August 6, 2024 • 27 mins
In this episode, we discuss our experiences and adventures, including attending the incredible FiFor Power Week in Norway, where we witnessed thrilling strongman and Highland games. The event's picturesque setting and top-tier competitions made it an unforgettable experience. We also preview the highly anticipated Shaw Classic, with insights into new innovations and challenging events like the heavy tractor pull, power stairs, and the return of the manhood stones. Join us as we dive into this major strongman competition's preparations and unique aspects, and stick around for updates on upcoming events and more.
00:00 Welcome Back and Sponsor Shoutouts
00:43 Introducing EAM Coaching
02:30 Nick's Recent Adventures
03:01 FIFA Power Week Highlights
07:58 Exploring Norway's Rich History
10:06 Upcoming Shaw Classic Event
16:08 Innovations in Strongman Competitions
25:35 Concluding Thoughts and Farewell
Nick Best https://lnk.bio/NickBest
Elite Ageless Mindset
https://www.patreon.com/EliteAgelessMindset
Evolution Athletics
https://shawstrength.com/pages/evolution-athletics/?rstr=10
Barbell Apparel
http://barbellapparel.com/best
Ice Up Industries https://iceupindustries.com (Best)
Podcast Producer/Co-Host
Ben Bulman Of Angry Dad Podcast
Instagram @angry_dad_podcast_
https://www.instagram.com/angry_dad_podcast_/
Website https://lnk.bio/angrydadpodcast
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-best-experience--5779077/support.
00:00 Welcome Back and Sponsor Shoutouts
00:43 Introducing EAM Coaching
02:30 Nick's Recent Adventures
03:01 FIFA Power Week Highlights
07:58 Exploring Norway's Rich History
10:06 Upcoming Shaw Classic Event
16:08 Innovations in Strongman Competitions
25:35 Concluding Thoughts and Farewell
Nick Best https://lnk.bio/NickBest
Elite Ageless Mindset
https://www.patreon.com/EliteAgelessMindset
Evolution Athletics
https://shawstrength.com/pages/evolution-athletics/?rstr=10
Barbell Apparel
http://barbellapparel.com/best
Ice Up Industries https://iceupindustries.com (Best)
Podcast Producer/Co-Host
Ben Bulman Of Angry Dad Podcast
Instagram @angry_dad_podcast_
https://www.instagram.com/angry_dad_podcast_/
Website https://lnk.bio/angrydadpodcast
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-best-experience--5779077/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
H M, you're listening to the best experience with the
(00:22):
thick best.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hey, we're back, and we are back. And uh, before
we get in today's episode, I'd like to thank our sponsors.
We have Yeah, as soon as I can pull him,
I thought I had him ready. Uh. We have Barbel
Apparel Premium athletic where engineered for performance with a tailored
(01:01):
athletic fit, refine clothing for an athletic body type. Evolution Athletics,
a support of gear company owned by Brian Shaw, full
time World Strongest Man and strongest man on Earth. We
believe in all athletes supporting their journey towards greatness. Ice
Up Industries fifty dollars off with code best at check
out with ice Up Industries the best cold plunges for
the best prices in the market. And we have a
(01:22):
new one eam Coaching if you want group coaching. Nix
involved in this actually and it's him and John Anderson
seventy years of experience to help you guys kick ass
and get in shape. And we do it in this
on Patreon actually, so you guys can join every Sunday
for a live taping, a live recording webinar almost and
(01:44):
it's just John Nick actually just talking about what they
do to stay in shape at their age.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, and your mindset going into things and how to
approach things. That's the biggest thing is you know, when
you're doing this is how you approach how your mentally
approach things going in to it. So you get the
workout and then you get us talking about, you know,
different things on how to focus your mind and get
ready to go in and do these workouts. So it's neat.
It's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, it is a lot of fun because what it
is is you guys are covering quite a bit because
this is a new venture, that job that Nick is
trying out, because like what it is is online coaching
is trying to really help people set that mindset. You know,
it's something that you always talk about. It is like
like being laser focused to get those goals, you know
what I'm saying. And it's pretty exciting.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, for the most part. I mean, you can find
workouts pretty much every where. You can find templates and
stuff like that, but what you can't find is the
experience and how to look at things and approach things
as you go into them. So it's it's a. It's
a pretty cool thing because you definitely want to go
in with intention. Yeah, so we try to get your
head right and just it also affects like your everyday
(02:55):
lives and stuff like that as well, so things that
will carry over into everything that you do. So check
it out. It's pretty freaking cool.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Oh yeah. Link will be in the notes for every
one of our sponsors. When you use those links, it
really helps us out and we appreciate it. Uh, Nick,
let's get a quick update on because man, you have
been busy.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah. Yeah, I've been doing some traveling and you know,
just getting to go to just unbelievable places and do
some amazing things and then doing on trips with my
daughter and then going out and you know, out to
Brightington and hanging out with Brian and seeing some of
(03:35):
the shot classic and strongest man on Earth stuff. So
it's it's been pretty cool. So we probably start with FIFA, I.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Guess, yeah's start there then.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Yeah. The fee for Power Week is absolutely amazing. I mean,
if you get to go to one place and go
to one festival, that's the place to go. If you're
gonna do it should be a list for things to
head out to Norway and go to fIF It's a
ski resort built by the old Norway Royalty back in
(04:09):
the day, and it is before the Royalty and it
is absolutely amazing. It's in the mountains. It's beautiful. There's
a lake right there and then you look out over
this grassy meadow and here's a Hercules hold and they
have all this like wooden straw Man equipment, Viking presses
and stuff like that, power stairs. It's just absolutely amazing.
(04:32):
And they do straw Man Highland Games and then the
Stonelifting World Championships and stuff like that, which congratulations as
James Rude, one of my training partners, he won the
second year in a row this year. Yeah, and the
competition gets getting tougher. I mean Greg payneans great pinion. Wow,
I'm doing Gabe opinion. Sorry, buddy, it's it's early this
(04:56):
morning and I'm not awake it. So Gabriel Penia was there,
uh and he Black was there. Eric Dawson was there.
I mean Eric Dawson was America's strongest man. So it's
there's some pretty darn good guys in there, you know.
Both Andy and gave her World Strongest Man competitors so
if you get by them, you're doing pretty good. So
(05:18):
it was pretty amazing that came down to a stone's shoulder.
In the end, they tied Eric and Eric and James
tied after the last event, and the tiebreaker ended up
being a stone to shoulder and that turned out pretty easily.
(05:38):
They both missed the first stone and so they had
to drag down to a lighter stone, and then Eric
didn't quite make it, and then James got the last stone,
So congratulations, buddy, you killed it. Which after doing all
these events there which involved your biceps because you're lifting
stones to a stone shoulder and a heavy one at that,
(06:01):
after all, that was absolutely amazing, So great job, guys.
The thief was amazing. Got to hang out with Ed
Cohen do seminars, which is really neat when you're up
on the stage, you know, with James, because James came
up because James changed with me, trained with me for
all ten of my World's Strongest Man appearances, and then
Ed Cohen, the guy that inspired me as a kid,
(06:24):
you know, for powerlifting and strength sports and just training
in general. I mean I still get you know, counseling
from him and coaching from him, uh, even even to
this day, which really helped me fix some of them
stuff on my squats after the surgery and stuff like that.
So h and my deadlifts kind of changing my deadlift
(06:44):
technique too, so but you guys will see that later. Yeah,
sou But it's just neat to get to hang out
with him and Haga for the whole week and James
and Jen and stuff like that. It's just incredible. And
Kicking Eagle are absolutely amazing. They put on an amazing
(07:06):
week there. I mean, you have to go to this thing,
absolutely have to. I mean I wish the internet connections
were better so they could live stream it up there,
but you have to see this. It's a once in
a lifetime thing. It is a bucket list if you're
gonna go up there for strong Man. The food is
absolutely incredible and the sense of community because you have
(07:29):
Highland Games athletes, you have Strongman athletes, you have Stone
lifting athletes, and they're all in the same place. We
all eat in the same areas, we all hang out together.
They do the Viking Games in the evenings, which I
don't really you know, the evenings because Sunda set till
like eleven forty five twelve o'clock. But yeah, in the evenings,
(07:51):
you know, we all get together and they do Viking
games and arm armlifting and stuff like that and arm
wrestling in the evening. So it's it's just it's it's
an amazing, amazing thing. If you're into strength sports to go.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
To that sounds like a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, no, it really is. It really is. And then
I ended up hiking not once, but twice up to
the top of the mountains, so that was pretty cool. Yeah,
it was last I did it once and I was wrecked,
and then this time I did it twice.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
The first time exactly. Got to keep a lot of
the videos that came out of there, the drone footage.
It looked amazing out there.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Yeah, Alex is Alex Just the stuff he does with
that drone is incredible, it really is. You got to
go check that out. I mean, you really do. And
then we went around and we went to lum and
stuff like that. We got to see one of the
old original wooden churches from like eleven hundred. We saw
the biggest and oldest one and it was it was
(08:57):
absolutely amazing, just the beauty of the architecture and what
they did back in that day, and I guess there
was some death metal bands back that went down burning
down the churches in Norway, and there's only like twenty
six of them left and there used to be thousands
of them, so it's kind of a neat thing to see.
And then they had a museum that was there, and
(09:20):
we got to go through the museum and do all
the old Nordic stuff and how they tried to live
on the ice and stuff like that, so that was
pretty cool. And then there's a river that runs right
through the city. It's just a torrent of water and
they have a zip line across it, and I was
like twenty kilos too much to ride it. The most
(09:40):
amazing thing though, is watching Eddie Cohen go and ride
the zip line. I was just like so jealous.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
That's hilarious, and he's just like, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I wanted to do that, and it's not bad. It's
like twenty bucks and you're going probably a half mile
on the thing, so it was pretty cool. It's just
an unbelievable experience that Kicking Angle put on. So it's
I can't thank them enough for having me out there
and then getting to do the seminars and stuff like
(10:11):
that and talk about you know, just like the world
Strongest Man or power thing and stuff like that. Just
all this just it's it's just amazing. It's it's an
unbelievable experience that people should go to at least once
in their lifetime exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And this happens every year, so you know, everyone, you
guys have an opportunity to go to this, So make
sure that you guys check that out. Make sure you
feel like I said, is this is like it's one
of those once in a lifetime experiences. If you're going
to do it and you love strong Man, I would
definitely say go.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
All right, shift gears a little. We have what today's
the sixth one week till the actual strongest Man on Earth,
you know what, I'm.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Little weeks? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
They shot Classic, which is gonna be which is gonna
be pretty freaking cool. Yeah, there's the open has changed
a little bit. There's uh multiple divisions for the men
and women in the open. The men's open is the
only one gets a spot in the big show the
following year. But it's gonna be a heck of a show.
(11:25):
It really is pretty amazing. It's sold out already, so
they're they're doing well. They open up a whole nother section,
So now the back room for everybody warm up thin
is gonna be a heck of a lot smaller, but
it's it's still it's amazing. The crowd. The expo's free
to go to. And now it's both halls that are there,
(11:45):
not just one, so that's expanded and really grown. It's
it's gonna be neat. A lot of guys have Like
I'll be at the Shah Booth on Sunday, I think
eleven or twelve or no. Twelve to one or something
like that. It's gonna be after the strongest Man on
Earth is over, so that that'll be pretty freaking cool
(12:07):
to go there and hang out there, and then I
do a lecture at some point that weekend and talk.
We all get up there and you know, talk about things,
do Q and a stuff like that. So that's gonna
be a lot of fun, and it's free for everywhere
to go to. So it's it's it's pretty amazing. You
can go meet your favorite strong man. That's the thing.
Everybody will be walking around doing stuff, so it's it's
(12:30):
a lot of fun. It truly is. You got to
get to that thing. Get out there. Loved One's actually
absolutely beautiful, you know, Loveland, Colorado. So it's fine. It
truly is. And like I said, going to the exploit
doesn't cost anything. The tickets to the event are very
(12:51):
reasonable for what you get. It really is for the
entertainment value and you get to see it, So go
check it out.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Hell yeah, looking fencer to control, That's what I'm saying.
It's like they're looking towards that tractor pool because that
tractor look insane as they were paying pool.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
The bail the bailer is going to be something else.
It's thirty six hundred pounds. It's on garganshaw and rubber wheels,
and you're gonna be on a rubber service. So getting
that thing moving at eight hundred pounds in your hands
is gonna it's gonna be starting it and lifting it.
Starting at moving it, lifting it. The pick's pretty easy.
(13:28):
It's not bad. Yeah, it's eight hundred pounds and it's
you know, it's not It's never easy, but it's not
that difficult for that level of the guys. It's gonna
be getting it moving forwards, getting a good time and
then getting back because you're gonna have to run back
forty feet to get to the arm over arm, So
it's it's gonna be no joke, and you're going head
(13:49):
to heads there isun be on one in each side,
and then the tractor coming in for the arm over
arm on the inside. So that's gonna be pretty That's
gonna be a good two tests, not only grip strength
but cardio as well. So and then just I cannot
wait to see the manhood stones. It was the biggest
(14:11):
travesty that they took that out of the Arnold, and
then now this version of it where I think it's
four fifty five hundred, five fifty or six hundred one
rep with the heavier stone trumps everything with the lighter stone.
So the strategy for these guys coming in the question
is is we all probably know Tom's going to do
the six hundred pound stone for REP. And it looks
(14:33):
like Thor is going to be doing the same. So
how many other guys are going to lift that six
hundred pounds stone and get one that's going to be
that's going to be spicy. That's really is that's gonna
be something to watch because man's six hundred pounds stone
going over a bar for reps is going to be
pretty sick. It's yeah, that's that kind of ras Yeah,
(14:56):
it kind of raises the hairs on my forearms and
stuff thinking about that. I mean I remember at the
Arnold just missing the five thirty nine or something like that.
This is either thirty five or thirty nine and then
doing four sixty five for four.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
To see somebody do the six hundred pounds stone in
a competition for reps, it's going to be pretty spectacular. Yeah,
the squad events gonna be pretty freaking cool. The device
he made is going to be bulletproof. Hell, yah, you
just tested it. I just got back from Colorado, which
I've been to Colorado know twice in the last couple
(15:36):
of weeks, once to do that, and then I went
on a recruiting trip to Masa with my daughter for lacrosse,
which that that's pretty neat when you get to go on,
you know, cause recruiting trips with your two kids, it's
a special, special thing that you get to do. So Yeah,
(15:56):
mas is a beautiful college, it really is, and there's
sporting program and the campus I mean their class sizes
are eighteen eighteen to one professor. I mean it's it's
gonna be. Yeah, it's a pretty cool college. So we're
gonna go see a few others too. But that was
it was a really neat opportunity.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Back to the shot classic, Yeah, it's gonna be you know.
And then the fingle fingers. The innovation with that where
the finger doesn't go all the way over, it locks
into the thing and you just push it back over
so the setup for the event doesn't kill your spotters.
You don't need a forklift. It's a it's a pretty neat,
you know, innovation that they came up with. Then the
(16:38):
power stairs, the power stairs or the power.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Stairs, that's gonna be no joke, you know, power stairs looking.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I think the last one six hundred pounds.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Man, you're really making them work for that money.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah. Brian also does it kind of the right way.
He makes it to where it's it's it's gonna be
heavy and hard and you're gonna have to have good
grip to do it. But he doesn't make the implement
overly long, and he doesn't make the stairs overly high.
I think it's fifteen inches, Okay, you know that you
(17:11):
got to get over so they're not going to make
it like eighteen inches nineteen inches. So the guys that
are six foot or less are basically going to zero
the event. I mean it's at a height where if
you can do it, I mean, everybody's going to have
a good shot at doing all of them. You just
got to come in ready to do them all. Yeah.
But the weights are heavy enough. Yeah, the weights are
(17:33):
heavy enough, and the stairs are really deep, so you're
still gonna have to take a step or two with
it to get to the to get to the next
side to lift it up. So it's going to be
pretty challenging. Hell yeah, it really get better. Get a
little bit of duck walking into like three or four
steps on me, maybe two or three steps of duck walks.
Planning on training those when you're going into that, probably
(17:54):
not gonna hurt it.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, probably gonna help you quite a bit on that.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
A little late for you to train it. Yeah, I
will say this about the squad though, If you didn't train,
if you did not train it on a Smith machine,
you made a mistake. Told everybody, yeah, told everybody, Yeah,
I told them what it was going to be like,
and it is. Yeah, definitely like that.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I hope everyone heard that warning and was like, oh,
I need to adjust this here.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Or maybe just go playing one and practice one a
little bit. And it's one that goes straight up and down.
It doesn't have an angle, no slant worse. Yeah, So
where you put your feet and how you set up
with it, how you sit into it is going to
make a massive difference.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yeah. Yeah, because like anybody who's squatting in a Smith
machine knows, like you have, like there's there's no deviate
from the the from the parallel it makes. It puts
you in because that deviation yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Oh and the depth censor on it when they set that,
that's gonna be pretty freaking cool. And you can't bounce it.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
You're gonna have to come down with control. He's already
talked about these things. Yes, So you're gonna have to
I'm gonna have to touch it. You're gonna know right
away though.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
The athletes will know when they hit the bottom and
they touch it, whether they've got a green or red.
If you get a red when you hit the bottom,
you still got to stand up with it to take
another chance getting well.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I hope everyone paid attention because that sounds.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Nasty, but it's it's a pretty fair it's a pretty
fair number they came up with. I mean you have
to hit it pretty darn hard for it not to count. Yeah,
fairly hard, fairly hard. And so it's it's pretty neat
to see how it's gonna work. And there's other parts
(19:59):
to it. There look absolutely stunning things that have never
been done before. And you're going to see that when
you get the live stream. I mean, the graphics there
to come up on this, and the information issue to
get from this, I mean, it's it's gonna be it's
gonna be pretty neat. The announcer's gonna have a lot
to talk about when they're going there'll be so much
(20:22):
information on the screen that hasn't been there before. It's
it's going to be a neat event for them to
call it.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Really, isn't well, that'll be fun.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Oh yeah, No, it'll be a blast. It will be
an absolute blast. I cannot wait. I really can't. Because
the depths are all going to get set for all
the competitors when they get ready for it. So like
in the back when they're testing the equipment and they're
checking it out, that's when they're going to set everybody's depths.
(20:51):
When they come out, the depths already set. You're not
gonna have to worry about the judge Colin good or
not good, it's already been. That's where it's going to
be done. In the back. It's pre judged on their depth. Okay,
So you're not gonna have to worry about that when
you go out. If you get the guys that are
trying to do high bar and then go to low bar,
or move your feet wide or all that other stuff,
they're taking a picture of your feet, they're taking a
(21:12):
picture with the bar of your shoulders. Yeah, you're not
You're not gonna be able to do those things. Where
you set up is where you set up. So it's
gonna be an amazing event. It's gonna be a great
test of strength and endurance for that matter. So it's
it's gonna be fun to watch. I am really excited
and looking forward to it truly. Oh yeah, you got
to go buy that lot. If you can't go to it,
(21:33):
you've got to get the live stream. Have to.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, I definitely I definitely agree. I'll put the links
in the notes for the show classic and hopefully I
think the the website has the live stream in there too,
so you know, an easy way for everyone to get
to it.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Yeah. So, and then of course Matt Eiserman so is
super entertaining, so it's it's gonna be a lot of
fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Oh yeah, And it's definitely be a lot of fun.
And we hope to see and here and you know,
and don't be scared to come up to Nick and
say hi, and we're there. You know what I'm saying,
because guess what, Nick likes to take the time.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
I love to meet people do stuff. So it's really
is a great thing. The interesting thing though this year
is going to be is since Brian's not competing, it's
gonna be fun to watch him walking around and doing stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
It's oh yeah, well, even as he was competing, he
was doing the exact same thing, so it's like, you know,
it's gonna be nice for him to be able to
actually step take a step back and then have more
control of what he needs to get done.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
No, I will honestly say he's probably worked harder at
this show than he has the last years he has had. Uh,
he's put more effort into it than actually when he
was competing in it, which is because the amount of
(22:58):
effort it takes to compete and do the contest is unbelievable.
And the more I think he's put more total effort
into just now that he's stepped away from it, into it.
So it's it's gonna be. He has worked his tail off,
Carrie has worked his tailoff, and the guy. Hopefully the
guys appreciate and respect how hard he's actually working for
(23:21):
them to create a better place for strongmen in general,
men's and women's because the bigger the men's gets, the
bigger the women's going to get. It's all going to
get better. The more you raise the bar to the sport,
the better, the better it's going to be. Just don't
get expectant. Appreciate how hard they're working. He's because he
(23:42):
puts everything back into the show. He put his whole
prize money back into the show every time he's done this. Yep,
So it's it's, Uh, it's pretty cool. There's not a
whole lot of people working that hard for its exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
You know what I'm saying. I got a lot of
respect for him because they city everything a strong man
has given him, he's returned it tenfold because like that
is you know, his own show, and that show is
growing to the point where it's going to be on
par with everybody.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Well yeah, and it's gonna be one of these things
where you're taking every bit of politics out of it.
M hm, you're coming in. You have judges that are
impeccable that you don't get the lift perfectly, you ain't
getting it, and they don't care. They call Brian on lifts. Yeah,
(24:32):
so you know, and it's he's the one bringing him there,
so they you will if you set a world record. There,
you got a world record. There's no arguing, there's no
well he didn't quite lock it out. This didn't happen.
That didn't happen. Oh they no, it's it's it is
the best solid rest. So it's gonna be neat to
(24:56):
watch it really is. And yeah, it's taking things to
another level, up another level, up, another level, and it's
it's truly going to move the sport forward as well.
And that's that's what we need. And there's you know,
between the rogue and world's Strongest Man and the Arnold.
The sport just keeps growing and growing and growing, and
(25:17):
it's a neat thing to see. And it's you know,
I'm glad the things that we all did coming up
are now paying off. For all these guys coming in.
You just have to understand, you know, we didn't get
these things. Yeah, so enjoy them and respect them and
have fun with them. Just appreciate them because people are
(25:40):
working hard for you guys as well.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Exactly that next level. And Nick, with that being said, uh,
you know, we're back on track. We'll be at the
we'll be at the Shaw Classic. Well, you know, happy
to see everybody there. Make sure you say hi, shake hands,
all that stuff. But one thing, you know, when we
end this show, Nick has a saying, and that's saying
is the truth.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Well as always, you know, thanks Bud. I couldn't do
this without you. I could. I appreciate you so much, Ben,
I truly do, and I just want to say thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
No let that friends do.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Yeah, I know, but I appreciate you. So to all
those out there, you know, train hard and train smart
and be the best you can be. Don't worry about
being the best somebody else. Be the best you. You
can be that will have a great day. Thank you
very much.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
You're listening. The best experience would make the best
H M, you're listening to the best experience with the
(00:22):
thick best.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hey, we're back, and we are back. And uh, before
we get in today's episode, I'd like to thank our sponsors.
We have Yeah, as soon as I can pull him,
I thought I had him ready. Uh. We have Barbel
Apparel Premium athletic where engineered for performance with a tailored
(01:01):
athletic fit, refine clothing for an athletic body type. Evolution Athletics,
a support of gear company owned by Brian Shaw, full
time World Strongest Man and strongest man on Earth. We
believe in all athletes supporting their journey towards greatness. Ice
Up Industries fifty dollars off with code best at check
out with ice Up Industries the best cold plunges for
the best prices in the market. And we have a
(01:22):
new one eam Coaching if you want group coaching. Nix
involved in this actually and it's him and John Anderson
seventy years of experience to help you guys kick ass
and get in shape. And we do it in this
on Patreon actually, so you guys can join every Sunday
for a live taping, a live recording webinar almost and
(01:44):
it's just John Nick actually just talking about what they
do to stay in shape at their age.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, and your mindset going into things and how to
approach things. That's the biggest thing is you know, when
you're doing this is how you approach how your mentally
approach things going in to it. So you get the
workout and then you get us talking about, you know,
different things on how to focus your mind and get
ready to go in and do these workouts. So it's neat.
It's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, it is a lot of fun because what it
is is you guys are covering quite a bit because
this is a new venture, that job that Nick is
trying out, because like what it is is online coaching
is trying to really help people set that mindset. You know,
it's something that you always talk about. It is like
like being laser focused to get those goals, you know
what I'm saying. And it's pretty exciting.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, for the most part. I mean, you can find
workouts pretty much every where. You can find templates and
stuff like that, but what you can't find is the
experience and how to look at things and approach things
as you go into them. So it's it's a. It's
a pretty cool thing because you definitely want to go
in with intention. Yeah, so we try to get your
head right and just it also affects like your everyday
(02:55):
lives and stuff like that as well, so things that
will carry over into everything that you do. So check
it out. It's pretty freaking cool.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Oh yeah. Link will be in the notes for every
one of our sponsors. When you use those links, it
really helps us out and we appreciate it. Uh, Nick,
let's get a quick update on because man, you have
been busy.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah. Yeah, I've been doing some traveling and you know,
just getting to go to just unbelievable places and do
some amazing things and then doing on trips with my
daughter and then going out and you know, out to
Brightington and hanging out with Brian and seeing some of
(03:35):
the shot classic and strongest man on Earth stuff. So
it's it's been pretty cool. So we probably start with FIFA, I.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Guess, yeah's start there then.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Yeah. The fee for Power Week is absolutely amazing. I mean,
if you get to go to one place and go
to one festival, that's the place to go. If you're
gonna do it should be a list for things to
head out to Norway and go to fIF It's a
ski resort built by the old Norway Royalty back in
(04:09):
the day, and it is before the Royalty and it
is absolutely amazing. It's in the mountains. It's beautiful. There's
a lake right there and then you look out over
this grassy meadow and here's a Hercules hold and they
have all this like wooden straw Man equipment, Viking presses
and stuff like that, power stairs. It's just absolutely amazing.
(04:32):
And they do straw Man Highland Games and then the
Stonelifting World Championships and stuff like that, which congratulations as
James Rude, one of my training partners, he won the
second year in a row this year. Yeah, and the
competition gets getting tougher. I mean Greg payneans great pinion. Wow,
I'm doing Gabe opinion. Sorry, buddy, it's it's early this
(04:56):
morning and I'm not awake it. So Gabriel Penia was there,
uh and he Black was there. Eric Dawson was there.
I mean Eric Dawson was America's strongest man. So it's
there's some pretty darn good guys in there, you know.
Both Andy and gave her World Strongest Man competitors so
if you get by them, you're doing pretty good. So
(05:18):
it was pretty amazing that came down to a stone's shoulder.
In the end, they tied Eric and Eric and James
tied after the last event, and the tiebreaker ended up
being a stone to shoulder and that turned out pretty easily.
(05:38):
They both missed the first stone and so they had
to drag down to a lighter stone, and then Eric
didn't quite make it, and then James got the last stone,
So congratulations, buddy, you killed it. Which after doing all
these events there which involved your biceps because you're lifting
stones to a stone shoulder and a heavy one at that,
(06:01):
after all, that was absolutely amazing, So great job, guys.
The thief was amazing. Got to hang out with Ed
Cohen do seminars, which is really neat when you're up
on the stage, you know, with James, because James came
up because James changed with me, trained with me for
all ten of my World's Strongest Man appearances, and then
Ed Cohen, the guy that inspired me as a kid,
(06:24):
you know, for powerlifting and strength sports and just training
in general. I mean I still get you know, counseling
from him and coaching from him, uh, even even to
this day, which really helped me fix some of them
stuff on my squats after the surgery and stuff like that.
So h and my deadlifts kind of changing my deadlift
(06:44):
technique too, so but you guys will see that later. Yeah,
sou But it's just neat to get to hang out
with him and Haga for the whole week and James
and Jen and stuff like that. It's just incredible. And
Kicking Eagle are absolutely amazing. They put on an amazing
(07:06):
week there. I mean, you have to go to this thing,
absolutely have to. I mean I wish the internet connections
were better so they could live stream it up there,
but you have to see this. It's a once in
a lifetime thing. It is a bucket list if you're
gonna go up there for strong Man. The food is
absolutely incredible and the sense of community because you have
(07:29):
Highland Games athletes, you have Strongman athletes, you have Stone
lifting athletes, and they're all in the same place. We
all eat in the same areas, we all hang out together.
They do the Viking Games in the evenings, which I
don't really you know, the evenings because Sunda set till
like eleven forty five twelve o'clock. But yeah, in the evenings,
(07:51):
you know, we all get together and they do Viking
games and arm armlifting and stuff like that and arm
wrestling in the evening. So it's it's just it's it's
an amazing, amazing thing. If you're into strength sports to go.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
To that sounds like a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, no, it really is. It really is. And then
I ended up hiking not once, but twice up to
the top of the mountains, so that was pretty cool. Yeah,
it was last I did it once and I was wrecked,
and then this time I did it twice.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
The first time exactly. Got to keep a lot of
the videos that came out of there, the drone footage.
It looked amazing out there.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Yeah, Alex is Alex Just the stuff he does with
that drone is incredible, it really is. You got to
go check that out. I mean, you really do. And
then we went around and we went to lum and
stuff like that. We got to see one of the
old original wooden churches from like eleven hundred. We saw
the biggest and oldest one and it was it was
(08:57):
absolutely amazing, just the beauty of the architecture and what
they did back in that day, and I guess there
was some death metal bands back that went down burning
down the churches in Norway, and there's only like twenty
six of them left and there used to be thousands
of them, so it's kind of a neat thing to see.
And then they had a museum that was there, and
(09:20):
we got to go through the museum and do all
the old Nordic stuff and how they tried to live
on the ice and stuff like that, so that was
pretty cool. And then there's a river that runs right
through the city. It's just a torrent of water and
they have a zip line across it, and I was
like twenty kilos too much to ride it. The most
(09:40):
amazing thing though, is watching Eddie Cohen go and ride
the zip line. I was just like so jealous.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
That's hilarious, and he's just like, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I wanted to do that, and it's not bad. It's
like twenty bucks and you're going probably a half mile
on the thing, so it was pretty cool. It's just
an unbelievable experience that Kicking Angle put on. So it's
I can't thank them enough for having me out there
and then getting to do the seminars and stuff like
(10:11):
that and talk about you know, just like the world
Strongest Man or power thing and stuff like that. Just
all this just it's it's just amazing. It's it's an
unbelievable experience that people should go to at least once
in their lifetime exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And this happens every year, so you know, everyone, you
guys have an opportunity to go to this, So make
sure that you guys check that out. Make sure you
feel like I said, is this is like it's one
of those once in a lifetime experiences. If you're going
to do it and you love strong Man, I would
definitely say go.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
All right, shift gears a little. We have what today's
the sixth one week till the actual strongest Man on Earth,
you know what, I'm.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Little weeks? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
They shot Classic, which is gonna be which is gonna
be pretty freaking cool. Yeah, there's the open has changed
a little bit. There's uh multiple divisions for the men
and women in the open. The men's open is the
only one gets a spot in the big show the
following year. But it's gonna be a heck of a show.
(11:25):
It really is pretty amazing. It's sold out already, so
they're they're doing well. They open up a whole nother section,
So now the back room for everybody warm up thin
is gonna be a heck of a lot smaller, but
it's it's still it's amazing. The crowd. The expo's free
to go to. And now it's both halls that are there,
(11:45):
not just one, so that's expanded and really grown. It's
it's gonna be neat. A lot of guys have Like
I'll be at the Shah Booth on Sunday, I think
eleven or twelve or no. Twelve to one or something
like that. It's gonna be after the strongest Man on
Earth is over, so that that'll be pretty freaking cool
(12:07):
to go there and hang out there, and then I
do a lecture at some point that weekend and talk.
We all get up there and you know, talk about things,
do Q and a stuff like that. So that's gonna
be a lot of fun, and it's free for everywhere
to go to. So it's it's it's pretty amazing. You
can go meet your favorite strong man. That's the thing.
Everybody will be walking around doing stuff, so it's it's
(12:30):
a lot of fun. It truly is. You got to
get to that thing. Get out there. Loved One's actually
absolutely beautiful, you know, Loveland, Colorado. So it's fine. It
truly is. And like I said, going to the exploit
doesn't cost anything. The tickets to the event are very
(12:51):
reasonable for what you get. It really is for the
entertainment value and you get to see it, So go
check it out.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Hell yeah, looking fencer to control, That's what I'm saying.
It's like they're looking towards that tractor pool because that
tractor look insane as they were paying pool.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
The bail the bailer is going to be something else.
It's thirty six hundred pounds. It's on garganshaw and rubber wheels,
and you're gonna be on a rubber service. So getting
that thing moving at eight hundred pounds in your hands
is gonna it's gonna be starting it and lifting it.
Starting at moving it, lifting it. The pick's pretty easy.
(13:28):
It's not bad. Yeah, it's eight hundred pounds and it's
you know, it's not It's never easy, but it's not
that difficult for that level of the guys. It's gonna
be getting it moving forwards, getting a good time and
then getting back because you're gonna have to run back
forty feet to get to the arm over arm, So
it's it's gonna be no joke, and you're going head
(13:49):
to heads there isun be on one in each side,
and then the tractor coming in for the arm over
arm on the inside. So that's gonna be pretty That's
gonna be a good two tests, not only grip strength
but cardio as well. So and then just I cannot
wait to see the manhood stones. It was the biggest
(14:11):
travesty that they took that out of the Arnold, and
then now this version of it where I think it's
four fifty five hundred, five fifty or six hundred one
rep with the heavier stone trumps everything with the lighter stone.
So the strategy for these guys coming in the question
is is we all probably know Tom's going to do
the six hundred pound stone for REP. And it looks
(14:33):
like Thor is going to be doing the same. So
how many other guys are going to lift that six
hundred pounds stone and get one that's going to be
that's going to be spicy. That's really is that's gonna
be something to watch because man's six hundred pounds stone
going over a bar for reps is going to be
pretty sick. It's yeah, that's that kind of ras Yeah,
(14:56):
it kind of raises the hairs on my forearms and
stuff thinking about that. I mean I remember at the
Arnold just missing the five thirty nine or something like that.
This is either thirty five or thirty nine and then
doing four sixty five for four.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
To see somebody do the six hundred pounds stone in
a competition for reps, it's going to be pretty spectacular. Yeah,
the squad events gonna be pretty freaking cool. The device
he made is going to be bulletproof. Hell, yah, you
just tested it. I just got back from Colorado, which
I've been to Colorado know twice in the last couple
(15:36):
of weeks, once to do that, and then I went
on a recruiting trip to Masa with my daughter for lacrosse,
which that that's pretty neat when you get to go on,
you know, cause recruiting trips with your two kids, it's
a special, special thing that you get to do. So Yeah,
(15:56):
mas is a beautiful college, it really is, and there's
sporting program and the campus I mean their class sizes
are eighteen eighteen to one professor. I mean it's it's
gonna be. Yeah, it's a pretty cool college. So we're
gonna go see a few others too. But that was
it was a really neat opportunity.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Back to the shot classic, Yeah, it's gonna be you know.
And then the fingle fingers. The innovation with that where
the finger doesn't go all the way over, it locks
into the thing and you just push it back over
so the setup for the event doesn't kill your spotters.
You don't need a forklift. It's a it's a pretty neat,
you know, innovation that they came up with. Then the
(16:38):
power stairs, the power stairs or the power.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Stairs, that's gonna be no joke, you know, power stairs looking.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I think the last one six hundred pounds.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Man, you're really making them work for that money.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah. Brian also does it kind of the right way.
He makes it to where it's it's it's gonna be
heavy and hard and you're gonna have to have good
grip to do it. But he doesn't make the implement
overly long, and he doesn't make the stairs overly high.
I think it's fifteen inches, Okay, you know that you
(17:11):
got to get over so they're not going to make
it like eighteen inches nineteen inches. So the guys that
are six foot or less are basically going to zero
the event. I mean it's at a height where if
you can do it, I mean, everybody's going to have
a good shot at doing all of them. You just
got to come in ready to do them all. Yeah.
But the weights are heavy enough. Yeah, the weights are
(17:33):
heavy enough, and the stairs are really deep, so you're
still gonna have to take a step or two with
it to get to the to get to the next
side to lift it up. So it's going to be
pretty challenging. Hell yeah, it really get better. Get a
little bit of duck walking into like three or four
steps on me, maybe two or three steps of duck walks.
Planning on training those when you're going into that, probably
(17:54):
not gonna hurt it.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, probably gonna help you quite a bit on that.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
A little late for you to train it. Yeah, I
will say this about the squad though, If you didn't train,
if you did not train it on a Smith machine,
you made a mistake. Told everybody, yeah, told everybody, Yeah,
I told them what it was going to be like,
and it is. Yeah, definitely like that.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I hope everyone heard that warning and was like, oh,
I need to adjust this here.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Or maybe just go playing one and practice one a
little bit. And it's one that goes straight up and down.
It doesn't have an angle, no slant worse. Yeah, So
where you put your feet and how you set up
with it, how you sit into it is going to
make a massive difference.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yeah. Yeah, because like anybody who's squatting in a Smith
machine knows, like you have, like there's there's no deviate
from the the from the parallel it makes. It puts
you in because that deviation yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Oh and the depth censor on it when they set that,
that's gonna be pretty freaking cool. And you can't bounce it.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
You're gonna have to come down with control. He's already
talked about these things. Yes, So you're gonna have to
I'm gonna have to touch it. You're gonna know right
away though.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
The athletes will know when they hit the bottom and
they touch it, whether they've got a green or red.
If you get a red when you hit the bottom,
you still got to stand up with it to take
another chance getting well.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I hope everyone paid attention because that sounds.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Nasty, but it's it's a pretty fair it's a pretty
fair number they came up with. I mean you have
to hit it pretty darn hard for it not to count. Yeah,
fairly hard, fairly hard. And so it's it's pretty neat
to see how it's gonna work. And there's other parts
(19:59):
to it. There look absolutely stunning things that have never
been done before. And you're going to see that when
you get the live stream. I mean, the graphics there
to come up on this, and the information issue to
get from this, I mean, it's it's gonna be it's
gonna be pretty neat. The announcer's gonna have a lot
to talk about when they're going there'll be so much
(20:22):
information on the screen that hasn't been there before. It's
it's going to be a neat event for them to
call it.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Really, isn't well, that'll be fun.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Oh yeah, No, it'll be a blast. It will be
an absolute blast. I cannot wait. I really can't. Because
the depths are all going to get set for all
the competitors when they get ready for it. So like
in the back when they're testing the equipment and they're
checking it out, that's when they're going to set everybody's depths.
(20:51):
When they come out, the depths already set. You're not
gonna have to worry about the judge Colin good or
not good, it's already been. That's where it's going to
be done. In the back. It's pre judged on their depth. Okay,
So you're not gonna have to worry about that when
you go out. If you get the guys that are
trying to do high bar and then go to low bar,
or move your feet wide or all that other stuff,
they're taking a picture of your feet, they're taking a
(21:12):
picture with the bar of your shoulders. Yeah, you're not
You're not gonna be able to do those things. Where
you set up is where you set up. So it's
gonna be an amazing event. It's gonna be a great
test of strength and endurance for that matter. So it's
it's gonna be fun to watch. I am really excited
and looking forward to it truly. Oh yeah, you got
to go buy that lot. If you can't go to it,
(21:33):
you've got to get the live stream. Have to.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, I definitely I definitely agree. I'll put the links
in the notes for the show classic and hopefully I
think the the website has the live stream in there too,
so you know, an easy way for everyone to get
to it.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Yeah. So, and then of course Matt Eiserman so is
super entertaining, so it's it's gonna be a lot of
fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Oh yeah, And it's definitely be a lot of fun.
And we hope to see and here and you know,
and don't be scared to come up to Nick and
say hi, and we're there. You know what I'm saying,
because guess what, Nick likes to take the time.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
I love to meet people do stuff. So it's really
is a great thing. The interesting thing though this year
is going to be is since Brian's not competing, it's
gonna be fun to watch him walking around and doing stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
It's oh yeah, well, even as he was competing, he
was doing the exact same thing, so it's like, you know,
it's gonna be nice for him to be able to
actually step take a step back and then have more
control of what he needs to get done.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
No, I will honestly say he's probably worked harder at
this show than he has the last years he has had. Uh,
he's put more effort into it than actually when he
was competing in it, which is because the amount of
(22:58):
effort it takes to compete and do the contest is unbelievable.
And the more I think he's put more total effort
into just now that he's stepped away from it, into it.
So it's it's gonna be. He has worked his tail off,
Carrie has worked his tailoff, and the guy. Hopefully the
guys appreciate and respect how hard he's actually working for
(23:21):
them to create a better place for strongmen in general,
men's and women's because the bigger the men's gets, the
bigger the women's going to get. It's all going to
get better. The more you raise the bar to the sport,
the better, the better it's going to be. Just don't
get expectant. Appreciate how hard they're working. He's because he
(23:42):
puts everything back into the show. He put his whole
prize money back into the show every time he's done this. Yep,
So it's it's, Uh, it's pretty cool. There's not a
whole lot of people working that hard for its exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
You know what I'm saying. I got a lot of
respect for him because they city everything a strong man
has given him, he's returned it tenfold because like that
is you know, his own show, and that show is
growing to the point where it's going to be on
par with everybody.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Well yeah, and it's gonna be one of these things
where you're taking every bit of politics out of it.
M hm, you're coming in. You have judges that are
impeccable that you don't get the lift perfectly, you ain't
getting it, and they don't care. They call Brian on lifts. Yeah,
(24:32):
so you know, and it's he's the one bringing him there,
so they you will if you set a world record. There,
you got a world record. There's no arguing, there's no
well he didn't quite lock it out. This didn't happen.
That didn't happen. Oh they no, it's it's it is
the best solid rest. So it's gonna be neat to
(24:56):
watch it really is. And yeah, it's taking things to
another level, up another level, up, another level, and it's
it's truly going to move the sport forward as well.
And that's that's what we need. And there's you know,
between the rogue and world's Strongest Man and the Arnold.
The sport just keeps growing and growing and growing, and
(25:17):
it's a neat thing to see. And it's you know,
I'm glad the things that we all did coming up
are now paying off. For all these guys coming in.
You just have to understand, you know, we didn't get
these things. Yeah, so enjoy them and respect them and
have fun with them. Just appreciate them because people are
(25:40):
working hard for you guys as well.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Exactly that next level. And Nick, with that being said, uh,
you know, we're back on track. We'll be at the
we'll be at the Shaw Classic. Well, you know, happy
to see everybody there. Make sure you say hi, shake hands,
all that stuff. But one thing, you know, when we
end this show, Nick has a saying, and that's saying
is the truth.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Well as always, you know, thanks Bud. I couldn't do
this without you. I could. I appreciate you so much, Ben,
I truly do, and I just want to say thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
No let that friends do.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Yeah, I know, but I appreciate you. So to all
those out there, you know, train hard and train smart
and be the best you can be. Don't worry about
being the best somebody else. Be the best you. You
can be that will have a great day. Thank you
very much.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
You're listening. The best experience would make the best
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