Mark Bell's Power Project - Power Project EP. 162 - Mike O'Hearn and Mona Muresan

Episode Date: January 5, 2019

Previously recorded over the summer when Mark Bell was staying in his Malibu Beach house, but held back due to a huge announcement Mike O'Hearn and Mona Muresan revealed first on the Power Project. Now that the news is out, so is this episode!  Mike O’Hearn is an American bodybuilder, actor, personal trainer and model. He has been featured on over 500 magazine covers, holds 4 Mr. Universe titles, and was voted one of the 12 greatest physiques of all time by the fitness industry. He appeared as the gladiator "Titan" on the 2008 revival of American Gladiators. He is also the founder of Power Bodybuilding, a training program that focuses on developing both strength and hypertrophy, along with aesthetics. His girlfriend, Mona Muresan, is a well-known athlete, bodybuilder, and an IFBB pro figure competitor. She is also a successful businesswoman who founded of the popular Nebraska Steakhouse & Lounge in New York City. ➢SHOP NOW: https://markbellslingshot.com/ Enter Discount code, "POWERPROJECT" at checkout and receive 15% off all Sling Shots ➢Subscribe Rate & Review on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mark-bells-power-project/id1341346059?mt=2 ➢Listen on Spotify Here: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YQE02jPOboQrltVoAD8bp?si=Z756QH2JRu2tO3pFGUuyWA ➢Listen on Stitcher Here: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/mark-bells-power-project?refid=stpr ➢Listen on Google Play here: https://play.google.com/music/m/Izf6a3gudzyn66kf364qx34cctq?t=Mark_Bells_Power_Project ➢Listen on SoundCloud Here: https://soundcloud.com/markbellspowerproject FOLLOW Mark Bell ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell ➢ Snapchat: marksmellybell Follow The Power Project Podcast ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MarkBellsPowerProject Podcast Produced by Andrew Zaragoza ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandrewz

books and movies and all kinds of stuff you still got a dvd player i know i got my beta at home oh that's great i want to get a vhs tape that'd be great do you really you still have so much stuff around i actually did and she goes you think it's gonna come back what are you holding on to or let go of that you have no idea what i threw out. That is true. What about, just try to keep this like an ice cream cone. Yeah, you

Hello! I was trying to, you know. I'm not saying anything. What about video games? Any video games? Halo. Halo. Halo Any video games? Halo. Halo. Halo. Big guy on Halo.

I haven't started. Here's the problem. There's a lot of problems I'm going to ask her. That's why she's on the podcast today. I used to be into video games. Then I started dating a woman. Exactly. Yeah.

Why are you playing video games, you loser? There's so much stuff to be done. When we went to Seattle. Why is that? Women don't playing video games, you loser? There's so much stuff to be done. When we went to Seattle. Why is that? Women don't understand video games. It's my relaxation, honey. No, it's relax. Come on. Women will put up with a lot, though.

Like if a guy wants to go hunting or hit the gym for a long time, they'll put up with quite a bit. Yeah, that's fine. But video games is where they draw the line. My wife did the same thing to me. Did you? Yeah. So you stopped, right?

I played everything. I had every console you can think of and played. But look at you now. I know. I know. You messed me up forever. You can never go back. Once we had kids, though, was really the problem

because my son used to take the games out and he'd throw them behind his head and all the little discs and everything got all jacked up oh okay yeah but my brothers pull up the disc and throw it but that's because i'm beating them or they're upset or yeah when we go to seattle to visit his brothers they stay up all night and mike doesn't break night mike goes to sleep you know yeah very early he's i went to bed i wake up at 2 a.m., and they're still playing, screaming their heads off. Yep.

That's the only time I get to play. Even now. Even now. That was last year. That was last year. Yeah, no, I was up there guest posing, and we'd go over there afterwards, and we played Halo all night. Yeah.

That's awesome. And she walks out there. You still have a good, tight relationship with your family, with your brothers and sisters and stuff? Yeah, yeah. You told me your sisters used to beat you up my sister that's when i realized you know it's like the older brothers that's all right that they kick ass but my sisters are kicking my ass um but they were kind of jacked right they were jacked they were into martial arts and and yeah so you know you're walking down

it's nine kids in a two-story house not that many bedrooms downstairs was all the uh the weights and the bunk beds for the boys who uh got the weights all the boys um dad got the weights or dad got the weights set up the gym and my older brother for you guys so it was it was for for us um but jim really helped out my older brother. Jim O'Tren. Jim O'Tren, exactly. I'm going to text him here in a minute. Jim, your last name's changed. I'm sucking you into the O'Tren.

But yeah, we had bunk beds that my dad made downstairs. So all the boys slept downstairs, and we'd just do one of those where you work out, and you don't go to bed until the one brother quits. And so we're just until mom and dad would actually shut the power switch off. Lights are off. Done. Go to bed.

That's great. But yeah, great, great relationship still. What kind of weights did you have in there? We had everything. We, uh, uh, my older brothers would do arc welding. So they would put together squat racks. No way. Everything.

We had everything. That's great. And then I was declining a crazy amount of weight at such a young age because you're trying to bench more and more. And back then, it's like the universal system. And the decline's a little easier. And the decline's easier. So you're putting the foot on the bench, and you're declining.

You're arched up. I did 200 pounds. So yeah, it was great growing up like that. You grew up quite different. Where were you at? What state? I was in Kirkland, Washington. Kirkland, Washington.

Costco, Bill Gates. You're from Romania. I'm from Romania. Oh my goodness. When did you come here to the United States or when did your family come? I came here in 92. My dad was here, I would think, five years before we got here. So then he brought his kids and then we brought my mom later, like 10 years later.

Wow. Yeah. Was it hard to adjust to when you guys came over? Yeah, it was very hard because you don't speak any English. We didn't go to school. Right. Yeah, it was very hard because you don't speak any English. We didn't go to school. Right. So, yeah, I mean, we just kind of made some friends that spoke Romanian.

It wasn't many. And then we just picked up the language, watching TV, talking to people. I find your story really fascinating, you know, because Mike's told me a little bit about you in the past. Coming from Romania, you don't speak the language, you move to New York, and then eventually you own a restaurant in New York? How the hell did that happen? My story is really crazy.

How does any of this happen? I think we need like two hours of your podcast. It just sounds like that's just a huge leap to come from that. Well, put it this way. I gonna just briefly take you through because it's so much to talk about yeah so i came here in 92 um i was 16 and a half i moved out um i guess six months later i moved out on my own um so i didn't go to school i dropped of school. I only went to school for four months, but I didn't speak any English, so it didn't make any sense to me at the time. I'm like, I'm just going there.

I don't even know what they're talking about. There's nothing to learn there for me. Don't worry, Mike and I felt the same way. We still didn't understand it. And I got a bartending job, which was crazy because I was only 17. But back in like New York, Queens area, you were able in like those local bars to get a job like that, that young. How tall were you?

Five, seven. And yeah, that's where everything started. I fell in love with the people, with the restaurant, with, you know, making drinks and the atmosphere. And that was my goal to get a restaurant, to get a bar. Then I started working in Manhattan for this restaurant that I bought, actually. So I started as a coat check girl. So I did coat check for... You're like 19 or 20 years old?

I was 24. So it's interesting. I mean, both you guys, you know, both you guys grew up fast you know you were some of those old pictures i see that you post on instagram sometimes you're 15 but you look like you're 20 25 yeah you guys both had to grow up quick mentally i think i i felt like i was 30 when i was 16 because yeah going having the life that i had by then already, for me, I was too mature. So I wasn't hanging out in clubs. I wasn't smoking pot.

I've never done drugs in my life. I worked in restaurants and bars all my life. I don't drink. You know, I don't get drunk, which is weird, right? Which works great for me. I'm very responsible. I like to, you know, to be on time for meetings it was just me just growing up i've learned from seeing other people fail i guess and that was my family you know just

i said i don't want to be like that i want to be different so anyway i got the bartending job after being a coach girl uh which was like seven eight months later um and then i bartended for five years and then i bought the restaurant from the owner and it was great was that like a goal like did you set out to do that um it was a goal to to be a restaurant owner but that wasn't my goal to be the owner of that restaurant but it worked out perfect because i knew all the people there i think i've been to that restaurant i think we went there after the premiere of uh you had oh that's true yeah yeah so i had a chance to go to nebraska it was really cool and we we had a an amazing time with my

entire family my dad's side of the family you went there side of the family yeah really really cool it's crazy though it's. It's a wild story. Yeah. When she told me, after we met a while later, you know, just, first of all, New York's scary. And now if you don't speak the language, you're coming from another country, and then you jump out on your own at 17, not speaking the language, and become a success. What's everybody else's? You know, it's just one of those things.

It's like, wow, you created something. More people, and I love those kind of stories. When somebody goes, I'm not going to be beat down or beat up, but they rise up like that. It's a cool thing for me. Did you learn the language kind of through the restaurant, just from hearing the language over and over again? I just sort of just picked it up from having, you know,

talking to people, the restaurant. I mean, I still run into certain words that I don't know what they meant. I don't know how to pronounce this word, honey. And he goes, I don't know how to say it either. Yeah, we're real great for each other that way. Yeah. And he goes, I don't know how to say it either. Yeah, we're real great for each other that way.

Yeah. But listen, not being in school and not doing what other kids are doing at my age at the time, I think it turned out pretty good. So I had the restaurant for 17 years almost, 16 and a half years. And as you know, I ran Muscle and Fitness Hers. I was the editor-in-chief for that for four years. And that's how you guys ended up meeting, right? What's the story behind that?

How did you actually meet? Well, we attend, like even before the magazine, we kind of went in the bodybuilding business, as you're going to see, you go to the same shows. So the Olympia, the Arnold, you know, to see, you go to the same shows. So the Olympia, the Arnold, you know, Expo. I was a crazy dog guy. Yeah, you were. You still are.

What's with this dude and his dogs? I don't get it. So many dogs. He's a weird dude. And now she's dating me. Yeah, but yeah, we became friends, I guess, at the Arnold. And then that's where everything started. Yeah, I met her. We were judging.

And I think one of the things that I noticed about her was she's very straight and she does her job and she does her things. And I was kind of jokey and goofing around. And so I'm judging this, I think it was the model search for muscle and fitness at the Olympia. And she was there and she was being very, you know, yeah, I'm like, hold on now. Hey, how you doing? And she's like, dude, you're weird. Kind of, you know, kind of vibe, like settle down, kid. Kind of vibe, like, settle down, kid.

So I sent her a little message. And I think after that, we just started joking around, talking to each other. I made her smile. That was the first thing you got to do, make her smile. And then we hung out. That might be tough to make this one. Yeah, it was. I was scared of her.

Well, he always says that I'm so different from all the other girls that he's been with before, dated. Yep. Yeah. It was a difference between dating girls and dating a woman. And then I got so much respect for her. Just to grow up that way. Because we went to school and we spoke the language and we did our best. But we learned stuff.

Even if we couldn't read it, we learned stuff. And she didn't even make it through a portion of the school we did um before she had to start and she skipped so much she didn't talk about how um some of the adults left life um and left her there to raise her brother and sister on her own at a very young age that I can't comprehend. I pictured in my head with you being so mature so fast is that some of that came. I had some responsibilities that either I liked it or not. I didn't have that childhood. Like I didn't have any toys ever. Like I don't know what that was. Toys and playing and all that, you know. So if you see somebody, you know know kind of feeling sorry for yourself sorry for

themselves uh you're kind of like hey it's bullshit like pick it up and you know of course you're gonna have these sad feelings here and there but i don't think yeah i mean i've met people that went through hard times yeah but i think what i went through you know it was pretty harsh so you know to me it's like you know exactly pick it up and move on and i don't get stressed about things no longer i used to back in the day because it doesn't solve anything yeah um you know i let things go that takes a while to mature because you like when you're young you know somebody throws a punch even if it's not a literal punch you just you automatically your fist is balled up too and it causes a lot of stress and causes you a lot of problems yeah no it doesn't i've learned that being stressed about certain

things that you can't do nothing about she's not just saying this she's really that way it's true it's it's no need to be stressed about it just i hold on to things and she just looks at me and like yeah i'm getting you're getting better i'm getting better yeah i'm not i i i'm a sensitive guy i hold on to things things bug me i kind of i kind of like things to hold on to a little bit too though you know like um the old football mentality of the other team said something about your team and the coach would pin that up on the wall in the locker room and he gets the whole team fired up. I do that a little bit. Somebody says something about me or something, I'm like, okay, that's good. That's good energy that I'm going to use.

I'm going to put that over here. You know, give me some firepower, you know, going into battle, going into a training session or something like that. You remember that. Like, okay, they don't think I could do this or somebody doesn't think I could do that. I'll show them, you know going into battle going into a training session or something like that you remember that like okay they don't think i could do this or somebody doesn't think i could do that i'll show them you know and see i'm like that i like that she's not like that she doesn't have to grab it from other people and stuff yeah so i'm trying to learn that kind of stuff um but it's a good balance and she doesn't try to change me for how i am no that's not at all no and i hate asking for favors uh because that you always you know you owe me or you know i hate that no favors i'm good uh

maybe somewhat disturbed by uh some of the like strong woman movement because sometimes it's maybe uh i mean you can go one of two ways like it's great that people are recognizing that women should be able to be whatever they want to be and they should be able to be CEOs and so on of companies and bosses and things like that. They could be. I think any woman could do that. Right. As long as you have the cojones to get up there and get it done.

Right. I hate depending on anybody you know i like to be independent have my own stuff my own money my own clothes my own car if i want to buy something i'll buy it i don't have to ask anybody you know and i think that um it just kind of and you like that i think you like that about me Being independent 100% That changed me from What I've dated I didn't I didn't want to date A strong woman from New York

I wanted to nurture her Is she checking in on you a lot? Like Like hey Like you know Checking in to like See if you landed And all these different things

When you're traveling And stuff like that Or She's not very Needy Or that way No she She doesn't No she doesn't check in like that or she's not very uh needy or that way no she she doesn't no she doesn't check in like that yeah no no she's you can see how she was raised and i know her background how she was raised and how disciplined she is and you kind of uh um yeah it's just one

of those things is completely different than anybody I've ever dated, uh, which changed my whole life. I got better dating her. Um, I realized early on I had to become different to dater. Yeah. You know, I did have to give up the video games and I had to give up little things and

I had to give up, uh, things that bug her, uh, are like, uh, letting people get to you, um, holding onto things. to things uh man that helps a

lot yeah it does but it was i was learning so late in life uh on uh partnership right um because she's not uh she doesn't want a relationship she wants to build an empire. And dealing with a girl that's, listen, I do get up at 3. I do train at 4. I'll train hard. I'll get a meal in. If I need it, I'll take a nap. Then I'll get up and I'll get going again. She doesn't.

She gets up at 3, or if not a little before that, and doesn't stop. And there's no stopping. I mean, like at any point. I'm a doer. I like to do things. I'll say, okay, I'm going to step back and just relax here any point i like to do things i'll say okay i'm gonna step back and just relax here i'm gonna do some whatever it is relax watch a tv watch nfl watch a football game she's still going it doesn't stop and i'm like wow there's just an engine that just

uh doesn't shut down and she doesn't let things bug her which is uh amazing because I let things bug me. Yes, you do. And I always say, you know, live your life. Spend some money. Buy a new car. You guys sound very similar to my wife and I, you know, where Andy actually has maybe a couple of your traits, and it's a little mixed. She'll hold on to stuff a

little bit more she's very uh very protective of me uh but when i shot that video where i was talking trash about you a while back did that impact you at all yeah it did yeah yeah of course because i am i am very protective yeah my wife I mean she you know she'll be like that's it from that person I'm gonna you know and I'm like whoa with my family

I'm like that yeah yeah I like to protect them I didn't think you were going there hey you know what we're letting it letting it all fly okay

she wasn't happy about that yeah well of course not I mean people ask a lot of questions about it and part of the way that it happened was he made a video joking, I think on Instagram. And he said, I'm coming to your gym and I'm coming for your numbers.

Coming for your numbers. And so I just said to my brother, I was like, I mean, Chris, we're talking about it. And I was like, should I just go like full like wrestling mode promo thing on him? Or should I just like not worry about it? Or should I just tease him? And I think at that point point when that came out you guys had never met no no we never met right and so i think that and you and i had a little conversation too i was like hey i might go in you know i might go in deep or something i was

on this promo thing and and i think you were like hey like whatever and i don't think you realized i was gonna do like a 10 minute you know a 10 minute rant you know and so anyway realize you're going to say something about the dog i didn't know you were going to go about the dogs don't attack the dogs attack me the worst part of it right but but anyway uh just so that people know you know because people do ask like i thought there was a whatever and they still say that it was never meant to be if i if i caused any caused either one of you any heartache or any trouble or any pain, I'm truly sorry for it.

Sometimes you can't. Let's get him off the podcast. Yeah, sometimes I'm off the team. You know what hurt me? She didn't know you. So I saw she got, you know, like your wife um it was my fans i didn't like how my fans reacted oh my god that was part of what you said to me you said ah we got a call my fans got mad at you and i'm like no okay let me and and i and i went instantly out

there and said i started this that was my fault um he's a great guy. And I didn't want my fans to dislike you. And that, you know, I value my fans. They like me for much deeper reasons than just being strong or whatever it is. Yeah. And so I didn't want them to dislike you because I never had a gripe. Yeah, it was just all in good fun. And then maybe it went a little sideways. A little?

What's going to happen now? That's one of those deals where you're like wrestling with a buddy and then all of a sudden it turns into like a fight, right? Like, whoa, okay. Oh, now we're throwing kicks and punches. I didn't know. It's totally Irish. Yeah.

I didn't know things were going to go that way. But you have the ability to just kind of let most things just kind of roll off your back. Oh, yeah. So he might come home and be mad about this situation that happened when he traveled, or he's complaining about this, and he's able just to vent. I don't fight. I've got to say this. I've got to stop you for a second, because this is the one frustrating thing is I want to fight.

It does. Sometimes I want a little battle. She won't fight. It's the weirdest thing. I've never met a person in my life that, no, I'm mad and I'm poking, you know, and I'm trying to poke the bear and she won't fight. Do you want to do it? Go ahead and do it. My wife and I are the same way.

I mean, we haven't really ever had Like a fight You know There was some Explain to me how you deal with that Yeah Some banter back and forth I'm Irish

Here and there But like I'm the one who won't fight You won't You see that? Yeah She's not trying to ever pick a fight with me though Okay because I'm trying to pick fights She's

She might be ranting about something different Right You know And there's frustration But I think We both try to do a good job of just like, they're just, okay, they're just, the person's just frustrated. Like, oh, that's too bad.

Like, you know, and then you try to figure out, is there anything due to make it better? Not really. Okay, just they said it and hopefully that worked. And you know what I mean? I'll work on that. I'll work on it I'm used to growing up

With nine brothers And sisters And we're all Tussling Yeah And it's that Rollercoaster And I don't know man

It's one of those things I guess you grow up With it And you think That's normal People fight You gotta fight And then I deal with her

And nothing Well it's like I don't see why fight Like if you don't have Something nice to say, don't say it. You know, fighting,

going back and forth and like calling the names and all that. Oh, no way. No way. It's not. No, I can't. So I would never use a name

because I know that if something comes back to me. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You're talking about your wife. Okay. All right.

For other people, it's all right. You're a big, strong, muscular guy. I'm sure you're not sensitive at all. I can handle it. I have a soft heart. It just bounces right off your pecs, right? But yeah, I know sometimes with my wife, if we do get frustrated with each other, I mean,

there's never been any of that. Right. Just because I know if she says something to me, I'll just be, I'm sensitive as well. I'll be deflated. And so we don't ever, we don't ever go there, but some people say that you need to fight. And, but in my opinion, if you communicate a lot and see each other or communicate daily, a lot of these little speed bumps are being worked out, you know, to where you don't have to, you go to him one day and say, well,

you're doing, and then he you're, well, you're doing, and then he, you're, well, you're doing, right? And then you're both just complaining about stuff that somebody should have probably brought up probably about three or four years ago. So she's making you better. Oh, absolutely. She's been, Andy has been the single biggest turning point in my life, without a doubt. When I met her, I had no no long as i've been now uh

we're going into our 18th wedding anniversary uh next at the end of next month the day after the bodybuilding show nice so you'll be in shape perfect we're gonna be doing all nude shots yeah the uh hell of a day to celebrate you know oh my gosh but yeah it's been it's been 18 years but when i met her i had no car i had i mean not only did i not have a car i didn't have a license because my license got revoked from when i lived in new york because i had too many tickets uh i had no money i had no i just didn't have like a card. How did you guys meet? I had nothing. I had nothing. How did you guys meet? At Sharky's in Hermosa Beach. Oh, Sharky's.

Or Redondo Beach, yeah. Okay, all right. Yeah. There's a gold gym up there. You know where the spot is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I used to bounce at H2O. Oh, there you go.

Over by 12th Street. Back in the early 90s, I was personal training, doing American Gladiators and bouncing at night. Yeah, I was a bouncer. I bounced her on out of there, and there you go. There we go no she she just uh you know she came in there because her boss kept telling her like hey you need to come up and check out this this area you know it's like a lot more fun in hollywood hollywood's too many people and all this stuff it's true though yeah it is i mean the beach cities you can't you can't beat them and And on a taco Tuesday, she came rolling through there and met me.

And I'm not going to talk. I don't have the courage to talk to a girl. So she talked to me, and that was that. Done. Done deal. Stuck with her ever since. Or she's stuck with me. Yeah.

I love that. I love that. I i mean that's pretty much how it went down and then like everything was super um everything was just super natural from there everything was just smooth uh we'd talk on the phone we'd get together she lived close to me so that never happened before either like when i was in la if i would meet somebody they would be like passing through they'd be from like san diego or chicago or wherever and uh you know she lived in venice and i lived in santa monica and then so we started hanging out we started hanging out like every day and i was like oh this is like this is great and i i kept thinking like things are going to change like the more we hang out eventually we're going to hate

each other something bad's gonna happen You know I'm kinda like I'm kinda waiting For all these things to happen But Yeah Everything just kept transitioning

Well even when we moved in together Even when we got engaged And So that was 2000 Yeah Yep And when did you move? I moved in like 98

Yeah Towards the beginning of 1998 And then from here You moved up Northern Cal What year was that? I moved in like 98, yeah, towards the beginning of 1998. And then from here, you moved up Northern Cal. What year was that? That was about 2002 or so, somewhere in there. Yeah, and then I kind of bounced around. I went out to Columbus, Ohio, trained with Louie Simmons,

Westside Barbell, and that's where my powerlifting... Took off. Yeah, my powerlifting started to take off and tried some pro wrestling and tried some stuff. But Andy has always been supportive of every move. Even when the moves, at the time, they didn't make any sense. I mean, at the time, they literally made no sense at all. They were steps backwards, really. But the professional wrestling gave me the ability to talk in front of people. It gave me the ability to communicate. It gave

me the ability to be creative and to come up with funny and weird things to say and do. And so she allowed for that personal growth to happen that I needed. Like I was too immature and too young, just not in my years, but just too immature period to be able to advance in life. So I needed a decade, essentially, I needed a decade to grow. Because, you know, in terms of like, the like IRS in terms of like, tax returns, i don't exist until i'm about 30 years old and they're in their eyes hopefully nobody's watching this don't look back now yeah go back yeah but you know i wasn't able to put up any points on the scoreboard so to speak until until that time just because it took just took me i was just slower you know in school you know i i wish

at the time i wish i kind of understood like, hey, things are just going to take you longer. I mean, just that advice alone would have been good to have in my back pocket for times where I'd get upset or frustrated that I had a really hard time learning things. But luckily, I had great parents, still have great parents. They're still both around. I'm very lucky for that.

And they've been supportive of everything too. So I've had some really, you know, and both my brothers have been supportive. I got absolutely nothing to bitch and complain about. You know, I've always had a really solid, and I think I'm,

to be honest, I think I'm too much of a pussy. If I didn't have that, I don't think I would be doing much of anything I'm always really grateful for that And thankful for that I love it I love how you've grown Over the years

And I got to see it So this is This is cool for me to see you Go from where you were Yeah Training with me You know Doing the bands

On the squats And all that kind of stuff To That was fun Having a gym now That is free Super training training with me you know doing the bands on the squats and all that kind of stuff to i was having a gym now that is free super training super training but you're all about the money it's a free gym i don't know how that works uh just your fan that's called sarcasm yeah he actually doesn't it's um he created in some incredible things to help you know yeah i actually like making money. Okay. I do.

Of course. You're going to make it during your sleep? Yeah. Those things sell. I'm going to go to jail for it, right? But to see how it didn't change. Money changes people. Fame changes people.

Because I'll admit, when I was 22, man, I thought I was the i was strong training partner was tom plaz and i was doing 315 for 54 reps my god you know hanging with tom plaz at that time going and and um winning powerlifting meets winning bodybuilding shows on the covers month after month that was annoying for the other guys And so I thought It was great Then Made money From the get go

And then I lost My first million To a friend Wow A father figure Snagged my first million Took it I was over trusting

No no Invest it with me We're good And then he disappears And that really set me up. For not trusting anybody ever again. Yeah, something I deal with. Really set you off with that.

Yeah, sorry about that. Yeah. And it was depressing me for years. Yeah, but it was my dad that said. Don't worry, Mike. I got it. You'll never do that again. Never.

But then I did. I trusted my assistant. Well, you can't lose faith in people that's important yeah even though it sucks oh no you know what the full circle is i ended up with the right person because of the fact that my dad was passing and he goes uh i've lived my life i've done my things um and i'm gonna pass away but you're already dead because i didn't let go of that first million i made and got sold and i was like holding on to it yeah and he goes a real man go out and make it might lose it go out and make it again and i was like wow and and coming from somebody that is dying yeah that changed me right and i was like all right all right and i went back out and did it again but uh something she's great about is that that damage early on in my life

holds true and so i'm very uh boxed off sheltered oh you're right i like i like my dogs i like my close friends and then um i love meeting the people and everything, but that's about it. And she's like, you got to just keep going. You got to just let that go and keep going through it. And she's a great aspect for me to understand that. That's an amazing thing to go through. And I think a lot of growth can happen from that. You know, there's a lot of people say that you, the reason part of the reason why that happened was due to personal

development you weren't ready for that money yet that's my belief that's that's what i truly believe i sure seem like i could have i know i know i know but there's a there's a saying that says if you were to spread the world's wealth around to everybody equally, all the money would end up back in the hands of the wealthy because the other people don't have the development to hold on to that money or to turn it into more money. It's not really like intelligence, not that anybody's better than anybody. It's just personal development, and that's what I was talking about. I needed those 10 years to develop myself, to develop my gym, to develop these products.

And Andy and my parents and my brothers always being supportive of me allowed me to do that. I agree with you. So a lot of times when somebody says, oh, you know, how did you start your own business in the fitness industry and you did all these fun things? I can only explain from my perspective, but if you came from Romania and don't speak the language and you have this story where there's a lot of pain that later led to the growth, I had pain in my life too, but it's different. It's just different. Your life sounded much harder and much more difficult from where you came from. And I think it comes down to perspective. When somebody's asking about how to get in shape, well, it's going to be different for everybody.

Because if you're 350 pounds, we need to have a long conversation, right? Yeah. But if you're 220 pounds and you want to weigh 200 pounds, probably maybe write out a paragraph and you'll be on your way to being in better shape right so a lot of it's about kind of like where you know where you start you know where where's that kind of starting point how do you end up dealing with uh the bodybuilding stuff because he said earlier it's about what he's willing to give up. And does that become difficult? Because I'm sure a lot of times you might want to go to bed later or maybe you want to see a movie or hang out with friends.

Yeah, I would say when I was in New York, so before I moved out here, my life was completely different. Why? Because I was in the restaurant business. We were up late. You know, the kitchen closes at 11.30 at night. So either I liked it or not, I had to stay there, sometimes work if my workers didn't show up. And I competed.

I won the Miss Universe, but I've competed for a few years overseas. So I've done it all. She just throws that in there. Like, I won the Miss Universe. She's one of those, I said, genetic freak. I won the Heisman Trophy. And so I became president for four years. And then I moved on.

She did like two shows. I've done it all. Wins the Universe, turns pro, does a show, and goes, eh, I'm bored of it. Yeah, exactly. That's amazing. You're Miss Universe. Yeah, I've done it all. I've done that.

I did the magazine. I did the restaurant. Gosh, I mean, I hit the TV and newspapers in New York like crazy. That's awesome. Yeah. I've done motivational speeches with this accent on the Stock Exchange. I'm sorry, what? Yeah, New York Stock Exchange, which is crazy.

People wanted to see. And that was right after 9-11. And actually, not even that, when the market crushed, remember? A few years ago, the market just went completely down. A lot of people lost everything. So then they brought in other people to motivate the guys at the stock exchange that lost everything. So it's like, hey, look at this girl. She came from nothing.

She's like, you know. She's being so nice. She basically said, guys, sack up. Let's go. Quit guys sack up let's go that's what she told us today she did i said this i said trying so hard today too i said when we when we had a chicken nothing went to waste not even the feathers because we made pillows out of the feathers right So that's how we grew up. Okay. You're holding on everything. Exactly. So it, you know, life was hard,

but it made me so strong and so early in life. I was strong. I was always, you know, I'm not afraid of not having anything tomorrow and starting all over again.

Put it that way. I hope that doesn't happen, but, you know, like if that comes down to it, you just start again and you just, you just make it. Does she help you with the food and stuff like that?

Oh. Yeah, I'm a doer, remember? I do everything, I think, when it comes to food. Yeah, no, no, she does. I mean, sometimes you just at a boiling point. I used to go off. I used to. I'll let her answer that.

But I used to have. There was things I would do. I would go bulk in the old days. I'd love my 200, 290 to 300 pounds. Love the bulk up, love the strength. The fluff. Bulk. Yeah, I love that. That had to go with her when we started dating.

She's like, okay, you enjoyed something. Now stop. Now get back on the diet. You're getting too chubby. You had a cheat meal. You're done. And that helped. Because I saw that you were much happier when you were in shape.

And you fit in your clothes better. So you felt better. So I'm like, why the hell would you go the other way? If you feel better and you're you fit in your clothes better so you felt better so i'm like why the hell would you go the other way if you feel better and you're happier here why you want to go misery like it doesn't make any sense but i think that since we started dating you have not i i uh it hasn't been guest posing she books me constantly for guest posing appearances and now i'm one of the top four guys in the world, traveling the world, besides Kai and Jay,

but I'm still on stage guest posing. Right. And she's loading that. And so that's 100% her. That's cool. And it showed me, too, I could grow even more with my nutrition and key in even more to that. But when it comes to food, yeah, I prepare everything.

Obviously, we're very lucky with Icon Meals because they send all the food. Todd's amazing. Todd's amazing. So that comes in very, very handy. Todd Abrams, Icon Meals. But I don't think we ever run out of anything because if I see, I'm always on.

So if I see that we launch salmon or chicken or whatever, I make sure that I go out, I buy it, I cook. I don't think people understand what a daunting task it is to cook all these meals, even if you're getting some support from ICON. So you said something. Sorry for interrupting. But you basically said, does it get frustrating, all this and that. She's actually on it.

So it's two hours. Hey, time to eat. I'm off for two minutes. Hey, let's go. Let's go. So it's, yeah, it took me up. Like I said, she didn't want a relationship. She wanted a partner that we could dominate.

So she stays, you know uh she gives up the nights um which i'm okay with now if i was 21 maybe not yeah i'm okay with um you know i didn't mind that at all like and coming to la i changed my life completely and i chose to go on this path you know it's like it's always how you my grandmother used to say all the time you're gonna sleep however you're gonna make you bad you're gonna lay in it so i chose the path i think you know what i work out he works out that makes sense it's not like we eat healthy it's perfect like we don't have to you know i don't have to go to restaurant and i like going to restaurants but i don't have to go to restaurants, and I like going to restaurants, but I don't have to do that all the time. Sometimes I'm like, come on, honey, let's go have a good meal.

And does he go? Yeah, he does. We were just in Buffalo, and we went to a really nice steakhouse. That's cool. That's awesome to hear. I like to go, and I have a glass of wine here and there, because I can. And Mike does not Ever drink Ever ever

Not a sip Nothing Ever Just never got into it No Some of my brothers do it And so I go Yeah you're going backwards

Yeah At such a young age It's that whole Young age thing Man They got stuck in our heads And I stayed with it Yeah

But Yeah it's Been working out I don't mind getting up at three and going to the gym and working out with the boys and that's i'll tell you this that's fun you talked about and for you guys that are at home watching this you said something on the leg day that this morning we had a session by the way oh it's fun you're leading these sessions and they have all been great. I love how I said, hey, why don't you lead?

So anyways, what we're going to do is- What did you just say? So you said we have some guys in. We got you and me. We got these other guys. Some only been training for six months, blah, blah, blah. Long story short, we're all doing the same exercises. Different weight, different rep all doing the same exercises, different weight, different rep scheme, but same exercises. Something I love about her is she's not afraid to mix it up

and do the same thing. And she stays in this incredible shape. And I always talk about genetics that I got hard work. She's got genetics because she just, she trains less than all of us. She trains barely three times a week. She hasn't trained in two months and looks like this. Right now. But she normally trains maybe three times a week. She gets the heavy squats, the deadlifts. She loves that stuff.

Does rack pulls with 405. And she's not a 25-year-old girl. Yeah. She's early 40s. She's 27. But it's so hard now to work out with girls Because you know girls Do their bikini butt

Yeah butt workouts And like all the stuff You guys gotta see this butt guys You gotta see this butt This butt's crazy I wanna lift heavy So going to the gym And don't tell Gavin I said this

And lifting the same weight as Gavin Murphy Keep his name anonymous gavin murphy on this no not the celebrity chef we're not gonna mention that but yeah but it's kind of cool and i push the guys don't i yeah you don't really because they're like oh she's a girl we're like okay if the girl's doing it we gotta go up like the squat machine we're doing like a hack squat kind of squat machine today. That thing was terrible. And she'll go up to three, four plates on it. That's wild.

That thing was so hard. Doing a plate today was hard. I mean, I did one set with two plates, but I was toast. After we leg pressed, I was- We were done. I was shot. But there's two things that you do in your workouts that I've never really seen before. I've seen people adapt the

one rep principle into power lifting and i've seen a lot of people utilize it for um to conserve energy for the bigger set uh i used that kind of stuff in my you know five sets of five training and three sets of three and all the heavy lifting I've ever done. I've always employed those singles, but not quite the way that you do. And I really like the way that you're utilizing it. You know, you'll get underneath a plate on any given exercise and you'll do like one rep. Then you'll do another set of one rep. Then you do another set of one rep.

You might do three or four sets of one rep. I'm sure that you're waiting for something in particular to feel right, because I don't really know why we move up, but then we just move up. Four sets might have went by. One of the first things you said in one of the first workouts that we did, I really like to pay attention. When I see somebody at work, somebody who's highly skilled at what they do, I really like to pay attention. You know, when I see somebody at work, somebody who's highly skilled at what they do, I like to really try to hone in. And so I've been dissecting all this.

I've been watching it and I'm like, is he just fucking madman? Or is this like part genius, you know? And after being part of it for a month, you're a fucking genius when it comes to these workouts. It's really put together really well. When you were gone, you know, Gavin and I were kind of mixing it up and doing some different things. But obviously, I don't have the experience you do in these type of workouts.

And so our workouts weren't as good. They not only were not as good, they weren't as fun. But Gavin and I did get to chat a lot, which was which was great because it's great to get to know him better. But what I noticed is those singles are something that's different and the multiple sets. But one thing that really stood out is you said, we don't count sets. And then it was a couple of days later, you're like, we don't count reps. I'm like, okay, cool. No counting. I suck at counting anyway. and then it was a couple days later you're like we don't count reps i'm like okay cool no counting i don't i suck i suck at counting anyway but today it was set after set after set after set after set of leg press i mean if somebody was counting you know if we counted the warm-up i mean there's probably maybe 15 sets of it in there you guys were in it for like 40

minutes then it goes okay first set now yeah and and there might have been like you know six or eight sets beforehand and there was another six or eight sets after right you know and so uh it was tough why and how you know did you come across some of the stuff the first thing was like we did in powerlifting try to save as much energy for the big lift and then i realized it's not so much about the blood flow as it is the nervous system. If you ever train at three in the morning. Blood flow, we need a pump, bro, right?

You gotta get pumped. Don't we need a pump? You gotta get the blood flowing through it. What's wrong with the pump? Is there something wrong with the pump? Yes, there is something wrong with the pump. And I'll explain that. If you train at three in the morning.

I'm talking about a penis pump. Everything. You have a few pull it out give me your purse is it true that he broke a couple of um at three in the morning the bar feels heavy just the bar you put the bar on the back of the squad. That sounds like, like you came from a bar. The bar is heavy. The bar is heavy, son. You're just picturing somebody hammering some beers.

So I realized with everything is, is so much more important that the nervous system is woken up, not, and try not to fatigue the rest of it, not try to worry about the pump. And as soon as the nervous system has woken up on every set, as you keep going, everything starts to go light again. It's like when you go up to 700 pounds

and you come back down to 500 pounds. 500 feels like nothing. Now you can do a set of 20 with 500 pounds. But as you go up, it's the nervous system that's getting used to everything. So if you can just keep going up with as little energy as possible and letting the body adapt to it and wake up its natural self instead of forcing it to wake up, got to get in there, got to pump it, got to pump it. And it seems like it just,

it's so much more productive. You get the right amount of work done. You're waiting until you're ready until the body's ready. Then you start your sets. Well, you're also making yourself weaker, right? As the workout progresses, if you're doing high reps and your warmups, you're literally making yourself weaker. Because if you did a set of 20 with one plate and a set of 20 with two plates, like how much longer could this last? And you see that often. You see people do workouts like that.

I think everybody thinks you got to put the blood in there. And it's just like the mindset, I don't go into the gym to get stronger or build muscle. I go in there for the connective tissue. The secondary from that is you will get muscle and get stronger. So that's a side effect of it. But it also keeps you healthy. And the one thing is if we can stay healthy, we can keep

training. If you can keep training, then you can get better. Does he do this with sex too? Is it one rep? It's all a race. If you want to get done at the same time, you should have started before me. He's like, recovery.

Give me a peanut butter jam sandwich you loved this last month i can tell oh i absolutely loved it what have you gotten out of the training because for a female that's pretty different like most most time you do see these girls doing these booty band workouts and uh their cardio bunnies and these different things but you're you're you you're pushing some heavy weights. The only thing that I got, yeah, is I got stronger. Honest. Honest.

I've always lifted a pretty good amount of weight for my body. You know, I was always like anywhere from 125 to 130 pounds, always. Before I started competing, I was only, you know, seven pounds away from being on stage because that's me. I just like being in shape, walking around in shape, you know. I don't like...

However, when I started working out with them, Mike has his philosophy of working. I thought I knew how to squat. I mean, I competed. You know, I'm an athlete. But when I started working out with him and he worked on my squats, I was way off. And I still, I'm embarrassed to say, I don't think I squat correctly to this day. Because I could go back in there and he still corrects me.

Squats are tough. It takes a long time to master a squat. Yeah, I mean, we've been squatting for how long, right? We've been together for so many years. How long have you been together for? Four years. Yeah, so it's just, it's one of those things.

You listen to the master and then you just get stronger. I got stronger can you guys just cut that part use that as a teaser that's that's my favorite thing right the master the master disaster cover up your wood um did mike did some of this stuff uh because you're a good teacher you know if you realize that but you're really really good teacher and um you know even in the midst of the workout you're trying to get your stuff in and um and other people are changing

out weights and moving around and there's a lot of kind of moving parts but then you're stopping and you're explaining to the camera to the audience on instagram what's going on why we're why are we doing this i think that that's great. But then you'll also turn and explain to the person what we're doing. And a lot of times you'll take the time even just to encourage the person, even just to give, you know, it's not, there's a lot of stuff that people don't see. There's a lot of stuff, you and I have these like crazy conversations because the mind is really, our minds are really buzzing at like five o'clock in the morning when we've done a bunch of sets of squats and leg press and all

these different things has some of this stuff maybe uh transitioned over from your martial arts background because i know you're really passionate about that as a kid too right i think it was all three i think power lifting the martial arts, and the bodybuilding. I think with powerlifting, it's such a form-based thing. The proper form in the right position, you're going to get a heck of a load of weight. But then you go over to, and most of it's done with momentum, though. Yeah. So there's pros and cons. Then you go over to the bodybuilding and again it's form it's isolation it's mind and muscle um but then it's done with something so

light just that way you can contract and really flex the muscle and i think i put it all three together with when because of the martial arts background and all the sports i did because i was on the gladiators on the original and i was on there for seven years and then i was on battle dome for three years then i was on the new gladiators for three years so there was a a time of almost 15 years of extra sports outside of you know high school and people don't understand how physically demanding that was yeah we were fighting six guys a day i mean it's a real thing right i mean we got to bang heads yeah and bang heads against you know good athletes but six guys against one of us um

because the way you see the show isn't the way that we did it but i i saw that there was things that weren't transferring um i need like with your own strength it wasn't transfer over well the gladiators everything i was doing the gym wasn't transferring over to the field and so i'm like what do i need to switch what do i need to change and it was the whole concept of slowing things down and putting myself in a weak position um and a lot of the stuff we did and then also understanding it's not about the muscle you know you and i understand that we could take 180 pound wrestler and he'll throw around a 280 pound bodybuilder but wait a minute hold on he's 280 pounds of muscle

connective tissue is that man strength you could see a 220 pound guy deadlift how much no yeah 900 pounds yeah well i don't understand there's no muscle to him how's he deadlifting more than these 300 pound monster bodybuilders leverage yeah the connective tissue is so strong they grab a hold of you and i said i need to focus more there i need to focus on that and what that is um i've been around a long time myself i've never heard anybody i never heard anybody say it like that i've never heard anybody. I never heard anybody say it like that. I've never heard anybody. It's actually the exact opposite of what I would traditionally hear. Most people would think, oh, if I'm slow in a sport, I'm going to go do box jumps.

I'm going to go do, they're going to go and do things. And I never, never even thought about this until you just said it now. They're going to go do a lot of things that'll be more harmful to the body. They're going to add more stress. They're like, oh my God, I need to change everything that I'm doing. Meanwhile, maybe they were close to the right path, but maybe they just needed to add in some singles and some of these different angles. You're doing everything, you're getting everything from so many different angles. I mean, I found it fascinating, you know, being in powerlifting for so long, seeing some great Olympic lifters over the years and some great CrossFitters. There's really not a lot of great ways to jump into workouts with a lot of these people,

especially something like CrossFit, because CrossFit might have a gymnastics component to it where you're doing like handstand pushups and you're doing all these crazy other things. Powerlifting could be the same way. Somebody could be deadlifting like eight plates and there's not really a good way to jump in on that with them. But with all the workouts that we've done, we've had people come in and train with us that have been training for six months. They've only been in a gym for six months and they're training with you and you've been training for 40 years. I've never really experienced anything like, I've never seen anything like that. At my gym, we do some stuff

that's a little bit similar, but it's in a different way. Like we'll do like farmer's carries and then I say, just pick whatever weight is appropriate for you. And they'll go and grab, we do, we do some conditioning stuff that's like that, but I've never really seen it applied to weights the way that you do it. And I think it's, I think it's brilliant. And I think that it's inspiring because again, we have people, people that are listening to this, that are just getting into lifting or haven't even picked up a weight quite yet, man, there's, you have a lot of options when you go into the gym, and you can do almost all these movements. It just might look a little different than the weights you're handling.

And that's kind of the only difference is the intensity behind it, right? Yeah, I think you're right. And I think I try to show that, and I try to explain that to them. And it's like Mona said, you know, we're still working on it. We're still making it happen. But the one thing I think is, and I think you might realize this now at 41, less is more. Yeah. And it's a hard concept.

Today more was more, but I understand. Yeah, today more was more. And again, it's do as I say, not as I do. But less is more. And if I could talk to the young self of myself, I'd say less is more or slow down or, okay, great that you squatted that. Now try it a couple different ways. Don't stay in that same position for the next 10 years

in that same exact deadlift position or same squat position change it um and so i'm just trying to teach that and i appreciate you your feedback on it's nice having you here doing that it's been it's been awesome uh what's something that you learned that you carry over uh from your background you know from being from romania to moving to new york to moving out here to california to be when being with him what are some things that still carry over from uh probably when you were a kid i guess gosh i don't think i carry anything over yeah you do what oh yeah you do like what live in the moment um let it go um i think i've learned that more i've learned that more um when i was on my own

here in new york it wasn't when you were a kid when you were because i got i got thrown out right from my dad and my parents left me and i was here in new york at that time and everybody's like how can you talk to him again how can you talk how him again? How can you talk? How can you forgive? How can you buy him a business? Let me hold up for a second. Let me catch them up to speed. I come from a great family that the parents allowed us to grow up, allowed us to do mistakes, and then deal with the consequences.

But they were there. They fed us. They kept us in a house. They gave us food to eat um so they never abandoned us so something that's harsh for me is in uh being with her i dated her for a few years before i heard all the backstory yeah and it was hard for me uh to let go of the anger that i built up right right hearing when you were 12 13 when they first left when you were in romania 11 11 take care of the kids they're both gone yeah wait a minute 11 years old how old's your daughter she's 10 so imagine in a year you next year i'm going to take it off taking off you're on your own yeah imagine how grown so when i heard this and then then they come back like years later and

then they finally bring her to america and then kick her out on the streets in new york i'm like how am i supposed to like these people and she's like it's life they weren't ready uh they shouldn't have had kids i can accept that they're my parents i'm gonna accept it and be nice to them but it just would do you absolutely no good to hold on to it it's amazing you know what it's one of those things you just you just let it go our good friend uh ct fletcher he had had a story where he was abused as a kid. And he was terrified of his dad. And he's always been waiting. He's always been hoping that his dad one day would say, son, I'm sorry.

Or son, I'm proud of you. Even if he never said, I'm sorry. And even if he never asked for forgiveness. You know, he thought, you know, at one point it just, his dad would just, in a moment of weakness, when he was passing on or whatever, would say something like that to him, and it just never happened. And so CT decided, I don't know if it was like friend's advice or whatever, but he decided, you know what, I'm going to go to him, and I'm going to tell him I'm sorry. And so that's what he did.

He said, Dad, you know what, I'm sorry for having so much resentment uh for you you know when i was a kid ct's like i bawled my eyes out we hugged he's like my dad didn't cry he goes because he doesn't really give a shit he goes but i was free of everything he said i never felt so powerful my whole life and i was like wow you're a fucking way stronger guy than i ever even thought was possible like holy shit that was pretty crazy story right yeah that's coming from him too somebody that's you know yeah that's crazy but yeah she's strong that way and just talking about ct just hi ct what's up buddy we love you uh one of the most heart pure of hearts, kindest people in the world. He's amazing.

And we didn't start out as friends. And he even says that. And I got him on video going, hated Mike O'Hearn. Yeah. And his story about- He kept hearing your name and how earthy he means. He's like, fuck Mike O'Hearn. Yeah.

I don't know if we can say that, but's fuck michael hearn and then i show up and i win and i win the overall lifter and he's like damn it um and we're friends today and i could see the point and how she is that i need to work on that is that that he and i wasted so much time and i didn't know him back on hate on hate, on like, yeah, just no reason. Who knows what opportunities they missed out on over the years, not just from him, but other relationships, right? But now, like, that's my boy, that's my brother.

Right. And yeah, so I can agree with her, but it was tough for me to, and I'm learning that from her, but that's the great thing about having a partner like that. It's like, it was what it was. She lets go of that. Yeah, you know's a great thing about having a partner like that. It's like it was what it was. She lets go of that. Yeah.

You know, it's like everything happens for a reason. So if that didn't happen, probably I wouldn't have had what I have right now. Maybe I wouldn't have worked that hard. I don't know. So, Mike, you're the total opposite. You've been holding on to this thing that you're dumb. You've been holding on to that forever. From the time you were a kid, placed in special classes just like me,

called retard and called whatever. We had our struggles, and you've held on to that this whole time and have utilized it to build yourself up, right? I held on to it in a different way, yeah. I like the contrast with her and me in building our empire. But yeah, is that something you've held on to? Absolutely. Yeah, you know, I always kind of say I'm not competitive, but it's...

Oh, you are. Yeah, I have a weird frame of mind, I guess. I'm very competitive with myself, and i'm also competitive in a sense of like i don't really care how long this takes to figure this out because i've learned over a long period of time like it is always just going to take me longer you know and so i don't mind looking at somebody saying oh they're ahead on this or they're ahead on that and i try not to dwell on other what other people are doing anyway but uh i try to just look at it and say, you know, I'll get there, you know. And so as a kid and, you know, going through a lot of those things of kids saying, oh, you know, like, why aren't you in these other classes?

Or are you in advanced whatever? I'm like, no, I'm not advanced anything. I'm on the other side, you know. Like, how come I never see you in whatever class? It's like, well, because I'm sheltered away with these other kids that are like lighting their desk on fire and stuff. And really all it was for me is just. You had them in your class, too. Oh, yeah.

Had the same kid. Yeah. Had the same kid. Yeah. Yeah. The same guy. No. There was a lot of there was a lot of kids like that.

And, you know, I found myself being protective over those kids. And I'd see, I remember there was an incident where a kid just randomly just went up to another kid. This kid was really small. He's in one of my classes. I think that this kid actually, I don't even think he was slow. I think he just had a weird family upbringing

and he was just struggling in school. Another kid just came up, knocked his books out of his hand. Another kid just came up, knocked his books out of his hand. Kid went to pick up his books. Kid just punched him right in the face. And I've never seen anything like that gross in my life. I was like, this is like, what the fuck is going on? So I just grabbed this kid and I take him and I just, I never put my hands on anybody before in my life. I was already training and I was already lifting like a savage and I played football and stuff like that, but I never got into a fight before. I take this kid and I just

rag doll him right into a locker, a locker that was halfway open. He hits the ground and he's completely motionless. And I was like, oh fuck. So I ended up getting in trouble for that. And I got home and my dad was like, my dad's like, man, what is going on? Like, what are you doing? And he's just like, my dad's like, I'm so disappointed in you. My dad said that.

And then I couldn't explain what happened because now I'm hysterical. I'm like 14, but I'm crying like a little bitch. And so anyway, I calmed down and I tell my dad what happened. And my dad's like, go back to that school. He goes, do that a couple more times. Make sure that kid understands what's up.

You know, you can't, you know, treat people that way and that kind of thing. And so, yeah, it has always been like a me versus them kind of mentality that I've taken on. And, you know, it's fun to prove people wrong. And, you know, it's fun to prove people wrong. It's fun to obtain and acquire knowledge over a long period of time to where I can say, yeah, I'm pretty good at some of these things. You know what I mean? That feels great. It's all right if we hold on to some of that.

Yeah. I love the chip on the shoulder. I love the consistency that I'm willing to do. But it's definitely grown into a different kind of path now. Got a little Miss Universe on my side. Yeah, that's huge. I had Mike Ryan on the podcast. I had Tito Raymond. Nice.

Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hap Thor Bjornsson, all kinds of different people have had on the on the podcast uh since my month here right it's been uh really awesome staying efforting um and one thing that i think is awesome uh justin lovato i've asked everybody said hey who's you know what have you seen in gold's gym you know who you know who's the who's the biggest guy ever there? And there's a couple of guys that like Jeep Swenson. Like, you remember Jeep Swenson, right? And I'm like, well, who's like the strongest? You know, who's the most consistent?

Every single time your name comes up. Tito Raymond said that in any era that you're the strongest person to ever walk through Gold's Gym. Now, you know, of course, there's there's like you know a power lifter that won a world championship or whatever one one year or five years in a row or whatever the case is there's some world's strongest man guys that have walked through there but our point was and what what tito and i talked a little bit more in depth about was not so much just the strength on like a bench press not so much the strength on an overhead press or a deadlift, but the strength on a reverse grip bench press,

the strength on a tricep exercise, the strength on a pull-up. Just overall, yeah. Yeah, the strength on all these exercises. And I think it would just, it would be the coolest thing if there was like a Michael Hearn challenge, you know, where it was like X amount of money's put up or some sort of cool prize for anybody that can come in. And maybe it's even just for fun. Maybe it's just for fun. Maybe it's for some fans. Maybe you take on like five fans that are, you know, in their twenties,

these young guys and they come in and they try to try to beat Michael Hearn. But anyway, we just, They come in, they try to beat Michael Hearn. But anyway, we were just really admiring it and really admire the consistency, the longevity of it all. Mike Ryan, who I think maybe at times you guys don't always maybe see eye to eye. I think you guys are friends, but I don't think you're like best. I got no gripes with Mike. I don't think you're like best. I got no gripes with Mike. I don't think you're. I like Mike and his reviews on movies.

I don't know if you're always besties, but I mean, he had nothing but good things to say too. And he was just like, he's like, look, man, the guy comes in there every day. It's in there at four o'clock in the morning and he's going to kick your ass on some exercise every single day. It's like somebody might catch him on something every once in a while on one exercise but it might happen he's like it might happen on one day with one rep with one particular exercise and then that's the end of it right then it doesn't

happen again how did how did that how did this all come to be how did i mean that's a big gym with a lot of members and and you name some people that are high profile so that's that's nice first of all just a anytime you know you're not around and they're talking nice of you that's a nice thing so you know it's a every workouts my last workout and it's been an approach I've done since I was nine years old like this morning have you ever seen i mean i'm not just trying to blow smoke up his ass here and or make his head any bigger than it already is but um have you ever seen anything like this before like this kind of commitment i mean it's it's no no i wasn't around um you know people that worked out like that all the time.

Because I worked out by myself, even when I competed. And then my friends back home, they like to party and hang out. They don't like working out. So no, I have not seen anybody. What about even just in business and stuff? Like you said, it's mental strength. That's what it comes down to. So he's mentally, he's very strong.

He wants to get something, he gets it. Is that what you're training? Because it seems like to me, like when we're training, that's a huge aspect of it. I feel like since I've been here and this is 30 day flash of training with you every day, which has been amazing, I feel like I've gotten mentally stronger.

Is that something you're consciously working on? I think that's the majority of it. I think it's the voice in the head. Last week we did squats with Heath, and I said to him, I said, at some point, don't do this set for you now. Set it out of reach for me. And that's a 30-year-old guy that played 10 years in the NFL that's a beast.

And I love knowing in that push, but when we get in there, it's not that I just want to do better than him. I want to see what I can do and keep pushing the envelope. Because listen, I started when I was 9, 10 years old, on stage by 13, 14, small pool of people, and I'm back to that small pool of people for what I am doing today for my age or for my size or whatever it is. At this stage, it's just being able to show the possibility.

And like you said, it's just being able to show the possibility. And like you said, it's like being able to show those kids that you created something, that you did something. Maybe it took you longer, but you're at a place that's such a small percentage of people get to. Right. And for me today, it's that small percentage again. And it's giving hope to other people, which is a cool thing. And it's not something I set out which is a cool thing and it's not something i set out to do but i'm in that position now what do you do with self-doubt does that ever

creep in not when it's around that stuff um you know when it comes to something outside your box yeah it's outside of that it's yeah what's the what's the dialogue what's the dialogue in your head to, you know, continue to make yourself better? Is it, you know, you're trying to handle things kind of rep by rep, or is it just day by day, or is there some even greater thing? It's that small voice in the head every set. It doesn't matter if it's squats or if it's tricep pushdown. It's every time it's that fight.

And I always say when when i'm lifting regardless of the joke and in between this and that it's like when you're a kid in a fight you actually don't hear anything outside of you you're just hearing your breath uh the voice in your head going he's kicking your ass or you're kicking his ass and you don't hear all this even though they're right here screaming at you, um, I'm in my own head. It's, and it's saying anything like when I was doing,

uh, uh, my birthday squats going for 80, 40, 48, 49 reps. I got CT screaming and yelling. I got a crowd of people and all I was hearing,

um, I think I got to like 30 and i was fatigued and i was done and then i'm sitting there going everybody's going to be calling you names and stuff and you're going to be just get another one get another one the voice this is you the voice is talking to me and after 30 i finished up at 48 49 reps and it's like it's just one of those things this is you nobody else will do this um what weight was that 315 oh my god 315 squat 40 48 yeah yeah that's insane and you didn't have to stop it all and get get air oh i got air oh yeah yeah but i didn't rack it i didn't stop i didn didn't stop. I never let it off my back. That's insane.

But it's those kind of things. It's just, it's fun now. Now everything's icing on the cake. But you're stronger now than you were five years ago, 10 years ago. I'm not talking about the weights. Mentally. Mentally.

So I think it's important for people to understand that that's what you can build. I mean, who would ever thought that that's what you can get out of the gym? Build this really powerful mindset. But I think you picked that up. Yeah, absolutely. Like you said, when you approach weights like we did when we were 20s, let's get big and strong. Let's be an alpha male.

You're missing really what it is. It's self-growth. It's longevity. It's self-growth. It's longevity. It's time with your kids being healthy. And this is all coming down to health. All of it is. But it's also mind health. And being able to prove what you can do.

If you can do that there, what can you do outside in the business world? Right. Come on, that's no physical strength. Now you just gotta be mentally strong out there. If you can be physically strong in here and do stuff that they say hey son you're 30 don't squat no more no more deadlifts they're bad for you and and you're showing everybody wrong right and it's you can't lift heavy going into a bodybuilding show or into a shoot right how many times did i do that when i was and i can't drop

weight and gain strength at the same time do it you you always just do the exact opposite it seems like or at least i purposely do the complete opposite just because i you said soft doubt i don't have any doubt on my belief on what the body is capable of and what it can do um i have doubt what doctors say it can do right a hundred percent um and i'm not going to just say that that okay maybe i'm the one i do this with people i do this with clients around the world i take a 40 year old that's never trained before in his entire life and and in five years he's squatting 550 healthier his bone density is tripled come on that's crazy. You can't do that.

At 40 years old, you're on the way down. You're done. And they got better? Look at Gavin. You cured his erectile dysfunction, or at least halfway, he said. Well, I think that was Mona. Yes, it was. But it's the point of we're actually showing them what's possible with the body now um and

it all comes and stems from the mindset what's up with the dogs that's the list of the last question the babies what's going on these dogs you guys don't know this and i joked about it earlier but back in the day when she was running the magazine obviously i was doing the covers and magazine articles and stuff and she would see pictures and she'd be like uh deshaun perrine dude what's up with the guy and the dogs man why you guys keep putting them on the cover and cover stories now she's dating me yeah the dogs keep what is important for me relevant. They are unbelievably in the moment. And the worst thing I am is in the moment.

I won the universe. I got off stage. Backstage, I'm like, okay, that was cool. What's next? Right. Just won the universe again. Really? Can't enjoy the night? And that's how i was i uh you know you get gladiators okay that's great but that's not

enough what's tunnel vision yeah and i couldn't slow down and and the one thing that happens with life is you're 41 now where'd it go right now my wife with this whole bodybuilding thing she's like uh what's going on here you know like you retired from powerlifting i said you know uh you know i you you married a warrior and i need a war to fight otherwise i'm gonna lose my mind so i gotta keep there's gotta be battles uh that i have to go that i have to go fight every once in a while. And that's what I say. Weightlifting is that battle. We're born gladiators, and I need that fight every morning. But the dogs are the one thing that can suck me out of everything,

the stress, whatever the craziness is, and it makes me appreciate the moment and just go, stop, enjoy this, breathe, take a moment. They have a great way for that. And then... They're always happy, so they make us happy. Yeah. Isn't that amazing?

Yeah, you leave the house for like two minutes to put the garbage out. You come back and they act like they haven't seen you in like a month. So, you know, it's just... Do you ever get frustrated and you're angry and then something happens or your daughter smiles at you and it makes you happy again and go, okay, this is what's important. They show me what's important.

The weird bond that I have with them. And then my one dog that's 19 now that I got from a photo shoot for Muscle and Fitness. Teddy bear. She was the one thing, her and her sister were the one thing that was there for me when I lost my mom. And then I tried to be a man about it, not cry about it. When I lost my dad, I tried to be strong and go, okay, that's life, that's life, whatever. And then I lost my mom and everything came back and I dropped. But they were the one thing that was there that kind of helped me.

Right. At least feel not alone. Yeah. Teddy, 19 years. She's been there with one. I mean, through everything. That's a long time. Yeah.

It's a lifetime. That's the dogs. They keep you in the moment. They make you drop down from that aggressiveness or that fight that we love to have and settle me. Yeah, my kids do the same thing for me. When my brother passed, I got the call from my dad, and then I kind of went into our bathroom because I just was trying to process what was going on. My mom's screaming in the background.

It was just a horrible phone call to get. And I came out of the bathroom. I told my wife and I was crying. And then, you know, kids, they sense stuff too, just like a dog would. Your dog, if you were crying in the house, your dog would totally, your dog would. And now you're upset. It'd be right by your side licking your face probably, right? And Quinn came around the corner and she was like, she goes, Dad.

She goes, I just, she goes, I just, what did she say? Oh, she goes, I just sneezed, and she's like a booger. It went flying out of my nose. She's like, it went like this on a thing of snot, and it went back, and it hit me right here. And, yeah, like she didn't see that I was crying, but she told me this like weird story or whatever. And I was like, and I was just like,

how could you not laugh at that? I was like, oh, I was like, that's so sweet. And I gave her a big hug and kiss. And then I just went for a drive for a little bit because I'm like, I don't know how to explain any of this. I need to get out of the house for a few minutes. And I just hung out with some buddies, but I could see how the dogs can, you know,

bring everything back down to earth for you guys. It makes a lot of sense. Oh yeah. They're awesome. What's next kids? What's next? What you got going on? Next.

A workout tomorrow, perhaps with the world's strongest man. With the world's strongest man. Oh my God. So that will be fun. We're going to do that. We're still traveling. We're traveling all the time, which is fun, which is so fun. Something that we didn't do as a kid is we didn't give lectures.

We didn't give our speeches. Yeah, no. And now we're doing it all the time. Isn't that incredible? The two guys that were scared and shy were going to go around talking to people and some of the coolest things in the world. People are dying to hear what you have to say. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. It's pretty damn cool. It's amazing amazing if you ask us back then no yeah when you grow up you're going to travel the world and tell your story and talk to people not about what we taught you here but what you learned in the classes and how you grew up i'll be like what do you what am i learning i'm just protecting these kids and fighting these kids and they hate them i don't care how good of an athlete i'm i'm never going to be a jock or whatever and uh now we're talking about it it's a cool thing it's a mind-blowing thing so we're doing that yeah we'll continue the real hustling man gonna be hustling uh you got

some um different uh companies you guys are involved with, sponsored with, and stuff like that? Well, we got a clothing line, but we're more into real estate. We've been doing that. I started that a while ago, and now she's involved with that. So apartment complexes. Very cool. We got a great guy in our corner that's taught us and taught me, and we love buying properties. That's great.

Buying properties, turning them around, and building them up. Yeah. And it's that money you make while you sleep. Oh, yeah. It's a nice thing, right? Yeah. You can tell us about that. Invention is a beautiful thing.

I can't even imagine. It just sells while it's just sitting there. Yeah. Checks are just coming in. Wait a minute, what? Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, and it used to not be checks you know it used to be like invoices like it used to be stuff that i

owed that's all i would ever get those things would just pile up and now well and now you know a check comes and it could be like a royalty from something i worked on a while ago that i kind of forgot about and i just don't even you know you don't celebrate it anymore you know the first couple times it comes you're pretty pumped and then after a while you're like enjoy it yeah we're gonna keep pushing we're gonna keep doing a lot of the stuff we're doing we're gonna keep uh going after the dream it was awesome having you guys on the show i think the dynamic between the two of you is great and thank you so much for letting me jump in on these workouts for the last month it's been amazing we loved it man seriously you guys have some announcement to give me or something but can we do it on here i don't

know how it works this isn't live this isn't live this is not live and we can air it whenever we'd like well then we cannot do it if it's live it is not live so we will tell is it is it live no we don't have anything it's not live all right so will tell. Is it live? No, we don't have anything. It's not live. All right. So ready? I'm ready. I'm sitting down. Reset, reset. Mona is eight weeks pregnant. Oh my God.

No one that couldn't kick your ass at the gym. Show those trend arms. You know what was funny is, Show those Trent arms You know what was funny Is You probably had a friend He's mentioned this to me A couple times

About how There was something He wanted to tell me There was something He wanted to tell me And I was I wasn't thinking And I was like

I was like What is he gonna You know He's gonna What is he gonna tell me And I thought maybe It would be like a surprise Or something

I don't even know Right I squatted 500 Yeah Hey Remember I squatted 500 For three the? And I thought maybe it would be like a surprise or something. I don't even know. Right. I squatted 500. Yeah. Yeah. Squad. Hey, remember I squatted 500 for three the other day.

I actually did it for four when you weren't paying attention. We didn't get a video, you know, I thought it'd be a meathead thing or, you know, I thought it was gonna be something. So you tell me, you're going to tell me right now you figured it out.

So I, but yeah. So today when you, when youed it again You thought about it Yeah well I just looked at I looked at you

And you You just looked so beautiful You were like glowing And I saw his smile And I was like Oh I was like I know what happened here

Titan 2.0 is Yeah We're having a little boy It's in the oven That is Awesome Congratulations Can you even see That having a little boy. It's in the oven. That is awesome. Congratulations. Can you even see that's a little boy at eight months old?

Eight weeks old. We did the genetic testing, so we know. We did all that great stuff. I was like, is this baby's penis that big already? He's lifted already. I'll show you on Instagram. He's like, what's up? Yeah, it's a little boy.

Titan 2.0. Fuck. I know. It's crazy crazy we can't believe it still we're like holy crap this is really happening yeah well just you know let me let me know you know when you want this release and we'll wait four weeks yeah you know you know the deal you gotta wait the first 12 weeks yeah yeah just to make sure that everything is going well yeah i'm blown away that is just yeah i'm still blown away truthfully that's amazing having a baby congratulations that is so that is so cool you know what's funny this is a real this is a real game changer right here yeah uh because people always say this to me they i i give up a lot in life and they go well

yeah i get the dogs but you but you should have a kid. And I'm like, what do you mean, just have a kid? Just go out to the street, pick a girl, have a kid. I never had a kid before this because I never found, and I guess you could probably relate. You want to have a kid that you know is going to be okay. And you have a partner that if something happens or anything, it's going to be okay regardless.

And so I never had that. I never had somebody that said, now that's a mother. Until we were dating for a couple years. And I'm like, this chick is a beast. She don't need me, first of all. Self-made millionaire. She don't need nothing. She don't need chick is a beast she don't need me first of all self-made millionaire she don't need nothing she don't need money from me she don't need nothing she does her own things um and then i said i could definitely have a kid and and that was that was finally changing it's late in life but get ready michael we're healthy i know right no more birthdays no more prepped meals no more she's definitely she's not coming to the

gym ever again to film any of your workouts so you need a video full-time video it's gonna be rough buddy nothing will be about you so i better get in shape right now because in a year i'm gonna like age 10 years i'll be like the meals aren't Mike's like, man, I had to switch it up, man. Just eat Snickers bars all the time. It's all deflated and fat. Oh, her looks like nothing now. Oh, my God. But I got a kid.

You'll still make it all work. I'll make it work. I got to be. I can't believe it. That is fucking awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. I know. Thank you.

Thank you for having us. You're it. That's the first. When you release this, sharing that. Thank you. That's the first. When you release this, that's the first. While it was live. Strength is never weakness. Weakness is never strength. See you guys later.

Thanks, buddy. Congrats. Congrats to both of you. Thank you. Yeah, that's the only reason why I couldn't watch that.