x1@8 Podcast

x1@8 Podcast is a loose, question-led powerlifting show. In producer Samuel's words, its steady interest is the in-depth, geeky psychological side of lifting weights. Alex Pearson-Jones opens every episode in this set, usually with Samuel close by. The mood is easy. Samuel's introduction is dubbed the most begrudging ever heard, and on another episode a participant answers to Bruce Cabbagepatch for the day. The standing intro admits that some of these talks confirm the speakers' biases and some do not, which is a fair warning that the show thinks out loud. Competition psychology runs through several episodes. Heather Connor's episode, requested by a listener, is about hype and about why lifters can get precious over the rituals that fire them up. In the conversation with Bryce Lewis on becoming an elite powerlifter, the talk turns to preparing ahead of time for the noise of competition. It includes a memory of a first flow state at a 2016 worlds, with no scoreboard and no rivals in mind, only the lifts. Bryce Lewis also defines gamification: borrowing the motivating structure of games, often video games, to raise engagement or motivation elsewhere. That episode also asks whether strength sport lags behind running or cycling in adopting it. Lifter profiles sit alongside the theory. Dylan Nelson, introduced as a competitive 83 kilo junior in British powerlifting and requested by the audience more than once, sent in videos of the sets he is proudest of, plus plenty besides. Alex makes no secret of enjoying the energy Dylan brings to the platform. The show also steps back to look at how the sport is run. Its EGM discussion, with Owen Hubbard alongside Alex, sets out to explain to ordinary lifters and international followers how things reached a boiling point. Volunteer roles and funding for coaches and referees come up as problems, and the sharpest stretch argues that a sport run like a business could afford things like free referee courses, while conceding that the figures used to make the point are invented. The episode with Dr Joanna Harper on transgender athletes is approached as a chance to learn, with questions about rule changes and why some athletes have held back from competing, and it closes with thanks for answering 'our dumb questions'. For the psychology, start with the hype episode. For the sport's administration, start with the EGM discussion. Either way, the show offers candid, curious talk about competing rather than polished authority.