Double Edge Fitness
This podcast is dedicated to showcasing to our members and any of our listeners who are interested in how this northern Nevada gym operates. Our mission is to inspire others to bring health and wellness home to truly make a difference in the household with the ultimate goal of making Reno the healthiest city in the country.In this podcast, we will be talking about things that are on our mind and answering questions from our members and our listeners to provide a unique listening experience.
Double Edge Fitness
From Chaos to Consistency: Building a New Podcast Room & Answering Your Wildest Fitness Questions!
Step into the gym with brothers Derek and Jacob Wellock as they reignite their podcast journey with raw honesty and hard-earned wisdom. This conversation peels back the curtain on what really drives sustainable fitness results—finding that sweet spot between showing up consistently and pushing your limits with proper intensity.
The brothers tackle fitness myths head-on, particularly the misunderstood concept of CNS fatigue that many use as a convenient excuse to skip workouts. Through personal examples and years of coaching experience, they explain why most gym-goers will never truly experience this phenomenon and how to recognize when you're genuinely pushing too hard versus not hard enough.
What truly sets this discussion apart is their exploration of finding your "why" in fitness. Jacob shares his ambitious "1800-pound challenge" (a 600-pound deadlift, 500-pound squat, 400-pound clean, and 300-pound snatch), while Derek reflects on how his daughter's health crisis reshaped his approach to fitness as a gift we shouldn't take for granted. This powerful contrast shows how different motivations can fuel equally meaningful fitness journeys.
Between amusing anecdotes about brotherly wrestling matches and thoughtful reflections on their decade-plus building Double Edge Fitness, the Wellocks deliver a masterclass in balancing work and recovery. Their faith-driven approach reminds us that fitness isn't just about looking better—it's about becoming our best selves for those who depend on us. Whether you're just starting your fitness journey or looking to break through plateaus, their practical wisdom will help you train smarter, not just harder.
Follow us on Instagram here! https://www.instagram.com/doubleedgefitness/
When I'm going to be talking and have the plan, then I'll do the hostee, because I'll be the host or whatever, but right now you're the host.
Speaker 2:Gotcha.
Speaker 1:But real quick. Jacob was kind enough to come over here to Midtown today. Where do we look? Am I talking to the camera? Talking to each other? Talking to each other? Yeah, All right.
Speaker 2:Damn yeah. So the camera setup is not ideal.
Speaker 1:yet this is very intro um so what we're gonna be doing, it's a track to the progress you know, like when you do those progress reports, when you're getting your house yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So we're gonna convert this room to a legitimate podcasting cinematic dual camera setup. Yeah.
Speaker 1:On a on a. What do you want to say on a team who wayfair budget?
Speaker 2:Yes, but we'll make it work. Um, so, to recap, the podcast has been all over the place over the years. Yep, all over the place. Uh, we had tons of listeners in the beginning. We talked about a lot of things are relevant to the gym. We talked about a bunch of random stuff. We're talking about health and fitness. Again, we're, it's been, it's been like this as far as our consistency, and we could say that with probably a handful of things, but since you are now professional content creator, so yeah, that's a story.
Speaker 2:We're getting back into this. We're really trying to dial in our, our content strategy here on on what's gonna be the the most advantageous and best options for you guys to give you the best well content well, double-edged members, our double-edged community is the driver of this.
Speaker 1:So what you guys want to learn, what you mean, a lot of the stuff I've been creating has been directly driven by members asking me questions and my thought is, when one member has a question, I guarantee you there's at least one more, if not 20 more, that have the same question. So a good friend of mine, chad, he had a good conversation with me and he's helping me with marketing stuff and he basically reframed my thought around creating content because for years it was like, is it bringing value Right? And he reframed it in the sense that you coach class. This is a tool to coach and help educate, inspire, entertain your whole community outside the classes. You know, us coaches just coach.
Speaker 1:It's a way for us to connect with our community, answer questions, but on the flip side of that, it is an opportunity for us to build trust with new members and potential new members. So when it's framed like that, it's a lot easier for me to wrap my head into this space, because you know we went three years without posting anything on Instagram, because we went three years without posting anything on Instagram and it's not a place I genuinely like to invest my time and energy into. But after that was reframed for me, it is an opportunity for me to extend my coaching hand beyond just the classes and personal training I do and I think you feel the same way and personal training.
Speaker 1:I do, and I think you feel the same way, and we're going to make, or we're just going to do the damn thing now.
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah. So, whether it's clean or not clean, or we're on a journey to dial in what our scope of ability and look, is going to be by clean.
Speaker 1:he means in four-letter words, right?
Speaker 2:What do?
Speaker 1:you mean by clean?
Speaker 2:Or like the content that we make that's not off of like a cell phone selfie.
Speaker 1:So you mean clean like nice looking? I thought you were referring to four-letter words.
Speaker 2:No, no, no no.
Speaker 1:Because ours is like explicit rated, because sometimes they slip.
Speaker 2:One of the first questions I'm going to ask is going to be explicit.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, so just to get the viewers. Our podcast is rated explicit, but that's only because you get the coach in us here too, and they just slip. Sometimes I'm not necessarily proud of it, but I also don't hate myself for it. So it is what it is. Yeah, get passionate, they slip myself for it. So it is what it is. Yeah, get passionate, they slip. I thought that's what you meant by clean.
Speaker 2:I was like bro, I can't promise that. No, no, no, not not clean. In that sense we're dialing in our look. Right now we're tethered to our little podcasting machine here. That's why we're so close, sitting so close to each other. We got furniture on the way. Yep, all right, we're gonna dial in this room to be a legit setup. I'm already looking at where a camera is going to be mounted on the wall to have like a downward look like so it's not just on a tripod in our face like this.
Speaker 2:We can do that I got that for a light, but yeah, so we got some work that we're going to do in this room, but instead of waiting till it's perfect, we're going to get started.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it shows the evolution Yep.
Speaker 2:exactly so today's podcast.
Speaker 1:Should you introduce yourself we didn't introduce ourselves.
Speaker 2:Oh, my name is Jacob Wellock. I am one of the owners of Double Edge Fitness. I am the younger brother. I coach 11 and 12 at our south location, nice. So if you want to come by and see me, those are the times to come by.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my name is Derek Wellock. I'm the other brother Older. I coach I'm all over the place.
Speaker 2:You are all over the place.
Speaker 1:You're going to find me in the early morning hours. So five and six am midtown, monday, wednesday, five and six am. I totally was wrong. Five and six am south monday, wednesday, five and six am midtown. Tuesday, thursday some 11 and 12s at midtown sprinkled in there sub coaching all around, get around. So I am between both gyms, but primarily I'm at midtown all day for the most part so yeah, that's my story, perfect.
Speaker 2:I think most people probably know who we are at this point, the few listeners, yeah, they know, um, so anyway, we're gonna, we're gonna make this kick-ass podcast, but let let's get it started. So today is going to be a little kind of all over the place. We're going to answer some Instagram questions, which are all over the place, and then we're going to go off of some topics and ideas that I wrote down earlier and, honestly, whatever comes to us, naturally. So this will be our first kind of reintroduction back into getting into the space. So we're dusting off the cobwebs on on premiere, premiere podcasting content.
Speaker 1:that's gonna be coming your way, and I'm I'm excited to do this with you, because talking to myself isn't always so much fun yeah, it is awkward to just talk to a camera I have to fantasize like I guess that's a weird word, but I have to like think that I'm in front of a class and I get to talk to you.
Speaker 2:yeah, um, okay. So these questions, you ready? Yep, you ready for the first one? And I have to ask you because I mean, it's on the list, um, so should we name the people that ask these questions? I mean, I don't, probably not. Okay, so this comes from a listener and a fellow person, um, another human question. Will butt chugging my protein shake after a bro lift session. Repair and build muscle quicker.
Speaker 1:No protein shake after a bro lift session. Repair and build muscle quicker no, but I know who said that too. There's only one person. There's literally only one person. We could get into fecal transplants if you want, and I can break down some science on how you can really do some cool things there.
Speaker 2:I have to say, the person asking this has asked this question enough that at this point you should just try it, man.
Speaker 1:You let us know if you feel more swole For it to work you probably well, probably, it won't work because you have a valve at your large and small intestine that will stop those nutrients going into your small intestine, where they'll absorb, unless you've had that valve removed because you've had, uh, colon surgery similar to what my daughter's had. This is why I know so much about this. But those aren't going to be absorbed in the large intestine. But if you really want to try, maybe don't take this advice and don't do it, but you probably have to hang upside down for like 24 hours and you'll probably die from it.
Speaker 2:So don't do that yeah so the the science says, uh, no, um, butt, chugging your protein shake, uh, is not the most advantageous that's one hell of a way to open up my god yeah, now I was contemplating asking it, but, but you know what? Why not?
Speaker 1:But if you want to talk about fecal transplants, we can get into that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a real thing. He might be interested. It's a real thing. So no, not only do I not recommend butt-chugging protein shake, I don't really recommend butt-chugging anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so let's just keep that for.
Speaker 1:What's that thing called A colonic?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That they go in and like hose you out.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You had one of those.
Speaker 2:I have not.
Speaker 1:I don't think I have. I think our cousins have.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I think they have to actually yeah. Yeah, much love I know a few members that have, but it's not something I'm into.
Speaker 2:Okay, so there we go. There's the first, there's the tough one.
Speaker 1:Do we need background music for that question? Let's see, I mean it's too late. Now there's the applause.
Speaker 2:That's the reaction that I imagine we just got from everybody.
Speaker 1:Had to make it ourselves.
Speaker 2:Okay, next question. That's the reaction that I imagine we just got from everybody. Had to make it ourselves. Uh, okay, next question. Uh, who would beat who in a wrestling match?
Speaker 1:well, who's against you? Me versus you? Yeah uh, honestly, skill wise yes, but you're so damn strong so the only thing I had going for, yeah, as long as I get past 30 seconds with him. He knows enough to be dangerous about wrestling but I think even after 20 years still got the skill set. But I just got, tire him out and he'll tire his big ass out yeah so if I had to put money on it, you know I'd probably bet on myself.
Speaker 1:But yeah he's also done some stuff to me that's hurt me and not in that kind of way you weirdos.
Speaker 2:Last last time that we had a wrestling match was your kitchen floor, uh, a few years ago. And jackson took his pants off and kept slamming his bare ass on my face because he thought I was hurting oh, that is true, and I won that one.
Speaker 1:I got you to submit that was more of a jiu-jitsu match, more jiu-jitsu.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got you to tap yeah uh, I ripped one of my favorite shirts and Jackson threw his little bare bottom on my face about 15 times.
Speaker 1:Our family has a history of doing stuff like this. I mean, me and Justin went through a wall at Christmas. Yep, we flipped over, basically destroyed a room on a cruise ship.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you popped our cousin's testicles.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he deserved it, Yep. So yeah, physical altercation among the boys is not it's not an unheard of thing, but I will say now at 40, it's not something that's on my priority list yeah no.
Speaker 2:I agree. So yeah, I would agree with Derek's sentiments there. My only thing would be purely would have to rely on strength.
Speaker 1:Brute force quick.
Speaker 2:Latching on there. My only thing would be purely would have to rely on strength, brute force, not letting go. Um, okay, next one. Uh, who hurt jacob? And why does he think nickelback is a good band?
Speaker 1:who, um, yeah, who hurt me like emotionally probably I'm gonna go with that well listener, I'm gonna say there's been a handful of people.
Speaker 2:You know there's a lot of pain deep in this heart of mine, self-inflicted pain, but mostly I think what you're referring to is nothing but love when it comes to the gym shit. You know what I tell people all the time when they're doing a group class workout it always it hurts me more than it hurts you. Honestly. You're in class, you're on the ground hurting. Just know that deep down I'm hurting more than you are.
Speaker 1:So I mean that's how I feel during like murph and stuff, with half rep piece going on and everything, a lot of pain so I've had many people hurt me, but I've always come back stronger, so I ain't worried about that.
Speaker 2:I'm impossible to hurt. Now, uh, nickelback why do I think it's a good band? I mean nickelback's one of the greatest bands of all time. I mean that's an easy bold statement. That's an easy, easy statement. I mean come on, you didn't know anything about this photograph.
Speaker 1:I mean shit, oh, burn it to the ground I feel like that's one of those hot take questions like that sets people off, like there's people that die hard, love Nickelback and there's people that will literally walk out of the middle of a class.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had someone almost quit the gym because of it. I mean, that's a bit extreme.
Speaker 1:It is one of those bands that I've seen coaching. When it comes on, that, it does.
Speaker 2:I don't know why. I think someone popular somewhere said they don't like Nickelback and people just jumped on the train.
Speaker 1:I think it has to do with how they became famous. Didn't they get into the scene from one of those shows, right?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:That was Daughtry.
Speaker 2:It's like the Nickelback, nickelback's like the originator.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, I don't mind their music. Nickelback's got bangers. It's just bangers on bangers.
Speaker 1:I will say, with your music, though, you're all over the place, there's no coach in the gym that is all over the place with their music, from Celine Dion and Enya to some random back alley unknown hip-hop artist, and you know their names. You know their story. How the hell, what the hell.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's why people gave me the nickname jay mysterious dude. Well, all I know is when I hit, actually called me that I hadn't heard that one.
Speaker 1:But when I, when I'm coaching at south and I go to like 2019's most play like played songs, some of the most random yeah, 2023 has got some viking music. Yep.
Speaker 2:Some of that's come on, some EDM, some like opera stuff. I mean, yeah, I got good taste, I love it all.
Speaker 1:I mean you don't discriminate against any genre of music. That's for damn sure I don't. You even play Disney songs.
Speaker 2:I'll even play Disney songs. I wish Nickelback would do a Disney cover.
Speaker 1:I mean, I know my 5M class genuinely thinks I'm the best DJ in the gym, Like I should probably do that as a side hobby.
Speaker 2:But I think anyone thinks that I will say in your defense I actually think more people dislike Chase's music than yours. He's not here to defend himself, but I've gotten a lot of those same comments yeah, I won't say this to hate on chase, but I covered a few of the class the other day and that was the only comment that kept coming at me now I will say this when you do cover somebody's class, people like change, and usually the coach brings a different change of music.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, I will, I will throw that out there. But yeah, no, I mean, boy's not here to defend himself, so we can't clown on him too much, but I don't use his playlist very much. Uh-uh, and to his defense, though, he had like three of his playlists. He had the class themselves create.
Speaker 2:I think that was a bigger problem because people complained that one person would come in and it would be like some super honky tonky country song, transition into like some underground EDM and then transition into like slow jam into something else. Yeah, I just play Kesha.
Speaker 1:Atta boy Yep, and that you know that genre music.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got you. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Yeah, um, okay, so we, we got, we got that out of the way. Nickelback, one of the greatest artists of all time. Okay, next question these last two are actually semi-serious, all right. Um, so, consistency versus intensity what is a good balance to show up every day but increase output?
Speaker 1:So I am planning on a video this month. I might even whiteboard it a little bit, but I want to get pretty heavy into this topic because I think it's a very important one, because your long-term health requires you to find that balance for yourself, and everybody's going to be different at your fitness level, your training experience, your training background, that's all going to play into the right recipe of this for you, the individual. So I tell people, don't try to do particular. I do. If you don't have my training background like history, if you don't have all that accumulated in your body, it's not going to be advantageous for you to try to emulate. And so that's why I do try to counsel people in class. And it becomes a bigger conversation for me over the last six months a year with people who I interact with daily that I do want to bring it to an educational forum such as this. So I'll give you my two cents on it in a short version here. The most important thing for our long term health and fitness is consistency. There is nothing more important than consistency. So I tell folks, when it comes to a fitness program, I do believe ours is one of the best out there, because I wouldn't do it for my long-term health if I didn't believe it was the best out there, and I would advocate for us to change it if I didn't believe it was one of the best out there, right? So that's my conviction in it and it's done me well, very well, for a very long time. So finding a program training program training style that you can be consistent with is going to be the best tool for your long-term health. Now I will say that that program needs to get into the weeds a little bit here, but it needs to be a balance of strength training, anaerobic training, aerobic training, mobility and stability.
Speaker 1:So intensity drives results. Intensity and volume. So you're not going to get results from training without either one of those being present. You need to know where your body's at, on which days and then where at in your training and goals that you want to push volume and intensity. So think of it this way Consistency is number one. Our goal is to work out. Our bodies are meant to move. We need to work out, in my mind, minimum three to five days per week, and if our fitness level is up there, we can move every single day, like we can move in some capacity every single day.
Speaker 1:Now, when it comes to volume and consistency, I mean volume and intensity. Intensity they're both going to be difficult to recover from in different ways depend, you know, athlete dependent. So typically where people find themselves the most beat down is going to be when you combine volume and intensity together. So a workout that drives both a lot. So we're doing a 30 minute workout. You're accumulating a thousand reps of something. Now intensity and you can chime in on this is different. There's intensity when you're moving a light barbell fast. There's a different intensity on the central nervous system when you're moving a heavy barbell for less reps. Both of them are going to impact people in a different way. This is going to be based on your type 1, type 2 muscle fiber development as you age, your genetics, your nutrition, and they are both going to tax you in different ways. So the more in tune with your body you get over time and training, you're going to realize what you can recover from better and where you're, you know can push the intensity and recover from.
Speaker 1:So use myself as an example. If I'm lifting weights in our general group class and you know under 80, 85%, I typically recover from those in 12 to 24 hour period pretty good, as long as the volume's low. We start pushing that 50, 60% of my strength capacity into that higher volume. I'm starting to look at two days recovery on that. If it's body weight stuff, I can do a lot of volume at a low, moderate intensity and recover from it pretty well.
Speaker 1:For instance, me and JP did basically we did Cindy each with a weight vest this past Sunday. I was fine on Monday. But I've also trained volume. I'm a volume whore, if you will, so I do recover from that when the intensity is low. Now, if that was a max effort for me, that's potentially up to a three-day recovery, like to where my muscles are feeling like they're spunky again. So for you to find that balance you need to, I believe, journal how you feel, how you recover, your nutrition, your sleep these are going to play huge effects into this. If it's CNS fatigue, I'm going to say that not many people in the gym have experienced that, would you agree?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would argue people anyone that brings up CNS fatigue is just using it as an excuse to skip a workout. There are very few people that have truly hit central nervous system fatigue to warrant not doing anything because of that variable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and those.
Speaker 2:Like it's a buzzword for a lot of people when people in the past like when I first started training. I'm like, oh man, cns is just fried. I'm like, no, it's not Like the more that I've learned about things. I'm like, no, that's a bullshit excuse that people use to skip things now that does happen, but for majority of people don't really understand what that feels so to put that in context, cns fatigue.
Speaker 1:You're going to be lifting really heavy weight a lot and often and this doesn't happen typically in one workout it's accumulation of heavy volume over a period of time and for that also you probably need to be so well-trained that your CNS is actually firing. You know 85, 90% I don't know the exact numbers but the majority of your muscle fibers so most of us I mean probably myself included isn't capable of firing more than 80 I mean you probably know these numbers better than I do but 80 percent of our muscle fibers in any given single lift or yeah a lot of that is dependent on um, intramuscular coordination, how you develop it over the years.
Speaker 2:But an example to this would be you have an elite power lifter is a great example. We're an elite Olympic lifter. A great example of this to a new lifter. So someone new coming into the gym, assuming that they can move well, and they're just dabbling into strength training. And let's say, this person back squats their max okay, air quotes, um is 100 pounds. Yeah, and they're going to train with 50 one day. Yep, 50 pounds. So that is just a literal 50 pounds on someone's skeletal structure. It's not going to feel like hardly anything on a torso. 50 pounds when you take someone like. I watched some kid just break a world record actually this last weekend. He was like 28, and he back-squatted, raw back-squatted, I think like over 1,000 pounds or something stupid Good.
Speaker 2:God. So, yeah, absurd amount of weight. So if that person takes 50% of their max, right, so between 500 to 600 pounds, depending on the person, like that's still 500 to 600 pounds of weight on a human structure, if you will. It's drastically different than 50 pounds. So if you take, like mathematically, someone would say, well, it's 50 for them, it's 50 for this person. It should be the same. Well, it's really not.
Speaker 2:But that person's nervous system, in the years that they've put into training, is so dialed in that when they unrack that bar I I mean I've even heard a few lifters in town, elite power lifters they go yeah, it's fucking heavy. Like when we're squat 800, 900 pounds and they have to get up to their working sets. Like we do, like between 70 to 80% or higher, like they're pushing 600, 700 pounds for their training sets. I mean that is still a disgusting amount. It's enough weight that if you take a, if you misstep where you're putting your feet, you could break your leg. Yeah, that's not going to happen to someone who's going to go back squat 70 pounds. No, and that that right. There is a great example of what obviously, obviously two very different people, but how someone's nervous system has developed around a training, adaptation over time to be able to do something that extreme.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So like Jacob's example here, you need to be training for a long time and then it is moving heavy weights pretty often that you can start pushing yourself into true CNS fatigue. Our group class, I just I don't think that is the fatigue issue, people are going to feel.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to be completely honest, I would just other than like elite, and I would actually even put ourselves in this category. I mean, elite might not be the right word, but we've been doing it long enough and we've done relatively impressive things for our physical pursuits, whether it's endurance related or strength related, whatever it is that there's very few people in the gym that even understand what that is. So if I could remove that from someone's training vocabulary of central nervous system fatigue, I would, yeah, because I think people romanticize this idea of this like this. This terminology sounds sexy on.
Speaker 1:My central nervous system is fatigued like I need to get an ice bath to recover my cns it sounds cool, but it's.
Speaker 2:It's a fallacy for most people.
Speaker 1:It's not that it's not a thing, it for sure is, it is a thing but those of us doing general physical preparedness training even myself, and what I do, it's not something that I'm concerned with, nothing to worry about.
Speaker 2:So to backtrack between the consistency and intensity, like what you're saying you absolutely need both of those things. I'll use myself here as an example. So to backtrack between the like, the consistency and intensity, like where you're saying you need you absolutely need both of those things. I'll use myself here as an example.
Speaker 2:Um, with me having, you know, lifted these big weights, been training for a really long time, like, I understand intensity, but what I've been lacking in my personal life between being, you know, relatively new dad, business owner, injuries, is I haven't had the consistency.
Speaker 2:So when I jump into, like even a group class or a training session, the intensity is there, but because I've had such a lack of consistency and the ability to tolerate any amount of volume that I can do a workout really hard but then I can't function or do anything for four days afterwards because my base of being able to tolerate any kind of volume via the lack of consistency, um, inhibits my ability to have high intensity because I can't do it very often. So I would argue and I bet you would agree in this position almost dialing some of my intensity in relation to volume back a little bit in place of consistency so I can get back to a position of repeatable effort on my end. Yes, because, for example, last week I did group class Friday piss, poor effort is everything that I had. But I've been so inconsistent with life and injuries and everything that, um, I couldn't walk for like four days, Yep, and that's counterproductive.
Speaker 1:So when you do workouts like that that have that response in my mind, I think anybody who's been in the fitness space or health and whatever would agree that is not a training, a healthy training dose at all. So it's. It's finding that balance of training and that's one of the downsides to like the leaderboard, that's one of the downsides to the competitive nature that generally takes place in a facility like ours. It drives intensity, but it can be what I call irresponsible intensity. So you have to drive intensity for yourself so that you can recover and come back and keep consistent the next day. And that does.
Speaker 1:It is a uh learning yourself because you don't want to go so easy that you don't drive an adaptation. But you also don't want to go so easy that you don't drive an adaptation. But you also don't want to go so hard that you're screwed up and and get into like how I use whoop. I mean I don't necessarily need it to train, but it has been a guide for me to understand myself more when it comes to consistency and intensity. But, um, but, I would prioritize consistency. I would sprinkle in intensity throughout the week.
Speaker 1:I personally I don't go hard, but one day a week anymore, Like all max effort one of our group class workouts one day a week. All my other group class workouts are about 80% effort and that's because I then recover from it and I'm able to train the next day and then I'm able to be productive for my family. I'm able to feel good when I leave the workout because, like, if your workouts aren't leaving the rest of your day where you're feeling good, energized, what the hell are we doing this for? And I had to have that conversation with myself a couple of years ago like feeling beat up, broken all the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that ties into being a competitive nature. I mean the cool part about what we do, having, uh, being able to you know, quote unquote compete with people around you, whether or not you say you're a competitive person. Like having the external push of your peers around you helps to facilitate these results, helps facilitate intensity, but when your sole goal is to compete like daily um it, can, it can wear down on you for sure.
Speaker 1:And in CrossFit to defend the CrossFit methodology is intensity is supposed to be relative to where you're at, right. So we come in RX weight on a barbell, hypothetically 135. Me moving that 35 reps is going to be a lot different than a brand new person who's never touched a barbell for 30 reps. Right, because training over time your relative intensity is different than person standing next to you relative intensity this is one of the downsides of rx weights.
Speaker 2:So I like to describe relative intensity as an internal um, an internal discussion, rather than an external optic. So what I mean by that is, if we take our youngest person we've ever had in the gym and our oldest person we've ever had in the gym and our oldest person we've ever had in the gym. So we take a teenager, an 18 year old well, I'll actually just use someone younger. We have a 14 year old in the gym right now. We've also had a 94 year old in the gym, got 92 year old right now see, badass. So the external when we look at intensity, sometimes people look at this from a an optic point of view, meaning that I will look at the 14-year-old and then I will look at the 92-year-old. And if I were asked you know which person is putting forth more intensity, logically I would say the 14-year-old because they're moving through time and space faster than the 92-year-old, but they're producing more power. Yeah, but that's not relative intensity. I would say the 14 year old because they're moving through time and space faster.
Speaker 1:They're producing more power.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, but that's not. That's not relative intensity, that's not a good answer to that question, because the 92 year old is putting forth the same intensity, but it's relative to where he's at in his abilities as opposed to the 14 year old. So I think we get lost in this idea of like what it looks like optically as opposed to what is actually happening internally, and I think that's where you need to learn as an athlete, where your relative intensity is internally that discussion rather than what it looks like externally. Yep, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a hundred percent. So to overcap this question 100%. So to overcap this question, recap the question you got to find consistency and if you're not recovering from workouts daily, you need to talk with your coach Like where, what's going on here? Am I training too hard Most of the time? Yes, in the first three months that can probably be an issue as your body's getting acclimated to training. But after you know, if you've been consistent, two, three months, body should be pretty acclimated for training. But after you know, if you've been consistent, two, three months, body should be pretty acclimated for the most part to training.
Speaker 1:Then it comes down to what's every the other 23 hours of the day, how are we sleeping? Water consumption, what's your nutrient intake looks like? Uh, what's your level is outside the gym? All these variables come into play in a massive way when it comes to optimizing your recovery for the next workout and again, I'm planning on going deep onto this topic in a future episode and we can do it together. But it's a there's a lot of nuance here and it is an individual journey and you guys here in the gym, particularly you have us as resources. Like I, will sit down with anybody for as long as we need to and go through your training especially if you come to my class, because I see your training. I've had numerous people get whoops. We could actually monitor their intensity because, on the flip side of that, I've been fortunate enough to educate some people that they don't ever find intensity and they're wondering why they don't get results you know I train all the time I'm here all the time I'm doing all this, perfect, but your heart rate hasn't gone over 130 ever and we haven't.
Speaker 1:we've to know relative intensity. I think you have to also at some point find maximum intensity. You have to know what that feels like Doing push-ups till failure, doing air squats till you feel like your legs are going to explode. When you know what that failure point looks like, then you know, you start learning where the breakaway point is to be able to recover for the next day. Yeah, but you don't do that right out the gate, that would be not very advantageous.
Speaker 2:Your body wouldn't even really know how.
Speaker 1:I mean, somebody can come in here off the street and do 300 air squats, get through it, but they might not walk for three months, yeah, and then arguably those air squats probably wouldn't look the same all through those 300. No, so did we answer the question kind of so yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean if I were to shorten up and answer. Consistency and intensity go hand in hand, but if you are consistently too intense, then you'll never recover.
Speaker 1:Yep and volume can be combined with intensity and it's just quantity of reps, of quantity of weight moved, and those two levers have to be it's just individual and what you, your fitness capacity, can handle yeah it's, it's to work with a very generalized answer because it's going to be different for everyone.
Speaker 2:I like to call this cheetah mode. A cheetah has the greatest expression of what intensity looks like optically. They can run, you know, 60, 70 miles an hour, but then they do that and they take down their prey and have to sleep for like three days to be able to say when a cheetah.
Speaker 2:Actually more often, when a cheetah actually dies, it's because they take down their prey and they're too tired to defend themselves from like a bigger animal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, like that is a true expression of all-out intensity. It's not like a cheetah does that every day, like they are too exhausted to do anything for the next three, four days. So, knowing how the cheetah knows it can do that, it also knows it can't't do that every day. So I would say, knowing what your cheetah mode looks like, that's what I tell my classes, unless you actually get to that point where you are in your hypothetically saying where you collapse and don't want to do anything for three days, like if you've done a benchmark workout and it scares you to do that again, like Fran, for example, just because it's a popular one. I've only done fran three times in like 12 years because I know how bad it sucks and I don't want. I don't like to be in that place. Same thing with a 500 meter row. There's a reason why I've only done it really legitimately two times in the last 16 years of 17 years of training because it's that painful no, and it's.
Speaker 1:It's funny to bring up, but that two to three minute time domain max effort is the one that smacks you the hardest and a lot of times, especially when you combine compound lifts with it.
Speaker 2:But um, that is one of the most grossest places to live in a max effort and this can be said for absolute like and I know we all see it as coaches for max one at max. Lifting like, I wonder, at max is the other side of this equation, assuming that you have the mobility, you have the technique and stuff to lift safely like. If you don't actually push yourself to figure out where that line is, that threshold of failure, like you're never really going to know what you're capable of. Your body will never adapt because you're never actually pushing it.
Speaker 1:To what that's why I did some lunges the other day, bro, try, I mean paid the price but you're sumo deadlift 500 pounds no, I did not. 500 regular deadlift like 515 by sumo deadlift 465 that's bad at when's that?
Speaker 2:and that's an all-time pr and you're 40 years old, yep, so this is that you're. A great example of this is consistency through a long time, I think to add another layer to this. I think a lot of people think that a lot of their gains should be happening a lot quicker than is reasonable to ask. Like people get upset if they don't have a six-pack over you know a few months. Like people get upset if they don't have a six back over you know a few months timeframe. People get upset, like if they're not hitting PRs over a certain timeframe or this, and that like people think that these things should happen quickly.
Speaker 1:I don't want to discourage people either, but from 2017 to today, I've gained 10 pounds of muscle total. Yeah, over those years I've had less training volume years. I've had more training volume years, but I've been an average of three to four days a week for that entire time.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then I've only gone down from like 18% body fat to now I'm around 13.
Speaker 2:And this actually kind of this subject kind of segues into a question I wrote down for us.
Speaker 1:I want to bring up one last thing on intensity that I meant to say Also. When it comes to intensity and volume, different muscle groups are going to respond differently. If I go out or anybody really and it's the small muscles so you do max volume, max intensity, push-ups, you're going to recover the next day Basically anybody just fine. That's a lot different if you do max squats, lunges, like bigger muscle groups, max effort are going to be able to produce more power, but they're also going to take longer to recover. So when you're looking at workouts uh I that's an area too to keep in mind of where intensity can be pushed. So, like burpees, for instance, if the workout is burpees, that's an intensity you can push that intensity and still recover the next day. But if the workout has a bunch of barbell thrusters pushing the intensity on that, it might take longer to recover. So workout dependent also depends on where me personally I'm going to gauge how intense I'm going to push, based on how I want to train the rest of that week.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's my final note today on this topic.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So you need to have both you need to have both. You can't really have one without the other.
Speaker 2:If you consistently have zero intensity, you're not going to really do anything. It's like if me and Derek just started going on 30-minute brisk walks for the rest of our life, like that's not going to work well for us because of the work we've put in.
Speaker 2:It might be a great starting place for someone who's you know, excessively overweight, Like that might be a great starting place until they transition to something else. But for us, if we go and just go walking every day for our exercise, we're going to lose everything that we've worked on Like. So you have to consistently do things that challenge where you're at.
Speaker 1:so you have these physiological adaptations, but nothing's more important than consistency um.
Speaker 2:So it kind of segues into a question I wrote down here. Um, you know, I think if you can answer this question of like, why do you work out? Why do you train? Like, what is, what is the main driving factor? Is it, you know, to look good? You're trying to, like, score some more notches on the belt, which you know, I don't condone me personally, but are you trying to just be strong?
Speaker 2:are you trying to win some endurance event? Is it purely for longevity? I think if you can kind of categorize and prioritize what is important to you on this list of like why you train, then you'll have more internal motivation and inspiration for yourself to consistently train and have those intensities that actually make progress in your fitness.
Speaker 1:It gives purpose exactly I mean I don't know if you watched it because I mean you're my brother, so we talk all time, so you probably don't watch all my content, but I did a whole video on finding your anchor.
Speaker 2:Okay, and the anchor is this premise?
Speaker 1:Yeah, finding your why. Because I think it is the most important thing when it comes to finding consistency because this stuff isn't easy. No, finding consistency because this stuff isn't easy. No, I, I think it surprises folks. But yeah, the gym owner who looks, I guess, like a workout guru. There's many days each week that I don't want to work out, but then you lock on to what you just brought up your why, your purpose, like why?
Speaker 2:and it's tough and sometimes I think it's okay, like the why changes, right you?
Speaker 2:go through different seasons of life, like becoming a dad or whatever. It is like things change, and I think that's okay. One thing that's always been consistent with me, and I think that you'll have the same notion, is that when I get to the end, I mean I'm a Christian, so when I get to the end of my life, I'm having my conversation with, with jesus, with the, with the good lord. That, um, I'll be able to ask did I, you know, mentally and physically, did I push myself to the levels that you knew I was capable of doing, the reasons I was created for? So for me, an expression of that is I've kind of been coined as the strong guy for a long time in the gym.
Speaker 2:There are things and numbers that I personally like to go after just to see how far I can physically push my body to do things, and sometimes that's a powerful why for me to train when I don't want to train To my most recent, and when I say't want to train to like my most recent, and when I say recent, the last probably like three, four years of making this goal is my 1800 pound challenge of being able to deadlift 600 pounds back, squat 500 pounds, clean 400 pounds and snatch 300 pounds, be able to do all of those in a one year timeframe. Not in the same workout, no, not in the same workout. Let's see. Maybe if I was on steroids so that is actually where that nervous system fatigue would come in.
Speaker 1:If.
Speaker 2:I were juicing, then those numbers would be like pushing 700 pounds on the deadlift and then I could probably pull it off in a workout. But I'm not juicing. In fact, testosterone is down 100 points, but that's a different topic. But these are things for me specifically. Like I don't want to like get to a point 10 years from now and be like I gave up because I was tired and kind of, you know, bitch on these things. Like I don't feel like these numbers are so out of my scope that I can't pull them off, but they're challenging enough that I really need to dial in.
Speaker 2:I need to be consistent. I need to focus, I need to clean up my eating. I need to. There's a lot of things that I need to do to be able to pull these things off, and these are just examples, but these are things that I find like my why when it comes into my physical training. There's a whole, nother conversation about, like the longevity side of like a big part of this is, I want to be able to play with my daughter, zuzu, for you know as long as I can, until she gets too cool for me, which?
Speaker 2:I'm dreading, but then you get grandkids that you want to play with. Yeah, like the longevity side of this is enormous, but there's also a part of me that, as she's growing up where she can look at her dad and be like my dad's a badass that Whatever boy she's going to date, go on her first date. I made a rule a long time ago is the only guy that can take her out on a date is they have to be able to power clean 315 pounds and no guy's going to take her out on a date.
Speaker 1:Basically looking out at the general society we've got right now, but me being able to set this example and be that person they'll look up to is a huge motivator for me Now when it comes to your anchor, you personally, how are you using these motivators to grab onto it, to gain back consistency, because I've been riding your ass.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean consistently. Consistency is the hardest thing for me lately, like I was just saying intensity is not the issue.
Speaker 1:No, you still squatted 465 pounds yesterday.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 465. I intentionally only did five more pounds than Wayne.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know what happened on the leaderboard, but I'm just saying the fact that you could do that and you haven't even been training consistently. I haven't back squatting, done a heavy squat.
Speaker 2:So last time fun fact, about four months ago I did a heavy front squat with no lifting shoes and no belt or anything, because wayne was giving me shit about not doing it completely raw no, no, we're raw, yeah, no coming from somewhere weightlifting shoes and belts for everything. Now he's all too cool cool for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, we're all appeared, Wayne, I'm talking shit about you bud.
Speaker 2:So I did that. Fun fact, I don't think I told anyone this, but I did that for a front squat I think a front squat like 360. And I blew out my ankle and my ankle's been killing me for like the last three months. So that was my last heavy squat I did. Going back to the consistency and intensity, also knowing where your I would argue flexibility is, with certain things, current training limitations based on your consistency.
Speaker 2:So I haven't been able to really squat in the last like three months, heavy at all, hardly at all in the slightest, because my ankle has been hurting so bad. So, like yesterday, the back squat For me, heavy squatting until my ankle is like good to go like I'm wearing lifters. I just that range of motion and under that weight there's nothing wrong with wearing lift.
Speaker 2:No, I know I just want to put the old man in his place. But I squatted yesterday. That was my first heavy squat in three months being able to pull. My goal was 405 for the day. 425 was the big win. But then I saw wayne and I want to talk shit. So I pulled off 460. So ego gets to you too yeah but it was a good 460 though I'm just saying surprising, that's what happened with the lunges yeah so, oh, absolutely, it gets to me.
Speaker 2:But, um, after I did 425, relatively easy, so I knew I had it. But, uh, anyway, going back to your question, consistency that's what I want for you, oh yeah, so what's the inspiration now to this? It's figuring out the consistency in the schedule and my own schedule and scatteredness of how I'm going to prioritize getting strong in my journey of losing weight. Right now, like my body fat percentage is higher than I would like, would like to get drop about 15, 20 pounds fat gain about 10 ish pounds of muscle would be great. Um, so, if I can do those things so like, I've cut out drinking, I've cut out caffeine, I've cut out sugar not qdob yet but I've cut out, um, all these things. I need to hydrate more, like I'm. I've been very active in working on these things, understanding that it's not going to happen immediately, overnight, us recording this podcast. This is the only time of day that I can do a workout.
Speaker 2:I figured out my schedule with my wife and my daughter that Kelsey's going to pick up Zuzu, I'm going to jump into 4 o'clock. It's figuring out the schedule and stuff. Kelsey brought that up, but then I didn't think about it's close to your house too.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, maybe this is this is what I want for you, bro, but also I went through having I didn't personally have the kids, my wife had the kids but when minions come into your life and it can, it can derail momentum. I mean, sleep deprivation is a real thing, especially when it comes to finding intensity, because sleep is arguably the most important thing when it comes to recovery from training. So when you have new minions in your life and sleep is just whacked, it is hard to find consistency and I can attest that. I mean, I went through roller coasters with my training, my physique, if you will, my health, uh, during those sleepless deals of their early years, uh, so that is a big deal. There am I answering my why Is that a question?
Speaker 2:Yes, because I mean it was just my question to segue on the consistency. Like your consistency and intensity, a lot of it, for especially veteran athletes, can come from you know, like we've said, your anchor, your why. For me, I have like very specific goals, like the 600 pound deadlift, the 500 pound squat, 400 pound clean, 300 pound snatch, like those are very specific and tangible for me to latch onto and the by-product of me consistently training for those things will be the drop in the body fat percentage. We losing the visceral fat, blood work will get better, um, I will be healthier overall. I'll be able to, you know, not run out of breath going up and down the stairs playing with Zuzu, like, um, like, having a specific goal can help with an overarching goal.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:That you need to have both, in my opinion. Just coming in and having just a general goal of like oh, I want to lose weight, like that's going to be. You're going to lose motivation, inspiration. Oh, I want to lose weight, like that's going to be. You're going to lose motivation and inspiration almost instantly, like the first time that workout kicks you in the ass like damn, this shit ain't worth it.
Speaker 1:The rate of change is so slow. It's hard to be excited about it when you don't see things move. And this is what I talked about in that video is most people come into the gym, 90% of them. The number one driver of joining a gym is to lose weight. It is the number one. And when you, when you realize that that process is not immediate, it starts to become less of an, a driver, a motivator of you know.
Speaker 1:For me personally, I mean, I'm just in a different chapter of life. You guys didn't know, you probably know this, but me and jacob are seven years apart. I had to, like his goals are significantly different than mine. Like mine aren't to hit, hit massive weights. Mine are very guess simplified in that department. I want to continue to maintain where I'm at strength-wise and improve upon only as long as my body feels good. So I'll still push, obviously, but I really try to keep that in its bucket when it comes to moving loads, because for me, when I'm pushing the bigger weights, uh, I do set myself up, as I did last week for an injury. So I am now at this chapter of my life. I am very, very cognizant of that. But I mean, if it was a goal of mine, there are smarter ways to train for it.
Speaker 2:I won't uh argue that, but for me it's my overall uh wellness I would say, if I had to pick something that had some specificity behind it for you, though, would be when claire had her operation and then the whole family cleaned up I mean you guys, the whole family.
Speaker 2:You guys eat perfect, like no one that I know eats as clean as you guys do. You prioritize consistency. You are educated enough within your own body to know when you're pushing too much or not enough. Like you know, you have your cheetah modes, days and it's very apparent you know on the leaderboard. But this specifics behind this has just been an over, has been a I won't even say general like you're the way you eat, the way you've been prioritizing just your own happiness, your engagement with class, like all of these things, a byproduct of you honing in on that thing, that longevity goal has increased your numbers and your fitness and everything.
Speaker 1:Everything I'm stronger and everything but my back squat and my clean, and that's just because I'm very protective of my back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, squat and my clean, and that's just because I'm very protective of my back, yeah, and I think that it's. It's a good uh, dichotomy between the two of us, because I feel like our, the specifics of our goals are very similar, coming from two opposite sides, but with the same, with the same goal. Yours is is, I want to say, general health fitness, because not everyone is doing what you're doing as far. No one's going home and just eating a pound of ground beef for a meal, right, but the three turkey meatballs or whatever the hell you posted the other day with a thing of broccoli.
Speaker 1:I should comment on that. I don't eat broccoli, it's disgusting.
Speaker 2:Whatever, but it's not sexy with what you're eating, but it's working and it's causing everything else to go up. Like your endurance is getting better. Your strength is getting better. My focus on like those things specifically is going to like. Those things can't get better unless I do these things better, so it's like the same things.
Speaker 1:Internal motivators drive us all differently, but the outcomes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly the working outcome is very similar and the inputs need to be similar too. So what drives us to our goal? But the reality is, for Jacob to hit his goal, his inputs need to be similar to mine as far as outside the gym stuff, and that goes for everybody. You're not going to be able to train well without eating well, without doing the gym stuff, and that goes for everybody. Like you're not going to be able to train well without eating well, without doing the outside stuff.
Speaker 1:Um, the biggest thing that sold me on long-term and putting allowed me and gave me permission to train like an athlete again, if you will, even though that's nothing even remotely that I want to do anymore is compete as an athlete is the data out. There is very, very clear the fitter and stronger you are at 40, the fitter and stronger you're going to be at 80, and all cause mortality goes down like thousands of percent. Like it's massive. It's not even funny how better your all cause mortality and how much longer happier and your health span can be when you are at the top 1% of fitness at 30, 40, 50. And it the data is just so massively clear on it it's like, okay, I want to be that person when I hit each decade, like I love the fact that at 40 years old I can keep up with younger people in the gym.
Speaker 2:I love the fact that when I turn 50, I'm still gonna be that person, are you not even keep up. I mean you beat everyone's ass. They walk slaps around me like it. Okay, that might be a stretch. I mean she's a monster.
Speaker 1:Well, there's some workouts I can keep up with her in, but today it was laughable because we did it together. Today's workout Whenever you're listening to this today's workout is the one that you needed to take your Adderall before doing Rope climbs, handstand push-ups, single-arm dumbbell, bench and skiing and me if you guys haven't met Faye, she's awesome, but she's really fit and we did it together and yeah, so it's not too often you just kind of get cheered on during the middle of a workout when you're trying your best. But no, I love that I can still play the game, but that is not my number one driver. I could give two shits about where my score is for the day and this and that I care that I'm giving my best effort to move my needle and my health span forward. But if I can't recover from that workout and if I don't feel good anymore when I get home to my family, I don't feel good anymore on the weekends. This is all pointless for me.
Speaker 1:So I very much play the game way more intelligently than I do did in the past, and I will say the way we eat now has been the most transformative thing in my ability to recover and feel good the way I train than anything I've ever done in my life, and doing that for a year has been one of the most eyeopening experiences in my life because over the years, you know, we've done 75 hard challenges. We've done, you know, clean eating for blocks of time. I have never, ever in my life, eaten as perfect as we've eaten for over a year, and that duration and the effects it's had on my body from a training standpoint, the effects it's had on my body from a physique standpoint, has been one of the most eyeopening experiences of my life.
Speaker 2:And this is a good question, by the way, about the consistency, intensity, because it's bred a lot of other topics, topics, um, I would not argue, it's not the right word, but I would say you need to get to a point of some. I would say our fitness is. There's an experimentation that happens right. It's taking a lot of trial and error, doing some dumb shit and all that you guys learn through our stupid mistakes.
Speaker 2:You know as, like the leaders of the gym, we've done some dumb shit, we've partaken in some dumb shits. I'm not dumb shit and kind of figure out what works and that's why you guys hopefully look the hot tub I own was result of some dumb shit look towards us like for guidance, um. But I would say that some people use um kind of like what you're saying.
Speaker 2:You're not like that guy anymore that will use some of these things as maybe an excuse to not push very hard or to not give themselves, I would say, aggressive goals, something that I going back to, kind of some specifics, like my 1,800-pound challenge, what I tell people in the gym when it comes to maxes for people that I can tell that are truly passionate, passionate about like training, like they really like get a joy from working hard. What I see and I see this more often than not, um, and you can let me know if it's something similar here is that people don't give themselves, in my opinion, aggressive enough goals. This was going to be another topic I brought up to help really facilitate those changes. Like some people say, looking at someone as a coach, like I know eventually, like this person's probably capable of I don't know. Let's just say, for example, squatting 300 pounds like whatever person, I know that this person's capable of it.
Speaker 2:Let's say, right now they're only squatting like 185, but I know eventually, with a few years of consistency and intensity, like they'll get to that, just like the very first time I maxed my back squat was 135 pounds, my first one rep max back squat and now it's 500. And then this has been, you know, a 13 year journey to get to that point. But that person who squats 185 would be like oh, you know. I asked him, like you know what's like your long-term goal? To get like what?
Speaker 2:number you want to get to they're like I would love to get to like 195 and I'm like we gotta bump that shit up. Oh yeah, we're gonna bump that. We're gonna go 240 by seven months from now.
Speaker 1:I also like you're right, I do agree with that. I also think we live in a society that's void of any sort of physical what do you want to say? Aptitude. So, like you're not surrounded by people that push these kind of that, do these things in general, like you're just not in society. I mean you go walk around society. It is a very deconditioned society and unhealthy. So you know they don't.
Speaker 1:I don't think a lot of folks understand what the human, what the normal average human body is capable of. Like sure, you got a perception if you watch some olympics or you watch some pro sports. You're like you get that, but that's so unreachable you don't even try to relate to it. But in normal everyday life, like chances are, the person you sit next to at work might not have worked out in the last 25 years, you know. So once you get into an environment where you're surrounded by just regular humans doing really cool stuff, it I think it can help reshape somebody's intuition of what they're capable of. And I mean a lot of that.
Speaker 1:What you said there how are you raised? Like where were your? Did your parents push you? And you know various things. What sports did you do?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know some folks I mean, we've had them coming to the gym who have never worked out or done a sport not done a sport, I mean, not even growing up, I just never did anything and they're oblivious to what the human body is capable of as far as their everyday human. And what I think is cool about your goal, like me and the members at the gym is we get to witness what just the regular, consistent person is capable of doing, like a lot of these members do phenomenal stuff like phenomenal, and they work out an hour a day, three to five days a week and they're literally in the top 1% of society when it comes to fitness capacity. That's fricking awesome. And then you know what you bring up is. You're what the saying is like, you're the average of the five people you surround yourself with.
Speaker 1:So out in society, if you're not around, you know folks that do this stuff regularly, like our community does. You're not going to know, and that is our job as a coach and a community to help kind of facilitate and give you those longer, those goals, that those different conversation than physique body fat goal and what that's going to look like and timeframes, perspectives. You know I can't remember who said it. But it's like, your job as a coach is to make sure that people understand what don't set a limitation on their goal. Our job is to make sure they understand what it's going to take to get that goal. You know some dude randomly walks in here and he's like I want to make it to the CrossFit Games.
Speaker 2:All right, yeah, this is what it's going to look like.
Speaker 1:I mean, we've had people do that. They've never. None of them have stuck around.
Speaker 2:No, I've given the framework of what it looks like and then all of a sudden it's not that cool.
Speaker 1:Well, and then they start training and realize, I mean, just trying to get through a workout is hard enough. But you know, I'll never tell somebody their goal is too far, I'll just explain to them what it's going to take to get there. I've only had to do that a couple of times. You know there are people setting realistic expectations and I think once you get to know somebody, that's responsible. That's your responsibility as a coach, because you're setting that person up for potential failure. But the human body, the human being, can accomplish amazing things. And you know, most of us aren't even remotely close to tapping our genetic potential in anything, anything, yeah, anything. And to put that limitation on somebody, you know, if a 55-year-old walks in here and tells me they want to play in the NFL in five years, I mean your genetic potential is gone, like it's a thing in the past, but that's a different story depending on where you're at in life and I honestly, I personally love having those goal, those goal setting kind of mindset deals with members.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it's. More often than not I have to tell people like let's bump, let's you. You got more in you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to pull prs out of people a lot like you do. It's pretty cool gift. And I'm over here like, like I'll push people, but I don't know you. You definitely are good at seeing people move how they're moving, and then, okay, you got another 10 pounds and you got another 15, and you, I mean, you've done it to me, so yeah, it's something I understand and enjoy.
Speaker 2:I think it's probably why my specific goals are attached to those. But yeah, I mean, I would say, whatever your goals are, I would look at them and see, like challenge yourself and ask yourself for more. You know, I think there's the delusional side of things which I've had some people say. Like you know, I think I can gain 40 pounds of muscle by next week.
Speaker 1:Well, next week's tough, but if you say 40 pounds of muscle in a year, I'll give you the framework and your body is going to be wrecked long term. I don't know where you'll get the stuff to do it, but it's going to require a significant amount of exogenous supplemental support, if you know what I'm saying. It's funny. I've had those conversations with people when it comes to building muscle and time frames and this and that Yep.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm probably the only guy in the gym on exogenous testosterone that's gained one pound of muscle in a year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which could be?
Speaker 1:a whole other topic, but I mean, the reason you're on, it was purely because your t levels were, you know, as high as a girl it was a health decision and I mean my wife and I got into this in our our last little podcast on blood work and, um, like she was there with me through it all and helped guide it all.
Speaker 1:And it was a health decision in a chapter of my life, going on 40 years old not saying that's like the benchmark to get on T, but all my blood work for years did everything really well health wise and it became a wellness health span decision to feel good for the work that I'm putting in that. That was the driver and when I made that decision it was also a decision that I'm not gonna try to compete at anything uh anymore from an athletic standpoint because obviously I'm on exogenous testosterone. I'm not gonna be that guy. So my whole driving and purpose in the fitness and gym space is to help people live the healthiest health span for as long as we can and all those other variables do play into that.
Speaker 2:For a male, I mean someone, I mean it's been so. That's what I'm looking for. Vilified, like testosterone is like, just in a sense of that people use it out of just pure steroid abuse for performance. That people use it out of just pure steroid abuse, performance that when you take someone whose testosterone is in the hundreds, nanodesolete or whatever the measurement is, versus like a healthy someone who's like between six to 800, that is a very significant different man like mentally, physically, emotionally, someone that's down there, as opposed to someone who's who's six to 800.
Speaker 1:Your body, your body. There's long-term negative health impacts from testosterone being too low and also too high. So being at a therapeutic dose for your age and where you're at plays a massive influence and honestly, coming circling back to the consistency thing, it has helped me feel good about being like being more consistent in a healthier way and I do feel better, like my mental health is better, I sleep better, um, sex drives better, like. It's helped me in like a bad a health way that my health span is dramatically improved at my age Now the where it wasn't at age 35, 36, like, and I still had some competitive aspirations when I became a master's athlete at age 35.
Speaker 1:I thought maybe this is my time to like, maybe try to make it to the games. And I, just when I started increasing training volume back then, I would fall apart physically and emotionally. My mental health would go through the dumpster because the train at that level, with where my body internally was at, wasn't capable of it. So that's when you know the blood work, the trial and error to get up things fixed, naturally, and it just became a long-term health decision to go the route of trt and I think what I was going to get at real quick and we don't need to beat this topic down the road right now.
Speaker 1:but I think the reason it's vilified is it is abused and I also think one of my biggest reasons for being transparent about it one my job and I'm a gym owner, but I think there's way too many charlatans out there that you know I do all this straight up, natty, and it's not yeah, you mean the entire social media fitness space.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I think it sells a false dream and I will sit here on my high horse if you will, and I am at a therapeutic dose for my age. I'm not at a big, massive anaerobic level and there's still a lot of people that are that I know, maybe even personally.
Speaker 1:My goal is to be at the minimum effective dose to feel good like a healthy 40 year old should feel, and I do believe I'm there took, oh, 16 months. No, I don't know the exact timeframe, but you know, when you have people in the health and fitness space, you have people. You know their this, their that, their body, their numbers, their lifts, their training, everything. And under the premise that this is all natural, I'm calling bullshit on a healthy chunk of it. I'm not going to sit here and pretend just like. There are guys out there with high testosterone. Their ball sack, if you will, works really, really well and they are able to do awesome things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, natural, and we're talking very genetically gifted.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like honestly a majority of professional athletes. They're very genetically gifted people 100% and I will not come out on the assumption that everybody who's doing awesome things is either just on test alone or a bunch of other steroid type stuff. But I will say a massive chunk of the social media influencer, fitness influencer I do believe they're full of shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if they have a course to sell or a program to sell you and they do believe they're full of shit. Yeah, if they have a course to sell or a program to sell you and they look like they're probably not natural, chances are they aren't yeah, and I know a few of them.
Speaker 1:I'm not gonna say names, but they try to post their blood work. They try to. You know they. You know they try to pretend like they're all natty and I'm just. I know what the human body scientifically, when it comes in it's. It's a lot of people, in my opinion, in the hybrid space. The quote unquote, failed. Crossfitter space is what I call it as hot take. It's, uh, people that like to lift weights and run but don't have the skill and coordination to do anything else yeah but um, that was mean, that was mean.
Speaker 1:Sounded like a true yeah. But you know this hybrid space to pretend that you're running 10 miles a day, killing heavy workouts, sleeping five hours a night and your testosterone is still, naturally, over a thousand and you take no rest days.
Speaker 1:There's people out there that literally like I don't take rest days. It's impossible. It's literally impossible. I don't care how genetically gifted you are, you can't train that volume, that weight, that consistency no rest days. And it being 100, I mean I still take full rest days like your body needs it. Now I know it seems like maybe I don't, but I definitely do oh yeah, my rest days are forced because of my lack of consistency.
Speaker 2:I want to train but I physically can't. I mean, what is?
Speaker 1:it like last week and the week before I took like two rest days and I mean Jess even came in. She's like I'm so proud of you taking rest days. I was like, yeah, beat the hell down. So when it comes to, I guess we can. I don't know if you got more things, but I guess we can. I have one more question on our list.
Speaker 2:All right, it could be a deeper question though, so we could try and get through it quick, but it could be an entire podcast, which it actually has been an entire podcast. I believe it is our very first podcast, but anyway, what are you about to say?
Speaker 1:well, I was just gonna wrap this up. That was. I can wrap up this part, but a big part that people get discouraged with when it comes to, you know, finding your hook or your why or your anchor is the comparison game. Like you look at what these people are quote, unquote, doing on social media, these transformations that happen, these Ozempic transformations that happen, and they try to pretend like it didn't. And you know, 45 days, 90 days, this is unrealistic and if people are saying they're doing it, naturally I'm calling for women too.
Speaker 2:Oh, big time big time, big time especially in the fitness influencer space.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think there's a wage discrepancy now that I'm a content creator and yeah, women versus men, yeah I don't get nearly the engagement.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to post a butt picture, I'm trying to do some stuff and, you know, just doesn't get the creds. But being careful in the comparison thing, looking at these platforms and what people are sharing on them, uh, look at it with a grain of salt. I've been personally coaching fitness now for 20 years. Coming on 20 years, yeah, I've seen it all. I've seen what it takes to get to where you need I mean to get a pretty aggressive goals, the amount of time it takes, the amount of consistency, both diet, sleep, nutrition.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I've been at this a long time and my biggest transformation has been in the last year and two things I optimized my hormones and I ate, eat perfect for well over a year now and I'm just now, and that's with a base of fitness that was already pretty damn good. Like I might have been a little chubbier but I was still pretty fit before all this stuff. So it's like I had a massive base of fitness and then I optimized my blood work to a healthy, therapeutic level and then literally the diet I will say hands down had one of the biggest transformations for me and my training. But also, I mean at this point, my physique has changed significantly, so oh yeah, you're shredded up, bud, my physique's changed too, just the other.
Speaker 1:So what's the next question?
Speaker 2:I got to go get clear in a little bit, Last one, and we'll do a quick summary on it. We'll keep it short because we've done big podcasts and we can do another podcast on it, but anyway how Double Edge came to be to what it is today Blood sweat and tears. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, we've been very fortunate in our support over the years, and what helped get this started? No question but blood sweat and tears, quite literally. Blood, sweat and tears, a lot of those three I think that resonates with any person that's ever started their own business or done their own business. It's not easy, yeah, and it's not easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's been the constant tilling of, you know, figuring out what works, what doesn't. The people we want here, the people that naturally come to the doors. Our community is, I would say, pretty rock-solid. Oh, yeah, I mean it's been. It's been a, you know, 10, 12 year, however long we've been doing this. Now this is year 11? Year 11.
Speaker 1:Well, year 11 of Double Edge. We were both coaching year, like five years before that. Yeah, that was about eight, nine years before that.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm. So it's been constant growth since day one and will continue to be growth, as you can physically see through our podcast setup, like derek said, the evolution from this first episode to our cinematic room. We're gonna have the cameras, we're gonna have the lights, like.
Speaker 1:So it's just we're in a constant state of trying to be better and I think that's just and if you had to wrap up, what took Double Edge from, I mean, a concept, to today is our willingness to adapt, our willingness to try new things, our commitment to being consistent in what we do and believe in as a health and fitness model, if you will. Our core values persevere, have integrity, even when it costs us. We have faith. So, yeah, and I truly believe and I've told this to many members God wants me here, because there's been so many opportunities for it to be ripped out of my hands.
Speaker 1:There have been times that it probably should have been shut down like bankrupt. I mean COVID, obviously I hate beating that dead horse because it was in the past, but I mean these are very trial-trying times for us and I've wanted to quit. I've wanted to pull into the parking lot and see these places. I was hoping to pull up that. It was like a bucket of ashes and I could just move on to something else.
Speaker 1:The stress that has come with it over the years and every single time, god reaches down and puts a hand on me and this is what you're supposed to be doing and I think, the biggest eye-opening event in my life for what this is our future here and the driver behind it is my conviction in God, having me here to help people live a healthy and fit life, because I mean even through Claire's ordeal but just the turmoil of this is what, in me personally, it makes me happy and, um, not going to say it's always been happy, like happy, but I love helping people achieve their we want to say best genetic potential when it comes to their health, longevity and wellness.
Speaker 2:And we never quit.
Speaker 1:I've worn this bracelet every day since high school.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's actually my third one, as they break sometimes yeah.
Speaker 2:I believe, that we're called to be. You know, good stewards, servants Servants help others, and I think everyone has a different calling. It's not like everyone needs to do the same thing. If we all did the same thing, then that really wouldn't be worth any kind of calling. Everyone has their path and this was our path that we chose, and I do believe, like what Derek said, that we're here for a reason and that if we don't push ourselves to be the best versions of ourselves day in and day out, then we're not being the men that God designed us to be, and I truly believe that we're here to help others.
Speaker 2:I think that's why this stubbornness has been instilled in us. I think there are many opportunities that people would have agreed if we would have walked away and just hung it all up. But that's not who we are and that's not who God designed us to be, and we're going to keep on this path to the grave, to be the best versions of ourselves, the best brothers we can be, the best business owners, best husbands to our wives, best fathers and all that we do, and we want to continue to have an impact in our local community and just anyone who comes through our doors or anyone that we can have an impact on outside these doors.
Speaker 1:I mean there's a lot of like parents, for instance, out there that'll say like they'll jump in front of a moving car for their kid, but they won't live a healthy life for their kid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's something I want to help like truly as a hook or anchor help people overcome and live that healthy life for their family, because there's nothing more important than your health and I don't think you realize that until your health is taken away and I'm fortunate enough to be sitting here healthy, but seeing my daughter at nine years old have a major health crisis and how delicate and how precious your wellness is and when something comes and you know hits you like that, did not take it for granted and put in. You know treat your body with respect. Do the things that you need to do for your health, because when it gets taken away from you lots of times it's unfortunately too late for you to change course. And if I can get you guys to truly believe that the work you're doing in the gym, the work you're doing with nutrition, it may not feel like it's the benefit that day, but the 50-, 60-, 70-year-old version of yourself will look back and be like I'm so grateful that I did the work then and if I can help inspire that and guide that, that I do believe is my calling going forward in this profession and obviously my daughter is a big driver of that and seeing how delicate and how you shouldn't take your health for granted when you have it, because it's very. You don't know when a genetic thing come and take it away. You don't know when whatever cancer, heart disease, these things sneak up. So for most people in society they sneak up so slow and so undetected and it's one of the big reasons why I'm so advocating people getting blood work, because it's the only way to shed some light into a disease that could be manifesting 10 years down the road that you can reverse course now and the literature out there is 100% emphatic that fitness is the number one thing that you can do for your long-term health.
Speaker 1:And then eating well on top of that, but just because it makes your fitness better, eating well on top of that, but just because it makes your fitness better. Like people that eat kind of like shit and still work out have better health spans than people who just eat really healthy and never work out. You could eat perfect and never train, and the trained person's probably going to have a better health span than you Like. There's some studies out there that show that folks who work out and smoke cigarettes have better health spans and lifespans than people who don't work out and don't smoke. Like exercise has an effect on our body and our long-term health.
Speaker 1:Using our body and because we live in a society that is very inactive by nature, because our jobs I mean kids in the kindergarten start sitting in desks six, seven hours a day we have to be proactive in our physical activity because the human body requires it to be healthy and in our society the way we do that, the most efficient and best way to do that, is arguably in the gym. So we must lift weights, we must work our heart and lungs and, like Jacob said, there's a long podcast on how Double Edge was born, all the business, this and that and our kind of history of getting the business of this started. But when it comes to my personal driver going forward, it's to help you overcome whatever obstacles you have in front of you to live the fittest, healthiest life possible to be you overcome whatever obstacles you have in front of you to live the fittest, healthiest life possible, to be the best person for you and your family as possible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how long can you live your life and how badass can it be on the way out?
Speaker 1:100%, 100%. I laugh about it, but I do tell people I was like I do all this stuff and watch I'm going to slip in the bathtub. It's funny, but you, you genuinely don't know when your ticket's going to be pulled, Like you don't. Tragically, you know some folks and I it hurts my heart, but some people have lost, uh, family members, and completely unexpected, and you know, life is just so precious and we don't know when it is, and I think it is irresponsible for us not to put in the work to live the best life that we've been blessed with this human body and we've been blessed with this opportunity and to just take wellness for granted is selfishly irresponsible. I agree, yeah, we could redo that podcast that we did on opening of the gym. I don't know if I really want to revisit that horse right now because, damn, that's a long podcast if we really get into details on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's episode one. By the way, it's one of the first ones.
Speaker 1:It's out there. We could put a link in the show notes.
Speaker 2:But that was our first podcast. Back to some consistency here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, first long form by ourselves. And, should we get this, want to play the outro music on this banger box. You guys, ready for this? Ready, ready, here we go. All right, bro, feel that this is like your, this is like your playlist yep, here we go all right, everybody, it's been a pleasure. Yep, thanks for tuning in. It's been great to be on the show today and uh, we'll catch you guys out in the gym, can't wait to do it again?
Speaker 1:all right, and then a little bit of applause at the end yeah, all right, for real guys love you and if you guys got questions in the future, things you want us to cover health, health, fitness related and we're happy to do that and we'll try to make it funny along the way. Peace, oh yeah, peace.