Today we're talking to Justin Cotler, a longtime CrossFit coach and affiliate owner who works with top athletes like Fittest American Woman and CrossFit Games podium finisher Kari Pearce. Justin joins me to talk about building a new destination for functional fitness athletes in Las Vegas, the ins and outs of coaching CrossFit Games athletes, how COVID impacted gym ownership in America, and much more. Even if you don’t follow competitive CrossFit closely, Justin gives some great insight into the...
May 17, 2021•36 min
Today we're talking to Christmas Abbott, a woman with a fitness resume about a mile long. She’s been a team CrossFit Games competitor, weightlifter, influencer, reality TV star, and also NASCAR’s first-ever female pit crew member. I’ve known Christmas for over seven years, but it’s been a long time since we’ve had a proper catchup. In this episode of the BarBend podcast, we talk about her evolution from hyper-competitive athlete to producing fitness content for the masses, the physical rigors of...
May 11, 2021•33 min
Today we're talking to strongman athlete Brian Alsruhe, who actually joins the BarBend Podcast for a second time. Recently, Brian has been focusing most of his time on building a homestead in the woods, completely by hand and without the use of power tools. We discuss what it means to use strength in a real-world environment, along with how building a log cabin mirrors strongman-style training. This podcast also touches on the human connection with nature, feats of endurance long before electric...
May 03, 2021•36 min
Today we're talking to Kris Gethin, a renowned bodybuilder, biohacker, and owner of KAGED Muscle Supplements. Kris, who joins us on the podcast for a second time, is also an extreme sports junkie, and earlier in 2021 he suffered a significant triceps injury while snowboarding. We talk about Kris’ approach to recovery, and how his years of working to optimize recovery from in the gym training have impacted that approach. We also discuss his favorite gyms around the world, and why bodybuilding tra...
Apr 26, 2021•29 min
Today we're talking to an athlete who probably needs little introduction: Martins Licis, the 2019 World’s Strongest Man and one of the strength world’s most charismatic athletes. We don’t want to say too much more, but a quick preview: we discuss coming back from injury, when Martins plans to compete again, how long he thinks his strongman career will last, what it was like filming a GEICO commercial, setting Steinborn squat world records, and much, much more. We even came up with a new strongma...
Apr 19, 2021•32 min
Today we're talking to pro strongwoman Jessica Fithen. Among her many accomplishments, Jessica is the first strongwoman to block press 100 kilograms or more. She’s also very active on social media and is the brains behind the Instagram page “You Look Like a Man,” which highlights and parodies some of the more ridiculous — and usually unsolicited — things women lifters and strength athletes hear online. This recording is equal parts deep dive into the sport of strongman and an examination of stre...
Apr 12, 2021•38 min
Today we're talking to coach Travis Mash. In some circles, Travis is best known as a champion, world record-breaking powerlifter, and his career in that sport is legendary. But fewer people know that Travis’ first strength love was weightlifting, a sport he spends most of his time coaching these days. Travis joins us to talk about training athletes based on scientific principles, starting a collegiate weightlifting program, and his passion for strength research. We also discuss the super total —...
Apr 05, 2021•34 min
Today we're talking to kettlebell sport champion Kim Fox, who holds multiple all-time world records in the sport. She’s also one of the most accomplished Americans to ever compete in the sport. If you’re not familiar with kettlebell sport, this conversation is a solid introduction to what it entails, the intense mental and physical challenge involved, how a world champion trains, and the small but growing community of athletes and coaches around the globe. Kim shares insights from early on in he...
Mar 29, 2021•40 min
Today we're talking to OUT Foundation founder Will Lanier. Formerly known as OUTWOD, the OUT Foundation’s mission is to remove the barriers that block LGBTQ+ individuals' access and participation in fitness, health, and wellness to ensure their success. Will takes us back to the group’s origins as an informal workout community in New York City, and he details how — over nearly ten years — it’s grown into a foundation that serves communities across the United States. We also discuss their goals m...
Mar 22, 2021•36 min
Today we're talking to British weightlifter Sarah Davies, who represents England at the highest levels of international competition. The 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist is also the IWF Athlete Commission’s Chair, a role that sees her advocating for athlete representation within the sport’s international governing body. Over the past year, massive shakeups, corruption allegations, and doping scandals have rocked the International Weightlifting Federation. Sarah has been very outspoken abo...
Mar 15, 2021•30 min
Today we're talking to health & fitness journalist Michael Easter, a contributing editor at Men's Health magazine and journalism professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Michael is one of the fitness space’s most prolific writers of in-depth profiles, covering the people, trends, and breakthroughs that keep this industry moving forward. He joins the show to talk about his unlikely road to teaching in a respected university while also balancing the challenges of his own research and ...
Mar 08, 2021•31 min
Today we're talking to Alyssa Royse, owner and coach at Rocket Community Fitness — formerly Rocket CrossFit — in Seattle. Today’s episode is a bit different from the norm, and Alyssa joins us to talk about a variety of issues regarding representation, diversity, and inclusivity in fitness. Some listeners may be familiar with Alyssa’s name after an exchange she had with CrossFit founder and former owner Greg Glassman went viral in June 2020. Alyssa had written to Glassman expressing concern over ...
Mar 01, 2021•39 min
Today we're talking to professional strongman Gabriel Pena, also known online as Texas Titan Gabe. He joins the show to talk about his experiences in the sport, including his 2020 World’s Strongest Man debut. At that competition, Gabe had to make a tough, health-based call, and we dive into his thought process. We also discuss why Gabe, a native Texan, decided to represent Mexico at the 2020 World’s Strongest Man contest.
Feb 22, 2021•31 min
Today we're talking to Dr. Daniel Lieberman, Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Chair of Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. Dr. Lieberman is also the author of numerous books, most recently one titled “Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding.” Dr. Lieberman took time out of his busy teaching and research schedule to join us on the BarBend Podcast. We discuss why humans evolved for a very different lifestyle than we ...
Feb 15, 2021•30 min
Today we're talking to Mo Fürste, the founder of HYROX and one of the greatest field hockey players of all time. This interview focuses on HYROX’s growth as a fitness challenge and competition, but it’s worth calling out Mo’s impressive athletic resume beyond HYROX: he’s a three-time Olympic medalist in field hockey for Germany, including two golds, and was the International Hockey Federation World Player of the Year in 2012. Mo has leveraged his legendary sporting career into a new venture with...
Feb 08, 2021•23 min
Today we're talking to Dave Durante, a former member of the U.S. National Gymnastics Team and one of the masterminds behind Power Monkey Fitness. Dave talks about discovering CrossFit after a storied gymnastics career, and how he and his partners came to build the annual Power Monkey weekend into what can only be described as fitness summer camp for adults. We also discuss gymnastics elements he’d most like to see in CrossFit competition, and why elite gymnasts might not be as great at freestand...
Feb 01, 2021•34 min
Today we're talking to Brett Ewer, Head of Government Relations at CrossFit. Brett is also a driving force behind the Community Gyms Coalition, a group of fitness industry companies and gym organizations — including CrossFit, Zumba, Orange Theory, Anytime Fitness, Jazzercise, and more — lobbying congress to provide direct relief to gyms hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In today’s special episode, Brett joins us to discuss the Coalition’s origins and what it takes to get so many different organ...
Jan 25, 2021•27 min
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. It’s a new company, and after a $12 million fundraise, they’re already in use by top pro athletes and are even making waves in the strength sports community. 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...
Jan 18, 2021•32 min
Today we're talking to CrossFit athlete and coach Adam Neiffer. Adam has been in the competitive CrossFit space since well before it exploded in popularity, and with a competition history dating back to 2009, he’s one of the most experience team athletes in the sport’s history. More recently, Adam was a visible figure at the 2020 CrossFit Games finals, where he served as coach to Rookie of the Year Justin Medeiros. Adam joins the podcast to talk about the unlikely call that got him back into coa...
Jan 11, 2021•30 min
Welcome to a very special episode of the BarBend Podcast, one that covers a bit more ground than normal. Today we're talking to Laith Nakli, a star of stage and screen probably best known for his roles in The Long Road Home, The Wall, and as Uncle Naseem in the hit TV series Ramy. He’s also a cast member on the upcoming Ms. Marvel series on Disney Plus. Before his acting days, Laith was a competitive bodybuilder, winning the title of Mr. Syria before retiring from the sport. In our conversation,...
Jan 04, 2021•33 min
Today we're talking to CrossFit Games athlete and Doctor of Physical Therapy, Amanda Barnhart. Amanda is one of the CrossFit world’s highest-performing athletes in the space since making her Games debut in 2018. That includes back to back Top 10 finishes at the Games in 2019 and 2020. In our conversation, we talk about how athletes recover after the brutal CrossFit Games competition season, along with Amanda’s first reactions to a new qualification format for 2021. We also discuss an athlete’s c...
Dec 28, 2020•28 min
Today we're talking to athlete and coach Steph Hammerman, better known online as Steph the Hammer. Steph was born with cerebral palsy, and since discovering CrossFit years ago, she’s been a prominent force in the space as both a coach to all and an advocate for adaptive athletes. In many cases, that meant leading from the front by being the first person with cerebral palsy to compete at numerous prominent events in the fitness and CrossFit spaces. In 2014, she became the first person with cerebr...
Dec 21, 2020•35 min
Today we're talking to Liz Plosser, the Editor in Chief of Women’s Health. Liz is one of the fitness industry’s head honchos when it comes to content, but journalism definitely wasn’t the first place her career started out. And ending up at the top of Women’s Health’s content was far from an overnight success story. Today, Liz and David Thomas Tao discuss careers in health and fitness journalism, along with how content is marketed to women — and how that has changed dramatically over the last fe...
Dec 18, 2020•32 min
Today we're talking to Bill Grundler, a coach, athlete, and media personality who’s been one of CrossFit’s most visible personalities for nearly a decade. Bill also owns CrossFit Inferno and co-hosts the Get with the Programming Podcast, which analyzes programming in the CrossFit landscape including Worldwide Qualifiers, Age Group Online Qualifiers, Sanctioned Events, The Open and CrossFit Games. In our episode, Bill — once a career firefighter — explains how CrossFit methodology caught on so qu...
Dec 14, 2020•42 min
Today I’m talking to weightlifter, coach, and former bodybuilder Jon North, who has been a prominent figure in American Strength Sports for nearly a decade. Jon’s story is one with a number of twists and turns: From overcoming addiction to earn his way among the top ranks of American weightlifters, Jon was one of the first virtual weightlifting coaches to build a large following online, and he also competed in bodybuilding. He’s also caused a stir in weightlifting, and at one point created his o...
Dec 10, 2020•33 min
Today we're talking to writer and journalist Haley Shapley, the author of Strong Like Her. Published earlier in 2020, Strong Like Her is an examination and celebration of women’s athleticism and strength throughout history. Haley is passionate about strength and fitness, and her own athletic journey served as an inspiration to write about history’s strongest women, something that’s been all too frequently glossed over or ignored for hundreds — and really thousands — of years. We discuss the fasc...
Dec 08, 2020•35 min
Today we're talking to Amanda Kohatsu, an elite powerlifter who’s also the owner and CEO of Doughnuts & Deadlifts, an apparel brand focused on the strength community. We chat about how Amanda took over Doughnuts & Deadlifts, the ups and downs of running an apparel brand focused around strength, and what balance really can and should mean to people who strength train. We also chat about SoCal versus NYC and share some funny stories about the origins of strength stereotypes....
Dec 03, 2020•29 min
Today we're talking to Dr. Aaron Horschig, a physical therapist, strength & conditioning coach, speaker and writer. Aaron is the author of one book on mobility and movement, with another on the way, but he’s probably best known as the creator and mind behind Squat University. In our chat, we discuss what so many elite strength athletes are missing when it comes to movement, and how Aaron’s own experience as a weightlifter impacts his approach to helping people prevent and recovery from injur...
Nov 30, 2020•29 min
Today we're talking to Devon Lévesque, a trainer and fitness influencer based out of Jersey City, New Jersey. Devon is probably best known for — and I promise I’m no exaggerating here — bear crawling a full marathon. In about 22 hours this past October, Devon — who already held the world record for distance in the bear crawl — bear crawled 26.2 miles and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for FitOps, an organization dedicated to empowering veterans to pursue health and fitness careers. Devo...
Nov 23, 2020•31 min
As we approach the holiday season, BarBend wants to celebrate by revisiting some of our most popular podcasts from the past 12 months. This episode with Jordan Shallow prompted a ton of discussion, and we're excited to share this remastered version! According to Dr. Jordan Shallow, the way we warm up — and the way most people think about movement — is fundamentally broken. The chiropractor, internationally competitive powerlifter, and presenter joins us to talk about the root cause of injuries, ...
Nov 19, 2020•34 min
