The Sevan Podcast - #93 - Colten Mertens

Episode Date: July 29, 2021

@COLTEN_MERTENS @SEVANMATOSSIAN @BRIANFRIENDCROSSFIT The Sevan Podcast is sponsored by http://www.barbelljobs.com Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/therealsevanpodcast/ Sevan's Stuff: https://www.instagram.com/sevanmatossian/?hl=en https://app.sugarwod.com/marketplace/3-playing-brothers Support the show Partners: https://cahormones.com/ - CODE "SEVAN" FOR FREE CONSULTATION https://www.paperstcoffee.com/ - THE COFFEE I DRINK! https://asrx.com/collections/the-real... - OUR TSHIRTS ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connectsontario.ca. Please play responsibly. Brian, testing one, two. Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Wow, look at that live, look at that thumbnail picture of Colton that they use too that's amazing Colton what's wrong with you why why are you doing a podcast with us shouldn't she be like like in an ice bath or like getting your back rubbed or like doing something like that I'm just finishing up dinner now.

And then yeah, I'll start doing some recovery work, some massage gun and probably put the Norma techs on and do some stretching. Um, yeah, I don't think we have anything on the schedule for tomorrow, so I don't have to be up super early or anything. You think the fact that you're doing this podcast is indicative of how much

fun we had last time? Sure. Is our mullet master in the top 20 so far i don't think so someone just asked that in the comments no 30 second i think um those first two events probably like it's almost like dave's like hey what can i do to really beat down on colton what did you think about those first two events i think they were good events it's just stuff i need to get better at um you know like the swimming that's something that i purposely wasn't training a ton before uh just a few months ago because there was things keeping me out of the

games um that needed that i needed to work on so So I didn't really want to justify doing a bunch of swimming training when I had other things to work on. I kind of needed to put first things first. Because it doesn't matter how fast I can swim if I can't get to the games because of my rowing or whatever other movements. But, yeah, I've been doing a lot more of that lately, but I'm just not there yet. And then with the sprint, I mean, yeah, I got short legs, man, and I'm just not there yet. And then with the sprint, I mean, yeah, I got short legs, man. And I'm just not that fast. So something else I need to work on too. It just takes time. Do you know the story about how,

do you know the Matt Fraser story about how he joined the high school track team? Yeah. Are you going to go home and join a high school track team? I'm actually friends with the track coach, so I could. That's awesome. So I could make some more time for that now. It's just, you know, beforehand I really couldn't justify, you know, doing a bunch of sprint work and swim work.

So I needed to get better at, like, rowing and wall balls to get to the games first so i mean i decided to put first things first and now that i'm here and i know that i my fitness level is good enough to qualify i can start spending more times on more time on those things uh alaziz just says in the youtube comments taking responsibility i love this guy i know i love this guy. I know. I love this guy too, actually. What a great guy to get behind, right? Did you ice bath today, Colton? No, I didn't. I was thinking about it, but I didn't have a towel and they were moving us through their areas pretty quickly. So I didn't really have a good time where I could hop in and dry off before we had to change and kind of move over to the next venue. It was kind of a rat race this morning. I think it was all day. There was a lot going on for you guys today yeah like uh we didn't really have much of an opportunity to uh like you pretty much had to

bring everything that you needed with you right at the beginning because we didn't have any time to go back and get stuff or anything like that so i mean there's a few athletes that didn't really have much food and things like that and i had some food but i did have like my blender bottle full of uh electrolytes and stuff actually opened up and spilled all over my bag when they were moving it to the bus when i was doing the swim so that kind of sucked but what can you do damn hey on a side note before i forget totally off subject when you did the podcast with Arm & Hammer, you told them you were reading Range. And I read Range too. Maybe we were reading it at the same time, but that's kind of weird.

And I really, really enjoyed that book. And if you enjoyed that book, you should check out this book, Bounce. Bounce. Is it the same author or a different one? No, different author. A lot of the same author or a different one? No, different author. A lot of the same stories. This guy was the world's best table toss – table – ping pong player in the UK. And he talks about, hey, what makes someone great?

Is it practice or is it talent? And basically his whole argument is that it's practice and circumstance. And it's – you would absolutely – you would absolutely love it. Yeah, that's – But but uh yeah that's my philosophy for a lot of things i mean it gets kind of older people talking to me like like oh wobbles just aren't your thing man or like this isn't your thing because you're short but i kind of look at it like a math equation like uh if i do x amount of them i'll be good enough at them and i'll be competitive with them i mean i'm probably starting at a lower point than taller athletes for like wall balls let's

use that as an example so i have to do like my mind if i just do enough reps if i do enough reps more than them i'll be good enough at it i mean and it's the same thing for say handstand push-ups they're gonna need to do a lot more of them than me to get on the same level as me. So, I mean, I think if I just put in enough time and practice and train well, I can fill in a lot of those holes. I bet you, I would be willing to bet you 50 bucks, Colton, that when you said it's like a math equation that Brian chubbed up a little bit, that there was like some movement down there. I had to mute myself. I got so excited.

Did you make any friends today, Colton? I tried not to, but yeah, I guess. Were you successful? No. Who did you accidentally become friends with today oh my god now brian's at half mass now brian's at half mass that's his favorite athlete jesus christ i haven't had a chance i haven't had a chance to talk to roy yet but i'm glad that you are yeah i'm hanging out with him and a handful of other guys but i don't know i'm not really here to make friends um i do cool but that's not

really uh objective of mine and a lot of the guys here are really cool and they're good people but it's not what i'm into right now colton when um when dave drops the like the twists for a workout on you like the fins and the kayak or like the extra muscle ups and the combination of rings and bars what's what's your general response to those little nuances? You just kind of try and not think about it too much. I mean, it is what it is. Like the fins and the kayak, I wasn't super excited about it. I never swam with fins.

I've never used a kayak. it so i've been i never swam with fins i've never used a kayak and ali's over here smirking at me because she's been telling me for like a year to buy a kayak so that we can go kayaking you're fucking killing me dude i've been telling her and you know it's a waste of time like i gotta train i gotta do all this stuff and now she's uh she thinks she's pretty cool now she told me to buy a kayak like a year ago fuck this romance shit i ain't kayaking with you ah see i told you seven that's the only environment in which these athletes go kayaking scott panchik said the only time he's been in the kayak was when he took his wife out for a little date on a kayak one time oh this is this is killing me um have you ever put on flippers besides today? No.

We're going to mess around with them for maybe five minutes yesterday, but no, not really. There's not a lot of flipper time on the pig farm? No, never used them before. I think it was Sam Stewart. God, I've interviewed so many people I forget, but I think it was Sam Stewart. God, I've interviewed so many people I forget, but I think it was Sam Stewart. I asked him about how the water smelt, and he said that it smelt pretty bad. And I said, I bet you that Colton didn't think it smelt bad.

I bet you coming from the pig farm, the water smelled great to him. How did the water smell to you? I didn't notice it. It was fine. No problem for me. Um, that's, that's killer. And, and did the water seem contaminated at all or dirty? It definitely seemed dirty, I guess. Um, yeah, I guess, especially with the storage, if you've heard about past games, athletes like swallowing a bit of water and then getting really sick.

I mean, even Thursday night, I swallowed a little bit of water when we were practicing the fins, and I felt I was pretty sick for like half an hour, maybe an hour. I was really nauseous, but then I was fine. See, I don't know if it was from the water or maybe I just – I don't know what it was. But, yeah, I was fine after that. Wow. Was your girlfriend there in the capacity of your coach? Did she have access to you all day?

No. Armand McCormick has my coach's pass. I mentioned giving it to Allie, but she didn't want to take the responsibility. She gets too nervous. Yeah. I don't blame her. I wouldn't want that either. That's some scary shit.

And, and how, how is that? How is, how is everyone acting around you with those finishes? Um, did you expect to do better? Are you just happy to be there?

Um, and, and, and how, and how's your support team, um, talking to you and treating you? Um, yeah, my support team has been really good. There's they've been uh telling me to keep my head up and keep hammering i mean i

knew the swim and the run were not going to be great for me um the pig flip event went all right i think i did it i mean those three events three events i think i did as well as i could have um the pig was just a little bit tough, but I got through it. And then event four I was really excited about, and I was in second in my heat, and we just got done with a set of seven. I was getting ready to pick up the – my game plan was to get through a set of seven, pace it, and then kind of hammer down to a set of six. And I was in second in my heat.

Scott Panchuk was in first. Then I got some pretty bad hamstring cramps on the wall walks and that slowed me down quite a bit and then i got past a handful of guys but i think i would have been i wouldn't have caught in scott but i think i definitely would have gotten second that heat that didn't happen but i mean shit happens yeah the camera was on you. And when you would walk between the wall walks and the thrusters, you couldn't even straighten your legs. You looked like you had two wooden legs. You were basically like just you had to rotate your body to walk. And was that is that painful, that cramping?

Yeah, I mean mean it hurts but um yeah i got you just feel it started to cramp going up the wall and he finished the rep and there's a few times where i had to kind of sit down and stretch it out to stop it from cramping and um i just really had i couldn't really bend my legs so otherwise it would cramp up again so i tried to do the wall walks with straight legs and my quads started to cramp a bit but um yeah i got through it thrusters didn't feel bad um even after i started cramping the thrusters were fine um yeah it sucks that it happened on that workout i think i could have got i probably could have been somewhere around the top five maybe um i think that's right i think i think you would have been somewhere between

yeah five and seven at worst probably because the i think Jay Crouch was the guy close to you and he finished fifth overall yeah have you done a single wall walk since the open in training um a little bit but like at home in my garage I don't really have a spot that I can do wall walks and there's not space for that So I don't do a ton of them. I've done a few. It's not a movement I'm great at, but I think I held my own for the most part. Then I was able to move fast through the thrusters.

When's the last time you cramped? I don't really cramp hardly ever, except for my calf. Just from an injury that I had a few years ago, it's still kind of lingering. I tore my Achilles in my calf a little bit a couple years ago. And so that will cramp when I do like a high volume double unders or like go for a really long trail run or something like that. So it'll cramp for like on and off for a few days. But other than that, I don't really cramp.

And then it'll cramp for like on and off for a few days. But other than that, I don't really cramp. I think I just drink maybe too much water and then wasn't replacing the electrolytes and potassium. It didn't look like you would be able to do the thrusters because your legs look like they were stuck in the locked position. I mean, they were so straight that it almost looked like your knees were hyperextended. I mean, it was crazy. But you just picked the weight up and went, and they just bent? And you're saying the thrusters didn't exacerbate it. It was just strictly the wall walks?

Yeah, it was just in the wall walks. I mean, I first tried cramping, and I got through the thrusters. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do them or not, but I decided to go for it. Yeah, they felt fine. The thrusters felt fine all the way through. What has your girlfriend been saying to you as the events go on? Does she give you pep talks? Yeah, she gives me pep talks and just encourages me and tells me to have fun and kick ass and stuff like that. She's always out there screaming, and she's probably my biggest supporter. Are you being hard on yourself, or are you being good to yourself?

I definitely wanted to do better, but I performed as well as I could have, I think, on the first three events, and then obviously didn't performed as well as I could have, I think, on the first three events, and then obviously didn't do as well as I could have on the fourth. And I think once we do get more into kind of classic CrossFit type stuff, I'll do better. I knew that the swimming and the running wasn't going to be my best stuff, so I kind of expected that, and it's just stuff I need more time to work on. Have you guys had a chance to Have you had a chance to see,

see or, or touch the Husafell sandbag yet? No. Um, I was watching some strong man videos on YouTube though, just seeing how they kind of navigate it. And, um,

the, the actual stone and seeing them do stone carriers. And they did it at the Arnold a couple of years ago. So I watched that event and, um, they all pretty much did it the same way. They did it at the Arnold a couple years ago, so I watched that event. They all pretty much did it the same way. They picked it up, I guess, the skinny end down, but ours doesn't really have a skinny end. It's kind of more of a straight triangle, so I'm not going to be too much.

How much does that bag weigh? Do we know? I haven't heard. I'm not sure if he's released that yet. I'm guessing it's... I feel like it's going to be an odd weight. It's not going to be an even 200 pounds. I guess it's going to be somewhere around 200 pounds, like 187 or 212 or something like that. But does that...

I wouldn't say that's a classic CrossFit, but do you think that you're just like the grunt work that you do on the farm every day type stuff prepares you for that pretty well yeah i think it definitely could um and i'm looking forward to that workout i've been doing a lot of rope climbs and skiing so i'm excited to see how i stack up even if i don't you know place top 10 or something like that it's always interesting to me to see how well things progress that I'm working on. So I'm excited to see that. And then, yeah, sandbag is just going to be pick it up and go.

I think longer arms will help if you can get a better grip on it. But, I mean, you're not going to be set to pick it up and go. That's all there is to that sandbag. Colton, you're in 32nd, and you know tomorrow they're going to cut down to 30. Tomorrow's a rest day. Sorry, in two days they're going to cut down to 30. Is that weighing on you? Are you like, okay, I fucking really, really, really got to get this?

Not really because, I mean, even if there weren't cuts, I'd want to do as well as I can. So it's not really – I mean, if there weren't cuts I'd want to do as well as I can um so it's not really I mean it's uh it's kind of a it's in my mind but I mean my goal wasn't to come here and get like 20th place or whatever so and if I end up 25th um on Saturday and I get cut then you know whatever send my ass home and I'll start game planning for next season I don't give a fuck about a 25th place finish or whatever. So that's where I am after 10 events and that's where I am. And,

um, yeah, I think I deserve to get cut then. Uh, what are you going to do tomorrow on your rest day? Um, I'll probably do some active recovery and, uh,

I'll probably see what events are going on. I think teams start tomorrow. So I'll probably watch some of them go and hang out over there at the at the campus and uh yeah just do recovery work make sure my nutrition's good and take care of stuff like that did you consider cutting your hair for the event um a little bit i could buzz it but i've got some scars on my head so i don't know if it would look very good what are your scars from well when i uh started crossfit uh crossfit kilo um on thursday mornings at five we would have a skill class skills class and that day we were working on bar muscle-ups. And this was probably four years ago.

I was just getting to be able to do bar muscle-ups, and I couldn't do multiples yet. So we were working on that this morning. And I was over at the short bars with all the girls, and the guys were over at the tall bars. And I was like, ah, fuck this. I can go with the guys. I can get on the tall bars because it was really hard for me to jump that high at that time. I've got better hops now, but then it was hard to get to those bars. And at this rig at Kilo, there's a bar that goes kind of from the rig to the wall.

It's the tallest bar, and there's nothing above that. That's where the guys were using. That was a little too tall for me to get to, so I was going to use the one that's horizontal to it, but there's a beam above that, and I did a bar muscle-up, and it was a really good one. It was a really good one, but I hit my head on the beam, and I cut my head open. Did you knock yourself out? No, but it was bleeding a lot, and it bled for most of the day. I had my buddy come to my dorm room, and I kind of held it together,

and he did the liquid stitch glue stuff, and he glued it back together. Wow. Hey, do you have one of those guns on the farm, like those staple guns? So if two pigs get in a fight or animals get a fight you just go staple the wound shut yeah we've got uh staple guns and things like that do you do that um no we don't usually staple the pigs um if pigs are fighting usually the worst thing that happens because they're these pigs are detusks so they can't hurt each other too bad otherwise they they hurt each other pretty bad because once they we group them together in

the herd they kind of they'll fight when they're younger to kind of get their social hierarchy together and usually the worst thing that happens is they get like cauliflower ear so their ear will swell up real big and then i have to go in with a scalpel and I'll drain that. But then, um, after that, it's fine. At the starting line of the sprint, did, what was your plan? Did you think, okay, I'm going to try to get out ahead in front of all these guys and like, just keep them back with my body? Or did you know? Well, I, I mean, uh, there wasn't really much I could do. I just had to go at my pace i knew if i went out too hot i was gonna die off at the end and um so i wasn't really

thinking about trying to keep up with those guys because i knew there would be other heats so i said to run as fast as i could for that race and uh yeah that was kind of plan go out hard and then uh find a pace i could stick to for most of the rest of the race and then kick hard again at the end. It looked like in some of the heats there was some pushing and shoving. Did you witness any of that? Not in my heat. We spread out pretty quickly. It seemed like, I don't think, at least from where I was,

I don't think we were very similar speeds. I think we're all kind of at our own speed and it spread out pretty quick. FanDuel Casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling, winning. Which beats even the 27th best feeling, saying I do. Who wants this last parachute? I do. Enjoy the number one feeling, winning, in an exciting live dealer studio, exclusively on FanDuel Casino, where winning is undefeated.

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yeah is that going as planned yeah for the most part i mean today was a little bit tough because um we didn't know how long we were going to be at the arena and um we didn't know they weren't gonna we were gonna do all the events before we got a chance to leave and like get any more food so i had some food but it wasn't a ton i mean i think pretty much everybody else was in the same boat um i think some of the guys who have had more experience they packed quite a bit of food but i know there's a lot of athletes that were uh just kind of getting by on like bars and uh those kind of carbohydrate uh gel packets and a lot of things like that and drinking a lot of calories carbs and such is is the testing done for you in terms of the COVID testing?

Are you, you're good to go? None of the athletes have to be tested anymore except for the ones that are like suspect. Yeah. As far as I know. So once you pass your test, when you arrive for check-in on Monday,

I think you're good to go unless I guess you start getting symptoms. You're supposed to tell them they're supposed to test you but man i doubt that happens right you mean if someone gets symptoms they just suck it up and go yeah what was the um what was your experience with the opening ceremonies today it was all right i mean i don't know that stuff's kind of boring to me but me too yeah as you stand there for a while um national anthem was cool the flyover was cool but other than that it was just kind of boring yeah the flyover is cool as shit isn't it it takes a lot of the rest of it a lot of work to coordinate that

the rest of it just seems like stuff adults do like your parents should be doing that It takes a lot of work to coordinate that. The rest of it just seems like stuff adults do. Like your parents should be doing that. Like not like us, not like kids. We should just be hanging out and then the flyover happens and then it's done. I think it's strange that it happens in the middle of a competition day for you guys. That seems like you already have four events today. There's a lot going on. That's another thing to throw into your schedule that's, I think, pretty tough.

Yeah, I agree. It was weird, and that was just kind of a pain. Having to carry an extra uniform with you and make sure you had everything right and you had to wear certain shoes and socks and everything. It was just kind of fainted. Oh, man. More adult stuff. I would hate that.

I mean, it sounds like you had to pack like five or six outfits just for one day today. Do you have anything left for the rest of the weekend? Yeah, I mean, I just end up wearing that uniform to compete in most of the day after the swim because I didn't want to pack a bunch of stuff. I wanted to make more room for food and things like that. Did you do any – go ahead, Brian. No, I'm just saying those are the little logistical things that I don't think a lot of people can appreciate about just trying to plan

for one day at the games. Did you do any media today? Did any camera people ask you questions? Did you talk to anyone? Nope, not even I talked to anybody in the media today. Was there a lot of media in the corral or in the pits when you were hanging out? Did you see a lot of media? No.

I think kind of most media I saw was maybe on the bus on the way to the lake. There's some cameras on there and they're talking to people, but other than that, I didn't really notice a ton. And there are people making the documentary? I saw Scott Panchik has a camera person with him. I know there's a couple of people making documentaries. Is that basically what it is? Yeah, I think probably they're making the next crossfit games documentary i would assume i'm not totally sure yeah you got to get some air time on there i can't believe they're not coming up to you they're probably scared of you that's what i'm going for trying to be

unapproachable how was you're not joking are you i don't think he is i don't think to make you cry. You're not joking, are you? I don't think he is. I don't think he is. He's in his zone. He's in his zone. How was the crowd for you today? Was the energy good? Was it different in the Coliseum than on the outdoor arena? Yeah, it was really good.

I was a little bit surprised by how many people were there in the outdoor arena since it's wednesday first day me too i was surprised how many people were there too yeah i look pretty filled have your mom and dad called you yeah i've been talking to them talking on the phone uh mornings or evenings and it must be getting kind of real for them, right? They're like, Holy shit, there's our son. Yeah, I think so. I think my dad definitely understands more now. Like, um, I'm not just, uh, kind of fucking around working out for a hobby. And then, um, it's kind of like a, like a job for me. It's how I look at it. And it's something that I really dedicate a lot to.

It's interesting that you're in this group of athletes where some of them are working out in 10,000 square foot facilities. They have body workers, they have nutritionists, they have multiple coaches, they have specialty coaches. And yet in your little cube, you don't even have enough room to do wall walks on the wall. And yet you've ended up in the same place as them. Do you ever think about that? Yeah. I mean, it's a pain in the ass. A lot of the stuff that I do, I mean, training in my garage, I guess I'm pretty lucky that my dad lets me use most of our garage to train in. I mean,

I still probably have, it's maybe 20 by 15 feet is the area that I work out in. So I've got some cardio machines and if a lifting platform that I made and I've got a squat rack and a pull up bar and that's pretty much it. But I'm saving up money to go to house next summer and I'm going to put a nice gym in there for me to train in. And I think that'll help a lot. But but i mean a lot of this sport is um like you know what you have to do people just don't want to do it and some people need a coach to tell them like i know i need to run more and do wall balls and do rowing and i do that shit all the time i don't need a coach to tell me that i need to do that it's just a matter of doing a lot of that stuff and then um a lot of the equipment type stuff um getting better at

specific movements um that'll that'll help when i get in to go to home and have a nicer gym to train at and um i mean like massage work and stuff like that you can i've kind of that's something i've been worrying worrying about because i really try to focus on recovery and I don't really have access to like get a massage all the time. And there's a mess schedule. So, I mean, I do a lot of work with like a hypervolume Theragun massage guns and like normal tech attachments and a lot of stretching.

And that's really helped a ton. I'm just really dedicated and consistent with that stuff. I just, I just got figured out what your next Colton Merton t-shirt should be. You know what you need to do. Most people just don't want to do it. That's true. That's a great, yep. That's a great line. When you, when you say you're going to build a house, are you, um, like literally you're going to build it? I wouldn't ask most people that, but I would, I would, I would know most people were talking about someone else building it, but I think maybe it's appropriate to ask you, are you going to build it. I wouldn't ask most people that, but I would know most people were talking about someone else building it,

but I think maybe it's appropriate to ask you, are you going to build it? Well, I'll do a lot of the interior work. Like I know how to do electricity and plumbing and all that stuff from the farm. My dad's really good with a lot of stuff. So I think he's going to help quite a bit once we kind of get to that phase. But there's a lot of things that you need pretty heavy equipment for. So we want to do most of that stuff. Do you have access to a 400-meter track that you've been using during the training this year?

There's some trails behind our house. There's timber behind our house. And I've marked out some trails. I have a 400-meter, 800-meter, 1, one K and a one mile loop that I can run. So I run on a lot of trails. I don't get out to a flat track a whole lot. I think that that actually, I think that when I was watching the master's events on day one, I think that the, the consistent running on pavement was maybe something that a lot

of them hadn't done. And I think that, uh, on pavement was maybe something that a lot of them hadn't done. And I think that, uh, you know, varying the surface you run on, whether it's an air runner or a track or a road or trail can go, can, you know, in a circumstance like that can go a long way, but you know, if you don't get the trail, then you're probably not, not doing it. It sounds like, yeah. Uh, Blake Barlow said in the comments on youtube this dude is savage i know i agree it's it's almost like it's almost unreal right you uh you it you definitely are um it's definitely a grassroots training effort it's's definitely like, I mean, I know you have the background in wrestling, but between the full-time job and ask him if I can make a documentary about

him, please. That's what someone said. I know. Wouldn't that be awesome? Someone needs to do it. At least a short one to start with. There is a, well, let me, let me, let me pivot here for a second. It kind of is in the same vein of what I'm saying, trying to say that I can't get out of my mouth. You, you showed yourself welding by the way, which I think is a brilliant Instagram post, your own handstand, uh, kind of contraption when they announced the handstand walk. I just don't think that I just don't think most people would make that effort, let alone have the skill. Did you actually finish making it?

Yeah, I made the whole thing. I went and bought the middle that morning and cut it on the bandsaw and smoothed it out with a grinder and welded it up. I made the handstand walk stairs and ramps a few years ago in 2018 when i went to the games on a team and they i think that's when they first had the ramp and stairs so i made that years ago so i already had okay awesome and uh when i saw you making it so that was an old video i know i just uh the parallels i made last week right. And how long does it take you to make those? Because when I saw you doing that, the whole time I was thinking to myself, oh shit, is this cutting into his training time? Is this like a three-day project?

No, it took me maybe an hour and a half. Maybe an hour. It didn't take very long. And you just have that welding equipment laying around the farm? Yeah, it's just in the shop at the farm. I was actually going to build a pig. I had the blue pens all drawn up, but I didn't have time to make work with the training that week. You were going to make a steel one? Yeah, I was going to make it out of steel and then put plywood on the outside and rubber mats. That way I could flip it.

It's pretty cool that they had the pig this year where you didn't flip it for distance. You just flipped it for reps, don't you think? Yeah, I liked it. I think it probably didn't make a huge difference. But, yeah, I liked it. It's just more concrete. Yeah, it's much more concrete. I just remember the last time they had it that occasionally someone would flip it and there would be like a foot or less of the pig on the line,

and then it's like, man, I've got to do one more flip for six inches or something like that. So that eliminates it with the five reps. Yeah, I think five reps. Yeah. This YouTube shit is crazy because people are nice, but I just love the harassment of Colton. Listen to this one. What are the chances he wins the spirit of the games?

And then they write zero. The same person wrote zero? Yeah. Oh, it's classic. It's so good. Ask and answer is the same, his own question or her own question. I mean, the question is a statement. But, I mean, this guy's here like, you know, he accidentally made a friend.

I mean, you know what I mean? Did you make any friends? Not by choice. And Scott Polinsky says he's so grounded, it's truly inspirational. I agree. It's like, there's a singular focus to him. Scott's coming up here, I think, tomorrow. They're coming up to watch the games.

Oh, you know who that is? Oh, that's the guy. That's the guy. That's awesome. Oh, so it's someone you know. Okay, no, no, but that's not the guy harassing Colton in a nice way. What other things have you made for training? You made the – did you make your own pull-up bar? Did you make – what else?

Did you make your own squat rack? Yeah, I made my own squat rack and pull-up bar and lifting platform. Can't think of anything else. What's the most you've put on your squat rack squat rack most weight have you put 500 pounds on it yeah i think 525 that's i had my pr on that squat rack at home before did you have any concern say that again before it's actually a little bit unlevel in that garage it was a little bit yeah it's a little bit sketchy and it's a little bit difficult lifting in there but um the weights feel a lot lighter when i get to like a competition or get back to kilo and get on a level four you felt like a a homemade welded squat rack would have the integrity of to hold 500 pounds you were never like as you put each plate on there you're

kind of like holding your breath no No, it's solid, man. It doesn't move at all. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. It's so out of my world. It's like such man shit. Like I have tools around just in case someone else asks to use them. I can pretend like I'm a man.

You actually have tools and you use them and you build shit. Maybe a long shot here, Colton. Do you have any idea why Alexander Elin had to withdraw? Good question. No, I'm not sure. I haven't talked to him. Yeah, I was pretty bummed to see that he came. He was the only

individual Russian athlete who was able to make it here and then he had to withdraw in the third events. Do you even know who he is, Colton? Would you recognize him if you saw him? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I do a lot of online comments from the offseason, and him and Stas Solodov do them as well.

And it's always us three pretty much at the top every time. It's like I beat one of them, then the other one beats me. Or I beat one, but then I tie the other one the other one so yeah i definitely knew who he was um oh yeah this is a good idea someone said he should get a power tool sponsorship i totally agree i totally agree or tyson meets or some shit hey um yeah here's a good question did you have you ever have you made a pegboard no i'm gonna make one this summer actually i don't have a place to play that's a good instagram post making of a pegboard people love pegboard shit love love what was your girlfriend's name again ali ali ali the cameraman needs to film that

while you're uh ali the girlfriend needs to stop being ally the girlfriend and be ally the cameraman and film the pegboard making yeah she's moving in uh a few weeks actually oh she into into the farm is that why you're telling us you're going to build a house is that how you lured her in you're like no come on over baby eventually i'm going to build a house we're gonna thinking about building it this summer but then the lumber prices and everything And you're like, no, come on over, baby. Eventually, I'm going to build a house. We're going to think about building it this summer. But then the lumber prices and everything went so high. I just figured it'd be better to wait a year and see the prices came down. And I think they have a good bit so far.

Oh, they have come down? Yeah, a bit. Thank God. It's crazy, right? They didn't just go up. It would have been like 30% more expensive last summer. Yeah, skyrocketed. Brian, I only have one more question for him, and I'm so thankful you gave us your time, Colton.

Do you have anything serious? Because it's a serious question, but it's kind of funny. Not so much a question. I just think, you know, it was, it was a day one today and I'm excited for, for Friday for him, which will be day two, because I think he's, you know, he's been pretty honest with it. These are, were a tough slate of events for him today. And then obviously the one he was excited about had an, you know, get cramped up in it. But I think that it's likely there'll be some stuff that he can really shine on Friday. So I hope that, uh, that that's the case. How many people do you think you talked to today at the event? Like, do you talk to your, did you, do you think you talked to less than 10?

No, uh, I started less than 10 conversations, but no, you talked to less than 10? No. I started less than 10 conversations, but no, I talked to quite a few people. I talked to a lot of people walking around, competitors in the age groups or fans and stuff like that. I talked to other athletes briefly and had some conversations with them, but not a ton. More than 10, though. What do you think about the fans? When you go out, do people stop you and take a picture with you? Yeah, it's fun. I like talking to them.

You're comfortable with that? Yeah. You don't just say, hey, I'm not here to make friends? But that's just the athletes. The fans are okay? Yeah, the athletes is a different thing. I mean, they're competitors, you know? is a different thing i mean just they're competitors you know if there was if there was if fans started buying you like hamburgers and like food and stuff you couldn't eat it huh you couldn't because you wouldn't know what was in it right because i

was going to say hey man we should put a shout out to the fans hey shower colton with gifts and but in food and just it would be just great to start something up like that. Like every time someone saw you, like they, but, but I just realized you can't eat any of that shit, right? You have to guard everything you put in your mouth. Yeah. It'd be sketchy. It'd be some sabotage. Right. Absolutely. I'd be the first to sabotage you. I wouldn't give you steroids i'd give you x lax oh that'd be great colton um thank you so much uh if you dare to come back on with us again the first thing i'm i'm gonna ask you about is uh whether you're gonna go to the after party but we'll save that question if we get lucky enough to talk to you again i really appreciate you um letting us into your hotel room, giving us time during this crazy, crazy intense week.

I really, really am stoked. I feel like I don't want to call you a friend yet. I feel like that would be presumptuous, but I'm definitely courting you. Brian and I are courting you. So thank you for letting us have a second shot at you. Yeah, absolutely. I always enjoy talking to you guys. Good seeing you again.

Yeah, you said the same thing to Armin. I listen to the podcast. I'm looking for something a little bit more. Well, maybe next time. All right. All right, brother. Thanks for coming on live with us. Give your girl a big smile and a hug from Brian and I and Ryan. And we'll be watching you on Friday. All right. Sweet. Thanks, guys.