ELITE FEMALE PERFORMANCE w/Hunter Henderson IFBB Pro, Powerlifter - Identity, Mindset, and PEDs

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🎓 ABOUT THIS VIDEO
In this episode of the OptiCast, Nathan talks with Hunter Henderson, one of the strongest women in modern bodybuilding and powerlifting, to explore her extraordinary journey, her strategies for navigating complex human systems, and insights into the physiological and mental challenges of elite performances. This conversation offers invaluable lessons for athletes, coaches, and fitness enthusiasts aiming for high-level success.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This podcast right here is just for an instrument purposes. I am not an equal doctor, not a nutritionist or personal trainer. I am very fun qualified for the doctor. That's really low, so wisely said I don't shit a fuck. So don't trust me, don't listen to me. We're here just for chips and deals. If you trust me with health advice, that's just natural selection at work. Don't do drugs, always listen to your GP and with that display out of the way. Welcome to another episode of the Opticast with me, Nathan, and just me, Nathan. No Aubrey this time, because, well, someone hit her car, but she's doing fine, like nothing bad happened. But someone hit her car and it accidentally put down the like the whole schedule. So it's just me this time. But I have a good guest here. But in this episode, we're gonna dissect what actually makes complex human systems work under pressure. We're gonna be pulling apart the realities behind elite female performance, how you sequence powerlifting and bodybuilding with now blowing up your physiology, what PD looks like when you only have one kidney, why post show rebounds wreck people, how to choose and also fire coaches who control your drugs and food, and the mindset operating system that you need when motivation is gone and life still demands output. Our guest today is Hunter Henderson, one of the strongest women to ever touch a barbell and one of the fastest risers in modern bodybuilding. She went from a small town runner to an all-time world power uh world record powerlifter, totaling elite numbers at 165 and 181, then crossed over into physique sports, earned her IFBB Women's Physique Pro card in essentially one season, and now it's a two-time Olympian with a recent top 10 finish. Hunter has done what most people theorize about and almost no one sustains. She's a carried world-class strength into the highest level of bodybuilding while holding down a demanding hospital career and paying real physiological prices along the way. Today, we're gonna let her story do the talking. Hunter, thank you for being here. My gosh, what an intro. Thank you. Thank you. That is awesome. Awesome. Well, I I know you didn't start as an Olympian and a worldcast power lifter, right? Like you were a runner, you were a planet fitness gym rat, and then you just won't decided to like be big, right? And then yeah, you you had like this crazy story, like with you just cut for one show, and then you kind of realize that you were like four weeks out. And I just want to know, like, how was the how was the process of like moving over these phases and realizing like I think I can actually do this shit like for real? Yeah, like I'm not normal, I'm not human.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Right. So uh when back when I was powerlifting, I used to cut weight uh-huh to make I competed in the 165 weight class. So I was like cutting down for a meet, and you know, I was feeling good after the weight cut. Um, and I took some pictures and I showed my coach at the time, and he's like, Hey, you look like you're about eight weeks out from a bodybuilding show right now. Like, this is crazy. And I had always had bodybuilding in the back of my mind. Um, so I was like, you know what, after this meet, why not go for it? And it was it was roughly like eight to ten weeks after powerlifting competition, I did my first bodybuilding show. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

And won it. Yeah. That's crazy. That that's an because you see people like myself who are like preparing for years to do this thing and like knowing that like some guy's gonna swallow us whole on stage. But there's some genetic anomalies. And I did you have like people in your corner who are also like, yo, like you gotta kind of do this thing.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

Yeah, and my two best friends here in Vegas, Joe and Brianni, yeah, who are also world record holders, I feel pros, like they also are very encouraging.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Yeah, that's awesome. Cause I that I I feel like that's one of the good things about having one, well, having a good circle, but also like potentially in having a coach, is that they're able to spot these things, right? Like I I have a client that I was just talking to, like he's taken a hundred milligrams of testosterone, like 150 milligrams of testosterone a week. He's put in like 35 pounds in the past three months. Like, we are not doing anything else. Like he is lean as fuck, he still has abs, he still has lines, like and I'm telling him. Incredible. Can I just bro? Like, I just need to be straightforward with you. This is non-normal, like, this doesn't happen. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

That's yeah, that shouldn't exist. What do you mean?

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Yeah, I told him, like, you're gonna be significantly bigger than me, and you're also shorter, so you're just winning here. Like, come on, man. Fucking just one show.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

Yeah, yeah. Uh but I and that's what it was. Yeah. And even after the one show, I was like, you know, I just I just want to dip my toes in, say I did it, I'm good, I'll go back to powerlifting. And I won the local show. Um a few weeks after that, I did USA's in Arizona. I won that, got my pro card. Yeah. Uh, and literally the week after I did Tampa Pro got second. So I was one placing away from going to the Olympia. That's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

It's not, that's not ridiculous. It's nuts. But it's like, what does it feel like being the driver of this car, right? Like, because it's one thing on the outside, it's like, well, it must be absolutely like fascinating all the time. It's like amazing and all this stuff. And but like, you probably felt you second guessed yourself at one point. You probably doubted yourself. You probably thought like, oh, there's no way I'm cut for this, and like I can do this shit. Like, walk me through.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

Absolutely, because I didn't know my knowledge of bodybuilding at that time, because this is back in 2021, my knowledge was very low. Yeah, I did not know a lot, I didn't know about the different drugs, I didn't know about diuretics, I didn't know about peak week, I didn't know any of it. And so there was a lot to learn. And I definitely felt um, I definitely felt out of place. Like imposter syndrome, I wasn't sure. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Yeah, no, it's good to hear because I always tell people like everyone struggles with this, man. You're not the only one. Absolutely. Yeah. If you if you think it's gonna feel perfect whenever you think about starting this, like good luck starting anything in life.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Now you you said that like in 2021 you were on anabolics like the entire year, right? Pretty much with no no off button and like Yeah. Cause I I know that things pile up and then preps stretch out and like events come up, and like you don't want to lose momentum and how this goes, but like what what are some like hard rules that you would have now for like a younger version of yourself so that you don't like end up doing what she did, you know?

SPEAKER_03 6:01

Right. So and that year was heavy. So I did a powerlifting meet at the beginning of the year, I did three bodybuilding shows, and I did a powerlifting meet at the end of the year. Yeah, not good, not good. So I watched my body go from 180 down to like 150, back up to 200, like after the reverse. So it was it was a lot. It was very hard on my body. Definite hard stops, definitely not competing that much in one year. Um, not even like not only from a health standpoint, obviously a health standpoint, but like a financial standpoint, like just personal well-being standpoint, you know? Because I did not do anything else that year besides go.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Yeah. Yeah, it must be hard like on your body. Like, how did how long did it take for you to like recover from that?

SPEAKER_03 6:57

So again, I didn't know like anything about reverse dieting. And the coach, the coach I had at the time, unfortunately, I had to learn a lot of things the hard way. Okay. Love how you put that. It was more of a, oh, I thought you knew that type of situation.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Which is great whenever you're hiring someone to be your mentor, right?

SPEAKER_03 7:21

Right. I think at the time back then, I was so elite and powerlifting, like it was just assumed that I would know. So post-show, like post-show binging, all of that, I went through it because I just I had didn't know. I had no idea how hard post show would be. No one prepared me for it. No one told me, like, hey, you need to drink water post-show. No one. Yeah. So wow. Yeah. That sucks.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Sucks. Yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

It really does.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

No, but I mean it it it also happens with people that do have coaches. I I I talk to people all the time that their coaches just literally ghost them during the show and like the week during peak week and stuff like that, and I'm like, just don't show up. How the fuck like is this happening? Like, how is that? How can you like sleep at night? I know, I know. But but I think the worst part is that a lot of the clients still stick to these coaches.

unknown 8:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Because they're like, well, they're trying.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Yeah. Well, you just like, I was for me, I was young and naive, and I genuinely thought that these people had my best interest in mind.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

That was not the case.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

That was not the case. Which even if it was the case, sometimes they're just not prepared. They just don't have the back. Like, there's, you know, we have amazing resources out there for people to learn. Like uh, we have J3U for bodybuilders, we have Bamkoza's Blueprint for functional health. We have uh, you know, now now there's my my stuff on like peptides and stuff for normal people, and like like there's there's a lot of stuff out there, like, but but I know that not a lot of coaches are in there, you know, because I'm in every single place. And I I just yeah, it's kind of sad, you know, when uh I talk to someone and they're like, I'm not sure about investing in this or something like that. I'm like, you're dealing with people's fucking health, bro. Like Yeah. Don't you want that knowledge?

SPEAKER_03 9:12

Don't you want right?

SPEAKER_01 9:15

But you you also I don't know, man. You've also been very transparent about your uh conversation with PDs, which I really appreciate.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Just because a lot of people are kind of like scared about it. So walk me through your your your extra experience. We're gonna talk about the ideal later, but uh just your extra experience with it. How how was it?

SPEAKER_03 9:34

It's been good. I would say early on, I definitely wish I did my research, but I wish I would have done more.

SPEAKER_04 9:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

Because like I said, you hope people have your best interest at heart, but that's not always the case. And I do want to say that I am very transparent about this because I just don't want women to think that you need to be on this laundry list of items to get to the top, because it's not the case. And I've gotten DMs from other women like just telling me their cycles and what they're on, and it just breaks my heart. So I figure if I can be more transparent with what I'm taking and what I'm doing, maybe that will show other women, hey, you know, she's at that level and she's only taking this much. Like, maybe I don't need to be on five different compounds my first cycle. Maybe I should ask more questions, maybe I should do more research. But I remember back in powerlifting, I was like kind of hinting to my coach that I wanted to start. I had done my research on Anivar. It's the only one that I knew at the time. Anivar and like test and trend, but I obviously wasn't going to take those. Um, so I had done my research on Anivar. I knew the effects that would happen, like the voice, the, you know, all the all the stuff. Um, and I sat down with my coach and I had a conversation and we started out on Anavar. Eventually, you know, as my competition years pass, we tried different things, primo, NPP, just different things. Um, yeah, it's been it's been good all around. I definitely kind of wish I would have waited a little bit more, but I don't regret anything. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Now, with your with your experiences with these, like, do you remember like in general what your average like weekly dose was?

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Oh goodness. When I first started Anivar, I think it was 10 milligrams like every other day. It was this little little gummy. I don't know where that's nowhere we got.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Dude, I want that.

SPEAKER_03 11:43

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Annavar edible, let's go.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Right? Um, I think it was like 10 milligrams like every other day. As far as I couldn't tell you what the primo or the MPP dose was back then. Yeah. But right now, currently, um, I'm like 20-ish weeks out, and we're doing right now, we're on 120 milligrams of primo a week.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

Okay. So yeah. Which is a pretty decent dose, but it's also your size. I mean, and and your position. Like it's, you know, it's a yeah, can't compare that. Like, I I I man, I I I think around like 70 milligrams is is really like enough. Like 50 to 70 is a pretty hefty dose for people who are already experienced. But I don't think people realize that when you take 10 milligrams of Anivar a day, that is like the same as taking 70 milligrams of primo a week. Like it's the same androgenic load. Obviously, we have a little bit of more time that you your androgen receptors are active and stuff, so it's not one-to-one comparison, but it's still it still piles up. You know, you're still having that like, you know, it's time under the curve that we say that it's the the problem, not just uh yeah, for sure. But with regards to uh NPP, because I actually uh before getting my hands on Primo, and I obviously got the wrong fucking primo, I bought primo acetate uh injectable, so I never used it acetate injectable, but I want to see what what the fuck it does. So uh yeah, Aubrey, Aubrey's gonna be our guinea pig for this one, but I've I literally haven't talked to anyone that has run primo acetate injectable. No, yeah, so not sure. But because I know the oral is very poor bioavailable, like you lose 50% of it just like as soon as you take it. Yeah, but she's also running NPP, but at a very low dose, like 20 milligrams a week. Yeah, how was your experience with it? Because I know people react different depending on their like progestins and stuff.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

Yeah. Um, the only thing that I obviously I took that I took that while I was powerlifting. Yeah. But I took it with other compounds, so okay. I can't give you like a yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Um I can't really give you uh I I asked because for women it's uh you can usually like predict their response to Nandrolone if the depending on their experience with certain types of birth control, because they act in the same receptors.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

So now that I did not know.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Yeah, so it's uh it's a it's it's pretty interesting, right? Like you can you can sort of see if you if you've been on a progestin-only pill and you felt really good while you were taking that, which is not common at all, odds are you're gonna feel pretty freaking good taking Nandrelone. Now, if you were not, if you don't know. And uh Nandrolone, at least for guys, is like just flipping like eight switches at once and just like hoping for the best that it's gonna be fine. But yeah, women respond a little bit different to it. I think a little bit different than guys. Yeah. Now, yeah, um, what I I want I wanted to talk a little bit about your first like powerlifting coach, because you're you're you were you were dating your first powerlifting coach, right? And then yes, okay, okay, and then you went to hiring a big name bodybuilding coach that basically gave you a grocery list to run, and then you found you you also fired a recent coach who told you to do like 25,000 steps a day or something like that, and then you were having how'd you know that? Yeah, oh I do my research, girl, I do my research. So and then yeah, so the coach I had put your icy feet in a cooler, and that was like a shoe problem, and then and then you finally landed on someone that actually treated you as a fucking human. So after this entire time, it was just bad thing after bad, and you got a lot of really qualified people before that, right?

SPEAKER_03 15:22

Like, how can yeah, can you walk us through this like coaching arc here? Yeah, so last season the coach I had had started off really good. Like, I had really good hope. The initial phone call with him was good, the plan we started was good, and then it just went really downhill. In my opinion, I was overdieted. I was on twelve hundred calories for months. I work at a hospital, as you know, so I am getting steps like you're not you're not leaving at home answering emails for a living. No, no, ten thousand steps is nothing for me. Yeah, I was averaging above 20k every day, and I told him I was like, it got to the point like my feet and ankles were in so much pain. Like I would get home from work, have to get ready for the gym, and I would be he did not tell me to do this, I did this on my own, but I would put a cooler under my table here, and I would ice my feet and ankles before I went to the gym.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Damn. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 16:34

Yeah. So obviously, if you look at my season last year, I got 10th at Olympia, and then a month later I did a local show here, and I placed sixth. And that is no discredit to any of the other women who are at that show, but I should have placed higher. I just got to the point where my body stopped responding, and I knew it, but he was kind of trying to convince me that we were still responding somehow. I don't know. I definitely did not look as good or as sharp or as you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

So yeah, no, it's which yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

It was really, really frustrating. It was so frustrating.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Yeah, how is it affect you mentally, like moving forward?

SPEAKER_03 17:16

Um, it so it after Olympia, I was obviously on a high because I'm top ten in the world. Yeah. Um, my motivation after Olympia though really dropped off. It was so those last four weeks in between those shows was so hard, so hard. I I'm not gonna lie, I wanted to give up so bad. Yeah, but I made a promise and I do not break promises to myself. Um so I made it through, and I'm obviously upset after the show because I just got freaking sixth place, yeah. And there's no reason for that. Um and I'm talking to my current coach after the show, and I'm kind of telling him some things that I had done to during the season to prepare. Um, and he looked at me and he was like, I don't know how you made it through this. And I just immediately start crying because it just validated everything. Um, but he's like, it's not supposed to be like this. He's like, it's not it's supposed to be like this. And um, so I'm working with him now. It has been so fantastic, it's been wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:31

It's been really, really good.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Yeah, yeah. That's really cool. It's really cool when you find someone that you can resonate with that you also like, but also has the knowledge and and you know treats you with you know the just the proper care that you deserve. Because yeah. Man, I I mean I'm you I'm sure you you you've talked about this before. But like just the state of mental health in women's bodybuilding is not really great. And like how much of that comes from just poor guidance? You know, just not having someone that's actually like helpful on your corner. Yeah. It's it's it's kind of bad. Like every year you go to the Olympia and you can just start a bingo card of like who's gonna drop out, and then you start mapping out the coaches, and it gets really weird, you know, like who the coaches are for these beef puts.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

It's odd. Yeah. Yeah. But you you've also this is a this is an interesting one that I wanted to to go over with you because with uh with our choices, obviously come like consequences, right? So like when I decided to go bald, get tattoos, and get jacked, I kind of understood that people would see me a little bit more intimidating than before, which is hilarious because I'm like super fucking open and chill. Um just think it looks cool. But at the same time, like you also went from being a normal looking human being to like getting a sweat at a restaurant, like how like it's been a process.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

Let me tell you it has been a process. It's definitely so when I started lifting, I was like, I don't know what inspired it. I just I wanted to be big and I love muscle. I love being big, I love muscle, but like you said, then it does attract a certain interest, a certain yes, I am not viewed the same way. I I get mistaken for a man very often, and I don't know, I just come to accept it, you know. Interesting. I it and I think it comes down to I've said this before, but like just knowing I know who I am and I like who I am. And it's okay if you think differently. You're not gonna change my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

So yeah. I mean, just thinking in terms of like evolutionarily speaking, I think that certain people are not as good as identifying threats as others, so they can't categorize people very well. So, in terms of like facial recognition and things like that, that's the kindness that I can be and just put in an evolutionary perspective. It's just like you're just a few layers behind the rest of us. But it feels like it's hard for me to understand how you get missed like mislike just judged as a man, like it's the yeah, I mean, there are certain features that guys don't I and I I would agree, you know? Yeah, like yeah what do you mean, man?

SPEAKER_03 21:13

Right. And it's even been like in a dress, full makeup, curly hair, what can I get for you, sir? And I'm like, You're joking, right? Fuck, I'm so sorry. Like you're kidding, right? Or it's like my worst nightmare, and this is actually came true this past year was restrooms.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Yeah, yeah, I heard that one.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

Tell me. So my biggest fear was is to get misgendered in a woman's restroom. And I was at work, and granted, at work the scrubs are baggy, the I have my hair in a bonnet, but you know, there's not much like room to express yourself, yeah, in a sterile, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If I'm in the restroom washing my hands and a woman walks an older woman walks in and she's like looking around really confused and I was like are you okay and she's like our uh she's like is this the women's room and I it like she was older she was she had gray hair so you know and I just finished washing my hands and finished up and I started laughing and I said we're both in the right place and I walked out. That was smart. Fuck yeah that was good. Yeah yeah because like I'm not gonna stand here and tell you yeah I have a vagina yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah is that what you're asking me right is that is that do you want to know like what's what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

But yeah it uh it happens often actually yeah I'm sorry that happens but it's uh it's okay I mean I'm I'm a lot of my friends are in fact trans and and and you know like I yeah yeah I I I do have friends who are trans. I do have friends who you know cross dress and things like that. I don't I don't judge people for shit. I just you know do do whatever you want. But I feel like the the it's so weird to catch this stuff in real life like the majority of people don't catch this in real life at all is just on social media from these fucking loser profiles. So like it must have been a shock but it also I think it speaks volumes to the type of person that you are because you decided to not take the route of no I'm gonna be pissed off and I'm gonna fight against this every single time it happens because obviously I look like the epitome of what everyone understands as femininity in America. Like come on you know you you you didn't go that route and I feel like some people go that route as well so I just wanted to uh give you a pat in the back there for that because it's uh thank you it's greatly appreciated. Now what I'm wondering here is the the specifics of what this looks like on a day-to-day because you you have these like emergency calls at 2 a.m you're taking 25,000 steps a day you're icing your feet before your workouts you're you're getting drained all day long and you're not you're prepping for the fucking Olympia so you can't cut corners but at the same time you need good strategies to be able to make all of that stuff happen. Yeah. Like walk me through some of those strategies.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

My best friend Brianni she she gives me some shit sometimes because I I'm very good at preparing myself for success. Like right now I'm gonna go train after this my pre-workout meal is sitting on the counter ready to go the spoon is already sitting there the vitamins are already sitting there it's like everything is our always set out ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 24:34

Oh my gosh I love it.

SPEAKER_03 24:35

Yeah and it's just me here so it's not like I have like a partner to do anything so it's just me. I don't know. I just do it.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

I've never like in terms of meal prep you just time block or did you just try to like fit in whenever like you have a chance or like if I'm gonna make one chicken breast I might as well just make 16 type of thing?

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Yeah so I do like large batches and then I'll weigh it out every few days.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Have you found that to be like a on consuming food that's not fresh because I know it's a trend in bodybuilding to always consume fresh food like always cook the day of like have you felt anything in your gut different from doing that or no?

SPEAKER_03 25:11

Not really no I've never been maybe like a meal or two here and there but I've always been someone who cooks it in batches. I don't usually don't cook it the day of.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Yeah it's too much work man even I I work myself at home and I don't have time for that. So it's not something that I write in my protocols. I I don't just it's so unrealistic for the majority of people but it sounds like from from what you're saying is that there's really no way around except from just focusing in your life a way to these things happen. So like which I do the same thing like I have I put it in my app in my community like to save your protocol. So whenever I go to the to the fridge I just open up and it just tells me how many units to pull in the syringe of absolutely everything.

SPEAKER_03 25:57

Yeah I got everything printed out diet I got all of it.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Yep yep yeah exactly like that's like you don't even have to think about it. And then my pills are prep them just like I prep my food once a week I just sit down pull out these boxes and I just put breakfast lunch dinner before bed just every time I make it for me I make it for my wife is just uh people are like how do you like maintain your supplements I don't have to think about it because my my fasting one is sitting beside the bed the the dinner one is sitting right beside the dinning table the the lunch one is sitting right where I grabbed my lunch how can I forget it's it's there I'm set up for success.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

Exactly and if you if you are a person that has that struggles with that set it out like if you come out in the morning and you drink your coffee at this in this chair set your vitamins right in front of this chair. Yeah like do do things to set yourself up for success the next day.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

Yeah yeah and I always tell people because some sometimes there's the objection of well my partner and I'm like just have a real conversation with your partner about like hey I need to do this for my health for my longevity for me to be able to stay with you for longer than just now yeah may I yeah may our house look like people live here you know so yeah but that's uh that's cool how how did you how did you manage to like because that's another thing that people always ask is okay how do you find the motivation to continue doing your cardio or to continue going to the gym like do you what do you do when you're on those days that you're like fuck I'm so fucking tired I feel like I'm gonna cry on my first set like this is not gonna work out do you just go you just go like a lunatic there there's like a fucking lunatic excuse my language there's been times where I am going to the gym for my second round of cardio and every bone every fiber in my body does not want to be there but I am on that stairmaster and I am laughing yep like a crazy person.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

Yep because it feels so shitty and I do not want to do it but I have to do it. I am obligated to do this. Yeah because if not me then who?

SPEAKER_01 28:01

Yep if not me then who? Yep I love it. I love it. It's an and I think all of this is coming to your sense of your identity you know what are the things that Hunter needs to do because of who Hunter is. So like when people ask me like oh why do you want to compete if you don't call yourself a bodybuilding I'm like hey semantics but also like I want to compete because I fucking owe it to myself to do that. Like I I literally have been thinking about this shit for so long am I not gonna do it just because it's a pain in the ass every single day? No I'm not yeah I want to see the end result. I want to see 10 years of doing this shit consistently in the mirror what the fuck does that look like I need to wake up one day and just be like 10 fucking years of daily check ins bro like that don't you want like don't you want to see yeah don't you want to see what happens you literally only live once so you're your your only chance to make this happen is now and I I started pretty late I started in my 30s I I should have started in my 20s you know like yeah but I can't I can't get time back so I just I'm gonna see what 10 years in this thing is going to do to me. So yeah I think that's the there should be some curiosity in people you know like in yeah I have always said that yeah chase the curiosity yeah because it's like what would I look like if my shoulders were a little bit bigger like what if I could actually make my waist a little bit smaller ooh like what if my skin can be a little bit better or my hair or like I don't know I or in training like what if I could bench that yeah I don't know yeah yeah exactly let's see yeah yeah yep let's see yep I'm on this uh thing right now where I want to end the year running one hour twice a week I know running is not a thing bodybuilders do but I want to run I'm just 200 pounds like a straight hour or do you straight hour no straight hours same pace so I started the way I because I broken my both bones on my shins before I from running which is insane but I I broke that when I was like 160 pounds so my attempt at 200 pounds is very bold. Yeah but uh I um I basically started doing five minutes once a week and now I'm up to doing like 26 minutes I think twice a week already so it escalated my shins are holding up but it's like why are you doing this shit? And I'm like because I want to be able to I want to be able to say that I'm a bodybuilder that fucking runs. So what? Exactly and I I feel like you have this thing with you as well where it's like you're a bodybuilder but also a fucking power lifter and did you do CrossFit as well or something or uh I did strongman. Okay you did strongman okay because I was like this is very cinematic and shit I was I was watching this video of your prep or something. Yeah and uh I was just confused as to what it was so you did all three man how do you like do you go through phases of of like these things it's like I don't I don't I'm not calling them phases because I hate when people say that but I mean like like if you were to look in a cyclic fashion was it like first I'm gonna focus on this then I'm gonna focus on this or it kind of like back and forth I did go back and forth between powerlifting and bodybuilding for a while.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

I just felt like I was kind of delaying certain goals. Yeah because it takes time to build strength it takes time to get lean and it's like then you have to reverse and then you have to build strength and it takes weeks and weeks I felt like I was just prolonging goals. So right now I'm focusing on bodybuild bodybuilding solely um because I want to see how far I can take it.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

Yeah yeah yeah and it's uh it's it's bodybuilding is very demanding when you do it at the highest level it is every sport is you know you don't find people who are professional soccer players but also you know they skateboard every week and on the side like it's just right it's uh you gotta kinda pick your poison there. Yeah. You actually went viral for uh for a lot of like cool shit that I think is hilarious. Yeah 50 cent reposts and the meme posts and the edits and all of this how'd you know about that girl I told you I do my research I thought okay so when that notification popped up I thought it was fake.

SPEAKER_03 31:57

I thought that shit was so fake I went to his page and it had like five million followers or whatever and I was like oh shit yeah like that's really 50 cents. Yeah um so if you're listening to this and you don't know um I have a condition called SUI stress urinary incontinence many women within powerlifting habits many women with outside of powerlifting habits. Um basically it is a condition where you urinate under extreme load. So there was a video posted back in like 2022 or 2023 or something. I'm deadlifting and I'm peeing all over the place. And uh I can't remember exactly who it was but a famous comedian somehow found the video. He reposted it and it just went wild and it was like a solid like two months this video and people started like uh remaking the video where they would like cut themselves in and they'd have like a cup or like just all this like crazy stuff the comments I mean that's you have being a woman with muscle you have to have thick skin but that moment in my lifting career that gave me thick skin because people were ruthless. They were so damn mean I mean they would just say anything and everything um I even got like people were calling my gym at the time to like complain people that didn't even live in the state were called yeah they would call my gym and they would be like you need to kick her out you need to Yeah it was it was nuts. It was crazy. Yeah the I did not do this but the TV show ridiculousness with yeah they reached out and they wanted to buy the video.

SPEAKER_02 34:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

Dude but was it a good deal right I don't think how many cracks did you pay for right well they just pay they were just gonna pay me like one base price and I wasn't gonna get anything else off of so I didn't end up doing it because like that you know Yeah yeah for sure. That doesn't really do anything for me.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Yeah um but yeah it was it was a funny time. Yeah yeah I remember the first time that I heard about that was I uh it was Derek from More Plates More Dates and he had made a video it was something like she pees every time she lifts and I was like what but I actually learned from it and then I had a client uh a few years later that was just like telling me like hey every time I leg press or like whenever I RDL like whenever I'm like doing something really heavy I kind of pee sometimes can we fix that and I was like no and that's entirely normal and it's fine that that happens you know here's for it and stuff like that. But yeah for the people that are are at home and they struggle with this like have you found anything that actually like works well?

SPEAKER_03 35:09

Not really and I guess I also didn't pursue it that deeply like you can go to a you can go to a pelvic floor specialist for it and see what they can do for you. But I tried keagles, pads, tampons, rings all ping before I lift ping after I lift I tried it all in that regard I just didn't go into the therapy route.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Yeah yeah which I guess can be done as well but it's not yeah for for majority of people it's not as pronounced so I it's uh it's yeah something that you can kind of like hide and get away with but yeah you know I feel like these things should be normalized at a gym just because it's fucking part of normal body like no one looks at me weird for drinking with my shoulder dislocated like why would you look at super weird for something else happening to this but when they have no control over it. So um yeah kind of kind of like getting upset at someone that has Tourette's and I'm like come on like they they can't help it so yeah you know it's not like I want that to happen I don't think you do I don't I don't think you woke up and you were like you know what would be nice to have 50 Cent blast me all over the world peeing like you know yeah yeah I definitely want to pee down my leg into my shoe.

SPEAKER_03 36:23

Yeah that feels awesome.

SPEAKER_01 36:24

Yeah yeah yeah come on come on sock poor sock doing a heavy lifting there so um to to go back to a serious note here you actually have this phrase you promised right and you have this phrase you have it tattooed right and uh I do you like I I want to know what what this means because I I I think it can resonate with a lot of people here.

SPEAKER_03 36:45

Yeah um so when I was a child I battled cancer and I thankfully beat that and I have been healthy ever since. You know that little that little girl she she fought battles she was so brave she she faced things that no one should ever have to face and she did it you know with no fear and I don't know it's just every I told myself that I would honor her and I would honor myself I told myself I would be the best and I promised that anytime that I'm like struggling or I don't want to go do cardio or I don't want to get up I don't want to you know prep the meals I don't want to do that I just remind myself I'm like hey you fucking promised you promised that you would do this you know and if and if it's not that deep for you you know if you said hey I'm gonna do a bodybuilding show that's a promise that's a promise you promised that you were gonna go all the way and you were gonna get on that stage and you were gonna give it your best effort. You that is a promise so to do anything else you you just don't break promises to yourself. And I think also it's it's just the easiest way to build self-confidence too like if I do what I say I'm gonna do every single time I'm gonna be so sure of myself and so confident in myself I know that I can handle this. I think it's the easiest way to build self-confidence.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

Yeah yeah not not breaking promises to yourself I always say that that one of the issues with trying to get back on track is that you're you're training yourself to always see yourself as this person who breaks promises to yourself. You need to take a stand that just like you wouldn't break certain promises to your partner, you cannot break promises to yourself, man. Exactly. You're able to change your mind so set a date like um you know something that I I've heard someone before and I think is really helpful is reevaluating your goals and your destination every six months just to see if you're still on track like I still want to do that or something like that. But you run it for at least six months. You know you don't yeah you don't give up like on the second month and it's like yeah I don't think I want it anymore. Nope you're gonna run all the six months. No. Because you said you were going to do it.

SPEAKER_03 39:09

You know exactly you said you said you were going to run an hour. Yeah you made that promise.

SPEAKER_01 39:14

Yeah. Do you also do it like some things out of spite sometimes like whenever I am like I I I'm supposed to do it's super sometimes like 15 minutes in the in the on treadmill and I'm like on a minute seven and I'm like this is fine. I'll go ahead and I'll do like 18 just to show me that fuck you I'm gonna do it. Yeah exactly or I'll I'll write down in my because I write down every single workout I'll write down like hey I want you to get like 15 reps and when I'm doing it I'm like no fuck you get 16 yeah yeah yeah yeah get 17 come on you can get more than 15 yeah let's go yeah yeah no like why are you underselling yourself no no we just talked about rep ranges so I got curious like what rep ranges do you normally work with um so right now it's pretty high it's pretty high on every movement he just transitioned me back into a barbell bench okay which I'm so happy about so the rep range there is pretty low we just did two triples this past week um so it's pretty low for bench yeah um but everything else is like ten anywhere from ten to twenty plus wait but you're doing this doing prep yeah are you not like scared no okay have you done this before should I be you know there's always this misconception of uh you know if you train in like a certain rep range you're gonna get hurt or something like that and I feel like yeah if you go from training with 30 reps and then you go to training with doing triples doing a cut for the first time it's probably not gonna go well it's probably gonna be a very bad idea but it's that's the range you're usually using like what you know yeah but I think your your note on on mindset is very important for the people and that's what I want to leave people with is just this idea of uh don't break promises to yourself you know just just be fucking honest with what you really want find out what you truly want in life and then just fucking go get it man because it's it's 2026 you can literally make whatever the fuck you want you can just make it happen.

SPEAKER_03 41:12

It's crazy that and you could yeah it's especially with all the resources and that might be a good thing and a bad thing with all the resources out there but man there's so much out there to help you so much and with this explosion of peptides now it's like damn.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Yes oh my gosh I I uh it's crazy I dude it's it's insane like I I ran a uh I ran two protocols at the same time one for my gun and one for my mitochondria yeah holy shit I am not taking almost anything for focus I I was like on Adderall and all this stuff because I have actual ADHD like diagnosed I'm not taking Adderall I am not taking like I'm not taking Samax I'm not taking Celenc I'm not taking methylene blue and also for my sleep I used to take benzos plural and uh bro I am not even taking melatonin I don't even have magnesium in my stack right now because of my gut support and I sleep like a baby every single night like like these things so much leverage that's being left on table and I'm and I'm saying this as someone who does not have a discount code anywhere like you know I don't either yeah it it really it really does change the game for a lot of things it really does. The stuff is out there guys the stuff is out there as this episode comes out you uh already have access to the OptaLab community online on our WAP you can literally just keep track of your cycle you can print it and put it on your on your fridge just like Hunter does you can you know just check out all of your reconstitution math over 70 compounds right now being built into our peptide bible with lectures for every one of them cheat sheets and and guides like dude come on dude you there's no excuse for you know just being low key not knowing your shit anymore especially if you're a coach because I know that a lot of coaches wanting to get in so just do it man it's uh come on for less than a hundred bucks a month in all this education it's just ridiculous you know but dude we we we covered a lot of groundhunter we talked about like childhood cancer one kidney we talked about tattoos we talked about being misgendered we talked about the promise that you have that just keeps you moving even when life would just justify you backing off and I I think you're the you're the kind of person that just performs when things are breaking like underneath and uh if you are someone who's listening to us who is someone like that dude just I hope you got a real like good picture of what the real trade-offs are between like your your choices and things like that and also some language to be able to navigate your own like identity and your own perspective on how you want to lead your life. Now if this conversation hit do me a solid and share this with someone who has been stuck in their health and their performance or like someone who's just playing around with tools that they don't understand yet. And also make sure you're subscribed because every single Friday we're dropping another episode built exactly for you high level athletes, coaches and operators who are tired of shallow advice and when the real constraints, the real mistakes and the real systems behind world-class results. We'll see you next week. Peace out.