50% Facts

This was recorded as a Friday episode, but since it’s a bit longer and we’re on a holiday break, we moved it to a Wednesday episode. This week’s question from our Discord: Frequent contributor Keith Honeycutt asked, “What are some unexpected changes you have had to make to the gym or your business model since opening the doors?” Our own Kyle Castro and Avi Lieu join us for this one. Kyle’s on Inst...

We’re in Topic Thunder mode for most of our episodes over the holiday break. What’s Topic Thunder? It’s the name of our roughly 10-minute “rant” show with a four-member panel who throw out as ideas as possible about a particular topic. Sometimes we’re serious, but mostly we’re not. We always have fun. This episode’s question is about random encounters and the weird things people say to or ask stra...

It’s the time of year that everyone is making resolutions. Maybe a better idea is to set goals. Resolutions sound like goals, but they’re really just things you want to change about yourself. They try to make a positive out of a negative personal trait or habit. Goals, on the other hand, are things you want to ACCOMPLISH. They’re not really bound to a specific year. They’re on whatever timeline yo...

This week’s One Good Question comes from our Discord: Iced-T asks: “Why is it that I keep seeing people offer coaching but they have a coach themselves? No hate here just a good example, I have noticed Mike keeps referring to a coach since his latest push for a deadlift PR while he also just recently opened up applications for coaching of his own.” Maybe the better question is, what kind of progre...

Our friend and local gym (HyperThrive Athletics) owner, Joe Grinstain, got bored with powerlifting meets and decided to find something else to compete in. He chose running, and he recently qualified for the 2024 Boston Marathon. We talk about how he made the leap into marathons, and what his training, lifting, and nutrition look like. We kick it off with a topic from a previous episode. Why would...

In fitness, in social media, in life period, there are some words we’re just sick of hearing. Do you have any? Like if we never heard the word “liver” again… ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media and use the hashtag #onegoodquestion. If your question is picked, you’ll get something special from us! Join our Discord for free! https://disc...

Every December for the past few years, we’ve chosen an article from mainstream media that attempts to predict the next year’s fitness trends. Then, we discuss which one’s actually have a chance of happening, and which are repeats of previous years. This time, we take a similar article -- from actual fitness media that was published a year ago -- to see if any of them actually came true. ____ Have...

This week’s question came from Avi’s social media. It went a little off the rails, but we had fun with it. You can find Avi on Instagram @avi.lieu. ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media and use the hashtag #onegoodquestion. If your question is picked, you’ll get something special from us! Join our Discord for free! https://discord.com/in...

Riffing on the YouTube expose by More Plates More Dates (which can be found here -- and our own view of the industry -- we cover some of the reasons why we never bought “Liver King” Brian Johnson’s “natty” claims in the first place. You shouldn’t have either, but it’s pretty easy to see the reasons that people want to. It’s also easy to see how protecting the natty lie becomes so critical, how ent...

We called our own 20-somethings, Sebastian and Avi, in to help us look at the most iconic Thanksgiving movie ever. Steve Martin and John Candy starred 1987’s Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The film was written and directed by John Hughes, the writer/producer/director responsible for teen films like The Breakfast Club, and slapstick comedy juggernauts like Home Alone, and the National Lampoon’s V...

This week’s question from our Discord: SilentKilr asks “How important are glute activation warmups prior to squatting and/or deadlifting?” Do you need them? Is your ass really asleep? ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media and use the hashtag #onegoodquestion. If your question is picked, you’ll get something special from us! Join our Disc...

Some people really struggle at this time of year. Why is it so difficult, and what specific things do experts recommend to help make things a little more tolerable? If you’re gripped by depression and experience suicidal thoughts, don’t hesitate in seeking help from professionals. In the US, the nationwide suicide prevention hotline is 988. Listener resources. Mayo Clinic article on season depress...

From 3SB Discord member msoli7: For Jim more so: As someone that pivoted from a traditional career into fitness/gym ownership/content creation what were the tradeoffs? Is there a best time in your life to do it or anything that specifically made you successful? For Mike along the same lines but if you did a 9-5 what could you see yourself doing? Our answers are probably NOT what you’d expect! ____...

The Rhino himself, Stan Efferding, joins us to talk about weight training for kids, the simplicity of good diet, and the 10-year anniversary of the Backyard Meet of the Century. Was that meet the “ribbon cutting” on the age of raw powerlifting? You can find Stan at stanefferding.com ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media and use the hasht...

The audio for this episode is a bit rougher than normal. Check the opening note for explanation. We’re joined by Dean Saddoris and Kyle Castro to discuss…well…stuff. We review a high-top shoe commercial from 1986 and talk about the trajectory of athlete and influencer marketing. Dean describes an encounter with a killer wasp. Mike describes his somewhat acrobatic approach to that morning pee. You...

This week only, One Good Question and our main episode are switching places. A deep-ish question from our Discord: Keith Honeycutt asked, “What are some small things that make your day better?” Kyle Castro helped us out with this one. Kyle’s on Instagram at @kyle.castroo . ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media and use the hashtag #onegoo...

A tough one from our Discord: JackFrost asked, “If you had to make a choice, would you rather be deaf or blind?” Avi Lieu and Kyle Castro jumped in on this one as well. You can find Avi on Instagram @avi.lieu and Tiktok @avi.lieu. Kyle’s on Instagram at @kyle.castroo. ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media and use the hashtag #onegoodques...

Our own Avi Lieu and Kyle Castro chop it up with us as ponder this and a few more questions. Is Ye smart, mentally ill, or both? Is using Melanotan worth having an orange dick? Does the Liver King have fake abs? Is being humble critical to good sportsmanship? Or is it ok to be a hot dog, and to publicly celebrate your victories? Is Conor McGregor’s trash talk overrated? Would Mike be a good dad? W...

This week’s question from Discord: Mikexbull asked “As someone who wants to open a gym eventually - what do you think is the most important part of the planning? A lot of people concentrate on all the wrong things. What grade would we give ourselves when we look back at how we started? How do you keep from being too optimistic? Or too pessimistic? What are the “gears” of your business? ____ Have a...

We all make decisions based on the information we’re exposed to, the people around us, and what makes sense to us as individuals. In this episode, we discuss beliefs we’ve held during our time as lifters that have proven to be partially…or completely…wrong. Sometimes the “one right answer” has an expiration date we don’t see coming. ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” ep...

This week’s One Good Question from our Discord crew: Nwojjj asked: “What's a movie/documentary that doesn't have a sequel but you think it should?” Is this a “careful what you wish for” question? Are all the streamers asking this same question and will that steal our answers? ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media and use the hashtag #one...

As the NBA prepares to take the courts for the 2022-23 season, we take a look a new Netflix documentary about the 2008 US Olympic basketball team, Redeem Team. How much do coaches affect winning? How did a team full of NBA talent ever manage to lose on the world stage? Could anyone by Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski have gotten this team on the same page? When Kobe Bryant entered a team whose chemistry...

This week’s question from our Discord crew: Helios Grime asks, “How do you drink your coffee and why is your way the only correct way?” ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media and use the hashtag #onegoodquestion. If your question is picked, you’ll get something special from us! Join our Discord for free! https://discord.com/invite/XVvJ5eN...

This is a bit of a shorter episode, due to Jim’s laryngitis. Does music, maybe even specific music really make you lift better? We talk about what motivates us, and how and when to use external motivators like music, ammonia, or what ever does it for you. Listener resources: Research on music and lifting Third Street Barbell Playlist Silent Mike Playlist Mike's Feel Good Playlist ____ Have a quest...

From our Discord, ArrogantFool asked, “Alan Thrall recently posted a video about why he doesn't do PEDs. What are your why's? Is there anything that would push you closer to doing PEDs?” Avi Lieu, a USAPL pro powerlifter, joins us again. You can find Avi on Instagram @avi.lieu and Tiktok @avi.lieu ____ Have a question for one of our Friday “One Good Question” episodes? Hit us up on social media an...