Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Jay Cutler On Winning Mr. Olympia 4 Times, The Lessons Bodybuilding Teaches You And How To Build A Positive Mindset

Episode Date: November 26, 2021

Jay Cutler (@JayCutler) is a bodybuilder and known for being a four-time Mr. Olympia winner. He joins Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios at the Wynn Las Vegas to talk about his legendary bodybuilding career, how Joe Weider became his mentor and changed his life, competing against the greats like Ronnie Coleman, Flex Wheeler and Dexter Jackson, how he became the first person in history to come back and win Mr. Olympia after losing the year before, the life lessons he learned from bodybuilding, his training schedule now, a crazy story about buying entire cows so he would have enough meat and more! For more info on Jay Cutler visit: http://jaycutler.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about CVV and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleas! All right, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Bleet. Thank you so much for being back with us on this one, as we have a legend with us in the studio. Four-time Mr. Olympia and Bodybuilding Royalty.

Jay Cutler joining us live in the Blue Wire Studios at the Wind Las Vegas. and I learned a ton from this conversation. I'm sure you will too. You can find Jay online. It's jcutler.com. That's his website. On Instagram, he's at Jay Cutler. On Twitter, it's Mr. O.

Jay Cutler, and if you're looking for me, I'm not that hard to find. At Chris Van Fleet. Our fan of the week is H2O happy dude. Man, I like that. I like that because I like to think I'm a pretty happy dude. H2O happy dude. says a different spin on podcasting. As I've listened to hundreds of shows while at work,

I'm not invested in as many as I am while listening to Chris Van Fleet. It appears that unlike others, he's taking us on a journey with people that we watch on TV. I'm looking forward to many years more of entertainment and education about our favorite stars. Well, thank you for that, H-2O Happy Dude, and we're just getting started. Just getting started. A lot of big things planned as we had to 2022. Actually, go to my website, Chrisfanfleet.com. As soon as you get on there, there'll be a pop-up to sign up for my newsletter. And if you

do that, I'll keep you updated on everything we have going on with the podcast, with the YouTube channels. Yeah, that's plural. The main Chris VanVleet channel, then the CVV clips channel will repost the most interesting clips from interviews like this one.

And we'll also keep you updated on other big projects that we have coming up. The plan is to do, live shows in 2022, where you can be in the audience. You can join in these conversations, meet and greets afterwards with our guests. And I'm also starting to work on a book. So it's all very exciting. And I can't wait for you to join me on all of this. And I can't wait for you to join me for this conversation right now. So let's get into it. Please welcome the legendary Jay Cutler. Look at the size of this man.

Jay Cutler. Thanks so much for coming by. Man, we made it. I know it's been, we had a little delay, but it was good. No, I appreciate you coming by. I also want to apologize because I felt like every five feet as you were walking towards the studio, you kept getting stopped by people. It's always honorable to, you know, be in my city and be respected like that. That's why I made Vegas my home over 20 years ago.

Yeah, well, and also, like, you stand out, right? You're still, even though you're not competing that anymore, you stand out. You're huge. Yeah, you know, it's funny when I walked in, you were like, man, you know, size of you. And I'm thinking, man, if people saw me, you know, when I was actually on top and, you know, 60, 70 pounds bigger, you know, that's when I was like really noticeable. But it seems like, yes, I'm still getting stopped. Well, yeah.

More recognizable for the face, I think. Well, and the hair. Yeah, hair for sure. Yeah. I remember watching your documentary years ago and you were talking about how you couldn't sit on a plane without buying two seats. Yeah, two seats. are, you know, some of the business class.

I mean, even some of those were a little tighter, but I mean, I think there's one of my YouTube videos that's very famous online, and it was me trying to fit on a, like a commuter jet. And, I mean, it was, like, my back was sticking halfway out the aisle, and I was in an aisle seat. Man, what do you weigh right now? I weigh about 230.

And, I mean, at my peak, I was over 300. And then you would step on stage at, what, 270? Yeah, 260 was probably, I've been two-30. 270. I've been 250. I mean, I've been all over the place, but I think my best is like in the mid-250s. So you were like your weight began with a three at one point? Yeah, three, 10, yeah. Man, that's a lot. A lot of eating, a lot of training, a lot of years. I mean, that was, that was towards the end of my career. Of course, you don't start off like that. But, you know, I pretty much right out of the gate when I started, you know, I was, I reached almost 240, you know, as a teenager and then, you know, cut down about 250.

and then, you know, I gained pretty much right up to 260, 270 off-season. Yeah. You know, that's the thing with bodybuilding is we transition up in weight, and then we deplete calories and body fat in order to get down to a weight that you see where everything shows all the definition, and that's a very limited time, right? So you compete on a day, and it's kind of like the Olympics. Like, you train for that one event. And that's it.

And the thing that people don't talk about a lot is you might look great on stage. You probably don't feel very great. No, especially with the dehydration, I think that's the hardest part. So we deplete water. You know, I was probably a two and a half gallon a day drinker until the last two or three days before competition, where I totally cut water down to basically very minimal and even zero for the last 24 hours. Wow. which makes you feel very delirious.

I bet. Yeah. If we take this way back, Jay, there's a big difference between lifting weights and bodybuilding. Where did you cross that threshold from just being a guy

who was active and fit and going, you know, I think I might be on to something here. It's a little different how I started. I was interested in it. You know, at 12 years old, I saw books. And I started, you know,

working out just in high school. school. Laker for football, I was a football player, and we had challenges at school. And everyone wanted to see how much they bench pressed, right? I was always the strongest kid. I grew up doing concrete. My family business does concrete. My brother's still on that business back in Massachusetts. So we did concrete basements and floors and that kind of stuff. So on the weekends and school vacations, that's what I would do. So I had a very developed physique just from that alone. So when I toyed with the weights, you know, it just gave me an all-around business. better look and I was naturally lean. So when I graduated high school, I graduated at 200 pounds.

And, you know, not a lot of my family attended college. My older sister who is a year older than me is the only other one. You know, I have, you know, three brothers, three sisters. So I wanted to go to college. And at the time I was pursuing criminal justice. And I think really the reason I want to go to college is I didn't want to have to work in the concrete business, you know, because it was kind of like this is going to be yours someday. Yeah. And I knew there had to be a better way. I did it from 11 to 18, you know, pretty much, like I said, all the time. And I didn't enjoy it.

And it was hard working the winters and then the hot summers and in the rain. And, you know, it's a family business. You don't clock eight hours a day, right? It's like 14, 15, 16 hour days, you know, sometimes working under headlights. So, you know, I actually, you know, started college in the fall of 91. And that's the year I graduated high school. And that's when I started training at a Gold's gym. I joined the gym in my 18th birthday.

And this is in California? No, it's in Massachusetts. Oh, okay. And, you know, I found the time in the gym. I would train from 8 to 10 at night because I'd have class during the day. And I found that as like a huge stress relief for me because remember, my parents and my brothers were like pulling me towards the business. And they were like, well, you can go to college, but you'll come back to this, right? But I was like, man, you know, I don't really want to.

do that. And I wasn't really sure I wanted to be a police officer doing my criminal justice degree either. But when I was in the gym, I didn't think about that stuff. And I spent that two hours a night in the gym and my body just became alive. You know, not only motivated by, you know, the weights going up, but the arms started to get bigger and the legs really exploded quickly. I always had stocky legs. But when I got under a squat bar, they just, they grew like crazy. and I'd got recognition for that. And I think anyone that, you know, is at that age and, you know, has athletic and, you know, has people looking at you, you know,

you're a little driven by ego somewhat. And although I wasn't the guy that got picked on in high school, you know, I was the guy that was popular, but still unsure of what I wanted to do. And as soon as I started having success in the gym, I got coaxed into competing. It was never really thought. And I did well.

You know, I played second at my first contest. and I was hooked. Did you think at this point that you could actually make enough money to make a living from it? You know, I picked up books and I saw pictures of guys in front of Ferraris and hot girls on the beach

and cover muscle fitness. And I'm like, man, those guys must be it. You know, they live in California. Of course, that was a dream. And then I thought, okay, they're very wealthy. And I thought, okay, there's money to be made in this. And, you know, little did I realize, like, there was only few and far

that made that kind of money. Yeah. in order to have that successful lifestyle. So as I progressed, you know, I didn't really care about the money. I just wanted to look good and I feel good. And like I said, I mean, when I lost myself in the weights, there was like no stress of life. Yeah. And, you know, next stage, I loved, you know, the cheers and I love the lights and, you know,

getting up there and showcasing what I worked so hard for in the gym. And, you know, I became the best teenage in the country at 19 after basically, you know, just under two years of training. So that kind of told the story, right? Yeah. And next thing you know, I got people, oh, you know, you could get sponsored, this and that. And, you know, you're a local hero, too. I mean, I was living in Western Massachusetts, and people were, you know, comping me

things and food and that kind of stuff. And, you know, but my dream was to head west. I mean, that's what all of us wanted to do. And I was eventually able to do that. Is it because of the idea that it's warmer out west? Is that why all the bodybuilders in California? I mean, listen, you saw the Schwarzenegger story when he came to the Gold's Gym. And it's kind of very similar to my story because I actually met Joe Wheater when I was 22 years old.

And that's the guy that bought Schwarzenegger from Austria. And he took me under his wing and he's like, I want you to move to California. And he owned muscle fitness and flex magazine at the time. And this is prior to social media. So this was the only outlet for bodybuilding. and he hosted the Mr. Olympia, like he owned the show. So I was just under the impression, like, okay, you know, if this guy has interest in me, wants to put me on the cover of magazines, I was on my first muscle on fitness when I was 21 years old.

I said, man, I have something. Yeah. But you must also, like, you're starting to get this at an early age. You must be so hungry for what's next and wanting more. Yeah, I mean, you, you know, when you're on the magazine cover, and your mom's in the grocery store, you know, because it was in every grocery aisle, so every checkout counter had muscle and fitness. Yeah.

And here I was standing here with a hot blonde girl. Like, it was cool, you know? That was like, I made it. Yeah. Because now it doesn't matter how much money you made, even though I really wasn't making anything. I didn't even get paid for the cover. Like, it opened up so many avenues for me.

And I got fan mail from all over the world. Back then, we used to get letters in PO box, and we'd handwrite letters. or type letters to fans. And I started like a small mail order business. I started selling a T-shirt. I had one T-shirt. And it had like eight by ten pictures and I would sign. And I would do like, you know,

autograph on paper or whatever. And I would have a P-O-box and they'd send checks or money orders to that P-O-box. And it was like, if I made $400 in a week, that was like I was rich. I mean, remember this was 1990, 3-94. And was that the only money you were making? Were you making any money from buying?

I was worked. I was working, not no, I was working a job. But my dream was to be sponsored by Joe Wheater. Yeah. And I was able to do that after 22 years old. What was the job you were working? I was doing golf course maintenance. I worked as a line cook, believe it or not.

And I work security. Line cook's good because you've got to eat a lot of food. Oh, yeah. I was getting deals on the chicken packed chicken and, you know, all the eggs and everything. I mean, I'd buy 30 dozen eggs at a time. And my refrigerator would be full because I was eating, you know, 20 egg whites for breakfast every day. 30 dozen eggs. Yes. Wow.

Was it 10,000 calories? No, no. I ate about between 5 and 6 probably. Probably like I think people exaggerate the calories. But, you know, 10,000 clean calories is very hard to get. Sure. I think people love to exaggerate that. But I would buy a whole cow at a time.

I'd buy 140 pounds of chicken at a time. a local butcher there. That's what's nice about living in Massachusetts that we lack here is, you know, I was able to walk to a butcher shop. You know, my brother actually raised his cattle, but I would go to a local butcher. And I literally would have the cow hanging there and I would be able to say, okay, I want this is hamburger. This is steaks. And I literally bought a whole cow at a time. That's incredible. And I had a whole freezer and I would put one freezer. I had all my red meat and then I have the chicken and the other freezer. I told you I buy 140 pounds at a time.

So it was a lot cheaper than going to the grocery store. And, you know, the grocery store meats aren't so great. And that's how I really sat home and I cooked and trained. And I mean, I literally ate sleep, slept and trained. That's all I did. What made you finally decide it was time to move out west? Well, Joe pushed me. Yeah.

I said, yeah, I want you closer to the books. I want to be able to shoot year round. and I moved to Orange County, California in 99, 2009. And he gave me a raise to move out there. And let's put it this way. I woke up with a smile on my face every day after that. My career literally went, by this time I was a pro, and I just finished my first Mr. Olympia, it was 99.

It was at Mandalay Bay here. It was in Las Vegas. First year they had it in Vegas. So I was second to last. It was 16 guys in the show. I finished 15. And literally, when I moved to California, six months later, I won my first pro show, Knight of Champions in 2000, and then I got eighth in the Olympia after that.

And then the next year I got second, second, second. Which is, you probably should have won that next year. Yes, 2001 was a close, but literally my career, like, I mean, I talk about the success as an amateur. Like, I turned pro my first attempt. But then I got into the pros and it was like, man, these guys are a lot older than me, right? I was one of the youngest guys of all time, right, to turn pro at that level. And then I had a weight to really kind of build up. So by the time I was 25, I was on Olympia stage.

And, you know, 26, I was, you know, eighth. And then by the time I was 27th, I was controversially losing a second place to Ronnie Coleman. Yeah. Well, I think that hindsight is such a beautiful thing because you can look back now with the benefit of hindsight and go, man, if I, if, if, this thing hadn't happened with Joe Weeder and I hadn't moved to California and then this, then this, then this. It's really amazing seeing that these moments in your life have shaped the person that you are now. Yeah, and I was scared, man, to move away from my family. You know, I grew up in a super small town. I mentioned I have a large family. So I was like,

man, what if I, you know, there's always that fear, like, what if I fail? Yeah. And although I can sit here and, you know, and someone like you can look and say, man, this guy's had a successful career, there's been a lot of down times, too. I mean, even, I remember sitting in Mandalay Bay in 99 when I was second to last. And I looked amazing that year. And I remember sitting with my team and saying, am I just not good? Like, should I just quit? So I had that doubt. And then, of course, it was like, nope, I'm not going to quit. You know, you wake up a few days later. You have some meals and, you know, you have some cheap food or whatever. And you're back to a drawing board. And then you go and win a pro show and beat guys. You never

think you'd beat, you know, in the pros. And then, of course, move halfway up. in position for the next Olympia. Like, from that time forward, I've never really doubted myself, to be honest. It's the only time I ever doubted myself in my career was that 15th at the Olympia. Because that's the worst I've ever done in a contest. I mean, I had won everything prior to that. And when I did qualify for my first Olympia, I was like third and fourth on a pro show. But I'm still so young.

But now, you know, you're getting up in age and you're like, okay, Arnold was in his prime in his late 20s. Lee Haney retired at 31. You know, a lot of greats were, you know, Ritz Kaspari was super, he was great at a young age. But, you know, you just didn't want to be that guy, like, trying to beat your head against a wall and not having success. Yeah. And the money was coming. You know, you asked me, like, how I financed and everything else.

Like, I had a great contract. Then I started getting guest appearances. As you move up in position, you know, you know where to write in the magazine grows. You know, when I moved there, Joe's like, I want to shoot year round. He did. Even in the off season, I stayed in great shape. and I was one of the most featured guest posers, you know, at the time. So I was able to travel around and sell my merch and make a really solid living as a bodybuilder.

So, but I had to work hard, right? I had to continue. There was a lot of weekends away, a lot of plane flights. But it was a lot of the fans that gave me the motivation, too, because I would have a lot of face time with them. And I developed a huge fan base. Yeah, and you were one of the few guys that were really. merchandising things correctly. Yes.

Or merchandising at all. Yeah, and I give a lot of credit to, there's a guy, Chris Aceto. He was my trainer since the beginning. He lived in Maine. So it was only about two hours from me, and I actually started working with him as a teenager. He helped me for the Teen Nationals when I won that.

And we worked together through my whole career. We did split for like two Olympias, but I, you know, end up going back to him for the last one. And, you know, he taught me a lot about, you know, how to build a great, business and bodybuilding that can give financial return for a long time. And Joe taught me how to invest money.

I moved to Las Vegas to invest in real estate. So, you know, after 2001, I placed second. You know, we mentioned that. You know, I was living in Orange County. And, you know, California was it. But by that point, I was so established. Now I play second in the Olympia that I did that year. You know, I talked to my accountant at the time and I'm like, you know, after 9-11 tragedy,

a lot of stuff, like, it's going a little sideways. people were scared. And I was doing really well financially by that point. I said, you know what, what do you think about Vegas? He's like, man, it's great tax haven for you. I think you'd do great at 24-hour gyms. And I was able to come here and buy a lot of real estate and invest at the time when the market was soft. And I was able to, you know, develop another way of revenue alongside my bodybuilding. And then, of course, the merchandising and, you know, but the no state income tax was key for me, you know, getting out of California early. And I was still close enough, so I'd go back and forth. So I was still shooting a lot with the books. And, uh, but it's kind of funny because

they started coming to me. They started coming to me. That's when you know you've made it. Yeah. You get to a point where they're coming to you. So they were coming to me to shoot. Yeah. You know, and, uh, of course, you know, weeder ended up selling around 2003 or four, uh, the, to the, the, uh, American media, which is National Choir and David Pecker. So it kind of shifted, you know, and Joe slowly retired. He passed away some years ago, but, you know, he was a great, great mentor to me. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. Soccer podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clemenberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Times ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the

guys are wanting to really take their claim, and they want to be on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henco. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You mentioned second in Olympia. Does coming second feel worse than winning Olympia feels good? Not the first time or the second time.

It feels amazing, actually, especially when you're almost dead last, right? Sure, yeah. I think, you know, as it started becoming more and more, you know, I was second four times to Ronnie Coleman. I think the first one or two were okay, but then it was like, okay, I need to get over this hump because there's only one position more and then you're the winner. So I was respectful. I was appreciative, but at the same time, I was like, damn, I want the title, right? and I was overcoming, you know, who I consider the greatest bodyblower of all time, Ronnie Coleman.

So it wasn't like I was trying to beat some guy that it was controversially like he doesn't deserve it. Like I think he clearly won many, right? He won eight in a row. Even though 01, I was ahead on scorecards and everything else. He came in a little off that year, but he was a great challenger. Yeah. and to be second to him was an honor.

But what a difficult sport where it's subjective judging. It's like, you know, in football, if your team has the ball and go past the goal line more than my team, your team wins. In bodybuilding, it's subjective. Is it a pageant? That's what I'm kind of, I hate the word pageant because I think of females.

Sure. But it's kind of like, you know, you go up there and, you know, how people judge bodybuilding, you know, they look at the physique and how it flows and the condition and how you pose, what, you know, how you stand out. And, uh, you have to have all those things. And the problem is, is like, you may look at it. And the person next to you may have a different opinion on who should win. And the truth is, is like my demeanor on stage, you know, I won over a lot of people. Um, because I was very, very humble. And it wasn't, I wasn't really, uh, I didn't

talk badly about any of the competitors. I was, I was like very reserved. But at the same time, like, I let the body do the talking, right? It was a lot of muscle. You get up there and, you know, I had my strong points where Ronnie had strong points. But, you know, I knew how to kind of find his weaknesses, too, because we all have weaknesses and I would study. So it's just like, you know, when you study game tape, right? Yeah. I would study these bodies. So I'd be like, okay, when this guy hits a front double, you know, I'm going to pose this way, or side chest is going to be done this way, or, you know, abs and thighs. Like, that was a strong point for me, which Ronnie did not have strong abs and thighs. I had a really strong midsection, you know. It's just from the back.

He was very dominant. So, so it was just, you know, it's very judgmental, but at the same time, like, to be the top two, which was very consistently top two, like it was him and I for a lot of years. I understand, you know, it was a matter of opinions. But there's also a thing in Mr. Olympia where once you've lost, you probably can't win again. But once you win, it's like you just keep winning. Yeah, and I mean, I broke that trend. I mean, you did. I was, you know, number one, I defeated Ronnie Coleman on stage, which never really had been done.

And then, you know, I lost a title two years later in 2008 to Dexter Jackson. came back the consecutive year and won probably my best of all time, won the title back and, you know, rewrote history again. Yeah. So it was pretty cool. And I think that's still never been done, right? Yeah.

There's been guys that attempted to come back to win it. And, you know. Is that the mental aspect of it? Yeah. It's the mental. Yeah. Because it's ironic because it's a physical sport. It's more mental than it is physical. That's what's so crazy about it.

Yeah. So when we go to the gym every day, you know, I told you I eat sleep train. It sounds very simple, but there's actually a lot of methodical thinking to what we do. So when I leave the gym the day prior, if I know like yesterday, I did shoulders, if I do back today, when I left doing shoulders, on the ride home, I was already envision myself the next day, you know, going through the workout for the next day. So I knew, okay, this is what I'm going to start with. This is what, you know, I kind of knew like rep ranges and weight.

I was going to push. But you mentally prepare. So when you go in, it's almost like you're almost robotic and you know exactly what to do. But you also zone everything out. So I remember that I used to get people come up to me like, how do you train without a headset, you know, because I would train in the Vegas gyms. And I'm like, I don't even hear the music. I don't hear anything because I'm so zoned in. And I don't know if it's just person to person or if takes a special kind.

And that's what made me great at what I did is I was able to box everything out. And I was able to go in the gym and I was able to beat my body to the point where, you know, it was enough and then get out and feed it. And then, you know, when you leave the gym, it's now resting and preparing the muscle that you tore up in order to do it all again, right? So you mentioned how many days a week do you train, right? I mentioned five days. I never trained like five days in a row and took weekends off or anything like that. I would train like on a two on, one off schedule. So after two days of hard training, my body needed a break.

And that's when you're going to repair and grow the most. So I did that. I worked with all different schedules, all different body part groupings. I tried to focus on maybe one body part a day. But I would spend probably an hour to an hour and a half in the gym. And sometimes I do that twice a day. So if I did two body parts, I trained two different sessions, five hours a pot. and then eat the food the rest of the time.

And I mentioned the food in the beginning as crazy amounts, right? And it got more and more as I progressed and got bigger. Sure. So when I was buying a cow, I was 250 off season. I was competing it. It's still so crazy that that's a sentence. When I was buying a cow. And eventually, like, you know, you're eating four pounds of meat a day and, you know, five pounds of fish sometimes when I would eat fish on a diet.

you know, thousands and thousands of dollars worth of food. And were you counting macros? I was counting protein and carbs and fats. And I don't know this term macros to this day. It's so new because I hate that term kind of. Because everyone's like, what's your macros? And I'm like, listen, I eat 12 ounces of meat and 100 grams of carbs worth of rice. I didn't get that particular.

You know, I didn't have, I didn't do like, what's your heart rate when you get on a stepmill or anything like that. I didn't give a shit about that, you know, it was more just, okay, what do I need to do to keep my metabolism going? I've had to force feed every meal because I was only hungry for a couple meals a day, but I would eat seven, seven times a day. I would eat every two hours. So my whole day was like, okay, what are you going to eat consistently? It's the same thing every day. The menu is the same. doesn't change. Some days I need a little more or less, but it was very monotonous.

What is your job? So, you know, if your job is eating and training, and there's days when maybe you don't feel like going to your job, how do you force yourself? You know what? You look in the mirror and you say, who am I? And the truth is, is I always was like a figurehead since the day I started pretty much. I mean, being a great teenager and then being featured in Joe's books and then leaving magazines behind and transitioning to social media like 2012 and doing Instagram, shooting YouTube since 2008. And then, you know, media took over. So the magazines became a media outlet.

So what you saw on paper became media. Yeah. And I had contracts with the media companies doing that kind of thing. So it was all about content. And still to this day, like, you know, I'm a 48-year-old guy that does TikTok videos Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube. I do it all on a daily basis. And it's so crazy because you know,

you have different things for different outlets because it's different audiences. And one thing that the magazines taught me is how to be pretty decent, you know, in front of a camera or create content that, you know, will make people say, okay, I like this guy, you know. Yeah. Did another J. Cutler coming along help or hurt your brand? I think it helped. Yeah.

You know, in 06 is when he got drafted. He was playing at Vandervilt. And it was kind of funny because I had jaycuttler.com since 2000. So that was where I was doing a lot of my merchandising. So of course, when his name popped up, my real name's Jason, by the way. So I changed it when I got into bodybuilding. I went to Jay. So if people from high school know me as Jason,

or my mom always calls me Jason. But so he was drafted. So they're Googling Jay Cutler. and I was the biggest thing on the planet. Sure. Sport of bodybuilding at that time. Quite literally. Yeah.

So it was funny because ESPN and Sports Illustrated, they would contact me a lot and compare. And, you know, out of the gate, it was great. He went to the Broncos, right? And then, of course, he went to the Bears. And not so well he was performing. And, of course, you know, Twitter would go off. And I know on Sundays how he was performing based on my Twitter.

tagged the wrong account. They still, to this day. If you said, okay, where do you see Jay Cutler the most? It's still at Mr. O.J. Cutler is my Twitter account. And I don't think he has a Twitter. So they just, anyone would just tag it. Okay, they go to type in Jay Cutler, see a check mark. Yes.

Yeah, it's all blue checkmarked. And I mean, remember when, I remember I used to sit on Twitter every night and before Instagram, you know, and I would talk on Twitter and just respond to fans and whatever. and then, you know, he kind of, you know, started performing on Sundays or Monday night football. And, you know, we never had the chance to sit down and communicate. And at some point, we're going, sometime we're going to, I know he's working on a podcast now, and we've had some discussions about sharing some time on the air. So I think it would be kind of cool because, you know, I always say I'm the real Jay Cutler.

Obviously, I'm older, too. Yeah, you were the first Jay Cutler. Yeah, so the first. And, you know, it's just a lot of similarities with that side. That's so funny. I'd love to hear his take on things, too, because I'm sure that messages for you get crossed for him, too. Yeah, when he was, you know, I remember in Chicago one time I was doing a, I did a whole GNC tour. And I toured the country for like six months on a tour bus, and I did visits to all the military and GNCs.

And I remember particularly because he played in Chicago, I had a huge lineup outside of GNC. store. And I remember seeing guys coming with footballs and the jerseys because all they hear on the radio is like, Jay Cutler is going to be at this event this weekend. They don't think, you know, they don't hear four-time Mr. Olympia. They only hear Jay Cutler. They catch it. Oh, shoot, I want to go get a signed football or whatever. Yeah. And, uh, did you sign some football? No, I, I, you know, they would, I see people either walk away or, you know, people would tell me in line, like, this guy came and he thought it was Jay Cutler. And, you know, to this day, like, there's still some confusion. Like, a lot of people who,

call, you know, even when I call like my credit card company sometimes and stuff and I'm dealing with like, is this like Jay Cutler, the bodybuilder? Or, you know, and then sometimes they ask to the football player. So I think it's kind of funny. But I get a lot of people that actually, I feel really a lot better than I did the past years because I'm way more recognized now than ever through social media. But there's not a lot of mistakes now when people say, are you the bodybuilder when they hear my voice? Yeah.

Maybe they've heard my videos enough, or so I get a lot of recognition that way. What's the meanest Jay Cutler tweet that you received? Oh, it's just, they trashed. Sundays were just brutal sometimes, you know. That's so mean. But, you know, he was one of the highest paid, and I mean, I think he was very talented. I just think that it just never fit. You know, there's certain, with team sports, that's what I hated about football is, you know, you can do everything perfect, but one mistake by an individual.

you know, you can throw a game or whatever else. And our senior year, we're a really good football team. But we had a lot of talent. We just, we lost a lot of games by like a point because of mistakes. And that's where I was like, yeah, you know what? I'm not really interested in football. I'd like rather do something individual. So when I found bodybuilding, like it was all you against you in the gym.

And, you know, it's just like any frustrations I had, I took out on the weights and I had success. Yeah. I couldn't blame anyone else but me when I got on stage and competing. because I was the one doing the diet and the training. What do you think is the biggest life lesson that the gym teaches you? Discipline, organization, you know, commitment. There's so many things that the structure of gym training, you know, having that workout every day schedule,

knowing that you have to have meals to prepare for it, you have to have sleep to prepare for it. You have to have your mind in your muscle to have that connection and do repetitions and be able to constantly, improve, it's such a great guideline for life and business. And, you know, I've been so successful at a lot of things that I've done outside of bodybuilding because the structure that bodybuilding taught me. And it's really hard to explain because unless you work out and you have a routine and you're dedicated, like you wouldn't understand. But like I said, I walked in here and I told you

the best part of my day is still training. And that means, like, I know, I could travel. I could go, you know, to Rolling Stones recently or go to a Raiders football game or, you know, travel to, you know, the Maldives or whatever. All I want to do is work out. You know, my first question when I go these places, like, okay, where can I find a gym? Because I'm just a person, like, some people, you know, they hit a bottle or they, you know, they do other things.

They go out and let loose or whatever. to, you know, get that relief where I go into a gym and I sweat and I produce and I walk out of it and I feel like a million dollars. That's a pretty great thing to be addicted to. Yes. But it's a little consuming sometimes. Like, you know, it's like people say, why don't you take a day off? But the truth is, I take two days off a week from weight training. But I still, you know, I get up this morning.

I did my cardio. Like, today I'm not going to train. And I got up and did stairs this morning for 30 minutes. So I meditate on my stairs. So what I do is I envision my day and I kind of categorize the things that I have to do when I wake up during that cardio session. So I don't look on social media or I don't watch videos or whatever. I actually use that time to really just get inside my head and say, okay, this is the plan for the day. This is how we're going to tackle it, but not stressed, but just have some organization so I can kind of plan out my day and that kind of kicks off my day.

Yeah. And your focus in the gym is, it's unbelievable. What do you say about this generation now who are working out and then between every set on their phones or on their phone? I'll tell you a story about when I started training. You know, of course, cell phones didn't really exist. It was the big phone, huge phones. I remember when I bought, yeah, when I bought my first BMW, they had a phone in the middle. You know, yeah, yeah.

And I was like, man, I'm rich. With an antenna on top. Yeah, yeah. So I remember pulling up in the gym, parking lot here in Vegas at the Golds Gems, which are now EOS Fitness. And I'd be on the phone and I'd say, okay, I'm going to be off my phone for the next hour and a half. And the phone would go in my car. You know, I'd put it in the trunk or whatever. And I would have no phone in the gym. So if you said to me today, like social media exists, right? And a lot of the things that I do,

you'll see if you followed me on a daily and saw my stories, I have some filming in the gym, which I still don't carry a phone on the floor. I actually have someone with me that shoots the videos and sends them to me after the workout because I need to focus on that how crazy as it sounds being retired. But I would leave the phone behind. And then when they would shoot the DVDs,

we shot DVDs, which was the early social media, like I had a film guy come in and just trail me. And I used to tell them, don't talk to me. And I used to tell anyone that came and trained with me, no cell phones allowed. I'm not going to change your weights and I'm not going to spot you. So I wasn't the best training partner because I was so zoned in on what I was doing. And I said, listen, if you're going to train me, you've got to keep up somewhat.

I'm not changing plates or anything else. So if I'm benching 315, you've got to do 315 or don't come train with me. So that's how I kind of into. And I was kind of a little rigid like that. But remember, it was my profession. I was making a career of it. And it set me up for, you know, what I do today. Did you ever work out with The Rock?

You know, we trained in the same gym. You know, I'll tell you a cool story about Dwayne is in 07 I was Mr. Olympia. There was a Gold's Gym on Flamingo Sand Hill at the time. It was very, very popular gym and bodybuilding. I remember I was in there and Dwayne came in. This is before he was really big, big. And he stopped and, you know, he was, we were talking and whatever. And, you know, he was just happy to see.

me because he followed it. He loves body. Yes. So, you know, that was the last time I had seen him. And fast forward to around 2014, I was working on Golds Venice. And Dwayne came in. He was in his, he had a hoodie on and he had his headset on. And he stopped.

And he saw me and he's like, man, what's up, Jay? It's been so long, you know, whatever. And of course, all his career was now sky high, right? Yeah. He said, the last time I saw you was at Gold Gym on Flamingo Sand Hill. I said, how do you remember that? He's like, dude, I don't forget, you know? And, you know, it's just, like, he hasn't changed from day one.

And, you know, we never got to train together. And you see his social media like he trains. He trains. It sounds like he trains the way you train. He takes the gym with him. He takes, yeah. When he sets up for films. And he trains alone.

They put a whole gym in for him. Yeah. And he has his Iron Paradise. But, you know, I love that dedication. But I think if you asked him the same question, like how, what is it done for you. Like, it's just so much structure in your life. And obviously, he has a family and, I mean, he has a lot of business ventures, right? But you see him putting in the work, man, and it's just, why do people follow the Rocky? He's just motivating, right? Yeah. So he's on

obviously a bigger platform than me, but I think people in our industry appreciate what I do because they see that on a daily basis even being, you know, removed and not in a competitive mind. There's no, like, indication of like, hey, I'm coming back to the. the stage. You even know people. You heard this guy that just stopped me out here. Are you going to compete in the Olympia this year? And I'm like, dude, I'm an old man, you know. Do you have any residual effects from years and years and years of training? I'm very, very fortunate that I, you know, I feel I took very good care of my body. I did a lot of tissue work. And, you know, I talk about all the things that I did, you know, to make myself great with the nutrition and the training. But, you know, I

spent six hours a week for my climb up since 99 with tissue work. Six hours a week. Yes. So I did a lot. You had massages, neuromuscular therapy, stretching. I actually had a reformer. I just started doing Pilates before that was popular. I did dry needling. I did cupping before it even existed. But I did everything I possibly could for the long run. So I knew that, you know, to keep the tendons pliable, you know, to keep the muscle pliable is number one, because as you tear muscle, it gets harder. So when someone can dig into your, you know, your body with, you know, an elbow or whatever, usually it's like very hard, right? My muscles were always soft, so they were flexible. So a lot of nutrients, a lot of blood flow could, you know, during my training was able to happen. And for me, like that really kept my body and my

joints very safe from what most people endure. You know, you hear back pain. Their hip flexors get too tight. I still stretch to this day. Like when I mentioned doing the cardio this morning, like I have a stretch machine at home. So like I'll stretch for like 30 minutes after doing this after my body's warm just to keep everything pliable. And that's the most important thing to me today is to be able to do exactly what I did for the past 25 years as a pro to be able to train without restriction. So there's not anything that I can't do. Like a lot of guys as they get older, their shoulder joints wear out and they can't do a lot of stuff behind the head. Like, I'm not in that position. And not to say I'm the smartest guy, but I did take the time and it

did cost me a fortune to do that. So every year I was winning the Olympia, you know, the prize money is not substantial, but I was spending every dollar to put back into my physique. You hear about the LeBron James and how much money he spends to keep himself. Yeah, and Tom Brady as well. Yes. I did all those things. Exactly. Exactly what you're talking about here. is like what Tom Brady's doing. I mean, look at him. He's still playing. Yeah, I mean, I think you have to as, you know, you progress into those years. I mean, listen, bodybuilders aren't supposed to be competitive into their 30s and 40s.

I mean, it used to be a young game, right? It's just like athletics where, you know, you're at the end of the road. I mean, Arnold stepped away, you know, in his late 20s. Like I mentioned, Lee Haney who won eight times prior to Ronnie Coleman. He was, he stepped away at 31. You know, Ronnie retired rather late. And he stayed in a little longer. But, you know, my goal was to get out by 30.

You know, and unfortunately, you know, the big money didn't start coming until after 30. You know, I won my first at 33. And, you know, then I lost it a couple years later. And then I came back to win it two more times before I lost it again. And then basically stepped away shortly after that. Yeah, what made you decide, okay, it's time to step away? There was a guy, Phil Heath, that came up to beat me. Yeah.

He won seven times after me, but he was just genetically better than I was able to. And you were able to see that and go, I can't beat it. Yeah, the funny thing is, is like I found Phil Heath, you know, at a show as an amateur, and I said, this kid's going to be Mr. Limpi. And I told everyone in the industry, some people believe that some didn't. I mean, I end up getting him, you know, he got end up getting paid and able to support his bodybuilding career. And I little did I know he'd come up and beat me, you know.

There's another situation in life where like if this doesn't happen, then this doesn't happen. Yeah, so I was like the proud, you know, mentor of this situation. And, you know, I knew he'd be as great. I thought he'd even finish with 10. Man, it's like the pupil beats the master. Yeah. And I was okay with it. But, you know, I tore my bicep three weeks out from the competition that he beat me at. And I competed with a torn bicep. And I had to take a step back. It was the first injury I ever had to. head. And I had to have surgery. I didn't have surgery until six months later because I had commitments. And that's what kind of kept me out of the surgery center because I was doing guest appearances. But I competed with a torn arm, you know, and I was, I was unable to hold the title. And next thing you know, I mean, I knew that he reviewing the pictures after. I'm like, man, I can't compete with this, you know. Yeah. What's the best advice you have for someone who's

trying to get to where you were. You know what? The positive mind is important, but re-realistic. So everything comes in steps. So I mentioned to you, like, you know, I took steps to get to, you know, the pros, you know, starting as a teenager and worked my way up in levels, but, you know, got to the Olympia stage, which is like the granddaddy of them all, right? And I worked my way up through that, you know, and then, of course, I won a lot of shows on the, you know, on the way up, too. I want Arnold Schwarzenger show three years in a row, second most prestigious show, and I was placed in second. But the consistency matters, but you need to surround yourself with a positive environment. So I just think social media today is very difficult for a lot of

people because people love to get on there and just criticize. You know, we can, you know, we can sit here and, I mean, we could do this interview and some people would look at it and say, oh, it was a great interview. And some people just because they want to say it would say it's terrible, right? There's always opinions, and that's the problem with the internet and social media is everyone has a voice. Yeah. I always say that, like, it's a tool. A knife could be used to stab someone. A knife in the hands of a surgeon could also be used to save someone's life. Of course, but you have to surround yourself with positivity and learn how to deflect. And I had a great team around me. I had a positive attitude. A lot of times, like, it's easy to talk

badly about someone, but I love to give people praise, too. If someone motivated me, like, you know, it's, it's, I have to give the respect to that. And I'm just a positive person in that sense. So I try not to, you know, let myself be brought down by the negative things. And listen, like I said, it's, you know, you might look at my career and say, well, you know, he's had great success. But like I said, there was a lot of dark times too. And you have to know how to endure those. Being such a positive person, do you have a favorite? quote or a mantra that you go back to? I mean, listen, my quote is, you know, to be a legend, you have to train like one. That's kind of like my motto for my. It's amazing. Because that's what

I'm kind of known as the legend, right? Which in a sense, it makes you know, okay, I'm a little older. You know what I mean? When you're called a legend. But, you know, I say, you know, to be a legend, you have to train like one, meaning like you're not just going to be the average Joe going in the gym and training if you really want to solidify a position and a memory. And everything now is about the legacy. And I never realized how important that was now. And I appreciate every year my career more and more as I continue to, you know, succeed in life. And I'm starting to get accolades for that too, you know. It's pretty incredible.

Well, and because every new bodybuilder that's coming up is going to be compared to you. and to Ronnie and to Phil. Pretty amazing. And to Arnold and everybody else. Yeah, but it's funny because they forget about like the Arnold days. The Arnold days looks so different from your days. And Frank Zanes and, you know, I remember, you know, Franco and, you know, the guy, this guy, Chris Dickerson was the first one I ever saw.

Samir Benute. I mean, there's so many, Sergio Leva. I mean, there's so many greats. But, you know, I was in the era of Dorian Yates was coming. Lee Haney, retired. the year I started. I mean, the fact that you guys competed against someone whose name was Flex, like Flex Wheeler,

like that's, what an era. Yeah, I remember meeting Flex for the first time when I was 19. And I remember walking in Gold's Gym Venice. And, you know, probably one of the greatest memories I have of being a bodybuilder is, you know, I was able to attend the Mr. USA in 1993. I just won the Teen Nationals, like in June. And in August, we went out. out to Marina Del Rey and they had the Mr. USA there.

And I walked in Gold's Jim Venice, man. And I saw those pictures on the wall of Schwarzenegger. And I saw like Tommy Lee Jones. And I saw like Ron Harper who was playing for the Lakers at the time. And like all these famous people in Flex Wheeler was there. You know, Paul DeLette was there. And Lou Farragno was there. And, you know, Carl Weathers was there from the Rocky Feather.

films and I remember just thinking man this is it and that's when I really was like I need to be here but that was probably one of the greatest memories because I just couldn't stop training I trained for like four hours that day and I remember flex wheeler said hello to me and I was like oh my gosh flex wheeler said hello you know I only known him as a figure in the books yeah and just to see his physique in person like you wouldn't believe it it was just incredible and you know still to this day I mean even achieving greater things in bodybuilding than he did. You know, he's touted as probably having the greatest body of all time. He just never won the big one.

Yeah. I've loved this so much, Jay. I super appreciate you coming by and just sharing some of your wisdom with us. I appreciate it. I end every conversation with the same question because gratitude is so important to me. I start and end every day with gratitude. What are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? Definitely my family, my health, and just my happiness,

right now. I mean, I look back now and just like I've had so much support and so of success. And then I'm able to continue to motivate people every day. You know, I'm thankful for social media, you know, that it's given me an outlet to be able to correspond with people all over the world, especially during these times. It's just, it's amazing. And positivity is so important, like I said. And when you can follow someone with that positive mindset, you don't know what it does to people. I mean, you witnessed it. I mean, this guy is going to talk about meeting Jay Cutler and behind the class. And, you know, for me to go out and take a picture with him, it can change someone's lives.

You know, he could be going through some things. And it's just the stories just never end. And I'm just thankful for that. Yeah. I work out, you know, a decent amount. But would you do me the honor of flexing against me? Of course. I'd love to.

Let's see. This is a normal person's arm compared to a Mr. Olympiarm. We'll get to do it to this. camera right here. Your arm's going to eat my arm. Oh, no, you didn't need to zoom in. Come on. That's not, that's about three and a half inches smaller than it was at my peak, by the way. So that's about a 19 inch arm. Oh, that's ridiculous. Jay. So appreciate us so much, Chris. Thanks. Thank you. What a guy. And what a story. So insightful. Pun intended. And he couldn't have been nicer. He got

stopped like a dozen times as he was watching. from where he parked to where the studio was in the wind. And, I mean, come on, what's not to love with Jay Cutler? Share this with someone who loves him and you know would love this conversation. Snap a screenshot, tag us on social media. Let us know what inspired you about this. Tag us on social media. He's at Jay Cutler on Instagram.

Mr. O. Jay Cutler on Twitter. And I'm at Chris Vanfleet. And I'll leave you with this from Nelson Mandela. We talked a lot about passion during this conversation. So this quote is, it's just so fitting. There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. Be great, be grateful, and we'll see you on the next one for some more insight.

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