 Okay Okay, they're welcome everyone to mega life 21 hard-hitting podcasts And I'm here. I believe for the second time He is my very special guest for the second time The one or only Cajun strong man from the state of Louisiana T-rex Jeff bankins himself the man with the world's strongest neck Certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. You heard it right the man with the strongest neck Jeff glad to have you back I'm glad to be here James. It's great talking to you as usual and looking forward to our conversation Well, we'll definitely give it a try and make it very interesting like we did the first time The last time we we went over Some of the very interesting projects that you're involved with and Between then and now They have evolved they have gotten things have they have become more fruit fruit Fruitful I have problem with that word and So tell us a rehash Briefly of what the projects are and what has happened since we saw you last Well, I'm a performance strongman and a minister And I'm able to combine those two things which is really nice Because I get to perform and entertain and I also get to share a gospel message about Jesus Christ Which those two things are something I'm real passionate about And I believe last time we talked I had just briefly mentioned that There were some things in the works that were going to be big and I recently had a meeting Let's see. There's a large Baptist church in the town across the river from where I live Lake Charles, that's the biggest town around here Anyway, we're gonna do a special set of services where We do anti-bullying programs during the day in Two elementary schools a day for three days. So that makes like That'll be six 20-minute performances And then what's really neat that Sunday night Monday night Tuesday night and Wednesday night Coinciding with the school anti-bullying programs. We're gonna get to do some big shows And also present a progressing gospel message That's a great tie-in because today I was actually I was discussing it with this This woman who has coffee where I go sometimes to be friends and she She has has she has a lot of connections in the entertainment industry And she knows a lot of people and athletes too and we were talking about How different it was when we were kids in school and growing up compared to kids now We were kids Yeah, you had bully sure I mean they were always around but it wasn't dangerous Things didn't become dangerous like they are now. It's almost like that today. They're like Sociopathic You know teenagers or millennials whatever you want to call them sociopathic where there's no they feel no remorse for what they do and No responsibility They don't take no with any responsibility for their actions and it's like they feel entitled You know and they they have no manners and no respect for other people It's just the list goes on and on us. It's a horrible situation. They're different. They're very different They don't ever say thank you in my area the young people if you hold the door open for them But then again a lot of adults I like that too, but the point is that Bullying what it wasn't dangerous back then, you know, you had your schoolyard fights and everything and then They broke it up and life goes on, you know and but today the violence and Crime and you know like the kids are it's almost like they're being groomed to be hardened criminals Later on I agree and it's you know, it's the the movie industry television Society break down and all these other things like this that we see all the time At least in some people I believe it affects them it's pretty much programming them a little bit of time and Hollywood is not making it easy No, they're not They're making it tough. They're trying to break up the family and They're trying to push agendas that Most people don't really want to be part of and and they show it all the time in TV shows and movies and all of a sudden Everybody's used to it and they think it's normal when it's yeah It's not and why are things forced on Children without their parents could consent. I mean Why on earth do school systems? Do a board of education just force things on everyone without even caring What the parents think how they feel You know, it's it's a situation that's very frustrating because Everyone pays taxes and you have a right to know what they're forcing on your children's school and Look at the video games Jeff I mean they're all violent. They all glorify crime and and war You know, almost like they're getting the kids ready to become Military drone operators or something, you know, it's like or or criminal they glorify crime a Whole you can even you can pick up prostitutes in video games now and it's been like that a while like on the Set called Grand Theft Auto I was gonna make 15 or 20 years ago the the versions they had of it then you would be able to do that and now I'm sure it's much worse And that's not the only game out there, you know No Tons of them. They're all about violence You know, I just think what kids are able to put on their phones because their parents don't monitor their phones or No, I don't even know why they give me without any parental supervision you get all kind of stuff on there Hey, how on earth to To grammar school and high and high school girls Go out Dressing the way they dress, I mean, I Mean what you know it To get away with it parents don't have anything to say or maybe they don't have a male and a feet a mother and a father role model A lot of them don't and then you know the clothing stores have no business selling that to those children And then everyone wonders why things like pedophilia and those type of things are on the rise, but It a child dressed a certain way is no excuse for that but in my opinion anyway in my opinion when I've Experienced some things of that nature around there and and I know other people that have Some people have those tendencies and if you're letting kids dress like that, I think you're It how as bait to a wolf and you're making it easier for that person to prey upon them Well, yeah, well often the apple does not far fall far from the tree I've seen you know like mother like daughter like mother mother like daughter You know you and the parents are not setting the right example for their children And then you have the clothing industry and you have Hollywood and then you have the music industry entertainment And all these negative role models are out there Nothing positive and you're right It does Invite trouble a female Young female is asking for trouble if she is dressed that way and if she's acting a certain way whether she's playing games or just Toying with people and teasing people or not. She's looking for trouble What it whether it be rape pedophilia So on and so forth, you know there I hear there are Underground there are very wealthy Satanic perverted individual some of them are in the political world Some of them are not but they had they all have one thing in common. They're filthy rich and they have they have this evil perversion for underage Kids Yeah, whether they be straight again, you know, you know the bad thing is It's not to me it's not the kids fall for put themselves out like that or even a young lady's fallen there They've been Program their whole life to feed this way and they have nobody telling them stop Don't do that and then you have the people out there that are predators that are Gonna mark them as prey and then you've got and or also pray in predators which would be some of the movie stars and Hollywood and singing people that not singing people, you know music stars That promote all this but to me at least they appear to be brainwashed themselves and and they're causing young kids that are following in their footsteps to Become prey, you know, right? Well, and then you have You have these If if a young person of a young female Who's dressed that way who's attracting who is wondering why she's attracting all of the wrong negative attention and And and doesn't have sense enough to know it's how she's presenting herself Maybe Because of the home life these girls might have Maybe they feel that Negative attention is better than no attention at all. Maybe this is the way they find Closeness or or love, you know, it's like a a child who Has no father. He's living in a ghetto. He's got no father role model no male role model At all and and and maybe his mom Maybe she's on crack, you know, maybe she's not a good role model as a mother So then he joins a gang because that's the only it's like an adoptive family. He's he's That's the family that's available to him The young boy and he joins the gang because there's nobody else in his life You know what I mean, but I gave back to the female maybe Negative attention is better than none at all. Maybe that's like a substitute for what she doesn't have at home For sure and you look James does I Don't know it's it's been happening a long time, but over the last decades of I guess the 20th century and into this one There have just been things happening that are promoted that end up tearing up the family and I Think it's more so in minority groups and I think that's on purpose and it's a tragedy a shame and a terrible sin, but It's also happening in People everybody know everybody's families are tearing up There's just about as many people divorced as there are married and children are growing up and he's broken homes and then Children are born into homes with either one parent or no parents raised by their grandparents And it's not supposed to be that way man, and it's no wonder that people are turning out like they are well, of course you have People that are part of organizations that are You know feminist organizations that really Deep down they really hate men and they they want to promote their agenda and their agenda also contributes to breaking up the family You know and and they're making it Normal or an alternative lifestyle that is considered normal I mean hey even obese people go on talk shows and want everyone to embrace them as Just an alternative lifestyle, you know, we're not unhealthy. Oh, wow We're just this is how we are. No, that's not just how you are. That's your choice in life you know and then get with People don't understand that there are more choices that You are in control of then then you know and and I mean to accept many things that are negative as the norm and if it breaks up the the American family Whether it be the woman that says hey, I'm bisexual, you know, I Hear it's the end thing. It's the fad. So I decided to give it a try and and You know and I'm and she and she says I Approve of it. Hey, I Was always an independent critical free thinker Sometimes independent critical free thinkers are loners You know when you tell that there's an old African proverb A person who tells the truth all the time is like like a lone wolf has no friends you know, so I mean but There are choices out there and people Think that they they have to do something because it's the fad It's the end thing to do. I mean when I was growing up Even when I was in my 20s going to discos, you know, and I mean, you know You had everybody drive in the same damn car. It was either a Pontiac Trans Am or a Camaro You know, I mean come on Oh, you don't have Pontiac Trans Am with the big bird under on the hood What you know, they look at you like you're an alien. I go now. I'm happy with what I am. I like my Honda You know, it's like why do you have to be a? Follower follow the crowd. I mean they did that in high school, you know to be popular You need to felt like you had to do what the crowd does You know and it could be and yeah, I know man. It's it's crazy and I Used to think I was a free thinker, but then I realized I wasn't and I'm glad I came out of that but The delicate balancing act to me is Dealing with people whatever side they're on conservative or liberal, whatever that it May not be a free thinker or may not be, you know as quote-unquote Awake as you are about issues and about what's what's really pulling the strings in this world and it's it's really tough sometimes Well, if you're a critical free thinker it's it doesn't mean You are an extremist or a fanatic or you're negative it just means that you're capable of analyzing Information or a situation and Making your own decision whether or not to do it or follow it Yeah, and and and and to be able to distinguish Right from wrong or or what is right or wrong for you? And making decisions on your own instead of being swayed by the crowd, I mean It could be as petty as A girl Being brainwashed by her girlfriends to to get rid of this guy Even though she likes them and things are going well, you know and allowing others to sabotage the relationship It could be as petty as that or it could be as big as a political issue or religious issue, you know Having an independent mind who can Who can really think and and analyze and weighs out the way out the pros and the cons to me It's a positive thing, you know, I mean It means that you can't be brainwashed Yeah, it's definitely good for that and I guess that's one thing we're trying to do in our ministry is wake up people because I Mean I live in the Bible Belt are pretty close to it and there are still people out there that never heard of Jesus Christ There's people that never been presented the 10 Commandments to see whether or not they meet those 10 Commandments And nobody does and then that's how you realize. Hey, you need somebody to save you because you're incapable of it But false letters don't have that. Yeah grace or in a grace period. Yeah Well, it was proven it was proven that nobody you know for really Throughout the Old Testament, it was a story of people constantly failing to keep the law and Turning their back on God and getting punished and getting smited and it was nothing but a Rebellion throughout the entire Old Testament and every time You know, you know after you figure after the Great Flood you figure people were learned a lesson and But no, no, it just it never stops. So I guess if You're a religious person if you're a Christian You follow the Bible if you're if you're that way, I mean if you're not, you know I have respect for everybody or what I'm saying is, you know, it God I think in the In Genesis Kind of made it known that he was very disappointed In the project known as the creation of man a creation of mankind. He was very very disappointed and it was like an experiment gone wrong which it was and Because the angels failed They did the angels have freedom of choice They can think for themselves. They can't reproduce but they can think for themselves So that project failed With the angels and then you know, and then he tried with Adam and Eve and that failed You know and thanks to Adam and Eve ever we all have to You know struggle to survive and keep ourselves healthy and happy and you know and the world is in Society is always in turmoil. We otherwise You know me and you will be picking All kinds of fruits from the Garden of Eden. We'd be still being paradise If it wasn't my hair wouldn't be falling out Yeah, I mean it'll be There'll be waterfalls with craft beer float. I'm only kidding But anyway, it'll be there'll be a Cajun food everywhere a buffet Whatever paradise is to you it will be paradise. It would still be paradise. So they flunk so after I Guess God decided, you know what? All these thousands of years gone by it. It's not working out We got it. We got it. We got to have Whatever plan B or plan C and that was the great sacrifice and then you know, Yahweh The the God that was the Creator came down And became a Jesus in the flesh and then everybody knows the rest So, you know Because the nobody was able to keep the law Ten Commandments. I mean, I'm not saying it's impossible, but man always flunked. They always failed at that But you know what I want to I want to get across because I know where we digress from Strong man events and physical fitness and and all and Cajun food What I want to mention is So we can get on to other subjects. I want to mention that the people that Are in politics some of them They're very judgmental like they have a bat from the God like, you know, exactly what's on God's mind And they feel that they can go on and be cruel mean people and And in their eyes, they're They're close to God and everyone else, you know, self-righteous Well sin, I don't ever remember Remembering anything to Bible that says there are a little tiny sins There are medium-sized sins and there are gigantic sins Sin is sin. It's all the time So I just want to get that across these people, you know, they try to compartmentalize sin and you know, say, oh That's that's it's like saying that's a little fit. That's a little Compared to a big lie, you know, yeah But but yeah, we'll get them back to the fan the family structure and the yeah the family The the normal Yeah, the normal family, yeah, it's normal to have a family with a male and female role model and Normal happy healthy kids growing up With parents that set the right example, you know, and that's being destroyed You know, but I think there's there's an evil there's an evil force behind not only that It's behind politics. It's be there's stuff going on behind the scenes people be intent and taunted and if you're if you don't accept the existence of the fallen angels and their master then a You're you don't know the Bible and and you're not a Christian if you only believe if you're a Polly Ann and you only believe one side and you don't want to talk about it You know how many people don't want to hear about demons or about what's going on? How they have certain tools and certain soldiers that are out there how they work through certain people In today's evil world, they don't want to hear that You know, but but anyway, I'm getting back to Strongman now. I like what you're doing the takes talking to the kids about bullying and Trying to be a great role model yourself in your ministry and that's very positive and Trying to get the kids on the right track on the right path Okay Exercise sports, I think is a great way to To vent You take out your unhappiness and frustrations out on exercise instead of instead of going out and getting into trouble I Think it's it's it's great for that and also for the all the other benefits that it does now in your case You've met it made it a lifestyle Jeff bankings is Dedicated to old-school strongman drug-free Strength training and being a strongman like like they used to in the old days the carnival strongman and All the greats of the past you can go on and on and name them all And It's it's fantastic that he set a world record, but he hasn't stopped there. He's on other projects now What it what is in the what irons are in the fire right now for you You're talking about feet-wise and Yeah, I took about whether it be a training program or whether you'd be a strongman goal What you want to do next? Well one thing I'm doing James is I just found out today that I'm gonna get approved for a budget to have a Backlift table built and basically it's a giant table that you wedge underneath and you have like Either stack of bricks or blocks or something that you can put your hands on you kind of been over like an elephant It up your your back and hips are at a 90 degree angle to your legs And you push down with it with your legs your hands your upper body And whatever's on that table you pick up, you know two or three inches And you can get some tremendous weights that way and one of the things I'm gonna try to do is get it to where I can get Six eight or ten kids from the crowd put them on the table and pick them up all at the same time That's one thing Okay, yeah, we would we were discussing and that's an old-time lift. It hasn't been done in a while We were discussing the back with off the air Yeah, now another thing. Yeah, I told you the first time I ever heard about the back lift was Paul Anderson of a making Georgia having the old-time record in the back with I didn't know what a back lift was And so you just explained to me where it was. Oh, yeah, people can pick up tremendous weights with that My goal is to get it Sometime next month sometime in April so I could start training with it so that I can build up to a sizable amount of weight or our performances which are in August and Another thing I had built I Could show you in a few minutes. I got like a I Forget like an eight or ten pound maybe a 12 pound mall has like an axe head on one side and a sledgehammer head on the other I Had a dumbbell bar welded to each side So and I lever it like the old-time strongman, you know, are you lever it down to your nose? Oh Yeah, like like the ones that do with sledgehammer They could You know, they they they have it straight straight out They slowly bring the head of the sledgehammer into their Forehead or nose if they're, you know, really good at it. Yeah, it's a it's a leverage Exactly and this one this one looks very dangerous because it's a mall on one side and Got two dumbbell bars with weights added to it. It's pretty pretty wicked looking And it's much more impressive than just doing a sledgehammer Now now I'm glad you brought up sledgehammer a good friend of mine and yours The former WWE pro wrestling star and a personal trainer in Boca Raton, Florida. Mr. Ken Thieson. I Have a drink for my lovely little color coordinated mug here that matches my background So look to Ken Thieson Probably he's one of the greatest contributors to alternative fitness today modern-day alternative fitness contributors. He's very dedicated and he he gives a lot to people and he Was mentioning how the sport of Working with a sledgehammer Throwing a sledgehammer and swinging a sledgehammer goes back to I think medieval Scotland the history of working we pledge It goes back to Scotland and but It's interesting that you're you're modifying your own yeah equipment. You're actually doing it Um You would you you took it to an auto body shop or something have things welded I Found I found somebody on Facebook. I just basically put out a message and said look I need a welder to do something for me And I don't want to take it to a shop because that'll cost too much It'll cost more for the shop to open than it will for them to weld it for me So yeah, there was a guy who I found who does stuff in his off time when he's not working at the plants And he fixed it up for me and did a great job and He also made something else for me He made me a pair of flat bar right triangles What you do is you put your hand inside of them you hold them together So that the points are facing out like that And on each point out here is a long thick rope And what you do is you get audience members to grab their open try to tug of war the handles out of your hands and I've had like six or eight kids on there I've had four adults all trying as hard as they can you know can't open the grip and That's a really that's a really cool and other people do but I just started doing in the last couple months And that's a new one for me also. Well, that's a great. That's a great addition to your event I love homemade Equipment and modified Exercise equipment and especially in your case it adds to your strongman events You know the diversity the variety of your strongman Events I mean the list goes on and on now now Craigslist is another good place to find Craftsman to do something you want reasonable. Oh, I didn't think of that Craigslist now now What I want to say is what is what Ken Thieson told me? And and Ken does a lot of research on everything that needs to be researched and he's helped me a lot with information He really has if you go on Craigslist you'll be shocked and How many people out there have asked for? asking the asking the public Please come and take my word for free You know and they might have logs back there and in many cases they do have logs Sometimes they have a pretty decent bamboo poles like if you wanted to make your own Mace gotta you know You know with you with the concrete, you know, whatever, you know But you can get logs and you can do with what Hank Barker did of the Netherlands you can make Like a primitive Rustic-looking barbell or dumbbells like like he has photos that I posted on the international Brotherhood of polyvones page of his homemade giant log dumbbells and barbells and bench that he has made you know all out of logs and And then there's a there's an a big log There's a device called a some tola they call it an Indian barbell. It's nothing but a log That's has two areas on one side carved out and Handles a place inside of it and you just take this log and you swing it or you're like a Bulgarian bag you swing it around it around and There are people using it on YouTube. You just Google some tola SUM Ola, but I get speaking of Bulgarian bag Kent these and really helped a lot of people in Learning how to make a homemade Very high quality Bulgarian bag at very low cost instead of going out there and spending a great deal of money at one of these with one of these exercise Equipment companies that charge you a fortune For something that costs really very little. I you know, I I've seen Bulgarian bags that are loadable sandbags and It's ridiculous. It looks it looks like a Looks like a like a like a gym bag or You know something that would be made in China that you just fill it with sand or whatever. Oh Yeah Of course Ken recommended a rubber mulch It's had it seems to be heavier and cheaper than play sand Wow, yeah, that's amazing this place and it's pretty cheap. Yeah, I know I told him that he says well plus it doesn't flow out and I think it's about 50 pounds for a bag of this rubber mulch and He says And he showed me the price, I mean you can go to Home Depot or or Lowe's or you can You'd be surprised which you can get online for like sometimes free shipping Just like go to Google shopping and typing in search and looking for something That's how I go shopping. I put the Google shopping. It might bring me to Amazon. It might bring me to eBay It could bring anywhere it might bring you to Walmart Well, whatever has what you're looking for at the lowest price, it'll bring you there But getting back to Craigslist with that wood Now that's interesting being that you have you have the room to pretty much set up your own Homemade gym Yeah, and you might be out of be able to incorporate a Log in your strongman events You know, whatever you're very interesting, whatever your imagination decides to do with these logs I mean, I just gave an example of you know, Hank Parker the touch man there With the log that I mean, they're gigantic giant log dumbbells and barbells. That's just one example Of course, you can come up with anything you want Call it anything you want Paul Bunions, you know, whatever Or Call it the The Bayou swamp monster log or I don't know Make Something something gimmicky, you know, so I'm sure we could come up with plenty of stuff. Oh, yeah You know the imagination as far. Oh, you just told me some things you've done on your own based on your own Intuition your own hunches and it's great. It sounds great. I mean The more diversity you have you add to your strongman event The more you keep people entertained they like to see different things down the road Could you imagine down the road that you actually end up with like a couple dozen stunts Now if you have a couple dozen to two dozen stunts Based on equipment that you produce Okay, that means that every strongman event You can keep a lot of those hidden So now you do several stunts per event. So now It's like People that have gone to your event more than once Now they're gonna see new things Mm-hmm, you're fresh so people don't get bored people don't say, you know I'm sorry heckle and you say are you doing that again You won't hear that because you know, you've got all all these a lot of your your ideas hidden so now you're You're structuring your events Different you make it. I'm different Keep it interesting Yeah, we weren't trying to grow and diversify because I think I told you last time we spoke last November I went trained with someone who's a been a professional strong man for a really long time and He worked with me and helped me come up with a lot of these ideas. I just told you about and It's Having a mentor and things like this is a good idea, you know and having friends like you that have other ideas It's a great way to Come up with new things and yeah, it seems to be working Do you you you got tips off me? I got tips off Ken Thieson. This is the power networking having having like minds People that have the same passions together and You know, I might Hear of things or I might read some articles that you know Someone else didn't and I you know you tip each other off and and you end up saving a lot of money Getting a lot of great ideas Now now this friend of yours that you work with you does he want is it okay if you plug him if you mention his name? Yeah Yeah, you know kudos. His name is Dennis Rogers he's been called pound for pound the strongest man in the world for the feats he performs and He's done some tremendous stuff over the years the thing that I think put him on the map was Holding back to Air Force trainer airplanes that were attached one to each arm. He just Tucked in like this and how I'm back for 20 seconds or 30 seconds before they stopped their engines Yeah, he's a little bitty guy. He's not like me. He's like five foot nine or so and Maybe a hundred and seventy pounds at his most and when he started he was like 120 or 130 little bitty guy That's incredible. I have you have you seen a strong man and pro wrestler Mark Henry pulled the the big rig track the trailer Yes, actually Dennis his friends with him. He knows Mark Henry Yeah, very well. They're good friends. Yeah, he's from Texas Mark Henry and He he's from Texas. He actually is from a place that's about an hour and a half from where I live over in Texas Was it dead a little bit of town? I? know it's uh It's Buna or Jasper, Texas, which is near Beaumont Beaumont's the big town in that part of Texas. I had a friend that was from Tyler, Texas, but that's the East That's the East Coast of Texas where it's not so so much It's it's it's for it. It's it's forested from what I understand Yes, I think Tyler is north of Beaumont Beaumont's on the same side of the state, but towards the bottom towards the south Louisiana border Yeah, I hear there's even alligators in that part of Texas. I Find it incredible where it alligators really I hear some of them are found I Don't know how true this is in the Carolinas. I Would think so. Yeah, they have swampy areas there, too Yeah, I mean you get all over The two scorpions The devil scorpions they find they're found as far north as Virginia, which I never really knew hey There's a scorpion egg that's It's pale sandy color, but it's found as far north as Alberta, you know the the The rocky the Canadian Rocky Mountains. I didn't know There was a scorpion that exists that far north. I'm always learning new things Jeff every month every year I'm always learning new things and in learning never stops That's right if it does you that means you're getting old about to die you gotta keep yourself back into your own So yeah, this is getting back to the strongman sons You're you're gonna end up picking up a lot of new Things now are you familiar with the the old-time Russian strongman mr. Zass that they used isometrics chains Mm-hmm. No, yeah, I know he is Yeah, he just I don't know if he did like a figure eight thing with chains and he just you know, they're just Just basic isometric movements utilizing chain You know a lot of these kids I think they're the ones that become suckers for all the the expensive infomercial designer Extra equipment, you know, they they they believe what Some Hollywood trainer to the stars says and they go and spend all kinds of money. I Mean, you know Joe Weeter The man who made Joe Weeter Mr. Bob Hoffman of the York barbell company York, Pennsylvania who was United States Olympic weightlifting coach back in the day He trained Joe he trained Joe. We didn't put up the money for Joe Weeter's first muscle magazine When Joe Weeter moved to Southern California, he denied any affiliation With Bob Hoffman and actually there were partners together at one time on the east coast And he and they became rivals after that, right? Yeah, he denied any affiliation or you know, it's like he's them Joe Weeter's All of a sudden he's the master blaster You know, meanwhile, it was Bob Hoffman who was the master blaster because he created so many of the famous strongman And and bodybuild Olympic weightlifters and so on and so on, you know It's a people funny that way, you know, they just can't give credit to somebody who who helped them Yeah, there's no reason not to do that. Just you know, you're being a good example to others when you do that You know tip your hat to whoever helped you. Yeah, it's me. It's like a good thing to do. I think I mean to me It's insecurity. It's ego. It's like It's it's more insecurity. I mean you got it So watch it as long as you're successful. So so so what if you give credit to those who helped you along the way? It's only a right way. I mean Yeah, that's exactly right Well, I don't I'm a big guy, but I'm not the strongest person and I'm not the best of strongmen So I know that I've had to work hard and I've had to have lots of help so I am glad to be able to tip my hat because Somebody was there to help me because I really needed it, you know, it's okay to have mentors and people you looked up to Growing up. So, you know, what's the big deal? You know, um, Of course the mentors as far as strength Strength athletes go the people I looked up. I look up to are the drug-free ones. I Don't that includes baseball players. I don't I don't pay attention to baseball players that broke records and have a little asterisks, you know Yeah, you know In here what they call it Pharmaceutical enhanced athletes Right now, you know, there's nothing like a Good old-fashioned home cooking and nutritional supplements, you know, old school, you know back in the day, you know, it was the biggest Strength training supplement. I'm talking about decades ago desiccated liver there, you know organic liver that was that's dried raw liver that's dried There was it was a huge Supplement of black strap molasses and the protein supplement, huh? Yeah, desiccated liver is loaded with b-vitamism is loaded with minerals. You could still get it. It's not it's hard to find Because it's not in vogue anymore. It's not a big money-maker anymore. It's it's just liver from Argentina You know, you these companies are not gonna make money out, but they're gonna make money on some State-of-the-art muscle formula, you know that they could get big bucks for Mm-hmm, you know, I'm not I don't even take that stuff. Well, you know what I'm taking As a product I found a Walmart for only $15 and you can you can order it on Walmart comm and have it shipped for free to your local Walmart. It's called country farms greens formula it has Over 32 items. It's a fruits and all kinds of vegetables and all kinds of greens and it's a it's a powder Probiotics, it's just loaded with stuff. It's like It's like it's like juicing without the cost and the mess Because juicing yeah, I've heard of that I know a guy that uses that because he travels a lot and works out on the road So that's what he uses this one of all big supplements. It's a fantastic guy for the money. I mean And you know, it takes decent it really does it doesn't taste like long clippings or anything it really tastes good and That's real nutrition. I mean, that's even better than all the vitamin that blows away the multivitamin You know, I because I was taken alive by nature's way but This is much more impressive now you were gonna show Me and the viewers something Something I'll be right back up and show us if you can see that. This is the mall. I was talking about beautiful oh see now By seeing it it's much more impressive than the way you described it got this is the sharp edge That's the sledge edge And these are the two dumbbell bars with weights Got the spin lock collars on very very long. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah Wow Kent thesis is gonna love that I hope we uh I'm gonna post this show on the group The International Brotherhood of polyvons. He's gonna love that and that's and that's an idea That you just came up with with your own mind, right? Or no Well, I talked to Dennis and Dennis gave me that idea. Yeah, so the idea of a collaboration He puts the idea in my head and I found somebody to do it. So it it's between you and Dennis and I bet you know what you just gave me an idea if You made a longer sledge hammered version of that and It's not it's it's it's not it wouldn't be for beginners Wouldn't be for beginners or intermediates. It would be for advanced Mace swingers I Would I could picture that mean a little more challenging or maybe more than a little more challenging than your standard mace or God because With the standard mace or God you have all the weight in a in a ball or in a pot shape in this case Okay The weight is not quite so evenly Distributed as having a solid ball Like I mean the weight is not going to be evenly distributed anyway because Because of torque increased torque the weight is going to be on the end of any mace Mm-hmm the fact that you have the the torque Plus you have The weight of the sledge on one side the weight of the the ax on the other side and then the plates On both sides it might be more challenging than your average Than your typical mace. I Would think so. Yeah, I would definitely think so. It's It's pretty rough because in order working. I'll be able to lever it with all that weight on it Yeah, in order to in order to swing a mace The way they do it India you need at least What did they say at least a meter Which is about a yard. I I forget Certain there's a certain standard of length. That's minimal. I think it's one meter Long This is this is at least that long it's real long so we're over three feet outside a real right at it You might have to now if you're gonna swing that behind your back You're gonna have to make sure that the Blade is facing away from you Because yeah, you don't want to swing that behind your back With the blade facing your back. So when you start now, you know, the blade has to be facing. Hey, yeah I'm sorry The blade has to be facing away from you Because if you once you hoist it up and bring it behind your back To doing there what they call the 10 o'clock 2 o'clock, you know as you swing it, uh-huh, you know You want that blade facing? That way as you break so you don't get it shredded back from the wrong way, right? You want to sledge face in your back? You don't want the axe You know, but that's great You don't want them dumbbell bars facing your back either Well, they won't be if the sledge if the sledge is facing your your face Right before you start swinging the maze man If the sledge is facing your face Then therefore the dumbbell plates and the dumbbell bars will be To the sides as you come behind and the and the axe head the axe part would be away So I'm just picturing it as you're swinging it Yeah, the axe would be facing away from you and that's what you want for safety But I think it might be more challenging and then your typical Nace gotta, you know, I would say so it'd be it'd be worth throwing out for sure Yeah, I mean I mean just to do a basic 10 o'clock 2 o'clock with it, you know I mean just Just to try it out But but you know, like I said, but about the axe, but it's uh Yeah, you might end up having a lot of fun with that device. Oh, yeah You know something else. I'm gonna be working on. I've started working on in December was the the bent press I've never done it before but I started working on it in December with my Got this big circus dumbbell about what about that long? Big bells about that big on each end. Oh, you mean like the old Like the old-time Milo with the cannonballs on the end That's what it looks like in it. You feel it with Sean or BBs or whatever mines filled with copper BBs. Oh Wow, I got it. I got it up to 115 right now, but my goal is 130 to 150 for my shows. That's what my goal is That must be a course I'll get there. I must have cost you a lot of copper BBs coppers are cheap Well, they're they're just copper coated, but they did cost a bit. Yeah, I'd have to buy a few at a time What's cheaper lead shot or steel shot? I'm not sure mine is steel that's copper coated so I Don't see any lead up there when I went to the store I mean unless I looked at her on place, but that's probably harder to come by unless you buy it on the internet I bet that's the heaviest substance You could buy for any loadable exercise devices. What you got is probably the heaviest Steel shot. I think you got to be careful with it that if you have kids I think you got to be careful with it so they don't ingest it or something. That's what a friend of mine told me Well, then you Didn't for for to protect baby Bam Bam, you would have to Make sure that He's he's unable to unplug it and pour it out. You would have to really safeguard where you keep the extra Yeah, because you know kids always like to take things and put them in their mouths You know, I don't know why they do that. They they also walk like penguins I probably walk that way You haven't noticed that they're gonna look at that bow legged Like with Danny DeVito I'm only I'm only busting you your little toddlers Yeah, that's pretty cute. Yeah, I mean we did that too probably. Oh, yeah, I know I did I still kind of walk like that my feet point So oh, you know what I saw one time There were people were wild boar hunting in Louisiana and they were using a speed They were using his wild boar spear on them and they were it had dogs chasing them and everything You know because they still do stuff like that from what I understand the European wild boar was introduced to southern United States and it kind of got out of control like an invasive species Yeah, they're playing and I'm not sure if you even have to have Special tag to hunt them. I think you just need a regular hunt license and they want you to kill that's how I understand I've I've never been hog hunting around here, but there's a lot of people that do but they're too many of them That's damn many of them. Yeah, they're too many, you know, it's like it's like in Florida with the with the damn the Burmese Pythons they're invasive and They're causing a problem to the to the native species Yeah, they become a real pest for sure. Yeah, well what happened was to be to be honest with you Hurricane Andrew kind of let them loose from a zoo They and then you got a lot of knuckleheads in Florida that just you know, they don't want something You know, they think pets are disposable like everything else and they just Yeah, the worst thing to do is let them loose and he ever glades Yeah, that's really dumb. Oh Now now the problem is I mean, I know that you know There's a demand for Python skin for you know, Western boots and handbags and everything But they they they really took a liking to South Florida and they're multiplying like like roaches, I mean it's it's really Horrible and anybody who has small dogs and cats and they're in danger if you live there really You know the Gators to I mean and all the Gators to you got a one You know, they say In the southern states, you know any body of fresh water can have a gator in Mm-hmm, you know, it's possible that then you then you've got eastern numbers a the diamond back rattlesnake Which can get quite large. You have those copperheads Water moccasins Yeah, that's what we have is coming here. Yeah, we have all those. I don't know about the rattlesnakes, but we've got the other ones sure but Yeah, so um, I Mentioned why I'm bored because I like I like pork. I like roast pig. I like Yeah, I don't have any I had that yesterday had I had barbecued pulled pork yesterday I ate the whole damn thing by myself Today I got chicken pot pies You know, so that's not too bad. I never get tired of chicken, you know, you can do so much with chicken Mm-hmm. You can do you know a chicken is like I mean especially If you do it spicy Now now I like the sausages you guys have the on do we's are very good sausages On do we that they slice them up what they go in gumbo or jumbo liar or both? I Think it's in jumbo. I'm not mistaken. I'm belayah. Yeah, I think oh okra is in okra is in Gumbo. Mm-hmm stuff is so slimy You know, I have one person I know that knows how to cook get right and this is the only one I eat How it how it hits it gets a slime out It gets the slime out mixes it with a rotel tomatoes puts it over rice. It's delicious Really delicious? Oh, yeah Yeah, I wonder if you could deep fry. I guess you can deep fry anything deep fried okra and back people fry okra battered it Oh, yeah, I got around here for sure I saw on the foot on the travel channel There's a an old landmark is an old old old restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee and They deep fry everything on the menu in lard now lard lard Does not have to be Refrigerated lard can be kept at room temperature and of course it gets solid and As long as you keep it clean they have the lard that they use to deep fry Even the hamburger patties and the veggies is a hundred year old lard and And and and the reason why the reason why they have it that long is they they keep it clean As long as you keep keep it clean You can't kill the pork fat or duck fat for that matter or even chicken fat, you know In this case lard would be the cheapest thing to get and everything deep fries at this restaurant is in the lard You know and the only thing the only tip I can give people about deep fried is if you don't want greasy food The fat has to be extremely hot You have to get it to a very high temperature It's way when you take your meat and veggies out the fat that don't stick to the food. It just Tricks right off So that's a little little deep frying tip It's like oh, I got a new cast iron skillet From Walmart. I needed one as made by a company called Lodge, which I'm sure people know about and I went and got a big package of fatty slab bacon to season it and Do you folks out there that read the directions and think you have to you have to put the cast iron pot in the oven and you Gotta you gotta do this and that and the other thing now You just get the greasiest food you get you could fattiest food you can find Fattiest sausage sometimes I use blood sausage In this case, I decided to go for really good slab bacon and you leave the fat in the cast iron pan and You leave it in there and you you rub it in and the black black or it gets the better cooks and the fat is Plays a role in seasoning and then in about a week the pan will be As you know, it'll be pitch black It'll be ready to go, you know, so and Actually, it cooked perfectly today, and it was brand new The only thing with cast iron is you have to dry it on the stove on the fire Do not try to towel dry cast iron because you won't be able to get all the moisture out and you'll start to see rust spots You know you gotta do it on the far Yeah, same thing with a Chinese walk you have to treat it the same way For stir-frying, but oh, I didn't know that okay. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's galvanized steel But you have to do the same thing to you got a seasoning, you know, and you can't you got to dry it on the flame But anyway, we had a great show is very invigorating Yes, I really love that device I I definitely take some photos of you or videos of you Messing around with that thing and you know if you want to upload them on the group You know, I mean, I like that homemade stuff. Oh Yeah, we're gonna be doing that in the next sometime between now and those shows I'm gonna have some pictures made and I'll share it with y'all and that's like it's got like a It's got like this this Wicked gothic look to it with that blade with that axe, you know, it does That's nice. And I'm sure you're gonna get other ideas to make more extravagant, you know Wicked-looking things, you know, I mean I like I said I learned this from The guy I perform with I play the African drum. He does other things can create says Have a lot of irons in your fire, but don't show them Or your your audience everything End up with a lot of things That you do but like only give them like several things For every event. So I saw this way. They're always shocked Every time they say come to your event. They're like, wow He's I know I didn't know he had that I didn't know he does that You know, oh, yeah, that's what we're trying to do now and it seems to be working well for us So I'm really excited about what's coming up and I didn't tell you this. I don't think but We talked about people Growing up in such a way and not turning out like they should Well, I'm gonna get to talk to some of those people too because my buddy is in prison ministry I'm gonna get to bring t-rex to a prison not too far from here For more real-day weekend, so I haven't done that before and I'm pretty excited about that, too. That's fantastic You know and of course incorporating the ministry with the athleticism and the strongman stunts is Fantastic because it also Keeps people's interests at a high level People you Unfortunately human beings have a very short attention span and and and Like they're like Overgrown kids you got to keep their brain stimulating and to have to have variations to have variety in What you what you're offering them and to keep on changing your routine and hitting them With different stuff and and then you got you know, you got the performance and then you got them The administer the ministry where you're evangelizing I guess the talking that you do is at the end of the event right You finish off with the talk you start with it. Yeah start with the performance and you finish off with with the talk That's fantastic. I mean, that's how you draw them in and then you get to give them Motivational message or a ministry message or whatever, you know, just depending on the situation and it always seems to work real good You should create a Facebook page based on this ministry and the strongman events. You have one or it's free, you know They won't charge you for Yeah Yeah, because with the Facebook page Most people don't know realize that you don't have to have a Facebook account to view everything that's on it You can you can actually have one. Oh, we do. That's good. That's great. So it's publicly Yeah, the Facebook page and my website are the same it's Jeff trexbankins.com and there's no there's no Dash between T and R of t-rex Yeah, sometimes I can't use the hyphens. I can use the hyphens You know, I was just telling somebody this that was starting off with a new organization And I told them What you need to do is you need to Name your pages your website and your group all the same name Because the reason is not only does it not only does it not confuse the public That one's if somebody does a Google search for you all your pages will Come up on on the first Google search page Or every all your pages will appear first As soon as they they go to as soon as they click on it So it'll be Like you said Jeff t-rex bank and so on and so on Jeff t-rex bank and so on Facebook read Jeff for t-rex bank is uh, it's bankins. I mean bankins Twitter Jeff t-rex bankins everything you do will show up and that's the other Because yes, you haven't using the same name That's it it works good Yeah, and he says you know that that makes a lot of sense. He told me um Yeah, um, it's uh, yeah, Paul of mr. Paul Manthia. He's a guitarist and He also makes exotic clothing and he started an organization About tenants rights tenants that get screwed over by landlords and And you know like slumlords and things like that and he's having yeah a huge huge problem. You have no idea It's enough to make a movie out of Jacksonville, Florida is tremendous problem, but a very wealthy very wealthy famous very well-established man in the Jacksonville area that Is basically like a slumlord who just likes to collect a rent and just let the property the home the apartments just go I Mean almost like like an animal was living in and a chicken coop or something It's horrible. Yeah, and he started an organization based on tenants rights, and I told him there are laws to protect tenants I mean, you know, I mean just picture this You're you're in your home. Mm-hmm You're in your rented Home or rented apartment with your significant other and the landlord Just like walks in and stalk stalking your wife. She's taking a shower Or you know just walks in his underwear into your house uninvited that could get people killed You know you can't you you know, yeah, that ain't no good, man That's like breaking and entering. That's like and his excuses. I am the landlord Yeah, well, you know what buddy you're taking the word war too seriously You know, it's also their home. They're paying rent. They're entitled to privacy. Oh Is he there? Hey, sir How you doing? Hello, I was just dropping in to say hello Night, but um, I wanted you to know I wasn't not trying to dodge you or avoid hangouts. I just um the schedule's been Very busy this week We're just finishing up. This is this is Jeff bank is of Louisiana strongman. This is uh You want to go by your state your your stage name? well Either way, it's Ronald and then Jay is my nickname. So Ronald Jay Terrio, so nice to meet you. What's your name again? Jeff bank. It's oh Jeff bank Hello, yeah Ronald Jay is the craft beer enthusiast and reviewer and he he also Has other interests, but he does a lot of want fine wine reviewing and videos and Craft beer and okay cool. I don't know about fine but wine I Haven't gotten up to the fine level yet. I'm just cruising through the Grocery store. Hey, but uh, so how's everything going? Great great the show went excellent. Oh, by the way, I got your I saw those photos of those crawdad castles They were fascinating. Yeah, I saw one today. I was walking. I went walking down the street to bring this lady a store sales paper and It had rained pretty heavy last night. So the rain had made the The little chimney or castle whatever fall down But I saw that they had a new one right in the same spot that the crawfish must have rebuilt All the mud was still wet So I look down in there to see if I could see it but I didn't but they'll just don't work on them all night until they Get them back, you know, wow, that's the first time I've ever known that they're capable of doing that I was telling Jeff bank is that I'm always learning new things every month every year of my life And I never knew that they're capable of it looks like a well Yeah, what they do is they build they take with their claws and they make little mud balls Like bricks and then they stack them just like when a brick Mason is making a brick Chimney and they stack them in a way where they won't fall and they're sturdy. So it's strange You know that they would have the instinct to do brick work Yeah, I mean such a primitive crustacean would have the The I was gonna say Brain capacity, but who knows how big that is but they do They do it. Hey a bubble V is not supposed to fly because his wings are too small for his body weight But applies anyway, right Well, I'll get together with y'all one night on a proper hangout instead of just jumping in to say hello But I was at a baseball game and I got sleepy. I Said oh, let me get out of here. Yeah, well, but um, we talked we touched a little bit about food down there we talked about Okra and and do we sausage and gumbo and jambalaya and then we talked about wild boar hunting Oh, yeah, guys have a little more than more enough of those down there by you Fested with them and we are The town I live in as they call it the undue capital of the world Really? Yeah, because we have four places that make their own undue and sell it and then of course a lot of people do it and just for their own Use but these four places make it and they sell it these smoke houses. Yeah, well, what's the town called? Laplace With an L. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I gotta look that up because I'm hungry. I got a mess of food inside I'm ready to eat up and you got me old work up with this undo. We talk they'll ship it They have Wayne Jacobs smokehouse. They have Jacob smokehouse Bailey's Really, you know what a great a great name for a restaurant would be undoing Louie Yeah, I love And it started getting popular like now The Campbell's chunky has the undoing sausage and one of their gumbo their can gumbo and then progresso soup has the can Gumbo with us Sausage undoing it, you know, of course, it's not as good as the smoked that you get from Wayne Jacobs, but When Jake I think you're getting Jeff hungry. I think he's into Yeah, yeah, where are you? Where are you like Charles Lake Charles area? Yeah me state on it. That's where I'm inside of the state from you Yeah, that's where McNeese State University is yeah, and I went to school. Oh, we Grilled yeah, we play we play y'all we play your team a lot in sports Because I went to southeastern Louisiana, Sue. Oh Okay, yeah, uh-huh They're always a lot isn't that's not too far from there, huh? I'm 30 I'm 39 miles. I'm sorry 36 miles from the baseball stadium at southeastern 36 miles. I think no, I think your state deserves a major league baseball team You think they could you think it'll work out? Oh Because we already have NBA and NFL and I don't think they'll they'll ever get three major sports, but it would be nice I would trade the NBA for the major league baseball Yeah, the Tampa Bay Rays over here and we can name them the They in the craw dads. Yeah, the crawfish because The New Orleans minor league team got renamed this year they're called the baby cakes now baby cakes What's that story? Look it up. Oh, yeah, the baby cake in the Mardi Gras the little baby. Yeah, okay Yeah, the baby in the king cake. So they call the team the baby cakes Yeah, that doesn't sound right Yeah, it's crazy All right, well y'all y'all you two guys have a good night You here. All right that and I see you man chief. We'll do it again Okay, thank you. Nice meeting you. Yeah, you too, man. Take care All right. Bye. Bye. Bye Well, well Jeff Yeah, he's a retired school teacher J You know, it's been invigorating and I'm hungry and after all this and I gotta look up that town What do you say La Paz Something it's not lost. It's it's La PL a C E. Oh Okay, okay, that's easy enough. Yeah That's easy to spill world. I'll put it on my food. Yeah, it's real It's real close to New Orleans Between the Orleans of Antwerp kind of yeah Yeah, I'm doing it might be a French word. It might or might have different It might have Creole French Influence maybe both Yeah, I think it's a French word, but it's Creole has French in it too. So it could be either like you're saying Yeah, I know I know this Creole and French influence there in New Orleans but All right, listen, it's great. It was a very interesting show and we'll see you next time All right, buddy. Take care. All right. Bye. Bye. Good night. Bye. Bye