After a long hiatus (and likely, we will go into another extended break, lol), we are back with a new episode! The first for the year and the last? 

Anyways in this episode, we had Ren Dong Chen on the podcast as well as Leonardo Sucitra (as a stand-in for Kedric, who is currently head-deep into his Ph.D. and life duties) to discuss all things weightlifting, specifically on Chne’s experience with being a coach and being part of Team China taking LiJun Chen on his miraculous gold medal run in the Tokyo Olympics. 

In this episode, we speak to James Walsham, a coach in the hypertrophy and health space and a fellow podcaster. Many of you might know him from his own podcast The Hypertrophy Hub, but today we brought him on as a guest to talk about the topic of obesity and whether it is an active choice or not. 

The reason for this is that James also works as a health coach alongside other medical professionals, and together he and his team help to create a plan best suited for an individual looking to turn their health around. In this episode, we dove into some of the reasons for obesity, how at times, the industry can be against all of humanity when it comes to living a healthier lifestyle, and whether the choice to be obese is something people can choose to avoid or not. 

'Are there any actions that are right or wrong?'

Metaethics is the study of moral judgment's nature, scope, and meaning. It is one of the three branches of ethics generally studied by philosophers. And as you know, our residential philosopher Kedric loves to spend his limited free time exploring the rabbit holes of philosophy. 

In today's episode, alongside Dr. Terence Cuneo, we look to explore the essence of morals. Through the lens of a philosopher, what does it mean to have moral concepts indeed, the nature of morality, and do we truly have one true morality? 

In this episode, we allowed Kedric to take a backseat (for the most part) while we dive deep into the topic of weight cutting strategies with Jayne Jones . Jayne is an RD in Irland and is on the Irish National Team for the 2021 IPF worlds. We spoke about some of her favorite strategies to weight cut without losing strength, what are some dos and donts, and most importantly, why we need to cut weight in powerlifting.

Links are in the bio for all major platforms to get your podcast. ⁠

Good day team. We had taken a little bit of a hiatus in the past month as its that time of the year when new ventures and avenues are being experienced. Hence we do apologize for the lack of content in Feb!

But we are back, and in this episode, we speak to Kazu. Apart from his glorious powerlifting accolades, Kazu is also a man of faith, something that in today's younger generation is slowly beginning to dwindle. We covered a range of topics about religion, from his first encounter to how he sees faith as a daily driver for him as he graduates from Uni into working life. 

Hey there, first off, Happy New Year, and I hope you all had a great break. We have a great episode today to kick off the year 2022, especially with our previous conversations on Covid and how we agree that Covid will likely be endemic.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. For those unfamiliar with his work (and we don't blame you), he is one of the great men behind the works of many previous virus outbreaks like H1N1 and the more recent Covid pandemic. His reputation speaks for himself, and we were very honored to have him on this episode to talk about all things Covid.

From current health policies to the mortality and the severity of Covid, we cover it all in this highly compelling episode.

LAST EPISODE for the year 

Man, what a year it has been. From starting this podcast earlier in the year, we did 15 episodes! What a ride it has been, and we look forward to doing more next year. In this episode, we speak about what we learned throughout the year, both from the podcast and personal, some goals for next year, and what we would love to see differently.

It has been a massive year for us all, with many changes coming our way going into next year, and we sincerely thank you, dear supporter, for being a start and listening in. Much love from the Kwans (again, we are not related), and see you in 2022!

@kedricts.rf

@choong_sckreyz⁠

In this episode, we talk to Chris. For those unaware, Chris has done it all (literally).

Fro being in prison to competing at a world-class level in Powerlifting. Not to mention pursuing a Master's degree and so much more. We talked about how one can literally turn his life 180, his decision-making philosophies, and what freedom means to a man, especially coming out of prison.

This is an episode not to be missed, so do check it out, especially for those who are starting to come out of lockdown and for those who are going back in!

In this episode, we talk to Alyssa. At the time of the recording, she is on the home stretch (yes, I had to try to sneak in a pun somewhere) to have Dr./ added to her title! For those who don't know, Alyssa is a highly competitive powerlifter but has spent a lot of her time in the lab working out all things stretching.

Her thesis will be one to look out for, but we speak to her about all things stretching in this episode. From when, how much, how to program stretching into your week, and more, we cover it all!

In this episode (who knows, it might even be the last!), we agree to disagree on several issues. But more importantly, we talk about how to have reasonable disagreements with one another and steps to take. So it is an episode to help you develop some perspective and skill to have a proper conversation with someone, especially when it comes to disagreements.

There are, of course, things on the episode that we disagree or agree on (and you, the listener, might even disagree with everything!). So how does one agree to disagree?

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We speak to Jade, who has been involved in the health and fitness industry for a while now and is a prevalent face in many strength sports (powerlifting, bodybuilding). Strength training plays a huge role for all 3 of us, but it was more than just a sport for Jade. It was a way to help her get through a really tough period in life when she was having a series of eating disorders. Now she owns a gym and coaches others to find their own journey in life in pursuit of their own health and fitness. You can find her at

@jade_powerlifts

https://www.jadeisbister.com/

http://strengthworks.co.nz/

We speak to non-other than Dr. Derek Wilcox. For those unaware before the age of social media, Derek was the lightest person ever to squat 1000 pounds. These days, however, Derek is more involved in BJJ and heavily invested in coaching athletes and others to achieve their strength goals. We dove into some coaching philosophies on how different it is to coach high-level athletes versus more gen pop clients. You can get some help from him as well at

@wilcoxstrengthinc

https://renaissanceperiodization.com/team-member/derek-wilcox-phd

In this episode, we speak to Greg Nuckols, one of the principal authors for MASS and an enthusiast for all things science. We dove into topics on how Greg gets involved with being a scientist, what he thinks of some limitations of science, and many more.  You can find him at

@gregnuckols

Stronger by Science Podcast: https://bit.ly/3Chuc0L

MASS: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/mass/

Disclaimer, do not tune in if you are not interested in powerlifting. And if you are, get comfy as it's 2.5 hours of PURE AWESOMENESS.

We team up with the Clarke brothers Paul and Jason to talk about the upcoming NZPF Nationals down in Invercargill this year. This is a classic lead-up show talking about some good showdowns, people, and performances to watch out for, and more importantly…

…2.5 hours of 4 guys just talking about how stoked they are for Nationals 2021 to be happening.

We have put down time stamps below in the order of days (5 days in total). Regardless if you are sitting through the whole thing or just listening to a small part of it, we appreciate your support.

And more importantly, if you are going down for Nationals to compete and/or cheers your mates on safe travels, we all hope to see you there and well!

0.30 – Episode intro

7.50-Day 1

16.52 Day 2

27.10-Day3

1.15.15-Day4

2.01.03Day 5

Full Nomination List

https://bit.ly/3iu5y5i

And if you want to know more about the NZPF you can reach out to Paul here

https://www.instagram.com/paul_clarke316/

If you need some future coaching from Jason and Kedric, they can be reached out here

https://www.instagram.com/jasonvclarke_pps/

https://www.instagram.com/kedrictsg/

And if you want to have a yarn with Choong, here is his IG as well (just to throw it in there lol)

https://www.instagram.com/choong_sckreyz/

Lauren is no stranger to the pressures and stereotypes most Asians face. Doing something out of 'social norm' is hard, let alone making a hobby and career out of it. In this episode, we talk about how Lauren was able to curb some of these pressures, especially from an Asian upbringing, while also being a very successful entrepreneur herself in the fitness space. You can find Lauren at

@laurenpon

https://powerwolfathletics.com/

There is a saying, the best athletes don't always make the best coaches. In this case, however, Bryce Lewis breaks the stereotype. We discuss some of the concepts and mental approaches he uses for being a world champion, but also as a world-class coach. You can find Bryce at

https://www.thestrengthathlete.com/bryce-lewis

IG @ bryce_tsa

Jason is no stranger to working with people who are interested in the pursuit of strength from rugby players to powerlifters. But as we discussed, it is not always about the program, but the buy-in and self-efficacy that can really make an individual make gains from what appears to be an average excel sheet program.You can find Jason at

IG @ jasonvclarke_pps

Gut health is this mysterious term that gets thrown around. In this episode, we dive deeper into what makes gut health something everyone should consider from iron-game lovers to chronically fatigued individuals. You can find Olly at

https://themetaproject.co/

IG @ ollywoodnz

We speak to Dr. Jen Case about some of the main differences between females and males especially when it comes to nutrition. Jen is no stranger to the game being co-authors of many books about female nutrition whilst also being a high-level BJJ athlete herself. You can find her at

https://renaissanceperiodization.com/team-member/jen-case-phd-rd-cscs

IG : @jencase.rpstrong

In this episode, we explore how Chris transitioned from being an omnivore into a plant-based diet. Chris is no stranger to resistance training. However, his reasons for making the switch go a lot deeper than just for physical health.

We talk about the reasons for making that switch, key points you need to be aware of when transitioning off meat protein sources, and what you should consider before taking the plunge.You can find Chris at

IG @ shredded.tofu