The Right Gym Partner

One minute you are talking big, and the next minute you realize you signed up for something that can humble you fast. That is where we start: I put my name on a Tough Mudder challenge, and now I have to train like I mean it, even as an older guy who cannot rely on “young body” recovery anymore.
 
We talk through what Tough Mudder prep actually requires, including why you have to tailor your workouts to the event. If you have been living in cardio, yoga, and solo runs with headphones, you can maintain mobility and flexibility, but you also need real strength training, mental grit, and a plan that fits the demands of obstacle courses. We also get into the value of motivation, including the way CJ Fletcher videos can flip the switch when you feel sluggish and want to quit.

Then we go story-first on workout partners and accountability. I break down the best partners I have ever had, from high school legends like Dwayne “Thriller” and Keto to Army days with Booker T Franks, plus the hard truth about how college workouts can fall apart when nobody pushes you. The thread that ties it all together is simple: the right partner makes you accountable, the right program makes you capable, and the right mindset keeps you in the “I can still do it” club after 40.
 
If you are training over 40, getting back into the gym, or chasing an obstacle-race goal, hit play and take notes. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a push, and leave us a review so more people find the show.

CJ Fletcher Videos 

https://youtu.be/gJir2LecZSw?si=OOBgU6pyQ6TCihFw

https://youtu.be/u9TTTFGdVD0?si=IvTyDLNxiLrRmslM

Family, friends, frenemies, pull up. This is your invitation to laugh, reflect, and speak your truth. No edits. No filters. Just grown-folk conversation. New episodes every week. Your comments shape the show. #unscriptedafter40 

Unscripted After 40 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/unscriptedafter40/

Unscripted After 40 X/Twitter - https://x.com/unscriptedaft40?s=21

Unscripted After 40 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@unscriptedafter40?si=lXucdhDvX_FX2R4y

Copyright Disclaimer: I hereby declare that I do not own the rights to this music/song. All rights belong to the owner(s). No Copyright Infringement Intended. I do not take any ownership of the music displayed in this video. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act: This video features materials protected by the Fair Use guidelines of Section 107 of the Copyright Act. All rights reserved to the copyright owners. https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

Transcript

Accepting The Tough Mudder Challenge

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Man, Steve J. Fletcher got me ready. See, that's what I'm talking about. That's why this episode this week is important. You know, having the right gym partner get you in the move, get you right, get you ready to get there and get in the gym and get pumped, you know, especially when you're old. You know, when you're old, it's a little hard to get back in the gym, you know, and get it in like when you was younger, okay? So, but before I get started, let uh welcome to another episode of Unstripped After Foyer the podcast. As most of you might know, um last week I wrote a check that my ass have to cancel. And look here, Jeff paid his bills, okay? So I'm gonna accept the challenge and I'm gonna go out there and not embarrass myself as an older person. Because you've seen the videos, you've seen that they like the tough mother videos and what they have to do. So I know y'all did y'all research and y'all went and looked it up and y'all said, okay, Jeff, you done lost your goddamn mind. Tough mothers is is is not for people our age. I agree 100% with you. But I wrote this check, and like I told you earlier, I cash, I pay my bills. So we're gonna get into it. Like I say, you've seen that intro with CJ Fletcher. Okay, like I say, if y'all know who he is, look him up. Okay, back about 10 years ago, he was everywhere. And to me, he is still popular because anytime I'm feeling sluggish or I'm like, you know what, I'm done. I I listen to his video, he like, I command you to grow. Bring out the Hercules in you. You can't, I'm saying if you ain't hype off the day after what he just said to you, and he's yelling too. He, you know, when somebody yells at you, kind of get a little pep in your step to make sure you get ready to go. And then you just go, because they command you to go. And like I said, he commanded me to get back in the gym. And I'm gonna get back in the gym and get ready. Okay.

Tailoring Training For Obstacles

SPEAKER_00 2:56

I have to change my workout because, like I say, the tough mother is a different type of physical activity that you have to get ready for. That yo, those of you that work out, y'all know that depending on what you get ready for, you have to tailor your workout to get in shape for that type of activity. So that's what I'm doing right now. I'm changing my thing. My workout prior to this was more cardio, yoga, and all this stuff. And I'm still going out there and doing yogurt. I have to get my body still flexible. I ain't gonna sit here and lose all the progress that I actually made and all the flexibility. We heard that flexibility, oh, that flexibility I got right now. I got that flexibility, okay? So, you heard them. Command and grow. And that brings me to this top of this week

Why Workout Partners Matter

SPEAKER_00 3:41

right here. Now, since I'm changing my workout, I I thought about, you know, finding me a new workout partner. Because you know, in yoga, you got a group. It's a group of y'all. You know, when you're running outside, it's pretty much me and my headphones. You know, I got me a new playlist and it it carries me through. And then for the la I think for the last maybe 10 years, I've been working out by myself because I realize finding a good workout partner sometimes is a little difficult, especially if you change it from different, you know, activities and training, like I said earlier, for a different sport. But that brings me into, like I say, I I want to talk about some of my old workout partners. Because like I say, if I can get CJ to come help me, oh shh, I'd be great. I mean, he'll get me in the move, but you know, um, unfortunately, I I need to look up where he's at these days. I think he's still alive. I hope he's still alive. If not, you know, yeah, he I'm gonna go with it. He's still alive, and we're gonna go with it. If he's still live in my mind in these videos. So, but we talk about um workout parties, right? Let me just go back.

High School Lifts With Thriller

SPEAKER_00 4:49

High school. Dwayne Spagner, aka motherfucking thriller, okay? Now, Dwayne was 250 pounds of pure muscle man, even in high school. That cat was freaking huge, okay? He Dwayne, and let me just grab you now how big this this freaking monster of a man we called Thriller. Because we call him Thriller for a reason, because he'll come through and wreck your whole goddamn life. Dwayne played freaking defense in M. And I played tailback. I always hated to see that cat coming. Because when he came, he brought the freaking pain. And he made sure I got all the pain. Even though we was on the same team, he would tell me, I'm getting you ready, little guy. I said, God damn, you got to hit me so hard though. So, but I realized that I need to get stronger. So I started working out with him, right? It was a good thing and a bad thing. Working out with someone that is crazy and strong and believed in nothing but working out in a gym because he was a goddamn animal, it benefited me. I didn't say I liked it, but it did benefit me. Okay. See, just like CJ, Dwayne, aka motherfucking thriller, uh, he commanded me to grow and get bigger. We'll go work out. Dwayne, in high school, we had these shirts that, like, every time you reach a milestone, like, you know, 250, 225, like 2, like, no, okay, let's start with it. 225, 250, 275, 300, 325, 350, then it keeps going up, right? You kind of see where I'm going at, right? Dwayne was in the 400 club. So at the time I started working out with him, I was in the 250 club. I'm and when I say 250, bench pressing. That means I could bench press 250 three times off my chest. Like a goddamn grown man. I get up, right? And that was the requirements to get there to get the shirt, right? And I think I got my shirt up in the room. So next week on the podcast, I'm gonna wear that shirt. I'm gonna wear my 350 shirt. So I remember him write that note down, wear the workout shirt that I told y'all about. So those of y'all on listening to the podcast, go to YouTube and next week you'll see me in my 350 shirt because I'm buff. I got the shirt in high school. So the shirt, I hope I still got it. I think I still got the room, but I thank Dwayne, aka motherfucker, and the thriller and the manila for that. Because he was a good workout partner. Every, every time after football season, even doing football season, because we did football, track, and baseball and soccer, he'll make sure that I be in the gym after school working out, getting my body right. Because to him, working out was next to godless. You have to be looking like a god. And like I say, Dwayne was like 6'2, 250 pounds, all fucking man, even in high school. And if you look at pictures now, because we both around the same age, the cat still freaking jacked, okay? And I talk shit to him still to this day. But I know and he knows that I can't beat him. And I think he just does it. He called me his little buddy. Because to him, I am a little buddy. Um, because I'm nowhere close to his size. But all through high school, I give it up to him. He's the best goddamn workout partner I had through high school. Him and fucking, you know, I forgot about Keto West, don't know. Keto. Keto was goddamn big as fuck too. And Keto played lineback in line. And him and Dwayne, like I say, fucking two twin towers. I I like to say, I work up Dwayne more because Dwayne was an asshole, and Dwayne wouldn't let me click, quick. Um, keto, he was an asshole too, but you know, keto had his own thing he had to worry about, you know, because keto was just he was just freaking a monster too. But Dwayne got them spagned the man, goddamn thiller than the fucking manila. I was calling thriller. He he worked me out and he worked the shit out of me, made sure I got big and strong for all my sports, that endeavors that I want to get on.

College Workouts Without Accountability

SPEAKER_00 9:09

And then after high school, you know, I went to college and, you know, I in college I really couldn't find a good workout part. Not like Dwayne and Keto, you know, like I say, Dwayne and Keto, they made, they kept me accountable. And they made sure that I got in the gym and made sure I worked out and did the stuff I needed to do, and they wouldn't let up. Now, in college, these motherfuckers were slack. No, they they they they they was horrible. I I got no good workout partners I could talk about in

Army Training With Booker T Franks

SPEAKER_00 9:34

college now. But but now when I came to the Army now, um, Booker T motherfucking Franks, okay? Booker T Franks remind me of Dwayne and Keto. Now, Booker T Franks was another freaking goddamn freaking nature. Now, Booker T Franks is a massive man. He's like, if I remember right, 6'3 at the time. He was, he, you trying to trim rate. That's why he found me. He was at 250 at the time when I met him. And we was in the same organization together. And I was a good runner. I was always a good runner. Booker T. Franks couldn't run. Men his size don't think about running, okay? All he thinks about is, you know, running through things and picking up houses and then dropping on people's goddamn heads, okay? So Franks realized that he needed to work on his running. And when I saw Franks, I said, God damn, you know, this cat can get me back big again because during college, all I did is run track. I didn't play football, so I got small. Um, I wasn't as big as I was in high school because, you know, running track and trying to carry all these muscles, they don't work out. For any runners out there, you know, you're never really gonna see a buff runner. It's just, it's just not within the makeup. You know, most runners are usually like, they got muscles, but they're not big, you know. So Booker T. France, like I said, he just needs to get his cardio better. And at times, you know, that was right pre-CrossFit. That was pre-CrossFit because, let me see, CrossFit didn't really get popular to me or when I didn't discover it until 2011. And this time for me and Booker T France working out between 2005 and 2009. And like I said, best workout partner since high school. Um, he'll come in the gym, and Booker T. Franks had this mindset that you're supposed to lift heavyweight multiple times. So I remember one day this cat came in the gym, racked up 415. Yeah, that's four plates, yeah, four plates. Yeah, four plates, four plates, four fifteen. And he lifted 10 times. And he was saying, we're gonna do sets of 10. Now, at the time, I don't know what he was thinking, because I never lift 415 in my life, let alone lift it 10 times. So I thought he would just smoke some dope. But in his head, that's what my goal was to lift 415 ten times. Like him. Yeah, he was smoking dope. He was on that goddamn wonder bread dream. Um, but to him, I was gonna get that goal. And his goal with me was that he wanted to run two miles in nine minutes at a nine-minute pace. He didn't want to run fast, he just wanted to run a consistent nine-minute two mile so that he can run an 18 or get down to a 16. Because back then, we the PT test for us, we got to make a certain time. He wanted to get below the time frame so he'll be alright. Because, you know, carrying that all that heavy weight he had, that massive man, you just don't sit there and just run for two or three miles. Being that size, why are you running from anybody anyway? I'm trying to figure that out now too. Because the army needed to switch that up. If you are over six feet and you weigh over 210, 200 pounds, and you are full of muscles, why are you running? Stay and fight, motherfucker. That's that's that's that's what I'm saying. And Frank's, that was his thing. He said, let's stay and fight. Why should I run when I'm look at me? And he he was right. I I understand, but like I say, go back, good workout, partner. Like I said, I had to tailor him and realize that hey, I we we have to change workout to fit a guy of my size and statue, okay? I I tell people, a lot of the time, I tell people I'm 5'10. Okay, 5'10. I'm actually maybe 5'8, maybe 5'8, 170, you know. That's a good weight. That's a good weight, you know, that's a good fighting weight for a man my size, you know. Um, but like I said, I'm not lifting 415 pounds 10 times. Now, he did get me up to lifting, I think at first, the first year I started working on, he got me lifting like 315 10 times. Then I got up to 350 ten times. I almost got up to 375 10 times. Um, but yeah, but that that's here nor there. I I never got up to it, but but like I say, hey, I'm sorry, Frank. So if you listen to this, I'm sorry. I I did my best and I'm old now, okay? So I I we I'm not doing it now. And like I say, even at our age now, Frank's is still, Frank's and Dwayne, both of my around my age, they're both over 40. Now, both of them are still goddamn massive men. And they still in the gym killing it, okay? And I wish both of them was here in my location that work me out because they they are good workout partners. Like I say, they're freaking outstanding. The best two workout parts I've ever had. YouTube Keto, like I said, I know you listen too. Like I said, those are about the three best workout parts I had in my life, like I

The Traits Of A Real Partner

SPEAKER_00 14:47

say. Because finding a good workout partner is extremely hard. Someone that's gonna push you, someone that understands your goals, someone that's gonna, you know, make sure that you don't be no bitch. Hold you accountable for what you're supposed to be doing in the gym. And that's what those guys did, like I say.

Fitness Over 40 And Proving It

SPEAKER_00 15:06

So now that I have wrote this check that my ass has to cancel, I'm gonna get with it. And throughout my life, one thing I was now, like I say, I like I said earlier, I ain't no thug, I ain't no hardcore, but I ain't no bitch neither. And you ain't gonna tell me or bitch me out of this that I can't do it. Because I can do it even at my age. I realize that there's a bunch of old 40-year-olds out here killing it in the game. And I'm gonna be one of them. I'm gonna join that club. It's two clubs once you go 40, you know, the ones that say, hey, I can't do this no more, and the ones that I can still do it. I might be slow, I might be a little old, my bones might be hurting, but I'm gonna, I'm still out there. I'm still in these streets. Like my son said, I'm still in these streets, and I can get it done. Okay, so um, find a good workout partner. I I I I might fail in that task, but I got some motivation video um videos, motivation videos, let me say it correct, you know, and I I got memories of three strong workout partners that, you know, throughout the years carried me through. Like I say, Dwayne, keto, and motherfucking Booker T Franks, the thrillers in the manila, goddamn all of them, massive fucking men that told me, hey, even though I'm small, I can get it in.

Strength Focus And Final Push

SPEAKER_00 16:25

And less, I got Rocky, okay? I remember the old Rocky, he said, look here, you're old, you're not fast no more. We're gonna work our pure strength. So I'm gonna get my goddamn strength on, I'm gonna get buff, I'm gonna get strong, and I'm gonna make it through this goddamn tough mother. It's that it's in August, so I got time. I got lots of time, I got the willpower. And y'all seen that goddamn intro video I popped up at KT. We're gonna get it ready, pumped, and out of the thing. And yes, you see behind me, I'm in the home gym this morning, but I'm going to the regular gym and we're gonna get it. Uh uh. I'm gonna get buff. I command the Hercules to come out of me. God damn. Until another next time, I see you out there, baby. Get in the gym.