 so We have for this episode Our good friend that we've never talked to directly before never met in person never met in person So sad mr. Brandon Camel diamond a legend. I've been talking about you a lot recently. I don't know why and not to be creepy Too late. Well, I just get bored. All right. I'm bored. I'm live streaming on twitch for 12 hours a day and And There's a lot of fitness fans in there And so what conversation will come up about oh geez or where the YouTube game is now or whatever and your name's always brought up Is is just just an original that put out good content. That's real That's that has solid advice that doesn't overstep his bounds. Yeah, it's so easy to be like a good Content creator like just don't don't don't talk about things you don't know right like just just like give solid advice That you're well aware of and you can reference either experts or articles on like it's so simple cheek check of Check a frequency box that you know, you can live up to yeah Consistency of content. Yeah consistency of content And it's so simple and so you got a lot of fans out there. I guess was what breaks down to I'm a fan We're all fans. Yep, but some of your content. I guess from the very beginning has switched a little bit Yeah, I mean I guess I guess really similar to you guys show right you talk about what you know And when you don't know something you let someone else who's usually more informed than you talk about infiliate and fill in the gaps, right? Yeah, easy easy, but in the beginning it was more like a kind of training vlog And well, it's interesting. I got into YouTube specifically through the bodybuilding.com forums which forums were used to be a thing back then so that kind of dates when this kind of started kicked off and Initially started posting supplement reviews because I wanted to basically have companies send me stuff and a lot of people Logging it via the forum and I thought hey you bring in a audio visual aspect to it More people will probably watch it because that's when YouTube was really getting kicked off Yeah, I figured like when I want to know something what do I do I YouTube it? So I started doing that and then that led to people saying well, what are you doing for training? What are you doing for a nutrition and then I got to that point where the YouTube Fitness space got very saturated with people who just were kind of talking out there We're ends and I had to kind of switch gears a little bit because there's a lot better people putting out smarter and a Lot of more evidence-based stuff than I was at the time So I kind of stopped doing that and I started talking more equipment stuff That's kind of where my passion has lied now I still just basically do some training but I just talk about equipment and try to give my perspective because obviously anytime you're buying Gym equipment, it's not usually something you can go in the store and get your hands on if you're spending several Thousands of dollars on things that weigh several hundred pounds. There's a good chance You're not going to be able to return it or go through the steps or costs in order to do so So I just try to give people kind of that feedback of hey, this is what it is This is what's good about it This is what isn't good about it and this is why why you shouldn't necessarily consider it We'll dig into maybe some of your advice on that equipment. That's kind of what this episode is based around Because everything's freaking sold out for one. Yeah, everyone's freaking out that that they might lose a 50 pounds on their squad they're acting like the world's ending but What I'm more interested in is are you like interested in equipment now? I did not get sad the only thing I found as an adult here that really gives me fulfillment or joy the only thing is When I get like a deal when I get one up on someone else I feel so good so like to buy my car It took me like 10 months because I need to get a good deal to buy my house It took three and a half years of hunting the market because I needed to get this deal And so I haven't made a home gym, but I know if I did I would probably get into the nuts and bolts Like what you do just because I want that deal I want the best thing at the best price that's most efficient and I don't drive a Rolls Royce It's just that I want to get the most bang for my buck compared to everybody else in the world. Yeah, I want to win Right. I think a lot of that is there comes with trade-offs, right? And I mean it's like any hobby you initially get into it because you like it and the more you get into the weeds The more nerdy you get into it with any hobby almost probably to the point where you become a little bit overloaded Then you kind of take your foot off the gas a little bit, but there's always trade-offs. I mean it depends on what you're looking for Yes, you can get good bang for your buck from a lot of stuff out there But some of the trade-offs might be in the quality of the equipment maybe the footprint It takes up maybe the customer service that you're going to be dealing with you know The hassle of actually getting someone on the phone and talking to them So I think there's always trade-offs But that being said if you're in the market for getting deals and you are in the selling market right now Obviously you said everybody sold out. So the second hand market which I think Alan talked a lot about in his His call with you guys a year ago. It's ridiculous the pricing that some people are charging and actually getting for a lot of stuff right now Yeah, I was casually again on Twitch with my buddy lives in Houston He's in the chat shut up the baby and baby's like man Mike you want to like help me find a squat rack I'm like yeah, man. I'm streaming for 12 hours. We'll do it live on the internet Hop on Craigslist Houston and there's like a I'm pretty sure it's like the most rusted rack the the shelf racks where it's Kind of like oh the pyramid style like a pyramid style old-school commercial rack rusted to the bone Like I wouldn't put 135 on this thing and they're charging like three grand or something and it's in someone's backyard I'm like, where do you even think that's like? Even close, you know, yeah, what the hell is going on? Yeah, I don't I don't understand that I know people are making Concrete weights now. Yeah, the real flashback or for Squat racks out of four by four wood yeah, yeah, we're seeing a lot of wood squat racks that scares me all of it scares me I'll just skip fat. I'll skip all skip all this. I don't really we already did that I don't care It goes back to what you're saying, right? It's everybody sold out and everyone's worried they're gonna lose their gains like who knows when gyms are gonna reopen So people are kind of desperate and when the supply is low and demand is high I kind of the market will dictate itself. Yeah, it's true. It's true But you you have squat racks to feed the world how many you have how many Your whole basement looks like a full gym now. Yeah, I'm dancing So we're renting right now because we're building a house and like it's it's odd that one of my main concerns with building houses I wanted a nine-foot ceiling in my basement specifically for the gym and the rest of the house That's like my wife you have carte blanche on which now But like even now I'm like I'm in a small little garage and I bought a specific setup for this garage Because I think that's gets into again what you were saying before about you know the pros and cons getting the deal I think also you have to build for the space that you have and what you want to get out of it That's going to dictate a lot of you know the cost and the footprint and things like that So Do you feel like when you make these decisions it's it's really around this Meeting the space plus your own like aesthetic or or Sense of how things should function Or is it company reputation first or like where do you start? Well, I mean I'd like to say it's company reputation a lot of my stuff is rogue Which I think for the most part offers a really high quality Compared to the price and I say that because a lot of their stuff could be considered commercial grade Whereas you start getting into some of the legacy commercial grade equipment like you know hammer strength and stuff like that And you're looking at ridiculous prices But because people think it's going in a home They think it should be cheap and affordable like something you'd get at walmart And again, there's definitely trade-offs in what you get for me though. I think it comes down to usually three main things Price for me is probably one of the most prominent things that I think about But also how much footprint it takes up so again right now in the garage that I'm in which is the multi-purpose use If I could flip the camera around you'd see lawnmowers gas cans kid toys all sorts of stuff Footprint something takes up. Usually, you know, if you're going to get something that takes up a massive footprint It might be ideal because you can get a lot away with it But it's not going to be ideal in terms of where you're putting it So the last thing I was looking at so price footprint and then also usability So obviously you can get stuff that you can use for just more than one purpose So you probably don't want to go out and buy a peck deck for your gym Even though you really really want to Use some flies and stuff But it doesn't make sense because the price is probably going to be really high It's going to take up a high footprint and the usability on that's probably pretty low Yeah, it seems like the old school way and I think what you have is just like a squat rack A squat cage whatever you want to call it But I've seen more people and it may be because it's more The niche that I follow our power lifters specifically A lot of guys are going with like a uh, I don't even know what it's called not a utility rack I only had one cup of coffee today bear with me folks Bear with my brain like a combo or a combo rack More people are just going with the combo rack, which I would assume takes up a little bit less Footprint than a squat rack But you can't do like you said usability you might not be able to do rack poles or some other stuff in there Talk about the first piece, right? I think that's where we're at It's kind of a squat rack or maybe maybe maybe you're a bro. Maybe you just want to bench. I don't know I think I go I think I go squat rack, but Teacher so I think for most people a squat rack would probably make the most sense because I mean you can do a bunch of stuff The main compounds with it and you have a place to put your barbell I think the step up from there would probably be a full cage because you get kind of the added benefits of you know Safety, which especially during this time when you shouldn't be training with other people You know full-on cage versus just some spotter arms or whatnot But then you open up the whole world of attachments And I think to your point with the combo racks It's really good if you're a power lifter because you can squat and bench in it and you don't need anything to deadlift in But the downside of that is you can't add any attachments for the most part You shouldn't be failing in an actual combo rack. You should have people spotting you once again and this time is really A good way to do it And I think a lot of people are actually going combo racks now strictly because they're some of the only things still in stock And even though they they take up a very small footprint and they have low usability The price point is extremely high. So I mean you get a good combo rack from like lico er Elite fts. You're looking at probably like after shipping like almost three grand Just for that But I think it's again a testament to the times where people are willing to pay whatever And maybe they don't have a space set up for home gym and they're forced to have a home gym That that's why they're choosing to go that route. Yeah, no chin-ups Like you said like that's a basis that I go to like Everyone says mike. What exercises are you doing? Well, first off, I'm doing none But if I were to do them, it'd be like squat bench dead row or chin-up Um, and and if you don't have you can't do You already eliminate like one or two if you just go combo rack over a squat rack Yeah, I think for most people like anything where you can rack a barbell Because obviously that gives you a lot of options and even some of the adjustable dumbbells that are on the market Before the whole price increase I mean if you get an adjustable dumbbell that goes up from anywhere to like five to a hundred pounds Which isn't actually that expensive in a normal market. I mean you can get away with a lot of stuff I think where it's really hard is for people who typically train for Uh, like bodybuilding style where they're used to a bunch of accessories where you use cables and things like that That a home gym doesn't usually make as much sense And they'll typically find that they can't stick to it and they would rather go to a gym given an opportunity Yeah, I even want to push back on that. I think it's the the bodybuilders that think they're bodybuilders You know, like because if you follow our boys like like alberto nuñez or eric helms Like eric helms looks like he's working out harder than I've ever seen him He's doing one leg sissy squat upside down in a parking garage. I don't know what he's doing But he looks like he's put himself through torture. So another thing would use ability of the rack is just general knowledge Right, like what what exercise knowledge do you have? And what experience and just a hair or creativity you can do anything with some bands and like you said adjustable dumbbells Opposed to your fancy peck deck right So this brings up a question to me that I was going to say for later, but it It seems like as good a time as any You work out alone and you have made that choice because it fits your lifestyle best A lot of people are suddenly working out at home who we're working out in gyms before Are people going to go back to gyms after this is over or are they all going to stick at home? Is there going to be a giant garage sale of all this equipment that people just bought? Which awesome, um, but uh, or is it going to be yeah? It's a good question I've thought about the same thing and I had discussions with people and and some people like of course They're going to go back in environment and equipment. I'm like bro equipment's not that expensive Once you've trained alone. I've done it. I had a training facility Personal training facility like 2009 and I would just train by myself in a little like basically storage unit Plast what music I want kind of felt good a little bit of self-time meditating time and even now I'll go to Untamed strength sometimes, but like I'm kind of training alone There's people around but it's much different than like a real team environment Which I've been a part of also, um, which feels good also, but With money with people's fear of germs like who knows Yeah, I think uh, I think for the most part it's probably going to be a mix of both Right, so there's definitely going to be people who can't wait to go back to the gym Especially when we talk about those who typically do a lot of accessories or can't get access to the equipment or machines that they'd want to use So that's one of the things that I've talked about in some of my other videos Is one of the reasons I like training at home so much is because there's everything that I need in my home And it's typically exactly what I wanted So it's like you just go out and you buy a cheap dumbbell set a cheap barbell and some crappy weights And your gym has better stuff than what you have at home You're more likely to go to the gym when when you have that opportunity But I do think there's definitely going to be a subset of people who just never gave training at home A chance and now that they're forced to They're going to see that they actually really like it and from my perspective one of the biggest benefits is Just the time management aspect. So like if you need to travel, I don't know how far for example, Mike You mentioned untamed strength. I know it's generally in the sacramental area. I don't know how far that is from you Yeah, it's like 25 minutes So if you figure almost an hour round trip and if you go there, let's say four to five days a week If you're a full-time member, that's five hours a week That ends up to be like a couple of days out of the year that you're just spending traveling versus You can come and train whenever the gym's always open if you have Kids and a wife or you work from home like I do it makes everything so much more easy because I've never Missed the gym because it isn't open or I don't feel like driving. So there's definitely a trade-off But again, it really comes down to that individual and really what they hold as important in terms of their own Yeah, I think you're so right. There's pros and cons to both sides because like Um, I see both and I've even contemplated myself building the home gym I was like the convenience of it being in the basement of the garage seems great I can work out at any time I can set my schedule and never have to wait for a squat rack But then there's also something with me and maybe it's because I Started training in like eighth grade or whatever and I'm used to driving about half an hour for a good gym Or I used to have a strength coach and I would drive to him There's something also about that drive where I'd listen to music Drink my caffeine and get in a mindset to go work out and like go to it that I was like well if it's in my garage I'm not going to the garage like it's cold out there You know like I don't got my music what I'm just going to walk down there in my boxers and start squatting Like it's a different vibe and then counter to that. Um, I do get some of my best workouts totally alone Uh with the music like I mentioned before but some people I think We're all three of us and probably a lot of our listeners too are just so like we're so stuck in this niche Like we're all just like meat heads, you know, so like we're gone. We're off the deep end of this thing But there's a lot of people that go to the gym for social hour for community to meet people I've never really been one because I just don't like humans but a lot of people Really enjoy company and chatting and spotters and loaders and blah blah blah blah blah even coaches or whatever I don't like any of that But I think a large majority of of general population even that tip towards powerlifting probably will enjoy that I think that um Once, you know, we're able to actually like be freely outside again I think there's going to be a great impulse to want to get the hell out of the house too Yeah, and so yeah, maybe and and as you said some people are very dependent upon environment and particularly like the the hype of people around you and anybody who's um Who's lifting in gear? Yeah, you need to be around people. I mean, there are people who do it without it and there are a couple of good examples, you know, um Lane Yeah, and mike tishere. Yeah He's a little raw now, but there are the exception and not not the rule. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think uh brice kraut check I think he's just uh training raw for now, but he's at home. Yeah smashing out weights Yeah, I don't know I don't know I think part of the thing that can definitely help though, too Is like anything even if you're working from home Usually if you have like some sort of defined space that you know that that's what that area is for Like obviously right now with the podcast where you guys were set up if you're doing this on your living room couch Yeah, people walking in and out like your wife or whatever gym or other distractions, you know Obviously, it's not going to be a great spot to consistently train. You're probably not going to be as motivated So I usually try to tell people, you know, make sure you have a defined area and you know that when you're going to go In there you can go in there because obviously there's a lot more distractions at home You know, you can walk to the fridge and get a sandwich you can Stay on your phone as long as you want. No one's going to be waiting for that squat rack or bench. Right I think there are things you can do proactively to make sure that you're setting yourself up best for success Yeah, it seems like rogue kind of did switch that game up a little bit now Obviously youtube powerlifting whole another discussion That I actually had with a pretty cool crew of omar johnny candido allen all those guys We talked about like the history of of youtube powerlifting kind of or where powerlifting is now and how it kind of got here But it seems like rogue played a huge Impact on like you said kind of affordability for someone Who's serious about what they do? That doesn't want the walmart rack Because even now like how many real powerlifting gyms are there in our nation? Not that many really like more than there used to be for sure There used to just be like three but now so now there's some But it seems like rogue kind of changed the game and I guess it's cool and kind of whatever that you said There you think their stuff really is that good? I agree. I've used a lot of their stuff I'm not as analytical about it probably is as you are Brandon, but Their stuff's really good pretty damn affordable And it is like commercial grade like that. It's heavy as metal where I remember trying to again trying to open up a studio at age 20 with like five grand that I had from de jing my whole high school career trying to Put pieces together and I'm buying a piece of shit racks Just piece and they're commercial grade. They're out of like a gold's gym in san francisco I bought a rack and it's a piece of shit and they're charging me like a grand used You know and it's like one by two two being like just crap, you know So I guess shout out to them, but everybody already knows what they're doing so they don't care about my shout out But it's interesting now because you take a look at like walmart and one of walmart's brands for Fitness equipment is gold gym branded stuff. So it's interesting. Yeah That the bottom line they also carry stuff like titan Which a lot of people compare rogue too because titan just goes out and clones people If you want something that's imported and stuff that maybe isn't as consistent across the board in terms of quality Then you can get that but I I like to is it the same titan that makes wraps No different right different company. Yeah different company. So this is uh titan is a company based out of tennessee that actually Got into the game from selling farm equipment and just one day decided to start making fitness equipment as well Which if you use any of their version one of anything you could probably Understand why they sold farm equipment before because a lot of it's really crappy But what they typically do is they find something that's successful Export it overseas to china and make a cheaper version of it and for a lot of people that's okay I mean I use I get a lot of flak on my channel when I highlight some of the stuff That's more expensive like some of the bars some of the equipment because not everybody is as invested They just want something basic and something simple But I usually like to use a car analogy So like you can get a cheap car a beater car, you know honda civic from 10 years ago That's going to get you from point a to point b and if that's all you're interested That's fine But if you're into cars and you want something with more performance or more luxury features or you want the Experience or something if you will we're going german baby. We're going german That's right You still have your uh your your e-series out there. Yeah, it's just sitting on my mom's it doesn't work I mean it works, but it doesn't work and now I got no money to put into it one day It'll she'll shine again. She'll shine again So what what are the like hallmarks of quality? To you in terms of equipment builds Yeah, I think one of the easiest things to tell if you're looking at racks is just the welds I mean you take a look at a weld you even if you don't know anything about welding, which I don't necessarily You can tell a good weld from a bad weld, especially when you're comparing apples to apples and looking at both of them Obviously for a lot of people when I get comments from people saying, oh, you know This product is just as good and it's cheaper is because they don't have experience with the other end of the spectrum So it's like you don't know what you don't know I think a big thing though is consistency across the line So you could go with a cheaper barbell and you might have a great copy of one But for every great copy, there's also a bad copy out there. Maybe the knurling isn't consistent Maybe the sleeves don't spin Uh, I've seen a lot of that So it's just a matter of consistency and then also the customer service aspect So if there's a problem, are they going to fix it for you? How's their shipping more importantly? There's a bunch of horror stories. You order something from some of these less expensive brands and One of the things that you're paying less money for is their shipping which tends to be a very low quality cardboard tubing It's not packed very well So you might have just spent a couple hundred bucks on a piece of equipment only to find that it's banged up Bent missing pieces all sorts of stuff and it's just such a headache to get that replaced or right So it's a matter of do you want to pay less And go with more headaches or would you rather just pay a little bit more and get that piece of mind knowing that it's uh More simplified and easier process on your end um I don't want I don't want to put this in in in a way that it's going to make it difficult to answer but Are their specific brands that you Evaluated the equipment and said No, I was going to put that I was going to have that same question. What are like top three brands you looked to That you yeah trust. Yeah, we know rogue but and then and then if you you don't necessarily have to name names But are there specific manufacturers in your mind that like no no not that ever again Yes, so, uh, I'll give you some general feedback So obviously I I think rogue across the board for consistency and price is probably one of the best options for people They probably do the most volume when you talk about rogue You'll get a lot of people that will say tighten fitness is the cheaper alternative Which oftentimes they are they have a lot of similar products Because they literally just clone out whatever they have Um And I think with titan I will recommend them in some insta is it's really based off the piece that they sell there So some of their stuff like their safety squat bar is a clone of the elite fts safety squat bar, which is good Uh, but then they have some other products that are out there that don't really live up to expectation So it's a piece by piece basis for them also when you talk rogue you oftentimes hear sorenax And sorenax is known for doing a lot of stuff being innovative in the field However, I find that they typically tend to cater more to large facilities colleges high schools professional teams So the home market really isn't their forte So oftentimes they're at a more price premium and their offerings in my opinion are very similar to rogue Uh, but then the shipping will really kill you just because they're not as mainstream as rogue is with the shipping price as well But you can get a lot of good stuff from them elite fts Who I believe write uh fitness equipment make all their stuff on the back end Good, but where they are in Ohio and their shipping usually kills a lot of stuff for me in my opinion So they make good equipment if the shipping price is right And then you have some other people out there that are really making some waves in my opinion like rep fitness Who are making some of their higher end racks that look very Similar to some of the the better racks we've talked about already with rogue and sorenax and whatnot But at a better price point because they're importing in from overseas Um, so there there are a lot of good companies out there and there's a lot of ones coming up as more and more people get into it I think though when you take a look at the low end side of the house for any manufacturer Because most manufacturers will have you know, like their entry level stuff Their mid tier and then their high tier if you look at the low level stuff Especially if that company's importing things from china They're just basically rebrand So they'll be the exact same racks and they just have a different logo on it And one of the interesting things that people will bring up sometimes if you go on a site like alibaba And type in you know like glute ham rays or whatever You'll see the exact ones that you're buying from all these companies And the prices that people are paying in bulk and it will really open up your eyes in terms of markups and whatnot So it's it's really kind of a I don't want to say it's a gamble But in most cases when you're paying more It's for that experience again where you're going to get consistency You're going to get higher end stuff in some cases of rogue and sorenax are getting mostly american made Rogue still imports all their weights to my knowledge outside of maybe some of their high temp bumpers which come from a USA company But on the lower end it's kind of a a free fall So it really just depends on again what you're looking for and what you expect I mean, you're not going to pay bottom dollar for a top to your rack. It's just not going to happen. Why do you think that is? Jim and I for a project we may or may not be secretly working on I've been paying a little bit more attention to equipment than I ever have and uh, there's um An insane amount of companies. I feel like that popped up out of the last two years Or maybe even the last year where again showing my age 2009 I'm looking around and the only companies are like lifetime fitness hammer strength Sorenax was around, but they were literally only doing professional. I don't even know if they had like a Residential type website that you could go to and buy from they only did big facilities Like no one was doing anything in 2009 craigslist and that was all trash Um And then and then again rogue sorenax some of these people started to reach out Then there then a couple more a couple more now. There's a billion like even if you go to uh You talk about Chris Duffin right like he basically I know he doesn't make racks necessarily, but he makes equipment like bars and small smallest Style there's ghost. There's rep. Is it pr? There's another one. That's kind of like rep I've seen on instagram going around that a lot of people are rocking Um, is the demand that high you think or do you think people are just into it? What what's what's because ladies and gentlemen, this guy isn't just handsome He doesn't just make youtube videos He isn't just strong He knows some shit about shit like this is a business man here ladies and gentlemen He knows what's going on in the back end. So I think it's a mix of both I think obviously the demand is is higher I mean a lot more people are getting into fitness and especially building out their own stuff because they have Access to whereas you mentioned 10 years ago You didn't have access to buying a lot of the higher end equipment at an affordable price So even though the prices are somewhat considered high on the top tier stuff from some of those companies I mentioned they weren't the hammer strength prices of like four grand for a squat rack brand new things like that So the demand is obviously there the accessibility is increased and also like a lot of people Are now able to do outsourcing themselves I won't name the company specifically but I know one company that puts out decent equipment That is literally one person just ordering things from overseas and importing them and doing all the shipping and stuff like that himself And anyone can really do that if they're willing to front the cost for the volume So I know we talked a little bit about og fitness stuff But remember 10 years ago how many people were doing apparel Not many and those that were we're doing it through like you know Teespraying and other online versus now a lot of them have distribution that are based overseas and doing high volume And designing and stuff like that So the markets change in terms of accessibility to people who actually want to get into it too, which I think is a big factor Yeah, I think that that We're definitely um looking at a time where uh powerlifting is sort of peaked In is beginning to like fall off a little bit What what's our just thought about how long this is gonna run out I mean I when I started powerlifting there was it was not that big a deal. Yeah Yeah, we this is exact talk uh shout out to my buddy, obviously omar esof had me Johnny candido allen thrall brice crawcheck I think that was it And we just had a round table kind of about that exact conversation like some of our favorite memories from the past When it blew up why it blew up how's it blowing up? Where's it going in the future? I don't I don't think it's peaking. I don't think it's gonna. I think I think the growth has Slown down by by numbers, but I don't think it's actually peaked like if if we get I mean every I remember back when I did some marketing for a company that people may know about I I literally looked on instagram and I would just say like who who is this Like because there wasn't like branding meetings or marketing meetings or like any like Tunnel vision right so I just did it myself and I didn't go to college for anything I just think logically like who fits this brand right like what does this brand do and I said anybody who squats fits this brand Right and I'm searching around instagram and there's nobody I'm training sometimes at a 24-hour fitness sometimes at a powerlifting gym No one's squatting at the 24-hour fitness nobody I go back to that exact same 24-hour fitness where my mom trains or near where my mom lives started training there I don't like three years ago a little bit and there is Three more squat racks that used to be in the gym and they're full 24-7 And I don't think they're powerlifters. I think they're just chicks and dudes that want to kind of get strong Some of them had some spd stuff on some of them had a rogue belt on or something I think that market which I consider I'll call it powerlifting Maybe they compete maybe they compete once every two years for shits and gigs or just not at all Yeah, or maybe not at all. I think that market I think the the sky's the limit it blows my mind that kind of the plyometric Typical fits bow girl is still really popular on instagram because there's so many people that have debunked that obviously Like they're and don't come after me little twitter nerds. Like yes, plyometrics do have an application. They're just doing it wrong Those girls are just genetically blessed and I love looking at them, but I'm not taking their fitness advice I think as like the booty always sells. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not complaining per se. I'm just saying I'm not buying their e-book But I think the general market for people squatting deadlifting Even even college coaches over the last 10 years that that I've strength and conditioning coaches pro strength conditioning coaches that I've talked to trained with whatever have gotten exponentially Better knowledge and experience from what was going on in the 90s and early 2000s of maxed out or Power cleans only or throw this medicine ball or we're running eight miles just because we're running eight miles Like all that's kind of changed So I think it's still growing and and I don't know if the usa pl or the uspa or what will grow But I think people Ben squat deadlifting are going to grow maybe forever Slower slower because we peak hard like 2015. I don't know what the number was but there's like 30 000 people at usa pl nationals or something stupid like that Yeah, I agree and I think I think part of it is too It's just the general thing with with anything that people are invested in at some point There does come burnout and tendencies change. So even like for Powerlifting and I watched that that round table that you guys had Like the other day too and I was listening to johnny talk about you know dealing with injuries and coming back I think for some of it on the the more competitive end the people that are making a lot of the content that people see People get burnout whether it's because it's injury Maybe it's because of lack of progress whatever the case is or maybe it's just something that they're more interested So I've seen a lot of people go to the jujitsu route, you know It's something just another way to kind of get their athleticism out and their competitiveness out And maybe they find an avenue where they can kind of scratch that itch versus if they've been doing something for a long time Where it gets a little bit duller stale and they're looking to spice it up I think that like a serious competitive powerlifting career is You know this long it's short. Yeah, it's you know Injuries and then just if you're going to be any good you really really have to commit to it That if you're going to be just like a weekend warrior lifter you can do that forever I guess yeah, and even that even a weekend warrior for pushing yourself. It's hard and that's we didn't really touch on on that round table but like Because I think johnny was talking about like you need 10 years in the sport to be really really good I'm not going to disagree there and he's like some of these young guns are crushing and they're at the top And they've only trained for two to five years. Yeah hard powerlifting But that's because the genetic pool and the talent pool has grown and I do agree with that too But what I disagree with is like like you just said the mental burnout and the physical burnout We don't really know when anyone's peaked because like no one has You know like whether you want to go the untested route or the tested route like yeah Like brice lewis and people have been in the game a really long time and he's he's still making really good progress And he's obviously strong as shit, but um and he's been in it about 10 years like Other than brice lewis like I don't you know, there's not a lot of names running around that have been going hard Like him for 10 years plus And I just don't think it's going to be that common. It's not like the nba. You can't blame somner Yeah, blaine's been around a long time It's just it's just uncommon, but I mean like the genetic freaks or whatever like even a dan green like he He's been training for 10 years. Sure, but like he hasn't been like mr. Competitive for 10 years Um, I don't know. I don't know but personally sadly. I don't really care that much anymore Like if you crush big numbers, that's cool Shout out to johnny and brice and those guys that go so hard I do respect it beyond belief because I did it for a long time And I still do I was about to try to crush some numbers, but it's hard. It's hard mentally It's not always fun And and that's kind of where the round table ended is like we need kind of money We need some organization in which we've all talked about for millions of years How many federations there are how there's no upside to really taking it as a full-time athlete And so why why would you unless you're a little psycho, which is probably true I wanted to go back to equipment real quick because there's something I know nothing about brandon And I've seen you talking post about Is nerling You guys are talking about nerling like it's fucking Picasso's Paintings you got the squiggle versus the straight line. You got different terms for all this First off what nerd came up with a fucking nerling name I want to know who does that and is it is it like tied into some machinery past stuff I know you know about nerling, buddy. Teach me Yeah, I mean that that's the basic of it. I mean you listen to mark ripetow What does he say is like the barbell is your connection to the weights And in that case the nerling is your connection to the barbell I mean you see people using chalk and Especially when you get into powerlifting like when you're talking about You know have a heavy squat on your back. You don't want that fallen talk about deadlifts Whereas it missed the most in the grip portion of it So anything you can do to help make sure that that barbell stays in your hand That's what it's really important and one of the things you'll find is A lot of times on gym bars or the cheaper bars that nerling the grip isn't very aggressive I mean and it's hard to hold on to those bars Whether your hands are sweaty or whatever the case may be and the mark usually have a good bar Especially a powerlifting bar and a power bar is an aggressive or grippy neural because then you can get into the weeds of Do you want something that's shaped like a volcano and very pointy and digs into your hands? I'm sorry mountain or do you want a volcano where it's raised up? But then has a big crater in it. So there's more surface area and then it's just more grippy So there's different preferences out there But usually a sign of a better barbell is a better neural on it and a more consistent one I have a lot of cheap bars that are decent But going from left to right on the shaft, which sounds really dirty You'll find it's an early and consistent some's deeper and harder and other ones are not so much a little bit softer And who wants that on a bar you're spending potentially a couple hundred dollars on I mean you talk to people who are Investing in a barbell and you tell them that a decent bar starts around 300 bucks They tell you that they could get a barbell and weights at walmart for 150. So it really just depends Right, I know I've used bars that basically felt like cheese graders Yeah, they just tear you up and they would they tore up equipment too competition A lego weightlifting bar. That's one of the gnarliest things I've ever messed with and then what was the big swap bar? Uh, which one the mast not mastodon not on the other one Bulldog iron wolf An iron wolf bar. I feel like a tortured stripper pole Just just on your back. I I think I bled everything ripped my shirts up and yeah, that was the I've ever messed with it tore j cups and you know on monoliths and yeah, you see like divots From moving the thing back and forth That was painful. Yeah, it's like a file And it comes down to personal preference and what you want to because that open also opens up a whole another door about Finishes on bars, right? So a lot of people are into sera coat which are Fancy colors and coatings kind of like you'd find on a lot of guns these days Or something else a lot of people are into shooting and whatnot. You have stainless steel. You have zinc you have chrome You have black phosphate Depending on what kind of finish you get on the bar is going to affect the cost But also the feel of the neural because you're getting something that's basically an application layer over that knurling If you have really aggressive neural to start on a bare steel bar You could potentially dull it So there's that question to bring in and then if you want like a really good feel on a bare steel bar You have to think about is it going to oxidize and rust in the environment? You're training in is it worth it having to go down and scrub it with an oil and brush every week or so to make Sure that it's not rusting on you. So there's a lot you can get pretty nerdy with a lot of this stuff. What's Campbell fitness Favorite neural and coating Yeah, so Coating I actually don't like I would prefer a bare steel or stainless steel bar The biggest trade-off there is stainless steel is a lot more expensive So where bare steel is probably the cheapest bar you can buy the stainless is probably the most expensive It also has a little bit of limitation on tensile strength So basically how much force that bar can take before it's permanently deformed So if you're doing rack pulls then A low tensile strength bar probably isn't good for you Um, so I tend to avoid coatings and finishes outside of like I said, just the bare steel or stainless steel Stainless steel when possible obviously even though it's more expensive because the maintenance and upkeep on those is very very low In terms of neural it depends on the application of what I'm using it for but if I had to just pick one Not to sound like a rogue fanboy I think that they have a very good neural on their Ohio power bar because it's a volcano like so it's not going to necessarily Cut you up whereas something like a texas power bar might Um, a kabuki strength power bar might as theirs or more Mountainous so it really just depends on your own personal preference. I I'd like to think I have somewhat thick skin I haven't really had bars tear me up too much But I know a lot of people that even think like uh an Ohio power bar is extremely aggressive So it just depends ed cone had a spot on his trap that wouldn't heal Because of squatting with bars and I don't know how aggressive those bars were Like the iron wolf bar and I know he was never using one of those because they were not legal in the where he he Was competing but though those were made Pretty much specifically for for multi-ply geared power lifters because it wasn't actually sitting on your skin for the most part Right. He was sitting on This thick polyester straps Zero whip similar to mastodon zero whip But that's something I guess we haven't talked about and probably relates to tensile strength a little bit But whip in a bar Obviously much more common than weightlifting But yeah mastodon or like a texas squat bar, which was really popular five years ago And probably sits somewhere in the middle of popularity now that'll still whip that thing's thick Pretty good neural, but that thing will still whip on you. I'll put four plates on it You can kind of feel it we're a mastodon or the iron wolf like It's 600 something reverse band the thing's not whipping. Yeah, it's a very different feel about it And again, this is all kind of nerdy talk because if you're just learning how to squat or you're you know Squatting 315 and you just kind of want to build your quads. None of this really matters But if you've been squatting for three five ten years, you'll start to notice every single bar and how it kind of feels Yeah, the funny thing is is I've actually seen a huge uptick in squat bars For home use which is funny because when I think a squat bar, I think you know, like Multiply people listening gear It's huge guys who take these really huge grips out wide But the thing is now because of rogue's been so popular with people One of the things that people don't realize is their racks are about 49 inches wide Which is on average about two inches wider than a lot of the other competition So an inch on either side So when people are loading up plates, they tend to bump the uprights when they're walking out So a squat bar which is longer in that instance A lot of people look to get one of those for rogue racks Just because they find that they're not bumping the uprights as much when they're walking the bar That makes sense and different federations the uspa got pretty popular in the mid 210s, you know, and so the the big boys I think 198 and above used a squat bar and then the ladies in 198 below used a power bar I don't remember. Maybe they've changed that by now a multi-purpose bar. Yeah, but that's how it used to be And so that makes sense, you know, if you're trying to be as specific as you can But bumping your plates is one of the most annoying freaking things to ever happen on a walk out Yeah, it really is. It's not good. It's not good at all Makes you nervous Working toward a conclusion here sort of two two final questions And you can answer them in any order What do you currently have in your setup and then when you move to the house you're building? Are you moving this setup or are you going to be doing something else? Yeah, so right now I have a rogue rm3 which is a 30 inch deep rack It's a four post rack. So not a six post with plate storage on it On that I have some half rack feet on the front Which I've been recommending to a lot of people because one of the things I find at home If someone's renting living with their parents, no judgment Or for whatever reason they don't want to bolt a rack to the floor, which oftentimes is recommended Those half rack feet basically stabilize the rack a lot better So I have that I just have a deadlift platform And I have a ghd that I got for sale from one of my buddies who was consolidating his commercial gym So initially the plan was to have this just for this space because I'm in a small garage I'm moving to basically a full basement that will be mine have taller ceilings and in reality I've actually really liked this rack that I have now And I think one of the great things about a lot of the racks that are out there and a lot of the providers is There's some expandability options. So you don't necessarily have to always be buying new racks I could just buy two new uprights and a couple of cross members and make this a six post rack pretty easily Which I think is going to be my eventual plan. So add some plate storage Maybe look at dropping in a belt squat in the rear and integrating that into the rogue slinger Which is basically like a cable type attachment that you can use bands or weights on things like that I'll probably get some form of cardio equipment Maybe like an aerodyne bike or something like that Just so I'm not completely out of breath walking up and down the stairs to the basement Um and maybe get an actual dumbbell set which up until recently I've been using an adjustable one from iron master that has gone anywhere from five to 120 pounds I just have a problem of spending much too much money on things. I probably don't need so In the end it'll be all right because it'll make good content make good videos and good reviews But uh, I definitely Spend too much money on this stuff, but it's something that's obviously interesting to me I got one more question What is like the worst purchase you've made or something you'll never buy again reverse hyper far and away I feel like gym owners would say that too So the thing with me the reverse hyper I actually ended up buying a Titan one We've talked about Titan a little bit It's about probably half the price of what you'd get from like a west side model through rogue or some of the other companies Now I guess louis patents are being able to be worked around some Um, but that thing was literally almost the size of my six post rack in terms of footprint on the floor And I find for me personally the reverse hyper There's a 50 50 chance of if you'll find it beneficial for your back Some people swear by it and other people say they don't get anything from it and it turns into a glorified Table where you put your pre-workout and cell phone while you train And for me it was the latter and I ended up getting rid of that out of after a couple of months And I usually just don't recommend people get it unless they know for sure that they like it and they'll use it Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Uh for my experience is coaching and as an athlete I might even switch that table a little bit and go 60 40 60 just it just doesn't feel good It's never like felt good on my back. Maybe like one time Whatever louis method of my back being jammed. Did I feel some relief? But every other time I've used and I've used it thousands of times I've used it thousands of times Um with myself and other athletes and it just doesn't feel comfortable. It doesn't feel good It doesn't feel I'd rather do some lunges or progarians if I'm really trying to hit some glutes or hammies or some random I was just saying from my experience like before I started powerlifting and I started doing this When I was over 40, which I don't recommend Uh as a starting Time in your life start earlier. Yeah, you should start earlier. Yeah, but I mean you can do whatever you want and just be careful but um, I mean I was I was diagnosed with a couple of Of disc bulges in my lower back before I ever started and uh Then I immediately was going to a to a powerlifting gym that I was having to drive You know more than an hour one way to get to But they had a reverse hyper and I used it and my back I have not had trouble with my back again since then Uh, I don't have access to one right now. I think having access to one is a good thing There are other ways to to hit the same stuff. There's just easy Um, but there's there are mechanical problems with them. They are not all that comfortable to use And a lot of people don't understand how they're actually supposed to work And so they load them up with too much weight And they're using momentum to get through the exercise From that perspective, it's not not that useful And footprint like you said is footprint is stupid for one function. Yeah Footprint is really stupid. It's it's it's far bigger than it really needs to be but um I mean some people swear by it and the people who really like them should should use them If I had access to one I would use it But what I I wouldn't all I don't have any place to put a home gym to be honest with you We're kind of the biggest open space in my house currently Uh, and it's really couldn't put anything up here, but uh, uh, no garage or anything like that. Um I don't know that I would buy one if I was You know theoretically putting a facility together. I think I would I would tell people how to get Basically the same thing. It's the sprinkles on the cupcake if you got good frosting and you got a good cake You don't need any sprinkles, but if you randomly have some sprinkles sitting around, maybe you throw some on top Yeah, maybe it's in that 5% to to 1% or whatever that makes a difference for the 5% to 1% people but uh Well, thank you very much for being on with us. Uh, where can people find you and your stuff? Uh, you can find me on instagram at baseman brandon. Although i'm in the garage right now We'll be making my triumphant return in a month Sweet and then on youtube you can find me under a whole lot of stuff brandon camble camble fitness base barbell Probably even baseman brandon So if you want baseman brandon, uh, look buddy, I it just can be a little creepy It's oh and and a little bargainy too like a bargain basement. You ever heard that? I just miss camble fitness I like the diamond. It sounds it sounds like a male stripper. You know, that's hard like it like a diamond Really hard bright like a diamond. Anyway I like the creepy factor the basement brings My wife is not a fan which probably also contributes to the fact that I like it even more Yeah, it's good that you smile a lot. It's good that you're nice It's good that you have a kid and wife that makes it all different like if it's me I have a mullet. It's kind of greasy And I'm just a mullet basement mic. Yeah, it probably doesn't It probably doesn't work as well on the internet, you know, I mean, maybe it does Maybe that's the flare I'm missing to really kind of scare people but yours kind of fits Not the creepy factor the part I explained the part the fuck apart. I explained. All right. All right Sign off find me find me sound like wherever I don't really care Give us a rating review helps a lot share this with your friends New episode every single Wednesday. I appreciate you all out there you people I am at the jim mcd on all the social medias the show is 50% facts where percent is a word But 50 is not you can find the website 50% facts dot com Using that same pattern and we'll talk to you next week Thanks again, Brandon