The athlete at the heart of Calgary Barbell discusses practical training habits and how bands like Kublai Khan, Harm’s Way, and Black Dahlia Murder top his gym soundtrack.
Shifting gears for this week’s Downbeat podcast, Craig Reynolds welcomed World-Record setting powerlifter and renowned lifting coach Bryce Krawczyk.
To provide some context to the kind of accomplished athlete Krawczyk is, his current record holding statistic has him completing an equipped deadlift at 388 kilos, which translates to just shy of 856 llbs.
It’s the kind of competitive expertise that positions the champion lifter as a respected Youtube personality the heath and fitness category. In fact, his Calgary Barbell channel continues to gain in popularity online, boasting some 81,000 followers that consume the various collection of educational content with regards to lifting and wellness.
Krawczyk would go on to explain just how his online presence got to be such a driver for his brand. Connecting with training partner turned business partner Dillon Jakovac, the duo find an interesting dynamic in that Krawczyk could lift and Jakovac was a particularly talented videographer. Starting with some organic video content documenting Krawczyk’s training regime, the videos began to resonate well with a receptive audience. Calgary Barbell has continued to evolve ever since with weekly staples like “Form check Fridays” becoming an important element to the channel’s going success.
The catalyst for the conversation between Reynolds and Krawczyk was the notion of motivation and how the lockdown has effectively made routine an uphill battle. Even with gyms opening back up in certain parts of the world, the motivation to get back into the swing of things is a battle that seems to be very real for not just laymen, but apparently for professionals just the same.
Krawczyk shared with Reynolds that during lockdown there was a stretch of a month where his missed more training sessions that he had in the last 8 years. Without digging too much into the reason why people have strayed, Krawcyzk provided practical solutions to ease back into some semblance of structure to begin seeing results.
A reoccurring talking point throughout the conversation was Krawczyk reiterating the idea of setting realistic expectations – both in diet and in workout goals.
While the discussion dug deeper into the specifics of training and how best practices are the ones that are most practical, the two would eventually steer the exchange in a different direction and talk tattoos. With both participants heavily tattooed, Krawczyk talked about how he worked as a body piercing apprentice and spent four years working in tattoo shops. It’s a passion that still resonates with Krawczyk.
Naturally, the conversation would finish out with a discussion about music. Training and spending hours in the gym necessitates a quality soundtrack and Krawczyk has a solid rotation of heavy artists that help set the pace for an extended session in the gym. Citing bands like Kublai Khan, Harm’s Way, The Black Dahlia Murder, END, After the Burial and Make Them Suffer among his favorites, it’s clear the Krawczyk is no casual listener.
Listen to the latest installment of The Downbeat with Craig Reynolds and special guest Bryce Krawczyk below.
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