Episodes

Does being “disciplined” in the gym automatically carry over to anything else? | June Q & A

June 17, 2021

Mike brings a “hot take Tuesday” issue to the table. Is how you do one thing really how you do everything? Other questions include whether we’re getting any World’s Strongest Man visitors? Do we have hobbies outside the gym?…

Does fit/fat shaming accomplish anything? w/Kelly Lenahan

June 9, 2021

We all see instances of what many people categorize as “fat shaming” both in conversation and on social media. What’s the real intent of these comments? Is it meant to hurt or help? Do people ever make permanent, positive be…

“Super Size Me” – How did this junk food movie fool anyone? | Review and reaction

June 3, 2021

The 2004 Morgan Spurlock documentary, “Super Size Me” posited that fast food – and a sedentary lifestyle – caused America’s growing obesity epidemic. Spurlock spent 30 days eating food from McDonald’s three meals a day for 3…

Mental health awareness month special episode w/Lisa Lampanelli, Nick Scopoletti, and Beau McDowell of the Losers with a Dream podcast

May 27, 2021

Nick Scopoletti returns to the show -- this time with fellow standup Beau McDowell, and their life coach, retired comic Lisa Lampanelli. Their podcast “Losers with a Dream” features conversations between Nick and Beau about …

How much of success is just showing up? | May Q&A

May 19, 2021

We shifted the schedule around a little in anticipation of some special guests for next week’s show. This week, we address some comments and questions from social media. Is there a particular way that we’re totally wrong for…

Icarus: Steroid documentary or spy thriller? | Reaction & Review w/Dean Saddoris of Caffeine and Kilos

May 12, 2021

This month’s media review and react episode is centered on the documentary “Icarus.” Dean Saddoris joins us to discuss this Oscar-winning 2017 documentary. This episode definitely contains spoilers. Filmmaker and cyclist Bry…

Is this the golden age of MMA? w/Urijah Faber

May 6, 2021

A special edition episode. UFC Hall of Famer, and fellow Sacramento gym owner, Urijah Faber joins us. We talk about how sports fit into the hierarchy of human needs, the growth of combat sports in the past several years…and …

Sponsorships: Are they worth it for smaller brands? Are they fair to athletes? | April Q & A

April 28, 2021

April’s Q and A episode kicks off with an unplanned behind-the-scenes discussion where we explore the question of sponsored athletes/ambassadors. What do brands like ours really expect to get from sponsoring athletes? How mu…

Bart Kwan: Do influencers create culture or just reflect it?

April 21, 2021

Bart Kwan is a man with a HUGE platform, so his thoughts on creativity, culture, and social media influence are well…influential. In our second episode with Bart, we broke down these issues, as well as some related questions…

Does Power Unlimited hold up? w/Tommy and Tanner of Massenomics

April 14, 2021

Inside the Massenomics gym in Western Northeast South Dakota, an ever-vigilant DVD player spins a copy of the circa 2007 documentary “Power Unlimited” around the clock. Who better to have on deck for a look back at that film…

Do you have what it takes to lift and work at home forever? w/Bart Kwan of Barbell Brigade

April 7, 2021

(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 …

“The Last Blockbuster” | A preview of the death of retail? w/Dean Saddoris of Caffeine and Kilos

April 1, 2021

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…

What do ya wanna know? | March Q and A

March 25, 2021

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…

What do you need to know when starting a gym (or any business)?

March 18, 2021

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 previou…

Did “Pumping Iron” create the fitness industry? | Reaction & Review w/Dean Saddoris of Caffeine and Kilos

March 11, 2021

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 indu…

What do regular gym guys think of powerlifting? w/Fat Dan & his brothers from the Bridge to Bridge Podcast

March 3, 2021

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 …

How do parents (or any busy people) fit fitness into family life? | Monthly Q&A

Feb. 24, 2021

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, train…

What would a perfect powerlifting federation look like? w/Marcus “Filipino Thunder” Sannadan

Feb. 18, 2021

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 …

“Fake Famous” | What did Instagram do for (and to) fitness?

Feb. 11, 2021

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. W…

What do new studies say about training for powerlifting vs bodybuilding? (and other discussions) w/ Eric Helms & Omar Isuf

Feb. 5, 2021

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…