CANCEL YOUR GYM MEMBERSHIP — DUMBBELLS ARE A SCAM, HERE’S WHY

SPEAKER_03 0:19

All right. How are you doing, man? I'm doing well. How are you doing? Good. So, how'd you get into this whole fitness um thing?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Yeah. I mean, so first of all, thank you for having me. I'm I'm glad that you reached out and we got to have some time to get set up here and just share my story and really just dive into some cool stuff here. But um, it really started, I was always growing up fit or active in some way, um, but introduced to the gym in high school, but it wasn't really a big motivating thing for me to consistently be in. Um, I wanted to challenge myself in in some ways, and kind of like a lot of people, getting out of a relationship is the catalyst that starts for them to get like invest in themselves. So I started to pick up running and I absolutely loved it. You know, the bilateral stimulation that I got from from that from training long distances and then started going after my first marathon. And so that got me out of the weight room and more into the outdoor active, waking up early, trying to PR, and got me into this mindset of what's the next thing I can do, what can I progress in next? You know, that's different than adding another plate to the bar. And so running was that for me uh in the active cardio space. But then I found calisthenics, I saw a bunch of people doing these awesome, cool tricks and skills online, and I was like, that can be me one day, you know, why not? And um started just doing little progressions, the basic skills, foundations. And it's it's taught me so much more than just how to be fit and how to exercise in a different way. Um, it's given me presence, a sense of stability mentally and physically. You have to be aware of your body from head to toe. So it's really been like a transformative way that I can express myself to. Um, and and that's essentially like what I started to get into. And there's different progressions, there's like 30 different variations of a pushup that you can do. And I had no idea. Yeah. And it's it's it's crazy how different progressions of using your body weight can feel like you're carrying or loading your muscles more. And so um, that brought a new level of excitement, you know, like, yeah, you can bench press 200, 255, 300 pounds. That's all amazing. That's an achievement in its own. I personally found so much value and so much of my own grace and gratitude for different types of skills that I can do with my body. Um, and so that's kind of how I got into this. Um, now I'm obsessed with you know learning the next thing and leveling up, not just like adding something, adding more weight. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

So, what sports did you play in high school and stuff? Yeah, yeah. Did you play sports in high school?

SPEAKER_00 3:06

I I started playing, uh, especially with the World Cup right now. Um American football, but also, you know, international football, soccer. Yeah, those are my two main sports. And all throughout high school, growing up, I hated running. Yeah, you know, it was it was the worst thing. I hated just being there.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

I think it's everyone's sort of right. Yeah. Like mine too. I I always hated running. I still do. I can't say I don't. Um, yeah, it's uh it's always tough, and uh, it was almost like a punishment you had to go run, right? So it's probably beat into your head. You don't want to run.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

It definitely was like if you're being told to do something, I don't want to do it. Yeah, but making the choice of like this is something that I want to challenge myself in is totally different.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

And uh what's the longest you've run? What I've done three marathons so far. Three marathons. Yeah, all right. Nothing have you done the like looked into the ultra I've looked into it. Any interest in that?

SPEAKER_00 4:05

It's it's I don't think ultras are for me, like yeah, you know, 50 mile, 100 mile. I I follow a bunch of people who do this that kind of stuff, like the um 300 mile race that yeah, you know, a bunch of these people do. It's it's insane. And I applaud them, but I don't think I'd ever put my own.

SPEAKER_03 4:22

Yeah, it's it's gotta be a different mindset, and I don't know how you get into that mindset to wanna just I don't know, because I I don't even want to get out and run right now. Yeah, forget about like doing 300 miles exactly and training for something like that.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

And that was what I was gonna say for uh training for a marathon, you can have a progression plan, work up to it, but like training for something like 300 miles, yeah. I feel like at some point it just becomes mental. Yeah, and you have to just fight your whatever your body's saying with your mind.

SPEAKER_03 4:50

Yeah. I I think yeah, it's you know, like people just gotta be like just doing the challenges and stuff. And was there someone you looked up to that got you into the calisthenics and the balancing? I was wondering if you did gymnastics or something before, like when you were a kid at all before getting into some of it.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

You know, it's interesting because I had, you know, the only experience with running was football, and I was it was as a punishment, like you said. I had no gymnastics experience, no flexibility experience. Um I just noticed that yes, I was working out in the gym, but every time I walked out, I still felt stiff. I didn't feel like my body was active or like, you know, able to move. Um, so I didn't get into that niche until I started practicing and like looking up to um, you know, the guys that that teach online to do it. So I I hadn't even had a mentor per se until I started doing it myself. And then I started attracting others who do it around me, which is it's it's a very small niche.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

You know, it's not it's not popularized in the states. Um, I've internationally traveled and there's groups that get together with hundreds of people, there's parks everywhere, they're just built differently, yeah, um, infrastructure-wise, to have and support that. Um, we're just not built the same here yet.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Yeah. Do you do you follow Coach Blue? Coach Blue. He he does a lot of the like he runs on the treadmill with like uh like 145 pound, like the barbell and stuff like that, like chains and stuff, and that's some of the weird balancing, yeah, like the different push-ups and stuff. Yeah, um, he does it, you know, like with holding weights or like the jumping ones and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

That's kudos to him. That's yeah, that's wild.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

Yeah, um so uh with you you talked about push-ups, pull-ups, another big thing, right? That you see all these, you see a lot of different videos and these people doing crazy stuff on there. How long does it usually take for you to build up some of those skills? Like some of these guys doing some wild things. I did CrossFit and you know, every time I did one, I forget the name, but it was like 10 years ago since I did it, but like one of those pull-ups, I felt like I was gonna tear my shoulder out. So um, how did you get it in into that and teach yourself, or were you coached through some of it?

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Yeah. Um, something that I tell everybody that asks that question, how long does it take to hit XYZ? Yeah, and it's the same answer is it depends. Yeah. Um, you know, everybody has their certain goals, but it really does depend on where you're at, how patient you'll be, and also how much you're willing to endure the basics because the the basics aren't sexy, yeah, but like being able to do a muscle up for reps, that's freaking cool.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Um, but the basics of training your scapular to have that pulling motion. Yeah. And, you know, like you said, you felt like you were gonna tear your shoulder. There might be some mobility involved there that you haven't unlocked yet, or that whoever it is that I'm training hasn't unlocked yet.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

So you want to find out, you know, what you're capable of now. Can you do a banded pull-up? Can you do negatives? Can you just hold yourself in a flex pull-up position? Um, but it really depends, you know, it also how much do you work out currently? Um, so it can really depend, you know. Yeah, my skills that I take, like a handstand, could take a month for someone else. Yeah, for me, it took like six months.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

You know, um, it really depends on your own body awareness progressions. Um, I I think a lot of people want to get into the sexy skills first, yeah. And then they get humbled and then have to go back to the basics.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

Yeah, how long it takes.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Yeah. And if you come in humble and ready to learn, then you will progress faster than those who started out too far.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

It's it's also as you age, I think it's a lot harder. And that's where I struggle, is because like for a while when I was starting my business for five years, I didn't really work out. I did CrossFit, and then all of a sudden, like once I started my own business, I didn't really have much time to work out. And I do it once in a while, but like I feel like I got more and more stiff over those first five years of opening up my own business. And now it's like, you know, like where I could easily like touch my toes, like bent over, like it became real hard. I'm getting, you know, now it's easier since I've gotten more into working out and like trying to lengthen my muscles and stuff, but it's still like super stiff, so it takes quite a bit more. So the the more sedentary you are, I think it like just prolongs that. And it's it's tough when you're like unable to stretch and it causes you more pain. That's like and to do it right, because a lot of people like just watch it and try to do it. And I'm like, and I kind of know my cues where I'm like, all right, I'm gonna do this wrong. And like unless I watch it and like know how to do it perfectly all right, I'm not gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, I've I've injured myself, you know, even the last couple of years that I've done this. Yeah, and it's because I I started out too strong. I started out, you know, wanting to do something that I wasn't built for yet.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

And um, you know, I anybody that does calisthenics will say calisthenics will humble you because it really, really does. Yeah. Um you think that you can balance yourself and then you fall on the face, you kiss the floor, you give yourself concussions. It's it's a fun sport, but it it's a very humbling, humbling sport.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

And how how long do you train? Like how many days a week do you train? Or what do you what's your schedule look like?

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Yeah. So with running and strength training, I typically train five days a week total. Okay. Um, and I'd say three of those days, three or three to four of those days will be strength and running. Yeah. Um, now strength can be uh push-pull legs. Um calisthenics is challenging to do just body weight with legs. It's possible, but I I just I use weights for that.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Um, but all the push-pull, you have all those variances of push-ups, pull-ups, different act exercises that you can do that. Yeah, you know, if you see it in the weight room, you can almost replicate a lot of those through body weight movements. Um, but my split is is pretty typical, you know, five days a week of training, two days of rest, stay on top of my nutrition, eating whole foods. Um and the running just, you know, I typically work out twice a day most weeks, yeah. Um, running in the morning because it's hot out during the summer and it's the only time that's bearable to go out. And then uh indoor or anywhere that I want for strength training.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

How and like what's the distance you're usually running like during your week or during your days you're running?

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Yeah, I'd say typically I'm doing up to 30 miles a week. So I can break that up to like a minimum of a four-mile run, or like if I, you know, do three days of running, then one of those runs maybe like eight miles. Um, so I typically break it down into weekly mileage and then break it up from there. Um, I'm training for a marathon right now, so that's gonna fluctuate, it's gonna keep on ramping up. But yeah, yeah, I typically like to stay above three for for a run. And then um, if I'm doing a longer run, then probably something above eight.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

Yeah. And how how do you do it during the summertime in Arizona heat?

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Here it's so tough to do in the heat. It's um it's either I wake up at 4 30 in the morning and go beat the sun out.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Um, or I wait until the sunset and at least get a good view while I'm dying of the heat.

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

And do you do any like running up and down mountains and stuff?

SPEAKER_00 12:42

I hate hills. Um I was telling them earlier that my first marathon was in Hawaii on Kauai. And it was absolutely beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

But I can't train for those types of hills in Arizona, yeah. Unless I'm running up, you know, like the the mountains that are nearby. But um, yeah, hills, I I hate hills. Yeah, I hate hill work so much.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

But and look the thing, um, like whenever I go climbing, I go up slowly, like up Camelback and stuff. But these people like running up and down. I'm like, I I would definitely like roll my ankle and like I'd be injured within a few minutes. But these guys are running two or three times up and down.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

They're insane, they can make it up in like 20 minutes, and then you know, within an hour you see them two, three times.

SPEAKER_03 13:30

Yeah. I I just wonder like health-wise, I wonder, you know, running's already kind of hard on your joints. That's just gotta be like tremendous stress on your joints.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Yeah, and I will say, like, recovery is just important, if not more important than training. Yeah, you know, like how you recover stretching out, I think that's one thing I wasn't exposed to early on in my journey.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

And it caused a lot of injuries. Um, taking it seriously now, though, I feel like that that has actually helped me gain more strength and gain more um progression in my running.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

How do you how do you fit the stretching into your work? Is it at the beginning, at the end? Do you warm up and stretch and then go do your run?

SPEAKER_00 14:16

I do both. I do uh before and after. Um typically before I do dynamic stretching. And one thing about calisthenics is is if you're training for a certain skill, so handstands are pretty much what I what my main skill is right now.

SPEAKER_04 14:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Um, you have to stretch and warm up your shoulders, your wrists, your elbows in a very specific way. You can't just go in and do it and load all three of those joints. And yeah, training joints is different than training muscles. Yeah. So when you go in and you're training and stretching a specific way, it's it's all dynamic, it's all you know, movement, flexible, mobility based, not necessarily loading with weight. Yeah. So I go in dynamically stretching, and then at the end is when I'll do the static stretches, the holds, um, more so for flexibility and to to contract the muscles. And for running, kind of the same thing. Um, the gyms that I go to, they all have amenities, you know, the leg compression sleeves, the massage guns, uh rolling out, you know, all of those take really a few minutes when you look at it. Yeah, it doesn't take a whole lot of time. So I think that's why a lot of people maybe skip it because it's like it's only a few minutes or whatever. Yeah. But those few minutes are crucial in preventing injuries.

SPEAKER_03 15:29

Yeah, no, absolutely. I yeah, I I got one of those slant boards and trying to just increase my flexibility in my knees. And good. It's definitely like beneficial, like even on the lower back and um legs, glutes, I think it helps out a lot. And then um I got like the knees over toes guy, like I kept on hearing Joe Rogan, so I bought one of their like bench things that's like 11 and one, whatever. And I I just do like the Nordic curls and I do the G HD sit-ups, where which um both of them they're body weight exercises, but like you also build quite a lot into your legs, and I think that's made a huge difference. Like just lengthening the muscles in the legs also gives you a lot more definition overall, which people probably don't think about. You know, they think just going to the gym and putting more plates on is gonna help out. Where, you know, my friend, like I had I hadn't seen him in a while. He's like, What the hell have you been doing with the? I'm like, it's just basic stuff, and it's not like going hours on end. It's usually like you know, 20 minutes in the morning, and like I'm pretty much done with my workout. Yeah, I do some biking, but like nothing crazy, but it's like 20, 30 minute workouts, all you know. Yeah that's basically it, just like lengthening the muscles, and then I use a lot of resistance bands because it's gotten old and I I tore up my shoulders pretty bad when I was younger, like benching and stuff, which um and your mobility just gets worse and worse, and I'm trying to build on that. So yeah, I bought an iron neck uh like a month ago. I still haven't taken it out of the box because uh I don't know, I had looked at it multiple times and then you read reviews. Some people are like, oh, it's good, it's bad. And I've had a herniated disc in my neck a while ago. That's all improved since I've lost weight. But I was like, all right, you know, check chat GPT. It's like it's good if you're you know, surgeon and trying to build endurance in your neck. So I just gotta take it out of the box and start to use it because I think and I was like, you know, add-on to that was like to gain shoulder mobility. So I added whatever it was for shoulder mobility, but yeah, I just gotta get the stuff out to be able to use it.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Well, and like you said earlier, like it's only 20 minutes. And if you can't find 20 minutes out of your day, then you're doing something wrong with your day, you know.

SPEAKER_03 18:07

Yeah, instead of doom scrolling, it's the yeah, there's other stuff you can exactly like take out the screen time.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

A lot of people make excuse it's it goes down to excuses. A lot of people say, like, I don't have time, but it's like take out your screen time, let's see where it's your mindset.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

Do you want to be in a place where you're at the top, or you want to just doom scroll?

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Yeah, are you comfortable with just talking about it or are you actually gonna go after it?

SPEAKER_03 18:27

Yeah, yeah. And so are you coaching people right now?

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Or yeah, that's not my main business, but I I do coach people on it. Yeah. Um, and it, you know, typically what that looks like is um where they want to be if they want to do push-ups, pull-ups, handstands, muscle ups. Yeah um, you go down the assessment of what their what their goals are and then put out a plan for them.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

What what's your main business then? Oh, I do two sales. I do a few different things.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

Um I I work a corporate nine to five um in sales, but outside of that, I'm also an app developer, uh, developed a few apps, okay. Um, start, you know, the coaching, coaching business side. Um, and then uh I started to get into distribution of of digital assets. So yeah, helping people scale their whatever digital product is, whether it's a service or an actual digital product, um, but helping them distribute it, market it across different uh industries.

SPEAKER_03 19:24

Okay. Yeah. So how did the coaching thing start?

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Or what someone came up to me at the gym and said, How do I do that? And then we got to chatting, and that was my first taste of I'm qualified to be able to show somebody how to do it because they just saw me do it. Yeah, and they want to learn from me.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

And so that kind of started it, and then um started on social media. People had reached out, so I was like, I do like this, but I started to see how much time it was taking out of my schedule. And I was like, I don't think that I want to go this route of this being my main business. You know, I I want to be able to the whole point of having my businesses is to free up my time, yeah. You know, not necessarily shrink my schedule, yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

So um that's kind of how it came about. Um, but I always look for people who are open-minded and willing to learn. And yeah, I think those are great kind of people to coach.

SPEAKER_03 20:19

Yeah, if it's not your passion, then yeah, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

But it might, you know, you might have that one person that changes your life.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

And ultimately, like my goal is to help other people. So, you know, if they find value in that through my tips, my coaching, then absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

You can find it any, you know, even with your apps and stuff, like exactly you can do it in multiple different ways.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Exactly. That isn't as time intensive.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

Yeah, yeah, because coaching, unless yeah, you get that platform that you are just like posting on social media and then like doing group coaching through Zoom videos or something like that, which you know it's become such such a big thing. Like it and like I bet you like all these LA fitness trainers, like everyone's trying to get into that, and it's kind of tough to break into where LA Fitness isn't around, so people might not know exactly and you know it's definitely a hustle in itself.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

I can't imagine how you know how how those people do it without getting burnt out.

SPEAKER_03 21:22

It's gotta be their only job. You you're holding like three jobs, yeah, you know, different things. Compared to like you gotta almost drop what you're doing, and you gotta consistently be just like exactly creating, creating. Yeah. And it's I think it's also a tough time now. Al although you could do it, but you gotta do it in a unique way. And just to be you kind of gotta be a creator, yeah. Just show people how you're doing it differently. And what you're doing is a lot different and really niche. So could pave the way, but yeah, it's gonna take a lot of time.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

And and the last thing that I would want, I would I would hate for. the quality of my coaching to go down because I'm taking on so much volume. Even though you know more business is good business, but if the quality of what I'm putting out and telling people that I'm training what's the point of that?

SPEAKER_03 22:12

No, exactly. And then you know people getting hurt and stuff like that. Right. Huge problem. So uh so when you wake up in the morning, do you have like a stretch routine or something that you do um at all like to get I wouldn't call it like a religious stretch routine. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

But I do have my my own morning routine.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Um I always get sunlight within the the first 30 minutes of the day. Uh take my dog out for a walk. And so I wake up you know before the sun typically but I always try and get movement in first. Drink water first, get movement in, and come back inside and I have I have bars set up in my house, pull-up bars and also the parallel bars.

SPEAKER_02 22:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

And I'll sit there and I'll just open my shoulders, do some flies, not not loading anything, but enough to at least get the blood flowing to the extremities.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Um typically when I go for my runs stretching before. So uh my morning does involve movement but I don't have like a structured religious stretching routine that I do.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

At night I always stretch before bed. Yeah. Um whether it's a super hard training day or a super light rest day. I think it's always good to roll out and stretch before bed.

SPEAKER_03 23:30

And do you do any yoga or Pilates or anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Yeah I've done those and I uh there's a lot of similarities between yoga and calisthenics. Yeah. It's very grounding very very um core based.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Um but I'm not built for yoga. Yeah. Pilates, you know, I I do enjoy those classes but I'm not I'm not super into it.

SPEAKER_03 23:52

Yeah. Yeah Pilates was you know I I went because my wife wanted to go. Yeah. But you get you gotta also like go to the right place and I'm sure that's gotta be a big factor of it too. Because the first place I went to I was more into it this second place seemed like there were you know some of these chains um and my office staff actually go to it and they they always I'm like I hate that place and when I say it they watch the show and they're like they're like oh you gotta you can't we go there all the time you can't say that's funny. I'm like it's I'm like yeah it's just a machine and I'm like you know and when when you see a trainer that's like not as fit as you you're like all right I shouldn't be here you know it's tough to go and train somewhere the uh the the teachers are out of shape you know like you're like all right I don't want to look like you so I'm not gonna do this and you're the coach so yeah who knows how long you've been doing it for have you guys found a place that you like here locally no I went you know like I went twice in a row to I won't name it uh or Reform Pilates that I I did enjoy yeah there was a place on uh there was this Asian guy there was a place in on Camelback and uh 44th Street it's right by stake 44 in that plaza uh that was really good but it was it's tough to get into his classes um I think location wise and just because he knows what he's doing and he like drives you through it. Yeah because the other place I went two days in a row and it was like the same exact workout and I was like this freaking sucks. It's like it's written down in a paper and they're just coaching you through the same spiel. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

I like when I go to different instructional classes like that and you can see that they actually wrote the workout. Yeah and that it challenges you differently from another instructor another coach whatever it is. Yeah um yeah I I I agree like those types bring variety yeah and different challenges.

SPEAKER_03 26:06

So yeah and you got to have the coaches that you know they can see someone and be like all right if they're coaching you through it and they'll pick your strengths and try to drive that or like if you're doing things wrong like they're able to tell you you're doing things wrong before you get hurt. And like we're you know you see places like especially when I in New York I did CrossFit and like it was excellent. I'd go to like late night um at nine o'clock at night I'd go do the uh crossfit workout like I came here and you know like my mindset's just like it's a little stupid because I did competitive uh weightlifting I I played college football and so I'm always like I can I can beat that I can beat that and you know like I was 35 at the time and I was trying to compete with these younger kids and they wouldn't you know the coaches were like more more more here where in New York they were more like you know they made you warm up appropriately made sure you were doing everything appropriately over here it was like doing more weights and not like exactly into your mechanics or form or anything. So I felt like I was getting much more injured when I started doing stuff here. So I I just stopped doing the CrossFit. I think it was more dangerous for me and me being a surgeon like my hands were hurting. I was like this is not for me.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Yeah you need your two most essential tools right there.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

Yeah so yeah having the right coaches will you know can make or break it and I I usually don't like having coaches like take me through stuff although I I know it's like an integral part and it's not like I don't like the coaches it's just like I don't listen. I think it's more more of an issue with me. I'm like I know how to do this better. So and that's why I never play golf everyone's like you don't golf I'm like no because I'm like I don't want to learn to swing it the wrong way because I'm like I look at Tiger Woods and I'm like I'm definitely gonna have back issues if I'm not swinging right you know so um but uh how about recovery wise what do you do for recovery?

SPEAKER_00 28:25

Yeah uh I started doing uh saunas cold plunges and I I'm sure you know but like a lot of the places here have specialties in just recovery they're just recovery studios. Yeah um and being involved with the local run clubs here and you know they give out raffles you win prizes and you know they pop up at different events. So um I've gone to a few of those studios um the gyms that I go to they all have sauna's cold plunges so I typically go to that um post workout I'll do both in the morning I won't start my day with like a cold plunge I'm like not that crazy but like after a really good workout then I'll sit there and and do it.

SPEAKER_03 29:04

Yeah but um like I said typically like compression leg compression sleeves massage guns stretching rolling out that's all like what my recovery is it's it's honestly I I don't have a complicated structure to it um I'm a simple simple person so I I like the simplicity and what uh what do you think of the leck compression sleeves are you getting like are you seeing that much of a benefit from using them or what differences are you seeing with having that you know personally I feel that they do help I don't think that maybe it's not as much as they say it actually does.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Yeah but I do feel more relaxation in my muscles you know especially after a long run. Yeah I just sit there and I'm kind of in a vegetative state and it's you know doing its thing. Um but I feel like afterwards it does help me relax my muscles a little bit especially after stretching. Yeah you know if I think I think it's honestly a perk or an add-on it's not necessarily the whole the whole routine. Yeah you know the basics the stretching that's that's what's gonna really do it. But everything else on top of that's just cherries.

SPEAKER_03 30:15

Yeah because I I bought the thing but I like used it a few times but it was like so big and I I just have it like sitting somewhere like I haven't used it in years. But I also don't run so in in running and stuff it's probably better. And for us like in what we do like I I think it's big in like getting the lymphatic flow and the drainage which you usually you know after running you're probably wanting to wash out all the metabolites and stuff from your muscles. So um that probably helps with that um diet-wise you said whole food diet um more meals or like how do you how do you eat do you eat like six meals a day or are you just like what whenever you can eat no I I I structure my my diet intentionally so I don't I'm not like a food bank I just don't eat everything I see in sight.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

But you know if it's something that um grows is it something that that walks like whole foods if it's something that came out of a wrapper um or something that was processed I typically stay away I honestly like look at labels and if they say uh contains genetically engineered ingredients like probably not the best thing to put in my body yeah um but my diet I say like I typically eat like a dog I measure what I'm gonna eat I eat the same thing most days yeah um and then I get I give myself a treat every once in a while for sticking to it.

SPEAKER_03 31:43

How many calories do you usually take because it seems like especially with calisthenics and running you you're probably taking in a lot more calories than normal people.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Yeah calorie wise I actually don't measure as much as I do the other macros so carbohydrates and protein are mainly what I what I measure uh same with sodium yeah um because that that replenishes carbohydrates energize you for the runs uh sodium replenishes the electrolytes so I typically pay attention to those um you know classic one one gram of protein per pound of body weight yeah um carbohydrates I typically stick to the 150 gram per day yeah um you know no more than that so um caloric intake does differ though because I know some athletes want more to gain more mass I typically want to lose fat so I'm playing a game of ketchup trying to balance protein versus calorie intake you know yeah yeah because with calisthenics you usually want to you know you don't want to gain too much mass right yeah and and it's tricky because the the stronger you get the more muscles you're the more muscles uh you grow the more it weighs so as you grow your skills do still challenge you yeah um but you don't want to have a high percentage of body fat because then that makes your workouts harder and it actually limits you.

SPEAKER_03 33:03

Yeah. And then are there certain supplements you take pre-workouts or post workouts? Yeah I um probably take caffeine the most um you know as as most endurance athletes do um but I take magnesium aswagonda uh fish oil um I also take D3 and K2 um those those are my main rotating ones right now and then um um what is it creatine as well yeah how much creatine do you try to get uh I usually do five grams five grams a day five to ten grams that's kind of my my sweet spot for the progress that I've seen yeah joint mobility I want to talk more about that yeah because it that's pretty big and like I've always looked into it we you know I went to some mobility classes with the CrossFit uh just because you tighten up so much with the different things you do there. Yeah um so what are some of the things you do for mobility?

SPEAKER_00 34:10

Yeah so you know kind of like I alluded to earlier working out in the weight room was great of getting my strength but I would still walk out stiff wake up stiff felt stiff I didn't feel like I was really flexible mobile in any way. Yeah um so when I started actually incorporating my workouts you know wrist rolls um you know uh scapular protraction and retraction yeah um you really start to build the foundation of what your joints can support and tendon tendons can support um so you know wrist flexion elbow flexion those aren't anything that you can just unlock in a day those are built over time you know kind of like how you said like touching your toes like it's it's something that's built over time. I used to not be able to but now I can almost completely palm the floor um with my legs straight. And so I think it's more just consistency. You find what works for you you know you have a goal in mind of what you want to achieve and then you're able to just work up to that. So um wrist rolls are really good um whether you're just you know twisting your wrist like this yeah um that way you're not like super stiff when you're on under a bench and bench pressing or whatnot. Yeah um even uh shoulder flies you know up against a wall or on the floor um and you press yourself down into the floor so that way you stretch everything that's that's on the inside and outside. Yeah um even even dead hangs right just just hanging off the bar uh getting that spinal cord stretch yeah um can really be beneficial too um that also trains your grip strength without compressing the spine yeah um so you know that sort of joint health is on I I I th I don't think a lot of people speak on it enough you know because I I hear a lot of people saying like oh I just need to be more active and it'll come and it's like well maybe not maybe it is that 20 minute routine every morning and then that's like your that's your thing.

SPEAKER_03 36:15

Yeah. Yeah because you got some of them you gotta hold for a certain amount of time to kind of finally get some form of release. Otherwise it's like you know you if you're just like bending over trying to touch your toes and do that like you know for two seconds every day that's not gonna get you anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

Yeah and also there's a misconception because I think a lot of people will pulse yeah they'll like tap their toes and tap tap as they're kind of hanging. Yeah um and that's not really actually doing anything. You know when they're feeling a farther stretch. Yeah um what really helps those muscles stretch and grow and lengthen is that actual hold time. Yeah. So even if you're only at your ankles and if that's all you can hold but at least you're able to hold it for 20 seconds. Yeah. Then that's a lot better than trying to pulse down to your your actual toes.

SPEAKER_03 37:07

So like what's how's the other thing like just doing bent knees and trying to push your you know putting your hands underneath your feet and then trying to you know straighten out your knees to kind of stretch out that back. What are your thoughts on that or is it better to just hang at the beginning it's probably better to just hang right or reach rather than try to stretch that push that I would say getting your body familiar with what you're trying to do is the best thing that you can do first.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

So if you are just hanging down, you know getting your body familiar with that then your body's gonna learn to lengthen and then you can really stretch is an active motion. So you then you can really be intentional about stretching forward. There's a difference between rounding your back versus twisting your navel or bending at your navel and when you're able to do that then you lengthen the muscles even more okay you know um there's multiple different compression workouts compression skills that you can do to help with that mobility. Yeah um pike compression leg lifts are are very beneficial to help compress the core um which is transferable into a lot of skills so in calisthenics you get those basic skills down those basic workouts pike compressions pushups pull-ups dips um and it's gonna help you progress in a lot of those advanced skills and did you have to work at the beginning did you have to work a lot on your grip strength uh before with calisthenics yeah so at the beginning I was um so I I I tried a first the first skill that I had was an elbow lever and it's more balanced than anything yeah and I wanted to go into uh a frog hold and my wrist couldn't do it because I didn't know what I was doing at the time. Yeah and so I started then backing up being like I need to work on the basics I need to work my wrists up to that point to load them and then um worked on pushups and pull ups so I I did dead hangs but I also do um for core I'll do toe to bar yeah and just raise my legs up as high as I can to tap the bar and bring it back down up and down. Yeah um so I work the grip core at the same time I like to do you know two workouts or not two workouts but work two things at the same time. Yeah yeah exactly okay yeah grip's so important and in longevity especially we talk a lot about longevity grip strength's like one of the big things but like people think by just like building that up you know um they'll live longer but it's more you know like so many different things take in grip strength yeah that's what people don't get like yeah exactly whether you're benching whether you're pull doing pull ups it's all if you're doing pull ups your grip is likely gonna be the one to go before your strength does yeah you know it's like I I don't feel sore but I know I I knew I could have done more but then you get frustrated in your head and it's like most people don't think it's it's because of your the grip you know um that's a weakened part because the pull up can work it works your back but it you know it's your forearms your grip that's that's also just as important.

SPEAKER_03 40:19

Yeah nowadays I'm more afraid I'm gonna tear my like bicep muscle because like all the friends that I have like that have torn their bicep muscle off I'm like all right when's that gonna come? Yeah but I try to do like you know do some pull ups every morning when I wake up yeah um and that's more of a new thing that I've started to do I'm like gonna do pull ups until I can do like a hundred in the day you know I do I do a hundred pull ups every day.

SPEAKER_00 40:47

Oh yeah and and I feel like that's it's small but it's it's built a habit and and that habit. Yeah um so I kind of gone in phases like right now it's it's 100 pull-ups every day. Um how many do you do like your your first rep it'll it'll it it could be like you know 10 sets of 10 yeah 20 sets of five yeah you know um I could do 10 15 10 yeah 10 15 20 you know and as long as I hit the hundred is is is the goal. And in the fall I was doing uh handstands every day until I could do it for 30 seconds. Yeah and by day 26 I hit 40 seconds. So it was like as the habit habitually building yeah you can unlock what you want to unlock. Yeah one of the videos um I think it was on TikTok you had you're balancing yourself on a ball to you had like was it barbells or some wooden yeah um bolts yeah those are those are called parallelettes yeah and um you can use those or you can use dumbbells but yeah putting them on the BOSU ball yeah um and then balancing myself on that is is a lot of fun how long did that take to to learn so I learned uh flat hand stance first which yeah took about six months for me to have a a stronghold yeah um again and then that was my foundation yeah and then going into it on the BOSU ball unlocked it in like a couple weeks maybe a month yeah um that is more just beneficial to learning rebalance yeah because the ball moves and if you can hold yourself stable it's not going to move but if it does it's more forgiving because you're able to bend at your at your wrists and your hips okay and you're not likely to fall over as easily.

SPEAKER_02 42:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

But I wouldn't have gotten there if I had not had the foundation of a handstand belt first.

SPEAKER_03 42:34

And then what I find tough for myself is like getting my wrist mobility back because I think from surgery and you know staying away from like working out for a while like everything just stiffened up. And it's like trying to re-stretch those tendons back out to where they are and especially to do a hand to be able to do a handstand that's important. What are some stretches you do for the hand you showed some of them.

SPEAKER_00 43:03

Yeah the flexion extension you said you had uh resistance bands right yeah yeah so you take one of those and you extend your wrists out like this yeah so you get that external uh rotation flip them over yeah do the same thing inwards um even it can be with like a five pound dumbbell or even just the band itself but those types of movements and circular movements um you know anybody that I do give coaching tips on I tell them try not to focus like it's not necessarily like a muscle you're trying to work out you're not trying to break a PR you're really trying to be intentional and the thing is calisthenics is body awareness. So if you're intentional and you have that connection then it's going to be beneficial. Yeah. But you know just not going through the motions just to go through it but actually being intentional about about doing it. Yeah um Circular wrists, even just stretches like this where you pull your fingers back, pull your fingers down forward. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:09

Yeah. My right hand goes better, but my left hand's like yeah, and I've had some of the one of the tendons worked on. Yeah. And oh I I got a lot of issues with like CrossFit. I got like tendonitis in almost all my fingers. But it was also like a poor diet and I just didn't take care of myself. Yeah. I drank at the time, so I think it had to do a lot with uh the all-around circle.

SPEAKER_00 44:35

Isn't it crazy how the all those things affect our physical well-being? Yeah. Whether it's drinking or a bad meal or you know, something that's like Yeah, you totally feel like one once you become more in tune, you like you feel it like that.

SPEAKER_03 44:50

Yeah. Like with a single meal. And that's you're like, all right, I'm not putting that in my body again. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:56

And like it's like you you do it, and it's like I'm gonna feel like crap for the next couple of days.

SPEAKER_03 45:00

Especially like in the US, like when I go out of the country, it's like you have more of freedom, whatever you want to eat. But in the US, it's like, yeah. And in the sodium thing, like I get a lot of pre-made meals, and that's like one of the biggest things I watch is like most of the pre-made meals from whatever company you get, not microwave meals, these are like fresh meals that come to your house. They still got a lot of sodium. Yeah, like you look at factor, and it's like 20-30 percent of your sodium for a day is just in one meal, so you're like you gotta be careful with how much sodium we take in.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Yeah, yeah. Especially if you're not doing anything to replenish that amount with, yeah. You know, for the normal person, that's way too much, yeah. You know, but um endurance athletes, like sometimes they need that extra boost, sometimes it's it's good for so you know, it could be um I agree. Like most of the food, unfortunately, in the US is just uh super loaded with unnecessary stuff that doesn't have to be.

SPEAKER_03 46:07

And even preparation, it's not even like what it's like all the way up to making making it to your table.

SPEAKER_04 46:14

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:16

Yeah, so we're talking about you know, we've talked about the bleach chicken, which we got a lot of people talking about, but like whether it's chicken, it's beef, or you know, your your farm raised fish, it's they're all like pretty bad overall.

SPEAKER_00 46:35

So yeah, and and I agree, every time I've traveled outside the US, I've felt so much better after eating a huge meal and don't feel like I'm you don't gain weight, that's the thing.

SPEAKER_03 46:46

You come back, you're like the same way. You're like I eat like crap, but yeah, it's a huge difference. Yeah, and I d you know, I think they're making small changes, but overall it's like capitalist society and it's gonna take a long time. Yeah, but at least now I think you know we have a lot more available to us, you know, Whole Foods, although some people might hate Whole Foods, they and we have sprouts here too in Arizona. There are two great places where you can find organic and yeah, like try to and read the labels, you know. You just don't buy the crap that has a ton of crap in it.

SPEAKER_00 47:26

So yeah. It it it takes work to be able to find the stuff that is actually good for you. Yeah. And you know, in in some places in the world you can buy food and it's actual food.

SPEAKER_03 47:37

Yeah. And growing up, how you know, like I know my mom, like she's a great cook, but it was probably not the best, like healthiest cooking for us. Yeah. Uh we're Iranian, so it was and how did you feel at home? And we were poor too, so on top of it, you like get like crap and kind of yeah, get caught up with like a lot of bad choices.

SPEAKER_01 48:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:03

So, you know, um growing up, Hispanic meals um aren't always the healthiest, yeah, you know, loaded with carbs, sodium, oils, everything like that. Yeah. Um, so growing up, I didn't have an idea of what I was putting in my body. It was just like, Mom, this tastes great, you know. I don't want another plate. Yeah, not realizing what it actually was. And so it wasn't until after I started getting into all this where I was like, oh man, wait, what did what did how much oil did you just put in that?

SPEAKER_03 48:30

And yeah, everything's sauteed and like tons of rice and everything's sauteed. So yeah, yeah, it tastes great, but I like that was like when I started, well, I've been yo-yo like with weight loss, weight gain, but uh, over the past five years I've kind of stayed pretty consistent. But like when I when I was younger, and the first thing I did for weight loss was cut out rice. It was like the hardest thing to do. Um, and like I I went to Iran and everyone's like, what's wrong with you? You know, like they're they're like cooking all this rice, putting it in front of me. I'm like, I can't eat rice, you know. I'm like, I gotta stop because I was just like all the time eating rice with every meal, you know, just gaining tons of weight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:19

So and everybody's looking at you sideways, like, what this is supposed to be healthy for you.

SPEAKER_03 49:23

You gotta look healthy. So um, yeah, the child childhood, and that's what I'm trying to like kind of teach my kids, but you know, the grandparents and everyone else kind of and like the people around them, the advertisements all about like the bad stuff. We go through the airport, and it's like, you know, they want the Cheetos, they want the Cheese, and I'm like, we got the healthy version for you, so stay away from that.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

It's not a single healthy thing in an airport. No, never.

SPEAKER_03 49:52

It's they're the only healthy thing, like, well, they get they got these new vending machines that are the farmers, whatever market thing, but I don't know. Like, I'm like, I don't know how they keep those fresh. Like, who's coming in and changing those out and how often are they changing them out? Right. Because I'm like, there can't be much of a resale. Like, I know some people probably take it, but I don't know how much resale of a healthy, like, especially when people are already stressed out. Are they gonna go for something healthy or are they gonna just pick up the easiest thing?

SPEAKER_00 50:27

Right. Whatever has the shortest line or whatever's closest. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:31

So all right. I think we can go to the questions, right? So we'll do some quick hit questions, see where yeah. All right, so pull-ups or push-ups? Push-ups, running or calisthenics. Favorite calisthenics skill.

SPEAKER_00 50:53

Oh, the BOSU ball handstand.

SPEAKER_03 50:55

Most difficult skill you've learned.

SPEAKER_00 50:58

Oh. Most difficult skill I've learned. Muscle up.

SPEAKER_03 51:05

Morning workout or evening workout?

SPEAKER_00 51:07

I'm a morning guy. Morning workouts.

SPEAKER_03 51:11

Long run or sprint workout? Long run. One exercise everyone should do.

SPEAKER_00 51:17

One exercise everyone should do. Oh, that's a good one. I need a second for that. One exercise everyone should do.

SPEAKER_03 51:30

Don't say pull-up because you already said pull-up.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

No, I I actually am going for um uh a pistol squat. Okay, actually.

SPEAKER_03 51:40

That's actually great. Yeah. Um one health habit everyone should adopt. Stretching. Biggest fitness myth.

SPEAKER_00 51:52

That you can outwork a shitty diet.

SPEAKER_03 51:55

What does aging well mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 51:57

Oh aging well to me means having full capability of your body for as long as you can.

SPEAKER_03 52:06

Those are that's it. That's great.

SPEAKER_00 52:08

Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 52:09

Yeah. No, and like you said, the pistol squat and the last question answered, those are both like big things because the pistol squats pretty much like being able to get get up and down without using your hands. And that's another part of along with the hand grip, it's one of the biggest things that starts to go downhill as you age. So being able to keep that up. Um, people think it's easy, but try to get up without using your hands. It's humbling. And like, yeah, yeah. You're like you're falling over on your face. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 52:43

Yeah, it also like teaches you awareness, balance, you know, flexibility in some aspects too. Uh, when I started doing them, I didn't realize how stiff my ankles were. Yeah, you know, I didn't have any any flexibility. Yeah. And I was like, man, I'm okay. Now I need to know, now I know what I need to work on.

SPEAKER_03 52:58

Yeah. Yeah, the ankles stiffen up real quick. Yeah. You gotta, yeah. That's like, yeah, especially doing squats, and that that's where, you know, I'm like, all right, I gotta get some weights to do squats because like without weights with the resistance bands, you I don't you build some, I think you built some mobility, but not as much as like some weight compression will. Yeah, I agree. All right, thank you for being here. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 53:25

Hey, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.