Markusfit: The Truth Behind Most PED Use vs. Competitive Bodybuilding Now

Marcus Hunter, also known as Marcus Fitt, IFPB pro in men's physique, and well known over the course of the last five years in his social media and content around transparent gear use.

When I went pro, that show was my best look by far.

And I think it was because we didn't use any diuretics.

Really?

Yeah.

We used Expel, but we didn't use any diazide for that show.

Stage.

I've actually never been full on stage ever in my life.

I've always been very crispy and just like kind of flat.

That was the fullest I've ever been.

And I would still probably say 50%.

So I'm hoping with cuts, he's able to fill me out all the faith that he's able to do it.

How much you operate better on a daily basis plus how much lower your mortality risk is fucking insane.

Imagine if you're a bodybuilder doing all those things.

If your body was working at 150% more optimal than the other bodybuilder that's not taking care of his health as much.

Bro, you are optimizing your use of all these drugs properly.

You're going to live way longer.

You're probably going to be able to grow muscle quicker too.

When I was younger, I did not care as much about taking all of that.

None of us give a fuck about it, bro.

We'd fucking drink.

Yes, exactly.

It's definitely not on

It's not even on it.

Actually, fucking

on it.

No more dies I do.

Gives me freaking edema, man.

Oh shit, really?

Yeah, it takes me like a month to get rid of it.

Right around my ankles and everything.

So I'll wear socks to bed, the compression socks, and it's like a mushroom over the top.

No, no, it's bad.

I'll send you a video after this.

Like, as I've gotten older and been a pro and trained with more people, there are levels to intensity.

And I thought I was training intense until I trained with other people.

And I'm like, okay, I can definitely take it up another notch.

You kind of need to work out with people that are at that level to unlock.

That's probably the biggest one recently, the intensity thing.

It was huge.

I heard someone say that they're on prep for Olympia and they were taking 800 MIGs of trend.

Sick.

And the person they were talking to, they said that they were a pussy because they were only taking 150.

And I was like.

My guy, 800 trend?

That's half my total androgenic load in my offseason.

Like, that's just one compound.

It'd be worse, but it doesn't work the best.

And so switching over from row split to actually making sure i'm hitting each muscle two times within a given week being more strategic with how i plan out to hit those muscles and then also just the intensity what's the cycle that did you got

oh

what's up bro can you hear me is this fine

you kind of sound like you're uh speaking out of a tin can oh do i fucking really

I wish someone would have told me that before.

Okay, give me one second.

I gotta find my fucking headphone.

Have you been cheating on me with other podcasts?

Is that what's going on?

No,

Zoom calls.

Oh.

Yeah.

Are we recording already?

Yeah, but it's okay.

It doesn't matter.

I don't want a freaking head.

Let me work my magic.

I like your magic.

Everyone wants to know.

I actually really like Marcus's magic.

Oh.

Marcus's magic trends me on.

Marcus Magic.

Got work base.

To listen new while we're recording.

Give me the updates on the life of Niall.

Niall is running 1,000 milligrams of Trent,

and he's extremely horny out of his mind.

What's your actual dose?

100 juicy mugs.

100 juicy million vanilles.

Dude, 100 does a lot.

People don't realize that.

That's crazy coming from you.

I feel like at 100, I'm already feeling it.

On the trans side, at least.

isn't that crazy as we get older we're just like as we get older we're like

we like

we're like more aware of how how the dose as i get feels

today

yeah how is it dude it's it's pretty sick i think you would like it a lot it's very similar to almost like young la esque vibes so not very good

It's better equipment.

Better equipment.

For sure.

Than the Young LA gym.

Young LA did get some of the fucking new tech equipment in, though.

Now it's fucking phenomenal.

I actually come every time I do the leg extension.

It's amazing.

I will say I was very skeptical.

It being new tech, I knew it from like China or Korea or something like that.

And I was like, this shit's gonna fucking

racist.

Just like the last podcast.

It's all over again.

Rob can never win with you.

Should have signed up.

Should I know what I was signing up for?

I just thought it was going to be kind of janky and it wasn't.

It was a very, very, I'd say like 80% of it was pretty freaking solid, you know?

Yeah.

New tech equipment in

Derek's gym.

That's it.

Okay.

Yeah.

Dude, I definitely

there I go.

All the bolts and everything seem secured and like everything just seems like, you know, you go to like, I don't know, any other equipment you use and just over time, it's so quickly becomes

like there's like space in between with the plates and like feel it like jiggly.

It's a little off balance.

Right.

Things are off.

Yeah, there's no full stretch on any of the machines.

They're also, I'm pretty sure they're pretty strict about who they let into their gym as well like you have to submit an application form and they go through like your social media and stuff because they want social media yeah like i had to plug in my social media i'm pretty sure and they there's a minimum follower requirement no i think it's more so like they want real body

real bodybuilders in there not just like kids

minimum follower requirement

yeah if you're under 50k like it's not happening they want people only to promote their gym very exclusive club that's actually gonna be like a nice gym so if you guys want to have at least 50K on your TikTok, you can fuck off.

Lex is your gym in Kentucky.

Because TikTok's the most important platform, huh?

TikTok.

That's where all the magic happens.

It's like the one platform I do not care anymore about at all.

My favorite thing, whenever people come up to me and they're like, you're a TikToker.

You know me.

You know me.

It's actually what I'm known best for.

Is it really?

People are like, normally it's TikTok?

No, no, it's just whenever they say that, I want to throw myself off a cliff.

Yeah.

It used to be like, oh, I see you on TikTok.

It was like, back when I was starting, it was like, that's pretty sick.

Like, they're seeing my stuff.

Now it's like, oh, you're a TikToker.

It's like,

that's all you used.

You're a TikToker.

What do you do in your life?

It's like, all right, this kind of sucks, but you know what?

Whatever.

I feel like when I hear about your name now, I just think of like, I associate you with your podcast.

Yeah, that happens a lot more often now, which is

a good thing, actually.

Yeah, I would say it's a good thing.

Whenever you come up in conversations, it's like, oh, I love this podcast.

Like, that's Niall, Niall's podcast.

And most of the people here watching actually probably have no clue that we had a first episode, which is the cool part about this.

Yeah, back in the day, I think it was like, yeah, that was like your third episode or something like that.

It was a beginning, wasn't it?

That was a good one, too.

I actually had a lot of fun on that one.

No, we both did.

I'm going to be real with you, though.

I actually forgot the entire thing.

So I just re-watched it like an hour ago.

It was, I'm pretty sure it was just, I think, pretty sure we just, it was almost like bro chat.

We were just kind of like sitting there like talking back and forth for the most part, right?

We didn't really talk that much about bodybuilding and gear.

We actually just talked about our lives, which I think is a good thing because I would like to ask you some stuff again about that.

Just for a little bit more of a foundation.

People, there's a, I have a whole new audience now that I had before.

Yeah.

I remember we were talking about just like how we started and like the legacy we want to leave behind.

And it's crazy because you're like, you're like telling me like bro like uh you know you're known around san diego for like you know um having this like physique and separation and stuff and like your transformation and that's when i started the podcast now you're telling me that all you hear is like oh i just switched it over

that's yeah i switched it over now nobody watches my instagram at all anymore it's actually awesome i actually saw on your post the other day it had like 20k likes on it i was like that's really good what 20k i feel like that's none of them

no there was i think it was one of you and lexi that's probably why

Yeah, those are the only ones that do well because people just.

That's okay.

I think the podcast,

the podcast is your baby, you know?

Like, you built that up.

Yeah, the podcast is my baby, not Lexi.

Yeah.

Make sure she knows that.

But everyone likes, everyone always likes Lexi and I's photos and stuff, and then it's great.

It's like all the pressure that I really needed.

If the relationship doesn't work out, then

fuck you, Nile.

That's the relationship.

Doesn't work out.

This is betting on your own downfall.

No, I'm just teasing, guys.

Every day is trying to make things happen, right?

Trying to make things work.

That was the thing that I was thinking about, though, when we were talking about our legacy and shit that we were focusing on.

I remember back in the day, I was like, I feel like we had so much motivation and drive behind us.

Like, I want to achieve this.

Like, I want to make sure that I leave this kind of legacy behind where I help people.

Yeah.

Like, even though, you know, at the time, I was making more like workout type videos and you were making more like

personal talking head videos where you're actually like sharing your life your experiences and like your

um like your steroid uses and all these things which is literally what i do on the podcast now like

now i just i don't even know what i do now i i struggle every day to come up with content i'm like god what are we gonna post it

Your content's fucking hilarious, but it's so polarizing.

Dude, people hate it, man.

It takes so many people off.

Yeah, dude, it's just like whenever, whenever I make a post, I try and keep like an objective, for the most part, like an objective view.

Like, even if I don't like the person that's, I'm doing a video on, I try to keep objective, like the pros and the cons, the good, the bad.

And people just hate, like, you speak facts now, and people just immediately call it out as hate.

It's like, oh, this guy doesn't have that great of a physique.

Oh, you're such a fucking hater.

It's like, I'm sorry.

Are you looking at it?

Like, you're telling me that's a good physique?

Like, you're telling me that a good response to gear?

Or he's lifting correctly?

Like,

I think the hilarious thing is like, people don't know you in person.

At least all those people that are saying that.

So like

I think what they don't realize is you're literally the exact same person online as you are in person.

The exact same.

But like if you're like talking with friends, everybody's going to talk shit with their friends, bro.

That's something that I like, that's something that honestly I've been like adapting to because I haven't.

you know, like, especially when I was living in San Diego, I really appreciated everyone's good energy and things.

And that's kind of the kind of mindset I tried to have.

But me now realizing I may have to move to places like Kentucky or all these other places with different cultures, man, you go to something like the East Coast, people don't give a fuck.

They'll talk shit about everyone behind everyone's back.

And to me, it like ticks me off.

You know, it's a little bit weird, but it's just kind of how it is.

It's like almost people are just sharing their experiences, their views with people that they're close to.

Yeah.

And it's, it's just a weird thing because it's like, you know, like, is it a good thing?

Is it a bad thing?

Is it not?

Does it matter?

Not that much.

Like, I guess as long as you're not like, what is it called?

What's the word?

I guess as long as you're not like actually trying to like fucking put down someone's like reputation, right?

Yeah, like

defame someone or like hurt them in any way, like that's malicious, you know, right?

But that's probably what people are thinking that you're doing online because you're the same person online as you are.

Like, oh, he's trying to like, he's just hating on this person to put him down, you know, he's spraying negativity.

He's like, I just keep it real.

Like, people hate keeping it real nowadays.

It's all hate.

Like, anything real, as long as it's not positive, it's just hate.

And I'm like, okay, whatever.

I'm a D1 hater.

It is what it is, you know?

It's the way you say things, too.

You're just so extremely blunt.

Yeah, I'm just so straightforward.

I do know that I, especially even in my personal relationships too like i'm a pretty blunt person it's never meant to be like hurtful or malicious like i said it's just i just it's black and white doesn't mean you know i just say how it is and people say what's your delivery and i'm like okay apparently i need to work on my delivery it is your delivery i just i know that like i need to work on my delivery but it doesn't change the fact of what i said that it's true you know like if it's like if i say something if it's not my opinion you know but

whatever we all we all can be bad we all can make improvements you know I guess in your defense, I mean, I don't know if I've, I haven't seen all of your clips, so maybe I'm missing some things, but the ones that I do see are always like,

I hate to say this, but like a lot of the people that like you post, like the things that they're posting, like it's clear that these guys really need to like,

if their friend cared about them, I would be like, hey, man, you should probably take a BG on the gear.

You should probably like.

Dude, I say that to my clips.

You should probably get your blood work done.

I don't know.

Did I say that to my clips?

Like, bro, like, sometimes people need to say the tough things in love.

You know, I only say this to I I love you.

Like, I say that to my clips, too.

It's like, who is, who is telling these guys, like, oh, this is a good idea?

Like, keep doing that.

Like, oh, like, you're looking good.

You're, you're, you look two weeks out.

You know, it's like, whatever it may be, it's like, dude, you're like nine weeks out.

Right.

You're just hating him.

Sorry, he's not conditioned.

It's not my fault.

Yeah.

You know, but

the same shit you would tell your guy friends, not your girlfriend, but.

Yeah, like

your real friends.

Like, if you're going to be real with your friends about things that they're doing, whether whatever it may be, you keep it real with them.

You'd want a friend like that.

You You know, I just keep it real, or I try to, and people are just like, no, that ain't it.

I'm like, all right, whatever.

Works for me.

At least this far, you know, it's not broke.

Don't fix it.

If those kids aren't actually posting, well, that's all the thing is like, I don't know if these people are posting things for,

did Greg do set say this or something?

I don't know who's, but

the Rage Bait type of clips.

Yeah.

Like RBP was talking about this a lot.

I'm sure Greg has mentioned this before, but I don't know.

I don't know what Greg talks about some clips.

Yeah.

But yeah, I think, I feel like some of these clips sometimes are like purposely like these kids already know that it's going to like pop off because it's absolutely crazy or ridiculous.

Or like the guy with like the guy who like, you know, looked like he had a negative mega 100,000 times explosion of Accutene on his back.

Yeah.

Not working well.

I don't know.

Like, like people know that it's going to get views and they chase the views, but it's like, it doesn't convert to followers.

It doesn't monetize.

Like they just get like a boost of serotonin or something because of the serotonin.

The following year, though, I don't know if it's the right one.

What am I thinking of?

Not serotonin.

Yeah,

maybe dopamine.

Dopamine.

I think it dopamine.

That's serotonin.

Yeah, a boost of dopamine because they seem to be.

I'm feeling zero serotonin afterwards.

Oh my gosh.

It's been a long time.

I've been packing for Miami.

I've been running around.

It's hit legs.

Give me a break.

Serotonin, dopamine.

A boost of dopamine because I just see the view count go up, you know?

But I try and do like research, though.

Like, I try and like dig into it a little bit and see, like, is this real or is this just like constantly their content?

It's just rage bait, but kind of hard nowadays.

I think that's the thing that I was thinking about too.

It's like, um,

so

like, how do you, what do you feel like your,

what do you feel like is the legacy that you want to leave behind right now?

I do, my mindset switched on this a lot recently.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like, I mean, actually, I would, yeah, actually recently too, since we last talked in this, I really don't care to leave a legacy anymore.

Like,

I really don't think I care.

I used to be, dude, I want to leave a legacy when they think of like Marcus, like he helped so many people, or he was a great bodybuilder.

Like recently, like as I'm getting older, like, I just care to like

make good memories, live my life to the fullest, help as many people as I can, but all just in my life, like I don't care really what other people think about me anymore.

And the less that I've cared about what people are thinking about me or the future legacy that I left and leaving behind, the more I'm living just in the now, the more more my life is getting better and better, and I'm enjoying it more.

And so, I used to be really big on the legacy, like, what kind of every man wants to leave a legacy.

I'm just like, Ryan, my kids will remember me if I have kids, my grandkids probably remember me.

And after that, I'm forgotten, just lost, you know.

That might be this most like dismal outlook, but just the way I feel about it now.

What if you're like Christopher Columbus and you've you like find that like the 100th steroid or something?

People will remember you forever for finding it.

They could.

The one, like the

perfect myostatin, like inhibitor that allows you to

like tread smell discoverer.

Yeah.

He discovered the first actual pheromone cologne, you know, or whatever it is.

I think it would be cool, but like, I really, unless nowadays, like, I don't know, you think about anyone, unless you're like one of the great bodybuilders, like, I'm like in thinking about any influencer, like, I don't think anyone's really going to have like the greatest legacy ever.

You know, like, I look at like,

for example,

um,

uh,

dude, I'm gonna say legs, my brain, none of my blood is in my brain.

Um, no, uh, Hani Rainbob, greatest coach of all time, right?

He will leave a legacy.

Cuts will probably leave a legacy as the most winning physique, but like a lot of other guys probably won't have the best legacies, you know.

Most competitors, 99.9% of them, will never have a legacy unless you're a Mr.

O or something like that.

Even the first men's physique, Mr.

O, no one even knows who that is really anymore, unless you follow like Mark Anthony.

Like, no one knows, and he's one Mr.

O, you know, so it's like, in order to leave a legacy that goes past like generationally i think it's just a little difficult to actually do these days with how skilled and how many people there are out there so i feel like it's if you just focus on yourself and making sure you're happy i feel like that's the best thing you can do now

right i feel like um

I mean, my personal perspective is that everyone leaves their own kind of legacy, but your terms of definition and what everyone else probably considers like a legacy, like generational, like, I understand what you're saying.

But what do you feel like has caused you really to like switch that kind of mentality recently because i feel like i relate in a lot of ways but i want to hear your perspective first you know when i was younger i was thinking so much more into the future all the things i want to accomplish and i want to do this and i still have ambitious and i still have like goals that i want to achieve um and as i go through life i just feel that life is so much more about relationships and the people that you surround yourself with and the memories that you make and the way you impacted people you know around you and the more i started focusing on that that and less on the achievements I want to unlock, I want to win a pro-show and get to Olympia, which I do, but that's not my number one priority in my life anymore.

I shifted kind of my focus on

the achievements more so to just my enjoyment of my life, my actual happiness and being fulfilled.

And when I switched it towards that,

I was like, hey, well, the legacy may come.

It may not come.

But either way, at least I'm happy.

I'm not struggling with a ton of mental health issues because I'm focusing on all these other things.

I'm just focusing on cultivating my energy, my life, the people around me, and all the people I can help along the way.

Absolutely.

Like that's great.

But it just kind of switched over from this to that.

But don't you feel like you could still kind of technically consider that your legacy is like the people that you made a relationship with, how you affected them in a positive manner?

Yeah.

Carry on your vision.

I think you can call it a legacy, but I feel like when people hear the word legacy, I think like big.

Like,

what's your legacy, you know, especially as someone who maybe,

I don't know, I don't want to like gas myself up or anyone, but like, if you have a following, if you're a pro bodybuilder, you know, when we're thinking about the things you want to accomplish, like our goals are set pretty high, the legacy seems like a big word, you know.

I'm not so enthralled with the big word of legacy anymore.

It's just like, you know, I just really just want to be happy and then pour into the people around me and into myself.

And if I do that, I'm, you know, I think

if I leave a legacy, great.

But if I impact the people around me and they're happy and I can make their lives better, I feel like that's the most fulfilling fulfilling thing you can do.

Except for the few people that you make the clips about, right?

Except about like Diamond Jim and all the people that

are making the clips.

No, honestly, maybe that kid's going to like, you know, maybe he's going to take his blood break this time.

So maybe his life's going to be better.

So I've had multiple of those kids.

They'll leave comments and they'll actually had another kid recently send me a video and he was like, hey, I don't even remember this kid.

Like you made a, you made a clip on me or a video on me like eight months ago and I switched everything up.

And what do you think about me now?

And he looked like 10 times better.

Like he was way bigger.

His acne went away.

Like he was like, his physique looked better overall.

And he's like, I just switched up based on the video you made.

Granted, he was one of the few that takes, you know, constructive criticism, but mostly people just take it as hate.

But I was like, well, I've damned about it.

Well done, dude.

I was like, you were, I think, the first.

And look at how it turned out for you.

You know,

you have a little, you have a little sprinkle of constructive criticism with also just tearing them into pieces.

Like, you suck.

But if you change this, you might be decent.

it's like

oh shit um

that's actually really cool to hear though um it's weird because it's like as as much as you hate to say this because you don't want to make it like an excuse for you to like

like bro even like i'm sure a lot of the people in the audience can understand this like say that you were in a relationship and there was somebody who just uh like a partner for example who just wasn't motivated to do anything in life they weren't motivated to go forward they didn't want to like like change to improve themselves for both themselves and your relationship.

And in that moment, it's kind of just like, what are you supposed to do?

Like you can't really force them to change into a different person.

Like you can keep trying to guide them to a direction, but if someone doesn't want to change, they're not going to change.

That's on them.

Right.

Unfortunately, in

this modern age, it kind of requires some kind of a, almost like a traumatic incident or at least something that is of some kind of significant emotional, I think,

impact on a person for them to kind of make that switch and be like, you know what, fuck this.

This isn't the right place.

This isn't the right direction that that I'm going in.

I need to make a better choice.

And you can't really

like, I feel like it's kind of morally wrong to like almost like make that happen in a relationship.

Like, oh, I'm going to fucking cheat on this person so that they can, like, you know, like, that shit's just like fucked.

That's psychopathic.

But, but at the same time, it's like, if someone's not

If someone is not going in a good direction and it's causing your relationship to go downhill, for example, I think that at that point is probably the best time for you after some time of like, you know, introspective thought, maybe going to therapy, figuring things out with them together and just seeing that it's not working, going your separate ways and just realizing that you need to take your own path yourself.

And hopefully, maybe that is also enough for them to like kind of realize, like,

this person was really important to me.

This person was really positive and a great value to me.

Yeah.

Maybe I should make that change for myself.

And then it's crazy.

Normally, you see those changes.

Dudes start going to the fucking gym.

They'll start trying to like look better, get their fitness right, you know, be healthier.

And then then fucking, I don't know, you just see a lot of people like making transformations after something like that happens.

So yeah, as much as it sucks, um, I saw this

good that that kid is, yeah, making his, making a feeling, making a change better change.

Yeah, it's, it is definitely, it's a little, like, I wouldn't say fulfilling, but it's nice to see too.

Like, some people can take advice and make their lives better.

I saw this, um,

this one quote.

It's actually one of our mutual friends has it, and it says, like, everything is temporary.

And even with like relationships and whatever it may be they might not always work out and they haven't in the past for me and i'm sure for you as well but i used to be like really bitter and upset or i'd be like frustrated in the way things ended or turned out and as i've gotten older i just am kind of grateful i kind of just trying to keep a positive mindset like i'm just grateful for the time that we did have the good things that came out of it and now like our paths are separating like i just wish you the best and go on your way and you know it is sometimes you see people flourish and do better and go on to do great thing and sometimes they they don't but it's really not in our our control what happens after that.

You just kind of have to be grateful and try and stay positive because if you don't, then you just end up getting bitter.

Yeah.

So

I guess

when I was asking you why you felt like your mindset has changed over time,

reflecting back on the very first conversation we had about legacy, and I don't know how many people in this audience might have heard that conversation, but I remember listening to it.

today and just thinking like man that was a really awesome conversation that we had to just kind of like envision the future that we wanted to create for yourself.

But

we sounded a little bit naive.

We sounded a little bit naive.

Because I haven't watched it.

And I was kind of curious.

I'm like, what do we say?

Because I feel like it was going to not exactly be what it is.

It was super wholesome.

And that's what's cool is like, you know, we weren't talking about like, oh, I want to become the fucking best in the world and shit.

We were just saying that like we want to leave a positive impact on others.

We're saying basically the same thing we mentioned now.

But I think now as you grow older, you just, it's crazy just how much changes in life each year alone, let alone two years, three years, four years, five years, seven years.

Like,

it really does feel like you, you enter a different stage every, I don't know, fucking seven years or something.

And, um, like a completely different life.

And at least for me, um, and maybe you, because you've also done a lot of this traveling and like, I don't know if it's considered soul searching, but like, you know, doing shit.

It's not a nine-to-five job in the exact same town with the exact same people in the exact same relationship.

Like, there's a lot of change going on, which I think there is a lot of people that can relate to that.

And

you just kind of realize that there's a lot of things out of your control, right?

Especially if it comes to like social media and content creation.

Like

the feeling of like how you want to impact a lot of people and help make a positive impact for me, that continues to stay.

And that's something that I want to keep doing.

But I think I realized that like,

um, I need to learn how to detach myself from my success being like a measure of how much positive impacts I'm making on people.

Yeah.

No, very much so.

I think also the same.

Like, I, I've always gotten a lot of fulfillment.

It's made me probably brought me the most joy when I'm able to help people in whatever aspect it may be.

And I think probably back on that, reflecting back on that conversation, it was probably just on a bigger scale.

And like, I want to help as many people as I possibly can.

I think, but as you get older, you realize, you know, just naturally, like your circle kind of small, like gets a little bit smaller, a little smaller.

It's fucking freaky.

I think the, the, the,

how naive I was back then, or we were back then, it was, I want to help all these people.

And I still do, but I think my focus is more on helping the people that I'm personally in relationships and in contact with.

And then everything else is just a bonus for me because I can't help everyone in the world.

I can help as many people as possible, but the ones that personally are.

in my direct circle is the number one priority for me.

Right.

Yeah.

That's what I'm kind of realizing as well, too.

Like, there's a lot of people that kind of just believe like you have to take 400 megs of trend on every single prep.

Everybody else, every bodybuilder is a fucking liar.

Just

want to help.

So I was at the gym,

the new gym that I was going to, and I heard someone say that they are

they're on prep for Olympia and they were taking 800 megs of trend.

And I and the person they were talking to, they said that they were a pussy because they were only taking 150.

And I was like,

my guy, 300, I was losing, losing it.

And 800 trend, that's half my total, you know, androgenic load in my offseason.

Like, that's just one compound.

I was like, brother, like, it was crazy.

But I just thought it was so funny.

Like, you're a pussy for only taking 150.

Tell me this guy was like at least like 300 pounds or something.

Yeah, he's a top 10 classic guy.

Okay.

So still, maybe not 300, but close.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's up there.

He looks freaking fantastic.

Don't be wrong.

But I'm like, damn, top 10 classic guy.

That narrows it down quite a lot.

Yeah, but I was like, damn, it's crazy.

Yeah, wild.

That is wild.

I hear a lot of stories, especially from like Phil Aviz.

Just, there's just so, there's so much crazy that has gone down.

And I think that's one of the issues is,

dude, fucking Fuad and Ian and Ian and while the boys were talking about this on RBP2, they said the exact same thing I've said in a bunch of podcasts and that I heard them say it on their podcast.

I'm like, thank God.

But

that there's just like.

There's this idea that all bodybuilders are like homogenous.

And it's like you learn that you hear that one bodybuilder is taking 800 mix of trend.

Yeah.

Probably all the rest of the bodybuilders are taking 800 bigs of trend too.

And they're probably just fucking lying.

Dude, honestly, I,

the more you get into it and dive deep and kind of like pull back everything, it's kind of like a lucrative to actually get into the nitty-gritty of it.

The more I'm realizing, like, damn, like these dudes are,

they're pushing it.

Like, they are pushing a lot.

And, you know.

everyone's like, oh, I'm not taking this, or I only took this, or I only took that.

And I'm like, well, the current guys are taking this.

I can hear it out of their mouths.

Like, you've heard it out of people's mouths with,

and it's, it's very eye-opening to like, if you really want to get to that level, like, yes, they have crazy genetics, but they are also pushing the gear like hard.

And I don't think people quite understand to the level that it goes.

Do you think this is pretty consistent across the board, though?

Because

I feel like it's the most inconsistent thing.

Like, you got guys that are taking like Samson.

I try and

take four grams, you know, um, at the same time.

Um, so it's just it's just so across the board, and I feel like it's very

you got to play around with your own body, you know, because it is,

and as you grow

and as you grow you also have to take more right sorry just if you guys never listen to like our podcast in person now you can finally hear the difference between having a fucking video call versus an in-person podcast video calls fucking suck yeah it's way better in person they're so tough man sometimes half the time i'm just like wondering like

I gonna fucking talk and it's not it's not you it's the fucking it's the fucking internet connection it's not you damn sorry bro it drives me crazy

yeah

It's so funny.

I do think there is a, it comes down to the genetics.

Like we see it already.

Like, for example, my content, you see on the shitty scale, right?

You see the kids with the horrible genetics taking a lot looking like shit versus people just the pro guys, just guys that enter top NPC guys that are taking the same stuff and they look phenomenal.

You know, they're pro, they're qualifying to go pro.

And then you take that to the next level.

And I think it's the same thing.

I think you have the guys like, you know, Sam Snoop could probably run, you know, one one-fifth of what other guys are taking.

And then you hear about the other guys on the podcast, and they're taking four or five times that, you know, four or five grams of gear.

And they're still competing on the same level.

But in order to get there, they have to, you know, throw a lot more into their body.

Right.

And I know for me, too, I am taking the most I've ever taken right now.

I'm taking two grams like on the dot.

And mind you, I am pushing the most food I've ever been able to push, but the gear, the EQ that I'm taking has allowed me to do that.

And I've grown more in the last probably two and a half months than I have in the last like probably year and a half just based off upping my dose by or up my total by probably 50%

and eating allowing me to eat more food.

How much more food would you say?

I'm sitting at like 5,500 calories right now today.

5,500?

Yeah, 5,500.

For me, that's a fucking insane amount.

And I was dying at like 43 before and now I'm eating like 55.

Granted, the way I'm getting it down isn't like the absolute best, but it's going down.

And I've never been able to do that before.

I mean, Mike Summerfeld said the same thing on our podcast

in his own words, of course, which is like, as you take more gear, you're going to have to eat more food.

Like, that's the point of it.

And

I think for us bodybuilders who want to keep aesthetics,

now it just comes down to like, how much can you take and how much can you eat all at once without one destroying your blood?

Like.

Having your blood work at least consistently okay.

Yeah.

Fucking okay.

Okay.

Decent.

And then and then having your gut not being extended extended all the time, because obviously that's going to make you look like shit later.

Yeah, dude, the gut thing is huge, dude.

Like, I feel like I always have a food baby, and I'm always flexing to try and keep it tight right now to like suck it in.

And, but the gear thing is true.

Like, I always was like, you got to take, as you grow, you have to take more, right?

And I was like, okay, I'm going from like 500 tests to 600 tests.

And I'm like, now I'm doing 750.

And then I realized, like, nah, we got, I got with my coach.

He's like, no, we got to bump that.

And we bumped it.

And immediately it was like going like this to just like, like, it was a massive jump real quick when I saw that.

Here's the thing that I think is like, I hear a lot of coaches, and well, not even just like, bro, there's a lot of people that will say,

and this is, there's a huge fucking truth to this.

I just hate to say this because it's not the best, it's not the best example.

Um, cause it's kind of a blanket statement.

Just fucking take more and you'll grow more.

Just fucking take more and you'll grow more.

Now, the, now, the, the, now, the little, like, the little fucking,

the one one disclaimer to that, though, that's super important that I think a lot of people miss that will just say that you take more and you grow more on the comments is that if you take too much for how big you are, how much you're ready for, you're going to look like that guy that you made clips about.

Dude, just like what Dr.

Todd and I talk about.

It's like a cup that overflows, right?

Yeah.

And the rest of that, you know, the more you, the more it overflows, the more that's going to go to the prostate, the hair, the skin, the nails, the your organs.

I don't know, whatever else.

It's just going to overflow into side effects, things that aren't benefiting your growth in the long term.

Dude, that is.

I was literally talking with someone about that this morning.

And it was that, you know, you see these kids that are taking the same amount of gear I am, but like the look is so different.

And it's the fact that they aren't ready for that amount of gear because their body isn't big enough to use it all or how it's like, you know, they, I mean, you can see it in their skin.

It's like their skin and their jaw.

Like they just, instead of getting bigger, they just look more roided out, if that makes sense.

They don't actually look like they're growing.

They just look crazy roided out now with their skin.

It's all, you know, it's super texturized and grainy.

And it's just like, okay, that's not a good look.

But as you do grow, you keep having up it, but, you know, it's a sliding scale.

They just try and rocket it to the top and it doesn't work.

That's why I'm a little bit sus.

I'm a little bit sus about like whenever I hear people claiming like, oh, these guys have taken a fuck ton in the beginning.

That's why they're big now.

They don't take a lot anymore.

And I feel like.

I feel like maybe these guys have taken like a lot for how much they could take, but there's like one factor, which is their genetics so what's their propensity to be able to tolerate the drug that they're taking anyways right

maybe they can tolerate this maybe they can tolerate um two grams of total gear better than the kid that you made a clip about yeah probably can yeah and then the second one the second thing is like i'm sure they took a lot of gear for how much how big they were at the time but i'm pretty sure that they didn't take like

fuck i keep i keep about to say names um

i'm pretty sure they didn't well they probably didn't take like Olympian level doses at the start.

They probably weren't taking like three grams when like their second year ever of bodybuilding because that's fucking crazy, man.

Yeah.

Like even me, whenever I'd like, whenever I was younger and I was like, fuck it, I want to try a super high dose of all these things, whatever it was, I'd feel it.

Like I'd feel the side effects.

I'd feel

you would feel how unhealthy you are.

I'd almost like feel the heart palpitation.

I'd feel the high blood pressure rise.

I'd feel the water retention.

I'd feel the oily skin and the acne come up.

I'd feel the less,

it's so much harder to keep things and blood markers stable.

I think people,

a lot of the young guys too, they kind of ignore those.

Like the things you're talking about, like you can feel like the oily skin, the acne, you can feel the blood pressure.

When you are, when you've been bodybuilding for a while, I've been taking gear, you're kind of in tune with a lot of those.

You're like, oh, I'm noticing this.

I'm noticing that.

I feel like a lot of the younger guys, they're just taking a lot of gear and they're just ignoring them like oh that's just normal it's just normal to have these i'm just going to ignore them and keep blasting away to try and get to where i'm at and you know the guys that we were talking about that in the beginning didn't take this as a door to mount for the first or second cycle it's like you're right they they probably didn't they probably started somewhere where we started but because they were so much serious with it so much more serious with it and because they're eating the food and their genetics the scale they're able to increase it probably pretty more quickly than normal people are but it's not they just started at three grams they probably started you know like a gram and then went to 1.5 or two and then three like but it was it was pretty quick that they were able to do that you know versus now it's like these kids probably can't even handle like 500 and they're it's just blasting a thousand so it's like

yeah it's exactly why the beginner cycle exists in the first place that's what quintin uh quintin aria and i were talking about is like you really discover your body as you grow and the best body bullish in my opinion are the ones that you know they took like 20 years to like learn their body using gear bodybuilding figuring out the best way to train the best foods for them to eat over time, until they just perfected things that were best for their own body.

And then they listen to it.

They actually act upon it.

You know, there's a lot of bodybuilders that either they don't act upon it or they're kind of scared to communicate with their coach or their coach says no, and then they're scared to kind of,

I guess, discuss that with them.

Yeah.

Like push the boundaries and be like, no, like listen to me.

Like, I have noticed this response is bad.

I think we needed to make an adjustment.

And it's fucking hard sometimes with some of these top coaches, bro, because they're smart and they know what they're doing, but sometimes you're just an outlier in terms of like how you're responding to something.

Yeah.

I'll say too, like since I started taking gear, I mean, I've been taking a gear for six years now.

And it is very, I, I, I'm in pretty in tune with my body and like the compounds that work with me and the compounds that don't.

But that took a lot of trial and error, figuring things out, trying things, different doses, you know, different ratios.

And now when I build my protocols, like I'm pretty in tune with where my blood markers are going to be at, the way I can grow, you know, where my estrange is at, things like that.

And one of the things I've been doing a lot recently is I've been diving a lot more into like coaching just because I've been enjoying it more and more, especially as I've gotten more knowledgeable.

And the number one thing I tell my clients is, because they only work with me for a certain amount of time, then they can re-up if they want, is, yes, I want to get you from point A to point B.

One of my biggest

like priorities is to help you learn your body.

So that way when we're done, you get as much information for yourself.

So that way when you go on, you can build your own protocols or you know how you're going to respond to these things and you're educated on what the best course of action is for yourself.

And so I think a lot, the biggest thing I struggle with, probably with my coach too, when I talk to him and even when my clients talk to me is, I think people are kind of scared to tell their coach things and because for whatever reason, and because I should, I'm sometimes having like, cause I want to push it too, you know, like I want to push it.

I want to get there.

And I'm like, I don't want to tell him this is happening because I know he's probably going to like.

switch something or do this or that or he's he's just saying keep going he hasn't done this to me but like i'm sure people are like oh he's just going to say keep going and you know, I'm, like I said, I'm the outlier.

And so I think it's this, but communication is so key with your coach, too.

Like, it's like so pertinent to having success.

It's fucking like telling your parents something.

Like, you fucking, like, you broke out of the, I don't know, like you fucking left the house at midnight and like went to go party or something.

You're not going to tell your parents that.

It's hard.

It's tough to, it's tough to say certain things.

Yeah.

And, um, Patrick has always been super supportive of me.

So just prime example, sharing my own experience transparently.

Patrick has always been super supportive.

Every time I'm like,

every time he sees the progress, he

vocalizes it, right?

Vocalizes what he sees, and then he awards it.

He's like, you're doing well, blah, blah, blah, blah, et cetera.

Makes me feel good.

It's great.

Motivation.

I've been training for over 15 years now and I was too lazy to track anything training wise for about the first 10 years because science-based training is for pussies.

But I kept hitting plateaus from burnout, fatigue, joint issues, and injuries, and other factors that at the time I didn't really fully understand.

Realizing not everyone is built to handle the intense, insane workload and injury resilience as Tom Platts and Ronnie Coleman, sadface.

I wanted to speedrun that shit, but the reality is dudes that have always known their body best are the ones that have been lifting for at least a decade.

Shit takes a long ass time to figure out.

I started tracking all my training on the notes app on iPhone because I don't know what paper is.

Until recently, I started using the RP Hypertrophy app.

The RP Hypertrophy app spoon feeds you step-by-step workouts tailored towards whatever your focus is, or you can customize the workout yourself.

Well-educated coaches have always cost 250 to 500 or more a month.

I'm paying 500 bucks.

That's like 10 bottles of testosterone.

But if you're not competing or you don't have the money to spend, the app will adjust your program for you every week to maximize your long-term growth.

It'll base this on your pump, how fatigued you feel, how your joints feel, and more.

It takes in everything to account.

None of which I took into account in college because the only accounting I did was counting how many dumpies were in my class.

Look, there's a titty.

If you don't believe in science-based training, you don't got to do no three RIR shit.

You can just hoist heavy steel and track it because we all know that the people who say that they remember their weight sets and reps every week are full of shit.

IMO, there's a sort of middle ground where you track your progress and make sure all the variables are right in your food, sleep, gear, progressive overload, and then you go to the gym and slam those heavy PRs until your blood pressure is higher than Miley Cyrus.

If you're still unsure, they've got a 30-day money-back guarantee.

So if you still don't like it and it gives you a bad tan, you can get your money back.

That way, when you compete at your next show, your tan doesn't cost you the first place that you so well deserve.

So go to the link in the description below or you go to rpstrength.com slash nile and use code nile checkout.

That's rpstrength.com slash nile.

Code nile checkout.

It's a great thing about being in a relationship.

It's lesser trade-off because you spend so much time either.

You don't spend that time alone anymore.

You just can't spend it all focused on yourself.

You have another person to take care of, especially if you're a guy.

If you understand what I'm saying?

Yeah, I understand.

But the trade-off is nice to actually have someone support your fucking career and your passion.

So that's the best part for sure.

Very much so.

It is nice to have like, it's like your own built-in cheerleader, you know?

Yeah, your own built-in general.

Yeah.

Just whenever she feels good.

As long as she's okay.

As long as she's in the mood to be.

She's going to kill me for this.

Yeah, Patrick has always been been super supportive, and he really is like a father figure.

But if I'm going to be real, there's a few things that

I needed to tell him that I,

whatever.

We like to talk about dosages here.

So he was going to have me start 150 mix of trend, and I was just telling him, like, bro, I will do whatever else, whatever other compounds you have me take, anything.

But for trend, just trend, the one thing, like, I just feel like I just can't go over 100, honestly, because at a certain point, I like,

I almost,

it's so weird, man.

And whether it's psychological or not, um, over time of me using trend, I start noticing like the way that I think is a little bit more,

it's a little bit more like, fuck, I need to survive.

It's a little bit more like,

it's a little bit more like if someone cuts me off while I'm driving, I'm more prone to like want to rear-end them.

Otherwise, though, it's, it's, it's okay, but it's like, you just kind of get in the, in the mode where it's more just like, you're in the position that you can cut people off or cut relationships off.

Where normally I literally give no shit on a normal daily basis.

Like, I couldn't care less whenever I'm just doing whatever, just running whatever.

So it's like I care a little bit more whenever I'm on trend.

And it's just

whenever it gets towards the end of prep, because you're on low calories, it exacerbates it so much that it's in the point where it's like, okay, now that this is causing me psychological stress, that's actually pulling me back from my progress that I'm not able to sleep.

Yeah.

I'm just like trying to prioritize my sleeping ship.

So I told him basically, like, can I just do 100 megs of trend at first?

And he was like, okay, we can discuss it.

I normally have 150 for some of my low, lowest clients, or I have a lot of my clients taking 150 per week.

But if you can only take 100, then we'll be okay with that.

I jumped on trend.

I don't know what happened, but I think I freaked out for the first three nights.

I didn't sleep at all for three nights straight.

Yeah.

It was mental, or do you think it was actually due to the compound?

I don't know what it was, bro.

I really don't know.

Like, I've, I, I,

I, we started the trend 100 megs a week i did injections every single day which was like i don't know what is it is it like 14.5 or something per day um and uh

progressively every day every night i had more insomnia and like

if you have insomnia and you wake up the next day not having slept at all you understand how fucking like psychopathic you are

it's it's it's insane like you fucking

you you i don't know.

The easiest way to say it is I just feel like I go psycho.

So I'm like, I'm like

trying to hang on to my sanity and trying to hang on to me, like being a normal fucking person and not do something that's going to put me in jail or whatever.

And so I'm just telling him like, dude, I like, I could not sleep for these three nights.

And I didn't want to tell him because I thought it was kind of weird that I couldn't sleep for three nights right after I took trend.

And he sent me this long four or five minute voice message where he's like,

now you need to stop being a fucking pussy and suck it up

This is bodybuilding and the

top bodybuilders are not for bitches So you need to fucking suck it up and all this shit and

After he sent that message I just snapped me back in place and I'm like fuck it I'm gonna take a hundred pigs a trend.

I'm gonna keep going.

Yeah.

And I've been fine ever since.

So I don't fucking know.

It was definitely psychological.

The other

thing though, just in defense of it possibly not being psychological is ever since then, since I have had some trouble sleeping, I actually now just started taking Doxylamine.

Ever since those three nights of insomnia, I take doxylamine, which is a sleep aid

that is,

is it antihistamine?

Trying to remember what it is.

It's a shit that you like, you'll have in like Nyquil, but it

basically sedates you.

But there is a lot of people that use it for sleep.

The one problem is it's anticholinergic.

So over time, obviously if you take it for decades it can lead to an increased risk of alzheimer's or dementia okay so for me i'm just trying to support my choline system by taking a lot of like cdb choline and alpha gpc every day but i just started taking it every night and that because i'm just like it my sleep is way more important yeah i'm sleeping fine so it's also either psychological or it's the fact that i'm literally just band-aiding up my sleep with this fucking sleep aid every single night yeah that we're totally fine so but it's okay it's just a temporary band-aid and that's what what a band-aid's for so well that's the problem is like it hasn't been temporary oh it's so it's it's been every single fucking night every night yeah but you're only taking trend for a certain amount of time and then you're done that's true so it's only for the next two months or whatever you know and then it's like you can cut it

hopefully well if i have three shows maybe a little bit longer like three yeah but yeah yeah yeah so yeah not the worst but um i can understand the uh perspective for some people that it's a little bit tough to to communicate certain things with your coach especially if your coach is like holding you at a very high standard, you know?

Like, you don't want to let them down.

Don't fucking break.

Yeah, you don't want to let them down.

So, um, and I think that's the problem: is like

you just can't be scared to tell them certain things, especially when they're really important, when they, when they're in regards to your health, um, your mentality.

Like, as much as coaches sometimes feel a little stressed of having to be a therapist,

like if it if it has to do with your prep and things are changing, like in your diet or your training, or like in your sleep, like you got to, you got to say something, you know, you got to figure out a way to make that better.

Yeah.

It's only it's not only for you, it's for them too.

You know, you're like, you're their client.

And I have, I've, I've had clients who have not told me things and the outcome was not what we wanted.

And I find out after that, they were not telling me things, which could have prevented what, what, how it turned out.

And so it's not just there on the line, but like they're a representation of me as well, or you a representation of Patrick, you know, and so you definitely want to keep them in the loops.

That way they can make the adjustments to bring your best as well.

I know it's kind of hard to remember, but do you remember what kind of things?

Which might, what do you mean?

Like, do you remember what kind of things like you found out later on that like maybe a client wasn't telling you?

Oh, like they weren't eating.

Yeah, they like they weren't eating like simple.

It could be simple things.

Like I had one client that wasn't eating his food.

He just wasn't eating his food because he thought he was behind.

And because he wasn't eating his food, he was shrinking away.

And I was trying to figure out like why his weight was dropping so fast.

And I'm like, okay, I'm going to give you a little more food, trying to give you a refeed.

he wouldn't eat it and then he just came in and he looked that the transformation from the start to the finish he looked like I just starved him the entire time and just all his muscle was gone and he was flat and through peak week he looked so depleted I couldn't fill him out and I was like he's like oh thanks to my coach Marcus and I'm like I'm not fucking reposting this

you got to be fucking tripping if you think I'm fucking reposting this

like

so um but yeah there's been a whole bunch of little things but like eating is a big one honestly I feel like people are they they do not want to tell me like when they are eating or they are eating.

Um, but

yeah, I get that.

Going back to what you were mentioning just before we had a little break, um,

some of the craziest cycles that people were taking, especially like early on, what's the craziest cycle that you've heard of?

Dude, I heard, I saw one the other day, um, and the kid was, um, it was a kid from San Diego, actually.

And I was talking to one of my friends who was coaching him.

He took over his, his,

um,

his prep.

It was like mid-prep.

And it was a second-time NPC men's physique guy.

And he was running a gram and a half a test.

Mind you, this kid was like 160 pounds.

Like he had just gotten into lifting within the first year.

And he was taking,

it was like a gram and a half a test.

It was like 500 trend, 500 EQ.

It was literally like he went down the list and I was like, what?

isn't he taking?

It was like, it was like a gram and a half and then 500, 500, 500, 500, 120 micrograms of Clan.

Like it was everything.

He was still like 10 weeks out.

Like it was a massive, it was like like one of those cycles you'd see someone post.

Like, this is a joke cycle.

Like, this is a Reddit forum style cycle.

But his coach was just another NPC guy that was like, you need to take all this if you really want to come in on the top level, you know?

And he gave him a list of.

I was walking, I was, I remember looking at the text and the coach broke down everything that each compound would do for him.

He's like, NPP is going to be good for your joints.

Like he lifted it out, but that's not like a contest cycle prep, especially for this kid.

And my, my buddy who took, you actually know him, but my buddy who took over, it was like, yeah, we're cutting like pretty much all this out.

Like he just went down to like test mask nanobar because it was his second cycle ever.

Nice.

But yeah, I'm surprised with how much information is out there, how people still get themselves into taking these ridiculous cycles and also how they're pinning this much oil into their body.

Like they have to be psychopaths because I am taking probably two and a half CCs a day-ish right in there, two to two and a half a day.

And I run out of pin spots and i have six i do both delts both quads and both glutes and i'm just like dude like this sucks i don't know if i could go any higher like this i can't believe you pin a quad with two and a half cc's oh they eat it up

have you ever tried it they eat it it's like a glute it's a big muscle jesus christ yeah um i don't know man i hear a lot of i hear a lot of people saying the opposite dude the only people that say don't do your quads are pussies okay

Like, that's just the way it is.

It's a massive muscle.

It's great for injections.

It's hard to fuck it up.

The only reason people fuck up is because they don't know what they're doing.

Like, but that's any injection.

And it's like, oh, well, you know, you see all the scary stories of like a, you know, a chunk taken out of an infection.

That infection could have happened anywhere.

You did that dirty pin.

It just happened to be in their quad, you know, like they could have happened in their delt, could have happened in their glue, but they just happened to be in their quad.

It's a dirty injection.

And now they're left with a big chunk taken out.

And so that's, you hear those stories.

But me and, I mean, all my friends have done it for for five, six years.

It's my favorite pace to pit place to pin because it's so easy access, you know, just like right there.

It doesn't hurt.

It's for a men's physique better.

You know what?

I don't got to train my legs, so it doesn't really matter if they knot up or not.

It's like,

oh, shit.

That's going to be a polarizing one right there.

So I made a post about that and I was like, quads are a great place.

And it was like a war zone.

Everyone's like, no, it's not.

And everyone's like, dude, it's great.

And it's like, okay.

Like,

have you had any issues with your quads?

No.

Okay.

Well, then, why are you talking?

You know,

not you, not you, like people in general.

Like, oh, that's a horrible place to pin.

Okay.

Have you ever had an issue with it?

No, but like, I hear about it.

It's like, okay, well, the only first-hand experience, and you probably heard like the same three horror stories that everyone's posted about.

Yeah.

I had to be that guy to disagree with you, but I've had some issues.

In your quads?

In your quads?

I've been in my quads before, and sometimes it's okay if I put a smaller amount of oil, but it really just,

it's a little bit more of like

a minefield in there where it's like, I feel like I need to make sure that I hit the perfect place.

Otherwise, if I don't, it's hard to walk for a little bit.

Okay.

Okay.

Take this, though.

Every time, like, how many times, have you pinned there a lot, or was it just like a couple times it just didn't work out for you?

I don't know, maybe 10 times or something.

But

every time I pin in a new injection spot for the first week or two, no matter how what I pin, it's always sore.

Like when I hop back on cyclone and start paying my Delta and they always get sore, it always kind of comes down a little bit, gets red.

I feel like you have to get past that phase of like new injection spot of inflammation and then it gets good.

Because every time I hop back on cyclone and do my quads, they have the same thing.

They kind of not up.

It's not the most comfortable.

But then after a while, like it's completely fine.

Okay.

Yeah.

I think

I do feel like I do agree that

I think people can adapt to a spot if they continuously do it correctly and they don't have any issues.

But I'm going to be the fucking annoying guy that's going to try to be a smart ass and say something that's actually

try to say a smart answer.

I really do think that everyone just has a different spot that's better for them.

Like I can pin my lats and some guys just can't.

Somebody's just fucking, some guys are worried about getting nerve damage from getting it and shit.

And like I've been able to pin my lats for like what, fucking,

I don't know, three, four years or something, and I've never had any issues.

Now, knock of wood, you know, know, I don't want to end up getting nerve damage and then have calves like Ian.

I'm not kidding, but um,

um,

there's just like certain spots that I think some people are fine with and some spots that people aren't, and yeah, I would agree with that.

I'd take that, you know, same thing like with there's people that have high lat insertions, there's people that have low lat insertions.

Some people have a lot more surface area there to deal with, and also just have a way bigger chunk of muscle there.

Some people don't fucking have lats, honestly.

Yeah,

then they don't really do well in classic, but they don't do well anyway.

That's how it goes.

That's the part that sucks, huh?

Literally these days, like, as I kept competing and competing, like, I feel like lats got more and more important until literally, like, every single fucking dude up there,

every dude in the Olympia stage, just you fucking have to, like, look like a

nuts.

Like, there's so much meat hanging right there.

Did I go sometimes?

Like,

this is like, I guess this is the hater in me.

I go to some show, like, local shows sometimes, and I'll be with my friends.

And mind you, I don't say this out loud, but I'll be there and I'll like look at some of the amateur competitors.

I'm like, damn, if I had lats like that, I would just give up.

It's not even worth it.

Like, it's not worth putting your body through the whole rigmarole of bodybuilding just to have no lats, you know?

And it's not, you can tell like it's an insertion thing, you know?

I'm just like, damn, they just didn't get the lot, the genetic lottery on that.

I would fucking get into the fan.

It's a huge genetic thing.

And it really fucking is, man.

Some people can just build their lats easy.

That's me.

And then some people just can't.

Yeah, you have fucking lats, dude.

Your lats are pretty freaking big

like i realized recently that um

i think i've actually been training my back thickness the wrong way because i i worked out with dr todd and this guy every time he does a row

he does the full arnold or what is it the ronnie coleman kind of like scapula yeah retraction and just but like as max range of motion that you can with your scapula as fucking possible to the point where like when you're at the end of range of motion his chest is completely up his back is totally like it, just his shoulders are completely back, and his chest is completely up as much as fucking possible.

And I realize whatever,

yeah.

And whenever I'm doing things, like, for example, going on the T-bar row, it's like the pad is actually so thick that I can't even stretch forward.

So, I realize a lot of the rows that I've been doing are more of just like my biceps, my rear delts, and a little bit of rhomboid, but it's more of like an isometric

place

thickness.

And when I did his thing, I had to lower the weight, and my middle back down to my erectors were way more sore than they ever are normally during a back day.

So what did you, what did you, what exercises did he have you do that were different?

I had him doing my exercises, but he did them differently.

And I was like, fuck, I'm doing them wrong.

I literally had him do a straight bar cable row, right?

Where you, you, you know, straight bar cable row.

You just fucking,

you know, you have to.

You're using your erectors because you're not, you don't have any chest support or anything.

But he literally came all the way forward and then he would come back up like this.

And then I would watch the video back because we were filming a YouTube video of myself doing it.

And it would just be my arms basically moving the entire time.

Yeah.

But I didn't see as much flexion or extension in my torso as he did.

And it was just kind of like an eye-opener to me that I'm like, man, I could have probably been doing a lot more.

Cause you look at Dr.

Todd, he has problems engaging his lats.

So he learned a lot of things from me in terms of lat training.

And I haven't learned anything from him.

And now I just fucking learn that I've been doing it all wrong now.

Cause that guy's back thickness is insane.

Yeah, like it's just like it's hard to explain.

Like, you sometimes, I'm sure you've seen that too.

Like, you'll see some guys that have like a wide fucking back, but their back is flat.

And you'll see some other guys that have like no lats, but their back is thick as fuck, dude.

Yeah, I know exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think I'd rather have the wide back

than

the wide back and no depth than super dense, but no laps.

I wish I could say the opposite, but to be honest, I'd rather have a wide back too.

So honestly, some of these guys are just shy look.

SOL.

Damn.

But

it just kind of sucks, though, when it's like, you know, you feel like you know, you feel like you've known everything, like you've been lifting for 17 years, and you feel like you've been over the course of those years, you've been learning new and new ways to train properly.

And you're like, at the point where you're like, okay, I've been doing the same thing now.

Yeah.

I feel like there's nothing else I can learn.

And then fucking boom, something falls.

And I'm like, well, fuck, I've been training back the wrong way for 17 years.

So I guess I just fucking wasted 17 years of my life.

I guess it's bittersweet, though.

It's like, damn, I just was wasting all those years.

It's like, okay, well, this is kind of new and exciting.

Now I can probably see exponential more progress in the future, you know?

A little bittersweet moment.

Right.

It is.

The thing that's interesting to me, though, is like when I was

in the last pro shows that I was doing, I had,

I don't know if I feel like you even, you were at one of those shows, the first one.

Yeah, I was on San Diego and I don't know if it was the one in San Diego or the one after but I was having people including the judges telling me that my back was really good

and that I had like I had a good back thickness because I had those two like columns that come down yeah compared to the other guys

and I think that's cool but whenever I look at my back compared to the other guys I feel like there's less detail and I don't know if that's genetics or if it's because maybe I haven't been working out certain parts of my back through that scapular retraction that I could have been before.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Like, I feel like it is more genetics because you'll see like some of these black dudes that have like fucking, they have like fucking

15 different triangles on their back.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Different angles.

I think it's just like, where the fuck is that coming from?

I think it's probably a little bit of both for you because if you haven't been training correctly, think of all the growth that you've messed out on.

And I think that would add a lot more detail, but there might be a little bit to the genetic part of it too.

Just, you know, can't really do much about that, but you can do something about the growth that you have in the future.

I think now with knowing how you're you're training your back, I think the next time around you take an offseason and then compete, I think you'll see a big difference in it.

I'm hoping so.

Yeah.

Is there anything you feel like you've learned recently or that you've like realized, like, fuck, I've been doing wrong?

Anything, training, diet, gear?

Um,

dude, I feel like there's a lot.

Yeah, I feel like there's a lot to be honest.

Like, recently, I feel like just, I feel like I had a pretty good, you know, all-encompassing idea of how to be successful in bodybuilding.

And then I just realized with, okay, for example, like training.

I always thought I trained hard and intense.

And then I trained out with some other, with some other pros who are top guys.

And I realized there's the next level of intensity that people are training.

And I'm like, okay, I could be doing more with every training session.

Like, I know if I brought that intensity, I'd probably make a little bit more progress in this department.

And then I go to my diet.

And I've been looking at my diet and what I've been getting down and the amount of food that it really takes to grow, like actually grow.

I thought it was like, I need to be at like 4,500 calories, 46, 47, because I'm in a surplus.

Like, you know, it's still like 30,400 calories over.

You know, that's, you know, what you hear about.

And I've seen incremental growth in that.

And then I pushed it a lot, you know, when people are like bulking is vaulted.

I pushed it by another 1200, 1,400 calories, and I immediately shot up.

And I'm at the same body fat composition.

Granted, in the other aspect, that's yin and yang, my gear as well.

I always thought, you know, I only need to run, you know, 1.2, 1.3 grams of gear.

I'm running two now.

And immediately I paired those two together with my training.

And it's like, I went from this to rocketed up.

And it's like every aspect of what I was doing, there was just another level to unlock.

And I felt like within this year, I kind of unlocked that next level.

And now I'm seeing the progress that I wish I was seeing for the last year and a half or two.

No, I know what you mean.

The one caveat that I have to that, though, is this is my theory.

And maybe it's just a theory, but I do believe that Stefan Kienzel, Patrick Tor, I believe a lot of these top coaches have the same theory because they fucking said so on our pod, but that the more you take and the more you eat, which is literally obviously how you grow, right?

Like bulky, bulking is vaulted if you're taking more gear, yeah, right?

If you're not fucking taking more gear and you're fucking adding an extra thousand calories on there,

you're gonna get fucking fat.

Your body can't really handle it.

You're gonna get fat.

If you're natural and you just decide to add an extra 4,000 calories on top of your diet,

you're done.

But,

you know, if you're increasing gear and you're increasing food, respectively, in the right amounts for both,

it comes to this point where it's like you start going everywhere, you know what I mean?

And it's not just in the places that you want.

And I think that's the problem is like,

we don't know where the sweet spot is.

We have to play with that speech, sweet spot.

Yeah.

And

that's what makes bodybuilding so fun, in my opinion, is because we're all playing with the same, with the right dosages and the right amount of food for us to find that sweet spot.

But like, if you go too hard, bro, you see these guys and their midsections get blown out.

Like everything grows.

Like their chest grows, their arms grow, their neck grows, their fucking face grows, but their midsection grows too.

Yeah.

And

in bodybuilding these days, I feel like that's not good enough to be in the top five.

I don't think so.

Yeah.

Everyone in the top five has a shape and it's a, it's a great shape.

Yeah.

And you need to sacrifice a little bit of it.

Because for, so for like a lot of momentous guys, not all, I'd say for most of them, you don't see a ton of extended, big

like kind of that's the thing that's what i was thinking about too is like i've been talking to i've talked to a lot of guys regarding like cycles that they've been taking especially offseason cycles and food

and it just always seems like um men's physique guys do take a little bit lower and some of them don't some of them take fucking insane amounts yeah right some of them take some crazy fucking shit

And there's also some that look like they take a fucking crazy amount of shit.

Yeah.

But a lot of the men's physique guys that just continue to look pretty, I notice also like they've always kept things pretty moderate in the offseason yeah like at least 500 migs of test minimum but like you don't i don't see these guys taking a gram of test plus extra compounds on top

and

i think it just helps it just seems to help not

blow proportions out of

like like destroy the proportions if that makes sense yeah i think um i think you kind of nailed it i think it's with some of the classic guys but especially when you get into like the open or 212 guys, it's, you know, you're pushing the gear, you're pushing the food, you're pushing everything to, you know, next level.

And so you, like you said, everything grows.

But I think it's also, it's not just they're doing that for like one offseason to try and get like that extra eight pounds.

It's like they're doing that gear after year after year.

And it's like, you look at them three, four years later of pushing that amount of food, that amount of gear continuously going up.

It's like you can't hold that in forever.

And eventually it's like they go compete.

It's like, okay, after four years of trying to grow, it's like they have this thing now.

You know, it's like, fuck.

Right.

But you look at the Mental Z guy, it's like, okay, we need to do one really hard offseason, try and get you extra six pounds, come in close to the weight cap, and you're good.

And then we just need to, you know, detail and streamline everything.

And you can do it without a moderate amount of doses.

Yeah.

Right.

I don't know if you've ever talked to Kutz personally, and I know he doesn't really, he prefers not to discuss things publicly.

So I hope it's okay that I even mentioned this.

But, you know, I've had a few conversations with him and some of his clients.

And

dude, I feel like one of the reasons why he always has such great look with his competitors is he doesn't, he just doesn't overdo things very much.

Like, he keeps things pretty moderate.

And for most of his,

most of his athletes, especially as starting athletes, I'd say normally, he normally defaults around 500 mix of tests.

And then obviously he'll have some other add-ons based off of whoever they are and how they respond to them.

But,

you know, it's not like an open bodybuilder where these guys are taking 750 to 1.5 grams of test

year after year after year to gain as much mass as possible because they're still trying to catch up to the guys that are at the top and there's no weight cap.

Yeah, you're playing cap.

If you have a weight cap, when you have a weight cap, it's almost like every year is more like, hey, I can sculpt my body to become as pretty as possible because, like, once I reach the weight cap, I'm done.

Yeah.

Like, there's not much fixing whatever I've created by the time I reach the weight cap.

So if you fuck up your physique by then, then it's just like

your toes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Very, very much.

Even psychologically, like people will just, you know, in the psychological manner, people will be a little bit more, I think they'll be a a little bit more strategic as to where they're wanting to put their muscle if they have the weight cap versus the ones that don't.

Yeah, especially the men's physique weight cap, like there really isn't that like big, to be honest.

Like you might hear someone talk about like, damn, you got to be, you know, 5% body fat, like 217.

But I'm like, like, it's big, but it's not, like, that big, you know, and you have to be.

like you said, pretty strategic with what body parts you're trying to grow because when you've been doing this for a little bit, like that weight cap approaches pretty quick.

And you got to be like, okay, I need to really focus on growing just this part of my body or just that part of my body.

This part's okay to try and achieve that look that they're going for.

Like if I look at some of the classic guys, I feel like the guys, the classic guys that have built way too big of shoulders, they end up having some lacking body parts in areas that are way more important

for classic.

And for classics, just like lats and legs are going to be a little bit more important than shoulders are.

You just see that across the board.

On men's physique,

it's like it's kind of the opposite for legs and shoulders like you need shoulders legs are like you know if you can fill out your board shorts maybe put some paper towels in there like good old

size down you know just size

size down on the board shorts and just have massive delts and a decent chest and you're into

decent chests and fat lats and yeah and fat lats and you're golden

decent you're pretty good oh and uh the abgenetics that you probably don't have anyways yeah dude that's another thing is recently with the men's physique i felt like it went from a very aesthetic aesthetic streamline to just really big, and now they pulled it back in.

And you look at all the top guys, and it's like really pretty ab insertions.

Like, they want really good abs.

They look like, dude, I used to call it like cockroach abs.

I don't know if that makes sense, though, does it?

No,

no, what do you mean, cockroach?

It's like a fucking, you know,

hold on.

Let me look at a picture.

Yeah, I'm wondering, you're using the wrong animal or wrong insect.

Yeah, yeah, I definitely am.

Oh, no, no.

No, there's some cockroaches that have like the fucking layers.

Like they have like, um,

they have like

shell after shell after shell.

And then like, oh, I know, like scales, like the scale, like the edge.

Okay, I know what you're talking about.

They have like fucking million scales going down and shit.

That's on their stomach, though.

That's not, okay, I guess that's where your absolute beat too.

So, like, that's see, when you look at a cockroach, you always look at from the top, you know, with like the wings and stuff.

Yeah.

It's like you look at fucking Ali, Ali,

bone yeah brian terry and they have like a eight to ten pack or whatever and then they have all that going down on the side yeah like their serratus is just all dug out like crazy like looks like people's hamstrings

when that happened man i'm gonna be real like i always love man's physique obviously classic was like where the soul passion was when it came out i was like okay that's so sick that it came out but like when it first started i got i wanted to become like my dream of my my dream came came to fruition as maybe possible

maybe possible when men's physique came out.

Cause I'm like, okay, I don't have to be an open bodybuilder, which is my goal.

I don't want to be that big.

And then Jeremy Bundia came on stage and I'm like, dude, this guy, like, we have a similar physique because I don't have abs and he doesn't have abs.

Yeah.

But we got a V-taper and we're both Filipino.

And I feel like he's got black hair and I got black hair.

So we can make this working.

And then Ryan Terry goes up there and wins and all these guys have these crazy ab insertions.

And at that point, I'm just like, okay, I'm fucked.

You know, at that point, you kind of have to be, you have to play

a reality game and see what you really have in terms of genetics.

And if it just doesn't fit, then maybe it's not meant to be right to sacrifice your health in pursuit of it, I guess.

Yeah.

I think the realistic part is huge in bodybuilding, especially as you get older.

I have a lot of friends that I've had to sit down and have talks with, you know, in a loving way and be like, hey, like, you're focusing on something that's not viable for you in the future.

You know, you need to focus on like your kids, your family.

You're 34, still chasing a pro pro card after the last 10 years.

Like, I think it's time to put your energy elsewhere.

You know, you're sacrificing your relationships with those people you love because you're chasing this dream that's really not like a

something that's in the cards for you, if you're being honest.

And you know, they've in the past, they've accepted it all pretty well.

And I don't usually have that conversation unless I know, like, when you're a bodybuilder, you can tell, like, you just know, like, I just know they don't got it.

And so,

yeah, being realistic is huge.

It's a way to prevent yourself from being let down.

A lot of damage being done to your body, too.

When do you feel like

like when do you know when do you know it's time

to be honest i feel like you

i feel like pretty early on i feel like you should you can tell if you got it or not like if you like even for you or for me like i knew before i started gear when i looked at the vision i was like oh i could compete in men's physique like i have that look And I feel like a lot of people don't like to take a step back and look at themselves objectively because they're like, I could do this.

I love bodybuilding.

I want to be that.

I want to have a following.

You know, I want to win a pro card.

But I feel like if you're going up there and you're giving some years to it, dedicating and you're taking the gear and you're hopping up there and you can't even win your class, it's like, all right, probably should call it.

Like realistically, if you've given three years of your life to bodybuilding, hop three years of PEDs and you can't even win your class at a local show.

I guess that would make sense.

What if you look great and you've just been taking low doses for three years and you're just like still starting off and you're like 20 20 years old i mean it is 21 years old okay

you're just always gonna play the nuance um i mean there's people who also do it for the love of the game right they're like 35 40 and they're just doing it for the love of the game and it doesn't really take away from the personal relationships because they can balance it but i'm talking about like the the the all-in i'm chasing my pro card this is what i want to do this is my life this is my identity and it's taken away from other areas of life those are the guys i'm talking about okay yeah like

yeah taken away from areas of life, taken away from your own health.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that probably gets tough.

Um, the one thing that I really love that one of my guests stated, uh, Ziegler Monster, was he said, um,

guys have to have this level of non-delusional thinking that they may be chasing a goal that just does not exist.

And

the problem with this is mega dosages.

When you're taking mega dosages

and you're going after

your pro card year after year, 30, 40, he's seen over a dozen of his friends pass away from chasing this thing without having like the reality of like, man, like maybe this just isn't in the cards for me and it like maybe isn't worth it anymore, you know?

But it's tough because sometimes like for a lot of us, like, I don't know about you, but for me, like, bodybuilding is everything.

Bodybuilding is my life.

Yeah, it's given me everything.

Bodybuilding has given me my entire life, you know?

So to imagine that, like, say, like, two, three years from now, all of a sudden, like, turns out, like, oh, actually, I'm a shit bodybuilder, and I'm not going to, like, achieve anything.

And, like, like, I fucking

like.

Okay, but that's apples and oranges.

That's apples and oranges, though, because you, one, you've competed many times.

Your coaches are real with you about your shape and the things that you probably can accomplish or not.

You also have gotten your pro card and you've found success in it already.

You also are, your career and your life is based around social media.

You're interviewing with other podcasts, networking.

Like it, bodybuilding competing ties into your life.

It ties into my life as well.

Some guy that's a car salesman that's 38 years old who's still chasing his pro card and his two kids are at home and you can't take him to Disneyland because he has to, you know, pay for his prep or whatever.

That's like, that's not even the same, you know?

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

We'll sit on that for a bit.

Yeah, you let that marinate for you a little bit.

Let it marinate for a second.

Yeah.

What do you you feel like was the best prep that you've ever had

my pro card run for sure that was like

dude like after

like competing twice and having my coach tell me you know finding shit dude i sucked at life like in terms of i sucked at life in terms of

life right now

we got so much in common athleticism and competition and anything physical i was not good i was never really that good at anything and finding out that i won and naturally, and then I won my next show.

And I was like, okay, my coach, like, you could actually go pro if you wanted to.

Okay, let's take two years off.

Took two years off, big anticipation for me and my friends, even though I didn't have any social media following for me.

They were like, we'll see if you can do it.

And then going, doing a prep through COVID, like having a lot of like things happen in that prep after X breakup.

Both my dogs died in my prep.

And then like winning an overall at like muscle contest and winning the sword, which I know everyone, you know, back home would be like, coming for the sword, coming for what's mine.

I thought that was like the corner one you had.

I had a fucking jackass stabbed his own foot and sued muscle contest.

Yeah.

And so I was never the guy, like, coming for center podium, come for what's mine.

But like, having seen all my friends do it for years and years that they competed before me, and then going to staying silent, winning the overall, winning the sword.

It's actually, but you can't see it.

Right there.

Right there.

Anyways.

Wait.

Wait, shoot me again.

Do we in the corner?

I need a fucking Guden for a second.

Yeah.

Oh my God.

Yeah.

2021 muscle contest, a world champ.

I'm so tuned on right now.

Yeah.

And I thought I'd show you that.

Give you a little something.

That one's free.

So, and then winning that.

And then I remember going to nationals, which was like a month later, it was Team U.

And I remember all my friends had never placed even first callouts in nationals.

So I was like sweating bricks.

Like, hey, if I can just get first call outs, like, go make my, you know, make my freaking year.

Went there, spent almost all the money I had to get there because it was during COVID.

It was so expensive.

And I placed fourth.

And I was like, okay, I'm

like, I'll take that.

What year was this?

This was 2021.

And I was like, I was like, okay, like,

I'm going to be here.

You're after me.

Gotcha.

Yeah.

And I was

just a little behind you.

And

being like, I remember I came in super, like, super crispy, but really flat.

And I was like, okay, like, weekend, my tan was off.

I was like, I could definitely tweak this and come in better.

And then a month later, I remember maxing out my my credit card to go to Muscle to Team USA or USA's and then went to USA's and then ended up winning my pro card there.

And I was just like, so that run of like winning an overall, doing another show, placing fourth at nationals, and then flying and then winning my pro card while I was growing my social media.

So they paired together was just like the perfect little snowball to get me going.

And that was, that was kind of like when being a like getting your pro card.

Now it's like everyone's like, oh, they give out like candy here and there.

Like that was a little more like, ooh, like he got his pro card back then.

So it was kind of cool.

Now they got a pro card.

Even, even back then, still, people in the 2010 are like

a fucking fake pro.

Yeah.

Guy looks natty.

They look at me like the way I look at the new pros.

I'm like, yeah.

They give them that like candy.

I don't want to try to say that, but I have noticed that more recently, it seems like the

never mind.

I don't even know if I want to say this.

You should say it, say it.

Maybe, maybe, you maybe we just grew bigger.

So, and we see so much, so many excellent guys.

Like, I only see guys on the Olympia stage show, so maybe my vision has changed.

But I feel like last time I was at USA's or at, I don't know, last time I was at a national show, I was kind of

like the guys that were getting their pro cards in men's physique in 2019 looked a little bit more

underwhelming

than right now

in 2019.

Oh, no, no, no.

2019, I think, was a little more impressive.

I feel like in men's physique.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I just feel like in men's physique.

I'm not really sure why, though.

But, you know, I don't know.

Every show is different.

So there's that, too.

There's some fucking insane guys that come out of some of the national shows this year, anyway.

So maybe it's just.

I don't want to start throwing them fucking allegations and shit.

Throw them out.

Like this guy fucking.

This guy looks like shit.

How the hell did he win his bro guard?

Would have been a a cakewalk for me.

No.

Fucking.

I was.

Dude, that's the thing.

That's the thing.

Right.

I'm like, I feel like a lot of the audience already knows, bro, how many times it took me to fucking

even get placed on cash.

That's a pretty crazy story, though, because how many times it took you to go pro, but, and so you would say, oh, a guy that went pro that time, like, it was just a fluke.

Like, it was just who showed up, this and that.

I remember watching you a pro.

That's the thing.

Cause I followed you on Instagram when you were blowing up, like back in like 207, 2018, I think is when you were blowing up.

And so I watched you go pro, but like that, everyone then will probably be like, oh, like, that was a fluke.

He's not going to do anything on the pro level.

Granted, you haven't won a show yet, but like, you just did your, I was at your shows, one of your shows last year, and you got first call.

It's an immense physique show.

It's like 20-something people.

Like, you, like, you're up there in competing, you know, like going to Olympia is not out of grasp for you, which is crazy because it took you so many times to go pro.

I appreciate that, dude.

Um,

well, the funny story is like I was fucking telling Lexi about how tough Nationals is.

I'm like, you know, I got 16th plus place twice.

Granted, I was national, I was natural at the first two shows, but still, like, 16th plus place are not even fucking placed.

They don't even fucking look at you, bro.

You go on stage and they're just looking at their paper or looking at someone else and then just wave you off.

That's basically how it feels.

And I'm like, just, you know, Lexi, be worried about that because, you know, like Nashals is hard and stuff, but you got great genetics.

So just be worried about that.

Fucking, and I'm like, it took me five national shows to finally get my pro card.

She walks on stage, gets first call-outs after her best friend passed away that week, and she ended up eating some pizza and fucking chips.

She's like, it wasn't really that hard.

I thought it would be fun.

I told her basically, if she gets to Olympia before I do, we're going to break up.

Yeah.

Yeah, you can't have her holding that over you.

Honestly.

I tell Carl that all the time.

I'll be like, oh, when you go pro, you can talk.

When you go pro, you can state your opinion.

I tell her that all the time.

You're the NPC bikini girl.

You're the bikini bikini girl.

Yeah,

this guy's fucking nutty shape, bro.

Yeah, it's insane.

She has to have had like the smallest waist on stage.

Oh, dude, her waist is actually like pretty crazy.

It's like jet ass.

I would put my hand like this and stick it in her, like, her waist.

It's crazy.

It's really, really freaky when she gets down that lane.

Is it scary sometimes?

Oh, yeah.

I feel like you're going to break it in half.

She has

veins coming up her stomach and in her delts.

It's a lot.

It's a lot to take in.

Is it like, does it seem fragile?

You feel like shrink.

Yeah, you feel like you're going to break them, especially because

if you're trying to be like a,

yeah, I don't know.

It's just like, you know, like, I guarantee, I mean, maybe the people listening to this podcast, but most people have probably never been with their partner when they're down that lean as a female.

There is no movement.

It is like you're hitting steel.

It is veins and vascularity like crazy.

Like it's not like a super, maybe some people have like a fetish or something like for it, but like it's not like a super enjoyable thing.

And usually because of their hormones, like they can't, you know, perform the best as well, like a lot of things.

And it's just, it, it's really taxing on a relationship.

So all the people that, I mean, you, you would know, maybe for some people more than others, but for all the people who have their partners that are, that go through prep, men or women, like props to you guys, because I feel like when you win, it's not just that you win.

It's like you and your partner won.

It's like we did this together.

If you carry it through it.

Yeah.

I'm actually, I'm extremely, like, all things aside, jokes aside, like, I'm fucking so proud of Lexi.

And I really am like just amazed at how far she's come with everything she's gone through.

But I can tell you, when we prepped together, it was a million times better.

When we prepped separately, it was the worst fucking experience.

Really?

really okay sucks is it because

schedule well it it was tough when we were prepping together too obviously because there would be certain moments where it was hard for both of us to kind of like really um i think recuperate and just like get a hold of our own emotions and

like be logical individuals um obviously especially when you're like starving and you're hangry but i think it was just so much easier to relate yeah like be like okay you're you're hangry i'm hangry we're both low in energy we're both just gonna take it out on this couch couch and just like relax and not take it out on each other.

And, like, it's also easier to, I think, be empathetic in the position when you're really in it now.

Even if you've experienced it before, I can like drag myself back to the place when I was in prep, understand that she's starving, understand she's tired, and take care of her.

Yeah, but it requires empathy normally requires like a certain level of like at least effort, in my opinion.

Unless you're like fucking

unless your estrogen is hit through the roof or something, yeah, yeah,

it just comes naturally at that point, it's too empathetic, yeah.

But, um,

you know, like when I'm like, when it's when we're both on prep, I'm like, it's just easier for us to both go to the gym and have a goal.

We're going to film together, we're going to lift hard together, we're going to meal prep together, we're going to do all this, all these things together, and it's kind of easier to do it as a unit, in my opinion.

Obviously, it's nice to have someone that's there to support you whenever you are prepping.

And I'm going to experience that now because Lexi finally just finished her prep.

So maybe it's going to be i don't know maybe it'll be easier yeah for me now but um

i just think that it's a lot more fun and a lot more relatable to have someone that that you're connecting to in the moment yeah doing it yeah especially if you guys can handle it yeah i think that looking back on this last one because we started dating right when she hopped into prep like we started i moved there we

became official and then within three weeks i was in florida she was in prep and

everything in our relationship took a toll.

Like the honeymoon phase, it just went to, you know, not being as intimate anymore.

We weren't going out to eat anymore.

We weren't going to do things anymore.

Everything just took a hit.

So we almost put like a pause on like our growth together.

And it took a big toll.

And I know she actually felt really guilty because she's like, you know, she had liked me for a long time, really wanted to date.

And we.

we did.

And it's like a move here for her just to not grow together, just to not spend time together.

And she kind of felt guilty almost and like she was selfish, like doing this crap.

And it was, it was definitely a growing experience.

Like, I'm glad we made it through, but it was rough.

It was definitely rough, especially doing it like right at the start of a relationship, too.

If it had been down the road, it might have been a little easier, but doing it right at the honeymoon phase, like there wasn't a honeymoon phase for us.

We just so fucking

extremely fucking hard, man.

Like, that's such a break of like,

I don't know, it's just like a break of flow, like where you were headed.

And suddenly all of a sudden, it's like, oh, honeymoon phase is gone.

And like, you're actually not spending time with with me.

We started hanging out, and she lived in Florida, and I was in San Diego.

So it's like, I was flying there, and then we'd go to, you know, I went to EDC Orlando, and then she'd come to San Diego, and we'd go to like a country content.

And then we met in Vegas for Olympia, and then we'd party in Olympia.

And then it was like, okay,

pause on all the fun, all the great times we're having.

Now just go into prep and we'll just like, we'll pick this up in six months.

And it was just like immediately like the snowball just dispersed.

It's gone.

And now we're, now we're actually having to try and get it going again because essentially for the first six months of our relationship, we built this

like context of our relationship.

Like all we kind of know of actually dating is almost being like friends.

Like, because we weren't being intimate.

We weren't like hanging out a ton.

We were just like hanging out at the gym or going to the gym and maybe going on coffee walks.

That was it.

And so now we're having to like officially kind of start dating.

Because the last six months, we weren't really dating.

Like we were just, we were, it was like being in a relationship with someone where there's no

there's nothing you know if that makes sense and so i know exactly it's very interesting i've never been in a relationship like this or had to deal with this so it's definitely uncharted waters normally i'm in a relationship where they're like um

where they're like where like like every day is ovulation day and it's like i can't keep up and yeah it's just like

and um i wish That must be non-it's crazy because I remember complaining about that.

Yeah.

It's like, do you you know, if one person's on prep and the other person's not and

they just can't be there for it, it sucks because it's on both sides.

It stresses out both sides, obviously.

Right.

It's like

one person is left feeling some, I think, emptiness in a certain space of the relationship.

And then the other person is left feeling like they can't

be there for the other one, feel like they're probably like not making the standards or making,

I guess, like addressing the needs that the other partner needs.

And at that point, it's kind of just like,

is it just a waiting game until this is over?

And then maybe we can get back together or what?

Like, so

it's tough because I think having a good, consistent level of like chemistry and intimacy throughout a relationship as you continue to grow together is always important to at least a certain level, right?

Yeah.

Like, I think people kind of undervalue just how important sex is in a relationship, even if it's just like once a month.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Intimacy is huge.

As long as it's there, you know, you know.

So it's tough, yeah

But

I don't know, we chose this life, that's what we get for being body rules

It's self-inflicted, we did it to ourselves when I get girls get jacked and

fucking thing never gets hard

I'm just kidding, we got to be honest

It's like your prayer every time, so you got hope

When you were doing your first or when you were doing the best prep that you,

you got your pro card in, you were saying like all these things aligned that made that such an amazing experience for you.

But like, in terms of actually like getting your best look on stage, do you feel like that was the best prep?

I think, yeah, my USA's, when I went pro, I think that show was my best look by far.

And I think it was because we didn't use any diuretics and I struggle.

Yeah, I struggle.

We used like Expel, but we didn't use like any diesel for that show.

Expel has always helped me in a weird way.

Yeah.

I like Expel a lot.

But I

would you take it?

Seven.

I started seven days out.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mine was like five to seven.

Yeah.

I usually start, I think, the Sunday before my show.

So

six or seven days out.

And I

struggle so hard being full on stage.

I've actually never been full, like full on stage ever in my life.

I've always been very crispy and just like kind of flat.

And that was the fullest I've ever been.

And I would still probably say it was like 50%, 40%

of what I could have actually achieved.

And so even with that look, it was good enough to beat everyone else in the class and go pro.

And so, yeah, I'm hoping with cuts, because I've never prepped with him, he's able to fill me out.

And I have

all the faith that he's able to do it.

Plus, I mean, I'm sure you're going to be able to communicate with him like what you've been doing in the past that gets you the best results.

So he's going to go on from there, not from his beginner.

no more diazai does with his first no more diazai no more diazai dude he gives me freaking edema man

oh shit really really bad yeah really bad edema takes me like a month to get rid of it then the sauna yeah it's it's a nightmare because you're done with your show and you can't really eat doing a lot of cardio a lot of water so

yeah what do you what do you find that you uh do you get the edema in any specific places like your legs or anything my legs dude my legs like right around my ankles and everything so i'll wear socks to bed the compression socks and it's like a mushroom over the top i have it dude it's no no it's bad i'll send you a video after this dude there's one i have where i'm like i actually made a tick tock i'm like yo this is what happens

i made a whole video on it i push it's like like the sebum video it's like you push in your leg and you left it up it's like a massive debt that just stays there doesn't

cause what causes that for you dude i think it's the diuretics the the diet that causes it but it's my kidneys are just not functioning properly and they're not wanting to like filter or do anything correctly and so it's just that water retention that your body doesn't want to let go water because I think it's your body says, I'm so dehydrated.

I need to hold on to all the water.

And it obviously when I go to bed, it wakes up in my legs.

But you're, but your kidneys are your kidneys do function okay, though.

Now during the healthy level.

Now, yeah, now.

But like during prep, during prep, it's fine.

It's fine.

And honestly, it was,

and even when I used it show to show,

I was, because we'd play around with like the different doses.

It was okay.

But immediately after doing it multiple times and then trying to add in some food back in, it was just like they swelled up super quick.

So

that's so interesting.

That's why I like having these podcasts.

Yeah, it is.

It's really a big bummer because after a show, you know, you're done competing.

You're like, I just want to eat some food.

And you're like, no, low carb days for the next month.

Damn.

I hate my life.

That's fucking.

It's like an hour of cardio day, you know, low carb days.

But I mean, that's definitely when you have to be the most safe.

yeah sucks for you bro yeah it sucks to suck

sucks to suck

what were you um do you remember what you were running for the uh the prep when you got your pro card yeah it wasn't a lot it was i'd be off by like a little bit but it was like 300 tests 300 mast um i think it was like 150 trend uh 50 anivar 50 winner And then I was doing for the only the last show from Team Mew for my, it was only for two weeks.

I ran, it was like 10 milligrams of Super Drawl every other day just to try and get me to fill out

leading into the final show.

The first two, the one I went in overall at in my first national show, I didn't do Super Draw, but the last one leading into that, I did Super Draw a little bit.

What do you think about the Super Drawl?

I think it worked.

I love Super Draw, dude.

It's one of my favorite compounds.

I like the Injecto version a lot better.

It's more fun and it's...

I don't feel as shitty.

It also doesn't destroy my digestive tract and cause me to lose my appetite.

But it definitely works leading into, I know a lot of guys like Halo.

I've never used Halo, but the Super Draw worked extremely well for me.

Wow.

Okay.

That's cool.

And you feel like you maintain a good level of dryness the entire time as you're filling out.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I didn't, I didn't see any

like water retention or anything when I added it in.

I was worried about it.

I was like, maybe whenever you add a new compounds that close to a show.

It's like, right.

But no, it is my, I think my best look to date so far.

That's awesome.

That's cool to hear.

Yeah.

Yeah, everyone has a different experience for sure.

There's some people that are the biggest fan of using Super Troll to fill out.

And there's people like me who I'll do anything to take just a little bit of Halo testing right now.

You big fan of Halo, huh?

I love the Halo.

It doesn't make any sense.

I don't like the trend, but I love the Halo.

So something, something like that.

What is it?

What is it about the industry?

Yeah, what is it about the Halo that you absolutely like?

I just feel more confident, and I just, the look is really good.

Whatever, I however I respond to halo look-wise, it fills me out a lot, but keeps me just the exact same level of dryness.

Well, it's almost like you know, like if you fill out right, you actually look

harder and you look drier.

And that's what I get from Halo.

And obviously, if I carve up right and then make sure that I don't

for my physique too, it's like

you know, I always get more watery and my lines get less deep as the day goes on, no matter what I do, do it always just does

um

and um

i think i feel like uh it's easier for me to some people call it spillover uh for me i just as i fill out more and more normally that my lines are a little bit less deep you feel a little softer

i don't know if it's softer but it's just i just get less detailed

And it happens for a lot of guys,

I think.

But for me, it's kind of like hard to,

I don't eat as, I don't, I never need as many carbs as most of my light-skinned friends like you, especially going to a show,

which isn't a bad thing because then I don't have to stuff my stomach as much.

Yeah.

But it's like, we got to play the cards and find what the right thing is.

And for me, I won my pro card taking Halo.

That was the first time I took Halo, and then I won my pro card.

And I remember to look too.

And I was like, dude, I've never looked like every time I go on stage, I feel like I look natty, but I do not look natty now.

I don't look natty now.

Yeah.

And I didn't feel, I don't feel any irritation, any anger issues from it.

I just don't feel any of the bad side effects that people feel.

So obviously, I only have a good psychological, a good positive psychological,

I guess, remembrance.

Yeah.

How far out do you start it?

It's changed.

I think

I feel like for the pro guard, it was two weeks at 10 milligrams per day.

I think with Kyle, it was, I think I got it late, and we started it, I think, five days out.

So we jumped straight to 20 milligrams a day, five days out.

So it's been two different,

it's been different both times.

Yeah.

But as far as the difference, I couldn't really tell any difference.

Yeah.

So that's good.

Not enough experience with it to really be able to tell.

So yeah, communicating with your coach is cool because now Patrick just decided to tell me, like, I told him, like, dude, I make a lot of progress on these low days.

I have 130 grams of carbs on my rest days, 200 grams of carbs on my normal days.

But on my high days, which are like my leg days, I have like 550 grams of carbs, and that was twice a week.

Wow, so every time I would have that, I would feel like I'm like regressing a little bit during this prep.

I make tons of progress, and then I regress a little bit because 550 grams of carbs is kind of a lot for me.

I can't even, I can't stuff that

without my digestion getting a little bit fucked up.

Yeah,

yeah.

So he limited it to one day this week, and then he added before my leg days to have one pill of 10 milligrams of halotestin.

I'm so excited for the next six weeks of prep.

How far out are you from your first one?

I am, I think I'm seven, maybe six and a half weeks now.

Okay.

Six and a half weeks.

What's the date of the first one?

September 27th.

September.

Okay.

Okay.

And then you're also doing the hurricane, which is right after Olympia, right?

Yes.

Possibly.

Possibly.

Possibly.

Are you doing other shows as well, or is it just one?

I have three shows that I feel like we have planned.

obviously things may change and adjust but i'm pretty sure we're gonna do these definitely definitely san diego first and then that one so pretty star for it oh it's san diego september okay yeah oh child actually i might be in san diego for that show

actually weirdly yeah i have a wedding i think two days before that and so oh no yeah so if i am i'm pretty sure it's that week the week i think yeah the wedding's on the that friday before i think it's 18th 17th or 18th so i'll probably be at that show.

That'd be dope.

We should fucking bring back the good old days and go to Avenue and take some G.

Dude, I'm down.

Okay, you know, I'm always down for good Avenue running some G.

I'm only saying that because some of the QA's are regarding this shit.

So

big G.

That's been a while.

Dude, there was a little bit of time when I was going out a lot where I was talking about G a lot and I was getting people being like, they're all flustered because I was talking about G.

And I was like, this shit's great.

And then people are like, damn, kind of a druggie.

And I was like, all right, let's just not talk about it anymore, I guess.

We can, when the Q ⁇ As come up, then we can talk about it seriously.

But

I don't know.

Good old days.

As much as I love to joke about it with you,

this shit's definitely fucking dangerous as shit.

Yeah, yeah, it is.

It's why it's like hard because it's such a good time to joke about, but that's not the safest for people.

No.

As far as your prep goes, though,

that was kind of like a lower cycle for you, huh?

Especially now, these days compared to now.

Okay, lower cycle.

I'm not like

you say it like I take a ton of gear.

I don't think I take a ton of gear.

You do?

No, I don't.

What is a ton of gear?

Is 600 tests like 400 or 350 NPP?

Is that a huge cycle?

Because that's like been my staple for the last five years.

This is the first time I've taken more.

It's not, but it's twice of 300.

That's for sure.

Oh, yeah, okay, but it's 300 tests P, you know, versus versus 600 test E.

It's like the same.

Do you feel like there's a big difference for that?

No, I do actually.

Yeah, wait, wait, tell me.

I feel like if I was going to run test P and I wanted to be equal to, mind you, this is like so, I know I'm going to get flack for this, I feel like, but like,

I feel like running probably test P at 350, 400 is

similar to running,

I don't know, probably like 500 test C, test E.

Hmm.

I know, like, milligram, there was a doesn't make sense

it's like okay i'm sorry it's just that's what i feel like that's what i see with myself

and

granted in my preps i do always take less i always take less than what i'm trying to grow you know but it's in because of the the short esters as well but yeah i mean my my off seasons have always been stapled around 600 tests this is the first one true that i'm actually not doing 600 five or 600.

That sounds dumb.

I feel like you don't know what you're talking about.

I know there's the L people in the comments that say that,

yeah, this is a fucking idiot, dude.

No, um, no, in all seriousness, uh, I know it doesn't really make much sense, and

I get a little bit confused about it, too.

I don't think there is any like equal conversion that you can possibly make, but uh,

it's that's not the first time I've heard that from people.

There's a lot of people that feel like test prop is a bit stronger in a certain way.

And um, even my coach, even Patrick, had me at he jumped me at the highest I've ever taken, 750 for the first 18 to 10 weeks out?

Of test P?

No, test E.

Oh, okay.

It was 750.

And then at 10 weeks out, dropped me to 600 of test P.

So I'm on 600 test P right now.

See,

you do more gear than I do.

You take more than I do.

Yeah, well, fuck you.

You're taking.

I'm a classic.

You're a little mince physique guy with no legs.

You're also like, it's way smaller than me, though.

I'm classic.

no i've been taking a lot more gear this last two years i'm i'll be real about it i don't give a fuck okay way more than i have before going back to what we were saying i noticed that i noticed i knew you were taking more i think we've talked about it here and there but

i knew you were taking more

i knew you were lying to me no i knew you're taking more because i'd see your pictures and the amount of growth i've seen from you because i've known you from a while and i'm like he didn't used to look like that like he he didn't used to have those lines or his addictors were never that big.

I, like, I've noticed it.

So, I knew you were taking more.

I just didn't know how much more, but that totally makes sense.

So,

well, the first offseason I had, so these are my first two real off seasons I've ever had, right?

Like, like before that, it was me just trying to get my pro card competing after competing on orals.

Dude, I remember

I would uh, we go down to EOS when it was uh shady, you know, it was overcast, and you're like, I took like four, you're like, I took 14.75 milligrams of winstrol today, and I haven't eaten anything because I need to be crispy for my video.

You know, you actually lost 10 pounds since i went pro

yeah

it's like damn good old days yeah oh bro i actually want to talk about that too and like um

i know this is a little bit different from my normal podcast because we kind of like give less of a shit about health right now but um i feel like it would be valuable to discuss um just the differences between actual bodybuilding cycles that we that guys are taking like us and then like there's so many guys that take gear for the sake of lifestyle.

And it's like, you can't, you can't, you can't just fucking say that it doesn't exist and just disregard it.

Yeah.

There's a ton of guys, and they'll ask you to, they'll ask you questions.

And I was one of those guys technically because after my pro card, I took like three, four years off, and I was still on shit.

It was just like now comparing it to actual off-season dosages that I'm taking now, I realize that there is a big difference.

Like, I told you, right?

Like, back when I was doing like the fucking 20 milligrams of wind straw before a workout and shit, too,

it was always like 150 tests, like 300 mast, and then maybe I'd have some extra primo in there.

And my estrogen would be crashed the entire time, of course.

Just so I look fucking peeled for the videos.

But like comparing those dosages, like fucking 150 to 200 of tests and like fucking 300 masts to what I'm taking now of like 600 of both, right?

That's a huge fucking difference, man.

Yeah.

And

you know, with these being my first offseasons that I've ever had for the last two and a half years, the first year was just five.

I upped everything significantly because like the highest test I would ever really take at any time was

dude i wouldn't even take 300 because it would make me too watery for the fucking the videos for your videos for the grand it just made me too watery and um

you push

yeah exactly like if you're trying to stay shredded at all times

like i i bet you joe aesthetics never even wasn't i bet you joe joe aesthetics was joe was doing some similar stuff to me at some point when he was on gear like because like you just can't be

when you get ready for a show you drop the test like one, two weeks out.

That's basically what I was trying to do year-round for like two to three years.

Yeah.

You're trying to have the craziest physique you could for Instagram, pretty much.

I really do feel like, like, the reason I stopped it is because I really genuinely felt like it was more unhealthy than me doing what I'm doing now as a bodybuilder.

Yeah.

So, anyways,

tangent.

First off season was 500 tests, 400 primo.

Next off season, we upped it 600 tests, 500 primo.

And that was for for like how long?

Like, I basically did those two dosages for like two, two and a half years or so, or something.

Yeah, and then it was the first time I took GH2, so you add that on top of it.

First time was two IUs, realized that that was pointless.

I should have taken more.

I was about to say, what did you see off that?

Went up to three IUs.

You can get some better sleep.

Best sleep of my life, bro.

Fucking went up to three IUs and then joined Patrick.

Patrick had me jump up to four IUs.

And

I feel like this, everything that I've done with Patrick is the most gains I've made so far, especially on the legs.

So, everything that we've been doing together in terms of like leg growth has been kind of insane to me.

Because, like, looking at the transformation pictures, I feel like my upper body has like maybe gotten slightly better, but I feel like my legs are twice as big as they were two years ago.

Yeah, your legs have gotten exponentially bigger,

it's been noticeable.

Didn't want to be a fucking pussy men's physique competitor anymore.

You only drop out of men's physique because you couldn't compete, so

Yeah, I did pivot.

I'm a shitty men's physique competitor.

It's okay.

I'd be a shitty classic guy, so

we complete each other.

Yeah, man.

I feel like now my body tolerates things better.

Like the fact that he jumped me up to 750, I actually got a little scared for a second.

I'm like, holy shit, like Marin Fitzwater takes 750 tests.

Like,

am I going to become Marine Fitzwater?

Yeah.

No, I wish.

No, like when he, when he jumped me up there, I was like, man, I wonder how I'm going to react.

I jumped up and I literally felt nothing different, hardly like maybe the smallest thing, but it was basically not even noticeable.

I didn't.

So I've never felt any different from 500, 750.

Like, I've never felt anything really different, honestly.

But when it's with the tests, I just feel the same.

I see more growth and more progress, but I don't feel any different.

Like a lot of people talk about the feeling from tests.

I'm just like,

you know, even when I'm on TRT, 200 milligrams, and then I jump up to 750.

I'm just like,

still feel the same.

So I got a theory is like, if you can keep your blood work in pristine health, you're taking all the ancillaries you need, like astrologous root, citrus bergamot, nanokinase for blood pressure, even Arjuna extract in the morning fasted if you can't take on, you know, with your blood pressure, fasted cardio throughout the offseason and in the, obviously during prep.

What other other things could you possibly think?

There's so many things.

You know, NAC, Tudka, salt palmetto for your fucking butthole.

What else?

Fucking ticking injectable glutathione is probably one of the best things.

Awesome.

Something Martin Fist Water likes to do is titrate up

melatonin extremely high, 20 to fucking 80 milligrams if you can go that high.

Wow.

But like, that's like an antioxidant, right?

And you're taking it every single night.

So how helpful is that going to be to helping your inflammation and your blood markers?

If you can do all that shit and make sure that you have pristine level blood work consistently, I truly believe that, like, when you start taking gear, as you grow bigger, not only does your increase in size allow you to take more gear because your adroit receptors increase, but the fact that you also are just able to tolerate gear better as you continuously take that.

So, that's why I feel like these guys, like, you have this ceiling of how much you can take in the beginning, but as you grow, it goes up kind of quick in my opinion.

Yeah, like you can start titrating things up kind of fast, honestly, in respect to how long a person's bodybuilding career is, though.

Yeah.

You know, like a bodybuilding career is like 10 to 15 years or something.

But like,

I don't know, you can, you can keep titrating up dosages within the first year that you're already taking things, you know?

Yeah.

Realistically.

So.

It's interesting.

I'm just thinking about like all the

I think with the

like you said, when you, if you can keep your blood work good consistently, it all, it helps you in the long run with not everything else that you're taking.

But I think it's just the feeling too.

Like if your blood work is consistently good and similar, no matter the dose you're taking, you're going to kind of feel the same.

Like I feel great, honestly.

I feel amazing.

And, but I've also had like cycles where I took less and I felt shittier, but that comes down to, you know, compounds and what I was also doing in my personal life to make myself feel shitty and what my bloods came back at.

Well, I mean, I think, I mean, I think there's a lot of people in this audience that probably listen to a lot of

scientists out there that discuss what I guess people would consider biohacking these days anyways.

And if you do, then you understand that even if you're not in the bodybuilding field, if you're optimizing your body for the best possible results every single day, I don't know, you're like taking advantage of

mitochondria supports and like

cognitive supports and

um making sure you're like mitigating neurotoxicity.

You're, I don't know, taking like nootropics every day to have your brain work better um supporting all your

multi or not your multi your um fucking micronutrient needs and electronic needs and your magnesium needs

dude people like

how much you operate better on a daily basis plus how much lower your mortality risk is is fucking insane yeah it's insane

so Your body is, you were clearly seeing the results of your body working so much better you're performing so much better on a daily basis you're talking better you're smarter it's like a limitless pill yeah right they say like if exercise wasn't a pill it would be the most widely sold and most successful pill that's ever been created

imagine if you're a bodybuilder doing all those things yeah if your body was working at like that much like 150 more optimal than the other bodybuilder that's not taking care of his health as much yeah bro you are optimizing your use of all these drugs properly you're going to live way longer you're probably going to be able to grow muscle quicker too yeah it's you know the better quality of life

right it's it's it as you you know because there's probably older guys and younger guys that watch the podcast but you know when i was younger i did not care as much about taking all of that about watching out for you know all the none of us give a about it bro we fucking drink siller yes exactly and but as you get older you start realizing like i'm not invincible and even though everything's still working fine, I should probably start taking some preventative measures to make sure that it stays working fine.

And then as you get older, you start talking and you get more invested in, you know, to the community and start talking to people, you start realizing the problems that people have, you're like, I really need to be on top of this stuff.

Like, it's not a joke.

And I feel like it's not even that we just like start thinking that we need to do it.

It's that we just actually fucking feel like shit.

We all just start feeling like shit.

It kind of catches up and it's like, damn, I don't really feel like I used to.

Like, damn.

I don't know if I should be drinking anymore.

Ugh, yeah.

Damn.

Yeah, that's the thing is, like, and that's what I want to say about a lot of the younger guys that are listening to this podcast that haven't started gear or a lot of other guys that are just starting now.

Like,

it's, it's, it's, it's,

and the, and the guys that you like, the young guys that you create clips about, it's not, I don't, I, I really,

I just don't think it's these guys fall.

Like, whenever we're all younger, like we really just don't, you don't ever fucking, you don't know, you don't know what you don't, you don't know

what you're feeling.

You don't know what you're reacting to.

Like when I hit puberty, bro, I was just fucking angry.

And I didn't, I didn't know to be like, oh, I should be conscious because I'm in puberty or something.

Like, I should be kind of conscious about what I'm saying or doing.

I'm just like, now I'm going to fucking punch holes in the walls because

fucking, I feel weird things

versus like, as you grow older, it's just,

you kind of just naturally become a lot more

self-conscious about things and a lot more coherent, I think, about like the way that your body works and how you're responding to things.

And sometimes it's not even on purpose.

You kind of just, you almost like realize these things as

well.

You become a little more responsible.

Yeah.

A lot of these things kind of just tend to happen naturally.

So

I think that's probably one of the reasons why maybe some guys say that like maybe some guys shouldn't start gear too young because they just

it's it's hard to kind of like pay attention to all that shit when you're young.

Like you don't really know what you're paying attention to half the time, right?

Yeah, you really just don't know and it's also not high up on the priority list.

It's definitely not high on the priority list.

It's not even on it.

Actually,

it's not even on it.

If you feel like any of the medications that we spoke about today may benefit you, such as BPC 157, GH acreagogues such as tessamorellin, IGF-1, Oxandrolin Troche, semaglutide, then you can obtain these from Transcend HRT and the link for that will be in the bio.

If you feel like you're experiencing symptoms of low testosterone, such as depression, anxiety, lack of motivation, as well as lack of sex drive, then you can get this checked out as well by getting your blood work done at Transcend and they will provide you expert medical analysis.

Transcend HRT has worked with many professional bodybuilders and pro athletes such as Thor Bjornsson, Phil Heath, and Jeremy Bundia.

And if you feel like this podcast has any relevancy to you, I do believe that this clinic will provide of great benefit to you as well.

I actually really wanted to ask you a lot about like your life and like how you started and all these things, but it's clear that I literally gave no fucks about you on this podcast.

Kind of just wanted to go on my own tangent.

So sorry about that.

It's okay.

It's okay.

I like listening to you.

You're a fun guy to listen to.

I like listening to you sometimes.

Sometimes when you feel like it.

I know sometimes I'll be talking.

I know like we're hanging out or we're in the gym, like in between sets.

I'll be talking to you and you just kind of like space out when you're looking at me.

I'm like, you don't even listen to me.

Do I really?

Yeah.

No, like blank face.

Like you're looking through me and I'll be saying something like

he just tuned out.

Dude, I have a problem and I want people to really know who I am, but unfortunately who I really am kind of sucks.

It's okay.

It's okay.

It's just hard for me to like be attentive on a daily basis.

So I took like two big ass cups of coffee and like smashed a whole energy drink and also took a little bit of a nicotine gum for you today, just so I could make sure that I really like

it.

You're with me.

I get it.

I struggle actually

off, of course.

I appreciate it.

I struggle really well, dude.

Sometimes people talk to me and I'll literally just like

completely just like melt out of what we're talking about.

And they can see it too because my face is kind of like blanks.

I'm just kind of staring off.

And they're like, Are you saying?

I'm just like, yeah, I'm just thinking about what you're talking about, you know?

It's just not.

It's something that I'm still trying to work on, but it part of it has to do with my sleep, honestly.

And I can't take the nootropics and the shit that I take on my podcast days every single day because it's hard for me to sleep.

It's going to be hard for me to sleep tonight.

Yeah.

And that always affects my next day.

So tomorrow, I'm more likely going to be a zombie.

And so that's why I have to do all these things in a very intermittent fashion.

Like the things that I take in order to enhance myself are always

like, okay, well, that's very respectful of you.

Me?

I'm just fucking around.

I'm attentively listening to you.

Yeah, fucking.

I was talking to, I don't know if you know him.

I'm trying to remember his name.

I had a really cool guy on my podcast.

He goes by Biohacking You on his Instagram.

Oh, you mean Biohacking Guru?

Is it?

Oh, is it Uru or Guru?

I thought it was Biohacking University.

No, it's just Biohacking University.

So it's just a U.

Biohacking.

Okay.

Okay.

Yes.

Intimate.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But

yeah, he's a super dope guy.

But I mean, he said this.

I think Andrew Huberman has mentioned this too.

There's a lot of side of this that mentioned just like taking things on an intermittent fasting, intermittent fashion, so that every time you use them, they're in full effect and they don't affect, for example, your sleep or your effectiveness the following days and you don't get dependent on them, you know.

like certain stimulants, especially.

Like even though most people are prescribed Adderall, obviously it's not a a healthy thing to take adderall every single day kind of yeah for a lot of people affects your personality and a lot of other things so um taking some of these things as needed on a very intermittent fashion has been very

great for me yeah let's just do this q a and then maybe next time we do a podcast you can go talk about yourself in your life so kidding sometimes you need to just talk about you you know

you just need to let it out that's actually why i like to uh have you on the podcast so i can talk about myself so you can just talk about yourself i'll give you next time let me know in advance i'll give you some alley oops like what do you think about this nile i just let you just

let you clip farm you know thanks bro thanks

have you done anything different with your training by the way like as you've progressed and i let you been a pro and you've been like competing against pros obviously it's kind of a whole nother level has there been anything different that you've implemented for training or that you found has kind of worked better for you yeah i think um scheduling actually coming out with a schedule with my training.

So that way I'm running things at a little higher frequency than I was before.

I was kind of just doing a bro split before for like my whole life.

And then I realized that that is not actually, I mean, it works, but it's not, doesn't work the best.

And so switching over from a bro split to actually making sure I'm hitting each muscle, you know, two times within a given week and being more strategic with how I plan out to hit those muscles.

And then also just the intensity.

I, as I, like I said, like as I've gotten older and been a pro and have trained with more people, there are levels to intensity.

And I thought I was training intense until I trained with other people.

And I'm like, okay, I can definitely take it up another notch.

And you kind of need to work out with people that are at that level to unlock it or see it in firsthand in order to be able to do it.

But that, that's probably the biggest one recently is the intensity thing.

It was huge and the frequency, both of them this year.

What do you mean by intensity?

Just pushing myself to, I always was a,

I'd always say I was training to failure.

And I feel like I would mentally be

at failure when my body wasn't.

And it wasn't until I trained with people who pushed me to do an extra couple reps every single time that when they were not helping.

And I didn't think I'd be able to do it.

I'm like, I'm going to need your help.

And you're like, nope.

Like, they're not, nope, like, nope.

And, but my mind like led me to believe like that was failure.

Like, that was like, no, no, you have more.

Like, you got better easier than you thought you did.

Like, there's another one.

And you, they kind of pushed me the next one to see.

Like, my, my mind gives up before my body does.

And I think that's for a lot of people too and i think they don't realize it so you've been training like a like a pussy your whole life

i mean if you want in so many words

so many words in so many words i guess you could say that yeah and look how far it came imagine if i was actually training like this the entire time

we don't even know where i'd be you're training like a science-based

no no i'm not

reserve no no that's you that's you when we were training with eric

you were thrilled about his exercise eric's very good at that but Eric's leg days are absolutely fucking savage.

Yeah.

I mean,

that I have to get to him every single time.

And the fact that he can put his knees behind his head on the leg press.

You cannot say anything bad.

Yeah, you can't say anything bad about him because he is absolutely massive.

And he, like,

what?

The physique does not look the part.

Like, he looks absolutely massive.

He trains super hard.

And the exercises that he put us through were actually really hard.

So I was like,

he gets the pass.

Move along.

The time under tension is the most.

That's for sure.

That's the part that's painful.

Like, I'll hit my leg.

Well,

I think I should get my flower.

I don't know.

Fuck it.

I don't know.

Whatever.

People, I'd rather people like train with me and experience it for themselves and make their own conclusions.

But

as far as like, I feel like I need to keep training with harder people.

I've noticed that.

That's something that people kind of keep bringing up that I always kind of find a little bit surprising that like there's a lot of of people that really don't understand the concept of failure unless they've really put themselves to the fucking end or they've gone to the gym where they're actually just like completely pissed off of their mind that they would literally like smash themselves with a dumbbell if they could but they just take it out on the weights instead and like you see where you go to failure because you just can't it just goes down it doesn't matter like you almost get surprised by it well not always but you know what i mean like yeah it's just you just can't push anymore and you'll give you all your fucking brain is about to explode i think people like i said i think i think people i think they've achieved failure before they actually do

a lot

but you don't agree no i um

no i i i totally agree it's just like

i think training is the one place where

i think it's been hard for me to understand

I think, I think training has been more of like an emotional outlet for me.

It's always kind of been where I put my anger.

So my entire life, it's always been,

it's always been easy for me to go to failure because I felt like I

just felt like I had to.

Yeah.

Or else I was going to take out all my anger, if that makes sense.

So like even when I was in my parents' garage, there would be times where I'd be doing the bench press, the barbell bench press, and then I would like...

Unfortunately, I didn't have a spotter.

So then the barbell would just come back to my chest.

I wouldn't be able to push it up.

So there'd be all those times where I had to like fucking slide the barbell off like this.

Yeah.

have the plates hit the floor and all that shit yeah um

but in terms of like i think when someone tries to focus on reps and reserve like whenever i've tried to do reps and reserve

especially before i've gotten to that point where you know you can hit like your max weight in a workout because you kind of have to work up that you know what i mean

like

i'm always way below the failure point Like I have to fucking get myself there first each workout before I know where it is, if that makes sense like it changes for you like your failure point changes like um

I don't know how many people have related to this but I have the warm-up effect on so like say like from starting off in hack squats for leg press I normally have to warm up on every I have to add one plate warm up a set add another plate warm up a set so normally i go to five plates on each side for hack squat which means for me i warm up at least five times no yeah five times because i warm up one without the weight two, so it's five times.

And then when I do that set, that is one working set normally.

But

a lot of people, and sometimes me, especially for other exercises, too, will still have like feeder sets if that makes sense where you don't go to failure on those sets.

And if I aim for two reps in reserve,

like if I do two reps in reserve for the first two exercises and I hit like 12 for the same weight, if I've saved enough in the tank on the third set, I'll find myself hitting like 15 reps.

And that tells me like, oh shit, technically, I had like three reps in reserve.

Does that make sense?

Yes.

I almost have to like work myself up to the place where I can hit that.

And I think, I think that's kind of just normal.

Like if you have like, if you're having someone go for a PR when they're powerlifting, they have to work up to that weight very slowly.

You have to do like

a ton of,

like you have to to do a ton of like, for example, like one rep maxes, but like with a very, very lower percentage of your one rep max.

And then you work up to that weight slowly over time.

Yeah.

I've never been a emotional lifter.

I actually cannot lift if I'm emotional or if I'm angry or if things are going bad in my life, I can't lift.

I can't focus on it.

It's always been something I do for enjoyment or because I'm passionate about or because it gets me to a goal.

And so for me, going to failure, it's never never been a, uh, like an easy, like, I had to force myself to learn how to go to failure when people when the whole going to failure is what, you know,

I mean, I would, I would train to failure what I thought would it be.

And then it came out in all the studies that going to failure is actually the best for muscle growth for, you know, as Blake is saying in the majority of the time.

And then I had to really learn what true failure, like successfully achieving true failure actually is.

So it's looked a little bit different for me than it has for you.

Gotcha.

But interesting.

That's cool.

I don't think the science-based nerds know what true failure is.

Just my opinion.

Chubb.

Chubster dum-dum asks, do you wish that lifting could return to the bodybuilding.com days?

Dude,

I, you know, as you look back,

I talk with people every week like, man, I wish I missed lifting in 2015.

I miss lifting in 2018.

I miss lifting COVID lifting days when TikTok was, you know, I've always enjoyed lifting.

I think I enjoy lifting now more than I ever have.

And so in terms of lifting, I like it now.

The only thing I don't like about lifting is how people like to talk about lifting more than they actually like to lift.

Maybe that's just more so with like the science space.

Like I get annoyed with them.

But as far as lifting itself goes, I like, I like lifting now.

It's better.

I think it's because I'm stronger and I'm better at it, you know?

But I think I did like the environment back then, the way people were back then.

Like when I think back in the gym in those days, the bodybuilding calm days, it's like, I don't know, it was just more of a,

it wasn't as much of a fad, you know, like the people in the gym were there because it was a passion as opposed to like, oh, fitness is just a fad or a trend.

So, okay.

That makes sense.

Yeah, it does.

Bodybuilding has definitely, honestly, bodybuilding and fitness, how much it's grown in the last few years has kind of fucking shocked the hell out of me, though, to be honest.

Because I remember when I was starting off

lifting when I was 12, like fucking, just, it wasn't really as much of a thing, you know?

People did, did it for sports, but no one really like lifted for fitness or lifted for bodybuilding, you know what I mean?

So that's why I always felt like it was my thing.

And then I just ended up being a very small IFBB pro.

So that's cool.

Now it's everyone's thing and you're not special.

I know.

Maybe I should add fit at the end of my username.

Oh my God.

You know what's crazy is I've wanted to change that so much.

That's so much.

I think about it all the time.

But the problem is I have it on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

It's and there's no periods, no exclamation market.

I'm just like, can't do it.

You got to stick with it.

I think I'm going to have it till I die.

I think it's sick.

It's your trademark, bro.

It's funny.

At this point, it's like people don't even like see the fit in it.

They just think it's part of your name.

They just think your first name is Marcus Fit.

Yeah.

Dude, someone said it thought it was a Mark Us fit.

I'm like, what the heck was that?

Mark us.

Yeah, like that was like a saying.

It's like Mark Us Fit.

I'm like, the hell does that mean?

I've heard that multiple times.

I'm like, y'all are retards.

That's funny.

I mean, I guess your name is, I guess most people spell Marcus with a C, right?

With a C, yeah.

So maybe that's what he was.

Probably.

That's okay, bro.

I get it too.

People, you won't even imagine how people fucking butcher my name.

Oh, I can imagine.

I mean, imagine all of our friends say your last name.

My favorite is when they say Niley.

Nihile?

Nile?

Niley Cyrus.

Oh, it's kind of cute.

No, well, I was fucking butchered for it in high school because the fucking

substitute teacher called me Nile.

So everyone called me Nile Cyrus for the rest of the year.

It's fucking like people bullied you with it?

It was more of a joke.

Okay.

It wasn't really bullying.

I really, really did want to ask you more into your lifting experience and why it started and why you decided to just go full on into pro bodybuilding.

So we're going to have to talk to you about this another time soon.

It's okay.

The great part is we can do a podcast, whatever.

All right, cool.

Next one we'll do in person.

That would be awesome, man.

Yeah, that'd be a lot smoother, too.

Yeah.

Next time I'll just fly out.

Like, give me a date in advance, like a month out, and I'll just book a plane ticket and fly out.

All right.

I'm going to San Diego and LA anyway.

End of September, whenever you come to the wedding, anyways.

Yeah.

Yeah, we can do it then.

If you have the energy for it after your show.

Sick.

Cool.

I'll make it.

I'll eat some fucking cookies.

Perfect.

That's my thing.

After every show, I have to have a bazooki.

Really?

With the ice cream?

It doesn't mess it up?

I take a fuck ton of lactate, but it works.

Dude, dairy, I don't do any dairy.

I stick to either sushi or a burger and fries is the most crazy.

I'll go.

It really messes up my stomach.

Damn.

So I usually just stick to sushi now after my show.

Have you tried lactate?

I have not.

So it'll change my life, brother.

It's, it's like, it might be worth trying, but if it doesn't work, it just, it's like,

it's worth trying, promise.

All right, we'll try it.

Take a full one and just try like half.

Just try like a half a serving.

I'm actually half a serving of a cookie, but try for lactate.

No, lactate.

Yeah, right before, like with the very first bite.

Okay.

Yeah, and just see how it goes.

You know,

might change your life forever.

I'm going to do it.

And then the next time.

Well, I mean, I'm not competing for a while, but whatever.

Trust me, bro.

I smell milk and I fucking shit my brains out.

All dairy for you?

Yeah.

All dairy?

Okay.

All dairy.

Wow.

It's crazy bazooki from BJ's

Well, I tend to make the own my own bazooki.

Okay, I don't always go to BJ's

Beer Arms second asks what's the best way to use Super Joel

I Would strike and use it injectable and I would take it 20 milligrams an hour pre-workout and I would probably run it for like four weeks and I would run it probably like

on training days only

And make sure you're eating a lot of food and a ton of water and injectable glutathione while you're running it.

And

it's electric.

Let me tell you what.

The best lifts of my life are on injectable Super Droll.

Fire.

That's just crazy.

You guys might as well actually just mix the glutathione with a Super Droll, honestly.

Same syringe.

Here's the question.

Shmorin asks, navigating party favor usage while prepping favorite party favors, PD PD-friendly ones, etc.

This is the worst podcast on earth.

Yeah, this is,

I mean, we all know that you shouldn't be doing anything, but like, let's be real, like, that's

a lot of people just do stuff anyways.

I think it's crazy that people drink still on prep.

Like, that one, I'm like, okay, that's kind of, that's kind of crazy.

Cause also calories, right?

But, like, party favors?

Protein synthesis suppression and calories and liver damage is kind of

surprising to do all three of those.

It's literally literally like poison in your body.

But for me, I mean,

I think for you too, we just g out.

I used to g out.

You don't g out anymore?

I used to g out.

No, now I have a girlfriend, so I don't party at all anymore.

So that's what happened.

I thought you guys party together.

Not really.

She's not really a part of your

life.

But you do festivals, though.

Festivals?

No, I drag her to festivals.

Oh, really?

She doesn't really.

She's not.

Her first festival ever was with me.

In fact,

technically, her first EDM artist she saw live slash concert was

when she linked up.

Like, we didn't talk for like three months because I kind of like ghosted her for...

Because

we had a misconception about each other.

Nice.

And

then she started sliding my DMs.

Hope you watch this, Lexi.

She started.

I saw that I was going to,

what's it called?

What is it called with the fucking.

I'm so sorry.

All my Asian homies that are watching this are going to be disappointed in me.

Elenium.

Oh.

Going to a concert.

Yeah, Asian homies.

I'm really going to be upset for you.

It's like that's their bread and butter, Elenium.

That's my bread and butter for sure.

Yeah, she saw I was going to the Elenium show.

She's like, I'm going to, or whatever.

And

I was there at the concert, and I just kind of like want to hang out with my friends.

And then she started like spam calling me and shit.

I'm like, there's no way.

There's no way that this girl is doing this right now.

Of course, she was a little drunk.

So

after that, I was just like, fuck it.

You know, I might as well see her.

Like, I liked her before, and we were all also just friends for a long time before we ever started actually kind of dating or whatever.

So,

and then that's where everything started.

So it started at Elenium, and she does like to go to EDM concerts with me.

And she, I think, part of it is she does it for me so that we can have a good time together yeah

um but it's a little bit more exhausting for her but we are going to go to a hardcore um and metal festival uh you tried a little louder than life in kentucky

no i haven't i don't think so it's so fucking sick bro it has the craziest lineups it's four days long has some biggest artists bro it's like a lost lands vibe huh

Lost Lands for Metal, maybe, yeah.

Yeah.

But yeah, we're going to go to that.

And that's, that's where all her friends are going to go to.

And that's going to be exciting.

And that's going to be even more upper alley.

So yeah, that'll be sick.

But in terms of like going to parties and festivals, I just haven't really been doing anything much anymore.

Kind of just been a little bit more in the grind.

Yeah, you'd also in prep, I mean, so that's perfect time?

Well, that's the thing is like, bro, I got my pro card going to festivals, right?

Fucking, how much do you fucking burn, bro?

That shit's fire.

Just literally bring like.

No, I remember, dude, I would see you like you're like, oh, like you'd be dressed up in your festival stuff and you'd like be in the back of your like your Audi and you'd be like popping like a barbell's protein bar and like protein shake real quick from like huge and then you'd be like going to the festival.

I'm like sick.

Rip some GH me there for me.

You know, fucking everyone's smuggling Coke in the crotch and I'm smuggling eight, eight scoops of protein powder in there.

I actually got caught smuggling in the protein powder into a vessel once.

I totally got freaked the fuck out.

Well, they grabbed it and they're like, what the fuck is this?

And I'm like, my protein.

And then the dude, his face completely changed.

And they're just like, what the fuck i mean just fucking take it dro go go take your protein to the festival yeah

shout out to the homies i appreciate you guys yeah yeah

um

but uh i don't know as far as like party favors and stuff obviously in my opinion i think if you're really like competing into bodybuilding and trying to be in the high level none of these things are really going to be helpful

Right, it's best to like avoid everything.

I mean, dude, um,

and I don't mind being fucking real.

Like, you can fucking smoke weed at a festival.

If it doesn't make you you too hungry, fucking smoke weed while you're out and take some steps.

You know, you're at a festival, you're dancing, you're burning calories.

Why not?

As long as you have your protein and, like, whatever.

What else could you do?

You could probably take a little bit of shrooms, like a microdose of shrooms.

It's chill, as long as you're not going psycho or whatever and doing anything crazy.

Probably as long as you're on top of your health, right?

I'd say that's probably the best too you could take.

Um, the thing that a lot of bodybuilders have taken for the longest time was G, and it's still good, but it's just like, and G is

not

anabolic.

Like, it, they, they, they technically thought it was a little bit anabolic, so they like used to sell it at what, like, didn't they sell it at like GNC's way, way back?

And like, dude, I have no clue.

I got into, well, I got GHB is like more of like the last three years for me.

Before it was a pharmaceutical drug for narcolepsy, it was sold as like an anabolic agent, like they sold it as a supplement back then for you to help like increase your like growth hormone.

Um, and then obviously, like, people were just getting fucked up.

So,

um, the problem with G, like I was talking with Dr.

Scott Scher on a podcast.

And like, the thing with G is like, obviously, we don't, neither me nor this doctor will condone any like legal drug use or anything, especially if it's not pharmaceutical grade or whatever.

But if you do have it, like it is used to help you go to sleep and have a better level of REM sleep at night.

The problem is that the way it reacts is different.

I think it's GABA B or something.

I'm trying to remember exactly, but if you continuously use it in a consistent fashion, your body gets used to that form of GABA B and it gets reliant on it.

it so obviously you do end up having withdrawals afterwards yeah you get more and more dependent on it so it's one of those things where he recommended that you take in a very periodic fashion only as needed and for me if i ever do feel like i'm going to have to need to take g like i would prefer to take it for the sake of being able to go to sleep rather than

um and something also is like you fucking like kind of just like alcohol

But almost more so, I feel like it's easy for people to tend to get even more aggressive and more just fucking illogical after a night of G than it is when they're getting drunk on alcohol.

Yeah.

Like, you ever just I, dude, what I, what I do.

I'll see the craziest shit, bro.

I freaking knock out.

Like, I knock out.

I'm sure.

You've G'd out in the bathroom.

I have.

I know.

I fucked.

I was pissed, dude.

It was right.

It was right as my, the DJ started going on for the night.

I just fucking slumped in a stall and I woke up in the middle of their set.

And I was like, fuck.

Yeah.

Girlfriend's all wondering where I am, trying to get in the bathroom.

I'm just knocked out at Park in San Diego.

There's a good reason why

people say it's, say it's super fucking dangerous.

And so I recommend you guys like,

if you dose it just a little bit too much, it can really like fucking, it can really stop your breathing.

So especially with alcohol, dude, like I, as a bigger person, like,

I'd have to take a lot of G to like get the effects of it.

So, like, I was taking ripping shots with it too, to like, just a little, not a ton, but I was probably drinking, like, you know, a shot, you know, every hour with my G to try and, you know, get a little bit stronger, to kick a little harder.

Do you think that's why you fell asleep in the restroom?

Yeah, definitely.

I think that night I had a few rum and die cokes, dude.

Dude, it's just, you know, you get caught up in the moment, you know, you're like, you were passing around, just a couple of squirt here, a squirt there, you know, rum and die coke.

People were ripping rumble mints.

It's like, fuck, they already got me one.

Might as well rip it.

And then next thing you know, know, you're passed out in the bathroom.

But it's learning experiences, you know, like I don't do that now.

That was, you know, I walked so these people could run.

You know, don't do what I did.

You know,

it's all that's what we say.

Yeah, it's all respective.

It's for you guys.

Yeah, that's what I did.

It's for you.

Yeah, it was researchers.

Yeah, and then all the other ones, I would just say, like, it's, it's better to try to avoid them.

But if you got to do a little bit,

you're responsible for your own body, i guess yeah and the poisons in the dose too you know micro doses boys

a little micro horse little micro horsey

nay

if you're yeah

lifestylers for the lifestylers

if you're competing don't don't do it I don't want any I don't want any boys dying on my fucking watch

then

Elias Jonas asks, how do you both cope with injection frequency nowadays?

A lot of peptides are daily.

Yeah.

That shit's a lot, bro.

Yeah.

I mean, I pin multiple times a day between the HGH and the peptides and the gear.

You just get used to it, dude.

Like, at some point, you either want it or you don't.

If you want it, then you just have to suck it up and do it.

That's what I had to realize.

I was like, I got a pin, I got a pin.

It's like, no, dude, do I want to go to try and get to Olympia?

Yes.

Okay.

Go in the bathroom, stick myself, get in, get out, get done.

Yep.

I kind of just fucking put it up straight at the butt, so it makes it a lot easier.

Yeah.

You've always done that, though.

You just boof it, you know?

How the fuck did you know?

Guys, you told me when Matt, you were hammered.

Oh, yeah.

Is that right?

Tried to give me tips on it.

I'm like, dude, what's your fuck?

This dude's weird.

I want to be his friend.

In all seriousness, though, sometimes I feel like when I'm fucking injecting my.

So, if you do subcutaneous, too many subcutaneous ones, you can actually create a little bit of like a fat knot.

Have you ever done that for yourself?

I've never done it for me, but I know exactly what you're talking about.

I've seen it.

Yeah, it's a thing where you like, if you inject a spot way too much, there can actually be a little bit of accumulation and creation of like extra fat cells there or something like that.

So, um, normally, like, I got worried about doing that on my stomach too much.

So, I actually found like this pocket of fat in the bottom of my like your ass holds more fat for most people.

So, like, the bottom of my ass, there's like this fucking big ass chunk of fat at the bottom.

So, I just crack that shit sometimes.

I'll do my subcutaneous shit there.

But the rest of the injections are just normal.

I still have to inject everything as normally.

I just have to rotate.

And because it's daily injections, it kind of does get annoying as fuck.

You do slint pins or you do like 25 gauge, 27.

Honestly, I just fucking do the straight up 25 gauge.

At least I do.

Yeah.

I mean,

when it's during prep season and we're doing like, what, at least two CCs?

I'm doing at least two CCs right now.

Then I fucking, it's like the 25 gauge is just quicker and easier.

But

some areas, though, sometimes look at my shoulder, like I have a whole inch, one inch, two CCs, like one,

one inch, 25 gauge.

And sometimes I feel like it's actually worse if I go all the way in with one inch in my delt.

Sometimes I'll just

usually bigger delts.

Yeah.

And some fucking gay ass men's physique Marcus delts.

That'll probably be better for me.

Sorry.

You need some 5-8-8

just to feel okay because it hurts too much.

Yeah.

Those delts will really make my front double bicep look better.

All right.

Patty Deanati asks, what would be the first cycle you use when you started first show?

Well, you don't want to follow me.

Yeah.

don't follow nile that is the worst thing you could take uh my first cycle which i think this is a staple which i think if you're an npc guy this is all you need some maybe like test

uh mastron and a bar windstrel that's it

i think that's pretty good i think that's you're better than most people like when it comes to actually safety and being serious on this podcast um i've had experiences with coaches in san diego that would fucking give some of my boys that were competing for the first time the full on stack they gave a lot of experienced competitors, right?

And that's where I found, that's where like I realized, like, damn, there's a lot of shit to talk about in bodybuilding that I feel like I need to talk about because I saw a lot of my homies go through some shit that like kind of fucking fucked them up, bro, for a while.

Yeah.

Some of them never came back to bodybuilding because of it.

And I'm like, I don't want to see that, bro.

Like, remember Nathan Brooks?

How fucking of an animal that kid was?

How much of a gorilla that guy was.

Dude, dude, his genetics were crazy.

He looked like, he reminds me of Ramon Dino's like genetics, right?

With the the crazy forearms and that he fucking got first overall at a show and he quit bodybuilding why because he was made to take because he fucking the cycle that he was taking was way more than he needed because he's still like

like bro had never competed before but bro had like this this this this this this and a big ass dose of treadin throughout the prep cycle and i'm like of course he's gonna like react a little

Of course, it's going to be too much.

He's going to have the side effects, like insomnia and night sweats and all these things that are causing him to not be able to sleep and cause him to feel like going he's going psycho in the head and that's what happened yeah that's what i'm trying to tell people man you don't have to don't jump the gun

don't jump the gun you can do you can try that stuff later on but like you don't need to do all that right off the bat man yeah not at all

even a lot of people too a lot of people too dude when they compete they just want to compete once some people don't even know if they like it and it's like why are you gonna throw all this stuff in your body when you don't even know if you like it like if you're just for what you know

yeah

i think they're all just tempted to like try it so they can have an experience with it but that's the thing it's not like it's not like trying coke for the

maybe it is maybe it is all right okay i got a thing i got a thing you ever have that friend who like hasn't smoking weed and then you just decided to fucking you're like oh bro come on it'll be a good experience it'll be a good experience you get him to like your fucking your y'all are hanging out in your house or something with a bunch of your homies and then you just like you know you take out your bong bong,

pack it in a little bit, light it up, pull it in for him.

And suddenly the whole fucking bong is white.

And then you're like, here, bro, this is just a starting dose.

It's okay.

Bro, goes to the fucking universe and vomits like three times.

That's exactly what happened in my fraternity house.

One of the guys was trying weed for the first time and our boys fucking ripped that fucking bong for him, bro.

Dude was throwing up in the trash can three times afterwards.

I don't think he's ever smoking weed ever again.

That's what happens with fucking year with a lot of people, man.

They just feel like they need to try it all.

But the problem is like the dose is the poison is in the dose and your dose has got to be fucking small the first time.

Yeah.

So is he writing that many compounds too?

If it's your first time.

Yeah.

For sure.

For sure.

This was actually like the this was the most

these was this was the least friendly sounding QA.

So I think I want to ask it.

Bobby Thick asks, what is his excuse for giving steroid advice to teenagers and underexperienced individuals?

What's your excuse for Bobby?

What's your fucking excuse, Marcus?

What's Bobby's excuse for being a bitch?

All right.

Dude, are you kidding me?

Like, that is really what we're sitting on.

Like, that's, that's

what I think we need to give excuse only to highly experienced individuals.

Yeah.

My excuse is that I enjoy it.

So trip that one.

Fuck you, Bobby.

This is why you get yourself in trouble.

My excuse is because you're fucking gay.

Jesus.

Literally, dude.

That's funny.

I like that question.

I appreciate where he's coming from, but bro, I got to be like, that's like asking me, like, the reason I have this podcast, like, I shouldn't have a fucking podcast if I shouldn't be giving advice to people that haven't done this before.

Dude, that's.

I didn't know what I was doing.

I wish someone gave me advice.

I'm just saying.

for sure i wish someone gave me advice like my content isn't geared towards like gen pop people like oh everyone come in and take steroid it's like bro the people who follow me are very much well in this niche already you know and they're they ask me questions i ask questions daily on people that are themselves up people that are trying to have kids that people that crash their tests because they're taking SARM like I ask questions where I help out all the time because you know they need some type of insight and it's like that's who this is geared for this isn't geared for a 15 year old and at the end of the day, if some kid wants to take steroids, I think freaking Togie said it, like, he's going to take steroids.

And I'm, I don't have like a massive following either.

It's like, I'm like 230K or something.

Like,

I was about to say, like, you know, obviously everyone has a different experience.

Maybe he has a fucking ton of experiences with people that aren't experienced.

So maybe I don't know.

But what I do believe, though, is like, if, you know, if you're a content creator, like you or me, you and I are probably getting a lot more messages regarding help on gear than a lot of other people.

So we see a lot of things.

And I can tell you the most recent experience I've had as a prime example is

this kid that I coached way, way back when he was natural, came back to me years later, and he's like, Hey, bro, so I got an issue.

This kid was given Winstroll and I think some another oral, I can't remember if it was Anna Var or something, by someone that he considers to be like an uncle of his, that he's gotten close to, right?

This guy has become like an uncle to him over the course of two years, like a really close gym friend.

That's like an older figure he looks up to.

This guy gave him orals, told him, like, this is how you do a cycle if you want to get big.

No injections, because his dad was like, his dad was like, yo, like, if you're going to take this shit, that I don't want you to fucking, don't fucking use a needle, don't go into injections if you're going to use this shit.

So, what is the kid going to do?

He's going to listen to his dad and the person he believes is uncle and just take these orals.

And then, on top of that, this guy sold him

what the guy, what the kid told me and took a picture and showed me was a year's worth of GH for $10,000.

guess what the form of this gh was in

guess what the form of this gh was in oh it was a

powder just raw powder vials powder no it was white pills

i don't like

broke a jute dude yeah and it's so uploaded no i like don't i don't blame it man there's people

like there's there's maybe there's like a lot of like new information on the internet right but like imagine this like how are you going to know like like i i have people that are that want information from me and they try to start listening to this podcast how many hours did you have to listen into for us to finally start talking about this just now right yeah like you can't pinpoint that you can't pinpoint and go to exactly where it is and if there is like how many people are actually talking about this exact scenario right now it's not the easiest for a lot of these kids to find especially when they don't have sources to go to in person or they don't have like they don't know who to trust yeah and um

and also like a lot of these people are young, you know?

Yeah.

This kid is still a teenager.

Like if that, yeah, if that kid, I think he's like you know, if that kid would have

done in-depth listening to like you or probably me, he probably would have known that GH does not come in white pills.

You don't run anything with a test base.

It would have saved him $10,000 and you would have been doing it healthy if he was going to do it, which he shouldn't be doing it at all.

Right.

And that's like, obviously, now that we've discussed things, I've been able to like tell him, I've just been able to tell him straight up and hopefully it'll help fix some things things and help bring him in a better direction but like it kind of just sucks because it's like um

you know people are going to trust the first person they go to yeah if they're young they're going to trust the first person they go to too or not sorry they're going to they're going to go to the first person that they trust

and yeah in this case it's uncle which is crazy right like this this guy is someone who seems experienced in the gym

I don't know the full scenario to me.

It looks like he was kind of taking advantage of the kids.

yeah 100 honestly which really fucking sucks a lot but i mean you guys already know more than others like you can't trust everybody in this universe unfortunately there's a lot of fucking shitty shit that goes on in this universe yeah so i mean

it's it's um

shit happens a lot and it's way more common than people think so in my opinion people are gonna be doing things and jumping into things regardless of whether or not you're talking about it or not.

But if there's education out there, it would have helped me.

That's all I'm saying.

Yeah.

Same.

Fabian Castor asks, what are the most important gut health tips for a bulking season?

Oh, that's a good one.

You know, there's a lot of variables that go into that because I've had gut issues, clean food, on dirty food.

I've had good gut health on both.

And I really think it comes down to a lot of, it's very individualistic, but not only is it the quality of foods, but it's the amount of foods, it's also the timing of foods.

And on top of that, it can also be

assorted to appetite.

Like, if you're taking in your offseason, if you're having a coach that's giving you orals and you're supposed to be bulking and you can't get your food down and it's destroying your, you know, your gut health, it's like there's a lot of variables that go into your gut health.

And as I've gotten more into bodybuilding and older, that is so, people, that is very underrated.

People don't talk about that enough.

I've, I've been taking a lot of oral bpc for my you know for my gut and it's it's definitely helped um but i there was last year i was i was actually pretty close to probably giving up bodybuilding because i couldn't keep anything down i was throwing up i was so nauseous and i was like what's the point of bodybuilding and taking all this gear if i can't even grow because i can't get the food down and it wasn't until i was able to you know kind of learn that about my body what i can eat what i can't eat when to time my food how much I can eat, things like that.

So it really is just a lot of different variables.

It's one of those things you kind of have to learn your body and what you're like all those different angles on it.

Have you,

have you found any foods that like you just had to like rip out of your fucking diet?

Yeah.

Dude,

I was a fiend for them, too.

You might have remembered them.

Those Fair Life protein shakes.

Oh, yeah.

Dude, I used to, because they're lactose-free too, aren't they?

Yeah, dude.

I was wondering what was causing me to throw up so much.

And I was, it was so easy to drink.

I was like, like five, six a day.

I was going to Costco and buying them in bulk.

and i realized i thought it was like it's my food was a diet like what what the hell is this and i realized that those those protein shakes whatever is in them was making me throw up religiously religiously like throughout the day multiple times also the costco muffins i thought they were the biggest hack because they're like 740 calories each or whatever they are and i was like oh i can eat two the two three of these a day No, those are making me throw up like crazy too.

I don't know if it's what, however they process them or whatever, like those had to be yanked.

And those were staples for my dirty bowl because I just need calories to grow.

And those just had to go.

Um, also, strictly whey protein.

I can't, I can't do strictly whey protein, it makes me nauseous.

I throw up super quick.

I have to sit to isolate, and I have to time it with certain foods.

I can't do it pre-workout.

I have to make sure there's something else in my stomach.

Like, those are things you have to learn, though, through trying it out, you know?

Yeah, 100%.

That's one of the coolest things about working with like a gut health coach, which I know most people won't have the money for, or like maybe even the patients for.

But I've seen so many successful,

I've just seen so much success come out of like a lot of bodybuilders, like Justin Shire, who went to a coach to get their gut fixed, or my boy

Jarek Crew, who's also a classic pro.

And

all of these guys have had trouble growing,

and then they fixed their gut health.

And then not only were they able to grow on less food, but they were able to cut on less food or no, cut on more food.

More food.

And

it also seemed that, and Austin Stout saw this with a lot of his clients, but it almost seemed like people were able to grow

more on the same dose of steroids, or technically the same amount on a less dose of steroids by fixing their gut health, which is one of the coolest things, in my opinion.

Yeah, that's crazy.

One of the examples, for example, is like GABA, for example, will leak into your brain by bypassing that blood-brain barrier if you have a leaky gut.

Kind of reminds me of like, if that shit is affecting your brain and you have a leaky gut,

you're fucking affecting your entire body if you have a fucking leaky gut, bro.

So, I mean, it makes sense to me.

For me, gut health has always been weird because it's something that is, I think to this day, there's still not very common knowledge things to dress gut health.

It's more of like you do an elimination diet and figure out what's fucking up your system.

But there are some things I believe that everyone can kind of take regularly that will help, such as like doing

a lot of coaches already have glutamine fasted in the mornings,

and this is super beneficial for a lot of people.

That helps you kind of repair that leaky gut issue.

But another thing that I think not a lot of people implement, but Austin Stout does, and he likes this a lot, is colostrum.

Have you ever used colostrum?

I have not.

It's a dairy product, it comes from cows.

Did I just say that?

I said both.

It's a dairy product.

Come from cows.

Nice.

Bro, I thought I had to take lactate with it, but I started taking half a dose without lactate.

And my gut has been pretty fucking great ever since.

And it's got a more wide spectrum benefit than just taking glutathione or glutamine fasted.

That's awesome.

And I'm fine when I'm taking colostrum.

I still can't drink milk, but it helps a lot.

So I recommend trying that out as well.

Yeah.

Gut health is interesting, man.

But definitely when you're like eating like 6,000 calories a day in your off-season or 5,500 or something, that's one of the shit that fucking definitely leads you to have a worse gut by the end of it.

So, yeah, yeah, mine is

knock on wood.

Mine's a pretty solid so far, so we're just going to keep it going until ride that wave until it's not.

Yeah, you should probably add some fair life drinks and some monkeys to that shit.

Yeah, really trying.

It'd be an easy way to add in calories, you know, get me to my goal next.

Yeah,

simply Browning says, no question.

Tell him I said to lock in, brother.

No more party.

We want to see him on stage.

Thanks, big dog.

We're locked.

We are locked.

And then the next guy, Jim Ratt, Jake, says when's the next rave?

The next rave.

Dude, that's what I was asking you.

I'm trying to go to one with you, go to a festival rave with you.

And you're over here sitting talking like you're retired.

And I'm like, that's not very cool.

It's pretty gay, honestly.

He comes to Louder than Life.

no

no how about we get go to edc orlando i'll think about it it's in gotta see where and prep it lands

i think it went into the perfect spot

yeah

what do we count from your next show exactly

i think it'd be a good vlog you know oh yeah because i've always vlogged my fucking raves yeah edc and olympia qualifying the same time i tried to vlog my raves in the past has been such a mistake yeah you get way too many videos of me just fucking

looking creepy.

I feel like that was okay when I was 22, but

I'm trying to maintain a different reputation, a different look now that I'm a little older.

Strength Scalia added this question.

This is kind of dope.

Fucking,

I know.

You've been skipping cardio.

I have been, dude.

I don't do any cardio at all.

I do zero.

Really?

Zero cardio, bro.

I get out of, I'm out of breath, though, walking up once flight of stairs.

That's all I've got.

I talk on the phone.

If I walk, I get out of breath.

And that's how you know you're getting big.

So it's working.

Yep.

What's your HDL, LDL, and blood pressure at?

You know what?

I haven't checked in about two months.

Three months.

But

it was good last time I checked it.

So it's got to be good now.

This ain't the podcast to follow.

This ain't the fucking.

this is good.

Um J-Rock Fit asks how early to cut off PDs when getting ready to have a kid.

Ooh,

I mean, the sooner the better.

And I really think it comes down to TRT.

Like, I know I've, I've known people who can just drop to TRT, run HCG with it, and are fortunate enough to have a kid.

And I know people have had to come off TRT completely, keep that HCG protocol in place, and then down the line they will have a kid.

So I think it's really just different person to person.

But as far as other compounds outside of just TRT, I mean, those all got to go ASAP.

He also asked best ways to manage fertility while starting your first cycle.

And I would just say you can do a microdose of ACG alongside it.

Like 200,

is it micrograms?

It's micrograms, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like 200 micrograms three times a week, for example.

That should be enough.

Yeah.

Honestly, it's a good starting place, at least.

Just be wary about what kind of side effects you get and where your estrogen lands, but normally you should be fine.

Slow and steady 365 asks 250 tests, 100 NPP, 25 daily VAR, worth it for a mid, for a mid, oh, for a mild second cycle if wanting to avoid sides.

250 tests, 100 NPP.

Super mild.

100 MPP a week?

That's like a 250 test, 100 MPP, 25 daily VAR.

I got to be real.

I feel like that's more of like a lifestyle-y kind of cycle.

I would say, I think that's probably prescribed to him from a hormone clinic.

That's probably what that sounds like.

Bump those numbers up, bro.

Those are rookie numbers.

No, just kidding.

Depends on how great you're reacting to it right now.

I would say normally for most people, if you're trying to be like a competitive pro bodybuilder,

I would say that's kind of on, I would say 250 tests is kind of on the lower side.

But I don't know what your first cycle was.

And I don't know if you reacted to side.

So there's like a lot of variables that are missing.

Like if you're reacting not very well into certain dosages here, then it could be, that could be a good cycle for you.

You got some crazy, dude.

I've seen some crazy shit in terms of like fast and slow metabolizers.

I don't know if you have, but I've seen some people that can react crazy to like fucking and bad sides from like 300 tests.

And then I've seen guys like Chris or Chase Irons that takes five grams of tests and his fucking entire blood work is fine.

He's just chilling.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've seen some nasty shit.

What have you seen in terms of like the craziest ranges of aromatization in a, in, in, like your clients, for example, or like your homies?

Dude, honestly, in my clients, my friends, I feel like because we have a pretty solid group and all the people I know,

they're all pretty level.

I would say like

my clients, probably the highest one I've seen is like 120 in terms of estrogen, which is like not without.

I mean, that's high.

That's high, but like, that's not like crazy.

And we were able to pull it down really quick.

With how much test?

For that one, I think he was on like 300,

but no AIs or anything.

Yeah, 125 is

using like 300 tests, 125, and but there's no AIs, like nothing.

You're just 300.

So, like, I'm like in the middle, right?

So, I can like take 600 tests, 500 primo, right?

Like, I can match, match the primo or the mask to about my test.

I think that's the average for most people, but I've seen guys that like have to take twice as much tests as they take primo, like 600 tests, 300 primo, or 600 tests.

My mask's wrong?

Primo doesn't do shit for me.

Primo does nothing in terms of my estrogen.

EQ does it pretty well.

I have to run my test at

my test has to be at like probably 200 megs higher, like a one to three,

two to three ratio.

I don't know.

It has to be a little bit higher.

It's like 750 tests, like 500 EQ for my estrogen to be around 20, 25, which is still a little lower than I want it to be.

Mastron, though, dude, I can run 600 tests and 100 milligrams of Mastron, and my estrogen is like 19.

that 17.

It is so weird, too.

Normally,

mast axe has has a serm.

Yeah.

And it's, it's just a master on.

And so I don't like and like have you tried different companies, different brands.

I've tried no, only one, actually.

So you do you know if so, you don't know, you're not sure if that mask could be a little bit like maybe it was like dosed with something else.

It's the same one you use.

Really?

Yeah.

I'm on 600 of that juicy shit right now.

Yeah, well, I'm on none of it because it was killing my estrogen.

It's definitely not EQ for me because I know what EQ does to me.

That shit crashes.

That shit makes my estrogen go pretty low.

Yeah, EQ.

EQ works really well for me, too.

I'd say it's like the middle ground for me.

Primo does nothing, masks too much.

EQ is like kind of the sweet spot.

Interesting.

Well, I'm going to get my blood work tomorrow, so I will let you know on that.

But yeah, yeah,

maybe you're just fucked up.

I'm just broken.

Yeah, no, bro.

If anyone's broken, that's me.

But I think

definitely.

But just like that, like you were mentioning, like you'll see people, I've seen people with that have to double their test, like their Primo or their mask.

And I've seen people that have had to triple their PMO or mask to their test.

Like,

who is it?

I think Jack Eagles was like 300 tests and like a gram, maybe a Primo.

But then I think Darren Farrell, who is a J3U coach under, you know, Jon Jewett, these guys know what the fuck they're doing.

This guy has to take 200 and 200 tests and 1.2 grams

of, I don't remember if it was masked or primo, but it was one of those two.

Because this guy aromatizes like crazy.

Isn't that good?

That is crazy.

Right.

And I've seen a lot of other people that have been similar.

They haven't been that crazy of a skewed dose, but I've seen like John Jewet also has to have his primo and his mask.

He has to have his DHT derived crank.

Yeah, he cranks is pretty high.

Yeah.

There's a lot of people that could do that.

And then there's guys like you and I who like, we just can't.

I'd want to kill myself.

Genetics.

Christy Centino asks,

what's the cycle that gave you gyno, if there was one?

Yeah, it was actually, I feel like I always had a little bit of it, but it was never really bad.

It was my cycle to go pro, actually.

And I think it was the trend.

It was the highest I ever ran trend.

I was running at, uh, I was running at 300 for a little bit, and then I pulled it back down to like 200.

Um, and like the four or five weeks I was running at 300, I also think I was, I was getting from a really, really shitty lab, like all my stuff from really shitty lab.

It's a very big San Diego brand.

And I do not think that not saying very many good things about San Diego right now.

Yeah.

And I

would

bet it all that

any of the AIs and everything I was taking, a a lot of it was just not even what it was labeled to be because it was,

it got really bad really quick.

And after that, it just never got better.

And I should have taken some naloxophene or something, but here we are.

10K, no, seven, 7.5K later, had them ripped out.

Nice.

Worth it.

Aiden Sherrington asks,

Did taking a longer off-season help a lot with your progression and was it worth it?

Yeah, I mean,

so

you can't really say if it's worth it yet because this will be the offseason to,

actually, I mean, yes, we can.

Yes, it was 100% worth it because I took two years off to grow and then I went pro.

I went overall and went pro.

And now I'm taking two, it's like two and a half, two and a half years off and I'm going to go back and I think I will be sitting around my weight cap and I am hopefully going to make it to Olympia.

hopefully.

And so I think that even if I don't make it to Olympia, the progression that I've made in this this two years is drastically changed my physique in a way that taking six months or a year off would have never done.

And so it's 100% worth it.

I'm a big fan of long offseasons.

I am too.

I am too.

I just found it interesting when Patrick really wanted me to do one prep in between, but I think half of the reason was one, because you'd have to have a mini cut at some point, anyways.

And then number two was because he probably just wanted to figure out how my body responds to certain things.

Yeah.

Of course, get some experience with shows.

So,

but yeah, I feel like if you can put more time into gaining, then why not?

Um, favorite off-season PD cycle by U-R-D-R-M,

uh, primo EQ and test and gh

winner-winner chicken dinner.

Also, MK677 because it's up to lot.

Yep,

you're one of those guys, the MK guys.

I'm, I don't really love that shit, dude.

It's because I eat like a bird.

I will say, like, not the test, pushing the test a little bit higher has been great for the progress.

I feel fantastic on it.

The EQ, keeping my estrogen in check.

So that way I don't have to pop AIs.

I feel fine off that.

The Primo, I've, I mean, I don't like printing the Primo, to be honest with you, but my look has just been great.

And it's one of those compounds that you can add in and not have a ton of side effects.

And so I'd rather add it in Primo than up my test, my EQ in more.

And then the GH, cranking it from four to six, I use, I just

been great.

I, this is my favorite cycle I've ever done.

Nice.

Yeah, mine is, mine is pretty close, but without the MK and without the EQ.

So just test Primo and GH.

It's a good one.

Yep.

Always a good one.

Oh, and maybe some IGF one on the leg days.

That shit was nice too.

Yeah.

But definitely get a cancer screening if you do that because that's what I'm going to have to get.

Can't you?

Yeah.

I was a big fan of IGF.

I did it for a while.

For like probably a year and a half, I really pounded it.

And then now I just stick to the GH.

I think it's awesome as long as people just screen themselves.

You know, just make sure.

Yep.

Just look up your body.

I'm good.

Nick G127 asks, why choose compounds like EQ and Primo over NPP and the bulk?

NPP, I was a big fan of.

If anyone's followed me, like I was a huge fan of MVP because it's what I built my physique off of.

What happened?

I just, I started my first ever bulk was 500 tests, 350 MPP.

And I ran that same cycle for probably three and a half years straight and continually saw incrementally progress.

I felt great in my offseason, looked solid, especially being someone who's so lean.

The extra added water just made me look full.

And so it was great for me.

And you know what recently uh you know paul barnett yep love the guy he talked he talked about this too all of a sudden mpp just made my wiener stop working

just didn't work anymore like deck a dick never had the issue from nangelon and it wasn't because you upped the dose or anything no same exact dose i was actually doing more tests and a little more test and my mpp was the same what was the mppp dose 350.

Never had an issue before.

100 milligrams every other day.

And, you know, I got blood work done and everything.

Like I, I decided to, oh, it's the, it's the NPP.

Like, I just fucking, like, I thoroughly went through down the checklist of what this could possibly be.

And, you know, I took the NPP out and within probably four days, fixed.

Yeah.

And so it was just all of a sudden, my body just didn't like it as much anymore.

And so the Primo, I think it's a better quality compound.

I think it is a leaner look as well

with less.

less effect lesser effects.

And also the EQ is great because I think it does give you a better look and you can stack it with the primo and the test to crank the androgens up and also my favorite thing about the EQ is that it's also increased my appetite I've never been able to eat like this before even though I'll just take MK alone but stacking MK with the EQ has made my appetite I've never been able to pound over 5k and now I'm at 55 every single day nice fuck yeah

not my problem like I'm a I'm a fucking fat ass I'll destroy a Chinese buffet anyways

yeah well

yeah so our body team tends to uh our body has a susceptibility of potentially changing allergies every seven years.

It also seems to adapt to different scenarios and situations and places.

And sometimes you'll just find yourself reacting differently to certain drugs, medications, supplements.

It's fucking weird, bro.

Our body is always like that.

It's why bodybuilding and biohacking is just so interesting.

But like, even like,

I'm sure that maybe you have friends who have done this or if you've smoked weed yourself too, but like there's a lot of guys too that'll like smoke weed for years and suddenly we just can't with them anymore.

They end up having a fuck ton of issues doing it.

So, um, it seems to happen with

just so many different things, honestly.

Yeah, can't even like name them all.

No more names.

And Deka and Trent, honestly, too.

Sometimes I wonder if it's something with a prolactin, but I think it's just body chemistry.

I agree.

This was an interesting one.

Garish Shanker asks, what would be the minimal PED dosage and cycle to minimize effects but have long-term gain?

And

obviously.

yo, yo, first, yeah, yeah, I'll go first.

Uh,

no one's gonna know what the fucking number is for you because you got to figure that out for yourself.

But, in my opinion, it's the one that you have good blood work the entire time you're running that cycle

and as high as you can go while having that good blood work, and also not having any side effects like hair loss, acne, whatever other shit that you want to do that's um, any visible side effects.

And then, I would say, checking your blood pressure, your

fasted glucose.

Or actually, if you can check fasting insulin, that's even better.

And then

I would just get some scans every now and then, like every three years or something, get some scans.

Yeah.

I think you pretty much nailed it.

I think that dose for a lot of people

is probably, it's going to be different for everyone, like Nil said, but I think it's probably going to be somewhere between probably like two and 300, where like the lowest dose to see actually physical results, but also have all like virtually kind of no side effects and be healthy.

Because, you know, they've had the med studies come out where it's like just like actual TRT almost has no detrimental side effects long term.

And so I think depending on you know, you could probably run 300 and be fine for most people, but I would say two to 300, it's probably the sweet spot as a general generality.

As an actual minimal PED dose, not maximum tolerable dose.

I guess I was talking about maximum.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Fucking minimal minimal PD doses.

Fucking

yeah,

yeah,

I don't know what to say.

I don't even know what to say.

All right, well, um,

I meant to do two hours again, so sorry for holding you up, bro.

But if you were to disappear from the earth tomorrow and you had one message you could send to the entire world today, what would the message be?

Dude,

oh,

this is going to sound so selfish.

This is going to sound really selfish.

I think that more people need to start putting themselves first.

I have for a long time have, at least this is for me, right?

This is for me.

I've always been one to overinvest in my relationships and give more

into those, more energy, more time, more money, whatever it may be.

And I feel like

relationships are just.

Majority of my relationships,

majority of them.

And

with at least like my close friends and my family and things like that, my girlfriends.

And I very rarely has anyone reciprocated or given it back.

And when they can't, because they're just not the type of person, because I'm overly invested, I have gotten hurt.

I've gotten bitter.

It's caused me a lot of like pain in other areas of my life.

And I think that also a lot of that comes from

me

not being as mature as I possibly could.

And in that, if I was a little more mature, if I knew myself a little bit better, if I took a little better care of myself, I think in those relationships, may not have suffered as much because I would not have had the expectation on other people.

And so I think I should have invested in myself and been okay with myself and secure with myself and known myself a little better before pouring into other people.

And I just never did that.

And so it's kind of a weird thing because, you know, it's like, oh, you're just saying to be selfish.

It's like, you kind of have to be.

It's kind of like the, the, the, the, uh, the example of when you're on an airplane, they say if the airplane's going down, it's like you put your auction mask on first and then the next person because you need to help yourself first before you help the next person.

It's the same principle.

Like, I just think people need to start looking out for themselves, making themselves good.

And once they love themselves and they're good with themselves, the other relationships around them are going to flourish too.

And they're going to be able to help people better.

Gotcha.

That's something I've learned recently.

That's something like I've had to learn recently in the last like year, year and a half.

And it was like a hard lesson for me to learn and realize about myself.

But it caused a lot of, I'd say, damage in relationships in the past.

And a lot of times me cutting off people because I was like, they don't care about me as much as I care about them.

They aren't giving me as much as I'm giving them.

So they don't deserve to be in my life.

And it was like, that was a me issue.

But I didn't realize that, you know?

I like that a lot.

I have been there definitely in the past, especially when I was younger, for sure.

And then as I grew older, I think I started becoming a lot more self-centered.

Yeah.

So it's really cool to hear you say this because it's almost like I need to, like, it almost helps me reflect.

Cause as of since I turned like 22, I think I've been in the opposite space where I started to give my friends less attention

and then they would pass away like Ryan and then I would regret it for doing so.

So, um,

but I think it's nice for you to say that now, for me to hear that, because right now I've been in this like kind of state of paranoia that

because I'm going to have to leave all the people that are close to me and all my

if I'm, you know, to move with Lexi to Kentucky so she can be with her family and friends and the people that she cares about.

I kind of have this, like, I don't know, I've been having a lot of anxiety about like what I'm losing and like trying to maintain those friendships.

Like, I think I just get paranoid that you know, as you know, and you said just as well as I, like, that as we grow older, the circle kind of gets closer and smaller.

I feel like it's a thing that guys have talked about, even like if you look on socials online, that a lot of men tend to like lose a lot of their friends

or a lot of their circle as they grow older and start creating families and stuff.

It's like the people in their life become

different.

It's more self-centered around protecting your family, I guess.

Exactly.

And I think for you, too, it's like it's, it's maybe a closing of possibly a closing one chapter and opening of another, but you know, you are giving up possibly some relationships and, you know, some things and the current life that you have there but it's also like what are you gaining you're gaining a family in kentucky you're gaining possibly your wife or the girl that you are going to be with long term the family that you might create there you know you're gaining this life that you've been looking for that you've been searching for that you've helped create like this is your life now your environment your family that you are giving up this for for this because that's what you want and you creative and that's what you care about and so i will say that the i mean look at me and you me and you i mean we like became friends and we stayed friends and we live across the country.

We've never lived almost in the same spot for more than like when we were friends for maybe like less than a year, you know, and I think that the real intimate relationships, the good ones, that they stick around because you're intentional with them.

So,

but I understand where you're coming from because I gave up when I moved here.

I was like, fuck.

What the fuck am I doing?

I don't know anyone in Florida.

But after, I would say after six months, I would say the six-month mark, man, it made made a big difference.

I hit six months, I started actually forming relationships and, you know, building a little community.

It's like just starting to start to blossom, but it's, it's been a really good mental,

like much needed mental boost.

That's cool.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

On the bright side, I do have to say you were right with the perspective that, like, man, this is the girl that I want to be with.

And this is where I plan to put all my energy and attention to because I feel like the universe of God has gifted me this.

So I got to run with it.

And

I'm blessed too that she was able to give me this transition period, unlike you.

I got to meet a lot of people in Kentucky in the last like six months or so.

So it's going to be a lot easier for when we actually move.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think it'll be good.

I think it'll be good for you.

I think it'll, and I think it'll pay off.

And looking back, you make that was the right decision.

I think so, too.

Thanks, bro.

Thanks for being my therapist for a day.

You're welcome.

I'm glad I could let you vent to me and take it all in.

Some friends are for.

All right.

Keep me updated with how everything goes and how Miami goes, bro.

Yeah, likewise, I'm gonna pack right now, and then I'm gonna head to Shake Shack, get a 2,000-calorie meal, and then start my three and a half-hour drive to Miami.

Sorry for giving you so long, dude.

No, it's okay, it's okay.

I was looking for this for a while, so it's either take off tonight or take off first thing in the morning.

And I was just like, I don't really care, it doesn't bother me.

I've never driven through Florida, too, so I'm kind of excited to like see what Florida is like, honestly.

It's been a little venture, yeah, see what it's like in the dark.

Yeah,

I kind of, I guess so, How flat it is, but whatever.

Well, I really appreciate you for coming on, bro.

Really?

Likewise, thanks for having me.

Yeah, this was fun.

Good luck with everything.

And then I'll text you.

We'll keep in, we'll go touch base soon.

Bum, you're not going to be there, though.

I know.

Me too, but

I don't know.

It's for the best.

Take all the picks for me, I guess.

And drink all the energy drinks.

And

yeah, I'm freaking out.

I'm not drinking rabbits and shit.

I'm not drinking white rat.

I don't, I don't fuck with Kratom, dude.

That shit fucks me up.

Really?

Yeah, that shit fucks me up.

It's a fucking drug, bro.

I know.

I know.

I don't know how that shit, like, like that 708 shit that Gooba's talking about right now.

Like, the Kratom, I'm like, dude, that shit messed me a whole bunch of friends up for a while.

And I was like, you got to get off this.

Oh, shit.

Yeah.

But here we are.

Sober now.

Four years.

From Kratom.

I'm Kratom.

Yeah, I've Kratratom.

Just Kratom.

Gotcha.

All right.

All right, dude.

I'll talk to you later.

All right, later, brother.

Peace.