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The Fit Perception
The Fit Perception
Fitness Without Filters
What if the search for the "perfect" fitness program is actually sabotaging your results? In this comeback episode, we dive deep into why patience and consistency trump perfection every single time when it comes to achieving lasting fitness results.
After a lengthy hiatus, I return to tackle the uncomfortable truth about our collective impatience. We've become so accustomed to immediate gratification in our digital world that we've lost the ability to play the long game with our health. But here's the reality check: true physical transformation typically requires 6-12 months of consistent effort – not the weeks or months promised by trendy programs.
I don't hold back on addressing the explosion of weight loss drugs like Ozempic. While I acknowledge their legitimate uses, the short-sightedness of using these medications without considering the limited long-term safety data is concerning. We simply haven't had enough time to understand their full impact, yet many users and even some healthcare providers confidently claim they're completely safe based on limited studies.
The episode also covers CrossFit's surprising decline, the rise of Hyrox as a healthier alternative for cross-training enthusiasts, and practical advice on building a fitness community with friends and family. In the Questions from Insta segment, I tackle muscle soreness myths, supplement selection strategies, and settle the debate between high and low-intensity cardio.
My final takeaway might be the most valuable piece of advice I can offer: start thinking long-term about your health. This mindset shift removes emotional reactivity from decision-making and creates a calmer, more controlled approach that ultimately leads to superior outcomes. The most successful fitness journeys aren't characterized by intensity or complexity, but by longevity and consistency.
Ready to ditch the perfectionism and embrace a more sustainable approach to fitness? Listen now, and let me know your thoughts by messaging me on social media with your questions for future episodes.
https://www.instagram.com/fitperceptionspodcast/
https://www.instagram.com/thomas_belliston/
Oh, my friends, my friends, my friends, we are back and we are better than ever. And it's been way too long and I've said multiple times that I was going to, are back and we are better than ever. And it's been way too long, and I've said multiple times that I was going to come back and then I didn't. So I lied to you. I apologize, but no, it is, it is good to be back. I've been wanting to do this. It's weird because I feel like I feel drawn to talk, which is weird because I really don't like attention, but I really do like doing the podcast. I don't know why, but I do, I like it, so it's good to be back. I have taken a very long hiatus, in fact, I don't remember the last time I recorded, which is kind of sad, but whatever. Moving on, welcome back to the Fit Perception podcast. So I've been wanting to, or I guess I've been thinking about how to make this something that is more valuable and something that is more like that I feel like I have to do Because, like, it's just fun, like I just do it because it's fun, I do it cause I enjoy it, um, but I don't, I don't feel oppressing, like, oh, I have to get in the studio and record. I used to um, but I don't anymore, which makes me sad, uh. So I'm trying to figure out a way to make this more like not a job, cause I don't want this to be a job, but something where I'm like, ooh, I need to share this, I need to offer this, I need to. I have people that are waiting to listen um, which is crazy, but uh, yeah. So I'm trying to, I'm trying to get that um figured out, and I think that I want it to be more interactive. So I'm going to reach out to guests and see if they want to come in and talk Um, and just guests and see if they want to come in and talk Um and just, I don't know. Bring value, bring ideas, bring thoughts um into the fitness world. Obviously, that's what I do for a living, so, um, but then also try to be as upfront and honest about everything Um, cause I am a very uh front and honest about everything Um, cause I am a very uh private person, I guess Uh, I don't like sharing unless we are very close, like in real life.
Speaker 1:I don't like sharing um deep things. I don't like sharing uh, personal things, which in this day and age it's odd because everybody's craving like authenticity and like realness. But I also don't think it's good for people that you're not like intimately close to in real life to have any sort of access to that personal, private life. I don't think that that's good. So I don't really feel the need to be super personal in here or super open, and I think that's okay. I thought for a while there. I was like no, I need to be totally honest and have every aspect of my life. And then I was thinking about it. I was like I don't think, no, I don't think I need to do that. Um, I think that that, uh, that's good if you want to, but I also don't think that it's very healthy to just think that everyone should have all access to every avenue of your life. I don't think that's good.
Speaker 1:So, um, this, hopefully, is going to be more, um, authentic as far as, like, my opinions on things go. But there's certain things that obviously will stay private and and, um, uh, I don't know more personal things I'll just keep to myself. Anyway, um, what is happening in the world? Obviously too much, because the world's on fire and it's crazy, but this is going to be hopefully enjoyable and entertaining and valuable and give you a breath of fresh air from the craziness of the world, because the craziness of the world is overwhelming and it sucks sometimes and it gets me down and it's all good, let's see. I wrote a bunch of things down and you know, your boy goes off script but whatevs? Um, so, oh, yes, so if you've been a long time listener, you know that we've gone through different phases of like different segments of the show and I used to do like uh, uh, things I learned from fitness segment and the devil's advocate segment and the final thought segment and like all those things. And I think I'll keep the devil's advocate for sure, cause it's very fun for me and I think hopefully it's fun for the people, but that that segment's going to stay.
Speaker 1:But I think I'm going to introduce another segment called questions from social or like questions from Insta, or thoughts from the gram or something like that, something I don't know the name of it yet, but, um, I want to do that just so that there's like actual questions that come in from real people, that so it's not just me just talking about stuff I find interesting. So I think we'll do that, um, not at the start, but once we get into the show, I think I'll. I'll make that a segment. I haven't decided yet, but I think so. Get into the show, I think I'll. I'll make that a segment. I haven't decided yet, but I think so. Um, so you know new things. Hopefully we'll get more people on and hopefully this will become more um, regular scheduled program, um.
Speaker 1:But so I've been thinking a lot about fitness, my fitness, other people's fitness, how to make fitness more accessible, more attainable, better, just all around, for people, because I think that the farther we go down this technological, digital world advancement scenario that we're in, the less focus there is on health and the more damaging it is, and I think that as we go down this, there's going to be a shift towards and I can already see it actually, um, people are, are, are wanting to feel better. People are are looking for avenues and and experiences and effort to be healthier and to live healthier and to live better and to feel um, I don't know, I don't know Like it sounds so cliche and so weird, but like to feel more human. Um, which is odd, but I think you know what I'm saying when I say that, which is even crazier. Um, so I think that that, as we go down this digital adventure that we're on, health is going to become way more of a focus and way more of an industry that is valued, which is good for me, because that's the industry I work in. But also, it's really important to remember that fitness is not a fitness is not an exact science. I talk to people all of the time. They're like, okay, what is the best? Et cetera, et cetera. What is the best cardio? What is the best workout? What is the most efficient? Hey man, have you gone to the gym this week? Start with that, that's the best thing.
Speaker 1:Um, so I think that, like most of the time, people are trying to find the perfect regimen, the perfect program, the most efficient, and, yes, that has value, but it's not the most important thing. The most important thing you can do if you're trying to be healthy is to be consistently doing what you're supposed to be doing, which is eat correct food and exercise consistently, exercise consistently which form of exercise is not nearly as important as just exercising? And once you get into the consistent habit of exercising, then you're ready to take the next step of okay, now. I have some goals, or maybe you don't. But now you've hit a plateau and you don't feel like you're improving. Okay, now it's time to look at how you're exercising.
Speaker 1:But before you can get to the point of where you should care about how you're exercising or how perfect your program is, you need to just exercise consistently. Whether that means you're exercising or how perfect your program is, you need to just exercise consistently. Whether that means you're going on a walk for 30 minutes a day, whether that means you're going to the gym, whether that means you're doing a class, it does not matter. What matters is if you're doing it consistently. Are you doing it three times a week? Are you doing it four times a week? Whatever it is, are you doing it consistently? If you are and here's the other thing consistently over time. I'm not talking about you did it consistent for a month or two. I'm talking did you do it consistent and get in the habit of doing it for six to 12 months? Then you'll know that you're doing it consistently. Your body needs a lot of time to adjust.
Speaker 1:We live in a world of insanely fast moving everything. We're so used to immediate responses and immediate gratification and immediate satisfaction. It's absolutely crazy, and I think that's the biggest holdup that I run into with clients is they're like okay, so I've been doing this for like a few months now. I don't understand why I'm not seeing the results. Well, sweetheart, it's because it's only been three months. That's why you're not seeing results. It takes closer to a year to see real results. Can you see them faster than that? Sure you can, but to see real results you've got to be really consistent for like a year. And I know I've said that a lot of times on this podcast, but people don't get it. They just do not get it. It's like we're so impatient because we're so used to getting everything immediately. Ooh, I need this. Like today, I needed a memory card for my camera to do the show. Cool, I ordered it. It came to my doorstep three hours later. That's crazy. Okay, that's insanely quickly.
Speaker 1:We have to get in the habit of being patient. That's the most important thing you can learn about. Being healthy and fit is being in the habit of being patient. It's so underrated. If you can get in the habit of being patient for results the habit of being patient for results you win. End of story, you've won, congratulations.
Speaker 1:So it's just like stop trying to find this perfect program. First of all, it doesn't exist. There's way too many people and and, uh, differences of genetic codes and differences in metabolisms and difference of age and sex, and I, like everything from every person is so different that it's impossible to be like here's the perfect program, shut up. I don't trust you immediately, um and and like it goes beyond. Like just fitness, like everybody's trying to live the perfect life, have the perfect home, have the perfect schedule, have the perfect morning routine, have the perfect. Hey, stop, man. That's why you're so anxious and stressed out all the time. It's because everything has to be perfect, everything needs to be Instagram worthy, whatever bullshit that is Like no, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. It's so frustrating Like my life is far from perfect. My routine is near not nearly what I would wish it to be to be perfect and it's fine, it's okay.
Speaker 1:This, this whole mindset of like we have to be perfect First of all. You're an idiot If you think that perfection exists. Like that's crazy thing to think. Should you try to be better? For sure, everyone should always try to improve, but to be perfect. You're a moron if you're trying to be perfect Like that's so insane, and you're just going to get frustrated and defeated and depressed. And then where's the progress? Um, so, that's just been something that's been constantly coming up. Hey T, what's the perfect cardio that I should be doing? Have you done any cardio? Well, no, okay, then start by doing some cardio. What are you talking about? The perfect cardio? Shut up, it's so frustrating. Just start doing something consistently and then come back and talk to me and we can adjust the program.
Speaker 1:But this idea that there's a perfect way to do things, a perfect way to lift, a perfect way to no, there's not. And if you find any trainer that tells you otherwise, don't trust them on anything that they say, because they're just trying to make money from you. That's it. That's the only thing that they care about. And, that being said, if you are trying to find the perfect program or some nonsense like that, cut out all of the things that don't matter, cut out everything that is not a necessity, and start over from there, and you'll find that you, number one, have more time to do what you want. Number two, you'll be doing the things that matter the most to you, aka the things that make you happy, if you truly cut out all of the nonsense and the extra and the fluff, you realize that you don't really need a lot to have it together. You don't need to have a crazy busy schedule to have a good schedule. You don't have to be back to back to back to back to back doing things to be productive. You don't have to be on a a a S like down to the second regimented schedule to be doing things correctly. That's just not true. If you take out all the fluff that isn't necessary you'll be more productive. You'll find a better program, you'll find a better schedule. You'll find an easier way to do things that work. And that's the same way with your exercise routine.
Speaker 1:Cut out the fluff and just do the most basic things Lift heavy weights, do some sort of cardio and eat healthy food. And then you're like, oh, but there's so much science out there that says like what to eat and what not to eat, what diet to do and what. I am convinced that most people know not to eat sugary things. They know that. They don't like that, they know that. But they know that why? Because when you eat sugary things your body gets effed up, you get really tired, you get sluggish. People don't like that. Some people get bloated. It's not good. Most people know that instinctually, and obviously there's caveats to that, whatever.
Speaker 1:But like, do the things that you know you should do. Oh, should you eat cleaner, leaner meat, probably. Should you have more vegetables, probably. Should you not eat insane amounts of processed carbohydrates? Probably. But those are like really, really basic things and people don't like basic things. They want to be told very strict things, very forward, very isolated things, so that they can have a reason to fail, if you really think about it. That's why people ask for those type of diets and workout programs is so they can blame their failure on oh, it was too strict, oh, it was too hard, I just couldn't. It was too much, yeah, but that's because you asked for that type of thing.
Speaker 1:People don't like the advice I give them when it's don't eat sugar, Pretty easy, just don't do it. Cut out all alcohol, zero, oh, but that's it, yeah, okay, it's what. It's too healthy, all right, great. So instead of you asking me how you can be healthier, how about? Instead you ask me hey, thomas, how unhealthy can I be and still get what I want? And my response will be go away, come back when you're mature enough to talk to me. Yes, it's harsh, but it makes me so mad when people are not willing to do the most simple thing to get what they want and it goes back to just cutting out the fluff. Cut out the nonsense. Okay, so it sucks for a little bit. In the long run, you're better off. Anyway, that was a fricking 15 minute tangent that didn't need to happen. Uh, we're back, baby, we're back, oh man, okay.
Speaker 1:So, um, I get a lot of questions about, obviously, right now the, the hot topic is um, gls, ozempic and the other weight loss drugs and I don't know. I used to be super opinionated about it and be like no, it's disgusting, don't do it, it's terrible, so bad, and I still have that feeling Like. Personally, I still think that. But, like I've also been like you know what, I have a lot of friends still have that feeling Like. Personally, I still think that. But, like I've also been like you know what, I have a lot of friends that have used it. I have a lot of people that I know that I'm very close to that. I respect that.
Speaker 1:Use it, um, and I, it's fine, it's okay. Here's the thing If you are using it to lose a couple pounds, great, awesome. It's a good starter. If you are using it to be lazy and lose a couple pounds, not great. You're screwed.
Speaker 1:If you are not very, very, very, very careful with those drugs, you can I mean you can go look at the side effects. I've talked about them to nauseam on here, about the stomach paralysis and the depression and the leading to anorexia and leading to all these food disorders and leading to muscle mass deterioration, which leads to bone decay, which leads to all sorts of crazy things. And not everybody gets those, but they are side effects. And not everybody gets those, but they are side effects. If you are not putting in work and weight training and trying to eat enough protein, then those drugs will fail you in your desire to look better, because I don't know of a single person that takes those that takes them for anything other than to lose weight and to look better, to look skinnier, which, if that's your goal, great. But if you're like whole idea is to look like you walked out of a concentration camp, congratulations. You're on the road.
Speaker 1:Because that's what happens your muscles atrophy, your skin does not tighten up, it becomes saggy. It's not a good long-term weight loss. Long-term weight loss is very minuscule over a long period of time. So your body has time to adjust to the loss of the weight so that your skin can maintain its elasticity, so that your muscles can tighten and harden and grow, and with with the extensive use of the GLP ones, that is just not going to happen. You cannot maintain a strong physique over the long course of time on those drugs.
Speaker 1:Here's the other thing that people forget and it goes back to this freaking. People are not patient man. This, this idea that we know everything that's going to happen with these drugs, is so idiotic. Like this is, if you think about and we've talked about this before the fitness industry as a whole, it's not even really a hundred years old, yet really a hundred years old, yet that is so minuscule, so insanely a short amount of time, and everybody's like, no, that's so, no, it's not dude. Humans have been around for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. A hundred years is the blink of an eye, not even that. So to think that, like, we know all the dangers and the the side effects and the longterm effects of these drugs is so stupid, even from even from doctors like you're an idiot If you think that we have the information, all the information about this, like, even, like, look at, like, if you look at, um, big, huge bodybuilders like Ronnie Coleman idea the long-term, like, legit, long-term effects of PEDs, performance enhancing drugs, of the GLP-1s.
Speaker 1:We just have not had enough once. We just have not had enough human existence time interacting with these drugs to have any sort of real opinion on them. Like, right now, every expert quote, unquote that talks about these is guessing based off of the very limited science that we have. And you can be like no, they've done tons of studies over the course of 10 years, over 75,000 people. Hey, moron, there's 8 billion people in the world at this time. Over the course of 2000 years, there's going to be billions more. That's so, so short sighted and so dumb to think that we have enough information on this to use it just for whatever you want. That's so stupid. We just haven't had enough time to say this is good or bad.
Speaker 1:Like, like, think of all of the drugs that have come and gone that were like, oh, this is great, and then we realized 30, 40, 50, 60 years down the road, holy crap, I cannot believe that we actually used to use those. Like I mean like, think of like this is a stupid example, but think of like asbestos they used to like just throw that around for fake snow. It causes hardcore cancer, it kills people literally. And we're just like no, that's cool, it's fine, based off the science we have. Now, it's all good. Like it's just if you're on PEDs, whatever, if you're on GLPs, whatever.
Speaker 1:Like I'm not judging anybody, but to think that it's like no, they've been studied, you're kind of an idiot. Because those type of things in a human body take tens, hundreds of years to get real hardcore evidence. Science it takes so long. And because we're so impatient, we're so used to getting things immediately, we're like no, this study said from last week that this is how it goes down. Okay, man, I guess you can join the idiot brigade. Like congratulations, you're a moron. Like that's so dumb, be smarter, think long term. Like, oh, I hope that offended so many people. No, my goal is never to offend people. It's just like wake up, dude, I don't know. That's my biggest thing. Like I have a lot of like I said I have's my biggest thing. Like I have a lot of like. I said I have a lot of friends.
Speaker 1:I have a lot of clients that that use those things and it's no shade on them, it's nothing against them, it's it's. Don't act like we have all the answers, because it's just not true, um, and it's kind of silly to think that. Um, now, that being being said, I'm, I am a big fan of using peptides. I use peptides. I like peptides. They make me feel strong, they make me feel energetic, they help me recover faster, they help me get better sleep and have insanely vivid dreams. That was one side effect I was not ready for, but and I'm, I'm very open about it, like I don't hide it, I tell people exactly why I use them, I tell people exactly what I use, and and I don't use these hardcore steroid drugs or the weight loss drugs or all their super intense stuff, because I don't trust that the science is sound, we haven't had enough time to understand it fully, and so, again, it's respect to those people that use them.
Speaker 1:I hope you're safe, I hope you're healthy, but, like to me, they haven't been around long enough, we haven't studied enough, and I'll probably be dead before we've studied enough and then probably come to find out they cause all the problems ever. But I don't know, it's just, it's so frustrating, the short sightedness of people when it comes to their health. There's. There's so longterm with their goals and there's so longterm with with staying steady with a relationship and like all of this stuff, but when it comes to their own health, they're like no quick fix. Now, whatever it takes, give me all of it, which is just crazy, crazy. Um, there's ways to do it safely, there are, um, but again, it's just think more long term, slow down, be patient, that's it. That's it, Um, anyway, so those, I just keep getting questions about steroids and tests and and and the GLP-1s, and I'm happy to have those conversations, but it's usually people looking for a quick fix and not a long-term solution, and so I'm always hesitant to be like, yeah, you should try it, because it's so short-sighted, so short-sighted, so short-sighted, which will ultimately lead to frustration and other problems mentally because you didn't get what you wanted. You took the shortcut. You did not develop any sort of discipline or good habits, you just relied on the cheat code. Anyway, enough about that. I've talked a lot about that stuff. Um, what's happening in the world?
Speaker 1:Well, number one, um, we've talked a lot about CrossFit on this show. Um, and I used to be a massive, massive fan of CrossFit, um, of the of the uh, the CrossFit games and the whole um idea behind CrossFit. You've listened to the show. You know my mindset when it comes to that. And then, um, this new competitor called High Rocks came into the picture and I'm obsessed. I'm training for high rocks. I want to do a couple races this year. Hopefully it turns out Um, anyway, I I. It's a much healthier version of cross training. It's a much healthier version of racing, um, so I'll I'll do a whole episode on why I think high rocks is the best, but, um, it is the number one competitor for CrossFit and CrossFit.
Speaker 1:The games just happened this past weekend and usually I'm like on top of it, I know who's competing. I've kind of seen their, their um competitions leading up to that, uh, to the games. And this year I didn't even know that. It didn't even come up on my Instagram algorithm, like it. I turned on uh, or I flipped open YouTube on Saturday and it was like, oh, they're live streaming day two and I was like wait, what the CrossFit games are happening, what the freak Um like CrossFit is in the gutter, which I think we could kind of see that prediction happening from when that young man tragically died at the games. Was it last year? It was either 24 or 23. I don't remember Um, but somebody tragically died in the first event, um, of the games as a swimming event, and he drowned, uh.
Speaker 1:And so CrossFit took a major blow, a major, major major hit A lot of the athletes, the top athletes, um retired, uh, a lot of them came out against how CrossFit is run and the people that run CrossFit, and so it lost a huge, huge following from people that compete in it. And I think the CrossFit will survive. I think that CrossFit will continue to be a major force in fitness, but I don't think it's going to be anything that, like um progresses Like it was on track. It was, it was on a track to to explode and become a really big event, possibly even at the Olympics, um. But now it's just kind of like a well, a cute idea, but we're all kind of on to you now that it's that's not great, and then it's kind of a bullshit way of working out in the long term. And so, yeah, it was.
Speaker 1:It was just crazy, because I've witnessed, I was thinking about this, it's the only sport that I have witnessed, like I mean like legitimate huge thing, go from nothing to everything in my lifetime. Like basketball started way before I was born, football started way before I was born and pretty much every sport that I can think of started before I was born, um, except for CrossFit. And I kind of like was aware of it from the beginning, um, from its inception to now, like I've been tracking it. I've been following the athletes, I've been following the workouts, I've done the workouts, I've been in it, been in the CrossFit world, and to see it go all the way to its peak and now start its downward spiral has been crazy. Crazy to see that and kind of like it's so weird that like I I live in this fitness world because, like I can predict kind of now, like what's going to be successful, what's not going to be successful, when it's going to tank, how long it's going to be. Like I see these fitness trends and it's kind of fun, like if you go back in the podcast like I call these trends out, and like it always happens, like it's so crazy. Like if you go back in the podcast like I call these trends out and like it always happens, like it's so crazy, like, oh, I can see where this is going, boom, and then it happens. So it's it's crazy to see the downfall of CrossFit and how it gets replaced by other things, mainly High Rocks, which, like I said, I'll do another episode on High Rocks and talk about cause a lot of people have been reaching out, cause I've been training for it.
Speaker 1:Um, so, uh, I kind of want to go over like strategies and like how to prepare for it and what to focus on and how to train and put a program together. Um, so that'll probably be the next episode or two. Uh, just cause I there's been like the number one thing people have been talking to me about. Uh, as far as, like, the fitness world is concerned, it's like, oh, I found high rocks and like all this other stuff. Um, what else is going on? I would talk about the WNBA, but nah, nah, I uh, maybe I'll talk about it another time, but it's like this racist, reverse racism, nonsense that's happening in the WNBA and it's just bananas to me anyway. So I don't want to talk about it tonight because, or this morning, wherever you're listening to this, it's night when I'm recording this. Um, but I don't want to bash on anybody, and when I get tired I just start to bash, which is not good. So, um, let's, um, let's, uh, let's move on. Let's, let's do, uh, the new segment, let's do the um.
Speaker 1:Questions from Insta. All right, questions from Insta. Question number one Um, do you need to feel sore for the muscles to grow? That is a nuanced. Well, I guess it's a question that needs a nuanced answer. Is it necessary for you to feel sore? Short answer no Long answer, no kind of Um. So if you are, how do I say this? The way that your muscles grow right Is you push them to a point where they rip. Okay, they, they physically rip the fibers and it requires a certain amount of volume and intensity to do so. And if you don't reach that volume or intensity, the muscles don't rip and they don't grow.
Speaker 1:So when you're first starting out in fitness, you'll find that certain exercises, certain programs or certain workouts make you very, very, very, very sore, and that that can just be the fact that you're just starting out, that you're just getting started.
Speaker 1:Your body's not used to it, so it's going to rip a lot easier because your muscles are not used to that. They're much softer muscle fibers and then what starts to happen is the more consistent that you are with that volume and intensity and working out. The harder your muscles get and the harder it is for them to get sore, because the soreness happens from what we call lactic acid that gets into those tears. Think about it like if you get a cut and you pour salt in it, it hurts, right. Same type of thing where your muscles rip and then lactic acid gets in and it hurts um, as the muscles are trying to repair Um. So that's kind of like the quote unquote science behind it. Um.
Speaker 1:But the longer you go, the tougher your muscles are, the more that it takes to rip them Uh. So the the more volume you need, the more intensity that you need um, you need to get them to break down to build stronger. Now here's where you start to not need the soreness to grow, the soreness to grow Um. Once you get past that beginner um burn, that beginner breakdown, uh, it becomes becomes way, way, way harder for you to build muscle Um. Meaning like the rate of growth slows down greatly the longer that you do fitness without the help of PEDs, um, that's, the whole purpose of them is to speed that process up of breaking down and recovery, um, so B.
Speaker 1:Do you have to be sore to grow muscles? No, is it a sign that you pushed to the limit? Yes, now you should feel what you worked on. They should. Your muscles should be tight. They should be a little bit sore from from what you did the day before.
Speaker 1:Now, if that soreness or that tightness lasts more than two days, you overworked the muscle and you did more detriment than you did. Good, um, so like right now, I. It's very I don't want to say rare, but it's more uncommon for me to get very sore, like I'll get sore the next day. I'm like, oh, that's tight, um, but not to the point where it's like, oh my gosh, I can't sit down, it hurts so bad. There's occasions where I do that and I'm like, oh man, I pushed way too hard, I went a little bit too much, because ideally for growth, for muscle development, you should be able to hit each muscle group in your body at least twice a week, and that means you can't afford to be sore for longer than two days.
Speaker 1:So do you need to be sore to grow muscles?
Speaker 1:No, are you going to experience it more at the beginning of your fitness journey? Yes, because your muscles are softer they're not used to that and the the more that they break down and tear and recover and repair, the harder they're going to get, the tougher they're going to get, which is naturally what's supposed to happen. So, as the farther you get down the road in your fitness journey, the less sore you should become. Um, if you're training properly now there's a lot of people that are like oh, if I'm not sore, I didn't do it right. Well, yes, with an asterisk, where you you want to feel like you did something, you want to have that awareness that it happened, but you don't want it to be the same soreness that you were experiencing when you first started, because that's overkill, that's not good, that's overtraining. You can get into rhabdo which we could get into but we won't which is a very scary thing where your body starts to eat its muscles because you haven't given it enough time to recover.
Speaker 1:Anyway, oh, this is a good question how do you get your friends and family to work out with you or build that fitness community with the people around you? And this is where my friends group fitness is a beautiful thing. If you've listened to me rant on here before, you know that I've done debates between group fitness versus personal training, versus, uh, just programmed work for yourself. This is where group training is everything, where people feel more comfortable if they know that other people are going through what they're going through. So getting people to work out with you is much easier if there's other people there. Like, if you're like, oh yeah, there's going to be a bunch of people there, people are like, oh, okay, cool, now there's some people that'll be shy. There's some people that are like, ooh, I don't want to be the least fit person there.
Speaker 1:And so I think it's easiest to get people to work out with you if they number one understand exactly what they're getting into. There's nothing worse than like going somewhere and being sideswiped like just like completely taken by surprise of what's happening. We're like, oh, I had no, I had to run today, dude, I'm wearing Vans, what are you talking about? I'm running today, um. So I think the number one thing is understanding exactly what they're getting into, um, instead of just being like, no, you'll love it. It's so fun. Okay, cool, dude, you know what else is what I love? And so fun A concert, Not the same thing, bro.
Speaker 1:So I think just making sure that they understand exactly what they know that they're getting themselves into is huge. You know, making sure that they know people that are going to be there is another way to make sure that they get there. And then hyping them up, making them feel like they already know how to do it. Be like no, no, no, I've seen you work out here, here, here, or I've seen you do this or this. It's exactly like that, and then we'll do this too. So making them feel like it's not something completely new or out of their comfort zone, because getting out of your comfort zone is the hardest thing in the world and the less that it can feel like they're outside of that comfort zone, the easier it's going to be for them to come work out. So I think those three things are the best way for people to get people their friends, their families involved in working out and involved in doing something active. So, yeah, that was a good question. That was a great question.
Speaker 1:The last one and I'm going to kind of breeze over it because I've talked about it a lot is how do you like the? The basic question was supplements. How do you choose good supplements? Um, and here's the. There's there's two answers here.
Speaker 1:Number one if you are eating correctly, you don't need supplements. You'll get everything that you need from your food If you're eating correctly. Now, that is very, very, very hard to do. I get that I am. The same way I use supplements. So I'm not saying don't use them, but I want to be very clear that every supplement that you need to have is found in food Magnesium, potassium, iron, creatine, caffeine all of those things that we take supplements for protein. All those things are found in food, and so, if you are eating right and correct amounts of the food, you don't need supplements. Now, that being said, I know how hard that is and I personally take supplements. So, that being said, I know how hard that is and I personally take supplements. So, okay, I just have to make that clear.
Speaker 1:Now, how do you choose good supplements? The number one thing to look for is if it is third party tested. That's the number one thing. That means it's gone through multiple sources of testing. It means that it's gone through multiple different versions and has been tried by enough people and by enough, I guess, like sources or I don't want to say businesses, but like, yeah, businesses that are in the business of testing product, um it? So? The? The actual definition is like the process where an independent and unbiased organizational lab, separate from the manufacturer, evaluates the product to verify the quality and the safety. So, yeah, yeah, it's like what I was saying. You need that, that party that's outside of the organization itself, that's unbiased, that has nothing invested in the company to test that product and make sure it's viable. So that's the number one thing, and it's not as common as you would think. It has to be on the label for that to occur, and people will put it on the label. This is third party tested, just to make sure, because everybody, like, most supplements are not FDA regulated and so they don't really have to adhere to what they're saying on the label. They could say like, for instance, they could say like oh, there's 40 milligrams or 40 grams of protein in each scoop and most of that scoop could be filler aminos that are not actual protein and there's a whole like. If you want to go down a freaking rabbit hole, go look down at the lawsuits against protein companies screwing people over, saying that there's this much protein and there's not even half that much protein. So that's the number one thing Look for third-party tested.
Speaker 1:When you're looking at supplements, um, that's a really good indicator that what they're selling is actually good, um, valuable product. And start to kind of be aware of is like, when you're looking at food, how many ingredients are in the product. Like, if you're looking at protein, how many ingredients are there? They have these phosphates and they have these flavorings and they have all these different sugars involved and they have all these like learn the different terms of sugar, the glucose and the glycogen and the glycerol, and like all these different terms that basically mean sugar. Learn, learn those and and look for those in your product and be like, oh my gosh, there's seven different forms of sugar in this. Probably not good, I'm going to stay away from that one. Um, so just just, it takes a lot of actual like not study, but awareness of what those words mean and then, once you learn them, you can kind of like be very, very quick and discerning.
Speaker 1:When you pick up a you go to like a total nutrition or a complete nutrition or a GNC or something like that, you can go in there and be like, okay, where are the third-party tested supplements and they could show you, um, and then, and then look at what's on there and if you notice the the sugar words and the filler words, like I don't know if I want that much crap in my system, um, but yeah, those are my. That's my advice for choosing supplements. Number one look if it's third-party tested. And then, number two look at all the fillers that go into it. You want as little fillers as possible in your supplementation, but yeah, the number one supplements that you should take that literally everyone should take are creatine, protein, magnesium and vitamin D. If people had more of those, everyone would be healthier. Hard hard facts. But yeah, those are just go get, get those. Creatine, protein, magnesium and vitamin D. Get those, you'll be fine.
Speaker 1:Uh, anyway, let's um, let's move on to the devil's advocate. All right, so the Devil's Advocate is probably the best part of the show. Honestly, it's my most favorite part. It's the thing I enjoy the most, and what the Devil's Advocate is is a segment where I debate something. Sometimes it's serious, sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's entertaining, um, sometimes it's a joke, but it's. It's an exercise for me to not be married to my opinions, to challenge my opinions and my beliefs, um, which I think is extremely valuable and important, especially when it comes to politics and religion and health to challenge your own viewpoint, and you're the one that has to challenge it, not another person. So that's the whole point of the Devil's Advocate.
Speaker 1:Now, this one. I thought about doing a very deep one, but I'm going to save that one. I'm going to do it another time. This one is very simple and very straightforward, and it's a question that I've gotten at least a dozen times in the last week or so. Um, and that is what is healthier for you in the long run?
Speaker 1:Low intensity cardio, high intensity cardio or no cardio? Um, and so let's, let's get into it, fam. For starters, low-intensity cardio is, hands down, the foolproof way of losing fat very quickly and very efficiently, and is the best form over the long course of time. Um, so the the short answer is low intensity cardio, meaning, uh, not running sprints, not, uh, doing bike, not doing rowing, like low intensity, where, if you're wearing like a, a wearable, like a watch or a heart rate monitor or something like that, you're in like a zone two, which zone two, I believe, goes up to 130 beats. I think it's between, I think zone two is 105 to 132. Maybe I could be totally off on that. I think that's right, though. Um. So anywhere in that zone is called or or below that is low intensity Um.
Speaker 1:So the stairs, the stair master, everybody's mortal enemy. The stair master, great form of low intensity cardio. You're not sprinting, you're not damaging your joints. Um, you, you are getting your heart rate to a place where it's elevated, but not getting your cortisol spiked, your stress hormone spiked. So it's easier to maintain over the long course of time, over a long period of time, and you can do it very consistently, very frequently. You can do it every day. You know there's a big trend right now to get 10,000 steps a day. Make sure you get your 10,000 steps. And that's just because low-intensity cardio keeps your fat down, helps you burn fat more efficiently and it's easier on your joints. Like we said, it's easier on your body. You can do it for it's easier on your body. You can do it for um more frequently. You can do it for a long period of time. Um, you know, if you do, if you do sprints, if you do, they're fun, they're very fun.
Speaker 1:High intensity cardio, um is extremely fun and it's entertaining as fast paced, it keeps you involved, your heart rate gets super high, you breathe, you sweat a ton, um. You know you feel exhausted, which is a good feeling, and and. But it's not like your body hurts you breaking your body down. Your stress hormone gets so high that it starts packing fat rather than burning fat, um, so low intensity cardio is king as far as like staying trim and and and mass. Because what happens with high intensity cardio is if you do too much of it, your body goes into what we call rhabdo and it'll start eating the muscle because it doesn't have enough uh sources, or it gets confused and starts burning calories from the wrong sources, aka your muscles. Um, and so the high intensity cardio is fun, not great longtermterm, especially for just fat loss.
Speaker 1:So the answer is low intensity cardio. It's very good for you, it's safe for you, it doesn't put too much demand on your body. You can do it more frequently. Safer, you can do Like it's. It's easier to do, meaning like you don't have to go anywhere. If you have a stair master, great, low intensity cardio counts as a walk getting the 10,000 steps in, um, so it's much easier for everyone to just do Um. So yeah, for everyone to just do so. Yeah, in the most simplest form, low intensity cardio is king. Now, what is healthier for you, low intensity or high intensity? I have to go with high intensity.
Speaker 1:One reason above all else there are two things, two metrics that can guarantee better longevity in your life, and those two metrics are I've talked about it before your leg strength and your VO2 max. And your VO2 max is tested with high intensity cardio, and the test is brutal. It's very uncomfortable. You get on a treadmill, they hook you up to like an oxygen mask and they have other electrodes all over your body and you run and they increasingly speed it up and speed it up, and speed it up and speed it up until you gas out, and they track your time and they track your heart rate and they track where your heart rate is during that time and how long you're in that heart rate zone, and, um and uh, so they and obviously there's way more to that, that's the most simple layman's terms Um, but that is how you test your VO2 max and it's one of the best indicators that we have for predicting the longevity of your life Um, and you cannot have a strong VO2 max without doing high intensity cardio.
Speaker 1:Um, and so then the question arises okay, well, if that's the case, how do I do high intensity cardio without ruining myself? And that, my friends, is a great question, um, so you, you should do high intensity cardio consistently, not frequently, I hope you understand the difference between the two. Frequently would be more than once a week. More than once a week, consistently would be maybe once a week over the course of a very long time, um, because it keeps not only does it keep your VO two max healthy, um, and your VO two max is the rate at which your um your blood, or your not your blood, your heart uses oxygen in your blood cells. So, like, how fast and how much oxygen can your heart produce in your blood? Um, and the red blood cells and the all that stuff?
Speaker 1:Um, so, that being said, you don't have to do high intensity cardio every day to have a good VO two max. Um, it's not healthy to do high intensity cardio every day. It's just not healthy for you. It's bad for your cortisol, it's bad for the way that your body digests food, it's bad for your metabolism. If you do it very, very frequently, you will plateau very quickly.
Speaker 1:If that's all you do, you can't really make progress like legitimate strength gains or which is a, as we know a metric for longevity your leg strength. You can't really make any strength gains if you're only doing high intensity cardio or high intensity workouts. So you should do them because it keeps your muscles elastic, it keeps your joints fluid, it keeps power in your muscles, good for agility and all of those things can really only happen with high intensity cardio and you need that to live a long, full, healthy life. But you should not do it every day. So what is better to do, low intensity or high intensity? Well, both. I know that's not usually how the devil's advocate goes, but it's true. Also, it depends on what stage of life you're in.
Speaker 1:If you're young, do a lot of high intensity cardio. It's very good for you. You're young enough, your body can handle it. As you age you need to switch to lower intensity cardio and do high intensity consistently, infrequently. So better for you as far as fat loss goes. You as far as fat loss goes, low intensity cardio. Better for you in the long term of longevity, high intensity cardio.
Speaker 1:So that was a pretty evenly debated devil's advocate and one that isn't super divisive. It's pretty straight shooting on that one. You do need both of them. So let me know what you think, what do you prefer? Do you hate cardio? Which one's your favorite? Why or why not? You can message the show, I'll get those. You can message me directly. You can tell me your opinion. If I know you in person, person, let's chat, um, but that's your devil's advocate. Usually they're a little bit more uh, a little bit more divisive, a little bit more, uh, aggressive, so that one was fun just to get back in the swing of things. Next time it'll be a little deeper, a little more intense, um.
Speaker 1:But before we get you out of here, let's leave you with the final takeaway. But before we get you out of here, let's leave you with the final takeaway. Okay, so your final takeaway today is what I mentioned earlier and the final takeaway if you're new to the show, if you've never watched the show or listened to the show, the final takeaway is a short piece of actionable advice that you can do to like actually improve your life and actually become better, and something that's like not not, maybe it's not easy to do, but it's easy to get done and it's. It's kind of just like a mindset shift. I guess your, your final takeaway today is thinking in the longterm about yourself.
Speaker 1:Um, I've been doing that a lot recently. Um, I have some really big decisions to make coming up as far as, like, careers go and, um, family stuff goes and you know, big, actual life changing decisions potentially. Um, and they can be overwhelming, they can be scary, they can be uh, intimidating, and the thing that helps me the most in in those situations is thinking the longterm of of, okay, so this is not going to last forever, this is not how my life is going to be forever, and that's okay. What's the longterm? Can I see the longterm here? And if I can't see the longterm, probably don't need to go down that road. Um, not not saying that I need to have all the answers or that I need to have, like, some sort of like magnificent vision of the future, but but if I can't see it long-term, then it's not my choice.
Speaker 1:Like, for instance, um, I had the opportunity to interview to uh a position with berries to move to salt Lake, um, to open a studio there, and at first it was like, oh, so fun, legit, I go back to where my family is, jj could be around his cousins and and you know I was in it, I was down. I was like, let's go, baby, um, and then I sat down over the weekend, um, and this was after a couple of interviews and, uh, I, I really tried to see long-term the benefits. And outside of family and I know family's great and I love my family and I want to be around my family, but outside of that there's no, I can't see a long-term benefit to that Um, all of the long-term benefits are here and so, like it's just decisions like that, thinking long-term, that make a massive difference and especially when it comes to your health, thinking the long-term is the best. If you think long-term, you will not get yourself into a scenario of an unhealthy diet, because healthy diets are long-term, not short-term fixes. You won't start doing dumb programs, because long-term programs are where it's at and very few people promote those. So you can kind of sift the real training people and the people that care about fitness, uh, if they're promising short-term results or not, um, and and just thinking, okay, is this something that I can do over the course of three or four years? And if that's not your timetable, you need to switch your mindset. And I'm not saying everything has to be three or four years, but if you get in the habit of thinking like that, a couple things will happen. Number one you will be so much more at ease in stressful situations because you won't be so. Won't be so split second, reactionary decision making, and sometimes that's if you need to be able to make decisions quickly. But you'll be much more comfortable at making decisions because you won't let your immediate emotion dictate that. Because when you start to think long term, the emotional response kind of gets taken out and logic and reality kind of set in, and so that's the final takeaway is just try more often to think long term and I know we hear that all the time and I know that's like cliche and I know that's really simplistic but the more that you'll try to think like that, the more often you'll think like that, the more it will become habit and the slower your life will be, the more in control you'll feel about your life and making decisions, because it won't be such a reactionary life. You'll be in more control, thinking long term. But yes, that's your final takeaway.
Speaker 1:I love you guys. I'm glad to be back on the show. I'm hoping to make this more consistent. I know I say that every time and then life gets in the way, um, but I feel renewed. I feel a little bit more in control of my life now. Um, there was a rough patch there. I'll be honest, mentally. Uh, I got drained, I got depressed, I got a little bit messed up. Um, so I'm glad to be back. I'm glad I'm in a happier, better state.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning in. If you do like the show, if you enjoy it amazing Please share it and get people to tune in. That would make a huge difference to me. I love hearing your opinions and talking to you about it, but if you could share those with other people, that would be just magnificent. As always, I love you guys. I hope you know you're important. I hope you know you're important. I hope you know you're valued and I hope you know that you're worth it. Um, and this is the fit perception podcast, I'm your boy T and I am out. We'll see you next time.