Mark Bell's Power Project - From Gold’s Gym to Hollywood | Training Hard at 60 Ft. Mike Ryan

Episode Date: April 13, 2026

On this episode of Mark Bell’s Power Project, Mark talks with Mike Ryan, a celebrity trainer and lifelong athlete, former Gold’s Gym manager, and someone who’s been around the best of the best for decades.Mike is about to turn 60… and he’s not slowing down. He’s still lifting heavy, sprinting, working long hours, and pushing to break records, not just maintain.Follow:@mike_ryan_celebritytrainerSpecial perks for our listeners below!🥩 HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN! 🍖 ➢ https://goodlifeproteins.com/ Code POWER to save 20% off site wide, or code POWERPROJECT to save an additional 5% off your Build a Box Subscription!🩸 Get your BLOODWORK/TRT/PEPTIDES! 🩸 ➢ https://marekhealth.com and use code "POWERPROJECT" for 10% off Self-Service Labs and Guided Optimization®.🧠 Methylene Blue: Better Focus, Sleep and Mood 🧠 Use Code POWER10 for 10% off!➢https://troscriptions.com?utm_source=affiliate&ut-m_medium=podcast&ut-m_campaign=MarkBel-I_podcastBest 5 Finger Barefoot Shoes! 👟 ➢ https://Peluva.com/PowerProject Code POWERPROJECT15 to save 15% off Peluva Shoes!Self Explanatory 🍆 ➢ Enlarging Pumps (This really works): https://bit.ly/powerproject1Pumps explained: https://youtu.be/qPG9JXjlhpM?si=JZN09-FakTjoJuaW🚨 The Best Red Light Therapy Devices and Blue Blocking Glasses On The Market! 😎➢https://emr-tek.com/Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 20% off your order!👟 BEST LOOKING AND FUNCTIONING BAREFOOT SHOES 🦶➢https://vivobarefoot.com/powerproject🥶 The Best Cold Plunge Money Can Buy 🥶 ➢ https://thecoldplunge.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save $150!!➢ https://withinyoubrand.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off supplements!➢ https://markbellslingshot.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off all gear and apparel!Follow Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast➢ https://www.PowerProject.live➢ https://lnk.to/PowerProjectPodcast➢ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/markbellspowerproject➢ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/markbellspowerprojectFOLLOW Mark Bell➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell➢https://www.tiktok.com/@marksmellybell➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell

Like I hate when people say, I'm just here to do a maintenance program. Maintenance for old people who carry keys. If I don't feel like some pains, I'd be like, I'm slacking. You know what I mean? A day without pain is like a day without sunshine. When I see the stuff that you have online on your Instagram and stuff like that, it seems like you're still trying to hold on to a lot of athleticism. I wouldn't say hold on to it.

Let's say perfect it, all right? Make it even better. Totally. Why not? I train every component from my neck to my caps covered. Science says you cannot work the diet. That's what everyone always says. Well, guess what? How you worked it?

The more successful you are, the cool you are. Have you found a common thread amongst, like, how these people make it? Yes, it's just their drive. Everything from Bill Phillips, you know, one of the youngest guys to make. So much money starting EAS. Next thing you know, I'm on the set of Fight Club. And here I am, Edward Norton. Brad Pitt, I'm like the side.

This is wild. All right, we're here today with Mike Ryan. What's going on, Mike Ryan? What is going on, Mark Bell? You're going to be 60 coming up? 60 in a couple weeks. What in the hell? I know.

How'd that happen? What the hell's going on? I think I met you, I was probably like right around 20. Yeah. And you were working with a bunch of athletes. And you were working with- So I wasn't running the gym then here. Well, no, you were running the gym.

But I'm talking about a particular instance where you were working with a bunch of athletes and then you invited me to help you train those athletes. You were working with a bunch of quarterbacks in like Palace Verdes or something. Palis Verdes. Yeah, that was a fun little gig. The guy that we work with Mike Power, he extended it up into, he went it to the Valley. He ended up having some, a Kenny O'Brien, actually.

He hooked up with Kenny O'Brien. And to this day, Kenney O'Brien has a legendary football camp, basically just focus on quarterbacks. Right. Yeah, so, yeah, it's an interesting story. And you were a football player and you've been an athlete your whole life? I like to think so. Are you, it seems to me when I see your training, when I see the stuff that you have online, on your Instagram and stuff like that.

It seems like you're still trying to hold on to a lot of athleticism. I wouldn't say hold on to it. I'd say perfect it, all right? Make it even better. Totally. Why not? Yeah. Fuck yeah.

Yeah, maybe just scoot this way a little bit so you're closer to the microphone. There you go. Yeah. No, yeah, I try to push myself. So I don't want to, like I hate when people say they want to maintain their, I'm just here to do a maintenance program. Fuck maintenance. Maintenance for old people who carry keys.

Yeah, because you're still lifting really haven't. I try. You know, at 60 years old, I'm going to try and shatter every record I had. stay healthy, still do sprints, still do some road work, and still work, you know, 60 hours a week. Your body still feel good? Feels good. I mean, what does feel good though? You know what I mean? I wake up every day. There's aches and pains and I've just grown used to it. That's what I mean? That's what I can live with that. That's fine. That might be normal though for you, right? It is normal. Yeah, if I don't feel aches and pains, I'll be like, I'm slacking.

You know what I mean? A day without pain is like a day without sunshine. What do you think is something that you, I mean, other than what goes on downstairs, what do you think is the thing you lose the most as you get older? Have you noticed any like limitations with like range of motion or any specific? Yeah, of course. You know what I mean? Recovery is a, recovery is a shitload time. You know, if I go heavy, like when, as you know, as Powell, if you went heavy,

you take, you know, a couple days off and you could be back under the bar going heavy again. Every three days. Yeah. So now it's just like it's, I go heavy. one exercise, like I'll do a Sunday, heavy squat day. Then I'll probably back off of my deadlift day. Then I'll probably back off on my dumbbells, you know. But it's just the recovery.

Recovery is a lot longer, which is. What's going on with the shorts? The shorts, like over the years, the shorts have just gotten shorter and tighter. No, my legs just got bigger. These are the same shorts I had when I was in sixth grade. The shorts seem to be just, how have you been able to? I mean, shit, you've had so many different jobs. You used to be the manager of Gold's Gym.

Yeah, as the manager of Gold's Gym. You did a lot of work with EAS. Yep. That's funny. We just saw a couple of guys here. Both EAS remnants. And then modern times, you've worked with a lot of different celebrities and stuff. Is it, I mean, you're a personable guy.

You're a lot of fun. You're funny. You got a great personality. Does this mean we're dating? It officially means that we're dating now. I'm off the block, kids. Is that something you did, have you always kind of had a personality like that? That's something you had to work.

You know, it's funny because I was like a quiet kid growing up, but playing football in high school, I was pretty good. So all of a sudden, you're thrown into this, all of a sudden, cables around. And next year you know, you're going to be interviewed on your local cable. So at 16, 17 years old, you can't just sit there and be like, I like to run. You know what I mean? You have to have. Especially because your friends will rip into you.

Oh, totally. Dude, what were you thinking after? Yeah, you're sitting there with a boogie in your nose, like smotting up. Yeah. So you kind of being in those settings, it kind of pulls a personality out of you. So I just, I find that, uh, that, that, that really sparked, you know, I can, I can kind of talk to people. I can kind of relate to people. Yeah.

So it's all because of, uh, actually excelling in athletics that started this. And doing stuff, uh, with like a bodybuilding mindset, I think is kind of interesting. Because I've seen you, you know, I think years ago, you used to be like 205 or, oh yeah, yeah. I couldn't be, I was the men's fitness. From EAS to men's fitness, I was like almost nine, ten years of my life. And, you know, they didn't, they basically didn't want me over 200 pounds. So that's how I was, I was training as hard as I could, but I couldn't, you know what I mean? I wasn't thick.

I wasn't thrown up astronomical weights. But boy, I could run like a motherfucker. You know what I mean? I could, there was one time I was telling the story the other day. Gordon Ramsey was running, and I met him from the, if you guys aren't familiar, there's a bike path that goes all through San Mara in Venice. It's probably about four miles. So I ran, I caught Gordon Ramsey at the top of it.

And he just run and I said, oh, and he just looked at me. I said, you're going all the way in? And he's like, yeah. So we really didn't talk much, you know? But he was funny. He would be like, you're a big fucker. You know what I mean? And I'm like, yeah.

So we ran that four, came back that eight. And I was hoping he was going to stop. But he turned around and went more. I was like, oh, this fuckers, but I wouldn't quit. You know what I ended up doing 12 miles with him that one day. So it was just, my running was pretty strong. Now, it was still a strong guy, but not, but like you said, probably about not more than 200 pounds. So I was a super lean dude.

I think there's a lot of people that want to, you know, recomp their body, but I don't think they want to take the time to do the bulk. Yeah. Especially this day and age with social media being so popular, people just don't want to stay, you know, thin, they want to stay ripped. And even young kids that are playing football and stuff, they kind of think that they're going to have like better performance or something by being skinnier. Oh, it's terrible. But there's no skinny champions, right? I mean, you've got to pack on some size. Yeah, and the problem with these, like everyone's online,

and they're all afraid of what to eat. You know, you saw me, I walked in. I'm not like, I mean, I was drinking pre-work out. You were eating a pop top. I was eating a bag of pop tarts. You know what I mean? I will outwork my diet. And as a young kid, you could shovel everything in.

You could have five in and outs a week, you know what I mean? And just because you'll burn it off. Science says you can outwork the diet. That's what everybody always says. Science says you can't outwork your diet? Yeah. Well, guess what? I worked it.

Of course you can. I totally think you can't. It depends on how hard you want to work. That's all it is. And you're doing stuff for cardio and you're doing stuff for strength. I mean, you're kind of hitting all aspects. Everything. Do you do any?

I train every component from my neck to my calves covered. You do neck work? Yeah, totally. Neck forearms. Yeah, everything. Agility stuff? You know, this is my pleaded goals, Jim, if they're listening. We used to have turf and back and they got rid of the turf.

Oh, sure. Shit. Yeah, so there's no sled work, no agility work. It just sucks, but the CEO promised me he's going to turf the hole back, hopefully this spring. Yeah, that crushed me. I love pushing that. It's crazy. I was in there yesterday. I didn't notice. And that sled's gone, the prowler? Well, it's just in the shed. We've got to make sure that thing gets preserved. That thing's beauty. Beauty. And you're legendary at pushing that. Oh, God. I kind of what I picture when I think of the outside area. Right. I think your butt up in the air. Totally. Your hamstrings, your calves. Yeah. Popping. The fake tan.

The fake, no, it's not a fake tan. Come on, let's watch that. Right. I've heard that tan. How long have you been at Gold's Gym for? I first walked through the doors. I had a spring break. Well, I graduated college in 88.

And right when I, no, so actually the summer, that spring, I came out here with a bunch of guys from college. We were done playing football. You know, we're about to go out of separate ways. Let's go visit California. And so they wanted to go to, it's funny, like we're going up and down the state and my whole thing is like i got to go to gold's gym and these guys like you're fucking retarded you know we're on vacation why the fuck you want to go i'm like

shut up i got to go see this gym so they went to venice b's there in sanemarkar bars drinking i just spent the day at venice i'm in the gym and i want i pay for a work up but i was scared to death i mean people were fucking the noise was deafening there was so many huge guys and you saw everyone like when you open up a magazine from new hampshire and you're like oh my god you walk through the doors of you saw everyone there you're like holy shit the barbarian brothers the barbarians you know jeep swenson jeep rig valente so you watched every day on body shapers i'm like oh my god there's rick and he's so handsome you know it was funny yeah there's just so much going on and but one of the the most striking thing was the women like women bodybuilding was huge going into the

90s you know i mean and women were fucking massive like i'm sitting down training i'm like this girl is stronger than me she's big than me i just want to go home and start crying it was crazy. That's interesting because I haven't even thought about that, but I do remember that. When I first showed up there, I do remember there was women there that were jacked. Jacked, jacked. There's a lot of fit people. Yeah, you go to gym, you see fit people. You see the bodybuilding crowd, but Golds van has had big jacked women. They're like, whoa, man, you're fucking huge. Yeah, you see like veins popping out of someone's leg through a pair of tights. Totally. Yeah. And it's a girl. Yeah. You're like, what's going on in this place?

Yeah, so that was the first attraction. I'm like, this place is such a freak show. I fucking loved every minute of it. Yeah. When you kind of decided to move to California, I'm sure your friends back at home probably gave you a lot of shit. Oh yeah, like, what do you fuck? I had a good job.

I had, you know, I think so good standing. I was like, I'm going to just go. Had a Jeep loaded up and just started driving. That Gold's Gym is like a relic. Yeah. It's a really amazing place. Yeah, it pulls people in. But like everything, there's a lot of pitfall.

You get pulled in, you can get sucked in, and your life can go downhill fast. That's everything. Time seems to stand still in there a little bit. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I think that's why I feel like I'm preserved. Big Will Harris, I was gone from the gym for a long time. You know, I moved to Northern California and stuff like that.

And there was probably a good five, six years where I didn't come back. And recently coming back into the gym, Big Will is standing right by the front desk. And he just has had his hands like this and he goes, smelly, I've been awaiting your arrival. And then he just tells someone at the front desk, he's with me. And they just walk at the gym. That's the best. But yeah, the time has been standing still. And that's something cool.

You know what I mean? You see the old time is there and they still have cloud. And you're like, Will says you're good. You're good to go. You're good to go. What's it been like to be able to work with celebrities? You know, being from kind of a small town, Massachusetts. And then.

Well, I mean, it was a, I got first exposed to by being the general manager of Gold's gym. Because at that time, in the 90s, anyone who's anyone was at that gym, it was just athletes, celebrities, music, comedians. You saw everyone. And one day, you know what I mean? Like one day, Scott Glenn showed up, legendary actor, you know what I mean? Tough as nails. He just walked in. He was like, I recognize him right away.

I said, can help? he's like, I'm doing a movie. I need to do some curls. I'm like, go grab a bar. He did like 30 minutes of curls and just left. I'm like, that is the coolest fucking thing ever, you know? Yeah, people would just be, we're filming down the street, let's pop in and get a quick work.

So you got exposed to seeing all these guys all the time. And the real cool, and people being at that gym, everyone's always humble. You can't have an ego because you never know who's going to go through the door. You know, we've had, you think. Actually, there's three times that the gym just dropped. The first time Arl came back. You know, I went to his office years ago.

We had nothing, you know what I mean? So I went with Arzella, famous photographer who had all these pictures of Arnold, so I actually had to go to his office. And at this time, he was still affiliated with World Gym. So I'm sitting there. I'm scared to death. I go to his office.

You see all this, all the movie props to terminate. Like, that's the coolest thing. We got to see him yesterday. Yeah, yeah. He's sitting there. What can they do it? Adi how are you doing? What can do for you?

I'm like, oh, I just want, my name's Mike. I like to put pictures of that. Let me see what you got. So Ardy shows, he goes, oh that's fantastic and he started saying on all the shop he's like oh this show that was great i mean this guy was behind the stage i was like i'm gonna kill this guy you know what i mean he had a story for all the pictures and i said i well love to blow these up to like you know me four by six just put

them all he'd be like uh let me know when they come up i'm like all right so you know we get them done develop we put them all up and i just leave a message at his office i said oh no you know thanks thanks for entertaining me that day if you want to check all your pictures at the gym no response you know what i mean so i'm just like a regular tuesday afternoon and i was All of a sudden the music stops. It's like dead quiet. Also, Arnold has that distinct walk, you know what I mean?

He's chest up and just walking by. He's checking all the pictures. And I see him. I'm like, what do you think? He goes, this is fantastic. You know, it was just so cool. The Olympia pictures? Yeah.

Well, all those old black and white ones. You know, you see going up to the locker rooms, like when he's training at Gold's Gym, when they were doing the pumping iron, you know what I mean? And there was like, there was some legendary pitches where it's Chevrolete. The side chest pose and stuff. Yeah, you know, on the rock. Like shit, like Ard Zeller took all these famous shots, you know, they were just fantastic.

So that was cool. That's when the gym stopped. Then this is fairly recently, like right after COVID, Stallone all of a sudden, he's like, I want to do, you know, I'm doing some backstories for all the things. And I think I'm doing a documentary about my life. I don't want to highlight goals because he started goals, but then he left, we're not all open worlds. He left to go to worlds. And he was getting trained by Franco. Franco was a, that was Stallone's trainer.

But he goes, I want to come back. And, you know, the same thing. Everyone's like, oh, sounds like, no fucking way that Sylvester Stallone. That's the second time that Jim just came to a stand cell. And this one, people just said, whoa, that's so cool, you know. And he's walking around. He sees me. He's like, you need some more calf work.

I'm like, oh, fuck you. You know what I mean? It's just calm and bust each other's balls. So that was cool. And the third time was this one I was managing the gym. I got a call. It's like, Michael Jones in town. He wants to work out.

I'm like, fuck. it's kind of packed now. He said, all right, and the trainer's like, sure. All of a sudden, you know, the car pulls up and his trainer walks out, and there comes Michael Jordan, people are like, and same. Like the music, it's like, no one really shot off the music, but you didn't hear the music. Everyone just stopped and like, wow, there goes.

The fucking greatest basketball player ever play the game. And he trained like a fucking animal. He was doing power cleanses. He was doing deadlifts. And this is before a game. So I got to know his train. I'm like, which is routine? He's like, he gets up.

hits the gym, goes golfing, probably like two rounds. You know what I mean? I'm like, what? Like 36 holes? I'm like, you're kidding me. Then he'll go eat. Go to the stadium. Like, and it's still like four hours before this and just stop warming up.

Just shooting. Nonstop shooting for like two hours. Get off his feet, eat, and then go play a game. I'm like, that is fucking, that's intense. He's like, that's how this guy is. Kobe Bryant used to be in there. Yeah, Kobe Bryant. Yeah, I always tell my funny Kobe Bryant story.

I don't know if I ever told you about the famous French rides. No, I don't know. I don't know of Kobe Bryant French. Yeah, so Kobe was great. I mean, back down, the camaraderie was just fantastic, you know. So in Duren, I don't know if you guys ever been to a gold gym, but Dern, like, they called it Olympia season from the summer all the way to Olympia. It was like the first week of the fall, you know, so it's summer you had every massive bodybuilder

from around the world. They're training. So the energies through the roof, you had these guys just diding, training, diting, training. I mean, there was never, you know, there's no one ever killed each other, but you just see everyone's on edge. Because when you're dieting, as you know what I mean? You can be on drugs and lift and you're the happiest guy in the world. So it's not steroids that make it crazy.

It's fucking dieting, you know what I mean? So these guys would die. So Kobe Bryant would be like, man, these guys are grumpy. I said, Kobe, these guys fucking diet hard, you know what I mean? He's like, okay. So the next day he would come in. If you remember, the McDonald's, you get those big white bags. He would just get a white bag full of french fries.

So it had to be like 30 pounds of food. French fries and you walk in and if you ever, of course, the most aromic smell ever is McDonald's franchise. You walk in, the whole gym's like, people are like, oh my God, it's French fries. I'm so fucking hungry. And Kobe would be walking by all these guys, the flex wheelers, the Ricohs, you know, the Chris Cormaze, he'd be like, you guys get a big show coming at this. They'd be like, Kobe, get the fuck out and be like, okay, I'll just leave some of these for you. He would leave french fries on

bench and every people like toward the end, these guys would be fucking chasing. Oh my God. Be cracking up. It was just a funny time. He would leave french fries around the place would smell. So he started doing it every day. Like guys, we come here and he'll be like, Kobe Ryan,

get the fuck out of here. I can smell you french fries. Yeah, legendary. I think one of the bodybuilders there, I don't remember if it was Flex Wheeler or who it was, but one of the guys was dieting, they were getting ready for a show,

and just had like a total breakdown. They ended up eating like a bunch of candy in the car or something like that. Sat in the corner and cried. Yeah, yeah, you just hear these stories. Yeah, it was always time.

How come, I don't think, I mean, how come you never got into bodybuilding that way? You never competed, right? Never competed. Because it was, it's just, I'm kind of glad I didn't because, I mean, those guys, back in the 90s, those guys were bigger than life. You know, like everyone competed. You know, you had Lee Haney Till, the tail in his career, so I gave, Dorian came in almost 300 pounds. Flex, I mean, Ronnie Coleman, 290, you know, these guys. Paul DeLette.

Paul DeLette, Flex, these guys were fucking. And then you had all the Europeans, Jean-Pier Fuchs, Nassar, like, these guys were massive. So you've got to realize they would die down to be 280. So in the offseason, they were all like walking around 300 plus, 320, 330, like massive, bulky guys. Like Paul Delette, and again, if you guys aren't familiar with Goldsham, there's a restaurant called the Firehouse, is literally two blocks away. And so Paul, Paul DeLette says he was like 6-6, 2-9, he just jacked. be like, you got to call me a cab. I'm like, yeah, where do you want to go?

You go, the firehouse right there, he'd be like, yeah. You can almost see it, yeah. You could see it. He'd be like, yeah, I don't know if they'll take you, but all right, call a cab. I'm like, hey, send a cab to gold seam, someone needs a ride. Cabby shows up. The guy, be like, where are you going? He's like, firehouse.

And the cab, he'd be like, it's physically impossible for everybody's taking it on such a short. It'd be like, the toll would be like 37 cents. So Paul would ask. And all of a cab, all the cab companies, after like a week, like, no fucking way. We're not going to go there to drive for a 37 cent, you know what you'd fare. Tell this guy to walk. Well, Paul ended up, he'd be like, I'd be like, Paul. The cabs just aren't going to.

And this is before Uber's and everything. I think, Paul, the cab's not going to take. He'd be like, oh, that's all right. He would stand in the driveway. And he was huge. So people had to stop. He's like, oh, what do you need? He's like, yeah, just driving to the end of the road.

So we would get a ride every day by some random gym member, you know what I mean? And it was literally 200, you know, I remember seeing those guys outside of gold. They would just wait for a parking spot for half an hour, 40 minutes. They didn't want to walk far. Yeah, they didn't want to park across the or walk behind the gym. You know, it's funny. They didn't want to park across the way.

Never. What do you, like, you've been able to rub elbows with, you know, some very interesting people over the years. High level athletes, high level actors, directors, writers. What do you, what do you, how, have you found a common thread amongst like how, how these people make it? Yes. It's just their drive. Their innate drive to succeed.

Or probably they're afraid to fail. You know what I mean? And everyone fails, but it's just like, all right, I feel here, but I'm going to have this drive to succeed. So I never have to fail again. You know,

everything from Bill Phillips, you know, one of the youngest guys to make so much money starting EAS. Surrounded him, then going from like, hang out with the champion Broncos. Then you start meeting,

you know, next thing you know, I'm on the set of Fight Club. And here I am there's Edward Norton, Brad Pitt. I'm like, this is wild. You know what I mean? Crazy, crazy. And then even still, I mean, I'm not going on one.

I'm just a blessed, lucky guy. Like, I'll get a random text from like The Rock, you know. He still calls me Peabody Flash. Hey, Peabody Flash. I saw you squatting that much. That's fucking awesome. Keep it up. And I'm like, dude, you just got nominated for a Golden Globe.

How do you have time to text me? Or leave me a message. You know what I mean? It's unbelievable. Have you ever worried that he's going to give you the rock bottom? I told him. trunks one time and he was so mad. You stole his trumps?

Yeah. Because he was, this is during the like the Scorpion King and one of those things, you know. I just saw him in the back of his car. And I'm like, oh my God, I got to steal this. So I put him in my gym bag. So he's leaving and he's like, hey, you see my trunks anywhere? I'm like, no, he's like, motherfucker. I know you got my trunks.

I said, let me wear him once. He's like, no, give me my fucking trunks. I wanted to wear him. Being the manager of Gold's gym, I mean, that's got to be a big responsibility. I sometimes still don't understand. how that place like is like I understand how it functions yeah it's an entertainment itself it's what kind of things that you have to like deal with or I know I know I know during those days you know I mean like there's so many so many

high-end people celebrities athletes it was dealing with egos you know what I mean and the funny thing is that the more successful you are the cool you are the less the struggling like the up-and-coming actors they're usually the fucking assholes The upcoming body bill is that just won one or two shows They were always the fucking assholes But the guys that always established themselves As you know the preeminent More comfortable best

Yeah they were always super cool You know it was funny like that Because you always think the op You always say like oh man he's such a tyrant on stage Blah blah blah blah blah And you meet these guys like these guys was fucking super cool But I was I was pretty lucky I really never had any problems

You know That's good Except for Craig Titus murdering people But that's another story That was at least off the proper whatever happens off the property it doesn't have that I can't be I can't be responsible with your nutrition your diet you know you were messed around saying you know you got pop tarts and stuff but I know you're really diligent at certain times yeah how does that look how does it look for you well you know

with my like I still love to work a lot which is you know I think it's just I I need to be busy all the time so I eat more shakes than anything like I'm gonna have about three or four shakes a day because I'm just in the gym. You know, someone wants to work. Quick and easy. Yeah, it's just, you know, it's funny. I was just talking about this the other day. Some guy, he's like, I'm shredded because this is what I eat.

I get up, I cook, you know, five eggs and I have a bowl of oatmeal. I'm like, I do that. For my next meal, I'm cooking. I have ground turkey with, I'm like, well, fuck, I can't cook that. But then for my next meal, I'll have ground beef mixing with some broccoli. I'm like, oh, fuck, I can't get that in me because of my turn. And then my next meal, I'll have a shake. I'm like, I can do a shake.

And then the next meal, I'll have some. fish with some fetch. I'm like, oh, fuck, I can't get to that. You know what I mean? So I have to do what works for me. In an ideal scenario, yeah, I would love to have five homemade meals all day long, but it just doesn't work. And for you, you have, you got like a stretch of the day being a trainer, probably, probably pretty busier in the morning. Yeah. Maybe a little bit of time. The time it is now, midday. And then back to work. Yeah, but actually, being late, I kind of stopped going to the evening clients. I'm just like, Fuck it. I don't need. I need a little rest and TV time. Yeah, drags your day on for too long. Well, and then plus with waking up early, if you go to bed late and waking up early, since disaster. But that's one thing. I don't get much sleep. I wish I could, but I just don't. You know. You probably don't want to. Right. I mean, like, I'm excited to be me. I got to get up in the day.

I feel that way personally. Like I am excited about every day. I am pumped to like do the different things that I get to do. Oh, you got to be. And I like, probably like you. I just feel fortunate. I feel fortunate and are blessed. You know what I mean?

Like when you talk to your buddies at home and other people like, oh, fuck I gotta go like fucking this. I can't wait to fucking retire. I'm like, I don't want to retire. I got like the coolest gig ever. Well, you're also thinking like, I need to only talk to that guy like every so often, maybe a couple times a year.

I know for sure. Because it kind of... Yeah, they bring it down. When I go home at this, the Sawa Patch Kids, you know what I mean? It's just so miserable. They're always angry. Yeah, for me, the first couple times I experienced Gold's Gym. Like when I came out to visit my brother for the first time and checked out Gold's Gym,

I was just like, I mean, the gym was the reason why I wanted to move. Is that the reason why you moved? Pretty much because of Gold's? It was, at first I just wanted to try something new. You know, like everyone I was like, you see Act or something like, I can fucking do that. You know what I mean? I'm trying my first casting call. It's just like a cocky shit.

They'll like, read this. You got it? Yeah. In action. What? Read the, I forgot. You know what I mean? And I was like, holy shit.

Then I realized if you want to be good at anything, you have to practice and you have to perfect your craft. Acting is tough. Acting is brutal. And I was just like, oh my God. I don't want to, you know what I mean? No offense to anyone, but I don't want to spend, you know, every waking hour taking acting courses, you know, That's just fucking hard. So I was just like, yeah, maybe there's something else to do.

Something of my passion. And then how did you end up with being manager of Gold's Gym? It was just, it was all timing, right place to the right time. You know, I sat at Redondo. And then they told me there was a couple of guys, because I used to go up there a lot to train. And I got to know one of the owners, Tim Kimber, who was a great guy. And, you know, they were saying, hey, we're going to look in for openings.

And we want to kind of revamp the way how the gym's been run. You know, before it's just like, before you just show up and guys would be like, you want to stever rights? No, I just want to work out for a day. What do you need? You need? What do you need? And no one had a membership.

No, no, God, no, absolutely. It was just madness, you know? So they kind of told me that the direction I want to go, would you want to be involved? I'm like, absolutely, you know. Yeah, so it's been a blessing. What are you working on right now? Like you're trying to get bigger, trying to shrink down. You're trying to run more, trying to lift more.

Well, since I'm going to be 60, I think I want to, I kind of want to, I kind of, have like a legendary photo shoot be like oh this fucking like Lou Forigno when he turned 50 and if you see those pictures yeah I'm like that's just such an inspiration I think he looked the best ever at age 50 he was fucking jacked shredded diet I mean you look at those pictures like oh my god this and he was like one of the first guys to be like all right at 50 I can I can perfect my physique while everyone's just like 35 minutes slow down 40 I'm going to quit you know what I mean all of some Lou was going up and up and up he was actually the inspiration for Joe We did a start of master's class in the Olympia.

You know, keep these guys active. You know, because a lot, like, sadly, a lot of times when athletes are done playing, they let their body go to shit, you know? And I get it. At the wear and tear, they're just kind of tired of, but you can't really neglect your health. So this was, seeing Lou Farragno do that, I said, that is inspiring. So look at that picture every day. It's like, man, I want to do a photo shoot a 60 where I look half as good at that.

And at seven, I want to look a third as good as that. Yeah. Yeah, so keep having something, having a goal. to shoe for, absolutely. And then I usually see you running on the treadmill and we were talking about the turf a little bit. So hopefully they do get some of that turf back. That'd be awesome. I will never go to a doctor ever again about my general health. All they want to do is put you on pills. Really well said there by Dana White. Couldn't agree with them more. A lot of us are trying to get jacked and tan. A lot of us just want to look good, feel good. And a lot of the symptoms that we might acquire as we get older, some of the things that we might have, high cholesterol or these various things. It's amazing.

to have somebody looking at your blood work as you're going through the process, as you're trying to become a better athlete, somebody that knows what they're doing, they can look at your cholesterol, they can look at the various markers that you have, and they can kind of see where you're at, and they can help guide you through that. And there's a few aspects, too, where it's like, yes, I mean, no, no shades of doctors, but a lot of times they do want to just stick you on medication. A lot of times there is supplementation that can help with this. Merrick Health, these patient care coordinators are going to also look at the way you're living your lifestyle because there's a lot of things you might be doing that if you just adjust that boom you could be at the right levels including

working with your testosterone and there's so many people that I know that are looking for they're like hey should I do that they're very curious and they think that testosterone is going to all of a sudden kind of turn them into the Hulk but that's not really what happens it can be something that can be really great for your health because you can just basically live your life a little stronger just like you were maybe in your 20s and 30s. And this is the last thing to keep in mind, guys, when you get your blood work done at a hospital, they're just looking at like these minimum levels. At Merrick Health, they try to bring you up to ideal levels for everything you're working

with. Whereas if you go into a hospital and you have 300 nanograms per deciliter of test, you're good, bro, even though you're probably feeling like shit. At Merrick Health, they're going to try to figure out what things you can do in terms of your lifestyle. and if you're a candidate, potentially TRT. So these are things to pay attention to to get you to your best self. And what I love about it is a little bit of the back and forth that you get with the patient care coordinator.

They're dissecting your blood work. It's not like if you just get this email back and it's just like, hey, try these five things. Somebody's actually on the phone with you going over every step and what you should do. Sometimes it's supplementation. Sometimes it's TRT. And sometimes it's simply just some lifestyle habit changes. All right, guys, if you want to get your blood work checked and also get professional help from people

who are going to be able to get you towards your best levels, heads to Merrickhealth.com and use code Power Project for 10% off any panel of your choice. When a turf was there, were you doing like any agility drill type thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had the ladder set up, a lot of shit like that. I used to do like a Sunday class. I mean, a handful of guys.

We do sled, we do sled, carry a weight vest, push the sled, drop and pick up the weight vest, run back and forth, drop that, do pull-ups come back, and then agility, you know what I mean, doing over ladders, over bags, footwork, speed drills. Yeah, that was pretty awesome. I think agility stuff, and I actually think that strength stuff is very undervalued. I know that strength stuff in particular is being more valued and people talk about strength training. Yeah. But I don't really think people are talking a ton about like really tapping into the nervous system and doing.

Well, I think it's too hard. To do it properly. You can, you. someone's going to teach you and there's not a lot of coaches out there that teach agility work. You know what I mean? Like Gold's Tito Raymond's a great example. He brings his ladder. He brings so much. And he has a handful of people trying it. It's fantastic.

Yeah. You got to learn these skills. You know, people just go out there. And I see people go out there and they're just like, they do like a half a sprint and they'll do like a half a knee lift and that's it. And I'm like, no, there's so much more to it. You got to really engage a sports specific agility coach. And like, yeah, I think it's fantastic.

It takes a lot of coordination. And I think as we get older, you kind of like, you get a little sloppy. You get sloppy because you, but it's not because we're old. It's because we're not practicing. Yeah. You know, and if you can stay in tune with practicing it, I think, you know, something that is simpler, I do think is the lower rep ranges, you know, the sets of three and the sets of one. Obviously, you have to know how to lift.

That's really important. If you're going to try to go for heavy weights and you really need to know what you're doing. But I still think you can get a nice training effect out of like 80, maybe 90%. It doesn't always have to be that real high level. I see you still doing singles and stuff, and that's uncommon. We don't really see people doing that as much anymore, especially as they get older. But I actually think you're doing the right thing. Thank you.

Yeah. It's funny because when you go to goals these days, it's just the times are different. Like you said, you get these young kids, they're learning, you know, seeing people online and they're doing things that just aren't going to make you strong. You know, and they all want to be bigger and stronger. And they ask me, how do I, how do I get big? I see you get to eat a lot and you're going to train heavy. It's all you got to do.

Eat a lot and train heavy. And if you don't want to commit to that, then he's going to be a scrawny person. When you've been on the set of a bunch of different movies, you end up people end up probably asking you a bunch of questions. Because I know you were like working with the rock. Sure, yeah. And it's like, well, who trains the rock? The rock always looks awesome.

Yeah. And so you're somebody that had a huge impact on the rock. He was fluffier back in the day. Well, yeah, he was. He had to yell at him about his pancakes and his donuts, right? Well, he could keep that up. It was one a day. But he was, he never thought about cardio.

He never thought about burning that subcutaneous fat. He'd be like, oh, you know what I mean? If I lift a lot, I should just be, you know, getting in better shape. I'm like, no, there's a lot of components in cardiovascular training. It's a huge component to get lean. And for you, what does cardio look like? Just like 30 minutes, something. Yeah, in a variety.

Like I said, we talked yesterday. I'm still doing, I'm back doing. some road work. So I'm trying to get, you know, 48 miles a week on the road. Still keeping up my sprints. I don't film as much, but I should because that seems to be very entertaining. And then the stepper. And then on off days, I'm kind of just beat up. I'll just walk on the treadmill. And sprints, you're usually doing on a treadmill. Yeah. Yeah, I found for myself, too, the treadmill is just like more forgiving. The treadmill or hills or even like sand, you know, running on the beach or something like that, a little bit less

pounding than the tar. Less of a, less of a grizzles. You'll always have the gristle. I know that you, you know, in addition to training people in person, you have some like e-books and stuff like that, right? Yeah, I just had this company that helps me do some programming, you know. And I'm sadly, I'm lazy at it. I really should. I should be putting more out because, I mean, pretty fucking jacked at 60.

A lot of people ask. I'm like, yeah, I just fucking work out, you know. But I should put this knowledge down to paper. Do you pay attention specifically to like carbs and protein and fat? Not really. Not really. No. And again, that goes to my lifestyle.

Like, you know, up at four, whatever. Have a shake. Work three hours. Fuck. Have another shake. Try and get something in. Have a meal. Go back to the gym.

Have a shake. You know what I? So I don't. And I think I'm just a different animal. I train when, I listen to my body. More than anything. Like if my body says, go super heavy today, push it. I will.

My body says, you're a little beat up today. Back off. Good. My body says, man, I feel a little bloated. Then I'll, I'll, fast for like 24 hours. I'm like, fuck, I just feel so bloated. I don't know what I ate. I just won't eat for like 24 hours.

So the next day I'll be like, I'm lean again. That worked. You know, I just kind of, I don't know if I'm an abnormality, but it's just, I just listen to my body on, on, because your body tells you. You know what I mean? If you tie, beat up, pull the reins. You feel sickness coming on. Go to bed, take some vitamins, drink some fluids.

You know, you've been training for so long. Yeah. I think that, you know, I think you're, you're underselling, I think your knowledge. and I think you are probably paying attention in your carbs and protein and fat, but you're just, you're realizing like, okay, all I had to eat today is pretty much three shakes

so it doesn't matter as much. Right. If I'm not like super, if my next meal isn't chicken breast, rice and broccoli, then it's not a sin. Yeah, I'm not going to panic.

Right. Yeah, in the old days you panicked. Oh my God. It was so worried. How hard is it to help your clients with the food side of thing? I think that's like the biggest.

It is. And I tell everyone, nutrition is such a huge component. You guys, nutrition is fucking huge. But everything's huge. Training, cardio, supplementation, nutrition. All those four aspects create a perfect physique if you're willing to learn to study and apply. Yeah, they all really work.

Absolutely. In conjunction with each other. Yeah, they work in concert with each other. And I think that, yes, you can probably get pretty diced up with diet alone, but it's probably not going to last as long. Yeah. And then you won't have the size of the strength. that you want either. You look like a weenie.

That's what happened to you. I know, I got nothing. You're a weenie. Guys got nothing. Guys got nothing. You got hair though. Where'd that come from? I'm still 220.

I've always had hair. I just, I just shave it off, you know? That is so wacky. Isn't that crazy? The guy has hair. He's got a fucking hair. And for years he shaved his head.

Oh, so he lets it grow and he's like, you fucking Bon Jovi. What's your body weight right now? probably between 225, 230. And you're 5.5? 5.4. I used to be 511. I'm about 5.9 and 3 quarters.

Shit. Gravity just pulling you. Oh, God, absolutely. I think all the heavy weights doesn't help either. Because Arnold said it the other day. It was, you know, we're just talking. Some kids like, oh, my God, Ronald was like, wow, I thought you were six, too. And he goes, yeah, me too.

Because he's like about 510 now. Have you ever had to help people with like almost like security at the gym since there's like so many such famous people there? Are people just get used to the people? Well, you always get sick of fans. You always get some screwballs. You know what I mean? Yeah, throw people like get the fuck out of here. What's wrong with you?

Smat enough. I always saw Arnold being there is great. Like Arnold just, he's there frequently. Yeah. And so everyone just, I mean, you never really get over it. Yeah, you really don't. I mean. But you get used to it.

Yeah. And the thing is about Arnold in his in his later years, he's fucking. fucking fun to be around. You know what I mean? He's just out there talking so much trash. He loves shitting on people. Like people like, I don't know. I've got a show coming up.

And he's like, yo, flexing me. Some guys like turn a beat red. He's like, okay, tell me when you're flexing. Yeah. The guy's like, you're so mean. You know what I mean? But he has a, he fucking, you know what I mean? He holds his press conference there.

He did a thing for what? It was world news. He said they have, you know, miced up. He's sitting there's people in the background training. He's like, yeah, this did of the economy. You know what I mean? It's like, he holds all. his press conference it's fantastic yeah just super fun yeah i mean you can't really get any more famous and i

mean it's fun it feels like the only schwartz and a show but he's just he's just a example of a guy worked hard and enjoys the fruits of his labor you know what i mean i look at that guy i was like that's what i want to be 78 years old he rides to the gym he works out he bullshits he chases young girls i'm kidding but it's just it's you know what i mean he just has a a lifestyle you you admire you know it's like man, if he can do it, I can do it. Well, you're pretty good at talking trash, so I can see that. Oh, absolutely. I'm filthy.

I'm the worst. For a guy who's never won one body building show, I tell everyone I'm the best. Where can people find you online? Where can they kind of follow along? I have an Instagram. Yeah, my shenanigans. I'm signing of work my TikTok finally. Good.

I have an Instagram page, Mike underscore Ryan underscore celebrity trainer. I forgot to ask you. How did you get involved in the rock? Santa Claus situation he called me he was like you know like I said was saying as you trained him in the past yeah yeah we were training partners and you know he tells some funny stories and I hear you know he's always super busy so he'd get a frequent message here and there and oh son I get this call like Mickey rock rock he's like I need a Jack Santa and he's like call this girl and that was I was like

hey this Mike's he's oh my god yeah we've been waiting to hear from you I'm like what's going on he's like Like, just come up to his house, we'll tell you everything. So I can go up, they have all the diagrams of shooting everything. And I was like, oh, you're going to be kidding me. And I'm like, ah, so what do you want to grow up? He's like, no, we got a whole costume. You're going to have a full beard.

And it was a full camera crew is everything. You know, yeah, it was so funny. And he didn't want to see me. So I haven't seen him. Officially probably for like two or three years prior to that. So the whole time I'm at his house, he's on the other side. He's like, I just don't want to see him. You know what I mean?

I want to have everything organic. So right when he walked on set, that's why I was like, finally I go finally the mediocre one has come back to the gym you just start a laugh and yeah we just everyone's just like oh my god you guys you guys were like best friends schoolmates I said yeah I said when you when you work out with someone at four o'clock every day you really get to know a person and you get a mutual admiration of of their drive and their dedication yeah yeah that was yeah that's been fantastic and I always get like like sort of wrecked recognize like you look familiar I'm like imagine me if I had this big beer oh you're the

jack Santa guy and then you also had that video go viral too of like you picking up somebody else's weights and oh yeah oh yeah that's that was my old client a kid named Josh who was a great guy Jayhop so we just did one thing and he'd be like you know because I would yell at him like he's my kid you know I'd be like you're fucking late again you what the fuck you get chill over your face you and people's like why are yelling him I'm I'm like, he's my son. I can yell at him. Oh, okay.

So people thought he was my son, you know what I mean? So he started doing things like, you know, he's like, like doing the 100 pound dumbbells. And you get that crazy. Like you're the Jack's grandpa or something like that or something like. Yeah. Yeah. So I'd be like, oh, you're done with those. He's like, yeah, you can use them.

And I said, I curl in his hunch. It'd be like, motherfucker. Yeah. Yeah, we had a whole series that went super viable with all these things. When your Jack Dad. When your Jack Dad. Yeah, when your Jack Dad shows you up. Awesome, man.

Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Yeah, you bet. Always a pleasure, man. Congratulations to you. Congratulations to this podcast. This guy's a wealth of knowledge. It's an inspiration.

I knew this guy from skinny to massive. Oh, my God. He looked like one of the characters on SpongeBob. You were so fucking huge. You walked in the gym. I didn't even recognize you. Huge face. Huge.

You look like Jabba the Hudson, Mark the Hut. And then you were thrown around astronomical weights. I couldn't wait to hear what you're doing next. I was like, this fucking guy is. awesome. You know, you live in that Louis, yeah, you live in that Louis Simmons life and then all of a sudden you come back with the fucking billion dollars in your pocket. It's fantastic. You deserve it, man. You earned it. So work hard. This guy's living proof of work hard. It sure will happen. Strength is never weakness. Weakness. Catch you guys later. Bye.