Step back into the halls of UConn with me and my fellow kinesiology alumnus, Idean, as we traverse the intersection of academic theory and practical fitness training. We kick off a nostalgia-fueled discussion on our formative years under the guidance of influential professors like Dr. Kramer, whose bench press prowess was as legendary as his academic teachings. Tune in for a candid look at the rigorous strength conditioning program, our lab endeavors peering into the complexities of hydration, and the competitive spirit that propelled us towards our current careers in the health and fitness industry.
Shifting gears from the classroom to the clamor of the gym, Idean, a seasoned Equinox trainer, shares the wisdom he's gleaned over nine fruitful years. Discover how his work ethic was honed not just by the demands of the job but also by the mentorship of high-achieving clients who embody the essence of success. We delve into the symbiotic relationship between competence and passion and the art of cultivating an authentic digital persona in today's fitness world. Our conversation takes an unexpected turn, debunking the myths surrounding alcohol as a health elixir and navigating the intricate dance of indulgence versus well-being.
Our episode draws to a close, but not before touching on the importance of a well-rounded lifestyle, where health, work, and leisure coexist harmoniously. We share insights on how to rebound with vigor after a night out and the perils of viewing life's pleasures through a black-and-white lens. For the budding fitness professionals tuning in, we leave you with kernels of advice on staying informed and selecting quality resources to fuel your growth. Until our paths cross again, remember that personal wellness and professional fulfillment can mingle like the best of friends at a lively party.
Want to ask us a question? Email email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!
Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/showupfitnessinternship/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@showupfitnessinternship
Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Personal Trainer Book (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Personal-Trainer-Successful/dp/B08WS992F8
Show Up Fitness Internship & CPT: https://online.showupfitness.com/pages/online-show-up?utm_term=show%20up%20fitness
NASM study guide: ...
Step back into the halls of UConn with me and my fellow kinesiology alumnus, Idean, as we traverse the intersection of academic theory and practical fitness training. We kick off a nostalgia-fueled discussion on our formative years under the guidance of influential professors like Dr. Kramer, whose bench press prowess was as legendary as his academic teachings. Tune in for a candid look at the rigorous strength conditioning program, our lab endeavors peering into the complexities of hydration, and the competitive spirit that propelled us towards our current careers in the health and fitness industry.
Shifting gears from the classroom to the clamor of the gym, Idean, a seasoned Equinox trainer, shares the wisdom he's gleaned over nine fruitful years. Discover how his work ethic was honed not just by the demands of the job but also by the mentorship of high-achieving clients who embody the essence of success. We delve into the symbiotic relationship between competence and passion and the art of cultivating an authentic digital persona in today's fitness world. Our conversation takes an unexpected turn, debunking the myths surrounding alcohol as a health elixir and navigating the intricate dance of indulgence versus well-being.
Our episode draws to a close, but not before touching on the importance of a well-rounded lifestyle, where health, work, and leisure coexist harmoniously. We share insights on how to rebound with vigor after a night out and the perils of viewing life's pleasures through a black-and-white lens. For the budding fitness professionals tuning in, we leave you with kernels of advice on staying informed and selecting quality resources to fuel your growth. Until our paths cross again, remember that personal wellness and professional fulfillment can mingle like the best of friends at a lively party.
Want to ask us a question? Email email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!
Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/showupfitnessinternship/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@showupfitnessinternship
Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Personal Trainer Book (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Personal-Trainer-Successful/dp/B08WS992F8
Show Up Fitness Internship & CPT: https://online.showupfitness.com/pages/online-show-up?utm_term=show%20up%20fitness
NASM study guide: ...
Welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast. We're great. Personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry. One qualified trainer in time with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you wanna become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showupfitnesscom. Also, make sure to check out my book how to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Howdy everybody. Welcome back to the Show Up Fitness Podcast. Today we're lucky to have Mr Idean. Him and I both went to Yukon and we're gonna talk about the life of a trainer at Equinox, so thank you for taking your time today.
Speaker 2:Happy to be here, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chris, for bringing me on here. I'm excited to chat with show up across from coast to coast.
Speaker 1:That's right, and so for me, I'm old. It was 20 years ago, holy shit, that I was at Yukon. We were talking a little bit about some of the professors we had, or there's some that kind of stuck out when you were going through your undergrad 2015,. Right?
Speaker 2:2015,. Yeah, I was a fifth year, though, so it was 2010 to 2015. And yeah, dr Cramer was. I mean, he was the one guy who actually looked like he lifted as much as he supposedly lifted. You can just tell right. I think his bench numbers were like 550. And I'm like he was crazy to have a professor in college who's probably still benching 400 plus and 550. And the guy's just an absolute legend. I remember one point. I had to look at this CV. It's like 198 pages long, just study after study after study. But on top of that I was like Muresh Olek Armstrong, dr Lee was good Things like one more. I'm forgetting, but I remember there was a couple of guys who looked kind of like nerdy researchers and they did start telling stories about their powerlifting days and they were like, oh yeah, I couldn't even get into a squat position with anything less than 500 pounds in my back.
Speaker 2:When I was wearing my squat shirt and I'm like this guy the glasses and the oversize button down used to squat that much and it was a very cool program to be a part of because you had these really research focused nerdy people that when you start peeling the layers behind them, these guys lift, they run, they lift, they do everything.
Speaker 1:Like I said, run and lift, because I remember Dr Armstrong. He was just called himself Mr Hydration, or what they do. It was just so freaking nerdy, though, and his classes were fucking so tough.
Speaker 2:They were very dry, very, very information focused. But some of the stuff that burned into my memory to this day with hydration, with what's the proper rate? What kind of color piece should you be looking at that kind of stuff? I even remember some of the stats because in this tinting class where you look like cognitive decline starts at 1% dehydration and if you're working on first cues you're already at 3%, I was like fuck. I remember him and now to this day I still recite that and people will question it and they're like, is that really serious? I was like I don't know, the guy runs the hydration thing. He told us that in class we got tested on it, so I assume it's real, but I just don't know how much that cognitive decline is noticeable for most people. Yeah, he was in big hydration for each.
Speaker 1:If you've had an opportunity to research Dr Kramer, he's like the legend behind really kinesiology. He helped write the book with Zatz and that Zatoroski book is many called at the Bible of periodization. And just to give you an idea how powerful Dr Kramer is, now he is at the Ohio State and you're saying that wherever his team goes, what happens?
Speaker 2:They just get the number one spot for kinesiology or strength conditioning. He just took it with him as we left and I was like, just look at the same. We went to the top program in the country because it was the top program when I got in. But they did do a good job converting us to like exercise science for our last year and they retained a lot of smart people in the exercise science department. It was just his team from strength conditioning at left Ohio State. That was a bit unfortunate.
Speaker 1:I saw him at the ISSN like four years ago and I was like a little girl, I was like so excited to see him and I was like Dr Kramer and we I like to drink before I go to those. So I was hammered. My buddy was like there's no fucking way you remember this guy. He's like Chris, of course I do. And I was like, oh, I love you. He's been my number one man crush of all time. I love Dr Kramer.
Speaker 2:How big was the program when you were in it? How many students?
Speaker 1:2004,. I don't know exactly how many students that up top of my head I mean. The classes, as you probably recall, were eight to 10 people per class. Yeah, in the game, a million.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we had, I think, at most in terms of peer strength conditioning classes. It'd be like 12, maybe 12, 15. That was part of why getting into the program as hard, as we had 400 applicants that we accept to 10 to 12 a year and I'm like oh sure. Yeah, one of the harder programs to get into. But I don't know how honest they are about the 400 applicants because it is a pretty niche program.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and did you do any studies or anything in the labs?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we all have to do three credits of lab work. There was one that was looking at creating kinases and marker of fatigue inside to work with a centrifuge for a little bit and get like blood whatever certified. Those were Dr David Hooper, who I'm now actually connected with on Instagram. I hope that here's at some point, but yeah, I was like working just next to him and I was like it's just this clear liquid centrifuge. That was one. There's another one that I was there for only a couple of days. It was like HMB supplementation for muscle gaining. And then there's a couple in the weight room that were cool. It was just cool to witness.
Speaker 2:I actually don't know what the hypothesis was or what they were testing, but one of them was like we all had to be dead silent and they had one of those like brain helmets on with a thousand wires out of it and I don't know if you ever saw the lab or if it changed when you went. But to make sure these like kids, random kids who are getting paid to do this are working at max effort. They would do like very, very like odd exercise selection. So what we had them do was like get under a Smith machine at about quarter squat height and we use like truck ratchet straps with those nylon ones to hold it down and make them go like max effort, 10 second holds at a hundred percent effort. And these kids were like vomit after like six, six sets of 10, not even moving away, just cause like putting all the effort in.
Speaker 2:But we like I just remember just thinking we weren't allowed to make eye contact with them. We're not to say anything, we're just able to hold up, get to hold up a sign. They had to tell us like how hard they think they worked and how did it feel, and then just point to it. I wish I knew what they were testing at that day, but that one was very cool to be like. Okay, these people at this lab are not just looking at like how much you build muscle from something or whatever it is, or what your cardiovascular adaptation is this for an exercise. They're looking at cognitive function or brain responses to certain degrees of intensity and that was eye-opening. This is a very cool place to be.
Speaker 1:When people say they do your research, it's like, yeah, I doubt you really even understand how to interpret the information you just read. But it's a whole other thing to be in the trenches doing it. And I remember the force plate one that I was a part of and, like you were saying, holding the signs, and at the time it was, she was an undergrad not an undergrad, but she was getting her going through PhD or dissertation and Deesa Hatfield was the individual. And then afterwards I look up and like Deesa Hatfield I've heard that name before Hatfield, why is that name? And then I look up Hatfield, dr Squat. I'm like holy shit, that was his daughter.
Speaker 2:Wait, the Hatfield squat Like no way.
Speaker 1:No, that's awesome and he's like legendary as can be. And then it's his daughter who is implementing the stuff and gamble, and I remember the centrifuge stuff and going back and forth and bringing this. So, just being in that environment when people, these universities that have the money it's just so crazy to see what they're doing and these, for the most part, a lot of the professors are not involved in social media, they're not involved behind the scenes and all the fuckery that we see today. And you get these keyboard warriors. Oh, that's wrong.
Speaker 1:It's like oh, I did this, I did that. Oh God, people have no clue.
Speaker 2:They have no clue. Like it is like I like to see whenever I say David Hooper's on social media, now to that fall a couple of PhD people, but the amount people from like our program that just aren't on social media at all, like these guys are. If you look up any exercise, fizz or strength and mission textbook and look up the reference names, like you're gonna see people like Muresh Kramer, all these people everywhere. I'm like they just aren't in the environment or the ecosystem of people kind of yelling at each other about nonsense. Like these guys are where it all comes from. Like they should be there or someone proxy for them should be there. But hey, you guys don't know what we're talking about. These are app-able researchers. Like this is who you learn from.
Speaker 1:And I think that's fascinating because you're talking about how you got into the program and you had to get certified. And I remember when I reached out to Dr Kramer and I was like, doc, we're going through this exercise, physiology stuff and the journal of strength and conditioning research and you've never talked about Nassim or this. This is the best certification and fitness. Because I was getting a job in the Bay Area and I was like, have you ever heard of them? And this is like literally the Godfather of kinesiology. I'm like, have you ever heard of Nassim? He's like no. And I remember I was like this guy has done so much for strength and conditioning, yet outside of academia people will say stuff like, oh, this is the gold standard of personal training. Like you really have no fucking clue what you're talking about.
Speaker 2:With two completely different worlds. Cause that was, I think, the certification I ended up getting to help me get into the program, which, again, I think for a beginner it's fine, whatever. But how often it is in terms of how to progress and start people compared to like what's real. I was like in shock when I went to my first like extra science class and I was like this is definitely very different than what they're teaching in a lot of these personal training textbooks, like very, very different. The point is to relearn a lot of stuff in terms of regression. But that was like the one that I got, cause I think I just Googled best personal training certification just to get into the program and it's always the one that shows up. But I've heard, since the NSCA, CPT is like the one to get if you can get it, and I would believe that at least, given they were at the CSCS, like they probably do the right stuff in terms of ordering progressions and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:And so the problem is that NSCA, acsm, they're nonprofit organizations, whereas Nassim and ISSA they're profit organizations, so they pump in millions of dollars in marketing. So NSCA doesn't market at all for their CPT and it's recognized pretty much internationally. The CSCS is legit, but the CPT for the more academic ones they don't even compare to the popularity contest. At least it's like that's what I tell people when they look for basic certifications. It's like if you were to compare it to restaurants what's more popular? A high-end Wolfgang puck that is not everywhere. Or McDonald's Everyone's gonna say McDonald's, but it doesn't mean it's better. And cause I've taught numerous years from Nassim and the ACE and all that stuff. And the ironic thing is there's this monumental study that was done at Yukon in 2006 from Eric Cressy, 10 weeks on stable surface training, and it just debunks the whole entire OPT model.
Speaker 1:And it's just hilarious that people don't. People, literally are out there doing fuckery on boosie ball. It works, it works. No, it really doesn't when you look at it from a scientific perspective. But that's the world we live in and I know we can talk about this forever. But you transition and you're working at the Ritz right now, right?
Speaker 2:Working at the Ritz for going on nine years now just working with what I did not think would be my ideal demographic, but is definitely my ideal demographic.
Speaker 2:I thought I'd be working with athletes in my like 30s, just given the strength and condition background. It basically is kind of like coerced to go into PT school or work with athletes and instead I work with people who vary from like 18 to 25 to 39 to 51 to 73, 74, kind of all over the map. But generally speaking, like high achievers, work wise, generally, which, and on all different industries which I think is the cooler part Like if I got all finance people or like all real estate people, that would get pretty boring, but people from all over and there's a lot to learn from them. They're here to learn from us but like there's a lot just by chatting with them all day that you just learned through osmosis and like it's been a good experience. It's helped drive a lot of my decisions both on the business side and the social side for the last decade or so, because these guys are their wealth of information.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I haven't met a ton of trainers at Equinox who've been there for nine plus years, but I think you just absolutely painted the perfect picture right there, where so many trainers. I feel they go into these environments with their hand out and they're thinking that I should be getting paid. If I'm charging 150, I should be getting 120. I'm worth it. Hold on a second the name on your back Equinox. They kind of have a brand In the clientele. You are very fortunate to have the opportunity to, essentially for free, pick their brains. I don't know about you, but I worked in a high-end spot in the Bay Area which is kind of like in Equinox, but I remember I would just pick their brains so much during the sessions I thought it was just like free. I'm like I'm getting MBA over here. I'm learning about neuroscience, I'm learning about business. This is so cool because your clients are super, super successful.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean they've been even like even the non-direct information, like just their work ethic.
Speaker 2:You just pick up on that, like I mentioned before too, but I went from being a classically lazy person where I would clock in, do my sessions, I'd crank out sessions because I wanted to pay for the weekend, but the moment I wasn't doing sessions I would nap, play FIFA or party. That was it. And then, just over years of working with these people, you start to realize that look like the whole idea of work smarter, not harder, sounds good, but when you get to higher levels of competition in any field, everyone's working smarter, which means you also have to work harder. You cannot compete without doing both. And then also a lot of these people, you just start to realize they kind of just get a high from achieving stuff I mean achievement high and they'll put months of effort or years of effort into things and that return that they get once they achieve what they want to achieve is a longer lasting high than like me playing FIFA for a day or like going out.
Speaker 2:And so over time, like just by, without even directly asking them though, like how do I become a harder worker? You just start to like get it from them. You're like, oh, okay, like these guys like live and breathe for it and it doesn't feel like work half the time. You're just like this is like what I wake up for and, in a way, like I think some people always are looking for something that they're passionate about, like well, competence and like skill will breed passion. If you build the skill and competence in the thing you want to be passionate about and almost like reverse engineering, get like if I want to be passionate about a certain job, get very, very good at that job, and I'm just much more likely to enjoy doing it, because we all kind of like doing things that we think we're good at, or at least we assume that we're good at.
Speaker 1:I love how you've grown your online, because I mean, obviously you don't know how long you're going to be at Equinox for, but it's been treating your great so far. But then you're also starting to dabble in the online space and you almost have 50 plus thousand followers and getting there.
Speaker 2:It's a slow roll. I think some people grow pretty quickly. My view from the beginning again, stuff I learned from clients is that, like you'd rather have like a thousand people who really love what you're doing than 10,000 people who just like what you're doing. So well, I think all of us would like to grow faster. You want to grow for the right reasons, not the wrong reasons, and as you see through a lot of the bullshit online, there are fast ways to grow if you do it for the wrong reasons and there's there's anything you can do.
Speaker 2:So a lot of it started just because of the pandemic. Like it wasn't for the pandemic, I would never have an online presence. And then kind of once you start doing it, you just kind of want to keep doing it. Like you put yourself out there so it'd be weirder to be like oh well, all those posts I did was like me talking to the camera. I'm just going to quit that now. So you just kind of keep going and you learn by doing over time and if it's all as long as you're like really self critical and trying to improve the way you deliver information, how you write things, what you talk about, like just how you build your community. It just tends to start to grow and you just don't know when something's going to hit. But as long as you like, kind of stay true to what you want to work on it grows little by little here and there.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I think it wasn't for the pandemic I wouldn't have gotten to where it is right now. I wouldn't have done it at all. It's just getting to that point now with the juggling online and in person. It's milking every bit of energy. I have basically working minimum six days a week, most of the week seven days a week as well. It's enjoyable, but it's hard. It's definitely hard to focus on both at the same time.
Speaker 1:So it's two o'clock California time. It's coming across five o'clock your time. How many sessions have you done today?
Speaker 2:Uh, nine so far. And then I have our gap graph to prep a presentation for another client for tomorrow, and then I have another one at six to seven, and then I have a two hour window from seven to nine, ideally getting to bed by nine. It's like crank out some client messages online, uh, program for tomorrow, eat dinner and like also calm down and go to bed. So these days with a calm down and going to bed, like getting all that other stuff, 10, two hours is not bad, but then doing it and then relaxing while you're doing it until you're ready to fall asleep is the hard part, cause I think I have another tomorrow's a bit of an easier day, six am to like three pm For the most part, which is not bad. And then Thursday is another six am to seven and pm, basically straight through.
Speaker 1:I think it's sort of a lot of newer trainers, you know, burn the candle at both ends because they have that six o'clock client and they're pounding down their energy drinks and they get home and they got a couple hours and they can't line down and then they're thinking about I'm going to miss my alarm and and you got to be strategic and it's it's really cool to see that the growth that you have. But you're kicking ass and I was. You know we teach trainers online, also in person. We do nutrition as well. We were talking about something today and you're in the back of my mind because I was watching one of your videos. I thought it was just can't even do it better than you did with with the drinking and I'm a big proponent of enjoying yourself and I always talked about people will label it. Oh, you're an alcoholic, you know. I think that for the most part, a lot of my clients drink and I like to really relate with them.
Speaker 1:And I like to see in, my client wants to go and have a drink. I'm having a drink with them, but there are people who shouldn't be drinking. If you're abusive, if you're a fucking maniac or you can't handle it, yeah, it's not for you. But you did a really good post talking about alcohol consumption and just partying and I mean you can drink and maintain a great physique, but it's just like, like you're saying, it's just where are you? If you're you're partying seven days a week, doing blow and then eating like shit, it's probably going to be pretty tough. But when you break down that post you did where you were kind of highlighting the both sides of them, yeah, I think you know it arrives to me.
Speaker 2:It's like one of the classes we had on ergogenic aids for exercise and like the way I look at, like you know, some of these things like alcohol or caffeine is like they are an ergogenic age, not for exercise. So like alcohol to me, the mode of view it is like, at least for me as someone who responds well to it, like I don't turn into a worse version of myself. I typically am friendlier, funnier, like just more enjoyable to be around. I would love to be that way sober. But look, I've been doing this for long enough to know even if I got that way sober, I would still be more fun with alcohol.
Speaker 2:I just think that flip side, before I even go on, should also note that I'm one of the lucky people who wakes up the next morning and like I do not need a drink, I don't want to drink. I can go another week or two without drinking. Not everyone has that feeling. I think that's important for people to understand that, like, not every substance is going to work well for everybody. For me, on the ergogenic age side, I'm like look like the network I have is a lot to do with alcohol, the network I have in the city, like the place I want to go to eat, if I need to go, if I visit another city and I need like recommendations for stuff. All this has to do with like meeting people through alcohol, my current fiance through alcohol, half my friends like. I came into Boston with a couple high school friends and a couple college friends. We now have like 150 to 200 people that we like all hang out with, go to each other's weddings, we hang out sober, we play golf together.
Speaker 2:None of them we would have ever met without an alcohol and as we're growing like people are starting their own businesses, getting into real estate investments together, like all these things that are clearly value add to the rest of their life that don't hinge on alcohol but started from alcohol. So, like I'm like, if you're using it as this ergogenic aid that it can be, it makes you loosen up a little bit, makes you more likely to say hi to someone you wouldn't say hi to get a phone number that you might not get, and you're continuing to grow from it, like learning lessons about how to behave socially, then it's great. Same thing with caffeine. If you're using it as the ergogenic aid that it is when you sleep enough, it's fucking awesome. But you can't argue against caffeine. It beats placebo, it beats everything.
Speaker 2:The moment it switches and turns into a crutch, which the net in terms of drinks per week or coffee per week, might look the same, but the psychology around it is different when it's a crutch versus an aid. A crutch being like I cannot have fun, I'm just drinking. Well, that's a different story. That's no longer an ergogenic aid, a crutch being like I need a drink every second of the day. Of course that's someone who probably should not be drinking. Or I can't hang out with my family. Let's have a couple of drinks. These are all crutches, but if it's an ergogenic aid, that's great. On caffeine analogy, it's like look, if I don't sleep enough because I'm just going to get more coffee tomorrow, it's no longer boosting me, it's bringing me to baseline. So you don't want to use it as a crutch. It can be every now and then. It can be every now and then just because you want to get through a workday Fine. But in general for these aids they should be a boost, not a detractor. So as long as people keep up with that psychology, I'm like most of my clients drink as well.
Speaker 2:The blue zone signs like a lot of these people socially drink and naturally the quantity you drink, the frequency you drink. If you're like a social person, we'll just go down with age. Like we used to go out four nights a week. I go out that hard maybe once every two weeks these days and like a lot more of the let's have a glass of wine with dinner shows up when in most of my 20s I wouldn't have a glass of anything unless I was going out now and I'd have 10. Like it would just be zero over 10. That's it. But now it's like clearly tapering to be more casual.
Speaker 2:But I'll just go back to the point of like I am lucky. Like I don't crave it. The longer I drink, the less alcohols I can actually drink. Like half the alcohols on the list of alcohol I can't drink anymore. Like they just disgust me, they make me want to vomit right away. And that's a lucky response that I get that not everyone gets. And also lucky to not turn into an asshole when I drink.
Speaker 2:I have friends who gave them like look, some people just don't respond to that. I'm not a good weed smoker. I just fall asleep and I order a lot of food. It's not for me, but I had three college roommates who like went to class high and did really well in school. Like there are just people who respond well to that. So using it as an aid and just knowing that you're somebody who can respond well to it and balancing it out with other healthy behaviors is the only way you can justify alcohol. Because all the data there that like all the kind of made up studies that are like a glass of wine will help your heart whatever. No, no, that's true. There's not a single amount of alcohol it's going to make you healthier. The only argument is a given use and degree of social benefit that outweighs what it's doing for your body.
Speaker 1:I love that. That's great. I always make the joke that dry January I have to pick up the slack for everyone. I feel obligated to drink more because everyone gives it up. But it's just so funny. Our society is so alcohol. You should never do that. I love your message needs to be out there more If you're using it as the aid. Like my wife's same thing. I met her at a country concert and Dr Waterbury, a very well known physical therapist. I would not have met him if him and I were at a fitness event and this was like midday. No waiter comes around like would you like a drink? But yeah, I'll take a beer. And everyone's like, oh my God, you can't be drinking during the day.
Speaker 1:And Chad's like, yeah, I'll take one too, and it's just like it's a time and place If you're on vacation, you're. You know it's. How are you missing work? Are you showing up drunk? That's just, that's not what we're talking about. And so another thing that's important is it doesn't detract from your consistency and working out at least. How about? How do you feel about that? Like, when you do drink, do you work out the next day? Or how are you able to bounce back?
Speaker 2:So I'm still in generally the mindset of, like most times I drink, I am drinking, drinking. I will do nothing the next day when I'm not hungover like last Friday we went out out if I'm with DeVette like 3 30. I did nothing Saturday at all, like. But part of me, like I will it's almost still deliberate because I work so much during the week and I'll work on pretty hard in the week that like there are some times where I'm not even getting that drunk at night, where I'm not hungover in the morning. But I was like no, in my head I booked this day as a couch day. This is just gonna be couch day and so I'll still do that, even though physically I'm fine. And then the following day it's like I need that rock bottom day every like two weeks or so and then I bounce out of it. I'm like I work right back on track.
Speaker 2:But my biggest thing is like I cannot let a hangover significantly bleed into a second day. It has to just be that one day. So last weekend, for example, one hour Friday night, pretty aggressively slept in Saturday. So I'm gonna couch once a better early enough. Sunday worked all day, exercised, got groceries, food prep, so like stuff that I wouldn't usually do on a Sunday because I took Saturday off, like I then did on Sunday. Not stuff I would do my 20s, my 20s, like I'm fine, just going out again. You know, we just keep going.
Speaker 2:But nowadays, like with both businesses, like I can't not work six days a week unless I'm on vacation. I just have to work six days a week. So any time I pull from one day For like deal with a hangover, I will end up having makeup for. On the flip side, it's like I go into dinner, let's say like Friday night this weekend, and I have like three glass of wine and I'm in bed by nine or ten because me my fiance will do like 6 pm Dinner. Like to go early, get out early, that if I wanted to the next day, I'll certainly work out as long as like I'm in routine and I have a reason to. So usually makes me feel better.
Speaker 2:And then I just the video I posted today. We should, based on our PE, like I'll just work out to the target RPE of that day. If that means I have to go slower my speed to hit that same RPE, that's fine. If that means I take 10 pounds off my list. That's fine. I'm working out to RPE I'm not working. You have to hit a specific metric. So in general, but it's not a bad hangover, I'll certainly work out the next day. Most of my clients, who drink more moderately than like me and my friends do on the weekends, we'll work out the next day, but when it's big, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:No way, I just play that and I just I always find it interesting where obviously we're not. I have to say it's like a billion times, because people are so soft today and they always Misinterpret what you're saying. We're not encouraging to go out there and blackout every night, but it's interesting with like sport. Do you? You have any teams you like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean growing up in the mic we just come. Naturally Pat's fan. I will loosely follow hockey and basketball around here too, obviously, like you can on teams for everything, and I follow soccer a little bit more aggressively but I'm more of a this almost comes from being the strength edition plan program but more of like coaches and players guy were like if I like a coach and soccer, he moves center team like I'm gonna follow him because I like his tactics, or the man's team, same with players. I'm like I like the way the player plays because I like the sport, I'm gonna follow that player because I like the way he does things, at least in soccer. So now, not major teams on that front, but more major teams, obviously locally because you get to go to games here.
Speaker 1:So now is it you can? They won that year Brady, and so I just started loving Brady and then, when he went to Tampa Bay, loved Tampa Bay. The funny thing about sport is I could be like a diehard Niner fan and I could be like, dude, the Niners suck this year. And you'd be, or sorry, the path suck this year. You'd be like, yeah, they do. Okay, niners are better. And then we can still have conversations, but when it comes to certain things, people will take this religious belief and it's like, oh my god, you're telling people they can drink alcohol, lose weight. You're the devil, I'm gonna block you.
Speaker 2:It's a great analogy. People you can handle the sport, which is some things they're most passionate about, but they get, so they, they moralize health so much and like, get to the point where it's a good theology, where they're like it's so black and white. I remember this one guy was sitting in the podcast was like the reason we all do it is because it's easier to think in zeros and ones black and white and Binary thinking. Essentially it's just easier, like it's laziness in a Another service that you go to. So I don't work in finance but I have friends who are wealth managers.
Speaker 2:I don't like this, not my day-to-day job, I don't know that you want to say is like how to do things. So if I went to them with a bunch of money I was like, hey, can you do this for me? They'd probably give me a nuance dancer the way I would with the client. They're like, if you go this through this, what happens?
Speaker 2:you go this through but like I'm busy all day and I just want to get a fucking black and white. Like give me the black and white. So kind of empathize with that idea being lazy, but when it's your health, I'm like there's just no way of accepting black and white answers. There's no way. Like your money, sure, but black and white for your health. Like if there's nothing black and white, it's all gray. Everything in your body and the cell level functions on like a spectrum. It's not on, off switches, like everything's gray and most things land in the middle. So it's your point. Like this idea, like oh, you said alcohol is okay. Like you're just promoting it all time. There's a lot of room between celebrate January and getting black out every night. So I think people need to like Same idea with diet. If you try to eliminate things in our hyper restrict things, you tend to binge on them more. If you want to eliminate alcohol for whatever reason, people can. But there's definitely ways you can add it to a balanced lifestyle. We've got it being super detrimental.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, and it's just unfortunate. I've had, you know, so many nutritional consultations with the clients and I can tell you know Right away when they're lying. And you're like, okay, let's go through some of this and you drink. And they're like, okay, no, I'm like that's okay, Dude.
Speaker 1:I drank. It's not a big deal, Like, oh you can do that. I'm like if someone told you you can't and lose weight. They don't know what's going on. They don't understand how the body works. If I'm much of you, tell me, then lie to me and then go home the night and you have a bottle of wine and you're ordering weird shit and you don't tell me about that because you feel bad, because I'm a dick, until you have to eliminate this stuff.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I think that's like. It was like kind of like a stumbled into a niche community which is not actually niche community because it's very it's the majority of people. But when I started making content, like I didn't realize just some of the things I do are a lot more relatable for people because I don't act like most of the trainers they've probably seen online and for me I'm like I know actually a lot of people in fitness who are like me or you would then like drink and do whatever. They just don't happen to have really a lot of presence online. The people who have these long presences online are the ones who are pretty binary in black and white, with, like I, imperfect, whatever, whatever. So, like there was just a lacking space they're kind of stumbled into and I was like huh, I didn't think that one of the funniest things was like I like a while ago, just started posting some of my Uber Eats orders on the story and, like that, got a response I was never expecting Like I thought people would want. Like you know, I saw you bowls like well shot and shit like that, or like how'd I make this smoothie and like I just showed it the image was from me and I got like 20 replies.
Speaker 2:At the time I didn't have a lot of followers, so it's a huge amount and they're like I love that you eat normal food. I was like, wait, I'm allowed to post what I do on Sundays. Like fuck yeah, like I'm definitely gonna do that. I do this every week. I just thought that you guys, like the crowd, would not want to see that because they want, you know, inspiration to like always eat good. And now they seem to respond well to that because they feel honest.
Speaker 2:Like every time I have a call with a new potential client and like we go over like diet and stuff, I will practice it without my book. You've seen my content. I'm not auditing how you eat. I just want to know what your taste profiles like so that, like hey, I want to give you a practice options. They fit what you like. So let's just run through how you eat throughout the day. But just remember, you've seen my content, I'm not auditing you. And they're so open about it. Like they're just like they'll tell me everything head to toe, alcohol side and stuff like that. I'm like good. Like I don't know how other trainers have these conversations with clients when you know they're doing that stuff and they feel intimidated to tell them about, like the alcohol or the junk food they have. I'm like how are you ever gonna help someone if they don't feel comfortable telling you about that stuff?
Speaker 1:I remember my PR. I always start about PRs on Ben's press, but I always talk to my clients about my PR. With the Taco Bell order, One of our tabs came up to like $110. Wow, and I remember there was just a huge and we didn't get to eat it because we passed out and there was like a huge delivery on our front porch and we have the stairs and it was like two or three steps where I was like damn it, we didn't get to eat all this stuff either.
Speaker 2:No, and unfortunately it doesn't reheat that well. No, was it two of you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was just two of us.
Speaker 2:I remember it said damn, I'm gonna have to eat that record at some point.
Speaker 1:but I wanna see that post.
Speaker 2:I did spend $80 on Taco Bell recently, where I think a lot of it has to do with delivery fees. I was like, wait, if I was spending $80 on Taco Bell like I should just be ordering for a restaurant that's expensive, so that's a lot.
Speaker 1:And there was someone I think it was like Metabalk Mike or someone did a post and it's just interesting how I love today's conversation. I think it's just great that it needs to be more just transparency. But he was showing like with his kid and he was like 30 and he's like drinking every night and now he posts and he's all jacked and it's like. So people are gonna be like oh man, I can't get in good shape if I drink and so what that does is so many people is they're going to internalize that and be like well, maybe I grew up in a family that drinks socially and, like you're saying, you're a good responder. But now the idea is you cannot be healthy if you drink.
Speaker 1:And my question to him was what was your output when you had the kid versus your output now? And it's this equation, it's always an equation. It's your calories in, your calories out, how's your sleep, how's your stress? How are you handling this stuff? Your mindset could just be significantly different right now. If you're listening to this, we're not telling you to go drink right now. That's why I reached out to this hunk over here is because I saw you went to Yukon and the Equinox trainer and then he did some posts on Alcom. I don't see a lot of that, so I really appreciated it. And if you're listening, you can lose weight and you can be healthy drinking alcohol. Get your liver checked out, make sure that sucker's functioning well, get your blood profile and find a group where you can connect with and I feel that a lot of people it's that black and white where their group is the complete opposite, where all they do is drink and eat like shit and they never exercise. You can find people where there's a happy medium.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean even on some not to cite some of my questionable sources. But like I'll watch like an episode of Summer House with my fiance around on Bravo and like one of the dudes on there, like they'll drink, like they'll get blackout drunk First thing. He does seven in. He's running like 13 miles or whatever. I'm like that's actually like hey, I think people underestimate how impressive that is. That's very impressive to run that kind of distance and I'm like I'm not justifying the level that he was drinking, yeah, but like you can do both. You just kind of have to be a little robotic.
Speaker 2:And I think one of the areas I mentioned is the video I posted like two weeks ago. But one of the areas I think people struggle with is like understanding the frequency. If you want to be healthy, like, the frequency does matter, because one to two drinks while you can certainly compensate that from a core perspective, it's probably going to impact your sleep and that's probably going to like compound over time. You're doing one to two drinks every single night. While that might equate to, you know, seven to 14 drinks a week that you can split on two nights, you are now having seven nights where your sleep might be altered and that might pound and that might affect your energy and your willingness to exercise each day.
Speaker 2:So if you're already one of those people who balances, I do tend to recommend let's see for really high tolerance, which I'd be an issue itself, like limiting overall frequency and really enjoying it when you do do it, but like it's really hard to combat frequency those in the core perspective and how it impacts your energy levels.
Speaker 2:But I find it like I mean you could go balls to the wall one night out, have all those drinks and one night not recommending it, but like you can recover and then by day two in the rest of the week, the next five or six days, you're good to exercise. So the entire week of getting your exercise in eating well, doing your job. So like the two ends of it being like going way too hard one night or a little bit every night, neither are great but, like I would say, a lot of clients tend to struggle with their frequency being too high and an underrated component is just driving down frequency, capping it to three nights a week and if it's just two drinks, four nights a week. If you're doing five or six right now and just adjusting your frequency little by little, so that you're recovered, you're sleeping well, that you feel good the next day and you can exercise and get your stuff done.
Speaker 1:The other alternative is I definitely found that drinking close to bed you can't get to deep sleep. So now I just wake up and the first thing I do is start drinking. That's the best way to do it. I'm just joking you say those. What I appreciate is this conversation has been awesome. A fellow UConn, alum, kicking acid. Uconn doing well, I'm sorry. Equinox doing well. I know what's the last little thing you wanna put out there for people who are new trainers getting involved with that piece of advice before them.
Speaker 2:For new trainers. I have to work with a lot of new trainers a lot. You're going to have to work harder than you think you do in terms of time. Going back to what I had to learn in my 20s my clients, the work smarter, not harder, mentality is a bit of a trap. I fell into my 20s. I was convinced that I wish I was just work smarter.
Speaker 2:When you want to perform really well in your job, any field, the top people are working hard and they're working smart. You're going to have to do both. In any industry you want to get to the top or compete at the highest level, you should work smarter. But that doesn't mean you can't work, not work harder. You have to work hard, especially on the start. When you're a trainer, building your client base, you essentially have to get to 120% of the busyness you want to be, because you're going to have fluctuations and lose clients all the time. You have to aim for a little higher than you want to be to make sure that when you aren't busy you're still busy enough. That comes from working both smarter and harder. Then second out being it's cheesy, but always learning, always learning. That's one thing I regret about pre-social media. I wasn't keeping up to date with research the way I am now. It's just fun. You learn so much when you do it. You can't do different people who are in that space.
Speaker 2:Mass research reviews are a great source, but if you're using PubMed for subjects you want to learn more about. Just keep learning and be choosy about your sources. Learn, but don't just learn from anyone. Anyone who speaks in absolute terms or black and white is probably not a good person to learn from.
Speaker 1:Where can we find you on social media?
Speaker 2:Both Instagram and TikTok is at vices fitness, just vices fitness, so vices to plural and then fitness, no underscore, nothing nice and easy.
Speaker 1:A lot of this is great, my man. I appreciate your time, really enjoyed this conversation. When we get back to, we're going to be at Lifetime at a seminar. We'll have to come and have a couple drinks with you.
Speaker 2:Oh hell, yeah, yeah, let me know when you're here. Thank you for having me as well, but yeah, absolutely, let's do it again anytime you're in town. Well, let's definitely pick up.
Speaker 1:I love it, my man. Well, hey, have a good one, and we'll be chatting later, see you.
Speaker 2:That was good man have a good one.