2694: Why Focusing on Performance Transforms Your Body (Listener Live Coaching)

16:53Adam Schafer:And here's where body fat percentage even goes wrong. Uh, how many times have you seen men and women chase a body fat percentage and just destroy their hormone profile or destroy their health?

17:04Sal Di Stefano:I mean, that's like, that's one of the number one problems with women's bikini. I've had, oh yeah, it's like the most prevalent issue.

17:11Adam Schafer:I've had female clients who were fit, you know, quote unquote fitness fanatics. who couldn't conceive. Yeah. And they hired me as a trainer. I'm not a fertility expert, but I became their trainer. And, you know, well, you're 16 % body fat. Let's put you on a reverse diet. Let's increase your calories. Oh, no, am I going to gain body fat? Yeah, you probably need to. And then, and the goal wasn't to help them conceive, by the way. This is just, I find out afterwards. This happened to me three times. And then the client came to me and goes, you're not going to believe this, Sal. What? my husband and I have been struggling to, to, we've been looking, going to fertility doctors and I'm pregnant.

17:50Adam Schafer:I don't know what happened. And then I'm like, I think it's cause you were too lean before. And now you're body fat and you're fed yourself. Uh, so, and, and men, I've had men like this where they're so extreme with their wanting to look shredded, low testosterone. It's like we got their body fat to go up a little bit, uh, and eat more. And of course they get stronger and the next, you know, testosterone goes up.

18:10Justin Andrews:I think, too, we need to do a better job culturally of really, like, redefining aesthetics. Like, aesthetics, there's a beautiful way to move, too. Yes. Which, your body looks better when you have ability to move in a way that exemplifies, like, very seamless and flowing and natural movement. you notice it right away when somebody is dysfunctional, but might have like an aesthetically good body. Right. And they're very rigid and they're very incapable of like certain things. It's not attractive. Uh, and it's, it's interesting to me that like a lot of these, and this is kind of where I guess the disconnect is always been for me with like bodybuilding and bikini pageants.

19:00Justin Andrews:Uh, it's the lack of like the display of the movement aspect of it. So I know this was kind of incorporated maybe in the beginning where they actually did movements and incorporated that. That's what bodybuilding shows did. Yeah, and I think they should bring that back. It's such a disconnect, I feel, because now we just get into like squeams and we just get into like the things that will help to kind of create this illusion of what a natural body could be capable of, but you're not capable of.

19:29Sal Di Stefano:Well, I'm bringing up a really, really cool, interesting point that would be a fun study to do. Like imagine taking, you know, 20 of the opposite sex and having them move in a way that is rigid and stiff, you know, and they're shredded. They're the lowest body fat percentage. Then give them 3 % higher, you know, put on body fat to them and then moving well. And would the opposite sex be a more attractive to that? I mean, I think so. I mean, I've openly talked about on the podcast many times how much I am like seeing a beautiful squat is such an attractive, attractive thing for me. So if you see beautiful movement, I think it has.

20:15Sal Di Stefano:I think we are naturally kind of we've talked about how the eye is naturally drawn to symmetry. So that obviously plays a role. So I don't think you could take that same person and put 30 percent body fat on them and that you would feel the same way. But I bet there is a range, which is interesting because we get so focused on this number that we want to get down to or we think we need to be this shredded or what that. And we've seen enough stuff where even women don't want the man to be as shredded as us men think that we need to be. And so if you added the other element of movement in there, and I wonder how much you could get away with increased body fat if you actually just move better to attract the opposite sex.

20:54Adam Schafer:The reason why we universally consider some things attractive, and they've done studies on this, okay? So depending on the region of the world, body fat is higher or lower. But there are general truths in terms of what humans consider attractive. There's a shoulder-to-waist ratio in men. There's a hip-to-waist ratio in women. There's muscle. There's development that is considered attractive regardless of where you come from in the world. Why? Because it displays health. and function. Okay. But what we've done is we've taken the side effect that made that the main effect. Yeah. So we've taken the side effect of good health and it's like, Oh, I like it when, you know, when a man has nice developed shoulders and doesn't have a big belly and has well-developed, you know, lower body, which is a sign of, I can function, I can move, I can protect you.

21:48Adam Schafer:I can provide, I probably have good testosterone and blah, blah, blah, blah. And we're like, let's just focus on that. Let's just make, let's just look at the look and the same thing with women. And then what's happened because it's just the look, and this is what happens when you focus on the side effect and not the main effect, we start to distort the hell out of it. We start to distort it and force it. And media really pushes this even more as we share pictures and whatever, and things go viral. And then we move away from what is actually considered healthy. In fact, the extremes, although on media may be sold to us as attractive in the real world, extremes or not.

22:25Adam Schafer:Everybody knows this. Like, you know, a super shredded, super jacked dude that's above and beyond what you could accomplish naturally. We may celebrate in social media, but for the average woman, it's not, it's too far. Right. Same thing for the other direction. But my whole point with this is, uh, the whole point with this is if you're on a fitness journey, um, and you want a look, you want to look healthy and fit, just get healthy and fit and you'll look healthy and fit. Yep. It'll happen. It will. And you brought up symmetry. Symmetry is a great, like symmetry and balance show health. So balance is your upper body and lower body.

23:05Adam Schafer:They match, right? You don't, you're not have like this big muscular upper body with these tiny skinny little legs or vice versa. that's balance symmetry is right to left right your your right side matches your left side and we we score this highly in bodybuilding and all that stuff you know what develops balance and symmetry uh moving in different planes of movement yeah um having overall good fitness overall meaning the whole body yeah a lot more variety of movement if you have overall good performance and you can move in different planes of motion and you can rotate you're going to be balanced and symmetrical.

23:38And the irony of this again is that we chase the thing that often doesn't

23:42Adam Schafer:even lead to the thing that we're chasing. And we sacrifice all this stuff when, if you just went after these and they're objective, what's great about performance is this objective. It's not subjective. So I can see on the bar, I've added weight. I can see that I'm doing more reps. I can see that my stamina has improved. I can see that I have better mobility. My God, I couldn't squat fully before now i can squat fully without pain i couldn't do a lateral squat i couldn't do a windmill now i can like very objective then it results in the subjective things that we're

24:13Sal Di Stefano:looking for well what are we uh where are we at justin 23 25 programs we've written something like that yeah 25 25 there's only one that we tell people they can run indefinitely forever yeah over and over and over again it's there's only the maps performance literally encompasses everything that we're talking about right now and it's for that reason like so no matter the goal we tell people like it's the one program that kind of will take care of there's no weaknesses

24:40Adam Schafer:in it because it has uh the holistic performance baked into the program so strength stamina mobility multi-planar movements which include things like rotation and lateral movement i

24:53Sal Di Stefano:mean it's all in unilateral stuff you know endurance inside there it's got everything Power. You can have power in there. Mobility days. I mean, it's literally, it really is. It covers the bases. Every other one of our programs, great for what - It's narrow in scope. Exactly. It's really amazing. But then I can tell you like, okay, well, if you've been running that for say a year, you're probably going to want to move to this one because you're lacking X, Y, and Z. Like there's a way to pick apart every other single one for that reason. But performance has always been, which is ironic because you would think that that would be the most popular program that we've ever sold.

25:30Sal Di Stefano:And it is one of the popular ones, but it's not the most popular when it technically should be.

25:34Justin Andrews:No, because people are unfamiliar with a lot of the movements in it. And there's always a reserve, I think, with that because it's challenging. You get in the comfort of like the expectation is like I'm going to have this type of an experience as I work out. And then I'm really just focused on, it's like, you don't want to learn too many things. Like you just want to kind of stick with what's going to build the muscle and give you the look.

25:59Sal Di Stefano:Well, I was going to say, I think Sal's whole point of this is why the people don't. Is that I think most people decide when they turn on the podcast for the first time and go, I'm going to listen to good fitness content. Or I'm going to go to the gym. I want to look better is the first thing. And to the average person, Matt's performance says performance. Oh, I just want to look good. That's right.

26:23Justin Andrews:It's the perception.

26:24Sal Di Stefano:But what you're saying right now is just that that pursuit will give you that thing. And I think that if more people understood that, had a holistic approach to performance, they would get that byproduct that they absolutely want.

26:39Adam Schafer:Which single, and you already answered this, but I'll ask it differently, right? Which single program could we take a group of people on, have them run it for four years, and result in the best look? Performance.

26:54Sal Di Stefano:Yeah.

26:54Adam Schafer:Which single program could somebody run and run and run and would nudge them in the right direction with diet more than any other program?

27:03Sal Di Stefano:Yeah.

27:04Adam Schafer:Performance. Yeah. So it's interesting. And again, I got to stress this. if your performance goal is super narrow in scope, this can definitely go haywire. But when you're looking at performance holistically, checks and balances and symmetry and balance and aches and pains and injuries, it's like all taken care of just because you're moving in that direction, which is cool. It's a good discussion to have because as a trainer, when you train clients, if you want to do a good job, you stop you stop focusing you take their body fat percentage and aesthetics and you place it down the list and at the top of the list is i'm going to see if i i'm going to get this person to improve their fitness and health because you always know what's going to happen and by the way it takes a while to figure this out as a trainer because when you're a trainer early on someone says i want to lose 30 pounds like we're gonna lose 30 pounds that's what i'm gonna focus on but then later on you're like that'll happen yeah let's we're gonna get you stronger endurance

28:04Justin Andrews:Even when I had clients that were very aesthetic-driven and focused, and even to the point where they're going to then take that and then go to a point where they can get on stage, it's like I'm sprinkling in rotation. I'm sprinkling in multi-planar-type exercises because I want them to keep pursuing their goal long-term. You're going to hit a wall, and it's going to be pain, and it's going to be some kind of dysfunction you're going to have to contend with. So whether you like it or not, it's coming for you. Totally. All right.

28:41Adam Schafer:I want to do a little, not an announcement, but like a, what do they call them? Public service announcements? I think it's important to talk about.

28:49Justin Andrews:We used to get these after a Saturday morning cartoon.

28:51Adam Schafer:Yeah. I think right now it's important to talk about. And that's that our brains, our minds, however you believe, were not designed or didn't evolve to handle constant news cycles. Oh, my God.

29:09Justin Andrews:Yeah.

29:09Adam Schafer:It just, you guys. Too much. I don't care who you are, but you get caught in the constant news cycle, it will decrease your quality of life and make you more anxious. Yeah. It will make you more angry. It is not healthy for you. And out of the argument, it's like, I need to know what's happening. No, you don't. No, you don't. You don't need to know what's happening all the time. It got crazy. The first time I remember this really being a thing, you guys want to know? And by the way, they tracked this, like when this started becoming a thing, where we started to see like these disorders resulting from just constant exposure to news.

29:48Adam Schafer:It was after the first Gulf War. So when CNN was like the first 24-hour news network, the war is on. Suddenly people are tuning in all day long, every single day. Right. And that led to all these other news networks that were 24-7. And now we have social media. Now you can throw in.

30:06Justin Andrews:Now you have people's opinions about the things that happened, which, you know, that was a whole other mess. Like I remember the news was like at like 8 o 'clock or something or like 5 or 8 o 'clock. You had like two options through the day or even just one day a week. And then it just, you know, started to really accelerate from there.

30:24Adam Schafer:Our minds are not, they're not like prepared or able to comprehend what's happening everywhere all the time. It's just too much. It's too much. It's too scary. It puts us in this really bad state. I had a friend of mine call me the other day because obviously right now we're stuck in this, like this big. The last time it was like this, although it was for a prolonged period of time, was during COVID. It was like, oh, my God, this got everybody. Yeah. But this person called me and was like, what's happening? I'm freaking out. I can't believe that this is happening, that they're doing this and that.

30:58Adam Schafer:And I'm like, listen, turn everything off for three days and just focus on what's in front of you. Get in nature. Like your friends, your family, your neighborhood. Has anything changed in those places? And they're like, no. Like just do that for three days. Three days later, I checked in. They're like, oh, my God, what a difference. I did not know I was so like caught in that.

31:18Sal Di Stefano:I wonder what type of person is more susceptible to something like that. Like, I mean, I'm always trying to be like, Katrina is like the complete opposite. Like, in fact, I was watching. She does a good job of just. I don't even know if it's a good job. I'm like, she's like, I have to like watch some stuff just so she understands what's going on. In fact, she was saying something to me. She's like, what are you into? And I just have to watch this right now. There's a lot of stuff going on. I just want to get somewhat understanding of what's happening. so I'm just my hands my head's not completely in the sand it's like why do you even watch that why do you I'm just like well I trust me honey I don't want to just be completely uh ignore everything in the world that's going on so I want to know a little bit so I can inform you because you definitely don't know anything about what's going on so I mean I I'm fascinated and I think I'm very little like I do not go down that that rabbit hole of stuff really and and you guys send me stuff a lot and i'm like i just can't watch it i just it puts me in a bad mood um it it it's like pulling a thread you pull one thread and then it leads you down another deeper rabbit hole and

32:24Adam Schafer:it's like and now speculation like so many people speculate and there's just so much and it's and

32:29Sal Di Stefano:the more outrageous it is the more viral that's right and it's none of it is positive or good it's all negative and unhealthy and so it's really tough and and i'm speaking from somebody who i I think doesn't really do it. I know how tough it is for me. Like if I just give a little bit of a hold of it, I can see where it's just like, okay, well, hold on. I have to finish this. I need to hear this.

32:49Adam Schafer:Our brains are so wired for negative, scary stuff. It's not even funny. Like if you go on a Yelp review of a restaurant and you see 74 and five star reviews and then one, one star review and it has this like terrible story. Yeah. That weighs a lot. Oh, you only read those. I actually,

33:05Sal Di Stefano:when I go to, when I go to look for a review on something, I don't read any of the positive ones. I read the five worst. And I, And then I make peace with what they say. In other words, if I'm looking to buy, what did we just buy recently? We bought something different for the first time and we were reading the reviews and it's like, well, read the five bad ones out to me, out loud to me. And so if I hear them, I'm like, oh, that's not that bad. Or, oh, yeah, that's okay. Or I go, oh, whoa, that's a problem. Is there more that say that? It's like, that's all you read. I don't take the time to read all the positive ones.

33:34Sal Di Stefano:You read the handful of negative ones, which is crazy to think that we are wired to do that. That's your filter.

33:40Adam Schafer:Yeah. We're so wired. I've talked about this many episodes. I made a conscious effort every other hour to think about the blessings of the, just the previous couple hours. Cause I was doing it just at the end of the day. And I was realizing that I was getting repetitive. And when I started doing it every other hour, I'm like, oh my God, there's all these things that I miss that are wonderful blessings. Like the conversation I had with so-and-so and the guy that said hi to me, you know, on the road. And, you know, I went and, you know, had a, you know, you know, Justin told a funny joke. You just forget about it because our brains are so wired to hyper-focus and concentrate on scary stuff.

34:15Adam Schafer:So it's like we got to unplug. Do you guys remember? I remember this. This actually happened. And it's funny too because I think it's so traumatic that when you bring it up sometimes to people, they'll be like, oh, I forgot about that. Do you guys remember during COVID news channels had a running death total on the bottom? Oh, my God. Do you guys remember that? It would actually have. I literally just like blocked that out. out of my head yeah like a ticker yeah like i'm turning on the news which you know we're in our houses we got nothing else to do it's even more alluring to scare the crap out of ourselves and on the bottom is a running ticker of death which is so crazy it's so wild it's wild because that

34:53Sal Di Stefano:that's happening right now right yeah like what is what is the what is the the so how many people are dying by the second there's always people dying so it's like you take something that has always happened for as long as we've been around that's at a high rate when you think of it as as a whole population and so you focus it on one thing like this and then it just exacerbates it

35:14Adam Schafer:like oh my god this is so crazy my favorite my one of my favorites is uh uh i remember having this conversation this was it was like 10 years ago i don't remember who i was talking to but they're like you got to be careful because you know kidnappers and this and that and i'm like i feel like it's worse is it worse are kids getting more like abducted like what's going on we looked up the stats i'm like oh my god it's all time better yeah it's it's all time lows i

35:36Justin Andrews:thought it was worse see it now though like constantly yes i know yeah dude it's just we're

35:42Adam Schafer:not wired for it so because some people are like well i can watch it and i'm okay you're not wired for it dude you're fighting your biology like you need to unplug completely i think once a week at least you need to not go on any of that stuff i mean i saw this firsthand when because my wife

35:59Justin Andrews:used to work in pediatrics and it was like you know these kids that come to are hurt and are really really sick yeah and it's like so her perspective and her lens is like you know well they didn't wear a helmet and so like this happened and so it's like you know just our kids

36:18Adam Schafer:learning how to ride a bike she's just like ah and i'm like it's gonna be all right you know like

36:22Justin Andrews:that's it it's just because it's she was so inundated with like all the worst case scenarios constantly and so it was like how her brain was like i remember in my in my mid-20s i dated an

36:34Sal Di Stefano:er nurse and i remember at one point this is before social media was so out of control this early on right uh and so we were all being inundated or plugged to our phones the way we are today and i remember like having to tell her like i don't want to hear any more stories like literally everyone every night was a crazy story like she had multiple it wasn't like i mean you're an ER nurse at late night. Yeah. Crazy overnight. Like you're getting all the drunk, crazy meth heads, everybody that's gunshot wounds. Everything's bad. There's no like positive story. It's always nuts. And so like you hear that all the time.

37:07Sal Di Stefano:Like, oh my God, it just puts me in a awful mood hearing that all the time. And so we've now all put, you know, ER nurse filters on every day. And so we think that everything is so tragic, so bad happening all the time so evil it's like there's all there's there has been evil and death and murder and all those things for the since the beginning time and arguably a fraction of what it is today but you get to see a thousand times more than what you saw just 20 30 years ago so it's like you

37:39Adam Schafer:think it's happening way way more yeah my my uh i don't remember who was it was my family members is like oh if something really bad happens you'll find out you don't need to go looking for it you You'll find out. Right. Don't worry about it. I think a good way to do this would be to schedule it for yourself and be like, okay, this day, this time, I'll go and check and see what's going on. And then I'm going to turn it on.

37:57Sal Di Stefano:Well, the other thing is this too, Sal. I mean, we've talked about this before. So what I've actually done in the last couple of weeks ever since all this happened is I have a handful of Instagram pages between my sons, the business page, my personal page. And then I have my car page. I go to my car page because there I literally don't follow anybody on there and it's only cars yeah so literally like I've been just looking at cars that's all I'm saying like and so you can start to and I even started doing more of that on my personal page so I could get start to get fed that because on my personal page I follow thousands of people and a lot of those are talking heads and like and so when the whole Charlie Kirk thing happened like my whole feed on that was nothing but that and I'm like oh my god I get off of this and just switching to the other Instagram, same platform, nothing, got none of that news.

38:47Sal Di Stefano:So it's like you control a lot of what's being fed to you by the things that you like and that you watch. And so one of the ways that you can do that is to really start to curate that better.

38:57Adam Schafer:There's some interesting studies on how like on people's happiness in connection to their own wealth or their possessions. and there's a stronger correlate to how well you're doing in relation to other people versus how well you're doing. In other words, if you're doing so well, but you see that everybody else is doing a lot better than you, ooh, happiness goes down. Oh, sure. And it doesn't matter how well or how bad you're doing, that has a stronger correlate to how you feel about yourself than how you're actually doing. And this is true for fitness. the impact that social media has on girls, for example, and body image is profound.

39:44Adam Schafer:It's absolutely, because you go on there and it's, you know, the algorithm is narrating to you a story that's actually not true. You know, you would think if you're into fitness, because then you'll get fitness stuff, right, in your algorithm. If that's what you're looking at for four hours or five hours of the day, your brain is perceiving that you're around those kind of people that much every single day. And I got news to tell everybody. I manage gyms for a living. They don't look like that. No. And that's a self-selection bias of people that work out. You don't see ripped people. A ripped person in the gym is rare, let alone in public.

40:20Adam Schafer:So it's like -

40:21Sal Di Stefano:It's wild how that whole perception drift works too and how that happens over time. It's like an overnight thing the first time you look at that. I had a moment like that. I was recently even down on myself of like, man, I've just been so inconsistent and this and that. And like about my working out and my training, uh, was, was touring this house the other day and walk in and meet this realtor. First words as I was like, man, you don't look like you've missed a day, a day of working out. And I'm like, so ironic. You just said that to me. I literally, I know it's like, I don't know if that's good.

40:55Sal Di Stefano:Right. Cause then it's just like, oh i'm good you're working but but it's it's interesting how much your your perception drifts because i am around that all the time and i have fit friends that i'm talking and we talk fitness all day and we're looking at bodies yeah and so even myself even with my level of awareness of running gyms like you guys have and i know that i know i used to do that to be able to stand them up and be like find me five bodies that you even want to look like in here like they don't they're not there there's very few people are walking around single digit body fat but you get you You look at it enough.

41:28Sal Di Stefano:You talk to enough people like that. You get in your own little bubble. And then even my perception drips.

41:32Adam Schafer:It's so crazy that, and you'll see this often in female clients. They'll have all these signs that their health is declining because they want to get leaner. Like they start to lose their period. They start to have these hormone issues, hair, skin, nails starting to show that there may be a nutrient deficiency. But they're like, yeah, no, I want to be in the teens, body fat percentage. and then you know as a trainer you start to point this out and then you can see the light bulb turn on go oh wait a minute uh maybe this is not doing me any good yeah you know it's pretty crazy i want i want to hear you brought up earlier some crazy investment news or research i'm glad you brought

42:12Sal Di Stefano:that up yeah no i just came across doug pull it up there's an article on eight i saw it up there earlier so one of our partners just took on a hundred million oh wow and uh really i think it it sounds like it's going to get prescribed for like sleep apnea and stuff like that. Is that, is that correct? Would you correct me if I'm wrong?

42:28Justin Andrews:So yeah, they're looking for FDA clearance for medical use of the, uh, the eight sleep for sleep apnea, menopause, et cetera.

42:36Sal Di Stefano:Menopause.

42:37Justin Andrews:Yeah. Wow.

42:39Sal Di Stefano:Bro, I'm thinking about this. I mean, every client that I've ever had that was menopausal, one of the things they complain about the most is the temperature at night, how much, and just poor sleep period, how much it fluctuates and throws them off. They can't be too, they're, it's either too hot, it's too cold. You can't like, And the fact that this thing adjusts on the fly to your body temperature is rad. Makes sense.

42:59Adam Schafer:So it says for AI medical tech. So 8sleep has this really interesting AI in there that monitors your sleep while you're sleeping and then adjusts itself on the fly to improve your sleep. So if your sleep starts to go, you start to move out of those phases of sleep. Oh, he's coming out of it. Let's adjust to bring him back down. And then it learns what works for you. Yeah. which is wild of course they got a huge that's like that's like groundbreaking uh i'm pretty

43:28Sal Di Stefano:sure i've personally just talking to people on the street like sold hundreds of these by myself because i think they're so i mean anybody who has ever got uncomfortable and maybe maybe this is just this is my experience but temperature at night matters so much to me it makes such a difference it's the reason why you know we tease me about it when we go right to a airbnb or hotel the very first i've trained myself that the first thing i do is go straight to that throw drop it as low as i can because i know if i don't if and if i even wait till it's bedtime to go do that the time that it takes to cool that house off is going to disrupt the first two to three hours of my sleep that's how much of a difference like temperature matters for me like having a good

44:13Adam Schafer:shows it's very clearly wild and because your body temperature changes as you sleep it makes sense to something for something to adjust i mean how many times have you felt cold and then i'm hot and i'm cold and it's your body temperature i also and i know this stuff like a you know the

44:26Sal Di Stefano:whole thunder vest thing of like to help dogs calm down and do things like that i know that i've never been able to because i know some people are like you know oh just sleep with a sheet or no sheets like i can't sleep without weight i have to have weight i don't know attached to my trauma or something bullshit or whatever tees me that I need a thunder vest to sleep or whatever like that. But I need weight and so I love that. Is this why when you share a room with Justin you have him just lay on top of the sleep? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that I can in the middle of summer, we're in summer right now we have a 90 something degree day today and I think yesterday was 90 something and I've got my sheet, my middle blanket and my comforter on top of me.

45:03Sal Di Stefano:Yeah. But it cools underneath so well.

45:07Adam Schafer:It's because the monsters can't come in bro. When the sheets on you, the blankets on you. Well that's my problem.

45:11Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, when I was younger I'm mad that I wasn't an early investor in that. I feel like that's like a -

45:15Adam Schafer:Do you know for the longest time, it's not like this anymore, but up until well into my adulthood, I had to have socks on. I couldn't have my feet uncovered. I couldn't have my feet uncovered. Ew, no. And I don't know what it was. Maybe a security thing or something. I can't have it tucked in, dude. So did you keep socks on when you had sex? No. No, unless you want to be fast and the kids are out. Just take off what's necessary. So you sleep with your socks on, but you have to take them off for sex. Well, no, I don't sleep with my socks on anymore. But for the longest time. You get them on for six.

45:45Adam Schafer:I haven't. Let's be honest. You get the grippy socks. You don't slide. Hey, talk about a brilliant invention. My kids, because we don't wear shoes in the house, the grippy socks that little kids wear, those are brilliant, dude. Absolutely brilliant. You ever see kids fail because their socks are so slippery? Anyway, I got a cool study for you guys. Another awesome thing about walking. This is a big study. This study involved 11 ,000 people. And here's what it found. Walking, people who walk more than 100 minutes every day have a 23 % lower chance of lower back pain. That's it. That's it. 100 minutes a week, which is not, what is that per day?

46:29Adam Schafer:That's not much at all, right? 100 minutes? Less than 10 minutes a day. Yeah. Less than 10, 8 minutes a day. To drop the odds of that.

46:38Justin Andrews:No, there's seven days in a week.

46:40Sal Di Stefano:10 would be, you said how long? 100 minutes. Okay, so a little more than 10 minutes. So 15-minute walk a day.

46:47Adam Schafer:A day would lower your odds of back pain by a fourth.

46:52Sal Di Stefano:That's not even much, bro. So let's talk about all the things that, why that has to do. 100 % the hip movement, right? Getting the hips to move has to be a big factor in that. Circulation.

47:04Adam Schafer:I think it's more like sitting all day hurts your back.

47:07Sal Di Stefano:That's what I think. And if you just get up for a bit. No, that's what I mean. I think sitting in a seated contracted position for the hips.

47:15Justin Andrews:We need that extension, too. Yeah.

47:17Sal Di Stefano:Upright extension. And so just standing up gets that full extension like that, mobilizes the hips, increases circulation, and even as – whenever you do these studies, though, I can't help but go like – Duh. Well, not just duh, but 80 years ago, this study doesn't work. No. It only works because how terrible we are. I'm so sedentary. Yes. Like that's this study. I guarantee you did a study and it would, it would, it would be a moot point. Like we did a study on 10 ,000 people who walked 12 minutes a day. We didn't notice anything because everybody moved. Everybody moved that much, but we do so many people don't move that we've gotten to a point where it's like, Hey, just try and move for 12 minutes a day and it'll, it'll impact your life.

48:00Sal Di Stefano:I mean, it's both, it's both kind of crazy news, but good news, right? You don't need to do much. Oh, I mean, it's good to, uh, it's good news for the person who is trying to get started moving in the right direction and knowing that. You don't need much to make a big difference. Exactly. But that doing as little as that, if it's outside of what you were doing, is a really good thing already. And you're already moving in the right direction. So for that point, yes. But it's also very sad.

48:23Adam Schafer:The other thing that's understated with walking is its positive impact on digestion. First off, it dramatically lowers blood sugar just to walk after you eat. Improves insulin sensitivity. We've hammered that to death on this podcast. but also if you look at the digestive system first of all it's meant gravity is meant to is part of the digestive system one of the issues that astronauts have when they're on the space station is their digestion goes haywire because they don't have gravity they get constipated constipation lots of digestive issues right because there's no movement there's no pressure there's no gravity pushing down also if you look at the digestive system and the muscles that surround and move through it uh walking actually allows or helps with the digestive process so eating while sitting and staying or laying down not good well a lot of the stabilizing muscles

49:11Justin Andrews:to put that compressive that's right yeah force on you know your intestines that's right stomach

49:17Adam Schafer:that's right 100 all right we were talking about health earlier and how um you know getting healthier uh improving performance will give you what you want in terms of aesthetics i think this is true for a lot of different things uh one of our partners caldera lab and their skin care products. Their skin care products, now in their studies -

49:37Sal Di Stefano:Great connection there.

49:38Adam Schafer:Right. In the studies have shown over 90 % of participants notice all these, you know, reducing fine lines and wrinkles, healthier skin, looks younger, all that stuff. But really, if you look at Caldera Lab and you look at the focus of their products, it's about improving skin health. It's not about making you look better. It's like through improved skin health - It's not like hiding anything. no and like their their serum uh it has natural botanicals that encourage a healthy microbiome on the face which you have to have if you don't want blemishes do you think there's a clear divide

50:13Sal Di Stefano:in our society of like people that are um you know alternative route or a holistic route like that that like this is how i'm going to keep beauty this is i'm going to look young this is how i'm going to avoid wrinkles and then there's the other half that are like botox face surgery do whatever

50:29Adam Schafer:it takes to do that you think it's a pretty clear divide yeah i think i think i think most people know that that that good health leads to how you look but we're so uh focused on the visual

50:41Sal Di Stefano:signs of health that that's what we end up i would love to see uh a comparison of those to to see um if one's growing and one's shrinking and it and it what like right like if that's true like because i feel like i'll give you a good example bro this is one of my favorite examples

50:56Adam Schafer:that people get pissed off when I bring it up, but whatever. Look at the shoes that people wear, especially women wear, and how bad they are for health. Look at how bad, it's so crazy. I'll go somewhere with my wife and she'll put some shoes on. They look nice. I like the way they look too. They look great. And halfway through the night, she's like, I gotta get out of here. I'm like, why are you wearing those shoes? They're like this, elevated and smashed together. and then and then she'll talk one toes and she's like popping out and she'll make jokes like you wouldn't last five minutes in these and i'm like i probably wouldn't she's like you know women have been trained to just deal with it since we were you know teenagers to just deal with this terrible whatever pain in my foot my back or whatever okay so make that connection to the face thing or the just it's because it's about the it's an extreme example of like looking a particular way You sacrifice.

51:49Adam Schafer:Okay, I got you.

51:50Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, because, I mean, obviously, the 90s kicked off the popularity of things like plastic surgery and Botox and things like that. And so I'm sure.

52:02Adam Schafer:Was Botox in the 90s? It was, right?

52:04Sal Di Stefano:I know plastic surgery was. Oh, yeah. That's been around since the 70s.

52:08Adam Schafer:Right.

52:08Sal Di Stefano:So, I mean, I really felt like the 90s. I even remember in the early 2000s, there was movies and shows that were starting to come about. So I really felt like that was like, and then Botox became a thing where you are having, and they still have these groups that, you know, like candle parties that are Botox parties, right, instead. What do they do? You know, like candle parties were always popular. Oh. And you show up and they give you Botox parties.

52:29Adam Schafer:There's a nurse there that hooks you up.

52:31Sal Di Stefano:Yeah. You didn't know that was a thing? I think I did. That's a really popular thing. Wow. Yeah. So I mean, so I know that that's continued to grow. So what I'd be interested to see is like, are we simultaneously growing this, you know, counterculture or opposite that are people are going like you know what i want to look young too i don't want wrinkles and but i'm going to go this holistic approach and so approach so i'm trying to do essential oil stuff i'm trying to do like the you know what i'm trying to do no

52:58Justin Andrews:because like yeah i know my wife got really like into this once she started to look into a lot of beauty products look at the chemicals that they've had and also too just like stuff they've found that they've had to recall so much. And it's like, you know, being all ingrained in the garden and all this, it's like there's a lot of, like, natural herbs and there's natural things that we just discard because it's like, oh, that sounds like crunchy, hippie stuff. But she started to put all these, like, oils and things in her hair. And it's like – because she was getting, like, hair was, like, falling out, you know, from some of these products and things.

53:35Justin Andrews:And it's like you realize that's what's causing it. and it's like and they're promoting it it's completely different how they're promoting it uh but then like now too it's getting fuller and like her hair looks different so it's like it's interesting and once people kind of really understand like well maybe it's not really what they're promoting it's not those chemicals aren't like benefiting you like they should there's a lot

53:57Adam Schafer:of things like that in the world where we we chase uh this one thing because we think that that's what's going to produce what we're looking for in fact we're moving away from it one of my other favorite studies. I just talked about this. Who's I talking to? My cousins. Because I have a bunch of cousins and my brother, and we're all in this group thread. And everybody's really successful in there. One of my cousins has a startup company. I am betting money the guy's going to be a billionaire one day with his company. A bunch of investment bakers. Everybody does really well. And they're all very driven.

54:30Adam Schafer:But the conversations go to like, oh, I'm going to buy this car. I'm I'm going to do this thing or whatever. And so I'm in there with them and I'm like, you know, I said, uh, what are you guys after when you're doing these things? And so then they're like, well, I like it. This and that, but all, it all boils down to like happiness. Like I'm doing this thing cause it makes me happy or I'm buying this thing. It makes me happy. And so I'm like, do you guys want to know what the data shows on, uh, the, the, if you're looking for happiness with money, what's going to give you the most ROI and nobody was familiar with it.

54:58Adam Schafer:And I wasn't either until I saw that study where it shows there's, if you buy something that makes you quote unquote happy, your happiness does spike, but then it drops pretty, it drops pretty quickly. And if you buy that same thing again, you're no longer going to get that effect. In other words, you're like, I really want that, whatever. I really want that car. And you get that car and you're happy. You're not going to buy the same car again. Exactly. Cause the effect's gone. It's not going to give it to you. So that's like the bottom. Then it goes to experiences, especially things that help you grow as a person that gives you a longer happiness curve.

55:30Adam Schafer:So I'm going to go learn something or maybe go on this trip and, you know, change my outlook on things. But at the top of it, when you look at the studies, if you use your, it has to be voluntary. If you use your money to help someone else, like a person or a charity that you really believe in, you voluntarily do it. Not only does your happiness go up, it stays up. And then for the rest of your life, for as long as they've studied this. Every time you think about it, it taps into that. It goes back up. Yeah. It's a happy memory. Actually, you're just as happy as you were the first time you did it.

55:59Adam Schafer:Yeah. So if your ultimate goal with your money is to be more happy from having it, because there's a lot of things to do with money, security and all that stuff. But if you're like, okay, I got this extra money. I want to get happier. The data shows helping other people with it will give you the most ROI, which nobody knows. Nobody knows.

56:17Sal Di Stefano:Well, I mean, I think, I don't know. There's a lot of these centimillionaires and stuff like that that end up doing a lot of philanthropy as they go later. I think whether they knew that going into it or they realize it after they bought everything. It probably happens like that, to be honest. You probably were massively driven to have, and then you got, and then you got it all, and you got it all multiple times. You're like, shit, that's not even fun to buy that anymore. Maybe I'll try giving it and see what happens. And you go, oh, whoa, that actually felt really good. Every time I think about it, it still feels good.

56:50Sal Di Stefano:I'm sure that's a hack they figure out eventually. I know, but it's cool.

56:54Adam Schafer:I wish people more people.

56:55Sal Di Stefano:Give, serve, serve, and teach, you know, is the secret for sure.

57:00Adam Schafer:It's so funny. It's so funny. But we chase the stuff that doesn't provide that. So it's just, you know. Yeah. You're not what you eat. You're what you digest. Did you know as you get older, you produce less digestive enzymes, resulting in worse assimilation, digestive issues? Well, check this out. You got to go see this product called Masszymes. These are digestive enzymes for people who like to be fit. Take them when you eat, get better digestion, better recovery, better assimilation. Go to masszymes.com. That's M-A-S-S-Z-Y-M-E-S.com forward slash Mind Pump. Use the code Mind Pump 10 and get 10 % off.

57:36Adam Schafer:Back to the show. Our first caller is Bill from Texas. Bill.

57:40Justin Andrews:Hey, Bill. How you doing? Yeah, how you doing, guys? How's it going, Bill? I've listened to you so many times. I truly think I know you, each one of you.

57:51Adam Schafer:All right. Hell yeah. How can we help you, sir?

57:53Justin Andrews:Well, I've got a unique situation, but not really that unique. Over the last few years, about 15 years ago, I was diagnosed with a chronic disease and told I live about two years. That disease is called pulmonary fibrosis. Your lungs become hard and stiff and eventually don't transfer oxygen. So I still have it. it affects how we exercise because if I do a routine I have to gather my breath again it takes about 30 seconds give or take and I'm on oxygen when I do that so I am taking oxygen but it still takes time to recover that's a problem I don't know how to address and then in addition to that I've got three things going on I've had sarcopenia which is when you get older many people lose muscle mass, and I've lost that.

58:56Justin Andrews:So my strength on my left side is probably 80 % of what it was, but on my right, complicated by the stroke, it's about 20%. So I've got to work out some way to balance that. It's a problem. My voice bothers me, and it's not going to change. So that's life. But I also have four strokes, and I've also got IPF or idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. But I'm feeling good. As I sit here and look at you guys, I feel as good as anybody I'm looking at or might be looking at me.

59:40Adam Schafer:That's great. Okay, so you want some advice on how to approach exercise considering all the things that you've just told us, correct?

59:47Justin Andrews:I do, and my routine has to be a little different. I was a triathlete, a senior triathlete. I had to stop when I got diagnosed. So I'm conversing with good exercise as well as swimming and running, which I did. As a triathlete, you guys probably know that triathletes make a life study of diets and exercise to win events. I did okay. but now I have to get people like you, experts to help guide me in the right direction.

1:00:25Adam Schafer:Okay. So, Bill, um, well, first off, I'm, I'm, I love that you listen to the show and I appreciate it. I'm so impressed. Yeah. I, so we can address the sarcopenia through strength training, but the approach is going to be different. Uh, and also considering the difference in strength between your right and left. And so what it would look like, and I have some experience, I have minimal, but I do have some experience working with people who've had pulmonary fibrosis. And the way that the workout looked for us was we would do one rep. We'd put the weight down. We'd wait 20 or 30 seconds, and then we would do another rep.

1:01:01Adam Schafer:So it was not a complete – the set didn't look like one, two, three. It was like one, put it down. We'd wait until we caught our breath. Then we'd do it again. And so the set would get extended. It'd be a long set.

1:01:15Justin Andrews:What I'm doing now, the work that I have, I work five days a week. One day is lower, one day is upper. I run every day, five days a week. I work out with both the kettlebells and dumbbells, either upper or lower, money through Thursday. Friday's my wife's day. I call it Patty Day, and we do something. So I want to work on my schedule I have of Sunday through Thursday and alternating days up or lower. I'm right now doing between 12 and 20 reps, two to three sets.

1:01:57Adam Schafer:That's a great approach. How long have you been married, by the way?

1:02:01Justin Andrews:62 years. Oh, that's phenomenal. That's amazing. Champion.

1:02:05Adam Schafer:Yeah, so what you would do, Bill, is you would pick maybe a couple, three, maybe four exercises for each of those days. You would pick a weight that felt like it would challenge you a little bit. And you would do one arm or one-legged type exercises. So because of the discrepancy between right and left, a lot of the stuff that you should be doing is unilateral. Meaning instead of lifting with both arms, I'm doing one arm at a time. And if the set calls for, let's say, eight repetitions, what I may do is grab a little bit of a heavier weight, but I'm going to do one rep, place the weight down. I'm going to wait until I catch my breath and then do it again.

1:02:48Adam Schafer:because if you go and start to lose oxygen, which will happen quickly with pulmonary fibrosis, now you're working on stamina, which is okay if that's what you want from the strength training. But I think what you want from the strength training is the muscle building, the reversal of sarcopenia. Plus you also run, which is giving you the endurance aspect. So the set's going to look very different, Bill. It's going to be one rep, you put it down, you wait, catch your breath, and then do it again. And so a set of eight reps is going to be a lot longer than a traditional set because you're resting for a good 20, 30 seconds in between every rep.

1:03:24Justin Andrews:I love that.

1:03:24Adam Schafer:Does that make sense?

1:03:25Justin Andrews:Between his six or seven. And so I probably want a heavier weight than I'm doing for my 20 reps. If you can, yeah, try to push yourself with that. Correct.

1:03:32Adam Schafer:So to give you an example, if I were, and I'm using arbitrary numbers because I don't know what you train with. But let's say I use a 20-pound dumbbell and I'm doing a shoulder press for eight reps. And let's say the eighth rep feels pretty challenging. what I would do is I would maybe go up to 25 but the but I would do I would put the I would lift the weight put it down and I'd wait literally with the weight down so not holding it but placing it down and then waiting about 20 or 30 seconds and then doing another rep and you continue that set until you hit the target number of reps does that make sense absolutely I do the same thing on legs

1:04:11Justin Andrews:and squats and lunges.

1:04:14Adam Schafer:Correct.

1:04:14Justin Andrews:So I can't do the squats with one leg. I'll try to find some other exercise, like a squat, when I do one leg. A lunge or a step-up would be great. What kind of gym do you go to? Can you describe some of the equipment and all that? It's my back bedroom. Oh, okay. Oh, right on.

1:04:35Adam Schafer:There's nothing wrong with squats, Bill. I like squats, and here's why. I like the unilateral work, So I think most of the work should be unilateral. But because we are walking and running and both legs need to work together, even though there's a strength discrepancy, it's still okay to do bilateral work with the lower body for some of your exercises. So don't get rid of squats. But the rest of the exercises, I would like kind of like the split stance stuff, like a lunge or a step up where you get a low step and you step up and come down. You could hold dumbbells with that if you need more weight since you're going to be resting 20 to 30 seconds in between each rep.

1:05:12Adam Schafer:So you come up, hold yourself, come back down, put the dumbbells down, catch your breath, and then do it again.

1:05:18Justin Andrews:Well, what I'm doing today is I do four workouts a day. In the morning, making coffee, I'll stretch my back. I have lumbar stenosis, which most people my age have. So I do back exercises, have a cup of coffee with Patty, and after we're done the coffee, we both come out and do Qigong, which is kind of like Tai Chi, more based on martial arts. So I spend a lot of time in Kung Fu and Karate. So after I've done that, then during the day, I'll do my workout and I'll do my walk run. I've got a treadmill for that. and I've got right now two dumbbells, but what Harry is saying, I should buy a third and a fourth.

1:06:07Adam Schafer:That's right. Yeah, you probably want to go a little heavier and just be conservative because you're now going to be going, you know, resting 20 to 30 seconds in between each rep. And as far as diet, what's your recommendations? Okay, so before I give you some recommendations, are there anything I need to know about that would be contraindicated? Like, are you on any special dietary restrictions from a doctor or anything like that?

1:06:33Justin Andrews:I've lost, I hate to say this publicly, I've kind of lost faith in the medical community. The three things I have, they can't be cured or fixed. You live with them. Stroke, PF, and sarcopenia. I wish there was a cure out there. So I run and exercise for my sarcopenia. I think I'm holding at bay. I can't do breathing exercises because I can't control that. But I've been lucky. I've been blessed because I haven't had significant changes in my lungs, even though it's been 15 years. The stroke is my big problem. You lose balance. You lose coordination. and I have muscle difference, disparity differences in my strength.

1:07:24Justin Andrews:So what you're saying is wise. It's wisdom and good wisdom. I don't think exercise wise. I'll do exactly what you say. Okay, great.

1:07:37Adam Schafer:With diet, the data shows that a high-protein diet is even more beneficial as we get older.

1:07:44Justin Andrews:so i i strive for that one gram per pound of body weight oh great that's excellent yeah i think i

1:07:52Adam Schafer:hit that that's excellent make sure your diet's also got a decent amount of fiber well-cooked vegetables berries are great with that um yep i think you're i think if you're already doing that

1:08:01Justin Andrews:you're doing great well i i tried keto and i've been on paleo so i'm maintaining that a little more conservative perhaps but it's doable okay did you go keto for any uh blood sugar reasons or was it just because you wanted to lose weight i thought it'd be a faster way to gain muscle mass

1:08:22Adam Schafer:oh no no no no eat some carbohydrates yeah yeah sweet potato rice some easily digestible starches will actually help you build muscle and strength and will give you some strength through your

1:08:32Justin Andrews:workouts yeah well this this has been incredibly invaluable i never thought about to do one rest do another and rest that's a great strategy i'll start to do that today as a test and i get some heavier weights to challenge myself a little bit more bill would you mind if we had you back on in

1:08:53Sal Di Stefano:like i'd love to check up on you man i'd love to have you back on the show in about 60 days just

1:08:57Adam Schafer:to see what's going on.

1:08:57Justin Andrews:I tell you, I'd like to do that. I like, it's always good to have a mentor looking over your shoulder and give you a little kick in the eye and then to keep it going. Yeah.

1:09:07Adam Schafer:You don't seem like somebody I would need to kick in the butt. No, yeah. You seem like you're pretty motivated. Pretty self-sufficient, yeah. Yeah, no, I appreciate you. I appreciate you calling in, too.

1:09:15Justin Andrews:Well, my pleasure. And you guys are doing a great job. My daughter, who's a super CrossFit, all that stuff, and her boyfriend, the same. And I'm listening now to your show. So when will this be? I assume it's being played at some point. Next week? Yeah, I can tell you the date. Yeah, definitely. September 26th. Okay, good. Yeah. Well, I've got about 800 friends that have strokes and about 200, 800 ,000, I should say, and about 250 ,000 that suffer with PF. I'll make sure most of them know about it. Right on. Wow. Well, Bill, we're going to stay in touch with you, man.

1:09:54Sal Di Stefano:Appreciate it. Thank you. All right, guys. thank you great talking to you all right bye-bye you got it my he's doing really good my favorite yeah so cool favorite you know i didn't what we didn't need to add any more to that because i think the advice you gave was already perfect but um i like the idea though the heavier weight with just like one rep that's right i'd even probably have him try and do like a hold for three to five seconds at the end of that rep like it would be a press the key hold it for a couple seconds set

1:10:22Adam Schafer:it down rest like you're saying the key with that is uh just okay this is true for any more true anaerobic that's right this is true for anybody who's strength training you want to keep them anaerobic that's what builds muscle now the challenge with someone who has oxygen delivery issues is by rep three he's probably already getting aerobics yeah that's the the oxygen's not getting there and it becomes uh something completely different you don't feel good or whatever so you're doing one rep you're waiting and you're doing another rep and you're waiting even long hold sometimes can cause that to happen yeah that's why it wouldn't be very long like three five seconds at most stability yeah 100 so i had some success with working out that way and we saw great strength gains whereas before it was like what stopped us was the lack of oxygen yeah and you know when you've got scarring in your lungs it's like you know you can improve vo2 max through other methods but because the lungs themselves are not very limited especially if it's uh progressing over time it's it's very difficult i mean respect to him for using free

1:11:16Justin Andrews:weights still like that was impressive super awesome man our next caller is benjamin from

1:11:21Adam Schafer:Texas. What's up, dude? How you doing, Ben?

1:11:24Justin Andrews:Hey, how you doing? Good.

1:11:25Adam Schafer:How can we help you?

1:11:27Justin Andrews:Yeah. So, um, I shot an email a few weeks ago. Um, I'll, I'll break it down. Um, cause it was kind of long winded, but I'm getting married in October. Um, and, uh, I've just been having a really difficult time, I guess, uh, just in general with health and fitness. Um, right now I'm 26, six feet tall, about 180. I grew up, you know, doing sports and being pretty athletic and active all the time. And since graduating college a few years ago, I've sort of put on a little bit of weight that I'm just not used to. And it's been really hard to keep it off, especially going into my wedding. And so I've, you know, really what I feel like is dialed into health and fitness with watching what I eat, eating healthy, uh, me and my fiance go on a lot of long walks.

1:12:18Justin Andrews:I go to the gym when I can. Um, and I'm just still not able to, um, lose the weight, especially around my midsection. And I think in the last year, especially I've just kind of developed a unhealthy relationship, um, with food and, you know, that's kind of tied into a little bit of body dysmorphia. Um, and then on top of all that, uh, just getting inundated with like a, an overabundance of information online about what works and what doesn't in terms of health and fitness, um, and what I need to be doing, you know, some saying working out five, six, seven days a week, others saying you only need to do a couple, um, others doing like keto others doing, uh, just whole foods and stuff.

1:13:08Justin Andrews:So it's just kind of a lot to parse through. And I was just hoping for a little bit of guidance, um, on what, what's most important and how I can, um, also tackle the mental challenge of, uh, not being too hard on myself, um, and, and seeing myself, I think, as others see me.

1:13:25Adam Schafer:Yeah, dude. Um, I'm glad you mentioned the last part about the kind of the, the relationship feeling a bit dysfunctional. I could hear it right out the gates as you started talking. I mean, you're six, 100, you're six foot, 180 pounds. You're, you're fine. Most people would say you're fit. Uh, but, but this, this is not about what you're doing that's wrong or even what's right. Uh, this is about letting go. You're going to have to let go of all that stuff. Now, if your fear is, if you let go that you're going to somehow go in this crazy opposite direction, I mean, that, that may happen. It's unlikely.

1:13:59Adam Schafer:It's unlikely. What's more likely to happen is you'll feel more at peace. So fitness and good health should not feel stressful. It should not cause anxiety. It should not be an obsession. If it is, it's not healthy. This is no longer a healthy thing. This is an unhealthy thing. So what does this look like moving forward? You would strength train two days a week, full body. You would continue walking. You wouldn't weigh yourself. You wouldn't, you would stop studying yourself in the mirror and you would try focusing on things that are higher and bigger than the workouts and the diet. And so you would just not focus on those things.

1:14:40Adam Schafer:Don't count macros. Don't, you know, eat when you're hungry, try to, you know, eat things that are whole natural and then, and then take your focus off of it. Cause you're, you're, you're in the midst of it right now. I can tell. And the wedding date is adding this other kind of pressure, which is undue. And I'm going to tell you this right now. You're going to get married. You're going to be a husband. You'll probably have some kids. And those things are far, far, far more important than, you know, five or 10 pounds of body fat that you might think you have, which you're probably good, dude. So you got to let go of those things.

1:15:17Adam Schafer:Really commit to like two days a week of strength training. And then just stay active. And then take your eyes off of this, bro. That's all? That's it, dude. Take your eyes off of this.

1:15:26Sal Di Stefano:Eat your protein first. So when you sit down at a meal, eat the protein first. Stick to whole foods. I saw in your email too, absolutely do not do 75 hard. No. That's the opposite direction. Okay, opposite. The last thing you need to do is a thing that's like super hard and regimen and tons of stuff every single day. It doesn't take very much, okay, to send a signal for your body to build muscle. if you strength train two full body a week maybe three backs and you walk and you eat your protein first and you eat whole foods it'll take care of the rest it literally will yeah that's it you don't need to obsess over this you don't need to get crazy and and do a ton extra stuff just focus on those three things that we're talking about and it'll do it'll do the rest and honestly just take

1:16:15Adam Schafer:your eyes off this dude like yeah you go to the gym a couple days a week full body compound lifts and then don't think about it and just take your eyes off of it because you're going down a path that's going to be, it's going to get worse. So what we have to do is disconnect. So just, just take your eyes off of it and focus on things that are bigger, focus on your future wife, you know, maybe whatever you're doing for work and career, what it's going to look like when we have kids. Uh, you know, if you have a spiritual practice, focus on that because that's bigger than you and just, just take your eyes off of this right now, because this is, this has become a tyrannical, you know, for lack of a better term, God, that is just, it's right.

1:16:54Adam Schafer:Yeah. It's, it's beating you down. I can tell, I could tell right when you started talking.

1:16:57Sal Di Stefano:Yeah. I'd love to, I'd love to have Doug put you in our private forum so we can help you through this process that way as you're going through it. And then do you have any other programs yet?

1:17:07Justin Andrews:I don't. I actually just had chat GPT do like a full body thing. Okay. We'll send you maps. Anabolic. We'll send you maps. We'll mislead you. Yeah. Follow maps. Awesome. Yeah.

1:17:17Adam Schafer:Just do the two-day-a-week version. That's your workout. That's what you're going to do in the gym. And you'll get stronger. You're going to get stronger with that program. And the rest of the time, just stay active. But make the activity non-workout activity. In other words, if your wife or, sorry, if your fiance likes to hike or walk or bike, that's your activity. So make it relational. Make it pro-relational activity for your exercise. That way it's not all focused on the workout. It's more like, oh, man, I'm enjoying this thing with. let's just get up and move around that's it fun i'd like to have some accountability with you too

1:17:51Sal Di Stefano:so i'd like to hear from you in the forum at least every other week just check in with us and the things i care about is energy strength how you're feeling i don't care how you look i don't care about your weight i want to know if you're getting stronger in the gym and and how

1:18:04Adam Schafer:you feel and just check in with us how's your fiance uh with fitness and all this stuff

1:18:09Justin Andrews:she's she's super into it she uh she works out a lot she goes to solid core and loves that like I said we go on a lot of long walks we've just moved back from Los Angeles so we were able to go on a little bit longer walks when it wasn't 110 degrees but yeah we still love going on walks I think we're both just full gear like stress from the wedding so we just moved back from LA to Texas to be back with our family but along with that came new jobs, the wedding's in a month so it's just like a lot a lot of change all at once and I think we're both just kind of in the thick of it right now um but not to sound like corny it like couldn't imagine doing it without her and I feel I would say that she does feel the same um so I think like you guys said just kind of taking a step back and leaning in to that and like focusing on the fact that maybe if I'm not eating perfect every day it's because i'm going to my in-laws house and we're having a big dinner together that's right getting this from my friends that i haven't seen in years that's right important far more important so we've been trying to take a deep breath yeah go ahead you're about

1:19:23Adam Schafer:to marry you're about to marry the woman you're going to spend the rest of your life with and have kids with and do life with uh it's an amazing amazing step and and this take your eyes off of this. You go to the gym and then when you're done with the gym, you don't think about it anymore and just focus on the relationships around you. Those are the things that are going to last the longest. You're getting married in October. You guys want a honeymoon?

1:19:47Justin Andrews:We are. We're pushing our honeymoon back to March just so we can save up for a little bit more. But we're very excited. We're actually going to Tahiti, which is the only time either of us are maybe ever going to go there, but we're going bigger, going home for the honeymoon, which we're very excited for. Good for you.

1:20:04Adam Schafer:Ben, can we have you both on the show after you get married? I'd love to talk to you guys in October after you guys get married. Have you guys back on? Absolutely, I'd love that. All right, dude. Let's do that. I'll have my assistant reach out. We'll have you and your fiance on. She'll be your bride, your wife at that time.

1:20:21Justin Andrews:Yes, sir. I appreciate it.

1:20:22Sal Di Stefano:Check in with us in the forum. Doug's sending you maps and a block and we're sending you access to the forum. So check in with us. Just let us know you're doing it every couple of weeks, okay?

1:20:30Justin Andrews:Absolutely.

1:20:30Sal Di Stefano:I appreciate you guys. All right, Ben.

1:20:32Justin Andrews:And I know you guys are men of faith, so I don't know if you wouldn't mind me asking if you could just keep me and my fiance in your prayers or a prayer or anything like that. I would really appreciate it. Oh, done deal. What's her name? Her name's Hannah.

1:20:47Adam Schafer:All right, man. No problem. Thanks, guys.

1:20:49Justin Andrews:I really appreciate it. You got it, man.

1:20:51Adam Schafer:Thanks, man. Take care, dude. I can hear it right when I start talking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's 6 '1", he's 6 '1", 180 pounds, and he's like, I got this fat I can't get rid of. Like, uh-oh. Yeah, no. I know exactly what that feels like. Yeah, it's a nasty, but you take your eyes off of it. You do it, but then don't think about it. And then it starts to lose its power.

1:21:11Sal Di Stefano:Otherwise, it turns into a hardcore strict resist, and then it goes to bench. Hardcore restrict and resist, and then bench. It's like with all the other things going on.

1:21:22Adam Schafer:Nothing good comes out of it. Yeah, yeah, nothing good comes out of that.

1:21:24Sal Di Stefano:So I hope he checks in every couple weeks on the forum and stays with us with that. but you can tell he's guys carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, man. Yep. Our next caller is Daniel from Iowa. How's it going, Daniel? How you doing, Daniel? What's up, man?

1:21:39Justin Andrews:Awesome. It's great to get to talk to you guys. Hopefully you guys can help me out.

1:21:43Adam Schafer:Yeah, how can we help you? Sure.

1:21:47Justin Andrews:Well, I've been working out pretty consistently kind of my entire life, but I'd say over the past nine, ten months, after a workout, about whatever muscle part I'm focused on for the day, about 30 or 40 minutes after I'm done exercising, I just experienced like pretty severe cramps in that area. And it can be like the simplest movement. Like I was driving home from work and I had my left hand on the steering wheel. I switched to my right hand. My pec just freezes up. I had to pull over to the side of the road. um it like two minutes just to get it to where i could like use my muscle again and then i have to be pretty conscious about it for the rest of the night like all the way until the next day i wake up uh sudden movements will just freeze my muscles up and um i've tried a few different things and i just nothing seems to help at all so it just keeps happening and this just like when did this start happening it's about about 10 months it's been going on about 10 months and

1:22:56Adam Schafer:before that you didn't have this issue?

1:22:58Justin Andrews:Uh, not to this extent, like a lot, when I was younger, I do pull-ups and for some reason I get cramps in the bottom of my foot, but like I could just eat a banana and, uh, good to go. I was, I would be fine, but yeah, about 10 months.

1:23:14Adam Schafer:You've tried sodium, uh, magnesium, water. You've tried all that. Yes. Yep. Have you had blood work done to look at things like kidney function,

1:23:24Justin Andrews:liver function i i have had my blood work done um they did notice that maybe the there was something going on with the kidneys i'm not really sure yeah um and potential for the liver i went back in and got it redone after that and they said it all looked pretty good um but now it's uh

1:23:44Adam Schafer:it's still a problem yeah it's uh i i would i would keep i would go back to the doctor and just make sure that everything's going on is okay with how your electrolyte system is working, how the cells are communicating. Typically with a client that would experience cramping, we would have sodium, a little bit of potassium, but mostly sodium before, during and after a workout. And we would finish a workout with 15 minutes of static stretching of the muscle where you're slow breathing, holding that stretch post-workout. That would would be the typical thing that I would do with a client that, that has somebody's cramping.

1:24:23Adam Schafer:This will happen sometimes to somebody who's deconditioned and then they start training a body part again and they'll get cramping. Uh, but the fact that you've been working out this whole time and it kind of suddenly started happening, I would go, I would go see another medical professional just to make sure that there's nothing that is underlying that we haven't identified. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I wish I could give you a, you know, better advice.

1:24:45Sal Di Stefano:Is there anything, the only other thing i can think of is just like really severely over training right now like are you doing anything out of the normal as far as like routine training work what's going on

1:24:55Justin Andrews:i don't think so i'm i probably even lowered it a little bit i when i do exercise body parts typically like two exercises okay it's uh yeah that's the same day i do two chest exercises two back exercises i'm in there for just under an hour um so i don't think i'm really overdoing it

1:25:15Sal Di Stefano:No, no. Yeah, you're fine.

1:25:16Justin Andrews:I don't want to waste my time while I'm in the gym, so I do tend to try and go as heavy as possible. I think I'm in there like too much. Yeah, that's fine.

1:25:27Adam Schafer:Yeah, and you don't get cramps in the muscles you don't train?

1:25:32Justin Andrews:Not generally, no. Okay. No, it lasts about a day, and then, you know, the next morning it'll be all right. But if I am not conscious with that muscle, they'll just, like, seize up. My bicep will just seize up and I can't use it for three or four minutes. And then I have to pay attention to it. I use it in the smallest fashion and it'll just go right back.

1:25:55Adam Schafer:Yeah. The first, the person I would go to, I would get general blood work, which it sounds like you did. And then the person I would go to first would be a neurologist. Yeah. And it just, just, I would start there just to see if they can find anything.

1:26:06Justin Andrews:Yeah. We got to figure this out. Okay.

1:26:09Sal Di Stefano:Yeah. Yeah. I'd love to hear back after you do that, Daniel. Anytime we have somebody who we can't give the for sure answer right away, I'm always so curious if we get to the bottom of this. Yeah.

1:26:20Justin Andrews:Yeah, I can do that.

1:26:21Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, I'd appreciate that. And then we'll have you back on. We can talk about it so we can help anybody else that potentially is going through the same thing.

1:26:27Justin Andrews:Okay.

1:26:28Sal Di Stefano:All right.

1:26:29Justin Andrews:Yeah, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. You got it. Thank you.

1:26:33Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, interesting. Wow, that's a conundrum.

1:26:35Adam Schafer:Yeah, you just want to make sure there's nothing neurologically going on. Exactly.

1:26:39Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, if he's hydrating, he's taking the sodium. He's not overtraining.

1:26:44Justin Andrews:I didn't ask if he's sweating normal. Like, I don't know if that's, you know, much of a factor. Some medications can – sometimes medications.

1:26:50Adam Schafer:So I shouldn't ask him if he started any new medications. Sometimes that can cause it. It could also be nerve impingement or some kind of a neurological –

1:27:00Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, but most likely if it's that, it would be on the same side consistently or whatever like that. That's right.

1:27:04Adam Schafer:It's the muscle that's being – yeah.

1:27:06Sal Di Stefano:The muscle that's being worked, yeah.

1:27:07Adam Schafer:Yeah, and they're called calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium. These are the nutrients to look at. Deficiency or some neurological issues. Or too much, sometimes too much can cause stuff like this. So if his body's not getting rid of calcium enough, but I would go neurologist because they would see that typically in a general blood test.

1:27:27Sal Di Stefano:Yeah. I hope we hear back. Whenever we have somebody that I feel like we can't figure it out, I don't want to know. It's not that often. It's frustrating.

1:27:34Justin Andrews:Our next caller is Nora from Minnesota. Hi, Nora. Hi, Nora. How are you doing, Nora? Oh, it's fun.

1:27:41Adam Schafer:How can we help you?

1:27:42Justin Andrews:Okay, perfect. Well, long-time listener here. Thank you for the years of solid, no BS advice that's kept me grounded through my fitness journey and phases, including my pregnancy at 41. I gained only what was needed, was back in my jeans a week postpartum, and my doctor even skipped routine geriatric testing because my baby and I were so healthful. You're so healthy. That mindset came largely from what I learned from you guys. So thank you. Now at 45, I'm in paramedipause. I am on HRT. It's going great. I love testosterone. I love progesterone. And I'm still fully committed to lifting. I've made the shift from grinding away on my Peloton tread and bike to heavy lifting with a squat rack purchased a few years ago.

1:28:34Justin Andrews:So thanks for your influence. and I haven't looked back since. That said, I'm in uncharted territory. So social media is flooding me with messages that midsection weight is basically unavoidable for women and the stage of life. And honestly, it's chipping away at my motivation. I'm seeing changes only around my waist and it's got me wondering, is this just what happens now? Or are there things that I can actually control? So I'd love to hear your take on what's actually going on with fat distribution during perimenopause. What can I realistically do to continue feeling strong and confident in my body?

1:29:10Justin Andrews:And how do I shut down the narrative that change and progress are just out of reach right now? Thanks for everything you guys have helped me with so far. I truly trust your approach and would love some guidance in this next chapter.

1:29:21Adam Schafer:Thank you. Thank you. I love your question. Okay. So before I answer your question, I'll ask you a question. Is that okay?

1:29:27Justin Andrews:Okay.

1:29:27Adam Schafer:What are you going to tell your kid about social media?

1:29:32Justin Andrews:Right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, hopefully she never sees it.

1:29:36Adam Schafer:All right. So yeah, turn it off. Don't let it affect you in that way. It's just, it's full of crap. Like so much of the information on there, especially to women, especially to women, is so terrible and so damaging. And make somebody like you who's fit and healthy. You don't look 45. You look exceptional. I can tell you're lean. You're probably, and I would bet money, being very overcritical of yourself. and so that's just not it's just not it's not true it's not true now does body fat distribution change as we go to get older it does but we get older uh what can affect that hormones now you're on hormone replacement therapy so that will that will have an impact on body fat distribution okay okay so how long have you been on it for better how long have you been on it

1:30:27Justin Andrews:for about nine months now.

1:30:29Adam Schafer:Yeah. So you'll start to notice changes probably soon, a year, two weeks. Yeah. So testosterone, progesterone, you could take a peptide for growth hormone release like Tessa Maryland. That can also make a difference. And so that'll help with body fat distribution because the changes in hormone profile is why you see this sudden change in body fat distribution in women where it's like less on the hips and thighs and then more suddenly around the midsection yeah right now aside from that because you're doing the hormone replacement therapy so you've got that covered aside from that the goal is like what we talk about on the show get strong yeah build strength build muscle uh when's the last time you went on a on a calorie

1:31:14Justin Andrews:surplus uh for yourself it's a good question um you know i've got obviously a young kid around so I feel like I am on a calorie surplus, like eating, you know, all these additional toddler snacks that have been around, although I've been slowly eliminating them out of the household and that whatnot. But probably one where it's actually been like focused and dedicated. I don't know that I've ever done that.

1:31:36Adam Schafer:I knew that. I asked you that question. Really? Yes, I knew the answer to that. So let's put you on a calorie surplus. Let's reverse diet you and build some muscle. By the way, that helps with fat loss.

1:31:45Sal Di Stefano:Got to get you in our muscle mommy group if you're not in there or not. Have you joined yet?

1:31:49Justin Andrews:Okay, I am not.

1:31:50Sal Di Stefano:You've got to get in there. Yeah, we're on there every day right now for the seven-day kind of kickoff for it. And so, well, the link is musclemommymovement.com. Just go in there, take the quiz. And it doesn't matter what program of ours you're following. It's literally just for women that are trying to build muscle and be healthy and fit.

1:32:07Adam Schafer:If you went in a calorie surplus, a nice controlled one, like 300 calories above maintenance, hitting your protein targets, not going zero carb, having some carbs with it because you need that energy and that fuel, eating adequate fats. What you're going to see is great changes in the body, especially on testosterone. You're going to build muscle. Through that process, you'll get probably leaner. The shape will change. Building muscle is like the magic formula for almost everything.

1:32:35Sal Di Stefano:You've got to feed that, though, yeah.

1:32:36Adam Schafer:But you've got to feed it. Do you have any idea how many calories you eat regularly now?

1:32:40Justin Andrews:I am probably in that 2 ,000 to 2 ,200 calorie range today.

1:32:46Adam Schafer:So I would track. Now, don't get carried away with tracking. I get the impression that if I had you track all the time, that would also cause.

1:32:53Justin Andrews:I used to. I used to. A few years ago, pre-baby, I used to track pretty significantly.

1:32:57Adam Schafer:So get an idea of what you're averaging right now. Okay. And then go 300 calories above that. And then hit your protein first and aim for that target. Don't get carried away, though, with the tracking. Okay? So once you get a general idea of what that looks like, then let go of it and just kind of eat around that. And then monitor your strength. If you're getting stronger in the gym, you're doing great. You're crushing. By the way, the other thing that affects body fat distribution is insulin sensitivity or insulin resistance. Okay. Hormone replacement therapy helps with that. But something that helps the most with that is building muscle.

1:33:31Okay.

1:33:31Adam Schafer:Building muscle makes us so sensitive to insulin. And so that also helps a lot with body fat distribution. In fact, when you look at women who've strength trained properly and fed themselves and built muscle, like I'm talking about like women who really chase strength, then went through perimenopause and menopause, they often don't run into body fat distribution challenges. They might have a little bit, but not like the average woman. And they don't, and many of them don't go on hormone replacement therapy. It's the muscle. Oh, interesting. It's the muscle that makes the big difference. So I would go surplus, get stronger, and turn off social media.

1:34:05Adam Schafer:Nora, you're doing great. Yeah, yeah. You're doing really good.

1:34:07Sal Di Stefano:Do you have one of our MAPS programs yet?

1:34:10Justin Andrews:I do. Yes. I've got, I'm trying to think here, whatever the basic one is. MAPS anabolic.

1:34:17Adam Schafer:MAPS anabolic.

1:34:17Justin Andrews:Yes, exactly. Yes, I have that one.

1:34:20Adam Schafer:Do you have MAPS muscle, mommy? I do not.

1:34:22Sal Di Stefano:She'll get it when she goes in the group. Yeah, get in the group and you'll have it. Get in the group and it has it in there. So you have it.

1:34:27Justin Andrews:Okay.

1:34:27Sal Di Stefano:Yeah.

1:34:28Justin Andrews:Okay, perfect.

1:34:28Sal Di Stefano:Awesome. Yes. All right. I'll do that. We'll be looking for you tonight. Yeah, we're going to be on tonight at 5. We'll be on there, so I'll be looking for you tonight. Okay. Fair enough. All right.

1:34:37Adam Schafer:Thanks for calling in. All right, Nora.

1:34:39Justin Andrews:Thanks guys. Very helpful.

1:34:41Adam Schafer:You got it. Social media sucks, man. So mad. So exhausted. I mean, she's, she's obviously fit. You can tell she's fit. She looks great. Right. Uh, she's got a kid and, uh, it's like, it's like, it's, I'm getting flooded. You can hear the verbiage, right? I'm getting flooded with all this stuff on social media and I'm getting so worried. And it's like, Oh my God, it really distorts our perception. I mean, how,

1:35:02Sal Di Stefano:how common is that though for our female clients that feel like they have a little bit you know five to ten or 15 pounds they want to lose and so they're right on but they're relatively fit anyway but they've stayed relatively fit because they've kept their calories low for so long and they've never really gone on a bulk because they think in their head well i need to lose just five to 15 pounds why would i go to bulk and i'm just struggling to get this and like this is what will help someone like this so much is to go and by the way everybody i wouldn't say everybody but a large portion of the women we have we've over 400 women in there right now this is what they're kind of going through because many of them have never done like a proper reverse diet and they need to build muscle even though their goal is to lose body fat many of them need to reverse diet first and so she'll fit right in with a lot of what's going on totally look if you

1:35:47Adam Schafer:like the show come find us on instagram at mind pump media we'll see you there thank you for listening to mind pump if your goal is to build and shape your body dramatically improve your

1:35:55Justin Andrews:health and energy and maximize your overall performance check out our discounted rgb super bundle at mindpumpmedia.com. The RGB super bundle includes MAPS Anabolic, MAPS Performance, and MAPS Aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam, and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB super bundle is like having Sal, Adam, and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now, plus other valuable free resources at mindpumpmedia.com.

1:36:42Justin Andrews:If you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five-star rating and review on iTunes, and by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support, and until next time, this is Mind Pump.