The author of the bestselling diet book The Weigh Down, Gwen Shamblin, appeared on national TV talk shows and sold her weight loss philosophy to people across America. Especially churchgoers. By 1999, she had essentially started her own Tennessee church (or cult depending on your point of view). Her background as a nutritionist brought some actual common sense to the diet, but when she put herself forward as a prophet who equated devotion to diet as devotion to God she stepped into dangerous and manipulative territory. We take a close look at part one of the five part HBO Max docu-series about this religious diet cult and discuss how elements of popular diet movements leave participants open to being controlled and taken advantage of. Why are people so eager to believe? Why do some diet gurus make a heel turn into being cult leaders? And what qualifies as a cult anyway? Watch the trailer for The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin here. Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP! Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald.  

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In this mini-episode, we share are thoughts and experiences with lifting in home gyms versus commercial gyms.  The pandemic forced a lot of people into home gym situations. Some people hated it, while others joined the ranks of long-time home gym lovers What’s missing when you lift at home? And what makes it better than lifting away from home? We’re joined on the panel by Dean Saddoris of Caffeine and Kilos, and our gym manager, Kyle Castro. You can find Dean on Instagram @deansaddoris.ck, and at caffeineandkilos.com. Kyle’s at @kyle.castroo. You can check out the video version of this episode on Mike’s channel here: Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP! Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald.

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To what extent is “canceling” someone in 2021 just a way to take someone off the board? Does intent matter? And can people really be educated/rehabilitated? We take a look at the recent scandal around former Raiders’ head coach/GM John Gruden’s emails and his hurried resignation. We kick it off with a discussion history of using nonsense words in music, and we’re led down the rabbit hole on a site with the Myers Briggs personality profiles of celebrities. Listener resources: September by Earth Wind and Fire. Explanation of Myers Briggs types. Take your own Myers Briggs You can check out the video version of this episode here. Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP! Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald.

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Welcome to another short Friday episode of the show we’re now calling “Topic Thunder with the Gossip Boyz” (subject to change). In this episode, we discuss not so much whether organic food is better but whether we should pay any attention to “influencers” on either side of the issue. We’re joined on the panel by Dean Saddoris of Caffeine and Kilos, and our gym manager, Kyle Castro. You can find Dean on Instagram @deansaddoris.ck, and at caffeineandkilos.com. Kyle’s at @kyle.castroo. You can check out the video version of this episode on Mike’s channel here: Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald.

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Dipping back into a kind of causal series we’ve been doing about common words are phrases that we use all the time, but we may not entirely understand: Do you really want someone to “break a leg?” Does “getting the upper hand” have anything to do with a knob? Why is a “master of none” sometimes a good thing? Does “sleep tight” have anything with cutting your guest some slack? Is “close but no cigar” somehow about carnivals? Is there slapping involved with being “brand spanking new?” We kick off the episode with some discussion of news reports about the identity of the Zodiac Killer, and murder mystery vs. true crime. Our friend and gym member Dan Storniuolo joins us for the hell of it. You can find Dan on Instagram @stormcloud415. Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP! Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald.

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Welcome to another short Friday episode of the panel discussion segment we’re now calling “Topic Thunder with the Gossip Boyz” (subject to change). In this episode, we take on the “No Fap” trend which has guys (and maybe girls?) give up masturbation in order to gain more focus, get stronger, etc. We’re joined on the panel by Dean Saddoris of Caffeine and Kilos, and our gym manager, Kyle Castro. You can find Dean on Instagram @deansaddoris.ck, and at caffeineandkilos.com. Kyle’s at @kyle.castroo. You can check out the video version of this episode on Mike’s channel here: https://youtu.be/NUp_FhMxI3c Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP! Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald.

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Hey, powerlifting-specific content! We asked one of our gym members who had just competed in his first meet, the USAPL California State Championships, to talk about the experience. We also share our personal experiences and best practices. What should your last week of training look like? Do you need a handler? How should you warm up? Who do you give your attempts to? What should you eat? How do you keep your concentration during the meet day chaos? You can find Sebastian on Instagram @sebastian_brambila. You can check out the video version here: https://youtu.be/nE-yaTwl_rA Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP! Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald.

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We wanted to share a side project that we’re working on. It’s a panel show that mostly relies on opinions – some outrageous, some insightful, and some just well…funny. All packed into roughly ten minutes. We’re joined on the panel by Dean Saddoris of Caffeine and Kilos, and our gym manager, Kyle Castro. You can find Dean on Instagram @deansaddoris.ck, and at caffeineandkilos.com. Kyle’s at @kyle.castroo. In this episode, we discuss to what extent people workout to attracted attention from the opposite sex…or respect from the same sex (or vice versa). You can check out the video version of this episode on Mike’s channel here: https://youtu.be/tmqAbRUITjo Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP! Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/50-facts--5538735/support.

We spend a couple of episodes talking about a couple of high profile (in their sports) transgender athletes through the lens of documentaries about their lives: “Transformer” about the life of powerlifter/bodybuilder Janae Kroczaleski, and “Untold: Caitlyn Jenner” about the 1976 US Olympic Decathlon gold medal winner. Most people did not know either was transgender when they were at the peak of their careers and they were held up as heroic male icons. In part two, we discuss the impact their gender identity struggles may have had on their competitive success. It’s probably not necessary to have seen the documentaries before listening, but we encourage you to anyway. Jim and Mike appear in an early pivotal scene in “Transformer.” Dean Saddoris of Caffeine and Kilos joins us in our review and reaction to these films. You can find Dean on Instagram @deansaddoris.ck, and at caffeineandkilos.com. Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP! Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald. Theme by Aaron Moore.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/50-facts--5538735/support.

We spend a couple of episodes talking about a couple of high profile (in their sports) transgender athletes through the lens of documentaries about their lives: “Transformer” about the life of powerlifter/bodybuilder Janae Kroczaleski, and “Untold: Caitlyn Jenner” about the 1976 US Olympic Decathlon gold medal winner. Most people did not know either was transgender when they were at the peak of their careers and they were held up as heroic male icons. In part one, we focused mostly on contrasting what we knew of these athletes going in with how they are portrayed in the documentaries, how they became involved in their sports, and the roles their friends and families played as they began to publicly cope with their gender identities. We discuss their similarities…and their sharp contrasts. In part two, we discuss the impact their gender identity struggles may have had on their competitive success. It’s probably not necessary to have seen the documentaries before listening, but we encourage you to anyway. Jim and Mike appear in an early pivotal scene in “Transformer.” Dean Saddoris of Caffeine and Kilos joins us in our review and reaction to these films. You can find Dean on Instagram @deansaddoris.ck, and at caffeineandkilos.com. Check out our gym (Third Street Barbell) at ThirdStreetBarbell.com and subscribe for updates about our apparel line at 3sb.co! Local memberships and international fresh fits! Get early access to our NEXT DROP! Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd). Produced by Jim McDonald Production assistance by Sam McDonald. Theme by Aaron Moore.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/50-facts--5538735/support.