{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"startTime":25.0,"endTime":25.96,"body":"What is going on guys?"},{"startTime":25.96,"endTime":27.502,"body":"Welcome back to Eat, Train, Prosper."},{"startTime":27.502,"endTime":34.147999999999996,"body":"This is episode 196 and we are talking natural bodybuilding with Connor St."},{"startTime":34.147999999999996,"endTime":34.809,"body":"Gene."},{"startTime":34.809,"endTime":44.447,"body":"So Connor is a WNBF pro and an online physique coach who's just done a few back to back"},{"startTime":34.809,"endTime":44.447,"body":"shows in his most recent competing season."},{"startTime":44.447,"endTime":53.172,"body":"And I think based on some things that we might get into, there may be a little bit left of"},{"startTime":44.447,"endTime":53.172,"body":"competition season, but Connor will unfold those details."},{"startTime":53.172,"endTime":54.032,"body":"for us."},{"startTime":54.032,"endTime":62.812,"body":"So before we dive into the most recent competition, Connor, can you just give us a little"},{"startTime":54.032,"endTime":62.812,"body":"bit of a background on yourself, what you do and a little bit more detail and then"},{"startTime":62.812,"endTime":69.42,"body":"effectively what got you into competing and what your experiences like have been and what"},{"startTime":62.812,"endTime":69.42,"body":"keeps you coming back to it?"},{"startTime":69.655,"endTime":70.575,"body":"Absolutely."},{"startTime":70.575,"endTime":71.935,"body":"So my name is Connor."},{"startTime":71.935,"endTime":73.455,"body":"I'm 35."},{"startTime":73.455,"endTime":76.995,"body":"I've been bodybuilding competitively since 2012."},{"startTime":76.995,"endTime":78.995,"body":"That was my first show."},{"startTime":78.995,"endTime":82.39500000000001,"body":"I did not have a good experience competing my first time out."},{"startTime":82.39500000000001,"endTime":83.91499999999999,"body":"I did not look good."},{"startTime":83.91499999999999,"endTime":86.775,"body":"Maybe I'll share some pictures from that prep."},{"startTime":86.775,"endTime":91.415,"body":"You know, that's I guess 13 years back at some point, but it was pretty bad, I must say."},{"startTime":91.415,"endTime":95.975,"body":"But I was a sucker for the punishment and just wanted to keep coming back for more."},{"startTime":96.515,"endTime":97.399,"body":"So."},{"startTime":97.399,"endTime":103.259,"body":"The way I got into bodybuilding was that I really get interested, back in the day it was"},{"startTime":97.399,"endTime":103.259,"body":"really T Nation."},{"startTime":103.259,"endTime":104.619,"body":"Who remembers T Nation?"},{"startTime":104.619,"endTime":105.819,"body":"Throw those hands up."},{"startTime":105.819,"endTime":107.339,"body":"Who remembers plasma?"},{"startTime":107.439,"endTime":110.299,"body":"Who remembers, what else?"},{"startTime":110.299,"endTime":112.299,"body":"Fish oil, that I sell there."},{"startTime":112.299,"endTime":115.459,"body":"Mag 10, Mag 10, let's go."},{"startTime":115.459,"endTime":124.339,"body":"Man, those videos with Christian Thibodeau and the Mag 10 and him training people, that"},{"startTime":115.459,"endTime":124.339,"body":"was like, you know, that was probably the best information you had back in the day."},{"startTime":124.339,"endTime":126.569,"body":"you were, if you were looking at,"},{"startTime":126.569,"endTime":133.039,"body":"you know, what was out there, that was pretty much the tip top you could find, probably at"},{"startTime":126.569,"endTime":133.039,"body":"the time, at least that's the way I perceived it."},{"startTime":133.039,"endTime":133.263,"body":"So."},{"startTime":133.263,"endTime":134.647,"body":"was at least the most popular."},{"startTime":134.647,"endTime":140.725,"body":"was like, no matter who you were talking to in the gym, everyone knew about Teenation and"},{"startTime":134.647,"endTime":140.725,"body":"was kind of following some version of it."},{"startTime":140.725,"endTime":141.436,"body":"Yeah, yeah, yeah."},{"startTime":141.436,"endTime":143.56799999999998,"body":"You're like, you're kind of be like, okay, that's my guy."},{"startTime":143.56799999999998,"endTime":145.89,"body":"They're, they're above the bodybuilding.com standards."},{"startTime":145.89,"endTime":150.064,"body":"So like, I'm going to consider them like on par with my knowledge or something like that."},{"startTime":150.265,"endTime":151.216,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":151.216,"endTime":157.733,"body":"but, but anyways, um, so I get really interested in that and, you know, back in those"},{"startTime":151.216,"endTime":157.733,"body":"days, it was the forums, right?"},{"startTime":157.733,"endTime":163.671,"body":"So I remember, there was that the bodybuilding forum and there was a"},{"startTime":163.671,"endTime":169.731,"body":"a gentleman named Stu Yellen, the mighty Stu, who was doing his first bodybuilding contest"},{"startTime":163.671,"endTime":169.731,"body":"prep."},{"startTime":169.731,"endTime":171.191,"body":"And I got into that, man."},{"startTime":171.191,"endTime":172.191,"body":"I was following it."},{"startTime":172.191,"endTime":173.911,"body":"I was right there with him."},{"startTime":173.911,"endTime":174.691,"body":"was like, this is cool."},{"startTime":174.691,"endTime":176.791,"body":"And then I saw the physique."},{"startTime":176.791,"endTime":177.771,"body":"He's like 5'9\"."},{"startTime":177.771,"endTime":180.831,"body":"He's getting on stage at around maybe like 170."},{"startTime":180.831,"endTime":190.931,"body":"It just didn't seem too far out of reach for what I had, even though I had no idea what I"},{"startTime":180.831,"endTime":190.931,"body":"didn't know, but it just didn't seem like it was an unreachable thing that I couldn't"},{"startTime":190.931,"endTime":192.231,"body":"possibly achieve."},{"startTime":192.231,"endTime":193.725,"body":"And I could tell after"},{"startTime":193.725,"endTime":195.356,"body":"lifting weights for four or five years."},{"startTime":195.356,"endTime":199.752,"body":"Like I seem to have kind of some kind of structure, some kind of X frame going on just"},{"startTime":195.356,"endTime":199.752,"body":"naturally."},{"startTime":199.752,"endTime":206.319,"body":"And so I wanted to see, you know, what happens if I really take this, you know, as far as"},{"startTime":199.752,"endTime":206.319,"body":"I can go and you know, what will I"},{"startTime":206.667,"endTime":211.631,"body":"kind of the big thing, the big reward you get is to see where you can take your body,"},{"startTime":206.667,"endTime":211.631,"body":"right?"},{"startTime":211.631,"endTime":215.733,"body":"And that's what I love about bodybuilding in general is just kind of seeing where you can"},{"startTime":211.631,"endTime":215.733,"body":"take it."},{"startTime":215.733,"endTime":227.762,"body":"And seemingly over the last 13 years, that hasn't gotten boring to me, even though we all"},{"startTime":215.733,"endTime":227.762,"body":"know the progress is so slow, but ah I still been able to kind of creep up slowly over"},{"startTime":227.762,"endTime":228.462,"body":"those times."},{"startTime":228.462,"endTime":229.763,"body":"It's important."},{"startTime":229.781,"endTime":235.676,"body":"Hot and cold periods for sure, but for the most part, it's been like just kind of inching,"},{"startTime":229.781,"endTime":235.676,"body":"inching, inching, you know, a little bit."},{"startTime":235.676,"endTime":239.77,"body":"So that's kind of what's kept me coming back all those years."},{"startTime":239.77,"endTime":243.781,"body":"But yeah, definitely it was that the teenager stuff that got me interested in."},{"startTime":243.781,"endTime":249.228,"body":"I just loved the process of course of training and movement and just refining that over"},{"startTime":243.781,"endTime":249.228,"body":"time."},{"startTime":249.228,"endTime":254.983,"body":"And yeah, just kind of ended up being lifelong hooked on bodybuilding so far."},{"startTime":254.983,"endTime":257.235,"body":"So that's kind of my background."},{"startTime":258.21299999999997,"endTime":266.517,"body":"I think potentially we can get into the hot and cold periods a little bit and in your"},{"startTime":258.21299999999997,"endTime":266.517,"body":"introspection on why some of those might have been hot or cold."},{"startTime":266.517,"endTime":274.39,"body":"But first, I want to talk a little bit more around, you just competed this past weekend ah"},{"startTime":266.517,"endTime":274.39,"body":"in the Natural Canada Pro Show, right?"},{"startTime":274.39,"endTime":277.762,"body":"And for a lot of our listeners right there, there, I mean, we probably have a good chunk."},{"startTime":277.762,"endTime":283.132,"body":"We're like, you know, hobbyist bodybuilders, which is what effectively Brian and myself"},{"startTime":277.762,"endTime":283.132,"body":"were."},{"startTime":283.132,"endTime":286.875,"body":"up until I literally started my first prep, you five months ago."},{"startTime":286.875,"endTime":296.301,"body":"uh you know, into the game, but don't understand some of the things like the federations"},{"startTime":286.875,"endTime":296.301,"body":"and stuff, which is still, you know, even to me a little bit new."},{"startTime":296.301,"endTime":297.932,"body":"So can you just explain that a little bit?"},{"startTime":297.932,"endTime":305.428,"body":"So you are a WNBF pro and, know, from my standpoint, which I'm not an authority on this,"},{"startTime":297.932,"endTime":305.428,"body":"so I could be incorrect there."},{"startTime":305.428,"endTime":310.171,"body":"The WNBF is a pretty much like the worldwide authority for natural bodybuilding."},{"startTime":310.171,"endTime":311.972,"body":"Am I correct in that statement?"},{"startTime":312.855,"endTime":324.789,"body":"would say yes, if you look at it historically, they are kind of the GOAT federation of"},{"startTime":312.855,"endTime":324.789,"body":"natural bodybuilding in terms of the drug testing standards, the history, ah the worldwide"},{"startTime":324.789,"endTime":330.255,"body":"turnout and um the overall kind of prestige of..."},{"startTime":330.357,"endTime":331.588,"body":"being in that division."},{"startTime":331.588,"endTime":341.895,"body":"I will say though natural bodybuilding is always in a constant shape, a state of like"},{"startTime":331.588,"endTime":341.895,"body":"moving about, you know, who's popular, who, where's the draw, what are the divisions"},{"startTime":341.895,"endTime":351.162,"body":"people want to do, which shows have like good lighting, good promotion, which shows don't,"},{"startTime":341.895,"endTime":351.162,"body":"you know, so there's always this kind of pull towards one end and you know I'd say right"},{"startTime":351.162,"endTime":353.195,"body":"now to um"},{"startTime":353.195,"endTime":365.279,"body":"the NPC slash CPA, so the CPA is the Canadian NPC, but that kind of side is really pushing"},{"startTime":353.195,"endTime":365.279,"body":"the natural stuff hard and they're having a lot of success with it, right?"},{"startTime":365.279,"endTime":375.243,"body":"So I do think it's gonna be tough for some of these other smaller natural federations and"},{"startTime":365.279,"endTime":375.243,"body":"not that WMBF is small, you let's, if I can do CB, IPE."},{"startTime":375.243,"endTime":376.853,"body":"um"},{"startTime":376.853,"endTime":378.634,"body":"you know, AMBF, things like that."},{"startTime":378.634,"endTime":386.879,"body":"Like they're going to have some trouble competing with what the IFBB is doing in terms of"},{"startTime":378.634,"endTime":386.879,"body":"the natural events, because they're putting on, you know, they're a very good business."},{"startTime":386.879,"endTime":388.21,"body":"They're putting on very good shows."},{"startTime":388.21,"endTime":389.851,"body":"The lighting is quality."},{"startTime":390.011,"endTime":391.587,"body":"The competition level is high."},{"startTime":391.587,"endTime":393.203,"body":"The prestige is high as well too."},{"startTime":393.203,"endTime":396.575,"body":"So that is really trending up right now."},{"startTime":396.575,"endTime":396.935,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":396.935,"endTime":400.537,"body":"And so that's, that's what I ended up doing these last two weeks."},{"startTime":400.537,"endTime":403.573,"body":"It turns out it was just conveniently kind of, you know,"},{"startTime":403.573,"endTime":406.224,"body":"close to me where I live in Ottawa, Canada right now."},{"startTime":406.224,"endTime":410.005,"body":"So uh the shows I did were kind of around the Toronto area."},{"startTime":410.005,"endTime":411.555,"body":"So it was about a four or five hour drive."},{"startTime":411.555,"endTime":415.586,"body":"So it was very kind of easy, easy stakes to get there."},{"startTime":415.586,"endTime":423.829,"body":"um And so, yeah, even though I am a pro with the WMBF, it seems that, you know, there's a"},{"startTime":415.586,"endTime":423.829,"body":"little bit more autonomy for the competitors now."},{"startTime":423.829,"endTime":431.411,"body":"So um I just wanted to jump into these CPA natural shows, see how I did, see how much I"},{"startTime":423.829,"endTime":431.411,"body":"see fair there and."},{"startTime":431.411,"endTime":432.193,"body":"uh"},{"startTime":432.193,"endTime":433.945,"body":"You know, it was honestly a great experience."},{"startTime":433.945,"endTime":441.151,"body":"uh know, both CPA shows, super high quality, very competitive, very good tanners, very"},{"startTime":433.945,"endTime":441.151,"body":"good lighting."},{"startTime":441.151,"endTime":443.453,"body":"uh I don't have any bad things to say."},{"startTime":443.453,"endTime":446.003,"body":"I do think the drug testing leaves them to be desired."},{"startTime":446.003,"endTime":450.76,"body":"It could be a little bit more stringent, but I was tested at my first show in Barrie."},{"startTime":450.76,"endTime":452.081,"body":"I was gear and tested at the end."},{"startTime":452.081,"endTime":454.604,"body":"So they did a good job with that, I would say."},{"startTime":454.604,"endTime":457.477,"body":"So that was at least, you know, good to see."},{"startTime":457.477,"endTime":461.729,"body":"Do you think um that the the most recent testing show?"},{"startTime":461.729,"endTime":462.623,"body":"um"},{"startTime":462.623,"endTime":472.62,"body":"Is it just because please correct me if I'm wrong, but are we not in like the first season"},{"startTime":462.623,"endTime":472.62,"body":"of like the the NPC CBC's like natural push?"},{"startTime":472.62,"endTime":480.075,"body":"I mean, because I know like for NPC and IFP, like this is like the first season that"},{"startTime":472.62,"endTime":480.075,"body":"they're really doing a lot of the natural shows and stuff."},{"startTime":480.504,"endTime":487.266,"body":"Yeah, I wouldn't say it's the first, but I say it's like they made the conscious choice to"},{"startTime":480.504,"endTime":487.266,"body":"push these harder."},{"startTime":487.266,"endTime":489.637,"body":"I think they saw the potential in business."},{"startTime":489.637,"endTime":495.24,"body":"um, cause I remember I did, I did, let's just say MPC."},{"startTime":495.24,"endTime":498.591,"body":"So it's more, uh, it's just easier for people to think."},{"startTime":498.591,"endTime":500.202,"body":"Well, I did, let's say I did it."},{"startTime":500.202,"endTime":506.945,"body":"did this MPC natural show in 2019 when that was the early, early time when they started to"},{"startTime":500.202,"endTime":506.945,"body":"offer it regionally."},{"startTime":506.945,"endTime":507.606,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":507.606,"endTime":510.147,"body":"And I competed against like two other guys."},{"startTime":510.147,"endTime":512.028,"body":"There was 19 people in the show."},{"startTime":512.028,"endTime":513.418,"body":"It was small people."},{"startTime":513.418,"endTime":514.629,"body":"There was no interest."},{"startTime":514.629,"endTime":517.1700000000001,"body":"Now it six years later, more."},{"startTime":517.1700000000001,"endTime":520.7629999999999,"body":"of these regional NBC natural shows have popped up."},{"startTime":520.7760000000001,"endTime":522.2370000000001,"body":"And they've gotten big."},{"startTime":522.2370000000001,"endTime":525.758,"body":"The show I did in Barrity had 161 people, I think."},{"startTime":525.758,"endTime":536.393,"body":"And the national event had, you know, 260, which is like pretty big for a natural show,"},{"startTime":525.758,"endTime":536.393,"body":"basically, compared to how they were six years ago."},{"startTime":536.393,"endTime":538.284,"body":"So they've slowly inched their way up."},{"startTime":538.284,"endTime":543.467,"body":"And I think some of the higher people up were just like, we're going to push these because"},{"startTime":538.284,"endTime":543.467,"body":"there's a good interest."},{"startTime":543.467,"endTime":547.599,"body":"And I think they know how good of a business they are and how much they could bring in."},{"startTime":547.599,"endTime":550.55,"body":"So, you know, they've been doing a great job, honestly."},{"startTime":550.61,"endTime":555.15,"body":"ah The only thing is just a little bit tougher testing, I would say would be good."},{"startTime":555.797,"endTime":563.829,"body":"And I'm sure with, you know, feedback and stuff from people inside the the the natural"},{"startTime":555.797,"endTime":563.829,"body":"world, that that will only continue to get better."},{"startTime":563.829,"endTime":573.692,"body":"And and Brandon, uh who I believe was has been coaching you for for this right, Brandon"},{"startTime":563.829,"endTime":573.692,"body":"Kemper, who he had on the show a while back, uh who also won his pro card in Taiwan the"},{"startTime":573.692,"endTime":574.283,"body":"same weekend."},{"startTime":574.283,"endTime":577.3,"body":"I won mine uh pretty much to the same thing."},{"startTime":577.3,"endTime":579.684,"body":"He's like, it was pretty decent, but it but it could be improved."},{"startTime":579.684,"endTime":582.273,"body":"So I think it's likely that they will."},{"startTime":582.273,"endTime":589.681,"body":"Double down on that once they do get that feedback if they want to maintain that prestige"},{"startTime":582.273,"endTime":589.681,"body":"because it is really important, you know, for like the natural ethos."},{"startTime":590.655,"endTime":593.348,"body":"Yeah, I think that's the only thing they're really lacking on to be fair."},{"startTime":593.348,"endTime":594.688,"body":"Yeah, cool."},{"startTime":594.688,"endTime":603.551,"body":"So if you're if you guys are good here, there's the first kind of topic I want to move"},{"startTime":594.688,"endTime":603.551,"body":"into a little bit is what are some perceptions that you find that people get often get"},{"startTime":603.551,"endTime":605.162,"body":"wrong about natural bodybuilding?"},{"startTime":605.162,"endTime":609.643,"body":"Because for unless you're like into it, bodybuilding is pretty much like this niche thing."},{"startTime":609.643,"endTime":618.776,"body":"And even for like your more modern day like Jimbrow, like for me, like I was a Jimbrow for"},{"startTime":609.643,"endTime":618.776,"body":"20 years, you know, and I effectively knew."},{"startTime":618.928,"endTime":621.868,"body":"fuck all about like contest prep, you know what I mean?"},{"startTime":621.868,"endTime":624.748,"body":"Even from going through the gym, going to the gym and stuff."},{"startTime":624.748,"endTime":631.336,"body":"So what are some of the things that you think like that people just really often get wrong"},{"startTime":624.748,"endTime":631.336,"body":"about natural bodybuilding specific?"},{"startTime":631.859,"endTime":637.979,"body":"I think the thing that comes to my mind first and foremost is that they think it's not a"},{"startTime":631.859,"endTime":637.979,"body":"competitive sport, right?"},{"startTime":638.819,"endTime":644.261,"body":"Because it gets compared to enhanced bodybuilding where they're using kind of more..."},{"startTime":644.261,"endTime":652.522,"body":"substances and it seems like more of like this, like more of a protocol driven thing where"},{"startTime":644.261,"endTime":652.522,"body":"natural bodybuilding, we're just kind of, you know, out in the woods, lifting weights,"},{"startTime":652.522,"endTime":661.734,"body":"doing it Rocky style, just showing up, you know, just, you know, and like not managing all"},{"startTime":652.522,"endTime":661.734,"body":"the details and, know, doing those little nuanced things to be better."},{"startTime":661.734,"endTime":662.094,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":662.094,"endTime":662.995,"body":"And so"},{"startTime":662.995,"endTime":667.377,"body":"ah I think especially after this past weekend that that's really present in my mind,"},{"startTime":662.995,"endTime":667.377,"body":"right?"},{"startTime":667.377,"endTime":677.692,"body":"It's like damn this shit is getting competitive and you know, it's It takes you know, a"},{"startTime":667.377,"endTime":677.692,"body":"lot of effort to get every little single thing right, you know down from like, you know"},{"startTime":677.692,"endTime":688.927,"body":"skincare to sodium to pumping up backstage like it is Competitive and if you want your"},{"startTime":677.692,"endTime":688.927,"body":"best performance you have to be on your game ah You know versus I think a lot of people"},{"startTime":688.927,"endTime":692.849,"body":"receive it is this not as serious ah like a lesser"},{"startTime":692.979,"endTime":702.105,"body":"serious take, you know, a form of bodybuilding that you don't take as seriously as the"},{"startTime":692.979,"endTime":702.105,"body":"IFBB because IFBB, like the open shows are the big dogs and natural people are just doing"},{"startTime":702.105,"endTime":703.976,"body":"this kind of for fun, right?"},{"startTime":703.976,"endTime":707.119,"body":"So I think that's the thing that's in my head right now."},{"startTime":707.119,"endTime":711.562,"body":"That's the biggest misperception of uh natural bodybuilding."},{"startTime":711.562,"endTime":713.442,"body":"How does that strike you guys?"},{"startTime":713.774,"endTime":725.339,"body":"I mean, I think it's really well said and for some reason, and I think it's because like"},{"startTime":713.774,"endTime":725.339,"body":"the, you know, IFBB open class is like what gets the most prestige."},{"startTime":725.339,"endTime":726.175,"body":"Like that's the Mr."},{"startTime":726.175,"endTime":726.556,"body":"Olympia."},{"startTime":726.556,"endTime":737.436,"body":"But like everyone always thinks like that's bodybuilding, you know, or when people hear"},{"startTime":726.556,"endTime":737.436,"body":"about the risks and the dangers of like PED use and stuff like it's always tied to those"},{"startTime":737.436,"endTime":739.95,"body":"people who like, but they don't realize like"},{"startTime":739.95,"endTime":747.236,"body":"your average dude who might be running like a little bit of testosterone or something like"},{"startTime":739.95,"endTime":747.236,"body":"he's not 300 pounds open class bodybuilder, right?"},{"startTime":747.236,"endTime":754.251,"body":"But for some reason, any sort of bodybuilding gets tied up to like open class IFBB and"},{"startTime":747.236,"endTime":754.251,"body":"like public perception."},{"startTime":754.251,"endTime":758.945,"body":"um I do have one question that I want to kick it over to Brian around this."},{"startTime":758.945,"endTime":766.21,"body":"But one of the things that's kind of ah I've noticed in this is potentially a little bit"},{"startTime":758.945,"endTime":766.21,"body":"of a"},{"startTime":766.21,"endTime":772.84,"body":"unwarranted opinion because I'm a bit of an outsider, you know, in natural bodybuilding,"},{"startTime":766.21,"endTime":772.84,"body":"but something that's really struck stuck out to me."},{"startTime":772.84,"endTime":784.005,"body":"I feel like in the last handful of years with natural bodybuilding, the level of"},{"startTime":772.84,"endTime":784.005,"body":"conditioning has greatly improved over from like the early to mid 2000s."},{"startTime":784.005,"endTime":790.857,"body":"You know, like you would see guys on stage and it's really like, I guess the culture and"},{"startTime":784.005,"endTime":790.857,"body":"how the culture shifts through it."},{"startTime":790.857,"endTime":794.202,"body":"But, you know, like the level of conditioning you bring."},{"startTime":794.202,"endTime":800.235,"body":"The level of conditioning, like, you know, I was fortunate to watch Brandon, you know, in"},{"startTime":794.202,"endTime":800.235,"body":"part live in person and see him."},{"startTime":800.235,"endTime":801.486,"body":"It was insane."},{"startTime":801.486,"endTime":804.697,"body":"Like he's inside out lean."},{"startTime":806.072,"endTime":815.403,"body":"It and and I just feel like 10, 15 years ago, the people like they just were not in that"},{"startTime":806.072,"endTime":815.403,"body":"kind of level of of of contest shape."},{"startTime":815.403,"endTime":817.426,"body":"It was kind of like unheard of."},{"startTime":817.426,"endTime":818.205,"body":"Mm-hmm."},{"startTime":818.205,"endTime":827.679,"body":"Certainly it was more of a thing where there'd be one guy who would show up like that and"},{"startTime":818.205,"endTime":827.679,"body":"the rest of the field wouldn't be kind of in that shape."},{"startTime":827.679,"endTime":833.842,"body":"You can look back at some historical examples of people who are pretty insanely hired that"},{"startTime":827.679,"endTime":833.842,"body":"are kind of outliers."},{"startTime":833.842,"endTime":838.244,"body":"But what you see now is there's more, a higher standard across the board."},{"startTime":838.244,"endTime":839.735,"body":"You see less people missing, right?"},{"startTime":839.735,"endTime":841.846,"body":"And this is how things evolve, right?"},{"startTime":841.846,"endTime":847.239,"body":"And I think too, a big part of that is just everyone kind of understands energy balance"},{"startTime":841.846,"endTime":847.239,"body":"now, right?"},{"startTime":847.239,"endTime":848.649,"body":"That's not into question."},{"startTime":849.182,"endTime":851.555,"body":"Let's throw it back to those t-nation days, right?"},{"startTime":851.555,"endTime":856.285,"body":"It was just like, you keep the carbs low because the insulin sensitivity and this and"},{"startTime":851.555,"endTime":856.285,"body":"that."},{"startTime":856.285,"endTime":864.039,"body":"so people didn't really understand the physiological systems involved with dieting and the"},{"startTime":856.285,"endTime":864.039,"body":"kind of energy balance involved in just how far."},{"startTime":864.115,"endTime":865.655,"body":"push and how far to die it, right?"},{"startTime":865.655,"endTime":869.575,"body":"How much weight do we actually need to lose to see this kind of sharp conditioning level?"},{"startTime":869.755,"endTime":873.195,"body":"And now in general, people have a way better handle on that."},{"startTime":873.195,"endTime":876.615,"body":"So you see way fewer people kind of missing in that regard."},{"startTime":876.615,"endTime":881.195,"body":"And so you see everyone kind of turning up in better shape than they were 10, 15 years"},{"startTime":876.615,"endTime":881.195,"body":"ago."},{"startTime":881.195,"endTime":881.715,"body":"Absolutely."},{"startTime":881.715,"endTime":886.166,"body":"think that's the reason why, you're curious about that."},{"startTime":886.166,"endTime":897.819,"body":"Yeah, I'm actually curious about the conditioning aspect specifically in natural"},{"startTime":886.166,"endTime":897.819,"body":"bodybuilding because I feel like around, was it three to five years ago, maybe a little"},{"startTime":897.819,"endTime":909.812,"body":"bit more, it seemed like there was a shift where having glutes that were in and being just"},{"startTime":897.819,"endTime":909.812,"body":"completely shredded to the bone became the number one priority of natural bodybuilding."},{"startTime":909.812,"endTime":915.798,"body":"And I'd heard a lot of critiques of people being like, it's at the expense of muscularity."},{"startTime":915.798,"endTime":927.95,"body":"or size and I assume there was gonna be kind of a boomerang effect where it comes back"},{"startTime":915.798,"endTime":927.95,"body":"around and then it starts to prioritize or reward size and muscularity maybe slightly more"},{"startTime":927.95,"endTime":930.593,"body":"or at least on par with the conditioning."},{"startTime":930.593,"endTime":939.402,"body":"Do you feel like that transition has occurred or are we still rewarding conditioning or is"},{"startTime":930.593,"endTime":939.402,"body":"it just the conditioning is now just an expectation and then it's building size on top of"},{"startTime":939.402,"endTime":940.072,"body":"that?"},{"startTime":940.812,"endTime":944.404,"body":"Yeah, I think the way I'll answer it is this way."},{"startTime":944.404,"endTime":952.9,"body":"I think when people started to get that mind bending shape, that really crystal detail, it"},{"startTime":944.404,"endTime":952.9,"body":"was kind of a new thing that was happening more consistently."},{"startTime":952.9,"endTime":959.754,"body":"And I think some of the panels just like ended up rewarding it pretty heavily because"},{"startTime":952.9,"endTime":959.754,"body":"they're like, holy shit, like, look at this, right?"},{"startTime":959.754,"endTime":966.872,"body":"And then I think as it got more common and normative, it's kind of come back a little bit"},{"startTime":959.754,"endTime":966.872,"body":"more into balance where..."},{"startTime":966.872,"endTime":975.014,"body":"they're looking at that pretty stringently, but they're also looking at, you know, how"},{"startTime":966.872,"endTime":975.014,"body":"much do those muscles just boom, how much do they pop, right?"},{"startTime":975.014,"endTime":976.135,"body":"And they're looking at balance."},{"startTime":976.135,"endTime":984.427,"body":"So I think actually they're doing a pretty good job balancing both kind of muscularity and"},{"startTime":976.135,"endTime":984.427,"body":"conditioning and judging criteria now."},{"startTime":984.427,"endTime":991.449,"body":"But I think there was a period there where it was like people were coming in shocking"},{"startTime":984.427,"endTime":991.449,"body":"levels that just weren't common and they didn't really know how to sort it out."},{"startTime":991.569,"endTime":995.43,"body":"And I think, you know, that was kind of the thing with my physique too."},{"startTime":995.43,"endTime":996.39,"body":"It's like,"},{"startTime":996.558,"endTime":1001.098,"body":"I don't really come out on stage and look like I'm this full round blasting dude, right?"},{"startTime":1001.098,"endTime":1002.698,"body":"I kind of walk out."},{"startTime":1002.698,"endTime":1009.538,"body":"You don't see a whole lot of pop in my chest and delts, but then I hit a shot and then you"},{"startTime":1002.698,"endTime":1009.538,"body":"see everything kind of come to life and a lot of sinewy detail."},{"startTime":1009.538,"endTime":1014.458,"body":"But in a lineup, sometimes you need that boom and that pop to stand out, right?"},{"startTime":1014.458,"endTime":1019.558,"body":"And so I thought I was judged really accurately the last two weeks."},{"startTime":1019.558,"endTime":1021.698,"body":"So I was really happy with that."},{"startTime":1021.978,"endTime":1024.266,"body":"You know, there was..."},{"startTime":1024.266,"endTime":1029.328,"body":"In the Masters bodybuilding category, was worried I was going to get a second place there."},{"startTime":1029.328,"endTime":1034.2089999999998,"body":"I felt like my physique was standout in that category."},{"startTime":1034.2089999999998,"endTime":1039.411,"body":"But the other dude certainly had some dimension on the pecs and the arms compared to me."},{"startTime":1039.411,"endTime":1042.0410000000002,"body":"And I thought they might favor that in bodybuilding."},{"startTime":1042.0410000000002,"endTime":1045.312,"body":"But they gave me the first over him."},{"startTime":1045.312,"endTime":1050.594,"body":"obviously, they tended to go with the conditioning in that regard."},{"startTime":1051.446,"endTime":1054.949,"body":"I could throw up some pics and show you guys and be like, okay, here's the difference."},{"startTime":1054.949,"endTime":1058.501,"body":"Here's a physique that's more filled out and booming, that's in good shape."},{"startTime":1058.501,"endTime":1061.683,"body":"And here's a physique that's sucked down, which is mine, right?"},{"startTime":1061.683,"endTime":1067.858,"body":"And there's no body fat left to be seen, but there's not as much pop and dimension, right?"},{"startTime":1067.858,"endTime":1069.599,"body":"And so I think it's tough."},{"startTime":1069.599,"endTime":1073.294,"body":"I think it's kind of apples and oranges and the judges do have a tough job in that."},{"startTime":1073.294,"endTime":1075.874,"body":"in that regard to pick the winner, right?"},{"startTime":1075.874,"endTime":1077.434,"body":"So it is bodybuilding."},{"startTime":1077.434,"endTime":1083.714,"body":"is, there's always some inherent level of subjectivity, no matter what class you do or"},{"startTime":1077.434,"endTime":1083.714,"body":"what's going on, right?"},{"startTime":1083.714,"endTime":1085.314,"body":"So yeah, absolutely."},{"startTime":1085.314,"endTime":1086.426,"body":"Great question, Brian."},{"startTime":1086.426,"endTime":1090.4,"body":"So Connor, what I want to talk about is this most recent prep."},{"startTime":1090.4,"endTime":1096.415,"body":"think I saw something on your Instagram that in that I think I might be wrong with this,"},{"startTime":1090.4,"endTime":1096.415,"body":"but I was like, have to ask him."},{"startTime":1096.415,"endTime":1104.403,"body":"But I remember seeing that there was only a 13 week prep for this most recent show or"},{"startTime":1096.415,"endTime":1104.403,"body":"shows because you did back to back shows."},{"startTime":1104.403,"endTime":1108.266,"body":"um Am I making that up or is that accurate?"},{"startTime":1108.489,"endTime":1109.882,"body":"accurate, you nailed it."},{"startTime":1110.222,"endTime":1118.191,"body":"Okay, is that not like a blisteringly fast paced for a natural bodybuilding contest?"},{"startTime":1118.191,"endTime":1120.344,"body":"To get in the conditioning that you were?"},{"startTime":1121.697,"endTime":1124.057,"body":"And so I'd love to provide some context around this."},{"startTime":1124.057,"endTime":1126.557,"body":"So it doesn't seem so crazy to people."},{"startTime":1126.557,"endTime":1130.937,"body":"But basically I had a season plan last year, right?"},{"startTime":1130.937,"endTime":1139.057,"body":"And so I ended up doing a full contest prep that was like maybe, oh gosh, 30 some weeks."},{"startTime":1139.337,"endTime":1141.697,"body":"So this is back in 2024."},{"startTime":1142.317,"endTime":1145.193,"body":"So 2024, I'm starting my prep around, I don't know."},{"startTime":1145.193,"endTime":1149.435,"body":"200 pounds and coming down to like 170 or something over 30 weeks, right?"},{"startTime":1149.435,"endTime":1156.198,"body":"And then three weeks out, just what I had going on in life at that time, it felt like the"},{"startTime":1149.435,"endTime":1156.198,"body":"right choice to kind of drop out of the season."},{"startTime":1156.198,"endTime":1161.459,"body":"um had a partner at the time who had some family health issues."},{"startTime":1161.459,"endTime":1164.457,"body":"I felt like in that situation, kind of..."},{"startTime":1164.457,"endTime":1166.777,"body":"needed to kind of help her out."},{"startTime":1166.777,"endTime":1169.857,"body":"And so I had to do some traveling for some sick family members, things like that."},{"startTime":1169.857,"endTime":1174.657,"body":"And it just didn't seem like it was a good idea to get on stage in that situation."},{"startTime":1174.857,"endTime":1180.516,"body":"So I ended up like basically getting contest lean in 2024, or very, very close, three"},{"startTime":1174.857,"endTime":1180.516,"body":"weeks out."},{"startTime":1180.516,"endTime":1186.537,"body":"And then shutting the season down with the hope that I could kind of save it and come back"},{"startTime":1180.516,"endTime":1186.537,"body":"next year."},{"startTime":1186.537,"endTime":1187.077,"body":"Right?"},{"startTime":1187.077,"endTime":1188.297,"body":"So that is what I did."},{"startTime":1188.297,"endTime":1192.577,"body":"So I kind of like recovered a little bit, but also kept it very tight."},{"startTime":1192.577,"endTime":1194.363,"body":"I let my max body weight come up to,"},{"startTime":1194.363,"endTime":1198.603,"body":"think 186 was the highest, which is still pretty lean."},{"startTime":1199.223,"endTime":1205.603,"body":"That might be leaner than some people on stage if they're doing their first show at 186."},{"startTime":1205.923,"endTime":1208.503,"body":"So it was a lean starting point."},{"startTime":1208.503,"endTime":1209.225,"body":"then..."},{"startTime":1209.225,"endTime":1211.165,"body":"It was an aggressive prep, right?"},{"startTime":1211.165,"endTime":1217.705,"body":"And additionally, my plan was to actually not be in this kind of condition for these early"},{"startTime":1211.165,"endTime":1217.705,"body":"shows."},{"startTime":1217.705,"endTime":1223.225,"body":"I had planned to go all the way to the fall with the prep and we can talk more about that"},{"startTime":1217.705,"endTime":1223.225,"body":"later."},{"startTime":1223.225,"endTime":1229.725,"body":"But I planned to go all the way to the fall and I planned to actually compete with like"},{"startTime":1223.225,"endTime":1229.725,"body":"more of that softer, booming look that we're talking about."},{"startTime":1229.725,"endTime":1231.445,"body":"But it just didn't end up happening."},{"startTime":1232.041,"endTime":1237.161,"body":"As I got into the prep, I started off on myself and then at eight weeks out, I hired"},{"startTime":1232.041,"endTime":1237.161,"body":"Brandon because I was like, you know what?"},{"startTime":1237.161,"endTime":1238.921,"body":"I'm going all in on bodybuilding this year."},{"startTime":1238.921,"endTime":1240.321,"body":"I want to get the most out of myself."},{"startTime":1240.321,"endTime":1241.421,"body":"And I had kind of been doing that too."},{"startTime":1241.421,"endTime":1243.141,"body":"Like I worked with coaches."},{"startTime":1243.141,"endTime":1244.721,"body":"I was just on my game."},{"startTime":1244.721,"endTime":1251.561,"body":"Like, I mean, it was, was honestly really sad for me to have to cancel the season last"},{"startTime":1244.721,"endTime":1251.561,"body":"year and I didn't get, you know, I didn't get what I wanted."},{"startTime":1251.561,"endTime":1255.901,"body":"And so when I didn't get what I want, I was just like, man, I just really want to take"},{"startTime":1251.561,"endTime":1255.901,"body":"hold of this."},{"startTime":1255.901,"endTime":1256.821,"body":"I,"},{"startTime":1256.969,"endTime":1264.589,"body":"You know, it's probably the strictest I've been, you know, over all the years, basically,"},{"startTime":1256.969,"endTime":1264.589,"body":"of bodybuilding, like the most meticulous about training nutrition."},{"startTime":1265.587,"endTime":1268.728,"body":"posing everything I could possibly do to maximize things, right?"},{"startTime":1268.728,"endTime":1272.5,"body":"So I ended up hiring Britten eight weeks out and let him take the reins."},{"startTime":1272.5,"endTime":1274.331,"body":"So at that point I don't have control anymore."},{"startTime":1274.331,"endTime":1277.303,"body":"It's his car in a run."},{"startTime":1277.303,"endTime":1285.586,"body":"so we just, he's competitive, we're both competitive and we just kind of ended up dieting"},{"startTime":1277.303,"endTime":1285.586,"body":"fairly aggressively and kind of getting into the shape that we got into."},{"startTime":1285.586,"endTime":1288.788,"body":"So it wasn't something that we even expected."},{"startTime":1288.788,"endTime":1292.71,"body":"It just kind of happened and my body was just willing to give it up."},{"startTime":1292.71,"endTime":1294.511,"body":"It didn't fight me that hard."},{"startTime":1294.511,"endTime":1295.531,"body":"It was just kind of,"},{"startTime":1295.531,"endTime":1306.011,"body":"there and we kept calories and steps from the needed to be and then Fatigue definitely set"},{"startTime":1295.531,"endTime":1306.011,"body":"in a little bit at the end, but it is prep That's what you expect and that's kind of how"},{"startTime":1306.011,"endTime":1312.611,"body":"it all happened then technically to for the first For the first show from I started that"},{"startTime":1306.011,"endTime":1312.611,"body":"idea was 12 weeks."},{"startTime":1312.611,"endTime":1322.631,"body":"I wanted to start at 15 weeks out I get a really bad stomach bug and so that took me a"},{"startTime":1312.611,"endTime":1322.631,"body":"little bit to recover from and I was worried it wasn't gonna be enough time, but I guess I"},{"startTime":1322.631,"endTime":1325.403,"body":"guess that it was alright timeline was good, so"},{"startTime":1325.403,"endTime":1333.051,"body":"um That it is rare for natural bodybuilding for it to be that short and I wouldn't"},{"startTime":1325.403,"endTime":1333.051,"body":"necessarily recommend people to do that I will say though if you want to work efficiently"},{"startTime":1333.051,"endTime":1333.892,"body":"You can do it."},{"startTime":1333.892,"endTime":1337.376,"body":"You just have to know where you need to be and you execute every week, right?"},{"startTime":1337.376,"endTime":1344.794,"body":"You can't have all this time trying to spend, you know What calories do I need to be"},{"startTime":1337.376,"endTime":1344.794,"body":"losing on you just need to know and get ready to do it and execute and you can make it"},{"startTime":1344.794,"endTime":1345.944,"body":"pretty efficient that way"},{"startTime":1345.944,"endTime":1350.273,"body":"What was your stage weight from 186 down to what?"},{"startTime":1350.761,"endTime":1356.601,"body":"So I was on stage and this wasn't my favorite part of the prep because I get lighter than"},{"startTime":1350.761,"endTime":1356.601,"body":"I've ever been."},{"startTime":1356.601,"endTime":1359.841,"body":"But I would have been on stage around 170 pounds."},{"startTime":1360.241,"endTime":1368.321,"body":"That would have been actually even lighter than I was in 2022, which is still something"},{"startTime":1360.241,"endTime":1368.321,"body":"I'm trying to figure out because you can still tell there's improvements to muscularity"},{"startTime":1368.321,"endTime":1370.281,"body":"from 2022 to 2025."},{"startTime":1370.281,"endTime":1375.501,"body":"But I guess I get a little bit leaner and I was shocked at that."},{"startTime":1375.501,"endTime":1380.961,"body":"But my lowest body weight was down to 165, which to me is crazy because I'm 5'11\"."},{"startTime":1381.155,"endTime":1386.067,"body":"And that's, I've never been 165 in my life, adult life before, I don't think."},{"startTime":1386.468,"endTime":1387.768,"body":"So that was shocking to me."},{"startTime":1387.768,"endTime":1389.599,"body":"And that was really, really flat."},{"startTime":1389.599,"endTime":1391.32,"body":"Like I've never seen myself so flat."},{"startTime":1391.32,"endTime":1402.245,"body":"And then basically bringing that carb up where you're getting probably like after some"},{"startTime":1391.32,"endTime":1402.245,"body":"fluids and food, you know, we're talking 170, but like maybe 168 in the morning in terms"},{"startTime":1402.245,"endTime":1403.435,"body":"of like morning weigh-in."},{"startTime":1403.435,"endTime":1406.027,"body":"So that would have been around where I'm landing."},{"startTime":1406.027,"endTime":1406.797,"body":"then."},{"startTime":1406.919,"endTime":1410.291,"body":"Yeah, that was a little shocking to me that it got down that low."},{"startTime":1410.291,"endTime":1417.394,"body":"I figured, you know, once I hit 170, that loss is done, but my body said, hey, we can"},{"startTime":1410.291,"endTime":1417.394,"body":"strip off a little bit more energy."},{"startTime":1417.394,"endTime":1418.375,"body":"There's something there."},{"startTime":1418.375,"endTime":1423.227,"body":"There's something in between your quadriceps and in between your glutes that we can take"},{"startTime":1418.375,"endTime":1423.227,"body":"away."},{"startTime":1423.227,"endTime":1425.818,"body":"So it just went ahead and did it, I guess."},{"startTime":1427.659,"endTime":1428.579,"body":"Yeah."},{"startTime":1429.46,"endTime":1430.181,"body":"Yeah."},{"startTime":1430.181,"endTime":1431.181,"body":"Yeah."},{"startTime":1432.479,"endTime":1434.474,"body":"You made a comment around steps."},{"startTime":1434.474,"endTime":1436.94,"body":"Can you take us through your cardio a little bit?"},{"startTime":1437.553,"endTime":1445.341,"body":"Absolutely, um Branded controlled my steps for the most part and for the most part during"},{"startTime":1437.553,"endTime":1445.341,"body":"prep they stayed at about 10 to 12k."},{"startTime":1445.962,"endTime":1456.343,"body":"We talked about Cardio when we did our consult and so I have my thing with this and he has"},{"startTime":1445.962,"endTime":1456.343,"body":"his and like I you know uh what I like to do personally is like if I'm on a contest prep I"},{"startTime":1456.343,"endTime":1459.996,"body":"like to do a little bit of hit a pinch"},{"startTime":1460.169,"endTime":1463.529,"body":"a pinch of hit every now and then on like an assault bike, right?"},{"startTime":1463.529,"endTime":1469.169,"body":"And so this is like, I feel like when you diet, start, metabolism starts to slow down a"},{"startTime":1463.529,"endTime":1469.169,"body":"little bit."},{"startTime":1469.229,"endTime":1475.349,"body":"And basically a little bit of hard cardio will just give you that push forward."},{"startTime":1475.349,"endTime":1477.649,"body":"It'll just harden you up to the touch."},{"startTime":1477.649,"endTime":1479.929,"body":"But if you do too much, you will wreck yourself, right?"},{"startTime":1479.929,"endTime":1490.213,"body":"So we're talking what I did personally, and like, you know, this is kind of me doing it by"},{"startTime":1479.929,"endTime":1490.213,"body":"myself and you know, Brandon might kind of cringe if he hears this, but every, every week,"},{"startTime":1490.213,"endTime":1495.444,"body":"I might do like 10 minutes on the air bike or five minutes on the air bike and that's it."},{"startTime":1495.464,"endTime":1502.906,"body":"Just like, like, I think for a while every week on a Thursday, I did like seven minutes on"},{"startTime":1495.464,"endTime":1502.906,"body":"the air bike, something like that, when I could do it."},{"startTime":1502.906,"endTime":1508.708,"body":"And then that was just, you know, interval is 15 seconds hard, 45 seconds off, five to"},{"startTime":1502.906,"endTime":1508.708,"body":"seven."},{"startTime":1508.708,"endTime":1510.988,"body":"That's it for actual real cardio."},{"startTime":1510.988,"endTime":1515.017,"body":"I feel like though I get a little bit out of that, I feel like it just kind of..."},{"startTime":1515.017,"endTime":1521.037,"body":"moves things along and if you look at some of the catecholamine response from the HIT"},{"startTime":1515.017,"endTime":1521.037,"body":"cardio, I think it makes sense."},{"startTime":1521.677,"endTime":1522.157,"body":"Dr."},{"startTime":1522.157,"endTime":1524.497,"body":"Joe Klimczewski is a big advocate of that."},{"startTime":1524.497,"endTime":1532.377,"body":"And I think too, if you look back to 2013, 2014, 2015, when that was the science-based"},{"startTime":1524.497,"endTime":1532.377,"body":"cardio, yeah, it got pushed too hard."},{"startTime":1532.377,"endTime":1533.957,"body":"People got fatigued, people got run down."},{"startTime":1533.957,"endTime":1536.537,"body":"You can't just redline it all day with HIT cardio."},{"startTime":1536.737,"endTime":1538.897,"body":"It's very, very pick your battles with it."},{"startTime":1538.897,"endTime":1545.471,"body":"But I think at the right time, with the overall umbrella of recovery being in good spot,"},{"startTime":1545.512,"endTime":1547.293,"body":"it can be just what you need, right?"},{"startTime":1547.293,"endTime":1549.216,"body":"So that's all I did."},{"startTime":1549.216,"endTime":1551.448,"body":"I felt like when I needed one, I would do one."},{"startTime":1551.448,"endTime":1553.02,"body":"And then other than that, it was just steps."},{"startTime":1553.02,"endTime":1554.06,"body":"That was it."},{"startTime":1554.169,"endTime":1556.109,"body":"that's a low enough dose."},{"startTime":1556.109,"endTime":1560.429,"body":"I mean, you're literally getting between one and two minutes of total work time."},{"startTime":1560.429,"endTime":1573.349,"body":"So it's not enough to cause too much fatigue, but it's probably enough to stimulate your"},{"startTime":1560.429,"endTime":1573.349,"body":"body to, I don't know, use the t nation words of like spike the metabolism or whatever."},{"startTime":1574.281,"endTime":1579.821,"body":"I think like I would like to research this more about like the kind of like the"},{"startTime":1574.281,"endTime":1579.821,"body":"epinephrine or epinephrine response."},{"startTime":1579.821,"endTime":1584.801,"body":"Allegedly there's a little bit more of that compared to you know more of a normative type"},{"startTime":1579.821,"endTime":1584.801,"body":"cardio session."},{"startTime":1584.801,"endTime":1589.521,"body":"So like I feel like when I get the end of the sessions even though it's only like five"},{"startTime":1584.801,"endTime":1589.521,"body":"minutes of minutes I feel it."},{"startTime":1589.521,"endTime":1590.441,"body":"I feel it on my body."},{"startTime":1590.441,"endTime":1591.881,"body":"I feel different."},{"startTime":1592.101,"endTime":1593.241,"body":"That's pretty bro."},{"startTime":1593.241,"endTime":1598.181,"body":"I'm speaking pretty bro language right now but you can just feel it's like pushing things"},{"startTime":1593.241,"endTime":1598.181,"body":"through."},{"startTime":1598.181,"endTime":1598.801,"body":"I don't know."},{"startTime":1598.801,"endTime":1600.121,"body":"That's how I perceive it at least."},{"startTime":1600.121,"endTime":1602.721,"body":"And then I always felt like it just got me a little bit tighter."},{"startTime":1602.721,"endTime":1604.305,"body":"But in no way can you abuse"},{"startTime":1604.305,"endTime":1610.161,"body":"cardio, I've done preps where I had coaches get me to do like three, four sessions a week,"},{"startTime":1604.305,"endTime":1610.161,"body":"wrecked, wrecked all day."},{"startTime":1610.161,"endTime":1612.819,"body":"And you can't afford to be that fatigued on contest prep."},{"startTime":1612.819,"endTime":1617.839,"body":"You need to be a little fatigued here and there, dip your toes into fatigue, come back out"},{"startTime":1612.819,"endTime":1617.839,"body":"of it, you know?"},{"startTime":1617.839,"endTime":1621.523,"body":"And so it's that picking your battles with things like that is very, very important."},{"startTime":1621.523,"endTime":1630.72,"body":"But for whatever reasons, and I'm sure he has them, Brandon didn't want that, just 10 to"},{"startTime":1621.523,"endTime":1630.72,"body":"12,000 steps in this most recent prep, correct?"},{"startTime":1630.72,"endTime":1631.951,"body":"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."},{"startTime":1631.951,"endTime":1634.072,"body":"Basically, yeah, that's our discussion."},{"startTime":1634.072,"endTime":1636.192,"body":"And so that's what I was doing most often."},{"startTime":1636.192,"endTime":1642.498,"body":"And I felt like it wasn't too ah bad to just kind of do those little brief sessions here"},{"startTime":1636.192,"endTime":1642.498,"body":"and there."},{"startTime":1642.498,"endTime":1643.719,"body":"I did mention it to him here and there."},{"startTime":1643.719,"endTime":1646.891,"body":"It didn't seem like it was an issue to him."},{"startTime":1646.891,"endTime":1649.873,"body":"that was being a little bit autonomous."},{"startTime":1650.134,"endTime":1652.936,"body":"yeah, for him, he just wanted me to do steps."},{"startTime":1652.936,"endTime":1654.036,"body":"Absolutely."},{"startTime":1654.067,"endTime":1660.722,"body":"Yeah, yeah, that's one thing I mean for I guess anyone like Brandon is here undefeated"},{"startTime":1654.067,"endTime":1660.722,"body":"with me."},{"startTime":1660.722,"endTime":1663.154,"body":"So like I see him regularly and stuff like that."},{"startTime":1663.154,"endTime":1666.266,"body":"And I got to watch his entire prep in person."},{"startTime":1666.287,"endTime":1669.289,"body":"And it was just very it was very cool to see."},{"startTime":1669.289,"endTime":1676.375,"body":"It was very cool to watch from him being like offseason coming through and just seeing,"},{"startTime":1669.289,"endTime":1676.375,"body":"know, how lean he was and stuff."},{"startTime":1676.375,"endTime":1679.427,"body":"And he always just he was he only did I think like."},{"startTime":1679.731,"endTime":1682.722,"body":"Like, yeah, 10,000 steps per day or 12,000 steps per day."},{"startTime":1682.722,"endTime":1683.642,"body":"It was not a lot."},{"startTime":1683.642,"endTime":1687.143,"body":"He was never on any of the cardio machines, anything like that."},{"startTime":1687.143,"endTime":1689.344,"body":"ah But do not get me wrong."},{"startTime":1689.344,"endTime":1697.326,"body":"Brandon trained hard as absolute fucking nails right up until the end, like psycho"},{"startTime":1689.344,"endTime":1697.326,"body":"training right up to the end."},{"startTime":1697.326,"endTime":1706.868,"body":"um There is this funny thing, and I don't think I've ever said on the podcast, but there"},{"startTime":1697.326,"endTime":1706.868,"body":"would be some days where we would be like where we would line up where we would like have"},{"startTime":1706.868,"endTime":1709.659,"body":"legs on the same day and we would like train at the same time."},{"startTime":1709.777,"endTime":1713.14,"body":"and we would be on the prone hamstring curl."},{"startTime":1713.14,"endTime":1719.386,"body":"And I'd be like, all right, like I got a lot of weight on Brandon, you know, I'm on PEDs"},{"startTime":1713.14,"endTime":1719.386,"body":"and stuff now, like I'm gonna be able to lift more than him."},{"startTime":1719.386,"endTime":1723.19,"body":"No, he would still lift more than me on the prone ham curl."},{"startTime":1723.19,"endTime":1727.174,"body":"And I was like so salty and I was like, fucking hell."},{"startTime":1727.174,"endTime":1730.847,"body":"Like he's so lean, he's like so deep into prep, right?"},{"startTime":1730.847,"endTime":1735.311,"body":"And the thing with me is like, as I get into prep, like the gear just goes up."},{"startTime":1735.529,"endTime":1736.41,"body":"You know what mean?"},{"startTime":1736.41,"endTime":1746.175,"body":"So like I was like I'm gonna get him this week and like no he would still have like one or"},{"startTime":1736.41,"endTime":1746.175,"body":"two plates lower than me for like equal amounts of reps and like it was just Baffling to"},{"startTime":1746.175,"endTime":1748.202,"body":"me, but it was really cool."},{"startTime":1748.202,"endTime":1749.678,"body":"It's really cool to see."},{"startTime":1749.678,"endTime":1755.162,"body":"I can tell from his footage, he trains, he trains to kind of on the verge, know, he's"},{"startTime":1749.678,"endTime":1755.162,"body":"like, you know, gets himself hyped up."},{"startTime":1755.162,"endTime":1758.775,"body":"And that's, that's one thing that like, I used to be more like that and I've changed a"},{"startTime":1755.162,"endTime":1758.775,"body":"little bit."},{"startTime":1758.775,"endTime":1762.467,"body":"Like I'm a little bit more cool headed now and kind of focused on the movement quality."},{"startTime":1762.467,"endTime":1763.48,"body":"um"},{"startTime":1763.48,"endTime":1765.48,"body":"which has, I think, helped me bring up some body parts."},{"startTime":1765.48,"endTime":1769.78,"body":"But yeah, Brandon, that dude, his legs are stacked, like, oh my gosh."},{"startTime":1769.78,"endTime":1772.74,"body":"And yeah, he trains like an absolute monster, I can tell."},{"startTime":1772.74,"endTime":1776.66,"body":"And it doesn't matter how tired Fatih D is, he's just gonna go, right?"},{"startTime":1776.66,"endTime":1778.24,"body":"And so I love that about him."},{"startTime":1778.751,"endTime":1779.584,"body":"Yeah, yeah."},{"startTime":1779.584,"endTime":1781.865,"body":"uh"},{"startTime":1781.865,"endTime":1784.819,"body":"uh yeah, go ahead if you have more bodybuilding stuff here."},{"startTime":1784.819,"endTime":1794.172,"body":"No, I was going to ask about some like like prep tips and stuff for like late in the in"},{"startTime":1784.819,"endTime":1794.172,"body":"the game of stage late in the stage late stage of prep."},{"startTime":1795.233,"endTime":1802.736,"body":"Yeah, so so you had mentioned like right as you joined, we were talking about like"},{"startTime":1795.233,"endTime":1802.736,"body":"caffeine uh usage and this new thing."},{"startTime":1802.736,"endTime":1805.464,"body":"Brian, can you mention what that supplement is called?"},{"startTime":1805.464,"endTime":1808.371,"body":"Paraxanthine, I believe is how it's pronounced."},{"startTime":1808.371,"endTime":1813.907,"body":"If any of the listeners want to give that one to Google, which is like a new potential"},{"startTime":1808.371,"endTime":1813.907,"body":"caffeine alternative."},{"startTime":1813.907,"endTime":1819.234,"body":"But yeah, anything that you would use, you know, as foods getting low, hunger is getting"},{"startTime":1813.907,"endTime":1819.234,"body":"high."},{"startTime":1819.234,"endTime":1823.899,"body":"What are some like, you know, insider tips of the the natural bodybuilding trade?"},{"startTime":1824.128,"endTime":1824.698,"body":"Absolutely."},{"startTime":1824.698,"endTime":1827.169,"body":"So I think this is a kind of an individual thing."},{"startTime":1827.169,"endTime":1834.273,"body":"um But um what I decided to do two weeks out was to follow a strict meal plan."},{"startTime":1834.273,"endTime":1839.435,"body":"And so I was doing macros before and I was having some problems with that."},{"startTime":1839.435,"endTime":1840.316,"body":"I'm going to be honest."},{"startTime":1840.316,"endTime":1841.176,"body":"So."},{"startTime":1841.176,"endTime":1852.996,"body":"Problem number one was that with the diet hack type foods, especially on like refeed days,"},{"startTime":1841.176,"endTime":1852.996,"body":"with how voluminous some of the foods would get and how much kind of food reward you're"},{"startTime":1852.996,"endTime":1859.796,"body":"leaning into, I would get like, if there was running too high days in a row of high carbs,"},{"startTime":1852.996,"endTime":1859.796,"body":"I would get edema in my ankles, right?"},{"startTime":1859.796,"endTime":1861.876,"body":"And this is something Brandon really helped me sort out, right?"},{"startTime":1861.876,"endTime":1864.396,"body":"And I talked about this on the 90 News Daily podcast."},{"startTime":1864.396,"endTime":1871.13,"body":"And so if anyone is following me at all and cares about my canker problem that I've"},{"startTime":1864.396,"endTime":1871.13,"body":"experienced in the past and wants to hear more about it here,"},{"startTime":1871.13,"endTime":1874.392,"body":"ah I feel like we found some good resolutions to that."},{"startTime":1874.392,"endTime":1881.917,"body":"So I'll quickly say, like sometimes I would, you know, refeed and get really serious"},{"startTime":1874.392,"endTime":1881.917,"body":"edema, like pitting edema in my ankles, right?"},{"startTime":1881.917,"endTime":1888.832,"body":"So almost looks like I might see CHF patient or like a pregnant lady or something, you"},{"startTime":1881.917,"endTime":1888.832,"body":"know, post-refeeding, right?"},{"startTime":1888.832,"endTime":1890.303,"body":"And I thought, poor me."},{"startTime":1890.303,"endTime":1893.815,"body":"You know, I just have this weird thing going on, but I think I understand a little bit"},{"startTime":1890.303,"endTime":1893.815,"body":"more now."},{"startTime":1893.815,"endTime":1901.243,"body":"So when I do these refeed days, you know, I would like eat them out of potatoes, eat a big"},{"startTime":1893.815,"endTime":1901.243,"body":"salad, eat like a protein jello type thing."},{"startTime":1901.243,"endTime":1905.052,"body":"You're just literally leaning into that food reward because it's so damn high when you're"},{"startTime":1901.243,"endTime":1905.052,"body":"lean, right?"},{"startTime":1905.052,"endTime":1907.999,"body":"And so this prep, I leaned out of it."},{"startTime":1907.999,"endTime":1910.474,"body":"Hard, hard, hard, hard, hard, hard."},{"startTime":1910.58,"endTime":1916.284,"body":"no diet hacks, or very, very little, no zero calorie sauces, things like that."},{"startTime":1916.284,"endTime":1921.428,"body":"And so um that seemed to really, really help me stay grounded."},{"startTime":1921.428,"endTime":1931.856,"body":"It made it actually easier to eat because when you're so damn lean on prep, you eat kind"},{"startTime":1921.428,"endTime":1931.856,"body":"of a medium food reward type meal, like a chicken and a rice or a, you"},{"startTime":1932.096,"endTime":1940.271,"body":"It's anything kind of normal normative bodybuilding food think of anything and it still"},{"startTime":1932.096,"endTime":1940.271,"body":"tastes pretty good right because you the food reward is so high for anything any damn"},{"startTime":1940.271,"endTime":1948.445,"body":"thing you can put in your mouth right so One of my biggest tips was to lean out of that"},{"startTime":1940.271,"endTime":1948.445,"body":"food reward right and so I think some people are like I stand the dieting to have these"},{"startTime":1948.445,"endTime":1957.16,"body":"foods that Tastes good, but like everything will taste good when you're lean bro"},{"startTime":1948.445,"endTime":1957.16,"body":"everything so just eat the foods that keep you on track right so that's what I did it two"},{"startTime":1957.16,"endTime":1961.1,"body":"weeks out before that to you I was having like some ninja creamies and"},{"startTime":1961.1,"endTime":1962.352,"body":"Those kind of sketch me out, man."},{"startTime":1962.352,"endTime":1970.453,"body":"Like those recipes, they're good, they're rewarding, but if you look at like how much"},{"startTime":1962.352,"endTime":1970.453,"body":"sugar alcohol people are dumping into them, like there'll be recipes with like 20 grams of"},{"startTime":1970.453,"endTime":1971.815,"body":"sugar alcohol, right?"},{"startTime":1971.815,"endTime":1979.414,"body":"And it will say zero calorie on the bag, but if you look it up, like I think sugar alcohol"},{"startTime":1971.815,"endTime":1979.414,"body":"is like 1.4 calories per gram."},{"startTime":1979.414,"endTime":1979.804,"body":"Right?"},{"startTime":1979.804,"endTime":1984.498,"body":"So, you know, I was like making them into counting for those carbs and then being kind of"},{"startTime":1979.804,"endTime":1984.498,"body":"unhappy."},{"startTime":1984.498,"endTime":1985.949,"body":"was like, no, I want the carbs."},{"startTime":1985.949,"endTime":1987.971,"body":"If I'm going to have carbs, I want them to be real carbs."},{"startTime":1987.971,"endTime":1990.382,"body":"I want them to help me help aid my performance."},{"startTime":1990.382,"endTime":1990.603,"body":"Right?"},{"startTime":1990.603,"endTime":1992.314,"body":"And so I leaned out of that."},{"startTime":1992.374,"endTime":1995.717,"body":"And then that seemed to help, you know, get a lot out of me that last little bit."},{"startTime":1995.717,"endTime":2000.33,"body":"Like even little things too, like, I started to get"},{"startTime":2000.33,"endTime":2006.783,"body":"pre-hard boiled eggs at the store, rather than having to like spray a cooking pan and make"},{"startTime":2000.33,"endTime":2006.783,"body":"an egg and get the fat from this cooking spray."},{"startTime":2006.783,"endTime":2008.222,"body":"Little things like that, man."},{"startTime":2008.222,"endTime":2013.816,"body":"I know that sounds maybe a little bit over the top, but I was just trying to make"},{"startTime":2008.222,"endTime":2013.816,"body":"adherence as good as I possibly could, right?"},{"startTime":2013.816,"endTime":2015.817,"body":"So that was one thing was just being strict with things."},{"startTime":2015.817,"endTime":2021.749,"body":"You know, another thing is to like watch your, watch what you're doing in the gym, you"},{"startTime":2015.817,"endTime":2021.749,"body":"know, at the end."},{"startTime":2021.749,"endTime":2026.561,"body":"um And watch this whole maintain the log book thing."},{"startTime":2026.561,"endTime":2028.184,"body":"I mean, that is important, but..."},{"startTime":2028.184,"endTime":2029.866,"body":"Make sure your movement quality is good."},{"startTime":2029.866,"endTime":2032.45,"body":"It's going to be harder when you're fatigued to have good movement quality."},{"startTime":2032.45,"endTime":2033.587,"body":"You're going to want to cut corners."},{"startTime":2033.587,"endTime":2034.584,"body":"You're going to want to..."},{"startTime":2034.584,"endTime":2037.504,"body":"you know, maybe use accessory muscle groups to lift."},{"startTime":2037.504,"endTime":2042.904,"body":"I mean, monitor that movement quality, make sure volume is like at a place you can recover"},{"startTime":2037.504,"endTime":2042.904,"body":"from."},{"startTime":2042.904,"endTime":2049.084,"body":"And the way I like to tell people to understand this is like, think of the lowest volume"},{"startTime":2042.904,"endTime":2049.084,"body":"tier you could grow off in the off season."},{"startTime":2049.084,"endTime":2052.764,"body":"And that's probably a good place to be at the end of prep."},{"startTime":2052.764,"endTime":2054.904,"body":"You certainly don't want to just have no volume."},{"startTime":2054.904,"endTime":2062.804,"body":"Like that's not a bad, that's not a good idea, but you like, if you think like, what could"},{"startTime":2054.904,"endTime":2062.804,"body":"you make progress of when you're in kind of a slight surplus or maintenance?"},{"startTime":2062.804,"endTime":2064.784,"body":"That's probably a good place to be, you know?"},{"startTime":2064.798,"endTime":2072.7960000000003,"body":"Don't get lost in the sauce of crap where you think okay now I need to do all the volume"},{"startTime":2064.798,"endTime":2072.7960000000003,"body":"and all the intensifiers because you know Oh, hey, I don't have this progressive overlook"},{"startTime":2072.7960000000003,"endTime":2073.486,"body":"component anymore."},{"startTime":2073.486,"endTime":2082.955,"body":"I can't adapt so I need to just make up for it with more volume That's probably the worst"},{"startTime":2073.486,"endTime":2082.955,"body":"mistake you could make and I've done that before and that was just fatigue central so you"},{"startTime":2082.955,"endTime":2088.312,"body":"need to keep fatigue in a good umbrella the whole time and there's gonna be days that are"},{"startTime":2082.955,"endTime":2088.312,"body":"gonna be tough, but"},{"startTime":2088.312,"endTime":2095.584,"body":"you know, hopefully you're just having kind of one to two kind of depletion days and then,"},{"startTime":2088.312,"endTime":2095.584,"body":"you know, having, you know, a good reachy day and then coming back to life, right?"},{"startTime":2095.584,"endTime":2102.267,"body":"So you need to kind of, as Brandon would say, you know, deplete to get lean and then"},{"startTime":2095.584,"endTime":2102.267,"body":"replete to look muscular, right?"},{"startTime":2102.267,"endTime":2105.364,"body":"And so it's kind of that balance of the fullness to flatness ratios."},{"startTime":2105.364,"endTime":2108.436,"body":"And that's where I think Brandon is just really, really good at."},{"startTime":2108.436,"endTime":2111.052,"body":"He's really, really good at the basics of bodybuilding."},{"startTime":2111.052,"endTime":2112.294,"body":"which is managing those variables."},{"startTime":2112.294,"endTime":2120.13,"body":"And he's good at looking at pictures, looking at weights, looking at stats, and nailing"},{"startTime":2112.294,"endTime":2120.13,"body":"that with no, you know, no mistakes."},{"startTime":2120.13,"endTime":2121.874,"body":"That man makes no mistakes."},{"startTime":2121.874,"endTime":2123.315,"body":"That's why he's so good."},{"startTime":2124.271,"endTime":2135.099,"body":"Yeah, yeah, it was it was really interesting, you know, with him, I could tell his like"},{"startTime":2124.271,"endTime":2135.099,"body":"low days versus his high days because he was just like his demeanor was different."},{"startTime":2135.099,"endTime":2144.567,"body":"You know, like there was days where he would I'd say he looked defeated, you know, and I'm"},{"startTime":2135.099,"endTime":2144.567,"body":"like, man, he has to be on like day three or day four of a low day because he's typically"},{"startTime":2144.567,"endTime":2147.283,"body":"like just such like a jolly friendly human."},{"startTime":2147.283,"endTime":2152.036,"body":"And then like a day or two later, I'd see him and he would have like a pep in his step and"},{"startTime":2147.283,"endTime":2152.036,"body":"his head was up high."},{"startTime":2152.036,"endTime":2156.439,"body":"And I would like make a joke to Rachel, his wife and like Brandon had a refeed yesterday,"},{"startTime":2152.036,"endTime":2156.439,"body":"didn't he?"},{"startTime":2156.439,"endTime":2158.18,"body":"And she was like, he sure did."},{"startTime":2158.241,"endTime":2166.386,"body":"You know, so it is like you can you can tell you can sense it in in like someone's like"},{"startTime":2158.241,"endTime":2166.386,"body":"aura and energy and even myself."},{"startTime":2166.386,"endTime":2166.707,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":2166.707,"endTime":2167.847,"body":"Like, I mean, you can feel it."},{"startTime":2167.847,"endTime":2174.852,"body":"The days were for some reason, you know, we have we have like 30 steps that lead up to"},{"startTime":2167.847,"endTime":2174.852,"body":"like the gym floor."},{"startTime":2174.852,"endTime":2176.361,"body":"And there's days where."},{"startTime":2176.361,"endTime":2178.314,"body":"they feel like a mountain to climb."},{"startTime":2178.314,"endTime":2181.269,"body":"I'm like, OK, like we're we're in for it today."},{"startTime":2181.269,"endTime":2183.814,"body":"You know, so it's definitely a very real thing."},{"startTime":2183.814,"endTime":2188.535,"body":"You can, if you have a good eye for it, you can just look, see someone across the gym and"},{"startTime":2183.814,"endTime":2188.535,"body":"tell that they're deep prep."},{"startTime":2188.535,"endTime":2191.252,"body":"Like you just see how they ambulate, how they move around."},{"startTime":2191.252,"endTime":2192.681,"body":"You do everything a little bit lazier."},{"startTime":2192.681,"endTime":2201.309,"body":"Um, you know, like I think like it's always a good refraction period for me to see what"},{"startTime":2192.681,"endTime":2201.309,"body":"I'm bad at during contest prep because you start to cut corners."},{"startTime":2201.309,"endTime":2201.679,"body":"Right?"},{"startTime":2201.679,"endTime":2206.073,"body":"So like, I'm not good at like organizing my environment for very much."},{"startTime":2206.073,"endTime":2207.973,"body":"So like my kitchen was a mess all the time."},{"startTime":2207.973,"endTime":2210.348,"body":"I was constantly mad at myself for not."},{"startTime":2210.348,"endTime":2212.219,"body":"Like putting things back and being organized."},{"startTime":2212.219,"endTime":2214.95,"body":"And it just felt like a battle to like keep that going."},{"startTime":2214.95,"endTime":2218.761,"body":"Now that I'm, you know, not in this depleted state, it just feels so automatic."},{"startTime":2218.761,"endTime":2222.763,"body":"It feels like I have more brain function to like manage, you know, three or four tasks at"},{"startTime":2218.761,"endTime":2222.763,"body":"once."},{"startTime":2222.763,"endTime":2230.716,"body":"know, like yesterday, for instance, I like, you know, whitening my teeth, uh, cook some"},{"startTime":2222.763,"endTime":2230.716,"body":"chicken and clean up the kitchen all at the same time."},{"startTime":2230.716,"endTime":2234.138,"body":"On prep, was like, just manage one thing at a time."},{"startTime":2234.208,"endTime":2234.658,"body":"That thing."},{"startTime":2234.658,"endTime":2237.793,"body":"And I still am on prep, but I'm not in a deficit, right?"},{"startTime":2237.793,"endTime":2238.48,"body":"So that's the thing."},{"startTime":2238.48,"endTime":2239.638,"body":"Um."},{"startTime":2239.638,"endTime":2240.83,"body":"you really feel the difference."},{"startTime":2240.83,"endTime":2249.681,"body":"It's shocking how differently you'll function in a deep deficit versus even to set"},{"startTime":2240.83,"endTime":2249.681,"body":"maintenance calories, even if you're still shredded, right?"},{"startTime":2249.681,"endTime":2251.363,"body":"It's a big difference."},{"startTime":2251.955,"endTime":2252.786,"body":"Huge."},{"startTime":2252.786,"endTime":2257.35,"body":"One thing that I wanted to ask you about and then we'll move on is around like caffeine"},{"startTime":2252.786,"endTime":2257.35,"body":"intake."},{"startTime":2257.35,"endTime":2262.194,"body":"Like that's something that I typically, I'm a very slow caffeine metabolizer."},{"startTime":2262.194,"endTime":2264.756,"body":"So I have to be careful or I can't go to sleep at night."},{"startTime":2264.756,"endTime":2273.944,"body":"um And then typically I'm typically like a double shot espresso at like 6.30 AM and then"},{"startTime":2264.756,"endTime":2273.944,"body":"another one at like, like eight 30 sort of person."},{"startTime":2273.944,"endTime":2279.757,"body":"But now I need like a third something at like 10, 10 30."},{"startTime":2280.019,"endTime":2290.906,"body":"before I train or my energy levels are like zapped, know, and it's like, need that like"},{"startTime":2280.019,"endTime":2290.906,"body":"triple touch of caffeine kind of just to get me like, head like chin above water a little"},{"startTime":2290.906,"endTime":2296.098,"body":"bit, whereas like normally like that would have me like teeth grinding like uncomfortable."},{"startTime":2296.218,"endTime":2306.68,"body":"And it's really one of those wild things how it's like, it's how, how the stages of prep,"},{"startTime":2296.218,"endTime":2306.68,"body":"like you're just running like on a significantly reduced capacity."},{"startTime":2306.68,"endTime":2308.1,"body":"Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah."},{"startTime":2308.1,"endTime":2311.16,"body":"And so I think there is a bit of strategy you can take with that."},{"startTime":2311.16,"endTime":2317.34,"body":"And I will say I won't give myself as good of a grade this year in terms of caffeine"},{"startTime":2311.16,"endTime":2317.34,"body":"management as I would have in 2022."},{"startTime":2317.34,"endTime":2319.48,"body":"In 2022 prep, I did an amazing job."},{"startTime":2319.48,"endTime":2322.8,"body":"I took a period off of caffeine before I started the prep."},{"startTime":2322.806,"endTime":2324.047,"body":"And I ramped it up very slowly."},{"startTime":2324.047,"endTime":2333.701,"body":"then, so that was a great year where I think at the end I was doing like 400 milligrams"},{"startTime":2324.047,"endTime":2333.701,"body":"and it was working for me, even in deep prep because I kept it so low and that was great"},{"startTime":2333.701,"endTime":2334.181,"body":"choice."},{"startTime":2334.181,"endTime":2335.502,"body":"This year I did not do so well."},{"startTime":2335.502,"endTime":2340.164,"body":"This year it was a turning into more of a just survive somehow strategy at the end."},{"startTime":2340.164,"endTime":2343.646,"body":"So ah I actually did really measure total milligrams."},{"startTime":2343.646,"endTime":2349.829,"body":"I would imagine if I'm being honest, I think some days I probably would have been around"},{"startTime":2343.646,"endTime":2349.829,"body":"the 600 milligram mark."},{"startTime":2349.829,"endTime":2352.73,"body":"If I'm being fair, maybe some days venturing even a little bit"},{"startTime":2352.73,"endTime":2363.03,"body":"over that in extreme circumstances but probably average would be like you know 500 to 600"},{"startTime":2352.73,"endTime":2363.03,"body":"milligrams per day and then yeah trying to keep it to morning trying to keep it to morning"},{"startTime":2363.03,"endTime":2374.39,"body":"for sure and then like I said before this like sometimes I'll use a little bit of nicotine"},{"startTime":2363.03,"endTime":2374.39,"body":"at night because it has a shorter half-life to keep it going so either a gum or a pouch"},{"startTime":2374.39,"endTime":2379.81,"body":"you know I wouldn't recommend that people just try it because obviously it could be"},{"startTime":2374.39,"endTime":2379.81,"body":"addictive but"},{"startTime":2380.32,"endTime":2383.622,"body":"I've used it for preformant preps and I know as soon as I'm done dieting I don't want it."},{"startTime":2383.622,"endTime":2384.923,"body":"It's like a bit of an ick."},{"startTime":2384.923,"endTime":2395.229,"body":"um yeah, that could be a strategy too, just to keep yourself going more in the PM hours"},{"startTime":2384.923,"endTime":2395.229,"body":"for something that has a shorter half life that kind of gives you the same type of feel"},{"startTime":2395.229,"endTime":2398.071,"body":"and type of little short person energies, short person mood."},{"startTime":2398.071,"endTime":2399.631,"body":"Good for social situations as well."},{"startTime":2399.631,"endTime":2400.86,"body":"ah"},{"startTime":2400.86,"endTime":2401.75,"body":"So damn tired."},{"startTime":2401.75,"endTime":2406.102,"body":"So that's another thing I'll institute for myself as well here and there."},{"startTime":2406.102,"endTime":2408.663,"body":"It's just a little bit of nicotine at the right time."},{"startTime":2408.683,"endTime":2419.189,"body":"And uh also to, um Yohimbine as well too in the morning as a, as a fat burner, is not,"},{"startTime":2408.683,"endTime":2419.189,"body":"which is funny enough, it's banned in Canada, but it's not banned in natural bodybuilding."},{"startTime":2419.189,"endTime":2422.23,"body":"So you can't buy it here, but you can import it and you can use that."},{"startTime":2422.23,"endTime":2429.734,"body":"And so a little bit of Yohimbine, if you can tolerate it, the, you know, some people it"},{"startTime":2422.23,"endTime":2429.734,"body":"gets people anxiety, but like five milligrams was pretty good for me."},{"startTime":2429.734,"endTime":2430.734,"body":"So, uh,"},{"startTime":2430.734,"endTime":2440.998,"body":"that would be like my total stimulant low, which not I'm saying it all, sounds like quite"},{"startTime":2430.734,"endTime":2440.998,"body":"a bit, but certainly um you ramp it up when you need to and then you ramp it down when you"},{"startTime":2440.998,"endTime":2441.748,"body":"don't need it, right?"},{"startTime":2441.748,"endTime":2444.619,"body":"So be smart about it for sure."},{"startTime":2444.619,"endTime":2450.712,"body":"And you don't want to affect sleep quality, because you're already burning the candle"},{"startTime":2444.619,"endTime":2450.712,"body":"there with getting lean."},{"startTime":2450.712,"endTime":2452.922,"body":"Most people experience sleep disturbances."},{"startTime":2452.942,"endTime":2457.564,"body":"I know for me right now, I can sleep about five hours a night."},{"startTime":2457.666,"endTime":2464.54,"body":"which is pretty good considering the condition, but I've certainly had preps where it's"},{"startTime":2457.666,"endTime":2464.54,"body":"like waking up every hour at the end."},{"startTime":2464.54,"endTime":2467.842,"body":"So uh that's definitely not a fun spot to be in."},{"startTime":2467.842,"endTime":2470.743,"body":"So don't make it worse with more stimulant usage, please."},{"startTime":2471.283,"endTime":2477.919,"body":"Yeah, yeah, the laying in bed, hoping it's at a reasonable enough hour for you to get up"},{"startTime":2471.283,"endTime":2477.919,"body":"and start your day."},{"startTime":2477.919,"endTime":2479.72,"body":"Like that's just a miserable feeling."},{"startTime":2479.72,"endTime":2483.523,"body":"And you're like, I don't want to look at the clock, but like maybe it's like four a.m."},{"startTime":2483.523,"endTime":2489.367,"body":"and I can get up and then it's like 130 and you're like, oh, fuck, this is going to be a"},{"startTime":2483.523,"endTime":2489.367,"body":"really rough night."},{"startTime":2489.828,"endTime":2491.043,"body":"Yeah, that's not fun."},{"startTime":2491.043,"endTime":2493.097,"body":"was listening yesterday to your experience."},{"startTime":2493.097,"endTime":2496.313,"body":"You didn't sleep much the weekend of your show."},{"startTime":2496.313,"endTime":2499.199,"body":"um Super common, Super common."},{"startTime":2499.199,"endTime":2499.958,"body":"eh"},{"startTime":2499.958,"endTime":2508.772,"body":"I think it needs to be more talked about because yeah, it's like you're traveling, you're"},{"startTime":2499.958,"endTime":2508.772,"body":"stressed, you know, your body is just, it's that sympathetic drive, bro."},{"startTime":2508.772,"endTime":2515.535,"body":"Not only is your body like telling you to go hunt a deer, it's telling you, okay, we also"},{"startTime":2508.772,"endTime":2515.535,"body":"need to do every single thing we need to get on stage."},{"startTime":2515.535,"endTime":2518.417,"body":"And it's like thing after thing after thing after thing after thing to worry about."},{"startTime":2518.417,"endTime":2521.218,"body":"And so I don't know how to not be stressed in those moments."},{"startTime":2521.218,"endTime":2525.98,"body":"ah I'm trying to do a better job managing my nervous system, but it's not easy."},{"startTime":2525.98,"endTime":2527.081,"body":"It's not easy."},{"startTime":2527.081,"endTime":2529.882,"body":"I really sometimes envy these people who are more"},{"startTime":2529.882,"endTime":2537.182,"body":"type B, who can just let it go and just be like, hey, we're just going to do this show and"},{"startTime":2529.882,"endTime":2537.182,"body":"rock up like more of like an Alberto Nunez type."},{"startTime":2537.182,"endTime":2538.962,"body":"Unfortunately, that's not my personality style."},{"startTime":2538.962,"endTime":2540.942,"body":"I'm a little bit more type A."},{"startTime":2540.942,"endTime":2545.242,"body":"And so I get a little bit more of that anxiety response towards the end, I think."},{"startTime":2545.242,"endTime":2548.462,"body":"But, you know, that's a game we play."},{"startTime":2549.139,"endTime":2549.971,"body":"Yeah."},{"startTime":2550.309,"endTime":2552.688,"body":"Do have any follow ups on that part, Brian?"},{"startTime":2553.142,"endTime":2555.072,"body":"Nah, gonna move on to training."},{"startTime":2555.273,"endTime":2556.196,"body":"Yeah, let's do it."},{"startTime":2556.196,"endTime":2558.26,"body":"Yeah, I'm gonna kick that one off Brian."},{"startTime":2558.26,"endTime":2558.911,"body":"Yeah, sure."},{"startTime":2558.911,"endTime":2570.4,"body":"So oh one thing that you mentioned a few times throughout this conversation is movement"},{"startTime":2558.911,"endTime":2570.4,"body":"quality and kind of the compare and contrast, not that Brandon doesn't use high movement"},{"startTime":2570.4,"endTime":2582.81,"body":"quality, but that there's that kind of second gear that like getting amped up for the set"},{"startTime":2570.4,"endTime":2582.81,"body":"and then like really just like slamming down the gas pedal, right on each wrap or each"},{"startTime":2582.81,"endTime":2583.48,"body":"set."},{"startTime":2583.48,"endTime":2587.511,"body":"ah And that you kind of insinuated that you're taking a little bit different of an"},{"startTime":2583.48,"endTime":2587.511,"body":"approach."},{"startTime":2587.511,"endTime":2595.123,"body":"And that's kind of the approach that I've been seeing from a lot of people across my"},{"startTime":2587.511,"endTime":2595.123,"body":"Instagram feed recently."},{"startTime":2595.123,"endTime":2601.205,"body":"I'll specifically point out Dirk Emmerich ah and now Steve Hall a bit, Alberto Nunez."},{"startTime":2601.205,"endTime":2610.207,"body":"All of these guys are using weights that when you see them in their hands sometimes,"},{"startTime":2601.205,"endTime":2610.207,"body":"you're like, that thing looks like it may as well be a pink dumbbell on a Peloton or"},{"startTime":2610.207,"endTime":2612.288,"body":"something like that because"},{"startTime":2612.342,"endTime":2619.999,"body":"Like they're sitting there doing those like one arm lateral raises, lean down the incline"},{"startTime":2612.342,"endTime":2619.999,"body":"bench, like barely doing any range of motion with like this teeny dumbbell in their hand."},{"startTime":2619.999,"endTime":2625.584,"body":"And clearly it's working and Dirk and Steve are having these transformative physiques and"},{"startTime":2619.999,"endTime":2625.584,"body":"things are happening."},{"startTime":2625.584,"endTime":2631.108,"body":"But like, this is so different than the way people have trained for decades."},{"startTime":2631.109,"endTime":2632.139,"body":"What are your thoughts on that?"},{"startTime":2632.139,"endTime":2633.931,"body":"How much of that are you incorporating?"},{"startTime":2633.931,"endTime":2639.83,"body":"And is there like a significant amount of fatigue that you're saving?"},{"startTime":2639.83,"endTime":2644.446,"body":"by doing this kind of extreme focus on my muscle connection versus heavier weights."},{"startTime":2644.446,"endTime":2647.24,"body":"Do you need more sets because the weights are lighter?"},{"startTime":2647.24,"endTime":2649.292,"body":"How do you kind of make sense of all of that?"},{"startTime":2649.484,"endTime":2650.805,"body":"Man, that's such a good question."},{"startTime":2650.805,"endTime":2656.01,"body":"um So I think too, if you train for bodybuilding for a while, you go through different"},{"startTime":2650.805,"endTime":2656.01,"body":"phases, right?"},{"startTime":2656.01,"endTime":2665.579,"body":"And so the phase I'm in right now, and so I don't wanna put this up on a pedestal too"},{"startTime":2656.01,"endTime":2665.579,"body":"much, but I really get into a lot of Jonathan Warren's type content, right?"},{"startTime":2665.579,"endTime":2668.642,"body":"And so the thing with me is I can never grow packs."},{"startTime":2668.642,"endTime":2670.984,"body":"I can never do it, this wasn't happening."},{"startTime":2671.2,"endTime":2672.541,"body":"I got into his stuff."},{"startTime":2672.541,"endTime":2678.103,"body":"I did a session with Eric Seifert in person at Pure Muscle back in Toronto."},{"startTime":2678.103,"endTime":2680.745,"body":"And then I started to finally see some progress there."},{"startTime":2680.745,"endTime":2683.936,"body":"And so obviously I just wasn't moving loads very well."},{"startTime":2683.936,"endTime":2685.267,"body":"I wasn't really moving my shoulders."},{"startTime":2685.267,"endTime":2686.437,"body":"I had a big arch back."},{"startTime":2686.437,"endTime":2688.968,"body":"It wasn't connecting on tech very well."},{"startTime":2688.968,"endTime":2692.75,"body":"And so when I fixed that, you know, that was like, my gosh, all of a sudden I have this"},{"startTime":2688.968,"endTime":2692.75,"body":"progress."},{"startTime":2692.75,"endTime":2699.283,"body":"And then it was like, kind of like, well, let's try this for everybody part and see what"},{"startTime":2692.75,"endTime":2699.283,"body":"happens, you know, more of this focus on movement quality and how I'm moving loads."},{"startTime":2699.283,"endTime":2699.794,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":2699.794,"endTime":2701.004,"body":"So that's the theme I've been on right"},{"startTime":2701.004,"endTime":2706.468,"body":"Now, I'm not saying it's better or worse than anything, but it's kind of the kick I've"},{"startTime":2701.004,"endTime":2706.468,"body":"been on, so to speak."},{"startTime":2706.468,"endTime":2711.231,"body":"And so I've been exploring the kind of end regions of movement quality."},{"startTime":2711.231,"endTime":2720.867,"body":"And so, um, I think the fatigue question is really, really interesting, you know, and I"},{"startTime":2711.231,"endTime":2720.867,"body":"would say, I think it is a little bit less fatiguing, you know, but you still need to"},{"startTime":2720.867,"endTime":2722.318,"body":"train with a hyper-oxymetic failure."},{"startTime":2722.318,"endTime":2722.568,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":2722.568,"endTime":2731.344,"body":"So there's quite a bit of skill that goes into, training, you know, like moving in a way"},{"startTime":2722.568,"endTime":2731.344,"body":"that's going to grab the muscle, the muscle parts you want."},{"startTime":2731.532,"endTime":2733.363,"body":"but, also hitting failure, right?"},{"startTime":2733.363,"endTime":2739.716,"body":"And so you need to be chill enough to move well, but you also need to be on the verge"},{"startTime":2733.363,"endTime":2739.716,"body":"enough that you're going to failure, right?"},{"startTime":2739.716,"endTime":2744.705,"body":"So they're kind of two antithetical type things, but if you get your skill levels up, you"},{"startTime":2739.716,"endTime":2744.705,"body":"can do it."},{"startTime":2744.705,"endTime":2747.87,"body":"And I think, I do think there is a little less fatigue that way."},{"startTime":2747.87,"endTime":2753.572,"body":"Cause I think you're, when you're targeting a certain muscle, you're getting more of that"},{"startTime":2747.87,"endTime":2753.572,"body":"tension there and you're getting it less elsewhere."},{"startTime":2753.572,"endTime":2761.276,"body":"So think about doing like a hack squat where you're focusing more on moving your knees"},{"startTime":2753.572,"endTime":2761.276,"body":"forward and back versus the hack squat where you're just kind of going up and down and"},{"startTime":2761.276,"endTime":2761.468,"body":"there's"},{"startTime":2761.468,"endTime":2767.341,"body":"maybe a little bit more including the doctor involved, you're gonna get a little bit more"},{"startTime":2761.468,"endTime":2767.341,"body":"quads there and you're gonna get a little bit less fatigue."},{"startTime":2767.341,"endTime":2772.583,"body":"The loads are gonna be lighter for sure, but the tension will be higher on the quads in my"},{"startTime":2767.341,"endTime":2772.583,"body":"opinion, right?"},{"startTime":2772.583,"endTime":2775.464,"body":"So you're more likely to grow and maintain tissue there."},{"startTime":2775.464,"endTime":2776.825,"body":"And so that's kind of where I've been at."},{"startTime":2776.825,"endTime":2782.178,"body":"So I'm trying to make everything more of a pure kind of expression of tension on each kind"},{"startTime":2776.825,"endTime":2782.178,"body":"of muscle part I'm trying, right?"},{"startTime":2782.178,"endTime":2783.384,"body":"So if I'm on a hack."},{"startTime":2783.384,"endTime":2784.865,"body":"I'm trying to bias it to quads."},{"startTime":2784.865,"endTime":2787.928,"body":"If I'm on a Bulgarian, I'm trying to bias it to glutes."},{"startTime":2787.928,"endTime":2794.604,"body":"If I'm on um a chest press machine, there's a division of the pack I'm trying to target,"},{"startTime":2787.928,"endTime":2794.604,"body":"right?"},{"startTime":2794.604,"endTime":2795.575,"body":"For the most part."},{"startTime":2795.575,"endTime":2797.496,"body":"And same with like pull downs."},{"startTime":2797.496,"endTime":2801.86,"body":"I'm looking at, you know, iliac, lumbar, thoracic regions, all the end one stuff."},{"startTime":2801.86,"endTime":2803.181,"body":"So that debate was awesome."},{"startTime":2803.181,"endTime":2804.972,"body":"That was a great time in the fitness industry."},{"startTime":2804.972,"endTime":2805.723,"body":"I enjoyed that."},{"startTime":2805.723,"endTime":2807.096,"body":"um"},{"startTime":2807.096,"endTime":2809.696,"body":"Yeah, anyone who follows me knows kind of what side I'm on."},{"startTime":2809.696,"endTime":2810.696,"body":"like cast some stuff."},{"startTime":2810.696,"endTime":2813.616,"body":"think it's, I think no one, it's just that's better than him."},{"startTime":2813.896,"endTime":2817.976,"body":"Uh, so kind of looking at the training through that, those kinds of lenses."},{"startTime":2817.976,"endTime":2820.116,"body":"And so, uh, that's kind of where I've been at."},{"startTime":2820.116,"endTime":2822.376,"body":"I feel like definitely I've seen some progress from it."},{"startTime":2822.376,"endTime":2824.776,"body":"Certainly bringing up some missing body parts."},{"startTime":2824.776,"endTime":2826.676,"body":"Like my pecs are still pretty darn bad."},{"startTime":2826.676,"endTime":2834.296,"body":"I don't have the best kind of rib cage set up genetically for it, but go back, at my"},{"startTime":2826.676,"endTime":2834.296,"body":"pictures from 2022, go back and look now there's a little bit of detail and size there"},{"startTime":2834.296,"endTime":2835.856,"body":"now, you know, a little bit."},{"startTime":2835.856,"endTime":2837.036,"body":"I need more time."},{"startTime":2837.036,"endTime":2840.308,"body":"any more time for sure, but that wasn't gonna happen if I didn't change the movement"},{"startTime":2837.036,"endTime":2840.308,"body":"quality."},{"startTime":2840.308,"endTime":2846.781,"body":"So that's kind what I've been doing more with people, my people lately too, is looking at"},{"startTime":2840.308,"endTime":2846.781,"body":"their physique and being like, okay, what's missing here?"},{"startTime":2846.781,"endTime":2853.525,"body":"Rather than just trying to work harder, harder, harder, let's see where you might have"},{"startTime":2846.781,"endTime":2853.525,"body":"kind of a lack of quality and see if we can bring that up and see if we can make some"},{"startTime":2853.525,"endTime":2856.506,"body":"really, really easy progress by just kind of fixing things."},{"startTime":2856.547,"endTime":2858.688,"body":"So that's kind of the kick I've been on lately."},{"startTime":2858.688,"endTime":2859.732,"body":"um"},{"startTime":2859.732,"endTime":2864.128,"body":"But I'm not saying it's any better than just, you know, going hard, going heavy balls to"},{"startTime":2859.732,"endTime":2864.128,"body":"walls."},{"startTime":2864.128,"endTime":2865.8,"body":"Like you're still going to get a lot that way."},{"startTime":2865.8,"endTime":2869.425,"body":"And it's kind of those, those refinements you might be missing."},{"startTime":2869.425,"endTime":2869.785,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":2869.785,"endTime":2873.45,"body":"And so, um, that's yeah, that's kind of my thoughts there."},{"startTime":2873.45,"endTime":2875.011,"body":"How does that hit you guys?"},{"startTime":2875.346,"endTime":2884.999,"body":"One thing I'd like to pick out on there or maybe just kind of zero in on is something like"},{"startTime":2875.346,"endTime":2884.999,"body":"a lateral raise, which I'm seeing now, like that's the specific one I keep thinking in my"},{"startTime":2884.999,"endTime":2892.411,"body":"head when I say they have these teeny little dumbbells in their hand, because it's"},{"startTime":2884.999,"endTime":2892.411,"body":"literally like the form is so strict that it may, I think it's a 15 pound dumbbell."},{"startTime":2892.411,"endTime":2896.082,"body":"Like I think it's like a seven or eight kilo dumbbell that they're using in most cases."},{"startTime":2896.082,"endTime":2901.514,"body":"And it's like these, these perfect reps with absolutely no momentum, like very strict."},{"startTime":2902.494,"endTime":2909.066,"body":"One thing I struggle with and my clients struggle with when I try to use form that's that"},{"startTime":2902.494,"endTime":2909.066,"body":"strict is with progression."},{"startTime":2909.066,"endTime":2917.828,"body":"Because if you have a 15 pound dumbbell in your hand and you're doing lateral raises, you"},{"startTime":2909.066,"endTime":2917.828,"body":"could fail, quote, fail the way that you're doing it at 17, 18, 19 reps, whatever."},{"startTime":2917.828,"endTime":2924.72,"body":"But as soon as you decide to push just a little bit more aggressively from the bottom, you"},{"startTime":2917.828,"endTime":2924.72,"body":"can get five more reps, 10 more reps."},{"startTime":2924.72,"endTime":2930.412,"body":"I mean, there's almost no limit to how many reps you could get with a 15 pound dumbbell in"},{"startTime":2924.72,"endTime":2930.412,"body":"your hand doing lateral raises."},{"startTime":2930.488,"endTime":2931.03,"body":"Yeah."},{"startTime":2931.03,"endTime":2939.967,"body":"how do you keep yourself so strict to know that this is failure this week and then next"},{"startTime":2931.03,"endTime":2939.967,"body":"week I get an extra rep, but that rep was exactly the same as the rep I did before."},{"startTime":2939.967,"endTime":2944.254,"body":"And I didn't actually push with more aggression from the bottom or anything like that, you"},{"startTime":2939.967,"endTime":2944.254,"body":"know?"},{"startTime":2944.396,"endTime":2946.979,"body":"The honest answer is I don't think you can all the time."},{"startTime":2946.979,"endTime":2948.7,"body":"It's extremely difficult."},{"startTime":2949.121,"endTime":2955.747,"body":"If you want to film every one of your sets and look at it through a meticulous lens, you"},{"startTime":2949.121,"endTime":2955.747,"body":"could do it, but who's got that time?"},{"startTime":2955.747,"endTime":2956.972,"body":"Like, are we like..."},{"startTime":2956.972,"endTime":2966.305,"body":"You know, are we like the New England Patriots or something where we're going to like film"},{"startTime":2956.972,"endTime":2966.305,"body":"every single set all the time and be like, hmm, okay, like, look, the reps were this, the"},{"startTime":2966.305,"endTime":2967.76,"body":"weight was this, the form was this."},{"startTime":2967.76,"endTime":2969.291,"body":"Are we going to count the seconds of each rep?"},{"startTime":2969.291,"endTime":2973.274,"body":"Like there's no limit in how much you can analyze this stuff and beat it to death."},{"startTime":2973.274,"endTime":2973.945,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":2973.945,"endTime":2978.648,"body":"And so I do think the progression is really important and you want to see the progression"},{"startTime":2973.945,"endTime":2978.648,"body":"kind of coming to you."},{"startTime":2978.648,"endTime":2983.766,"body":"But, um, the way I try and coach people on this is we want to see progression over time."},{"startTime":2983.766,"endTime":2988.15,"body":"over the long period, but we want to let it come to us and we don't want to degrade"},{"startTime":2983.766,"endTime":2988.15,"body":"movement quality too much, right?"},{"startTime":2988.15,"endTime":2993.455,"body":"And we want to at least keep a close eye on form to make sure we're not changing the way"},{"startTime":2988.15,"endTime":2993.455,"body":"we initiate the movement."},{"startTime":2993.455,"endTime":3001.128,"body":"So with the lateral raise, the common problem is people will be with like a kind of"},{"startTime":2993.455,"endTime":3001.128,"body":"shoulder elevation rather than a..."},{"startTime":3001.128,"endTime":3010.684,"body":"Right, so if we're gonna be explosive, that's okay But let's make sure we're at least"},{"startTime":3001.128,"endTime":3010.684,"body":"exploding with you know a deduction as opposed to elevation Right and making more of a"},{"startTime":3010.684,"endTime":3017.938,"body":"trap thing So it's like each movement you kind of get an audit a little bit But you're"},{"startTime":3010.684,"endTime":3017.938,"body":"gonna kind of choose your battles right the way I'll pick with people It's like let's do"},{"startTime":3017.938,"endTime":3019.509,"body":"two or three movements, you know this week."},{"startTime":3019.509,"endTime":3020.76,"body":"We're gonna look at"},{"startTime":3020.76,"endTime":3026.12,"body":"If we look at the whole program, what do we have like a 50 hour work week ahead of us or"},{"startTime":3020.76,"endTime":3026.12,"body":"something here?"},{"startTime":3026.12,"endTime":3027.9,"body":"That's like, that's a little much, right?"},{"startTime":3027.9,"endTime":3030.98,"body":"Let's just work on it over time and get a little bit better over time."},{"startTime":3030.98,"endTime":3031.38,"body":"You know?"},{"startTime":3031.38,"endTime":3033.2,"body":"So that's kind of where I'm at with things."},{"startTime":3033.2,"endTime":3037.28,"body":"And then sometimes too, I'll go with a video and then I'll video something like, oh, fuck,"},{"startTime":3033.2,"endTime":3037.28,"body":"that was all wrong."},{"startTime":3037.28,"endTime":3037.68,"body":"Okay."},{"startTime":3037.68,"endTime":3040.76,"body":"Let's, let's make a change here and then, and then go from there."},{"startTime":3040.76,"endTime":3042.82,"body":"But you can't, I think it's really, really tough."},{"startTime":3042.82,"endTime":3047.468,"body":"Like I do respect someone like Dirk and Rick who videos goddamn everything, you know?"},{"startTime":3047.468,"endTime":3047.981,"body":"Mm-hmm."},{"startTime":3047.981,"endTime":3050.615,"body":"think that's why he's at a pretty high level in his game too."},{"startTime":3050.615,"endTime":3052.909,"body":"He's looking at those details and he's good at managing them."},{"startTime":3052.909,"endTime":3057.699,"body":"ah I just think there's limitations of how much time you can spend on things like that."},{"startTime":3057.699,"endTime":3059.322,"body":"So pick your battles."},{"startTime":3059.322,"endTime":3060.389,"body":"Pick your battles, people."},{"startTime":3060.389,"endTime":3066.687,"body":"some level you almost can feel if you're changing your form internally almost more than"},{"startTime":3060.389,"endTime":3066.687,"body":"you could see it on a video anyways."},{"startTime":3066.687,"endTime":3073.135,"body":"Like, you know in your heart if there's like a different initiation of that rep from that"},{"startTime":3066.687,"endTime":3073.135,"body":"lateral raise."},{"startTime":3073.322,"endTime":3073.972,"body":"Absolutely."},{"startTime":3073.972,"endTime":3076.094,"body":"I think you have to make a choice too."},{"startTime":3076.094,"endTime":3082.718,"body":"Are you going to get lost in the sauce of the progression and just say today I'm"},{"startTime":3076.094,"endTime":3082.718,"body":"progressing no matter what or are you going to have a balanced approach being like, okay,"},{"startTime":3082.718,"endTime":3089.462,"body":"here's where I'm at, good movement quality, we're going to see what we get, we're going to"},{"startTime":3082.718,"endTime":3089.462,"body":"record it and then we're going to look at our progress over a months period of time."},{"startTime":3089.462,"endTime":3091.043,"body":"That's the approach I would favor."},{"startTime":3091.043,"endTime":3094.915,"body":"know, and before I'd be the type that would be like, no, we're just progressing."},{"startTime":3094.915,"endTime":3095.906,"body":"It doesn't matter."},{"startTime":3095.906,"endTime":3098.738,"body":"Music is on, blasting, weight's going up."},{"startTime":3098.738,"endTime":3099.83,"body":"It doesn't matter."},{"startTime":3099.83,"endTime":3100.18,"body":"Right?"},{"startTime":3100.18,"endTime":3104.026,"body":"ah So that's, that's the, my biggest change, would say."},{"startTime":3104.047,"endTime":3104.76,"body":"Yeah."},{"startTime":3104.76,"endTime":3111.283,"body":"does that feel uh having to kind of reduce weights across the board on all these"},{"startTime":3104.76,"endTime":3111.283,"body":"movements?"},{"startTime":3111.283,"endTime":3119.926,"body":"Like, I mean, I know that it's a different movement in a sense, like your your hack squat"},{"startTime":3111.283,"endTime":3119.926,"body":"that you're doing where your glutes and adductors are contributing is a different movement"},{"startTime":3119.926,"endTime":3122.067,"body":"than the knee forward hack squat."},{"startTime":3122.067,"endTime":3128.19,"body":"But across the board, I mean, you must be reducing weights 30 to 50 % on some movements."},{"startTime":3128.19,"endTime":3129.68,"body":"And so what does that feel like?"},{"startTime":3129.68,"endTime":3134.102,"body":"And how do you kind of psychologically make sense of all of that?"},{"startTime":3134.476,"endTime":3135.637,"body":"Yeah, that's a good question."},{"startTime":3135.637,"endTime":3140.302,"body":"um I think during prep, feels pretty good because you get so lean."},{"startTime":3140.302,"endTime":3142.524,"body":"You can really sense where the tension is."},{"startTime":3142.524,"endTime":3152.935,"body":"And so some of these sessions I've had doing training lats and pecs and traps, I can't"},{"startTime":3142.524,"endTime":3152.935,"body":"even believe the amount of tension I'm experiencing on the fibers because like you can"},{"startTime":3152.935,"endTime":3154.328,"body":"just feel like how..."},{"startTime":3154.328,"endTime":3158.808,"body":"lean you are and you can just feel, you know, is this tension just like, let's say you're"},{"startTime":3154.328,"endTime":3158.808,"body":"doing a pull down."},{"startTime":3158.808,"endTime":3158.928,"body":"Okay."},{"startTime":3158.928,"endTime":3167.888,"body":"It's a tension disperse to a little bit of rear delt, a little bit of bicep, a little bit"},{"startTime":3158.928,"endTime":3167.888,"body":"of teres, a little bit of lat, or is it right on that iliac lat, right?"},{"startTime":3167.888,"endTime":3169.468,"body":"If you're really just on it."},{"startTime":3169.468,"endTime":3176.066,"body":"And like, I think it's been pretty good during prep for fatigue management and just for,"},{"startTime":3169.468,"endTime":3176.066,"body":"um,"},{"startTime":3176.066,"endTime":3179.182,"body":"being able to sense that tension and just kind of body awareness."},{"startTime":3179.182,"endTime":3183.279,"body":"In the off season, I'd probably be a little bit more, wanna, you you kind of lose that"},{"startTime":3179.182,"endTime":3183.279,"body":"effect a little bit."},{"startTime":3183.279,"endTime":3184.671,"body":"I'd probably wanna see."},{"startTime":3185.068,"endTime":3187.689,"body":"be a little bit more aggressive on the progression side of things."},{"startTime":3187.689,"endTime":3193.171,"body":"And you know that there's that opportunity there, but also just still keeping the movement"},{"startTime":3187.689,"endTime":3193.171,"body":"quality golden."},{"startTime":3193.171,"endTime":3196.353,"body":"um But it would be that balance, right?"},{"startTime":3196.353,"endTime":3197.584,"body":"That balance in between the two."},{"startTime":3197.584,"endTime":3204.397,"body":"I think I might be willing to let things kind of go a little bit more in one direction"},{"startTime":3197.584,"endTime":3204.397,"body":"during the off season, but on contest prep, I wanted to be more in the direction of"},{"startTime":3204.397,"endTime":3206.118,"body":"keeping the quality tension."},{"startTime":3206.118,"endTime":3209.67,"body":"And you still gotta put the load on and train goes to failure."},{"startTime":3209.67,"endTime":3211.81,"body":"Like you don't want to just puss out, that's for sure."},{"startTime":3211.81,"endTime":3215.052,"body":"But I think this whole maintain the log"},{"startTime":3215.052,"endTime":3216.253,"body":"thing during contest prep."},{"startTime":3216.253,"endTime":3224.023,"body":"Sometimes it's pushed a little bit too hard and I see people just really degrading"},{"startTime":3216.253,"endTime":3224.023,"body":"movement quality to say they did it and they're like I'm making gains during my prep."},{"startTime":3224.023,"endTime":3233.663,"body":"It's like well let's really look at it there maybe on a few things you are but you know if"},{"startTime":3224.023,"endTime":3233.663,"body":"you're really really getting lean at the end it's gonna be tough bro it's gonna be tough."},{"startTime":3234.111,"endTime":3236.304,"body":"Yeah, I know we have."},{"startTime":3236.304,"endTime":3242.402,"body":"We have just a few few minutes left, but one thing I did want to catch is what's next for"},{"startTime":3236.304,"endTime":3242.402,"body":"the rest of your season."},{"startTime":3242.402,"endTime":3243.954,"body":"So you kind of hinted at it a little bit."},{"startTime":3243.954,"endTime":3244.785,"body":"What's the plan?"},{"startTime":3244.785,"endTime":3247.158,"body":"Have you and Brandon talked about it?"},{"startTime":3247.158,"endTime":3247.599,"body":"Let us in."},{"startTime":3247.599,"endTime":3249.651,"body":"Let us in with some of the details, please."},{"startTime":3249.664,"endTime":3251.255,"body":"Yeah, so great question."},{"startTime":3251.255,"endTime":3255.268,"body":"So just finishing the show this weekend, I wanted to see how I felt."},{"startTime":3255.268,"endTime":3259.991,"body":"so, you know, yesterday was Monday after the show with Brendan increased my food."},{"startTime":3259.991,"endTime":3263.774,"body":"Obviously I was, you know, uh hard up for the show."},{"startTime":3263.774,"endTime":3265.775,"body":"And so I wanted to see how I was doing, how I was feeling."},{"startTime":3265.775,"endTime":3266.774,"body":"And, you know, I'm"},{"startTime":3266.774,"endTime":3271.286,"body":"trying to look at everyone around me too, like how my girlfriend's feeling, everyone, so"},{"startTime":3266.774,"endTime":3271.286,"body":"we're just kind of feeling it out."},{"startTime":3271.286,"endTime":3273.647,"body":"But I did want to keep going."},{"startTime":3273.647,"endTime":3276.128,"body":"uh I had planned to go all the way to October."},{"startTime":3276.128,"endTime":3282.51,"body":"I don't think I'm going to do that, but there is a WMBF Pro Show in Connecticut that I'm"},{"startTime":3276.128,"endTime":3282.51,"body":"looking at in about a month's time."},{"startTime":3282.51,"endTime":3284.981,"body":"And I'm pretty, jazzed up about doing that."},{"startTime":3284.981,"endTime":3287.412,"body":"So we're just kind of feeling it out now."},{"startTime":3287.412,"endTime":3288.204,"body":"uh"},{"startTime":3288.204,"endTime":3290.965,"body":"The idea being that we don't need to deplete anymore."},{"startTime":3290.965,"endTime":3297.088,"body":"We just kind of need to be kind of at maintenance calories and kind of uh keep the"},{"startTime":3290.965,"endTime":3297.088,"body":"physique alive for another month."},{"startTime":3297.088,"endTime":3302.471,"body":"And so that's what I'm looking at now is just staying on plan for another four weeks,"},{"startTime":3297.088,"endTime":3302.471,"body":"working on my posing."},{"startTime":3302.471,"endTime":3309.434,"body":"I really liked hearing your talk about your posing quality, you know, at your show, Aaron,"},{"startTime":3302.471,"endTime":3309.434,"body":"it sounds like you really drilled it in."},{"startTime":3309.434,"endTime":3311.675,"body":"I feel like there's a little bit more I need to do with that."},{"startTime":3311.675,"endTime":3318.168,"body":"And with, you know, more, more brain sharpness, I can kind of, you know, have some better"},{"startTime":3311.675,"endTime":3318.168,"body":"movement quality in that regard on stage."},{"startTime":3318.168,"endTime":3328.376,"body":"And so it's really just trying to maintain the muscularity and the body fat and then do"},{"startTime":3318.168,"endTime":3328.376,"body":"all the other little things to have a better presentation at ah"},{"startTime":3328.376,"endTime":3337.216,"body":"one show and I would have been really sad I think if I don't get a WMBF pro show in"},{"startTime":3328.376,"endTime":3337.216,"body":"because I really want to see how I do in a pro lineup there and so that's kind of where"},{"startTime":3337.216,"endTime":3347.357,"body":"I'm at is I want to hold on for four more weeks and then get that pro show in and then"},{"startTime":3337.216,"endTime":3347.357,"body":"it's it's time to get back to a normal life normal lifestyle I think after that yeah"},{"startTime":3347.357,"endTime":3353.381,"body":"Yeah, yeah, I think the fact that you don't have to deplete anymore is a little bit of"},{"startTime":3347.357,"endTime":3353.381,"body":"like a nice reprieve."},{"startTime":3353.381,"endTime":3357.177,"body":"It's like the hardest physiologic work is done."},{"startTime":3357.177,"endTime":3364.117,"body":"I mean, I think the longer it goes, I think the psychological side gets harder because"},{"startTime":3357.177,"endTime":3364.117,"body":"there's something in."},{"startTime":3364.117,"endTime":3374.013,"body":"How do I put it, especially like the male kind of ego sort of thing like you can find not"},{"startTime":3364.117,"endTime":3374.013,"body":"solace, but like purpose in that grind."},{"startTime":3374.013,"endTime":3376.234,"body":"of like, you know, this is what I decided to do."},{"startTime":3376.234,"endTime":3377.614,"body":"I got to get it done."},{"startTime":3377.614,"endTime":3378.744,"body":"You know, I got to dig."},{"startTime":3378.744,"endTime":3380.755,"body":"I got to suck it up like I can do it."},{"startTime":3380.755,"endTime":3386.206,"body":"But when the when that's when that when you no longer have to dig more and it's OK, I just"},{"startTime":3380.755,"endTime":3386.206,"body":"have to kind of stay the same."},{"startTime":3386.206,"endTime":3386.427,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":3386.427,"endTime":3391.948,"body":"Like if we talk about a gen pop or even like a gym pop client, someone diets to like 10"},{"startTime":3386.427,"endTime":3391.948,"body":"percent body fat."},{"startTime":3391.948,"endTime":3392.478,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":3392.478,"endTime":3396.039,"body":"What's the hardest psychological part after they're done?"},{"startTime":3396.039,"endTime":3396.759,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":3396.759,"endTime":3402.719,"body":"When they don't need to be as restrictive and they have more flexibility."},{"startTime":3402.719,"endTime":3408.591,"body":"But the psychological difficulty is, well, I justified whatever dessert last night after"},{"startTime":3402.719,"endTime":3408.591,"body":"dinner."},{"startTime":3408.591,"endTime":3410.562,"body":"Why shouldn't I justify it again tonight?"},{"startTime":3410.562,"endTime":3410.771,"body":"Right?"},{"startTime":3410.771,"endTime":3412.683,"body":"Like that's that's that kind of hard part."},{"startTime":3412.683,"endTime":3415.414,"body":"So I find it very, very interesting."},{"startTime":3415.414,"endTime":3425.619,"body":"And like much like myself, like I'm human, like anyone else is like, that's always the"},{"startTime":3415.414,"endTime":3425.619,"body":"challenge for me is like when like right now I know is the date before September 7th."},{"startTime":3425.619,"endTime":3427.099,"body":"Yes, I can."},{"startTime":3427.099,"endTime":3428.8,"body":"It's very, very black and white."},{"startTime":3428.8,"endTime":3429.44,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":3429.44,"endTime":3431.541,"body":"It's going to get much harder after that date."},{"startTime":3431.541,"endTime":3434.041,"body":"because it's not black and white anymore."},{"startTime":3434.041,"endTime":3438.061,"body":"And now I have to be a human again and evaluate decisions, right?"},{"startTime":3438.061,"endTime":3441.421,"body":"So I think it's like a gift and a curse."},{"startTime":3441.421,"endTime":3442.801,"body":"The dig is done."},{"startTime":3443.381,"endTime":3455.277,"body":"The hardest physical parts are over, but now it's like the psychological parts of"},{"startTime":3443.381,"endTime":3455.277,"body":"maintaining or the things that you said around like posing and stuff like that for sure."},{"startTime":3455.785,"endTime":3457.896,"body":"I think too, people really struggle post-show."},{"startTime":3457.896,"endTime":3459.097,"body":"It's less about hunger."},{"startTime":3459.097,"endTime":3460.809,"body":"It's more about food reward."},{"startTime":3460.809,"endTime":3462.74,"body":"They're really leaning into that food reward."},{"startTime":3462.74,"endTime":3472.898,"body":"It's like you don't physiologically need to gain 30 pounds after prep, but you you let"},{"startTime":3462.74,"endTime":3472.898,"body":"that food reward take over and you know, you might see that 30 pounds come on, you know,"},{"startTime":3472.898,"endTime":3474.62,"body":"if you really just lean into it."},{"startTime":3474.62,"endTime":3478.843,"body":"you know, certainly you want to get yourself recovered, but you know, that level of..."},{"startTime":3478.843,"endTime":3479.968,"body":"uh"},{"startTime":3479.968,"endTime":3484.015,"body":"of surpluses is not required for recovery, you know."},{"startTime":3484.015,"endTime":3487.019,"body":"So that's one big thing."},{"startTime":3487.905,"endTime":3493.805,"body":"Yeah, and I guess one one kind of final one for me, what what have your experiences been"},{"startTime":3487.905,"endTime":3493.805,"body":"like post show with recovery?"},{"startTime":3493.805,"endTime":3498.705,"body":"Are you someone who gets lab work to see what testosterone and stuff looks like?"},{"startTime":3498.705,"endTime":3501.825,"body":"Or you just know, you know, you said you've been competing since 2012."},{"startTime":3501.825,"endTime":3508.553,"body":"You're very, very seasoned at this point is it kind of just, hey, I'm going to have about"},{"startTime":3501.825,"endTime":3508.553,"body":"a 12 to maybe 16 week period of."},{"startTime":3508.553,"endTime":3518.784,"body":"body weight coming up, food coming up, trying to let stressors down and I know eventually,"},{"startTime":3508.553,"endTime":3518.784,"body":"hormonally I'm gonna recover and then you can just look for subjective things around, sex"},{"startTime":3518.784,"endTime":3520.787,"body":"drive and things like that and how those come back."},{"startTime":3520.787,"endTime":3523.379,"body":"What's your kind of strategy that you use?"},{"startTime":3523.616,"endTime":3526.946,"body":"Yeah, I kind of have like a middle of the road approach with this."},{"startTime":3526.946,"endTime":3530.775,"body":"um You definitely want to gain some body fat back right away."},{"startTime":3531.436,"endTime":3533.257,"body":"It doesn't need to be crazy."},{"startTime":3533.497,"endTime":3537.539,"body":"like when I was working for ATP back in the day, I conceptualized it into different tiers."},{"startTime":3537.539,"endTime":3547.712,"body":"So it's like had like tier one recovery was like the ability to like ambulate easier to,"},{"startTime":3537.539,"endTime":3547.712,"body":"you know, have, be more cognitively present and like you can check, check off that, you"},{"startTime":3547.712,"endTime":3551.084,"body":"know, recovery within just bringing your calories up to maintenance, right?"},{"startTime":3551.084,"endTime":3558.627,"body":"And then tier two is like, you know, your sleep improves, your sex drive improves, your"},{"startTime":3551.084,"endTime":3558.627,"body":"hunger regulation improves, you know, tier threes."},{"startTime":3558.627,"endTime":3561.132,"body":"is, I can't even remember how I did it, but you know,"},{"startTime":3561.132,"endTime":3569.778,"body":"You want to really check off, you know, those boxes pretty quick where you hopefully you"},{"startTime":3561.132,"endTime":3569.778,"body":"see that the energy come up, away the sleep quality come up right away."},{"startTime":3569.778,"endTime":3574.972,"body":"And then after that, you don't need to like really be too, you have to keep gaining,"},{"startTime":3569.778,"endTime":3574.972,"body":"gaining, gaining."},{"startTime":3574.972,"endTime":3578.678,"body":"think you just need to kind of stay on that path and you'll see things kind of come back"},{"startTime":3574.972,"endTime":3578.678,"body":"quicker."},{"startTime":3578.678,"endTime":3586.97,"body":"Like don't think there's a huge advantage to gaining like 20 pounds immediately the first"},{"startTime":3578.678,"endTime":3586.97,"body":"week back, because it actually, some of the recovery thing, it's like, there's a bit of a"},{"startTime":3586.97,"endTime":3589.412,"body":"timeline involved, so you can't really rush it."},{"startTime":3589.43,"endTime":3592.783,"body":"But you need to get yourself headed in the right direction pretty quick, right?"},{"startTime":3592.783,"endTime":3595.686,"body":"So if you want to be efficient, you got to work efficiently."},{"startTime":3595.686,"endTime":3601.691,"body":"So, you you want to probably gain that, you know, three to four to five pounds, definitely"},{"startTime":3595.686,"endTime":3601.691,"body":"that, that, that first week."},{"startTime":3601.691,"endTime":3607.446,"body":"And then, you know, see that kind of half pound per week come on steadily, you know, after"},{"startTime":3601.691,"endTime":3607.446,"body":"that for most people who are in like a."},{"startTime":3607.446,"endTime":3609.839,"body":"normative natural bodybuilding kind of weight range, right?"},{"startTime":3609.839,"endTime":3614.885,"body":"So basically just, you know, get that those first few pounds on and then slow after that."},{"startTime":3614.885,"endTime":3620.751,"body":"And you should, you should be good for most people that will get you recovery, not too"},{"startTime":3614.885,"endTime":3620.751,"body":"much body fat gain, hopefully."},{"startTime":3620.873,"endTime":3621.893,"body":"Yeah, yeah."},{"startTime":3621.893,"endTime":3632.198,"body":"And just to add additional context there, that's speaking in the context of natural"},{"startTime":3621.893,"endTime":3632.198,"body":"bodybuilding conditioning, which is effectively as lean as you could ever hope to get."},{"startTime":3632.198,"endTime":3639.093,"body":"If you're dieting from 20 % body fat to 12 % body fat, you're not going to experience"},{"startTime":3632.198,"endTime":3639.093,"body":"these same things."},{"startTime":3639.093,"endTime":3639.821,"body":"Yeah."},{"startTime":3641.268,"endTime":3642.251,"body":"All right."},{"startTime":3642.251,"endTime":3651.035,"body":"I have one more training question that I can't, I can't leave on the table because, uh I"},{"startTime":3642.251,"endTime":3651.035,"body":"have a lot of, a lot of men, um, seem to have issues bringing their chest up."},{"startTime":3651.035,"endTime":3654.417,"body":"And you've noted that you've struggled with that for a while."},{"startTime":3654.417,"endTime":3658.048,"body":"And I know that that's a prominent body part that many men covet as well."},{"startTime":3658.048,"endTime":3660.051,"body":"Um, it's never been a problem for me."},{"startTime":3660.051,"endTime":3661.602,"body":"It's always come super easy."},{"startTime":3661.602,"endTime":3665.306,"body":"So when people ask me what, what can I advise for chest?"},{"startTime":3665.306,"endTime":3665.848,"body":"I'm like, look,"},{"startTime":3665.848,"endTime":3669.91,"body":"The thing that worked for me is really freaking heavy dumbbell flies for light."},{"startTime":3669.91,"endTime":3673.292,"body":"Like always dumbbell flies, man, the deep stretch."},{"startTime":3673.292,"endTime":3675.814,"body":"And we wanted to talk about length and movements and all this stuff."},{"startTime":3675.814,"endTime":3685.59,"body":"Like, unfortunately we ran out of time, but I just am curious what in general are the"},{"startTime":3675.814,"endTime":3685.59,"body":"things that you've found have helped you bring that chest up over the last year, two,"},{"startTime":3685.59,"endTime":3686.66,"body":"three years."},{"startTime":3686.68,"endTime":3689.72,"body":"Yeah, so I had to completely change my mechanics of pressing, right?"},{"startTime":3689.72,"endTime":3697.4,"body":"I think there's, I'll try and be quick about it because I know we're running out of time,"},{"startTime":3689.72,"endTime":3697.4,"body":"but listen to the 90 views daily podcast I did if you want me to go into it really hard,"},{"startTime":3697.4,"endTime":3709.64,"body":"but basically, basically bringing kind of my ribs down a little bit rather than arching,"},{"startTime":3697.4,"endTime":3709.64,"body":"having the stacked ribs over the pelvis and then, you know, not trying to get too"},{"startTime":3709.64,"endTime":3713.2,"body":"lengthened and too stretched and letting the shoulders protract."},{"startTime":3713.2,"endTime":3714.284,"body":"So before."},{"startTime":3714.284,"endTime":3715.525,"body":"pressing was this."},{"startTime":3715.525,"endTime":3720.11,"body":"It was arched and if you look at my shoulder there's not much movement here."},{"startTime":3720.11,"endTime":3721.952,"body":"See how there's no protraction?"},{"startTime":3721.952,"endTime":3723.594,"body":"Okay so I wasn't getting any pecs."},{"startTime":3723.594,"endTime":3725.756,"body":"This is how I was doing lengthened movements."},{"startTime":3725.756,"endTime":3727.578,"body":"Okay we're gonna get that stretch right?"},{"startTime":3727.578,"endTime":3729.2,"body":"So I'm here, I'm rocking out."},{"startTime":3729.2,"endTime":3730.721,"body":"Nothing's moving, nothing's firing."},{"startTime":3730.721,"endTime":3732.803,"body":"Okay we'll bring it down here."},{"startTime":3733.824,"endTime":3737.086,"body":"Now the shoulders are going, the pecs are activating, right?"},{"startTime":3737.086,"endTime":3738.848,"body":"And so you can visually see it."},{"startTime":3738.848,"endTime":3743.751,"body":"And so I had to change all my mechanics, you know, from the way I was doing it before to"},{"startTime":3738.848,"endTime":3743.751,"body":"that way."},{"startTime":3743.751,"endTime":3746.994,"body":"And then I started to see some progress, finally."},{"startTime":3746.994,"endTime":3748.499,"body":"So that was the big thing for me."},{"startTime":3748.499,"endTime":3755.119,"body":"It's like this arch back and kind of overly focusing on the stretch wasn't the thing for"},{"startTime":3748.499,"endTime":3755.119,"body":"me, right?"},{"startTime":3755.119,"endTime":3757.341,"body":"But Brian, you might do it a completely different way."},{"startTime":3757.341,"endTime":3761.89,"body":"know, you're uh the way you execute something like that."},{"startTime":3761.89,"endTime":3767.313,"body":"you know, your shoulders probably do move and you're probably like, you know, your body is"},{"startTime":3761.89,"endTime":3767.313,"body":"set up when you're activating things."},{"startTime":3767.313,"endTime":3771.675,"body":"you usually, you just going to visually see it on someone because all the fibers come"},{"startTime":3767.313,"endTime":3771.675,"body":"together."},{"startTime":3771.675,"endTime":3773.346,"body":"Does it look like there's tension there?"},{"startTime":3773.346,"endTime":3773.656,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":3773.656,"endTime":3777.196,"body":"So probably that, that works great for the way you set yourself up, but"},{"startTime":3777.196,"endTime":3780.089,"body":"The way I was doing it, the way I was performing it, it just wasn't doing it for me."},{"startTime":3780.089,"endTime":3782.581,"body":"I did that for years and years years years years."},{"startTime":3782.581,"endTime":3784.532,"body":"So that's how I get right down this whole movement quality thing."},{"startTime":3784.532,"endTime":3788.526,"body":"was like, damn, like I spent 15 years trying to grow these pecs and got nothing."},{"startTime":3788.526,"endTime":3791.589,"body":"And then I did a weekend with Eric and now they're popping."},{"startTime":3791.589,"endTime":3795.712,"body":"you know, that's kind of where I was at with that stuff."},{"startTime":3795.928,"endTime":3802.428,"body":"So it's much more about the mechanics of the pressing than it is as far as exercise"},{"startTime":3795.928,"endTime":3802.428,"body":"selection or anything like that."},{"startTime":3802.771,"endTime":3803.165,"body":"Yeah."},{"startTime":3803.165,"endTime":3806.86,"body":"think there's any one variation that was, everything kind of feels good to me now."},{"startTime":3806.86,"endTime":3809.543,"body":"I set myself up this way, more or less, yeah."},{"startTime":3809.829,"endTime":3815.184,"body":"So are we still retracting at the stretch position and then protracting as you come up?"},{"startTime":3815.184,"endTime":3824.331,"body":"So like the way I think about it is like I arch at the at the stretch position, I arch as"},{"startTime":3815.184,"endTime":3824.331,"body":"I feel like that does actually increase the stretch, but then the shoulders roll forward"},{"startTime":3824.331,"endTime":3826.321,"body":"and you get the protraction piece as you're"},{"startTime":3826.321,"endTime":3827.751,"body":"you might be, yeah, yeah, yeah."},{"startTime":3827.751,"endTime":3838.159,"body":"So I mean, the thing is, yes, they were tracked at the bottom for sure, but if you were"},{"startTime":3827.751,"endTime":3838.159,"body":"tracked too much and really lose that stack and don't bring it back, you might not get as"},{"startTime":3838.159,"endTime":3838.84,"body":"much activation."},{"startTime":3838.84,"endTime":3846.425,"body":"And so my challenge for you, Brian, would be like, try it exactly my way and see what you"},{"startTime":3838.84,"endTime":3846.425,"body":"feel, See how it feels, see if it feels different to you."},{"startTime":3846.425,"endTime":3853.22,"body":"I mean, obviously it's been easy enough for you to grow as you've been doing it, but try"},{"startTime":3846.425,"endTime":3853.22,"body":"it with just the stack staying constant."},{"startTime":3853.43,"endTime":3853.869,"body":"Right."},{"startTime":3853.869,"endTime":3855.791,"body":"and see how you feel, right?"},{"startTime":3855.791,"endTime":3856.283,"body":"And so..."},{"startTime":3856.283,"endTime":3857.395,"body":"I wouldn't be going as deep."},{"startTime":3857.395,"endTime":3862.116,"body":"Like the fly motion would stop a few inches shy of where I'm currently taking it probably."},{"startTime":3862.116,"endTime":3863.518,"body":"Yeah."},{"startTime":3863.632,"endTime":3866.396,"body":"So, but yeah, that's the way I would do it."},{"startTime":3866.396,"endTime":3872.005,"body":"And I think, like I said, the problem was for as I stayed in that retraction and nothing"},{"startTime":3866.396,"endTime":3872.005,"body":"would move at all."},{"startTime":3872.005,"endTime":3873.698,"body":"So yeah, hey."},{"startTime":3873.698,"endTime":3876.212,"body":"Hey, baby."},{"startTime":3876.212,"endTime":3877.232,"body":"Hey guys."},{"startTime":3878.012,"endTime":3878.572,"body":"All right."},{"startTime":3878.572,"endTime":3881.071,"body":"We're gonna get going, get kids ready for camp and stuff."},{"startTime":3881.071,"endTime":3882.472,"body":"Thank you so much for your time, Connor."},{"startTime":3882.472,"endTime":3883.202,"body":"I appreciate it."},{"startTime":3883.202,"endTime":3884.545,"body":"Thank you guys, have a great time."},{"startTime":3884.545,"endTime":3884.705,"body":"on."},{"startTime":3884.705,"endTime":3886.158,"body":"This was wonderful."},{"startTime":3886.158,"endTime":3888.307,"body":"Very, very excited to get this one out."},{"startTime":3888.307,"endTime":3890.055,"body":"I think there was lots of good insights from you."},{"startTime":3890.055,"endTime":3891.407,"body":"We appreciate your time."},{"startTime":3891.407,"endTime":3892.829,"body":"We'll talk to you soon."},{"startTime":3893.004,"endTime":3894.312,"body":"Awesome, thanks guys."}]}