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Home » Podcasts » Strength As An Artform (w/Steven Koontz)

Strength As An Artform (w/Steven Koontz)

Written by BarBend Team
Last updated on November 11th, 2024

Today I’m talking to Steven Koontz, best known online as RhinoStrength. Steven has made a name for himself with some pretty epic displays of old-timey and unconventional strength (80+kg kettlebell bent presses, anyone?). And a big reason Steven pushes his limits is to challenge the notion of strength being static, boring, or easily defined. Steven is a musician and artist by training, and our conversation focuses on how strength sports and lifting can act as self expression. Could it even be an art form?

Steven Koontz on the BarBend Podcast

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Steven Koontz (@rhinostrength)

In this episode of The BarBend Podcast, David Thomas Tao and Steven Koontz discuss: 

  • How filming workouts leads to internet fame (1:40)
  • Playing in a band, painting houses, and dead broke — guess I’ll head to the gym (6:00)
  • “I’m a failed artist…so I started just trying stuff, I looked at it like skateboarding” (10:30)
  • Learning how to fail with heavy weights; “What does an Olympic lifter know how to do?” (14:00)
  • People Steven admires in the strength space (16:00)
  • Letting your training goals evolve (22:00)

Relevant links and further reading:

  • Follow Steven Koontz (aka Rhino Strength) on Instagram 
  • Follow David Thomas Tao on Instagram and Twitter

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Your source for news, analysis, opinion, and entertainment in strength sports.

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