Squats and Espresso

MICHEY MIDGE (Michelle Giannino) joins us this week to talk about The Arnold, and breaking down stereotypes by lifting heavy ass shit while being a tiny, adorable, lady-person. Michey was SO MUCH FUN to talk to, we got into her past life as a ballet dancer (the training, sacrifice, ups, down, eating disorders, discipline, broken feet, high art) and what took her from that world into the realm of competitive lifting. We’ll also get into competition, the frustration of lifting on the same platform as Alex Lee and Norik Vardanian (son of lifting legend Yuri Vardanian), Bubble Guppies, My Little Pony, Talenti Gelato and Poptarts (because of course Poptarts).

Chloie Jönsson joins us on the show this week to talk about the magic of poptarts, tattoos in your 30s and jumping your game by switching modalities. When your metcons aren’t creating gains, it might be time to stop wodding and just lift heavy shit for a while.We also got into the cesspool of internet comment threads, her interactions with CFHQ and becoming a representative for a community even if it wasn’t the plan.

Tiffany Hendrickson’s on the show this week to talk with us about Carbs, Muscle-Ups, Strongman and why only dummies want to be “Underground”. We get into the struggle between aesthetics and performance, the double standard female athletes need to endure and eating disorders in elite athletics. We also discuss her gymnastics background, her double shoulder dislocation, the vulnerability of posting your accomplishments on social media and why smart competitors turn into idiots when the starting bell goes off.

Train with Tiff at: http://wasatchcrossfit.com/

Jamie Hagiya joins us this week. Owner of Torrance CrossFit, NPGL competitor for the Phoenix Rise and apparent leadfoot, she talked with us about getting pulled over on the way to Arizona, the joys of turning 30 and the longevity of the Lexus. We also discussed her recovery following a ruptured achilles (no this is not a repeat podcast, that was Jennyfer Roberts, RACIST!), her past as a Pro-Baller in Greece, how CrossFit/Weightlifting competitions are exciting for 5 minutes and boring for 9 hours.

Jaime was a delight, we got to talking about the OPEN, our feelings on the programming and format changes, stalking people’s scores and how some regions simple aren’t equal.

Jennyfer Roberts talked to us about the road to recovery after injury as an elite athlete. After being drafted by the Boston Iron, Jennyfer suffered a damaged achilles and had to begin the road to recovery. Luckily she’s used her experience to become a better athlete as well as an example of getting stronger AFTER a setback. We talk about the mental and emotional toll of injury, being a guinea pig for a new sport and why weightlifters get bent out of shape when you say “Oly”. We also talk about the curse of T-REX ARMS, being a senior athlete at 13 years old and Why there 100% does NOT need to be three HOBBIT movies!

This week we scored the founder of the AWF, the creator of the Attitude Nation, he who bangs barbells, Jon F%(&ING North. Jon was cool enough to give us some of his time in between training sessions to talk about the birth of the AWF and more importantly the birth of his son Lincoln (BABY BAR-BENDER IN THE HOUSE!).

Jon talked with us about his foray into bodybuilding, the flu of conquering your goals, being a bar snob, the existential undertones of THE TRUMAN SHOW and how he coined the phrase "Money is nothing more than Freedom, Security, and Opportunity”.

WARNING: This is our first podcast featuring a baby. Those with baby related phobias listen with care.

Learn More:

http://www.theattitudenation.com/

http://www.americanweightliftingfederation.org/

This week we talk with my cousin (YES COUSIN! … RACIST!) Odeen Domingo about Fish Sauce (not racist), losing twitter followers by tweeting and the world’s cutest baby.

Later, by accident we start talking about sports.

We’ll get into Odeen’s history as a sports writer, his encounters with high level athletes (heads up, some are total dicks) and his work with CoHoots and EEKO Studio.

WARNING: HUGE GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE (no seriously, spoiler alert)

Odeen and I delve into the mindset of high end athletes when dealing with the public. What happens as they become bigger stars that makes them incapable of dealing with the public, meanwhile lower end, more humble athletes tend to value interacting with the fans that pay their salaries. Most controversially we talk out why society so quickly vilifies the use of steroids in pro sports while explaining away domestic abuse and violent crime, to the point that Fantasy Football websites now post “Indictment Reports” so that users can reset their lineups when a player gets arrested.

Oh, Derek also gets super angry and yells at the NFL for forcing him to respect TMZ for ten seconds.

We also talk about Wil Wheaton, because that guy is awesome.

Learn more and visit:

https://cohoots.com/

http://eekostudio.com/

http://www.freshwordsmarket.com/

Howdy Folks! Consider this the geekiest among all our geeky podcasts. We’ve got the adorkable Stephanie Lee of http://www.fitngeeky.tv/ and http://www.bodybuilding.com/

 about, well just a lot of stuff. We get into the lie of “just wanting to get healthy”, the differences between coaches and athletes, the virtues of aesthetic goals and the good and bad side of paleo. We’ll also have a grand ol’ time talking about Steph’s background at IGN, her gig at http://www.bodybuilding.com/ and he amazing series of videos at http://www.fitngeeky.tv/

Most fun of all, we get into eating food on a dare, bionic limbs, the virtues of Solo-Campaign vs. Multi-Player, Borderlands 2, not giving a flying fuck about next-gen consoles and strong females in fitness and video games. I had SO much fun on this one. Oh, we also talk about bikini armor, because… what the shit is that about?

Returning to the podcast is Syn Martinez of AfroBrutality, CrossFit Harlem and the newly formed caffeine empire or Afro-BREW-tality. This time we talk about the concept of being “Real Man/Woman”. We talk about the lessons you only learn from an ass-kicking, how taking care of yourself equips you to take care of others and the garbage dump that is social media. We also discuss the end of clever words on a shirt, New Jack City, the watering down of fitness apparel and why clean and snatch jokes are FUCKING OVER!

http://shop.afrobrutality.com/

This week we got to talk to Taylar Stallings of the DC Brawlers. We discuss, transitioning from powerlifting to metcons, crossfit, GRID League, why there’s no clapping in powerlifting and competing against the boys and winnings. Taylar was so much fun to talk to, she’s always on the lookout for the next challenge, admits to being an emotional athlete and is DEFINITELY NOT PALEO.

Learn more about Taylar:

http://taylarmadefitness.com/