Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 2839: Stop Cutting. Build Instead. The Science of Getting Lean the Right Way.

Episode Date: April 18, 2026

If you've been cutting calories and grinding cardio to lose weight and it still isn't working — this episode is for you. Sal, Adam, and Justin break down why the cut-first approach is not just ineff...ective, it's actively working against you. A new study out of Brazil shows that people with belly fat but adequate muscle had ZERO increased risk of death — while those with belly fat and low muscle had an 83% higher risk. The message is clear: muscle is the variable that matters most. Then four callers join live for coaching on everything from Lyme disease and exercise anxiety to running a half marathon while keeping muscle, imposter syndrome as a new trainer, and a listener who thought she needed to lose 30 pounds of muscle to compete in bikinis. Sponsors & Links 🔗 MAPS Push Pull Legs (NEW) — Men & women's versions, 40% off: mapsppl.com with code PPL 🔗 RHO Nutrition — Liposomal NAD, glutathione, creatine and more: rhonutrition.com/discount/mindpump — use code MINDPUMP for 20% off 🔗 ZBiotics — Probiotic that converts sugar to fiber: zbiotics.com/mindpump26 — use code MINDPUMP26 for 15% off first purchase 🔗 Butcherbox — Grass-fed meat, wild caught fish, delivered to your door: butcherbox.com/mindpump — sign up by May 18 for free protein for a year + $20 off 🔗 Mind Pump Fitness Coaching (Elite Trainer Academy) — Build a sustainable 6-figure fitness career: mindpumpfitnesscoaching.com 🔗 Submit your question to be coached live: mplivecaller.com 00:02:55  Stop Cutting — Build Your Way to Leanness Instead 00:03:46  New Study: Muscle + Belly Fat vs. Belly Fat Alone — The 83% Death Risk Stat 00:06:17  Why Calorie Restriction Fails Long Term (Every Time) 00:08:55  The Trainer Mindset Shift: Focus on Strength, Not the Scale 00:13:25  How to Know You're on the Right Track (The Signs Nobody Talks About) 00:20:09  Ro Nutrition & Liposomal Technology Explained 00:23:14  The Earthquake Last Night — Bay Area Shaker Stories 00:28:47  Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth Predictions — None of Them Came True 00:31:37  AI-Generated Music Hit #1 — Is the Industry in Trouble? 00:38:03  Will AI Push Education Back Toward Philosophy & Theology? 00:41:52  ZBiotics: The Probiotic That Converts Sugar into Fiber 00:47:02  Florida Man Stories for Everyone's Birthday 00:51:24  Sun Exposure Study: Women Who Avoided the Sun Had Double the Mortality Risk 00:53:13  Covid Advice in Retrospect — What Everyone Can Agree On Now 00:58:07  Caller #1 — Amelia: Dancer with Lyme Disease, Anxiety, Hypermobility & 10% Body Fat 01:16:00  Caller #2 — Taylor: Half Marathon Training While Trying to Keep Muscle 01:26:09  Caller #3 — Lauren: New Personal Trainer with Imposter Syndrome 01:45:10  Caller #4 — Faith: Wants to Lose 30 Pounds of Muscle for Bikini Competition Find Us 📲 Instagram: @MindPumpMedia 💻 Programs, coaching & more: MindPumpMedia.com

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Starting point is 00:00:00 If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind Pump, Mind Pump with your hosts. Sal DeStefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. You just found the most downloaded fitness, health, and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. In today's episode, we coached callers on air. About four of them called us, and we got to help them out on air. But this was after the intro.
Starting point is 00:00:25 Today's intro was 55 minutes long. In the intro, we talk about muscle building. and fat loss and body sculpting. We also talk about family life and current events. If you want to be on an episode like this where we could coach you, here's what you do. Submit your question to MPLifeCallor.com. Now, this episode is brought to you by some sponsors.
Starting point is 00:00:43 The first one is Roe Nutrition. They specialize in liposomal technology. So when you take their supplements because of the liposomal technology, you absorb more of it. So use NAD, cratine, glutathione, and more from Roe Nutrition. It's more effective. because of the way it's delivered. Go check them out.
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Starting point is 00:01:57 You got it. By the way, two versions of this program, one for men, and then one for women. The programming is different. Women have a more higher emphasis on lower body volume, glute training, shoulder volume, men, it's more traditional. Now, because it's a brand new program, we're launching it right now, and it's 40% off. If you go to Maps ppl.com, use the code PPL.L, you get the price slashed by 40%. Also, if you sign up within the first few days of the launch, you can attend live coaching by one of the mind pump coaches.
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Starting point is 00:03:05 That's it. Enjoy the rest of the show. Stop cutting your way into getting leaner. Build into it. It's a way better approach. We're going to talk about it right now. It feels like this has been the theme of our calls lately. Yeah. We've had a lot of people that want a leaner physique
Starting point is 00:03:26 or want to lose body fat. And the approach is that they're going about it. I think we would agree is all wrong because they're already in a place where they're pretty low calorie. They're exercising quite a bit. And yet they're still, you know, say four or five percent body fat away from where they want to be. And they'd be far better off if they increased calories, tried to build muscle.
Starting point is 00:03:52 And I think they would, even if they didn't get to the quote unquote body fat percentage they want. I think they would achieve the physique that they want faster that way. Yeah. I mean, let's break down what you mean by boosting calories. So this is in the context of eating healthy diet, high protein diet. So you guys eating more garbage. But it is a fact that more muscle, healthier muscle, stronger muscle is advantageous for fat loss. It's extremely advantageous for fat loss. It's also extremely advantageous for longevity. I'm going to pull up a study right now. Because I think what's happened, I know this actually, I know this is what's happened over the last, I don't know how many decades, is we've taken body fat and made that like
Starting point is 00:04:35 the number one enemy. Now, this isn't to say that excessive body fat doesn't have problems and it doesn't cause health issues. It does. But I'm going to read you guys a study that illustrates a little bit of what we're talking about. So the study itself says, this is, this was published. This was in Science Daily. So Science Daily, you can find new studies that are published. And this was a study out of Brazil. And the summary says having both excess belly fat and low muscle mass isn't just unhealthy. It's deadly. Raising the risk of death by 83%. This condition is called sarcopenic obesity. So this is people who have over fat, but very little muscle. Now that's not the part that's going to blow you away. This is what it says deeper in the study. This study revealed that individuals with both
Starting point is 00:05:21 conditions, so excess belly fat and less and low muscle mass, had an 83% higher risk of death compared to those who didn't have them. Here's where it gets wild. We also found that the risk of death was reduced by 40% among those with low muscle mass and no abdominal obesity. Okay, so same person, same little muscle mass, they lose the belly fat. Now their overall risk of death goes down by 40%. That sounds amazing. Here's where it gets crazy. interestingly, and I love how the researchers say this, individuals with abdominal obesity but adequate muscle mass weren't associated with an increased risk of death.
Starting point is 00:06:00 No risk. No risk. No risk. It went from 83% to zero. Wow. Because the people had muscle. Yeah. So they had belly fat and muscle.
Starting point is 00:06:10 Yeah. Okay. So being strong and fat is better than being skinny and weak. Muscles your insurance, man. It's definitely better than being fat and weak. Also, muscle makes fat loss easier. And so if your goal is fat loss, if your goal is to get leaner, you want to lose 60 pounds on the scale, the mental approach, the approach you need to take is let me build my body into leanness. Let me build the body that I want, not cut or reduce into the body I want.
Starting point is 00:06:42 Because what happens when you go from being 60 pounds overweight and you're not working out and you're like, you know what, let me reduce my calories and let me just start moving a lot because that's the formula, right? Burn more calories, eat less calories. You will lose weight. But along with that weight that you'll lose, you will lose muscle. This is a fact. Every study done on this shows us. You will lose a good 30 to 50 percent. Most studies show around 40 percent of the weight that you lose will be muscle mass.
Starting point is 00:07:12 And here's what happens at that point. Let's say you've lost 30 of the 60 pounds, but you know, 10 of those pounds were muscle. You still lost some body fat, but you also lost some muscle. Now you're in a place where it might be a little healthier, not a lot healthier because you lost some muscle. We saw what muscle does, how protective it is for health. But now you're sitting with a metabolic rate that is disadvantageous for further fat loss. So now I'm moving a lot.
Starting point is 00:07:39 I'm eating way less than I was. I lost half the weight on the scale that I wanted, even though 10 pounds of it was muscle, and I plateau. So now what do I do? Do I continue down this path? What that looks like is more movement and even less food. And then I plateau again, and more movement and even less food,
Starting point is 00:07:56 and then screw it. This sucks. I don't want to do this anymore. And I just go back to what I was doing before. Versus I'm going to build into a leaner physique. And this looks different. It looks like I'm getting stronger. I'm hitting a high protein diet.
Starting point is 00:08:12 I'm fueling my body because you have to fuel muscle mass. And the scale might not move. It might not move for a little while. But I'm building muscle. By the way, the reason why the scale is not moving, even though you're building muscles, you're actually kind of losing body fat at the same time. This happens relatively commonly.
Starting point is 00:08:28 But you might even gain a little bit of weight on the scale. I don't care. I'm building my body. I'm building myself into fat loss. So you go through this process of building six months later, man, I am way stronger. I'm eating a high protein diet. I'm feeding myself whole natural foods.
Starting point is 00:08:42 I'm eating when I'm hungry. I don't even feel like I'm starving. And I feel great. Let me see what happens when I cut my calories a little bit. Boom, fat comes off your body. Way better, much more sustainable approach. And I really think the mentality that we go into with weight loss is really screwing people up. You know, this also feeds into the strategy that I think that we all landed on with our clients later in our career when we first would start.
Starting point is 00:09:09 them, right? I remember early on, getting drilled about, you know, diet is 75% of your results. And so, so much of the conversation when I, when I first got a client was around they're eating and I would write out these meal plans and tell them to follow that to a T. And, you know, it'll be all about. Did you do it? Did you eat what I told you? Were you consistent? And was so focused on that. And then I look, you know, back to like when that shifted for me where it became, I actually stopped. really focused. I'd have them track to tell me what they ate. So I had an idea of what they were consuming. But I really didn't put a lot of emphasis initially on the dial. I was like, can I just get this person into lifting weights? And there's something really freeing about that for the person to hear a study like that because even if you didn't lose any body fat, but we put on 10 pounds of muscle, you're at such a healthier place than that person. Even the person, by the way, who's being told by the doctor, you need to lose weight. You're way over weight. You need to lose weight. You're way overweight. You need to lose weight. you still, the version of you with 10 pounds more muscle and haven't lost any body fat is still better than the person who just loses. It's still a trade and a compromise by going the cutting route right away and not really focusing on emphasizing the build.
Starting point is 00:10:23 There's so many benefits on the build side. Yeah. It's just, if you pit them against each other, it's, it's quite insane. I mean, like, alleviating pain, you know, being able to have that kind of strength ability and able body, you know. And then down the road, like obviously it takes a bit more time and is drawn out a bit further. But the long-term effect of that and the resiliency and all the, you know, your immune system, you can go down the list of all the systems of the body that it benefits.
Starting point is 00:10:52 Yes, but also, also here's the other thing. The other approach, doctors, like, you've got to lose a bunch of weight. Okay. So you're like, fine. I'm going to go into this. Cut calories. We start running. Okay.
Starting point is 00:11:01 The fail rate on that. What I mean by that is, if you're doing that crazy. That's right. If you succeed in losing the weight, which a small percentage. of people actually carry it out that far because it sucks. It's a crappy process. It's very difficult enough to change your behaviors in the ways that we're talking about, which is easier.
Starting point is 00:11:18 Now you're going to do it the hard way or you're just burning a bunch and eating very little so you feel like crap. That really sucks. Let's just say you're hardheaded and you stick with it so you lose your 30 pounds. The fail rate, okay, meaning the percentage of people that gained the weight back in a year or two, almost 100%. Okay. So it's not, so what Justin said about this, the way that we're explaining it's
Starting point is 00:11:39 a little more drawn out, that infers that there's a faster way to do it. No, no, no. The truth is, it doesn't work the other way. Well, yeah, it just doesn't work. It just doesn't work. Okay, do you want to do this in the way that works or do you want to do this in the way that doesn't work? That's the real way to present this. And like what you were saying, as a trainer, Adam, when I got good at training, I focused on getting stronger. This is what we're going to focus on. Well, it's also, it's easier. It's easier for the client. I mean, we just, we had a call her just recently. And they called in for the first time and found the podcast. I don't know how many years ago he had said. And hadn't, hadn't bought a math program yet. Hadn't done anything like
Starting point is 00:12:18 that. But I just followed the advice and radically changed his physique just from from lifting three days a week, focusing on getting strong. Eating when he's hungry, eating protein for, and that's it. And it was just like he and his exact words is like, it's crazy. My whole life, I've struggling with being overweight. And he goes, I had no idea how easy it was. Yeah, dude. If you just simply did that. And he's like, I don't really track.
Starting point is 00:12:45 I don't really do any of these things. I just eat my focus on getting protein-centric meals. I lift three days a week. I focus on the compound lives. I'm hungry. I feed myself. And he goes, I've just completely shifted my body. And it's easy to maintain.
Starting point is 00:13:01 It's to do that. So there's this really freeing thing for the person who is struggling. with weight to stop focus, hyper-focusing on restricting yourself from all these foods. And like, just start with, go to the gym and lift weights and try and get strong. And then if you do anything diet-wise, make an effort to eat protein and eat it first in the meal. And that right there will shift so much in the right direction that it'll give you that momentum that you want and it won't feel like you're white knuckling your way through this weight loss journey that you think you have to go on and it'll get easier and it it does take
Starting point is 00:13:42 time and i think that's the other issue is that we have you know these crazy radical transformations and short periods of time that we're marketed to and we had another live caller also today that you know was he gave us basically what he was doing we had this before picture since november and where he's at now and it's like bro just it's and the whole time his scale hadn't moved, right? So scale kind of said that. But he's obviously leaner. Yeah. Way more money. You're on track. Yeah. It's like, you're perfect. Just extend out what you've done for another six months. You'll look back at that picture and go,
Starting point is 00:14:12 look at how radically, the radical change you did from November to now. And then you'll look back, it goes six more months, like on the same exact path, eating the way you're eating, training the way you're training. Feeling good, strong, all those things. It's also, it's also wild because, and I get it, I get it. Like, once you finally make the decision to do something, you have a sense of urgency. Sure. You've made the decision. Now it's like, Like that's it. I'm going to do something about it. Right.
Starting point is 00:14:33 But the reason why you feel this urgency is because you've been living the other way for so long. In other words, you didn't gain 60 pounds in two months. Okay. It took you a while. It took you a while to get to kind of this point. And you've been with it for a little while. So I get when you finally make the decision, you're like, I'm done living this way. But I'm going to tell you right now, first off, it takes some time.
Starting point is 00:14:57 Second off, the only way to do it with any amount of long. term forever success is going to take a little while. And you have to build into it. If you don't build into it, it's just, it's not, I'm going to tell you right, it's not going to happen. It's just not going to happen. You're going to, again, I'm going to say this again, if you're hard-headed enough and just, oh, God, you just grind hard enough and you do it the wrong way, you may lose the weight you're trying to lose, but your odds of long-term success are almost zero. Dismal. Which is like, why would you choose, think about it this way to yourself. I have two paths.
Starting point is 00:15:34 And by the way, I have a map here that tells me that this is a dead end. This is a dead end over here. Why would you take the dead end? Don't take the dead end. Believe what we're saying. And if you don't look at the data. Look at the data on calorie restriction and weight loss. Look at the data on calorie restriction plus excessive exercise and weight loss.
Starting point is 00:15:51 Look how much muscle people lose. Now look up the data on two years after people lose weight. What percentage of people gain back? Find all these studies. You'll see for yourself. Dead end. Dead end, dead end. Now find the studies on longevity and how strength is a great predictor of mortality.
Starting point is 00:16:07 A grip strength test is a phenomenal predictor of mortality. Nothing special about the grip. It's just a proxy for strength. Then look at the data on people who are overweight with strength or with muscle. How healthy they seem to be. Yeah. Now, of course, they'd be better off leaner, but it just goes to show you the power of strength and muscle. And if you look around in society, everybody, I know what it looks like to everybody.
Starting point is 00:16:31 This is what it looks like. It looks like we're walking around in an obesity epidemic. In fact, that term is everybody's familiar with it, obesity epidemic. But if you dig a little deeper and you have people lift something or squeeze something or press something, what you're really looking at is an epidemic of weakness. Yeah. Or throw something. And under muscle.
Starting point is 00:16:51 That's why what Dr. Gavre Lyons, her whole message that she's been touting for some time now, I think is so true, so powerful. And I know, I'm sure everybody's tired of hearing me say this, because I've said it so many times on the podcast, but I think another reason why this is so difficult, Sal, is you alluded to that. You know, you're super motivated to make this change. You've been living with all this body fat, and so you want to.
Starting point is 00:17:14 And it is the one thing that doesn't serve you the more you do or the harder you go at it, right? Like everyone in terms of the effort. Yeah, everything else in your life. And I think that's why this is, it gets, so difficult for people is because logically you would think well the harder I push
Starting point is 00:17:35 the more I work out the more I do these things the faster I get the results I want it's the one thing in life that's like that's not true there is an actual right balance and there's a science to this and if that is off it's going to be a hell
Starting point is 00:17:51 of a time trying to get there versus what you hear these callers when you do the right dose appropriately it's very easy. But when you try and muscle your way, meaning like, you know, work as hard as you can to get to there,
Starting point is 00:18:06 it doesn't serve you. Look, look, it's really like this. Like, there's a smart way to do it. I'll say it that way because I hear what you're saying. Will relate or correlate or effort to that meaning or correlating to the result that we get. The effort is what produces the result. But if I told you to dig a hole in your backyard
Starting point is 00:18:28 for a pool and I gave you a spoon, would you go out there and be like, let's go? I mean, let me tell you, you'd work your ass off. You'd be sweating your butt off. You'd get almost no work done with a spoon. You'd go get a backhoe. And you would do way less work and that hole would be dug in less than a day. So that's really the way you got to think about this is, yeah, you could make it as hard. You can make it really hard.
Starting point is 00:18:51 You can do anything stupid. It's a better tool for the job. You can make it really dumb and make it really hard on yourself. or you could choose the easier path. And here's what it feels like. When you build yourself into a lean physique, this is what it feels like, okay? Once the ball gets rowing, you got to give it a second. But the ball will start to roll.
Starting point is 00:19:10 You'll get stronger. And you're not going to notice much yet except for the fact that you're way stronger. You've got more energy. You feel better. Okay, that's the initial stages. But once that ball gets rolling, this is what it's going to feel like. You're going to be like, this is weird. I'm getting leaner.
Starting point is 00:19:24 I don't feel like I'm doing much. or how is it I'm eating this much and I'm getting leaner. Like this doesn't make any sense. I don't feel like I'm working out that much. I don't feel like I'm killing myself. These are the comments, by the way, that really good trainers get from their clients. If you're a good trainer,
Starting point is 00:19:40 the comments you should get from your clients typically sound like that. Like, you know what? I mean, you know, when we work out, we do a good workout. I don't feel like I'm putting the effort in to look the way. This is crazy. How am I getting these kind of results?
Starting point is 00:19:52 Like, we're doing it smart. I can still sit down without groaning. It's wild. But it's really about the mentality you go into it. And I just want to encourage people if your goal is to get strong, if you make that your goal and you feed that goal with whole natural foods, high protein diet. So heavily processed foods will make this very difficult. So stay away from that. Whole natural foods, high protein, and lift weights and get stronger.
Starting point is 00:20:21 That will make the fat loss happen in a sustainable way. It'll actually work. So anyway, I love which one you're using right now. Is that the glutathione from Rowe? Is it the NAD? I like their NAD. I like both. I feel the energy from NAD.
Starting point is 00:20:37 I like their creatine too. Well, for me right now, Max is really sick at the house right now. And so I'm just hitting it up. For sure. Yeah. No, I don't. And I find myself when I'm really good about all of NAD, the glutathione, making sure I'm hitting my multivitamin, supplementing vitamin D, all the things.
Starting point is 00:20:54 So Rowe uses, uh, a medical technology called liposomal. Liposomal technology. So these are basically little tiny molecules of fat that they'll put around the ingredient, which protects it, and you get more bioavailability. So your body actually absorbs it.
Starting point is 00:21:08 So you just use glutathione. If you took glutathione that wasn't liposomal, it's basically a waste of money. Like you'll get no rise in your glutath... In fact, back in the day... You still absorb it? Nothing as well. It just goes through your body.
Starting point is 00:21:20 Back in the day, the only way to get glutathione was if you want to see your blood... It's IV, right? Yeah, you'd have to do injection. Yeah. That would be the only way we would see a rise in blood glutathione until liposomal. And if you take liposonal glutathione, you will predictably see a rise. Is that like, is that relatively new technology?
Starting point is 00:21:37 No, it's not super new, but it is a technology. And it was first, I want to say pharmaceutical companies were the first one. Maybe you can look that up, Doug. Who invented? I feel like I don't, I don't remember hearing about that in our early years as a personal trainer. No. And then I feel like. But I don't think the science is super new.
Starting point is 00:21:54 But supplements using it, I think that's kind of a newer, relatively new. Yeah, probably medical grade, you know, supplements for a while. That's so interesting. It's interesting that that... Oh, 19601. Oh, yeah. The science has been around that long, and yet supplement companies, is it maybe because... Oh, the 1970s is when they started using liposomes as drug delivery systems.
Starting point is 00:22:17 But it was first discovered in 1961. And then why... Is it expensive? Like, why haven't more supplements use that as a way to transport nutrients? It usually is more expensive. Yeah. That's why. Yeah. And because it was a new technology, like, where are you going to find the place to make to use this unless you're a pharma company type of deal?
Starting point is 00:22:38 But Rose specializes in it. And is there a reason why, for example, you know, things like NAD, glutathione, I would use that that way, but I'm not a creatine that way. So theoretically, anything that's liposoma will have increased bioavailability. However, some things have great bioavailability without a liposomal technology. Got it. So not necessary. But some things, like glutathione, you waste your time if you take it any other way, unless you inject it. I wonder if NAD is like that also.
Starting point is 00:23:11 Is NAD like that? It makes a big difference with the absorption. You can absorb some orally, but it's got poor bioavailability in comparison to liposomal technology. Yeah, I felt like it's. I remember I had tried the oral forms before, never noticed anything. It wasn't until I did either the IV or the liposomal that I noticed a difference.
Starting point is 00:23:28 Exactly. All right. Let's talk about the earthquake last night. Yeah. Did everybody feel it? Did you even feel it? Oh, yeah. You were like in the epicenter, dude.
Starting point is 00:23:37 Oh, so it got you more. Yeah, it was like in Boulder Creek area, which was just a couple miles away from us. So it was what, 4.6, Doug? Was that the earthquake? I believe it's 4.6, yeah. And you were center, so you got it to most. So then you felt the most.
Starting point is 00:23:50 You probably felt it's second and then third. And I was probably the least. It was one of those shifting ones too. Yeah, it shook my house. And on the furthest. Wow. Like laterally. And I mean, I was dead sleep.
Starting point is 00:24:03 Like just completely out. And it jolted me up. And the boys, you know, obviously woke them up the whole house. So it was, I mean, I was just kind of joking about it. And then I was like, oh, I'll just wait for the aftershocks. And then I scared the boys. Oh, great. Why did I say that?
Starting point is 00:24:20 Yeah. It was at 140. Oh, 141. There it was. 141 a.m. It woke us up. My wife, if she's just any perceived threat
Starting point is 00:24:27 for the kids, she turns into a monster. Like, I don't care. There could be a dinosaur in there and she'll tackle them. It's just like ready to run downstairs. And I'm like, no,
Starting point is 00:24:36 no, not why there's an earthquake. She's going to fall. I don't you to fall on the stairs or something like that. But she gets up like. Maybe that's what it is. It's a mama bear thing or not. I was telling you guys on the walk
Starting point is 00:24:46 that sometimes I, Sometimes I take for granted. I have a wife that is just so tough. She doesn't complain. There's so many traits about her that I think I take for granted sometimes. But every once in a while I see that the side of her that I don't ever get to see where she's very scared. Like she doesn't get scared. I don't see him at that.
Starting point is 00:25:06 Earthquakes do that. We've been through enough with each other. You know, she was, Max is sick. So her and Max were sleeping in the other room. And she comes storming in carrying him, you know, after the end. Yeah, holding him in the arm. Like, you know, where should, what should we do? And I'm like, huh?
Starting point is 00:25:21 Go back to bed. I was like, go to sleep. I just roll over. Because I'm like half awake. I felt it. It woke me up. It was a good one. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:25:29 It shook me. It's like, it's just, I think I've been in so many earthquakes that I'm like, it's not that big of a deal. It's like, when things start falling off the wall, then you might catch me get up in a doorway, right? I'm saying, like, that's how you're supposed to stand in a doorway, you know? So I might go, like, do something like that. But if, if, like, picture frames are flying off.
Starting point is 00:25:47 Because we've been in over a seven, right? So one of the, since we've all been in... Yeah, it was 89. Yeah, that was like a 7.1. 7.1. And that one, that one threw stuff off the wall. Oh, yeah. And like, and so something like that is enough to...
Starting point is 00:26:00 But, I mean, I've been in ones where I was at the gym at Santa Teresa and the windows were flexing. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You know, it's like, I mean, there's not much you could really do. No, you're going to write it out, dude. You know what's weird is that earthquakes have never... They don't scare me. They never have. Not the 89.
Starting point is 00:26:17 I was 10. I was on the couch watching the World Series. And it threw me off the couch and I just got back on. Just never. I fell. I was in the shower. You can do nothing. I know they're scary.
Starting point is 00:26:28 They're supposed to be scary. But they don't necessarily, like I'm way more terrified of like the ocean or wind. But earthquakes for some reason don't. But a lot of people are really scared by them. Doug was, you were in a big one in Japan, right? Yeah, back in, I believe it was 95. How big was that one? 7.2.
Starting point is 00:26:46 two maybe, I'm guessing. Oh, over seven, huh? Yeah, it was over seven. It hit Kobe. And I was living in Osaka at the time. And I felt my room going back and forth. And my girlfriend at the time was living in Kobe. And so I tried to call her.
Starting point is 00:27:00 I couldn't get through. The phones were down. And then I couldn't, I finally got through to her. And she was okay. Her family house was damaged. Yeah. Not destroyed. But in Kobe, there was like 10,000 people who died.
Starting point is 00:27:14 Yeah. Because of fire. Yeah, because of a lot of wood construction and then gas lines, things like that. Yeah, so about 10,000 people died. And I couldn't see her for like two months after that because trains were not running. How long?
Starting point is 00:27:28 Two months? Look up the debt. 89 caused deaths like with a bridge and everything like that. That was, I mean, that was crazy, right? I mean, if you were somebody who was... 89, look at the picture of San Francisco in 89. Yeah, San Francisco had some building damages. You had bridges collapsed.
Starting point is 00:27:45 Create a hurt quick. And so, yeah. So, yeah, so you had some buildings fall down in San Francisco. The Bay Bridge collapsing was crazy. The Bay Bridge was crazy. Oh, yeah, that was way crazy. I was at the Oakland Coliseum. Are you with the game?
Starting point is 00:27:57 Yeah, the day before, though. Oh, yeah. I was up in the nosebleeds, too. I was like, oh, man, that would be crazy. Wow, look at Kobe. That's a Kobe earthquake. See, what terrifies me more than all those videos, although that is scary, or like tsunamis. Like, if I, like, tsunami videos?
Starting point is 00:28:12 Oh, no, I'm with you. I would be more terrified of that. the earth because I mean first of all the the likelihood of that and then you have those structures that you see are like those are vulnerable structures like my house we'd have to go through probably like something crazy for my house to collapse right the earthquake would have to be something we've never seen before for so it's like so when I we get shook like a lot of the buildings in California a lot of the oh they're up the code yeah that's like old city yeah old San Francisco those that's all brick it's like nothing's made a brick here anymore yeah yeah so your
Starting point is 00:28:44 your house today, I don't know, I don't know what the number is that we'd have to be to, like the magnitude of it. But I mean, so, so what it happens, I'm just kind of like, you go back to your guy roll right back to you. Speaking of natural disasters and stuff, when, do you guys remember the documentary with Al Gore, the inconvenient truth? Oh, yeah. When was that made? How accurate was that? I don't remember that. Two or one. I want to, listen, this brought the entire scare with like, Polar Bears. Like, oh no, like, they're not going to have
Starting point is 00:29:17 any... 2006. It was 2006. Now, this document... This was 20 years ago. Now, this documentary is what kicked off the climate change fear. This was the green movement. This was huge. And this documentary got lots of publicity.
Starting point is 00:29:33 Lots of people saw it. It was in, like, movie theater. And it scared the hell out of people. It changed public policy. It created this political... Still hear people like... reciting it. That's right. This is the political term climate change. I call it political term because it's
Starting point is 00:29:47 used in that way, right? And the fears and greenhouse gas. Well, because technically climate's been changing forever. Well, hold on. When's the last time you guys... Stop being logical. Stop it. Stop it. When's the last time you guys watch it? I don't think I've ever seen it. I don't even know if I've seen it. Listen. Like, since... Forever ago. This movie
Starting point is 00:30:04 did not stand the test of time. It made a lot of predictions. Yeah, by this time. None of them came true. Zero. Bro, he was showing pictures of like, oh, this is what's going to happen to Greenland and then this is what's going to happen and then here's what Florida is going to look like. Remember this was made in 2006. So he's like in 10 years. So he's got 10 years to like make a predict like in 10 years. This is what's going to happen. None of it. None of it. So right now people are posting clips right now showing these predictions that they made,
Starting point is 00:30:30 you know, based off their whatever, the science. It's all it was all. It's also convenient that there's different climate spots all over the world. So you have one climate in this, you know, part of the hemisphere. You have one in the southern part of the hemisphere. Like, they're all different climates. They're all changing at different paces. Yeah. Yeah. But that's too inconvenient. We need a global scary. I should show you the, I should show you the clips because the way he says it, the way he talks, you know, obviously he's a politician. So he can communicate very effectively. And he's like, oh, this is going to happen. Like, if we don't dramatically reverse course, this is what Florida is going to look like. And I have a picture of Florida and like half of it's
Starting point is 00:31:09 covered in water. This is what the Bay Area is going to. look like and like San Francisco's covered in water. And you know, a billionaire still have all like beachfront like right there like in the keep buying. Yeah, meanwhile, the politicians were still buying beachfront property. Like you guys don't believe this yourself.
Starting point is 00:31:22 They don't believe it. Yeah, why should we believe it? Where did you see all that stuff pop up? Are you just here recently? There are people who are posting out on X and they're like, yeah, they're like, boy, this looks pretty bad, dude. And you make predictions like that? Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:33 Dude, I had something crazy. So, uh, this weekend, I'm, I'm sitting outside in the morning. I'm having a cup of coffee. my mother-in-law sends me a song to listen to. She knows that, like, I like jazz music. And it's like my easy listening stuff, right? So she sends me this new artist that I hadn't heard of. And I listen to it.
Starting point is 00:31:52 I'm like, oh, my God, this is really good. And I send back to her. I'm like, I said, this is really good. I'm going down, like, all I'm listening to, like, his playlist right now. And she's like, I know, doesn't it? He just, like, speaks to you, right? I'm like, yeah, no, it's real good. So I'm listening.
Starting point is 00:32:03 And I'm like, going through, like, all a song. And I'm like, dude, how have I, I've never heard this guy? So I go to his Spotify and, you know, the picture of him, he's like this older black guy and he's got like an old retro kind of mic he's singing into. And like all his songs are in 2026. And I'm like, so of course I started Google searching. So I find out this dude is completely AI generated. I send back to her.
Starting point is 00:32:31 She's like, no way. This morning, it's all over the news right now. So he broke the charts. Aren't they supposed to be? He's got two number one, like, he's had two number one songs in the last. This is terrible. Yeah, so I'll send you, I'll send you, Doug. Check out the, like.
Starting point is 00:32:44 And it sounds like new music. It's not, bro, it is. It's all, it's new lyrics. It's a new, it's a different voice. It's complete. And so brilliant, because right, are you, oh, it's already pulling up? Did you pull it up already? I'll give it to you.
Starting point is 00:32:56 She's, I got it right here. It's all over the news. But if you were hoping to see Eddie Dalton live, don't hold your breath. Old school soul and blues musician is not real. he's entirely AI generated That's right Eddie Dalton is generated by artificial intelligence Wow
Starting point is 00:33:15 What in the heck, dude By the way, you know what's funny about this? Eddie Dalton You know what's crazy about this? He's got three The top You know what's crazy about this So there's like an organization now of
Starting point is 00:33:29 We're cooked Well, so artists are getting together Hollywood actors and musicians And they're trying to like fight this but you know what the problem is is that nobody sympathizes with them I know nobody care nobody sympathy you're a Hollywood actor you always give me your opinion
Starting point is 00:33:45 about everything and you're so whatever and now you're like please help me keep my job and everybody's like nah yeah I don't really care about you losing your job well I mean the only positive that I've seen so far with this there's one band that just kind of merged out of nowhere and I've been meaning to tell you guys
Starting point is 00:34:01 about this and I know you guys won't be into it because it's like so out there but I think it's a they're from Quebec. It's like French-Canadian, but their name's like Andrian de Portween. I don't even know how to pronounce it, but it's like these two guys, and they wear the most
Starting point is 00:34:20 ridiculous outfits. So one of them has this huge like hat and they're polka-dotted and they have this huge nose. And they play, he plays like microtone. So it's like half notes. So the fretboard for like the guitar itself is like, he's playing kind of like, like notes in between notes.
Starting point is 00:34:38 And so as a musician, you're sitting there and you're like, you just get sucked and hypnotized because it's like nothing I've ever heard before. It's like so weird. It's like a weird music, but it's like sometimes they hit these grooves and it just pulls you in. But I'm not the only one, dude. There's like, look at how many millions of views they get. It's like, it became like a viral sensation overnight. And it's like kind of jazz.
Starting point is 00:35:02 It's kind of like, what do they call that? type of a rock, but it's, it's like really unique kind of rock music, but it's, it's like the counter to AI. So they're going so off script that they're kind of inventing a new thing, which I think is pretty rad. I like artists too right now that I see that are emerging that are doing kind of in, in, in that same kind of vein, like creative stuff that's never been done before. And you see, like, there's a couple of these like, you know, duos that I watch that will,
Starting point is 00:35:35 they'll string a couple. they'll be playing like six different instruments and they'll overlay all of them and they'll make really cool music. Like I think that's, yeah, she does like the foot pedals and so does like delayed loops and all that. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:46 But also plays like a bass. So it's a bass neck and a guitar neck. So does the bass parts, then does the guitar parts and then the drums is like so clean. I have a prediction for what's, what genre of music will be protected the most by AI. What's that? Worship music.
Starting point is 00:36:04 Because the audience, very, you can very much say you want the Holy Spirit in it, you want people singing it, and I think that'll protect worship music more than other music. I think it's already there. Yeah, it's already happening. I'll send you something by there. Yeah, I know. I think they'll be the most protected.
Starting point is 00:36:19 Because what protects any other music? Do people really care? What? That's so left field to say that? What are you talking about? What I mean is, I don't think people are trying to do with someone who likes music, like there's like, there's no, like, part of what, why my mother said that to me, why my mother sent that to me is like, man, it's music.
Starting point is 00:36:35 just speaks to you. Like that's like, there's something about music that, that, what I mean is, uh, by protected is I think the consumer, uh, you give it 15 years, isn't going to care if it's AI. They're just going to like the music. That's what I'm saying. They're going to have to fully disclose. I'm surprised that that's not super visible. So that's, so for him. That should be a lawsuit. Well, what's this is so every bit of AI that I've listened to before, because I've, I listen to some AI stations and it's disclosed as AI. And I've also seen a lot of AI stuff get taken down. So if it's like, where they,
Starting point is 00:37:06 like, some of the stuff. Like, they'll, they'll, they'll take down, like somebody who takes, uh,
Starting point is 00:37:11 I've seen, there's a lot of viral stuff of like, a Tupac done in jazz or something like that. And that stuff gets taken down. They don't laugh because you're really, you're ripping his song and you're, you're,
Starting point is 00:37:19 right. But what they did with this artist is they completely, it's completely new. It's a brand new person. It's a, it's a brand new music. It's brand new lyrics. It's kind of gray.
Starting point is 00:37:28 Yeah. There's, that's, that's what I mean. I feel like in, in 15 years, People are going to demand real people make. Well, your argument is weird, though.
Starting point is 00:37:40 Like, why would people that... Because I don't know if people will drive it necessarily. Like, artists will kind of find a way to reach the audience. Like, I think there'll be, like, a split. Like, if you're just a general, casual music person, you're not even no difference. No one's going to care. No one's going to care. But, like, people that are into music and they want live performance and they want the distinctions.
Starting point is 00:38:02 Like, because it does. Like you can feel emotion through like somebody playing it. And I mean, I'm sure we'll be trekked, you know, like, hey, I'll be able to find a way to kind of put the right type of emphasis in there to add and emote it a little bit further. But it's like, you know, to visually see it and then hear it, I think is going to be a different experience. Well, you'll see more of like the band you talked about what I talked about to do. Another guy that I love. Have you seen the Spanish kid? He's got long hair and he plays the guitar
Starting point is 00:38:34 and he does all kinds of... Oh, yeah, yeah. You send that. Oh, man. He is in... Bro, insane to watch. I think the live performances. It's going to have to be a lot of live performances.
Starting point is 00:38:43 Yeah, there's... What I don't like, they're both here to stay. Yeah. There's, uh, I mean, I have to admit, like, I mean, I knew as AI, I didn't stop listening to it. It still evokes the words, the lyrics,
Starting point is 00:38:56 the sound, the tones. It's all still really good. Now, I wouldn't, I mean, I wouldn't go, uh, pay, to go listen to an AI, I guess, concert or anything like that. And so I'd want to see a real artist. I would never, like, so I'd pay,
Starting point is 00:39:08 yeah, this kid right here is so, have you seen him Doug before? I have. Yeah, you've shown him. He's so. I mean, if you guys don't, I mean, I fall. Like, playing in garages and stuff, like car garage. You know what's interesting is that, uh, the prediction was that art and music would be the last things that AI.
Starting point is 00:39:24 And it's a further scene from that. Some of the art that you see is so cool where they've melded things. And so they're getting way better. So I have another theory, too, with education. because if indeed it goes in this direction where we have AI and it's able to do so much work for us, as long as you direct it or whatever, let's say it does all this. I feel like education is going to move towards the arts or the areas that we thought weren't valuable, like philosophy, morality, theology.
Starting point is 00:39:54 Because if science, technology, math, engineering, if that's largely AI, just kind of being directed. I mean, that's a really optimistic, I thought. I think that's cool. It would be very cool if we start moving into philosophical conversations. Yeah, because where else would you get educated, right? Oh, it's a good point. I mean, what do you think, if you think about it as a lot of the AI stuff and then where
Starting point is 00:40:17 we're going technology-wise are just supercomputers for a lot of things that we- Masters of data. Like it's so like what, so what we have that all outsource. So what we should spend our time thinking about other things that are deeper, like philosophical, psychological things. That would actually be, I mean, that's a very optimistic, actually, view of where this could go. It's just a theory. I mean, who knows, right? I mean, so it's not a bad theory.
Starting point is 00:40:39 But I was thinking to myself like, okay, like, let's say my youngest, you know, she's three. So she'd be getting into higher education in what? Is that 16 years maybe? Okay, if this goes in the direction where you have AI doing the, all the engineering, all the science and technology, using the math, building things, all the stuff that we, for a long time, I've thought, this is what you need to learn. What would humans want to, or what would they value education? And it'd be like, philosophy, theology, morality. That's kind of, I mean, it's your points being proven right now with the rise of people interested in Christian music and church.
Starting point is 00:41:24 And that's all, that's all in the right. I bet stoicism, I bet stoicism's on the rise also. That's true. I wonder for this. I bet it is. I bet all these things that I think, it's forcing people into that direction. Ancient truth.
Starting point is 00:41:36 Which is, I mean, that's all good stuff. I mean, that's a very positive thing. Again, this goes back to my theory of like the pendulum swinging thing. It's like, it's kind of get a little ugly and nasty for a little bit for us all to learn. And then I think it wakes everybody up and then you start to move in that direction. And so I think it's a very optimistic way to look at it for sure. Speaking of science, so I, so trip off this. So you guys know Zibiotics and their product that they have.
Starting point is 00:42:02 that converts sugars into fiber. We talked about this, right? Yeah, it's crazy. So, okay, this sounds crazy, right? But here's what it is. This is a probiotic, so Zbiotics makes it. This is a company that specializes in taking bacteria, beneficial bacteria, modifying this bacteria to do something interesting.
Starting point is 00:42:24 So, like, their flagship product is a probiotic drink that you drink before you go have alcohol. And what it does is these bacteria, When you drink them, they go in your gut and they break down acetyldehyde, which is what some of the breakdown from alcohol turns into acetylite. Now your liver detoxifies it, but some of it's released in your gut. And when that happens, it goes in your bloodstream, makes you feel like garbage. Okay. So this little bacteria breaks down to acetaldehyde in your gut. So that's their flagship.
Starting point is 00:42:51 Then they came out with this sugar to fiber probiotic drink. And so what this is is you take it once a day. It's a little packet of powder. You take it once a day. And it sits in your gut. and it breaks down, it takes sugar, individual sugar molecules, and it connects them into long chains of fiber, soluble fiber.
Starting point is 00:43:10 So why? So I was like, I was on their website and I'm like, how much, like, how much fiber is the limit on there? Yeah, like, what is this, like, how much, how much of it does it do? So in 30 days, in 30, if you used it every day for 30 days, it would convert 300 grams of sugar. So 10 grams of sugar a day, essentially. into 300 grams of fiber.
Starting point is 00:43:34 Whoa. It'd be like eating 94 pounds of almonds. So if you took this every single day over the course of a month, you would essentially create 300 grams of soluble fiber. Interesting. That's crazy, dude.
Starting point is 00:43:47 I want to try. Bro, this is wild. I know. I'm glad you're going to take it now because I've been so curious about it. This is crazy science. I know how crazy their other stuff was. Remember when we first met them,
Starting point is 00:43:59 they did the alcohol Paul won first because they knew that would be the most market. It wasn't what they were most excited about. And that's blowing me away. Right. So, I mean, we've talked about Zbiotic forever and how crazy. And they had way bigger plans for other stuff. It was just, they knew that was low-hanging fruit that the general pop would be all about.
Starting point is 00:44:18 Well, someone might be wondering what is the benefit of this? Why would I want to? I heard fiber is good for me. What's the benefit? Better digestion, lower inflammation, reduced appetite. Like fiber produces more satiety. You should get better blood sugar. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:37 Because of the fiber. I think, yeah. You should have more consistent energy instead of ups and downs because that's what soluble fiber. Better stools. Yeah. Yeah. That's what, so Doug's the only one that's used it consistently. He says that he has better gut health.
Starting point is 00:44:51 Yeah. I'm super. Well, let's all make a commitment to be consistent with it and see what happens. See what we all report back. I've been very curious. I'm glad we've got it now for a. Hey, did you see Doug? pulled up the stoicism.
Starting point is 00:45:03 Yeah, it was on the road. Increased by 400% on some platforms, but I want to know what the time frame is. Since win, yeah. Because I remember it was definitely on the rise about six or seven years ago. When was it that we had, what's his name on the show? Oh, Ryan, Ryan Holiday? Was it Ryan Holiday? Yeah, Ryan Holiday.
Starting point is 00:45:21 He kind of jumped the shark during COVID, didn't he? He did. Yeah, a little bit. It was prior to that, yeah. Yeah. So I think it was before that what we saw the, so I'm wondering if it's still, if it's still happening that way. but that's interesting. We'll see.
Starting point is 00:45:33 But I mean, it's, I actually hadn't thought about what you said. And, you know, I tend to try to be as optimistic as I possibly can. And I think that's a very optimistic way to look at our future with where things are going. Because I know there's a lot of fear mongering going on with. Well, if you're thinking, doesn't need to go so directly to pragmatic skills. Yeah, we have a calculator for everything now. That's the greatest way to think of it, in my opinion. It's just like, you have a calculator for.
Starting point is 00:46:00 almost everything now. Yeah, so now I can do more like deep thinking type stuff that isn't so pragmatic because all that pragmatic stuff's taking care of by my AI that I tell to, you know, do this, that, and the other, you know, which might actually be a good thing. Yeah. Might actually make people better. I mean, ideally you'd want those both to coexist, right? So you get the bit of more breaks, you know, with the detriment to it.
Starting point is 00:46:24 But maybe we don't get there and then that's the optimism where it's like, okay, well, now we can just focus on why. you know, instead of can we, like, should we? Well, I also think if you start going deep down the theological and philosophical rabbit hole, people will choose to do things, do hard things and choose, even though they have the resources and the tools. It'll make better people. Yeah, like, exactly.
Starting point is 00:46:49 It's just like, oh, I know I could outsource this thing, but I'm going to choose to go do this thing because I know the value. It fulfills me. Yeah. Right. I know the value of their meaning will feel a lot more powerful. It'll be in the future. That's kind of a cool, interesting thought about that.
Starting point is 00:47:04 I have a, did I tell you guys the Florida man? I love that. Isn't Florida man? Don't do it's, don't use articles. All you do is look up, yeah, an article that, like, whatever date, like, is your birthday? I heard somebody talk about this. Florida man and then there'll be some crazy.
Starting point is 00:47:20 Something happened. What, what? Say Florida man and then your birthday? Your birthday. Oh, that's hilarious. Just look it up and see what happened on that day. Let's do all of ours. Do everybody's birthday, Florida man, and then all of our birthdays and see what happens.
Starting point is 00:47:33 Doug, do yours. Yeah, yeah. And then, is it bad to say your birthday on air? Well, you don't have to say your, you don't have to say the whole year. Is it just the day? Just the month and day? Yeah, just the month and day. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:47:46 Yeah, so here's Doug, Florida man, June 23rd. Involved a 29-year-old who was arrested in charge with simple assault for punching Philadelphia Eagles tight. Philadelphia Eagles tied in. That's hilarious. Try it with that Adams. November. November 16th. Florida man, November 16th. This is hilarious. I've never heard.
Starting point is 00:48:08 I've never heard of this. Let's see. Several Florida men incidents that have occurred. Several. We're a man fired a gun during an argument about chicken eggs. 2023, arrest an unauthorized massage at a rehab center. Unauthorized massage. 2017.
Starting point is 00:48:25 need an arrest for harming a dog with a firecracker. You got some good ones, dude. Do mine, Doug, February 4. Let's do what mine says. Florida man, February 4. So far, I think Adams is the better one. Florida man dressed in Dalmatian Wednesday, outruns troopers.
Starting point is 00:48:42 Oh, that's the best one. That's the best one. Florida man dressed in a Dalmatian onesie outruns troopers. That is epic. That's good. All right. Dude, January 26th. Dude, Justin's.
Starting point is 00:48:54 So I went. So my birthday. Yeah, you're winning so far. His 76-year-old Jacksonville man was arrested to 60 years in prison for sexual exploitation. Yikes. Oh, that's terrible. I wouldn't have a dark past. Damn, Justin.
Starting point is 00:49:05 This is terrible. Man was pointed after pointing a laser at a Manatee County Sheriff Office helicopter. Yeah. I guess mine was the best one. Yeah, bro. Dalmatian 1-Z outran straight two pieces. Yeah. So read this story.
Starting point is 00:49:20 This story was, I read this. Kobe died on my birthday. That was kind of a problem. True? I didn't know that. So this was, this is funny. I'm going to read the story to you. If Florida mound was found sunburned and disoriented on a causeway claiming he was kidnapped by dolphins and forced to build an underwater city. What?
Starting point is 00:49:39 How much acid was he? You got you how much acid? And listen, Lee County Sheriff's deputies responded to the Sanable Causeway early Monday after a motorist reporter man standing on the shoulder, soaking wet and drawing blueprints in the sand. According to the... According to the police report, Ricky James, Hollowell, 33, was found barefoot, severely sunburned and wearing only swim trucks. He told deputies that he had been taken against his will by a pot of dolphins three days ago and forced to work on what he called. I didn't even know that could happen. An underwater construction project.
Starting point is 00:50:13 He claimed the dolphins approached him while he was swimming off Fort Myers Beach and escorted him to a site approximately 40 feet below the service where they needed help building structures. Wow. He said that the dolphins communicated. through a series of clicks that he eventually learned to interpret. And the Project Foreman was a dolphin. Hey, all this way he's holy is. What? I was going to say all this way he's holy is.
Starting point is 00:50:31 Listen, listen. He grow a blowhole at the same time. The Project Forman was a dolphin that was called Gerald. He said, hey, listen, when he asked, how did you breathe underwater for three days? He said, Gerald handled that. I don't ask questions. You don't question Gerald. You don't question Gerald.
Starting point is 00:50:49 Bro. Dude, come on. I had to be meth. It was meth. He had drawn an elaborate blueprint in the, The sand, the deputy said, was detailed enough to be concerted. There was condos at Town Square, recreation center. Wow.
Starting point is 00:51:01 Look at the guy's picture, dude. Oh, my God. He's like all sunburned. What if he's telling the truth? Never questioned Gerald. What if he's on the truth? Nobody ever believes me. No, dude.
Starting point is 00:51:15 He was actually under there. His whole life. Did I tell the humans? Nobody believes me. The humans won't believe me. No, tell the humans. Oh, God. So good.
Starting point is 00:51:24 I got a sun exposure study. Let's see if I can find it. I don't know if you guys saw this on X. It was, it's making its rounds, but it was a study on, and I got to find it. I hope it's good for us. I've been doing a lot of it. No, it's really good. I got to look it out.
Starting point is 00:51:39 Yeah, give me a second because I'm going to find this up, find this. But let me see. Sun exposure. Well, it sucks. Can't find it, can I? Well, I'll tell you what I think the study said. women who got more sun exposure were less likely to die of all-cause mortality in this particular study. Why just women?
Starting point is 00:52:02 Because it was a study done on women. Don't look up this study. Oh, there it is. 2014 study of 29,518 Swedish women. Good job, Doug. Found that avoiding sun exposure is a risk factor for all-cause mortality. Yeah. So mortality rates doubled in those who avoided the sun compared to the sun.
Starting point is 00:52:22 those who had the highest exposure. Active sunbathers live longer and had lower risks of cardiovascular disease and non-cancer deaths. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? I feel like we've been scared away from the sun, you know, just with all this like cancer and melanoma and... Yeah, dude.
Starting point is 00:52:37 Which is so weird. I think it's, at least for me personally, it's like I feel a huge difference when I get out. I feel like I'm charged up. I feel so different, dude. I sleep, I sleep better. I have more energy throughout that day. I feel so much better.
Starting point is 00:52:51 Now, part of this is like, did they control for people who are maybe ill, who weren't out in the sun or whatever? I'd like to see... Remember during COVID when they told us not to get out in the sun? I remember. What a weird... Well, when I had COVID, all I did was go out on my porch and sit. Sit in the chair. Like, if you're sick, stay inside.
Starting point is 00:53:10 Don't even go outside by yourself. Yeah. What? The biggest offender was the guy, like, out on his surfboard away from everybody. And they arrested him. Hey! They arrested him. That's what I knew.
Starting point is 00:53:20 Everything was nonsense. Yeah. Do you guys think that that whole period of time, I have a theory, because it was so crazy. COVID was so crazy. The advice and what they told us was so obviously. Everybody can look back now and go, that was all crazy. Everything they said was crazy. Rational people can do that.
Starting point is 00:53:36 I think most people now. I don't, bro. Hey, they just, listen, did you guys know that the- Dude, I see a lot of maskers still? They just halted. I still see some people. I do, too. I know.
Starting point is 00:53:48 We're in the Bay Area, though. I just saw that they're stopping the COVID vaccine for their studies because they couldn't get enough participants. Nobody wants to take the COVID jab. So I think I have a theory. Word got out. It's a conspiracy theory. Okay. So everybody calm down.
Starting point is 00:54:05 Which just means truth. Maybe. Yeah. Lately. Talk to me in three months. We're like 10 and 0 right now. I was going to say with 10 and no. That's how you guys got me on the team.
Starting point is 00:54:14 I feel like that whole period of time, was not to see who they could control and all that stuff. That's what people thought at the time. I wonder if it was just for them to just cause later on complete distrust in all establishment. Oh, I don't disagree with that. Practice for energy lockdowns. I mean, I look, the stuff that I just can't, I can't wrap my brain around what has happened with the Epstein files and how much we just, like, I don't think there's
Starting point is 00:54:44 anything more evil, bad, and egregious. than that whole mess. And... Are we still talking about this? I'm so mad. Like, when Trump said that. I mean, that's just... And we're, I mean, what would get us to rally together?
Starting point is 00:55:04 We're too comfortable. I mean, yeah, it just... People are too comfortable. I mean... What could be more evil than that? Yeah, what's more evil than harming children like that? Doug, look up... Exactly.
Starting point is 00:55:14 Turn bread and circuses. Do you guys know where that comes from? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's an old term. You got to keep entertained and fed. And fed.
Starting point is 00:55:21 Yeah. It's a, this refers to the Roman political strategy of pacifying populaceous. It's what the Coliseum was all about. With free food and entertainment to ensure loyalty. Right. That's why the Coliseum was built was to do exactly the UFC fighting at the Whitehouse. This is coined by the poet Juvenal around 80100. It describes how citizens traded their political freedoms for sustenance and spectacles.
Starting point is 00:55:46 Yep. Isn't that weird how we like this is so true then still so true now I just want to point out too though that because we I know we've avoided a lot of Political talk on on this thing though that that that a lot of people used to think that we are this like Conservative type of podcast and I don't think anybody in here is pro Trump at all anymore I think everybody knows he's compromised and I'm not a fan of any of that stuff so you know for all the the the libtards that used to think that we were just these That's doing at him
Starting point is 00:56:15 Good job. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's got insulted. That thought that were these hardcore conservatives. No, I don't know. Logical thinkers have always been that way. Always called it as it is.
Starting point is 00:56:27 And I think what we've seen Trump do in the last year and a half or so is a lot of things. Yeah, just check whoever's in power, man. And it's sure, yeah. There is no. There is no left or right. It's literally like they're, it's all of one. It's the same bullshit. And the Epstein thing is makes that so clear.
Starting point is 00:56:45 and obvious and it's crazy that I'm blown away that that's that wasn't I mean I think that's a bigger deal than COVID was COVID it was crazy and scared a lot of people and there was a lot of uncertainty and they did gaslight all of us but it's like Epstein is just pure evil and bad and it's like we're not throwing anybody in prison we're not up in arms about that like we're not
Starting point is 00:57:05 pissed off at our entire government we're all still paying our taxes and showing up like that's because people are comfortable I mean what I mean what what level what else has to triple the cost of You'll see people. Is that what? You make gas go up three or four times. You make everybody broke and then you'll see people up in arms. I mean, they're already heading that way.
Starting point is 00:57:25 Yeah, but you make it like bad, like people are broke, broke, then you'll see, you'll see people. Uprise. Yeah, really pissed off. That's crazy, too. Butcher Box is a company that delivers grass-fed meat, heritage pork, wild caught fish to your door at great prices. So you could save money, get really high-quality. sources of protein that are healthy and clean, sustainably raised. Grass-fed meat, better fatty acid profile, wild caught fish, lower amounts of toxins.
Starting point is 00:57:55 Heritage pork, it just tastes a lot better and it's raised in a better way. By the way, if you go to butcherbox.com forward slash mind pump, right now until the 18th of May, new users will get your choice between chicken breast for a year included in your box for free, tarps sirloin for a year, or ground beef included for the life of. of your membership plus $20 off. Go to butcherbox.com forward slash mind pump. Back to the show. Our first caller is Amelia from Colorado.
Starting point is 00:58:23 Hi, Amelia. Hi, Amelia. How you doing? Hi. Good to see you guys again. How are you guys? Yeah, how you been? Pretty good.
Starting point is 00:58:32 Thank you guys for taking my question. Yeah, cool. How can we help you? Of course. Update us. I'm just going to read what I wrote because I tend to ramble. So 22-year-old day. answer. I've had to take a gap year off from college to heal from Lyme disease and want to use this
Starting point is 00:58:51 time off to build muscle. I attempted to bulk and stop dancing in August of 2025 with a coach, but I didn't make any progress. And I think it's due to some underlying fears and maybe even the health issues themselves. I'm not sure if you guys have worked with any Lyme patients. I need to bulk for health reasons. I think my low body fat percentage is contributing to a lack of period, hypothyroidism, and possibly exacerbating the Lyme disease symptoms. I want to bulk, but I feel like I need a professional to validate what I'm doing and guide me, making sure that I'm headed in the right direction. And I know that I need to gain body fat, but I also want to put a substantial amount of muscle on, considering I think I have a missing button that my stomach kind of looks distended.
Starting point is 00:59:34 and I've been in a cut or maintenance ever since I started lifting five years ago. And I've tried chasing strength, but I tend to add too much weight to the bar and break form, especially with my hypermobility. I've learned that I shouldn't be going full range of motion. Those were like more my immediate goals, but long-term goals are to be more intuitive when it comes to my body's needs, switch training and nutrition depending on what phase I'm like. what phase of life I'm in. Because right now I have a rigid schedule where like first thing when I wake up, I go to the
Starting point is 01:00:09 gym because if I don't throughout the day, there's this like nagging voice in my head that's like, you need to go to the gym, you need to go to the gym. And like I've had doctors kind of tell me that maybe I should work out later in the day because first thing in the morning might be too much for my nervous system. And then I want to have a good amount of muscle and perform with strength and power in the gym as well as in dance, since that's what I love to do and want to do for a living. I want to be able to use tracking as a tool to meet my goals and not a vice. I'm scared to stop tracking because I don't ever feel fullness cues, and I want a healthy
Starting point is 01:00:45 relationship with food and exercise, which is somewhat difficult considering the job of a dancer is to look good. I have fears around sitting still and getting fat and becoming the unhealthy classic American, so I walk an unsustainable amount. Like, it's a lot. And I want to continue to walk, but not in a neurotic controlling fashion, if you couldn't tell the theme of all of this. And currently, I'm running MAPS muscle mommy 15. I'm doing each phase six to eight weeks to acclimate to the exercises. I'm currently in phase two, week four.
Starting point is 01:01:19 I walk for one hour in the morning after breakfast, one hour in the afternoon after lunch. And according to my o'ering, I get anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 steps a day. seven hours of sleep. I ate 3,000 calories around 30% protein, 40% carbs, and 30% fat. So that was my entire essay. And yeah. All right. Amelia.
Starting point is 01:01:42 I'm trying to unpack that now. You eat 3,000 calories every day? Yeah. And you're sitting at 10% body fat? According to this Dexas scan, yeah. I'm looking at your picture. You are, yes, you are super lean. 3,000 calories is a decent amount.
Starting point is 01:01:58 Yeah. That's not bad. I think it's because I walk so much because I'm like scared to be sedentary or do you think the walking isn't? Okay. So on the surface, that's not a problem. You have a healthy metabolism. The issue. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:02:13 It's not a problem on the surface. The issue is the root of where it's coming from. So if you were just like, hey, I'm walking and it's great and it's leisure and I enjoy it, it's not an issue. But you said a couple things that were red flags. Like, I walk neurotically. I can't sit. Still, I have to work out or I'm thinking about it all the time. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:02:34 So on paper, you're not doing anything wrong. You're eating enough food. You're following good strength training. Your steps are fine. You're getting good sleep. But what's behind all of that is what we need to work on. And I mean, your best bet, honestly, through this process is going to be, step one is going to be to outsource control.
Starting point is 01:02:58 and that's going to be the step towards not having, not feeling like you need to control so much. I mean, I could tell you what this looks like, but I think you need to work with a coach for like six months. So you can outsource it and get used to letting go of control. In other words, you're going to be like, you do what I, I'll do what you tell me.
Starting point is 01:03:19 And I'm just going to do that. So that's like a, that's an easier step to take than just letting go of control because you probably don't know how to do that. without first outsourcing it. And so you're going to get comfortable with outsourcing it first. And then after that, then you'll find a little bit of freedom in that.
Starting point is 01:03:37 And then that'll kind of change the approach or why you're doing what you do. Remind me the difference of what you're doing now versus what you were in back in April 2020. I just saw the pictures, the difference of the three stages. So I think back then I was running. Okay.
Starting point is 01:03:56 I think it was like MAPS muscle mom. me or something like like i've always stuck with your guys's programming so i did i had a coach for a bit who did like similar programming because they they did listen to your show so similar programming but i just like yeah i i that's why i was like i don't know what i'm doing wrong like obviously there's the sector of the control issues and that stuff but i was like i'm i had a coach who listened to you guys so i know that they were not leading me in the wrong direction. So, yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:34 No, I'm asking because I think you look way healthier and better right now than you did back in April. That's the difference I'm trying to get to is like, are you eating more now? Yeah, are you eating more calories now or what are you doing different? No. Do you see yourself as better now? Because I think you look way better and healthier. Yeah. Oh, I feel like I just look the same throughout.
Starting point is 01:04:57 Oh, no, no, no. Everything. Yeah, zoom it for the guy so they can see. Yeah, she'll go to the top. That's her then. Now, she'll go to the top. Go to the top. Yeah, you're fitting healthy, hon.
Starting point is 01:05:06 Go to go to the top. I'm trying to, Adam. Yeah. You don't. Yeah, I see. Okay, so let me give you some tips on what might help with some of this, okay? Mm-hmm. I think it's a good idea to have some structured time where you're sitting and doing nothing.
Starting point is 01:05:25 And it's probably going to be really scary for you. So, it's sorry, something to add to the like sitting and not doing anything. I don't know if this is related, but if I sit for too long, my back, like, I'll get severe pain or like being still, I get severe pain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're probably not, you're probably sitting in an anxious way or not breathing fully. So you know what a full diaphragmatic breath feels like? Yeah, I've been like working on breathing with my diaphragm and whatnot. So let's, so that might be a good place to start.
Starting point is 01:06:04 Yeah. So you could set your timer on your phone, put an alarm for 10 minutes, and then sit for 10 minutes and just breathe into your belly where you feel your belly rise before your chest. Full diaphragmatic breathing while you're sitting. So what can happen for some people, it's not, it's not common, but people are like, I don't like, to sit still is when they're sitting, they're tense. Yep. And their chest breathing. Restrictive.
Starting point is 01:06:31 Mm-hmm. And so then they start to feel back pain as a result of it. So that might be a good practice for you to sit for 10 minutes or five minutes if 10 minutes is too long. Because that's a long time for someone who doesn't like to sit. I'm going to tell you right now, 10 minutes of diaphragmatic breathing, you're going to want to pull your hair out. So you sit there and you diaphragmatically breathe. And then the next step would be finding things that you enjoy.
Starting point is 01:06:55 that you can do while you're sitting down that don't relate to a specific goal that you have. Because sometimes people will be like, oh, cool, I'm going to sit down and I'm going to, like, map out my diet or I'm going to, like, do this class that I need to do. Or I'm going to, like, better myself with this book that's going to make me so smart. So you want to think of something that's like leisure that you could do while sitting. Yeah. Have you ever tried to paint, paint, puzzle, Legos? I was going to say, I do painting. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:07:22 I still get the pain, though, and I'll have to take breaks. I don't know if it has to do with the hypermobility. Like, I also know my hip flexors. Like, I've seen various PT people, and they've had me do the Thomas test, which I'm sure you're familiar with, like, laying back. And my, my leg is literally like this. How do you, so I don't. How are you painting? How are you sitting?
Starting point is 01:07:47 I tend to, like, sit on the floor or I'll sit in a chair with my legs. up. Okay. All right. So, okay, so hypermobile people will sit
Starting point is 01:07:57 in some of the most interesting contorted positions. Totally. Yeah. So you know what you're going to do? You're going to sit
Starting point is 01:08:03 in a regular chair. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. Just a regular old chair. Back supported. Yeah. You don't want to rest.
Starting point is 01:08:09 You don't want to rest in end ranges of motion because of your hypermobility. So you want to sit like an old guy in a chair. Yeah. And, uh,
Starting point is 01:08:18 yeah. And then just paint. Yeah. And, and, and, and do the diaphragmatic breathing. like that, that'll help.
Starting point is 01:08:24 Okay. Yeah, I'll try. I've been doing some of that, I guess, just like not long enough. But yeah, I don't know. You say I probably look healthier in the photos. I'm just like I feel like I haven't put on any muscle or. You look like you did. Done anything. You look healthier.
Starting point is 01:08:47 You've got good muscle on your body, hon. Your top picture looks the healthiest of all the 30. I think some of the stuff that you're feeling is the internal high level of anxiety that's kind of below the surface. And that is a stress. That is a stress on the body. Again, if I looked at all the stuff you're doing on paper, I'm like, man, she's doing all the right stuff. Just distorting your perception for sure.
Starting point is 01:09:09 But what's underneath it, I heard this example given before, like a swan. Like a swan on water, looks like they're just cruising real nice. But if you look under the water, the feet are like going crazy. Yeah. So if that resonates with you, it's what's underneath all the actions. And so practicing like letting go, breathing, like all the uncomfortable stuff for you, sitting in a normal chair and painting, that, you know, those will be good practices for you. And outsourcing is always a good idea to do with a coach who can kind of move you through this whole process. But your calories are good. Your activities. I mean, you're only doing maps or maps program in walking, you're not doing any other exercise?
Starting point is 01:09:52 Correct, yeah. I mean, that's great. Yeah, and 3,000 calories. You're doing really good on all those things. It just sounds like you need more things that really relax you that you like to do. And so I don't know if you've pursued different things other than just paint. Because I think painting would be great. I think painting is a great example of that, you know, and puzzling.
Starting point is 01:10:13 I get it from driving. Like, I mean, things that where you can just be kind of focused on the thing and everything, all the other noise kind of goes away and you're just into it. Do you have a spiritual practice or do you meditate? Yeah, I'm Catholic. Oh, good. Oh, yeah. Oh, sit and pray.
Starting point is 01:10:32 Sit and pray. Nothing gets you out of your head better than doing that. Yeah, the sign that I think like, I mean, I tend to pray on my walks, but I think the sign that I need to do it is that you saying like, oh, sit down for a while, like car drives give me anxiety because I have to sit. for a while and like in the back of my head is like oh this is so unhealthy because you're sitting and you're sedentering no no no one of the hallmarks of anxiety is self-focused so one of the best just the data shows this one of the best ways to have to combat that is a spiritual practice
Starting point is 01:11:08 because the focus is not on you or find a way to go serve others yeah serving others i mean that's volunteer same thing volunteer and yeah you just need something that gets you out of your own head of self-focused, you know? So keep pursuing practice like that. I love the painting. Just we don't want to do it in a crazy sit-in. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you're doing everything like really well.
Starting point is 01:11:31 But yeah, you look super healthy. Yeah, you're following the right instructions. You're doing the right actions. It's just what's underneath it. Yeah. And if you want to work with the coach, we have great ones. I could have someone reach out to you.
Starting point is 01:11:42 Yeah, instead you talked to Corinne before, right? Yeah, I talked to Corinne. She is like so. amazing. She's so nice. Yeah, I think I'd be open to that. I mean, obviously it would depend on the price because, like, with the Lyme treatments, it's gotten kind of expensive. But, yeah, I just want peace, honestly. Like, obviously, I'm like, I want a butt because I feel like I don't have a butt and I want to be able to perform great because, you know, athleticism and dancing. Amelia, you have a butt. We saw the picture. Yeah, yeah. You're doing fine. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:12:19 I hope so. But at the end of the day, I just want peace. So if what you're saying, you know, is going to... You would do really good at, like, seeing just Corinne, like, once a month even, just to just to check in with her, just to keep an eye on what you got going on and stuff like that. And I'll tell you, just to encourage you at your age with what you're talking about, you're, like, so far ahead of where a lot of young ladies are, you're doing... You're on the right path. And I think the struggle is just recognizing that you're not on the right. that you need to move in a different direction. So just to encourage you, like, you're doing good. This is a tough time for you, but you're doing really well. Okay.
Starting point is 01:12:59 Thank you so much. That's encouraging. Yeah. But, yeah, it's just kind of hard to get out of my head. I don't know if you have time for me to, like, semi-side question. Yeah. Go for it. Let's go.
Starting point is 01:13:14 I've had recent, like, shoulder pain under my scapula. ish and it's exacerbated by holding the bar with RDLs or rowing or like any scapular movements. And I've been trying to figure out why that is. And it sometimes when I bench, it'll refer to the front of my collarbone. So I'm not sure what it is. I also have hyper mobile shoulders. Like it can pop and stuff. So I don't know.
Starting point is 01:13:47 Do you know how to be scapular pushups? Yeah. Uh, yeah, I do, but like my shoulder blade, I don't know if you could see like, it's winging. Yes, yeah. So do you know how to, do you know how to flatten it? I try and it just keeps winging. Okay, so practice, try to practice flattening it. Watch bodybuilding videos on how to do a front lat spread.
Starting point is 01:14:08 Okay. So like how to do a front lat spread because that movement is scapula flattening out. And so that's what you want to, that's what you want to work on. Yeah, I'm trying to do. trying to do it right now and it just keeps winging. Yeah, yeah, practice it. You can put yourself up against the wall and relax and allow the wall to press your scapula into that flattened position and then see if you can tense and hold it there.
Starting point is 01:14:31 Okay, I'll try that. Thank you. Yeah, you got it. You got it. No problem. Thanks for calling it again. If you want to call in again and have any other questions, let us know. But I think you're doing well, hon, it's focus on the things that get you out of the focus
Starting point is 01:14:44 on yourself. So don't just say I'm not going to focus on myself. It's impossible. But what can I focus on that's outside of myself? So prayer serving others, painting, don't sit in crazy positions. I think that's a great place to start. Okay, I'll do that. Thank you guys so much.
Starting point is 01:14:59 And it's like I just needed the reinforcement from y'all because I look up to you guys so much. And it's like, I don't know, I had a feeling I was doing the right stuff. But it, like I said, I just feel like I need people who are experienced to help encourage me. You're doing great. You're doing great. Just keep pursuing things that are other focused. Keep pursuing those type of things. You know, try different stuff until you still something hits that you really like.
Starting point is 01:15:24 Mm-hmm. I will. I'll try it. All right. Good to see you again. Good to see you. Thank you guys so much. Bye, line.
Starting point is 01:15:31 All right. That's, sweetheart. That's tough. But it's great. She's eating 3,000 calories? Like, she's doing all the right stuff. Yeah. It's all her mental chatter.
Starting point is 01:15:40 Totally, bro. She's, like, super anxious about it. And then I'm glad I asked her how she sits because I've had a couple clients with hypermobility. Yeah. And they will sit in what looks like a crazy stretch. I know. I laugh because I've seen the same thing. I'm like, what are you doing?
Starting point is 01:15:56 But yeah, it's just a weird thing. She just needs to keep looking for those things, right? There's got to be something else out there. Like I said, the puzzling, the Lego thing, the getting into something that where just everything else fades away and you're hyper into that. You're not thinking of yourself. Yeah, yeah. Our next caller is Taylor from Ohio.
Starting point is 01:16:17 Hi, Taylor. Hey, there. Hello. Hey, guys. Oh, my gosh, this is kind of surreal. Just to keep it simple, I'll go ahead and read right off my email. Okay. Hey, guys, I've been an avid listener for six years.
Starting point is 01:16:27 I listen to your podcast. Every chance I get during my lifts, all my runs, any free car audio time I get between song requests for my kids. I get so much value from your content, frequently send episodes to my family, friends, and clients. You've changed the game for me as a fitness professional, a mom in my own fitness journey, so thank you. I'm a 34-year-old mom of three little boys, six and under.
Starting point is 01:16:45 I've been strength training for years and run maps programs. on and off between pregnancies and now after. Recently, I started running more consistently between two to three times per week and I realize how much I love it, mostly from the mental health side of things. I'm currently training for a half marathon in April. I also still strengthening two to three times a week and currently running anabolic. My runs consist of one easy run, about three to four miles, one tempo run and one long run for some mileage building. I eat around 23 to 2400 calories. I hit my protein goal of anywhere from 150 to 170 daily. I feel relatively recovered and no overtraining symptoms, but I don't want to end up in that
Starting point is 01:17:21 place long term. My question is about balancing endurance training with maintaining muscle and strength. Strength training has always been a big part of my life, and I don't want to lose muscle mass as I start pursuing endurance goals. I'd really love to train for one, maybe two half marathons per year, one in the spring, one in the fall. I'm a former Division I one athlete, and I really thrive and enjoy when I have a performance goal to chase. It helps me feel like myself, especially in the stage of life as a mom with little boys. And when I can prioritize, my own health and fitness, I feel like my cup is full to pour into them, be a better mom, wife, and friend. We'd love your advice for someone like me who wants to pursue endurance goals while still
Starting point is 01:17:56 prioritizing strength, muscle, and long-term health. Would you suggest periodizing the training, like only running during a true running training block pre-race and then solely focusing on strength training outside of that? And are there any programs you'd recommend that would balance my load and goals? Yeah, good. So, okay, so there's a couple ways you could approach this. By the way, I think your calories are probably a little low. I'm just going to say. The only thing I really change is that and maybe scaling back one day of training. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:18:24 Because the three runs are not even an hour, right? Yeah. I mean, well, my long runs, as they've gotten longer, as I get closer to race day, there can be up to two. Okay. So, but the other two, what are the other two runs, though? They're under an hour. Okay, yes. One's easy and one's like some interval training, some speed work.
Starting point is 01:18:40 Yeah, so it's kind of mild. Yeah. And you're training for a half marathon right now, right? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So your calories are probably a little low for the kind of training that you're doing. So I would increase those by about 300.
Starting point is 01:18:51 And you should notice some performance improvements. Long term, there's a couple ways you could approach this because it sounds like you love both. Sounds like you love the strength training, but you also love running, which is great. So a couple ways we could do this. One kind of general split for somebody, especially like yourself, athlete, athletic past, fit healthy. probably, you know, obviously you've got some good athletic genetics. You have four days in the week that you can work out, and you can use those for strength training or running.
Starting point is 01:19:20 It's up to you how you split them. So that's one approach. So you can do one day of strength training, three days of running, three days of strength training, one day of running or two and two. Totally up to you. But what you can't do is go five, six days a week, you know, type of deal. Most people just long term, that's just too much, especially if you have a life outside of working out.
Starting point is 01:19:37 The second option is to strength train one week and then do endurance training the other week. I've heard you're doing that right now, aren't you? To an extent. Now, it's not athletic. I don't know if I'd call his cardio endurance training. Yeah, mine is more. He made the three today on the treadmill. Mine is less about athletic performance and more something else.
Starting point is 01:20:00 That being said, when you look at the data around athletic performance, it seems to be a great approach. And for some people, I can see why they would prefer that because like, cool, this week I'm focusing on strength training. next week I'm focusing on endurance and it keeps it more fun. Psychologically too. It's beneficial in that regard. So those would be your two general approaches. Now you can mess that up in between, right?
Starting point is 01:20:22 You can do too much intensity on all of them or whatever. But generally speaking, that would be a really nice kind of long-term approach. And then if you're approaching a contest, like a marathon or half marathon, then you change your training, obviously to move more towards endurance and away from strange training.
Starting point is 01:20:38 I really like his first suggestion, which is like looking at your week is like you've got four days of training. You know, when you're in run mode and you're really getting close to, you know, your half marathon or whatever, you're scaling that mostly running and you're probably only weight training one day a week. When you're somewhere in the middle of that training block, you're probably split down the middle when you're in the off season of running and you can pick up more higher volume of training than you're maybe lifting weights three times a week and you only have a leisurely one
Starting point is 01:21:07 run a week. and I think toggling back and using your experience and how well you probably know kind of your body and training that's kind of your boundaries is four days a week of this type of training and you use it according to what's more important because you're getting ready for a run. And so, hey, you need more running, then drop. Don't be a, I think the biggest thing with trainers
Starting point is 01:21:30 and athletic people have been doing this for a long time is this fear that if you go down to this one day of strength training that you're going to lose all these muscle gains. You won't. In fact, you're more likely to lose those muscle gains if you try and do all that running and also do two or three days of strength training. Because then that's just way too much. You're going to be constantly in this recovery state. You're not going to adapt and build.
Starting point is 01:21:51 You're going to pare down that muscle. And so you're more likely to save most of the muscle just kind of hitting it one time a week. Yeah, I mean, the things will change based on the performance adaptations you're looking for. But whatever that change looks like, whether it's more muscle, less endurance, or more endurance less muscle, you could switch it back in the other direction very easily. Yeah, and quick. If you did lose a few pounds of muscle because now you're going endurance focused, you'd gain it back so fast. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:22:19 It's not a big deal at all. This is that hybrid approach. Pretty quick. But the big thing I would say for you is bump your calories by at least two or three hundred. And you should notice just increase in endurance, stamina, strength, the whole deal. Awesome. That sounds easy enough. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:22:35 You can do that. Yeah. Do you think anabolic is a good place? I can do two days or three days with that and kind of undulate that as needed. Maths and metabolic is good, so it's math performance. Yeah, performance and just picking one of the foundational days would be great. Even symmetry would be good at some point. Those three programs.
Starting point is 01:22:50 Do you have all those programs that we mentioned? Symmetry. I don't have symmetry. Let's send it to you. Yeah. I really, what I love about performance, though, is that you pick a foundational day there. One, it's got a lot more multi-planter, unilateral type of work in there. And then in addition to that, you have, having the background that you have, listen to
Starting point is 01:23:07 your body. If this is a week where you're just like, man, I'm feeling tax, choose a mobility day and do mobility work. And so, and that's in that program already. So just follow. Like, that's how I, if I was coaching myself through what you're trying to do, I'd have this kind of blueprint of scaffolding, like Sal saying, it's like, all right, I'm going to train, train two days a week. I'm going to run two days a week. That's the plan. Reality is sometimes you're going to be feeling under the weather. Sometimes you're not, you're going to feel like a little war down because it's not the greatest of sleep. You got kids. You got stuff going on. And then I'm going to go, you know what? I'm going to back off one of those strength train days. I'm just going to do a mobility day today. And so I like that.
Starting point is 01:23:41 Taylor, I just caught something that I missed too, by the way. You're a group fitness instructor. How many classes do you teach a week? So I'm putting that in there, I'm not actually doing it with them. I'm more like coaching them through it. So I'm not, that's not added volume. Okay, good. Okay. We're fine then. Yeah. I still think you need to bump your calories. Yeah. To Adam's point earlier, though, about performance, I think that living in phase two of that for the foundation days is going to benefit you better. Yeah. Phase two. So you can really kind of reinforce. Yeah, a lot of those supporting muscles. And just so you know, somebody like you fit healthy, consistent working out, whatever,
Starting point is 01:24:14 with that kind of working out, in my experience, when everything's working well, they will typically consume closer to 27, 2,800 calories. So I gave you a bump of 2 to 300, but I think you'd still be able to bump it after that and get even better. Don't be afraid of it is what I'm saying. Don't be afraid of increasing the calories because I think right now you're probably eating just enough. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:24:35 And so it's probably holding back some of your performance. You're going to feel a difference. Yeah. Would you put it towards carbohydrates or where would you? Your protein is great. So what was your fat? I don't remember. It's probably around 30% right now.
Starting point is 01:24:47 So what is that? What is that in grams? Someone like you, I like your grams to be over 70. So I don't know if you're at. Yeah. Okay. So if you're not at 70, I'd bump fats. Otherwise go the carbohydrate around.
Starting point is 01:24:58 Otherwise it's carbs. And steer your carbs around the runs. So I like it, you know, pre-run hour before you run or what I like that. and then when you get done with it, replenish, that'll, that'll do good. Awesome. Well, I appreciate you guys so much. I've just, you guys have just been awesome for lots of stages of life for me. And I send all your stuff to my mom.
Starting point is 01:25:18 I've actually tried to get her to put a, put a question in and hop on with you guys, too. So she might be getting on soon. And she was really excited to you. That would be great. I appreciated. Quite an honor. Taylor, does she follow any of our programs? My mom.
Starting point is 01:25:30 Yeah. I've tried to get her to do anabolic. She's, she's run it a couple times in the last couple years. Oh, good. Okay, good. Yeah. Perfect. All right, perfect.
Starting point is 01:25:37 Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right, Taylor. You got it. Have a good. That's great. Yeah, she's doing good.
Starting point is 01:25:43 Yeah, she's doing it. The calories is the big one. Yeah, yeah, she could handle more. That amount of training, she could easily be up in calories. It's remarkable how often people who exercise regularly, especially women, but this happens to guys. They just don't eat enough for the performance they're looking for. Well, look, we just got off a call with a girl right before her.
Starting point is 01:26:05 think was 5-7 or 5-8. Yeah. Similar height. Similar weight. Walking only, not even running, just 10,000 steps, and is eating 3,000. 3,000, yeah. You know, so it's... And I mean, how many times I've been a client like this where all you do is increase their calories and boom?
Starting point is 01:26:22 Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Makes a massive difference. Our next color is Lauren from Arizona. Hey, Lauren. Hey, Lauren. Back-to-back days. We get to see you.
Starting point is 01:26:31 I know. Long-time nosy. How can we help you? Um, well, thanks for having me on. Yeah, of course. I am just so I'm not like let Zeppelin and ramble on here, I'm going to pull up my email because, of course, I would just get to talking with you guys. I love the reference, by the way.
Starting point is 01:26:47 That was good. I know, Justin, I knew you'd get it. Okay. Hi, Mind Pump. Thanks for all you do. You have changed my life in so many ways, bringing many blessings to my family. I wish I could express my gratitude and immense healing this show and your teachings have brought. I'm a married 35-year-old mom of two wild boys.
Starting point is 01:27:05 a five-year-old and a soon-to-be-two-year-old. I have been in the Muscle Mommy Movement crew since the beginning, and I am incredibly grateful for the amazing coaches, Corinne and Nicole. Also credit to Alyssa in the beginning, too. The pod and this group of ladies have been truly so healing and made me realize I wanted to pursue a personal training career. I've been on my own health and fitness journey since March 2025, but this time I'm approaching it from a place of self-love,
Starting point is 01:27:31 ditching long-distance running, and starvation to properly feel my body and lift heavy shit. I've lost 62 pounds and gained significant muscle and a greater mindset. I'm working towards becoming a personal trainer, but I also feel my body isn't what it should be to teach others. I technically have 38 more pounds to lose if we are talking about the goal weight. I know I'm strong and capable, but the imposter syndrome, other callers mentioned, is very real. I guess I'm just fearful that if I show up to a big box gym, they will scoff at me because I'm overweight. and don't fit the typical image of a personal trainer.
Starting point is 01:28:06 Nicole Wolfe reminded me that my journey in past history would be my strengths for better empathizing with and relating to clients. I guess I'm just scared they won't give me the opportunity. Should I continue my journey and lose more weight before going for it, or should I just take the plunge and hold my head up? I think I know the answer, but my ED brain seems to be very loud right now. Keep killing it. Love you guys.
Starting point is 01:28:29 Thank you for your guidance. That was a bad ED day. Oh, sorry. Wow. Haven't read that in a while. No, that's good. Yeah, that was rough. I do have some updates.
Starting point is 01:28:41 Yes, let's go. All right. Let's go. Okay. So I did hold my head up and actually went for it. I wrote you guys like an hour after I passed my NASM-C-BT exam. Yeah. Nice.
Starting point is 01:28:54 Got certified that day and then was like, oh, shit, you did it. Oh, no. Now you have to do it. Viriled, obviously. obviously, since I wrote you. So I applied to gyms. I had, I applied to three gyms in my proximity and had two interviews. One, they offered me the job right there. The other one ghosted me. I felt like I was in my 20s dating again or something waiting on a call. It was funny. But, so, obviously a little bit different from when I first wrote you guys, but I did go for it. I did turn
Starting point is 01:29:31 down that job offer the gyms. How come? Why did you turn it down? Honestly, it felt really sleazy. There were red flags. It was like danger, Will Robinson danger a couple of times. We did the like a mock pitch, sales pitch, which was fine. I'm used to that.
Starting point is 01:29:53 I was in sales or I am in sales happen for a long time. So it was fine where he was basically potential new client, gave me the rundown like, oh, I'm brand new to this. So, and so on. So I went into it like, hey, I think it'd be good to start you off two to three days a week. I think that'd be a good way to start. And he's like, I'm going to stop you right there. We do five days here.
Starting point is 01:30:15 Like, so zero to 60, I feel like that would inevitably lead to failure. And he's like, we do five days. Yeah. Like, so that felt cringy. The other one, it felt like an amazing interview. But, and it was green flags everywhere. and actually had mind pump, like philosophies constantly sprinkled in there, asked him if he knew you guys, was aware of the podcast, and he didn't like, too. But yeah, so that's how that went.
Starting point is 01:30:44 Okay. Well, good. Good job. Yeah. Getting out there. And I'm going to tell you something. So, and there's oftentimes what happens, well, let me ask you this question. This is my help.
Starting point is 01:30:56 You worked with Corinne Nicole in early days, Alyssa, right? Correct. Yeah. What made them good coaches for you? I mean, well, I'll give you great example for Nicole. She's been there this entire time, like with this process. I even interviewed her back in October just because I wanted her story. I know the logistics would becoming a trainer, but she's been along with the process. And she's been invested in this and reaching out to me like, hey,
Starting point is 01:31:30 how's it going? So she takes the time out and it feels like she actually cares, which makes a great coach trainer. I've had bad ones where clearly you didn't matter to them at all. And so all of those girls, I feel like are so invested. And yeah, the aesthetics don't matter. Like I don't think about their bodies, obviously. It's our relationship. You knew exactly where I was going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You didn't say anything about how they looked. Yep. Yeah. So it really doesn't matter. Now, the beginning may to some people, because when we think fitness, we think of how we look. So someone may look at someone and say, I want to look like that person. I'm going to work with them.
Starting point is 01:32:09 Or, and this happens actually very often, they look at a train and they go, I think they might get me. And then they end up working with them. So I've had trainers of all shapes and sizes. All of them value fitness. Obviously, you can't be a trainer if it's not valuable to you. And I've had trainers who are shredded. I've had trainers who were bodybuilders. I've had trades who recently lost a lot of weight, still kind of losing weight.
Starting point is 01:32:34 I've had trainers who overcame major injury and were rehabbing. And the average client wants to relate to somebody. Now, sometimes they look at a trainer and say, I want to look like that person. That happens as well. But more often than not, they go, I think I'm going to, I think that person is going to get me. And oftentimes it's like she looks like a mom or he looks like a guy that's around my age or she looks like she's been, you know. And so it's not a hindrance at all.
Starting point is 01:33:04 And oftentimes it's a superpower. Now the imposter syndrome, I'm just going to tell you, almost every new trainer feels it. Yep. So that's like super common. And I don't care what they look like. They all kind of feel it.
Starting point is 01:33:16 Because it's like, okay, who am I to train these people? Who am I to like charge $100 an hour? It's a very normal thing. It's not a bad thing. I think it drives us to become better and to continue to pursue
Starting point is 01:33:28 learning more, but it becomes a bad thing when it prevents you from doing this really, really cool thing, which is coach other people. Own who you are, where you are, and where you've come from. And if you own that and you're confident in that, you're going to be just fine. If you are insecure about that, that will come off. And this would be the same conversation I'd have to a trainer who is insecure about sales or doesn't think they're smart enough. So whatever, if you're, if you are insecure about that as you communicate to people,
Starting point is 01:34:03 it will bleed into them and then it'll, it'll just perpetuate and it'll make itself worse. But if you own who you are, where you are, where you came from, and be proud of that, you're going to kill it. You'll kill it. I tell you, if you've been listening long enough, you've probably heard me tell my story, I was not the fittest trainer. I definitely wasn't the smartest. I was the least experienced.
Starting point is 01:34:25 I was the youngest. So super came in it. But I wore that. Hey, this is who I, but I'm passionate about what I do and I'm excited. And that came off when I talked to people. And I only knew a few things. I didn't know a lot.
Starting point is 01:34:38 I didn't have a lot of experience. I had a lot of occasions. So I talked to those few things. So those things that have changed your life radically and have helped you, go give that and go lean into that. Don't think about the things you don't know yet. Or don't think about the things you haven't got a certain. Like, don't worry about that shit.
Starting point is 01:34:54 Go own. what you do know, what you came from who you are and be proud of that and go share that. There are tens of thousands of other people that need that. You'll be just fine. As long as you believe in that. If you believe in that and you carry yourself that way, you will absolutely crush it. But if you allow yourself to nitpick yourself or think about all the things you don't know or think about the things you haven't learned yet or your body isn't where you want it to be,
Starting point is 01:35:21 if you think about all that shit, it'll come out in the way you communicate to people. but if you're like, fuck yeah, I'm here, this is where I came from, this is where I'm going. Like, these are the things I know,
Starting point is 01:35:32 this is what's changed my life. And you go give that to people. Oh my God, you'll kill it. Yeah. You'll kill it. Yeah. Ability to create relationship and trust
Starting point is 01:35:40 is the most important thing a coach can have. If they don't have that, everything else doesn't matter. Yeah, I'm definitely confident in that. Plus, I mean, Nicole and I have talked about it, just with my past,
Starting point is 01:35:54 in terms of like that cyclical with weight gain, weight loss, but also like being an athlete formally and, you know, injuries and losing your identity, eating disorders. I feel like there's a lot of things I could relate to people on. But yeah, definitely to what you said, Adam. And I swear I didn't walk into the interviews, you know, like I was in that email. I was definitely very confident.
Starting point is 01:36:19 And I normally am very confident. But that was a rough day, I guess. Appreciate the vulnerability because there's a lot of trainers or potential trainers who need to hear this conversation. Yeah. It's a major hurdle like they're saying for every new trainer. And I think that we can pick ourselves apart very easily. You know, I felt like I didn't communicate well enough or was like willing to put myself out there to the extent that I now can. But, you know, these are all like steps that I just wanted to immerse myself in it.
Starting point is 01:36:53 and just, you know, explain, again, what I was confident in being able to do with them. So just stick with what you know. And you're going to, I was willing to show people like how much I cared through a lot of my professionalism and through a lot of my detailed organization. And so that was like what I leaned on in the beginning a lot was like, I'm going to be very structured and like I'm going to have this huge plan for each person. I put it together like two, three days ahead of time before I even met with them. and just it was just one of those things where it just boosted up my my own confidence and then that
Starting point is 01:37:26 kind of came out and then down the road I keep you know with the repetition it just became like automatic and and just something that too like you you look back and you're like wow I know so much more than your average person coming in and that's really what you have to give and you can relate to them so much better than somebody that's like you know knows how to just train themselves and isn't like looking at their needs. So if you're really looking at their needs and you care a lot, that's going to go so far in this industry. Are you in our course, Lauren?
Starting point is 01:37:58 Are you in our trainer group and course? No, not the elite trainer academy. I do actually, I love listening to it, though. Kyle's awesome. But I'm not actually in the course, though. I didn't know just because I just got my cert. I just started my corrective exercise spec. So I wasn't sure if I was just too much of a newbie.
Starting point is 01:38:17 No, no, no, no. You should absolutely be. By the way, good for you for going correctional exercise right out the gate. It's very valuable. Well, actually, it's because of the article you wrote on how to become a successful personal trainer to set myself apart. No, you're doing great. So our course is more focused on how to be a good coach, an effective coach, and build
Starting point is 01:38:36 your business. So you're not going to get the correctional exercise stuff in there, biomechanics. It's all about like being an effective coach. So it's the stuff we teach our trainers and coaches, how to be an effective coach and also how to build a business. That's what our course is all about. And we can have Anne reach out to you and answer questions and maybe give you some advice. She runs our education here. But I think that would be valuable for someone like you. I definitely think you should be in there. So I think you should be in there. I also just sent Doug a clip from that my body did on Instagram.
Starting point is 01:39:10 Is that your body? Yeah, I don't know where that came. Freudian sleep. You're thinking of his body, dude. sent me a video. My buddy, my buddy on Instagram, uh, did, uh, Mike. He, and he, it's a great clip for, uh, going for interviews. Um, this is the high performer, asking the high performer question. I think it's a really good clip.
Starting point is 01:39:31 Oh, no, I saw that. You posted that. Oh, yes. Yeah. That was a great one. Okay. Well, I'm reset. I'll have Doug re-send it to you.
Starting point is 01:39:38 I just think that's such a good thing to listen to right before you walk into an interview. I thought he explained that so well. So that's really good. But yes, get in our elite. trainer academy. You'll get a ton of a help in that. If you're ever in the area, come visit. I don't know where you're located, but come hang out. I'm in Arizona. I'm not that far. I've thought about it. My bestie is in Citrus Heights, which is far from you guys. But hey, for the trip. Yeah, yeah. Citrus is not that bad. Hey, if you come out here, we'll schedule you to come listen to the podcast live and
Starting point is 01:40:05 we'll see if we can set you up with the workout. Come hang out with the girls for a day too. Yep. That'd be awesome. Can I say one thing really quick? I don't know if I get the opportunity to. Thanks for all you do, of course. Love all of you. But Sal, I just wanted to say thank you to you in particular. You'll always have a special place in my heart. Back in 2022, I had to go to like outpatient rehab for multiple eating disorders. And it was like seven weeks.
Starting point is 01:40:32 And I graduated and overnight, everything's gone, right? And the next day I was just terrified, even though I'd been in the real world the whole time. And I told myself, listen to Deloney. He's going to help you get through this. you're going to be okay and turn them on. And it was you that day, Sal. And it was really helpful. Although I had just been sitting with these like-minded people,
Starting point is 01:40:54 there's a lot of things you're not allowed to say because you don't want to trigger anybody. And it just felt like everything you guys said. I finally felt seen and not alone. So thanks for that. Oh, thank you. A really dark time. So thank you. I appreciate that.
Starting point is 01:41:08 It's cool to see where you're at now. It's going to be great. Yeah. Yeah. Right on, Lord. You're going to do well. So much of me. So thank you.
Starting point is 01:41:15 Thank you. Take care, guys. Appreciate it. Bye. Thank you. Bye. That's a cool story. You know what's funny?
Starting point is 01:41:20 Okay. This is just a trend. It's just what I notice, and I guarantee you guys have seen the same, of all the trainers that have worked under you or that you've worked with, the most shredded, fit-looking, Instagram-ready-looking people typically are not the greatest trainers. Is that not a, does it be true?
Starting point is 01:41:39 Well, I typically. Out of the three of us, I've probably managed the most. trainers by far, and I have never had my most ripped 0% My most ripped buff trainer was never that.
Starting point is 01:41:54 I always had one because there is a superficial client. Sure. That's what they'll... It's a very small percentage. It's about 3% of the clients that will come in and buy person.
Starting point is 01:42:04 Isn't that funny? Give me the most jacked guy or the ripped like that? I got them. Right. I got them. You know what I'm saying? So I have have that guy for those people but that was never a good trainer that was never my top trainer
Starting point is 01:42:16 my top trainer a lot of times were healthy and fit but they weren't but they looked more like a typical like a average they looked healthy stage ready yeah
Starting point is 01:42:24 because a majority of people and since I filtered a lot of the clients before they got trainers so I got to meet all of them so thousands of people most people were very scared to have a really really fit trainer
Starting point is 01:42:40 and they preferred somebody that It just looked healthy. That's right. Just looked healthier than they were. That's right. Because they felt very insecure. And they felt like they could not connect to that person.
Starting point is 01:42:51 As most people that go to the gym, they're not looking to look amazing. They think that they might say, oh, wow, that's pretty cool. No different than you or one of us look at Michael Jordan when he plays basketball. But none of us go like, every day, go home and go like, we're going to be like Michael Jordan. It's just like you accept, I'll probably never be that good. And a lot of people think that way. when they see super rib trainers like, I'll never be that way,
Starting point is 01:43:15 but I need to be healthier. I had a memory unlock while you were talking because you were saying how you weren't the most fit, whatever as a trainer. I mean, I started at 18. I was working out. And I guess compared to the typical 18-year-old I might look like a workout,
Starting point is 01:43:28 but I'll never forget this. This was like month two, already the top trainer in the gym in terms of sales. And there was a bodybuilder on staff. And this guy I always looked at him like, oh, because I love bodybuilding. This guy is so jack. And he came up to me.
Starting point is 01:43:41 I'll never forget this. He came up to me. He goes, you didn't even look like you work out. And I remember being like, wow, dude. And then part of me was like, all right, I'll show you, you know, type of deal. But I think, you know, and I just forgot about that memory. It was totally a lot. Because I wasn't the jack this most.
Starting point is 01:43:56 I was an 18-year-old kid. Yeah. But it was, you know, I think, you know, I liked working with people. I like training people. I was super hungry and passionate. Oh, yeah. So it's a total. I was the permibolt guy.
Starting point is 01:44:07 I cut that comment a couple times. I used to be a lot. Perbalt. You're in the perma-bulk, dude? I'm pretty sure I was, I'm trying to remember my exact team that I was with, but I was pretty sure I was the least fit. And fit as far as muscular, because I was just a skinny kid is what it was.
Starting point is 01:44:23 And I was definitely the least experienced and I knew the least for sure. But I knew a few things. You were just ravishly handsome. That's what we did. No, it wasn't even that, bro. I had my bottom braces without the wires still stuck on my teeth. Without the wire? Yeah, dog.
Starting point is 01:44:41 Fucked up. T. Yeah, bro. I was not. I was not that guy at all. But, you know, I was, I liked people. I was passionate about helping others. I knew a few things. And I was excited about those few things. Those few things were revolutionary to me. It's the passion. And thank God, I had a personality. That was it. You what I'm saying? People feel that energy. Yep. Our next caller is Faith from Utah. Hi, Faith. We're doing Faith. Hey, doing well. How about you guys?
Starting point is 01:45:11 Good. How come I help you? Hey, yeah. So just before I read my question, just want to say thanks for all the episodes you guys put out and all of the great, like, advice. I am new to Mind Pump, probably about a month that I've been listening to it. The trainer at my chiropractor suggested you guys. So, yeah, Jess at Foundation Chiropractic in Orm, Utah. So shout out to diversity is great. Yeah, that's awesome. Also, yeah, just want to say thanks for the episode you did. on like best sports for kids. I put my three-year-old into gymnastics and he loves it. I would have never in a million years even had the idea to do that. Oh, cool. That's great.
Starting point is 01:45:52 That's cool. That's great. How can I help you? Okay. So, yeah, I'll just get started. I'll read my question. I've updated it a little bit. So I don't know if you guys are looking at the one I sent in.
Starting point is 01:46:02 I just updated the numbers. No worries. So every episode I've listened to by Mind Pump about fat loss or body recomp is mentioned how important it is to not lose any muscle in the process. I think I might be an exception to this guidance, but wanted to ask the experts. I am a 188 pound 5-7 male, female, 5-foot-7-inch female, at 25% body fat with 141 pounds of lean body mass and 47 pounds of body fat. Also, just for context, about six months postpartum, but not currently nursing. I have been weightlifting for about two years. I would love to do a bikini competition eventually.
Starting point is 01:46:44 And from my brief, very brief, Googling, I think that bikini competitors at my height, usually their stage weight is about between 125 and 135 pounds. Since my lean body mass is already above the stage weight, and I need to have at least some body fat, I think I need to lose about 30 pounds of muscle and around 30 pounds of fat. I just wanted to confirm with you guys, since I rarely hear you talking about losing muscle as a goal. And then just a little bit more context, I was on a cup for seven weeks, and then I did a body fat scan test, and I got really scared when I saw that nine of the 14 pounds that I lost was muscle. So I decided to eat at maintenance for a week to hopefully give my metabolism a break before going back on the cut. I also started taking creatine during my maintenance week, and then the cut that I was doing before, and now I'm back on my cut, it's 600 calorie deficit.
Starting point is 01:47:40 it. I think it's pretty manageable. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've actually, you know, been hungry in those seven weeks. So basically my questions are, do you agree that I need to lose about 30 pounds of muscle to be competitive on stage? And if so, is, you know, is there a best way to go about it? Should I prioritize muscle loss first so that in my last cut leading up to competing, I can just focus on fat loss. Yeah, I'd love to get your advice on it. I would hate to see you do that, by the way. Yeah, so let's back up for a second. Let's back up for a second.
Starting point is 01:48:16 How are you testing your body fat? Is it on a scale? You just stand on it with your feet or? Yeah, with the things you hold out on your side. I don't know what they're called. Get a Dexas scan just to get a more accurate rating, first of all. Number two, if you were to lose 20 to 30 pounds of muscle, do you know what that is? No.
Starting point is 01:48:36 That's illness. Yeah. That's illness, honey. Like if you targeted that doing that, what you would do to your health would be catastrophic. D detrimental. That's catastrophic muscle loss. That's like if you're bedridden because you're super sick and you're in and you literally can't move for a month or longer. That's what that would look like.
Starting point is 01:48:56 Okay. So that's catastrophic in terms of your health. So not a good idea. The real question I want to ask is, why do you want to do? Tell me why you want to do a bikini contest and tell me about your fitness background, athletic background, like what have you done in the past? And then what's leading you to say, I want to do a bikini contest? Sure.
Starting point is 01:49:16 I was a runner for, I don't know, probably about 10 years, or in a few half marathons. And then really I picked up running, like, as a form of weight management. But then I honestly, I stopped kind of caring a lot about my weight. So I was like, well, I don't care about my weight. Why am I running? So I stopped running and then kind of switched over to weight. lifting. So yeah, been doing weight lifting for two years. But before the two years, yeah,
Starting point is 01:49:43 just kind of been running for most of my life. And then, you know, in high school, did lots of random sports. So, and then as far as why I wanted to be a bikini competitor, yeah, I guess when I was like six, yeah, six months, I was six months pregnant. And I was thinking, this is like terrible. I would like to be, I just decided to set this call so that like it would be, I thought it would be fun to be like incredibly like challenge my body right um like see how how lean i could get and i am totally planning on not staying that lean this is more like a bucket list kind of item you know check it off and then go back to like a healthy body pat percentage after that and just maintenance for the rest of my life okay bikini would be the worst thing that that you you could do uh in that
Starting point is 01:50:30 pursuit. So bikini is massively body focused, body conscious, body obsessive. It's not a healthy pursuit. The only time that I'm okay with people doing it is when there's like their favorite sport in the world. And they also have a healthy, you know, body image and healthy relationship to food and all that stuff. Typically, if someone's like, hey, I just want to use it as a goal, then I would say, get rid of competing and just have the goal of improving your overall fitness. According to your body fat percentage scale, you carry a good amount of lean body mass. That's phenomenal. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:51:08 Like you want that. How many calories... Let's keep that. That's amazing. Do you know how many calories you're eating on a daily basis? In my cut, yeah, I'm at 1,800. I think my maintenance is about 2,400. Okay.
Starting point is 01:51:20 I would rather see you build into getting leaner than trying to cut into getting leaner. So focus on getting stronger. focus on your strength training. Keep your calories probably around 24, 2,500. And just let your body composition. You're only six months postpartum. How many kids you have? Is this number one?
Starting point is 01:51:38 Two kids. So you know that it takes a while to really fully feel like yourself after having a kid. So right now I wouldn't even focus hardcore on any goal. I would just keep doing what you're doing and let your body composition start to change. But you've got some great lean body mass. I'm assuming you're pretty strong. Well, listening to some of the people that call into you, I don't think I'm not strong. Tell me about your squat, your deadlift, your presses.
Starting point is 01:52:04 Yeah, they all need work. So I'm not a very good squatter. I just started doing barbell squats because of, you know, since listening to you guys. So like, and really the only time I've squatted barbell squats is when I'm in a cut. So like 60 pounds. Okay. Squatting. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:52:21 Oh, yeah. You'll be way better served for. us to really, so in the weightlifting world, then you're still kind of in your infancy. And so there's so much more potential for your body to focus on building and sculpting that way versus trying to cut and carve down. You'll get way more out of that. And you, where you're at lean body mass, I'll tell you one of the reasons why you're, even though I think Sal's right with a Dexcan, get something that's more accurate, but why you saw the muscle loss like that is the amount of lean body mass that you have on your body, your body needs.
Starting point is 01:52:54 more calories to sustain that muscle. And putting yourself at 1,800 calories and then also doing all this activity, your body's like, oh, we can't have all this muscle. So it paired it down. It needs more than that. Someone with as much lean body mass as you, we would probably be up in 3,000 calorie range. And so in order for you to get there without putting on a bunch of body fat, we need to get strong in the gym and start really pushing the weights.
Starting point is 01:53:18 So getting strong in your squat, getting strong in your deadlift, getting strong in your rose, getting strong in your overhead press. That should be the main focus while being fed, while feeding yourself a good amount of calories. And I really don't care about the scale weight right now. It would be get strong and build your metabolism and build muscle. That will put you in a place. So if I was coaching you, and this was our goal, even if I could convince you to not get on stage, but I said, hey, I'll build that bikini body you're going after.
Starting point is 01:53:48 But let's do this the right way. And what that would look like is you and I not really. worrying about where your weight on the scales right now let's go build your metabolism let's go get you to where you're eating 3,000 3,300 calories you're squatting 150 to 180 pounds you're deadlifting 150 180 like then when and you're sustaining that your your weight is staying the same you're eating 3200 calories you're strong as shit in the gym now I go okay now we can start to bring you down faith now I'm going to bring you down to 2,800 calories and then watch what happens You just lean out.
Starting point is 01:54:22 And when you keep your muscle, you just drop body fat from that place. And we do that nice and slow. That's how you get ready for that, build that look that you're, that a bikini competitor would have. Going from where you're at now leads you to a road of 1,800 calories. You might lose a couple pounds. Body plateaus. Then what do you do? Pick up more activity and drop calories to 1,500 calories.
Starting point is 01:54:46 Then you lose a couple more pounds. And then you plateau. And then it's like, eventually you and I are eating 11. 700 calories and you're still. And you're working out like crazy. Yeah, yeah. And you're, and you're, and you feel terrible.
Starting point is 01:54:55 Yeah, it's terrible. But that's the, where we're coming from right now, that's the only pathway to get down to that kind of weight. And just to encourage you, doing this the right way, the look that you're looking for you're going to get. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:55:08 You're going to look sculpted. You'll have good shape because you have good muscle on your body. You're going to be, you're going to look phenomenal. The scale is your enemy. So anytime I work with a woman who has really good muscle building genetics, the scale can mess with them because they look a particular way
Starting point is 01:55:23 but the scale says something else because lean body mass looks different than body fat. It looks sculpted. It looks firm. You look like you've got nice curve and great shape. And the scale can look like
Starting point is 01:55:37 in fact, people would guess you're a lot lighter than what the scale says is probably what's going to happen. But you've got this roaring metabolism. You're strong. You're sculpted. You know, everything feels really good.
Starting point is 01:55:49 And so that's the direction you want to go. No. If your numbers are correct also, I'll tell you, not that I think you should compare yourself to anybody, but you're built more like a figure competitor than you are a bikini competitor also. I won, yeah. I was curious about that. Yeah, oh, yeah. No, I know by your numbers. Yeah, yeah, no, you're, you're tall and you have a lot of muscle. You're, my, my ex is carried herself at 5.7 to, she was 5,7, walked around at 175, 180 in the off season. When she hit stage, she was like 1.7. 60 170. And for figure. Yeah, for figure. Yeah, because she had a lot of lean body masks. So she had, as she was tall, and had a lot of lean body mass. So you're built more like she was than my bikini competitors. Yeah, it's an awesome gift. This is a great blessing. Yeah. Are you open to working
Starting point is 01:56:37 with a coach to hiring a coach? Oh, yeah. That was, yeah, that was a plan. I knew I was going to have to hire a coach sometime, right, to get it to meet my goals. Let me do this because we have really good coaches. They've got great, they're met. They're going to keep you healthy. Make sure. you do the right things. So I'm going to have somebody reach out to you. And then you can work with them through this process. And you're probably going to start in a reverse die. That's what they'll do what I told you first.
Starting point is 01:56:58 Your first goal is to set the – I tell competitors all the time, trained a ton of competitors. The – when you win the figure, it's in the off season. It's in the building the metabolism, building the muscle, building the body. When you cut for the show, that's just revealing all the hard work you did in the off season. It's not like cut from here and then go get up on. stage. Like, no, it's what you work you put into building muscle, building your metabolism. That's what will determine how successful you are at this. So they'll do all that with you. Okay, perfect. And then I was, I've been waiting to buy one of your programs until I talk to you.
Starting point is 01:57:35 So maybe is it maps anabolic? Is that where you guys? They'll set you up on all that. So if you work with the code, they'll give that to you. They'll give you our programs and they'll individualize it. It's like you can't get better than that. Yeah. Okay. Sweet. Well, thanks, guys. You got a faith. Things are falling in. All right, take it easy. Yeah, I mean, imagine, like she's like, she's like, oh, I got to lose 20 pounds of muscle to get on stage. Oh, my God. Oh, no.
Starting point is 01:57:58 Don't do that. Glad she called in for sure. You got to make yourself sick to lose that much muscle, you know, essentially. But it would be a terrible approach. Yeah, you don't want to do that. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, no, not at all. This is great that we got to hold her right now.
Starting point is 01:58:11 Yeah, she has that. If her numbers are even close to correct, that she has a lot of lean body mass. And if she's only doing things like 60. pound squat. Oh my gosh. So much potential. Strength potentials. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 01:58:23 She's got a lot. That should be the new games. Oh, totally. Yeah, yeah. So that's the focus. If you like Mind Pump can find us on Instagram. Mind Pump media. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump.
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