Ray Wright | Founder of Warhorse Kettlebell Club & Pit Crew Coach of Richard Childress Racing

What is up everyone? Thank you for tuning into this episode of the platform podcast Thank you so much for your patience and all the kind messages I got from my listeners pushing me to get a new episode out It actually meant a lot to me to know that people are Listening and that they look forward to the content. I'm putting out. I took a little hiatus due to the US elections I'm not sure if you heard but we apparently had an election and there was some Concernation and rejoicing depending on which side you are on and a lot of stress that went along with that and then obviously thanks giving So it took a little bit of time with the family But I am planning to keep bringing you podcast episodes in 2020 and throughout 2021 If you appreciate the content I've put out so far. I have a favor to ask please drop a five star review on Apple podcasts And or share the podcast with your friends on social media It really helps and I would love to continue growing the audience so that I can grow my impact because I really want to help people improve their lives and live healthier Sustainable lives and spread the vision of bringing kettlebell sport to the mainstream in America So any support you have and that would be great And if you don't like what I'm doing, you know send me a message. Let me know how I can get better I'm always open to feedback, but maybe don't leave me a review. That would be great. 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I have Ray Wright Who is the founder of Warhorse kettlebell club and is also the pit crew um coach at Richard Childress Racing which is one of the biggest teams in NASCAR This was a super fun conversation Ray and I have been interacting on the social media's you know, particularly instagram for Over a year on and off and he's just a super great guy doing all sorts of great work And I had no idea until a post a couple weeks ago that he was involved in NASCAR I just knew him as a as a fellow kettlebell sport meathead Who was you know super good at what he was doing and really had improved a lot in just the the short time I'd been interacting with him and He's he's an incredible athlete and a super great human being and I really enjoyed this conversation I hope you guys enjoy it too. I learned a lot about NASCAR and some of the intricacies I'm actually looking forward to to catching my next race and you know learning a little bit more about it So it's it actually was was a super fun thing for me to to learn more about so I hope you guys enjoy this conversation. I certainly did thank you so much for your support And let's finish 2020 strong and kick 2021's ass All right welcome into this episode of the platform podcast my guest today is Ray right no relation that we're aware of He is the founder of the war horse kettlebell club He is a coach and an athlete as well as being a pit crew coach for Richard Childress Racing in NASCAR Thanks for coming in man. Appreciate having you on man, I've been you know, I've been following you on Instagram for a long time and I see all the you know see your post about the podcast man I'm excited that you asked me to be on it. Yeah, dude. I'm really excited So I know you from from Instagram and that's how we connected and we've we've messaged back and forth a few times And it was only recently that I learned that you're involved in NASCAR So I mean you're a pit coach tell me tell me what that's like what I mean I have no idea what how what all that job entails so so So edgy came in a little bit tell learn me something about NASCAR Yeah, man, so it's been 13 years. This is my 13th year in this job and I came in just like you I didn't know anything about NASCAR I came from a baseball background. I played baseball at LSU Back in 2000. Yeah, go Tigers man And for one of our college well series with a man. So it was been a great congratulations. Thank you Been a great relationship with LSU, but like I said that was 20 years ago and then moved to North Carolina because my wife was here and Got a job at a local high school met Two kids there by the name of Austin and Ty Dylan who are now drivers in the NASCAR Cup series And they told me they needed some somebody to train to pick crews man So I took a job over here not knowing anything about pick crews Started training the guys just the way I you know, I'd watch and learn and see how that would you know change some Some training that I did and then as I was watching I just said man, I think I can do this. So So so when you say train now are you talking about like technically training them on how to get better at their the fun the functions of the Picture are we talking physical training both like one of us in tail. So that's a good question man Sorry, I skimmed over that, but it was definitely just the gym training physical training They have a you know at the time. They always have a pit crew coach which you know coaches them up on the choreography the Inz and out of the actual pit stop. I was just training the guys You know in a gym physically trying to help them with their foot speed help them with their strength and You know help with their their mental approach too So that's what I did man. I did that for a full a year and then I Like said, I watched a pit stop. I learned more about a pit stop and Decided that I could do it and look man for people who aren't You know very clear and an actual pit stop we're changing Four tires We're putting taking four tires off putting four new ones on and we're trying to do it in about 12 seconds Yeah, so it is that's right in left side highly highly choreographed highly physical Speed counts. I mean milliseconds count right it's I mean it's it's it's a big deal You're exactly right it comes down the tense man for sure um and so Man after I got involved in an actual pit stop it was the most fun Kind of competition that I've ever been a part of at that time Man just what goes into it your car coming down pit road how loud the cars are how You know big The motors are and you know, you're trying to do a job with other cars zooming right around you. It's not safe And talk about high consequence environment man if you make it fake like there's there's a lot on the line there Yeah, it's it's it's just so much fun and but you know It's just like any other job at the end of the day. It's it's good and bad if you don't perform and It's not a very um You know the doors always open man people are always coming in. It's not a very stable job at all But uh, so I did that for about eight years then I You know the gray hair started coming out and Started putting some a yummy and uh, you know, it's a young man sports. So then I was fortunate enough to have the pit crew coach job offered And uh took that and here we are today And so how many men on a pit crew in total So when I started a man they were seven and then uh, they made some changes and they were six And now we're at five Wow, okay, so it's gone it's gone less and less so the so the core you i imagine that means the choreography has to be tighter And yes, you got you got to do more with fewer resources. So how has that changed the strategy for you? Has it has it affected the times to are they are the times slower now than they were or have you managed to get faster with fewer people Man, we have been able to stay almost the same. I feel like Another year or two With the six man I mean people are starting to do some some crazy stops, you know some mid 10 second stops But with five guys, we can't we can't get too close that I have seen some guys do some some high 10 second stops But I mean it's a lot closer than I thought it would be that's for sure I'll tell you that we the NASCAR community man You got a bunch of people who are looking for advantages everywhere And if the rulebook don't state it or if the rulebook isn't clear Then I mean we're gonna do if it's if it's gray they're walking through that gray area as hard as they can right exactly Nice nice So in a in a typical race now and I mean, I guess it will vary by distance, but you know For every hundred miles how many stops does the car typically take how many how many times is your pit crew Going into action assuming things are going well. Obviously, and there's not a wreck or anything like that, but just on an edge so That's another thing that's really cool that that I think People outside of NASCAR don't know is each track presents something different man You've got your short tracks. You got your super speedways. You got your mile and a half kind of cookie cutter tracks You got a place like Darlington that hadn't been repaved in such a long time. You can't run 10 laps without your tires falling off big time You know then then there are tracks like a Texas where it's a mile and a half track It's smooth surface and you're gonna run a fuel mileage You're not gonna come pit for tires. You're gonna run off your fuel mileage man. So you can run about 70 laps Before you come in at a place like Texas martensville saying I mean you're gonna come in every time The yellow flag comes out for four tires But you know you can make a fuel run on tires man, and so you know your older tracks like a Darlington You know Bristol will that that's been that's actually Turned into a smoother track, but you got those tracks it just to surface the temperature There's a whole bunch that goes into it man. That's what's so much fun When you get involved with the sport nice, and so this is not gonna be an easy question But if if you had to pick one track to recommend for a new NASCAR watcher Somebody who doesn't watch NASCAR if they want to learn about the sport or be entertained by the sport to expose them You know get them hooked which which race would you say what track should they watch races on? I'm gonna say the Bristol Bristol race of Bristol and if you get if you're gonna go to it the Bristol night race late summer That is it's always been my favorite. I think if you're gonna watch it on TV or if you're gonna go to it man I think a taladega or a Daytona Whether you know they got to restrict the plates on the motors and in those guys are bumper to bumper going about a 200 miles an hour I've always been super Into that man. It's just you know slightest Wiggle or anything you're gonna see a huge wreck. So I recommend super speedways or the Bristol night race nice What's what's unique about the Bristol night race? So Bristol is a short track. It's a super short track, but it's high banking man So these cars are rolling. They're going 120 130 40 miles an hour and a place like this. What's the pitch on that is it 30 degrees? What how how high is it? I don't know exactly man. I want to say it's worse than that like you can't walk up the banking dude It's like a crawl. Wow. Yeah, it's straight up and down practically. It's crazy And these guys hold the mail. There's a bunch of wrecking there And the atmosphere is set up like a Coliseum and the stands go straight up and it's It's not like an open racetrack It's uh, it's not in close obviously, but the the stands are I mean, it's a circular deal And it's just they call it the Coliseum dude looks like the old Coliseum Yeah, well, yeah, that is that is one that is one race that I very much enjoy watching on TV because of the the uniqueness of that track It's a it's a very very different thing. I've been down to Taladega once that was like you said that's an experience man That is a whole that is a whole other thing I've been to the Joliet speedway too and that that was I mean night and day difference between Joliet and Taladega like yeah, for sure Like no big deal in Chicago like you'll get I mean the the stands will be full you get people will come in because it's an ask car racing It's an event and it's fun, but like Taladega it was like a whole thing. We had a busload of We had a busload of women that came from it like in their Kentucky Derby gear They were turning it into a whole weekend You know, I'm like it was it was uh, it was quite it was quite a thing like I and I even just being up in the stands like Feeling the feeling the horse power of the of the cars and feeling them come by and the the wind off of this Off of the track and everything like it's just such a unique tactile experience like if you've never been to a NASCAR race I can't even imagine how much more intense it is down on pit road like the heat and you know Like I mean what what does it what does it get down to? I mean, I mean, it's it's always hot I mean, it was hot in the stands like how hot is it down on the pit? Oh my gosh man wearing those fire suits and now you got to wear Fireproof like long johns, you know Under your fire suit got that helmet on you got your face covering dude. It it it gets like in Indianapolis in July is miserable Daytona in July is miserable How are you all hydrating like that's that's got to be a big part of it for your performance, right? Like managing hydration for your pit crews got to be sand for your driver like how do you guys how do you guys manage that component of it? Man, we try to do that the week You know, we try to educate these guys as much as we can, you know At the other day, we can't go home with them. We can't make their decisions But we definitely give them the education and uh, and we remind them to stay hydrated You know, we do have a bunch of young guys on pig crews who are making, you know, pretty good money And uh, man, they just got to just make a decision in a Ray night. They want to go out and party then You know, they might not be making that money too much longer, you know Yeah, yeah, have you seen the the Texas the Texas pee the Texas pee color chart There's a there's the thing the long horns put up. I don't know if it's still there But they had a fake they had a big nose like based on the color of your pee You're either a long horn or you're a selfish teammate, right? You know, if you're like and there's there's scores in between right like but it was like all the way all the way down on the bottom Where it's like you're being relatively clear that means your hydrate is like you're you're a you're a committed committed long horn At the top is like you're you're a selfish. I'll see if I can find it all email it to you just it makes me laugh because it's It's very clear, but I was like oh, that's kind of funny like coaches are clearly trying to make the point like if you ain't hydrated You know, you're you're letting your teammates down, which is an interesting way to frame it. Hopefully Hopefully that might land a little bit better with young guys, but like you said young men are going to do what young men do on You know on a Ray night, especially with cash in their pockets sometimes Yeah Man, that's a great idea. You gotta send me that So now that I gotta I gotta ask you know the obvious question that I ask everybody how did you get into kettlebells? Where did where did kettlebells come into the picture for you? So man, that's a cool question Because of what you've been asking me already it ties in an ask car So worst station over here in North Carolina. It's like this is home-based for NASCAR in America and a few a couple of years ago, man my first competition was in September 19 yeah, and so I think in March of that year We were racing in Las Vegas, all right, so we had a race in Las Vegas and in North Carolina Hurricane I believe it was hurricane Michael was rolling through you know It was rolling through right at time to where we were going to fly out to the race tractor So the race team wanted to get us out earlier. So the only time we get out there was about two days before the race And you know, I don't like going anywhere and spending two days um I like to go to the track work and get back home man, so Kind of down about that. So I got out to Vegas, you know, and I had my own rental car So I remember in my phone um, I typed in kettlebells because I mean, I love training before I've been training my whole life um But I've always loved kettlebells and I'm talking like not kettlebell sport kettlebells I'm talking like your cast iron Yeah, no hard style. Yeah, man, and I just learned in kettlebell sport that it's got hard stuff I've been using them for the longest time um When did you start when did you start when did you start with the cast stands? When did you first get exposed to those? um, I want to say Maybe uh, 2000 2006 right right there. Okay. Yeah, so about the same time as me. Yeah, that's like kind of it's about as OG as it gets for most I listen in the US right like it's kind of that's kind of when they started They actually started to be a thing in the US. So okay, it was it was it was it entered the kettlebell from Pavel that they got you or was It's something almost almost went to a Pavel deal I think I think I saw the price it just wasn't the right time for that That's that's like a block from my house man like the dragon the dragon door headquarters is literally just like a mile and a half from my house actually Wright down the road in Little Canada Very cool, man, so uh So you're in Vegas and you're typing on your phone kettlebells and yeah in the sanctuary I take I'm guessing Yeah, Google maps man typed in kettlebells and it took me kettlebell sanctuary sound like cool place And so I went there, man walked in sounds sounds peaceful It's all Moses gets hold of you first sure and uh Walked in Michelle LaTour as I do when I walked in and looked around I was like whoa now because I've heard of terms like long cycle Obviously also married with the jerk just a barbell jerk dumbbell But um, but I was always interested in this long cycle and that dude so when I saw how this was set up I was like, you know, this is this isn't something I've never seen before yeah, this is this is different animal Yeah, man, and if you want if you ever walk into kettlebell sanctuary I love to play I love how they got to set up man. It's just it's the only kettlebell gym of event kettlebell sport gym of her bento It's just platforms and kettlebells, you know and uh so I walked in and yeah Stall bars don't forget the stall bar is on the walls for stretching Big on that Yeah, I'll make you suffer one of those things. I'm sure there you go And uh, so I didn't want I didn't really tell Michelle too much. I just told her I was you know, in NASCAR I didn't tell her you know, I haven't trained in a long time because I wanted to go in there and be taught like somebody that That was never Has never done it before and because you know how it is man when you're training people they always got there It's so hard for people to kind of erase their hard drive to just listen, you know, yeah You're trying to come in as toddler. I says you can Exactly, man And dude Michelle took me she told me about kettlebell sport showed me you know, how long she's been in it she showed me her metals and um Man, I was just then she took me through some things and obviously, uh, you know, we couldn't get too deep But I could already knew that there was such a difference between a kettlebell sport swing and a kettlebell hard style swing And um, and it was just stuff like that that I'm still trying to learn that I'm trying to get better at right now But dude Michelle got me hooked and ever since then man, they've been ripping on the kettlebells Nice and so you so you went back out there for your for your first competition They gave you your first taste of sport and uh and you decided to go back out there for your for your first competition How'd you do what what did you compete at I mean you're you're you're I mean for lack of a better term You're a brick shit house man like you're you're a big you're a big you're a big strong guy with a square jaw and a big neck and big up Her body so like, you know, they come you can that comes with the pluses and minuses. So what weight were you competing at What bodyweight were you competing at and then what weights did you start on Well, thanks for saying that man. Um, now I'm gonna feel embarrassed for what I take Well, I'm I'm wanting to frame it up because because I want people to understand like I mean, I'm I'm a big dude I'm 61260 and my first competitive set was on 16s. Yeah, same. I I got humbled by 24s because I thought I could handle 24s And then I got humbled very quickly and realize yeah, I'm not handled 24s like like these like these athletes kids So what did you compete on the 16s man and uh and it took me a while Uh to get to where I could compete with the 16s, you know, Michelle told me from like when I told her I'm ready to compete She was like all right 10 reps a minute is what we got to do with 16s and Michelle does a great job with that She but she does a great job of building up the endurance side of it But two to 12s weren't no joke at that time man and then you walk into this competition and you meet guys You know like you said man the first thing you're gonna do at a competition is I don't care if you're the If you're Jesus like you're gonna judge people by how they look You know what I'm saying yeah And then and then you look at them and you're like do that guys move in 32 kgs that guys move in 28 kgs And then like I'm never even picked it up so behind the stage. I'd pick up like a 32 I'm not lying. I could barely clean The 32 And I was like well at least I found something I'll be doing for the next at least 20 years You know, so I did 16s and I love looking back at my video Because when I get down on my technique right now I'll just go back and look at that thing and it's like oh so much worse And then you see somebody like Dennis Vasilov and you're like that guy's not human like how did how is he how is he that crisp on every single rep It's you know, it's ridiculous, but then you have to remind yourself like he started when he was you know a bit just a baby You know So what are you? You know, I know what you're training with right now you're you're kind of between 20s 22s and 24s You know mostly depending and you're still mostly focused on long cycle right you're not you're not venturing into Byathlon too much yet. I see you playing around with snatch occasionally, but yeah, it seems like long cycle still kind of your main focus right now Yeah 100% man like and I do like to snatch. I love to snatch Um, I just got it, you know the jerks I got I just I got to work that in But um My competition weighs to 24's man. It's just like you said it's dude. It's a different world man like yeah So from the 12s to the 16s that that required work, you know, but it was like okay and then you go up to the 20s And you're like all right, this is definitely getting tougher, you know, and then um Those extra 4 kilos are like It's like it gets in your head so bad and I'm thinking like all right Maybe maybe you know about a year when I get past the 24's then maybe it'll all start rolling downhill, but I don't see that at all I think I did that an online competition and is on for Israel and uh That would be with Solomon Ruskin. Yeah, yeah, yeah, shout out to Solomon. He's been on Shout out to my guy. Yeah, he's I love following. I love the detail on his post. He does a great job with all he does But that was my second competition with the 24's. I did the USA online The nationals. Yeah, and I made it to like seven minutes. I think I had about three and some minutes ago I had to put him down man like it was the 24's so when I did the Israel thing man my goal is just to make it through I wanted to get to 10 minutes finish the 10. Yeah finish the 10 man and Man, I got like 47 Hey, but you finished finish finish Yeah, that's that's you know, that's the first that's the first battle man, and it's uh, yeah, it's a huge mental hurdle to clear the first time You can finish especially in long cycle the first time you can finish the whole 10 minutes With that weight. I mean, that's a that's a huge that's a huge mental hurdle. I think that's that's totally agree on it. We'll struggle with Totally agree, and that's what like Uh, Kim Fox is one of my favorites dude and uh I've just learned if you can if you can if you can handle how weak she makes you feel Yeah, yeah. Oh, man. Let me tell you. She's a machine. She's awesome. Kim and Kim's a great great coach great person. Love. Kim. She's fantastic But every time I'm like, God, she just she would destroy me on the planet. Oh my god. Yeah, it's crazy. She's so strong. She's so good This no, yeah, you're that totally agree with you dude, and like this this sport has definitely my humility is like increased tenfold But uh, but you just learn like Um, it's all about it's just mental. It's over there's a mental approach man And that's why one of the reasons why I love this sport so much is because Dude, you got to have a plan like some people can they can just test for five minutes and know All right, this is the pace I need to keep. I can't do it like I've got to see myself in training get 60 reps I got to see myself get 70 reps. I've got to see myself get 80 reps And dude, if I if I haven't done it then I'm not gonna be able to do it on a one-off competition You know my brain's just not gonna back dude You've never done this before and we're not gonna do it today. So just put the kettlebells down Well, and there's a there's a there's one of the unique things I think about the 10-minute sets right with a five-minute set Adrenaline can carry you for the first you know a couple minutes at a higher pace than what you would normally be able to do And then from there Most of us who have a competitive sport background can ignore pain for a long enough period of time That you can finish the five minutes even at kind of a crazy pace and you may throw up you may pass out whatever But for if you've if you've done that before you're like yeah, no big deal But in a 10-minute set the adrenaline's gone by minute four And then you've still got six more minutes to go so you can't fake it through a 10-minute set You can't rely on adrenaline like your conditioning has to be there the nervous system has to be there Like you said the mindset has to be there because you can't fake it if the training if the training doesn't Back up what you need to do like you can't just grit it out. It's not it's not that kind of sport Like you can't just grit through it like you're either physically can or cannot do it because you have the the energy systems behind it to actually do the performance Dude you you said that very well and I can't agree more like I even broke down to 10 minutes just just with myself like Like the first two minutes I gave it two minutes like you're rolling on adrenaline right Yeah, so then a minute three to four You know then you like trying to keep pace. Yeah, you get the dump then you get the dump for the adrenaline has dumped now And now you gotta fight the crash a little bit Exactly and then from like five To like 759 the death minute Minute seven is the death minute In a desert man like There's nobody around you then at eight then when the clock hits like eight you're like okay Wait a second I think I can do that and then at minute nine to ten you're like man. I think I could have won Minute seven you're like I'm not sure I can finish this and then it hits eight and you're like okay I've only got two minutes. I can finish the ten minutes and then minute nine rolls run. You're like I said I couldn't I could have gone faster There's always there's always that there's always that The most frustrating thing dude said what you said like You can't grit through it man. You cannot you can't fake it on the platform the platform reveals what your training is I mean if you're doing a 10 minutes at or longer like you can't you can't fake it. It just it doesn't It's a crucible it reveals it reveals what was done in the gym by yourself or with your team right like it It's just you can't you can't fake your way through it. There's there's just no way What is you so you've mentioned a little bit about about mental approach, you know What is your mental approach in general to training and and more specifically to your competitive sets like what are you Wright on when it comes to your mindset and how are you training your mind because you you mentioned that and that's something that I'm Super fascinated about like I that's one of my favorite things about this sports. I'd love to hear your mental approach So man, it's changed. I mean it's changed each Um, I don't want to say not each way, but just where I find What's effective, right? I'm I keep it I keep it changing on whether on what's effective and and where I fail In the competitions man Like I didn't feel comfortable in my last competition going on going over From 20 to rep 47 was very uncomfortable, you know And that was just because I wasn't doing a lot of training Over 20 reps You know, and that that seems so elementary But it's like you know, I'm doing a lot of minute on minute off trying to gain strength gain strength gain strength because I figure Well, the strength what comes first man, what's more important is strength of the endurance because I by this by this competition I'm not going to have both I got to figure it out the strength isn't going to carry your endurance and the endurance sure is not going to carry your strength So I've had to change my training To where man, I've got to I've just got to suck it up I've got to do longer for me personally. I've got to do longer um Intervals man, I've got to do six-minute stuff. I got to do seven-minute stuff I got to do eight-minute stuff, but I'm going to have to do ten-minute stuff You know because I found out I've got to see myself do it multiple times Before I can do it in the competition. It's not going to be a one-off deal I love doing the the 15 sets of Of minute-all-minute-off 10 reps. I love it. I mean it sucks, but I love it man Yeah, you know, but then I found out like even when I picked up to 24's, you know, two or three days later And we're trying to do like two or three minutes with the 24's dude when I got to 11 My brain was starting to go in a different direction. I'm like what is happening man? I could do ten easy, but then when I do 11, you know stuff starts to fall apart You know my brain starts you know sending the vibes to my arms man put them down And it's just like So I came to the conclusion if I want to do this which I do And if I want to do competitions which I do, you know, I just don't want to be an Instagram poster You know, do you want to compete and then there's nothing like competing It's a camaraderie that you grow with other people around the country dude like for sure You know how it is you're talking world Around the world, we're showing out people from all from all over the world which is which is great. I love that about this sport Totally dude like you brought up Solomon and uh, I've sent him DMs of uh, you know, there's people sweet and everywhere Yeah, yeah, especially can there's a whole bunch of people can but there's even the water up there We got they got a whole bunch of great lifters up there But dude, I've got to have One or two I try to have one really good endurance long Minute Multiple minute training a week dude. I don't know what the proper term for that is but um, I mean, we yeah call those repeats or Yeah, you know, I you know, I'm in the same way like I think I think we're wired similarly biologically right like the the anaerobic system is is pretty strong Because we're used to that you know minute on give go full board for a minute and then give me 30 seconds to recover Okay, I'm cool like I can do for a while But you're like hey, you just got a like jog for you know like two hours. I'm like what no You're gonna be driving behind me threatening to run me over because otherwise I'm gonna need a sandwich in there something like It's not that's not my jam. So yeah, I'm the same way. It's one of those uh, it's just different energy systems I think you got to get to a point You know where where you're you're building that aerobic energy system and that you can do a six-minute set without it going fully anaerobic Because that that's when you're just like, you know, I got to put them down like I just I physically can't keep I can't keep them up because you know The anaerobic system can only go for for so long without With that you just feel like you can't you can't carry on any longer so man totally Yeah, when you do a ten-minute set do you do you focus on One rep at a time one minute at a time break it into into like into segments or I'm curious to hear how people approach the the competitive sets because Everybody's a little bit different from my experience. Yeah, so I read I know we're talking about Salma a lot I read something really cool About his deal is how he's focused on his technique And getting quality reps and how that makes a time go man. I just try to carry a pace, you know, yeah Um, that's been the best for me a pace per a pace per minute and do you look at when do you check in in the minutes? Do you check in every 15 seconds? Do you check in every every half minute or how do you how do you check in? I tried so from my training wherever I'm at that 30-second mark is where you know, so like If I'm getting a set of eight and I know four is right around 30 that's I'm checking in at 30 seconds. Okay That's I because I don't want to look at the clock man and like that's Maybe that's what I need to do is just train with the clock or right in front of me like There's a number there's a number of approaches right now. It's like to your point like, you know, you kind of experiment You you test and iterate and you see what works for you and it's it's nice to have multiple tools in your tool belt because you know with my team Sometimes I'll have them and I'll specifically have them do like okay You're focusing on one rep at a time and we're going pay we're going pace 10 which means every six seconds a rep needs to lock out So at six you lock out at 12 you lock out at 18 you lock out at 20 and then it's just one rep at a time And you are literally watching the clock and you're kind of trying to be a metronome right that's how you get that Dennis Vasil of like pacing where you're just like trying to be a metronome trying to be as smooth with your technique as possible I have people do every 15 seconds sometimes every 30 seconds I've also had him be like hey, you got to turn your clock off What happens in competition if your clock goes out right you have no clock We're doing a five-minute set no clock I've got the clock feel it that's great go go with your breath right like yeah Doing intuitive set right and sometimes we'll do like we we had two five-minute sets the other day And I had him do the first set I said first five minutes I want you just to feel it out Don't try not to look at you. I didn't take their clocks away But I said just go by feel feel your breath try and find your pace. What's smooth for you? What feels comfortable? What's your body telling you check in feel every rep right and that's kind of what Solomon was doing with his 32s and I said okay second set is a five-minute set and now we're going to hold You know eight RPMs for the first four minutes and then whatever you've got less left in the gas tank for the last minute Wright so you can have like multiple approaches depending on you know what's going on like The ten-minute sets for me like I like to do the first five minutes kind of intuitively where it's like hey I'm just going to try and stay calm Yeah, I'm gonna stay comfortable because that's just the first half and then I'm gonna try and finish the second half I'm gonna check in at halftime Where am I at relative to what my goal was and now can I go at a certain pace and then I we always try and finish stepping on the gas like That's that's something that yeah Dennis Vasilov is really big on that the St. Petersburg School of Russia is just really big on You always finish fastest in your last minute, right? You always finish with the flurry because it's just a Mental a mental muscle that you try and develop like you that you could always finish with the flurry right always finish with the flurry So that's a muscle that I try it really tried to develop and I've found that approach kind of really helpful Like I divided into two halves and the first half is intuitive and the second half is hitting a pace You know, but I like I like experimenting with those like you said that's kind of the like for you That's the phone of the NASCAR right at the different tracks and the different that like for me. That's something we can't about sport like What are the different approaches that you can take and then every lift for me is different because I can do that on long cycle And I can do the intuitive pacing and all the things snatch you take away my clock. I'm a I'm a shit show Like I can't like my clock goes away. I'm like crap. What what am I at like I've got so many other things I'm thinking about It's probably just because I'm not good enough at snatch yet. I'm thinking about all these other technique things But I'm like well, you take away my clock. I'm like, I don't know if I'm I don't know if I'm at 45 seconds in or if I'm You know a minute in or what I just know that I've done 23 reps. I don't know if I'm going way too fast or way too slower You know, it's that's awesome. It's a fun fun kind of fun kind of challenge Yeah, I'm the same way on the snatch man like my hand doesn't feel good here I'm going to try try something else with my hand grip and There's so many there's so many little pieces on snatch and it's so bio individual too based on your anatomy and like Yeah, you know and sometimes it feels like even within a particular set that it feels like you're like Oh, it doesn't feel good on that angle today. I'm going to change it up a lot. There's so many little pieces to snatch it drives me crazy It's my it's my white rabbit. I'm always chasing How can I get that? How can I get that snatch rep just a little bit better that snatch technique just a little bit better but So now you you founded the warhorse kettlebell club out of your church and in North Carolina right and well and your garage like I see you post Various places, but now you you've kind of really reached out to the youth of your church and I see you've got A solid a solid stable of lifters coming up there. How many how many people do you get shown up and what are you guys what are you guys doing and we might get We might get eight to 12 dude. I mean, that's beyond what I thought we would get man But what are the age ranges it looks like you got a fairly a fairly decent distribution of ages there Yeah, man We've got I mean my kids will go out there, but besides my kids will have like I think we got an eight-year-old girl She's won the old The online kettlebell challenge a couple times. Nice. You know the fit. She's doing good. She's getting better week But we go from eight. We've got a few kids in high school We've got some young adults who are you know in her early 20s and then you know, we've got some older gentlemen too um, but dude, it's just Moses is actually the one you know from kettlebell sanctuary. He's the one that you know got me Put the idea in my head to start a club out here and he set out some youth kettlebells for us Yeah, that's awesome those youth kettlebells are great. I got a couple for my kids too. They're fantastic Yeah, it's like such a good and he's I've got to get him on I got to get him on here because he's got such a clear idea In vision for how to how to develop young lifters in this sport. I really developed kettlebell sport in the US. I got a Yeah, I got to connect with Moses because he's he's good people He is man, and he's got a such a passion for it I've got a charity, you know, where we do community work and Man, we did a kettlebell camp for the Salvation Army kids and the Boys and Girls Club It was a free clinic. I got Moses out here. We had 40 kids. I saw that post. That was awesome Dude that post got like like I'll get you know, not that I'm a big. I care about my likes. I'm just trying to make a point like You know, I get around 60 likes, you know, but to this post got over like 350 close to 400 likes And it's just because like man kettlebell sport in America is it's got to get bigger and You know, I think we can get it into schools and and that's that's what the goals are man like I do a lot of work with schools with this charity and And I think you know, there's so many very there's so many elements that kids can get from kettlebell sport and And that's what we started the church. We got there Every Wednesday. We might meet another day It's make you know to make it twice a day But now everybody's taking kettlebells home with them when my garage is getting empty man I'll bring a bunch of kettlebells out to the session. Can I take the 12? Can I take the 16? Yep, I've got this I've got to have the spreadsheet tracking the whereabouts of my kettlebells because I've got I've got like I've got the like 23 24 kettlebells And you know, I got the 12s are with one of my one of my athletes I got the 16s and 18s are with somebody else my brothers got my eights my you know Doing doing the same thing especially during the pandemic when like nobody can get their hands on equipment and people are trying to work out and but like I feel like that's really the I feel like that's really the important thing about it though is like You're helping people when they really need it right and that like that's the like you do what you can you're like You know, and I think we were talking before we started recording one of the cool things about the pandemic is that People have really become a lot more receptive to online events and it's really kind of connected the world and in that way It's made become a lot easier to to actually get people to train kind of consistently because they don't have the inconvenience to travel And if they have access to the equipment, they're like hey, I've got a thing. I can do a community. I can tap into I've got a zoom meeting I can jump on I got a I've got a competition this weekend. That's an Israel or you know in St. Petersburg or whatever And so long as you've got an internet connection and a kettlebell like you can participate which is which is really really cool Oh man super cool and like I told you before man I mean Israel is like my second favorite country man and You know, I want to go out there and visit one day. I was just gonna ask him. Have you have you been have you been to the Holy Land? No, man, but I'm saying it's coming fast like I'm gonna Uh my wife. She don't want to go. She's you know, she thinks it's not A good trip But uh, you know, she'd rather go to you know the beach or something like that, but they got beautiful beaches out there. We got beaches in Israel. Yeah Um But dude to compete in Israel you can me like you know, I wouldn't even and that's another thing man Like I'm so into competition. You gotta tell her it's tax deductible. Maybe it's a tax deductible vacation So yeah, it's a trip for the company, right? Exactly. Yeah And uh, so dude, I mean there So many bad things have come from COVID and a lot of people are still hurting people lost loved ones, but You know on a lighter side there has been some really cool things that have come from it And I think you know what you just said is is one of a man like it's opened up I mean more friends of people over the world. Yeah, yeah I'm really I am really looking forward to whenever the the first uh in-person competition Yeah, that's safe and that everybody feels safe to come to like I'm looking at maybe I'm looking maybe won't hosting one here up in the twin cities Like in October this year So because I feel like that'll be long enough that enough people have gotten the vaccine and you know We'll still do it Maybe early enough where we can do it outside and you know So then everybody can still feel safe even if they haven't gotten the vaccine and we'll be hopefully have COVID like you know Mostly in a rearview you know knock on wood cross yourself whatever whatever You know makes you feel confident, but like I can't wait for that first competition like there's could just gonna be so much pent up like Energy and come right is gonna be crazy like people are gonna be just so excited to to be we're gonna see some PRs And people are just gonna be like going going bonkers like I can't I cannot wait for that I'm so I'm so looking forward to that and to being able to like give people a hug Like yeah, shake hands with people that I've that I've talked so much to and like you know that I you feel like you know But you haven't actually met It's such a like it's kind of like harkening back to you like how did people meet in the 19th century Well, they corresponded by a letters and then maybe eventually they met in person and like that was such a cool thing because they finally met in person You know like I feel like we've gotten a little bit of a taste of what that might have in mind because you know We're all we're all meeting you know virtually and now we're like, oh, I just want to give somebody a hug I want to shake your hand like you know like the little the little pleasures So you know, that's hopefully it's given us a bit a maybe a greater appreciation for those things on the back on the back side as I hope I hope we all Taste the sweet things in life a little bit more um yeah smell the roses more or kinder to one another and All of those things that Can be some positive things that come out of this uh out out of all this of this nastiness so Yeah, so what are what's next on the on the docket for you and for for the team? Do you use kettlebells with the race team at all? Is that party is that part of the training? Do you still do the training with your team? I mean as the pit as the pit coach do you still have a hand? Do you still have a hand in the training or do you let do you delegate that to somebody else who has now has Your old job. Yeah, I delegate that out now, man There's so many requirements and things I ask of the guys from yeah, you know the pit road part of it, which is you know the main part and Man, I can't like a couple guys have asked me though that they want to get in the kettlebells and because yeah, you don't you don't like man You're not like hey the team's you're all doing a looks like a side 10 minutes I want to go and if you and if you put them down you're fired Yeah, man, I totally want to do that, but I you know, it wouldn't be a good decision for sure. Yeah, yeah, okay Yeah, so somebody else does that and they have their own routines and you know We've got guys who come from all kind of different backgrounds have all kind of different histories and and so it's you know It's a good training for them and but like I said, you know, a couple of my guys do follow on Instagram and you know They see me, you know, when I was on a big crewman Yeah, I was training every day and and then they saw you know a year or two. I saw young young young black haired ray right in his fire suit You posted the other day. I saw that picture a lot less lot less salt and that pepper back in the day Hey, no doubt Yeah, it's just crazy. It happens fast man. Yeah, it's coming up man. I actually had my daughter like you can see I got my my beard grown out and I got this like one little white spot that's coming in here and my my daughter's like daddy You're your beard is getting gray Like yeah, I can be a Santa Claus in a few years. She's like yeah, maybe like next year You know, the honesty of a six-year-old. Yeah, you know, she's also a little bit of a smart ally which I love She knows how to land a joke. She knows how to get throw throw a barb in there now, which is which is good It's So what's next for you as far as goals for for your own training then Um, so master's port get it. Yeah um, I'm doing the competition in the February. I think it's uh run by Dennis in it down the Yeah, the IKO world championships February 20th and 21st for for people that don't know It's uh kettlebell kings is sponsoring that and it's going to be via live stream um and the orange kettlebell club So it's kind of in in conjunction with those those two organizations and kettlebell kings is sponsoring it And and I think help and facilitate the technology components of it. So yeah, that's that's a big one, right? That's the world championships for the IKO. Oh, well, I don't know I thought I was going to do it. Maybe I don't do you got a qualify for it? No, no It's open. It's open registration. Yeah, it's open registration So that's what I'm going to do and uh man, I got to get 60 rest with these 24's man. I feel like I can do it and uh 64 six seven six seven six seven six seven finished with a flurry. He'll get at least 64 and that gets you rank that gets you rank one And I think in our in our in our weight class the very cool force right because you're in the one of are you in the 105? Uh, are you are you are you are you filter than me? Are you are you in the 95 or 85? Yeah, man I like I'm going to try to be uh, I still have trouble converting. I got to use a calculator, but Um, are you under 231 pounds or are you yeah, like I should be under I should be Man, I need to be like at 195. Okay Yeah, so then you could you I mean if you can so if you can cut from 195 to 185 just with water weight You could compete in the I think the 85 kilo division, right? I think I'm on my math right so But you got and that means you need to get like 62 or you know, it cuts off The reps that you need to do to to get rank so yeah, definitely uh check out check out the ranking tables and figure out what you're what your strategy is because Yeah, I think that's I think that's that's totally doable man like yeah, man So I've got nine nine more weeks to train right and you last you've been you've been trained and it's not like you know, so to I think you you're you're currently doing you know eight eight RPMs most of the time right so yeah You know and Kim Fox told me you know, I should have got uh Seven reps a minute uh back in the summer so I've not heard that drastically So that I'd love to get that like said may never know what could happen in that last minute because That's what's awesome about the freaking brain the human Adi and just what it can do in the limits on the unfortunate limits that we put on it that we don't even know I still feel like We were not scratching the surface You know, they're mostly a self-drawn circle yeah, yeah exactly exactly man, so that's what's frustrating You know, yeah, but you keep put you keep pushing that like that's I think that's like you said Like that's what I love about kettlebell sport and you get the opportunity to expand that circle a little bit every time right you're like Yeah, like man, I can't I can't hold up 10 RPMs for six minutes and then you do it and you're like okay Maybe I can and maybe I can do 10 RPMs for seven minutes and then you know and then you do that You know like it's just incrementally you just you just expand that bubble a little bit and those limitations keep getting a little bit a little bit less concrete I think there's a lot of you make yourself do the hard thing a couple of times a week Let yourself recover from it because it does beat you up a little bit Go back and go back and do it again. Yeah, that's that's awesome, man Well, I really appreciate I really appreciate having having come on. I'm gonna. I'm gonna ask you the the the one that I usually ask people At the end, which is if you could give one piece of advice to a brand new lifter right what is the one thing that you Wish you knew when you started now that you're now that you're a couple years into the journey What is the one thing you wish somebody had told you when you started that you would tell a brand new lifter Oh, that's a great question man. I would say Especially if you're a middle-aged man hahaha Check your humility at the door, man Um, just come in and enjoy the sport don't make it a job. I think you can fall into that You know it can it can turn into a job and you can watch other people on your Instagram pages that are so much better than you are and And just understand it's a process man be patient want to say enjoy it enjoy the small victories Look back at a video of course if you're new you can't do this but After your first year or two man look back at where you started see how far you've come remember when you couldn't move The 16s for like three minutes at 10 reps, you know Uh 10 reps a minute and then just don't and don't uh Just skim over those accomplishments, man like I think we do that a lot like all I'm supposed to I'm supposed to know you could Equip, you know you could have stopped and given it all up and just sat on your couch and watch Netflix, you know, yeah, but uh appreciate where you where you started and or appreciate where you where you're gonna go man Yeah, I love that. Yeah, it's it's really you're right like especially those of us that are right, you know real right brain goal oriented It's like gotta get to that goal gotta get to that goal gotta get to that goal. Okay, did that what's next? Yeah, enjoy that You didn't even taste the champagne man. You're already you're already talking about what what's next, right like That's the funny thing about about achievement is like it's It's a drug in and of itself like you gotta get that next gotta get that next goal gotta get that next goal, right? Don't even stop and saver the ones that we achieve. I think you're totally right about that Yeah, you said that better and I did man and that's It's really good. I'm really good at recapping what other people say it's not so much. It's the synthesizing I get the easy part. I just have to repeat what you said back Now, but I mean, it's right man like taste the champagne. I like that man taste the champagne Well, Ray. Thank you so much, man I really appreciate you coming on. I've really enjoyed the conversation with the I can't wait to meet you in person and I know I know we'll connect on the gram and I'm looking forward to seeing you at the at the IKOs and hopefully in person at the twin cities Open whenever we had whenever we actually get that to happen or at a an in-person event sometime earlier than that would be awesome man Yeah, hey man. Thank you very much. I enjoyed it too and man scheduled to try to schedule that event We're in town right, man, so I can make it a oh Do y'all come to the twin cities? Yeah, well, uh, I mean if you're in july yet, I mean I'm in I mean, I'm in Minneapolis now, but when you're up in july yet Yeah, I can I can make it close to that. Yeah, that's that's actually how far how far is that about a six-hour drive from Seven well seven hours from july if you're coming from july yet to the twin cities about seven hours Hey man, it's not the road for reasonable or or or a night or a 60-minute flight up Up get your peanuts served to eat those in the land basically like yeah, very quick flight from From southwest, so yeah, I do that in the heartbeat man. All right cool. I will I will look into that. That's a good idea So I appreciate you man. Thank you so much. Hey, thank you Jordan great talking to you, man. I'll see you out there You too sounds good see brother. Yep Thanks for listening to this episode of the platform podcast. I'm Jordan kundi right If you have a question, please email me at twin cities kettlebell club at gmail.com Follow us on instagram and facebook at twin cities kettlebell club on twitter at tckb club Online at twin cities 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 podcasts until next time