Today I’m talking to trainer, writer, and speaker Andrew Coates. I met Andrew in person about a month ago at Strong New York, but he’s been on my radar for years. Andrew has built a following online and also contributes to some of the biggest publications in fitness, including — you guessed it — BarBend. In this episode, Andrew gives his playbook for building an online fitness following and talks about how to separate influencer hype from real, valuable fitness knowledge. I hope you enjoy.

Before we get into that, I want to give a quick shoutout to today’s episode sponsor, Thirdzy. Thirdzy’s PM Recovery Collagen is formulated to help you sleep deeper and recover faster. It’s got collagen peptides to support muscle, bone, and ligament health, plus sleep-promoters like magnesium, L-theanine, and tryptophan to help you fall asleep and stay asleep for better recovery. I’m personally a huge fan of magnesium before bed to help with relaxation. Wake up feeling energized and ready for the day and training ahead. Use code BarBendZzz — that’s BarBend with three Zs after it — for 25% off today. 



How to Build a Fitness Following (w/Andrew Coates)

Learn from the top athletes, coaches, and influencers in strength! Each week, the BarBend Podcast brings together some of the world's biggest strength names across weightlifting, powerlifting, CrossFit, strongman, and more. BarBend Editor and Co-Founder David Thomas Tao sits down with the strength community's smartest and strongest minds to with a focus on their learnings through training, competition, and coaching. We dive deep on their journeys and where strength training has taken them. World record holders share their competition secrets. Coaches give their most underrated tips. And top thinkers and researchers from the realm of strength science go deep on their most promising findings. This podcast is the perfect companion for experts and beginners alike, covering a wide range of topics to keep listeners up to date on the world of strength.

Sports

Nutrition

Fitness

Health & Fitness

Today I'm speaking with Joe Daniels, better known as Swing This Kettlebell on social media. Joe has a varied athletic background, but in recent years he's focused on kettlebell training across a variety of methods. We dive into his experience and bust some myths are kettlebells, hypertrophy, and functional training.

How to Build Muscle with Kettlebells (w/Joe Daniels)

Today I'm talking to weightlifter and coach Zachary Huse. Zack is in an interesting position: he's an active weightlifter in the superheavyweight category, and he's also a coach with an increasingly accomplished roster of athletes. Is it possible to excel at both points in your weightlifting career? How does he balance coaching at competitions while often competing on the same platform (albeit after most of his athletes)? And what are the most exciting developments in USA Weightlifting competition? There are lessons here for all strength athletes, and I hope you enjoy!

Balancing Life As an Athlete and Coach (w/Zachary Huse)

Here's one from the archives (we're back with new episodes next week!). Today we're wrapping up our mini-series with elite strongwoman athletes. Hanna Coldiron is the 2021 world's 7th strongest woman under 64kg, and she's looking to better that result later in 2022. Hanna wears a lot of hats: athlete and contest promoter, in addition to working a full time job outside of strength athletics. She also got her start in CrossFit (a bit like multi-time World's Strongest Man competitor Rob Kearney), and hearing her take on transitioning sports was eye-opening. If you've ever wanted to hear from a top strongman competitor in the lighter bodyweight categories — or are considering getting involved in the sport yourself — this is a great episode to listen to all the way through!

BarBend Classic: Should CrossFitters Switch to Strongman? (w/Hanna Coldiron)

Today we have a first of its kind episode in BarBend Podcast history, because it's the first time we've ever had both members of a married couple on the show! We're talking to weightlifter, kettlebell specialist, and trainer Rebecca Rouse. Her husband — Joel Del Rosario — appeared on the podcast about two years ago! I sat down with Rebecca to talk about training in kettlebells and building a following there, making the transition to weightlifting, and tips for finding new coaches and training centers when you travel around or move frequently.

Listen to our episode with Joel here.

From Gymnastics to Kettlebells to Weightlifting (with Rebecca Rouse)

Today I'm talking to author Alyssa Ages, who recently released a book called Secrets of Giants: A Journey to Uncover the True Meaning of Strength. She's also a strength athlete herself, and in this book, she spoke with dozens of people around the strength community: lifters, writers, journalists, even organizers, etc. It's a look into how strength impacts our lives and how it can push us past our barriers in all aspects of society. And here's the fun part: I'm actually quoted a couple times in the book! This is the exact sort of book and journey listeners of this podcast will love.

How to Build a Fitness Following (w/Andrew Coates)

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