Not In My Box | The Fitness and Coaching Podcast · Caffeine and Kilos | Fitness and Coaching Culture w/ Danny Lehr

ROGUE VS NIKE SHOTS FIRED Ep. 173

February 13, 2025·54 min·3 clips

A 200-pound strict press ended with a rolled ankle and four months away from training.

1. Not In My Box | The Fitness and Coaching Podcast episode 173 opens with Northern California storm talk and the phrase “atmospheric river.” 2. The hosts are two unnamed “boys” on a regular recording streak, and their chemistry drives the conversation. 3. The episode asks what Rogue’s Nike comparison video means for fitness equipment branding and market share. 4. The hosts compare “atmospheric river” to older El Niño weather language and joke that it sounds more dramatic than it is. 5. They say a recent influenza wave hit their households and schools, with one school reporting about 100 absent kids out of roughly 500. 6. The Rogue vs. Nike topic centers on a direct durability test video with nearly identical price points for the Rogue Ohio bar and the Nike bar. 7. The Nike barbell is described as breaking in half while the Rogue bar keeps taking repeated drops and impacts. 8. One host says Rogue is still expanding and moving into a larger facility after already operating from a massive space. 9. They map the equipment market into rough lanes, with Rogue as the default choice, Fringe Sport for garage gym equipment, and Sorinex for school and college weight rooms. 10. The conversation notes that Rogue also serves garage gyms and institutional builds, not just one segment. 11. One host explains that Rogue’s Monster Rack system changed gym layouts by combining pull-up bars and squat racks into interchangeable steel structures. 12. He says earlier CrossFit gyms used separate pull-up bars and separate squat racks before connected rigs became common. 13. The hosts spend time on homemade equipment, including a squat rack made from buckets, cement, and 4x4s. 14. They also describe a pull-up bar built from galvanized pipe and lag-bolted into garage trusses. 15. Another DIY example is a ghetto kettlebell made from pipe and small plates bought cheaply at Play It Again Sports or garage sales. 16. They contrast those improvised setups with store-bought Rogue gear that eventually replaced them. 17. The episode includes injury stories, including a 200-pound strict press that ended with a rolled ankle and about four months away from training. 18. Another story describes a deadlift celebration that led to a tibia-fibula break when the barbell was dropped onto a leg. 19. The tone is conversational, local, and joke-driven, with long improvised stories and a lot of gym-floor memory recall. 20. People who like strength equipment, CrossFit history, and old gym stories will get the most from it; people wanting a tightly edited business interview may skip it.

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