BarBend Podcas‪t‬ BarBend

Today we're talking to professional strongman Gabriel Pena, also known online as Texas Titan Gabe. He joins the show to talk about his experiences in the sport, including his 2020 World’s Strongest Man debut. At that competition, Gabe had to make a tough, health-based call, and we dive into his thought process. We also discuss why Gabe, a native Texan, decided to represent Mexico at the 2020 World’s Strongest Man contest.

Today we're talking to Dr. Daniel Lieberman, Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Chair of Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. Dr. Lieberman is also the author of numerous books, most recently one titled “Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding.” Dr. Lieberman took time out of his busy teaching and research schedule to join us on the BarBend Podcast. We discuss why humans evolved for a very different lifestyle than we live today, and why exercise has become something many people dread while others embrace it in various forms. We also discuss which exercise modalities come most naturally to humans, and how we as a society can promote healthier living through better incentive and support structures.

Today we're talking to Mo Fürste, the founder of HYROX and one of the greatest field hockey players of all time. This interview focuses on HYROX’s growth as a fitness challenge and competition, but it’s worth calling out Mo’s impressive athletic resume beyond HYROX: he’s a three-time Olympic medalist in field hockey for Germany, including two golds, and was the International Hockey Federation World Player of the Year in 2012. Mo has leveraged his legendary sporting career into a new venture with HYROX, and today we talk about how he and his team developed that competition, why they see it as a compliment to and not competitor of CrossFit, and what the future holds for the young sport.

Today we're talking to Dave Durante, a former member of the U.S. National Gymnastics Team and one of the masterminds behind Power Monkey Fitness. Dave talks about discovering CrossFit after a storied gymnastics career, and how he and his partners came to build the annual Power Monkey weekend into what can only be described as fitness summer camp for adults. We also discuss gymnastics elements he’d most like to see in CrossFit competition, and why elite gymnasts might not be as great at freestanding handstands as many people think.

Today we're talking to Brett Ewer, Head of Government Relations at CrossFit. Brett is also a driving force behind the Community Gyms Coalition, a group of fitness industry companies and gym organizations — including CrossFit, Zumba, Orange Theory, Anytime Fitness, Jazzercise, and more — lobbying congress to provide direct relief to gyms hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In today’s special episode, Brett joins us to discuss the Coalition’s origins and what it takes to get so many different organizations united. He also explains why the Coalition is pushing for direct relief to gyms, along with the specific needs of gym owners, trainers, and fitness professionals that he believes are being missed by existing relief legislation.

Today we're talking to Josh Clemente, Founder and President of Levels, a company producing wearable tech so users can track blood glucose in real time to maximize diet and exercise results. It’s a new company, and after a $12 million fundraise, they’re already in use by top pro athletes and are even making waves in the strength sports community. Josh is a veteran of both SpaceX and Hyperloop One, and his background is in designing life support systems for the next generation of space exploration. In today’s episode, we discuss how that work inspired Josh to found Levels, why metabolic responses can vary so differently from one person to the next even with the same food, and what this means for actionable insights into strength and performance.