BarBend Podcast
BarBend
Learn from the top athletes, coaches, and influencers in strength! Each week, the BarBend Podcast brings together some of the world's biggest strength names across weightlifting, powerlifting, CrossFit, strongman, and more. BarBend Editor and Co-Founder David Thomas Tao sits down with the strength community's smartest and strongest minds to with a focus on their learnings through training, competition, and coaching. We dive deep on their journeys and where strength training has taken them. World record holders share their competition secrets. Coaches give their most underrated tips. And top thinkers and researchers from the realm of strength science go deep on their most promising findings. This podcast is the perfect companion for experts and beginners alike, covering a wide range of topics to keep listeners up to date on the world of strength.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 26, 2021 • 36min
He's the Visegrip Viking (w/Odd Haugen)
Today I’m talking to strength icon Odd Haugen, who’s decades-long career in strength is the stuff of legend. Originally from Norway, he’s an accomplished champion powerlifter and fitness entrepreneur who’s owned and operated some of the most storied gyms in America. He also has a long history in strongman, winning the 1999 Strongest Man in America contest and competing at several World’s Strongest Man contests well into his 50s. Haugen has also been instrumental in bringing Mas Wrestling to western audiences, and he’s now on a mission to popularize the sport of arm lifting — a sport where his world-class grip strength makes him one of the world’s most dominant athletes, even into his 70s. Haugen also coached 2019 World’s Strongest Man Martins Licis from a relative strength beginner to one of the best strength athletes on the planet.
Jul 19, 2021 • 30min
It’s the Biggest Week in Strength History (w/Andrew Gutman)
We’re bringing the podcast in house today, and for good reason. We're talking to BarBend’s Managing Editor, Andrew Gutman, who’s covered some of the biggest events in strength sports history. But it’s an especially interesting time for the strength community. Late July 2021 includes both the Tokyo Olympic Games AND the CrossFit Games, making it one of the busiest periods ever for BarBend’s newsroom. We discuss the upcoming challenges and thrills with covering multiple international sporting events at the same time, along with some fun stories from the trenches of strength sports coverage over the years.
Jul 12, 2021 • 30min
From a Broken Neck to CrossFit Journalism (w/ Spenser Mestel)
Today we're talking to Spenser Mestel, a journalist who has written for publications like the New York Times, Buzzfeed, and of course, BarBend.com. Spenser has an insanely interesting athletic background, from competitive diving to parkour, a journey that includes ups like competing on American Ninja Warrior and downs that include breaking his neck in Egypt. Spenser has also established himself as one of the CrossFit community’s most impactful writers on a number of important issues in and around fitness. In addition, he co-authored Mat Fraser’s upcoming book, which will be released in January 2022.
Jul 6, 2021 • 31min
Are You Fit Enough for the Marines? (w/Joel Del Rosario)
Today we're talking to Joel Del Rosario, an active duty Marine and fitness coach who has 17 years of experience with fitness in the military. We discuss fitness standards in today’s military, along with how Joel’s approach to training and combat readiness has evolved over the past decade and a half. If you’ve ever been interested in learning how service members prepare their bodies and minds for the rigors of military duty, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
Jun 28, 2021 • 34min
How to Train for Elite Explosiveness (w/Kelsey Kiel)
Today I’m talking to Kelsey Kiel, a longtime elite CrossFitter who recently made the switch to bobsledding. As she trains toward qualification for Team USA, Kelsey joins us to talk about how her training has shifted, decisions that changed the course of her athletic career, and how bobsledders train most of the year off the ice. It’s a good look at managing performance and explosiveness, and why we can never underestimate technique in any sport. We hope you enjoy.
Jun 21, 2021 • 29min
The Keys to Elite Overhead Strength (w/Nicolas Cambi)
Today we're talking to Nicolas Cambi, one of the world’s top strongman athletes in the 105kg weight category. We talk about his strongman origins — including training at a famous gym I used to frequent — and how the sport has grown over the past decade. What’s the future of strongman look like? And what are those weird looking, floppy bars Nicolas is famous for training with? All that and more in this episode of The BarBend Podcast.
Jun 14, 2021 • 34min
BarBend Classic: Layne Norton on the Real Science of Building Muscle
In this special (and rare) repost, The BarBend Podcast is going in-depth with a topic and guest that launched to a huge audience reaction. Layne Norton, PhD is one of the strength world's most respected minds when it comes to the science behind building muscle and strength. He's also competed in both bodybuilding and powerlifting at elite levels. Layne joins us to talk about what the bodybuilding and powerlifting worlds can learn from each other, along with sifting through the "bro science" to determine what's actually optimal for building muscle.
Jun 7, 2021 • 36min
The Massenomics Mafia (with Tommy DeFea)
Today we're talking to Tommy from Massenomics, a lifting, apparel, and social media brand — and also a functioning strength sports gym — based out of Western North East South Dakota. If that sounds strange, then you haven’t gone headfirst into the Massenomics world. They’re curators of some of strength’s funniest memes and content, and they’ve built a dedicated following among lifting nerds that needs to be experienced firsthand. Tommy joins us to talk about Massenomics origins, inside jokes that made it big online, and why their LIFT shorts truly are clothing for billionaires.
Jun 1, 2021 • 30min
Putting the Powerlifting World on Notice (w/Hunter Henderson)
Today we're talking to Hunter Henderson, a record setting powerlifter. A heads up that we recorded this podcast before the Kern US Open, where Hunter won her weight class with a commanding performance — and took home a few records as well. Hunter has an interesting focus on cardio for recovery, which is something we think a lot of strength athletes can learn from. We hope you enjoy!
May 24, 2021 • 27min
To the Paris Olympics and Beyond (w/Meredith Alwine)
Today we're talking to American weightlifter Meredith Alwine, the current Pan American champion in the women’s 71kg category. I first met Meredith back in 2016 - in the early days of BarBend - while doing color commentary for the RVA Open in Richmond, Virginia. Back then, she was an up-and-coming collegiate lifter, and let’s just say her progress since has been nothing short of astounding. She’s risen through the ranks from the local, collegiate, and national levels to now be a contending force at any international competition where she’s representing the United States. She joins the podcast to talk about training, her progress in the sport, and the coach/athlete dynamics that are so vital to success in the sport.
