BarBend Podcast

Our guest today needs almost no introduction. Mat Fraser is a 5-time CrossFit Games Champion. He has a lengthy background in strength sports as a youth weightlifter, all the way through to the fittest man in history. I've known Mat for years, before he was a CrossFit Games Champion, and it's awesome to finally get him on this podcast. We talk about everything from nutrition to his eating...

Today we're joined (for the second time) by pro strongman Gabe Peña. Gabe has come a long way since we last chatted. In his World's Strongest Man debut as an alternate, Gabe had to withdraw due to an irregular heartbeat. Now, after an unexpected but very manageable medical diagnosis, Gabe is heading back to WSM, but as a full-fledged competitor. He's also an accomplished event organ...

Today we're talking to Doctor of Physical Therapy and trainer Dr. Bo Babenko. Bo has worn many hats in fitness over the past decade: physical therapist, triathlete, CrossFit Regionals competitor, and more. Our conversation focuses heavily on what’s changed about physical therapy and recovery during Bo’s career so far, along with the most common myths and misconceptions when it comes to injury...

Today I’m talking to chef, entrepreneur, and athlete Dan Churchill. Dan has been featured on MasterChef Australia, Good Morning America, the Food Network, and more. He’s also the mastermind behind the restaurant Charley Street in NYC. He also has a masters in exercise science. Dan exists at an interesting nexus between fitness and nutrition, and today, he joins us to talk about fueling for perform...

Today I’m talking to legendary rapper, songwriter, and actor Ice-T. Since his origins in the underground rap scene of the 1980s to his long-term stint on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Ice-T has been a cultural force in America for as long as many of us have been alive. But one thing a lot of people might not know is his passion for fitness. In his youth, Ice-T was a competitive gymnast an...

Today I’m talking to Adam Sedlack, CEO of UFC Gym. Adam has had an amazing rise through the ranks of gyms. He started as an entry-level employee at a brick and mortar gym, then became a trainer, and from there he spent years working his way to management as he learned every in and out of the gym business. Now, he’s CEO of a gym conglomerate with over 150 locations worldwide — and they’re still gro...

Today I’m talking to a repeat guest on the BarBend Podcast, Fergus Crawley. Fergus is a multi-discipline endurance and strength athlete known for combining the two into unique physical challenges. His latest was “600Sixty” — a 600-kilogram raw powerlifting total followed by a sub-six-hour 60-kilometer ultramarathon. We catch up with Fergus to talk about what it takes to train for both elite streng...

Today I’m talking to Dr. Dena Garner, professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance, the Director of Undergraduate Research and the Assistant Provost for Research and Policy at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Garner is best known in some fitness circles for her work with performance mouthpieces, including helping to develop the technology behind the AIRWAAV mouthpiece....

Today I’m talking to Sammy Moniz, an athlete, chef, and now cookbook author perhaps best known as the mastermind behind Feeding the Frasers. Sammy joins us to talk about her path in nutrition, developing recipes, and cooking to fuel performance with her long-term partner and 5-time Fittest Man on Earth Mat Fraser.

Bodybuilder Kevin Malone joins us to talk about finding competition later in life and how his bodybuilding career took off around his mid-40s. We talk about Kevin's focus on compound movements and heavy weights for hypertrophy, and how consistency is ultimately key to success in aesthetic sports. Kevin is proof that a long-term outlook paired with a competition-centric mindset may promote the...

Today I'm talking to strongman (and 90kg World's Strongest Man) Nicolai Myers. Nicolai is also the winner of America's Strongest Veteran. We discuss being a strongman in a sport more often associated with giants, and how he capitalizes on his strengths to win competitions that might include some of his weaker individual events. We also talk about Nicolai's training, sport-speci...

Today I'm catching up with American weightlifter Mary Theisen-Lappen. A former collegiate thrower (track & field), Mary found weightlifting about four years ago through a USA Weightlifting recruitment program. Since then, she's made astounding progress in the sport and is now one of the top lifters in the country. She's also a Pan American Champion breathing down the neck of the...

Today I'm chatting with a repeat guest on the BarBend Podcast: Powerlifter turned (now professional) bodybuilding competitor Amanda Kohatsu. Amanda originally made a name for herself in strength through her powerlifting accomplishments. But about a year and a half ago, she decided to take a break from competitive squat, bench, and deadlift to enter a new athletic arena: Figure and physique co...

Margaux Alvarez is a 7-time CrossFit Games athlete, long drive competitor, coach, and wine entrepreneur. She's one of the most multi-talented personalities in fitness, and her future in CrossFit — and beyond — is something we had to learn more about. We sit down with Margaux to talk about training across multiple sports, strength training for golf long drive competitions, her future in athlet...

Today I'm chatting with strongman Rob Kearney, who joins the BarBend Podcast for a second time. Rob has been through a lot in the past two years, including a tricep rupture on an American Log Press record attempt, as well as a testicular cancer diagnosis. Rob joins the podcast to talk about his injury, illness, and road to recovery, including returning to the competition floor at the 2021 Rog...

Today on the BarBend Podcast, we welcome two of the BarBend Team's finest: Managing Editor Andrew Gutman and Senior Writer Phil Blechman. We dive into our favorite strength stories, feats, records, and competitions of 2021, then look ahead at the big stories to come in 2022. Did we include any of your favorite moments?

Hey folks, we have a short and sweet one for you. Today I’m talking to American weightlifter Hampton Morris. Just 17 years old, Hampton has an athletic resume that is nothing short of jaw-dropping. He was 2 World, 10 Pan American, and 16 American weightlifting records, and he’s the 2021 Pan American Senior Champion and 2021 Youth World Champion. We chat about Hampton’s meteoric rise in the sport,...

Heather Connor is a 2-time IPF World Champion and the first female IPF powerlifter to deadlift 4 times her bodyweight raw . Heather joins us to talk about the injury that sidelined her for nearly a year, along with why it’s so easy for lifters to ignore the signs of significant underlying injuries and issues. We also chat about Heather’s goals in the sport, what big money competitions could mean f...

Today I’m talking to weightlifter, CrossFitter, pro strongman, financial advisor, and coach Graciano Rubio, best known online as the Wall Street Weightlifter. He’s also the owner of CrossFit Valley View. In today’s episode, we discuss his strength background and why you should treat training like an investment portfolio — especially when it comes to something called stop loss. Along the way, I als...

Today I’m talking to powerlifter Andy Huang, perhaps better known online as That Huge Asian Guy. Andy has put up some of the world’s all-time great totals at 275 lbs bodyweight, and after battling several injuries, he recently came back to top competition form. Andy talks about finding powerlifting a bit later in life, and how his training approach has grown over the years. Andy also discusses the...

Today I’m talking to Donna Moore, a British legend in the sport of strongman and a three-time World’s Strongest Woman. Donna has been competing in strongman since 2012, and in today’s episode, she shares her unlikely origins in the sport — including a seemingly random competition through Facebook — as well as her future aspirations, which include competing in a completely different bodyweight cate...

Today we have a rare repeat podcast guest, James Fitzgerald. James was the first-ever men’s champion at the CrossFit Games – back in 2007 — and since then he’s built a reputation as one of the fitness industry’s most thoughtful and prolific coaches. His company OPEX offers a variety of online coaching and education resources, which gives James nearly-unparalleled insight into macro trends in fitne...

From the BarBend Podcast archives: Jen Widerstrom rose to the national spotlight as a star on "American Gladiators," but after the show was canceled, a career in the fitness industry didn't happen overnight. We talk with Jen about behind-the-scenes stories from "Gladiators," finding footing as a coach and trainer, and eventually becoming one of Hollywood's got-to trai...

Today I’m talking to legendary strongman competitor Laurence Shahlaei, better known in the strength community as Big Loz. Loz has a storied strongman career, having competed in more than 10 World’s Strongest Man competitions, winning Britain’s Strongest Man twice, winning Europe’s strongest man, and racking up more podium finishes in the sport than we can list in this intro. He’s since made a succ...

Today I’m talking to strongman Adam Bishop, the reigning Britain’s Strongest Man (as of this podcast’s publication). After playing rugby at a high level, Adam became a strength and conditioning coach for professional rugby players. It was only in the past couple of years that he was able to focus full-time on training for strongman, and his results have skyrocketed. Now a three-time World’s Strong...