Uldis Upenieks (00:03):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (00:06):
Uh,
Uldis Upenieks (00:09):
Yes. Sounds good.
Sevan Matossian (00:11):
Yeah. Good. All right. Shit. <inaudible>, uh, from Lavia?
Uldis Upenieks (00:16):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (00:17):
Awesome. Wow. Crazy. I’ve never been there.
Uldis Upenieks (00:22):
Yeah. Few people know where it is.
Sevan Matossian (00:25):
I looked on a map so I could act cool. By the Baltic Sea.
Uldis Upenieks (00:29):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (00:30):
And it looks beautiful. Hey, is that good water? All the pictures you show, it looks like it’s the best water in the world.
Uldis Upenieks (00:35):
Uh, the beach is really nice. Uh, the coastline, the beach is like Sandy.
Sevan Matossian (00:41):
Yeah.
Uldis Upenieks (00:43):
And, uh, yeah, beautiful beach.
Sevan Matossian (00:45):
And, and is the water cold or warm? Or cold?
Uldis Upenieks (00:49):
Uh, in summer you can swim like three months, four months, but then it’s like cold and, uh, in winter it’s really cold. Icy, or even frozen.
Sevan Matossian (01:03):
Oh, no. Well, in some of these pictures, it looks like, I mean, look how clean this water is. What is this? Um, what? This looks unreal.
Uldis Upenieks (01:12):
Oh, no, this is in, uh, this is in mouth.
Sevan Matossian (01:15):
Oh,
Uldis Upenieks (01:16):
That’s not in la.
Sevan Matossian (01:18):
Oh. Where’s Malta? Is that Ukraine? Where’s Malta?
Uldis Upenieks (01:21):
Uh, Malta is like small, uh, island, uh, below Italy.
Sevan Matossian (01:27):
Oh, oh, oh. Is that its own country?
Uldis Upenieks (01:29):
Yes. That’s super small country.
Sevan Matossian (01:34):
All right. Am I getting torn up in the comments for asking that? Let me see what’s going on here. <laugh>, <laugh> already. You want, uh, let’s just get this outta way. Do you know Arnold Schwarzenegger Olus?
Uldis Upenieks (01:45):
I know, yes.
Sevan Matossian (01:46):
Yeah. And he had this movie called Predator.
Uldis Upenieks (01:50):
Uh, yeah.
Sevan Matossian (01:51):
And there’s a scene where he says, get to the Choppa. <laugh>
Uldis Upenieks (01:55):
The Choppa. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (01:59):
Do, do you think you could say that for me? For the, the, the, the, the listeners are, are clamoring in the chat. They’re saying, Hey, can we get ’em to say, uh, get to the Choppa.
Uldis Upenieks (02:08):
Get to the Choppa,
Sevan Matossian (02:11):
Get to the, that’s good. That’s good. I’ll take it. Uh, golf Fox, Trott Yankee. Latvia is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west.
Uldis Upenieks (02:25):
Yes. Wikipedia. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (02:32):
He copied and pasted. Yeah. He’s a good dude for all of us,
Uldis Upenieks (02:35):
It sounds like.
Sevan Matossian (02:37):
Uh, ES um, how many people call you Oldes instead of Es?
Uldis Upenieks (02:44):
Mm. Like, uh, in CrossFit games or like in states
Sevan Matossian (02:50):
In CrossFit games. Just like strangers, like knuckleheads, like me.
Uldis Upenieks (02:53):
There’s like lot of different variations. Like they spell U like you, then it’s Ydi. Oh, um, YDI. Like ydi? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, odi and some other like, or, or odi, like O
Sevan Matossian (03:15):
Oh, ODI. Udi es es. It’s a great name. What’s it mean?
Uldis Upenieks (03:22):
Means nothing is a Latin name.
Sevan Matossian (03:25):
Just a like Tom,
Uldis Upenieks (03:26):
Basically <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (03:28):
And, um, and then, and then you used to have the same first letter. The first letter of your first name is the first letter of your last name.
Uldis Upenieks (03:34):
Yeah. That’s nice.
Sevan Matossian (03:36):
Yeah. That is nice. Do you have siblings? And your parents did that with all of them? You all start with you?
Uldis Upenieks (03:41):
Uh, no.
Sevan Matossian (03:42):
No.
Uldis Upenieks (03:43):
Oh, no.
Sevan Matossian (03:44):
You know how parents do that? Do you have siblings? Yes,
Uldis Upenieks (03:47):
I have older brother and younger sister.
Sevan Matossian (03:50):
What are their names?
Uldis Upenieks (03:52):
A Amanda and, uh, cls.
Sevan Matossian (03:55):
What you got Oldest. And they got Amanda and Klaus <laugh>. You, you, those aren’t a Latian names, are they?
Uldis Upenieks (04:03):
No, uh uh. Klauss is Latvian. It’s, it’s Uhhuh.
Sevan Matossian (04:06):
<affirmative>.
Uldis Upenieks (04:07):
It’s Key L uh, like a, but, uh, like Latvian Long A
Sevan Matossian (04:13):
Okay. V
Uldis Upenieks (04:14):
S.
Sevan Matossian (04:14):
Oh, okay, okay. Okay. Because I have a buddy friend who lives in, who’s German from Germany, and his name is Klaus.
Uldis Upenieks (04:22):
Maybe Klaus, like a little bit different maybe.
Sevan Matossian (04:26):
Oh, here we go. Oh, thank you. Wow. You are good. Caleb, conjugate to German. Klaus. Oh, gloves. Gloves.
Uldis Upenieks (04:36):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (04:38):
Cl How old are you?
Uldis Upenieks (04:40):
25.
Sevan Matossian (04:41):
Oh, you’re young.
Uldis Upenieks (04:43):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, kinda young. <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (04:46):
Are you in the States now? Is that, are you in Cookville?
Uldis Upenieks (04:48):
Yes, in Cookville.
Sevan Matossian (04:50):
And is that a hotel room?
Uldis Upenieks (04:52):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (04:54):
And, and how, how long have you been there? When did you get there?
Uldis Upenieks (04:57):
Um, since, since, uh, since 14 or 15 July.
Sevan Matossian (05:05):
Oh, okay. So, uh, two weeks.
Uldis Upenieks (05:09):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (05:10):
Tell me about that. Why the, um, tell me about the decision to come to, obviously you’re a mayhem athlete, but tell me about the decision to come two weeks early to Cookville to train. And did you, were, had you been training, training previously in, uh, Latvia?
Uldis Upenieks (05:23):
Uh, yes. I was training in Latvia, but, uh, last year, uh, first when I decide I came to state, and last year was like perfect for me, like preparation here in Cookville. So I decided I will do the same this year because in 19 and, uh, 20 games, I, I went to games only like three days before, and of course I was like messed up all the days with like, jet lag because we have eight hour like difference.
Sevan Matossian (05:56):
This, this is your fourth games?
Uldis Upenieks (06:00):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (06:01):
Wow. Congratulations.
Uldis Upenieks (06:03):
Yeah. Would be five, but, uh, I didn’t qualify I guess for the top 20 in, um, COVID year.
Sevan Matossian (06:12):
Okay. What, what did, what did you qualify? Were you in the top 40?
Uldis Upenieks (06:16):
I don’t, I don’t know. What was that year? I needed to be top 20 or top 40. I don’t remember actually. But they anyways, took only five people to the games.
Sevan Matossian (06:25):
Yeah. That’s weird. So I, I wonder, I think I was, I asked Emily Wolf, I said, do you count it if you’re in the top 20? And she said, I count it, or else only five people get to say they went to the games that year.
Uldis Upenieks (06:38):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (06:38):
Or five, five men and five women. How are you doing? You feel good? You all fired up?
Uldis Upenieks (06:45):
Yeah, I feel healthy. Everything is good training go, going good. And, uh, yes, I’m already in like this time zone feeling. Yeah, feeling, feeling good. No injuries, everything’s fine. And now just tapering less, less volume. Still a lot of training, but less volume.
Sevan Matossian (07:09):
Who is, who’s your direct coach over there?
Uldis Upenieks (07:12):
Um, like closest to me is, uh, Jake, uh, Lockhart.
Sevan Matossian (07:19):
Yeah, I had him on the show. That’s the guy. That’s the programmer guy,
Uldis Upenieks (07:23):
Yes. But like, uh, overall, like the season, I don’t have like one to one coach. Basically I follow like mayhem compete program, and then I do for myself, like extra, like what’s, what is my weakness? Like, uh, off-season weightlifting training, like separate from mayhem. But yeah, usually the base is mayhem.
Sevan Matossian (07:50):
And and you, you, you had an in Instagram post in 2015. That’s nine years ago.
Uldis Upenieks (07:57):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (07:58):
And you had 32 strict pull-ups.
Uldis Upenieks (08:02):
Mm, yeah.
Sevan Matossian (08:03):
<laugh>. And, um, how much do you weigh here?
Uldis Upenieks (08:08):
Mm, around 70 to 75 kg. So basically around one 50
Sevan Matossian (08:15):
Pounds. Okay. And if you put on three pounds of muscle every year for nine years, that would be 27 pounds. How much do you weigh now?
Uldis Upenieks (08:28):
180, 180 5 to one 90.
Sevan Matossian (08:31):
Okay. So that’s about what that is. Is that what you, did you put on a, have you just been just, is it just been training like mad for nine years?
Uldis Upenieks (08:39):
Um, it was before that even, like I was doing, as you can see, polar bar, I did like how it’s called like, uh, street workout or calisthenics, you know, it’s not like professional gym gymnastics or anything like that. I did before, like, uh, yeah, street workout, just going out, doing street pull-ups, dips, strict mups, like pushups, doing tricks on the pull-up bar. Uh, I was even like in or ho home time, home, uh, tone. We were even performing and doing like performances, you know, holding like front lever, if you know what it is. Back lever.
Sevan Matossian (09:24):
Yeah, yeah.
Uldis Upenieks (09:25):
Like all that stuff. And that’s in those times. My PR was I think 35 strict pull-ups. And uh, yeah, basically I, I did everything what I wanted to do in that sport. Uh, there was also competitions, local competitions, like, uh, lottery and championships and street workout. You know, we, we needed to do like, similar to basically like one is like CrossFit workout, then it’s like, uh, freestyle competition and something like that. But then I, it, it got like boring. Yeah. This is like pressed to handstand. And, uh, I think there will be also like straddle plunge. I will at least try to hold. Yeah, this is like straddle plunge. That’s way back.
Sevan Matossian (10:22):
And you’re 21 here?
Uldis Upenieks (10:25):
I think around 1819.
Sevan Matossian (10:27):
1819. Hey, um, uh, hold, sorry, hold on one second. Uh, extra slop, uh, behind the scenes fund. Well, thank you. That’s very kind of you. Thank you. Um,
Uldis Upenieks (10:37):
And, uh, about that, about that weight. Yeah, I, I did like, you know, I, I saw what is cross it and I was like, I need to decide to keep, like, doing that street workout or to get like a into cross it, because Allen into cross it for me means I need to start lifting weights. I need to actually do like weightlifting and gain some weight because I couldn’t lift, uh, like nothing pretty much, because I was only like one 50 pounds. So first year when I decided to go Allen and cross it, I just, uh, my goal was to gain weight. And so I gained it like 10 kg. So basically it’s almost 20 pounds in one year, and then next two years I gain it like five kilos more and that’s it.
Sevan Matossian (11:31):
Oh, okay.
Uldis Upenieks (11:32):
And now, and now the last three years, it’s like similar two to three kg up and down.
Sevan Matossian (11:39):
And, and it’s interesting you say that. So in, when you were 18, also that sport, like the stuff on the bars and the gymnastics, you’re actually trying to be as strong as you can and as light as you can at the same time, right? You’re, you’re trying to get your strength to body ratio, like insane, right? You don’t want like a bunch of weight in your ass because you’re gonna be doing pull-ups and planches and things like that, right? Yes. There’s no, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Alright, alright.
Uldis Upenieks (12:04):
Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah. When I look, I look, look back this, yeah. In that time, only few cross sitters who were gymnasts could do that. You know? Y
Sevan Matossian (12:12):
Yeah. You still got that move right there.
Uldis Upenieks (12:16):
I think I can, with couple tries, I can get at least
Sevan Matossian (12:19):
Three <laugh>,
Uldis Upenieks (12:22):
Because now, now across it, there’s, uh, for games are still trying, um, el to Hanson. Like in parallel. In parallel bars. So it’s pretty similar.
Sevan Matossian (12:35):
Hey, you have a lot of different looks. Did you know that,
Uldis Upenieks (12:40):
Um, I,
Sevan Matossian (12:41):
I, I watched an interview, um, of you in the, in the morning Chalkup from last year, and you have the hat on and you have the little glasses.
Uldis Upenieks (12:49):
Oh yeah. I think,
Sevan Matossian (12:50):
And you, and you remind me all you needed was those little, those long hair here. And you reminded me of one of the Orthodox Jews in New York City. Like who have you ever been to New York City? Like they’ll be in like the jewelry district or the, um,
Uldis Upenieks (13:03):
Never been there. Oh,
Sevan Matossian (13:05):
Oh, it’s, yeah, you have. So, and, and it’s crazy how long young you look and that video with her, you look like you were like, like a 50 year old man. You look like me. <laugh>. And now, now you look like a kid again.
Uldis Upenieks (13:15):
Yeah, I was wearing glasses till, till this year. I, I did lasik mm-hmm. <affirmative> this, this winter. So I’m good.
Sevan Matossian (13:27):
Are you glad you did that?
Uldis Upenieks (13:28):
Oh, yes. Because on the competitions in the games I was wearing, uh, lenses
Sevan Matossian (13:34):
And something like contacts.
Uldis Upenieks (13:35):
Yeah. And some, sometimes they messes up, you know, when you jump into the water or you hit your face with wall ball or something, they can fall, fall out. You
Sevan Matossian (13:47):
Weren’t, you weren’t scared they would mess it up.
Uldis Upenieks (13:51):
Oh yeah. I was in some events and, you know, if they fall out because I had like minus three or minus 3.2, so that’s basically, that’s bad. You know, you can’t play like, uh, sports, like comfortable without,
Sevan Matossian (14:10):
Without glasses. But when they did the Lasix, you weren’t afraid they were gonna mess up, cut something, shoot the laser wrong.
Uldis Upenieks (14:16):
Of course, there’s like, uh, some pressure. And also when you, when you know and ask some people who has done it, how it looks, and when, when doctor like explains you, I, and it was also just mentally the hardest to do it, you know? But actually there’s no pain at all. But to imagine when they cut your eyes, like, uh, one layer, they take it like, uh, to sideways and then they burn the eye and that smells like, you know, burning like pig or something. Oh,
Sevan Matossian (14:51):
You, you could smell it.
Uldis Upenieks (14:53):
Yeah. That’s, that’s actually the worst feeling for everybody who like, like, does it, you know?
Sevan Matossian (15:00):
Wow. And, and then, and then 24 hours later you can see perfect. And you’re like, wow, I can see.
Uldis Upenieks (15:06):
Yeah. Basically I stood up and she was, uh, uh, the girl was asking, can I see the clock? And it was kind of blurry, but I could see it perfectly al al already.
Sevan Matossian (15:18):
Uh, ulu, uh, in, in, uh, Latvia. Do you guys have shopping carts?
Uldis Upenieks (15:23):
Uh, yes.
Sevan Matossian (15:24):
Yeah. You guys use shopping carts and, um, when you’re done with your shopping cart, uh, is it is where, what do you do with it? Like if you, if you go to the grocery store and you get stuff and you put it in,
Uldis Upenieks (15:34):
We, we, we, we can the same, we can leave it in those, uh, par uh, parking. Where is parking and there’s special places for carts.
Sevan Matossian (15:42):
Yeah. Yeah.
Uldis Upenieks (15:43):
But, uh, we often also use the just, um, the,
Sevan Matossian (15:47):
The basket.
Uldis Upenieks (15:48):
The basket. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (15:50):
I always, I always use a cart ’cause I have a lot of money, so I buy lots of stuff. I just buy lots and just so much stuff. So all sorts of stuff.
Uldis Upenieks (15:58):
Cart, cart is easier than carrying all the stuff.
Sevan Matossian (16:02):
And I’m not as strong as you. Um, do you ever, if you use your cart and you go to your car, do you ever just like, take your cart and just put it up on the curb so it’s out of the way instead of taking it back to the, uh, proper location? No,
Uldis Upenieks (16:15):
No. I take, I take it back. I hate those. I hate those people who leave them just
Sevan Matossian (16:20):
Hmm.
Uldis Upenieks (16:21):
Or goes home with them.
Sevan Matossian (16:24):
Okay. Well I want to tell you something. I think that you’re gonna learn to like me and sometimes I will put it up on the curb.
Uldis Upenieks (16:33):
You, I think you can leave it on the curb.
Sevan Matossian (16:36):
Oh no, I already know. You said you hate those people. I’m those people. It’s okay. It’s
Uldis Upenieks (16:40):
Okay. There diff there’s difference. I don’t,
Sevan Matossian (16:42):
Okay. Alright. Let’s hear it.
Uldis Upenieks (16:43):
If it’s in states, you know? Yeah. Because, uh, sometimes you use money and a lot of people are, um, like, I don’t know how you call broke. People are trying to collect those cards and, and pull them back to collect money. Oh. So then you can give the card to them.
Sevan Matossian (17:02):
Oh, for, for employment. I like that. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. There we go. There we go. Look at, uh, Frenchy. All of these Europeans are becoming my favorites. I know. Aren’t they great? Uh, Sevan. It’s okay to be wrong. As long as you can admit it. <laugh> you guys, you guys, uh, it it reminds me of, um, it reminds me of, uh, uh, uh, shakers. You know what shakers are? Yeah. You, you put the powder in there and, uh, people feel obligated to use a shaker. But I think only people who should be using shakers are professional athletes. Like, if you’re just like some sort of ding-dong at home, just put your powder under the cup, use a spoon, circle it around and drink it. You’re not a professional athlete. You don’t even need a shaker. Quit trying to act like one. You’re not old. OpenX, <laugh>.
Uldis Upenieks (17:59):
But, uh, still it’s depends. What are your mixing? Some, some powders mix. Well, some doesn’t.
Sevan Matossian (18:06):
I agree. I agree. I agree. You’re right. You’re right. You’re right. If it’s practical, you’re right. You’re right. There’s this protein powder. I had one time that even with a shaker, you couldn’t, you couldn’t.
Uldis Upenieks (18:14):
Yeah. There
Sevan Matossian (18:15):
Is some. Yeah. Okay. Very well said. Who do you, do you, um, use, um, uh, supplements? Do you use creatine or, uh, pre-workout or that stuff? What do you use?
Uldis Upenieks (18:26):
Yes. Uh, I don’t drink coffee at all. That’s why I drink At least per or cup?
Sevan Matossian (18:32):
No, no coffee.
Uldis Upenieks (18:34):
No, not at all.
Sevan Matossian (18:36):
Oh, your teeth must be white.
Uldis Upenieks (18:38):
Because my, um, my goal is to not even drink coffee or even try it. I have tried it, but I know if I will try like one week I will start to like it anyways. Mm mm And I will get addicted, like everyone. So yeah, I just keep, I just keep myself away from that because I see everyone is just craving for coffee each morning. I just drink pure cup and go to the gym, not coffee shop.
Sevan Matossian (19:06):
And, and do you see that as, as a weakness in those people? I see it as a weakness.
Uldis Upenieks (19:11):
Mm. I don’t know it for some, for some it’s ritual, you know, for some it’s, I know it’s just not my thing. For me it feels like it would be like, I don’t know too, too much. Like in the morning, I’m, I’m just like to wake up and go to gym. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (19:31):
What, what, do you have a supplement? Sponsor?
Uldis Upenieks (19:34):
Uh, yes. It’s a local, uh, supplement store in Lavia. Uh, tr uh, my friend, uh, owns the company, so they’re supporting me like that.
Sevan Matossian (19:48):
Yeah. That’s cool. Do you have a day job? Uh, <inaudible>?
Uldis Upenieks (19:52):
Uh, no. Sometimes I help for them in supplement company in storage, like with the orders and, or just incoming like, uh, supplements.
Sevan Matossian (20:05):
So, so you’re full-time CrossFitter
Uldis Upenieks (20:07):
Basically? Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (20:09):
Wow. Congratulations. Of course. Do
Uldis Upenieks (20:13):
I I do some private clients, but only few.
Sevan Matossian (20:18):
Um, do in, in the states or back home Also,
Uldis Upenieks (20:21):
Uh, back home in states. I’m only here, uh, before games, no, like second year. And then if there is like those big competitions, rogue or, uh, Miami, then I’m in States. Otherwise I’m just in la
Sevan Matossian (20:36):
I I saw this, um, uh, video of you, uh, on Instagram. You did 347 pound, no, sorry, 374 pound, uh, deadlift for 22 reps.
Uldis Upenieks (20:52):
Yes. That’s from, uh, a rogue ski lift, ski deadlift challenge, I think it was called.
Sevan Matossian (21:00):
This is crazy.
Uldis Upenieks (21:01):
I was like, you know, it’s my jam. And, uh, the skier wasn’t affecting the result so much. The dead look basically was the main score.
Sevan Matossian (21:13):
I like this guy’s reaction. Dmitri fuck what? <laugh>. <laugh>.
Uldis Upenieks (21:20):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (21:20):
That’s what I thought. I thought I thought the opposite oldest. I thought, what fuck. Mine was the opposite of that.
Uldis Upenieks (21:27):
Yeah, because I was also thinking I will get like 15 for sure, but I wasn’t thinking I will get more than 20. And then looking back or, uh, looking who won the event? Uh, I just needed to go more aggressive from beginning because I could deadlift, but I could not hold the bar in in the end. I couldn’t just hold my one arm. My grip was like toasted because you couldn’t use like any like, uh, gymnastic grips or stripes. Just simple, uh, little chalk and that’s it.
Sevan Matossian (22:00):
Oh yeah, you look down at your right hand there. Hey, how many, how many reps did the guy get who won?
Uldis Upenieks (22:07):
I think 29 or I think 29. But there was weight category, so he was five kilos lighter than me and he needed to lift 10 kg less than me because it’s two times your body weight.
Sevan Matossian (22:22):
Okay, wow. That’s two times your body weight. Crazy.
Uldis Upenieks (22:25):
So, so with uh, one 60, I would for sure go over 30 reps.
Sevan Matossian (22:31):
Wow. Wow. And, and also what you’re saying is, if I hear you right, uh, uh, well this is that if you would’ve done them a little bit faster, you think you could’ve got up to 29 that you, because you did them slow, your grip blew out or no? I,
Uldis Upenieks (22:46):
I don’t know. Till 20, 29, maybe 25.
Sevan Matossian (22:49):
Okay. Okay. Yeah,
Uldis Upenieks (22:51):
Because, or, or I could maybe cut weight, you know, <laugh>, but that, that was not the point. That was just for fun. One go and let’s see how I stack up, you know, and I got the third place in that challenge.
Sevan Matossian (23:05):
Were you are, so are you, after this, are your hamstrings sore the next day?
Uldis Upenieks (23:11):
Yeah, actually we were wondering about that. And we did like three guys and everyone was fine. Just after the, when you put down the barbell, it feels like, uh, your back is full and will be sore. But now from one, one set, it was fine.
Sevan Matossian (23:31):
And, and what did you do to warm up for that? What do you do to warm up just a few deadlifts, like build up to that weight and then go Yes,
Uldis Upenieks (23:39):
We, we did some weightlifting before that, so we were warm and uh, I think did one 40 kg fuel reps, one 60. And then with this weight I did three or five reps arrested. And then I needed to do two K ski before that. And then only, only one attempt.
Sevan Matossian (24:02):
Um, this, I was,
Uldis Upenieks (24:04):
I was hoping to win it because the Rogue was giving one K. Yeah, one, one skier and one barbell. But still I got a good barbell for third place
Sevan Matossian (24:14):
Stuff. Oh, you did? Oh, nice. It’s
Uldis Upenieks (24:16):
Still fine.
Sevan Matossian (24:17):
They mailed it to Latvia?
Uldis Upenieks (24:19):
Yes, they actually, uh, uh, they wanted to send like power lifter bar when the middle is, uh, you know, uh, like rough. So I asked it, I need like CrossFit barbell, so they changed it like to CrossFit barbell without the middle. And uh, they sent it and sent it pretty fast because they sent it from uh, uh, rogue has like two storages, I think. One in Belgium and one in Finland. So the shipping is like three days.
Sevan Matossian (24:49):
Oh, that is nice.
Uldis Upenieks (24:50):
Yeah, they, they’re, they’re shipping from Europe storage.
Sevan Matossian (24:54):
And then do you send a, uh, direct message to Bill and Katie and thank them Dear Bill and Katie?
Uldis Upenieks (25:00):
I don’t
Sevan Matossian (25:00):
Know. I’m oldest up. Do you know who Bill and Katie are? No. Oh, they own Rogue.
Uldis Upenieks (25:05):
Yeah, I just, I I I just emailed them back. Thank you.
Sevan Matossian (25:10):
Oh, that’s nice. Okay. It
Uldis Upenieks (25:12):
Changing, you know, the barber and because the, that barber they sent it, it’ll be useful and I will use it for sure.
Sevan Matossian (25:20):
Let me show you. Can I, I wanna show you Bill ER’s Instagram account. You, because you gotta, if you’re a games athlete, you gotta follow him and like, and like search for clues. Look at, look
Uldis Upenieks (25:28):
At maybe I have seen him
Sevan Matossian (25:30):
Maybe. Yeah. Can you pull him up? Oh, there you go. Mr. Bieber. Here we go. This one. Do you go, do you follow this guy?
Uldis Upenieks (25:41):
No, I have, I have seen the last post somewhere. I don’t know, maybe someone shared it.
Sevan Matossian (25:48):
Yeah. PE you gotta follow this guy so you can watch and see if you can get any clues of what’s going on. Look, I think that was a truck, first truck and route to the CrossFit games 15 years on the job. Wow,
Uldis Upenieks (25:59):
I saw, I saw this one. Yes. Usually the clues are when they post like, new items in rogue store.
Sevan Matossian (26:08):
Oh, there you go. That too. Hey, are, um, uh, ulus are, are you pretty happy with Adrian being the programmer? You seem like you are very capable of adapting to new things.
Uldis Upenieks (26:22):
Uh, kinda, yes. Um, I’m better when I don’t know that, that, you know, just go out and do it because I am my own coach. Uh, also on the field I don’t need to go to ask somebody. And, um, the last year’s games, there was like some, you know, events. I was like not happy about the programming, like to do 50 unbroken single landers. That’s just pure luck. And uh, I couldn’t do like from 10 attempts, I did only one attempt, unbroken in warmup. I went out and I did unbroken and whatever I, I qualified for next round. But in next round I think I stepped on the line for Hansen walk and didn’t make the final. So it was just unlucky event for me. Lucky and unlucky <laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (27:21):
So you’re saying that the precision on the execution interferes with the ability to choose the fittest, that there was too much bias on precision and execution to choose just
Uldis Upenieks (27:35):
In that, in that event there was too much luck factor, you know? Yeah. As, as you can see, like Tomi also didn’t qualify after first round.
Sevan Matossian (27:45):
Right.
Uldis Upenieks (27:45):
So she got I think the same place as me, 21 in that workout. But the next one was my stuff like press to handstand, strict pegboard. And I could not, I could not show myself in that, you know?
Sevan Matossian (27:58):
And you would’ve killed that?
Uldis Upenieks (28:00):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (28:01):
Yeah. Interesting, interesting, interesting, interesting. I wonder if the go ahead
Uldis Upenieks (28:06):
In games just sometimes that happens, you know, when you also get cut, I know how it feels because in those first games I wasn’t so fit and I got cut at 2019 games just, I got 31st place and I got cut before top 30. And at 20 I think I got cut, but before top 20. So this year I want to just finish it. Last, last year I wasn’t cut, so I, I finished it till the end. Yeah, you can see 21st. Wow. Wow. This year. This year I have task to do to get into top 20 and finish till the end
Sevan Matossian (28:47):
Oldest. Uh, when you got cut in 2000, um, 19, you said you were, you were one place out.
Uldis Upenieks (28:57):
Yes. 31st.
Sevan Matossian (28:59):
Did um, did you get angry or do you cry? Are you sad? Like when you, when when you go back to the locker room, when you go back to the athlete village?
Uldis Upenieks (29:06):
I remember I was just like, it’s done and it is how it is. And um, of course there was like, you know, so many events after that. I was like, oh damn, this is for good for me, this is good for me, you know. But it was like first games, I think I only did four or five events Mm. Before that cut and that’s it.
Sevan Matossian (29:29):
Do you have a girlfriend?
Uldis Upenieks (29:30):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (29:31):
Is she here with you?
Uldis Upenieks (29:32):
No, she’s home.
Sevan Matossian (29:34):
Will she come watch?
Uldis Upenieks (29:36):
Uh, no. Uh, she, she’s home with kid and uh Oh, you have one of too? Uh, I’m like stepdad. Yeah. How, how old’s the kid? Uh, eight years old. Wow. Okay. And it’s really like expensive also to come to games, to just to watch, you know, and sometimes it’s easier even to watch.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
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