Latest / Off the Bench - London / I Signed Up to Fight… It Changed My Life

Transcript

I Signed Up to Fight… It Changed My Life · Off the Bench - London

0:02
And gentlemen, allow us to reintroduce your hosts,
0:08
Malcolm the Milkman Noel and Scott the Visionary
0:15
Home. This is the show where life and sports
0:20
collide. Monday night lights and the ball comes
0:24
alive. The base getting loud while the fans all
0:27
arrive. From the rink to the field to the court
0:29
where it's live. Breaking down the plays while
0:31
we rock. We'll be right back. What up? Hey, what's
1:29
going on? Oh, you know, just living the dream.
1:32
Drinking this Mountain Dew. Are we sponsored
1:35
yet? I feel like we're working for it. I think
1:37
we're working to get it. We're close. I like
1:40
it. You know, Mountain Dew. We got the Pepsi
1:42
branding right there. You know, maybe they'll
1:45
sponsor us for a fight before it's too late.
1:48
They could. They very well could. Or Coke could
1:53
come in and swoop in and steal us. Just saying.
1:57
We're free agents as of now. I love being a free
2:00
agent, though. It's not a bad thing. Yeah. But
2:03
actually. So as we're recording this, this is
2:06
the same week as the NFL draft. Yes. So I know
2:11
this episode is going to come after the draft,
2:13
unfortunately. It will, so we can get all of
2:15
our horrible... We might do another one that's
2:19
just the draft. We might. If we can fit it in
2:21
our schedule, we'll try to do a reaction draft.
2:26
Yeah. Either Saturday, Sunday. We can probably
2:29
figure some time. We can do it possibly Thursday.
2:31
Possibly draft night after... That's some boxing.
2:35
We'll see. We'll see how beat up we are. It's
2:37
true. It's true. There's a lot going on. How's
2:39
your week, though? I haven't seen you. It's been
2:41
busy. I haven't seen you this week, and I came
2:44
back. I know. I know. I went a little hard on
2:50
Tuesday, or last Tuesday. And I was feeling,
2:58
because it's like old injuries. When you go too
3:00
hard, it starts to flare up a little bit. They
3:02
usually linger. And that's when I was like, I
3:05
want to make sure I'm not overdoing it. Yep.
3:08
Because now we're, because my fight's two weeks
3:11
out. Three. Yeah, three for you, two for me.
3:15
Yep. There's no time for setbacks at this point.
3:18
That's fair, that's fair. So now I think I'm
3:21
going to try and focus just more on repetition,
3:25
trying to like not go crazy. Because at this
3:28
point, any like certain things aren't going to
3:31
really help. Oh, true, true, true. I think right
3:34
now, for me, it's coming back and, like... Getting
3:39
that mindset. It's the mindset, but, like, it's
3:41
a change of pace. Because, like, I'm training
3:44
at Boomers and I'm training at MPT. Yeah. And
3:47
it's at different levels. Yeah. Boomers has a
3:50
certain style of how they coach and MPT has a
3:52
certain style that they coach. Training at Boomers,
3:54
training at MPT, fighting at Bushido. Oh, yeah.
3:57
Just... Worldly man. Worldly. World tour. So
4:01
I'm trying to do all that and trying to get,
4:03
like, the experience. And since I haven't been
4:06
to MBT, a lot of people forgot my style or how
4:10
I approach it. So we kind of did a little bit
4:12
of sparring and people were caught off guard
4:15
because they're like, that's not the Malcolm
4:16
we'd known two years ago or a year ago. Yeah,
4:20
because, like, you get into that fight mindset
4:22
and, like, now you're more into it because, like,
4:25
once you had a solidified opponent, that isn't
4:30
Telsitas, you can kind of focus more and dial
4:34
it in. Yeah. But we can talk all we want about
4:37
me and our fight style. And you're wrestling.
4:43
Well, hopefully you go back to the gym tomorrow.
4:45
Oh, I will. Yeah, I'll be good. I'm good. You
4:48
know, we always have an extra seat available.
4:52
So, you know, I think it's time for us to fill
4:55
it. Yeah. So I think we'd like to invite our
4:58
guest on. What up? What up? How you doing? How
5:05
we doing? Thanks for joining us. Thank you for
5:07
having me on. It's nice to see you again. It's
5:10
been a minute. It's been, what, three years now?
5:13
Two years? Yeah, three years. 2023, yeah. That's
5:15
when we first met. Holy cow. It's been three
5:18
years. You guys haven't seen each other since
5:22
then? Well, I mean, we still, like, kind of touch
5:24
and touch. Yeah. Yes, that was yeah, so it's
5:38
been two years since we've seen each other I
5:41
feel like going to that next foot like the second
5:43
fight Dan was what you caught you the bug Like
5:47
between that and I'll see this kind of being
5:49
like hey, come on. Come on. Come on You're like
5:51
I gotta get back into this Before we go down
5:56
the rabbit hole, I'm Malcolm the Milkman. Scott
5:58
the Visionary Hone. You can tell, actually. That
6:01
was my fight name at the fight to end. That was
6:06
my fight name at the gym. Okay, okay. Damn. Now,
6:11
how are you? I'm well. I'm well, yeah. Been busy.
6:15
You know, still training, still lifting. Yeah,
6:18
I've just been busy. That's fair. Yeah. That's
6:22
fair. So how do we know each other? Let's get
6:26
into it. Let's get into it. Yeah, that's why
6:30
we're part of the same flight class, I guess.
6:34
Flight class, yeah. Yeah, that's a good way of
6:36
saying it. Flight class. So in 2023, we both
6:39
signed up for the same event. And we actually
6:44
ended up being each other's flying partners.
6:46
Yes. Yeah. Yes. It was that or this this is your
6:50
fault No, no, no, no Yes, yeah a huge shout out
7:01
to boomers huge shout out to boomers But yeah,
7:05
no. Yeah, because it was like and dario. Yeah
7:07
No, so we had to do now there is yeah and It's
7:17
such a big difference. Fighting against someone...
7:20
When you can train with at least similar height
7:25
to the person you're fighting, you're at least
7:27
aiming in the right spot. I'm trying to think
7:30
of who else was there. There was Shane. Yeah,
7:35
McCarty, I think. That's his name. Suave? Oh,
7:39
wait, no. He's the guy that made the Drago roller.
7:44
Yes. Oh, those things are sick. He was the only
7:47
other guy that, like, was, like, at the time.
7:50
True. True. Then you had, like, well, you had
7:54
the other class members of, like, you know, Rory
7:57
Mitchell, your opponent. Yeah. So, like, they
8:02
were of the same height level. And then if you
8:05
wanted to, like, practice, Dario was at least
8:07
taller than us, so it made us at least punch
8:10
up and so forth. But, yeah. Yeah, 2023 was our
8:14
flight class. Honestly, very, very fun experience.
8:18
I'm still very glad that I did it. For the 15
8:23
weeks that they put us under the gun there, I
8:25
think they did a very good job. Okay. How did
8:29
you get involved in that to begin with? Where
8:32
do you work? Well, I mean, I don't work there
8:35
anymore, but at the time, and I believe they
8:37
are still like a big part of the community. Mm
8:41
-hmm. Okay, gotcha. I was working at the time
8:43
in property management. Okay. That is still my
8:46
current job. I am working somewhere else now
8:48
as a property manager. But, yeah, it was through
8:51
there because the previous year, my boss, Brandy,
8:56
she did fight to end. And then the year after
9:00
that, she was walking by my office one day. Then
9:03
she popped her head in and was like, when's anyone
9:05
going to fight? Did she just challenge you to
9:08
fight in the office? I mean, she looked at me
9:11
really intensely, like, you know you want to,
9:13
like, try it, right? And I'm like, okay, yeah,
9:15
like, I've never boxed before, but, like, I kind
9:17
of do. Right. So it wasn't very hard to get her
9:21
to at least throw my name into the hat. Fair.
9:24
At least apply for it. Fair. I'm very happy that
9:27
I did it. That's good. That's kind of the cool
9:29
experience, though, because, like, once you've
9:31
done it, you're, like, you're kind of, like,
9:33
looking at other people, you know, like, hey,
9:35
you're, like. athletic and like you look like
9:39
you would love doing it yeah but most people
9:41
have never had the opportunity to jump in a ring
9:44
or will never have the opportunity to jump in
9:46
a ring because it's such a different experience
9:48
than like when you can show someone like I really
9:53
enjoyed doing this I think you would enjoy it
9:55
yeah that's right and it's kind of like that
9:57
shared experience and then no yeah for sure and
10:01
like it's like the other like fun things you
10:03
get to do with it right it's like for us It was,
10:06
like, 15 weeks of intense training, but finding
10:10
ways to, like, talk to people to get donations.
10:13
And, like, that's the cool thing. Like, for us,
10:15
like, we're kind of doing our own thing. Like,
10:17
can you stand up and, like, go closer to the
10:19
camera? Because you have your fight shirt. I
10:21
do. All right. Like, okay, so we got the team
10:27
off the bench. And then we got my face on the
10:30
back. Right? It's looking good. Right? So. Who
10:35
doesn't want a shirt with my face on it? Hey,
10:37
it's a great way to support us. Because, like,
10:40
you know, when we were doing it, it was a class
10:43
of 2023. There was a podcast that was doing it
10:47
at the time called Going for Two. Yeah. Oh, yes,
10:51
I remember that. And then, unfortunately, it
10:53
ended up just being one of them getting a match
10:56
because the other one ended up getting cut because
10:59
his opponent, unfortunately, didn't meet the
11:01
weight. Yeah. Which sucks. I thought you meant
11:05
he got cut, like, in training. Well, he got cut
11:07
in training because his opponent couldn't meet
11:09
weight. No, I meant, like, physically cut. Oh,
11:11
no, no, no. No. But, so, like, that's cool things.
11:14
But, like, you, you have Sifton, which is, like,
11:18
a huge donation for that charity boxing event.
11:21
Yeah. Well, I did still have to do a lot of,
11:24
like, work on my own. Okay. Oh, so you didn't
11:27
get, like, pushed. They matched whatever I ended
11:30
up bringing in. Oh! Which was honestly still,
11:33
like, a really, really big help. I mean, also
11:36
it went towards a good cause. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:38
Amazing, amazing. But, yeah, like, before they
11:41
even matched it, though, I still had to do a
11:43
lot of the, like, what did need, like, at least
11:45
the minimum requirements for the donation. And,
11:48
yeah, I had to, like, yeah, I did have a lot
11:51
of help from family and friends who also loved
11:53
what I was doing. But also, yeah, I did have
11:56
to do a little bit of extra work to help. I got
11:59
you. Now, during the training, what was going
12:03
through your head? Were you enjoying, like, was
12:06
this the first time you've done martial arts
12:08
or combat sport? Generally, yeah. So, I mean,
12:12
like, in high school, like, I... Oh, you were
12:15
a shoe fighter, weren't you? Oh, no. I have some,
12:18
like, very limited experience with combat sports.
12:22
I did a little bit of wrestling in high school
12:24
gym. Never competitively, but, like, it was,
12:26
like, a recreational activity that I did cover,
12:28
like, during, like, gym class. So stepping into
12:32
boxing, having never really fought anyone or
12:36
thrown a punch in a heavy bag before, I'm like,
12:39
oh wow, this is new. And immediately, as soon
12:42
as that first week would mark, I'm like, this
12:45
is the most flooding I've ever had. This is the
12:48
most I've ever had. I get you, I get you. So
12:52
before fight to end, had you been punched in
12:54
the face before? No, never. Sheesh! you're like
12:59
that's one of those like i'm not saying telling
13:01
everyone to go get punched but like yeah yeah
13:05
exactly and the first time it happened i'm like
13:07
oh that's this is how it's gonna be like yeah
13:10
but sometimes you build it up in your head and
13:12
you think it's gonna be way worse than it is
13:14
it was it actually wasn't like i didn't get flopped
13:18
like right away which i think is like a surprise
13:20
onto itself because like like when you're like
13:22
like observing on tv and watching like professional
13:25
boxing you're like dang like i just get rocked
13:28
Yeah. But also at the same time, though, the
13:30
guys that were also thinking most of the time
13:32
are also around the same level. Yeah. That being
13:35
said, though, getting punched in the face is
13:37
still fun. Yeah. I'm not saying it's super fun.
13:41
I'm not suggesting someone gets punched in the
13:44
face. But I do think it is an experience that
13:47
everyone should have in their life at some point.
13:49
To a degree. Yeah, to a degree. Depending on
13:51
the level. As long as it's safe. Yeah. You know
13:54
what I mean? Actually, like, Thinking about that,
13:58
one of my fondest memories of Fight to End was
14:02
the one Saturday where you and I were sparring
14:05
for an hour straight. Just the two of us. It
14:09
was in August or something like that. Yeah. So
14:12
we were sparring for an hour straight. Just the
14:15
two of you. Just us two. I still think I have
14:19
photos of it. Because Steph was there to actually
14:22
witness it and get the whole experience. You
14:24
were just doing like... Round, break, round,
14:27
break. A little bit more of a break. And it was
14:29
just continuously for an hour. And then who was
14:33
that one guy who came in after the hour, did
14:36
one round with me, and got knocked out of the
14:38
ring and was done? I know who you're talking
14:42
about. Who do you mean he got knocked out of
14:46
the ring? I love it. I love it. Fly, Eagles,
14:49
fly. So we were doing sparring for about an hour.
14:55
And it was intense. And we're still learning,
15:01
right? So we're hitting each other. We're exhausted.
15:05
But we're trying to get that cardio, right? At
15:09
least you're doing it at the same time because
15:11
then both of you are exhausted. The idea behind
15:13
it was like, hey, if we can just make it for
15:15
eight rounds, then three rounds on actual fight
15:18
day. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yes, it was awful
15:28
and then but I still had like a little bit left
15:31
in the tank at the end of it to do a sparring
15:33
Session with the guy who showed up late and I
15:35
can't I wish I could remember his name Yeah Great
15:40
guy. Great guy. He lived out of town. Yeah Owned
15:44
a business on Wellington. I could tell you all.
15:47
Rode a bike. You know, had a GoPro during training.
15:50
Or a 360 camera. I could tell you all that information.
15:54
This is the epitome of a guy relationship. Yes.
15:57
You're like, I could tell you all these things,
15:59
but I could not tell you his name or anything.
16:02
And when I see him, his name's going to pop up.
16:07
It's that bartender mentality that we also have,
16:10
right? Well, I remember faces. I don't always
16:12
remember names. But he came in. We did one round
16:14
and knocked him out of the ring by literally
16:17
I punched him. And it was a light punch. But
16:21
he wasn't ready for it because we've been like
16:23
training for an hour. So we're blocking, parrying.
16:26
Yeah, you're all warmed up. We're all warmed
16:28
up. And I punched him. It hit him. And he went
16:32
between the ropes and fell on the ground. Oh.
16:34
yikes yeah i can attest to that that's a long
16:38
fall right and it's just like oh i'm sorry like
16:41
and then he ended up getting injured but he still
16:43
was able to fight he still fight yeah he still
16:45
fought he still made it to fight day yeah but
16:48
it was it was intense and like that's one of
16:51
my fondest memories is like sparring you yeah
16:53
because it was like you were the right height
16:55
we had like the straight same strength level
16:59
yeah same knowledge so it was great I definitely
17:03
felt like having you as a squad partner throughout
17:06
these weeks. We did develop a sort of chemistry
17:09
there because you knew what 70 % was versus like,
17:13
okay, let's drop it to LinkedIn or something
17:15
like that. Or maybe we're towards the end. We're
17:17
like, okay, we got some left. Let's do that sort
17:21
of thing. We didn't really have to speak too
17:25
much on that. You're both just going at the same
17:29
pace. You get in, one guy's going lighter, and
17:32
the other guy's like, okay, we're going light.
17:33
It's fine. Yeah. And it was like a brothership
17:37
bond. Yeah. It was honestly great. And, you know,
17:41
I think I attest my win to trading with you.
17:45
Yeah. You know what I mean? I attest my survival.
17:50
Okay, I mean, spoiler to those of you who don't
17:54
know. Yeah, I ended up taking, you know, my fight.
17:58
It was still a very fun. It was a great fight
18:00
to watch, though. It was a great fight. Eric,
18:02
still three years later, that was the most fun
18:05
I've ever had. Shout out to Eric. I haven't seen
18:09
him in forever, too. Like, I saw him, like, a
18:12
year later at the media launch party for the
18:16
other class. But and last he told me he was working
18:21
like some sort of security job like that for
18:23
him. Fair. Oh damn. I don't know if he's around
18:25
down here much anymore, but I mean, hopefully
18:27
he's doing well. Yeah, for sure. Honestly, it's
18:31
like when we were, when I was talking about like
18:33
in a few like other episodes about how like the,
18:36
the community aspect of like the camp that you
18:39
do, especially at like this age, people a lot
18:42
of the time say the older you get, it's hard
18:45
to make friends. It's true. Right. But like,
18:48
with the fight camp that we've done, with our
18:50
podcast. It's crazy because the amount of connections
18:53
that we're making, we can also be making long
18:56
-time friends. Yeah. Like, I haven't talked to
19:00
you in, well, okay, I haven't seen you in two
19:03
years, three years, we can say it either or.
19:05
But you've been doing a lot of, like, a lot of
19:08
lifting out there. Yeah. So, is the strength
19:12
still on par? No, no, no, no. This man. Oh, this
19:16
man probably out, like, outlifts me. I've developed
19:20
some physical strength in other avenues post
19:22
fight day. Okay, okay. So, do tell. Do tell.
19:25
Let us know. Okay. Well, I mean, it wasn't, like,
19:28
necessarily it happened, like, right after. Because,
19:30
like, going into fight to end, like, I was always,
19:33
like, big into gym. Always big into physical
19:35
fitness. Yeah. Like, I'd say, like. Since, like,
19:38
high school. After Fight to End happened, I did
19:43
still keep up with, like, going to the gym after
19:46
the worst part. Yep, I saw you a few times. I
19:48
was there in and out. But that was also around
19:51
the same time where I really started to dive
19:53
headfirst into raw powerlifting, which is the
19:56
main sport that I do right now. Okay. Kind of
20:00
got you back into, like, going hard for competing.
20:06
For, like, a competition kind of thing? Yeah,
20:09
so, I mean, around, like, this time, like, I
20:11
started, like, I mean, sport is still going on,
20:14
but around, like, this time, I'd say, like, sport
20:16
had really started to, like, kind of grow, like,
20:18
overall. Right. I started watching a lot of,
20:21
like... i don't know if necessarily you guys
20:24
might know this but like i did uh like just a
20:26
bit weird of going into the ipf worlds and all
20:28
that stuff uh this is also around the same time
20:31
where sheffield started to become a really big
20:33
thing just watching like people just lift like
20:36
crazy weights like squat like six seven hundred
20:38
pounds i can barely squat myself yeah so uh like
20:45
post uh post fight to end going into 2024 that's
20:48
when i just started Now when you don't have had
20:54
first is like did you just go to the gym to start
20:56
training yourself? Or did you hire a coach or
20:58
did you join a special gym that specialized on
21:02
that? Yeah, so I mean like I like to start in
21:05
terms of like dining at first like I really like
21:07
I already had like a coach at the time but uh
21:10
once i like once i was done with the whole boxing
21:13
business and all that stuff uh i spoke to my
21:15
coach and said like hey i really want to start
21:17
being focused into it so it became more than
21:20
just like lifting weights it also came more about
21:22
like like eating right that sort of thing yeah
21:24
i'm getting right out of sleep like not being
21:28
as stressed as time specifically or not that
21:30
also affects you as well yes um but uh yeah like
21:34
once i like started dialing all that I think
21:38
my last year was probably my best year so far
21:41
in terms of... So I went to... Like, my best
21:47
competition ever was... The powerlifting was
21:50
Ontario Potentials, where I placed third. Woo!
21:54
Yeah. Well, excuse me, sir. Yeah. Jeez. It is,
21:59
sir. It is definitely, like... I mean, I think
22:06
I just happen to get lucky that way because if
22:08
you were to look at the guys who are in second
22:10
or first, they'll really do this wrong. Okay.
22:13
Okay. But, yeah. All right. So, what gym are,
22:18
like, is the gym that you focus on, you know,
22:20
you're lifting in London? Yeah. So, I go to Olympic
22:23
strength in London here. Where is that? It's
22:27
like this. It's like across from the Chick -fil
22:32
-A. Yeah. Okay. Oh, so it's like, it must be
22:37
new -ish. It's new -ish. Yeah. Alec opened the
22:40
gym up, like, towards the start of last year.
22:44
Okay. Did you get poached to go there? No, actually,
22:49
like, at the time, I was still training at Showtime,
22:51
which is, like, a bodybuilding gym over on Bathurst
22:54
Street, like, next to the rail station. But,
22:58
like, once Alec opened that... Oh, Showtime.
23:01
Okay. I haven't been in the actual gym facility
23:05
of Showtime, but I've been upstairs in their
23:08
office. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. They
23:12
have their own podcast as well in the city. Yeah.
23:15
Okay. But, like, that facility upstairs is stunning.
23:20
Yeah. I have seen it myself, too. Ian's put a
23:23
lot of work into it. And, like, I even thought
23:25
of, like, having our podcast actually record
23:28
there, but I didn't want to have the same. Yeah.
23:33
And, you know, with going for two, giving this
23:35
up, this became our home. Yeah. So from Showtime
23:40
to going to there. Yeah. All right. So then you
23:44
were able to dial in. So like at Mythic. Basically,
23:49
powerlifting, you don't compete with regular
23:51
athletes that you might see in martial arts games.
23:53
They use actual calibrated kilogram weights.
23:57
They're a lot thinner. The plates start at, well,
24:03
I guess the max plates I typically would buy
24:06
are like 25 kilos, which is about 55 pounds when
24:09
you do versions. A little bit heavier than your
24:12
standard 45 -25. right uh but yeah like everything
24:16
in there we click it's all competition grade
24:18
um and like everything you could possibly need
24:22
if you want to get into the sport is like for
24:24
me that was like the perfect environment for
24:27
me yeah no kidding makes total sense really like
24:35
that takes so much dedication because like you
24:38
just have to be constantly going in there like
24:42
every day i'm sure you look you probably lift
24:44
every day well i uh i train about four days a
24:47
week okay okay usually uh because like between
24:50
like heavy sessions um recovery is probably like
24:54
yeah fair true yeah okay so you were talking
24:58
about how you dialed in and you know you switched
25:01
gyms the one thing that caught my ear was your
25:05
diet yeah how does how does one focus their diet
25:08
in powerlifting? Because, like, when we think
25:11
of dieting or focusing on your diet when it comes
25:14
to, like, training for boxing, you know, it can
25:17
range whether it's, like, you're trying to lose
25:18
weight, trying to gain weight. Yeah. But for
25:21
you guys, like, you're exerting so much power
25:25
in lifting. Yeah. And, like, is it mostly focused
25:29
on, like, a protein diet? Or is it more focused
25:33
on, like, greens or... Or, like, you know, focusing
25:38
on, like, intense creatine levels or, like. Picturing
25:43
a lot of chicken. Yeah. Well, I mean, it can
25:45
be a lot of chicken. Or beef. Yeah. The one thing
25:50
that I will, like, distinguish between, like,
25:51
my diet and, like, something that's on the body.
25:53
But, like, bodybuilding diets are far and away
25:56
a lot more stricter and more, like. Oh, yeah.
25:59
For sure. That's not to say, like, with powerlifting,
26:03
like, you can, like. eat get away with like being
26:06
sloppy because ultimately if you eat sloppy then
26:09
you're also gonna perform yeah uh that being
26:12
said though like when it comes to what i typically
26:15
in a day uh i definitely like to focus more on
26:19
like maximizing protein and carbs for sure yeah
26:23
uh because like protein is ultimately like the
26:25
building block for like muscle but carbs are
26:27
also what's closing as well And when you're pushing,
26:30
like, up to 10 days, day in and day out, like,
26:33
every week, your body is definitely going to
26:36
reach in, you know, having carbs available. Oh,
26:39
for sure. Yeah. That's for sure. Now, do you,
26:43
like, intake, what's your morning diet, like,
26:48
so what's your morning breakfast, what's your
26:51
lunch, what's your dinner, what's your snacks?
26:53
I want to know. You know what I mean? Okay, so
26:57
probably, i mean i will i will say uh probably
27:02
when i scare my roommates the most okay my breakfast
27:06
because like when they see me in the morning
27:08
they're like oh damn like you make stuff with
27:10
me i'm like no like this ted egg omelet is for
27:13
me stop yeah stop so much i do like to make cheese
27:21
omelets so yeah like a little bit in that there
27:24
just a little bit of cheese I mean, a cup sounds
27:30
ridiculous, but then when you compare that, like
27:32
add that to 10 eggs, it's like. It's like a loaf.
27:42
My man. My man. Hash brown slap. All day. All
27:58
day. Do you, okay. What are you cooking with?
28:00
Are you cooking with like coconut oil? Ghee?
28:03
Like what's your oil of choice when you're making
28:06
this 10 pound or 10 egg omelet? Okay. Okay. Keep
28:13
it in light. Just a light breakfast. When it
28:23
comes to lunch, it's a little bit more straightforward.
28:25
It'll just be, like, you know, like, ground beef
28:27
and rice or, like, grilled chicken. Right. That
28:29
sort of thing. I do like to, like, switch it
28:31
up because, like, if I just start with chicken.
28:34
Yeah. Oh. You get sick of it? Yeah. You get sick
28:38
of it so quick. I feel like that's what people
28:41
don't understand with powerlifting. Like, it's
28:43
so much eating. Yeah, it is. Like, in order to
28:46
push all of that weight and be that size, gain
28:49
the muscle you need without losing. weight and
28:53
losing muscle because you're burning so many
28:55
calories. It's not like bodybuilding, but still,
28:58
you've got to eat. Yeah. People appreciate it.
29:00
That's the thing that you don't realize. You're
29:03
like, oh, I've got some time. Unless you're trying
29:07
to focus on being on a deficit. So your body
29:10
eats up the fat. That's in your system. Yeah.
29:13
But even just maintaining when you're late. It's
29:15
like the same thing with swimmers. Like when
29:19
they're... They're burning so many calories.
29:22
They're, like, in order for them to just maintain,
29:25
like, you have to eat a ton. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
29:31
Damn. Now, are you also taking creatine? Are
29:34
you also taking... I am, actually, yeah. Okay.
29:36
I mean, typically, like, most of the time, I've
29:38
been sticking to, like, 5 or 10 grams. When I
29:41
started training for Strongman, I jumped it up
29:43
to like... Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're getting ahead
29:46
of ourselves. We were just talking about power.
29:48
Are you doing Strongman now? I guess I am. Originally,
29:52
I know we're jumping ahead here. There's no ahead
29:56
here. It's all tangents all the time. Boom! Originally,
30:01
at the start of the year, Strongman was just
30:03
going to be a one and done. It's another strength
30:05
sport. It's kind of related, but kind of different.
30:08
I'm just going to try it out. When I competed
30:11
at Wayfair Open this past March, I had so much
30:15
fun that I'm like, okay, I have like my membership
30:18
with the Stronger Federation for a year. I might
30:20
as well like stick around and try it again. Because
30:23
I mean, growing up watching like Eddie Hall,
30:26
Brian Shaw, like winning World's Strongest Man,
30:30
Hathor Bjornsson coming in and breaking the Deadwood
30:33
World Record. What? You know, like I'm like,
30:37
okay, I want to at least like... be of the same,
30:40
like, sport of those. Yeah. Okay. Damn. So that's,
30:47
I guess that's the other side quest that I've
30:48
been on outside of, uh, since you bought something.
30:52
Holy cow. So if it like, that would be so much,
30:56
I'm not saying like more fun. It's just a different
30:59
experience. Yes. Cause like, it's like, I don't
31:02
know, like the difference between running marathons
31:05
and doing obstacle races or the kakuman yeah
31:10
you're like doing something totally different
31:12
because you're like it's a bunch of different
31:13
skills yeah like it's not like lifting a bar
31:19
is one thing but lifting all they they give you
31:22
different shaped objects on purpose yeah because
31:25
they're like okay how's he gonna figure out how
31:27
to pick this one up yeah exactly yeah now When
31:32
it comes to, okay, we'll backtrack a little bit.
31:35
With the powerlifting, there's certain grips
31:41
that you have to do. If you do the wrong grip,
31:44
you get disqualified, right? Or you lose points.
31:47
Actually, it's like you're allowed to do, when
31:52
it comes to powerlifting, mostly on the deadlift.
31:56
grip styles like you are allowed like uh to either
31:59
do an overhand grip or you can do double overhand
32:02
or uh the more painful one but also the most
32:06
secure one would be a foot grip so like imagine
32:10
like this is the barbell here yep basically you
32:12
wrap your finger around the bar here yep oh So
32:20
it does make it a very secure grip. It's the
32:24
type that digs into your thumb. Oh, it digs into
32:27
your thumb and it does hurt. Okay. Because at
32:30
that point you're like, and I can't let go if
32:32
I wanted to. Damn. Okay. So what's your PB right
32:38
now for overhead left? Oh, like for the deadlift?
32:42
Yeah. My best competition deadlift would be 202.
32:48
at half kilos. So that's like 600 pounds or something
32:54
like that. Yo, you want to try out for the Bengals?
32:57
I think they need an O -line. I think they need
33:00
an O -line. Sexy Dexy Dance. That's what we need.
33:04
We need more of that. Sheesh. What? That's crazy.
33:09
That's your BB in deadlifts. Yeah. My squat isn't
33:14
too far behind. My best squat is 275 kilos, or
33:19
that's 606 pounds. And then my best competition
33:24
bench is like 167 and a half kilos. I think that's
33:29
like just shy of like 168 -ish pounds or something
33:33
like that. Wow. Okay, so next time I move. I'll
33:38
ask you to help move me. That sucks for us. Damn.
33:47
I feel like that's the equivalent of like being
33:49
a guy with a truck. Everyone asks you to help.
33:51
Yeah. You know how I'm like, my parents have
33:54
been like, ha ha, like when I helped the hoodie
33:56
bird. Like, ha, that's your workout for the day.
33:57
I'm like, no. The bad jokes come out, right?
34:03
But seriously, the amount of groceries you must
34:05
go through, like, carrying groceries in all the
34:08
time must be a workout. Oh, I mean, I could speak
34:10
to this. Yeah, I grocery shop weekly. Yeah. So,
34:14
you're a competition lifter. Are you sponsored
34:19
yet? No, I am not. So who's paying for all those
34:22
groceries? Because this economy sucks. The price
34:28
of eggs is ridiculous. I'm just thinking about
34:30
the eggs. The amount of eggs and how much that's
34:33
going to cost you. That's like $4 worth of eggs
34:34
a day. If you get like the 18 cartons. Oh, yeah.
34:40
That's gone in like a day. Yes. So, no, you got
34:42
to get like the big like. Get a hook up with
34:44
a farm. The 30, yeah. Yeah, too. Just like Costco,
34:47
the ones that stack. Yeah. All right, so we're
34:51
trying to get you a Costco sponsorship. Sponsorship,
34:56
not membership. We're already members. We want
35:00
a sponsorship now. Help this man. No, you got
35:03
to get sponsored by a farm. Oh, yeah, absolutely.
35:07
Actually, you want to know the same thing. I
35:09
think farmers honestly make the best strength
35:13
athletes, too. They just have natural. Well,
35:15
they have the functional strength because they've
35:17
been doing it so long. Yes, especially the Dutch
35:22
there's a reason they named named things after
35:25
them. Yes the farmer carry He's like he's also
35:32
a power to have like Jay Jason Byrne big farmer
35:37
dude, he's from like with Jurassic's area shy
35:39
and giant, you know, just huge myths Trying to
35:47
go for, like, 1 ,000. I think he benched, like,
35:50
500, squatted and deadlifted. Like, squatted,
35:53
like, over 800. Deadlifted close to 9, I think.
35:57
Wait, benched how many pounds? Jesus. That's
36:02
insane. That's, like, both of us combined. Sorry,
36:05
more than both. Like, that's both of us combined
36:08
carrying, like, a chair. So crazy how does one
36:28
get involved like do you have to get a membership
36:31
to or you can't just show up to a tournament
36:35
Like, how does it work? Is it similar to, like,
36:37
boxing where you have to get your boxing license,
36:39
you have to get your lifting license? No, it's
36:41
more like, it's pretty straightforward. When
36:42
it comes to, like, if you just want to compete
36:44
as, like, an athlete, really all you got to do
36:46
is just apply, like, your membership with whatever
36:49
federation that you want to be a part of. Me,
36:53
for example, like, I'm with Canada Powerlifting.
36:55
Okay. So that would be the membership that I
36:57
would, so. You just buy your membership, pay
37:01
your membership fees for the year. And then you
37:03
also do have to do, like, a light course on,
37:05
like, anti -building and drug testing. Yeah,
37:10
I feel like that's huge in that industry. And
37:12
we can also go off all about, like, you know,
37:15
like, drugs and, like, all that stuff. Not needed.
37:18
That's really, really. Not needed. That's a whole.
37:22
That's another tangent. We can do a part two
37:24
episode for that. You know what I mean? Yeah,
37:28
tell me what I need to look massive. No, I'm
37:31
just kidding. It's two weeks. It's not going
37:33
to help. Let's pretend you had two weeks. Jeez.
37:43
Damn. Okay, so now we can go into your strongman.
37:47
So how was that whole experience? Because you
37:50
did it. Yeah. How was that whole experience?
37:54
So, I mean. It was really, like, it was eye -opening
37:59
in a lot of ways. Because where I come from powerlifting,
38:03
like, there's, like, only three events that you'll
38:05
ever have to worry about for the rest of your
38:06
life while you do powerlifting is squat, bench
38:09
press, and deadlift. In Strongman, though, there
38:13
is no, like, standardized, like, format to what
38:16
the events have to be. They can be, like, anything.
38:20
So, I mean, it was... Definitely challenging
38:24
in terms of strength, but also challenging in
38:26
terms of endurance as well. Because a lot of
38:28
these competitions or events in a strong net
38:32
need, they're based on points, and a lot of the
38:36
events are like how many times can you, or how
38:38
fast can you. That'd be such a different change.
38:43
Do you find out what events are at this event
38:46
beforehand? Oh yeah, you find out weeks beforehand.
38:51
When you first signed up, though, you don't know,
38:53
like, what the weights are going to be. You don't
38:55
know, like, how it's going to be scored, really.
38:57
Yeah. For most seasoned strongmen, they can probably
39:02
guess. But, like, for a newbie like me, that
39:04
was going to quit. I didn't know what to expect,
39:07
really. Like, it's crazy, though, because, like,
39:10
you do that and you're, like, going in completely
39:12
blind. Yeah. And, like, I mean, if I was heavy
39:17
enough, I could do it. And having no training
39:21
at all, I paid for the license, signed up to
39:24
do a tournament. And I get there, and I'm like,
39:26
I can't lift anything. So you're flying totally
39:30
blind. So you just kind of have to, I guess,
39:33
prepare yourself for everything? Yeah. So, I
39:36
mean, fortunately, I was able to rely on my training
39:41
partners at Showtime who have done sports before.
39:43
Having people who are knowledgeable in this sport,
39:46
man. done similar things like that was definitely
39:49
yeah because they would yeah they would know
39:53
and they'd be like okay well you in order to
39:55
do this competition and do well you need to be
39:58
able to lift at least this much honestly like
40:01
training for the strongman event i actually legitimately
40:03
felt like a beginner again yeah because like
40:06
again these are just like events i've never done
40:08
before yeah yeah so like Do you have, like, an
40:12
18 -wheeler that you have access to so you can
40:14
learn how to pull it? You know what I mean? Like...
40:17
Oh, yeah. So, one of the events at the installment
40:21
competition I did at the Wakefield Open was to
40:24
pull, like, these giant, like, 18... Like, not
40:26
18 -wheeler. But, like, a giant, like, 18 ,000
40:29
-pound, like, spent front belt. So, that was
40:32
definitely something I'd never trained for before.
40:35
I mean, how many people have access to those?
40:38
Sheesh! Really, like, a lot of people who were
40:41
competing that day probably had never had the
40:43
opportunity to practice either. So there was,
40:45
I'd say there was, like, a very decent amount
40:47
of us that were just flying and flying. We're
40:49
just like, okay, we just got to pull it. Yeah.
40:52
Damn. So now do you just, like, go out and, like,
40:55
push a car around or, like, how do you do that?
40:59
Look at this man's smile. Look at this man's
41:01
smile. So you knew that event was going to be
41:03
happening where you're just like, all right.
41:05
We'll throw some toe straps on there. I'm just
41:07
going to drag trucks around. So again, I'm very,
41:12
very fortunate enough to have Ryan as my training
41:15
partner because his dad happened to like, his
41:18
dad's like, of course, of course. So his dad
41:22
happened to have like a, like a 18 wheeler, like
41:26
freight liner truck. So eventually like, like
41:32
four weeks out from the meet. We've covered all
41:35
the other meet events, but we haven't really
41:37
specifically trained for the front pole. So four
41:39
weeks out from the meet, Ryan calls myself and
41:42
Nate, who's also with us, to be like, hey, I've
41:46
got a harness. We've got the truck. Let's just
41:49
spend an afternoon trying to pull it. That's
41:51
so funny. So it was just three dudes plus their
41:55
coach. just supervising us. And most mothers
41:59
out there would be like, this is a bad idea.
42:01
I'm just imagining the conversation though. Like,
42:03
hey dad, can I borrow your truck? Yeah, but just
42:07
like keep it in the driveway. Just dragging it
42:12
back and forth. Literally, that was the whole
42:15
afternoon. It was just three dudes taking turns
42:18
dragging the truck across the lot. And it's neutral.
42:22
Yeah, it's neutral. Yeah. holy cow that was a
42:27
very i'm not gonna i'm not gonna sugarcoat it
42:30
that was very hard yeah it left the harness left
42:33
like bruises all over like my back because like
42:36
you know it digs in like it's really like digging
42:38
yeah yeah so that was a that was a very hard
42:42
event to trade for but i mean it paid off on
42:45
it paid off on me because yeah ultimately i had
42:48
a lot of fun i it took me 20 seconds to drive
42:50
that's crazy Damn. I mean, I've got a little
42:55
bit of experience. Never personally, but I've
42:58
experienced being around cars that ran out of
43:04
gas. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And having to shove
43:10
a car to get to the gas station isn't fun. No,
43:14
no, no. That's not an easy thing to do, for sure.
43:17
But, okay, so, wow. Okay, powerlifting, shaman,
43:24
what's next? Are you trying out for WWE? Like...
43:27
Hey, Brock Lesnar retired. Brock Lesnar just
43:30
retired, but, like, he has to go against Obafemi
43:32
now. But, like, I don't know. Or is it now, like,
43:35
are you going to go into MMA? Like, what's your
43:37
trajectory right now? So, definitely right now,
43:41
I am still trying to focus a lot on powerlifting.
43:45
Next big goal that I have for that one is obviously
43:47
to be able to qualify for nationals. That is
43:50
still, like... Where is Nationals this year?
43:52
So, this year, it happened in Newfoundland. Okay.
43:57
Next year, I think it's going to... Actually,
44:00
I have a little bit more time. That's fair. Oh,
44:03
wait, no. Next year, it's going to be in the
44:04
9 -0 PC. Oh, yeah. I'd definitely make that one.
44:07
So, you have to win Provincials to get to go
44:12
to Nationals? Is it top three, top two? You have
44:15
to get, like, a certain, like... Total so a total
44:19
in powerlifting. It's a combined score between
44:20
like your deadlift benchpress and your squat
44:23
So for me, I've got to qualify So I basically
44:28
had a total like 785 kilos total between those
44:32
three less to be able to go to nationals Now
44:34
you finished third in provincials. Did you not
44:38
qualify for nationals? No I only managed to be
44:41
able to set 125. Oh! So, I mean, it might be
44:47
a tall order for me to try and qualify for next
44:49
year, but, I mean, that's still going to be something.
44:52
Yeah. Oh, yeah. And, like, obviously, your aspiration
44:56
is to get sponsored. Yeah. Oh, I would love that.
45:00
That's the dream. Have you been trying to contact
45:03
companies to, like, sponsor you for your competitions?
45:07
No, actually, I haven't really been making a
45:09
lot of, like, focus on that. Like, really, I've
45:11
just been, like, keeping my head down and just,
45:13
like, working and trying to, like, focus on it.
45:17
Okay. That's the, like, you're the dangerous
45:20
guy, though, because, like, the guy that keeps
45:22
his head down and just, like, does his work.
45:25
I agree. Puts the work in. I agree. Like, you're
45:27
the one that comes out on top because you're
45:29
not doing, like, jumping around, doing all the
45:31
flashy things. You're, like, the grind. You have
45:34
to be addicted to the grind at this point. Oh,
45:36
yeah. I definitely am. I am, like, honestly,
45:40
like, thinking about it now. Like, I haven't
45:41
really been in the sport for that long. I think
45:43
for total life, I've only been competing for,
45:44
like, four years. Okay. Yeah, which is crazy.
45:47
So I still have much further in the sport to
45:50
go. So that is definitely something. Now, you're
45:53
human, obviously. You're going to have days where
45:56
he's a robot. Hey, in the NBA right now, we have
46:00
Victor Romagnano, who's an alien. You never know
46:03
nowadays. I don't discriminate. But what I'm
46:07
saying is there's going to be times where you
46:09
don't want to lift. Oh, yeah. Are you still forcing
46:14
yourself to go to the gym even on those days?
46:17
Yes, I am. I mean, also primarily because, like,
46:21
I am still also paying for a coach, so it is
46:23
kind of a waste if I don't go to the gym. Understandable.
46:26
Yeah. It does keep you accountable. Even on the
46:29
bad days where I know I'm on the train and just
46:32
going back, I will get further. I do still try
46:37
and show up just for myself. Ultimately, no one's
46:41
telling me to do that. Someone's forcing me to
46:43
try and get stronger. I am, at the end of the
46:48
day, just doing this for me. And just showing
46:50
up for myself. I think like, yeah, like when
46:53
I flew up, what else are you going to do? Sure.
46:59
Yeah. Well, at this point I feel like you're
47:01
all, you also get that mindset of, well, I've
47:03
come this far. Can't stop now. Yeah. But yeah,
47:08
that's amazing. Especially when you're like four
47:11
years, four years in and you're what? Third in
47:15
provincials. Yeah, like, third in my class. Yeah.
47:20
That's crazy. That's intense. And you're under
47:23
30. Right? So, like, the sky's the limit for
47:27
you. When is usually, like, the peak? For, like...
47:31
For males, like, in track and field, for a sprinter,
47:38
by the time you hit 36, you're at your peak.
47:40
Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? For boxing,
47:42
37. Yeah. For powerlifting, I know... There's
47:46
powerlifters that'll be doing it in their 40s,
47:49
50s. But usually, is the peak in the late 30s,
47:55
early 40s? I feel like for most people, it's
47:58
going to be around mid to later 30s. That's where
48:02
most people are. That being said, though, you
48:06
do have a couple of feed -offs in sports. Again,
48:08
like Jason Brewer, 41, slapping around all the
48:12
super heavyweights. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I do.
48:17
I yeah, I would I would assume that that's probably
48:20
also very good for both Okay All right, so I
48:26
can still become a power lifter. There's still
48:28
still got time Yeah, I'm near the end of it.
48:32
Yeah. Well, yeah, but I usually pick up things
48:34
late I feel like getting into like any sport
48:47
like just finding your finding your niche like
48:49
your thing yeah yeah because you never know what
48:52
you're capable of and then all of a sudden you
48:55
start doing something you try something out one
48:58
time and you're like oh i actually like this
49:00
and then you just like get more into it and then
49:02
all of a sudden you're thinking about trying
49:05
to get in like getting into nationals or you're
49:08
like watching things on tv and you're like i
49:10
could do that yeah Oh, I mean, that's literally,
49:13
like, how that pushed me into Strongman, too.
49:15
Yeah. You're like, that looks cool, yeah. You
49:20
said you did the one Strongman competition. How
49:23
did that go? Well, I ended up placing eight out
49:27
of, like, 14 guys. Okay. Yeah. Okay. There was
49:31
a lot of, like, equally as strong guys, like,
49:34
that showed up in that game. And honestly, for
49:36
my first run, like, I thought that was fairly
49:38
good. And then I found out last weekend, I ended
49:43
up qualifying for Ontario Provincials. So originally
49:48
when I dove into Strongman, I thought like, okay,
49:50
this is a one and done. I'm just going to focus
49:52
on powerlifting after that. But after getting
49:54
that invite, I'm thinking now like, okay, how
49:56
often are you able to do this? Yeah. I'm definitely
50:00
going to go for it. So I guess my Strongman journey
50:03
is going to be continuing. When is that competition?
50:06
So it'll take place July 12th. Oh, so you have
50:10
time to train for it. Oh, Hamilton. Nice. So
50:11
it's, uh, it's, it's upcoming this summer for
50:14
sure. Damn. Okay. Well, do you know where it's
50:17
located? Uh, Hamilton? Uh, I don't know. I've
50:20
never heard of it. It's like, didn't take place
50:22
in like some sort of like arena. Yeah. Like,
50:24
um, probably like some sort of cops Coliseum
50:28
right in the middle. It's called TD Coliseum
50:31
now. I have no idea. I think, I think I got rebranded
50:34
as TD Coliseum. Yeah, sure. It's in Hamilton,
50:37
Ontario. It's nearby. So, I mean, like, if there
50:40
was a year for me to do it, it's probably, like,
50:43
right now. Right? Yeah, that's perfect. That's
50:45
sweet. It's an hour and a half away. Why not?
50:47
That's sweet. Especially since you're, like,
50:49
you're already training. You're training anyway.
50:52
You might as well see how it goes. Yeah. So,
50:56
I mean, like, I've got the gym with the equipment.
50:59
I've got to train. Yeah. I mean. I don't know
51:03
how well I'll do, but definitely, at this point,
51:07
I'm just doing it for fun. I know whoever shows
51:12
up there that day, I'll give them a good run
51:15
for sure. I'm hoping so. Yeah. So is it a weird
51:18
feeling just being able to walk into pretty much
51:21
every room and be like, yeah, I'm probably the
51:25
strongest guy in the room? Yeah, we're just normal
51:29
humans. I don't try and get in people's face
51:38
and be like, oh, yeah, I'm strong. But, I mean,
51:41
it's hard to not think like, yeah, I can pick
51:43
up this. I can pull your car. Now, with all the
51:48
strength training, are you doing yoga or are
51:51
you doing anything to get your flexibility up?
51:54
Yes, actually. Oh, he's beating you. Yeah. Of
51:58
course he is. Of course he is. We shouldn't dog
52:02
on you for too much because to your credit, I
52:06
didn't really get much into like... stretching
52:09
and like super like a chiropractor until like
52:12
as recently as last year okay because i mean
52:15
and then maybe it just chalks up to me being
52:17
a little bit more younger too because like when
52:19
you're younger like you can recover a lot faster
52:22
you definitely feel invincible but i mean i'm
52:24
not gonna lie like i'm 28 now going into 29 i'm
52:27
starting to be like oh yeah but when do you 30
52:30
to get your back pain yeah it's time like i start
52:33
taking care of the joints and then yeah like
52:34
probably actually warm up and stretch yeah Well,
52:38
but I feel like people don't realize how important
52:41
like stretching and mobility is in all those.
52:45
Cause you're like, Oh yeah. All it like, I'm
52:47
just lifting this up and down, but like it's
52:50
having all that movement. Yeah. Especially if
52:53
you're for strong man too. Cause like, that's
52:55
like different movements. Movement is definitely
52:57
like a privilege. Honestly, it will probably
53:00
be like the last thing as you get into it later.
53:04
Yeah. Oh, for sure. I think for me, like, for
53:07
me to recover is like, I see a chiropractor about
53:10
every three to four weeks. And then I just started
53:13
a new therapist, a massage therapist, uh, in
53:16
Morleyville. It's a massage therapy center. Honestly,
53:20
it's actually pretty sweet. So like huge shout
53:23
out to them. Um, so you can sponsor us or you
53:27
can donate to our cause, um, for punch NMS. Just
53:31
saying, Robert, I'm looking at you. Um, But,
53:35
yeah, that's how I recover because I'm not a
53:38
stretcher. I'm not, like. Yeah, I mean, even
53:43
for me, like, before, I'm like, oh, yeah, stretcher.
53:45
I don't need that. Like, I try, but I, you know
53:49
what I mean? Like, I do a bare minimum. But,
53:51
like. It's the consistency of it. Yes, that's
53:54
the hard part. Like, I like the concept of it.
53:58
I just forget to do it. Yeah. Like. What? It's
54:04
funny because, like, playing sports and everything
54:06
growing up, it was always, like, instilled on
54:11
you. Like, oh, yeah, I know we warm up before
54:13
the games. We do all our stretching. And then
54:15
you become an adult and you're on your own. You
54:18
go to, like, your recreational sports stuff and
54:21
everyone just kind of jumps right into it, goes
54:23
full sprint. And then all of a sudden we're all
54:25
getting hurt and we're like, oh, I'm hurt because
54:28
I'm old. And you're like. No, no, it's probably
54:30
because we were stretching when we were younger.
54:34
It's probably actually really important. Just
54:37
a little. So did you play a lot of sports growing
54:41
up then as well? Yeah, I dabbled in football
54:44
and rugby for a little bit, especially grade
54:47
9 and grade 10. I also, I think before high school
54:51
too, I did a lot of soccer. I was a goalkeeper
54:54
for that. Good to know. Yeah, you did mention
54:58
you hate running, so that makes sense. Yeah.
55:01
Yeah. Damn, good to know. Now, are you planning
55:08
on getting back into soccer? No, I don't think
55:11
so. He's always scouting. I'm always scouting.
55:15
Always looking for players. Yeah. Well, yeah.
55:19
You never know. He might give you a random call
55:20
one day. I need a goalie. Yeah. Yeah. We have,
55:26
we have leagues and flag football teams. I'm
55:30
just saying. So if you need to get, you know,
55:32
your cardio up in other aspects, let us know.
55:34
I'm going to have to actually start stretching
55:36
for sure. Yeah. Right. It's true. It's so true.
55:42
Yeah, it's the randomly trying to stick your
55:44
leg out as far as possible that doesn't get you.
55:46
I feel like if I die trying to block a ball wrong,
55:49
and I land on the shoulder, that's going to be
55:50
it. I'm done. Yeah, man. I feel like the injuries
55:57
you'd get in powerlifting would be totally different.
56:02
I feel like a lot of it is just joints and obviously
56:06
blown muscles. For me, I've been fortunate enough
56:12
to not have any record -related fun. Honestly,
56:18
in 2024... That's a testament to your coaches,
56:21
though, too, because they're not overloading
56:22
you. This is going to sound so lame, but the
56:25
two times that I accidentally sprayed my ankle
56:27
in 2024, it wasn't gym -related. Bringing groceries
56:30
in. Huh? Bringing groceries in. No, it was because
56:34
I was playing airsoft with my friends. That's
56:37
how I sprayed my ankle twice. That's funny. I
56:39
was like... Out of all the things I could have
56:41
done. Yeah. Just running through the bushes and
56:46
rolling. Yeah, just tripping over a tree root
56:48
or something like that. That's probably what
56:50
actually did it. Because you definitely do fall
56:53
a lot when you're really getting into it. Oh,
56:55
yeah. Yeah, it's full commitment. Yeah. Plus,
57:00
it kind of hurts. So. Kind of hurts. It hurts
57:05
a lot. So out so after you know, you're doing
57:09
your training and all that. Is there any sport
57:11
that you watch on your spare time? I Like I do
57:15
I do try and keep up with boxing every now and
57:18
then That's fair The last like big fight I watched
57:26
was the I agree. I agree. But I still will occasionally
57:36
watch it like a casual. Okay. I think he's going
57:40
to be fighting, not Jake Paul, but Anthony Joshua
57:43
is going to be called out by Tyson Fury. Yes.
57:46
Because he did his fight on Netflix, which I
57:50
think it was really funny for me watching that
57:54
after having done all this boxing. You see how
57:59
big these events are, and they're like, oh, yeah,
58:01
you forget that there's only, like, four fights
58:03
in, like, in an entire event. Yes. You're like,
58:07
oh, jeez. And then you're like, after doing it,
58:10
like, well, you know. Yeah. Three two -minute
58:13
rounds, or it's six minutes total, and then you
58:18
look at them, and you're like, oh, it's 12 three
58:21
-minute rounds, and you're like, huh. Yeah. And
58:26
they still managed to go the distance. Yes. Which
58:29
is, like, it is always, like, very, very cool
58:34
to see. Yeah. Like, the cardio required, I don't
58:41
know. Uh -huh. Uh -huh. But it's, like, it's
58:43
different, right? Because, like, I think the
58:46
more you get into boxing, the more you understand
58:49
that it's not all about rushing in. Yeah. It's
58:52
about precision. Right? It's not, you know, boom,
58:56
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. All right,
58:58
now I'm tired. Hopefully my opponent can't hit
59:00
me back or whatever. It's like you're scoping,
59:03
you're doing a little bit of a dance. Yeah. And
59:06
then you're taking your hit and, you know, you're
59:10
not trying to focus on exerting all your energy
59:12
right away. Yeah. Where for us, like, when we
59:16
get into a ring, it's either your opponent's...
59:17
Your adrenaline's spiking, too. Exactly. But,
59:20
like, for us, when... And you're in the amateur
59:23
level, everyone is trying to go to their max
59:26
because it's a three -minute round, and they're
59:29
not necessarily trying to engage. Yeah, there's
59:30
no time to take a round off. Right? And for other
59:36
boxers, or regular boxers, they get time to understand
59:40
their opponent, figure out their techniques,
59:41
see their bad habits, and so forth. So, yeah.
59:46
Crazy. Yeah, man. Are you going to get back into
59:50
boxing, though, if you get an opportunity? You
59:52
know, I have thought about it, and because, like,
59:54
every time I think about, like, my fight night,
59:57
I remember, like, I just had, like, so much fun
1:00:00
doing it. So I would love an opportunity to get
1:00:03
back in the ring one day. That being said, though,
1:00:05
I would, like, I would make some changes. I would
1:00:10
like to come in at, like, a lighter weight, for
1:00:11
sure. Yeah. Okay. How much are you weighing right
1:00:14
now? Can't just ask our guests that. Right now
1:00:29
I weigh around like 117 and a half kilos. Which
1:00:35
is like 260? Just shy of like 260. Okay. See
1:00:42
math. Okay. You're just like... He's in my weight
1:00:49
class. No, he's over two. He's on back in my
1:00:52
weight class. Oh, I guess we're all in the same
1:00:53
weight class. Yeah. Yeah. Lovely. All right,
1:01:07
let me know when he comes back because I'll retire.
1:01:11
Well, I do appreciate being able to be big and
1:01:14
strong. One thing that I definitely do appreciate,
1:01:17
especially with my friend Mark, is because when
1:01:20
I trained with Mark for Fight to End, I got to,
1:01:23
like, actually my lowest body weight that I've
1:01:24
been in in years. Like, I think for Fight to
1:01:26
End, I weighed in at, like, 5 '12". And it wasn't
1:01:30
just that. And, yeah, like, I still look, like,
1:01:31
big and all that stuff. But the thing about being
1:01:34
a little... You just feel lighter. Yeah, I feel
1:01:35
lighter. Yeah. Well, when you look at Mark and,
1:01:40
like, Huge shout out to mark. Yeah when he gets
1:01:44
in the rain you see him train or when he's like
1:01:46
just starts doing job work He is like the flash.
1:01:50
Yeah, like it is And like he's in and out and
1:01:54
his movements is ridiculous, yeah So like if
1:01:58
you you blink you will miss whatever that exactly
1:02:00
exactly so you shout out to him because like
1:02:04
He's a beast and he still got it. Yeah I wasn't
1:02:10
there for his fight last year, but I wish I had
1:02:14
been there for it. I saw the videos. He looked
1:02:17
amazing coming back in. I hope he keeps up with
1:02:21
the fight. He definitely still has a lot of fight.
1:02:28
It's fun working with him a little bit. Damn!
1:02:34
I would never want to fight the man. Never. Not
1:02:38
even quite. I'm good. There's certain people
1:02:42
that you look at them and just like, yeah, I'm
1:02:44
good. You look at Marcus, it's like, yeah, you
1:02:48
look like you know what you're going to do. You
1:02:50
look like you're going to kill me. And I'm going
1:02:53
to say, he'll be like, the bell goes off, ding,
1:02:57
ding. You're already on the ground. And you're
1:02:59
just like, what just happened? What just happened?
1:03:01
Blink. Yeah. It's that pushing that intensity.
1:03:07
Yeah, basically. But yeah, if I were to come
1:03:11
back, definitely we'd want to lose some weight.
1:03:14
Well, maybe next year. Maybe we'll get you back
1:03:18
in the ring next year. Yeah. There is an event
1:03:24
we can talk about getting you back into the ring
1:03:26
for. Wait, is that the one that you did? Yeah,
1:03:29
the one that I'm going to be doing again on May
1:03:32
9th. Oh, you do? Yeah. Oh, nice. Yes, I am back
1:03:35
in the ring. For my third fight so it's what
1:03:39
he wrote me into this year So yeah, maybe next
1:03:45
year we'll get you in cuz I if I can get him
1:03:47
I'm I'll try to convince you to come back Right
1:03:51
and like well you said yes already so yeah I
1:04:02
know some of the team members are going to be
1:04:04
listening to us and the board members. They're
1:04:06
probably going to be like, yeah, get Len back.
1:04:08
Yeah, it's already a done deal. Sorry. Sorry.
1:04:12
You already signed up. It would be cool if I
1:04:16
had that. That would be cool, wouldn't it? Losing
1:04:18
20 kilos and now the abs. That's the dream. That's
1:04:23
the dream. And the headline is strong man. Len
1:04:27
the strong man. But. Yeah, I feel like that would
1:04:33
be hard to find an opponent for you. No, they
1:04:35
feel like oh he's I guess we'll find some other
1:04:38
animal Like I was like the shortest like heavy,
1:04:44
yeah Yeah, so like cuz even Eric had like what
1:04:49
like half a head So he was still he still took
1:04:51
the student taller than me. You're taller than
1:04:53
the Aurora He was taller than me. So yeah, I
1:04:55
was still like the shortest like guy in the room
1:04:57
there They're all scared of your punches. Even
1:05:02
I was scared of your punches a little bit back
1:05:04
then. Now I'm definitely scared of your punches.
1:05:07
I've been out of the game for like three years.
1:05:10
Bustle memory kicks in, trust me. Me taking a
1:05:14
year off from boxing and then coming back. And
1:05:17
then my punch was still there. I was able to
1:05:21
finish a point faster than I did the first time.
1:05:23
Yeah, actually, I heard that, like, I think Mark
1:05:26
posted, like, some comments on this story when
1:05:28
you went. Like, I didn't see much videos, but,
1:05:30
like, he basically said, like, yeah, like, the
1:05:33
Milkman is back. This year's a little different,
1:05:40
but... Yeah, I'm excited. I think it's going
1:05:43
to be a really good event. Yeah, because I'll
1:05:46
be at Bushido instead of Music Hall this year.
1:05:48
So if anyone hasn't gotten tickets yet, check
1:05:50
out... I'll send you the link. Yeah. So, I mean,
1:05:54
I don't know if we can talk about it now. What
1:05:56
is this? Because I know it's another charity.
1:05:58
We can talk about it. Yeah. Punch Out MS. Yeah.
1:06:02
So, basically, MPT and Juan Acosta started Punch
1:06:08
Out. They also started MPT. And you can also
1:06:12
catch it on one of our later episodes when we
1:06:13
had Jay on the episode talking more about it.
1:06:16
But basically, they wanted to compete and they
1:06:19
wanted to host a charity event. Yeah. So the
1:06:23
fight to end was happening already. Yeah. And
1:06:26
they created Punch Out MS because one of the
1:06:29
lead doctors for MS. So they kind of tied everything
1:06:34
together. And it's been like 30 years. This is
1:06:37
the third year of Punch Out MS. And it's just
1:06:40
getting bigger and bigger. It's all for multiple
1:06:43
sclerosis at LHSC. Yep. Yeah. All of it actually
1:06:49
stays. You know how a lot of charities and stuff,
1:06:51
things will go everywhere? Yeah. This stays in
1:06:56
London. So when people donate to the cause or
1:07:00
come to the event, you're donating and things
1:07:04
are going towards your own community. It's not
1:07:08
like one of those ones where you're just donating
1:07:10
and it just goes off into the ether somewhere.
1:07:12
The dollars that you're donating could go directly
1:07:16
to helping your neighbor. Which is kind of cool.
1:07:19
And unfortunately with MS, you don't necessarily
1:07:22
know who has MS. Because it's like one of those
1:07:25
diseases that doesn't show until the end. So
1:07:30
you may not have friends and family that have
1:07:31
MS that you may not know. And they may not have
1:07:34
even told you or they haven't had their flare
1:07:38
up. So with Punch Out MS, it started three years
1:07:43
ago. And think of it like... the family boxing
1:07:48
showcase where your friends and family can afford
1:07:52
to come and watch you fight. Plus, at Music Hall,
1:07:57
it's kind of a sweet venue. So, like, I know
1:08:00
Fight to End was at RBD. Amazing. Absolutely
1:08:05
amazing. So the difference there is, like, obviously
1:08:09
that's like a really long venue. Yeah. So you
1:08:12
have the ring over here, and then everyone's...
1:08:15
out here watching but everyone's at the same
1:08:17
same height yeah music hall everyone's around
1:08:20
the ring and then there's also up top so you
1:08:23
can look down on the ring which is kind of yeah
1:08:25
like totally different and you're like you're
1:08:28
looking down on the ring but like because the
1:08:30
ring's big you can literally yell things from
1:08:33
the balcony and they'll hear you in the ring
1:08:35
yeah which is cool actually once you get into
1:08:39
there you will realize you can't hear anything
1:08:41
well yeah no but like I remember like, was it
1:08:45
last year or two years ago? I think we yelled
1:08:49
at El Cidus and he like glanced up. True, true,
1:08:52
true. So like you could hear it. Fair. But like
1:08:57
it feels like you're more connected. Yeah. Which
1:08:59
is cool because it's like an event that's connecting
1:09:01
you to the community. And then with this year,
1:09:06
it's grown to the point where there's so many
1:09:09
fighters that they had to do an encore show.
1:09:10
Yeah. So I'll be fighting on the Encore show,
1:09:13
the May 9th show. Yeah, Bushido. At Bushido.
1:09:18
Which is another awesome gym. It is. I still
1:09:23
like my home gym. I just can't believe how big
1:09:26
it's just getting. Boxing has grown huge in our
1:09:29
community. And it keeps growing. But even just
1:09:32
like all of the sports. Soccer keeps growing.
1:09:36
BMO is expanding. All these different leagues
1:09:39
are popping up. Powerlifting. Powerlifting. All
1:09:41
these different gyms are popping up. Last year,
1:09:43
raw powerlifting finally made it into the Olympics.
1:09:48
Yeah. Damn. Insane, yeah. Damn, so that's your
1:09:52
goal then? To make the Olympics? Not the Olympics,
1:09:55
like the World Games. Because the World Games
1:09:56
is for sports that aren't necessarily standardized
1:09:59
to be able to go to the Olympics. Okay. But,
1:10:01
yeah. But yeah, just going back to like, yeah,
1:10:04
definitely. Yeah. Well, even like, I think in
1:10:07
that same plaza that your gym's in, there's like
1:10:11
the pickleball place. Yeah. Yeah. Like everything's
1:10:15
there. Pickleball. That's also like, it's another
1:10:17
thing that's just randomly growing. That's just
1:10:19
like actually really big now. Yes. I like when
1:10:22
we're talking about disc golf. Yes. Even disc
1:10:25
golf. That's huge. But like everything, it's
1:10:27
just like. It's cool seeing all of these different
1:10:30
sports grow because, like, it's not just the
1:10:33
basic ones. It's everyone's, like, finding different
1:10:37
niche things because everybody's... It's like
1:10:40
there's... You're the right age. You might remember
1:10:43
the old PSA commercials of, like, everybody's
1:10:47
good at something. Yeah. And it's just, like,
1:10:50
people doing random different things. Like, everybody
1:10:54
needs to find their own way of... getting movement
1:10:58
in, helping the community, figuring something
1:11:01
out. Everybody has a thing they'll be good at.
1:11:04
So getting out there, getting off the bench,
1:11:06
trying stuff is cool. I'm probably not going
1:11:10
to be doing a Strongman competition. You say
1:11:13
that until I go for you in. Please don't. We're
1:11:15
doing a charity one. My mom would probably be
1:11:18
more okay with that. Maybe you should come watch
1:11:22
me lift the truck next time. I don't think I'll
1:11:26
be, I'll be like, did you get anything smaller?
1:11:31
Yeah. True. True. Well, I think that's a great
1:11:36
episode. I greatly appreciate you taking the
1:11:38
time to sit down and chat with us and give us
1:11:40
a little. Thank you for having me on. Thank you
1:11:42
for coming on short notice. We appreciate it.
1:11:45
We greatly appreciate you. I love learning about,
1:11:48
like learning about those different industries
1:11:51
and stuff. Right. It's just another way of getting
1:11:54
like, We're off the bench. Yeah. And this is
1:11:56
another way to get off the bench. Yeah, for sure.
1:11:59
So maybe someone doesn't like running, likes
1:12:01
lifting things. You know what I mean? So there
1:12:04
is other avenues and you don't always have to
1:12:05
do like those fitness competitions where you
1:12:08
have to like, you know, get a super amazing tan.
1:12:13
I'm not going to tan either. I know someone would
1:12:21
definitely agree with the tanning situation of
1:12:24
you. Yeah. Most people. Most people. Yes. Yes.
1:12:29
But it is what it is. But thank you again. I
1:12:32
wish we could drink so we could cheers. Yeah.
1:12:35
A few more weeks. A few more weeks and we'll
1:12:38
be able to drink. We'll cheers. Then we'll be
1:12:40
able to cheers and get sponsored by Powerhouse.
1:12:42
Yeah. But it is what it is. But thank you for
1:12:46
coming to Off the Bench. I'm Malcolm the Milkman.
1:12:49
Scott the Visionary Hone. And we out. We'll be
1:13:39
right back. We'll be right back. button and subscribe
1:14:04
to share it with your crew let the whole city
1:14:07
know off the bench london is the place to go
1:14:09
off the bench if you're rocking with the show