This Or That: Life Questions That Expose Who You Really Are | Quick Pumps

Everyone thinks they know themselves… until the questions get real.

In this episode of Quick Pumps, Vic and Matt go head-to-head on the life choices and personality questions that actually reveal who you are — and there are no safe answers here.

Dream job with low pay or boring job with a big paycheque? Grind your 20s or actually live them? 10 surface-level friends or 2 real ones? Start a business or climb the corporate ladder?

These aren't hypotheticals. These are the decisions that quietly define your entire life — and how you answer them says more about you than you think.

In this episode: ✅ Life choices that expose your real priorities ✅ Personality questions with no right answer ✅ Vic & Matt's unfiltered takes on ambition, money, friendship & success ✅ The question that caused the most disagreement (you'll know when you hear it)

🎧 New episodes every week — subscribe so you never miss one.

💬 Drop your answers in the comments — Dream job or big paycheque? We want to know where you land.

ABOUT BETWEEN SETS: Between Sets with Vic and Matt is the fitness podcast that goes beyond the gym. Real conversations about fitness, life, money, mindset, and everything in between — recorded between sets, no filter.

CONNECT WITH US: 📸 Instagram: @itsthebspod 🎵 TikTok: @itsthebspod 🎧 Spotify & Apple Podcasts: Between Sets With Vic and Matt

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

A snack.

unknown 0:03

I'm Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

You look more like Gollum and whatever. Oh shit. Well, I'll remember that one. We can definitely do it faster. Well now we have all our answers. Yeah. We had some technical difficulties, so we're gonna started filming and then it stopped filming. I don't know what the hell's going on. Which is great though, because we went through a bunch of stuff and now we can just now we have all our answers. So we kind of read some. We're doing the quick pumps. It would have been uh longer than usual, 100 pumps because we still we weren't even halfway done. All right, so today go Oh wait, wait, wait. We're not doing a quick pumps because we trained today. We're doing box talk. Box talk. Quick pumps, couch sesh, box pumps, box talk, gym sessions. Yep. Doing it all, baby. So we're gonna go through some rapid fire um questions, more like lifestyle and just kind of like random, very life-focused, yeah, philosophical philosophical, yeah. Just like easy, fun things, and we're gonna kind of like take turns reading the notes, and then we'll kind of give our piece. So um we'll start off by because we've already done this for the last 15 minutes, we have a bit of a faster answer. Um, what is one thing you would tell your 18-year-old self? I'm sticking, I'm sticking with my tough one. I'm gonna have to think about that one. And uh like how are you gonna start with such a tough topic? We should go to the next one. We literally had a like a seven-minute conversation. Yeah, I know, definitely. Um I used to really care a lot about what people thought about me. Um, and not just that, like I would base my decisions off of what I thought that I that they thought that I thought that they thought that I thought of that they thought about me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. And um, and then so like that means you're not really being your true self, right? So I think I've been a lot better at that over the years, especially now. Like, I don't really care what the foot people think. Yeah, I don't give a I don't give a damn. I don't give a damn. Um so I'm gonna say my original answer and then my answer that I came up with 10 minutes into when we were trying to record earlier. You know what would have been smarter if you just said your new answer. No, I want I want the people to know that we tried this. You see, and we failed. So you don't succeed if you don't fail in my because you never will have tried. Wow. In the original when we filmed it, I said 18, I would have been it would have been 2008, so I said invest in Apple and Bitcoin. No, you said start up a business and become more entrepreneurial in a young age. And I was like, Yeah, I was like deep, and you just went straight up finance. Yeah, start a business now because you're not gonna make it when you're 30 if you don't. Uh although Instagram we would have popped off a lot easier back then. And bro, 18 was exactly half my lifetime ago. Some bit of sex. I'm 36 explodes. Um, but then I came back later as we went on and I said, you know what, I agree with what you said. I would um definitely not be as concerned about what people think about me for sure. I think that also just comes with time. Like when you're 18, 19, whatever, 12 years old, however you were in 2008, um, you know, you're definitely more concerned about what people think. But nowadays I think I'm just kind of like, I'm gonna do is it recording? Yep. Imagine if it wasn't. I'd I'd that's it. Podcast over. We just have to just screw the camera, get a mic, and then do it the old school way. Um what is the hardest thing? Or sorry, what is the hardest you've ever worked for something? We both had a similar answer here, so we'll just kind of go quick.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah, both one of the things we both thought about was prepping for like a bodybuilding show. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

In terms of the hardest thing you've ever done, there's more like family stuff going through tough losses and things like that, but in terms of like working hard at something, work ethic, yeah. I think the mixture of the mental, the physical, the emotional, all mixed into like a very condensed period of time. Yeah. Three, four, put five months of prep. Yeah, you're doing things that your body's not supposed to be put through, and it's very very taxing and stressful. Yeah, it takes a toll on like your friendships and relationships too. Like what I was saying earlier is like I'd bring Tupperware to like a restaurant, you know. I had to like eat this exact meal. Do you hate this boiled chicken for me? Yeah, or I'd tell the server to like literally give me like lettuce and a boiled chicken. Yeah, it was that's a good one. It was a dark time, but um, yeah. When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone? Completely. I like the story, so you can throw it again. I'll try and condense it a bit more. Uh, it was actually a few weeks ago. Picture this, and it's not like it wasn't gonna be something I was gonna say no to, maybe back when I was 18, but like yeah, it was definitely something that I was uncomfortable doing. Yeah, no, because you were put on the spot. Right. Um, so I went to I was in in Miami.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

We went to this uh Colombian restaurant, and we go in, we sit down, we're eating, blah blah blah. And then Vicky, my wife, she's she gets cold. So I'm like, okay, I'll run back. My wife can't make a cold.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Can't do it.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

My wife, she makes a cold. I go back to home, get her sweater made from sheep's wool.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Continue.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

That's it. That made me uncomfortable having to do this for my wife.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

So, anyways, I get back, and lo and behold, she freaking told the people that it was my birthday. It's not my birthday, random day in March. I'm born in January. January.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

And they're like, Oh my god, how old are you turning? I'm like 33. And they're like, Oh my god, here they like put all this shit on me, start singing to me, they're making noise and stuff. And then, short story long, after all that, they fed us like shots of Aguardiente, which is their Colombian sambuca. They bring me up on stage, they have a like huge band playing, like at the late hours, and people are dancing and shit.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

They stop everyone to like pay attention to all the birthday people, and they start singing happy birthday to me in Spanish, and then immediately after they bring up the like salsa merengue vibes and they're like force me to dance with uh one of these. There's these two girls that are like in costume. One of them is dressed up like Alice in Wonderland, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, the other one's the queen, and I have to dance with the queen, and I'm just there like, What the hell's going on? Okay, I guess I'll dance with you. So it's so awkward. It's just like you know, like, yeah, I wasn't, I was gonna do it and have fun, but like it's definitely weird. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think for me, like like I said earlier, it was the doing uh high rocks, I guess, just because it's not my preferred style of training, specifically the running. So that was like the most yeah, that is uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable, and it's like you it's uncomfortable when you're doing it, like you don't want to be there, but you feel great after, which is kind of what happens anytime you work out, but or anytime you seek that discomfort. Or you go through the theory. Heek discomfort. What an interesting saying. We should patent that and make clothing for me. Don't sue us. Um, all right. The next one we got on the list is what is a belief you held five years ago that has completely changed?

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Uh the one that I think that comes to my mind is um like it has to do with working hard and like just not stopping. I think that you need to prioritize some men need to prioritize respect. Not all, not just men, but people.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Not mankind.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

People kind. People kind. I want to be inclusive here. No, but legit, you I remember I would just like work work. I still do work work, but I also make sure time, gaming time, reading time. Yeah, and that's like ingrains into the uh hardworking European parents, you know, like they kind of instill that like you need to work for everything you have. And this is separate from sleep, like finding time in your day, whether it's on the weekend or a day that you have off after like all of your work stuff is done, a couple hours for you to just do something that you know is a hobby of yours. You need hobbies. Yes, yeah, 100%. Yeah. Um you'll burn it. I remember this one I had to think about, but it came back down ultimately to uh for me, it was the belief system that I had was kind of similar. It's like work, work, work. And especially with sleep, I would just fucking barely sleep because I just you also have more energy, maybe, you know, five years ago, so you can kind of like get away with it. Uh, but that's definitely changed, and that kind of leads into uh good segue. Into the next point is um, you know, what's your biggest non-negotiable? Which you mentioned. I I I answered for you, but it was sleep. I know sleep's a big one. Do it again, one sec. What's your biggest no no answer for me? Sleep. It's sleep. I like to sleep a lot. Yeah, I think for me, and then mine was movement is a non-negotiable, like always getting some form of exercise, whether that's just like walking. I like to at least minimum move like three days a week of like actual training. Yeah, that shit's like that shit's like automatic. Yeah, it's like at the point where it's like I don't think there'd ever be a point in my life where I just like want to be lazy for an entire week. Like no, I would go nuts, right? Like internally combust. Coming back to what you're saying, it's nice to have those days where like I have like a lazy Sunday where I'll maybe the most I do is go outside for a walk, and other than that, I'm just like stuff around the house, watching movies, playing video games, whatever. You need that, but definitely movement is uh is an absolutely non-negotiable it's medicine. What yeah, what is one thing most people don't know about you? Uh that I'm really, really ridiculously good looking. Okay, I think most people do know that though. Uh that's totally subjective. It is absolutely right. You're supposed to be like not subjective. I think like we're I think you're objectively a handsome man and glazing him right now.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Ah all right. I think one thing that most people don't know about me is that so random.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Oh the bright am. I have like a really ticklish like upper outer glute area. That cheek. It's like the second it's touched out, like freaking spaz out. And it's like so random. Which glute is it? It's both, but the right one's worse. Good to know. Good to know. I'm gonna tickle you. It's like you know how your feet are ticklish for some reason, like my like right below my belt. It's like how they even discover that. It's like you did someone did it one day, and you're like, no, no, I did it. Take your yeah, I was just like, what the so weird. Every time I touch it, I twitch. Uh for me, it's uh like again. If you only know me on a surface level, you won't know this, but people that do know me already know that besides the fitness being my majority of my personality, um I mean absolutely Let me guess you're a nerd. Yeah, absolutely. Oh my god. Massive nerd. Well, you know me literally half my life, can't I? I guess that could be for me too. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. We're both uh very, very nerdy, like you know, animated Dungeons and Dragons. Yeah, I guess another one I said was uh very into Japanese culture. That's one that you couldn't guess. Like I know a lot about the Japanese, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot. I do a lot of accents as well. Anyways, I said one, so let's go. That's like me with like medieval culture.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

I know I know way too much about TikToks where the guys are like live, but it's in the medieval times or like fair made. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

We are going to Saturn tonight. No, no, that wench is for the streets. Um okay, uh let me I got distracted here. What would you do if you know you couldn't fail? Probably a do something that I'm trying to do, strive for now, but since I know it's gonna immediately become successful, you know, do something that I like, that I'm passionate about. Probably like something with being creative, um, and also having like a business or storefront that that can help piggyback the creative aspect. So, like, for example, a big gym that also has nerdy aspects to it, personal training involved, but it's connected to like wellness, wellness and uh my online brand. And then I would just be able to travel. Nice. Pretty much the same. Um, I would definitely minus the travel. I'd travel like two, three times a year. That's good enough. It's good enough. Those are some rookie numbers, bro. Those are the outside pool scares, man. Yeah, I think I'd be something like that. I definitely want to start like a business that just kind of encompasses all my interests and knowing it'd be successful would be great. Yeah, because then you have no like risk of it not working. Yeah, exactly. And there's not really a market at the moment for personal training gyms with wellness, also a DD area and a match of the gathering area and a gaming area. And a liquor license. And a liquor license, yeah. But it's in the works and a cold plunge. And a cold plunge. Um, what are you proud of? That's trademark, don't take it. What are you most proud of that nobody sees? About me? Yeah. Oh damn, I ain't never thought about that. That's a good one, yeah. Let's skip that one. I ain't probably proud of anything. That's a hard one, dude. What the hell?

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Okay, well uh okay, I have an answer. It's gonna be, it's gonna be uh you're gonna be like, what?

SPEAKER_00 13:27

I could tell I'm proud that I made it this far. Yeah, no, yo, facts though. Yeah. Honestly. Um sometimes I'd be like, how did I get here? Yeah. Like, I have no idea. Yeah, yeah. What do you want? But we're here. We here, dog. That nobody sees. Hmm. I don't know, man. That's a weird one. I think I'm pretty transparent about everything. Like, I would say like I'm pretty proud of my personal training business, but like that's easy to see. Like, you know. I'm pretty proud of course. Just visit like my physical capabilities, but again, that's growth put in the work over the years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Yeah, like chipping away like a Michelangelo.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Yeah. In a way, it's just like consistency over the years, I would say. That's a tough one. I mean, I'm proud of everything, but at the same time, I think sometimes you're just like you feel proud, and there's moments where you're like, fuck, I could be doing better. You're proud of everything, but also proud of nothing. Nothing. Yeah, it's like I can do better, I can make more money, I can have more plans, I can have more business. Yeah, it's when you got to take an act or fiance, whatever. I could be a better friend. There's so many things that where you're like, you're proud of it sometimes, but other times you're like, damn, I could be way better in this field. Yeah, it's more mindset. That's the mindset for sure. Okay, these are this or that, this or dat. This or dat. This or that, this or that, that or this life choices. Oh shit. This is very life sandboard. And we don't we're gonna be cool. This is gonna be these ones are gonna be quick because it's like uh, do you want this or do you want that? Thing my moon. Start a business or climb the corporate ladder. Start a business. Start a business. Like what? Who? Why? In what world would you want to do? Climb the corporate ladder is old school. Climb the rat. I know the nine to five. Well, it's all the rat race, but starting a business will help you try to escape the rat race. I feel like a lot of these are gonna be similar to both of our both of us. 10k in the bank or 10k of experiences? 10,000 experiences? Like $10,000 worth of experiences or just solid 10k in the bank? I'm doing experiences. Yeah, 100%. That's an easy one. Really? I thought you would have said bank. No, what? Because I answered finance literally every literally. No, I take the experiences because then I don't have to pay for them and I'd end up saving money. Oh, you still spent the 10k on the experiences. No, no, it's not. No, no, no, you spent no no no you spent the 10k on the bank. Well, that changes things. I thought it meant like a free 10k. No. Or I think I would still pick the experience. It can always make money. He's he's wanting to switch to the 10k in the bank. Guaranteed. 10k in Bitcoin in 2008 is what I would do. Okay, yeah. Dream job pays low, or boring job pays high. Forever? Yeah, let's say let's assume this is your current your chosen path. There's but like, is there any growth or change available? I feel like the boring job, let's assume you like continuously grow, but it's just it's mind-numbing. And you grow the one you like, or it's just you enjoy doing it, but it stays low. It stays low, it would have to stay low. Oh my god, let's say you choose a low let's say like a livable ex livable wage, maybe like you make livable. Well, you would really enjoy your days a lot more, right? Like you your demeanor would be so much better. So probably pick that one to be. Yeah, I think for longevity for sure. The other way I think of it is if you take the boring high-pay job, it gives you the resources to enjoy hobbies, maybe. But you could quit at his point. You could, yeah. So it's kind of a weird one. It depends on like the like how long, like you committed here for like until you're 65, and like you can't quit in. There has to be a caveat to that question. Okay, 10 surface level friends or two genuine ones, bro. Obviously, obviously two genuine ones. I'm not one surface level. Well, one no. I'm just kidding. You don't want no, they don't want no scrubs. No, only real ones. Facts. Um, known by everyone, or known by few, but respected by those few.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Oh, so the known by everyone, they don't respect you.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Yeah, let's maybe like you're a celebrity that people hate, but you're not everyone knows who you are.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Definitely the latter.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Yeah, I agree. It's better to be respected or feared by few. Grind your 20s or enjoy your 20s. I think I'm really past that. I definitely enjoyed my 20s more than I grinded. I mean, I'm still grinding, but much slower than I am now. Like it was that building. If you're trying to get become successful, the correct answer is to grind in your 20s. And then enjoy. That's when you're in most people are usually single, they don't have to worry, they don't have any dependents or any family. So I think grind is the answer. But this is gonna be a funny one. I can't really I don't I mean, I feel like I grinded, but also I really enjoyed. Yeah, I if I were to compare my 20s to my 30s, I'd say I'd be grinding. I'm grinding more now than I can in my 20s. Like I was doing it, but not as you know, fervently. Um move to a new city and start from scratch or build on where you are right now. Move to a new city, baby. Oh, interesting. Yeah, it's a tough one. I guess it depends on the city and where you are currently. Like if you're really successful now, like maybe build on it, or you have something going and build on it. But if you're kind of like at a level point, it could be fun to move somewhere. Switch it up. Yeah, that's an interesting one. Yeah, it's a tough one. Prove people wrong or prove yourself right. That kind of Who cares what people think? I was gonna say that literally comes back to cares what people think. The very first question we asked about well, what advice would you give yourself? Yeah. Retard Max. Remember what I said? Yeah, you gotta retard Max. Get a retard max. Don't think what people are like, what? Not offensively in any way, but there's this thing I keep seeing on TikTok where people are just like, just retard Max. And it's like just do things without even thinking about it for a second. Just like, you want to do something, go do it. Don't care what people think, don't care what the outcome is, you just do it, you just go full retail. It is not a bad use. Not at all. The word interrogatory. Yes. It's more just like the trend, is what people call it. It's just uh it's just um silly word. Be the funniest in the room or the most respected. I'll just be both. Okay, and I mean, aren't you respected if you're funny? Yeah. Unless people think you're just a corner. Probably respected. Yeah, I think at the end of the day that's what matters the most. Depends. You're trying to be the court jester? Yeah. You can do both. Wildly ambitious or genuinely content. Probably being content is better, but like the ambition, you need ambition. Well, I think the thing is like if you're constantly ambitious, you're never gonna be content because you're always striving for the next thing. And you're just stuck on that forever. I feel like I'm kind of like that, where I'm just like, oh, what's the next thing? How can I get more money? How can I do this? How can I do that? That's a mindset. It is a mindset little thing. Sometimes you gotta let us slow down and be like, okay, like I'm in a good spot. Let's just be happy for a little bit, instead of being like, What can I do more? You know, how many more hours can I squeeze in out of my life? Jarvis. Yeah. How can I amplify this? Wildly ambitious. Fearless or calculated? You gotta be fearless. You must be fearless. I think if you're too calculated, you're never gonna take any risks. Because you're always trying to figure out if it's worth doing something based on that. You're hilarious. Lead or operate? Lead or lead. Yeah. Lead! Oh, this is an easy one. Are you sure it's not lead? Why in what world would it be led? Last one for the day, guys. Really? We did it. Known for discipline or known for creativity? I think you broke are you already known for discipline. I think my discipline is waning. Is it? I hope not. Waning, that's a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Uh I mean, discipline is very important in life, but creativity is what makes the world go around.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

I was gonna say, I don't think being disciplined necessarily means you can't be creative. You can be a disciplined creator. You can be a creative, disciplined person. You just said what I said. Yeah, but I said it the other way.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

And now that one's tough. Like, I don't know about that one.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

Interesting. Well, I hope you guys learned something about us. Yeah, this one's cool. We're gonna do more like broader topics, like life stuff, uh kind of not necessarily like geopolitical state of the world. Don't get it. There's no fucking way, dude. I have now that would be a box talk. Yeah, there's no, there's there is no way, but I'd rather talk about that at a table. Yes. Yeah. With a tie suit and tie on. Yes, exactly. All right. Adios, guys. We'll see you in the next one. Think so. Are we gonna do one while the setting up? Yeah, we can. We can double up. We can do another quick one. How long was that one?

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Oh my god.