Description
Pat Barber, known to early CrossFit fans as "The Manimal," joins Tom to talk about the raw early days of CrossFit, what 20 years of teaching Level 1 and Level 2 seminars taught him about connecting with people, and how he took those lessons into fatherhood with The Fathers Guild.
Pat started CrossFit in 2004, when his middle school English teacher, Tony Budding, brought it in to train the volleyball team. He went on to film Greg Glassman's seminars, compete at the highest level, and coach thousands of athletes. Today he's a father of four boys and the founder of The Fathers Guild, a community of more than 250,000 men working to become better fathers and better men.
In this episode:
- Why getting pinned by 140-lb Chris Spealler taught Pat to respect wrestling technique
- Where CrossFit stands today, and why Pat still thinks it's the best fitness methodology in the world
- Fitness made simple: intensity vs. volume, functional movements, and Pat's ideal weekly training split
- The No Yell Challenge: how a $5 penalty created a gap between reaction and response
- What dysregulation is and how to get back in control of yourself
- The #1 struggle Pat hears from dads: the gap between "dream you" and who you are today
- Antifragility: stress plus recovery plus consistency equals growth
- Pat's framework for growth across health, freedom, and relationships
- Empty nest: the stage of fatherhood nobody warns you about
- "The material of fatherhood is being a good human being"
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:00 Wrestling vs. volleyball and getting pinned by Chris Spealler
04:30 How Pat found CrossFit through his English teacher
06:50 Filming seminars for CrossFit HQ
10:00 "Taking on the Open" throwback
12:15 Still teaching CrossFit Level 1 and Level 2
15:15 Where CrossFit stands today
18:30 Connection over information: evolving as a coach
22:45 Fitness made simple
28:30 Pat's ideal weekly training split
29:50 Four boys and the start of The Fathers Guild
33:45 How CrossFit coaching shaped his fatherhood
35:45 The No Yell Challenge
38:00 What dysregulation really means
43:45 What today's dads struggle with most
48:00 Antifragility: how humans are built to grow
51:30 The Dream You framework
55:30 Empty nest: what nobody tells you
1:04:30 The material of fatherhood
1:07:45 Tom's advice to young dads
1:08:45 Where to find The Fathers Guild
1:09:45 Could Chris Spealler compete today?
CONNECT WITH PAT BARBER
Website: https://thefathersguild.com
Instagram and YouTube: @thefathersguild
Email: pat@thefathersguild.com
This episode is brought to you by Star brite, the maker of Salt Off and a full line of boat care products, and a company that invests heavily in conservation. Check them out at https://www.starbrite.com
#PatBarber #FathersGuild #CrossFit #Fatherhood #TomRowlandPodcast