Juan Pellot | Master of Sport in Long Cycle, Coach, and Personal Trainer

Hey, everyone. This is Jordan Kunde-Wright from the Twin Cities kettlebell club Thank you so much for listening to the first season of the platform podcast and a special thank you to everybody who has come on and been a guest for me in this season I've had so much fun with these conversations. It's been a great pleasure to bring this podcast to you every week I hope it has added value to your life Please if you like the content that I'm putting out give me a review on Apple podcasts share with the friend You can support the podcast if you want to make a donation. I don't do this for money I'm not really making any money on it. I just do it because I love it So thank you so much and if you have feedback or guests that you think I should connect with please hit me up I'm at Twin Cities kettlebell club on Instagram. I can be emailed at Twin Cities kettlebell club at gmail.com And I really hope that this has given you some value and that you're finding and entertaining I will be taking a short break to evaluate and line up some new guests and maybe get a few episodes in the can so that In the event that I miss a week or something I have an episode ready to go already So I'm gonna try and get a little bit ahead of the curve So I hope you guys have a wonderful Labor Day weekend and thank you so much for listening I really really appreciate it and I appreciate your support and your feedback and everybody that's reached out with support and feedback already Thank you so much. It means the world to me. So hope you're having a great day. Can you use the Christian Bill Batman voice? I could do that All right welcome into the 12th and final episode of season one of the platform podcast my guest today is one Pellot from Brooklyn, New York He is already a legend on this podcast having been mentioned in two previous episodes the first episode with Carter Mary He was Carter's coach. He is a well-accomplished personal trainer kettlebell sport coach and a hell of an accomplished lifter himself So I'm really excited to have him on one. Thanks for coming on man. I'm really excited to have this conversation with you Oh brother, I am so stoked to be on the show with you, man Like I'm really pumped that any opportunity to be I would just like Talk to like-minded individuals who just like just like bring about a great energy. So I'm totally with it, man. Thank you for having me on Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Have you listened? I got asked did you listen to the episode with with Doug Siemens? Did you hear his story about you? Yeah, yeah, that was hilarious man. I was um I was actually driving. I was driving in a Bobby Starts texting me. Oh my boy Bobby Hicks and he's like dude like listen to the podcast like minutes three three seven The set up for tapping a bit of 40, you know Sorry hearing it. I think I'm literally driving with my mom in the car You know because I was wearing some laughing my ass off because I was like Doug is such a wild dude man Like I love him. I got so much love for Doug And he's talking and I'm literally remembering all the details of that event I remember like getting on his ass when he we were in the way in because I think he was he was coming in heavy And I kept on like bugging him saying like dude you shouldn't have been the pasta before going to play and you know just like I got really I really wanted to get on his ass to make sure like he he made that way because I was like We've been this like The way that he was like going, you know like he wanted he wanted that match. He wanted that event. I was like I especially when you're a local lifter within the United States. It's It's gets a little frustrating where you let the only dude up there in a particular way division like you know Like the have your bell lifters, you know guys doing 20 32 kilos like you you don't always have somebody to have a battle against and that that gladiatorial element that definitely like helps push the experience and Doug as if he was like I've known that he was an awesome dude You know, so I was all about it. So I was just like dude if you rob me I'd be opportunity I have somebody like like fashion metal beside me like I'm gonna I'm gonna hate you forever So you better make if you don't make if you don't make way I'm gonna kick your ass Which is always a it's a difficult threat. Oh I would have been like a hit and run man. I would have hit him with a bad cross the knee and just like No, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna squirrel for Doug. See? Yeah, no, Doug's and I just like I love that story because I like if you if anybody doesn't know Doug he's an intense dude and listen to that episode because you get the you get a sense of his his personality And I just like I could just picture him like in the gym staring at your picture like in minute seven of his of his practice sets Like when he wants to put him down just stare at your picture being like no one's not putting them down I'm gonna keep going. I'm gonna keep going. I gotta be like I just I can see him just like staring Staring you down as if you were actually there like I could just I could just picture it in my mind's eyes so clearly bro I got a message in to find out what picture was it that he has up or that he had up at that time he probably still has it up at that time for all But now I know it's just different incentive But yeah, like I'm curious to see what picture was it he had like was it like like like the GQ like Handsome shot or was it like me like like holding bells overhead like what was it? You know like I got what picture is it bro? Yeah, what what picture of you really inspired his is His lifting to go to the next level. I hope it was like a glamour shot like I hope it was Doggy, please let it be a glamour shell like send me a picture of what that has been Oh, that's awesome So how long have you been lifting now because I've been familiar with you as a lifter for gosh at least five six years But how long have you actually been lifting kettlebells and how did you how did you get into the sport like everybody's kind of got their own story And saw they Okay, so I I guess like you know like at the beginning of time, you know big bang or whatever I in like 2004 is when I started coaching I said like actually like working as a personal trainer as I had my first internship Oh, wait is when I actually first time put my hand around the handle of a bell and I picked up a nice rkc bell And that was a great experience But that's the first time I actually competed was in 2013 It was in the spring of 2013 and there used to be a an event that was held at CrossFit Long Island City Which was a facility that was owned by a gentleman in Badim Nuskov And I if I remember correctly that was an International kettlebell sports and fitness association event That was held by Sergio Gruniv and Alex Cashin and that was a spring event And it was a great experience. I mean, but I went in it was a 16 kilo event that I registered for I had never done sport in my life But I was like I just enjoyed lifting bells and I pretty much hard style for 10 minutes and got 97 wraps, which is like fantastic Yeah, yeah, I mean like I mean my hand was useless at the end of it. I couldn't shake it sometimes if I was at gunpoint But and I remember distinctly like I walked off the platform and it had Sergei Rudin there who's like the Yoda kettlebell sport You know like the shaky my hand they're saying like oh, you know, good good lift good lift and I was like yeah I'm about dying, you know like trying to jump in and you enjoy it but um Yeah, but like I that was that incident. I was like wow This is like a such a badass community of people who just like there's so much love like there was as much love being thrown around as a rust chalk Which was like at that's a statement to you know to put on a tattoo at this point But um, yeah, it was just it was such a great vibe, you know like from all the people there and like from the first moment You got on a platform. It's it's just nothing but like love and appreciation and respect being thrown at you You know and it just it was definitely motivating to want to keep me going back, you know So I yeah spring that's 2013 16 kilo long cycle 97 reps in like I was weighing maybe like 82 kilo at the time I had had no facial hair and I still had glasses. I was pre-lasic. So um, yeah, it was it was it was great It was just a great experience and I was hooked from that point on nice and and so now what what way class are you are you competing and now and And what you know give people give people a sense of the of the accomplishment because you're a master sport now Or is a master sport in international class? I don't want to know. No, no, no, not international I know that's it's the goal. Yeah, I want I'm a master of sports and national class long cycles What I'm aiming for um is if I'm just casually walk around I keep myself in like the sub 85 kilo range And if I know that there's a big event that's gonna be coming on and then I'm gonna be competing at like IUKL or we're competing with Like WKA KSC or or anything like that then I'll drop down to 78 to 80 kilos depending on what the requirements are Just because like I like the competitive feel I there are numbers that I know that are still challenging for me to be able to hit You know like somewhere within like that 50 to 55 rep range My my personal best in in training in 32 kilo was 55 reps and my personal best in competition in 53 um, but Yeah, I mean like right now like you know with in in the era of COVID I'm probably walking around like 87 kilos and I'm working on just getting getting as ice Denses I can know before everything starts coming back around nice That's still the bog goes my mind when I hear you know when I hear that the numbers that guys put up at the I because I always think I come from the powerlifting background So I always think of it in terms of ratio right? I'm always thinking of it. What's your course here? You know, what's your what's your ratio look like and when you're talking about you're talking about competing at the 70 and you know 78 kilos with 64 kilos of weight I'm just like that's just nuts to me because you know I'm 115 kilos typically or in that in that range so for me and that would be you know I'd have to be thrown around the 40s or more you know to be good to be doing the same type of ratio So it's it's just it's incredible and did you ever did you ever get into biathlon or have you mostly just stuck with long cycle as a As a long cycle specialist or did you ever know through a time where you were like no I'm gonna do biathlon too. No, you know, I've I've coached people in biathlon. I've added biathlon training as accessory a protocol within my own programming But I've never competed in a biathlon I've always I just fell in love with long cycle and I've stuck to it And I think I'll probably delve into going biathlon once I hit master's for international numbers in long cycle And at that point then I'll say okay We know let me let me go and like throw a 24 kilo biathlon set up in the competition, you know, just just for fun But I think I definitely want to just Just continue focusing on getting those international class numbers and long cycle and how much how much Further do you have to go to get to I see level? I think it depends on what Federation, you know Is is active at the time that I end up being able to participate in this? There's been a huge movement of virtual competitions coming around Yeah, and I just I crave the feel of having somebody right beside me just like this blank bag in metal around So what I'm aiming for is to be able to get to a 70 rat mark Which I've still got a way to go like my best is 55 and that's been under like ideal circumstances I think my kids weren't weren't like at grandma's house or something that now I probably slept like 14 hours I was hot up on so much caffeine. They're like I could vibe to dead But yeah, like it's getting to 70 is like is my big mark, you know If I can get that and like I'm good to go across any Federation Yeah, that's yeah, that's a that's a heck of a jump But it's I mean, it's definitely within the realm of possibility right that's the that's always the thing is like, you know 55 is 55 is pretty solid That's you know 5.5 reps per minute and you're like okay, I need to get to seven reps of it Okay, you know you can you can see a path But you also know it's non-linear and it's like yeah those those extra those extra 15 reps are a lot harder than it sounds on paper Oh, yeah, man and it's just it's not gonna be linear and it's not gonna be something that's gonna happen from one quarter to another That's that's gonna be it. It'll it's gonna take some time to build up and then you and along the way You hit all these other milestones that's gonna be so you're just Encouraging and at the same time you might hit some pitfalls and you just have to make sure you pull yourself out of yeah You mentioned you mentioned a cat being hopped up on caffeine. That's interesting to me because I'm actually like trying to wean myself off of caffeine Because I struggle so much with my with controlling my heart rate That I feel like the stimulants are not going to help me so I'm curious I'm curious is is heart rate heart rate not really an issue for you ever or do you do you find that you're Get the performance boost from the from the stimulants that it's worth it to you I think I I enjoy and appreciate the performance boost from the caffeine Caffeine beta Allen and you know whatever whatever You know nice mixture I'm doing at that time And I appreciate that boost and it helps you definitely with a sense of mental clarity And I think I'm able to work around the heart rate elevation with much more ease So like I've never had issues with like we're caffeine is is spiking my heart rate to the point where it'll it'll hinder my performance But I definitely have had those issues where I'd be like my I feel a little cloudy, you know whatever the case is And all that got a lot of my mind to the sleep well whatever it is So I'd rather take my chances with having you know it caffeine in my corner on a good training day versus Not Just because I've had I've had those experiences where like you know You just like mentally like you know something might might come about to get in your way for sure So what's here? What's your athletic background before before you you know got into personal training before you got into Calabas like did you did you compete as a as a young man or you know in other sports? What was your athletic background growing up? Oh God no, I wish I had a story like that um I was so Grouping in and Brooklyn, New York The most active I think I was was when I was in high school and I would I was part of the the school handle team Another and that like I was going with my friends and display a handball And we know we I think we made it to like Stay regional or something that one point as I was a doubles player But uh other and that like I hadn't really connected with uh with a sport, you know I don't have this like extensive athletic background um I was uh I was a Puerto Rican kid in Brooklyn, you know every every summer was literally that was like the thing You know my father I think expected me to be the next rubber romantic And um, you know, he would you just put me in little league and that was our our thing I think it did three years a little league when I was a kid And other than that I had to really participate in any sports that I really connected with which is why like I think that's what what took me you know, but with such a shock and they just left such an impression when I felt so good After that first competition in 2013, I was like oh shit like I found it, you know, I found that thing that That just feels like home, you know Yeah, you found your thing. That's that's that's fantastic. So Brooklyn Brooklyn board and raise So who's so who's your so who's your baseball team since you were you're in little league I know it's a big thing. I Carter was like yeah, you know, the match I guess, but you didn't seem to care a ton But it sounds like it sounds like you you might be a little bit more into baseball um I i'm not really i'll be honest. I'm not really into baseball I grew up as a father of a Yankees fan. So by default, that was always a Yankees fan Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that was that was always our thing Right now like I want to be able to tell you like, you know, the starting line of for either team But yeah, I definitely I think if if it came about to like what jersey that I happened to own it was like it was probably a Bernie Williams jersey from the Yankees Yeah, that was like that was my go-to. That's funny. I just I always assume everybody that I know from New York It's always like, you know Yankees Yankees are meant to always a big thing and the giants are jets, you know, like you got to pick your side And it's always there's always a there's always a big thing from everybody that I knew but both you and Carter are like yeah And whatever you know, it's just it's just there Yeah, not really not really big thing. Yeah, I mean it was definitely existed in my life But I don't I don't think I can't I'd be lying if I said like it was this it was his major influence I think if anything like the the social element of the athleticism is that what I appreciate the most like um and even if it's from the Point of an observer, you know like I everything every super ball ever watched I have not known who's playing until the day of and it's just been like I'm just showing up because I'm like, you know what I like I got my brother is it, you know, like here and we're all just gonna get together and just have a great time and just you know Like just laugh and you know, like eat chicken wings and just like just enjoy each other's company You know, it was always about it was always about the camaraderie and how big is your family? Do you have brothers and sisters? Are you an only child or no? No, no, I actually have an older brother. Uh, he is God. How is he's 51 years old lives in I think Charleston, West Virginia and I'm I just turned 37 literally like a week ago and Yeah, thank you, sir. Thank you. Um, yeah, so there's a what a 16-year-age gap between my brother So yeah, yeah, that was definitely interesting. Yeah, that that's it. That's a different dynamic I have I have two one who's like two years two years older than me and his my best friend. We roomed together in college But I have my own brother Juan who's six years older than me and it's a different dynamic to a 16-year a 16-year split like that's That's a that's a really that's a really big difference in Interesting growing up. Yeah, definitely. So tell me tell me a little bit about your your nutrition Approach as well because that's that's something that I think a lot of people Don't talk a lot about especially in kettlebell sport But it's it's something that I think is it's super super important for for performance. I'm curious how you handle your nutrition I mean for the for the most part. Um, I I don't necessarily at the moment adhere to any particular Any particular format. You know, like I'm not doing keto. I'm not doing paleo. I'm not I'm not following You know like the blood type diet or anything in particular um, I I have an appreciation for carbohydrates. It's a fuel So I definitely keep those in the front end when it comes to like my performance um, and I I think I like at the moment in times like this when you know, I don't have a competition coming around I'm just being mindful of like not eating not eating an over abundance of food Like definitely not eating more than what my body needs for the sake of functioning and um, you know Taking it easy on the pastries and taking easy ice cream and the alcohol and just for the sake of making sure that I feel good So I'm focusing on like the the quality of my my body's performance my body's abilities are just function on a daily basis And I'm not really being extremely mindful of like what my color again sick is at the moment Now if I know that I have a competition coming around That's nice. I'm pulling up the my fitness pal app and I'll start tracking everything keep myself somewhere in like the you know 2500 calorie on a light day 2800 to 3000 calories on a heavier day You know still being mindful of like I need to eventually start making a slow decline weight And I'll just make sure that I on on those days when I know I need a little bit of extra arms That's when the extra bit of carbohydrates are coming in and I try to balance it out depending on if it's like Pre-post or intro workout, you know, the where my carbs are going to be loaded towards Most of the most probably I just tend to keep things very simple, you know I basically will I'll eat my calories and support in my training session And if I'm not having a training session then I'll Reduce the amount of calories for that day and distribute them throughout the day with a little bit more ease So I'm training day like I might do like a three to one carb to protein ratio on my my pre and my post workout And then I'll try to like we know off the simple carbohydrates before and afterwards, you know Just just literally make it where I'm just supporting the training sessions much of the can Nice and how so how far out pre session do you do you consume and how immediately after post session do you consume? I give myself 190 minutes to an hour to take in something that might be A mixture of like protein and simple carbohydrates and then I'll sip something I may be like coconut water with With like a like a half-scoop of protein powder and also begin like the 14-15 gram range I'll sip that during my training session that I'll have an actual meal Compose of maybe like white rice and and chicken with it with some hefty vegetables I'll make sure that my post workout meal doesn't really have any any like fat density to it for the sake of it Just having a quicker breakdown and simulation I just want to support that protein protein synthesis as much as I can And then as I start moving away from the post-training window in a sense, you know without sounding too cliche Then I'll start having things that are going to be a little bit more in the the cruciferous fibrous vegetable range You know, so the dinner might be It might be steak with some Asparagus and slice avocado and just you know like not really have too much of a presence of Of carbohydrates within that with the exception of the fibrous ones that I get from the vegetables Yeah, so it sounds like you're I mean you say that your approach is simple But simple as an easy for you to stick to but you've clearly thought thought it out and you clearly have an idea of what you're what you're trying to stick to from ratios and Simple versus complex. You've clearly got a strategy around it. Do you do you work with your athletes on that as well? I mean if there's a need for I I give them advice and I give them some direction I just I never listen like like proclaim that I have nutrition background to be able to support them to that extent I've actually in some cases like Deligated outwards and found somebody for them that could be helpful More helpful than whatever I can offer if they need something more extensive So for the most part I share what experiences that work for me and we sit down and like see okay Well, this this may be working for you. This may not be working for you How can we make some adjustments and see how you feel from one week to another As far as like it does your way decreases your weight increase how's your performance feeling? How do you feel how do you feel about yourself which is a bit even more important conversation to have But yeah, I mean like I try to I try to be a contributor well on this it would be like a too much of a supervisor when it comes to nutrition in that sense Just because like it's I don't want to delve out of my scope of practice Yeah, nice. Yeah, so let's talk a little bit about scope of practice right you're your personal trainer You know for your full-time job, right? How much of that is You know, just general health and fitness clients and how much of it is like sport specific kettlebell specific You know, just what's what's your your average kind of look like right now? I tell her now like the bulk of my the people I'm seeing are a little bit more general fitness And then I have some remote clients that I'm working with as far as kettlebell sport athletes I do a programming for them There's a couple people that I actually do someone say like sessions with but most of my clients how that I work with is gonna be a lot more like general fitness So you know, well, we'll do everything from like pre-hab work to mobility training I've done a little bit of like Powerlifting and a big weightlifting, but you know again like I've never I've never stepped on a limbic weightlifting or probably in platform I've never had to do with like three white lights So I I don't know what that experience would be like to you know to take them to an elite level And I think that's an important thing to just have to acknowledge like you know Depending on where it is that you want your your experience to get to is you know the level of supervision that you need to have As far as somebody overseeing your your performance. Yeah, absolutely And so now I mean you're in you're in New York obviously which will break Mm-hmm. Oh, well, um Yeah, well, so oh COVID actually hit me pretty hard. I'll be doing a chest talk about this before the um before the The sit down actually started but my my father actually passed as a result of COVID on I'm so sorry to hear that. Yeah, yeah, man. Thank you Yeah, he was um, but that was that was I guess like the the really impactful part of my COVID experience You know, they're the loss of my dad and um that that was really difficult for my entire family You know, luckily I had I had my wife and I had my loved ones who were here and we just like it would lean on each other So it was um, you know, we got through it and we were still kind of like You know that obviously having a difficult time just uh coping with that But um, but that was like my my experience of it you know from like the personal like deep level and then um Also just I guess like that that sense of like just suddenly having to shift into so many different variables So like my kids having to go from going to normal school to then going into virtual school You know, we were pretty much like home school instructors for for the remainder of the school year And that was just difficult to take these kids who just all they want to do is just run jump and play to now having to sit them in front of the screen And um just adapting to that that was really difficult for them and for us as well, you know um like I don't know I mean times I had to give my my seven-year-old daughter a little a little upper back massage just as she would feel better But um So you know that there's that component there was also the big social element You know like the isolation and just having to be stuck at home for the sake of being secure and uh, you know The I guess it's just like the yearning for for communication the yearning for Contact and for interaction with you know people that you care about is definitely really hard, you know So definitely a lot of a lot of phone calls a lot of zoom calls Um, I definitely see reasons why zoom stock and they're going up as high as it did over these last couple of months But um, yeah, dude like it was uh, it was just a really like it was a really rough beginning You know that that whole like like I guess like when when New York probably thrown into the trenches and then um Yeah, I mean like anybody within that situation, you know We had to try to adapt because at the end of the day like you know, we still got to feed a family Still got to put for the roof over our head um and you know like what what type of legacy are we gonna leave if we just end up kind of just like Turning over you know and just like giving up So um, yeah, I took the motivation of you know, what will the old man want me to do and and it definitely wasn't you know like like sit on my ass so um Try to find out, you know ways that I can pivot my business and make it where I can still thrive and be able to you know Hold my family up up in a high position and make sure we were all good and you know It's been it's been actually starting to work in a pretty good direction in that sense, you know So hopefully it just keeps going with that momentum Yeah, that's yeah, that's uh man, that's that's a lot of a lot of heavy, you know a lot of heavy things, you know a lot of heavy choices and Um, is is it more under control now? I mean most recently I've heard you know encouraging statistics from you know from uh New York positivity rate is down at like two two or three percent now It sounds like are the kids gonna go back to school this fall or are they still no no we're doing on So right now they gave us the options to either do a uh mix learning format where they would go into two to three times a week on Onside school and then do the remains of a virtual but we just chose to keep them strictly virtual So we're gonna be home with them. I believe they're gonna be starting, you know right right now Uh, they're looking at a start date of uh September 16th at the leave for virtual learning and we're on the fifth so it's coming up um, and then uh the uh The onsite I think is gonna be starting in the 21st, but I got a feeling that things are gonna get that maybe get pushed back a little harder You know just just looking at the feedback from some of you at the schools that uh the charter schools are looking at a Completely virtual format up until December So I got a feeling that the most of the schools are gonna end up adopting something similar to that And uh, you know, we've just been trying to set ourselves up as best as we can to make sure that we can provide the best experience for them You know make sure that their education doesn't fall behind make sure that they stay ahead of the trend at the same time Try to give them the the level of uh of physical and social and and nurturing that they need for the sake of continuing to thrive Yeah, and that's I think that's really the that's really the hardest part like uh, you know We talked a little bit you your your daughters eight and your son is six right those are like for me If that's like the key times as much as the education in the classroom is the socialization component That's the part. I've been having a really hard time with especially with my six-year-old You know, because she just misses her friends and like is missing out on all of that socialization learning how to interact in Positive ways and like how do you navigate? You know, so the social setting of school like how are you guys are you guys handling that do you have any like any friends that you Connect them with that you trust to interact with or is it just a lot of isolation that you have to go through right now? I mean, I first it was definitely a lot of isolation Uh, then I was just like the general consensus amongst everybody here uh, and then you know We ended up doing my my daughter's birthday as a virtual party, you know She's a huge fan of Juan So we ended up doing a full Juan scene for her birthday party and you know She had two outfits and we did decorations with the apartment and we made it a virtual event You know, so we ended up just having uh two separate zoom calls for her one was for her friends or classmates That she had built these these bonds with and the second one and then being for family members who in friends of our family We wanted to be part of our experience too So we definitely you know, we we we did everything that we could think of you know within parameters of just making sure that that their their health Both physical, emotional, you know, and mental. We're just like kept as a high priority So we would do a lot of like zoom play dates and you know face time chats with their friends and things like that and eventually You know, we got into doing like we know with families that we really really trust that we we know like how they operate and what the conditions are and stuff Just we keep we keep connection with them like they'd be the occasional like play date at the park or something You know, but we've made sure that you know, we were just be mindful you know of everything and yeah I mean, that's that's kind of the way we've been going about doing things Yeah, it's a crazy it's a crazy world to be living and trying to think about how do I get my kids together to play with their friends without worrying about them being a factor of infection for themselves or other people Exactly. Yeah, so not not calculus that I anticipated I would have to have to do in my life What I don't think I think any any human, you know, let alone apparent everything so they have to you know go through things like this and It's definitely It forces you to have to adapt and reinvent the way that you see life and the way that you had you you deal with things coming at you You know, and I think I think my kids were like definitely shining examples of being able to face situations that were that you know, nobody had control over it with a level of finesse and grace that I know most adults were crumble under You know, so, you know, the things the grandpa things with school like like yeah, like it was just like they they were like they were my superheroes, you know, in this whole situation Yeah, so yeah, I'm constantly in There she sees her. Yeah, she sees her babies. She wants to squeeze them chill chill like she'll like come to one I want to give them a hug But like here my daughter is like making sure she's got her mask on and she's like no, she can't hug It's amazing to me how how quickly they adapt and how empathetic they are and like It's just it's been pretty it's been pretty incredible to see like that's I kind of have that same feeling where I'm like man I'm in awe of your of your compassion and Just how resilient you are for being such a young human like it's it's crazy to see Well, bro, that's like that's like the excellent the best way to label them. They're they're young humans You know they're they then and we kind of touched on this a little bit beforehand, but like they Children are growing up to you know and it's amazing when you're able to observe them from the moment That you first see them and lock eyes with them to the moment of these start exhibiting They're their own personality and they're no longer just extension of you like now. You're like wow like I just created or or or or or here is this being that I Created or I contributed for the creation of that is now going to impact the world in such a marvelous way You know and to see that unfolding is just like breathtaking Yeah, it's the coolest thing like being a parent. I it's just amazing to me. It's totally fucking rocks I love it Yeah, it's one of those things that I can't I can't I can't imagine not not being a parent at this point It's it's changed my world view and changed so much about my life so much that I can't imagine ever having not had kids, but It's definitely a joke. I've got to want to sign up for so I don't I don't I don't say that to I don't say that to bag on anybody who's like No, I don't want to be a parent because it's definitely a job that you need to sign up for because Oh, yeah, there's a lot there's a lot that goes into I can't share it's a lot of work. It's a lot of attentiveness It's it's it's patience, but but then also there's like these rewarding moments that you just like you are irreplaceable and You know that then I love the quirky moments and they start seeing like doing stuff like yeah, you know that like that's my kid Like that's definitely like something like like we share like my um my my daughter's a you know like I said before but I get the I get the moments where my kids challenge me like they call me out. They call me out because you know like dead You're not supposed to do that. You're like, yeah, yeah, you're right. I need to call down or you know You know, and I've given I've given my kids permission to like I've told them I try and communicate with them like hey You know daddy has a hard time controlling his temper sometimes too or I Get upset and then I don't always act right. So if I'm you know, it's okay for you to say hey It's not okay for you to talk like that or dad you need to take a deep breath and it's like oh man my kids are so good They're so good at calling me out when I When I'm like fired up or stressed out and they're like dad He's take some deep breaths dinosaur breaths Good and you know what and you say like that and like the like the the the first thing I say is like Congratulations and and great job because you're a bit you're basically like among the flock among the tribe of parents who are just like You you were mindful enough to say you know I like the earth has to inherit my children and the adults that they grew up into and like what kind of people Am I giving the earth like who am I leaving for this world to end up dealing with whether it's a positive or negative And the fact that like the fact that our kids are are the types of individuals who can call us out on something The type of individuals who show such compassion empathy and grace when it comes to situations like that's like That's like super admirable man like that's uh, that's yeah I think that's what we're all striving for right is like that was one of those things that I always had a hard time understanding with with my with my dad You know when I was growing up was like we're competitive family and he won't like he He wasn't gonna let me win at anything because he wanted me to get better But he yeah, but he legitimately wanted me to beat him and I was like you don't you don't want to actually lose But he does like he doesn't want to lose because he let me win But he legitimately wanted me to beat him like he legitimately yeah, I get it now because I'm like yeah I absolutely You know my son's like I'm gonna be bigger and stronger than you daddy. I'm like good. I hope so. I hope you are like Yeah, better than me in every single possible way. I literally hope you are better than me in every way I imagine Absolutely, that's that's what I want. That's that means I did a good job. Oh That's what you're doing Yeah, like literally like you're you're the original and they're they're upgrade You know like they they are representing everything you were able to bring to the table plus the plus you know Everything that they are as individuals and like they just they that's that's the legacy right there You know, it's like you like from my perspective like yeah, okay One competition's like a hit a rank whatever the case is you know, that's all great And you can look up a stat on Google but you know like then when they look at my son and they say you know that that kid Lucas or my daughter that girl Luna like Like they heard that or is that or their parents must have really really cared like they must have really wanted These people to grow up as awesome as possible, you know And I think that's that leaves a bigger mark on the world than you know, whatever score is on a counter Yeah, oh I'm gonna ask I'm gonna ask and feel feel free to punt on this question But it's something that I was thinking about when when I when you said that you're your father passed away from COVID That's a super personal hits really close to home obviously and I've recently started with drawing from conversations on social media Even with people that I know You know originally I was I was engaging in a lot of those conversations, but I've really stopped pushing on those conversations a lot Because I don't feel like I'm making any any traction But I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for somebody who's been personally affected in the deepest way possible to lose your father To still encounter people that are Denying that it's real or denying the scope of its impact or just being like yeah, but we just need to get back to normal and I can't I can't imagine what that's like so how have you handled that like do you still engage people in conversations? I mean, how do you just not be like fuck you? Like I don't I think I would really struggle with that. I'm curious to hear your perspective and how it's been for you Brother, you know what it is like at the end of the day like me me Me giving forth an energy that I could be putting redirecting into something it's gonna be actually be more like beneficial to My life my family my loved ones, you know, but by by releasing that energy into people who are just like it's not gonna be it There's not gonna be any convincing them. I'm it feels like it's an inefficient use of my time I at the end of the day like if I'm looking up the way that it's impacted me like I lost my dad My my two best friends One of them lost his dad literally two weeks after my dad passed and my other best friends was hospitalized during the time Which my father died. So literally there was like these two weak increments where the three Three of the most impactful men in my life were being directly affected, you know, like my one of my oldest best friends Being hospitalized my dad passing and then after my dad passing my other my other boys like like that passing and like When I when I think of like those those three variables right and then you know And then globally the way that this thing is just affected everybody because like there is there isn't one person I think who we even lives under a rock in some remote island who can say at some point this is not affected their life It could be anything and could be like you didn't receive a package on time because COVID delayed Amazon. It could be anything right Um, it's it's affected us. It's affected the world, you know, and to say that it's it's a hoax I think it is a disservice to humanity, you know, like I You can argue the details all you want as far as like you know the ventilators and everything else But like it was it's real, you know, it's a real thing that we do have to take seriously able to take something that's that personally effective and Be able to say, you know, it's still not worth me putting my energy like you're taking a very negative thing that happened in your life And doing very positive things with it, you know, for personal growth. That's I applaud you because I don't know that I'd be able to do that honestly. I would I would really have a hard time being able to turn the other cheek and just be more enlightened about it than Uh, so I my hats off to you, man. That's that's incredible. Thank you. I can show a more perspective. So um, wow That's what I mean, that's great Well, just I just think about like, you know, energy energy is finite at the end of the day And I it does not like I you know, cease to exist or anything like that So like for me to for me to put energy into that that's that's energy that could be going to something else I mean, that could be me counting reps for a friend that could be me having a drink with with anybody You know, it could be like could be just like you know, whatever happened You're gonna date with my wife, you know, and and just enjoying the evening, you know Or am I going to be like, you know trolling some dude who just like who doesn't want to wear a mask, you know it's You you you pick and choose your battles and you you fight the battles that are worth winning Yeah, that's I think that's uh, that's a really good really good perspective on that. I I struggle I struggle with that but I think that I think that is part of the reason I've started pulling back Because I realize it's such a negative it's such a negative energy drain that it's it's it's not it's not worth it And uh, yeah, I think you I think you're absolutely right that it's you can direct that energy in other in other directions So it's it sounds like it sounds like you know a theme that I'm picking up on for you It's like a big part of your personal philosophy is is focusing on growth and and like and and development is that I mean, do you have do you have like an articulated personal philosophy that you that you try and live by No, no, I wouldn't say it would go as deep as that I've seen like you know like as as an adult. There's there's things that I wish I would have I would have been more mindful of more aware of you know like as a young kid say more woke You know when I was younger and and to know that like there's like time is Is a is a finite element, you know, it's something that you know It comes and goes and it's the commodity that we cannot regain you know at the end of the day like I can regain a dollar I can regain you know like that food that went bad or whatever the case is you know like but I don't want to lose an opportunity, you know I don't want to lose an opportunity to do something And I think like any any any person, you know, doesn't matter how old they are you know We can talk about you know our kids who are sub 10 years old or we can talk about you know The older of us too or the or our parents or anybody like there's been opportunities that we look back and we're like You know, how would I have done this differently? Well, how would I have been able to have been more gracious more appreciative of whatever it was that was happening And even I mean, fuck even bad experiences learning experiences, you know, you get something out of it Yeah, like I I learned through my the whole thing but my dad it's like I need to not waste time make sure that I make communicating And definitely like front front line when it comes to the you know priorities I'm making sure that I nurture the relationships that I want to nurture that I want to like actually are after you're valuable and You know because What happens when when that's gone, you know like I look at my son and I'm like, you know, dude like if you need to cry You cry if you've got something to say you say it if you need help you ask for help, you know You are you are not alone and you are strong and you are you are worthy and you are just like You you are everything, you know, and I think everyone should just maybe Adopt that type of mindset like it's okay to be going through something and you're probably not going through it alone So it's okay to reach out and communicate. I think that's one thing that I'm I'm trying to take from this experience This being that the COVID you know how how COVID has changed life and everything is You know the I'm trying to focus on living with more urgency and more intentionality with with everything because You know, you mentioned your son and like I literally just saw a graphic Today where it was like From a parenting website where it was like year by year how many days you have with your child until they turn 18 and it just you know Is a bar chart that you know you get fewer and fewer days as they get closer and closer to being 18 years old And I was just that it was like make every day special make every day count right like because you only get so many of them where they're Where they're you know with you before they're before they go out on their own and I was like I teared up like I looked at it I looked at it and I teared up and I was like oh my gosh, this is like it just it just hit me because it's that you know That urgency to it because like you said time is so finite and it's our most precious resource. So Being being more and being more intentional about that I'm hoping that that's like the silver lining that comes out of This whole situation for a lot of people is that people are just more More intentional and more mindful of the things that truly matter And that we're able to maybe maybe get our priorities a little bit more in line especially in America because it feels like we have a lot of Feels like we have a lot of messed up priorities here to me. Oh Absolutely, man. Yeah, I totally agree with that. So are you guys allowed to be back in the gyms training people in person if it's within a certain Parameters now or or is it still are the gyms still closed? They started opening up well Consider like a lot of businesses ended up closing Every gym ended up closing because of these circumstances. They were pretty much forced to close now That doesn't mean that every gym is able to reopen because maybe they ended up going under you know They weren't able to sustain the rent they weren't they ended up having everybody move away Is there's always a situation for like a small business in particular isn't able to recover from a situation like this Now the ones that are less standing will worry about a comeback out of this you know like like get through the darkness and see the light and everything There they started opening up this week in in New York City So I know some business is pretty much ended up opening up one one day and they're gonna be opening up all the way through one day next week And they're taking in the count a lot of a lot of the specific guidelines by the CDC as far as like distancing and occupancy So for the most part a lot of them are are basically functioned about like 33% occupancy to make sure that there's enough space Um, and you know, there's a lot of a lot of sanitation being being kept as a high priority So there's a you know, there's a face mass and gloves and wipes and all sorts of disinfecting fluid available at the door and you're getting You know the temperature check that as soon as you walk in and you're encouraged to go wash your hands immediately before doing anything wiping down equipment when putting it back And there's a lot of businesses actually change the format of how they they choose to operate So, you know, you don't have this mass influx of people you know like in in the before and after work crowd coming in to get the work out then Now you might have a lot of people because their lives and their their work environment has shifted and they're working from home You have a lot of people now who might be coming in during the day and they're taking up the their their chunk of square footage that they reserve You know in order to get the work done in a gym um and some people honestly like they they've gotten used to the working at a home or working at outdoors Element too. So it's I'm curious to see You know globally, you know in situations where like you know everything from like your strength and conditioning facility to your cross-fit box You know to your your bootcamp instructor is like you know everything started shifting to be able to to Still provide for the community of people who value their health and fitness. So, you know People reserving alleys, you know to be able to do workouts and doing things in the park. I mean Show you walk by any park in New York and it's like, you know central park prospect park something There's there's a session going on. There's a group of people who just decided, you know Screw it. I'm not gonna like sit on my ass and let my life go to ways. Let me go out and do something Let me move myself. Let me get my juices flowing and And they're still getting at it, you know And then god look at look at go on any website go on kettlebell kings.com and see if you can buy a kettlebell You know, you have to wait you're gonna get on a waiting list because everybody decided, you know I'm not gonna sit around and Act as if I'm helpless, you know, and I think that's one thing that as fitness professionals I think we've done a great job at is being able to encourage a level of autonomy amongst our athletes You know where where they decided on you know on their own or under the under the guidance of a coach that Yeah, gyms are closed, but what can I do? What do I have within my power? What can I Make happen in order to support my needs, you know, and the needs of those around me and you know like I've got a set of kettlebells in At home right now. I've got 18 28 32 kilos. I got my kids bells. I got a bunch of bands I got my Christophe and shoulder rock lying around. They got a whole bunch of stuff You know, I was like I gotta get I gotta get my gains on you know I got I'm not gonna fall behind Not just because of the aesthetic, but also because like it's it's spiritual man like like people crave a challenge People crave camaraderie people crave, you know, some something to Cause them to level up. It's sometimes like we as humans don't don't actually answer the call to level up You know when the situation comes up our way So long story short I I'm curious to see what ends up happening in the next couple of months as far as re-occupancy of training facilities Across the United States and in New York in particular, but I know that a lot of people are probably gonna keep the in the At home or outdoor Workout energy going And my and my hope is that as the gyms reopen we'll see More people get to the gyms and the same level of people still doing the at home and in the outdoors And we just collectively have a lot more people working out because I think that's You know, hopefully another silver lining from this whole situation is everybody's kind of realizing Uh, you announce a prevention right if you if you Forfeit taking care of your health preventatively um, you know your your outcomes are a lot less Optimistic when unexpected things come up like you know COVID obviously like you know But even even just you know predictable things like heart disease and things like that I just I it seems like there's a lot greater awareness now that people are like oh shit If I don't I don't take care of myself. I'm I'm really putting myself at greater risk for any of these things I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll see that continue even after you know, a vaccine comes out and uh You know, hopefully the the curve is under control and there's successful treatments and all of those things Which are hopefully not in the not too distant future But I really hope that the the zeitgeist of of needing to work out and wanting to work out really Really continues beyond Beyond this Yeah, I mean, I I think uh, I think As a society I think we definitely like shifted in that direction of you know Let's let's take care of ourselves with whatever we have at our disposal. I mean if you if you just look online If you scroll through any but any random instagram feed the amount of people who have like you know Decided to pick up a sender block and start carrying around you know that down the street or Like pushing the car up in that street or just like working up with whatever they're disposal like it It just shows I think the um the the collective integrity that we're able to achieve As humans as as people who crave movement as a as a as a nurturing substance for us That we're we are able to kind of you know make it by I mean like the entire time you've been driving I feel like I'm hearing the clanging of kettlebells in your trunk which makes it hard to get in the car with you Yeah, you absolutely all right I've got my I've got my two I've got my 220s uh in in the back in the back seat because I took them up to make sure I got my Long cycle in yesterday with my team which was which was less than ideal I was in the car for four hours got out of the car stretched out and then like I was like okay I got to teach kettlebell class you know, but I felt better after I did it then you know And it was so funny because multiple people on the call were like oh thank you guys for being here Because I was really close to being like not gonna do it today And just I feel like I'm gonna skip but I knew there was gonna be people on this call And so you know we had you know five people five people showed up because there was other people there And they needed they didn't want to let their tribe down and they knew that they needed to show up like I love that like Yes It's uh that's been a saving grace for me is having that having that team and having people knowing people are counting on me to be there to coach them I've been more consistent about getting my getting my own sessions in three to four times a week Sense COVID happened because I've got people counting on me to be there And we do the sessions together like that's uh that's been uh that's been a that's been a big takeaway for me too So I love that So it's it's amazing how like how much you can get done when you just pull together with with with people who who like care you know like You've got you've got the five people that were counting on you today that you know You you guys just went and you made you made magic happen You know just just and all you did literally was like you made sure you had your weights on hand You made sure that you you you stuck to your commitment You know now is the biggest thing like like you Coming in with a with a level of authenticity coming in with like you know with integrity And I I think that that that speaks you know like like mountains worth of um Of value as far as like what we can accomplish Yeah, absolutely and it's I think for you know for us as coaches like it's part of it is the the leading from the front thing too And just being like you know, no, I'm gonna show up. I'm gonna be there Because it just it becomes a self a self-fulfilling pattern then then everybody feels like no I got to show up because everybody else is gonna show up I've got people got people counting on me right and you start building that Start building that community and everybody becomes a leader and it's not just about the coach And it's been it's been great. There's been a few times where I'm like I've had family commitments or things like that Where I couldn't make it and I let the team know ahead of time and you know One of the one of the other people was like yeah, just assign me as the host I'll make sure the room is open and all you know I'll keep time for everybody we've got the workout. You already sent us the workout. We're good to go just you know go You don't go enjoy your anniversary dinner or you know, whatever it was for why I couldn't couldn't be there for that particular session But like that's that's the thing that's been so special for me is seeing like the community grow and seeing everybody kind of step into that Into that positive momentum So hoping we can we can keep that going and keep keep growing. I'm very excited about that Yeah, no that way I definitely I definitely see like you know if if those types of things are those types of Relations where nurtured and grew during this time. I think it's gonna be something they're even one stuff good I mean that's the thing like we're not gonna. I don't think we're gonna get back to whatever the old norm is. I think we have to As a society kind of Brace for whatever the new norm isn't it be and the known you know that I don't think it was ever normal for a gym to be operating at 33% capacity I don't think it was ever normal for anybody to be you know walking around with mast on unless everybody had like a bane complex from a Christopher Nolan Batman film But yeah, like there's like so many things that have now become our new norm that in some senses people are just kind of used to at this point Like it's just it just happens so normally like if I got to go grocery shopping I'm throwing a mask on names. That's just that's what the norm is right now, you know Yeah, I mean, I think I think it's gonna continue I think we're definitely gonna continue as far as like thriving but we just have to make sure we keep the right mindset with it Yeah, absolutely now I'm my head. I'm really what what would happen if you did kettlebells with that mask on it would be very painful Oh god god bless. I'm already I can't I can't wait for whatever than whatever than the first like in-person big competition that ends up happening for kettlebells Like I like I feel a slight swell of pity for whoever the organizer is of said competition because Like the kettlebell community is going to descend on that first in-person competition like a swarm of locusts And it's just gonna be like so much energy. It's gonna be it's gonna be fucking insane But I'm like I'm so ex I'm so excited for for whenever whenever that happens. I'm like I'm gonna be ready And it's gonna be it's gonna be awesome It's gonna be a local event with a with a turnout. You would expect from like IUK a world Like you 250 people registering for like a garage gym, you know Yeah, wait, man. Is that Dennis Vasilis showing up in the middle of nowhere to do? Oh, okay cool Everybody's here. This is great Man, well, thank you so much. What I want to I want to be respectful of your time I know you've got I know you've got your Saturday still to go spend some time with your family I know you you talked you taught a certification earlier today So I want to I want to let you go But tell everybody how they can how they can find you and how they can follow you if they want to hire you How they can get at you because you know you're doing remote personal training for anybody that wants Anybody that wants help whether you've got kettlebells or not, right? You you can coach before regardless So how do you get at you? Oh, dude, you can have a you can have a tote bag and a bunch of a bunch of bean cans And I will make it we'll make it work like that's not something to be sweating But yeah, you could definitely reach out to me on Instagram at you are strength So that's that's letter you letter R strength and I I'm pretty quick as far as like responding to things like that There's also my email which is exorgo at yahoo.com and you can send me an email there It's exs urgo at yahoo.com and I'd love to just connect with anybody who's just down to just like Just like work their asses off and then see what we can get done you know like Let's connect let's let's build something great and I'm super appreciative man that we we had this check of this was like so refreshing So you know Thank you so much and I can't I can't wait to meet you in person. I've got to get out to Brooklyn and sit down Slings some steel first and then sit down with you and Carter have you know have a have a meal have a drink You know catch up because I can't wait I can't wait to meet y'all in person. It's gonna be great What what picture of Doug Siemens are you gonna put up on your wall for you know to inspire your training? That's that'll be fine. I don't know. I mean if you if you happen to have like a like a burnt rentals lane across a Across a dead tiger It might be one of those So so Dougie if you got one of those just like post it up and tag me on that and where you know like I'll I'll screenshot that If he doesn't Lindsay can you can you can you make that happen Lindsay can work the camera and Told him to make that happen. Yeah later cost his dogs. Yeah It'll be it'll be the most popular to post you ever puts up on Instagram. Oh absolutely. Yeah He's gonna get a style like 500 likes for that one Oh, that's awesome. All right. Well, thank you so much, man I can't wait to meet you person. I really appreciate the time and we'll talk soon. Okay I brought them so they're coming forward to man. Thank you so much for your time Thanks for listening to this episode of the platform podcast. I'm Jordan Kunde-Wright If you have a question, please email me at Twins City's kettlebell club at gmail.com Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Twins City's kettlebell club on Twitter at tckb club Online at Twins City's kettlebell club.com And please help us grow our reach and give us a review on apple podcast spotify stitcher or wherever you get your podcast Until next time