Mark Bell's Power Project - Joe Phair: The Modern Primal’s Story of Fitness and Determination || MBPP Ep. 1087

Episode Date: July 24, 2024

In episode 1087, Joe Phair, Mark Bell, Nsima Inyang, and Andrew Zaragoza talk about the adversity Joe faced growing up and how he believes it to be a blessing and something that has helped him become ...a high level marathon runner. Follow Joe on IG: https://www.instagram.com/themodernprimal_/   Official Power Project Website: https://powerproject.live Join The Power Project Discord: https://discord.gg/yYzthQX5qN Subscribe to the Power Project Clips Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC5Df31rlDXm0EJAcKsq1SUw   Special perks for our listeners below!   🥜 Protect Your Nuts With Organic Underwear 🥜 ➢https://nadsunder.com/ Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 15% off your order!   🍆  Natural Sexual Performance Booster 🍆 ➢https://usejoymode.com/discount/POWERPROJECT Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 20% off your order!   🚨 The Best Red Light Therapy Devices and Blue Blocking Glasses On The Market! 😎 ➢https://emr-tek.com/ Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 20% off your order!   👟 BEST LOOKING AND FUNCTIONING BAREFOOT SHOES 🦶 ➢https://vivobarefoot.com/powerproject   🥩 HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN! 🍖 ➢ https://goodlifeproteins.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save up to 25% off your Build a Box ➢ Piedmontese Beef: https://www.CPBeef.com/ Use Code POWER at checkout for 25% off your order plus FREE 2-Day Shipping on orders of $150   🩸 Get your BLOODWORK Done! 🩸 ➢ https://marekhealth.com/PowerProject to receive 10% off our Panel, Check Up Panel or any custom panel, and use code POWERPROJECT for 10% off any lab!   Sleep Better and TAPE YOUR MOUTH (Comfortable Mouth Tape) 🤐 ➢ https://hostagetape.com/powerproject to receive a year supply of Hostage Tape and Nose Strips for less than $1 a night!   🥶 The Best Cold Plunge Money Can Buy 🥶 ➢ https://thecoldplunge.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save $150!!   Self Explanatory 🍆 ➢ Enlarging Pumps (This really works): https://bit.ly/powerproject1 Pumps explained:      ➢ https://withinyoubrand.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off supplements!   ➢ https://markbellslingshot.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off all gear and apparel!   Follow Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast ➢ https://www.PowerProject.live ➢ https://lnk.to/PowerProjectPodcast ➢ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/markbellspowerproject ➢ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/markbellspowerproject   FOLLOW Mark Bell ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell ➢https://www.tiktok.com/@marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell   Follow Nsima Inyang ➢ Become a Stronger Human - https://thestrongerhuman.store ➢ UNTAPPED Program - https://shor.by/JoinUNTAPPED ➢YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NsimaInyang ➢Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsimainyang/?hl=en ➢TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nsimayinyang?lang=en   Follow Andrew Zaragoza ➢ Podcast Courses and Free Guides: https://pursuepodcasting.com/iamandrewz ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandrewz/ ➢ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamandrewz   #PowerProject #Podcast #MarkBell #FitnessPodcast #markbellspowerproject

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Humans are a product of their environment and their experiences. And your parents play such a big part of your environment and your experiences. What do you say adversity? What do you mean? My father, alcohol and prescription drugs. My mother, alcohol and prescription drugs. Say he would get like physical, pin me down, yell in my face, be like, you have no f***ing idea how hard life is, like spitting in my face. We move to this new city.
Starting point is 00:00:20 We're living in this trailer house. My mom completely falls apart. She goes around to this barn and goes up to this mirror, punches it, gets the glass, and starts like ravenously trying to cut her wrists. I stopped her. That was like the turning point for like me and my mother's relationship.
Starting point is 00:00:34 And so all that adversity pushed me to join the military and then ultimately wound up finding running marathons. You feel like in some ways, some of that was bestowed upon you in a way? It was all gifted to me. Not a single thing that happened was bad. Man, so what happened to you in that race where you barfed everywhere?
Starting point is 00:00:53 That was not a race. That was a training run for my first marathon. But yeah, I was just in the middle of a Texas summer in Austin. It was super humid, over a hundred degrees. I overslept a bit. I got out there at 7 a.m., which is about three hours too late if you want to beat the heat. And I was with my buddy. He was pacing me. And man, I just reached a spot where I just
Starting point is 00:01:18 felt super under fueled. Looking back, I was probably pretty over trained in the moment. It was hard for me to kind of realize all of that, just because I was like, I'm just fucking puking. I have no idea what's happening. But yeah, looking back, I was a bit under fueled and a bit heat exhausted probably. Sometimes just weird stuff happens. You don't always have control over every variable.
Starting point is 00:01:38 Exactly. You go out and you like, on this day, you're waking up early, you're trying to get out there early, trying to beat the heat and it just didn't work out. Let's get some sound real quick. This next part, yep. Oh, hey now. There we go.
Starting point is 00:02:00 What happened on this day, man? That's a mix of spring energy gels and some electrolytes. Right there. I was going to say the color looks like something from a Hollywood movie. A person barfing glow in the dark colors. What do you think happened? You mentioned you were under fueled, maybe a little over trained.
Starting point is 00:02:21 At that point, did you start to feel your legs, you know, your legs really bothering you or you're just super tired and then your stomach started to rumble or was it just like immediate? It was pretty immediate. I was feeling fatigued for sure. I don't think too much physically fatigued, but maybe at a cardiovascular level.
Starting point is 00:02:39 This was one of my biggest training runs for my first marathon. And so like at this time, this was the hardest run I had ever done in my life, right? Because it was before my 20 mile training run, before my 22 mile training run, before my first marathon. So this was the longest run I had done and the hardest run I had done because I was hitting pace that my coach had prescribed for me, trying to get to that sub three hour goal that I ambitiously had. For your first marathon.
Starting point is 00:03:04 Yeah. Yeah. I marathon. Yeah, yeah. I just wanted it so bad. I saw people like Nick Bear and, you know, maybe there might've been a little comparison, but I think it was healthy. And I think it pushed me to attack a goal that was, you know, I've said in the past one that I might've had no business even attacking,
Starting point is 00:03:21 but those are the goals that pushed you to new heights. Do you normally run fasted? I do actually normally run fasted unless it's over. I'm just kind of wondering, like your body's like, I'm just trying to think of like, what makes the body do something like that? Absolutely. Your body's like, you know what?
Starting point is 00:03:34 We don't need all this extra stuff inside of us. Let's get rid of some of that. So typically I run fasted. This was during a phase where I was starting to introduce race nutrition and start to practice it. And so this was one of my first times actually practicing with gels because I was honestly pretty anti-gels for the longest time just because I couldn't find one that had clean
Starting point is 00:03:51 ingredients. And I believe in like a whole fruit approach with, you know, minimal processed ingredients with everything. And so I was just ripping raw honey. I would literally take plastic bags, bite a lip off and squeeze honey in my mouth for a lot of my runs. And then I submitted to Spring Energy Gels for this race and then later on tested a few
Starting point is 00:04:09 more. Yeah. You see like Matt Choi and some of the other guys, like just what they're consuming, like before they run or even during the run and even after the run. You're like, man, this guy's stomach just seems like it's going to explode. No shots against those guys. It's just interesting to me. I'm not the level of runner that they are.
Starting point is 00:04:26 So when I watch some of that, I'm like, that just seems like you're mixing a lot of different things in the stomach at that time. Absolutely, absolutely. And that's how I've felt the past 24 months, basically navigating this whole marathon training thing, because this is the first time in my life where calories have really, really mattered.
Starting point is 00:04:44 Like I've always known the science behind calories in versus calories out. You need to be in a surplus if you want to put on weight, a deficit if you want to lose. But I've never had to train for performance like this. And I've played sports my whole life, but I was always, I was an American westernized fast food baby that grew up never hitting my protein goal ever. I probably had three days out of the week where I hit my body weight and protein my entire life growing up. So, you know, so yeah, it's been an interesting journey trying to transfer from that, you know, going to this whole foods approach and wanting to really honor that and hold myself to it. And then
Starting point is 00:05:22 adding in the endurance training, it's just like, holy shit, I'm so fucking hungry. Or like, I just need to eat more. And I've experienced the GI distress. And so it's like this weird thing where, you know, there's seasons. And so if you want to feel great optimally and be at your best optimal health, I don't think that training for marathons
Starting point is 00:05:41 and eating like you're training for marathons is probably the best idea. Yeah, you know, starting out, you're first off, you're a tall dude eating like you're training for marathons is probably the best idea. Yeah. You know, starting out, you're first off, you're a tall dude, but you're also heavy. You're 240, 230, 240, right? Six, six. Six, six, 240. Is there anything you notice, like any particular challenges that you notice being a heavier guy doing distance running?
Starting point is 00:05:59 Because you usually see guys at your height that are probably like 180, 190. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I mean, personally, I have always felt that. I haven't tried to identify with any of that, just because I haven't wanted to give myself or anybody else any excuses as to why I can't hit a certain goal. And so I've always kind of like tiptoed around it.
Starting point is 00:06:20 There's also been certain times where I'm like, yo, I'm 6'6", 240 pounds. Most guys that are running around this timeframe are probably half my size if we're being realistic. And so it's like, I want to be proud of myself for that and have others kind of see that significance without, you know, coming off as like a victim or arrogant or. And so personally, yeah, I think it's, it's definitely, you definitely, it's just like adding a weighted vest. If you weigh 220 and you wanna add on a 20 pound weighted vest and then try to do all of your workouts.
Starting point is 00:06:52 And it's all relative, right? So like we grow to like kind of get used to the weight that's on our body, I think. And there's shorter people that are like, man, your fucking stride is three times as long as mine. Of course you're gonna beat me. And so I'm like, yeah, but I also weigh twice as much as you. And so it's always like, I mean,
Starting point is 00:07:07 there's so many different perspectives. And I've felt things as far as like being more prone to injury, I think, because being a bigger guy and then, you know, trying to navigate all the calories and stuff. A lot of times in my marathon block, I struggled with being overtrained and under fueled. And so I experienced a lot of nagging injuries because of that and just because of the sheer volume of training that I was doing.
Starting point is 00:07:33 Was there a particular jail that you landed on that you ended up liking? Not really, not really. So that's still something I'm trying to figure out. There was a time when I wanted to make my own. I still might have that ambition deep down. But what about any like the little chewy things or liquids or have you found certain things that seem to agree with you that were helpful? I would say that probably the best approach is to just be able to stomach like easily
Starting point is 00:08:01 digestible whole foods, in my opinion. And if you're trying to do something intra, I mean, right now everybody's different. Everybody's different. Like there's certain people. Some people are eating rice crispy treats and yeah, kind of whatever they can get their hands on. There's not a one size fits all approach. And so that's kind of how I,
Starting point is 00:08:18 cause I have a lot of hybrid athlete clients and clients that I try to teach how to run their first marathon. This guy's an entrepreneur over here. So he's making products is what he's trying to say. No, no, no. He's got them in a lineup, so he doesn't want to promote anything else.
Starting point is 00:08:30 I get it. No, that's not true, that's not true. But what I try to tell them is like, you know, just do your best and just, you can try a few things and like, here's what I recommend. I would recommend going down the minimal process route if you can and like maybe try to get it
Starting point is 00:08:42 from Whole Food Nutrition, pre and intra if you can. Honey, there's a few brands, I know Nate's, it's a raw honey pack that you can get on Amazon. And then Spring Energy is decently clean, but Jeremy Miller just made a video exposing them how they don't really even have the amount of carbohydrates that they say they do. So it's just so relative for each runner.
Starting point is 00:09:05 Everybody kind of grows up with maybe a little bit of something when they're young. Something that makes them feel awkward or something that makes them maybe not comfortable, going to school or whatever the different things are. Was it uncomfortable in some way being like super tall? Uncomfortable just in general in my life. Yeah, I don't know, like you're 11 years old
Starting point is 00:09:28 and you're like six two or something like, and you know, people might, you know, people for example, might think that you're dumb because you're developed at such a young age, you're so large that they might think that you're older than you really are. Shit like that. Yeah, yeah, so I actually, the way it went for me was, I was about five'10 until my freshman
Starting point is 00:09:48 year of high school. And then I shot up to like 6'1 as a sophomore. And then when I came back to school my junior year, I was how tall I am now. And so I, I that summer between my sophomore and junior year, I freaking flew and I was a super late bloomer. So like I didn't have any pubic hair or anything until that time. Like it was crazy. Like my voice hadn't really developed that much. I, you know, it was interesting. I was a super late bloomer.
Starting point is 00:10:14 My dad was too. He said that he didn't finish puberty until he was like 20. Which was- You're all tall and giant and hairless. Yeah. I mean both, so my dad is six, five, both of my grandpa, one is alive, one is deceased. They were both 6'5".
Starting point is 00:10:28 And so, and their dads were like 6'8", or like, you know, they tell crazy stories. And so, like, my family is just really tall. And so, it's been kind of cool. I like it. I think that it definitely is awesome to be tall. I see it as like a gift. Honestly, I see it as a gift. Like I've, I have had times in my life
Starting point is 00:10:47 where I've struggled with accepting it. And so like, I've... All the short listeners just like... No, no, no. I mean, it's like, it doesn't mean... Kick on their feet while they're in their chair. It literally doesn't. I mean, dangling.
Starting point is 00:11:00 Ah! Man, I mean, there's some short kings out there that are just some amazing people. And so, you know, there's some short kings out there that are just some amazing people. And so, you know, that's all I gotta say. Just dig it. Dig it, buddy. Dig it. Man.
Starting point is 00:11:12 And you mentioned to me yesterday when we went on a run that when you were in high school, I think you did some track, right? Yeah, I did. So I always loved the gut checks after football practice. You know, we'd always do these 400 meter gut checks at my high school. Whenever coach wanted to, you know, make us suffer and I was always like amped to get after it. And I would always want to like come in first or do my best.
Starting point is 00:11:35 It was just something inside of me wanted to just get out some of that energy that I was storing. We had a guy like that on our team. We were just always so mad and he was so happy when it was like time for conditioning. He's like, let's go. We're all like, oh my God. I mean, that it was only for these. It was only for gut checks. If I was in the weight room, if coach wasn't looking,
Starting point is 00:11:52 I wasn't squatting. You know, I was the lowest achiever that you could imagine in high school. But I really liked running the 400 because it just, it was the hardest race. They called it the man's race. And maybe I always felt like I had a chip on my shoulder. But yeah, I ran the 400 in high school and I never reached my full potential. Like I think I, my best time, I got under 53 seconds
Starting point is 00:12:15 probably every race, which is pretty decent. Never broke the 50 barrier. You know, these Olympic guys are running like 46s and you know around that area so relatively I was running about 10 seconds slower than that but yeah that definitely transferred into a lot of the marathon stuff to an extent for sure it wasn't distance by any means and I had never run distance but just as far as like just the mind and muscle connection with the stride and mechanics like it I'm grateful that I had that experience and background. And you ran a marathon, or you ran marathons at many different body weights, it sounds like.
Starting point is 00:12:50 Yeah, so my first marathon, I was pretty shredded. And I was just trying to maintain that shredded physique and appearance for Instagram and just trying to be this awesome-looking jacked, shredded, hybrid athlete, Nick Bear style. And I found myself over training and under fueling is what I've deduced, you know, after lots of reflection, just because in the moment it's hard to see stuff like that. So my first marathon, I ran a 312 and I was sitting at 215, like pretty light for me.
Starting point is 00:13:26 The lowest I've ever been was 204. And that's when I was just bone shredded. You could see every vein in my body. It was when I first found the animal-based diet, I went all in. Were you running at the time or not? No, no. And so, yeah, and so once I introduced running,
Starting point is 00:13:41 it was a really interesting journey for me, just because I was going from so strict on this animal-based diet, and then I entered these periods where I knew I needed to fuel, but it was difficult for me to get in all of that nutrition. And so yeah, I mean, the nutrition has been one of the biggest struggles for me,
Starting point is 00:13:58 looking in hindsight, but it's something that I figured out. And then this last race, I was sitting at like 240. So a bit heavier than I even am now. And I haven't ran and I mean, Mark and I hammered four yesterday, but I haven't ran in like over a month, just because I'm giving my body time to rest and heal.
Starting point is 00:14:16 My body, my mind, everything. And I feel amazing by the way. I think it's kind of- It's pretty cool. We ran one of the bridges over here, the little connector bridges that you and I were on, and his stride is pretty insane. Partially though, because you're fast.
Starting point is 00:14:30 That's something that some people miss. If people are talking trash, they're like, well, your stride's way longer than mine. It's probably because you're running faster than them too. Just naturally, someone's gonna have a longer stride. But yeah, he probably took like four or five strides up that hill and was at the top right yeah Marco's cruising he was doing great but yeah I mean it's I definitely feel better and stronger at 240 yeah so here's
Starting point is 00:14:56 like a bit of a breakdown of some of my different physiques you can see I got pretty shredded this is going for that bodybuilding look yeah absolutely I was I just cared and this is when I implemented running and so my physique pretty shredded. This was- Yeah, going for that bodybuilding look. Yeah, absolutely. I just cared. And this is when I implemented running. And so my physique really kind of took a toll, one might say. Like I don't look at it as at it that way,
Starting point is 00:15:12 but I did get less shredded because I just started to eat more calories and I started to do less weight training and it started to get more hard to maintain my muscle because I wasn't fueling properly and I wasn't using the right supplements. And it's just been the most amazing learning experience because I can look back on all of this
Starting point is 00:15:27 and just be so self-aware and be able to take away all the bits and pieces that I can use to just curate my next perfect journey or the best one that I have at the time, not perfect. But. Was there something specific that you mixed in to fuel you better like fruit or honey or anything like that?
Starting point is 00:15:44 I would say that I just wasn't, I just didn't think about being in a caloric deficit at all. Like I didn't think about my physique at all. So like the first time I was, you know, just trying to like, if I looked in the mirror and I saw my six pack going away, I was like, yo, I need to fast for a few days. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:16:05 And that doesn't mesh well with performance training. Sometimes, you know, in the state that I was in for my specific. No, not when you're running that fast, you're right. You know, there's a big difference between going out on some runs and there's a big difference between doing some lifting. But if you're trying to lift to be a bodybuilder
Starting point is 00:16:22 or lift to be a power lifter or run to have, you know, times that are comparable to others that are good for racing, then you're going to really be pulling on your nutrition. You know, your nutrition is going to be something that's going to be, I mean, it's going to be one of the hallmarks that's going to be the thing that assists you to do well in that sport. Absolutely. Absolutely. I agree.
Starting point is 00:16:46 So with your, um, with your style of diet and, um, you know, kind of go into like the modern primal style, we'll just call it that. Um, are you mixing in a lot of carbs outside of like, we'll say pre run type stuff, because I have heard that, you know, when you go like, we'll just say carnivore base, like it is kind of hard to develop and maintain that, like that quote shredded look. And it seems like, I mean, if you want it to, you can just kind of dial it one way or the other to get that shredded look if you want it.
Starting point is 00:17:16 But I'm just curious, like, do you mix in quite a bit of carbs outside of pre-workout meals? Yeah, that's a great question. And it's definitely relative based on the season. I think ideally in a perfect world, I mean Mark and I were talking about Ray Pete a little bit yesterday and his philosophy. I think that it's, I think that I don't want to exclude any macronutrient necessarily. I think that my philosophy is that I want to prioritize nutrient dense whole foods, you know, such as like
Starting point is 00:17:45 proteins, animal fats, dairy, stuff like that, that can keep me satiated and take care of all the bases so that the foundation is taken care of. And then I know you said outside of training use, but I guess I would look at everything as strategic use. So I'm always kind of thinking of like next day. And so like, yeah, I like to fuel up with a bunch of carbs if I know I'm gonna be having a heavy training day that next day or even the day after, depending on what it is.
Starting point is 00:18:09 And then I realized that I feel way better in the morning whenever I drink my coffee. And you know, I've been doing raw eggs first, mixed with orange juice, and then I drink my coffee after that. And I realized that that OJ really gives me like this nice little boost, those carbohydrates, and mixed with the eggs.
Starting point is 00:18:27 It's this amazing mixture that kind of goes in and primes everything and gets it ready for the coffee. So I feel like my gut is more just lined. And so you're doing like a raw egg with a shake in an orange juice? Yeah, so my good friend Adam. Sounds sketchy. Yeah, no, my good friend Adam told me about it a while ago.
Starting point is 00:18:50 He was like, I used to drink this every morning. One of my trainers had me on this, Adam von Rathfelder. Y'all have had him on here before. And so I tried it and literally I just, I take the highest quality eggs I can find. I get them from like this farmer's market in Austin. We have, I'm super blessed to just have this amazing plethora of resources in Austin
Starting point is 00:19:08 for amazing high quality food. It's just incredible. And so I get those eggs and I just take them raw. I'll do like four or five, mix some OJ in there. Sometimes some methylene blue. I don't know if you guys have experimented with that at all. I have, but I know you guys have, right? Yeah, it's pretty gnarly.
Starting point is 00:19:23 It's called the Blue Bomber, whenever you add the Methylene Blue. Anyways, the orange juice negates the blue tongue effect. So if you take Methylene Blue with OJ, then you're not gonna have a blue tongue, which is pretty cool. Anyways, but that has been the most amazing breakfast. And a lot of mornings,
Starting point is 00:19:37 I don't even feel the need to drink coffee. It just kickstarts my metabolism. It gets my brain firing. I'm just like buzzing, ready to go after that. You just like blend it up or just? Sometimes I'll blend it up or I'll just shake it with a fork and it's a little chunky. I don't mind it.
Starting point is 00:19:52 I just chug it or off the form instead of my beers. Instead of the beers like I used to do and now I replace it with raw egg drinks. You mentioned you were a fast food baby and Andrew's got a baby. So Andrew, maybe you need to throw a little fast food into a religious diet so you can be tall. And then you're talking about like a late bloomer and I'm like I don't know man my son
Starting point is 00:20:09 already has like a little bit of fuzz on his lip. I'm like how do I like prolong this you know grow a little bit more kind of let him cook. Oh man yeah I you know you can control the controllables and it's funny you know you're talking about that I'm about to be a father too Yeah, so happy for you. I'm like so fired up and excited and it's just been the most amazing thing It's I'm looking at life from a whole new lens and perspective and I'm literally I mean I'm already a father right like it's already here with me and It's man, it's amazing.
Starting point is 00:20:45 It really is. And the cool thing with like the knowledge that you have right now, like just by living the way you live and you know, your child being in your household, like you're putting your kids so far ahead of the game, you know, like that's the stuff that I think about. So like, you know, going grocery shopping yesterday and I've said this multiple times on the podcast, how I get like super judgmental of like other people's feet and in this case, other people's like carts and stuff. And I'm just like looking, I'm like, dude, anybody like that listens to the podcast,
Starting point is 00:21:14 anybody that follows me on Instagram could come audit my shopping cart right now. And they'd be like, oh, you're not full of shit. And I'd be like, yeah, you know, of course. But also like I'm like, I'm looking at my son and I'm like, dude, all of this, he eats everything that we eat. And so again, I think about, like, we're giving him such a huge advantage over general population. Not saying it's a contest of anything, but I'm just saying, like, when it comes to being able to achieve
Starting point is 00:21:39 the things that he wants to achieve, the stuff that we're teaching him and by just doing it, we're allowing him, we're teaching him and by just doing it, you know, we're allowing him, you know, we're giving him the opportunity. And so the cool thing that I, you know, we talked about before was like, you think you worked really hard right now. You're going to get this extra gear that you had no idea was there this whole time. And it's going to be freaking amazing.
Starting point is 00:21:58 And I'm just ecstatic for you, dude. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I think it's like the ultimate gift. Like as a man, in my opinion, and I don't think everybody has to have kids, but in my opinion, producing an offspring and having the opportunity to create generational love and end generational trauma or just change pathways for your entire bloodline is just the most amazing honor and opportunity in the world. And so I completely resonate. It's pretty scary too. Every once in a while you're like, I'm a fucking dad. Like it doesn't
Starting point is 00:22:30 happen to me anymore because my kids are like, you know, they're older, but just fucking around in the gym and just saying gross stuff and locker room shit. You're like, I should probably clean some of this up. I mean, I am a dad after all, like maybe. And then I'm like, nah. It was, dude, It was the absolute best thing because I definitely cuss way too much and I cuss in front of him and I'm trying to get better. It's been totally fine. I can't remember what it was that happened,
Starting point is 00:22:52 but my wife was like, shit, and she never cusses, ever. In that one time, he just looks up, shit, and I'm like, oh, I can't believe he got that from you. Like, what are you, like, oh my, and then he's gonna be like. He said it right after she said it? Yeah. That's great. It was pretty awesome. He was probably like, I don't know. It that from you. Like, what are you, like, oh my god. You said it right after she said it? Yeah. That's great.
Starting point is 00:23:06 It was pretty embarrassing. He was probably a good person. It wasn't on me, you know? It wasn't my fault. They're literally sponges. Kids are literally sponges. I'm serious. Oh yeah.
Starting point is 00:23:14 I want to have a serious conversation with you about your balls. And I'm being serious here. On this podcast, we talked about a lot of things to help men improve the health of their penis, because it's important. And your balls have very thin skin. This is true.
Starting point is 00:23:26 You can touch them right now, and you know it's pretty thin. Women do a lot of things to take care of their vaginal health. And men, we don't really think about the things that we put right directly on our balls, like our boxers. A lot of popular brands out there have chemicals that are literally touching your balls. Think about this. When you're in the gym sweating, when you're at work sitting,
Starting point is 00:23:45 when you're doing all these things, these things could be permeating into your scrotum. Things like BPA, phthalates, pesticides, incesticides, toxic dyes, toxic fertilizers, formaldehyde, all of which could lead to and could exacerbate lower testosterone, erectile dysfunction, and potential infertility. That's why I've partnered with NADS. And NADS is made with 100% organic cotton and no toxic
Starting point is 00:24:10 dyes. So instead of putting just anything on your manhood, it's a good idea to get your hands on some NADS. And Andrew, how can they get it? Yes, that's over at NADSunder.com. That's N-A-D-S-under.com. And at checkout enter promo code powerproject to save 15% off your entire order. Again, that's at Nadsunder.com. Links in the description as well as the podcast show notes. How did you grow up?
Starting point is 00:24:32 Did you grow up kind of with a tablet in front of you type thing or like a lot of internet or not really? Or were you outside more? It just depends. I went through phases as a kid and also, you know, my childhood. Did they have tablets when you were a kid? They had Game Boys. No tablets. I mean, they came out with iPad when I was in middle school, I think. And my dad had one for work. But, yeah, I was...
Starting point is 00:24:54 They were still expensive as fuck when they first started going around, right? I had a PlayStation 1 when I was a kid. I got the first Xbox, you know. Oh, damn! Hey, I'm 28, man. I'm not that young. But yeah, it kind of ties into why I'm so passionate about being a father. And it really ties in. It's not even kind of. It's like, you know, the reason why. Because humans are a product of their environment and their experiences. And your parents play such a big part of your environment and your experiences for so many years.
Starting point is 00:25:22 And, you know, the way I see the way that I grew up, my upbringing is I had a lot of good years with my parents before my high school years. Like they were great people. They still are great people. You know, they were just really, really, really great parents comparatively to the latter years. And I had a really great childhood. My dad had a really great job. We were wealthy.
Starting point is 00:25:50 I had all the basic human needs taken care of. I was pretty spoiled. I was a mama's boy. And I think that my parents were just a product of Western civilization, you know, and their parents. And this can get really deep. And this is really what I'm passionate to talk about. But yeah, and so that's all that they knew, right? It was around that time when their parents started to give them, you know, in the sixties, because my parents were born in the sixties. And that's
Starting point is 00:26:21 when seed oil started to roll around and all of these processed foods and everything like started to hyper modernize as opposed to it's like a stock chart you're looking at it everything got super super modern like and it's been like that through the whole 1900s pretty much but especially in the sixties and especially in America and refrigerators becoming super prevalent. TV is super prevalent. Microwaves. Yeah. Yeah. Everything modern and it's like, you know, the modern primal has room for modern. That's why it's in there. It's half of it. I think that we're modern creatures and we're super intelligent. We should relish in our modern advances, but we also got to kind of remember what got us here. And we got to tune into the things that really matter and the things that really move the needle
Starting point is 00:27:02 in terms of health, physical, mentally, spiritually, whatever it is. And my parents just, you know, like we would have never had a conversation like this. Like it just, you know, personal growth, stuff like that wasn't even a thing. It was just everything that they knew, everything that they were taught. And it was just this super Western way of living where we just numbed ourselves constantly watching television, you know, spending money every holiday was only centered around gifts. Like it wasn't centered around any meaning.
Starting point is 00:27:31 Gifts and a lot of food and probably kind of like junky food. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, so I mean, my mom cooked a lot, but even then a lot of it was processed and I'm super grateful for it. I don't want to come across like I'm sounding like any of this was horrible or that I didn't like it. I'm super, super grateful for it. I'm so blessed to have the childhood that I did. I mean, it is a, the thing is it's a modern type of struggle because if we think about that, like, okay, food processed
Starting point is 00:27:57 extra calories, no one's starving anymore. But the thing is, is we're not starving, we're just fat. It's an opposite type of problem. And it's a good thing. I mean, I think it's better to be fat than having multiple people starving all the time. But it's like, how do we now navigate that? Which is, I guess, what you're getting at here. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:28:13 And I mean, a lot of it's real simple. That primal stuff, it's literally just movement, eating real foods, connecting with loved ones, having real conversations, connecting with the Earth. All of that stuff could literally move the needle for everybody, sunlight exposure. People literally just implemented all that stuff that I just said and they kept up with even a lot
Starting point is 00:28:34 of their modern habits. I think that their lives and health in every area would skyrocket. You mentioned something interesting that I find to be interesting nowadays is I don't know if this is happening as much, but you kind of painted a picture of that. You guys would probably have dinner.
Starting point is 00:28:49 Your mom would probably cook dinner, right? And then you guys would probably have dinner as a family-ish the best you could. As the kids get older, it always gets weird. Everyone's got their own schedule, track football and whatnot. And I think, Andrew, you grew up in a similar household and you grew up in a similar household
Starting point is 00:29:04 having your mom cook dinner and the rest of your family being there and stuff like that. And so I don't think that happens anymore. Like, I just don't think it happens. You don't think cooking dinner happens anymore? I don't think it happens anymore. No, I think it's door dash.
Starting point is 00:29:17 I think it's like eating out. And I think it's just like a lot of, the parents would be horrified to have this word reflected back at them, but I think there's a ton of neglect going on. And it's not even known, that's the thing. People are struggling and hurting. Yeah, and I'm not trying to, yeah. And they don't even know it.
Starting point is 00:29:34 Exactly, yeah. They think they're doing the right thing and they're just doing their best. That's the thing, they are doing their best in the moment. I truly believe that even at a human's worst moments, I believe that they're doing their best in that moment. It's like some sort of trauma manifesting or like entity or like just this horrible decision
Starting point is 00:29:48 based off of like this anger that they hold towards the world or like their parents are like, whatever it is. Just multiple income streams, you know? So like mom and dad are both out, you know, figuring out a way to make a living, make, you know, and they're obviously they're, they're going to have to divert some of their attention to some of those things.
Starting point is 00:30:06 And so maybe when they're home, they're also on their phone checking their email and so forth. And the kid is fine, right? Like quote unquote fine. The kid's in the other room and the kid's on their tablet or are playing a video game or they're left to their own devices of like,
Starting point is 00:30:23 going into the cupboard and like getting whatever they want food-wise. So the kid is okay, but the kid is kind of being neglected. It's something that I've kind of observed in modern times. It's simply a byproduct of modern normality, just being wrong. Just modern Western society normalities are just completely wrong.
Starting point is 00:30:43 A lot of them are the way that we're living our lives, the reason that we're living our lives, right? Our societal currency is dollars. It's finances. People are living for the wrong reasons. The societal financial currency should be love and integrity or whatever skill you bring. In my opinion, we just have this false representation of what society should be, that we've built an entire world. It's not even just Western society, the whole world is being run by financial dictation. And it's just really interesting. It's just going to take a lot of thought leaders and heart-centered people
Starting point is 00:31:18 to just lead with love and just become aware and awake. I'm not saying that there's one right way or wrong way, but I think that there's certain universal truths that humans shouldn't stray away from that we are, you know. And so it's just, it's real interesting. But again, it's like transitioning to that father piece. It's like, now I have this amazing opportunity to create an amazing human that can make an impact in the world, right?
Starting point is 00:31:43 Like if you think about it, that's the best thing that we can really do. We can't force anything on anybody. We can't force like, even if you're taking the medicine, if you're on steroids or something and it's like, Holy shit, Jim, you got to try this. I promise. Like, I promise. Like you got to try this. And he's just like, I'm just not ready. Like, I don't want, you know, like you can't force it. It just has to come from within. And all we can do is just set the example. And so you take that at a macro level to your children. It's like, that is my purpose is literally to create good humans on this earth. And luckily I've curated a platform
Starting point is 00:32:16 where I can kind of do that as well. So, but yeah, man. Yeah, I like the way you emphasize that parents are trying their absolute best or, you know, like, because my parents were about the same age as your parents, right? They grew up eating a certain style of food or plates or meals or whatever. And when my mom would replicate those meals, it was the exact same except now like the tortillas have like seed oils in them, but we didn't know that stuff, right?
Starting point is 00:32:43 They're creating the what they think is the exact same thing, but unfortunately they're just unaware, they're uneducated about like, oh, these tortillas stay soft forever. So I could get this big ass pack for hella cheap. And we just live off of that for a long time, not knowing that it wasn't the exact same thing that they grew up like hand making, right?
Starting point is 00:33:02 So that stuff's hard because I faced those issues today as a parent when I'm, you know, my son eats a certain way and it's looked at as weird, it's different. Like, oh, he's not gonna die if he has a little bit of this and that. Like true, he won't die, but how about we give him a chance? Like, let's actually see what, you know, how he handles a pretty much carnivore style diet. You know, it's animal based for sure. But that's one thing that, I mean, it
Starting point is 00:33:30 sounds like your circles pretty dang good to where like you won't have to worry about that. But that was one thing that I had a really hard time with, especially with family when it was like everybody like the cupcakes are out like, oh, he wants some. It's like, well, it's a very big, bright, shiny thing. He just wants to grab it. He doesn't know what it actually is because he's never had it. And so to this day, he's like, you know, three and a half or so, and he doesn't reach for the candy.
Starting point is 00:33:53 He doesn't reach for the cake. He doesn't even know what they are. And so it's really, really cool because it's taken that long. I mean, it's not really cool. It's cool that he does that. It's not cool that it's taken this long, but it's taken about three and a half years
Starting point is 00:34:04 for people to kind of understand. But even still to this day, it's still like, oh, like here they come, you know, because it's like, yeah, we're not gonna indulge in this or that, and we're gonna probably bring our own food, but we still wanna enjoy time together. It just, it does take a little bit of time to, for everybody else to kind of catch up to you.
Starting point is 00:34:24 And that's something that I just want to let you know that that probably will be coming. And you might not expect it from certain areas of your life. You're like, oh shit, like I'm actually gonna have to get into a little argument right now to stand my ground. And it's weird, but it's worth it. Man, yeah, I already resonate with that. It's something that I have already thought about a lot. And I thought about my feelings and thoughts that I already resonate with that. You know, it's something that I have already thought about a lot.
Starting point is 00:34:45 And I thought about my feelings and thoughts that I was having towards that. I was like thinking things, you know, like I don't want my kid to hang around people that are drinking alcohol because I don't want him to see that and think that that's normal to sit around and do that because they're so receptive. Like I have to be so protective over his environment or her environment, whatever it is. And then I was like, man, I'm acting out of fear when I say that. And it's like the difference between acting out of fear
Starting point is 00:35:10 and acting out of love is so profound. And so it's like, instead of manifesting like a negative outcome, just even by saying I don't want my kid to be doing certain things, I am potentially manifesting that outcome by bringing it up and making it relevant. And so that's acting out of fear.
Starting point is 00:35:27 And then acting out of love would be saying something like, I want my kid to hang around the most magical, positive, you know, heart centered people and be able to make the best decisions because he, you know, he or she has, you know, all of the tools that they need. And so I get what you're saying. And I've thought about it. And it's like, I'm at this space where it's just like, I'm so tedious about my head space and my thoughts
Starting point is 00:35:52 and what I entertain and what I let in and stuff. That's kind of how I feel about that certain situation. But I totally know. And I'm gonna run into that and it's like, yo, raising kids is wild. I'm reading this book right now called The Montessori Baby. I'm reading about Montessori style parenting and it's just so profound, all of the stuff that I've learned
Starting point is 00:36:13 and you know, you can't control everything, but you can like, to an extent. Most of it is probably just get the fuck out of the way. Right? Yeah, I mean, so a lot of the stuff that it touches on is like, let the baby be human. Like, babies come out, don't treat them like babies. Like, treat them like an intelligent being like they are.
Starting point is 00:36:30 Let them make decisions. Teach them how to make decisions rather than teaching them what you know as to be reality and as to be true. And, you know, no screens, no like bright, flashy, like crazy toys or like cartoons on the walls. Like, that stuff's fine and there's gonna be a time and place for that, but it's more so intuitive and educational learning, you put a mirror in their room and a bar that's drilled into the wall, that way they can intuitively pull themselves up and look at themselves
Starting point is 00:36:57 when the time is right, you know what I'm saying? And apparently that's super good for development and lots of rolling around on mats and, you know, like not baby proofing the house, like, oh, let them hit their head on the corner so that they learn and then they won't. It's like you got to touch the, you got to touch the stove to know that it's hot. I struggle with that, but I totally understand. Right. Like I'm not saying that that's the ultimately right way, but I'm taking bits and pieces from that
Starting point is 00:37:25 because it's really resonating with me. And so, yeah, man. I saw a really cool video the other day. The video was probably too long to play here because it went on for a bit because the dad just let this whole thing go on for a while. But anyway, this guy was walking on this path and then there was all all these like little ropes
Starting point is 00:37:45 that were going across and the dad like dipped under one. He pulled one up, he pushed another one down and he like, you know, and then his son tried to go through and his son's like, you know, I don't know, four, like he's short, you know, so he can't like, he can't really maneuver the same way. And the dad just keeps walking and the kid gets past one rope
Starting point is 00:38:07 because he recognizes dad's ahead of him. And then the kid starts like making noise and the dad, he finally does stop and kind of look back and it goes back and forth. And then dad's like kind of showing the kid like, I'm not gonna solve all your problems. And the dad ultimately just ends up going back to like walking straight. And then there the kid is,
Starting point is 00:38:26 boom, he figures it out. Yeah, I mean, they're so smart. They're so smart and even before they can talk and use language, they can still communicate with you. And the book kind of touches into that. Like they'll let you know when they have to go potty or be fed and they'll give you different cues. And we've just been, you know, we've a lot of things in society like swaddling the baby when they're sleeping, like they can't
Starting point is 00:38:49 let you know anything or like touch their face or do things like move their body. Like all that stuff is just, it matters in my opinion. And so I'm just finding new things every day to where I can just reframe my mind so that I can raise an awesome kid. And I mean, honestly, a big part of that is because I went through a lot of adversity when I was growing up with my parents. I went through so much adversity with my parents and I've just had the most immaculate healing journey in that department and aspect. And it's something that is going to continue for the rest of my life, just like all healing journeys.
Starting point is 00:39:24 When you say adversity, what, if you don't mind saying, what do you mean? What are you talking about? Yeah, so adversity is relative. I want to preface this with the fact that I think trauma, adversity, bad things that happen in life, as one might say, it's all relative. Don't compare your bad.
Starting point is 00:39:42 Exactly, exactly. It's all relative. So somebody's father yelling at them and calling them a name as a kid could be just as bad as somebody's father doing something else, right? That's just, it's just, everything is relative. Everybody perceives reality differently and it affects everybody differently.
Starting point is 00:39:57 And so me personally, I went from this spot where I was, from the outside looking in, you know, from societal perception, everybody else, like we looked like a great, you know, perfect American family living in a suburban neighborhood. And my parents started to enter this phase where their relationship started to get really rocky, they started to get really nasty towards each other, their habits really spiraled out of control. And so they had, both of them had problems being addicted to different substances.
Starting point is 00:40:30 And so my father, alcohol and prescription drugs, my mother, alcohol and prescription drugs and other things. And it didn't really start until I was 15 years old. And so I went from like loving my, I don't mean loving, but I went from thinking that my parents were absolutely superhuman, and everything that they said was right, to being like, what the fuck is happening right now?
Starting point is 00:40:51 Is this real life? And I think that's a great realization for a kid to eventually understand that their parent is a person. Exactly, exactly. But it's not easy to go through that transition. 100%, 100%. And so it gets real interesting. And that's how I feel now.
Starting point is 00:41:08 I have the utmost love and respect and understanding from my parents. And I realized that they were just trying their best. And I have so much empathy and sympathy for them. And I love them and forgive them forever. That's just a little mantra that I have. And so it's the truth. And it was just, for me personally,
Starting point is 00:41:28 I had turned about 16 years old. My parent, my mom approaches me. My dad was in rehab. My mom approaches me and says, your father's not stable. We can't live with him anymore. He was doing stuff like just getting super drunk and then like say he would get like physical,
Starting point is 00:41:44 pin me down, yell in my face, be like you have no fucking idea how hard life is, like spitting in my face, like if I do something wrong just like you know physical abuse, mental abuse, name-calling, worthless, like this that and the other just like horrible stuff to say to a kid like especially from its father that it looks up to. We share the same name so it was like it's you know it was pretty deep there and so at the same name. So it was like, it's, you know, it was pretty deep there. And so at the time I was like, I was like, yeah, let's fucking leave.
Starting point is 00:42:08 My mom approached me and was like, yo, we can get out of here. We can go, my parents can take care of us. We can move cities right now. And I was the eldest brother. And so I was like, yeah, let's go. And so like, I held a lot of guilt and response throughout my life for like,
Starting point is 00:42:23 almost like feeling like it was my fault that my parents split up. You have siblings? Yes, I have a younger sister who's 11 months younger than me and a brother who's five years younger than me. Yeah, and then sometimes in those scenarios when things like that are going on, then a kid may have resentment towards the parents
Starting point is 00:42:39 because you're now the kind of only adult. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it was- They might be left to watch your brother or sister or something like, you know, things like that. Yeah, I mean, so it gets to that. So we moved to this new city. We're living in this trailer house. My mom completely falls apart.
Starting point is 00:42:58 My mom completely falls apart. She, like I'm getting home and she's just like incoherent like most days, like just drinking alcohol every day, taking so many pills. And I didn't even know what they were at the time. I was just like, oh, it's just her sleeping pills or whatever. And so my dad is in rehab, mom was acting like this. It got to the point where football season starts. It's my first football game of the season, I get home, my brother is standing outside naked, crying, just like in his shorts, like my little brother, like I can vividly remember it.
Starting point is 00:43:31 I'm like, what's going on? And he's like, mom isn't, like mom's not, you know, moving or talking or whatever. And so I walk inside and she was seizing, foaming at the mouth on the couch because she had overdosed. And I was like, you know, I was expecting to see her in the stands, like watching my football game and all that stuff. And so anyways, that happened. And then she had overdosed like two or three times after that. And so I got to the point where she had ran through all the money that her parents had given her. We couldn't pay rent anymore. ran through all the money that her parents had given her. We couldn't pay rent anymore. My car got repoed. Her car got repoed.
Starting point is 00:44:07 We got evicted from our trailer house. And my mom was so down bad that she was just like, I give up. Y'all can go stay with my parents. You know what I'm saying? She was just giving up. She went to her parents' house. My siblings did. I was like, holy shit.
Starting point is 00:44:24 What are we gonna do with all of our stuff? Like, you know what I mean? And so, months had passed. This was baseball season now. The only thing that I could do is I approached my baseball coach and I was like, yo, I don't wanna lose all my stuff.
Starting point is 00:44:39 I don't want my siblings to lose all their stuff. Is there any way that instead of baseball practice today, we could get our team to come over and help me move all this shit to my grandparents barn? You know what I mean? And so like that was so embarrassing for me. That was so much to, that was just a lot of adversity, you know, because you don't want people to see you at, in that light whenever you're at that age. External perception is a lot. Anyways, and so we did all that and we moved in with my grandparents. And then during that time, I mean, it got pretty interesting with my mother. I figured out what her pills
Starting point is 00:45:13 were and I was like, this is the root of everything. I need to get rid of these. And so I remember it was like Percocet or Oxycontin or something like that? It was Oxycontin. Yeah. And so I just watched a Netflix show about it not too long ago and I was like, fuck man, this is so true. This is resonating somewhere. Oh yeah, the FDA or the pharmaceutical people were trying to talk about how safe it was and all that kind of stuff. I know, just for financial gain.
Starting point is 00:45:38 That's like big pharma. And so I remember I found her pills and I was gonna pour them down the sink and she saw me and she literally like Turned into like this like in this other like mode and was just screaming at me Clawing at me like my whole face was bleeding my whole chest was bleeding because I refused to give her the pills I was just sitting there like crying Like tears streaming down my face and I was like, I was like, I'm not going to do it. And she was like, I choose the pills like, fuck you, I fucking hate you. You know, just like screaming, clawing my face. I'm just like enduring this like crazy, you know, traumatic experience from my mother,
Starting point is 00:46:18 you know, and I was a, I was a mama's boy. And so, you know, looking back, it was super traumatic for me in the moment. Now, I'm just like, I can only imagine what she was going through at that time to where that happened to her. And I feel so much for her and I have so much love and understanding for her. Again, I just don't want it to sound like I'm shitting on anybody, but I'm just trying to explain what happened because I think that people could hear shit like this and realize that they're not alone. I know for the longest time, it took everything in me to like try to forget about this stuff, never talk about it.
Starting point is 00:46:50 But it shaped me to who I am now and it makes me see the world in a different lens once we learn to accept things and overcome them. And so I think it's important to talk about it. And I think a lot more people can relate than we might think. Yeah. So anyways, after that, she stayed on the pills and alcohol, nothing was working.
Starting point is 00:47:08 I was going to graduate high school soon. And then I reached this point, I was like, I realized that I had no opportunities. I had, I didn't do anything with sports. My family had no money. And so- Do you have any idea of what you may have wanted? No, I had no idea. I had no direction in life. Zero direction. My dad was always telling me, if you don't make it in sports, you're going to have to join the military. You have no idea how hard life is. Like that's what all my dad told me growing up. He was just like so centered
Starting point is 00:47:39 on money. He's like, I'm not paying for your fucking college. Like, and, and so I ended up joining the military, but I'll get to that in a little bit. So anyways, I reached this point where I realized that I don't really have any plans for after high school and I'm all my kids are like, or all my friends are posting on Instagram like, oh, just got accepted to A&M. Like just got accepted to UT. Like, oh, see y'all at TCU next summer or whatever. TCU, I think it's a horn frog. And I was just like so down and depressed
Starting point is 00:48:06 because that's what I always thought that I wanted to do. And I was like, how am I ever going to get girls if I work at Dollar Tree in the Texas Hill country like after high school? There's someone for everybody, right? Because at that age you're thinking about that. I was like, I'm never going to be able to party and... Interesting that guy at Dollar Tree is 6'6".
Starting point is 00:48:29 Unbelievable. Girls showing up there every day. Hey, those girls with no teeth are good companions. I'm just kidding. That was crude humor. Is it not true though? I mean, no teeth. I've never experienced that personally.
Starting point is 00:48:44 I can only imagine. I'm not mean no. I've never experienced that personally. I can only imagine. I'm not going to. I could. And so, I got in this really low place in life. This was the first time in my life where everything started to sink in and kick in. Shit was real. I didn't have that cushion life where I could just skate by in high school and get everything paid for anymore.
Starting point is 00:49:02 Like the real world was about to happen and I had no plan and nothing to my name and no direction. And so I was just super sad and I told my mom, I pulled her aside. I was like, mom, I'm super depressed and I feel suicidal just because I was like in such a down spot. We had gotten evicted from our home. Like I was just like, it's just like not something a 16 year old guy wants to go through. And she looked at me and she was like, Oh, you're depressed. She was like, you're depressed. And she was like, you have no fucking idea. Like what it's like to want to kill yourself. She's like, you're not going to kill yourself. She's like, I am. And she goes outside and I'm like, mom, what are you doing?
Starting point is 00:49:47 Like, I had no idea. Like, I didn't know what she was going to do, right? She like goes outside and my little brother is literally there next to me. She goes around, my grandparents have this barn next to them. She goes around to this barn and goes up to this mirror and punches it, gets the glass, and starts like ravenously trying to cut her
Starting point is 00:50:06 wrists like out of like a demonic scary movie. If you could imagine that. My freaking 10 year old brother is right here. I'm right here. There's blood everywhere. And I'm just like, what the fuck? Like, you know, that was like the turning point for like me and my like my mother's relationship, I think in a lot of ways. And yeah, that was just such an adverse moment to go through. I can see the other side of it now. I can see the light at the end of the rainbow. I really do have the most love and respect. But yeah, I just felt called to share a few moments from that journey.
Starting point is 00:50:59 And there's a lot more that we could touch on if it comes up. But it's just like, man. And so all that adversity pushed me to join the military, went through some more adversity in the military, and then ultimately wound up finding, running marathons. And that's how I learned to, you know, find my strategic adversity and kind of take out some of that stuff that I've had to process,
Starting point is 00:51:20 that I've gotten to process, honestly, because it's all been a blessing. Yeah, do you feel like in some ways, some of that was almost bestowed upon you in a way? It was all gifted to me. It was all gifted to me. Not a single thing that happened was bad. I'm so grateful.
Starting point is 00:51:35 I'm so grateful. I am so grateful for everything that happened. And, you know. I think stuff like this is really interesting because I think that we can look at, like there's a lot of great athletes that are built off of these things, off of these scenarios, off of these situations.
Starting point is 00:51:54 You know, Shaquille O'Neal being one of them where he was like, my dad's gonna know my name. You know, like my real dad's gonna know, you're gonna know who the fuck I am. Yeah. And then he was, you know, super determined in basketball and so on. And you just hear these stories over and over and over again. And I think that the David Goggins story,
Starting point is 00:52:14 these comeback stories, they're shared a lot. And so I think that people think that that's almost like a little bit of a blueprint. Or to be like Mike Tyson and to be mistreated basically your entire life. And then grows up to be the youngest heavyweight champion of all time. I mean, again, you hear this story all the time,
Starting point is 00:52:34 but what you don't hear is that there's many parents and many children that don't go through those traumatic experiences. And struggle is gonna come your way no matter what you do. You know, you move one thing one way and something's going to move back the other. And you see these films and these movies, you know, Back to the Future Comes to Mind or any movie that's like that, where someone goes back in time and they try to fix something or they try to overly protect something and then something else happens, right?
Starting point is 00:53:02 It's all by design. So even if you're, even if you are Jeff Bezos' son, like imagine how hard that would be. You know what I mean? You're thinking, oh, that would be kind of cool. He's got a yacht that he spends like $20 million a day just to keep parked in like a particular spot and it doesn't, it's of no concern to him, you know? Money's no, it's not an obstacle of any kind in that family, right?
Starting point is 00:53:27 But those are still burdens and there's gonna be burdens, there's gonna be struggles, there's gonna be certain things that sort of come your way almost no matter what you do. And even if there's not, there doesn't have to be like tragedy, you know, for everyone to be strong enough to end up being a success. And I just think it's interesting, and you know, we hear a story like this, like this is really cool.
Starting point is 00:53:54 Some of this is like the making of a superhero, right? But you're kind of thinking maybe in the back of your own head a little bit, like what's my son or my daughters, what's their thing gonna be? And you don't have to search for it. You don't have to try to find it. I mean, you can throw stuff at them artificially
Starting point is 00:54:12 and have them enroll in jujitsu and stuff like that. And they could get some challenges from sports and they can learn a lot of great things through those journeys and stuff like that. But pain, suffering, all those things, they are a natural part of life and they're just here for everybody. Yeah, yeah. And it's welcomed once you get to a point where you realize how good it is because just
Starting point is 00:54:31 like we were talking about those uphills, it's like, yeah, let's fucking send it. It used to be like, God damn, you want to walk the hill and take two hours or do you want to send it and then get to the downhill so you can coast. And so yeah, man, I completely resonate with that. And gosh, I'm so passionate about adversity. I love it. I think it's the most fantastic thing in the world. And I think it's just the way that the world works.
Starting point is 00:54:53 You don't get the reward without the risk. It's like the adversity. Like you just, that's how you level up in anything. Being able to handle the stresses of your day, the stress of exercise, and being able to stick to your nutrition plan takes good rest and good quality sleep the night before. And if your mouth is opening during sleep
Starting point is 00:55:11 or if you're snoring, well, your sleep quality is compromised. That's why we've partnered with the best mouth tape in the game, hostage tape. If you have a beard, it's gonna stay on. If you have a CPAP, it's gonna stay on. This tape is not gonna fall off your mouth like most other tapes do when you're asleep. and to enhance the way you breathe through your nose
Starting point is 00:55:28 They also have no strips head over to hostage tape comm slash power project where you can get a three month supply of hostage Tape for only 65 cents a night on top of that you're gonna receive a free pack of no strips as well as a bedside tin Again, that's at hostage tape comm slash power project links in the description as well as a bedside tin. Again, that's at hostagetape.com slash power project. Links in the description, as well as the podcast show notes. Let me ask you this. What was the way that, you know, as you got older, how did you choose to reflect on it? Like, you know, some people, they don't,
Starting point is 00:55:56 it's hard to want to look back on hard things that have happened to you and actually just assess it and maybe assess how it affected you, assess how it makes you make decisions now. What did you do? Yeah. So what happened was I didn't think anything of it. And I just kind of tried to live my life like normal and kind of expel everything and not think about it and just unidentify with everything. And then it started to really wreak havoc in my life whenever I would enter stressful moments or emotionally heightened moments, because I would have trauma come out
Starting point is 00:56:26 that I hadn't like properly dealt with yet. And I would, you know, whether it's like acting like I saw my father act or like being super sensitive to something somebody tells me and they didn't mean any harm by it. And I was just making assumptions. And so I had a few failed relationships. I had horrible habits, drinking alcohol almost every single day, taking the path of my father. I was in the military too, so the party lifestyle was encouraged. Whenever we weren't out to sea, it was like, what bar are we meeting up at? Let's get fucked up.
Starting point is 00:56:54 We got to be back at the ship at 3 AM tomorrow. It was pretty run and gun. And so what really the catalyst for me was I got cheated on by my ex-girlfriend before my current partner. And I was like, what the fuck? Like, I was so good to you. Like, what did I do wrong? Like, I'm a fucking catch. Like, I'm a great guy. I treat you so good, you know what I mean? And I stayed with that. I stayed with that for like a few months. And it was just like kind of running my life. And then once I took ultimate responsibility
Starting point is 00:57:31 for that in the relationship, I was like, you know what? Wait a second. Wait a second. Let me think about how I was acting. Let me think about my habits. Let me think about what I was doing. Let me think about the role I was playing in the relationship. Let me think about how I was treating my professional life. How much money I was making. All this stuff. Just holding myself to this ultimate standard. And it's like, I wouldn't want to be with my ass either. You know what I mean? Like I probably would have cheated on me too.
Starting point is 00:57:50 Not freaking, not really. You actually wouldn't have, but I mean. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like I was justifying it in a way because I was like, you know what, this is a great opportunity for me. And then I literally applied that to every area of my life. And I entered this radical, just self-help, transformational, like I went in the hyperbaric time chamber. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love anime. I think it's way, I think it
Starting point is 00:58:18 has depth. It has lessons. It teaches people stuff that in American culture, that American cartoons don't show. Yo, it's true! Andrew understands this too now. What's the... How Jimmy no Ippo. Dude, that's an amazing... Make your kids watch Jimmy. That's the fighting one? The boxing one? Boxing one, yeah.
Starting point is 00:58:32 Gotcha. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ippo, yeah. Yeah, American cartoons just have racism in them. Hey, South Park is go to... All the Warner Brothers shit. You ever see some of the stuff they pull up from there? You're like, what? It's wild. What cartoon? Like from Warner Brothers and stuff like that.
Starting point is 00:58:46 The old school shit. Like there's wild stuff in there. You're like, holy fuck. You're like, really? Yeah, Disney's constantly having to pull shit from the old cartoons. You're like, what? Oh, that's hilarious.
Starting point is 00:58:57 You're like, I don't remember that. Jesus Christ. It's crazy how South Park isn't canceled. You know what I'm saying? And they'd be calling, like they call future events. I'm just like, what? Like how are they so woke and aware? It's anyways, it's hilarious.
Starting point is 00:59:12 But yeah, so I entered this radical transformation period and it was about, you know, it's still going on now. And I've been through trials and tribulations and hills obviously, just like life goes. But yeah, I just, I got obsessed with just getting better. And I entered periods where I've had to like radically humble myself because I got, you know, whenever you're shredded and you think that you're doing great in all these areas
Starting point is 00:59:36 and you want other people to see that too, it can, you know, especially people that you love, you're like, come on, drink the Kool-Aid, I promise you, it tastes good. It can come off as like, you can kind of get, maybe identify with your ego a little bit too much. So I've had to, I've gotten the opportunity to kind of go down these different paths and now I'm at this conclusion
Starting point is 00:59:57 where it's just this lifelong process. And I think Matt Choi says this a lot, being a lifelong learner, I've heard other people talk about that, it's just such a good thing. And it's like, yo, things are gonna happen. Like, I'm just a lifelong learner. I'm gonna be so patient.
Starting point is 01:00:11 And I'm, you know, 1% better every day, whatever you wanna classify it as. And you can say that stuff all you want, but once you actually, once it actually resonates, it's like so freeing, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Especially as an entrepreneur, whenever you feel like you gotta do everything.
Starting point is 01:00:26 Was there a studying some anime is one part of it. And then how else did you develop some like emotional intelligence? Was it, did you get therapy? I think experience. What are some other things you did? Yeah, I think experience and I've gotten a lot of healing modalities, therapy.
Starting point is 01:00:44 Honestly, and just life as a whole. Like I share some of my story. I think going through some of those events have really opened up my eyes, especially for having grace and showing, sharing sympathy and empathy for others. And I just really flipped from I know everything or like I thought I knew everything to I am open to learning. I'm open to receive. I'm open to healing. And I've just been kind of open to every new healing modality I come across. I've done a lot of them.
Starting point is 01:01:14 Like what? What are some things that you found helpful? Yeah. So let me talk about why I jumped into a bunch of healing modalities, especially within the last six months. So this past November, I was taking a piss and I fainted randomly and had a traumatic brain injury. Yeah, I couldn't move or talk for five plus days. And all this stuff you've done, you got hurt, taken a leak. I know, I was like, man, what the heck?
Starting point is 01:01:40 When you were taking this piss, was there anything that happened before that you were dizzy or not? I was in the middle of a marathon prep and I mean, I thought I was hydrated, I was well rested and I was just peeing and that's the last thing I remember. And then I woke up and my girlfriend was above my head and like crying, screaming in my face. Was your dick still in your hand? No, luckily it flipped up into my waistband.
Starting point is 01:02:00 You're like, it flipped up and it went back over my shoulder. Well, the doctor says that that might be why. But yeah, so they weren't able to trace it to anything, but it was what you would call a cerebellum leisure, which is a pretty significant thing to happen. And it affects like balance and, you know, just cognitive skills a lot and word recall and all that stuff and I haven't chosen to identify with any of that like There was a time where I Definitely felt the effects and I thought that the road ahead seemed very perilous But I jumped into a lot of cool things
Starting point is 01:02:39 So the first one that I found was hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy. And that doesn't necessarily correlate to emotional intelligence health or the emotional journey, but it helped heal my brain for sure. I'm sure it's meditative too, right? I mean, you're not doing anything. You're just like sitting there, right? Absolutely. I'm going deep in there. Or just laying there, right?
Starting point is 01:02:57 Yes, I'm going deep in there. It's a hard shell chamber. You can't really hear anything except for the oxygen pumping in. And I hired a awesome coach who would lead me through these meditations where we kind of drop in, talk with inner child, talk with higher self and you know make decisions together, talk about why we might be feeling some certain type of way based off of how the inner child might feel and then we always relate to my highest self where it's like you know
Starting point is 01:03:23 this guy knows everything he's my perfect self right like my highest self where it's like, you know, this guy knows everything. He's my perfect self, right? Like my highest self. Like that's who I aim to be each and every day. And getting into some like Aubrey Marcus type shit. Yeah, honestly. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've done a few psychedelics that have probably helped to expand my mind a little
Starting point is 01:03:37 bit, I think, for sure. Yeah. So I found hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy, which I deemed to be incredibly effective for Healing a brain injury shout out to Sam Womack in Austin, Texas at beam He reached out to me on Instagram when he saw one of my posts and and was like yo I want to help you heal your brain and so I'm forever grateful to him and then I Did some micro dosing mushrooms a lot of it to kind of help with the neuroplasticity. I
Starting point is 01:04:02 I did some microdosing mushrooms, a lot of it, to kind of help with the neuroplasticity. I found this other amazing healer through Sam that has this frequency device called the Rasha. The UFC uses it a lot for fighters because they endure a lot of head trauma. And it's like a $72,000 device with Tesla coils in it that produce basically any, think about it, think about it, think about it.
Starting point is 01:04:24 If everything is a frequency, then that means that like, say you're anxious, it's like there's a frequency that's not resonating with your base frequency. Like that's all that is. And so if you play that frequency that you're either anxious to, or that is causing maybe like a neurological disorder or depression or like whatever it is, you can kind of match that frequency and you can harmonize and get used to it and then get rid of that like dissonance towards that frequency. You can harmonize and get used to it and then get rid of that like Dissonance towards that frequency, you know what I'm saying and become a more Just a stronger and more resilient human and so that it's a woo-woo stuff and like a lot of people might not resonate but
Starting point is 01:04:57 I found that to be very helpful and it put me in the deepest states of meditation so there's one frequency called source spiral, and it's like supposed to be the frequency that like helps you like tap into kind of like the ether, so you can be connected with higher power, you know. Some spirits. They were saying they have that at Ways to Wells. One of the guests we had on the show, a Bueller,
Starting point is 01:05:20 what's his first name? Ferris. Bring him. My bad. I just went on a bit of a... show. Bueller, what's his first name? Ferris. Brigham. Brigham. Brigham Bueller. My bad. I just went on a bit of a curve. I thought you could have played that. My brain just went there. Anyway, that was perfect. Brigham Bueller, he mentioned that Ways to Well, it's like a, yeah, they have a item
Starting point is 01:05:39 like that, I believe that helps with a lot of brain issues. And then also I think it's, you know, people are using it for like a performance enhancement a little bit too. Like it's not just for, you know, somebody who's had an injury, it's also gonna help somebody with cognition that already has decent cognition, I guess. 100%.
Starting point is 01:05:58 And people are using this for diabetes and cancer and other things. And I don't know that there's any finite studies that are published, but that's because this type of healing modality has been freaking ran out of the country. Like the person who was like first onto this was literally like chased out and like had to go practice elsewhere because he didn't want to get compromised. And usually when stuff like that happens and you know, the government or the CIA or you
Starting point is 01:06:23 know, the big whales whoever's running the financial dictation of society like whenever they don't want something because it interferes with pharma or big food or whatever it's like that's the stuff that I want because that's that good shit and so I don't know some of the people listening that that are maybe into running which is hard to find someone to run with you sometimes. What are some of the training techniques and stuff that you did? What kind of improvement did you have
Starting point is 01:06:48 from when you first started running into getting into these three hour marathons and stuff like that? Yeah, so I ran my first half marathon in August of 2022, and I ran it as hard as I could. It was a half marathon in San Antonio. I had just hired my running coach, Mark Penales, who is phenomenal. He works with a lot of high level athletes, Matt Choi, Joey Schultz, if you know that guy, a few others. And he helped me train for that
Starting point is 01:07:17 half marathon and I ran a, I ran one hour and 41 minutes, I believe believe which is like a 747 pace so that's about a minute and 30 seconds per a minute and 30 seconds per mile slower than what I ran my recent marathons. Full marathon yeah that's a big difference. Yeah so a massive difference and so after I ran that race I was like you know for some that gave me a lot of confidence and I was just on this massive wave where I wanted to do a lot. And I was like, let's sign up for a sub three hour marathon. Mark, do you think I could run a sub three hour marathon in a year? That's what I said.
Starting point is 01:07:52 And he was like, I mean, you could. Yeah, you could, you know, like, obviously, like that's what a coach is going to say. Yeah, it's possible because anything's fucking possible. And I was like, I want to do it. Let's do it. Like, what does it take? He's like, you got to do it. Let's do it. Like, what does it take? He's like, you got to do everything I tell you, you know, take your rest and recovery and nutrition seriously, all this stuff.
Starting point is 01:08:12 And so we started training and I entered a period where I think I got over trained and under fueled kind of what we were talking about earlier. I was training for the Austin Marathon in February of 2023. That's where I wanted to run my sub three hour marathon. And I got really close to that marathon. And then I got some hamstring issues that popped up that have been kind of prevalent for a while. And so I had to pull out just because I had to stop my training. And yeah, and so then I signed up for another marathon and the same hamstring issues happened. And so I've only ran two marathons, but I've trained for four, like almost full blocks,
Starting point is 01:08:58 you know what I'm saying? And then I got injured and then I had to take time off. And so I was just dealing with tedious injuries until I was even able to run my first marathon. And then those injuries plagued me during that marathon. And so that first marathon, I ran a 312. My hamstring pulled at like mile 16. And you kept going. And I, yeah. Oh, my hamstring pulled. I, I, it pulled. And then I was like, Holy shit. I started walking cause I couldn't run. And then I was like, fuck, I gotta, I gotta try to run. And so I just started sprinting on it and then it would pull again.
Starting point is 01:09:25 And then I would just start walking. And the last miles of that, that was at mile 16. And I finished the last eight miles all under eight minute per mile pace, just by hobbling, walking, running, and just crying. Like I was just- That's legit insane. Yeah, it is.
Starting point is 01:09:38 That's legit insane. Yeah, that was my first marathon. This was in August of 23. And I had no business trying to run a sub three hour marathon. I tell people that all the time. I'm like, I had no business signing up for a sub three first marathon. This was in August of 23. And I had no business trying to run a sub-3 hour marathon. I tell people that all the time. I had no business signing up for a sub-3 hour marathon. Runners on Instagram, I got kind of viral during the training process. People were hating on me.
Starting point is 01:09:55 That community loves to fucking hate. Oh, they're haters. Especially the bikers. Yo, bikers and runners. Anyways, it's just, it's silly beef. I think there's a lot of tried and true things that have been done in those sports that have been around for a long time.
Starting point is 01:10:11 So sometimes when you see someone new trying something new or different or mentioning something from a different coach that they're maybe not familiar with, they freak the fuck out. And they're like, you gotta be in zone two or whatever. I don't know, whatever they're gonna shout at you. They probably also think he's too big on our PEDs.
Starting point is 01:10:25 Yeah, right. Yeah. Runners think you're out. Yeah. Oh, yeah. People say that all the time. And people have been trying to get into Boston for like 12 years and then somebody does it like, you know,
Starting point is 01:10:32 Jeremy Muddler does three in one week and then they're like... Matt Choi was using Boston too, right? Yeah, Matt Choi's qualified a few times. Those guys are fast, right? Like, very fast and they've put in a lot of time and those are some amazing runners. But anyway, so I got to my first marathon. I ran a 312, hobbling across the finish line.
Starting point is 01:10:51 I was so freaking upset with myself. I was so mad. I was embarrassed. And looking back, I'm so glad that I can see this because it just made it to where I couldn't enjoy the experience whatsoever. And it was just like horrible. Like the rest of the vacation I just wasn't happy. And I had to reflect and kind of, you know, think about everything.
Starting point is 01:11:13 And it's because I was pinning everything on external validation, you know. And none of that external stuff matters. The numbers, the followers, the likes, the, you know, two or three client difference or whatever it is. It's all internal and it's all how internally aligned you can feel. And that's truly like all that matters. And so I kind of took that approach into my next training block and I took everything differently. I took some time off. I spent some time getting strong in the gym, training my hamstrings so that they
Starting point is 01:11:43 wouldn't give out on me again. I spent this period where I was in a caloric surplus as opposed to being in a deficit and trying to run a marathon That's not ideal. That's how you'll get injured and I think it's I think it was imperative for me to go through that because now I can guide people and clients do that and Truth be told I am kind of stepping away from hybrid athlete coaching and physical fitness and my athletes, like my current athletes that I have, I absolutely love them and we're gonna finish out all the time that we have together. Like it's gonna be amazing,
Starting point is 01:12:14 but I'm not doing a lot of new client acquisition just to let everybody know because people are probably wondering. Anyways, and so, my next marathon, I ran one practice half marathon for that. And Mark and I were talking about this yesterday, but my whole training block was like less than 30 miles per week. And so most people when they're elite marathon runners,
Starting point is 01:12:41 when they're training for a marathon, they're running 60, 70, 80, up to 100 miles per week. And so 30 miles a week is not recommended. So this was my training for that. And I mean, there's only two weeks where I was over 40 miles. And keep in mind, like the weeks where I hit 40 miles, one of those runs was a 22 mile run. And so I really 40 miles, one of those runs was a 22 mile run. And so I really expedited, we really upped the intensity and pulled back on the mileage
Starting point is 01:13:12 because this was like tricky, me trying to get into this race based off of my TBI and my recovery process. I kept trying to get back into running, but I would like feel shaky or just not feel quite there yet from my brain injury. And so this is basically when I ramped it back up again and I was like, yo, I just underwent some radical healing. I feel amazing right now. I want to try to do this race.
Starting point is 01:13:36 And my intention for this race was just to finish it. That's the only thing I had in mind when I started training for it. I was like, yes, I want to fucking PR. Yes, I want to get a sub three. Yes, I want to do all that. But like, look, I only have, you know, 10 weeks left or whatever. And I'm just not there. It's okay. And so I just had the intention of finishing just so I followed through with what I said I was going to do. Because I pulled out of a few marathons and it never sat well with me. And then we got
Starting point is 01:14:03 to a few of these runs. I ran a half marathon in one of those weeks in April and got first place, which was pretty cool. I ran a 132, which is a little bit over 650 per mile. Okay. It was a very hilly, hilly course. So that was pretty cool. And after that, I was like, whoa, I think I might be able to actually rip off a fast time here.
Starting point is 01:14:28 And so then I decided to go for a PR. And all I had to do was beat 312. And we did. Absolutely. What, like at what speeds are you doing most of your running at? Because you did mention the intensity is a little higher, so it's probably hard. I know there's like different days, but just say like on a faster day, is your coach having you run faster than race pace
Starting point is 01:14:53 or is he having you run slow? Because there's a lot of strategies for it, right? It's like your coach could have you do, I don't know, just as an example, eight, eight hundreds, and they could be 800 repeats and it could be done at like a 645 pace or something like that. Are you doing things like that
Starting point is 01:15:11 or was it quite different than that? Quite different, kind of on that concept, like yeah, lots of 800s and stuff like that, but the pace is gonna be much faster than 650 pace if we're running 800s or 400s or 200s. The way that I'll break down kind of my whole last training process was on the days where I wasn't doing a speed workout,
Starting point is 01:15:31 I only did, I did two big effort days per week and then every other day was a low running training day aside from Sunday, completely off. And so on my low running training days, it was literally three, maybe four miles at the most at like a nine to 10 minute pace. Just like almost as slow as I can. Just so I can, I mean, you know, just chilling. Yeah, just chilling. Just so I can kind of get the miles, get the blood flow, get the motion going
Starting point is 01:15:56 without putting a lot of stress on my body and without going into a massive caloric deficit and without biting off more than I can chew and risking injury. And so then on my big effort days, one was earlier in the week, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday and that would be anywhere from like 10 to 13 miles and it would look something like one mile warmup and then like say there are certain days where it's like tempo workouts and that would be something along the lines of three by three miles at a 630 pace with 90 seconds jogging rest in between. Yell. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:16:31 That hurts probably. Yeah, that hurts bad. And then there's some, there's some workouts, like one of my last speed workouts before this last race, it was like a, um, uh, like a 16 mile workout, but it was all mile repeats and they they were all at 6'10 pace or below. And so that one ripped me and I didn't even hit all my, I didn't hit all my splits on that one, but I really pushed myself and competed for sure.
Starting point is 01:16:55 And you know, then there's like shorter distance track workouts where you're running at like a five minute pace or like a 5'15 or 5'30 pace for like a 400 or 200 meters on on 200 meters off. And then I had one more bigger effort workout at the end of the week where it would be kind of like a long run. Most people will take their entire long runs easy. That's typically what happens. And then the last like eight weeks of your marathon block, you can kind of add in some race-based stuff or some tempo stuff or just to get ready for race day and prime yourself. And and then the last like eight weeks of your marathon block, you can kind of add in some race pace stuff
Starting point is 01:17:25 or some tempo stuff or just to get ready for race day and prime yourself. And we would just take those workouts super hard. So anywhere from like 16 to 22 miles where we're ripping race pace intervals, faster than race pace intervals. And the way that my coach does it is you always wanna finish stronger than you started.
Starting point is 01:17:40 So if the workout is like five by, or five mile repeats at a six minute pace, then maybe give yourself a little bit of cushion whenever you first start, like five, ten seconds, especially depending on the weather, depending on how you're feeling. And give yourself the opportunity to finish stronger than you started because that like literally ingrains it in your DNA to like be able to like follow through and get better as you're going. And it just becomes your subconscious.
Starting point is 01:18:06 And I forget who says it. It's a really easy goal. You can actually see it. You're like, oh, I gotta go only that far. So I'm just gonna bust ass on the end here. Absolutely, absolutely. And I forgot who said this, but your subconscious thoughts drive your default actions.
Starting point is 01:18:20 And you practice like you play basically. It's like at a really basic level. And it's like, so whatever you do during your workouts is how you're gonna freaking show up come race day. Do you think you found the sweet spot in terms of, over time your body composition is gonna get better, but are you more comfortable with the body composition you have now?
Starting point is 01:18:36 Is this a body composition that allows you to perform at your highest level when you're running? I will say probably not at my highest level while I'm running. No. I've taken some time off of running the past month and a half to really let my body heal, to let my brain heal, to let my business heal, to let my relationship heal. Marathon training can get in the mix of things.
Starting point is 01:18:58 And I don't think that I'm going to train for another marathon again soon. I'm going to train for another marathon again soon. I'm going to give myself like a few, like a good long while off of marathons and I'm going to train for 5Ks, maybe a few half marathons and just work on my speed and get some of my aesthetics back because it's not impossible to put on muscle or maintain muscle while you're training for a marathon, but it does make it really difficult. And I started to kind of turn into a runner's body in a way a little bit. I still, you know, carry great pride in my physique, but I want to work on it more and I want to, I want to feel good. And I got this baby coming and I can't
Starting point is 01:19:33 be waking up running 13 miles, you know, I could, I could, and there will be a time and place, but I really want to, yeah, yeah. I just want to be as present as I possibly can. And I've been working on this new business and product that I'm coming out with. It's a hydration product, a bit different than Mark's. So we're not competitors yet. No, but yeah. And so I'm putting all my time and energy into that. I've been dropping brand deals, dropping, you know, not acquiring very many clients because I'm trying to make space for things that set me on fire. Not things that were better than the nine to five.
Starting point is 01:20:08 Yes. Writing workout plans for a living is fucking amazing. Like doing social media and being able to use that platform to make a living is fucking amazing. But just because it's better than the nine to five does not mean that that's it. And so that's what I'm trying to curate right now. Have you figured out this hamstring mystery? Yeah. So, I mean, this past marathon that I had, it didn't bother me at all. That's what I'm trying to curate right now. Have you figured out this hamstring mystery?
Starting point is 01:20:25 Yeah, so I mean, this past marathon that I had, it didn't bother me at all. And so- You think there was something you did with lifting or stretching or- Definitely, lifting and stretching, all of it combined. Like I've just, you know, as this entire process, I've also just been honing my skills
Starting point is 01:20:41 in all these other areas at the same time. And I've met some amazing people that have taught me some amazing things and like how to have these relationships with my body and the way that it moves and the way that it works and connects. And is there anything weird going on from like one side of the body to the other? Like were you doing something with your hip or did somebody point out something like, oh, you're landing on your foot this way and maybe that's aggravating your hamstring.
Starting point is 01:21:03 Yeah, stuff like that. Like, my coach is basically like a PT and a coach all in one. So like, I can send him a picture of something hurting on my foot, and he can kind of show me the line that it goes and like connect it to the posterior to be Alice or whatever it is. And for me personally, I've always had a hip. I've always struggled with my hips.
Starting point is 01:21:23 Back when I was in the military, I went through this stint where I trained really hard and my left femur grew a bone spur on top of it, got into my left hip socket and tore the labrum. And so they basically like tried to force surgery on me. They were like, this is an elective surgery, but if you don't get it, you're not gonna be able, you're gonna have to have a hip replacement in a few years.
Starting point is 01:21:44 It's just like fear-mongering the shit out of me. And at the time I wasn't, you know, I still listen to Ben Greenfield, but I just hadn't figured things out yet. And so I opted in for the surgery and then COVID hit and the surgery center shut down like two weeks before I was supposed to get the surgery. And then I ended up doing physical therapy and recovering. And now I'm running marathons on it. And so
Starting point is 01:22:05 it's cool. Like I still, I feel the strength imbalances sometimes during certain movements and stuff, but like the fact that I'm running marathons, feeling great and still getting better every day is something to be super grateful for. Yeah. I think some of the sumo deadlifts we did the other day, it would be great movement for you just to incorporate here and there. Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm always looking for new ways to activate my glutes and my hips. That's just been something on my body that I've
Starting point is 01:22:27 haven't had the best mind to muscle relationship with. But that's the beauty of all of this is I find stuff like that almost every month. Cause I meet this new guy or this new trainer, this new friend at the On It gym or whoever it is. And they're like, oh, let's do this movement. I'm like, holy fucking shit. I can't even squeeze that part of my foot.
Starting point is 01:22:42 Like, what do I think about? Or like, what are we doing for this? And it's just this amazing journey of like that lifelong learner mentality and just, you know, soon enough the glutes and hips are going to get mastered and then it's going to be something else. And so I'm just in it for the journey and I'm, I'm super grateful for it all. Growing up in Austin, Texas, uh, do you have guns? Do you hunt? I mean, you got a cowboy hat? I grew up hunting. I have a cowboy hat tatted right here. Oh, there we go.
Starting point is 01:23:08 Yeah, this was my late grandpa's hat that he had custom made. And there was a rattlesnake belt wrapped around it that he shot. Yeah, it was really cool. But I grew up hunting. I don't really hunt anymore these days. It's kind of a weird relationship.
Starting point is 01:23:25 We always hunted for food, but I just haven't, I would like to hunt naturally. I don't want to go to like a high fence ranch with deer feeders where I'm just like taking them out at dinner time. Like I'd rather earn my kill and like stalk something or like shoot it with a bow. I just feel kind of disconnected from the nature
Starting point is 01:23:42 and I feel almost guilty taking the animal when it's like so easy like that I meet our buddy James Pira. Yeah, he goes and tracks bears and shit. Oh, wow Yeah, wild hunting conditioning is a friend of ours. He lives Is there somebody I can I can start at a level lower than that? Yeah, you're like a bear might be hunting you right? Yeah, but I don't have any guns right now I think I I do want to get one soon Just so I can have some protection in my house
Starting point is 01:24:05 for my child, now that I'm bringing a child into this world with my partner. But yeah, man, it's interesting. It's interesting. A lot of people have not the best mentality towards guns, in my opinion. And it's like this really weird subject right now in society where it's like,
Starting point is 01:24:23 ooh, maybe we shouldn't freaking have these. But the fact that we do have them is like, well, I also don't want to be defenseless. So at marathon, were you wiped out at the end? Did you get hurt at all or just a stumble? No, I twisted my ankle severely. It's still, it's still affecting me right now. So I've just been doing a lot of ankle exercises and trying to do some ankle mobility, but dude, it was mean after I fell. A big ass pothole there?
Starting point is 01:24:46 Yeah a massive pothole if you go to the video you can kind of see it they ended up putting a cone on it after I did you can see it right there it's just a massive divot and I was running at a 530 pace right here and so I don't know about you guys but that shit hurts when you're running and the surface on it even like just kills your back even without falling. I had scratches all over it like it didn't looked graceful, but I got ripped up. It's quite graceful. Take out the guy next to you.
Starting point is 01:25:09 Yeah. The guy next to me, I was like, my girl showed me the video. I was like, Oh my God, I gotta find that guy so I can apologize. I hope he's okay. And he ended up seeing this video on Instagram and Dan me and was like, yo, I'm that guy. That's shit. I mean, it must, you know, at the end of a race like that, your whole body gets so stiff. At the end of 26 miles.
Starting point is 01:25:29 Yeah. Yeah, it's, I mean, I'd kind of downplay how hard this race was. Like, dude. It'd be hard not to be kind of pissed. Andrew, don't let it go again. Andrew just, you're like, yeah. Especially by the, for the guy who got kicked in the shin.
Starting point is 01:25:44 That's the way people watch the title. That's a little bad. Look, you got Zach Bitter on there saying congrats. That's all I need. There you go. That's all I need. Zach's been hanging out at that finish line for like an hour probably.
Starting point is 01:25:53 He's already hit it four times. Right, right, right. Cool, man. Well, thank you so much for being on the show. Where can people find you? Absolutely. Yeah, everybody can find me on Instagram. It's my main platform, The Modern Primal Underscore. I also have a YouTube channel at The Modern Primal, TikTok, Facebook, and
Starting point is 01:26:12 I'm planning to drop a lot more long form content, some podcast material, some day in the life stuff. So, and if you guys want to try the best performance hydration product on the soon to be market, probably when this episode drops, stay tuned on my Instagram because I'm putting my heart and my soul into it and I'm super excited for it. And then I challenged you to the 250. Oh yeah. You know, under... I'm actually thinking about it.
Starting point is 01:26:35 Like 250, you know, at a two hours and 50 minute time, weighing 250. I'm not going to try it. I don't think... I looked up on Google, I said, has anybody over 250 pounds run a sub 3 hour marathon? I didn't find anything So if anybody knows of anybody that's 250 plus is running sub threes Let me know who they are because I might be able to go pound for pound on this and maybe take a world record You know you try that and then maybe and then maybe after that you try Three three hours waiting 300
Starting point is 01:27:03 All right, I guess I'll get on gear. That's what you do these guys Mission accomplished strength is never weak this week. This is never strength. Catch you guys later. Bye

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