Welcome back to the max effort kitchen podcast.We got a great segment for you It's called the athlete and the chef so sit back relax and let's go All right, welcome to max effort kitchen podcast I am Matt.This is Cornell.We are your host.
How you doing Cornell?It's been a good busy summer, but hey We're here, and I'm excited about it.
Even though we're not necessarily every week, we are still consistent.
Yes, we are absolutely consistent.You know, this is it has surpassed and it is now the longest standing series on the Max effort kitchen that we have.This will be episode number 58. Cool.That's pretty rad.It flew by.Yeah, it did.
And I think that, uh, the consistency that we're bringing is really is, is what it's all about.And that's why I think that's why it flies by us because we're just like, yeah, every Sunday, let's just do it.Right.Yep.
Um, but, uh, yeah, it's pretty cool, man.I think that this, uh, it's, it's got the biggest following so far.Um, it's got the, uh, most, most episodes and, and, uh, can't, can't complain about that, buddy.
Cool.Well, if you're listening to this, check out some of the other ones, because there's lots of interesting stuff going on and fun food stuff.
Get a pizza oven.That's that's what we're really coming down to.Yeah, I know it's not all pizza talk, but no talk.And it's it's it's great.
It is.And you know, that's good transition into, uh, you know, like, I think I might've mentioned it last time we were on.Um, but I, I think I've got this recipe down.
Um, I let Damon try some of it and he was like, this is the best guest I've ever had.Um, and I, you know, I'm, and I told him, I said, it could probably be better, but I appreciate you saying that.Um, but. It's a 72% hydration.
I ferment it for three days.And it's just like that perfect mix of like crunch on the outside, aeration on the inside.
And I think like, I might've been telling you this already, but you can eat a medium pizza and it feels like, you know, you had a couple of slices because it's just that light and, It's really easy to work with.
But it's been a lot of fun developing this recipe and using different recipes from different books and just kind of like, I'll kind of go off the beaten path a little bit and say, hey, let's throw a little bit more yeast in there, or let's pull back on some of the oil.
But I think I got it.I'm going to do it like three more times.I always like the world of three.If I can make it consistent in three times, then we're good to go.
Cool.No, I feel like a crust can make or break a pizza, like the toppings are the toppings.Yeah.Pizza can still be good with a light amount of cheese.Pizza can be good with a heavy amount of cheese.
But if that crust isn't right, you could be not on that thing for four minutes.
Or it's so thin it just like crackers in your mouth.Yeah, yeah, I agree with that.I think that that's a really good, really good point.
And, you know, like you've heard, we've both said this, you know, pizza is just the crust is like a platform for flavor.So like, let's make that platform the best.
Yeah, for anyone who hasn't listened much to this, like we've done some, I know you've done much more crazy stuff than I have, but pizza doesn't always have to be that savory flavor.Like we've done the sweet stuff and we've made the dessert pizzas.
And I know breakfast is still savory, but like I've done, from your advice, like the bacon and egg pizza, and it's amazing.Like get outside the box of just pepperoni.Yeah, I agree.
That's a really good advice.
We went up to the cabin this weekend or ended up just being Friday night.We came home a day early cause it was fun, but it was like, we'd kind of rather have that Sunday to get ready for the week.My wife starts work tomorrow.She is the teacher.
So it's like in service.And then the kids start the following week.
Yep.And we went out for food probably four, four times.
and I was just getting so frustrated.My kids aren't little.My kids are 15 and 16.Immediately, ooh, chicken nuggets.I'm like, come on, dude.Like, stop being a child.Like, try some other stuff.
And then he ended up, I don't, then he goes, ooh, orange chicken.I'm like, come on.That's just orange sauce on top of your nuggets.So he ended up going a little bit outside of his, I mean,
They're not kids who don't eat anything but chicken nuggets, but he ended up getting this really good salmon one day and then he got you got chicken fried steak another day.Like he, so he did, but he always goes to that.
Like, Ooh, they've got chicken nuggets.I'm like, it's on the kid's menu.He's like, I'm like, you're my teenager.
You can't do that anymore.No, I, you know, it's funny because, uh, over the summer, I don't remember when he said it, but Jack was like, he, he made this big proclamation.Dad, when I turned 10, I'm going to eat all the food.
And I'm like, all right, bro, we're holding you to that. So there might be some rough weeks coming up because he turns 10 and 2 in like a week and a half.So it'll be interesting to see what happens.
But yeah, I mean, I think it's good to push your kids into the realm of new foods.And they really think it is.
Yeah, definitely.They, my kids have gotten a lot braver when it comes to food, especially stuff that I'll make.I mean, he was straight up eating my steak the other day and it was, it was much more on the rare side.
And I was like, you might not like this.And he goes, that's fine.And I was like, all right, let's go.
Let's do it.Let's do it.Like it. Now that's cool.Um, so have you cooked anything recently?Any, any, any good stuff or have you been too busy or what?Uh, where are you at with that?
Uh, nothing too crazy.I made some like sausage McMuffins this morning for breakfast.Cause we, we had some stuff left over from the trip that we didn't cook some sausage.
So then they came in like links and I opened them up and just made them into patties and They were great.
they put a little bit more fat in the links as it is because they want it to stay juicy in there.And so I just find that however the companies are mixing their links, it just feels like there's more flavor.It feels like there's more fat.
I really enjoy the mixture on that rather than the bulk.The bulk is good too, but if I'm gonna do it, I'm still gonna buy some links, take off that casing and make some patties.
Yeah, it was great.I'm looking for a picture that I can't seem to find.I wonder if I deleted it, but I saw a post on Instagram and it was talking.Nope, not in my deleted areas. Um, they're talking about this Parmesan cheese from Costco.
It's a Kirkland Parmesan.
It's aged 24 months.Oh.And now I'm searching Kirkland.Here it is.Uh, Parmigiano Regno, 24 months aged Kirkland.It was $12.I don't know how much I got.I got a decent amount, like a nice wedge.It said that it is packaged in Italy.One inch cube.
Nine grams of protein.Yep.
Yeah, it's made, well, okay, so the way it's pronounced is Parmigiano-Reggiano.And I'm not making fun of you, I'm just, nobody told me in the beginning, so.
I screenshot it, I'm gonna forget what you said, and I'm just gonna buy it at Costco from now on.
I like it.I really, it's probably one of the best Parmigians out there. Um, the, the thing that I enjoy about it the most is, uh, not only the protein, I didn't know that it had that much protein in it.So that's pretty rad.
Um, but it has these giant, like salt crystals just like scattered throughout it.So you can like, you just be like, I'll like to break it into little chunks and like just eat it.
And you get like this crunch of salt and it's just such a really like, it's one of my favorite cheeses.
Yeah, we took it, we got it today at Costco and then I turned on the griddle and I made a steak.
A big surprise.But I remember seeing another video where they took Parmesan in a block like this and then they just slowly melted it down the griddle.I had to do like three or four passes to get it thick enough.
Then you let it kind of cook there and then you took the, the metal spatula and you scraped it off and it kind of rolled and then it turned into like these cheesy crunchy bites.
And those were awesome.Fan of that as well.And then I ended up just taking about a nine, a nine, nine gram of protein chunk, okay, into some little bit smaller pieces, and then I just let it cook on there.
And I was watching actually all the oil coming out of it.And I don't care about the oil.I'm not concerned about that.But I'm sure it calorie countdown because my wife is starting to she's right now.
So as I was watching that happen, Mike, oh, this is actually bringing the calories down.
and then it just kind of cooked there and I actually flipped it like a burger and then took it off a couple minutes maybe like a minute and a half later and then I let it cool and I cut it into some little cheese sticks and that was awesome too so.
Dude and and that's the thing is it has um the consistency of it the way that it's aged I think in order for it to be a Reggiano it has to be aged at least 12 years this was a 24 year I bet there's 24 months sorry.
I mean, I meant months to 12 months Anyways, oh this guy over here.Yeah.No, it's a 12 and 24 so 24 so basically like this is an extra good piece of cheese I wonder where Kirkland's getting it.It says it's imported from Italy.
So that's, that's, uh, my brain always goes to like, okay, if it's Kirkland, how is it being like manufactured and, and do they have buyers out there buying it from, um, good products, but, or, you know, sourceable people.
But I mean, at the same point, like you're over here talking about how good it is.I, I, the, the quality is in how, how it tastes.Right.
Yeah, I, I wouldn't be too concerned about the quality control if it's coming from out there.I remember watching a couple of videos where just people from Europe are saying that I come to America, I'm there for three weeks, I go home.
I've gained like eight pounds.And it's just because of all the crap that is put in our food here.And they're like, I go back home.I, I eat the exact same things I was eating.I eat pasta, pizza, all kinds of carbs.And I lose all the weight again.
And it's just so much crap that we, our government puts in our food.So if it's coming from Italy, I don't think it's full of crap.So
Now, I think you're right.I think you're absolutely right.And I think there's maybe one other person or two people, if you want to include my wife, that know this about me is that I want to retire to Italy.If that happens, great.
If not, whatever, I'll figure out a way.But that's a lifelong dream of mine.And it's really not to the bigger city, it's to the smaller village. farm life, have some goats, you know, just, uh, and, and that's kind of my dream.
Um, but that's years, years, years away.Uh, so, but I, I, and I say that because the food there and exactly what you're saying, the food there is produced in a, a much smaller batch.
It's less manufactured and it's, uh, there's a lot of traditions that go with it.And so that, that right there is going to create better food.
But for America, you know, we're, we're, we're making food at just such high volumes, which is leading to all the preservatives and all the, like you said, all that junk that we put in it, that is just so not good for us.
But I'm not going to preach too much on a soapbox on that, because I eat a lot of food that's not so good for us.We don't have too much of an option.Yeah, I know.That's a good point.All right, let's make a transition here.
thought came in my head as I was like thinking about the show and and in the world of culinary we have a couple like core I'm gonna call them cues or sayings or just like core things to live by and in in the kitchen it's work smart work clean keep a sharp knife and don't talk so that those are kind of like stop don't talk less sorry talk less
So I was like, how did that transfer in the world of weightlifting?And then I see this video that came up on Instagram where it was a guy that was watching like a dozer video.
And then all of a sudden, like this montage of all these people came up and I'm like, that's it right there.There is so much rhetoric.There's so much opinion, suggestions, telling you what to do and how to lift weights for weightlifting.
So my question to you is, do you have like a core top five core top three, whatever it is, um, set of cues that you live by in the world, in your, in your technique base, in your, in your world of weightlifting, like, what is it?
You told me about this about 16 minutes ago.
Yes, I know.I can always.
Yeah, no, we're good.So the three things that popped in my head, they popped in my head real quick.
Uh, the first one is I don't have the science behind it, but I have heard that there is science behind it.You want to keep your big toe hooked to the ground the whole time.Every portion of the lift.Okay.Uh, you want to dig it into the ground.
Like you're trying to like dig a hole in sand. Um, and if you do that, you will stay centered and balanced evenly in your foot.
So no matter how far you drive the knees back, if your big toe is pushing and trying to hook the ground, you're not going to let your toes come up and then rock up and then have to counteract and rock forward and jump forward.
Um, if you are bringing the knees back in for the double knee bend, bring the bar to the hip and it will help limit how fast your heels come up. So if you just keep that big toe hooked down, then that will fix so many issues.
It also will fix knee knee valgus and squatting and a handful of other things.But I listened to a podcast where they explained where that big toe, the tendons or something's in the body.I'm not I'm not a body person.
They come from the big toe and then all the way up, I think, into your like your upper hip, like around your butt area. Interesting.
So if you engage that big toe, you're gonna have so many things get fixed That's that's a great one because I've heard Something similar which was you know, try to grip the ground with your feet And it's not a consistent thing that I do but I like this big toe thing because that makes complete sense to me but
If you just figure the toes, you'd probably do a lot of, I've seen a lot of people where they, when the bar passes the knee, they will kind of roll to the outside of their feet and their big toe would come up, but their other toes are still there.
So I would say it needs to be with the big toe.
Okay.I like that.And that was probably taught to me in the first six months of lifting.Wow.
Okay.And yeah, that's stuck with you the entire time.Yeah. That's awesome.
Um, I would say one of the things on my end, uh, that I've always heard and that usually always grounds me when I'm, um, when doing any lift and it's just a good reminder and it's super basic, but it's something that I don't always do.
And I have to remind myself, which is pull the tension out of the bar at the bottom.
before you lift, get that tension out of the bar because there's too many times that I will go under there and I'm just like, all right, we're going to rip it, you know, and I just go.
But every time that I get down there and I set my hands right, um, I pull that tension out of the bar and what that's doing is it's actually straightening my back.So when I pull, I don't bend over and I'm pulling up and back and it really,
And in my mind, I can see the diagram of it.And I like it.And it works for me.Yeah, I don't know.
I have a buddy who he always does that before he deadlifts and he is probably one of the strongest people I've ever met.I have a better total than him, but there it is.
We're coming down to like raw strength.
The guy will set up.I remember watching him set up for a deadlift and he's a weightlifter, but he's still extremely strong in the power lifting movements.Yeah.
set up with 250 kilos, which is my best deadlift ever jerks it off the floor to straighten his arms about four inches.And he, his back never moved.He was just bent over and he just like straightened his arms and just like kind of adjusted the bar.
And I was like, and I just watched him do it again the other day with 300 kilos.So, Oh my God.
That's an insane amount of weight right there.That's cool.Okay, what's another one that came into your mind?
The next one, this one would be really controversial.Yeah, well, I'm trying to dig that out a little bit.So yeah, go with it. people need to stop warming up with all the rubber bands and all the stupid duck walks and trying to activate their glutes.
And if your glutes weren't activated, you're not able to stand up like, like you don't need to do all that stupid crap.There is a, there is a time and a place. But most of the time you don't have to do that.
I see people wasting so much time at the gym just like, oh, this is part of my warmup and I spend an hour and 15 minutes doing all of these motions.
And I would say for the most part, you don't have to do dang near any of that unless you are getting through a injury.
And if that's the only time that I would say that you should really have to do any of that kind of stuff.And that would be what I would call like rehab or prehab.
But I don't think that it's something that you need to do every single day, five days a week.Like that's five hours in a week if you spent an hour.And I've seen these people, they spend an hour. Yeah.And I just think that that's really pointless.
The the best way to get into your into a snatch position is put the bar over your head.Back squats do some around the world with a PVC pipe.Do the motions that you're about to do.
Yeah, stuff that's transferable.I've always felt that the best warm up is the barbell.And like, why not warm up doing the
The motion that you're going to be doing and there are there are days and now I didn't do this today But I should have but there are days that I will go up by five kilos all the way up until I get to my working set and
Um, I don't do that because I don't want to take big jumps.I do that because my, that's what my body needs at the age of 44.And that's me warming up.That's me also getting better at the lifts.
That's me really reining it in for when I do get to that top working set.And I have, you know, um, you know, six doubles at 90% of my, of, of my, uh, one rep.And so. Like, uh, I couldn't agree with you more.
I will do some like hip rotations and then that's pretty much it.And then I put the bar on my back and I'll do some twists and then I do some, uh, snatch balances.Yeah. Um, and then, um, and then I just start going with the motion.
Muscle snatch, muscle snatch three times.And then, you know, then I'll get under the bar.I'll power.And then I start just getting lower and lower and lower.And then I like to sit there for a second.
Um, sometimes I'll sit there for a little bit longer than I usually like to, but it's just because my legs need it.And then when I put the bar down and that's on the first pickup and I put the bar down, I go back to the empty bar.
and everything is moving so much better.And it's weird how that works, right?
It was funny.I, right when we were logging in and about to start, I was, I forgot that I was wanting to post my video of my clean jerk.I'm doing clean front squat jerks right now.Heavy every Friday.So Friday, I was about to go up to the mountains.
So I came in a little bit earlier and I was just trying to crank through some stuff a little bit faster.And I snatched, had a pretty good snatch session.
I was a little frustrated, but it was still one of those when I looked back at it, I was supposed to hit a heavy triple and the goal was to hit 130 for a triple.Well, I missed the third one three times. Hmm, but I missed that.
I made the first two three times also.So that's why I had to like, all right, it wasn't that bad.Like, yes, I missed the third one three times, but I still made six out of the nine.
So, um, that's good though.
So I w I was warm.Uh, I ended up stripping the bar down.I just did a couple of thrusters.I did a couple of jerks.I just, I didn't do much. But I was still really warm because I was going to get right into cleaning jerks.
And my body knows the movements.So I did 70 kilos, clean front squat, two jerks.I did that, I think, twice.I didn't post both of them because it would be kind of boring seeing 70 kilos.Then I went to 120 and I did a thruster.
And I was like, oh, I haven't done a thruster in this in a long time.Yeah, it's been a while. And then I did that one more time and then I loaded 145 and that was my first clean and jerk.
And right when I stood up that 45, I was like, I haven't jerked since 70, but everything's warm and everything knows how it's supposed to go.So it just worked and it was totally fine.And then I went up to 155 and then I was done.
And I was in and out of all my cleaning jerks in about 12 minutes.
Like that and that's an efficient way of working and It's also speaks to the longevity of the time you've been in the sport That you have the wherewithal to make those adjustments you understand that your body needs To work on certain areas rather than the jerk or you know, you got the jerk at a certain point But I should probably start putting this bar over my head at four, you know for this case 40 and that's fine
Sure.And I think that that comes with being, you know, I don't know if this is the right word, but a veteran.Yeah, maybe.
I don't see it that often.But I have seen people complete their snatch session.Okay, their stuff away, go start up, go start their clean and jerk warm up.
I'm like, come on, like they go get the rubber bands out again.Then they're doing different movements and they're stepping on the band and they're doing single arm presses.I'm like, you are freaking kidding me.
No, I've actually, it's interesting because, um, I've been moving through like getting done with my cleaning jerks and there was a point in time in my lifting when I would jump onto a squat rack and I'd have an empty bar and then I'd work all the way up.
Not anymore.I'm like, okay, for a while I was doing 70.Now I'm starting at 100 or even 110 to work up in my back squat or front squat.I keep the reds on my bar at all time.
Those stay on my squat rack because I got enough blues to work through my weights.
Yeah.I feel like if you're going to
That's one of the things that I definitely do is, whatever my last clean and jerk was, if I'm gonna go squat, my first squat that I will even do, other than maybe I'll do one air squat, is gonna be 20 plus kilos heavier than what my last clean and jerk was.
There's no point in me doing anything less than that.
Yeah, no, I agree with you.I mean, I just don't see a time where it's needed.I guess if you're beat up, but if you're beat up, then you're gonna know that in the clean and jerk. Wow.Uh, that was a good one.
Um, I don't think this is controversial at all.I think that, uh, you know, I think, uh, something that has reigned true through weightlifting and this is not a technique.
This is not me, uh, doing anything but saying the way I feel, which is, I think the over exaggeration of celebration, um,
unless it's an all time PR, unless it's to make a world team, unless it's some big major thing, I just think we need to put our head down and work a little bit more and a little less celebration and talk.
Yeah, that's, and that's something I tell myself a lot.And so I, I'm not, I guess I'm not really being, um, I'm not telling the people that that's what they should do.
Y'all do what the fuck you want pretty much But for me like unless I'm hitting you know 50 on the clean and jerk which would be an all-time or 115 on the snatch which would be an all-time if I'm hitting those
Yeah, I'm gonna celebrate I'm gonna I'm gonna give a good fist bump I don't know.
I don't know what to do, but I always get awkward when the celebrations but I'm you know outside of that I'm just I'm just not doing it and I think that that Relates to the way that I train personally, which is put my head down and work and shut the fuck up And I think there's a there's a quality and a value to that So that's just my opinion on that
No, I like that.I've seen. way too many people smoke a PR.And then it's just like the biggest cheering session ever.And I'm like, you're not done.But they just literally like blow their load on all of the excitement.
And then they can't hit anything else.I'm like, I've seen people borderline power snatches that are PRs.And I'm like, let's go up.You got at least five, maybe 10 more kilos than you.
But they're spending so much time ringing the PR bell and running around high fiving everybody. Um, when I'm like, you just mentally lost it.Yeah.
You're done.Your, your session is over at that point.And, and I, and I, this, this is coming from a very specific area, but you had something to say there.
Oh, I was just going to say that so much of this sport is mental.And if you believe you're, you're complete when you could do so much more than you are done, like you can't get back into that zone.
Yeah.And, and what you just said rings really true with me, because, and I'm going to call myself out on this one.I don't know if I've talked about this much.I know there's one person that really knows, which is Damon.
When I get into the mode of lifting, my barbell math sucks. and About two weeks ago or a week and a half ago.
I'm in here clean jerking, you know I'm not even supposed to be clean doing cleaning jerks in my lifting But it's a Friday and I was feeling it and I was like, you know what I got heavy poles But instead I'm just gonna do some heavy cleaning jerks.
See what I can work up to Well, mr. Mr. Smart guy over here had one did not I thought I had 150 on the bar.I
And I, I throw it up and I put it above my head and I'm screaming, you know, like my garage doors open, there's a thunderstorm going on out there.And I'm just like harness, you know, thinking that I'm harnessing the energy of like the thunderstorm.
Like I'm, I'm in a, I'm in a very specific spot after about 300 milligrams of caffeine.And then I look at my barbell and I'm like, That wasn't 150.I was shot after that.Like, I could barely even like, I worked up very little in my, my squats.
I was like, well, maybe I should just keep on going.And then I, I was so shot.And so like, It says exactly what you just said right there, which was the idea that like, this is a mental game.We got to keep it in.
Um, until we hit that last lift, blow your water on that last one.
I don't know.No, I've, I remember, I think you, we may have talked about it, but I think it was Bob Takano.He wrote a post on a Facebook thing about. He was watching too much cheering going on between lifts in competition.
And someone goes out there, and they hit their opener.And their coaches are jumping up and down and screaming.And they're so excited.And it's like, you just hit the first lift.You're supposed to hit two more in this part of the session.
And then your job's still not done. And he basically said there should be no cheering going on until the sixth lift is done.
And then hopefully you're going to make all six and then you can really cheer.
If you made only one, then like if you made only one snatch, then it's like, OK, like you can give a little fist bump and be like, all right, let's get ready for the next one.But we're not done yet.
That's that's that has turned into something that I say when I'm coaching new people in competition, as I say, all right, good job.You got the first one.We're not done yet.
So don't get too excited.We still have two more of this.And then you still haven't totaled.I don't tell them all this, but this is what's going through my brain is like, you still haven't totaled.Correct.
So and that's a really good point right there.Like, Um, I think about it and I think about any competition that I've done and I'm like, you know what?I've never really gotten that excited from the snatch.
It's when I'm clean and jerking and what Dom, and that's when, and I might've said this to you at our last competition together where I was like, all right, now we get to go have fun.
And, and that's for me, that's just because I really enjoy the clean and jerk.Like that's, um, where I really feel at home and. Um, and it's fitting for me to be at the end.
And even if you're not hitting a PR on that last one, throw it down, put up a smile, give a wave, clap hot, you know, throw out your roar or whatever you want to do.Um, but like wait till the end.
because you need to harness those emotions after your snatch.You need to be able to walk into clean and jerk with a lot of tension and a lot of just like, boom, because it's tremendously harder.I mean, heavier, let's say that, it's heavier, right?
Unless you're me and then you're hoping to clean and jerk more than you snatch.
Yeah, I know, that's funny. I like that.Um, yeah, so that's kind of where I'm at with that, that stuff.
No, I like that.No, I've my last private ever since I snatched one 50, even one 50, I knew that wasn't the number I wanted.And I've snatched 50, 52 and 53 for PRS.Yeah.
Every one of those lifts, I wasn't happy because I know that the main goal for what I've been chasing for probably four years has been 155.Yeah.So until I hit 155, you're not going to see me jumping up and down and cheering.
But honestly, when I hit that 155, I'm still I'm going to put 160 on the bar and I'm not going to cheer till I either make or miss that.Yeah, because I'm not I'll give it one shot.
I'm not gonna chase down and I have problems clean jerking that most of the time nowadays.But yeah, it Yeah, I think that there's too much emotional
Loads being blown too early premature emotional loads That was well said Yeah, I I just um, it's it's such a you're right it's such a mental game I think that the You got to save all that you just got it you just you'd have to um, all right What's uh, you got another cue or do you uh?
We've talked about this a little bit, but I've always felt that this was very good for people to hear is the weight class you should be in is the one that you're trying to get into, not the one that you're trying to get down to, the one that you're trying to eat into.
That's where you're going to be able to lift the most amount of weight.That's where you're going to do, you're going to be the strongest because you're giving yourself the calories that you need to get there.
And that will help with recovery and that will help you get in there more and more often.I like that.So I think that that's just a real important thing.
Um, too many people are looking for the easy route and they're saying, Oh, if I lose this much weight, then I can be in this weight class.Then I can, I can make it to the competition.Cause I'll have, um, I'll be in a more competitive, uh, session.
And I'm like, you're not going to win. You're not going to the Olympics.How about you?You be the most competitive you can be for yourself and see how good you can get.Don't try to, don't try to bring the, the, the finish line closer to you.
Such good advice.Cause you know, I think that we all see what all the people like, you know, on Instagram are doing and they watch the Olympics and you're like, oh man, I could open with that way or what?
No, none of us are going to the Olympics and that's okay to say and that's okay to to have the realization of that Just do good for you because it at the end of the day.This is isn't this an individual sport?right, I mean so like
Who else, you know, you compete against yourself.I'm not going to be the guy that talks about competing against the barbell because the barbell is a piece of steel and doesn't have any type of emotions or it's not alive.
But I do think if you're not competing against yourself, if you're not pushing yourself, if you're too worried about outside forces, you're not going to excel.You're going to be stuck.Yeah, I don't know.Just a thought.
No, I like that.And I think that just like, I know that there's a time and a place and like, let's say you qualify for a competition.You're like, okay, cool.
Um, let me see, like my buddy Nick, for instance, he's a super, he's always been a super, I've never known him not being a super, right.He's on his way down to one on nine.
I think that's totally great for him because his numbers aren't going down and it's gonna be better for his health and longevity and all that kind of stuff and he it's something that he hasn't done before so it's like But he has qualified for finals already as a nice So now he is trying to see if he can get down to that 109 and he's down like oh
I think he was like 112 and a half the other day.And then he's competing with me at rep max in a couple of weeks.So the goal is to hit that like 299 plus, and then he would be qualified for AO finals as a 109.
So that's different than, oh, if I go down to weight classes, listen up.If I get down to the 61 kilo weight class, I can win the Olympics if I don't lose any strength.I watched that session and I'm like, I could compete with these guys.
Yeah, I know.But I'm twice the size of them.
Yeah, dude.I mean, but like, I don't know.
I just think that there's a lot of, um, we just see the whole integration of social media, um, in the sport has really, uh, inflated egos to the point where they think they should be doing something that maybe they shouldn't be.
Or maybe, but also maybe it's helped people.I don't know.I haven't seen any cases where that's the case, but, um, I also find that, um, just a lot of bullshit.There's just a lot of bullshit.
I've seen too many people celebrating mediocrity all over the internet.That's a good one.And it's they're jumping up and down and they're screaming, hooting and hollering.And I'm like,
anyone, I mean like borderline, anyone can like get over yourself.
Like that's one of the things that I know that it's probably not the healthiest thing to do, but no matter how good I feel that I am on certain days, I'd say I'm, I'm nothing compared to the real guys.So I just kind of like check my ego out the door.
Yeah.And like, we've talked about the ego versus pride thing.I have pride in what I've done, but I don't have an ego that says I can tell, tell the world what I can do.Right.So yeah.
Yeah.Um, I like what Nick's doing.I think that's really freaking cool.Um, and, and good for him because he's, I, uh, before I met him, I don't know how much he was lifting and mind you, I met him at masters nationals in 2021. 21 or 22.
Um, he, he was coming over base or he was competing the day that I was leaving.Okay.Cause I competed that morning and we, we met, we hung out with me and Diane and I think Matthew Konar, um, hung out a little bit and it was cool.Um, and then I,
saw him again at the, uh, Oceanside meet, which, um, he counted my cards for me there.And like, he's always been a really good dude.And I just, I, but I didn't know like what his involvement in lifting was.
And I've been watching as of late and I've just seen like, he's, he's really making some good progress.Um, I don't know.I mean, has it was his is lifting not ever been this good or is this?
No, he's better now than he's ever been as long as I've known him.And I've known him about a decade.Yeah.And it's like he's showing that just the longevity in the sport and sticking with it.
You don't have you can lose quite a bit of weight and still maintain. Yeah.
Um, but again, being a super is a little bit different than being in a designated weight class where it's not exactly the easiest thing for him to be like, Oh, I'll, I'll drop down to weight classes.
Cause he, he could be, I think his, he was around like one 17, one 18 maybe.Okay. I don't remember exactly.I didn't check the scale, but if I go from 109 to 102, that's, I'm not normally weighing 109.
So if I weigh 105, I just have to drop three kilos.It's not a complicated thing for him to go from, uh, like 118 to 109.That's quite a bit more work.Yeah.That's a big, that's a big feat.
Well, that's really, that's really neat that he's doing that.Yeah.
Um, the weight class thing is a good thing, man.I mean, that, that's really a, uh, the idea of, of, uh, living in the, in the area that you're supposed to live in and just worry about your weightlifting and stop worrying about your weight.
Let it be what's going to be.Um, I don't know if I have any other ones.Uh, I've had a million cues thrown at me.Um, I've had a million ideas about this sport thrown at me and I think. There's one that really just resonates everything for me.
And that is just keep going.Just keep doing it.Just keep moving.Stop worrying about the injuries.Stop worrying about like, Oh, I'm taking a vacation.Stop worrying about, Oh, you know, like I said today, I told Damon, I go, you know what?
I've never, I've never attempted 200 kilos in the back swap.I'm pretty sure I could make it.And he goes, Okay.Who cares?He was just like, do you need to attempt it?And I was like, not really.And he's like, cool.
You know, like, and, uh, and, and, and it puts things in perspective, like, stop worrying about all this small shit.Just keep showing up, keep lifting, um, keep moving on the platform.You're going to learn a lesson.
Um, and it's just going to keep on getting better.And next thing you know, you're five, six, seven, eight, 10, 12, 20 years down the road.And guess what?Your lifting has come along.
And you're lifting, you're probably lifting more weight than you ever have before.And so it's just like, that's the one thing for me that has always rang true, which is be consistent, show up every day and it will happen.
Just got to be patient about it.
I think that's great.I remember hearing advice a long time ago where they said, if you want to outlift your competitors, you just need to outlast your competitors.
Yeah, that's a good one.I like that.
I don't, I don't know.It's just, I'm, and I say this, not with somebody who's understood it the entire time, but with somebody who is continually starting to understand it even better.
Because, man, I mean, first three, four years, I was fretting on everything. Oh God, I'm not moving my feet.Oh, oh, I'm throwing it up.I'm losing it out front.Oh man, I hurt my elbow.
You know, like there's like shit that I would like focus on that just took away from everything on that platform.And I'm just like, the older I get, the more experience I get in the sport.Like the whole idea of having to compete 500 times a year.
I don't have to do that.I can compete when the hell I want to compete.It'll be okay. Exactly because I've had the experience under my belt of competing enough, you know, and so you just it's about putting the time in Yeah Love it.Yep.
That's probably my last one.Oh shit Cornell.We're sitting at 45 minutes Yeah, I like that.I didn't even notice that.Well, do you do you have a last one?Are you you good to go?No, I think that was a great way to finish it off.
Awesome Well, I'm a good finisher if you know what I mean, I I was hoping you'd pick up on that one.I was waiting for a long time to throw a comment in there too.I just clicked on the comments to see if she would say anything.Good stuff.
So all right, buddy.Well, this has been a great show back.I look forward to next Sunday.And dude, hope you have a great night.Great weekend.
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