Barbell Shrugged

Today's episode is a something unique.  Today we look at Hollywood and what's it's like to get in shape for the big screen.   Brandon Routh is a Hollywood actor who currently plays The Atom in the TV show DC's Legend's of Tomorrow on Netflix. Brandon is best known for playing Superman in the movie Superman Returns (2006). Yup, he's a superhero.   In this episode we discuss the kind of training and...

Want to gain more muscle?  Bodybuilders can show you the path.  Want to gain strength?  Powerlifters will show you the way.  Want both?  Talk to Stan Efferding.   IFBB Pro bodybuilder Stan Efferding holds the all-time raw world powerlifting records in the 275-pound-class and is often referred to as the "world's strongest bodybuilder".   Best lifts include: 606 raw bench, 865 squat w/ wraps and an...

This was one of the most enjoyable shows we've done all year.   Really, really enjoyed speaking with Dr. Scott Lynn. He earned a PhD in Biomechanics and is now an associate professor of Kinesiology/Biomechanics at Cal State Fullerton.   Loosely put, biomechanics is the study of how forces effect your body (stress —> adaptation) as well as how the forces produced by your body effect the world (movi...

Derrick Johnson has won 6 senior national titles, 8 American Open titles and is a world team member (scoring the most points of any athlete in over 10 years for United States at the 2014 World Championships).   Bursting with passion for the sport, with decades of knowledge to share, Derrick one hell of an athlete and may be an even better coach (the youngest Level 5 Senior International Coach in h...

From training and operating with the elite of the elite Navy SEALs, to going to the CrossFit Games as an individual 3 times (2009, 2011, 2013), Zach Forrest has attacked some of the hardest physical training in the world.   He's now a Level 4 CrossFit Trainer and since the Navy opened the first CrossFit affiliate in Las Vegas in 2008, CrossFit Max Effort (go train there next time you're in Vegas,...

Ben Greenfield was voted as America's top personal trainer in 2008. He's competed as one of the top ranked amateur triathletes in the world, completing over 120 races and 12 Ironman triathlons. A relentless self-experimenter and biohacker, Ben became a professional obstacle course racer, completing the coveted Spartan Delta, training with the Navy SEALs, competing across the globe in open water sw...

Jesse Burdick, the funniest coach that can lift your whole family, visits Barbell Shrugged Jesse talks turkey about power and a mindset about movement How competitors can still have a good time Coaching vs. Teaching Cutting weight / managing body vs. strength He's damn strong, his numbers will blow you away ► Subscribe to Barbell Shrugged's Channel Here- http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe   Li...

What's better than peeing in a cup every two weeks? If you thought, "listening to this week's podcast of Barbell Shrugged," then you're more than right. On today's episode, we spoke with the [Fat-Burning] Man himself, Abel James (@fatburningman), about his super-successful Wild Diet, how the philosophy behind it is nothing new –– yet still absolutely revolutionary –– in terms of helping one achiev...

This week, we spoke with movement expert and all-around badass Carl Paoli (Instagram and Twitter: @carlpaoli ), coach and author of Free+Style: Maximize Sport and Life Performance with Four Basic Movements. Carl explains his Three Tricks to be jacked as hell, using his own Free+Style connection framework of position, movement, and purpose. Carl's varied background has informed his path, leading hi...

What's more fun than working out when you're in crazy amounts of pain? If you answered, "Uh, like, everything," you are correct! Injury is the biggest factor that can keep a person away from realizing their full physical potential. So today, we went to Physical Culture in Encinitas, California, to meet up with Dan Pope (@fitnesspainfree) and Ryan DeBell (@themovementfix). Unlike other strength and...

This week, we went to Bulletproof to meet with founder Dave Asprey (Twitter: @bulletproofexec ), a company you might know best for the "butter in your coffee" craze. But Dave's work, and Bulletproof, are so much more -- they're in the business of "biohacking," or changing your environment inside and out so that you can have the most possible control of your biology. As an executive at a non-profit...

This week we traveled to Onnit Academy in Austin, Texas, to talk to their Chief Fitness Officer, John Wolf . Onnit's mission is to help people achieve total human optimization, and John's the one to get you there. He'll be the first to tell you that movement and training is just a part of total human optimization. You might know Onnit best from their nutrition supplements and fitness accessories (...

This week, we went over to CrossFit Invictus in downtown San Diego to meet up with some of the very best athletes in the world. This week's six-for-one special includes insights from four Games competitors and two Invictus coaches about what it takes to go from great to the greatest. In our first segment, we talk to training partners Garret Fisher and Holden Rethwill about how their workout styles...

This week we stopped by Onnit in Austin, Texas, to talk about some pretty big ideas with CEO and founder Aubrey Marcus . If, for example, you want to know how to change the world for the better, then this is the episode for you. "If you want to be of service for society at large, you've got to be fit for service. And to be fit for service, you have to do these personal practices. You have to get y...

"You need to cross-train your balls, is basically what I'm saying." Biomechanist  Katy Bowman  gets straight to the point in this week's podcast. We interviewed Katy at  Paleo (f)x  Austin, where she's a featured speaker on the concept of movement -- not to be confused with what we often refer to as "exercise." "There are more muscles than you're working in the gym, and those muscles will go on to...

At this year's Paleo F(x) conference in Austin, we had a chance to interview one of the primary spokespeople for the Paleo movement, Mark Sisson. You know him from Mark's Daily Apple, his website and blog dedicated to "primal living in the modern world." A true Paleo hipster, Mark has been preaching the primal diet gospel since before it was cool. Mark's interest in primal living can be traced bac...

As athletes, the pressure to win has a very strong effect on us. The best athletes in the world are not only the strongest, or the fastest, but the ones who can keep their emotions in check during competition. Emotions before and during competition can define and influence how you perform. These emotions aren't just limited to the negative ones like fear, and anxiety, but the positive ones too. Fo...

This week on Shrugged, we are talking to one of the strongest, intelligent and most athletic women we have ever interviewed. At a bodyweight of 123lbs, our guest this week, Stefi Cohen, pulls a 445 pound deadlift, squats 370 pounds, and benches 205 pounds. Stefi is also an accomplished and competitive Olympic-style weightlifter competing as a 53kg lifter, snatching 87 kg and clean and jerking 105...

"If you are ONLY counting macros, are you really healthy?" That may seem a loaded question, but this week on the show, we have just the guy to answer it. On today's show, we chat with Mike Dolce and bust some commonly misguided beliefs around nutrition.  Mike works with some of the top athletes in MMA world and has been a nutrition coach since before it was popular to post your food on Instagram....

So you want to compete in CrossFit and perhaps make it to the Games one day? Getting to the CrossFit Games is no joke. It never was, and now it's a full time job to even get to Regionals. Competition in the sport of CrossFit is more intense than ever, and there's no doubt that the bar is set higher every year. This week, we meet up with Games athlete, Wes Piatt, who just wrapped up competing at th...

The California Regionals are all wrapped up and the coach we are presenting in today's show is responsible for getting 30 athletes there. If there is a powerhouse coach in CrossFit®, CJ Martin of CrossFit Invictus is it.  In this episode, we dive into the mind of one of the best coaches in the sport of CrossFit and discuss the process CJ goes through to groom his athletes, the importance of sticki...

Our guest this week is as humble as he is accomplished. You can tell as soon as you walk into his facility, which just so happens to be one of the oldest weightlifting gyms in the country, that you are stepping into a historic place. We are taking about Sean Waxman. Sean has been a coach and athlete in the sport of weightlifting before it was even popular in the US. He has been a player in growing...

If I were to tell you that using a BOSU® ball would help you squat more, would you believe us? Yes, we are talking about that half dome stability ball thing that sits in the corner at the globo gyms of the world.  Before you write off the BOSU® ball to the same category as the Shake Weight, you need to watch this episode. In this edition of Shrugged, we interview the inventor of the BOSU, David We...

With all the sleep apps, heart rate monitors, supplements, air conditioners, coffee (and more coffee) we use, it's evident we live in an optimized world, and it is making us weak. In episode 259, we are bringing Brian Mckenzie and Andy Galpin back to talk about the research they are doing around performance, and what it means to be a resilient human in a comfortable world.  Never before have we ha...

When was the last time you did a conditioning piece that you actually enjoyed? Chances are (unless you did track in high school) you don't find long spouts on the air dyne or rower all too fun. Neither do we, so when we met Aaron Guyett and got to talking about battle ropes, and all the practical applications they have when it comes to conditioning, we decided he needed to be on the show. Aaron is...