Inside the Life of a Strongman Competitor | Featuring Austin Andrade - Angry Dad Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
No. I couldn't tell you how many times I was
being asked to help.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Move Never die ye die, never diey die, never die
die die.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
All right, this is the Angry Dad. Thank you guys
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I gotta guess. Austin Andre Day let me tell you
right now, this guy right here was two thousand and

(01:00):
three whon the Shaw Open to get to the strongest
man on Earth, the strongest Latino. You just was it
fourth place The World's Strongest Man four was the fourth
place the world strongest Man.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
I believe that's what I've read. So twenty four I
took seventh, and then this last year I didn't place.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Oh you didn't place. I thought it said that, but
that's my mistake. I thought you Chad GBT failed me again,
and then you did. Coming forth at Strongest Man on Earth.
Yes this week, yes, and goddamn bro, you you're hit
and you're about to hit all big shows this.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Year, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, let me.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
Tell you right now. Hey, the lifts, the records, the pushing.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
What I'm saying is one thing I love about doing
this show is because I'm trying to highlight people that
this is what you started doing and enjoying, right, and
then all of a sudden you became a pro.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Out of nowhere to kind of. But yeah, I know,
I what I started this journey like six years ago,
almost seven years now. I didn't even know if it
was a journey. I just wanted to start lifting weights again,
lifting weights, you know, playing football in wrestling in college. Well,
I've been lifting weights since I was twelve. My dad

(02:13):
got me my first bench or was he handed me
handed down his bench to me, and I just always
like my dad was always like, you always want to
be a strong guy. It was a strong guy, so
that kind of you know, I took to that and
being a bigger person too. You know. That's the one
thing that came easy to me was lifting weights. So
I mean, yeah, ever since I can remember, I've always

(02:34):
been pushing weights. But I never really liked that strong
man as like a avenue to pursue. Until one day
I was like, man, I see those guys, Well I
can do that. I know it can do that. That
looks this doesn't that look easy. It just I just
know I'm capable of that. And then I was like,
you know, I'm just gonna start going to the gym.

(02:55):
And then, luckily enough, I there was a gym heavy
Metal down the Heavy Metal Fitness down the street from
us at the time. We've moved since, but they had everything,
you know, it was training there at the time when
I went was Obris. Obris was like when he first came,
when he first made it new bron FLEs was like
like again like six seven years ago. He would train

(03:17):
out of Heavy Metal every now and then because they
had all this stuff he needed. So you'd go in
there and then it's crazy because I was like, oh,
like there's Obi and I remember seeing him at World
Shrunker's Man like years before, like on TV, and I
was like, Okay, I guess I'm in the right spot,
you know. So we just started training and one thing
led to another and you know, you just kind of

(03:41):
do it was crazy, you just do like it was
never this, I mean, it was always cool. We always
looked at these dudes like you know, Brian shawl, Eddie Hall,
these guys. Is like not saying I'm going to go
compete against them, but it's like that was obviously it's
a goal. But it wasn't like I was beating myself
up every day because I wasn't there yet. It was
just like a it was like a goal out in

(04:03):
the distance. And then you know, you have to go
through the processes of amateur and then you got to
go to Nationals and you got to go to the
Arnold and then but along with those steps of like
going to each one of those shows, there is the
good shows. There's the bad shows too. So like, you know,
I've lost the pro card because I was cocky one

(04:23):
time on a wheelbear carry and I looked over and
I lost the Wheelburrow and then you go back the
next year and you know it's so there's there's ups
and downs to it, but eventually, you know, you catch
a break and you make it to these big shows
and then you kind of get thrown into the fire
and you're like, we'll see what happens. And you know,
at the end of the day, it was cool about

(04:44):
the sports. Just lifting weights, so and I'm like, I've been,
like I said, I've been doing that for a long time.
So you know, it's not like football where you're going
against someone or wrestling where you have to like know
how to like I think there's a lot more anxiety
in that because you don't know what's going to happen.
But a weight's not going to move unless you move it,
and there's really it's just fun for me. So at

(05:06):
this point it was really easy for me to like
just go out and lift weights even if there was
you know, six thousand people, seven thousand people in front
of me, didn't matter. But yeah, I know, here we are.
Was it a week after Charn's Man on Earth and
fourth place? I gotta Last year I took fifth, so
this year I took fourth. I didn't have the first

(05:27):
day that I wanted, you know, it wasn't. It wasn't
the there was three of the four events did not
go well for me. I could have done a lot better,
but I think I still ended day one in like
six seventh place, and then day two was a much
better day for me, and I walked away with fourth place.

(05:48):
And I think it's crazy, like even at the Arnold.
I took fourth at the Arnold and like right behind
Hassworp Bjornson, and you're just like it's right there, like
you could it's the podiums right there, like the first
place is right there. It's so tangible. It's it's like
it's so close, but yeah, so far away. But it's
crazy like even from last year to this year, the

(06:11):
amount of work and effort and nutrition like I got
on with Nathan Payton and even more commitment I put
into my into a sport, yeah, and only got one
place out of it. And I'm like, oh shit, like
if I want to get to number one, like I'm
going to have to four times that I'm gonna have to,
I'm gonna have to five times at to get where

(06:33):
I want. So it's it's it's encouraging the sense that
it's like it's there, I know what I have to
do to do it. But it's like it's gonna it's again,
it's it's it's it's right where I was six seven
years ago, where it was like, you know, that's what
I want to be, and I just got to start
chipping away at it.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
And that's the thing too, is like you are chipulated
and just to get from you know, a little bit
more intensity, a little bit more dedication, and you got
to that next level, that next spot up and then
understanding that you have it's there, this is the goal,
this is what I got to do. It really sets
like how much intensity and preparation you're putting into this,
because like I said, it was at the top level
you're at to be at that level, you got to

(07:13):
remember like at that top ten, it's it's it's a
lineup you got you guys are on Killer's row. You
know what I'm saying. You know, like we we you know,
even when we're talking about it, we talk about it
a little lightly because we're you know, you were a
monkst and you know, I'm right in the background for
a lot of this is you're amongst the greatest, and
it's like, you know, like just everybody's just that good

(07:36):
and it's like, now I got to step it up.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
What was it like, what was it going into the
chest press? There was a three way tie for second place? Yeah,
it was like it was anyone's game. It was really
was like you can like you can pick it, like
everyone's doing good and then everyone was doing bad, and
there was like there was events that were just I
think there was such a crazy show and a fun

(07:59):
show to watch as not as a competitor because you're like,
oh shit, like what's going on? But I could tell
like like my wife was telling me, like this was
like the most fun show to watch because you just
don't know what's gonna happen. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
Yeah, that was the entire show because it was so
back and forth. You know, it's a rarity that you
see you guys at your level make big mistakes, and
those mistakes just shuffled the cards every time, and it
was like, Oh my god, what the fuck's gonna happen next?

Speaker 1 (08:33):
Big time? Big time? And then two it's like those
mistakes like it's just like the NFL or the NBA,
like those mistakes can cost you so much, Like even
if it's something small and like this is how I
grabbed the handle or I picked this up this way,
and now it took off half a second here like that,

(08:57):
someone can get in between you and and where you
need to be and then that's now you lost two
points yep, and two points in the situation is like
that's big, I mean half a point, half point.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, well you know what I'm saying, Like, think about that.
There was the final score. Everything was like within half
a point of almost every everybody, and at the I
think at the top.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
Yeah, I think, yeah, Evan Luke were uh yeah, Evan
Lucas were yeah, point a point, half a point away
from each other. And then yeah, I know there was
between me and Tom there was I want to say
six point different. I mean, I don't know, but it
was quite a bit where I knew if I had
a good day one and a good day too, that

(09:39):
would have been a lot closer. I think I would
have been on the podium. But yeah, you know, it
is what it is kind of thing. But yeah, that's
how close it is. And then too like it you
just don't know, You just don't know, and then you're
going into each event and you just you just got
to give it your all. That's what's cool. What's so
cool about it Now, it's like I think, like I

(10:00):
said this in my little uh interview with Seaws, like
I think the top level is like leveled out, the
top end that you said, the top can leveled out
to where it's like it's anyone's show any day. And
that's it. Evan came out on top. And I'm proud
of him. Man, it's awesome. Like you know, when I

(10:20):
came into sport, he was really welcoming to me. So
just to him finally when his first major show was
and to be there and when to sing it was cool.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
And yeah, that's definitely And to see the evolution that
that he's gone through for the last couple of years
to actually get get in that title, I was like,
all right, well deserved, well fought, well earned, because god
damn it, this show was ridiculously heavy.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yeah, I know my back is still feeling the yoke
from that yoke was nasty. Hey when I finished that,
I'll tell you what, I was just as surprised as
the crowd was. Yeah, well.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
As heavy as that was. And you, like you were
smooth all the way through.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
I was like, god, fucking like, what are we watching here? Yeah?
It was I was even even I didn't even pick
it up when he said go, like I was like
when you started competing, ready to go, and I was like,
oh shit, this is gonna be a big one. So
and then it was like two seconds and I finally
picked it up and I just remember moving my feet right,
I'm good, I'm good. And then I was like, oh shit,

(11:26):
there's a finish, like I'm almost there. Yeah, Now that
was a That was a because the heaviest I went
and training was like twelve hundred yeah, and then to
throw another two hundred pounds and I think I want
twelve hundred for like ten feet and I was like
I look at my coach. I was like, oh shit,
like yeah, I don't know. Man. This is like once

(11:50):
once you get over like eleven hundred pounds each each
little bit that you put on, it comes exponentially heavy,
like it's not even like adding pounds. It's like way
harder than it was before.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
And also too, like you remember we're talking about over
one thousand pounds. Most people in their lives can't even
comprehend the weight of one thousand pounds on them, you
know what I'm saying. So like in strong man level,
you know what I'm saying, a thousand pounds yoke should
be almost baseline. But for the average person to even

(12:22):
consider like even eight hundred pounds on your neck, for
somebody who doesn't train, doesn't do nothing, is like weight,
Yeah exactly, It's just it's insane. And then like just
like you're talking about at twelve hundred pounds anything extra
over that. I was like, oh, just consider twelve hundred
pounds the level that I need to be at. And
so that's normal, you know what I'm saying. Most people

(12:43):
ain't having that conversation.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
That's kind of how the show was too, Like when
we got the rules, when we saw the weights, because
you know, I trained with Nick Guardion and then tim
ingram My coach at Owner Metal, Like like we've we've
been to two worlds now, we've we've been to the Arnold,
We've been you know, we've been around the I wouldn't
say we've been around the block, but we got we've
been on the street for a quick second, yeah, and

(13:09):
we're looking at the weights and we're and Tim was like, damn, bro,
they don't give you y'all no breaks, Like he was
looking at the ways, so the bro like this yoke
could be fourteen pounds, like they're starting, like your lock
press has to start at three eighty because that's just
the log empty. That's it. Like people brag about putting

(13:31):
what is it that four hundred bench Like yeah, like
oh yeah, I've been four hundred in high school. It's like, oh,
we're doing it overheads.

Speaker 3 (13:38):
Yeah exactly, that's when we're starting, you know what I'm saying,
Like we just to get into the game.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
We got to lift this, yeah for real. Oh yeah, Like.

Speaker 3 (13:51):
Seat puts on a hell of a show and god
damn it, man, it was insane. The crowd had intensity
there too. That was one of those things.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
I said all time. It's cool. It's an arena too,
like the closest I've gotten to that kind of fields
of a giant's life in the UK. Yeah, you know,
they I do have to say those UK fans know,
like are familiar with the sport too, so like sometimes
when you come out to these USA shows, people don't
know when the cheer clap or something like that, but
like you know, Sean puts on a show and it's

(14:21):
real strong man fans that come out here, and you
know it's it's loud. There's there's some points where, especially
right off the lift, like you can't hear nothing, like
it's it's so loud in there. And then too like
it being an arena and everyone's just on top of you.
It's sick. That's it. It's fun. It's I live where too. Man.

(14:43):
I don't know, like because I played offensive line my
whole life and and I was a heavyweight, so like no,
like when it offensive line, we never get celebrated. We're
like it's like the AC. It's like if the AC
goes out, that's the only time people are gonna know
that you did that. And like heavyweight, no one really
stayed until the last matches, so that you know, the

(15:03):
crowd would be doing on down by the time I
got on the mat. And then finally it's like a
sport where of the big dude celebrated and it's like
now I can finally do celebrations and now I can
finally like yell and scream and so like I'm a
hand to it. Man, I love it when I get
the energy from the crowd, I just like feeding off
of it and yelling boom and that's it.

Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, that the theatrical part of it is just one
of the best parts, because I say, when you can
celebrate those goddamn fucking lists, because like I said, we're
seeing insane numbers getting pushed and it's just like for
the average person who doesn't really understand strength sports or
just kind of like you know, like half in, half out,

(15:45):
like there's no understanding, but it's like the effort that
it took to get to your level is just one
of those things that that is the funnest part for
me to watch because like I said, it just as
a fan, someone who watches someone who's always on the
sideline every time I see an incredible feed of strays
is like fow, like yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
It's cool as it's cool as a competitor too, like
you know, I know my limit, So there's only certain
events that are like really like I won't tell people
or like I kind of hold my hand on some
stuff in terms of like what numbers I'm gonna do.
But like when it came to that log press, like
you know, you had Trey and Lucas, it was kind
of a battle between them, and as a fan, you're
just like I just as a lane of sport. I

(16:26):
was like, man, I can't wait to see someone press
five hundred. I think it's there. I think it's there. Yeah. Unfortunately,
you know that that that T shirt thing with Trey
like slipping because he couldn't get on that clean. But yeah,
I definitely think. I mean that's crazy. As they broke,
I think who broke? Did one of them break the record?

Speaker 3 (16:49):
Lucas broke the record, you know what I'm saying. He
crushed it right there. I think it was like forty
five something like that, and I don't.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
Think it got celebrated enough because everyone was expecting a
world record. Yeah, like that's what kind of level pressing
he's on?

Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah, not one hundred percent. He made it look so
easy on his last lift for Lucas, and I was
just like, oh, he's got more in the tank.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
The thing is he's I'm still in a show. I
can't Yeah, I know I can't. I can't go all
out on one. Yeah, but yeah, no, for sure, I
definitely I think he could have pressed the five hundred.
I know Trey. I know Trey could have if you
got that clean. Oh yeah, it just sucks. Like sometimes
like if we just had like an extra tamp or

(17:33):
you know, if if some of these malfunction like equipment
malfunctions didn't didn't count against us, I think bigger way.
But again, at the end of the day, that's part
of the game too, exact. It's the rules. You know
what I'm saying, you know.

Speaker 3 (17:45):
And that's the thing too, is like even at a
show like this, the strategy and the mindset level you
have to have to compete in strong Man is something
that has to be there because if you do not
have the strategy, the understand of when to push it,
when not to push it, and just knowing how to
etch it out to get that because like I said,

(18:06):
you still have to have reserves because goddamn you just
beat your body up for two days.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah yeah, those kids, Well that's what I'll bring me
up to. Like this good point, Like like American strong Man,
when I came up through Nationals and and yo's all
that kind of stuff, Like I really didn't know how
to game. I didn't know how to game. It was
just like, Oh, it's just fun. I'm gonna go lift
in every event. I'm going to go all out and
you know, whatever happens happens kind of thing. And I

(18:31):
think that mindset took me along the way. But at
this level, now, like if you're not gaming, if you're
not playing the game, you know, you can lose big points.
You could you can make mistakes in the sense of
like going too hard in one area and not pushing
enough in one area or yeah, like even you know,

(18:51):
if someone does four reps and you're going to do
eight reps, you just did four reps for one point
for what reason? Right, So you got to learn how
to game at this level. And I think this last
show really taught me a lot with that because, like
like I said, not having a good day one where
Day two, I was like, damn, if I'm gonna make
something of this, I gotta I gotta figure it, like,

(19:12):
I gotta gain this a little bit. I gotta actually
play the points. I gotta you know, not just go
lift everything because expect Day two was way heavy and
they won yeah that, you know, I kind of and
then ended up in fourth place. Like I just like, damn, okay,
I played the game a little bit more and it
kind of opened my eyes a little bit more to

(19:32):
the that side of the sport, and I learned that
a lot with the Canadians. Dude, like those Canadians, I
don't think some people realize like how much they compete
throughout the year, Like they have a circuit out there. Yeah, yeah,
circuit out there. And the first time I ever went
against a Canadian was at the Shaw Open in twenty

(19:53):
twenty two, twenty twenty two, and I was like, oh, yeah, no,
big deal, Canadians whatever. I don't know, well, I'm I
didn't know who they were. I just really I think
everyone just kind of go into the same mindset. But
these dudes like statically, I didn't really like they're like
they weren't these big, like you know, these big barrel

(20:14):
chested American dudes that are walking in like how me
and Lucas looked like, yeah, big old marshmallows sometimes walking
into a room and Trey, you know, we're like the
size of two fridges, and there's these Canadians are just
like you know, they're they're they're ripped, rocked up dudes,
and you know they you know, they're not statically, They're
not like gonna push records. But like on those moving events,

(20:35):
if you're if you're not with them, they're gonna smoke
you under. They're quick, they're strong, they're fast, and so they
were just like, how is someone moving that fast with
that much weight. It's it's nuts to me. And that's
when I learned about Canadians. And then I remember they

(20:55):
would go back and they would talk about like the
points and they were like, Oh, I'm sitting here where
you're sitting. Okay, I just got get this point here.
I got to get this point. They would sit and
talk and game and see, Okay, this next event, I
could do this, this event, I can do this whatever.
And I never saw that side of the sport until then,
And then not that I'm like really like dive deep
into it at the time. I should have. I should

(21:15):
have like started figuring out then. But twenty twenty three,
come back, and you know, it's the same thing as
you know they're that's just how they compete, and they're
competing almost it seems like they compete every weekend. Yeah,
to where their reps, like their time undertention in competition
is so much that they have time to like get

(21:37):
comfortable in that competition mindset where they can like sit
and Oh wow, I can do this. I can do this.
It turns into a chess match to them, which is
kind of cool to see.

Speaker 3 (21:47):
Yeah, now that's definitely it because like a you know,
like I said, I always I'm always with Nick Nick
best and for those who listen, you know, if you
see videos, podcasts, do everything with Nick and the mindset
level that I've learned from him on like how the
points were, because like we have conversations while we're watching
shows and he's like, he needs to do this, he

(22:08):
needs you know, like he's literally laying out blueprints for
every competitor in the points fashion. I don't even know
where he's getting the points from because I'm literally with him.
He just knows what the hell is going on at
all freaking times, and he's literally laying out strategies for everybody.
And he this is just conversation between us while we're
sitting down and enjoying the show, and he's like, if

(22:28):
this guy does this, then this is going to happen.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
If this guy does it. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (22:32):
It's hilarious because like he comes from because like Nick's
and in his group and in his bracket that when
he was competing he was the smaller guy. Yeah, and
so being in the size of the condition he was,
he was like he had to learn that aspect really
quick to keep himself relevant in training. And it's just like,

(22:53):
you know, like and you know, just talking and strategizing
with him and understanding how it works. It's like, God damn,
I was like that. That's how important it is, you
know for those who are you know, new to strong
Man and those who want to watch strong Man's like
it's being so in tune with that and being relaxed
with it and being because, like I said, one of
the things he always says is when you're when you're competing,

(23:13):
you're sitting down, you're not doing nothing. You're rested and recovering.
But also too, you're also strategizing but also understanding how
to strategize without putting mental stress on yourself. Yeah, you know,
because all that comes into play.

Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yeah, and that comes with reps. That comes with reps
at it because it's like when you first get into
something like that, like the I don't know if anxiety
is the right word for it, but like you start
like you start thinking about all that stuff and then
you start working yourself up and you're like, yep, oh shit,
oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. And then if it
doesn't go to plan, you know, plan A, Plan B,

(23:46):
don't go to plan and you didn't even think about plans,
and now you're stuck in the situation. You don't what
to do, and now you're like you, no, nothing's really working,
but yeah, you gotta it's it's reps. It's reps at
that high level. Like I think, man, I think the
most shows I've done in my whole career might be
close to like twenty twenty five. There's some dudes that

(24:09):
have done that in one year. Yeah, And there's a
big difference when I'm talking to them versus like how
I think of a sport. Sometimes if like just you know,
how they see this, Like you're saying how they see
the scores, and you're just like, well, like, shit, I
gotta actually get on top of my shit because these

(24:32):
dudes are really like that, don't know how to They'll
sneak a point on you here there, and then at
the end of the day, at the end of the show,
you're like, oh, how the hell are you in third exactly?
You know what I'm saying. Yeah, there's so much.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
They're they're, like I said, strong man is not just
about being strong. You got to be mentally strong, physically tough.
You gotta have the endurance. It's one of the most
well rounded sports that requires so much attention. And yet
you guys are all big almost you know, not all
every strong man's over three hundred pounds, but god damn.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
It to be that big.

Speaker 3 (25:07):
Yeah, still move the way you guys have to move,
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Yeah, insane, the that's funny to talk about. Like I
think for the show, I got back up to four
hundred pounds, but we're all it's funny because like I guess,
you know, I'm around nick a lot. My family's bigger people,
but I get around I guess, quote unquote normal people
and then they're like that you're so big, and it's

(25:32):
like that's crazy, sad. Like I don't see myself as
a big person. And if I started seeing myself as
a big person, I think I would slow down even more. Yeah,
you know what I mean, because like you want to
put that stigma on yourself, all this big you know,
big dude I was supposed to do. But like even
when I played football, like I always call myself a short,
scrappy Mexican, like because I played center and both my

(25:55):
guards were six four, and then my tackles were like,
you know, six five sixty seven, just giant dudes, and
you know I'm sitting here at six two and I'm
the short one. And so I took on this like
this persona of like being the scrappy one, of like,
you know, if I'm gonna hold my own against these
big dudes, I got to really put on right. So
like I was always that guy that was maybe giving

(26:16):
a little extra after the whistle or or uh, you know,
blocking a lot harder than I needed to, because I
had this mindset of like, you know, you're not the
big dude on the field, like you if you're gonna
like like like Nick you like you said he like
to make himself relevant. He had to think about the
sport a different way. And that's how I thought about football.
I was like, man, if I'm gonna if I'm gonna

(26:38):
keep this starting spot, I got to push a little
bit more. I push a little bit more, but yeah,
it was and then I keep that. I keep that
same mindset in Trouma and it's even more now, because
you know when I did that walkout last year and
Bjornson was right next to me, I was just like, yeah, exactly,
you know what. He makes me feel small? No kid,

(27:01):
And then Brian too, you know yeah, because like he know,
like it's his whole life, he's been that, right yeah,
and so like when he's trying to be very welcoming,
comforting to people, so I already know like he like
he like kind of bends down man and he talks
to you. You're like, man, stand up when you're talking
to me, Like I'm not that small, yeah, because he

(27:25):
just wants and then he puts his arm around and
you're like, come on, man, I'm a man.

Speaker 3 (27:31):
Oh yeah, that cause I'm at six five, three hundred pounds.
And it's like god, damn, you know what I'm saying,
Like it's the only time I actually feel normal when
I get to hang out with everybody, it's like oh ship, yeah,
I don't even notice it.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
And then we all have the same problems too, right,
So it's like you finally feel like you finally feel
like a normal person for when it's like, Okay, everyone's
dealing with this someone some of us can't tire shoe
and bend over.

Speaker 3 (27:58):
We all need to sit down and bring Yeah, yeah
that that it's fucking it's it's always fun. I always
enjoy it too, because I said it's the one time
because like even around house. Around here, I don't leave
my house too often, but when I do go shopping
and stuff like that, you know, we always have eyes
on us.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (28:18):
I'm not pro nothing. I'm just a fucking huge dude
covered tattoos. So I'm just you know, being looked at
it all times. But when I get to be around
you guys, I actually don't feel muscular. I feel like
I'm an average sized person. I feel like, you know
what I'm saying. No eyes are on me, so it's
all good.

Speaker 1 (28:34):
No, I can blend them finally, Yeah, exactly, that's funny.
I know I started getting a bunch of tattoos lately.
This is all my prize money has gone to my skin.
That's it. But now that I'm like, because I didn't
get my first tattoo, and so I was like, I
want to say twenty six. Yeah, you started real late.

(28:57):
I started so I grew up. You know. Part of
my family's Mexican and my mother hal's white. So I'm
this mix of so my my grandfather on my on
my Mexican side, old school Mexican dude, like no tattoos,
like just hardcore old school. And I finally got his
blessing along like a couple of years ago before I

(29:19):
got it, and I got my dad. My dad didn't
really care. He's like, it's your body. I don't pay
your bills, Like, you go do your own thing right now.
I don't care what you do with your body. But
even like even being like a like a mid twenties
like graduated college, my grandpa would still be like, you
come to my house with a tattoo, I'm gonna cut
it off right so so like and then too like

(29:40):
my grandma was the same. My grandma wouldn't say anything,
but she would just like she would look away from it.
She didn't really want to see it. But you know,
I grew up in that. I grew up in that.
So I finally once I got his blessing, my dad
was cool. I started getting tattoos, and I was like,
and then too, like your whole life, everyone's like they
hurt so bad, they hurt so bad, and I mean
there's some that it suck, but you're the you can

(30:02):
sit through it. But yeah, I started getting all these tattoos,
and you know, I really go into research what I
put on my body, and I'm on you, you have
to Yeah, no kidding, especially now I'm older. I'm glad
I started later in that sense too, because no telling
what eighteen or Austin would have put on his body.
It's just how it goes how it goes.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
When I was fourteen, my mom gave me fifty bucks
for my birthday and said, just get lost.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
So I did.

Speaker 3 (30:27):
I got the typical Mexican tattoo. I got my last
name across my back.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
Hell yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:32):
I came home woke her up because she told me
the same thing. I'll cut that motherfucker off and make
you eat it. And I showed it to her. She
was like okay, and she went back to sleep. So
I was like, all right, cool, I'm good. I'm sleeping
in bed, you know, just you know, sleeping on my stomach.
And then in the morning.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
She was that's what you fucking get.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
Oh yeah, it was Oh my god, it was so bad.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, no, it's just and then and then being being
a big dude and nigga tattoos. And it's funny because, like,
you know, I got my hair slick back. I know,
I got a beard, and I got tattoos everyone and
then too half of the time my face looked mean
and it's just because that's just my face. But I'm
not a mean person, I think, right, I'm just but yeah,
you you start walking around the grocery store and you're

(31:19):
looking like this, people are like, oh, exactly, exactly, kick
my ass or what. But no, I don't want to fight,
but what.

Speaker 3 (31:26):
Yeah, because I got no problems of just trying to
get some goddamn beef and chicken there right right.

Speaker 1 (31:32):
It's like I don't think people realize too. It's funny
because I think we get like stuck with the stigma
like we're big, these big dudes, like we want to
fight all the time. Yeah. It's like I remember, like
because I bounced a lot growing up after college. Yeah,
I always remember like the guys that had the most
issue with were the smaller dudes. Those are the dudes

(31:53):
I always want to fight. And then it's like if
if a big guy wanted to pop off, you would
just sit and talk to him and be like, look, bro,
I know you don't want to waste energy, and I
don't want to waste energy because if me and you
get into it, we ain't gonna be you know, we're
gonna need oxygen tanks. Exactly. One of us might have
a heart attack. So it's how about And they were

(32:15):
like cool, So like big dudes have the time, Like
if we really have to get into it, it's because
we really had to get into it, exactly. For the
most part, it's like, man, I don't want to waste
my energy exactly.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
I do not want to do this. Please, don't make me,
you know what I'm saying. But it always is the
smaller guy because they alway feel like they got to
prove something that they're the big guys. You know, they
get people have those small man complexes. It's like, no,
you're the only one who feels like that.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Nobody. You're good. You're good. You know what I'm saying.
You're the better man. Walk the funk away.

Speaker 3 (32:46):
Yeah, you know, I do not want to pick you
up and throw you across the room.

Speaker 1 (32:51):
Don't make me do yeah, really embrace you, and I
don't want to do that exactly exactly.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
Know, I definitely understand that feeling, because, like I have
my grossper when I was when I was ten years old, brother,
I was five eleven, already two hundred pounds.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
Oh yeah, I was.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
I was a freaking monster as a kid, and so
I've had since the middle school all the way to
high school. I was just that big fucking adult person
going to high school, you know, a full beard, full mustache.
Everyone's like, what the fuck are you doing here? I'm like, no,
I'm fourteen. I just started.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
Did you have a truck? No truck.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
I literally live four blocks away from school, so I
always walked.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
You're lucky. So I had a truck. Being the size
and a truck, and people think they're friends with you.
They think they have a mover as a friend. Oh
my god. I couldn't tell you how many times I
was been asked to help move, Like because we have
a truck, you put in the back of your truck,
and I'm like, who's we Yeah, exactly exactly. It sounds

(33:56):
like you have the problem. I don't want to move.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
Oh yeah, I'm always that first person called to But
I'm I said, I'm much older brother, So I'm at
the age where I'm like, don't call me to ask
you to help you move. He don't ask me to
help you move a fucking couch, And I don't want
pizza and beer.

Speaker 1 (34:15):
Exactly. We got as big dudes. We got to get
together and start working on these market prices here on
this movie fun Real. We had been escalated from the
inflation on a pizza and beer has not gone up
the way it needs to be in terms of dollar
amount money that.

Speaker 3 (34:32):
Needs to be moving house exactly. You know what I'm saying.
We need a fair equitable fucking amount.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
Here, because yeah, pizza beer, No.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
No, it's not going to be exactly for twelve hours. No,
And I know I'm going to be doing all the lifting.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
No. Yeah, and then you're gonna get to a house
and knowing nothing's packed. Yeah, nothing nothing. All right.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
I'm my oldest son. I've moved him twice and the
first time he's so dad, I'm already packed, I already
got the rental truck.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
All you gotta do is come over.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
And help me move because it's my son. I'm like,
all right, cool, I will come help you. I grab
my other son. We go down there, and we get
down there. Not a goddamn thing packed, not a goddamn
thing moved. The house is dirty. I'm like, oh my,
like this is all right. I literally grabbed everything through
it in the truck moved and I told him. I

(35:23):
was like, look, I will never do this again. I
ended up doing it one more time, but I told
him at that point, I was like, you have friends now,
I'm too old for this.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
Fucking that's how you got your podcast name.

Speaker 3 (35:34):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:38):
Oh yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
Like it's just like, oh my god, I'm like up too,
I'm much too old for this, but that's how it goes.

Speaker 1 (35:47):
That's funny. That's how my pop says too. Man. He's
like like, well, you know, I think I want to say,
just put it on the Mexicans, but I think it's
just that generation too. But like, yeah, you know, I
feel like I had a different upbringing because of that,
and I'm so happy for it. Like today there's dudes

(36:08):
that can't even put a screw in a wall. Oh yeah,
And I'm thinking I think it translated all it all
translated from you know, from my life to sports. And
while I was able to do one sports because my
dad was like, we'll figure it out. Yeah, he would
just tell you, dude, figure it out, like and if
you come back three or four times you don't figure

(36:30):
it out, then I'll go help you. But you got
you gotta figure it out on your own, like and
so like all the time too, and then and then
he had to come help you out. He wasn't gonna
be nice about it, not at all. So you're just like, man,
I better figure this out because I don't know because
if he comes over, you're gonna start yelling at me,
and I don't want that, and then he's gonna start

(36:51):
calling me stupid. I'm hey, So you figure it out
real quick, real quick, real quick.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
Yeah, now that that's the exact same thing I was like,
I've always had to like all right, fixing cars, putting
things together, repairing sheet rock, fucking you know what I'm saying,
just everything and anything that needed to be done. You know,
kids have it better nowadays because they can literally just
YouTube it, But there was a good portion of our
lives where it was just like how you know what

(37:18):
I'm saying, like, all right, let me let me think
about this. And also too, it gives you this other
perspective of like working around it. You get to figure
out how to do it without the right fucking ship,
because that's what ends up happened a lot of the times.

Speaker 1 (37:28):
Yeah, you just or how many times you've made it
trip to home depot to fix something and you come
back and you're like, I knew I forgot something. That's it.
Maybe you're like, maybe I have to make this work.
Maybe I can make this work, and then they end
up doing it and then you fuck it up even
more than it needed to be.

Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yeah, now it requires more work.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah that I'm certified YouTube university.

Speaker 3 (37:50):
Hey man, there's a lot of us that are certified
YouTube university. Like, I've learned so many things growing up
on how to do it. Now I'm so lazy where
I'm like, all right, let me just YouTube it before
you even even consider doing anything right now, to see
if I have everything or if I need to do
something else right Yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
Yeah, Yeah, it's funny like that reminds me of what
my grandpa said too, because like my grandpa was a
truck driver and he used to he used to drive
trucks for microworkers, like he would bring he would bring
watermelons and pickles from uh, Michigan. Yeah, down, to San Antonio,
and I mean, I can only imagine back in the day, dude,
like even that, like something broke down in your truck.

(38:28):
That's your mother. Yeah, so you're on the side of
road fix and stuff. So when I remember one time,
you know, I'm I'm a high school and I have
this old f one fifty ninety two one fifty and
I think something's missing. One of the one of the
pistons is missing. Yeah, you know, I'm I'm a kid.
I don't really know what I'm doing. Plus I don't

(38:49):
have cash to fix this. Yeah, and he came. He
came for like a football game, because this is when
I was living in Arizona and they lived here in Santonio. Yeah,
and he was into the truck more than two seconds
ary diagnose the trucks. Yeah, he already knew it was
wrong with it. And then they's all right, well, we
went to the gas station, but we ended up making
it stop at Riley's. And then I remember one of

(39:09):
the plugs was stuck. Yeah, and I was having a
hard time getting it out, and he was looking at
me like it wasn't born there. Yeah, like figure it out,
get that ship out of there, and so it's funny.
I mean use that to like lit weightlifting kind of
like that mindset for weightlifting too, because it's like, man
that shiit ain't gonna lift it unless you lift it,

(39:30):
you know what I mean, like figure it out. There's
there's a lot of stuff you're just gonna have to
dig deep for. Yeah, you're just you know, from from
pulling a plug, a simple plug out of an engine
to doing a log press. I think there's a lot
of that. Like I was just like, like you know,
ship it wasn't born there, I could. I'm a I'm
a man, I could move it. I'm gonna move it.

(39:52):
That's it, you know. So it was it's I mean,
I think that's a lot of more on my lifting
or my I don't know motivation or what word it is,
but right there.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
Yeah, inspiration, Yeah, because you got to really think about that,
you know what I'm saying. It's like, you know, you
have to be inspired to lift these kind of weights,
And the thing is it's like, no, that it's possible.
I just got to come at it at the right
angle and through all the drogs tripulation's gone through it.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
You could see all the angles. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
now it's a yeah, I just remember and then too
like I hate well, I hate failing lifts, right, And
that's part of our training at heavy Metal is we
don't really we don't put ourselves in a situation where
we're going to fail lift, you know, with the numbers
that we call or or the setups like who we

(40:39):
do like more of a conjugate style chaining with like
chains and bands and where we don't really know the
number on the bar, yeah, because it's always changing and
whatever the stimulus you're doing this, but uh, you know,
we we don't ever want to put ourselves in a
situation to fail. One only because we don't want to

(40:59):
teach our body, but two like our mental side of things,
like like when I messed up on the log at
We'll see at SMO. I did the first attempt, I
cleaned it, I missed it, I dropped it. I took
a step back, and I was like, man, I gotta
get this, Like how am I going to do? So
I went, I step back up way twenty second Wait

(41:21):
unill it's twenty second o'clock. When I hit it right
and I get back and I'm like everyone everyone wants
to offer advice. Right, everyone, you do this, you need this.
I'm like this, give me seck, let me try to
figure this out. And then or Meyer Ortemire actually he goes,
he comes up to me and he goes, hey, man,
what's going on? Man? I'm I'm I'm having a hard
time find my balance in here because it's I mean,

(41:42):
it's the same thing like I would say all the time,
like basketball players, like shooting the arena versus shooting in
the gym. It's two different things. So that was totally
my situation. I was I would get here. It wasn't
it wasn't a strength issue. It was I was just pressing.
I was pressing out and so the log would get
out in front of me and I would lose my
balance or I just wasn't in the right spot. And

(42:03):
then so I'm telling Ormire this, and Ormyer being Ormyre
and same as Nick. You know they've been around a
block a few times, right, he was like, hey man,
like all right, so he's back there. He's like, all right,
stand on one leg, close your eyes, sent him leg
twenty seconds and then he was telling me, all right,
do the other like all right, now, open your eyes.
He says, I need to I need to get your
I don't know what he said, but he said, I

(42:24):
need to get your brain, your body awareness. I need
to get your body where it is. And so I
went out and I did, well, no, take it back.
I came back for my second attempt, and that's when
he asked because I failed my second attempt, and it
was what's going on? And I was like, man, I
was shitting in anyways, He's like, all right, let's do this.
And Ortmeyer is such a good dude, like he already
he had this thing set up. He bought a stopwatch

(42:46):
to make sure my twenty seconds on one foot was exact.
And then he was like, all right, now, I want
you to pick a spot in the room or on
the ceiling that you're going to be looking at, and
I want you to touch your the tip of your knee,
so like do a high knee and then cuts your kneecap.
But you have to hit in the same exact spot
every time, and so you do that. He said, do

(43:08):
that like like ten fifteen times and you'll be ready
to go. And so I was like, all right, no, man,
I gotta do this, like I'm at this point I'm like,
I need to do something, yeah, because lesson's working for me.
So I do that, and then I go out there
to what I missed the second time for my third attempt,
and I smoke it on the first attempt, and then

(43:29):
I was like and I was like, I come back
and I was like I was. I wasn't pissed, but
it was more like a the people that wanted to
offer advice, like you need to do this, you need
to do this, you need oh, just box jump or right.
It's like give me sick right, let me figure it out,
but like uh in the back, and I was like,
someone told me to wake up. I think that's what

(43:51):
pissed me off. I'm like, were all my strongest man
on earth. I'm gonna awake and believe me, I'm awake.
Like if there's one event, I'm I'll wait forwards this
one like I'm right now, I present. I'm just something's
not happening right with my body. And when I smoke it,
I came back and I remember coming to the thing
and I was like, I told you, and I threw
my belt and then and then I ended up I

(44:15):
ended up bending the buckle on my belt. Which wasn't smart, ah,
but it was just all that emotion came out and
I was just like, it's like like I knew, like
I knew what I had to do to do it,
and that was luckily or Min helped me figure it out.
But it was just like sometimes you just like there's

(44:36):
just so much coming at you, especially in that moment everyone,
and it was just cool about the guys back there,
like everyone. I think this group of guys that competed
that strongest Man on Earth was probably the best group
of guys to do it, because I never like it
felt like it felt like all sixteen guys versus the weight.
It didn't feel like we were going against each other
like it felt like we wanted to. If you were

(44:59):
going to be you're gonna beat me at my best.
If I was gonna beat you, I wanted you to
You're gonna be at your very best. So when I
said when I beat you, there's no excuse for saying, oh,
you were stronger than me that day or this or that,
you know what I mean. So that was like the
best group of guys to compete with because it just

(45:19):
it was there's no animosity, there was no like I mean,
you're gonna get in your little.

Speaker 3 (45:25):
Oh yeah, yeah, you're gonna and but.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
But it wasn't like it wasn't at the end of
that at the end of the two days. I don't know,
but I can't speak for other people, but I felt
just like I felt afterwards, we were just like, damn, bro,
we just got through the heaviest show ever. Not not hey,
I beat you at the heavy show ever. It doesn't
feel like that. It felt like we got through this
kind of thing and it was a It was a

(45:49):
cool experience, man, It was really It was really like
humbling and I hope, I hope more of that situation
happens more because I think it also didn't put on
for a good show too.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
Yeah, it definitely did, because the energy and that, you know,
it's the one. This is the one thing I love
about strong Man because since I've been immersed into it,
the brotherhood and love that everyone has for each other
competing because like with most sports, a lot of people
get arrogant, a lot of people have a big head,
and no one wants to have fun. But when you
guys are back there, you know what I'm saying, You

(46:21):
guys are all in your own little camps gathered together,
you know, preparing for each event. But at the same time,
there's a lot of back and forth of fun, you.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
Know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (46:29):
That's that's the thing, you know, So you know, when
it's game time, it's game time. But in between those moments,
you know what I'm saying, everybody's having back and forth
and enjoying themselves.

Speaker 1 (46:40):
That's the best part. No, it's yeah, No, I mean
it's cool because every time we go to these shows,
it's like a new opportunity to go lift with my
friends kind of thing. Yep. And I'm lucky enough to
like lift with Nick, Like he's my training partner, so
we've been lifting together for the last six years. And like
the way we are at competitions is a same way
we are at the gym. Like when it's time to

(47:03):
turn it on, we're going to turn it on and
then but in between, like we're at the gym. Like
I always say, it's like working out is such a
luxury really, Like you could be having to pay the
bills and work in you know, construction until nine o'clock
at night, come home, wake up at four, do the
same damn thing every day just to put food on

(47:25):
the table, you know, pay the pay the light kind
of thing. But you know, it's such a unique situation
and a blessing that, you know, I have a job
that's allowed me to compete. I have a training partner
that shows up at the gym the same time as me.
Like everything's fallen in perfect to where like my coach
and my wife and everything's so supportive and even on

(47:47):
the neck side of things too, like he's just got
every It's it's just crazy how the stars have aligned
for us to like really work out together. And then
I was just remember like the fact that we get
to work out, like you know what I mean, Like
that's such a blessing. So we're always like we're if
we're in the gym, it's never like like it's fun.

(48:10):
Why why this isn't this doesn't have to be worked
We're not we don't have to be here, yep, Like
this is this is a time to this is our time.
This is our time when we're in our thirties, you
know what I mean, Like our body's not going to
be able to do this for a long time, so
let's enjoy it now. You know, while we're here and
enjoy each other, enjoy the brotherhood, the camaraderie, the lifting weights,

(48:32):
because you know, in ten twenty years we still might
have that brotherhood camaraderie, but the weights aren't going to
be moving like they used to. Yeah, So it's it's
a you know, I truly it's like a blessing to really.
And then two I wanted to like when I was
doing this thing, it's just to make sure I take
a step back every now and then and realize, you know,

(48:53):
what the situation is and really enjoy it, because I
think sometimes you can get caught up in it so
much like where you're looking for the next goal or
then you know, I got to get this title, and
then you spent this whole year focusing on this title
and say, you come up short. Now you just wasted
your whole year of your life and like being pissed
off and not like you know, doing like you're you're

(49:18):
listening weights, bro, You're you're you're doing what you love
and so so appreciate it like that and enjoy it
like that because you know you're not gonna it's not
gonna happen like you don't know how many years you're
gonna have that. So no, it's it's a it's a
it's badass, man. I I truly appreciate, you know. And
then just to be able to talk to you on
a podcast, you know, I mean like it's crazy to

(49:40):
me that I'm sharing kind of my journey too as
a weightlifter and hopefully to inspire someone to really to
you know, you know, just enjoy weightlifting, because I look
at weightlifting as like an art form. I mean, you
can you can get caught up in the percentages and

(50:01):
the and the numbers and blah blah blah blah ah
this crap. But you know, I enjoy art. You used
to play music for a long time, and then I
grew up in the artist families and my grandma's artists,
and so I like, I like taking this approach of
like you never know what's gonna happen. You never know
where this list's gonna take you, so like be in

(50:22):
the moment and enjoy it as it's happening, because you know,
you never know what the outcome is going to be.
And the outcome could be beautiful, you know, or it
could be dog shit sometimes that's what happens. But it's
up but that's part of the process.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
Yeah, it's a great perspective to have because you need that,
you know what I'm saying, Like, you have to be
able to step back, see the bigger pictures, see the
complete art form, and also understand where you're coming from
and ground yourself. You know what I'm saying, because a
lot of times you forget what you have done and
it doesn't help you add to your future. That's one
of those things, you know what I'm saying, Like it's

(50:56):
an accomplishment, you move on. It's like, no, I reminisce,
I enjoy I learned, and I can grow from that,
and then you get to that next level, you get
to that next portion. And then also understanding that this
is an art form, this is a technique, this is
something that not everyone else can do or have lined
up And it's like this most beautiful feeling when you
can actually see somebody enjoy what they're doing, love what

(51:18):
they're doing, and that passion to show for and you know,
and here's the thing, you're the new breed of people
coming in that's gonna inspire the next breed of the
next generation coming into this sport. Because like I said,
when I grew up. I was watching magnuson, Phil Fischer,
Nick Best, you know, Brian Shaw, big Z. And then

(51:39):
now this younger generations that's gonna see you guys come
on TV, gonna see you on ESPN, gonna look through YouTube,
see that social media, and they're gonna see you. You
came from here, That's where I'm from. If he can
do it, I can do it. I'm inspired, you know
what I'm saying. Because here's the thing is, you're gonna
be at those meat greets and you're gonna see these

(51:59):
young kids come in and be like in awe, shock
and all, and it's like that that that's that's the
rock star portion that you know, we don't talk too
often about, but we get to enjoy.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it's crazy. And then too, it's like,
I really you know what I appreciate too seeing that
and being meet greases. When you start seeing the same
kind of person show up, that same dude that you
saw at the last show and they look a little
bit bigger and you're like, you know, it's like it's
that's inspiring itself too. It's like, hell yeah, that dude

(52:31):
gets it, Like you know, he's this dude, is I
want I don't like using the word all in. Yeah,
but like he's he's putting himself in the best situation,
in my opinion, to get where he wants to be.
So like he's following those footsteps that that I did too,
you know, to get to this next level. And and

(52:52):
you know, as an athlete, we notice that too. And
then two it's like sometimes it's like, oh, in the
next you know, two three years, you might be convening
against that dude. Yeah, I mean that that happened with me.
My first pro that ever went against was Bobby Thompson. Yeah,
and I went against him at the Beer Stone, was

(53:12):
a program down in the Valley and abound Brownsville area
of Texas. And you know, it's crazy because he just
he just retired from straw Man. So but he was
a big inspiration for me because at the time I
was coming up, he won the Arnold Amateur. Yeah, and

(53:33):
he was one of those dudes that he won the
Armor Amateur and I was like, man, I could do that.
You know, It's like I could see myself doing that.
I'm not too far from that. And and so like
I would be following him, and then he would do
his like he would go to this next show and
he pulled him at the Arnold and you're like, oh,
that's again, it's something I can do. And then sure
enough I catch myself at a proram with him, right,

(53:55):
And it never was like oh for me, it's never like,
like I said, it's not a combat sport, so like
I'm never like gunning for someone, but it's like I
want to. I want to push myself to see if
I can. I'm not necessarily well obviously beat him. That's
a goal, right, But I don't want to use that
word I want to use. I want to. I want
to see you like yeah, yeah, keep up, or say

(54:19):
what I've been working for if it's really on track
to doing what they're doing right exactly. And I ended
up taking second to that show and he won it,
and I was like, and I got my pro card
that year. And that's the first time I met him.
And it's funny because Bobby's Bobby, and if you ever
met Bobby, he's he's very straightforward. Ye, he doesn't really

(54:39):
joke a lot, like but it's not that he don't
want a joke. He's just the kind of his personality,
but he can he can throw a joke every now
and then. I'm not saying that he's just total ass
or whatever, but plenty of times. But you know what
I'm saying. So, and the first thing he ever said
to me was damn, you're fat. So every every if

(55:02):
I love it because it's every time I see Bobby,
the first comment he says to me, it's something to
do with my weight. And it's hilarious because the first
couple of times it was like, dude, like you're getting
up there to chill out. But this last couple of
times I've seen me and say, hey, Smash, you've been
losing weight. You're looking good, man, You're looking good. So
it's it's over finally coming around. But you know, it

(55:25):
was just one of those situations like I'm saying, like,
you know, he started seeing me pop up around and
he's like, oh shit, here's this dude, you know, and
I'm already arguing, I'm already kind of noticing what some
of the amateurs that are coming up. It's like, oh,
I'm saying, these guys come around a lot more. It's like,
you know, and you're young. I mean in terms of
weightlifting mid twenties and football is like old, but in weightlifting,

(55:49):
that's you're still a baby. Yeah, And so like I'm
looking at these kids, I say, kids are in the
mid twenties. I'm looking at these kids and yeah, and
I'm like, I'm like, man, you you figure it out,
You're gonna be a problem, you know, and I might
have to. I mean, I'm gonna have to deal with
you in a couple of years when my body's going
to start being on the dcline. So you know, luckily

(56:09):
I learned how to gain you know, that's it right now,
because that's how I'm gonna have to sneak you on
these And then Bobby's done that to me several times,
you know what I mean, Like the dude, the dude
wins on me because he just knew how to you know,
beat me in these little things here and there. That's it.
But you know, that's it's I just yeah, it's like

(56:31):
we noticed this as as athletes, and it's inspiring itself
to kind of see, like, you know, amateurs come as well,
because you know, like there's a change in the guard
every couple every ten years, there's going to be a
new change of the guard. You're gonna have your outliers
obviously competed forever. He stratasize for it. But you know,
there's there's these group of guys that will go in

(56:51):
and out, and you know, if you're gonna if you
want to be a part of that, you got to
seize your opportunity. And when when the opportunity is given
to you, you better start lifting. You know what I mean,
you better start showing up and lift some way. It's like,
that's what happened to me after a World Finals Latino. Yeah,
so I won this title twenty three and this was

(57:18):
like when gay Penya was. This is when gay Penya was.
He just did two worlds. Yeah, and he was representing Mexico.
And I remember reaching out to the I just reached
out to the to the promoter. I didn't you know,
there was no invite, there was no I was like, hey, Bud,
I'm Mexican or I've been called Mexican my whole life.

(57:40):
I'm Latino, like that, it can I do his show?
And He's like, and I said, I showed him a
bunch of my lists. I said, I'm definitely strong enough
to do it. Like and I think I can win
it whatever, and he was okay, cool, but you can't
represent the United States and I was like, oh easy,
I mean I can represent Mexico. I got family from Mexico,
I you know, like that's where we come from kind

(58:01):
of thing. And he goes, all right, cool, we'll see
you in a couple of weeks or in a couple
of months. And so I'll go on to win that show.
And it was a strong Man Champion League show. And
then a month later we had the Shaw Classic this
one and I won that one and it kind of

(58:22):
put me on the map in terms of like, you
know how the Armor, the ammer amateur Arnold and then
you have this one was kind of new. Yeah. Yeah,
you had OSG and then the way the way the
weights are at Shaw's show like they're legit. Yeah, that
was kind of like, Okay, this guy just wont an
SCL show, he just won this show. He's legit. They

(58:44):
gave me a two week call up to go to
the Deadlift Championships in Wales and it was it totally
felt like the like the getting called up from the
miners ye kind of thing, because I remember getting this
phone call and it was like plus four four, a
whole bunch of different numbers, right, yeah, I'm not answering it.

(59:06):
I was like, all right, answered it right. So well,
look before one of my buddies reached out to me
and says, hey, Laws wants your number. Yeah, and I've
never talked to Laws before. Yeah, but I was like, okay, yeah,
here right, like something might come with this whatever. And
then it was like the next day, I get this

(59:26):
phone call and it's like all kicking me and I
answered it and I was like, you know, hello, and
he goes, hey, Austin, this is Colin Bryce. I was like, oh,
I don't know if you know me. And I was like, oh, yeah,
I know you. And he's like, bro, we want you
to come up to Wales in two weeks and computer
the Debly Championship because at this at this shot Classic

(59:49):
yeah or strongest Man Shot Class whatever. But the pro show, yeah,
Adam Bishop towards Peck and so he was gonna he
was he was aiming to pool five hundred. So he
had to drop out of that show. Ye uh, there
was another there was another two guys that had to

(01:00:11):
drop out whatever. But they called me up. They called
up Evan's Nana and they called up. How man I
can mess up his name? He's a Polish guy anyways, No, no, no, no, damn.
I hope he doesn't hear this because he's I just well,

(01:00:34):
I don't I just don't know how to say that,
and I don't want to run it because that'd be
messed up. We'll yeah right, yeah, yeah, but uh we
came up and they invited to show. So it was
my first Giants Live right and on two weeks and
it's a delic Championships. This is the show that Eddie
pulled five hundred in seventeen or whatever. It's like all

(01:00:58):
this lowers around him, like, oh ship, here I am
and my and now I'm in a different country. I
got no coach, I got my wife wasn't there. It
was such short notice. Yeah, and here I'm by myself
and it's just like I'm saying to just like, you know,
seize your opportunity. And they the first the first events
the deadlift, obviously, and the most I'd deadlifted at the

(01:01:19):
time was eight sixty yeah, which was the year before
at the at the online qualifier for this show. We
never trained our max deadlift the whole year so I
don't know what my max deadlift is or I'm just
going off eight sixty. The opener for that show is
eight eighty. So just to start to show off, I

(01:01:39):
got to pull a pr Yeah, and everyone has suits
like in America, we don't. We don't lift yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:01:46):
Every Yeah, that's that's that's a European thing.

Speaker 1 (01:01:49):
That's a European thing. And especially Shaw. Shaw's not gonna
let you use figure eights. I was not going to
let you use a suit. Like if you're going to
lift that, that's one hundred percent on you. Like even
to like He's like, you can wear a cuff, but
it can't be around the elbow. Like the dude's been
around the sport. He knows how to cheat things. Yep, I
want to say he knows how to cheat things. He

(01:02:10):
just knows how people can get a little extra advantage
out of their equipment. And he wants to see ross strength.
So like this is where I'm coming from. And I
don't know shit. Like I said, I'm still just lifting
for fun and I'm the first person to lift, and
you know, we do the walk out and everything, and
I'm like they're like, all right, you have time to

(01:02:31):
pull one more warm up after the walkouts, and I
remember Rob Carney was there, and Rob's with him and
his husband Joey are the coolest dudes in the world too,
like very nice people. And he was another dude that
I met at a at a show. He was commentating
I was elading. I was like, hey man, I'm going
to compete with you one day and then hold on
and behold two years later. I am right. But I said, hey, bro,

(01:02:56):
watch his eight hundred. I need you to And I said, no,
matter how this move, I need you to tell me
that eight eighty is gonna move. Yeah, And so I
go and I strap in and I hit it right
and he goes, oh, bro, you're good. And I kind
of looked at him, like are you saying that to
say that? And he goes, no, my beforeal, you're good.
You're good. And as soon as I dropped the weight,
they're like, andrada, you're up. And that's when everything sun.

(01:03:17):
I was like, oh shit. I was like, can you
give me like five minutes? I just pulled eight hundred.
I was like, I need like so like I'm walking
to the front like slow as hell. And I get
to the front and I see the crowd of people right,
and I see the lights and the camera and I
was like, oh shit, oh shit, and I was I
remember I turn around and told Laws. I was like,

(01:03:39):
is there water? Is there any water up here? And
I started like freaking out right, and so Laws ran back,
got me some water real quick. And as soon as
I kind of popped it open, I drank a little
sit there like you gotta go now, ond I was like,
oh shit. So I'm walking out there, I'm like, oh
here it goes right, and it's crazy because like you're
looking out at the crowd and you see Magnus and
you see Darrence, and you see the cameras, you see

(01:04:01):
the lights, and I was just like, oh I see,
well here it is man like, this is what you
asked for it. It's like getting a strong man, bro,
like come on, get in it. So I strap in,
I bro. I ripped that ship so fast, like there
was a speed repah. And I hit it. I remember
I hit it, and this is where that boom comes
from that I do, but I hit it, and I

(01:04:22):
was so excited. And then they gave me the down call,
well I thought they did, and I dropped it. And
later Colin was like, did you hold it long enough?
And I was like, well, fuck, I think I did.
And it's like, well, they still gave it to me, right,
And but I dropped it and I got up and
I was boom. Right. That's when the boom started. And

(01:04:43):
the boom more came out of like not like excitement
for the lift, but it came out of like more
of like more of like a fuck you kind of
type of thing, like I told you I could do it. Yeah,
you know what I mean. So that's why that's why
I say boom. But now it's more for the crowd
and get the crowd into it. I appreciate that. But
and then I was so excited. I'm walking off and

(01:05:04):
I don't like, at the time, I don't realize how
much cameras are on you. Yeah. And then so like yeah,
now that I've learned that, I've learned to keep my
mouth shut. Sometimes I'm walking off and I'm like I'm like, damn,
not fucking move fast, right, And I'm like all hype
and like my grandma watches this stuff, right, And I

(01:05:25):
got to remember, like my man, I gotta be careful
what I say. I don't want to piss her off, right,
like she knows I do all that shit whatever, but
you know she's to be a little respectful, right, And
so I walked off and I remember looking at laws.
I was like, I was like, do I go for
the next one? And the next attempt was no, no, yeah.

(01:05:45):
The next attempt was nine fifty or four thirty four
U thirty kilos and I'm all hopped up. And mind you,
they're saying kilos, so I have no clue. Yeah, exactly
from America. Yeah, And so I that helped me in
the long rum because I was like, I pulled four hundred,
I'm gonna pull for four thirty. So that's only thirty

(01:06:06):
more pounds, Yeah, much more. It's easy, right, I've done
that before, and so the same thing again. But at
that time I finally got like I got my confidence right,
and then I pulled I pulled the nine thirty nine
or four thirty nine fifty, Yeah, and I pulled it.
I remember getting to the top and I was like,

(01:06:28):
oh shit, like I just really pulled this without a
suit case. Everyone was all suited up. And then I
dropped it and I did this to the crowd. Yeah,
I was like, no suit right, and and I walked
off and I was like, what the hell am I doing? Bro?
This isn't me Like I'm I'm like, this is the
first time my characters really come out in a show.

(01:06:50):
And I was just like, I was like, fuck it,
I'll just I'll just play with it. But I remember
that's when I was walking off and calling Bryce goes like, dang,
that guy's got some serious power. And I remember I'm
saying that, and then and then ever since then then
I got like, I think him seeing me compete is
what kind of trickled everything, because the next year I
got my World's invite, Yeah, and then I got the

(01:07:11):
made to the finals, and then I went to Smoll
took Force. Like everything started trickling there and it was
just me seizing the moment and just going out having
fun and really lifting because that was that was the opportunity.
In hindsight, now I look back at it, like, how
many more giants live invites would? I haven't gotten for sure?

(01:07:31):
After that, there's guaranteed none. Right, So like here I
am put up with these three other rookies, Evan, Nanna
and the Polish guy, and obviously Evan's done what he's
done through Stromer and Champions League and made his statement
and whatnot. But like, I mean, I had to do
it for myself, and I think that was that moment

(01:07:51):
where it was like, you're giving this moment, make the
most of it, and you never know what's going to
happen with it, right, so I long win the story.
But that was that moment where I think kind of
really twenty three where kind of flipped on me where
it's like, all right, welcome to the pros, buddy. That's it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:11):
You got to compete, you stepped up, you hit the challenge.
God damn it, you made an impression. And that that's
the whole thing. That's one of those things I love
is when you can inspire yourself, inspire others and and
just see that transformation come out, because it's like that's
the most impressive part, because like I said, it's like
you went from went from just starting to at the

(01:08:32):
top of the.

Speaker 1 (01:08:32):
Game, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:08:34):
And it's like it's just I love these stories. I
love talking about it, and I love sharing these things,
and it's just it's, like I said, it's just something
that I enjoy and God damn it, I just love
hearing that deadlift story because it was just like the
fuck I did that? You know?

Speaker 1 (01:08:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was. It was man. I just
always remember and tho, these are the stories I'm going
to live for forever, you know what I mean. That's it.
And I think that's the cool part too about it
in the whole art form of of the show, because
I never knew I was gonna go to Wales. I
never knew I was on the deadlift that day. Like
I just went out and I did it, and now
I have these memories for it. And it's the same

(01:09:10):
thing with art, like when you're playing music, especially because
I grew up I played orchestra music. I was in
the jazz band in high school and everything, and like
once I got into jazz, it all traditional stuff got
thrown out the window and it was like, bro, just play,
just jam out, have fun. And I remember being jam
sessions where you're just like, some of the best music

(01:09:31):
I've ever played was never recorded and it was in
a room, you know, with my best buddies kind of thing.
And I like, if it wasn't for those times, I
wouldn't have those memories with those guys. The same thing here.
It's like, if it wasn't for these times, I wouldn't
have these memories I would be talking about on a podcast,
you know exactly. So cool.

Speaker 3 (01:09:51):
Well, brother, I appreciate your time coming on the show
and sharing these memories in these moments with me. For
everyone who's listening, let them know where to find you.

Speaker 1 (01:09:59):
Yeah, so smash on H on Instagram, awesome ANDROTI on Facebook.
And then if you want to go check out our
YouTube channel me and my my trained partner, Nate Guardion.
We have our YouTube, the Texas Boys saw Man eleven,
So check us out. We like we're gonna get some
more videos up soon. But you can see our training

(01:10:20):
sessions from worlds in the our world and just kind
of see our character and how much of the goofballs
we are.

Speaker 3 (01:10:25):
And I'll put all those information in the links so
you guys can just check it right there in the
show notes, cook a link and go check them out.
And thank you guys for listening. Uh, if you want
to watch my shit YouTube, you want to listen to it,
spreak your soundclouds, set your Spotify, Google Play, Apple podcast
pod being sound Cloud, Deezer iHeartRadio.

Speaker 1 (01:10:40):
This motherfuckers every week.

Speaker 3 (01:10:41):
Can easily fucking find it, rate, review, like, subscribe, all
that fucking bullshit, and it really helps me out. I'm
also part of the Inner Circle podcast Network, a group
of powerful podcasts out there sharing our shit that is
Inner Circle pm dot com. Take it everyone, our websites, everyone,
our shows. We have the shows as The Plunge, Failing Hollywood,
Simmons and more, The Untrained Eye, the hood Diner.

Speaker 1 (01:10:57):
Shit happens when you party naked, so it makes.

Speaker 3 (01:10:58):
You checking the fuck out and I'll see y'all, motherfuckers
on the next one.

Speaker 2 (01:11:03):
Fuck Always living, always living, always living, always living, always living,
always living

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Inside the Life of a Strongman Competitor | Featuring Austin Andrade

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Inside the Life of a Strongman Competitor | Featuring Austin Andrade