This episode I had the opportunity to talk with Eric Dawson: Owner of Titan Barbell, mentor, coach, husband, father, and role model to many. Eric is extremely well spoken and I really enjoyed this conversation. As it turns out, he and I share very similar backgrounds: both high-school and college athletes, grew up working multiple trade/ labor jobs, and both ended up training in a corporate gym setting not because it was something we necessarily planned to do, but needed where our previous jobs were no longer feasible. After spending the first half an hour discussing that process, we talk about getting involved in Strength Sports, again, both at 27. In Eric’s case, getting involved in competing is what led to him starting Titan out of his garage and eventually expanding to their current location in Stoneham.
Help Create a Positive Environment for Each other
Help Create the Space that You Would Want to Lift In
Clean Up After Yourself
How we came to opening our own private training facilities and eventually expanding into full-service fitness centers.
Titan Barbell
Eric Dawson
Top Strength Project
Steve Tripp
Eric Dawson Episode Notes
0:00 Introduction and Eric’s Athletic Background
3:30 Introduction to Strength Training and Working Labor Jobs
4:30 Value in Labor
6:14 “Nothing that I do in a physical day (today) is going to match what I did growing
up…”
8:00 Training in the Heat vs Cold
8:48 Eric’s “Hot” Pre-Workout (secrets)
9:50 Football and College
11:40 The Original Manhattan Uber Eats
14:30 Getting Started in Coaching/ Personal Training
19:55 “Strength Training Should Not be Used to Substitute your Mental Health”
23:00 Competing in Strength Sports
23:45 How Eric and I Built our Training Businesses: Lifting Heavy Weights
26:00 From Bally’s to TPS
30:00 The Start of Titan Barbell
43:00 Our Shared Vision
45:20 Seeing the Vision Come to Life
48:20 “The Strongest People, Don’t Care Where They Lift”
52:50 Cultivating Culture and Community
58:00 “There’s Nothing Special About My Weights”
1:02:30 Running Competitions
1:04:00 What’s Next for Titan and for Eric as an Athlete
1:07:00 New England Strength Expo
1:12:55 Competing in Strength Sport as Gym Owners
1:14:40 Patience
1:17:00 Changes in Mindset and Training as You Progress as an Athlete
1:23:00 Wood Carving Analogy
1:27:05 Closing
