(This is the first of two episodes with Bart. The second will appear in a few weeks). The experience of running multiple businesses over zoom calls, and trying to stay in shape while rarely leaving the house, was enough for Bart and his wife Geo to decide they could free themselves and their family from LA life and move to Las Vegas. The plan? To continue to largely operate remotely as much as possible. With a number of businesses, including a demanding comedy production company and a powerlifti...
Apr 07, 2021•34 min•Ep. 120
The fifth show of any month could literally be about anything. This time it’s a documentary review with our buddy Dean Saddoris. Think of it as meathead movie nerds looking for lessons for our own lives in popular media. The hot Netflix documentary “The Last Blockbuster” is a humorous – and quirky – look at the fall of a business that was a huge cultural institution. Could the business cycle of a retail category like video rental stores foretell what effects technological advancements, changes i...
Apr 01, 2021•1 hr 13 min
Time for our monthly swing at your questions. Some of the topics: Who are our favorite Lord of the Rings characters? Which powerlifting bars do we have in our gym? Did Eleiko really start out making waffle irons? Is our gym open to the public? Do you have to be rich to be fashionable? What does it take to grow an online business? What are our long- and short-term goals? Subscribe for updates about our new gym (Third Street Barbell) and apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international ...
Mar 25, 2021•50 min
This started out as a question asked on Mike’s Instagram: What did we learn in starting a gym? It quickly evolved into a larger discussion of the challenges associated with starting any business. We cover some of our previous experiences (this is not our first rodeo) and how they informed our approach to what we’ve been working on for the last year. It’s fair to say that we’ve learned at least as much about ourselves and each other as we have actual business knowledge. Some of the topics: If you...
Mar 18, 2021•57 min
In 1977, moviegoers were presented with images of sweaty, oily, and extremely muscular men wearing as little clothing as possible. Many cultural observers believed this was the dawn of what is now a multi-billion-dollar industry as members of the general public started working to make themselves “healthier” and more fit…by pretty much any means available. How did this low-budget documentary featuring relative unknowns Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno helmed by a first-time director become ...
Mar 11, 2021•1 hr 18 min
We brought in two of our buddy Dan Stornaiuolo’s hilarious and engaging brothers, Dom and Mike, to give an outsider’s perspective on powerlifting accomplishments – particularly their “little” brother’s lifting. Don and Mike host the Bridge to Bridge Podcast featuring interviews with SF Bay Area sports figures. Both grew up as athletes, so we unpack and contrast training and competition experiences among various sports. Other questions that came up: Do Silent Mike and Dom look alike and what cele...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 1 min
We’re setting a new pattern of episodes for the next few months. The final episode of each month will be a Q & A about…whatever you (our audience) want to talk about: previous episodes during the month, business, life, training, health, or whatever. Here are some of the questions we touched on this time: What happens if the Earth speeds up…or slows down? FMK – Cold brew, espresso, and brewed coffee? How’s the gym going so far? Is it a good idea to start two businesses at the same time? What’...
Feb 24, 2021•57 min
Our long-time friend and teammate Marcus Sanadan joins us. We review some old lifting footage from not long after we all met and from his recent meet. Then we take Jonnie Candito’s recent video announcing his break with the USAPL as a jumping-off point for a discussion. We examine what we think is wrong with many current federations, and discuss how they might be addressed: Is it finally time to give up on powerlifting’s Olympic dream? Is consolidation among federations even possible, or are the...
Feb 18, 2021•1 hr 11 min
The HBO documentary “Fake Famous” examines some of the ways that Instagram can be manipulated to create “influencers” with large followings (50-60% of which might just be bots) that advertisers are willing to pay to reach. We talk through our impressions of the doc, and discuss the relationship between the growth of the fitness/lifting community and the rise of social media: Are lifters using some of the same methods to grow large followings? What can you actually gain by buying followers, likes...
Feb 11, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Full transparency, the main question is discussed in the last 15 minutes of the show. In part 1, we talk about what we’ve been up to during our production break for the holidays and plans for some future episodes of the show. NOTE: Next week we’re going to discuss the HBO documentary “Fake Famous” (trailer here) and the relationship between the fitness/lifting community and social media. If you’ve watched the doc, send us your written comments or voice memos to social@50percentfacts.com . Next m...
Feb 05, 2021•1 hr 37 min
Our second annual take-a-random-trends-list-and-unpack-it episode. Do trends lists offer any real insight or is it all too obvious? Has the current situation made it basically impossible to predict? We also offer some heartfelt thoughts on how to help the world start to pull its collective dick out of the dirt sometime in 2021. Happy Holidays. See you next year! Subscribe for updates about our new gym (Third Street Barbell) and apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fi...
Dec 23, 2020•55 min•Ep. 110
The end of the year has us all thinking about changes we want to make: Are there a right way and a wrong way to make New Year’s resolutions? Are you really serious about your goals if you need to wait for a specific time to start working toward them? But first, we had to talk about some pressing current issues: Why do buildings with steam heat get so damn hot? Is Adam Sandler actually funny? Can you even process all the Disney Marvel and Star Wars announcement? Subscribe for updates about our ne...
Dec 12, 2020•47 min
Strongman is having a moment. More people are watching strongman related content. More people are involved in strongman training now, even if they don’t plan to compete. The bottom line is probably that it’s just fun, but is there more to it? We asked our friend Alan Thrall (owner of Sacramento’s Untamed Strength) to come talk about it and bring national strongman champ Joey Szatmary (owner of The Lion’s Den outside Philadelphia). What do CrossFit and Strongman have anything in common? Who gets ...
Dec 05, 2020•1 hr 11 min
Twenty-twenty has brought some major changes to the ways we do…well, almost everything. A recent article at TheAthletic.com highlighted some of these changes and speculated on which of these changes will likely stay in place even after the pandemic has subsided. We unpack this article and reflect on how some of these changes also affect the strength world/fitness/gyms, etc.: Will pro athletes continue to put more energy into business ventures outside their sports? Will expanded playoffs always b...
Nov 20, 2020•1 hr 15 min
We invited some successful local trainers/business hours to talk about their approach to training and how they built their business model. Joseph and Nolan Grinstain are two of the three brothers atop Hyperthrive Athletics. Hyperthrive has two locations in the greater Sacramento area. One is dedicated exclusively to athletes (particularly rotational athletes –baseball/softball). At the other, near the campus of Sacramento State University, they serve both athletes and “gen pop” or general fitnes...
Nov 12, 2020•59 min
We took on a topic that was posted to the video version of last week’s episode by viewer Mateus Daniel: The topic I'm most interested at the moment is how kids should begin to learn powerlifting: at what age should they start? How often should they train? Can a normal powerlifting coach be their coach? Etc.... We unpacked this topic with some questions of our own: Is it a good idea for kids to JUST powerlift, or should strength training just be used to develop strength for other sports? How ofte...
Nov 05, 2020•45 min
We turned the tables and asked you a question this week. Was the dropoff in views for fitness and powerlifting videos on YouTube caused by the pandemic and people not being able to film lifts…or was it something else? Has the wave started by raw lifting (and CrossFit) crested? If so, what are people moving on to? Do people really want to get to know lifters in human interest/lifestyle videos or do they only want to see them lift? Are there YouTube creators/podcasters we wouldn’t work with again?...
Oct 31, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Time for a Q and A episode: The question was “how do I back off powerlifting gradually and get in better shape?” Our answer is why do people feel like they have to decide between being in good shape and lifting heavy? Should you tell your crush Happy Birthday? What are our favorite video games? What is the definition of a deload? And more… Subscribe for updates about our new gym (Third Street Barbell) and apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Hosted by Mike Farr...
Oct 21, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Our London-based designer, Oliver Munby, joins us to talk about translating the conceptual idea of a brand into the real world. He helped create the overall branding for our new gym and apparel line. Though we didn’t cover it much in the episode, he did a ton of research on our city and our preferences before helping us settle on the look and feel that matched what we had in our heads. Here are some of our questions: Why is architectural design (his original major) such a different discipline? H...
Oct 15, 2020•41 min
Rather than surveying what we’ve learned doing this show so far, our 100th episode is a look back at the last few months of our experience of trying to open a gym…during a pandemic. Here are some of our thoughts: What’s been our biggest challenge so far? What’s been the biggest surprise? Why do we think we have what it takes to be successful AND happy as gym owners? Just how much bullshit is “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable?” What are our biggest concerns and unknowns going forward?...
Oct 07, 2020•58 min
While we’re still on a break from producing new episodes, we wanted to reinforce our message that while having discussions about mental health can be difficult, they shouldn’t be avoided. The better we understand the struggles others face, the more comfortable we can be in talking about our own. This episode is an excerpt from Jim’s The Less Than Obvious Podcast (2018) featuring New York Times bestselling author John Romaniello. He discusses how his lifelong struggle with depression led to a sin...
Oct 01, 2020•19 min•Ep. 100
Injuries can be huge setbacks for competitive athletes. Everyone has a certain window of time in which they can play their best. Time out of competition is time lost that can’t be recovered. For some, they can end a career. The question dovetails well with episode 46’s discussion of workload management, but obviously that’s not the whole story. Dr. Ramsey Nijem gives us insight from his doctoral thesis, as well as his work with professional athletes. There are some great takeaways for coaches, a...
Sep 23, 2020•45 min•Ep. 99
We're working on our studio, so this week's episode is an encore. Dr. Matt Johnson, a Certified Sport Psychology Consultant (and former Notre Dame quarterback), joins us to discuss a fundamental question about performance under pressure. Our thoughts: Are some people just born to be gamers? To perform at a high level in the clutch? Can regular people learn to handle pressure situations better? Is visualization important to improving performance? Do high performers think about everything at once?...
Sep 16, 2020•59 min
We’re inspired by a lot of people in different situations. This week’s guest is someone we’ve talked about on the show quite a few times. His growing success – and the focus and attitude he brings to his goals – has inspired us for several years. One of last week’s guests, Dean Saddoris for Caffeine and Kilos, has known him for much longer than we have gave us the most obvious suggestion: “Why don’t you have him on your show?” This week’s guest is our barber, Chris Long. We got to talk through t...
Sep 09, 2020•1 hr 7 min
We took this episode to catch up with our long-time friends – and owners of the lifestyle brand Caffeine and Kilos -- Danny Lehr & Dean Saddoris. This show was recorded in our new, still-under-renovation gym, which is the same building where we (probably) met. We reminisced about some of our shared history and how the Caffeine and Kilos brand started. We also hit these questions: Why C & K, which is largely an e-commerce business, choose to invest MORE and attempt to grow at the onset of...
Sep 03, 2020•1 hr 28 min
Layne Norton & Holly Baxter join us for a discussion about who to listen to in the fitness and nutrition space. Specifically, we talk about the list that was published to Twitter by Kevin Bass of fitness/nutrition figures who are…and aren’t…quacks. What are the hallmarks of someone who isn’t worth listening to? Why do some start out with great, supportable claims and end up supporting ludicrous theories? Why is it so hard for quacks to alter their positions in the face of evidence? Check out...
Aug 26, 2020•1 hr 20 min
We're taking a break this week, so we're bringing back one of our favorite early episodes with one of our favorite guests. We'll be back with a fresh episode next week. Original Episode Notes: Can activities in the gym that are built around the requirements of a specific sport actually help athletes get better at that sport? Our good friend, Jacob Ross — an athletic performance coach and consultant who currently works with Luol Deng of Minnesota Timberwolves – joined us as our expert to answer t...
Aug 19, 2020•48 min
A Q and A episode that was broadcast live to Twitch. The big question in this episode is our discussion of the question “How do you find people with similar goals” and the related question “How do you work (or go into business) with friends?” Other questions include, “How has Covid-19 affected our efforts to open a gym?” and “What’s our biggest ‘non-lifting’ physical accomplishment?” Keep listening after the end of this episode for the trailer for Layne Norton and Holly Baxter’s new podcast “The...
Aug 12, 2020•57 min
Hani Jazayrli is an engineer by education, but he found that coaching was more of a passion for him so he decided to follow it. Eventually, he added real estate sales into the mix as a way to keep his coaching load manageable. He talked us through the process of making these transitions and how he knew that the timing…and the changes…were right. Just because you enjoy something, does that really mean it should be your career? You can find Hani on Instagram @hani_tsa and at TheStrengthAthlete.com...
Aug 05, 2020•1 hr 12 min
The motto of our new gym is “Good Company.” Mike, Jim, Connor, and Kyle talk about what the phrase means to each of us. We kick things off with an update on what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve learned already through the process of renovation and creating a new gym. Sandwiched in between are discussions about customer service challenges and influencer authenticity. You can find Kyle on Instagram @kyle.castroo and Connor @connoroneal. Subscribe for updates about our new gym (Third Street Barbe...
Jul 29, 2020•1 hr 8 min
