I made it back home to Boston and it was lovely to hug my wife and see Julian for the first time in two weeks. I mean, is there anything better than walking into your kid’s Pre-K classroom, him recognizing you, and seeing him sprint towards you, arms wide open, with a massive smile on his face? 1
I’m still playing a bit of email catch-up today in addition to being smacked around a little bit with some entrepreneurial shenanigans. In light of that I wanted to share my most recent podcast appearance, which took place with my friend, David Tao, of BarBend.com
You can give it a listen HERE (there’s also a full transcription of the conversation in case you’d rather NOT listen to my silky, sexy voice).
For the Apple snobs in the crowd you can listen on iTunes HERE (September 16th episode).
Lisa and I had an amazing 1-day excursion into the Barossa Valley yesterday where we visited seven (yes, SEVEN) different wineries.
Needless to say Lisa was feeling, well, pretty damn good.
As I type these words we’re in the Adelaide airport awaiting our flight to Melbourne where we’ll meet up again with Dean Somerset so he and I can teach our (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint workshop.
After that Lisa and I have two full days to explore Melbourne.
Any suggestions?
In lieu of my travel plans I obviously haven’t placed any emphasis on writing any new content; vacation Tony doesn’t mess around. Nevertheless, I do have some content for you today: my latest podcast appearance on The Todd Nief Show.
Hip-Hop, Psychology of Being a Coach, and Shoulder Shenanigans
NOTE: Lisa and I will be at Todd’s gym, South Loop Strength & Conditioning in Chicago, IL on August, 18th to teach our Strong Body-Strong Mind Workshop.
There’s only a little more than a week left to take advantage of the early bird rate (and CEUs will be available).
Todd Nief is the founder of South Loop Strength & Conditioning in Chicago and he and I had the opportunity to sit down and chat a few weeks ago about everything from common mistakes people make when trying to increase shoulder ROM and how to create “buy in” with potential clients to why the word “dysfunction” should be the LAST word you use as a coach and some of the psychological pitfalls many people fall prey to when it comes to training.
You can listen below here:
Or, if you prefer, you can download on iTunes HERE (you snob).
A few weeks ago the guys who host the popular Barbell Shrugged Podcast – Anders Varner & Doug Larson – reached out because they were going to be in Boston and were wondering if I had interest coming onto the show?
Anders and Doug showed up at CORE, set up their mics and laptops, handed me a pair of headphones and this is the result…..
None of us have pants on.
Kidding.
It was a treat to be invited onto the show and I think it came out really well. The three of us talk about everything from my start in the fitness industry to my early years writing for T-Nation (and meeting all the O.G’s of the strength & conditioning community) to Cressey Sports Performance to discussing a smorgasbord of coaching topics: training baseball players, adjusting technique to fit one’s anatomy, why most people don’t need to stretch to increase ROM, and how to implement warm-ups into programs.
I have been woefully delinquent – bordering negligent – on providing my own content on the site of late.3 I’d like to sit here and say it’s because of a noble cause like spending my time reading scripture to orphaned kittens or, I don’t know, writing a screenplay.
But all I can chalk it up to is entrepreneurial shenanigans. I’m actually flirting with the idea of finding a larger space for CORE here in Boston which is equal parts exciting and sphincter clenching. I’ve been prospecting a few potential locations in addition to going back and forth with my realtor and accountant to make sure I’m not being an asshole. So, yeah, that’s been taking up a lot of my time in the past few weeks.4
While I haven’t been doing much writing, I have, however, been making the rounds on several popular podcasts. My most recent cameo was this past Friday on the Chalk Strength Podcast with Simon Bungate.
Simon is actually hosting Dean Somerset and myself this July at his Sydney, Australia based gym, Clean Shred, for our (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.
NOTE: Dean and I will also be in Melbourne, Australia (along with Dr. Lisa Lewis) the following weekend. Details for that are also in the link above.
I took a little time to discuss the workshop and what Dean and I will cover, but the bulk of mine and Simon’s conversation stemmed around business; Namely my time with Cressey Sports Performance, how there was a lot of “luck” on my end in terms of being involved with the it’s roots, and what spurned me leaving in 2015 to go off on my own.
We also riff on the fitness industry in general, which is always fun.
Travis is an amazing coach – he recently posted a video of one of his 15-year old athletes smoking a 450 lb front squat (no big deal) – and I was honored to be invited onto his show to talk some shop.
Amongst other things we chatted about:
Having Eric Cressey as a roommate (and what he learned)
Why growing a business is sometimes the worst thing
How he’s working now based on his plan for the future
Why he started a gym even though he said he never wanted to
How a good workout should make you feel like Mario
Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, on the internet will top THIS clip of Wu-Tang Clan performing a 20-minute tiny desk concert covering some of their greatest hits.
I mean, don’t get me wrong: I hope you take some time to listen to the two podcast appearances below (one of which is a joint episode I did alongside my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis). They’re both chock full of insight, wit, and humor.
But neither contain any sick beats or rhymes…
“I bomb atomically, Socrates’ philosophies and hypothesis can’t define how be droppin these mockeries…“
Revolutionary You Podcast – Episode #157: The Best of Both Worlds
A strength coach and a psychologist get married and do a podcast together…
Jason Leenaarts invited us onto this show to discuss a number of topics ranging from how social media affects our clients, to the importance of strength training and sleep, to how Lisa and I continue to bring out the best in each other personally and influence each other professionally.
This was a fun show to do.
For the iTunes snobs out there you can download HERE (Episode #157)
Lift the Bar Podcast: Laying the Foundations For a Successful Fitness Career
Stuart Aitken is one of my all-time favorite hosts/interviewers.
1. He has a Scottish accent. So there’s that.
2. More importantly, Stuart is SO engaging and such a “natural” interviewer that it comes across a just two people having a conversation and talking shop, which I dig.
This was my second appearance on the Lift the Bar Podcast and it was a pleasure to be invited back on.
And, again, for the iTunes peeps in the crowd, you can go HERE to listen/download. (episode #146)
Some are fun to do, while others make me want to voluntarily commit myself to Azkaban Prison. This most recent one I did with Vermont based strength coach, Casey Lee, definitely falls under the umbrella of the former.
I like a more casual, conversational approach. Sorta like two people hanging out and talking about whatever happens organically.
I also like chats that are short and to the point. I’m cool as shit, but no one – not even my mother – wants to listen to me talk for an hour.
This episode of “3 Things” is less than 30 minutes and Casey and I talk about everything from building a brand to dad life to Tiesto.
I had the pleasure of being invited onto the Absolute Strength Podcast with Kyle Hunt recently.
I’ve been on my fair share of podcast’s and Kyle’s built a really impressive experience. I prefer a more casual approach and one where it just comes across as two dudes talking shop, and that’s exactly the vibe Kyle invokes.
He’s had some BIG names on his show too:
Alex Viada
Jim Wendler
Steffi Cohen
Bret Contreras
Jen Thompson
Dr. Mike Israetel
Emily Schromm
Stan Efferding………………………….to name a few.
So, basically, I’m the weakest guest Kyle’s ever had on……..;o)
Anyway, we had a good ol’ fashioned bro fest the other day.
However, on a completely un-related note before I begin: My wife and I binged watched Jack Ryan over the weekend on Amazon.
As in, as soon as Julian went to bed on Fri-Sat-Sun night, I cartwheeled out of the hallway, yelled “LET’S DO THIS,” and we watched all eight episodes…like two bosses.
When I was in London this past July teaching one of my workshops one of the attendees, Adam Willis, asked if I’d be willing to be a guest on his podcast?
He noted his target audience was women who like to train.
Sold!
Our schedules finally aligned two weeks ago and you can listen to our conversation below. In it we highlight:
Why performance-based goals are impactful.
The importance of movement competency.
Assessing hips and shoulders
The idea behind 3×52 and why consistency reigns supreme.
For the Apple snobs out there you can download the episode on iTunes HERE.
It’s a doozy of an interview, coming in at close to two hours. But Ryan and I cover a plethora of topics ranging from coaching philosophy to differences between training athletes vs. general population clients to things that make us want to throw our face into a wall when we observe commercial gym shenanigans.
Sit down, relax, maybe order some delivery, and enjoy.
