This week, Bain and Stone talk with WPO competitor Brian Hill. Brian competes primarily in multiply gear, and after a couple of tough DQ's in the last 2 WPOs, he came back strong at the 2020 WPO Semi-Finals, placing 6th overall to qualify for the Super Finals in October 2020. Brian has competition-best lifts of 1124lbs / 705lbs / 799lbs at 275lbs, all in multiply gear. Bain and Stone go into his start in the sport, how he trains, and how dropping the box squat led to huge increase in his squat, ...
Jun 27, 2020•1 hr 22 min
This week, Bain and Stone give their review of "Westside Book of Methods." They give an overview of the conjugate method, talk about what makes conjugate and Westside's training unique, and talk about the book itself as a book. Debuting is their new "3 White Lights" rating system for reviews. In the "PLUSA Throwback" segment, they disuss the July 2007 issue with IPF World Champion Bench Presser Dennis Cieri.
Jun 17, 2020•1 hr 53 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Bain and Stone go international this week for the first time, interviewing Candian WPO competitor, Chanel Nolet. With competition-best lifts of 529 / 343 / 473 lbs at 148 lbs equipped, Chanel has successfully competed at the WPO and Women's ProAm meets, among others. Chanel tells the story of how she go into powerlifting, the crews she's trained with, how she herself has done some meet promoting, and the famous (infamous?) story about her injuring her knee and breaking her forearm in the same me...
Jun 17, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Bain and Stone are BACK for a proper full episode, this week covering the controversial topic of drug testing in sport and powerlifting. They go through the history of doping in sports, drug testing beginnings in the Olympics, and how drug testing came to powerlifting and shaped the beginings of the sport. In the "PLUSA Throwback" segment, the boys cover the August 2011 issue, which featured young powerlifter Sarah Biddle on the cover.
Jun 05, 2020•1 hr 45 min•Season 2Ep. 35
This week, Bain and Stone talked with long-time powerlifter and current WPO competitor, Henry Thomason. Thomason talked about his long powerlifting career spaning from the 90's to today, his trips to meets overseas like in Russia, he weight loss from the mid-300s down to the 260s, and how he has endured in this sport for as long as he has.
May 29, 2020•1 hr 34 min
Bain is BACK this week (albeit with his arm in a pink cast), and he and Stone spend some time answering some of YOUR questions submitted through social media. In the "PLUSA Throwback" segmeng, the boys go over highlights from the Dec. 2005 issue, featuring Bench America 3 and '05 WPO Semi-Finals Results.
May 21, 2020•1 hr 48 min•Season 2Ep. 34
This week, Westide vs. the World flim producer Michael Fahey joins the show again to go through the story of how the WPO ended up being broadcast on ESPN3 back in October of 2019. Jen Gimmell sits in this week for a recovering Robert Bain, joining usual host Eric Stone in the show's longest discussion to date. Gimmell and Stone also dicuss the March 2006 issue in the "PLUSA Throwback" segment, which featured some big benchers on the cover like Scot Mendelson, Kara Bohigian and Tiny Meeker....
May 16, 2020•4 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 33
In yet another "rona" extra, Bain and Stone sit down with teammate, friend, and WPO competitor Jennifer Gimmell. Jen gives her story of starting with a fitness routine in grad school that eventually lead to 12+ years and counting of competitive powerlifting. Jen has competition best lifts of 562 / 386 / 473 with a 1410 lb total at 198lbs. Jen also has a Ph. D in Physics, and works as a high school and college physics teacher.
May 13, 2020•1 hr 48 min
This week, Bain and Stone talk with the founder of the "original" World Powerlifting Organization (WPO), and current WPC Owner/CEO Kieran Kidder. "KK" started the original WPO back in 2000, and was the first to bring it to the Arnold Classic. He tells the story of how he got his start in powerlifting, how he got involved with the APF and promoting meets, and how that led to the creation of the WPO. In the "PLUSA Throwback" segment, Bain and Stone discuss the April 2007 issue of Powerlifting USA,...
May 08, 2020•2 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 32
In this week's "extra" episode, Bain and Stone talk with the "Queen Bee" herself, Laura Phelps. Laura is truly one of the greats in female powerlifting, having competition-best lifts of 775 / 540 / 560 with an 1800 lb total competing everywhere from 148 to 198 lbs. Her Glossbrenner is *still* #1 for all equipped females. Laura talks about her start in powerlifting, her training philosophy, how she transitioned from althete to coach, and gym owner, and promoter of the unique Women's ProAm powerli...
May 03, 2020•1 hr 39 min
Following up on last week's review of Ernie Frantz's "10 Commandments of Powerlifting," this week Bain and Stone sit down again with Dr. Howard Penrose. Success by Design, Penrose's publishing company, re-published Frantz's iconic book after it has been out of print for nearly 30 years. Additionally, Penrose talks about the PPP loans from the CARES Act. Bain and Stone discuss the June 2004 issue of Powerlifting USA in their "PLUSA Throwback" segment, discussing the Mountaineer Cup from the mid-2...
Apr 30, 2020•2 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 32
In another "extra" interview, this week Bain and Stone chat with Bob Merkh, a 2-time WPO Super-Finals Runner-up. Bob has competition best lifts of 1160 / 810 / 805 and a 2710lb total at 275lbs. He has a #5 all-time squat at 275 (1150), #6 all-time 308lb squat, and his 275lb total is #4 all-time. Additionally, Bob is a middle school social studies teacher, and has quite the home gym set-up in his basement. The boys discuss how he got into powerlifting, his training philosophy, his experience in t...
Apr 27, 2020•1 hr 12 min
This week, Bain and Stone review the iconic book "10 Commandments of Powerlifting" by Ernie Frantz. Originally published in 1984 and re-published in 2013, the boys go through the history of Ernie Frantz, the "commandments" themselves, and the other chapters and training advice in the book. In the "PLUSA Throwback" segment, the boys go through highlights from the June 2011 issue of Powerlifting USA, which included WABDL Worlds results and an interview with Henry Thomason amoung other items....
Apr 23, 2020•1 hr 57 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Continuing with their "rona extra" episodes, this week Bain and Stone chat with Anthony Oliveira of Trigger Warning Conjugate. Oliveria is a coach and successful multi-ply powerlifter, with best lifts of 1107 / 577 / 771 @ 275. Oliveria talks about his start in powerlifting, moving to Columbus to train at Westside Barbell, and how he started his coaching services among other topics.
Apr 18, 2020•1 hr 54 min
Bain and Stone go back to their historical tour of the 80s and 90s as they take a deep dive this week into the history and origins of the "Monolift." They examine the original inventor, the patent, and how the monolift squat rack became popular in powerlifting. In the "PLUSA Throwback" segment, the boys discuss the June 2011 issue with "Super D" Donnie Thompson on the cover after successfully squatting 1260 lbs.
Apr 14, 2020•2 hr•Season 2Ep. 29
2XL Powerlifting Co-Owner and the "MotorDoc" Howard Penrose joined Bain and Stone for another "Strength & Anger Extra" this week. Penrose talked about the origins of 2XL Powerlifting, his other, main company MotorDoc LLC, and his input on the CARES Act.
Apr 10, 2020•1 hr 54 min
This week, Bain and Stone conduct an interview with Michael Fahey, film producer of the popular documentary, "Westside vs. The World." In this lengthy interview, Fahey goes through how he was introduced to Westside, his history in film production, how he came to the idea of "Westside vs. The World," and the many stories behind getting the film completed. In addition, Fahey goes through how producing this documentary led him into helping with the production of the WPO, and a possible follow-up po...
Apr 07, 2020•3 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Stuck deep in a quarantined bunker, Bain and Stone do an "extra" episode this week with the "Everybody Sucks" podcast crew - fellow powerlifters and trainers, Stanley Rodrigues and Brianna Desrochers. They all discuss how they got their starts in powerlifting, why they started their respective podcasts, training philosophies, and what they've been up to during this corona-quarantine.
Apr 03, 2020•2 hr 4 min
In this week's episode, Bain and Stone continue their historical tour of the 80s-90s, this week discussing the landmark legal case Inzer v. Frantz. Based on a "garmet" patent, John Inzer filed a lawsuit against Ernie Frantz over the bench press shirt, in a legal battle that would last until the mid-2000s. In the PLUSA Throwback segment, they discuss a packed issue from August 2007.
Mar 31, 2020•1 hr 37 min•Season 2Ep. 27
This week, Bain and Stone discuss the landmark legal case in the history of powerlifting, Frantz v. USPF/IPF. In the "PLUSA Throwback," the boys discuss the March 2012 issue, one of the last issues of Powerlifting USA.
Mar 24, 2020•1 hr 38 min•Season 2Ep. 26
As the follow-up to last week's episode, Bain and Stone talk about the actual meet that brought them to the 2020 Arnold Classic, the WPO Semi-Finals. Stone also goes through a quick timeline of what led to being forced to postpone the 2020 IL State Meet. In the "PLUSA Throwback" segment, the boys discuss the July 2006 issue, which had highlights from 2006 APF Senior Nationals.
Mar 20, 2020•1 hr 40 min•Season 2Ep. 25
In this week's episode, Bain and Stone discuss the sort of canceled 2020 Arnold Classic, which they have renamed the #coronaclassic2020. They go through the timeline of events that led to the cancelation of the expo portion of the Arnold, and the conflicting information that seemingly changed with every day. In the "PLUSA Throwback" segment, the boys discuss highlights from the Sept. 2011 issue, which has "Super D" Donnie Thompson on the cover, when he broke the 3000lb total barrier.
Mar 13, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Season 2Ep. 24
This week, Bain and Stone answer various questions about powerlifting, about themselves, and about life. This is one of the most entertaining episodes to date. In the PLUSA "Throwback" segment, they review highlights from the December 2007 issue.
Mar 03, 2020•2 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 23
In this week's episode, in the shadow of 2XL's 2nd ever "Women's EmPOWERment Meet," Bain and Stone (Eric) bring in the Meet Director of the Women's Meet, Jackie Stone, to discuss how women's powerlifting has changed in her 15+ years in the sport. In addition, they go through some reasons why they all think there has been such a huge rise in women competing in powerlifting. In the PLUSA Throwback segment, the boys go through the August 2004 issue, featuring highlights from the IPF Women's Worlds....
Feb 23, 2020•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 22
In this week's epsisode, Bain and Stone discuss something a bit more personal than usual, their experiences with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In addition to their personal experiences, they discuss how powerlifting can be positive outlet for those on the spectrum. In the PLUSA Throwback segment, they go through highlights from the July 2005 issue, which had a full meet write-up on the 2005 APF Senior Nationals (where Stone took 6th place in the 165s).
Feb 14, 2020•1 hr 43 min•Season 2Ep. 21
In this week's episode, Bain and Stone repond to the article, "How to Fix Powerlifting" by Mark Rippetoe, of Starting Strength fame. There's even more strength and anger than usual in their responses to his "suggestions." In the PLUSA Throwback segment, they go over highlights from the November 2007 issue, including perhaps the last meet performance by THE Ernie Frantz in the results of the Chicago Summer Bash 4.
Feb 06, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Season 2Ep. 20
This week, Bain and Stone discuss a couple of somber topics, with the main topic being the passing of Michael Soong, the statistician that created the "All-Time World Records and Rankings." They discuss what is known about Soong the man, why he created the All-Time WRs, and the impact his records and rankings have had on the sport. In the "PLUSA Throwback" segment, they discuss highlights from the December 2004 issue.
Jan 29, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 19
In this week's episode, Bain and Stone both discuss their favorite 3-5 assistance exercises for the squat / bench / deadlift. In the PLUSA "Throwback" segment, they go over highlights from the March 2001 Powerlifting USA issue.
Jan 24, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Piggie-backing on previous episodes on the internet and social media, this week Bain and Stone discuss negativity on the internet. Whereas "back in the day" of the early 2000s when Stone saw negativity and in-fighting on the old-school message boards, now that phenomenon has moved to the comments section on Instagram and Facebook. In the Powerlifting USA "throwback" section, Stone goes through some highlights from PLUSA from Sept. '05.
Jan 15, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Bain and Stone are BACK for 2020! This week, they discuss what exactly makes someone a "powerlifter." Is it competing in your first meet? What about bench only / deadlift only? What about when someone stops competing? Additionally they debut a new segment, "PLUSA Throwback" where they go through a few highlights from the Oct '06 Powerlifting USA magazine.
Jan 09, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 16
