Hey, what's up everybody? This is Chris. This week on Barbell Shrug, it's not your typical episode, baby.

Get on over to barbellshrug.com, queue up the video version, get your friends over, make some food,

turn on the HDTV and enjoy the show.

But if you are listening to the audio version, we broke this episode in the three parts.

This is part one of three. We sit down with the Laco CEO Eric Blomberg,

talk about what it takes to make the world's finest barbell,

and why a humble waffle iron made it all possible.

Hey, this is Rich Froning, you're listening to Barbell Shrug, for the video version, go to barbellshrug.com.

Welcome to Barbell Shrug, got Mike Blitzow here with Doug Larson, Chris Moore.

We have CTP behind the camera, and we also have Charlotte Miles.

We have two camera people, so we are actually changing the show right now, maybe from...

Improving the show.

It's not changing it, we're making it better.

We actually traveled to Sweden, blue or not.

We're hanging out with the CEO of Laco, Eric Blomberg, and we're going to be talking.

We've all known that Laco barbells were the best, and we've always wanted more of them in our gyms and all that kind of stuff.

And we got talking to them at some events, I met your brother at record,

at a couple of events this year, and he was like, oh, you should come to Sweden, I'm like, I'll come to Sweden.

I will take you up on that.

As soon as that was a popular activity, we have to go...

You won't enjoy us being there at all.

We will crash your party.

...