Philosophical Weightlifting

Philosophical Weightlifting I, Joshua Gibson, interview elite level weightlifters, coaches, and experts in the sport.

04/01/2026

6/6, 67/80 for all-time PRs and the performance of an absolutely lifetime at the VS1/Arnold 🗣️

Well done .grace.a 🫡

03/21/2026

So incredibly proud of and her performance at the Arnold in the 53kg A session!

4/6, 51 and 71 for improvements across the board from our previous two competitions working together. She also smashed 74, which I’ll happily count as a make 🤷

With this momentum, the plan is to keep competing frequently and hit the senior nationals total 🙂‍↕️


📸

03/20/2026

A 180kg squat at 58... a 125kg hip clean... Miranda Ulrey is built and trained DIFFERENT.

She has competed with and beaten the best of the best. Crowned a junior world champ, Pan Am champ, and she isn’t stopping there, with her sights set on making a statement at the Olympic Games in 2028.

Even with a huge social media following, no other podcasts or interviews exist that deep-dive into her background as a competitive weightlifter.

In this episode, we discuss her introduction to the sport, what’s kept her competing at the highest level, and a few of her favorite variations (hint: she’s very good at them).

🎧 Tune in wherever you get your podcasts
🏋️‍♀️ Follow Miranda
🔗 Link in bio

03/20/2026

with the 🥈 🧹 in the M35 60kg class!

Derick went 5/6 (73 + 88), put together a very solid total, and had a blast doing it.

He only scared us a teeny tiny bit when he missed his second sn**ch 😉

03/12/2026

This week, I sat down with Celia Gold — international weightlifter, European Championship medalist, and one of the coolest people in weightlifting.

We discuss:
– Competing at the Arnold on the Rogue Strength stage
– The chaos and energy of major competitions
– Transitioning from CrossFit to Olympic weightlifting
– Learning from coaches like .sandoval, Bob Morris and .rucker
– Training philosophy, consistency, and technique development
– Balancing elite sport with a full-time career

Celia also shares insights into the mental side of the sport — learning how to stay present, enjoy the process, and continue improving through different phases of an athletic career.

🎧 Tune in wherever you get your podcasts
🏋️‍♀️ Follow Celia
🔗 Link in bio

03/04/2026

There is a growing popularity in high frequency SBD (squat, bench, deadlift) training. Is it a fad or something worth incorporating into your program?

In this episode of the podcast, Max and I discuss:
✅ High frequency SBD
✅ Testing vs training
✅ Skill development, as it relates to strength
✅ How coaches can improve their own philosophies and skill sets

🎧 Wherever you get your podcasts
🧠 Follow Max:
🏋️Host:

02/19/2026

Seb and I always deliver a classic podcast episode. This time we explore:

– The “controversial” 215kg squat
– Hampton Morris cleaning 190
– The format + the tension between “fun” and “fair”
– Olivia Reeves (as always 😂)
– Weightlifting House V2 + the new athlete collection
– Life updates

🎧 Listen wherever you get podcasts
🧠 Follow Seb:
🏋️‍♂️ Follow Weightlifting House:

02/12/2026

Caden’s lifts have been everywhere lately — massive sn**ches, huge clean & jerks, and attempts that put him shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in the world. But this conversation goes deeper than numbers on the bar.

We talk about:
– Growing up in Florida’s unique weightlifting system
– Developing elite technique without being “the strongest guy”
– Moving from 79kg to 85kg and what real long-term development looks like
– Training through injuries, pressure, and big expectations
– Why some athletes thrive when everything is on the line

This is a conversation about patience, belief, and loving the moment when the weight actually matters.

🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts
🏋️‍♂️ Follow Caden
🔗 Link in bio

02/05/2026

Max Aita is back.

We start in Korea at Worlds… then end up in the trenches where coaching lives:

✅ Principles > templates
✅ Ex*****on > optimization
✅ Volume ceilings and intensity trade-offs
✅ Why “better programming” usually isn’t the answer
✅ The real advantage: speed of implementation

🎧 New episode live now (link in bio)

Follow Max:

01/30/2026

This week, I sat down with Brandon Victorian — Team USA weightlifter and one of the most jacked humans in the sport — to talk about the path from a garage to the international stage.

We discuss:
– Finding weightlifting through football, CrossFit, and luck
– Rising from local meets to Nationals, Pan Am Games, and Worlds
– Competing in one of the most stacked weight classes in the world
– Learning how to play the game at high-level competitions
– Navigating plateaus, missed lifts, travel stress, and pressure
– Chasing the Olympic dream and making life decisions to support it

If you’re an athlete who loves the process as much as the platform — and wants to see what real commitment looks like — this one’s for you.

🎧 Tune in wherever you get your podcasts
🏋️‍♂️ Follow Brandon
🔗 Link in bio

StrengthSports USAWeightlifting RoadToParis BarbellLife

01/20/2026

This week, I sat down with Shyam Chavda to talk about applying sport science to weightlifting preparation.

We discuss Shyam’s Olympic case study, how training and monitoring evolved through COVID, and what it looks like when one person serves as both coach and sport scientist. We also explore emerging work on trunk strength, posture, and force transfer — and how these ideas may influence how we think about position and lower-body force production in the sn**ch and clean.

This episode previews Shyam’s presentation at the Power & Strength Summit (Jan 24–25) and offers practical insight for coaches navigating performance, health, and long-term development.

🎧 Tune in wherever you get your podcasts
📊 Follow Shyam
🔗 Episode + info in bio

Next on our team of professionals is Dr. Chris Taber, sport science consultant for Philosophical Weightlifting! 🤩Dr. Tab...
01/10/2026

Next on our team of professionals is Dr. Chris Taber, sport science consultant for Philosophical Weightlifting! 🤩

Dr. Taber is an associate professor at Sacred Heart University. He serves as the graduate program director for the Exercise and Sport Science masters program. His work focuses on athlete testing and monitoring, strength and power development, and weightlifting. In addition, he is a national-level weightlifting coach and sport scientist, allowing him to bridge the gap between theory and practice. 🔬

As a consultant, Dr. Taber can provide guidance on sport science best practices for testing and monitoring athletes from diverse backgrounds. This includes starting, running, or updating current protocols for improving athlete performance. 🏋️

If you’re interested in developing a grassroots sport science program or improving the effectiveness of an existing initiative, then contact Chris directly or head over to PhilosophicalWeightlifting.com to set up a consult! 😍

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