Barbell Shrugged - Belts, Wraps, and Straps: Essential for Strength or Waste of Money? w/ Anders Varner, Doug Larson, and Coach Travis Mash - Barbell Shrugged #544

Episode Date: February 1, 2021

In this Episode of Barbell Shrugged: How to properly use a belt Drawbacks of using equipment Does gear really help that much? Why would you wear wraps as a CrossFitter Why you make be making yourself... weaker using gear   Anders Varner on Instagram Doug Larson on Instagram Coach Travis Mash on Instagram ————————————————   Training Programs to Build Muscle: https://bit.ly/34zcGVw   Nutrition Programs to Lose Fat and Build Muscle: https://bit.ly/3eiW8FF   Nutrition and Training Bundles to Save 67%: https://bit.ly/2yaxQxa   Please Support Our Sponsors   PowerDot - Save 20% using code BBS at http://PowerDot.com/BBS    Organifi - Save 20% using code: “Shrugged” at organifi.com/shrugged   www.masszymes.com/shruggedfree  - for FREE bottle of BiOptimizers Masszymes   Garage Gym Equipment and Accessories: https://prxperformance.com/discount/BBS5OFF Save 5% using the coupon code “BBS5OFF”

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This week on Barbell Shrug, belts, wraps, and straps. Your guide to the equipment you need to get stronger. Or, maybe you don't even need it at all. We're going to dig into it. But before we do, I want to talk about our friends. Always over at Organifi, the green, the red, and the gold. You need it. You know why? Because look, does this replace all the vegetables you need to eat in your life?
Starting point is 00:00:23 No. But you're a busy individual. You have things to do. The idea of sitting around and making sure you have perfect mushrooms, perfect spinach, making a big old salad every single meal of your life, like you're just out here trying to eat salads, like that's your sole destiny in life, is to just make sure you have perfect micronutrients. Yeah, right. It doesn't exist. So what happens? You got to take a supplement. It's not the end of the world. Supplements are great for you, especially because you're going to get all the nutrition you need, all the vitamins and minerals you need.
Starting point is 00:01:00 There's a little bit of ashwagandha in there. Sprinkle it in on top. Trust me, these things are delicious. Most of the green drinks I've had in my life taste like hot dirt. That's right. As if you went out with a scoop and you got some dirt and poured it into water and tried to shake it up. That's what they most taste like. But guess what? Organifi tastes delicious. And I had one about 10 minutes before talking to you on this microphone. And it was delicious. I made it with a little protein shake. Put the green drink right on top. That's how I start a lot of my mornings.
Starting point is 00:01:34 Guess what? You can save 20% by going over to Organifi.com forward slash shrugged. That is where you get your green, the red, and the gold. And they call it the sunrise to sunset stack. Guess what? I call it the shrug stack because that's how I take it. The green in the morning, the red in the middle of the day gets you a little pick me up in the middle of your day, a little bounce in your step.
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Starting point is 00:03:35 That's B-I-O-P-T-I-M-I-Z-E-R-S dot com forward slash shrugged to save 10% using the coupon code shrugged. Friends, belts, wraps, and and straps let's get into it welcome to barbell shrugged i'm andrews varner doug larson coach travis smash we've been going for 20 minutes there's so much good stuff already today on barbell shrugged at some point we're going to talk about all the gear you need to get super jacked, what's necessary, what's unnecessary. And we have a big announcement. First off, bros, I'm having a baby. Another one.
Starting point is 00:04:10 Oh, yeah. Doug, I don't know. We're aware. Yeah. Congrats, dude. I haven't told all the people. I've only told basically you two and our team. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:23 What am I doing? Doug and I were there when he found out. Doing this very thing. No, that was on your show, MASH. I haven't even told Doug how it all... Yeah, Ashton walked out holding the little thing that tells you the plus or the minus.
Starting point is 00:04:39 Oh, yeah, you're like... In the middle of MASH's show, we were talking about Walmart, and I just looked up, and I was like... I started crying. I was like, oh, my God. I just looked up and I was like – I started crying. I was like, oh my god. For some reason, I was like – Crystal.
Starting point is 00:04:49 I knew right away. That's the only thing that can make me do what he did. Ashton thought that I was on like a regular phone call. Didn't know I was doing a podcast. Next thing you know, I'm sitting here. Crystal asked me a question and as soon as she asked i went like choking on my tongue try to figure out am i supposed to like pay attention to my wife pay attention to travis pay attention to the show try and act like because you're only like three weeks pregnant
Starting point is 00:05:18 or something like that like am i supposed to tell anybody what's going on um yeah shit's crazy do we just right now adelaide has not this does not include sleeping adelaide has not had a potty training accident in almost a full month not come home from school with different underwear on any of that we are like legit out of diapers. And I'm about to go into another two and a half years of changing diapers. Like nine a day. I'm done with that shit, man. Is Magnolia
Starting point is 00:05:55 out? Magnolia peed in the potty for the first time over the weekend. Oh, what a savage. And then yesterday she pooped in the potty. Keep it up, girl. Yeah girl yeah keep going i can see light there's daylight you've been in the tunnel yeah do you've been diapers for like 15 years feels like forever i'm over that by the time you get out of diapers with the kids you'll be in them yourself i know they'll be changing me i I can't wait. But, yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:26 Don't even complain. I'm going to tell them. I don't care. Yeah. But the real exciting news. Mash, I front squatted 315 for a double yesterday. What is your max? That's right around there.
Starting point is 00:06:37 Lifetime is 365. But that was a younger, angrier, meaner person that lifted weights with a lot more intent than this friendly guy hanging out in this dojo that I created in my garage. He's trying to be the Jack Dad. Yeah, dude. The Diesel Dad. The Diesel Dad. Do you know how many people call me that now? Everybody. You say it on Instagram enough, it happens.
Starting point is 00:07:07 I saw Matt Hesse. You see that? Matt Hesse is buying in. It's golden. Yeah, golden. Dude, 315 for a double. I got to send you the video. I'm going to put it on the internet.
Starting point is 00:07:19 I'm going to tag you. I'm going to repost it. You can literally see every single weak link in my squat pattern when you load up 315 for a double on my shoulders. What do you say? What happens? A little bit of a hip shift. Rep 2 is like a lot of a hip shift.
Starting point is 00:07:37 If I was a squat university Instagram post, there would be a lot of lines getting drawn on my front squat. He would break it down in slow-mo and it would be cringeworthy. But, it's good enough. It's only that ugly when you get that high up in weight. Yeah. I don't know why people
Starting point is 00:07:57 hate on squat university. Why would you hate on that guy? Who hates on him? I'm not going to say. Tell me and I'll tell you out there. Text me right now and I'll say his name. would you hate on that guy wait who hates on him oh i'm not gonna say you know tell me enough text me and right now and i'll say his name because he's not is that it's like a is that like a generic like oh he focuses like way too much on technique like you just need to get stronger type argument or what they say uh they say because who is he to talk about squatting he's a you know he is a pt you know he doesn't know anything. The dude,
Starting point is 00:08:26 he was a really good weightlifter. Oh. He does so much for free. Unlike the people hating on him. They do everything for money. I'm like, how can you hate on him? He's got a million followers.
Starting point is 00:08:43 He's got 1.3 million followers, and he still takes physical therapy patients. Because he's not trying to make money off this guy. He's doing one-on-one coaching. Yeah, I would not. I'll be honest. No, I got 19,000. I'm trying not to have a personal training client. Right, right.
Starting point is 00:09:01 So this dude is the most legit, nice guy that you're going to meet in this industry i'm excited we're interviewing on wednesday tomorrow i can't a new book coming out yeah what's the new book like building rebuilding milo milo milo yeah rebuilding milo i'm not actually i'm actually 100 sure what it's about but just if i think it's if you're banged up and injured that how to like kind of get back back on to a normal training routine. This is why you make the bad joke about loaded carries. I hope he sends me one. I just finished steroids as a sport.
Starting point is 00:09:36 Yeah, he will. From now on, after Squat University, when we interview people that are are putting out their books i'm reading the book first because i love that when we interviewed rady and i finished the book like three days before y'all right i would have asked so many different questions if we had uh had if i had read steroids as a sport yeah instead of just the broad ones because i have so many things that i just was like damn it i wish i had asked that that was a highlight of my career is that ratings because plus you two the way that you both had read read the book and just were like
Starting point is 00:10:16 i felt like i was king of the world but you know i was like we have the most professional podcast ever you guys that was a proud moment yeah yeah i would if i died that day i'd be like sweet it's cool um dude you're 17 year old what what did he just do yesterday he uh back squat who is it it's jc you know the the freak powerlifter yeah yeah he is amazing amazing he did 462 210 kilos 462 pounds for 10 i'm like i was like there's no way because he was he was he's messaging me he's like what do you think um what's a good percentage to hit on my 10 rm because it was his fourth week he'd been doing german volume so on this week i just wanted to see where his tens were and uh i was like you know 73 75 would be amazing and then he finally messaged me back he said i did 80 i forget it's 85 for 10 i'm like well it's not because your one rm is not 600
Starting point is 00:11:13 anymore it's something more than that yeah so so i don't know well is it or do you think that his muscle fibers just allow him to also go long because how maybe he's just – how freaky do you have to be for that to be – He's a power lifter. Yeah, I know. That's what I'm saying. He's good for one rep. Yeah, now all of a sudden he's good for ten. Yeah, yes.
Starting point is 00:11:33 I don't know what the kid's going to do. You know, he's all over all the world records. He benches – he's benched 200 kilos, 440 at 17 years old. He's deadlifted over 6. He's squatted over 6. Sorry, he's squatted 6. He's deadlifted 6 something and he's done the 440 bench press.
Starting point is 00:11:53 He's just a freak. I think he'll be better than me and Cone anyway. How big is he? He's about in the USAPL. They have the 105 category. He's 231 yeah he's huge and lean is this is this uh with a with a squat suit and all that or is this just like raw style this is raw yeah raw way to style yeah the dude is this and drug free because you know he does usapl he's incredible
Starting point is 00:12:22 i've never seen anything like it how do you find like dude you live in this tiny ass little town in north carolina population mash and these kids it's not like they come here because there's they want to be the strongest person in the world and it's pacific beach where there's just the opposite sex all over the place so you actually get a reward for being super jacked in town. You walk in the grocery store and someone knows your name. Dude, they're just in these tiny little towns. They're kids. They need to go to Pacific Beach and be that strong.
Starting point is 00:12:56 I'm telling you, if I lived in San Francisco or anywhere in Florida, I would take over the world with athletes. I live in, well, now I'm in Hickory, Louisville, North Carolina. No one listening knows where that is. Nobody. Do you put me in a big city? Like some of my competitors, I would, I would own the world. I would just create an army of humans.
Starting point is 00:13:17 It's so thought about doing that. Just moving to a bigger city, like specifically for that purpose. Like just go to Miami or or or you know we were in san diego before or wherever i just don't think a lot of coaches have that eye you know like i could be at a store and if i see the person i'll say something you know i see the person walking a certain way i'll be like hey where do you train you know it's just like i don't think are able to recruit they don't have that ability where I do. I see someone, I can see them out of the corner of my eye and be like, hey, where are you training?
Starting point is 00:13:48 We saw a little bit of that. I'm not going to be in Florida. Anyway. We saw a little bit of that when we were at Lenore Ryan months back before COVID where we were walking out of the weight room and about to head home and you saw those two volleyball girls that were by the basketball court kind of shooting hoops at them and you were just like, yeah, weightlifting team, let's do it. And they seemed like they were like, this sounds cool.
Starting point is 00:14:09 I got one. You had like the tractor beam. You're just sucking them in. I was watching them just minute by minute being more and more interested. I was like, dang, he's fucking smashing this recruitment game right now. That's what I do. I've got a bunch now. I've got like two football players.
Starting point is 00:14:23 I've got a bunch now. I've got like two football players. I've got two volleyball players. Oh, and I've got two throwers now, obviously, you know, from these other teams. As a club team, do you get other coaches coming in like, hey, what the fuck, you stealing my players? Like, do you get any pushback from other people that have incentives that don't align with yours? No, it's cool because I'm very cool about the way I do it. You know, we're going to align this with your current sport. I want to make sure that your coaches, they're in the know and that we're helping you with your other sports as well.
Starting point is 00:14:53 I'm very strategic. I don't say quit this sport, not yet. Does it get them out of their regular strength conditioning training? Yeah, because I've produced so well with some of the other sports is that now that it's cool if they just live with me so the division begins you'll be going in there and and and uh 2021 and go well they're gonna be world champs i don't think they need to go to volleyball practice today. I know.
Starting point is 00:15:26 I made a post last night because, you know, we will have four already junior world team members, Eleanor Ryan. I made a post basically saying, like, we're going to be the main sport on campus. Who do you compete against as a club team? Are there other weightlifting teams, or do you just focus on American Open,
Starting point is 00:15:46 Nationals, and World Teams? No, we have the University Nationals. That's the one we're going to dominate. That's the one we're going to compete in. My bad. Other words. Sick.
Starting point is 00:16:01 I'm excited. I just love that there's a... I didn't even know that weightlifting was like a collegiate sport. I thought it was – I don't even know if that was an opportunity when I was in school. Yeah, it's pretty big. But, you know, powerlifting is even bigger, which is my next step is to have the powerlifting team too. And so that's real cool. I hear at the Powerlifting Nationals it gets crazy, like cheerleaders, people chanting. You know, that'll be exciting too.
Starting point is 00:16:29 Yeah. Bros, we got to talk about weightlifting gear. Yeah. What's the dude that squats 470-something pounds for 10? Yeah. What size belt do you have that guy wearing? You know, he's not very thick around the waist. I don't know that he's even – he's probably my size belt.
Starting point is 00:16:47 He's like large. Not that size. This is more. So when we – basically, what is like the real advantages and a little bit of the science just behind actually wearing belts? Because I feel like this is probably one of the more – This is a good question and my favorite question. wearing belts because this i feel like this is probably one of the good questions more um in a way on not misunderstood and people probably think they need to wear gear way more than they
Starting point is 00:17:17 they really should or need to um but what is a little bit of the science behind wearing a belt verse verse not this is like the most common common question and thing that people are going to do is go throw a belt on when they start lifting heavy. Well, I'm about to throw a wrench in everyone's machine right now by telling you that based on the studies, it doesn't matter whether you wear it or whether you don't. A lot of people will not wear a belt because they want to recruit their core. And the studies show it's absolutely not true. It just really doesn't matter, to be honest. Because, you know, when you're talking about your abdominals, they don't work that much anyway when you're squatting.
Starting point is 00:17:58 And so by having the belt on, you're really probably going to recruit a little bit more. Here's why. It's because by increasing the inner abdominal pressure around the spine you know i'm you know i don't know why this is happening but i mean we have to assume that because the spine feels protected it recruits more fibers because you know like if it if it feels it's in a you know the body it's like homeostasis if the body feels like it's you know in danger it will not recruit fibers because it doesn't want more load in an area but when it feels good
Starting point is 00:18:29 then it recruits more so really at the end of the day it just doesn't matter like you could wear a belt every day and your core wouldn't be weaker you could wear none at all and it wouldn't be any stronger it literally doesn't matter what i would say this as a coach i i do program periods of time without a belt because i want and what i'm trying to do is get the load down so like you know like a guy like jc won't try 462 to 10 times if he doesn't have a belt on so it's just my way of saying stop going so heavy and so that's it it's like it's as simple as that, did you wear a belt? No, almost never. Here, Travis, playing devil's advocate real quick.
Starting point is 00:19:09 If you had a person not using a belt or a group of people not using a belt and then people using the belt, if you took a person from the group that never uses a belt and you had them use a belt, would they get more recruitment, more core recruitment because they have the belt on? And then when they go back to not using a belt would they would they get more recruitment more core recruitment because they have the belt on and then when they and then when they go back to not using a belt does that does that carry over to you still get more recruitment even when the belt is then removed yeah all right so the person let me see if i got your question right so a group of that's been wearing a belt and a group that's never the group who's been wearing a belt goes over and
Starting point is 00:19:44 squats without a belt they'll probably have less never, the group who's been wearing a belt goes over and squats without a belt, they'll probably have less recruitment. I know they'll have less recruitment than when they wear the belt. And the people who went to the, I think it'll take time for each of them. When you first put on a belt, you don't get this miracle jump. You don't get as much as I would get out of it because I practiced that technique. Remember when me and Andy were doing that little talk and his awesome,
Starting point is 00:20:09 the way he was able to get people to produce IAP all the way around at 360 degrees, that takes time to practice that technique. So I think it would be about the exact same. From that person going to not wearing a belt to wearing, and the person wearing a belt to not wearing a belt, it would take them both time to figure it out. But I don't know if there would be a big stimulus either way as far as hypertrophy or anything like that.
Starting point is 00:20:36 I think it would just be a matter of getting used to something. So it's just, you know, I guess really at the end of the day, it's whatever you want to do. I think it would be good for young athletes to not wear it very much You know, like, I guess really at the end of the day, it's whatever you want to do with them. I think it would be good for young athletes to not wear it very much so you keep them from going too heavy. You know, they put that belt on, they feel super secure. Next thing you know, they're being crazy. So that would be the reason I wouldn't use it as much if I'm a high school, you know, strength coach or down.
Starting point is 00:21:05 I think you should learn how to squat with just your body first just so you know how to do it and then if you if you want to compete in power lifting you can you can start wearing it some percentage of the time you know basically when you're doing your heavy sets of squats but if you're doing light sets of squats or you're doing any any of your other assistance work then you're likely not wearing the belt so you're still getting lots of core stimulus and activation from all the indirect core stuff and then especially if you're doing actual direct core work if you're doing you know strict hanging leg raises and whatever else yeah then you're you're still working all those muscles so that it's not like they're going to atrophy because you wore it just on your heavy sets of squats and really what you're doing too when you
Starting point is 00:21:40 don't wear a belt is you're learning to brace is what you're doing you're learning to brace without a belt and it's it's those are two different you know those are two different uh movements you know bracing without a belt you know you're kind of clamping down someone's gonna punch you you know bracing with the belt it's quite the opposite you're breathing into your belly pushing out so it's just really it's just learning a new movement is all it is which is important to know either way well and the actual like the actual mechanics of it's not really your abs. It's more your erectors that are going to get to you. Your abs aren't like holding up your rib cage as you squat to keep an upright torso.
Starting point is 00:22:15 Quite the opposite. They're pulling it down. They're doing the opposite. The strength of your back is the big indicator of making a lift or not. Spinal extensors, that's that's all it is really yeah directly that's that's definitely the case with your spinal erectors your your rectus abdominis like directly in the front it's going to contract a little bit along with your transverse abdominis and your internal internal obliques that's kind of like the majority of the
Starting point is 00:22:39 muscles that wrap around your torso like we take that big deep breath and you and you and you have that valsalva technique where you're creating intra-abdominal pressure and then you're contracting all of your core musculature to kind of like, to kind of tighten it all down. They're all, they're all working, but they're not,
Starting point is 00:22:53 they're not directly doing anything regarding moving the weight. They're just, they're all contracting isometrically at a heavy load to give your spine as much stability as possible. So they're all, they're all working, but not like they would be if you were producing some type of global flexion motion, like I just mentioned, hanging leg raises. Not quite the same
Starting point is 00:23:11 way like that, but they're all going to be doing something. Yeah, in some form or fashion. But if you look at the EMGs, it's definitely the spinal extensors are going to be lit up, whereas the abs, a little bit. know yeah they're taking on much higher forces the spinal erectors are compared to any of the other muscles that i just mentioned yeah totally so so your your torso and your spine in a lot of cases especially if you have a long torso or a long spine uh those that is going to be the weak link in the chain right so if that's the weak link in the chain and you're trying to squat as heavy as possible and you want to get your legs stronger, then wearing a belt makes sense because now you
Starting point is 00:23:51 can actually train your legs closer to their full capacity or to their full potential because you've worked away around the weak link in the chain. Granted, you still should be trying to strengthen that weak link. Maybe you got to do heavy good mornings and whatever else to bring that up if it happens to be lagging in any particular way but especially if you're in a sport that uh where your torso strength isn't going to be the weak the weak link like say you're say you're a soccer player like you're you're the strength of your back is not going to limit you but having stronger legs could potentially be much more helpful as far as sprinting speed and agility and change of direction and jumping and whatever else and so you could wear a belt in
Starting point is 00:24:29 that sport with with almost no downside to the actual sport itself because you're just making your legs stronger right i totally agree you know that sometime i don't want to go off on a tangent but sometime we need to have a show about this whole how strong is too strong because i've been having that debate like crazy on uh twitter and winning of course and then and so like i do maybe next show enters if we did that it would be the highlight of my career is just to once and for all put that to bed because there is no such thing as the fyi foreshadowing of the yeah give the big picture real quick because there's probably people right now that are curious about we can do a full teaser what's like the high teaser is you know a lot of um you know speed coaches will say that um
Starting point is 00:25:17 that you don't need strength training to to make people fast and or and if you do they say that once someone gets between 1.7 and 2 times their body weight in the squat, that's enough, they would say. And, you know, I would disagree. I'm like, have you studied biomechanics? Because every one of Newton's three laws of motions requires what? Force. That's the only common trait, brother.
Starting point is 00:25:43 So, like, you know, so what they're missing is this is that there's a lot of there's i'll go i'll i'll nail this down quickly there's a lot of things that go into making someone fast on the field or as a sprinter in the olympics you know you have to have force but you got to produce it you know quickly rate of force development you know you need some power development you do need you need to be able to do it in a full range of motion and relative strength needs to stay where it is or better yeah you know so what it is it's a constant like you know you get this you get a little bit stronger you learn to use that strength faster you make sure your mobility stays the same you make sure you stay lean and then you go back get a little bit stronger it's just it's a constant circle of
Starting point is 00:26:23 things to do but there's no such things there's no way you can prove that don't people make these like they they try to put these numbers to to things and you can just pick them apart just because you know actual athletes like when they put these numbers out it's like they're talking about like joe schmo walking down the street it's like you if you could squat 1.7 percent of your times your body weight you don't really need to get stronger but they're at no point are they talking about people that are actually trying to get strong and actually trying to do things or even the idea that you may have to go up against another human and if you stop at 1.7 well the guy that squats 1.9 is about to eat your lunch for about four hours straight being the same
Starting point is 00:27:15 that guy wins then that guy is about to take your lunch money and you can't do shit about it because you're 1.7 and your physical therapist that told you you didn't need to get stronger anymore is wrong you know you're hungry now you're in the car man like you know if i say i have x horsepower in a car there's a lot of things i can do to make it faster without increasing the horsepower yeah eventually that taps out and i gotta add a bigger engine period it's the same as humans but yeah is that is that that concept of of getting stronger won't make you faster is that more so true at top end high end speed like 100 meter sprinter that you know from like 40 to 70 yards when he's like actually at 100 top speed being stronger might not help with that but but acceleration on the other hand being being stronger is going to help a lot. I would say as long as you train properly, it would help everything.
Starting point is 00:28:09 Because even at top-end speeds, it's the amount of force that you're striking the ground with. Because, what is it, Newton's third law, for every action there's equal and opposite reactions. So the harder I strike the ground, even at maximum speed, it's going to propel me down the field and up at a higher rate. That's just the way it is. That's the law. That is what God made. There's nothing you can do to tell me that's wrong. That happens.
Starting point is 00:28:34 If I sweat around harder, you're going to go faster. Right. I feel like this argument is often framed like, okay, well, look at that guy. The guy you just mentioned that did 10 reps at 460 or whatever. Right. Like, okay, well, is that guy a world-class sprinter? He squats 600 pounds. If this was true, then that guy would be really, really fast.
Starting point is 00:28:55 You're like, well, let's back it up. Here's what happened. JC, who's a football player, just got faster as it relates to JC. Right. If you take a guy who's a good sprinter and you put 200 pounds on a squat, will he be better? Probably. Probably.
Starting point is 00:29:11 Because that person's already fast. Will he get faster? Yes. Will an individual get better? Not comparing, well, that guy squats 1,000 and he's slow, and that guy squats 200 and he's fast or whatever. If he gets stronger and his relative strength stays the same or gets better and his range of motion doesn't change and his sprinting technique doesn't change he got faster
Starting point is 00:29:30 period now you know what they could say is this is that we don't have time and i i would say okay i totally agree if you only have like 3 45 minute sessions per week with this person maybe it was you know if you take what's important, maybe, you know, some training might not be, you know, might not fit in there. But assuming you have, like, all the time in the world to train a world-class sprinter, then absolutely, without a doubt, part of it needs to be strength. It's part of it needs to be technique.
Starting point is 00:29:56 Well, you could probably really go at these people by the work you're doing down with Jamaica Sprinters. Yeah, so much. And listen, out of Louisville, North Carolina, I produced the third best Nike Spark number in the entire country. I don't know what that is. What is Nike Spark? It's like it is the ultimate high school combine.
Starting point is 00:30:16 It's like to see who is the best, you know, who is the most athletic person going into, you know, D1 sports. And my dude out of Louisville was third in the country. Not some dude in Florida or California because I don't live there. Or we would have had number one, I'm sure. But, yeah, so we produced. And so this dude is strong. He played football four years at Wake Forest,
Starting point is 00:30:39 ran for 1,000-plus yards three times. Oh, yeah, I've seen that guy on your Instagram. He's a freak. Freak, man. I don't want to get hit by that guy. I mean, like – Oh, yeah. I've seen that guy on your Instagram. He's a freak. Freak, man. I don't want to get hit by that guy. I don't either. So, yeah. I built a monster.
Starting point is 00:30:51 It looks like the guy Tommy that plays for the – Mo Hannon? Oh, yeah. I wouldn't hit him. He plays for Carolina? Life's too short to hit him. Yeah. No, yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:01 People like him walk around this earth and they're really friendly people and then you put a helmet on him and hand him a piece of leather And he turns into that guy Straight up killer I would not want to get I saw Tommy Literally An outside linebacker in the NFL
Starting point is 00:31:19 Turned their back to him I saw it They turned their back to him I'm like you made a linebacker turn their back to you And then he i thought i would they turned their back to him i'm like you made a linebacker turn their back to you and then he bowled him like a bowling ball this is totally i watched the michael vick documentary and like i never knew just michael vick was basically in college when i was in college so i never knew how fast he was or had seen or talked to athletes really at that like i still don't really but i've seen
Starting point is 00:31:45 really really good athletes now um and like it's like when we got out of the car in jamaica and or we pulled into the driveway and johan blake sitting there you go i don't care what sport that guy plays he's definitely the best in the world like there's like a light shining around him that says, You are the greatest. It doesn't matter what. That guy's the fastest person in the room always. And he's been that way since he was 0.7 years old.
Starting point is 00:32:17 He walks into a room and he's like, What sport am I beating you guys at? It could be cricket. It could be baseball. It doesn't matter. Dude, I watched the Michael Vick documentary, and he's – this is like after all the things, and he's like reflecting on his life. He's like, dude, the first time – he's like, I had never played on turf ever in my life. And then they handed me the ball, and all of a sudden I'm on AstroTurf, and it was just a track meet. And I was out there splitting people's ACLs open.
Starting point is 00:32:47 And sure enough, he made a cut on some dude that was supposed to be a first-round draft pick in the NFL. And he cut so hard he shredded this dude's ACL on national television in front of millions of people. He just made him look so bad. And his knee, like he tried to catch him. Knee just collapsed right in front of him. And I was like, God, that's a fast human being. You don't want to mess with him. That very thing, if you know anything about muscle spindles or the Golgi tendon organ, like you know that only – well, not only, but if you really want to get those two things improved, strength training is the way to do it.
Starting point is 00:33:26 It's directly correlated. And so by that meaning, when someone cuts and they put a lot of force into the ground, they're trying to change directions, what happens, the GTO we'll call it, it will inhibit the muscles because it doesn't want you to tear the tendon. It doesn't want you to tear the patella tendon, let's just say.
Starting point is 00:33:46 That's like a regulator in your body that regulates the amount of muscle tension. If the muscle tension gets too high, it'll turn the muscle off so it doesn't tear. So you can't cut. But through strength training, there's specific things I can do to strengthen the tendon, the muscle, the joint, that when I strike the ground, it inhibits the GTO. And so, like, now you're able to cut and your muscles are firing and I can change directions like Michael Vick.
Starting point is 00:34:11 Well, I can change directions for Travis better than Travis used to could. You know what I'm saying? Like, Michael Vick is different. Yeah. Dude, when – stand on the track, Johan. I don't – that was like the most impressive, like listening to that man's feet hit the ground. Yeah. It was so wild.
Starting point is 00:34:35 And here him chasing after you like a little wounded deer was just terrifying, but not actually scary because he wasn't trying to kill me like a cheetah. And seeing what happened with each step, the distance he covered by doing it correctly, not because he reached out, because he created so much force. He floated. It was the weirdest thing to see him. He had a different gear. That slow motion video of me just getting hunted is so rad.
Starting point is 00:34:56 Because if you just met me and saw me sprint, you'd be like, damn, Anders knows how to move. Then you put me next to him and you go, basically, Anders doesn't even know how to walk properly Yeah. Then you put me next to him and you go – basically – Are you going backwards, Anders? Anders doesn't even know how to walk properly. Anders is running backwards. Why is he like – oh, he's not. He's not.
Starting point is 00:35:12 He gave me like a four – he gave me 15 yards and a 60. What is the math on that? It's like a 30% advantage and he wasn't even trying. He was trying out brand new shoes and just talking smack the whole time. He was barking at me. He gave you 25% advantage and he wasn't even trying. He was trying out brand new shoes and just talking smack the whole time. He was barking at me. He gave you 25% advantage. I had to ask him to slow down so that I could take an Instagram video because the first one was so embarrassing that I said, look, dude, I'm here for the video.
Starting point is 00:35:39 I need you to just make it look close. And he just the whole time was barking at me the same way a cheetah would when he's about to eat an antelope. Oh, one more quick time or two. Like it's not – also it's not all about – some people who don't understand sprint, teaching people how to run, they make it all about sprint. It's not – neither group is right. It's like you got to know both. Anyway, we'll have a show on it. We got a full show.
Starting point is 00:36:03 Dude, I actually have a real question about the belt and i always wore because of my crossfitting self i needed easy in easy out but power lifters so i always wore the velcro one that was really easy to get in and get out of um it's obviously not as thick as like the big thick leather power lifting belt what what is like the main difference in those and why do all the power lifters kind of if it doesn't make a huge difference and power lifters have gigantic core strong back all of that like what is the it does no wait let me be clear wearing the belt makes a huge difference all i'm talking about is the core it doesn't really recruit more fibers with or without no it makes a huge difference When you put a big powerlifting belt on.
Starting point is 00:36:46 I've never worn one of those. I've never put one on. I can almost cut your finger off steel, and I haven't been squatting heavy. If I put my belt on tight and you put your fingers in between the belt and my stomach, the amount of pressure I'm able to create is like, it's any great powerlifter. That's what they can do. They can create massive amounts of pressure. And so then you're stable. to create is like it's you know it's any great power lifter that's what they can do yeah you create massive amounts of pressure and so then you're stable because you said earlier i think
Starting point is 00:37:09 doug said earlier like a guy with a longer torso the the deciding factor is can he stay in extension and so for most power lifters or weightlifters that's the case is because you're good at the sport because you have a longer torso shorter shorter femurs, because, you know, less distance to travel and squat. But what becomes the problem is can my torso handle that weight? And so it's a very important. So I don't know that there are some powerlifters out there who don't, but they're freaks and they're mostly heavyweights. But there is, there is a, there's a Russian powerlifter who I think is the best of all time.
Starting point is 00:37:45 And that's coming from someone who is considered one of the best of all time. He dominates. I'm totally blanking out. But he can deadlift over 900 pounds without a belt. And he's like a 220, 200-kilo guy. It's freaky. But he does sumo, and basically his spine is vertical when he's doing it. So there's not a lot of pressure on his spine, but it's amazing.
Starting point is 00:38:07 So that thick leather four-inch belt really does make that, not much of a difference in top end strength. Yeah, and if the weightlifter says it doesn't, they're lying. It does. Yeah, yeah. It does a lot. I feel like all the CrossFitters, unless they're doing some sort of max effort thing,
Starting point is 00:38:22 wear that Velcro. Yeah, so do weightlifters too. yeah yeah is that enough for weightlifters i always felt like i was just going to get the thing the bar hung up in that and it'd just be a giant mess no i mean weightlifting it's all right yeah totally so yeah and they usually you know a lot of them use the harbinger like it's like a the cheapest belt it's like nine bucks or something it's like super cheap it's uh the harbinger, it's like the cheapest belt. It's like $9 or something. It's like super cheap. It's the Harbinger one that's legal. You've got to be careful. Weightlifters don't wear the 4-inch thick leather one.
Starting point is 00:38:53 No, they have to keep it. It's got to be 4 centimeters or I think it's like 10. I'm sorry. 10 centimeters or less in width of how wide it can be. Power lifters, there's a of how wide it can be. Um, the power of the juice is like, there's, there's a rule to similar. It's the thickness really is what the difference in the power in a weight lifting. Like if you use the power lifting belt and some people do,
Starting point is 00:39:13 it's legal in weightlifting, but you gotta be careful because it will do what you said. You'll get caught because it sticks out too much. The little Harbinger belt's perfect. It's like, you're not gonna, you're not gonna get caught. That's what I used to wear.
Starting point is 00:39:23 Yeah. So easy. I do a lot of the thing. You do another thing you know my big secret especially for the internets put the belt under the shirt then no one knows then everyone just thinks you're strong you're cheating the internet a lot of ways you get the extra help and no one knows makes you look cooler they put their knees underneath their yes all of, I just told the world the secret about weightlifters. Doug, you were about to say something. I was going to ask about squatting versus deadlifting. In your mind, is there any difference there?
Starting point is 00:39:57 You put the belt on the same way, the same tightness, the same type of belt, et cetera? I don't put mine on as tight because for me, deadlifting is about getting in the perfect position. If I can make sure that I'm set perfectly, I'm going to probably deadlift it. I have a better chance. And so I don't go quite as tight on deadlift. But with squatting, because I'm starting standing rack and I'm squatting into it, I can create – because the weight's so heavy, I can keep a good position and I'm squatting into it I can create because the weight is so heavy I can keep a good position
Starting point is 00:40:26 and I can create more tension whereas with deadlift I gotta get in that position without a load on me I'm talking about one notch difference it's like I have my belt I've had my whole career from powerlifting and you can see here's where I squat
Starting point is 00:40:42 here's where I bench deadlifting and benching is about the same thing. And so it's about the same. I just need enough to create a little pressure. But not to, you know, squatting is saving my life, basically. If I'm going to put 1,000 pounds on my back, I need it to save, you know, it's holding my life in its hands. Well, so re-explain the piece about bench pressing.
Starting point is 00:41:02 A lot of people that are maybe new to training, they wouldn't think about wearing a belt while doing a bench press. What's the purpose behind that? It's a huge difference. And anyone who says it's not, obviously they don't know how to use it because for me, I would guess 10% difference, which is huge. You take, let's say, 400 pounds, that's a 40-pound difference. I would say it's between 5 and ten percent different you know for me because what it does it creates all this pressure now in my you know in the cavities it's a little higher so now
Starting point is 00:41:34 i allow air to go you know not into my belly but to push up into my chest it raises my chest up so it's you know it's less distance and then when i pause it's like having pause on a trampoline you know what i mean like the i've created all this pressure you know in my you know chest cavity yes you say you know what was that the perineal cavity but like it like creates way more pressure it's like you know it's like a balloon helping you start the bench press so it's a huge difference. Yeah. Dude, I actually have a question about the weightlifting straps. When you – just from my personal opinion, do you notice any like – I guess obviously you can't wear straps in competition. But do you have any opinions on like training with straps first without outside of just practicing specifically
Starting point is 00:42:25 for competing it depends on the person's hand size like you know like a morgan if he wears straps it's not going to it doesn't matter his hands are so huge like you know the grip's not the problem however like with matt weininger we had two of our guys who were killing it killing it killing it they had straps on yeah r and Matt Weingert, and they took them off on the same day, and both of them had a subpar day. So with those guys, we've agreed that, you know, as long as it's singles, we're going to go strapless, you know,
Starting point is 00:42:57 because it was such a drastic change. But then you have to watch John North. I mean, it doesn't matter if he has it on. He can wear straps the entire training cycle, take them off and go compete, and he's fine. But he's – I have – well, first off, I don't really wear those weightlifting ones. I hate those things. I have no idea how anybody uses those stinking weightlifting straps.
Starting point is 00:43:22 You're talking about this little thing? Yeah, just the circle. I love that. I need the one that wraps around my wrist, and then I can wrap it one time, and then drop the bar, and it's good. That's a way to get hurt, though, because you can't let go. I've seen people that can't unstrap if they miss.
Starting point is 00:43:36 It pulls them down. If they miss behind? Yeah, if they miss behind. I think we've all seen that video. You should have just made that. You should have just made it. I agree. I think we've all seen that video. You should have just made that. You should have just made it. I agree. I agree.
Starting point is 00:43:49 Well, that weightlifting strap thing, I have no idea. It takes me 10 minutes just to get strapped into the damn bar with that thing. It's one and gone. You just put it around. No matter how much I practice, it just doesn't go there. I'll teach you. It just doesn't go there. But I actually have my opinion on the strap. When I'm training at lighter weight, I feel like the way that my wrist and hand, when I'm not using the straps, I have significantly better form.
Starting point is 00:44:22 I rely on them a lot less to be strength. And the bar stays in a lot closer to my body when I am actually just using the hook grip. And there's something about the way that my wrist closes. And I like close that joint just a little bit. So everything is just connected and strong. And the bar stays in closer. I feel a lot better. My form is a lot better.
Starting point is 00:44:43 But I'm a lot stronger when i use straps it's like that much of a difference to me that i feel like i'm actually cheating which is why i use them a lot more now um because i don't compete so i just want to lift weights and have fun but um i would say with weightlifters i would you know there's two things i want to have with weightlifters you know like when you're doing triples or like you know for some reason you're doing fives anything like super high volume you might want to wear them because like cutting your hand does not make you tough that what it's going to do is going to mess up your your training later on so take care of your hands number one you know like use the pumice stone you know put put lotion on your
Starting point is 00:45:23 hands it's not tough that you have extra calluses. You know, I know plenty of people do way more volume than you that don't have calluses because they're professionals and they take care of their hands. So, and, but with, with CrossFitters, I have, it's more of a question for you is like, you know, I do know they have to get that. They have to prepare their hands to do those high reps. Yeah. So what is your thoughts on that for them uh that's if you're doing olympic lifting in a workout you should never have them
Starting point is 00:45:52 on one of the hardest skills for like going from an intermediate or somebody that like isn't competing to trying to actually focus on their performance and get better is all the nuances that go into like if you have to do a set of 15 snatches in a row at whatever weight 95 pounds you're just not going to be able to get there when you can't reset your hook grip during the negative of that lift right so those little pieces if you're using straps you're i guess there may be some benefit that you can just go and go and go and you don't have to worry about grip strength but you're really you're by wearing straps and a metcon if that's something that i don't really see many people doing that um because it'd be slower it would make the metcon slower. Yeah, and it would just – in a way, you're almost like not doing the hardest part.
Starting point is 00:46:51 It's not really that difficult to do high rep snatches. But holding on to the bar, resetting your grip, all of that stuff, like all the things that are really challenging about like setting your hips and doing it properly um you can overcome a lot of that stuff by just being able to rip the bar off the floor if you had straps on i love watching crossfitters do the high rep stuff because they have such a beautiful technique or even you i've watched you do multiple reps the way you set your grip on the way you know how it's just like it's such a good rhythm like i love i'm like because weightlifters can't do that we don't have to do that so we just have to slam the bar down we don't like yeah yeah you almost teach it as if you're teaching
Starting point is 00:47:33 like i've never obviously taught choreography but like the way that somebody like a dance teacher would teach dancing because you have to it's not just your like hands and getting reset on the bar but you have to like be able to like move your feet in and out with the rhythm of the bar because you go from a jumping position to a landing position and all at the same time as you're standing up getting your feet back into a jumping position and lowering the bar there's like that's the thing that like if there was something that made me good at crossfit at any point it was really like just the athleticism of that stuff and being able to like smoothly move through the nuance of that stuff which i think is if if you were wearing there's
Starting point is 00:48:17 a lot of gear that in crossfit i think that just most people don't need like if you watch a lot of those guys at the highest level, they're just not wearing that much stuff because it really starts to interfere with the athleticism that they have in those movements. And you just don't, unless it's a pure one rep max or, you know, they do these like speed snatch ladders, which are so rad that these guys can go from like 225, 265, 285, and snatch all those weights in 10 seconds.
Starting point is 00:48:52 And they're like sprinting between. Like that stuff is so rad. Weightlifters, they want to take that. Where's my 60-second clock, man? Don't have it here, man. Grab and go you're never you know if anything just taping your thumbs up is is really just the biggest thing that a crossfitter really needs to do so that they don't tear their hands but yes um that i i really feel like all the gear just starts to interfere
Starting point is 00:49:19 with the athleticism that you need and that's what i'm performing um and i think one of the biggest like that harbinger ten dollar belt you're talking about is like the max of what somebody really needs um i've you see people with these like super tight knee sleeves and stuff like that it just yeah what are your thoughts on knee sleeves or like um like you know knee wraps i think that knee sleeves are the most well knee think that knee sleeves are the most – well, knee wraps and knee sleeves are like completely different worlds. Knee sleeves I think are – and even me, the first time I put them on, I thought that they were like some performance-enhancing thing. But for the most part, you're putting a wetsuit over your knees to keep them warm, which is fantastic. Again, most people probably don't need them for like a 10-minute workout.
Starting point is 00:50:13 I think all that stuff is really built for people that are standing around in between reps that need three to five minutes to fully keep things going. They've got creaky knees and a knee sleeve is a fantastic thing if you're wearing knee wraps in any training and competition in crossfit you're you're way off yeah um there's really no need for it like that i feel like those those knees like the knee wraps, those like super heavy duty ones that you got to wrap super tight. You can't run in that stuff. No way. You can't perform in that stuff. Your leg will fall off.
Starting point is 00:50:54 Yeah. You can't move fast. There's no athleticism when you throw that stuff on. It's putting a straight jacket on your knees just so you can squat an extra 10 pounds. There's no need for – Powerlifting is used a lot. I mean – They make you insanely strong.
Starting point is 00:51:12 Yeah. The first time – I almost – now that – I squatted 425. It was the biggest squat of my life. I also squatted 419 with just a belt on. And that was probably – when I squatted four and a quarter, that was – I had wraps on. And I know that that gave me a ton of advantage and confidence walking into that because those things were wrapped up so tight. But squatting 419 um that was at cena's house and that was probably like the most the best squat i missed four and a quarter twice
Starting point is 00:51:53 um for depth and then just bottomed it out because i was really frustrated at 419 but that was no no sleeves just a regular harbinger belt. That's awesome. I rolled the bar down my back about two inches just to lower my center mass and smoked it. And I feel like that's probably my best squat ever. But those knee wraps make a massive difference. If you're going to go on a big squat cycle and your sole goal is to put up a specific number, go get some wraps and tighten them up. Get a friend to tighten them up because they make a giant difference. And for everyone listening with raw powerlifting versus equipped, now that I've been in this raw world because I coach JC, the young boy, it's still not raw.
Starting point is 00:52:42 Here's why. It's because those knee sleeves, they're only allowed to wear knee sleeves. What they do is that you'll get a guy like JC who's a monster, and he'll order extra small. And then they have this technique of how they get this extra small knee sleeve on.
Starting point is 00:52:58 Because you're not allowed, someone can't help you at a meet. So you have to, there's this technique they use. So you got extra small on a guy that weighs 231 pounds. So it's definitely happening. Powerlifting is the weirdest sport. It's crazy.
Starting point is 00:53:14 It is so weird. One, they have so many federations, so many different like weird, funky rules inside each of them. I don't know why they didn't just say, let's just wear a belt. Why can't they just have like the one title belt? why they didn't just say, let's just wear a belt. Now it's raw. The one title belt. Heavyweight champion of the world. Let's go. I wish. And agree on one set of knee sleeves. I used to say we should do this.
Starting point is 00:53:35 We should have one knee where everyone comes and you get four attempts on each lift. You have to have one that's equipped, one that is uh one that is one that is single ply and one that is raw and so now you can take and average those three and that's your lift and so now just i want to see who is strong is it who is the champion that's what i wanted to find out i was willing to go however they want it you know i like this but
Starting point is 00:54:03 it didn't and you gotta if you were to do that, you'd also have to be able to squat with the form for each one. That's one thing I noticed a lot. It's not that it changed that much when I wore knee wraps, but there is some form stuff that you just – it's like you don't have to worry about a lot of things. It's a lot more glute and just stabilizing the bar on the way down than a high bar, pure Olympic lifting high bar back squat. Yeah, it's totally different.
Starting point is 00:54:37 When you fully trust your knees, when you fully trust your knees that they're just not going to explode and you don't have to. And they're going to extend. They're going to because this wrap is going to make sure you actually yeah there's parts of it that almost feel dangerous because you feel so safe sure it no anytime you add something that allows you to put more load it makes the lift more dangerous like and that's why it makes me laugh when um you know the equipped passengers would say well i do quit because you know i want to be safe as i get older i'm like you're a liar man like you're you're using equipment
Starting point is 00:55:10 so you can squat a thousand pounds and you're trying to tell us that you're wearing it to feel safer man put a anyone go put a thousand pounds on your back and like just stand up and see how it makes you feel like you're not you're not selling me on that cowboy i mean like no no you're doing it because you want people to you know you want to put more weight on your like you're not you're not selling me on that cowboy yeah i mean like no no you're doing it because you won't be able to you know you want to put more weight on your back you're not doing it for any other reason so right in in the boxing world if someone if someone especially like they're they're really young they kind of refuse to like wrap their hands wrap their hands tape their hands they just put their gloves on nothing and they go hit the bag and like they do whatever um you know the older guys more experienced guys the guys that have been around for for a decade or two you know
Starting point is 00:55:49 they're looking at those guys going those guys are fucking stupid that that dude's hands are gonna have arthritis he's gonna be fucking hurting when he when he's 45 50 and beyond is there any advantages as far as like knee health even if you're not trying to squat uh a one rep max and a powerlifting meet or whatever it health even if you're not trying to squat uh a one rep max and a power lifting meet or whatever it is like if you're just doing normal you know four sets of eight you know once or twice a week is there advantages to the long-term health of your knees to have some type of support like that i would say this is long as long as you change the load you know like so let's say that i'm able to do 400 for five and if i put the knee sleeves
Starting point is 00:56:26 knee wraps wherever i want and i still do it for five i would say yeah it probably helps you know probably takes the stress you know it's just a stress strain curve it's like you know it's going to you know lessen the stress on say the patella tendon you know or the acl so yeah i think you know but here's what happens you put it on and you go heavier. So it's like now it's probably more of a load. And it's probably more dangerous. Yeah, anytime you increase the load, I think you make it. Maybe even if it's the same on your knees, it's now more on your spine. That's why earlier when we started, we talked about the belt.
Starting point is 00:57:00 The best reason to prescribe your athletes to not wear a belt is to keep the load down it's really that's what you know it's just that mileage you know you're right you see like young powerlifters wearing all the gear and they're 17 you're like that dude will never see 25 as far as the powerlifter goes you know you know i i know it's like with jc i make sure that he's gonna be i think he'll be the best that's ever been. So, like, it's going to be a slow ride. I don't want him to make the mistakes I did. When I was on that big squat cycle when I squatted 425,
Starting point is 00:57:36 I specifically remember in the middle of it when I was wearing wraps just going, all I have to do is just sit back because the knee just isn't a problem. It like completely eliminates any of the strength needed to extend the knee at all. It's just sitting back in a good position and it's like you just – your brain immediately trusts your knee so much that you develop what looks like that like super shallow low bar back squat form because you're kind of just doing like a standing like hip extension glute bridge good morning type squat where it's just get it just below parallel and then stand up just to say you made the lift where if it's in a high
Starting point is 00:58:25 bar position you you really have to be able to have the the ankle mobility to get into a good position um it's kind of like the the 315 squat front squat that i did yesterday or yesterday um it it almost highlights all the reasons why i had to stop being a strength athlete because once the weight starts to get that high you see like a gnarly hip shift. You start to see that I don't have a great ankle on the right side. You start to see like all the little chinks in the armor. And in order to keep going as a strength athlete, you have to go back and either decide am I going to go fix all of this or am I just going to hang it up and go be a normal human being? You got to make one of the two.
Starting point is 00:59:06 Yeah. And because it's that, those little things, but one of the places people get in, in a ton of trouble is they go, Oh, well instead of fixing this problem, I'll just wrap it up real tight and now I can throw 20 more pounds on the
Starting point is 00:59:21 bar. And it's not, all that does is lead to very long-term issues and it's going to all those imbalances although over the next year of your training may make you stronger and you're covering things up but it's just gonna you've got your you have to go back and either back the weight down and fix all the problems yes or you cover them up and put a big strong band-aid in the form of knee wraps and a big, thick, fat belt, and you just keep going. And there's no end game to that.
Starting point is 00:59:51 No. I would say if you can get away with not – unless you're trying to be the best power lifter in the world, I would question why you would ever want knee wraps. I would say get some knee sleeves, like you guys said earlier, you know, to keep the knee warm, a belt, and that's it, you know. I have to use now, I try not to, but my wrist, you know, hurts so bad just from, like, years of doing this, but I like to use, like, some really light, I use Harbinger wrist, you know, wraps to just to keep the pressure off my wrist a little bit, but other than that, like, yeah, try to, like, avoid any of that, unless you want to be the best in the world, then do what you need to do, man. Like, I'm all about it. That's one we didn't even get to.
Starting point is 01:00:28 But when I see people using those wrist wraps, I just – if you're not trying to bench an insane amount of weight, you know, you see people wearing them for Olympic lifting and stuff. But, man, there's so many better ways than to just throw those cloth wraps on your wrist because you need to snatch it's like you don't i think one of the places coaches struggle with and i struggled with this a lot is like making people happy and also telling them hey stop doing this shit because it's just dumb like you don't need these ridiculous rip wrist wraps so that you can snatch why don't you just
Starting point is 01:01:03 move your grip in a little bit? Or why don't you do a little bit of grip strength work so that you, you know, I don't know what the actual thing is, but there's so many other ways to go around it than just covering up the problem and basically putting a big thick bandaid on joints that hurt. Unless you want to be the best in the world. And then what happens is the overuse. There's no squatting university movement is going to help you.
Starting point is 01:01:29 You're going to start to hurt. Then you need to do what you need to do to survive it and wrap your wrists. I don't think I've put a belt on really since I stopped competing. It's been really cool to see how strong I still can be without even thinking about it. Like we didn't even get to Olympic lifting shoes, but, you know, that's like a. Oh, dude, I would love to hit on that real quickly.
Starting point is 01:01:56 Yeah, let's do it. The people who spend all their money on their shoe makes me laugh. Like my very first, my coach was Wes Barnett, a two-time Olympic athlete. When it was time, when I went to him as a coach, I was like, what shoes should I buy? He's like, what's the cheapest shoe? I told him, he's like, you should get that. The shoes aren't going to lift the weights.
Starting point is 01:02:14 They will not lift the weights. People nowadays are like, they'll have like 10 pairs of shoes. They're so expensive. I know. Have you seen those No Bull shoes? It looks like you should be wearing them to a freaking wedding. Man, just get a two-shoe. They look like dancing shoes for real.
Starting point is 01:02:30 Like in the middle of the wedding, as soon as the reception hits, you got to take off your dress shoes and put on the No Bull dancing shoes. They're insane. They're like $300, something crazy. Don't do that. Man, please don't start lifting weights and go buy those $300. Don't do that. Because, like, you know, odds are you're going to quit in a year anyway
Starting point is 01:02:49 because that's what happens with weightlifters. So, like, just buy the cheapest shoe. And then, you know, if you become really good at it, then you won't have to buy your shoes, so don't worry about it. I also feel like, and this is, I think we're all really lucky. We've had the opportunity through hard work through putting ourselves in the right places and sheer freaking luck that we get to be around athletes and you get to see them yeah and you watch them and you go oh there isn't a shoe on this planet that is
Starting point is 01:03:18 going to get me within 15 standard deviations of the freakingness that that guy came out of the womb nothing you can do there's nothing you can do about it, man. There's nothing you can do about it. John North used to borrow, like we would go do seminars together when I coached him, and he would nine times out of ten forget to take his weight in his shoes, and he would borrow somebody's. He didn't care. It does not help you lift more weights.
Starting point is 01:03:38 If you're the best in the world, it won't help you. You could go barefoot. John could go barefoot if he wanted to and beat everyone. The illusion that it won't help you. You just, you could go barefoot. John could go barefoot if you wanted to and beat everyone. They're just, so the illusion that regular people need all these things to get kind of sort of good. Your, your idea of kind of sort of good is really like just,
Starting point is 01:03:59 it's, it's one, it's, it's way below what you think. It's just the best version of you, which is important. Um, but you don't need to go and spend all this money on all this gear and all this stuff because you should just be excited that you're learning how to pull yourself under a barbell. You should be excited that you're learning what your ankle mobility looks like and that your knee can travel over it now and lift heavier weights because you have great form and you move well.
Starting point is 01:04:23 Spend your money on your bar and get a good rest from PRX. Get a lego and get a bar that spins. That will keep you from getting hurt. There it is. Don't spend your money on this bull. It's not going to help you out. If you're good enough, I would probably already have reached out to you. I would have found you at the supermarket.
Starting point is 01:04:41 Yeah, I would have. So just have fun and do well. Save your money for Christmas. Don't spend it on your knee wraps. Absolutely. Coach Travis Mash, where can the people find you? Mashlead.com. Doug Larson.
Starting point is 01:04:57 Were you waiting for Travis to say more? I was waiting for him to throw more. I actually was thinking I wanted to talk about your book and see how that book's going. Killed. It crushed. I actually was thinking I wanted to talk about your book and see how that book's going. Killed. It crushed. I love it. Thank God. I had a bunch of people that told me they bought it.
Starting point is 01:05:10 That crushed. Super awesome. Wait. Just pump it real quick. What's it called and what's it about? Oh, it's Smith PhD. It was just – it's all about like – you know, we talked a little bit on the show about science. It's just all the science you could ever need to be a really good weightlifting, powerlifting, strength conditioning, CrossFit coach.
Starting point is 01:05:28 I haven't read all the books, but that one's my favorite. I'm currently in the middle of just – It's my favorite. It's so simple on just what people and coaches should need. It'll keep you from being down. I've been very bothered lately. And it's all Galpin and Lane's fault. They made science so fucking cool that it's trending on –
Starting point is 01:05:55 it's like trending over the last two years to say you're a scientist and you're not. Because I know all the scientists. we talk to them all they're friends and the difference between writing the research paper because you did the study and reading it and then implement yeah everyone forgets how poor they are at the game telephone from kindergarten yeah well now it's happening on Instagram, calling yourself freaking scientists. Don't. Yeah. Yeah, don't.
Starting point is 01:06:26 But that book is. Scientists don't believe you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no scientist is coming to you to ask your opinion. I love Lane.
Starting point is 01:06:34 I love, my entertainment on Saturday night is watching him slay people on Twitter. He is ruthless. I mean, he is ruthless. Like, you should have seen last night. He made me cringe because he talked so much down to this guy.
Starting point is 01:06:46 But the dude asked for it, I meant. But anyway, I love him. The only thing that I don't fully under, I try to not have that negativity in my life. And he like looks for it to just slaughter people. He wants to slaughter because, you know, he, you know, because I asked him once, you know, I do some of do some of that too but like you know and so one day i'm like why am i doing this i'm not gonna change this person's mind they were born a fool they're gonna die one what is that i don't do it for them trav i do it for the people watching him so they don't make the same mistakes he's like he's just he wants to have some part in ending these liars on the internet, taking people's monies with no basis behind what they're saying.
Starting point is 01:07:27 So I agree with him. I want to read his new paper on CarnivoreMD. I don't even know the guy's real name when he went on Rogan, but he wrote another just – Yeah. I'm like afraid to commit to reading it because it's like so probably intense. He goes through like the vegan guy that went on Rogan. He went like line by line of everything that guy said and wrote a 10,000-word article. Like if people don't know what a 10,000-word article is, it's like a typical email that you're going to get in your email.
Starting point is 01:08:08 Talking about working out is like 500 words. So he wrote an insane amount of words, shredding every single line that that guy said on Rogan show. And I'm pretty sure he did the same thing about the Carnivore MD guy, and I'm just like... And then Lane's been on Rogan, too. Yeah, I feel like when I read those,
Starting point is 01:08:33 it's like me watching a UFC fight of smart people where you're just like, oh, that one hurt, that one hurt. You don't really hurt because he's got way too many studies right now. Instead of left hooks, he's throwing research at you. Let me give you, quickly before we end. Let me tell you the good part.
Starting point is 01:08:54 This weekend, I wanted to make sure that Morgan had a perfect way in because he always goes too far. I had him and Andy helping me. Because we were allowed, it was an online meet, you were allowed.5 over. Morgan, for the first time in his life, weighed 96.5 on the dot. Thanks to Lane and Andy. So shout out to those guys.
Starting point is 01:09:16 So listen to them. Stop arguing because they're smarter than you. Just listen to them. Keep reading their papers. Read their papers, man. They're right right you're wrong sorry doug larson uh by the way the book that you that you wrote travis if you haven't listened to the episode that we did on that book which you of course should totally go do that book is packed with with research studies like you're citing everything there's a lot of science in there
Starting point is 01:09:42 you partner with a couple other guys at your university that, you know, they have a specialist. They're specialists in a very specific field like physics and biomechanics. And so if you are a coach and you want to learn all the science behind training, this is a very good book for that. It's highly technical and very, very specific, very detailed. So great job on that book, dude. Thanks, man. You can find me on Instagram, Douglas C. Larson. I'm Anders Varner, at Anders Varner. We are Barbell Shrugged, Barbell underscore Shrugged. Get over to BarbellShrugged.com forward slash DieselDad.
Starting point is 01:10:15 That's where all the dads are getting strong, lean, and athletic without sacrificing family, fatherhood, or fitness. And get over to Walmart. All you friends out in Palm Springs, Vegas, San Diego, and L.A., Performance Nutrition. Get over to the Pharmacy 3 programs. We will see you guys next week. That's a wrap, friends. We'll see you guys on Wednesday. Make sure you get over to check out Organifi.com forward slash shrug.
Starting point is 01:10:39 On the green, red, and gold juices, saving 20% at Organifi.com forward slash shrug. And also, our friends over at Bioptimizers, Bioptimizers.com forward slash shrug to save 10% B-I-O-P-T-I-M-I-Z-E-R-S.com forward slash shrug. Let's do it, team.

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