Knowledge Nuggets

Last week was an incredibly busy, but awesome week. Wednesday night I hung out with some of Barbell Shrug Team. Then on Thursday morning, the Barbell Shrug Team came to the MashMafia Compound to film an episode of the awesome Barbell Shrug Podcast with me. You can check it out next week on www.BarbellShrug.com. Thursday night, Drew and I made the trip down to Raleigh to hang out with Christmas Abbott, Josh Homes(Christmas’s boyfriend), all the Barbell Shrug Team, and some of Christmas’s friends on her birthday. Friday was a MashMafia only hang out for Coach Brealon Ashworth’s birthday party. I just love my team. Saturday, Drew and I made an appearance at the Camel City CrossFit Grand Opening in Winston-Salem, NC. They are the first MashMafia Weightlifting affiliate, and we are super excited to team up. I also produced two episodes of my own podcast, Mash Mafia Strength on Spreaker.com(http://www.spreaker.com/user/mashmafiastrength). I will always be a part of Weightlifting Talk, but Jon is in the UK until after the first of the year. I decided to take the opportunity to do my own little spin on strength and athletic performance, and bring it to the public.

The purpose of writing about all of this is not to brag about how cool my life is, but I am going to tell you all that I learned. Lately I have had the pleasure of hanging out with some of the coolest people in my industry. When you really enjoy people and care about what they are saying, one of the benefits is learning from them. When I was younger, I wasn’t very good at this at all. I just wanted to talk about myself, and if you are talking, then you aren’t learning. The first night hanging with the Barbell Shrug Crew: Mike, Doug, Chris, and CTP I learned that true success comes from the sharing of ideas. They would tell me what they have going on, and I would tell them my ideas. Instead of keeping great ideas to ourselves, we found out the ideas and people that we had in common, and we found ways to work together. This way of looking at things is not only good for us, but it is awesome for you the reader because more high quality of information is produced in this manner.

During the filming of the Barbell Shrug Podcast, we all talked more about Barbell Life. Barbell Life is what we have all learned from the Barbell, and the common traits of people that embrace the Barbell. It was awesome to see how we all had come full circle in our “Dance with the Barbell”. We had all started certain relationships with the Barbell that had morphed into much healthier relationships that still allowed us set goals, reach goals, and more importantly spread the love. We had all found that we didn’t have to sacrifice relationships for quest in domination of the Barbell.

During my time with Christmas Abbott and her awesome boyfriend Josh Homes, I learned how important the words that come out of my mouth really are. Josh told me how my podcast with the Champ Jon North (http://www.spreaker.com/page#!/show/the_jon_north_show) had changed his life. He has learned most of his technique and programming in the sport of Weightlifting from our show, but more importantly our message had forced him to review his life. Jon always says, “Love your life or change it!” This message made Josh take a look at his life, and he is now looking at his future. I will forever take my words more seriously, and I will do my best to influence and encourage people in positive and successful ways.
I also had the chance to produce two episodes of my own Podcast: Mash Mafia Strength on Spreaker.com. You can check it out at: http://www.spreaker.com/user/mashmafiastrength. This podcast will be about Barbell Life, all things strength, athletic performance, and a Godly take on life. I don’t have a lot of equipment, but I believe that it will a great way to tell my story. I hope to encourage people on their passions, and I hope to give people advice that will help them avoid major mistakes. Obviously I hope that the information will also lead to PRs in strength, athleticism, and life. I learned that there are a lot of people out there wanting to learn more about the Barbell, athletic performance, and programming. I also learned that there are a lot of people that want to know how to approach the world of strength. A lot of the questions that people were sending me were about injury prevention and mobility, so I will be using the Mobilitah Moses, Sal Scifo to answer a lot of those questions.

Hanging out with the Mash Mafia Crew for Coach Ashworth’s birthday was another reminder that I am a part of something bigger than me. We have a group of coaches that are set on influencing their community and the world. All of my coaches feel like they are a part of a team that will leave the world a better place. We want to spread our love of the Barbell, our “Love Your Life or Change It” way of thinking, our Black Sheep refusal to go along attitude, and our love for Christ to the world.

Drew and I had a blast at the Camel City CrossFit Grand Opening. Camel City is the first Mash Mafia Weightlifting Affiliate, and we are excited to teach the Barbell movements in their facility. I think that the relationship is going to be awesome. Having our coaches teaching Barbell Movements like Snatch, Clean & Jerk, Squats, Bench, and Deadlift within their facility, will give their facility the type of credibility that a lot of CrossFits lack. Their Head Coach Shaun Mabe is determined to provide credible coaching, programming, and the best community around. I can’t wait to grow at his facility together. If you are interested in becoming a Mash Mafia Weightlifting Affiliate, email me at Travis.Mash@MashElitePerformance.com.

Take aways:

Listen and empathize to learn

Share common ideas and learn to work together to really change the world

Your “Dance with the Barbell” will bring you full circle

Guard the words that come out of your mouth! You never know who you are influencing

There are a lot of people that want to learn insight to the Barbell

There are a lot of people that want to learn about mobility and injury prevention

I have a crew of Life Changers at Mash!

Teaming up with CrossFits to teach the Barbell movements is a good marriage

Video of some awesome lifting Friday! PR City:

Next year, Learn 2 Lift seminars are scheduled all over the US: Dunmore, PA, Jersey Shore, Miami, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Albuquerque, San Antonio, and we are scheduling Rhode Island as we speak.

For any questions regarding Learn 2 Lift Seminars or Online Coaching, go to:

www.MashElitePerformance.com

Or if you are interested in hosting a Learn 2 Lift Seminar on the topics of Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting, or Athletic Performance, email me at:

Travis.Mash@MashElitePerformance.com