Several months back the entire Barbell Shrugged crew called into the 50th episode of Power Athlete Radio. We had a blast chatting and bullshitting with the entire Crossfit Football crew, so I knew this interview with John Welbourn was going to be great. But I’ll be honest. I did forget just how big he is.    At 6 ft 5 in and 310 lbs, this man is not your average Crossfit Coach. John reminds me of Tony Robbins’ larger, more athletic, Warrior/Mercenary brother. To borrow a phrase from the fantastic movie Shallow Hal, shaking that mitt of a hand really was like grabbing a bunch of bananas.    Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing people in the sport of fitness. Athlete’s are getting fitter by the day, while also getting strong enough to compete nationally as competitive lifters. That’s extraordinary. But that said, the world of the NFL is a few level’s up, to say the least. Just check out this video of John and his former colleagues warming up before a “WOD.” Your Fran time is awesome, dude, but I don’t think it’s going to be much help if you find yourself on the other side of the line from one of these real-life juggernauts.   John was an incredible Football player, but he’s an even more impressive competitor. Did you know that he competed in the 2008 Crossfit Games? It’s True! You can see an old video on John WODing right here. That’s a super-duper impressive feat for a guy that large. “Why didn’t he lose some weight so that he could be more competitive,” you might ask. The answer is that he wasn’t done playing professional football yet! That’s right. He went off to training camp just a few weeks after the Games, which for lack of a better phrase, really takes balls.    I really enjoyed talking with John. It brought back so many memories of my own career, which had many up’s and down’s, but was an amazing time in my life. Just in case you were wondering, no, I was no John Welbourn. Not even close. But I did alright, and I did it with a bitchin’ haircut. But I also wanted to thank him for showcasing the most important strength lesson in his Crossfit Football programming. That’s this, listen closely - If you want to get really strong and maximize your result, you have to train appropriately.    I know,  I know, the strongest people you can name train Westside, Smolov, Sheiko, whatever, so why not you? Why not do as the strong do? Well, because you have only been training a few years, not a decade or two. You don’t have the skill, the foundation, the muscle mass, or the recovery potential to take on such programming, so the only thing you’re going to get is frustrated, tired and hurt. The key to long lasting and enduring strength is to progress up to the intermediate and advanced levels ONLY WHEN IT IS REQUIRED! To be more specific, you should do the simplest possible thing until it stops working for you. Only then should you make things fancier and more complicated.    That fundamental approach is baked right into John’s programming. If you are in need of some strength and power, but you also don’t want to give up an inch of your overall athleticism, you really can’t beat Crossfit Football. Give it a try, just be honest with yourself. Are you an Amateur, Collegiate, or Professional level athlete? You’ll truly know by the results you get. Be honest.   For more information on Crossfit Football, make sure to check out their website for ton’s of cool training information and a full list of upcoming seminars. You can also follow all the latest from the Crossfit Football team on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.    Cheers,      Chris

This week on Barbell Shrugged we are busting training myths with our old college buddy Dr. Andy Galpin, Professor and Researcher at California State University, Fullerton.  This is Andy’s third appearance on the show. We first got together to chat about muscle physiology way back on episode 19. Most recently, he helped us break down the science of mixed martial arts with the one and only Bas Rutten on episode 91 (this is also the show where Mike get’s kicked in the balls by Bas, a classic moment indeed). Those were both awesome shows, but this latest discussion was probably our best so far. Maybe we have the combination of Glenlivet and the bright California sunshine to thank for that.  After a bit of catching up we got right into some training myths, starting with a common misconception in the fighting community. These athletes are a lot like Crossfitters, in that they are very driven. They train very hard, and they generally do everything they can to improve performance. Effort isn’t the problem. The real issue is that they don’t really plan for a rest properly, and they don’t understand fatigue and cumulative stress. For them, more is just better. There is one speed - Train as hard as possible no matter what, “or else you’re a pussy!”  Of course this isn’t true at all. Andy’s currently working closely with MMA athletes to educate, as well as help them to train more effectively and recover more quickly so that they can maximize fight performance and reduce their risk of injury.  A fairly simple scientific tool that Andy has utilized with these fighters is the force plate. In a highly objective way, Andy can point out the data when an athlete produces force at a less than optimal rate. In other words, he can show the athlete exactly when they are moving, “slower than a middle school girl.” Sure, many of these folks are really strong. They are tough, bulletproof with big lungs, but they are slow and it’s killing their performance. If you only did one thing in the gym, you would try and get faster. Speed kills, in just about every sport.  All lifters and competitive fitness athletes should take note of Andy’s advice for fixing this problem. “If you’re getting tired during your speed work, then you’re doing it wrong.” Cut the reps and start performing every repetition with the explicit goal of moving absolutely as fast as you can. In many cases this coaching point was good for a 20% improvement in force production, which amounts to a significantly more damaging strike. Write this little pearl down, friends. Before you do anything else, consider doing less, going faster, and training more often.  Sure, “More is better” and “tired is good” are common misconceptions amongst fighters, but the actual myth busting on this show didn’t really start until we began out chat about nutritional supplements. On the top of that list, as always, is Creatine. Despite huge volumes of research supporting its use, many people still have the wrong idea about it, which is frustrating. First thing’s first, you can think of creatine as if it were the fifth macronutrient right next to carbohydrate, fat, protein and alcohol. Having an abundance of this energy substrate in the muscle does significantly improve performance, there is no doubt about it. Creatine also manages to do that without any known side effects, including the classic fretting over water retention (Myth!). The simple truth is that you will be a more powerful athlete, for longer, if you take creatine. Also, this is currently one of the most heavily researched supplements for improving overall mental acuity and long term mental health. Just consider the work being done on Parkinson’s disease, which is extraordinary. If you aren’t taking it, you probably should be. Once you start, you probably should;t stop, as cycling on and off is completely unnecessary. Remember, it’s better to think of creatine as a nutrient, not a drug. Nutrients aren’t the sorts of things you cycle off of. Another classic training myth is the function of lactic acid in muscular fatigue. Andy brought us up to speed with the truth. As it turns out, this particular myth is rooted in a 120 year old hunting journal, where elevated lactate levels were observed in killed, bagged deer stags. The easy observation to make was that these increased levels had to be associated with fatigue. That sounds reasonable, but as Andy will tell you, it’s complete fiction. The truth is that lactate is possibly the single most-preferred fuel source in the human body. It also actively works to hydrate tissue and reduce acidity by capturing and shuttling hydrogen ions down the metabolic pipeline. That’s a very big deal.  No, lactic acid is not your problem. That much Andy is sure of. Now, when it comes to explaining what does actually cause fatigue? Science has some ideas, but the truth is that we still don’t know. I guess Andy still has some work to do to keep him busy around the laboratory.  One of the final, big myths we take on in this episode is all about muscle mass and endurance. You’ve no doubt heard those old time, unfounded concerns that athletes who strength train will only end up muscle bound and immobile. We know that this is silly and untrue. Some of the fittest, most mobile human being's alive train with really heavy barbells, just about all of the time, and they are huge! You just have to make room in your training regimen for some structured mobility work, the fix is that simple. Work at it and you’ll improve. Ignore it and you’ll get worse. Who knew? The same thing can be said of muscular endurance. Metabolism occurs in the muscle tissue, so having more of it can only improve one’s endurance potential. In that light, the classic fighting myth that being too muscled only makes you get tired more quickly…Yep, complete bullshit. That is, unless the athlete in question never works on their endurance. Remember, you get back what you put out.  For more from Dr. Galpin make sure to follow him on Instagram and Twitter. You can also check out his faculty page here if you want to learn more about Andy’s research and academic work. Andy, we’ve got to make this at least a once a year kind of thing, buddy. It was great to see you again. XOXO,  Chris

This week on Barbell Shrugged we have the pleasure of welcoming the big man, Aja Barto back to the show. In case you missed it, make sure to go back and check out his last appearance on Episode 76. It’s always a great conversation.    We caught up with Aja at the 2014 USA Weightlifting Nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our chat came before his turn on the platform, but I knew he was going to put up some large numbers. Just look at his recent training. At 6 foot 5 inches and 220 pounds of bodyweight, Aja has put up a 250 pound strict press, a 520 pound back squat, a400 pound squat jerk, just for starters. That’s very impressive. I wasn’t surprised to hear that he later snatched 310 pounds and clean and jerked 352 at the meet. Hey, not too shabby for a Crossfitter, right?   It actually might be more accurate to call Aja a Weightlifter, at least for the time being. He made news earlier this year when he decided to sit out the 2014 Crossfit season in favor of pursuing Weightlifting full-time. His reasoning was simple, “I just decided I wanted to see what I could do if I completely dedicated myself to it, without having the interference of burpees and box jumps.”    Interference might actually be too strong of a word. The truth is that Aja has made a really strong run in competitive fitness for several years in a row now, ascending from Crossfit rookie to three-time Games athlete in relatively short order. But despite that success, he ran into the same problem that just about every other athlete comes across eventually - Progress started getting really tough. The easiest gains were long gone.    As Aja saw it he had two choices. First, he could spend another year beating himself up with tough METCONS in hopes of moving up a spot or two at the Games, but he’s the first to admit that it probably wouldn’t have made that much of a difference. The alternative was to switch gears. Instead of another year of the same old thing, Aja decided to commit himself to getting really strong, to refining his technique, to seeing just what he’s capable of on the platform. It’s a wise move. He’s definitely stronger, and will probably end up being much fitter in the long-run, should he return to competitive WODs.    Between you and I, I do hope he does make a return. He’s just too much of a beast not to. But the return might come in some other sport all-together. Sure, he could do proper Crossfit again, but I was thinking he should try something a little different this time. Something a little more powerful, shorter in duration, and befitting a behemoth of his size. Yeah, I was thinking he should actually give the NPGL a try. I guess we’ll see, right?   For more from Aja, make sure to check out Behemoth Crossfit. You can also follow the man and his monster lifts on Instagram, Twitter, and YoutTube. Aja, it was great to see you dude. Take your time with the Weightlifting. I don’t think we’ve seen your strongest work yet.    Cheers,    Chris

This week on Barbell Shrugged we are honored to be joined by Kevin Ogar. Just in case you aren’t aware, Kevin became well-known after fracturing his spine at a competition in January 2014.     It’s only been six months since that devastating, notorious injury, but Kevin seems remarkably recovered, at least spiritually and emotionally. You should have seen him smile wide when he was telling us about the bright white Stacie Tovar shorts he was wearing underneath his pants. “Yeah, I’m actually wearing them underneath here. I heard she was going to be over at the Barbells for Boobs tent…I thought I would challenge her to a booty-shortshowdown.”   That group has been so supportive and caring for Kevin and his family these past few months, causing a bit of a stir at their Crossfit Games tent would be the least he could do in return. Also, it would just be a good time. That’s one of the lesson’s that Kevin has taken away from the injury. “Now that I’m in a wheelchair I really like to push the limits of what I can get away with.”   It’s hard not to love that attitude. I must admit, I’m not sure I could keep that perspective, especially after such a freak accident. That’s really all it was, a freak thing on an otherwise routine set of snatches. An off catch with a modest load. A dumped repetition that changed a life forever. The question has been begged over and over by now, “Is Crossfit dangerous?” But Kevin flatly denies that. It was more about the angle, the odd timing, the one in a million shot that did the breaking. In truth, he’s one of the rarest of patients. Most injuries of this sort are attributed to skiing accidents, vehicle crashes, and other sorts of routine activities where the risk is more widely known and accepted. But this is different. In fact, it’s hard to identify another case like Kevin’s at all. The injury was anything but an inevitability.   Our conversation started to turn visceral and raw when Kevin began to describe how the injury felt. At the moment of fracture his nervous system went into extreme shock and alarm. His whole body burned with pain and sharp electricity. I just sat there as he spoke, quivering a bit, growing more and more queasy by the second. I couldn’t imagine the feeling, and I couldn't respect the guy more for what he has endured.    Eight Dilaudid fueled, motionless days followed the injury. At first the doctors didn’t want to lose Kevin to shock and blood loss. Next up was the intense spinal surgery that would place his back into alignment. The approach was from the side. The ribs were split and dislocated. His organs had to be removed and his entire core reassembled. “That surgery has a 35% survival rate.” That only made the weight of this injury all the more heavy. I could hardly stand the thought.    Despite the dangers and risks, Kevin couldn’t have had a better surgical outcome. Still, he know’s he has a battle ahead. “They say the chances of me walking again all on my own are less than 1%, but I’m the king of small percentages. I'm 3% of the world's population as a Ginger 3%. I have blue eyes, which means I’m 1% of that population…So, I like small numbers.”  Kevin began his rehab by facing his first big physical challenge, getting upright in a wheel-chair. “I know it sounds easy, but it’s so hard. It feels like you’re sitting on top of a balance ball, only imagine if your leg’s didn’t work.” Still, he did it, and he’s still at work. What remains of his core musculature has begun to adapt. His nervous system is reinervating and adjusting in astonishing ways. Hell, the guy still manages to have a six-pack, despite the damage.    No, there are no guarantee’s here for the recovery effort, but there’s cause for optimism. Who know’s what technology will come in the coming years. For paraplegics and spinal cord patients who are able to keep their bodies strong and fit, anything could be possible. If you can remain resilient, tough, and hard to kill, then you should feel optimistic. Kevin’s got that written all over his face. His happiness and positive outlook are true.    Kevin is training as hard now as he ever has, but the goals and outlook have obviously changed immensely. It’s no longer about maximizing strength and fitness, it’s more about not sucking so bad at life in general. It’s about attacking weaknesses, which now include showering, going to the bathroom, and getting back up into his chair after a fall. Sled pulling, prowler pushing, dumbbell work, gymnastic drills, it all has a place in his regimen.    That’s where the biggest lesson of Kevin’s story shines through, I think. Progress on the small things is incredibly rewarding. Consider going back and working on the basics. It might be your posture, your foot position, your timing, whatever. Remastering it will be one of the most rewarding things you can do. If you get injured, do not stop. There’s always something you can still do. So do it! Something is better than nothing, always. And who know’s, this enforced change might just be the best thing for you. For once, you might be forced into doing something new, something necessary. You’ll have to develop and utilize new tools. That’s always a good thing.    I don’t think there’s a limit to what Kevin can achieve. He might walk again, I hope. But he’s definitely not going anywhere. He will keep finding new ways to train and compete as an adaptive Crossfit athlete. He’ll keep working to share the message of fitness with other patients, bringing the support and community that have made such a difference in his life since January.    Revelry, revelry, you have our full support, Kevin. There’s no limit to what you will achieve.    To learn more about the cause and support Kevin’s efforts, make sure to check out KevinOgar.com. You can also follow him on Instagram and Facebook in order to stay up to date on all the latest developments.    Thanks, Kevin. It was truly an honor to meet and chat with you.      Chris

This week on Barbell Shrugged we are joined once again by the one and only Kendrick Farris, two-time Olympian for USA Weightlifting, tattoo aficionado, part-time comedian and all around amazing dude.    Just in case you missed Kendrick’s first two appearances on the show, make sure you go back and check outepisode 55, as well as episode 76. Trust me, you never want to miss out on what he has to say.    Kendrick always gets us fired up when he speaks, but it’s quite another to actually see Kendrick lift. Imagine, a man his size easily tossing almost 500 pounds overhead, or easily squatting 550 pounds rep after rep. It’s incredible. On the world stage this guy is as strong as any lifter his size, period. The Olympics are always a really tough competition for the United States, sure, but I for one can’t wait to see Kendrick on the Rio platform in 2016. The Barbell Shrugged crew will be right there in the stands, sipping Caipirinha’s and cheering him on as loud as we possibly can.    To get that damn good, you would think Kendrick has sacrificed everything for the sport of weightlifting. It wouldn’t surprise you if he came off as obsessed, hyper-competitive and all that. But the truth is that he lives a remarkably balanced life. Kendrick’s Instagram feed is not just a showcase for his lifting prowess. It’s mostly pictures of friends, family, and more than a few tattoo sessions. He’s the type of guy who loves and shares openly. He wants you to be better than him one day, which is probably exactly why he’s such an amazing lifter. Attitude is everything.    Kendrick doesn’t compete to impress anyone, especially not himself. He’s just interested in learning what works best for weightlifting. Sure, dominating the platform is the ultimate goal, but only because it creates a platform for Kendrick to inspire, teach, and share his remarkable point of view on lifting and living. It also gives him the opportunity to meet the best coaches in the world, to mix and share ideas, and to push the community forward.    Between Kendrick and the lovely Diane Fu there’s never been a better time to learn the sport of weightlifting. They both have such an amazing, open attitude to coaching and sharing information. Their seminars really are some of the best coaching experiences you could hope to have, really.    You can check out dates for Kendrick’s Bless the Gym Tour here. Also, if you want some Diane Fu in your life, check out her event schedule. You’d be silly not to go, especially when they coach together. Do it!    If you want a summary of Kendrick’s wisdom look no further than his attitude towards weight and diet. Lifters often obsess about cutting weight before a big competition. The rationale is clear enough. If you can cut hard, then regain weight after weigh-ins you will have a clear competitive advantage over the other folks in your weight class. And that’s true, but more often than not the cut leaves you feeling like shit. This is what happens when you spend more time thinking about the competition, forgetting what it is that’s best for you. Likewise, diet is cool and all, but there’s no sense in obsessing over it. The details, demands, and strict food limitations aren’t necessary. That’s time and effort that could otherwise be spent with the barbell, which is a far better way to become a great lifter. Does Kendrick eat Paleo? Does he have a personal chef or catering services provide him meals? Hardly. He seems to spend most of his time crushing bags of trail mix in between training sessions. It’s not ideal, but he seems to love it. Maybe that’s the only dietary detail that matters.    Get with a great coach, or two, or three. Move efficiently, but find out works best for you. There are no hard rules. Do your thing. Refine it. Put together a long-term plan and be patient. Train hard, and with a community of great lifters. Eat what you need to eat. Weigh what you’re going to weigh. Be the strongest possible version of yourself.     If you want more Kendrick in your life, make sure to follow him on Instagram. You don’t want to miss any of his pancake sessions or heavy squat workouts, trust me. You can also follow him on Facebook and Twitter.    Bless the gym!   Cheers,    Chris Moore  

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