At Third Street Barbell, we’re lucky enough to have three physical therapists as members. Jim’s been working with Patrick Bell on a shoulder injury and has been very impressed with his knowledge and how he structures and communicates his rehab exercise selections. Since Patrick’s clients are mainly online, we thought…
Jacob Ross joins Jim to take on the question, “Why do so many lifters resist training in groups in the current age of powerlifting?” We also cover Jacob’s time working with the South Sudanese Olympic Basketball team in Paris for the Olympics last year. We also share stories of gym…
Mike is out of town, so Jim brought in one of Third Street Barbell’s most consistent and inspirational members, Josh Hajar. Josh is an emergency department nurse who faced a harrowing fight with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and then suffered an injury that set back his recovery and fitness goals. When he…
Psychedelics in psychotherapy. That’s the theme of this four-part documentary from Netflix. Can psychedelics break damaging thought patterns and allow people to heal from depression and trauma? This doc series would like to prove that they at least hold promise to do that. We cover episodes #1 (LSD) and #3…
Netflix’s Untold documentary series takes a look at the phenomenon of The Liver King. Purportedly already a multi-millionaire, Brian Johnson launched a muscular social media and YouTube presence as a “primal” influencer who used raw organ meats, including testicles, rather than steroids to build his crazy physique. He amassed a…
Under pressure from…well, pretty much everyone…it appears the IPF will allow stiff knee sleeves through the end of 2026. World’s Strongest Man is back in Sacramento this week, just about a mile from our gym. We take a look at the history of WSM and take an online trivia quiz.…
Nick and his training style remind me of my old teammates and the video I started shooting about 20 years ago. Couldn't resist grabbing my camera for this set. Generic music because of copyright stuff.
We’re taking a closer look at a topic that we’ve touched on briefly before: Media covering the effects and inner workings of cults. The HBO documentary Going Clear is one of the most recognizable documentaries about the Church of Scientology. Celebrities like Tom Cruise have deep ties to this cult…
A couple of episodes ago, we talked about a dramatic change in leadership at the International Powerlifting Federation. The latest wrinkle is that the federation has recently notified the manufacturers of “stiff” knee sleeves that their products are banned from use in competition – immediately. Is the IPF being fair…
A stroll back 13 years in time takes us to a very “well-reviewed” nutrition documentary that ultimately only delivers a laundry list of fear appeals, misinformation, and pro-vegan propaganda. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a vegan, but getting there because you’ve been told that every other way of…
We take a stab at which jobs AI might eliminate (do you want your drive-through order taken by a bot?). Plus, the long-time IPF president resigned suddenly a few weeks ago. Is there any situation where a quick exit from a top position like that doesn’t mean really bad things…
The 5-part Netflix Documentary Court of Gold chronicles the 2024 Olympic Basketball tournament in Paris. It’s obviously a love letter to the gold medalist US team, but more specifically, Kevin Durrant, Steph Curry, and to a lesser extent, LeBron James. The episodes follow the tournament's progression and highlight a few…
The third sequel to the bodybuilding documentary Generation Iron is all about the natties. It follows a group of competitors during the countdown to the Natural Olympia of 2019. Will natural bodybuilding ever gain the kind of traction that its “enhanced” counterpart does? And are the competitors really drug-free? Several…
The “Superman from Compton” took YouTube in the 20-teens by way of a video called “The Strongest Man You’ve Never Heard Of.” Who was this man who “commanded” his arms to grow and reminded us over and over that it was indeed still our set? This documentary sketches a portrait…
This documentary, the first from Generation Iron, covers the runup to the 2012 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding contest. Phil Heath is a repeat winner, but Kai Greene is pushing him hard. A number of other well-known competitors are also hoping to dominate the Olympia stage. Do any of them have a…
Have you noticed that powerlifting is experiencing a bit of a dip in popularity? We have. What might be the cause? We kick around some possibilities. Is the last wave of lifters starting to age out and move on to other hobbies? Is it turmoil among the federations? How do…
This documentary from Generation Iron recaps the career of 8-time Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman, as he prepares for yet another back surgery. While we don’t gain a lot new information, it’s a nostalgic look at some of the most iconic training footage from his long Olympia run, along with a…
This documentary from Men’s Health tells us that body dysmorphia is running rampant among teenage boys in America. It follows four teens who take “extreme” measures to try to match the body images they see on social media (sorta). Then, the video takes a turn into a “debate” about supplements…
Bryan Johnson, former head of the firm that owned Venmo (and sold it to Paypal), is obsessed with slowing down his aging process. Is there anything he won’t try toward that end? Dozens of daily vitamins, nearly religious workouts, red laser masks, and even experimental gene splicing are all in…
And we’re back with a fresh 2025 episode! Mike headed to Florida to coach three streamers to losing 25 lbs each while streaming 24 hours a day from "Weigh Loss Island." Jim went to Canada for some family time, and to NYC for some shows, including a spot in the…
We’ve got some holiday and non-holiday travel going on, so we’re dipping into the vault for a couple of One Good Question episodes to fill the gap. This episode features one of our gym members who is a practicing vegan, Nick Squires, sharing some more about how he transitioned from…
It’s a new year, and it’s time once again to examine at least one publication’s ideas for fitness trends in the coming year. This time, we tapped into a more serious -- and less pop culture – source: the American Council on Exercise. Let us know on our Discord or…
Is this the most Christmas movie of our little film festival? Probably. Is it even better that we’re dropping it on Christmas Day? For sure! Mel Gibson and Danny Glover starred in one of the first really great buddy cop movies. Will they catch the bad guys before Gibson offs…
Well, we were a bit confused about the movie we were planning to cover that day, had a guest who couldn’t make it, and had an acute shortage of time. So, we punted with a quick discussion about the state of streaming services, a crazy old music video, and thoughts…
