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50% Facts with Silent Mike & Jim McD

50% Facts with Silent Mike & Jim McD

Life’s too short to be half right! Veteran podcasters Mike "Silent Mike" Farr and Jim McDonald try to answer a single question. Any question is fair game, but most involve health, fitness, nutrition, mental health, culture…even sex. They examine common misconceptions and then try to get to the correct answer -- often with the help of subject matter experts. They walk away with a better sense of the facts…and so do you.

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Recent Episodes

Is texting cheating? | Topic Thunder

March 24, 2023

Joe Stanek (@joe_gameday) sat in as guest host on this one, along with Mike, Nico (@nicoflores83kg), and Elexa (@nanoo31). ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media …

Physical 100 on NetFlix: Gimmick or a good look for fitness?

March 22, 2023

Netflix recently dropped the South Korean fitness competition series “Physical 100.” The premise? Collect 100 athletes — mostly Korean and all Korean-speaking — from many different disciplines and put them through multiple r…

What does the perfect powerlifting federation look like for you?

March 17, 2023

Deadlift bar or stiff bar? Twenty-four hour weigh-in or two-hour weigh-in? Owned by lifters or owned by an individual? These are some of the factors on which lifter preferences differ. What do we, or more specifically Avi…

Avi wins the Arnold!

March 15, 2023

But what does it really mean to be a pro? What could federations do to make the pro rank more prestigious and more financially feasible? Avi and her coach, Michael Kieu, joined us in Columbus the day after the meet to break…

Relationships hurt your gains? | Topic Thunder

March 10, 2023

Do athletes perform better when they’re not in a relationship? Niko and Elexa joined us again, for this particularly relevant question. You can find Nico at http://instagram.com/nicoflores83kg on Instagram and TikTok and …

JP Gallardo, Evan Holmes, and John Nealon

March 8, 2023

We’re joined by bodybuilding coach and huge (3 million!) TikTok influencer, JP Gallardo, another coach and social media content creator, Evan Holmes, and Hoka shoe designer John Nealon. Barbell Brigade’s Nadeem Hamidy also j…

About the Hosts

Jim McDonaldProfile Photo

Jim McDonald

Creator and Co-host

Jim left the corporate world behind a couple of decades ago and became a consultant in IT and healthcare marketing. In the early 2000s, he discovered powerlifting and began to document its training and some of its greatest performances as an early YouTube fitness creator. He focused on visuals that helped the audience understand not only the technical aspects of powerlifting but also the emotions that drive lifters to lift. Eventually, he created a chart-topping podcast along with Mike Farr… just before the worldwide explosion in podcast listenership. His role at 3SB is both administrative and creative, and he’s finding the balance between those a day at a time.

Mike FarrProfile Photo

Mike Farr

Co-host

Mike Farr, aka Silent Mike, has dedicated his life to supporting others in their goals and to building community. After spending over 15 years playing and coaching basketball he switched gears into the weight room. Over the last decade, he focused on helping thousands of athletes around the world with their strength and fitness goals. Powerlifting is considered an individual sport but Mike has found his role in helping others through education and entertainment using the barbell as his vessel.