This was one my favorite episodes. Our very first guest, Lloyd Ellet (@Lightning Lloyd), guest hosted this one with me. Our guest was Marine Gunnery Sergeant, Art Shvartsberg, otherwise known as Iron Wolf. You can find
Iron Wolf on Youtube and Instagram. This one was pretty special to me. During quarantine, I was going nuts. A friend of mine turned me on to Iron Wolf for workouts, and I can’t overstate the impact it had on me, both physically and mentally. I felt fitter than I had ever been, and I felt like I was part of a community. He became the first internet creator I followed.
Art is everything you want in a creator. He is a United States Marine, first and foremost. He posts his workouts for the simple purpose of helping people reach their goals and sharing his knowledge. If you are looking for polish and glamor, look somewhere else. The Iron Wolf is all about the work.
This interview was great. In addition to being smart and disciplined, Art was really, really funny.
Iron Wolf talked about how he was undisciplined as a kid, but when he turned 20 he decided to take responsibility for his life and he joined the United States Marine Corp. As with everything he does, he bought in 100%, and dedicated himself to being the best he could be.
While stationed in Afghanistan, he found himself without any gym equipment. Given that it was his job to make sure the troops were in shape, he made due with what they had. The put up a pull-up bar and used sacks for weight. They did Marine Corp Body-Builder burpees until they couldn’t do them anymore.
After awhile he realized that he and the troops were in the best shape they had ever been. Upon returning home, Art stayed dedicated to high rep calisthenics. While his buddies would go into the gym, he’d just stay outside, lay down his shirt, and get to work.
Art credits his buddy, Bill Gleason, for pushing him into creating a YouTube channel. He calls Bill is unofficial “hype-man.” We should all be so lucky to have a Bill Gleason in our lives.
The problem is that Art didn’t even have a social media account. So one day he set up his phone and just filmed himself doing a workout. Then he figured out how to upload it to YouTube. After awhile, he had 10,000 subscribers.
That’s when he decided a needed a new name. His fellow marines called him the Iron man, because he always topped out on all of the fitness competitions. He also has an affinity to the Wolf because a wolf can hunt alone, but also prioritizes the pack. And that’s how Art felt- he was part of a pack.
As the channel grew, his buddy Bill Gleason, popped in again and suggested he needed to get a Logo and maybe some merchandise. I have to say, Iron Wolf has some of the coolest designs around. He also credits Iman, his partner, for coming up with a lot of the designs.
When quarantine hit, he decided to do his first challenge, and his subscriber numbers blew up from there. He now has almost 160,000 subscribers, and some of the most loyal fans I’ve ever come across.
Thanks for everything you do, Wolf. Both for this country and the online community!
Make sure to check out the ifUiWill app for some great challenges and the Blog for the latest content. Also check out the Do Together Podcast.
