Massenomics Podcast - Ep. 325: Evan Centopani

Episode Date: June 27, 2022

Big Evan Centopani joins us for this one to discuss his career in bodybuilding. We also get into the weeds on John Deere lawn tractors, anabolic steroids, and telegram. Make sure to check out our new ...Daddy’s Home drop that we just released! Juggernaut AI: juggernautai.app and use code MASSENOMICS to save 10% The Strength Co: https://www.thestrength.co/ Swiss Link: https://www.swisslink.com and use code MASS to save 15% Fusion Sports Performance: https://www.fusionsp.net/ MASS to save 20% on all FSP supplements Spud Inc: https://www.spud-inc-straps.com/ Texas Power Bars: https://www.texaspowerbars.com/

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 You know, thanks for what you do with your podcasts and all the rest. You're doing a great job. I hope everybody keeps tuning in. You get a lot of good info, a lot of insights, understandings on how to get strong, how to stay strong, how to use your strength. You do a great job, dude. You make things better than they are in real life, I think.
Starting point is 00:00:15 If you don't follow Massanomics, y'all do it. Social media, website, everything. Massanomics! side everything massonomics welcome to all our return listeners and a special welcome to all our new listeners if this is your first episode this is the massonomics podcast the lifting podcast about nothing my name is tanner and my name is tommy how many people do you think are hearing our voices for the first time ever right now? Thousands? 10,000? I think that's pretty conservative, isn't it?
Starting point is 00:00:49 Yeah, I think that's safely within that range. It's every week, tens of thousands of new people. Imagine that. Yeah, it'd be something. Texas power bars couldn't afford us anymore. No, not many people could. But as for now, they can. And so can our other sponsors, like juggernaut AI, um, come
Starting point is 00:01:09 me with me for this ad. If you want to lift, I need your clothes, your boots, and your individual weak points on the major lifts. Uh, we're talking about juggernaut AI, of course. And that was my patented Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation, uh, specifically like the Terminator version of Arnold. That's kind of like a humaninator version of Arnold. That's, I don't know if you can tell by the inflection. Kind of like a humanoid robot there from Austria.
Starting point is 00:01:29 Right. And we were just talking about our Juggernaut AI program. Both of us are on. PRs every day, baby. Week 11 of our respective training cycles. And you were just saying how good your squat training was going today. It is. It is.
Starting point is 00:01:44 I'm, you know, coming back from a long injury and it's almost like weekly i'm hitting prs and i'm not lying about that like it's i mean not all-time prs but like post-injury prs yeah which is great momentum haven't felt that in a long time absolutely and um other great parts about the juggernaut ai app and training is it can be easily customized to you i was just talking in our discord community earlier this week about so there's some people that had some questions and i we're talking about working around some maybe pre-existing injuries or particular exercises that are particularly painful or pain points for individuals you can work around that it's actually pick the body part pick whatever you don't need loaded quite so much and you can work around that. You pick the body part, pick whatever you don't need loaded quite so much,
Starting point is 00:02:26 and then you can work around that pretty easily. And for those of us that have maybe been training for a long time or quite a while or several years, a decade, more or less, somewhere in there, that's important because sometimes if you're locked into one thing exactly, you don't know what to do if you can't do that. And here there's options for that.
Starting point is 00:02:43 A lot of other good things and probably the best thing about Juggernaut AI is the discount code and that's Masonomics. It'll save you 10% on the life of your membership. We'll be back next week with another Juggernaut AI ad read. So thank you Juggernaut. Thank you. And then I was going to tell you all about Spud Inc.,
Starting point is 00:03:06 another one of my top six favorite sponsors of the MathSomics podcast. And you can find them at spud-inc-straps.com. You'd know Spud Inc. if you see them. They're the infamous yellow strap company. You almost can't mistake it. And if you've been involved in any strength sports, I guarantee you've seen them and their products before. And speaking of their products, they've got a lot of stuff that they make there i bet spuds probably made i wonder how many products he's made over the years probably hundreds like
Starting point is 00:03:33 oh i was 400 i was maybe a thousand yeah so some of the special things that they've got there some of the stuff we really enjoy their bow ties uh that donnie came up with of course belt yeah the belt squat belt and all the other harnesses that they've got uh home gym pulley systems and the accessories that go along with that spotter straps yeah spotter straps and then training straps i you know i think that's probably one of the original things when we talked to spud i'm sure he told us what the first one he ever came out with but um training straps are classic so if you ever need wrist straps and training straps it's a go-to place and then belts now that uh ratchet belts are allowed in usapl i guess you can wear a ratcheting uh spud strap uh spud belt and they've got some stuff that's if you're into
Starting point is 00:04:22 strongman check it out they've got like some stone loading straps and some other things that are perfect for strong man. So check them out at spud dash ink dash straps.com. And you get a free shipping on all orders. $75 or more. Yeah. There we go. Well,
Starting point is 00:04:36 this is a, this is a kind of a special podcast for us Tanner, because it's daytime. This doesn't happen very often. No, we've been doing it a little bit over the last few months, but like once every two, three months, something like that, we might do one of these.
Starting point is 00:04:48 I kind of feel like my brain is firing on overdrive when we're in the day. Yeah. Not only because it's the daytime, but, you know, you just haven't had the day crush you down for so long. Just the exhaustion of the world bearing down on you. Your entire soul hasn't been beat all the way out of your body yet for the day. There's still a little bit left. I haven't gone into this existential crisis mode yet.
Starting point is 00:05:11 And I'm like, oh, I got to talk to people now. Yes. So I always feel like I'm coming at these episodes a little different than our later night episodes. Right. Yes. I agree. It does feel a little bit different.
Starting point is 00:05:23 Even just the sun coming in. Well, yeah. The window has light coming in it, which in the summertime we get a little bit of that. Yeah. I mean, now we're getting a lot of it. A lot of it. A whole lot of it. What are we kicking off with next here today?
Starting point is 00:05:36 We had a few different things we wanted to touch on, right? I can't follow along with the show without my phone on me. Oh, yeah, that's a problem. Okay. touch on right i can't can't follow along with the show but i don't have my phone on me oh yeah that's a problem okay um i wanted to hit everyone with a little uh well first let's talk about the new drop that uh i guess we didn't talk ahead of time how we're gonna what we're gonna pose this to as far as we did a discord crew because we have this group of uh discord uh members that get to listen to the podcast live so they're listening along here today so for those of you that aren't listening live we had a drop come out on thursday uh but in real time that's not until tomorrow correct so 24 hours
Starting point is 00:06:19 so do we spill the beans on it or what do we do? I don't know. I suppose we maybe could, huh? Okay. We could at least spill the beans on some of it. Yeah. So we'll save one shirt for the details of one shirt for the end of this episode that we won't reveal until then. How's that? That sounds great.
Starting point is 00:06:37 Okay. So the decal, first of all, that spills the least exciting or, you know, the smallest takes up the least physical area. Right, right. So we have a new Mastinomics decal, and it's our stencil logo. And when I say decal, I mean it's a vinyl. Like actual, yes, vinyl. It's not just a sticker.
Starting point is 00:06:55 It's actually cut out. Right. You put it down on something, peel it away. Right. So it's great for like back windows on cars is typically where you'd see that or we've put it on some pieces of equipment in the gym and it's super high quality it's just like our lift one if you've ever uh if you have our lift one it's the same thing only it's the uh massonomics with the like square massonomics logo and you put one on the what do you call it like the arm of the
Starting point is 00:07:19 of the uh assault bike yeah something echo by echo, yeah. And it looks like it actually came from the factory that way. It does look like it's a part of it. And this isn't, I mean, this is a very similar material to what most people, if it's not painted on, are putting on their pieces of equipment. Yeah. And then, do we talk about Daddy's Home then? So just to make sure people understand,
Starting point is 00:07:42 it is a sticker you stick on things. Right. Much like a classic, the hats that you wear on your head yeah we don't feel confused about what you do with this that was a real thing i said one time not as a joke yeah it's like a hat you put on your you remember what that was specifically in reference to that was uh talking to john anderson about what was that actually hat called? Um, a fedora,
Starting point is 00:08:08 wasn't it? Oh, no, no. It was like the, I think of it as like a European hat of some kind. What the hell? You know, it has like the,
Starting point is 00:08:14 the tiny little brim on it. It's sort of like a brimless hat. Um, I would think that like in Scotland, this has to be a very, Oh, like what they wear on Peaky blinders. That's what it was.
Starting point is 00:08:24 Yeah. What is that called? A flat That's what it was. Yeah. What is that called? A flat cap. Yes. Flat cap. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:08:32 I even have a few flat caps actually at home. When I got pretty into Peaky Blinders, my wife got me a couple flat caps. There you go. Flat cap. I try to wear them and then I wear it and I'm like, I'm not that guy. I am not that guy. It's like you need to be like European or go to a brewery or something I mean you have the beard now so it almost even works even better Tanner
Starting point is 00:08:48 like you're slowly becoming that guy craft brews I'm the craft brew mean guy throw a flannel on me we'll do this we'll get the flat cap we'll put a craft beer in your hand and then we'll have you stand next to your record collection and it just it almost like writes itself
Starting point is 00:09:03 I am the most stereotypical version of that guy although i am not that guy but you kind of are that yeah actually that's true do you really get to choose if you are that guy wait a second i'm actually that's uh maybe blowing my mind am i that guy then tanner's book of like yeah tanner's book of how to wear a flat cap have a record collection and have a final drink of beer and honestly it's not mine how did that get in there I just now realize I am that guy
Starting point is 00:09:31 the only thing that separates me from it is I'm not pretentious about craft brews like I'm missing the I'm just missing like the the snootiness for now getting down on people for all
Starting point is 00:09:47 that put piss that they drink but uh for real for real no cap have you uh real real flat cap have you had a uh mickle of golden light now if we're talking craft beers to die for you know it's actually been a long time since i've had one of those and i was talking about this the other day that mick golden is actually kind of hard to come by nowadays like ultra has just taken over so yeah you're right it used to ultra is way more mainstream than it used to be like 10 years ago or 15 years ago but used to be i feel like any bar in town you could get mick golden was on tap yeah and i don't know if it really is anymore i used to have like a
Starting point is 00:10:24 decent population of my friends that specifically drank that beer all of my friends from minnesota mcgolden was on tap yeah and i don't know if it really is anymore i used to have like a decent population of my friends that specifically drank that beer all of my friends from minnesota like mcgolden was the beer they'd go to yeah it's one of my i couldn't even tell you the last time i saw it's still one of my favorite beers probably in a snapchat for me probably yeah i might go buy something yeah i might go get some just to really kick the weekend off. It is ribbed for your pleasure. I know. Not a lot of people realize that.
Starting point is 00:10:49 Yes, that's right. What were we talking about? Oh, the drop. Oh, yeah. The drop. Flat caps. I got distracted there, too. Yeah, the drop.
Starting point is 00:10:58 So Daddy's home for this drop, isn't he? He's very home. So we have a new flag and a new shirt themed around our daddy's home collaboration we have the the jonathan oldham yeah daddy's home first ever massonomics collab we did have a bacon and beer bells flag back in the day that's true but this is really really building on that this is that uh this is that on steroids to use that popular phrase of uh it is it took it we turned we that was at like volume four we turned it up to 11 and then busted the knob off is what we did on this one we did and it's it's loud i mean you're right it is loud this whole thing is
Starting point is 00:11:37 there's no way you're not getting attention wearing this yes i don't so the shirt uh if you haven't seen it yet uh what color is the shirt right lime green yeah yeah almost like neon uh-huh it really is pretty much a neon like actually i was editing the photos today and it was kind of hard to edit because the shirt was so damn bright yeah that everything else was falling into darkness and it's got big jonathan on there in all of his glory this you know the the flag the original bacon and beer bells flag was like a silhouette. Of him jumping into the pool. Yeah, and now this is a full-on artistic rendering of Jonathan in his... Patented Speedo.
Starting point is 00:12:13 Yeah, in his Speedo. And it's just, you have to see it. Have to see it to believe it. Yeah, to really recognize how much Daddy has come home. Because he's all the way home. He is all the way home. And then there's one more shirt in the drop also. There all the way home. It is all the way home. So then we, there's one more shirt in the drop.
Starting point is 00:12:26 Also there's another shirt and this is more of a classic. This actually could be a new front runner for going out t-shirts. You know, we always talk about how the new, the other one. Yeah. Yeah. The other one.
Starting point is 00:12:35 Yeah. Are we leaving that one to secret? Is that what we said? Should we do that? Maybe we'll leave that one towards the end. But you know, we always say everyone has like, they're going to the gym,
Starting point is 00:12:42 massonomic shirts and they're going out massonomic shirts. You know, the good pile, the workout pile, and the nice pile. I think this could be making a pretty good case for being in the nice pile. I think it's up there too. I think so. See, I think the Discord community is they're all like live chatting. They're like chatting with each other. Because there's a new Discord feature, maybe not new,
Starting point is 00:13:02 but an additional feature where like you can do a chat group. I don't really know. Yeah, something like that. Yeah, maybe it's within the event even. I don't know. But I think they can voice chat within the event even. Oh, is that? Okay, so we're not missing text.
Starting point is 00:13:20 No, I don't think we're missing text. I think that they can voice chat without us uh knowing what they're saying oh no no nope all right you're making me uh you're making me think that i was just missing all types of stuff here but now you said there is a thread i don't really know how that works they're setting us straight but there is a new event feature did you say we're utilizing that now uh yes live now 622 podcast all right do we got to do some follow up from last week yeah we've got a lot some follow-up from last week, Tanner? Yeah, we've got a lot of follow-up to follow up on, don't we?
Starting point is 00:13:49 Let's. Do we need to do a weight class update? Yes. All right. So this is a. I'm really liking the live follow-up in the Discord. We have the book from Austin Powers with the security or the police guy holding it and it's your picture on it Tanner
Starting point is 00:14:08 it says record collections, flat caps and microbeers this sort of thing is my bag baby by Tanner Baird and that is exactly what I had in mind I'm glad we live in a world that you can say that and then seconds later someone it's made. And if you want to take part in this real time, you can just go to massanomics.com slash join
Starting point is 00:14:32 and get signed up for the discord and you too can be a part of this. Not to jump ship on what we're already talking about, but people are we're talking about Apple's new thing for the iPhone where you're going to be able to, it's going to cut backgrounds off of people. You just kind of hold your finger down on it and tell is that already a thing or is that coming i mean it's coming there's like some people have the beta
Starting point is 00:14:52 on their phone so some people do have that feature but yeah it'll be coming this fall with ios is it 16 i believe it made me think you know like i've been doing that for years now on my phone through other things yep and now it's like. How much easier your life could. Well, that's. And also like, this is probably what photographers go through where they're like, oh, wait, now everyone can do that thing that I, you know, like, not that it's always the same. But yeah. But it's like, oh, now everyone can do like 80% of what I was always doing. Yes.
Starting point is 00:15:19 Yeah. So another good example of that is when I make the, I'm occasionally for my job, have to cut things out. It's, I'm not doing a ton of stuff with photos, but occasionally I do. But the most common one is every single week we do a thumbnail that goes on YouTube and I have to cut the person out of their background. And part of that used to be a huge pain in the ass because finding a good photo of someone depending on the person can be a bit of a challenge.
Starting point is 00:15:41 And then also depending on the background they're in can also be a huge pain in the ass too. And there was weeks where sometimes that selection part of cutting a person out could take anywhere between five minutes and 25 minutes, just depending on how complex it is. If they're missing like a shoulder and I kind of had to Photoshop a shoulder
Starting point is 00:15:56 and things like that, it could take a while. Well, recently Photoshop added the same thing, like the detect person or whatever they call it and our detect subject and now i just go and i click the button and it intelligently finds the person in two seconds it puts them on and then sometimes i just have to clean up a little bit and it has made my life so much easier not having to spend time actually doing that part of it because it's just tvs well it's uh but like even the app i use for now like probably a couple years they have that feature where it's like auto crop person oh and it cuts them out yeah well and it's just it's not always perfect though and my thought is like apples is
Starting point is 00:16:34 probably going to be really good probably better you know probably i mean they have a lot of resources they can throw at it to right but yeah you are right it is just another one of those things where well i mean you could make the same argument like having a radio show back in the day used to be a big deal. And now every idiot with a microphone has a podcast. Actually add that to the list
Starting point is 00:16:52 of your book there. Every two guys with a... Yeah, a record collection, flat caps, micro brews, and podcasts. This sort of thing is my bag, baby. Yeah, it just all keeps floating in there. Yes. I like the memes about going to every garage sale.
Starting point is 00:17:09 You're like, oh, I just wanted to find some old clothes and stuff, and all it is is used podcasting equipment. Because it is. Everyone has it. Everyone makes a shot at one, which is great. People should be able to make a shot, but it is just slightly tougher than what it was. Right.
Starting point is 00:17:24 But what we were going to talk about was this weight class update. Well, here, let's get it. be able to make a shot but it is a little just slightly tougher than what it was right but what we were going to talk about was this weight class update here let's oh okay it's getting this isn't a what's in the can it's just is a can we're just having a crispy cold lime beverage i could use one mid-afternoon beverage oh lime can you beat it can you really beat it i'll tell you what you can beat it with uh craft brew with so much hops in it that it almost makes you puke when you drink it if it doesn't give you instant cotton mouth is it even doing anything i like that that's the thing too it's like the hoppier the better there is no you know it's like that's the qualifier like and it's fun to say
Starting point is 00:18:02 stuff because i do enjoy those beers but it is fun that these stereotypes do exist and people do play into that that is my bag baby yeah uh the weight class update so last week's episode we had this conversation i brought up the fact that uh nobody was competing in this like 114 pound weight class at usa pl super ultra mega nationals and we posted a clip of that to our instagram and to our tiktok and really the clip you posted was like why does this exist right no one's competing why is there a class for this right and uh i think it was just just interesting to note that that got a lot of feedback from people you know a lot of comments and it dug out like the four people in the world that compete in those weight classes that got all
Starting point is 00:18:45 of them to come actually you could say statistically it brought out a unsignificant amount of people that are do participate in those uh uh significant or really yeah very sorry sorry yes a significant yes a huge amount uh a huge ratio of them showed actually yeah yeah uh because we did a little more looking on that and what's interesting i was having kind of fun having conversations with people on that because some people are really passionate about it and i noticed most of the people that were really passionate about it do weigh 115 pounds or their good buddy weighs 115 pounds and um there was not very many good points brought up i didn't think so either i mean most of them were
Starting point is 00:19:25 like accusatory like yeah you guys are gatekeeping it's like well but we're not trying to discourage anyone from participating we're just saying like doesn't it make sense to participate in a way where you actually compete against people right because the idea is well no those people compete against you know you you brought up the analogy we don't have a 380 to 410 pound weight class yeah like it we don't have a 410 to 460 pound you know it's like like there comes a point where yeah like the bell curve yeah yeah statistically the most people are going to be in the middle of it and then on both ends it's going to taper off even smaller but like on the top end it just goes to what depending on the federation like 380 plus or whatever that is 308 303 sorry
Starting point is 00:20:05 yes 308 plus yeah and then it's just like yep all right it doesn't matter if you weigh 375 400 450 309 you're just all the big boys now like we don't and there are people that could be in the if there was a 350 plus class there's a lot of guys that could show up for that one yeah you know but it doesn't exist because it just starts to just water it down and we don't complain too much about the 325 pound guy that he's got to compete against someone that weighs 425 pounds do you know i mean i feel like that's just the name of the game at that right and that's that's the idea with someone that weighs 110 pounds like yeah still compete for sure it's just that you know your weight class is 130 pounds so either compete out of the lower weight and you know look at your dots or whatever ratio you want to or so gain weight to get to the top of that class if you want to too yeah and the
Starting point is 00:20:52 beauty about this is that with open power lifting there's numbers that can give you hard data on how this works and is it possible we're pulling the wrong filters here maybe but i tried a few different things and it all leads back to the same conclusion. So I didn't actually believe how small these numbers were until you said. So just for example, we decided right here we'll pick 2019 because 2022 isn't over yet.
Starting point is 00:21:15 2021, you could make the argument that there were still people not competing because of COVID. 2020, obviously the number's going to be trash. So in theory, 2019 should be a great year. Maybe one of the best years for as far as participation numbers go so we pulled up 2019 and i think right away we're on open powerlifting we have all federations yeah well actually let's not even go let's well do we want to do all federations or do you want to do ipf you can even do all federations because the number will still be so small. Or whatever.
Starting point is 00:21:45 Because I have it on the IPF number right now. So this is pulling supposedly IPF data from 2019. And then the other kicker, and I did not realize this, is because you get, I don't know, a few hundred people by default. But then you say, well, get juniors out of there. Get teens and juniors. Get people that would actually be in the open. And so in open powerlifting, we to the what they call the senior option which is 24 through 34 maybe 24 through 34
Starting point is 00:22:12 um so it's pulling people from that age group which i think is a pretty good you got to filter out the teenagers i guess is our our big thing because the teenage that's where we're like yeah the team maybe there's some validity in being lighter weight classes like that and maybe that's just because some kids actually do weigh that much that is not crazy uncommon at that point yeah and i mean does that but that brings up the argument should that weight class exist just for kids and then i could make a case that no but does that need to exist then in the upper like in the open division then if that's the case that's the confusing part of it yeah i mean my thing is it probably doesn't need to exist in any, but if you do look at just the men then, so we're at like the 24 to 30, not the juniors. So we pulled 24 to 34.
Starting point is 00:22:53 We're in the 116 pound class based off of the, you know, the IPF filter and global competitors in 2019, 51, 51 people worldwide. So that means if you know a person that can just show up and compete you're number 52 in the world by just showing up and that's not to be specific that's not just the ipf federation that's just basically anyone that's 116 or under in all federations you know it's just using the weight class as a filter but if you're weighed 114 teen and uh um yeah that's not even pulling up any but anyone one six under 116 in any federation that's above in between the 23 and 35 year old age bracket, there's 51 of them. I'm so confused on this because honestly, I can't find, if I pull up IPF, like these people like don't exist.
Starting point is 00:23:58 Like I can't find. There is so very few of them, but that's kind of the point. The one decent point that someone brought up in the comments and talking back from forth and someone said yeah i competed in those class i used to compete in the united states and there was nobody in them ever uh when i didn't move to asia there was quite a few more people competing so maybe you can find some competing there more than here? Man, I don't know. We're just talking about such small numbers.
Starting point is 00:24:29 It's like hard to find filters that actually pull people up. And that's kind of the whole point of the whole thing. It's not about any individual or discrediting how strong they are. People are taking this as a discredit of how strong they are. That's not what it's about. It's about there's nobody competing in those weight classes. Yeah, even all feds this would be i believe all ipf divisions are all people that use ipf weight classes in 2019 even the 130 pound class there was only 326 people so it's just like there's so few people competing in those it almost seems like
Starting point is 00:24:59 wouldn't you just combine them together for the sake of because this is a sport and the point of sport is competition at the lowest one you will not have someone to compete against unless you're at a national meet and then you might have what one two five people to compete against like essentially you don't have competition until you go to a global stage right even then you're talking about competing against 50 people which makes it one of the smallest sports in the world doesn't it yeah i mean it it just makes it so irrelevant with that few people like um like it's been subdivided so much that by showing up you're already in the top 50 in the world doesn't it seem like a weird thing and especially about a sport where the joke is participation trophies that's just a adds to that you know that doesn't help
Starting point is 00:25:43 the cause there yeah and to be i mean we think it's great that people at these weights compete like absolutely that's the great thing about powerlifting everyone can compete and there's a spot for everyone it just seems weird that you signify the smallest ones that much because we'd say the same thing if a new federation popped up and they had a 400 pound weight class it's like really did we really need to look at the data how many people are there really that that way that much yeah what do we say we even if there was a thousand people do we really need to carve out another space for people that way over 400 yeah is that so is that what's stopping the sport from
Starting point is 00:26:13 doing things is having that many you think there's more people competing over 400 or under 114 i'd say over 400 don't you i would kind of guess i mean you can go to almost any powerlifting meet and find a man that's over 400 pounds there yeah right yeah or damn close to 400 real yeah right right i shouldn't say over but yeah very very close to 400 there's gonna be a guy like every power i think everyone i've been to there's been a guy that's very close to 400 maybe they just start stick out a lot better in my memory than the 107 pound guys but yeah you didn't realize those other guys were competing oh i, I didn't see you there, but that is also the beauty of open bar.
Starting point is 00:26:47 You can know exactly how many people over 400 pounds competed last year. Yeah. And how many people under a hundred and are 113 pounds or less competed. So very interesting. I never would have thought to look at the numbers behind that, but it does kind of prove that there's just not many people in the world that fit that very specific criteria there really isn't in this very specific sport how about a little supporting our supporting members would you like to yeah what do we got to get our guest on uh about now okay but we still got time for supporting our supporting
Starting point is 00:27:19 members of course uh this is a one of our faster growing segment it's relatively new and we talked about our discord community this is where we uh recognize a few of those members each week on just some different life events or a compliment accomplishments could be competing could be not competing related uh could be a little bit of anything but they all support us uh every month and we like to give back a little bit if you want want to join the Discord community, you can sure do that. We'd love to have you do that. I think it's turned into one of the fastest growing Wire fan club communities online.
Starting point is 00:27:51 They are really big into the Wire there. So if you're into the Wire. As in me, I am too. That's, the Wire is a very, at least for now, a very central part. But the subjects do rotate in and out. So you're bound to find something that fits your interest in the discord community
Starting point is 00:28:08 but the members this week first on the docket is sarah strong she competed in her first jujitsu tournament and placed first with three submissions that's really cool yeah wouldn't catch me trying that next is big mini who you might remember from such places as the massonomics booth at the arnold this year big mini competed powerlifting meet he did a 534 squat a 360 bench a 644 deadlift big deadlift nothing mini about those no no No, no, big mini. 15.38 total. That was an 89-pound total PR. Hell of a meet then for big mini. Good work.
Starting point is 00:28:55 And I can only assume it's from all the stuff he learned working at the Massanomics booth at the Arnott this year. All the insider secrets we gave him. Next was Big Chris Daminger. I guess I always say that. That's how I always say his last name in my head, but I don't know if I've ever said it out loud. I was going to say the same thing. I've never said it out loud, but that is how I say it in my head too.
Starting point is 00:29:12 So we're probably both wrong. Yes, yes, that's correct. Maybe he's on today. Sometimes he listens live. I don't know. But anyways, he competed as well. He did a 501 squat, a 250 bench bench and a 600 deadlift another big deadlift nice uh 1350 total and that was a 150 pound total pr god these triple digit prs that's
Starting point is 00:29:34 that's serious cut me off some of that take what he's having so congrats to our supporting members this week more fine work as always as always. Good stuff, guys. Yeah. Don't let us down next week. No. Guys and girls, I should say. Yeah. Do we got time for an ad?
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Starting point is 00:31:18 and began power lifting in the mid-70s. At the time, he was working for Image Barbell, building gym equipment. Around 1976, a local machine shop started making Olympic bars time, he was working for Image Barbell, building gym equipment. Around 1976, a local machine shop started making Olympic bars for them, calling it the Image Bar. In 1977, Image Barbell became Champion Barbell. It was then that Buddy started looking at the bars with an intent of changing them for the better. In 1979, Buddy bought his first lathe to begin addressing the known issues. In 1980, his passion, drive, and purpose now had a greater mission. Buddy set out on his own to make what he believed was the
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Starting point is 00:32:13 Boot those guys off. Oh, there they go. And should we get Big Evan on the horn? Let's do it. All right. Hello? Big Evan, is that you? This is me.
Starting point is 00:32:40 You are live on the Massonomics podcast with Tanner and Tommy. What's up, Evan? What's up, guys? What's happening? We're excited to have you on. It's been a long time coming. And we better make sure we say your last name right. Is it Santapani?
Starting point is 00:32:51 Is that how it's called? That's right. All right. We're geniuses. Ding, ding, ding. One for one so far. It only goes downhill from here. No, we're excited to get you on. We've had a whole bunch of guests on over
Starting point is 00:33:07 the years uh but not all that many pro bodybuilders and if you know you would have to take one look at us to know we don't know that much about bodybuilding so uh well let me ask you what pros have you had we've had stan stan yeah stan efforting we've had ben pollock ben pollock uh okay john anderson was he in was he a pro bodybuilder do you know john uh i think he's a pro yeah okay um so wow so really not many so no this is this is kind of special you are one of the most special guests we've ever had let's put it it that way. I love feeling special. Yeah. Well, right?
Starting point is 00:33:49 Who doesn't love to feel special? Yeah, that's exactly right. So we are excited. And, you know, you kind of follow along with Mastonomics on Instagram a little bit. So you kind of get our silly goose sense of humor. So that's the best when we don't have to like work someone into understanding that uh we're kind of trying to have a little fun yeah right right you already get it no you guys you guys put out some good stuff it's been fun you guys for a while
Starting point is 00:34:15 yeah yeah i remember the first time i saw it i'm like huh is this or is this really? I remember you texting me. You're like, oh, Evan follows us. And so maybe, you know, we don't always go like deep in people's background story, but I think it would be good since we probably got a lot of, you know, a lot of people that listen to us, they train at home or maybe into a little bit of power lifting, maybe do some strong man, that sort of thing. But I don't know that we have a lot of people that follow bodybuilding super closely. So I think it is really valuable if you give us a little bit of your rundown on what your history,
Starting point is 00:34:54 getting into the sport, how long you've been at it, and some of that stuff. Yeah, yeah, cool. So in 1972... Oh, no. Wait, how far back are we going here? In 1972. So I started competing in 05. I was 23.
Starting point is 00:35:17 You know, I mean, I started in high school working out and all that. I was really, really heavy when I was a kid. I mean, I was like two and a quarter in like seventh grade. But really like. You were like Tanner. I was going to say that was about what I was like at that like you were like Tanner I was gonna say that was about what I was like at that I that was about what I was like at then I think too I was big I was fat but I was actually like really strong you know like I had a cousin who lived next door who was like five years older than me and like I could beat him up and so it wasn't like just like a pile
Starting point is 00:35:43 of mush I was a really strong kid I was was really active, but overweight. And you know, I just wanted to lose weight. Like did I bodybuilding or any of that stuff? It was never even on my radar. I just wanted to not be fat. So high school, like very beginning, I, I worked my way up to like running, like I couldn't run a mile in gym class, but then after a year i was running five miles a day i lost 70 pounds no clue what i was doing i was just starving myself and all that and finally once i got thin and i was like you know like i'm still not like ripped like
Starting point is 00:36:17 i still wanted to be like really really lean and then i realized i had to work out so started working out and by the time i graduated high school, I was like two and a quarter. I could bench 405. Like I was like, I really responded well to weight training. And throughout college, I got bigger and bigger, you know, found some special supplements. We liked you shared that. It was like a, what is the name of that make that uh little anabolics 2005 and 2002 the books oh my god somebody asked i do a q a and
Starting point is 00:36:55 somebody asked me about asked me about that and it took me back and it was like yeah that was like that was like the bible for a while okay just Just the cover of that book alone is pretty amazing. Well, I think for so many people, because when people see that book, they feel this is similar. They get taken back. They're like, oh, my God. Yeah, that book. Because a lot of us had that. And whether we admit it or not, we had that book.
Starting point is 00:37:24 So throughout college, I just got bigger and bigger and bigger i mean i hit like 280 in college and i was getting like really strong and you know by the time i graduated college i was working out at a local gym and there was a really big dude there we started working out together and he's like you got to compete and i was like all right i'll do a show and he kind of guided me a little bit and i ended up winning the heavyweights and the overall and it was a pretty big show and he kind of guided me a little bit and i ended up winning the heavyweights and the overall and it was a pretty big show and what year was that kind of just that was 05 i was 23 years old and that just kind of started everything so by the time you did your first competition you were enormous i mean you were a huge dude at that point in time already then i mean i was by that time i had been as heavy as 280 i competed at two and a quarter
Starting point is 00:38:06 peeled i mean i was peeled and you know i was beating grown men like i was looking back i was really good for 23 years old yeah that makes sense so then, and, uh, no, go ahead. Just where it went from there. Yeah. From there. It was like, I ended up going to, um, the Olympia that year,
Starting point is 00:38:32 just to watch a friend of mine was friends with Gustavo Bedell. And he asked me if I wanted to go. So I went and I was in the airport on the way back. And I ran into just, just so happened. Dave Palumbo was on the same flight as me. And I'm sitting next to him in the airport and we just got talking he's like oh you know who are you and so on and he looked me up and he's like wow geez this was your first show you look great you know
Starting point is 00:38:55 you should do another show and at that point I wasn't even thinking of competing again like it was just something I was going to be something I did one time. And he said, no, no, you've got to do it again, and you should do the junior nationals. And so he helped me for that, and then I won that. I won the overall, and then I went to nationals that year, and I took runner-up to the guy who ended up winning the overall. So then I was like, all right, this is – I guess maybe there is something here. So then I came back the next year, and I won nationals.
Starting point is 00:39:24 So I was 25 when i turned pro and i done i think that was my fourth show okay yeah that's good progress so i was lucky to like progress like to ascend quickly like um i did really well really quickly were you crushing things in terms of training and uh diet diet right off the get-go? Do you think you had an awesome base to begin with? Why were you doing so well so fast? Was it partly genetics or just a combination of all that stuff? I think it was everything.
Starting point is 00:39:58 I know I have decent genetics. My dad never lifted a weight in his life, and he has bigger forearms than I do. No, for real he went he went through six years of cancer treatment his forearms are still bigger than mine yeah right right that's yeah that probably doesn't hurt so there's that yeah but even from the time i started i was always really crazy about it. Like, um, really, really diligent. I never drank or, you know, did drugs throughout the high school or college. I was always ultra focused. I'd probably say in hindsight, more obsessed. Um, and it probably is what helped me to excel at it. You've got to, I think. So I think to really excel at anything um people excel in different areas of life whether it's different types of business or a sport you kind of have to be i think yeah
Starting point is 00:40:54 and i think particularly in like the strength training or gym environment sports particularly bodybuilding because uh it is so much more of a 24-7 uh sports i mean i know like yeah like powerlifting kind of is in a way although the diet is not even remotely on the same uh cardio right right you know that is it's like it's uh so much more to it than the just the gym when you're talking about you know professional Right, right. There's so many things to it, like you said. It's the diet, it's the training, is there a genetic factor? Do you have that drive in the gym?
Starting point is 00:41:32 From the time I started, it was always train as hard and as heavy as possible. I never had much of an issue with the whole intensity thing. I was literally just having this conversation with a client this morning and I was maybe expressing a little bit of frustration. Some of the clients that I work with and kind of looking at things in terms of like comparing it to maybe what it was like when I was coming up and granted a lot of the people I help, they don't,
Starting point is 00:42:02 that I help, they don't have maybe the same aspirations that I did, but maybe the things that they'll complain about is sometimes so mind-boggling. Because I look back and, I mean, I gave my client this example. I mean, you guys remember Phenoplex pellets, the cartridges? I don't know. No, no. Oh, God. the cartridges? I don't know. I don't know. I don't think I know what those are. All right. So, you know, everybody talks about trend, right? Back in the day, you know, this is like the early two thousands. It wasn't easy to come by. It's not like it is now the whole world, that whole underground world shifted in the early two thousands, because like
Starting point is 00:42:43 you used to get a lot of things that came from Europe that came from South America and when that whole Operation Raw Deal happened a lot of doors closed so a lot of kind of legitimate avenues that were otherwise open were now shut so it opened the doors people started using raw materials from China and compounding things on their own then came all the underground laboratories but trend balloon like you didn't used to be able to really buy that somebody you knew had had to make it or you made it yourself and the only way you made it because you weren't getting it like raw material from china there were veterinary supply places online and and you you had to buy
Starting point is 00:43:27 boxes of it's called phenoplex h okay and it contains cartridges and the cartridges are made to load in a gun and then they shoot them in the cattle i don't know if it's in their ear or somewhere yeah in their skin back in the day i worked on a farm where i literally did that i would shoot those in a cow's ear like okay so those cartridges we used to take them and break them open dissolve crush the pellets up dissolve them and there's a whole process and because basically there's there's glue and binders you've got to filter it all out and you make it into a viable usable substance so my point being like people are complaining to me oh i don't i'm sick of eating this and i'm thinking back motherfucker i was a chemist i was making shit from cattle pellets
Starting point is 00:44:15 you're complaining to me that you're bored about your diet so it's i don't know yeah i guess i was always maybe a little hyper focused oh that that makes sense but so yeah you don't just get to casually do that right right right that doesn't happen on accident and you mentioned your training so then or now or relative to bodybuilders did you you train heavy on the compound movements because uh uh i know that i've heard some of the both that so some people don't find that all that necessary but like when it's coming to like a squat or a bench uh coming up were you consistently training those movements and relatively heavy for better or for worse i always went as heavy as i could which in hindsight was was probably kind of
Starting point is 00:45:01 detrimental um if i could go back and change any one thing i probably would have spent more time doing maybe mobility work or accessory type work but yeah man when it came to squatting benching deadlifting yeah dude i always went as hard as i could i mean my best lifts yeah that's what i want that's what i had wanted to get to is some of your better sets or any of that stuff so i mean on a flat bench i remember doing four plates for 12 to 15 was not that uncommon yeah the heaviest i ever went was four plates and quarters on each side i got that for eight um i never did anything heavier than that i don't know what I could do beyond that. Squats, you know, six plates for eight. Deadlifting, six plates for 12. Barbell rowing, four plates for 10.
Starting point is 00:45:53 I used to be able to do standing behind the neck. Okay, standing behind the neck overhead barbell press with two plates and a quarter, like to the track for 10. I mean, even the thought of that now, my spine wants to just fall out. Those are some crazy weights. And the crazy part of it from like the side of the world that we sit on is that like you not having the temptation to do like, say a 455 bench for a set of eight and not to be like,
Starting point is 00:46:24 I wonder what five plates is you know like just like it's like like that's not your end goal yeah but like it's it makes sense because it's not your end goal but just to think of it uh through our eyes not to be like i wonder what five plates in a quarter if i could do that you know like to resist doing that because like the risk to reward isn't probably wasn't worth it for you. There's no reason to do that. But it's just crazy to think about resisting that when you obviously could have done it. Maybe I wouldn't have been so intimidated by it if I had more technique. Because legitimately, if somebody said, okay, well, if you can do four plates for 12 to 15, then with five plates, but I honestly,
Starting point is 00:47:06 five plates would scare me because I don't, you know, I would always be afraid of, well, what if I injured myself or, um, probably if I had more technique and maybe worked more in that range, I would have felt more tempted to do it. But I was always like, uh, yeah, keep it away. Yeah. No, that makes sense. Those are some impressive numbers too. And what's like, so your heaviest, uh, weight,
Starting point is 00:47:29 uh, training weight or competing weight, how, cause you compete in super heavy weight, right? The highest weight class. So with this one year after I turned pro, it was an off season and I don't know why,
Starting point is 00:47:42 but I just kept putting on a weight. It's not because I was using a lot of gear or anything like that the weight just kept coming on I ended up I ended up at like 318 and that was that's morning weight like it's not like oh I you know ate five meals and drank a gallon of water that was like I woke up and take a took a leak and that was what I weighed um and my highest stage weight was 270 um but probably my probably my best though was somewhere around you know 250 mid 250s that's was probably the best blend of size and condition that i would ever achieve And so when you were at that weight, like roughly where are you at in your career at that point? So that was 2012, 13.
Starting point is 00:48:33 So I had been a pro for six or seven years. And I was, let's see, in my early 30s. Okay. Yeah. We always do a little back-end research before we have anyone on we do a little search and see what we pull up on instagram you know just google search anything like that and it's funny you know you have a pretty detailed wikipedia page uh have you ever looked at that before have you ever been a while okay i mean i'm aware i'm aware that i have one yeah and i'm
Starting point is 00:49:03 i just wondered it's a funny thought when i was thinking about it and asking you like who's putting all that like do you ever wonder who's putting all that in there and have you looked at it like is that all accurate i just wonder because there's a lot of information in there i'm like uh you know his father uh he had a night born to an italian father and an english mother and stuff like that i'm like thinking if it was me i'm like who is coming up with that family tree yeah who's getting that that's pretty good yeah um i haven't looked at it recently so i wonder if someone's like keeps just slowly dripping in more details yeah i suppose that's how it works but it's a funny thought like but you've probably been featured i mean do you know how many magazines you've been in over the years no no clue i mean it's a lot right i mean like it would be a shitload i suppose
Starting point is 00:49:50 featured yeah but see the the interesting thing is that from the time well before i was even a pro um i was off fortunately i had the good fortune to be offered an exclusive magazine contract with muscular development okay so over the years that's the only magazine i specifically shot for i was been featured in other magazines but i was under contract with them my entire career so that any cover i was on it was um it was theirs interesting okay well that brings up a big thing too like um animal animal pack or uh what is it universal nutrition is that like the parent company or whatever it is but i always think of it as as animal um you like we were talking like if we were to think of someone that is like
Starting point is 00:50:38 like a face of animal it's kind of you i don't know who you know who else it is for sure but like when we think of animal it's like it's like your picture right I don't know who else it is for sure, but when we think of animal, we think of ads. It's like your picture. When we think of these black and white ads that animal's known for, it's like you're the guy in black and white. Right. So you've had that. You must have got that deal pretty early on in your career too. Yes. That was 2006, right after I did the junior nationals and I won and muscular development offered to bring me out to California it's so it's so funny because um you know at the time I'd only been with my girlfriend for like a few months and she was kind of like just you know exposed to this whole world of bodybuilding and you know honestly
Starting point is 00:51:25 in her head she's probably like what the fuck um so here she is in chicago with me and i just win this thing and muscular development's like oh hey come to la we're gonna shoot you for a cover which was really really cool but in my head i was like I can't just leave her. Like she's, you know, she's been, she's been through this now with me and she's here. I can't just send her home. So in my head, I was like, well, I'm going to ask him if they'll bring her also. Cause if not, I'm just going to go home, which in hindsight was like, it's kind of hilarious, but you know, they, they said no problem and all that. But, um know, I got the cover on the magazine, and then that kind of catapulted a lot of things. Because back then, amateurs really didn't get covers on magazines.
Starting point is 00:52:14 And it was really soon after that that kind of my phone started ringing. And I talked to a lot of really prominent companies at the time and was made some pretty good offers. But at the end of the day, just the conversation that I had with the guys at Universal, it just kind of felt like, you know, they were interested in me because yes, you know, they knew about me because of my competitive success, but it wasn't like that was everything to them. And I kind of liked that. And I felt like maybe there was a greater potential for a long, like a long-term relationship. And well, 15 years later, it turns out that I was right. That's, that's almost gotta be unheard of too, because one,
Starting point is 00:53:00 a company lasting for 15 years in this industry is nearly impossible. And then two, for you to also remain relevant and not drop off the face of the earth is kind of unheard of too. So it was kind of the perfect mashup for you guys. It's something I'm really, really proud of. I mean, I've seen guys over the years, if they're with a company for a few years and they move on to another one, that's really common. and they move on to another one that's really common. And for my own, what I felt like was the strength of my own brand, I never wanted that to be me because you'll see a guy and one day, oh, this brand, it's the best.
Starting point is 00:53:40 And then next year, it's, oh, I'm with this company now. They've got the best stuff. How do they have the best stuff? The other guys just have the best stuff. You just told me he had the best stuff? The other guys just had the best stuff. Yeah. You just told me he had the best. Yeah. It looks terrible and it's so disingenuous and I feel like it, it looks really bad. I never wanted that to be me because I felt like at the end of the day,
Starting point is 00:53:55 and I felt this way at a young age and I'm glad that I did, but I felt like at the end of the day, people have to trust what you're saying. And if you don't have that, forget it. You've got, you've got nothing. Yeah. Um, so it ended up working out really well, um, over the years with them. And I'm really proud because it's almost like dog years. I mean, 15 years with a company in the bodybuilding world is like being with a company for, for like 40 outside of that. It's like a life sentence. So did they have, you know, when you look at animal, like they are known for, you know, they're very, I mean, you could say iconic imagery and they're known
Starting point is 00:54:33 for that style. Did that black and white kind of gritty look, did that exist before you got there? Or has that been like a thing you guys have developed together? Nope. That was already in place. Sorian brian moss who you know kind of who became their go-to photographer and to some degree a partner with them over the years that was largely his his brainchild that whole style and uh frank mcgrath i think was there one year maybe prior to me getting there but But Brian utilized a couple just kind of local, maybe national-level guys. And that was the interesting thing with them was they needed a bodybuilder, right? Because they want, you know, for physical purposes, right, for the aesthetic of it.
Starting point is 00:55:23 But they wouldn't really necessarily show the guy's face. So they didn't really need somebody who was famous necessarily or winning the Olympia because it wasn't, the whole brand wasn't based on that, which was really kind of smart on their part. It is. In contrast to like maybe a BSN where, you know, like Ronnie really put them on the map and took them to the
Starting point is 00:55:46 top. But then when Ronnie exits, you kind of need the next Ronnie. And Animal really kind of grasped that concept that a good brand, you know, is more, is about way more than you know any one person or it's much it's really ultimately going to be about an idea and i think that's what they captured really really well uh over the years i think that that's spot on too uh just thinking about some of the the pictures that have been out we have this one hanging in our gym it's you'll know the other two guys it's the three of you like walking down uh parking lot or yeah like and uh you know who are the other two i mean you know the one i'm talking about probably oh that was a great yeah brian has had so many good ideas over there so do you are you guys familiar with diamond gym have you heard of it you know what i don't know okay okay so it's a i guess maybe because it's more
Starting point is 00:56:47 of a bodybuilding right so it's a old school gym started by this guy john kemper who was a pro back in the 70s him and his wife shirley started this gym in uh maplewood new jersey i mean it's a real shithole area like Like a real bad area. Which, to be totally honest, I feel like the best gym, you kind of need that environment. That's the best. It can't be too squeaky clean. Metro Flex in, what is it, Houston or wherever
Starting point is 00:57:15 Ronnie trained out of? Where was that? That was kind of a dump in a way, isn't it, too? A dump, but like Diamond Gym, it's really in the middle of the hood. And like the first time I showed up there, you know, I mean, I'm like, I don't know, 25. And I've got my fucking cooler over my shoulder.
Starting point is 00:57:35 And I'm walking up and there's two dudes, big, big dudes sitting outside on like the curb. And I hear one of the dudes go, who the fuck is this asshole? the curb and i hear one of the dudes go who the fuck is this asshole like you know that's the kind of gym i like to walk into because it's um you're like am i gonna have the workout of my life am i gonna get stabbed i don't know yeah yeah and it's it's i don't know there's a certain energy there and i like that but this this was in that photo was in the parking lot of the supermarket across the street from diamond gym. And Brian's like, I've got this idea. And, you know, he's, he's, um, kind of, you know, going through the details of it in my head. I'm like, I don't know why.
Starting point is 00:58:19 Well, fuck it. Let's try it. So we do it. And it's, it's actually really cool um that was probably one of the coolest you know the coolest the pictures ads it was it became a poster and it said like you know the the door to the door to the future is open will you step through or something to that effect yeah we have the poster of that and uh what I wanted to know... So it's me, Frank McGrath, and Eric Fankhauser. What I wanted to know is those clothes you guys are wearing,
Starting point is 00:58:50 was that actually any of your clothes? Or were those all... It's like the most tattered sweatshirt you've ever seen in your life. Where did they get that stuff for the picture? So that's a good question. I'm like, nobody's walking around in that, I don't think. So some of that stuff was stuff, because Brian would be
Starting point is 00:59:08 like, hey, if you have anything that you've been wearing over the years that you're partial to. For the last 60 years. Any antiques. Bring it. A lot of the stuff was stuff that we did genuinely own or wear from time to time, but then you know, bring it. And a lot of the stuff was like, you know,
Starting point is 00:59:25 the stuff that we did genuinely own or we don't wear from time to time, but then Brian would bring stuff too. And that's why he was so, the stuff, the photos that Brian captured were so awesome because he put so much work into it. I mean, there were photographers that I shot with over the years that maybe from a technical standpoint, they were really fantastic, but they would shoot you in the middle of like a plan of fitness. Um, and it's just going to be a different photo. Like Brian
Starting point is 00:59:58 would be like, Oh, there's this gym and the backdrop and it's this really cool place. And he really just got into the whole thing. Him being a prior gym owner, he owned Better Bodies in Manhattan in the early 80s. And he's just someone who's been a part of that gym culture for a long time. So aesthetically, he had just a lot of ideas in his mind and it would come through in photos. And I think, I mean, to this day, the photos that he's taken of me are just are absolutely my all time favorite. I think that's a, I think you touched on something there. That's really interesting. It didn't really click with me till right now is
Starting point is 01:00:33 like, you look at the photo and there are, you can definitely spot, you know, bodybuilding photos from the early two thousands in the nineties. And you're like, yeah, I know what era this was taken in. But looking at that photo of you guys, it's like, they're like yeah i know what era this was taken in but looking at that photo of you guys it's like they're like these weathered warriors and i honestly was this photo taken today 10 years ago 20 so it's like kind of this timeless piece where you could show it to people and they just it looks badass it looks hardcore and you don't even really know what it's from it just it's like timeless that's definitely the genius of b Brian's stuff because he was very much not into any kind of trends. And, you know, when you look at a lot of the work that's being done for different brands,
Starting point is 01:01:13 whether people mean to or not, a lot of it is, it follows certain trends by Brian, by Brian saying, well, listen, you know, whatever that tank top is that you've had for a long time, you've made it your own, bring it. But if you're wearing new Nikes to the gym, maybe leave those home. And by doing that, it prevents the image itself from being dated because you have no reference. Yeah, that's a good point. And it helps, too, if nobody has a 2001 Jay Cutler haircut where you're like,
Starting point is 01:01:45 ah, people had their hair like that. I actually just talked to Jay earlier. Yeah. He's does really well. Right. Like, I mean,
Starting point is 01:01:59 he's got a lot of stuff going on from like, Oh, he's got stuff going on. And yeah, we, um, I just started, are you guys familiar with telegram at all?
Starting point is 01:02:08 We're going to ask you about it. Actually, I am barely not familiar with it at all, but, uh, Tommy brought it up here, you know, pop up here and there in some things,
Starting point is 01:02:16 but I haven't personally used it before. So, I mean, mainly, I think most people are using it to communicate with their drug dealer, but it's, it's, it's an app, but you, one thing that you could do on it is you can have, um, you post what are called these like circles and they're like these one minute videos. And, uh, a buddy of mine had this idea. He's like, why don't you get together some of your your bodybuilding buddies yep and kind of create like an online like a group chat like a conversation then people can
Starting point is 01:02:51 subscribe they can watch you guys bullshit people will probably find it interesting and it's i mean the list of guys has grown but it's me chris tuttle j Jose Raymond, James Hollingshead, Lee Priest, I think I saw him. Dude, have you heard any of Lee's stories? Well, I know he's got some wild stuff, so it stuck out to me when I saw him in there too. Yeah, wild is putting it mild. And there's Fuad, Flex Lewis, Guy Cisternino, and Jay, we were having a conversation,
Starting point is 01:03:29 don't know if it'll happen, so it might or might not, but maybe he'll join in, and it's become really interesting, and I'm not a huge social media guy, I'm not as active as I should be, by my own admission, but with this, it's so easy, and it's like you want to partake in it because you're just having like a
Starting point is 01:03:47 group chat with your friends and it's fun. But yeah, something new. So people can, would you say they could go subscribe to your Telegram, your feed on there if they want to? Is that what it is? Yeah, so you don't pay for it or anything, but you subscribe and you get a notification when someone posts, which I mean, a given day between all of us, there ends up being like 100 or so of these things. It's crazy. And we're not even trying to do that, but it just ends up happening. and most people are like, I don't know what that is. So the hardest part is communicating to people what it is and what you're doing. But once they see it, they're like, oh my God, this is great.
Starting point is 01:04:28 This is hilarious. And you made the drug dealer comment because like the platform, what, it's not really regulated? Well, because I think it isn't there. Don't they go for more of a, like it's encrypted and they kind of are more of supporters of free speech than perhaps maybe like Facebook or Instagram would be. I guess that's where I was seeing some things of them pop up with.
Starting point is 01:04:48 Yeah, that's the impression that I'm under. Like it's not, for better or for worse, I don't think there's any kind of community standards or guidelines. If they were, Lee would be in trouble. Oh God. The best Lee, Lee has told this story the other day and he's saying, don't,
Starting point is 01:05:10 I don't even know how we got on the subject, but he's like, you know, he's like, my, so my ex wife and I, you know, this guy was riding her or I'm sorry.
Starting point is 01:05:20 She, she was, she was riding this guy. Hopefully he wasn't riding. My ex wife is riding this guy and I'm standing off riding that. My ex-wife is riding this guy. And I'm standing off to the side. And the next thing I know, I feel somebody sucking my dick. And it's him.
Starting point is 01:05:35 And then people started calling me and text messaging me. And they're like, what? Did you hear what Lee said? It's pretty hilarious. He's got some stories. It's the old I'm not gay, he sucked my dick. That was the argument.
Starting point is 01:05:55 It was kind of like, well, it's only gay if you think it's gay or you want it to be gay. There's probably a bigger debate there yeah we'd have to get leon to really get to the bottom of that one i guess he's he's actually a great guy he's hilarious to talk to um he's really likable yeah so you have been um you know you're naming a bunch of guys here and obviously uh you had a fairly long career so you've got to compete and know a ton of guys do you do you stay in touch with a bunch of guys here and obviously uh you had a fairly long career so you've got to compete and know a ton of guys do you do you stay in touch with a lot of the guys that you were
Starting point is 01:06:29 competing against through the years um i mean i definitely stay friendly i've always gotten along pretty well with everybody um yeah well especially now that we're doing this thing, yeah. Probably maybe not as much as I should have just because I'm always so busy day to day with what I've got going on and whatever. But here and there would be a phone call. But it's not like for better or for worse. It's not like I'd be jumping on a plane to go visit um you know guys that i've met along the way or maintained a friendship with if anything it would be a call are you doing or are you going to be at the olympia oh let's grab a bite to eat you know when when we're both there you know things like that yeah yeah and you mentioned it there and
Starting point is 01:07:21 referring back to your wikipedia page it told told me you were going to compete in 2020 somewhere. And I think it was canceled because of COVID or something like that. Is that, is that, was it, did Wikipedia have that right? Yeah. Jeez,
Starting point is 01:07:34 boy, somebody, somebody's really staying in current. So do you have plans of competing anymore or like what, where are you at on that? Well, you know, in in was it 2016 or 17 i ended up blowing my quad tendon and um i read that surgery got it read about that on the slip yeah nice and if you if you read about the injury that's actually the number one way that it occurs
Starting point is 01:08:01 it's it's not from the fall but when you begin to slip you have this immediate reaction to try to regain your balance you jerk yeah and the muscle tightens up really fast so you know obviously the bigger the muscle probably the more force you generate and i'm not in it you know it's not like i'm the type of guy who ever trained explosively. So my tendons and stuff probably just weren't used to that sudden jolt. And boom, it was enough to rip it right off the kneecap. So you get it reattached. And dude, honestly, it took me forever. It was like a few years.
Starting point is 01:08:38 And things just still didn't feel normal. I couldn't do a leg extension. A lot of people I spoke to didn't have anywhere near the experience that I had. They came back a lot faster. They felt better, but it was a while. And then, you know, I got myself to the point where I felt confident enough. So I started getting ready for 2020 that got canceled. And I'm at the point now, my hips, they feel so shot. And I'm at the point now, my hips, they feel so shot. I think, to be totally honest, I think I have a torn labrum in my right hip,
Starting point is 01:09:14 but I haven't definitively determined that. And I think at this point, especially with everything that's been going on, a lot of guys have dropped dead. I don't know that I'm done. And to be totally honest, I mean, I'll always train. I'll always love bodybuilding, but to be good, I mean, you have to be so immersed in it. And so, like I said earlier, you've got to be obsessed. And if I'm honest enough with myself, I don't feel that way. It's one thing to get in really great shape for a photo shoot or, you know, for a certain event or whatever it is, but to be able to, to be competitive, you have to train a certain way. And I don't really feel
Starting point is 01:10:02 that I'm able to train the way that I would need to train to be competitive or to look the way that I would want to look and the last thing I'd want to do is get out there and embarrass myself yeah that makes sense totally understandable um talking about just a couple quick bodybuilding questions ahead on the list so in your opinion who has the greatest physique of all time the greatest physique um that's that's a good question honestly you know maybe sean ray okay um you know usually people say who do you think's the best body well that's that was my follow-up question is it the same person or is it a different person no no who's who's the greatest who's the best um oh i'm sorry who's the greatest of all time who's the best mr olympia of all time who's the best physique i'd give you three different answers to all of them so if you said who was the best physique i would probably say excuse me sean ray okay if you took sean ray and
Starting point is 01:11:04 you made him 511 and you expanded him proportionally i don't think there's anyone who would have ever beat him he was really fantastic um who was the best mr olympia of all time i probably would say lee haney to be an eight-time mr olympia uh you know really undisput. It's not like there were any years where you could say, well, you know, the guy in second really could have won. There was none of that. And really, when you look at the type of
Starting point is 01:11:33 ambassador that he was, he was really incredible. And who's the greatest? We've got to just say Arnold. Yeah. You know, the comment you made, with Lee Haney, there was basically no doubt on all of those wins. greatest we got is to say arnold yeah that uh you know the comment you made there's no um with lee haney there was no basically no doubt on all of those wins you know all definitive wins yeah
Starting point is 01:11:51 it is the case some you know that's kind of a tricky part about bodybuilding maybe sometimes especially for those of us outside looking in there's like a little more uh subjectivity to it or maybe other politics at play or something because Because with some of the other Olympia winners, there has been years where it is maybe not the popular opinion that they should have won, right? I mean, that's a real thing that happens. Yeah. I mean, people will claim that about Ronnie's last win, right?
Starting point is 01:12:19 Or like at the end of his career that I uh, I, I just heard that before. I don't know enough about it to me to, to say that much about it, but I just know I've heard that before about some of his last wins that, uh, um, he wasn't, uh,
Starting point is 01:12:34 in the same shape that he was at the beginning of his career. Well, that that's for sure. I mean, I think there's, there's a few things a lot of times, and I've witnessed this myself. I've been at shows, right. In the second or third row, watching the show, come home, and I know the impression that I'm left with in terms of who I thought should have placed where.
Starting point is 01:13:06 like if i was basing if i was basing my opinion on these photos alone it would probably be very different um than the impression i was under or the opinion i had having attended it in person and watched it live right that is very real and other people will mock that and they'll go well you know you're you're saying that a high def camera yes a hundred percent it's very different in person. Oh, a thousand percent. And I believe that too, because in most photo editing things like I do when we edit photos, there's one little slider you can crank up and all of a sudden the contrast on your veins and everything goes crazy.
Starting point is 01:13:35 Like, yeah, that's a great point. And I believe that all day. And you, there's, there literally are instances where you say you had to be there to see the quality in this person's physique so there's that beyond that i think the whole you know political thing i think it's
Starting point is 01:13:54 overstated um i'm not saying it doesn't exist or that there isn't maybe a bias or if ronnie coleman is the reigning champ do you have to really knock them out? Probably, you know, I mean, yeah, that makes sense too. Yeah. You know, uh, and should it be that way? Well, maybe, maybe not, but I do believe there's maybe a touch of that. If you're going to knock out the champ, you gotta, you have to really knock them out. I can't really think of too many instances over the years where, and I'll usually excuse myself from giving
Starting point is 01:14:26 a definitive opinion if I wasn't there in person but there's only been a couple in person where I watched it and then the result I was like where the fuck did that come from not often I usually I think they usually get it right
Starting point is 01:14:40 but it happens alright we've got this little game we play with everyone that we have on here. It's called Overrated to Underrated and we've got a special set of topics that we hand picked for you and it's just your job to decide if each one is overrated or underrated.
Starting point is 01:14:58 You can elaborate on that as much or as little as you want to, but the big thing you've got to remember is you can't ride the line. You have to come up with an answer at the end. Overrated or underrated? Sowing. Underrated. Think about it.
Starting point is 01:15:17 The things that you could create, it's infinite. It's awesome. It's fundamental. It's like cooking cooking sewing it's uh it's it's it's truly a gateway activity well and you so you've taken it up more as of late or at least we saw something about that and we also i also know you uh welding metal fabrication and other things so do you kind of like are you predisposed to enjoy like just creating in general like do you like woodworking also or how does it you know what yeah i mean i i think we i think honestly i think we all are i mean as as not not just not to sound
Starting point is 01:15:58 like a wacko or anything but right i mean that's what we do as people. We make shit. I mean, we, um, we build things, we develop technology, we make babies, we grow, we grow things and it's all, it's all creation. You know what I mean? You, you move into a house, you decorate it a certain way. It's all forms, I think of creation. And I think it's something that's so fundamental, but maybe we don't always think about it in those terms. But yeah, like the thought of making something or building it or creating it from scratch. And I think that's why bodybuilding was always so appealing to me. It was an opportunity to literally, I mean, going from being like a fat 13, 14 year old kid saying like, I'm literally going to make my body what i want it to be or make
Starting point is 01:16:49 my life what i want it to be and it's all just forms of creation it's like arnold and pumping iron doesn't he talk about you know you add a little bit of clay yeah yeah take a little there yes so yeah i mean sewing it's just it's just another medium yeah all right cool overrated or underrated black and white photography overrated and as somebody even who's been the subject of a lot of black and white photography um and i think that maybe the conception is that it's more hardcore but i've seen a lot of photos that were black and white and then later on maybe brian showed them to me in color and i'm like fuck why didn't they run this in color he's like i tried to i tried to tell him uh you know who's
Starting point is 01:17:39 been doing a lot of that lately i don't know if you guys follow charles loathe and he's a photographer from australia and he'll put it a lot in his stories black and white versus color okay and amazingly a lot of times people pick color and he has a hardcore audience um so black and black and don't get me wrong black and white's awesome some of the coolest images i've ever been the subject of or or admired on somebody else were black and white but color can be badass too i think that's good insight into that uh into that answer i'm always partial towards color i want to see those colors you know well yeah because maybe you could see some dirt or if for sure say for example those tank tops you know if brian had us wear a tank top
Starting point is 01:18:20 and it was a white well used to be white but now it's yellowed yeah you miss that in black and light in color you get to see the age of something yeah that makes sense how dirty it is or you know things like that right okay um overrated or underrated uh the arnold title winning winning the arnold overrated or underrated? I'm going to say underrated. Underrated because I think the Arnold is, as somebody who's competed in both the Arnold and the Olympia, obviously you're never going to top the Olympia prestige.
Starting point is 01:19:01 As a competitor, though, the Arnold was a better show to compete in, a better show to participate in. It was a better run, had a better expo. I don't know. I don't even like Las Vegas. I know I'm probably contrary to how most people feel. Everybody loves an excuse to go to Vegas.
Starting point is 01:19:23 The Arnold title, though, I think it is underrated. I don't think it's that far away from the Olympia. Let's put it this way. If you can win the Arnold, you're a contender for the Olympia.
Starting point is 01:19:38 And it feels like maybe, and this again is like an outsider looking in. We have been to the grand. We have gone to the finals. It actually is. We have gone to the finals. It was the year Cedric McBillen. Yeah, he beat Dallas McCarver, I think. Yeah. And those two, from us not knowing bodybuilding,
Starting point is 01:19:54 we could watch and see it's like, ah, it's between these two. Those two are different than everyone else that's up there. Yeah, but yeah, it's felt like the Arnolds maybe gotten overlooked a little bit the last few, like just the hype around the Olympia is so crazy that I don't know. Maybe there's no truth to that. I've always been so partial to the Arnold, both as a competing athlete, also as an attending athlete.
Starting point is 01:20:19 The years I went just maybe to work the show. I mean, the Arnold Expo was second to none. I don't know. love the arnold do you go to the i mean in the actually they there wasn't an animal cage this year i mean in the in the past have you gone and uh hung around been a part of some of that stuff in other years yeah every year i think since 2006 or 2007 was the first time I went. I don't think I ever missed a year in those. Even when I was competing, I would still come over and stop by the cage. Can you provide any insight?
Starting point is 01:20:57 Is there any chance of that coming back? I don't know. I would never speak for them, i if i had to guess you know when covid struck like it was literally the night before i had all my shit packed and i was leaving the next morning before the arnold yeah we were the same we had our trailer packed ready to drive from south dakota to ohio right yeah and um when I got the news that it was canceled, I was like, wow, this COVID thing, I guess this is real. And if I had to guess, I would think, and listen, the way that Animal did it, and this is one of the best things about them as a company, they always did things so legitimately. You have a lot of brands, they pop up and maybe they have some success. And then whoever's running it, they're stuffing as much money as they can in their
Starting point is 01:21:51 pockets. And maybe in a few years it'll be around, maybe it won't. Animal, I mean, Universal's around since 77, the company was started. They're probably the oldest running bodybuilding supplement company out there. And as such, I mean, like if you go down and you visit their headquarters, they have like a campus, they do all their own manufacturing. They've got like a dozen buildings. They're able to do all their own testing. I mean, they're very, very legitimate and that's how they always conducted things. And as an athlete being on the other end of that, that was always really appreciated, um, to be with an official company who treats you with respect and they do things really on the up and up and not doing things like a bunch of, you know, ham and naggers.
Starting point is 01:22:40 Um, so I think they probably, you know, during COVID realized, you know, we, we didn't do the cage. We didn't exhibit for, you know, for, it was like two years and they probably didn't see any kind of decline in their sales. They probably figured, you know what, let's take this money and invest it somewhere else in the company i'm guessing yeah i'm guessing i mean i would be shocked if they actually at their business went down at all during those two years i would assume they did really really well i think it went up and i think um they probably after seeing that and listen i mean they to do the cage that was a really big oh yeah that's a big that doesn't happen accidentally expense yeah all the people you're sending all the hotel rooms that was a really big, that's a big expense. All the people you're sending, all the hotel rooms you're paying for, all the food you're paying for, getting all the equipment set up and everything.
Starting point is 01:23:34 They would ship out, you know, 18 wheelers full of stuff. I can't imagine what it would, the cost that it incurred. So they probably maybe got to the point where they found that they had a hard time justifying it that all makes total sense but just as someone as people that also go
Starting point is 01:23:50 as we have a booth every year it's just a real fun experience that it's hard to replicate with anything else so I just hold out hope that it comes you know it does exist again selfishly I hope it comes back.
Starting point is 01:24:05 I would love to attend again on their behalf and just be a part of it because it's really unlike, at least from what I know, maybe there's other companies now doing it big and doing something really creative, but it was kind of unlike anything else that was going on. I've seen some really cool stuff in that cage. Probably the coolest thing was
Starting point is 01:24:25 who who was it it was two guys and they deadlifted it was uh first steve johnson and uh world record breaker savage what's his name uh rob yeah yeah right and one of them got rabdo i think from it that was one of the best things i've ever watched where they deadlifted they ended up doing like 70 reps of I don't know what the weight was even now at this point it was like 6 or 7
Starting point is 01:24:53 plates or something like that but it was like oh dude it was an absolute bloodbath weren't they like cutting chunks out their hand and still going it was really a test of two wills at that point of like who like be like i'm not gonna be the guy to i won't say mercy you know oh that you know i've
Starting point is 01:25:11 seen uh i think was eric maybe eric lillybridge yeah some of the squats he did in the cage jesse norris yeah like 18 years old he did some crazy stuff. Oh, the guy, he's only like 140 pounds. What was his name? The Ant. Richard Hawthorne. Yes. Oh, my God. His stuff was some of the, maybe the most impressive I've ever seen.
Starting point is 01:25:36 Watching him deadlift is crazy. It doesn't seem like it's real. Sam Bird, some of the stuff he did with the no-handed squats just really cool stuff yeah yes that is cool that's that's why it's and it's like a prestigious thing for all those guys guys to get to lift in there um so for that reason also just like knowing a lot of those guys it'd be fun for them to have that opportunity to continue to be able to lift there eric spado some awesome stuff over the years yes okay uh last overrated underrated topic and we usually save the best for last and it's kind of worth all the marbles so uh overrated or underrated
Starting point is 01:26:19 diesel lawn tractors oh so underrated so underrated let me tell you about my three-cylinder yanmar diesel john deere yeah what what what uh what all do you have for uh lawn tractors or lawn mowers and stuff because i know you kind of have a collection i've got way too much so john deere hit like its heyday in like the mid to late eighties. They were just putting out some really, really awesome shit. And, um, I've got three of them. Two of them are, they're a model called the three 18. One of them, I've got a blower on it with a cab for snow removal.
Starting point is 01:27:04 The diesel, I keep four-way plow on that because the reality is if you get slushy snow the blower sucks so you need the plow that's true one of them i would use just to cut with but that one i'm actually gonna sell and um i now have a stand-up skag you ever seen the ones where they stand on the back yeah they're like it's like uh yeah i have it almost it's a mower yeah yeah it all yeah there's no seat like it's not like a riding i've never seen this how do you like that yeah okay is that cool dude it's awesome i can cut my lawn in two directions faster than I used to cut it with the tractor. They're wicked expensive. I stole this one. Dude, new, you're talking like $11,000 for that fucker.
Starting point is 01:27:56 This dude had one on Craigslist and he had it listed for like $6,500, had like 50 hours on it. It was like brand new. And I was like, I don't know, this has got to be a scam. I called on it. The guy gives me this story. Well, I'm a landlord and one of my tenants bought it for his son to start a landscaping company, but then it never happened. It's been in storage. And in my head, I'm like, come on, that's bullshit. Either it's been in storage and in my head i'm like come on that's either it's stolen it's hot so so so what you're telling me buddy is your tenant who rents a apartment from you has enough money to buy his son an eleven thousand dollar mower yeah right so i'm like this is it's gotta be but then i go there it's perfect the guy's actually pretty normal
Starting point is 01:28:42 But then I go there, it's perfect. The guy's actually pretty normal, and I give him $6,000 for it. So it worked out. It worked out great, and I love it. Yeah, that's one of the first things I remember seeing about you. I don't know if I saw it on your page and mentioned something to it or whatever it was, but I kind of have an interesting John deere uh mower that i use for my yard now they didn't make them for very long i'm curious if you don't know about these it's a sst 16 and it was a sst is spin steers technology they only made them not the one with the engine in the back
Starting point is 01:29:21 no the engines in the front um because but i do i do also have a five an f510 that with the engine in the back. No, the engine's in the front. But I do also have an F510 that has the engine in the back and the deck in the front. But the SST-16, it has a steering wheel, but the front wheels are just, and it looks like a lawn tractor. It's the basic shape of a, you know, like your 318. You know, it's kind of that shape. But the front wheels are both just like oscillating wheels, like the front wheels of a you know like your 318 you know it's kind of that shape but the front wheels are are both just like oscillating wheels like the front wheels of a shopping cart and the steering it
Starting point is 01:29:50 looks like a regular steering wheel but you only turn the wheel like a quarter turn each way and it is a zero turn then you know it would usually be on other brands of lawn tractors or like john deer now it's the z track where they have the two handles and it's a zero turn but this is a steering wheel that serves the same function as like you know the hydrostatic turning so it's like a zero turn yard tractor with a steering wheel
Starting point is 01:30:15 that you know typically on those you know you'd crank the wheel around a few times and it makes the turn but this is like literally just like a quarter of a turn and one of the rear wheels stops you know like they so what year is this thing from it's like a 2005 they only made it for a couple years because i don't think people like that form of steering it is like can be really squirrely and takes a long time to get uh used to it is weird interesting yeah it's got a kohler or
Starting point is 01:30:40 a kawasaki motor it's's a Kawasaki. Nice. Liquid cooled? It's air cooled. That's cool. No, I'm totally not familiar. My most exciting part of having you on the podcast was getting to talk John Deere lawn tractors. That was the part I was saving it for the very end because it was going to be the cherry on top.
Starting point is 01:31:07 I've got the coolest John Deere sign in my garage. It's from a dealership. It's one of the ones that goes outside. You've seen it? You sent a picture of it to me years ago because I actually was checking in the old pictures of looking at what lawn tractors you had because you've sent me before
Starting point is 01:31:22 and I saw that sign and I'm like, someone would pay a lot of money for that sign actually i got that thing for 350 bucks someone would probably pay thousands for that it's probably worth it yeah um the guy was an authorized deer dealer and no more it came to an end i was eating one night and i was on like facebook marketplace and like it was posted like 15 minutes ago and it's in Bridgeport. So it's like the next town over and I'm like, oh my God, I called the guy. I literally went there right then and there and bought it. That thing would definitely be gone.
Starting point is 01:31:56 Yeah, that's a sweet score. Got them. So good news. It looks like you passed overrated underrated. Oh, good. And it's pretty important to do so. so good news it looks like you passed overrated underrated oh good and it's pretty important to do so that means we will air this episode and everything then we don't have to
Starting point is 01:32:11 so people fail sometimes not yet but we still like to grade it it always could happen there's going to be one yeah so it is good news no we really but we still like to grade it. It always could happen. There's going to be one sometime. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. So it's good news.
Starting point is 01:32:27 No, we really appreciate you getting on. And I know, where should people go check your stuff out? I think your website is actually sentapani.com, which I thought, wow, that's crazy. He got just his last name as the website. How did you get that? I mean, really, there's nobody else really with that i mean if you have that last name you're related to me and and i'm the only one in my
Starting point is 01:32:53 family that would have a website so that makes sense yeah i just kind of commandeered the name so is that where people should uh you know if they wanted to check stuff out is that what they best place to go? Probably the best thing is just go to my Instagram because that's where I post recent stuff. And then I've got my link tree there. So, you know, whether it's training services or, you know, you want to get over to telegram. Yeah. Find me, find me that way.
Starting point is 01:33:22 And I guess we don't even get a chance to touch on it, but I've actually been doing financial services now for the last year or so. Oh, we didn't know that. Yeah. So that's your... Whoever's doing my Wikipedia, whoever's doing my Wikipedia better fucking sharpen up.
Starting point is 01:33:38 So do you do personal financial consulting, stuff like that? Yeah, so a lot of times it could mean, you know, maybe protection planning. It's about half of the business is protection planning. The other half of it being more accumulation oriented. So for retirement planning and, you know, basically asset accumulation, investing, but the other half of it being life insurance and other protection products. So, yeah, it's interesting, interesting work. It's actually been really exciting.
Starting point is 01:34:08 It's been awesome because I've gotten to work with a lot of people from the industry, people who own businesses, athletes, influencers. So it's been really cool. Do you know about our lift shorts at all? As long as we're talking asset accumulation. Yeah, it's something I usually slip into most people's portfolios. Usually just partial shares, I assume, because of the cost. Most people cannot afford a full share.
Starting point is 01:34:38 No short positions there. Going long on shorts. That was good. Okay. All right. Perfect. Well, we really appreciate getting you on.
Starting point is 01:34:51 This was a really fun. I think people are going to enjoy listening to this one. Oh, good, good, good. I really appreciate you guys having me a big fan. Really enjoyed following you guys over the years and obviously,
Starting point is 01:35:00 uh, continue to do so. So keep up the great work. Awesome. Thanks a lot, Evan. Great. Talk to you guys soon. keep up the great work. Awesome. Thanks a lot, Evan. Great. Talk to you guys soon.
Starting point is 01:35:06 Take care. See you. See you. Cool beans. Cool beans. Beans. Cool beans. He gets the cool beans.
Starting point is 01:35:15 You gave him the double cool beans there, didn't you? A double shot. That was a lot of fun. That was a good one. You just never know, some people, what you're going to be in for. Yeah. Life is like a box of chocolates, and so are podcast guests. You never uh what you're gonna be in for but yeah life is like a box of chocolates and so our podcast guests you never know what you're gonna get not that we ever
Starting point is 01:35:29 have bad guests no they're all good but uh that one was it people that have been around a little while and seen some things they have great great great stories to share don't they they do they do yeah if that was a box of chocolates um what one do you think Evan would have been? Oh, man. Because those chocolates like that, though, those boxes of chocolates are pretty gross. Oh, definitely. Is there any chocolates in there that are actually good? Anything that's just like regular dark chocolate.
Starting point is 01:35:55 It's such a gamble, though. You never know what the thing is. Oh, and then you get that shitty like fruit-filling one. That's like, I don't even know what this one is. For some reason, they're all that, and that's the most disgusting thing. Or like it's like not, it's not fruit, but it's like a red... It's red, yeah.
Starting point is 01:36:07 It's like a fruit-flavored nougat of some kind. Who likes those? I don't know. Those aren't good. I just want dark chocolate, and if you want to put something in it, give me some caramel or something. Do you think the market on those boxes of chocolates like that has tanked over the last... It's actually a good question. Have people just given up on those?
Starting point is 01:36:24 People are like, no, they given up on people? Like, no, they make a lot of good stuff that, you know, exactly what you can get. Like, and also that's kind of cliche to get that for someone. I'm not going to get them a disgusting box of chocolates that nobody actually wants.
Starting point is 01:36:36 You take a bite and go, yeah, this, yeah. Yeah. Where two thirds will get thrown away. It's like, why are so many of them so bad?
Starting point is 01:36:45 I don't know. I think it's calibrated for a flavor profile of years past. When things just weren't good, and you're like, no, we can impress them with this. They're not used to good taste and shit. People are used to eating, like, what, porridge and toast? Like, anything that's sweet is going to be good. They're going to love this.
Starting point is 01:37:01 Like, well, tastes have evolved, and now everything tastes great, so you've got to really step your game up now you can't can't phone that one in you can't just fill it with like some old disgusting red shit you had laying around they're not competing against just the fruit cakes anymore like there's actually good stuff like i guess if your options are fruit cake or a box of random chocolates like the box of random chocolates always was gonna win true but now that you have more choices than random chocolates and fruitcakes now it's like no i like chocolate i'm gonna go to the store and i'm gonna buy
Starting point is 01:37:28 that exact chocolate that i know i love like this uh i can get it the dark the amount of cocoa or whatever the hell is it down to an exact percent like that's you know what speaking of those i don't even know i don't eat a lot of chocolate but if i do what i want is those they're thin squares it's like maybe an inch and a half by an inch and a half. And they come in a shiny foil wrapper and it's got the percent on it. Those are so good. Cause I like really dark, like almost the darker.
Starting point is 01:37:54 I haven't found a percent that it's almost too much for me. I thought I liked the really dark stuff until I found one of those. And it was like 85%. I like like 86 is one I really like. And I kind of felt like I was eating coffee grounds, kind of. I have absolutely no idea why I really like those. a little sweetness in but yeah i milk chocolate i'm like over that now it doesn't really do it for me anymore dark is better oh 100 even like because
Starting point is 01:38:15 they're like 72 i think is a common dark one that's real good i like all the dark ones but the darker on the spectrum i found i kind of even enjoy it more i don't know if it like slows down the process for me so i just like enjoy it more slowly and then i get more satisfaction from it challenging yet rewarding yeah i want to if i'm gonna eat something good i want to have to put work into having it let's not make this so simple here yeah i have a very refined palate you know do you have any idea how many flavored cans of water I've drank in my day? The most discerning taste. I can guess the most slightly flavored water of what it is.
Starting point is 01:38:52 I can tell whether a can has an essence of lime or hibiscus in it. Maybe we should do that sometime. Do like three different dark chocolates and be like, guess the percentage of dark chocolate in this one. Yeah, we'll make it happen. Yeah, uh boxes of chocolates though disgusting would not recommend um you know what i would recommend though what's that uh i'd recommend opening your ears for opening your ear holes for just a second
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Starting point is 01:40:14 co plates, I might just go right back to the gym. Right. I have to check you for a pulse. Yep. Cause it makes me want to go by five sets of 45s. One set of 35s, two to three sets of 25s, two to three sets of 10s, two sets of fives, and one set of two and a half. And you're even holding back there.
Starting point is 01:40:32 I know you want to say bigger numbers. That's just a reasonable. That's just to get started. That's just an entry level. That's for listening to the ad once. Don't make it. Imagine doing it twice. It also makes me want to us hire that narrator and and be like welcome to the massonomics podcast they're silly but rugged
Starting point is 01:40:50 they like cans of water and ads you know it's like throwing a lot of ends and butts you know like it's the contrast uh and it just conjunctions mm-hmm like uh schoolhouse rock conjunction i can see it i can see it all in my head yeah so thank you thank you the strength co uh i'm also going to tell you about one other thing oh hello vocally isn't quite as exciting but the message i still the message is what matters the message is great yeah this episode is also brought to you by Fusion Sports Performance Supplements. Do you know what's in your supplements?
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Starting point is 01:42:28 in a box of chocolates. No, no. There's a reason it's not called box of chocolate chocolate. No, it's like decent chocolate. It's edible. Edible chocolate. Most orders are shipped within one business day
Starting point is 01:42:39 and every Fusion Sports Performance product comes fully backed with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Go to FusionSP.net and use code MASS to save a huge 20% on your order. Can you imagine if they did flavor it like box of chocolate chocolate? You take one drink and be like, ah. Like this scoop has red stuff in it and this one's all chocolate. What's going on?
Starting point is 01:43:04 Yes. red stuff in it and this one's all chocolate what's going on yes i would not want like my protein life to be like a box of chocolates where each scoop is like each scoop's a mystery what the flavor is until you after you put it in your mouth yeah who wants that that'd be the worst we did uh hint at the other shirt oh yeah that's right so the other shirt is what is the name of the other shirt it's the varsity script the vars. So the other shirt is, what is the name of the other shirt? It's the Varsity Script. The Varsity Script. The Varsity Script. And it's on a heathered maroon color, color we've also never used before. So we have two new tea colors in this drop with the Daddy's Home in the lime neon green.
Starting point is 01:43:36 And then the Varsity Script on the heather maroon color, which is a really cool color shirt. Yeah, we have, you could maybe say baseball inspired with the with the text across the front with the you know it's just massonomics large with the with the script on it and then back extra big extra large western north east south dakota with the massonomics logo and that thing pops it well daddy's home, daddy's home one, but daddy's home might pop like no other shirt we've ever had before. Visually. Yeah. It's it.
Starting point is 01:44:09 Your eyeballs can't not see it, but I think what you said before is a really good, it's like, I should change that. It is a going out to, yeah, it's also a great gym to you too. That's true.
Starting point is 01:44:19 But I don't have one of that one yet, but that's one I will be adding to my personal collection. I know it's good when I walked home or when I got home after we took photos and my wife goes, Oh, I want that. I want, I want one of those.
Starting point is 01:44:30 Okay. Now I know, now I know we've hit. Yeah. Right. Right. It is a good one. I really like it.
Starting point is 01:44:37 I don't know. It's a combination of the design and the, I like the maroon Heather too. It's like, um, it's like, geez, why haven't we used that before?
Starting point is 01:44:44 I know it's kind of a popular color around why haven't we used that before i know it's kind of a popular color around here too and yeah we've never used it but now we got it the time is nigh i don't know if that means now or i don't have no clue what that means i just made it up the last thing we did have a story a chargeback story but maybe we'll save that for next we can save it it's not timely because it actually happened months ago i just find old yeah it'll just be a filler item it is a it is a it is a push it off like two or three weeks now it is a story that people will get a kick out oh yeah so i know that for sure they'll be like yeah rants um i wish i had like a new power lifting thing this week we could talk about that would get people upset.
Starting point is 01:45:25 Oh, another hot take. Yeah. A real hot takes and cool. We've got the mass economics podcast, hot takes and cool beans. We've talked about that shirt for a while. Yeah. Oh yeah.
Starting point is 01:45:40 Yeah. Yeah. That's right. One of these days, I guess that's why that was in the, in my head. It was planted there. Yeah. It. That's right. One of these days. I guess that's why that was in my head. Yeah. It was planted there. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:45:48 It was a bean planted months ago. Is that about it we got for this week? I think that's probably it. Buy the items from the new drop. Get signed up to become a member of the Discord community. Yeah, go to massanomics.com slash join. Sign up. You get a discount code.
Starting point is 01:46:01 You can join the Discord. Get to hear the podcast live early before everyone else and then yeah also go buy the stuff yeah buy all the all the new gear buy all the old gear and uh please leave us a five-star review on apple podcast if you've been listening for a long time and you've thought god i'm too cheap to buy their lift shorts or any of the other stuff they're like i don't know if i can i'm not ready to take the plunge on the uh supporting membership just yet you could at least leave us a five-star review on apple podcasts and quit being such a damn freeloader around here yeah everyone's got to pay their way yeah no free lunches here uh
Starting point is 01:46:35 not around here and on our watch uh tommy where do they find you you can find me at tomahawk underscore d you can follow me at tanner underscore baird but just make sure to follow massonomics at massonomics see ya

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