Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 2633: Seven Ways Working Out Too Much Is Making You Fat & More (Listener Coaching)

Episode Date: July 4, 2025

In this episode of Quah (Q & A), Sal, Adam & Justin answer four Pump Head questions drawn from last Sunday’s Quah post on the @mindpumpmedia Instagram page.  Mind Pump Fit Tip: 7 Ways Working Out Too Much Is Making You Fat. (1:32) Happy Drops make you horny. (19:30) Cautioning tea drinkers. (26:28) Scented candles are poison. (28:21) The most common cancer in young men. (31:34) Adam and Sal’s awkward photo shoot. (34:56) What is something a past relationship has taught you about yourself? (37:38) Controversial parenting topics. (45:19) Mind Pump is looking for trainers. Apply today! (54:31) #Quah question #1 – How do I practice bracing for exercises like squats? (55:51) #Quah question #2 – Can very dry skin and lips, despite constantly moisturizing, drinking 2-3 liters of water a day, and lowering weekly weight training volume, be a sign of overtraining? (59:01) #Quah question #3 – For those on a GLP-1, is it more important to hit your protein target OR strength train, in the event you're struggling to consistently hit protein but ARE consistent with strength training? Ultimately, is that ok? (1:00:26) #Quah question #4 – In today's world, it’s easy for men to isolate themselves and sacrifice their hobbies and friendships for their family's well-being. How do you guys juggle responsibility as a father and husband while still keeping some friends and hobbies that you enjoy doing? (1:01:42) Related Links/Products Mentioned Visit Organifi for the exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! **Promo code MINDPUMP at checkout for 20% off** Visit Vuori Clothing for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! ** No code to receive 20% off your first order. ** July Special: MAPS Split or Anabolic Metabolism Bundle 50% off! ** Code JULY50 at checkout ** Mind Pump #2312: Five Steps to Bounce Back From Overtraining Saffron for sex: How does it boost your libido? - HealthShots Crocus sativus (saffron) in the treatment of female sexual dysfunction: a three-center, double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled clinical trial Effects of saffron (Crocus sativus) on sexual dysfunction among men and women: A systematic review and meta-analysis Testicular cancer in young men - Mayo Clinic Health System Mind Pump Personal Training – Apply today! Visit Seed for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! **Promo code 25MINDPUMP at checkout for 25% off your first month’s supply of Seed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic** Ben Pollack Shares The Proper SQUAT Setup (AVOID MISTAKES) | Mind Pump Mind Pump Podcast – YouTube Mind Pump Free Resources  

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind pump with your hosts, Sal DeStefano, Adam Schafer, and Justin Andrews. You just found the most downloaded fitness, health, and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode, we answered listeners' questions. They wrote into Mind Pump Media on Instagram. We picked some questions and we answered them, but this was after the intro. Today's intro is 53 minutes long. In the intro, we talk about fat loss science, muscle building, exercise, nutrition, sleep. We talk about current events, family life.

It's a good time. Again, if you want to post a question that we can pick, go to Instagram at Mindpup Media. Now this episode is brought to you by some sponsors the first one is organify today we talked about their Happy drops they have compounds in them that improve your mood they lift your mood and your libido That's what the studies are showing go check them out go to organify comm that's or G a n I fi comm forward slash mind pump use the code mind pump get 20% off this episode is also brought to you by Viori This is the athleisure wear That is amazing. It's the best athleisure where you'll find anywhere and if you go through our link We'll get 20% off go to Viori clothing comm that's vu or I clothing comm forward slash

Mindpump we also have a sale on some programs this month maps split and the anabolic metabolism bundle of programs 50% off. If you're interested, go to MAPSFitnessProducts.com and then use the code July 50 for the discount. Here comes the show. Working out too much can make you fat. It's true. We're gonna talk about the seven ways doing too much

is making it impossible to lose body fat, or worse, you're getting fatter. Let's go. Wow. Let's hear it. Thought I'd hook everybody with a really crazy statement. No, I actually thought this would be a good topic because I was on the phone last night with our customer service department

and I was talking to Margaret and she was talking about how there's people that write in and ask questions and how it's hard for them to understand or to even believe that doing less would result in better results. So I said, you know what, I'm going to do this as a fit tip. Because people have a tough time understanding this. On its surface it doesn't make sense. How can moving less be better for fat loss? Aren't I supposed to burn more calories?

But that's not exactly what's happening. And I'll start with the first reason. And by the way, everything that's listed here is backed by independent studies, peer reviewed research. And so one of the ways that doing too much, doing too much means you're doing more than what is ideal for your body. Okay. And what determines whether or not what's, what's ideal really determined is determined on the person, their fitness level, their genetics,

their current lifestyle, and this can change throughout your life if you go through a stressful period of your life, then you need to do less exercise oftentimes. If your hormone's out of balance, if you're a beginner, I think you guys get the point, but one of the first ways it makes you fatter is training too much creates very strong cravings in particular, and they've done

studies on this specifically for hyper palatable foods. So when you're over training and you're sending this really loud, consistent stress signal that your body's not necessarily recovering from very well, one of the ways that your body tries to adapt to this is it tries to comfort you with hyperpatable foods and also have you eat more calories to try to compensate from the overtraining. The interesting part about that, is that like something related to cortisol? Is that what's going on with that? Like

that's causing that? Part of it. Part of it is so there's a psychological aspect which is just overtraining, it doesn't feel good, you might ignore it. Your body's naturally searching for more energy. Comfort, well your body's searching for comfort. And so you're gonna have cravings for food that produce those good feelings. The second reason is too much stress, for most of human history, one of the main sources

of chronic stress was inability to get food, enough food. And so when your body's under a lot of stress, what can happen to some people, many people, is their hunger or their cravings skyrocket. And you see this repeatedly with workouts that are too hard. Well you know what's interesting about this too is that all that stress under eating like that

also results in poor sleep. And poor sleep also ramps up the cravings. It's a vicious cycle. I know, I was trying not to skip ahead for once, but yeah, that was like, those are both like totally tied in together. They are, 100%. But yeah, I mean, this was me.

When I over train, I just noticed that I have to use more of my willpower to say no to the foods for me that are the triggers like potato chips and stuff like that. And I noticed with the clients, when I would bring them down from over training to a more appropriate levels, they didn't struggle so much with eating foods

that weren't maybe quote unquote good for them. I mean this is why I brought up the other day, I used the baking a cake analogy, because so many people connect working out to like a job or a sport. And in those scenarios, the more you work, the more effort you put into it. More hours, more money.

Yeah, but it's not. It's more like baking a cake, where it's like more ingredients, more temperature, more time is not what makes a better cake. It's more like that than it is. There's a perfect amount. Yeah, and anything above or below that results in less results.

And the further you get from that, the worse it is. That's right. Next up, and you kind of said this a little bit, Adam, is your cortisol level becomes elevated when it shouldn't be. So the way cortisol works, cortisol is not a bad hormone, it gets labeled a bad hormone. It is the stress hormone, so it does go up when you're under a lot of stress. What it does is it releases glycogen from the liver and it burns more energy, right? It gives you energy. So if you were to get a spike in cortisol, you'd feel kind of wired and hyper. And it gets

elevated during times of stress, but when it's, what it's supposed to look like is it's supposed to rise in the morning when you wake up and slowly go down throughout the day and it's lowest in the evening so you can sleep. But when you're overtrained, when you're doing too much, the cortisol starts to look high all the time. And then you keep pushing it you get an inverted cortisol numbers where it's low in the morning or you're dragging butt you're taking tons of caffeine to get going and then at the end of the night you're exhausted but you're wired you're wired but tired and you can't sleep you're not producing melatonin like you normally would no kind of like that inverse relationship between the two of those yeah so you kind of really screw up that whole balance

to where it interrupts your sleep. And too much cortisol all the time, or inappropriate cortisol levels, or things that are outside of what would be because they're optimal, promotes visceral, in particular visceral body fat. And belly fat in particular. Women, when they're high, high stress all the time,

what they'll start to notice is their fat, the way that they store body fat starts to change, and it starts to happen more around the midsection than it would normally happen. This is a really difficult one for people to connect the dots to because there's almost this positive feedback that you get. We call them cortisol junkies, right?

The client who under eats and over trains and they love the circuit. You feel energy from it. They get the hype from it. So I mean, I know you guys have had this. I mean, try telling somebody who does that type of training that gets this cortisol dump of energy right afterwards and goes, there's nothing you can tell me

that tells me, you didn't tell me that is bad for me because I always feel so good right afterwards. You know, you get this sense of accomplishment, you get this cortisol dump. And so they're getting this positive reinforcement of this is the right afterwards. You know, you get this sense of accomplishment, you get this cortisol dump, and so they're getting this positive reinforcement of this is the right thing. It feels right. And so trying to convince that client that no,

this is not necessarily the right or appropriate dose for you, and what you're feeling is just the initial dump of cortisol, and also that feeling of accomplishment, it is not a positive sign that this is the right or appropriate workout. That's really hard to convince somebody that when they're in that. Right, and by the way, cortisol junkies tend to have

another attributes to their personality that come along with this. Not always, but they tend to be late or they tend to show up last minute. They tend to place themselves in stressful situations. They have go, go, go, gotta move, gotta move, don't wanna sit still for whatever reason. Why?

Because that pumps out more cortisol and gives you more of that artificial energy. Again, cortisol breaks muscle down and it promotes fast storage. But when it's high, it gives you this kind of wired energy until it stops working. And then what happens is your cortisol then is crashed. This is when you get people, what we used to say

in adrenal fatigue, they don't call it that anymore, where they're just, what is wrong with me? I feel dead, I feel hyper fatigued. What this person did is they just pushed it for too long. They kept going until essentially the drugs wore out and now they're in a position where it's like you got to take two months off exercise completely and I've had clients like this where you gotta take them way way back just to heal their body. Next up, it hammers your testosterone. This is for both men and

women. Low testosterone and men and women have the same symptoms. Less muscle mass, less strength, more fat gain, less motivation, less energy, lower libido. That all happens from low testosterone. The difference between men and women is men have higher amounts of testosterone than women do. But overtraining, especially in combination with under eating, this is a fantastic way to lower your testosterone. I mean, in demand, you can overtrain him for three days and bring his calories way down and you'll see a drop in testosterone. Immediately.

Immediately. Yeah. Right away. So testosterone is this anabolic fat burning muscle building hormone and overtraining brings it back down. Essentially what you're doing, we talked about cortisol, now we're at testosterone, is you're creating a hormone profile that's favorable to fat gain

and unfavorable to muscle gain. So you're fighting an uphill battle is what ends up happening. And the slope gets steeper and steeper the harder you keep hammering in this direction. You stop signaling muscle building and so now it goes to fat reserves. That's right.

Because you're trying to survive. And really, that's the whole hook at the beginning. That's why there's truth in it, because what are you actually signaling right now? You're signaling to store energy, to store fat. Do you think this is more or less difficult for men or women to feel it? Do you think men, because they're used to higher levels,

tend to be able to see this or feel this easier than women? Like in a woman that has lower testosterone levels, maybe she doesn't notice as much? Do you? I don't know, but I will say from experience, I'd love your guys' feedback on this, it was harder for me to get women to understand that they're overtraining than men.

These women, it was hard. I don't know why, and I don't know if it's because they, I don't know, I think maybe because they had a lot of responsibilities, kids gotta do this, gotta do that, stay busy, but this was women. It's the association with movement and fat, that whole like. Maybe that's what it is, yeah.

Yeah, it's because like, it's almost like a real simple equation, you know, most people will just identify, if I move this, I'll keep the fat off, and that's it. It's as baseline a real simple equation. Most people will just identify, if I move this, I'll keep the fat off. And that's it, it's as baseline as it gets. Yeah, and I think it's also guys are typically more interested in muscle gain, so it's easier to convince them

you're not getting stronger. Whereas a woman's like, well I don't want to get bold, I don't want to be weighty. Yeah, I don't want to be weighty. I don't care, I just want you to get rid of my belly fat. But I mean, if you hammer your hormones,

you guys, good luck building muscle and burning body fat. Here's what it feels like. It feels like I'm working out like crazy, I'm training real hard, and I have an extra 15 pounds that won't come off my body, and I'm not progressing. And it's like, what's going on here? Then the fear is, if I cut back, am I gonna gain even more body fat?

No, you'll get leaner, is what's gonna happen. Next up, screws up your sleep. This is actually one of the first signs that you're doing too much, is that you have restless sleep, hard time falling asleep, or you fall asleep right away but then you wake up throughout the night.

Those are all signs that you're over-trained, you're overdoing it. Yeah, the point I was making earlier about this is that- And that messes everything up. Well, all of these are connected. So it's like, these are seven different ways that it can make you fat. And it's like, but if you're over training,

you're under eating, you're getting them all. This is all probably happening. Some people worse than others, but typically all these come together. And they all, I think, make each other worse. So you talk about the cravings and stuff like that earlier. It's like, yeah, your cravings and the under eating and over training,

and then you're also not getting sleep, which then promotes the low testosterone, which is also, I mean, it's just, yeah. Fatigue, brain fog, all these other symptoms. Yeah, they just all keep feeding each other. And then the hard part is, you're in it. And you're in it all the time that it becomes your new normal.

That's right. And so you don't think it's bad. I mean, how many people have you asked or talked to in the middle of all this, and you ask them how they feel, and they're like, I's bad. I mean, how many people have you asked or talked to in the middle of all this and you ask them how they feel and they're like, I feel fine. I feel fine. Until you get them out of it.

Until they get out of it and then they go, oh shit. I didn't know I was supposed to feel this good. It's like, yeah, you just got, I mean, that just shows you how resilient we are as humans, the ability to adapt to all these things and survive still. And keep going. And keep going and then you just sooner or later go like, oh okay, this is normal, you don't know what good feels like.

Yeah, oftentimes the people in this situation didn't come seek me out until the signs were so loud that they were afraid. Why is my hair falling out? Why am I breaking out? Why is my energy just in the floor all day long? Like what's wrong with me, and it's all this stuff.

It also can cause muscle loss for sure. Overtraining is a great way to get your body to pare muscle down, and this is because your hormones are leveraged in a way to do so, and you're just beating the crap out of yourself. So you go to the gym and at best nothing progresses, at worst, why am I feeling weaker? Why am I feeling more fatigued? I used to be able to lift this much, now I can only lift this much. What's happening with my body?

And by the way, that muscle loss, in combination with everything else we're saying, is a great way to slow your metabolism down. It's a great way to make it easier to gain more body fat. And I had, listen, I can tell you countless stories of women that I trained or that trainers that worked for me trained where they were eating 1200 calories a day

and working out a lot, a lot, and still had body fat to lose and couldn't figure out what was going on. And you ask yourself, how's that possible? The body will adapt remarkably well to doing something like that. And it's a scary place to be because the advice is work out less and eat more,

which to the person sounds like, oh, you want me to eat more and work out less, I'm just gonna balloon up. Strength is a good measure for this as well. Like if you're working out and you've just been in this plateau almost for, I mean some people I've trained have been in a plateau for like a year.

And it's like, and they don't realize that, that's a problem. It's just like they're on this continual sort of. Hamster wheel. Yeah, hamster wheel. And if you're not getting stronger if you're not promoting Strength in any direction like that's a big problem. You should address I actually think that that's probably more common than not because they normally don't come to you until

They've been spinning their wheels for a while unless they have like a major health issue that pops up or something Like you said like hair loss or something crazy Most people is just they've been in this massive plateau for a year and they've seen themselves either stabilize or go down in strength and then finally they're just like, okay, I've tried all the things and normally trying all the things is adding more stuff to all the stuff they were doing and it's not getting them the results

and then so finally, okay, let me hire a professional and at that point you've got to reverse all that out. That's right, next up is it destroys your gut health. This is a fact. And as I just do, just the inflammation? Inflammation. And the gut lining separates. The big part of it, yeah, because when you're chronically inflamed, even if it doesn't feel like lots of pain, your gut, if you get gut inflammation, the tight

junctions in your gut open. Yeah, it leads to those. You get leaky gut syndrome, you start to have food intolerances, it can slow down gastric emptying. So what does that mean? Potential for things like SIBO. So oftentimes people who do this also start to notice gut issues like bloat after eating certain meals,

I can't eat the same foods I used to, gas, constipation, it can definitely look like that. And there's lots of studies on this, by the way, hard training athletes who are always, they're always balancing on the line of doing too much and doing enough, right? Because athletes aren't just about getting stronger and faster, they also have to practice their skill as often as possible.

So in many cases, they're training right on that line. You look at the data on gut health issues with athletes and it's astronomical because they're constantly pushing and training their bodies. And these are athletes who are well-trained. We're not even talking about the average person who's over-training, which is even much more difficult. And then finally, in my experience,

working out a lot, a lot, a lot can oftentimes promote disordered eating. Now, what does it look like? Well, it looks like this. I just beat the crap out of myself in the gym. I can barely move. I'm gonna eat that burrito, or I'm gonna eat that whatever because I deserve it, or because I burned those calories off.

Not realizing that you didn't burn that many calories. You really didn't burn a lot of calories, especially if you've been doing it for a long time. Your body gets more efficient each time you attempt it. Absolutely, but this can definitely promote that like restrict, restrict, restrict, and then binge. Or on the flip, I binged, now I'm gonna go beat myself up even harder in the gym.

A worse spot. Yeah, I think the most common thing I see in this area is the restrict for such a long period of time. And even like the binge, it doesn't look like a binge. In other words, like you have somebody who's like, and this is part of the reason why they just can't figure this out, is like, man, I might eat like dialed,

and dialed to them is like 1200 calories, super low calorie, and they do that for long periods of time. And then they finally have like a weekend where they're like, fuck it, I'm just gonna enjoy myself. And it's not like crazy, but it's like enough to put on a substantial amount of body fat on them because they're so used to being so low. And so that's just part of the like, this doesn't make sense.

Like I'm not, I don't eat fast food. I don't do, they always list off all the things they don't do, but yet I keep putting on this body fat and it's because they go these long periods of so low of calorie and then they overindulge a little bit and 600 calories over when you only eat 1200 calories is 50% of your intake. And so you, you're that 600 calories affects that person differently than somebody who has a roaring metabolism or a healthy metabolism that they consume, say their maintenance is 2600 calories or 2800 calories a day. 600 calories is nothing.

Nothing. That person doesn't really feel that effect at all but the person who doesn't eat that way and then all of a sudden have one day has 600 calories over which easily can sneak into someone's diet and now all of a sudden they feel like they put on all this body fat. Yeah, yeah. When I had clients who got in a really good place metabolically, fast metabolism, strong, they'd go on vacation and they'd come back and they'd be so shocked that they didn't gain all this body fat.

When I used to go on vacation, I would gain weight. What's happening now is totally different. Your body is not the same, your metabolism is much faster, insulin sensitivity is better, you are totally fine. Versus what they might have experienced before where they'd take a little bit of time off and go eat and it's like, oh my God, what happened? I'm holding all this water. I'm holding all this blood.

All right. I have been reading studies, so Organifi's Happy Drops, very popular because they lift your mood. So one of the active ingredients, saffron, it increases circulating levels of dopamine and serotonin in the brain. There's studies show this, so it makes you happier. You know what else it does? That I found studies on. What?

Makes you horny. I'm gonna read you guys some studies on libido and saffron. Now is that actually happening or is that more of a correlation of you're just, because you're in a better mood you're also, because that's me, that's how I work. Like if I'm in a good mood, I'm more likely to have sex. If I'm not in a good mood, I'm not. I mean, it's direct.

So here's, I'll read some studies for you. There's a 2022 randomized double-pline placebo-controlled trial found that women 18 to 55 with severe sexual dysfunction, they took just 15 milligrams of saffron twice daily, so 30 milligrams. They showed significant improvements in female sexual function in next stores.

Particularly in arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction compared to placebo. Another study showed that women taking 30 milligrams of saffron daily for four weeks had increased sexual desire, lubrication compared to the placebo group. A 2024 trial showed increase in libido, arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction of women with sexual dysfunction.

In men, they took 20 men with erectile dysfunction for 10 days and they had, I like how these studies crack me up by the way. I'll just read you the study. Improvements in erectile dysfunction, including tip and base rigidity. And two messages. How do they test it? Yeah, Oh yeah, that's rigid bro.

Just in the tip though, not the base. How did I test it, like a machine? Took four pounds to bend it in half this time. 2018 review of six studies indicate that saffron significantly improved libido and overall sexual satisfaction. Wow. And man, yes.

Wow, and just like that, happy drop sold out. Particularly, by the way, Yes. Wow, just like that. Happy job sold out. Particularly, by the way, particularly. Can we just hand these out? Here's what's interesting. Particularly in those with antidepressant induced erectile dysfunction. So sometimes when people will go on a prescription

antidepressant, they'll have issues with sexual function. Yeah. So. That's a common side effect of like SNRs, right? Oh yeah. That's. Yeah, inability to orgasm, that kind of stuff. Wild, right?

So happy drops. You said 15. More benefits. 15 to 30 milligrams a day. How many of those do you have to, how many does Justin have to eat in order to get that? I mean, I have four, so. I think there's 15 per two or per one.

For two gummies, there's 30 milligrams. There you go. Oh, for two is 30. Yeah, so one is 15. Damn, Justin gummies, there's 30 milligrams. There you go. For two is 30. Yeah, so one is 50. Damn, Justin. Yeah. 60, that's what 60 does. I'm right high right now.

Hey, he just said six of them. Keep your distance, all right? Yeah, that's all I gotta say. That has got to be one of their fastest selling products. It is, and I'm sure after that commercial you just did, it sold out for sure with him. I mean, listen. Better get on there.

Don't believe me, look it up everybody. By the way, saffron. It's science you guys. I gotta tell you guys this also. I was looking it up because you know the supplement space. It's garbage. It's like full of lies. Lots and lots and lots of lies.

In terms of a company selling, it has this ingredient. Actually it doesn't. You know what a lot of companies are doing? So saffron's blowing up. there's a particular extract of it. Organifi uses one called sephractive, this is the one that you'll see in a lot of studies. It is standardized, it's got the active ingredients, it's pure.

It's used in food. It's a flower. It's a flower, yeah. It's a flower. Part of the flower. So it's been used in medicine for a long time, in natural medicine. But anyway, what companies are doing

is they're not using saffron, they're using a little bit of saffron, then they're watering it down with like turmeric, which is good for you, but ain't gonna give you what saffron does, because it's the same color. So the capsules will look orange or whatever, and they're just, they're faking it.

Of course. Yeah. And there's no quality control. Oh, he's the snake. You know, because it's a flour, can you make a tea out of it then? Well, you know it's used in cooking a lot, like Persian cooking and things like that, so yeah, you could probably make a saffron tea, for sure. Yeah, I mean, my sister and I,

they were all big on taking the real flour, they have one of those, I don't know. Oh, do they actually get like dandelions? Yeah, yeah, and they put real like the real flat They have one of those I don't know. Oh, do they actually get like dandelion? Yeah, yeah And they put them in the and they have one of those little tea brewing things that I've ever seen them before they're like a little Metal thing and then you put actually put the real flower. That's the way to do it I know it's cool. And then they have a little candle thing that lights up heats under they're all into it like they're About that because my grandma used to put like dandelions in salad I was like, why am I eating flowers? Oh, really weird. Yeah.

I'm like, what'd you just go like grab it outside, just put it on top. Like I'm not an animal. That's how we cured every, every illness that our dad, our dog had. She was onto something. My dad would have me grass. And okay, so he's okay. Let it be. Now what that is, it makes him throw up. I guess. No, it does, it totally does.

And there's something in grass that makes- It calms their stomachs somehow too. I don't know, well it gets out whatever, so if they got something- Of all things dogs eat, it's grass that makes them puke. I've seen dogs eat all kinds of horrible shit. Well they'll do it intentionally themselves. You'll see it when a dog has got an upset stomach,

whatever that, they'll intentionally eat the grass and throw it out. It's so habit for my dogs that they don't even throw up anymore. They just eat it. They just eat it. They just turn into cows. So saffron, a spice derived from yeah, this the crocus sativus flower, commonly known as saffron crocus. So again, Happy Drops uses the extract from a company that this is where they get the

studies from is they use like standardized. Yeah. Yeah. Count on Drew. It's the world's most expensive spice. It is. How much does it cost per whatever per ounce or per gram? Interesting. Now, is that because of how beneficial it is? Well, it's very hard to get. So, you know, it's the stigma from the flower, the little thing it pokes up from that side The flower also takes a lot. So it takes a lot. Oh, wow. Oh, I didn't know that was the most expensive Yeah, that's wild. Hey speaking of tea the base Is that so in the here's a sci-fi nerd thing for you isn't always spice is what they what in the sci-fi movies It's in doing that's just in doing oh, I thought the other ones have

Is that what do you think it is a thing thing it's saffron no it's in the desert like Kristen do they grow it out there is that where they I can't remember I don't remember see what this the the the spice I don't remember it's I think show it in the mind for I know they talk about it but I don't know if I don't remember recall in the movie ever seeing it what does it say what's the price there Doug so one gram it looks like around $15 Wow one gram that is expensive Truffle I mean how much is that a spice? Okay? That's a mushroom. Why you look over me like how much is a gram of? Grants is what you would sell an eighth. That's what it so you're talking about 50 bucks 40 bucks

Well now it's down to like 30 bucks these days. So it's more expensive than weed. Yeah. Wow, that's what it is. So you're talking about like 50 bucks, 40 bucks. Well now it's down to like 30 bucks these days. So it's more expensive than weed. Yeah. Wow, that's crazy. We should get in the business. All right, listen. Tea, you brought up tea using your own metal. Yeah, yeah. You know why everybody should do that? Why?

You know what a high source of microplastics teabags are? Oh God, really? The teabags? Yes. Yes. Really? Are we just finding everything we're putting in our bodies? I imagine you're dumping hot water on bags? Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Really? A lot. Are we just finding everything we're putting in our bodies? I imagine you're dumping hot water on it.

That's right. Wow. That's right. So buy loose leaves and then get your own. Now, okay, I gotta think in the herbal tea world, because that's very hippie-esque, that there would be tea bags that they've made that are like, none.

That's gotta be a thing, right? Dude, are we slowly turning into action figures? There's gotta be like some made out of hemp or something that is way healthier and better for you. There's no way. I'm sure there's something. There's no way everybody's making tea bags out of these microplastics and we just know what we're saying.

There are bags that are made out of a paper. There's gotta be. But then most bags now are made out of like plastic, like little fine fibers, you know? Because consumers like them better. Why wouldn't we use like hemp for something like that? I don't know. I mean you can get cotton tea bags.

There you go. Yeah. So there's other ways to do it. Obviously the steel ball. But the normal like Lipton one, right? So yeah, that's probably plastic. Oh yeah. Such bullshit.

You'd probably drink the most tea, huh? I don't drink a lot of tea actually. I have tea every other night. What kind of tea? I like the chamomile. Oh yeah, that's the best. Is that because I taught you that or did you drink it before I said that? No, we've always had that. Katrina's a big tea drinker. Her whole family, we have one of the, like I said, the little candle. We have all that stuff. But I honestly, I just throw the bag in there. But I mean, I had no idea. It's full of plastic.

Yeah. I have in-laws that are English. Can't believe. The English are crazy about tea. Yeah, everything is around tea. When they come visit, she brings her own tea. She actually flies and brings it to my house. Like, what, you brought your own tea?

I mean, Katrina, her sister, or my sister-in-law's like that. She shows up and she comes with her tea, you know what I'm saying? I got more bad news for you, Adam. Something you love doing. Did you know what I'm saying? I got more bad news for you, Adam. Something you love doing. Did you know that scented candles are some of the worst offenders when it comes to

Xenoestrogens? I'm bringing on the cancer, I don't even care. Oh, come on, don't joke like that. I mean, isn't there? It's just like, no way I'm getting rid of that. There are options that are like these fat and... There are, and I'll get to that. But scented candles often often contain phallates,

which are xenoestrogens, which bind your estrogen receptors. You know how you say you get sensitive nipples? It might be from this. Then there's also, there's also volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds on particular matter. Did you know some scented candles produce as much particular matter as exhaust? What?

Yeah, dude. Yeah, bro, so you're smelling, what you're smelling in is just bad, bro. It is not- Just lovely toxic fumes. It is not good. All right, so there's some good options for you, bro. Yeah, but how much does it level up a night of sex, though?

It's like, and you have to ask yourself, like, is that worth it? I thought you did it by yourself and then had like a bad all the time Okay, so I've replaced all my candles with actual beeswax candles. I'm scented. They smell great. That's it. I just sent it smells great Yeah, it smells like beeswax. That's his own smell. Okay. Well, I told you that the listener who sent me some Like vanilla smelling one that I don't have to burn Just sitting in the room puts off this incredible smell. That way.

It just throws off chemicals. Yeah. No, it's probably scented oil. Yeah. So you can use scented oils. Yeah. Not scented oils, but there's like organic oils. Yeah, essential oils.

Essential oils, that's it. Yeah, we use essential oils. That'll do it. You can also get beeswax. The problem with beeswax, they burn fast and they're expensive. And they're bright though. They're great. Oh, they're more bright. They're more bright. Yeah. We used to burn candles all the time. Do you use candles at your house a lot? A lot. You are a big

candle guy too, see? All in act out. Just let me take all the heat, but you don't ever step in and say like... No, I don't get scented candles. I've gotten rid of those years ago. But you do the bathtub and candle thing too. I don't do bathtubs. I get used to organic smells. I don't do bathtubs, but I love candles. Actually, almost every dinner, if I have somebody over, I will have candles. Are they? No, I don't do that by myself. With a violin playing in the background.

Telling you why we get candles by ourselves. You know, Dylan, you know what's happening here? This is when Doug and Adam are on the phone late at night with each other with their scented candles. Here comes the jealousy. And they're talking about. Jealous. Not really. Jealous because no one calls him.

No, Justin and I are sending each other memes. Yeah, we're sending memes. Yeah, like horrible people. What are you talking about? Justin does not answer his phone once he leaves here. Yeah, that's true. Once Justin leaves here, his phone's on. Him and I both.

I'm driving. I was like, he can't be driving fucking nine hours. I have to decompress this from all your blah blah blah. Sorry, I'm driving. I'm like, this guy is not driving. Hey, why do you always say you're driving? It does. It does.

He puts that on. He puts that on. Hey, don't expose my hat. Yeah, I should. It took me a while to figure it out, because I feel like I go text him. Oh, I'm moving. Oh, I'm like, oh. Adam, just text me.

I'm like. He's like, I'm driving outside. And then I go, I do it again. No, I felt like it was, bro. He literally texts you back. I'm driving right now. Please let me. It's not even the automated one, the spell years. I'm like, wait a second, iPhone doesn't misspell that.

I'm telling you, it's brilliant, you guys. I'm onto your bullshit, dude. Speaking of cancers, do you guys know what the most common cancer in young men is? I just said we have to talk about this because we got young men that listen. In young men? In young men.

So it's not prostate cancer. Between age, I think it's 18 to 35 or something like that. What's the most common cancer? Colon? Nope. Skin cancer? Nope. Testicular cancer.

Testicular still is. I would have guessed prostate would have been like for... No, testicular cancer is a young man cancer typically. Doesn't mean you can't get it when you get older. So what's so different about that and like prostate cancer and why? Ones on your balls. I know that. But I mean like you would think they're closely related as far as how you would get them and why? No, not at all. No, not at all. But yeah, testicular cancer. So what I did is I looked up because here's the

thing about testicular cancer, very curable, usually because people often notice it right away and it gets treated. Well you gotta get rid of one of them. Sometimes, yeah, sometimes you gotta lose a Tessie. And then the other one picks up the work of the one that you lost. What from though? What is it from?

Yeah, like how do you like, fondling them too much? Like what do you get from them? No, no. I feel like all the moms all the moms are saying that to their boys you keep playing with that much and you might get testicular cancer like the hairy palm thing that everyone's just give yourself testicular cancer you keep playing I don't know how you do it all right sorry Doug this went too far, speaking of which you brought it up.

I put, I had to, I said, we got to educate people. So self checks are very important. So what you do essentially is you once a month, you're supposed to check your, your testicles and you're looking for consistency, symmetry, testicles. Yeah. And you don't want you, you, what you're looking for or lumps or hard nodules is what you're looking for or lumps or hard nodules. Oh. Is what you're looking for. Now there are natural things in the testicles like the epidermitis. I think I'm not saying that right. The spermatic

cord. These are naturally on there but you're looking for hard lumps swelling asymmetries and so when men do this the risk is super low because once you catch it it gets treated very easily. Yeah. Now, what are you reading to come across something like that? How does this come up? I was trying to think of things to talk about. I looked it up.

I mean, every physical that was like part of the protocol, right? And until they started to like suggest, hey, you can do this and check it yourself. I told you my story about that I was just already ready I'm like pants off a lot of creeps out there back then yeah came in the front desk kid it was a lady and she's a doctor I thought I scared her I told you I guys I thought I had an issue because I was hyper, at this point I had somebody in my family. You think you have an issue? Well listen, I was traumatized. Somebody in my family was young, they got cancer, they died and I was hyper vigilant

for a little while. I was taking a shower one day and I thought, uh oh, what is this? So I was so scared that I went to the doctor, had them examine me, they're like, no, you're fine. I said, no, I want an ultrasound. I did the whole thing. I'm like, you're fine, bro. I'm like, okay, dude. Yeah, but I was that little hypochondriac. Like your normal guy.

Just some of them look weird, that's all. Speaking of awkward, how awkward was that? God, I'm not a fan, I know you aren't either, when we have to do these like shoots and commercials. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, you guys actually went to Viori the other day. Yeah, to do the shoot. I was explaining that to them when we do that.

Because when we were in Viori, a couple people that worked there were fans of the show, so they were all excited for us to come in there and do that. And I was telling them just like how much we just don't like to do that. They're like, really? Why? And I'm just like, I just, I feel like everything that we do is authentic. I mean, it's just, we just come on here,

we have conversation, we don't edit anything. It is what it is, right? It's the most authentic thing we do. Like, okay, you're gonna walk into the store, we're gonna film you. Yeah, I would just, I would never do. And that's why everybody roasts us on it. I know.

All the time, cause it's like. I get it, I get it, and it's awesome. And I love everybody roasts us on I know all the time cuz I get it I get it and it's and I love their products. Yes, we've been with them for yeah I know very valuable brand they do a good I what I will say this though. You're a drip head to toe Do you are is that you're yeah, the white one is my favorite shirt. They make yeah. Oh, what is it called? I don't know Thank you, don't find out what that is, please is that the meta shirt no no no not something else It looks good. It dudes. It's softer because it's got a thicker material, too. I got one, too Yeah, I got a brown one. Yeah, I have a brown one. I don't think I have my favorite one

They've made like the t-shirts, but it's a little it's a little so I can tell it's a little softer and thicker but it's a little softer and thicker. It's a little softer and thicker. But thicker. But stretchy looking. The Stratotec was the one I was wearing before. I remember that one. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, that's what it was called.

Yeah, so it's a little softer than the traditional Stratotec, which is really nice. But yeah, we're in there, and they're like, all right, I'm going to film you walking in. OK, now walk in again. Now I'm going to film you from this angle walking. How many times am I walking, and you're filming me? And then I forget how to walk. When someone's recording me

and I'm supposed to be walking in, I'm like, am I walking weirdly? I never think of this, you know what I'm saying? Don't look like you're concentrating too much. Yeah, dude. At one point I walked in with one hand in my pocket. Like I never walked like that. I forget how to open doors when I'm doing stuff like that.

What do I do with my hands? I'm like, wow. And then we had to pretend like we were shopping for our wives. Which you probably never have done. Actually I do, I do all the time. I don't shop for her, but if I'm at the store, I'll typically surprise her.

I like to see you pick up some leggings and just be like, hmm. Yeah, well, this is what I do with this. While he was recording, I was over there talking shit. And I'm like, this guy has never done this before. He has no idea what he's doing here. I do, I know my wife's size and everything. Do you really? I do I do okay that's good you

know your wife said that shit that's like should be a good like yeah well Justin marriage trivia Justin like workout apparel though don't ask me like anything else but like I know the bottoms for her I know that what the tops are yeah that's good that's good yeah hey speaking of relationships I had something I was gonna ask you guys what started the conversation here What is something? That a past relationship has taught you about yourself Yeah, you can't think of something in a past relationship spot I mean, I mean were you that good really you that good of a guy that you just didn't like you have any of course

So it's like you just didn't like you don't have any of course so it's like it's just hard Well you Justin I'm gonna get you to do everything. Please her huh? Not to appease and please all the time. Oh That was a mistake. I made with a lot of my previous Relationships, so what would you do like what would be like an example of like like you like I'd accommodate like all the things Like go to all the events and all the things Oh deep down inside you didn't want to be there and wouldn't it wouldn't communicate it you're at the Britney Spears concert My shirt over my head, you know

Yes now would that lead to Would it lead to later like resentment and fights later on or just more Justin suppressing? Yeah more suppressing thing You know it more like yeah, I just didn't feel like I was ever Yeah, I think I don't know if it was like ever. Yeah, I think it was, I don't know if it was like resentment necessarily. It was more just like, I didn't feel like as big of a part of the relationship. Like I was just like doing whatever to appease them. And I don't know. It just, it gets to a point where you just don't, you don't communicate anything you need at that point. It just becomes

like the, the, the please this person show. Yeah, yeah, you know, okay So what is it like when it comes up now? Do you can you recall like how what the conversation you have to have with yourself that to work through it or help like? Do you like okay? Here's one of those situations. I don't want a desired outcome thing for me now is more like Is this like a some like a point of contention that like is a pattern or something that I need to address? Like, I really don't like doing this. You know, I need to express that and like stop that.

Or is this something that like, you know, I kind of balance it a lot now. You and Doug are so similar in so many ways. That is such a, that's a thing that you have too. Yeah. I mean, I was going to say boundaries. Setting boundaries in the relationship because like Justin. I'm just trying to keep the peace You know keep the peace but the the boundary wasn't there and you get walked on actually

Well, I'm very vocal about it now. I don't put up with shit The other end of that yeah, I think cuz cuz yeah I just realized that it was pointless for me because I didn't feel like it was a team. It wasn't like an equal Relationship it was very like Pedestal kind of thing. Mmm. Yeah. There you go. I don't For me, I don't like to share struggles or ask for help. Which is why this is so difficult right now for you. It was. It was.

It's like, ugh. So we'll stop. Yeah. No, I don't like it. It feels very uncomfortable. If I'm useful, I feel like I can be loved. If I'm not useful, why would anybody like me, right? So this is like the challenge.

So not being useful is like when you're useful to me, well now I feel like I'm a burden. Yeah. So I just don't share. So what did that look like in past relationships and then when it manifests today, like how do you... Well I'll tell you, when I was in my previous marriage, when I got divorced, most people in my family were shocked because they didn't know the struggles and challenges because they didn't share. Never told anybody. So they just had no idea, and it was 10 years

of struggle and challenge. So what does that look like now? Oh now I, well prayer helped a lot with that because it's impossible not to be honest and vulnerable when you're talking to the guy that knows everything. So that helped a lot. And then I share, I think I share more now than I did before.

Yeah, I think I've seen that in just the 10 years we've been together. I think I've seen you open up and share those things that I didn't feel like you ever did when we first started. So that's pretty good. What's yours? Do you have one? I have a lot.

Yeah, I've got all kinds of, I'm a mess. One of the, mine's attached to, we've talked about this before, about insecurity of being successful, being smart, being all the things. And so I used to attract a lot of girls that I was like the daddy, the teacher in the relationship. And you feel secure.

Yeah, and what's so hard about that is that it feels good, right? So I would date these girls and I have the answer, I got it. And I liked that and it made me feel important, made me feel smart, made me feel that way. And then what always ended up happening is after months or even a year of dating that person, you realize how exhausting that is and how you're like, is this really the type of partnership that I want to be in? So it took a long time to realize how attracted I was to that thing that fed my insecurity,

and to break that because again, it always initially makes me feel good. And so learning that that's not what I want in a partnership. And so a couple of relationships before Katrina, so two relationships before her, I had pieces together. So I was about 27 when I finally figured it out. Because I could look back and even though all the women that I dated were all very different, they all had that thing in common. They had that like, I was the teacher, I was the daddy

in the relationship and I thought I liked that. And then when I realized, like, no, it was really difficult to go the other direction. It was actually, initially, those girls that I would try dating, it was like, I had to like, I didn't have a natural pull to them. I'm like, I need to try this. I need to try dating a woman that I feel I can learn from, or that we can build together and do that.

And so it was an uncomfortable awkward. Now, by the time I got to Katrina, I had learn from or that we can build together and do that and so it was an uncomfortable awkward. Now by the time I got to Katrina, I had started to piece that together and then obviously I see what happens when I find the right partnership that's not like that. Now the challenge when I get the right partner like her who is an incredible teammate that I can learn from is then the old still wanting to be right and be daddy

You know those things and it's like I know this is what I want and what I need for myself So every once in a while when it rears its head that I feel I need that it's like the check myself in those moments But I think it's so interesting how these two have such similar now Yeah, so that's like an example of like one serious girlfriend. Like it wasn't I There was a lot of different like Instances where I acted differently it was weird Yeah, so I wasn't always like it was somebody that was like I felt was outside my league Oh, I was like that with okay, and then it was like kind of felt like you needed to do all that

Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it was just like the that self-confidence I had but it was like Yeah, and it was just like that self-confidence I had but it was like when in that situation I felt like less than so therefore I was like trying to appease them, you know and like do all this extra stuff and then I was like what the fuck am I doing? You know, and then did you bring up her? No, well, yes, and then and then went back to her like a total bitch And then she broke up with me Yes, I let her win did Why'd you bring that up?

I looked up controversial Parenting topics Adam per your suggestion. Oh yeah. And I have two of them that I think are good discussions. Yeah, yeah. One of them is for parental leave for fathers. So mothers get parental leave. Is this a good thing for fathers to do,

to take a month off to be with their newborn? Well, I think the way you're wording it, how can you say, no, it wouldn't be good? Do I think it's necessary or do I think we should do it? No. You don't think it's necessary? Yeah, no, I don't think it's, so I think that, I mean, this is the one beautiful thing

about a partnership and a relationship, I think we provide different things. I think in the early stages, the baby is so attached to the mother and the nurturing part that, you know, that I'm going to go out there and hunt. And when I get home, I'm definitely going to do all the things still, as I was with Max, but I don't think that's something that we necessarily... Now, you worded it though, would it be good? Like, sure, it could be good. I could see it would be good, especially if you're in a position where

you could financially do that. We kind of were when we had Max, and so I did have the flexibility. You guys let me cut out of here early and do all those things, but I definitely don't think that should be a government funded thing that we decide that we're gonna all pay taxes towards

so that guys can also take fucking six months off. Like no bro, go hunt. That's my take. That's my controversial take. I agree, but I disagree for different reasons. So I agree that it's not a necessary, I think it's very important for mom to be there with baby for the first few months.

The data on this is very clear. I think it's obvious to you, I don't think I need to make the argument. The baby's connected to mom literally, and then when the baby's born, still connected very closely. I think though, it's important for fathers, not for the same reasons. I think it's important for fathers to care for mom.

So mom's there for baby, mom needs husband to care for her. And the data on a mother's health. Do they parse out the like having grandma there? I was just gonna say, historically, how it's worked in societies forever was that grandma, sister was with her for a little while for that beginning stage.

And the data on the health of a mother and how well she's able to be a mom to her children is crazy. And these days, unfortunately, a lot of that falls on the, fortunately or unfortunately, a lot of that falls on the husband because we don't live in communities like we used to.

So many people are like, where's mom, where's mother-in-law, well, everybody lives far away. So I totally agree with that and that the point you that I didn't even think of it from that perspective and for that reason. That being said though, that's a cultural problem that we have that I totally the solution isn't give dads this time off so they could do that. It would be more like express what you just said and get back to why it is so important that we have family. I think the cultural point is a big one

because what we've done is we've put, culturally we value the pursuit of career so high that we've actually put it above things that are more important. And so it's like a note, now people don't even consider how important that is. That you have that kind of support when you have a baby. But I mean, I think that's part of what

dad is off, is hunting, you know, if we take it back all the way. I mean, so that's why you still keep doing that, because that's also, in a sense, providing for mom. Like that's- Oh yeah, that's number one. Like we don't got lights on. Exactly.

Go get a job. So that's what I mean. It's like, so most people do not have that, most men aren't gonna have that luxury to where they could Take that off and then and the only way to give that luxury to all men would be to governmentally fund that No, that I'm not I'm not I don't agree with it's a good. It's a great discussion I'm glad we're going here. So I don't know if couples I think I don't know. I'm gonna make a judgment I could be totally wrong

But I think I don't know, I'm going to make a judgment, I could be totally wrong, but I don't think couples consider this and plan for it like the way I'm saying it. For example, we're going to have a baby, let's save enough money so that I don't work for 30 days and I can be with you to support you. And I don't know, I think what men think of, I need to get a job and have money to support you, but do they think I need to have enough to support you so I don't work

for the first 30 days, since my mom, your mom, sisters, nobody's around, I need to be here with you type of deal, but I don't know. I think we've put it in like this, we categorize it so strangely now, which is like, yeah, you're home for a week, then you go back to work, and nobody's here to help you. I wonder what the statistics are on people

that just live paycheck to paycheck versus people that actually save money. They have statistics on that. It's so high. They have statistics on that. So I mean to have, I don't know that. You would never happen. Yeah, never happen. So that's right.

So all valid points are making, but that would require the relationship that we all, as a culture that we have with money. Totally. And that's not happening. So you know how, if like, let's that we, as a culture that we have with money and work and that's not happening. So you know how, if like, let's say we, everybody listening agrees, like yeah, men should do that for all those reasons. Okay, well, how do we do it?

Oh, let's put something in place. We wouldn't solve it the way we should, which is like, hey man, we should probably consider before we have this kid, I'm gonna squirrel away, you know, a few hundred bucks every single week or month until we do have a kid so that I can afford to take off the time. Here's why I'll back you up 100%.

If it's not a cultural, societal thing and understanding, and we do make it so that men don't work for 30 days, there's a lot of guys that'll just do nothing. Totally. Yeah. So, oh cool, I'm off, I'm here, but the culture isn't like, no, no, no, you need to care for mom so she. I'm off. Yeah, I'm here, you know, but they're not the culture isn't like no No, you're you need to care for mom, right?

So she can care for baby right you need to make her feel safe and secure and healthy and feed her because that's a tough Period for for if you don't have kids and you're about to have a child like mom goes through. Oh, yeah Very difficult war is very difficult. That's like everyday war no sleep all day long long. Feeding, baby stuck to you. Yeah, yeah. So I mean, you bring such a good point up. Problem is that the solution to me is not, like companies now. Now it needs to be heart change.

Yeah, like, because I would not agree as a company that we would pay taxes. That's what you're trying to say. Oh, you bet your ass. That's the angle I'm gonna come from. Our employees on the street. You are not getting that. pay taxes. That's what you're trying to say. No, you bet your ass that's the angle I'm gonna come from. Or poison with me. So, you are not getting that. No, no, save your money.

Save your own money. No, no. But yeah, no, I think that's- No, it's a heart change thing. I agree with you. Yeah, yeah, but yeah, good point, good, interesting. That's controversial. Very, very controversial, absolutely.

You have culture, there are cultures cultures that this is a big deal Most of these cultures are homogenous Meaning like you go to some countries. Yes, the culture and did everybody's the same everybody has the same beliefs They're missing ideas. This is part of their culture And if you're a man you go to work, you know two weeks after you have a baby your co-workers in all their families usually in Like close proximity because the value that aspect of it. And it's already assumed within the family dynamic and the structure that like, you know,

the elders are going to come in, they're going to help out and all this will work. And I mean, there's definite power in that. And it helps to benefit the kids' development. So, you know, there's something there. It's just, we, we don't have that established culturally. I heard a woman, I's something there. It's just we don't have that established culturally. I heard a woman, I thought this was the best litmus test. She said the way we should judge

ideas in society or government even is let's judge them by how they affect the most vulnerable of us, which are babies and children. So anytime somebody says, here's this idea that I have, how does it affect babies and children? And the specific topic that she was talking about, but I love this litmus test for anything, was polyamory. Polyamory, a good thing. She's like, how would it affect the children

of these relationships? That's how we should judge whether or not, not whether or not you think it's a good idea for you, but how would it affect the most vulnerable, which are children. I love that. I think that's a we should judge whether or not. Not whether or not you think it's a good idea for you, but how would it affect the most vulnerable which are in control? I love that. I think that's a great limits test for anything. Well, a great lens to look through

as far as making the decisions. I mean, that is similar to what I've said. One of the neatest things about having my son was it just changed the lens at which I looked through everything that I made a decision for. So when I didn't have him, the decision to work the extra hour or to go do the thing or buy the stuff or whatever was always just like me, my needs, can I, can I not, what I want. And that has shifted so much just simply by going like, oh, what will my son think or how would I explain that to him if he ever asked me?

So I always just try that. I just, it's now it's natural. I don't have to actively think about it. So the first thing I default to is just like, you know, okay, if my son was there and I had to explain myself why I did that thing, whatever, like how would I communicate that to him? And if I find myself fumbling in my brain too, how do I defend this? Yeah. Defending it. It's just like, it's the answer is no, then it's not, it's not good or It's not a good idea

And so I love that idea of looking through that lens, but just don't see us by the way left turn Do we do we have applicants have we started looking at the applicants for training positions every day? We are mm-hmm, so we're still getting the time. We're getting more. Yeah, but I mean yeah, bring them on though I mean we Kyle and Katrina are Yeah, but I mean, yeah, bring them on though. I mean we Kyle and Katrina are Consistently going through and taking interviews and and we're looking at everybody it is so if you work for mind pump That means you're actually an employee of ours as a trainer or a coach You are you are this is an incredible place to work because of our abundance of leads So the business is just incredible that being, one of the hardest places to get hired

to be a trainer coach, straight up. But if you think you have what it takes, go to mindpumppersonaltraining.com forward slash apply and see if you got what it takes. Everybody has to go through an internship process. I don't care how great you think you are. You're gonna go through a period of being here for a little while for us to see

if you're somebody that we would be happy representing Mind Pump. But if you think you got what it takes, you wanna be a trainer here, go to mindpumppersonaltraining.com forward slash apply. Seed is the world's best probiotic, hands down. If you want the benefits of a probiotic, better skin, better energy, of course better digestion,

go with Seed. Check with seed, check them out. Go to seed.com forward slash mind pump. Use the code two five mind pump. Get 25% off back to the show. Our first question is from Shamunk seven. How do I practice bracing for exercises like squats? Do them. Yeah.

So, you know, what's funny about this? This is one of those things. Well, I'll go over what you should focus on,? This is one of those things, well I'll go over what you should focus on, but this is one of those things where if you focus too much on it, it becomes a problem sometimes. It's like, think about blinking, right? Now you're feeling weird every time you blink your eyes

or whatever, it's like a natural thing. So bracing while you squat essentially just means you're just tightening up your core. Now what does that look like? Well pretend like someone's gonna poke you in the ribs and you kind of brace up like someone's gonna tickle you. That's what it's like. That being said, don't overthink it because I've had people do this where they brace so hard the whole time they get fatigued by rep number five and I'm like no no no like you can breathe like you could relax a little bit

in between. What you want to do is you want to brace when you're about to do the rep. So bars on your back, you ready to go down, brace your no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, What you don't do is you pull in your midsection, I've heard people say that, that's not how you brace. And then also wearing a weight belt changes this completely. When you wear a weight belt, bracing looks different. You're actually pushing out against the belt with your core to create stability, which is a very different bracing technique than doing it without a belt. You wanna imagine somebody about to punch you in the stomach.

I mean, and be able to breathe throughout that process. It's as simple as that. So that's how I used to coach to a client. And I would actually have them figured out. Because the bracing part I don't find is the most difficult part. It's the breathing while also bracing. And so the way you practice that is like, OK, so I'm bracing right now. So you should still be able to have dialogue and conversation while

also creating that brace. That's the way you practice that. Because if you are bracing so hard, you're holding your breath and you're getting exhausted that it's not right. Like I should be able to brace and stand here or sit here and talk to you normal and nobody else knows, but me, I know that I'm bracing my core right now. If you can get to that place that's what it looks like when you go into these movements like squatting and deadlifting is you should be able to brace and still breathe. Yeah now here's what it looks

like when you know if you want to get real technicals like before I do my rep I take a deep breath in, brace I go down on. On the way up, I breathe out, but the breathing out sounds like, hoo, or sore. I like to, yeah. It's coming out. I'm like an esprit to the teeth. It's coming out with intention and with bracing. It's not, hoo, this loose breath out.

At the top of the rep, you can relax a little bit and catch your breath and then do it again. And if you're strong, this is how you're supposed to lift. If you're strong, you brace, you breathe in, you brace, go down, tighten things up, come up. if you're strong you brace you breathe in you brace go down tighten things up come up as you're Coming up you breathe out with this kind of real controlled forceful type breath, but most people I think Relax around this so they would too focusing too much on breathing and bracing leads to some weird Yeah, racing and breathing weird and dysfunctional and get lightheaded. Yep

Next question is from chunky beast Can very dry skin and lips, despite constantly moisturizing, drinking two to three liters of water a day, and lowering weekly weight training volume, be a sign of over training? It can, but it's more likely a sign of something else. You know, dehydrated. Just imagine someone's,

you know, constantly doing that. Can I just tell you guys how much I do that? Yeah, stop doing that. Yeah, stop doing that. If you do that all the time. Yeah, this is a problem. I hate when I see dudes on like dating shows and they'll walk out and they're like doing, what are you, you're scheming?

Like what are you doing with your hands? Yeah. Anyway. This could be a sign of a B vitamin deficiency or a nutrient deficiency. Could be signs of dehydration too, right? It can, but they're drinking, you know, two, three liters of water. Yeah, but what about with sodium?

We're having some sodium. Maybe your electrolyte balance is off. Maybe bump your sodium a little bit, but look at your fatty acid profile. This will happen if your fat intake is too low. Fat intake, yeah. So if you're like, I've had female clients like this where they're afraid of eating over 40 grams of fat

and they have skin issues. I'd have them bump their fat intake and then hold their skin, looked amazing. So look at fat Fat intake look at nutrient deficiencies B vitamin deficiencies can call can cause chapping of the lips and the tongue or you know Like redness on the tongue and then and then maybe you need a little bit of sodium in your water But if you're constantly dry And you know skin and lips it there's something missing, something missing. Next question is from RainbowMom3.

For those on a GLP-1, is it more important to hit your protein target or strength train in the event you're struggling to consistently hit protein but are consistent with strength training? Ultimately, is that okay? I like the caveat. I like the caveat because here's a person that says that they constantly struggle with protein intake, but they never miss workouts.

Right, right, it's for sure protein. Therefore, what's important for them? Protein, protein, 100%. If not, if it was the flip, I always miss my workouts, my protein's great all the time, you don't skip your workouts. So this is an easy one, and this is a great illustration of the individual

value of these kinds of pieces of advice. Which one is the one that you miss the most? Well that's probably the one that you need to be more. Especially in the context of a GLP one because you know that they're eating low calories. So if you're a really low calorie and you're low protein and you're training, like you're going to break down muscle. You're going to lose muscle like that. And so hitting your protein intake is extremely important. And especially if you already say that you're really consistent with the workouts, it's like, yeah, you'd be better off missing that workout and hitting your protein intake than

vice versa for this client. That's right. Next question is from Dad Fit Life. In today's world, it's easy for men to isolate themselves and sacrifice their hobbies and friendships for their family's well-being. How do you guys juggle responsibility as a father and husband while still keeping some friends

and hobbies that you enjoy doing? You know, you just, here's what's interesting about it. Nothing's balanced. Yeah, and also things change. So the message that you can do it all, like you have kids, nothing changes. Yeah. The biggest lie. The biggest horse shit.

That's crap. Your priorities change, and so things look different. I'll give you an example. If I'm an athlete, I'm a college athlete, and I'm working out, the reason why I'm working out is for maximum athletic performance. So my workouts are for that. Later if I'm 60 and I want good mobility and health, my workouts are for good mobility and health. Therefore they look different. I

can enjoy both of them. I just have to take it and use it in a way that's valuable. Alright where am I going with this? Your family's well-being, your children and your wife are more important than the hobbies that you do. That's true. But if you partaking in hobbies allows you to be a better husband and father, well then go for it. So, if you're never doing anything for yourself and it's just making you angry and bitter

and resentful and tired and whatever, you're gonna be beneficial to your family by taking some of that time off and doing things for yourself. And friends can help with this. Men need other men to tell them when they're shit. This is one of the greatest values of having friends for guys, is that your buddies that are close with you,

they're the first ones that are looking at you and go, bro, what are you doing? You're messing up and you need that. If you don't have that, you don't have that. You need to go fill your cup, you go fill your cup. That's right. I just think it's like what balance really is, is just shifting your priorities around constantly and there's no way that you're going to nail it right at that moment in all

aspects. So whatever, I would just look at it as like who needs me the most, you know, and like, or where do I need to be the most and where I see any kind of like deficits I need to address, whether it's in the family, whether it's in my, you know, extended family, you know, friends, or if I need some time to myself, like I just have to kind of evaluate that constantly and then just shift my priorities around and accommodate appropriately.

It's just, it's not something that like, I don't know anybody out there that's nailed it. So a lot of people out there say they have, and it's like, this is like one of these really annoying things for me to listen to from people that think that like, oh, I'm so successful, I have't, you don't, unless you're constantly moving things around to make it work. Well, I think that you said that because I would say I've nailed this, but I wouldn't, but I also would say that you're right. It doesn't look like this perfect

balance because that's like, in other words, if I looked at it, it doesn't look like single Adam. It doesn't look, no, it doesn't mean it doesn't. So yeah. it. It doesn't look like single Adam. It doesn't look, no. That's what I mean. It doesn't, so yeah, so what it doesn't look like, like to Justin's point, it doesn't look like a perfect seven days of like, on Monday I hang out with the homies, on Tuesday I'm like, it's like, no. It's not like a system. What it looks like for me and why I feel that way

that we've nailed this, one, I think that the woman I married has everything to do with this. She values that as much and values that I have that as much and vice versa. Like I always encourage her if time has gone by and she hasn't got away with the girls and done something. And same thing for her. She knows like I love to just go off

and go drive by myself. And she will see sometimes when I'm buried into work and I'm out of balance because I'm so focused on the business right now, it's like, oh, I know my honey needs to go take a day off for himself. And she'll come tell me, she's like, hey, Friday, go take one of the cars, get out of here. We'll see you tomorrow. And it's like, I'll go do that. And so we do that for each other. We're always kind of watching, because know, because we do, friendships are extremely important to us.

And I maintain quite a few really good relationships with my friends. So is my time with just my wife outside of with my child. And then of course, I love being with my son and doing a lot of things. And so it never looks like a perfect balance to Justin's point. It never is. But what it looks like is sometimes you're running a lot in one direction and a good partnership is helping you always kind of evaluate that. You need somebody outside to really point that out.

Yeah, and Katrina and I, we have rules in our relationship and one of the rules that we have is she has the autonomy at any time she feels that she will block, she runs the calendar, she'll mark off a day and like, I gotta show up for that, whatever that thing is. And sometimes it's a family trip, where the three of us go and do something.

Sometimes it's just her and I, because we need to get our alone time. And sometimes it's a, you need to get the fuck out of here and go. And so, but she has that control and I trust her to kind of be feeling the family dynamic always to give me that feedback of I'm not getting enough of one of those things because I can put my head down. It's a strength of mine. It's like I can focus on something and go like, okay, this is where

I'm at. Now, your greatest strength is your greatest weakness. So the weakness is that I can get so focused in that direction that I can lose sight of some of those other things, but having a partner who's always giving me those checks and balances and does that keeps what I consider balance, right? Makes me feel balanced about it, even though it's not real balance. And there's seasons in life, I think, too.

Changing your perspective helps you find joy in the season that you're in. Yeah. Because they're all different. This happened the other night. 100%. The other night, my four and a half year old, we were in bed and he's downstairs, he's got a little bit of a cold.

And I'm upstairs, I'm looking forward to some alone time with my wife and I love being with her, just the two of us for whatever. And so we're up there and he's calling up and he's having trouble falling asleep and so my wife wasn't feeling good so I'm like I'll go down, I'll hang out with him. So I go down and he's like no, no, I want mom and I say listen, I love hanging out with you buddy, just me and you and he goes well then let me have both of you.

So I can't say no to that, right? So she comes down. Now I could have been annoyed, I could have been annoyed and maybe that would have happened to me at some points where I'm annoyed and say oh God, now we're doing this instead of hanging out, just the two of us. But instead, there's a shift and we're in bed and he's hugging us and he's so happy that we're with him. It's like, this is gonna end.

This is not gonna happen. He's not gonna be 15 years old with us laying in bed with him cuddling. That's just not gonna happen if he knows it'll be weird. It just doesn't happen. So it's a season and so what that did for me is it? Became you appreciate it. I became you appreciate it because there's gonna come a time 18 years from now What is just the two of you all you got is this?

And you don't have a kid interrupt you so a lot of this is framing a lot of it's free It's how you frame these situations that you're in I do think though I do to the person's point men can get this way though It's how you frame these situations that you're in. I do think though, to the person's point, men can get this way though, where they stop. They really get isolated. They get really isolated. They lose their relationships with other men and that is so important to do that. Now again, Katrina, we talked about this shit before we got together.

This was stuff that we knew where it was important to us. We both valued that. And so we've just never lost sight of that. Now there's seasons where you're more whatever because of whatever. And just like having a newborn kid, like your entire life is their newborn kid. And then I have friends that when, when they, the kid comes, like, you don't see him for a couple of months, it's like, that's just part of it. Like, and you know what they're doing.

I don't hold it against my buddy because he's doing it because I've done it too. When that, when that time is how many, then that goes and you free up and then you have more time to do stuff. And then eventually they'll come a time when they're all out of the house and all you got is time. And so I don't want to, I don't, I'm not upset that more of it shifted with them, but I do, I do think it's important to, I think balance is such a terrible word that people throw throw around but I do think all of it is important

You know where men tend to screw this up is they tend to place too much value on work and less on everything else So we're 10 where men tend to isolate themselves here is they bury into work work work work. That was me That was my value. That's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna work like crazy and then you lose sight of the other things that are very important in my experience That's what I've seen with men. I see less of the life. It's either that's how or like some guys Especially the hobby thing is real. Yeah, so so that's what I was gonna say Justin I see a lot of dudes that are fantasy football hang out with their golf on their body on Saturday Do they do all these things with the boys? I mean, I was that guy.

I was that guy who every weekend, my boys were at my house where I was at their house and we were talking. I mean, we were like the bros a hundred percent was that guy. Um, activities or therapy. And so, you know, the video gaming is gone. Uh, the golf trips happen occasionally. Uh, you know, the video gaming is gone. The golf trips happen occasionally. But again, like trading that for what I am doing with my, like, I'll take a all day long building Legos with my son over any video game binger with my buddies or something like

that. So to me, it's an easy sacrifice or, you know, but it doesn't mean I still don't maintain those relationships. It just looks different It does it's different because I have different priorities in my life And I don't know. I think there's a way to still do all of it But a lot of guys have built these these, you know Routines around their hobbies their life and then they get married and have kids and a lot of that goes because it's not realistic It's just like yeah golf takes 10 hours, bro Like you can't expect a golf every week anymore like and some dudes do I know guys that like

Are you trading cards get dust? Yeah, you know and but maybe that or maybe that is the one thing that you do with your boys Is always golf, but then the rest of the time is that so there's there's ways to do both It's just like trying to have your cake and eat it too all time is you know a little ridiculous Look if you like the show come find us on Instagram Justin is that mind pump Justin? I'm at mind pump to Stefano Adams at my pump out Thank you for listening to mind pump if your goal is to build and shape your body dramatically improve your health and energy and Maximize your overall performance check out our discounted RGB super bundle at mind pump media calm

The RGB super bundle includes maps anabolic, maps performance, and maps aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam, and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Super Bundle is like having

Sal, Adam and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at mindpumpmedia.com. If you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five-star rating and review on iTunes and by introducing MindPump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support, and until next time, this is MindPump.