Andy Paredes Reveals His Secrets To Winning 3 Pro Shows In 3 Weeks & We Recap My Classic Debut Competing Against Him

Andy Paredes, a new 26-year-old Elijah that won three pro shows within three weeks and also competed with me in my social processor this last week.

I'm a firm believer in it because you get minimal side effects, you still get all the benefits.

We don't want to be like a hothead or on edge all the time.

Being on low food and low body fat is hard enough mentally.

If I keep my GH on this side of the fridge, I keep my meats and my other veggies on the top part of the fridge.

I try to literally replicate it to where I feel like I'm at home.

Glaze is arguably just as important as the 10, even the timing of the glaze.

If they're going to have us on at 11 a.m., I don't care, bro.

I'm getting there at 10.

That already sets you up for a more relaxed state, calm of mind, better peek actually when you get to the stage.

And then Prov had this idea.

He's like, recently, I've been hearing from other coaches is the trend is Super Drawl.

I've never taken it.

And he's like, I don't want to run Halo.

I think we should do 20 minutes of Super Draw.

I was like, all right, it's going to fill the tissue with intracellular fluids similar to anadrol.

So we did it the last three weeks.

Maybe doing it once or twice is not bad, but every show, if I'm gaining 10 pounds the night of, that's not really good for my kidneys long term.

I'm pretty open about it, bro.

The base of both was for the pro debut prep, the one where I was a little bit smaller.

It was 600 tests, 300 mathrop, 300 Primo E, 50 megs of Winnie.

And then, towards the end, we did 20 megs of Halo the last two weeks.

So, this is the plot choice we're gonna trip out.

First off, I just want to apologize to everyone for me being so fucking slow right now.

I don't know why I am.

Sometimes it's hot those days, you know?

Yeah,

it's just not those days.

Sometimes you just want to be those ways.

It's Sunday, bro.

Kind of what's going on today.

Yeah.

When you were walking, when you were walking,

I seen something.

What's up?

Do we have the same slides, bro?

No.

Close.

I got these young LA slides.

Oh, okay.

They're so good, though.

Some of the stuff Young LA makes, I don't fucking aware, but some of the shit is like the best ever dude sometimes they'll come out with something out of nowhere and i'll be like i don't think i've ever had a better piece of clothing or a better piece of fucking flops in my entire life i love that new drop that just came out with it's like camo and stuff oh i love it bro that looks cool bro i was actually gonna wear it for this pod but my girl made me this for my birthday

and um

We had somebody asking my DMs if I was going to get, if I was going to sell it.

And

like and i have been thinking about it for a while because i wanted to create merch for the podcast and bro i i 100 would feel really warm inside to get that dm so bro thanks bro bro i 100 would because i had um my friends telling me the same thing they're like bro you should make some olympia merch i'm like well i don't think anyone's gonna buy that shit you know fuck you

and so i just i uh with raw they put me in touch with their graphic designer got a you know uh graphic that i really liked i'm like okay let's do it i bought a hundred shirts and then I kind of promoted it in the form of some content, some reels, and then like literally, like most of them are sold out already.

No way,

like

that's sick, dude.

Like, me, medium and 2xl are both sold out, and there's only a couple left and the other sizes.

And it's crazy, bro, because I'll literally go to the gym and I'm training, and I see some random person who I'd never met, and they're wearing my fucking shirt.

That is awesome, bro.

That is

sick.

And it has a

it's not just like a random shirt or it says like olympia on it and then on the back of the shirt is like stage shots like this of me and my trunks and people are wearing that i'm like that's tight bro like i'm in my trunks on someone's shirt and someone's like repping that like yeah

like that that's like that's the meaning to it for sure so yeah dude i love that shirt too because uh like the simplicity of it if you just did like a white on black like that and then you did a black on white so you did like a white t-shirt with black black lettering and then vice versa.

Yeah.

Put it for like $29.99, bro.

Like,

that's just residual.

That's just income.

That's like,

you just put like a little,

you know, how when you do like your

little clips like in the middle of the pod, like it'll pop up or something.

Like you, you put it in the middle, like a little ad for something you're promoting.

You could do that with the shirts.

But hey guys, the shirts are alive.

All the blah.

Put it in there.

That'd be easy.

Yeah,

there's nothing that makes me feel more warm inside.

It makes me feel better, though, than fucking knowing you homies are watching the podcast and that you guys like it.

So,

um,

yeah, I just wanted to say thanks.

I don't know if you guys would get this, but you let me know if you guys would buy this shit because honestly, I would love to create some.

I feel like they'd be.

I just love wearing this because she made it for me.

And it honestly meant a lot that someone even asked.

So

I love this shit, bro.

Might have to put up the good old poll on Instagram.

Would you buy this?

Would you buy this?

Yeah.

I wanted to ask you,

if I was a fly on the wall, what is the first memory that comes to mind where you remember bodybuilding first coming into your life?

Because

it

looks like bodybuilding has been a massive, massive, I mean, it looks like it's been almost everything in your life.

I mean, not everything, but I'm trying to fuck, dude.

I don't even know what to fucking do right now.

I don't know why I'm even fucking talking.

I can't even fucking come up with normal words at the moment.

But basically, it just seems like you know so much about it.

You've been so passionate about it for so long.

I don't kind of want to know where this all started.

Yeah, you know, ultimately, you know, I did, I played sports in middle school, high school, football, basketball, that type of stuff.

And I was actually like always the skinniest kid.

Like I always got made made fun of for being like too skinny.

And I was also a really bad kid, bro.

Like I was getting suspended a lot and getting in trouble and

that type of stuff.

Smoked weed a lot.

Fire all the time.

Fire.

But yeah.

I remember like, I think it was like seventh grade.

I had gotten suspended or something like that.

And, you know, I went to go stay with my dad for a couple days.

And I remember I was like so angry.

You know, sometimes you're a teenager, you're just like angry.

Like, oh, I'm just a man for no reason.

I don't know.

Yeah.

And I remember I went in the garage and he had like a little bench with like a little bar and some like dumbbells or something.

And my dad's like, well, you're so mad.

Like, let's pump some iron or something.

I was like, all right, I got you.

Let's, let's do it.

And he's like, yeah, I learned this in jail.

Like, it's called skull crushers.

You know, you do it like this.

I was like, oh, skull crushers?

All right, bet.

There's skull crushers.

And then push-ups.

And then just like, Mind you, I'm hella skinny, bro.

So I'm doing like tens on each side and I'm like struggling, but like, I don't know.

We just worked out for like an hour and I just remember feeling like, bro, this feels good.

Like, ah, yeah, like, I don't know.

It gave me a sense of like confidence that I was missing.

And, you know,

I was like, I want to do this more often.

And then

I had a gym membership that whole time, like my mom had gotten me a gym membership at the local gym, and I had never really ever gone.

And then once I found like how much I enjoyed just like weight training.

I was like, dude, I'm going to start going to the gym.

Next thing I know, a couple of homies starting to go with me.

And then

before I realized it, bro, I was like going in a sophomore year and I was like getting pretty serious into sports too.

And I was like, you know what?

I just want to bodybuild, bro.

And I quit football, quit basketball.

And that summer going a sophomore year, bro, rich Piana, two a days, you know, like.

bulking, you know, eating 5,000 calories a day, watching Cali Muscle videos, eating top ramen and tuna.

Like, I did all that, bro.

I was bringing my meals to school sophomore year.

Junior year, you know, I started driving, so I was able to drive to the gym.

I would like, I would literally skip class, bro, to go train.

Like, I would, I would bring protein shakes, you know, into class.

And then by junior year, bro, like, the teachers are accusing me of like taking gear and shit already.

And then by that time, I knew, I was like, dude, I want to be be a fucking bodybuilder one day i want to be mr olympia i had pictures of phil heath and jay cutler on my on my bedroom wall and um

yeah senior year same shit just kept growing kept getting bigger and i graduated at like 230 pounds bro and i was like that's crazy how tall

uh 5'11.

so i mean um like my freshman year i was like a buck 40 buck 50.

so i graduated at 230.

so like it was it was huge transformation what was the first media that you watched of bodybuilding?

Probably like

the Generation Iron movie.

Okay, that one's sick.

I was like, bro, I would watch that shit every day, bro.

Like, literally, like, every night I watched Generation Iron.

And then I watched a lot of like the bodybuilding.com videos with like Jay Cutler and stuff.

Yeah.

Yeah, bro.

I've just been hooked on it, honestly, ever since I started touching a weight, like 13, 14 years old.

Yeah.

Yeah, man.

And then I did my first, did my first show when I was 19.

And then, you know, when you first compete, you get bit by that bug and you're just like, bro, I fucking love this shit.

There's nothing that compares to it.

And then how did the show go?

So my first show,

it was here in my hometown, Fresno, called the Fresno Classic.

It's funny because I had gone through like, my first real breakup like senior year, right?

And I was like hella heartbroken, bro, depressed, wanting to kill myself.

Like, I'm like, hella going through it, you know, like first breakup type of stuff, like end of the world.

Like,

and I remember I went to Denny's with one of my homies.

We're just eating.

I'm like benting to him and he's like, bro, you should just compete.

Like, you always wanted to.

Like, maybe you should just do a show to like, you know, get over your breakup.

I was like, you know what?

That's real.

And then I like four or five months later, bro, I was like, all right, just did the show.

And my friend who was actually with me at Denny's, Jay, it's like a childhood friend, he actually coached me for it.

Like, no shit.

It came full circle.

I did

Classic wasn't around yet.

No, no.

Tell me your prep with Denny's.

Yeah.

I did,

it was in 2018.

So

I think Classic was around.

But yeah, I just did open bodybuilding and I did novice heavyweight and I did open heavyweight.

And I got first in the novice heavyweight, won the novice overall.

And then I

got second in the open heavyweights.

So, yeah, it went good.

Were you still natural around then?

No, I hopped on.

I honestly, bro, in hindsight, I wish I would have waited a little bit longer

to get on cycle.

I just feel like I could have still progressed very well.

I mean, I hopped on when I was 17.

So, like,

that's very, very young.

But, like, to put it into context, I was like maybe 205.

I was already benching like 225.

And in my mind, I justified it.

Like,

this is what I want to do with my life 100%.

I want to be a competitive bodybuilder.

I want to make it to the Olympia.

This is how I want to make my living.

So I'm like, I'm just going to start now.

Why wait?

And I jumped on my first cycle, bro, in high school.

And like, yeah, hindsight, I wish I would have waited until I was at least like 20 or something, you know, but.

And that's because you just feel like you could have made a little bit more gains naturally first.

Yeah.

And also, like,

I don't know, just I don't like the idea of me starting that early.

I feel like just

maybe I wasn't like truly fully developed as like a male yet.

Like, I mean, I was 17.

That's pretty old.

But like, I feel like you're not fully developed as a male until maybe you're like 20, 21, maybe.

Like, I could have probably grown more, maybe gotten taller.

Like,

I don't know.

But ultimately, like, I look back, I'm like, no regrets, bro.

Like, everything happens for a reason, you know, and it kind of made me who I am today.

You don't feel like there were any other issues that came from you starting early, right?

Like, mentally, for example?

No,

I don't think so, bro.

I feel like I've always been like pretty mellow and chill.

You know, that first cycle hits different, though, bro.

You're like, fuck it angry.

You're like, I'm ready.

Every day I'm ready to go kill it in the gym.

Like, there's no other feeling like it.

But I think ultimately, like the longer you take gear the more you kind of like learn how to like

adapt to it yeah and you don't really feel like angry all the time you can sometimes it's even almost subconscious you kind of almost naturally adapt to it yeah well most people do there's some people i could say that don't unfortunately yeah i mean i know some people that are like i i literally can't take train i'm punching holes in the wall i'm like bro relax why are you so some people that are still taking it and still punching the holes in the wall

um i don't know it's it's crazy man i was having this personal talk with somebody about someone we know that um continues to do it and it still affects their life and their family in such a negative degree that it's kind of destroying their like destroying his the relationships with his wife and his child and everything sucks

bro i mean we

we hear stories like that like i'm sure that you do like

there's people that are going through that much putting their family or significant other through all that and like they don't even compete they don't even get on stage i'm like bro what are you doing like you're taking 500 megs a trend and you just look like you know like an average gym guy i'm like you're not even competing bro like

the the health aspect is great enough like but you're also like deteriorating your marriage and you know all this stuff like oh it's terrible bro like people truly they i don't know man

right

right

It's a tough thing.

Having a little bit of mental fortitude and consciousness over this stuff is probably one of the things I like to cover the most because I think it's just different for every person.

Some people can fucking take all the shit in the world and they don't fucking feel a thing and they just feel great the entire time.

My boy Devin Bernardo, he likes the last time we were on a pod like two years ago or a year and a half ago.

He was talking about how he just jumps on everything and he just loves it and he just feels awesome and he's just happy all the time.

No side effects at all.

Yeah, no side effects at all, which I think not very many people can honestly say.

Well, I mean, that's a whole nother conversation about the hyper tolerator thing right like yeah some people can run gear for 20 weeks they do their lab work and then their lab work is like pristine some people run test and anivar and their lab work is destroyed you know like it's

yeah it's it's different for everyone a lot of it's just genetic you know

what was your first cycle

so i was 17.

okay yeah my

I don't have no guidance back then, right?

Like, I'm like listening to my buddies at the gym.

We're like looking at bodybuilding.com forums for cycles.

You want to guess what it was?

Do I want to guess?

Yep.

I'll give you a hint.

It was, it was two compounds.

Yeah.

Is it a high or low

for a first cycle?

Pretty high.

Like, I could probably take that now and pretty get a good response from it.

500 tests, 300 trend.

Oh, that's close.

No, it was 500 tests, 50 migs, and a draw.

Oh, sick.

Right out the gate, bro.

Right out the gate.

Bro, right out the gate.

I didn't give a fuck.

I was like, oh, this ain't shit, bro.

I love it.

And I would like have my friends tell me, they're like, oh, bro, that's nothing.

That's like a, that's a normal cycle.

But I'm like, bro, I wish

hindsight's always 20, 20.

If I could go back, I'd take like 150 migs a test, bro, and that's it.

You know what I mean?

But I gained like 25 pounds in my first cycle.

So I'm like, damn.

I went from benching like 225 to like 315 on incline.

I'm like a senior in high school, bro.

And I'm like inclining 315, like for reps.

And people are like,

you're on steroids.

So I'm like, well, maybe.

Maybe.

My teachers, bro.

My teachers.

You got to tell us all the negatives are all the 17-year-olds on this podcast.

You're going to jump on 50 anadroll and 500 chests.

Well, I did start getting some acne.

I definitely started getting some acne on my neck and my back, like nothing too bad.

Like I didn't develop any bad like scarring and it wasn't like cystic acne or anything like really bad.

I think it was just honestly more of a combination of I was training harder and I was sweating more.

And I think it was more of just like a hygiene thing.

Like I remember I would like.

go train legs and be drenched in my shirt.

And then I'd like drive, I would drive home in the same sweaty t-shirt and, you know, not shower for a couple of hours.

Now I'm like so proactive about my hygiene.

I bring like an extra t-shirt to the gym.

Like, I

get out of my sweaty clothes as soon as I get home.

I rinse off.

I'll shower twice a day.

Um, I'm like extra, extra proactive because I'm like so paranoid.

I'm like, I don't want to like break out and shit.

And

making sure my estrogen is always in check and stuff.

Um, I was not keeping my estrogen in check with my first cycles.

Oh, bro.

I was like,

no chance.

I'm like, bro, what do I take?

Oh, take one 8x per day.

I'm like, okay, cool.

That's what I was doing.

One 8x tablet per day.

I don't even know what it is or what it does.

I'm just like, cool.

I'll take it.

Why not?

But honestly, not too many negative side effects, bro.

I mean, I'm besides the acne and stuff, like,

I mean, like, just anger, anger as a 17-year-old

on that high.

No, not really that high, bro.

Honestly.

You were just saying, okay, so what did you mean earlier than just aggressive aggression in the gym or something?

I would say, uh

like i get really impatient like my fuse for for patience um obviously as i've gotten older it's better but yeah when i was younger like i'm like i would get very very irritable like a lot quicker like my fuse was a lot shorter um

Like I would go to, I would go to class, bro, and like I would have my headphones in

and the teacher's like, hey, take out your headphones.

I'm like, nah, bro, I'm good.

Like, I'm not not taking out my headphones.

Just kind of like a dickhead, you know.

But I was also a teenager, you know.

So, like, is that just being a teenager?

Is that the gear?

Is the combination, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm like watching bodybuilding videos and the math teacher's like, hey, put your phone away.

I'm like, oh, bro, Phil Heath, what are you talking about?

I'm not putting my phone away.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Maybe a little of the anagel.

I don't know.

Maybe not.

Yeah.

After that first show,

what was the competitions like afterwards?

What was the plan?

So after that first show, of course, you know, I did the typical first show, gained 40 pounds

in a week,

had a 20,000 calorie chi day.

Fucking sick.

All these crazy things.

Didn't even reverse.

What's up?

What'd you eat?

I remember I started off the morning.

I actually filmed it for my YouTube.

I remember starting off the morning.

I had a bunch of like candy bars.

I don't know why.

Nice.

A bunch of candy bars.

Then I went and got like pancakes, breakfast.

Right after that, met up with my buddy.

And I'm like, hey, let's, I'm filming this video.

Like, I'm going to come over, like, I'm going to buy some cereal.

So then I had like two boxes of cereal with regular milk.

Then I was like, oh, I'm pretty fucked up.

Took an hour nap.

Then I went to In-N-Out.

I ordered four four by fours and I think I ordered like, I think I ate maybe like three of them.

And then like two hours later, I went to Denny's, pancakes,

just junk, just calories.

Then I was like really done for.

And it was like 10 o'clock at night.

And my boy hit me up.

Hey, bro, you got to hit that 20K.

Let's go get some Taco Bell.

Totally so.

And then we went to Taco Bell.

He's like, hey, let's get like 10 beefy, five or beefy five-layer burritos or something.

Holy fuck.

And so I ate all of it and I added it all up.

And it was like 20-something thousand calories.

But when I look back, I'm like, bro, I had

chocolate in the morning.

And then I had a huge heady breakfast.

Then I had cereal with regular milk, like 2% milk.

Oh, 2%.

Terrible for your digestion.

Then I had burgers.

Are you lactose intolerant or not?

Well, I would never drink milk now because like I, I never have.

So like, if I have any type of dairy now, like, I definitely think it fucks my stomach up.

So

I don't even, I don't even really, I don't eat like ice cream or something like ears when I do milk.

Yeah.

So like any dairy at all, even if I go get like a burger that has like a slice with two of cheese in it or something i'll make sure i take like a lactate or something before just to help

breaking it down a little bit same lexi would be me

yeah that's fine putred man i'd kill flies with it

no yeah mine's tiana's like oh like the post show like i'll just eat everything and like literally for like 48 hours i'm just like farting and it's just like terrible and

rotten eggs and like just sulfur you know?

It's the real reason I actually bought Lexi

electronic white noise earplugs for sleep.

Oh, so you could just fart and she's not like, babe, seriously, what are you doing?

She doesn't know.

Hopefully she doesn't hear me.

Me and Tiana get into this all the time.

Like, oh, if I ever like have a cheat meal or something and I'm like, I'll fart.

She'll be in the same room.

She'll wait like 30 seconds and she's like, oh, babe, that's nasty.

I'm like, well, what do you expect it to smell?

Like roses or something?

Obviously, it's not going to smell good.

Like, you heard me far and you stayed in the room.

What do you expect to happen?

That's fucking great.

But yeah.

How many shows did you do afterwards?

I just did one and done for my first one.

At 19.

Okay.

And the next one.

How old were you?

The next one, I was 20.

Okay.

That was in 2019.

I did a bigger show, LA Grand Prix, bodybuilding.

I got fourth.

That was like very, very humbling for me because

I remember I was sweating on stage a fuck ton.

Like I was not prepared, bro, to do rounds of posing.

Like I'm, mind you, I'm only 20 years old.

I'm thinking, I'm shredded.

Like, I'm going to do good.

Bro, these judges, they ran us through like four or five rounds of posing.

It was one of those things.

I was like, I pulled a straight Ramon Dino, bro.

Like, my whole entire tan was.

sweating off.

I remember I was really nervous because there was a really big show.

Yeah.

And I was so embarrassed, bro.

Like my whole entire tan was just drenched.

And I remember from that point forward, I'm like, bro, this will never happen on stage ever again.

Like, I'm going to die in the posing room on prep before I ever.

Did you have any sugar during pump-up too?

Bro, no.

I was with the same coach.

He's still my good friend to this day, Jay.

Same coach who coached me for the first one.

Yeah.

Mind you, we're just kids, bro.

We don't know what we're doing.

There's no rhyme or reason.

He's just like, okay.

I remember the whole week he's like, you're looking flat.

Like, we need to, the car be up.

Like, let's go get pancakes with regular syrup.

Regular syrup.

Fire.

And then, like, literally the Thursday and Friday and the morning of the show, we just like went to Denny's and got pancakes and eggs every single week.

That's awesome.

I probably had like

20, 30 pancakes in 48 hours, drenching it in syrup.

And then I get on stage and I'm sweating.

I look back now.

I'm like, well, fuck.

Well, obviously I'm going to be drenched in sweat.

That's hilarious, dude.

Oh, fuck.

That's the balance that I'm still finding, man.

Because I fucking love being on at least a little bit of sugar.

just a little bit of Verizon Blood Sugar when I'm going on stage.

It makes me feel so much better.

But it's just a fucking hard trade, man.

Because you're up there for a little too long and you're going to start sweating.

Yep, it's quick, bro.

I just, now our protocol is just two tablespoons of pink salt to the dome, a shot of vodka, shot of Cialis.

Shot of vodka and Cialis.

Let's go.

Bro, that's like.

That's me and every weekend.

Hey, that's me pre-trading every day.

Literally.

Fucking, yeah, Patrick for me was just potato chips for this last show.

Yeah.

That's, does he tell you how much they have?

Like, oh, a handful or a couple handfuls.

Or does he have you like measure on a food scale?

Honestly,

everything was measured.

This was the only thing that wasn't measured.

He was just like, yeah, just have some salted potato chips during pump up.

And I was like, okay.

You're like, so that's fucking lazy.

The whole bag?

Or?

I didn't eat the whole bag, but I don't know.

I just didn't even feel like it, to be honest.

But

yeah, I just had as much chips as I felt like I needed to in terms of like sodium intake.

But I forgot the pump-up pills that I would have preferred that I took that had like nitric oxide and shit that normally actually helps me when I'm this dehydrated, you know.

And you didn't even get the pump-up anyway.

So it's like I ate all of the potato chips.

I just wanted to get a fucking pump-up.

Fucking, yeah, it fucking sucked.

And then for finals, I was like, you know what?

Fuck it.

I'll have some potato chips, but I'll have like half a sample container of honey just so I feel a little better.

And God, it just makes it, it just changes everything for me, man.

Yeah.

Finals was just so easy easy for me to just click in and fucking kill it.

So whatever.

So I was watching your pod with Jordan, and you said,

You're like, Yeah, bro, I'm a big sweets guy.

Like, I love my sweets.

Massive.

And I'm like, oh, bro, me and Niall, we're going to get along, bro.

I fucked up, bro.

Actually, no, no regrets.

I got this freezer in my garage.

Bro, there's about like

$400 worth of brownies and cookies waiting in there.

Like

I'm talking like, you know, Buckeye Brownies?

Oh, fuck you, I do, bro.

I had those up for my last show.

They're going to give me a discount code, bro.

Because I'm like buying so much shit.

You see those videos where it's like

trying the peanut butter crunch brownie from Buckeye Brownie.

It's like a kind of like a mukbang kind of thing.

Yeah, I fucking love that shit.

Bro, I think I'm going to start doing those kinds of videos, bro, for content.

Like, oh, show.

That's crazy, but that'd be awesome, bro.

You should.

You should.

Because that's like a unique niche.

Like, you see this professional bodybuilder.

He's huge.

He's shredded.

You need to do a shirtless, too.

Yeah.

Do a shirtless.

Send it for a friend, though, you know, for the homies.

And then I'm like, slamming brownies.

Like, oh, I rate this a 10 out of 10, blah, blah, blah.

Like, I feel like that's very like, what the hell?

This guy is like ripped and he's eating brownies.

Like, I feel like that would get a lot of engagement, you know?

And I'm like, Yeah, I'm being genuine.

I'm literally eating these brownies after the show.

And then I got um

PDX cookie coat.

It's like these giant cookies have, like, I got like two orders of those.

Recently found this other one.

It's called Chunk of Dunk Cookies.

All these, they're like the massive cookies that are filled with like stuff in them.

Yeah,

I just put another order in for that Buckeye Brownies October box, bro.

I'm just like spending hundreds of dollars on sweets, bro.

They're just waiting for me post-show.

So I love that.

Yeah, I'm a big sweets.

I'm a big sweets guy too, bro.

Like, don't get me wrong.

Like,

I love me a good burger and fries post-show or something like that.

But like,

what gets me is the dessert, bro.

Like, I'll slam cookies.

I'll slam pastries.

Like, bro, I just can't get enough, man.

I'm with it, dude.

I'm totally with you, bro.

I told coach that I was going to have a, I was just going to have a burger after the show and then i got a bazooki too

good old bj's bazooki little cookie and ice cream bro it's like did you did you get the bazooki trio that's what i would have done but that's like those are like three sample sizes though you know right yeah and i was told they're not as good because they're yeah we have to get one yeah you know what what what flavor did you get i think i got the regular cookie one It was either cookies and cream or the regular cookie.

I think it was the regular cookie.

See, it's like my chocolate chip shit.

See, bro, like, you got chocolate chip.

You got s'mores pazuki.

You got the monkey bread.

I know.

I know.

It's tough, bro.

It's

tough.

It's tough.

What's your discount code, by the way?

Just asking for a friend.

For the Buckeye Brownies?

Yeah.

I was just messaging them today, and they're like, what do you want your code to be?

And I'm like, ah.

Like, so it's not official yet.

I was literally just messaging them today and last night.

I'm like debating.

I'm like, I think it would be sick to have a discount cook code because think of how many competitors are probably buying that.

I could, like, even if I don't obviously make money from it, it'd be cool just to have a code and like post it, right?

But I was like, maybe that's not the best thing for me in terms of bodybuilding to have a discount code in a partnership with a big half-pound Brownie company.

I'm like, maybe

come on, maybe I should like wait till after the show and like be like, you know what?

Like,

we'll see.

But there's a couple discount codes on there.

I just use one for the guy.

I think it's epic.

I think it's fucking epic.

You should.

Being the bodybuilder with a

Buckeye Brownie fucking discount code is fucking sick.

You gotta.

You should buy the.

Yeah, it's real, bro.

People think we just eat like fish and rice all day long.

Like, no, watch this.

I'm gonna eat this whole four box.

You should order the

October.

a box because how they get me is like it's limited edition.

So they'd be like, oh, once these are gone October 31st, they never, they never come back.

Yeah.

Bro, they got like

Reese's peanut butter cup and there's like Oreos, Reese's peanut butter cups, peanut butter fudge.

I'm like, bro.

Then they got like a Butterfinger one, a Twix one, an Eminem one, a Cosmic Brownie one.

I'm like, dude.

Right.

Yeah, I got to order this, bro.

I just.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's just, it's tough, man.

But no regrets, bro.

Still nailed the reverse.

Just

they're, they're all frozen in there, right?

So what I'll do is like my one free meal a week we'll go out to eat or wherever or maybe i'll order something and then like if for dessert i'll just take out like one or two of those brownies eat them up in the air fryer smack them gone

don't worry bro i'm right there with you i've been dieting since january one of the hardest things is dating a girl that loves to bake she bakes great

so yeah it's been really rough especially for my birthday we had to freeze all of it all the cake and everything it's in the freezer right now too just waiting for me man just waiting Just waiting.

Yeah, I'm probably going to ship it to Florida with us just so I can have it immediately post-show hurricane.

Well,

yeah.

You gotta, you gotta let me know your address or if you have like a PO box.

I'm about to buy you that October Buckeye Brownies box.

Have it ship to you.

Oh, bro.

It's a limited time.

It's a little bit of time.

Once you get it, just throw it in the freezer.

Forget about it.

Once you get back home from Vegas, your last show, you'll have that four-pack waiting for you.

Bro, don't do that to me.

Please send it to me, please.

Bro, I got you, bro.

like i would i would be happy i would be happy to to be honest because it's such a good pack i was like dude i gotta get this bro like i'm not even kidding like uh yeah

so

yeah

i did the

the build your box oh my god dude what the fuck is that

yeah

I'm gonna send it to you, bro.

I stay true to my word.

So if you have like a PL box or

you send me your Addie, I'll have it delivered to your crib.

And then,

yeah, bro, you'll be set up post-show with some cake in there.

You got some brownies waiting for you.

And then, yeah, bro, like I said, just pop them in the air fryer.

You could share them with your girl.

That's clutch.

Nah, just all for you, huh?

If you had to give up sex or give up sweets for the rest of your life, which one would you give up?

Yeah, I think I'm definitely giving up sex, to be honest.

Yeah, same.

There's a lot more things you can there.

You could do other things, you know what I mean?

I think I'm in that point in my life now.

Yeah, I mean, bro, I'm right there with you.

I mean, when you're like sub 5% body fat for like two months straight, you're like, dude, I'm for sure, bro.

I just, I got to get my sleep.

I'm not.

I just turned the other way, bro.

My girl already knows.

I'm like, babe, I'm three weeks out.

I'm just going to lay here.

Like, you already know the drill.

I'm dead.

I got no life

Better the shows by the way since you got fucking you got eighth at that last show and then now out of nowhere Fucking won three pro shows in a row within three weeks, which is absolutely balls fucking nuts.

Look at you see I want to ask you see that one up there the top left

Oh shit, dude, that's the the one to the left of the helmet closer to the pro card.

That's the Legion trophy, bro.

It's got the guy with the cape.

So sick.

I was like, oh, yeah.

So good to get that one.

I love that.

That's fucking awesome, man.

I love your background.

This is so epic.

They got, so for Oklahoma, they gave me this big shield and then that helmet.

It's cool, but I'm like, I'd rather have a big-ass trophy, bro.

Like, I don't know.

I just like a giant trophy.

It just looks, it looks more aesthetically pleasing to me.

I got you.

I wish I could show you guys right now, but instead of the sword, which I always wanted, they actually gave me an oversized trophy for one of my overalls instead.

Over, oversized guy trophy.

And honestly, I like it better.

It's like fucking, it goes up to like my hips or something it's pretty like my like a sword is cool because i have one too but it's like once you get the sword you're like

like it's just a sword in a case i like i'm never gonna use this you know or i don't know like it's

i mean look it's right there you see it

my my girl my girl is so funny she like we moved into this new house a couple months ago she's like i'm gonna build you a trophy case and all this stuff i was like okay so she literally ordered this whole thing, built it all by herself.

I came home from the gym one day.

She organized all these trophies.

She

see, these are like my medals up there.

She hung up all my medals.

Like she had, she collected like all my pin numbers.

And she has them all like right here on the bottom.

Like

every pin number organized.

She did all that, bro.

And I was like, damn, that's fucking cool.

So now I get to like wake up every morning and walk past it.

I'm like, that's pretty cool.

You know, so too.

Yeah.

So sick.

So

I felt like this is true for anyone in any competitive sport, but I wanted to ask, placing worse than before can normally naturally kill one's motivation for the next show.

I feel like kind of just like a subconscious thing that tends to happen.

So how do you deal with that?

You know, I think the best way of dealing with that is initially not putting so much stock into how you place because I think think people forget bodybuilding is a

subjective sport.

So even if you are the best guy on that day, maybe you're just not what the judges are looking for.

Maybe the judge prefers a guy who's taller or shorter or has, you know, a different look.

And that's just simply out of your control.

Like literally, I look at bodybuilding like control everything you can control and like everything else will work out.

So like, you don't know if you're going to win.

You don't know if you're going to lose.

You don't know where you're going to place.

So I think when guys put so much stock into like, I got to be first.

I got to be first.

And then they're not first, that's when it's like that real gut punch, soul-crushing feeling to where you're like, oh, I'm not motivated.

This sucks.

Like it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth versus

initially coming into it, like, I'm going to just bring my all-time best and let the judges decide.

That's always been the motto.

If you're the man on that day, hell yeah, bro.

We'll take the win on to the next one.

But if you're not the man on that day, it's like, bro, I'm just not the man on that day.

And like, that's fine.

Like, I still did everything I possibly could.

For me, like, losing just motivates me to come back and like work even harder.

So like, you can look at losing as like a negative thing, but you could also look at losing like, what did this teach me?

What am I going to learn from this?

And like,

how am I going to come back from it?

Yeah.

sorry do you hear me say internet yeah yeah fucking video called disconnectedness that i was trying to reconnect for a second so i missed the last like 30 seconds of what you said

maybe

it was more like 10 seconds actually

but um

yeah i'm sorry bro can you just say that one more time yeah no i got you i was like i was saying that like you know uh

when you lose it's actually you know a good thing you know you could choose to look at losing as a good thing like what did i learn from this experience how am i gonna to come back and be better?

Versus losing and being like, oh, this sucks.

Like the judges didn't look in my direction.

This sport sucks.

And like you end up kind of feeling more bitter than anything.

Like we always say, like, don't get bitter, get better.

You know, ultimately, if you just continue to check your boxes month after month, year after year.

I think like climbing the ranks is inevitable.

So that's why like seeing how much potential you have is inspiring because it's like, yeah, that was your first pro show.

You placed eight.

You know, you placed how you placed.

But look at me.

Literally one year ago, I placed eight.

Who's to say that you can't do the exact same thing?

You know, you block out the noise, you check the boxes, you hit, you know, one of these shows this time next year and you fucking win.

You know, ultimately, that's in your control.

You continue to check your boxes and bring your absolute best that you can.

And maybe like this time next year, you will be the man on that day or you'll be battling in that first call out and then that's where it's fun bro so ultimately like don't want to get too off track but to answer your original question is just like just to not put so much stock into like the number that you place and more put all your stock into like

what did we bring to the stage and first place second place third place last place

what did this experience teach me what data did we collect yeah yeah yeah yeah

i couldn't agree more because it's something i had experienced myself when i was getting my pro card and and I just kept doing terribly to be honest.

And I mean, part of that was I didn't really understand what was really required to get my pro card.

And for the first like three national shows or so, too, I was thinking I could do it competing naturally, which I just couldn't.

I didn't have, I didn't have whatever for it.

Either didn't work hard enough, didn't have the genetics for it, or I just wasn't, you know,

whatever, right?

But

I think it's just a lot easier said than done, though, for a lot of us to be more process-oriented than outcome-oriented, even though we know that that's how we need to attack all of this.

You know what I mean?

So I was, is there anything that you like keep in mind while you are competing?

Like, I think one of the things I do for myself as I'm through prep is like trying to remind myself to really enjoy this process every day.

And that's the part that sucks is what makes it hard is like.

Some of these days, you got to really fucking suffer, man.

Like, you're really fucking suffering.

And I think that's what makes us care so much about the outcome is like, God, we fucking,

we died for this, man.

We tried so hard for this.

So to get placed 16th, for example, you know, after all of this hard ass work, it can feel like a letdown for sure.

So, I mean, is there anything that you try to do to like enjoy that process or try to be present with it or anything?

Well, for one, like, you got to think how you just explained, like, oh, man, like, I put so much into this.

But, like,

everyone you get on stage with puts in so much into this, you know, everyone is sacrificing and everyone feels like shit to an extent.

Everyone is, you know, doing the same thing.

Um, and everyone goes to the show to win.

You know, like you, me, like, we don't show up to fucking lose, bro.

Like, we don't sacrifice and you know, do all we do and put our bodies through what we've put it through to show up and lose and get smoked.

Like, that's that's stupid, bro.

Like, everybody shows up to win.

Um, but ultimately, like, realizing there can only be one guy, not everybody can win.

You're not going to win every show.

So I think enjoying the process is the most important thing because that's what bodybuilding is, right?

Like the like bodybuilding as a whole is the process of checking each box, enjoying your training, progressing in your lifts and the whole process of it.

And competing and getting on stage is just like the end result, right?

So I think falling in love with the process and the journey of improving week after week, day after day,

versus like, okay, I'm going to do this show and I have to win.

And if I don't place well, then it's fucked.

Like I, I, I'm disappointed.

I'm let down.

Um, because I think the placing is ultimately just kind of like a small byproduct of the process in general.

So when you put all your eggs into this, the process and having fun with it and enjoying the process of bodybuilding, the placings are kind of like,

it's out of your control anyways.

Like I said, so,

you know, as I've gotten older and competed more, like little and little do I expect a certain placing?

Do I want to place well and win?

Yes.

But ultimately, I know I'm like, it's out of my control.

What can I, what can I control?

That's what I focus on.

Like, what, what can I control?

Like, I can control how peeled I am.

I can control how well i present this physique on stage and all the other intangibles right yeah what's made you most anxious in your journey

um i would say

honestly just like i don't want to look back um

on bodybuilding and feel bitter i i think so many people like even people my age your age like 20s 30s whatever it may be like

you see so many guys compete or they try to turn pro and then a year later they retired and they're like yeah bodybuilding i was so unhappy i wasted so much money and they just are super bitter about it and then even there's like you know older olympia og guys who are like super bitter negative towards the sport um maybe because they didn't win or they didn't fulfill their true potential I just don't want that, bro.

Like, I want to live my life and I want to bodybuild and do everything I possibly can to where when I am 40, 50, 60 years old, God willing, you know, I can look back at bodybuilding like, bro, I gave that shit, everything I had.

There's nothing more I could have done.

And I want to look back on bodybuilding as like the most enjoyable time times of my life.

I don't want to look back at bodybuilding and been like, oh man, if only I did X, Y, and Z, or if only I would have pushed harder, or.

if only I would have went and traveled and did that show.

I just try to live like my bodybuilding life with no regrets.

So, whatever I have to do to

not look back and be bitter, essentially, that's what gives me, that's what kind of drives me and pushes me.

You know,

I don't want to be like 40, 50 years old and look back and say, like, oh, I, I could have, or I should have, or, you know, I want to look back and like, I gave that shit everything I could.

And I feel like looking back, it'll be a lot more gratifying knowing we, we, what, we put our all into into this and it's something we'll be able to look back on when we're older, like, ah, remember, those were the best times of our life.

Yeah.

Yeah, man, for sure.

Um, from your three pro shows, these last three pro shows where you have, uh, where you became the champ, and then also, you know, the following pro shows afterwards where you were still placing top five, top three, all of these amazing placings and stuff.

That's a big jump and a big improvement from like your last year.

So what would you say are the main things that you learned from last year's season for you to this year's season where, you know, you seem to, uh, you seem to have everything click a lot better.

Like you seem to have figured out how to peek properly for yourself.

You seem to have figured out how to bring your best package, at least so far.

You know what I mean?

So what are the biggest things that you've learned?

Yeah, honestly, man, like I just want to give like all the credit to Prob.

You know, like he, he's someone that like genuinely has taken my career to a a place I never thought possible.

Like, I'd be lying if I told you, like, I thought a year or two ago when I turned pro, like, oh, I'm going to be winning pro shows.

Like, you know, I'm going to be, you know, doing X, Y, and Z.

But he's instilled so much confidence in me and he's taken my like career to like just heights I never thought imaginable.

And, and

he's someone that is like literally just as crazy about bodybuilding as I am.

And I'm, I'm talking like, as far as what we've learned and data, he's all about data.

So, like, I'm talking like eight weeks out, we're sending check-ins daily already.

You know, six weeks out, we're sending not only check-ins daily, but we also have a PM weight log.

So, my weight before bed.

He has like literally, this man is a mad scientist, bro.

Like, he'll literally be like, pull up my phone.

Okay, you weighed this much

after three meals, two liters of water on this date with this food and this.

Like, he has it all mapped out.

So, he's really given me all the tools I need to just

be like, almost like a robot.

Like, I just literally follow the plan and, and just try to be a machine.

And he handles everything else.

Um, so, like, as far as like peeking and continuing to improve show after show,

nailing the reverse, yes, I am the one that's like physically doing the work, but like without his guidance, I wouldn't be able to achieve any of it.

So I think it's just like

a matter of like, we've been able to collect so much data and we've been able to like try so many different things to where like there's no guesswork involved in this.

Like he can tell you, you know, like, okay, for the Olympia, I'm going to feed him this much and his weight is going to, he's going to wake up at this tomorrow.

Like he knows like.

you know, so a lot of it's just data-based, bro.

You know, just collecting, collecting data.

The more shows you do with one coach, the longer you stay with one coach, the more that coach learns your body, the better you're going to be set up.

Right.

Yeah.

It's a really true partnership and a relationship that I think people really undervalue.

And the communication is probably one of the most important parts, which is kind of hard because

sometimes some people just don't have the right communication chemistry or whatever

between coach and athlete, but it's something that you really just got to figure out.

You have to.

Is there anything that you remember, though, specifically in terms of what you guys have improved, whether it's food, food, nutrition, training, PEDs, anything that has changed that has been like, okay,

this led to an improvement this season?

It's definitely like my mind, bro.

Like, honestly, I used to

be very negative when it came to assessing my own physique.

Like, even when I first, even when I first started working with him, like, I would send him a check-in and I'd be like, dude, like, I look so flat right now.

Like, look at my legs are shrinking.

Like, my cardio is high.

Like, am I going to be ready?

Like, just a lot of negative self-talk.

And he helped me kind of get out of that.

Like, he's like, dude, you know, you really shoot yourself in the foot with bodybuilding, man.

Like, he taught me to enjoy it more and stop stressing about the little things.

And,

you know, I think there's

something to be said about like.

having fun and actually being in a good mental headspace to where your body reflects that as well.

Yeah.

Like, I mean, it's very evident like what the effects of cortisol will do, but also like

negative self-talk and self-doubt.

You can't look at yourself in the mirror and, you know, have all this negative self-doubt and self-talk and then expect your physique to respond.

Right.

So like,

but if you flip that and you're like, oh, I love this.

I'm improving.

Yeah, my workouts are good.

Oh, we're on the money.

This is good.

Then you have such a positive outlook on it.

Your, your physique is just a reflection of that, in my opinion.

So, you know, that's, I think, honestly, like the more positive I've been and the more I've been able to enjoy prepping and bodybuilding and just the day-to-day monotony of it, the more my physique responds.

Like, it's just like, it's definitely the mind has been the biggest thing.

Without the change in the mind and the visualization aspect of it, I don't think my physique would make any of the provements.

It's got to be the most undervalued thing in bodybuilding, period.

And how much it affects you.

Kai Green has this quote, and he's like, you can be your own worst enemy, or you can be your own most powerful ally.

Yeah.

It's like...

He's talking about, I was saying this in my last bot, or no, my last YouTube video, actually, the Shoday video, that I constantly have that shadow self in me, that self-talk, the talk in the little fucking annoying ass dude in the back of your head that's like telling you like you're not doing good enough or you're not going to do great or you're never going to get anywhere.

It's always there, bro.

That's the problem, especially when like you're not in a good place or say that your

sleep and certain aspects of your mental health have not been in check.

That guy just gets louder and louder and louder.

And that's one of the issues that, like, it's a constant battle that you have to fight.

But having that awareness over that shadow self and knowing that it's not you, it's a little demon on your shoulder that's talking to you, talking to you.

Yeah.

You know what you've achieved.

You know what you've grown in the past.

You know that you're in a better place than you were before.

So why would that not continue?

Because you're just afraid that it won't

kind of got to overcome that fear.

So,

yeah, man, like this, this, I think

with the self-doubt and the self-induced pressure that so many guys put on themselves within competitive bodybuilding is like the downfall of so many people.

Like,

like for me, like going into this Olympia, like I'm like, just so excited, bro.

Like, I have

like, I have zero, I'm sleeping at eight hours, no problem.

I don't think about anything.

Like, I'm just like so excited for the whole journey of it.

The week, training at these gyms, all I can think about is positive stuff.

Um, like the placing is like an afterthought to me where I see, where I see some guys, maybe it's their Olympia debut, maybe they're whatever going to compete, and they're like anxiety-ridden.

They're like, dude, I am so nervous.

I have so much pressure.

I have this, this, this.

I just don't feel that pressure ever.

Like, I look at bodybuilding as more of like a privilege that I get to do something that I love.

And,

you know, I don't really

feel that type of pressure, you know, because

I'm just blessed to be able to do it.

So when I see guys like, oh, I have so much pressure, pressure, I'm like, but a lot of this pressure is self-induced, right?

Like,

if you think about it, even at the Olympia, you'll place how you place.

Come the following Monday, everybody moves on with their lives and everybody, it's on to the next show.

You know what I mean?

So,

yeah, man, I think just enjoying the process in general and just like having hindsight and knowing that, like, oh, bro, we're, we're blessed to be able to do this and like live this lifestyle.

Like, where is this pressure coming from?

You know, the one, the one, um,

the one bite back that I have to have for that, though, is, is

giving credit and awareness to the fact that some people have a different life.

And that is one of the biggest contributors.

Did I say that right?

Contributors, yeah.

To

how much pressure you're going to feel with this show, you know, and that's that's the part that sucks is that some people aren't blessed with a stable life.

Some people are blessed, aren't blessed with

a phase of peace in their life at the moment.

And that's what makes things hard.

And many of us in this audience have been there before where it's like, dude, maybe you're fucking like you're going through a divorce.

You're having some fucking relationship issues and everything at home is not right.

You don't feel comfortable even being at your own home, much less you're also prepping for a show.

Things are not going to go right, man.

Not mentally, not physically.

Things are just not going to go right, not spiritually.

And it sucks.

So it's one of the things that I think is undervalued in bodybuilding is like, because, you know, we want to put our all into this, but at the same time, like I think I've heard Chris Asito say like, oh, no, don't give me 100%, give me 99%.

Like you have to save some of that percent with focusing on making sure that everything else in your life is okay.

I think think there's also something to be said about just like making sure, even before you start a contest prep, that like all your ducks are in a row.

Like, I see a lot of people, like, they'll be like broke or like, they'll be living like, I don't know, paycheck to paycheck, or they're struggling to afford stuff.

Even I have clients, bro, who are like, they want to compete and they're like, hey, coach, like, can I pay you next month?

Like, my paycheck this month is kind of low.

I'm like, dude, you don't need to be competing right now, bro.

That's just a whole nother added layer of stress that you don't want to have.

You know, like you got to pay for flights, gear, whatever it may be, tan, registration, like, bro, this shit is not cheap.

You know how expensive this sport is.

And like,

something as, as, as simple as like just finances, having your finances and enough money saved and put away, or,

you know, you're making enough money to afford to compete is a huge level of

added stress.

You know, like, can you imagine like being two weeks out and being like, oh, fuck, how am I going to pay for this flight?

This is so stressful.

That's like going to ruin your physique, just thinking about how you're going to be able to afford the prep in general.

And then,

like you said, there's a lot of people that like

they're not blessed like us.

They still work a nine-to-five job, or maybe they have kids.

And,

you know, like doing this show is like extremely important because like there's a lot more on the line.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How are you holding up?

Dude, I'm good, man.

I am just so ready to get out to Vegas, bro.

We leave tomorrow.

I actually caught an afternoon flight because

you ever notice like being from California?

Well, maybe not because you have LAX, but anytime you fly like towards the east, it's always like 5 a.m.

flight, 6 a.m.

flight.

It's never like at a decent time.

And I can't stand flying at like 5, 6 in the morning because it just throws off everything.

You got to get up at 3 in the morning.

It's like, I'm not used to getting up at 3 in the morning.

Then you got to, I don't know.

I just like, I like to sleep in and still be able to take my check-ins and kind of still do my morning routine, if possible.

And so I was able to catch a flight.

It's like a 5 p.m.

flight.

So

get to Vegas around 6.30.

And then we might train there, might train here.

And then just the whole, you know, getting settled in, get our groceries and stuff.

Got a nice B and B.

So I'm pumped, dude.

Just seeing all the updates of everyone who's already out there.

Like Ers got out there today.

And

you see Berez and like everybody's training there.

So I'm having a crazy amount of foam already.

It's rough.

Oh, yeah.

What day are you supposed to go out there?

Alexi and I are going to go out there on Thursday.

Okay.

So like day before.

Yeah, because

you know, it's nice to live in LA and have a four-hour drive there.

I used to live in San Diego and it was like a seven-hour drive-ish or something, which was still doable because I would prefer to drive and fly, honestly, most of the time.

But it's like now that I'm living in LA and i have this opportunity and i'm only in la for like what maybe like four or four more i don't know

i don't know how to do math anymore man i'm gonna disgrace all agents i don't know like uh five more months or something like that i'm like dude i want to take every advantage i can to just

go to vegas when there's an opportunity in vegas or something

Because then when you move, that's not really like an easy drive.

You're not going to be able to drive from where you're moving to Vegas.

That'd be like a way too far of a drive, no?

Yeah, we're probably going to move to Kentucky.

At least that's what the plan is right now.

So if that's the case,

that's not a doable drive for sure.

Especially if you're like

still on prep or something.

You got to bring like

three days worth of meals.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I try to honestly deepen the prep.

I try to avoid traveling as much as I can.

But honestly.

How do you feel about traveling for shows?

So this year was actually the first year I ever even got on a plane for the first time.

Like I was like,

totally.

I swear.

Yeah.

Like I

think we need to backtrack a little bit.

Talk about your childhood.

Yeah, bro.

Whatever

with this

never having ever gone on a flight before.

What in test that?

I guess I would say like as a kid, we didn't really like travel like as a you know big family.

Like, you know, some families like every summer they'll fly somewhere or something like that.

Like we never really did that.

um

so like i just never really traveled anywhere that required me to get on a flight especially in california you know you're like oh you want to go to la or you want to go to the beach it's just a quick little four or five hour drive most of the time and my coach prob the one you met he's been telling me for like since we started working together like almost years ago he's like bro he's like you got to get comfortable with flying bro like you got to if you're going to you know grow your name and you know compete at these shows like you're going to have to learn how to prep your meals and get on a plane and and, and, and come out here.

So

I was like, okay, yeah, you know, you're right or whatever.

Well, in February, uh, raw, um, they hit me up and they're like, hey, we want to start getting involved more with the athletes.

We want to fly you out to Florida.

Mind you,

I've never been on a plane.

I'm like, oh man, like I'm talking to my girlfriend, Tiana.

I'm like, babe, what should I do?

Like, they want to fly me out.

Like, this is a.

big opportunity, but it's all the way in Florida.

I never been on a plane.

And so I'm like, okay, like, when do you guys want to do it?

And it was like a Friday morning.

They're like, we want to fly you out Monday.

I'm like, oh, bro, like, that's too late notice.

Like, I never been on a plane.

I don't even know how this works.

I don't even know.

I don't know what TSA is.

I don't know what a checked bag is.

I don't know any of this stuff.

So just right into the deep end, bro.

Just ended up going.

I was able to book Tiana a ticket on the same flight.

And she kind of showed me because she's flown a couple of times.

And then, yeah, we just first flight ever, bro.

Flew all the way to Florida.

And then after that, like flying to Texas or flying to San Diego or

some of the shows I did, like Louisiana, Oklahoma, it's easy, bro.

Like three, four hours.

Now it's just

now I prop, I really don't mind flying at all.

It's more of like

the monotony of it, like waiting in lines, the plan, the taxiing and the plane.

What about like water retention and maybe stress?

Yeah, so I honestly, I don't really,

I don't know if I actually believe in that.

I'm going to be honest with you.

Really?

Because.

Well, what's the longest flight that you've ever had?

It was about five and a half hours.

That could be a potential reason, too, because normally these are more associated with flights that are like 18 hours long.

You're going to another country.

Yeah.

So in that case, yeah, there probably is some type of like water retention aspect, especially if you're flying like internationally or something like that.

But I was on this podcast a couple of weeks ago and we were talking about that.

And

they were like, you know, they always talk about guys like, oh, I flew in two days out and I'm holding a ton of water.

I'm like, there's only a two-hour flight.

You're not going to hold 10 pounds of water retention from a two-hour flight.

Oh, shit.

But then we also, it kind of divulged into this conversation of like,

if you're like a high-strung person who gets stressed out kind of easily, flying can be stressful, right?

So like,

even if, like, let's say, you know, your flight gets delayed or there's turbulence, like that's stuff that's raising that cortisol because it's a little bit stressful.

And then, just from that cortisol bump, that could be what's actually causing the water retention, not the flight itself.

Yeah, even if it's short, that makes sense.

Um, whenever I fly to Kentucky, I normally, I normally, my weight normally goes up by about two to three pounds and then drops back down to normal the next day.

So, it's only for a day, but it's been pretty consistent unless I literally implement anti-inflammatories that day day specifically and because that I know that I end up waking up drier with, but yeah, like if I inject glutathione the night before or no, the night that I've arrived, normally I wake up a little bit lighter in weight.

Okay, interestingly enough.

So I don't know, it's just anecdotal though.

That's smart, bro.

I'm gonna have to start taking that like if I ever do go on a long flight, because we're kind of looking at some of the shows next year and

I might have to fly like kind of far.

Yeah.

And yeah, I definitely don't want to be holding any water.

But I also think too, like as a competitor, it's like, it's kind of your job to get out there a couple of days early.

Like if you're flying out the Thursday or Friday before the show and it's a long flight.

No, for sure.

Like, especially if like

you have to expect things to happen, right?

Like you have to expect like your flight to potentially get delayed or canceled.

And it's like, okay, what now?

So that's even like for the Olympia.

Like, we're going to go out there Monday.

It's like, we want to get settled in.

We want to be there as as we can.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So.

That's perfect.

I mean, I feel like that's a great amount of time.

And even now, we're still looking at fucking all these amazing top Olympian athletes that have been out there for like at least a week already at this point.

I'm joking.

All these guys are going out there like three weeks early.

It's fucking nuts, man.

It's wild.

I saw freaking what Summerfeld and Eric were doing content like, what, a week and a half ago or something?

Yeah.

Mike went out there like a month, a month ago, I believe.

Mike's been out there for a minute, but I also know because I do watch a lot of his content, he doesn't, he like,

he, he just like lives on the road.

Like he, he'll, he doesn't, I don't know if he has like a home where he lives at like most of the year, but like from what I've heard and from what I've seen on his content, like he'll just come and go, like he'll go stay in Spain for a couple of months.

And then he's like, okay, like I'm going to just take my food with me and everything I need.

And then we're going to go to Dubai for a month.

And he kind of, he enjoys the aspect of being able to pick up and go because he doesn't have like a, you know, a nine to five job or he doesn't have kids.

That's like holding him down to one spot.

He's able to travel the world.

And I think he actually likes doing that type of stuff.

That's something I admire about him, though, is his capacity to be able to do that.

Like, I feel like,

I don't know, man.

I feel like I'm a little bit more high strung in how I want to stay organized.

So the moment I'm on the move or like I'm in a hotel, I feel like everything's a mess.

I'm like, things are places where they shouldn't be.

Like, I'm not familiar with this with this room or with this building i'm not familiar with this bed and it just kind of like i feel that whether it's subconsciously or not plus i don't know if you ever listened to some of these podcasts regarding like uh perfecting sleep and such especially when you're traveling but normally the first night they almost recommend certain things like emulating your normal sleeping environment to make sure that you adapt to it quicker which is normally why most people don't really have as optimal sleep in a new environment like that first night it's almost like your body recognizes say that you have like a fan on in the background it's it's it's used to that white noise or you say that you have like a certain thickness and comfort level of like your head pillow or whatever that supports your neck or even like your mattress you ever get like an airbnb and the mattress is just a piece of crap and you're just like dude i i can't get comfortable on this this sucks you know or

yeah like i think that's a huge thing that's like when i travel i try to i try to get into my routine as fast as i can so like if my routine is like, okay, every morning, you know, I take X, Y, and Z supplement, I drink this much fluid, I go on this long of a walk, I just try to replicate that like everywhere I go.

Like if I keep my, I don't know, say, if I keep my GH on this side of the fridge, I keep my meats and my other veggies on, you know, the top part of the fridge, I try to literally replicate it to where like, I'm just, I feel like I'm at home, right?

I love that, bro.

The GH on the top part of the fridge.

No, like it's got to be, like you said, it's got to be very specific because your body is used to just being in a routine, especially like in a prep setting, you probably get this too, where you're like, you could do your morning routine with your eyes closed at this point.

It's so routine.

Like you take this supplement, you take this fabriner, you take blah, blah, blah.

And,

you know, I think even what you said too on the bed,

where we live, like I sleep on the left side of the bed.

So anytime you, anytime Tiana and I go anywhere,

I'm always like, hey, we have to recreate this as if we were at home.

So like, I'm going to sleep on the left side of the bed.

So, so yeah, we just try to recreate like your setup as best as you can.

Yeah, that's funny.

We're pretty similar that way as well.

Real quick, guys.

So while I was looking at the YouTube analytics, I actually saw that 85% of you guys that watch this channel are not subscribed.

And I want to ask very little of you guys, but if you enjoy this podcast, if you find value in it, then please do me this one favor and subscribe to the channel because doing so helps me get bigger and greater guests like the guests you are listening to today.

Also, this channel is not sponsored, which means only the companies that I work with, which are Young LA and Huge Supplements, are the companies that can help fund this channel by you guys using the code Nile.

So Code Nihil gives you a discount of 50% off of YoungLA, and CodeNile also gives you a discount of 10% off of huge supplements.

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All right.

I'm like, there's a lot of questions that are being brought up, to be honest, as we're talking.

I'm realizing like, I think it's better, or it would be great if I laid down a little foundation first, because I think there's a lot of people that haven't really heard your story or heard anything about you as well.

Plus,

also, earlier you mentioned that you had a big family.

And I didn't get a chance to ask you what you meant by that exactly as one of the reasons why it was kind of hard for you guys to travel.

This was when we were backstage.

I said something about having a big family.

No, just in the beginning of this pod, you said, like, um,

yeah, did you say something like that?

Um, but no, no, no, like we were talking about like getting on flights and stuff, and I said, like, my family, like, we didn't really like travel anywhere like that, but no, I don't have like this crazy big family.

Like, I'm

super close with like my mom, my sister, my brother-in-law,

my nephew.

I don't speak to my dad a whole lot.

We're on good terms, but he's just, you know, very busy with work.

He's got other kids.

And then I have two little brothers from that same dad.

And, you know, obviously they look up to me and they're like in their early 20s now.

So they're like, they're, they're working full time.

They got girlfriends.

So it's like, you know, just as you become an adult, it's like, kind of hard, you know, to like make a ton of time for family.

But no, I still love like, you know, going to Thanksgiving, christmas like we all still gather and meet and and stuff like that but no i don't have like this this huge family no still fucking way bigger than mine that's for sure who do you who do you have who's like in your main circle i'm really close with my uh my my

personal family i didn't have any siblings it was just me and my parents um and we had kind of like um

uh

I'm trying to think of a good way to explain this.

I've talked about it before in the podcast so i don't want to chat people's off if you're off about my life but uh just essentially like a kind of a disconnected childhood and um

not really the best

relationships or situation things are better now i've of course because i'm a lot older and i've like put some effort into many relationships with my parents and especially my dad things have been a huge improvement since then and radiotherapy has helped a lot as well but i mean essentially i just haven't really i left home at 15 and I've kind of been on my own since then.

The people that ended up being my family are like the best friends that I met in San Diego after I graduated college and I left my engineering job.

Yeah, I was going to go to school at UCSD for my master's.

And then like a week before I dropped out, I'm like, actually, I just want to be a fucking bodybuilder and lift weights.

So I'm just going to do that and try to figure out how to make some money.

And that's everything.

But you're doing it, bro.

I mean, you're living the dream, you know?

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

It's everything paid off, you know?

No matter what, I think the way that I see these things is like

even if, you know, there's a lot of us that are born in very unfortunate circumstances, but I believe a lot of us have this, this drive to move forward and make an make a huge improvement, especially when those unforeseen circumstances in the past had been so

much of a, I think,

like a monumental part of our lives.

Something that really like affected how we felt about our life moving forward.

Um, something that made us feel like maybe we really need to make a change.

Maybe we really needed to just step outside that zone that was keeping us behind.

And I think

using that as a driving factor allows us to like create our own new lives.

So there's a lot of us, I think, on this podcast that have progressed ourselves to do something crazy, such as like I've had people come up to me and say like they lost 200 pounds from,

you know, bodybuilding, following these contents, all these things.

um and i think it's pretty cool that a lot of people have changed their lives doing so so

you know i think hard shit builds character

no i i that's i mean that's awesome bro i mean i can only imagine like with the amount of viewers you get on the podcast and you know how consistent you are with it um and the amount of people that you reach like how many people you truly inspire and that this is just people that are maybe commenting or even coming up and telling you something like we're not even taking into consideration the amount of people that you are affecting that you may not even know, right?

Um, and then, as far as like the life thing, yeah, you, you know, none of us really can control the cards that were dealt,

but um, you know, ultimately we choose how we play those cards, right?

So,

um, you know, I heard this quote and you were talking about like how, you know, hardships build character and all that.

And

I don't want to butcher the quote, but uh, it was essentially like

a smooth, it was talking about like you're sailing a ship and it was like, smooth waves don't make strong sailors or something, something along those lines, right?

So it's like,

like if you're, if you're on a ship and you're, you know, guiding the ship and like, or it's like, it was like something like, calm waters don't make strong sailors.

I think that was the quote.

Calm waters don't make strong sailors.

Yeah, which is like, if you essentially like, if you're not, if you don't go through any adversity, like you're not going to build that character, like you were saying right yep exactly

like getting placed absolutely terrible next to andy at his at your first show

no i mean completely dwarfed

so we do have a lot to recap on that because like i i actually have questions for you about you know how you're feeling and um

you know like what the plans are just to recap the show too um but i also know you wanted to do like a like a backstory too with like get some type of context for the viewer who who may have never like seen me or anything.

And then, yeah, bro.

Yeah.

But I love the flow already.

It's like nothing, nothing is forced.

That's another reason I love your pod is because some podcasts you watch and it's just a tough listen, you know?

Yeah.

So well, I appreciate that, bro.

I can thank my ADHD for it.

It causes sometimes it helps and sometimes it causes me a fuck ton of problems.

So

yeah,

the ADHD is actually pretty tough.

I'm not going to lie.

So, dude, honestly,

I'm going to just be straight up.

Like, before we went to the show, though, I remember seeing you just pop up on all of these accounts, like Bodybuilders with Borders and

a lot of these other, like, little, like, bodybuilders' news outlets, Instagram accounts.

And you would always just,

it would just show you, like, winning your show.

And Alexi and I are close with, I don't know if you know Daniel Fibode.

Yeah, Black Rambler.

right yeah

so he's a homie of ours in kentucky and um i just remember him competing back-to-back shows and you would always fucking beat him whether it was like by a placement or what

so every time you popped up we'd be like who the hell is this guy that just keeps fucking beating daniel for daniel i remember the biggest fucking craziest legs ever i remember because um we started prepping we had picked out optimum and uh daniel did uh he did detroit and i was already following him like, who's this Black Rambo guy?

He looks sick.

I was like already supporting him from afar, you know, like commenting on his updates and stuff.

And then I see he gets third at Detroit.

I'm like, damn, this dude is a hitter, bro.

Like, he's legit.

Anyways, I go about my prep.

And one morning I'm on the stairs.

I pull up Instagram.

He's like six weeks out from Optimal.

I'm like, oh, shit.

He's doing the same show as me, bro.

Damn.

You know, and then I start analyzing.

I'm like, okay, like his legs are pretty crazy.

Oh, damn.

I mean, he's, he's peeled too.

Oh, like, yeah, this is going to be tough.

But it's like, I always try to look at everything on Instagram, like, through a different lens, because ultimately, like, everyone looks like Mr.

Olympia on Instagram, right?

And, you know, even you know, by now, it's like everyone looks good by themselves on Instagram.

It's like, until you get under those stage lights and you beat someone shot for shot, pose by pose, it's like

Instagram doesn't really mean anything, right?

So I try to look at it like with a grain grain of salt.

But yeah.

When you compete, though, when you're planning to compete on a show, do you let yourself look at, do you let yourself look at the other guys and the other competitors, or do you just try to do you try to avoid that?

I do.

I mean,

like, I, I'm super,

I want to say hyper analytical.

Like, I'm not going to like, you know, analyze every single one of their photos and compare them to mine.

I don't really like doing that because, you know, ultimately I'm like, it doesn't matter what we look like a week out six weeks out what they look like now it's like if they show up and they beat me then like i'll tip my cap to them because like

if i know i'm checking all of my boxes and we are doing everything we possibly can and i know that i've done everything i can to bring my best if someone beats me and they're just better than me on that day like i have no issues with that whatsoever um because i know i did everything that i could possibly do so if someone's just better than you like

you know i'm i don't waste, I don't like to waste time like comparing and stuff.

But obviously, yeah, like when, when the list comes out, especially, I'm like, I'll instantly look up all of them.

I'm like,

who is this guy?

Who was this guy?

Who was this guy?

And then I saw your name.

I'm like, oh, shit, is this like his pro debut?

I'm literally like watching the podcast.

I pull it up and your name's on there.

I'm like, hey, babe, like Niall is doing the show.

And then.

And then actually, I didn't think you were doing it because I didn't see you at check-ins.

I was like, bro, didn't show up the check-ins.

Oh, damn.

Like, I don't know.

And then, even backstage, I'd gotten there, you know, 30 minutes, 45 minutes before we went on.

I'm looking around.

I'm like, I don't see Matt anywhere.

And the next thing I know, you just pop out of nowhere and you're just there.

And I was like,

there he is.

I've been totally unprepared and totally way too late for fucking pumping up and glazing for pre-judging.

That was awesome.

Fucking fantastic experience.

I noticed at pre-judging you weren't glazed.

And I was going to say something, but I'm like, you know what?

Like,

I don't really know this guy like that.

And like, maybe he's doing it on purpose or i don't know

maybe that's his method um but yeah i noticed i'm like why is why didn't he go get glazed that's hmm yeah i was gonna say something but basically what happened was i mean obviously i'm gonna get myself glazed but i guess i didn't realize how important it was in hindsight to get yourself glazed now i'm not saying that because i didn't get myself glazed what happened was we i did my own tan um with lexi one because she's been doing her own tan we found out that there's just actually this tanning company that

Paige has linked her with.

It's not a technical, it's

Angel Competitions bikini that like wanted her to, they basically wanted her to promote the bikinis and stuff.

So she did like this runway show with their bikinis and everything.

But she's also gotten the tan from them.

And it's an amazing tan where it's like, you know, when you get the normal spray tan from the normal vendors, it's always like sticky afterwards and it's easy to come off and shit.

And this tan is like smooth.

You put it on and it's smooth.

And you apply it yourself.

And with Lexi's coat code and everything

it's like uh a quarter of the price i paid 40 for a pack of the the entire tanning kit and then lexi has a discount code versus paying like over a hundred dollars for you know the tan the spray tan that they can get so the tan is a nice thing because it's like i've gotten my tan before by myself at my very first show and my dumbass fucking showered afterwards so then i went up on stage orange like a new balumba so i learned my lesson and after that i never got a self-tan ever again but this time i was like you know what?

Lexi knows what she's doing, and she's been doing really well with her tans, and it comes out pretty great.

It could be a little darker, so next time we would do three coats instead of two, but I mean, it saves money, and it's it seems to be worth it.

And it, it kind of really reduces some of the stress of having to make, I don't know, they have some weird, they have some weird tanning times sometimes.

I feel like now the second thing is, um, apparently, you know, the glaze is normally part of the tan that you purchase from the vendors, or it's like an extra, what 25 bucks or something like that

i wasn't really sure if

um christian kind of like wasn't really sure if i was allowed to get the glaze or anything and he

i don't know he's just kind of a high energy individual backstage so i was a little bit

uh my mind was a little bit chaotic in the moment because he was kind of

i'm gonna be real i'm not trying to put anyone on the spot but In the heat of the moment, it was kind of confusing me.

But basically, he was just like, I got my own glaze, so I'll glaze you up.

Whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So he put his glaze on me, but the glaze just wasn't the same as what they had.

And,

you know, according to like Lexi and other people

in the crowd, it just looked like I didn't have a glaze at all.

So now I know the glaze, glaze-wise, I need to get that done by the vendors 100%.

And it's like they have like an actual spray glaze, right?

And you put when they spray it on you, like when I got it sprayed on finals, I was like, holy shit, I'm fucking wet, dude.

Like, I'm actually legit wet and only

honestly, bro, glaze like arguably just as important as the 10 and even like the even the timing of the glaze like it's all that the next show you do like it's all very very precise um well for one just know like you're not to be pro right so like pro pros they get priority so like for example like i didn't i i went through a third-party person too because i i try to avoid going through the the promote the show promoters because like you said most of the time they rush you you're not dark enough you're sticky whatever it may be right um but as a pro like you get top priority so even though i didn't even know i didn't tan with them they're still gonna glaze me like you got to think the show wants the pros to look good on stage so like they don't want anyone to go up there without glaze and so you know it takes 30 seconds to glaze someone so um

So there's that.

So never hesitate.

If you see people back there getting glazed, even if you didn't tan with them, just like, yeah, just get in line.

They'll glaze you.

They're not going to tell you.

no, no, you didn't, you know, like you didn't tan with us, you can't, like, no, but uh, which is what I did at finals.

I learned my lesson, and she literally just glazed me, like, she didn't, yeah, there was little reserve issues whatsoever.

And then ended up changing everything

completely changed, yeah.

And you got now, you're probably kicking yourself in the foot thinking, like,

oh man, like, I could have moved up a placing or two, maybe, if my glazing was better, you know, maybe, maybe not, right?

But ultimately, like, uh, the glaze is super, super important.

you could even have too much glaze like if you if you over glaze um it'll feel kind of heavy on your skin and then when you start hitting the rounds of posing under the lights you actually start to sweat a little bit because there's literally like a coat of just like oil on you right versus um having the right amount getting it at the right time is super important because if you get it too early and you start pumping up your body will soak up the glaze and then you get on stage kind of like how you did it like you did get glaze but it uh by the time you get on stage, it kind of soaked it up to where it looks like you don't have any glaze on.

Um, that's like why when you watch, when you watch like a bodybuilding show, for example, you'll see some guys like, oh, you could tell like he needs more glaze, or some guy might look really, really sweaty.

He probably has too much glaze on.

So getting the perfect amount of glaze and timing it right is good.

So, um, you know, the expediters, they'll be like, hey, classic physique guys, we're going to line you up in five minutes.

Yeah.

Then like, you know, start pumping up, getting loose and get glazed.

But like, if they're like, hey, so

in 30 minutes, we're going to line you guys up, don't go get glazed because by the time 30 minutes is up, like, it's going to soak up.

You have to get glazed again.

We have a lot of competitors in the show.

So basically, you would typically recommend about like five minutes prior to you actually jumping on stage to get the glaze on.

Yeah.

So like, for example, at this one, so there was 20 guys, right?

And,

but they did do groups first and groups of five.

So like, that's going to be really quick.

So let's say if they're doing individuals first and each person gets a minute, like at finals.

Well, if I'm number 15, if I'm number 15, I know automatically I got to wait 15 minutes, even when the first guy goes up.

Yep.

So, like, I'll wait until number three or number four goes up.

Then I'll go get glazed.

Then I'll pump.

And then it's like, okay, by the time I'm actually about to go up, the glaze has been on me for maybe 10, 15 minutes rather than 25, 30 minutes.

Right.

So you have to really try to time it right.

God, bro, why is that like the most stressful fucking part of my

so many things that we fucking go through?

And I swear to God, man, it's just being back there, pumping up and timing that shit for me is like the most fucking stressful part of everything.

I can go to the show, I can get ready, I can prepare myself.

But then when I'm backstage, I'm like, dude, the anxiety is through the roof.

I'm like, do I have enough time to pump up?

Am I pumping up too early?

Am I pumping up too late?

Am I fucking doing this right?

Blah, blah, blah, blah.

I swear to God, bro.

I think it's, I, I think,

also, because that was your pro debut, like, there's already some nerves going into it just to get on stage in general and see where you stack up.

But then it's like, okay, like, how fast is the show going to move?

Like, uh, how many guys are there?

Like,

like, I could definitely see how you might get like flustered or you might get anxious being back there, like, um, about time.

But I think

the more shows you do, the more you'll kind of know, like, okay, get there early, but not too early.

And then, you know, find a spot to post up, kick it, kick your feet up, you know, stretch, get loose a little bit.

And usually the expediters are pretty good, especially at pro shows.

They'll tell you, like, hey, you guys will be on stage in 10 minutes.

And if they're not, you can always just walk up to the expediter and be like, hey, bro, like, I'm a classic pro.

Like, can you give me like an ETA?

How long before we go on?

Oh, it's going to be 15 minutes.

All right, cool.

I'm going to lay back down for 10 minutes, then I'll start pumping, then I'll get glazed, then I'll get in line.

And then, like, no hate to that, expediters, but half of them are normally wrong.

Yes, sometimes they are wrong.

Sometimes they don't even know what's going on.

They're like, I'll be like, hey, are we doing groups first or individuals?

They're like groups.

And then I get up to the line.

They're like, it's individuals first.

I'm like, what?

So-and-so just told me it was.

I appreciate that for always being early, though, but it's like you can normally fucking expect that, that you're probably going to have a little bit of extra time.

Yeah.

And then your last name starts with like an N.

So you're, no matter what show show you do, you're, you're going to be always towards like kind of like the middle, right?

Uh, not towards the end, or you're not going to be the first guy on stage.

You're always going to be towards the middle.

So that'll kind of give you a gauge too.

If there's only six competitors and you're competitor number four,

okay, you should probably get glazed like with everyone at the same time.

But if there's 25 competitors and you're number 20, then you know you have some time.

Gotcha.

Yeah.

Cool.

This is good advice, man.

It's very helpful.

It's everything sounds easy in practice, practice, but then you actually go there and it's like,

what the fuck is going on?

No, I mean,

it happens, bro.

Like a lot of people, because, you know, I did the San Antonio the week before and the pre-judging for pros was supposed to start at 12.

And so we're like, hey, we'll just get there early.

I usually try to get there like 30 minutes early because sometimes they are ahead.

And I don't want to obviously run late.

Then that causes you to get flustered and then you forget to do something.

You don't have enough time to pump up or glaze, like you said.

So we had gotten there like 11.20, 11.30, 30, 40 minutes before.

And they're like, hey, like classic guys started lining up.

And I'm like, dude, it's now for another 35 minutes.

And they're like, hey, no, we're ahead.

Like, we're going to start you guys at 11.45.

So I'm like, oh my God, good thing I got here early.

So I'm able to get glaze.

pump up.

I'm in line.

No stress.

Like three or four guys, they're like just barely getting there still in their street clothes don't have any glaze on they're like you guys need to line up you're going on in two minutes so they're like throwing their bags down stripping off getting glazed running to line i'm like bro talk about like cortisol just skyrocketing you know like that's terrible like i never want to i'm also i'm also like that's like kind of like my personality in general like i never like to run late or be behind so you know even if i'm meeting a homie at the gym at 12 like i'm gonna i'm gonna get to the gym at 11

because I might hit traffic.

I might, you know, who knows?

I might get stuck stuck talking to someone.

That's a characteristic of someone with success, though.

So I just, yeah, I try to be early.

My, my girl is like the complete opposite and it drives me crazy.

I'll be like, hey, babe, we're going to the gym at 12.

It'll be like 11.59.

She's not even dressed.

I'm like, babe, come on.

Like,

you know, you know, she hasn't even eaten her pre-meal.

She's like eating her pre-meal on the way.

I'm like, hey, like, you got to be more prepared, you know?

So, yeah.

yeah

no i get that um

yeah i get that it's uh just a personal thing that i'm transparent about something i've had to work on straight for the last 20 years my dad has always been super early in the things and he would tell my mom literally he would lie to her and just be straight up like oh this is actually an hour earlier than it actually is and then my mom would always be late and

I don't know what it was or where I got it from.

I'm pretty sure I inherited the shit from my mom more.

So it's been literally an active,

it's been a, it's had to take a lot of conscious effort for me to

literally time things like 30 minutes earlier than I expect because for some reason my timing is always off and it always runs a little bit late.

And by doing that, doing the whole like 30 minutes early thing, it's always helped me get on time.

But that's something that it's like a constant practice for me.

So, I mean, with the finals routine or when finals came around for our show that we had, honestly, I think it was

everything just felt so much better, to be honest, bro.

There was a lot of things that went wrong in pre-judging

that, yeah, I guess I might as well just talk about it right now.

Sorry, yeah, let's get into it, bro.

I mean, that's why we're here.

Yeah.

This was such an amazing show to experience, man.

But for pre-judging, honestly, I got there.

I told everyone, like, hey, I'm going to get there backstage about 30 minutes before it starts, which I did.

But I think

Christian kept telling me that it was too early to pump up and that I had a lot of time.

And I trust them.

Now, here's the thing: it's different for every show.

Um, and I think I don't want to blame anyone, right?

I don't want to blame him, I don't want to blame anything, but um, everyone makes mistakes, and so I, I, I think it's better that I just say we both simultaneously made a mistake in predicting when we would get on.

And I also believe that, you know each person requires a little bit of different time to pump up um

i feel like i need a little bit more time because i think for me i need to take it real slow and

i tend to be a high

when it comes to performance or doing anything like that like going on stage i tend to be a high anxiety individual where I have to meditate beforehand.

And by having to meditate beforehand, it requires me to have extra time to do things very slowly, It requires me to have extra time to breathe and focus on my breath, like in between pump-ups and everything.

And so it takes me a lot longer.

And I think not planning for that, thinking, like, oh, like, Christian wants me to practice posing, practice, Christian wants me to like pump up by going through rounds of posing first.

It ended up so that we ended up running through the rounds of posing.

He put his glaze on me.

And then I did like a couple of push-ups and a little bit of like, I did like a set of like the freaking

like side praise or something.

Yeah, like pumping on on my laps with like the freaking bands or something.

Okay.

And then by the time we did that, the guy was telling us to line up already and go on stage.

And then he had to, Christian had to run off to help somebody else.

So I was like, fuck.

Well, that's fucked because one, I didn't get a pump up.

Two, I'm still dehydrated as shit.

So, you know, whenever you're super dehydrated in the mornings, especially if pre-judging is early, it's harder for you to like flex and like connect with your muscles.

Yeah.

Just connect with your routine and connect, but just your mind connection.

You're just your entire body is just kind of off.

That was one of the issues for me.

So I think it's a multifactorial thing why pre-judging just did not go well for me.

And,

you know, it was something that I had an idea of in my head, but when the judges gave me the feedback, it was just clear that

they saw exactly what happened.

They're just like, you were flat in pre-judging.

You didn't have any pop.

You

didn't have like the confidence.

You didn't have

basically they just said, like

the way that they explained it, obviously, because I love the guys in San Diego that throw this show and they always talk positively.

They talked about everything in a positive manner.

So basically, they focus on how my finals presentation and everything was in their quotes, like a different person.

So they said when I stepped on stage for finals,

I was extremely confident.

My posing was amazing.

My presentation was great.

I popped.

I looked really full.

Now, me knowing that I I was not glazed in the beginning and I was glazed at finals, I'm like, all right.

So I think the pump up and the glaze is probably the main reason why I probably look like I was really full and I look way better when I was in comparisons with people versus the pre-judging.

Because I don't think there was, I didn't really eat much in between the shows.

I did hydrate more, you know, which is just natural.

You know, you're going to drink a little bit more water, probably have a little bit more sodium by the time finals comes around.

So you're not fucking dying like a desert.

But

having that hydration in me also, I think is also something that just really helped me feel better and feel normal about being able to get on stage and pose and do the presentation that I've been practicing for so long.

Do you ever have issues with like connecting with your presentation whenever you're feeling like dehydrated or like fatigued from dehydration like that?

Not that I can really like pinpoint.

We also don't really pull water that hard.

You know, we keep water in pretty much throughout.

Obviously, we taper it down like a little bit, um, but but it's never to where I'm like, oh my God, like I'm so thirsty.

Like, I literally can't even, like, I'm so dehydrated.

Like, um, never really like that.

Um,

I also think too, like

most people, and this is probably what happened to you too.

They all, they always look better at finals because you have that quarter's all release, right?

So, like, pre-judging, you're like, fuck, you know, I'm nervous.

Like, I want to, I want to, I want to look good.

I want to make sure, you know, I get in that first call out and you know all these things that are going through your head versus like once pre-judging is over you kind of know where you stand you're like okay like I got some more I got another meal in me I got the jitters out then like you're a lot more relaxed and calm

and then ultimately that leads to you having more confidence on stage you being more relaxed um not so flustered and ultimately that leads to a better look too so think of it like the next time you compete, obviously easier said than done with people that like, you know, deal with some type of anxiety.

Like you just want to like meditate and like give yourself enough time to be in that calm headspace

and give yourself the reassurance.

Like I, I always like give myself self-talk, like even before I get to the venue.

I'm like, I wake up, I'm like, I'm grateful.

You know, I pray a little bit and I'm like, you know, God, no matter the outcome, win, lose, draw, first call out, last call out, like, I'm just grateful to be able to do it.

Thank you for, you know, allowing me to be healthy enough to do it.

Like, when you take a step back and look at it in hindsight, like, dude, I get to get on stage today and display this thing I've worked so hard for.

And it's like, really, like a blessing when you actually look at it.

And, you know, that for me takes a lot of the pressure off.

To where when I do actually get to the venue and it's time to like handle business and get pumped up and get up there, like, I'm so ready because every show I do, I feel like I have nothing to lose.

I'm like, dude, I'm just blessed to be able to do it.

So like, no matter what happens, like, it's just, you know, it's just an opportunity to go out there and like, you know, display my passion and, and do what I love.

So, you know, even if I got dead last at every show or there was no monetary value in it, I would still just enjoy it just as much, you know?

So

like for you, like, these next shows that you go to, it's not going to be your debut and you kind of know what to expect now.

It's like, yeah, get there early.

If you know, I got to meditate for 10 minutes.

I need to like have some quiet time.

Give yourself that time.

If you know you, you need, you know, say 20 minutes to pump up.

Let your coach or whoever's there helping you, or you may even be by yourself, start pumping up when you know, because only you know your body, right?

Like you said, some people, some people can do one set of push-ups and they're ready to roll.

Some people need to pump up for a little bit longer and kind of get the blood moving, get that connection with their muscles, you know, maybe hit a couple rounds of posing before they're truly ready to get up there.

Yeah.

How long do you normally,

when you normally start up your pump-up?

Um,

so prov, he likes me to like pump like a lot.

He, he's like,

more push-ups, keep pumping, keep pumping, keep pumping.

And I'm more of like, uh, I'm more of like a, let me get my heart rate down.

Let me get like my, you know, breath into my lungs.

Like, let me be calm before I go out there.

Uh, so I do a little bit of a mixture of the two.

I do, I have realized this year the importance of getting on stage with a pump because even if like you're in a gym setting, right?

It's a massive difference, though.

Like,

I got to say, like, this was such an amazing experience because of just how drastic the pre-judging was versus finals and what the judges saw.

And for me, it was like every single factor that you have discussed is exactly what happened that was made, that made the difference.

So it was pump up.

It was glaze.

It was being prepared and having my heart rate down it was the cortisol level it was me feeling like all right whatever whatever placement i've got is already what i've got at finals so let's just make this look awesome let's just get some fucking sick stage picks let's make the posing routine look as sick as possible that's all i that's all i focused on by finals you know everything was just clicking by finals um

and um

That just made every single difference in the books to the fact that like you like and I had people saying this and commenting this on the YouTube video I posted of our show too, that like if you come, if you watch the videos of me at pre-judging versus watching the videos of me at finals, it is actually like a completely different package when it comes to like that pop or like what draws your eye.

Like when you have comparisons with other people, it's like, dude, there's people have great shape, there's people that don't have great shape.

But the thing that like distinguishes, distinguishes, I think, a lot of the winners versus the ones that don't do as well.

It's like, bro, if I look at Mo, if I look at you, if I look at Anton, you guys have these 3D muscle bellies that pop.

They fucking pop like crazy under those lights.

And you guys have everything in check.

So, like, the muscle bellies are very full and they're hard and you're conditioned.

But also, it's like, for example, you

during pre-judging, when we both did our uh, because we, we, we were in the same group, uh-huh, group of five that first went up um with sam next to us and whenever we did our front relaxed and then we did our side relaxed and then we went to the back relaxed as soon as you turned to the side relaxed i looked

dude i looked like i was a 2d person like there was like no shadows on my chest there was like no glaze showing like how round my chest was there was like none of this and then you dude your fucking chest was like there was like this big giant black fucking shadow under your chest this shit was popping like it was like i was literally watching a 3d movie man like out of everybody in that five

you stood out so easily because of just how much you just popped you know you just had this fucking this crazy look to you and i think that's something that people undervalue that is hard to see in pictures and videos sometimes But in person, it's like very, very clear that like, okay,

this person's about to take it.

And this person's about to be in the top callouts or this person, the judges are going to look at this person first because it's, it's not just the shape, but it's like every single variable that we account for contributes to that fucking pop that just makes your eye drawn to it, you know?

Every single thing.

I mean, that's also like, let's be real, a lot of this is accredited to like how well your coach can peek you, right?

Like ultimately, if you get backstage and you're flat, you could do 100 push-ups.

You're probably not going to get a pump.

You could do multiple rounds of posing.

You could have the perfect tan, perfect glaze.

If you're not peaked properly, or maybe you're spilled over or whatever it may be,

you're not going to look your best on stage.

So ultimately,

I do have to give a lot of credit to Prabh because he knows my body like the back of his hand.

And, you know, he knows exactly how much to feed me, how much fluid to give me.

And we feel like we really nailed it to where it's like, you should be able to be backstage and you do do one set of push-ups and your skin is just like ripping like you're you do one one bicep curl and it feels like your skin is just splitting because you're so full the muscles are like you said they're pushing up against the skin causing causing you know that full round look um and then also

you know being calm and you know having the ability to display it like you have the ability to display you're not bad at posing or anything you're actually very very good at posing and showing what you need to.

So like having all those things combined is like, when you're walking out, they're like, all right, our next group of five, like that's like climax adrenaline for me.

I'm like, okay, like everything we could possibly do is done.

Now, like, let's show them.

Like, look right in the head judge's eye and just

boom.

just show them right like that's what that's like where the excitement comes in for me when you know you're on right so like a lot of it's also coaching too right?

It is, it is.

I think all of those points are extremely valuable, but I just, one of the things that you've mentioned that I think is probably the most important that I undervalued and that I failed to bring at this first show, which

granted,

the, how much experience that we both have in the books kind of showed there on stage, right?

Like my fucking huge lack of experience kind of just showed through was the fact that I was just, was a lack of preparedness, man.

and i'm realizing now too like next time i go on stage i'm going to write a list of all the things that i need to do and make sure that i check off before i do my pump up and during my pump up like there's a lot of other variables i didn't discuss that i also miss like for example i take these pump up pills with

an amount of sodium in in it before i do my pump up and then i also like to take cialis beforehand i'll take cialis i didn't do any of that because i just forgot before pre-judging we were just there and during the you know in the backstage it was just like

i don't know what it was.

I think

it really was just lack of preparedness and like the anxiety.

I just kind of forgot all the things that I needed to do.

I didn't end up doing any of the things I was supposed to do.

By the time finals came around, I was like, oh, I realized all my mistakes.

So it was easy to do all of them then.

And it's like, wow, it made that much of a difference that the judges wanted to bring me up with you guys, which was like, I don't know, really shocking to me, to be honest.

But it was

an eye-opener that

I

have a lot to learn.

And there's a lot of things that I got to check off first.

And also that this shit was fucking fun as fuck.

Well, okay, the main thing is that you had fun, right?

But the second thing is like, think about how much, you know,

quality data that you gather just for your own mental sake, right?

Like you know what to expect next time.

You know, okay, if they're going to have us on at 11 a.m., I don't care, bro.

I'm getting there at 10.

I have, I have extra food with me if I need it.

I'm going to kick my feet feet up.

That way I'm not rushing.

I can meditate.

I can take as long as I need to pump up.

That already sets you up for like a, a more relaxed state, calm of mind, a better, better peek, actually, when you get to the stage.

And then just, you know, being able to kind of slow things down.

Like, remember what I was saying about San Antonio, guys were getting there like, hey, you got to get in line in two minutes.

Like, You don't have time to collect yourself and like check off the boxes that you need.

Like if those guys were going going to take pink salt or sialis or pump up, like all that shit goes out the window because they're in such a rush now, right?

That's probably similar to what happened to you.

You had this whole thing in mind that you wanted to do, you know, this pump pills, the sialis, all this stuff.

But by the time you get back there, you get so flustered and things are moving so quickly.

Next thing you know, you're in line to get on stage.

You're like, oh, fuck, I didn't even pump up.

I didn't take this.

I didn't get glazed.

So, um, you know, I think just getting there early, being able to like do what you need to and kind of just slow things down and keep things chill.

I feel like it's just so important.

And that show was actually really, really small.

And there was only one pro division, right?

So imagine you go to a show, like, I don't know.

Oh, you mean, like, like, like, you mean total show as if, yeah, no, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The NPC portion of that show was like the smallest I've ever fucking seen for like any muscle contest show ever.

It was crazy.

Literally, almost half the show was just, it was us.

Like, that was the main thing was literally us, the classic division, which was shocking to me too but um

uh yeah it was also kind of surprising to me just how many guys ended up showing up for this show as well in terms of classic well i mean uh i think the point system now is is like

everything i i i literally think every single classic show is going to be stacked like i i i truly don't think there's going to be a show where it's like oh there's just one guy and everybody else you know unless it's like say i don't know terrant shows up and then there's a bunch of guys like you and I.

It's like, okay, we can probably stand next to him, but he's going to smoke.

It's him and everybody else, right?

But

for the most part, like everybody is vying for those points.

You know, everybody wants to get on that, you know, point board and everyone wants to go to the Olympia.

So now the urgency to get on stage and collect those points is higher than ever.

So that's why I can promise you, like, this year, like, the shows are going to be so competitive now because you can't just win like a one-off show that's like small that you know only six people do and you're like oh qualify for the olympia it's like that only gets you 10 points that's not enough you either got to go win another one or you got to hit more shows and collect more points so

it's going to be the lineups are going to continue to be pretty stacked

yeah

even um anton's inton show that he just won this last weekend i felt like it was even a lot smaller than our show was like there was what 12 or 13 guys or something but still it was still anton and mogan fighting for this placement, obviously, because the point system is enticing these guys to compete at more and more shows so they can just make sure that they qualify.

So it's very interesting for me to see this that

you're going to be, I feel like we'll be seeing a lot of repeats of placements and stuff of guys just.

And the show that just passed yesterday that Anton won.

Like, not to take anything away from anyone, but that show is probably going to be like one of the weaker lineups just because of where it is in the calendar.

Like, it's literally one week before the Olympia.

Like,

anyone who's already qualifying for the Olympia, they're either out in Vegas already or they're like, they're planning to, you know, fly to Vega.

Like, they're not going to risk messing up their Olympia peak getting on stage a week before.

So, like, you know, not a lot of people are probably going to do that, but I guarantee

after there's Hurricane, which is a week after.

No, exactly.

That's going to be.

I'm going to say that is i uh i know that my next two shows are gonna be probably some of the most stacked shows so that's gonna be fun what what two shows are you doing i literally like six months ago i planned to do the hurricane and then i planned to do steve cross or oh okay

which is literally immediately right after the olympia so i'm probably gonna expect some olympians to go straight to that show after olympia yeah but that's qualification that's a you got to look at it as like a fun opportunity right yeah no i that's that's how i'm looking at it yeah for sure

it's a fun opportunity and it's also a fucking thrilling and extremely scary opportunity.

But well, I'm excited for it.

It's

like, let's say, uh, I don't know, just for example, let's say Terrence, his name is on the list.

You're like,

that takes all of the pressure off you because you're like, okay, realistically, I'm not going to beat Terrence.

So, like, I'm just going to go there and have fun, bring my best look, and like, let's see how many guys I can beat.

Let's, let's see if I can crack into that first call out, you know?

Bro, that's how I felt about this last show because you were in it.

Yeah, and I, and I didn't even win, bro.

So,

yeah, I feel you.

Yeah, but you fucking

it was a one-point decision between the top three of you guys.

Yeah, man.

All of you guys were a one-point decision, man.

It was crazy.

Yeah, it was very close, man.

I mean,

none of us backstage knew who was winning.

We were all saying different people.

Like, I mean, to be honest, most people were saying Mo at first because obviously, when Mo is just walking around, he's like Andrew Jacks, his fucking abs.

Just

he just fucking pops, dog.

Like,

you You know, you know, when we when we actually pose, it's different, you know, and that's a different story.

But in terms of guys who just walk around and look like absolute freaks, everyone's just looking at Mo like, look at this fucking genetic monster.

How are you supposed to be that?

There were multiple people saying that backstage.

Um, and

yeah, I guess it's uh

it's fun to like see how it changes when you actually go on stage because the posing and presentation makes such a difference.

You'll you'll get this, bro, because I can tell you're going to be really, really good.

Like, you just need a little bit more time.

And, like, you said, you're still so far under the cap.

But, like, next year or the year after, whatever your plan is, like, where you're really, really competitive, right?

You know, you'll get to a point where you see someone backstage and you're like, bro, what the fuck, bro?

This guy's twice my size.

Like, I'm going to get fucking dwarfed right now.

This is, oh, great.

And he's, he's the guy in front of me.

And the group call out to you.

Okay.

But then,

like, with your shape, your conditioning, your posing, like, I've literally beaten guys that look

way bigger than me backstage.

And then I look at the photos, I'm like, bro, this guy has like hella soft glutes and like no hamstrings and like he doesn't know how to pose.

So like it kind of is just like Instagram.

It's like, bro, you could look 300 pounds backstage.

That doesn't mean like you're going to just smoke everyone.

There's so much that goes into it more than just being big backstage or looking big in a t-shirt.

Right.

So

yeah, size can be deceiving.

It can be deceiving bro i love this dude it's so fun it's so awesome man you're gonna have so much more more love for it after these two shows because your your peaks are gonna go better like i'll speak that into existence now just because

you already got one under your belt like i said like we talked about you know what to expect the nerves are not really there because you're like bro i got nothing to lose this is my rookie season my my objective is to just go and have fun and like like you said bring the best look look I can and get some sick photos and videos and all that.

And then the third one, the Steve Carr, is

in Vegas.

So that's a very low stress travel.

Right.

And it'll be fun.

You can like plan to, you know, okay, we're going to go out to dinner at this place.

We're going to train a dragon's lair at the whole during the whole week.

Like that gives you, like, there's a lot to look forward to other than just the show itself.

Right.

So like, that's where it really starts to be fun.

And then for me, I actually have just a couple of homies that'll actually be there.

So that's a nice part.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like that's perfect, bro.

And, you know, for me, like

competing is fun, but it's always when the show is over where I get most excited.

I'm like, ah, back to the drawing board and I'm going to get fucking huge, bro.

Like, I'm going to come back.

And they're not even going to recognize me.

And I could tell you're the same way, you know, like once the season's over, okay, the judges told me I need, you know, more arms, more chests, whatever it may be.

You're like.

riding to the gym to improve.

And that's like the fun part is the whole process of it.

I am.

Yeah.

That's how I was last year.

But I did learn my lesson though that this time, instead of doing the entire rebound, I'm realizing it's going to be better and more effective for me to take just 12 weeks off of everything, just come off gear for a good 12 weeks.

And so do a nice health phase.

Maybe even come off of training for a little bit, might get my hair transplant during that time.

And then afterwards, using the new training stimulus, PED stimulus, food stimulus, everything, jumping back on.

And I think I'm going to respond a lot better this time around.

Oh, bro.

I don't think the rebound was as good of an idea last year.

I think that's where so many people get it wrong.

They're like, oh, the

show's over.

I'm going to blast for six to eight more weeks and get huge.

But I'm always like, dude, give your reception, give the receptors a break for one.

Two, your body post-how is so primed to grow.

Like you just kind of increase your base diet a little bit and you get into the gym and you just train and stay healthy.

Bro, you're going to grow like a weed like by doing, by just not getting fat and then, you know, and then just making sure you're like your joints are healthy.

So like the first six weeks post-sober, I'm not doing like hardly any compounds.

I'm not, like, I come off everything.

I, same as you, bro, 200 megs of tests.

I get my lab work done probably twice.

No orals, no fat burners, no nothing.

And then let's say you do a 10, 12 week health phase.

You get your lab work back again.

You're up, say, maybe 10, 15 pounds.

You're still super lean.

okay blood work came back perfect and then you start a blast or a bigger cycle you're you start your official off-season growth phase

then like your receptors are fresh your body is healthy your joints feel good yeah and then it's like

that's that's

this is a conversation i had with chris tuttle just uh we had a podcast right before us and um that's his whole belief on basically like

i mean most people that are listening to this probably already listened to that, so I don't have to go into it too deep.

But essentially, he was just stating that it's a lot more effective for you to have time off because it's really the stimulus that's required.

A lot of us, you know, especially in the bodybuilding industry or even just in bodybuilding in general, whether it's natural or not, kind of have this idea of just like more can be better.

And like, why not multiply all the amplifiers together to get the most out of it?

But there is like this plateau.

There's this kind of like ceiling when it comes to like how much you can amplify your gains versus how how long can you just stimulate it for growth in the long run and that's or that always seems to be what yields the most growth for people so like if you're like pushing gear if you've been pushing gear for like three four years you're going to be pushing some crazy high dosages but you're not going to be yielding the same results versus like if you took how much time off and then you just increase the gear again after that time off

you could be yielding the same results, but at half the dose you were at before.

But then you could still titrate it up over time.

And Terrence Ruffin and fucking

Jordan Hutchinson both had this experience where they both blew up and made their most gains in their offseason after Terrence got a hair transplant and Jordan Hutchinson got his gyna removal.

So.

I mean, bro, just promise me this.

Promise me that you'll nail your reverse diet.

Once the Steve Carr show is done, bro, go enjoy food.

Have your, you know, one free meal a week.

If you're still working with Patrick, he won't let you get fat.

You're going to get

no chance.

Well, bro.

Patrick's kind of weird when it comes to the offseason, though.

He likes to push really hard in the beginning because he has this idea that

things stall over, like, and you have to, like.

That's the one interesting thing about Patrick, though, is he's not as much of the reverse diet camp, I think, as other guys.

He's more in the kind of classic old school, like, you need to eat a lot of food to grow.

So we'll see how it goes this time around, though, now that I'm doing a different approach.

But in terms of like eating clean foods, though, yeah, he doesn't let me have a fucking single cheat ever.

Well, so I think that'd actually be good because, say, for someone like you, right, you do need to put on size.

You do need to, you know, get closer to that weight cap.

So having that huge surplus of clean food, like you probably will blow up and you probably will stay pretty lean.

And then by the time you get your blood work back, you know, you start your cycle in December.

Or no, no, you're competing in November.

So it'll probably start in maybe February, March, depending on how long your health phase is.

But dude, it sets you up for such good improvements, man.

Like you could put on 10 pounds of tissue, bro, within a year.

Like I,

if you, if you do the reverse right, like literally 75% of all the progress you make will be in that six to eight week reverse phase.

Fuck, man.

Like you have to, dude, you have to nail the reverse.

That's the key, bro.

It, it sets you up perfectly for your offseason.

Sounds like you're saying this from personal experience.

Yeah, bro, I am.

I always take pride in nailing the reverse, but

I just, maybe for like example.

So what was your favorite offseason?

Probably

this last one, just like favorite in terms of like how much progress was made.

probably this last one and it was only uh three months so that doesn't sound like anything right but

october of last year was legion that was my pro debut that was my rookie season i got eighth place

so i got off stage like it was like september 30th so let's just say october 1st damn wait last year was eighth place at um legion yeah so literally this year you won three pro shows back to back Yeah, yeah.

So

that's okay.

That's it.

That's so sick, dude.

Yeah, and I'm going to tell you how it happened right now.

That's a good way That's a good way to preface it.

So, yeah, so we got off stage, like, let's say October 1st, right?

All right, health phase, we reverse, you know, obviously,

you know, obviously what a proper reverse is, you know, you want to increase the calorie slowly, keep cardio in, maybe gain like one to two pounds of body weight per week, um, make sure the joints are healthy, all this stuff, right?

So we do October, all of October, all of November, about half of December.

So about 10 weeks health phase, get lab work back, perfect.

Okay, good to go.

So we like around Christmas time.

He's like, all right, you know, we'll bump up the gear, which we did, I think, like 500 tests, 300 primo.

That's that's all we did.

That's like my blast.

Yeah, which, which, like, half the people would be like, yeah, this guy's fucking lying.

Yeah.

And I think, I think we threw in,

I do like running MAST E as well.

I think it was like the peak of it was like 600 tests, 300 MAST E, 300 Primo, something like that.

Okay.

And it's on the same doses doses that I was on.

Yeah, like a little over a gram.

And so we started that like around Christmas time.

Well, first week of January, the calendar comes out and he's like, okay, well, you know, what shows we want to hit?

Okay, let's do optimum.

It was May 24th.

Let's do Legion, May 31st, and we'll do Oklahoma June 7th.

So I'm like, okay, we're officially 17 weeks out.

All right, cool.

Let's run it.

So literally, we did a health phase for 10 weeks and then we like

jumped on our cycle and we started prep right then and there.

And then I went from I was 213 pounds at Legion,

and then I was 223 pounds just a week ago in San Diego.

And

way more appealed.

I don't know.

Can you screen share?

Would you be able to pull up Instagram?

Oh, I could pull up Instagram on my own phone.

Oh, just because, yeah, so like...

So you could see.

So if you go on my Instagram, actually, I'm only saying this because I just posted it a couple of days ago.

It's like three rows down on the left side.

It looks like this.

So, actually, just yeah, show the screen and then people can see it through your screen.

That's what Deurance does.

Let's see if it can focus.

There we go.

This is good enough, I guess.

But, anyways,

this one right here is pro debut.

This is one year ago, exactly.

I was 211.

And then, and then this was at the San Diego show.

So

that's sick.

I'm showing my own screen, too.

So

that's fucking, that's crazy, man.

You were bigger and harder.

That is wild.

Okay, I gotta.

If you don't mind me asking, oh my God, your legs.

Holy shit.

That's fucking sick.

If you don't mind me asking, was there much difference in dosage, total dosages between both preps specifically?

Were they about the same?

Was one higher than the other?

This most recent one was lower.

I ran less.

Fuck, man, that's wild.

Okay, so I could actually tell you, I mean, I'm pretty open about it, bro.

Like, I mean, the podcast, I mean, the name of the podcast, we got it.

I can't be on here, you know.

We respect that.

No audience respects that, too.

The base of both was,

I have it honestly memorized.

So for the Pro Debut prep, the one where I was a little bit smaller, all that, I'm pretty sure it was 600 tests, um,

300 math prop,

300 primo E,

uh,

50 megs of Winnie.

Um, and then towards the end, we did uh 20 megs of Halo

the last two weeks.

Um, okay, so that was it.

That's a little bit closer to what I was running with Kyle, but still a little less than my thing with Kyle.

Okay, and then I forgot to add, we were on

25 MCGs at T3, and we were on 50 MCGs at T4.

So this is the plot to us.

You're going to trip out.

Okay.

So this one, it was similar base.

We did 600 tests,

400 mass prop, 300 primo.

And, you know, the Pro Day B prep, we did 300 megs of tran, right?

We had 300 megs of trend.

That's like kind of high.

Well, this one, we're like, hey, like no particular reason.

We just wanted to try a lower dosage.

So, the high, the highest we got trend was was 100 megs a week.

A lot of people are trying lower dosages of trend these days.

I honestly, I'm a firm believer in it because you get minimal side effects

and you still get all the benefits, right?

Bro, you need to sleep.

You need to fucking sleep and have a good head during prep.

Doesn't matter.

I don't care what anyone says.

You don't want to be like a

crazy.

You don't want to be like a hot head or on edge all the time.

Like being on low food and low body fat is hard enough mentally.

Yeah.

But anyway, so for this prep, 600 tests, 400 mast, 300 primo, 100 megs of trend.

And then we did a little bit different with orals.

We did do 50 megs of Winnie and then 25 megs of Anivar.

And then

Prov had this idea.

He's like, hey, you know what?

Like, you know what the trend is recently?

Like, I've been hearing from other coaches is super draw.

And I was like, I've never even taken that.

I've never taken it.

And he's like, you know what?

He's like, I don't want to run Halo.

He's like, I think we should do 20 megs of Super Draw.

And I was like, all right.

I don't even really know what it does.

And he was explaining to me, like, it's going to fill the tissue with intracellular fluids similar to like anadrawl.

So it's going to give you like a really full, round, bubbly look without, you know, causing, you know, you know, a super draw does.

So, uh,

so we did it the last three weeks.

And, um,

you know, that was that.

So, and also no T4, no T3.

Whoa.

Yeah.

So we cut, we cut all that out completely.

And I think,

and also like even Cardi.

I have a thyroid support whatsoever.

Nothing.

And the highest thyroid.

The highest.

Sorry.

The highest Clenn got was 50 MCGs of Clenn.

No, no slew, no peptides, no nothing like that.

Very, very minimal when it comes to the fire burners as well.

Right.

I mean, I think there's a lot of merit to at least

I think there's a lot of merit to

keeping things like clen and any of these stimulants moderate and trend as well and even john jewett has talked about this a thousand times in the last several years about any peds that you want to stay moderate with or even like remove completely from your prep if necessary is things like clan and trend

anything that's going to affect your sleep anything that's going to affect your rest and recovery i mean you need to really prioritize your parasympathetic state in this

in this phase, you know, if anything.

And it's probably one of the things that most of us kind of undervalue the most, especially a lot of us who are grinding or working or like blue-collar jobs or have a business.

Like, we're fucking on the go, go, go all the time.

And it really bites us in the butt more than we know, which sucks because it's like you can't fucking do everything, you know?

Yeah.

You can't fucking work your ass off and make the money that you need to to support your family and also rest all the time.

You just can't.

Yeah.

And, and, uh, like, even

just like, even like my approach in general is all longevity-based.

So, like, I also also don't drink energy drinks.

I don't take pre-workout.

Damn.

Fucking more than me, bro.

I mean, you have a lot more going on than me, to be honest, bro.

Lexi is sponsored by Ghost, and I can't help but smash a can every now and then, bro.

Yeah, I don't blame you, bro.

I love Ghosts, Celsius.

When I used to drink, I haven't drank energy drinks or taken pre in probably like three years now.

Wow.

Just for heart health, bro.

Like, I started seeing a cardiologist when I was like 22, 23 years old because, you know, I've been bodybuilding for a long time and I always knew like the longer I can stay in this game, you know, the better I can ultimately be.

And obviously, if you're not healthy, you can't do this for a very long time.

So, you know, heart, kidneys, lab work, all that stuff.

So I started seeing a cardiologist when I was like 22, 23, got my first echo done.

And he's like, hey, your heart's like a little bit enlarged.

Like, it's nothing to stress about.

because you're an athlete and that's normal but like i would hate for this trend to continue to go so he recommended he's like you know do you take pre-workout i'm like yeah bro i take i take two scoops of pre-workout a day and i drink energy drinks and i was like you know when you're early 20s bro you're dry you're dry scooping you're yeah all that so i i just cut all that out completely just i'm like

i just want to be healthy you know that's dope man that's really cool i admire that a lot um i know everyone has their own different attacks for me i found out like keeping everything at a very moderate level or low has been what's kept my health pretty much decent in that video.

Same with the blood work.

So like I will like I don't really go above 150 megs of caffeine a day.

So I don't finish a ghost can because obviously it's 200.

So unfortunately I have to leave a little bit in there or I'll do like a cup of coffee and then like, I don't know, quarter or half of a ghost or something like that, which helps because as long as I'm just rotating between substances and cycling off of them and on them, I maintain a good level of tolerance, which allows it to still be effective without me having to like go too high in the dosages.

And it's the same thing I feel about with PEDs that I have not implemented that I should have.

Is the last few years I just didn't implement as many health phases as I should have.

And it really bit me in the butt with this last offseason.

Like, yeah, I made some gains in my legs, but could have made it a lot better in my opinion.

So I'm fucking stoked for a health phase.

Never thought I would be, but what makes you think it would be better?

Like, did,

if you don't mind me asking, like, did your lab work not come back how you wanted it to and you decided to push anyways?

The opposite.

The opposite.

My lab work and my blood work came back great.

Like right after my show, a week after my lash out with Kyle, like I'm pretty on top of my antioxidants, all this shit, I would say, just because of the podcast and learning all of this from so many amazing experts that I look up to.

Just like, what a blessing.

And doing it too also kind of scares me to stay on top of it.

And doing like a lot of regular glutathione injections, staying on top of all the antioxidant supplements that I have,

I could fucking even list it out, and I'd be curious to hear yours as well, just so people get an idea.

Like things like CoQ10, vitamin D,

NAC, obviously, you know, you got your Tedkai, your astrologous, your citrus bergamot, um, your nanokinase, um, Arjuna extract.

Um,

there's just so many fucking things, man.

K2, D3, fish oil, I mean, everything.

Tons of fish oil, man.

I have Carlson's fish oil, and I do like 10 grams a day.

Um, there's just so much shit that you can take, but I I mean, it really helped to keep my blood work at bay.

And by the time I came off, my liver enzymes were like 50, 60 right after my fish,

which is about the same that they are when I'm not on prep, to be honest.

My liver enzymes are always like 10 points above where

most people would like them, which seems to be a normal thing for me.

But I've gone by, like, I've got like a biopsy on shit on them, and it's been fine.

So,

um,

yeah, um, cholesterol levels were in range.

LP little A, which is the genetic marker, that's always been low.

So that's a nice thing.

Apo B, unfortunately, has never been low.

It's always been around, it's always been in the higher end of the range.

But talking to my cardiologist, he's always like, no, you're fine.

And we got an echo and you're barely bigger than average, which is normal for a normal athlete.

So you're still fine.

Just everything looked good.

So I was just like, fuck it.

I've heard about this rebound.

Let's fucking push it, man.

Let's fucking try it.

So

it's hard not to.

Yeah.

I mean, I've done health faces in the past.

And so I've never gotten an experiment with like a rebound and continuing on gear afterwards.

And I love the idea of like, man, my body's so insulin sensitive.

I can eat a lot more food.

I'm fucking stoked to train fucking hard.

Why not just like, even if I'm not ramping up the gear, why not just stay on the gear and fucking

just fucking run it, bro?

Just get fucking huge.

That's what I did.

And I told Patrick I wanted to.

So he's like, all right, we're going to do this.

And I'm going to be real.

Like, I told him like I wanted to do a health phase at some point, though, at least before prep.

Unfortunately,

by the time I reminded him, he was like, honestly,

with how your physique is now and how long we have until your show, the health phase will only be like four weeks.

And at that point, it's not even worth it.

We need to maintain what muscle that you do have because you're not big enough.

So we're going to have to run it through.

And I was like, I fucking hated the idea because that literally meant that I was in an entire year.

I was more than an entire year.

It was almost like two years on gear without any fucking breakfast or any break.

But that's what we had to do.

So we just ran it straight into the show.

And

even though my blood work is still good and everything, I just don't think that I'm responding as well as I could to the dosages I'm on.

And no, I'm not on crazy dosages.

That's one of the cool things that I think I had another discussion with Patrick about.

That

I got some feedback from people in the audience saying that I looked like I was on less gear than most of the people on stage.

But to preface that,

to preface that,

I've been talking about this on the podcast and on my YouTube channel regularly that I was surprised at how much Patrick was giving me compared to what I've run in the past.

And he just didn't even put things in that I expected.

So Kyle, and I'm like full transparent about this, but like Kyle, for example, had me on.

I don't remember the exact dosages of test and masks, but I'm sure it was like at least 500 tests, at least 400 mass.

But then I was also on Proviron, and then he put me on Winnie at six weeks out.

And then I had Anivar at like at some point, five or six weeks out.

And then obviously we had Halo before the show.

And I'm always on Winnie on a prep.

For Patrick,

oh, and obviously there was trend too.

And Kyle was originally having me 300 trend, but I told him I didn't want to run anymore any more than 100.

And then I ended up going up the 150.

So I had 150 of trend last prep as well.

This new prep,

Patrick had me on test mast.

I did the trend.

I told Patrick that I didn't want to run 150.

I wanted to stay at 100.

And he was like, okay, if you do that, then you can add 150 of DHB.

But basically, we just do that so we can keep the same androgen load where I want it to be.

So I guess it would be about equivalent to 150 of trend.

And then I was expecting the Winnie to come in.

or at least some of these orals, and he just didn't put any of them in ever.

She didn't run any Winstrall, didn't run any Anavar, didn't run any of it.

So we just ran the same injectable stack into the show, and then I added in the Halo.

And it was cool because I'm going to be real, man.

I stepped on the same, I stepped on stage at the same weight that I stepped on last year with Kyle.

But way better.

But more conditioned.

The lines were deeper.

I was not as full.

And I'm sure that's because obviously I'm not on these orals.

But

it definitely allowed me to get striations deeper in places that I think are harder when I am running the orals.

Now,

the thing that I like about that too is like after I told Patrick, you know, about some of the that, like hearing that some people said that I was running a little bit less stuff or whatever,

he sent me a message and I was like, I'll straight up just show the audience, which was funny because I was like, okay, well, this is cool.

At least this is validating what I've been talking about in my YouTube videos and the podcast for a while.

But I told him,

oh, yeah, I told him, I think they just said some of these guys look like they were running more than I was.

And he goes,

he straight up goes,

fucking my bad.

No, you're good.

Straight up goes, that's a fact.

And I'll fucking laugh at it.

He was like, I don't know how true that is.

Of course, it's just their thought, I guess.

He goes, you run a good half of an Olympia athlete step, but step after step, it's a marathon and not a sprint.

Learn to master the process before you push further.

Facts.

And

I'll just, maybe, maybe they can see that on my camera too.

And,

you know, it's, I got to say, hearing that from your coach, like, I understand, like in the past, people used to push so hard, especially in the 2000s.

But hearing that from my coach, it's, there's a very positive, assuring feeling that comes with it.

Because aside from the fact that I have 18 pounds of weight that I need to gain in or like before I can reach my weight cap, it's also nice to feel like, all right.

Even though I haven't had a health phase, there is still a lot of room for me to improve and a lot of room for me to and a lot of places that we can excel at.

And also, I've heard from a lot of people online anyways that Patrick tends to take it slow with all of his clients anyways, like Nihat,

Kion.

And

considering this is our first show, that's probably why he just ran me on less stuff that I was expecting.

And I didn't take any Winnie at all.

I mean, that's really cool, too, because you know he has your best interest, like with health coming first, right?

Like he could just throw the, he could just throw the kitchen sink at you and be like, hey, bro, bro, we need to be, we need to be harder here.

You know, 50 migs of Winnie, 50 migs of Annabar or whatever.

But the fact that he didn't do that and he wants to get the most out of the least, you know, that kind of, to me, that seems like it aligns with like your values as like, okay, my health is my number one priority.

And two, like, if I can get the most out of the least, like.

That's what I want to do.

Like, even with the trend, like, yeah, you've pushed it to 300, but you're like, no, like, I want to keep it at

Um, you know, so I think that's really cool.

150, yeah, 150.

And

the fact that you're able to get that peeled, I mean, I'm not just trying to blow smoke or anything because I'm on the pod.

Like,

I mean, your, your glutes were like more dug out than mine.

And, you know, you're

from the back, I think obviously that's like your best body part is like your, your back side.

So like your glutes, hamstrings, back, your back double.

And usually your best body part is what gets the most conditioned and the most hard.

So like that twisting back double that you posted as the cover of your carousel post.

Yeah.

And then just like your back double, like you could put your back double next to mine in that picture we have together in the call out and you could see like,

bro, this guy is 18 pounds under his cap.

That's why I commented on your thing.

Like imagine this was another 10 pounds.

Because the conditioning is not an issue.

Like you're plenty peeled enough.

Sure, as that tissue comes on and you grow more, you'll be able to dig a little bit deeper.

Um, but also, you like you said, there's context with this.

That's with no winnie, that's with low gear.

So, as Patrick continues to peek you, he gets to know your body.

Maybe he throws in an extra compound or two.

You add this added tissue that you're going to add this offseason.

You got to think, bro, next year, that's going to be a nasty look, man.

You just got to stay the course.

Thank you, man.

I appreciate that a lot, really.

Just more context and info for the audience, just so they get some

just so they get some more information that I feel like most people don't really discuss.

One of the conversations Patrick and I had, too, about this is I persuaded him, too, finally, for me to add a little bit of Winnie for this next show.

So that way, you know, because we're just like, if the feedback from the judges is to be fuller and bigger,

a little bit of Woody is going to help, you know?

Yeah.

For sure.

But obviously his take back is, as you said, it's clear that he does care about the health because he said one of the reasons why he thinks when he is a little bit of an overrated drug and he prefers, he preferred to keep it out for me is when the joint issues and inflammation and also

skew the

more prone skewing of like cholesterol markers,

which, you know, makes sense, right?

But I have always reacted well with it.

So he's accepted that like we can start at a low dose and see how this works.

And bro, I've already gained three to four pounds from just running it since Monday and it's Sunday now.

So it's been what, six days, five days?

And your condition's probably,

your condition's probably just gotten better, if I'm assuming.

That's just like introducing it.

The interesting thing is like, I would have thought so, but it's just a different look.

I don't think it's better conditioning.

I think it's a different look.

Because what Patrick told me is like, here, you got to remember that when we add the oral in for fullness, it's going to take away a little bit from conditioning.

And when he said that, I was a little bit surprised because I'm like, I thought Winnie normally makes me look like more lined out, you know?

I feel like I almost look like whatever this look is that Jose, Hosema can get that like nobody can acquire.

I feel like if there's anything I can take that does help me get there, it's a little bit of Winnie.

And I do think that the Winnie is helping to provide this full hard look, but there's some striations that I feel like look a little less deep because the muscle bellies are more full.

That's the striations that are like within the middle of the muscle bellies.

in your glute striations that are in the middle of the muscle belly, you know, for example.

Or say that if like maybe in your shoulder striations.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like I feel like those like the muscles are looking rounder and they're looking harder and the separation between the muscles are almost probably coming in better, but the actual like striations within the muscle bellies are a little bit less deep because they are more full and more filled out.

So also I don't know.

You've only been on it for five days.

Like it needs time to kind of marinate a little bit.

and like

usually around like two to three weeks is when you really start to see the effects of winning like four or five days i mean you're already pretty peeled so you know you should start seeing like a little bit of visual changes but i'd say like by the time hurricane actually comes which is two weeks from now yeah that'll be like because you'll be on for probably three weeks that'll be like really really good and then by the time the vegas show comes that's like another three weeks on it or another month actually so like then

that's why I think the Vegas show is going to be your best one because it's low stress travel.

It's the last show of the season.

Like, you have a lot more experience.

Like, all these factors are going to combine.

Um, and you'll just be so excited to like finish off the season strong, right?

And then it'll be also the third peak with you and Patrick.

So, he's going to know your body by then, like, whether to feed you, whether to give you more fluid, whatever it may be.

Yeah, I agree.

He said it was pretty easy for us to peak this time, too, as well.

So, I'm sure that won't be a problem.

The thing that he keeps arguing with me, though, is he wants me to wake up at like 4 a.m.

So he can feed me two meals before pre-judging.

I saw him comment something like that.

He's like,

hey, bro, like, ultimately, you know, like,

how I see it is like

you pay the man to call the shots.

So, like, even though you might not necessarily like understand or agree, you're like, you know what?

Like,

it's ultimately like

i i i'm like this with problem like bro whatever you think whatever if you want to give me if you want to give me no diuretic i trust you if you want to give me a you know a fourth an eighth if you want to give me a thousand grams of carbs if you want to give me no food like bro i trust you this is your decision because ultimately like if i fuck up on stage i know like

I let him do it.

Like I'm giving the reins to him.

You know what I mean?

And then ultimately, that's even less pressure on me because i'm like here bro like you're steering and guiding the ship here like i'm just you know following the plan that's it well that's the cool thing that having a coach too when you guys are figuring things out is like everyone reacts everyone has a different physique so i want i'm curious what you have in terms of like a give and take but an example of a give and take for me is like what we and patrick and i have discovered and what I've shown him through my check-ins is that as the day goes on and I continuously have water salt whatever it is that i normally have in order for me to just fucking nurture my goddamn self is uh that my abs start going away i start getting softer in places but i get fuller in others like for example like maybe my back or something or other places that will stand out on stage so

originally the idea is like okay well we don't want to we don't want to wake up and eat two meals this last year we want to eat just one because i end up looking softer as the day goes on and you can see that in pre-judging versus finals.

Like, pre-judging, I was a lot drier, but I was also a lot more flat and I had less pop.

Was that because of the glaze in the pump-up, or was that also because I just didn't have the right amount of food in yet?

Yeah, we don't know yet.

So, um,

for you, do you have any like give and takes that, like, you know, if you want to bring out this body part, unfortunately, it takes away from something else?

Yeah, so, um,

you know, I don't want to be like

this is literally comes from Prabh's mouth.

He is like

mind blown because whenever we do these peaks, you know, obviously we take photos, fasted, whatever, and

he'll look at my condition.

His markers are usually like my chest fullness, how deep my glute lines are, and how full my legs are.

And, you know, we'll be six meals in, 800 grams of carbs in.

And he's like, we compare the two photos.

He's like, bro, I can't even tell you which one is the morning and which one's night.

Like your condition literally does not move.

Like your midsection, you can still pull the vacuum.

Your abs actually look, your abs look deeper.

Your glute lines are deeper.

Your chest is fuller, rounder.

And that's like even this show, he gave me the most food I ever had and the most fluid.

And it was the hardest and driest I ever looked with the most food and the most fluid.

I think just for me, like the fuller my muscles are and the more hydrated they are, the more they push up against the skin.

And I never, I never really lose condition.

Like Friday, he gave me a thousand grams of carbs and I'm like waking up and just like, just like, I don't ever have like,

I don't ever have like distension or like any type of digestion issue.

So like,

he'll give me a meal with like, say, like 150 grams of carbs.

He's like, how do you feel?

Are you okay?

Like, I'm like, bro, I could literally, I feel like I didn't eat anything.

Like it just, my body just.

sucks all of it up and like my condition doesn't really ever move no matter how much we feed me so our plan for the olympia is he already started feeding me today.

Like, today we're doing like 500 grams of carbs, no cardio, nothing like that.

And then, um,

like the last three days, we did like 400 carbs, 400 carbs, 400 carbs, no cardio, and my weight just keeps dropping.

So, he's like, okay, your body just needs more food.

So, um, there's that.

Um, so as far as like feeding up, so like, and then like potentially losing something, um,

there is a limit for us.

We notice, like, if we, if I do start to spill over a little bit, like it'd be like my glute lines maybe aren't as deep or like my obliques, they'll look a little bit blurry and not as sharp.

Um, but I would say the one give and take that we actually have is when we're, when we're coming down, so like when we're digging for condition, I'm like, hey, bro, let's keep pushing, let's keep pushing, let's dig as hard as we can.

And he's like, no, bro.

He's like, I'm not going to dig, you know, another five pounds off you to get, you know, a millimeter more glutes, but you lose an inch on your quads.

Like, it's not, that's not worth the trade-off for us.

I see what you're saying.

Exactly.

So he's like, he's like, you may not have the most peeled glutes on stage, but it's not worth the trade-off to get a little bit more glute, but lose the whole leg completely.

That's cool.

It's cool to hear the different approaches.

Patrick is like a little different, for example.

Like, he'll push me and he'll fucking dig me out.

We'll go deep, but then he'll always refeed.

And that's his little way to continue balancing and making sure that I don't look like a string beat on stage.

There's one thing I wanted to discuss because we didn't get a chance to before and we kind of just fucking

there's just things I keep, I feel like I could talk to you about a million things to be honest, bro.

I like it.

When you were talking about

being prepared on stage and

attacking that with like presence and just showing

like your best self, like focusing on that.

That's something that I think I've focused on recently that's been helping a lot.

I had a lot of trouble bringing it up in pre-judging, especially since my mind was so chaotic at the time.

But

Anton and I talked about this backstage.

And when he brought it up with me too, it really resonated with me because it was cool to hear it from him.

And he said, basically, when him and Chris Bumstead had a discussion, C-bum was telling him that there's this acronym, and I don't remember what the acronym is, and someone in the audience can probably tell me because I'm sure they've heard it.

But it was basically an acronym that stood for: when you're going up there,

be fascinated with what you're about to do.

Be fascinated with what you're about to present

and enjoy the fact that you are presenting this amazing masterpiece that you're about to.

And, like, in focusing on that presence, you wipe away all the noise that's in your head.

And that's something that I implemented for finals routine that I think just made all the difference in the world and have the judges decide, all right, we're going to bring Niall up with the top five and have him and rejudge him and i think that's something that many of us really try to work on hard and fight but it's so much easier said than done and an example is anton would come off stage after he did his routine or after he did his presentation and he'd tell me like bro i see that you were up there like really flexing a little too hard like i do the same thing i'm like yeah man sometimes i just can't help myself like it it depends on what kind of state of mind i'm in for some reason like if i'm on it then i know exactly how hard i need to hit it but sometimes if my mind's chaotic and i'm not in the right place

it's hard and he's he said

he like he told me this acronym you know he told me the state of presence that he wants to be in every time he goes up there and he said i still haven't done it on stage yet

every time i go on stage for some reason i just don't do it it's just fucking hard and like you see how anton poses and everything like he's obviously practiced so much and he knows exactly what pose he wants to hit.

But

it's like,

it's like when you're up there on stage,

some people, it's easy.

Some people, they can just get into that flow state.

And for some others, like Anton and I, I think it requires a good level of practice, or at least I think more so experience being on that stage in front of the people because it's not the same.

It's not the same when you're practicing behind closed doors.

Yeah, I think honestly,

like for one, the experience aspect is like so underrated.

Like just the more times you get up there, the more times you feel the presence of the crowd, you know, the lights shining bright on you,

you'll continuously rise to that occasion.

Like you'll, like for me, the surreal moment is, and I try to do this every time, you know how they have the little staircase and you're like the next person out

and you have like one foot kind of on the staircase and you know the guy in front of you is like probably almost done with his routine.

Like I always make a conscious effort to like,

like we said, and kind of bring that flow state within myself and just give myself just like a little checkbox reminder that it's like, I've done everything I possibly can.

There's nothing more I could have done.

And I'm going to go enjoy this shit.

Now, all I got to do is display it.

And so, like, by the time you actually have your name called and you walk out there,

like we said earlier, keeping that heart rate down, keeping, you know, your, your breathing techniques, like big breaths, just staying calm.

You know, ultimately, like, when you get out there, you're so ready to just display it and pose.

Cause like we work so hard for this, you know, like we

sacrifice so much for this.

And, you know, we always work for this moment, like for so long.

And you only get, you know, one to two minutes on stage you know like you want to like have as much fun as you possibly can up there and i think um

like we were talking about earlier when you're backstage just kind of slowing things down for yourself and like

being chill it should be that same way when you get on stage i see so many people like at pre-judging they'll be hitting their poses way too quick they'll stumble they'll like you know they won't hold their poses for long enough and they're like you could tell they're a little bit like flustered up there you should be able to just get up there and you're just like i'm simply just displaying my physique for these judges and like yeah there's no pressure and i think just having that no pressure in your mind will allow you to kind of get into that flow state easier knowing like i checked all the boxes

and i'm just happy to be doing this like it allows you to pose so much more freely when you're actually up there versus getting up there and being like oh fuck i got to pose harder and am i doing this right and you know like your mind starts running 100 miles an hour

I couldn't agree more.

The one thing I don't like too much, though, is freaking doing your individual routine and pre-judging the 45-second routine to whatever random music that they've got going on.

They always play some shit music, bro.

Like, especially this last one, they're playing some country song that I never heard of.

It's like, bro, how am I supposed to have any type of flow to this?

But ultimately, like, I try to think like, bro, every competitor, we're all posing to the same random music.

And ultimately, like, how we, how you talked about blocking out the noise, like, that's just like white noise, bro.

Like, I, when I go up there, I don't even hear the music.

I'm just like,

just, I'm just focusing on displaying it the best I possibly can for the judges, right?

Like, it doesn't matter what music is playing or what the backdrop is.

It's like, I'm just going to go out there and display this the best I can.

And I think a lot of that calmness just simply comes with preparation.

You know, like, if you're a thousand percent prepared, there's no reason to be nervous or have any type of anxiety.

I always give the example, like,

when you walk out to your car to go start your car, like, do you get anxious about that or do you get nervous?

Like, no, like, well, because you've done it like a million times.

You walk out to your car, you, you know, click the fucking start, you put it in reverse and, and you drive.

You don't even think twice about it.

So it's like the more experience you have.

um like yeah you you don't get nervous about you know walking out to your car and starting your car in the morning so because you're so prepared that you've done it a million times.

So, when you're as prepared as we are for getting on stage for a bodybuilding show,

there's really nothing to be anxious about or nervous about whatsoever because you have

like

you've prepared for this one moment for say 16 weeks, 20 weeks.

You prepare for 20 weeks for this one moment.

It's like, I'm so, I'm fully equipped for this moment.

You know what I mean?

So that's, that's kind of how I see it.

i'm gonna run to a restroom real quick and then we'll keep going but by the way before i forget um

someone said that you could name any backdrop if i named any olympia oh backdrop if i named any olympia oh yeah most definitely i can it's like a wild we could we could i'm telling i just i'm a historian bro you could pull up any backdrop i'm like oh that's a 2009 olympia oh that's 2001 olympia like i just i don't know i have like a photo photographic memory that's fucking crazy bro jesus christ yeah i actually got to use the restroom too so that's perfect time.

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Real quick, before we move to the Q ⁇ A, what do you do for longevity?

Like, do you take any ancillaries, anything for oxidative stress or inflammation reduction?

So definitely post-show, I do like to run like a lot of glutathione, like very, very high.

But other than that, man, like, I just make sure like my lab work is good.

My trends in my lab work are good.

I don't take any ancillaries.

Like, I mean, besides like, I don't know if you want to consider like BPC 157 TV 500 ancillary, but

I mean, I'll take that, but, and I'll also take it orally just for the gut.

But a lot of the stuff is like, lab work related.

And then also, you know, I've gotten my calcium score done.

I've gotten cardiac mri's um just every year making sure i'm steadily healthy and keeping an eye on like the trends of my blood work you know because like okay so you think the primary drivers of making sure your blood works well and that your cardiovascular system is healthy is like cardio is uh like cardiovascular activity and nutrition and

uh i mean i guess obviously the glutathione and some some of these inflammation reducers that you have you think these are the prime

i think

even something as like keeping cardio in like 20 minutes you know five times a week during the off offseason just for cardiovascular health is really important.

Not getting too heavy in the offseason.

That's super important.

People undervalue that too.

Also, like one thing I'm trying to get better at personally is like post-show, I mean, I go so hard with the food, bro, because you know, obviously, like, our appetite is so high.

And I've always been a big eater.

Like, even when I was a teenager, bro, I could like

slam a whole pizza.

Like, Chinese buffets will destroy them, bro.

Bro, like, yeah, everywhere I go,

it seems like my whole life, like, I'll go to a restaurant with like family and they're all like i'm stuffed i'm like here hand it over i'll have yours too and i've i've always been like that and bodybuilding has only magnified it so i one thing i'm trying to get better at is like post show i'll eat so much and i'm like bro this is so bad like all the added sodium water like intracellular water um you know water retention like terrible for your kidneys and i'm like Yeah, maybe doing it once or twice is not bad, but it's like every show, if I'm gaining 10 pounds the night of, it's like, that's not really good for my kidneys long term.

So I'm trying to get better at just like keeping the cheat meals a little bit more controlled as well.

Got it.

Yeah.

Totally with the oral BPC thing, too.

I started that recently for this last show, man.

And I think it's

sick.

Definitely helped a lot for peak week.

I was doing a lot of glutathione, both liposomal and injectable, and also doing the oral BBC.

And the next one I'm going to try because Nick Walker told me to try KBV because I think he's just the fucking biggest fan of KPV in general.

But apparently that's helped him with his gut health too.

So yeah i'm gonna try that for this next peak week but honestly just doing like inflammation reducers and shit like that during peak week has been fucking sick

especially when like you're dealing with and also like i'll save any cortisol reducers um

just i'll literally save them and not take them for as long as possible prior to peak week and then peak week i'll jump on them like dash wagona for example i'll jump on that for peak week just to make sure that my cortisol is reduced for the entire week and i feel like it helps damn man that's smart yeah that's cool it's nice i never did it before so i would would just be fucking high a high stress individual during peak weekend during my show and it just never worked out man so yeah learning my lesson let's do this kit let's do this uh q a thing yeah got quite a few cool questions and i meant to do this for two hours but obviously we're doing another three hour podcast hey it's all good bro my pre-workout meal is already made As soon as I'm done with the pod, I'm going to eat this pre-workout meal and go hit this last leg day.

So it should should be good, bro.

It's sick.

Uh, polished beef patty asks, why did you decide to do so many shows after already qualified for the you?

Um, honestly, the main reason is just the qualifying system, bro.

Honestly, like, we were just going to focus on the Olympia,

and then we saw on the calendar that the San Diego show was two weeks before the Olympia.

And we're like, hey, man, like, that's a qualifier for next year.

You know, we're ready early.

We should just jump into that show,

try to win, and then we'll already be qualified for the 2026 Olympia.

Then we could kind of like do whatever we want.

We could take the year off.

We could maybe hit the Arnold and then shut it down, whatever.

And then literally like two weeks before that show, they released the rules.

And it's like, thank you.

And

now we're like, oh, shit, bro.

Like, we got to get our points.

And my coach lives in Austin.

So he's like, bro, the San Antonio pros in two weeks.

We should just jump in it.

I was like, all right, bro, fuck it.

Same day, booked my flight booked the airbnb and then we hit san antonio then we hit the san diego show which was the original plan and uh now we're gonna do the olympia and we were even considering maybe doing hurricane and a couple shows after the olympia

but we're gonna shut it down because we need to we need we need to improve and like we'd rather just shut it down now improve maybe start prepping like february march and then hit hit the shows like mid-year like June, July, next year and try to try to get our points that way.

But essentially,

to answer the question is just the point system.

It's super important to get points.

Cool.

I'm happy.

I needed one place better.

So I needed you not to be there.

Hurricane.

Hey, bro, you added that winny, and you might have fucking, that might have been,

you might have beaten me, bro.

Whatever, bro.

Kyle Cass asks, so would you rather,

would you all rather never use any type of PED again or never have sex again?

And this is really taking the moral compass into account.

I probably just come off, bro, to be honest.

But then it's like, if you're not going to take any PDs, you can't really bodybuild anymore, too.

So you're giving up PEDs and bodybuilding.

Yeah.

It just said just sex.

Huh?

I didn't say like everything.

Yeah, it just said never have sex again.

But honestly, I love bodybuilding so much, bro.

Like, I'm not giving that shit up, bro.

I think it would be bad for my mental health.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

So, like,

I'm never going to have sex.

It's fine.

Yeah.

Probably never going to have it anyways.

So overrated anyways, bro.

I'm just going to fucking run NPP really, really high.

It'll be fine.

FOH asks, oh, by the way, I think that the mustache also was a huge fucking improvement from like your last season as well.

I think that was a game changer as well.

So it should be a lot of fun.

Thank you, bro.

It was forever.

It was kind of by accident.

Normally I'm just like clean shaving all the time.

And then for the first show this year, Optimum, I was literally getting my haircut at my barber and he like left it as a joke.

He's like, he's like, hey, bro,

he's like, hey, let's leave the mustache.

You look like C-bum.

I was like, I was like, honestly, I was like, fuck it, bro.

I'm down.

Just, I just left it kind of like as a joke.

Yeah.

And then literally that same day at the gym, I got like multiple compliments.

Like, hey, bro, you look sick with the mustache.

That looks cool.

Like, oh, you look, you kind of look like C-bum.

And I was like, I don't know, bro.

Maybe you look like C-bum.

Yeah, maybe this is a, maybe I'm going to just keep it from now on, you know?

It's hilarious.

So I'm just rocking with it for now.

It looks good on you, bro.

It fits your face.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Appreciate it.

FOH asks, what do you see as your biggest weakness?

My biggest weakness is going to be my back for sure.

Lower lats, mid-back, thickness, width.

I feel like from the front,

I'm very, very

good.

Obviously, I need improvements everywhere, but it seems like every show I've done, I've always lost some ground from the back.

And with my front being as impressive as it is, when I turn to the back, it makes it even more of a discrepancy.

So it's like, it's not balanced, right?

So if my front is really good, I turn to the back, hit my back double.

It's like, oh, then it really exposes the back even more.

So essentially, if I can get my back to match my front, we feel like that's a really good package.

What are you trying to do right now to improve your back, or at least what's the plan?

So I have improved my back like quite a bit.

And it's going good.

It's just still behind.

I train back twice a week.

I think the biggest thing is just like nailing down movement patterns for that specific area and then movement patterns that I feel.

Right.

So like a lot of like keeping the elbow tucked in, single arm row, a lot of underhand rows, a lot of single arm pull downs to really isolate the lat.

I kind of dumped upper back rowing movements completely.

I think it's because like my whole career, I didn't really connect super well with my back.

So like all the, although I'm doing say a cable row, neutral grip, I'm like pulling with like my rear delts in my upper back every time.

And that's why I think my mid-back and low lats are so underdeveloped because I never really learned how to engage them properly.

So now that I've gotten better at training back, I'm dumping the upper back movements and really just focusing on just building thick, low lats, thick traps down the middle.

So just nailing down the movement patterns.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Your physique is going to look fucking nuts with bigger lats, man.

It's already, it's kind of fucking crazy, bro.

V-tape is already nuts as fuck, especially from the front too.

It's going to be wild.

Yeah.

Just got to put in the work, man.

Got to make it happen.

Shows from both the back and the front.

You've got two, what, four different poses?

Maybe even multiple, maybe even more than that, considering there's also your favorite classic.

And even just something like the front double.

Like when someone hits the front double and they got last just hanging, it's like that's very

exactly.

Yeah.

Two aesthetic says,

bro's a bodybuilding historian.

Ask Andy any year of the Olympia and he can tell you the backdrop.

True bodybuilding historian.

Yeah, bro.

I'm telling you.

2023.

What did that look like?

2023.

So this is the thing.

I wouldn't be able to explain what it looks like, but if you pulled up a picture of it, I'd be like, oh, that's the 2020.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Right.

Hold on.

I'm going to bring one up.

Are you going to bring up a random one?

Okay.

On the spot.

If I get this wrong, I'm going to look like an idiot.

I'm over here saying, yeah, I know every single one.

I would say probably from like 2008 to present would be like

100% nail it.

I could probably do like 90s, early 2000s but

i'm not as familiar

all right can you see this picture clearly

um

yes

that is the 2024 olympia yeah

Good shit.

I could also tell because like in the lineups, like I'll see, I just looked at Keon right there and I'm like, I remember that's what he looked like last year.

All right.

This one might be a little tough.

Well,

man, it's hard because it's hard to find these without

the actual athletes that kind of give some of the hints away.

You know what I'm saying?

Mm-hmm.

Like, what if I brought up the backdrop, but it was a picture of like the bikini girls?

I feel like that'd be yeah,

I could probably do that too.

Let's do this one.

It just has to to be the actual stage and not like the expo stage.

The expo stage is kind of hard to.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The expo stage is tough.

All right.

Let's see if I can.

All right.

What it says at the bottom is not the same year.

So

ignore that thing at the bottom.

But what about this one?

Oh,

I think that's the expo stage.

Is it?

Yeah, I think so.

But

to me,

that looks like

2013, maybe.

I don't think this is the expectation.

Like this one, for example.

Having the bikini girls on there, did hella throw me off right now?

Here, here, here.

This one.

That is 2016.

Damn, that's 2016.

Yeah.

Good shit.

Fuck, bro.

That's fucking sick.

They're just like.

That's awesome.

Yeah, there's like just little things like, cause the backdrop is different every time.

And then like the logo, like sometimes it'll say Olympia.

Sometimes it'll just have a big O.

And then it's also different colors.

Sometimes it's like blue.

Sometimes it's

like if you look up 2009 Mr.

Olympia stage,

it's a very distinct stage.

It's like all black with like blue glitter.

Like

anytime you would see that stage.

Blue glitter is so weird.

Yeah.

I know what you mean.

I remember this:

the J-PIC.

That's how you know, too.

You correlate, oh, that was Jay's best look.

That's the best.

He looked fucked.

That's sick.

Yep.

God, Jesus.

Jay's the best guy ever, man.

They're just like checking on Lexi and I all the time, just asking how we're doing.

Oh, I'm just saying.

How I'm doing at my show and wishing that I was going to do well and stuff.

Yeah, he's just such a good guy.

That's sweet, dude.

It's always been dad.

All right, cool.

That's fucking legendary, bro.

That's that's fucking sick that's like one of those questions like what what's one of your hidden talents well i can name

the stage of this bodybuilding

yeah will lifts asks how does the cycle change when running so many shows back to back

um really we kept the cycle the same um and you got to think too uh like the first three shows we did it was three weeks back to back to back so it's like

i mean you're already you're you're not going to change anything from like week to week to week.

If it was like a six-week gap or something, then maybe.

But for example, like we knew we had to start prep for the Olympia,

but we had already been on prep for the three shows.

So essentially what we did is we took like, I think, six to seven weeks off everything.

So pulled all the orals, pulled masks, pulled primo, pulled train, and we just did 250 megs of test, like a cruise essentially for six weeks.

Then we got blood work done, came back, we're good.

And then we started Olympia prep, essentially resuming the cycle that we are already on.

So, like tests, masks,

um, and then primo.

And then, like, so they six weeks out from Olympia, added in orals, just like any typical cycle.

So, it didn't really change, we kind of just took like a break, essentially.

Gotcha.

That's cool.

That's cool.

I'm really with all the breaks now, you know.

Anytime I hear anything about a break, I'm just like more with it now these days.

Matt Richard asks, best off-season cycle for putting on masks.

Bro, I'm going to say test, GH, and a lot of food.

Yeah.

I mean, honestly, those are going to be the bases for anybody, man, for sure.

I heard if you can tolerate it, though, a little bit.

Anadryl sometimes is a little filthy.

I love me a good.

I've never done the annies, though.

I love anadrol.

I love it because I don't lose my appetite on it.

So many people, they take anadroll, they're like, that fucks my stomach up.

But I've never had that problem, but Prop does not like to run orals in the offseason.

He's like, there's no need.

There's no need.

Like, I'd rather you keep your appetite.

And I'm like, well, I don't lose it.

We can, we can, we can use the anadrol.

But he's like, nah, there's no need.

It's funny.

Yep.

One of the questions, too, is Brayden Morph asks, is Anadra really the goat?

I mean,

it depends on what setting, I guess, what context.

It is really, really good for strength.

Pumps are crazy.

You get so round and and so full like testing anadra is a it is a goaded cycle like i'm taking anadrail 10 times out of 10 over d-ball personally yeah um muscle fitness asks um to talk through all the different peaks for shows how he stayed healthy and improved we've kind of gone over this a little bit already but

yeah is there anything that comes to mind when you think of how each show was back to back but you had you know you had a peak for each show and obviously you know it takes a little toll the longer you're on prep

yeah i i would say having the three shows like be literally in back to back to back weeks helped um yeah the travel was kind of hard so literally for like

six weeks it's like all right we pulled condiments pulled artificial sweeteners dia sodas whatever and then we fly

we compete we win sunday we fly home all right we're home for like two days we're home and then we fly to the next show do the whole peaking process over again

fly home, and then fly to the next show.

So it was like just touch and go for like three weeks straight.

But I think what honestly helped is being that we had cardio pulled for so long and he was feeding me into every one of these shows.

And after each show, we went out and got a fat dinner, dessert.

So it kind of like restored the glycogen and kind of like reset the body a little bit.

We would come home for two days, kind of go back low for two days, body would baseline, carb up again.

So really, it didn't take that much.

Yeah.

Like just no cardio at all anymore in between those shows, though.

That's dope.

That's dope, bro.

I feel like for me, I'm just a lot lower in calories.

Like you had to carb up 1,000 grams of carbs.

I'm on less than 500 grams of carbs to carb up.

But when it comes to depletion, I have to go extremely, extremely low.

And we're on 70 grams of carbs on rest days, like under 100 on the training days.

And I still have like a good like 20 minutes of cardio in there because I feel like if I don't, like my body doesn't like deplete as well, if that makes sense.

But for sure, though, reducing the cardio, I think is extremely important and something I need to make sure that I do because you can definitely kind of overdo the amount of like just work in P week.

Like you definitely should be reducing it a lot more.

At least I should be.

John, Jonathar, Jonathan Lar,

my bad brother, John Adler B,

B

asks, regrets are things he'd change in his early stages.

Yeah, we kind of talked earlier.

I wish I would have waited a little bit longer to hop on cycle and become enhanced, you know, but ultimately it's like, like I said, I don't want to look back with regrets, bro.

I've made that decision, can't go back and change it.

All I can do now is make sure I'm as healthy as I possibly can be and, you know, have as much longevity as I can.

I would say another thing, too, would probably be

like my career trajectory has transformed just since hiring Prabh as my coach.

So I would say like, how long have you guys been together?

A year and a half.

Okay.

So I'm like, dude, if I would have hired Prabh when I was like 21 years old or something, like five years ago, like I could have been on the, I could have been on the Olympia stage a couple of years ago.

So I would say like hire a reputable coach like early.

Don't waste time with like local coaches trying to save money and like or letting someone coach you for free.

Like just pay the money and like invest into a good coach and he will take you where you need to go.

Yeah.

I feel like I couldn't agree more.

I asked one last question that I ask everybody at the end of every podcast that you might have heard before.

But if you were to disappear from the world tomorrow and you had one message you could send to the entire world today, what would the message be?

Man,

I would say, um,

damn, bro, I hear this question all the time because I watch the pod all the time.

But being actually asked this question on the spot,

I would say, um, you know, man, just

I would say for people to,

you know, that quote, stop and smell the roses.

Yeah.

I really like that quote, and I would apply it to just being like,

I would want everyone,

the message I would send would be just to, just to be grateful.

I think like so much goes on in our day-to-day life, not just you and I, but just like even normal people that work at Walmart or whatever.

You know, everyone is so caught up in the day-to-day monotony of just like

paying bills, going to work, uh, social life, going out, drinking,

and then, you know, rinse and repeat every month.

And before you know it, your 20s goes by, your 30s goes by, and then you're like, oh, I'm just working, saving for retirement.

Then I retire.

And then it's just like,

um, so much goes on.

And I think

people

tend to forget how blessed they truly are.

And one thing my mom always tells me is she's like, count count your blessings you know

and

someone like myself although i don't have the most money although i don't live in the biggest house drive the nicest car i think there's something to be said about just appreciating what you have and being grateful because there's always people that have less than you you know like yep um i don't know the quote it's like

Even on your worst day, you feel like someone who's on their greatest day.

So like, I could be like, oh, man, like, I don't really like my car.

This house is not big enough or something.

But like, there's someone somewhere else that would like kill to even have a car to drive or even kill to even have a roof over their head.

So I think it's out.

I think like, you know, just being able to kind of take a step back with all that's going on in day-to-day life and just be grateful for what you have.

Instead of always looking for the next thing to buy, the next thing to purchase and upgrade, just being grateful for you have, whether it's an old beat up car or maybe you live in a tiny studio apartment, it's like, man, just be grateful for what you have.

And I think life is just about experiences and,

you know, like enjoying what you have and being grateful because ultimately, like a car, a house, all this stuff is like,

that stuff fades.

You know what I mean?

Like, the feel, the chasing that feeling, it kind of fades

over time.

And I think the true testament to living a good life is just like being present, loving your family, creating bonds, you know, creating new friendships like you and I, and, you know, just being grateful for what you have.

No matter how much or how little, just like always being grateful, you know, that would be the message.

I couldn't have agreed more, Maynard, for sure.

I wanted to ask you this last thing too before you go, because I was just curious, but how did you feel about this last show at Tournament Champions that we had together?

It was a pretty stacked lineup, honestly.

Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think

after pre-judging and finals that I was going to win just based off of, obviously you look at the photos and like I always try to assess when I compete unbiasedly, right?

Like yeah.

So I'm looking at Anton.

I'm like, okay, I think he beats me from the back.

You know, from the side, it's close.

Momsy, he looks very good from the front, you know, analyzing every shot.

And I'm like, you know what?

I could see why they placed me where I placed me.

I can see Anton winning here.

But I think the initial,

the sting of it was being that in pre-judging, like I was the first one moved into the center.

And then, and then, you know, you hold center the whole pre-judging.

Finals, same thing.

You're the first one moved into the center box.

Yeah.

They move everyone around you.

And then they're, they're like, all right, gentlemen, that concludes finals.

And you finish in the center.

I'm thinking, I think I got this.

Okay, like normally, just how judging works, if you get, if you're the first one moved in, you don't move, you start, you know, you start in the center, you finish in the center for both pre-judging and finals in your mind.

You're like, okay, I think I got this.

But then

I remember when we were all standing on the side, and you and I think one other guy, or Abden, and then the Phil New guy, they came up to me.

They're like, hey, brother, like, I think you have this.

Like, I got you winning this i was like okay cool appreciate it bro but like i know nothing's guaranteed in this so when they're like ah one point decision from fresno i was like oh yeah i definitely stung a little bit but ultimately like i you know said earlier it's like i'm just grateful to be able to do it um i always pray to god the morning before the show i'm like you know what No matter the outcome, I will walk with my head held high.

Whether it be victory or defeat, I will remain humble and I'll accept it.

I'll take it on the chin.

And I look at all of this as a learning experience.

So

if you really think about it, like if I would have won or if I get, say, fifth, it doesn't really change anything.

You know, I want to be one of the best in the world.

So if I would have won or if I would have got dead last, the end result's kind of the same.

It's like, I got to get back to the drawing board and still improve my back.

I still have to max out my weight cap.

I still have to improve.

So ultimately, like by not putting so much stock into the placing, after like an hour, I was like, you know what, bro?

It is what it is.

I'm not going to dwell on it.

Like

there's so many shows, bro, where it's like the crowd thought so-and-so should have won and he didn't win.

And that's just bodybuilding, you know?

So it's like, you can, you can choose to get bitter or you can choose to get better.

So it's like, you know, we just wash our hands of it and it's on to the next one and, you know, the Olympia, bro, in one week, oh, six days.

So,

you know, why am I going to dwell on that shit when I have something so amazing to look forward to?

Man, I can't fucking wait to see you at Olympia 2.

It's going to be fucking awesome.

We got to link up when we're out there, too.

Like, whether we even just go to the same gym one time, or maybe we grab food or something after, you're going to be a busy man for sure.

Or even if we link up at the expo or something like that, like that would be cool just to kind of catch up for a minute.

Getting a lift or linking up at the expo, that would be awesome, man.

Yeah.

I'd be down, bro.

For sure.

And I think you looked fucking amazing at Tournament and Champions, dude.

Your package was absolutely nuts.

And pre-judging to you, you had the the craziest pop.

So

one thing I do like about this show and Muscle Contest is how they do continuously compare.

Like they really, they work us and they keep switching us.

And it's a cool thing.

And it's something I discussed with Chris Tuttle too that we appreciate.

But it is a little like mind play gaming because you don't ever really know who's going to win.

Like no one's really like, like the person that stays in the middle isn't necessarily the person that is on top.

Yeah.

So it gets a little confusing.

Yeah.

So just like, you know, just try to have fun and enjoy it, man.

You know, like, like I, like I said, the placings are just simply out of our control as athletes.

It's like, control what we can control.

You know, that's it, bro.

That's the name of the game of bodybuilding.

Control what you can control.

And, you know, everything else will work out as it should.

Yeah.

Thanks for coming on, bro.

This was fucking sick.

How can everybody find you?

So

Instagram, YouTube, TikTok is just going to be Andy P.

Bodybuilding, all one word.

And

yeah, I just, you know,

you can use my code with RAW, Revive.

I'm actually a free agent now with clothing.

I was with Jed North for like two years.

And Jed North.

Yeah.

The OG.

Yeah, they're the OGs, but I was with them for two years and then the contract ended.

And I was like, they're super cool, like, super cool about it.

They completely understood.

But I'm like, yeah, I want to just, you know, try to, you know, get with another clothing brand, Young LA, maybe.

But, or like, or like dark sport.

There's a lot of like cool clothing brands out there but just opening it up for for new opportunities um

but yeah man i just i really appreciate for one meeting you um when i saw your name on the list i was like dude how cool is this like i literally watch his podcast like all the time religiously um

and then just you know having your you know your interaction you know uh with myself um at the show was really refreshing and um just being able to you know, be a guest on the pod, like, it's a full circle moment for me in a sense, because I literally have watched it for like over a year.

Um, every time you drop an episode, I'm like, oh, I got to watch that shit, got to watch that shit.

Click instantly, and I watch it start to finish every time.

Um, and I do respect how much effort you truly put into these podcasts when it comes to the intros, um, you know, everything you do.

And, you know, I appreciate you for being an outlet covering guys like myself, Jordan, Chris Tuttle, and just getting, you know,

being transparent.

That's the name of the podcast, you know, like just being very, very transparent about whether it be gear, anxiety, performance.

Like, there's so much that goes into this that's deeper than the surface of just looking like a freak, you know.

So, I just really think it's cool that you, you show that, you put that out for people and you give us the platform to, for the, for these people to get to know us on a deeper level.

So, I just appreciate it.

Appreciate you for having me on, bro.

Just keep doing your thing.

You got me tempted to go out to Vegas, bro, November 8th to go watch you compete, bro.

No, fuck.

It's right there.

I mean, I'm like,

I'm going to be in the offseason.

And, you know, me and my girl, we do want to travel somewhere.

Yeah.

And Vegas is fun.

So

I might plan a trip to go see you compete, bro.

I appreciate that, man.

There's no pressure at all, but if you do come, we're going to get some fucking brownies afterwards.

Oh,

oh, hey.

I'm DMing you.

I'm getting your address, bro.

I'm

buying you that box.

I'm not going to forget.

All right.

All right.

But,

well, thanks for coming on, man.

It was an honor to have you on.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Much love.

I'll catch you in six days.

Yes, sir.

Sounds good, bro.

All right.

All right, brother.

Peace.