Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 651: Bradley Martyn Instagram & YouTube Star with Co-Hosts Mason Cervantes and Brandon Gerdes of the Culture Cast Podcast

Starting point is 00:00:00 If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, with your hosts. Salda Stefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. Hey, what were you just saying about your girl and the music? You were starting to say that I interrupted you. What was the whole deal with that? My girl and the music? Yeah, yeah. Oh, we were listening to... No, we were listening to Rush this morning while we were working out. So I put Rush Tom Sawyer. and she doesn't know who Rush is.

Starting point is 00:00:27 Hey Tom Sawyer, Bing Bing, right. Yeah, so she's like, oh shit, I like this. I'm like, oh yeah. And she's like, what if I bought you tickets to watch Rush and then I ejaculated? Oh my god, that's so weird. I got so excited. On that note, let's talk about Bradley Martin.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Yeah. So he kind of shattered my conception of him, what I thought of him, you know what I mean? Cause I know him through his Instagram videos, you know, we squatting on the little hoverboard. His social media, lifting, always truthful. Chicks and all that stuff. And he's a legit guy. He's been a trainer for a long time.

Starting point is 00:01:03 I did not know this. He was an actual like a real personal trainer for a long period of time, not just some guy who looks muscular. He's actually trained lots of people. And we walked in to meet with Bradley and his two co-hosts of their podcast, Mason, Servantes, and Brandon, Gertis,

Starting point is 00:01:21 in their gym. What's the name of the gym? Zoo culture? Zoo culture, right? Sick gym. It was a really cool gym. What's the name of the gym? Zoo culture? Yeah, it is. Right? Sick gym. It was a really cool gym. And one of the things, maybe you guys can back me up on this, you know, I've been in

Starting point is 00:01:32 gyms for so long that I can feel the energy. Right away, the energy in the vibe. Yeah, definitely positive vibe. Very positive. It's one of those gyms that you want to lift in. Like if you're really serious about lifting. You want to lift and hang out. Yeah, and I think it's a reflection of the culture

Starting point is 00:01:46 that he has built and that his team has built in that place. But this interview, it gets pretty deep. Like, we go all over the place. All over the place. We have a lot of fun conversation. Yeah, some great stories. It throws in there. Great stories.

Starting point is 00:02:00 We ask them some deep questions. It's emotional. You'll be surprised. Yeah, Bradley got emotional a couple of times in this, talking about a few different things. And it was long, too. I think we recorded it like a two hour, right? And it's the like a two hour interview.

Starting point is 00:02:13 I believe it's over two hours. Yeah, it was a great interview. You're gonna be, you're gonna hear sides of Bradley Martin and things he's gonna talk about in this episode that he told us he's never talked about before. So buckle your seat belts. Now, if you don't know who Bradley Martin is, you can find him on YouTube under his name,

Starting point is 00:02:31 Bradley, B-R-A-D-L-E-Y, Martin, A-A-R-T-Y-N. He's got 1.2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. His podcast is Culture Cast, which he hosts with Mason and Brandon. You can find that on iTunes and YouTube. His Instagram, he's got how many followers do you have on Instagram? 2.5 million. He's one of the biggest fitness celebrities on Instagram, right? Right. Absolutely. His Instagram page is Bradley Underscore Martin and his apparel line, which is relatively successful in the fitness space, is I can't read that there's a B M fit gear.

Starting point is 00:03:06 B M fit gear dot com. So without any further ado, here is Adam Justin in myself talking to the podcast host of CultureCasts, which includes the famous Insta Famous Bradley Martin. How did you guys all meet each other? How does this work? Refer to episode one of our fun. I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, I'm so, How did you guys all meet each other? How does this work? Differ? Refer to episode one of our five. Right, right. Yeah, we're all branded.

Starting point is 00:03:26 Yes. Got weird. You guys all know each other for a long time or what? Yeah, we, uh, a little over 10 years ago, uh, through college, like, May sign both work to the supplement store. Uh, so that's how we met. And then Brad had actually noticed me from an online forum, uh, called T Nation that I used to post on.

Starting point is 00:03:42 Oh, T, we know T Nation. Yeah. Yeah. And so, uh so actually got good content. Yeah, I was a big, like I was on that. I used to have better content. Yeah. I'll tell you what, it's one of the better. It's one of the better fitness, you know, content places.

Starting point is 00:03:56 I was a lot of stuff out there, it's bullshit. Yeah, I was on that website from, I don't know, probably 2004 to 2008, like during that time period. And I was primarily on the steroid forum and posting all the stuff. I was only like a probably 2004 to 2008, like during that time period. And I was primarily on the steroid form, and posting all the stuff. I was only like a 19 year old kid, but I came across on the internet as like a really new what I was doing.

Starting point is 00:04:11 And Brad was also a kid, and he had, I guess, read some of my stuff, and he saw me in the gym, and so he approached me in the gym. That's kind of how the three of us got together. Was I, how do you recognize him? From the Avatar photo, or what? It's called Avatar, right? Yeah, from the years.

Starting point is 00:04:24 Oh, really? Because it was before social media, it was like the little profile Avatar photo or what it's called Avatar, right? Yeah, from the ears. Oh really? Because it was before social media was like the little profile Avatar photo. It was like a competition photo of his and I was like, I noticed him from the back. I was like, from Italy, I was like, I know that guy from somewhere. I know that guy from the back of his head. I'm so glued to see this. I know that guy. No, no, no.

Starting point is 00:04:39 No, no, no, no. He's just, he's ears. He's ears. Oh, he's just a dead guy. He's just, he's ears. He's just, he's ears. He was a dead guy. I was looking over a desk because. He's here. That was looking over a desk, because I was like, I was a trainer at the time, so I was like, looking out from a desk and I see him in his ears.

Starting point is 00:04:49 I was like, I know that guy, so I waited for him to come back in like the next evening, because I was like, oh, there, because I said, you know this guy, and they're like, he's here every night. So he's like eight o'clock every night. So I was like, okay, I'll find him next time. Bro, I didn't know you personal trained. How long did you personal trained for?

Starting point is 00:05:02 You been in fitness for a while then. Yes, that was like my first, I don't know, my first job was Quiz Nose. Yeah, I worked there for a week and it was like, and then they told me that I couldn't put enough food on my, you know, because you know, you, they give you like a certain amount of food you can. For employees. Yeah, you like a certain size sandwich. And I was like, I'm not, I always wanted more so I was like, fuck, I like, can't.

Starting point is 00:05:23 I remember thinking like, I'm working this hard, I got clean all these dishes, I want a bigger sandwich, and the lady would get mad at me every single time, so I was like fuck I like can't I remember thinking like I'm working this hard I got clean all these dishes I want a bigger sandwich and the lady would get mad at me every single time so I was like you know I fucked this job I had it for a week Prior to that I was a live guard. How many big sandwiches did you make in that we probably every single day? I mean like they're like we're paying or we're paying this guy. Yeah, I was he's even more sandwiches and it's fucking salary Definitely so I worked there for a week And then I worked as a lifeguard and then I worked as you could swim. Yeah I'm right another I worked as a lifeguard. Yeah, like a rock

Starting point is 00:05:53 No, I was I was much skinnier than That I'm big now, but I'm skinny now anyways. That's a whole different topic So I a Thing is a thing the real. So then I was a a kids camp counselor at a private gym and then I like shadowed under this like trainer when I was like 16 and then like turning 17. I shadowed under this trainer who like was a trainer at it's called Primetime Athletic Club in Mill Break, California. Okay. Okay. It's like a private, privately owned like up north. Up north. Oh shit. I know you're from up there. I'm from San Francisco.

Starting point is 00:06:24 Oh, there you go. Well, I'm from Pacifica. You guys know up north. north oh shit I know you're from up there from San Francisco. Oh there you want from Pacifica You guys know up north I know it's like one race specifically. I went to see a cruise. Yeah, yeah, I will he right down the right down the coast I went to school in in Reardon So I went to all boys high school like so anyways. I worked at That thing as a kids camp counselor and then like worked under this guy who was a trainer and learned a lot of stuff from him And then as soon as I basically became 18 I was like a trainer ever since. Oh no shit. So it was turn our 24 and then Wait, I mean like 24 fitness. Yeah, initially 24 you know that's our all of our background We've been open clubs for them for years

Starting point is 00:06:56 Yeah, so initially it was the one in Pacifica and then I transferred so that was a new one Bro, who did you work with? Give me the years. Who was there? Dan was the fitness man. He doesn't do it anymore. Dan Calahente? I don't think so. Filipino cat? No. OK.

Starting point is 00:07:12 No, he's an S. He's like solvamos. OK. I worked there, and then I ended up transferring. Well, I stopped working there for a while. Went up to Sac State, stopped training for a little bit, went back down, and then with like, I transferred from like that Pacifica to the 24 on lemon, and that's where I met him.

Starting point is 00:07:31 That's the one in Fullerton. That was the one in Fullerton. And then I worked there for a while, I think like maybe a year and a half. There are a couple years. And then two years, and then I went to Golds Gym, and I helped open up the Golds Gym in Fullerton. Back when there was a pre-sello, we used to train there. And then did really well there.

Starting point is 00:07:46 And then became a... That was well, not to know, but that was the first time I started getting really pissed at gyms, because when we were at 24-hour fitness, we actually dug stuff out of their basement to get the old barbells and metal plates and stuff to have real shit train with, to get tired of the other stuff.

Starting point is 00:08:01 And then when we saw that there was a gold gym opening, because we were like ecstatic. Like gold's coming. And the gold's at open was one of the new like shit, kind of corporate ones. Oh yeah, we have a Yukon with the steam room, but like our barbell sucks. Yeah, it was so bad.

Starting point is 00:08:16 The worst place, but it was a better gym. It was a better environment. They had 24 of it. The lighting was better and that's always key. It's essential. Debatable. And then, yeah, so I worked there, 24 if it is the lighting was better and that's always key essential debatable and then Yeah, so I worked there I worked there and I did so well there that that that they were like I wanted to be a group X instructor as well So I did a bootcamp with a bunch of like

Starting point is 00:08:35 I guess most of my clients are older women Dude, do you remember the years that you were there like was it was not going we know we know we went in this for 10 plus years in the Bay area We ran all the biggest clubs like We had to have crossed paths for sure. Who was it? Who was the DM? And do you remember who was the DM those days in at the goals? No, no, no 24 when you were at 24 days in the Bay Yeah, in the Bay. Oh, I don't I didn't I wasn't there long enough. Okay. Yeah, this is what you read goals I was spent more time as a trainer like Orange County or in Orange County Okay, and then a goal that spent a lot of I think it was a for like three years I spent more time as a trainer, like Orange County. Or in Orange County.

Starting point is 00:09:05 And then at gold I spent a lot of, I think it was for like three years. Yeah, three years. You guys didn't know anyone from gold. No, no, we know the, who owns the gold down by us? Jerry. Yeah, they're a call group of calls. So this is all like Angel and Willie

Starting point is 00:09:19 on the gold town here. Okay, okay. But yeah, they let me become a group, X Instructor. And then I was like, wait a minute. I was like, just a minute. Yeah, well, yeah, it's like a boot camp. So you keep me going. And then I was like, wait a minute,

Starting point is 00:09:31 I'm working like 12 hours to make a certain amount of money. And then I work like three hours in the morning, three days a week, or one day a week. So three hours, basically three hours a week. And the boot camp was like, Monday Wednesday Friday, and it was in the morning. And I was like, wait a minute, I'm like making quadruple the amount of money doing like,

Starting point is 00:09:49 it's significantly less hours. So then I was like, I just want to focus on this bootcamp thing because it's a group set and it was like more fun. It was like higher energy. Sure. And then the personal training side, they were all like, they're all mad at me because they were like, no, you got to do more over here.

Starting point is 00:10:02 Do more numbers, more numbers. And I just got burnt out with this whole like, doing numbers and I was like, and I'm not making any fucking money because they're like, no, you got to do more over here, do more numbers, more numbers, and I just got burnt out with this whole like doing numbers and I was like, and I'm not making any fucking money because they take everything from you. So I was like, I just want to do some on. And then that's what I started doing and started like training like fancy people and shit.

Starting point is 00:10:14 And then fancy people. And then fast forward like Instagram came out. This is an evolution of every trader, right? We start off training normal people that would be able to fancy people and act with them on a phone. You know what I mean? I just, I mean, not that be able to fancy people with a monocle. You know what I mean? I just had to.

Starting point is 00:10:25 Not that everyone's not fancy, but like, I know exactly what you mean. Just celebrities, just like the, you charge more per hour or whatever. Yeah. Now is this the first gym you've ever owned? Yeah. What's it like?

Starting point is 00:10:37 Because now you actually own a gym. Differ me on this side, yeah? Well, first I want to say it's the first gym we've ever owned. Yeah, okay. Yeah, obviously. So for everybody it's the first gym we we've ever oh, yeah, okay, so yeah, obviously so for everybody It's the first gym you guys have owned yeah, yeah, and and I don't want to say because truthfully without these guys Officially because I mean I've been in a lot of gyms in my life that I felt like I was like like I

Starting point is 00:10:57 Fucking pay for everything So yeah, I'm like how many of drinks what the fuck are these drinks? Yeah, I'm like, how many drinks, what the fuck are these drinks disappearing so fast? So no, but I can't say me, because without them, I wouldn't be able to do it. Sure. That's for damn sure. But yeah, it's crazy, man.

Starting point is 00:11:12 This whole, I think the best part about it is, it's more undeniable. Like the internet is so, I don't know, I don't know why I wanna say East Coast where, but Fugaisi. I don't know why I wanna say say East Coast where but Fugaisy I'm not in East Coast It's so bullshit like he dropped that ass last week. It's not like it's amazing and it's in its own right But it's people just can just make shit up correct and like they're I dealt with this whole shit

Starting point is 00:11:38 We're like people talked all this shit about me straight bullshit lies now at this point everyone's kind of come back Or anything I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I did that blah blah blah for the room and they did it for their own benefit for their own benefit of views And it's not and then but then you have skewed opinions on who I am people who've never met me People have never even talked to me never shook my hand never said anything to me have an opinion on me So when you have something in person. It's like you can't deny you can come to these doors And then you're gonna get that's who I really am and you I mean finding out that you were a trainer And that you guys have been in fitness as long as you have, it's totally different. Because there are a lot of celebrities on Instagram

Starting point is 00:12:09 and Facebook, fitness people who are just, they're just ripped. They don't know shit about fitness, they never were the working fitness. Yeah, that's, I think that's 99% of this fucking industry. Most of it, most of it, most of it, which is why we got excited getting into it because it was like, this is easy.

Starting point is 00:12:23 This is, yeah, yeah, yeah. I found it, see them like this easy. I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I found a scene. Clean house. Stephen for us straight into when you've, you've had people that you looked up to at some point and then you finally made them and you're like, Oh, fuck there, Nidia, dude. Oh, damn.

Starting point is 00:12:34 That happens a lot. That happens a lot. How many times does that happen to you or you meet somebody and they're just totally different than what you expected? That happens to me one time and that's what kind of changed my perspective on like how I wanted to be when I met people who, when that,

Starting point is 00:12:44 when people started to care about me, right? That's like, I never wanted to be that person. And I feel bad to say it, because this person passed away. Should I say it? Yeah, I don't feel bad about things. Okay, so, you know, you know, great play. Yep, yep.

Starting point is 00:12:55 She passed away, rest in peace. I have nothing bad to say, but there was a moment where like, I met him at a fitness boat and he was just a dick to me. And I was, I remember I looked up, I was like looking up to like this moment. And I met him and he was just a dick to me. And I remember I looked up, I was looking up to this moment. And I met him and he was just an asshole to me and I was like, fuck, I never, if I ever become popular, because that was part of my goal.

Starting point is 00:13:12 Like I wanted to affect people like that person had affected me. So then once I got there, I was like, I never wanted to make someone feel like, oh man, that guy's a dick. And I spent time with these expos and and when you're one of the guys, and you guys all, you know, one of the popular guys, and you guys all go to backstage,

Starting point is 00:13:29 and people are complaining about how many fucking hours they've been there, and how many people want to take pictures, and it's like, motherfucker, those are the ones that made you. Like, what the fuck are you complaining about? These people are making you who you are. And all these people, they pretend like this is this holy like how they are,

Starting point is 00:13:43 and oh, I care about people in inspired, and they're on the back Things like I can't wait to fucking leave all these people are so fucking annoying like it's a joke It's a fucking joke to me this shit genuinely is a joke and it's like you're you're popular on social media You're popular because of these people dude. I remember this was like maybe eight years ago Oh, no, I mean a quite a did Shreds first come on? Oh God. Yeah, we're gonna go there. Oh, we're really gonna go there. I mean, we should be, we should be, we should be,

Starting point is 00:14:08 I remember you said, we should be, we should be, so I'm not, I forgot to say that one. Oh, I don't get it. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I'll talk about that. Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. You see?

Starting point is 00:14:18 Use my discount code, brand name is 10, if we don't do it, I'm gonna go all my way. Listen, now listen, listen, listen, but we've racked on them, we're on. So before we even started go home. I'm just gonna eat it. Listen, now listen, listen, listen. We racked on them. So wait, so before we even started like the show, and we had already been talking, and I'm out at Olympia, and this was before I got into

Starting point is 00:14:32 competing, this is when I was thinking about getting competing, so I'm like, better check the scene out, because at this point, I'm not even into it. I'm just doing it for the platform. And so I go out to Olympia, and I go out to see this, and I fucking walk through the doors, and there is a fucking 50 foot banner. What year is this?

Starting point is 00:14:48 This is gonna be like 11, 12. Yeah, at least five, five years probably 11. Yeah, 12, 13. Is it? What year was it? It was the first year because I'm up and up on that month. That far disconnected and I didn't see this coming. Like all of a sudden I walk in and this dude, this kid who I've never

Starting point is 00:15:05 fucking met in my life before, he's got a 50 foot fucking banner of himself. All on Taraj, all on him. Yeah, and I see, I think, was it Jay? I think Jay Cutler was there. He's really got it. And there's like nobody in line to talk to Jay Cutler, and there's this line around the building

Starting point is 00:15:20 to talk to this fucking kid. And I was so fascinated with that, that moment I've searched him up on Instagram, figure out who they are this is how I found shreds and I come back and I tell these guys If I'd listen you guys there's fucking dudes we've never even heard of and fitness They're just like fucking killing it. They're taking over Olympia And I've never seen any of them in this circuit before so it blew my my fucking mind. That was the beginning of the end for me Really? That was when I was like this this is lame now. Like I still competed for a few years afterwards, but that was like when all that shit changed.

Starting point is 00:15:46 Oh, you competed too. Yeah, I did bodybuilding for about 10 years and powerlifting for close up too. Put up a picture of Brandon. Yeah, because you know, it's actually a shock to shit out. Brandon might have been the biggest guy in the room. He's a good a shock to shit out of you.

Starting point is 00:15:59 This is fun. No, but it just says a lot about social media. Right, we're going around. I can't change this whole fucking industry. Yeah, the entire industry. It came from a point where like you can be about social media. Right, we're going around. I can't change this whole fucking industry. Yeah, the entire entire industry. It came from a point where you can be, just because you got good abs or like,

Starting point is 00:16:08 what are you a pretty person or whatever, you can just make up some bullshit. No, let's send your extra product on your Trisha next time. Straight up bullshit. That's 100% what motivated us with our show. We got on the phone and we started talking and we just went off and we're like,

Starting point is 00:16:20 we need to do a show and we're let's be fearless and let's just talk about everybody. Oh damn you. Oh shit, bro. Oh, shit. That's in 2014. Yeah Yeah, I actually did a Danny look good, dude. I did a couple classic Z-Shows last year and then I just after USA They just retired you you run all your stuff you your diet your diet your programming I've always done my own thing, but there are people that have helped. I became good friends with Stan McCuey since I moved out here. Stan McCuey, I kind of like a mentor of mine. So I always ran a lot of stuff.

Starting point is 00:16:49 How far did you go? With bodybuilding, I qualified for national shows a long time, but I never competed for bodybuilding because I never felt I was ready. Like I respected the game, so to speak. Like I didn't want to do USA's until I thought I could win or be competitive, right? That's so funny.

Starting point is 00:17:04 When I came, well I was men's physique, so my shit didn't even look like that right. So I was coming in. I remember when Tony came on stage, I was like, but I'm not going to get on stage until I feel like I can compete with the fucking pros. I can tell I feel like I'm even close to that. I don't want to fuck around. Well, so I would always take a lot of time off in between shows and always improved over time.

Starting point is 00:17:20 I started as a teenager and then kind of, you know, sometimes I would take a year or two off in between shows, but I'll show up with improvements. And I mean, I guess my best accomplishment or my proudest moment was that picture that Kevin had up there was the 2014 Gold Coast local show here. It was my first overall and so overall victory for bodybuilding. And two weeks prior to that, I did the LA Fit Expo powerlifting invotational. I did deadlift only there and I pulled over 700 pounds. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend.

Starting point is 00:17:49 I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend.

Starting point is 00:17:57 I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend. I wanted that weekend but I won my class. The heavy weights for the Fregno and the Excalibur, which are decent side shots.

Starting point is 00:18:05 What did you do Fregno? 2014. The initial, the first one. Pro, we were there at the same time. Really? I did Men's Physique the first year at Fregno. That was actually one of the way they expedited there and that show was one of the nicest shows that I'd been to.

Starting point is 00:18:17 I really liked the show. I mean, Chris Menis, the promoter, is a friend of mine and he's a competitor himself and he'll, like the muscle contest shows, you know, even though there are people that I like, I don't really care for how to do it. I notice the ears though, but you know, I never do it under those. I never do it under those. It's like ear to high purchase.

Starting point is 00:18:35 Yeah. He hears everything. It's a major. You look like a Jack Saint Pierre. That's what you look like. Oh, shit. Right. Oh, let's go.

Starting point is 00:18:44 I see it. Jack Saint Pierre. We We're gonna have to change. Oh, wow Right, right? We talk about how bad ass that was to do to watch I feel like an asshole because I better guess him no No, no, I didn't know Some girl a girl was like did you watch the fights and I was like no she's like yeah some old UFC fighter came back I was like really what and then I go and then I googled it. I was like oh I missed this That was the best car. That was the best car. I see in years Dude it was amazing car. I mean three championships got

Starting point is 00:19:16 Defeated He would another round though. He's not going any further than that like you could tell he was gas. Yeah, he's big He's you tell it for him to fill out that frame. It's something different So who who irritates you guys the most now also we got we were talked about shreds But what do I start? Are they are they don't you stay up on is the most irritating to me Are they are they are they still deepened down? Do you know what's going on? It seems like they kind of know. They're gone. I think I talked to one of the other guys the other day

Starting point is 00:19:44 I mean, he was like yeah, I'm sorry my I think. Because I talked to one of the other guys the other day. I mean, he was like, yeah, I'm sorry, my own company. And he's one of the main people. Oh, really? Yeah. I just don't want to say his name. Because I don't know. You don't want to railroading.

Starting point is 00:19:54 Yeah, I just don't, I just, you know, yeah, there's just some things to just deserve to stay in the past. I've gotten to the point where I so like to finish my brief story with that like I I I finally did the USA's for classic physique right and it was it let me down and then every X-Pi went to I was like just it's all social media stuff like everything changed from when I first got into it to where it is now and I was like I don't like this anymore and then

Starting point is 00:20:18 I got to want where like I hated everybody. It was like all these companies all these social media dipshits had never did anything like I hate them all and like peer hatred which is not good because I don't like to just have that right right and so I guess if I was like You know what that's just that's the world we live in in any industry Especially one that grows and fitness has exploded because of social media so I could There's no point in like hating on what somebody else is doing or trying to look for like the people that are crooked anymore to the fifties Like we talked about in our one of our episodes that instead is better to just focus on like what you do, and you stay in your own state.

Starting point is 00:20:47 Like, like lead by example, and do what you want to do, and maybe, you know, and don't worry about all the other companies that are fucking out. Well, I'll tell you who's made out like bandits as these supplement companies, because they're getting these guys to rep them and stuff, and they're giving them nothing. Oh my God, it's hilarious.

Starting point is 00:21:02 Yeah, that's the hustle, bro. It's, that's the hustle. There's yeah, there's a lot of people I mean, I've been trested that model beautifully. I mean, that's what they did so well Everything right he was a fighter. What happened here? No, it's bro I think mine's been broken a few times. Okay. No, No, I mean, just on that point of this whole supplement thing, like yeah, it's funny, man, but it's like what are you supposed to do even though you, I feel like there's a small percentage of people who know better, but there's

Starting point is 00:21:33 such a large percentage of people who are just like, they're just, because fitness is still so new, that's just like, I'm willing to listen to anything. Right. Yeah. And that, because I mean, people still go, how do I lose fat? Like, no, it's been, you think that it's like, oh, we understand it at my now, but like, I still get tons of DMs, tons of messages, Instagram, there's a lot of content everywhere.

Starting point is 00:21:52 There's a lot of misinformation, a lot of counter information. I think part of the issue is that you have general, there's some general truths when it comes to like nutrition and training, but the individual variance is so fucking massive To where you can have one person who's like IE keto and it fucking works right from it. Yeah, amazing You got some person over here that's like I'm a vegan and I feel great eating vegan and next thing you know It's this debate. Yeah, you hear all the all the in there like what works for me in a right way confused Yeah, it's just this the individual variance is so huge the same thing with training You see some people I respond so well. It's natural for us to, for people to want to,

Starting point is 00:22:25 people want to put themselves in a box, dude. Everybody wants it to identify with a tribe or a group. And so it feeds right into that. So, shut out to the squad. Right. That's what it is though. People want to belong to a group. And then the real thing that I like talking to,

Starting point is 00:22:39 especially with guys like you, is that's a hard thing to navigate when you're trying to build a business, build an empire yourself. It's like, how do I do that? that at the same time stay true to who I am and not become like somebody like a shreds type of model You know fuck right? It feels so bad. We just keep like uh well don't feel bad. Fuck I don't feel bad. It didn't to himself.

Starting point is 00:22:57 Yeah right. It did to himself. It came to learning experience. Yeah. So yeah, fuck. Was your question how to... Yeah, like how do you... Well, here's a thing, like there's something to learn from these guys.

Starting point is 00:23:11 You know, the information was shit, whatever. But... Can't deny they made millions of dollars. Boss, they got the word out. They're very, very good at doing that. So there's something to be said about. Not just marketing though. Right, like learn that, right? Because then you've got these really brilliant people who are just nobody can hear them because they suck at that side of it. You know

Starting point is 00:23:28 what I've what I found those that like a lot of times the people the experts sort of speak. They're spending so much time being an expert or learning and stuff that they don't spend time on the marketing. And like that's why there's even some sub-phone companies and a lot of even the people that probably should have the biggest platforms don't have a platform because like they're so busy just doing the thing like they're so busy learning the science of reading research so that was the motivation behind mine pump so mine pump what we found when we started like diving through everything was like dude all the the smartest people that are writing all the great books that are actually doing all the research nobody knows what the fuck they are yeah because they don't they don't give a shit about social media or Instagram

Starting point is 00:24:02 or YouTube or any of these things so they're over here in their corner and they're lab doing all the studies. Meanwhile, all these kids that nobody knows who the fuck they are, they have no credentials whatsoever out here and they're fucking promoting all this bullshit. And so that was really the motivation was, okay, let's first establish ourselves as an authority. Once we create ourselves as an authority, now let's bring up these people who we think that, like, man, are putting out a good message or have good information. In Kevin? Does that sound kind of familiar? So the YouTube thing we did for a little bit. I had a

Starting point is 00:24:31 Yeah brief brief YouTube thing that I kind of started it on my bring back It was kind of the same concept. I wanted to do the same thing because I got to the point where I was like you know I maybe I can try and learn Some of the social media stuff that I've learned especially being good friends of, and then apply that in a way that I could then start to give a platform to people that like, you know. Right. Just need a douchey friend like me. He's a good friend of mine.

Starting point is 00:24:52 And then, you know, yeah. And that's why I got this guy. That's what makes a great team, though. That's what's probably special about all three of you guys. You guys seem to be very different, which is like the three of us. We all, even though we're all in health and fitness, we have different backgrounds and that's what makes the weakest one. He's the weakest one. Straight strength.

Starting point is 00:25:10 What? We can do different lists. It depends on the lift and if you're gonna do pal for pal. I need the pal for pal guy. That's not for pal guy. Let's go. We got the will. It's the will.

Starting point is 00:25:24 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:25:32 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:25:40 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I had this guy one time that was he came I don't even know why he was debating with me I was like a target right and like at the time I was weighing closer to 250 and like I was pulling like Yeah, I probably could have pulled mid-7's like pulled 745 in the gym 722 is my best in it finding me but And he was like well, you know, I've weighed like 150 something and I could pull like you know 540 or whatever

Starting point is 00:26:02 Like so my Wilks is better and like I'm officially stronger than you him this and I'm natural and you're not and I could pull like, you know, 540 or whatever. Like, so my Wilkes is better and like, I'm officially stronger than you, this and that, and I'm natural. And you're not. And I was like, so what you're telling me is, you're on steroids and you're bigger and stronger than me. And so I need to tell you this to feel better about myself. I was like, because at the end of the day, say whatever you want, I don't care.

Starting point is 00:26:17 Yeah, I'm on a bunch of gear. I'm a lot fucking bigger than you, and I'm a lot stronger than you. So. Yeah, it is what it is what you should have been like. Yeah, can you go move that fridge for me then? Yeah, I can do that. So how are you guys liking the podcasting world now?

Starting point is 00:26:32 I mean, you've dominated Instagram, you've dominated YouTube, now you're making your way into podcasting. How you guys liking it right now? I'm like to meet. I have my answer ready. We need to be better at scheduling. Brad paid for everything in here. So, you know, I'd look at him. I have my answer ready. We need to be better at scheduling. Brad paid for everything in here. I'd look at him right away.

Starting point is 00:26:47 I was like, yeah, yeah. Because we were like, this is gonna be fun. And then Brad's like, how much did you spend on this shit? I was like, yeah, I gotta to tell that up. Yeah. Get back to you on that. Honestly, just podcasting in general, I enjoy it probably more than anything else that I've done.

Starting point is 00:27:04 Because it's just more real, it's not wrong. There's less like, because I don't get me wrong, that's how I got popular. It was like I did the posad shit, I lifted girls, I jumped out of pools, I did all the crazy shit. But I've always noticed from conversation when people have come and talk to me, the real shit is what they cared about. The videos, what I talked about life and death motivation, and real stuff that affects your heart. So this format, I feel like aids that so much more. Because it's someone's willing to listen for an hour.

Starting point is 00:27:31 They're really trying to learn some. So I think in general, the platform of a podcast is more effective and can be more effective. It's just like maybe there might be less people to jump on it initially. But it's way deeper. They're way more loyal. The people who first off business-wise Podcasts they convert better than anything else on a number per number

Starting point is 00:27:51 Yeah, just because that people listen to you for an hour you connect with them better. They get to know you a little more It's way deeper. It may not be as wide, but it's a lot deeper That's what I enjoy. Yeah, is is the is the fact fact that you can connect with someone on a different level than just like, here's some crazy shit. This is how you do apps, do some shit, do some curls, get arms, whatever. And it's just kind of like, it's kind of like this because that's how everyone wants to,

Starting point is 00:28:12 like Instagram, they want new shit now today next minute, next minute, they everyone where they want it. Like that's the whole idea of like, most of the social media platforms now is like, as much, give it all, like, get it good, get it good. And they just kind of keep going like this. And it the cons you need more you need more this is more like It's almost like you write a short book or something right no

Starting point is 00:28:30 Yeah, yeah, take a page at Tim Ferris. Yeah, cuz you're social Ferris Yeah, and your social media is very entertaining. It's got that, you know Instagram flare-do and a lot stuff With the podcast. What are you trying to deliver? What is it that you want to show people? What am I trying to do? What do you guys trying to show show? So I would say it's along the same lines of like, I kind of why I started, I mean for me, I know these guys have different perspectives on this. It's the reason why I do what I do is because I want to help people. And not in a sense of just help people like everyone says that shit is because I've been moments in my life where like, I felt like I needed help and I wanted help and I looked for help and it wasn't always help. So it was kinda like, I grew up without a father,

Starting point is 00:29:08 I had moments in my life where I felt very like just a loan in a sense or like, when I achieved things there wasn't a good job. And that idea of like, I don't know, just in a sense of having hope that things can get better. And I don't know, being almost like a big brother to people. Brad divorced her, pass away. What was how he took his life when I was six. So my mom had divorced when I was crazy. That's crazy. So they divorced when I was five. And then,

Starting point is 00:29:34 uh, and then a year later, he took his life and I was six. He hung himself, um, yeah. So that's my dad took his life at seven. Yeah. When I was seven, you were seven. How do you do it? Shot himself damn. Yeah, no, no nothing So for me it's that it's the it's like growing up and I don't want to get emotional. I try to roll with it. Yeah It's always so difficult It's definitely made you into the man that you are today for sure, you know everything from the the empathy side that you have, not having that model, I didn't have the same thing. Yeah, what you'll find too, you really want to help people, you know, letting people see who you really are is one of the most effective things you could do.

Starting point is 00:30:14 We talk about this on the show and it's very difficult to do it when we talk about our motivations for exercise, which are based on insecurities, you know, I grew up very skinny, so I wanted to be the bigger guy, and I did things in my body that probably weren't the best. And I went through a divorce while we're recording, you know, our podcast, while Mind Pump is going on, I'm going through this whole thing. And those are the episodes that connect the most

Starting point is 00:30:37 with our audience. It's also the most cathartic. You'll find that podcast, at least for us, the most, it's probably the most therapeutic thing over the entire life. Yeah, sure. I would definitely say that's, I guess, what I wanted to bring to it, not so much in therapy.

Starting point is 00:30:51 We just give people a source of entertainment. And like, you know, because I've had a bunch of different influences with podcasting. And it's something, I mean, I don't know if you, you know, if Kevin and Bean out here, just, you know, LA radio. Yeah, they've just always been something to me where I've like heard them,

Starting point is 00:31:07 and I heard Howard Stern growing up, and I was just like, man, like, these voices, these like, you know, they provide funny, they provide serious, they provide, you know, up-to-date entertainment, you know what I mean? Same thing with like Ralph Garmin and like, Kevin Smith, you know, people like Brandon Shaw, and, you know, Joe Rogan, you know, people like Brandon Schobb and you know Joe Rogan, you know

Starting point is 00:31:26 I just have such a different wide range of like people I like to listen to different times just because I'm like I'm feeling like this today. I need some comedy something to listen to. You're gonna fucking love my pump I know Everything we get compared to is everything you just got influenced for sure Absolutely. Yeah, we've been coined as the Howard Stern of fitness, that's what we try and bring this. Yeah, comedy approach, but then we also get fucking deep and talk, and we share our own insecurities. Like we came out early on, you have these bodybuilder

Starting point is 00:31:52 looking dudes that are sterulated out, and then also when we start talking about feelings and emotion and like what drove us in the gym, because let's be real, like that's the kids that are getting into it right now. Everybody who starts to work out, right? We start working out because of an insecurity, because something about it, something we don't like. I'm too small, I'm too fat,

Starting point is 00:32:09 I'm too short, I'm not good luck enough, someone's not giving me attention, something drove all of us to walk in that fucking gym. And there's something there's something to take from that because there's a lot of power in that that probably propelled all of us to where we're at now today. And there's something, and to me, I feel like when we get to the level, especially where you guys are at, where mine pump is at, that we kind of, we owe that to share with the other young, I wish there was something. Yeah, I wanna say to your point,

Starting point is 00:32:33 exactly, is that so many people look at the end product, like who I am or what I've done, they're like, man, that's cool. I wanna do that, I wanna be popular, I wanna do fitness. Like, I get messages all the time, like, how do I get my name out there and be popular? It's like, you guys need to figure out why the fuck you give a shit about this.

Starting point is 00:32:46 Like that's exactly what you said is that point of like, what pushed you in the gym? What made you want to be better? What made you want to be greater? It's like, it's something emotional. It's not just like, I want to lose weight or I want to get bigger arms or I want to be like, Bradley Martin. That's too vague. It's not close enough to someone's heart. It's like, you got to think deeper. Like why do you give a fuck about what you're doing and not enough people do that? Just look at the end product like I said

Starting point is 00:33:06 and they're like, I want that, how do I get that? Let's, I need big arms and need this. But at some point in face, because there's no real, there's no real passion behind it. The passion comes from that moment, like the thing that I went through that I was like, I wanna change my life. I wanna affect other people's like positive

Starting point is 00:33:20 because I wanted that, right? So that, it comes deep inside of me. So when I lift and when I do all these things that make me better or crazier, whatever, it's coming from there. Like when I go to Delft, the heavyweight, like I'm thinking about, that's why it matters to me. This is what it's for.

Starting point is 00:33:35 I'm gonna lift this weight. Not just like I'm just gonna lift this weight because it's gonna make me cooler popular. So it all started there. And then eventually, I look back one day and it's like, oh, people give a shit about what I'm doing. It was never like, I just wanna be popular, right? It was like I'm gonna do this It was almost like accident almost side effect of it. Absolutely

Starting point is 00:33:50 And so and I think people forget to look at like why are you doing what you do? Like you said you asked me why you why are you doing this? What do you like about it? right and I've known they just kind of like they see shouldn't they're like that's really cool I want to do that but it like you said is is it maybe it's not for them? Right. Because they don't like, they, why? Right. Like not enough people can answer why they do something. Oh, and that's what really drives you is the why.

Starting point is 00:34:11 And when you fall down, that's what picks you back up. And we, we, we realized just doing our show that when we're driven by business and all that stuff, we do okay. But when we go back to the purpose and the passion, that's when we succeed the most all as a side effect That's when shit really starts to take off and it's because it's something bigger or we feel like it's something bigger than us It's bigger than how much we're gonna produce or how many downloads we have or whatever It's literally because we want to I'm talking to me when I was 13 years old We all went through these same struggles and in that same path

Starting point is 00:34:43 And we just want to make sure that people understand that. And then there's other, there's better ways to go about this. And so what can we do to kind of provide that in our years of experience training people one on one? What does that look like? We wanna be able to show people, look,

Starting point is 00:34:57 this is not popular right now, but this is gonna benefit your body so much more. And it's just tough, because you're gonna fight through all this misinformation that's out there. And you know, it's one of those things. We're just super passionate about that because Brad, what you didn't get that? I've watched, I've watched you since you pretty much got going on Instagram. I've been following you for a long time. And I actually kind of feel like the direction you're going now with the podcast and even your message, the stuff that you share, where you talk on your Insta story and stuff like that. I feel like even your tone's kind of changing a little bit.

Starting point is 00:35:30 Are you kind of directing, going in a different direction now, or do you feel like you're starting to get more in touch and share more of these types of things? I feel like you said when you first started, it was more like all the look at this cool shit, you got the attention, and now I feel like you're kind of steering the ship in a little bit of a different direction. Do you feel that way? Yeah, well, I mean, I think you have to, I think things have to constantly change. You got to constantly evolve. And I just, it's just kind of like what matters to me.

Starting point is 00:35:52 Because that's always what I've driven off of is like what actually really matters to me. So it's always matter to me. It just kind of became more like, I guess I got more like fuck it. It was like, this is who I really am. I'm going to be more of this. I'm going to, I'm going to show more love. I'm going to give more, like give more, much is who I really am I'm gonna be more of this I'm gonna I'm gonna show more love I'm gonna give more like give more much more

Starting point is 00:36:08 back as much as I can I want to like instead of trying to be like the crazy fucking and because that's who I am as well and these guys know me for years I've always been the loud guy the crazy guy the funny guy the whatever the annoying guy whatever you want to call it yeah and mostly annoying that's definitely not funny oh it's you know I'm funny. I mean, no lie. No lie.

Starting point is 00:36:27 It was never like the strong guy. There's some make sure that you're not funny. Anyways. Like we live, we're training with him because we were laughing at him. And Jim, he was funny. Oh, shit. Oh my god. Now they think they have jokes all of a sudden.

Starting point is 00:36:38 That's the funny thing. It's like, all of a sudden you go out. Fuck. You know what, you know what's cool about owning a gym like this and doing what you guys are doing? One thing that I miss, and we talked about this because we don't have any desire to open a gym to make money, but one thing that we all talk about missing is having a gym like this around your finger, it keeps your people on the pulse of fitness, you're not separated from it. You know what I'm saying?

Starting point is 00:37:01 You get to be out here and talk to the people and see them train and just keep some real well initially when I first thought it thought about opening a gym I was like the idea was like I'm just gonna open a place where I could film content Yeah, that's right So initially was like I just want to have this for myself so I could film content Then it's like well, we're making some really fun cool. Might as well have people come be a part of it But the goal wasn't like oh, we want to have a gazillion members and like all this shit It was just more like have a dope place to like I could film some crazy shit out and have fun and like have guests and like Film videos and oh what I love that you flipped on a Ted totally totally different approach

Starting point is 00:37:33 We love to see what you did that's really smart and I will if it hasn't paid off already It will continue I foresee this being more of a trend is allowing allowing people to have the cameras and do all that shit in here Of course because that's everyone's doing that now is allowing people to have the cameras and do all that shit in here. Oh, of course. Because that's everyone's doing that now. I mean, that's how I build everything that I have. Well, it'd be silly if I had a gym and I was like, don't film shit. Don't you think it's crazy that all these other gyms are

Starting point is 00:37:52 that way? All the gyms won't. I just, I think it's crazy, but I get it because it's like, it's all liability shit. Sure, totally. Because we started initially, and obviously everyone's going to still this fucking idea, shout out to all the dick riders who like to copy the name of my gym.

Starting point is 00:38:05 They know exactly who they are. You have to be so shit if you ever listen to this and you know it. Anyways, so you have a thing built off of like... You got someone bite the name, like purely the name, not Zoo. Pretty much. No, no, no, no, no, no, pretty much. I do not know how to imagine this. The most popular word in this is...

Starting point is 00:38:21 There's a 200. Listen, let's just imagine this. Imagine this. No, no, no, no, no, imagine this. What's the most popular word in fitness? What's the most popular word is 200. Listen, let's imagine it. Imagine it's like low. No, no, no, no. Imagine it's what's the most popular word in fitness? What's the most popular word in fitness? Or it's shredded?

Starting point is 00:38:30 No, no, no. Fitness. Oh, okay. Okay. And then they put a... What's unique about our gym? What do you think, what are you in the name? Not this part.

Starting point is 00:38:41 The zoo. Oh, not that culture. Yeah. Yeah. Because fitness is like... Oh, not that culture. Yeah. Yeah. Cause he decided he was like, oh, yeah, yeah. And then it's funny, cause then like there's wood in the gym too. There's wood in the gym.

Starting point is 00:38:51 No, not just. It's also funny because we had a conversation. Hold on. We had a fucking conversation. Eight months before we opened this mother fucking gym with the same mother fucker. Oh, I see. He did move out of LA to go open a gym somewhere else.

Starting point is 00:39:04 Oh, wow. We had a conversation before we opened his fucking gym. I said if he gets a bulldog, I'm probably gonna go. out of LA to go open a gym somewhere else. Oh, wow. We had a conversation before we opened his fucking gym. I said if he gets a bulldog, I'm probably gonna go. He'll probably get a bulldog. I'll probably go be. I have two, but I think I had a first step. Oh, he's gonna go to the fighter six and four, bro. We gotta reclaim two to set up.

Starting point is 00:39:17 So what was the question again? What was the question, bro? Let's talk about people biting people's shit, bro. Oh my god, no, I can't, I can't, I don't want to get there. So we're okay, we'll talk about it. Without rolling, I guess names that are here, are these people that are, do you see this, does this happen to you a lot? I mean, you are very original and a lot of the things that you did for sure. This happened from the beginning, from the very beginning, the whole, I was the first person on Instagram to sell online coaching.

Starting point is 00:39:40 Okay, so I'm going to call you out on something right now. Go ahead. Okay, because you're the only person to block me and the only reason why Like years ago years ago this kind of Yes, okay, I'm you said you I know why okay, so well I figured it was probably dig right in my shit Definitely not okay, okay, I'm this original is they come okay, okay, so but I figured cuz I was like okay Maybe he at that time had to be like five years. Yeah, okay, yeah, I'm as original as they come, bro. Okay, okay. So, but I figured because I was like, okay, maybe he, at that time, he's had to be like five years.

Starting point is 00:40:07 Yeah, it was. It was like five years ago, I had just found you. And what I was like, do this dude is, you're built like, I'm six three, I was 240 pounds, six three, and I'm competing, and I see you jumping out of the pool, and that's how I came across your stuff. And I was following you, and then I got blocked,

Starting point is 00:40:22 and then oh, maybe it was a mistake, and then I tried to add a bunch of times. And then what did you say anything to me? No, that's and I'm not a troll. Not someone who does anything. That was so crazy was I was like, I wonder, but I thought, well, maybe he's too handsome. Maybe because he sees me in fitness

Starting point is 00:40:34 and he sees that I'm a guy who's built like so okay, you're online coaching. I did online coaching. Okay, so there was a time. Okay, let me explain this, what happened. And this was this was the younger man. Explain yourself. This is the younger man. Explain yourself. Explain yourself. You would explain it. You happened? And this was the younger me. Explain yourself, this is the younger me.

Starting point is 00:40:45 Explain yourself, someone explain this, this is the younger me. You would love me, you would love me. I was like, he's playing nice, he's a good one. I don't want him to change me, dude. I don't care. No, I love you, I just think is, I never met you, you're awesome as fuck.

Starting point is 00:40:56 I great now, I already love you, so listen, there was a time when I first started this whole online coaching thing, and people who were kind of close to me, like I just noticed, I was the first person, I'm not saying people didn't train people online before, before they called it like virtual coaching, people did it on websites, and the competition shit.

Starting point is 00:41:12 So I coined this like online coaching, and I had little, I was like, one of the first people ever to make little Instagram school, isn't before Shreds was before anything existed, like marketing wise. I made Instagram squares like online coaching, to give away, it's the very first giveaway with Instagram fitness,

Starting point is 00:41:24 which later on Shreds bought the accounts, and accounts piece of shit now and to add to Brad's thing Back when Instagram first started when the rest of us were just editing pictures and posting on Facebook But using it as like a filter thing he was telling me then he's like, dude You got to start marketing stuff through your your Instagram and then he he was already starting the coach And he's like he should start doing the coaching thing like your bodybuilder like he was yeah And I was like. Before anyone was on Instagram. Yeah, Instagram was on, I was even on Android.

Starting point is 00:41:48 I was still working on my Myspace then, so I had to have even. Everyone was on Facebook. Everyone was on Facebook, Filters not putting on Facebook, no one used Instagram, right, right. And I read about it, knowing it was gonna be popular,

Starting point is 00:41:57 and I was like, this is gonna be the fucking wave. This is gonna change everything. So I, cause I wanted to be on Twitter back in a day, I was like, how could I make a business on Twitter? Cause my old goal was, I wanna be able to sit at home and play video games and chill and make money at home. Yeah. That was my goal. I want to play video games. It's, it's funny. That's fun crazy, right? Which, anyways.

Starting point is 00:42:12 It's, yeah. That was a goal in my view. I'm a while since I was a row. So I started doing this and I was the first person to just give away on like coaching on Instagram fitness. And then next thing you know, it was like everybody. Oh, wow. Everybody was cop, I'm talking about like copying word for word like average type of shit. Everyone would copy the way that I would post captions,

Starting point is 00:42:30 like the lines that I would use, everything. And I was just like, I got to the point where I was like, I was seen it and I was like, block, block, block, block, you were probably just one of us. I know, I believe. And later on, I got two dickheads, two of them. Listen to this podcast, two dickheads. One knows exactly who it is because he lived with me for a while.

Starting point is 00:42:43 Another one they used to work together, they came back later and they were doing the same shit and they were told me, yeah, we copied all your shit. Back in the day. Wow. So it was like, people confirmed me constantly confirming and it was just like, I was like, fuck it. I got mad but see, I wanna explain some to you guys.

Starting point is 00:42:56 I was younger and I learned it like at some point, that's flattering now. And he's still immature. I'm still a mature, he's fun. But it just doesn't matter. Like I found myself trying to like combat these things and trying to like, but the thing is if someone's, it was a good idea.

Starting point is 00:43:09 And I can't be like, this is only mine. It doesn't work that way. And at the time, I was just, I guess I was bummed out because I felt like, I was doing all this and I was thinking of all these creative things and everyone was just like, oh that's a good idea, I'm a jack dad. That's a good idea.

Starting point is 00:43:20 I'm putting my name on it. Oh that's a good idea. And it's still fucking happening. But I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what was a paradigm shattering moment for me was when I learned that when people start to copy some of the stuff I say and whatever it actually makes It increases the value of what I do because a lot of the people know that I was the first one so I like it. I love the people that really care know you're the OG and it actually It'll actually make you Instagram. Sorry. Well, it's my pump Adam. I'm used to be we love to hate Adam So back when I when I followed you way back then it was we love to hate out reason probably why I love hate this guy too

Starting point is 00:43:59 I'm connected on on your other two. I could put your original. Oh, that is funny. Look it see On your other two I could put your original that is funny look it see Straight vlog Right Yeah, all your other I'm so happy So funny You must you must know I was trying to strike you that guy But well, it does make sense is exactly what you're saying Was you're probably going through something at a time you probably came across my page

Starting point is 00:44:28 Maybe I had a post similar to something you did and then you probably said You know that was one of your one of your half-newed photos on the side Which was funny though it's now it's ironic is that I met you and before you even brought up any of that I was already like I like these guys. I always in my head like I like these And that's the thing about the internet is like people just It's so different when you meet someone person I'm a hundred percent hundred percent. Everybody's like changed our mind We met we've met so many people that we thought like oh these people are gonna be freaking awesome

Starting point is 00:44:55 We're gonna love them and then we meet them when we leave and we're like god. There. That is fucking more Oz and we can't stand them and then there's been people we meet where like this guy's a douchebag We meet them or like that dude is brilliant or that person has a lot more to offer than we This guy's gonna be a douchebag and then they're like man, he's pretty cool I go through that on the daily I wake up. I'm like Knowing how your guys is background and fitness and you know, I walking into your gym You can feel the energy in here. You know, being able to, being able to be very open on a podcast and all that stuff.

Starting point is 00:45:28 I mean, genuine. I was running into it. Very, very genuine. That's awesome. And it's great that there's more people in fitness like that because there's too many of the other ones. You know what I'm saying? Too many of the garbage out there, too much.

Starting point is 00:45:40 I appreciate that man. And that's something that like, it means a lot to me and also why I can understand how anybody would get frustrated when somebody like kind of copies your stuff because you know like Brad mentioned with the gym here whenever I sat down with Brad and we were talking about you know the way we wanted to do this and we never brought up like okay this is how we can make a lot of money. It was like okay well let me look let me look through like our bookkeeping our numbers and like how much we're going invest. And like the benefits we're going to get out of this with like a place to film for content. And then like something that we're like, oh, you know, we can have people here. We need to make the culture, the environment, all this stuff. We were at the point where we're like, you know, let's just, let's figure out a way that

Starting point is 00:46:15 we can at least just break even. Like let's not lose money on this, but like we don't care to make money. And I think because of that, we like, we never sacrificed anything that we wanted in a gym or in our gym. We never said like, oh, well, you know, if well, if we do this, then we'll make more money, but it's gonna require us acting like every other dickhead gym there is. Like every other, oh, you gotta sign this long contract

Starting point is 00:46:33 because we want your money for a whole year. Oh, you wanna cancel, you gotta pay a fee. Well, there's really two models and fitness that can be successful. One is much more difficult to do than the other. So the two are, one, you have a cheap ass membership fee, you got a lot of equipment, your goal is to sign people up and then for them not to use it anymore.

Starting point is 00:46:49 That's the planet fitness model. It's everything. The 24th fitness model, right? The other model is to develop a culture within your, within your facility that makes people want to show up. There's the word, now everyone is fucking work. And everything. It's on mind for that.

Starting point is 00:47:03 I already saw this. I'm just like, I don't know, she actually never ever already. But the difficult thing about that is that you make actual work. And everything. It's on mine for that. I already saw this on the screen. I'm just like, I don't know, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like,

Starting point is 00:47:10 I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like,

Starting point is 00:47:17 I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like,

Starting point is 00:47:24 I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like Well, it's their culture, right? Yeah, I would say something about CrossFit in general. As much as I'm like, it's fucking whatever, they changed fitness. Absolutely. Because they made all these big gems be like, oh, we need a fucks for our areas. We need a fucking turf and they're making their gems. They're exploiting people with deadlift. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:47:37 Nobody was doing that. Some 24s have a tire in their gym with a dirt down. Almost all of them are converting. And they made powerlips. I was asking for that shit a long time ago. Nobody listened. It made real, I'm not saying CrossFit a lot of time ago. No, we listen all made real I'm not saying CrossFit's not real shit But they made all this other shit that had was just like Stone Age

Starting point is 00:47:50 We're more popular. I'll tell you guys what because we come from a similar industry or similar side of fitness as you right when we first came out and we One of our first episodes was why mine pump doesn't crossfit and we actually got contacted by their headquarters and went back For we did a second episode talking shit And we actually got contacted by their headquarters and went back before we did a second episode talking shit But now three years later We've met with and talked with some of the leaders in CrossFit CrossFit is evolving quite a bit So you've got people like Kelly star it in there. It's not mobility We've talked to yeah rob wolf and you know the barbell shrug guys and Beyond the barbell those guys and Jason Kalipa and these these and these people, these leaders are really starting to change all the kind of bad stuff that's

Starting point is 00:48:26 all the bad stuff that's all the bad stuff. It is, but it's starting to, you're starting to see the cream is rising to the top. You know with people that started it are still, you know, pushing on evolving. Well, it's like anything else and you know this when you build something like and it's when it's its infancy, it's when it's most like you and what you want and when it gets fucking huge then it's like you can't help it. We get so massive and people are so disconnected from the the people who originated. I don't think they plan for it to look like this. Yeah. I still like making fun of CrossFit because it's like something you could do. Yeah. And it's still hanging fruit at the same time though like I've seen some of the elite level Crossfitters that are stronger than

Starting point is 00:49:04 a lot of power lifters And they could do things that like a lot of you and elite athletes can't do and so like there's no need to hate on crossfit And so people say like oh, well, what about all the injuries that the regular people get and stuff I'm like there's a bunch of people that are into powerlifting that don't tell the dude that hurt themselves all the time too So like you know if you're yeah, so like I joke around about crossfit I don't actually hate crossfit The biggest jab that I've always had and what I tell people is that the only problem is

Starting point is 00:49:28 that it should just be called a sport. It's it. If it's a sport, it's just like football, soccer, basketball. You can get in shape doing all those sports. It's probably not the best thing for you long-term to always be doing, but absolutely you can. And if you're passionate about it and you love doing it, who am I to say, so what do they call it then?

Starting point is 00:49:43 CrossFit sport. Well, they should call it a sport right right now It should be attached to the name. Yeah, because what you were having is you had crossfit boxes and then they'd have you know You know soccer moms and you know weekend warriors going in there and they're doing you know You know, they're doing a limpic lifts to tie and challenge the best way to getting cheap To try and finish wise. Yeah, I don't know about that. But I don't even know if I've talked about it. I did it. I did it for a few months.

Starting point is 00:50:07 You mentioned that not today, but in another part. Oh, yeah. It makes sense because being that you're the Mason was unhappy with the Jeff Zade. It's like the baby right here. Oh, well, I still do a bit. I wonder if he would have signed on the other side. I do not know.

Starting point is 00:50:20 Hi, my name is Mason. I'm your sponsor. I'm your sponsor. Hey, but let's be real. They brought, I'll tell you what, before CrossFit started getting popular, when we were managing gyms back in, you know, the late 90s or the 2000s,

Starting point is 00:50:31 there was like, you'd have a 30, 40,000 sport foot facility, you'd have one squat rack, and nobody would fucking touch it. Oh, it does. All of a sudden, people are squatting and deadlifting, and you know, and you gotta give credit where credit's due. And there was no women in here. And women were, are with lifting weights. Yeah. And they brought women in. They got to give credit where credit's do and there was no women and women were are with lifting weights Yeah, right

Starting point is 00:50:49 Crossfit is cool The biggest thing I would say for for crossfizz is put more barbells and more hands Yeah, in the last 10 years probably than than any other any other news sport absolutely Absolutely, I just buy light to, I would say, Barber work in general. And what's cool about fitness is you can go in these different worlds and kind of dive in and talk to these people and it's fucking fast.

Starting point is 00:51:12 Like we interviewed people from the Kettlebell sport. I don't know if you guys are familiar with Kettlebell sport, Kettlebell competition. I mean, very different, very underground, right? I mean, very, very tight knit culture and community. And that's, I mean, they've done. Was it like search for this, RKSKS RCS. There's different certifications. There's like the hard style. And this is more endurance based. So they do like long cycles for 10 minutes.

Starting point is 00:51:33 Snatch, snatch, snatch, like 10 minutes. It's fucking brutal. I mean, it's a brutal sport. It's really not interesting to watch, which is, it's tough. You know, it's a tough thing, because it's like, you go as a spectator and it's like, okay, you know, for 10 minutes, you're just watching them do the same thing. But yeah, I mean, it's, the community, very much resembles what CrossFit was when it first started. So we paid attention to that right away. Like, wow, these people are really tight together

Starting point is 00:51:57 and they all support each other and they clap for each other when they're on all that shit. Unlike the fitness social media community. Right, which everybody hates each other. He's fucking a guy. So it's better's fucking I got a stand in front of him I got I share this on the show and you probably remember this also being in competing I'll never forget like so I could be the two by the way. Oh you did too. Yeah, I didn't meant for Zik shit What yeah, when they back in the day no shit?

Starting point is 00:52:19 Brat started doing it like I think grad did like the first back to the top of us. I think Brad did like the first show that was like the first man said all those guys right? That's you guys. Yeah, you can say whatever you want on my first show. Yeah, you say whatever the fuck you want is that man. But what I thought was crazy.

Starting point is 00:52:37 So you know I train thousands of people on all my years of training. And of course you deal with all these insecurities, body dysmorphia, food issues and poor relationship with exercise. I got to competing and I get backstage and I'm meeting all these guys and I'm like and girls and I'm blown away by all the eating disorders, how many of them don't know what the fuck they're doing. Oh man.

Starting point is 00:52:59 And it's worse in the competitive role. So the people that are on the magazines, the people that are telling us unhealthy, are the people that are most unhealthy with the most fucking issues, which that just blew my mind. Because I was like, I already knew it was bad. But then I thought, okay, here I am,

Starting point is 00:53:14 especially when I was at the amateur level first. I was like, oh, well maybe that's because these are amateurs. Maybe the pros, they know their shit. I came to the pro level. And I'm like, fuck dude, the pros are just stupid. Is this guy? Did they laugh at you for eating salad? Oh, bro, it's a salad.

Starting point is 00:53:28 Did you put salad? Did you ever get to a point where, especially when you met the pros, I didn't know what they're doing. And you were like, holy shit, it's purely just a genetic response to drugs that got them here. And then you look at the sport as a whole

Starting point is 00:53:38 and you're like, holy fuck, this is just a genetic response to drugs and it doesn't, nothing else really matters. Like the nutrition, the work ethic, all this stuff. I'll take somebody with phenomenal genetics, pump full of drugs and feed them pizza and they'll smash on people and still turn pro bro It's like how does that make the average person? Let's tell all the cycles that people are running like so I'm physique So I'm in mince disease. Let me tell you a grand let me tell you about my steroids cycle through mince physique So I'm already somebody who dabbled with this when I was in my early 20s. So my- Oh, do you know? So I'm 35. 36, Jesus.

Starting point is 00:54:05 Do you think I'm worth it? I'm a shirt that, yeah. Oh, a heavy birthday. Hey, birthday, my cat. Hi, cat. Hi, cat. He needs to do shots. I think that's my cue then.

Starting point is 00:54:13 Yes, yes, bro. So I get in there at, I get in at, you know, I'm competing. It's when I'm 30 years old and amateur level. Now, I fucked around with steroids when I was in my 20s, so I go get tested, I'm like 200 something free test, so I'm like flat-wide. So I get on HRT, and then I decide I'm gonna compete. And I'm like, okay, if I'm gonna compete, and by the way,

Starting point is 00:54:35 I do not have like a bodybuilder's body type whatsoever, I should be fucking swimming in a pool. I have skinny ass legs, little tiny waist. So I get in and I go, okay, for sure, I'm gonna have to probably bump my dose up. So at this time, I'm taking like 125 milligrams every two weeks, like the normal dose placement. Just a replacement. But now I'm gonna get into competing.

Starting point is 00:54:53 So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna ramp myself up to like 250, 300 milligrams per week. So I'm taking that and I start blowing up and I'm eating more. I go do my first show. I take fourth of first show. The second show or the first show after I take fourth, this is great too, because I smoked everybody. They told me my conditioning was too. They were like, you're too ripped, you're too shredded.

Starting point is 00:55:13 So I'm like, okay, come in softer, like that's easy. So I came in the next show, like seven pounds heavier. Then they tell me I'm too fucking big. Yeah, right? I'm just like, well, I just want to say something about the competition industry. It's fucking bullshit. It is It's it's it's it's subjective wait till I finish the story Because I actually one of the one of the owners who were named was on the show right now I got a chance just like a month ago to sit and talk to him and he told me a story of the story I'm telling you right now of what happened behind the scenes with all the judges Okay, so my very first my very stories like this too. Okay, so my very first show, I come out, and it's not even close, bro. I waited to get on the amateur show

Starting point is 00:55:48 until I was like, had a pro physique. All my peer buddies are all pros and they're like, bro, get on the stage, you're gonna win right away. So all, everyone's like, this dude's gonna win first place right away. So I get, I get there. And for sure, I smoke everybody conditioning wise symmetry and they don't even have me in the top five.

Starting point is 00:56:04 I don't even make the top five call-ups. I'm standing over on't even have me in the top five. I don't even make the top five call ups. I'm standing over on the side looking at the top five. The two guys closest to me don't even have abs, no separate and I'm, I'm inside. I'm going like, oh, this shit is corrupt. And everyone had told me, right? And I actually was on this mission to find out for myself, no coach, no team doing this all myself. I'm going to find out for myself how political all this shit is.

Starting point is 00:56:23 And so I get in there and I'm standing on stage and I'm sure that people that my friends could see how fucking pissed I am and I'm like, what the fuck? So I go, that was the morning, right? So it's pre-judging. Night show comes around. Also, and I pop up in fourth place. Now I'm in fourth, and I'm getting ready to walk on stage and one of my buddies does all the, what are trafficking for everybody, right, to get on an off stage. And he's like, hey, bro, you took fourth. I'm like, no, dude, I wasn't even on the top five.

Starting point is 00:56:47 He's like, no, no, no, they bumped you up to fourth. And so I take fourth place. Long story short, I go on my career, I go pro this night, just a month ago, I'm talking to the head owner of the shows, of this show, right? And him and I are chopping up back and forth. He's like, man, I recognize you.

Starting point is 00:57:03 I know you. I'm like, oh, yeah, I have this podcast. I'm thinking, maybe that's where he remembers me from or something. He's like, no, no, and I are chopping up back and forth. He's like, man, I recognize you. I know you're like, oh, yeah, I have this podcast. I'm thinking of maybe that's where he remembers me from or something. He's like, he's like, no, no, and I tell him. And he's like, oh, Adam Schaefer. Yeah, you want USA's? I'm like, yeah, yeah, he's like, I know, I know who you are.

Starting point is 00:57:15 I was like, yeah, he's a, oh, first, he's a man. Sandy loved you. This and that. And they start name dropping all the people who didn't like me. And he goes, I'll never forget the first day you came on stage. You came on stage and right away, Sandy was talking about how much she loved you and so and so was super anti.

Starting point is 00:57:30 Now, if you guys don't know how judging works for competing there's a head judge, head judge decides who the five that are coming out. And then the other judges all score them and decide it. So if the head judge doesn't put the top five in there, the other judge don't get a chance to score those top five in that category right there. So the head judge is, that's who didn't like me,

Starting point is 00:57:51 doesn't even put me in the top five. And all the rest of them are all leaning over and they're talking to each other like, what the fuck? What the fuck this guy's like way beyond him else? So he tells me that they afterwards between the shows, they're all arguing. They're all sitting in the office

Starting point is 00:58:03 and they're debating this and they're like, you know, we need to stop this somewhere, guys are too shredded, they're not, you get, this is not, they're not supposed to look like this and I'm going like, what the fuck? I'm like, I'm on 125 milligrams of testosterone right now, I bumped up to 250, I'm like, I'm not that crazy, I just came in condition for an amateur and then they end up bumming. So that happened to me, I go to USA, that's's where I go pro and and when I get on the pro circuit I'm waiting to meet these pro guys thinking that okay, finally. I'm gonna meet dudes that fucking know their shit

Starting point is 00:58:32 And it was just as bad that the two hours of cardio every day Running crazy cycles a clean over a grandma test a straw in a week and I'm like, dude, we're men's physique I got to share one of these stories. I think mine's better than you I'm a testosterone a week and I'm like, dude we're men's physique. I got to share one of these stories. I think mine's better than yours. Oh, that's serious. This competition should go.

Starting point is 00:58:47 2000, so I was one of the first few competitors like in the men's physique thing. Yeah, I remember. Like literally I did the first show in Southern California and I did the first USA's in USA. Well, I already know where you're going with this. It's the person who won that year is fine. Okay.

Starting point is 00:59:02 So the person who won that year in my class was Nick Garnt. He was a trainer at the gym, at the 24 hour fitness that I worked at at the time. And long story short, my very first show I got eighth, I just took off my shirt, eight pizza and got a tan. All right, terrible.

Starting point is 00:59:18 Got eighth. I was like, oh, this is what you need to do. Remember who's eating the block of cheese? He's like, I was the key kid. It was all stupid. I didn't. Anyways, I don't think that's how that works. Yeah, definitely not.

Starting point is 00:59:26 Definitely not how it is. So this is really good. I think you're doing some row, bro. For sure, I learned a lot since then. Anyways, so I do my second show. I smoke them. I get to San Diego. I'm like, I win, and I win overall.

Starting point is 00:59:40 And then I'm like, oh, you're going to the USA's next week or two weeks or something like that, because it's two weeks before, and I was like, yeah, I'm going do USA's next week or two weeks or something like that because it's two weeks before and I was like, yeah, I'm gonna do it. So I go to do it. I get second place when they only gave out, because every show after that, they gave out two pro cards. So that was the very first USA's, they gave out one. Yeah, and I got second place.

Starting point is 00:59:59 And I'm like, people are booing, literally booing like, and I'm up there like, what the fuck? And then for like three, four months on Facebook, cause that was still what was popular at the time, people were messaging me like, man, you got fuck, like every message, man, you got fuck, man, you got fuck, and I was just like, man, I got fuck. Like, so you're right, yo, so I wasn't popular.

Starting point is 01:00:19 Okay. Later on, I started getting more popular on the internet cause Instagram started popping. I was the first person who was 10,000 followers. People started contacting me. This lady who's not gonna rename them, this is because fuck them at this point. Venus, Venus something, she's from San Diego.

Starting point is 01:00:34 She told me that all the reason why he didn't win is because she had a little physique. She was creating this little physique thing and Nick was one of her people. But there's nothing wrong with Nick or anything, or whatever, right? He stopped competing after, they just didn't even compete anymore. But she said, you didn't win,

Starting point is 01:00:47 because that was my guy to win. And you were in his class, sorry. And then it came like, literally serious. But join my team and I got you, right? And I got kind of like, you know what, fuck this. So I think I did one more show, Miami, and Ashe was, but you don't win, because you're on East Coast, and if you're on East Coast, you've got a basically suck East Coast judge dick or some bullshit or like fancy

Starting point is 01:01:09 Spants them or spend more time on East Coast to do more shows and pay your dues and all this fucking bullshit that these people talk about Which is ridiculous because it has none to do with dues It has to do with money and that's due of business because when I started getting popular on the internet That's when all these motherfuckers like come do my show. Yeah, of course. So I was like you know what? I'm gonna try this shit. You'll win. You come do my show. You'll win. So I went. I did a show and you better believe. Before I walk out on that stage, the guy standing up here, the guy who owns the show, the guy who is the promoter, the show owner, the guy who's the head judge as well,

Starting point is 01:01:38 who goes, you're gonna win before I come. I look good. I'm not saying I look bad. Right. There was guys who could have beat me. Like I look great, you can be like, oh yeah those guys that didn't show up in the top five, right? So again, I have pictures, I can show you this, but have you told this story before? I've ever told this story. Oh my God. So he told you one before even.

Starting point is 01:01:56 Absolutely, I'm walking on stage. As I go to walk on stage, he's like, number one, he's in this little booth thing up here. He's like, number one, number one, I'm like, oh yeah, fuck yeah, number one. But anyway, when I did it, I was like, number one, he's in this little boo thing up here. Number one, number one, I'm like, oh yeah, fuck yeah, number one. But anyway, when I did it, I was like, I did look good. And it's not that I didn't deserve it, but it was bullshit. So I experienced firsthand, no one gave a fuck about me,

Starting point is 01:02:15 even though I looked great and should've won. And everybody's opinion was like, man, you should've won. And then everyone started like, oh, this guy with followers, because if he says you do the show, then yeah, whole idea is like, it used to be magazines and magazine money and promotion money for magazines, right? Dropping bars are here. Anyways, so it used to be like, okay, who are, who's paying the most to this show?

Starting point is 01:02:34 What sponsors are they? Who are their athletes? Yeah, make sure they win. Now it's like, oh, this motherfucker got a million followers on Instagram, 300,000, 400,000, like shit, we should, they ask you now, how many fucking followers do you have on the fucking 300,000, 400,000. Like shit, we should, they ask you now, how many fucking followers do you have on the fucking social media? They ask you now, of course they know.

Starting point is 01:02:50 That's bullshit. What the fuck does that mean? What? So listen, now it's just about numbers, because you got, I want to put this in perspective. It's like, if you have something to do with a million followers saying, I won this show, and then it's like, more people will know.

Starting point is 01:03:03 More kids are going to say, oh shit, Brad can beat. He won that show. I need to compete. That's it's like, more people won. More kids are gonna think, oh shit, Brad can beat. He won that show. I need to compete. That's how I can become popular like Brad. So then you go, now that all the fees are fucking, it started at like 50 now, it's like 300, it just to just be a part of it, to do one show. And it's like 150, maybe 300 now, a year,

Starting point is 01:03:16 to be a part of this organization, to do any shows. So you pay a yearly, and then you pay a showly, and then you pay like a photographer fee, you want your photos for that show, and then you pay like a photography. You want your photos for that show and then you pay like a fucking different division. It's fucking bullshit. So it's like you pay into that shit. You're like, oh, I'm the guy. I win the show.

Starting point is 01:03:33 Like they're going to, they're only going to reward people who have followers. So they further their business because it's marketing because it's a business because it's a brand. Bro, it's so, and it is fucking crazy. It is beyond crazy and dirty. And you have so many people who fucking kill themselves. Oh, man, I just, you know, they said I got it get my state presence better I so I got to work on my posing so they're all like this with their fucking hands and shit and it's fucking crazy to make their line

Starting point is 01:03:53 The people they are just so they get more money. It's period just about money You got people who are killing themselves dying doing all the fucking drugs doing all this shit creating a ball of damage Distraining themselves, yeah, yeah, because they oh, they said I got to be a little bit harder So like I'm gonna do a little bit more cardio do some faster cardio I'm gonna do and it's like no motherfucker. They don't give a shit about you. Right. That's their reason to tell you Hey, fuck off. We got who we want. Sorry. Good luck next time. Maybe if you get a million followers, then we'll fuck with you Dude, I had no idea that you went through all that stuff So that's my your story is literally like my story. I had time so. Yo, you missed.

Starting point is 01:04:25 I just went off on the, I just went off. We all know Evo Gin and we know that company. And so they like own Sacramento. So that's North Cal for me. So those are the shows. That's the circuit that I would go through. I want to make one thing really clear. People hear this.

Starting point is 01:04:37 That they're, I'm not saying though, that there aren't competitors who don't deserve to win. No. They don't look great. Sure. I do believe a lot of them look great. But I just want to, I want the general population to know that there's more because I don't want people going into a show thinking they're like I can get popular doing this or like

Starting point is 01:04:51 this is what I need to do to be popular because that popular guy does it like I built my popularity when I stopped competing. Right. Right. And then I focused on building my brand or what made me mean like focusing on being Bradley Martin quote unquote whatever the fuck that means. I focused on that and was like I'm not going try and make all these people happy I'm gonna try and make myself happy and I just want to point that out that I'm not saying these people who win don't deserve to win. No there's all there's exceptions in the role. There's always exceptions. I'm just saying there's just like the majority of it though. It needs to be said because a lot of kids enter into this world already insecure not feeling good about themselves they get into this world already insecure, not feeling good about themselves. They get into this world, guys and girls, damage their metabolism, destroy the hormone levels,

Starting point is 01:05:28 take all this crazy gear, thinking that they can continue to progress when in fact they probably don't have the genes or whatever. I'm still got people filling them with bullshit like you just need. Horrible. Stage presence, hardness, be dry or whatever it is. And it's really just so they can tell you whatever. So they can give you something else to do to get you to come back to another show. Exactly.

Starting point is 01:05:46 To the point where my very first show, my head was hanging on. I mean, everyone told me I should have won first place. I'll never forget him walking the elevator. I'm like, I head down, judge walks up behind me, puts my hand and he goes, hey kid, you got a great physique. I said, yeah, judges didn't think so.

Starting point is 01:05:59 He goes, don't listen to that, just come back again. And I'm like, what do you mean, just come back in? He's like, no, they told me I was too conditioned. He's like, no, no, no, you have a prophyseic. You look great, kid. They just want to see you more times. Yeah, it's like, pay us some more money. Yeah, really?

Starting point is 01:06:13 That's the thing is, that's what gets me is like, I get it. It's a business and I can respect a business. But when you're abusing, what if, when you're abusing, when you're abusing, people's like, because that's the thing, and like everyone knows this. The thing, everyone who competes, they like, they know, you've heard this, if you compete, pay your dues.

Starting point is 01:06:31 Right, absolutely. Everyone knows this, and it's like, but no one, everyone's so afraid to talk about like, what's really going on? Because they're like, they also don't wanna offend the person who's gonna judge them next time, and then they go compete, they're gonna black ball you. Like, they would never let me compete again after saying that.

Starting point is 01:06:44 Oh yeah. Oh yeah, that guy's the devil, he knows the truth. And it's so it's just like, fuck man, but you got these, that's the thing against me. You have people who like, oh, but like if I just do this and try a little bit harder, I could be good. I'm like, no, you don't get it. Like, it's not about that.

Starting point is 01:06:56 Right. I bet you, if you took time and got yourself popular on Instagram, you'd fucking win. Yeah. And that's sad. That's exactly. So it's like, are you competing to be popular on Instagram or a physique show?

Starting point is 01:07:07 That's why I was like, you know, if I ever compete again, it's going to be in parallel. It's going to be something that's like, you did it. You did it. Or you did it. Exactly. You either win or you don't. Yeah, you made a shot of you didn't.

Starting point is 01:07:16 Not like subjective where today we like this and that judge likes this and the East Coast judge like that and the West Coast judge like this. And that's that whole industry is. Happy birthday. Sorry. I had to go off. Bro, yeah. that's the whole industry. Happy birthday. Sorry, I had to go off. We're all, yeah. See, see, see, see, see, see, what these guys went through.

Starting point is 01:07:27 Happy birthday. Yeah. Like seeing, you know, like, competitors, like you go through over the years, I was always waiting for that, like, oh, I'm not gonna step on stage, so I'm like, you know, and at the time I was still figuring out food and all that, you know,

Starting point is 01:07:39 I was like, I'm not gonna step on stage, so I like, I'm gonna win a show. And just seeing it, what these guys went through and all that, that's, I mean, also, kind of the start of raw powerlifting, it's like Stan Eferning, break records, and this and that. That's what kind of started to get me into powerlifting more than anything. I was just seeing people that I,

Starting point is 01:07:55 these guys are show stoppers, these guys need to win shows. That's like, oh, you know, so and so did I like you because of this, and like, what the fuck is going on here? That's what started getting me more into powerlifting, thing and just like and also he just signed me up I was like, you guys think it's getting worse. You think it's getting worse before you're getting better right now? What's that? You guys think you think it's getting worse before you're getting better? Well, okay, I want to say something so

Starting point is 01:08:16 my jackfuss He's Brandon helped coach Breon who's a friend of ours who's not that like popping on the internet. He's more popping now But he just won the mr. Physique Olympia Classic classic physique. Sorry, oh, yeah Brandon Flux or whatever Brianna Anzley, okay, yeah, he just wanted he's so that gave me hope honestly because he wasn't that pop it And there was other guys up there who were more pop it like he's still popping though

Starting point is 01:08:44 He's still got like at least 240,000 minimum. He's got more. Yeah, but there's people who are competing with one who have a hundred who have a million. Oh yeah, no, right. Yeah, you know, I think it's gotten so obvious that they're like, yeah, they're like, fuck. Let's throw a 20,000 person in there.

Starting point is 01:08:57 But this guy is fucking undeniable. Yeah, yeah, no, he's not. And I think so, maybe you have to get that good. You have to be that undeniable that like this guy's fucking amazing Oh, wow So I we've I've known him before before he really even started. Oh, wow He was always phenomenal. Why is any computer that's that's classic. Yeah, that's bodybuilder man

Starting point is 01:09:16 Well, he was he was a pro body But yeah, so show him show show me a different photo of him We did a podcast with him. Yeah, go down more a little more a little more System where he wins go down who's his coach? Oh You coach him. Yeah, no shit. So Brandon just so you guys know Brandon Chris Chris Cormier does a lot of stuff this training It was posing. I do is like nutrition everything else. So Brandon has is the guy who's always helped me with my diet and all That's it too. So that's the so I built my online coaching base because I wasn't even thinking to go in that space. What motivated me to go in that space was when I got into competing.

Starting point is 01:09:47 I was like, oh man, there's no good coaches. And some of the biggest name coaches that have huge teams are given the fucking worst shit out. Oh my god. This is easy. This is easy pickings, dude. I'll teach a few people. I'll show some people come up on stage and they'll not only will they look great, but they'll

Starting point is 01:10:03 actually feel okay during their fucking dieting process. They won't feel like a goddamn part. That's something we were going to get more back into, but we've been so busy with everything else to do with the gym that we've just kind of like, we put it to the side. Now, are they getting nice? I don't, the few people that I do coach, I don't charge because I never wanted to do coaching as a profession myself. And it's allowed me to focus just purely on the coaching part of it, because I don't have to worry about marketing myself I don't have to worry about making money doing it and so I I don't want to advertise myself as a coach

Starting point is 01:10:31 I don't I don't want people to hit me up because I tell this just somebody no I just I just helped a girl I just did a girl bikini girl for free like that I'm like don't tell anybody that I'm doing it. I don't need a bunch of DMs. I don't want to do this shit anymore I have no desire to deal with fucking athletes But there's a huge need for it, dude There's a you want to talk about when this you want to about business and And also helping people because there's a huge need right now that some of the biggest fucking teams are led by a bunch of fucking Dush bags giving really bad information

Starting point is 01:10:56 And it's not it's it's so bad. They're fucking metabolism's up dude They're fucking metabolism's up and they're screwing these kids up And so you know, there's a lot of money Be made and there's a lot of people to help at the same time when I like to be a little bit more I don't want to even call it old school But I have a different approach and that whenever I'm coaching somebody like like Brianna I've been working with them now for a few years and the few other people that I coach I try to be more of a mentor like I want to I want them to actually learn

Starting point is 01:11:21 I'm not just gonna tell you what to eat or what to do or this or that like Like I want you to understand it. I want you to be able to translate that onto others. And I tell people I was like, you know, oh, we're going to get to finish this. All right. I smoked half of one of these before Thor Ragnar. I can almost great movie. That's what I was like, I almost fucked that up. I'm trying to get back on the chair. Is it? I just tell everybody that I help them. Just pay it forward.

Starting point is 01:11:51 Whether you're coaching so many charged people for it, just make sure that you're giving them the attention that they deserve that they're paying for. And if you want to help somebody that you're not billing, you're not charging them for it, then pay that forward and tell them to do the same. Because I still think that when it comes down to it, I mean, being a bodybuilding coach

Starting point is 01:12:07 and getting into the science and stuff of this, the academics aren't necessarily studying bodybuilding. No. We're taking studies done in like old diabetics and trying to run into that to bodybuilding. So we need to kind of stay together and if we can do this pay it forward approach, then the whole industry gets smarter.

Starting point is 01:12:20 Are they, are, is the way competitors are using gear, is that starting to progress and change? Because for a while, they've got real kamikaze with like the doses and all that stuff. Are the competitors now a little bit more finesse? And to be honest, I think that, like since the internet age, since the forums started really kind of popping, people started being

Starting point is 01:12:38 a little bit better with their health. Before like, steroids were talked about openly online. I feel like people were a little more like bro science with it And then the doses were a little bit more absurd That said I know people that are doing their first show or their second show on like the local level are taking more gear than some of the guys Yeah, we just talked about that. So like we were just talking about that that you got a little bit of both It really depends on you know, it's funny We just did an episode on this where I'll speculating because we all we're all familiar with insulin resistance

Starting point is 01:13:04 Right when you you know You eat too much you know too much sugar or your diets really bad Whatever you start to develop insulin resistance and eventually it turns into diabetes the body Very likely can develop resistance to pretty much anything it's exposed to too much whether it's cortisol Which we see like an HPA access dysfunction But the other one is testosterone and think about this how many people do you guys know, or competitors, whatever, that take these high doses a year, never go off and just stop responding,

Starting point is 01:13:29 and end up having to take more and more and more gear, what's happening is their body's literally developing a resistance to testosterone, not unlike insulin resistance. And that's, I think, what you see a lot of with these guys that are just not going off the shit, next to you know, they're taking grams of testosterone and they're competing at the amateur. I coached so many amateur bodybuilders, women's bikini, men's physique that came to me from some other coach.

Starting point is 01:13:56 And the very first thing they want to ask me is what, what cycle do I take? Or this is what I'm taking, what else do I need to do? No, I'm good. And I'm like, well, let's actually take all that shit out. Let's figure out how your body responds to food, good programming, and then from there, if you really, because I'm definitely not someone to tell someone, don't do this, don't do that.

Starting point is 01:14:15 Like, if you want to get your body, like, to each their own, right? That's how I feel. But at least let me educate you and help you do this the right way. Like, just stacking on stack. I mean, guys and girls taking over a gram at the amateur level of men's physique.

Starting point is 01:14:28 Like what the fuck? That's crazy. You can, I bumped up to 500 milligrams. My second show because they told me I was too condition small that, okay, I'll get bigger, right? I'll come in that way. They were like, oh my god, you're way too massive. You're like over 15, 20 pounds of show,

Starting point is 01:14:40 off of 500 milligrams, I had to back it off because I was like, Jesus dude, I can't get any bigger because I'm not going to the class. Yeah, I think when we, when you hear about, you know, certain people are saying, oh, I can just take a little bit and get way bigger and this guy has to take more of whatever. A lot of it has to do with receptor density.

Starting point is 01:14:53 The, the, your ability just to respond to testosterone and like I was saying earlier, I think a lot of people just taking so much all the time they're developing a resistance to it. So all they're doing is increasing their side effects. Yeah, you know, just getting one, that was a couple of points I want to make to what you guys are both saying is that like,

Starting point is 01:15:08 the, you know, everybody has a different response to it. So some people on 500 milligrams can get a limpia level. Some people need 1500 milligrams to get the same type of response. But there's a correlation with the dosage of side effects that's kind of the standard for average. Sure. And, you know, there's been side effects that's kind of the standard for average. And there's been jokes about genetics.

Starting point is 01:15:27 We talk genetics, we can talk about muscle shape, the natural set of genetics. But there's genetics for steroids, too. Yeah, there's a genetic response to steroids, but there's also maybe somebody's genetic strength is people that have the ability to abuse the shit out of the gear to get muscle growth without getting the crazy health size. Sure. Because I know a few people that are like that, I don't want to put them on blast, that I've seen them literally take like two grams of test,

Starting point is 01:15:49 1500 milligrams of trend, like crazy of sort of orals, and like literally abusing the shit out of steroids, do blood work and everything's fine. And you're like, no hair loss, no fricking. I've been pushing everything over 300, I start getting all the side effects. Hair starts thinning, I get guy down, I get all the side effects start happening as soon as so everybody's like that

Starting point is 01:16:07 So you have these genetic freaks though that can push these limits on saying is that when we talk about steroids and doses and people like You know the responsible thing to say to start low because some people on low doses can get severe health problems Yeah, side effects on it But at the same time it doesn't mean that there aren't people out there who what I think they take these crazy doses because they only get the positive Effect it's a combination of things too because it's not just the anabolic that there aren't people out there who take these crazy doses because they only get the positive effects of it. It's a combination of things too, because it's not just the antibiotics. It's the lifestyle, the diet, all the incredible amounts of protein, for long, long periods of time.

Starting point is 01:16:34 It's the other recreational drugs that tend to come along with the antibiotics and stuff. Do you guys follow Ben Pukolsky at all? He's a cool guy. He was supposed to come here and do a seminar in the new year Oh, that fucking great guy. Yeah, great. Definitely We so we we were talking to him because what we're seeing you see all these bodybuilders go over to the Middle East and all of a Center's Do you buy

Starting point is 01:16:56 Well like like does he make sense crazy? What are they doing like them? Are they on like? File scan is chicken so he's been there, bro So we got to talk we got to talk about we asked him about it like this has been, he's been there bro. So we got to talk about that. We got to talk about that. Like this has been something that's been on my mind forever. I'm like, okay, what are they on the next gear? What are they messing with to get these good? But they have this whole set up lifestyle for that.

Starting point is 01:17:14 That's what it is. All that is, you live, breathe, eat, shit. That's all you do. All you do is you eat. You live, you take your shit, you take your gear, you go to sleep, and that's not. And the recovery stuff. I mean, they're on the cutting edge of all this that's it's just like it's head bodybuilder heaven

Starting point is 01:17:27 Which is so crazy because like this is the best part about this podcast right now is it like everyone on the internet goes like It's it's anabolic chicken. It's a joke about some fancy drug. That's new a shit But it's what what is it really that they're doing style dude the fucking life Yeah, it's every the actual dedication the hard work to food to sleep Everything and they're forcing you to do it. You know my yes to it Yeah, my favorite part that like we're looking for like the anecdotal proof of it all you know is it like I thought I was just more trend No, no, it's just more

Starting point is 01:17:53 I'll tell you what Ben said and we we actually brought I don't remember the bodybuilders name But it was the one who made the biggest change like he He was a Yeah, and he's before and after look he literally told us and he's like no, he's like he's a perfect example. He's like I've trained with him before. He's like when he went over there, he trained on another level. He's never even seen before and that's and Ben prides himself as being like one of those guys that like just at all the pros. Yeah he outtrins everybody and so with that. So and he's a very intelligent dude. He used to be here at a Venice for a while before he moved. I think it would have floored us. You guys gotta have you guys will love

Starting point is 01:18:24 talking. You're will love talking. You're very open about everything like that. And where he's at in his life right now, and what he's doing is pretty cool. It's very similar to kind of all of our journey where we're just trying to find that more of that balance and optimizing our lives. The same time too, being able to stay aesthetic and fit

Starting point is 01:18:40 and like, how do we figure that out? And we talk about this in the show a lot, that the ultimate goal I think for everybody really is, no matter what your goal is, is to get to a point where you're intuitive eating and you're intuitive training. To a point where you know what your body needs to be where you need it to be,

Starting point is 01:18:55 and you learn to listen to it because our body is telling us signals every fucking day. It's the best coach I'll ever find. You just gotta learn how to listen to it. I tell people that I coach all the time. I was like, look, you need, you need, because I've had people tell me like, look, I don't need to know why,

Starting point is 01:19:09 I'll just tell me how much to eat, tell me how it to take. I was like, no, it doesn't work that way, because I didn't start making true progress with my physique until I could pay attention to what was happening to myself. And then be smart enough with all the shit I read and people I listen to to be able to make decisions to change it, and then look at myself,

Starting point is 01:19:24 and then yeah, is this working, is that working? So the simple thing of just people I listen to, to be able to make decisions to change it, and then look at myself and then, yeah, is this working, is that working? So the simple thing of just telling me what to do, would be like, I can, unless I'm with you 24-7 and even then, I'm still not in your way. You're not connected to it. Yeah, I won't know the best thing for you to do. Like I could bullshit you and tell you,

Starting point is 01:19:37 well, you know, we're gonna lower your calories and this and that, but the second you become, yeah, intuitive, and you're paying attention to yourself, if I could help teach somebody how to do that, then we wrote a group thing for the rest of them. We wrote a guide for this. I think this is the most literally our, the last book that we just released

Starting point is 01:19:50 was helping people through that process. And I'll tell you right now, it's a fucking journey. And then you get to read the book and all of a sudden you know how to intuit a V train. I'm still learning about my body fucking 17 years later of day in, day out, being in the gym. I wanna say something about about this is that this is it hands down the most important thing in like fitness. I think in life, I mean,

Starting point is 01:20:10 it's a general, it's not a general. It's about fitness when we're talking about but it's a very life related to everything idea, which is like over time you have to figure out what works you, what doesn't business, what's working for you, what's not, what do you have to change, what do you need it, it's like, but people, they always want this like, oh, just like you said, just tell me what to you, what doesn't, business, what's working for you, what's not, what do you have to change, what do you need it, it's like, but people, they always want this like, oh, just like you said, just tell me what to do, feed me this thing, let me eat it, and it's gonna work for me, you're like,

Starting point is 01:20:30 and I say eat it, I mean, like, the prescription. Sure. The reality is like, your body, you guys listening, is 100% different, like, everyone responds different to everything. It does, and it takes it another step. It's not just about figuring out what works for your body because there is no formula.

Starting point is 01:20:44 It's figuring out, really, the next step is figuring out how to listen to your body because the human organism is constantly changing. So what I what may work for my body today, which may be a low carbide. I have been here for a completely different body. You know, five years later, all of a sudden, I mean, these foods and I'm like, fuck, my body's not responding anymore. It makes me so happy to know that there are other people in the world that are preaching. This is what this is what this is what to find this is what took mine We we have never marketed or advertised this fucking podcast never no hundred percent organic nobody had any fame No one was could anyone but this message is the right message and it needs to be heard and there's not enough people giving it

Starting point is 01:21:21 Well, this is the truth though. Yeah, yeah, this is the truth. But you know what? There's not a lot of money in the truth. And it's not sexy. It's not sexy. It's not a wise trimmer. It takes a long time. It's going to take a long time. You're probably going to fail a bunch of times. That's exactly it. You're going to have to track a little bigger, you're going to have to learn, you have to pay attention. It's exactly what I'm saying. It's the same thing that you apply to business to anything else in life. It's like you go, you have to deal with it. You have to be willing to go through it to get to wherever you want to go. Like you're going to make mistakes. Everyone is going to make your own personal unique mistakes. It's like you have to deal with it. You have to be willing to go through it to get to wherever you want to go. Like you're gonna make mistakes. Everyone is gonna make your own personal unique mistakes.

Starting point is 01:21:47 It's like you have to keep going though. That's the biggest thing. So to your point then is obviously listening to your body. So go real, I want you to say this thing because I think we'll probably just use this podcast. Just keep rolling. We'll just run on both. To just at least both of you, all three of you.

Starting point is 01:22:04 Say what you think is the best way for someone so they're listening, they can get some knowledge right now. How can they start to listen to their body then? To like to understand that, because it's easy to say it. You're right, right. So what is what, like,

Starting point is 01:22:16 the reason they can be like, so I'll explain a few things. First and foremost, there's in anything you learn, there's four stages of learning. And this, trust me, this all connects. The first stage is unconscious incompetence. So this is the stage a lot of people are,

Starting point is 01:22:31 most of the average people in the world. They don't know the day I've heard of. Oh, with nutrition. They just don't know that they don't know. It's almost like if I ask you about quantum physics or whatever, and that's not, you don't know what you don't know because you know nothing.

Starting point is 01:22:43 Completely. The next stage is conscious incompetence. That's the stage people move in when they finally sit down and say, or whatever, and that's not, you don't know what you don't know because you know nothing. Yeah. Completely. The next stage is conscious incompetence. That's the stage people move in when they finally sit down and say, okay, I want to lose way, I want to get more fit. They start learning things. They go, oh shit, proteins. Bro, science.

Starting point is 01:22:54 This is the bro, science. That's the bad stage. Yeah. I know how many calories in each, okay? Fuck yeah. The third stage is conscious competence. This is where I have to sit here and figure out what I'm going to eat, what I'm going to do. I have to pay attention to everything that I'm doing, which is a great place to be, but it's a place that a lot of people get stuck in.

Starting point is 01:23:10 Or never make it to because there's work there. There's work to be done there. You're gonna have to probably weigh and measure your food a little bit. You're gonna have to probably understand what a protein a carb is. That's the step right there to where the people that are passionate and the people that are Trying to go extra that's where they get separated because passion will get you to that point right? That's where you get to pump where it gets harder. That's where you get I I FOM That's where you get I count my macros every day That's where you get because I'm consciously competent. Yeah, the next stage

Starting point is 01:23:38 This is where you want to get to this is the zone is Unconscious competence. It's like breathing, it's like walking. I know what I need to eat right now. I know what my body needs. I know what my workout should be like. I know my intensity is I'm not driven by hate for my body. I'm not driven by an insecurity. When I go to the gym today, I hate the way I look.

Starting point is 01:23:58 That requires a ton of checking in though. Like as you're going through the process, why you're going through, you have to check back in with yourself. Why did I just fucking do that? Or why did that bother a few? There's a few things that I give people is a few exercises that I before you go there I just want to say something because like what you said right now getting up this point is

Starting point is 01:24:14 I 100% agree with you and I think it's fucking awesome You have a message and even on the podcast you can put it out like that because Whenever I quit after my last show last July I told myself know, it's time for a different chapter of my life I'm gonna move on right I told myself then that a lot of these things that I was doing that would have been like work like bodybuilding work How I eat stuff like that that I was like well, I'm just I'm only gonna eat if I'm hungry and I'm gonna eat But I want if we go to a restaurant, I'm not gonna build my meal anymore I'm gonna just order what's on what's on what sounds good. And it took me probably good six months to break all those habits that I created.

Starting point is 01:24:47 Absolutely. Because I would go and I'd start ordering something like healthy or something that I felt like, oh well I've had quite a few calories today, so maybe I should order something like that. It's because you had conditioned yourself to not listen to your body. And this is actually where every but most people are,

Starting point is 01:24:59 look, I'll tell you what, if I tell people the average person, list 10 breakfast foods, they're gonna list what? Eggs, milk, bacon, 10 dinner foods, 10 lunch foods. Who the breakfast lunch and dinner, who made that shit up? That's all bullshit. There is no breakfast lunch and dinner. Oh, another comment.

Starting point is 01:25:15 And that's me, that's me, that's one stage, how about this? 650 episodes from the eggs. 650 episodes. How about this? That's why everyone who goes, how come you guys can't run a con? There's so much to be fucking said about this. How about this? How about most people in Western developed societies have never felt what true hunger is? This is the fact. Most people have not gone more than

Starting point is 01:25:34 two days without food. Most people haven't gone more than one day without food. This is one of the reasons why fasting is such an effective tool for people. Forget about the health benefits and if you lose weight on it, forget all about all that stuff. It is an effective tool for a lot of people to learn what hunger really is. Especially dudes like us, we're always focused on trying to build all kinds of muscle. We never feel hunger. We never feel hunger. We've been eight times in a day.

Starting point is 01:25:56 How many guys have smashed a fucking burger just to get to that extra 50 or 100 grams of protein because you're under and you're afraid that a pound of muscle is going to fall off you overnight? The body doesn't metabolize muscle that way. It's the last place. It's expensive tissue. Don't you want to go there? It's crazy because like most of my career I guess you'd say is I've always done intermittent fasting without even trying.

Starting point is 01:26:13 I don't eat that much. If you were probably like, man you eat seven. I went, I went just last night I went to this medical place to get some shit checked down. The guy goes, oh man you must eat a ton of food You must eat a ton of food all the time like cuz like I had to take my sheriff They put all these like probes and show me and then he's like Ask him like everybody and that's that's the normal response from everybody

Starting point is 01:26:34 Which is like you must eat all this shit like I've never Never eat it unless I force myself and back in the day You should not be able to even eat food and they would joke about and take pictures of like my I need meals and all this shit. I just never had a real big appetite. So that's those are these are just examples of how we have been conditioned to not when we're kids finish your plate, you know finish all the food, you know, force feed it. So we just don't know how to listen to the signal. So one of the first things you can do to get yourself there is start tracking. You need to start tracking just so you can become conscious of what's going on. Pay attention to becoming aware around your meals. And what I mean by that is no distractions, sit down, eat your food, don't drink water while you eat your food

Starting point is 01:27:17 because when you drink water, you don't need to chew as much as you present. Put the food away, so you gotta chew the fuck out of it and you gotta taste it, swallow it, take notes. And this sounds like a pain in the ass, it's just one of the steps, right? How you feel afterwards, right? How you feel before, all that stuff.

Starting point is 01:27:30 And what people start to find when they start to do this is they start to make connections to certain things. So I'll give you an example. I have an online client who, you know, she tells me all for the last four years, I feel bloated around 10 pm, I can't figure out, or 10 am, I can't figure out what's going on, I just get this bloat. And so I'm looking at at our food and I'm already thinking it's probably the bagel

Starting point is 01:27:48 You have in the morning, so I ask her say well, what about your breakfast? You have a bagel and I'm like so no I've been eating that for years like that's that's definitely not it. I've been having that for 10 years Oh, that's not what's causing it so I said that's not a problem because it's not my job to make that connection for it It's her job, right? So I'm having your keep track and have her keep track. And over time she starts to say, you know what, I'm noticing that it's literally an hour after I eat my bagel, I wonder if it's the bagel. Now here's the cool thing about it. She's made that connection, she keeps eating the bagel.

Starting point is 01:28:16 Why? Because people are connected to the food. You tell someone to take something out of their diet because they're really good. They're good. I love bagels, I just want to make that. But she started connecting bloat, the uncomfortable feeling with the bagel,

Starting point is 01:28:28 and what do you think starts to happen? She stopped craving that bagel. She doesn't want to eat anymore. Not because she thinks she can't, but because she's connecting it to, so you're going out this has some like, like some conscience like. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:28:39 But this is like, you're gonna understand what he said. And I always had to stop him on the show when we go this point. It takes a long time. Yet, to me, I don't even like us talking to the like, we're talking black belt shit, bro. You're talking understand what he said. I always had to stop him on the show when we go this point. It takes a long time. Yet to me, I don't even like us talking to the, like we're talking black belt shit, bro. You're talking about like,

Starting point is 01:28:48 we're still working on that shit, right? You know what I'm saying? Like that's still working on that. Yeah, we're all still working on that shit. Now keep this in mind. I didn't, but there's steps in that shit. This is not breakthrough. The food industry's been doing this for decades.

Starting point is 01:28:58 For decades, the food industry has been doing this to you. When you go to the movie, actually, I'm asking you this, where do you crave popcorn the most at the movies? Why? Because I've already made that this to you. When you go to the movie, actually, I'm asking you this, where do you crave popcorn the most at the movies? Why? Because they've already made that connection for you. The food industry's been doing this for decades. You can do this to yourself. So that same, that same client that I had, that same female client, she's also tracking, and I'm telling her,

Starting point is 01:29:16 she should probably try eating more vegetables, hates vegetables. She starts eating more. She starts to notice, I feel good when I eat vegetables. And then she wants to eat the vegetables. Next thing you know, she starts to crave those vegetables so that's just an example tracking paying attention to your food playing with your macros or coffee or effort of what you're doing over and then over time as you start to you start to implement what are what I call intuitive days where now I want you to go on these days well I want you to eat whatever you feel and at first

Starting point is 01:29:40 it looks like a cheat day because people I on track track any whatever But slowly over time it turns into I Meeting the right things, but here's the other the other kick. I think there's bigger levels that you can hit I that you can address first before you even get there I think people like when they when they fuck what was it just gonna tell you? I just had a stoner moment I know you're like popcorn What people It's the way they can do first is first actually I would I would teach if the younger generation that's listen to us right now is to back off

Starting point is 01:30:35 The crazy beast mode training all the time because to me I think there's your body sitting you signal Listen to your body, yeah, yeah, and so you can't you don't need to have an opportunity to Listen to or pay attention to what your food is trying to respond to your body because your body and your CNS is so fried from seven days a week, no days off, beast mode all the time, that you're missing signals from that all. Well, it's just so funny because like everybody's had that moment, they've like, that rear or something, or your stomach hurts and they're like, there's no connection there to what you ate or. Well, when I was a kid, I wanted to put on muscle and I bought heavy weight gainer 900. Do you guys remember that

Starting point is 01:31:05 No, heavyweight you I'm 38 okay, I bought heavyweight gainer 28 so I'm pretty sure that was just like Jim Chauquist and flavor So I would get diarrhea every fucking time. Yeah, but I taking some like this gonna make me big Diarrhea makes you lose weight No pain no gain. Yeah, so but what I was gonna say is when you start to listen to your body It's not that you're gonna eat the perfect things all the time or do the right things. It's the right things for whatever you need. And what I mean by that is,

Starting point is 01:31:31 we're hanging around, right? We're making connections, all buddies hanging out. This may be a good time to have a glass of wine, have a burger, because what's feeding us isn't necessarily the food to our physical body, but maybe we're feeding friendship, connection, maybe we're feeding creativity. Maybe I'm gonna smoke a joint, might not be the best thing for my body, but maybe we're feeding friendship, connection, maybe we're feeding creativity. Maybe I'm going to smoke a joint.

Starting point is 01:31:46 It might not be the best thing for my body, but maybe that's going to help me with my creativity. So as you're starting to listen to these signals, you do get to a point where things become more intuitive. Now, can you be a body builder? Totally listen to your body? Of course not, because it's extreme. However, when you know your body, you know how to manipulate these things, and then you

Starting point is 01:32:03 can really maximize your performance. Now if you want to be extreme, you can be extreme, but also understand your body, you know how to manipulate these things, and then you can really maximize your performance. Now, if you want to be extreme, you can be extreme, but also understand your body and be the best. That's how I do it. So, you guys have a book. I'll go on to that. And to, yeah, I then to an nutrition guy. I'm gonna get your book.

Starting point is 01:32:15 All right, it's just a guy. It's a guy she wrote. I got you half off, no. Yeah. You, my coupon card. You, my coupon card. If you, my, we'll send you guys access to everything. So you guys could dig through all the shit in your DM. No problem. But, you know, this could not come. I could not come. I could not come.

Starting point is 01:32:25 I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come.

Starting point is 01:32:33 I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come.

Starting point is 01:32:41 I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could not come. I could at least become aware of what and then I'm and this I'm a big I I know there's this huge debate about wearables and shit right like how accurate That doesn't fucking matter what they're great about is they give you great feedback on your movement because the average person has no Fucking clue of their patterns and I'll tell you right now. I don't know how many times every time I put the damn thing on I get surprised that oh shit I thought I was moving a lot more than I was and most people are making the worst decisions on the days

Starting point is 01:33:10 They most certainly shouldn't do it and the days that they probably could have enjoyed that glass of wine or done some things They could have just shifted that around their life talking about just activity right Just just understanding that like that track that stuff and pay attention to it I want to make it a point to say that, because there's some people that are probably listening and going like, oh, well, I don't care what like beginners should do, right? Is it tracking data? Is not something just for beginners. Every time I would hit like a plateau or I'd fail

Starting point is 01:33:34 and I'd start to lose my shicks and like, why the fuck can I get past this? The first thing I do is go back and just start recording every possible thing I can think. So you can see what's going on? Exactly, yeah, absolutely. Because you get to the point where you're like, you're making progress, you get lazy. You don't track everything. And this is true. And don't track everything and this is It's a made it fucking so easy now. I mean you don't even finish typing the food. It pop up you're lazy

Starting point is 01:33:50 He's asked now back when I was right like this all long Looking up a book I prefer I preferred the no pad like that works for me I mean I did I did well because you love this shit. Yeah, you know I'm saying you love the process But I you know however you're gonna track whether it's a half or whether it's going to literally hand really like, whatever works for you, however you want to track. Tracking data is important. And you know, with training, you know, it's funny. I did a post the other day that got a lot of controversy.

Starting point is 01:34:14 I titled it Cardio Sucks for Fat Loss, and of course, everybody got pissed off. But it's the same thing with training. Like, pay attention to the signals that you're sending your body. And the reason why I wrote that topic was cardio burns calories, but it also sends the signal for your body to become efficient. Clickbait, bro. That's a good clickbait. And it worked, but it's true.

Starting point is 01:34:34 What signal? We're not the wrong with it. Yeah, but what signal are you sending your body when you're doing a lot of cardio? Become efficient with calories. AKA slow down your metabolism. And then look, you've been in gyms a long time, what's a cardio bunny look like?

Starting point is 01:34:47 Is he come in to do an hour, two hour cardio? Every day in and every day in and every day. They're flabby, skinny fat, right? They've taught their body to become very efficient with calories, and again, with training, people are not paying attention to the signals that they're sending the body. They just think hard work equals results.

Starting point is 01:35:02 It doesn't. The right work equals results. And it's about the signal that you send your body. It's more about being woke than it is about like, fuck. Fuck yeah. Come on bro. So we were put.

Starting point is 01:35:13 So that woke. So our first program that we wrote, it's our first program that we wrote was Maps and a Balkan. It was one that Sal created before we all got together and it's our foundational program and really the magic behind it besides the trigger sessions,

Starting point is 01:35:28 which we'll get to that in a second. The, it's just full body workouts for the average gym goer because we figured 90% of the people that are coming in here aren't like us, you know, we're the one percent, right? And everybody else, we're on, we're off, we're off. So teaching them even the right movements that they should be focusing on when they're just

Starting point is 01:35:46 getting started, I mean, that was why the program took off. So well, it's basically just a full body routine. I wanna make a point real quick to, because all the normal people, right? I, you know, we're not on off, like, I've been on and off lately, like, I've been this, like, I haven't been myself. So I just wanna say that like,

Starting point is 01:36:01 if you're one of those people, it's okay. It's okay, just get back on it. Because I just want to make that point. Because when you say it, it sounded just a little like... So let's touch on that first set. Let's touch that first set because this is something that I think is important. Because I think that... I don't think you're on or you're off. I think that it's okay for you to feed other parts of your life.

Starting point is 01:36:20 It's not always about the way you look. So you may be off on your finish right now, but what do you want? You might be working the podcast right now, and that might be taking you to a whole no part of your life that's actually more. Or you may be growing differently. Yes, you know what I mean?

Starting point is 01:36:33 And it's the first time my life that I've ever really started to experience that, like, the growing pain of, like, the gym, what the fuck? Like I've been missing. And it's like a double edged sword for me, because like, it has helped me do other things about the same time. I noticed that like the gym has always been the thing that would like kept me kind of like

Starting point is 01:36:50 focused center, kept me like, you know, release energy that may be excess or anger or whatever. And I, so I noticed that moving forward though, as I start to accomplish other things, that I have, I seem to have like my old like I would get, I used to get more anxiety before I really, really got into training. So now it's like, now it's like, it comes back on most, like the anxiety comes back because I'm not as consistent with the training.

Starting point is 01:37:15 It could be part of it, it could be looking a lot different things, the body constantly changes. Gut health is a big one when it comes to that. That's a massive one. I mean, we've had the opportunity to talk with some of the most brilliant doctors and scientists in this field. And if you look right now, we all know about the obesity epidemic, the health epidemic. There's also

Starting point is 01:37:31 a what they're calling a mental health epidemic that's going on right now anxiety by the way has become now the number one most diagnosed ailment that people are having and its growth its growth has been exponential. Right alongside the obesity epidemic because they're closely connected, but it's not the obesity, there's other stuff that's going on. Autoimmune diseases are on the rise, like crazy. I mean, when I was a kid, I don't know, any kids with peanut allergies or any other kind of food allergy. Now in my kid's school, there's entire classrooms that are allergen free. I mean, it's incredible. Something else is going on. A lot of these doctors and scientists that we're talking to

Starting point is 01:38:06 are saying it has to do with the breakdown of the gut. It has to do with what's called hyperpermeability of the gut to cause to allow, because your gut really is, it's a tube running from your mouth to your ass. That's not inside your body. It's a tube that goes through. So whatever goes in there is not in your body

Starting point is 01:38:22 until it gets absorbed. And when you break down that wall, which is happening with everything from, you know, you know, some of the glyphosates that are found on GMO type food. So glyphosates are herbicides. Artificial sweeteners can do this with the gut microbiome. Yeah, it's funny when you bring up like a, like herbicides, pesticides, and the stuff like that that are on food. When you look at what they're designed to do, some of the bugs, some of them are literally to make them like their guts explode. Yeah. And I wonder why it might be effective here. Why are people having similar spots?

Starting point is 01:38:50 Well, so what happens is your gut lining starts to break down. Now, the food that you've always eaten goes through when it's not supposed to. Your body recognizes it as a foreign invader develops antibodies to it. All of a sudden, you got food intolerances. All of a sudden, fuck, I used to eat bread all the time, and I can't eat bread no more. Or I used to have milk all the time, I can't have milk no more. Eggs fuck me up now. And some of the other side effects include

Starting point is 01:39:11 things like depression, anxiety, which are the first and most common symptoms of some of that breakdown. So one of the best ways to heal some of that is to start to heal your gut. And I can send you guys some people that we work with. Dr. Ruscio is an expert, by the way. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis back in 2009, 2010.

Starting point is 01:39:30 It's something that I had to battle. And I've learned how your asshole is still connected to the rest of your body. And if you don't take care of it, like it's the rest of yourself is going to suffer. I mean, I noticed that here's something like any methylated or highly estrogenic steroid, trigger to clot is flare for me.

Starting point is 01:39:49 And I think it's due to estrogen clearance through the gut, as well as increased estrogen from those drugs. For some reason the end of the estrogen in the gut triggers like a flare in some way. And so I don't want to get too deep onto that science of it because I'm not an expert, I just was nerd reading it. Whoa, we're back. We're back. And so I don't want to get too deep onto that science of it, because I'm not an expert, I just was nerd reading it. Whoa, we're back. We're back. And crazy. You know, so I'd like to call it like hormones. Hormones are going to affect, you know, your gut health. Like they absolutely do, but it's also weird as fuck. So the bodybuilding lifestyle is actually terrible

Starting point is 01:40:26 for gut health. For a few different reasons. One is, one of the things that we're taught as bodybuilders is to consume a lot of food, especially post workout, and especially the harder the workout is. One of the things that it very intense exercise does is it ramps up inflammation, and it wraps up inflammation in the gut.

Starting point is 01:40:41 This is why if you push yourself really, really hard, you wanna throw up, right? But then we force feed ourselves afterwards. Bad combination. Also the consumption of supplements is the highest among people who want to build muscle. Supplements contain large amounts of artificial sweeteners and other things that just over time destroy the microbiome. So you combine those two things. Just overly processed feeding. Frequent feedings inflammatory. This is why fasting seems to heal the gut because it gives it a break, but you're constantly feeding it.

Starting point is 01:41:08 So you combine all these things you do it over the course of five, 10, 15 years. And I'll tell you what, you cannot find me one person who has not been lifting or bodybuilding for over 15 years that doesn't have gut problems. Almost every single one of us, something wrong, unless they're actively doing stuff about the gut. So when you talk to people like Dr. McColl and stuff, these guys believe that the next

Starting point is 01:41:28 big where we're going to hear is protein. He actually said to us on the show that he believes that protein can be as or more dangerous. The next test carbohydrate. They're finding just the way that it signals cancer cells to grow and that it's pro-aging. But one of the remedies to that, and this is good, this is good we're talking about this because we have a lot of private guys.

Starting point is 01:41:49 Well, who lift the one to build, right? One of the remedies to that is to occasionally go low protein, occasionally throw in a low protein day. Now the flip side of that is, you'll probably end up building more muscle. Cause some studies are showing now that by doing that, you increase protein sensitivity. Just like anything else, the body can become desensitized and stops responding. So you go like, you have like a vegan

Starting point is 01:42:08 day every once in a while, then when you go back to your high protein. This is why CrossFit was so amazing. It's like, you just do a bunch of random shit. What next day you do a bunch of muscle-confusing? Oh, shh. What am I doing? Have you ever noticed when you- Sorry, I was great. Such an open, that was perfect. Have you ever noticed when you look into ever noticed when you look into you know Nutrition and like what's good or bad for you whenever like you're on that

Starting point is 01:42:33 I'm sorry. Sorry. Um, is it you find out that you're like Food is bad for you like calories bad for you like that Everything is causing wear and tear is some some degree and so I think like what Jack Elaine said a long time ago is like eat fewer calories and he was kind of he didn't call it intermittent fasting but he was on a fasting thing and he was he didn't even have that much science to back his opinions but he felt like the Bigger you were and the more food you consume the faster you would die the faster you would ate this is true for You know car bar hyd carbohydrates and proteins in particular,

Starting point is 01:43:05 they do cause this kind of aging effect. The human body evolved with periods of fasting. For most of human civilization or on earth, we food was scarce. So the human body actually thrives with periods of no food. Now, this is not ideal necessarily for muscle building or whatever, it is ideal for longevity. However, if you're smart and you want to build lots of muscle

Starting point is 01:43:28 and you know how to inject it into your routine, like the occasional fast. By the way, you know what fasting is amazing when you're bulking? No shit, like you're bulking eating a shit ton of calories, throwing a day where you have like one meal or no meal. I'm literally done with my entire life. I used to do it on purpose to my competitors. Just to teach him some shit and fuck with them. Yes, you can fast.

Starting point is 01:43:48 Yes, we're gonna be in my whole career. It's a whole career. I'm done this just because I tell my fucking. And it worked. I mean shit. I used to, I mean, you're not, I mean, it's not that obvious, Brad. I mean, what's that?

Starting point is 01:44:00 I mean, what's that obvious? Because it's like, did it work? You're like, fuck yeah, dude. Whoa, no, I mean, what the fuck? I'm a brick shit-o. Yeah, the whole shit work. I'm a fuck out. I'm not, do I have to post down right now?

Starting point is 01:44:11 No, but it's like, I mean, I'm just based on everything, right? Like people would say, like I said earlier, people think automatically you must see the thousand meals, you eat all this food, and I never have. I've never been that way. So that's, I'm not saying like, I'm fucking amazing, but like, people look at me and they fucking,

Starting point is 01:44:25 they're like, it's fucking video, this guy's doing this. I'll tell you what they want to do. I'll tell you what, man, if you optimize, I was talking with you, by the way. Yeah. If you want to hit a nerve. If you optimize the human body,

Starting point is 01:44:36 it can do some pretty fucking amazing things. Once you learn how to optimize it, and then you can push it in different directions and you're not fighting it. Because if you're fighting the human body, and you're constantly, you know, people think like, I have to force muscle to grow. I have to force you.

Starting point is 01:44:48 You ain't forcing shit. Your body wants to. It's adapting. If you are fighting your body, at some point, you're going to lose. It's going to push back. You will never, you will never win long term. I would definitely say, yeah, within this last, getting ready for the last meat, I probably ate the least and, you know, trained.

Starting point is 01:45:03 I mean, part of it was my coach, you know trained. I mean, Part of it was my coach, you know picking things like RP and stuff like that. You know picking a scale of what I'm ready for that day based off of like how I feel, you know what I mean? But I've I made some of the best progress recovered the best and Eight the bell and it was literally like, you know, just like oh if I feel like eating this this morning, I'm gonna eat this It would I would have it. You know things that I knew oh, if I feel like eating this this morning, I'm gonna eat this. It would, I would have it, you know, things that I knew I was gonna digest, things like, for me, I digest beef pretty easy. I grew up in a Mexican household eating like, you know,

Starting point is 01:45:33 hooves and stuff like that. You know, I'm gonna eat menu, though. You know, menu, though, and stuff like that. There's hooves in there, you know? I'm gonna take care of that. I mean, I can digest certain things I think easier than like certain people, but, you know, it's like IUD beef You know, I'd eat like a bagel and a protein shake for breakfast or eggs if I felt like it

Starting point is 01:45:50 But just it was three big meals and then randomly, you know, I always wake up randomly in the middle of the night Like four or five in the morning. And there's like I'll have like some Greek yogurt. I'll run to the fridge He like one or two things and then go back to bed and I would go right back to bed. You know what I mean? and I had an awesome meat and recovered well and you know, but I wasn't before it was like, oh, I gotta eat this many times a day and You know to the gills of protein and I was well, you know, I think to yourself this is who there's obviously there's a message That's out there. That's the the bro science or the common knowledge that you need a shit ton of protein And you need you need a shit ton of protein and you need to eat a lot of meals all day every day.

Starting point is 01:46:27 Who benefits from that message? Yeah, the companies. Of course. Because the only way to hit those numbers and eat eight meals a day and eat two or three, there's a have a shake and two bars. Yeah, what is always how to do? Yeah, what's the name, Dr. Antigra? Antigra.

Starting point is 01:46:40 You know, uh, yeah, promoting two grams, three grams of protein per pound of body uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh I had a bunch of interesting stuff happen when I had to deal with the colitis and bodybuilding like I say it's the best and worst thing that happened to me because worst than that it did severely limit a lot of stuff I could do. It took way a lot of tools, right? And I think you should get more jacked. And I think you should get more jacked. Well yeah, that's because of that, right? That's actually true. So like, I had to focus on healing myself and trying to fix and live with the colitis

Starting point is 01:47:20 that I had to completely look at. I had to be more intuitive with my nutrition. I learned so much more about bodybuilding, trying to fix that. I wanna know how you dealt with the change of your physique like that. That had to take some serious mental self-awareness, too. It didn't bother me that bad.

Starting point is 01:47:40 For two reasons, one, I was shitting blood and feeling like shit. So I kinda, I was like, I don't give a fuck how I look. I just don't want to shit blood anymore. You know, it was that bad for you that you're not even thinking about your body image at all. You're just like, I don't know. Man, when you, when your body speaking to you, if you ignore it long enough, it'll start screaming at you. Yeah. Well, so, and then the second reason was that I, I have a weird relationship, I guess, with that. Like, you know, I, I was a skinny guy, but I never wanted to get jacked because I felt like I wanted to show everybody that I like, I guess, with that. I was a skinny guy, but I never wanted to get jacked

Starting point is 01:48:05 because I felt like I wanted to show everybody that. I started training because I'd be just an angry teenager, parents divorced, whatever. And so I was connected to the emotional aspect there. But after that, when I got into bodybuilding, when I started training, using weights for more than just sport, it was a science experiment and like a work ethic thing. I was infatuated with steroids and nutrition and supplements

Starting point is 01:48:30 and I wanted to try things and experiment them and look at what happened. So I never really even wanted to show off anything, like to regular society. I only wanted to talk to other like body billionaires and like, you know, talk to them about the physique. So it wasn't that big of a... When I got like even smaller now other like bodybuilding nerds and like you know talk to them about the physics So wasn't that been I got like even small now like I don't care like it never I guess I never related that to you find anyone to talk to them really curious. There's not a lot. There's not a lot of bodybuilding nerds

Starting point is 01:48:54 No It's not a lot out there. I mean, I found a couple here. Yeah, these these were guys that were like that you know that One of the one of the worst things I can have that that happens to people in fitness is that they identify so strongly with their body that any change that happens to it is is devastating. And it becomes this obsession, you know, and at the end of the day, you all get old, you know, I mean, you we're going to get old anyway, like don't identify. You are not your body.

Starting point is 01:49:21 You know, people say I'm fat, you know, you're not fat, your body has fat on it, but you are not fat. You're the, whatever's inside that body. And so, once you learn that, it becomes a lot easier to train and eat right and whatever. It's not this crazy obsession, not this crazy like, you know, taking over my life or I have to feel, I have to do it otherwise. I don't feel good about myself or whatever. And then you do it because you love it.

Starting point is 01:49:41 It's totally different experience. Completely different. And I was there too, man, with my with my training, because you're young kids. Also, I was kind of happy that I had the cladness happen because I don't think I was ever that in tune with myself until I was forced to. Like, I would log my calories, log my food and stuff, but I never went to the next level until that happened

Starting point is 01:50:00 because I had to use things like fasting. I was even using extra-genus growth hormone to try and heal the ulcers that I had. Well, going through fast, well, learning about not only probiotics in general, but every single strain of probiotics and what it does and what we think it can do, different herbal anti-inflammatory supplements,

Starting point is 01:50:17 different food pairings to help the food digest better. And get to a point where I'm like, okay, well, I don't think I could blast food like I used to, so I need to make sure that I can digest and absorb every single nutrient, every single calorie and like perfect that. So like if I can't eat 5,000 calories a day, I can only eat 3,000 because of my gut. I need to make that 3,000 go to work, right?

Starting point is 01:50:35 And then when I would be healthy and I battled, you know, I'd have flares come and strip 20 or 30 pounds of muscle off me, I have to fight for it back up. That when I was 100% healthy, like the year 2014, when I won those shows, I was healthy almost the whole year, and I used all those tools, as well as I became a better bodybuilder. It did, yeah, so it's like the best and worst than the half in me that I had.

Starting point is 01:50:56 That's well, at the end of the day, when you encounter challenges in life, and you had yours and Brad, you were talking about yours, when you encounter challenges, and I just went through a divorce, I was about 15 years, very difficult time, having to split custody with the kids and all that stuff, at the end of the day, you have to remind yourself

Starting point is 01:51:11 that growth only happens from being uncomfortable. It never happens when you're in a comfortable space, there's no reason for you to change and grow. It only happens when you're met with extreme challenge. And if you look back at those challenging moments, as hard as they are to look at, you can also think of how much you changed and grew from those moments and how they made you who you are today. And if you keep that growth mentality about you, you'll always grow in 60.

Starting point is 01:51:36 I agree. And I had a conversation the other day with a friend of mine who she had experienced loss. And I was talking to her about like my loss and her initial thing was like if I could Basically Change everything like if I could be in the place where that Thing was right where that person was like imagine experienced loss and you're like if I can go where they are and not be here I would be here right and and I heard that I was like that It's sad because I remember moments in my life when I used to not necessarily think like that, but be like with my father, for example. Very like this whole why, why.

Starting point is 01:52:12 And feeling like just everything was shit, nothing felt good, nothing, it was like I was constantly focused on like the negative part of something, like the uncomfortableness. And then like Flash 4, like it became a driving force for me. And then Flash 4, like now, so I would say 18, it became it became a driving force for me and then flash forward like now so I say 18 it became a very strong driving force for me. I was like okay, let me use this to better my life. And then now now 10 more years 28 I see it as being like it's what fills me up is like the fact that I dealt with something the trying time the challenge I got through it and it's what's made me who I am to the people ever because most people I would say if they've gotten like They like my stuff beyond the I

Starting point is 01:52:49 Guess I I guess I want to say like most people who who have bought into my brand are the people who are maybe not because Oh, he did really cool shit But because like I affected them somehow with like an interview that was about life, right? So meaning I got full circle from like this moment and I was trying to I was trying to explain to her that like from the shitty trying time the challenge I got to this moment where okay for a long time that would say 8 8 9 8 yeah 8 years I didn't know what I was it was just shitty life almost like felt like it started after that and then for a long time It became a like a movement thing that something that pushed me for and now it's like oh shit That's the thing that's fulfilling me was Was, and it was because of that challenge,

Starting point is 01:53:26 because of that thing that I went through or got through. So I was trying to explain to her that was like, it's always hard in the beginning to figure out like, why you have to deal with it. And so just not to get super, super deep because I always tend to do that. To get back to the idea of like, fitness is like, exactly what, what I wanna say.

Starting point is 01:53:41 I wanna ask you something on that topic. Yeah, where you're at. I wanna ask you personally, like, where are you having the most personal growth in your own life? Now? Right now, yeah, at this current moment, in your life, what are you working through?

Starting point is 01:53:52 What are the challenges? Where are you growing? I'm trying to figure out how to do more normal shit. What do you mean by that? I get so caught up and I've been so caught up for the years in this whole Instagram and creating content and like doing this stuff. And yeah, it just got to a point,

Starting point is 01:54:10 like I wanna say a few months ago, probably about actually was in January. It was in January when everyone on the internet decided that they wanted to try and talk shit about me and make up lies, okay? And I got to a point where I was like, why the fuck am I doing this? I know what my heart feels and I know how much good

Starting point is 01:54:25 I want for people. Fuck. Shit. Oh, I hope we have a fuck, Brian. I remember during this time, because I would tell them, you know, like during January and stuff, I would see like these things

Starting point is 01:54:42 and then I would watch his following or whatever come down, you know, and then I would, but I would see these things and then I would watch his following or whatever come down. You know, and then I would, but I would just reach out and be like, you're good, like this is, there's nothing like we know the people know that are close to you, and that's really all that matters. You know what I mean?

Starting point is 01:54:57 And you know, and he was like, no, you know, it'll be, like, I'm sick of it, you know. Do you ever think what a monster you've kind of created for yourself? It's like, you've built this, you've built this beautiful thing. It just got me, it just got me like, man, like, I really felt like I only had good intentions. And I got, and people were just like, fuck you on some shit that wasn't true. And I had to deal with that. And, and so that, that started me on this path this past year of like, man, like, I've

Starting point is 01:55:22 always known why I'm doing this, but like, let me, let me look at this even further. And what really matters, that's why you mentioned like, like I've always known why I'm doing this, but like let me look at this even further and what really matters. That's why you mentioned like, it's my starting to change what I'm doing because I'm just like, fuck it, because like I realize, starting the podcast was perfect for that. You can't make everybody happy. And for a long time, I like that's what I tried to do. So in my family situation, like my mom,

Starting point is 01:55:41 we had step family, we had, and I noticed her relationship with them when she's great now, but when they were younger, it was very like a negative thing. It was like a negative thing, like you're a dis kid, you're like this, and I was always the kid of like, yo, you gotta like, those kids are gonna hate you when they grow up, because you're mean to them, and I was like a fucking six, seven, eight year old kid

Starting point is 01:55:57 saying this shit to my mom, right? And, and then like, I've always had moments of like, man, just, just be right. So going full, like full, I don't know how to like, full circle would be like, everyone's saying that I was wrong, but knowing what it was, and you couldn't tell people, you couldn't show people, it didn't matter, because it was just like,

Starting point is 01:56:15 on the internet, it's gotta be true. I got very just like, fuck this, but it got me in a moment where I was like, what really matters now then, right? And what really matters, like for me to do, what I wanna do, and I just realized like, I really matters now then, right? And what really matters, like, for me to do what I wanna do, and I just realized like, I have to, and I think everyone has to do a better job of this, is like, instead of like looking out and like, trying to like, I don't know,

Starting point is 01:56:34 I was trying to make everything right for everyone, and I realized like, I couldn't, if I'm not right, I can't make things right for people, so I got very like demotivated internally, so that it was like, externally, I wasn't able to be the person that everyone felt like I was, and I was very like demotivated internally so that it was like externally. I wasn't able to be the person that everyone felt like I was. And I was just like, fuck, like people would tell me that they'd be like, you know, you're not yourself.

Starting point is 01:56:52 You're like, you're like, I'm more negative for this or that. And that's not who I am because I was going through it. But like, now I'm starting to realize like, fuck it. Like you can't make everybody happy. You can't please everybody. You can't get everyone on your same page, but you can do what makes you happy. And if people can get along and come along for that ride

Starting point is 01:57:10 and want to, then let them. And I used to try and like I said, I'd wanna make everybody like me. But I realize it's not possible, like just in life. No, and that's what true integrity is. That's what real integrity is. Real integrity is I'm just gonna be me. And that's it. And if you like me, you're great if you don't then that's okay, too. Yeah, you have that you have that joy

Starting point is 01:57:28 I mean when we first started the show we had this nerve wreck I remember getting our first haters who would say things about us and at first it hurts because you know What you know you know what your intentions are you know what you're trying to do and you'll you want to tell these people like What the fuck wrong with you man? I'm just trying to help. I'm just trying to do what's right But then you start to think to yourself like doesn't matter like I'm just gonna be I'm gonna be who I am because Because when it when I got popular I didn't care about anything else but just being who I am You know, I'm saying like because because it was a whole there's a whole there's a whole popular this whole transition of like No one knew who the fuck I was and I was just doing shit that I loved and shit that made me happy

Starting point is 01:58:04 Being who I was and then all of a sudden people are like that guys cool and this I was and I was just doing shit that I loved and shit that made me happy, being who I was. And then all of a sudden people are like, that guy's cool and this internet thing and I, yeah, you could post these pictures and you know people are gonna think it's cool and you're doing it, but like, it was just that's who I was. And then eventually it was like, man, that guy's popular now,

Starting point is 01:58:16 but that guy's famous or whatever they say on social media, like social media of Instagram famous. And it's like, and I look back when I started it, it wasn't like, it wasn't like, I wasn't trying to make people happy. I was just trying to be like, I'm doing the shit that I have always done and I think it's cool.

Starting point is 01:58:30 Like even how we got into all this to gym stuff in general. And then, and then it like, you get to this point where like, you find yourself, you see a calm, you're like, fuck, why is it like, what? Like, you know, I just got to a point where I'm like, fuck man, I gotta get back to when you was when I started. When you become a real ninja in this, right? And I talked about this on the show on teaching people

Starting point is 01:58:49 how to become more self-aware is when shit's, when I have, those are triggers, right? We just got done interviewing Lewis House. Lewis House just dropped a book called. A mask of the masks of masculinity. Fucking definitely. So you dad just performed the topic we're talking about right now.

Starting point is 01:59:04 But why was I going that direction? I wanted to share with them the... Hey, iters, I don't know. No, no, no, with the wear in the mask and being able to see that when you have these moments, yeah, when you have these moments that where you feel like anger or hurt or pissed off and in South Sharon, when I remember when it happened to me

Starting point is 01:59:21 when we were first starting, the real ninja part is being able to stop right there and fuck the other person is, why do I allow that to make me feel a strong way? What I've heard is driven from an insecurity always. Always, if you can dig unpack it enough and figure it out, it's always rooted somewhere. It's become invincible.

Starting point is 01:59:39 But it's crazy because I started out not like that. Like that developed because of the whole Instagram. You probably started to identify with it, right? Yeah, you know, it's like this thing. So then if anyone like tried to like take it down, it was like, whoa, what the fuck? It was, it was, it's so, it's because when I read it,

Starting point is 01:59:53 to the point where you block people, you don't even fucking, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, fuck, the asshole's trying to dick right? That was before any of this shit. That was like, it wasn't there. And then, so it's like, it's just interesting because then I look back, I'm like, well, the person I was that got me there to that point was the person who was like, fuck it. I'm just gonna be me. So he talks about that.

Starting point is 02:00:15 When you're your mask, it's so hard and why it's a mask is because most of us that wear this, we had a lot of success or else we wouldn't be wearing it. It was what drove us. Like, my insecurity to be a bigger guy is part of what made me successful, what took had a lot of success or else we wouldn't be wearing it. It was what drove us. Like, my insecurity to be a bigger guy is part of what made me successful,

Starting point is 02:00:28 what took me to all the way to the level, to the professional level of competing is because that was already an easy hot button for me. Fuck, I've been competing against myself. My whole life, I don't wanna be the skinny guy. I never, you know, I didn't go in a cut till I was 30 years old. My whole life, I've been on the bulk.

Starting point is 02:00:42 My whole life, I've been on the bulk. Right, I was always wanting to be bigger. And I didn't literally mean I was always bulking but I was always wanting to grow. There's never once did I say I'm gonna intentionally go on a diet for six weeks. I spent my whole like first 30 years like that man. It's fucking crazy. Yeah and so you it's the problem is when you start to identify and that's one of the issues with and with even social media. As you grow your business to social media, you're not that either.

Starting point is 02:01:09 Just like I said, don't identify with your body. You identify with your social media, then you become vulnerable. And there's going to be people to come after you, especially if you're big. You're at the top, you're going to be the target, right? You're going to be the guy because you're the guy with the most followers. People are going to come after you. Well, it's going to you identify with that with who you with who you are on that social media Yeah, reality that's not you this is you right this person. We're talking right now as I meet you And then but there the thing is though you a lot of who I wasn't internet who I am in the internet is a part of me though a part of you

Starting point is 02:01:38 But it's not but it's not it's not everything. No, they don't know you as my point like who do they they don't know you They know your posts or whatever and again. You're the top guy you're not point. Like, who do they, they don't know you, they know your posts or whatever. And again, you're the top guy, you're not anybody to, I'm sure if they met you and they knew you, they probably wouldn't say those types of things. So that's really the point. And especially when you grow a business on social media, I'll tell you what, man, it could be a motherfucker. It could be very, very difficult for people.

Starting point is 02:01:58 But at the end of it, you also have a platform where you can share your message. You gotta ask yourself this too. You gotta ask yourself this. And I'm sure you already have, is maybe these challenges you're going through are kind of like school. Because now you have a platform where you could talk to others. And that's what I was saying about the whole losing my father thing

Starting point is 02:02:15 and me talking to that girl about wanting to be in that place instead of this was like, but that's why I'm here today. So at this point in my life I'm saying, so there must be something that I'm learning as well as be learning from those dates back in January Until now that's gonna make me better in the future. Well, I'll tell you what man if that didn't happen You wouldn't start a podcast and you wouldn't met us. Yeah We actually have to fucking wrap up because we have to be somewhere we gotta do this again, dude

Starting point is 02:02:40 Yeah, I was fun. I guys are awesome and I am blocked you now I didn't know you guys had to come up and visit we got a mission We got a whole media facility. We could do a whole bunch of video We're here to Saturday. We're up. I don't know may 15 20 minutes from here Maybe we'll come back over here get a workout. I had a lot of fun like seriously. Thank you guys Thanks for inviting me down. It was it was like it was I was scheduling it was kind of fucked up But I'm glad we sorted it out appreciate it it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Appreciate you guys have us here. Yeah, you guys are awesome. Yeah, we're not guys. Good time.

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Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 651: Bradley Martyn Instagram & YouTube Star with Co-Hosts Mason Cervantes and Brandon Gerdes of the Culture Cast Podcast

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