7 Questions with Deuce Gym’s Dynamic Strongman, Mr. Logan Gelbrich

Mermaids, magic, and the benefits of breathing are just some of the topics we covered in our sit-down with Logan Gelbrich. Check out our interview with Deuce Gym’s Logan Gelbrich and his experience with XPT as a training modality. 

XPT: Thanks for sitting down with us! Tell us, how did you first hear about XPT? 

LG: I’ve been fortunate enough to train with Gabby and Laird at their home in Malibu during the past two summers. I’ve also known Brian Mackenzie for nearly a decade. When they asked me to speak to the Malibu experience group about implementing strongman for general fitness and lead a strength and conditioning evolution, I was blown away. 

During the Malibu Experience, I was able to participate alongside everyone else to get a grasp on what the XPT Experience is all about. 

XPT: Before attending, what were your expectations based on success stories? What did you hope to get out of it? 

LG: While I had plenty experience with these guys in the pool, in ice, and in the heat, I was anxious to dive into the breathing techniques. I was particularly interested in three full days of immersion. What Gabby, Laird, and Brian bring to the table is infectious to be around, so I was expecting a healthy dose of inspiration, too. 

XPT: How did your expectations differ from what you experienced there?

LG: Throughout my life, I’ve been continually amazed by the experiences that show me not just things I don’t know, but the things I couldn’t have known I don’t know. There’s a difference. While I had plenty of insights and specific expectations about this experience, XPT surpassed it all. I couldn’t have known how powerful the group was going to be. The breathing alone was a spiritual experience worth the price of admission. I still keep in touch with the other participants!

XPT: Is there a particular element that stands out for you in terms of what best enhances your performance? 

LG: While I was most specifically at XPT because I was a fitness person, it’s worth mentioning that I’m much more of an over-worked, scattered, business-minded person, like many people. The meditative clarity of the XPT experience transcended any in-gym performance hacks. I was just seven miles from my house the entire time and I felt like I was on another planet. 

XPT: Anything you will regularly incorporate into your regular training regimen? 

LG: As long as I’m welcome, I will continue to take every opportunity to train alongside these people. When I’m away from them, I’m incorporating breath work. Part of it is for physical benefit, but mostly for me the habits that are foundational to XPT are so rooted in lifestyle that it makes me a better writer, a better leader, and a more dynamic communicator. 

XPT: What was the highlight of the week? This could be a funny story, a breakthrough, or an obstacle you faced.

LG: There was a moment during a stand-up paddle where I found myself in an unrecognizable scenario. Like I said, I’m from Los Angeles, I’ve spent time in Malibu, and many of the faces at the XPT were familiar to me. Nonetheless, there I was on a paddle in Paradise cove, wondering where I was. I mean, you can look into the water and see kelp that looked like an underwater pre-historic tree as tall as any tree I’d seen on land. To my right, a woman from outside our group dives under the water and catching her long fins out of the corner of my eye made me feel like I was seeing things. “Mermaid?!” 

All of this comes, of course, on top of an inspirational day of constant activity and blissful mindset practice. It felt unreal. Just saying this is funny because as I hear it, it still seems like fiction.

XPT: Who would you recommend XPT to? 

LG: Anyone. Everyone. Period. 

Logan Gelbrich, CCFT, is the owner of DEUCE Gym in Venice Beach, CA and ORIGINAL Nutritionals, a CleanAthlete sports nutrition company. He's a four-year alum of the nationally acclaimed University of San Diego baseball program, as well as an ex-pro with the San Diego Padres as a catcher. In addition, as a national level strongman competitor, he currently travels the world coaching the CrossFit Strongman Seminar. You can find his writing in various magazines, including Muscle and Performance Magazine and The Box Magazine.