Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy

Tonight I’m joined by Legacy co-owner, Local Blokes nutritionist, and my wife, Alison.

We talk about why comparison is the thief of joy, and how putting yourself into the wrong training environment can quickly change everything.

Stepping into sparring, Fight Club, or competition might sound like the next step, but it can also turn training you once loved into something you dread, feel sick about, and eventually walk away from.

We look at both sides of the scale and discuss why perspective, purpose, and training for the right reasons matter.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Local blokes episode two. I'm back. I've got my wife with me, Alison. Hello.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hello.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

All things nutrition now of in-house for legacy and local blokes. Yes. The boss. The meal plan lady. Food boss. Yes. You're here.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

I'm here. Hi guys.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

The only female allowed to be part of local blokes. Because if we don't have you, we'll all probably eat KFC every second day.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Look, I'm sure we could make that work if we wanted it to, but you probably wouldn't be able to do that. Single burger, no mayo. It might not feel the best.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

No, I know. Nah, the boys were very, very lucky to have you looking after all the nutrition in the first one.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Well, look, it's a pleasure. And I feel very special to be the only woman allowed in the program.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Yeah. Yeah. Watch the usher get real dirty on it.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Oh. She's gonna what's her name? Dale. Dale. Is it Dale?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

She's gonna try and go incognito with Dale.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

I'm Dale, so I can be part of it. You know what? I have to admit.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

No, I know she got heaps of band around of the boys, they all like to have them around, no?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

That's not what I was gonna say. Although you're right. No, I was gonna say I actually do get jealous. Like the last time we ran this program last year, I actually was jealous that I couldn't be a part of it.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

You know what? And you know how many times I heard this from people who were watching it in the gym. Actually, we had um one of the boys, Stu, what the older blokes here, Stewie. Yeah, he signed up because he goes to me, I can see the connection that all the boys that did the last program have, and he's like, it's just that next little level above. And I'm like, Yeah, it's because of sort of what you go through for 10 weeks and you're all together and blah blah blah. But anybody that was sort of floating around the gym when we were training later on at night, I was like, Oh, what's that thing going on? It's like this is private, this is this is just private for the boys. Yeah, and then you and Dale arrived.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Well, it's all right, I'm not mad about it.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Hey, I want to talk today a little bit, and I'm sure we'll go left, right, and centre and bounce all around because again, I think this last week, we don't have a whiteboard where we script it, we just talk how we feel, so I'm sure this will spin around a little bit and get confusing. But and I don't really even know how to address this, so because I don't even know exactly how I want to talk about it, but I think um I think I want to talk about, I know what I want to talk about, I'm just gonna struggle to get it out. Putting yourself in positions that end up ruining your training, yes, ruining your experience, ruining the gym you joined, ruining the program you're a part of. It's not just a thing that happens here at Legacy or happened at G6, it happens in every gym that is a community-based gym, right? For sure. So people go into it doesn't matter whether you're doing CrossFit, whether you're doing um boxing, Muay Thai, jujitsu, bodybuild, whatever it is, like different experiences, putting yourself in different positions, going too hard too early, or literally scaling to something that you don't necessarily want to do but feel like you should do, yeah, can ruin people's experiences and ruin something that's been so great in their life, yeah, for no real reason but thinking I should jump to the next level.

SPEAKER_04 3:11

Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

And I thought I want to touch on that, and I don't even know how I want to talk about it, but I've just seen it happen for so many years.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

We have watched it happen so, so, so many times.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

And I see it the most through any sort of program that has contact, right? Yeah. So I'm almost gonna down talk one of our our our programs to sort of explain what I see, and then at the same time explain why that's still beneficial if you're the right person at the right time for that to fit your life.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Yeah, I was about to say because it's like, you know how people say that like friends can be like for a reason, a season or a lifetime.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

I've never heard that. What? How have you been married to me for four years and been with me for all these years and never said that to me? Say that again.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

It's like people can be in your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Never heard it, but I get it, I like it.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Yeah, right. So I think of it as a similar concept, right? It's the same thing with experiences that you can have or accomplishments that you can have or things that just serve a purpose, right? They can serve a purpose for a reason, a season, or lifetime. So, anyway, you get into what you're getting into, but my point is there's obviously a purpose for these things. Yeah, there is. However, it just depends on the phase that you're in at the time and whether or not they actually suit you and what you want. But anyway, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

You just explained my entire thought process in a not feeling.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

For once, I actually didn't speak absolute garbage. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Thank you. Um I'm gonna start with Red V Red vs Blue, which is now known as Fight Club, right? Yes, and that's where I see it happen the most. Yes. Male, female, doesn't matter, it's a great example, right? And it's now called Fight Club. Um, it's a program we hold very near and dear to our heart, and we've been running it now for about a decade.

SPEAKER_04 4:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Over a thousand people have been put through this program easily now. Yep. Um, and it's been something that we've worked so hard at to build, took a lot of criticism for a good, you know, five years from outside gyms, but now everybody in New South Wales has their own version of it.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Right? So at the end of the day, it was a very successful program that was laughed at at first and then copied down the track. Further down the track, right? And we I've always pushed this as this thing that can change your life and your whole mindset in 10 to 12 weeks. Like you can come in, you can rip in, train hard with the boys, put your head down, get off to drink, get off to drugs, and the girls too. You know, you can put yourself in this position where you're going to take on the ultimate challenge because there's nothing quite like standing in front of another individual in combat sports where it's just you and them. And I've always been big on everybody should just taste that once in their life. And I feel like the flow-on effect can make you realise how many things outside of your life are easier than you think.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Yes, and I can attest to that. You had your I have experienced that first year.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Your first fight was through red versus blue. It was.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

And it did, it changed my life.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

Yeah. It actually changed the entire course of your life, really.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

It did.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

It did.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

But it changed my life in ways that I didn't expect, and I think that's kind of the whole point.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

And we will get on to why local like we will talk about local blokes in a second, but this is this is going around a circle to get there. Um, so obviously the red versus blue, I put like I was so proud of that. I still am so proud of that for what it is, but I was so big on you should have this experience and blah blah blah. And we would sign up stupid amounts of people for programs.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

I'm trying to think of what the biggest one we had was.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

We signed when we had a couple of our own gyms, we signed 105 people for one round across multiple ones of the G6 gyms, and that was nuts, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Crazy.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

But one thing with it, and as I've got older, I've got more selective of who I think should do it and when they should do it.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

And I have people who go, I'm gonna do that. And the first reason, first thing I say is why. And I and I genuinely look for an answer. And if they don't give me one, I might tell me why. Like, tell me the reason you want to do that, like what's appealing about that, what is that gonna do for you? And I can usually sort of see pretty quick whether that person's gonna make it through 12 weeks, whether they're doing it for the right reason, or whether they've been encouraged or pressured by somebody if they should do it, right? Yeah, and and red blue is the best example of watching people jump into something that they're not ready for or don't want to do, and especially for people who are coming up from say fitness club and have watched people do it, so they think I should do one of these. Yeah, I've watched people be in the gym for two years, lose 20 kilos, 25 kilos, be happier, healthier, make countless friends, enjoy every second of their afternoon, and the gym is like their safe haven, and perks them up after work, recharges them to go home and gets them through another day, and people here become some of their best friends, and the gym becomes this huge positive place. And I've seen those same people then feel like oh everybody else around me's done one of these red versus blues. I'm gonna do, I should do one. I should do one. You should never think you should do one, you should really want to do it, and you should be in the headspace that this thing is not a joke, and you're gonna get hit, right? Yeah, and I've watched so many people move into it, and within six or eight weeks, they're all done.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Yeah, they're finished.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Their thought process of myself or Joe or you or other coaches is completely tarnished. Their friendship has been replaced with resentment. You know, they're getting up in the on a Tuesday or a Monday, they're going to work, all they're thinking about all day is shit. I've got to be punched in the head this afternoon. Yeah. I've got to be punched in the head this afternoon. They get their first split lip or black eye or whatever, they've got to go to work and take that to work. They've got to go home and see the kids at home. You know, all these sort of things that end up building for some of them, it's just more drive. Let's go. I'm getting to that finish line. I'm getting to that finish line, I'm gonna do this. Yeah, and for some of them, it's just they're sick, they're dreaming about it, they're getting up and eating breakfast thinking about it, and it just spins their entire mindset of what something that was so positive for them turns into this yeah, it was just it's not nice, it's not a nice experience for them. And we can see that happening, yeah. Like we see it happening, and we sort of interject and you know, try to encourage or see, you know, sure this is where you want to be. But for a lot of them, it's the mindset of like, oh well, if I pull out and go back to fitness club, I'm I'm gonna get so think. Yeah, or that guy did one he's there, he'll think I'm weak or whatever. So for those, a lot of those guys, they just disappear and we never see them again. Yeah, and they've gone from this thing that they loved to almost like I shouldn't be in the gym anymore, I'm just gonna bail out the back door. You have relationships with people for four or five years, yeah, and then one day they're gone and they never even tell you they're gone.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Yeah, like and that's based on based on a perception that they have more than anything. Yeah, like um, and it's it's such a shame to see too, because it's not something that we like, we don't have a thought process around it, and you know why? Because we know exactly how it feels.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

We say every single camp, number one thing that we ask, if you decide at any point during this program it's not for you, you're under too much pressure, you're not enjoying it, and you don't want to get hit, or you're gonna pull out, walk into the gym, shake the coach's hand, say thank you, this is not for me. 30% walk into the gym, shake a hand, and say, This is not for me. Yeah, and the other 70% who pull out, you just literally never see from them or hear from them again. Yeah. Because it's almost like there's a there's a sense of guilt or sense of embarrassment.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Yeah, and it's like there doesn't have to be, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

But they don't even have to put themselves in that position because I believe a lot of these people don't really want to jump up straight away.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Yeah, they don't want to be in that spot in the first place, and and the pressure on that too.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

Like, imagine the pressure for these people that do it. Everyday people, friends and family coming to watch. Most of our shows have 500 people in the crowd, they're big shows, right? You get to fight night. Three months, you've given everything. You've fought anxiety, stress, panic, you've done all of that. You've put yourself in the ring two to three times a week doing tech sparring, open sparring, you've gone and done all the extra training, you've fought your way through, you've dealt with the black eyes, the anxiety every day going to training. You get to fight night, you get in the ring, you don't perform, you lose in front of 500 people.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

It's a confronting experience.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Not many people bounce back from that. No, not many of the boys bounce back from that. Or the girls bounce back from that.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

And though, although you and I can sit here and go, that we both know that that's like we've both lost fights, right? So we know what that feels like.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

But you and I can sit there and go, they've actually achieved something that most people will never even consider having a go at, regardless of the actual result. Like what they have done is honestly phenomenal. Like in so many ways, it genuinely is. But when you're the person experience experiencing that for yourself, it doesn't like it it cannot feel like that at all. And it's very easy to overlook all the things that you did right or all of the things that you manage and achieved and be like, oh my god, I lost. That's it, done. Like the whole thought process is changed.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Yeah, and it's true. Yeah, and it's like, and then sometimes the spiral, like the there's a flow-on effect from that. Like, you know, how many people have we seen over the years who you've had a fantastic relationship for 12 weeks? They lose the fight, they feel embarrassed in front, so then we become the enemy, or coaches become the enemy, or the gym becomes the enemy. And it's like it doesn't just end the time of something they enjoyed, it ends relationships and friendships and for no real reason. Yeah. Purely because they're in a position that they don't necessarily want to be in, or obviously a loss, but we're not really talking about the loss is the main thing. Um, and I've just watched so many people over the years move into sparring, move into flight clubs, move into contact, and you just you can tell straight away it's like they're not gonna want to be in this position. I've actively been encouraging so many of our members in the last four months, why don't you just go back to fitness club? Yeah, exactly. Enjoy yourself. Like, why don't you move down to fitness club where there's no pressure, no stress, you're not gonna get hit, you don't have to worry about that. If you want to do a little bit of sparring here and there, do it. But the reality is, like, you don't have to be hit in the head every week. If this place keeps you going, if you like being here, if you've got friends here, if you like the social side here, but that one aspect being punched in the face makes you feel nervous, gives you anxiety. That is not positive. It's not driving more positive into your life.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

That's right, it's not empowering you.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Step back.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Step back from it.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

If you have had one or two fights and you're no longer feeling how you felt and you don't have the desire to do that anymore, but you love being in the gym, step back. Yeah, don't keep pushing yourself to fight. I'm sure there'll be plenty of people out there going, Oh, you're trying to talk people out of doing you know higher things and more positive things. It's like I've been doing this for 13 years and I know by watching people's mentality, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

You can see it. It's very it's it's it becomes very easy to recognize and easy to read. And the thing is, the option for it is always going to be there anyway. If you change your mind and you want to do it again, awesome. Do it again. That's fine.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Well, I was talking to one of the boys, I won't say names on here. I could tell he needs a break from spiral. Yeah. I actually said to you four weeks ago, I think we're on the verge of losing him. Yeah. You know who I'm talking about? Yeah. I said, I think we're on the verge of losing him. Uh he's he's coming into the gym and he looks a little bit defeated before he even gets his gear on. Yeah. He's got his head down a little bit more than he has his head up, which is very uncommon because I know that the gym did amazing things to him for like 18 months. He went back to back on fight club events and in-house events and things like that. He's trained so hard, he's ripped into, he's done everything perfect, right? But I could see, I'm like, he needs a break from contact.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

He needs to break from contact, or we're gonna lose him as a member. And more importantly for me, I had a conversation with him last week. I said, Do you feel like it's time to find a new gym? And he's like, What do you mean? And I'm like, Do you feel like it's time that you found a new gym and and moved on? And he's like, No, like what? And I'm like, mate, I'm speaking to you as your mate, not as a trainer or as an owner. Yeah, I can see you're a little bit rattled at the moment, blah blah blah. Like, I just want and he drives 50 minutes to an hour to get the training. And I'm like, if you're at a position that you need to do something different or step back or go to another gym, we we just want to see you keep doing well. Yeah, okay. Fuck the money you pay, fuck the like the like our friendship with you, because he's become a friend, is more important, and your happiness with your training is more important than keeping you doing something that I can tell is putting you under a bit of pressure. He's like, I don't, I'm not going anywhere, I'm want to be here. But D goes, I do feel like maybe I I'd take a little bit of a step back from sparring.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Blah blah blah. He goes, just for a while. And perfect. I said, just take the step back.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Yep, perfect.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

So he's like, I'm gonna join local blokes.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Right, he's done the old one. Yes, and he goes, I'm gonna go back to that. And he'll still keep training, and I know he'll still keep going to sparring, but now instead of having to go sparring three times a week, text sparring, open sparring, open sparring. He'll just go in once a week and spar, have his local bloke sessions, enjoy his training, not go home busted and bruised and tired and sore, not have to get home at stupid hours every night of the week, and not have this date looming over his head that I fuck, I've got to be ready for that. Yeah, and like I could tell immediately after our last conversation, his energy went back up pretty quick. And it was basic, it was it was as simple as the fact that you've put yourself in a position that you have become used to, which is getting ready to get in the ring. Yeah, you need a break from that, like you need a break from it. You don't need to constantly prepare yourself to fight. Yeah, nobody does, but people need to take breaks. No, I think it's important, and he's gone, you know what, I'll go back to local blokes, do this. And I can already see the shift in his energy, and and you know, he's having a chat to me and he's excited for it, he goes, I can't wait for it, blah blah blah. But it's that he he had the ability to go, yeah, you know what, let's have a term off. And he goes, and I reckon term four, I'm gonna do wanna do the do the last one of the year. And I'm like, sweet ass, if in three months you're ready to fire up and go for the last one of the year, let's do that. But let's just enjoy the next three months, yeah, feel good, enjoy your food, enjoy your training, do some more strength, yeah, and then we'll just look at boxing for the last three months of the year.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Yeah, that's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

But he's a very rare case of somebody who's able to go, yes, you are right, or yes, I don't want to be here, or yes, I need a small step back. I'm gonna step back here and keep enjoying this. Yeah. A lot of people go, oh well, it's embarrassing, or I'm failing, or I'm quitting, I best leave.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Yeah, and that that's the thing, isn't it? It's like it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing approach all the time. And that that that's like for lots of different aspects, but like the things that keep you going and the things that are beneficial for you, like it's okay to evaluate like what that needs to look like from time to time. Like your needs shift, the things that you want shifts, and like if sometimes if you can make a small tweak that's gonna make you feel so much better, then go for gold.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

You you've got to be very selective for things like contact and pushing yourself to that level, right? Yeah, especially if you're gonna have a fight. Yeah, last year I decided to dedicate three months to myself for the first time in many years because I was rattled and I'm like, I want to have this fight.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

And I got to do it. But our business suffered because I was had to be so selfish towards that goal.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Fair?

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Yeah, fair.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Yeah. I had to be so selfish to that goal that our business suffered, which made us suffer in other avenue other avenues. Now I can comfortably go, it's not worth me putting that much personal energy into something that doesn't reward me how it once did in my 20s.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

And I think that's the key, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 20:00

In my 20s, I was so rewarded by that win or loss, the challenge, the get it wrong, go back on the Monday, start again. In my mid-30s, I'm no longer rewarded by that challenge. I'm no longer longer rewarded by winning a fight. I don't even like honestly, I just don't care.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

I'm rewarded by consistency.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Enjoying my training and being around people that I want to be with. Yes. And in return, that allows me to have a better structured business, a calmer approach to everything I'm doing, and a lot more patience because I'm not on edge with this date coming up and no, I need to have my time for me. Like, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

And it's just I think that like we've really shifted our direction this year, trying to get so many guys to understand that that we would rather see you enjoy yourself and keep training than put yourself in a position you don't want to be in and end up hating what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Yep, 100%. And once again, I think it's like just because you're not doing that thing that you've put on a pedestal or in your head is like the pinnacle of like that's the thing I should be striving for.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

It doesn't mean that the other thing is just like feeling happier in your day-to-day or actually enjoying having a laugh with the guys while you happen to be training, or like they're not like they're nothing less than like why can't that also be like a marker of success? Like, hey, I went to three sessions this week with the guys. Like, I might have done two of them in person. One of them, a couple of the guys were like, Hey, I want to train on Saturday. Does anyone else want to jump in with me? They come in, they you know, I've eaten well, I feel good. Like, mad.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Mad. Like I feel like this sounds very preachy, but it's like normalize just feeling good. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 21:59

I know. And it's

SPEAKER_01 22:00

It sounds ridiculous, but it's like we overcomplicate the fuck out everything. We're so good at it. We do it all the time. We do it in business, we do it in our personal life.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

We've overcomplified We're the king and queen of that.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

Yeah, I say this from experience. You overcomplicate and sometimes you look, you and I have always had the conversation that we like setting goals that feel high. We do.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

But also sometimes having the next best thing or the next best feeling or just being able to operate and wake up and be like, I actually feel good.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Like that's enough.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

But that's the thing. Like when you do wake up, you do feel good, you feel like you're operating better from being happy and enjoying what you're doing. The other like other I wouldn't even say goals, other things happen in your life that make your life better again.

SPEAKER_03 22:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

But when the hyperfixation kicks in of that one individual goal only, you kind of some for a lot of people, like this is how I am anyway. When I hyper fixate on one specific goal, I drop the ball on so many other things in my life. Yeah. But I have a very addictive personality. Like I drop the ball on the other things going on because I just hyperfixate on I must get to that thing.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

And I'm learning more and more now that it's like you can just have this really good mix of training, eating, sleeping, working, like and and a and a life outside of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

And oh look, I'm happy and I'm doing the things.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

And then you go back to the flight, like and that sort of screening process that doesn't really exist, but we like to think it does. Like that's allowed us to change the way that the red blue operates. Like we've gone away from trying to generate mass numbers for these enormous events with all this sort of hype on the 12 weeks. And we've gone, how can this be something that we inject into people in spurts when the time is right for them and run a very clean, enjoyable, challenging 12 weeks, but then also have a platform for them to step back into mainstream membership if they don't want to do it again? Yes. And I feel like all these years of experience, bigger, bigger fights, big, better events, more people, you know, all this stuff we did. And we had we were running wild events. Yeah. Now we've gone and like brought it all in-house, tidied it all up. We've got our other avenues of membership, and it's like we've actually learned how to go, right? How do we just build this thing so that when they get to the end, there's like an off-ramp? Yeah. Whereas we never used to have an off-ramp. People would get to the end and then it's just like jump off the cliff. You either got a parachute and we'll see you Monday, or you hit the ground and we never see you again. Yeah. Whereas now we've got this like really good little off-ramp that spins you back around into the membership.

SPEAKER_04 24:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

You've got this platform to train, still do things that excite you.

SPEAKER_04 24:54

And look, I still belong.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

And nine months later, you might go, All right, I want to get back on that ramp and do this again for 12 weeks. Cool, man. Jump back on and we keep going. And that that takes away that like need to always be a hundred miles an hour or not here at all. But then local blokes, I think that's the perfect, that's the perfect 10-week, four-time a year platform, right? Because you go there with no risk of being smashed in the face. You don't get up on a Monday morning and go, fuck, I've got to go, I've got to go do this session, I've got to do this session. There's no sick, nervous, edgy feeling. There's no pressure. There's no event where 500 people are going to be sitting watching you at the end. Um, there's no physical repercussions for getting something wrong. There's no there's no physical repercussions for being in a position where I I can't train for a week. Yeah, that's right. Do you know what I mean? So it's like and and you get the same community aspect with all the boys. You get to enjoy your training. Okay. You'll actually, in my opinion, see more physical results through local blokes because of the way that it's structured with the strength and the boxing. Yeah, it's bal it's very balanced than you will through the red versus blue. Because when we're doing a thing like red blue, we're like, look, 99% of you is a first timers. Don't worry about doing strength three days a week. Yeah, because it's too much. Spend every second you can boxing, boxing, boxing, boxing for that first one.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

You know what I mean? So, like, yeah, you know, that's I've always sort of had that view, like opinion. When novices are coming in to have their first fight, yes, you need to be fit and strong for boxing. But if you've got a start and a finish date in a program like Fight Club Red Blue, all the different ones running, your emphasis should be boxing.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Yeah, because at the end of the day, what you're competing in is boxing.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

You can get as strong as you want, as fast as you want, but if you don't have the fundamentals, you're in trouble. So you don't really get to have this well-rounded training block. Whereas in the local blokes, you have this really well-rounded training program, a mix of boxing and strength and conditioning.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

You got your nutrition plan there. Every week you're seeing a physical or scale result.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Whereas with boxing, you can have seven or eight weeks out of 12 where you feel like you're just going backwards and you've got busted up, but you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Yeah. It's a very different experience.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Like you, I get the boys in local blokes. I signed 32, retained 31 for the whole program. I signed 32 for red versus blue, we retain retained 25. Yes. 23. And it's easy to get guys to stay invested and be a part of something when every week or every second week they're getting a positive or physical result. Yeah. Week three, where um the wife or the partner goes, You're you're looking good, you're dropping some weight, or you know, week six, you look like you're putting on a little bit of size, like you know what I mean. And when people start to go, you look good, you look happy, geez, you're looking a little bit younger.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

It's nice, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 28:04

It is. Like who doesn't like that?

SPEAKER_01 28:06

Yeah, a bit of validation. Yeah, fuck.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

I like we all need validation. Like, I don't care what anyone says. If someone says to you, Geez, you're looking good at the moment, you go, Oh, thanks. Why can you go, yeah? And there's the motivation to go for the next week, right? Yeah, whereas you rock up to work and someone goes, Geez, Jimmy, you're looking tired, mate. You're looking sorry, everyone. You're looking tired. Oh, you got another black eye, and you're like, Yeah, you know, I'm I am tired. I'm doing this program and I'm sore and I'm not sleeping, I'm not eating properly, I'm stressing out. It's a very different it makes it hard.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Yeah, yeah, exactly. One's a boost and the other is the opposite, isn't it? Whatever the word is that I'm looking for.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

I'm just look, I'm just with this thing with the local blokes. Obviously, our fight club's something very I'm very passionate about. Yes. And I'll remain with that.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Yeah, oh absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Our direction with it and our wants and needs with it have changed drastically in regards to how we want to run it, and it's not about just getting volume in of new people, it's about it being an option or an opportunity when the time feels right, opposed to do this thing now.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

Yeah, it's not it's not a requirement, it's an option for when it suits, for who it suits.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

And then, hey, here's your off-ramp if you want to stay involved. Like you come back off and you come back down here. Yeah. Whereas with local blokes, um I'm very excited because I'm seeing so many guys who have done fight clubs before and all these sort of things, who have done one and now they've signed up again. They're like, Yep, I enjoy it, man. Like, I'm all being with the boys is fun, the training's good, the ban is good, they've found their little thing there, they belong, there's no pressure on them, they can enjoy their training. And I know that those boys will go at one point, I'm doing another fight club.

SPEAKER_04 29:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Because the time will be right.

SPEAKER_04 29:51

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

So I think that's one of the biggest things with the local blokes for me. There's the opportunity to have all the benefits of something like Flight Club without any of the negatives that a lot of new people struggle with, which is black eyes, busted lips, anxiety, stress of sparring, and that date of someone being in all those people watching them.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

Yeah, and I love that it can meet people where they're at, you know, like it doesn't have to hurl you as far away as you can possibly imagine to this terrifying, scary thing. As much as that can be so life-changing and and it can be such an empowering experience. This also is like, right, cool. We're lifting weights. Jimmy, you can lift the five kilos. Is that all you can lift? Cool, you lift the fives. You know, someone else might want to lift 20s on the same thing, and it doesn't matter, like it really doesn't matter because everyone can still progress and it's still relevant for them in the way that they need. And I think that's it's cool.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

It is, yeah, and it's like I think to you know, it prepares people and it and it prepares them in our gym and it creates comfort and all of that to get them ready for if the time comes to move up and try one of the other programs, they can, yeah, but they never have to. And it's also, you know, you're training with your training partner at say local blokes, and he's spotting you to get the bar up, or he's spotting you with the dumbbells, or he's holding pads for you for boxing. Yeah, your mate and your training partner in Red vs Blue or Fight Club is punching you in the face. Yeah. So although you've got this great connection and community at the same time, the guy who's cheering you on is about to go and punch you straight in the nose. So it's a very different concept.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

I I believe that out of the two programs, the fight club, the direction we've moved it and where it's at, becomes this awesome when the time is right, experience and does what it does. Yeah. The local blokes is something that gives men a chance to consistently stay a part of something they enjoy. Yeah. With the opportunity to do those social days and the golf days and all of that, but it's a no-pressure, high result, high-benefiting program that only makes your life better. Yeah. And then the other program is when you just feel that you know maybe it's time to give it a try.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Exactly. When you want the extra spice.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

So I hope that uh I hope that the next one that kicks off we get the same result as we did in the first one. I know we're gonna. Yeah. We've got more and more of the boys signing up, so I can't wait. July 20th. July 20th is yeah, two weeks we start. Actually, two weeks today.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Yeah, it is Monday.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

Yeah, two weeks from today we start. We've got the we've got an information night. Next week. Next week, is it next Monday?

SPEAKER_02 32:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

What's that? Is it the 13th? Yes. It is next Monday, the 13th at 7 p.m. here at the gym. Yep. So that's all of our guys who are registered and also open up to any newbies who are interested in coming down and having a listen. Meeting me and Joe, the trainers, we're gonna walk you through the whole facility. Let you have a look at it, take you on a tour of it. You're gonna meet Allison, who's uh looking after all your nutrition. Family Woman Allowed. Only Woman Allowed. So you'll talk to all the boys about the basics of the nutrition, how you're gonna put that platform there for them.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

Yeah, I'm really pumped.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

Yeah, I can't wait. I'm actually keen just to give everybody a tour of the place. Yeah. And they can actually see how it works and what they're gonna get and go from there. And then prepare to win the golf tournament week five and ten.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

The things that are really important.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

Yes. Anyway, Alison will be jumping on every few podcasts to have a chat. Um we better get to work. I've got classes coming up soon. I do. It's quarter to five.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Some point this evening.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Joey's out there with the juniors. Sasha's off sick today.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

Oh, come on, Dave.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Joey's out there doing the rounds. What have you got on tonight, actually? I've got a lot of you haven't been well. You've been quite ill.

unknown 33:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

I've got a back-end work day today, which is perfect.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

That sounds like a cop out.

SPEAKER_01 33:48

But what do you mean?

SPEAKER_00 33:49

I uh I'm just gonna start saying I've got back end stuff to do. Go on to golf.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

No, but the difference is that's like in my role for.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

No, I know you actually do have a lot of back end stuff.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

So I'll be doing that. Thanks for asking.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

Have a great evening. Thanks everyone that had a listen. And uh we'll chat again next week.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Thanks for having me. Bye. Bye.