misinterpreting it. The guy fooled them. Regardless, this is the way I always looked at it.

The story is stone soup, right? This guy comes into a village, and he's a beggar, and he's asking everybody in town. He's like, hey, can I have some food? They're like, no, get out of here. No, get out of here. Finally, he goes into the middle of town. He puts his big pot out there, just fills it up with water, starts boiling the water, and he's stirring it up. Somebody walks by, and he's like, what are you cooking?

And he's like, oh, stone soup. You should try some. He's like, really? He's like, I'd love some. He's like, well, if you've got a carrot or two. He's like, give it to me. I'll throw it in, and we'll make something happen. Finally, different people come up, and they're like, yeah, we'll throw this in and throw that in. And now everybody's just hanging out waiting for this soup.

But the guy didn't really have shit. I always looked at myself as a guy who, like, I just brought everybody together. I really didn't have much to offer. And what I told you through tears is that that is the greatest gift. He is the one that connect and bring together people that never would have communicated, never would have bridged that gap. And that is your special. Yeah.

But that's what I said. I was like, there are people who are now friends because of Strong. Like, leaders in the industry. You guys, there's so many people who are like, dude, I met that person at Strong. I'm like, that's so, I love that. That's what I wanted. Because of the pot of water you were boiling. And I think that's what's going to make a greater fitness festival.

You know, people who can kind of let down their guard. Right? You go to the Arnold and these things, and it's like there's so much bravado, and there's so much like I'm the best, and there's lines to meet. That's the part that I don't want to invite people to because they walk around and everyone's all juiced up. And by the way, a lot of them not are people. And I'm going to say his name.

I was so disappointed and embarrassed when I was at the Arnold last year and there's lines of people waiting. And by the way, the people were waiting lines for an hour and they might not even get to you. So it's a big deal that you get there on time. You're effective. You're efficient. And you have, by the way, your business

because of these people. And for Bradley Martin to show up two hours late, I was just like, really, dude? Because I remember when you didn't have a gym to work out at and Dan Wells let you work out there for free and record and everybody took care of you. You kept you fucking on time. Have you talked to Bradley?

No. Never? Oh, not in a while. I mean, I know, but I was like, to me, behavior like that, I take a step back. I go, we're here in service. We're here to be there for people. That's not okay.

How many times have you guys met celebrities or people you know? Like, for me, even growing up as a kid, like, different wrestlers and different people, when you meet them and they're, like, just genuinely happy to meet you. You know, one of the best people I ever met, and I say this all the time, was Jimmy Fallon. When I met Jimmy Fallon, I'm like, here's this guy who's the height of fame, right? Everybody knows Jimmy Fallon. When he met me, he was so genuinely, like, excited. He's like, hey, man, how are you?

I'm like, dude, I'm a huge fan. He's like, me too. It was just so comfort. It was so warm. And, you know, even when I met you, I'm like, who's this gorgeous human being who just walked into the room? And she was just so humble and nice. I'm like, that's the –

She's not even touching the ground. She just floated over here. Yeah, she was just floating across the floor. But that's one of those things. You want to meet somebody – I always want to be that person. Yes. When somebody meets me, they're like, you're super nice. Actually, this is a really good question, though.

Like, where on the level of accessibility do you guys, like me personally, I've only been on this microphone for 14 months now, 13 months, whatever it is. I try to answer every single DM that comes to me. I try to, like there's weird stuff that comes in of people that are, like, depressed, and they, like, listen to the show, and, like, can you talk to my friend? And you're like, we have to have a line here. Yeah, but you do, here's the answer, is you do what you can when you can. So that's why, Bradley's not a bad guy, but to show up late is not okay.

For an event or something specific like that, you've got to be on time and bring a smile. The fact that you can spend the be on time and bring a smile. You can spend the time. I'll stop for anybody. If I've got somewhere to be, if I have a podcast to be in, I'm like, I do have to go. I'll try and catch you. You're human, too, and they are, too. The moment you start to pedestal yourself away and you're separate and you're better,

you don't think people feel that? That's something that Fisher's really good at. When I look at his like DMs, there's 100 of them in there, and he literally writes back to every single person. And I'm just like, whoa. and I don't well I don't but that's why I don't think it's there's anything wrong with not doing it it's it there there just becomes a point where like man I I'm starting to take a lot on of other people's energy and it becomes unhealthy for you I know but like even going back to fighting a celebrity I never forget. I was doing American Gladiators. I was a new person, a nobody in the field. And Terry Hogan was our host.

And so his schedule, I mean, it's like a legend. So you really need to talk to him. You don't really spend a lot of time. And then one day, he was in the makeup chair next to me. I just was kind of sitting. And he's like, good morning. You've been doing really well. And I was was like he noticed

me you know and he just took the time and there was i literally in all season i think i had one conversation with him it was then and he was signing autograph things and i was sitting there watching him and and i'm like my best friend ty from sixth grade loves you can i have one he's like oh of course signs it really quick and I have it. And then he started talking to me. He's like asking about my hair because I was pink. And then he goes, yeah, my hair. Oh. And he goes into this anecdote. I don't know if I told you this. Him and his former wife had divorced. And previously, she was always the one dyeing his hair and doing the roots. But he didn't know how. So he puts all this solution in his hair, gets in a phone call,

his head's burning, he forgot, burned his hair off, which is why he was wearing the little hair piece on the show. He's like, I got this Polynesian hair, and we made this whole joke about it. And he showed this vulnerable story with me about how he burned his hair off just because we sat and were people. And that was the whole talk the whole season. One of the best, I mean, I talk about him all the time, but Cena is literally hands down.

That's what I hear all the time. I have been out to dinner with him multiple times, and he always sits with his back to the people. And so I'm able to see what's going on behind him. And you stand up from dinner, and nine people will rise at the same time because they're all waiting to be in his line on the way out. And he literally, like, no matter how many bottles of wine went down,

every single person gets a handshake, a hello, nice to meet you. It's absurdly patient. Like, there's a part of it where I just look at him and I'm like, how do you take on other people's energy like that? Like, how can you remain after 15, 17 years of this, like that patient with these people? Because they're not, when you're him or when you're Hogan or whoever it is, like, they're not meeting the guy.

They're meeting the image of who they want you to be and you still have to maintain this like composure of like oh nice to meet you like you have to be nicer than they imagine you're going to be when you meet them i think i know what it's like to want to talk to somebody and be really fucking nervous and have no idea what to say like especially like back and back in high school like i was not the most like socially aware person and to want to talk to somebody even if even if they weren't famous but just anyone i wanted to speak with i'd be just like thinking about like what do i say do they want to be talking to me am i going to be

annoying this person like all these questions of like how do i do it and have this person not just think i'm a doofus and like want and want to leave so whenever somebody talks to me and i can tell they're even like the slightest bit nervous or if there's any dead space, I always make sure to start asking them questions. Who are you? Where do you train? Like, you know, what are you doing here? Like I try to make it like as easy as possible for that conversation to feel comfortable. I think that's a life of service, and I think that's like with great power comes great responsibility.

I agree. That's your job now to be that person. You know, and that's how I always took it. It's like, no, i was never at john cena's level but when i was on television people even now still can i get a picture with you yeah that's part of who i am that's the life i accepted but what made me fall in love with matt frazier yesterday was the fact that he was so humble and he realized what chris spieler did for him yeah when he said that was awesome he was like I was a new guy.

Chris Spieler came up, and he's like, dude, I'll do any time Chris Spieler needs me. I'm like, I love that because that's the same way I am with Aaron. Any time Aaron calls me, I'm like, dude, I'm there. Because four years ago, five years ago, when I was really nobody in the fitness industry, he brought me on and took care of me. And with nothing I could do for him, he took care of me. It's the same thing. It's like if somebody helps you elevate who you are,

I feel like there's no way to ever repay them. Or it's your responsibility to at least pay it forward. And that's what you're doing with Strong, coming full circle, giving people an opportunity. I think that, like, if you look at, look, Sam's back here. Weekend of her life. She's hanging out. How much fun are you having this weekend? Do you want to get on Barbell Strong real quick? She look, Sam's back here. Weekend of her life. She's hanging out. How much fun are you having this weekend?

Do you want to get on Barbell Shrugged real quick? She does. A lot of fun. I mean, what, just as like we've talked about this, but we'll tell the world. When you were 15 years old, started listening to Barbell Shrugged. When she was 17, she wrote in her little dream notebook, I want to work for Barbell Shrugged. And four years later, we're standing at Wadapalooza and doing this whole thing and wow did we tell you that last night yeah one of those

an epic little story one of the coolest stories i like to share with that like that i was watching the rock and roll hall of fame and bon jovi talks about he goes i would not be standing here i would not have all this he's like i had record producers help me, and this one helped me. He goes, there's a guy who took a chance on me at a radio station. He named him. He goes, I don't even know where. But he goes, had he never played my first record, I would not be standing here. And it's so cool because I'm like, that was 1982.

And he got inducted last year into the Hall of Fame. And I'm like, for him to realize that, like, hey, I would have nothing. That was that moment. Yeah. If this guy didn't help out. And, like, that's what you guys did for her. You remember, like, your first personal training client? Or, like, the first person that walked in your gym.

And I had, like, half the mats on the floor. We couldn't even put all the mats down. Like, we didn't have enough money for, like, the whole 2,500 square foot to be matted out. Like, three or four barbells. And someone would walk in and be like, cool, here's 160. Like, I'll come for a month. Let's see if you can do this. And you're like, wait a second. This is possible.

Holy shit, someone showed up. We're going to be able to, we might be able to survive. Like, those people, man, I put a post up on Instagram because I'm moving out of San Diego. And, like, the number of people that, like, reached out and they were like, thank you for, and I'm like, you don't get it. Like, we were talking about it the other day. Like, you write a super awesome thank you to us for co-hosting and all that. But, like, the gratitude is so both ways.

Like, I just want to be in the room with people where it's, like, equal gratitude. Like, I'm just as thankful for you guys being on the show. I love you, of course. We don't need to have all this pro time. Thank you, brother. Nice little cartoon hearts. I just want to be on equal levels of gratitude of where we're all going. Like I know that I can call these people anytime and say like, hey, let's do some cool shit.

And it's banging every time we show up. And it's just fueled from all the love that we just live our lives by. I think, and it's a mutual respect, too, where it's like you appreciate what I do. I appreciate what you do. And I know that you're going to always create the best product possible. You are going to treat yourself that way. And you're going to make sure that other people have the best version of this show they possibly can. Yeah.

Because you're not just pumping out content for the sake of pumping out content. You're like, I want to deliver the best message possible with the best people I know. Yeah. And I just made a post about that yesterday because there's a lot of people coming out with these tools and stuff. I got to meet the Dr. Jason who owns Theragun. Dr. J. Love you, buddy. He's awesome.

And the passion he has for the product and where it came from and how he cares about it and the people he has around him, I'm like, he gives a shit. Even if you don't like the product, even if you work for the other brand, at least you can respect what he's trying to do. Well, that's one thing when we started doing these two-hour-long shows that you start, like James Fitzgerald was the best. He's Mr. OPT, OPEX, whatever you want to call it and like he's been kicked out of CrossFit

he's been you know blacklisted by everyone and he's still fighting his way and like the first 90 minutes you've got like the billboard James Fitzgerald where he's like screaming this is the way it needs to be like this is why our stuff is the best and then we ran out

of fitness things to talk about and then he became dad and you were like oh you're you're like a real human being like when you get rid of opex and you become james fitzgerald like now we get to have like the real conversation where we don't have to like you meet the guy the guy the guy that designed the product you're like another fucking mobility tool, really? But then you realize, no, this guy made this thing because he really loves the product. Well, I think it's more than product. It's people. Yeah.

Dr. Jason's driven. He's obsessed with the idea of creating something that actually works, that can actually create quality of life for not just a human being, but for top athletes or whatever. He cares about that. That's why we're all here. We're all here here you guys are doing the podcast can everything you're doing it's all us everything you create we want to offer something that may possibly make a difference for someone else we're we're all we're all the business of service that's why it's there

yeah i mean i say it all the time it's at my gym whether you're anytime i get my staff together i'm like whether you're cleaning the bathrooms because you want people to be safe or you're teaching class where you want people to be safe, we're all just trying to keep everybody safe and make them better. How do we make them better? And if that is your main intention,

if that is your goal, then you're going to be successful. I don't care what you're doing. I actually think when just bringing it back to Guadalupalooza, I wonder what the next three years that this thing looks like without Guido. Like right now it's still Guido. That's what I said. I think it's a money thing now. Like I wonder how much of that love and that vibe they can keep without Guido

being the guy that everyone sees as the figurehead. It's interesting because Doug even commented on the size of Strong New York being perfect. It was just big enough and just small enough to create the intimate community thing. What level is too much? Because I think about CrossFit regionals back before we had the shift. Like at Del Mar for SoCal, it was a blast. We had the area. We had a little vendor village.

It was great seating. We had the area. We had a little vendor village. It was great seating. We all just had an awesome time. And it was a good size. And then you go to the games in Carson. It was enormous. There wasn't much right around the vicinity, but it was actually still kind of worked and it was really big.

Yeah. So, and this is way smaller than Carson. So I don't know. Maybe the size depends on the event itself. Well, can you keep getting the right people to show up? Well, I think the athletes want to compete. I think the idea that you can, the size of the venue can shift just based on, like, think about, like, the golf classics that come up or the NASCAR races.

Each one, like, ooh, this course is good for this reason, or I'm really good at that one, I want to do this one. I don't know. I think there's a way to kind of make it fun and interesting and have different sizes of venues that fit the personality of that event. Yeah, I don't know. But I don't know. Bigger always has to be better.

Like, it's an interesting thing for Strong because as soon as you move to location, now all of a sudden it's now money becomes like a very important piece to the puzzle just to cover the cost at forty thousand dollars just to rent a venue and you haven't even put a bleacher in there yet or whatever it is like that's i don't know it's uh it's a wild thing jen outside the crossfit space who who are like some of the the up-and-comers that we don't know about that need to be on our radar? I don't know. You don't know? I got to tell you what.

I think that it's not – I actually go in a different direction. It's not the up-and-comers. It's the coaches. We need our coaches back. Look at your Gunnerson, Petersons. Look at your Joe DeFranco. Look at your BJ Gador. Look at your David Jacks.

You know what I mean? There's so many incredible people that maybe are not savvy in the digital side. Savvy is not even in the world. They're just not engaged. They don't need to be. They've built their business and their brands, and somehow they're some of the greatest teachers. Even Harley Pasternak, oh, my God, that guy, he's so intelligent.

He has so much to offer. I don't think look down. I think look back. Who's been here and knows what they're doing? And even those best guys in the industry, even the guys over at Sorenex, they know, they understand service. They understand longevity. What are we looking at? I was pointing to you because you

mentioned Gunner Peterson's name like right off the bat. The guns. He's just the best. One, we have to get up and interview him. We interviewed Ben Bruno who's so not digitally savage at all. I like Fallon. He is so awesome.

He's so funny. We went out to dinner with him. He seems so monotone. Another radical experience for this one over here and her beautiful little internship. We did a full day of shows at Deuce, hung out all day. We had interviewed Ben like two weeks before, three weeks before. And he was like, oh, you're in L.A.?

Come over to my house. We'll go get dinner. Of course. Why wouldn't I? That sounds amazing. Takes us out into Hollywood, like the whole steak dinner. Samantha's hanging out. She's like, did I just go out to dinner with Justin Timberlake's trainer? Did that just happen?

But Ben Bruno's hysterical. But I'm telling you, to go forward, look back at these guys. We're cleaning out our house and I'm'm down by where we keep all the shoes, so we're not walking around the house with all the dirt. And right next to my lovely tennis shoes is Gunnar Peterson's first little nutrition, what would be considered an e-book, pre-internet. My wife has his, like, six secrets to abs diet book, like, sitting right there.

And I was like, Gunnar was in the DVD game. Oh, yeah, dude. He knew the internet was coming. Yeah, he's no spring chicken. I mean, I met him probably three or four years ago because I was hired as, like, the model. This was before Biggest Loser, maybe six years ago then. And he was doing 14 to lean.

And I was, like, was like the body like demonstrator and it was just we like we hit it off we laughed our asses off he's like you're gonna come get uh drinks and salads it's uh la scala i was like okay and that was it and we've been we've been close ever since so what makes him so successful is it like he's excellent trainer really good business really charismatic just great with people across the board? You have to know what you're doing. Even look at an Adam Bornstein, who's also one of my mentors. Adam, you've got to know what you're doing. I think that at the end of the day, you've got to realize it's not about you. You are responsible for learning. You're responsible for contributing and elevating

the business and not pulling away and distracting to be competitive. Everybody's trying to contribute. And what's cool is those names rise to the top. And, I mean, it was funny. I was on my book tour, and I had, like, a panel in L.A., and I asked Gunnar and Adam Bornstein to be on the panel with me. And Gunnar had him stay at his house, and they had the whole morning together.

I go, when did you guys actually meet? They go, oh, we just met last night when he came to my house to stay. I had no idea Gunner had never met Adam, but because of me, and this is the cool thing about our industry, because of me, Gunner's like, oh, Adam, just come to my house, stay, put him up, took care of everything,

fed him, everything, trust, and that's what we're building. That's what I'm saying. It's hard for me to look at and tell you who's coming up. I don't see a lot of alignment. I think in our category, Kenny's done a great job at Strong New York. You kind of hear names. Even DeFranco is like,

yeah, you lived up to the hype. I was like, oh my god. You meet people. Same with that Bosco Brotherhood over in the Sorenex room. You find people along the way. You start to find your congruencies because the good people find great people. Those guys have been doing it for a long time too.

Because a lot of our newcomers are You have to see the people that have gotten this. One thing that, especially in the SoCal scene, because that's been my scene for the last decade, is like when when CrossFit's hot, it's like there's 50 people that are hot in CrossFit.

And then when CrossFit dies, like who's still hot? Who still makes it out past that bubble breaking? And how many people can elevate past that thing that gave them their start? I have more to offer. Look at Christmas Abbott. How many times has she reinvented herself? Yeah. Over and over and over.

So impressive. It's just because she chooses to do the personal work and she keeps going. Yeah. And she doesn't get handed a perfect hand, you know, cards every single time. And yet she continues to go forward because that's her choice. Yeah. So to me, it's like, what do you look for? I don't know.

It's a tough time. I like to see who shows up. And that's where I. Yeah. So to me, it's like, what do you look for? I don't know. It's a tough time. I like to see who shows up, and that's where I synergize around. I think that there's just like going to those events is the place. Yeah, I agree. As soon as Kenny says, hey, that guy's in, like there's probably a good reason that guy's in. You don't have to worry about it. It says a lot about him.

Nobody gets paid at Strong. No. Yeah, it's true. That's all service. They show up. I mean, Kenny manages to raise the funds and to get plane rides and hotels. And, I mean, for God's sakes, he's got so many friends in New York that they just give us the food for free at the Gem Saloon, like Ryan's place.

Have you ever thought about doing it in Denver? Denver needs an event badly. I've actually thought we need to go to Denver, but there isn't like a thing that's drawing me outside of talking on the mics one time to you and then going snowboarding for the weekend. You know, I don't know. I feel like. You and Emily Schramm, Kenny Santucci.

Emily and Kenny probably go back a couple times. I feel like I'm qualified to talk to you. Oh, shit. I'll run this event, but we're not bringing Kenny. That's a telling smile. No, I don't feel like I'm qualified to dissect Denver yet. I'm still pretty new. But the community is very – it's in a different flow.

They're active and they're healthy, but they're outdoors. They're doing different things. It doesn't feel like the same pulse of that kind of a festival. It is very. It's a relaxed town. Everyone's high. Everyone's just chill and happy, man. I think you do it.

You pick a fun city. You make it a destination. That's why New York, it's one of the greatest cities on the planet, though, too. I think you look at New York and Nashville and Atlanta and Chicago, L.A., Miami. You pick a city, make a destination, and bring everybody together. Yeah, I mean, maybe that's like an interesting plan of Strong.

Not that I'm writing a business plan for you by any means, but, like, you have those people, and you got Sean down in Nashville, right? Yes. And you're in Denver. Like, there's ways to manipulate the country and section it off of, I don't know. Yeah, I was just talking to Ryan about it because Ryan wants to do something at his gym. Fish? Yeah. So I'm like, that might be about it because Ryan wants to do something at his gym. Fish? Yeah.

So I'm like, that might be a great opportunity. Look at that. Look at that. Ryan Fisher shows up as soon as he gets his name on the – We just were talking about it. We were just talking about it. Go away. Now you're off the show.

Look at that butt. God, we just got nine more Instagram followers. And it almost like it suspended. Did you see it shake? But he's got no hair on his butt. I want you to finish, but I want to talk about Ryan Fisher from 10 years ago when you probably met him. Okay, great.

I mean, like I'd love to do something a little smaller around the country, like figure things out. It's constantly like tweaking the idea and figuring out how it will work. Do you have like a lung? Is this like in your brain, I don't want it to grow so fast that I lose control? Is it just like, hey, let's do something new each year and see how it happens? Yeah, I want to keep it special.

I want it to be where you guys look forward to being, like a holiday. You guys look forward to being like, oh, man, we're going to get to all hang out again. Every time I get to see Aaron Hine look like that, it's a holiday to me. Question for you. Miami won. So a year ago you did a women's Strong New York and then a men's Strong New York.

And then this year we kind of combined it. Do you feel like you would combine it again or keep it separate? I mean, depending on where the charity takes me is where I kind of direct it. I'd love to do something with inner city kids. If we're going to keep it in New York, if I'm going to go somewhere it. I'd love to do something with inner city kids. If we're going to keep it in New York, if I'm going to go somewhere else,

I try to pick a charity or some point that's relevant with the people I have there. Sure. So I'm trying to find that where the hole needs to be filled and then bring all the people in who could start shoveling. But would you separate back to men and women's again? I don't know. I think it just worked out that point um because i had so many great women involved and we were doing it for the breast cancer research foundation so i'm like all right well you know most guys really can't talk about this so let's bring in

yeah a slew of women and then yeah how did it go just a women only one was pretty cool it was great yeah it was awesome yeah i was blown away by Christmas. Christmas Abbott was unreal. Every time I... Christmas smashes everything. Even the show she did with us, like the series she did with us, phenomenal. It's crazy that one person's lived that life.

Yep, and she's still in it. She's a young buck still. Killing it. We have just... Because I've never, when did you meet Fisher? Like what stage of madness was he in? So I was, I think it was 2013 or 14, 2014. And I was, I knew who he was like of him because our you know LA community is pretty tight

but I was in Arizona at some terrible CrossFit meet so Horsepower took a small team I was part of it and it was like

an underground like auditorium and it was just brutal it was just day one was so bad we're like let's just get

shit faced we can't we're not competitive here and this kind of sucks, and I don't want to do it anymore. So then we, that night, Fisher was there competing, and so we happened to all go out, and he's like, no, I'm not drinking, and whatever, whatever.

Like, within an hour, he's, like, slamming them back with his way of a blast. You can get them going. There's only one speed that guy's got. I pulled that string, and let me tell you what. So, yeah, that started there, but then I knew him for years after that. But always intermittently, you know what I mean? Because he was training a different gym. It's been a lot of fun being friends with that kid.

Every time I see him in these things, I'm like, I just wish all these people, like, I wish everyone knew the 10 years ago. How far he's gone. But it's been a big, He's taken the personal discovery process very seriously. It would have gotten out of control. I feel like a lot of people would not be...

There's two directions that goes. It either goes really, really bad or where he's gone. It's been fantastic. Someone had lunch with him yesterday. You are not the man I met. It's a testament to him. When he showed up at Stronger, he posted that he was coming to Stronger. I was like, you are not the man I met. You know, and that's exciting. It's a testament to him. When he showed up at Stronger, he posted that he was coming to Stronger. I go, oh, shit, I love this dude because I've followed him for a while.

Oh, you've never met Fish? I never met him before. And I'm like, I admired what he did with his gym. Yep. Yep. And then he looks like. He always talks about solace of the West Coast. Yeah.

That's like how he compares it to people. I told him. I was like, it's super clean. I said that to him yesterday. I was like, I love that. I love that you do that. I've sent people there, people from my gym. I'm like, go check out this gym. It's sick. Sister gyms.

Brother gyms. I just saw the most recent guy to get pop for steroids in CrossFit. We didn't even talk about steroids at all. Who was it? I don't even know if they're Sean Ramirez. Oh, shit, yeah.

Like anybody knew that one wasn't happening. The guy's been a month. He's been, like, competing individually with, like, 18-year-olds for the last 10 years. I'm so far removed, man. Yeah, I know. I only saw it because Mr. Arm and Hammer, he's the only person I follow that actually is on the radar. But are they even doing the testing thing here? Is that like something that we know?

Well, if it's an extension event, I would assume yes. But I can't. I mean, I haven't heard it. I was talking to a girl yesterday when I was working out over by the barbells for booth thing. Yeah. And she was, I was talking to her. I'm like, oh, you're not competing? She's like, you haven't heard?

I was like, no. She's like, yeah, I got popped. Me and like three other people. Wow. She's like, yeah, I got popped. Me and like three other people. Wow. She's like, I was just drinking C4. The C4 came up. And I'm like, C4? She's like, yeah, a couple other people got popped for taking C4.

I go, C4 is here. Oh. I don't even know what that is. Is it a drink? It's a fucking. It's like a pre-workout drink. It's a pre-workout. And I'm like, that came up positive.

It's funny. Even if you talk to Olympians, what is on the cleared list? It's a fucking pre-workout drink. It's a pre-workout. And I'm like, that came up positive. It's funny. Even if you talk to Olympians, what is on the cleared list? There are things in Red Bull that won't come up that you couldn't. I don't know if the regulations have changed, so I might be wrong. Yeah, popping doesn't necessarily mean steroids. Right, exactly. But Monster was okay.

The meth. Yeah, so I was like, oh, God, what comes up? What's the combination? What are all the things? No one knows. We should just assume everyone's on it. That's what I said. Just get the juice in you.

Just don't tell anybody. I think when you look remarkably better than your peers out on the field of play and you're smashing them. I don't know. I think you can see the development change. I mean, for me, I've always been a muscular woman. Part of the reason I don't really do CrossFit the way I used to is because I don't like the shape my body took. I get yokey. I have very big muscle bellies.

I get so vascular. But you can still tell that my development is natural. Yeah. You can see. Well, you don't have this. Yeah. Dude, look at Colleen Fudge. Colleen, we've known her for years.

She's really taken on. She's done more individual. She's wider. She's stronger. But she's still got the suppleness in her tissue. There's not that weird hardening. And she's really taken on. She's done more individual. She's wider. She's stronger, but she's still got the suppleness in her tissue. There's not that weird hardening. And she's big. She is strong.

But the development still looks and feels very natural. You can tell when it's not that. And by the way, women can't go back. Front delt. That muscle is not supposed to be gigantic. And sometimes it sticks out. Well, it's not on you. That's because I haven't gotten in the juice yet.

I haven't hit my C4. I think all the shoulder development, it's like the whole deltoid, the trap. I think when you have, like, really good traps in deltoids, you're like, eh, something doesn't look right. Dude, I don't know. As a woman, like, you can't go back. You guys get a little bit more built out, a little bit more manly, but it still looks good on you.

For chicks, everything. I don't know. Party's over. Yeah. Oof. I do watch the Gracie V YouTube that she did with Meg Squats. Oh, please tell me you watch this. I don't know what we're talking about.

I'm looking at it right now. Oh, it's not even worth talking about if you haven't seen a little bit of it. Did you watch it? I haven't seen it. What is it called? Meg Squats interviews Gracie V. Do you know who Gracie V is? Meg Squats.

Didn't she get popped with her girl? Yeah. And she is very, very open about everything that happens to your body as a female when you take the juice. Gracie.

Gracie V. No, I did, I started watching. And you can't really watch it now. Women in steroids, side effects, whatnot. Yeah, that one. So is one of them on steroids? I highly recommend Gracie's. She's a power lifter.

She's, like, really fucking good at power lifting. That's just part of it. But it's worth watching. We can't talk about it because if you haven't watched it, it just wouldn't make sense. Right on, team. You got to go do another interview. Yeah.

We got to breathe a little bit. We got Gabby Reese coming up here in like an hour. Yeah, I got to get some chow. This was nice little gas. Chow. Thank you guys for being a part of the weekend. I know we got one more to go, but seriously, thank you guys. Anytime we get to come out here and do this stuff with you guys for being a part of the weekend. I know we got one more to go, but seriously, thank you guys. Anytime we get to

come out here and do this stuff with you guys, it really is fucking awesome. And helps us just expand the network and being around good people that we bring it every time and it means a lot. Absolutely. Thank you guys. You're so welcome. Where can people find you?

StrongNewYork.com. Kenny Santucci. I'll take that. WeederStrong. WeederYork.com. Kenny Santucci. I'll take that. Weeder Strong. WeederStrong.com. N-E-O-U. Jen Weederstrom on all. What's the N-E-O-U app? N-E-O-U.

N-E-O-U. It's like Netflix working out. So dang it, man. You're just killing me. She's on the show. She's promoting it. And then I go to do my pre-show read, and I'm like, go see Jen Weederstrom. And I fucking misspelled the whole thing.

Everything's wrong. So I get the app. It's free till March 1st so hopefully this goes up till then. All my workouts are there. Weed are strong. And you're the number 4 trainer in the world on the app. You also said I'm not number 4. I'm number 1, 2, 3, and 4, bro. Really? Yeah. How's that possible? You're one person? You can't be 4 people.

Because I'm 4 of the top 4 streams. The most downloaded pieces are all for it. That's great. Yeah. And I got some motivational juju in there. I fucked that up, too. Yeah, you said you definitely messed it up. I'm glad our rod's gotten better.

Is this better? Yeah. Okay. Well, you said all the workouts are on. What kind of workouts are you talking about? I have fun names. I call it blue-collar body. It's a 20-minute hard work, get it done, lift weights, a lot of intervals.

I kind of call it, like, dynamic weightlifting. I got a couple 30s in there. But, you know, work-to-rest ratio, a lot of good stuff. I got some just coach-to-camera motivational stuff as well, which is number one on the platform, which is really funny. Oh, wow. Is it mostly bodyweight-only type stuff? I've got bodyweight, kettlebells, dumbbells, no barbells. I'm trying to keep it as accessible for people anytime, anywhere.

Okay. I talk about this a lot. Do you think the future is a lot of online training and a lot of in-home training? No, because I don't think anything's going to replace community. There's nothing like getting in a room with people and feeling it. But if there's consistency when you can't do that, there's that. I find that I just go in waves. Like I'm currently in a way where I don't want to talk to people when I'm in the gym.

And then I'll go through a wave where I like really want to be surrounded by people. I think it just has a lot to do with like what I'm looking for currently in my training. And right now it's like I'm kind of, I don't know exactly what I want to do. I just want to be in the gym and moving. So it's better to be just quiet and away from people. Like following an online program would probably be awesome if I was working out in my home. Like you said, you're never going to get away from

actually having a conversation with humans. I think it's a really interesting question for the box boutique gym. Their survival is really, really hard. People want access to more. And I think that, like, I had a long talk with Kaisa, Kaisa Fittis,

her Instagram, but trying to do more. Like, we're great coaches. We're great in the room. But how can people get to us? You know, that hour lives and dies on that workout and that event. So how can people have access to more of what we give? And it's finding a platform like the OU to do it. So that's my attempt this year, at least with that.

Killer. Doug Larson. Check me out on Instagram, Douglas E. Larson. I'm at Anders Varner because I'm Anders Varner at Shrug Collective because we're the Shrug Collective. Get into iTunes, like, subscribe, leave a nice comment. If it's not friendly, Kenny and Weederstrong are coming after you.

Yeah, pretty much. All right, close out the show. We'll catch you guys next Wednesday. As always, get over to at Anders Varner. I'm answering the most pressing questions in the pre-roll every single week. So if you've got a question about training, coaching, the coaching business, or living this meathead life, let me know, and I will get your question to answer. I want to thank our sponsors at Sunlighten.com. Make sure you're getting your 3-in-1 infrared saunas.

Get over to Sunlighten.com and use the coupon code SHRUGCOLLECTIVE to save $200 on your sauna. Also, Perfect Keto, saving 20% using the coupon code shrugged perfect keto.com make sure you're checking out the exogenous ketones the beautiful bars and all your ketogenic needs perfect keto.com and use the coupon code shrugged make sure you get over to organifi.com forward slash shrugged saving 20 on all the greens the the greens, the reds, and the gold juices. We love them. Make sure you're getting your micro vitamins. I'm at Anders Varner.

We'll see you guys next week.