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The Fit Perception
The Fit Perception
Will I Ever Be Satisfied...?
How should we balance the thrill of extreme sports with the safety of its athletes? This episode kicks off by addressing the tragic incident at the CrossFit Games in Fort Worth, Texas, where athlete Lazar Dukic drowned during the open water swim portion. The event was promptly canceled for the rest of Thursday, sparking a heated debate about the adequacy of safety measures in such high-stakes competitions. We take a deep dive into the reactions from fans and critics on social media, exploring how this tragedy has left the fitness community grappling with grief and unanswered questions.
As we navigate through the emotional landscape, we tackle the thorny issue of whether athletic events should be suspended to honor a fallen competitor. It's a conversation that weighs the immense sacrifices athletes make against the need to respect the deceased. We discuss the inherent risks in extreme sports like CrossFit and delve into whether canceling the event is truly the best way to pay homage to a fallen athlete.
Switching gears, we bring you a mix of riveting sports stories and humorous encounters. From Olympic highlights, like Katie Ledecky's swimming dominance and Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo's extraordinary rewards, to a grueling track workout filled with unsolicited advice, this episode promises a rollercoaster of emotions and insights. We debate the merits of satisfaction versus continuous self-improvement, and conclude with a heartfelt message on self-love and empowerment. Tune in for a multifaceted discussion that spans the highs and lows of the sports world, leaving you both enlightened and inspired.
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What's up, fam? Welcome back to another episode of the Fit Perception Podcast. I'm your boy T. If it's your first time joining us, welcome to the show If it's not. Thank you for listening yet again. We're going to start right off with something kind of sad, I know, but it's kind of big in the fitness community. So obviously the Olympics are going on, but also something else is happening that happens every year, not just every four years, and it is called the CrossFit Games.
Speaker 1:Now, if you've been listening to the show for a while, you know that I am a fan of watching the CrossFit Games. I really really enjoy watching them. I am a fan of watching the CrossFit Games. I really, really enjoy watching them. I think they are a very good performance-based challenge. I think that they really do target the most fit people in the world, greatest athletes. So I really do enjoy watching them.
Speaker 1:And so, for the first time ever, they are held in. Usually they're held in Madison, wisconsin, but uh, this year they were held in Fort Worth, texas. Now, that's about four hours away from me and it is so effing hot. So when I heard that it was going to be in Fort Worth, I was like, oh man, these athletes don't know what's coming to them. Got really excited. I was going to go up and watch it actually, but then you know, eh life, so ended up not doing that. But here's the deal. So they go, they start on Thursday and they go until Sunday, and there's multiple competitions a day. So you do these workouts two, three, sometimes four a day to see who is the fittest in the world.
Speaker 1:So athletes from all over the world come to compete in this and there's obviously trials that you have to go through to get here. Um, there's heats that you have to win. You have to win your, your region, you have to win your uh country, you have to win. It's like it's crazy what people have to do to get here, um, and there was there's. So there's a lot that goes into it. There's a lot of money, there's a lot of um planning. There's a lot that goes into it. There's a lot of money, there's a lot of um planning, there's a lot.
Speaker 1:It's a massive, massive, massive event and so these athletes get there, probably I don't know when everyone's there. I know they have to be there by wednesday, um, to make sure that they're ready to go. I'm pretty sure they have to be there by monday, um, to get climatized, to get acclimated, to get all their things in order to get their packets to get acclimatized, to get acclimated, to get all their things, in order to get their packets, to get their clothes, to get their shoes, um, and they, they get together, um, to go over the first workout. It's always a big deal Whoa, what's the first workout? It's going to be crazy. How's this going to start? What's going to be? Um, and it turns out that, well, I'm not going to bore you with the details, but it turns out that it's going to be here. And it turns out that and I'm not going to bore you with the details, but it turns out that it's going to basically be a triathlon to start the games in reverse order. So they have to do this run and then they have to do a swim. Now, the swim is in a lake, which I don't know if you've ever swam in open water. It's very different than swimming in pool water, very, very, very different way, harder, um. So they there's I want to say there's like 79 athletes, 80 athletes, something like that Um, and they line them up in the water. Now, this is not the first time they've done an open water swim, right, they've done this a lot. It's nothing that's like out of nowhere and I promise I'm getting to a point.
Speaker 1:So what happened was there was an athlete named Lazar Dukic I believe that's how you pronounce his name. I don't know how to pronounce his name, it's D-U-K-I-C. Anyway. So he's one of the athletes, one of the CrossFit Games athletes. He and his brother are competitors, both very, very strong athletes. I don't think they've ever podiumed, I don't think they've ever won, but very, very respected athletes in the sport.
Speaker 1:Now, for whatever reason we don't know the reason during the swim, lazar drowned. Not trying to make this emotional, not trying to make this, I'm just trying to be factual. He drowned and he died. They were not able to resuscitate him, the lifeguards were not able to rescue him, and there's a lot of people that are pointing fingers, a lot of people that are upset. Obviously, here's the deal. So this happened, and it's the morning Thursday morning, right, and the games are supposed to go all day Thursday, all day Friday, all day Saturday. Uh, and they canceled the games, totally understandable, um, canceled the the rest of the games for Thursday. Um, cause this was like early morning Thursday or early Thursday morning.
Speaker 1:Um, so an athlete died horrendous, terrible, tragic accident, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible. And I was reading on social media the announcement if that's how you say that of his death and the comments were interesting, uh, of his death and the comments were interesting. So the comments you had one side of of people that that were screaming for the games to be canceled completely and for all the money to go to his family and for, uh, and and just coming at crossfit for not being proactive and protecting their athletes and not having their backs. And you know, really like, really coming at the athletes. And I was just like yo, like someone died. How about y'all chill out for a little bit and just not come at anybody, not have an opinion and and just let people grieve. Just let them grieve and mourn the passing, um, the death, tragic death, terrible death of an athlete. Um, and and not come to social media with a ah, you gotta do this. Ah, my opinion matters, cause, hey, it doesn't, though, your opinion is bullsh anyway. And so I was just like, oh man, of course social media's like this. And then I was thinking about it. I was like, ooh, what do you do? What do you do? That is such a hard position to be in. So it I here's my opinion. Okay, so you know the devil's advocate. I keep opinions pretty open, and this is my genuine opinion on this matter.
Speaker 1:Though, when it comes to this event, when it comes to this competition, I think it is absolutely ridiculous to cancel the games. Yes, someone died, guess what. This is professional sports. People die a lot. There's been football players that died on the field. Guess what? They didn't cancel the NFL. There's been people who have died swimming. There's people who have died diving. There's people who have died doing multiple different sports. They've died on the soccer field from heat exposure or heat exhaustion.
Speaker 1:People die doing athletic things, and I'm not downplaying anyone's death. That's not what I'm doing at all Like, not even a little bit. But here's what here's, here's the biggest issue, and I have this massive problem. I don't know why I have this problem, um, with people who protect just only one person or one group of people, drives me nutso's, oh, it drives me crazy. Okay, so this man died doing something that he's obsessed about, he loves it. He died doing it. There's no better way to go out than doing something that you love. Okay, obviously it was tragic. Obviously, he probably definitely did not want to die that way, but the fact of the matter is he he died. He died.
Speaker 1:Now here's the deal If you canceled the games, right, you cancel CrossFit? Oh, cancel it. They should be ashamed of themselves for carrying on. Of course, it's about the money and all these freaking social justice a-holes in the comments. Hey, dude, shut up, go back to your desk job. Plebeian. Like it is so infuriating that people think that their opinions matter when they put them on social media. This guy died, okay.
Speaker 1:Also, you have a ton of other athletes that you need to consider, right? These athletes? This is their life source. This is how they provide for families. This is how they pay their bills is being in this competition. They've spent hundreds of dollars, maybe thousands of dollars, coming to this competition, training for this competition. They've spent hundreds of dollars, maybe thousands of dollars, coming to this competition, training for this competition. The hotels and the flights and the supplements and the trainers and the hours spent putting in time at at restoration therapy and and massages and doctors, and thousands and thousands of dollars. This is their opportunity to make some of that money back. Right? They've put in a lot of time and a lot of effort.
Speaker 1:There's a whole bunch of athletes there that if you just cancel the games out of respect for this person who has died, you've now screwed over and hurt and jeopardized a lot of other people and you're like, yeah, but what about the guy who died? Yes, what about it? If you cancel the games doesn't bring him back, doesn't help his family, doesn't do literally anything other than screw over and hurt a lot of other people. If you're genuinely concerned about the person who has died and their family, go give them something, go give them money, go give them a hug, go personally do something. Don't be the troll, the worthless human being that gets on social media and is a social justice warrior and, at the end of the day, hasn't done anything. You're empty. You're an empty human with worthless opinions. That's all you are. Don't be that person. No, they shouldn't cancel the games. Yes, they should mourn this person and a lot of athletes are.
Speaker 1:A lot of athletes are foregoing time. They're taking a minute off of their time, which is a big deal in this competition. They're waiting a full 60 seconds of silence before they go into competition after the buzzer sounds, which is a massive deal. Huge shout out to those athletes that are doing that. That's how they are paying respect. You know you have other athletes that are wearing his name on their jerseys now out of respect. That's so great. It gives me chills when you see that. It's amazing that they're giving the respect.
Speaker 1:But to say that they need to cancel the games is kind of absurd, is very ignorant and it's so, so, so selfish for you as a person to think that that's the way to do things. Okay, so you think that CrossFit meh doesn't take care of their athletes? Their athletes, it's all about the money. Yeah, dude, it's a business, bro, it's an effing business. That's why businesses are run is off of money.
Speaker 1:If you want emotional things, go start a nonprofit organization. Oh wait, you haven't done that yet. Yeah, cause you're a worthless troll. All you do is complain and waste time on social media with dumb comments. God drives me nuts. Anyway, the point is I don't even know what the point is. I forgot the point. I forgot the freaking point.
Speaker 1:But a man died in the, in a competition. But a man died in a competition, tragic, tragic death, and I don't think that canceling an athletic event or the games is any sort of way to mourn that or to rectify that or to show any sort of support, anything. It's not the way to do it. It's such a stupid idea to do that and if and if I'm wrong for that, I'm wrong, for that I don't care. It's such a dumb point. Uh, yes, yes, it's tragic, for sure and I'm not trying to downplay that that it made me sick, that that happened. And you can watch the video. It's horrendous, it makes your stomach turn. You can go find it on YouTube, but it's just. I don't. Maybe I just compartmentalize too much. Maybe that's it, maybe I'm just too good at compartmentalizing things. Where I can separate, okay, that happened, but what about everybody and everything else? I just, I don't understand that mindset at all. It doesn't benefit his family, it doesn't benefit him to to cancel the games. It's such a stupid point. Um and and and.
Speaker 1:The point, like another thing that's being brought up with this, is like oh, crossfit never takes care of its athletes. Oh, crossfit doesn't do that. Dude, the fact that CrossFit exists is insane period. Everyone who's involved knows that it's dangerous. Anyone who is anyone who has ever done anything with CrossFit knows that it's a dangerous sport. That's what it is. It's taking working out to the absolute extreme that you can past it sometimes to see what the human body is capable of doing. That's literally the point. Yes, we're going to make you run until you want to die and then we're going to ask you to deadlift as much weight as possible. Why? Just because Just to see if it's possible. That's literally what they're doing.
Speaker 1:So if you're going into this like it's insane to me that someone hasn't died until this point, like that's. What's crazy to me is that people haven't died. Not that people do is that they haven't yet what they're asked to do is crazy, insane. So the fact that someone has died isn't crazy to me, it's not out of nowhere, what dude? Because the competition is built around literally pushing past what human bodies are capable of doing physically, what human bodies are capable of doing physically, and so like. Maybe that's why I'm not as upset by the death of Lazar. Maybe that's why I'm not as emotional about it is because, like to me, someone, more than one person, should have died doing CrossFit by this point. Like it's crazy.
Speaker 1:It's an insane competition and the way that it's been going, it just keeps getting more and more and more insane. If you look at the first CrossFit Games to now it's nutso's. The first CrossFit games to now it's nutso's like absolutely bonkers. How far they've pushed the limits. Like the first games were nothing compared to what they are now. And I'm not just talking like the grandiose, like performance of it all, I'm talking like literally the lifting aspect of it. Like back in the day like it was insane to to do like a, a 300 pound power clean. And now it's like, oh, you can't even come to the competition if you can't do that. Like it's like unreal what they're having these athletes do now. And I just think like this will kind of lead into the devil's advocate later.
Speaker 1:But like, at what point have you gone too far? Like, obviously, if there's a death, hey, maybe we recalibrate this. And I don't know why this athlete died. Maybe he got a cramp, maybe he got heat exhaustion, maybe he was dehydrated, who knows, we'll never know. But at what point have you reached the limit? Like I've had this conversation with a lot of people who have done CrossFit. At what point does it stop? Like, at what point do you go? Oh well, we've reached the maximum. Like I've had that conversation with a lot of people. I had this conversation with a, a gentleman who's who works for the NBA. Um, at at what point has basketball reached what it can do? Okay, so you can dunk on basketball. We've seen literally every way that you can do that. Okay, so you can shoot three-pointers Until you have Steph Curry, who's the greatest shooter of all time.
Speaker 1:At what point does the game change? At what point does it advance? To what point does it stop? We haven't had a sport cease to exist yet Like a professional sport, just like fizzle out, like that's a weird thing to think about.
Speaker 1:At what point do professional sports either reach their maximum limit and fizzle out of existence? Like? It's insane for me to think, because obviously there was a point where they weren't in existence. Obviously, there was a point where basketball wasn't here and football wasn't here. You know, it's been around for 200 years or whatever, 150, 100 years, I don't know however long it's been, but um, it, it, it. At one point it wasn't here and so it seems to be reasonable to think that at another point it won't be here. Obviously, I don't think that'll happen in my lifetime. That's fine, but at what point does the physical body reach its maximum? And and that's when you start to get into the AI component of things, you start going down a pretty freaking, terrifying road of there are human limitations, there are physical limitations to what we can do, and when we reach those limitations, sports stop being fun.
Speaker 1:The whole point of watching sports is to watch things be done that haven't been done before, that that make us go holy shit, that is humanly possible. That's the whole reason we watch it is is to watch Sha'Carri Richardson just smoke people in a sprint. Or or to watch Simone Biles freaking do inhuman things on on a floor or a balance beam Like. We watch people do incredibly difficult human things. We're fascinated by it. We're we're captivated by watching humans do things that we can't do, because it's unbelievable. We're like wait, we're the same species. I have a body, they have a physical body. That's unbelievable that they can do that with their body.
Speaker 1:And at some point, fam, at what point does it stop? At what point does human evolution reach a point where we have to be bionic, where we have to be machine Like? We're already getting there mentally with the phones and the social media aspect and the digital world that we live in? We're already getting there mentally with the phones and the social media aspect and the digital world that we live in, we're pretty much there mentally, but physically that's scary to think about. I don't know. That's way beyond my capabilities of talking. I, I, um. I listened to other people that are way smarter than me talk about that stuff and it freaks me out, freaks me out, um, but I just, I don't. I'm glad that I won't be around to see it. How about that? Because I love sports, I love watching sports, and I think that once human capabilities have been reached, sports are going to fizzle out, which is weird. Which is so weird I don't want to think about it.
Speaker 1:But, speaking of the Olympics, so one of the greatest things to come out of the Olympics, so one of the greatest things to come out of the Olympics, is Noah Lyles, who's the fastest man in the world right now at the hundred meter dash, the hundred meter sprint, meter dash, the hundred meter sprint. Um, he, uh, he's been trolling basketball, he's been trolling NBA players, uh. So he said something to the effect I think it was on Twitter, I don't know, or he's maybe said an interview but he said, um, that they can't call themselves world champs Like the. The NBA can't call themselves world champs because they're like because he said you're the champions of what? The United States and number one. That's hilarious. Number two it's very, very incorrect, sir. The amount of people that are not US-born citizens that play in the NBA is wild. Two of the greatest players in the NBA right now are not from the United States. They are from Serbia, and I want to say, like Lithuania or something, luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic they don't, they're not from here, they are not from the United States and they're some of the greatest basketball players we've ever seen. Um, so to say like we can't call ourselves world champs is kind of crazy, because we have players from all over the world. The best players from all over the world come to play in the NBA Number one for money because we have the most money. So, anyway, regardless, he said that and the NBA world has not stopped freaking the F out, so they've been trolling him and he's been trolling them back and forth since he said that he won the 100 meters, so he can say pretty much whatever he wants.
Speaker 1:However, he got third place in the 200-meter sprint, which is his better event, and he was talking so much trash about it, saying that he was going to wipe the floor and it'd be amazing. And he just crush and he tested positive for COVID and got third in the 200 meters. Now here's the deal. I don't know if he did or not. That's what he said. He didn't post any results of a positive COVID test or anything. And if you watch the video before him running the hundred meters, he's dancing and running around like a sociopath and jumping and getting in people's faces and trying to hype the crowd up Doesn't look like any sort of anything's wrong with this dude. And then he runs and he gets third and US basketball US basketball got on. I was like so US basketball is now going to the gold medal game that happens on Saturday, so by the time this comes out, it will have happened already. Game that happens on Saturday so by the time this comes out, it will have happened already. Um, so they? Um, they're going to play in the gold medal game. And once he got third place bronze medal in the 200 meter dash or the 200 meter sprint, rather, um, the the U S basketball Twitter account or X account or whatever it's called now was like we don't play for third place and we're still waiting to hear his response.
Speaker 1:I love it when people argue. It's my favorite thing, especially when it's super arrogant people that lose, because then they know that they can't say anything and they still argue and it just is hilarious to watch anyway. So that's the greatest thing that's happening in the Olympics right now, other than also, also other than Katie Ledecky, who, okay, here's. Here's the thing. Katie Ledecky is the greatest female swimmer of all time, hands down, Possibly swimmer of all time. Uh, michael Phelps says hold my beer, but oh, wow, that was dripping Um. So she, she won um. Her, she wins everything. How about that? She wins everything, um, and not just by a little bit. She wins by seconds on seconds on seconds, which is insane in swimming, where you can lose by thousands of a second Um anyway. So she's, she won the 1500 meter by like seven minutes. Basically, no, she swam the 1500 meter. Now here's the deal.
Speaker 1:Katie Ledecky also holds the top 20 fastest times in the 1500 meter. Hey, 1500 meter competitors, how about this? There's no more 1500 meter race ever again. It's Katie Ledecky's, she owns it. You know what they should do Cancel all 1500 meter races. Swims from here on out Period.
Speaker 1:Hey girl, you've got the top 20 times. It's yours, you own it, you own it. Nobody else gets to compete in it anymore. Because why? Oh yeah, you own it. That's like I don't know what that's like because it's never been done before. That's crazy. Is what that's like? Like they should just like give her that race. That's crazy. Is what that's like? Like they should just like give her that race. It's hers. If she wants other people to compete in it, she can say yes or no, but like it's hers. Now, hey, 1500 meter doesn't exist anymore. Why Cause his name? Katie Ledecky. That's why it's Katie Ledecky. You don't own her, so don't, can't compete, can't compete. That's what I think. Just give her that race. You don't get to compete in that one anymore. It's hers. Bye-bye. 1500 meter. That's how that should go. If you're that good for that many times, for that long, it's yours. Also, what else? What else is happening? Oh, okay, hold the phones. You know how? Last week I was talking about how, like, the Olympics doesn't give anything to anybody, except for, like the countries do. Okay, this is bonkers, this is bonkers. There's a gymnast from the Philippines named Carlos uh Yulo, I believe is how you say that. Um, so he got gold medal. I believe is how you say that. So he got gold medal. He got a gold medal in gymnastics. This is what this dude gets from his country Number one, massive, fat paycheck. He also gets a house. He also gets a condo that's worth like 500 grand. He also gets 200K a year 's. Okay, that's not bad. On top of just winning the gold, the chunk of money he gets thrown at him there gets 200 a year. After that, he gets free ramen and meals from restaurants, like certain restaurants, for the rest of his life. He won one gold medal and he gets to eat for free for the rest of his life. That's unbelievable. That's so insane. Awesome, jealous, but insane. He also gets like a new iPhone. The weird one is he gets like free doctor visits and like colonoscopies once he turns 45. They're like yeah, all of the doctor visits are paid for, like once you turn 45, you're taken care of, we'll take care of you. It's like hey, what? Okay, that's cool, thanks, insane for winning one gold medal. The Philippines are like hey, you're Superman, congratulations, simone Biles has got to be like what? The? Where's my house? I'm the greatest gymnast that's ever lived. What do I get? A cute little rack, All right, that has. Alright, that has my gold medals on it. Awesome thanks, appreciate ya. Hey, us, do better, do better. Also, she's married to an NFL player, so she's taken care of, it's fine. Not worried about her, but, like whoa, us, get on the Philippines level, please. Anyway, what else is going on? Oh, oh, Okay. Fun story before we get to the devil's advocate. I forgot about this. So last week, um, I went to the track uh, like an actual 400 meter track, uh, to do a workout and I invited people to come. I didn't think anybody would, and they didn't, and it's fine. Am I hurt? Yes, do I care? No, it's come. I didn't think anybody would, and they didn't, and it's fine. Am I hurt? Yes, do I care? No, it's okay, I'm all right. Um, cause I went in the middle of the day in Texas. So that means it's the surface of lava to run, which is fine, it's cool, builds character, which is fine. It's cool, builds character. Also, I almost died, um, so, uh, I go to the track, okay, and I'll, I'll give you the track workout. How about that? Okay, so the track workout was this warm up with a half mile run. Just keep it soft, keep it cute, just get your legs warmed up. Um, so I, I do a half mile run, and then it was eight 100 meter sprints, like as fast as you can, full gas, with 60 seconds of recovery between. So sprint down, recover for 60, sprint back, recover for 60, eight times, which the first four were fine. I was like, oh, this feels great, I love this. Pushing hard the last four, I wanted to kill myself. It was so hard. My legs felt like lead, I could taste metal in my mouth because I was starting to burn too many calories and starting to burn muscle fiber. Anyway, and yes, I know the dangers, fam, don't come at me. I've researched this. I understand I had tons of Gatorade and electrolytes and water and yes, I was drinking them. I had caffeine, I had protein bars, I had sugar. It was fine, okay. And then so 800 meter sprints, recover for two minutes, run another half a mile, recover for three minutes, and then you do four 100 meter sprints with 45 seconds of recovery, do another half a mile run with that same recovery time in between, and then the final one was two 100-meter sprints with a 30-second recovery, and then another half a mile run and then another half a mile run. So you run, you essentially do 14 100 meter sprints, so you're almost doing a mile of sprints. And then you're running another two miles, so a mile of sprints in a two mile jog. Um, and by the end of it, yo, I like not even by the end of it, by like halfway through I could feel heat, like leaving my body and exiting into the world. It was horrendous. No, there's no shade on the track, so it's just hot. It's just hot. So you can feel the heat coming off the track. I can feel heat leaving my body, my body starting to calcify the sweat, like, anyway, so dramatic. Here's the. Here's the story. So the track workout was fun, it was cute, died. But, um, this girl, um, okay, so I'm going to try to tell this story without losing my mother effing mind. So this chick comes up and, uh, she comes out of nowhere. Um, I'm like heaving in the grass, like dry heaving bile, uh, cause I'm dying. Um, and it's during one of my recoveries, uh, after the half mile run. So I'm in like a three minute recovery. So she comes up and she noticed my Tarzan sticker that I have in my water bottle. So she, she comes up, uh, and she's like hey, what's up, tarzan? And I was like taking a back Cause, obviously, like that's a weird thing to say to a stranger, right, yeah, that's strange, um, and I like I legit didn't know that she'd seen my water bottle till after like I connected the dots later, I was like how the fuck did she like follow me on social media, like what is happening right now? Um? So she comes up and she's like hey, tarzan, um, so I just wanted to tell you, uh, that you need to train your calves more. And I was like I'm sorry, what? Like I was just taken aback. Like that's never happened to me before. People ask me dude, how do I get calves like you? All the time it's the number one thing I get asked for at the gym. And she comes and she goes yeah, you have an imbalance in your calves, um, so you need to run barefoot. Oh, oh, you want to get into a barefoot discussion with me when it's 105 degrees outside and I can feel my body burning itself to death. Not wise woman, not wise Back up right now Also. So she says that, right, she goes, she goes, you have a. You have a, an imbalance in your calves. You need to train your calves more. And I was like, oh, and so instantly. So here's a problem. Thomas has Instantly like I'm saying fractions of a second, I turn into royal sarcastic a-hole mode very fast. She goes oh, you have an imbalance in your calves, you need to train your calves more. And I reply without even thinking okay, it's hot, you have to remember, I'm dying right now. Okay, so usually I'm not this mean. I reply. I was like okay, it's hot, you have to remember, I'm dying right now. Okay, so usually I'm not this mean. I reply I was like, oh, it's three times a week, not enough. And she, she took a step back. She's like what? And I was like oh, yeah, I train calves all of the time. I train calves all the time I was a gymnast. I have very strong calves, but thank you for for noticing the imbalance. I appreciate it. And and she goes, she goes well. Basically I have a PhD in in fitness and I'm a personal trainer also, and you have. And I was like oh, so am I. I've been a personal trainer for over a decade and I was a gymnastics coach before that. Um, so that's cool, that's awesome. And she was like taking it back. She was like, she was like starting to stutter over words and she was like, also, like you have an imbalance starting to stutter over words, and she was like, oh, so, like you have an imbalance in your shoulder, so, like what I would do? I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I have a slipped disc, I have a crushed disc in my neck that's bulging out, so I have to like go to rehab and do like dry needling on my left side shoulder. So, yeah, it's definitely definitely imbalanced. But things that I'm trying to be polite but at the same time, like who the does this? Like why would you come in? Like, obviously you can see that I'm working out. I don't want to talk to you like I'm working really effing hard. Also, never go up to someone and give them advice when you don't know anything about them. I don't care if you're Elon Musk, I don't care if you have 17 PhDs. Never go up to someone and give them advice when you don't know anything about them. That is just insane. Also, what do you mean? You basically have a PhD in fitness. Are you stupid? Basically, have a dude. Fitness isn't a thing at a university. Obviously you don't know what you're talking about if you basically have a phd in fitness. Oh, I'm sorry, exercise, kinesiology maybe. If you're going to say you basically have a PhD, at least make it in something that's real. What are you talking about? You either do or you don't have a degree and I guarantee it's not in fitness, unless your school is the University of YouTube. You don't basically have a degree in anything. How about that? Oh, I was boiling. I was so mad, y'all whoo, your boy was hot and I don't just mean like from the heat of the sun, that's for sure, but my blood was boiling. I was like you better walk away. I don't, I'm not going to slap a woman, but I will slap the faggister out of you. It won't be pretty. Oh my gosh, I was so mad. I was so mad. Hey, lady, you don't think I know I have the imbalances. You don't think they drive me bonkers? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Your boy has mad body dysmorphia, mad body dysmorphia, and he's very, very aware of every imbalance over every inch of his body. And let me tell you, there's a lot of them, there's a whole lot of them. Do they drive him crazy every single day? Yes, they do. Can I look in a mirror without cringing? Nope, not. Usually Drives me bonkers. Anyway, I really like I want to go to the track again, but I'm already cringing thinking that she might be there to think what else she might notice. Oh my gosh, y'all. I was so, so heated after that. Anyway, anyway, never moral of the story never go up to anyone and give them advice when you don't know anything about them. Don't ever do that because probably you don't know what's going on. You're probably incorrect in your assumption. Wow, can't even talk right now. Wow, can't even talk right now. Assumptions and judgments, so don't do that. Anyway, let's stop the rambling and get into the best part of the show the devil's advocate. If this is your first time listening, the Devil's Advocate is the point of the show where I take an idea, a theory, a question, an event, a whatever it is, and I get to debate it. If I'm with myself, obviously I debate myself. If I have a co-host, then I get to debate with them. But the whole point of the Devil's Advocate is to take two opposing sides and hopefully give them equal value and equal attention and equal importance. And so the whole point of this is basically a mind exercise for me to help me keep an open mind when I look at the world and hopefully, at the end of the day, it helps everyone else do that as well, to understand that open mind is the only way to learn, the only way to grow, the only way to be better. So today it's kind of a different one. I'm going to struggle with this one. I'll just let you know right out the gate, um, cause it's going to be hard to even formulate what I'm trying to uh, like the, the actual debate itself, not the two opposing sides. That's easy, but the, the idea, the concept itself, is a little bit confusing. So, um, the devil's advocate today is should there ever come a point, or should this be important? Being satisfied and content? Should there ever come a point, or should this be important? Being satisfied and content? Should that be something that we strive for? Like? Is it possible? And or? I know that it's possible, but is it something like that we should? Should we try to be? Should we try to get to a point where we are satisfied and content with our life, or should we always try to become more and to be better and to push and to improve? And why so? You guys, if you have listened to the podcast long enough, or if you even know me personally, you know that I'm a huge proponent of always, always, always, looking for improvement and being better and um progressing and and always pushing yourself to to learn and to grow. Um and so satisfaction and being content has always been like a? Uh, not an enemy, but has been something that I've I've never wanted. Every time that I feel satisfied and content, I try to make myself uncomfortable. I try to to, whatever that means, whatever that, whatever that entails. I'm going to try to do that. I'm going to try to be uncomfortable. I'm going to try to force myself to to get out of my comfort zone and to not be satisfied and to not be content and to not be comfortable. Um, and it's it's helped me to get to where I am. It's helped me to improve my physique. It's helped me to land jobs. It's helped me to um make a lot of money in a way that I never thought was possible. Um, it's helped me to uh provide for my family um to start this podcast for Frick's sake. Uh, it's helped me to um push through and and and pay for college via scholarships that I didn't know were available from a a cheer and mascot opportunity. Every time that I've made myself uncomfortable, it's made me better. So I don't think that being satisfied and being content is anything that anybody should ever strive for. I don't think that it's something that we should reach for, I don't think that it's something that we should put as a goal, I don't think that it's helpful, I don't think that it's healthy. Um, if, if you are content with being satisfied, your life might be here for a little bit and then it'll start to decrease, it'll start to regress, it'll start to become worse. Believe that? Um, that adage of uh that's pretty much cliche at this point that says if you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards. There is no just staying where you're at. Um, and I, I really do believe that. I think if you're not pushing yourself, you're not improving, if you're not getting out of your comfort zone, your life will regress and you will become worse and worse and worse. Because when you are not pushing yourself and you're not making yourself uncomfortable, when you're satisfied and content, you start to look around you at the things that make you unhappy, the things that bother you. You start to get really, really bothered by the slightest things, by the most minor inconveniences will just make you into a hurricane of a person and that's not a good thing. The people that like going back to earlier in the episode, the people that are trolls on online, are the people that are that are not doing anything with their life. They're they've become way too comfortable, they become way too satisfied, and what starts to happen is, once you're satisfied down the road, you're not satisfied anymore, you're not happy with where you're at, and so you become very unhappy. You start to become a troll, you start to become a person that looks for every negative situation to have an opinion about, and it's because you're not actively pursuing improvement, you're not actively getting uncomfortable, you're just finding things that piss you off. And it's because you're stagnant. You're satisfied with where you're at, and so, instead of improving yourself and finding things that make you uncomfortable, you're going to go to an outside source and you're going to start to come down on people that you think are above you or that are doing better, or things that maybe you want to be a social justice warrior for a poor minority group that needs your help that you're not actually going to help because you're you're too lazy, you're too satisfied with where you're at, so you're just content to use words. You're you're just content to find things that make you upset, which is obviously not a good thing. So, no, I don't think that we should ever try to be satisfied. I don't think that should ever be the goal. Oh, if I get here, I'll be good, I won't have to push anymore. No, no, no, that shouldn't be every Once you get to that point, okay, what's next? How do I get past this? What's? What's the bigger thing beyond this? So you set those goals, you set that you know what you want to accomplish, and then you accomplish it. Okay, what's next? There's never a okay, I've made it, I'm good. Um, cause I don't think that it's it's healthy, I don't think that it's wise. But yeah, that's one side of the argument. The other side is I do think that there comes a point where you should be okay with where you're at, that you're satisfied with where you're at. And this is how I think about this, instead of thinking of it as because I think we view progression as like a mountain where we're going to climb this steep slope up progression to a pinnacle, and I think more of how do I, how do I paint this picture? Um, we want to get to a point where we are satisfied with where we are at enough, where we can go linear, where we can go outward, where we can just help other people, where we can not have to worry about our own goals so much and improving ourselves so much that we can just focus on the better. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's a difference between pushing my own agenda and pushing my own achievements and accomplishments and trying to do yada, yada, yada and such and such and such, and, instead of doing that, reaching out and saying, okay, this person wants to improve, how can I help them? Reaching out and saying, okay, this person wants to improve, how can I help them? Or, and and and I think this a lot of this has to do with me being a dad now, where my own goals are not nearly as important to me as what does my son want to do with his life? How can I help my son become the best person possible? What can I do to give him the resources he needs? What, what, what can I do? So now, it's not me going up, it's me looking around with where I'm at. I'm at a pinnacle. I've reached most of the things that I want to do with my life. I've, I've. That sounds really sad to say but and there's a lot more that I want to do with my life. I've, I've that sounds really sad to say but and there's a lot more that I want to accomplish. But at the end of the day, like I am satisfied. I am very, very content with my life. I have an incredible job. I have an incredible hobbies that I like, I have an incredible wife and son and friends and the capability to travel, and I don't have I'm not wanting for anything I'm very fortunate. I'm very, very, very fortunate and I am satisfied to a certain extent. I am satisfied to the point where other people's achievements and other people's goals are more important to me, where I would give up everything that I want to do to make sure that JJ, my son, is able to do what he wants to do. And so for me, it's more of a linear thing rather than an upward progression word progression which I think you can only get to when you are satisfied with who you are, with the point that you've reached, as I'm a good person, I like who I am, I like where I'm at, which is very difficult to do, very, very difficult to do, and obviously I'm not perfect. I struggle a lot with negative doubt, self um, self-doubt and and negative thoughts about myself, and you know, like everybody does anxious depression, sometimes stress, like all those things um that everybody struggles with and I but I am at a point where I don't have the same burning fire Like if you talk to me, like five, six, seven years ago I was a psychopath. I was obsessed with never not doing something, like never watching shows. Like I'm going to go to the gym. I'm going to be the biggest, strongest person there. I'm going to work the hardest. Nobody in this gym will outwork me. I will be here the longest and then I'm going to work the hardest I'm. Nobody in this gym will outwork me. I will be here the longest and then I'm going to go home. I'm going to spend hours studying on on improving my knowledge and fitness, and then I'm going to spend hours learning how to, how to work social media and how to grow my stuff and put hours into content and learning how to do a podcast and and and cause I do this myself. Like learning sound technology and lighting technology and and video editing and all this stuff. Like pushing myself constantly, constantly, constantly, constantly living off of fricking three to four hours of sleep a night for weeks on end Like just just a hunger, you know, and there's a lot of people out there that are exactly like that, which is fine Not saying it's bad but but I've reached a point where I'm satisfied. Now I'm good, I'm good, and it's an amazing feeling, it's fantastic, and I think that it is something that people should search for. There's there. There should come a point where you are satisfied with your progression, with your achievements, to the point where you can focus linear. You can focus outward, away from you. You can. You can focus on on helping the other people around you become better. You can focus on improving other people's lives and other people's goals and aspirations. That is where you should get to, and it only comes when you've reached a point where you're not worried about yourself anymore, where you're not worried about like, oh, I have to do this, I have to go, go, go, go go. I'm satisfied, I'm good. If I die tomorrow, I'm fine. If I don't reach any of my other goals, that's okay. I have to go, go, go, go go. I'm satisfied. I'm good. If I died tomorrow, I'm fine. If I don't reach any of my other goals, that's okay, I'm fine with that. I'm at a point now where, as long as I don't regress, it's okay. As long as I'm not going backwards and getting worse, then we're good. I've reached a point where I'm satisfied. I'm at a pinnacle now and I can keep going. I'm not saying there's not anything more for me to do. I haven't maxed out myself. There's plenty that I would love to do. Don't get me wrong, don't get it twisted. There's so much that I would love to do. But also I'm at a point where, if that doesn't happen, I'm okay, it's fine, that's fine and it's a Wonderful, wonderful feeling, beautiful feeling, um. So I do think that there should come a point where you are satisfied. Otherwise you will die lonely and that's a Harsh, harsh thing to say, but you will push people away. You will end up with a lot of regrets. Okay, so you push so hard and you accomplish so many things, but at the end of the day, what did you do? What did you do for yourself? What did you? How many times did you just take a second to have a conversation? How many times did you just go on a trip with your loved ones a second to have a conversation? How many times did you just go on a trip with your loved ones? How many times did you sacrifice, not doing something for your goals, to just be around people, um, and and I think that at the end of your life, you will wish that you would have slowed down and wish that you had taken the time to just appreciate life and existing and living and doing hobbies and just chilling um, and thinking and reading a book and just just basically being, just being um. And and if you, if you don't reach a point where you're satisfied and you're content, and you don't know where that point is, like I knew, I knew that there was a point where I would be satisfied and I'm at it. I knew that there was a point where I would be satisfied and I'm at it. I knew that it looked something like this Um, cause I thought about it a lot, a lot, a lot Um, and I think if you don't have one of those moments, if you don't have a, a pinnacle, a precipice like this, then you will end up very, very sad at the end of your life when it's all said and done. But let me know what you think that is your devil's advocate. Should being satisfied and content be a goal? Should it be something that we search after? Should it be something that is achievable and, if so, why? Or why not? Let me know Again. You can message the actual show. You can text the actual show. You can text the number. I will get those messages. I will read them. I will love them. So message the show. The number is right up there above the podcast description, the episode description, so use that. Reach out, let me know what you think and if you have any ideas for future Devil's Advocate or anything like that, anything you want me to discuss, anything that you think is a final takeaway moment, let me know. I would love to hear from you and before we get out of here, I would love to leave you guys with your final takeaway. Your final takeaway today is. Well. Before we get into that, I just want to let you guys know that the final takeaway, honestly, is the most important part of this show. It's the thing that I think the most about, other than Devil's Advocate, and it's because it's something that has actually changed my life. That has actually changed my life. It's something that, every single time, every single final takeaway that I've ever said on this show, whatever episode this is 89 or something, um, every single time, it's something that has genuinely made me better and improved my life and helped me, whether that's mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, um. So take these seriously. Please really really take these seriously. Um, I I think about this stuff all the time, while I'm working out, while I'm running, while I'm listening to podcasts, while I'm talking to people, um, and, and there are things that I love. There are things that I genuinely do. I'm not one of those people that tells you to do something that I'm not doing. I'll never ask you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself. Um, and these final takeaways if you do them, consciously, try to do them, you will see benefits, you will see progression, you will see improvement in your life, I promise Um. So your final takeaway today is something that is very difficult to do, but if you get in the habit of doing it and you're getting over the pain of it and the, the um, the uh what's the word I'm looking for? The of it, I guess the thing that makes you most nervous and just getting over that, then it will change your life for sure, and that is normalize, changing quickly. All too often, I see way too much sympathy and empathy for taking your time making changes, and I'm not. I don't want to discourage anybody from taking a slower route or from making changes at all. If you need to take your time, you take your time. But also normalize changing fast, making the change instantly, because your brain is the one that makes the change right. It's a mindset most of the time, so when you, when you decide to make a change happens up here in your head first, before anything outwardly happens, and your brain can function in fractions of milliseconds, so you can make changes quickly, like, for instance, when I decided to give up caffeine for um six months to do the Tarzan show to help me stay a little bit more hydrated. Um, I didn't wean myself off. This is this is how insane it was, guys. I was taking, I would, I would take or drink two to three Celsius every morning which have about 200 milligrams of caffeine, so that's four to 600 milligrams before probably 10 AM, and then I would take pre-workout before I would work out, which is another three to four hundred milligrams. So right there I'm about seven hundred, sometimes eight hundred milligrams of caffeine by about three o'clock in the afternoon and then occasionally not every day, but occasionally I would have another Celsius in the afternoon to help me do work in the evening. So well, over a thousand milligrams of caffeine a day on most days. So I'm not I'm not saying like I had a cute little, like, oh, I have to have my coffee in the morning. No, no, no, this was insane amounts, copious amount, amounts that would kill an elephant. Amounts of caffeine, right, like bonkers. Crazy amounts of caffeine. And so I could have the, the, you know the, the smart way, or the way that people tell you to just wean yourself off, be careful, take yourself down, you know, to one, one Celsius a day and then drop it down to half and then do it. Or I could do it the way I did it, which was I made the choice oh, I'm not having caffeine anymore. Period, come what may, pain, headaches, I'm doing it. The next morning, guess what? No more caffeine, didn't have any, did not have a single drop, didn't have any, did not have a single drop, didn't have caffeine. Until I drove to Utah Six months later, okay, and yes, I had raging headaches that I had to take ibuprofen and Tylenol for, like migraine headaches that would wipe me out for a couple days, right, and then they eased off and things got better and it got a lot easier like migraine headaches that would wipe me out for a couple days, right, and then they eased off and then things got better and it got a lot easier. But I just made the change, I just flipped the switch, made the change, and that's just one example. I've done that with a lot of things in my life where I just made the switch Boom. I'm just deciding right now no more excuses, end of story. This is how it is. And I tell my wife and she goes again, we're doing this, this type of thing again. And yes, yes, we are, because I'm trying to normalize changing quickly, because if you change quickly, you will get over all of the pain and all of the discomfort and all of the stuff that comes with that faster, instead of dragging it out and and having excuses and relying on those excuses and being lenient with yourself. No, just change period. Take the things that you need to change and do it now. And and I know that it sounds so much easier than it actually is, I know it sounds so much easier, but I promise you that if you will do it with one small thing, just one small thing that you'll be able to do it with a little bit bigger thing, and then you'll be able to do it with a little bit bigger thing, and then you'll be able to do it with a little bit bigger thing, and then you'll be getting into a habit of making fast changes and being okay with making those changes and being very adamant about it kind of who you are and and you will be a better person because of it. You will be a more confident person because of it, because you'll trust yourself. You'll also be able to know that you can rely on yourself and that you can see yourself change and be in control of that change, and that is an unbelievable confidence booster, anyway. So Normalize making change fast. That is your final takeaway. I hope you love it. I hope you know that you are an amazing person. I hope that you know that you are a powerful person and that you are deserving of love, and that you are deserving of respect, and that I love you and respect you, and that you are deserving of love and that you are deserving of respect, and that I love you and respect you and and that you are incredible. You really, really, really are. So, if all else you forget anything from this podcast. Do not forget that, that you are amazing and that if, if you don't love yourself, I love you for you. Okay, um, I'm your boy T. This is Fit Perception Podcast and I'm out. Bye, thank you.