Barbell Shrugged - Why You Need to Go Through Hardship w/ Bradley Martyn  —  314

Episode Date: May 9, 2018

Bradley Martyn (@bradleymartyn) is a bodybuilder, physique competitor, a fitness guru, and a social media star. He started weight training at 15 years old, spent a lot of time learning about training and nutrition over the years, and started selling his own training programs in January 2006. Although these programs were described by Bradley as successful, it wasn’t until 2014 when he truly began gaining recognition in the fitness world. Today, Bradley owns his own gym, Zoo Culture, has his own clothing line, BMFit, and is an Instagram celebrity with 2.8 million followers! In this episode, Bradley discusses his methods for overcoming hardships and the importance of mindset in getting through hard times. He talks about the importance of not getting “caught up in the process”, and having heart in times of suffering in order to rise above the situation and continue achieving greatness. Enjoy! - Mike, Doug and Anders Show notes at: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/bbs_martyn ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please support our partners! Thrive Market is a proud supporter of us here at Barbell Shrugged.  We very much appreciate all they do with us and we’d love for you to support them in return!  Thrive Market has a special offer for you. You get $60 of FREE Organic Groceries + Free Shipping and a 30 day trial, click the link below: https://thrivemarket.com/shrugged How it works:  Users will get $20 off their first 3 orders of $49 or more + free shipping.  No code is necessary because the discount will be applied at checkout. Many of you will be going to the store this week anyway, so why not give Thrive Market a try! Organifi is another great company with whom we’ve chosen to partner.  They offer a premium line of health supplements you can use to optimize your body.  Doug and Mike use their products everyday and highly recommend you give them a try. If you’d like a discount you can use the code “shrugged” to instantly get 20% off your order, click below to check out their supplements: https://organifishop.com Code: BBS20 for 20% off Strong Coffee! ► Subscribe to Barbell Shrugged's Channel Here ► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe 📲 🎧 Listen to the audio version on the Apple Podcast App or Stitcher for Android Here- http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedApple http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedStitcher Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals.  Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since. Along the way we've created successful online coaching programs including The Shrugged Strength Challenge, The Muscle Gain Challenge, FLIGHT, Barbell Shredded, and Barbell Bikini. We're also dedicated to helping affiliate gym owners grow their businesses and better serve their members by providing owners tools and resources like the Barbell Business Podcast. Find Shrugged Collective and their flagship show Barbell Shrugged here: SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES ► http://bit.ly/ShruggedCollectiveiTunes WEBSITE ► https://www.ShruggedCollective.com INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/shruggedcollective FACEBOOK ► https://facebook.com/barbellshruggedp... TWITTER ► http://twitter.com/barbellshrugged

Hey there ladies and gentlemen, this is Doug Larson, co-host of the Barbell Shrug Podcast. Of course, this week only we are doing a 50% off sale for a nutrition course that I developed called Nutrition for Weightlifters. For years I competed in weightlifting at either 85 kilo, which is 187 pounds, or as high as 94 kilo, which is 207 pounds, while simultaneously competing in mixed martial arts as a welterweight at 170 pounds. That's a 37 pound swing and I was always going up and down. I got very good at manipulating my weight to hit my weight classes depending on which

competition was coming up next. So that's all built into this course. How exactly I did that, how I put on muscle mass when I needed to get bigger, how I lost body fat when I needed to get smaller, and how I kept strong and stayed in shape during the process. So I teach you what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat it, how to count your macros, what to eat before, during, and after training, as well as what to eat before, during, and after competition. If you're interested, you can go to shruggedcollective.com slash N4W, like nutrition for weightlifters,

N, the number four, NW, just three characters. Check it out, 50% off, and enjoy the show. The hardest fucking moments, moments like that, when you can overcome that, it's like you could fucking overcome anything. Like even if it's, again, it's all relative, but you could overcome anything. The more things you go through, the more things you get better at going through. That's it. And that's what life is.

And so I'm realizing that like that's why I realizing that like, that's what I want to live. That's what I want to live. I want to be happy. I want to share love. I want to have happiness with people in my life because like, it's like nothing else makes sense. Welcome to Barbell Shrug. We are in Woodland Hills, California at Zoo Culture. Let's go.

My boy Doug Larson, Adam Bonroth, Felder. Good God. How many syllables do you need in your name? I have no idea. Like 37 syllables. Fucking Germans. We are here at the best gym ever with Bradley Martin. Yes, sir.

You don't need to know who he is because you've probably seen him everywhere. Oh, man. The list of cool-ass things that you do. But what I'm really excited about is we already took a little tour around this gym and found out that, man, what goes on in the socials is just like the very tip of the iceberg. And I'm stoked to dig into the depth that you bring to this gym, to your training. And just people only see this one part, but I already know that there's a whole history that got you to this point. I'm really excited to dig into that.

Yeah, yeah. This gym is fucking dope. If I lived in town, I would definitely train here. So I want to get your perspective throughout the show. You know, what makes a great gym versus just a good gym? Like how do you get that extra 5% or 10% that really puts you you know a cut above the other gyms in town because again if i was living here this would be a hundred percent of the gym i would train at like how did you do that but you're out yeah man i'm really looking forward to finding out a little bit more

about those four pillars and how you live your life especially that spirit and heart as uh you know i could see that you're a smart guy you're a strong guy but i really want to know how you dive deeper into that those other two paradigms. So that's exciting to find out. Before we get too deep into everything, where did the training start for you? And how did you get to this point and build this gorgeous spot where, I mean, it looks like everyone is in here. We've got people squatting.

We've got Olympic lifting. We've got professional bodybuilders in the back. How did you get to a point where we're able to bring all these methodologies into a culture the zoo culture the name of the gym like how did how did we start to meld all these together where you create this place where everyone feels welcome yeah um well i'll honestly say like i didn't do it alone you know that's i think that's the biggest thing about all this is like my whole life and everything that i've done and everything that like i've accomplished has been i put in work in work and I work hard and I do all these things. But it's almost like throughout my whole time, it's like bringing different people together.

And I'm sure you guys realize this as you guys have evolved in your business and your personal life. You go through life and you find a friend and maybe your best friend. And then a few years will go by and maybe you're not friends anymore. And then you find another one and you find like a friend and maybe your best friend and then like you know a few years ago by and you know maybe you're not friends anymore and then you find another one and your best friends and then that person's friends with you for 10 years and so you're just like that's through everything so i found myself kind of like going through life and i've always done this like i've it was never like oh i'm gonna get into fitness because it's cool i got into fitness because like it was something that was just like a like a mental release for me and i found other people

who felt the same way about it. Not every time. Like I said, I met one person who were really cool and then we stopped talking or we stopped working out together. But then I met someone

and we really clicked. We really melded. So I just kept those people around me. For example, the two people who, the guy who's my general manager of the gym and the guy who's also my,

well not also, but the manager, which is Mason. And we talked to them earlier. Brandon, who is my COO, and he does all the operations and everything, is someone that I met 10 years ago with Mason. And we just trained. And the minute that we met and we started training together, we clicked. And interestingly enough, he's the same guy that when I was 16 years old, before I ever moved to Southern California, I was on the Internet because I was always into fitness. I was always into like I want to be better.

I want to be bigger. I want to be stronger. When I was a kid, and I would use like before social media, I would use like forms. So I saw him on a form like years before I ever met him, and I randomly like ran into him at a gym. So long, drawn-out answer. Basically what I'm trying to say is throughout my life life it's always been about this because this has always been

the thing like lifting that was my biggest mental release because of where I've been in my childhood the things that I've been through um which maybe we could talk about later on the podcast but um always it through the gym have I found like everybody in my life everybody who has really impacted my life. And the people who have stayed have kind of become a part of all this. So when you say, how do we get bodybuilders in here, Olympic weightlifters, not necessarily all of these people, but all of the people that I've had in my circle have connections with certain people, certain groups.

Brandon, he coaches some of the top professionals, like the guy who's Mr. Physique Olympia right now, he coaches him. And he's done my coaching for years, but I just kind of met people along the way, so I got to really make sure everyone knows that I didn't do this on my own. It wasn't just me, and that's the whole thing.

That's why I think as I got into owning a gym, I wanted to make it about not just, I wanted to make it about everyone in here, all the members, all the employees, everyone who's a part of this, everyone who comes in, you guys coming in. You guys make this what it is. It's crazy because in life, everything is that way. You just constantly build on relationships.

You build on things. Nothing really matters without other people. I love it. You have that feeling here too because I think that's something that unifies probably everyone that's listening and definitely everyone that's talking right now is we just love picking things up off the ground. Like lifting weights gives us everything that we could possibly have. And along the way, you're like, man, I really dig that powerlifting thing. I really like some Olympic lifting.

Maybe that CrossFit thing is super cool. And we practice all these different methodologies. But at the heart of it, there's that grind, and that's what we all share. And you can feel that in here, and it unifies this place. Yeah, like, for example, I started out just training. Like, I played football, and then I was just, like, bench press and curls, and I was, like, 15, and I did some, like, football stuff, football drills. And then as I got older, the first thing that I really, like, tried to be good at,

besides just, like, getting strong, was, like, I started Olympic weightlifting. And I had a coach for that, and I did that for a few years. And, like, which, like, I loved. I loved it. But then I got, like, I'm taller. So then I'm, like, oh. And I see all the Olympic weightlifters, and I'm, like, oh, man, they're short. They got shorter, like, leverages.

I'm, like, I cannot, you know, it would be really hard for me to get to that point. So I'm, like, you kind of start to see, like, where your strengths and your weakness are. So you're just like, okay, how can I move? But like you said, man, it's so much more than just that. Like, I just got into it because it was, like, it's fun and it was a different way of release. But it was, like you said, about the grind. It's really just about feeling better. Like, for me, it was just about feeling better about myself and, like, where I was at in my life because of what I've been through and just wanted to feel good.

You brought a couple of those things up. When did you find weights and kind of where were you in that process of, I guess, growing up? I think we all find it because we're looking for something. 100%. Mine was just to feel better about myself and like who I am and kind of just find myself in a sense. I grew up without a father. My father took his life when I was six. He hung himself.

And I think at that point, I mean, looking back now, I know for sure it was this very like, what? Like this idea like before that, everything was like, you know, you fall, you scratch your knee, or you fall, you get hurt, or, you know, it's temporary. Everything is temporary and that's how i felt before and then as a kid i'm like a six seven year old kid i'm like holy shit this this shit ends you can swear on this right oh yeah yeah yeah fuck yeah okay so

fuck yeah fuck fuck fuck now we can't no so it it just it got me to a point of just like i really realized at a young age that like shit is temporary. And like death is permanent. Because, you know, you talk to your mom and you're like, oh, so like, you know, I'll see him next week and say bye. Yeah. And you realize like, no, that's literally not what's going to happen. You're like, oh, sorry. Yeah.

You know? Obviously with other words and with different sentiments with a lot of tears yeah and uh but i got to that point i just i just remember the rest of my life i literally remember being a fucking little kid and sitting there thinking like do thinking about what i think about and like thinking about who i am and like what do i want to do with my life because i know that it that it ends and i know that it's short and like i remember being a kid and thinking about do other kids think about thinking about what they're thinking about and being this,

like, I always felt weird. I always felt like an outsider. I always felt different. So, um, it was, it was really that that like,

then when I found the weights, I was like, Oh shit, when I do this, nothing else matters. Like when I was lifting heavy or I was doing something that was like very hard, I was,

it was easy because every other time outside of that, my mind is constantly running about like, what am I going to do with my life? Who am I going to become? I don't want to die young. Am I going to kill myself? All these things I would think about because like my dad did that. Am I going to do that? Am I going to grow up and be – is that going to happen to me?

And all these things. And like – fuck, dude. Shit. Why is it always so hard? Good, man. Fuck. Yeah, man. So, shit. Why is it always so hard? Good, man. Fuck. Yeah, man. So, fuck.

Sorry. Oh, shit. So, fuck. Weightlifting became like a a uh just just an escape yeah it's a place we're allowed to grow you're allowed to be around people that are that are working really hard and uh i think it's a really positive place for people to grow up because everyone in here is on the grind and we're allowed to express ourselves in a way where you're not really faced with the judgment and you're allowed to kind of grow and fail and be around people that understand what it's like to fail a lot this is it and i want to talk about this because throughout my life and throughout my weightlifting career it was in the moments where like it's really hard

everything disappeared and my thoughts disappeared i wasn't thinking about this i wasn't thinking about death i wasn't thinking about my dad i wasn't thinking about death. I wasn't thinking about my dad. I wasn't thinking about why did this happen to me. I wasn't thinking about anything. Like, am I not worth it? Am I not good enough? It was just everything disappeared. And the best part beyond that after that is exactly what you just said,

the people, which is why I tried to mention that in the beginning because I'm where I'm at because of the people in my life, not just what I did. Without the people in my life, I wouldn't be where I'm at. For example, this gym, I cannot run without Brandon, without Mason. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't try to do it. My brain doesn't work that way. My brain works way differently. I'm better at maybe doing this and communicating but

some organizational shit I suck at. So the reason why I'm telling you that is I had people in my life who were almost like mentor, like father figures. And that meant so much to me because I didn't have that. So when i would

train i would always find myself in a gym i was i was in there forever so i so then the older guys would always be like would see how hard i was training they'd be like well come work out with me so i would always get those like those mentor type figures that would like we'd be training they they would talk about life stuff and they were obviously you know um one of my first weight lifting partners chad um chad nahegan actually i just want to say his name because i got a love They would talk about life stuff. And they were obviously, you know, one of my first weightlifting partners, Chad. Chad Nahegan, actually. I just want to say his name because I got a lot of love for that guy. Like throughout, you know, we're training chess or we're training whatever.

They would stop and they would talk about their life and what they've been through. And I just remember how much that meant to me because, like, I didn't have that type of interaction. It was just my mom. I have a stepdad, but it was a very different relationship. It was a very, like, disconnected relationship. But I love my stepdad. If he ever hears this, I'm going to say, I love you, Dave. But it's a very, it was much different.

It wasn't, like, it wasn't fatherly, you know. It was a little more disconnected. But, again, all love, all love to Dave. I just hope he knows that no matter what. Because as I got older, I started to develop a better relationship with him but when I was young it was still kind of like you're not my dad like you know you know there was that disconnect but I had people in the gym outside who would who would just help me like and it would talk about what they're going through in their life and what they think about this what they think about that and it gave me so much insight so I

think as I've grown as I've gotten older like that's all I want to do is give back that fatherly figure or that fatherly advice because it was what I didn't have. And it was what I was, like, always looking for, always searching for. And throughout, like, I went to this past weekend to the Arnold Expo. And, like, there's probably, like, four or five guys who told me exactly that. Like, you're like a father to me i grew up without a father all right my my dad didn't kill himself but they they left when i was this age and they're gone and i haven't talked to him for 10 years and having that is like the most fulfilling thing in the world and that's like for sure the biggest

thing that motivates right now i know i'm kind of getting to like a different different maybe but um that's for sure what it is man for me it was just i want to give back what i had always what i had always been searching for give people a home yeah and make people feel good man because like you go to gyms and it's just like oh the strong guys and maybe the the people who do this or do that and they like people are separate and it's like we're doing this over here you want to create a place where it's just like we're all in this shit together like we're all fucking humans like i don't give a fuck what gym it is, CrossFit, if it's this, it's that. Respect someone else's

grind, someone else's hustle. They're in different shoes. They walk the different path. Because people always tend to be like, oh, you do that? You do CrossFit? I'm better than you. I make a lot of jokes about CrossFit and shit, but at the end of the day, there's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with any of this stuff that people do. It's just everyone always tends to

be like, what I'm doing is better than what you're doing. And it's like, no, it's all fucking perspective and it's an opinion. It doesn't even matter. And people get so caught up in trying to, like, make other people feel better or worse about themselves. And you should always be like, why make someone feel worse so you can just make them feel better? And, like, I just always try to side towards that. I've always tried to be like, well, this is, like, that's what I want. But that's what everyone else wants.

People just want to feel good. They want to feel special. They want to be happy. Yeah like, that's what I want. But that's what everyone else wants. People just want to feel good. They want to feel special. They want to be happy. Yeah. And that's all I wanted. Are you especially welcoming to, like, the teenagers that come in here? You know, they're training for high school sports to, like, to oversee them, to be a mentor or father to them.

Yeah, so, like. Like, ask them how they're doing as a person, not just, like, how their training's going, that type of thing. Yeah, exactly. And that's the thing, man. Like, in here, I would say we have a few people that it's, I mean, it's more than just this. Like, it's always been more than just this, for me, with people.

Like, because I'll try and talk to someone about what they're doing. Because the most important thing about anything, if someone asks me, like, what are you doing, why are you doing it, is, like, why? And you talk to people because they always say, they always ask about motivation and, like, what keeps you on track and how you break through plateaus and, like, all these things. It's, like, it never really comes down to this. It always ask about motivation and what keeps you on track and how you break through plateaus and all these things. It never really comes down to this.

It always comes down to this, which is why I'm thinking about mine, and I think about, yeah, and your heart and these things that matter, knowing enough and then knowing enough in your heart that you can do it, and it's possible. But it takes training, training, yeah, you've got to train, you've got to train, you've got to get better. But can you guys think about this? The perfect example of this is when you go to hit a PR. You could train, you could training, training. Yeah, you got to train, you got to train, you got to get better. But, like, can you guys think about this? The perfect example of this is when you go to hit a PR.

You could train, you could train, you could train, you do all these things, but it doesn't – like, all that tends to just disappear, and it's like, okay, how set mentally and how much in your heart do you feel you can do this without any doubt? And that's when the magic happens. Like, when I remember when I did weightlifting and I would do the – I competed once, I did a platform, and, like, it's like the world just disappeared and it was like i was in like autopilot i was almost like i was looking at myself doing what i was doing it was like i had trained so

long to do it it was more of that moment when i came to the platform was like everything just like went quiet went silent and i almost felt like i was watching it because like i trained i did everything i needed to do but only before that, the only thing I really needed to do was believe in myself. And that's the thing I really try to talk to you. You talk about kids who come in here. It's like everyone is always so, like, I want to do this, and I want to be that, and I want to do YouTube, I want to do social media.

And everyone gets so caught up in, like, the act of, like, oh, I got to post, and I got to do these, and I got to work out. But people forget about, like, why the fuck are you doing it? Yeah. Because at some point all this other shit doesn't matter. Like at some point, everything I've done is cool. Viral shit,

jumping out of pools, doing all this crazy shit. It's cool. But that's never what's kept people around and to be a part of what I'm doing because it's more like people will tell me I'll tip like hundreds of people in person. It's never like, Oh man,

you did some viral shit. That's really cool. Like, that's why I person. It's never like, oh, man, you did some viral shit that's really cool. Like, that's why I really fuck with you. They're like, oh, you did some viral shit, and then I saw some of your videos, and I watched this video about life, and you changed my perspective. Or I saw this, and then I was thinking about killing myself, and then I didn't. And, like, those are the things. Like, I'll read those messages at night and cry, but those are the things that people come to talk to me about.

And I think those are the things that people support, like continue to support me. Because all this shit is just an act and all this shit is just things people do. But all of this is like it's a physical thing that you see someone doing, but they're not doing it just because they want to just do this. There's something deeper. And people forget that. It's like there's a why. It's like why is that guy doing what he's doing?

Why does he think that's important? Because it never has to do with what he's doing. It never has to do with like, oh, I just want to get, people say, I just want to get stronger. I want to get bigger. You got to go 10 steps deeper

than every fucking time and people forget that. People keep surface level. And everyone has this. It's things like, you that don't like about yourself, you got insecurities, things that are inside of you

that fuck with you every day. And people are so afraid to like dive into that shit because you look weak or you cry. But who gives a fuck? It makes you who you are. And fuck!

And I just want to make a point that no matter who the fuck you are, no matter what the fuck you're doing, weightlifting, CrossFit, I don't care. There's something deeper that drives you to do that. And every successful person who's super successful at it, it's not just the act. It's not just what they're doing. There's a reason why deeper. And I'm just saying this to everyone listening. Like, whatever the fuck you're doing, you want to be successful at it?

Like, I'm sure you guys have a reason. And you guys are successful at doing this podcast because something really matters to you. You feel like you really want to share something about fitness, about whatever it is. And anyone who has success, there's something that really matters to them. Because as you go along, life, shit happens. You get fucked up. You get setbacks. And then that's the moments when people say, fuck it and quit. that really matters to them because as you go along life shit happens you get fucked up you get setbacks you and then that's the moments when people say fuck it and quit because they forget to

connect with like why they're really doing it like but if you connect with why you're really doing something like deeper than i want to be strong i want to be big like maybe you want to be strong because in the fucking sixth grade you got bullied people treated you like shit you felt like shit like you didn't have a father figure or something and then you're like i don't want to feel like this and then you get older and then you see like oh that guy's stronger or that guy's taller and then you're like you're feeling secure about your height or you feel insecure about something you're like i just want to be better and so you're like oh you found way with him then you're like oh i just want to i'm doing this because i want to be strong no you

want to do it because you got bullied in the sixth grade and you felt like shit about yourself and that's affected the rest of your fucking life and then you people tend to just be like oh i don't want to i don't want to deal and i've done that they got push it down i don't want to deal with this i don't want to deal with this i don't want to deal with this long enough that you you close it off and it becomes something that is still there in your subconscious but you you close it off from your conscious but it still affects everything you do and people don't even realize it like you need to dig inside yourself look deep inside yourself and like figure out why the fuck fuck you're doing what you're doing. And then once you unlock that, then you have so much power

because it's something that really affected you. And I just think, like, I wish more people would, like, dive inside themselves because, like, people always talk about success and all this stuff, and they just think, like, oh, it's an act. I need to do this and do this good. Yes, that's true, but to keep you going on that path when there's setbacks, when there's things that fuck you up, things that throw you off track, it's being connected with that deeper emotion.

How do you peel the layers of that onion to get to the deeper root causes of what drives you? Personally, man, I've just – my whole whole life like i said earlier i've always thought so much i've always been super thoughtful like for example even in here right i saw you guys i saw uh bobby and i tend to like no i have no problems no issues with anybody but like i'll see people that i know and like sometimes i'll just like walk past and not say anything and it's not because like i don't want to say hi to them it's because like i'm doing like five more things in my head so what I'm saying is this. The thing that has helped me because my mind is always everywhere

and I'm thinking about everything in front of me and everything behind me and everything that I want to do at the same fucking time, and I feel like my brain is on fire, I meditate. And I only started doing this recently. But prior to that, it is different forms of meditation. So different forms. So people think meditation is all hippie, but I actually physically sit down and meditate now. Prior, it was like meditating in the gym where it was like doing something that was active, like running or sprinting, doing things that like was a form of meditation for me.

So I think it's really just doing something that like, you know, people talk about this like flow state. You heard of this where like you feel like you're in this like, oh, I feel really good because you're doing something that makes you feel good. You read Stealing Fire? What's that? Have you read Stealing Fire? Not yet, no. Should I read it?

You definitely should read that. It's all about flow states, meditation, all the extreme physical things people do to presence themselves, to pull themselves out of their head. Yeah, like I was,

I had Andy Stumpf Everything you've been saying is that book. Oh, shit. That's cool. Go read it. I'll read it. I'll check it out. It's like the, shit. That's cool. Go read it. I'll read it. It's like the science of flow states.

I'll check it out. I'll for sure read it. When we're done here, just send me that. I want to make sure I read it. For sure. So I was with Andy Stumpf, and his flow state is like jumping out. I was watching him do a fucking wingsuit yesterday. Exactly.

That guy. That's when he feels like everything disappears. And he talks about this. Like Steven Kotler, Rise of Superman, and he talks about how these incredible athletes, they get to these flow state and they do these amazing things that they can never mimic again. And it's excellence at practice or teaching at practice and how by teaching you can enter this flow state or by creating. So this idea of creating something. I think it's just things, man.

I think it's like whatever – it's something you do, do right and i think maybe some people are artistic some people really create it but i think it's like honestly man it's it's so funny because i think about today's society and like social media i think people are less in tune with that stuff because they're so in tune with this stuff like they're so connected here that like they're less connected here in their heart in their mind, like, deep. Right. And I think a lot of times now the thing that gets me there, the thing that makes me, like, be able to answer your question, like,

is put it down and, like, just even if I just sit by myself with no – with nothing to, like, calm my mind and just, like, think about, okay, what's important to me right now? Yeah. What's – tomorrow or in the next few hours, what do I need to do that's going to make me better? I think something that really helps a lot as well, and I've recognized this in myself, I'm sure we all have, but it's when something like that happens

or you're looking for a reason to keep pushing, you can either look at those events and become a victim of them, which holds you back for your entire life, or use that as the fuel to push forward and say, I'm not going to let that be the thing that holds me back for the rest of my life. And I think that kind of what you're getting at is using that as the fuel and not being the victim of your own circumstance. You can't control any of that. So you have to find ways to push past that. Meditation is a huge thing for me as well like just in life and being able to sit still and watch your brain yeah what how does that kind of

help you push through and you know where what what goes into you know maybe your training now or the business now and what are the pieces that you're using that mindfulness side or just the slowing down side to really help you push forward? I think the thing that I've realized in the last, like, year, last few months, is that the thing that I really need to focus on the most is just connecting with people. And I keep being, like, shown that over and over and over again. Like I said, when I went to this past expo and I talked to all these people at Arnold in Ohio, people all said the same thing.

It was this idea of, like, oh, man, you're so real. You're so genuine. And it really just comes from a place of like I'm so grateful for what I have because in my mind, in my eyes, and in my vision, I'm just like, I'm a dude who's been doing this my whole life, and this is what I did because it was a release for me and made me happy. And I did some cool viral shit, and people were like, oh, that's the guy. And then I talked on YouTube longer format videos and just like, hey,

these are things I've been through. This is my perspective on it. This is how it's made me feel, and, that's the guy. And then I talked on YouTube longer format videos and just like, hey, these are things I've been through. This is my perspective on it. This is how it's made me feel. And I'm just being vulnerable. So I think it's taught me how to be more vulnerable, how to be just more like let me just talk to a person as a human and like what makes you happy, what makes you tick, and just share that. Vice versa. And I think people lose that in social media a lot. I think it becomes just like this is the highlight reel and everyone's life's perfect and great,

but that's not real life. I post my best pictures because, like I told you guys earlier, I have a sweater on because I don't have a pump. I'll be honest. But that's what it is. And people, because they're so used to seeing you a certain way, it's like, oh, but that's not real. That's not how it is all the time.

So I've been able to like over time just learn to like just fucking be there for humans be there for people like be what you how you'd want to if you met somebody you'd be like man uh you wish they were like this because i i remember times i went to uh damn i hate to say this r.i.p um one of the one of my first fitness inspirations like that i met um passed away recently um i'm not even gonna say his name not recently okay i'll just say his name because it's not people might think it's someone else so great play okay tragic how that happened that was um and i remember i i i met him at one of the expos and was like i got i got really let down maybe he was tired but i was like oh fuck he was kind of like not cool not what i thought he he was going to be. Maybe he was tired. Maybe he didn't get some food.

There's no hate. But I remember after that conversation, I was like, damn, I never want to make someone feel like that. And I'm sure at some point in the next one I probably have, and I apologize to anyone who's ever felt that way. But, like, I really wanted to be like, I just want to fucking – it's the same thing about my dad. It's like I want to give what I felt I wasn't given. And I want to give and I want to be good to people because people invest so much time and so much energy into people on social media. And everything I have, like this gym, is because of someone supporting my apparel line, the things that I sell and supporting what I'm doing. There's no other way I would have.

There's no one handing me a check. It was like people collectively over years were like, we're supporting what you're doing through social media and it's crazy because like i always say the same thing and i'll because i'll tell people they're like oh how do you know how do you like why are you so real why are you so genuine and the thing is like i'm not fucking like brad pitt i'm not will smith i'm not some famous guy who like got an instagram account like i'm a guy who that Instagram gave me popularity. Social gave me popularity. So if I'm meeting people, it's like everything I have is because of those numbers.

And people just look at the numbers as numbers and forget that millions of followers are like millions of people. People get so caught up with getting more followers, they forget that there's more people. And so people lose the human side of it

and it's just a number. And I just got connected with like, well, the reason why i have anything in my life which fucking gym dude just works out like loves to do this is because people supported it so when i see him in person i try and give as much as i can like as much as i can because i like they fucking deserve it because they get like my life is a fucking dream it's like a fairy tale like when i was younger i used to dream about like being able to live like this and like now i get to influence people or help people or like and it's fucking crazy to me like genuinely like i'm like how the fuck did i end up here just because i went through some shit when i was younger and i was able to look at it maybe a little bit differently than

like the next person like you said not becoming a victim of your circumstances and i think that's one of the most important things man i think like a lot of people shit will happen to them and they'll hold on to this like this happened to me and this shouldn't happen to me and why me? And it gets stuck in that and they focus more on that than like the things they actually want to achieve. And then like years go by and they're still dealing with that. And, uh, I gotta, I gotta bring my mom as an example. Cause she showed me this too. My mom didn't have a great relationship with her mom. And to this day, she'll still, she'll talk to me about like oh you know isn't it with her mom and i'm like fuck like you you've been dealing with this your whole life and now you're you

know my mom's like 57 years old and you're still holding on to this shit i love my mom my mom is one of the most is if not the most important person in my life i love my mother right because she raised me but I still have these conversations where I'm like, let this go. That's what I'm saying. People can hold on to shit forever. It's truly like, my mom's mom

is not affecting my mom anymore. But she's still allowing it to. For fucking 30 years after the fact, she probably don't live with it no more. 40, whatever the fuck. I don't know. I bad with time but like yeah that's just the point it's like people they hold on to shit forever and i'm talking to my mom and i'm like what the fuck are you doing like this is making you worse and you're texting me how mad you are and fuck this and this and that you know she did this to your other sister and it's like what you're let it go and i think people

just get so caught up and they hold on to things forever. That story. But what about, you know, I have a similar background with some family stuff. That kind of drove me into where I'm at. How long did it take you? At what point in your life did you stop living that story and start creating your own? I think when I was 26. I think, so I'm 28 now, so two years ago.

I think two years ago things really changed for me. Because of social media, because of, like, I started to see, like, the type of comments, the type of engagement that people would give and say, like, man, you helped, you changed my life. Like, I lost 100 pounds because of you. I didn't kill myself because of you. Like, I've had so many people send me messages about, like, suicide and anxiety

and depression. You helped me. The craziest thing, man, and I want to make this point to everyone listening right now, the craziest thing is this, and I want everyone to really hear this shit. I tell people this in person because they give me so much. They say, oh, you're the reason why I did this. You're the reason why I didn't kill myself. You're the reason why I lost 50 pounds. You're the reason why because you inspired me. I the reason why I didn't kill myself. You're the reason why I lost 50 pounds. You're the reason why, like, cause you inspired me. And I'll tell everyone the same thing and everyone listening needs to know this. I'm not the fucking reason why like you are the reason why I could have said some shit that maybe, maybe look at your life a little differently, but you had the strength to finally say, fuck it. And I think it's really important for people to

know that like, cause I'll tell everyone the same thing. This as well. I'll say, you may never see another video from me. I can go get hit by a car, some shit. Like, that's real life, right? Hopefully, like, God willing, that won't happen to me. But that's a reality. And if you never hear, let's say you never hear my voice again, I never say something nice that makes you feel good about yourself or makes you look at your life a little differently and be like, maybe I don't want to end my life or maybe I want to do this.

I'm just trying to say, guys, like, if you don't hear it from me and if you don't hear it from someone else, that ability to fucking change is still inside of you. It's still in your heart. And I want you guys to know that. Like, it's super important. Super, super important. Go ahead. That's great, man. I mean, talking about heart, you know, your mind, your body, obviously, you know, you've put a lot of work into those things. But when you talk about spirit, you kind of mentioned over at the bubbler,

and what's the spirituality, what that means to you, and how that may have helped you throughout your life. We're just going to take a quick break because I think we have a lot to dig into. We're going to take a quick break and jump back into it. Sounds good. Okay, cool. Thanks for watching the show. If you'd like to learn more about how to improve

your snatch clean and jerk we have a free 55 page ebook you can get at flightweightlifting.com has sample programming specifically for weightlifting weightlifting how-to technique videos and other tips on how to improve all of your lifts go to flightweightlifting.com and you can download that ebook for free download it now welcome back to barbell shrugged we're here with bradley martin right before the break adam you were talking about kind of these four pillars uh that this gym and you have gone through this this big story in life and a lot of tragedy to get you to a a place where you're using this to kind of fuel the rest of your life and i wanted to kick it to you because you have a very similar story and can can relate to a lot of what's going

on and um a lot of the pillars that you're talking about and building this gym uh maybe you have have some experience and can lend a little bit of knowledge and insight yeah Yeah, I mean, I, yeah, no, thank you, Anders. Yeah, I mean, hearing your story was, you know, I appreciate you sharing that, you know, because it's not always hard, it's not always easy being sensitive, especially as men, as we like view ourselves to be this masculine figure and to keep up this bravado.

But, you know, losing, I lost my brother when I was 20 years old and you know I'm into an overdose and it put me in a place of like fight or flight and luckily I had this physical nature already because I was 20 and I kind of you know I had the sports background and I heard an ad on a radio and for a fight and I went and signed up for like one of these tough man competitions and basically seven years later I woke up from viewing myself and just beating the shit out of myself to try to hide from this emotion and that's why I asked you how long did it take you and throughout that time I I actually started a gym as well.

And what I found through that experience is it wasn't always about this. It wasn't about the physical. It wasn't about the mental. It did take heart. And it took a lot of belief in something bigger because I had this number, 35, in my head. I'm going to die at 35. That's when my brother died. And I had this number locked in my head.

And every year I got closer and closer. And I just kept on counting down, wondering what was going to happen at 35. So I got more connected to myself and was able to shed some of this off. And you were talking about these four pillars with your, your mind, your body, which you obviously take care of and your heart. And you're sharing this right now and your spirit. How do you put your heart into all this with as busy as you are? And how do you stay connected to what is so important to you

as I know that it was always hard for me to continue to run something and do this and have be able to still take care of my own self even hearing you talk, you're a busy guy and I would love to hear it

so I'm going to be honest with you man I'm fucking horrible at doing it all. Yeah. Like just straight foremost. No, but that's honestly. I like I'll miss bills, which is why like I just recently had to get an assistant because like I don't open the mail. Like I have some stuff on auto pay, but then like I'll get like a credit card

and like it'll like, you know, they'll like cut it off because of like some fraud thing and then I'll forget to like redo. Point is this. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff there's so much stuff and it's crazy because it's like it's kind of what's um giving me like i've had anxiety my whole life through like just because of the things i've been through but as i've gotten older i got it started to get more because i had more responsibilities and there was like more people who relied on me and what i was doing to pay their salaries, pay their mortgage, pay their rent, pay their food bills. And that got a lot of pressure on me.

So honestly, I wish I had a good answer to be like, hey, man, this is what I do. I'm still trying to figure that out. Honestly, I struggle with it a lot. But maybe that is it, right? You don't stop trying to figure it out. Of course, of course. I mean, that's part of it. That's how you do fucking anything but like i'm to the point where it's like i haven't

done my laundry since i got back from the arnold and prior to that i didn't do it for maybe a few like my mom will literally come down and i'm not even ashamed to say that she'll come down spend like a few weeks with me and like do my laundry and then like obviously i'll take care of her and everything but like that's how bad i am like i'll because i have so many things that i'm like and then like by the time like i get to that But, like, that's how bad I am. Like, because I have so many things that I'm like this. And then, like, by the time, like, I get to that, I'm like, oh, fuck it. I just want to go to sleep. And then, oh, shit. And then the fact that, you know, I do the apparel stuff.

Like, my guys always send me new stuff. So I'm just like, oh, I won't watch that. I'll just wear the new stuff. So it's bad. It's bad. So you have a lot of clear plastic bags in your garbage. Oh, man. I have a lot of laundry. Oh, yeah. Boxes. Oh, you go to my house. plastic bags in your garbage Oh man You're constantly shredding You got a lot of laundry

Oh yeah And boxes Yeah yeah yeah Oh you got a house Literally it's funny man My house I have like a five bedroom house With nothing in it

But a bunch of fucking empty boxes I'm not playing You guys can go to it right now Like There is There is no furniture Except my bed And I recently got a couch

Because someone was like You need a You're not a human Like have something basic Like for the longest time Like I lived on my floor Like, just a mattress on the floor. Even when I moved into my house, I just lived on a mattress on the floor for five months before I was lady friends.

You need to get a bed. Balance is one of the hardest things in my life. I think to get to where I've gotten, everything has always been like, I'm going to is one of the hardest things in my life. Cause I've, I've think to get to where I've gotten, like everything has always been like, I'm going to do this 100%. I'm going to do this 100%. And like everything else kind of falls away. And that's why like my fucking relationships,

I had been on and off with a girl for like the last six years. And my, I suck. I, I, I want to be better and I'm trying to be better. And I'm trying to have more of this, uh,

this peripheral vision when i'm doing things because i come i'm very like a the horse see like this right or they put blinders yeah yeah i'm very like this and i'm like forward and then everything else on the side gets fucked up like even my personal relationships beyond just you know uh with women like i've you know maybe i don't communicate with someone enough and they're like oh what the fuck you know my friend anymore like i walk like i told you like i walk past somebody because I'm thinking about everything else. Right. And I'm like trying to get done what I'm trying to get done.

And it's affected my life a lot, man, like my personal life. And I'm just trying to find more balance. So it's like, you know, hire an assistant, do these things. And I am, like you said, the most important thing that I've done is just keep trying. Right. And I think that's all you can really do. Because everyone just has like, like I said earlier

about the whole like we're all different animals, even though we're all human. We all have different strengths. Like some people are just really good at other things. Some people are really bad at other things. And it's like you're in this spectrum of like what you're really good at, what you're really bad at. And it's like you want to try and keep like assessing, like I said,

about the gyms and everything, assessing and say like, okay, how can I be better? Like it's funny how like everything is like everything is the fucking same. It sounds like one of your main strategies, though, is to recognize that you are good at certain things. You're doing those things. And then the things you're not good at, you have a GM and a COO and an assistant. For all these things that you're not so good at,

you're getting help from other people. You don't have to do it all yourself. No, that's important. I want people to know that, too. You can't do it all yourself. Even if you were fucking good at everything, you sort of just don't have enough time. It's impossible to do it all yourself yeah but the thing where it really

fucks me up is relationships because you can't be like you can't like have an assistant be like go make sure my girlfriend's good you need to do that you know you take her to dinner like i have a really hard time with that man that's one of the hard and like i want that i want a family so bad i want to I always wanted two kids. I always wanted two boys because, like, me and my brother, right, we grew up with that. And I always wanted to be that father figure that basically I didn't have. And that's why the thing that motivates me and, like, the gym and why I feel so fulfilled is that I feel like I'm getting to do that, like, on the Internet. Like, help people kind of be the father figure that, like, maybe they felt like they wanted or didn't have or maybe didn't have enough of or someone didn't say something.

And I feel like I get to be that. But, yeah that but yeah man i just i want to have a fucking kid fuck i've never felt like that in my life ever until like last year for a baby mama no but i want a family man i want a family like i really want a family send him a dm we both got kids send us what you're working for yeah i mean I mean, we both have kids, and, I mean, kids change our lives. I mean, I'm sure. You just had a third one. They definitely change our lives. You got three boys now. Damn, man, yeah, three boys.

Three boys. I got two girls, so I'm in a lot of trouble. Damn. I really want that, man. I want that life, and I think that's when I'll finally get furniture, and that's when, like, I really mean it. I'm always, like, I'm just going to wait because I don't give a fuck. Genuinely, I don't give a fuck about any of that shit.

Most of my life. You know what's not actually important? You were talking earlier about relationships. Once you understand that that's the fundamental most important thing in your life, then everything else kind of falls away. Material possessions, that doesn't make you happy. No, fuck no, it doesn't make you happy. Fuck no.

And I've learned that, man. I've learned that because I've come from sleeping on fucking Brandon's floor. The guy I said I've known 10 years ago. He was like my COO now. I slept on his because like I've come from like sleeping on fucking Brandon's floor the guy said I've known 10 years ago he was like my CCO now I slept on his floor and like I had nothing and then like I fucking crashed my car and

drove around a fucked up crash car for like a year and a half and then I fucking left it at a at one of my apartments that I moved from and they fucking the tow company took

it I was like I don't got money it's because they wanted like $500 like get it out I was like I'm good I got nothing I'm fucked. And then I'm bouncing around living in people's couches and all this shit and just trying to figure my life out. And then now I'm the guy on the internet.

I got all this money and I got a nice car. I bought a nice car because someone's like, oh, buy a nice car and do something good for yourself. It'll be cool. It'll motivate you. And it kind of did for a little bit. And then you're just like, none of this shit really matters. The best thing I ever bought bought dog food uh this gym and that's like that's pretty

much it and your dog oh i didn't buy my dog it's a rescue oh yeah yeah good for you for sure two rescued two rescues um but the dog food and this gym food for myself like that's and because then it just allows me to just do the shit that i actually give a fuck about which is like fucking meet people and have experience because like I always, the biggest thing, my biggest fear in life is death. So all I try and do, like, and I realize I can't escape it. And it's scary as fuck to me. It gives me so much anxiety. But I'm trying to, like, I'm going to therapy now,

and I'm trying to realize that, like, so then what really matters, right? If death is like a, it's like, okay, this is what really matters. Like talking to people and just sharing your story and like going through things and dealing with shit and experiencing like shit. Like going to the park, like go sit. Because like I had a really hard time with just doing shit like that. And then like as I got older, I was like I would just go to the park with my dogs. And I would just sit there and look at like how sunny it is and be like, damn, this is really nice. Shit like that.

People overlooked that so much. And I did it too. I was always on a chase, on a go, on a go, on a go, chase, go. I got to get this. I got to get this. And I didn't really sit and be like, oh, but I have all this already. I can appreciate what I have now. It's only now that I've started to slow down, like, say, two years ago when I really started, 26, when I really started realizing, like, oh, shit, I have a really amazing life and I've been overlooking it because I'm constantly looking to the next thing.

I'm constantly looking to the next thing. And that's something that will add to the anxiety because, like, you never really stop and be like, oh, this is really great. You're just like, oh, more. I got to get this. I got to go there. I got to do this. I got to do this. And that's how my brain is constantly doing it.

So, like, I've been better at trying to like like i said meditate just slow down and be like okay but where am i at right now what's good yeah did you experience with you know the idea of abundance right like when you started having accepting more did you start seeing more 100 right 100 like i mean i the idea of, right, is something that really drives my life. And I noticed when I slowed down and started to just be, like, focus on the thoughts of, like, just positivity and good stuff and be like, oh, I do have these good things. You bring more, so much more of the good things, of the abundance into your life. And I noticed it. Like, as simple as this, man, one of the simplest things, road rage.

I swear. Listen, I swear to God. I used to have the worst road rage. And I noticed it. Like, as simple as this, man, one of the simplest things, road rage. I swear. Listen, I swear to God. I used to have the worst road rage. And this is what happened. I'd be in the car. I'd be driving. Someone cut me off. I'm talking about this is a – you guys like this story.

Oh, shit. Damn, can I tell this story? Okay. I'm going to tell the story. No, no, no. This is a while ago. This is good. Still looking.

We got seven years. I got to explain two stories here. Okay. Number one. This happened in 2000, so we're cool. This was 100 years ago. In another lifetime. Anyways, so I'm driving.

I had a white SL Mercedes, and it did not fit in that bitch. I'm talking about 1999. Like the little boxy style one. You know what I'm talking about? It's like the long front. I should not have had that car, okay? It did not fit me at all. So I'm driving in it, and I pull up to it.

Oh, yeah, I love that. It's so fast. So there's a big four-lane intersection over here in Studio City. I'm not going to say exactly where, but a big four-lane intersection. I pull down. I'm on the far right side. So, like, you know, there's a road, and there's, like, a bunch of lanes. I'm on the far right side. So, like, you know, there's a road and there's, like, a bunch of lanes. I'm on the far right side.

I'm going to turn here. And then there's, you know, this way and then that way. And then I pull up to the side and I kind of, like, creep the corner. And I kind of, I go too far without looking. And there's a guy walking. Right? So, and then right when I see him, he's like, whoa, what the fuck? And I'm like, oh, shit, sorry.

Like, I give him, like, the sorry. He walks behind my car Bangs on my top of the car Because it's a really low car And then I rolled down the window And was like what the fuck are you doing Because I'm not mad at this point And he's like fuck you

And he walks away And at this point I was like fuck this guy I was really mad I was like 260 I'm like 249 right now I was like, oh, fuck this guy. I was really mad. I'll let him go. I was like 260. I'm like 249. I was like 265. 260, 265.

So I was like, I'm not letting this go. Okay? I'm in the four-line street all the way on the right-hand side going to turn and go right. Like right when the light went green, I sped past everybody, did a big circle because he was walking this way. He was walking across the street, right? So I was like, fuck this guy. He's going to get it. I drive around.

I pull off onto like basically the side he was going to get on. I got out the car, opened my door. I was like, fuck me? I walked straight up to this guy, and he was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. I just punched him in the face, and this was bad. And I'm not saying, guys, do not do this shit. Do not do this shit.

Lesson learned. Lesson learned. But I was so mad. So I guess the whole point is, like, you never, like, I'm going to get into the road trip, but I want to tell everyone, like, And that's the time I killed a guy. No, no, no. The moral of this story.

2000. The moral of this story is, like, don't do that kind of shit to people because you never know where someone might be in their life. Someone might be fucking. I could be a guy who pulled out a gun and shot you. Yeah, oh, yeah. But what I learned after this was, like, what the fuck am I doing? Like, I took that shit so serious that, like, I remember leaving there, driving away, like,

I'm going to get fucking arrested right now. I'm going to go to jail. Someone's going to get my license plate. They're going to come to my fucking apartment. They're going to throw me in jail. Like, I hate this guy. Because he hit the floor, and I was like – and I got in my car, and I left. Straight up. I got to get and I left. Straight up.

I got to get out of here. Straight up. And after that. Did you just get done working out? Probably. Yeah, because then you get that pump in your mind, too. And I was younger, but I was so mad, man. I was so mad.

But I let it control me. And at that, like, right when I did it, I was like, that was the fucking stupid shit I could have done. I could ruin my life. Like, you could just end up in just a ton of bullshit. So what I realized was, like, as far as this control of it, like, I got to the point where I was like, this shit doesn't really matter.

And I would always have really bad road rage, like, to the point where, just like when I give you that simple example, I would follow people, like, who cut me off and they'd flip me off. I would be like, okay, I'm going to follow you all the way to your house. And, like, people would end up driving to police stations and I'd be like, whoop.

Because, like, they knew I was following them. Because, like, and there's people so tough. It's just like the would end up driving to police stations and i'd be like oh because like they knew i was following them right because like and if people so tough they're so it's just like the internet people are so fucking tough and strong on the internet because i got this like this shield of like you don't know who i am yeah and then you see them in person is like they never you know but my point is i learned really quickly that like i made such a big deal out of like stupid shit that like i wasn't able to like really look at the things that actually fucking mattered. I find that road rage example. When you see people driving down the road and they're so angry and you're like, if you realized, if you were able to just disconnect from the craziness right now and just chill

the fuck out, you would realize how simple and stupid your anger level is right now. You just operate at an eight on anger all day long. It's fucking horrible. And then one person doesn't turn on a blinker. You just went to an 11. And the reason why I brought it up was that. You're over the edge. The example, like I gave you that story and everything,

but the example was that I used to let stuff like that affect the rest of my fucking day. So it would be like I did that and be like, man, fuck that guy. And then like this is what would happen. We were talking about abundance and bringing good into your life rather than bad, right? So I would do this shit. Be like, man, fuck that motherfucker. I'm fucking pissed. This is fucking bullshit.

And next thing you know, I'll go to a park somewhere. And I'll fucking scratch my rim on the side. And then I'll be like, fuck, I scratched my fucking rim. Fuck that guy. I'll get out of the car. And the next thing you know, I'll see someone who really matters to me. And I'll treat them like shit. And then it'll be like this whole like, oh, what the fuck?

And it's like, you're a dickhead right now. And I'm like, oh, shit, sorry. So now I'm worried about that and my tire. And I's like, you're a dickhead right now. And I'm like, oh shit, sorry. And then, so now I'm like worried about that and my tire and I'm still thinking about this other dickhead. And then I go do something else and like, I'll get another shitty outcome

or something. And it's just a snowball effect of like, I'm getting more shit in my life because I'm stuck on holding on to this shit that bothered me. So that's why I get

that really small example was like, the minute that I switched and was like, let me focus on more good and being like positive and like talking to people who are good

and like sharing love and sharing happiness. That's i got back i just kept getting more of that so i i used that example to say that like i had to stop and be like what the fuck am i doing like now it'll happen i'll be like all right chill the fuck out dude it's not that serious you know just go away yeah like road rage shit i heard an example from uh neil Strauss, the author of The Game and The Truth. He was talking about if you had $10,000 in your bank account and then the next thing. I got it. You had $10,990 and you were missing $10. You focus on.

Would you spend the other $9,999 looking for this $10? So it's just kind of the idea of like spending that throughout your entire day. You got to let it go. You got to let it go. Because it's like kind of the idea of like spending that throughout your entire day. You got to let it go. You got to let it go. Because it's like you still have everything else. Right. It's the same thing.

It's the same similar thing with like the amount of hours in a day. It's like this shit bothered you. You're going to let it affect the rest of it. Right. And I did that. I used to let like, and then I'd be like, wait, what am I doing this? It just snowballed and everything else was shitty because I was focusing on shitty stuff. And then I was like, because don't get me wrong.

There's still times when like shit will bother me and I'll let it bother me. And it takes longer to get over it. But the minute you notice you get over and you're like, okay, I got to let it go. You start to be able to focus on the good shit and you bring more good things in your life. I genuinely, without a doubt in my heart, in my whole entire body, believe that is like, that's how you become successful. It's one of the most important things to being like, all right, let's like, what's good here? It's really important. I think hearing this story and hearing so many people are going to be able to relate to that but we're all on this journey and recognizing that you're on a journey in which you can actually affect the outcome by paying attention to certain things and when you go on this journey you you start to distill

everything down and you've incorporated that into the gym and into your life but these four pillars of you know the mind spirit heart body like the physical side of things uh can you dig into just a little bit of each of those i would love to dig into it a ton and just how did how did you come to those four things and how do you let those four things be like the foundation of where where you're headed in in on this journey so for me i just this is things that i like i remember sitting down with amy like what really matters like what really matters to be a better person and i'm thinking like okay well you want you want to be like you want to have to be physically healthy right because if you're not physically healthy like if your hormones are off and it's kind of like externally fuck with your mind and all these

you know you're going to deal with more shit like so physical is i think is the probably the easiest one to understand is like you know do things that are to deal with more shit. So physical, I think, is probably the easiest one to understand. It's like, you know, do things that are good for your heart, good things that are good for your muscles. Do things that are good for your lymphatic system, your nerves. Do things that are just good for you, right? And, like, learn more about that stuff. Like, because, oh, damn, I want to tell this story too.

Do it. Can I tell it? Yeah, tell it. Okay, check this out. That's why we're here. Oh, I have a great story I'm not going to tell. Yeah. So listen. It's too funny. It's too funny're here. Oh, I have a great story I'm not going to tell. Yeah. So listen.

It's too funny. It's too funny. You guys don't want to hear it. I told this on the CultureCast, but I want to tell it here because I'm assuming probably people here haven't heard it. Now, when I was 18 years old, I did so much. I was so, like, into fitness without knowing shit about fitness. I was so into it. And I did everything. Like the story of fitness without knowing shit about fitness. I was so into it and I did everything.

The story of our lives. Oh yeah. I was like OCD fucked up though. It was to the point where if I ate anything, it was followed by pushups or curls or overhead press or something. And I'm talking about to the point where I also kept my abdominals tight 100% of the time. I used to try and fall asleep by keeping my abs tight because I thought if I didn't, I'd lose them. I didn't know

shit. I was just, I'm going to just do everything because I need to do everything. All right. Just constantly worried. Yeah, exactly. And I got, I know I'm eating like, as I can tell you, I don't know if I'm fucking one hand. I eat cottage cheese. I eat like oatmeal, blueberries, chicken, and like spinach. No fat, no anything.

So I'm doing this for a few months. And now what I was doing at the same time is every night at 7 p.m., I would go sprint the American River. I live in Sacramento State. This is for like one year. Desmond Hall. Shout out Desmond Hall. 2000.

Fucking eight? Anyways. Wow. Fuck. I used to sprint every single night, 7 o'clock. Boom, boom, boom. Sprint. Like nine sprints.

I would just pick something and run to it. Guys, don't do this, by the way. I'm not giving you a workout program. And then I would go back to my run to it. Guys, don't do this, by the way. I'm not giving you a workout program. And then I would go back to my hall, get on my BMX bike, ride like 35 minutes to the local 24-hour fitness. So I rode,

so I did cardio sprints, then I did long-duration cardio. Then I worked out for two hours. Then I rolled back, and then if I ate any snacks or anything, I was doing a set of curls. I was doing a set of push-ups. I was fucking psycho. And I'm talking about going to sleep, trying to keep my abs tight, because if I was doing, like, a set of curls. I was doing a set of push-ups. Like, I was fucking psycho, okay? And I'm talking about going to sleep, trying to keep my abs tight because, like, if I don't, I'm going to lose it. I do want to mention, though, at this point, I was so lean.

Like, skin everywhere was like this. Like, I had a nap. Anyway, I don't want to brag about this because people are going to think, like, I'm going to go do that. I had, like, a vein from, like, my dick to, like, my chest. It was so cool. I was super fucking lean. That was cool. That was cool.

I was fucking. Everything else was dial river i was waking up every like 10 minutes that's awesome it was so lean and at the time so you guys make fun of me i'll give you guys this to make fun of me i was an abercrombie model so i used to stand at the front of a store this is back when i still had hair um i used to stand uh i had like cool hair too anyways it's like surfer boy hair I used to stand at the store In like a jacket And the girls would come

Take pictures And guys would take pictures too But that's what I did And I was super lean So And that's when the new That's when the new DM started Oh

No The internet wasn't even around I was just taking photos I think it was on Facebook Imagine how many followers You'd have If everybody saw that vein Oh man that vein

Shit The main vein It was like straight up like this I was like holy shit And I was so like I was so fucked up Because I was like how many followers you'd have if everybody saw that vein now. Oh, man, that vein, bro. Shit. The main vein. It was straight up like this. I was like, holy shit. And I was so fucked up because I was like, I need this all the time. It was so bad.

So anyways, I got to a point, though, where I was waking up peeing every 10 minutes for three weeks. And I was like, oh, I'm getting no sleep. I feel like shit all the time now.

And the biggest thing, when I'm 18 years old, I was like, I had a girlfriend. My dick did not work. i'm 18 years old i was like i had a girlfriend my dick did not work talking about my dick was not it was like i'll be like oh oh shit i don't i don't know sorry so i'm like what the fuck is going on i hadn't because i don't know i don't know shit i'm just like i'm doing everything i should be doing it right i'm working out i should be healthy um i went to a doctor and i was like i told him the whole story he's like give me Cialis or Viagra he's like try this

and it worked here's a bandaid for this problem but then the doctor also was like yo what are you doing because he saw my face too my face was sunken in

it was like you need to chill the fuck out and eat more and then from that moment I was like the biggest thing was my dick not working

so I'm like okay I'm 18 years old this shouldn't be happening what the fuck is wrong with me so that's when I was like, the biggest thing was, like, my dick not working. So I'm like, okay, I'm 18 years old. This shouldn't be happening. What the fuck is wrong with me? So that's when I really got into, like, nutrition, diet, all this stuff, like hormones, the body. And I really got into, like, why and how. And that's when I really started to learn about all this stuff. And that's honestly the thing that got me on to, like, knowing about any of this shit was going through that, just my dick not working.

I'm just being straight up. That sounds like the ultimate motivator. Yeah. Cause you're like, wait a minute. I need this. I need this. Cause I'm like, fuck, when I was 16, I was good. No, a hundred percent.

So that was one of my, that was one of the biggest turning points. So wait, why don't we share that story again? There was four pillars, physical, physical, the vein, the vein. Um, okay. And so, and then, and then the mental thing, right? Physical. Physical. The vein. The vein. Okay, and so, and then the mental thing, right? Yeah. So, I believe, next to spirituality, I believe the mental thing is one of the most important things. And it's really just, like, educating yourself and being, like, aware of, like, what's going on up here.

Because I think so many people, like, in the gym, like I said earlier, they think of the act of, like, deadlifting or lifting. But, like, all that shit starts here like the minute you you go like this you send us you're sending the signal for this to happen like seconds before it happens and i think like everything in life is like that like what you bring in your life what you manifest what you think about what everything that consumes your mind like that shit will eventually start to happen and it just you know people because you talk about the power of intention and, like, believing and thinking and all these things. I think people can get a really good, like, physical representation if they think of the gym and bodybuilding. It's like a skinny guy can go from, like, skinny guy, 150 pounds to 200 pounds

because he thought about what he was doing. He thought about doing the bicep curls. He thought about, like, how much he was drinking, how much he was eating, like, how much he was training. And it takes all the thought. Like, you have to do that, and you have to do it every day. And the next thing you know, you look back five. He thought about, like, how much he was drinking, how much he was eating, like, how much he was training. And it takes all the thought. Like, you have to do that, and you have to do it every day. And the next thing you know, you look back five years, and you're like, I was a skinny fucking kid,

and now I'm the jack guy. So I think mentally, like, just knowing that and then, like, practicing that, like, catching your thoughts. It's, like, the same thing with the road racing, where, like, I would get, like, drawn away with what was going on, and I would lose sight of, like, what actually mattered, where I really wanted to away with what was going on and I would lose sight of like what actually mattered where I really wanted to go because I was focused on so it's a mental exercise

of like like I said oh fucking raging me like all right relax like or you're dealing with something that's like super emotional and it's like okay but like what's really going on not just my emotions not just me being like I'm mad or I'm upset or I'm sad or like you know she's she wants to leave me or whatever because people go through all these different like relationship things, right? And you get caught up in those things and you're like, you get almost like it just distorts everything. Like emotion distorts everything. There's things coming from your mind. It's like you need to slow down and be like, okay, what's really happening?

So mental exercises is just like practicing that. Like being aware of what's going on, like what your thoughts are, where they are going, and catching them and being like, all right. But that's not really going on like hold on like what's what you know like bringing yourself back on almost as track in a sense and it's just practicing knowing what's real yeah and and exactly knowing like because people will like create all these like i'm the kind of person i swear dude i'm a fucking weirdo i'll uh i'll think of like the worst fucking case thing i'll be like oh man this is like i'll think of something i'll be like oh the worst thing's gonna happen i'll be like, oh man, this is like, I'll think of something and I'll be like, oh, the worst thing's going to happen. I'll go directly towards that. And I'm like, why the fuck did I just do that? It's not

necessary. So being able to just recognize that and be like, okay, hold on. Almost wipe it away. Be like, that's not the reality. This is the reality. And then try to focus on the good stuff. It all comes back to the same thing, right? And then the spirituality, oh man. This is the one that people are like oh you fucking hippie um

but it we won't judge we won't judge no i don't strike me as a hippie just because you meditate my brother doesn't mean you're hippie my brother's a hippie i know i love my brother he lives in a van i love my brother uh he's building this like dope van meditation is becoming much more mainstream yeah these days than it ever has been. It's becoming a very commonplace thing, especially in the entrepreneurial world. Almost all the entrepreneurs that I know, anyone that's trying to be their best person is starting to meditate. Or already does. Dave Draper.

I mean, Dave Draper was a huge meditator. The mind and the muscle. He always talked about meditating before he went and trained and visualizing his biceps and calming his mind and then going in and doing it. And I think people don't even realize sometimes when they are meditating. Because people think meditating is you're like this. You're like, oh, or something like that. That's what people think meditating is like. But like we said earlier, there's different forms of meditation.

Like the act of doing something that, like, takes you out of, like, your normal thought is just meditation. And it's like the spirituality thing. Oh, man. So I'll just explain this. I grew up. I went to a Catholic private school. Okay. So it's like God and like all this stuff.

And with religion, I've always been like, I've always been very like, well, why? Like, well, why? Like, how does this? And it's hard because like people ask me like, oh, are you religious? And I do. I do. Like, I believe in God, right? But I have moments where I'm like, well, none of this makes sense. You know, moments where, like, shit, like the nastiest shit happens to people in, like, parts of the world or here.

And you're like, well, why the fuck did that kid fucking get born with cancer? And you're all these things that without getting too much into that, I got into trying to connect with like the world in a sense. The spirituality side of like without being like God and the devil and all these things. Just thinking about like all of us on this like this whole journey, this whole path of like just trying to be better and be happy and feel love and feel happiness. I think that's what people want. And I think for me, I tried to, I don't know, make it about just that. Because you think about God, you like to be treated, all these golden rules, all the things like the Ten Commandments, all these things that I learned when I was a kid. And it all kind of comes down to similar things. It's like just treat people good and, like, give love to someone else.

Give happiness and share that with someone else. And so when I think of spirituality, like, I think of doing those things. And I think of, like, how do I practice those things? Like at least every day do I try to, like, engage in a conversation with someone about them as a person. Like, so practicing that as far as spirituality goes like um because you know the idea of like um like god is in every single one of us in a sense right so talking to you like maybe i'll see you or i'll see you or i'll see one of the members and i'll and not just talk about like i said earlier like what someone's doing but like why like a deeper stuff so i try to

have at least one conversation a day with someone that's just about like human shit, like pain, like fears, like struggles, like things that like are controversial, things that like most people won't talk about. And I think that's something that really connects you just with people and with everyone else. I think a lot of time people are, people are secretly hoping someone will ask them about those things.

Absolutely. They don't want to burden somebody with talking about why they're in pain or why they're afraid of something. They don't want to bring down the conversation. If someone comes up to them and says, hey, you seem like you've been a little down lately. What's going on? They're like, oh, thank God. Someone actually wants to hear what I have to say.

I'm not just burdening you with my problems. They probably really appreciate it. I think the most important thing for people, besides feeling love and feeling happiness, is people want to feel special. People want to feel unique. They want to feel like they're loved. That's one of the most important things, I think, for all humans,

is to feel loved, to feel good about themselves. So the spirituality thing is just understanding that, I believe everyone has a type of energy. And you feel it when you talk to someone or you hear someone speak. You're like, oh, that feels good. That energy feels genuine. It feels real. Like you could almost hear it in someone's voice when they're talking to you.

So I try and practice that. I try and practice like, okay, what can I do to be a better individual to basically do that, to help make someone more happy, to help make myself more happy, to help make someone feel more love. And it's not always like people think like love, you think like people think like sexual love or like stuff like that. I'm talking about just human to human relationship, like me to you, guy to guy, man to man, or me to a woman, not even sexually, just like what's going on in your life. And I think that's the biggest thing when it comes to spirituality. Cause like, I don't know, man, I have this, I just have this struggle with like what, what happens. and i i this is like a journey that

i'm on and i'm still on it man like this is why i have this like um this thing with religion where i'm like what's what's going on with all this where i'm like i'm so uncertain about the other side death that i'm like i don't i don't know what to what to believe so i try and just be like damn um what can i what can I focus on now? Because I get so caught up with it sometimes, and it's one of my biggest fears, one of my biggest anxieties. I try and just, like I said, the spirituality beat, try and keep myself on that path of like, what can I just do now, though? Not worry about that. I worry about the other side of what happens after, what happens when you go.

Because I used to get so caught up with that. Because of my father, I'd always think like, well, fuck, where did he go what is he doing is he in heaven is he with god is it the and i i would it was just like fucking driving me crazy because no one had an answer it was just like well no one really knows but like we have these ideas we have these these thoughts but no one like no one could be like oh yeah i came back yesterday and like that shit was dope me and god we're like and i like i wish that that was the thing i'd be like, okay, good. But it's just open-ended. So I try and be like, okay, well, what can I do now in this world? What can I do now, right now with the time I have to feel good about myself,

to feel good about what I'm doing? And what can I leave behind so that when I go and wherever I go, what can I leave so that someone can be like, that person said something that made me feel a little bit better. Because the most powerful quote, the most important thing that I think I've ever read in my life that shaped my life was a quote by Maya Angelou. That people will never forget what you said, but they'll remember the way you made them feel. And that, because I can say that I 100% feel that way about things in my life. I can't remember exactly what someone said to me when I was 17, but I remember that shift in my focus of like, oh, fuck, I'm going to do this now.

Because I had this great experience with this great conversation with someone. So spirituality is like trying to genuinely do that and feel it. Almost like what is he thinking about what I'm saying? Like feel it. I don't know. It's not like a fucking hippie. You put out a vibration. Yeah.

It's an energy. The way you make people feel. It's a fucking energy, man. Like talking to you guys, for example. I'm really enjoying this and it's very easy for me to like get into my thoughts because I feel like you guys actually give a fuck about what I'm saying. Like you guys actually care. You guys are genuine and I can feel it. So it's easy for me to open up.

You know what I mean? I think that's significant. Because I've had other conversations with other people and it's like you can kind of feel or see people shut down, and then you start to shut down. Yeah. You can tell if someone cares. There's that opening scene in the movie Crash where Ludacris is talking about how people literally just crash into each other because they yearn for this connection. So it's like literally, and he's speaking on a literal sense of like a car is crashing together that the magnetic energy because they need to connect yeah so so deeply i was kind of wondering when ludicrous was going to be brought into this conversation i'm sorry i brought it i brought ludicrous yeah yeah yeah that was fucking awesome

i love it life lessons with ludicrous that needs to be a fucking show oh my god teach a couple of us some things oh for sure yeah no but it is is. So I try and spirituality is like that feeling, that connection with other humans. And I try and just like practice that every day, which is just through conversation. And that's why, honestly, man, I can tell you, like I make no money doing my podcast. Okay? None. The Culture Gas. But I fucking love it.

It is the most enjoyable thing that I've done to date. The thing that I find so much, just doing this even with you guys this conversation stuff that's i realize like it's been so like therapeutic like i feel so much better just about i get done with conversations like like earlier i was fucking crying and i'll end this conversation i'll end this thing i'll be like holy shit i feel better about myself and i just got to share a bunch of stuff with you guys and i felt like you guys actually cared it's like everything i'm fucking saying everything i'm talking about and this this like this uh media format is so fucking good dude like everything i've ever done is like you know it's viral it's crazy it's cool it's just flashy it's this guy he looks really good tan up he's got oil he's got a pump he looks great it's crazy whatever

and but there's no there's no like there's substance there for what you find in it but like conversation dude is like is on a fucking whole nother plane and that's why i love i love this podcast stuff man i love this longer format conversational stuff is like it's made me a better person like i've learned so much and then i started listening to more podcasts i'm like oh man i love this like and i started listening more audiobooks like because part of that i read but i would always find reasons like excuses not to read and i started listening just listening to people and, like, learning. Because that's what life's all about is just through experiences.

And you can only go through so many yourself, and everyone else is going on their own paths and dealing with their own. And they can share from something that they've done. And you can look at your life a little bit differently. And, yeah, man, I'm just – I fucking love this shit. I genuinely love this podcast stuff. So that's why, like, you know, I know you guys are killing it with the podcast. I'm like, I just want to get...

I did something with Mind Pump. I want to do stuff with people who really... You can always feel it. There's a difference between, like I said earlier, people who really give a fuck about what you're saying. You feel it and you just want to keep going. I want to keep talking. How long is this? Don't worry about it. Exactly.

That's what I'm saying. It feels good, man. Like I feel like I'm improving myself, and you guys are allowing me almost like to just do it. You've got one more to go. You've got to talk about the heart. Oh, the heart, man. Okay, so. We've got all day, dude.

We drove all the way up here. We're going to get into it. Okay, so the heart. Okay. Not all these. I can't say any of these are more or less important than anything else, right? That's why I was like, okay, these are the things I want to – these are the four pillars. These are the four triangles.

These are the things that are going into my logo. And these are things that really mean something to me as an individual to be good. Now, heart is like the thing where you know you really need to do something. You need to eat better. You need to get up earlier. You need to read that book. You need to educate yourself. You need to have that conversation with a person. You need to eat better you need to get up earlier you need to read that book you need to educate yourself you need to have that conversation with a person you need to do something and but it's hard it's fucking hard and you're like oh but i'm tired oh but like it's an uncomfortable conversation

and you start you you tend to be like oh fuck you lay it off you put it off you uh procrastinate which i was a king of in fucking college um which I only went to for, like, a few years and then dropped out. Anyways, yeah, because I couldn't pay for it. But also I fucking hated it. Now, heart is a thing that's, like, it's that. It's, like, knowing some shit that you really, like, aren't comfortable either doing or, like, you know you're not the best at, but just fucking doing it.

And be like, I'm just going to go through this. I'm going to go through this. Like, it matters enough to me in my heart to do it that like i'm gonna overcome it so i think it's that thing like i always feel in my chest where i'm like this is and it kind of guides you to like something i really should be doing something it's almost i guess it's kind of like it feels like it's almost here a little bit in your gut too um where it's like something you know you should be doing and it's like the ability to just like fucking do it like to just go through it to go through the shit that you know is going to be difficult it's going to be hard it's not going to

be easy it's going to be uncomfortable as fuck it might make you cry it might make you bleed it might make whatever and in the heart to me like uh it is i hate i can't give anyone more important any of them more important they're all important they're all important one thing with that the hard thing i think it's so easy for people to look for something that's easy and comfortable and not realizing that our bodies and our lives and everything we're meant to be good at involves a lot of suffering. And you have to chase that feeling of, fuck, this is hard, and grow really, really comfortable with suffering and actually seek it out in order to get better at something. Because if you just stay today, well, today's easy.

Where do we want to go? You've got to ask really hard questions. You have to go through this process of figuring out, man, like I'm here today, but in order to get where I'm going tomorrow, shit's going to be really, really hard, and I'm going to have to suffer. I might as well enjoy that suffering and learn how to endure it because having a resilient brain is just you have to have that mindset in order to keep going yeah and you have to be able to develop it like you don't just have it like what you said earlier

about um about overcoming things like that it's a process like people people tend to like avoid the things that are difficult avoid the things that are hard and like not realizing that like for example me in my life everything i have you talked about when we were off i think we were off the podcast we were off is um the fact like you see the hero story going through like the most shittiest shit period because i got everyone's shit is different right everyone's like perspective of what they're going through it it's it's all relative to them and it could be it could be like the biggest thing in the world or the smallest thing in the world. But to them, it's whatever you make it, right?

And going through the worst thing, going through the things that you're like, this is the shittiest part of my life, wherever that point is in your life, is what's going to allow you on the other side to be like grateful for all the things you really want. Like to be able to like build up so that you have something. Because like for me, for example, I wouldn't have shit to say. I wouldn't have any of my success if it wasn't for what I've been through. I can genuinely stand here and say that I would never say, if someone's like, if you can go back and you can have your father back, would you do it? Fuck no, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't do it in a second. I wouldn't

do it. I would be like, I would never do that. Now, there was a time in my life where if you had asked me that question, I'd be like, I'll give everything up to have my father back. But right now in my life, without a fucking doubt, I would not change anything. I would not change what I've been through. I would not change all the shit that I've learned because no one would give a fuck about me if it wasn't for what I've been through. Because it wouldn't come from a place of genuine. It wouldn't be like, oh, I feel what he's saying. It would just be like a guy would be like, yeah, be strong and motivate and, like, do good stuff, guys.

It's all really good. Keep it up. That shit falls flat. No one gives a fuck about that. If there's not a story, if it's not something you've gone through to get to where you want to go, it almost just doesn't – not that it's like you can't have a good life without – I'm not saying you've got to deal with the worst shit in your life to have anything great.

I think anyone can get things great. But, like, for me, I can say if I hadn't gone through that, I would not be where I'm at today. No one would give a fuck about what I have to say. I don't even think it'd be as rewarding for me. I know it wouldn't be. I wouldn't have the conversation with the guys at the expo saying like, hey, you're this in my life. It wouldn't mean anything to me because I wouldn't have been

able to come from a place like that. And at the same time, I wouldn't have touched them that way because I wouldn't have some shit to share. I wouldn't have anything to say. So I think going have some shit to share I wouldn't have anything to say So I think going through things People try to avoid things so much But like What else are you doing with your life?

What else is the point of your life? Yeah, you want things to be good You want to be happy You want to be successful But like For you to even recognize that You have to have this This negative shit

Otherwise none of this means anything Imagine if your life was just perfect Imagine if everybody's life was just perfect. Right. Imagine if everybody's life was exactly ideal. They had all the money in the world. You think like, then what? There would have to be a whole different set of problems.

It just doesn't make sense. There's no such thing as perfect. Yeah. You have this tragic moment also relatively compared to everything else in your life. So as other things come on that other people overreact to you're like no i've been through worse like it's gonna oh man this is so significant yeah it's gonna be better like that's like oh like it's funny when you go to a job interview or something and they ask you how you handle pressure it's like oh pressure stress let me tell you about my life. This is so real. Versus the idea of, oh, man, my day was so hard yesterday.

My cat is super sick. It's like the worst thing that ever happened in your life is your cat is puking. And you had to call into work. And this huge catastrophe is a small little moment. Whereas these moments in your life become bigger, like losing your father. But I do got to stop you real quick and say that everyone listening, significance is all what you place on it. Meaning like someone might go through the cat thing.

I'm not saying the cat's not important, but as the life experiences started adding up, then you have more relative things to compare them to. And then you start realizing that other things are smaller as really big things happen. Absolutely. Yeah. Like my mom would be like, she would always tell me because because I get super stressed out about everything that I'm doing, she'd be like, remember, like, you went through the hardest thing possible. Right.

Fuck. Fuck. Sorry. Yeah, man. No, no, no, dude, don't be sorry, man. That's real. When you go through those things and you talk about them, you can't control the emotions sometimes that come back up. Because sometimes they're emotions that have been sitting there for 30 years, 20 years, you know, whatever it is.

Yeah. And I just think it's significant to people to know that, like, going through the worst shit and coming on the other side. And, like, that's the thing, like, your brother, right? How he was like, and my father, he ended it. Because he didn't see it was so dark, he didn't see anything in the future. He was like, fuck it then. Because he literally was, all he saw was the negative shit. All he saw was the bad.

All my dad saw was what he didn't have, what he couldn't do, what he wasn't, like, and the stress. And he just focused on this shit and just constantly looked at it. And then there's this little light that wasn't shining at all. It's just like, you get stuck and you just think about this and you're like, fuck it. But it's like the hardest fucking moments, moments like that. When you can overcome that, it's like you could fucking overcome anything.

Even if it's, again, it's all relative, but you could overcome anything. The more things you go through, the more things you get better at going through. That's it. And that's what life is. And so I'm realizing that that's what I want to live. I want to be happy. I want to share love.

I want to have happiness with people in my life. Because it's like nothing else makes sense. Negativity, dealing with living in it, people talking shit, this and that. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make sense for the people doing it. Because those thoughts, those negative thoughts, like, oh, fuck that guy.

That only lives in your mind. If I'm over here talking to him and I'm like, oh, that guy's a fucking douche. Fuck that guy. Man, he's a piece of shit. That's coming out of my head. That's coming out of my mind. I'm holding that negativity here, and it's affecting the rest of my thoughts, not you. I may say it to here, and it's affecting the rest of my thoughts, not you.

You know, I may say it to you, and then it may affect you. So the point is, like, there's no good there. I don't want to be like, man, fuck that guy. He has all this shit. Like, I don't have shit, man. Hey, fuck, my life's like this. And I'm mad at him for something he has, and it's just affecting me. And then you might hear it, and then it might affect you,

and then it's too negative. There's no fucking positive. Like, I don't know how I got into, so this, like, I don't know how I got onto that, but like, I just, I just want to say like, because I can't say, oh, I'm perfect

and I never hate, I'm never mad or I'm never, because I'm fucking, I'm a human. But I think being able to recognize and be like, all right, hold on.

Like I said earlier, being able to say, slow yourself down and be like, okay, what really matters and then get back on your track because that's it. And then, yeah, man.

I like what you said, catch your thoughts. Yeah, man. Is that what you said? Those few people really actually realize how much they impact because that's it. I like what you said, catch your thoughts. Yeah, man. Is that what you said? Few people really actually realize how much they impact the people around them. They're really locked into their own brain, their own thoughts, their own vision of life.

They don't realize that that vision and those thoughts are actually affecting every single person around them. To some degree, it takes some level of success to recognize, like, oh, oh, shit, these people, oh, they're listening. Like, some people never realize that someone's listening to them. And they may be stuck in a job. They may be stuck in something where they just feel like there's no end to it. And they never realize, like, that negativity affects

every single person around them. And finding a way to just get out of that freaking hole that they're in or whatever it is. And if they need, they just have to find an outlet and find a support system to just get to that place where they can see the light, see some positivity, and see the way that they are affecting people. Absolutely. And I just want to say something, too. I think the best thing you can do, exactly what you're saying i think it's super important and i think the the smallest and the easiest thing that you can do and the thing that i do all the time is literally tell yourself everything's okay yeah just that literally be like the worst shit in the world could be happening and like i'm talking about like like a mantra

like repeat that shit to yourself till you fucking really believe it and you start to act upon that because like your brain will just go it'll just go go. It will be, like, negative, negative. And, like, it just goes and it keeps happening. But, like, sometimes, like you said, catch yourself. Like I said, catch your thought. And then be like, everything's okay. Like, I'm not even going to lie to you guys. Like, there's been moments where, like, I'm super stressed out and I will literally repeat that to myself for five minutes.

And then I'm like, okay, I feel a little bit better. Let me go do what I wanted to do. Instead of, like, sitting in that bullshit. And I think it's the easiest thing for anyone to do because it's literally just repeating something to yourself. Look, man, I walked in here. Your gym's badass. I was expecting to have a very different conversation, and I super appreciate it. Oh, shit, I'm sorry.

I feel silly now for the question that I asked at the beginning about talking about what a great gym is. This was so much better than that, by the way. This is exactly what it was supposed to be. I think that what the podcast format you talked about in the conversation is like, you can sit here and talk about Instagram videos and YouTube videos and all that bullshit that is at the very tip of the iceberg, But what really matters is why you're doing it. You mentioned it earlier. I didn't expect to have this conversation,

and the depth to everything that you bring and the thought that you brought into it is super important, and that's why you're successful. It has nothing to do with whatever the fuck truck you put over your head and all that. The reason people connect with you is because of your story and the way that you've grown through it. And it's very impressive and very cool.

And I appreciate you sharing it. Thank you, man. I appreciate that. Yeah, dude. Thank you. Yeah. Where can people find you? I mean, you guys can find me on Instagram,

at Bradley Martin with a Y. Bradley, yeah, B-R-A-D-L-E-Y. I got two Y's in my name. M-A-R-T-Y-N. I mean, we talked about it earlier. Like, the thing that I do the most is, like, I work on apparel. Besides the gym, I have an apparel business. There's a BNFITgear.com.

You guys can check it out if you guys want to show love, show support. And then come to Zoo Culture. It's 6455 DeSoto, Woodland Hills, California, 91367. I got it right. Check it out, guys. I'd love to have you guys at the gym. And also, like, I'm going to open up more of these, and I really, really look forward to doing it.

So, I mean, that's really it, man. And I, you know, whatever, use Snapchat and Twitter and stuff. People could – and I just want to say, actually, I want to say this. Twitter, guys, is one of the most underrated social media apps ever. It is one I use probably the most because it's a very easy format for me to communicate with people. So, if you guys have Twitter, how about Twitter? Find me, same thing, at Bradley Martin.

And I talk to people all day on there. That's awesome. Right on. Thank you so much. I just want to thank you so much for coming here the last couple of months. It's been an awesome, awesome experience. I moved now, so I'm not going to be able to come here as often. But I'm definitely still going to have to come here for some incredible leg equipment that you guys have here.

But honestly, hearing your story, it needs to be heard. And it's one that can help a lot of people. As I know personally, my story has helped a lot of people. And I know you've got a lot of eyes on you, man, so just keep it up. Thank you, man. Keep informing people what it takes. I appreciate it. A lot of people I know that see social media, they see everybody else killing it,

and they don't think that they can kill it too. And I think that they just need to keep believing. They need to keep with the heart. Yeah. That heart gut. Yeah. Because sometimes it feels like it drops a little bit. Sometimes you're like, it's a bitch in my stomach.

But I want to say something. One more thing. One more thing is really significant to what you just said. I hear it a lot. How do I be successful on social media? How do I be successful? Whatever. Fucking be yourself. Because everyone goes, oh, so many people doing it. It's oversatur said. I hear it a lot. How do I be successful on social media? How do I be successful? Whatever. Fucking be yourself.

Because everyone goes, oh, so many people doing it. It's oversaturated. I'm starting late. But there really is this. And this is true, man. There's only one of you. There's only one of you.

There's only one of you. There's only one of me. That's how you become successful. Figure out what really matters to you. That's all I did. I figured out what really mattered to me, what really affected my life, and I thought of a way to show it to people.

And I just did it over years, showed it. The original thing that I had trademarked was let's get better together. And the idea of like that's all we're doing here. That's all people are doing in general. So if you find something that really matters to you and constantly get that message out there, then there's only one of you doing that. And that means it's going to come from a place of being genuine from your heart and it's going to be real and people are going to feel it. And if you do that, you could be successful no matter when you start, no matter how old

you are, no matter how many people are doing it. There's only one of you and you find more people who love you and you find more people who hate you and that will never change. So just go for it. Just try it. Try to be whatever you want it to be. Because I think so many people that get caught up in that idea of like, some people are doing this why me okay figure that out figure out why you what matters to you and just fucking do it every day don't expect it to happen in a year don't expect to

happen in two it took me fucking what eight eight years to be the guy i am today right from starting instagram from like day one to like now everyone gives a fuck right but people always they just see where you're at and they forget that like there's all this time and every single fucking day, every thought, every moment, every fucking hardship, every like meal, every drink, every fucking all this for years and then it's here. So don't get caught up in that end result that someone else has. Get caught up in your journey and your process

where you're at in the line and be like, I'm happy for where I am no matter what. And just keep going. So I think it's significant to say that, man. That's awesome. And where can people find you, Adam? People can find me on Instagram at Von Rothfelder or Strong Coffee Company. That's a coffee company I just got rolling out

and super excited about getting some people some instant nutrition in the morning. Right on. Or a barbell shrug. That's right. That's right. You can find me, Douglas E. Larson, on Instagram. And, of course, everything barbell shrugged. At Anders Warner on Instagram.

We've got a bunch of articles up on the barbell shrug site. You can figure it out. But most importantly, thank you again. Yo, these conversations are going to be happening all the time. Every Wednesday, be on this podcast. This place is super fucking important. Oh, fuck. One more thing.

Because Bradley's got to say something. I have a podcast, too. I didn't say that. So I do a podcast with two of my buddies, like I said, from the story, the two guys that I've known for 10 years. It's called The Culture Cast. Culture Cast, you can get it on iTunes. And then on YouTube is a video format version as well, which is like we do it right in there, actually. You see that?

I mean, they can't hear that. Oh, they can hear you. Okay, so we do it in the gym. We do the podcast in the gym with videos. So if you guys want to find it on YouTube or iTunes, it's called Culture Cast. I appreciate the love. Yeah, I'm sorry.

No, you're good. The only time that this gym is quiet is when he's got a podcast. Yeah, we turn the music down. I'm like, where's the music? I'm like, oh, there's a podcast. Yeah, we turn it down a little bit. There's still music. I'm sorry I interrupted you.'s a podcast. We turned it down a little bit. There's still music.

I'm sorry I interrupted you. No, you're good. But be here every Wednesday. And I want to say this, too. I'm going to interrupt you again. No, it's important. Be here. Listen to their podcast.

You guys are fucking awesome. I appreciate you guys being open to what I had to say, just going with it. So I just want to say thank you. You guys are fucking cool as fuck. I really want to make sure you guys know that. It's awesome. The podcast is awesome. Make sure you guys fucking subscribe cool as fuck. I really want to make sure you guys know that. It's awesome. The podcast is awesome. Make sure you guys fucking subscribe to their shit, leave a good review, do all that good stuff,

and then go do it on mine, and then go back and do it on theirs again, and it's all good. Listen to that, man. Let's go. Like, subscribe. Get on that shit. Come on. They're going hard. Thanks again.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to make this thing happen every Wednesday. We'll see you next week. Thanks for making it all the way to the end of the show. If you liked the show, which I know you did, please go share it on Facebook, Instagram,

or whatever social media channel you happen to be loving at the moment. Pinterest? Twitter? Tumblr. Tumblr. Share it on Tumblr. Share it. Next on Barbell Shrug, Ben Patulski, how you're going to get huge recovery mindset and finding

your parasympathetic.