Welcome back, team, to the Strong Life podcast. This is your host and your boy, Zach Evanesh. This is episode

470. We're creeping up on 500 episodes. Of course, I love when we get great Strong Life podcast reviews.

And those who leave Kickass reviews are rewarded. In this episode, I'm sharing something very cool.

My buddy Joe Riggio, he's my partner in the Underground Strength Con,

he shared a state of the union of the strength and conditioning industry

compared to when he and I got into the business.

And even though I got into the business ahead And even though I got into the business,

uh,

ahead of Joe with regards to opening my first gym,

um,

they are a lot more successful than I am.

They've got multiple gyms. They have one massive gym,

Varsity House HQ,

which is where we'll be holding underground strength con.

And so this, uh these stories that he shares about how he came up through the business

about traveling the world, traveling the world, literally leaving the country to attend

strength and conditioning seminars.

And I've shared stories before.

You know, many of you have been listening, you know, and if you're new, now you're

going to hear a little bit of the backstory.

But I think back to how many times I had to take a sick day from work, not because I was sick, but because I would be attending these seminars that were often held on Thursday, Friday, or Friday, Saturday, or they're Saturday Sunday, but they're down in Florida.

And I'm going to tell you one, one story that really hits home from me, and then I'm going to share with you

...