The Uneducated PT Podcast - Ep. 157 How To Get Strong AF With Sam Grover

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

In episode 157 of The Uneducated Podcast, we are back with the lads for she's in the way. We sit down with strongman athlete and coach Sam Grover for a conversation that goes far beyond lifting weights. From his early introduction to strength training to competing in strongman, Sam breaks down what it really takes to build strength — physically and mentally.We dive into the transition from general gym training into the world of strongman, the lessons the sport teaches that regular training never can, and what separates average lifters from truly elite athletes. Sam also shares his approach to building a bigger deadlift, squat, and bench press, including the biggest mistakes people make, the accessories that actually matter, and why consistency always beats complexity.Beyond training, this episode explores coaching, discipline, confidence, and the psychology behind helping athletes grow through setbacks. We also revisit men’s mental health, community, grief, and the importance of purpose and connection in modern life.This is a conversation about strength in every sense of the word — not just lifting heavier weights, but becoming harder to break mentally when life gets difficult.Topics include:Strongman training and competitionDeadlift, squat, and bench fundamentalsStrength training mistakesRecovery and consistencyCoaching philosophyMen’s mental healthCommunity and brotherhoodProcessing grief and lossBuilding resilience through training#TheUneducatedPodcast #Strongman #StrengthTraining #MensMentalHealth #Powerlifting #Deadlift #Squat #BenchPress #Podcast

We're very professional on here as well. This is, this is, this is a, this is a legit podcast, yeah? Full of valuable. I'd expect nothing more. If you keep saying it, eventually it'll be through. Yeah, it is true. Full of valuable information for people, you know what I mean?

So, Sam, we're going to start by you're going to tell Rob how he can get a girlfriend, all right? Yeah, I can try. Yeah. He had first. He also started by Enter in a strongman competition, obviously. Yeah, I mean, that's the route I'd go down. So as it goes, I had, well, women had very little interest in me until I started lifting massive rocks.

And apparently, that's quite attractive to some people. Like that. I didn't know. Now I can't get rid of Lee. Did that, I think, I did that, I think. Do that what I loved, I loved that video that went viral of her, I think she was deadlifted and then you were coaching her and you were watching and you're just like, oh yeah, love that. Just perving in the background.

Yeah, yeah. But it got all positive feedback. Usually when men look at women in the gym, it gets the opposite reaction. Yeah, I think I was lucky enough that she made the point that I was not some random creep in the background. But otherwise it would have been something. I'd have ended up on Joey Swoleon being kicked out of the fitness community. but um all right let's get into it why don't we start by you just introduce yourself tell tell the people who you are and what you do i am sam i'm a strength coach i am carl's coach which means i put him through

all the horrible stuff he does uh so if i feel like i get insulted on this i'll just make his workouts disgusting great please do that just clarification a lot of my a lot of my clients and members listen to this so you know you can't you have to say that i'm a really good client and I hear I hear from him all the time he does every check-in I've received he films all his videos for form he's wonderful

he's amazing to be fair I do log in all my sets and record all my sessions and you tick off the boxes you know don't I do you do and I go around I don't believe us I go around the class do you know what I do I go around the class and like when someone's not like filling out

like their sets or their weights or something I go well you don't have to do it but I do it for my coach here, look. And then I showed them all my sets. And they're like, oh, yeah, you're great, Carl. And I'm like, yeah, I am. If only that were true. All right, why don't we start with Sam?

Why don't you tell them a little bit about Strongman and how you got into that compared to just like regular strength training and why the transition? Yeah. So, I mean, starting way back when I was 18, I was 70 kilos soaking wet. six foot four. I played rugby really badly. And it just got to the point like hitting seniors, I'd be sat on by, you know, 20 stone brickeys and it just hurt. So I found strength training

as a way to get better at rugby and actually just fell in love with the idea of just getting stronger and bigger. And that started nearly 11 years ago and we're still very much, pretty much on the same track of trying to get bigger and stronger. I started strong man because I had a mate I went to uni with. He's done all right. He just got back. from World, so it's fair to say he's not shit at it. And he ran a comp, and I was like, oh, go and I'll jump in because I'm the biggest bloke at my commercial gym.

You know, I must do really well, because I can pull four plates. And I still hold a record on that deadlift setup. Not a good one. We had that comp last week. I'm the lightest opener anyone's ever picked for men. So, I have the shittest deadlift ever recorded at that competition,

which is a great, a great record to have. But that was about four years ago, and I've just loved it ever since. Yeah. What lessons has Strongman taught you that like normal

traditional training or just training in the commercial gym can't really teach you do you think? Do you want the more sort of insightful stuff

or from like a training point of you? Bo. First of all, the bigger and scarier someone looks, it normally means they're nicer. The first time I trained at a strong man gym,

I was on my own and I had two bles. come up to me and I thought I was about to get mugged and they actually just were sort of looking at me trying to do a log press and were like this is your first time in it and I was like yeah why and they were like oh because you shit this is what I should be doing and they were lovely and that stuck with me and I was like oh this sport's quite nice and I've been to powerlifting competitions like weightlifting competitions and it you know each their own if you're in the sport but it's a very different vibe yeah it's very much like I'm here for me and that's it I'm not cheering you on I'm against

you but you go to a strongman comp like it doesn't matter who you are if you're coming out and you're getting reps like people are cheering for you and I just loved the community side of it um so that taught me quite a lot just with kind of finding almost like my people as cliche as that sounds like i just love shouting a people um like i've we did a comp with like 12 of the team a couple of weeks back and i lost my voice i was screaming for people and i just loved it um and it was that side of thing that I really enjoyed. Yeah, it seems that like strong man competitions

and just that entire vibe is a lot different to, or feels a lot different to powerlifting in regards to the support and the community that you get. Yeah, yeah, big time. I won't throw anyone under the bus, but I've literally reached out to powerlifting coaches

to try and improve my knowledge and they've just ignored me and told me to do one because like apparently we're in competition. And I'm like, like surely not the whole point of us being coaches that we were trying to get better but in Strongman if you did the same thing like you'd be welcomed with open arms and

it's yeah it's just very wholesome for a bunch of terrifying blokes that lie lifting rocks they are all very very kind natured so do you think that that's something that after a while when people are going to let's say a commercial gym and they're just focusing on strength and they're focusing on getting stronger

but a lot of times then it can be quite a lonely journey then and that's something that they end up missing in regards to lifting weights is having a kind of a community or a team around you? Yeah, yeah, big time. I mean, for years, I've trained on my own just headphones in and I quite like it.

I think I'm a little bit tapped in the head, but I quite enjoy it. But there's also nothing like having a bit of a group that you all kind of like pushing each other cheering on. I know I've said to Kyle before, like going to like the farm on a Friday night, I'll get another 10% out of the lad screaming at me very happily.

Because I know if I don't get the lift, I'm going to be relentlessly bullied, so I kind of have to. Yeah, I think you need both, don't you? Yeah, yeah. Because not every session needs to be sort of a max expression of strength. You're not slinging everything. It's just a case of like some sessions get in tick boxes and shoot off. Yeah. What do you think people misunderstand about the sport of strong man? Oh, I, I would. say from like an entry point of view, I think it is quite accessible, which I think is great.

But, and I drill this home to some of the clients I've got, nothing that any of the team do, especially with like the guys that I coach or in general, if you do strong man, nothing you do is normal. Like it is not normal to be able to. I had someone question me, is a two times body weight RDL normal? And I was like, no, it's, of course it's fucking not. That's insane. Like, why would you even, in my head, I'm like, why would you even question this? Like that's nuts.

But I think because he's around everyone who is also really strong, he's like, oh, my RDL's crap competitor. I'm like, no, it's fucking heavy. Like, it's objectively insane. And I think there's a little bit of this almost weirdly dichotomous view that you need to be really strong to get into it when actually the barrier can be quite low. But you can accelerate quite quickly through it and become very, very strong very quickly. Yeah, that makes sense.

I think most people probably have a distorted reaction. of whether they're strong or not because they're going into an environment where everyone's strong. I suppose that's probably what stops a lot of people who are probably intermediate lifters in the gym from kind of taking that step into something like strong man. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I don't think I'd have ever found it if it wasn't from a moment of uni because like where do I sign up to lift rocks? Like I had absolutely no idea. That sounds a really stupid question, but like I just, there is actually a website for it, but I wouldn't have known it existed. But yeah, it's um, it is a, it is a funny old thing. I know, I know from

your Instagram you like tossing bags. What's your, what's your favorite, what's your favorite, like, lift or event in a strong man cup? Um, yeah, I'd, I'd, I'd, I'd, I'd, I'd, I'd, I'll be honest, I like tossing full stop. I don't need bags on the end. But throwing for me is, I'm objectively very good at it. So just from like a training point of view, obviously. We lean towards the things we're good at. We get the gratification of becoming quite good at things.

It accelerated very quickly. It is my favourite to do because I'm quite good at it. But also there is, I don't think anything gets me quite fired up like heavy stones. So as much as I will joke that I'm just a bit of an idiot that likes lifting stones. It's pretty much true to the day. You went for our own lifting heavy rocks. Yeah. Natural stones are also very fun. Sorry, speaking of it. You mentioned at the start about that being what kind of made you a little bit more successful with the ladies.

Do you think it's that lifting the rocks made you more attractive to them? Or do you think lifting rocks made you feel better? So you presented yourself potentially? So I can remember someone told me that they thought it was really attractive and I was on, I'd put up a video on Instagram and it was literally me under the M40 in a tunnel on my own in the freezing cold lifting a log that I knew was covered in pigeon shit. And I was like, you don't think this is attractive. Which is like, nah, it's really fit. And I was like, really? Maybe I should lean into this. But it's for like the odd one or two people, I think they do find it attractive. But it very much, I'm, I think if you ask anyone I went to university with, I'm very different. to the individual back then. Confidence is tenfold. I gested on one of the first podcasts I went on. I pulled a lorry. And in my head, I was like, well, if I can pull a seven-toned lorry, I should be

up to, you know, pull a girl on a night out. You hope there's some sort of carryover. I don't think there was in the slightest because it never happened. But there was some confidence in my head that, you know, doing that thing isn't normal. And if you can do that, there must be some other things you can challenge yourself with from like a confidence point of view. Yeah, I would imagine a deal in your first strong man competition, whether it's a beginner, intermediate or advances.

Like, even for people who have already gone to the gym and went on like a journey of, you know, they weren't confident. Now they started lifting weights and now they're a little bit more confident. And, you know, you're almost taking another step onto that again, aren't you? Even if you are someone who is like embracing some sort of a weight training journey. It's like you're taking the next step now. doing a competition like that.

It's probably going to be scary for a lot of people, especially doing their first comp. But I'd say the feeling after is very rewarding for someone like that. Yes, yeah, massively. From the confidence point of view, I think I'd played team sports consecutively through my youth.

And I don't think at any point I'd ever heard someone cheer specifically with my name. And when that happens, obviously you're out one at a time at a competition at something like Strongman. It was a very different mindset shift of, you know, people have belief in you right now that you can do this thing, whether I think I can

or can't. And that was a huge, huge shift for me. And I think that stems back to the confidence thing, because my confidence, like I said, 10-fold since I was at uni. And I would put it a lot down to this, like competing, having people around me, but the objective you believe I'll be able to do this thing and then doing it and you, you know, prove it to yourself as well. Is there any mistakes that people make preparing for the first strong man competition that you try to coach them out of her to avoid or you see you see come up a lot

there's a handful I think buying all the kit under the sun is one you just assume it will help but you don't need everything that's defa me yeah yeah I will look shit as I

will look great as I perform shit all the gear no idea type thing yeah yeah um nutrition seems to be the one for, I don't know what it is with Strongman, but it seems to go heavily out the window. I know for my first comp.

In what way? What would good nutrition look like entering a Strongman competition versus, you know, blown it? Probably very similar to something like running your first 10K, the couple of days before you just want a few more carbs. If you change it too much, you'll be halfway through a heavy deadlift

and you're probably going to think it. And the first time I competed, I was like grabbing frozen pizzas, tubs of ice cream. I was like, oh, I need all the calories in the world. And I woke up the next day and I felt horrendous. Before I'd even got out of bed, I was like, I've overcooked myself here. This is wrong. And I felt so much worse. Because in effect, you should almost try and view the comps.

It's almost like a training day if you can get the mindset there. It's a heavy training day. But if that's how you can perceive it, you'll inevitably sort of be less nervous, more prepared for what's going to be thrown at you. Yeah, yeah. What are there, for people that don't know, what type of competitions are there? Like, what are the events in the competition, I mean?

So we typically see five events. There is usually an overhead, which I am notoriously awful at. There is a usually, typically a deadlift. And then usually the other three events incorporate some sort of carry, some sort of load, maybe like a grip test, tossing,

whatever it may be, some sort of like, you might be tested on, your max endurance with like a full distance carry, your speed with maybe like some sort of, you know, timed carry and then maybe like a max sort of stone load where you're doing something heavy over a bar. And you know when you're training someone for one of these competitions, do you train them specifically for the competitions with the lifts or do you like do it in a way where you're in a gym and you're doing exercises that, you know, like easily

transition over to the movement pattern of these of these. So I kind of, I have what I discuss with people often is almost like we have a ceiling, which we want to look at is your competition prep. And I view a lot of people's training is just like trying to raise the floor as opposed to the ceiling. So if we start just by doing more deadlifts, you know, if we get your deadlift from 100 kilos to 200 kilos, objectively, you will be better at picking this awkward object off the floor in, say, a sandbag.

Obviously, your posterior chain is stronger. So if we're just raising the floor of your basic lifts, everything else will go up. And then aiming towards a competition, yeah, a little bit more specific. Maybe we throw in some, like, actual kit. If we've got access to it, I appreciate that can be quite a privilege because not all gyms have them. But from there, it's, yeah, then kind of dialing in and trying to get you as close to your ceiling of strength as possible. So that when you go to the competition, you know what you're doing, you're confident and you can attack it with some intent. Yeah.

So you're going to, you don't need to have all the, all the equipment. you can you there's a lot of just cross over from going to a regular gym and doing the same movement patterns oh massively yeah absolutely you have um do you have a lot of clients that um you're training for strongman competitions that don't have access to the equipment because i just thinking about gyms around here you're probably the same here there's not that many places that have your atlas stones and your big fecking logs unless they're like brought in by a strongman and they're his to use yeah so i yeah i've got quite a few that just the commercial gyms. You can get away with a lot of things that mimic,

it's not like you're on Atlas Stones, but you can mimic the movement pattern by sticking like rubber crumb bumper plates together and they'll wedge and the friction between them they'll stick together. And you can basically set yourself into a stiff leg picking plates and then drive your hips through and extend with them. And it's not like it's the same,

but it does, it drills the movement pattern enough that you can progressively load it, have confidence, you know what you're going to do. And then I say it to everyone on the day. There's no, if you go to a weightlifting competition, You're using an alico bar and alico plates. And that's the standard. You just, you'll use that.

If you go to a strong man comp, there's a chance you've, the, the log is made by someone who just has metal works in his garden shed. And there's no uniformity. There's no standardization. So the whole point of it is like leaning on how adaptable are you? How can you take the training you've done and figure out a way to make this lift work for you as best as you possibly can on the day? And it's, it's just comes down to adaptability.

Sam, can I ask you a little bit about, let's say, the transition or progression of your PT career. So obviously when you started out, you probably started out with a lot more like genpop clients, people who just wanted to go into the gym and get in shape. And obviously, as you're progressing in your career in Strongman, I presume a lot more people are coming to you specifically to compete in Strongman. Like, is there like a noticeable difference between the specific goals people have coming to, you now versus just kind of overall general getting shapes get strong yeah massively uh so the i think the very first pt client ever had her goal i think she had a flight in about four months and

she didn't want to use a seatbelt extender fantastic goal absolutely loved it was like yes let's do it um i was as buzzing for that at the time as i am now when someone comes to me and says hey i want like a 200 kilo deadlift like i get a nice little tingle admittedly a lot more now because i love the strength side of things but viewed personal training back then as this like holy grail of a job that I just wanted to do so badly that when people wanted to work with me I was so I was just buzzing yeah so it was very much how I'd label sort of gen pop-esque um more sort of standardized I don't know generic fitness goals if you'd call them not to downplay them but more standard ones um as opposed to oh there's this like rock in the corner of my gym and I want to be able to pick it up can you coach me to do that type

thing. And then I suppose the follow on question from that is like do the same coaching principles still apply from, you know, Sam who was, you know, coaching that person to be able to fit into the sea versus now, you know, getting someone who is already probably an intermediate lifter who wants to do a 200 KG deadlift or do a competition? I think they're the same entirely. I know, I know there may be difference with opinions. on that but my my viewpoint of coaching is admittedly quite skewed by what lewis's viewpoint of coaching is not a name-dropping blessing but obviously it's your interaction with the person on an individual level you know are we asking the right questions are we taking them through the journey of where

they want to get to if someone tells me they want to get stronger i you know i've got countless textbooks and courses that i've done that help me know how to get them stronger but i still need that personal approach with the person sat in front of me because if they don't like me they're not going to listen to me and then they're not going to do what I've suggested in the gym is the simple way that I look at it. Yeah, it makes sense. You still have to have that communication, that personality and that, that relatability to the person so then they can take on board the advice you're going to give them or the support. Yeah, yeah. And making sure that like if something goes wrong, I said to someone yesterday, if I haven't got that good relationship with them, if something goes wrong, they're not going

to want to come and tell me. And then for a couple of weeks, I'm programming them, maybe they're injured and I don't even know none the wiser. And I think, I've said it for the minute I started PTing. I was like, oh, the training side of this job is pretty much irrelevant. I need to be really personal. So that people actually want to spend an hour with me. Because if I come across like a bit of a knob, no one's going to want to spend the hour of their day with me because I'll make them feel crap.

Yeah. So, yeah. Do you find people tend to underestimate or overestimate their abilities more? Ooh. I definitely overestimate my ability. That's a really good question. I think, weirdly, I think if people are actually quite strong, I think they underestimate their abilities.

If people aren't very strong, it's normally blokes with egos that have been like, oh yeah, I'm going to put another 20 kilos on this week because it was really easy. And I'm like, no, no, no, it's really easy because it's week one. Like, that comes down the light, like stick to the plan and then having to try and get them to follow it. and it's basically keep an ego in check. Normally they're the ones who would, it's not that they might not be as strong, but they wouldn't get as strong as someone potentially

who underestimates himself. And what the trend I've generally seen. On that note, what's it like to train Carl? Because we were there, we were there when he was filling out your farms and we're over in Bali and you were doing his programs

and he was like, I'll start it next week. Well, I told Sam I was away and I still got the work done. But one thing I would say about, One thing I would say about the programming is that I would definitely, I would definitely agree with what Sam said there because I would usually go into my training session and I would just have the ego of, all right, well, I'm just going to lift as heavy as I can.

And even though I know in the back of my head, that's not what I should do. And then you just go and do it. And then following the following the program and actually reducing the way and being consistent with that and letting my body adapt over time. And I feel 10 times stronger because of that rather than just trying to, the fucking it's a PB every week

yeah it's good man to have someone else program stuff for you because I was I was talking about this and someone

yesterday you can't help yourself sometimes when you go in there like so you're just you're slapping weight on the bar and you're like

oh fuck it why not even though you're probably like I probably shouldn't but you can't you can help yourself but do it like I think you message

me was it a seesaw barbell exercise I was doing oh that looks cool and I was like off fuck off Sam, I don't want to watch you do that now next week.

We're like 100 kilos up in the fucking bar. I'm like, oh, yeah, I'll stop doing it then after that. Yeah, admittedly, it did look quite good. I was quite a fan, but I'm still not tried it. Sam, so tell us this, in regards to, let's say people listening to this who are on a strength journey, maybe they're just in the gym, just trying to get a little bit stronger, they're hitting a bit of a plateau or whatever. Like, what are some of the biggest mistakes you see that are stopping people?

them getting stronger in their in their mind lifts. The quote that always comes to my mind is you will you'll overestimate what you can do in a year and underestimate what you can do in five. It's probably the best where I can put it. I can remember going, like four years ago, I went to watch my mate at the England qualifier and I was like, oh my God, these bloops are doing like 300 reps.

Fuck, like, oh, now I'd never get here, that's not me. And then three years later, I competed, and I was 20th out of 55, and I was like, oh, shit. Like, and I just didn't see it coming, because in a year's time I hadn't made that much progress and then in five I'd made loads so it's always

as difficult as it may be I'd think about the long game which admittedly like looking at your programme specifically is why you've got stuff on now because down the line it will help I know it will help you down the line so it's always looking at the bigger picture

and like it sucks but with that you've just kind of got to be a bit patient I think I said it to you when we've spoken before, I think the most important thing with your training is you enjoy it. I don't go and, you know,

cane my body and put it through whatever I do and lift all the stone stuff because I have some deep hatred of it. Like I love, absolutely love it every single time. Like when I, after this podcast, I need to eat,

and then I'm going to slowly start turning the nickelback volume up until it gets pretty heavy. And then I'll be like, great, I'm tingled, I'm ready, let's go off the gym

and I've got like a press session to do and I'll be really excited. and if you can, it doesn't have to be rocks, it could be whatever you like, if you find that thing with your strength training, whatever it may be, you'll never have to find like motivation again. And the years will go by your blink that have gone

and then you'll be like, oh shit, I'm actually really strong. When do you think the penny drops for people? Because obviously for you and for me and for people probably listening to this, well, for a lot of people listening to this, they're probably already at a stage where they enjoy strength training because, you know, they feel better for it. So they're actually excited to go to the gym

and do them lifts and get the benefits from them lifts. But for a lot of the general public, who don't lift weights, who, you know, you still need to do it for, you know, overall health and longevity. It can be hard to explain to them that, well, you know, if you enjoy this, you're going to stick out of long term, but they might not enjoy it

or they might just feel uncomfortable in the gym and strength training. And yet, you know, it's so important for them in so many aspects of life. It is a difficult one because I think it's from the PT clients I've had, like with myself as well.

I don't feel like a penny dropped to any given point. It was just at some point I tried it and it's taking that leap like it may be with anything else. Your first run, your first 5K, whatever it may be. I say it to everyone. Commercial gyms are still going to be intimidating places if it's your first time in there.

If I go to a new gym, nine times out of ten, I kind of go and sit on a bike for five minutes and I just kind of like eyeball where everything is. And I've been training for 10 years. And, you know, objectively, I hate saying it because I always think I sound like an egotistical twat,

but I'm probably one of the stronger people in that gym at the time. And I still sit there and go, right, where is everything? Okay, I'm going to do this and I'll go do that. And then I'll go over there and do that. So I don't look like I don't know what I'm doing, which is a ridiculous thing to say 10 years into going to the gym. Yeah, it would be kind of funny to just look around.

Did you see Sam caught in like a lot of resistance bands upside down trying to do? But yeah, even so, like it's just one of them. It never, I don't feel like a penny dropped. It just slowly built over time. Yeah. As things like confidence and things like that grew in there. Yeah. Like anything as well, obviously when you get better at something or you feel comfortable in

your environment, you start to build a little bit of momentum and confidence around it. And it becomes more enjoyable. And nothing's obviously that enjoyable when you feel like you don't know what you're doing. Yeah, 100%. You mentioned your food after the podcast, the food and the nickelback. Is there anything that if you didn't do it before a training session or before a competition, anything if you missed it out that would kind of throw you off at all? Or are you kind of just in the headspace of, as long as I get it?

there and I do it. I'll be all right. I think nutrition always, I say this definitely, nutrition plays a bigger part, a much bigger part than I think people realise. Just from a, if you're trying to lift heavy and you've not fed yourself beforehand, nine times out 10, I'm going to pass out. And if nothing else, passing out in the middle of a commercial gym is a little bit embarrassing. I just waking up with like people fanning

you afterwards. It's, there's little things like that. I think that I say little. They should be like the big basis. things that we think about. But I think we always try and aim for top a pyramid for some reason as opposed to the bottom. Good sleep, good nutrition. And it just, it goes a long way. Yeah. Do you notice that with clients sometimes where they do hit a plateau and you're like,

well, you just need to fucking eat more? Ooh. Yeah. Yes. And also no. So yes, because like fundamentally, yes, that will happen. But also no, I think just the way that I'm wired. Like I always hone in on something positive.

Yeah. Like it's just regardless. regardless of what happens, I'm always like, oh, but yeah, this weird thing, this is like one exercise. We've lost kilos on everything else, but this one went up and that's amazing. Even if it's the most ridiculous thing we weren't looking at as a metric, I'll hone in on that to try and make people feel good as over the top as that sounds. So there's almost like, oh no, but I know you're getting stronger because you've done that thing. So I try and avoid the idea of having people in plateaus because it kind of sucks. But yeah.

what do you think is then like even if people are because I presume you don't have that many people who are in your program who are essentially on like a fat loss phase or anything like that I suppose it depends how you brand it you could argue there's fat loss faces in there but it's more I think a lot of the time it's more that we're looking at oh hey we've signed up for this competition you're currently you know 110 kilos but this comp's under 105 we've got to get you under that and it's things like that.

So we talk about nutrition and bring it in and potentially rotate like higher carb days for training days and the ins and outs with things like that. And do you think then there's a misconception that people think because they are losing weight for that competition or they're in a deficit for that competition that their lifts are going to go down but essentially your lifts can still go up even as you're losing weight.

Yes. I knew the answer to that question before you didn't finish. I was like, yeah, 100%. You can be lighter and stronger like it's absolutely. not a problem. The way I always picture it is, because I do love an analogy, is you've got this nice big car that you're trying to shrink in size and you can take the frame of a Land Rover and if you hammer it enough, it will turn into the frame of a Mini Cooper, but you can still ram a V-12 inside of that and it will still go around a track very quickly. All right, I have a very important

question. All right. So what are the foundations of a strong deadlift? Because obviously we're going to get me to a 200 kilo deadlift. So, but for anyone else listening, is like, I really want my deadlift to go up. I, so I've got a handful of like, quote unquote predictor lifts that I like. To a

certain degree, you don't need them until you're probably pulling maybe two times your body weight. They're by and large, not the first thing I would look at, maybe. Not every case, but in some cases. in that there's things like front squats

that I think are like heavily just I don't know why people don't do them more because I think they're fucking right yeah I'm loving them at a moment yeah and getting choked a little bit yeah is that why I love them is that why everyone loves them I never even talk about that to be honest it does make sense

yeah getting choked out on front squats why why why why are front squats so beneficial for a conventional deadlift i never really hard about it biasing towards a quad because you're having a little bit more knee bend which is obviously great you will from my experience the again it depends how you're built if you get it into the nitty gritty of it but for gen pop and general people obviously if you start loading up a back squat the way that i view coaching and programming and fatigue management if i start loading up a back squat and I have you squatting a couple of times a week and trying to

deadlift at the same time of the week, that's quite a lot of heavy load. Whereas if I give you a couple of front squats variations through the week and then a deadlift day, you can manage that fatigue quite well just in terms of like the weight of the lift. Because your front squat is probably 60 to 70% of your back. So you still get the benefit in your lower body and your core training, but you don't hammer yourself with so much weight that when it comes to your deadlift, you're like, I can't be asked. This is like off. Yeah. Yeah. So you get a little bit of fatigue management, which is great. I'm also a big fan of things like SSB, good mornings.

My favourite exercise now. Yeah, they are just stunning. Yeah, I love them with a passion. The first time I did them, I felt so awkward doing them. But now when I do them, I feel like it's the best core exercise that I do. Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Because like, obviously, from where what's working is everything, all the movements around your hips, but you've loaded the other end,

and it's on top of your shoulders, so it's axial. It's just, I love them. I think they're great. And then just hammering, uh, core work in terms of like not just your sit-ups, but looking at other planes, so transverse and frontal.

So I think you've had like QL crunches recently. So you like, you do a hyper extension, but you turn 90 degrees. You do it sideways. Yeah. Basically some weird stuff in there as well. Yeah.

And you're just trying to get collarbone to hip as, strong as possible so that you hold that position and you don't end up looking like that kind of like cat back deadlift as hips shoot up and the back just rounds horrendously. And then it's just a case of progressively overload and strengthening your legs. So front squats, hip thrusts, leg presses, they can all be great. Yeah. And I suppose then the flip side of that is there are all these exercises that are going to contribute to getting you stronger that will converse into the deadlift.

But then I suppose you probably have some clients who you can just pick it. You just watch them do a deadlift. deadlift and it might be just a technique or cue issue that will ins like without having to build up any extra strength can probably improve their deadlift as well yes so the first time i had a session with emmeline her deadlift was 110 and she pulled it and i was like no it's fucking not and about 15 minutes later she pulled 130 what was what was the what was the what was the difference there that got that 20 kilo increase um proper bracing yeah uh which was just queued with we didn't even put belt on if you as a really good like coaching cue for people just get you know

like the fitness bands that are sort of like a meter long just wrap that around someone tighten it and be like press that out with your stomach it works the same way it's tactile feedback and it's a great little thing to kind of be like that's that's you bracing now that and I think it was actually just it was dropping the shoulders as well weirdly I think she was under this was years ago sort of under that age-old impression of like oh my entire spine needs to be straight and I can't have a bit of thoracic rounding. So the first thing that would happen, she'd pull the bar, hips would shoot,

shoulders would drop, and then it kind of felt like an audio. So just changes to the start position and like that, 20 kilos. Yeah, that's a good point. A lot of people then when they're looking at a deadlift, even personal trainers looking at their client doing a deadlift, and they cease any sort of rounding in their back and automatically they, you know, freak out about that.

But you're saying that it's not something to freak out about. Yeah, yeah. rounding the right part of your back, I should say. Yeah. If your lower back looks like a cat's just stood up like you are. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

But if it's, you know, your shoulders are just dropped to increase your range of motion or decrease your range of motion off the bar, then it's not the end of the world. You said that you're, um, the thing that you struggle with most is, um, your overhead press. Hmm. why do you think that is why are some people why is that a a weakness for some people and how can they get stronger with their overheads I would love to blame genetics but I don't think I can I think for years I've just been a bit shit I again you lean into what you're good at and I think there's a huge bias for like environmental training for what you're good at as well and what other people are good at so I know

of gyms that have a handful of individuals and they all seem to be really good at the same lifts like overhead and I think there's an element of your environment will change it because you will be almost more susceptible

to a higher stimulus so when I've trained at the farm naturally everyone up there's really good at like deadlift sandbag and stones so we all if someone's doing deadlifts and it's like oh I don't have a plan up oh Stuart I'll do deadlifts because you're doing deadlift so you get more

more stimulus from them same thing with stones and bags and everything else. You go to another gym where they've all just log press absolute savages and they might all just buy us lock press because that's what they all enjoy doing. There might be the case of like there's one bloke there who's really good at it and the rest just kind of trickle off. But because they do it more, they get better.

I think there's not saying it's entirely that. I think there's that element from like an environmental point of view. Yeah. From a slightly genetic point of view, you know, if you're familiar with the ape index, if you've got longer arms, typically you are able to shorten your range of motion for a deadlift, which is great.

Bar's got to travel less. You can load more weight. Vice, you know, in comparison, vice versa. If you're putting something above your head, it's got to go so much further. So elements of genetics in there, but I don't really like to blame them because... You can't do anything about it.

Yeah. It's like, shut up, put more weight on the bar because no one cares. Yeah. That's funny. And what about... I can't lean in at a comp and go, oh, but I've got longer arms.

They'd be like, no, fuck off. Not yet until we're able to do genetic mutation, you'll admit it. Maybe we could shorten your arms. I could increase my leg length. What about in terms of programming around getting a stronger overhead press? What would you be thinking for someone who's struggling with that? I would be looking at typically twice a week. We'd have one day that's potentially more focused on your triple extension.

So your push press, which is effectively you're jumping and then trying to punch something in the air above you is a, you know, layman in terms of doing it. So ankle knee and hip will shoot up at the same time. So there'd be some technique stuff there, which I would be inclined to partner up with like a lot of shoulder stability work, which is just raising implements in like weird ways. Trap three raises, lateral raises, IYTs, list goes on. And then the second day would just be like pure pressing. So just an awful lot of press variations. Yeah. And get to the point where like driving home hurts because you can't hold the steering wheel is a, you know, a nice place to be.

Okay, and what about, let's talk about squatting for a minute because I know that's one that a lot of people kind of struggle with, especially if we talk about genetics and people with longer limbs and shorter limbs and obviously people being more hinged dominant and people being more quad dominant. So if someone wants to, you know, naturally get better at squating, they want to get a stronger barbell back squat. Do you have any recommendations or general advice for people listening? So I would look at your squat as the movement itself before you start thinking about a bar. Purely because putting a barbell on your back and trying to balance some squat in itself can be quite difficult. If it's your first time in the gym, I don't think I've ever given anyone barba back squats. I would start with lower yourself to a box, stand back up, right tick, that felt good. Goblet squat, awesome.

That also felt good and maybe then transverse to like a front squat. And so you've still got that. and interior loading going to be a little bit more easier to control on the way down I find because it's less to think about than having it on your back and just slowly move through the progressions because I said

to everyone like it's not just oh I've put more weight on the bar I've progressed it's oh I'm doing a more complicated exercise and I came out in one piece you've progressed as well so skill skill for me is massive it's it's I think a lot of the time what holds people back

personally yeah What about, let's say, with the front squat stance, lines or general population who are complaining about shoulder mobility, hurts on their shoulders, etc? I think there are four different ways you can get around on that. So, yeah, like the standard Olympic one is one. If you're fussed about doing it, you can cue some mobility stuff to kind of open up your rack position beforehand.

If not, a pair of lifting straps so that you tighten them around the bar and then you sort of like grasp them which is really good just a simple crossover so you just cross your arms and squeeze the bar or a bit of a personal favourite I don't think people like it

if you want to feel choked out take your hands off the bar and just zombie squatters zombies yeah oh yeah chair loves them yeah also great not many people like them

but if you like the feeling of being choked they're fantastic zombies and zirkers man yeah yeah they're just yeah they're great

and it's again it's a bit of a skill thing because it's like how do I keep the bar in place and you slowly learn it. The squat isn't usually the difficult thing. And what about if someone becomes an like intermediate? Like they can do a goblet squat. They can do a front squat. They have the decent range of motion.

They know how the brace. They want to get stronger at their back squat because that's like the lifts to get stronger. How did they get more confidence under the bar? Do you find that to be a thing where people are just almost kind of shit themselves under heavy weight? Yeah, 100%. I would, I'd be inclined to say it sounds really cliche.

I really hate to say it, but like, you just kind of got to do the reps as much as that might induce vomit into people's throats. If you, you know, you could probably back squat twice a week pretty comfortably. If you just did two sessions, have it as your first exercise. Do a bit of movement prep. One day, maybe like 10 sets of two with slightly heavier weight. And then the other day, like four sets of eight. So you just get your reps in.

So you get a bit of skill acquisition at higher weight. and you get your reps in where you're going to get a little bit stronger, build a bit of muscle and go from there. Do you find any accessory exercises help with the back squat? Because sometimes you can feel quite fatigued from a back squat or you might not from like a leg press or a V squad or a hack squad or like do you find a decent crossover with them

or do you think they take away from like the specific skill of having a barbell on your back? If I was looking purely at bringing someone's barbell up, I would probably be looking at barbell. they might have a secondary assistance exercise that would be compound maybe like, I don't know, it could be anything like an RDR if you wanted more glute or hammy. There would maybe hit thrust or something. There would most definitely be a single leg exercise in there. Potentially something like a single, like a Bulgarian split squat where you do eight reps on your left leg.

This is sadistic. I don't know if you've had this yet. Eight reps on your left leg and then you do a like a 30 second left leg. and Hagenhold and then you do the thing with the right side as well. No, I haven't had all over Bulgarians yet. You've gave me a front foot elevated, which is a nice stretch on the on the quads. Yeah. So like similar thing and you just super set them.

And you just, again, if someone's back squat is nice and, if their legs are nice and strong, but the thing I'm looking at is like collarbone to hips, if that folds the minute you put any weight on the bar, it's like, how do we fix that? We just got to get your core stronger. So single legwork, super set with some core stuff. It's grim, but it does half work. Please do that for him. I want to see that

I enjoy the pain yeah I know exactly I'm here to help you care um what about the difference between like a high bar and a low bar for people that don't understand and why why there is a difference and when to when to implement

a high bar versus a low bar squat well I think I didn't have a bias until someone told me his bias and I was like I'm just going to say the same thing because you know what you're talking about for like everyone I coach I would say ideally

or not anyone I coach but in general I think you want to lean towards a high bar it is a much more comfortable position so it sits on top of your traps your range of motion typically should be a little bit better it's more over the midfoot you're not leaning into a hinge so it's a bit more quad

it's more comfortable which means it's more fun and it doesn't suck low bar if you care how much weight on the bar drop it a couple inches put it on your rear delts have a little bit more of a hip hinge and you shift a little bit more weight into your hips and yeah you can add I can't remember what the percentage is off the top made

I think it's like 10 to 15% or 5 to 15ish depending on how skilled you are but it you know it's a significant amount of weight at 100 kilos so so you can lift a little bit more on a low bar I always find low bar so uncomfortable like I find it so like foreign to me and does it what does it like anything hurt afterwards yeah my lower back hurts after well also I've really short legs and like I can be really up right you know with a with a with a high bar squat it just and it's and it's

what I've always done um yeah lead into it there's no point forcing square peg round hole because like you say I feel awful my when I shoulder mobility won't let me get there yeah that as well like it's just not fun yeah because if anything it'll be your elbows that blow up afterwards and they yeah will really hurt what about what about bench then our third big lift um how do people get a stronger bench especially for the men what you bench um what do you think what do you think a good what do you think a good bench press is for for like a not not Jen Poppo like an intermediate lifter. I was looking for approval

right now, I think. Yeah. He's just going to make us all feel like shit now is what's going to happen. Just be honest, Sam. The number that comes to head, to come to my head is 100, is two plates, it's 100 kilos. I'm all right, guys.

Guys, I'm okay. It's all right, guys. We could cut the podcast there. Then, like, to me, that was the holy grail of a hifling for like the first four years in the gym. It took me like four years to do, five years to do it or something. And I was, when I did it, I was like, oh, my God.

I am, I don't know who he is, but I'm fucking him. Like, this is, this is amazing. And I came home, I can remember telling my mum and she was like, oh, well done. Like, is that good? Like, what can everyone else do? And I was like, well, my mate did 120 the same day. And she was kind of a bit like, oh, well, why didn't you do 120? And I was like, four years, fucking hell.

And I thought it was, yeah, I thought it was a holy great. Admittedly, no one cared other than me. but like it's in my head it's that thing that just I speak to any bloke and they're like our two plates would be cool yeah and it seems to be that thing what movement would you say was the biggest indicator of general strength so like we've obviously talked about the three main like SBD moves but is there a movement in general that you would use to kind of identify a strong human being oh you know that's a good question

I think I would lean towards a, if it's a squat or a deadlift, mainly, mainly because I will pay attention to someone if, like, if I see three plates loaded on a bar, on a squat or a deadlift, I'll out the corner of my eye, I'll be like, who the fuck are you? And we'll watch within 10. That's how I got actually one of my clients, Kieran. He approached me in Buzz last year and was like, hey, mate, sorry, do you mind watching me do deadlift. Like I've seen you deadlift quite a bit. Can you tell him if the forms all right? And I was like, with all due respect, you've put four plates on that bar and you just pulled it for two

triples. Like, I was already watching. Your form is fine. Um, because he put a bit of weight on and I was curious. And do you think the deadlift because there's so much involved in, you know, pulling that off the floor in terms of, you know, the amount of muscles that are engaged to lift the deadlift that you kind of can't have too many weak areas to hit them kind of numbers? yeah I think I think because I mean nine times out of ten it's what you can move the most on yeah yeah kind of draws me to say deadlift if I was yeah I think I think because it's the most accessible it's the most easiest if everyone had every bit of kit that maybe if everyone trained in like a strong mansion I probably pay attention most seeing how people move sandbags I don't know if that sounds really random but you can if you can have if there's like a if I see someone training in the gym and they move like a 100 kilo bag with ease, I'm a bit like, okay, they know what they're doing. So what's your opinion on the hate that deadlifts get online sometimes?

I get why. I get why. Why? So like deadlifts aren't bad for your back. Bad deadlifts are fucking awful for your back. Don't deadlift bad and you will be fine. I think the issue comes with like the amount of times I go into buzz and that like, you know, bottom end deadlift platform

there's like one barbell with a couple of plates on it and like seven school kids around it and they're all like, you know, chipping like one kilo more at a time and they start pulling and the back goes from that to that all of a sudden and that's in my head where injuries go wrong. Yeah.

That sort of environment of like, you know, basically egos get involved. If you can hang your ego up at the door you deadlift, you should be all right in theory. I don't typically give, admittedly, I don't typically give conventional deadlifts to like Genpop clients. I will start them out on like a trap bar, which is just more comfortable. Yeah. Simple as that. More difficult to get wrong. So, you know, your injury risk drops massively. But if someone comes in and says, I want to deadlift, they're deadlifting, simple as that. Yeah. Yeah, that's fair. What is, what's our famous,

that famous lad who wrote a book on Backpain he was he was kind of giving out about deadlifts a couple of weeks ago and then got debunked I can't remember his name but anyway I won't I won't name drop him to the bench press then alright so someone wants to get

100 kG bench press what do they need to do do they need to bench press or do they need to look at other exercises around benching is a technique is a exercise selection is a programming how did they get there um i it would pretty much be it would be the same thing as i said for overhead but probably just

with bench so there's not i don't use it that much there's not a great deal of horizontal pressing in strong man i've had it in one competition in about 20 so what was the what would have been the event that would correlate to a bench press uh it was a bench press oh it was a bench press I'm like, okay. Pushing a goat off the ground or something. Everyone turned up and went, oh, for fuck sake, why are we benching? So it, yeah, it doesn't. It's not popular.

It's not like power lifting. No. No. No. I would say do it twice a week. Have a day potentially heavier. Have a lighter day. On your heavier day, I'd be inclined to say like a back off maybe with like close grip

as well. And then just a handful of chest shoulder and try. step exercises and span them. Yeah. Potentially, it sounds potentially weird, but on your leg day, I'd be given your front squats just to strengthen your whole anterior chain. Yeah. And just a couple of things like that.

Again, core work like real basic stuff in my eyes. Do you think that the overhead press is a greater representation of strength than the bench press? I mean, I'll be honest, if I walk into a gym and I see someone load four plates on a bench, I don't really, I just don't really pay attention because it's in my head, it's bench. And I felt like I completed it when I hit two plates. I was like, I'm done. Like, I don't need to ever do this again. If I walk in and see someone strict pressing like one plate, I'll be like, fucking go on, lad.

Like, that's overhead. I'd rather see someone put weight overhead than up on a bench personally. But that's, you know, I'm going to be biased because I've got to do it in my sport. what was the have you seen um have you seen the up uh the uprising in ireland but uh is your man indiana stones you know the the whole tradition of going around lifting big mad rocks around the countryside you haven't seen you don't have that over in the UK there's a lot there's one main guy anyway in Ireland that does it and there's different stones around the countryside where you can either find them on the side of the road or hike up a little hill and you have to like obviously the same

pick it up, run around like a certain spot and put it back down. Do you have any of that over over in the UK? We do. They're not, I mean, English stone lifting to Mike. There are but they're nowhere near as famous. There is, I can't remember, I think there's an

Instagram guy called like lift stones, travel or travel lift stones repeat or something. I think he was Irish. We have the oldest stones in the world, Sam. You should be over here lifting some rocks. Because the English didn't take them off us is the only thing they left behind. But they couldn't lift them at the time. Yeah, they couldn't take them.

They didn't have your programming at the time. Silly boys. But yeah, New Grange, what is that, 8,000 years old, Chair? I think it's ace, yeah. It's right there. Do you know of any big strongman competitions in Ireland? You just had Ireland's strongest man. Yeah. Last weekend, won by Rory,

which I think who potentially may win it for the foreseeable, because he is like 24. and fucking savage. 24. Fuck. Yeah. But, yeah,

I mean, I don't know them, I don't know them that well, but I know Ireland's popped up. But they'll just be like local gyms that put them on, I imagine like county ones and everything. Yeah, yeah.

Going on to coaching in general, what do you think separates a good coach from a bad coach? Ooh. How long do I have to answer this question? You have as long as you have. I've nowhere to be. I say, like, if I see, I think the thing particularly with Strongman is that the vast majority of people who are now coaches in it have got into the sport as an athlete

and have done quite well and then potentially have gone like they've won a competition, they've made its nationals, and it's just suddenly this hand sticks up and goes, I'm now offering coaching, like jump in my DMs if you want to get strong. And to put it bluntly, that's my fucking head in. Because being an athlete is one thing. Being a coach is very, very different. And the fact that you are very strong does no way correlate to you coaching others to be very strong. You might know the technique of, say, lifting an Atlasone.

But your ability to coach someone to lift that with the certain techniques, it's not just because you can do it, doesn't mean you can coach. Because it's quite a small niche sport, you see it quite a lot. and it admittedly does my head in. I will see a good coach as someone who is constantly trying to better themselves. There's like a handful of courses that have come out. There's a strong man, an official

strongman coaching course that you get like a level one recognized, recognized, you get like 10 sims of points or something. In the grand scheme of things, it's like 200 quid and it takes you the weekend. In the grand scheme of things, you don't, I didn't learn that much, I don't think. But I see that as a bare minimum effort

as someone in the sport to stick their hand up go like, hey, I'm going to, I'm going to do this on this weekend because, like, I care about being a good coach. Yes. And it, it honestly baffles me that more people haven't done the course. You mentioned, no, no, go on. I'll keep ranting all day otherwise. That cut me off. No, no, it was kind of linked to, I think, I've probably forgotten my question now, but you mentioned about low confidence that you need.

And then now getting into the sport, like getting into the sport, built your confidence. And obviously, you've now gotten into the coaching and competing stuff as well. do you think a good coach needs to have been through either a confident struggle or a physical struggle at some point in their life to be a bit more empathetic or do you think someone that's naturally gotten into it can still be a good coach? Oh, that's a good question. That is almost like it's loaded. No, not at all. Not at all. Oh.

It was almost like it's loaded. I think out of the people I know who make better coaches, and I'm thinking about people who haven't even been doing it that long or are simply at the minute still kind of like having three or four people on the books that they're just kind of like dipping the toe in. Objectively, I can see that they are a very good coach and the way they talk to people, the way they interact at like competitions. I think it, I do think it makes them more.

empathetic having, I know they've been through something or started at the bottom and worked up for sure. I think you do get a lot more from that. I would argue with potentially, obviously, there are, in terms of the amount of people in each class, it's a bit of a pyramid. You have far more novices than you have inters, then far more inters than you have opens, far more opens than elite. I think as you go up that pyramid, you probably need less from your coach. I think it's fair to say, I have started working with John and I think I've had like 10 messages from him in about three months

but I'm at a point where if he gives me an exercise, I know how to do it, I know what he's looking for and I just get on and do it and I'm by and large my floor has come up massively. Yeah, exactly. You must be, you just delete mate.

That's all it is delete. That must be why I'm so bad at community. I just get it done. You know what I'm, I am the ultimate. client, do you love? I am Sam. All right. But, and I mean, I don't know if I messaged him more, he might need more from me, but like, by and large, I, you know, I'll send him some videos and he'll just thumbs up it and it's great. But that's, I don't need that much from him because

there's not that much. I mean, there's still stuff to learn. I'm not saying there isn't, but there's not as much like, hey, I've just done this log press, like, what do you think of my technique? You know, was I doing this? Was I doing that right? It's not as novice or beginner, should we say. So there's an element of they don't need, I don't need that much from him. I just go in tick boxes and I am now stronger than I was three months ago. And I know that for sure.

You know what? That's interesting because that kind of even shows that like there's going to be different coaches who are suited to coach different people. Like someone who does need a more, you know, handheld type of coaching probably wouldn't do well with that type of coach. Or if you get someone who is an, an elite athlete who kind of just needs, needs the program, needs to follow it and can get it done themselves,

you know, and just knows that they're with someone who is experienced and knows how to do it. Like, it's completely different maybe medits or processes, but the outcome becomes the same. Yes, yeah. So my interaction with him is vastly different to my interaction with all of my clients other than Carl.

Other than Carl. who is at least who is elit so I like I will chat to everyone every single week if I haven't chat to them in a couple days I might just nudged them and be like hey how's the week going

you know are we on track for staff hit your workouts like I've been told before that I just act as a bit of a cheerleader and I'm more than happy to because yeah I think going back to the point I made about people calling out my name at the competition and how empowered I suddenly felt I very gladly fill that role for everyone else

yeah what I find interesting as well is when you touched on the really good athletes who then decide that they're going into coaching and a great athlete doesn't always make a great coach but on the flip side of that if you look at the other side of the spectrum I would imagine in something like Strongman there needs to be an element of you have competed at an elite level in order to have the experience to be able to coach these people through the process

I think so personally there has been instances where I believe individuals haven't done anything with the sport and they have coached people to very very high titles because they know what they're doing however there is

I've had discussions with people I won't name drop but there's also been acknowledgements that like anyone could have coached said individuals and they would have won because their stress their coach so fucking high I think

realistically, I think leading from the front is quite important. And I had a comp two months ago and I didn't know, but 15 of the team turned up. It was actually really rude. You didn't get on a flight and turn up, mate. I was so sorry. I'm so sorry. But like 15 of them turned up. And I was admittedly on a bit of a angry war path to try and win the comp.

I didn't. I came second. But when they all turned up, I shed a tear. had to go off and fucking collect myself because I was like I whatever I've done for all of them they're now paying it back to come and watch me compete is I just thought it was lovely

Would you rather be the strongest man in the world or the best coach in the world? Oh Oh You only have the title of one Oh fucking hell that's not fair Um

Oh shit. I take best coach. Are you sure? I take best coach. Don't try and make me change myself now. I have aspirations to get to places with Strongman. I being brutally honest, a lot of people don't like talking about them, but I would have to take a serious amount of steroids to touch worlds.

And I don't know if I would get there. I mean, I haven't made it to a national comp. so it's unlikely I would but I would have to take a disgusting amount to touch worlds. Yeah. And I would probably not make it past 40 in that case. So it's not really something I'm happy to do.

It would be a much shorter lived career than coaching for the rest of your life. Yes. But the glory, Sam, the glory. It's very much like you've got a little devil on my ear. Like, don't tempt me to go get all the same. Like, get on the juice. Get on it. Is there a particular point you want to reach before you were to stop?

I don't want to jinx anything, so I touch word, but before you were to stop the strong man compete in, is there a level that if you had to stop tomorrow, that you would want to have reached? Or have you already reached it? How deep and personal would you like? As deep as you could. Yeah.

Deeper the better. finish that sentence. I just sort of DeDeve and a bit, I can't, I can't. All right. So I, the last time Carl and I did a podcast, I told him that one of my family members wasn't very well.

And I don't tell him at the time, but it was my mum. And she battled through cancer for three, four years. And I won Oxford Shears Strongest Man in 2024. And I've got loads of different clips on my phone of her bragging to all the nurses who come in. And she's like, oh, this is my baby boy I was telling you about, you know, she, he's just what, he's Oxfordshire's strongest man. And that alone fires every single session I currently do and will do until I give up the sport. And I told her before she passed away that I wanted to hit Nationals.

You get a walkout and I want to have a walk out for mum. And that is the end goal. So I'm not fussed about worlds in the sense because I definitely get a bigger kick out of seeing like a client on a podium than I do with myself. But I am breaking myself in half until I tick off the goal like I said I would hit for mum. Has anything surprised you about grief, Sam? Because I obviously did a series on grief the other week and I had like 10 people who have lost parents and loved ones and children and all sorts. And I asked them all the exact same question.

Had anything surprised you about grief about how you've handled it? I wanted to ask you that question as well then. I would, yeah, I would say quite a lot. I didn't realize at the time, but I was pre-greaving an awful lot. And I'd seen a therapist purely because, for like four years, purely because I was self-employed and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. so I was bouncing stuff off him for two years before that like mum's health was even questioned and obviously the minute it was it was very much around that and I I can remember this is a

slight tangent I can remember there's a film called a monster calls if you've seen it if you're familiar with it I can't think of it brings it was it is a I am not particularly spiritual but I feel like there was a reason why it came up on my suggested films the time it did It's about a young lad who's losing his mum. And he goes through this whole process of kind of like accepting that it's happening. And I watched it. I think the week after she went into hospital and I was like, what, this is, it fucking wrecked me for a week. But I think the pre-greaving process really shocked me because when it happened, it was, I didn't feel like I was denying anything.

Yeah. Which was weird. I was expecting to be filled with hate and all this anger. But actually ever, like ever since it, the whole sort of process started. I've just been so unbelievably grateful for everything. I think what I said to you on the last one was that I, it made, because I knew it was happening, it made every cup of coffee I had with her so much more like it just, the coffee tasted better. The company was so much better the days Sean Brighton because I knew there was an amount of

them left, not because anything else. Yeah, that makes, that makes sense. I think I think I probably went through something similar as well as that I knew my man was dying and that I was grieving true. throughout it before she even passed away. And I kind of handled it after I kind of handled it better than I thought I did. I did go through a phase where I was excessively like busy in work or keeping myself busy and preoccupied. And it was only in like hindsight and like a couple of years after I realized like how hard I was working and maybe that was a little bit of a coping mechanism.

But I think that's also normal and natural as well. yeah so I think a lot of it I think is probably that there's a link to competitions and getting stronger for me to involve that what was it 11 months and a day ago now and I am my calendar is getting stupid to the point that like I'm I'm just there was I had like an idea shelf of things that I was like I'll eventually get around to these things I've ripped that fucking shelf down and it's just it's just happening I don't really know I'm going to have the time for half this stuff. I'm just doing it.

And it's just, I think, an element of trying to keep myself busy or just crack on with it. I don't know what it is, but it's getting done. And I don't know, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing either. Like I know a lot of people say, oh, people stay busy to avoid feeling their feelings. But like you said, there was a lot of self-acceptance there anyway. And I think sometimes it's like, okay, everyone's going to have some sort of a coping mechanism anyway. there's probably worse there's probably worse coping mechanisms to have than staying busy um i know obviously that that can backfire as well if you completely avoid yeah your feelings but i don't think there's

anything wrong with being that busy as well another thing we when we we sat on a panel talk together in was a bolton that we were in it was bolton wasn't it yeah and yeah and uh we were on the panel together on men's mental health and i suppose that that's a common team that uh me and the two lads speak about on this podcast is men's mental health, community, loneliness, women. And I suppose I wanted to ask you kind of your take or your advice on kind of men's mental health and young men at the moment and what you see in regards to what they're struggling at the moment or what could help essentially help people to improve. their overall mental health and their well-being.

I don't know whether I have many answers or any at all because I am not, I don't particularly look at myself as particularly wise. I don't think that's what I'm not good at lifting rocks because of my high IQ. But I think there's, I think in general, from what I have seen there is a severe lack of community with a lot of people. And one of the things that I am trying to do the most with the lifting academy, which is just the coaching stuff for online, is I, I just want it to be like the best community it possibly can.

We're currently playing like strength, strong man bingo. So just a load of things that people are cracking on and doing. And one of them I deliberately made, like I want you to go and train with someone else in this group. Like go and have fun with people. And I think whether it's just things like social media and, you know, phones that have just completely wrecked it.

I do think there's an element of community that I think a lot of people are missing. And I'm not too caught up with the politics of things like the male loneliness epidemic. If I see people talk about the fact there isn't one or there is one from the circle that I have been in and seen having young male friends, a lot of them seem to be more isolated than I feel like we might have been 10, 15, 20. years ago. And if there is something that they are doing that's community based nine times out of ten, it's sat in the pub drinking. And I, you know, it's not, there's a lot of social health in that,

but it's obviously, how many pints are we going to sit and have before this gets a little bit silly. So I think the, my advice would be try and find something you enjoy doing as an activity or exercise and find a community with it. And if there isn't one, fucking make it. Yeah. It's a plaz. There was no one in Buzz in Wickham. Well, there's no one in Buckinghamshire who does Strongman anymore. There's no gyms. So one of the stupid things I've decided to do this year is run Buckinghamshire's strongest man.

And that's going to bring a bit of buzz, bit of thing to the sport, hopefully get more people involved. It gives like a whole load of my team the opportunity to compete and compete together. Again, bringing people together. And it's like, I have absolutely no reason to do it. I'm not getting paid. I'm going to fill my calendar with an awful lot of meetings. it caused myself a lot of stress, but I, you know, people are going to benefit and it's simple as that.

Yeah. And the reason I asked you is because I remember even when we're speaking at that, and you touched on like every Friday night meeting the lads going and training and I think it came, I think that conversation came about because we were speaking about how lads bond in a, in a separate way to women and stuff. And sometimes it's harder to go out, just have a one-on-one conversation. But when, when you got together on a Friday night and you're trained and that's when years would have the conversations that men probably needed to have that were helpful as well as you know doing something like training and I'm feeling better for off the back of that oh massively like you know for a couple of years there was a group of like you know strong men that potentially were

you know proper sort of believe the term is blue collar jobs I'm not really good with things like like this um you know like prison officer mechanics type thing or police officers whatever they may be things that you don't expect to, you know, we're not going to sit around and have a coffee and, you know, you're not going to get feelings out of them. You put a barbell in their hands. You put a bit of a nickel back on in the background. And all of a sudden it's like, oh, fucking this week's been shit, lads. Oh, what happened? You know, this happened. That happened. This and that. And it was, it was, it almost was as much of a mental just release the tap as it was like, oh, we're all here to get this thing done. And we're all going to, you know, lift some heavy

shit and every usually every week someone hit some sort of PB that would get everyone shouting and it yeah it made the world a difference for many years yeah nice does you have any last questions you want to ask i think i've asked my deep questions i i could feel the the tone change whenever you talk about grief it just it clicks like that so i'm always like how do you want to take you no i think it was a good no it was a good man sir man yeah sam if people wanted to follow up with your work if they wanted to reach out for coaching if they want to get strong as fuck like me like you what are the best representation for his coaching but we will get there we will get there um where can they reach out and find you sam instagram's probably west it is simply sam grover pt i probably need to change that because i'm

not really a pt anymore but sam grover pt nice and easy all right lovely we'll leave it there sam thank you very much for today appreciate you thank you very much gents