Q&A with Sam Sulek

QNA

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

This transcript features a Q&A session with Sam Sulek, diving into topics like mind-muscle connection, transitioning between bulking and cutting, and the discipline needed in fitness journeys. Sam shares insights on personal experiences with rest days, managing energy, and maintaining a gym routine. Key highlights include techniques for effective lifts, handling cravings during a cut, and the mental strategies for overcoming gym-related challenges. Additionally, Sam discusses the enjoyment and fulfillment derived from pushing physical limits, as well as practical advice for initiating a gym-focused YouTube channel.

Highlights

Sam's Eureka moment on mind-muscle connection while bench pressing. 💡
Importance of pause curls for bicep connection. 💪
Transition phases between bulking and cutting and calorie adjustments. 🍽️
Handling rest days and recognizing when they are necessary. 💤
Using calorie management to handle sweet cravings during cuts. 🍭
The mental game: Sticking to goals and maintaining discipline over time. 💪
Using TikTok and YouTube effectively for starting a gym channel. 📱

Key Takeaways

Focus on mind-muscle connection for better workout results. 🏋️
Transitioning between bulks and cuts requires patience and gradual adjustments. 📉📈
Rest days are important and should be taken when truly needed. 🛌
Discipline in dieting is crucial; track calories and weights regularly. 📋
Finding personal fulfillment in pushing physical limits can enhance motivation. 💪
Effective gym routines require both mental and physical preparation. 🧠
Adjust volume and intensity in workouts for better results. 🔄

Overview

In this enlightening Q&A session, Sam Sulek discusses various facets of fitness, ranging from the complexities of mind-muscle connection to the intensity of transitioning from bulking to cutting. He emphasizes the importance of understanding one's body mechanics during exercises, sharing his own 'Eureka' moment with bench pressing that changed his approach to training. His tip on incorporating pause curls for improved bicep engagement is highlighted as a game-changer for those looking to up their arm day game.

Sam delves into his strategies for balancing bulking and cutting, highlighting the importance of gradual dietary adjustments and monitoring calorie intake. He explains that the key is not to rush the transition but to allow the body time to adapt. Sam also shares candid insights into how he approaches rest days, pointing out the necessity of taking them based on physical needs rather than convenience.

Finally, Sam touches on the mental aspects of fitness, from managing cravings during cuts to maintaining discipline through routine building and goal setting. He shares his passion for the process of physical challenge and growth, which fuels his continued dedication. For those entering the world of gym influencing, Sam advises leveraging platforms like TikTok and YouTube, suggesting that authenticity and consistency are key to building a following.

Chapters

00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The chapter opens with an engaging music note, setting a lively tone. The narrator acknowledges the presence of numerous good questions, suggesting an interactive and inquisitive session ahead. They mention scanning through and screenshotting these questions, indicating a possible Q&A format or discussion based on the collected inquiries.
00:30 - 05:30: Mind-Muscle Connection The chapter titled 'Mind-Muscle Connection' begins with casual banter about online interactions, featuring light-hearted moments between scrolls Gangas and the Rizzler. The conversation then shifts to genuine queries from the audience, particularly focusing on tips for enhancing the mind-muscle connection. A specific inquiry from an audience member named Lucenburg Burger initiates a discussion about techniques for improving the connection between the mind and muscles, specifically targeting the biceps and chest. The text suggests tips might involve adjustments or strategies for arm movements.
05:30 - 10:30: Transitioning Between Bulk and Cut This chapter discusses the concept of utilizing the chest muscles effectively during physical exercises, particularly in pressing movements. The focus is on understanding the role of the chest in drawing the upper arm towards the body, rather than just thinking about pushing with the hands. The explanation uses an analogy with leg extensions to clarify the chest’s function.
10:30 - 15:00: Importance of Rest Days This chapter explores the importance of rest days in fitness routines. The author shares a personal breakthrough experience in understanding muscle engagement during exercises, especially while bench pressing. He describes the moment as a shift from merely pushing with the hands to actively engaging the chest to lift the arms. This realization was akin to a eureka moment experienced in his home gym. The author further discusses how pause curls significantly impacted the development of his biceps, highlighting the value of specific techniques and rest in achieving strength goals.
15:00 - 20:00: Sticking to a Cut In this chapter, the focus is on techniques for enhancing muscle cuts, specifically emphasizing controlled weight lifting. It highlights the importance of using light weights and strategic pauses halfway through repetitions to maximize effectiveness. The narrative suggests techniques such as cable, preacher, or standing dumbbell curls, advising against utilizing too much momentum and instead emphasizing controlled movements to increase workout efficiency.
20:00 - 25:00: Music Preferences The chapter discusses how to execute a perfect repetition when focusing on bicep workouts, emphasizing the importance of not pausing during repetitions. The conversation highlights that if one does pause, restarting requires a conscious effort to contract the biceps strongly. The transcript advises on understanding muscle anatomy to enhance workout effectiveness, particularly how the biceps are connected and function during pulling movements.
25:00 - 30:00: Managing Cravings The chapter 'Managing Cravings' seems to explore techniques in weightlifting, focusing on the mental imagery and physical tools used to enhance grip and effectiveness while lifting weights. It highlights the concept of focusing mental energy on specific muscle groups, particularly the lower or upper forearm, to improve lifting performance. Additionally, it mentions the use of certain equipment like bicep curl attachments, suggesting their role in aiding effective workouts. However, the transcript also indicates an informal and somewhat fragmented style, possibly reflecting a casual exchange or a live discussion scenario.
30:00 - 35:00: Training Motivation The chapter discusses techniques and exercises to maintain training motivation. It mentions the importance of focusing on exercise form and specific movements such as bicep bias pulldowns and underhand straight bar pulls to enhance muscle growth. It also touches upon transitioning between bulking and cutting phases, emphasizing the critical transition phase, which should be approached with care to avoid setbacks.
35:00 - 40:00: Rest and Energy Levels The chapter discusses the speaker's transition from a cutting phase to a bulking phase in their fitness journey. During this transition, the speaker is gradually easing into the new routine and adjusting their eating habits. They mention that while they were on a diet, they had to eat with restraint, but now they are allowing their appetite to naturally regulate their food intake. On average, they are consuming around 3,200 calories a day as they adapt to this new phase.
40:00 - 45:00: Chest and Triceps Training The chapter discusses a strategy for chest and triceps training, focusing on a method to manage and increase body weight effectively. The speaker mentions starting at a body weight of 260 pounds, which was achieved without force-feeding, signifying a natural weight increase from a regular 3200 calorie intake. Over the course of one to three months, the speaker notes that maintaining this calorie intake won't sustain continued weight gain. Therefore, they suggest increasing caloric intake every few weeks when weight gain begins to stagnate.
45:00 - 50:00: Thoughts on Powerlifting The chapter discusses strategies for overcoming plateaus in powerlifting, specifically by adjusting calorie intake. The focus is on increasing carbohydrate consumption slightly, by about 75 grams or 300 calories, to spur weight gain when progress stalls. The speaker emphasizes monitoring the effects of dietary changes and increasing carbohydrates gradually to maintain a steady progression in weight gain. When weight gain levels off again, the process of adjusting carbohydrate intake is repeated, primarily by increasing carbs in each meal.
50:00 - 55:00: Lat Muscle Connection The chapter 'Lat Muscle Connection' discusses efficient dieting strategies for weight loss. It explains that drastic reductions in calorie intake are unnecessary for initiating a caloric deficit. Instead, a modest reduction of about 500 calories is sufficient to promote steady weight loss. As weight loss progresses and begins to slow down, further calorie reductions are needed to continue the process.
55:00 - 60:00: Fulfillment in Training The chapter delves into the concept of finding fulfillment through training, with a focus on dietary management. It emphasizes the importance of not overly increasing caloric intake during bulking phases. Instead, it advocates for a gradual approach, starting with a moderate calorie increase, such as 200 calories, while regularly tracking weight and caloric intake to ensure the correct approach. It encourages exercising restraint and careful monitoring as key components for successful training and fulfillment.
60:00 - 65:00: Handling Cheat Days The chapter titled 'Handling Cheat Days' discusses the importance and necessity of taking rest days for experienced lifters. It emphasizes that while rest days are definitely important, they should be taken as needed rather than on a fixed schedule. The speaker shares a personal experience of taking a rest day because of the heavy workouts done in the days prior, indicating the importance of listening to one's body to avoid overtraining.
65:00 - 70:00: Life After Turning Pro The chapter discusses the importance of recognizing when to take a rest day in a workout schedule. The narrator explains that despite having a back workout scheduled, they decided to postpone it due to residual fatigue from previous exercises. This decision was based on the criteria that would justify taking an effective rest day, emphasizing the significance of listening to one's body. The narrator opted to continue with cardio and delay the back lifts to feel more refreshed, highlighting the flexible approach necessary for professional training.
70:00 - 75:00: Starting a Gym Channel This chapter explores the importance of discerning genuine needs for rest days in fitness routines. It highlights the difference between needing a rest for recovery and skipping workouts out of laziness, encouraging readers to self-reflect on their true motivations.
75:00 - 80:00: Advice for Beginner Lifters The chapter 'Advice for Beginner Lifters' addresses common mental barriers and motivational challenges that novice gym-goers face. The narrative reveals feelings of reluctance towards gym sessions, underlining a relatable struggle with maintaining gym discipline. The importance of a determined mindset, often referred to as a 'dog mentality,' is emphasized as crucial to ensuring consistent workouts and adherence to fitness goals. Furthermore, the dialogue touches on the widespread industry surrounding fitness motivation, hinting at commercial solutions like supplements. The chapter ultimately suggests that personal perseverance and mental fortitude are key to developing a sustainable gym routine.
80:00 - 85:00: Downsides of Being Big The chapter focuses on the effectiveness of traditional calorie counting and cardio as methods for managing diet and fitness. The speaker discusses the notion that despite various emerging trends and methods, these conventional practices remain unmatched. The chapter also delves into personal experiences with dieting, particularly the challenges associated with reducing caloric intake after periods of dieting up and down.

QNA Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 [Music] There we go. All right, we got uh we got some good questions in here. We got a lot of questions in here, I think. One, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Yeah, like 24 good ones. It's usually I scan through and just kind of screenshot
00:30 - 01:00 kind of a variety just so we don't hear sit here scrolling and say yeah okay you know who would who would win in a PR contest me or the Rizzler scrolls Gangas you know there's a couple trolling comments but honestly a lot of them are always reasonably like deep and solid so let's start with number one from Lucenburg Burger tips for mind muscle connection for your biceps your chest tip about pulling your arms
01:00 - 01:30 up with your chest was a game changer for me. So, what he's talking about there with your chest is like when you're actually doing a press of some kind, you know, if you're pushing up against the wall, the fact that you can feel it pushing on your hands might make you think hands, right? But really, all your chest is doing is pulling your upper arm towards itself, right? Like I mean, you can almost think of this like a leg extension. This is your quad. This is your leg. And it's like pulling
01:30 - 02:00 itself up. That's kind of a funky way to think about it, but I had that Eureka moment way back in my uh in the home gym in my parents' basement. I think that was like maybe year and a half of benching where instead of just feeling like I was pushing with my hands, I was actually pulling my arms up with my chest. But for biceps, I think the one thing that really did it for me was pause curls. So what I mean by that is you can do
02:00 - 02:30 machine or cable or maybe not preacher, that might not do it as well or just standing dumbbell. Usually you you don't even have to do one arm at a time, but going halfway up like to, you know, yay high or so. You're not done. You got a lot more curl left. So about halfway through that range of motion with lightish weight, pausing that rep and then finishing it. Because in the beginning you can kind of use a little shoulder and some like momentum and get it swinging a little
02:30 - 03:00 bit and then it's already moving. But if you pause the rep completely, the only thing that's going to get it to move again is you manually sending contractions to your bicep to really squeeze. So that's done for me at least. But apart from that, you know, just think uh just think anatomy, right? I mean, your bicep is all in here. It ties into a couple tendons down here at the lowest part of your forearm. So, all the pulling is happening down here,
03:00 - 03:30 right? So, unless I'm doing like a nasty swinging set, usually that's what I'm trying to imagine. just kind of that pulling of my lower or I guess you can almost say upper forearm instead of just like, you know, thinking about all the weight that's in my hand. That's why they make those uh kind of like bicep curl um attachments where oh crap, how do they even it's like this weird triangular padded thing that gets put on
03:30 - 04:00 your arm and it just extends how far the weight is. But you know, just something along those lines. And the bicep bias pulld downs underhand straight bar pulling to your shoulders. That does it for me too. That's a good one. Jaden Dobs tips for transitioning from a bulk to a cut or vice versa. So I think the only time you can really screw it up is right in the beginning, right? That is the transition phase you're talking about. So it's really just kind of
04:00 - 04:30 a an easing into it type situation. Like I'm still in the transition phase now from cutting to bulking because this whole month in like a week or so that I've been actually kind of, you know, eating without restraint like I was during the diet. I'm not trying. I mean, I haven't been like making sure I hit a specific number. My appetite's just kind of naturally been regulating how much food I've been eating, but it's not so much, right? Like averaging about 3, you know, 3,200 calories a day. And that's
04:30 - 05:00 enough for me to slowly gain weight. Like I was 260 this morning and I don't feel like I'm force-feeding food at all. Like frankly, it's it's almost as all that weight just kind of has accumulated slowly and like just normally from me eating. But in a month, in two months, in 3 months, me eating that same 3200 calories, it's not going to cut it. So every couple of weeks whenever I notice that my weight gain is beginning to stumble and slow, that's my cue up the
05:00 - 05:30 calorie intake probably by about 75ish grams of carbs, like 300 net calories. And then watch what happens. And if that takes me out of a plateaued state and I suddenly start gaining weight slowly again, perfect. No need to eat anymore. And once that weight gain starts to slow down and a more kind of leveling off, same thing, increase carbs and that might come. Yeah, that'll probably just be larger carb sources each meal. And
05:30 - 06:00 then dieting down, same thing. There's no need to totally drop your calories in half to start a deficit because all you're going to have to do is cut it down by like 500 and that should be enough to see steady weight loss. But then it's the same situation just in reverse where now you're dieting down at let's say you're eating 2,300 calories. You lose weight, you lose your weight loss is beginning to slow. So now again, you got to drop the calories by a
06:00 - 06:30 certain amount. Not a huge margin. I would probably even only drop it like 200 and then go from there. But really, the only thing that's going to actually tell you if you're doing that right or not is if you're tracking your weight on the regular and tracking your calories on the regular. So, it all kind of leads back to that. But, I guess the main gist is, you know, don't overdo it. Ease into it with uh with a bit of restraint. There's no need for 5,000 calories of a bulk off the rip. That's a little too much.
06:30 - 07:00 How often do you take rest days and are they important for an experienced lifter such as myself? Oh, thank you. I'd say they're definitely important, but it's uh I look at the rest days as a when necessary type situation. I took a rest day yesterday. That's why there's no lifts recorded today because there was no lift. Because I could tell I did a good heavy leg day two days prior and then a really heavy chest day the day before. So, I was
07:00 - 07:30 going to do back yesterday. That was scheduled. But I could tell I was still residually fatigued for the last few lifts. So, the actual kind of factors that would qualify to have a actually effective rest day were in place. So, take a day, still do my cardio, and then save the back lifts for for today, which would have been tomorrow yesterday. But either way, I feel so much fresher now. So, it's just a when necessary thing, but I think a
07:30 - 08:00 lot of rest days get taken unnecessarily and then it's, you know, it makes me question somebody's actual motives. It's like, are you skipping the gym because you actually need to recover one more day and come back stronger tomorrow or was it really just cuz you didn't feel like it? And those two are very different situations, even though the end result could be the same, you know? So, that's just something I'd uh I'd want you to question yourself with. It's like, am I really taking this rest day cuz I need it or am I just taking it cuz
08:00 - 08:30 I'm feeling a little scrappy. I don't And not like physically, just like mentally like I don't know if I really feel like going to the gym today. Let's make it a rest day. That's not a dog in your mentality as far as I'm concerned. What is the greatest way to stick to a cut and not lose discipline? Yeah, that's a tricky one. It's a goddamn multi-million dollar industry, that question, right? You could uh you could take some OMIC and, you know, risk
08:30 - 09:00 all the crazy stuff that we're hearing about it now. That would probably work in a way. But in terms of an actual calorie counting, cardio doing sort of method, which frankly I don't think will ever be beaten by any other kind of random whatever. I mean, it's definitely a practice thing. Like right now that I've dieted up and down, the down part being kind of that tricky part of restricting my
09:00 - 09:30 intake. I mean, what have I done that now? I think like maybe seven times. It gets easier every time. So, in the beginning, sometimes it's just the nature of doing something you've never done. It's going to be a little bit tricky, right? But in terms of actually sticking to it, I do think that your calorie load throughout the day can be not tweaked, but at least managed such that you're making easier on yourself. So, if you can eat 2,000 calories, or let's just well 2,000 just for like this
09:30 - 10:00 uh analogy sake, you probably shouldn't eat 1,800 before noon, right? So, for me, I usually don't even eat till about noonish. start with the lunch and then I've got only noon till 10 or whenever I go to sleep to spread those calories out. So, by having slightly smaller meals portioned in that way in a smaller eating window, it's just a little easier for me. That's part of the logic of uh like some of the what do they call it?
10:00 - 10:30 It's not fasting. Uh crap intermittent fasting. Yeah, that's that's part of the logic there. You got a shorter eating window. So, you're not going to have as much time in a way to overdo it. But in terms of actually like staying locked in, I mean, just think about what you're trying to do. And if you actually track all your weights every morning and all your calories, you should at least be able to see if you're on track or not. Because if you know you've been on track for two weeks and maybe you have a huge cheat
10:30 - 11:00 day, a huge whatever, odds are you're actually going to look at that and say, "Oh crap, well, let's get back on track." and not just totally, you know, rely on guesswork to say if you've actually been, you know, doing anything or not. I don't know how many million of people say, "Oh, I'm dieting right now. Never weighed themselves, never tracked their calories, no added cardio or anything." And it's like, you know, what are you doing? So, it's kind of like if you talk the talk or no, no, if you walk
11:00 - 11:30 the walk, you won't have to talk the talk cuz you'll actually kind of get the gist of it. Like, every time I get to talk to anybody who's really lost a ton of weight, there's like a deeper kind of connection cuz I know that they know about all the cardio and all the calories and like looking at maybe a tub of Ben & Jerry's that was in their freezer and saying, "No, that's not conducive to my goals right now. I can have that later. It's not off the menu forever, but for now, that's going to
11:30 - 12:00 have to wait. What makes you think a song is good? Do you like melody, lyrics, drums when hearing new music? We hear a pretty large variety of genres in your headphones during uh during these lifts. Yeah, it's pretty it's pretty widespread. I mean, my most recent likes, let me look. Oh, yeah. Got some 42 Path, NAV, Timmy Trumpet, Miley Cyrus,
12:00 - 12:30 uh, Star Set, Bringing the Horizon, Lil Wayne, T Grizzly, Aussie Osborne. I mean, it's it's all sorts of everything in this like tracks. I think it's like 800 songs. I don't know how many different genres, but I mean, I I I get my music like we all do now. you see a Tik Tok edit and something about it. Maybe there's just a real fancy kind of, you know, bass droppy breakdown that just kind of scratches me the right way. But
12:30 - 13:00 yeah, I mean, you can uh I couldn't confine myself just to one genre. They've all kind of got their place, but yeah, I think it's uh because I'm not like a massive fan of anybody in particular and just automatically defend and love all of their music religiously. It's more so just, you know, bits and pieces. Sometimes it just clicks, but not in general, you know, just for me specifically. What's the best way to satisfy cravings for sweets and treats
13:00 - 13:30 during a cut or a bulk? Basically, how do I counter food focus? Well, a bulk is pretty easy. Just eat it. Just have it. Like I'm not saying uh maybe you really want to do a strict pure body like clean ass bulk, go for it. Not going to stop you, frankly. I think that's uh that's the approach that I'm kind of working on getting to now. But I mean, I wouldn't stress, man. You know, you're more concerned about your treat intake in the
13:30 - 14:00 dieting season when you're dieting down. So that's where I think uh what really helped me in this last prep wasn't trying to balance having some treats sometimes or like maybe a cheat day or anything like that. More so just finding diet friendly treats that I could have almost daily just to kind of constantly give me at least something semieet every so often, you know, like that would be um uh sugar. I don't know. Yeah, just
14:00 - 14:30 regular rice cake, sugar-free jelly. Perfect. That was honestly probably my biggest treat of that entire dieting phase. And I could have 40 grams of carbs total from the rice cakes and the sugar-free jelly. And it's like a pretty kind of filling little stack. You know, I would kind of just break the rice cakes into quarters and squeeze little jelly on top of each of them. Or I mean you can get uh you can get stuff like the Halo Top kind of sugar-free um like gelatoes and things. Those get kind of
14:30 - 15:00 sneaky because a lot of kind of like ice creams and things like that. They love to be able to say sugar-free, but then a whole little pint is still 1,000 calories cuz it's just like 80 gram of fats. So, it's it's a little tricky to look at, but I'd say just kind of look for some diet friendly sweets because I can I mean, it'd be kind of tricky for me to go full, you know, 4 months, 5 months without anything to kind of get my sweet tooth going. Well, I guess you
15:00 - 15:30 got kind of like sugar-free soda and stuff. That helps a little bit, too. But, in a way, it's a little bit of like you just got to kind of lock in and deal with it. But it gets easier the longer you do it, you know. And it's not usually too hard for me to give up treats for a while cuz I I mean, for this last prep, I was bulking for what, 6 months almost out, and I kind of got myself up to 270. I mean, it's not too crazy to get sick of food after that
15:30 - 16:00 long. And then you want to chill out and kind of shrink back down. What do you think about mid set? Is there anything you think about to get fired up or do you just mainly focus at the task at hand? It's a good question and I don't uh I've said this a couple times before. I don't think I have a real intricate thoughts midset. I I definitely count. That's uh that's one thing for sure. If you could do like a you know kind of digital wavelength
16:00 - 16:30 reading of the things that are going through my head during the set, I'm definitely counting every rep. At least if it's a heavy set, if it's a light set of curls and maybe I'm going to do like 25, then sometimes I won't even count just cuz I know counting won't speed it up or anything. But I'm definitely counting. But in terms of actual like, I know, let's get this or not so much. You know, if I got a really good song going, it's just more just kind of guttural primal thoughts,
16:30 - 17:00 right? You know, I got two dumbbells on my knees. Throw that [ __ ] up, you know? So, nothing too crazy. I'm not a big um scenario kind of guy. I hear a lot of talk like that where it's like, you know, imagine getting robbed or imagine somebody just, you know, wanted to just whatever. I just kind of like getting amped up. Not necessarily like pissed or upset. You know, some guys really get get into it for a crazy set. It's more so just like
17:00 - 17:30 take a couple seconds, get some a few big breaths, and just try to get excited about whatever I'm about to do. What do you do if you go to the gym and realize you just don't have enough energy to enjoy your workout? So, I think this is a situation that uh you can look at it two ways, right? Same thing like I was talking about the rest days. Sometimes a rest day is completely warranted. You are legitimately fatigued. I mean, that whole week that we were putting in the all the gym
17:30 - 18:00 equipment, I was getting up extra early before and I was like still staying up late. So, my sleep this last week was a little bit scrappier than I would have liked. So, that might have added up to why I wanted to take a rest day yesterday. But, you know, sometimes if you walk in or it's there's a couple phases, right? Because you could be at home, not really feel like it. All right? you know, thug it out, put your shoes on, get your outfit on, get in the car, get your pre-workout, drive to the gym, get your music playing, start drinking your pre, okay,
18:00 - 18:30 and get in zone. You actually walk into the gym, you do some warm-ups. Usually by then, I mean, there's only been a few times where I've actually gone to the gym, done the entire process of like getting ready and walking in and warming up and doing like half the workout. There's only been uh actually, yeah, I think really just one time that comes to mind where I was really thinking to myself like, "Oh [ __ ] this is hard."
18:30 - 19:00 And that was the last back day I did before the Legends Classic show in Vegas. So, I want to say I could have just not done that lift. Um, it's not like it would change anything. I mean, some of these guys, they stop working out a week before they do that their actual show day. I thought that was a little too long. I did like I think I had 3 days before of rest. But if I did four, nothing would have changed. But actually getting in there, even with
19:00 - 19:30 caffeine, just full deficit and everything was really adding up. And by then it was like I mean the first three sets of pull downs I did after every set I'm like, "Oh my god. Oh, I'm [ __ ] dying." you know, because that was also during the two hours a day of cardio range because I kind of upped it a little bit. Or actually, no, I think I only did an hour that day, but still tons of cardio, not a ton of food to back it up. And then um
19:30 - 20:00 well just kind of the dieting fatigue was building up. But that was probably the only time even when I'm like sick, no sleep the night before and I've had like a big leg day. Like even though I'm real kind of tired and not really physically in the zone, it's kind of a thug in that moment because I want to be the kind of lifter who would still hit it even when everything's not really going my way, you know, cuz that's sort of like, if you think about it, your responsibility because you're not always going to feel like killing it, you know?
20:00 - 20:30 It's not like every variable is always going to be in your favor. So, if things are a little off and you still get after it, then how do you think you'll perform when you actually did get enough rest and you did eat enough food and you're fully hydrated and you're just physically like, "All right, come on." You're going to do that much better. So, it's um it's up to the person, but unless you're like dying sick or something to an extent, I would say at least make a effort to think, okay, do
20:30 - 21:00 do I really need to take this day off or am I just saying that, right? Because if you're just saying that, like I said, you know, a couple questions ago, that's not a dog any mentality in any shape or form. If you do triceps and chest two days apart from each other, do they affect each other's performance? So that's what I do, right? I do chest, back, arms, legs. So chest and triceps are these two days apart. And do I notice
21:00 - 21:30 [Music] any what what did you say the word was? Any effective performance? Not a ton. You know, not really. Cuz chest is supposed to be all chest. Triceps is supposed to be all triceps. Now, of course, I get some activation on my triceps during chest. Uh, it's just hard to get around it with any kind of pressing, but I've never noticed any serious kind of hindrance. And I don't mind chest and tries. It's back and buys which don't really don't really do it for me. Like, when I do a chest and tricep workout, chest first, triceps
21:30 - 22:00 after, that's sweet, but something about biceps after already hitting back. I mean, they don't really feel like pumped. Like I feel like if I do tries after chest, my triceps have already started to get pumped up a bit, but they're not like just fatigued when I actually do any working sets after. But with back and buys, I mean, it's just like this this weakness, you know, it just doesn't really do it for me. But yeah, I don't notice too much of an,
22:00 - 22:30 let's just say, recovery uh interference. As a powerlifter, I must ask, what are your thoughts on the sport and the athletes? Well, dude, the freaks, right? It depends on the guy, of course, but I mean, when I see a crazy ass squad of uh I mean, I forget the guy, but I just it was like seven plates for eight reps. Nuts. Right now, I think there's a It's a bit different to compare the two because we're uh in the
22:30 - 23:00 bodybuilder just general lifter sense. I'm much more concerned with a 10 rep PR. Like I'm concerned with just how intense of a set that I can muster, not necessarily any single rep. Like frankly, I am completely comfortable with never doing a one rep PR ever. I'm cool with these eight rep minimum sets, but I mean it's just a difference of a a difference of interest, you know, but they still overlap pretty strongly and
23:00 - 23:30 everybody's still lifting weights. just in slightly different ways. Having trouble with mind to lat muscle connection. I've tried all the cues I can think of, but I still feel more in my triceps and shoulder blades. Any tips or suggestions you'd recommend? Are you using straps? That would be my first question. Let's say you are. You know, sometimes it's tricky, right? Because in a pull down, it's very easy to start using a little bit of this, right? Like sometimes I see
23:30 - 24:00 guys where they're doing rows, even pull downs too, where instead of like reaching up with their shoulders and like having their actual shoulder joint move up and down, they just leave it in the same spot and it turns into this like hunchy movement instead of a full like extending row or pull down. So maybe look into um into scap pull-ups. Yeah, look that up. Scapula pull-ups. That might help a little bit. But sometimes it's just you got to wait for
24:00 - 24:30 it to click, you know, and usually it will, but it might just take a little bit of time. On a personal level, what is it about pushing your body as hard as you can that provides so much fulfillment that you always come back for more? That's a good question. I'm sure at some level it's just like your own form of seeking proficiency, right? Because it's I mean, if anybody's good at anything,
24:30 - 25:00 it's going to draw attention. And it's not like uh it's not like I'm so enlightened that it's like, oh, I don't care what anybody else thinks of me, right? Like if you're if you're good at something like back when you were in elementary school and you drew the most badass caterpillar and your teacher used yours as an example and it was like this is how it's done. Good job, Eric. You actually paid attention. You kept in the lines. Very nice. That's probably a damn good feeling, right? So, being good at anything is just going to kind of begin
25:00 - 25:30 to develop interest for you. So, whatever that thing is, odds are you're going to want to get a little better at it if you notice you have a certain proficiency. But also, it's just uh I don't know, man. I mean, for me, it's so simple of a like something to work on cuz it's definitely like some skill. There's definitely a lot of technique and the actual execution and everything else. But I think what draws what draws me to it, which might be kind of surprising because I like so much little
25:30 - 26:00 tinkering like computer [ __ ] but I just like the simplicity cuz there's no, you know, it's not like you can think a certain whatever or make sure you have your pinky at 10° and like it's just as simple as get amped up, go crazy, and in doing so, going home, resting, recovering, coming back. You are stronger because of it. And something about that process and just
26:00 - 26:30 the actual like objectiveness of it really gets me going cuz it's like it's it's the simplest thing to get into, you know, actual skill and like technique or um like music or art. It's very technical. Takes a long time to get good at. Uh, so I don't know, maybe maybe it's just because I'm simple minded, but it's like pick something up heavy, throw it around, fight the burn, repeat, get bigger and stronger because of
26:30 - 27:00 it. I don't know, man. For me, that just freaking clicks. How do you mitigate the effects of an off the rails cheat day? Yeah, I had a couple. I um I had a couple. I didn't want to say that I did because I would have got a bunch of flack for it, but there were about I think throughout that whole prep going into those uh going into last month's competition season, I had I think three 8,000
27:00 - 27:30 calorie cheat days all spread throughout. So, there's a couple of there's a couple ways to think about it with the cheat days. It's like, should I have a cheat meal? And I mean, this was kind of earlier, so honestly, I could just wrap this up to saying like, I should have locked in more. Like, I'm a I was a wuss. I just had to eat something. But in my mind, I kind of fell for the the fallacy of get it out of your
27:30 - 28:00 system. So, it's like, all right, man. I'm already I'm already cheating. Screw it. Eat a ton of freaking food. But on a off the uh off the kind of trail just spike like that, whenever that happens, you're not screwed. Not in the slightest. But the problem is if that continues, you know, like if I had all three of those days back to back to back, that could have been kind of a serious issue. And that 8,000 number
28:00 - 28:30 isn't so crazy as you get bigger because a lot of that really ended up just being getting carbed up. You know, I didn't just immediately gain 3 lbs of body fat. It was just kind of storing of extra glycogen, which would slowly off because that next week I'd be back on the same two hours cardio a day, regular lifts plus deficit. But uh so I guess that what I'm trying to say is whenever you have a day like that where you just go off the freaking rails, it's very easy to get yourself
28:30 - 29:00 back. Just get back in that same routine you were doing. If you had a whole month of quality dieting, you didn't cheat one day and then one of those days you went totally crazy, I think you're still good. You know, one day like that isn't going to throw off your freaking game for the entire dieting attempts. But multiple in a row, that's when it'll start to screw you, right? Because if you had one cheat day, no biggie. If you had two, all right, you you got to get back on it
29:00 - 29:30 now. If you had three, what are you doing, man? If you had four, it's like, are you even dieting? You know, so I'd say a good number would be one a month. If you went totally wild one day out of the whole month of actual good dieting, odds are you're probably still on track. Totally fine. So, I guess what I'm getting at is as long as you're on track, you know what, 30 times out of 31 and then that one day you might go a little wild, you're good. But some guys take
29:30 - 30:00 that as like, oh [ __ ] I already cheated. Screw it. We're done. Oh, it's um I was listening to I think it was a podcast with Juji Mufo. I just heard a clip and I think he said that a lot of guys they have the tire slashing analogy where taking one cheat day or one off day or one day where things just don't click goal-wise. Ah, screw it. And then just slash all their own tires because they're like, eh, I couldn't be
30:00 - 30:30 completely perfect. I guess it's not meant to be done with this, right? That just freaking sucks. So, I guess all I can say is don't sweat it. Get back on track. Act like it never happened. Or maybe do a little extra cardio that uh that morning. That might help a little, but don't try to completely overdo it because then you're going to set yourself up to rebound. Because if you had a huge cheat day here and then you basically starved yourself this day to try to make up for it, what are the odds
30:30 - 31:00 that you can actually eat a normal amount the day after that? low. You're going to be extra and then you're just going to eat a bunch of food again and the cycle repeats. You know, not freaking ideal. Now that you've gone pro, do you feel any different? How are you handling the fact that you're now in the spotlight more than ever? And does it affect your mentality or goals? Or do you feel like you're just going to keep going and do what you've always done? Yeah. I
31:00 - 31:30 mean, that's kind of the that's kind of the [ __ ] man. I mean, that's extra freaking cool. I got a lot of clutter kind of taken away from the actual fancy factor, but I mean, goddamn pro card. But, you know, it doesn't change the fact that I'm just going to keep doing what I did to get there, right? And that's not even necessarily the goal. You know, that's more of an accolade along the way, right? Because I'm not at my kind of final form yet. So, it's more
31:30 - 32:00 so a question of just how far along am I going to take it before I say this is good, you know, because that's always been the plan. I'll reach a certain size or weight or something where when I just maintain that lean, I'm going to say this is good. Let's just camp out here for a little while. But yeah, I mean, more size to come, that's for sure. When I say I'm not at my final form, what I'm really meaning to say is I'm not at my final size. That's a bit more accurate. advice for starting a gym channel. I'll
32:00 - 32:30 say this, there's a there's a good method. Tik Tok videos first, YouTube videos afterward, right? Or you can do them kind of at tandem. That's what I did. It just ended up working out because the uh the TikTok built up first and a lot of people wanted to see what the training was like cuz I was squatting like five plates and like benching three with like a you know silly joke kind of caption on top. But the two play off kind of hand in hand pretty well because if you make a really
32:30 - 33:00 sweet TikTok, let's say you made like the funniest [ __ ] ever, it could go totally viral, right? But it's um but you don't get a lot out of that, right? So it's kind of a back and forth. Maybe uh it's like how the clip how the streamers talk about clippers, right? It's like use the the short form to show off some of your highlighted stuff or just random kind of uh like trends that you like or you think are funny or cool and then just branch off of that with whatever kind of videos. But I can't
33:00 - 33:30 tell you what to make cuz you should post stuff that you think is cool. That's usually a good indicator that it's at least, you know, something you can resonate with and the likelihood that you'll keep posting it will kind of increase, right? I mean, if every video I made was just me talking exactly like somebody else who I was copying, I'd feel kind of weird, right? So, I I can't tell you how to do it. But if you do start doing it, it's definitely a cool ass endeavor if you can get it going, right? Just don't give up. Sometimes it
33:30 - 34:00 takes a while for any kind of posts to get traction. I mean, I remember I was posting I was freaking out when I got the the first 500 like Tik Tok video after like 3 months of posting random gym edits. So, I it takes a while. What advice would you give yourself when you first started lifting? I'd say stop doing so much volume. I was doing way too much volume. I'd say condense that volume into higher intensity workouts. uh where instead of
34:00 - 34:30 25 sets for chest, you know, just do eight and make sure that every one of them you really kill it 100%. Because I think back then I was doing 25 sets, but they weren't total failure or anything like that. They were just kind of to like pretty good effort. Like even back then I was training pretty hard, but I don't think they were all totally legit failure sets. I think I called it early on a bit of them just to kind of balance out the fact that I was doing so many.
34:30 - 35:00 But other than that, I mean, that was really just my main tip. Does being big have any downsides? Camera had 2%. This will be the last one. But yeah, does being big have any downsides? What does it make it what uh does it make life more difficult in some ways? A little. A little. Fashion wise, I uh jeans. Jeans are a freaking chore. I I've got a pair of jeans I really like. They're um I got them on Amazon. They're like these real
35:00 - 35:30 They're meant for like a skinny kind of like skater looking emo look cuz they're really baggy, but for me, they just kind of fit like kind of good oversized jeans. Uh so those work out pretty well. And then shirts. I mean, [ __ ] I can't wear an XL anymore. Even some 2XL's are a bit tight, so I'm going kind of bounce around that. I mean, in a few months, it's going to be 3XL all the way. So, yeah, that's all we got there. But, I'm going to get uh I get showered, get some
35:30 - 36:00 different clothes on, and go hit some back. So, I'll see you for that tomorrow.