BarBend Podcast

Today I'm talking to Pro Strongwoman Inez Carrasquillo. After a short, record-setting powerlifting career, Carrasquillo turned her focus to strongwoman and almost immediately began turning heads. In under three years, she rose through the ranks and earned her pro card with a hallmark victory at the Arnold Sports Festival. Now, she has her sights set on taking on — and beating — the sport's absolute best. 

Here's a super-popular episode from the archives, and definitely one of our most listenable of all time. Jordan Syatt is a record-setting powerlifter and content producer who’s best known to many as Gary Vaynerchuk’s personal trainer. We sit down to talk about sacrificing everything to reach lifting goals, the psychological components of fitness, and the number one thing everyone in fitness can do to improve their communication skills. Jordan also shares a personal story of how Westside Barbell kept him from dropping out of college. 

Today I'm talking to Steven Koontz, best known online as RhinoStrength. Steven has made a name for himself with some pretty epic displays of old-timey and unconventional strength (80+kg bent presses, anyone?). And a big reason Steven pushes his limits is to challenge the notion of strength being static, boring, or easily defined. Steven is a musician and artist by training, and our conversation focuses on how strength sports and lifting can act as self expression. Could it even be an art form?

Today I’m talking to my friend Angela Gargano, who is a bit of an “OG” in the fitness space. She’s competed on American Ninja Warrior multiple times, earned the title of Miss Fitness USA, and she’s also a serial fitness entrepreneur. She joins me from Austin, Texas, which just might be the best city in America for fitness pros and enthusiasts alike. Let’s find out why. 

Today, I’m joined for the second time by Tommy DeFea, one half of Massenomics. They make memes, they sell apparel, they record a podcast, and mostly, they don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s definitely the best multimedia strength sports company from Western North East South Dakota. We talk smelling salts, lifting jorts, and a lot of other stuff that would never touch a normal strength sports podcast. Hope you enjoy.

Today we’re bringing back one of the most popular guests in BarBend history — record-breaking powerlifter Joe Sullivan. Joe joins us for the second time to talk about training, overcoming injury, and why elite strength athletes are probably not the best health role models. He also gives his thoughts on how to bring more unity to the powerlifting world, and whether or not the sport can shift to an abundance mindset instead of focusing on scarcity. 

Here's a popular one from our archives: Today we’re talking to Josh Clemente, Founder and President of Levels, a company producing wearable tech so users can track blood glucose in real time to maximize diet and exercise results. Josh is a veteran of both SpaceX and Hyperloop One, and his background is in designing life support systems for the next generation of space exploration. In today’s episode, we discuss how that work inspired Josh to found Levels, why metabolic responses can vary so differently from one person to the next even with the same food, and what this means for actionable insights into strength and performance.

Today I’m talking to powerlifter and coach Daniel DeBrocke, Director Of Education at Kabuki Strength. He’s also a writer for Breaking Muscle, a website in the BarBend network, so I’m obviously a huge fan of his writing! Daniel is one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever encountered when it comes to athlete prep and programming for competition. In today’s episode, we dive deep on programming for powerlifting, including the sometimes-unexpected changes that occur when progressing from beginner to intermediate to advanced. Daniel drops some real knowledge bombs in this episode, great for athletes and coaches alike!First, a quick word from today’s sponsor. Organifi is a line of organic superfood blends that offers plant-based nutrition made with high-quality ingredients. Each Organifi blend is science-backed to craft the most effective doses with ingredients that are organic and free of fillers and contain less than 3g of sugar per serving. Take Organifi Red Juice as an example: It’s formulated to recharge your mind and body with a delicious superfood berry blend of premium, organic superfoods that contain potent adaptogens, antioxidants and a clinical dose of cordyceps. It’s designed to promote energy with zero caffeine and only 2 grams of sugar.Go to www.organifi.com/barbend and use code BarBend for 20% off your order.

Today I’m talking to Andrew Gutman, BarBend’s Editor-In-Chief. Andrew has joined the BarBend Podcast before, but this time, we’re talking about something a bit different: The future of strength content. What will the industry look like in 5, 10, or even 20 years? And what was it like (for both of us) to witness the downfall of print in fitness journalism? We look into the past to try and see the future — and that means predictions about everything from BarBend itself to fitness influencers. Let’s see what comes true!First, a quick word from today's sponsor. Organifi is a line of organic superfood blends that offers plant-based nutrition made with high-quality ingredients. Each Organifi blend is science-backed to craft the most effective doses with ingredients that are organic and free of fillers and contain less than 3g of sugar per serving. Take Organifi Red Juice as an example: It’s formulated to recharge your mind and body with a delicious superfood berry blend of premium, organic superfoods that contain potent adaptogens, antioxidants and a clinical dose of cordyceps. It’s designed to promote energy with zero caffeine and only 2 grams of sugar.

Today I’m talking to kettlebell sport world champion and Master of Sport Juan Pellot. Spoiler alert: Juan is actually my coach, and I interact with him pretty darn regularly. But we’re flipping the script this time, and I’m asking Juan to dive deep on the differences between kettlebells as a training tool versus contested sport, and why the latter — a sport popular in Eastern Europe — has taken so long to catch on in the Western world. And does a kettlebell sport set really feel like doing the CrossFit workout Fran for 10 minutes straight?