The William Arthur Show
The William Arthur Show
EP 25: Justin Quintero | What Does Integrated Health And Lifestyle Look Like?
Justin Quintero is a local, professional holistic wellness practitioner and gym owner at Integrated Athletics. He's a cross fit competitor, content creator, and trainer who exudes no shortage of kindness, authenticity, and passion for helping others. We relate over our love for community, self care, curiosity, connection, living in alignment with our values and more.
Justin's Plugs:
https://www.integrated-athletics.com/
https://www.instagram.com/jqfitlife/
Welcome back to another episode of the William Arthur Show. Today we are sitting down with a new pal. Justin Quintero. And just to contextualize how we connected, uh, a couple weeks ago, these wonderful human beings opened their doors for a really incredible event where we got to come together, get some movement in, get some connection in, get some breath in, and get cold. And one of my best friends, Rob, he put it on my radar. Uh, and I was just incredibly intrigued because I've. You know, delving into cold and wellness for quite some time now, and a free event that incorporates both cold movement, breath, and, and community at the level that it was, was just such a huge blessing. So first and foremost, Thanks for hosting that and, and I'm very excited that it's, it's led to, you know, expanding into collaboration and, and Sure. And gaining a new homie. So Justin, welcome to the show. Thanks, man. Yeah. Mindful Saturday was a treat. Uhhuh We love serving the community. And, uh, yeah. We have four more planned out already. Sorry. Yeah, let's go. Yep. It's on, it's coming up. What's the date for the next one? February 11th. There we go. Yeah. Yeah. I'll definitely be there. So if you're listening and you are. Milwaukee native, you know, you're in the area. Milwaukee County would definitely recommend checking it out. Come on in, come on in, come join us. Um, Justin is a passionate health and wellness practitioner, gym owner, content creator, CrossFit competitor. Uh, I know there's a lot more to you as we were talking about before you wear. Many different hats. You're a father, uh, you're in a relationship with, with your queen. Um, queen, yes. You know, so many different roles that you're stepping into and, and embodying in this experience. I would love to kick it off, just in your own words, how would you articulate what you do professionally? How would you define your unique magic gifts and contribution to the. Dang. Dude, that's, uh, that's actually a really tough question. It is hard, right? Yeah, yeah. It's hard to define oneself and like, what is it that I do and who am I, you know? Yeah. I was, uh, I've been exploring this more lately actually. Like what, what it is I do, and I think in the best way, like the best way that I can explain what I do is, um, is helping, I, I serve people. By making connections from person to person and also just helping people like achieve their goals. Right. So like I try not to limit myself in a box to just health and wellness or whatever, cuz there is a lot more that I try to do at least. But yeah, I would say that I just, um, I don't know, dude, I make connections. I try to build community and just help people. Mm-hmm. that's it. You know, that's, that's that. Right. Sometimes simple is better. Most of the time simple is better. Getting lost in the words and, and and defining terms can ultimately like, get confusing and, and yeah. That was perfect. So, uh, appreciate you sharing that. Yeah, dude. And to follow up on that, what I, what, what is the why for you that is like the fuel on the fire for everything you're creating right now with integrated athletics with your team here? Uh, you obviously, you know, you have your own practice as well. Yeah. And I imagine you're a business owner before you, uh, owned this gym. The why, geez. All the good questions. That's what we're going, we're going, we're going deep right away. Yeah. Okay. My why has always been, I, I think people are hurting, you know, like genuinely people are hurting at their core and I take a lot of pride and kind of like, I guess I take the responsibility of helping people not hurt is like kind of my whole thing, right? So I've been through hurt. In my life. A lot of it, I've had a lot of, you know, different life experiences and if I can help facilitate the ways to get people out of a funk or whatever, you know, whatever they're going through, that's basically what I want to do. So my why is just to literally just to help create community. Cuz I think the community also at everyone's core is like what we're really striving for. Mm-hmm. and what people. But yeah, ultimately, like I said, just helping people not hurt. Mm-hmm. And, um, I help a lot of high school kids. Like I, I train a lot of high school kids and they are, you know, those are, that's literally the future, you know what I mean? So trying to make sure that I can be some sort of role model so that they don't hurt people along the way. Mm-hmm. as they get older. Right. Um, is really important to me. So, that's what's up. Yeah. More love, more healing. That's, you know, that's the mission I'm on. Yeah. How can I be a person that is creating positive impact, uh, on the people I'm directly connected to and just, uh, people from afar through the actions that I'm taking and, and how I'm. How I'm living my life and, and community is something that's incredibly important to me. And something that's near and dear to my heart as well as yours. And that's exactly what you're doing here at Integrated Athletics. I would be curious to hear what did your journey look like into wellness? Obviously you talked about, uh, experiencing pain and, and I feel that's a very common. Uh, point at which people recognize they need to, you know, improve themselves, like getting a visit from the pain teacher and the teachings that come with experiencing suffering. So I would be curious to hear about any pivotal points in your life that led you on this path to sharing health and wellness with others, and, and obviously practicing all the health and wellness principles yourself. Yeah. So uh, there's been like, I mean, there's been like quite a few, right, that have like, pushed me into different realms of health and fitness. Um, but if we wanted to go where it started, it was in high school. I had like, you know, I was social, everything like that. But really the pain point, and it's, it's a funny one. Um, when I first started working out, I'm like driving my car down this road called Lake Five in Merton and I hit a speed bump or something like that and I felt my stomach jiggle And that was the first time I had ever felt my stomach jiggle Uhhuh Um, and then, so that was when I was like, oh my God, I need to do something about. And so it wasn't like pain per se, but it was definitely something that like, I was like, oh, I need to get this under control. Mm-hmm. And that was at a young age too. So then I started doing P90X and Insanity, stuff like that, and it worked out really well for me. Eventually got into, um, competitive power lifting. Um, from competitive power lifting. I realized again, I was fat. Um, I was doing strong man and power lifting at the same time. Mm-hmm. the mentality is weight moves weight, you know, so like, you try to get as big as possible. Um, but there's like the law of diminishing returns, right? And so at one point I like saw a picture of myself. I was like, God, I'm too fat. you know, you probably weren't feeling that great shoveling all that food in your mouth, I imagine. Oh dude, it was a full-time job. You know, it's a full-time job eating that much. Like, I even feel that now I was bogging down your system and I, I had a similar experience myself where I wanted to see what I could do in terms of gaining lean muscle mass. Mm-hmm. and got on a bulking program and my skin went to shit. My energy went to shit. I had low libido. My digestion went to shit and, and all for like a short term goal. And I knew it wasn't something that I was gonna sustain through my lifetime. But ultimately I recognize this doesn't align with my long term fitness goals here. Oh. Um, so I had to cut it out just cuz Yeah. There's a point of diminishing return with what I was doing and I would actually love to get into that eventually during this conversation for sure. Because I think that there's a huge. Discrepancy between like fitness and aesthetics and like how you actually feel versus what's really health. Mm-hmm. you know, stuff like that. True. Um, yeah. So then from there I did what any fitness person would do and I chased aesthetics and realized pretty closely that, yeah. Um, aesthetics, chasing that also, like actively chasing that through, like starving yourself, dieting, stuff like that. It's like nothing that I was a stranger to because of making weight classes. I did it ultimately to get like on stage. So Men's Fuze show, I did that and realized really quickly that like, that was super unhealthy. Right? And I probably should not do that. Mm-hmm. I will do it again, however, because I need to get the pro card. There you go. And it's bae, you know what I mean? So, but anyways, um, yeah, took a, I went and did like a testosterone test for that. My test was totally tanked. Oh. I was at like 200 nanograms per deciliter, Uhhuh And I was like, fuck, I have to get this. So is it, was it because such low body fat percentage, such low body fat? Yeah. Uh, depriving yourself for such a long time. Right. You can't sleep when you're that, like low body fat, everything. Complete hormonal dysfunction and I, imbalance. Yeah. My thyroid was out of whack. Like everything. Damn. So yeah. Gain the weight back, whatever. Then eventually make my way into wait. So then, so yeah, we, we go, we go back to, um, power lifting and all that stuff. And then I have this thing. that happens to me and I had no idea what was going on. And I end up visiting the hospital a bunch of times. Um, I'm getting dizzy all the time. I'm like feeling like I'm gonna pass out all the time. I'm short of breath. I can't exercise like at all. My fucking fitness is taken away from me. Mm-hmm. right? For like six months, whatever. And I'm like, I gotta do something about this. So I like go to specialists, whatever. I go to the hospital finally after like the 11th time going to the hospital for all this stuff that's going on. A doctor says something, um, really interesting, and he is like, your orthostatic, um, numbers are out of whack. So when you go from like sitting to standing mm-hmm. your blood pressure is skyrocketing. Mm-hmm. and your heart rate is, or your blood pressure is dropping really fast and your heart rate's going up anyway. After seeing a bunch of specialists, I get diagnosed with this thing called pot syndrome. and pot syndrome is like a disautonomia, so it's a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Mm-hmm. where you can't regulate, um, the autonomic nervous system, so the things that are automatic, heart rate, breathing, um, blood pressure, you name it, that stuff. Mm-hmm. Um, so yeah, I get that. And um, that's when I decided I need to. Seriously take a dive into wellness, not just fitness, because so often we look at, um, people who are on Instagram and they're fit and we think that they're well right. When it's really not the case. Yeah. A lot of them are abusing food, steroids. Um, have poor relationship with food, have a poor rela relationship. Uh, have a poor relationship with the gym. Yeah. Or you know, self body image, stuff like that. Mm. Um, we're holistic, integrated beings and there's many different quadrants of wellness outside of just looking good and what's on the surface. Of course, you start to look good also when you embrace the fact that we are beings, organisms that emerge from nature and that need to take care of all these different facets of wellness, including, um, you know, our relationships and mm-hmm. and our relationships with everything. Uh, obviously you had a disorder. relationship with your fitness and it led to these ailments. Yeah. Which, which was ultimately a good thing. Interesting enough. Yeah. Uh, the pain teacher delivers. Yeah. So I actually look at it as a blessing because when I went through pot syndrome, if you like, look it up, you take the time to research it or whatever, it can be super debilitating. And I work with people, um, remotely that have pot syndrome, who like can't even leave their house, like go to the mall because they're scared. They're gonna have like a pots attack or whatever, right? Mm-hmm. where they might pass out or whatever happens. Um, so yeah. Anyway, then I don't know, I, I'm, I like go on this long journey of like, fitness again, the only thing that I'm able to do is walk or whatever, and eventually I'm like having these episodes still where I'm like, fuck, dude. Uh, I can't even get through my workouts. I'm, one day I told myself, I'm like, either you're going to die mm-hmm. in this gym, trying to finish your workouts or you're going to finish the workout and you need to choose mm-hmm. So I literally got to a point where I was prepared to die. I know it sounds extreme but I got myself so mentally prepared to die in a gym, to get my fitness back, to get my life back. Right. And, um, this is actually something I haven't told a lot of people, like at all, like maybe 10 people know. So, yeah, I decided, yeah, you're gonna die here or you're gonna finish this workout. And I finished the workout, I got to the other side, and then, uh, COVID happens. I'm feeling back in my fitness again or whatever. And, uh, Yeah, the CrossFit gym opens up underneath us and I was like, ah, I'm gonna try CrossFit. Everybody hates it. I hated it for a long time. I'm gonna go and try it. Kick my ass. I slowly realize why people like CrossFit, right? And that's basically where we got to now. CrossFit was my introduction to a regular fitness practice, really, because it really. that's extreme allows you to build, uh, strong social ties with others because of that challenge. And that's what I, why I really liked what you guys did with the Mindful Saturday was doing the ice bath, rooting each other on and, and establishing connection through adversity. Yeah. And, and it was fun. You know, there were, there was so many different aspects to that. you can connect at a deeper level, um, with people when you have to suffer actively with each other. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. and, yeah. The, the, the CrossFit. That was the first time I was like committing to like altering the shape of my body and I was like, I'm gonna do CrossFit. I don't even know why. Yeah. I came to that conclusion and I was like eating these panco breaded tilapias, like nonstop just like, like I just gotta eat more and work out a lot and, and do hard training. Like that was like the scope of my understanding of. Fitness and, and I did get results, which was cool. I was like, holy shit. I put on a bunch of mu cuz my body had never done anything like that. I was like, we need to, we need to like do something, uh, with this stimulus here. We need to grow mm-hmm so you can increase your capacity. And that was really cool to see tangible results in my body. Ultimately I was seeking those results because I was an insecure individual and I was looking for something outside of myself to, to feel worthy in the world. Um, Uh, yeah, like, like, like your story. It was, it was like quote unquote bad, but also I look back, I'm like that, that was a good, that's a process I needed to go through. That was a part of my journey that allowed me to be where I am now and, and have a broader understanding of what it means to be well, and realizing that. I can only find love within myself. That's the only form of sustainable love. Uh, all the external, external forms are great. Um, but you know, all these different parts and components, uh, including that were what allowed me to like be like, okay, you got to. Figure out how to find worthiness within yourself and, and build that foundation from the inside versus getting a really good body or being successful in a particular career or artistic endeavor, or starting a podcast or being really good at making music and, and blah, blah, blah. Um, But yeah, dude, uh, beautiful journey to where you are now that, that's exciting, man. And to be at the point of maturity to look back on it and be like, that's exactly what I needed. And it is exactly what you needed to, you know, formulate yourself. into the person that you are now. Sure. Yeah. I also think though, you do like adding to what you were saying is that you sometimes have to go through the vanity thing. You have to go through Oh, for sure. Parts, right? Exactly. Yeah. Yep. And that's a big, that's a big pain thing too, because you realize like, this actually doesn't satisfy what I'm looking for. Mm-hmm. you know what I mean? Yep. And um, so yeah, that's what I like. I mean, I did that for the majority of my fitness life was the vain stuff, you know? I was like going to national level power lifting meats, not even so much. I think. for me, but for the recognition, you know? Mm-hmm. and then even the men's physique thing. So yeah, man, everybody's got their journey and it all starts somewhere, right? Yeah. So back to, you know, all these different hats you wear and all the different, all the different roles you take on and. And all your different outlets, outlets of income and creativity. That's, that's a lot to handle. That's a lot to step into and, and to, to maintain balance. So one thing that I was curious about is how is it that you, uh, maintain homeostasis through this process of engaging with life to the level that you are? Because people are facing burnout left and right, especially high achievers. It's just they don't recognize that there needs to be. Practices which allow you to restore yourself to a place of feeling level again. And, and, and feeling energized and maintaining that energy is imperative so that we can, you know, do this for the long run. We can fucking crush it till the day that we die. Yeah. And obviously there's ebbs and flows, but I was curious to hear like, what is your process? maintaining balance in your life and what are some of the practices that you've implemented to make sure that you don't reach that point of burnout? So this is like a concept that I, I struggle with a lot myself because I'm gonna just like be a hundred percent real. Mm-hmm. a lot of times I just kind of think that people, and there's not really a kind way to put this, but I think that people are being pussies. like a lot, you know? And. I don't think there is such thing as balance. Like I, I truly don't believe that there is a balance because no matter what you're chasing in life, there has to be a teeter totter, right? Yeah. And something is always gonna take, um, precedence over something else. Mm-hmm. So this idea of balance is really strange to me, and it's strange to me that people are even chasing it. Mm-hmm. you know, because. If, let's say you want a six figure salary job or whatever, right? If you want a six figure salary job, but you're also trying to chase balance like in your social life. It's like how likely is that to happen? If you're hungover and you can't perform, or you need to stay later hours to show your boss that you're worth the six figure job, you know, um, you're not gonna be able to go to all the dinners that you want to with friends. Right. Or have the free time that you want. So to me, it's really strange. But the burnout thing is another interesting concept because to me, I don't think people are facing burnout either. I think what they're facing is a lack of passion for the things that they're doing. So I'm very fortunate and also not fortunate because I worked hard to do this, where, um, I've shaped my life in the way that I wanted my life to be. Mm-hmm. you know, so, Um, it's like I worked so hard and I suffered so much for so long to get myself to the point where I like am literally. the, um, I get to, I, I live life on my own terms, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. like, I'm not a millionaire by any means yet, Right. But I, I, I get to live life on my own terms because I work to get it that way. Right. You know what I mean? And I don't face burnout through content creation, working with different brands, um, running a gym, you know, doing, you know, um, training my clients or whatever, because these are all things that I like that fill my cup at the end of the day. Right. You know, so, There's always a period of like, this fucking sucks, right? Mm-hmm. and it's just a matter of can you get through that suck to get to the other side, right? To be able to cultivate a life that you want, so, mm-hmm. But things that I do do when shit gets rough, like if I'm like feeling like, man, this is really starting to like put some stress on me. Obviously I, I like, I work out twice a day. It's a non-negotiable for me. Um, I try to get a walk-in every single day if I can. Oh yeah. You know? Um, cuz I think that that's super important. So working in cultivating energy. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Mm-hmm. um, Taking time to myself where I don't have to be around other people. Like I, I really, even if it's five minutes, like getting quiet. Yep. Getting quiet. Clearing yourself out, not letting, whatever stresses to eat you alive and allowing yourself to identify with the suffering and remembering that the nervous system does need that quiet time. Yeah. You know, obviously sleep, but. When you're consciously awake, we do need time to just sit with ourselves and let our emotions move through us and, and let our bodies do what they are, uh, innately, infinitely intelligent at doing, which is processing these things as lo repair, as lo yeah. As long as you allow that space. Yeah. And, and I love walking for that reason as well. Yeah. Um, it's a moving meditation, you know? Mm-hmm. Exactly. Um, obviously cold exposure, heat if I like, have access to heat, which I will. We want a sauna, by the way. I want a barrel sauna. You want a barrel sauna? Yeah. What do you mean you want a barrel sauna? Yeah. What? So, yeah, so real quick. Come on my girl. So, um, my girlfriend and, and I, and one of our, uh, like we call him our son mm-hmm. but he, uh, icebar did this giveaway with like a bunch of companies or whatever, and one of the companies happened to be sea. And we ended up winning and we got like a two person barrel sauna. We got another ice barrel. Oh my God. We got a red light therapy thing. We got. Let's go. Yeah, dude. So it's gonna be sick. I'll have you over for sure. All the bells and whistles. Yeah, dude, I'll have you over cuz we're gonna have like, uh, wellness, like retreat days. Mm-hmm. at the house and just like, you know, pack it up, eat dinner with, with people, have all that contrast therapy stuff going on, but yeah. Mm-hmm. So yeah, movement is key. I think movement is medicine. Uh, making sure that I eat right and I've been more so like. Uh, I did, I wasn't sup, I, I have a hard time at like, eating in general. Right? Like, just making sure I get enough. What does that mean? Okay. Enough. Yeah. Cuz you are really, there's a lot of output in your life, you know, being a gym owner, working out twice a day and Yeah. All the other, uh, you know, there's so many resources drawn from the body just with all the mental processing Yeah. That has to go down and all the different relationships you have to maintain. Exactly. So like, eating's never, like first on the priority list, you know, even though it. Um, but making sure that I eat properly, um, whole Foods, because foods I do. Yeah, whole foods. And I think that if you're not eating enough, your stress levels are gonna be higher. Uhhuh. If you're eating too much, your stress levels are gonna be higher. So finding that proper balance. True. Um, yeah, dude, meditating when I can. So just doing all the things that like everybody knows that you should be doing. Yeah. It's just they don't always tend to be about at basics. Basics. I'm huge on preaching the basics because. And, and there's a huge rabbit hole which you could go down in, which why people don't do the basics. Um, you know, one being comfort and, and, and, and instant grad instantly gratifying things that are like within arm's reach. And, and that's kind of what. What makes it tough about being a modern day human is that we're susceptible to all these things that are ultimately gonna make us feel comfortable in the moment, but are going to, you know, not be helpful for us, uh, in terms of who we want to become and, and becoming stronger, more resilient, healthy individuals. all really great things. You know, getting proper sleep and making sure you're moving, getting, you know, multiple forms of movement. If you're like a really fiery individual that you know is putting a lot of energy into their training and doing harder workouts, you're gonna want restorative stuff as well. The ice bath, the sauna, those are all things I'm a huge fan of. Hydrating properly. And then ultimately for me, outside of. These wellness principles that most people know what energizes me the most and allows me to feel in a place of equilibrium within myself as having. close, intimate relationships. Yeah. And bonds with others. And having conversations like this where I get to connect with a, another human being and expand my consciousness and, and awareness and express myself, you know, express what's on my mind. Mm-hmm. and within my body and what I'm feeling. And, and that comes back tenfold for me. And, and, and practicing that and honing the art form of expression. And one thing we were gonna talk about was, uh, content creation and. Yeah. And the process, the mental and emotional process of being like, okay, I'm gonna set up this camera and I'm gonna talk to this camera, what am I gonna say? And then I'm gonna share this with other people. Yep. Uh, I'd be, and like I said, I checked out your, one of your first posts on your Instagram. Cause I like to get a scope of the journey. So I was like, might as well just go to, you know, one of the first two, and you were talking about how it took you two years to, you know, muster up the courage to start sharing your truth on camera and on the mics. Damn. That was a lot. That was really a long time ago. That was, yeah, it was September. Cause I was looking at it on the way here. September, 2021. Damn. It was, so, yeah, I would be curious to hear what that, how that process felt for you. What it looked like and, and, and how it's impacted you in a positive way. Learning to express yourself and, and share your truth on a microphone and, and why you think that's important. Yeah, so like, I don't, it's weird too, so like, I try not to think that anything that I do is special. Mm-hmm. you know what I mean? Because it's, it's not at the end of the day, like I'm not expressing any ideas probably that anybody else hasn't expressed before. Totally. Um, I just expressed'em in my own way. Mm-hmm. like probably the same for you. Right, exactly. Um, that process looked like though, it was like, I don't know, dude. It's like I often have these types of conversations with my friends. Mm-hmm. right? Allie's. Uh, small majority of my friends I have these conversations with. I was like, fuck dude, I just wanna put it out, you know, on out there and just see what happens. And. So, yeah, I think a lot of times we limit ourselves based on what we think that other people might think about. Yes. What we're gonna do. Yes. And for sure, that was kind of paralyzing to me for a little bit because I got, I've always been a dude that never really gave a fuck, you know? But at the end of the day, I think I gave a little bit more fucks than I thought I did. We just want love. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. What we want, we wanna be approved of by the tribe. It's like a, it's like a hardwired tribalism sort of aspect and element to that, like human or that nature implemented in us, the organism. So as a survival tactic. So like when we feel rejected, we feel like on an energetic level it's a survival threat. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, yeah. But then I don't, I don't know, dude. Eventually I just realized like, you can't live the life that you want to live. If you're concerned about the opinions of people that you don't actually give a fuck about You know what I mean? It's so true, man. Like, not that I don't care about everybody at, on a spiritual level, right? Or like, you know, whatever. But it's like, I don't care about Joe Schmoe's fucking opinion about me at all. I don't even care about what he's doing on a day-to-day basis. And if he cares so much about what I'm saying about on or talking about on the internet that says more about him than it does my idea, than I shared. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So, yeah, I don't know. I was just, you know, and dude, I have a couple of like shorts that have posted on YouTube. You should see the comments like I just got blasted for some of, and it's funny to me, cuz now, now that I've gone through like that, even just the little bit that I've gone through, the little hate. Right. I see the comments. I'm like, that's not as bad as I, you broke the ice. Yeah, exactly. Put yourself in the arena and you're like, oh, that wasn't so bad. Yeah. And then yeah, recognizing that we're all living different lives and we all have our own perspectives and opinions, and that's totally okay. And that's good. Civil discourse is good. You pay attention to those comments. You're like, maybe I can broaden my horizons and my awareness and, and then the way I see this one thing mm-hmm. and, and being open to that and not being in like a totally fixed belief system. And. dogmatic, I feel is incredibly important so that when you do receive information that's like in contrary, it doesn't like impact you too negative negatively from an emotional standpoint. And you can just be like, oh, I'm here to learn and we're all here to learn, and it's okay if maybe I was wrong, whatever that means. And yeah. So yeah, totally. Mm-hmm. a hundred percent. Have you had any like experience with people like close to you hating on your stuff? Or not close, but like maybe just people that are within proximity that you. Yeah, not to a very high degree. I've had people message me and disagree with what I've said and, and like, you know, state where they're at and, and basically I just, I come to a place of emotional neutrality and, and respond in the best way I can so that we both can leave the situation, uh, more whole and more expanded on the other side. So I just do my best to. um, not attach my identity to what I'm saying either. Cuz like I said, like we're just incredibly malleable fluid individuals and everybody's learning, nobody fucking knows at all. So, yeah. Yeah. If I'm working out things actively in the process, so, uh, but I haven't really received too much. Like negative feedback or people hating or anything like that, which is good. Uh, I'm open to having conversations with people. Yeah, I'm open. Even if they come at me in a way that's less desirable and I'm like, that's kind of fucked up. I'm. Open to that conversation and talking to them because, um, they likely are coming from a place where they're emotionally triggered. Maybe they feel lonely or something like that. Mm-hmm. And I'm just gonna be like, Hey, fuck you man. I'm gonna do my best to show up in an unconditionally loving way so we, you know, for the betterment of everyone, for the betterment of them, for the betterment of me. And, and that's a practice I work on, on a daily basis, just in relationships and of course in that situation as well. Yeah. Not being reactive, taking the time to respond. Exactly. Yeah, for sure. Response over reaction is, is critical. And that's like the art of being human and, and, and being healthy in relationships. Cuz once you start reacting with your loved one, they're gonna be reacting and it's just gonna be this tidal wave of fucking emotional turbulence. And, and both you guys feeling like garbage. So if you could just take a breath, recognize we're just, we're working through this together and we want to feel good. Yeah. And it's not about being right or wrong, it's just. Um, coming together and, and, and feeling better than, you know, than that's, that's a better solution than just getting worked up and getting lost in the sauce. Yeah, for sure. And some sometimes, like ideas that you express may just be serving you for that moment in time or for like a specific moment in time. Right. So like, exactly. Like you said, we're malleable. Opinions change. Ideas change. And to hold somebody to like some weird standard because they say something once or whatever, like, it's like, dude, I, I don't know. The, the amount that I've grown and shifted over the course of two years is incredible. Mm-hmm. you know what I mean? And you have to like have that understanding for everybody just because they say something one day, like, it's like the politics thing, right? Like when people hate each other over politics. I'm just, me and my cousin had this conversation. We're like, that's what they want. Yeah, no, it is. Right. That's what they want. Yeah. At Divid and Conquer. Yeah. And when you get down to the nitty gritty, but then when you, like, when you, when you talk about it like human to human, it's like I could never imagine not fucking with somebody or being friends with somebody based on their politics or what they think about certain. um, like laws or whatever because it's just an idea at the end of the day. Mm-hmm. it's just like what you're thinking now. That could change later on down the road. And just because I disagree with you, it doesn't mean that we have to have some like crazy discourse about it or whatever. Right. It is what it is and yeah, ultimately I do think that that is like what the powers that be want, they want to divide and conquer and make people weak and all that. But yeah, we can get into that later. We can get into that Yeah. I mean, for me, the whole politics thing, what it boils down to for me, Most of us really all want the same thing. We just believe in different means of getting there. And that's, and that's totally cool. And I think the discourse is great. Like there's, there's faults on all sides, you know? So if we can, we all have our different ideas come together. Work together to build something greater and better and create more wholeness in the world, then that's what we're all looking for and that's what we're doing. And it's good that we have our stances and opinions and that we can, that we can disagree and, and definitely the goal is to disagree, but still love and recognize we're all in the human experience. And it's incredibly important that we remain connected cuz that's like the ultimate fuel for life and, and the world just becoming a better place. Yeah. Uh, is remembering that we are in this together. We are all one, we are all the same thing. And, and recognizing someone as, you know, as something separate from you that, that creates disharmony in the body and, and in the world, period. So, yeah. I'm all for connection and coming together and, and I, and I support people in their beliefs if they disagree with me and, and everyone's on their own journey. So I'm, I'm, I'm happy that people are like, hell yeah. Like, if you strongly believe in this thing that I don't agree with, like, go you like, um, I'm not gonna judge you as a human being. I can, I can judge your ideas and concepts, but I'm not gonna put you outta my heart because you think differently than I do. Yeah. That's a great way to put it, for sure. Mm-hmm. Hell yeah. That's awesome. Righteous. Fun little tangent there. Yeah. Hell yeah. politics. We love it. Tell me about your relationship with Fit Aid. Uh, cool fact. I'm actually about to take a coaching certification mindset. Coaching certification. Rob mentioned it to you, the enlisted certification. I was looking at their website, uh, about to enroll and one of the owners of it's Fit aid's, like a, um, is it like under the umbrella of Life Aid or, yeah, so Life Aid is the company, fit Aid is. The actual brand, I guess. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, cuz he, one of the owners, uh, it wasn't Aaron Hinde something in Aaron Hyde. Aaron Hyde, yeah. Aaron, yeah. Yeah. He, he had taken the certification, so I thought that was cool. We were, we were talking about it and then, you know, as the podcast was coming up and I enrolled in that, it was just a cool kind of connection and synchronistic type of, uh, recognition. Yeah. That's cool. Um, but I'd be curious to hear what, what you got going with them. So they're. I'm like, uh, 10 99 with them, basically. Oh, cool. So I'll just show up to like different events if they need somebody to come to events with them. And I just have a close relationship with people in the companies. Mm-hmm. with people in the company. And for a little while I was a regular creator on their Instagram. I've slowed down a little bit now just because I have to like obviously create for my brand and for my gym and stuff like that. But yeah, so I showed up. I had been asked to work at the CrossFit games, I think two years ago. So I did that. And then ever since then, yeah, I just, uh, kept my relationship with Tamar. She's mm-hmm. I think the field manager for like, um, events and whatever. And then I went to the Rogue Invitational with them that year. Went back to the games, went to the Rogue Invitational this year, and then actually next weekend I'm going to Austin, Texas to. what's it called? My girlfriend's competing in Austin, but I like get to get, to get paid to be there because of Fit Aid. That's wonderful. Yeah. Wow. That's pretty sweet. Yeah. So, um, yeah, dude, I love everybody over at Life Aid, uh, or if Fit Aid. Aaron's a fucking sick dude. Mm-hmm. he's really into festivals and stuff. so that's cool. Um, yeah. I love everybody, man. Yeah. Yes sir. Yeah. Um, yeah, so one thing I wanted to get into was, you know, there's so many people that are passionate about wellness and, and practicing it and applying the principles to their own lives. And then, you know, the cup's overflowing like we were talking about before. Like, I want to get into the wellness industry and into the wellness space. Um, what has that process looked like for you in terms of being able to support yourself from it, become self-employed within the wellness space, become an entrepreneur? What was the journey? That with you. What, what were forms of education did you dive into? What were major pivot points and, and how is it that you came to this point of being able to, you know, be a successful business owner within the wellness industry? And, you know, obviously it sounds like you have your hands in a couple, few different pots in terms of how you bring an income and stuff like that. So I'd be curious to hear about Yeah. How you make it happen for yourself. Sure. Yeah, dude. Um, wellness and fitness is really, really hard. Mm-hmm. it's super hard. Um, but it started, so I, I went to college. I was going to college for a little while. First it was Kice. Um, then I actually transferred into the neuroscience program and, uh, I had to start making money. So I went and worked at a car dealership, um, detailing cars. For my uncle at wild, uh, wild Honda, wild Jeep Dodge Ram. And uh, I walked into like my gym one day right down the road actually the old gym that I used to go to. And my coach was like, dude, you fucking hate that job. And I was like, yeah, but I was making really good money. I was like 21 years old, making 75 k year. Like it was all, it's epic. Yeah. And it was like, it's huge, but I wasted it all. You know, I was like spending it, going to the bars and shit, like, not you. Yeah, it wasn't like a great point in life. I like was making a ton of money, spent it all. Um, I was barely going to the gym, barely training. I was like, you fucking hate that job. Huh? I was like, yeah, dude. He's like, um, he's like, why don't you just quit and do this? Like you love, you love this and you're good at it. And so I give Kirk, uh, all the credit for like, everything, you know, he's like been a great mentor of mine and like a big brother figure type thing. Yeah. Um. And so yeah, I quit my job and I just dove in and it was like probably seven, eight years ago now, and I was super lucky to have made a thousand bucks a month for like a year almost. Right. You know, right off the bat. Right off the bat. Like, cool. I was lucky if I made a thousand bucks a month, so I was like, broke. Broke, you know? Scrounging. Yeah, scrounging for cash. And then, so like, something that I'm really big into and I realize is like, has been a big part of my life, is developing relationships with people and like it's everything. Yeah. And I've been, it, it's like it's a skill. right? It's a skill to get in the right door mm-hmm. and to talk to the right people and to create relationships and, um, maintain relationships. Mm-hmm. and it's a, that's a lot of like what FIT eight is for me or like different companies that I know, um, is like the ability to create relationships out of thin air type thing. And so, um, I realized eventually that that was something that I needed to do. So then I started, like my girlfriend at the time, she was a, an assistant coach for arrowheads lacrosse team. And so I, uh, yeah, she hooked me up with the head coach, created a relationship with him. Then he sent me a bunch of people, and then from there everything just flourished. And then I would like go to local businesses around the area and just try to develop relationships with people. Mm-hmm. um, there's one person specifically who actually used to own the space right next to us. Um, her name was Candy Fiko. Um, I went over there, asked her if she would want to partner up, cuz they used to have like a, a batting cage basically there. Mm-hmm. where they would bring in. Athletes to hit and pitch right. And, um, we were going to, but then she took a chance on me and let me train her kids. And then from there, the, the business started flourishing. Flourishing, um, to where a year before. I opened this place, I was making like the most money I'd ever made. Wa Was your method of training solely based off of your direct experience with working with your coach, or did you go through any certifications or, or what were, what was your method of informing yourself on how to do it? Yeah. In a way that was gonna help others instead of like, you know, fucking them up and, yeah. So stumbling along. A lot of it was like the school of hard knock type thing. Sure. I did like cuz I had been training for so long. Hell yeah. Already. And like had so much knowledge just from that. Aside from that, yeah. I picked up a bunch of certifications. Cool. Like I did the Nam ccpt. Mm-hmm. I think I did the fns. Um, I did sports specific stuff. I did the I Y C A I for, I forget what the letter, um, orientation is, but the high school strength and conditioning specialization, um, course CrossFit level one. Nutrition. Some nutrition one. Yeah. I did the yoga y t T 200. Hell yeah. Yeah. So I've had like a lot of education for sure. Mm-hmm. And then, um, obviously doing research on your own right. You know, that's a big thing too. Um, however, I di I gotta say this on camera for sure. um, I don't think all certifications are created equally. I don't think that anybody should be training anybody. You know? Like I think that, especially if you're like training athletes, like you need to fucking know how to train athletes cuz they do not train the same as everyone else, right? They can't be going as like there's specific points of season. right. That throughout the year, and they need to train according to the points of season. And I see so many trainers out there, like training athletes as their, as an average Joe. Mm-hmm. going heavy all the time. Like, you know, trying to hypertrophy all the time, like not going through phases of training or blocks of training, stuff like that. I just have to say that. Sure. Um, yeah. So I did all that and then, yeah, dude from there, like just business was flourishing and got to the point where I'm like, fuck dude, I like, kind of really want to open my own space. Mm-hmm. you know, and. It was it. It's weird cuz it was never an actual active goal of mine. But then I started getting more into like the whole, like the holistic approach to things. Right. And for a couple years I was thinking about, I was like, man, I'd really like to do like recovery protocols and like have people meditating and doing breath work and doing all this stuff that I practice on my own that have been so helpful for me. Mm-hmm. And then, yeah, I feel like just one day I was like, actually this is how it. Uh, another person at the gym who I've known for a long time came out to me. He was like, Hey, dude, I don't know what your relationship is here. I don't know what's been going on, but there's a space that just opened up down the road. And I was like, fuck, okay, show me it. And then he showed me. And then I was literally like, it was like a. Two week thing where I was like, all right, I gotta do this. Take bold action my friends. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And um, so it was a really scary thing to do for sure. But everything that I've ever done in life that turned out to be good for me was always like, not a split decision, but it was like a calculated split decision. Right. You know what I mean? I was like, How do I make this work? Can I make it work? Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. Okay. And, um, followed your heart. Followed your heart. Yeah. And I think that that's so important, right? Because the burnout conversation important. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Going back, everything you're doing is in alignment with your heart's needs. Your, your purpose, your highest. Selves needs. Yeah. Your purpose, these things are just as energizing as, or more energizing than they are taxing. You know, like you said, you can go to these great length and lengths in terms of how you're pouring yourself into these things because you truly love these things and. That's really cool that you took that courageous, bold action and obviously there was like some calculations you made, but at the same time it was like, oh, this is right. I don't even really need to think about this that much. Of course, like everything you had done up to that point had prepared you Yeah. For that. All the different ways you've formed yourself, all the relationships you've built and and so on. So yeah. That's really cool that there was that, that opportunity and you were just like, yes, and, and then everything's kind of just. Emerged from there. Well, yeah, dude. And it's also like, I just love people, right? Yeah. And I love my people. That's what this is about. Right? Exactly. And so it's like, I, like at the end of the day thought like, how can I better serve my people? Mm-hmm. you know, because we, like, I had a, have a great relationship with Kirk at the other gym. Um, but like, he had his people and I had my people, right. It was just, it, it is what it is. I was paying him rent or whatever, and I had my people. I was like, how can I serve my people better? Mm-hmm. And then I had to, yeah, I had to take action on it. And then, I mean, I tell people, dude, like this is a really tough business. Yeah. If you're not,
Input 1 - Scarlett 2i2 USB-3:Let's go.
Input 2 - Scarlett 2i2 USB-3:All right. We are back on the mix. We had some, some, technical difficulties unfortunately. so. Justin's story. got cut short. Moral of the story is, is we were, we were going through your process of, um, and your journey into wellness and you know, this gym emerging from all these steps forward and, and, and the bold actions you took to. Make it all happen. Um, so we're going to close it out. Thank you so much. My brother for taking the. time and sharing your wisdom and your knowledge and connecting. It's been a pleasure to get to know you. on, uh, to a deeper level. So. Uh, would love for you to share any plugs you want to make. a plug, the gym, social media, stuff like that. And if there's an offer, you want to make the listeners, that would also be great.
Input 1 - Scarlett 2i2 USB-3:Just come to the gym dude. Integrated athletics. That's it. Uh, motivation's not always going to be there. Just be consistent and make it a habit. Come on in get uncomfortable. We strive to have like a really great community. Um, always two weeks free. Your first two weeks. Uh, we're doing the mindful Saturday. again, February 11th. And you can follow us on Instagram at integrated athletics, Facebook. You follow me at JQ FitLife on Instagram. That's basically it.
Input 2 - Scarlett 2i2 USB-3:let's go over and out. appreciate you all for listening, you know where to find me. Plugs for Justin and myself will be in the show notes. And we will see you next time. Smooches. Thanks. Y'all.
Input 1 - Scarlett 2i2 USB:Transcribing...