Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 1119: How to Spot a Bad Personal Trainer, the Hardest & Easiest Lifts, When & How to Get a Spotter When Lifting Heavy & MORE

Episode Date: September 14, 2019

In this episode of Quah (Q & A), Sal, Adam & Justin answer Pump Head questions about easy ways to spot a bad personal trainer, asking for a spot when you want to lift heavy, which of the 3 powerliftin...g lifts were the most difficult and easy, and how their fitness careers began. Mind Pump’s newest partner, Caldera Labs, and the importance of what you put on your skin. (4:05) Beauty products are NO JOKE! (11:00) What’s the deal with people that buy old cop cars and taxi cabs?? (13:09) Adam’s first ‘moment of panic’ with his son. How the ‘parent instinct’ is a REAL thing. (17:10) The pros and cons of blue light exposure for athletic performance & MORE. (28:31) The 7 biggest parenting mistakes that destroy kids’ confidence and self-esteem. (31:45) The value and potential issues of due process. Why we should never choose safety for freedom. (37:07) The scary accuracies of personality tests. (43:30) #Quah question #1 – What are easy ways to spot a bad personal trainer? (45:25) #Quah question #2 – For a woman who lifts alone, should you just ask some random dude to spot you when you want to lift heavy? Is it weird or creepy? (52:42) #Quah question #3 – Of the three major powerlifting lifts, which one did you have to work the hardest on to get stronger and which one was the easiest? (1:01:18) #Quah question #4 – I would love to hear how each of your careers in fitness began. (1:15:45) People Mentioned Taylor (@tayvalenz)  Instagram  Danny Matranga | CSCS | BSc. (@danny.matranga)  Instagram Robert Oberst (@robertoberst)  Instagram Dr. Ben Pollack (@phdeadlift)  Instagram   Related Links/Products Mentioned September Promotion: MAPS Starter ½ off!! **Code “STARTER50” at checkout** Visit Caldera Labs for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! Light exposure in the evening improves performance in the final spurt Visit Felix Gray for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! A psychotherapist shares the 7 biggest parenting mistakes that destroy kids’ confidence and self-esteem Exclusive: Feds Demand Apple And Google Hand Over Names Of 10,000+ Users Of A Gun Scope App Free Personality Test Mind Pump Free

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Starting point is 00:00:00 If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, with your hosts. Salda Stefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. In this super duper awesome episode of Mind Pump. Everything is awesome! We talk all about fitness, health, building muscle, burning body fat, but we also talk about our lives and current events. Here's what we talked about in the first 42 minutes,
Starting point is 00:00:28 which is the introductory portion of this episode. We start out by talking about called Dera. This is a new company we are partnering with. They make skincare products that are all natural. It's the reason why atoms face and head looks so beautiful. It looks like the fountain of youth. Anyway, we got a discount for you. If you go to Caldera Lab that's C-A-L-D-E-R-A-L-A-B
Starting point is 00:00:52 dot com forward slash mine pump, you'll get 20% off your first purchase of their products. Then we talked about taxi cabs, how some people are buying old taxi cabs and police cars, and making us scared as fuck at night. Confusing us. Yeah, what the hell? Then Adam talked about how you went into daddy protective mode This is the first time you ever felt that feeling. It's like a superhuman feeling, isn't it? Oh, yeah, then we talked about how blue light can improve
Starting point is 00:01:19 Late night athletic performance study found that if athletes are gonna compete late at night If they expose themselves to bright electronic light beforehand, they perform better. And the reason for this is because it reduces melatonin production. It keeps the body awake. Now, if you want to go to sleep at night, like most of us, you want to do the opposite.
Starting point is 00:01:38 You don't want to do that. You want to block blue light and our sponsor, Felix Gray, makes the best blue light blocking glasses. Now they're not orange or red looking. They look like normal glasses. The lenses are pretty much clear, so you don't look like a dork. They're very stylish.
Starting point is 00:01:55 And we got a hookup for you. If you go to Felix Gray Glasses, that's F-E-L-I-X-G-R-A-Y, glasses.com.4.sashmine pump my pump will get you free shipping and free returns. Then we talked about the seven biggest parenting mistakes based off of an article that I read. It's actually pretty good article. We talked about how the feds are demanding the names of 10,000 users from Apple and Google uh oh.
Starting point is 00:02:21 Uh oh. Uh and then we talked about a personalities test that we all took. Then we got the fitness portion of this episode. The first fitness question, what are some easy ways to spot a bad personal trainer? Like, what are some tell-tale signs? Next question, for a woman who lifts alone, should you ask some random dude to spot you? Like, is that weird? Is that creepy? What are the strategies? Next question, of the three major powerlifting lifts,
Starting point is 00:02:45 which ones do we have to work the hardest on to get stronger and which ones were the easiest? And the final question, this person wants to know about how we all started our careers in fitness. So we share the early days, way back in the late 90s. Oh yeah. Ma-a-marie-ease.
Starting point is 00:03:03 Back when men dress like idiots. They still do though, don'ts. Oh yeah. Ma'merees. Back when men dress like idiots. They still do though, don't they? Yeah. Also, this month, MAPS starter is 50% off. Now MAPS starter is the best program to get you started with resistance training. So if you haven't worked out for a long time or you're totally new to resistance training,
Starting point is 00:03:22 but you want to reap all the benefits. You want to get a faster metabolism. You want to sculpt your body, you want to get leaner. Map starter is the perfect program. It's also a great gift. If there's anyone in your family who are trying to convince to start working out with resistance, this is the perfect program. And personal trainers, if you have any clients that are beginners, this is a great resource. Now, here's another good part about the program.
Starting point is 00:03:44 You only need a physio ball and dumbbells. That's all here's another good part about the program. You only need a Fisial Ball and dumbbells. That's all the equipment you need for the entire program. Now, Map Starter is 50% off. Here's how you get the discount. Go to mapsstarter.com. That's M-A-P-S-S-T-A-R-T-E-R.com. And use the code starter50. S-T-A-R-T-E-R-F-I-Z-R-O.
Starting point is 00:04:02 No space for the discount. Did you see the company we just signed with? Yeah. You like it? I like them. What do you think? I like them, dude. Do you approve?
Starting point is 00:04:12 Is this the Caldera? Caldera. So Adam's face and head have been looking extra shiny. Good. Extra handsome. Well, good. Well, I mean youthful-ish. Look, here's a deal.
Starting point is 00:04:24 Okay. When you're already at a 10 in termsish. Look, here's a deal. Okay. When you're already at a 10 in terms of handsomeness, right, it's hard to get better. Improving upon that? Don't give them that big a head, dude. It does, it's impossible, but it seemed to work. No, I'll joking aside, you're, you've been using it. I was, you rub it on your head and your face.
Starting point is 00:04:38 No, I mean Taylor gave it. For your podcast. Taylor gave it to me about a month ago and said, hey, I like this company. I like what they're doing. I like what they're doing, I like what they're about. Would you use something like this? And I'm like, well, I'll try it out, we'll see what's up. And you brought it up like a couple weeks ago
Starting point is 00:04:54 and I thought, oh, that's crazy. Cause I didn't tell you guys, I didn't say anything, I didn't share with you guys. It was just, because sometimes stuff like this comes across where Taylor will give it to one of us, one of us will try it and then we'll be like, yeah, it's not really a thing that I think I would use on a regular basis
Starting point is 00:05:10 or whatever and we kind of just move along from it. And then every once in a while, one of us will like really like it and then go, okay, turn it, show everybody else. So, and I actually just wrote a test, nobody test them only on whatever for their landing page. And what it's done for me, what I really, really like,
Starting point is 00:05:30 is I've eliminated using my steroid creams on my psoriasis. Completely, really. Yeah. And I mean, look at my shin. You guys know I have that right there, right? Yeah, I saw you rubbing it on your shin one day too, as well as your face, so that's a whole. Yeah, so it started with me using it on my face,
Starting point is 00:05:46 and I was getting compliments for you guys. I've had people tell me like, how good my skin looks right now, and I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna start rubbing it on all my psoriaspots, and I started with that, and I was doing it at the same time, still using my steroid cream,
Starting point is 00:06:00 and I actually seen such an improvement on it, and like, let me stop using the steroid cream, and I'll just keep using this. And what I like about it is it's 100% all natural. Well, that's the other test. The other test is it has to pass, you know, what I think about in terms of the ingredients, and it's 100% organic, but it doesn't contain,
Starting point is 00:06:18 and I have the list here, no parabens, aluminum, no animal ingredients, no toxic chemicals, there's no synthetic preservatives, no fallates, formaldehyde or silicones. So it's very, very good, it's very well made. And they actually did a study with people who used this product and the results that came back. Very good, everybody noticed an improvement in their skin.
Starting point is 00:06:44 So it's really good. Here's the ingredients. So they have firewood, apricot oil, jajoba oil, meadow foam, seed oil, sunflower seed oil, echinacea, prickly pear oil, frankincense, nettle, red raspberry, sea buck horn. Then there's, and then I already said the frankincense. I like frankincense.
Starting point is 00:07:03 Frankincense, that's biblical. Freakinsense is good stuff. Do you know Freakinsense has anti-cancer effect? Is it really? Yes. There's actually studies you can find on, now it's highly concentrated, but on its anti-cancer effects.
Starting point is 00:07:17 And there have been companies that have been interested in examining their anti-cancer effects. So anyway, just a little fascinating. So is this considered like an essential oil? They call it a serum. Serum? Yeah, they call it a serum, like a face serum. And...
Starting point is 00:07:33 Well, most things you put on your skin that you buy at the store are, because here's the problem. There's a big issue. People are much more aware of what they put in their mouth today than ever before, right? Like 20, 30 years ago, nobody was asking questions, too many questions about the potential long-term effects of some chemicals and, you know, preservatives and colors and all those
Starting point is 00:07:54 types of things. But nobody was asking, nobody's really asking, what about what we put on our skin? Because we don't consider that going in our body, you know what I mean? I just want to of the biggest organs. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of categories like this. Like, women's, like feminine hygiene products. A lot of women don't consider the cotton that's in the materials in like a tampon and do those half chemicals and, you know, those types of things, toilet paper that obviously
Starting point is 00:08:20 touches your body in a, you know, intimate way, I guess. Very intimate. And then, of course, the stuff you put on your skin or under your arms in an intimate way, I guess. Very intimate. And then of course the stuff you put on your skin or under your arms or on your scalp, that also some of that stuff will go inside your body and accumulate. This is why with sunscreen, I use the mineral-based sunscreen, the ones that are not chemical-based for my kids.
Starting point is 00:08:43 And it makes your skin a little bit wider, obviously. But it's not absorbing chemicals that can have potential hormonal effects. It's like that. I didn't think that I would like it. And then when I saw how expensive it was, I was like Taylor, you're fucking crazy, you know what I'm saying? But what I've realized is how far it goes.
Starting point is 00:09:02 So I've used the shit out of this thing for the last 30 days and it still feels like I got quite a bit left in it still. Is it like a dropper in there? Yeah, you're just using a little dropper. So like when you, like initially when you look at it, you're like, that's, I think it's price pretty high. And I'm like, that's pretty expensive stuff.
Starting point is 00:09:19 There's so many servings in there though. Yes. Yeah, it lasts a lot. And you don't need very much. I literally, you pull, it has a little syringe thing in it. You drop it in your hands, I rub it in my hands, and then I rub it on my face, through my psoriasis. So how much, how many drops would you say you're using
Starting point is 00:09:33 when you're rubbing it all over? Because you rub it on your head too. Yeah, so it's not just your face. Yeah, I rub my face, my head, and my legs right now. And how many drops would you say you're using? So each time, so when I do my face, I do a drop, when I do my head, I do a drop, when I do my legs, I do a drop, when I do my legs, I do a drop. So like three droppers. It's not even that much. Yeah, it's not, it's not much at all and it lasts.
Starting point is 00:09:50 So I've been using it consistently for 30 days. We should have Justin give it a try. Yeah. Yeah. You're ashy as fuck. I was gonna say my ashy gator skin over here. I'd probably benefit from it the most, but I'm glad they started with you because it's, it's like a foreign animal, this lotion and stuff like that. Yeah, just like lotion. No, I think I, no, I want you to try it. I think you'll, I think you'll like it. It's, I mean, I'm going to keep it in here so we can just use it in here. If you're not willing to take it home and actually do it and it's been, I've, I actually
Starting point is 00:10:19 really liked it. I didn't think I was going to. I really kind of looked at Taylor like, you know, we're not of us are really essential oil-type guys. I'm not this deal. Now they want us over. Yeah, they want us over. It makes a big difference. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's just cool.
Starting point is 00:10:30 Just some kind of soap to you. You use like normal, or you just like appear. You're a bar. You don't care. It's like bar. It's a dial. It's like whatever's in the hotel room. I'm scrimming myself with that.
Starting point is 00:10:41 You don't use, what's it called? The spring. Who my joke and I use a lufa. No, you guys don't even know that. No, I don't. What's that one soap or the guy, I'm in myself with that. You don't use, what's it called? The spring. Who my joke and I use a lufa. No, you guys don't even know that don't. What's that one soap or the guy? I'm gonna be the old commercial where he carves it with the knife. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:52 What is that? Irish spring. Is that what you use? It's italy wood, just, you know, to be that guy. You don't, yeah. So my parents bought Irish spring. This is the power of advertising. My parents bought Irish spring once.
Starting point is 00:11:03 When I was a kid, what do we use? We grew up with use ivory. Remember ivory? Oh, we grew up on safeguard, because their big pitch was like anti-bacterial. Guess what? Also, because that's how big cheer it all. That was their big pitch as my parents bought that.
Starting point is 00:11:15 No, it's funny. I'm more of like an opportunist. I use everybody else's soap. I don't really have like my own. And so Courtney's realized her volume's gone way down and like started buying me like the same stuff as the kids. So she's like, you're really allowed to have this one. And so I use the kids stuff.
Starting point is 00:11:33 You're says the right aid brand? Yeah, like, all right. Exactly. I'm like, swaps. Just rush her. Yeah, the shampoo, the grandma. I've been meaning to take a picture of this because I find it comedy every time I get in the fucking shower is
Starting point is 00:11:46 I have this little corner area in the right on the right side of our shower and there's like there's like two products And then I have my bar soap over here, right? And then the whole rest of the shower we have a shelf up top here. We've got three other corners We have a little fucking hangy thing top here, we've got three other corners, we have a little fucking hangy thing, full of bottles and shit. And I'm always got, getting the shower, I'm like, how the fuck does this woman use all of these things? Like, I literally have three things over here, total, but I-
Starting point is 00:12:16 Maybe products are no joke. It's insane. The market is insane on their side, dude. Yeah, so yeah. No, I just use, I just use salt pole metal shampoo and using it forever. Yeah, I've got the same bottle you bought me. Yeah, palm, metal, shampoo and using it forever. I've got the same bottle you bought me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, now you shaved, you gave up.
Starting point is 00:12:29 Give it back to me. No, I still use it. You do? Maybe you just rub it in and leave it. Is it? No, just take a little drop now. I don't need like a big old glob of it. I use that and then-
Starting point is 00:12:38 See, little sprouts. And then I'll use sometimes charcoal. I'm still hoping it'll recover. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys ever use charcoal soap? It's like a black boros soap and it's got activate a charcoal in it Yeah, that's kind of cool use that a little bit. Just guess pretty basic to her and I just that's it simple done no deal Bunch of hippies. Yep. That's it. But you know, we don't shower so
Starting point is 00:12:57 Just put you really well. What do they call it the the the whore bath? The barks You rinse off your armpits and your You call it in that and your jibbly bits or whatever Yeah The bars, you rinse off your armpits and your... Who calls it that? And your jibbly bits or whatever it calls. Oh, that's disgusting. Yeah, that's disgusting. Hey, so I had a question for you guys, because I'm just not aware of this, I guess.
Starting point is 00:13:13 What is the deal with people that buy the old taxi cabs or the old cop cars and they drive them around? I hate the... They're assholes. Yeah, I hate those people. You know, I think there's like an auction where you can get like a discounted price on them
Starting point is 00:13:29 that like I've seen a commercial for this when I was in Chicago. Oh, yeah, we're like you go down to this auction and then they auction off like government like issued vehicles and then you get a discount on it. I think that's how it works. But yeah, then they drive up and you're like confused. They're like you're driving slow
Starting point is 00:13:44 because you think it's a cop on you. Well, it's always like the hipster or stoner guy who's driving it, tatted up, he's blown a, totally blown a joint. Big ol' beer. Yes, yes. So is it supposed to be? Aviator sunglasses.
Starting point is 00:13:56 It's supposed to be funny and ironic and that's why they do it. Or is it like a killer deal? Or is it why they drink Paps Blue Ribbon Beer? Is that what it is? Is it a reason? Yeah, so there's a guy Blue Ribbon Beer? Is that what it is? Yeah. So there's a guy right now. There's a guy right now who obviously gets to work
Starting point is 00:14:09 at the same time I do because I've seen him like almost every day on the trip home from my house to here. And he's got one. He's got the taxi cab one. And it's definitely, you know, tattoos, beer, smoking his vape pen out the window. And it's got, he's got a, he put a, the only thing about it, it's not a taxi cab. And you could see where it was, because you can see, still see like through the
Starting point is 00:14:32 paint job, but they don't, they don't paint it or change it. But he put it, he did put a white spoiler on it. Come on. So what was your, what was your favorite? It was great for picking up chicks. So do you guys have a favorite cop car? Or one that you always will remember the most? Like, oh, that's a cop car. Is there a particular one? Crown Victoria is like the most memorable.
Starting point is 00:14:51 Yeah, yeah. What about the Plymouth Grand Fury? You know, the boxy like 19. Oh, yeah, that one's bad, I guess. Doesn't that seem like a tank? That was like the one that always chased the dukes of Hazard around. Right?
Starting point is 00:15:02 All the ones in Beverly Hills cop. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the Crown Victoria is the one I remember the most. Well, that was the most popular of hazard around. All the ones in Beverly Hills cop. Yeah, but the crown Victoria is the one I remember the most. Well that was the most popular for a while. Now it's just like any like Ford Explorer or wherever you are. It's like you don't even know it's a cop car anymore. Dude, they got some badass ones though.
Starting point is 00:15:16 Some of the highway patrol guys get the chargers, the Camaros and chargers, yeah. Yeah, when I went to Monaco years ago, I remember they, I saw a cop car drive by and I was like, I think it was a Lamborghini. What? Yeah. I think they actually had a let.
Starting point is 00:15:28 Yes. Yes. Have you guys ever been to, you guys know where Monaco is? I'm not. Have you guys ever been to Monaco or know where that place is? Oh yeah, no, that's where the richest of the rich,
Starting point is 00:15:37 they all hang out there. In, same. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense there. In, same. Bro, the taxi cars, the taxi cabs were like the top of the line AMG Mercedes. That was the taxis.
Starting point is 00:15:48 I have to pick it up. I have to pick it up. I have to pick it up. Yeah. I went to the, they have a casino there that you have to pay to get into. It's like a famous casino. And you walked in. Already they're winning.
Starting point is 00:15:59 You have to hold the gas holes. What about the gas holes, right? The odds are already in your favor. You got to pay to lose here. You know why they do that? You know why they do that though, is because tourists want to go in and just walk around. Because you walk in there,
Starting point is 00:16:09 and the cheapest table I saw, this was back in 2006 or seven. The cheapest table I saw was a 5,000 Euro minimum bet. Damn. That's the minimum, and I see these guys were, they were betting chips, and I was trying to count a little bit
Starting point is 00:16:26 from the side, I'm like, dude, he just did a hundred and fifty thousand a year old bet. What a weird tourist, like attraction. You know, like, I wanna go see rich people in their environment. That's it right there, W, just pull that. Yeah. It reminds me of, have you guys ever seen
Starting point is 00:16:40 that tour company that like goes through Compton and like all these other places where the gang wars happen all the time? That's a tour company that like goes through Compton and like all these other places where the gang wars happen all the time. You have the tour company? There's a tour company down in LA that like just takes it. I think it's just square to go. Yes, dude.
Starting point is 00:16:55 Yeah, they go like, ooh, look at like the gangs, like check this out. Wow. Like it's so ridiculous. Like what are you doing? I had an exciting day. It's so, I'm getting a dry, exploitation of like, yeah.
Starting point is 00:17:09 So listen what happened to me yesterday, and this was like a weird feeling that I had. I didn't know how to react or respond to it. Was it just that the sexual feeling you had about Justin? Yeah, the conversation. Do you have dreams or not real Adam? I'm used to that feeling already.
Starting point is 00:17:23 Okay, I'm already, that's not weird. No, no, no, no. Don't go with it. So Danny and I are, Danny comes over yesterday and I spent some good time talking to him about business stuff and things that they're working on with the YouTube channel. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We are, I take the baby from Katrina, put him in his little Bjorn thing or whatever,
Starting point is 00:17:41 and I'm walking with him. He's asleep on me. And Danny and I are talking and we're walking with him. He's asleep on me and Danny and I are talking and we're walking the loop. And I live in a really nice neighborhood. And so most of the time when we're walking, there's always just like other families walking and so that.
Starting point is 00:17:54 And there's this dude that is walking in the middle of street and he's got a bottle in his hand and he's yelling at somebody. And I don't even know who somebody somebody is and just kind of strange. Never seen somebody like this in our neighborhood. I've this the first time I've experienced this. And he actually starts walking like directly towards me. And Danny and I've got Danny with me and we're, but I've got the baby on my, on my chest.
Starting point is 00:18:20 And he's sleeping. And what I, what I had a rule, what it was weird for me was I instantly like the hair on my chest and he's sleeping. And what I had a rule, what it was weird for me was, I instantly like the hair on my neck like stood up and the guy comes over, it's obvious he's extremely drunk and he's like, he's getting, he's super close. He gets like hell close to me. And I'm trying to be really friendly and I end up being extra friendly.
Starting point is 00:18:42 But what I catch myself, like I'm in this moment of like, how I should react and what I'm struggling with and I never thought I would struggle with something like this is and I don't know if it's because Danny's there also or I'm concerned other people coming by like how I'm gonna react to this situation. But my instincts were like to say something, like get the fuck out of here bro.
Starting point is 00:19:03 You got your kid, yeah. Cause I have my kid. And like, I mean, I feel my palm sweating, my fist are kind of clenching because I don't know what the fuck this guy's doing. And he's obviously hella drunk. He's lifting his shirt up. He's talking about the cops coming after him and like.
Starting point is 00:19:18 Oh wow. Yeah, yeah, so it's like super weird and uncomfortable. Now, it ends up diffusing. He walks, so he gets a separation from us and Danny and I can take a left. But the part that I was struggling with is this inner battle that I had. And I couldn't wrap my brain around
Starting point is 00:19:36 like why I was struggling that way. Because I think I was concerned of like, like people, what they would say if I was judging this person or how I react if it was appropriate because the guy didn't do anything, nothing happened. He didn't have a gunner and knife for a weapon on him.
Starting point is 00:19:52 It all worked out fine. Yeah, but you got your kid with you. Right. It really elevates that to a whole different level. Right. And I was thinking like, Like, think about like you walking around and you walk by some kids smoking a joint at the park by yourself.
Starting point is 00:20:06 You don't give a shit. Now you got your little kid playing there. This happened to me. And then you got these kids smoking joints around them. Now you're getting fucking irritated. That's it's just elevates everything. Dude, I caught myself with that. Like there was, there's this, it's not a park.
Starting point is 00:20:20 It's like a private, like this conference center that's like close to my house. And so I was down there, you know, and I brought my kids down there to throw the ball for the dog and all that kind of stuff. And there's these kids like, you know, hot boxing their car, something we would have done when we were younger or whatever.
Starting point is 00:20:35 And they were blown all this smoke out and it was the middle of the day. And then when we got out with the joint and their smoking and, you know, the kids were playing out on the field, but it was like close by and I just was like, I couldn't help it. I like went up to them. Like you guys gotta leave.
Starting point is 00:20:49 You can't do that. Like out in public right here, my kids are out here. You gotta take off. You know, like I had to turn into the guy. That was the, you know, that sort of parent figure back in my day where I just be like, ah, you know. The only thing that kept me like semi-com
Starting point is 00:21:06 about it was that I knew I had Danny next to me and there was two of us so like, if something went down. You didn't feel last threatened. As threatened, but it mean, I was threatened enough to where I was posturing up a little bit, but it was still, it was very weird. And after the fact after a diffuse, we left a protective mechanism.
Starting point is 00:21:23 I thought fuck bro, if Danny wasn't there, I don't know how it would have reacted. Yeah. You probably wouldn't have let him get close to you. Yeah, yeah, you would have probably be lined it somewhere else. Yeah, you don't want, yeah, you probably, you gotta be, God man, it got away from me one time. That feeling got away from me once. I told you, I think I told you guys this story. I was driving.
Starting point is 00:21:40 Oh, the basketball. Yeah, I was driving home for my parents' house. Yeah, I love it. And I had my daughter in the back and my son was sitting a little further up and these kids were playing basketball. I don't know how they were probably 16, 17. And I think one of them thought it'd be funny to throw the basketball at the car as they drove by.
Starting point is 00:21:58 And it hits the window right next to my daughter, bangs off the window and instinctually I'm thinking- If that shattered. If that shattered. And so I fucking thinking if that's shattered. If that's shattered. And so I fucking pulled over and I fucking picked up their basketball hoop. They fucking brought it through it. And they all scattered and ran away and I was like, what did I do? I would have never.
Starting point is 00:22:18 No, I could totally empathize with that. Actually, I just remembered this one. I might have told you guys about this or not, but I was at a coffee shop and this guy, I was with my kids and I had the dog with me too. I was downtown Santa Cruz and there was a guy in the corner that I wasn't aware of. I was getting the drinks. The kids were standing over in the corner,
Starting point is 00:22:37 holding the dog and they were both, you know, they were just like, mining their business, just standing there like and the dog was sitting. It was like, like a picture asked kind of a moment. This guy decided to ask my oldest if he could take a picture of them. And he didn't ask me.
Starting point is 00:22:53 I was getting the drinks, I was over here. He asked the kids, and then he takes a picture of them, and then Ethan feels kind of like weird about it. He comes up to me, he's like, he's like, dad, this guy, like, took took a picture of us and I'm like, what? Who was this guy? You know, like a yelling it like out all out loud and crazy, you know? And then this guy kind of looks up, like really scared and he's got these like weird, round spectacle glasses on. He's like an older guy and I'm like, oh, you fucking pedophile. I'm like, like, be lying it right to this guy.
Starting point is 00:23:25 And I'm like, did you just take a picture of my kids? And he was like, he's like, yeah, I asked them. I'm a photographer and he got like kind of shaky. And he was like, you know, here's my website. And he like pulls up his, his computer. He shows me all his pictures, like all this kind of stuff. And then I started to kind of calm down. And I was just like, I was like,
Starting point is 00:23:45 you really should ask me. And then he kept going through it and he's like, is this okay? And I was like, and it took me like a while to consider whether I was okay with it or not. And I was just like, I smashed your phone right in front of me. Yeah, I was just like, do I,
Starting point is 00:23:59 do I pour guys like a professional photographer for break your camera? Yeah, I was like, break your camera. I'm gonna break your fucking face. Conflicted, man. Like I was like, break your camera, then you can leave. Yeah, I was like, break your camera, I'm gonna break your fucking face. Can flip in, man. Like I was like, do I punch it in the sky or do I let it go?
Starting point is 00:24:10 This guy got, let it go. I mean, this guy got within, you know, inches. And the problem is you have your voice strapped here. In front of me. Yeah, so I was, I was like, I wanted to swing on them right away just for coming that close with me. Like I feel like you shouldn't,
Starting point is 00:24:24 I have a baby on me. Like you don't say, I'm back off to you. Yeah feel like you shouldn't, I have a baby on me. You know what I'm saying? Back off, dude. Yeah, like you shouldn't even come in that closest base. And if Danny wasn't with me, I don't know what I would have done. I would have been, I was already on edge with him there. And that was when that made me feel like, okay, this dude, what if this dude tried to grab the baby out of me?
Starting point is 00:24:40 Or you know what I'm saying? Or had a knife or had anything like, oh, dude. I remember once, back when I was married, my son was, I think he was two years old. One maybe one and a half. He was in the car. At the time, my wife put him in his car seat and she walked out. I was upstairs. I was already upstairs.
Starting point is 00:25:00 I was doing something on the computer. She walked inside real quick to grab something, or no walk to the porch to grab something, so the car door is kinda open. The neighbor's dog runs and jumps in our car. And it's a friendly dog. It's a big dog, big dog, friendly dog. Now, my ex doesn't like dogs.
Starting point is 00:25:19 She's not cool with dogs, they scare her. But I hear this fucking scream like a, like a banshee. RAAA! And I look out the window like, what's going on? And there's my fucking ex-wife. She grabbed the big ass dog and fucking chucked him out the car. And then she runs up to the owner and she's like
Starting point is 00:25:38 in a fight the guy. So I run downstairs and I diffused it. But it was her mom instinct that kicked in because she saw the dog jumping the car with the baby. So she thinks, and I couldn't believe it. I'm like, wow, you grabbed that big ass top. It threw that car. But you know, that parent instinct is,
Starting point is 00:25:55 it gives you superhuman ability. Well, for me, like I heard the scream, I look out the window and I jumped down the stairs from the top to the bottom and got out and then I kind of calmed down, you know? Oh, yeah. But you get that instinct that kicks in. Remember the story I told you years ago
Starting point is 00:26:09 where I heard something shatter outside my, in my backyard, you sound like someone broke into the slide. Two steps you were down the stairs. Before I woke up, I was downstairs. Oh, I can't wait until you have one of those, like, because it happened to me too. Like my kid was like, well, slightly imbalanced and was on this hill
Starting point is 00:26:25 and started to fall and it just out of the corner my eye saw it and then I just jumped and just, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr noise startles and you shoot right up, you know, say it's a weird, it is a weird feeling. With adrenaline. Yeah, the prepare right away. He's like sleeping still right next to me. It was just like somebody. I hate that because if I hear a noise in the middle of the night, that sounds suspect, and I wake up that way, I can't go back to sleep. I know.
Starting point is 00:26:57 I'm hyped now. Now I'm ready to rock and roll. Like I'm like, I'm gonna go work out. Because I feel like I just took a pre-workout. You can only bottle that. Yeah. Turn it on with that. That would be. You can only bottle that. Yeah. Turn it on. That would be the ultimate pre workout. That was my first experience of something like that. And I still am trying to wrap my brain around, you know, what that could happen to me again
Starting point is 00:27:17 next time, but I'm on by myself. That's why I, you know, what do I do in that situation? Like, I'm not, I'm sure a shit not gonna take a chance. That's why when I see these, like, when I see these pushes for, and this is not a pro or against vaccine at all. That's not where I'm going. But when I see these pushes for, like, these local governments or state governments that are gonna force parents to vaccinate their kids,
Starting point is 00:27:42 I look at that and I go, that's the never force parents to do anything that they don't, that they think is dangerousinate their kids. I look at that and I go, that's never force parents to do anything that they don't, that they think is dangerous to their kids because you are asking for trouble. Because that instinct kicks in, whether they're right or wrong, that's applying force that way, that's a losing battle or it's going to cause some problems. Well, especially to that, you know, I just told you what my experience was with that. We watched them. You just fucking broke my heart. You have to like someone was just stabbing like that. Now imagine if you were forced. Yeah, I know.
Starting point is 00:28:09 Sorry, sir. Yeah, and you were selfless or holding it. Oh, yeah. Damn, no. Absolutely. Now, you're watching videos of kids like when they're going through like the, the, the, the TSA or whatever. And they're like, sorry, sir, we're going to have to search your five year old daughter.
Starting point is 00:28:22 I'd be like, well, guess what you can do? You can take me to jail. Absolutely. Because I'm not gonna let you. That's not happening, too. You know what I'm saying? Anyway, dude, I want to tell you guys a study about, I've been doing a lot of reading on the effects of blue light.
Starting point is 00:28:35 You know, that's the light that electronics really emit quite powerfully. The effects on the body. And we've looked at all the negatives of blue light, right? Yeah. If you're exposed to blue light within like an hour or two of going to bed, it dramatically reduces melatonin production, decreases the quality of sleep, and potentially can lead to a whole host of health problems.
Starting point is 00:28:57 Well, there's also a positive to blue light. They did a study with athletes, and they found that if they exposed the athletes to bright electronic light or blue light, before an athletic event that they would perform better if the event was done late at night. Wow, like heightened their senses. Well, because when the Olympics were happening, a lot of times events will happen in the evening. Well, yeah, it keeps them up.
Starting point is 00:29:18 And yes, it stimulates them. It reduces melatonin production and tells their body. It's still daylight, because one of the reasons why athletes will perform worse late at night is because their body is geared towards preparing for sleep. They're shutting down. Yeah, so they did the study where they shine, they had these people exposed to blue light and then did like all out on a cycle
Starting point is 00:29:41 and they found they performed better when they were exposed to blue light versus when they weren't. So moral the story is, if you're going to be cycling at midnight that you should don't worry about wearing your blue blood. Don't worry, you're feeling great. Yeah, I guess not. If you want to sleep, you should probably wear your feet.
Starting point is 00:29:59 But how funny is that? Like the opposite, obviously. Yeah, yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense. I mean, of all the things that we've talked about, the benefits of it, and I use them, I don't know, I might use them the most that of all of us, I use them quite often. I find a lot of value, even just during the day
Starting point is 00:30:16 when I'm looking at my phone, just the eye strain, I can feel a difference when I do and I don't. But the number one thing is just the sleep. I've just made a good habit of when the sun goes down, like I make sure I throw them on. I just want to make sure. You know, it's funny. So we had friends over last night for dinner
Starting point is 00:30:33 and we're hanging out. And at 9 p.m., we turn the lights off or down and we use the salt lamps. Oh, you know, your friends over? And we just do, because it's a school night, my kids are going to, you know, they're going to go to to bed and I've noticed such a big difference. Here's what happens. If you do it once or twice You might not notice once you do it. It's like eating healthy You eat healthy for three months consistently
Starting point is 00:30:55 Then you notice a big difference when you go and eat shitty the contrast is just it's too obvious Well, if you make if you have a sleep routine you do, you know, a couple hours before bed, blue blockers, dark light, no electronics, that kind of stuff, do it for like 30 to 60 days. You will notice such a big difference that when you go over someone's house and it's like 10 o'clock a night, and their lights are on full blast,
Starting point is 00:31:16 you say, oh, you can feel it. So they're over and we start dimming the lights and turning things down and then they're asking us questions. They're like, oh oh they're swingers We're explaining it to them. We're telling them like what we're doing And they have a little two-year-old boy and he has trouble sleeping. What's funny? Because he started to wind down because it was dark or whatever I'm saying this makes a big difference. Yeah. Speaking of kids, I really was cool article. It was the title of it is the seven biggest parenting mistakes that destroy kids' confidence
Starting point is 00:31:54 and self-esteem. I thought this would be really good, a really good discussion for us. So number one is letting your children escape responsibility. I think that's an obvious one, right? Where, if the, you know, us maybe, not everybody. Yeah, like having responsibility and doing that responsibly just makes you feel more confident
Starting point is 00:32:15 because you can handle more. You know one of the strategies that they use, have you guys ever heard of those camps that those, like, some parents will send their kids off to, like they cut their kids, their kids smoking to a reform. Yeah, and they'll go off on these camps to try and change them or whatever.
Starting point is 00:32:30 One of the strategies that they use is they give that kids lots of responsibility. So they'll take like a troublemaker and they'll say, hey, you know, John, look, you're going to be in charge of your group. There's four kids in your group, you're in charge. You're in charge of finding the campsite, you're in charge of getting them whatever. And then the reason why they do that is this is, it's so kids in your group, you're in charge, you're in charge of finding the campsite, you're in charge of getting the whatever.
Starting point is 00:32:45 And then the reason why they do that is it's so effective at getting them to step up to the plate. So the escape responsibility, make sure your kids have responsibility. Another one is preventing them from making mistakes. So you got to let them make their own, make some mistakes. Which is where I could totally see a lot of parents having the one of the hardest struggles with. Yeah, because like, yeah, you it's so easy to intervene and then make that that a lot easier and help them, you know, when they when they are going through those challenges, but to
Starting point is 00:33:16 really like let them sit in it and work their way out of it is that's something like a skill you develop as a parent. It is not easy at first. Well, this is this one Jessica helped me a lot with because she would tell me some things like, it's better that they make the mistake now when there are kids, then they make the same mistake,
Starting point is 00:33:34 but when there are adults, because it's usually much bigger, much bigger problem. And I think that's absolutely true. Like I'd rather have my kid fuck up on a test in fourth grade, then lose their job, you know, over making a similar type of mistake.
Starting point is 00:33:47 It's interesting. Most of the things that you're probably going to list right now, I'm sure, align, right in line two with like leadership. It's the same thing in business. It's the same thing when you're managing a team of people. Yeah. And you have these natural instincts of like, oh, you know, you want to tell them what they're doing wrong or fix it, but there's value in allowing some people to figure that out for themselves and then come to that conclusion. There's a lot
Starting point is 00:34:09 that they learn in that. Here's a good one protecting your kids from their own emotions. So it's like, you know, it says here, it's tempting to cheer your kids up when they're sad or calm them down when they're angry, but rather than doing that, it's better to have them identify why they're feeling the way they're feeling and talk about it. Rather than being like, oh, you're sad. Let's go have ice cream or whatever. I'm gonna cheer you up. You know type of deal. I thought that was pretty good. Here's a big one and I see this one happening a lot today condoning a victim mentality. This one's quite common nowadays. Here's the quote that they use that I thought was really smart. This one's quite common nowadays. Here's the quote that they use that I thought was really smart.
Starting point is 00:34:45 Saying things like, we can't afford new shoes like the other kids because we come from a poor background. That reinforces to the child that most of life's circumstances are out of their control. That's the victim mentality. It's focusing on the things that we don't have control. This is just the way it is, rather than focusing on the stuff
Starting point is 00:35:04 that they can change or whatever. That's a common one that's made a mistake. How often has a parent had a kid who comes up and says, hey, mom, I want a new pair of these $150 Jordan shoes or whatever that, and they're just responses, we can't afford that. Versus trying to say, those are expensive,
Starting point is 00:35:22 let's figure out a way that we could buy those and help the kid try and troubleshoot and figure that out versus just accepting that like- And also why they want them so much, right? Here's another one being overprotective. Obviously, that's a big one. Parents try to prepare the world for their child, rather than preparing their child for the world.
Starting point is 00:35:44 The world's gonna be hard, it's gonna suck and shit's gonna happen. So it's better to kind of not be so overprotective and kind of sugar coat or bubble wrap everything. That one's a tough one for me. I have a natural protective instinct that I wanna kind of help things out or whatever. So I think that's a good one.
Starting point is 00:35:58 Expecting perfection, that's an obvious one. And then punishing rather than disciplining. Let's explain that. Yeah, so kids who are disciplined think I made a bad choice. Kids who are punished think I'm a bad person. So discipline gives your child confidence that they can make smarter, healthier choices in the future, while punishment makes them think they're incapable of doing any bad. Right, like this is your bad for doing this versus, hey, because you made the decision, you're grounded for no. Yeah. Like, like, you're a dumb kid instead of you made a dumb decision.
Starting point is 00:36:31 Right. You know what I mean? And I think it's tough because like, I don't know, at least with my kids, they've sometimes they will get that in their head. And then they'll they'll vocalize it. Like, I'm so stupid. I'm like, I did say, say, and then I'm just, like me and Courtney both were trying to reiterate, like this is exactly why this is happening
Starting point is 00:36:51 and kind of bringing it back to the choice that led to this consequence. And it's not, it has no reflection of who you are as a person. This is a decision that we're focused on, that's all. Yeah, make better decisions to have you. Anyway, I thought that was pretty interesting. No, that's really cool. Dude, did you hear about the Feds and what they were demanding
Starting point is 00:37:10 from Apple and Google? No. What? So the Feds went to Apple and Google and demanded that they hand over the names of over 10,000 users of a particular gun scope app. What? Yeah, so there's an app for this gun scope or whatever,
Starting point is 00:37:31 and apparently, and this is unprecedented, like never before have, have they disclosed to us, because the feds told the media, never before have they demanded personal data of users from a single app. Kind of crazy, right? Yeah, I mean, it's, it is crazy. I mean, is there a logic behind that they're, they're trying to find people that are like really interested in, in that. Well, so nothing happened. I was
Starting point is 00:37:56 going to say it was there, I was, it, and before we get, get all alarmists about this, I mean, I could see that if we just had some sort of a terrorist, terrorist, and they're connecting it or whatever, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and a gun that if we just had some sort of a terrorist. And they're connecting it or whatever. And a gun that was found had this specific scope on it. And so they're trying to find who could be a part of this group. Well, it says that this is part of a broad investigation into possible breaches of weapons export regulations. So they're looking into illegal exports of particular scope,
Starting point is 00:38:25 and then the app that maybe works with it or whatever. I don't know, it's kind of crazy. It's kind of interesting, but I don't think it's that, I don't think it's that crazy, you know what I mean? I would be more afraid of them going after. Like if you got a court order and a warrant, then that's not a problem. Because we've always been able to have-
Starting point is 00:38:41 They went through the process, yeah. It's when I get afraid when they don't. Yeah, they just override the company, and we're like, able to do that. They went through the process. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's when I get afraid when they don't. Yeah. They just override the company. And we're like, we're taking this. Yeah, or we're going to figure out how to find this ourselves and not tell you. Yeah, and not be public with it either.
Starting point is 00:38:52 I mean, sure they've done that a bunch. I go back and forth on how I feel about things like this because I can see the value of it for protecting us or solving something, right? Like, for example, let's think of an extreme, extreme possibility, right? There was a attempt of a terrorist attack. It got spoiled. Behind the scene is left this scope. It's a super rare scope by a super rare coming out who, right? And they're trying to match who that potentially is. This is one of the probably the best ways to do it. Is somebody who's connected to this group.
Starting point is 00:39:29 But then I also see for sure everybody freaking out. Oh my God. Facebook, I mean, this company is the government's going through all of my personal information. Well, if you're not one of the people that was trying to, you know, we're a part of this terrorist attack, you're probably going to get overlooked really quick.
Starting point is 00:39:46 No, that's perfectly in line with due process. So due process says there's an investigation or something happened. We want to investigate these people. We go to the court, we ask for a warrant, which is basically permission and to give them limited access. Yeah. So like they say, hey, we think Adam is part of this whatever we would like to, we'd like to wire tap them. We'd like to follow them around and wire tap them.
Starting point is 00:40:11 So then the judge says, okay, what are your reasons? What's your potential evidence, whatever? And they get a warrant and then they can do it. No problem. The problem that I have is when they don't get a warrant and they broadly search everybody and they capture everybody's data, everybody's information, and then they say, oh, if you did nothing wrong,
Starting point is 00:40:30 there's nothing to worry about. Uh-uh, like that is explicitly. Well, then here's the, and I'm just playing Devils Advocate with you though, is, you know, here's the challenge with that is something like due process is how long that process takes and if there's something that's time sensitive,
Starting point is 00:40:47 what if at that same scene, we find out that it's, we're in the middle, they were in the middle of plotting a second act that's supposed to happen a day and a half from today, or two days from now, whatever. And so now we have to try and put this all together as fast as we possibly can. So we have a competitive edge on stopping it. Getting approval for something like that
Starting point is 00:41:09 actually isn't that long. It's actually a quite fast process. It's not the issue of something happens that we need to happen. The argument, then we need access to follow people or whatever. The argument they make is we wanna look at everybody all the time, then we can prevent something from happening or when something happens, we already have
Starting point is 00:41:28 the information. But the problem with that is they put everybody in that. Then we look like the Wesley Snipes and the problem caused. It's a lone movie. What was that judgment? What was that? You know what you're talking about, right? Demolition man?
Starting point is 00:41:41 Demolition man. Joe, is it judge dread? Which one is it where they have all the predictive, they can't swear. That's my no-air point. Oh, that is, that is a- Judge dread. No, no, no, I know what he's talking about.
Starting point is 00:41:53 It's demolition man. It is demolition man. Yeah, demolition man. Where they say a bad word, a little thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Comes out, you said a bad word. And then Taco Bell is a fancy restaurant. Sandra Bullock's in it, right?
Starting point is 00:42:02 Yeah, that was a terrible move. They don't have sex anymore. Yeah, do you? Do you have any of those helmet? Oh, lame. You know what? Sometimes those movies got some pretty good, you know, interesting prediction. No, because it's, yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:14 It's the extreme version of what you're saying right now. Like, that's where it could lead to. So that's where I think, which is what's great about movies about that. Well, dude, it's not that I'm telling you. Safety and freedom. I mean, that's the conundrum. Never trade, never trade, safety for freedom. It never turns out well, that's all.
Starting point is 00:42:30 You just look at history, it'll tell you every time. But it is entirely plausible that in the future, they will be able to read your mind pretty much and let you know kind of what you were thinking or, they've done this with monkeys, you know that, right? They've hooked up monkeys to machines like, you know, kind of what you were thinking or, or, you know, they've done this with monkeys, you know, that right? They've hooked up monkeys to the machines and they can, the computer will create the image of what the monkey's thinking of, which is kind of weird.
Starting point is 00:42:52 And some of the images the monkeys are thinking of, by the way, are you thinking of fucking terrifying? Yeah, I want to know. You can pull it up and you can see in its terrifying. I didn't hear it. I didn't know this was a real thing. Just a banana. Just a big banana.
Starting point is 00:43:03 Poop. I didn't know that Just a big banana. Poop. I don't know, that was a real thing. They can act, yes, do the technologies getting the point where they'll get to the point where they can literally start to read your fucking mind, bro. And so there's scientists that are saying,
Starting point is 00:43:17 hey, we need legislation to say that you can't. You can't just go around reading people. Mind scan, everybody. Yeah, you imagine every, are having arguments with people, that would suck. I mean, look how we just did that. I know what you're thinking, man. I'm like, fuck.
Starting point is 00:43:29 We just did that personality test. I think that's evolved a ton since that first started. I remember those things. We've done a few of those now. This was like a totally different feel for sure. Yeah, they're getting better. They're getting more and more accurate, man. It's pretty cool.
Starting point is 00:43:41 Yeah, you know the thing about personality test that makes them inaccurate though, is the the your own self awareness. Yeah, you know the thing about personality tests that makes them inaccurate though, is the your own self awareness. Yeah, you're projecting that, not somebody else. Yeah, like if the question is like, you know, I'm the life of a party and someone might think to themselves, like, I wanna be the light. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, I am.
Starting point is 00:43:56 Like so many near you're not there. You're never the life of a party. We're talking about that. I know he's in the corner, he's like, I feel like this personality test should include friends. Like I answer them for it. And then you actually, like your friend validates that would be really fun is to now that we've all done.
Starting point is 00:44:11 I'm feeling out for each other. Yeah, it's like I'll fill yours out. You fill mine or just that would be interesting to see how close. I don't know though. I feel like when you read yours, I'm listening to it. I'm like, I mean, I definitely agree with what it kicked out. Yeah. You know, so if I had to go to the innate of it, questions, I can nail most of it. Yeah, but I don't
Starting point is 00:44:27 feel like I'm amazing like Adam. Do this. That's the same one. It's weird. That's because I mean, I do. But you copy all my answers. That's why. That's, you know, I wait till the end just specifically to add up your points. Adam, you got to put the binders around your test. Yeah. When you're in school. Yeah. That fucking asshole. I have to define all of his language. Yeah. That's why we made a good team for so long, bro. Yeah, for sure. We are.
Starting point is 00:44:48 There's a lot. But there was enough, if you looked at the percentages, we were off quite a bit on some things. Oh, yeah. It's over there. Yeah. No, there's no sense. This clause brought to you by Organify.
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Starting point is 00:45:29 bad personal trainer? I'll tell you an easy one eating on the floor. Oh, they're wearing a crossfit shirt. How funny. The dick. That's a big one. You know what, dude?
Starting point is 00:45:40 It's funny. You have to say that Adam, but yeah, eating on the fricking work of a common, dude. I see it all the time. and it like just drives me. You ever fire a trainer for that? Bro, 100%. Yeah. That was like a no. I get mad at the coffee cups.
Starting point is 00:45:54 Like, and that was a pushback I used to get from trainers. Like, I'm like, it just looks fucking lazy. I'm all poured in a sport cup. I'm all, so it looks like a water that you're drinking. I'm not going to tell you what you can. I can't drink on the floor because I get you need to be hydrated. But drinking a fucking Starbucks coffee while you're leaning against the machine while she's doing reps is just a fucking bad look.
Starting point is 00:46:13 Dude, I had a trainer who was eating potato chips while training, while training a client on the workout floor. It's just crumbling. Then when I bring them aside and ask them, I like, what are you doing? You're eating potato chips on the fucking, you know what he says to me? He goes, bro, I got a six pack. I know what aside and ask them like what are you doing? Well, you're in potato chips on the fucking you know what he says to me goes I brought a six pack I know what my calories and my macros are I don't give a fuck what you look like yeah You're training a client is trying to lose weight and you're eating potato chips while they're doing Ice to get into onto on the lap it out of his hand my trainers that would come in because we had you know
Starting point is 00:46:40 You have we had a break room right and you, fucking go to McDonald's or Taco Bell. I had the thrush, shit outside. I know, and then they come in. I'm like, listen, I'm not gonna tell you what you can, I can't eat. Everyone teets their own, but come on, man. You know, and they would say the same thing too. Hey man, I know my macros, look at my abs.
Starting point is 00:46:56 It's like, oh great, I look. I'm like, yeah, but it's not what you're, the message you're sending to everybody else. And not only that, I can, you bring in that smell when you come in. I'm like, McDonald french fry smell amazing. Yes.
Starting point is 00:47:07 That's it. Clients working out hard. Oh, I can smell french fry. Oh, that's, I know what I'm doing after this. That's psychological phenomenon. As you get hard, as you get tired, you start to smell the foods. So that's your first thing, is it there?
Starting point is 00:47:17 Is there drinking or eating on the floor? I think that's just it. I'll tell you an easy one. Is the trainer doing plyometrics with the client and having them get super tired doing the plyos? That's a bad trainer. So the jump box is a part of a circuit or any kind of exercise that's explosive
Starting point is 00:47:34 but that's not treated as an explosive movement but rather as a fatigue building movement. That is a bad trainer. And unfortunately, you see that quite common. Yeah, I mean, if they're always like constantly kind of being their cheerleader is like, push through it, push through it. Like the intensity is always being highlighted all the time. Yes, I'm steer clear of that. For sure. Well, that one could be a little bit harder. The one that you guys
Starting point is 00:47:57 just named right now, because if you have the right athlete with good mechanics and there's a there's a there's a purpose for their application of that, that's hard. But you know, you know, you know what I'm talking about? have the right athlete with good mechanics, and there's a purpose for their application of that. That's hard, but you had to talk about. You know what I'm talking about? Oh, no, 100%. And I think that a regular person coming to gym may not have a trained eye to see the poor mechanics.
Starting point is 00:48:17 Now a trainer will know another bad trainer who's doing this, that's got the jump box, they've got the jump rope, they've got the overhead press or squat thrusters and they're running through the circuit. And you can see when she's doing the jump box, her knees are caving in, she's thumping down on the ground.
Starting point is 00:48:34 Sometimes she does it, like her back's all rounded, like bad posture, bad form, but yet still getting pushed through a circuit, like that's a really bad trainer. I mean, but if see like someone doing something explosive and in a circuit, but they look like, if they look like a gazelle and they have great form and they look like an athlete, there could be an application for what they're doing. I think it's the, you know, the overweight, middle aged male or female
Starting point is 00:49:01 client that doesn't look like your athletes. And that's usually who's doing that. Right, right. So that to me, I think you have to make that distinction. Yeah, a case by case, share with that. I think a trainer, if you can watch trainers train their clients, and are they paying attention, close attention to their client? Right.
Starting point is 00:49:18 So are they walking around the client while the clients performing the exercise? Are they careful to spot the client? So if something happens, they're to catch the weight or catch their clients so they don't fall, are they watching them head to toe? Are they critiquing their form? I mean, really that's the value of a trainer.
Starting point is 00:49:37 The true value of a trainer is the application, the proper application of exercise. From an exercise standpoint, I should say, because there's a lot of value to a trainer that has nothing to do with exercise.. From an exercise standpoint, I should say, because there's a lot of value to a trainer that has nothing to do with exercise. But from the workout standpoint, is the trainer really paying attention to the form, oh, tuck your elbows, tighten up,
Starting point is 00:49:54 lift here, control your rep, walking around like you can tell when somebody's, if you're a really good trainer to me, I feel like I'll see you during, your client will be doing a set of something, it could be anything, right? And while that client is doing the reps, the trainer is constantly moving, checking all and checking, checking from the side, checking from behind, checking in front, maybe even talking, giving little feedback, you know, open up, slow down, head up, like they're giving
Starting point is 00:50:20 these cues, and then when they're done with the set, you'll see the trainer normally get in and actually perform it and show the example of whatever he or she was speaking to during that rep. Like, you know, notice how your elbows were rocking like this. I want you to retract like this and hold back and they're demonstrating it again. Like they're showing the movement they just did.
Starting point is 00:50:39 They're showing it with better form, they're critiquing it than they're putting them back in and doing it like there should be a lot of movement and engagement happening between a trainer and a client if you have a really good trainer. Yeah, I think, if you want to boil it down to two main attributes, is how much, if you can tell that they really sincerely care and they're paying a lot of close attention, they're communicating well with their client.
Starting point is 00:51:02 Those things are paramount to make a good trainer. The rest of it, you can kind of tell on your own if they're experience level. Because I know I sucked in the very beginning. I was doing some shit wrong and wasn't too aware, but I definitely cared deeply about getting better and then also helping my client get to where they want to get. You can also watch the clients.
Starting point is 00:51:23 Do the clients look like they're enjoying their workout. And I know a lot of people thinking, they're thinking, oh, I mean, enjoy a workout. It's supposed to be hard and whatever. Yeah, you can still see if somebody enjoys the workout or if they don't. Now, why is that important? Well, you're planning, if you're planning
Starting point is 00:51:38 on hiring a trainer, it's probably because you want to establish a good practice, a good relationship with exercise. And if you don't enjoy your workout sessions, if you're dreading them because your trainer is whatever, mean boring, whatever, you're not gonna have a good start. So watch the client, does the client look like they're enjoying their session? Is it look like they respect the trainer?
Starting point is 00:52:02 And then the presentation of the trainer, this is a big one, I don't have to say this, I don't think I have to say this, but if the trainers look sloppy, like they're not really taking their job seriously, because you see this sometimes with trainers, they're probably not gonna take the actual training portion seriously.
Starting point is 00:52:18 So I like the training that looks like they got dressed for the job. You know what I mean? Like shirt tucked in, nice looking, you know, clean clothes, you know, ready to train their client, hair combed. Does that directly, you know, communicate to the training, skill and all stuff?
Starting point is 00:52:33 No, but it does tell you that they kind of took it seriously. Yeah, it's just professionalism. I got any other job. How you do anything is how you do everything. Next question is from Melissa Lanari, S-Y-T. For a woman who lifts alone, should you just ask some random dude to spot you when you want to lift heavy? Is it weird or creepy? Who picked this question? I did. Yeah, I did. I did.
Starting point is 00:52:57 I did. I had, first of all, I had a lot of likes from people that obviously wanted to hear the the question answer. I'm trying to put myself in her shoes. And I guess, and I guess that's a really, really good question. It is a fair question, especially we encourage strength training. And there's a lot of women I think that are really starting to move in that direction, and it's a new area. They're having to do three to five reps, and that's much heavier load and can be scary
Starting point is 00:53:25 to feel like what's to do that on your own. And also to be fair, if you're in the gym and you're a man and a woman comes up to you and says, hey, can you help me with an exercise? You instantly probably assume she's flirting with you or she wants to talk with you. And so I can- And that's every guy, unfortunately.
Starting point is 00:53:40 I know and I can imagine that that would be a challenge for a woman. She's like, I just want to spot. And I don't want all that, but I just actually, you know, want what I ask. Well, I'll tell you what, spotters were very valuable about 20 years ago. Today, not so much, and here's why. Most gyms have a free weight equipment that you could set up to spot you. So like, because I'm trying to think, what exercises do you really need a spotter for?
Starting point is 00:54:04 Well, this is the, I was going to go go the same direction as you where you're going right now And in fact maybe Doug we can write this down to maybe Danny can shoot some videos on this I don't think we've done a series on how to bail out of some of the biggest lifts Like how to bail on a deadlift how to bail on a squat like things did like how to bail on that I mean, it was we were just lifting together and I had to bail squatting with Justin and we were causing discussion afterwards and you, you know, sound like, man, you bailed from that, really? I'm like, yeah, no, I would, I always,
Starting point is 00:54:34 Justin's there. I know Justin would be a great spot. I don't even ask him. I don't want him to. I would much rather, I know my limits. I know how far I want to push you. If I feel my form breaking down at all, I just bail on the exercise.
Starting point is 00:54:47 I feel it's way safer. I agree too. Yeah, it's just like you're not so reliant on somebody else, like making sure they're really hyper pain attention and having the right leverage to really help Edo in the spots where you could just dump it. Well, I'm trying to think right now, like what are the exercises that you would,
Starting point is 00:55:04 that people would really be afraid? If you're using dumbbells, you can drop them mostly squatting. Yeah, squatting overhead pressing and bench pressing, especially bench pressing. That's probably the scariest pressing is. But here's the thing, most gyms will have a power rack where you could set the safety bars underneath.
Starting point is 00:55:20 And you set the safety bar so that at the very bottom of the rep where it's at your chest, the safeties will catch it. So if you fuck up, I can't get it up, you put it down at the very bottom of the wrap, where it's at your chest, the safety will catch it. So if you fuck up, I can't get it up, you put it down, the safety will catch it, then you can shimmy your way out from under the bar, un-rack the bar, and you're okay. Same thing with the squat,
Starting point is 00:55:34 same thing with an overhead press, you don't need a spotter for anything else. You don't need a spotter for a deadlift, you drop the weight, you don't need a spotter for any dumbbell exercise, you just throw them down onto the ground, make sure you don't throw them at someone. So really it's just squat, overhead press and bench press,
Starting point is 00:55:48 in which case, and like this is what I meant by saying, 20 years ago, it was hard to find a gym that had, unless you went to like a hardcore bodybuilding or powerlifting gym, there weren't many, many safeties for free weights. I mean, you had machines, but they have like ones for free weights. Now, I go to gyms.
Starting point is 00:56:06 And almost every single gym I've been to these days that's got a decent weight room, has safeties for their benches even. You know, you don't even have to use a power cage. You just have the bench press, there's a little arms on the side. Set them up so that they're down at the bottom. You don't need a safety.
Starting point is 00:56:20 And to be honest with you, I think it's better because using a spotter means that the spotter also needs to know how to spot. Yes. There's a skill involved. And I think that's what eventually move me in the direction of never wanting a spot is I've had enough instances where I thought I could just tap shoulder tap the guy who looks buff or looks fit. You know, come over here.
Starting point is 00:56:43 Hey, I'm going to push myself. I'm going to do a one'm gonna do a, you know, one rep max, can you spot me? And then they end up spotting me and it ends up being worse. And then I end up hurting myself, trying to get the weight up where I wish they would have just taken it up off of me.
Starting point is 00:56:55 It's like, dude, why'd you let me struggle that much? You know, and because there's, especially in gyms, there's a lot of meat head guys that have this mentality of like, that's what it should look like. You know, one rep, if someone's going really heavy, they should be at a sticky point. Come on, you could do this guy and his fingers are right.
Starting point is 00:57:13 Come on, you got this, it's like, no, if I have a spot, I don't want to break momentum. I don't ever want to get stuck and stick there because that's where the issues happen. That's where somebody gets hurt. That's where it should twist. And I would much rather hit that sticking point myself there because that's where the issues happen. That's where somebody gets hurt. That's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's
Starting point is 00:57:26 where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it's where it want them intervening at all. But it's even then, like, you should be able to do that first part where you un-rack at yourself. And then, I'd love, I'd like to be able to put the way down.
Starting point is 00:57:51 Here's what happens with the bad spotter. You decide you're gonna drop the squat on the safeties, but the spotter fucking thinks they need to help you more. So now they're pulling up harder on you, and you're trying to, like, just give them a job. So now you've got to fucking lift two, or they're pushing you forward, dangerous. It's trying to like just give them a job. So now you got to do something or they're pushing you forward. Dangerous.
Starting point is 00:58:07 It's better to have it's better to use a squat rack with safeties or bench with safeties. Then if you can't do it, you'd put it down yourself. You're not the spotter's not sitting there trying to lift it. I told you guys like what happened when I was squatting, I had had somebody, I brought somebody over to spot me and they actually ended up like intervening so much It like right at my sticking point that they pushed me forward and so I started to fall forward with wait on my back That's bad, you know, and so then I ended up like falling under my knee and then like being in a compromised position Where they had to get like more guys to come pull it off me and almost like injured me. Have you guys ever got stuck underway?
Starting point is 00:58:45 No never no, you know what? like more guys to come pull it off me. It almost like injured me. Have you guys ever got stuck under weight? No. Never? No. You know what? That's probably because I started lifting young in the backyard. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I've gotten stuck under.
Starting point is 00:58:52 Oh, stuck like, yeah, I've had that before. Oh, yeah. Before I learned how to bail. Actually, that's the first time I learned how to bail. Really? Yeah. I had a bench. I was benching, man.
Starting point is 00:59:01 And the bar, I thought, oh, I think I can do one more. And I was in the backyard, mom was cooking dinner. So she, that was just me back there. And the way started coming down and I was like, oh, fuck, and he was just sitting on my chest. And I remember sitting there like, what do I, and I was just keeping the bar from rolling back on my neck.
Starting point is 00:59:18 So I had to like roll the bar down my body, which fucking hurts you rolling this bar and then sit up with it across your waist type of deal. That happened to me quite a few times. The truth is that 95% of the time, you shouldn't even be chasing that kind of weight that you would potentially not be able to get it up. 95%.
Starting point is 00:59:35 Going to failure causes that. Yeah, 95% of the time you should not ever be training that heavy that you would have to bail on a load. Now, I just said I did it the other day and what happened, I'm lifting with Justin. You know what I'm saying? And this is what we talked about this afterwards. Like, no way I would have done that. Had I not been all hyped up because I took a pre workout, Justin's lifting, he's adding weight into it. I'm not going to be a whist and be like, nah, drop the weight. I don't want to
Starting point is 01:00:01 do that. This is why we don't work out so much. Right. It's just, bro, two days later, he chooses the deadlift with me. Yeah. He's like, what am I doing? I squat with just a deadlift, he was like, I'm not adding him. You picked the wrong answer, it says, Oh man.
Starting point is 01:00:12 So, and that's just it, it's like, I shouldn't have done that, I did it anyways. If I'm gonna do something like that, and I feel myself stick to it, I'm smart enough now to know that, just get out of it, you know what I'm saying? And if you think about it, if you know how to bail properly with a squat, having a spotter there only puts the spotter
Starting point is 01:00:29 in danger. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? It's better that you just bail on your own. Or what I say for this young lady, use the safeties. Go get a power, go use the cage, learn how to use the safeties or use the bench with the safeties, you'll never need to use the spotter.
Starting point is 01:00:42 That's why I think we should have Danny do a video because I think he's to them how to do that. Yeah, we could do a really good video, especially on on bench and on squatting, which I agree is probably the two main ones that somebody needs help learning how to bail on those or set up the safety racks. And then, you know, that's and then use it that way. Forget using a spotter. I'm not a fan of using somebody else as a spotter and just keep in mind, too, this is if you're training that heavy
Starting point is 01:01:05 It should it should be very infrequent that you're doing this like you shouldn't be Using safety bars and having to you know go to failure on most of your workouts. Yeah too much Next question is from Derek McMullen of the three major power lifting lifts Which one did you have to work the hardest on to get stronger? And which one was the easiest? Oh, cool question. Yeah. So, um, we're probably all different here too.
Starting point is 01:01:31 Yeah, I think what were your top lifts in each of the three lifts? What if in your life? What are the, let's start with that because I think that's a cool thing to do. Okay, so bench, uh, bench 375, uh, squat, 4 420 and deadlift 550. Those are all top numbers on that. I did, 3505 on bench was the most I ever did. For squat was 405, deadlift was 600. What about you, Justin?
Starting point is 01:01:58 I'm trying to think of my deadlift because that was the weakest. I think it was only like 425 or something like that. And squat, squat actually, like, I got up to four, 75, and then for bench, I got up to 405. Yeah, yeah. So the one that I worked on the first was bench press.
Starting point is 01:02:23 And the reason why I worked on bench press first was because when I was a kid, that was the lift. Yeah. The bench was keen. Yeah, nobody cared. They didn't ask you, what's your deadlift? What's your score? I was always like, how much can you bench?
Starting point is 01:02:36 Because there was so much importance placed on that. That was the lift that I focused on first and focused on at the most. The deadlift came very natural to me. I'd say the first time I really started deadlifting, I was maybe 16 and three plates was fast. I don't remember how long it took me to get three plates, but it wasn't long at all. And then four plates came pretty quick after that.
Starting point is 01:02:58 And then five plates happened in my 20s and then in my 30s when I hit six. That one was really easy. Squats were also difficult, but my legs, even though I have mobility issues in my hips, my legs get really big and strong. And so I got pretty good at the squat in terms of weight. It was the bench press that took me a long time. And then eventually I think it's what,
Starting point is 01:03:21 always focusing on bench press, I think it's one of the reasons why I eventually had shoulder surgery. And now I never push heavy on the bench press. I have my AC joint had to be it operated on. And now I just I rarely ever go above to 25 on the bench press. That's probably as heavy as I'll I'll go ever again. Yeah, we're all a little bit different, right? Where you and I are the same, deadlift just came real natural to me. I remember when I first started deadlifting,
Starting point is 01:03:54 I was doing like 135, like figuring it out. Like, I mean, it was one of those exercises, like we've never done a deadlift. It takes a while to learn the mechanics. As soon as I figured the mechanics out, like when it started to feel smooth, quickly I went from one plate to two plate to three plate to four plate to the eventually five plate.
Starting point is 01:04:14 It didn't take me long to really push the numbers in deadlift, it just felt very natural for me. And the opposite is true with squatting. Squatting has been a grind my whole life. And even though my squat is okay and my bench isn't that strong, I mean, I got long limbs. So at the end of the day, I don't think I was ever built to be a really, really strong power lifter in these big lifts. But I moved the needle pretty far on my bench, especially when I was competing,
Starting point is 01:04:46 like that, a chest, obviously your chest is a major focal point for competitors. So it was an area of emphasis for me. And I remember really starting to notice a big difference when I started building my, and I asked this, so when I hit 375, I could hit that on a flat and I could hit that on an incline. So that's probably the most impressive thing
Starting point is 01:05:06 about my bench was I made a point to be as strong in the incline presses, which is not normal. Most guys can lift significantly more on their flat than they can incline. I had a pretty well developed chest, both an incline and flat bench. And it didn't take as much effort. Early on as a kid.
Starting point is 01:05:27 Chess was really hard for me and bench was hard for me because my mechanics were off. And that's why I stressed that even with the deadlift and all of these things. And the N Squad too. Like a lot of times when you really struggle with a lift, more often than not, you're still learning the mechanics down.
Starting point is 01:05:42 And for me, I had for all my sports that I had played You know and I'm left-handed. I had a little bit of a this kind of forward shoulder and it very very subtle The average I would not be able to see it until I didn't even know and didn't put piece it together until later as a trainer But I had like one side of my chest, my opposite side, was more developed than my dominant throwing side because I had this kind of roll four shoulder. So when I bench pressed, my shoulder and my triceps took over the load on that one side. On the opposite side, I had better mechanics. And so my chest was uneven for a long time.
Starting point is 01:06:21 So it took me a really long time to actually level that out. And when I learned that, saw the importance of it, I also had to stop ego lifting because as a young 17, 18, 19 year old kid lifting, I was always trying to just keep up with my buddies that were way stronger than me on the bench press. I was weak as fuck and my chest wasn't developed right because I wasn't doing it correctly.
Starting point is 01:06:42 When I figured out how to get the mechanics right and fix my imbalance, that took about a year or two of really lightweight control, learning form and technique. Once that all came together and like I really understood how to chest press, then it kind of took off and it was doing great. The hardest thing has been squat. And I think I was just sharing with you guys, you know, I'm a recent one for you. Yeah, it's it's recently Finally came together and again back to the form and technique thing is I'd never really addressed The mobility thing for me. I never worked on my hips. I never worked on my ankle mobility I had a really ugly squat even when I worked at it for a long time and got kind of strong in it like
Starting point is 01:07:25 squad, even when I worked at it for a long time and got kind of strong in it. Like, 315 was just like crippling for me for a very long time. It wasn't until I really started to address the hips, the ankles, get better at squatting and then now I'm actually, I'm getting close to, you know, some of my peak numbers. I could probably squat 375, 380 right now. I feel pretty confident about, and 420 is like my record record. And when I was doing that, I was actually on anabolic.
Starting point is 01:07:52 So when I was 420, squatting 420, I was at the peak of my bodybuilding career. So I'm actually really excited about that, but it's been a grind to get a good squat. It's been a grind for me. Yeah, I think for me, I was under the impression based off of all the coaches that I've had and like the programming that I was exposed
Starting point is 01:08:12 to you through athletics that we pretty much avoided like the deadlift. It was kind of a lot like what you heard out of Robert Obers and his sort of mentality towards that with athletes. That's the kind of dogma that was thrown at me quite a bit going through, you know, training. over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and cleaning. So I could do a decent, that's funny, you could power clean 350, but you could get four. Yeah. I'm serious. And it has to be a lot of that technique, right? And of course, I was completely, like, to be to be completely transparent, probably the last few years, only at the time I've even put into deadlifting. I'm never even really trying to put effort towards maxing on deadlift. So I have no idea if there's any potential there or not,
Starting point is 01:09:06 but it's not something that I really focused on. Squatting came natural to me. That was something that it felt like I could get in the groove of it pretty seamlessly. It was something that felt like immediately, oh yeah, I get this. Like my body gets this, I could do well with this. And that actually, I was putting up
Starting point is 01:09:23 some good numbers right out of the gates. And I was immediately jumping. They had groups for, I started out with the running backs, the linebackers, the corners and all that, and then kind of jumped up into the lineman real fast. Because I could hang with all them in terms of their numbers for squat and their numbers for bench. And bench was another one that came naturally to me.
Starting point is 01:09:48 But yeah, it was really like the posterior chain, like I was in terms of like dead lifts. Like I was like any kind of pulling move was a little more difficult for me and pull ups and all that was very challenging for me. So yeah, I felt like I was like pushing and you know, and those type of mechanics, like I could, I could like pushing and, you know, in those type of mechanics, like I could seamlessly get into that. It's funny because really, really good deadlifters tend to, some of them are good at squats, most of them are bad at bench press.
Starting point is 01:10:15 It's like the things that make you really good at deadlifting the long arms and the long levers tend to make that. That's what I appreciate that about powerlifting. They consider that and it's like the, you know, your grand total of all of those, you have the, you know, your grand total of all of those. You have to, you know, somewhat do well in all of those. I remember when I pieced together,
Starting point is 01:10:29 because I valued strength a lot in lifting weights. I know you, at Adam, you probably placed more of an emphasis on aesthetics longer term than I did. Oh, for sure. I know Justin was very performance oriented like I was. Like for me, I liked the building muscle, but I liked the strength of it. And I remember when I figured out that you know if I trained with the lower rep ranges but frequently where I was practicing two or
Starting point is 01:10:53 three reps but I was doing a three three days a week or four days a week I remember piecing that together and then my numbers just going to the roof and I loved it and I was in my in my early 20. That's when I would stop the single body part, one body part of time type training. Like, you know, if I practice bench press a few days a week, let's see what happens. And I got my numbers on it. I trained for at least 10 years
Starting point is 01:11:18 and never knew my PR and any of those. Oh, I tested my PR first day, I worked out. 10 years, that was the first thing I did. 10 years I trained and could not, if somebody asked that question. First of all, that question was, it was rarely ever asked 10 years ago. It's since the birth of CrossFit,
Starting point is 01:11:36 it's a very common thing to because they test. PR was not a thing. It was bench press, was only thing. But bench press was, how much do you max? Yeah, that was, that was the thing. But nobody was talking about their PR and anything else. No, no, nothing. And even then I again, I didn't I did not believe in maxing out.
Starting point is 01:11:50 Like I just didn't I wasn't a strength. I was I didn't value strength the same way. I was all about aesthetics and I had learned early on that I could build a pretty good looking physique and never in my life max out. And I knew that when I was teaching clients, that was always the safest route. So I was the trainer who kind of actually avoided it
Starting point is 01:12:11 with this chip on my shoulder a little bit. Like, you max out, that's stupid, what's your goal? Are you a power lifter? Oh, you're not a power lifter? Why the fuck are you doing that? I remember you just all show no go. That's why I guess it's like what? Like a dead even compete with me.
Starting point is 01:12:24 Yeah, why would you brag about that? Yeah, was just like what like a didn't compete with me. Yeah. How would you bring about that? Yeah. No girl ever asked you in the through me in the bedroom what your PR is exactly what I used to say. And and and honestly most people that go to the gym, you know most people there of course there's exceptions to rule they're listening right now, but most people are going
Starting point is 01:12:39 there to change their aesthetics. They want to of course they want to lose their fat. They want to build a little bit of muscle. They want to look better. They want to feel better. They want to lose their fat. They want to build a little bit of muscle. They want to look better. They want to feel better. They want to feel sexy. And what I pieced together early on was, you know what? None of that.
Starting point is 01:12:52 You do not have to ever train like a strength or a powerlifting athlete to achieve that. There's very little value to it for the average person. I mean, I can make a case for some value, but reality you're 100%. Well, what I'll make the case for, and what breaking beyond that happened for me, and we've shared this a little bit on the podcast is,
Starting point is 01:13:10 I have a different looking physique today than what I did eight years ago, and it's due to lifting heavy weight. Like, I've built it, it's so hard to explain. It's density. Yeah, somebody who's obviously somebody who's been here and done both understand it, it's so hard to explain. It's density. Yeah, somebody who's obviously somebody who's been here and done both understand it's really hard for me to articulate this to a new lifter.
Starting point is 01:13:31 But when I went from being the guy who only trained like hypertrophy type training for a decade, and then I went into strength training and incorporated strength training, I built a different looking muscle on my body, and the best way that I could describe it is, my hypertrophy that I had was, man, when I would get in the gym and I would lift
Starting point is 01:13:52 and I'd get all aired up, I'd look great. I would look like, and I used to always say, man, if I could just look more like what I looked like, all pumped up and aired up, which I know everybody can relate to, but I would really deflate after that. And sure, I looked kind of fit, but nowhere near what I looked like inside the gym. When I started lifting really, really heavy, I saw less of a pump, you know, from the workouts,
Starting point is 01:14:16 but I started to build like this solid muscle. And I started to notice that, you know, just my arms hanging by my side, you could see my tricep, which you would only see that if I got them all aired up in the past. And the same thing goes for my legs and goes for my, like also when I built this muscle that didn't need to be aired up to look solid and big.
Starting point is 01:14:36 And that's the best way I can describe that to people in the value of what strength, training, and heavy lifting did for my body and physique, but you absolutely could build it without it. Totally. Do you guys have a lift that, like a special lift that if you wanna like work out with someone and you just know your crush them at,
Starting point is 01:14:52 you have like this one lift that, but you know what you can do? Deadlifting is there's not, you're probably one of the few people that in our circle that, you know, other than fucking our, like powerlifting buddies, like, been pulled up here. Average gym go, or there's, there's definitely nobody in my men's physique group that I hung out with
Starting point is 01:15:07 that kid out dead. No, I have a lift. There's one lift that I did, and I don't even exercise this anymore, but I knew whoever I was working out with, I would freak them out, but with the amount of weight I could use. And that was a reverse curl.
Starting point is 01:15:21 For whatever reason, it's like the dumbest exercise ever. But I put a 45 on the plan that worked on exercise ever. But I put a 45 on the plan that worked on it. Yeah, put a 45 on the bars. Yeah, I remember it. Get them on this. Just a simple that's right. That's like my mace belt thing. You know, I'll take the heaviest mace ball you can possibly give me and I'll fucking scratch your out. Who cares? Yeah. Next question is from Molly on fire. I would love to hear how each of your careers in fitness began. Oh, man, we haven't told this story in a little while.
Starting point is 01:15:52 Have we? No. Yeah, I mean, Sally, you know, on everybody else's podcast. Yeah, I mean, I think I tell this all the time. In fact, I just did an episode that I think goes live next Friday. Then I thought I probably shared the story the best in my opinion of all the interviews I've done. So when that comes out, I'll share it in my story.
Starting point is 01:16:12 But you and I, being sound, I think a relatively similar story of, you know, I was, I actually was not into, I never thought I I was gonna be a personal trainer. When I was younger, I was driven to make money, and I was interested in being an architect. I was interested in being a lawyer. You're not gonna pick fitness. Yeah, I did not. I wanted to make money. That was my, that was my, that was not the field fit.
Starting point is 01:16:39 Yeah, that was, that was my main goal was to make money, and I didn't think that fitness would be that. I actually, and even when I bought my first national certification when I was 18, I actually thought it would be, I'm not gonna forget this, we were in a gym in Modesto and working out there and my buddy and I were in junior college and we're talking about degrees and things like that
Starting point is 01:17:04 and we're uncertain what we're gonna declare as when we eventually have to. And we're talking about jobs, things that we're currently doing. And there's one of these personal trends in that. And I think he actually said at first, he's like, you know what'd be cool, like side job while we're going through school, is personal training, man.
Starting point is 01:17:19 We love working out so much. And I'm like, yeah, that would be a cool. And that's actually what made me go home that night and I bought a national cert and I bought it with the intention of, hey, that would be a cool side job while I went to school. That was how that really started. I just assumed they didn't make any money
Starting point is 01:17:36 because I didn't know any trainers that were rich or had. And then for me, that's what all I was driven by. So then I have the national certification. I'm going through junior college. I'm on my second year. I notice I'm kind of dicking around. I'm in my hometown. I moved out of my own place when I was 17 years old.
Starting point is 01:17:54 I'm partying. I have a keg on my fucking balcony. So we're partying like every weekend. At that time, I thought it was cool to skip as many classes I could, but yet still pass on the tests. That's a sign that you're an entrepreneur by the way. I did that at that time. I remember I was so proud.
Starting point is 01:18:14 I passed with a seed. Right. I showed up like four times. Right. And so, and I've always prided myself on being a pretty self-aware person. And so, I realized this about myself. I'm hanging out pretty self-aware person. And so I realized this about myself. I'm You know hanging out with my buddies. We're partying on the weekends. We're skipping class
Starting point is 01:18:31 You know, I'm chipping away at nine units a semester and I find myself. I'm 20 years old and I'm like I'm not gonna get stuck in this town. I Don't I want more for myself. I can't fuck around with this school thing anymore. I need to get this done. And I had a grandmother who lived in San Jose. And my grandmother had a two bedroom apartment that she owned, that I knew that I could go live
Starting point is 01:18:59 in one of the rooms and I could go to school. Now what I also had found out at this around the same time was that San Jose State was known for kinesiology. So I thought, oh, this is cool. I'll transfer over. I'll finish my AA at Deanza, and then I'll transfer to San Jose. And just since I'm into this working out thing,
Starting point is 01:19:16 and I'm already interested in being kind of a personal trainer, maybe I'll go down this kinesiology to direction and see where maybe there may be a physical therapist. Now I'm thinking like I'm gonna be a physical therapist, like because I know that's more money than a personal trainer. So that's kind of where my head is at. So I moved to San Jose the very first week that I'm there.
Starting point is 01:19:33 I walk across the street and there's a 24-hour fitness and I go to get a membership there. When I'm filling out the profile of the membership that asks how you heard about 24-hour fitness, well, I had never heard of 24-hour fitness until I bought that national certification because it said that 24-hour fitness recognized it. So that was the first time I even heard of what 24-hour fitness was. So I put it on there.
Starting point is 01:19:54 Oh, my IFPA national certification. Instantly, that got the attention of the manager, general manager. He wouldn't got the fitness manager. Fitness manager came over, gave me this whole speal, and I'm like, whoa, I don't have my degree. I don't have the, I haven't passed the test yet. I just bought it. They asked how I found about it. And he's like, no, no, no, no, it's okay.
Starting point is 01:20:11 We, we have 24-finished university, and you can take this test and all the stuff. And I'm like, while I'm not looking for a job, I'm actually, I moved to San Jose to go full-time school. And they go, well, you can even work part-time. And so, and you get a free membership. So I'm like, okay, I passed their little test, and I'm like, okay, I'll go part-time personal training.
Starting point is 01:20:31 This is cool. I just landed this job that I was already interested in doing as a side hustle while I was going to college. And I started, and I had about three months, or two or three months, before the next semester was starting in Deanza, because I couldn't get enrolled, it was too late for the current one that was happening.
Starting point is 01:20:48 So I had like a three month run rate before I was gonna register for the next semester. And I start this job, and I fucking fall in love with it. I mean, every aspect of it, I loved being there. I loved working with people. I loved learning about the body and nutrition and all the knowledge that I was starting to consume for myself selfishly. I loved being there. I loved working with people. I loved learning about the body and nutrition and all the knowledge that I was starting to consume
Starting point is 01:21:07 for myself selfishly. And then what I was teaching and giving people, it was just a fucking blast. And then you know, go from, I was a kid who started at $4.50 an hour, worked his way up to $7 an hour. To all of a sudden, I'm making $70,000 a year
Starting point is 01:21:25 as a personal trainer. It was like holy shit. And every check that I made every two weeks was significantly bigger than the last one. And now, and I've got my boss at the time is in my ear and he's like, you were meant for this. You gotta do this. And I'm like, no, I'm here.
Starting point is 01:21:42 I gotta finish school. And I'm thinking like, fuck, I told all my family that I was going to go to school. And this is what I was going to do. Like everybody's going to be pissed. My grandma bought me a computer and desk just for like doing all my fucking homework. Like, so I'm stressing out about telling you that. And I'm one, I'm 20 years old right now. If I listen to this guy who's telling me that I'm made for this and I can make all this money, if I listen to him and I give everything I got for one year and then assess at the end of the year, is it what everybody says it's going to be? I'm only 21.
Starting point is 01:22:12 I still got almost my AA. It's not like I'm really behind my peers yet. Okay, I think I'll try this. And I pissed everybody off. My grandma was disappointed, my uncle's an answer disappointed, my parents were disappointed. But I knew that I was still not going to go to school. I was going to give this thing everything I got for one year to see if it could take me as far as what people are saying, the potential it
Starting point is 01:22:36 could take me. And man, in a year's time, I mean, the rest is fucking history. I broke records. I made as a 20 year old kid. I made 70 something thousand dollars my very first year. By the next year after that, I'd bought my house. I was now a six figure employee. I was in management and it was really easy. And then the real selling point for me, what, as I was falling in love with this career,
Starting point is 01:23:01 where they were telling me that, if you go get your four year degree out of McKinney'siology and you get a national certification, we pay you the same. And that was like the kind of the the final thing for me was like, Oh, you mean I could work, make all this money, continue to pursue my career, also educate myself on my own time at night time and on weekend courses. And you will pay me the same that if I went through and dedicated four years of college and spend potentially $60 to $100,000, I'm like, fuck it. I'm gonna do it this way.
Starting point is 01:23:30 So that's kinda how I got started in fitness and the rest is kinda history. There's definitely some similar aspects to mine. The difference is how it started. I started working out at 14 years old and immediately fell in love with the weights. Immediately loved it, absolutely loved it. I loved the fact that I could work my body,
Starting point is 01:23:52 I could train myself, I could learn, and then I could see changes in myself and improvements in myself. And I mean, I would come home from school, as a kid, 15 years old, 16 years old, and I would spend two hours in the backyard working out. At when I was 15, I got a job washing dishes at a local pizzeria, and I'd saved my money,
Starting point is 01:24:14 and I'd go to the supplement store, and I'd buy protein powders, and I bought Craya Teen when that first came out, and I was studying these things. I bought chemistry books to study the chemicals in supplements, so I could figure out which supplements were the right combinations, and I bought every single bodybuilding magazine and fitness.
Starting point is 01:24:32 I absolutely loved, in fact, I have old yearbooks, and you can read what people write, and all of them make a comment about something they're having to do with working out, because I was so obsessed with it. So I knew that I was going to get into a field that was related to fitness. I just didn't know, I didn't think of the gym,
Starting point is 01:24:50 because I thought that there was no career in gyms. I thought that the career's revolving around fitness, revolved around things like physical therapy. So same thing, I thought, okay, I'm gonna go to school for physical therapy. Graduate high school. We all have an for physical therapy. Graduate high school. We all have an income. Graduate high school.
Starting point is 01:25:08 Because you know why we're all money motivated. Yeah. But yeah, but yeah, I wanted to. But I want fitness. You hear that from me too. Yeah. So I thought to myself, like, cool, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go to school for physical therapy.
Starting point is 01:25:18 But in the meantime, I'm going to go become a personal trainer. And I used to work out at the 24th at Son Hillsdale. I had a membership there since I was 16 years old. My dad would drive me and then when I had my license, I drove myself. And I went up to the front desk and asked them, hey, how do I apply to become a personal trainer? And they said, well, you have to be 18.
Starting point is 01:25:37 At the time, I think I was 16 and a half or 17. So I waited. I'm like, okay, I got to be 18 years old. And I waited until, literally, my fucking birthday. And I was like, I'm 18, okay, I got to be 18 years old and I waited until I literally my fucking birthday And I was like I'm 18. I'm gonna go apply. So it was probably I don't know a month or two after I turned 18 I walk in and you got to keep this keep in mind. I was a very I'm a very different person than I was as a kid But there's some things that were very similar and that was just a very assertive 18 year old
Starting point is 01:26:02 I wasn't your typical Teenage kid so I walked up to the front desk and I said I'd like to speak to your manager similar and that was just a very assertive 18 year old. I wasn't your typical teenage kid. So I walked up to the front desk and I said, I'd like to speak to your manager. So, manager was a surprise beetle. Manager walks out, his name is Sean Winters. He was the fitness manager at the time. He walks around the corner and I shake my hand.
Starting point is 01:26:21 I'm like, I want to be a personal trainer here. And he's like, oh, okay. I talked for five minutes and he's like, you're hired. I think it was because he saw my personality. I was very much like that. Oh man, I remember being a fitness manager. If you got a kid that was that. He did your awesome job.
Starting point is 01:26:34 I'm gonna be a trainer. So that was me. So he's like, you're hired. So I'm like, cool. So he hires me. I become a personal trainer. The first day I start, he has this other trainer shadow me.
Starting point is 01:26:47 Now, remember, I knew nothing about the business of fitness. I didn't know how I got paid. I don't know what that looked like. I remember when he hired me, I asked him how much you make, and he says, oh, you can make up to 30 bucks an hour. So I thought that's what I got, 30 bucks an hour. So I came in the next day,
Starting point is 01:27:04 and I'm fucking like, yeah, I'm making this great job to have. I go to, you know, while I go sign up for some classes or whatever. And he had this other trainer kind of have me follow this other trainer along, who was the top trainer in the club. Now back in those days, 24 hour fitness had just become
Starting point is 01:27:22 24 hour, sorry, they had just become 24 hour fitness. They were 24 hour notals before. They had merged or took over another large fitness chain. It was Ray Wilson's family fitness and they changed their name to 24 hour fitness. And at this time, you're talking 1997, personal training was not a revenue source. It wasn't a big revenue.
Starting point is 01:27:40 It was like a, it was something they were kind of trying to see if it would work, but all the revenue came from memberships. So here I am. I'm in this club, Hillsdale, which, you know, club 504, if you're listening right now, that club now, or definitely later on, was producing tremendous amounts of revenue from personal training. But at the time, the whole club's goal, I think, was $13,000 for the whole month.
Starting point is 01:28:03 And the trainer that I was shadowing, he was like the top guy, and he was doing like $13,000 for the whole month. And the trainer that I was shadowing, he was like the top guy, and he was doing like $2,000 or $2,500. And I remember because my fitness manager was like, I want you to follow, I'm not gonna say his name, because I'm barrisome, because he sucked. I'm gonna have you follow so and so around, he's our top trainer.
Starting point is 01:28:19 I'm like, oh, what makes you the top trainer? He's like, well, you know, I'm the top sales guy. I'm like, really? What do you sell? I'm like, well, last month I did $3,000, you know, I'm the top sales guy. I'm like, really? What do you sell? I was like, well, last month I did $3,000 and this month I'm already at $2,000. I had no concept. So I was like, wow, okay, whatever.
Starting point is 01:28:31 So then he's showing me around and he's taking people through orientations. And orientations are when people buy a membership, they get a free orientation to the gym. And your job as a trainer is to show them how to use like five or six pieces of equipment Show him what they do and then they're off on their own or they hire you as a personal trainer So I follow him around and he's taking Mrs. Johnson or whoever Through and he's like here's a bicep curl who's a chess pass or whatever and does this thing and then at the end He asked him a few questions about personal training and the lady leaves. So I asked this guy I'm like wow fucking we make 30 bucks an hour just for that.
Starting point is 01:29:06 And he's like, no. He's like, we're making minimum wage, am I excuse me? And I said, what do you mean, we're making minimum wage? He's like, they have to hire you first. Then you make a percentage of the session. So I'm like, oh, I'm like, well, how much do we charge for personal training?
Starting point is 01:29:20 Like, what's the deal? And he's like, oh, here, and he pulls out this sheet. And it has all the prices of personal training and it range from like 40 to $60 an hour, so I'm like that. So I'm like, oh, that's cool, okay. So he says, hey, look, do you want to take the next guy, the next person through the orientation? I'm like, sure, he's like, do you feel confident?
Starting point is 01:29:36 I'm like, yeah, he leaves. This fucker leaves. First day. Yeah, first day. He went through one orientation and then he leaves. So I'm like, okay, person walks in, the lady walks in. I'll never forget her. She comes in, hey, how you doing?
Starting point is 01:29:51 My name's Sal, I'm gonna be, I'm your trainer for today. I'm gonna show you around. Come over here and sit at the desk with me. 15 minutes later, she bought 10 sessions of personal training. Cause I'm like, you need to hire me. I'm gonna show, and literally I remember what I told him, like, look, I'm gonna show you around, he's equipment, but you're not gonna have to do a workout. Like, what are your goals? Now, keep hire me. I'm not sure. And literally I remember what I told him. Like, look, I'm going to show you around a huge equipment,
Starting point is 01:30:05 but you're not going to have to do a workout. Like, what are your goals? Now, keep in mind I had no training. Nobody taught me how to do any of this stuff. So I show her the form, and they say, well, which one do you want? She's like, I think I'll start with 10 sessions. I'm like, perfect. Hold on one second.
Starting point is 01:30:17 I walk all the way to the General Manager's office, Darcy, was my general manager. Knock on the door. She opens the door. I think I don't know if he think she met me yet, right? She's like, huh? And I'm like, oh, I'm a trainer here. I'm like, you're the manager?
Starting point is 01:30:28 Yeah, I said, I have a lady who wants to buy 10 sessions. She's like, what? Really? I'm like, yeah, she's like, okay. So she's like, bring her my office. I bring her in. She signs her up. The lady leaves.
Starting point is 01:30:37 So I think she assumed that this person, this lady, walked up to me and asked me, hey, can I buy 10 sessions of training? Because she said nothing else. So now I have three more appointments that day. Next appointment walks in, it's a man. He walks in, I take him to the desk, I go back to Darcy's office, knock on the door,
Starting point is 01:30:53 hey, someone else wants to buy a 10 session. She's like, wait, are people walking up to you and asking you if they could buy a personal drink? I'm like, no, these are orientations. That gets, as she goes, you're not certified yet. I said, I know, I told him that. I told him that I'd be certified in about a month and they said that they'd wait.
Starting point is 01:31:08 So I schedule them out a month out. She's like, okay, take the guy back, sign him up. He walks out. Next guy, he walks in, it's a kid. So this time, it's a young kid. He's like 16 years old. I still remember this kid because he ended up becoming a personal trainer later on.
Starting point is 01:31:24 So he comes in, I take him in the back He walks out the gym so now he walks out and I'm staying at the front at the front desk the general manager walks out She goes what did you have another? I thought you said you had another orientation like oh, yeah I said he went to go get his mom because he's gonna buy 10 sessions of training and she goes oh Sal she goes I gotta tell you something she goes when people say they're gonna you know leave and come back two percent return Yeah, they don't come right as she's saying that she goes, I gotta tell you something, she goes, when people say they're gonna leave and come back, two percent return. Yeah, they don't come. Right, as she's saying that, he walks in with his mom.
Starting point is 01:31:49 Oh, here's my manager, she can sign you up. So I sold three packages, my very first day of personal training, and within two days, I blew away the first guy. And my first month, remember the goal of the club was $13,000. My first month, I think I sold like $7 or $8,000 a personal trainer. It is the same.
Starting point is 01:32:06 Which is, it doesn't make any sense. Like nobody knows what's going on. So now the general manager takes me in the office. This is after like a week and she sits me down. She's like, what are you doing? Yeah, you're my favorite person. What are you doing? I wanna know what you're doing.
Starting point is 01:32:19 I wanna know whatever. So this time, during this time, I start going to school. I'm going to school. Fucking hate it. can't stand it. Absolutely. For anybody who knows me, you can just try to imagine me sitting in a chair, listening to a teacher,
Starting point is 01:32:32 writing up on the dry erase board. It's very difficult for me. So I sit there and all I think about is, I can't wait till this class is over so I could go to work. Go to work. This is joking. Fucking terrible. Yeah, four months later, they offer me
Starting point is 01:32:46 the fitness manager position. I still had no idea what I was doing at all. I remember the, this is when 24 fitness had Apex, which was owned by Neil Spruitt. This guy's a legend in the fitness space. And I remember one of the representatives came down to the club because I was becoming a fitness manager and they're like, hey, we heard about you, you're this new kid, you know, you're going to be a fitness
Starting point is 01:33:06 manager, you're apex sales, you're crushing everybody. We'd love you to come teach our other trainers how to sell apex and how to talk about apex. And I was like, okay, I'll do that. And I said, but I need you to like help teach me what apex is. You know what? I said, I don't know what it is. All I know is it's nutrition. And so I sell it because everybody needs nutrition. So we said, we'll send you the class to go learn.
Starting point is 01:33:30 We've bottled nutrition. Yeah, we'll send it. But anyway, I did that for a little while, became a general manager when I was 19. And just, you were one of the youngest general manager ever. Because I know I was one of the youngest fitness managers ever. Yeah, I was 19 just about to turn 20 when I became a general manager.
Starting point is 01:33:49 So I was the youngest at that point that I heard of in the company. I just fucking loved it. I love fitness. I love the gym. You know, I was making a shit ton of money. I had no idea, I had no concept of what a lot of money was. I remember I'd take my checks and I'd deposit them and just leave them there and go back to work. I had no idea what was a lot of money was. I remember I'd take my checks and I'd deposit them
Starting point is 01:34:05 and just leave them there and go back to work. I had no idea what was a lot of money. I was going to school to be a physical therapist and what convinced me to not go anymore was my hatred of school. Couldn't stand that. It sucked. I had to take math classes to get my general,
Starting point is 01:34:18 my AA or whatever and I hated it. I think I showed up to one class and I was like, fuck this, I'm not doing homework. Couldn't stand it. And then I showed up to one class and I was like, fuck this, I'm not doing homework. Couldn't stand it. And then the other thing that convinced me was, I had a, there was a member that was a physical therapist that told me how much she made. And I remember thinking, I'm making more than you.
Starting point is 01:34:35 I'm not going to school anymore. This is all I'm gonna do. And that was it. The rest was history. And that's it. And then I bought my own gym at 21. And at 24, I had started my wellness studio, and that was it, rest of the history.
Starting point is 01:34:48 Yeah, I could totally empathize with you and you're disdain for school. Like that's where it all began for me. I was at San Jose State and was there for two years and was just sloughing off and doing anything I could to just barely make it by show up. And I was just really just interested on trying out for the football team, making the football team
Starting point is 01:35:07 working out, like being physical. And meanwhile, that was my entire focus. And I found, I had an opportunity to then go into the spring ball team, I had tried out, and I had been working my ass off to try and make this team. And then they cut it out from under me. They're like, you know what, we don't have a spot for you. And so I'm like just in like what the hell am I going to do with my life now?
Starting point is 01:35:31 Like my girlfriend's at Cal Poly, you know, like I would find myself back and forth, like driving down there and that like half my life was there. I was like, say as these states weird, because it's kind of like a commuter school. So like a lot of people there, they don't really hang out, you know? So, I would like take a bus there, and I would just like spend all this time by myself, and I'm a pretty social person, you know, as much as people think I'm an introvert,
Starting point is 01:35:53 I definitely like to hang out with people and like, be social, and so that was like, wearing on me. And I guess this guy had a share to flight with my dad, and it was flying back from the Midwest and my dad was out there for business. And he was just talking to the guy. And the guy turns out to be a coach for this small school in Chicago.
Starting point is 01:36:12 And he was like, you know what, my son, he was amazing. Like I had all these like accolades from when I was in high school, you know, that guy that has all the, you know, MVPs and you know, one championships and all that shit. Uncle Rico. Yeah, Uncle Rico stuff, right? And I could throw a football really far.
Starting point is 01:36:26 Yeah. Like I had that to my name, you know? People in my area knew I was, and I wasn't getting a sceny plane time anymore. I just kind of gave up on the idea of football. And then my dad was like, hey, I'm at this kind of plane. He's really interested in like you.
Starting point is 01:36:40 And like I already sent him all your old footage and highlights. I'm like, what? Like really? Okay. Weird. And then I just like started to communicate with him and had a phone call. He really liked me. He's like, I didn't know this is how this played out.
Starting point is 01:36:52 I had no idea about this. I don't know your dad was the one who initially met the guy on a plane. Yeah. Yeah. He met coach Vanderkoi. He was a really, really good guy. He just he saw something in me and was like, I want, you know, like, if you can, if we can get you back to that type of plane, it'd been two years for me outside of high school
Starting point is 01:37:10 of playing actual football. I mean, I was training to try and get on D1 level. And I just was, just on the brink of that. And they just, they didn't want to take a chance on me. And so I was just like really deflated. I was. I was actually working at a junior college in San Jose City College. And I was working with their track team just to try, my weakness was speed. And so my 40 time was shit. And that was where I was really like working my ass off
Starting point is 01:37:36 to get faster just because all they care about was like these combine numbers. And so that was my game speed, everything else, my athleticism, you know, like all the coaches recognize that and they saw how much of a beast I was in the weight room. And so they were like, yeah, we'll give you a chance, you know, and they kept giving me all these tryouts. And I had a grueling tryouts. When you're the guy that's like trying to get in on the team, like they fuck with you. Like they used to put me in like little scrimmages and things. This is before I was even on the team. Like they used to put me in like little scrimmages
Starting point is 01:38:05 and things this is before I was even on the team. And they would just like, almost like bowl in the ring kind of stuff and just smash you and just like, you know, working to the ground and the workouts. You would you could take that. So you could take, I had to do a timed line, so liners, you'd go 25 yards back, you'd go 50 yards back,
Starting point is 01:38:21 75 yards back, 100 yards back timed. If you didn't make that, you had to show up the next day at 5 a.m. and repeat it until you passed this time. It took me two weeks to pass that time. Oh. And so anyways, I was like throwing up. I was like, oh my God, I was like just like adamant that I was gonna make it though.
Starting point is 01:38:39 That was my entire goal and I was just crushed that I didn't make it. And so anyways, this was like a new opportunity for me. And I was trying to explain this to my girlfriend. She was obviously not excited about the idea because I was gonna be all the way on the other side of the country in Chicago and then I was like, you know what, I've done everything for everybody else.
Starting point is 01:38:57 Screw that, I was gonna go. And so, and my parents were just super excited but I don't think they liked my girlfriend at the time. And they're like, yeah, like let's get them to go. And so, I went out to the Midwest and I had no friends out there and I was just like, you know, totally like, did I make their own decision?
Starting point is 01:39:15 Is this crazy? And turns out, like, I mean, that was what I needed. I needed to find myself. Like, this was all for me. I was really like all about fitness forever. I always loved being physical. I loved the training process, loved the offseason, loved getting better.
Starting point is 01:39:31 But that was always in the backburn. This is like, you know, like I wanna either be, you know, in the NFL or I wanna be a rock star. That was like my goals. Like very realistic, you know, very, not lofty at all. Not lofty, like, yeah, like stuff you still think about as a little kid, like I had that like goal in mind
Starting point is 01:39:49 and quickly realized that at the college level, like I could do well, I could handle, you know, I could like step up to the plate but I was never gonna be like shining, like I was at the high school level. So I just was just like, you know what, what am I doing? Like I'm grinding my ass off and like beating myself up
Starting point is 01:40:07 to try and become something I'm not gonna be, you know? Like I'm not gonna take steroids, you know? Like that was like thrown at me a bunch through the process and I was just like, I just couldn't do it. I just wasn't like, I was like, this is as strong and fast as I can be. Like I just, it. And so I started to play music.
Starting point is 01:40:25 And I thought that, okay, I'm really into music. I'm gonna play in this band. And I had a couple guys that were on the team that were just like me. Like, they just loved, you know, goofing off playing music. I, we started a band with this guy. I was rooming with.
Starting point is 01:40:38 He was the drummer. We recruited somebody from another school. We're like, touring around Chicago, playing music. playing music, and I'm the guy that's setting up all the scheduling of all the dates, the appearances, like all this kind of stuff. Like I was like, really gung ho. I'm like, we're gonna get signed, dude. You know, like, we're gonna make it.
Starting point is 01:40:56 And then like, it was after I graduated from college, I stayed there for next year to try and really be like, am I just like, like, I stayed there for next year to try and really be like, am I just like, I still had some rational realistic, like, look, this is a totally a dream, a pipe dream. Like, let's have some realism in, I need a real job. And so I started interning with this place in Chicago that was like, it was like our dream set up.
Starting point is 01:41:22 So there was, there's physical therapist there, there was massage therapist there, there was, you know set up. So there was physical therapists there. There was massage therapists there. There was an ortho there. There was like all these like super like well-established professionals that like wealthy people would come in and they have a gym membership, but they could have like access to all, you know, these physicians and, you know,
Starting point is 01:41:44 some pro athletes would actually go through there and stuff. And I totally took it for granted. I was just like, yeah, whatever. I had a good time just training people. And then I started going back to campus and training people just as a side gig. But meanwhile, I was bartending and doing all that and then trying to become a rock star. And so, you know, it all kind of came to a head and I made my way back to California because
Starting point is 01:42:11 I just missed home. I was very homesick. And that's where I was like, I'll do anything at this point. Like I need to like, do I have to go back to construction? You know, maybe I'll go out to construction and I'll just do that for a living. And I drove past the 24-hour fitness and I just saw something in the window that they were looking for trainers, they're looking for help and this is in Santa Cruz. And I was like, wow, that's interesting.
Starting point is 01:42:35 I never even thought like that would be like a career that I could do. And I was like, maybe I'll try this out. And I was there for maybe, I don't know if it was a week. And I was going through orientation and they don't know if it was a week, and I was going through orientation, and they saw that I had a degree, so that helped. And they were like, you know, we'll put you on the floor, try you out and all this, but I guess at the time they just didn't have
Starting point is 01:42:55 that much business, and they're like, you know what, we have another opportunity actually like over in Santa Jose, I think it'd be a better fit if you're willing to drive and commute. I'm like, you know, I'm willing to do whatever. Like I just, I wanna, I think it would be a better fit if you're willing to drive and commute. I'm like, I'm willing to do whatever. I just want to work and make money and be self-sufficient. And so I just decided to do that. And that's where I connected with Adam
Starting point is 01:43:16 and we went to Hillsdale and then went to that funny little course with a couple of the guys that were new hires at the time, Nick. And I like subtly, I was super, super competitive. Like I didn't want it to be obvious. You know, I knew I didn't have the ultimate, hey, hey, look at me, everybody charisma. Like that's just not me. But I wanted to crush you.
Starting point is 01:43:42 I wanted to crush everybody. And I was picking everybody apart. Who's the best trainer? What do they do? How do they talk to their clients? Why are they carrying clipboards? What is this all about? Why can't I do this with the client? So I was breaking it all down.
Starting point is 01:44:00 And I was writing it all. Every night I was writing it down. Every single night, writing it down. I'd come in with a plan, you know, and I just, that was like my safety net. It was like, I had a plan every single day for everyone of my clients, like, and so I just, I just really was like, methodical in the beginning as much as I could. And then, like, later, like, I realized, oh, wow, like, I know what to do. I know what to do. I'm just gonna do what I'm gonna do. And then I started to really flourish
Starting point is 01:44:27 and be comfortable when I was comfortable. I started attracting more people. And then I started building this really big base of clients. Then I started breaking records in the company. And then obviously applying a lot of techniques, sales techniques, I didn't have that before. Like it was great to learn all that stuff. And it was really just a confidence thing for me.
Starting point is 01:44:48 It takes me a while to really feel like, like I put myself all the way out there, like, oh, I'm so awesome. Like, it takes me a while to say I'm awesome. And once I got to that place, it was like it all kind of was like, oh, this was the best thing I could have done for myself. And I loved it.
Starting point is 01:45:03 So awesome. And now we're here. Yep, yep. And with that, go to MindPumpFree.com and download our guides. They're all absolutely free. You can also find all of us on Instagram. If you want to follow Awesome Justin, follow him at MindPumpJuice. I'm awesome! Adam is at MindPumpHatum and I'm at MindPumpSouth.
Starting point is 01:45:19 Thank you for listening to MindPump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Superbundle at Mind Pump Media dot com. The RGB Superbundle includes maps and a ballad, maps for performance, and maps aesthetic. Nine months of phased, expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels and performs. With detailed workout blueprints in over 200 videos, the RGB Superbundle is like having
Starting point is 01:45:55 Sal Adam and Justin as your own personal trainer's butt at a fraction of the price. The RGB Superbundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at MindPumpMedia.com. If you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five-star rating and review on iTunes and by introducing MindPump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support, and until next time, this is MindPump. We thank you for your support and until next time this is Mindbomb.

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