White Fox Talking
Talk About Mental Health & Well-Being… Why Not? Mark ‘Charlie’ Valentine suffered life changing mental illness, before beginning a journey to recovery and wellness; the darkness of PTSD transformed by the light atop mountains and beyond. Mark is now joining forces with Seb Budniak, to make up the ‘White Fox Talking’ team. Through a series of Podcasts and Vlogs, ‘White Fox Talking’ will be bringing you a variety of guests, topics, and inspirational stories relating to improving mental well-being. Find your way back to you! Expect conversation, information, serious discussion and a healthy dose of Yorkshire humour!
White Fox Talking
E81: Stronger Minds, Stronger Bodies w/ Ricky Moore
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What if the gym could be your most reliable tool for mental clarity, resilience, and purpose? We sit down with British and world champion lifter Ricky Moore to unpack how strength training, disciplined routines, and small daily wins can pull you out of the dark and set a new standard for your life—especially if you’re a man over 40 standing at a crossroads.
Ricky’s story is raw and real: a turbulent start, a turn toward the iron, and the loss of his wife, Jem, whose parting words—“Don’t let it kill you as well”—became his compass. He explains how training five to six days a week gave him a reason to get up, how the focus of a 250‑kilo squat crowds out intrusive thoughts, and how the endorphin lift after training buys you hours of better mood. We dive into the difference between negative distractions like alcohol and positive distractions like exercise, the power of community in the gym, and why staying 90–95% ready year‑round beats yo‑yo extremes.
You’ll hear practical, no‑nonsense steps: three weekly workouts as a baseline, daily step goals, an 80/20 approach to single‑ingredient foods, and sleep treated as training. Ricky shares his visualization method—feel the win, feel the loss, then move—and his rule about making deals with yourself you refuse to break. If you’ve ever crashed out in mid‑February, this plan avoids the all‑or‑nothing trap and builds confidence through small, sustainable wins.
We also talk mindset at the elite level as Ricky targets Mr Universe: marginal gains, controlling the controllables, and leaving no box unticked. Whether your goal is a podium or simply more energy for your family and work, this conversation is a blueprint for discipline that lasts. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review to help more people find the show. What hard thing are you choosing this week?
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Hello and welcome to the White Fox Talking Podcast. I'm Matt Charlie Valentine. And alongside me is Sam.
SPEAKER_01:Hello, Charlie.
SPEAKER_04:Happy New Year. Happy New Year to you. How are you? Yeah, good. Good. Did you get up to much? When back home. Well, have a good time with a fan. Yeah. Always. Yeah, please. Just nice, nice and chilled. Having a little bit of time. I'm looking forward to another. What does it hold for White Fox Towers? Um Well, lots of quality. Should we discuss that another time? Yeah, yeah. Lots more stress. Lots more guests. Lots more inspiring stories than people telling us that we have to carry on, of course. Because it's a good thing. Maybe not for our left short.
SPEAKER_02:But you got our guests in because there there was some sort of thinking behind the madness. Thinking behind the madness.
SPEAKER_04:Yes. So we'll introduce today's gift. What we wanted to try and do is put a little series together of this thing that I mean, I've been quite in touch with it last year with uh running the marathon and then Nixon this year I'm gonna be running two. No, two and a half. And then for all of them. I need to run quicker than I've run them before, but they're all painful. But it's just that that mindset and having that that relationship between mind and body and mental health and physical health.
SPEAKER_02:So I believe in you, Charlie. Thank you.
SPEAKER_04:I'm having uh yeah, I think we might speak about visualization visualizations later, but I'll be visualising that I that my left knee is actually okay. And I don't hobble around for 26 miles. But it's cool. Right. Who's here? So welcome, Ricky Moore. The White Fox Talking Podcast is sponsored by Energy Impact. How are you, Ricky? I'm good, thank you. Excellent, mate, excellent. So the idea of uh well the idea is we'll just brief a brief rightline what we want to do for a little series. But if you could give a brief introduction for our listeners of who you are, what you do. So we've all got a little background, and then we'll go into it and now the relationship between the bodybuilding and the coaching uh you know as a relationship to mental health and your own story.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, okay, so I'm Ricky Moore, I'm from Leeds, I'm 45, I'm a bodybuilder and a powerlifter. I'm a three-time British champion in bodybuilding, and I'm a European, British, and world champion in powerlifting and also a world record holder. So I've done a fair bit of competitions in my day. I'm a personal trainer and a coach, specialised in training men over 40 to be the best version of themselves that they can be.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, brilliant. I mean, that's we've known each other for a long time, haven't we, Ricky? Certainly, yeah. And worked on many doors. Um but that I did know I'd noticed on your social media, because I've followed you anyway, but noticed on your social media about this thing with the men over 40s. Yeah. And I think, you know, because it's the average age of people taking their own life is actually moving up. You know, it's not just young people or people in the third, you know, it's it's getting up there now. But this relationship between mind and body, obviously, with the bodybuilding and powerlifting, it's got to be on there, and yeah, it's it's dedication.
SPEAKER_00:I think I think it's huge training for mental health. I think it's like, you know, I think especially when you're younger, you're not really thinking about your mental health when you go to the gym, you just want a six-pack and just pull the birds, you know what I mean? But as you get older, and there's so much more to it, you know. I think because as you get older, I think a lot of people's lives slip, you know, they get families and they get embers, you know, they're in the careers so much, and they're they're just all the time's taken up by those sorts of things, and they'll let their own health and their own physical health decline. Because a lot of the times they're giving so much to the families, so much to the careers, and they've put themselves last. And I think they think they're doing the right thing by doing that, but they're not. I think if you put yourself first a little bit more, go to the gym, look after yourself, look after your health, uh, look after your fitness and your strength, then you're actually gonna be in a better position to be a leader for your family, for your kids, you know, for your business, for your staff. You know, so by putting yourself first a little bit more, you're actually gonna give people be able to give other people more. I think the saying is what's the saying? There's a saying about fill your own cup up first.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_00:You know, fill up your own cup, and when your cup's full, you can give more to other people.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I think it's like you know that thing on planes where they say put your own cat, put your own oxygen mask on first. And everyone's like, no, I'd have to look after someone, but if you pass out, you're no good to anyone, eh? You can't help anyone else then. That's exactly the same point. I know from personal experience last year training for the marathon that I'd talked myself into. Funnily enough, entered it while I was drunk. So next morning, so the next morning, I I got emotional writing the speech that I was writing for down at the anniversary of my friend's death and uh and entered this marathon because I've got a problem with words and stuff, I don't want to have to go into that now because I've mentioned it before, but I ended up having a few beers and then next morning I'd enter this marathon. Congratulations, you are in. What am I in? But at that time when I started training, so I I started traveling stuff and whatever apps people use. But then when I'd done the when I uh when I'd recorded it and I looked back, like my fitness had gone up like two thousand three hundred percent. And then when I looked back down the timeline, I could see the correlation between when my dad was passing away the last few months of his life during dementia, that the this time thing, I was rather than going to the gym, rather than going out running, I was going to see my dad because he's thinking of them. But when he did pass away, if my head were in bits, my body were in bits, you know what I mean? So it's tough, innit? But you know, but then the c the sort of clarity and the more motivation I've had last year and into this year now that I'm going to be running more marathons, that direct correlate. It's like I've done a little bit of a test on myself.
SPEAKER_00:It's it's good to push yourself, Charlie. Yeah. That's the point. It's like, and I think you know, it leads me on to what we were talking about before we started the podcast, which was five years ago, my wife Jem, who you'll see many times with me back in the day, she she died five years ago, which was the worst thing I could ever I could ever go through. You know, mental health suffered, felt like shit. But I always said I'm not gonna let it beat me. You know, it's like so I used exercise and my training as a way to help me get through that tough period. So literally, three days after she died, I started a training programme in the gym five, six days a week. And what that does, it gives you daily purpose. So if you if you you know, if if you've if you're grieving or something really bad as in your life's happened, you can't stop thinking about that thing that that's that's making you feel like shit. But then if you give yourself a goal, give yourself some purpose, then you're gonna get up and you're gonna think about your goal, you're gonna think about your purpose. It's not gonna get rid of the pain and and and the height that you're suffering, but it's gonna make you feel better in the moment when you get out of bed because you've got something to wait for. And I was saying to Seb earlier as well, is when you're training really hard, you've got to put so much effort into that workout. You actually can't think about anything else for that hour. You you're fully immersed in the workout. So for that hour at least, it's gonna take your mind off of whatever is uh you know making you suffer.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I suppose that's a I mean, I suppose it's a form of meditation, isn't it? Really? Because you're putting everything else out, them them stresses. I know I do a thing with the nature therapy, a bit like mindfulness as well, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's just one of the zone into certain spectrum.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I suppose with the mindfulness, one of the first ones you do is like a body scan. You know what I mean? And it's like and because you're doing a full scanning of your body, I can't I would how are my feet feeling, how are my ankles feeling, you just work around that. I suppose with the bodybuilding, it's all about the moving them thoughts into actions, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00:Well, the thing is, if you go to a gym, right, and you've got to squat 250 kilos, it's like you can't think of anything else other than that squat of 250 kilos. Because if you're not fully immersed and focused on what you're doing, you're probably gonna fall over and break your back. So you've got to be fully focused on what you're doing, and that focus just like I say, it locks your mind into what you're doing, and then afterwards as well, you also get the sensation of the endorphins, so you feel the really good afterwards as well. So for the hour when you're doing the training, you're fully immersed in the training, so your mind's off your problems then, and then an hour afterwards, you're elevated and your moods elevated from the from the good hormones that have been released, so you feel happier for that hour. So even if it's for two hours a day, you feel better about yourself, that's that's gonna have a positive impact on the rest of your day.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I suppose that thing that you just said about after Jen passed away, getting in the gym, it would be so uh well from a personal point of view, because just after I've been diagnosed with PTSD, then well, well, actually, because I was exercising then, because I was still Thai boxing, and then when I tore my cartilage, I wasn't exercising, that would take it away from me, and all I did were go on the piss. You know what I mean? And that's these distractions. So how how do you how do you manage that?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I actually said to myself, I said, listen, I said, I'm I'm not feeling good about myself here. My mental health's not in a good place. I've just watched my my wife die in front of me. You know, this is the hardest thing I could ever go through. But I'm gonna say a little thing that she said to me here before she died. So about a week before she died, Jem said something that still sticks to me to this day. And if I'm ever having a bad day, I remind myself of this. So she just looked at me and she said, This cancer is gonna kill me, don't let it kill you as well.
SPEAKER_04:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:And and there's nothing more powerful than that because you've got to think what she means by that is if you let yourself decline, if you let start drinking, if you start taking drugs and your life goes to shit, then the cancer's not only killed her, it's also killed me as well.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, but you've still got it's that it's that strong world, isn't it? And you know, it's like I mean, I'm hoping that you both agree with me that sometimes this little voice in your back of your head, it's not me just that that here's it, is that you know what I mean? It's like them two little birds on your shoulder and one saying, Yeah, do it, other one's saying no, don't. You know what I mean? So but to to argue against that or get your mindset and fight against these temptations.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I think like one thing I actually said to you earlier, I said it's it's I knew at that point I didn't want to drink any alcohol for a certain amount of time until my head was in a good place. I know if I drink any alcohol to an excess at that point, okay, it's gonna make me feel better for that moment in time, but it I'm already feeling like shit. So the last thing I want to do is when I'm feeling like shit mentally is wake up with a hangover, I'm gonna feel even worse. So for me, I didn't associate the alcohol with feeling good and an escape. I associate it with feeling bad. The aftermath afterwards, it's like, like I say, if I've got a hangover the next day, I'm already feeling crap. I don't want to feel even worse. So that was my thing. I'm gonna stay away from alcohol, stay away from from booze until I feel like I'm in a mental space good enough to be able to drink without any serious after effects.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I think I'd I had to have a word with myself at one point and say, you know, if Because there's absolutely no doubt that if you go out drinking on a session, do whatever, late nights, this is all gonna affect you the next day. It's not just affecting you know, this thing about people wanting my thing. I used to eat chocolate digestive sandwiches on the Miami. Do you know what I mean? Because my body would crave water. My body would crave that, and whether it's for dopamine or whatever, or sugars.
SPEAKER_00:It's probably the sugar and the carbs. Your blood sugar levels will be low. Yeah. So your body's like, what can I have? That's you know, bread and sugar.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, you're just craving it. And sometimes champions. Breakfast chief champions. Yeah, but or when my pal Dave used to live with me, and he's a nutritionist, but it'd be like a double decker and a can of cook.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And then I had to sort of have a word with myself and say, Will, if I want to get into any anything like reasonable shape that I was back when I would tie boxing and that, then I've got to accept if I go out there's gonna be a payback. And once I accepted that as a mindset, then it'd be like, right, I'm gonna feel like shit tomorrow, but that doesn't mean that I have to reach out for a can of what I call toxic poison toilet cleaner, innit, really?
SPEAKER_00:One thing I'd like to add to that bit I said before was when Jem was dying of cancer, she was the most positive, happiest person ever. She couldn't have handled that that fight that she was in any better. So to see how well she handled her cancer knowing she was gonna die made me come out the other end going, well, if she can handle that as well as that, I'm doing her an injustice if I don't carry on the baton, so to speak, and you know, keep keep this fight going, you know. I mean, so I'm not gonna let my slip, myself slip, because I felt if I let myself slip, I was disrespecting Jem and all the all the you know positivity she put out there when she had cancer.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, we had uh Mike Tomlinson on, didn't we? Back in the early days, who's who's wife Jane, you know, and that's where all the people.
SPEAKER_00:I remember, yeah, yeah. They were from Rothwell, weren't they?
SPEAKER_04:Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. And the stuff they were telling us about, you know, she was being diagnosed and never ran a marathon before. It's like, right, I'm gonna run a marathon. Yeah. And to get through that, I mean it's just setting yourself a goal again, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, I suppose. So I'll start with you in Covid, because w when Jem had cancer and she was housebound, it was actually quite lucky that COVID happened for us at that time because it meant I had to shut my business down and stay at home and look after her. So it was a real blessing for me. Right. I was never forced with a decision of having to I'm not gonna be at work, so I've got to look after Jem, which I would have done at some point. The decision was taken out of my hands, I just had to stay at home and look after it. Right. So that was perfect. Anyway, when Jem was dying and she had you know a broken broken spine, she knows she's gonna die any week or any month, right? She set herself a challenge of doing 10,000 steps on a step box in our front room every single day, and she wouldn't do it all in one girl because it'd be too bad, it'd hurt her back too much. But she'd do a thousand steps, go on the sofa, text on painkillers, do another thousand steps, text on painkillers, and she set herself this goal every single day and did it for for about six weeks until she physically couldn't do it. And that was because there was no aesthetic benefit, obviously, at that point, but it was just again, it was that purpose genuine. She had to get out of bed and do those ten thousand steps. It give her something to get up for, it give her a purpose. And I think the biggest thing you can do if you're going for a hard time is find something to focus on, find yourself a purpose, unlocking on that goal, unlocking on that purpose, and that's gonna take you away from whatever problems you've got in your mind.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I mean, definitely, I totally agree with that. Is that having that mindset in it to do that? Because that's gonna it's a focus rather than what do we call it a distraction because you're not dwelling. It's a positive distraction.
SPEAKER_00:I call it a positive distraction, alcohol is a negative distraction, exercise is a positive distraction. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Can I ask you how you got into the bodybuilding yourself? How I got into bodybuilding.
SPEAKER_00:Great question, Charlie. So when I was younger, I I was a little shit. So I'm gonna give you a bit of a background on my uh on my my childhood. So I came from a bit of a uh bad family, and my parents were drug dealers, I was a bit of a tear away, getting in trouble with the police, getting into fights. I got booted out of school at 14 years old, so I didn't finish school. I was selling weed at school and got booted out for fighting and selling weed at the uh on the playground. Um anyway, so I always was like a bit of a tough kid, you know what I mean? But I was only little, so I thought, oh God, right, I need to be bigger to match my persona of being a bit of a tough kid if that makes sense. And we've all grew up with the Arnie films, the Stallone films, the Jean-Claude Van Damme films. I was obsessed with muscles as a kid. I bought my first pair of dumbbells when I was like eight, and it's just in my bedroom, curling the dumbbells, looking at my whole Kogan pit poster on the wall, wanting to look like the hookster. And I was obsessed with muscles from a very little kid. I think what it is, it was like I had no guidance or anyone to look up to as a kid. And I think I wanted to, yeah, what we're trying to say, I didn't really have any strong role models. So I had to become almost my own strong role model by lifting weights, becoming strong, and just making the most of myself. And I think there was just a correlation with muscles, strength, leadership, power, all that stuff, you know what I mean. So I think I got into bodybuilding as a bit of an escape from all the bad stuff that had happened when I was in a kid. So actually, I'm gonna go on a bit of a tangent here. So between the ages of 16 and 18, at 16, I had to leave the family home because we had a dispute about my dad selling drugs, and I had to leave the family home. I had to go live in a bed sitting in hair rules on my cousin's floor, right? And for two years, right, we drunk cider every day, took drugs every day for about two years stretch, did nothing apart from tech drugs, trick cider, and shoplift sandwiches because we had no money for food. Right. And it was like I always liked muscles as a kid, and I thought, there's just like someone that sparked inside me one day and sort of said, Man, if you don't, if you keep doing this, you're gonna end up in prison, you're gonna end up dead, something bad's gonna happen. So I moved myself away from those people, got a flat and just got a job and just started going to the gym because it was like was always my thing. And I thought, again, it was that distraction thing. So I thought, I need to take myself away from this, I need to do something positive. I've always liked lifting weights, so I'm gonna start working out on a more serious note. And that was kind of the thing, it moved me away from that bad life. So here was the drink and the drugs and the crime, and I'm like, I'm at a crossroads here. Okay, I either can keep going down this path and end up in a pretty bad place somewhere, or I can gonna choose this path on my own, go to the gym, lift some weights and see where that takes me. It's took me quite far.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, do you think was that just something that clicked, or was it do you think your your mind's put all these little bits of little pieces of knowledge that you've already gained and experience and self-experience? What's it called? You know, you you you've already had little bits of what is gonna be good for you and you've put them together, and so much just clicked.
SPEAKER_00:What happened is basically I think I'm at 18, my cousin who were living with in the bedside, he wants them to prison. So I was like, right, if I follow his path, I'm gonna go there as well. So that was probably the the the trigger, really. So he went to prison, I ended up moving out, getting my own place, doing my own thing, and and that was like if I keep going on this path, I'm gonna end up like my cousin in prison. So I don't want to go down that path. I'd say that was probably the trigger for that. And the story for you, I was in town about three or four weeks ago, and who did I see? My cousin, who I've not seen for 25 years, he was a junkie on the streets. Oh, really? So that tells me I made the right decision. Yeah. Because if I would have carried on down that path, I'd have probably ended up with him on the streets being a junkie. So moving out of that house, getting on my own, going to the gym, starting training seriously, was was was you know the best decision I ever made. And what I would say is it's that positivity. It's like I've never really had anything good happen in my life until that point. But genetically, I was really responsive to the weight training. Obviously, a lot of it's genetics. I go to the gym and I'm like training. I'm like, bloody hell, I've been training six months. I'm already bigger than those guys who've been training 10 years. I can lift more than that guy who's been a you know, and it's like so what happens is people start coming up to you and going, bloody hell, Ricky, you're really strong. You already is oh wow, I'm actually good at some of that for the first time in my life. So that positive feedback that you're getting for people made me want to do more of it.
SPEAKER_01:Builds your confidence.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's where I say my confidence, you know. I'd like to think at this stage now I'm a pretty confident guy. I can sit here and do this with you guys, no problem, or whatever it may be. And I think the confidence initially came from that trigger of going, you've done something on your own, you've gone to the gym, you're good at it, and everyone's telling you you're good at it. So that feedback loop is oh, doing more of this is gonna make me feel even better. And that was kind of the the the the platform for me that got me into the bodybuilding eventually. So when did you start competing then? I did my first show at 27. So I started training seriously at 18, 19 when I moved away from that bad situation. Always loved bodybuilding, always kind of had the idea after about three or four years. I developed a really good physique, and people kept saying to me, Oh, you're gonna compete at some point. And I was like, Yeah, at some point, at some point. But I was on the doors by this point, and I think I liked the nightlife a little bit too much at that at that point, if I'm honest. It was like I love training. I'm really strict five days a week, I'm training four or five days a week. But I you know what, I like being in the clubs on the weekend, I like going to town, having a night out, and it was like I didn't really want to sacrifice that. But when I got to 27, obviously going out less at that point, I started working as a personal trainer, and because I started working as a personal trainer, I actually saw the benefit then of doing the competition because I thought, right, okay, if I do a competition, I can use that as a way to market myself. So I thought, right, I'm gonna do a show, did my first show, signed up for it. I said, I'm only gonna do one, everybody's only ever gonna do one. Here we are, 20 days left, still doing it. But anyway, I'm saying I'm gonna do one. I'm only gonna do one show, just I've got the pictures to promote myself, did one show, one was really, really good at it, and everyone's like, oh my god, you're the best new bodybuilder we've seen for ages. So when you're good at summer, again, it's that feedback loop, it was the same thing. Well, I'm really good at this, so might as well do another one. Came, and I think in my first three shows, I had two firsts and a second. So but if you get two firsts and a second in your first three shows, you're kind of hooked at that point. So that was that was me, and that was it. I was hooked.
SPEAKER_04:Oh I was just thinking when you said about doors and parties. Well, that would have been like courtyard parties with stuff like that, won't it everybody?
SPEAKER_00:What's the house? All the good places you kids don't have anywhere good to go now. Exactly, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I'll be honest, yeah. I mean, slightly off topic. I was talking to someone recently about you know that scene that we had in Leeds. It was massive companion, wasn't it? But it were it were all this community stuff as well, where you it was a dance community and you'd know people.
SPEAKER_00:I I've got friends that I've met in that Leeds nightclub community. I'm still keeping touch with now. Yeah, you know, it's it's it's amazing.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Well, the the scene's all sort of been crumbled away, isn't it? There's there's no nightclub scene in Leeds now. No, it's really but how did that affect so we spoke briefly earlier about like pillars of the pillars of mental health, which I'm a big believer in. Um I always forget one. So community, we just spoke about that. But then nutrition, sleep, self-care. What's the last one? Nutrition. There's another one. Exercise, there you go. The main one shows you the main one that we're talking about, yeah. But working on the doors. How's how did that work with your I'm a I'm a massive fan of sleep, I'm a massive fan of nutrition. And then and now getting back into exercise, I go into peaks and troughs, you know what I mean. So how does that work with the d with the door? And I'm trying to sort of relate this to working late nights or working nights, which can be damaging for you, can be damaging for your mindset, can be damaged for your mood, etc. And routine, because it just goes out of the way. Window, doesn't it? I didn't find it hard to be fair.
SPEAKER_00:You know, like I think the bar where I worked at half two. Oh, okay. It wasn't that late. I think if you were at mint, it's a different ball game. Yeah, nine o'clock in the morning. Yeah. Half two minutes like you finish work, you get home at half two, three o'clock, you'd have a protein shake and go to bed. And what I always did, every time I was working at the doors, I always made sure I got a nap in the afternoon. So if my sleep was a bit shorter that night, I'd already had an hour or two in the afternoon. So on balance, I was probably getting the right amount of sleep.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. I mean, I'm a big fan or a big fan of a nap in an afternoon. I love a nap. But you know what? It's only who did we speak to sleep gig? We talk about scaring rhythms and people having different rhythms. And it's a natural thing, but it seems to have been drummed out of us, don't it? That you know, you you're lazy if you have a sleepy afternoon. But I suppose it depends what you've been doing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00:I think I was taking a set before we started, actually, I'm a real morning person. So I'm one of those guys, I'm I'm up at about five o'clock every day. There is no right and wrong. Yeah. It's like even though I'm like super focused and I'm up early and I'm great on the morning, I'm not great on an evening. It's just your your it's like people ask me, what's the best time to train, Ricky? The best time of training is the best time that you feel at your best that also works around your schedule. I look I get up in the morning, I love training at six, seven o'clock in the morning. It's my favourite time of day to train. My mind's clear, I've got nothing to think about. I could just focus on the lift, focus on the iron and get on with it. If I try and train later in the day, I've got too much clutter going on in here, so I can't focus as well. But some people are much better in the later in the day. There is no right or wrong, it's whatever's best for you, is best for you. That individuality.
SPEAKER_04:It's like everyone's different, isn't it? Yeah. It's like me trying to do paperwork and stuff at from ten o'clock at night till two in the morning because that's when I can operate because my phone's not ringing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I'm the total opposite to you. I actually get up sometimes, I start work at seven on the morning, my first PT client's always seven o'clock. I have days where I get up at half four and I'll do two hours' work before I start, because that's my best time of day where I can focus. If I try and do that two hours on a night, if I've done five PT sessions, if I've trained, my brain's so muddy or foggy, whatever you want to call it, but at the end of the day, I can't concentrate. Whereas at half past four, five o'clock in the morning, I have a coffee, the world's still asleep, I can just super focus on what I'm doing. So that's my favourite time of day to focus.
SPEAKER_04:So just going back to competition, and and I might be wrong because I've never competed. So so it just the dedication and discipline involved to get yourself in that sort of physique and then you know, yes, stories about strip wet stripping weight and the diets, extreme diets and things. How do you how do you stick to that? Because how long would a how long would it take you to prepare? So say when you won first won British title. That was 2012. 2012. How long did it take you to prepare for that?
SPEAKER_00:Ten weeks. Right. Well I would say, right, that my m methodology, if that's the right word, for bodybuilding, is probably a little different than most people. Right. I don't believe in this blocking and cutting and getting really heavy and cutting. Now I I eat clean all year round, I train hard all year round, and I stay probably at 90%, 95% of my competition shape all the time. Right. So then the actual diet, apart from the last two or three weeks, is not actually that hard. So by working a little bit harder all the time, it makes the hard bit not quite as hard.
SPEAKER_04:Right. Yeah, I've seen that. It used to be in a lot in the boxing, didn't it? And football. And footballers are professional footballers where they'd train, have a game, and then just go out on the piss and prop a party up. And I've seen friends, boxers, that have fought like 11 and a half stone and stuff, middleweights, and then gone up to 13 stone.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. You see, I I'm more bel I'm more of a Mayweather guy. Right. It's like in terms of Mayweather, we'd always be six weeks away from a fight at any time. Say if he fought at 10 stone, he'd be walking around at 10 stone, 10. You know, it's not he's not got much work to do. Whereas Ricky Harton, for instance, yeah, rest in peace, Ricky, he would go up to 14, 15 stone. So then he's got so much work to do, it's gonna make it harder. So, like I say, by being a little bit stricter all the time and looking after yourself a little bit better all the time, it means you're in a better position when you start your prep for your shows. It's always gonna be hard, but because you're never really out of the routine of doing it, it's not a shock to the system. So I like I say, work a little bit harder all year round and then make the hard bit a little bit easier.
SPEAKER_02:I guess. Again, that comes down to everyone being slightly different. Maybe some people perform better under stress, so they they let themselves go and then they have a goal and then they have a smaller amount of period to cram that much work in. I work better under stress myself. You know, if I know sometimes I leave things really late because I know if I bash them out in in a small period of time, my concentration, my focus is so much better than me doing it over a period. Yeah, I get what you mean.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think but everyone's different. It's a bit like one about the sleep thing. Oh, the time of day you operate the best, everybody's different. There is no one size fits all. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa.
SPEAKER_04:Would you have any techniques? So coming to a competition and you want your body's telling, or your body, or your mind, I suppose, your mind's saying you want it to sort of waver and do something. Which it does. Which yeah, yeah. So how would you how would you stop that?
SPEAKER_00:Right, okay. So when you're the last few weeks before a show, no matter how well you look after yourself all year, them last few weeks are absolutely horrible. Right? Especially if you want to get in the shape you want to win. Because if I'm doing a show, I want to win. Right. I don't want to I don't want to come last. It's like I don't do last place, I'm going for first place. So what I would say is it's all about your it's all about your mindset. I've had days where I actually look back like, and I don't know how I get through them. You're so tired, you can't think straight. Even having it to highlight how hard it is near a show, right? I go to the supermarket and I am the most social person you'll ever meet, I actually go, please don't see anybody on no because I don't want to have a conversation. Even having a conversation is an effort at that point. Right. You know, like, or even the best way to describe how hard it is, right? Imagine you're on the sofa and you really need a piss, right? And you think, I'm that tired, I might just piss myself. That's how hard it is. If you want to put into context how hard bodybuilding is, right?
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_00:So when you're at that stage where it's really hard, what you've got to think about is not letting yourself down. Okay, so I don't like letting myself down. It's like I've made a promise to myself that I'm gonna achieve this goal. Okay, I'm gonna be at my best. And to do that, I need to tick certain boxes every day. And no matter how bad I feel, no matter how much I don't want to do those things, I don't like letting myself down. So you've got to be accountable to yourself and make sure that you get those jobs done. Because if you don't get them done, I'm gonna feel crap about myself. So I want to make sure I get those jobs done because like I say, I'm gonna f you're gonna feel better no matter how much you feel by completing the tasks than getting to the end of the day and not completing the tasks, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, but this is the reason that I wanted to get you in, to be fair, because you know that just having that map being out of that mindset. If if this goes out and people are like, or some people maybe, you know, we spoke earlier about getting over Christmas. You've had you've had December people going out, enjoying themselves, the social aspect of it, and then afterwards it all just stops after Christmas or New Year. But people have generally been drinking too much, definitely generally eating too much and eating foods that it's Christmas, it don't matter. But it does, doesn't it? Because it all affects and then and then in January, when everyone feels like shit.
SPEAKER_00:I think the biggest thing that people lack is discipline. Yes. Okay, and I think discipline is something you need to instill in yourself, and discipline comes from doing hard things, completing hard things, and then making yourself feel better knowing you've done that hard thing. It's like not avoiding hard things. Most people avoid hard things. I think you should embrace hard things because by doing a marathon, doing a bodybuilding show, doing stuff that nobody else wants to fucking do, by completing it, you're gonna feel good about yourself. You're banking sort of what's the word I'm looking for? You're banking data to show yourself that you can complete that task. Well, when things get hard, I think the thing is, I'd say as well, right? You know, it's like I've had people try and stab me. I've I've fucking been put in a in a in a hospital and had brain damage. It's like I've had all sorts happen on the doors, you know, I've watched my wife die in front of me. So who the fuck am I gonna complain about being tired on a bodybuilding diet? Do you get what I mean? Yeah, yeah. It's like look at all the I've been booted out of school, I've been booted at my home, I've lived on the floor, I've had people try and stab me. It's like being on a low-carb diet. Yeah, it's hard, but it's not as fucking hard at all those things. So I think at this point in life, it's like, and obviously, not a lot of people have not gonna have gone through those things to have that discipline that I've got and that mindset, but you can make yourself put yourself into hard situations, you know, sign up for a marathon like what you did, Charlie. It's like by doing a marathon, signing up for it, telling everyone you're doing it, going and completing it, you've done something that that gives you that proof to yourself that you are a man of your word, you are a man of discipline. And then when you're then faced with something else that's hard, you've got that thing that you've just done to show yourself that you can complete other hard things. Does that make sense? Yeah, I'd say that to that right is don't don't avoid hard things, yeah, embrace hard things because getting through hard times is what creates discipline and creates resilience. And the more discipline and resilience you've got in yourself, the better you are going to face hard things in the future.
SPEAKER_02:The easier it's gonna get.
SPEAKER_00:The easier it's gonna get. Yeah. What's the saying? Do easy things, end up with a hard life. Do a lot of hard things, end up with an easy life.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, I like that. Yeah, I like that as well. Do you think how much life I had for myself? No.
SPEAKER_00:So people always comment on my mindset and how hard I can push myself. And I think it's just because I've been through so many hard things in my life that I'm just hard, hardened to it, that I've got this resilience and discipline inside myself that can just write another wall to go through. Let's fucking walk through it.
SPEAKER_02:Do you know what I mean? Did you ever have a mind cut teaching you this? Or did you just all self-taught were you your mind cut, basically? I've always self-taught.
SPEAKER_00:Never had a coach for bodybuilding, never had a coach for business, never had a coach for powerlifting. I like I like teaching myself because the better I am at teaching myself, I actually feel that I'm in a better position to teach other people because uh you learn, you make mistakes, you learn, you make mistakes. If I just got fed stuff, then you're just feeding what other people have taught you. You're not actually you're not actually teaching, you're not actually building your own. It's a bit about learning by doing. Like I like and again, I do that all the time. There's there's no right or wrong. Some people learn from a course, some people learn from a mentor. I'm one of those people that I like to go, right? I'm gonna do this task, I'll research on the internet, read this, read that, do this, do that, and try stuff. I like to just learn for myself. I've always been like that.
SPEAKER_02:And it's good failing, isn't it? It it's not I'm not saying it's good losing in a competition, but it is good when you fail. Yeah. Because getting over it and then achieving the greatness that you have by not failing anymore next time around.
SPEAKER_00:Well, think about this, right? It might take ten goes to get good at something to win. That means nine failures. If you have zero goes, you're never gonna win. Do you know what I mean? So it's as simple as that. You've got to fail to win because nobody's gonna win at everything. So the more you try stuff, the more you fail at stuff. Again, it's that resilience. So if you go for this and you fail, right? More resilience built. You go for that and you fail, more resilience built, bit of knowledge learned, bit of data, go for something again, fail. Now we've got all this knowledge, resilience, and data. We're gonna go for this thing down the road now. Now we're gonna win it, this thing, whatever it may be. So every time you fail at some, every time you try something new and you're not very good at it, it's only building proof, data, discipline to be better in the future.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, you we spoke earlier about visualization, and it was which I thought were really good what you said. Yeah. So if you do, would you just share that with listeners again about you know?
SPEAKER_00:So when I'm doing a show, visualization is one of the biggest things that I use to help me get through those hard times that we were speaking about. So if I'm in a bit of a hole and I'm struggling, I'm tired, I don't want to do something, I sit there and visualize, right? Okay, how good is it gonna feel if I win? Right? How good is it gonna feel when I win? Feel that feeling, okay, right, that's gonna give me some energy. I'm feeling good. Likewise, I'm also gonna feel how bad is it gonna feel if I lose if I don't do this task that needs to be done? Oh my god, I hate losing. So the feeling of losing, that feeling, feel it, the feeling of winning, feel it. Use those emotions to help you get yourself off your ass and complete whatever tasks that you need to complete, that always works for me.
SPEAKER_04:If I put it into context here with that bloody marathon I did in in York, I knew that maybe the week before my preparation was shocking. You know what I mean? And I'm not gonna I'm never gonna be an elite runner. But just for me to get under that target that I want to do, which is not a particularly fast target, but I missed it by 17 minutes again. And I'm thinking, well, if I'd have eaten properly, if I hadn't gone climbing the week before and having a beer every night with lads, then but you learn such mistakes for next time.
SPEAKER_02:You won't you won't go climbing the week before. And no, well, I did not go for any beers.
SPEAKER_04:If you remember rightly, when I finished the marathon, I retired there and then for about six hours. You remember for about six hours, and then I was looking through saying, I need to do this and get this under these terms. I've retired from bodybuilding about a hundred times.
SPEAKER_00:That's normal. Anything, anything, oh my god, I'm retired, I can't. It's too hard. And then a bit of time passes, and I'm like, I'm doing it again. I love it. Yes, and you get addicted to the buzz. But visualization is such a strong tool, okay? Visualise yourself winning at stuff, visualise yourself being better and how good it's gonna feel, okay. It's like one thing I like doing, I call it like making a deal with myself. If I make a deal with myself that I'm gonna complete a task, I have to complete that fucking task. I hate failing at anything, and it's like so. If I say, right, I'm gonna do X, Y, or Z, I have to do it. I call it So make if you if you want to be better at summer, sit down, write down your goals, make a deal with yourself that you're gonna complete those goals, and then don't fucking let yourself down. That's the biggest advice I could give anybody.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, definitely. The stuff you're doing with over 40s physique, yeah. Why is it specifically over 40?
SPEAKER_00:I think because I'm a man over 40. I'm 45 now, a great moisturizer. Um but and um but I think it's the crossroads in life is your 40s, it's a huge crossroads because you're still at an age where you can look and feel at your very best if you look after yourself. But if you let yourself dwindle too much beer, not enough exercise, let yourself decline, the rate of decline at that point will be very, very fast, and you'll be an old man and you'll be past it very, very quickly. So you can either at 25, you're not at that crossroads, yeah. But at 40, 45, whatever it may be, at this sort of age, you're like, right, okay, if I look after myself, train hard, eat well, drink more water, stay off the booth, okay. The best years of my life can and still will be ahead of me. But if I'm drinking too much, eating too much crap, not exercising, literally, you could be dead in five, ten years. That's the difference at that age of life. It's fucking you're at such a huge crossroads. Could someone just start bodybuilding at that age, or you can start bodybuilding at any age. It's like no matter where you're at, right? Okay, if you exercise and eat well, you're gonna be better than you were yesterday. And if you do that for a year, you're better than one year before. You might not ever get to a championship level physique, but you're always gonna be the best version of yourself that you can be, and you're always gonna be better than the man you were last year.
SPEAKER_04:So, where would someone's thinking about it now, they're listening to this and thinking, actually. Because it might not have to be a bodybuilder thing, does it? But you'd still get involved with the gym and just go exercise.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. There's so I'm sorry, there's so much more to it than bodybuilding. Yeah, yeah. It's like, like I said before, it's like if you go to the gym, look after yourself, get strong, get in better shape, you're gonna feel more confident. That's gonna benefit you at work, you're gonna be better with your missus, you're gonna be better with your kids, you know, you're just gonna feel have more energy on the morning. So forget about bodybuilding. There's so many other benefits to getting in shape, you know, that that every man, especially over 40, should should be doing. You should be in the gym training, you should be exercising, you should be eating healthy because everyone around you is gonna positively impact off the work you put in yourself.
SPEAKER_02:I always find though, also when you're in the gym, there's always some sort of community, there's always other people wanting to be the best version of themselves, and then you start chatting to them, you know, or you you spot each other, yeah, you know, and you have these little conversations. So it kind of rounds off each other, so it creates another sense of community, yeah, which helps you as well. Massively agree with that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. The thing is, and it's like if you're around other like-minded positive people, again, it's all about that that you know I think everything in life, it's the the law of attraction. If you're not exercising, you're eating crap and you're around, you feel a bit shit, you're probably gonna find yourself around other negative people. Okay, but if you're doing something positive for yourself, going to the gym, eating healthy, looking good, feeling good, you'll suddenly start attracting more other good people into your life that are going to be on the same journey and the same mission as you. So, one thing I'd like to add to something I was on about earlier is if you're going through a hard time, okay, don't focus on the things that you can't change. Like for me, I can't bring Jem back after she's died. Obviously, I'm sad, I'm grieving, but I can't change that. So, one thing I'd like to say to everybody is focus on controlling the controllables, which is what I did, which is going to the gym, not drinking, drinking your water, being as healthy as possible. You know, I think too many people stress about things they can't control, but that's not going to help anything. So one of my favourite sayings is control the controllables, focus on the things that you can change rather than the things that you can't change.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I suppose as as a species, we generally try and take the easy option, don't we? We're not all I think most people know that physical exercise and nutrition are important for your body and for mindset. Yeah. And then that body mindset link, healthy body, healthy mind. But the dis it's these distractions, isn't it? And it's easy to just opt out and like, oh no.
SPEAKER_00:But what's easier, Charlie, right? Eating really healthy for a day, going and training legs, right? You know, being really strict, telling your mates you can't go for a beer, that's day one, or sitting around all day doing football, having a pizza and going to the pub with your mates on the night for a beer. It's like obviously choice two is much easier and might be more fun at the time. But if you compound that over years, you've got you you're going to feel terrible. So this might feel harder in the short term, but it's going to make you feel better in the long term. So it's looking for the long-term benefit rather than the short-term dopamine hit.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I don't know what I don't I keep for for for years now. People have like just laughed at me for the way that my diet's been, because I've just gradually took shit out of it because it was really bad at one point. So I were when I was tie boxing, so 2002 last time when I told me I was 73 kilos, and then when I were at door at the minute, I was 106. Wow. And I thought I could I couldn't fasten my staff at one point. Right. Yeah, and it's the story I've told I've told loads of people I was brushing my teeth under and my belly were going one way as my toothbrush went the other, and I went, I need to get out of this. Do you know what I mean? And just starting instilling these personal rules, but I don't know. I've no idea where they came from. Yeah, I mean, but just being switched on and not being not falling for this advertising boat.
SPEAKER_00:Did you slowly change, or was it a gradual thing, or was it an overnight thing?
SPEAKER_04:I did a one do you know what I'd woke up one New Year's I'd be we'd had a New Year's, a bartender's New Year's party, so it was like two or three days after that, and I just woke up and went, I'm not having anything processed for six months. Yeah. And I had to cook everything. So I'd go to the shop and go, and I'm a terrible cook, but I'd go to the shop and I'd buy my broccoli, buy my vegetables, I'd buy my piece of fish, and I had to cook it. I wouldn't buy anything that had two ingredients in it. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Single ingredient whole food. Exactly. The best food you can eat.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So that was what I call your light bulb moment. Right. Obviously, I've had a lot of clients over the years, and no matter how good you are at coaching people, people have to want to change. Yes. You can't force people to change. And you find that people just have a light bulb moment. It might be a holiday picture where they see the belly. It might just be a moment where they'd go, Oh my god, I've let myself go. And when that client gets that light bulb moment and the change, they're ready for it, that's when the change is going to happen fast. Until that moment happens, you can't force people to change.
SPEAKER_04:I think it's this um with without going on a run, I walk I walk some of us. This societal thing of it's so easy just to go ring a pizza. But for me, it's like I'm gonna feel shit after it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. I can't eat white flour anyway, it just gives me chronic indigestion. So that's I've been lucky like that, you know what I mean. But then through my own learning experience, then I find that my my mind's better and clearer by not going down that. So I'd much rather have fruit and veg and then I would some of it that's crap that I know for that moment and I won't be pressured into it. I like being stubborn like that.
SPEAKER_00:It's the same as what I was saying about alcohol. It's like even if it's gonna make you feel better at the moment, you know you're gonna feel worse the next day. So it's thinking about the bad bits that are gonna stop you doing it at that moment in time.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. I mean, I suppose when I'm going through my really bad times, the alcohol didn't make me feel any better. It was just habitual. Do you know what I mean? You just because then you I'd end up I'd be sat sometimes sat alone drinking and you're thinking, I'm just getting into a acting.
SPEAKER_00:Did you know that's that you're in a root at that point? I think so.
SPEAKER_04:Or do you try and like tell yourself this is alright? Do you know what I think I was telling myself at the time is that I can do this because I've been having such a bad time. So you justified it. Try to justify bad bad habits. I mean, not bad habits, horrendous habits, you know what I mean? Just sat drinking by yourself. But I used to think after finishing work, I'd I'd be like, I'd still be wired after work from music and you know what I mean? And getting home at nine o'clock in the morning, the sun's coming up, and you're like, oh, the sun's already up. Driving home in the sunshine and everyone's going to work, and then having a beer at home just to relax. But it don't, does it? It's a it's uh what's it called? It's not a sedative, it's depressant. Well, it is a depressant, definitely. It's a depressant. It's a sedative, isn't it? You don't actually sleep, it just puts you into a sleep, but you're not into a side. You don't get into a proper deep sleep. Exactly, yeah. Which you need. For body and mind. For repair.
SPEAKER_01:I like doing that though. Finishing work early and then coming home and cracking open a can. Crocking up. Yeah. Just just I don't know.
SPEAKER_04:But that in this case hurt quite good, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:But I've had this with I had this with a guy who He smokes weed and he'd he'd like he'd like to have a joint on a night before he went to sleep, and then one time he was struggling to get some, and he actually went out and bought it and then didn't smoke it. With that feeling of buying it. What is going on with our brains? So what would your top tips be for anyone then? If we're we're in this month now, we've just got rid of it. I'm 41. I want to change.
SPEAKER_00:I thought you were younger actually, Seth. I'd put it in uh good moisturizer. And I put you in your 34, 35. Thank you.
SPEAKER_04:I'm not asking. I'm not asking again. Leads me out of it. I've had a tough life. Go on. Well, I was just fun. I'm 41. You're not getting free tips, but go on.
SPEAKER_00:So go on, what's on the next question? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So we've got this uh your over 40s that we spoke about, this over 40s program. Yeah. We've got Christmas out of the way now. We've got Christmas out of the way. We're all feeling like shit. And we can't understand why we've really like shit even though we've been drinking too much and eating crap. Yeah, what would your tips be to get someone online? And it's not just that I'm trying to tighten to more mental health podcasts on the belief in healthy body, healthy mind.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I mean what I would say is if you're not exercising at all, don't try and uh undertake too much. I think that's what some people do. They go I finish Christmas, I've eaten loads of shit, I've put on loads away, I feel like crap. I know what I'm gonna do. I'm now gonna train six days a week and never have a cheap meal. It's like what you're doing, you're setting yourself up for failure. So it's like better to say I'm gonna train three days a week, okay, go on a walk on the other days, and I'm gonna eat, you know, like what you did, I'm just gonna eat really healthy, but I'm not gonna put too much pressure on myself. I think if you set yourself up to fail, then you're probably gonna fail by by undertaking too much. So just start off steady, go to the gym three times a week, set yourself a step count each day, set yourself a protein target each day, try and eat as much single ingredient whole foods as possible, fruit and veg, stuff like that. If you like a cheap meal and a beer, allow yourself one on a weekend. I do that, even at my level, and that helps me stick to the rest of it the rest of the time. So, you know, I always say the best thing to do with a diet, especially for someone who's new to it, is just think. I always think of my diet when I'm not competing as 90% bodybuilding and strict foods, 10% a bit of what I want. For the normal person who's listening to this, I'd go 80-20. Think about eating 80% for your body, your mind, and for your health and your physique. Then think 20% a bit of what you want, okay? And then that's actually gonna help you stick to it long term by going all in and being all or nothing, which is what I'll put up people do in January. You're setting yourself up to fail because what will happen after three weeks? You're gonna be like, I can't keep up with this. I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna eat 20 sandwiches or whatever people eat, normal people eat. Normal people. People, uh pizza, sorry, sandwiches.
SPEAKER_02:It sounds like smaller targets are are better than any large sandwiches could do it.
SPEAKER_00:Don't don't set yourself up to fail. Set yourself up to succeed by setting yourself small, achievable goals. And then again, gaining the confidence that's it. Get to January, go, right, I'm gonna lose eight pounds by the end of January, and I'm gonna only drink, you know, one night a week instead of three nights a week. Right, okay, get to the end of January, you've done that. Oh, I've lost that. Right, okay. Well, instead of three workouts a week, I've I've shown myself I could do that. Now I'm gonna go to four workouts a week, you know, and it's like it's so setting yourself small, achievable goals that are realistic is the best way to stick to things. Set yourself unrealistic things, unrealistic goals, have an all-or-nothing mindset, you're setting yourself up to fail.
SPEAKER_02:You might start with one workout a week.
SPEAKER_00:No, not one. You can't do one. You need to do three steps, but even though one is better than none. So that's how you've got to look at if you're doing none and you even if you do one, it's still better than none. But two's still better than one and three's still better than two.
SPEAKER_04:I suppose like this this all ties in with the the sort of gym dropout, doesn't it, in mid-February?
SPEAKER_00:That's why it happens. That's why it happens. So it's because people set their expectations expectations too high, right? They go all in and they're gonna train every day. And it's like it's not realistic. It's like, you know, set yourself so if someone's getting I would suggest someone, if they can afford it, getting a PT, getting a coach to guide him through to set himself a realistic and achievable and sustainable plan. Okay. And if you do that and you stick to it, you know, better to be 80% all year round than 100% or no percent.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Because that's gonna get you nowhere.
SPEAKER_04:And then, like I say, that that link. I suppose if you you know, people setting off after January or starting at January and then they bail out in February, then again that's gonna not confidence and mindset.
SPEAKER_00:And it's like yeah, it's that I think that would create like some sort of yo-yo effect, I guess. It does, it's the all or nothing mindset. You see it with people, I've seen a lot of people that are 100% for six to eight weeks, they do fuck all for six to eight weeks, and it's like, well, I was the third people. If we just went eighty percent all the time, something that you know you can stick to, then you're gonna make constant, steady progress all the time. You're gonna feel great and look great, and it's just it's just gonna be more sustainable over the long term. Cool. Well, so uh so what's the rest of this year, 2026? 2026. I am going for Mr. Universe in May. Oh, really? And the best place ever at Mr. Universe is third, one competition I've not won. I've won everything but this one, and it's annoyed me. Um so I've got third place at Mr. Universe a couple of years ago in 2024, and I'm going for it in May. I'm going all in. I'm already I'm winning. The trophy's mine. If you're listening to this, you're competing against me. The trophy is already mine.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, you might as well go have a sandwich or a pizza. Steal it, pal. Yeah. And you'll be using your visualizations and I'm visualising it right now.
SPEAKER_00:Right. I'm visualising winning. And you know what I even do? I actually visualize it's a good one for you guys, right? I visualize the winning speech I'm gonna do when I win. I'm like, thank you to my missus, thank you to Liam and Null for providing the music that gets me through the workouts, you know, thank you to you know, whoever it is. I just do thank you speeches to you know to make me feel really good about winning, you know. I mean, I visualize everything. That helps you train as well, doesn't it? Yeah, if you think you're gonna win, you're gonna train harder. If I think I'm gonna lose, right? What's the point? What's the point of putting myself through this absolute torture? I have to believe I'm gonna win. I have to visualize winning to put the effort in needed to be able to win.
SPEAKER_04:And this is it, this is elite level, innit? Yeah, yeah. And it's them, it's them marginal gains, I suppose.
SPEAKER_00:The difference from first and second is so small. You know, it can be so small. So what you've got to do on the day, it's it's you've got to get there, right? Knowing you have done every single thing in your power to be at your best that day. Then if you don't win, you go, I couldn't have been any better. I've not let myself down. The biggest thing is you've done your best, you've not let yourself down. If somebody's better than you on the day, there's nothing you can do about that once you've put the maximum effort in. So you you just again control the controllables, do everything you can to win, be your very best on the day. And if somebody who's better than you beats you, fair play. Nothing you can do about that. That's sport.
SPEAKER_04:I just visualise myself running up that is it pool band. Right for you than me, Pop. That's that's that's the league's marathon. And then it goes well, and it's bloody awful, honestly. My hamstrings just went, no, we're not having it.
SPEAKER_00:My hamstrings are going just thinking about running the mail, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_04:But I've not got I'm I'm not aiming to win the marathon, but I'm aiming to get under some certain times. You've got your own personal goals. Yeah. Yeah. And promote the podcast, promote mental well-being. So it's been great to get you in. And the idea is that someone like yourself who's competing at elite level, even just you know, little drips of knowledge that can go on to the man in the street or the person in the street, the the the whoever that can then be thinking, well, yeah, maybe I should do that. You know, this thing about you know visualization, or I could visualize myself using losing eight percent.
SPEAKER_00:I think just everybody out there, the message to any men listening to this, is just focus on being the best version of yourself that you can be. You know, have discipline, set yourself goals, set yourself targets. Don't let yourself down. Be a man of your word, okay, and and just see things through. And if you can see things through, you're gonna feel good about yourself, you're gonna build confidence and you're gonna be better for everybody around you.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think it's good positive advice, isn't it? For the new year. Yeah. That's what we're just thinking about positivity. If you're positive about yourself, then generally find positivity coming towards you.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I'd spoke about the law of attraction. One of the big big things that I believe in is the law of attraction. If you put a positive messages out there, if you put good vibes into the world, okay, you know, good things will come back to you. If you're negative and you you feel like shit about yourself, you're gonna attract more negative stuff. So a lot of negative people don't even realise that they're attracting a lot of that negativity. If you're doing well for yourself, if you're pushing yourself in the gym, you're eating good food, you're being nice to people, you're putting good positive messages out there, then more good stuff is only going to come your way. So a big believer in the law of attraction. Where can people find you? And we will put this on the uh Instagram.
SPEAKER_04:The information.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, you can find me on Instagram, and it's Ricky Moore underscore elite.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and we will put uh the link to your webpage on there as well.
SPEAKER_00:Instagram, uh, follow me for more bits of advice. Yeah, and uh lots of fun and banner.
SPEAKER_04:Brilliant positivity. Yeah, all the best for Mr. Universe. Yeah, I'll come in with my winners' trophy when I've won it. Mate, you're welcome, very welcome. Yeah, because that that might be good as well. Yeah, that'd be cool if I could win a winner's trophy. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It's the date, Mr. Universe winner, I'll be in. Brilliant, thanks a lot, Ricky. Fantastic. Yeah, thanks, Ricky. All right, guys, thank you very much. It's been a pleasure.
SPEAKER_03:And if you would like to support us and help us keep the podcast going, then you can go to buy us a coffee or you can click that on our website, whitefoxtalking.com, and look for the little cup. Thank you.
