2763: Eat as Much as You Want, but Don't Get Fat (JUST follow these 2 rules)

31:58Oh, that's where the Peter Pan. Yeah, that's right. And she said that's why it's so fragile is because throughout all of history, there's been rites of passage and responsibility that has taken boys and turned them into men. and when you eliminate those that's just it you just you just don't you just don't ever go we need our elders we need you know that's what i don't like about western societies we kind of push away a lot of like old wisdom yep and it's we need that more than ever is is like the old wisdom to come in you know speaking of wisdom i meant i saw an arthur books clip today that uh so good i've listened to so much of his stuff and i always share him with him it's rare that i come across something that I haven't already consumed to his and it was totally new.

32:39He was talking to Rich Roll, which now makes me want to go back and listen to that episode because I thought I'd listen to everything that he said. And he gave this rule, he's in his Harvard class where he teaches happiness, right? He gave them this task of all the time, like every time, to write down all the times you've been disappointed, frustrated, or a failure, a struggle in your life, when those things happen, right? To actually to list them, to write them down. And when you write them down, to leave two lines, so two spaces underneath it. And then he goes, then you come back in 30 days and you, uh, you write down on the first line, what you learned from that mistake.

33:20And then you go, I think he said 30 or 60 days out from that. And then you come back and then you write what good came of that mistake or failure. And he goes, if you keep this habit up of doing this, every time you have these mistakes and failures in your life before long you have this you know book of all these things that you've been through that's not only a list of failures but also what you learn from them and then the good thing that actually came from that and he goes it will reframe as and if you want you you'll train the brain till okay now i this huge tragic thing happens in my life or a stake and almost this ability to go oh well some growth is going to happen from this and something good will come from this versus dwelling on oh my god this was tragic it was a horrible mistake oh this sucks oh poor me it's like if you train yourself i'm like what a what a great great idea to put a practice in like that because they're you know i talk a lot to like myself i have my my my younger cousin over and and he's uh quite a bit younger than me and and kind of mentoring him and sharing some of that.

34:26And it's like, there's a lot of things that I've learned just trial by fire. And it's like, I don't have a lot of these cool, I wish somebody would have given that to me as a task. I just can't imagine how fast that would have developed that skill. Like I've learned to do that skill. I've talked about the self-awareness of me reflecting on the days where I'd look at the highs and lows and lean more into that. It's like, man, what a cool exercise to teach like uh our kids is like hey like write it down you know i'm saying it happened and then we'll revisit this in 30 days we'll talk about you know what you learned from you know you know what it points to so you guys have heard of post-traumatic stress there's post-traumatic growth uh so they're both real so post-traumatic stress especially disorder is you have something terrible happen something traumatic small t big negative byproduct and then it causes this negatives, right?

35:22Fear response, anxiety, I never want to do that again and never want to whatever. Post-traumatic growth is similar trauma, same trauma, but afterwards it's growth. It's something different. Something got better, something changed. So a good example would be you go through a divorce and you could come out and be like, I'll never get married again. Never will I go through that again. That would be like the stress response, like never again, never going to partner with anyone never gonna whatever the growth side of that might be boy i know what mistakes happen there i know what i did wrong i know what happened yeah but there's so much value in finding a mate and a partner and so now i'm a different person and i know who to look for this time type of deal that's just one similar example but post-traumatic growth is a real thing and that's what he's pointing to he's he's literally taking all your failures and showing you how they make you grow yeah which in a sense is your best teacher anyways is failure of course this is one of those things and it's hard to always stress especially kids um but i think this would be a great practice because then it's like they can come back revisit oh that was really tough wow this did teach me something and and i can learn and also a positive thing happened as a result you know and to reframe it so that way they can look for that earlier as they go along i mean i couldn't help but think about that when max gets to that age where we can kind of start to do something like this uh i mean i i think within five failures i'm picking up on that lesson yeah i mean literally four or five in a row of seeing oh same thing i learned this from this same subject yeah yeah that's what i'm saying and so it's like it that's so cool uh i mean it took me a really long time and one of the things i was sharing with my cousin is like i i started to realize and attach this through years of all these failures mistakes and stuff and hardships is that the harder it was the better it was on the other side so like little hiccups in my life little setbacks was like oh the other side of it there was growth I learned something it was and it was better but it was actually the the more traumatic the harder the thing the the better the win was on the other side and so that really helped reframe when I was going through especially if it was something that I considered this is a tough this is a really tough thing it was like okay well if i really feel this deep in me this is tough and this is hard and i'm in that that that means man when i get through this the other side is so much better than maybe that little struggle i had last week that was like oh that was a bummer or hard but it wasn't that hard like it's like the harder the thing the better it is on the other side but again that was something that i didn't document and figure just enough repetition was like okay it's starting to click now where i think an exercise like that if you don't do that then what you remember is the hard thing yep you don't remember the thing i learned maybe you did learn something grow but you might not even be that you didn't attach it to that that's right and so the story because the story we the stories we tell ourselves uh are created narrative and if the story is this terrible thing happened and that's it well that's the story right but if the story is this terrible thing happened man here's what i learned from it oh here's how i'm a better person yeah because of it now the story is more complete and different now we have a different narrative that you can to live your life by.

38:34But it has to be, I definitely think it's a practice. I don't think it's a natural, unless you just, I mean, I don't think it's a natural thing. I think you have to work on it for sure. No, I agree. That's what I can't help but think like, man, if someone had taught me that tool, like valuable, maybe, maybe a decade, I save maybe a decade of learning the long way, you know what I'm saying? So I just love that. I just, he's got so much valuable, great stuff and that was a that was a new one that i hadn't heard him ever say and i'm like i'm so gonna implement that with my son i'm still gonna punch this in like uh so i ran across this image that freaked me out and it was a frog that had this like mutation i've never seen in my life i had to like cross check this a bunch of different websites and articles and scientific articles about it because i was like there's no way this is real uh i'm still unsure i'm pretty sure it's real but uh the mutation causes the eyes to be inside its mouth what yeah and that's real yeah and it's real i've never heard of that never can you imagine seeing that like in nature a frog just you know on a lily pad and all of a sudden just opens his mouth and it's doesn't that it feels like a feels like beetle juice or something yeah oh wow that's wild isn't that weird like weird dude what is there any other animal that does that like i was thinking about that it's a developmental anomaly often called a macro mutation i mean obviously it's they have a name for it it happens enough that they've seen it enough times to name it something i think it's real but i've never yeah you know there's a fish that has like human looking teeth have you seen this fish oh i've heard about this yeah like if you like it's called they'll you'll catch it and It's got like teeth, bro.

40:18Like a person. Like molars. Fish with human-like teeth. Look at the picture of this one. Ew. It's got, oh, look it. Oh, my God. That's freaky. That's hilarious. Yeah, dude. What's called a sheep head? Yes, sheep's head. Sheep's head, too. Where do you catch that kind of fish? Dude, I want to taxidermy that thing. Oh, my God. Make it into the new bass. Remember those bass ones you hang on? Where are they found? Look at that. Look at all the teeth they have in there. That would scare the hell out of me. That really does look human. That is freaky. That's scary. Oh, my gosh. That's so funny. Doug, I'm going to ask you, and now you look this up.

40:58Where is it? Where is it? In Florida? Of course. Is it Florida? Yeah, it says Florida. Hey, you know what? No, it's between a Doug. You know what we're doing different today? Well, that's what I was going to ask him. Oh, you are? He's got that big mystery box. We haven't done an unboxing. From our place. In a long time. These were always fun back in the day. Boom! It's a big box. You might have to come around for that. Did you pre-cut it? Oh, he's ripping it. He's doing it beard style. So they sent us... What did they send us from our place? Okay, there's two boxes. I pulled my mic here. Two boxes inside of the one box.

41:30Okay. You probably should have prepared it. No, no, no. It's good. No, this is a part of the excitement. The mystery? Yeah, yeah. Now, is this for us to take, Doug? Is this us? Of course. Do we have this? All right. Okay, let's see. My wife loves their stuff. Dude, our place is the best. So I call dibs. I know. All right, I got to. Box and pans, and we got that air fryer. It's amazing. We have a whole set at home. I'm going to replace everything with it. I understand, and maybe we can get to it. You can explain how it feels better to clean than Teflon, but it's not Teflon that's on there. What is that, how they do that?

42:07I know they don't use any of those. Yeah, no chemicals. No forever chemicals. but the cleaning on them is incredible. Oh, yeah. I have that pan. Yep. Yeah, I do too. It's a cast iron pan. It's a cast iron. What is that? Ceram? What is that on the... It's almost like a ceramic on it, but it's super easy to clean. Super easy to clean, but it's cast iron. You can cook eggs and things on it. I have that exact pan. And it comes with a lid and a wooden spoon. And the wooden spoon, by the way, is designed to rest. So that's a hole, and there's a little peg on the handle. And yeah, so when you're cooking, you can just set your spoon like that.

42:39Oh, that's cool. and you don't lose it. That's pretty cool. Dude, by the way, cast iron pans are so heavy. Remember in cartoons when they blast someone in the head with those? You would kill someone if you hit him with a cast iron pan. Remember when we were talking about post-traumatic stress? I have a little bit with the wooden spoon. You know what you're doing? I kept it in my mom's purse and she's just like, My mom used to hang in the kitchen. Yeah. Yeah, I used to hang in the kitchen. So your moms weren't even Italian and you got hit with a spoon, huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, my mom thought she was like Bro, back in the 80s You didn't have to be Italian to get people.

43:10Yeah, yeah. I don't know why you think I should. Well, I mean, my mom's redhead, so that explains everything. But just the spoon part of it. Okay, this is actually a non-stick pan. So the cast iron is a ceramic pan, I believe, and this has the non-stick surface on it. So I have that one and the cast iron. I have a smaller version of this one. Me too. I want that big one. I know you want that big one. We're going to have to arm wrestle for this. Well, I think it's either me or Doug, because I think Dean and Doug are going to cook, so you guys get vetoed out on this one. I mean, my wife cooks, but she'd appreciate it.

43:42It's super lightweight, too. Is it? Yeah. The cast iron, obviously, is very heavy. So what is that, though? It's easier to clean. The reason why everyone loves Teflon is because of how easy it is to clean, right? Those are easier to clean than a Teflon pan is. They don't scratch. But it doesn't have any. They don't scratch. Yeah, I mean, they're super durable. I wouldn't use steel tools on it. No, no, no, no. You don't use steel tools. You don't use steel wool for it. Still, it's more durable than Teflon. It's crazy. And it's not Teflon. I don't know exactly what it is. By the way, the forever chemicals, they've already connected them to hormone disruption, cancers, heart disease, developmental issues with children.

44:21They've now connected them to MS. Dude. Multiple sclerosis. Yeah, they're not good. Yes. And they're called forever chemicals because they're very hard to get rid of. They just build up in your system. Now, one of the best ways, yeah uh and i mean let's just say somebody is like they did for a long time now you're making the switch over to things like our place uh would you say one of the best things would be regular sauna on an exercise yeah well of course everybody listening to this podcast does exercise right sauna helps accelerate it i was gonna say i would think sauna would be something that would be like one of the better things and i told you guys what i learned about psyllium husk right yeah it's a great way to get rid of microplastics yes me and courtney have both been taking it for that specific reason because i'm like paranoid it's in my brain yeah so uh anything in my brain i can't handle why you're so worried about your brain all the time because i'm the one that's hit it the most yeah you have but we've been working with you for 10 years how did you have not become dumb how nervous i'm working on it i know we're all a little bit oh our mri yeah yeah i'm nervous so what do you call those it's not a traditional mri that was like a like a super full body yeah it's at every organ preventative your arteries your spine they're it's preventative they can find cancers way before you'd have symptoms they could find issues way before you'd have symptoms and they looked at the brain too so you're worried what they're gonna find i don't you know like i'm not even a hypochondriac or anything like i just i'm very dismissive of that stuff but you know when you're actually putting me in a freaking tube and you're scanning me everywhere how'd you guys all do i think there's something that we didn't really talk about how everybody you know well let me touch on this first justin your brain's fine it's your it's your esophagus bro that's what we got to look at well yeah i mean that too yeah the one thing you're avoiding we'll see he's funny but avoid it like crazy well i knew i was gonna do a scan so i was like i'm not gonna go to the doctor and have him like shove things on my throat oh no thanks well and there they stuff like that should pop up for him too though yeah they'll look at that yeah they'll they'll if there's i don't know how much they can see in the esophagus with that i I don't know.

46:29There was a form in the beginning that kind of highlighted that area. So hopefully, don't give me some feedback. Bro, laying down still for a 50-minute MRI is not that easy. And strapped in. Not that easy. I don't know if he's strapped in. She straight strapped everything. I didn't get strapped. I was fine. Oh, wow. They laid something on top of me. You fit nice. She's like, yeah, you can move around. You guys look like fidgeters. It's like you're sleeping in a coffin. She's like, just don't do too many backflips in there. the rest of those big guys don't move you move one inch you can cut your arm off she's like that's why I'm going to put these things she tells Doug they didn't put the thing on you with the straps around it so your arms didn't come out I didn't get strapped down per se they had something on top of me she strapped it in on both sides because my arms wanted to come out his lats were too big anyway I was getting a bit numb for sure.

47:31You know, right when she had finished everything like that, and she's like, are you okay? And I'm like, I got to scratch my face. Oh, yeah. Right here. Yeah, it's like. So she undid one side. The whole last time, scratch my face one more time. I'm like, okay, I think I'm good. All right, let's go. But they let you watch TV. That part was cool. That helped a lot. I wasn't. So I haven't done a full MRI that way. They did MRIs on, I think, my leg before. I'm trying to think but I've never been like full body yeah full body like that and so she's like are you claustrophobic and I'm like I don't know we'll find out we'll find out but the fact that you could that it felt like I was watching through a tunnel this the movie it's fine plus they'll offer you they offer you a Valium if you need it so which I was kind of like I should have lied she's like do you need a Valium I joked with her I'm like well save it if you want to give it to oh I dude you know what I was thinking the whole time if you get paranoid or anxious they'll give you Oh, yeah, let me give you a sedative.

48:27But like Avatar, I was thinking the whole time, you know, how they put them in one of those. It was like the same machine. I felt like. What did everybody watch? Maybe I could be a movie. I watched the first episode of Stranger Things. Yeah, I saw Stranger Things. Oh, you both did. Well, he mentioned it, and I was like, yeah, I might as well just do it. What did you watch? That new George Clooney movie. I forget the name of it. Something Kelly. Oh, was that any good? It was pretty good, actually. That was with Adam Sandler. Yeah, I ended up watching it at home. the rest of it. So I watched David Letterman's interview of Adam Sandler and then he talked about that and Katrina and I looked at it.

49:02It's a sad movie, honestly. Oh, really? It's about this guy and I don't want to... It's based on a true story. Oh, is it? Okay. And he's like the agent of like an actor or something like that. Yeah, an aging movie star. Okay. He has some kids but he's been on the road so much he didn't really develop a relationship with his children. I mean, would you watch it again or recommend it? I wouldn't watch it again, no. I mean, recommending it, I think if you want a sentimental type of movie, one that makes you kind of sad, then it's a good one for that. Yeah, yeah. I just felt sad because, seriously, I mean, you know, having all this fame and adoration yet no relationship with your kids and all the regrets.

49:38And he's with a lot of people, but he's very alone. I mean, I think that's a very real story. Yeah, I think it's a very real story. I have a friend who did one of those full body scans and they saw, I can't remember what it was, something in her spine, nothing to worry about. But now that she knows, she can monitor it. And so now that she monitors it, she can see if it, but she would have never known. Yeah, I have this weird, I'm excited and nervous feeling about it. Yeah, like what if it's something that just now is just going to make me stressed out? Yeah, yeah. We're going to keep an eye on this one thing right here.

50:08Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Wish you didn't tell me. No, I'm super. But everyone that I've talked to, this is like really cool technology. Like the fact that they can see things. Well, here's where I see the huge value. Because I have experience with cancer. I've had some family members with it. And there's a lot of cancers that are terminal mainly because. They started way earlier. You just, you just, you don't feel symptoms until it's stage four. You know, if you have stomach cancer, you're not going to notice anything until it's like, you know, stage three, stage four, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer.

50:43Like there's a lot of cancers that by the time you get symptoms and they find it, they're like, oh, it's spread. But if you see it early, very treatable. It's just, you just don't feel anything. At those points. So a scan like this would catch all of those things. And they're not expensive. I think it's like - Well, for what we - I mean, for what did they do? Well, ours, the ones we did was four. No, no. It does say it was$2 ,500. No, no, no. Well, it was four. What we did was a$4 ,900 one. Oh, it was. Yes, yeah, yeah. No, I looked. But I think you can use an H health savings account, right? Yeah, I'm sure you can.

51:15So if people have that, they can use that for - Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure. I believe we're going to - So when we get our tests, I believe we're having them come on and talk to us all. No, I don't want my test revealed on the show. Oh, yeah, no, we're definitely going to talk about you. What if they find something? That was part of the deal. What a terrible episode. That was part of the deal. That's exactly what we're doing. What are you talking about? On air? Well, maybe we start a Patreon and help you out. Why is it me? Because most likely... Yeah, because you stressed it out. They're like, there's way too many peptides and chemicals in here for us to see anything through this.

51:47That sucks, bro. Stop scaring me. Yeah, yeah. but Justin, we brought, we talked about your brain earlier. I got to ask you, have you been consistent with trying to hit the higher limits of creatine, the 10, 15, 20 grams a day? Have you been trying that? Yeah, I have. I haven't been successful. No, I did. I did do, you know, the higher doses and I had to spread it out throughout the day, like five milligrams a piece. Five grams a piece. That's what I mean. grams um obviously it's not working yeah you could have to double it up more bro yeah no but it does it does make an impact and it's um i i do feel the difference when i'm doing that i did it for like two weeks and then i just i fell off a bit yeah the data on it's pretty pretty rad dude uh i think the issue is taking it um is people can't do 15 grams all at once yeah i definitely had like stomach cramp and like kind of but if you have five grams with breakfast lunch and dinner You're hitting the right around what you're, what they're showing is effective for the brain.

52:51And I like that, like organically 20 or what'd you get? I'm trying to get between 10 to 15 a day. Okay. But the cherry chews from Organifi are good for that because they taste good. And it's like, Oh yeah. you eat a few of those better way to do it. And then the tart cherry in there, I am noticing some anti-inflammatory effects. That's what tart cherry does. So it's got anti-inflammatory. Had you ever, had you, cause I think you, I remember when they first brought those to us and you, you got all excited. Like, Oh, Had you taken that by itself before? Yes, tart cherry. There's very few things that you'll take that you'll feel a significant difference in inflammation that's natural.

53:27One of them is omega-3s. So for a lot of people, if you take a high EPA fish oil at relatively high doses, you'll notice a reduction in inflammation. Another one's bromelain on an empty stomach. It's got really powerful anti-inflammatory effects. It brings swelling down a lot. And then tart cherry is the other one. What about turmeric? Turmeric, yes. But turmeric has got this kind of systemic effect. and you know i've noticed some turmeric but it's not like pronounced like tart cherry bromelain fish oil do it for a week and you you'll notice it's like you're taking ibuprofen interesting yeah it's got a really really power it's like what i tell my parents my dad i have him take it regularly because he's got lots of you know aches and pains yeah huge difference oh interesting but yeah but uh and it's got that in their in their cherry chews it's got both is there anywhere where that's found um in nature where you would like where cherry oh it's so it's already naturally So if you ate cherries, you would get...

54:17It's a certain type of cherries. You'd have to get a lot of them. Oh, okay. Yeah, to get this concentrated. Probably the real tart ones. It's just different. He's on fire, dude. Hey, I got something that I found might make a difference for the pump. Glycerol. What? Have you guys ever used glycerol before your workout? Is there nitroglycerol? Isn't that like in gummies and things like that? So glycerol, it's an osmolite. So it draws fluid into your tissues and you'll see some performance changes and improvements. And I was hearing reports of, you know, bodybuilders have used glycerol on and off for better pumps.

54:57And so I started experimenting with it. And I'll let you guys know as I continue messing with it because there's so many things that affect the pump. But so far, I think I noticed a difference from taking it. Wow. Justin's still stuck. You ever heard of a Nargum? Yeah, yeah, I knew he stuck on that. Which one? Nargum? Nar or Guar? Guar. I'm just trying to list off random ingredients that are in every sub. He takes them and pulls them apart. He's like, have you guys ever heard of this? Yeah. It was listed in the thousands of other He's taking it like massive. These are compounds that draw fluid in.

55:31So creatine would be considered an osmolite. Glycine is another one. I think I'm saying it right. Is it osmolite, Doug? Am I saying it right? Look the term up. Make sure I'm up. I didn't just make something up. Yeah, I think you did. It sounds like a superhero group. I thought there was somebody from Lord of the Rings. It sounded like. The Osmolites. It sounds like something you'd read in the Old Testament. The Mennonites and the Osmolites. That's it. Yeah. Worshipping the pagan gods. Is that right? Yes. So Osmolites. Yeah. Small organic molecules, cells used to manage water, balance, and survive stress.

56:04There you go. Oh, wow. There you go. So glycerol. Give it a shot. By itself? Yeah. Take it 30 minutes before you work out. with some water. Interesting. And it's like crazy pumps. Like I drank way more water because yeah, I work out early in the morning. Sometimes I just - Are you taking it in a powder or in a pill form? No, it's in like a powder. Is it tasteless? Yeah. Because I'm trying to think like mixing that with like element or something like that. So it's like - Yeah. Just throw it in there with it. Yeah, it's tasteless. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Take that with my xylitol. Proscriptions has some pretty amazing products.

56:35One of them is just blue. This is methylene blue. I know you've heard of methylene blue. This will wake you up. It's not really a stimulant, but it gets your brain firing in all cylinders. It enhances mitochondrial function, gives you energy, anti-inflammatory. It's pretty amazing stuff. Everybody's trying it out. Well, Troscriptions is the best brand for methylene blue. In fact, you put it between your gums and it absorbs so fast. 15 minutes later, you feel it. you can also just swallow it if you want it to take a little longer. Anyway, go check them out. We have a discount for you. Go to troscriptions.com forward slash Mind Pump.

57:14That's T-R-O-S-C-R-I-P-T-I-O-N-S.com forward slash Mind Pump. The code Mind Pump will get you 10 % off. All right, here comes the show. First question is from Brad Barber. I want to build muscle, but also start BJJ this year as a 41-year-old. is it possible if so how should i program yeah it's possible i mean but jujitsu is pretty intensive and if you're just getting started that's probably going to be about as much stress as your body can handle in the beginning uh but once you get going if you're doing jujitsu most people who do it consistently do it two maybe three days a week uh you're looking at one day a week of minimal strength training or like a maps 15 protocol more than that you're just gonna most people Yeah, teetering into overdoing it.

58:04Most jujitsu classes are a couple hours long, long warm-up and workout. Then you're wrestling with men at full speed. Like, it'll burn you out. You go max intensity in those sessions for sure. It'll burn you out. Well, I mean, listen, the MAPS 15 protocol by itself is a great program for someone to build muscle on and build strength on. And if you are doing something like BJJ, that is obviously a lot more stress. And so I would say that's at the, you're already teetering right there. So, and the average person would think that they can do more or want to do more. And so it's mass 15. I would even say mass 15 when you, when you can, or on off days, like I definitely wouldn't run a mass 15 and then also do a BJJ class.

58:48I would be like, if you're going two, three days a week, a BJJ, then I would be doing two or three days a week of mass 15. Exactly. And that's plenty enough of a protocol to still build muscle and still get in great shape. They're working a bunch of mobility, though. I know this from trying BJJ right away. It's like you definitely got to work on that hip mobility and ankles. Now, is that kind of part of the warm-up, I would think? I don't know. It is. Probably in a good school, yeah. It is. And if you're smart about when you roll with other people, so you have to check your ego out the door because if you go real hard, especially as a beginner, you don't know how to move your body, injury is really common.

59:24But if you go kind of easy, you tap out quick, tap out easy, don't go full bore all the time, kind of flow. When I say check your ego, it's because you're going to get your butt kicked, and you've got to be okay with that. Your body will start to learn and acclimate. You'll build up mobility. But if you go in there, especially as a beginner, like, I need to win. Yeah. And then they're – Tense up and you're going to hurt yourself. Yeah, and you just don't know how to turn. You don't know how to move. You end up spinning in the wrong direction. You have to go with it, yeah. Totally. But look, I was in my 20s when I did jujitsu.

59:56I was eating good. I was consistent. And when I was doing jujitsu three days a week consistently, especially if I did it four, one day a week, three lifts was it. And if I did more than that, I would go backwards with my performance. And I didn't start that way. I thought I could just keep lifting, and I just was getting burnt out. It wasn't until I scaled way down that I started to see my body progress. And I was in my 20s. I wasn't in my 40s. Next question is from JD Williams, 1570. What are some recommended movements and or routines for joint instability? So strength training is the best for joint instability.

1:00:35The key is to get stronger and to do it in a controlled manner. So if you feel unstable in your hips, a lunge or a squat with good control technique and form is going to build. So instability comes from weakness. Strength, yes. It's weakness. By the way, this can mask, this can look like tightness. A lot of people think tightness is not weakness. No, no. When something's unstable, the CNS tightens the muscles around it to limit range of motion to prevent injury. That's what your body's trying to do. So it's really a weakness thing. So as you slowly get stronger, you feel much more stable. Well, and I think too, just like top of mind, in these positions that you're about to place yourself in before the exercise is to really reinforce those positions with isometric tension.

1:01:24And so I would take an extra like 5-10 seconds of me like really driving that muscle contraction, you know, solidifying position, anchoring myself into position before I even started moving, just to reinforce that signal that, hey, my joints are secure and everything is accounted for and now I can actually add load. And, you know, the more you do that, the more naturally you're going to build up that stability if i had to give a couple of exercises i think are just generic but that that address what we're talking about right now it's like i think of a long stride lunge and i think of the z press so i think lower body i think of an exercise like long long strided walking lunges uh for that the stability range of motion control strength and then i think of the upper body i think of a z press is just with with an emphasis on the you know stabilizing holding the bar above your head like those are great those two movements uh if performed well and you get strong at them uh you're gonna you're gonna hit a lot of the basis uh right there in those two movements next question is from morgan b peterson at what age did you realize you no longer needed to hit prs you know this is a cool question i am are 25 26 sal still hasn't figured it out yet So, no, this is great.

1:02:40Just discount my YouTube series. Oh, yeah, that's right. Just me. Adam never. Yeah. You know what? Okay, so I have numbers actually for this for myself. So in the deadlift, I saw great progress in my body and how I felt, muscle development, up until I hit about 500 pounds. And the closer I got to 500, the more the diminishing returns are past 500. because I've gotten up to 600 pounds. Past 500, the risk was not worth the reward. It's like between 500 and 600 pounds, which is 100 pounds on my deadlift, what's the difference in the way my physique looks and feels? It's not. In fact, I hurt a little more at the higher weight.

1:03:23With squats, once I got up to like 350, there was really, really diminishing return. With Bench, it was around 300. That's so interesting because I totally agree with this. like that's a right around 500 in the deadlift everything beyond that minimal gains lots of injury that's right i got hurt a bunch of times beyond that and squatting as long as i get i'd say 315 when i'm 315 strong the difference between three and 400 with your squad no difference no difference except risk of yes yes and when the times i was over 400 were the times that i'm getting hurt or having chronic issues and stuff like that i would say very very similar numbers I would say almost right exactly.

1:04:04That's interesting. And it's going to be different from person to person. Some exercises you're more naturally, I guess, strong. Yeah, I was like 450 on deadlift, and I was like, I'm done. But your bench, you got up to 405. Yeah, I got 405. When did you start to see diminishing returns with your bench? Was it around 350 also? Oh, yeah. Diminishing return-wise, yeah, probably like 350. Yeah, see, I would put myself at 200. I would say like 250, 275, and after that, it wasn't that big. Even 315, I'm like, that's funny, dude, for me. Yeah, it's interesting. It's going to be different from person to person, but what we end up finding is at some point you get these great returns for every time you gain strength, and then it starts to kind of level out, and you just end up hurting more.

1:04:47And then it's just a number on the bar. And so what do you do at that point? Well, at that point, it's about technique, form, feel. I get much better results if I do a bench press today, and instead of going up to 300 pounds, staying at 225 and feeling every rep, getting the stretch, getting the squeeze, controlling the weight. Again, this is going to be different from person to person, but you kind of figure this out. But in the beginning, the context being doing everything right, good technique, good form, good programming. In the beginning, hitting PR is a great way to see progress. Hitting stronger is a great way to see progress.

1:05:25I have such a reverse relationship with this because I was the guy who never did PR lifting for the first like 10, 15 years of my life. And then it wasn't really until we all got introduced to where I started like, okay, let me see what I can do like strength wise. And then I reaped a lot of benefits in my 30s of like building muscle and built a lot. And then I dealt with all the other issues. So I kind of had all of like, up into that point though, I didn't have, when I wasn't chasing PRs, i didn't have a lot of injuries no but i didn't have a lot you didn't chase prs but it wasn't like you didn't pay attention to the weight you got stronger yeah yeah yeah you still got stronger yeah yeah but i wasn't you weren't focused on it i was never i never did anything less than five reps yeah yeah so i mean so uh so i i could never when someone asked me how much you bench how much you squat my answer would be like i don't know i mean i work out with this way and that weight always increased over my in my 20s but i never challenged like a single double or triple until literally i started hanging out with you guys and then and i did get to reap the benefits late and i saw wow that that would use like you said those numbers my zero to 500 journey i'd say you know that i watched my physique change and build and build and build and build and then after that it was like kind of diminishing returns and but i was also now a little addicted to seeing how strong i could get and then now here comes all the stuff and so it's like trying to figure that out for somebody who's going it's like there's some obvious benefits to training that way getting lifting heavy and pushing those limits but then there comes a point where the the return is not worth it's so funny you start to learn yourself like uh for the last i'd say two and a half months i've never made uh ever well i i have in the past but this is really consistent I've consistently made a target to hit 220 grams of protein at least every single day.

1:07:22Okay. Always. Before that, I was probably falling around 160 to 170, still high, but not 220. I've noticed incredible gains in the gym, but here's what happens. If I get stronger, stronger, stronger, if I don't slow the reps down and just feel the weight, you know, feel it and make it harder. If I just add weight, I start to hurt. Yeah. I start to hurt. So now I know my weight is, I know if my, like my incline, I know if I go above 225, I'm just going to hurt. It's like you're not as connected to it. Not as connected. So if I feel stronger, I just make the weight feel heavier rather than trying to add weight I've noticed that too because I think there's a momentum component to that, you know, and you're just trying to explode through it instead of feeling it.

1:08:00I've had to learn how to do that. Next question is from JJVWBug. What are some helpful tips to stay focused and motivated? Have fun. I mean, this is the number one thing. Well, I mean, I would correct this first. I mean, stay focused is good, but, and motivated is you're not going to be motivated all the time. Yeah. There's a discipline component. And so I think part of the things that you need to reframe or tell yourself is like, I'm not going to be motivated all the time, but I go to the gym this many times a week. And then the next layer to that, that I'd add that it's, that's helped me through this process is giving myself permission that I might just do a lift, but I'm a guy who goes to the gym this many times.

1:08:40Right. So telling yourself, I go to the gym at this time or these days, whatever. And then totally realizing or recognizing that there's going to be a lot of those days, I'm not motivated. And so when those days come, you go like, oh man, I did not feel like going to the gym today and I got this. But you know what? I'm going to go. And you know what? Maybe I'll just do two or three sets of squats. Or maybe sometimes I even said things like, I'll just go there and walk on the treadmill and listen to my audio book. And so I've allowed myself this permission of I show up or I just go there or I do move I do something.

1:09:12And a lot of times what happens is I get motivated. The music starts going in my ears or whatever. And then it's like, you know what? I think I will go to that squat rack and go hit something. Or maybe I say, I'm just going to squat after that squat goes. Now I've got a little bit of a pump. I'm sweating a little bit. Now I'm like, you know what? I want to finish this workout. And so that would be my big advice to this is one, stop thinking you're going to be motivated all the time because that's setting yourself up for failure. And then two, give yourself permission that sometimes it looks like an hour walk on the treadmill.

1:09:41Sometimes it looks like a set of squats and that's it and be okay with that. Yeah, no, that's great advice. I think generally that's a hundred percent true. The part that the, the place I was going, if you, when you meet people who've been very consistent with their workouts, like really consistent, you know, 15, 20, 30 years, they all have one thing in common and that's that they, yes, they're disciplined, but they also love the workout. They love what they're doing. And so I like to encourage people, you know because on the show we often talk about effective workout programming and this is what works and do it this way and it's all true uh but the most important thing is that you're consistent so long as you're not hurting yourself and doing something that's inappropriate and so you if there's something you like and it's fun and it's not the perfect routine but you enjoy doing it that's probably going to be better for you because it's going to help develop this relationship with fitness where you always do it.

1:10:34Like some of the healthiest people I've ever known in fitness, these were members of gyms that I managed that were just consistent. They always seem happy. They would come in. These were people that just loved, they just love to move and they would strength train. Sometimes they would do cardio. Other times I wouldn't see them. They'd come back. Where were you? Oh, I did this hiking, you know, trip or I go surfing. Like that's the key to longevity with this is to really learn how to enjoy it and enjoy the process. And then you won't want to stop doing that. But that means A, learn how to enjoy it.

1:11:10And B, also don't think that because I have to do this perfect routine, I can't do this other thing I enjoy. Go ahead and do the thing that you enjoy. I've never just discouraged someone who says, I like salsa dancing. Can I do that as part of my workout? Yeah. Yeah. Have fun. Do it. Cha-cha away, buddy. Totally. Look, if you like the show, Come find us on Instagram. We'll see you. It's at Mind Pump Media. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Super Bundle at mindpumpmedia.com.

1:11:45The 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. 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