The Gnarbell Code: Discipline, Culture, & Powerlifting with Levi Parker | Ep4

In case I just absolutely butcher a question, is there any way we could like cut stuff out in case it happens? No, you can just start over again. Okay. You can just say, you know what? What if I don't know something? Then you'll just say like, and there's no, I'm not asking you any questions that you're not going to know. And sometimes I'll start talking and then I'm like, where was I going with that? Where was I? Yeah, that's great. So sometimes you might just have to bring me back in. As a fellow ADD person, yes. Squirrels. It's very normal. I was just telling Rachel about that the other day. It's my condition. I hate my condition. I was, who was I talking to? They were at Thanksgiving yesterday. Oh, Leslie, Jesse's wife was like, yeah, I really want to, I want to move on to electric guitar now. And then we're all giving our time. Like, did you, do you actually play your acoustic guitar? She goes, no. And she's like, I mean, don't make fun of me. It's just with ADD, I'm only going to be able to focus on something for so long. I've got to have like three things. It's like a blessing and a curse. Right. Oh, yeah. That's tough. Audio sounds good. Yep. Yeah. I forgot to do that. Episode one. On silent. Somebody called you? My phone was going off and I'm like, who is that? It was me. Awesome. All right. Sweet. Thanks, dude. All right. Welcome to the Kill Growth Podcast. We've got Levi Parker on today with The Narbell. Go give him a follow on Instagram. That's where they post heavily. Go check out their YouTube channel. But yeah, welcome. Thanks for hanging out. Thanks for having me on. This is a really cool opportunity. Yeah. We already hung out this morning. Yes. We were at the gym. It's the best way to start the morning. Moving weights. Yes. With a full belly of Thanksgiving. Heavy box squats. And it's Black Friday. Yes. So I appreciate you doing this the day after Thanksgiving. Oh, man. Happy to be here. Yeah. I felt that this morning. My belly is still very full. I'm bloated. I'm so struggling. A lot of mouth breathing. It was. The whole crew was struggling. Yeah. Yeah, I bet. Belt was fitting different. Yeah. Went a notch. Went a notch larger. Yes. Yes. Good thing there's plenty of notches on there. Cool, dude. Well, let's start off with this. You were going to skip your life straight to work life. So from college on, give me a five minute where you were from college to where you are now. From the time I started at Butler. Yeah. So two years of college baseball at Butler. And then I went two years. Yeah. And then I got to go play at Emporia State for two years and learn under Bob Franelli, which a lot of people don't know this, but my dad coached at Butler back in the 90s. Right? Mm-hmm. And Coach Franelli was his assistant. Okay. So, like, you know, Coach Franelli knew me when I was a baby. Right. So, like, he's, like, you know, almost like a godfather in a sense. So, like, all I ever wanted to do growing up was, like, I wanted to go play for Butler. I wanted to be a Grizzly. And I wanted to go play at Emporia State for Bob Franelli. So I pretty much got to live out my dream by doing that. And it was really cool. And I learned so much from that guy. And then after that, I was planning on coaching. I was going to be a baseball coach because that's what my dad did. And that's, like, all I've ever, like, loved or cared about at that time was baseball. So basically, like, after senior year, when it came time to, like, make a big decision, my dad was basically like, he said, man, I don't know if you should do that. And I wasn't expecting that at all. And he was like, you're going to have to do so much for so little for such a long time. And he's like, there's so many other people doing it. He's like, it's so competitive. You know, you work your way up and have one bad season and you can get canned. Or he's like, you know, you can't really, like, have a, like, it's hard to have a family. You've got to be willing to travel or leave. And he's like, I don't think you're going to. He's like, you know, just explore a different option, you know. And I didn't really have any other skills, basically. So my oldest brother at the time, Bo, he was working non-union iron work up in Missouri. And I didn't know what else to do. I was like, I'm just going to dive into something. I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm, like, terrified of heights at this time. So I just signed up. So I'm going to be an iron worker and go real high. Yeah, because I think there's, like, power in, like, conquering your fears and, like, seeking the discomfort. And honestly, man, like, I had nightmares for a week. I was so scared. Like, I was so scared going to work. I've seen some of those photos of you up, like, real high. It's dangerous stuff, man. And I'm really glad that I did it. And then that led me to finding the union in Kansas City. And so that was, like, a four-year apprenticeship deal. So I moved my family or moved me and Rachel to Kansas City. And, you know, that's when we had Marlo. It took me four years to get through the apprenticeship. And then in my fifth year, so I was a first-year journeyman at this point. You know, I'd been lifting weights this whole time, you know. But, like, there was still that, like, part of me that really wanted to coach. And as I took the strength training more and more seriously and started building the basement gym and stuff like that, I just kind of, like, saw the opportunity for, like, man, I need to get back home and I need to spot the train. El Dorado doesn't have, like, a hardcore gym. Yeah. And it was, like, I could work out of Wichita. So that's kind of, like, that was my plan was, like. That was just a subtle shout-out to all those sissies at other gyms, right, in town. I love the YMCA because I trained there for a long time. It's really good for El Dorado. I just wanted something with, like, a little bit of a, like, culture environment. But it was really just, like, it was going to be a spot for me and Baylor to train. And one thing led to another, and people started sprinkling in, and now we have the Norvell. Yeah. What was the exact moment that you were, like, I'm going to quit my job, my safe job? You're in the union. That's good pay. What was the exact moment you were, like, I'm quitting and I'm going to start a 24-7 gym in a town of 12,000 people? Yeah. I had been, like, doing both for, like, a year, and I saw what I was able to do giving it, like, 50%, you know, because most of the time, like, with that job in Wichita, there were no, like, set hours. So a lot of the times we would go out on a job, and we wouldn't know when, like, we couldn't stop until we got the job done. Gotcha. We moved, like, heavy machines and stuff into, like, warehouses and all kind of odd jobs. We moved elephants and crazy rigging jobs. Is that, like, the name of a piece of equipment or a legit elephant? No, we moved an elephant. You moved an elephant. Yes. Yes, yes. We went and worked a day at the zoo. An elephant came in on a semi-truck. It was awake, and me and my partner got up on top of it. Well, thank God. Rig it up to a crane. I mean, you're strong. I don't know if you could lift an elephant. I'll try. I'll get him a sleeper bar under it. But, yeah, so that was – we did a bunch of cool stuff. Like, I don't want to, like, knock on the job at all, but there was, like, this thing that was just, like, burning in my chest at all times. I could never not think about the gym, and I just – I felt like I wouldn't accept working and doing the iron work. Like, I wouldn't – like, usually I have, like, a really good attitude, and I'm really optimistic, but I wouldn't accept it. I couldn't see all the positives in that. I only saw, like, the negatives, and I would just – I just knew if I went all in on that, like, I just – I believed that I could make it work. And there was one morning I was driving in, and, like – and I feel like in those kind of jobs sometimes, like, I don't think they, like, actually care about you. Sure. You know, like, people say, like, you're just a number. So I felt like they didn't actually care about me, and I was just driving in one morning, and I just – like, I couldn't take it anymore. I literally could not take it, and I just turned around right before I hit the turnpike, and I came home, woke my wife up, and I was like, I don't know what – like, I can't – I'm falling apart here, you know? Yeah. And she's an angel, of course, and she told me. She was like, hey, we'll figure it out, and somehow we did, and I started going all in on Narbell and ever since then – That was the moment you just literally were going to work one day, and you were like – Yeah. I'm not going to do this anymore. I was like – You're going to go all in on – Man, I was – when I start, like, calling in all the time, I was, like, running out of excuses. Sure. And it just – mentally, it was affecting me. It just, like, dude, I wasn't – I wasn't happy. I was like, this isn't what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to do this right here. Because I'm a believer in, like, following your heart. You know, it sounds, like, cliche sometimes, but, like, your heart is going to tell you exactly what to do, like, if you're in tune with yourself, and I knew that I was heading in the right direction. It just – I knew it was going to take time to, like, really prove it and show that I am the person that I say I am, you know? What – as you switched to that model of, like, going full-time into it, like, what was the hardest transition of – because you essentially went full self-employment. Yeah. What was the hardest transition? You had a boss. You had someone telling you what to do. Now, you're starting this. It's probably not doing enough yet. You probably don't have enough members. You don't have enough clientele. Yeah, I was running myself ragged, really, because when you have, like, a – you know, a nine-to-five or something, you go in, you clock in, your mind is fixated on the work, and when you get off work, you detach from it, and so now there was no detachment. It was, like, every day, 24-7, and, like, being a union ironworker, they're all about efficiency, and it's, like, how can we move this job ahead? Like, even if it's raining outside, we can't work outside. There's something we could be doing inside to push the job ahead, so, like, that's kind of how my mind works. So, like, every day, whether I had clients going or not, like, whether I had kids to train, it was constantly, like, what can I do to constantly push this thing forward, and then I felt like I was burning myself out, really, and I wasn't getting enough rest, and I basically just had to, like, take a few steps back and be like, I can only control so much. Like, I can only do this so fast. Like, it's really – it's going to take a long time. In order for me to be at my best, I have to, like, be selfish with some of my time and, like, sleep and rest. Yeah. Or else, you know, people will constantly just try and pull you in different directions, so I had to put up some boundaries and stuff, and once I started doing that and, like, actually, like, taking days off, you know, they're not feeling – they just feel really bad about it. Like, I'm not, like, I'm lazy or something, but it's, like, no, I got to make time for myself. Well, probably especially when you're in startup mode, you're, like, you're also thinking about the money side of it. Like, I got to hustle. Oh, we're struggling hard, too. And get enough people in there and, yeah. And then, like, you want to go fast, but you don't want to just, like, open it up to anybody either. Yeah. So, like, I'm really proud of myself for being really patient in that moment when we desperately needed more business and we needed money to pay our bills and get groceries and all that stuff, but I still was, like, very selective on who I let in. So talk about that, the culture, and then I'll talk about my perspective of being outside of that culture and then coming into it, but how would you describe, like, Narbel, the difference of Narbel to another gym? I think it looks a lot more, like, intimidating from the outside, or if, like, people follow us on Instagram or, like, see training videos and stuff, they see, like, the weights are heavy, like, the music's loud, it, like, might be, like, kind of intense, you know? Yeah. But then, like, once you get in there and meet everybody, like, I say it all the time, those guys are really nice. Yeah. Like, all the people in that culture is everything because that's what's going to drive the behavior of everybody that walks in there, and it's important because we got a bunch of young high school kids and, like, majority of the people are parents that have kids, and it's, like, they're all watching you and they're just going to do whatever they see. So if the standard is, like, come in 10 minutes late, we may or may not do this warm-up, we'll give it, you know, 50% on this main movement, we might do some accessories, and that's what they're going to do and they're going to underachieve because of it. But if they come in and, like, the intensity's high and, like, everybody's, like, enthusiastic, like, nobody complains at that gym, even when it's cold or hot as hell, like, just a bunch of really, like, good attitudes, optimistic, and that's what I see, and maybe I'm biased because it's my gym, but I really think that's how it is. So describe, like, the culture you're trying to create that draws the right people. Like, in a nutshell, you're saying, Narbell is this. Yes. And, like, if you're going to be a part of it, it's this. Because you have expectations. It's not just, like, hey, I'm in business, like, please be a member. It's, like, here's my guy. I want them to earn it, man. I want them to earn their way into Narbell and earn the respect. You don't just, like, get a key and automatically get respect from everybody. Like, you have to come in and, like, you can't take from the gym before you contribute to the gym. So I would just encourage everybody to, like, come in and treat it like it's, like, a team and, like, this is a family and you have to contribute to this team and contribute to this family before you can benefit from the team. And so I want people to work hard. And I don't care how strong anybody is either. I don't care how athletic anybody is. I think the number one thing that gets you respect in there is, like, your attitude and your consistency and, like, how you treat other people. I think that's the best way. Like, it doesn't have to be super, like, competitive to the point to where, you know, people hate each other. I don't ever want it to turn into that. But I want people to get the most out of themselves. And I think we all have more in the tank. And when you get in an environment like that or around other dudes that are smarter than you, stronger than you, that's how you can get the most out of yourself and accomplish things that you never thought you'd be able to accomplish. Is that, if you were to say there's a message or something you want Narbell to be known for beyond we're good at lifting weights, like, what's the reputation you're hoping Narbell gains, like, from the outside? I think discipline and, like, resiliency and consistency and, like, being the same people every day. Yeah. Like, not getting too high, not getting too low, just smooth sailing, like, consistency. Like, they just, that's all. I think you can get so far in life if you just, like, because how you do one thing is how you do everything, you know? Yeah. And if you grow up the same way every day, man, you can move mountains. So I'd like Narbell to be known as, like, the gym that's just rock solid. You know what I mean? Yep. Yep. Full of rock solid people. Yeah. I think so, too. Yeah. Yeah. I love, like, any given moment somebody could walk in there and I'm, like, going to be stoked to see them. Like, I love everybody that's in that gym from the kids to the parents. There's not one person that I don't look forward to seeing. Yeah. And that's cool because it wasn't always like that. Like, you're building a, it's like a club. We've talked about that. Yes. The vibe's more like it's a club gym. Mm-hmm. So it's not a retail gym where you're just trying to sell memberships. No. You want the right people in there so everybody benefits. Yeah. Which made no sense to me when I first met you and we would talk, and we would talk business. I'm always like, what is he doing? I know. Like, there's way, we could get a lot of people in there, man. I know. Like, now I understand it. Like, we could talk about it this way. And you're like, no, no, I don't. That was hard. I don't want just anyone, like. It's hard to not take advice from people that know way more about business. Right. But it's a different, like. Yeah. And so from my outside perspective, the, when I saw Narbell on Instagram, I'm like, oh my God, I do not belong there. Like, I just, I see all these guys that are, have impressive strength, very muscly, the music's loud. I'm a very, I'm crying in every movie type of personality, right? Me too. Me too. I'm an emotional guy. Yeah. I'm like, if everyone's going to scream at me, I'm like, I don't. And funny enough, my sitting with some friends and a friend, Phillip's working out there. And I made some joke about it with another friend and I'm like, oh God, Narbell, man, I could not, I could not fit into that place. And I didn't know he'd already been going there for like three months. He didn't tell me. That's funny. And the other friend knows he's there and he's like laughing. I'm like, why are you laughing? He's like, Phillip's been going to Narbell for months now. Yeah. And then Phillip's like, uh, I'm just going to, I'm just going to show you this text. I'm not going to say anything about it. I'm just going to show you this text. And he showed me a text thread with you and you were just essentially, I mean, you were coaching him at the beginning, right? He's one of my first clients, man. He's one of your first clients, regular. And it was from like an encouraging text, like you're going to get out of bed tomorrow. You're going to be great. Yeah. You're going to push yourself. And I read through that text. I'm like, okay, this guy actually cares about people. I'm like, that's a different vibe than what I was assuming through, uh, the social network. And that, the stuff you see, like the 4 a.m. crew stuff, like those are competitive lifters, you know, like I don't let people train in there at that time, unless they plan on competing in the sport, like actively competing in the sport of powerlifting and they don't have to compete. Just you'll train at a different time because like the dues at that time, like we're, yeah, we're chasing like something, like we're chasing spots on the board or bringing home records to the gym and stuff like that. But outside of that, man, I want people to, to go as hard as they want to go. Get stronger and get healthier. And Phillip's my brother-in-law, you know, so I was like, kind of like, man, I'm gonna treat him the same way I treat my other older brothers, you know, and they're there and they're working out. It's just like, I feel, I felt like Phillip needed that extra push. I felt like he secretly wanted to lift weights, just kind of like intimidated or didn't know where to start. And I get it. It is, it's hard. You know, you don't know what you don't know. Well, and same for me. I never lifted. Like I didn't, you know, that just wasn't, no, no, no. Just hooped? Just played ball. Just ran, ran and played ball. That was it. Didn't even do, no, no. I mean like, I would just go run so I could breathe on the basketball court. That was it. I would just start running and stop. You did so much better at basketball. Oh, I know, right? Oh yeah. I didn't do, didn't do anything. Were you this tall in high school too? Not till my senior year. I grew like a lot my junior year. Junior year was really awkward for me. I didn't stop growing until I was in college. Dang. So my, I was just a real late bloomer. Yeah. I was the littlest guy. I mean, I was point guard, shortest guy on the team. Then all of a sudden I was second. I was the little bloomer too, but I never grew. You're like, that never, you're still holding out. It's gonna come. I just went from really short to just kind of short. Wish you got up into the sixes. Right. Yeah. Lucky. But when I first came, I finally showed up because Phil needed a buddy, you know, and that's a big part about working out too, I've learned. And in that club mentality, everybody there has someone they work out with. Yes. Their battle buddy. Yes, their battle buddy. I love that. And so finally show up and it was a lot, but it was a lot because I'd never been around it. But I think that says a lot that I went from never lifting to I show up and I'm like, okay, there's, there's technique involved. Um, you were awesome at the coaching side and celebrating me lifting my first plate. You know what I mean? Like it was like every, every little milestone was celebrated. Um, so yeah, then I convert over and start bringing people in and it was kind of the same story. Like other people that I brought into Narvel, they had the same opinion of it from the outside. Oh no, that's not for me. Like I'm not going to be a power lifter. I'm not going to compete. Um, but yeah, the, the culture is be the best you can be. Yes. And get stronger. 135 pounds squatter or an 800 pounds. Yeah. Like if that's a big way for you, then that's a big way. Right. You know, it doesn't, it doesn't matter. Which is what's fun about like, uh, when I used to run five K's a lot, that's what I enjoyed about running a five K. It wasn't about winning. It was about, okay, I did that one at 21 minutes. Now I'm going to get under 21 minutes. Right. Let's try and get a little bit. Yeah. You get five seconds under and you're through the course of five to 10 years, man. You can be in a completely different spot because of it. And I've been going to, well, let's see a year and a half now on and off took, took like most of the summer off due to my back. Yeah. And my January thing, which that's, we'll talk about that later. Um, that I've learned a lot just about how your body heals is fascinating when you, and why you get hurt in the first place, which was very self-induced by myself. What was it? You think just not being strong? I think it was, uh, I, I think I got great. I got a little excited. Yeah. I got really excited about like lifting big weights and it was starting to click. And I was so wound up tight and not recovered. Sure. And I knew like, if I would've listened to my body, I knew that my back was like, you shouldn't be doing this much today. Like I knew I could barely bend over and then I'm like, okay, now I'm going to, now I'm going to get a PR, you know, it was vanity. It was, I think it was an ego thing. 100%. Really? Oh yeah. Like it wasn't any part of the training. It was just, I went too hard on my own. No one told me what to lift. I just kept doing more. Doing more. Crew training can be dangerous in that sense. Especially when you get like some dudes together or like people want to, they get competitive. And so I always tell people like, don't make this super competitive, like select weights that are going to be good for you. Competitive to yourself. Yes. And like, if you have to question whether or not you should go up and wait, then you shouldn't go up and wait. Yeah. You know, like go up until your form starts to get dicey and then call it. Yeah. And you're still going to get a lot out of that. Oh yeah. Most of the strength comes from like your accessory work anyway. So like the main movement is, it's important, but it's not everything. Yeah. So, so talk about, you're not just building a club and a gym. You're also personally trying to be a competitor. Yeah. Like nationally, worldwide, like you have some goals. So let's talk about that. What, like you came into this with both those in mind, which is fascinating to me. It wasn't just, I'm going to build a gym and I love coaching people. You also love lifting weight. I love competing. Yeah. I'm going to compete in something. And I feel like in order to become the best coach that I can become, like I got to get as good as I can at this stuff. Because you're going to learn so much about lifting and training and programming in that process. And when I was still living in Kansas City, like I was only – I was writing a program for one iron worker at the time. I was just like handwriting programs. I did my first raw power lifting meet back in 2021. And he's competing now, right? TJ, yeah. TJ. Yeah. Yeah. He's awesome. He's competed two different times. He's done both the Narbell meets. Yeah. Yeah. So that's cool. And so this guy, this coach I was watching on Instagram, he was like, he's like, if you can't get yourself stronger, then you have no business coaching other people or making money doing it. And I just like – because at that time I wasn't like – I was kind of plateaued as a lifter. I wasn't really getting stronger. I kind of knew what I was doing, but I didn't actually know what I was doing. And, man, when I heard him say that, it just like absolutely lit a fire because I knew I wanted to program people, but I was like I can't make – I can't take people's money. I can't get myself stronger. So that's when I started opening up all the Westside books. Every morning I would wake up at 4 a.m. This was before I was training at that time. But I had Marlo, so like my house is a riot whenever she's awake. So I would wake up at 4, and I would study at my table for an hour, and then I would travel to work, and I would be listening to podcasts on the way to work. And then on the way home from work, I'd be listening to podcasts, and then I'd be training in my basement. And over that next eight months to a year, all the stuff I had learned, and then training at a powerlifting gym there in Kansas City at times when I could, I learned a bunch. So I had a really good understanding of training and powerlifting when I moved back. But goal-wise, I'm trying to become a professional at this, right? So at my body weight, I would need to – like your total, all three lifts added up. A total is your squat, deadlift, and bench combined. Yep, squat, bench, deadlift in that order. That's the order in the event. Yep, in the competition. Squat, deadlift. Bench is last? Bench is second. Second. Yep, squat, bench, deadlift. And so I would need to total like in the 1800s, right, at 181 pounds body weight. And so like in powerlifting, they go off of the coefficient, which is like your total to body weight ratio. Because like if I'm competing against dudes that are 350, I'm going to have a tough time out totaling them. You know what I mean? They're just – they're huge. And so they go off of coefficient, and so that's the way like if your coefficient is high enough, then that's when you start getting invited to like pro-level meets and stuff like that. Yep. And you just hit a big milestone. Yeah, at that last meet. Yeah. Yeah, I totaled 10 times body weight, and I was like 50 pounds shy of a pro total. So like if you look at the progression from the first meet. Your total was only 50 pounds shy? Yeah, I totaled like – it was like 1763 or something. So take us through your – because that just happened like a month ago. So take us through your PRs on each lift. Yeah, so squat, the third attempt I hit, and I went nine for nine too. I didn't get a single red light, which is like that's hard to do. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it again. So it was pretty cool, but the squat I hit, a 771 squat, which is over four times. 771 pounds. Over four times my body weight. It was cool. It moved really good too. Yeah, it's odd. You needed more. I know. I wish I could have taken a fourth out. I swung at 800, but I only get three tries. But still, you're not doing more than you need to. You just want to set up to PR your total because you're always planning ahead for the next meet too. Unless I was like a dude that this is going to be my last meet. Let's empty the tank. It's good to be able to hit PRs and then still leave a little bit in the tank for the next meet, and you just gradually keep building over time. That probably takes a lot out of you, recovery from a meet. Totally. Because you're not normally doing three PRs. Yeah. Essentially nine times. You did PRs nine times. Yeah, I wouldn't advise competing more than twice in the same year. I'd give like six, eight months in between competitions just so you stay healthy. Because even if you survive a meet and you don't feel beat down, there's still a lot of micro tears and stuff that are happening in your body. That's when a lot of guys get hurt when they're one week off of a meet, and they feel good because they're still peaked for the meet, and then they go in to try and lift something heavy, and they just blow a hamstring off the bone. Just, you know. It happens. The muscle comes off the bone. Not a lot of risk. There's like a 386 bench, and then on deadlift I pulled like 611 to give me the 10 times body weight. It was an awesome day. We traveled all the way to Ohio for that meet. I was competing against some really good guys. I was way out of my comfort zone, and then right after the meet we gave everybody hugs, grabbed our medals, and then we drove back to El Dorado. 12-hour drive. And then your meet you hosted was two weeks after. Two weeks after, yeah. So that was a hectic time for me. Talk about getting out of your comfort zone. I was just living in a state of I feel nauseous because of all this stress and pressure, and I think I get more nervous helping my own lifters compete than I do when I'm competing. Because when I'm competing I'm in control. I know I did the work. Other people are competing. I feel like I need them to do well. I want them to do well, or else I failed them if they did wrong. That's the kind of pressure that I put on myself, whether that be true or not. So I was relieved when our meet was over. I was relieved when the Narbell meet was over. And it went great. It went really good. Yeah, and you had a light crew there. You had a light go out. That was probably my favorite part of the whole thing. You had like three electricians there that were in your crew. Having a blue-collar gym is the best because everybody brings so much to the table. All the boxes that we have, it's because Amy welded them inside of her welding class. Oh, I didn't know that. That's awesome. Yeah, and then Mitch is always randomly wiring up LED lights in places. Everybody is super handy. I love them. Talk about in the powerlifting world, brutally honest, what is that doing to your body? The good, the bad, and how can it be more good than bad? I mean when you're doing it to an extreme level like we are, I mean there could be some negative things that come from this in the future. I think if you train really smart and you have really good positioning and mechanics and everything, I think you can do it safely to where you're not brutally beat down at the end of the road. But man, I tell these guys all the time, we're not going to get something for nothing. We have to be willing to pay the price. I know at any given time I could go out there and just blow a quad out. Sometimes I think about that where you think about tearing a bicep when you're deadlifting and stuff. But I know in order to get to where I want to go, it's through these weights right here. So I'm willing to risk it. But I mean people that aren't pushing it to the absolute limit, I still think everybody should get a taste of lifting heavy weights just for bone density and stuff like that and keeping your low back strong. And what was the second part of that question? Yeah, and you mentioned both sides. But what's also the good that comes from it you feel like on the long term? Because especially if you're not competing, right? You're doing traditional lifting, right? Like I'm not competing. I'm not going to compete. But I'm doing general strength via powerlifting training. Well, I've read that you start losing your bone density at 30 years old. Oh, really? If you're not doing something to maintain it, you're just going to slowly deteriorate. So I think it's so important to keep your bones strong, keep your ligaments and tendons strong. And I think as we age, we're going to be in pain no matter what. Sure, that's true. So you may as well be strong. I feel like I've been in pain since I was 19. We're all hurting, but I think if you stay strong, it limits that. Or you're going to feel a lot better about yourself. I always look at BD. That was my dad. He's, I think, 64 maybe. Yeah, you want to know that based on how many pull-ups he reps out every time I see him. I can't do that many pull-ups. Yeah, he's a beast. He's in his 60s. When the grandkids come around now, he's rolling around on the floor with them and wrestling with them and stuff. And it's like, man, I struggle getting off the floor sometimes. How's he doing that at 64? But that's just like a lifelong pursuit of staying strong and being active and lifting weights. And muscle mass too, right? There's a point. Obviously, hormone levels change, but muscle mass starts. You just start not being able to gain. You can maybe hold and have a little less depreciation. But Haley talks about that with my wife, who's a nurse. If you don't have muscle mass, you're going to fall down. You get to that point where your biggest risk when you're older is literally not having the strength to not fall. Yes, that's why we do a ton of bodybuilding. All the accessory work, the hypertrophy work, it's just all to build muscle. And I tell everybody that they should take creatine. I think everybody should be taking creatine, not only for your muscles, but for the benefits that it has on your brain. And, yeah, you got to have muscle. The weird thing about creatine, which I agree, and my recovery, when I stay consistent with it, is so much better. Totally. That's the thing I've noticed. But it does get you, I don't know what the – it's not like caffeine, but I've told people to take it. I know some older people that took it, and they just couldn't sleep anymore. Oh, really? You don't even have to sleep as much is another study I saw where creatine is putting all that water everywhere for recovery. And it's like you don't even – the sleep doesn't even – It's like helping me with depression before. Yeah. There will be some mornings where I'll wake up, or if I'm dehydrated or something, I'll chug a bunch of magnesium and some sodium and get the creatine in me. And, dude, it puts me in a completely different state of mind. I'm a big believer in it. Yeah, I agree, and I don't – I think everybody has different amounts they should take probably, like people that are just wired and can't sleep because of it or throws off their routine. It's probably like when you should take it in the day matters. Sure. I'm assuming too. I think it's good to just take it in the morning, yeah. Something else I didn't know that you taught me that was – and I take Element. I'd be able to retain, but you're like, hey, you're going to drink a lot of water. You're going to need a lot of water, but you're just going to start flushing your system. If you don't replace the electrolytes. Talk about that. And you make your own version of Element, right? Yeah. You make your own batch. Yeah, I get like the bulk supplements. So it doesn't have any flavor or anything, and you just – you throw like a little half teaspoon of magnesium, a little bit of potassium. I'll add some pink salt and then like some just like sugar-free grapefruit mix for a little bit of flavor. Yeah. As if you want. Sometimes I'll just drink it, and I call it cave water. Cave water. It just looks kind of like clear and murky. Yeah, yeah. Man, but it gets you everything you need because like if you're just drinking water, you're essentially just like flushing your system out. Yeah. So like people think that like, oh, man, I've chugged a gallon of water. I'm peeing clear. Like you're actually just like flushing your system out. So if you're not mixing in electrolytes to replace it. Because you need to retain it. Yeah. Then it's going to do more harm than good, I think. Yeah, that's interesting. So get an electrolyte replacement for sure. So back to the business side. So you're building this club. Like why here? Like why did you do it here? Why not go to a bigger market where there's more opportunity, more people to train, maybe easier access, right? A location that maybe would get you even more respect if you had a gym. Sure. I just wanted to get back. Man, Eldorado is my home. Yeah. I'm proud to be from Eldorado. I grew up here, and all my family's here. And it's like I just saw the opportunity that we have just with Eldorado High. And I feel like we could be more competitive. And it's like I don't ever want to be the guy that's complaining about something but isn't willing to do something to help. And I feel like I was kind of that guy for a while where I was complaining about we're bad at this, we're bad at that. And it's like I'm not doing anything to even help anybody. So it's like if I move back and maybe I can work with a handful of high school kids and maybe help them along the way, then maybe that's me serving my purpose or doing my part to kind of give back to the place that I grew up in. And I like it here, man. I've got Butler here, and it's home. Yeah. And it feels right. And there wasn't another gym like that around here. Yeah. And it was a pretty easy decision though. Is there anything like Narbell even in the Wichita market? Man, there's other like powerlifting gyms and stuff, like hardcore gyms. But I think with our style, like with like the monolifts and essentially like conjugate, which is where you see us doing like the crazy stuff with like bands and chains and stuff like that, that's all stuff that we got from the conjugate system and like all the specialty bars. And there's some other really sick gyms around here, don't get me wrong, but I don't think there's any other place like Narbell that's like a club gym, super private, stuff like that. Yeah. And so on that, on the private note, you don't have a sign, right? Like. No. Like I think the address is on the building. It's just 418, yeah. 418 out there, like no sign on front or back. Yeah. You're in town, 12,000 people, and you pull like there's people from Wichita come in. There's people that traveled in. Sure. I mean, Chris was driving in. Yeah, and Gomez travels. Gomez. Rose Hill. Yeah. Skinner drives in from Wellington. Yeah. To train at 4 a.m., and he's been doing that for three years. Yeah, so you have people that are, yeah, I mean, practically it doesn't make sense other than it's what they want. Yeah. But your model is there's no signs. It's club-based. You're very particular about who comes in, and I want to touch on that too just for your reputation. When you say you're particular about it, what I like is that you give them a separate program, and they have to finish that and show up before you're even like be a member. Test them. Yeah. Yeah, so you make them do some stuff on their own and see that they're actually going to show up and do it before they take a spot. Sure. Because there's only so many spots. I know. I'm in and out. You have space. Yeah. You have the equipment. Yes. So, yeah, knowing that, there is a pre-vetting process, which I think is I appreciate because you're not just meeting someone and saying no. Yeah. You're like come in and see what you're willing to do to earn your way in here. Yeah, and before I give you a spot, I'm just going to see if you do this, and a lot of times they'll fizzle out. Yeah. Right? And they don't show back up, and you're like great. And I feel like sometimes I think I do stuff. I'm like this is not a good business move. Sure. But I'm also kind of operating out of just instinct or whatever I think is best. That's kind of what I do type of deal. So sometimes people will give my number out to some stranger, and if I don't have mutual friends with this person, I don't know who they are. Sometimes I don't even respond to it. I don't think this is a smart thing, but I'm just like if they really want it, they'll message me again. Yeah, sure. And like a week will go around, and somebody will message me again, and I'll be like hey, what's up? Or like the fact that they don't know where it is or the fact there's no signs on there. Like for a while, Devin Gorman, he was in Andover. He like randomly saw our videos on Instagram. But he couldn't find it. He was like this isn't El Dorado. So he said later that night he was driving through El Dorado like looking into buildings and stuff trying to find it. And it was really funny because he's in law enforcement. And so he got my number from somebody, and I was asking him a bunch of questions. I was like I'm sorry, man. I don't mean to sound like a cop or anything. I'm just like very protective of this place. He's like that's funny. I'm a cop. And I'm like oh, great. And the fact that he was like going through all this work to find where the gym was, that was like a really good sign. And he was like can I meet you down there? Can I see this place? And like he seemed very eager. And like Devin has been with us for over a year now. And he moved to El Dorado, right? He moved back. Yes, he moved back to El Dorado to be closer to the gym, which like is the coolest thing ever. But like he came in. Like he trains with us at 4 a.m. now, right? And he's done one meet so far. But for a while he would just come in at 4 a.m. and just like watch. And he'd be sitting off to the side. Like if we needed somebody to jump in and like help spot, he would be there. Or he would be like running the monolith for us or like helping change plates. And then he would train after. And so that was like look at this guy. Like he's contributing to the team. He's a student of the game. And like he's been like that's the perfect way of going about it. But like if people can't even like do one like small assignment in the beginning, then it's like why do I? I don't want to invest in this person if they're not willing to do this. Or if they're already complaining about something and we haven't even like gotten to the hard stuff yet, then like this isn't. And there's places for that, right? Like there's places where if you're like I'm not going to be self-motivated. I'm not going to be – I'm not going to show up on time. Like there's places that exist and people have purpose I think to help people like that. And like that's just not what you've built Narbell to be. I think it's you have to be a – you have to want this and you have to participate. I'm for anyone, but I'm not for everyone, right? And that's like a quote that I hear Corey G say all the time. And it's like I'm for everyone, but not everybody is going to get down with me because of – not that I'm an asshole or anything. It's just like I care. No, I mean there's a lot of people that hate you. I'm kidding. I care so deeply about that stuff, man. I'm not willing to let somebody come in for whatever 50 bucks and risk damaging our culture or sending it backwards in any capacity. Like I just – I cannot have that. So knowing the model, which is a terrible business model, right? Like we've established that. Yeah. It's not smart. We're clear. It's working. Right, but there's a – right, exactly. Well, there's a purpose bigger than just the strength side. There's a purpose bigger than the competing side. There's a sense of belonging. There's a family aspect to it. And then it's like something people feel like is bigger than whatever else they have going on, right? Like you're kind of providing – yeah, you're providing in a sense a church, right? Yeah, some sanctuary. It is a sanctuary where people are like they're finding identity, community, and self-growth in that process, and they enjoy being there. And so that's a lot. Like that's hard to do. It's powerful. That's hard to do. But on the – like fast forward, like how does this continue to work? How does this continue to – if there's only this many spots and it works this way, what's going to happen in the next five to ten years? That is different for you and your family as far as like – because you're also self-employed, but you're also building something that's bigger than just money and a business. How do you – yeah, like how do you balance both those? Like that's tough. I was telling Rachel the other day. I was like if it never got any bigger than what it is right now, I wouldn't be mad about it because I think – like I'm like very present right now. I think the current times are just very hard to beat, and just with like the crew, right? If you look around in the mornings, like your crew with like you and Phillip and Brad and then like Lucas Dutton and then your sister and Kaylee and Jeremy and like then my crew at 4 a.m. and like how everybody interacts and gets along so well. It's like one big team in there, and it's like I don't even want to risk adding somebody else in there to – if you get the wrong person in here, now one of my day ones doesn't want to be around this person. Sure. So they bounce or like this turd got in here. Now, he's trying to bring his turd buddy. Yeah. And just like that, you can slowly – that chips away at the culture and the identity. Poison the culture. And so I have to do – like I'm big on like whatever you're doing to get – whatever you did to get to where you're at right now, like you have to keep doing that. And so like everything that you were doing at this time last year is what led to where you're at right now currently. So it's like everything that I was doing last year and the year before, and it all is like – it's rallied around training at 4 a.m., doing the difficult thing, being vulnerable, putting yourself out there, doing more for others and serving others than you do for yourself. And I feel like if you just make all your goals based around helping and contributing to other people's success, like a lot of really good things are going to happen for you individually. And so I don't know how much bigger it's going to get. I'm just like – I have the people I need right here, and I'm just going to keep leaning into them. And if it never – if we never get one more member, never get one more kid, I'm not going to be upset because I just love how it is right now, and I think it's golden. And I don't want to look past it and think, oh, I can't wait to do this, this, and this. We're going to keep growing, and you miss out on the best part, which is right in front of you right now. I love that, and that's the part. And I know we know each other well enough. I can make fun and say it's a terrible business model, but it's – like you said, it's working. Just following my heart, man. Right. Just following my instincts. As a business person, I've been inspired by it all too, right? Thank you. What more in my life should I do that's not going to just make me more money or bring me notoriety or – you know what I mean? Yeah. It's hard to do those invisible acts because like Narbelle, which is interesting to me. Narbelle is kind of invisible in a sense. Yeah. No signs. I know. You're probably not going to text back if you don't have a connection. You're going to make them text a couple times. But it makes wearing that shirt mean so much more because you had to earn it, and not everybody can just get one of those. So I grew up right in the nonprofit sector. My whole upbringing was ministry-related stuff, and so seeing that – like I watched my dad do that. I watched my dad go all in on something. The financials didn't have to make sense, right? Yeah. He knew what he was doing. He knew what his purpose was. He was all in, and the money did happen eventually. The money side did just kind of happen, and those are, to me, like the most powerful stories. Yes. So that's kind of like my question for you, and that is like it's happening enough today, and you just believe it's going to keep happening. It is. It's happening. On that balance, right? Yeah. Yeah. I started thinking around like how can I get people stronger? How can I keep them excited to train? How can I keep them coming back in and like motivated? And literally like I started getting some of those high school kids stronger and the power lifters and the dads. And like through that process, it is just like – like I don't even advertise this stuff. I just post training videos, and I share training videos on the Narbell account just because I want to show people off. I'm never like pumping myself as a coach or anything. Like they did the work, man. I just like put them in the environment to train. But I think if you keep doing that and, again, making my goals based around helping other people be successful, it's all going to take care of itself, and it really is. And I don't want to like take on so many people that I can't give everybody the attention that they deserve. Sure, sure. And especially with like the kids, like it's not fair to those parents if I'm like – if I got 10 kids in here rolling at once, but I'm only like able to help two of them at a time. So like I want them to be in there, and I want to be able to give them the attention that they deserve and like really lean into them and make an impact on them. How – like based on your involvement so far, you want to help the athletic side of our school district, which is huge. Yeah, what would you – like what do they need to do different? Like they work out at the school as well or have opportunities there. Yeah. But do you genuinely believe like these high school athletes that all fit the culture should be at Narbell? Like do you believe that's enough of an increase of like what their potential is going to be? Like is it going to increase their potential enough to where all high school athletes there should be going through some program like what you're doing? Let's see if I can understand that a little bit better. Right. I mean traditionally – Like do you want me – like you think all the kids from the high school should be training with me? Right, right. That's – I'm basically just throwing that out there. Like no, this isn't bashing Eldreda High School or anything. Sure. I mean like do you genuinely believe like the program you have going is the best thing for high school athletes in town? I think as an athlete and like as a lifter and stuff, like if you train with enough intent, you can make a lot of programs work. Gotcha. And I think – I don't think that anything is wrong with like the strength program at the high school or anything like that. A lot of it is like attitude and belief type of deal and then like it takes a certain individual and leader to like get kids inspired and like excited to lift weights, which is really important. But man, I think with Eldreda, it's going to just – it's going to take a lot of like really good parents. It's going to take a lot of really good kids and a lot of good coaches, and I believe like we do have a lot of people that care. I just want to like contribute to their success in any way that I can. I don't think that like my program is this fancy thing or anything or that like you have to train here to get better. It's just like a matter of like being consistent and training with intent. I don't know if – and like they could have an awesome strength coach at Eldreda High, but if you have kids that aren't training hard, they're not going to get any results. It's really – it comes down to them. Coach and student over-programming. Like ultimately, it's more about the coach and the student getting the most out of the student. Yeah, and it would be hard at the high school because if you get like 30 kids in a room and trying to teach them how to lift weights and only half of them are paying attention, it's like – it's tough. That's a tough job and I get overwhelmed when I have like ten of them in there at a time. So I got nothing but love and respect for – Which blows my mind, by the way, that all these high school kids show up at 6 a.m. before school. 5.30. 5.30. I had to push them back because they were creeping in on my training time. Why are you guys getting in here at 4.45? Right. I'm still going. We got to get ready for school after. We're going to prom. Yeah. Just normal days. Which, yeah, I wasn't. Yeah, and it's like in through the wintertime and stuff. Yeah. Honestly, when I gave them the green light to train that early, I was like, this ain't going to last more than a week. Yeah. And now we're just overloaded with them. Yeah, I did not expect that to happen. And it's been like that with a bunch of people. I ain't going to last. Yeah. And they're still here. They're still there. Still getting stronger. Yeah. I hope that answered that question. No, that's great. Yeah. It's something I've talked to a few people about because I'm inspired to see these 14-year-old kids down there at 5.30 a.m. Yeah. Going hard. I think it's really going to change. Yeah. Each one of them are going to change like crazy just in character. And the people they get to be around, too. Oh, yeah. And what they're learning as far as consistency and showing up. And I just think that carries over into your everyday life. And beyond athletics and high school and college. Yes. It's just a lifestyle that so many of us, like for me personally, built much later in life. But if you have that routine going and that just becomes part of your life, yeah, then it's just everything else you're going to be. And then when you show up day after day, that can build confidence whenever you're doing something. Like that's why I do the lunges every day. Yeah. And I don't want to do those dang lunges every day. Sure. But it keeps momentum rolling. Whether it's a good day or a bad day, I'm still moving. Yeah. I never get stagnant because I'm staying in motion. And I think there's a lot of power in that, and I want to teach that to the kids. And don't just show up. Don't wait for Super Bowl Sunday to show up for the big game. You need to be showing up to every day like it's a big game and showing up with purpose. You know what I mean? How you do one thing is how you do everything. What was the worst day that you were like, I might not want to do this anymore? Man, it was right when I quit my job. Really? Yeah. Yeah. And I just felt so low. I felt like I was about to fail my family. Yeah. I'm going to have a tough time talking about it. Yeah. Take a little deep breath. Breathe in. Yeah, because I didn't know what I was doing, man. Brace. You talk about imposter syndrome and stuff like that. It's like here I am opening this gym, trying to make money, coaching people. And it's like I'm still trying to – can I really do this? Am I cut out for this? And so you're going through all that with the stressors of like raising two kids, paying bills. And it's just like that was brutal that first year. But then like one day I just like – I just picked myself up and then like I felt like on the worst days that I would have, like I would have a kid show up later that day and just like hit a big PR or something. Yeah. Like Nash. Nash Nesmith would show up and just like – He's awesome. You know, crush like one – put a plate on the bar for the first time. Yeah. I was just like that was a sign. Yeah. Like you got to keep going. But that built so much like confidence and resiliency and like durability in me that if I didn't like experience that, those really hard days, then we wouldn't be here right now having this conversation because I would have folded. And I just told myself like I'm never – no matter how hard it gets, I'm not going to fold under pressure. Yeah. I'm going to keep showing up. Good day, bad day, I'm going to show up and I'm going to give whatever I got that day. And I like how the thing that keeps you going is not like, oh, you figured it out for yourself. It's like seeing other people succeed, right? That's all I did, dude. So that's ultimately what picks you up out of the – It's my purpose. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. That's powerful. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thanks for sharing that. Yeah. It's hard to get that out. Yeah. Yeah. Here it comes. It means a lot to me. It's welling up. Yeah. Just like so stoked to be doing what I'm doing right now. Yeah. And I'm stoked that it's like working. It's like a big victory. Yeah. No, you've done great. Yeah, get a drink. So yeah, there you go. Oh, yeah, I forgot to do that. We both got to put our logos up to the – go check out some Narbel merch too. Go follow them on Instagram. Website. Go to their website, buy some merch. It's good stuff. I've got some on. It's cold in here. I would have just wrapped the shirt the whole time. All right, here we go. Superman. Oh, yeah. Narbel, baby. So I got mine on too. Let's talk about the logo too real quick. Yeah. It's a three-headed wolf. Three-headed wolf. Yeah. Another thing – is the mic good? Where is that? Yeah, you're good. Yeah. Yeah, you can move it up, down, wherever. In the beginning, like I didn't want to give these shirts to people because the logo is a three-headed wolf. Oh, I remember. I had asked for stuff. Yeah. And the symbolism behind that is like me and my two older brothers. And so I felt like whenever I moved back when we started in that little tiny shack, like it was – I moved back to just to have my brother as a training partner because like if you can – I knew I wanted to be competitive but it's like if you can have one good training partner, you can go a long ways. Yeah. And then like after one week of doing that, Bo started showing up and he wasn't a competitive lifter by any means. Like he just showed up and just started getting after it with us. And so like we felt it like building. And at this time, we didn't know about like the narwhal as the name. We didn't know about the three-headed wolf as like our logo for the gym. But Baylor has it tattooed on his chest and it's like a symbolism of like me and my two older brothers. And so then when we made it like the logo for the gym and then people started coming in and I was like very protective of it. I was like, man, I don't want them to have one of these shirts. They got to earn this to wear this because it means so much to me. Yeah. But now we like there was just so many people wanting them. Sure. And I still haven't like released that website on Instagram or anything. A lot of people don't even know that we have a website. Yeah. And I still like we'll have random orders. Yeah. People buying them like one random dude from like Australia and like United Kingdom. Yeah. My wife is like checking my email. Yeah. She's like, do you know this person? I'm like, no. I don't know how they got on our website. Yeah. But that's really cool. Yeah. So we were flying back from Pennsylvania and I sat next to this, this kid, he was like 23 years old and we started talking about lifting weights. And then by the end of the flight, it was an hour long flight. And as soon as we landed, he got on the website and bought a shirt while we were sitting there as you're talking to each other on Instagram. It's such a perfect way. What I like about that model that I'm excited for you because I think that's just going to blow up. I think your merch is going to blow up. I think anything you put out, um, if you ever put out programming someday or you put out, you know, a podcast or a book or yeah, yeah. When it's your time, like when you've earned it, which I appreciate because that's everything you say. It's like, yeah, yeah. I should probably do that. But I've not earned that yet. You know, it's real. You have a standard there to do that. Yeah. That's how I feel that that's what's just going to happen. And I think that's the model that I'm excited about for NARBEL and in town with 12,000 people that makes no sense. Right. Other than to have as many members as possible. Yeah. Is that you're going to, you're going to be able to reach people over the country and the world that want to support you with things like that. You know, there's a story behind everything that's on the website. Um, and there's just going to be so much opportunity. And, uh, my challenge to you would be just receive that. Right. I know that's hard for you to receive, but like you've also got to receive that support. And there's a lot of people that are going to want to support you. Yeah. And you're just going to stumble into it, dude. Yeah. Keep doing it. You keep being you. You're going to stumble into these opportunities. You're going to stumble into partnerships. You're going to stumble into, oh my gosh, so-and-so shared this and they're all buying up our merch. Like, I don't know if I want like, and then you're going to be like, I don't know if I want to sell this much merch. I'm just going to stay true. Right. Um, but I think when that happens, like you've just got to be able to receive that because other people want to be part of your journey. Sure. Right. Yeah. That aren't here. Uh, that, that it's, you know, that are in other States like the, and you've already felt that support and that's already happened. It's crazy. Um, and, uh, on that note, you traveled, uh, I, I didn't write this down, but I've been wanting to ask you, you went around all these meets and helped. What did that? Yeah. What, what, why? That was the WPO. So that's like the, like the national championship game of equipped power lifting. Okay. And so like, that's an invite only meet, right? Like when I talked about like, I'm trying to get to the pro level. So like hopefully one day I can be invited to that meet because that's where like all the best lifters go. And it's just like an incredible opportunity and to make you feel like a rock star and a big leaguer. And so, so my coach actively is, is competing and he gets invited to the WPO. That was actually his 10th WPO in a row. Yeah. 10 years straight of him competing at the highest level. Shout out Anthony Olivera. Yeah. I wouldn't be doing this if it, if it weren't for him. But he basically called me up and he was like, Hey, would you be interested in like spotting and loading at the WPO this year? And of course I'm like, well, can I even afford to fly there? Like, yeah, I don't know. But it was just like, man, it's such a cool opportunity. Like if I'm really about it and if I really care about this sport and if I really want to learn, like I should do this. That's where you want to be. Go be there in some way. Yes. So he told me to invite one other guy. So I invited the biggest and strongest dude in our gym, which is Denver McCoy. Yeah. And of course he was like thrilled for the opportunity. Yeah. And yeah, we flew out and we worked two days. We worked Saturday and Sunday and Sunday. That's whenever like all like the heavyweights and stuff were squatting all the dudes. And like there was like one flight of on their, on like their third attempts where like every squat was like 900 to a thousand plus pounds. Like one of the dudes was like over 1200. And me and Denny are standing on this side. And the dude's huge. Please don't drop this. He was massive. So like the sleeve of the barbell that the plates slide onto, that was like at my eyes and I'm standing up all the way and I'm just like, how am I going to help this dude? He like bails on this weight or something or if he like blows his knee out. But luckily all the lifters, like everybody stayed safe. Yeah. And we had like, we had some, some saves. Like there'll be times where like guys are picking up those weights and they just like fall over. They just pick up and they just start falling back. Oh gosh. Just lose their balance. Yeah. You just attack that weight and try and cause like, I mean you're putting yourself in danger to make sure that they don't die essentially or just get folded over like a lawn chair. And it's like they have safety straps and stuff. But like if you do not want to let that, that weight collapse. But it was an incredible opportunity. I'm so glad that I did it. And that was another form of like getting uncomfortable and stepping out of my comfort zone. It's like when, when I get opportunities like that or like opportunities like the one you gave me today, like I just, you got to do it. You can't. Yeah. Even if you're scared, like you just attack it and put yourself out there and no good things are going to come from it. And what a cool story to now you've been there in a different way and then you're going to be there in a different way someday. Hopefully. It's cool. It's cool thing about like the first meet I ever went to in 2021 when I competed raw, like I didn't know anybody there. Like I was there with my coach at the time and I didn't know anybody in the warmup room. I was so scared. And then now every time I, the last three meets that I've been to, like you see people that you've been networking with on social media for the last two years. And it's like, you know, it's daps and hugs and pictures. And it's like, I feel like we're just now getting to the really good part with like power lifting and stuff. Yeah. And it's like, I'm so glad. Like I stuck it out through the beginning when I didn't know anybody because now we're at like the, the, the center of the pizza. Like every time we go places like people, people know about me and they know about Norbell and, and you get that like mutual respect from other lifters, not because we're the strongest gym in the world or we're the best lifters. Cause we're not, we're, we're just, we're okay. But it's because we're about it and we, we do the thing and we're trying to make the sport better, better than you found it. So my coach drilled into my mind a long time ago, leave the sport better than you found it. And, you know, the lifts and stuff, that's not the most important part. You know, the most important part is that you're, you're giving back and, you know, bringing up everybody around you. So, so everybody can experience how good lifting big weights can make you feel, you know, whether it's an empty barbell or thousand pounds, like it doesn't matter. If it's a big weight for you, it's a big weight. When you get the weight back up, it feels real good. Cause you're not down there anymore. Yeah. Get me out of here. Like my balls are about to pop out of my head. I felt that this morning. It's real. I got real red. That's when you know you're doing it right. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. It was a good brace. Dude, you're awesome. Well, keep going. Um, thanks for hanging out. Yeah. Um, we'll, we'll do it again. Uh, when you make your appearance, when you get your invite or when you set a record here pretty soon in the next couple of years, we can talk about that. Um, but yeah, I'll, uh, do some plugs, uh, to end it if you're good with that. Yeah. But please go follow. It's the NAR bell, right? The NAR above my personal account is Lee Bob underscore, underscore, just an underscore. That's it. So Lee Bob it's L E E B O B underscore. Go follow Levi and go follow, uh, the NAR bell, uh, on Instagram. And, uh, yeah, just go comment, tell them how awesome they are. And, and, and then just like spam them. Like just say like, Hey, I want to join your gym. I've been texting you, you know, like, yeah, I'm one of the numbers, but awesome. Thanks for hanging out. Thanks Sam. Super cool opportunity, man. Appreciate it. Yep.