Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 398: Muscle Building Routines vs the Mind Pump Dogma, Mind-Muscle Connection & EPOC

Episode Date: November 9, 2016

Kimera-Quah! PLUS iTunes Review Winners! In this episode of Quah, sponsored by Kimera Koffee (kimerakoffee.com, code "mindpump" for 10% off), Sal, Adam & Justin answer Pump Head questions about EPOC, the mind-muscle connection and the muscle building results that will be realized by following the Mind Pump "Dogma" as compared to traditional muscle building protocols. Have Sal, Adam & Justin personally train you with a new video every day on our new YouTube channel, Mind Pump TV. Be sure to Subscribe for updates. Get MAPS Anabolic, MAPS Performance, MAPS Aesthetic and the Butt Builder Blueprint (The RGB Super Bundle) packaged together at a substantial DISCOUNT at www.mindpumpmedia.com. Please subscribe, rate and review this show! Each week our favorite reviewers are announced on the show and sent Mind Pump T-shirts! Have questions for Mind Pump? Each Monday on Instagram (@mindpumpradio) look for the QUAH post and input your question there. (Sal, Adam & Justin will answer as many questions as they can)

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You can pick any Maps T-shirt for free, so we'll give you all that stuff for free. Absolutely, Stinky! Listen, Mind Pump Radio, excuse me, Mind Pump Media.com, always fuck that one up, MindPump Media.com, here's what you do, by the way, when you roll in a bundle, you need to send an email to admin at MindPump Media.com, send your address, send your emails, or your name,

so we know who you are, your size, your shirt size, and what guide you want so you can get all those free awesome things. Excellent, Sal. We do in the review contest, giveaways. Yes indeed. How many reviews, Doug? Give it to a string. We have reached new heights. Wow, you guys are starting. Wow. 32 reviews. Boom. Holy. We got to give out some shirts in.

30. How many shirts are we giving away? Nine. By the way, you know why these reviews are coming in fast and nervous? Because there's two reasons why. Number one, number one, because we're the best podcast on earth. Number two, because we're telling people how to leave a review, because it's such a pain in the ass to figure out how to leave a review.

That's what it is. Is it natural for you to use to take credit for everything or do you actually have to actively think about? I said, we, I said, we, we, we, we, we, we, do you feel threatened to become a station? We were the capital M. Yeah, listen, you didn't say he summoned it though. You gotta give him credit for it. Yeah, listen, this is how you leave a review if you want to your chance at winning a free t-shirt. By the way, nine shirts at a 32 reviews. It's a pretty damn good odds of winning. Absolutely. We're generous. For generous people,

leave a review. This is what you do. For generous people, leave in reviews. This is what you do. You go on your phone, you go to the podcast icon, you click on it, go to search at the top, type in mind, pump, two words. I don't care if you're subscribed or not, you still gotta do it this way. Hit search, our little icon pops up,

click on our icon, and right underneath it, there's three tabs. The middle one says reviews, click on that, and then you can leave a review, and if we like it, you'll three tabs. The middle one says reviews, click on that. And then you can leave a review. And if we like it, you'll win a free t-shirt. Who won? All right, we got nine winners. Tell us Douglas starting with Chris Ellis 21.

Bad ass. Jim Cardoza. There we go. A-I-S-F-N. Super. So macron in, that's worth something. Yeah, A-S-, a swim. That's a yeah, a a off 1921 Jimbo Sipper body rocks three six five

shast 10 10 be faucet like faucet. He finally wins a t-shirt. For sure. This is the first time he's won on a really second second favorite homosexual. I like this guy. Oh, okay. Our final is Tasmanian lifter. You guys all win free t-shirts. How do I get their shirts, though? Get them deadlisks. Then the name I just read to iTunes at MindPumpMedia.com, your shirt size, your shipping address,

and we'll get that right out to you. Good job, guys. Just spin around in circles and throw weights, is it? If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind, pop, mind, pop with your hosts. Salta Stefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. I can always spark you.

You do, you do, you love me. Justin, do you realize that I'm your, your, your, your creative spark? Yeah. Now that I can't dance, yeah. Welcome to the Sal and Justin show. We're waiting for Adam to get back on the right text all day long.

Because he's talking to people, trying to put together new products and teach him. Oh, my gosh, he has to try. Doug got me a new filter. Doug share. Doug got me a new filter. Doug what? Doug got me a new filter. Oh the pop filter. Oh I see.

It's so much nicer. It's not all limp. It's not limp. Yeah, you're having problems right? He gave it to our guest I see. So our guest gets the shitty ads always flaccid. You problem. No.

It's, they say that your mic is like you are, like they're owner. It's an extended. Like it's, they say that your mic is like you are, like they're owner. It's an extended. Like it's like a dog, you know, like dogs are going to say to the mic is like, let's say about a mic. Just a noodle. They do. And if you look at me and Justin's mics,

very erect, hard, very hard, and it yours less hard, less hard, little slippery, little, not good, it's soft, noodle-ly. It's, yeah. But it's, but it's, but it's moldable. Okay. It goes in different direction. Hey, what did you guys, what did's, but it's moldable. Okay. It goes in different directions. Hey, what did you guys, what did you think about yesterday's seminar?

It was, we took a different turn in this time around. What did you guys think? I think, I like hearing our new message. We're everyone's so hard of themselves. So I like to hear, actually, I'm probably the hardest one to come to that shit. But let's hear it. Let's hear you guys talk positive. Then I'll talk shit about it.

You are a dick. I think, I think we are coming, what's coming together now is our direction. Like our, it's going to be our talk, our brand, it's who we are. It's starting to come forward because our first seminars were really just informative, you know, which is fine, but I want people to leave our seminars feeling changed. You know what I mean? I want them to leave and I want them to completely change how they view nutrition and exercise

and how they approach those things. I don't want them to leave and say, oh, that was cool information. Or wow, I learned a little bit. You're gonna get that, but I want people to leave being like, holy fuck, I was fundamentally altered from that seminar. And I think-

We've changed your perspective. Yes, we are getting that. I want to take your channel, whatever channel you're stuck on, and I want to change your channel. You know what I'm saying? I don't want to just give you more- She is. Well, and I like that we haven't, well, okay, I know we're going on a positive tint here, but, you know, I do, I definitely like that we went in a little bit more of the inspirational route, because like we over

inform all the time I feel and that's what the podcast is great for because we can elaborate on that topic for you know a longer amount of time and I just feel like when we get into that mentality when we're speaking live it just becomes like mom the mom and we're just like hammering all these points but it just feels like there's so much to cover, whereas if we can just whittle it down to these life lessons and things that are the top things to focus on, I think that's really helping people more. I think we've identified, so the previous seminar that we did before this one, we started it similar to what all of our seminars used to be, right? It was informative, we were talking about nutrition and exercising, good information.

And we were kind of dispelling myths in the fitness industry. And halfway through, we kind of went on a little bit of a tangent and struck some nerves. And I could tell, I don't know about you guys, but I can really get a sense of the shift in energy from the crowd. And the energy changed. And you could see the looks on their faces shifted. get a sense of the shift in energy from the crowd. And the energy changed, and you could see the looks on their faces shifted,

and people started nodding, and some people started laughing, not because we were being funny, but because they started realizing a lot of the different things about themselves. That happened to the... Not this seminar. Right into their living room and watching them. Yeah, and it happened to see the seminar before,

and this one, we understood that, and we kind of focused on that, and you could see that it was a different connection, and people were leaving with different ideas, and we're able to hammer home our message that we talk about a lot on the show, but we're really able to do it in a one hour period, and get people kind of thinking things differently,

and we're nowhere near, don't get me wrong. period and get people kind of thinking things differently. And we're nowhere near. Don't get me wrong. This was just us kind of spitballing a bit this brand new idea and this new format. And I obviously we need to sharpen up like phone in on these points. I think 50 more of these and we're going to be ready for Coliseum's and shit like that. But I don't think we're anywhere near, you know, maybe I'm a little confident. But I don't think we're anywhere near. You say that to Adam like Chimes in here. That's why I'm a little confident, but I don't think you say that.

Adam Lake Chimes in here. Yeah. That's why I'm waiting. The only time I've seen him do the only time Adam's quiet. Let's do the gym scene first. What is waiting to talk? Yeah. I think it's important though that I consistently talk shit

even about ourselves. I mean, I think that's what makes it okay. I think if you were somebody who talked shit about other people on and all you did was glorify yourself and like I'm self-righteous. No it's true we're equal opportunity shit talkers. Yeah no I think I'm I think I'm much harder on us and I have much higher expectations for us than I do anybody else in the fitness industry and I had a lot of people come up to me afterwards and said, oh my God, they've been to several already. And they're like, that was my favorite. That was awesome.

I really liked the direction you guys are going with this. And man, more people need to be talking. So I got tons of feedback. I had family in town that had never seen us live before. They've listened to the show plenty and stuff. But then they were totally impressed. They loved it. And I said, you know, it was all right.

I said, I thought that I Thought it's still we're still getting in our groove because this was the first time we kind of went this direction So I think after we've we've done a few like that. I think it'll get better You know, and then what I try to explain everybody was like really pumped and excited that was talking to me. I said listen Sal is so much better than that. I said yeah I said when he when he is on fire, it gets contagious. I get inspired. Like, when I know he is, when he is on his...

It doesn't feel like a compliment. I'm like, well, that when I said, when you guys think that was really good and that was like, Sal at like a C plus, you know, when he is on his like serious, when he's A plus material, it just, it takes the whole, sometimes I catch myself like captivated by what he's saying and sucked in.

And when I know he gets me like that, it takes me to this whole new level of getting like fired up and then we just do this dynamic. And there was, there was a couple times yesterday I felt that happened, but I also felt like it took 20 to 30 minutes before we hit that. I'd like to actually like to improve on how we come out. I want that.

I want to get right away, give that. It takes practice, dude. It's going to take practice. It's going to take us. It's going to take us honing our skill. We're not quite ready for magic. Speaking of front of people is different than speaking on a microphone and it's different than being on video and it's all different, right?

But as you hone your skill and get better, what you're doing, you're able to impact people with more power. That's the idea. When you talk to people in person for an hour, you have one hour to make a difference. You really do. It doesn't happen with just giving people information. It happens with emotion. It happens with inspiration. It happens with passion. It happens with when you're fundamentally changing how they view themselves and think of things, what you're

trying to do is you're trying to set this to light a spark because an inside everybody is a pool of gasoline. And if you light the right spark, you'll set that person on fire and they leave that seminar and things, it's like dominoes, things change and that's the goal, that's what you want to do when you speak in front of people, but that's not an easy thing to do. And I don't care how good your information is. Well, we just got to get you more preachy. You got to get, well, you got to practice, you got to get good.

And every seminar I've ever done, and I don't, I have zero problem talking in front of people, but the problem is every seminar I ever did in the for fitness was informative. I never did seminars where I got to come up there and really, and really trying to change the different dynamic. And so this is different, but it's good. It's starting to happen. Well, it's also, here's the thing that I think

that is the greatest challenge is that when we have the podcast and the podcast, we spent over a year of building credibility and creating ourselves as an authority in the fitness industry, just timing and all that stuff. Yeah, so that takes time, right? And then now we go into a room. Now, mind you, the reason why our listeners probably are

wondering too, like, what? We don't promote our seminars. We don't talk about, we actually go into companies that hire us to go in and do these talks for like health fairs or private things like orange theory holds just with your orange. So mostly all orange theory members. So, you know, right now, a lot of a good half or more than half the people in our audience

have never even heard us before. So there's this new dynamic of, you know, you have an hour and a half or so to create yourself as an authority and then deliver this inspiring message and informative and educational at the same time. I just can't say balls right away. I have to like warm people up to this.

Well, they're the shit. I don't know. It does. So it's a little bit, I think, and I think in the future, when we start doing the big events where we are promoting it on the podcast and we go into towns and we say, Hey, we're here in Austin, Texas on this date. And then now that most all the fans are all, most all the guests will be people that have heard the show for a long time.

I think those will be a total different tone because we won't have to spend the first 30 minutes of it getting people to understand like, you know, how long we've been doing this for and that, oh, we understand, you know, I'm saying like, I feel like we have to do so much of that right now to really get you bought into whatever we're talking about before we can get into the message or into inspiring people. So that's, that's definitely a unique challenge I feel like that we're dealing with with the seminars in comparison to the other forms or platforms. Well, the message that we talk about on Mind Pump that resonates very strongly with people

really has to do with changing, you know, how you view your body, changing your relationship to food, right, changing your relationship to food, right, changing your relationship to exercise, looking at the real important things and focusing on that and then finding that fitness, health, and leanness, and all that stuff becomes a side effect of really fundamentally changing how you approach these things. And that's the message that we're trying to give across or put across to these people, it's not a message that's necessarily groundbreaking. I think people have heard it before. Some of our techniques and the way we present them

is unique and we do have unique aspects of how you approach these things. I don't think I've ever heard anybody really talk about, but a lot of communication isn't the words you say, it's how you say them. And I know for a fact, and I've known this because I've been a trainer for a long time because I've been in the fitness industry for 20 years that nothing changes unless someone's emotional about it nothing changes and let someone feels inspired That's the impetus that starts to get a message that we're saying it is like and that's the important part

Why I think that we're on to something because it needs to reflect a mission statement that is mind-pump. Like people know this way of thinking because it's our flavor. It's what we've come to conclude. And so we actually have a bit more, we can identify and kind of define that a little better now. We're getting closer to that to where it's like, okay, this is distinctly mind-pump in

their message. Well, I think it's interesting. As we've continued doing the show, we, the three of us, and I like sharing this with the audience because the audience, I like including them in our growth and how we've evolved. It's very important for me that you as listeners understand this because you can see then that A, we may be considered quote unquote authorities, but we are not the be all end all, you know, smartest, know everything kind of people. In fact, I implore you to question everything that we tell you.

I implore you to not follow blindly. We don't want, you know, blind sheep following us because that is part of the problem. We want you to think for yourselves and question things. We want you to discover things for yourself because that's the only place that change truly happens. That's the road that leads to long-term longevity, health, wellness. That's the road that leads to long-term longevity, health, wellness. That's the road that leads to making being healthy, fit, lean, all those things become effortless is if you go in that direction.

And we grow quite a bit. In fact, these seminars are a reflection of how we've grown and we're striking a nerve. I just did a post on Instagram, literally two hours ago. As I'm recording this episode, two hours ago I did a post on IAFYM and how I think it's crap and how I think,

or we think it can lead to eating disorders, different types of eating disorders, but nonetheless, bad relationships to food and eating disorders. And boy, did I strike a nerve within a very short period of time, and you got people on there tagging people and people commenting and pissing some people off.

And you know, one of the things I said on that post was, if you see someone on Instagram who has IIFYM in their bio, the high odds are that the vast majority of the pictures on their page are gonna be of bad food are going to be of binge eating are going to be of poor eating habits and food pornography and sure enough people are getting tagged and getting angry with me and yelling at me or whatever

I click on their picture there's one guy and I'm not going to say his name I do not want people to go after him I think you know he's got a right to post whatever he wants. He's just an example of what we're talking about, but you go on his page and it's literally binge eating. It is literally eating disorder. The only difference is he looks lean. There's no difference from him. Because he keeps his calories in point.

Because he keeps his calories in point and he's identified that that makes it okay to promote this kind of lifestyle. If you look further into the sky, he used to be overweight. So what he's done is he's taken his addiction to food and he's just changed it and pointed it in different direction, but he's still got this addiction going on. And it's still an unhealthy relationship, and he's promoting it to his 100,000 fans and followers.

But we've really started to strike a nerve, but you gotta understand, as listeners, this position that we were taking now is really starting to take hold with us. When we first started Mind Pump, we all knew I-I-F-Y-M was a kind of a cultish, stupid thing, but we really didn't truly understand the potential negative impact of constantly tracking everything for the rest of your life. We didn't truly understand how that could turn into, not just poor relationships with food, but it could turn into eating disorders until we started mind pumping, until we started having to see all the first

hand accounts that kind of like relay their story and like, you know, some of the problems that have come through that. Dude, I've got people I'm helping, you know, doing the, you know, online and they are, some of them are ex-compet competitors or competitors, current ones. And I am, I mean, I know Adam, you've been in this world for much longer than me, this whole competitive world, but I'm shocked. I am shocked. It is crazy.

What I have, what I'm working with here. Well, and I have to take so many steps back with them. But you now know what my frustration has been for the last almost two years now, because I was, because before that, I didn't realize how bad it was either. And you're more shocked because of who it is, right? I mean, these are the people that, like I said, so many people aspire to be like them, because they're in phenomenal shape, right? And they're competing in some of them competing at the professional level.

So people are so amazed by their discipline to get to that point and they all aspire to be like that one day, but in reality what people don't understand is literally and I'm talking and 80 90% of these people have eating disorders. Oh, a majority of them not like some of them or a few of them or maybe have a most of them most of them have some sort of an eating disorder and most of them, not like some of them or a few of them or maybe have most of them. Most of them have some sort of an eating disorder and most of them are unaware of it because it's become this popular thing to do. I feel so bad too. I don't, you know, I used to be, I used to get angry and talk shit, but now I feel bad. No, it's easy. It's easy to get sucked in. I'm not going to lie. Like, I didn't even have my fur. I didn't have a pop,

the last time I had a pop tart was probably when I was like five or six years old. And just being around the fitness competing world, they're so popular and with the whole Fitcher Macros bullshit and everybody be using them for quick carbs and quick sugar that I remember like catching myself like I gotta try these. I haven't had these since I was five. I gotta know what this cold crave is about.

And it tastes like fucking cardboard. But I get what happens if you can get my attention to even make me go out there to wanna do that. Then I realize what is this doing to everybody else that are unaware, that are already are unaware of what it is that they're really consuming and really what the long-term effects could possibly be of eating processed foods and artificial sweeteners

and doing that on a regular basis. And you've got these people that are super fit that are showing you that look, you can do this too and still look like this. So people are starting to connect that and it's the wrong dots. It's the wrong direction. I actually had this conversation with my girlfriend yesterday. We were going through Instagram and I like to stay,

keep my finger on the pulse of different aspects of the fitness industry, everything from the meditative side to the yoga people, to the power lifters, the strength athletes, whatever, and even the bodybuilders. Now, it wasn't that long ago that I would look at a picture of a pro bodybuilder and I would think to myself, like, fuck, that looks cool, or, God, I wish I could look

like that naturally, or if I could do that naturally, God, that would be fucking awesome. This shift happened to me not that long ago, and I really, before I say what I'm gonna say, I'm not trying to talk shit about anybody that does this, I'm not talking shit about these people whatsoever, the difference is my perception, my consciousness has shifted and it's this fundamental shift that has happened to me

where I look at these pictures now of these super muscular, you know, ripped dudes who are posing on Instagram that I used to look at and go, God, that looks cool. Or wow, look how fucking massive his back is or his quads are. And you know what I see now? All I see, all I see now is body dysmorphia.

That's all I see now. I look at it now and I think to myself like, fuck man, that dude is suffering and he doesn't even know it. Like he doesn't know. Because it comes a compulsion. Yeah, it becomes a compulsion, he doesn't know. And I only, I know this because I used to be that guy. Yeah.

I used to, in fact, I look at old pictures of myself and I used to bulk. I think you can totally identify it. And I'd get my body weight up to 225, 230 and I look at them and I see sickness now. Whereas before, I didn't even, he thought that was like the pinnacle, the ultimate fit. I couldn't, I couldn't see it before.

It's really weird. I'm not doing this to judge people, I promise you. And that's why I'm almost like, you know, careful even saying this. It's just it shifted my perception of the point now where I see, I see the underlying. Well, what are our idols, you know, as far as like the fitness community and your average person that idolizes certain types of people, you know, that they want to aspire to or just are inspired by, you know, and so it, it's kind of, it's a tough conversation when you try to, like, inform them about what they really do to become that and show and portray that. And like, what is actually behind the scenes

of their day to day eating schedule and drug intake and all these different things that maybe it's a big part of their life at that point. If you're doing something that completely consumes your life to the point where it impacts your relationships with people, it impacts your career, it impacts everything to the point where that becomes the only thing. And you know what I'm talking about if you're listening. You know that it alters you get anxiety when you got to go to a birthday party. You get anxiety when you're going to a pool party,

you got to take your shirt off or put a bikini on. You get, you know, fearful, you actually avoid things because you avoid events, you avoid relationships, you avoid all these different things with important people in your life because It runs you know smack dab against your obsession with how you look You know exactly what I'm talking about now. I'm not perfect by any you know by any stretch of the imagination And if you are in that that boat, I am not criticizing you whatsoever. But hopefully I'm sparking something in you and it can maybe in the future, movie in the right direction because here's what's gonna happen.

You are not gonna be able to stay doing this forever. I promise you, there will be a point where you're either going to realize it yourself or you're gonna be forced to realize it You know, I have a friend who Growing up, you know in our in our late teens and 20s I mean he was the guy was a maniac, right? He was you know, he did every steroid known to man

Growth hormone, you know was obsessed with eating and did all this crazy stuff and looked ridiculous I mean the guy took a shirt off and he just looked, he could have walked, you never competed, but he was just silly, muscular, crazy. I was super impressed with him back then when I'd look at this guy. The guy now is almost to the point now where he needs a kidney transplant. And he is now, his philosophy now is very in line

with what I'm talking about. He was forced. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. He was forced to understand where he was. And he says it now. I talked to the guy now. He's like, me goes, man, he goes, I didn't realize how bad I was.

I was just so sucked up in it that I didn't realize it. So, you know, it's, I don't know, man. It's why we're so passionate about it because we know that, I mean, it's so hard until you absolutely have to. You could diagnose with something or you until some autoimmune comes up or, and even then, most people don't know, don't connect those dots because I didn't connect those dots. So, I feel like we're so passionate about it because we've, not only have we experienced

it ourselves, but we've had hundreds, probably thousands now of clients that have gone through this transition in their life. And unfortunately, it's always when something serious happens, a cancer comes, you know, or all of a sudden you have this autoimmune issue come up out of nowhere, or you've got chronic this, or you're allergic to this, like all of a sudden, that is what finally makes you go. Of course, it's you to stop and then assess everything? Yes, and then you wake up and you go, fuck, you mean all those two rockstar colas, and you know, bar I was doing every single day for 10 years,

I guess it did do something, you know, and at this whole time, I put that in the health category as a healthy choice, you know. Dude, I'll never forget there was a trainer that worked for me years ago. So I was like, this is when I first became a fitness manager. So I was 18 years old and I had this trainer that worked for me and he was a competitive body builder.

I can't even remember his name, but he was massive. And he would tell me and he would tell some of the other trainers like, you know what? I don't give a fuck man. When I die, I don't care when I die, but when I die they're gonna have to take two caskets and put them together because I'm not gonna fit in one. That's all big I'm gonna be.

And you know what's funny? Everybody thought that was cool. Everybody's like, oh, this motherfucker's hardcore. I mean, but it's, but you know what, that's a very sad place to be. Yeah. That's a very, very sad place to be. Well, you say this really well because, you know,

I've heard people come back and be like, we're all going to die. We don't know when we're going to die. We could all be taking off the earth tomorrow. And I don't want to stress my whole life worrying about eating this or not eating that. But what people don't realize is what the quality of your life that you are living, whether it be one day or the next 40 years, is learning to connect that because, and that's what we're trying to help people is like, listen, we're not trying to demonize something,

we're not trying to say this is the only way, we're just trying to help you become aware. Become aware of when you do eat this way for a long period of time, let me tell you sure it may look okay on the scale, sure it may make you look okay in the mirror, but it's the insides that are that shit's happening that you don't understand and you can't put your finger on quite yet until something like something big happens and then it's like oh shit maybe it was because of that. Well instead of waiting till then why not try and work yourself into making better choices now that are going to benefit you not only long-term but even currently right now your current mood your current energy

levels your current strength your, you're current strength, you're current skin, you're current hair. All those things now, why not start making those choices now and heading in that direction before you have to, until you have something that you can't get rid of? And by the way, this isn't just relegated to the people who are ripped and shredded

and go that route. Like, I know people who are the super wellness route, that like super wellness, like everything has to be like super raw organic grown from this and that, and they too have an unhealthy relationship to food. It's actually called orthorexia, I believe, which is this obsession with health.

Everything has to be super- Nothing's good enough unless it's like this extreme version of that. That is another direction that is not good You don't want to live that way because you could become trapped within it the reality is It's all about the root where all of this is coming from and when you become aware like Adam saying you come very very aware And you connect the dots and you read the signals and you put everything together, your motivation is such that it becomes effortless. It is not something you obsess about. That's a lot of self-reflection.

It takes moments out of your day to really assess yourself. Exactly. And that's why it's so important that even we don't really stress the importance of meditation a lot, but when we do, it's really about like listening to your body, listening to these signals and these different things that your body's already telling you, and taking time to really be mindful when you're eating, and really understand what you're putting in your body, and just slowing down because we are in a hustle. Everybody's in a hustle to produce or to make a living or some kind of demand in their schedule

and just stopping and scheduling stopping in your day. You know, I was gonna do it. You know, I just read a statistic the other day. Some Americans throw away something like 30% of our food or something ridiculous like that. Like that is also an example of not being aware. Think about all of the things that we could solve with simple awareness. And we're talking about food and nutrition and exercise because that's what we talk about, but that, God, that extends to everything. That's it.

Yeah. Now, I, you know, I wish people would just make the connection with mind pump, I mean, excuse me with IFYM and that the relationship that you're creating with food is what they're, you're playing right into what they want you to. They see that you have this, you know, this desire for donuts or this desire for pop charts or these treats and things that you want. And nobody wants to die that tell you you can't have the things you already love, the intake, or you're already addicted to. So the reason why it's so brilliantly successful is because they found a way to give you that. They found a way to tell you, listen, you don't have to get rid of those things. You don't have to cut those foods out of your diet. You can do, you can be in shape and you can be healthy by doing that. And all we're trying to tell people is that listen, it's not that you can't be in shape

You can be in shape, but it's not the best way to get healthy and every successful diet This is what they do the peanut butter diet, you know, it's like they have they created the pizza diet They create a diet around something and all they're really doing is playing into your weakness And you just have to see that from a marketing perspective, like telling you that you're really... Wait the fuck up. Like anything already that has the word diet afterwards, I'm already anti. Like, I don't care how good it is or not good for it if it says... Well, you're giving it a lot of power if you think about it.

You know, that thought process of I, you know, well, I can't get into that diet because I really like Oreos. And I mean, I really like it. Like I'm giving all this power to Oreos in my life. Yeah. And so now I'm scheduling all of my macros around me just being able to have these stupid Oreos. Like you give a shit that much about Oreos.

So for me, it's just like porn. What the fuck? But porn's better. Oh my. One of the macros of the birds? Wee- Caw- Wee- Caw-

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English Landage! Quiqquiqquiq? Alright, our first question is from C-Stalf-22. I don't think you guys would look the way you do today if you followed your current dogma throughout your early 20s and 30s I think a priority to build muscle is necessary to build size. Oh, I know why I sell things. I love this question Motherfucker said refer to us as dog well. Yeah No, yeah, we're starting to religion apparently. Let's be clear. Like it. Let's be very very. I thought we, it wasn't the deal we all made.

We should. I thought we agreed that we were all going after all the fucking dogmas. We were trying to create one. Yeah. Yeah, let's be very clear. We're not, we're actually the anti, you know, anti-dogma. We go against the dogma that's preached

when it comes to fat loss and muscle gain. And there's a lot of different ways you can eat to become very healthy. There's a lot of different ways you can exercise for longevity and health. There are general principles and truths, but the variances within those can be dramatic. And the variances from individual to individual

can be dramatic. There the variances from individual to individual can be dramatic. There's gonna be people out there who are gonna eat a vegan diet and that is gonna work so well for them. It's gonna make them so healthy and they're gonna live a long, healthy, life with excellent athletic performance and all these wonderful things.

And then you got another guy, could eat the exact same way and it could be an absolute disaster. So to say that we have a dogma, I think you're missing the point, our dogma is an anti-dogma, that's number one. Number two, would we have as much muscle and strength and look the way we do?

No, we'd have more. If we, if we, yeah. I'd have a lot more trust me. The truth, yeah, I was gonna say, if I swore to God, if I had a fucking time machine, besides playing the lottery number, if I could go, if I could go, if I could go back in time to myself,

in my teens and 20s, and give myself workouts, and this is how you should eat, and don't do this kind of bullshit, today I would have no gut issues. My autoimmune issues would be a lot better. I wouldn't have had shoulder surgery in my left shoulder. I'd have, I would have no gut issues. My autoimmune issues would be a lot better. I wouldn't have had shoulder surgery on my left shoulder. I'd be stronger.

I would be stronger. I would be moved better. I would be stronger. Yeah, I would look better. Oh my God, it would be so far ahead. Do you understand where he's trying to categorize us right now, right? So you understand that where this is stemming from

is the mentality of the beast mode and like training to failure and all the things that he's probably came across whether he's read it somewhere or someone's told it to him that this you gotta get there. This is one of the way you build a muscle. Yeah, if you wanna grow and you wanna have gains,

you gotta train, you gotta train beast mode. You got it in 4,000 calories bro. No days off and you just to beat it up to get there And that couldn't be further from the truth. No, not you could not be further from the truth Not only is it not only is it not true? It's so opposite like I said if I could go back in time and Inform myself my God would I be so much better off today and look better and I'd probably have more muscle I built muscle in spite of all the wrong shit that I did, not because of it.

You know what I'm saying? I think he's under the impression that all that shitty information, the eat so much protein that you know, that you shit literally a piece of brick. You know, eat, you know, eight meals a day, do your body parts splits, go to fail, you beat yourself up,

take every supplement known to man, I think he thinks that that's the way to build muscle and now the way we talk now is to maintain. Yeah, I hate to break this. Oh, that is, yeah. I hate to break this to you, but. Oh shit, my biggest gains have happened in the last like four years of my life.

I was just gonna say, I was just gonna say. And that's crazy, that, people don't understand how much harder that is. Yeah. If you've been training for 10, 10, 15 years and you're fucking 35, 38 years old like we are, it is much harder to make, and anybody who's 35, 38 years old and been lifting for 15 years will tell you this,

the gains are very small and incremental. These, after you've been training for that long, but I'll tell you right now, I've made better gains in the last four years that I made my previous 10 because of the knowledge that I have. You can get away with so much more when you're in your 20s. I mean, you're most impressionable. I mean, it's almost critical that you establish the right patterns and the right mentality,

because then that's going to carry with you for decades. Because for me, I could tell you that probably within maybe three, four years, it was just me battling my own wrong programming that I was doing. I was fighting against my body. I was doing everything because I thought to, I thought everything had to be like super intense and so that I would just hammer my body And then there's periods where I would have to rest and recover because there's so much damage I'm I'm really glad that Sal picked this because I feel like God I even though we've been doing this now for I don't know what's the podcast two over two years now

That we've been doing this and I'm sure this guy is a avid listener and a fan and I thought that if he's getting on the Q&A and drop in questions and stuff I feel like he's I feel like he just started listening I feel like his friend had to start listening and he's having a tough time. You know what this is Oh, I hope he hasn't been because I feel like some people have been listening for a long time and they're still Stop doesn't resonate. Yeah, this is still it's still they don't want to break away. They still don't want what you see here is This is a one this is a it's still they don't want to break away. They still don't want what you see here is this is a One this is a classic example of cognitive dissonance. This is a very very good example of it

He has identified With the way he trains and the way he eats and the way he takes his supplements He is identified with it so strongly That changing his paradigm that shifting the way he thinks about those things means he asks to shift who he is. And this is why you can, this is true. Look, when you try and talk to someone about politics, religion, about anything, were they identified with?

It's hard to change because all of a sudden they're like, well, who am I? Like if I, if that's not true, I remember when it fucking happened, I mean, dude, I remember when I first started fasting and I didn't lose Shit tons of muscle. I was like what I have been living a fucking lie. I've been preaching lies to my clients for over a decade. It was a earth shattering moment for me and if you are not open to it, it is painful. I mean, imagine this. Imagine if, I don't know, scientists discover that this reality is fucking, it's completely false and we're all like the matrix. We're all stuck in a computer

and imagine if scientists actually revealed that, hey everybody, we're all fucking artificially intelligent computer, you know, generated people and they proved it. Do you know what? Most people would fucking refuse to believe it. Like 90%. Yeah, and like fuck that you're wrong and they take those scientists and they proved it. Do you know what? Most people would, would fucking refuse to believe it. Like 90%. Yeah, they'd like fuck that you're wrong

and they take those scientists and they'd kill them. Yeah. So, and that's an extreme, obviously an extreme case. But I think, I think this guy, and then, I'm like, he wanted to say that. Yeah, I think, he still believes that. No, no, I don't. But if I had evidence of that shit,

most people wouldn't. I think this, I think this guy's, I believe they're Romulans too. Yeah, I think this guy, I think this cognitive dissonance going on, I think he's listened to a few episodes of us and he's like, fuck man, this can't be true. Oh, that gives me a long, for so long. That gives me hope then, that gives me hope.

If he's only listened to a handful of episodes and maybe that's where he's at right now, because I feel like we've... I feel like we've... We need some time under tension. I feel like we've beat this shit out of this horse already. Like we have, like, we've, we've, we've gone, we've already taught, you've already talked about all the gut floor of fucking studies. We've already brought on people like Dom Diagostino.

We've already brought, you know, Terry Walson. We've already brought these brilliant minds that are, that are, are studying this stuff that are way beyond these, these other idiots that are still promoting things like IIFYM because those people are doing it because it puts fucking money in their pocket, not because it's good science. And they're putting out there for you.

They're putting out their science and information that supports their argument, not good science that's evolving and then teaching us about our body that we're just now learning about. Like if you're preaching or you're arguing to back up IFYM, you're an idiot. You are. Sorry, I'm gonna call you all out.

You're an idiot. If you're arguing, arguing IFYM because we're beyond that. We're already past this. Now, if you use that to get yourself into better shape and you're listening to this. If that's one of the steps you took. That's a step. That's where, that is okay.

I'm not hating on that person for doing that. In fact, I think that's awesome, but don't stop. The transition now. Don't stop there. And the reason why we attack IFYM, IAFYM so much, is because of that, because that becomes a dogma. That becomes a way of like eating, and that everybody starts saying that, no, no, no, no,

that was some steps that you took in the right direction. And let's be honest, any diet is, anything that teaches you to be mindful of your food and you have to pay attention or track, I am a fan of. I don't give a shit what it is because that's already the step in the right direction of awareness. You can't become aware until you start paying attention to the things that you're consuming. So I don't give a shit if it's IFYM or it's ketogenic or if it's fucking Natkins. It doesn't matter. Those are already better than what you were doing before because it's now making you

aware, but don't stop there. No matter which one of those ones that you're doing and just because it might have got you in good aesthetic shape or you've lost your 20 or 30 pounds you want to, you're not done. That's what I mean. You're not done evolving. That's what I mean. It's because people identify so strongly with their dogma, we'll use his word against them, with their dogma that any change in that is a, it's like cracking through their core. Like what the fuck am I?

I mean, you get to understand that humans and psychologists have demonstrated this several times. We are constantly striving for internal consistency. And when we present new information that is counter to somebody's identity, you're not just saying to them, hey, your diet is bad for you, you're saying to them, you are not who you think you are. I mean, that's what it is at the root. It would be, it is literally like, imagine- That's why the walls come up so fast.

Imagine this. If someone came in here right now and said to us, we have conclusive evidence, years of studies, conclusive evidence that leg extensions are superior to barbell squats. If this just happened right now and they proved it to us beyond a shadow of it out, we would accept it, but it would be very painful for me to do so because I've completely accepted that squats are superior to leg extensions. And'm painful. Because I've completely accepted that squat so superior to ladies' tensions. And I believe that, right? But if God have someone prove that to me, I'd have to go back to the drawing board and be like,

well, it looks like I was living a lie. They make a really, really good argument. It's like, okay, you can't really deny when it's right in front of you. Yes. It all stacks up and they really prove every step of like, yes, this is superior to this. You have, exactly, you have to be open.

I give in. You have to be open to change. That is part of awareness. Aware means that you stake a step back and you observe and you look at things for what they are, not what you want them to be. And of course, that sounds very simplistic and of course, no matter what, there's a subjective element

because you yourself are a suggestive, you're a being, you're not able to step outside completely. But that's what you should strive to do and actually look and see, look at the evidence, look at the, what's really placed in front of you, don't judge it, just look at it and become aware of it and then watch where that takes you and be okay with the fact that it might take you away from your strong current beliefs, that it may take you away from a belief system that you've identified with.

That is a very difficult thing to do. And that's why talking about nutrition, you might as well be debating someone's fucking religion. Oh, God. That's why every time I make a nutrition post, I'm very similar. I piss people off. I might as well go on there and say, you know, this religion is bullshit or whatever.

It's no different. Like I piss people off every single time. I talk about nutrition on my Instagram. There's always gonna be a slew of people that are gonna tell me, you know, you're just being negative. But why can't that be for me? Yeah, it worked for me and this and that. I'm like, look, you know, that's that's great that it worked for you But you know, let's let's take a step back and look at what?

Where you're at and your evolution and you're nowhere near I want people to understand too that a part of that we have to do that in order to get the attention and I it's Unfortunate, but we do because I'm just putting out the facts and the science and bringing PhDs on here that talk about where we're at with the gut and microbiomes. It doesn't matter, people still aren't listening. So the whole idea of making a shirt that says, mind pump, I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I We're trying to attack or we're trying to be vindictive or we're trying to we're trying to all we're trying to do is get attention So we can then it educate you on that's all it is and so if you're somebody who is like, you know

Because we have these people right that are just like positive everything, you know, don't don't be negative I mean, yeah, why do everybody should love each other and we should all be supportive and if somebody is on a trying to be better themselves you guys, you know by you guys saying things like that You're no fuck off, you know things like that, you're, no, fuck off. Literally, that's not how the world works. I'm sorry, wake the fuck up. You have to stir some shit every once in a while, and that's what this is.

It's to put that out there. What's identifying what they're doing, too, with the marketing? Obviously it works because people are like, yeah, I love Krispy Kreme, yeah. I want that shirt, or yeah. And then redirecting their mind, you know, as far as the information behind it.

Yes. So that's all it is. No one's attacking Krispy Kreme donuts. Nobody is attacking really, I FYM. It's really just trying to help inform you. It's because I believe that when whoever created, I don't even know the creator, we should look that up. Could you look that up?

Yeah. Or been picking on this person. So that's how much we give a shit. It doesn't even know the creator, we should look that up. Could you look this up? Or been picking on this person. So that's how much we give a shit. It doesn't matter who it is. So we're not attacking that person. I'm sure that person, when they put it together, had the same mentality as George or what's his face as glassman did when he put CrossFit together.

I think their intentions are right. I think they go into it that they wanna create something that is for the masses and help people go in a better direction. Do I think you're better off going to a cross-fit gym than not going to a gym at all? Absolutely. I think that. Do I think you're better off doing IIFYM than absolutely doing nothing at all? Absolutely. But both those things are a step in a direction of becoming, you know, into, getting into, intuitive eating, intuitive working out. And that's really what it's about. It's not about attacking those direct people. It's about making people aware that this dogma or this cult-like way of working out or eating is not the ideal for everybody.

And that it should be a red flag for you that anything that's targeted to the masses like that isn't. And that's what we talk about. You talk about us being a dogma. We can't be a dogma because we re-encouraged people to modify maps. We encourage people to, we don't write a diet. Our nutrition guide is a guide. It's not a meal plan.

Yeah, you'll never see us write a guide. You'll never tell us that everybody should be eating like this. No, we encourage you to look at the signs and to follow and define the patterns in your own eating habits. And it's not, we don't ever tell people this is the only way to do anything. We help inform, we help educate, we go through things like the ketogenic diet and we go

through that, we explain to you some of the positive things, but none of it, we had to be real careful when we went to that whole process. No, we had to clearly say that's not the official diet of my mom. You know what it says? The origins of IFAM I M I F I M was Happ hazardly started by a few competitive bodybuilders that grew tired of eating bland and boring food when dieting for a bodybuilding context They took one they took one Poor No, no, they're really so defensive. Look, it's a fucking meat-ass game over there.

And just a circle back, just a circle back around, you know, the truth is if the three of us trained in eight the way we understand now back in the early days, we would have performed better, we would have built more muscle. I would have maintained a lot of belief. I would have my psoriasis, I'd like to believe a lot, you know what I'm saying? Like I seriously-

Think about the hormone issues we'd had to deal with. Think about all the things we've had to deal with that we probably wouldn't have to deal with today. And think about the gains we would have made and had now today at, you know, in our 30s and in late 30s. So, no, not only is it not necessary, all that stupid shit. If you are progressing and you're doing all that shitty stuff, you are progressing in spite of it.

You're throwing spikes down in front of yourself while you're running and you're running with bloody feet. Stop throwing those spikes and watch how fast you can run. That was a weird analogy. Did I get it? I was about to go in there. I'm gonna go in there next stop. In case you were thinking about doing that.

There it is. Malena DePolla. DePolla. DePolla. He must spell it. Oh, he must spell it. All right. Epoch, good, bad, or making a difference.

Epoch was a thing for a little while, right? That was a big, yeah. What year was it? What year was it? What year? What, maybe. What, ten years ago? Maybe.

No five years ago, maybe. They made a big deal about it saying, okay, high intensity, cardio, increases Epo maybe. No five years ago maybe. They made a big deal about it saying, okay, high intensity cardio increases epoch. Right, their form is definitely branded with that. Yeah, therefore like, you burn more calories after doing that. That's why it's more effective. Now studies will show that if you utilize high intensity cardio in a proper way and you compare it to just long distance

type cardio that you will within a short period of time because way and you compare it to just long distance type cardio that you will within a short period of time because he studies usually twelve sixteen weeks long you will get leaner more efficiently effectively with the high intensity cardio and then they they attributed that to epoch they said oh it's because you're burning more calories afterwards the reality is that's false the epoch is trivial

it's a very, very small amount. It's not gonna make that big of a difference. Here's why the high intensity cardio is superior within those short periods of time. Because it's not superior all the time, by the way. I wanna be clear, your body adapts to certain things and you can overdo intensity with cardio too. But within those short periods of time,

there's a reason why sprinting will get you leaner more efficiently than if you just a long, long distance running. It's not epoch. It's all about adaptation. Yes. It's all about the signal you're sending your body. You know, this probably weren't sprinting.

No. But before you started doing that, that's the results you're getting. Not only that, but the signal that you're sending with interval type cardio where I go do 10 sets of sprints versus just go run five miles. The signal I'm sending my body is not only burning calories where I'm doing the sprints, but I'm also telling my body I need strength and power. Yeah, as you say. So I'm gonna build or keep muscle.

You're doing something explosive. Right, that's all it is. That's the white, white superior. If you do that kind of a head to head comparison. Exactly, because let's think of it from mathematical, right? If you, and these are obviously hypothetical numbers, but you put on, because of that, the body will have to adapt,

it will have to build more muscle to be explosive like that because you are putting it different. If you were a marathon runner who now converted over to a sprinter, you're going to build some muscle. The body will adapt because it is a new adaptation, it does require more muscle to explode out the gate like that. Therefore, that little bit of muscle that you have now added to your body, then in turn burns ex-amounted calories. This is where they get the science from it. This is where they try and say, turn burns ex-amounted calories. This is where they get the science from it. This is where they try and say, it burns ex-amounted calories more per day when you do this.

And it could equal up to ex-amount more pounds of fat from like, well, all that shit is bullshit. It's all splitting hairs, and it all just depends on what they were doing before that. Because if you or somebody who's been a sprinter your whole life, and you tell that person to do hit for their cardio now, it's totally different.

Now, ask that same sprinter to go do a run for five miles, and their body will change more, having to run for five miles than sprinting all day long because they're so adapted to that. So, the argument with E-POC, to me, is, well, it's old. I think it's just old science. I think it's just like,

a lot of thermal dynamics can hold. Yeah, it's really, and what I don't like about it, okay, is what it has created. It turned into all these Tabata and all this, everyone talking about hit as the best way to do cardio and this high intensity.

And here we go. We're talking about something else that was created more to kind of fit into like it's bad lifestyle. Like these people that were like very sedentary and then all of a sudden I only have this short window though during my day, but how do I maximize that? Yeah.

And so now it's just feeding into this whole process of like, what can I do to completely ramp myself as hard as I can in this small window? Let's be very, very clear. High intensity cardio, high intensity interval training, to completely ramp myself as hard as I can. Yeah, let's be clear. In a small window. Let's be very, very clear. High intensity cardio, high intensity interval training, there's a lot less people that that's appropriate for than long, than steady state. Yes.

Steadiest state, I can put a lot of people on steady state and not over do it of course, but I could take the average person and tell them to go for a walk. I can't take the average person, say, okay okay, today we're gonna run 10 sprints, because I'm gonna tell you something right now that probably gonna hurt themselves. I can't take the type A person high stress, not getting much sleep, and then tell them on top of the resistance training,

I want you to, three days a week, you know, high intensity cardio, because I'm going to hammer the fuck out of their body, and it's this over application of intensity. Yeah, everything is just gonna be on overload. Like we talked about what kind of, that like how much stress is in your life already and now you're adding in intensified stress. Yes, not something that's like benefit.

I'm more likely to over train my body with high intensity cardio than I am with steady state, you know, 30 minutes, you know, three days a week. So if I'm training real hard with the weights and I start throwing in all these crazy sprints and stuff, I'm much more likely to over train my body. Well, let's make it clear too. We, we're not saying that it hit is bad, you know, or hit is just place for it. There is a place. And if you've been listening to my pump for a long time, you've probably heard me talk about how I incorporate it when getting for ready for a show. I never do hit until it's ready, until I'm trying to get in like stage ready. Like the last two weeks or so, right? Yeah, exactly.

It's one of the last, it's probably about three, between the weeks three and four is really when I start to incorporate it, but up into that point, I use neat as the primary way of increasing my core. Which is more of the steady state. Yeah, it's me walking. It's me walking my dogs, it's walking on the treadmill

or whatever, it's me not doing card. That walking my dogs. It's walking on the treadmill or whatever. It's me not doing card. That's not cardio. Neat is just movement. So I focus primarily on that first. And then the first bit of cardio I do introduce is 10 to 12 minutes of hit post workout. When it went in because I'm thinking of it as something that it's sustainable for me. Okay. I'm getting ready for something. I'm and I'm going to add this three times a week for 12 to 15 minutes of hit and then be done with it after that. And then other than that, the rest of the year, I don't want to have to do that to maintain my physique.

So I've learned to find my balance nutritionally based off of my need and my weight training because that's something that's easy for me to consistently maintain through the air. Well, I think that we stress the hierarchy of neat over hit because if you think about hit for me, it feeds into this punishment mentality. I feel like this is where a lot of people get get into that intensity trap where, you know, you can do that for a while, but then it's gonna be demotivating after a while, too, even just mentally going into the gym. It's like, God, I gotta hammer myself every time, and now if I'm doing that too for my cardio, in fact, all I gotta do is up my activity levels, and I'm gonna get the same desired result.

But, you know, I just feel like people like lean too much in that direction already, and to really pull back and try neat, and get through that part of it, and then add hidden in spurts. I think that's the important thing to note, is that it's just another tool. It's just, of course, it's another tool

that why we speak out on it, and I think it's just another tool. Yeah. It's just, it's, of course, it's another tool that, that why we speak out on it is, and I think it's important to make this clear, is that it's not that we think that it's, bad. We just, we know that it's one of those overused tools. It's like training to failure, right? Epo, I look at, you know, people who talk a lot towards Epoch and hit, the same people that talk about training to failure. There's a place for both of them. They are a tool that you can utilize. Most certainly do I not think it is something that you should be doing on a regular basis to maintain your overall health.

I think it's something that you intermittently utilize to help you get in shape or get ready for something or train. I would probably use hit more for my athletes than anything else. Of course, because you're looking for, it's all about adaptation. There's more carryover to what they're doing. It's like if I'm trying to train somebody who is doing basketball where they're going to have to sprint up and down the court two or three times before they even get a time out or a break out of balance, that person, that's a perfect person to be training hit

because I want their body to be adapted to that. So they're efficient when they're playing basketball. But to a person who's trying to get in shape, I don't want to train them to have to do that to be in shape all time, to go sprint on a fucking treadmill for intervals just so they can get in shape. And then then they have that connection to, oh, I need to do these crazy sprinting in order for me to, you know, get myself in this kind of shape. Absolutely not. I don't want to do it. It's at the end of the day, it's all about adaptations. Here's what I want you to understand.

Whatever you're doing with your exercise, think of the adaptations that you're looking for, or the signals that you're sending with your exercise, and what type of adaptations are going to follow that? If I'm going into my activity, my cardio, if you will, and I need a recovery adaptation. And many of you do. Many of you need to go into your cardio with recuperation

and recovery as the form of adaptation you're looking for. Then I'm going to go for a walk. I might go for a walk outside. I might put on my headphones and listen to a podcast or some music and do something that's going to rejuvenate and help my body recover from my hard workouts. If I'm going into my cardio with, I need to burn lots of calories, then that's a different type of adaptation. But am I also at the same time sending this signal to become efficient with

my calories? Because that's what a lot of too much long duration low intensity cardio will do. Do I need improved maximal endurance because I'm an athlete? If you approach your training with adaptation in mind and the signals that you're sending through your exercise and how they relate to the adaptation, then you'll find that you'll use these tools appropriately and effectively.

You will find that you don't overuse any of these tools because you're going into them with the right approach. Our next question is from Corey. He's asking about the mind muscle connection. Did you want me to read the entire thing? Yeah, could you Doug just I forget what exactly what he said. Okay, he said over the years of training I've tried to take in every bit of knowledge to incorporate into my gym routine. At this point I'm learning about the mind muscle connection. Thinking of the muscle I want to utilize

and moving the weight with that muscle and also keeping it with intention. For example, when doing leg extensions, we normally go from 90 degrees to zero degrees, flexing the muscle at the top and working the entire quad. Example of mind muscle and tension would be bringing the legs closer together

while slightly pointing the toes outward and focusing on the vasta medallius. Vestas medallis? Yeah, that one. That one. Or the medallis. To move the weight only. I like that better.

Yeah. While moving the weight, find where the tension is at at its greatest and keeping the movement within that tension range. I guess that's what he's saying. Obviously, the weight would be dramatically lowered. What are your thoughts on this method? So there's mind, focusing on the connection between your mind and your muscle is another tool that you should learn how to utilize. However, it is a tool that I also see

overused quite a bit, especially in the bodybuilding world. Yes. Because then it becomes all about isolation and feeling the squeeze and the outer part of my this and isolating this and getting a pump in this one part of my pack or whatever. It's getting, if you get stuck in that particular mentality, you're going to miss out on these big gross motor movements that have huge potential for improving functional strength, building muscle and burning body fat. I'll give you a good example. If you've got decent biomechanics and you're free of major glaring muscle imbalances and

recruitment patterns and you're doing a barbell squat, it will be detrimental to you to sit there and focus on the quads or whatever muscle group you're trying to focus on while doing your barbell squat. You'll miss out on a lot of the benefits of the squat. You'll build less muscle from the squat versus going into the squat, getting into your form, getting solid and moving the weight. God, that's hard for people to absorb right there.

Right, right. You better repeat that one more time because that just went through because that is the opposite of what the bodybuilder mentality is because it's all about squeezing and flexing and thinking about that muscle and connecting mind muscle connection and they have put so much emphasis. Here is an example of...

Here is an example of taking a little bit of good science and running with it. There is something to be said about mind muscle connection. We talk a lot about like sleepy butt syndrome. And we talk about how there is... It's a connectivity issue. Exactly. There's a connectivity issue going on with somebody who does squats and cannot feel it in their ass.

Or just can't fire their glutes. Yes, they can. So guess what? Taking that person and teaching them how to do exactly what you're explaining with the leg extension with their glutes is very important because this person lacks that connection completely. Do I think you probably have a bad connection to your quads? Absolutely not. Most people are completely quad dominant and I know Corey and I know you don't.

So for you to sit on a leg extension machine and internally or externally rotate your feet to try and take the fastest medialis through a longer range of motion with lighter weight is going to do way less for you than doing sissy squats or front barbell squats. If you're looking for gains and the whole reason why you're doing this mind muscle connection and focusing on the mind muscle connection, you are losing out on something by focusing on that leg extension instead of doing a big gross motor movement like Sal was saying that's going to show you more gains. Now, if you had a poor connection, which by the way, I don't know anybody that has a poor connection to their quads,

but if you had a poor connection, then I would see regressing you from a barbell of squat or regressing you from the big gross motor movement, teaching you isolation movements, which would be your single joint type stuff like your leg extension, like a glute kick. Well, even isolation movements aren't isolated. Exactly. People just don't understand that, even in a leg extension, how many muscles are still tense and active. Yeah, you can't just isolate your quad. No, it doesn't work. No, you're like how many muscles are still tense and active. Yeah, you can't, you can't just isolate your quad. No, it doesn't work. No, you're not, you know, I actually, it's just a smaller gross movement.

I had a guy, I remember a guy worked out at one of the gyms that I managed years ago and he would deadlift and it would look kind of funny the way you deadlift and so I asked him, I said why are you deadlifting that way? Yeah. He's like, oh dude, you feel in your lats more. I mean, talk about missing the point, right?

Completely missing the boat and getting so much less of the benefit from a deadlift because he's sitting there trying to fire his lats while he's deadlifting. Now, if you're missing a connection to your lats, there's a much better way to isolate and get that connection, but when you're doing a fucking deadlift,

you ain't trying to feel it anywhere. You're not trying to feel it in one particular area. You're trying to get perfect biomechanics, you're trying to get solid, you're trying to drive through the floor, you want to be able to lift as much weight as possible with good form, and that's going to give you all the muscle gains, all the benefits of this fantastic, wonderful exercise. If I sit there trying to feel it in a particular area, I have taken a wonderful exercise and exercise that will fundamentally change how your body moves and the strength and

all these wonderful things. And I've taken it and I've made it a shitty exercise. I've literally taken it and destroyed the deadlift. Well, what you, I don't want to say that, don't say that. What you've done is you've, you've lessened the impact it could make, right? Well, why do the deadlift? Yeah, but doing a deadlift with super slow control, trying to focus on an area isn't bad, isn't going to hurt you, is it? But what it's going to, it defeats the purpose

of that movement. That's what I'm saying. That movement is going to benefit your central nervous system and overall gains in muscle growth, more than anything else you can do in that entire gym and you've just lessened that because you've decided to try and focus on the mind muscle connection so much that you've reduced the weight by 50% so you can squeeze at the top and squeeze at the bottom and go really slow and control. Yeah, it's really if it's like if it's dormant, if it's a muscle that's dormant in a major

you know movement that requires like say your glutes or something in a squat and you're not feeling that. You know, that's an issue. That's something that you need mind muscle connection and you need to focus on that and direct your attention to how do I get these muscles to fire? That's where I see the relevance of the mind muscle connection. That's the only time I've ever used it.

The only time I've ever really focused on that with any client, even the ones that are trying to build muscle, like tons of muscle or whatever, is if I notice a connection problem, I notice a muscle imbalance, then we regress back, then it becomes all about mind muscle connection. You know, if I have someone that's like, man, no matter what I do, my lats don't grow,

they're not responding, well now we're going to, I'm going to make sure you can feel your lats first. So we're going to go back and do all about mind muscle connection. We're going to lighten the weight, we're going to, I'm going to make sure you can feel your lats first. So we're going to go back and do all about mind muscle connection. We're going to lighten the weight. We're going to squeeze the lats. We're going to isolate them. And now that you can fire them well, well, shit, now we can go do our ball, ball rows, and pull-ups, and dumbbell rows.

And they're going to fire the way they should, but we're going to get, you'll feel the lats when you, especially when you pre-exhaust them, you do something like that, like a technique where you're really trying to get the established connection, but now I I use the deadlift what it is Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna make kind of an over generalization right now And you guys can correct me if you think I went too far here, but I Think that you doing an isolation movement on anything on anything anterior on anterior is almost a waste of time Post-terior there is where rear delts, your back, your glutes, your ham patterns all day long.

Almost 90% of the people out there have a higher chance that they're gonna have a poor connection to your posterior chain. That's pretty true. Then they ever would from their anterior. High majority for sure. So I could definitely see you doing these rear delt flies very slow and controlled

and trying to focus on getting your rear delts to fire because there, it's a poor connection. Most people- It's a common muscle. It's a common deviation, right? It's a common problem that we have with people. Now, if I saw you doing that with a shoulder press, I would think you're an idiot

because I don't think you have an issue there. Most people don't have an issue with their anterior delts firing whatsoever. That's a very easy movement for them to engage that it's not put to sleep Like the post-eared chain is so your back types or your back like let people have a hard time unless you walk backwards Yeah, right nobody does and nobody does up backwards and yeah, I mean I sit in a bridge position all day I want to say 90% just because never in my life have I ever met anybody that was the other way, but it could be higher than that even. I mean, I don't know anybody that has a poor connection

to, you know, unless they had some sort of maybe injury that they had that caused like a major imbalance so they're not firing something on the entire side. No, for the most part the exercises that you do the most effective ones are going to be these big movements and when you do them focus on your form focus on do I have imbalances in terms of recruitment patterns am I true am I knees traveling wrong or my elbows moving the wrong way in my back you know curving the one way whatever correct those get your biomechanics down,

get solid it, then gradually move your weight up, and all these, you know, little muscles that you think you need to focus, they're all gonna develop, man. I'm telling you, look, you could, some of the most muscular motherfuckers I've ever met were power lifters who could give a fuck about, you know, isolation movement.

I'll tell you, and I know Corey, so I know like where this is going. So somebody, whether, I don't know if he's got somebody who's coaching him right now Our buddies or it's just his own research But you know, so what he's doing. I know he's looking at his quads and he's thinking that you know, oh my my sweep Is with you know the outside of the quad right? Is it always he working on tear drop? He did he say an internal or external rotate? He said external external external so tear drop so he's like so he's looking at the the tear drop right and he's saying like

I want a bigger tear drop and I want I want more of that so This is me externally rotating so I can focus on getting that more engaged Well, we talked about this on how to build quads right when we did a quad when we did a quad episode on how you can use that as a Pre-exhaust so I could see you using doing this move that you're talking about with a leg extension, externally rotating, kind of pre-exhausting the vastest medialis and then going into a front squat and doing that right afterwards to help really put extra emphasis and it recruits it a bit more. Yeah, and it's going to fatigue first, right?

Because you just fatigued it out by doing the legs tensions, then you go over to the front squat. But when you do the front squat, you're not trying to slow down and focus. You're trying to lift maximal weight within controlled movement. And then you're doing that. I think you can get some great gains and you can get accomplished what you're trying to accomplish. But sitting on a machine, externally rotating the feet

and doing isolation movements to try and grow or develop a part of your quad is gonna be inferior all day long to you doing sissy squats, front squats, back loaded barbell squats, lunges, big gross motor movements. Those big movements are gonna develop that teardrop, even if you don't feel it the most in that teardrop, it still will develop that teardrop, even if you don't feel it the most in that teardrop, it still will develop that teardrop more than anywhere else.

And if you want to try and focus on parts of the quadricep like that by pre-exhausting first, I could see that. I know. I mean, the VMO, what you're talking about, what they call a teardrop, is many times inhibited from injury. So if you've been injured in your knee, sometimes it contributes to the way the patellar tracks. If I'm not mistaken, I think it's most active

when your leg is fully extended. So if this is an area that's not firing because of knee injury, if you're a very good point. Then you may wanna do the leg extension, focus on the squeeze at the top and hold that squeeze and really squeeze the shit out of it. Like Adam's saying, super set and then go to your barbell squat. And that'll help a fire.

But again, if you're otherwise healthy and you haven't had past knee injury or problems, it's probably firing. Okay, it's probably just your genetics and you're better off just focusing on overall building size and your quadriceps. And I'm glad you said that too because I think this is where the body builder guys and guys that are working on building their these aesthetic physiques. This is where all that you should drive me crazy

is the information they get. They would see apart, they would like, they would be coaching a kid and they'd be like, hey, Corey, your teardrop is pretty weak. We need to start doing some external rotating when you do these leg extensions and he starts prescribing that into his workouts all the time. And I'm just like, first of all, that's retarded, okay?

What that really, what you're gonna do by doing that and you're eliminating other movements that could really grow your legs, you're wasting your time, you're spinning your wheels, you're gonna be far better off in corpraying the big gross motor movements. If you wanna use it as pre-exhaust, that's fine. You can do that, you can add that into it,

but by you, you know, stopping doing the big movements and doing that because somebody told you that's going to focus on that area and that'll help the mind muscle connections. It's not. Your genetics are a big reason why your legs looked the way they look and doing the big movements are going to grow the entire leg more than anything else. Exactly. Hey, listen, if you like mind pump, leave us a five star rating review on iTunes. If we like your review and we pick it, you'll win a free Mind Pump T-shirt. Also do not forget to check us out on Instagram at Mind Pump Radio. You can find me at Mind Pump Sound.

That's where I have some of those controversial posts. You can find Adam at Mind Pump Adam and Justin at Mind Pump Justin. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Superbundle at Mind Pump Media dot com.

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