back to index

Chris Duffin: The Mad Scientist of Strength | Lex Fridman Podcast #207


small model | large model

link |
00:00:00.000
The following is a conversation with Chris Duffin, the mad scientist of strength.
link |
00:00:05.600
He's one of the strongest people in the world, but is also an engineer of some of the most
link |
00:00:10.900
innovative strength equipment I've ever seen.
link |
00:00:13.880
Check out his company Kabuki Strength.
link |
00:00:16.680
He is the only person who squatted and deadlifted 1000 pounds for multiple reps, and achieved
link |
00:00:22.800
many other amazing feats of strength.
link |
00:00:25.000
He has lived one hell of a life of hardship and triumph, as he writes about in his book
link |
00:00:30.440
called The Eagle and the Dragon.
link |
00:00:33.640
Quick mention of our sponsors, Headspace, Magic Spoon, Sun Basket, and Ladder.
link |
00:00:39.840
Check them out in the description to support this podcast.
link |
00:00:43.540
As a side note, let me say that I was always a fan of strength, both powerlifting and Olympic
link |
00:00:48.980
weightlifting, both as a fan and practitioner.
link |
00:00:53.680
Basically I'm a fan of people who are willing to put in years of hard work towards finding
link |
00:00:58.040
out what the limits of their body is, and then smashing past those limits.
link |
00:01:03.240
People like Chris Duffin, or on the Olympic weightlifting side, people like Dmitri Klokov.
link |
00:01:10.200
That guy is great.
link |
00:01:11.600
This is why I love watching the Olympics, both the heartbreaks and the triumphs.
link |
00:01:15.920
They all reveal the incredible heights that the human mind and the human body can reach.
link |
00:01:22.080
This is the Lex Friedman podcast, and here is my conversation with Chris Duffin.
link |
00:01:28.360
You've been a part of several incredible feats of strength.
link |
00:01:33.260
Which was the hardest, or maybe one you're most proud of?
link |
00:01:37.700
Definitely the one I'm most proud of is that journey for the grand goals.
link |
00:01:42.640
It was like a five year scope that I chased this.
link |
00:01:45.440
And so when you think about training, it took more than five years, obviously.
link |
00:01:49.360
By that point, I'd been training for over 25 years.
link |
00:01:53.280
But it makes me proud.
link |
00:01:54.280
I mean, there were three distinct things that I wanted to accomplish out of this.
link |
00:01:57.880
So it was really thought out.
link |
00:02:00.280
And this was kind of my exit from being a competitive lifter.
link |
00:02:06.680
And basically saying, hey, I'm going to be an Instagram lifter, an exhibition lifter,
link |
00:02:11.800
or whatever.
link |
00:02:12.800
I've done this for 16 years, I was number one in the world for like eight years straight,
link |
00:02:17.680
all time world records.
link |
00:02:18.680
And I'm like, I'm not going to do that anymore.
link |
00:02:20.240
What I want to do is just something deep down to me that is really important.
link |
00:02:25.640
And there's three things that were driving this.
link |
00:02:27.960
And this is a five year journey that I went through to do this.
link |
00:02:31.520
I really wanted to showcase that you could do something that is well beyond the scope
link |
00:02:37.720
of what people think is humanly possible.
link |
00:02:40.000
So just this inspiration thing, this grand over the top, like if you set your mind to
link |
00:02:47.360
a single minded goal, you can go so much further.
link |
00:02:50.700
And I didn't even say what the goal was upfront, because it was so far out there, I would have
link |
00:02:54.760
been laughed at.
link |
00:02:55.760
And that's, I think big goals should be kept pretty damn close to start with for that reason
link |
00:03:01.000
too.
link |
00:03:02.000
But and then the second piece was to walk the walk to show like the principles of what
link |
00:03:07.200
I believed in around human movement, the ability to manage and control the spinal mechanics
link |
00:03:13.120
and the output that can have on the body.
link |
00:03:15.320
And so I wanted to take the two most basic movements that every able bodied person should
link |
00:03:19.780
be able to do.
link |
00:03:20.780
So fundamental movement patterns, the squat, which is like, in the developmental approach
link |
00:03:26.000
is around nine months as a baby from a developmental kinesiology standpoint, and a really basic
link |
00:03:32.400
pattern that every able bodied person should be able to master the other one being the
link |
00:03:35.560
hip hinge, being able to pick something up off the ground, a deadlift.
link |
00:03:40.840
And I wanted to do those two, not just one, because I wanted to show the principles that
link |
00:03:46.260
I wasn't built for one, I wasn't a specialist because of my lever links, torso links, all
link |
00:03:55.120
that, any outliers, because nobody had ever done a thousand pound squat.
link |
00:04:01.660
So this is it is and a thousand pound deadlift.
link |
00:04:05.800
It was outside of the scope of what anybody's there's like half a dozen people that have
link |
00:04:10.560
done one or the other, but nobody's ever done both.
link |
00:04:14.320
And I wanted to do something unique.
link |
00:04:15.800
I wanted to do them, not only do it, but do them for reps to leave literally no question
link |
00:04:21.960
out there.
link |
00:04:22.960
And there's no competition for that.
link |
00:04:24.960
So it was this is what I'm going to go do.
link |
00:04:28.200
And to pull it off, I had some past issues with my elbows and stuff that I couldn't work
link |
00:04:32.560
around.
link |
00:04:33.560
So I had to wear straps, which was another reason I couldn't do it in the competition
link |
00:04:37.560
setting.
link |
00:04:39.080
So the first year I worked up and I did a thousand and two pound deadlift plates were
link |
00:04:43.920
weighed afterwards.
link |
00:04:44.920
It was a couple a little bit over and I did it for almost three reps.
link |
00:04:49.720
And that still stands as a Guinness world record.
link |
00:04:52.000
Just the one rep does is the most weight ever sumo deadlifted.
link |
00:04:56.480
And one other person has deadlifted a thousand for reps at this point.
link |
00:04:59.440
And that was a Thor Bjornsson from Game of Thrones.
link |
00:05:02.520
He's done a thousand for a double as well.
link |
00:05:04.160
So then the next four years and I did a bunch of feats of strength on the way, but it was
link |
00:05:08.840
all about building that axial loading capacity, the strength that because now I'm moving the
link |
00:05:14.200
weight from my hands up to my shoulders.
link |
00:05:16.660
And so to do it for reps is like so much harder than a single like five to 10 seconds versus
link |
00:05:22.880
30 plus seconds to be able to buffer and manage all that with that kind of load is just crazy.
link |
00:05:30.560
So it's literally about the duration that your body is carrying the load.
link |
00:05:34.880
Yeah, that's a big part of it.
link |
00:05:36.560
Yeah, because you have to you're using the resource of the diaphragm for stabilization.
link |
00:05:41.680
And so it it's also responsible for respiration and all this other stuff.
link |
00:05:45.160
So even when you're not squatting, you've got to be handling those loads.
link |
00:05:48.360
Just holding that weight is fascinating.
link |
00:05:50.640
It's like it's fascinating that the human body can do that, can can maintain that structure,
link |
00:05:57.240
just everything working together, that the biology, the skeletal structure, the the musculature
link |
00:06:02.840
on top of that can hold the weight.
link |
00:06:05.120
It's fascinating to watch.
link |
00:06:06.500
Everything is very intentful about positioning and how you're creating pressure and all this
link |
00:06:11.720
sort of stuff, especially for me.
link |
00:06:12.980
So when I mentioned that half a dozen people have squatted it and half a dozen people have
link |
00:06:16.400
deadlifted it.
link |
00:06:17.400
You understand those people all weigh three hundred and eighty to four hundred and forty
link |
00:06:20.040
pounds.
link |
00:06:21.040
I weighed to sixty five to two eighty five, depending on where I was between the two.
link |
00:06:26.080
So there's that as well.
link |
00:06:27.440
Right.
link |
00:06:28.440
So big, big difference.
link |
00:06:30.080
And over the course of that, I did a lot of other feats of strength that fit in that capacity.
link |
00:06:35.760
And we can skip over those.
link |
00:06:37.000
But that was hugely invested as far as, you know, what I put into being able to accomplish
link |
00:06:43.520
that, because it's it's over the top, which means the other stuff had to shift and I had
link |
00:06:47.800
to learn.
link |
00:06:49.440
There's so many things that came into place to pull that off.
link |
00:06:52.460
And so, yeah, last March, two days before the world shut down, I did it.
link |
00:06:56.600
It was supposed to be at the largest equipment exhibition in the world down in San Diego
link |
00:07:02.000
as an event.
link |
00:07:03.140
And that got shut down a week beforehand, obviously.
link |
00:07:05.200
So we moved to let's do it in my gym and invite people.
link |
00:07:08.380
And that was on a Saturday and Thursday or Friday, they limited it to twenty five people
link |
00:07:11.960
for gatherings.
link |
00:07:12.960
I did it on Saturday and then Monday, everything shut down.
link |
00:07:17.400
So it was kind of surreal for timing wise.
link |
00:07:20.600
Right.
link |
00:07:21.600
And so if I hadn't done it, it would have never got done like because I I'd pushed to
link |
00:07:25.760
the limit.
link |
00:07:26.760
I couldn't come back and do it.
link |
00:07:27.800
It was at the total limitation of my capabilities.
link |
00:07:30.300
So I'm pretty I'm pretty proud of it.
link |
00:07:32.200
And the last piece was a every one of these feats along the way.
link |
00:07:36.360
I collaborated with a charity that I believed in.
link |
00:07:39.560
And there was a lot of those tied to my life story, which we probably will get into.
link |
00:07:45.280
So it was threefold.
link |
00:07:46.920
So that inspiration piece, inspiration, motivation, walking the walk and showing like just these
link |
00:07:55.240
methodologies that a guy that had to learn to walk again can do something like this with
link |
00:07:59.480
no back pain.
link |
00:08:00.480
So if you if you there is a way.
link |
00:08:03.360
And the third one is is to provide awareness and recognition around a lot of key charities.
link |
00:08:09.800
So so your heart was in this journey, but also your mind is just you're like a scholar
link |
00:08:14.680
of strength, a scientist of strength, an engineer of strength for reps do a thousand pounds
link |
00:08:20.360
squat and deadlift.
link |
00:08:23.240
Let's first talk through the actual day you did it.
link |
00:08:27.520
What does it take to lift that much for reps?
link |
00:08:32.720
The day of is really easy.
link |
00:08:37.040
The really the lift itself.
link |
00:08:40.040
Other than a few seconds is really easy and not challenging.
link |
00:08:44.120
People always ask me, what was it like?
link |
00:08:46.240
How beat up were you after that?
link |
00:08:47.640
And the deadlift.
link |
00:08:48.640
And the simple fact is, it was easy.
link |
00:08:51.260
The work to get there was horrendous.
link |
00:08:55.600
So so even the psychology of the day you weren't there was not a fear.
link |
00:09:00.200
There was not a nervousness.
link |
00:09:01.640
There is not a doubt in your mind.
link |
00:09:03.760
There were certainly doubts on that day from some training history.
link |
00:09:07.800
So there was some major breaks to my confidence in the couple months leading up where I had
link |
00:09:14.040
issues with passing out under the bar.
link |
00:09:17.700
So completely losing consciousness.
link |
00:09:19.480
And this was on weight less than a thousand pounds even.
link |
00:09:22.660
So that was like all this buildup in me going, what if what if I think I have this resolved?
link |
00:09:31.680
But what if I get up there and I can't even do a rep?
link |
00:09:34.880
How embarrassing will this be that I've been talking about this and planning for this for
link |
00:09:38.580
so long?
link |
00:09:41.040
But outside of that, I knew I could do it.
link |
00:09:43.680
In fact, I wanted to do even more even up to the second rep.
link |
00:09:48.160
Training is about, you know, working into a fatigue state.
link |
00:09:52.600
So you're building an amount of fatigue in your system.
link |
00:09:58.180
And then when you let off of it, that's when you get a compensation.
link |
00:10:00.920
And that's how you stairstep training.
link |
00:10:02.280
This is periodization.
link |
00:10:03.520
But leading into a big event, you're accumulating this massive amount of fatigue.
link |
00:10:08.300
And so I was performing at a level that I could do it.
link |
00:10:11.720
And so I knew I was going to be able to on me because then you then you give yourself
link |
00:10:15.780
that window to be able to recover and supercompensate and be able to do a little bit more.
link |
00:10:21.480
So like that first rep when I did it strengthwise, I went, I could do this for five reps like
link |
00:10:26.920
it went through my head.
link |
00:10:27.920
I'm like feeling I mean, it was easy and it was fast and it felt like amazing.
link |
00:10:32.560
And I'm like, I'm going to crush this.
link |
00:10:34.640
And then set rep to the realization kicked in as like, oh, this is for reps with a thousand
link |
00:10:40.160
pounds on your back.
link |
00:10:41.720
And you're fatiguing just like and then the third one was every last thing I could muster
link |
00:10:47.760
to just finish.
link |
00:10:48.760
I mean, I just barely got it done because it's the strength is like there.
link |
00:10:53.240
But like that capacity to be able to manage all those resources for that amount of time
link |
00:10:58.640
because not just leg strength when we're talking about this stuff.
link |
00:11:01.080
So what does it take to go from the from I don't know what like from five hundred to
link |
00:11:07.600
a thousand?
link |
00:11:09.320
That feels like a journey that's like exponential.
link |
00:11:12.920
It's it gets exponentially harder.
link |
00:11:15.680
It does.
link |
00:11:16.680
In the early 2000s, like I said, I started lifting in 1988.
link |
00:11:19.960
But my first meet in the early 2000s, my my max deadlift was five twenty three and my
link |
00:11:25.840
first squat was five hundred and fifty.
link |
00:11:28.560
So that's the heck of a journey.
link |
00:11:31.320
It is a journey for people that like to lift.
link |
00:11:35.320
What should they understand about the difference between doing five hundred and a thousand in
link |
00:11:40.160
terms of the actual lift that you were experiencing that day in terms of the mechanics, in terms
link |
00:11:44.600
of all the things you have to be like the neurological adaptation?
link |
00:11:47.920
You mentioned the breathing, the core strength, like techniques, like little tricks, psychological
link |
00:11:55.680
tricks, anything that kind of stands out to you.
link |
00:11:58.760
The level of intent and the opportunity for error are at a different level.
link |
00:12:04.700
So just the minutest changes of position by quarter inch, half inch can be make or break
link |
00:12:12.200
at that level.
link |
00:12:13.200
So these things, everything gets amplified.
link |
00:12:15.760
So the ability to start with having the pelvis just in the right orientation to the diaphragm
link |
00:12:21.240
before we start initiating what we call the the eccentric loading of the abdominal cavity
link |
00:12:27.960
to create this intra abdominal pressure of working against this outward expansion, working
link |
00:12:32.840
against the outer sheath of abdominal thoracolumbar musculature obliques, causing the co contraction
link |
00:12:40.140
at the pelvic floor, all this stuff and how you cue that because you can't think about
link |
00:12:44.320
all this stuff.
link |
00:12:45.320
You need to break it down and distill and practice to like it's one simple cue that
link |
00:12:49.200
we now lock down and control this torso stability because this is what these fundamental movements
link |
00:12:56.480
are about, is being able to control our spinal mechanics and then now be able to maintain
link |
00:13:02.480
that while articulating the joints around that through a range of motion and then using
link |
00:13:09.920
the main power drivers.
link |
00:13:11.800
So in this instance, both instances, it's the, you know, the hip complex to generate
link |
00:13:17.060
that power and transfer it from how we're rooted and connected to the floor through
link |
00:13:21.640
to the distal end, you know, which would be the barbell on the shoulder.
link |
00:13:25.920
You know, there's a couple key concepts.
link |
00:13:28.000
So one is that what we just talked through is how to actually maintain that stability.
link |
00:13:32.260
So if you have either the diaphragm, so which is connected at the rib cage.
link |
00:13:37.360
So out of alignment in any position, it needs to be in alignment with the pelvic, the pelvis.
link |
00:13:44.120
So those two in opposition.
link |
00:13:45.380
So this is simple engineering here because what we're going to do is eccentrically load
link |
00:13:50.680
this.
link |
00:13:51.680
We're going to use the diaphragm just like you would in a diaphragm pump where it's going
link |
00:13:54.520
to press down on all the tissue in there.
link |
00:13:57.220
So we're not using breath.
link |
00:13:58.960
So our breath was actually a lot of times a default pattern when people do that because
link |
00:14:02.280
they'll bring it into their chest and raise their rib cage.
link |
00:14:06.900
So what we want to do is just initiate the diaphragm air can be used as well over the
link |
00:14:11.680
top at the final to create just a little bit more downward pressure.
link |
00:14:15.800
But if we have out of alignment there, we have a pressure leak where it's going to be
link |
00:14:22.320
push out the front or the rear if you're either inflection or extension.
link |
00:14:25.960
All right.
link |
00:14:27.240
And then that causes this co contraction and all this pressure of the organs essentially
link |
00:14:32.920
against outward against all those tissue for the co contraction as well as surrounding
link |
00:14:37.040
the spine to be able to stabilize that.
link |
00:14:39.400
And then it puts all the muscles on both sides of the body in what we call the best length
link |
00:14:45.440
tension relationship.
link |
00:14:47.240
So if you think about a curl and we reach our arm out at the extended length, our bicep
link |
00:14:52.380
is not as strong and then all the way in the curl position, it's not in strong.
link |
00:14:56.280
There's somewhere in here that's this control of both.
link |
00:14:59.160
And so when you're sitting there arched or bent over, we have muscles that are past either
link |
00:15:05.280
one of those ranges.
link |
00:15:06.320
So they've got a lot of tension, which then will create relaxation on the other side.
link |
00:15:09.800
Right.
link |
00:15:10.800
So we want to have an all of that needs to be working.
link |
00:15:12.960
And now the next important thing is the foot.
link |
00:15:16.660
So it's actually this connection to the ground and how we're actually using the foot and
link |
00:15:21.780
ankle complex to grab and grip this connection to the ground and elicit an effect.
link |
00:15:29.240
And because of this and then the everything between will naturally kind of do what it
link |
00:15:33.880
needs to do.
link |
00:15:35.200
So people like to focus on it, knee position or how far out their hips are or all this
link |
00:15:40.740
other stuff, which is outputs of this.
link |
00:15:44.360
So if we control the torso and the knee, the only thing that can happen from that point
link |
00:15:49.280
is for the squat to happen.
link |
00:15:52.400
All right.
link |
00:15:54.040
So this allows us to use this massive, you know, the hip complex for all the muscles
link |
00:15:59.900
around that that are built to drive through hip extension to complete the squat.
link |
00:16:04.880
I did actually miss one thing in there.
link |
00:16:06.920
So this torso people often miss the lat is a spinal stabilizer as well.
link |
00:16:11.660
So that's key in controlling function at the the T.L. Junction, which is just above the
link |
00:16:17.640
lumbar spine.
link |
00:16:18.840
So kind of right opposite where your sternum is and you'll see people kind of roll over
link |
00:16:22.440
sometimes like an Olympic squad or something like that, where they lose position.
link |
00:16:26.120
And that's often because they're close grip because you can't engage the lats very well
link |
00:16:29.600
that way and they're pushing up in the bar.
link |
00:16:31.600
But you want to be able to drive and pull the bar to your center.
link |
00:16:34.960
And that's going to create and use the lats now to drive and connect the shoulder into
link |
00:16:40.040
this.
link |
00:16:41.040
We're kind of compressing and tightening all this stuff towards that center to create that
link |
00:16:44.900
entire torso stability.
link |
00:16:46.400
So I was using torso stability, not just core stability in my conversation earlier.
link |
00:16:52.040
Torsus.
link |
00:16:53.040
OK, so there's all these like modules of the body then connected to the grounding with
link |
00:16:59.480
like your feet on the ground.
link |
00:17:02.400
Everything you're speaking to.
link |
00:17:04.560
How do you work each of those modules?
link |
00:17:06.440
Is this over time you kind of develop the feel that ultimately boils down to this one
link |
00:17:11.240
simple cue that you mentioned?
link |
00:17:13.080
Or do you can you like literally study each particular module in yourself and see how
link |
00:17:18.280
it affects the lift?
link |
00:17:20.160
So the best way and I believe it's because I hate just like people getting out and just
link |
00:17:23.920
doing just movement stuff and not actually adding load because we only adapt when there's
link |
00:17:29.880
load.
link |
00:17:30.880
Maybe we can get some, you know, some proprioception or awareness of position and other stuff,
link |
00:17:34.560
doing some some corrective patterns and other stuff.
link |
00:17:38.640
But this is basic physiology is that there must be an imposed demand for us to have adaptation.
link |
00:17:46.040
And this is mental.
link |
00:17:47.040
This is emotional.
link |
00:17:48.040
This is all these areas.
link |
00:17:50.880
But and people miss that.
link |
00:17:52.680
So I prefer to be able to look at a person and this is our methodology and do the assessment
link |
00:17:59.080
in any basic loaded movement.
link |
00:18:01.280
So with developing an eye for that, you can actually see and go, OK, we've got a fault
link |
00:18:05.780
pattern right here in the foot and use a cue or a set of cues.
link |
00:18:09.600
Doesn't really matter till we find the one that works and bring that.
link |
00:18:12.200
And now we know we want to simplify this stuff.
link |
00:18:14.320
I just walk through.
link |
00:18:15.320
That sounds really complicated.
link |
00:18:16.320
And it it is if we try to break down and distill it all.
link |
00:18:18.600
But like, let's just find the basic stuff that gets us in the range, start working and
link |
00:18:22.800
then find the next as we add load.
link |
00:18:25.120
Now we find where's our next area that we're starting to fault that and then go there again
link |
00:18:29.640
next.
link |
00:18:30.640
So this is what we do, what we teach in our educational platform.
link |
00:18:32.840
So we are the only I believe everybody wants to do a lot of these like assessments, you
link |
00:18:39.280
know, on a bench, on a table body.
link |
00:18:41.440
And it's like, no, let's let's go squat.
link |
00:18:42.940
Let's go deadlift.
link |
00:18:43.940
If you do strongman and it's a yoke carry, let's yoke carry because these are basic human
link |
00:18:47.200
fundamentals.
link |
00:18:48.200
It's not powerlifting like this is how we function.
link |
00:18:50.960
This is why we we work with 29 of the 30 major league baseball teams and 90 percent of all
link |
00:18:56.900
professional sports out there in North America.
link |
00:18:59.560
Sorry, although we do some work with Tour de France and other stuff as well.
link |
00:19:03.360
And North America, I do mean hockey, too.
link |
00:19:06.760
But these principles like, you know, if if the Dodgers won't bring us in, they're not
link |
00:19:11.280
learning how to power lift.
link |
00:19:14.520
You know, we're going to obviously will probably be do we do a little bit more shoulder focus
link |
00:19:19.120
than hip focus with their athletes or their coaches.
link |
00:19:22.280
We're usually working with the coaches, not the athletes.
link |
00:19:23.720
And so you help them.
link |
00:19:25.120
And then the same thing on yourself to understand the role that these different muscle groups
link |
00:19:29.380
have.
link |
00:19:30.380
Yes.
link |
00:19:31.380
On the holistic.
link |
00:19:32.380
Yeah.
link |
00:19:33.380
So it's all about getting the joints in the appropriate position so that we can do that.
link |
00:19:37.840
We can manage load so that we're not putting undue stress on the joint.
link |
00:19:40.800
We're getting the proper link tension.
link |
00:19:42.100
We're getting these basic fundamental things with the body.
link |
00:19:44.500
And so the the largest global impact that you will have is through spinal mechanics.
link |
00:19:50.560
I can't look at a shoulder if I'm not managing this because it's your spine.
link |
00:19:55.160
So for those who are just listening, like I'm arching and then and then flexing, that's
link |
00:20:00.160
going to affect shoulder extension, flexion, all these sorts of things.
link |
00:20:03.080
So it could even affect things down of what's looking at dorsiflexion issues on the foot.
link |
00:20:08.280
And then that's why I go to the foot next, because it has the second largest global impact.
link |
00:20:12.920
And then from there, now I'm going to look at the big energy drivers, which is the hip
link |
00:20:15.960
complex, shoulder complex.
link |
00:20:18.000
And then we can start looking at kind of the peripheral things.
link |
00:20:21.120
But usually that's some sort of output of the other.
link |
00:20:23.080
But the knees, the elbows, the things like that.
link |
00:20:26.400
So it's all about getting the stack, which affects neurology.
link |
00:20:30.620
So let's talk in engineering terms.
link |
00:20:33.420
You get in a car, modern car today, and a lot of them will have this traction control
link |
00:20:36.840
button in there.
link |
00:20:37.840
And there's a big misconception that, you know, I'm out and it's it's snowy or here
link |
00:20:42.540
in Austin, only rainy.
link |
00:20:43.540
Well, it probably doesn't rain much, but you're going around a corner, start slipping.
link |
00:20:46.880
It's like, oh, it's going to send the powers from the wheels that are slipping to the ones
link |
00:20:49.360
that are gripping and keep me from crashing and dying a fiery death.
link |
00:20:53.640
Well, that's not how it works.
link |
00:20:55.680
It's the exact same.
link |
00:20:56.960
We've got we've got the we've got the tires, which are our foot, you know, the connection
link |
00:21:01.480
to the ground.
link |
00:21:02.480
Right.
link |
00:21:03.480
We've got the power driver, which is, you know, the the engine, the transmission delivering,
link |
00:21:08.880
you know, the power through it.
link |
00:21:10.560
And we've got the stability or suspension.
link |
00:21:13.200
And then we have the neurology.
link |
00:21:16.480
And what the neurology is doing, it's sensing that we don't have good stability or loss
link |
00:21:22.840
of connection somewhere.
link |
00:21:24.640
And so I need to save you from crashing and hurting yourself.
link |
00:21:27.940
And so it goes to the engine and says, let's retard the timing.
link |
00:21:31.560
Let's reduce the shift patterns.
link |
00:21:32.980
And we're just reducing the power output.
link |
00:21:35.720
And that's straight how the human body works.
link |
00:21:38.160
So when I do this stuff, it's actually affecting that.
link |
00:21:41.600
I mean, I can take somebody and do some minute changes with the neck position at the thoracic
link |
00:21:45.880
outlet.
link |
00:21:46.880
OK, and immediately see an enhancement in power output.
link |
00:21:51.280
And I can measure it.
link |
00:21:52.280
We measure this stuff with velocity devices and see like a 10 percent jump.
link |
00:21:58.100
And so think about that.
link |
00:21:59.840
What about all your training through the years where you actually had additional capacity?
link |
00:22:05.780
But you weren't using it because your traction control was on.
link |
00:22:09.820
Now you figure this out stuff and now you start stacking it.
link |
00:22:12.120
Now you can see so much greater.
link |
00:22:14.260
So it's not just injury prevention.
link |
00:22:17.780
This is performance and additive performance over time.
link |
00:22:22.780
This is huge.
link |
00:22:23.780
And people don't really think about this stuff.
link |
00:22:26.280
But we can turn that stuff off, which is actually going to also, again, make us make us safer.
link |
00:22:31.360
But what we want to do is the performance tuned race car.
link |
00:22:33.520
Do they have a traction control button?
link |
00:22:35.880
No, they got some amazing tires to grip the ground, a performance tuned suspension, and
link |
00:22:41.440
that driver is going to put what his foot to the metal.
link |
00:22:43.920
He's going to put it to the floor.
link |
00:22:46.200
OK, that's a performance vehicle.
link |
00:22:49.000
That's what we want to be.
link |
00:22:50.000
I want to continue on that line.
link |
00:22:52.280
But first I have to ask, like, how did it feel to accomplish the grand goal?
link |
00:22:56.120
Oh, my God.
link |
00:22:57.120
OK, when you just stand back.
link |
00:22:59.440
Oh, my thousand pounds for reps.
link |
00:23:02.400
What it feel like?
link |
00:23:04.200
Anybody can go watch the video online.
link |
00:23:06.400
It's well filmed, by the way.
link |
00:23:09.840
Got me all like excited.
link |
00:23:11.320
Oh, well, the movies.
link |
00:23:13.280
So we actually have the final footage of that, the good footage not posted yet.
link |
00:23:17.340
So it's literally just an Instagram video or a phone video right now.
link |
00:23:20.760
The only one online.
link |
00:23:21.760
Yeah.
link |
00:23:22.760
It's on your YouTube channel.
link |
00:23:23.760
It's dramatic.
link |
00:23:24.760
Yes, it is.
link |
00:23:25.760
Yeah.
link |
00:23:26.760
Came out just time to the music perfectly, too, which is I listened to some odd music,
link |
00:23:30.280
which there's some reason behind that.
link |
00:23:31.880
OK, but I liked it, though.
link |
00:23:34.320
It was great.
link |
00:23:35.320
You're saying there's full length footage.
link |
00:23:37.880
There's a documentary that's it's got a little slowed because of covid, because it's also
link |
00:23:41.920
a backstory of the eagle and the dragon.
link |
00:23:44.400
My book about why I do kind of the things that I've done in my life or that's what I'm
link |
00:23:49.880
assuming the director is working on.
link |
00:23:51.080
I don't really have the control of the movie, right?
link |
00:23:54.800
But but OK, but the video's OK.
link |
00:23:58.560
How did it feel?
link |
00:23:59.560
How did it feel?
link |
00:24:00.560
I started crying.
link |
00:24:01.600
It was overwhelming to have worked so intensely and so long and hard at something that pushed
link |
00:24:10.400
every ounce of me to the limit that and and I did it.
link |
00:24:15.200
I'm sorry.
link |
00:24:16.200
I'm getting a little emotional.
link |
00:24:17.200
I did exactly what I said I was going to fucking do like and it was it was overpowering.
link |
00:24:23.920
I mean, I was just crying uncontrollably just with a mixture of I.
link |
00:24:31.720
I don't know what the mixture of emotions is hard to explain because it was the completion
link |
00:24:39.840
of something.
link |
00:24:40.840
It was a new phase of my life.
link |
00:24:41.840
I mean, there's so many things here.
link |
00:24:45.240
So when you set an impossible goal and you accomplished it, one, two is like on the broader
link |
00:24:50.640
humanity aspect, like how many humans in this world accomplish perfection in a particular
link |
00:24:58.280
direction required to do this?
link |
00:25:01.280
So like you're basically representing like one little like like little glimmer of excellence
link |
00:25:09.240
of the human spirit.
link |
00:25:10.920
There's always more.
link |
00:25:12.360
So understand this is a basic fundamental.
link |
00:25:16.800
You can always do better.
link |
00:25:18.240
There is no such thing as perfection.
link |
00:25:20.080
You could always there is always more.
link |
00:25:23.160
So anytime you reach something, any amazing workout or accomplishment in life, could you
link |
00:25:28.000
have put more into it?
link |
00:25:29.080
Could you?
link |
00:25:30.080
Yes.
link |
00:25:31.080
But here's the thing.
link |
00:25:33.560
I left on my terms.
link |
00:25:37.040
I said, this is it.
link |
00:25:38.680
I'm going to work towards I've been training for 30 years.
link |
00:25:42.040
I'm going to do this thing that is like I couldn't even say that I was going to do it
link |
00:25:45.920
years before.
link |
00:25:48.280
I'm going to do it and then I'm done.
link |
00:25:51.560
I didn't leave from an injury.
link |
00:25:53.120
I wasn't forced.
link |
00:25:54.120
I wasn't.
link |
00:25:55.880
I left on.
link |
00:25:56.880
I did exactly what I said.
link |
00:25:58.080
I went to a level that I.
link |
00:26:02.000
I left on my terms and that's unique because that's usually not the case.
link |
00:26:07.400
Sometimes you kind of either taper out or it doesn't matter.
link |
00:26:10.120
I'm talking like anything in life in general, right?
link |
00:26:12.840
Like you taper out, you fail, you hurt, like you lose.
link |
00:26:17.560
Like something, you know, you roll into retirement.
link |
00:26:22.200
You accomplish something truly great and you walked away on your own terms.
link |
00:26:25.840
Is there a sadness completing something like that?
link |
00:26:30.440
Because it's in one perspective, the greatest thing you'll ever do.
link |
00:26:37.360
And like when you accomplish such a great height, in some sense, you have to face your
link |
00:26:42.320
mortality at that point.
link |
00:26:44.480
So good question, but it is certainly not the greatest thing that I'll ever do.
link |
00:26:49.560
The greatest physical street I'll ever do.
link |
00:26:51.880
The greatest physical street, yes.
link |
00:26:55.160
But that was an expression of some of my values and the way that I want to live.
link |
00:27:01.280
It was a way of expressing it.
link |
00:27:03.360
So understanding that is hugely fundamental because we do see so many athletes get to
link |
00:27:11.200
the end of a career and then they fall into a depressive state and struggle with drugs,
link |
00:27:17.440
alcohol, depression, and so on because they lost how they identified themselves and trying
link |
00:27:23.560
to figure out where to turn, what to do.
link |
00:27:25.320
But a big central component of their identity is lost.
link |
00:27:29.460
So I knew that this was one way to express that and my grand goals have shifted.
link |
00:27:38.640
They're shifted to other outlets that allow me to express that.
link |
00:27:41.880
Like my companies, Kabuki Strength, I'm going to change the face of fitness as well as all
link |
00:27:48.560
the way through with its integration with clinical medicine and telemedicine.
link |
00:27:52.480
And I got another five years before even people see what I'm working on, five years in right
link |
00:27:56.400
now because I had to invent equipment, I have to develop methodologies that we're talking
link |
00:28:00.280
about.
link |
00:28:01.280
I had to do this stuff that ground layer wasn't done to create a cohesive ecosystem of training
link |
00:28:06.800
methodology tied to the tools that we're using today, to the environment, tied to the clinical
link |
00:28:10.800
practice assessment, tied to the interaction between all those and how that actually needs
link |
00:28:16.380
to be reframed because so much of this is broken.
link |
00:28:21.280
But there is sadness.
link |
00:28:24.640
I won't deny that.
link |
00:28:26.560
And the sadness comes in the singularity of focus that I had at that time, the being in
link |
00:28:35.760
the process.
link |
00:28:36.760
Not necessarily doing it, but like having being in this place that the rest of the world
link |
00:28:42.280
kind of fell away from me in those final phases to have something so intense, to have a team
link |
00:28:47.400
around me so focused on supporting and like it took me a couple of months after that squad.
link |
00:28:52.840
But I finally one day I woke up and I was like, oh, welcome back to the world.
link |
00:28:59.680
Like I was in such a mental fog.
link |
00:29:02.200
Like I was, it took me a while to climb out of that.
link |
00:29:06.040
But that space, that level of intensity and drive and living and being in that space,
link |
00:29:14.140
I do miss that.
link |
00:29:15.760
But I also, I can't continue that.
link |
00:29:17.520
I couldn't continue.
link |
00:29:18.520
Like there's a point of like, you push it so hard, the level to try to go from there
link |
00:29:23.840
is not acceptable for what you, the impacts that'll have on your life or how you want
link |
00:29:27.540
to live.
link |
00:29:28.540
And it was taking away those final, like I had to do extreme things and live in an extreme
link |
00:29:32.920
way to get there.
link |
00:29:34.720
You're just a genius in this whole space of strength and health and almost like biology
link |
00:29:41.700
that this strength feat is just one representation of that.
link |
00:29:45.580
But this particular strength, it required that kind of singular focus, which I think,
link |
00:29:51.920
I don't know, there's something beautiful about that singular focus that's often only
link |
00:29:57.000
truly perfected in athletics.
link |
00:29:59.120
I see it with the greatest Olympic athletes as well.
link |
00:30:01.960
The kind of singular focus required there is incredible.
link |
00:30:04.520
It's somehow some of the most beautiful things that humans can do.
link |
00:30:10.320
And it's not just that thing.
link |
00:30:11.900
So that's the thing.
link |
00:30:12.900
It's like, oh, that must be it.
link |
00:30:13.900
That singularity of focus, it's not like, here's it, because it covers a vast array
link |
00:30:18.680
of stuff.
link |
00:30:19.680
Like I was working with people, you know, all, well, yeah, all around North America.
link |
00:30:25.880
I wouldn't say anybody around the globe, but professionals coming in, working on different
link |
00:30:29.320
aspects of rehab and, and recovery.
link |
00:30:32.800
And like, I mean, I'm tapping all sorts of stuff in so many platforms from nutrition
link |
00:30:39.560
to drugs to, again, like, you know, various Chinese medicine, you know, as far as, you
link |
00:30:47.120
know.
link |
00:30:48.120
But also the humans in your life, just love and positivity and just inspiration, all those
link |
00:30:52.920
kinds of aspects.
link |
00:30:53.920
I mean, you probably would have done much more if you went outside North America and
link |
00:30:58.920
talked to some Russians, just between you and I.
link |
00:31:01.480
Some Russians.
link |
00:31:02.480
Possibly.
link |
00:31:03.480
They give you some, I don't know, there's some incredible strength athletes in Eastern
link |
00:31:08.720
Europe.
link |
00:31:09.720
Absolutely.
link |
00:31:10.720
I've got the best one coming in September to get fixed.
link |
00:31:14.840
So what do you mean by fixed?
link |
00:31:17.100
So I'm not sure what his particular issues are, but he has held the all time world record
link |
00:31:21.880
repeatedly for a long time and he hasn't competed for some time.
link |
00:31:25.160
And he just reached out saying he would like to come and have me take a look and see if
link |
00:31:29.720
I can get him fixed because he needs to return.
link |
00:31:32.000
Okay.
link |
00:31:33.000
So it's more injury centric versus like form and a fundamental centric combination of everything.
link |
00:31:38.320
Everybody always wants to focus on the output.
link |
00:31:40.400
How do you give me the fix for that?
link |
00:31:42.480
But it ties right back into all those other things, right?
link |
00:31:47.200
But yeah, the Eastern block continued to be a dominant force in regards to athletics and
link |
00:31:53.460
strength athletes without a doubt.
link |
00:31:56.080
Some of my big rivals in my competitive days were, that's who it was.
link |
00:32:01.640
Rivalry brings out the best in us.
link |
00:32:03.560
Can you tell me the story of your childhood?
link |
00:32:05.520
It's definitely outside the scope of the norm.
link |
00:32:07.840
Not today, maybe not 150 or 200 years ago, but my parents, highly intelligent people
link |
00:32:15.880
coming out of the Bay area.
link |
00:32:18.900
My mom was going to school to be a chemical engineer.
link |
00:32:22.360
She was a top, top student athlete, graduated out of her school.
link |
00:32:25.980
My father was a member of Mensa and my stepfather was just a genius, but not able to really
link |
00:32:31.120
function in society.
link |
00:32:32.520
But my mom was, she had some demons and some other stuff and just, she just said one day,
link |
00:32:37.640
she's like, I just don't want to be part of society.
link |
00:32:40.800
She still isn't, lives out in the desert, but has her minds, but she wanted to figure
link |
00:32:48.140
out a way to make a life outside of that.
link |
00:32:51.360
And so that's where we ended up is up in the mountains in Northern California.
link |
00:32:56.840
And a lot of that was them trying to get into successfully growing marijuana, which back
link |
00:33:05.060
in that wasn't legal back then, highly illegal.
link |
00:33:08.080
And in fact, those areas were, some of the areas where we lived were quite dangerous.
link |
00:33:11.800
So there's a documentary Murder Mountain that came out recently.
link |
00:33:15.760
If you watch that, you'll tie into my book, just the understanding of the stuff that I
link |
00:33:22.160
was talking about dealing with serial killers, human trafficking, police corruption, murderers,
link |
00:33:31.060
like just how real that stuff is if it doesn't capture you from the book.
link |
00:33:35.800
The book, by the way, is the Eagle and the Dragon.
link |
00:33:38.000
Yeah.
link |
00:33:39.000
Thank you.
link |
00:33:40.000
Yeah.
link |
00:33:41.000
I'm a terrible salesperson.
link |
00:33:42.000
Like I told you.
link |
00:33:43.000
But a good, it's a good title.
link |
00:33:46.000
I don't know if you came up with it, but, so yeah, we'll talk about that anyway.
link |
00:33:50.740
We're living by a stream off a meadow.
link |
00:33:54.160
There's no roads into where you have to hike in.
link |
00:33:56.740
And we've got beams lashed into the trees up above us because that's where our bedding
link |
00:34:00.560
is.
link |
00:34:01.560
Cause there's rattlesnake dens all around and six years old, I'm being taught how to
link |
00:34:07.360
capture and handle live rattlesnakes because that's what I need to do to be safe.
link |
00:34:13.840
And you can imagine six years old, sitting there with a live rattlesnake in your hand,
link |
00:34:16.960
grabbing it, you know, by the side of the head, controlling so it can't, can't bite
link |
00:34:20.320
you.
link |
00:34:21.320
And it's just wrapping itself around your arm and you're staring at like, it's only
link |
00:34:24.820
intent is right then is to kill you.
link |
00:34:28.600
Like that's it, right?
link |
00:34:31.520
You want to take a bath.
link |
00:34:32.520
It's filling up the jug in the stream and setting it out on the rocks during the, during
link |
00:34:36.440
the sun.
link |
00:34:37.440
So you dump it over your head and you know, not all the living was that way.
link |
00:34:40.560
You know, good part was similar to that tent living, living in a 16 foot trailer with a
link |
00:34:46.120
family of six, which is not much bigger than the space that we're sitting here.
link |
00:34:51.840
So we're talking hard winters with feet of snow on the ground, nowhere to go.
link |
00:34:56.440
I'm living in the back of the pickup truck and just a standard sleeping bag that we get
link |
00:35:01.240
from the Salvation Army, not the, not the blow zero.
link |
00:35:04.120
So I'm I'm, I'm not sleeping well.
link |
00:35:07.400
There's living in homes that were maybe condemned.
link |
00:35:10.880
There's no, no doors even on them, no electricity or running water or one or the other or both.
link |
00:35:16.320
And sometimes a little bit better by the time we got to high school we had a mobile home.
link |
00:35:21.920
So my stepfather had won a disability payment cause he had a broken arm that whole time
link |
00:35:25.800
from a accident a long time ago and finally got an award and got a down payment on this
link |
00:35:31.640
mobile home that didn't have again, doors on the inside.
link |
00:35:35.120
It did have running water, did have electricity, didn't have a kitchen, you know, the windows
link |
00:35:38.840
would crank close and open, but they wouldn't close all the way.
link |
00:35:42.080
So the trim them in with a plastic to be able to try to protect from the elements.
link |
00:35:47.680
That was my environment, like learning how to forge for mushrooms.
link |
00:35:51.440
I mean, there were summers I would send and my parents would be out, they were in the
link |
00:35:55.160
drug trade earlier.
link |
00:35:56.240
We got taken by the, by the police and put into foster care for a while, which ties into
link |
00:36:05.600
some of the stories with human trafficking.
link |
00:36:07.720
And honestly it's in my book, but it's really hard for me to talk about that stuff and obviously
link |
00:36:15.480
not all that's in the book.
link |
00:36:16.720
So but they got us back and we moved to Oregon and they stayed out of the drug trade from
link |
00:36:22.480
that time to ensure that they didn't lose us again, but quickly we kind of fell back
link |
00:36:28.000
into the same thing.
link |
00:36:29.000
So at that point it was learning about geology and starting to do mining and firewood cutting,
link |
00:36:36.820
but mostly the mining because Pat's broken arm chainsaw made a little tough.
link |
00:36:40.660
If you remember just the sequence of moments, do you, are you haunted by the darker moments
link |
00:36:47.020
of your childhood?
link |
00:36:48.280
Do you remember moments of simple joy and happiness?
link |
00:36:53.840
Outside of the living around dangerous people and the interactions that came from that,
link |
00:37:00.200
we were a family.
link |
00:37:01.760
Like we were a cohesive unit battling against the world together.
link |
00:37:05.040
We spent all our time together, work, play.
link |
00:37:09.680
I was there.
link |
00:37:10.680
I was helping raise my, my siblings or I was working with them and you know, it was a constant,
link |
00:37:17.160
like I said, we were very physically active.
link |
00:37:18.960
So you know, I had that in my upbringing, um, that plug for my shoe company, barefoot,
link |
00:37:24.080
B E A R I ran around the wilderness and bare feet all the time, you know, but it was, I
link |
00:37:29.920
had a lot of great moments and I'm thankful for a lot of that childhood once we take out
link |
00:37:35.360
the trauma and the other stuff associated with it, right?
link |
00:37:39.760
And so the connection that I have with my sisters, um, is, is, is huge.
link |
00:37:45.680
Um, that goes a bit further to cause I am kind of like a, a little bit of a father figure
link |
00:37:50.040
because I was at home raising them and then later I took custody of them, uh, while I
link |
00:37:54.640
was going to school because the environment at home deteriorated further.
link |
00:37:58.000
Their stepfather, stepfather, like I said, was, he wasn't capable of managing life.
link |
00:38:03.440
And uh, my mom had a mental breakdown and took off to Montana and he descended into
link |
00:38:08.120
madness even worse, uh, actually took my, my 13 year old sister and kicked her out in
link |
00:38:13.880
the middle of winter, a couple of feet of snow on the ground because he thought she
link |
00:38:17.280
stole his favorite cereal bowl, um, type.
link |
00:38:21.740
So that's when I took in and I was going to college, putting myself through college and
link |
00:38:26.320
I started taking custody of my sisters and raising them.
link |
00:38:28.520
So anyway, we're still like very, very tight family.
link |
00:38:34.080
Um, it took, there was a few years later in life, like that the connection with my mother
link |
00:38:40.040
was kind of broken.
link |
00:38:41.640
Um, I didn't speak to her for years because of her basically abandoning my sisters and
link |
00:38:46.960
me having to come in.
link |
00:38:47.960
But that we've worked through that as best we can.
link |
00:38:51.000
So you anger on your part?
link |
00:38:53.240
It wasn't, there might've been some anger.
link |
00:38:56.480
Um.
link |
00:38:57.480
Did you always love her?
link |
00:38:58.480
Yes.
link |
00:38:59.480
And I still do.
link |
00:39:00.480
And I'm so, she's taught me basically everything I know about strength and perseverance and
link |
00:39:07.580
living life on your terms and being able to create that.
link |
00:39:11.780
And so much of what I am is from that, right?
link |
00:39:16.240
We've all had to learn to be okay with the way she is because she is just blunt, but
link |
00:39:24.340
you know, she's the one that figured out that the human trafficking situation and got, uh,
link |
00:39:31.720
got the da involved and got all the, she's the one that I've learned a lot from her.
link |
00:39:41.040
And uh.
link |
00:39:42.040
Did you inherit some of the demons?
link |
00:39:43.760
Oh, most certainly.
link |
00:39:45.960
And I, it's something I've continued like in my father's side of has been really tough
link |
00:39:52.260
on that because some of it is just based genetic as well.
link |
00:39:55.700
So my, my stepfather made I think six or seven attempts on his life during his lifetime.
link |
00:40:01.960
One of those in front of me, uh, his mother blew her head off with a shotgun.
link |
00:40:07.120
Uh, her brother jumped out a window in LA, uh, their father did something similar and
link |
00:40:13.080
I don't know how far back it goes because there is no family except for me and my children.
link |
00:40:18.480
You spoke about going through depression yourself.
link |
00:40:22.120
Yeah.
link |
00:40:23.240
Can you, um, talk about some of the darker moments of that?
link |
00:40:26.440
Have you ever like many in your family, have you ever considered suicide?
link |
00:40:31.800
Yes I have.
link |
00:40:33.680
Yes I have.
link |
00:40:35.720
You've achieved a lot of exceptional things in your life.
link |
00:40:39.660
Can you talk about those early days of depression and how you overcame it?
link |
00:40:45.120
Yeah.
link |
00:40:46.660
So the things that I did that people give me accolades for are the things that I did
link |
00:40:52.520
selfishly to save myself.
link |
00:40:55.460
The things like taking custody of my sisters, being the person that everybody around, you
link |
00:41:03.960
know, the, the important people relied on the fact that I had to step to the plate and
link |
00:41:09.040
be present and be that person because if I failed, they failed.
link |
00:41:18.220
They would be like the people that I grew up with that are dead or in prison or on drugs
link |
00:41:26.600
and they're either way to one of those, right?
link |
00:41:30.120
That's where everybody ended and I wasn't going to let that happen.
link |
00:41:33.980
What about saving yourself?
link |
00:41:35.760
And so that's how in those early days, that's how I did it.
link |
00:41:39.520
Not saying it's the best approach, but it was survivor mentality.
link |
00:41:42.080
It was, I can't selfishly do that because I have them to take care of, right?
link |
00:41:49.680
And then that continued where I would keep putting myself in these leadership roles or
link |
00:41:53.560
other things and just always being this person that was at the center, at the hub that forced
link |
00:42:02.800
me to be there.
link |
00:42:04.040
And so it's only in the more recent, you know, last decade or so that I have had to really
link |
00:42:10.680
learn how to come and start confronting some of those demons and think, man, why is the
link |
00:42:17.080
guy so successful?
link |
00:42:18.080
Like, I mean, and we haven't talked about all the stuff that I've done, but like I've
link |
00:42:23.360
seen a lot of success in both business, leadership, athletics, academics, entrepreneurship, all
link |
00:42:32.840
these sorts of things, right?
link |
00:42:34.520
But if it wasn't for having kids and the same being in the position, I wouldn't be here.
link |
00:42:42.880
And that's just, that's the reality of it.
link |
00:42:45.720
And I'm learning to come and manage those as best I can.
link |
00:42:51.400
Learning to meditate into those things and really feel what the driver is so I can get
link |
00:42:56.320
to those root understanding and having some guidance doing so.
link |
00:43:01.360
Like if you've got mental health issues, this isn't something that you need to tackle on
link |
00:43:05.000
your own.
link |
00:43:06.000
Like having a professional that can help guide you on that introspective journey is something
link |
00:43:11.680
like, it's not like, hey, I'm big, tough guy.
link |
00:43:14.920
I can handle everything.
link |
00:43:17.680
You know?
link |
00:43:18.680
That's fascinating that you saved yourself.
link |
00:43:23.120
That's quite powerful to save yourself by having others depend on you.
link |
00:43:28.480
And so you can't fail.
link |
00:43:30.660
You can't fuck it up.
link |
00:43:32.280
And that's a reason to keep moving forward.
link |
00:43:35.960
But on the flip side, that's not addressing the darkness.
link |
00:43:40.440
It's not.
link |
00:43:42.120
And it probably not a sustainable strategy either, right?
link |
00:43:45.460
So I recognize these things.
link |
00:43:47.360
I don't know.
link |
00:43:50.320
Perhaps it is sustainable.
link |
00:43:51.580
Perhaps that, I mean, there's something beautiful about giving yourself basically in service
link |
00:43:57.720
of others and thereby creating purpose.
link |
00:44:02.840
And then it's almost like fake it till you make it and then you make it eventually.
link |
00:44:07.100
That is purpose though.
link |
00:44:09.140
That is purpose.
link |
00:44:10.140
I mean, you have to, to me, life is about taking your cup and how you choose to pour
link |
00:44:17.120
it out.
link |
00:44:18.120
How you choose to give.
link |
00:44:19.380
What is your purpose?
link |
00:44:20.880
What is that connection with everybody around you?
link |
00:44:23.080
This is, that's the intent.
link |
00:44:26.380
That's the life.
link |
00:44:27.380
That's what life is about.
link |
00:44:28.760
How are you going to help those around you?
link |
00:44:31.040
How are you going to help the world?
link |
00:44:32.520
Your purpose is right here, figuring out what this is and then how to do that.
link |
00:44:37.680
But at the same time, you can't let that run dry.
link |
00:44:40.520
So you have to make sure that you're filling that up.
link |
00:44:44.320
That's the other side, right?
link |
00:44:46.560
That's the other side.
link |
00:44:47.560
Yeah.
link |
00:44:48.560
We'll return to your engineering degree, which you're obviously scientifically engineering
link |
00:44:52.800
minded, which is fascinating.
link |
00:44:55.360
Your book is titled the Eagle and the Dragon.
link |
00:44:58.880
What do the Eagle and the Dragon symbolize?
link |
00:45:02.320
They're pretty big symbols for me.
link |
00:45:03.840
In fact, that covers my entire body as a tattoo.
link |
00:45:07.520
So the first one I had done at around 19 years old.
link |
00:45:11.320
And so this is, or started at 19.
link |
00:45:14.200
It's an eagle that covers my entire front, you know, my stomach, rib cage, and one that
link |
00:45:21.040
was on my back that covered most of my back.
link |
00:45:23.000
And there's chained at the, well, at the claw, I guess.
link |
00:45:29.080
And the chain wraps down around and attaches to my ankle and there's a shackle there.
link |
00:45:33.640
And so this was something that I had done at that age because it was, to me, it was
link |
00:45:37.760
a representation of your potential, your strengths, your abilities that you can fly to whatever
link |
00:45:46.120
height that you want in this world.
link |
00:45:48.680
The only thing holding you back at the end of the day is yourself.
link |
00:45:53.340
And this was, I hadn't necessarily accomplished a whole lot at that time.
link |
00:45:57.400
I mean, I was valedictorian for high school, small high school.
link |
00:46:02.080
Does that even count?
link |
00:46:03.080
I was a state level wrestler.
link |
00:46:06.840
This was my belief.
link |
00:46:08.960
And you sense that there was a potential in you and the only thing that could stop you
link |
00:46:13.280
from realizing that potential was yourself.
link |
00:46:15.640
That's right.
link |
00:46:16.640
That's a heck of a tattoo to get, by the way, at 19, but 40 hours went into that thing.
link |
00:46:24.320
It shows you got some guts.
link |
00:46:26.400
And then the next tattoo, so I only have two, I had done in 2015, 2016 when I, so at this
link |
00:46:38.720
point in my life, so I had done that.
link |
00:46:41.120
I had flown to whatever heights, right?
link |
00:46:42.640
So I had, I had proven to myself and maybe done what I thought I needed to do to show
link |
00:46:50.160
the world that this poor kid from the sticks, this kid growing up in the mountains with
link |
00:46:56.060
nothing could achieve the American dream.
link |
00:46:59.280
I was a corporate executive sought after that I'd come in, I'd fix companies, I'd turn around
link |
00:47:05.960
and prep them for sale.
link |
00:47:07.320
I'd take a company and grow it from a regional to a national to a global presence.
link |
00:47:11.500
I did this in the automotive manufacturing, aerospace manufacturing, high tech, heavy
link |
00:47:16.400
industry and I had a house with a white picket fence.
link |
00:47:21.440
I was a successful athlete with all time world records.
link |
00:47:25.160
I owned a gym on the side where I coached people and I had a comfortable marriage that
link |
00:47:33.040
everything was hunky dory with no arguments at home and I walked away from all of it.
link |
00:47:40.880
I left everything behind except for my kids.
link |
00:47:45.160
I wanted to chase what I was meant to do and chase what I was capable of doing.
link |
00:47:56.320
I wanted to become a better version of myself, but very intentfully and that's what I did.
link |
00:48:06.620
I sold, I had multiple homes, sold my homes.
link |
00:48:11.920
I cashed in all my retirement that I'd earned for 20, nearly 20 years and I lost all that.
link |
00:48:19.480
I leveraged myself millions of dollars of personal debt so that if I failed, there was
link |
00:48:25.160
no way out.
link |
00:48:26.160
Even going back to that old career that I did well, I'd be living in an apartment the
link |
00:48:30.440
rest of my life paying it off.
link |
00:48:33.520
Old question, people questioned me at the time because I had a comfortable, easy marriage
link |
00:48:38.600
and I chose to ask for a divorce and I ended up living in an apartment for a couple of
link |
00:48:45.560
years with no income, selling off every last thing that I had except for my two vehicles
link |
00:48:51.200
that I built and with my kids and I started my businesses to help people live a better
link |
00:49:01.000
quality of life, to get them out of pain, to help them live better through strength,
link |
00:49:06.800
to realize that stress, demand, those things, they don't have to be the thing that if you
link |
00:49:14.200
look back, made you had the bad back, made you have the bad deeds, but they do the opposite.
link |
00:49:18.200
They get you out of pain and then I started working my book to hit on those other things,
link |
00:49:23.000
the mental, the emotional, maybe even spiritual, I don't touch on that one too much in there,
link |
00:49:28.120
but it's all the same, that things that happen around you, to you, like maybe they're bad,
link |
00:49:35.960
I can't take away that, but why can't you use what you have of it to become a stronger
link |
00:49:41.000
and better person, to become more resilient, to be able to take the things that you don't
link |
00:49:45.720
know that are coming in the future and so this is very intentful and that's what the
link |
00:49:50.080
second long winded answer in your question here.
link |
00:49:52.880
The dragon.
link |
00:49:53.880
The dragon.
link |
00:49:54.880
The dragon is an Ouroboros and so it is, it circles my entire upper body, my shoulders,
link |
00:50:00.240
my back, my chest, everything, it's right here, there's this big dragon head and its
link |
00:50:04.640
tail is right there in its mouth that's eating itself and it may sound a bit graphic or whatever,
link |
00:50:11.040
but it is, it's the eating of the old becoming the new, it is the purposeful reinvention
link |
00:50:17.560
of oneself, it is the deciding, not realizing just your potential, but deciding specifically
link |
00:50:23.900
who you want to be in this fucking world and becoming that person.
link |
00:50:29.360
Can you comment on the value and the power of putting a flame to your old life, your
link |
00:50:39.520
old self, just destroying all of it as you walk into the new life, did you have to do
link |
00:50:47.120
that?
link |
00:50:48.120
I don't recommend this, by the way, because when you put yourself in no way out, there
link |
00:50:53.040
is no way out, okay?
link |
00:50:57.480
You got to really, but I can be an overconfident individual at times and I live through extremes.
link |
00:51:07.720
I think it's a great way of actually finding your real values and how you want to live,
link |
00:51:13.880
honestly, to chase having absolutely perfect squat technique, but chase putting every freaking
link |
00:51:20.280
thing that you've got in it, which most people would say, those are opposite, those are diametrically
link |
00:51:24.880
opposed.
link |
00:51:27.080
I wanted a better home life, I wanted to do more in the world through my work and the
link |
00:51:36.040
burning the bridges mentality is not necessarily the best.
link |
00:51:41.640
There was some temperament in that though, because I was slow to make the shift for a
link |
00:51:47.320
long time because I'd been thinking about doing it, but I was thinking about doing it
link |
00:51:51.320
in a healthcare perspective.
link |
00:51:52.320
I'm going to go back to school to be a surgeon or a physical therapist or a Cairo because
link |
00:51:55.820
that's where all my research and stuff was in this human movement and rehab and recovery.
link |
00:52:02.120
This is the mentors that I've been developing were the best in the world in these things,
link |
00:52:06.800
in these disciplines, those were my friends, but I wasn't able to compromise my family's
link |
00:52:15.040
certain quality of life.
link |
00:52:16.040
I wanted to keep that.
link |
00:52:17.040
So it was slow and hard for me to make that transition, but I didn't do it until I had
link |
00:52:22.480
a platform built enough that those first few years I did have an income, I was able to
link |
00:52:26.960
make enough from the business until it grew so fast that I needed so much more needed
link |
00:52:31.440
to come in.
link |
00:52:32.440
The living in the apartment piece and doing all that, that was actually a couple of years
link |
00:52:36.560
into that process, maybe like two years.
link |
00:52:39.160
I'm with you on that.
link |
00:52:41.160
So I'm actually going through that very process now.
link |
00:52:44.200
I put everything, I quit everything, gave away everything and starting a new and unfortunately
link |
00:52:51.200
or fortunately this podcast somehow became quite popular.
link |
00:52:57.000
So it's getting in the way of my burning everything to the ground.
link |
00:53:01.520
But in that it's a source of joy.
link |
00:53:03.980
But the main thing I'm after is the similar project as you is building a business sense
link |
00:53:10.000
of joy.
link |
00:53:11.000
So this, this is the point I want to drive home right now, right now.
link |
00:53:15.880
Because when I say burn, I learned that burning the bridges works because that's how I had
link |
00:53:21.840
to succeed when I was earlier.
link |
00:53:23.800
The bridges weren't burnt.
link |
00:53:24.800
They didn't exist.
link |
00:53:26.120
There was no couch to go home to.
link |
00:53:27.760
There was no, there was no fall back plan and it forced me and gave me the confidence
link |
00:53:31.960
to know that I can pull it off.
link |
00:53:34.760
But I don't encourage people because there's so much out there of this hustle porn and
link |
00:53:39.640
other stuff going just grind, just go after it, get in and start your, like you'll get
link |
00:53:44.320
there and it's all about the output to make money, to be somebody, to do this.
link |
00:53:49.200
And I'll tell you what, that is some short term motivation right there.
link |
00:53:52.840
I feel like dropping a few swear words, but
link |
00:53:54.560
You're always welcome.
link |
00:53:57.560
We've already done a few, so we'll bounce it out.
link |
00:54:03.520
That is short term.
link |
00:54:04.920
That is not going to keep you going.
link |
00:54:06.920
This need, if you're going to go that approach, it needs to be because this is your North
link |
00:54:11.760
star.
link |
00:54:12.760
There's going to be so much hard work.
link |
00:54:14.460
There's going to be years of just pushing through where your question, not only is everybody
link |
00:54:19.240
around you questioning you and your family's questioning you, you're questioning yourself
link |
00:54:23.000
going, man, I don't know if I can pull this off.
link |
00:54:25.680
You're going to be stressed.
link |
00:54:26.680
You're going to be pulled to the max.
link |
00:54:28.200
If somebody comes up to me and says, should I start a business?
link |
00:54:30.840
I'm going to say no.
link |
00:54:34.320
And oh, you're supposed to motivate me.
link |
00:54:36.160
If you need me to motivate you, this is the wrong damn approach for you.
link |
00:54:39.560
This is going to be hard.
link |
00:54:40.560
This is going to be harder than you expect, even with me telling you this.
link |
00:54:45.500
And so it better damn well be worth it.
link |
00:54:49.880
This better be your North fucking star.
link |
00:54:52.080
This better live and be a way for you to be able to articulate or realize those values
link |
00:54:59.440
that you want to live.
link |
00:55:01.960
This isn't something to make money.
link |
00:55:04.300
This is a way for you to live the life and be able to share the values that you have
link |
00:55:09.640
with the world.
link |
00:55:11.520
And that's what it is.
link |
00:55:12.520
And if you don't have that, which is going to give you joy, then we can walk away.
link |
00:55:20.520
This is not some way to make some money and be known.
link |
00:55:23.000
I mean, this, this includes both like simple day to day joy and also deep meaning the whole
link |
00:55:29.880
thing.
link |
00:55:30.880
It allows you to overcome all the, all the pain along the way.
link |
00:55:34.320
But I got to say, I mean, it's a difficult thing because you run a business.
link |
00:55:40.400
This podcast and a lot of things I do research wise is full of joy, but it's simple.
link |
00:55:46.560
Running a business is hard.
link |
00:55:51.120
So it's something that I'm very hesitant about in that to almost push back a little bit.
link |
00:55:58.520
I think if I do get the guts to start the business, it will not be because I'm not choosing
link |
00:56:06.920
a more joyful life because I'm already truly happy.
link |
00:56:11.360
The reason I'll choose is because I just can't help it.
link |
00:56:14.640
There's this, I've always had this dream and I know it's going to lead to suffering and
link |
00:56:19.920
I know it's going to be a life that has less happiness in it.
link |
00:56:24.480
As sad as this to say, but it won't be, it won't be less happiness because we talk about
link |
00:56:32.200
this cup and where you choose to pour it and what you choose to do with it.
link |
00:56:36.340
And when you look back on things, the things that are going to give you the most joy, the
link |
00:56:41.000
most proud, the things that are going to stand out in your life that you really remember
link |
00:56:45.360
are going to be those days and your, those years you struggle, you're going to look back
link |
00:56:51.180
on 10 years later and go, fuck, those were the glory days.
link |
00:56:57.480
Those were the glory days.
link |
00:56:59.920
And it won't feel like it at the time.
link |
00:57:02.720
So that's what life's made of.
link |
00:57:04.820
And so this is your, this is your opportunity.
link |
00:57:07.120
You feel that.
link |
00:57:08.120
So right now you've got this, when you think about it, you've got this little thing twisting
link |
00:57:11.920
up in your gut, right?
link |
00:57:12.920
It's like, it's a mixture of anxiety and fear as well as excitement in that is that's your
link |
00:57:19.840
signal that this is your opportunity for that personal growth, the challenge yourself.
link |
00:57:24.120
This is your going for a run or working out in the heat.
link |
00:57:27.080
It's it's those things.
link |
00:57:29.080
It is your opportunity to go back.
link |
00:57:32.380
Maybe it even fails.
link |
00:57:33.860
Maybe it even fails, but by turning into that, you're going to learn so much and it's going
link |
00:57:39.600
to make you so much better.
link |
00:57:41.760
And it's the path that you should take when you have this stuff rolling around in there.
link |
00:57:47.320
And I don't, it could just be a hard conversation with your partner or your boss.
link |
00:57:53.080
It could be taking on a project that, you know, you know, that your boss has thrown
link |
00:57:59.680
out to the team and you're like, Oh, I'm going to hide in the back.
link |
00:58:01.600
I don't want that one.
link |
00:58:02.600
And it's like, maybe, maybe you do.
link |
00:58:05.800
Maybe it's going back to school.
link |
00:58:08.400
Maybe it's making that career move that you always wanted, but you're just a, you're just
link |
00:58:11.800
afraid of all these things.
link |
00:58:16.360
Those are your opportunity for you to turn into that.
link |
00:58:21.520
It is your workout.
link |
00:58:22.520
It is your practice because if you don't, you'll get soft and who knows what's coming
link |
00:58:28.000
and you're not going to be ready for it.
link |
00:58:30.120
And it's going to run right over the top of you because you're going to be weak.
link |
00:58:35.120
You're going to be soft.
link |
00:58:37.200
There's some aspect in which choosing that hard path is actually the, the way to arrive
link |
00:58:42.440
at the richest kind of happiness, the greatest fulfillment.
link |
00:58:48.060
That's the funny thing about just the human.
link |
00:58:50.040
Just make sure you're filling the cup as you're going through it and not pouring it all out.
link |
00:58:53.120
So that's the part to figure out, right?
link |
00:58:56.200
Sure.
link |
00:58:57.200
Well, life is short anyway.
link |
00:58:58.960
Eventually, eventually the cup will be empty.
link |
00:59:03.440
So maybe time the refilling of the cup correctly so you maximize the little time you got.
link |
00:59:09.920
Let me talk to you about strength a little bit first, high level.
link |
00:59:15.040
What are the differences in the different disciplines of strength?
link |
00:59:17.320
So power lifting, we talked about maybe just to clarify for people, power lifting, Olympic
link |
00:59:22.680
lifting, just regular gym fitness, bodybuilding, doing curls in front of the mirror for hours
link |
00:59:29.920
like I do.
link |
00:59:30.920
What's, what's the difference between all of these?
link |
00:59:32.920
Oh, and also strong man.
link |
00:59:35.200
Every one of those, as far as the athletic disciplines are different qualities.
link |
00:59:42.080
So we want to think about things as terms of quality.
link |
00:59:45.040
So there's strength, there's power, there's endurance, there's the ability to be coordinated
link |
00:59:53.920
and athletic.
link |
00:59:55.120
There's all these things and they're different, they're different qualities.
link |
00:59:58.180
So your training as it relates to that is how you cycle in the development of those qualities.
link |
01:00:05.600
What we want to think about is there's a lot of different frames of thought, some very
link |
01:00:09.720
classical, maybe not classical Russian approach because there's a lot of different approach
link |
01:00:14.040
from the Eastern block, but one of the ones is developing all the qualities at once, focusing
link |
01:00:19.140
on building those more of a periodization effect would be focusing on one quality at
link |
01:00:26.480
a time or one quality while maintaining other qualities and then shifting that around.
link |
01:00:32.220
So it's just going to be a little different based on what the output is and what the desired.
link |
01:00:37.120
So like powerlifting is actually, power is the wrong word.
link |
01:00:40.640
There's actually no power in it.
link |
01:00:42.080
It's just brute, it's, it's strength, um, application of force, um, Olympic lifting
link |
01:00:48.600
would actually be a better name for powerlifting because that is more explosive development.
link |
01:00:55.000
There's um, strongman is again, now we're getting a little bit more athletic.
link |
01:01:00.000
It's equipment based on the implements and stuff that are used, how fast you can move
link |
01:01:04.360
your feet and run mixed with more endurance, but still very strength focused.
link |
01:01:09.980
And there's some things with strongman that is straight.
link |
01:01:11.600
Like each one of these is very also focused on different genetic dispositions.
link |
01:01:18.100
So actually if you look at the history of sports, you'll find that they're a lot of
link |
01:01:21.840
times based on different populations and it sounds like it's very unPC, but like a Highland
link |
01:01:27.400
games, um, they've got deep, deeper hip sockets that are shallow.
link |
01:01:31.260
So you're going to see a lot of short hip hinge movements like the, the caber toss and
link |
01:01:35.200
things like that.
link |
01:01:36.360
Muay Thai wrestling, they've got a completely different hip joint.
link |
01:01:40.240
And so strongman itself is going to be for very large frame individuals.
link |
01:01:43.780
If you're not well over six foot and a large person, you're probably not going to perform
link |
01:01:47.800
well.
link |
01:01:48.800
It's sub six foot have ever done well at strongman just because it's, it's leverage based, right?
link |
01:01:54.200
Um, Olympic lifting, we see consistently in, in Europe, uh, the, the history tells us a
link |
01:02:01.560
high level of hip, uh, and back issues because of the depth that that hip socket has to go
link |
01:02:09.200
in to be able to complete that lift.
link |
01:02:11.780
And so you're going to see issues with populations that don't have the ability to do that.
link |
01:02:15.920
So, so we've talked a little bit about training as well as disposition.
link |
01:02:20.280
Yeah.
link |
01:02:21.280
So, and also cross head fits into that, that's more like strongman, but for a wider variety
link |
01:02:26.160
of bodies, I suppose.
link |
01:02:27.440
Yep.
link |
01:02:28.440
And definitely more metabolic conditioning focus than the, than the strength aspect of
link |
01:02:32.000
it.
link |
01:02:33.000
Um, and, and, and conditioning is an interesting thing too.
link |
01:02:36.600
So that quality in my opinion can be developed a lot faster, but kind of peaks much faster
link |
01:02:42.980
as well.
link |
01:02:43.980
Um, where strength, we can continue to add and add and add over time.
link |
01:02:48.920
Uh, so it's for me, like for conditioning with any strength athlete, I don't like to
link |
01:02:54.040
spend as much time on that.
link |
01:02:56.080
So I'll cycle, uh, the conditioning work for our strength athletes and then taper that
link |
01:03:01.720
off leading into meat.
link |
01:03:02.860
So the more metabolic work, that means the more capacity in strength training that you
link |
01:03:07.240
can accomplish, which is the goal, um, and recover from.
link |
01:03:12.340
But then as we lead to a competition, we want to spend more time on recovering from that.
link |
01:03:16.800
So we have to pull things out.
link |
01:03:17.800
So we'd pull out less.
link |
01:03:18.800
So like a typical approach would be like taking a six week cycle for conditioning and ramping,
link |
01:03:25.880
ramping up over three weeks periods time, then dropping back down again and ramping
link |
01:03:30.120
up and being slightly offset by like a week or two from your strength peaks so that you've
link |
01:03:34.680
actually tapered the week prior in your conditioning work to your strength work.
link |
01:03:38.320
Right.
link |
01:03:39.320
So we're not hitting conditioning hard all the time, which is a common, common, uh, misstep
link |
01:03:43.800
that people make is going, well, I need conditioning.
link |
01:03:46.040
So they just hammer that at a base level over the top instead of cycling that.
link |
01:03:52.160
If we talk about powerlifting in terms of regimen, in terms of exercise, in terms of
link |
01:04:01.280
the process, the wood consistent with what, is there something to be said about general
link |
01:04:06.440
qualities of the consistency of the regimen required to get strong?
link |
01:04:10.360
Yes.
link |
01:04:11.360
So let's talk about some training principles as a whole.
link |
01:04:16.400
And this will, I think this will break down what you're, what you're one, the more work
link |
01:04:22.080
that we can fit into a given time, the more progress we're going to make.
link |
01:04:28.000
But that doesn't mean doing the max amount of work possible at any given time.
link |
01:04:34.560
So we know that we're always to, to, to accomplish more, we're always going to have more.
link |
01:04:39.720
And there's a certain ceiling that you're going to hit that you're not going to be able
link |
01:04:42.440
to add more.
link |
01:04:43.440
So you want to start and get the most amount of results that you can with the least amount
link |
01:04:47.920
of work, because you're going to have to do it again, like this stair step over and over
link |
01:04:54.160
year, decade, so on.
link |
01:04:56.600
So when people is a big miss, people got, they look at a Chico program from Russia or
link |
01:05:01.720
so on and they go, I'm going to follow this.
link |
01:05:05.120
It's like that was specifically written for somebody with 20 years of experience that's
link |
01:05:09.800
already built the capacities to be at that level.
link |
01:05:12.280
So it's all about building that work capacity.
link |
01:05:14.220
So how much work can you give in a given time?
link |
01:05:15.800
So now we want to look at some research is it relates to injuries because injuries are
link |
01:05:21.500
going to be a big driver over time of what holds you back.
link |
01:05:25.960
So when we talk consistency, training hard for three years, five years, it's going to
link |
01:05:32.760
be really good.
link |
01:05:33.760
But what we find is a lot of people train really hard for nine months, have to slow
link |
01:05:37.560
back for a month, get back into it and miss another week because, and so on.
link |
01:05:41.480
They're always like this little nagging, that little nagging.
link |
01:05:44.440
And so it's pretty clear in the research we want to, we're looking at when we're stair
link |
01:05:49.240
stepping this stuff, we're looking at acute and chronic loading.
link |
01:05:54.040
So some fancy words for average and like what's happening right now.
link |
01:05:59.240
So this given week would be our acute, chronic would be what is our average loading let's
link |
01:06:04.000
say over the last six months.
link |
01:06:07.000
So the more that we can move the chronic loading up, the more work we're getting done on as
link |
01:06:11.720
a whole over time, we're going to get stronger.
link |
01:06:14.560
The way that we build the capacity to do that is having spikes in acute loading.
link |
01:06:20.760
Now as we do this, the, the acute loading, if it spikes more than 10, maybe 15% from
link |
01:06:31.120
what the chronic loading has been, that accounts for 80% of injuries out there.
link |
01:06:39.320
So it's not actually the movement quality or this misstep or the other may usually happens
link |
01:06:44.800
about four or five, six weeks later, it's like, Oh, this nagging and then it gets worse.
link |
01:06:48.840
And then now you got to, you got to do some rehab, your training sessions aren't as good
link |
01:06:52.240
and so on.
link |
01:06:53.420
So now we're starting to look at this.
link |
01:06:54.640
Okay.
link |
01:06:55.640
It's like, I want to do the, I want to do the least amount of work where I can still
link |
01:06:59.160
progress.
link |
01:07:00.800
I want to be able to have spikes in my weekly demand that don't go above 10 to 15% of what
link |
01:07:09.320
I've been averaging for the last month.
link |
01:07:11.320
But every time I do a spike, my, my average goes up, right?
link |
01:07:14.760
Boom, boom, boom.
link |
01:07:16.760
And then that becomes very particular also when you take, when you do take plantain time
link |
01:07:20.880
off.
link |
01:07:21.880
So a lot of people, uh, training session, maybe they're doing a five week block with
link |
01:07:25.600
a, uh, a deload week or you go on vacation for a week or any of those things that were
link |
01:07:31.480
a downward.
link |
01:07:32.600
What does that do to your average and chronic loading?
link |
01:07:34.400
It brings it down.
link |
01:07:35.400
And then what does the person want to do when they come back, make up for it.
link |
01:07:39.200
Now they have a huge spike above five weeks later, we're dealing with all this elbow,
link |
01:07:43.640
this wrist, whatever's kind of bothering me and now you're not performing as much.
link |
01:07:47.760
So these are some really fundamental pieces of, of, of, of training.
link |
01:07:52.240
And then now we can start overlaying the qualities that we're trying to develop that we were
link |
01:07:56.360
talking about earlier.
link |
01:07:57.360
So now it's, let's talk about my deadlift, my thousand pound deadlift.
link |
01:08:01.880
We'll talk about the training cycles for both the thousand deadlift and squat.
link |
01:08:06.080
So backing up a year out from the deadlift, knowing I was training at the time, heavy
link |
01:08:11.400
deadlifts once a week and usually it was two of those sessions a month were really heavy
link |
01:08:16.960
and the others weren't.
link |
01:08:17.960
And it's like, okay, how can we get this up to where I'm deadlifting twice a week?
link |
01:08:23.560
Because that's where I want to be, uh, to be able to accomplish this.
link |
01:08:26.880
I need to be loading about that much with frequency, with a certain volume to be able
link |
01:08:30.840
to accomplish this goal.
link |
01:08:31.840
We're not going to go through all the math and stuff like that and how that's arrived,
link |
01:08:34.880
but there is math behind this.
link |
01:08:37.520
And so instead of just like, oh, well, let's start deadlifting twice a week.
link |
01:08:41.600
No.
link |
01:08:42.600
So we start and we take the one session that we've got and we split it, part of it, take
link |
01:08:48.480
part of it away and put it in the second half of the week.
link |
01:08:50.920
So the total volume is still the same.
link |
01:08:53.640
And then, um, we start adding some volume, but I'm doing it at a off a block so that
link |
01:08:59.360
the actual load is accumulative load is less cause I have less range of motion.
link |
01:09:03.760
Okay.
link |
01:09:04.760
And then we start building that closer to the ground, closer to the ground and so on.
link |
01:09:08.440
And now we start getting to where I'm almost doing two sessions, full sessions a week.
link |
01:09:12.880
And then we start adding a little bit of load.
link |
01:09:16.340
And so at my level, this isn't talking about adding another set or another day a week.
link |
01:09:22.180
We're talking like in my squat, it might be one rep instead of doing three sets of three
link |
01:09:29.440
at one week, I do two doubles or two triples, then two doubles to give me one more rep.
link |
01:09:37.020
That's it.
link |
01:09:38.020
And so we're doing that from one week to the next.
link |
01:09:40.600
And that's a cycle training cycle.
link |
01:09:41.600
It might be five, six weeks and then so on and the next one and slowly bringing that
link |
01:09:45.360
average load up.
link |
01:09:47.380
So the last phases of the squat, for example, we took the average loading every week.
link |
01:09:52.780
So my, of my heavy sets.
link |
01:09:54.280
Once we developed all this stuff over the last year to get to this point, now it is
link |
01:10:01.400
taking and going, okay, my average load this week is eight reps at nine hundred and fifty
link |
01:10:05.920
five pounds.
link |
01:10:07.480
And then the next week, let's get it to nine, nine fifty seven, nine sixty three.
link |
01:10:13.360
And this was pretty aggressive working up to where my average loading the final that
link |
01:10:17.520
the final was nine hundred and eighty five pounds average load for eight to nine reps.
link |
01:10:22.120
And that's what I said.
link |
01:10:23.120
This is the intense part.
link |
01:10:24.120
This is the day of was much easier that week over week is pretty brutal.
link |
01:10:30.160
May not sound well, you're just squatting.
link |
01:10:32.280
And now let's back up.
link |
01:10:33.280
Let's look at the quality development.
link |
01:10:34.820
So a year out from the squat, obviously, I've been working on developing axial load capacity,
link |
01:10:40.240
my capacity to withstand load from top to bottom.
link |
01:10:44.140
So I like thinking about things and movement vectors.
link |
01:10:46.680
So this vector is an axial loaded vector is the hardest to recover from that was axial.
link |
01:10:52.340
Like is deadlift, are they both or both?
link |
01:10:55.440
Yep.
link |
01:10:56.440
So a horizontal front to back would be like a row or a press.
link |
01:11:01.120
Why is the axial hardest to recover because it's entire body, the entire entire body,
link |
01:11:06.040
just anything that is that taxes the the spinal mechanics?
link |
01:11:11.000
I don't I could tell you my beliefs.
link |
01:11:14.160
It's studied.
link |
01:11:15.160
It is.
link |
01:11:16.160
OK, we can just keep the discussion on that short like that.
link |
01:11:20.040
Well, so we start looking at those different vectors that we're training in.
link |
01:11:24.800
And so this is why this is important to understand.
link |
01:11:27.640
So I'm not just getting into nuance here.
link |
01:11:29.480
So, hey, squatting is going to make me make me jump further because it's legs.
link |
01:11:34.400
Well, squatting is an axial load vector and jumping is a vector this way.
link |
01:11:40.520
So actually, hip thrust would help with your and this is proven in science with your forward
link |
01:11:46.640
jumping ability.
link |
01:11:48.420
They're both working similar muscles.
link |
01:11:49.920
The glute extension, but they're working it in those different platforms.
link |
01:11:54.160
So it's really important to understand because people don't understand.
link |
01:11:57.200
I'm building my work capacity by doing sled process.
link |
01:12:01.440
You're not developing your work capacity for squatting.
link |
01:12:04.720
Most movements, even ones as holistic as a as a squat, require specialization.
link |
01:12:11.440
Yeah.
link |
01:12:12.440
You can't get strong at the squat by doing it.
link |
01:12:15.100
You're going to have some carry over, right, obviously.
link |
01:12:18.040
But because taking an untrained person that hasn't done it is still not going to do as
link |
01:12:22.760
good as somebody that's done nonspecific work, but done work.
link |
01:12:26.360
So but yes, for the most part, to get truly strong, you need to specialize.
link |
01:12:30.600
So but not all the time.
link |
01:12:33.020
So now we talk about quality.
link |
01:12:34.480
So and if we specialize in the same thing too long, we stagnate because the body adapts
link |
01:12:39.120
to a certain point and just can't make progress.
link |
01:12:41.920
So we wanted to save the actual squatting in the pattern with the bar that I was doing
link |
01:12:46.720
for the very end.
link |
01:12:48.680
So starting a year out, I started doing work front squatting like a squat axial loaded
link |
01:12:55.080
pattern and worked on maximizing that up.
link |
01:12:58.440
Then I started shifting to doing transformer bar squat.
link |
01:13:03.080
It's this bar I developed that actually change manipulates spinal mechanics.
link |
01:13:06.580
So I started loading in these more forward positions and being able again.
link |
01:13:10.680
So now I'm getting closer than a front squat, but not quite squatting.
link |
01:13:13.960
And then I would start adjusting that bar every training cycle to closer to a squat
link |
01:13:18.420
toaster to a squat till it finally was right.
link |
01:13:21.080
What's the difference between a front squat and a regular like a back squat?
link |
01:13:25.080
Like in terms of the stress on the body, the mechanics, was there something interesting
link |
01:13:30.480
to be said about like how fundamentally different are they?
link |
01:13:34.160
So it's interesting.
link |
01:13:35.340
People think about the weight and imposition to them like, oh, the bars in front of me,
link |
01:13:38.920
the bars behind me, which is not the case.
link |
01:13:42.480
The bar is above your midfoot.
link |
01:13:45.160
The load is above your midfoot.
link |
01:13:48.280
So we're actually manipulating the spine behind the bar.
link |
01:13:52.360
So we're causing spinal uprighting behind the bar, getting in a more erect position,
link |
01:13:56.440
which is going to change the relationship of the hip angle.
link |
01:13:59.640
It's going to change our ability to maintain the spine.
link |
01:14:02.320
It's going to change how much the core comes in, how hard it is to maintain that sternum
link |
01:14:08.840
to diaphragm relationship that we talked about.
link |
01:14:11.360
All this stuff starts changing.
link |
01:14:12.680
So the bar stays in the same place.
link |
01:14:14.760
Bar is still behind you, but the load moves around.
link |
01:14:17.920
But we're actually manipulating the spine around the load.
link |
01:14:21.240
Yeah.
link |
01:14:22.240
It's incredible.
link |
01:14:23.240
We can tailor it to an athlete, which is great when you got a seven foot plus tall baseball
link |
01:14:27.160
player or basketball player.
link |
01:14:28.800
That's why we work with all these teams.
link |
01:14:30.240
Anyway, so it's like you're taking something and getting closer and closer to it.
link |
01:14:33.520
At the same time, we're looking at the quality.
link |
01:14:35.340
So like I needed to be able to really hold this torso position with the weight moving
link |
01:14:39.260
up here.
link |
01:14:40.260
Unlike the deadlift, the ability to manage this TL position becomes much more challenging.
link |
01:14:45.240
So that was also why I was choosing the transformer bar, because it actually challenges that more
link |
01:14:50.080
in those big forward positions.
link |
01:14:51.680
I was also working on my back strength tremendously to be able to hold the maintain position.
link |
01:14:56.920
So there was a lot of like I chose a bent over rows.
link |
01:15:00.580
So bent over row is a mixed vector.
link |
01:15:02.380
So it's a forward to back.
link |
01:15:03.720
So it wouldn't have as much carrier, but it's also got some axial loading component in it
link |
01:15:09.280
as well.
link |
01:15:10.640
So we're working on that.
link |
01:15:12.360
And then as we get closer and closer to competition, I'm developing those strengths.
link |
01:15:15.920
But now I need to start tapering those out.
link |
01:15:18.180
So all of my recovery needs can now go into the more specific that I'm actually ramping
link |
01:15:22.520
the load up.
link |
01:15:24.160
So as I'm ramping the load on the weight, I'm able to ramp it a lot faster because I'm
link |
01:15:29.320
tapering out the other stuff.
link |
01:15:30.840
So I can still keep my total load high, but now get it very, very specific.
link |
01:15:37.600
So everything that I've done has always been kind of an annual training cycle.
link |
01:15:41.200
And then again, this was like this was a five year training cycle, but we just kind of walked
link |
01:15:44.800
through the last year of each and you can see how these concepts play out in reality.
link |
01:15:50.000
So in the cycling.
link |
01:15:51.760
So this is both for you, but also for more recreational strength athletes.
link |
01:15:58.640
Let's say there's variety injected into this.
link |
01:16:01.480
You need variety.
link |
01:16:02.760
Yeah.
link |
01:16:03.760
Yeah.
link |
01:16:04.760
So you will basically stagnate at some level, right?
link |
01:16:07.800
So you should always be kind of shifting a little bit.
link |
01:16:10.600
So three to four month blocks in general for an average, you know, just a gen pop fitness
link |
01:16:16.920
is pretty good where you're going to spend more time maybe in a higher rep range or lower
link |
01:16:22.040
rep range, a little bit more work on endurance capacity or maybe some more time.
link |
01:16:27.000
Hey, I'm playing around with boxing or jujitsu or something like that.
link |
01:16:30.280
Bring that a little bit more to the front for a while and bring the other out.
link |
01:16:33.280
But like mixing mixing those variables up, but trying to keep the total load the same
link |
01:16:38.320
and always kind of like, you know, do we add a little more?
link |
01:16:41.200
Again, it doesn't have to be major and it shouldn't be major.
link |
01:16:43.640
You don't want these big jumps.
link |
01:16:44.740
You don't go, oh, my God, let's move.
link |
01:16:48.280
Let's jump into squatting every day.
link |
01:16:51.520
You've got to build the capacity to do that.
link |
01:16:54.360
It's simple.
link |
01:16:55.960
What role would you say strength has in sports that combine skill and strength?
link |
01:17:01.760
So for me personally, maybe I'll just ask it selfishly, which is grappling, wrestling,
link |
01:17:07.640
MMA.
link |
01:17:08.640
Yeah.
link |
01:17:09.640
How about I start with baseball?
link |
01:17:12.640
Please.
link |
01:17:13.640
No.
link |
01:17:14.640
I will.
link |
01:17:15.640
OK.
link |
01:17:16.640
I know.
link |
01:17:17.640
The sport.
link |
01:17:18.640
OK.
link |
01:17:19.640
No.
link |
01:17:20.640
Baseball and golf are two of my favorite sports.
link |
01:17:21.640
Oh, no.
link |
01:17:22.640
I don't.
link |
01:17:23.640
You don't have to be in shape at all to excel at those sports.
link |
01:17:25.800
Well, here's the thing.
link |
01:17:26.800
There we go.
link |
01:17:27.800
It doesn't help.
link |
01:17:28.800
I'm going to get this argument.
link |
01:17:29.800
Well, I've got a perfect example, because this is why I sell so many Transformer bars
link |
01:17:34.320
into the Major League Baseball.
link |
01:17:36.340
So they get these people that come in, these athletes, that have been baseball their whole
link |
01:17:42.320
life.
link |
01:17:43.320
It is part of the culture.
link |
01:17:44.780
And so they're great athletes.
link |
01:17:46.400
They've got all this skill.
link |
01:17:47.920
The only thing they have to do is develop a little bit more resilience so that they
link |
01:17:53.520
don't have the injury.
link |
01:17:54.760
They can push their training a little bit more, that they can add a little bit more
link |
01:17:58.720
force output and be able to recover from it.
link |
01:18:01.760
So the only thing they've got to do is add some training.
link |
01:18:04.860
But there's no training culture there, so they don't have any experience, which is why
link |
01:18:08.480
they love the Transformer bar, because they don't have to worry about teaching the technique.
link |
01:18:11.900
We can actually set the bar on a setting that makes their squats perfect by cueing all the
link |
01:18:15.200
stuff with actually not having to coach it.
link |
01:18:17.380
Because when you're coaching a roomful of athletes, it's really hard to teach the nuance
link |
01:18:21.020
of all this and not sure that all that.
link |
01:18:23.000
But that's all that they have to do with these players with a huge level of skill.
link |
01:18:27.400
So once you reach a certain level of skill, adding strength is the only real forward path.
link |
01:18:35.520
So that's the basic, simple answer to that.
link |
01:18:39.640
So one of the benefits there being injury prevention, actually.
link |
01:18:42.600
Injury prevention.
link |
01:18:43.600
Resilience.
link |
01:18:44.600
Because especially fighting sports, you're going to be challenged and thrown and other
link |
01:18:49.320
things happen to you.
link |
01:18:50.640
And the more resilient you can make your structures, the better you're going to be.
link |
01:18:54.760
Even a cyclist, mountain biking.
link |
01:18:57.080
Why would they need it?
link |
01:18:58.080
Why would they need to do upper body training?
link |
01:18:59.480
Take a crash, your shoulder's gone.
link |
01:19:02.240
You're done.
link |
01:19:03.240
Your career's over.
link |
01:19:04.240
Unless you've done a little training.
link |
01:19:07.560
So there's value in all this stuff.
link |
01:19:09.120
But the resilience, that's huge.
link |
01:19:12.400
And then we can overlay strength.
link |
01:19:15.000
Where we miss is this focus on strength when we haven't developed quality motor patterns
link |
01:19:19.880
first.
link |
01:19:20.880
So this is a huge thing with children.
link |
01:19:23.880
Because people want to know what's the appropriate training age.
link |
01:19:26.880
I'd have had my daughter training before my son.
link |
01:19:29.800
Because she developed movement patterns that have better quality earlier.
link |
01:19:33.340
There's no age.
link |
01:19:34.340
Because it's going to be very dependent on the individual.
link |
01:19:37.280
There's no point in having adaptation if we don't have the right thing to adapt to yet.
link |
01:19:41.240
And that applies to general movement, but also to sport.
link |
01:19:44.120
You're saying the skills should be developed first and then the strength applied on top
link |
01:19:47.680
of that.
link |
01:19:48.680
Yep.
link |
01:19:49.680
Maybe you can educate me, but I actually quit lifting and powerlifting for a long time
link |
01:19:56.520
after I started Judo, Jiu Jitsu, grappling, all this sort of combat sports.
link |
01:20:05.520
Because I found that it was preventing me from relaxing my body enough to load in the
link |
01:20:15.520
skill.
link |
01:20:17.300
So this isn't a problem with the training.
link |
01:20:20.920
This is a problem with you.
link |
01:20:22.960
So this is actually really, really important.
link |
01:20:25.840
The first product I ever released was a loadable mace, a swinging mace.
link |
01:20:33.560
And because every power lifter and body, well, not every, but most serious power lifters
link |
01:20:38.440
and bodybuilders, like shoulders, mobility is pretty limited.
link |
01:20:44.480
And most of them really, really struggle with this.
link |
01:20:47.440
The problem is they've been taught to have tension all the time.
link |
01:20:52.800
And that's not good.
link |
01:20:53.920
So when we talk about the joint positions that we were talking about earlier and having
link |
01:20:57.300
those and the muscles in the right length and tension relationship, athleticism is the
link |
01:21:03.840
speed to relaxation because the counter is speed to contraction.
link |
01:21:11.080
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
link |
01:21:14.600
And so what a mace can do is use that because this ties back into a developmental kinesiology
link |
01:21:20.120
because a lot of like reset patterns are getting back into these basic movements, but it's
link |
01:21:24.760
as much about relaxation as it is contraction.
link |
01:21:28.920
So a mace, we have this weight on a big long lever.
link |
01:21:32.500
So if I grab a kettlebell and this would be like the same movement as a kettlebell halo,
link |
01:21:36.440
it is the same movement as a, but here in the halo, I'm on the whole time with the mace
link |
01:21:42.840
at the proper length, with the right distribution, you cannot do the movement.
link |
01:21:47.640
You could not move force your way through it.
link |
01:21:50.320
The only way that you can accomplish that is by relaxing.
link |
01:21:55.000
And then now we, now we can contract all the muscles related around that shoulder girdle
link |
01:22:00.840
all at once.
link |
01:22:01.980
We're working on, off, on, off, on, off with moving and contracting.
link |
01:22:06.800
And now, so what happens a lot of times as we, you know, this stiffness and tightness
link |
01:22:11.880
happens.
link |
01:22:12.880
So in four positions, we start using stabilizer muscles to do the movement.
link |
01:22:17.880
And then that's where this stiffness come from.
link |
01:22:19.800
So it means that in some of whatever training that you're doing, there's a deficit in the
link |
01:22:24.960
movement quality, okay.
link |
01:22:27.660
Or there's a deficit in the training program and you're not recovering from an 80% of the
link |
01:22:31.680
time.
link |
01:22:32.680
That's the right answer.
link |
01:22:33.680
Right.
link |
01:22:34.680
But yeah, that's where the, where the gap is and learning how to relax and the way a
link |
01:22:39.440
lot of the exercises are taught and have been taught for a long time, which is why there's
link |
01:22:43.460
a big gap.
link |
01:22:44.460
And this is why both clinical rehab and all these other components are mixed in my philosophy
link |
01:22:49.200
and what I'm trying to do with Kabuki strength, because I'm looking at holistic movement.
link |
01:22:53.760
I'm not looking at powerlifting based movements are what I want to load and be able to assess
link |
01:22:58.560
on.
link |
01:23:00.680
But this affects all sports, all activities and strength doesn't have to be that.
link |
01:23:07.240
I mean, I'm freaking a thousand pound squatter and deadlifter.
link |
01:23:10.720
If you watch any of my videos where I do like complete quad fallbacks, I don't stretch at
link |
01:23:15.120
all.
link |
01:23:16.120
I can usually get close to a full split.
link |
01:23:17.120
Like if I want to.
link |
01:23:18.120
What?
link |
01:23:19.120
No, I did not see those videos.
link |
01:23:21.120
Okay.
link |
01:23:22.120
That's, that's hard to believe.
link |
01:23:23.600
Wow.
link |
01:23:24.600
Okay.
link |
01:23:25.600
Well actually I do.
link |
01:23:26.600
I just did one recently, a quad fallback with my, with my mace loaded way out to the end
link |
01:23:29.680
torsioning on both ends of the other.
link |
01:23:31.320
And like I do a lot of, I do a lot of weird stuff.
link |
01:23:35.560
That's awesome.
link |
01:23:36.560
But squatting doesn't make your hips tight.
link |
01:23:39.480
Squatting like shit makes your hips tight.
link |
01:23:42.880
And so, but there is no perfect world where always our training program isn't quite perfect.
link |
01:23:48.720
Our movement isn't necessarily perfect.
link |
01:23:50.840
Like so you're going to have the needs for this stuff.
link |
01:23:52.840
But if you're always have to do some soft tissue work to loosen up the same one for
link |
01:23:58.080
that exercise, to be able to get a joint in position, there is a problem.
link |
01:24:01.920
And I'm not saying don't do it, do it because I don't want you to have a joint.
link |
01:24:05.240
Like if I can't get my shoulders in a position, I can't do overhead presses because I'm going
link |
01:24:09.920
to compromise my spine position.
link |
01:24:11.080
Then I'm going to end up with some other problems.
link |
01:24:12.760
Right?
link |
01:24:13.760
So go ahead and clean that up so you can get in position, but go figure out why it is and
link |
01:24:18.920
fix it.
link |
01:24:20.460
And then maybe next, you know, three, four months from now, they're going to get a little
link |
01:24:23.440
something else going on, fix it, but go understand the deeper root reason of why.
link |
01:24:29.200
So I'm, I believe I am the only company manufacturing and selling, you know, fascial soft tissue
link |
01:24:35.180
tools.
link |
01:24:36.180
And I'll tell you, I don't want you to use them.
link |
01:24:39.920
Cause it's not helping you get to the why, why it was caused in the first place.
link |
01:24:43.880
Yeah.
link |
01:24:44.880
The goal, the goal, the perfect state is not having to use them.
link |
01:24:49.020
Reality is you're going to have to use them from time to time because the world's not
link |
01:24:52.080
perfect.
link |
01:24:53.080
Yeah.
link |
01:24:54.080
So your discovery is a hundred percent on point.
link |
01:24:56.480
Well there's another side to combat sports when you're beginning a particular combat
link |
01:25:02.920
sport, strength can be a negative because human psychology, because you can get away
link |
01:25:10.200
with a lot when you're strong.
link |
01:25:11.760
Uh huh.
link |
01:25:12.760
Yes, you can.
link |
01:25:13.760
So if your mind is strong enough to where you can just turn off that advantage and be
link |
01:25:19.680
a beginner, truly in a particular art, that's probably the best way to do it.
link |
01:25:23.800
But you can get away and then you don't learn.
link |
01:25:26.000
Yeah.
link |
01:25:27.000
Yeah.
link |
01:25:28.000
It's hard.
link |
01:25:29.000
Uh, it's hard not to use the little advantages you have because like jujitsu is a big hit
link |
01:25:35.560
on an, on the ego for, you know, especially guys, you know, when like a smaller person
link |
01:25:42.120
just destroys you, dominates you when you can, uh, I don't know, deadlift whatever number
link |
01:25:48.220
of pounds.
link |
01:25:50.000
And uh, it's hard not to use that strength to then resist the slow, the ultimate destruction
link |
01:25:56.800
by like 120 pound, but that, and that's why I recommend developing the skill quality first,
link |
01:26:02.560
but it doesn't, it doesn't mean that you can't, I can't, you can still do it so that don't
link |
01:26:06.680
take it as a like, oh, I can't go that direction.
link |
01:26:09.840
That's fine.
link |
01:26:10.840
But understand those things and then also understand the jujitsu is additional load
link |
01:26:14.440
on the body.
link |
01:26:15.480
So you have to, you can't just add it on top.
link |
01:26:18.680
You've got to taper back the other, you're going to have to make a, I'm sorry, you may
link |
01:26:22.680
not want to hear it, but you're not going to be able to do as much and add that here.
link |
01:26:28.960
It's a compromise because your total volume still has to be there and there's not, unfortunately,
link |
01:26:35.440
not really a way to measure what the jujitsu volume is with this.
link |
01:26:39.320
So you've got to take a look at that and that's where like measuring like heart rate variability
link |
01:26:44.280
or other stuff can be useful so you can see what is happening from me from a sympathetic
link |
01:26:50.000
versus parasympathetic nervous system standpoint.
link |
01:26:52.640
Yeah.
link |
01:26:53.640
Making sure your body recovers sufficiently and trying to put numbers to it.
link |
01:26:56.920
You mentioned Kabuki strength.
link |
01:26:58.760
You run the Kabuki strength lab previously called the elite performance center in Oregon.
link |
01:27:04.640
You called it the perfect gym.
link |
01:27:07.440
What makes for the perfect strength training gym?
link |
01:27:11.040
Where I called it the perfect gym?
link |
01:27:12.040
In a video somewhere I watched.
link |
01:27:14.040
Oh man.
link |
01:27:15.040
I mean, that's where my testing grounds for developing all this stuff was through the
link |
01:27:19.960
years.
link |
01:27:20.960
And, and so this is, like I said, I started developing relationships with the best developmental
link |
01:27:26.560
kinesiologist in the, in the U S the best, arguably the best or most well known physical
link |
01:27:30.960
therapist in the world, the best spine biomechanist in the world.
link |
01:27:35.240
I started doing continuing education with these clinical courses and learning this stuff
link |
01:27:38.880
and going, but how does it work in my world?
link |
01:27:41.160
Right.
link |
01:27:42.160
And then I started lecturing with them and all this other stuff.
link |
01:27:44.020
But the lab was like, where do we test this stuff?
link |
01:27:47.360
Right.
link |
01:27:48.360
And so let me get to a point.
link |
01:27:49.360
There's three things.
link |
01:27:50.360
There's always three things.
link |
01:27:52.480
So to be a success, to achieve success, I believe there's three things that really,
link |
01:27:59.720
really come into place and it's the right methodology, the right tools and the right
link |
01:28:08.200
environment.
link |
01:28:10.040
And so it was all about building that.
link |
01:28:13.780
And so the methodologies came from a lot of that different, that gray area interaction
link |
01:28:19.680
of clinical with sports science, right?
link |
01:28:22.520
And then the tools I had to start creating and designing, and then the environment is
link |
01:28:27.480
having this, you know, focused environment of people that want to do better and push
link |
01:28:32.220
each other and having community and culture, right?
link |
01:28:35.800
I ended up building these connections, this network, everything that I'm doing with my
link |
01:28:39.560
businesses is trying to create that into a scalable fashion.
link |
01:28:44.560
And so I'm building the groundwork because to have a system that like, yeah, I had clinicals
link |
01:28:49.200
on site that knew exactly what we were doing.
link |
01:28:51.480
And when it's me and a few people in a small team and all this stuff, we're all just like
link |
01:28:55.960
easy to manage.
link |
01:28:57.440
And you can see these, there's other models around this.
link |
01:28:59.440
So I've been other areas since maybe whenever it was I filmed that video that said that,
link |
01:29:04.100
that they have that same model and it's taken probably about a decade usually to develop
link |
01:29:09.020
that.
link |
01:29:10.020
You know, and having the right people in this community, they can create this, this network
link |
01:29:14.240
and the tool and all this stuff, right?
link |
01:29:15.920
Except they still don't have the best tools because Kibuki strength didn't exist.
link |
01:29:21.040
But but and so out of that was, is essentially I started building this business and people
link |
01:29:27.920
like, when did you know how all this stuff was connected?
link |
01:29:30.640
And I'm like, I don't know.
link |
01:29:32.400
I didn't, I just started creating on the outset the things that worked until finally I'm like,
link |
01:29:37.600
I'm recreating a scalable version of this stuff.
link |
01:29:41.900
Here's the methodologies and a coaching platform that we can manage clients around the globe
link |
01:29:46.160
and see what's working and not based on the scientific principles of training, right?
link |
01:29:50.160
How do we create that into a database that now we can train new coaches and they can
link |
01:29:54.180
use those same metrics and tools to create programs that are tailored to fit person's
link |
01:29:58.960
individual needs, right?
link |
01:30:00.720
Now how do we integrate that with assessment and clinical care assessment and all these
link |
01:30:06.360
other pieces?
link |
01:30:07.720
So there's a lot of work in that.
link |
01:30:09.500
And so that's where Kibuki strength is the genesis.
link |
01:30:11.960
But we have, we call our gym the Kibuki strength lab.
link |
01:30:16.760
Literally people find about our gym in the neighborhood and they're like, how long have
link |
01:30:20.160
you been here?
link |
01:30:21.160
Why, why do I not know about this?
link |
01:30:22.460
We don't advertise our gym at all.
link |
01:30:24.520
So like that makes no sense.
link |
01:30:27.840
Well that's because the only reason is to have a testing environment for the tools and
link |
01:30:32.940
methodology and having enough people to have the culture and fit and to be able to be part
link |
01:30:38.000
of the experiment.
link |
01:30:39.920
What about the environment of the, the feel of it, the actual gym?
link |
01:30:44.280
There's a, I don't know, a grunginess to it.
link |
01:30:47.360
I recently became a member of planet fitness for, for reasons that have to do more with
link |
01:30:54.840
the heat in Austin that sometimes I need to put in time in the treadmill.
link |
01:30:59.360
I don't like that.
link |
01:31:00.360
I don't have any judgment, honestly.
link |
01:31:01.360
I don't, the best gyms I've been in are kind of dirty.
link |
01:31:06.040
You walk in and you know that work is to be done.
link |
01:31:08.440
There's not another reason to do there.
link |
01:31:10.640
It is the, the environment is tight.
link |
01:31:13.560
There's a big piece of that.
link |
01:31:16.480
I know it's studied sociologically, I believe.
link |
01:31:19.040
I just, I just pictured that word too, but the intensity, when you start growing a space,
link |
01:31:26.080
the intensity drops.
link |
01:31:28.600
And so I, I had that experience when we grew, we went from a 4,000 foot to a 9,000 square
link |
01:31:33.080
foot gym at one time.
link |
01:31:35.200
And everybody's like, it doesn't feel the same.
link |
01:31:38.360
Like people are complaining for years.
link |
01:31:39.760
We've shrunk it back down whenever down to 3,500 square feet.
link |
01:31:42.320
And it creates that intensity.
link |
01:31:44.080
It creates the closest, the connection with the people around you.
link |
01:31:47.600
And then like I said, the grunginess, like you go in, you know, the intention when you
link |
01:31:52.000
walk in that environment creates that tension.
link |
01:31:54.320
But when I speak environment, it's not just the, it's not the physical, it's the people.
link |
01:31:58.580
But you know, when the gym is a little bit beat up, it also tells a story.
link |
01:32:03.680
Like there's a history to it.
link |
01:32:06.560
You could tell that not only is there work to be done, that work has been done here.
link |
01:32:11.640
Yes.
link |
01:32:12.640
Like battles have been fought.
link |
01:32:13.640
There's something to that where you're just in a long line of people, you know, that fought
link |
01:32:20.680
and won.
link |
01:32:21.680
And we could get into a whole nother space, there'd be a whole nother topic, but that
link |
01:32:26.360
existing energy of a space.
link |
01:32:28.240
I mean, we mentioned offline, Joe Rogan, he talks about the same with comedy clubs.
link |
01:32:32.520
There's certain, there's certain clubs that just have a history.
link |
01:32:36.040
There's an energy there.
link |
01:32:38.040
You can get all woo woo, but you know, it's there.
link |
01:32:40.960
It's a real thing.
link |
01:32:41.960
I think you walk in and you can feel it.
link |
01:32:43.960
You feel it.
link |
01:32:44.960
You feel it.
link |
01:32:45.960
Yeah.
link |
01:32:46.960
That makes me feel that somehow all of us humans are connected in a ways that's hard
link |
01:32:52.360
to describe, even the ones who are no longer here.
link |
01:32:57.040
Just the greatness that once was is still in the walls, in the space, present there.
link |
01:33:05.040
And we somehow can plug into that energy.
link |
01:33:07.280
Yeah.
link |
01:33:08.280
It's, we can go down a, go down a path there.
link |
01:33:11.640
There's something really powerful there.
link |
01:33:13.760
You've also mentioned a bunch of cool equipment that you've developed as part of Kabuki Strength.
link |
01:33:20.840
Probably a little bit of that has to do with your engineering education, but also just
link |
01:33:24.640
generally with the spirit of the innovator that you are.
link |
01:33:29.160
What are some cool, maybe revolutionary pieces of equipment that you're particularly proud
link |
01:33:35.040
of or just you've been obsessed with recently that you're developing?
link |
01:33:39.600
Yeah.
link |
01:33:40.600
Love to talk about that.
link |
01:33:41.600
So we've got some wild crazy stuff that just came out and is coming out too.
link |
01:33:46.440
So everything that we create and release at Kabuki Strength, the industry hasn't seen
link |
01:33:52.640
before.
link |
01:33:54.440
There's stuff that's basic foundational.
link |
01:33:56.400
It's been around forever because it works, but there's always more.
link |
01:34:02.920
It could be better.
link |
01:34:04.400
And why are we not looking at these things, these foundational things?
link |
01:34:07.380
So when people are coming up with novel things, they ended up being way different outside
link |
01:34:10.760
the perspective.
link |
01:34:11.760
And I'm coming up with things that are way different that are plays on what we already
link |
01:34:17.000
know works.
link |
01:34:18.000
So we talked about the transform bar, the only bar in the world.
link |
01:34:20.000
We can manipulate spinal mechanics.
link |
01:34:22.180
We can, so everything, everything for me from a design concept that we develop is all about
link |
01:34:27.920
creating products that can rapidly accommodate to the variability of an individual's leverages,
link |
01:34:37.640
mobility and training needs.
link |
01:34:40.480
Okay.
link |
01:34:41.480
And that's going to also create and distill down the size and scope of space that we need,
link |
01:34:45.160
which is going to be, continue to be an ongoing thing.
link |
01:34:48.580
Check out my Instagram after this and you'll see, I put an entire gym on the bed of my
link |
01:34:51.720
truck and went on vacation last week, drove to the desert and by entire gym, I mean a
link |
01:34:58.880
squat rack, full compliment of our specialty bars, a horizontal and vertical pulley system,
link |
01:35:03.840
handheld weights, shoulder rock, like a complete, an entire gym in product that took up the
link |
01:35:09.360
space the size of this bed right here.
link |
01:35:13.160
That's incredible.
link |
01:35:14.160
Because of the design scope of what we have.
link |
01:35:16.040
So the cool thing is that there's two other bars that fit our biomechanically sound barbell
link |
01:35:21.280
designs.
link |
01:35:22.280
We talked about the transformer bar.
link |
01:35:23.420
The other two are built on this thing I called playground physics.
link |
01:35:27.920
So we have these bars with handles that are off parallel with the axis.
link |
01:35:35.600
So they've been around the market for a long time.
link |
01:35:37.440
One is a hex bar or a trap bar.
link |
01:35:40.560
Another one is a, it's a pressing bar with the handles turned as well.
link |
01:35:46.640
And both of them suck.
link |
01:35:48.640
They're horrible.
link |
01:35:49.640
Any lifter knows if you pick it up, it's going to break your wrist and crush into your face.
link |
01:35:54.440
And it just, it just doesn't feel good pressing, but it alleviates the strain on the wrist.
link |
01:36:00.280
So people use it for that reason.
link |
01:36:02.000
And the, the, the trap bar, same thing.
link |
01:36:04.760
It's always diving forward in your hand.
link |
01:36:06.640
So it's kind of limited.
link |
01:36:07.920
It's also limited in use because you can't, you could do a lot more with it.
link |
01:36:12.200
So these bars are really cool playground physics.
link |
01:36:15.000
So as soon as the center of rotation is on the same axis as the center of mass and the
link |
01:36:25.640
handle is off center, you have, you have a teeter totter.
link |
01:36:30.800
So a teeter totter has a balance point, but it's infinitely perfect.
link |
01:36:34.660
So technically you can never find it.
link |
01:36:36.200
So always going to be sitting on one side or the other in a playground.
link |
01:36:38.840
And that's what these bars are designed.
link |
01:36:40.360
So you've got instability right here.
link |
01:36:42.340
You can't find the center of the bars.
link |
01:36:43.340
It's always trying to tip in your hands on the trap bar.
link |
01:36:45.080
So you can't do carries with it cause you're doing for momentum and it wants to, it wants
link |
01:36:48.760
to dip on you.
link |
01:36:49.760
Right.
link |
01:36:50.760
Um, the Swiss bar wants to crush your face.
link |
01:36:52.360
Well, what do we do?
link |
01:36:53.360
We just make a swing, but center of mass below center of rotation.
link |
01:36:58.520
And what does it do?
link |
01:36:59.520
Oh, it always finds center.
link |
01:37:02.700
So, so the handles on the, our pressing bar it's art.
link |
01:37:06.760
So the handles are above center of rotation and then, and then every angle, instead of
link |
01:37:11.820
just being a certain fixed angles, each angle is based on the width, the average width of
link |
01:37:17.040
an individual.
link |
01:37:18.040
So the internal and external rotational bias is based of the shoulder is based on the width,
link |
01:37:23.240
leaving just a little bit left because we talked about the lap being a stabilizer.
link |
01:37:26.380
You still need to have a little bit of cue of external rotation to engage that as a stabilizer.
link |
01:37:30.600
Boom.
link |
01:37:31.600
Now all of a sudden you have a bar and I kid you not, this is a great story.
link |
01:37:35.280
Major league baseball.
link |
01:37:36.280
When I presented it, every head strength coach for a major league baseball team, maybe not
link |
01:37:39.200
every, but damn near most of them have bad shoulders.
link |
01:37:42.960
They can't press.
link |
01:37:43.960
They've gotten shoulder surgeries, so on.
link |
01:37:45.820
And so we're showing them, they love all our stuff and I'm like, Hey, I've got this cool
link |
01:37:48.240
prototype I want to show you.
link |
01:37:49.360
It's a pressing bar.
link |
01:37:50.360
And they're like, Oh, you know, major league baseball is a little hesitant on pressing
link |
01:37:54.640
because the dangers for the shoulder and I can't, I haven't been able to take a bar to
link |
01:37:59.640
my chest.
link |
01:38:00.640
I mean, I'd really love to.
link |
01:38:01.640
It's been five years since I've, I've been able to to XX train and I'm like, just try
link |
01:38:07.240
it.
link |
01:38:08.240
Put a bar on my chest without pain.
link |
01:38:09.240
I'm like, just try it.
link |
01:38:10.240
Put it in there.
link |
01:38:11.240
Ooh, that feels good.
link |
01:38:12.240
Now the arc makes it actually three inches deeper.
link |
01:38:15.360
So people are automatically scared.
link |
01:38:16.560
I can't do that.
link |
01:38:17.560
Cause that's an extra range of motion.
link |
01:38:18.800
Right?
link |
01:38:19.800
Like, Ooh, put a plate on there.
link |
01:38:20.800
They're doing it.
link |
01:38:21.800
By the time the staff's like, they're all standing around, you see like, what's going
link |
01:38:24.800
on?
link |
01:38:25.800
Put two plates on.
link |
01:38:26.800
You see the, just like he gets up.
link |
01:38:29.600
How do you feel like, I feel fine.
link |
01:38:33.080
No pain at all.
link |
01:38:34.720
I did this with five teams with five of the, it happening repeatedly five times that they
link |
01:38:42.800
and every one of them worked up to two plates and did reps varied with zero pain to a three
link |
01:38:47.920
inch range or greater range of major.
link |
01:38:49.480
Cause what did we do?
link |
01:38:50.480
We stacked all the joints and we provided stability at the end that we balanced internal
link |
01:38:53.400
and external rotation.
link |
01:38:54.400
I mean just basic playground physics and it changed the game.
link |
01:38:58.360
Now we get a greater range of motion with a greater training effect with the negative
link |
01:39:02.280
stresses removed.
link |
01:39:03.760
Our trap bar opened up one side, which there was already some like that out there created.
link |
01:39:09.640
It pops up so you can pick up, take the weights on and off.
link |
01:39:12.080
It's got a built in Jack and then created the high handle position, which already did.
link |
01:39:16.800
Everybody uses the high handle on a trap bar.
link |
01:39:18.280
They just don't know why they like it.
link |
01:39:20.040
The handle that's on center, we offset just a little bit, not enough to make a difference
link |
01:39:23.280
on the range of motion lift or even notice visibly, but it still has the same effect.
link |
01:39:27.520
So both handles now have that.
link |
01:39:30.200
We added the option of different handle sizes based on whatever your needs are.
link |
01:39:33.560
One that rolls to develop a grip and then different widths that you could choose from
link |
01:39:38.280
based on whether you're training a teen athlete or a seven foot six NBA player or a NFL lineman
link |
01:39:44.440
so that we can accommodate for all these differences.
link |
01:39:48.600
Now it becomes the most functional all around bar around because now you can do carries
link |
01:39:53.040
with it.
link |
01:39:54.040
You can do split squats with it.
link |
01:39:55.040
You could do curls with it because it goes around the body.
link |
01:39:57.340
You can do overhead presses because you don't have a thing that gets in your way and you
link |
01:40:00.280
can flip it up into position.
link |
01:40:01.800
You can do bent over rows and not run into your shins.
link |
01:40:04.720
You can do seal rows off of a bench.
link |
01:40:06.220
You can do ab rollouts.
link |
01:40:07.580
You could, should I go on?
link |
01:40:08.580
Yeah.
link |
01:40:09.580
So you can use it as like the main bar.
link |
01:40:10.580
The best multi purpose bar around.
link |
01:40:12.320
You got a home gym, one bar.
link |
01:40:13.780
Like how do you develop totally new equipment like this?
link |
01:40:16.420
I scratch it on paper.
link |
01:40:19.600
Maybe weld some cut up and weld up a prototype, but usually I just hand the scratched up paper
link |
01:40:24.920
to my engineering manager and that's what he says his job is to distill my chicken scratch
link |
01:40:30.400
into something real and then that team picks it up.
link |
01:40:33.640
But in the old days, starting out, I just walk out, I just walk out and do it.
link |
01:40:39.200
You talk about engineering.
link |
01:40:40.200
I'm actually more, I work more of an artist fashion.
link |
01:40:41.900
It's in my head and I just go create with no plans.
link |
01:40:46.040
And so they have to pick that up and actually do the engineering and testing and all that.
link |
01:40:50.040
And then we got two other products came out this year.
link |
01:40:52.200
Freaking wild.
link |
01:40:53.200
Are you familiar with training with a flywheel?
link |
01:40:55.240
No, no, it's a flywheel.
link |
01:40:57.760
A flywheel is a spinning object that creates an inertial mass and then it reverses direction.
link |
01:41:04.560
So whatever you put into it and there's ones out there.
link |
01:41:08.160
But ours is the first patent pending.
link |
01:41:10.720
That's all everything all in one unit.
link |
01:41:12.720
So it's a floor based as well as a horizontal.
link |
01:41:15.440
So you can basically do any pulley movement in the world.
link |
01:41:17.760
And now everything that you put into it on a concentric force, it whips right back as
link |
01:41:21.320
a peak centric load.
link |
01:41:24.200
So there's an accelerating whipping motion.
link |
01:41:26.760
It just yeah, basically, yeah, I mean, okay, I have to have trouble imagining exactly many
link |
01:41:32.920
of the things you're describing, I suppose, have to be experienced, right?
link |
01:41:37.200
Yes.
link |
01:41:38.200
Because there's a magic and there's a lot of research.
link |
01:41:40.120
They've been around.
link |
01:41:41.120
They're adopted more heavily in Europe, quite heavily in Europe, but not as much in the
link |
01:41:44.920
US because they sell them as a be all end all tool, which they're not.
link |
01:41:48.160
They're crazy for what they do, but it's not the it's another tool.
link |
01:41:52.740
And so we have a very high quality unit now that is half the cost of everybody else's
link |
01:41:57.560
because the innovation of a movable mount point that you for them, you have to have
link |
01:42:02.200
two pieces of equipment.
link |
01:42:03.500
We have one.
link |
01:42:04.780
So and then a few other things, better platform to be able to do things and that we can do
link |
01:42:10.000
what we call off platform work, which allows us to do movements like punches and standups,
link |
01:42:16.400
things like that.
link |
01:42:17.400
And then I've got a handheld weight coming out next month that we can actually play with.
link |
01:42:21.520
So varying the load with it, never leaving your hand by changing the leverage point.
link |
01:42:27.560
And so what do we think?
link |
01:42:29.500
What exercise are we talking about here?
link |
01:42:31.720
Anything that would be a dumbbell or a kettlebell movement.
link |
01:42:35.080
So it functions, it does the function of a kettlebell, a dumbbell and what we call a
link |
01:42:38.280
center mass bell, as well as provides variable loading within a range.
link |
01:42:42.140
So how can you change like how can you change the load?
link |
01:42:47.240
Because load.
link |
01:42:48.240
Well, we don't actually change the load.
link |
01:42:49.580
We change the torque on the on the joint that we're working, which is the same.
link |
01:42:53.860
That's actually what is creating the force.
link |
01:42:55.240
Right.
link |
01:42:56.240
So if I'm doing a front raise, it's where this this downward force is times the distance
link |
01:43:01.120
away.
link |
01:43:02.120
Right.
link |
01:43:03.120
Which also then makes it no force when I've got at the bottom of the front raise, which
link |
01:43:06.120
is why it's so easy with this.
link |
01:43:09.020
It's like a kettlebell.
link |
01:43:10.020
It's offset, except it has three different handles.
link |
01:43:12.840
But it's offset just that a kettlebell, you can't do it because the offset so far it becomes
link |
01:43:16.080
a wrist movement.
link |
01:43:17.780
So ours has three different sizes and the offset just enough so that you can pick.
link |
01:43:22.420
If I put it in a front raise position or curl position, I could put it in outward position
link |
01:43:26.700
and the force is almost what it is at the at the top.
link |
01:43:29.880
Then I get the top and it's the same exact or the curl.
link |
01:43:32.360
So I can actually change the force curve in the movement and then I can just release the
link |
01:43:36.320
pressure a little bit and let it swing into position and keep doing a drop set with never
link |
01:43:39.560
letting it down.
link |
01:43:40.560
Yeah.
link |
01:43:41.560
Yeah.
link |
01:43:42.560
So it's got a really nice texture grip that allows you to hold it in different positions.
link |
01:43:45.040
And then the load offset is just enough that it doesn't overpower the wrist.
link |
01:43:48.680
And then you've got different hand sizes so that you can maximize this relationship and
link |
01:43:52.140
hit whatever joint that you're applying.
link |
01:43:54.460
So sounds incredible.
link |
01:43:55.900
It's really freaking well, it's awesome because you can because the variable load.
link |
01:43:59.640
Now I could go straight from front raises to side raises or rear or curl because without
link |
01:44:04.020
like because I don't have to put it down.
link |
01:44:05.440
So now my time under tension goes through the roof.
link |
01:44:08.780
And by the way, the same effect with a flywheel trainer because the variable whatever you
link |
01:44:12.340
put into it is what it kicks back.
link |
01:44:14.660
So you have a constant time under tension because there's no rest points either.
link |
01:44:18.360
So all this stuff is working on maximizing time under tension, which anyway, it's cool
link |
01:44:24.040
stuff.
link |
01:44:25.040
Anyway, I get excited.
link |
01:44:26.040
Well, let me ask you about another thing you've already mentioned, but I find this really
link |
01:44:31.320
interesting, which is barefoot running and you're sort of a company, Barefoot Athletics.
link |
01:44:40.000
Yeah.
link |
01:44:41.000
And the tagline is optimizing the human to ground interface.
link |
01:44:46.000
We've talked about this a little bit with the power lifting.
link |
01:44:51.280
How do you think about the the foot ground interface?
link |
01:44:57.880
It's interesting that we know that we should train all these parts of our body to be able
link |
01:45:05.680
to be stronger, be more resilient.
link |
01:45:10.580
But we think that the foot is different, that we need to package it and modify it.
link |
01:45:16.080
And somehow that that's the science of making it healthy where I challenge people think
link |
01:45:22.520
about that.
link |
01:45:23.520
Like first thing you do in the morning is roll out of bed and put your weightlifting
link |
01:45:27.440
belt on and wrap it on tight and wear it till you go to bed at night.
link |
01:45:31.080
Do it with your shoulders, your knees, wake up and put some knee wraps on an elbow wraps
link |
01:45:36.400
and see what happens.
link |
01:45:38.720
Then you'll get weaker, you'll lose movement capacity and you'll start affecting other
link |
01:45:43.240
areas of the body very negatively because they will start picking up the compensation
link |
01:45:47.000
for those joints that are not moving properly.
link |
01:45:50.920
This is it.
link |
01:45:51.920
What shoes are for is to protect you from the environment, from cuts and abrasions and
link |
01:45:57.480
heat and things like that.
link |
01:45:59.800
But the foot, let me the mind blowing is like every other area of the body.
link |
01:46:07.440
You need to use it and you need to strengthen it and you need to learn to control it.
link |
01:46:12.440
That's it.
link |
01:46:13.440
That's all I have to say about the subject.
link |
01:46:16.160
It's that simple.
link |
01:46:17.160
But somehow we have been sold entire industries like the orthotics industry.
link |
01:46:23.880
It's completely false.
link |
01:46:25.280
Meta analysis of the data shows that orthotics do nothing beyond temporary relief from pain
link |
01:46:29.900
over a six, eight week period of time and provide no long term benefit.
link |
01:46:33.280
And I can't tell you how many people I've eliminated back or knee or hip pain from getting
link |
01:46:38.720
from working on strengthening and controlling the foot and ankle complex.
link |
01:46:42.740
We believe we've villainized and said a low arch is a condition that needs fixed.
link |
01:46:50.480
Like when it really is just controlling the foot and ankle complex and how they relate
link |
01:46:54.680
to each other and how we use that.
link |
01:46:56.300
Is it like go put on boxing gloves in the morning and do that for the next 20 years
link |
01:47:01.420
and see what happens.
link |
01:47:02.520
It's not about finding the right shoe that fits because your foot has been deformed.
link |
01:47:07.560
And so I'm not like some wacky go like, oh, you got to be barefoot forever.
link |
01:47:11.500
Do this like, no, I'm just saying go spend some time using it, strengthen it, learn to
link |
01:47:16.840
control it and you will work better in a shoe.
link |
01:47:19.320
But the whole running shoe movement with the raised heel, that was the person that that
link |
01:47:24.620
suggested that that in to Nike way back when they were trying to figure out what to do,
link |
01:47:29.580
the reason, and he says it's, it's the worst thing that he ever did.
link |
01:47:35.760
Because we were coming from an era of people wearing heeled shoes, which by the way came
link |
01:47:40.080
from stirrups way back in the day.
link |
01:47:42.780
That's where the whole heel came from is to go into stirrup, but then it went into fashion.
link |
01:47:45.560
And then the running craze started coming around in the seventies.
link |
01:47:49.440
They're they're starting to push this, the general mass population.
link |
01:47:52.200
And they realized that they were causing injuries and like, what are we going to do?
link |
01:47:55.640
Well, that's because everybody was in this position and had a shortened, a shortened
link |
01:48:00.000
calf muscle.
link |
01:48:01.000
And it's like, well, the work around, let's just put a heel on it so we don't injure them.
link |
01:48:06.160
That's it.
link |
01:48:07.160
And now because the raised heel, you got to raise the toe.
link |
01:48:09.840
And then now with that, if you go stand on something and pull your inner toe in and in
link |
01:48:15.040
a squat position, just reach down and do it.
link |
01:48:17.160
You'll see that you have no control over internal or next door and rotation of your, of, of
link |
01:48:21.560
your leg.
link |
01:48:22.560
You don't and, or your foot and you actually have to put a support in for the arch to be
link |
01:48:28.760
able to passively control those structures.
link |
01:48:33.120
It's just bandaid on top of bandaid on top of bandaid.
link |
01:48:36.480
Use it, strengthen it.
link |
01:48:37.600
If you want to wear some shoes cause they look good or fancy, I'm like, I have no problem.
link |
01:48:40.680
I mean, I go out on a wife.
link |
01:48:42.000
My wife will put on some high heels every now and again.
link |
01:48:45.480
But all I'm saying is use your foot.
link |
01:48:48.160
My thousand pound squat, my thousand pound deadlift, we're done barefoot.
link |
01:48:51.500
I'm not trying to sell you shoes.
link |
01:48:53.880
Go do it with no shoe.
link |
01:48:56.320
That's what I've been promoting.
link |
01:48:57.320
I did that for six years and I promoted it, but people ask me like, well, what do I do?
link |
01:49:02.360
Because my gym requires shoes.
link |
01:49:03.880
Okay.
link |
01:49:04.880
What do I go?
link |
01:49:06.680
And uh, and then I go, well, you know, you could pick up these other finger shoes or
link |
01:49:11.080
whatever and they go, man, my wife won't have sex with me if I do that.
link |
01:49:15.300
And I go, I know mine either.
link |
01:49:17.560
Like trust me, I'm not making this up.
link |
01:49:20.140
Basically in that market markets to one segment and they're still missing some gaps because
link |
01:49:23.960
they, they still have a little bit too narrow of a toe box.
link |
01:49:26.840
And if you're lifting, you have the opportunity to really get that splay and start working
link |
01:49:29.920
on this stuff better.
link |
01:49:31.280
So, um, I just wanted to create a shoe.
link |
01:49:33.980
These ones are odd colored cause it's a partnership with Kabuki.
link |
01:49:36.400
Normally we've got a black or a gray, uh, low top, high top sticks to the ground for
link |
01:49:40.980
lifting so we can do that and very pliable.
link |
01:49:43.640
It's a moccasin.
link |
01:49:45.200
It's a modern day moccasin, but looks okay that you can wear it around in other areas.
link |
01:49:49.200
If you, if you so choose, like, you know what the number one healthcare costs in America
link |
01:49:53.580
is.
link |
01:49:54.580
What's that diabetes, uh, heart disease, cancer, low back pain.
link |
01:50:05.040
Hmm.
link |
01:50:06.040
Now, what do you attribute a little back pain to?
link |
01:50:09.320
Well, it's attributed to a lot of things, um, but inability to control spinal position,
link |
01:50:13.600
um, which starts happening from, uh, some breathing issues.
link |
01:50:17.280
Uh, it also happens from the foot.
link |
01:50:19.720
Um, so there's a lot of stuff, but everything that I do actually focus on improving this.
link |
01:50:24.280
Uh, that, and it all starts with this is one thing, like this doesn't affect breathing,
link |
01:50:29.240
but, um, so it does actually affect breathing to some extent and spinal stabilization.
link |
01:50:32.960
So the raised heel and toe will make you stride further, um, because of just how it operates,
link |
01:50:39.000
but that overstride is a result of opening this.
link |
01:50:43.000
So we opened the pelvis and diaphragm.
link |
01:50:44.640
Did we talk about that and the impact that that has for controlling and spine?
link |
01:50:47.320
Yeah.
link |
01:50:48.320
I think we touched on that.
link |
01:50:49.320
Um, but it, it's all this stuff plays together.
link |
01:50:52.400
So the gait affects that.
link |
01:50:53.760
And so the shoe affects the gait and then, so it's all connected.
link |
01:50:57.000
All connected.
link |
01:50:58.000
Let me be very purposeful with some conversation here though.
link |
01:51:01.840
We've talked about periodization.
link |
01:51:03.840
This was a big gap.
link |
01:51:04.840
So, um, people go, yeah, well when people started running with those, they started having
link |
01:51:08.520
injuries back when, uh, the finger, uh, company produced those and didn't do the education
link |
01:51:13.100
around this very simple concept.
link |
01:51:14.920
You do not walk into the gym if you haven't squatted and start squatting 225 from, from
link |
01:51:18.640
max recs every week, day or every day over day.
link |
01:51:22.400
And that's what people did because they didn't weren't told that you need to build the capacity
link |
01:51:27.320
to do this.
link |
01:51:29.240
You go wear these and walk around in your office or wherever all day long, your feet
link |
01:51:33.100
are going to hurt.
link |
01:51:34.100
They're going to be sore.
link |
01:51:36.980
Do it for 10% of your time.
link |
01:51:40.520
Do that for a month, then add some.
link |
01:51:42.920
That will build the capacity to do this.
link |
01:51:45.160
And then that's going to start having the ability to strengthen, manage the foot.
link |
01:51:48.200
And there's a whole lot of other stuff.
link |
01:51:49.320
I've got videos on things that you can do by whatever you want or just, just spend some
link |
01:51:54.360
time out of them.
link |
01:51:55.680
Like, that's all that I want people to do because it is so simple and it has such a
link |
01:52:00.240
profound impact.
link |
01:52:01.240
Yeah, it does.
link |
01:52:02.240
I, what I did, uh, I noticed when you walked out, when I walked in, I was like, Oh, Hey,
link |
01:52:06.720
you're spending some time without the last shoes on.
link |
01:52:10.120
Uh, well, what I did, um, I think it's already now two years ago and I was doing a lot of
link |
01:52:15.440
running.
link |
01:52:16.440
I do like a 10 mile run.
link |
01:52:17.960
I would take my shoes off for the last like half mile and I run like that.
link |
01:52:22.300
And that was for me really helpful to ensure that I have proper form.
link |
01:52:27.240
Form that minimizes pain on the way I run.
link |
01:52:29.680
I still like shoes.
link |
01:52:31.080
I benefit a lot from shoes, the protection they provide, but it's for running we're referring
link |
01:52:36.400
to, uh, especially trail running and so on.
link |
01:52:40.640
And in the city when there's glass and all those kinds of things, uh, but it's really
link |
01:52:44.200
important to have minimal sort of protection on your feet.
link |
01:52:47.000
For me, at least it was to figure out the ways that my form basic movement and like
link |
01:52:54.120
the positioning in the foot, the impact of the foot and everything, you know, the, the,
link |
01:52:59.680
the lower leg, the entirety of the torso, really how it's improperly positioned in
link |
01:53:06.360
terms for the objective of minimizing pain and the barefoot running really helped fix
link |
01:53:12.280
that for me.
link |
01:53:13.280
Cause I figured out that I need to take shorter steps, more frequent, you know, all those
link |
01:53:19.700
kinds of things.
link |
01:53:20.700
And that really helps you figure that out.
link |
01:53:22.280
Like let's be realist about stuff, like, um, spend some time using it, strengthen it.
link |
01:53:29.160
And I've got some great ways to do that and learn how to do that.
link |
01:53:32.520
So yeah.
link |
01:53:33.760
What is a good diet for strength development?
link |
01:53:36.120
I've just to give you some context, I've been eating mostly meat, not for strength, mostly
link |
01:53:41.440
for mental performance.
link |
01:53:42.640
I just enjoy it.
link |
01:53:44.040
Yes.
link |
01:53:45.040
You need to have a base level of protein building blocks for tissue, right?
link |
01:53:50.160
We need to have enough fats to be able to have hormones work and key processes in the
link |
01:53:55.600
body.
link |
01:53:56.600
We need to have, well, you don't need to have from a performance aspect carbohydrates necessarily
link |
01:54:00.960
because the other ones can convert into injury sources, but for a performance athlete, carbohydrates
link |
01:54:06.080
can be very beneficial, uh, as well.
link |
01:54:09.440
So, um, so I look at it as you want, you need a base level fats, you need a base level of
link |
01:54:15.480
proteins and then you adjust the carbohydrate intake based on the needs.
link |
01:54:19.720
I'm not anti carbohydrate by any means, um, cause a lot of people will, they look at me
link |
01:54:25.200
now when they see like how lean I am and they, they jump to a conclusion, you must be keto.
link |
01:54:29.180
You must be carnivore.
link |
01:54:30.180
You must be whatever.
link |
01:54:31.180
Like, so losing and gaining weight is simply eating less or eating more.
link |
01:54:37.640
I mean it, ah, and it, we get so complicated.
link |
01:54:41.640
Oh, that my fat, they're like, what's your fasting window?
link |
01:54:44.900
If I'm, if I'm doing fasting, it's just because it works with my, my environment.
link |
01:54:50.600
Sometimes I do it.
link |
01:54:51.600
Sometimes I don't.
link |
01:54:52.900
All that does is control how much calories that you take big success with keto and carnivore
link |
01:54:57.960
diets.
link |
01:54:58.960
A lot, uh, and, and put on weight with those, with those diets, um, you know, protein actually
link |
01:55:05.400
has a thermogenic effect.
link |
01:55:07.080
And so you have to have a massive amount of fats if you have a only meat diet because
link |
01:55:11.880
you can literally starve to death.
link |
01:55:13.940
There's a, there's a show where they put people out in the wilderness and this guy, the one
link |
01:55:18.560
that won, one of the ones I looked on, they threw him way like up in the, uh, uh, past
link |
01:55:22.760
a lot, you know, out the way out there, there was nothing, but he somehow got a caribou
link |
01:55:26.280
and killed it.
link |
01:55:27.320
And he still lost a pound a day for 30 days with the caribou because his fat was stolen
link |
01:55:32.080
by a, uh, uh, and, and he could eat all the meat he wanted and then he almost got pulled
link |
01:55:37.380
because his weight loss.
link |
01:55:38.960
Right.
link |
01:55:39.960
Um, but that isn't actually a performance.
link |
01:55:42.400
So those types of keto and carnivore are not performance diets.
link |
01:55:45.480
So they're not going to be as effective at supplying, uh, the energy needs for high capacity
link |
01:55:53.120
training.
link |
01:55:54.120
So don't get me wrong.
link |
01:55:55.120
I mean, you can be a successful, like elite athlete with a, with a vegan diet, but it's
link |
01:56:01.960
not as easy to do it with other diets.
link |
01:56:05.400
So on you're missing some base nutrients, so many nutrients and meat, I believe, uh,
link |
01:56:11.600
having greens in your diet is really beneficial.
link |
01:56:14.680
Lots of research, but there's people in the other worlds that argue that they don't need
link |
01:56:18.040
them, but they help clear organs, provide micronutrients, all this sort of stuff.
link |
01:56:22.400
So I eat simply a whole well rounded diet.
link |
01:56:25.800
And I've gone from, I can go from 285 pounds squat and a ton of weight to eating less and
link |
01:56:32.640
dropping all the way down to, you know, seven, 8% body fat with veins standing out everywhere
link |
01:56:37.240
without a tissue on me, just with amazing, great tasting food to lose weight or be healthy
link |
01:56:43.960
does not mean that you need to eat flavorless bland food.
link |
01:56:48.980
So that's the main thing I try to get across.
link |
01:56:51.560
Yes.
link |
01:56:52.560
Eat less to lose weight.
link |
01:56:53.560
Eat more to gain weight.
link |
01:56:54.720
Yep.
link |
01:56:55.720
Make sure that you've got enough protein.
link |
01:56:56.720
Make sure that you've got your micronutrients covered, which is going to cover by eating
link |
01:56:59.780
real food.
link |
01:57:01.320
Don't go low fat, no fat.
link |
01:57:03.380
If you want a performance, don't go no carb, but if it works, any of those things.
link |
01:57:07.780
So diet approach, when you look at diets, understand that they're how aggressive they
link |
01:57:13.920
are.
link |
01:57:14.920
So like keto can make you lose a lot of weight.
link |
01:57:16.400
Carnivore can make you lose a lot of weight.
link |
01:57:17.760
A lot of that upfront is actually dropping glycogen stores.
link |
01:57:21.840
So you're actually just reducing water in your muscle and fat tissue.
link |
01:57:25.720
So which is why it doesn't, isn't as great for a performance diet.
link |
01:57:29.320
But understand that every diet also has a level of discipline and does it fit your lifestyle?
link |
01:57:37.080
So I suggest people don't find a diet.
link |
01:57:40.020
You need to find a lifestyle because that's what sustainable, I hate the word diet to
link |
01:57:44.160
begin with.
link |
01:57:46.280
But behaviors are sustainable and then do that and then over time the things you'll
link |
01:57:52.920
get to where you need to get.
link |
01:57:55.640
Diet itself, just by the name of it is not sustainable because it is a short term thing
link |
01:58:02.280
to get somewhere.
link |
01:58:03.840
Yeah, I tend to try to measure it because I definitely have a love heat relationship
link |
01:58:08.960
with food.
link |
01:58:09.960
I tend to look back and say like by following this particular protocol, lifestyle, whatever,
link |
01:58:18.080
what was the level of happiness?
link |
01:58:19.720
Yes.
link |
01:58:20.720
So not like weight loss or weight gain or all those kinds of things.
link |
01:58:25.560
It's the entirety of the picture, productivity, just feeling good throughout the day, socially
link |
01:58:30.400
also, like interacting with people.
link |
01:58:32.800
Because so much of a human connection, like I mentioned before, is over food.
link |
01:58:37.840
And if you're going to limit yourself in that regard, you're limiting a certain fundamental
link |
01:58:41.600
aspect of life.
link |
01:58:43.040
A number of years ago, I did like 20 to 22 hour fasts every day.
link |
01:58:49.920
And I'm like, well, this doesn't work.
link |
01:58:51.140
I can't do business lunches and stuff like that.
link |
01:58:53.280
So when I was in my fasting thing, I went to a 16 so I could have a light lunch just
link |
01:58:57.020
for the social aspect of it and perform that.
link |
01:59:01.800
And then that's why the typical bodybuilding, like the eight meal a day diet has never worked
link |
01:59:07.560
for me because I've always been a very bit like trying to fit that between meetings and
link |
01:59:11.360
other stuff.
link |
01:59:12.900
What that diet provides is it just you get less bloat in distention of a larger meal.
link |
01:59:18.240
But at the end of the day, you get the same exact results.
link |
01:59:20.760
Pick a lifestyle, live that you can have really great tasting food.
link |
01:59:26.160
And that to me is the same thing.
link |
01:59:28.400
And this is why I'm like really hitting this point, because also with the dieting and like
link |
01:59:32.640
the approach like, oh, I'm going to do this and people pick these chicken and broccoli
link |
01:59:37.800
recipes and guess what?
link |
01:59:39.480
You're going to break.
link |
01:59:40.780
If you do not, if you do not enjoy it, you will break.
link |
01:59:46.920
So it is a very important point.
link |
01:59:50.480
Well, I also slightly push back or maybe to elaborate, if you don't enjoy moderation,
link |
01:59:59.480
for me particularly, I have trouble moderating certain things, most foods, I would say.
link |
02:00:05.920
So my source of happiness comes with foods, even if they're bland, the ones that can enjoy,
link |
02:00:12.540
but enjoy moderation.
link |
02:00:13.540
So there's, I mean, I enjoy every piece of food.
link |
02:00:16.280
So it's like, it's if you can enjoy the full lifestyle, it's not just the particular experience,
link |
02:00:23.840
but like the full journey.
link |
02:00:26.120
Does it fit your lifestyle?
link |
02:00:29.480
So let me ask about a complicated topic that's sometimes a bit controversial, which is steroids
link |
02:00:37.080
and maybe TRT, testosterone replacement therapy.
link |
02:00:42.040
What role does that play in strength training?
link |
02:00:44.000
All right.
link |
02:00:45.460
We're going to go there.
link |
02:00:47.200
Let's go there.
link |
02:00:48.200
Yeah.
link |
02:00:49.200
But it's an important discussion to have.
link |
02:00:52.580
I think that it's something that I can be more transparent on.
link |
02:00:58.000
In my past, I wasn't able to do to the career that I had.
link |
02:01:01.740
So just like covering that stuff in a, you know, one of the, on a public forum when you're
link |
02:01:09.080
highly looked at being an executive for recruiting and other stuff, like it was an area I had
link |
02:01:14.600
to just kind of pass on, right?
link |
02:01:18.640
Now I've used steroids.
link |
02:01:21.680
I've used them since I was 33 and I basically just use TRT now after my big squat.
link |
02:01:30.480
So for 10 years I used them and there's some interesting components to this.
link |
02:01:38.080
So one is just the gray area of what we call performance enhancing supplements.
link |
02:01:44.560
So performance was a PEDs that the line of what defines a PED is ever shifting and it's
link |
02:01:55.200
shifting based on society norms, cultural norms, government body agencies, all these
link |
02:02:00.800
sorts of stuff.
link |
02:02:01.800
So I'm not making excuses here.
link |
02:02:03.040
So I just want to elaborate before I actually start digging into the details here because
link |
02:02:08.080
performance enhancing, I could take sodium bicarbonate and enhance my ability to perform
link |
02:02:15.600
deadlifts for reps.
link |
02:02:17.160
Guess what?
link |
02:02:18.160
I did that for my Guinness world record for deadlifts in a minute.
link |
02:02:20.680
Okay.
link |
02:02:21.680
People do it for rowing or other, they use a high capacity type stuff.
link |
02:02:27.040
It is performance enhancing.
link |
02:02:28.680
It is a chemical, it is baking soda, all right?
link |
02:02:35.200
They're not able to make it illegal because everybody eats bread, well, not everyone.
link |
02:02:40.440
And so it's a little hard to test for no matter what you do at any level.
link |
02:02:45.280
So that's an extreme example, but other examples, you're drinking an energy drink in that cup
link |
02:02:51.140
there a little while ago and in America you can get an energy drink with 240 milligrams
link |
02:02:56.440
of caffeine in it.
link |
02:02:57.920
In Canada, that's too dangerous.
link |
02:03:00.060
You can only get 140, but you can go buy a ephedra and ephedra is illegal in America.
link |
02:03:07.200
And so these things bounce back and forth all the time.
link |
02:03:10.400
I could take Yohimbi and in Europe or Australia, it is a drug and classified and America, it
link |
02:03:20.160
is not.
link |
02:03:21.160
It's an herbal root in a lot, I actually have one of my supplements except for the overseas
link |
02:03:26.480
version.
link |
02:03:27.480
Anyway, the point I'm getting is no matter what you do at some point, by someone's standards,
link |
02:03:34.920
you are cheating.
link |
02:03:37.600
And because it is, you're taking something that, but you could work around these things
link |
02:03:44.280
with nutritional ways or other ways versus taking a chemical strip and there's whole
link |
02:03:48.480
lots of ways to do this, but it's like, oh no, it's steroids, it's not, it's injectable,
link |
02:03:52.080
it's not.
link |
02:03:53.080
So somewhere there's a culture or a person that will say you're cheating no matter what.
link |
02:03:57.780
So it's a self defined, you need to define it for yourself unless you're competing in
link |
02:04:01.760
an organization that has testing, then it's a straight ethical thing and it's either right
link |
02:04:07.440
or wrong in my opinion.
link |
02:04:10.400
That's kind of the overall dilemma of it is if you want to see what you're totally capable
link |
02:04:16.560
of, you have to decide yourself what's okay or not to that level.
link |
02:04:24.480
There is no body that can say something yes or no.
link |
02:04:29.480
When there's an event like the Olympics, maybe then you have a standard that you're all trying
link |
02:04:34.580
to adhere to and then it makes sense to keep a certain, like to be within, there's an ethical
link |
02:04:40.160
imperative.
link |
02:04:41.160
So yeah, I'm not talking about that, I'm agreeing to compete in this by these rules.
link |
02:04:46.800
Yeah, but when you're trying to maximize your own performance, whatever that journey is,
link |
02:04:51.840
whatever that goal is, that's a different story and it's not easy to figure that out.
link |
02:04:57.920
You're just like dancing around the subject, whatever.
link |
02:05:00.800
Well guess what, I've got a prescription for growth hormone and testosterone.
link |
02:05:06.080
It's legal for me to take and you know what?
link |
02:05:08.960
A lot of the people that are in front of the camera in the media, politicians and news
link |
02:05:14.160
people and the people that are there saying the no drug stuff, they're going to anti aging
link |
02:05:19.960
clinics to look better and they have a prescription for growth hormone and testosterone themselves.
link |
02:05:26.000
But in their eyes, it's okay.
link |
02:05:28.880
It is a prescription from their doctor because they have the money to do it.
link |
02:05:34.680
So it's legal and it's fine.
link |
02:05:37.800
If I is interesting in Oregon, anybody and I don't know what other states over the age
link |
02:05:44.280
of 16 can without parents permission by the way, walk into a gender clinic and as a female
link |
02:05:51.440
and get a prescription for testosterone.
link |
02:05:54.520
But as an athlete, if I've got low testosterone, I am so flow, I've got depression, I can't
link |
02:06:02.560
have sex with my wife.
link |
02:06:04.000
It's affecting my quality of life.
link |
02:06:05.880
I will have to fight tooth and nail to get testosterone just as a prescription and then
link |
02:06:11.160
I will get kicked out of my organization for competing.
link |
02:06:15.880
So you understand how gray this stuff gets.
link |
02:06:18.120
Do you think the stigma on testosterone is the reason we're not having like a healthy
link |
02:06:23.760
conversation about when it's proper?
link |
02:06:26.360
Like what are the proper uses of testosterone in an athlete's life and just the regular
link |
02:06:30.640
human life?
link |
02:06:32.000
Yeah, absolutely.
link |
02:06:34.240
And it's just, it's like anything.
link |
02:06:35.760
It's like I said, it is lines that we pick and draw.
link |
02:06:38.960
Anytime you put that out there, people are going to have different opinions where those
link |
02:06:42.440
lines are.
link |
02:06:43.440
So now when it comes to strength, here's an interesting thing.
link |
02:06:46.160
In powerlifting, there's tested federations and non tested federations.
link |
02:06:50.040
So we can literally look at the statistical data and actually find out what do steroids
link |
02:06:55.360
do.
link |
02:06:56.620
And so it's pretty clear that steroids provide about a 10% increase in strength on average
link |
02:07:03.160
over not.
link |
02:07:04.880
Now that does take out the fact that steroids will put you in, allow you to put on more
link |
02:07:09.040
mass so you'll go up a weight class a lot of times.
link |
02:07:12.920
So as a whole, you could definitely lift more probably than the 10% over time, right?
link |
02:07:19.560
And then we think about steroids as the ability to just put on muscle.
link |
02:07:23.400
And here's where things get a little interesting, even with people that use steroids is not
link |
02:07:27.400
understanding the neurological impacts that steroids have.
link |
02:07:31.360
Because you could take some steroids right now and be stronger in 10 minutes.
link |
02:07:36.920
That's clearly not done anything, you know, from a physiology standpoint to make you stronger.
link |
02:07:42.140
But we have a tapped in neurologically to to elicit those games.
link |
02:07:46.920
And there's a whole lot that happens neurologically.
link |
02:07:49.480
Like how much science is there in terms of all the different ways you could take steroids,
link |
02:07:56.320
which kinds of steroids, the timing, the dose, the all of those things to develop the neurological,
link |
02:08:03.080
the physical, the skeletal, like all the, you know, you've talked with such depth about
link |
02:08:08.080
the science of strength building in terms of form, in terms of the equipment that you
link |
02:08:16.080
use.
link |
02:08:17.080
It seems like a component, you know, the use of steroids should be an equal level of scientific
link |
02:08:24.120
rigor when applying them.
link |
02:08:26.040
It is.
link |
02:08:27.040
Now, the research is harder to get because of what it is.
link |
02:08:32.240
But there is a lot of research that was done when they were legal.
link |
02:08:36.320
So they were legal up in through the through, I think, the mid 80s.
link |
02:08:40.240
And so a lot of the classical high, high benefit to low risk steroids were studied.
link |
02:08:48.680
And then since then, there's a lot of like designer steroids or new steroids that have
link |
02:08:52.320
come up that don't have a lot of research around safety and risk and things of that
link |
02:08:58.040
nature.
link |
02:08:59.040
And we can't do that because it's, you know, because of the legality around these things.
link |
02:09:04.360
But some of the stuff on the neurological function is really just understanding how
link |
02:09:09.040
that chemical structure works and what it's doing to the neurotransmitters, what it's
link |
02:09:15.040
doing.
link |
02:09:17.060
And so some of it is is really talking to people that have experience with it.
link |
02:09:23.920
And the other is understanding those structures and what they do.
link |
02:09:27.020
The neurological component, I think, is more interesting than than most, because the most
link |
02:09:33.600
steroids act through increasing muscle protein synthesis.
link |
02:09:37.080
That's how you add more muscle is they have an anti catabolic effect and they have a muscle
link |
02:09:42.700
protein synthesis enhancing effect.
link |
02:09:45.440
So it reduces the amount of muscle that you waste and increases the amount of muscle that
link |
02:09:49.560
you put on.
link |
02:09:51.520
But the neurological component is is tremendously valuable for what it can do for your training
link |
02:09:59.120
workout.
link |
02:10:00.120
Like if I handle more load over time, I'm going to make more progress.
link |
02:10:04.760
If I can actually just stimulate more neurological effects for a specific event, it's going to
link |
02:10:09.040
have an impact.
link |
02:10:10.920
Right.
link |
02:10:11.920
But there's other ways that you can tap into this, too.
link |
02:10:14.520
Things that you can tap into mentally with great practice, with meditation and other
link |
02:10:18.040
stuff that will have the same effect.
link |
02:10:21.680
People probably think I'm over speaking, especially steroid users that are listening to this.
link |
02:10:25.480
Well, at least I'm talking out my ass, but I'm not.
link |
02:10:29.400
Because I I have experience with this stuff on both ends.
link |
02:10:34.920
And some of those areas, a lot of people don't have the experience with that.
link |
02:10:39.360
What I've kind of heard from people is the confidence that comes with steroids.
link |
02:10:44.800
It feels like not to call it placebo, but it seems like the psychological benefits of
link |
02:10:50.280
steroids is huge and that you feel like there's a confidence that seems to be coupled with
link |
02:10:57.840
the actual biological and chemical effects.
link |
02:11:00.440
I have actually a neurological condition.
link |
02:11:03.300
So I actually don't feel a lot of that stuff that people because there are certain steroids
link |
02:11:06.860
that like people like you're like very extreme ones, like that would make somebody bite someone's
link |
02:11:14.680
ear off in a fight, for example, almost like aggression that and they literally do nothing.
link |
02:11:21.120
I'm like always just chillin and I don't like that effect.
link |
02:11:26.840
But but neurologically, they're still having those effects, but I don't get those feels
link |
02:11:31.040
that other people have from those.
link |
02:11:34.340
But yes, there's that immediate boost in aggression and a confidence and stuff that come with
link |
02:11:39.800
a lot of those ones that deal on the neurological overall as good sense of well being, just
link |
02:11:44.800
like from being on testosterone, like it's going to affect your mood.
link |
02:11:49.120
And it's interesting.
link |
02:11:50.120
So testosterone replacement therapy, if we walk down that path now and kind of switch
link |
02:11:53.960
gears, you know, we find that men today have declining testosterone over what has historically
link |
02:12:02.000
been in the past.
link |
02:12:03.000
So right now, I think a thirty five year old testosterone is shown to be about half what
link |
02:12:08.960
it was just 50 years ago.
link |
02:12:12.540
So I don't know if we could argue the point.
link |
02:12:15.660
We don't really have the science to validate any of it, but it could be society as far
link |
02:12:21.360
as the impact that it's having on the mental health for men.
link |
02:12:26.840
It could be the the estrogens floating around in the water from all the chemicals and birth
link |
02:12:31.720
control and all this sort of stuff could be a lot of things.
link |
02:12:36.640
But it is a fact that average testosterone is significantly lower and that is going to
link |
02:12:42.080
end up affecting life, quality of life, as well as your longevity, because it will affect
link |
02:12:47.040
those things.
link |
02:12:48.040
But on the other end, steroids and TRT, particularly steroids, come with a lot of negative health
link |
02:12:53.000
benefits, not benefits, a lot of negative health ramifications.
link |
02:12:58.160
And so, you know, if I knew what I know now, I don't know that I would have gone that path.
link |
02:13:02.760
I didn't.
link |
02:13:03.760
I didn't till I was thirty three, which is kind of an outlier for a strength athlete.
link |
02:13:07.560
I was I was a four times body weight deadlifter, eight hundred plus pounds at one ninety eight.
link |
02:13:13.680
And it's pretty dang strong before I went down that path.
link |
02:13:18.720
And that's because I wanted to see what I was capable of.
link |
02:13:21.100
But I was reaching a point that it was either I need to do that or not.
link |
02:13:24.640
My testosterone, my natural testosterone levels were actually I think below 300 is actually
link |
02:13:30.480
the threshold.
link |
02:13:31.480
So I was being told to go on TRT for the last couple of years, probably just because I was
link |
02:13:35.640
pushing so hard and the stress level was driving my test down.
link |
02:13:38.600
So it was self imposed more than likely.
link |
02:13:41.700
But I put it off because I wanted to set all the drug free records and I set the ones that
link |
02:13:46.000
I wanted.
link |
02:13:47.000
And then it was thirty three.
link |
02:13:48.000
I'm, you know, entering the age category and I'm like, I'm going to go on TRT.
link |
02:13:52.200
I did not feel like I should be with TRT personally.
link |
02:13:55.680
My ethical standard was I shouldn't be competing in tested events anymore.
link |
02:14:00.600
There are federations that will allow you with your you show up with your script and
link |
02:14:04.180
you do your test and you're below a certain level, but you're still on.
link |
02:14:08.100
But for me, I'm like, that's not you.
link |
02:14:09.520
So I'm like, I may as well at this point use steroids.
link |
02:14:15.140
But since then, you know, understanding all those ramifications, you know, I might not
link |
02:14:19.880
have gone down that route quite so fast and easily.
link |
02:14:24.280
But I continued because I also have a lot of resources that other people don't and being
link |
02:14:29.340
able to assess and understand and put things in place to mitigate that.
link |
02:14:32.840
So you need to be.
link |
02:14:33.880
And the other thing is, once you go on, it's literally a decision for life.
link |
02:14:39.240
Not just but realistically is because your your quality of life, your feeling is going
link |
02:14:45.480
to be enhanced quite a bit and you're not going to want to go back.
link |
02:14:49.180
And if you go back, it's going to be less than it was before.
link |
02:14:53.120
That's how the endocrine system works.
link |
02:14:54.900
There are ways to try to recover and bring that up, but it might be a while.
link |
02:14:58.600
And if you've been on for a while, it definitely is not an option.
link |
02:15:02.000
So those are big things that people need to understand that you're going to have some
link |
02:15:06.480
things in there.
link |
02:15:07.480
And even TRT has some potential, especially at higher levels, that it's going to, you
link |
02:15:15.160
know, increase the risk for prostate cancer.
link |
02:15:18.180
It's going to potentially cause some hypertrophy of the left ventricle of the heart and some
link |
02:15:24.160
potential plaque buildup of some of those key arteries around there that's going to
link |
02:15:27.720
have an impact on your cardiovascular health.
link |
02:15:30.800
There's things that you can do again, but everything is like the shoe story, right?
link |
02:15:35.160
Where I'm anti anti shoe, but I'm going, well, we could put band aids on this.
link |
02:15:40.440
So it's...
link |
02:15:41.440
But there's a quality of life that comes with it, the increase in quality of life.
link |
02:15:45.840
And if you do it correctly, I think for me, for me, I definitely would not live without
link |
02:15:50.040
TRT, even with knowing what I know now.
link |
02:15:53.120
It this age and the quality of life and being able to be there, have the energy, the recovery.
link |
02:16:00.840
That's a big thing where all this, though, I talked about muscle protein synthesis and
link |
02:16:04.920
anti catabolism as being big drivers.
link |
02:16:07.560
But recovery is the other big aspect that they that they offer probably as a result
link |
02:16:12.640
of those, but that's going to those are going to be the big enhancement.
link |
02:16:17.240
So just doing steroids, steroids is going to increase all the other stuff that you do.
link |
02:16:23.840
So if you if you have good training, if good diet, good quality of sleep, like all this
link |
02:16:28.000
other stuff, then you can take advantage of that.
link |
02:16:31.280
But you could choose steroids and nobody would know.
link |
02:16:35.280
And honestly, you go down to 24 hour fitness and you'll see a bunch of, you know, late,
link |
02:16:39.760
you know, 19 to 21 year old kids that are all kind of red and one hundred and fifty
link |
02:16:43.380
pounds that look like that don't look like anything.
link |
02:16:46.440
And they're a bunch of them will be using steroids because they're not like.
link |
02:16:52.600
So it's it's not the it's not going to make a champion, like you said, it's not going
link |
02:16:56.700
to at most.
link |
02:16:58.160
Guess what?
link |
02:16:59.160
I was already at an elite level.
link |
02:17:00.160
I was one of the best in the world before I started using it doesn't it doesn't do that.
link |
02:17:05.960
It does a 10 percent increase at best.
link |
02:17:08.840
And that's proven in the statistics, which is interesting because most people don't know
link |
02:17:11.400
this.
link |
02:17:12.400
Like it the data is right there.
link |
02:17:15.120
Yeah.
link |
02:17:16.120
Yeah.
link |
02:17:17.120
And that's why I'm often saddened by maybe the negative view of somebody like Lance Armstrong,
link |
02:17:27.760
who is one of the greatest athletes in history and everybody else that he was competing against.
link |
02:17:33.360
I'm sorry.
link |
02:17:34.360
Yeah.
link |
02:17:35.360
I hate to blow anybody's bubble.
link |
02:17:36.960
But regardless, if I told you my ethical pieces with saying that you're going to be at something
link |
02:17:41.380
at an elite level.
link |
02:17:44.840
You look at most a lot of those big figures out there.
link |
02:17:49.120
When their income in your life relies on it, yeah, you're going to push those limits.
link |
02:17:53.020
So maybe maybe my ethical would change if if if I was in that position, too, because
link |
02:17:58.600
here's the thing where I believe like someone is.
link |
02:18:02.880
I think people should avoid steroids.
link |
02:18:05.400
TRT, probably something worth taking a look at what your levels are when you're in the
link |
02:18:10.400
thirty five to forty five range and see what decision you decide to make from there.
link |
02:18:14.160
And that's a decision that you make for the rest of your life.
link |
02:18:16.600
The only times that you should be taking a look at steroids is if it's it's funding your
link |
02:18:21.440
life.
link |
02:18:22.440
It's creating that it is your job and it's doing like and honestly, it was for me.
link |
02:18:28.000
I so was it the only thing?
link |
02:18:30.760
No, no.
link |
02:18:31.760
If you want to get into neurology, it's neurotransmitters and alcohol is really interesting discussion
link |
02:18:38.320
on performance enhancement.
link |
02:18:39.880
So when I lift heavy and so I always promote it, like not more than a drink or two, like
link |
02:18:45.400
once or twice a month is what all I'm talking about when I'm what I'm saying.
link |
02:18:48.840
So what's the timing of the drink?
link |
02:18:50.600
Are we talking about three to five minutes before?
link |
02:18:53.520
Yes.
link |
02:18:54.520
And we're talking about beer.
link |
02:18:56.440
It doesn't matter the the source.
link |
02:18:58.680
So I shots are the easiest.
link |
02:19:01.560
You want something that is not going to have some sort of regurgitory effect or bloating
link |
02:19:05.680
effect or anything like that, but you want to have the quick hit of energy.
link |
02:19:09.520
So it's a preferential energy source moves above ketones, carbs, everything at seven
link |
02:19:14.800
calories per gram.
link |
02:19:15.880
But then there's some really interesting things that happen, spikes blood pressure, which
link |
02:19:19.720
is going to make weights feel lighter.
link |
02:19:21.660
So when you're in your early 20s and you're trying to hit up, you know, some attractive
link |
02:19:26.240
person at the bar, you're with your buddies and you're like, you know, and you got second
link |
02:19:30.980
guess.
link |
02:19:31.980
Oh, should I?
link |
02:19:32.980
Should I?
link |
02:19:33.980
And they go, have a shot of liquid courage and you have one.
link |
02:19:36.880
And all of a sudden the second thoughts, the second guessing all that drops away.
link |
02:19:41.560
Like you're focused in the moment and you walk over and you actually perform a little
link |
02:19:46.040
better like conversation wise than you normally would.
link |
02:19:48.200
Now if you have five or six and then go over, you're gonna make a fool of yourself.
link |
02:19:51.000
So it's all about timing and amount.
link |
02:19:52.720
But there is a reason that that happens.
link |
02:19:54.560
So anyway, I'm known for promoting this whiskey and deadlift concept.
link |
02:19:58.320
I love this.
link |
02:19:59.320
But it works.
link |
02:20:00.320
It's like the Eastern block.
link |
02:20:01.960
That's where it came.
link |
02:20:02.960
That's where I stole it from.
link |
02:20:03.960
Because I was watching all these Russian lifters would have a shot of vodka or something before
link |
02:20:08.720
they go lift.
link |
02:20:09.720
And I'm like, there's something here.
link |
02:20:11.280
So I started experimenting with it and I'm like, that works.
link |
02:20:14.920
And then I started researching.
link |
02:20:16.000
Nobody talks about this stuff.
link |
02:20:17.200
So it takes a while to start piecing together all the stuff that actually happens to make
link |
02:20:21.360
that happen.
link |
02:20:22.540
But it moves away the things that you're going to, the concerns about the ramifications in
link |
02:20:28.280
the future and the other stuff.
link |
02:20:29.600
So the, um, but brings you into the moment and then the dopamine hit and the other, and
link |
02:20:34.960
then it enhances whatever mood that you're in.
link |
02:20:37.560
But all of a sudden you get in the state much easier.
link |
02:20:45.060
And so it's really, really interesting, but it's very, it's a very small amount needed
link |
02:20:49.840
and very time sensitive, but it can be so much more powerful than like drugs people
link |
02:20:55.000
use for this stuff.
link |
02:20:57.140
It ties really together with meditative state and other pieces to, to, to get you into that
link |
02:21:01.800
flow state, those thoughts about failure, what if, what, like all that you, you get
link |
02:21:07.480
into that zone, that moment, that time anyway.
link |
02:21:13.040
So interesting.
link |
02:21:14.040
An alcoholic is promoting out, you know, but there's an important point here, which not
link |
02:21:18.640
often talked about.
link |
02:21:19.640
I think it is fascinating that because you can get into so much trouble with alcohol
link |
02:21:24.240
when used in excess, people don't often talk about the, the positive aspects of alcohol,
link |
02:21:29.640
even in your college years.
link |
02:21:34.280
It had a, it had a lasting effect on who I am as a person.
link |
02:21:37.440
I don't think people give enough credit to the positive aspect.
link |
02:21:41.080
See, you could have accomplished a lot of those same things with a little more moderation,
link |
02:21:45.320
which I think people should talk about more, which is like the way to open up a personality,
link |
02:21:50.920
like the flowering of the full character and the weirdness and the, the, the, like the
link |
02:21:56.720
beauty of who you are as a human being could be opened up with alcohol.
link |
02:22:00.160
And that's really interesting to think about.
link |
02:22:01.800
You should try some podcasts with a, with a shot and, and these, I do this sometimes
link |
02:22:10.080
with myself and guests and it will change the conversation, lubricates the conversation.
link |
02:22:15.600
Definitely not the excess and which is what I learned because I went all the way in because
link |
02:22:20.080
I do everything at extremes.
link |
02:22:22.160
So it was a really hard lesson that took me a lot of time to unwind, but it is interesting
link |
02:22:28.840
and people don't discuss those things because it's, it's either this or this.
link |
02:22:33.160
You're one of the greatest strength athletes of all time.
link |
02:22:37.020
So it's worthwhile to consider how you optimize the, the feats of strength that you reach
link |
02:22:43.760
for with things like steroids.
link |
02:22:47.080
It makes perfect sense and I think that was a, from my perspective, I think it was probably
link |
02:22:52.120
the right decision.
link |
02:22:53.120
You've achieved something incredible that inspires a huge number of people.
link |
02:22:58.640
That's it.
link |
02:22:59.640
And you've shown to yourself and to the world, but what the human body can accomplish.
link |
02:23:03.360
Yep.
link |
02:23:04.360
That's incredible.
link |
02:23:05.360
And no matter if I push to a less weight and if I disclosed everything that I did and
link |
02:23:10.360
I didn't, when I wasn't using steroids, in my opinion, if we went through everything,
link |
02:23:15.400
there would people that would say, you're using performance enhancing, no matter what,
link |
02:23:18.760
like it is, it's straight up.
link |
02:23:20.480
So you just need to be okay with it yourself.
link |
02:23:22.320
And so I had to make the call, I want to see what the true potential is of every, let's
link |
02:23:27.980
throw everything out the window that I feel unless I feel it's a risk from a, from a health
link |
02:23:32.920
standpoint that I'm not willing to take on.
link |
02:23:36.040
And because that's, how do I like, it's just picking and choosing and it's just picking
link |
02:23:41.520
and choosing.
link |
02:23:42.520
I here's what I want to know.
link |
02:23:43.920
This is what I want to be able to try to achieve.
link |
02:23:45.880
And so, yeah, yeah, that's what I did.
link |
02:23:48.760
And what you did is incredible.
link |
02:23:50.680
Like it's, it's just awe inspiring.
link |
02:23:52.400
And what Lance Armstrong did was incredible.
link |
02:23:54.400
Yeah.
link |
02:23:55.400
And that, and that, and that aged me up.
link |
02:23:57.160
And what's funny is the people that bash them are like on the media or politicians or maybe
link |
02:24:01.040
some actors and guess what?
link |
02:24:03.320
A ton of them are doing the same thing.
link |
02:24:06.560
It's hypocrisy at its finest.
link |
02:24:08.080
Trust me.
link |
02:24:09.080
But how many, how many of those figures you're watching in movies that love to talk, you
link |
02:24:13.320
know, be, you know, be political and do this and the news and all this, I'm telling you
link |
02:24:18.800
they're, they're anti aging clinics, like all over California and everywhere else.
link |
02:24:26.240
Who do you think is, keeps them in business?
link |
02:24:28.760
It's not the competitive lifter.
link |
02:24:29.920
I'll tell you that.
link |
02:24:30.920
And they're using peptides and also, and SARMs and all sorts of like.
link |
02:24:38.000
You're speaking to the hypocrisy.
link |
02:24:39.480
I also want to speak to the fact, you know, somebody who's a friend of mine, David Goggins.
link |
02:24:44.040
I don't know if you know what that is.
link |
02:24:45.040
Yeah.
link |
02:24:46.040
Ultra marathon runner, Navy seal.
link |
02:24:48.500
He gets.
link |
02:24:49.500
Pretty incredible person.
link |
02:24:50.500
Yeah.
link |
02:24:51.500
Incredible human being.
link |
02:24:52.500
And he gets criticism like, you know, what you're doing is, is bad for the body.
link |
02:24:56.800
You know, you're, you're pushing yourself too far.
link |
02:25:00.760
I find that the people that criticize are often people that haven't truly pushed themselves
link |
02:25:07.160
to the limit.
link |
02:25:08.160
They haven't actually worked hard in their life.
link |
02:25:11.220
When you work hard, you realize how incredible it is that a human being can dedicate themselves
link |
02:25:18.300
so fully to an effort the way you did, the way David Goggins does the way, the way the
link |
02:25:25.760
greatest athletes do.
link |
02:25:27.740
And there's nothing that should be said beyond just sitting back in awe that humans can achieve
link |
02:25:33.720
that.
link |
02:25:34.720
That inspires me to do the best, whatever the hell I do, to be the best version of that.
link |
02:25:40.160
There's something about like athletic feats, especially like strength that just inspire
link |
02:25:47.520
us to do the best, to be the best version of ourselves.
link |
02:25:51.460
I don't know.
link |
02:25:52.600
That's the only thing you should be saying as opposed to criticizing some little detail
link |
02:25:58.820
of this and that.
link |
02:26:00.600
It's just awe inspiring that you push yourself to anybody that is at that level.
link |
02:26:05.520
And this is funny, like in competitive sports, like you go online and people, it's just bash,
link |
02:26:09.320
bash, bash, bash, bash, bash, bash.
link |
02:26:10.880
You go talk to anybody, anybody, anybody that's a high level athlete within that field.
link |
02:26:16.920
And nobody has a single bad thing to say about each other.
link |
02:26:20.220
But all this chitter chatter down there, I mean, I know exactly what you're saying.
link |
02:26:25.360
So if you, I would say, cause I have love for all those folks, especially when you're
link |
02:26:30.840
younger, you have a little bit of that desire to criticize others.
link |
02:26:36.440
I think that should be channeled in improving your own life.
link |
02:26:40.120
Anytime that you feel that way, that is when you need to turn inward and it's hard to do,
link |
02:26:46.840
but there is a reason that you have those emotions around someone else and what they're
link |
02:26:53.040
doing that you have an opportunity to look at yourself and know why you feel that way.
link |
02:27:00.680
And that, guess what?
link |
02:27:01.720
That's going to be the hard thing to do.
link |
02:27:02.940
That's going to be the thing.
link |
02:27:03.940
Again, that's stirring you a little bit because it's so much easier to sit there and, or talk
link |
02:27:09.400
to your confidant or whatever instead of go, why does that bother me?
link |
02:27:14.620
Why does what that person doing or what that person's achieving bother me?
link |
02:27:19.600
It's like a difficult question that I often ask others, whether it's better to work hard
link |
02:27:29.600
or work smart.
link |
02:27:31.200
I like to ask that question because it helps me get a sense of the human being.
link |
02:27:36.960
And I think I, let me just say like, I often, I often like people that answer that would
link |
02:27:45.800
work hard.
link |
02:27:49.800
Even though the quote unquote right answer is work smart, meaning like finding the optimal
link |
02:27:56.480
efficient way to achieve a certain goal, I find that people that answer work smart don't
link |
02:28:03.680
actually find the optimal efficient way to achieve a goal.
link |
02:28:08.660
It seems like the people that at least certainly early in life strive to work their ass off,
link |
02:28:15.060
even that means doing the inefficient, the dumb thing, just to learn the mistake.
link |
02:28:21.000
The spirit behind the human spirit behind the person that says, or a card is the one
link |
02:28:27.360
I connect with, but I'm torn, especially in the, in the war culture, in the tech sector
link |
02:28:31.640
where people answer work smart, what would you, what would you say about that tension?
link |
02:28:38.220
This definitely encompasses like, I'm the intellectual and I'm the meathead.
link |
02:28:44.160
I'm the work around the clock and go fix the processes and make it so much better type
link |
02:28:51.800
person.
link |
02:28:52.800
Right.
link |
02:28:53.800
That's, that's, that's me in a whole, that's everything.
link |
02:28:54.800
That's my life story.
link |
02:28:55.800
Right.
link |
02:28:56.800
Busting your ass to find the easiest way possible to both.
link |
02:29:00.920
So like I will, I will build a custom hydraulic cart that will lift my plates up to the height
link |
02:29:11.120
of my, my squat.
link |
02:29:14.120
So that I can minimize a roll it over next to it and then minimize the effort of it going
link |
02:29:18.280
on and off to be able to lift the most amount of weight as possible so, so that I can save
link |
02:29:26.120
the energy from here, from lifting those up and the fatigue of my back being in bad position.
link |
02:29:31.100
So I can nearly kill myself over here.
link |
02:29:35.040
Right.
link |
02:29:36.360
I, my wife, anybody will say, I'm a workaholic.
link |
02:29:42.320
And the first thing that I would do when it would be doing a company, a company turnaround,
link |
02:29:47.520
they'd hire me, come in and I would be taking over.
link |
02:29:49.960
So for someone that wasn't successful, but it was usually hardly ever for lack of want
link |
02:29:54.800
or trying.
link |
02:29:55.800
So a lot of times they knew they were unsuccessful and they were running around working six,
link |
02:30:00.000
seven days a week, 12 hour days doing so much and it'd be like, well, you need to do this.
link |
02:30:05.320
And they train me on like all the reports and this and all the things and like, good
link |
02:30:09.520
luck, good luck.
link |
02:30:11.440
I couldn't do it.
link |
02:30:12.880
And the first thing I would do is nothing.
link |
02:30:17.720
I would do nothing because then I would find what actually keeps coming back, the things
link |
02:30:27.800
that I need to do and how much of it was filling the space.
link |
02:30:31.820
Because so much of human nature when you're failing is to make yourself feel like you're
link |
02:30:37.760
accomplishing thing.
link |
02:30:38.940
This is when things go on your list, on your checklist and you start like rolling up.
link |
02:30:44.080
So you're running around just getting shit done.
link |
02:30:47.240
Yeah.
link |
02:30:48.240
Being busy.
link |
02:30:49.240
Right.
link |
02:30:50.240
And so, but at the same time, like find somewhere in my career, something I've done where I
link |
02:30:57.520
haven't outworked everybody, just so much on distilling things down to what's important.
link |
02:31:04.200
And you've got to make time to sit back and assess and think and be introspective.
link |
02:31:14.380
You have to make time for this because if not, you're going to waste so much time sitting
link |
02:31:20.400
there walking sideways when all you got to do is move just one step in front of the other
link |
02:31:28.200
each day.
link |
02:31:29.200
Just one.
link |
02:31:30.200
And I say, because it's going to add up, but you could spend six months knocking shit out,
link |
02:31:38.240
doing your routine, busting your ass and not take that one step.
link |
02:31:44.520
So you've got to distill stuff down.
link |
02:31:46.960
You've got to really understand like what's important to you in life and where you're
link |
02:31:50.600
going.
link |
02:31:51.600
And, uh, when you're looking at anything in your life, the first thing that you need to
link |
02:31:55.880
do is figure out, do I need to do it and just quit doing it, just quit doing things in your
link |
02:32:02.920
life.
link |
02:32:03.920
And you'll see that a lot of stuff that you think has to be done, doesn't have to be done.
link |
02:32:11.440
You'd be surprised.
link |
02:32:14.000
And then from there, this is the tech.
link |
02:32:15.480
Okay.
link |
02:32:16.480
And then of that, what can I, what can I automate?
link |
02:32:19.560
What can I not have to do in a repeated fashion?
link |
02:32:23.320
And then the last one, yeah, wherever possible, if it's not something that I'm adding tremendous
link |
02:32:28.260
value to, like my uniqueness, people are like, oh, you must like do the auto work on your
link |
02:32:32.920
vehicles cause you love working.
link |
02:32:34.080
I'm like, fuck that.
link |
02:32:35.080
I don't.
link |
02:32:36.080
And they're like, what?
link |
02:32:37.080
That doesn't make any sense.
link |
02:32:38.080
And I'm like, no, I love creating things, but I don't want to do that stuff.
link |
02:32:44.700
So you could use delegating if you're a manager position, but it's outsourcing, whatever it
link |
02:32:50.560
is.
link |
02:32:51.560
But there are also so many things this, and this, this ties back to your point, uh, around
link |
02:32:56.800
just doing it.
link |
02:32:58.440
There's a point to like experiencing all levels to really understand things.
link |
02:33:03.120
You need to spend time at the same time doing all those things.
link |
02:33:07.640
Cause there could be good, huge, massive gaps in there that you're not aware of that are
link |
02:33:13.320
key for you or key to be having done different or so on.
link |
02:33:17.360
So um, like in my company days, I was one of the few executives that came in that could
link |
02:33:24.600
do anything on the floor from code to machine, run away, the mill weld, do all step into
link |
02:33:31.840
engineering, like, and, and that added tremendous value to me to having had spent time being
link |
02:33:40.080
a doer and not enough people want to be, you've got to just go do shit.
link |
02:33:45.760
You need to spend time in your life chopping wood, you need to have experience trying and
link |
02:33:52.000
doing all these things that you would never like my skillset is massive because I want
link |
02:33:58.720
to know, like you need to have those touch points.
link |
02:34:01.960
My job, my title is chief visionary, but I've spent time doing everything.
link |
02:34:12.000
It's not about just like creating this amazing strategy or vision.
link |
02:34:16.080
And I'm just going to be there in this person that directs and like, like you can't be effective.
link |
02:34:21.260
You cannot connect the dots unless you've been in the moment with everything.
link |
02:34:27.080
Yeah.
link |
02:34:28.080
Low level stuff.
link |
02:34:29.080
Sometimes it's doing stupid shit that you're not uniquely qualified to do that anybody
link |
02:34:34.640
could do, but you did it anyway.
link |
02:34:36.440
Just the training environment.
link |
02:34:38.380
People hit me up at a, at a, at a school or wherever like, Hey, how do I get into, I want
link |
02:34:42.840
to grow my, grow my brand online.
link |
02:34:45.200
I want to do this.
link |
02:34:46.200
Like, where do I, where do I start?
link |
02:34:47.440
And I'm like, go get a job at planet fitness or 24 hour fitness.
link |
02:34:52.560
They're like, but I want to, you know, where, how do I get, you know, recognized and write
link |
02:34:56.160
articles and be an online coach.
link |
02:34:57.760
I'm like, you need to go spend a few years one on one training people to learn like the
link |
02:35:05.920
interaction, how people respond, there's base levels you have to do.
link |
02:35:09.760
You've got to go work your way up from the ground.
link |
02:35:13.120
Yeah.
link |
02:35:14.120
I truly believe it.
link |
02:35:15.120
Well, I think that's the hard work piece that I'm speaking to that I like it when people
link |
02:35:20.880
have been humbled by the hardness of life, like how difficult it is to do stuff.
link |
02:35:26.960
And it does, I went and got my MBA, I went to MIT.
link |
02:35:30.040
I don't need to do that stuff.
link |
02:35:31.480
I'm above that.
link |
02:35:32.960
Yeah.
link |
02:35:33.960
Yeah.
link |
02:35:34.960
And since you've been humbled by doing those things, I feel like you can truly explore
link |
02:35:40.400
the optimization that you're talking to, finding the ways where you're uniquely capable to
link |
02:35:46.520
add value to the world.
link |
02:35:48.600
And then, and then again, work your ass off to be the best in the world at that thing.
link |
02:35:53.800
Yes.
link |
02:35:54.800
So it's always,
link |
02:35:55.800
But then don't waste your time on shit that's not aligned.
link |
02:35:57.800
Yeah.
link |
02:35:58.800
That's the only, so that's, I guess there's a lot of context I put around that, but.
link |
02:36:02.560
Yeah, that was like a long answer to a, a long, beautiful answer to an unanswerable
link |
02:36:09.840
question.
link |
02:36:10.840
Do you have advice outside of all this discussion to young people today about career, about
link |
02:36:15.520
life?
link |
02:36:16.520
Since you've done so many things, you've overcome a lot of things.
link |
02:36:20.880
Think high school, college student, thinking about what to do in their life.
link |
02:36:24.560
Do you have advice for those guys and girls?
link |
02:36:28.120
Yeah.
link |
02:36:29.120
Yeah.
link |
02:36:30.120
First is you don't have it figured out, so don't worry.
link |
02:36:34.160
Just jump in.
link |
02:36:35.160
Yeah.
link |
02:36:36.160
Yeah.
link |
02:36:37.160
We talked, you know, a lot about understanding your values and aligning all that stuff, but
link |
02:36:43.600
you got to have a base level of start exploring and learning and just spending the time doing
link |
02:36:49.720
like pick something, let me elaborate a little bit.
link |
02:36:54.440
No, you know what?
link |
02:36:55.440
A lot of people struggle with that aspect now because the choice, there's so much choice
link |
02:36:58.840
it's difficult to pick something, but I think it does blow down to you should pick something
link |
02:37:03.120
and don't worry about it.
link |
02:37:04.120
And then, but within that you can start discovering the things that are there for you.
link |
02:37:10.480
Like I, I talked about, I made this huge shift, I threw away whole life, but I don't regret
link |
02:37:17.480
anything about that.
link |
02:37:19.440
I wouldn't be where I was if I didn't walk through and learn those things.
link |
02:37:23.040
And in fact, in the course of that, I learned just how much that inspiring people and helping
link |
02:37:30.960
them realize the potential far beyond what they thought was capable.
link |
02:37:35.240
And guess what?
link |
02:37:36.240
That was leadership 101 in managing people base level, floor level, right?
link |
02:37:42.560
And I got a lot out that was perfectly aligned with what, and that's what I realized.
link |
02:37:46.360
It didn't matter what industry I was in or any of those other things, but I was able,
link |
02:37:54.340
you can see so many things, there's so many paths that you can go down to help you realize
link |
02:37:59.480
what those things are.
link |
02:38:01.320
And you're going to be able to find a lot of those nuggets and develop those.
link |
02:38:06.360
Do you think that I could have just gone to school and got out and started a globally
link |
02:38:14.600
recognized brand within a few years without having been schooled in business while getting
link |
02:38:21.120
paid for it by others for years?
link |
02:38:24.940
And in fact, that entire time I knew that that's what I wanted to do, but I didn't go
link |
02:38:29.080
out on it.
link |
02:38:30.240
I mentored some of my friends along the same path to go, no, they're like, I'm ready.
link |
02:38:35.240
I'm ready to go do this.
link |
02:38:36.520
And I'm like, no, now you need to go get a job.
link |
02:38:39.000
Yeah, you know, engineering management, design, all that stuff.
link |
02:38:42.160
Go get a job as a manager now.
link |
02:38:44.000
Like, oh, that's a step down.
link |
02:38:45.080
I can't do that.
link |
02:38:46.080
I'm like, go try it.
link |
02:38:47.080
A couple of years later, oh my God, that was such a good move.
link |
02:38:49.000
I didn't know what I didn't know.
link |
02:38:50.680
And now they're an executive for freaking a fortune 500 company.
link |
02:38:54.680
And the same thing, like I sat there knowing that I was getting a free education.
link |
02:39:00.320
Don't stress yourself out as my, that's my advice.
link |
02:39:03.800
Don't stress yourself out that you've got to have this perfect thing because this process
link |
02:39:08.640
of understanding your values and the introspect, that takes time.
link |
02:39:12.720
You can get a job where you're getting paid to learn.
link |
02:39:16.160
Exactly.
link |
02:39:17.440
That's a good deal before you launch on your own.
link |
02:39:21.240
You mentioned going back to darkness.
link |
02:39:24.040
I'm Russian, so I like going back to darkness.
link |
02:39:27.580
You suffer from depression.
link |
02:39:29.140
You consider suicide.
link |
02:39:31.240
Do you ponder your own death these days?
link |
02:39:33.320
Do you think about your mortality?
link |
02:39:35.240
Are you afraid of death?
link |
02:39:37.560
I definitely think about mortality.
link |
02:39:42.160
And am I afraid of my own death?
link |
02:39:44.920
It depends on the moment.
link |
02:39:46.440
If I'm in the middle of a project, I definitely want to finish that project, man.
link |
02:39:52.840
But I don't fear it so much.
link |
02:39:57.180
I fear leaving my kids or my wife and not being able to be there for them.
link |
02:40:09.440
That bothers me.
link |
02:40:10.840
Outside of that, I know that I put everything into the life that I've lived.
link |
02:40:18.840
Like you said, there's always more, but I've lived hard.
link |
02:40:24.160
I've loved hard.
link |
02:40:28.400
Every moment in my life, I've made connections and impacted people around me for the better.
link |
02:40:36.360
And this tracks back, which is crazy when we were doing the documentary and they're
link |
02:40:39.800
interviewing people through my whole life and the consistency of the themes of anyone,
link |
02:40:43.800
like anything for Duffin, like just sure, I'll fly in from Boston.
link |
02:40:49.680
These people, it was crazy.
link |
02:40:53.120
Everybody had a story about me giving, just over and over.
link |
02:40:57.640
And I didn't even really.
link |
02:40:58.640
It's just the way you were.
link |
02:41:00.760
I've been all in.
link |
02:41:04.360
I have a lot more I want to do, but I don't have things that regret have not done in like,
link |
02:41:13.920
I don't fear it.
link |
02:41:15.240
I don't fear it.
link |
02:41:16.240
Yeah.
link |
02:41:17.240
It's like the, I don't know if you know the Bukowski poem, go all the way, otherwise don't
link |
02:41:21.200
even try.
link |
02:41:22.200
It seems like you embody that poem and you've accomplished some incredible things and serve
link |
02:41:28.720
as an inspiration to a huge number of people.
link |
02:41:31.160
Chris, you're an amazing human being.
link |
02:41:33.080
I'm really honored that you would spend your valuable time with me.
link |
02:41:37.480
Thank you so much for talking with me today.
link |
02:41:39.160
It was incredible.
link |
02:41:40.160
I can't wait to check out all the cool stuff you've engineered with Kabuki Strength.
link |
02:41:44.200
So I'm obviously, I love the, I love strength.
link |
02:41:47.880
I love strength training.
link |
02:41:49.080
I love the idea of strength.
link |
02:41:50.200
I love the equipment and the engineering approach that you take to strength.
link |
02:41:56.600
You're an incredible human, both on the things you've accomplished in terms of your own strength
link |
02:42:02.520
feats and the kind of science and engineering you bring to the field that many others could
link |
02:42:10.080
use.
link |
02:42:11.080
So thank you so much for talking to me.
link |
02:42:12.720
Thanks for having me on.
link |
02:42:13.720
That was quite the final thing.
link |
02:42:17.120
Thank you.
link |
02:42:18.880
Thanks for listening to this conversation with Chris Duffin and thank you to Headspace,
link |
02:42:23.760
Magic Spoon, Sun Basket and Ladder.
link |
02:42:26.900
Check them out in the description to support this podcast.
link |
02:42:30.400
And now let me leave you with some words from Arnold Schwarzenegger.
link |
02:42:34.720
Strength does not come from winning.
link |
02:42:36.780
Your struggles develop your strengths.
link |
02:42:39.560
When you go through hardship and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
link |
02:42:45.160
Thank you for listening and hope to see you next time.