Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 411: Triggering Muscle Growth, Aha Moments & More Effortless Success Inside & Outside of the Gym

Episode Date: December 1, 2016

It is a beautiful thing when you have an "aha" moment. Sal, Adam & Justin share some of the realizations that have shifted the way they regard, exercise, diet and life that have also led to more effortless success inside and outside of the gym. 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)

Uh, we don't need Justin. We do for music. We do, definitely. Listen, it's the final day. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, he's here, he's almost here. It's the final day for our promotion, enrolling any bundle. Holy smokes.

And get, what do they get with that? They get any guide they want. Any guide they pick. Any guide they want. But they also get something else, don't they? They get a start without me. They also get a t-shirt. Always pooping, that's why. Any map shirt that they would like. That's right. So in ruling any bundle, you get a t-shirt of your choice and a guide of your choice.

For free, it's the last day. This is going to air the 30th. However, some of you will be listening to this for the first time on the 1st of December, I've talked Doug into extending the promotion to the first, just because some of you guys won't be hearing this commercial till then. So promotion will still be good. Here's what you do when you enroll. Make sure you email, what are the email Doug? Is it admin at minepumpmedia.com?

Let them know your shirt size and which guy do you want. What do you knew here? And what you sure you want so we can hook you up in your address, all that stuff. Okay, but listen, the programs are available at minepumpmedia.com. Final day. Do all the things he just said. Ta-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Can we give some shirts? We got Ben, kind of on his way here. He's gonna be walking up to the studio in a minute.

Let's take care of this right now. How many reviews did we get? Douglas, tell us please. 17 reviews. Holy 17. I think they think giving all of it. Look at Ben's already here. That's like, okay.

I blame it on Adam. Yeah, so let me just tell you, there are four shirts going out. We got Cobra Guy 95, GAC 1909, Michelle Mussel. Anonymous 69. We got Cobra Guy 95, GAC 1909, Michelle Mussel, anonymous 69. Whoo. And you just got 69 by somebody you don't know. Exactly.

MJ Murray 101, all of you are winners of T-shirts. Please send your name and your address and your shirt size to iTunes at mindpumpmediaia.com and we'll get that out to you. Excellent. Get your shirt. Leave a review. You might get a shirt. Bupu.

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind, hop, mind, hop with your hosts. Salda Stefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. I'm not trying to say that. Doug, Doug helps me and not you. I'm not saying that. That's exactly what I'm trying to say. It just looks like a seam towel.

It's effortless. Of course, the favorite son gets the best microphone, right? Actually, the most expensive one is Adams. Yeah, so there you go. Oh, okay. Well, yeah, you suck the most. I'm just kidding. Am I the favorite son?

I think you are the favorite son. So what is that? I'm the other. It's like you're doing that left and came back. Well, let's put this way, because I'm sure if we asked Doug, Doug would say he doesn't play favorites like that. I know.

That's a good dad. But I love you all equally. You're his oldest son in this situation because you and him go back to for this. So Justin and I are kind of like the middle child and the I kind of it kind of changed his life You know this trainer. So because you can't blame him your first your his first born first impact that first actually So no matter no matter what right as parents. What's that like his parents? So what it's like tell me tell me now How do you do that? How do you?

How do you how do you be a this great father? Because I know that if I were to my first born boy that comes out How do you do that? How do you be this great father? Because I know that if I were to my first born boy that comes out, man, that would just be, that'd be, it's hard to compare that to anything else. So, two then the second one, and then you're like, okay. So two things, first, I think this relationship is different. I think, I'm like Doug's son, and you're like my sons.

So I think that's a different thing. It's a different thing that's that I'm talking about. Yeah, so you're like my sons. So I think that's a different thing. It's that dynamic. Yeah, so you're like his grandchildren. I go like that. I refuse to call you daddy. I refuse to call you daddy. That's dad.

Yeah. You did the other day. So really as a parent, what is that like for you? When you have your first child, first of all, okay, you get to understand something. As a man, we have a very different experience when it comes to the first child, first of all, okay, get understand something as a man, we have a very different experience when it comes to the first child than it then compared to the mother, very,

very different. The mother, for the first child, feels a connection much sooner because the babies inside her, she can feel it moving. It's not this abstract concept for a father. We don't really become relevant to like years later. We just don't know because like I see the belly growing. I know there's a baby in there. It's but it's very abstract.

I don't feel anything. I could just see it. So I don't have this like, I don't know what to expect. So I don't have this necessary, this, this necessarily is connection like she does. Like she's been building for the last nine months, right? Now when the baby's born, it's like boom man, in my experience, was it just fucking hit me? She's immediate. All at once and everything changed and you're just like, and then you fall so hard in love with this little creature that you can't.

Because that's what they look like right there. You just look a little alien. Like just aliens. You're you're you you've fallen in love with them so hard that then you think to yourself like, well, that's gonna suck for the next one that comes along because how can I possibly, like, I'm not gonna be able to love them like this, like they're just gonna be the second child. But then you have the second one and it doesn't matter.

And what you need to under what you end up realizing is you don't have a finite capacity for love. Your capacity for love grows. Just changes the definition. It grows, the whole thing grows. So it's not like, oh my god, I love this so much. You worry about that though. You do.

You worry about that after, you know, when going through the second time around, it's like, oh, am I going to love this one? There's much, you know, and it's like, but yeah, then it happens and you're like, pff, yeah. And with the second one, because you know what to expect and what you've gone through with the first one, I don't know about you, Jess, but I got connected to the second one,

while the mother was still, while my ex-wife was still pregnant. I got a connection sooner because I knew what to expect. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, but the first one's like an epic. Yeah, I think you knew how you could kind of be more involved. Like you knew where your place was, oh, I can help with this or,

oh, I can grab him and go, you know, take him down for a nap, whatever. So based off of that, Doug would love me just as much as he would. I mean, he would. That makes me feel better. He would, but, but because we're not his actual children,

no, I'm definitely the one that's loved most. Yeah. This is the stuff. This is the stuff that's right out the window. Yeah. All those barriers of change. I have a very large capacity to love though. Oh, it's very nice.

How long were you guys? How many times has he kissed you on the floor? No, no. How long were you guys training together? So how long were you training him for? Like how many days per week? How long was he a client before you guys training together? So how long were you training him for? Like how many days per week? How long was he a client before you guys did business? I know you've kind of slightly touched on this

but I can't remember what it was. Doug was my client probably for a year, right? About a year before we started talking about certain things. Now the thing is, the way I was training Doug in the beginning was very, it was Maps-esque. It was there were elements of maps that we were already doing. And you've shared this before with me. You've told me that that's-

That's to the name of our new program. Maps-esque. I actually remember, because you and I were actually so serious. On Facebook that far back, I remember you telling me and sharing me that, like, dude, I remember that you were going through this like Hola Piffini like you were you were you were a Facebooking me back and forth and talking about pro You have to do this just trust me just you get you're trying to get me to do something the last piece that really kicked in was the trigger session and I know It's funny and so Doug was like the first guy to really do it along with me, but what was what's funny is?

or a guy to really do it along with me. But what's funny is, you know, being in fitness as long as I have, there's certain things that I'll do, and I will know almost right away that this is a game changer. But that's happened to be very, very few times. Well, that's exactly why it is. I feel like that's for all of us, right? Because when you've been doing this for 15 plus years,

the gains and the change is very, it's few and far between. Like, we just, you've gone through the big game, the game changes. Like, somebody brought up just recently about the fact that thinking that we had more gains back when we first started and everything like that, because we trained so crazy and tens of them like, oh, God, no, you know, like, those, that was like a slow gradual over course of 10 plus years. Exactly. So, yeah, to see anything at all change?

And it's not even, it's not even, oh my god, this is a huge. But I don't even have to see it. It's like as soon as I do it, I know like, holy shit, this is a game changer. And that's happened a couple times, a few times. Like the first time I fasted, I knew right away, like the first day I was like, okay, this is gonna be a game changer for me.

Yeah. The first time, the very, very, very first workout where I didn't go to failure and everything. I knew right away I was like, I feel different. Like this is a game changer. That happened with trigger sessions and that also happened when I switched from a split to a full body.

And that also happened when I started phasing my workouts. Those were three big things that happened that helped me develop the original maps. And what's funny is I forget about some of those things when I stopped doing them and I start focusing on other things. Recently, I just started incorporating

on a consistent basis trigger sessions. And trigger sessions are different from focus sessions which are different from mobility sessions. Those are all the different techniques that we involve in the different maps programs and each of them have their benefit. And I forget how effective each one of them is when I stop doing them for too long. Like, I forgot what trigger sessions do.

I started doing consistently again and within a week, I'll tell you what, I had pain in my rotator, what is that called? Prointerterus. Yeah. It's been sore for a while. I've been trying to rehab it. I started doing just trigger sessions. And it's almost gone already. It's like three days of doing it. My sore for a while. I've been trying to rehab it started doing just trigger sessions and it's almost gone already

It's that for like three days of doing it My muscles feel fuller. I'm remembering what it felt like the first time I did trigger sessions I'm getting that kind of full-body pump, you know, I feel like my body's looking a little starting to look different already It kind of it blows me away, but yeah You'll know right away when you do certain things especially if you've been working out for a long time If they're gonna benefit you so Doug was so Doug was a part of that like he was when you first started to incorporate it with clients He was one of the first clients that you started really doing that. Doug was one of the first It was me Doug a client of mine Jim who's at the time he was 68

Fitness fanatic I had a couple time he was 68, fitness fanatic, I had a couple friends of mine that were women who were very much into fitness, and then I started incorporating elements of it into training clients for other things. So people who weren't so hardcore into building muscle or whatever, but I would incorporate elements of it into their rehab or into their correctional exercise or whatever, because I knew if the principal worked for one thing that I could take it and apply it to other facets. And every single person that incorporated these things was coming back to me and blown

away. Well, what you just said too is important because this is how maps green and maps black evolve too, is because the concept still applied like the whole principle of... We just built off of that. Yeah, the whole frequency concept over intensity. And you mentioned that it was a quick thing for you. That was probably the only one I would say that took a longer time for me to sink in,

but once it did, it was a very aha moment for me, which was the intensity. I trained so intense for so long that it became a habit. And I really noticed it, like when I run into somebody else at the gym or I see a buddy's working out and they always want, hey, you want a spot? I'm like, God, it's crazy.

I used to train that way where I needed a spot. I needed a spot all the time. And if I didn't need a spot, I wasn't pushing myself. That was the mentality. So it took me a while to break that and change that mentality and no one to interject it, right? Like, I think that's important because I think we send this message so much like, you

know, and I notice it as we grow, like, you know, now I feel like we've gotten more pushback than we've ever gotten recently. And I feel like it's just, it's part of growth right now in the business, right? We go through these, these little growth spurts I've noticed over the last couple years, and it's like a new wave of people that are coming through that haven't listened to mind pumps since the beginning. And they're still like, they get like maybe a guide or they get a program and they're like confused on like, I don't get it, where's like all these elaborate weird things that

are supposed to be added into this. And, you know, so I think it's important that we talk and address that because there's so many people that just think that, okay, I'm going to try this thing out and see what it does for me. And they have that approach to everything that they do. And like, this is different, you know, it's not you have created habits, and I know this because I have. I've created these habits of training this way that I have to constantly remind myself

that like get out of that mentality. I know what's best for my body, and I know when I listen to my body, and I train it like I'm supposed to, and I cut those reps short of failure, you know, and then I intermittently introduce that type of training that at that intensity, small places within my programming that I see huge benefits

but not allowing myself to get caught up in that recovery trap where I'm just handing it out. Well, I think too, like to pick you back on your intensity talk, like as far as like making gains and seeing that initially, like, yeah, that was something that I did see. I trained really hard and I took that into athletics and I thought that I was at my optimal performance output. But really why we've, I've learned over the years and much like Sal and then even going through

the trigger sessions and doing it, like initially I was doing it with too much intensity and I had to train my mentality. I had to really check myself. been going through the trigger sessions and doing it. Like initially, I was doing it with too much intensity and I had to train my mentality. I had to really check myself. And once you actually completely give into the process of it, you do see those benefits to it. You see the recovery elements.

You see how your body responds. And then how you don't feel like, I always used to get to this point when I would train really hard where I knew. I knew my shoulder was gonna sort of give way when I was bench pressing or when I was overhead pressing or my knee would start to hurt because of an old injury from sports.

It's because, and I would just sort of plan it out. Well, I'm gonna get as far as I can, you know, this run at it, and then I would sort of recover, come back and then ramp myself back up, whereas now it's totally different. It's, you avoid it. It's, you avoid it, and then you keep, it just keeps slowly compiling to where

you're doing even better than you've ever done. Well, the mentality, somewhere along the line, it became common knowledge, although inaccurate, that in order to get the body to change, you have to force it. Like that's the mentality. Like your body doesn't wanna do these things.

And the reason why that mentality comes from, you know, exist is because, yes, if you just sit there and do nothing, of course your body's not gonna wanna burn body fat, build muscle, get strong or whatever, but that doesn't mean your body doesn't want to. It just means your body's just adapting to what you're currently doing.

So it's not that you need to force your body because your body doesn't need to be forced. In fact, you can't force your body to do anything. If your body doesn't wanna do something, you can force all the fucking all day long and you're just going to end up either hurting yourself or getting sick or whatever. So don't think of what you're doing as forcing your body because when you go in with that mentality then it requires lots of intensity, it requires pain, it requires this horrible

struggle. Think of your, of you nudging your body. All you're doing is you're nudging your body into the direction you wanna move. You're giving it these little nudges and kind of guiding it to where you wanna go. And it makes me think of, I watched a movie the other day, and I don't know why I'm thinking about this,

but it just reminds me of this, where they were in a spacecraft in space, and you know, when NASA's trying to adjust the position of something in space, it only requires little nudges of, you know, like they're shooting out, little nudges of gas, because if they go too fast, the thing spins out of control, right?

And you see it like, in a just small incremental changes getting it where it wants to go. That's what exercises with your body. And now, the nudges will look different based on your fitness level, your experience, and your genetics, but they're always nudges nonetheless. So what may be a nudge for me

is going to be too hard of a fricking shove for a complete beginner. So intensity is super relative. You know, that's so, stop right there too, because I think it's important, people understand this. That's something that is so hard for us that what we're doing, right?

Because trying to create programs and create things for people that is as individualized as possible and explain to them that, listen, you know, anybody that's telling you like, this is the way to do it, or this is what's best for you, is wrong. I mean, that was the biggest challenge of creating these programs.

And that's why it was so important too that we created the forum with it and that we encourage people to be able to modify and change. And there's still so much more to come with what we're building. It's far from over and hopefully most people are watching the YouTube channel too and getting all the exercises. Everything's going to pool together and it's coming together and I feel like next year is going to be a really cool year for us with all the maps programs being out

and then we start to really refine everything. Like it's gonna get so much better than what it already is. So those that are going through the process with us right now, like, you know, it's gonna get simpler, it's gonna get more modifiable. Is that, can I say that like with as far as what you're trying to do?

You have more options. It'll be very user friendly like it's just be clean. Concides, you know, I remember when Sal was when he was going through this and he would be sending me over like a lot of the philosophies that he was implementing into maps or creating when he was creating it. And I was like, God, this is so right on with how I feel. And I remember thinking like, I needed somebody else that I trusted in the industry

that was gonna be saying this to me because everywhere else that you I was here and all the other bullshit that I knew that I knew in my head I was like, even though I was doing it, right? Even though I'm doing it, I'm caught up in it. I know better, like it's like, and I don't know how long that was for you guys where you felt like you were you knew better

But you were still doing shit like that that's before that before the aha moment. I had to get out of I had to get out of the gym. Yeah in order for me to get to where I got because I got there quickly as soon when I left The typical gym environment. I wasn't surrounded by other, quote unquote, meat heads, right? When I had my wellness studio, and I was working with physical therapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists,

functional medicine people, people who were experts at yoga and movement and flexibility, because I was surrounded by them just through, just because I was around them all the time, I was exposed to all these different things and it got me questioning things. But if I was stuck in the gym like I was before with all these other meat heads and stuff, it would have been very difficult. It would have been very, very difficult.

Taking a lot longer to get there. Yeah, same thing happened with me when I went to North Carolina. I finally got to a place where, you know, I had gone to other independent gyms and everything, but this was the first place where I actually, like, came across other really bright minds in the industry and, you know, what they were doing with their clients. And it was all just reiterating stuff that I had learned and read and, you know, went to school and all that stuff. It's just, they were applying it very specifically and I was watching it all unfold with their

clients. And I'm like, why am I not doing it that way? I was doing it the bro way before that. And it just sort of re-shifted my way of thinking and then I just started pursuing my own interests as far as like learning more to get more insight on the list. And there's a lot of fear, you know, you have to consider most of us or many of us who get into exercise on a consistent basis who are very consistent, very serious about it. Many of us have some kind of insecurity tied to it

or the motivation tends to be, we don't like something about ourselves. And so that tends to make it more of an obsession than a passion. And let me explain what I mean. When you take someone who's been a guy who wants to build muscle, who feels like he's skinny, for example, I'll use that example because that's me. And he lifts weights consistently all the time, body parts split. There's a major fear with changing anything because the fear becomes, will I lose some of my days? Well, I go back to where I was before.

Right, but as illogical as that sounds, that is literally what is going through the person's mind. It's like panic. The same thing can be true for the girl who lost lots of weight and doesn't want to gain a single pound back and she's going to think to herself, my goodness, if I change anything, am I just gonna get real fat?

Now, here's what you need to understand. Number one, you're not gonna lose gains or gain tons of weight overnight. So you'll see it happening before, you know, what things get crazy. If that were to happen, the high likelihood is, it's not gonna happen though. The high likelihood is you're going to notice some changes

by changing what you're doing. And the likelihood is you're gonna get some benefit just because it's different. It doesn't even have to be great shit. The simple fact that you change things, if it's stuck doing the same thing for so long, is going to show you some favorable results. But even if it didn't, you are going to notice something different.

You are going to learn things about your body, and if you understand that this is long-term, which it is, if you're that much of a fanatic, then it's okay. So you've got to be okay with losing a little bit of gains, but you're trying something different. And from my experience, here's what's going to happen. That's so hard for people, though. It's hard. This to me is the hardest part of the job is breaking through the mental piece with people. That's to me, all the other stuff, losing weight, gaining weight, building muscle, losing

body fat. This is just exes and o's, I feel like for us. It's very simple to help somebody do that. What's what's tough is breaking through all the mental stuff. That's all that's where all the coaching comes from by the way that's like very little of the training is the actual what to do a lot of the training is yeah I think doing with that part. And I think that's where the this is where the experience part kicks in is just once you've done that with so many people, you've dealt with all kinds of different issues. Everybody has, we all are unique with our insecurities. We all have

different desires, different wants as far as different health issues already. A lot of people are already predisposed to things. There's so many different elements that you, that somebody, when you get somebody training them for the first time, like it's crazy to me, like when you see all this stuff out there that we continue to see flooded in the industry of just marketing to like one type of person and it's targeting the 30 day quick or the 60 day turn your, you know,

switch everything around and it's like, God, dude, that's not how it works. Like it's so crazy to me. And, well, it's, you know, when you, it's like when you get a client and you tell them, okay, here's what we're going to do. We're going to, I don't know, you pick your manipulation, but maybe you say, I'm going to raise your fat intake a little bit. And it's like, so scary. It's so scary to them because they can't do it. Because they can't, they think, oh my god, I'm going to gain weight, or even if I say, raise your carbs, or if I say we're gonna reduce your cardio

or we're gonna change your resistance training routine. But I've always done that. What's gonna happen on my body? Am I gonna gain weight? I'm terrified I have this anxiety because I'm changing things and it's wonderful to see at the end of that when that person sees the benefit from it.

Or maybe they see, didn't see benefit, but they're now not afraid to change things because it wasn't this catastrophic thing that happened. Well, it just basically defines fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. One is much harder, and that's to always be willing to grow and go through the trials and the fire of it. But sometimes you will fail. Maybe it's a concept that isn't gonna stick, but you're willing to put yourself out there

and be in that mindset that, hey, I'm gonna try this for X amount of time and give it the real amount of effort that it needs. Go ahead. Can you think of a game changer tip that you or think that you've implemented with a client? Like, for example, I think of when I started making clients actually track their water for me,

I made this huge, huge leaps and bounds with my clients as far as getting them to connect, you know, the pounds on the scale up and down and learning to not allow that to mentally mess with them. I think that's a big one. Like, people get on the scale day to day and they see the scale go up or down and they allow it to dictate how they feel

going forward in that day and how they end up probably eating and exercising later on that day. And most times more they're off. They're significantly off on what they think is going on. So enlightening people on what they think is going on. So enlightening people on what that looks like. And I used to make them, you know, or I do make them track their sodium and their water for me, especially at the very beginning. And it seems crazy.

And I would never expect somebody to do this for a long term, because I think it's ridiculous to measure every ounce of water you drink every day for the rest of your life. But I do think it serves a major purpose for teaching something and teaching all of us. It was an eye opener for me when I had to do it for competing. It was like holy cow. And that's why it was so powerful because I saw, you know, you talk about aha moments. There's only been a handful of those. This was an aha moment for me because I have done, I have been a victim of this of, you know,

can overconsuming calories and whatever and then getting up the next day, seeing the scale way up more than what you wanted and then that day hammering the shit out of your body and cutting your calories way back like and punishing yourself for that because of what you saw. You know, and I've also been on the other boat where I've been the skinny guy trying to gain weight and I missed a meal and my scale went down four pounds and I freaked out, you know, and like,

oh my god, I lost all this muscle. So the next day I'm like overconsuming by 2000 calories. So I've been that guy on both sides, so I understand this. Well, when I started showing clients, like, they could literally fluctuate three up to some of them up to nine pounds in a night of like literally just water from Retaining water and I could show them the connection of look when we increased our sodium You also drank 20 more ounces of water because you're thirstier and then on top of that you're consuming more carbohydrate So your body's pairing with that. So of course we're gonna go up a good half a pound to pound So when they get on the scale the next day They realize then I say now, don't change anything.

We're eating perfectly fine right now. We're exercising perfectly fine. Watch what happens within the next two to three days. Two to three days, it comes right out. And they go like, oh my God, it's like, yeah, you never got fat from that. Your body was just holding retaining extra water because you've consumed more sodium and water.

That connection, I think, for think, for most of my clients, it's just been like a game change. It's been big. Yeah, I think for me, too, we've definitely talked, I think, more than any other fitness personality about the central nervous system and how involved that is in the process of training. And I feel like my big aha was really just learning

how to utilize that and utilize muscular tension and how to increase that within my major lifts to really give me a performance edge. And it's kind of silly because it's these little things that that seem like such common sense, but until you actually use it and train your body to improve it, it's not going to be a thing with what you're doing. You're just going to go do your ritual, go do your workout without the intention of

what needs to be accomplished and also the focus of it. And for me, just kind of going down that rabbit hole now of like, well, this also improves my flexibility and the quality of my joints and allowing more range of motion, but now I'm strong in that range of motion. And there's just so much benefit to it if you do it properly and you incorporate it into your normal routine.

You know, a big one for me that just came to me. And this, I really haven't talked about on the show at all. And shame on me because this is a big, this is a big one that I should bring up. And it doesn't have very much to do with gains directly or weight loss directly, but indirectly it has quite a profound impact. And that's the connection between your emotional state and your pain in your body. And I remember, you know, I train a lot and they're very closely connected by the way. And the impetus for that particular thought came from one of my clients who was a doctor

and we were talking about pain and I was talking about correctional exercise and what I can do. And up until that point, if somebody came to me with any kind of pain, I would immediately assess their function, immediately assess them also recruitment patterns, correct those recruitment patterns, get them into better position, get them to move better, and nine at a ten times, it would work. But there was that one at a ten times where it was just like, you know, we would maybe get a little better, but then it just wouldn't go away. And it was quite rare, but it would happen. You know, I've been training long enough to have those clients where you just, God, you

can't figure it out. And this client, we were talking, and he was saying how the off-label prescription drugs prescribed for off-label uses, and one of the things that sometimes they'll prescribe for pain when they can't find a problem is they'll prescribe an antidepressant. And that kind of blew me away. So I thought, wait, an antidepressant for, and we were talking about back pain in particular. And he said, yeah, you know, somebody, you give them an MRI and X-ray, they go to physical therapists,

like everything looks fine, back pain no matter what, we give them an antidepressant, back pain goes away. So that perked my interest. And so I did some research at the time. And, you know, what I kept coming up with was how depression and other mental issues were connected to physical feelings of pain. Like it's human-antifested.

Actual physical pain, right? And that kind of blew my mind a little bit. And so at that time, I was working with a physical therapist and a massage therapist who were both very much into that and I had completely ignored them. Every time they brought that up, I'd roll my eyes. Like, let's just look at their muscle function. But I should have been more opal-minded, especially considering one of them was a physical therapist

and one of them, you know, the physical therapist is more of an expert on, you know, correctional movement than I was. In fact, I learned a lot from her. So I should have listened, but I never did. But at that, something's in Athens that God, this is, there may be something to this. And so I had this one client who was always in pain. She just would hurt in certain parts of her body.

And we would do exercise for and correct it. And it would go away a little bit, but it would still be there. And I couldn't identify any other problems with her movement-wise. I just, just like, why the fuck is she hurting constantly? You know, this has to be a nerve issue, I thought, or whatever.

So she came in for a workout one day and she was complaining a lot to pain, and I watched her move, and she is moving funny, but I thought to myself, it's, I wonder if it's the pain that's causing her to move funny and not the other way around. So I had her lay on her stomach on her back. We went into a quiet room, turned the lights off and there so it was relatively dark, had

her lay on her back and I taught her how to belly breathe. And for those of you who don't know what belly breathing is, many of us because of our daily low levels of stress, we shallow breathe. We don't take a full diaphragmatic breath when we breathe because we're in this kind of minor fight or flight response. And you can tell because your chest moves with your breath, but your stomach doesn't. So you're breathing in through your chest. And in the short term, it gives you more energy, more oxygen. And the long term, actually, deprives you of oxygen. And it puts you in this kind of hyper-stress

state. So a strong piece of yoga and why people notice it different? Yes, right here. So I later on her back, this is a true story. I had her place one hand on her belly, one hand on her chest and I told her to breathe in deeply but to move her belly first

and only when that would only move fully, which was she permitted to then breathe in to her chest. So I said, okay, you got to fill your belly first. When that can't get any more full, then you can breathe in through your chest and then breathe out and I had her close rise. So she did this for about one minute and I had her breathe in, move the belly first, then the chest, breathe out, you know, in that order and she stopped and she started crying. This is no joke.

She literally started, she had, we didn't say shit. She just sat there and bellybreath and started crying. This is no joke. She literally started, we didn't say shit. She just sat there on bellybeat and started crying. She had an emotional release because she had stopped and given herself some time to be with herself, to focus on her breath, to breathe in fully. So she was able to, whatever she was feeling which she was jamming in the back of her mind,

which was keeping her on this kind of tense state, surface, and it wasn't that she was necessarily thinking about anything. in the back of her mind, which was keeping her on this kind of 10th state surface. Surface. And it wasn't that she was necessarily thinking about anything. It just came out in emotion and she started crying. And she's got real embarrassed. And I said, hey, listen, it's totally fine. You're having an emotional release.

I said, is there anything in particular you're thinking about? I told her, you don't have to tell me. But if there is, then maybe that's something you should think about. And she goes, nothing really in particular She's like I just got this like release and she stood up and guess what the pain was gone. Yeah, crazy. Her hip pain was gone so that for me was a huge huge breakthrough

And in fact, I believe Eckhart totally talks about this and I'm not a huge I'm not very proficient in his writings, but my girlfriend is and she tells me abouthart totally talks about this and I'm not a huge, I'm not very proficient in his writings But my girlfriend is and she tells me about how he talks about having a pain body And this is a person that they'll feel sick or the body will hurt or the feel whatever and it's from an emotional standpoint There's nothing really physically wrong with them and I couldn't believe just how powerful that was until I had experienced it myself years later when I had these issues of,

you know, I was going through a very stressful period in my life and I was noticing the kind of mild dizziness and I thought I was having those problems. I got MRI and I'm like, oh my God, I got brain cancer, what's going on? No, it was all completely stress-related but that was a big one for me. That was a huge one.

I can't stress enough. The psychological part is everything. Everything, man. It really is. And I think, and I know Doug doesn't like when I share stuff like this on the show, but it's very rare. It's very rare.

Well, he doesn't like us to talk about any of this stuff, but I feel like I should share it because it goes in line with what you're talking about. It's very, very rare that we actually get somebody that takes advantage of the 30-day money back guarantee So all of our programs are guaranteed that go through for 30 days literally try it out if it does not if you do not notice and feel a difference You get your money, well every once in a while we do but it's always the person who opens it up Didn't try it didn't do anything and look at it reads it and then goes like oh, this isn't for me

Mm-hmm, And it always drives me crazy because I almost wish we had, I wish we had this like, you have to please have listened to 10 or 15 episodes before you get a program because I feel like otherwise there's so much more that goes into this, you know, what we're trying to teach through the programs. Like, the idea of all the maps is not like, oh, this is- We're not making it sexy for you. Yeah, it's not, that's exactly-

We're making you sexy. Making you sexy. It's a, I feel like we've done a really good job breaking down really, really, really major science into the most simplest way possible and trying to teach all the things that we've learned over all the years of personal training and wrap it into these programs that take you three months to go through. And the idea is that you go through it, not that you stick to it and you do it forever

and you just keep repeating it. That's what's wrong with, I think, all the other programs that are out there is everybody's, it's all centered around like a kicking your ass for this workout and here's the next one that kicks your ass and they all have these crazy... You can even fail off the wagon if you're not still doing it. Yeah, right. And then it's all on or off the wagon. No, we're trying to teach you something about your body and this. So when somebody does that, it really, it drives me crazy because they have so much, I already know, I don't even know who the person is. And I know they've got so much more work to do

on the psychological part before they're even ready to do a program like this because you have to be open-minded enough to be, we're asking you to challenge so much of the shit that you've heard about. It's hard, we know it's hard because we constantly fall victim to it ourselves. Do you know how long I've known, for example, do you know how long I've known that meditation

would benefit me greatly? Like I've known this logically, like I need to fucking make time to meditate for 15 minutes a day, 15 minutes, that's nothing, right? But do you know how long I haven't meditated? Forever, why? Because I know it's good, but it's out of my routine and whatever, and I need more time to do a trigger session

or I'm gonna do this instead. And then I, now I force myself. We had the brain FM guys come on, right? So they had that meditated, that meditation beat or whatever. And so that's giving me an excuse to kind of like, okay, I'm gonna start doing this. Low and behold, ideas are popping up. Creativity's of like okay, I'm gonna start doing this low and behold Ideas are popping up creativity starting to peak. I'm starting to sleep better. It's like I fucking know it But I don't do it. I didn't try it. You know, I'm saying it sounds so simple, right?

And so I think that's what happens. I think people you know, especially if they listen to one or two episodes by a program Then they open it look at and go. Oh, there's no magic in here. It sounds too simple, sounds too common, say. Either, either, there's no magic in it, but the magic in it's simplicity, and it's in the way it's applied, but they look at it and say, a, it's either not magical, there's nothing just exploded in my face, or b, it's too different from what I'm currently doing

and I don't wanna try it. Well, and here's the thing too, at the end of the day, that's really, it's about that. And I feel like this goes into, we talked about supplements the other day. People think that just because we say one thing about them, all of a sudden it's all about it. If the meditation isn't helping you

with the markers that you're paying attention to, then it's not for you or you don't need to do it. Sure, there's all kinds of benefits from it. But the one thing I feel like we've always stayed consistent is when we teach things or we share things with people, we're not trying to say, oh, everybody needs to be doing this or this is specifically for you. It's like, listen, this is what it does for you. This may be an issue that you're currently having and this may be a great answer for you. But people, I feel like every time we say something on the show, they go run out and they try something and then they instantly want to give their review

like, oh, it's awesome. Oh, it's not awesome. Oh, yeah. Oh, it hated that. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's like, it's not, well, it's not really about that. It's about, I just looked at it. It's about really learning your body and the things that you need in finding out if that's for you. And I think we're always trying to share those type of things. I think meditation is something I'm currently working on myself. How are you doing it, too? Yeah, and I've been pretty good. I was especially when we went on vacation.

I mean, that was obviously a lot easier. Now, what have you noticed from doing it? I've noticed my sleep big time. So I'm getting much more rested. So it's weird. I have sometimes, and that's what really surprised me, because there was some days where I didn't get a lot of hours. But I felt like I was in a deeper sleep.

So that was something I noticed. I noticed just like you, it sparked a lot of creativity for me. And it was weird because a couple of times I did it. I felt like I put the headphones on and everything and I was meditating and I was in a room where people were talking and things. and I was meditating and I was in there's room in a room where people were at talking and things and I was actually able to get into a really really deep relaxed

meditative state and not even realizing that I was so I Definitely have enjoyed it, but it's making the time. That's you know, it's the prior So you know, it's so I had this conversation. I've had this conversation several times with with different people and it was I've now come to the conclusion that I am much more of an artist and much less of a businessman Then I would like that I'd like to admit and let me let me explain what I mean And I'll tell you why the meditation meditative part is important. I always thought I was a businessman first and I created things secondary. But the reality is I'm much better at creating things that I am at,

you know, I can lead people, I can do all that stuff, but starting and owning and running and selling businesses, that's not what really drives me. It's really just creating things, coming up with ideas, implementing new things, seeing things from different angles. And when I finally started to really understand that about myself, I started nurturing the things that nurtured that, that nurtured that, that are part of me. And part of that is making space.

That's what meditation does. Is making space for that to come through because if I'm stressed or anxious or busy doing a million different things all the time, there's no space for me to be creative. And if you look at artists in the very, very true sense or the ones that we use as stereotypical sense like musicians and people who paint and shit like that,

or writers, what do they usually have to do to come up with their great ideas? They go off into the woods, they go on the beach, get a new stimulus or just break away from like too much stimulus. They turn everything off and just shut everything out. I know the story of Sylvester Stallone when he wrote Rocky. He had an apartment, he newspapered the window, shut it, locked himself in there and wrote the whole script.

Oh, God, no wonder you love the story. And so, the plot thickens. Well, no, so when it comes to meditation, it's like, you know what? It's just sitting there like, it makes space for me. And now I'm making it much more of a priority. It's definitely part of my routine. Yeah, and to me, I'm trying to. But it took me so long, so so hard headed.

And I think the message I'm trying to say with this too is that I now already see the benefits, how it it helps me and so I will pay attention to, you know, like things that are coming up. Like recently, you know, this time of the year is a very busy time can be stressful with the holidays and you know, all the family traveling, things like that. And so when I find myself getting all caught up in that, like I make sure that I make the time to do that.

So I think that's to me that like, I feel like some people, they see the benefits of that and then also then become, they go off the deep end and it's like they're meditating every day for hours in and hours out. To each their own, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with someone who wants to be that. But I don't like to push it like that. I like to share with people the benefits that I've noticed from it. And then now I try and be aware of the times in my life where I would have added stress or if I catch myself wow It's been two or three weeks since I've taken time for myself

I've been so caught up in work and family and gifts and yada yada all this shit that hey This would probably smart and if I'm being really good. I'm being proactive to that right I know that I'm heading into, you know, like this week, for example, it's going to be a crazy, busy week with us. We have meetings and guests and all kinds of big stuff going on and finishing up with the maps yellow. So all this stuff is coming right now. So I know that I need to make time for myself to do that.

Otherwise, I know it'll affect my mood, which then in turn can affect those around me. And I know it's something that I can control by. It's understanding that balance. You know, it's like, you can compile as many disciplines as you want that you know are beneficial for you. But really having a solid understanding of, you know, how that's going to affect you. And then what your body's telling you through all these different like disciplines you immerse yourself into, that's really what

matters. It's about still being in tune with your body, even though you're providing it with all these good tools, maybe the combination of all these things at once isn't really benefiting you to that level. So you just have to always bring it back in. I think meditation is good because it also allows you to listen even further to what your body is communicating. And I think that there's a good thing to delineate time

where you spend time understanding what it is that is affecting you. It does. And I think, if you're ultimate goal, if you have a specific ultimate goal, I think there's, like I said, you know, if you're, if you're ultimate goal, if you have a specific ultimate goal, I think there's like I said, we said earlier, there's a big fear with moving away from that specific goal, because we think I'll never get to that goal anymore, because now I'm focused on flexibility or I'm focused on mobility or I'm focused on,

you know, stamina or whatever. But the reality is that they all contribute to each other. And there's a lot you'll learn about yourself and how your body needs to move and what movements work best for you with your body by exposing yourself to these different things. And you need to, you really got to change your mentality and look at the entire picture. Don't just measure your progress with one metric. Don't just measure progress with strength or muscle size or just definition or just mobility or just anything because that will take you away from, believe it or not, lots of other things. And ultimately, you'll remove the longevity from whatever goal you're reaching

towards. If all I ever do is focus on strength all the time and I don't focus on anything else, I'll get pretty strong, but I'm cutting short the longevity that I'm going to have with that strength by far. But if I look at everything, if I look at the whole picture and I lose a little bit of strength because I'm focusing on flexibility, but my flexibility's getting better. I'm not feeling so bad. I'm saying to myself, yeah, I know I'm not deadlifting as much as I was before, but man, I can do a movement,

I couldn't do before, and that's good. So you have to look at the whole picture that way you feel better about where you're moving, then when you move back to your strength metric, you'll surpass what you did before. This is a lot of... That's the catch 22 here, right? This is a lot of what I try,

at least I try my best to convey this on Instagram, is, you know, those that were connected to me over two years ago, you know, plus I have had a chance to watch me go from fat to fit and then to get into competing and then to work through mobility. Like, so, you know, I try and share my journey, and it's really not this,

I know there couldn't be anything more narcissistic than Instagram, but it's really not about that for me. For me, it is, it's about sharing with people what I'm going through and how I choose to focus. Like, I just brought it up the other day about the picture I posted on there of doing a really deep squat with 275 on on my back and that's not really impressive.

You know, like for somebody like a guy in my size, like 275 pounds is a very weak squat. But for me, that's not what I was focused on. You know, I already, I already did that game already where I was chasing Sal and you with how heavy you were squatting and was training to build purely strength. And when I was doing it, that's what I was chasing. I wasn't worried about how deep my squat was or exactly how perfect my mechanics were at the time. It was just like, I'm on a strength phase and I'm going to catch both of them as close or get as close as I possibly can to each of them in their two power moves. So for me, it's been about like sharing those, how I shift my mentality.

And like I can't, you know, you don't wanna get, always cut up on the scale that you get up on. You don't wanna get, you don't always wanna get cut up on the weight, the amount you're moving and how many times you're moving it. You know, it's sometimes it's how you're moving like there's, and learning to let that be the focus when you're going through that process.

That's, you know, going right back to how we started this conversation is so much of this game is mental, you know, and I think the sooner you realize that and the sooner you get work and improving all those little things, you know, it's a journey. You can't expect yourself to hop right into something and then it's going to come now. It's taken, I mean, we're still. I feel like every, everything. There's new things we get exposed to, we get excited about, and then it's like, oh, wow, what if I incorporate this and then, you know, experiment with that and then it

becomes relevant. And now this is part of this long chain of things that are out in front of me that I'm going to keep kind of rotating in the mix because it improves me overall and it's going to keep compiling to make me better and better. Yeah, I mean while you're working out, you're working your mind and really like Adam's saying, look at the focus, examine it, what your motivations are, are your motivations healthy? Are they long term? If they're not, just change those motivations, you'll actually get better results as a result of it.

I mean, at the end of the day, if you get your mind right, your body follows. If you get your body looking a certain way, it doesn't necessarily mean the mind will follow. And many times they'll come out of it if you don't. So I think that would be the lesson right there. 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. You can also find us on Instagram at Mind Pump Radio. You can find me at Mind Pump Sal, Adam is at Mind Pump Adam and Justin is 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 MindPumpMedia.com. The RGB Superbundle includes maps and a ballad,

maps performance, and maps aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam, and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Superbundle is like having Sal adamant Justin as your own personal trainer's butt at a fraction of the price. The RGB Superbundle has a full 30-day money back guarantee and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at

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