Coach Ted talks about the first iteration of Diablo Barbell.
The Beginnings of Diablo Barbell
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The Beginnings of Diablo Barbell
Season 5/Episode 32
August 2, 2022
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
0:01 Ted
Alright guys, here we go. So, we came off a pretty light week on the podcast. We have a little break from Rudolf Steiner and then the big concept of training so last week we just kind of freewheel but this week I went into our recording not knowing what was in front of me so Johnny interviews me on a couple of core thoughts and concepts that he had for me and so let's see how this turns out. So, I went into this a little bit blind and we just kind of went with some questions. I hope everyone likes another lighter week. I think this time we will go into a little bit of Diablo history and some philosophy and then we'll get back on track with some more structured stuff to challenge your brain and a little bit of a different way in the coming weeks.
0:42 Introduction
This is the Ted O'Neill Program where we explore the science and philosophies for performance optimization, and the elevation of the human experience from the mind of Ted O'Neill with Jon Leon Guerrero.
1:04 Ted
In the late 90s, I started a chain of fitness retail stores where we sold high end exercise equipment and part of the unique thing that we did is when anyone would come and they would set up their home gym through us, I would help them with their training and including their nutrition plan. So, it was kind of this comprehensive thing of they would supply the hardware as well as the executables on and how to do this. So, for a very long time. I've had my hands and program designed for people from a very, very wide variety of individuals, people looking to lose body fat or to recomp to get stronger and everything in between. So, when that went away, it occurred to me that what I really wanted to do was to train at Westside barbell. At that point, I had talked to Louis Simmons several times. This is many years after we began talking, and I was very inspired by everything that he was doing, although not always applying it as such. And so, I thought, Man, if I could go train there so that I could see what I could really do, but I didn't think that at that time in my life, that was a feasible job to make for a variety of reasons. So, once I was out of the fitness equipment business, I thought, you know, what should I pursue now? And that's where I thought you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to do it Louie does because I had received quite a bit from him in the way of information over the years enough to where I'd put that into practice at this point for almost 10 years. And then I had myself at that point really gotten serious about using those teachings. Which was essentially his early versions of the conjugate method. And I wanted to build up that side of my training, not only for myself in my own personal pursuits, but work with lifters. So that was how Diablo was born. That's how I went from doing personal training in a variety of different settings. To what I would consider coaching. I think personal training is generally speaking, and it's just my opinion, a means to an end where someone is doing something that's activity based following a certain program where they have someone there in a one on one setting, that's really helping them to stay accountable. To me, coaching implies a different level of commitment from the trainee. A different level of desire, and in my mind should be a set of precise and clear-cut instructions that I can assign to a trainee or trainees from various different backgrounds to get them from point A to point B in the shortest period of time possible. So, training and working out are very different things. I think working out is something you do training is a demonstration of who you are. Much the same way that personal training and coaching are different as well.
3:55 Jon
Okay. When you started coaching, you had an idea of coaching performance athletes who were doing the same and had the same pursuits you did.
4:05 Ted
Yeah, at this point. I really wanted to keep it primarily to just powerlifters. Yeah, you know, I had observed and listened to Louie Simmons tell me about what was happening at West Side and all the amazing things and I find whenever you catch a little bit of that magic, yeah, just work with power lifters was at that point. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to take my training and turn it into a competitive pursuit and really go all the way in. And so, this is where the first group, the first Diablo group formed in my garage I had at that point, converted a three-car garage into Diablo version one. Thank goodness it was a three-car garage. It was pretty packed. You know? And a lot of the equipment in Diablo barbell today was in that original setting. And this is back either 99 or two. I think I want to say 2000. Probably summer of 2000. And it wasn't that long, maybe a year after that. That Diablo version 1.0 was born in our first commercial setting. in Concord, California.
5:12 Jon
Okay, where was that?
5:13 Ted
Well, it was about a half a mile down the street from where we are now. I see. Yeah, right there in the industrial semi industrial part of Concord. Yeah, you know, it was funny now there is a warehouse style Jip on almost every block in every semi industrial place in the country. Back then, man, I don't know if there were even a handful of us.
5:35 Jon
Yeah, you were on the very cutting edge of the new look and feel of a truly effective gym.
5:44 Ted
Yes, it was. It's, it was something that when people you know, I think, you know, there's probably parts of different subcultures bodybuilding been one of them, where maybe guys would group together and they would pool their resources and train out of a garage, or they would buy equipment and then put it into a commercial gym with the approval of the owner and then hadn't have a little grip, but there weren't many places that were commercial entities that that cater to this. So, I have to imagine we were one of the first or at least one of the first of this wave. And now have to be one of the one of the longest standing. That's that out there.
6:18 Jon
Yeah. Especially in the West of the Mississippi.
6:21 Ted
Yeah. What's the use of it? So, who knows?
Alright guys, here we go. So, we came off a pretty light week on the podcast. We have a little break from Rudolf Steiner and then the big concept of training so last week we just kind of freewheel but this week I went into our recording not knowing what was in front of me so Johnny interviews me on a couple of core thoughts and concepts that he had for me and so let's see how this turns out. So, I went into this a little bit blind and we just kind of went with some questions. I hope everyone likes another lighter week. I think this time we will go into a little bit of Diablo history and some philosophy and then we'll get back on track with some more structured stuff to challenge your brain and a little bit of a different way in the coming weeks.
0:42 Introduction
This is the Ted O'Neill Program where we explore the science and philosophies for performance optimization, and the elevation of the human experience from the mind of Ted O'Neill with Jon Leon Guerrero.
1:04 Ted
In the late 90s, I started a chain of fitness retail stores where we sold high end exercise equipment and part of the unique thing that we did is when anyone would come and they would set up their home gym through us, I would help them with their training and including their nutrition plan. So, it was kind of this comprehensive thing of they would supply the hardware as well as the executables on and how to do this. So, for a very long time. I've had my hands and program designed for people from a very, very wide variety of individuals, people looking to lose body fat or to recomp to get stronger and everything in between. So, when that went away, it occurred to me that what I really wanted to do was to train at Westside barbell. At that point, I had talked to Louis Simmons several times. This is many years after we began talking, and I was very inspired by everything that he was doing, although not always applying it as such. And so, I thought, Man, if I could go train there so that I could see what I could really do, but I didn't think that at that time in my life, that was a feasible job to make for a variety of reasons. So, once I was out of the fitness equipment business, I thought, you know, what should I pursue now? And that's where I thought you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to do it Louie does because I had received quite a bit from him in the way of information over the years enough to where I'd put that into practice at this point for almost 10 years. And then I had myself at that point really gotten serious about using those teachings. Which was essentially his early versions of the conjugate method. And I wanted to build up that side of my training, not only for myself in my own personal pursuits, but work with lifters. So that was how Diablo was born. That's how I went from doing personal training in a variety of different settings. To what I would consider coaching. I think personal training is generally speaking, and it's just my opinion, a means to an end where someone is doing something that's activity based following a certain program where they have someone there in a one on one setting, that's really helping them to stay accountable. To me, coaching implies a different level of commitment from the trainee. A different level of desire, and in my mind should be a set of precise and clear-cut instructions that I can assign to a trainee or trainees from various different backgrounds to get them from point A to point B in the shortest period of time possible. So, training and working out are very different things. I think working out is something you do training is a demonstration of who you are. Much the same way that personal training and coaching are different as well.
3:55 Jon
Okay. When you started coaching, you had an idea of coaching performance athletes who were doing the same and had the same pursuits you did.
4:05 Ted
Yeah, at this point. I really wanted to keep it primarily to just powerlifters. Yeah, you know, I had observed and listened to Louie Simmons tell me about what was happening at West Side and all the amazing things and I find whenever you catch a little bit of that magic, yeah, just work with power lifters was at that point. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to take my training and turn it into a competitive pursuit and really go all the way in. And so, this is where the first group, the first Diablo group formed in my garage I had at that point, converted a three-car garage into Diablo version one. Thank goodness it was a three-car garage. It was pretty packed. You know? And a lot of the equipment in Diablo barbell today was in that original setting. And this is back either 99 or two. I think I want to say 2000. Probably summer of 2000. And it wasn't that long, maybe a year after that. That Diablo version 1.0 was born in our first commercial setting. in Concord, California.
5:12 Jon
Okay, where was that?
5:13 Ted
Well, it was about a half a mile down the street from where we are now. I see. Yeah, right there in the industrial semi industrial part of Concord. Yeah, you know, it was funny now there is a warehouse style Jip on almost every block in every semi industrial place in the country. Back then, man, I don't know if there were even a handful of us.
5:35 Jon
Yeah, you were on the very cutting edge of the new look and feel of a truly effective gym.
5:44 Ted
Yes, it was. It's, it was something that when people you know, I think, you know, there's probably parts of different subcultures bodybuilding been one of them, where maybe guys would group together and they would pool their resources and train out of a garage, or they would buy equipment and then put it into a commercial gym with the approval of the owner and then hadn't have a little grip, but there weren't many places that were commercial entities that that cater to this. So, I have to imagine we were one of the first or at least one of the first of this wave. And now have to be one of the one of the longest standing. That's that out there.
6:18 Jon
Yeah. Especially in the West of the Mississippi.
6:21 Ted
Yeah. What's the use of it? So, who knows?
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