Staying Competitive for Life with Ken Rhodes | Food for Thought #28

In this episode of Greenfork’s Food for Thought, host Stephen Zabala sits down with fitness coach and competitive powerlifter Kenny Rhodes for a deep dive into training, mindset, recovery, and how competition shapes a person both inside and outside the gym. Their conversation weaves through golf, powerlifting, motivation, burnout, and the pursuit of long-term progress with honesty and humor.You can find Kenny on Instagram at @rhodes_to_fit and around the Capital Region coaching, lifting, and teaching golf.0:00 Introduction and welcome0:48 Kenny’s athletic beginnings in golf and ski racing2:52 College years, lifting influences, and early fitness habits6:54 Burnout in the fitness industry and absorbing clients’ stress8:56 Transitioning into full-time fitness and balancing yoga with powerlifting12:01 Injuries, Olympic lifting, and the switch to powerlifting14:00 Training structure and how much powerlifters actually bench16:21 Bench-press variations and technical development18:43 Mindset, visualization, and competing against yourself21:37 The grind behind the scenes and the reality of eating for performance24:10 Intuitive eating vs. tracking and the 4,000-calorie lifestyle28:35 Pre-training nutrition, gels, and optimizing sleep31:00 Recovery routines, CPAP life, and repairing the body between sessions34:01 What to do on low-motivation days and the “rule of threes”37:39 Intrinsic motivation and burning out of competitive golf40:05 Needing goals, half-marathons, and the drive to push forward44:16 Staying competitive and redefining expectations with age49:19 “Toning,” muscle myths, and consistency as a lifestyle51:05 The classic last-meal question52:21 Kenny’s recent meet, hitting a 501 deadlift, and prepping for NY State Championships55:08 Long-term progression, newbie gains, and building a decade-long base