29/01/2026
It’s trite.
But who you surround yourself with determines who you will become.
I want to be world class, in the top 1% of non-surgical chronic pain relief doctors.
That means that I need to do what great people do.
Dave Tate of is one of the greats in powerlifting. Having trained with Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell from 1993-2005, he learned the fundamentals that allowed him to excel above the average.
He didn’t consider himself a great athlete, so he had to make up for that with hard work and philosophy.
Reminded me of my adolescence with football.
His “Live, Learn, Pass On” philosophy was apparent as we discussed yesterday on his podcast our love for fitness and how pain gets in the way.
Dave is a forever student who asked me questions with curiosity and shared his 40ish years of wisdom with me, checking me on what “depression” is. I read the unspoken words he was saying, “Just keep showing up Chris.”
He spoke as a man in the arena who has taken his lumps and scars. It reminded me to always be willing to get “punched in the face” and fail on my path.
I’m so grateful for his trust to have me on his podcast and I only hope that my presence helps just one of his audience get out of chronic pain so they can keep lifting or one manual therapist become the top 1% of our field.
If you’re into no BS wisdom on lifting and life, I highly recommend you follow .