Life Beside Christ
Life Beside Christ
Balancing Barbells and Beliefs | Ft. STG Fitness
What happens when faith and fitness intertwine? This episode of our podcast brings you the journeys of Grant Argyilan and Jesse Worden from STG Fitness. From their beginnings at Illinois College to becoming prominent figures in the fitness community, Grant and Jesse share their inspiring story of creating Strength Through God. Learn about the challenges they've faced, their triumphs in coaching competitive powerlifters, and the broader goals of their own podcast, all while managing their social media presence. This episode promises to give you not just business insights, but also heartfelt discussions on the balance of responsibilities and faith.
Ever wondered how your favorite fantasy films stack up against each other? We rank Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings in a lively debate that also transitions into a deeper conversation about personal faith journeys. Grant opens up about his Christian upbringing and the importance of making personal decisions about his relationship with Jesus. These conversations emphasize how casual discussions about faith in the most unexpected places can lead to profound personal growth and stronger connections.
Lastly, we delve into the intersection of faith and fitness through the lens of STG Fitness. Hear how Grant and Jesse's passion for lifting weights and spirituality led to the creation of their faith-based fitness brand. We explore the transformative power of sports, the intricate process of weight cutting in powerlifting, and the dedication required for national level competitions. Wrapping up with personal testimonials and expressions of gratitude, this episode offers a comprehensive look at how staying true to your values can lead to both personal and professional success. Don't miss out on this enlightening conversation that bridges the gap between faith, fitness, and personal growth.
We love hearing from our listeners whether it's criticism, advice, or just thoughts on the conversation we had. Find us or reach out to us here:
•Email: lifebesidechristpod@gmail.com
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•Intro/Outro Music: "Our Days" by David Hays
welcome back to the life beside christ podcast. Um, because I forget this every time, I'm gonna do it first. If you want to contact us, uh, life beside christ pod at gmailcom. If you don't want to contact us, don't email us. I think we got a good one for you. I'm excited about this one and the best part I mean I'm excited for our guests, but the best part is my brother's not here and we can finally be free with our opinions and thoughts without him overlooking us, just looking at us, not even saying anything, just staring at us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just mouth open.
Speaker 1:He was always the mouth breather Dude. This is fun without him here For anyone wondering.
Speaker 2:He just kind of skipped out on us. There's nothing wrong with him, oh yeah, he's healthy. He's just lazy, decided not to show up really.
Speaker 1:You want to introduce our guest real quick, yeah, uh joining us today is the stg fitness guys.
Speaker 2:Um, grant and jesse. We were on their podcast. Oh, last fall they both went to ic. So that's kind of the connection there. I'll kind of let them explain who they are and what they do and their platform a little bit and then we'll get into some more conversation. I don't know if Grant or Jesse do you guys, I'll take it first.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you guys, you want me to introduce myself first. All right, cool. Yeah, my name is Grant Argelon. I met Levi at IC. We played baseball together and then obviously we've been business partners and best friends with Jesse, for it's crazy to think how many years it's probably been now it's probably like six or seven at this point. We met at Illinois College as well, and it initially started with just running into each other at the gym and seeing each other, um, in residential life, because we were both ras there and eventually formulated into, you know, posting gym content to starting our own brand, uh, running apparel coaching. And you know, now jesse's my coach for powerlifting. He's been my coach for the past four years. So it's been, it's been a wild ride. Obviously we've got a lot of context behind the things we've done to this point and you know who we are. But, uh, it's kind of a short glimpse of myself yeah, perfect.
Speaker 4:Yeah, for me, a similar, you know, just with everything scg wise. Um, it's been pretty crazy to get to where we're at, thinking, whether it's from high school or being out of college, thinking that you're running a business and you're coaching competitive power lifters at the national level and trying to compete myself and coaching football and all these things is pretty cool. Um, I think I met levi as well at ic. Um, I don't know if we knew each other that well. Yeah, just kind of like through grant, maybe because I did the strength and conditioning internship. Yeah, that's right, I think, just going through that as well, probably knew each other a little bit. But yeah, it's cool to just be collaborating through kind of faith and fitness and sharing ideas and everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah and again. Stg stands for Strength Through God right.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think you guys started that in college.
Speaker 3:still right yeah, we started like an instagram right. Um, in like late 2019, very early 2020, covid hit and I think that was, I wouldn't necessarily say, a blessing in disguise, but it more or less set us up for the path we're on now, uh, where our social media kind of boomed. We started to play around with the apparel and then, yeah, opened up the podcast and just kind of set the the stage for where we're at today yeah, that's one thing.
Speaker 2:Uh, I think I've asked. I asked you about a little bit, um, when we were on your podcast. That I'm terrible about is the social media stuff. It's like it's not it's not my, it's not my realm at all and I think you guys do a pretty good job of I think Grant you do most of it right a lot of for your uh page and stuff like that oh, I would say it's a 50, 50.
Speaker 3:well I mean I know recently I've been going through the move but uh, yeah, no, I mean we work very well together as a team and kind of setting a standard for the vision we want to put forth for the brand. And yeah, yeah, I mean it definitely takes a. It's a big time I want I'm trying to think of the word to say, but it takes up a lot of time. It takes a lot of effort. You got to have a lot of initiative to keep consistent with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in Levi's defense to our podcast, social media, I will not touch it. I purposely deleted my lifting page. I've got I guess I've got nothing at this point. Uh, I kind of got to the point where I was like social media just seems like such a net negative on my life, so I was like I'm not touching it, I'm done. So he, he is kind of stuck with all the responsibilities and he produces all this. So, uh, there's a lot of work on his side, just for our listeners out there that we're going to trash Levi, be easy on him.
Speaker 2:No, that's one thing too. I think you guys have a more precise not precise and small, but precise goal with what you guys hope to do. Ours is a little bit more broad, just cause we just as this was something that like we didn't really know what we were getting into when we started this but you guys have a pretty clear vision with what you guys want to do, which is great, and you guys are, besides that, a lot more organized than we are. If you could start in late tonight.
Speaker 4:I'm glad on the from the outside, from your perspective, it looks organized.
Speaker 2:I'm sure that's how it feels yeah.
Speaker 4:It's not always organized on our end. I guess it's kind of running business as a bit of controlled chaos. But you know, we're just trying to keep getting to a certain point.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, do you have some catch-up things you want to get into, like our normal one, or you want to go straight to interview?
Speaker 2:there's not a whole lot that I can think of um summer here for me and getting ready to go to minnesota a couple weeks and then down to Dallas for a couple football camps, so that'll be fun, but nothing going on too recently, I guess in the past. Yeah, you're about to get busy. Yeah, it's funny because I get to summer. I'm like sweet, it's summer. Then it lasts for like a week or two and then it's like, oh crap, I've got this, this, this and this, this, yeah, and then school starts again. But that's how it goes and I enjoy it, as much as I sometimes complain about it. I obviously enjoy what I do, so I don't mean to take away from that, but no, I don't have anything else to catch up on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think my only quick updates. Oh, I've got a quick update. Uh, oh, I've got a quick update and I've got a controversial thought that could get us all canceled no, I'm kidding um.
Speaker 1:The quick update is so july 11th or 14th yeah is the induction for our son to be born, so that's coming up quick, and then he'll have his heart procedure there in St Louis and then hopefully everything goes well. We'll be out in a week. Um, we're still praying like crazy, obviously. Uh, and then here is my. It's not controversial, really, but for any, if we happen to have any young men, or women, but this is probably men slash boys.
Speaker 1:Please, for the love, don't look at people like Andrew Tate or any of these people on social media with this materialistic stuff. So obviously, with my job, I've got a lot of time on my hands and I've just been watching YouTube shorts. That kills my time. And we're going to this world that has become so materialistic and it's like well, you need to be a billionaire, you need to have eight different women, you need to have one per week or per day for 365 days. My advice is find somebody that they've got their stuff together, but look at how, what, what their family looks like. Are they? Are they following christ first off? Are they walking through that path? Are they raising a good family? And try to emulate that? Ask them questions. I just it seems like we're getting so many young people and it's driving me nuts because I feel horrible for them, because they look at this like oh well I don't have a lamborghini.
Speaker 1:That's it's. What color is your bugatti? You, it's okay, you don't have to have a bugatti I think it's one of those things, though, too.
Speaker 2:Maybe you especially. Maybe you're going a little bit faster than me, but I think we're just getting older in our thoughts.
Speaker 1:I'm 80.
Speaker 2:I'm sure at some point though, there's been like every generation, I guess, kind of looks at that, I'm sure it gets worse. Every generation in that sense of like the worldly wants, I guess, desires and stuff like that. I'm sure not to take away from what you're saying, I'm just saying I just I'm sure, to an extent, that as people get older, like I'm sure, like your dad's dad told him the same thing at some point, or something like that yeah, but they couldn't scroll through.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean how easy it is to see it online and everything I feel like, instant gratification is a big deal. Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah, that's a good one. That's how I feel with my lifting actually.
Speaker 2:I want to be big now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, but that's all I had.
Speaker 2:That's not where I thought you were going. I thought you were going to ask them our like reoccurring podcast question of the best Laffy Taffy.
Speaker 1:Oh, no. Yeah, actually I do have a question. Oh my gosh, I might be 80 in my thoughts, but my voice cracks like I'm 14. I do have a question and I want our two guests to chime in, if they don't mind. Um, maybe we'll start with levi grant jesse, and then we'll come back to me for the correct answer. So so I've officially watched harry potter. Okay, star wars and lord of the rings okay, I know where you're going what's the ranking best? Tourist One, two, three.
Speaker 2:Star Wars is top, no matter what. I know you're going to say Lord of the Rings, but in that sense I've not watched any of the Lord of the Rings, so I guess I can't say you don't know what I'm going to say.
Speaker 1:Don't come in with a bad attitude coming at me.
Speaker 2:Star Wars is number one, wars is number one, um, and then my mom loved she loves harry potter, so I watched. I saw that all the time. So I don't hate harry potter, but it's not a series that I'm going to go out and watch on my own, um. So I don't know. Two and three are up in the air with those, I guess, but by far, by far, star wars is way up there.
Speaker 1:What a nerd all right uh grant yeah, I, I think you're.
Speaker 3:I really hope your audience isn't too uh passionate about this topic because I'm gonna be honest, I've only seen the movies to one of the ones you've listed in the star wars, um, so I'm I'm gonna go off pure gut feeling. So I gotta rank star wars number one, um, big part of my childhood, but uh, matthew harry potter number two and then lord of the rings number three, uh, I don't know, I I just feel like the fan base is to harry potter. They're very passionate about it. I mean, I know lord of rings is as well, but you know just the things that harry potter has just been able to make of the movies and the books. It's crazy. I think it's more of the business perspective, mind of mind. I'm like, wow, they've really capitalized and they've kept that thing running. So that would have to be my ranking again to all the listeners out there who are going to come at me Please.
Speaker 3:Go ahead and plug your Instagram, so they know where to find you, your boy is very busy and, you know, maybe during this week when I'm cutting weight and getting ready for this meet, I might have to take some time to watch some of those movies. But uh, yeah, apologies for that one jesse I'll get a little.
Speaker 4:I'll get a little sink eye for my girlfriend here, but I gotta go. Lord of the ring, star wars, harry potter boom.
Speaker 1:Okay, he absolutely nailed it, and here's what I appreciate.
Speaker 4:I mean you know I like star wars. I mean even when it just comes to all that fantasy, sci-fi stuff. My I have a down syndrome brother. He just watches movies all the time. So I I see the star wars movies and lord of the rings all the time. Harry potter probably the least amount, but personal preference that's my pick yeah, so you got it correct.
Speaker 1:That's the correct answer, and here's what I know what's funny.
Speaker 2:I don't know why. I thought about this the other day. You, you and your dad, especially when you ask questions, you ask the question knowing that someone's going to say it different than you so you can say, no, that's wrong. Yeah, you guys do that a lot you know that well.
Speaker 1:So here's what happened. So my wife has never been wrong. I'll even like after we have an argument, I'll be like all right, I'm sorry for blah, blah, blah. Do you have anything that you'd like to say? And she's never been wrong. So I've never heard sorry.
Speaker 2:So when I'm not, with her and I will say when you ask that question, and I'm sitting in the backseat next to your daughter on a road trip to somewhere yes, it gets pretty silent pretty quick.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's not a sorry thrown out there like a big bag of sorries. So first off, yes, it's Lord of the Rings. Until very recently it was Harry Potter 2. But Star Wars, I will say, say is better than harry potter and then harry potter, uh, what I appreciate about I think jesse and I could become good buddies because he didn't mess around.
Speaker 1:He just gave his ranking. There was no thought, and I mean maybe he did. He did have some thought, he explained, but I'm I'm seeing that grant's mind works too complex for me to keep up with and I appreciate that, jesse was like, yeah, I just like these three in a row.
Speaker 1:And because that's where I'm at, I'm like, yeah, um, there was. Yeah. So, lord of the rings, star wars. It's like, all right, I there's only so long I can watch. You just put your hand out and people fall Like the force is a little bit silly if we're being honest.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's casting spells with a wand.
Speaker 1:Well, that's not fiction, Okay. Well, I'm glad we got through that and that is Jesse, well done. We actually do a point system on here, so that's two points, Jesse zero on the boards for everybody else Okay.
Speaker 3:I'll take it Well, all right.
Speaker 2:Well, I guess we'll go into some more about you guys. You guys can share as much or as little as you want, um, but um, we'd like to know more about, like your faith, where it started. When did it start um, growing up, whether it was was it in college, was it your whole life, your whatever, it is just you guys. You guys want to tell us about that, and then we'll listen and maybe ask some questions.
Speaker 3:I would say I grew up around the church. I was born into the Catholic Church, baptized First Communion. When it came time for confirmation, my parents actually sat me down and said you know, we want you to, you know, follow your faith and your relationship with Jesus and make that your own decision of how you want to pursue that. They didn't want to have me go forward in that process or really kind of continue that path without it being my own decision, which I, in the moment, I think I did realize like how impactful that was, as opposed to, you know, just my parents signing me up for classes to go to and, you know, taking me to church every weekend, stuff like that. I felt like that type of decision definitely had an impact on me and it was something when I got into high school I grew so much closer to because each summer I signed up to go on I think it was four different mission trips. So I got to go to a few different states in the US and you know it was, you know, staying in elementary school or middle school for an entire week with students from all over the country and we were assigned to different houses, to whether it was go paint a house, build a wheelchair ramp, but it was. It was definitely focused around helping those in need and having those intentional conversations about, you know, having God sightings, having like just where you're at in your faith and being around a lot of like-minded people. And I think those moments always stand out to me when I look back on my walk in faith and heading into college.
Speaker 3:It was tough because I definitely felt like, obviously, like God steered me to go to Illinois College and I just felt that confirmation when I went on my visit and I just didn't realize what type of impact that would have on me. Even to this day I knew nobody at Illinois College and it was the first three or four weeks. I definitely didn't feel like I fit in and I was really nervous about the decision I had made and I definitely contemplated moving back home or, you know, transferring schools, because I just didn't know where that decision was going to take me. And you know I'm really glad I stuck to what God had in store for me. And that's again where there was a true test in my faith and my relationship. And you know I prayed relentlessly and you know it quickly grew into baseball was getting started, classes started to pick up and then that's kind of I flourish, like I'm I've always been someone who is fit into every type of friend group and can really kind of connect with any person. And that's where I felt like I was able to gain my ground and really be able to find who I was and continue to grow in both.
Speaker 3:My faith and you know who Grant was as a person and you know eventually obviously led to meeting Jesse, meeting you guys and being able to be where we're at today and I just you look back on it and I kind of had a feeling you guys would ask this question tonight and I was having preliminary thoughts heading into this podcast about what I would say. And it's just, I always just think back to my parents being like we want like your relationship with your faith to be solely your decision. We never wanted it to make it feel forced and I think it's. I have a lot of respect for people. Um, you know, not everybody grows up in the church and people find their faith and I always have like the utmost respect for those types of people because they have a whole different type of perspective on things and uh, it's, it's always so cool to connect with others and, you know, hear their stories and hear how they've grown closer to Jesus and in what different time frames they have as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that kind of goes back because, like for me, I don't think it was, maybe I can't remember my sophomore year when we started, maybe uh going. I started going to church with Brady, uh, but up until then I don't think I mean I really never had any Christian friends that I knew. I knew of I guess I didn't have, I didn't go to church or anything like that. And I think you and I I don't know what made me think about this the other day, but I think you and I had like one conversation on the baseball field about Jesus and it was small, I don't think it was very long, but I just remembered like, oh, that's kind of cool that like I remember that happening, even though much outside of baseball you and I didn't have those conversations or anything like that, but it was cool.
Speaker 2:I think we were talking to Brady send a video of uh, of uh, of a banana ball uh player, uh talking about like how they do Bible studies on uh with their team and their travel or whatever. But it made me think what other guys that I play with were involved on campus with Christian things or any of the groups or anything like that. And I just remembered. I don't remember what we talked about, but I remember you and I had like one conversation about it and one of those things where I wish maybe I was a little bit bolder and talking to you about it more, just so that it's good to be around people with similar beliefs, I guess.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Yeah, actually, I feel like I I don't remember the context of that conversation we had, but I feel like I remember we were like shagging fly balls and during like batting practice in the outfield, I believe one day, and we had that talk. But yeah, you know, I've always been just of that like, of that mindset of like when it, when you, when it comes time, like when you pass and you come face to face with God, it's like I always think about how many people did you bring closer to him.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:As opposed to how many people did you drive away from him? And I've always been like, how am I able to make that impact on others around me and are people able to see God's love and God's grace and God's mercy through me? Yeah, and always trying to lead by that example. And you know, I've never been someone who's like super forefront of like coming up to someone and having a direct conversation about faith, but it's like if someone were to ask me a question, I will 1000, sit down and have that. But it's like I want them to see that through, like my actions and through my words of like, yeah, having those, those characteristics that you know god would want me to express to others around me yeah, this is a cool topic because this has actually been on my heart.
Speaker 1:Recently I listened to a podcast where they had willie robertson on and he's got his new book, which I just found out is they say it gospeler instead of we were saying gospeler. But he's basically talking about how this, this thing of it, wasn't really supposed to be. Um, let's go to church and then let's just keep coming back to our massive groups. It was more of a hey, here's the good news. Now go out and tell, spread the word to everybody and tell them. So that's been just the last week.
Speaker 1:Um, I got two newer people to come to church, which was awesome, and then out on the golf course, um, a guy had asked, so that gave me a chance to talk about it and I'm, I'm in the same boat as you. Uh, I'm, I'm working on it, but I'm not typically the person to hey, yeah, you double bogeyed, but do you want to hear the good news about eternal life? It's just not. It's more like hey, did you see that Shane Gillis bit? That was pretty funny. I'm not and it's not viewed as a little more of an uncomfortable talk in these kind of I don't know, not these laid back instances. It's hard to bring up something that heavy, you know.
Speaker 3:Well, I think you bring up an interesting topic. I'm sorry, jesse, for putting you on hold for talking about your story, but I always I want to say I heard a study or I heard some type of statistic, and I don't have my numbers in front of me, but a lot of people are intimidated or what holds them back from exploring their faith is that fear of being judged by those around them and feeling like they have to live up to this perfect standard. And I, that has always just like resonated with me and again that kind of goes back to you know, what we've just been talking about is, you know, oh, you double bogeyed, but do you want to hear, you know, the story about eternal life and everything like that? But it's like again, I I always try to go about it in a very like mediocre not a mediocre way, but a very like resonated way of you know, you're going to see the characteristics of God, god's love, through me, and if we want to have those in-depth conversations, we can definitely have it.
Speaker 2:But I think that's what we need more of and I I think you going about it the way you did is is exactly what we need in today's society as well yeah, and I think, grant, just, I mean not that you need me to say, but I think you do that really well because, like, even before I thought about like you being a christian, I guess not and not a bad way, but you were always the one on the baseball field, you were just happy to be there, you were always the good teammate, smiling I don't know if I ever really saw you mad and you're just a good teammate. So if you look at it in that way knowing, thinking about it just from being a baseball teammate um, the characteristics are definitely there and I think you do a really good job showing that in close-up interactions with you I appreciate that.
Speaker 3:No, you don't know how much that means to me.
Speaker 2:I really do appreciate you saying that yeah, I mean again, you don't need me to say it, um, and I'm not saying it, to just say it, but yeah, it was definitely something that was very easily noticeable, um, in you as a person and a teammate, um, but yeah, jesse, reminded of our question.
Speaker 4:I'm sorry, sorry, justin. Yeah, no worries. I mean going back for me, kind of similar to Grant. I kind of just always been around it, just growing up, going to church. That's just kind of what we did.
Speaker 4:A big part of my faith comes from the just miracles that I've personally seen with my brother. I have a Down syndrome brother. He's a couple of years older than me but he has had numerous health I don't know what the right word is just different events in his life that has greatly impacted him and my family around me and everything. Things that have gotten bad enough that doctors say you know, there's permanent damage here. Or I don't know if he's going to come off of a ventilator. Like be prepared for him to die ventilator, like be prepared for him to die.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and to see just the family, members and friends and everybody that are reached out to and asking for prayers and all these other things. And it's just all of a sudden, taylor's himself within a couple days, days. He's smiling, he's laughing, he wants to get back to just watching his movies and enjoying life. That's a big part of my, I guess, foundation on faith is seeing the miracles that have happened through him and that's just something that is just in me. I mean, that's kind of what I always go back to. Um, and you see, those miracles work for for people all over the place. Um, and I know you can get into a much bigger, deeper conversation about well then, why does god let certain things happen and and whatnot? Um, that can be a very, very deep conversation we can get into.
Speaker 4:But where my faith coming from? Growing up around it, my brother, I've also I played music for most of my life, Ever since gosh, like seventh grade or something. I've played drums on the worship team. I've been doing and I still do that. So I've been doing that for a long time, going to growing up in California and then going to school in Illinois. Didn't really know what I was doing, but it was an opportunity for me to play football but also continue music.
Speaker 4:Um, certain things happened in different ways and I got injured playing football and kind of. I don't know if I was necessarily super strong in my faith, but again, just always in the back of my head, like just trusting it, just going with it. Whatever happens happens Even while being in college. My brother, you know, like there was a time he had pneumonia and just these different events. And I'm not there, I'm at school. It's hard for me to get home, being halfway across the country and seeing miracles that happen. Seeing miracles that happen, and it just kind of kept me going and is a big reason why I push myself to do what I do. In a way is for Taylor. It's like God working through my brother for me. Yeah, that's just. That's just how it's been for me.
Speaker 4:And and even recently, if people don't know, just a month ago, I pretty much lived in a hospital for an entire month when my brother had pneumonia. He had an intubation tube and just all this stuff but people praying, people giving donations, calling and checking in on me. I had knee surgery right before it happened. My mom also went into ICU right before it happened. So my family got absolutely rocked in March and we were hit pretty hard with a lot going on. But with our strong faith and reaching out to family and praying, I mean we're all home, we're're healthy and very, very grateful for what we have.
Speaker 1:Well, first of all, I will say I'm that's a great outlook on everything you just said. I'm very sorry for what you guys have gone through. That is the negative, now that I'm not on Instagram, I don't see those, I don't which. I don't see those, I don't which. I don't know if you post anything about it, but it's harder to keep up. But the one thing I was going to say is it's it's going to sound weird because I you might be older than me, but I'm very, as a Christian brother of yours, in a way, I'm very proud to hear that you said your family was rocked by this, but with your faith, because when that faith gets tested or a little something painful like that, it's pretty amazing to hear something where our faith got us through. We stuck to god not I don't know how to say it, um, but just kept believing in his plan and, uh, that's with all those horrible things happening. It is awesome to hear the way you still are after the after you guys got through that, so that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Do you have any other comments before I?
Speaker 2:No go ahead.
Speaker 1:Okay. So my first one is so strength through God. A lot of people I mean what 99% of the industry probably is not. They could be Christian-based, but not that open with Christianity as it relates to fitness and lifting. What led you guys to come up with connecting the two? Was it a scripture or yeah, that that's the full question I feel like, oh, go ahead.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I don't know. I remember just gosh, grant. It was your, your senior year at ic, because I graduated the year before. Um, I don't know, I feel like we were just having conversations, we were becoming closer friends and when we first started this thing, I think it's fair to give a little bit of credit to Andrew Clark, who's somebody that you know also was a part of the initial start to this thing. But I don't know, it was just conversations. We were all former athletes. I was playing football, clark was the basketball guy and Grant playing baseball. We were just starting to just lift weights more and focusing on that. I was helping Grant and Clark with that quite a bit. I don't know. We just started to think about forming some kind of business and we came up with gosh, all all kinds of different names, but I don't know exact grant, I don't know if you remember where the idea for trying to have a faith-based business.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it really started out as we were trying to figure out a way of you know, how do we, how do we share our stories in our journeys through both faith and fitness, cause, you know, we were, we were uber passionate about it and we wanted to be able to share it, for other people to consume that content, to find a way to be able to relate, spark conversation, get started in either one of those journeys or both the journeys at the same time. And I remember the day Jesse had sent a picture of a drawing and it was STG. It was an S with a cross in the middle and then a G and it was like, let's name it Strength Through God, fitness, and I can't credit him enough for coming up with just a phenomenal name.
Speaker 3:And then you know, it kind of took off from there, started as really I think we said this before it started off as us just kind of posting our lifts, posting some scripture, you know, again just trying to spark the conversation. Trying to spark, you know, whether it's people to relate or get their journey started. And you know the demand grew for people like why don't you start shirts, like why don't you start apparel? And then it was kind of like why don't we start a podcast and start directly talking about this and bringing guests on to have those types of conversations.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's you guys. I don't know where I was. I kind of lost my thought. Mini stroke, I guess I don't know.
Speaker 1:It is when we were talking earlier about how to connect with people. It's cool to see that you guys connected the two, uh one, god has his hands in everything, obviously, everything we do, and, uh, praise god for that, uh. But it's a, it's a cool little entry to discuss religion and god and everything. Grace uh, all the good with it, uh.
Speaker 2:So it's kind of cool that, um, you can you can relate it to something you guys are passionate about on lifting side as well as your spiritual side yeah, and I think, like even for us in starting this, it's for me it's brought up opportunities to talk to people about jesus, um, in ways that wouldn't have happened, I guess, without having the podcast. Um, like guys or just people who, whether you work with, whether you just kind of see sometimes and they're like hell, hey, how's the podcast? And it's an easy like entryway to having a conversation about Jesus and, um, I'm sure to some extent it's kind of gone. The same, I'm sure there's been opportunities, um, similar to you guys too, and finding more people that are believers and just, uh, sharing content and stuff like that it makes it easier.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it does help kind of spark some conversations. Not that there's a lot by any means on my end, but I can think back of a few times where I'm wearing an STG Fitness shirt or my hat and somebody you know, whether I'm at church itself or at some other gathering or I'm in the store, whatever it is. There's been a couple occasions that somebody has asked what's STG Fitness and oh, it's a business that I run. It's abbreviated but it's called Strength Through God Fitness and you can create workout programs for people and sell apparel and every once in a while that sparks a little bit of a conversation and you realize that maybe that person is also of faith and you just happen to run into each other, or maybe there's somebody who has been on the fence and you just have that conversation with them and it's a much, I think, easier way and better way.
Speaker 4:I know you guys kind of talked about it a minute ago, about, you know, just going up to somebody and having a conversation and bringing it up out of nowhere. It can be pretty uncomfortable to to do something like that. So, you know, when it comes out in natural conversation and it's not yeah or something, is that, oh, some people which there are. Some people can be a little bit too abrasive about it and it comes across as judgmental and it turns people away.
Speaker 2:I think that's one of those things. Yeah, sorry go ahead.
Speaker 4:Just, you know, it's something that when you can have those more chill conversations it's just easier, and I feel like that type of environment that's just more natural is a much better way to bring people closer.
Speaker 2:or just even slightly opening that door for people to maybe start walking through yeah, that was one thing I kind of thought about earlier as you guys were talking is sometimes it's not just the awkwardness, it's not saying or bringing it up in a way that it scares them, I guess, or pushes them further away.
Speaker 2:Um, and in it like almost like you're, you know a lot of people like to say like, oh, you're forcing this on me. It's like, no, I just want to have a conversation, but I didn't do it, I didn't bring it up in a very good way or something like that, and that's part of the I don't want to say the fear of having those conversations, but I guess to an extent. But I think, like brady's dad he's a pastor at a church here and he's said it before it's like when you're having those conversations and you, you know if you, if you ask god to help you speak, he's going to help give you the words in those conversations and, um, you just have to put yourself out there sometimes and you never know how well it could go. But it's definitely something that's tough for a lot of people and not always the easiest thing to do.
Speaker 1:Before I forget here, uh, to hype up your brand a little bit. A lot of Christian apparel. It can be a little cheesy, whether we want to admit it or not. You guys have you guys have some cool looking stuff. I I actually need to place an order here soon, Um, but is it stgfitnesscom? Is that where they can find you?
Speaker 4:Yes, okay, yeah. And then our social media on Instagram is just stgfit.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, perfect, it's for those listening. It's worth checking out. I'm obsessed with shopping for gym apparel, even even if I'm skipping the gym a lot. Uh, gym shark always wrangles me in, so, uh, check them out it. It's sweet looking stuff. Um, do you have more or do you want me to go to my rapid fire questions?
Speaker 2:I've got a couple um. Yeah, I've got one I'd like to talk about a little bit more um, but this one can be a little bit of a quicker question, I guess, for you guys. Um, going back a little bit to college, like I said, I my faith really didn't begin until like halfway through college and then covet hit, so like the on-campus stuff wasn't really there, the second part of college for me, almost, and uh, so I was curious, were there one? Were there challenges as a Christian in college? Not just that, I see, but just being in college with how things are, I guess, like the, the culture of college, partying, hookups, stuff like that where the, where the challenges that made things, decisions, harder for you, um, just being in college as a Christian. And then, were there anything that did you guys get involved in, anything on campus? Um, that helps keep you guys involved in, in, in, in your faith, I guess?
Speaker 3:That's a that's a good question. I feel like with college. To be fair, I honestly I don't really feel like I struggle too much. I think I built a lot of strength in my faith and not really getting into those temptations yeah.
Speaker 2:And maybe not even just for you.
Speaker 3:I just mean like college in general.
Speaker 2:I guess he's trying to clickbait you guys don't answer the question.
Speaker 2:No, because like and I'll I guess, I can, I can give you like an answer from from myself. First, if you want, like for me like partying was never really my thing, like I, that was an easy thing for me to kind of stay away from um, but that's a very prevalent thing in college. Like it's, it's what you do, and not saying that you can't. It just wasn't something I wanted to do or like put myself in a situation where it might lead to um, something I wouldn't want, I wouldn't be happy with, I guess.
Speaker 2:But then the other thing is too is I don't know what it is about baseball season, but what I don't know around baseball, the, the cuss words just tend to fly out of my mouth a little bit more than it should. And that was something that in college I got to like end of our uh, the year we won the conference championship. I was like dude, I'm just like I'm not even thinking about what I'm saying sometimes. Just it's just like an f-bomb every two words and I'm just like this is like I'm not happy with that looking at it. But um, and that's not just college related, I guess, but stuff like that.
Speaker 3:If there's anything that came up like that, I guess so, yeah, you know I'm not gonna sit here and talk and be like, oh, I didn't go to any parties in college or and again, I was not your, your regular on saturday nights at a party house. You know I went to a handful, but it was. That had never, honestly ever, been my scene.
Speaker 3:Yeah it was more or less to be around teammates, I think for me. I kind of set my boundaries. I figured out who I wanted to be and the example I wanted to set very quickly in high school. You know, being strong with the church and being heavily involved with that. You know that that took my priority. And you know I was in that friend group. I had all of my teammates and myself were in that friend group that was notorious for partying, but they kind of knew me like I was never that guy, like I was never you're not going to find me out and about um, about on the weekends partying, and I think I just carried that type of that's just who I was. And being involved with Res Life. I think that definitely shot down anything of me going out because that's a quick way to lose your job in college.
Speaker 3:But I don't know, I've always been a big proponent of you know, surround yourself with people who are going to make you a better person and who are going to bring the best out of you. And you know again, I quickly realized, like when I got freshman year, of who the best people to be around were and who the best people not to be around were and I I just stayed true to that and you know I I think back to you, know my friendship with you, levi. Another person that comes to mind is Dan Holliman, and you know, obviously, jesse as well. I mean, I surrounded myself with the best examples I could have and I, I have always been someone to keep a small circle and I've I, and if anybody ever asked me for advice, it's you know, be very careful of who you keep around you and keep the ones who are around you, keep the ones who are going to drive you closer to your faith. We're going to make you want to be a better person, better example, um, in society as well.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, I think for me, uh, I mean along the parting side, I think I resonate with you guys pretty similarly. Um, yeah, went, went to a few. It was kind of a thing especially. It's like oh, you're going to college, I'm playing college football, yeah, kind of the thing to do, so you're kind of doing the thing to fit in, but I don't know, it just never resonated much with me and wasn't of much interest. Um, wasn't something that I went to seek out and go do.
Speaker 4:Uh, that never really resonated with me very much in terms of any kind of feeling lost or anything. For me it was different because I was I'm coming from California, coming into the Midwest, so I think in that aspect, a little bit feeling a little bit lost, just a different environment, kind of a different culture, coming into the midwest and hadn't really been away that far away from home for such a long period of time. I do think being involved in football kept me busy and definitely found some really great friends that I got to be a part of, some people that were a part of FCA, which is Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I did that a little bit and something as well. For me it was a little bit more on the music side, which was called Basic Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
Speaker 3:Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
Speaker 4:And that was just a. I think it was like once a week or every other week and I met in Like the basement of the chapel or whatever and it was just a student-ran, like one hour little service that we played a little bit of music and, um, one of the I guess student body leaders with that organization would give a short sermon or or have an open discussion of things, and that that was something that helped me stay connected with my faith. I didn't really get too involved into basic until like my junior senior year, cause I then I actually started playing music with them. I was playing some guitar and it was fun, had some great friends, I think two really good friends that were pretty strong in their faith and music.
Speaker 4:I don't think they did sports at IC, but they were. They were athletes I mean, we would play basketball all the time and that was Eric Rube and Jonathan Miller. Um, those guys I hang out. I hung out with those guys a lot, playing basketball, playing music. Um, they had a good, strong faith and stuff like that. So that's what got me through.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was one thing that I was curious to see, like what you guys did, because other than sports, like I lived at home, so I didn't live on campus.
Speaker 2:I didn't really experience college that way.
Speaker 2:So, like the most interaction I had with people on campus was sports, and then I'd go home and, uh, be done for the night or whatever it was, um, and then I think I started working in the mail room, so then I started to kind of see people more.
Speaker 2:But it was like I think my senior year, every week, when I saw that the basic group was meeting, I think on wednesdays, I was like maybe I should try going one time. But I'm like I don't know anyone else there that I know that goes there, and I was always a little intimidated to go because I'm like I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even know exactly what I know yet, and I was like I didn't want to embarrass myself by going to this. But it's one of those things where I wish I would have just said you know, screw it, let's just go be around other people who believe the same thing, and just to be around others and it's not the norm on a college campus, it seems like, at least around the Midwest, I assume maybe in the south it's a little more, but um, it was definitely not the majority. It felt like at ic.
Speaker 1:Um, I'm a little bit of the black sheep here in this group apparently. Uh, I respect you guys more than you could know. Uh grant talking about how he kind of in high school had set what was going to happen for him how he was going to behave.
Speaker 1:That's incredibly impressive to me. And then Jesse, more on the joining other group side. That's impressive to me. So I played one year at IC basketball, lived off campus, so I went to absolutely more parties than I would suggest anybody listening to me should go. Um, I didn't do anything egregious, I just was there, um, and it's not you can't be like. Well, I was there, but I'm not really. You know, I'm not like the rest of them. I, I was um and my thing was well, I'm playing basketball. Uh, the seniors like me, which that's pretty cool. The freshmen, so, uh, if they want me to come to the house on saturday, I'm yeah, because I, I'm just now becoming the person that will join groups.
Speaker 1:I think becoming a father forced me into that where you no longer get the ability to just avoid all the uncomfortable situations in the world. If I didn't play sports, I would have gone to class, gone back home, talked to nobody. I would have checked in with my friends at U of I. That's what I would have done. So, for me, sports was that outlet of I. That's what I would have done. So, for me, sports was that outlet. And that's what you did. You went to the basketball house on saturday and, um, hung out, um, so I'm, that's really impressive, because I'm just now to the point of, if people want to drink, that I'm like I might have one. I'll just have Diet Coke. My daughter's going to have me up at six, so it's not fun anymore. So, yeah, I commend all three of you. You guys had your priorities straight. I was a little little. I've strained from the path a little bit, so that's pretty cool to hear you want to go?
Speaker 1:you got some questions yeah, so I want, I don't want to keep you guys too much longer um okay, I'll have one more question when you're done then, to kind of wrap it up then so mine, mine can be pretty quick. They're uh all lifting questions, so we can go grant jesse, if you want first and then if Levi wants to answer. So you only get one lifting movement the rest of your life. What is it and why?
Speaker 3:We're going deadlift. Why, why deadlift? Why, why deadlift? Why deadlifts?
Speaker 1:yeah, I just I it's, it's such a fun challenge. Oh, I, I think, like I I mentally and physically.
Speaker 3:Uh, yeah, we're chasing a big number for this meet too, so I don't know if it's a little bit of a biased answer at the moment, but um, yeah, that's kind of just been my bread and butter lately did somebody ask why?
Speaker 1:in the background, by the way I did yeah, oh, okay, I thought, is that like someone else? I was like dang, we got five on this podcast. Okay, I, I get.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'll wait and talk about mine and cover your guys's when we come back to me uh, for me, I my answer is a bit just on the broad side when I think about the whole aspect of strength and conditioning and taking care of your body. Um, I mean, if I'm going to go for an exercise that is beneficial for strength, beneficial for your heart, beneficial for everything, and being athletic has got to be sprints. That that's the strength and conditioning coach answering me. Um, and that's why, if I guess I can give a second answer, what's your, what's your selfish answer?
Speaker 4:there's the, the feel-good answer is probably going to be a clean and jerk. I really enjoy Olympic lifting because it's a very simple like okay, pick the bar up off the ground and put it over your head, but then there's a lot of complex things that go on within it that, in order to get better at it, you got to get stronger in all these other areas.
Speaker 4:You know you're picking weight up off the ground. It can be heavy, You're being explosive and you're putting that weight on your shoulders and then trying to lift it overhead is just impressive as well. So that's probably my more selfish personal answer.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I like those yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't know, I don't really have an answer. I don't think well girls say there's one, like there's nothing like trying to beat your pr and bench is fun. That's about it, though, like I don't enjoy, I hate deadlifts. I, oh my gosh, I don't know. There's not a lift. I would rather maybe split squats or the single leg. Bulgarian split squats I hate too, but regular squats.
Speaker 3:I'm fine with. There's something about when you're deadlifting, when you like the dopamine rush, when you like, whether it's two plates, three plates, four, five, six, whatever, when you surpass that or like when you think a weight is about to humble you and you're able to make it move. Well, there's just a certain type of feeling that gets unlocked. That I don't know they'll have you hooked.
Speaker 1:I like both your answers, both you guys. I absolutely get your answers Like deadlift is such a grind, like that's a very big mental game in my opinion. Um, the sprints is like that's. That's a really good answer just for general health.
Speaker 3:That's yeah, um yeah, justin gave probably the best answer possible. Well, you haven't.
Speaker 1:you haven't heard mine yet. So hold off for a second. I don't know if you guys have figured it out just in our short talks, but I very much think like a caveman, meathead gym bro. So I mean, bench press is the one I'm doing, that's fair. So I took the summer off because I've been playing a ton of golf. So I took the summer off because I've been playing a ton of golf and then the other day I'm like man, I wonder what I can do for 225, for reps.
Speaker 1:It's just the first thing that popped in my head. Now. It was depressing to see what we're down to, but if I'm walking past it's like you know, we should probably try bench see where we're at. That's just like the alpha lift to me. For some reason I deadlift boy, deadlift squat.
Speaker 3:I don't know, but for some reason I so squat and deadlift, I feel like, are very similar, because it it tests your sheer will and sheer strength. And I, jesse, says the best is like the bar does not lie, like the bar doesn't discriminate you. You can't I mean you can maybe buy steroids and be a little bit stronger, but like you, literally like you can't buy your way out of being stronger, like yeah, it's, can you lift it or not? And I think you know squat, obviously the weight is all on your back, it's crushing you and you gotta move it up, whereas like the deadlift is not gonna leave, not gonna leave the ground on its own, like yeah, so speaking of, unless you have something else on bench.
Speaker 1:but speaking of bench, what is the uh bench max, best bench max from each of and it can be out of competition if you want.
Speaker 3:See, if I have an opponent listening to this right now, I apologize. I have to keep it a little.
Speaker 2:All right, that's fair. To be fair, this will probably be out after you're done. Anyways, unless you just really don't want to answer, you don't have to.
Speaker 3:No you're good, unless you just really don't want to answer, you don't have to. We'll say north of 300. We'll give them that range.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we'll even with that we'll make sure it's out after yeah. Jesse same boat, I'm guessing with your.
Speaker 4:Oh, I'm not competing right now.
Speaker 4:Oh good, my best. That was right out of, was it? In college? I hit 345. Woo, that's awesome. I think that was when I it was shortly my freshman year I had a knee injury and at that point, like I wasn't practicing or you know, I had surgery and stuff. So like all I did was bench. I just benched like three or four days a week. I got real big. I mean, I was weighing. I was getting pretty close to over like 280 pounds myself. I was just getting big and just just lifting heavy. My shoulders hated me.
Speaker 2:yeah so yeah levi um what did I get? 275 last fall, maybe let's see yeah, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, and then my last one is you guys have a go-to supplement brand you like.
Speaker 3:Oh, Jesse and I have the same one.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we're both fans and have been using FNX. Phoenix is kind of the brand they're based out of. I think Salt Lake City, yeah of, I think salt lake city, yeah, utah, um. But they are also, um, kind of a faith owned business as well. One of their, their core values is having faith in christ and stuff. Uh, the main owner of it is adrian conway. He's mostly a crossfit. He's done all the sports. He has a background in a lot of different sports when he tried to play football and different stuff like that but he's a really cool guy if you follow him on social media and stuff.
Speaker 2:Sweet.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got one just like curious question. I was thinking about when you said something earlier Grant, what's your? So you mentioned, um, this could be quick and then we'll go to our last one and wrap it up. But um, you said you cut. So you're gonna cut this next week, or like you're already cutting um, I'm on day two, well.
Speaker 3:So I had to cut some weight, probably a month and a half ago, okay, but I'm on my last phase of cutting weight to make weight for my meat next week.
Speaker 2:How do you go about that? Do you limit like calories or like you like on a meal plan, like, how do you go about that? Because my answer is the wrestling style of just dehydrating myself two days before.
Speaker 3:I need to weigh in. I'm not going to be a very good example here, so you know, if I'm, if I'm, if I've got time to cut weight, I'm I'm clearly going to go into a caloric deficit and I usually keep. I usually keep my fats pretty low and keep my carbs and proteins pretty high and keep my carbs and proteins pretty high. What I'm doing right now is exactly what you're thinking from. Wrestling is yeah, I've got really low carb intake at the moment, I'm in a pretty big deficit, and then we'll do a water cut five days out and then the day before we'll cut water 20 hours out, we'll cut water and then, if we need to cut any additional weight, we'll go into the sauna and shave it off.
Speaker 2:I really didn't think that there was water weight cutting in, powerlifting Like a bodybuilding that makes sense, wrestling like MMA stuff makes sense. But I thought you, you know, I thought it would be a little bit harder to do that with needing your muscles to be there's give and take to it, I think.
Speaker 3:I mean I've got 24-hour weigh-ins, so I've got 24 hours to make up all the weight I've lost, and I think I prefer to do it the fast and drastic way, just because once I get the rehydration back in, like liquid alone will add in, will give me four to five pounds back, and then it's just. You know it's. It's been a lot of trial and error. Um, I think we've now got the perfect formula for it.
Speaker 2:So do you weigh in one time over the whole competition or is it multiple days or?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so the day before I weigh in or the 24 hours before I compete or the day before I compete, I weigh in then and then I've got those 24 hours until I hit the platform 10k calorie challenge and it's not worked really well in my favor in the past, but now we've figured out what I need to to feel the best and get all my strength back, get all my muscle back and, uh, you know it works. So we're gonna.
Speaker 4:we're gonna keep doing what works yeah, weight cuts and lifting can be extreme, just like all the other sports. I mean, you look at guys that are in the top, top, top level, that are competing at Worlds and stuff like that. There's guys that cut 15 pounds in just a couple days and you know it's weight-sanctioned sports. It's all the same stuff.
Speaker 1:There's one of several reasons you'll never see me compete, lynn. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not.
Speaker 4:No see, I'm, I'm just bulk and go up a weight class, just yeah yeah, yeah, what's the?
Speaker 1:uh, so I'm 220, what could I?
Speaker 3:you'd be in the 100 kilogram class that's, that's what. That's what dylan competes at right now. Um yeah, they've got a 220, 240, I think, 265 or 270 308 308 plus, I mean just depends on how big you want to be no, I don't think I.
Speaker 1:I was 250 at one point, actually last February, and that's as it was fun because you are so much it wasn't like this disgusting, like I just had fat drooping off me or anything, so it was enjoyable. But then you get down to 220 and you're like I just kind of feel better. So but uh, the, also the travel you guys do, is incredible to me.
Speaker 4:The commitment there, that's another thing I'm used to travel as far as sports go, me growing up we, when we play sports even like coaching now um, we is very normal football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, whatever the sport is we travel four to five hours every week yeah, see I, yeah, I mean stick at home I definitely think it takes some commitment.
Speaker 3:but I mean, when you want to be the best to do it, um, you know, sometimes you gotta gotta go that extra mile just to you know, compete on those national stages and and be among the best, um, I think that's where you learn the most and you know, you really find out what you're made of.
Speaker 1:Well, I guess I'll just stick to the millionth best and way down here. No, that's, that's awesome to hear. I'm, I'm.
Speaker 3:I'll be interested to hear, uh, how you do. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, yeah, no, we'll definitely keep you guys updated.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, and then just one more last. It doesn't have to be a very long answer, um, I'm just curious, um, is there a verse or a story in the bible that is something that you think about or turn to a lot? Or, if you do feel like you are in a situation where you share with someone that's diverse, that kind of comes to mind, or just one that you go to yourself a lot? Um, is there one that comes to mind for you guys?
Speaker 4:just to let you go first um, I think for me I mean I have it in my instagram bio is, uh, second corinthians 12 10. I know there's more to it, but the what people remember from it, um, is for when I am weak, then I am strong, and that just goes into times of times of doubt or worry and, um, you know, if you're feeling insecure or you have fear about something is it's just trusting God's plan and staying strong in that and things are going to end up better on the other side. You may not always understand it sometimes, but just have faith in it because you're going to come out on the other side stronger and yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm scared. This sounds basic, but I don't really care what others have to say about this. I feel like my verse is Philippians 4.13. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. I feel like it's very common.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, some people turn into a cliche thing, but it's definitely.
Speaker 3:I think the thing behind that is just remembering the position that you're in. I've always thought to myself is like you're in a spot where, like someone out there, is praying to get to at some point. And you know, having that humbleness but also like again I talked about earlier, is is showing God's characteristics that he would want us to give to those around us. And you know, when it when it comes down to maybe like a fear of I don't know if I can do this, I don't know if I can make it through this situation, whatever the case may be, it's always that is always at the top of my mind is I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, and you know, really just turning the keys over to Him and letting Him do the work, and you know just constantly saying thankful for all the blessings that that come into my life yeah I like that one.
Speaker 1:Well, obviously I like that one is tattooed on my body uh, but yeah I I think you nailed it there, and currently the situation we're going through with my son is it's I mean, it applies every but it's such a comforting thing to know that he's got you trust in him, um, and and keep that relationship close, uh, and you'll get through this. But a lot of times that's that's easier said than done to keep that on the front of your mind. So, yeah, I think you nailed it. Yeah, those are good. Any questions or wrap up remarks you guys want to mention before we get off here.
Speaker 4:I mean, you guys are saying that bench is kind of your favorite lift. Maybe through SCGA we'll release a bench press program.
Speaker 1:Oh, sign me up, no you know what?
Speaker 3:You know what? How about I see his homecoming? We might need to run up a bench competition. There you go, brady's.
Speaker 1:Garage. I'm not pausing, I'm throwing it off my chest.
Speaker 3:We come out to Jacksonville and we run it up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that'd be awesome.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but no, honestly, I just want to say thank you to you guys for having us on your podcast.
Speaker 3:You know the relationship is definitely mutual. We really appreciate you guys and think you're doing just a phenomenal job of sharing God's word and being those examples being what society needs, for both the younger generation and for our peers and for those who are older than us listening to this podcast. And you know I didn't have a chance to say this earlier on, but you know, happy Father's Day to Brady, and you know I'm going to definitely put you and your family in my prayers and you know, if you ever need anything, just let us know. All right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I absolutely appreciate it. That means a lot We've gotten. It's amazing, kind of the core of your people and even I had mentioned this what we're going through on the podcast, probably a couple months ago, and just amazing how many people will reach out. Hey, not only are we thinking of you, which is great, but sending all the prayers your way. So all that's just to say I absolutely appreciate it. That stuff's not lost on us and that means a ton to us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you guys have anything you guys want to say, your Instagram and stuff like that, anywhere else people can find you or look at your stuff.
Speaker 4:I know we, I think our we said said it a little bit earlier, but our website is just stgfitnesscom and then our Instagram, stgfit, and I mean you know just throwing it out there for different audience on a different podcast, but we we run coaching and everything we're. We're all on an app. It's custom programming, always tailored towards your specific goals. It doesn't have to be power lifting, just general strength, weight loss. You just want to get in shape or whatever it is. We can fit those needs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, sweet do you guys run a? Do you guys run a poll or anything, when you post these podcasts? No, not typically Again we still don't really know what we're doing On your social media you should say, should we collab with STG Fitness on an apparel drop? I'm curious to see what the poll is on that.
Speaker 2:We haven't gotten anything. We've been saying it for a year. We're definitely lacking on that. We haven't gotten anything.
Speaker 3:We've been saying it for like a year, that we need to, but we're definitely lacking on that part. But yeah, that would be interesting. It'd be sick to collab eventually. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Well, to send flowers back to you guys' way, thank you, for I mean, we spent I don't know what probably an hour and a half. I know you guys got life 15 hour, 20 to live. Um, so that means the world to us that you guys even came on and then, um, I like I said, I, I love what you guys are doing with fitness and wrapping it into um religion and keeping god on the forefront of it. Uh, it's amazing to see, especially in a world that can look so bleak at sometimes. Um, so, you guys are doing an awesome job. I'm absolutely going to keep in touch, uh, and then, yeah, don't. I don't know if you can just let levi know how you do, because I I'm interested in that stuff. I just don't see it now that there's no social media for me. So, um, you guys do an awesome job and I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good luck. This uh coming. Is it next week, you said, or two weeks? We can or a week and a half out. Okay, good luck there.
Speaker 4:And then, jesse, good luck with uh football this fall appreciate it, yeah thank you guys, good luck with everything and thanks for having us all righty thank you guys all right, you guys take care.
