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Well, hey everybody, welcome to 
STRONGER Weekly, brought to you 

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by Purist Nutrition. 
I'm your host, Jesse Kerrajat. 

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Thank you so much for being 
here. 

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You showed up for a great 
episode today. 

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The powerful, and I mean that 
the powerful. 

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Laura Gordon joined the show. 
Laura is a graduate research 

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assistant at Clemson University 
studying health psychology, a 

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former substance abuse 
counselor, strength coach, and 

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just someone doing 
groundbreaking work on stress 

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dysfunction and how we cope both
healthily and unhealthily. 

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And she's an absolute beast when
it comes to physical fitness. 

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She is a amazing woman, and she 
is probably literally stronger 

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than me, a guy who's been 
lifting my whole life in every 

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single lift that we might 
compete in. 

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She has a VO2 Max somewhere in 
the 60s. 

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She's just a beast and she has a
lot to teach anyone that's 

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looking to maximize their 
fitness and just live a happier,

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more stress free life. 
On that note, we talked about 

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stress dysfunction, chronic 
stress, maladaptive coping 

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strategies like substance abuse 
and exercise addiction, women's 

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fitness myths, HRT, peptides, 
steroids, all the things. 

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It was an amazing conversation. 
I'm so grateful she joined, and 

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I'm grateful you're here for it.
But before we jump into that 

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conversation, as we always do, 
here are the health and fitness 

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headlines that you need to know 
this week. 

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Let's dive in. 
All right, folks, let's do this.

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We've been reporting a lot on 
social media lately. 

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Let's keep it going. 
So what if you could turn back 

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the clock on your brain just by 
putting down your phone? 

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A new study says you may be able
to do just that. 

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So researchers from the 
University of Alberta, 

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Georgetown and UT Austin 
recruited nearly 500 smartphone 

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users for a randomized 
controlled trial. 

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For two weeks, participants had 
all mobile Internet blocked from

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their phones. 
No apps, no social media, no 

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endless scrolling, could still 
text and make calls, but the 

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rest completely gone. 
And what happened? 

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The results published in PNAS 
Nexus were striking. 

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Participants saw a 57% 
improvement in all mental health

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symptoms. 
That's larger than the effect of

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antidepressants. 
Their abilities to sustain 

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attention. 
Yes, please. 

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Improved by the equivalent of 
being 10 years younger. 

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And 91% of participants saw 
improvement in at least one 

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major outcome. 
So what did the people actually 

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do with that extra time? 
They got back, they exercised 

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more, they spent more time 
outdoors and in nature, and 

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crucially, they socialized in 
person more. 

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Who to thought screen time 
dropped from over 5 hours a day 

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on average to under 3. 
Lead author Noah Costello put it

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simply quote. 
Despite the many benefits mobile

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Internet offers, reducing the 
constant connection to the 

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digital world can have large 
positive effects. 

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So what do we all do with this 
information? 

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Of course, you don't need to 
throw your phone in an ocean, 

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but put a two week digital reset
in your calendar. 

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That might help. 
And this study also found that 

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even short breaks from social 
media and having the Internet on

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your phone could have amazing 
impacts on your life, so I 

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highly, highly encourage it. 
Next up, statistics show that 

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Americans are hitting the gym 
more than ever, which is 

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interesting because obesity 
rates continue to climb. 

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So the Health and Fitness 
Association just released its 

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2026 consumer Report and the 
numbers are record-breaking 

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across the board. 81,000,000 
Americans now belong to a gym, 

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studio or a fitness facility. 
That's 26% of the entire 

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population. 
When I read this headline, of 

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course I thought right away, how
many people don't have a 

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membership and are still 
exercising whether it's in their

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home gym or just going for a run
outdoors. 

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So this is awesome stuff. 
Factor in day passes and guest 

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visits, 100 million people use 
the fitness facility last year. 

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So again 81,000,000 have an 
ongoing membership and it jumps 

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up to 100 million if you just 
factor those people that kind of

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drop into classes and what not. 
So Total Gym visits hit 7 

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billion in 2025, finally 
surpassing the pre pandemic peak

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from 2019. 
And here's the kicker, the 

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percentage of people who pay for
a gym membership but never 

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actually use it dropped to just 
4.6%, which is an all time low. 

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So people aren't just paying for
that membership, they're using 

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it more. 
Gen. 

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Z leads the pack with 35% of 18 
to 24 year olds holding 

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memberships. 
But the fastest growing segment,

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you might ask? 
Adults 65 and older up nearly 9%

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year over year. 
That's awesome. 

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So HFA vice President Anton 
Severin says it best. 

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Quote fitness facilities can no 
longer be considered a niche 

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amenity. 
They're part of the basic 

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infrastructure Americans rely on
to manage their health, stress 

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and sense of community. 
Exercise is medicine, folks. 

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Here. 
Here's the headline for all 

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those proud to be single people 
out there. 

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It turns out being married may 
be associated with a lower risk 

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of cancer. 
Maybe a higher risk of stress 

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and some other things, but a 
lower risk of cancer? 

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Just kidding. 
Researchers at the University of

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Miami's Sylvester Cancer Center 
analyzed over 4 million cancer 

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cases across 12 states. 
Their findings published in 

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Cancer Research Communications. 
Adults who have never been 

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married face a significantly 
higher risk of developing cancer

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compared to those who are or 
have been married. 

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How much higher, you should ask?
Men who have never been married 

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had a 70% higher cancer rate 
than married men. 

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For women, the gap was even 
wider, 83% higher. 

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Now before you panic, if you are
single, this doesn't mean 

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marriage magically prevents 
cancer. 

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The researchers believe it's 
about the social and lifestyle 

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factors that often accompany 
partnership. 

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Better healthcare access, shared
health insurance, someone 

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encouraging you to go get 
screenings to take care of 

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yourself, someone that you're 
accountable to, and even risky 

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behaviors drop when you're in a 
committed partnership. 

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So lead author Doctor Paulo 
Pinero says, quote, these 

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findings suggest that social 
factors such as marital status 

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serve as important markers of 
cancer risk at the population 

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level. 
So the take away don't just go 

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get married to just about 
anybody, but it it does seem to 

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show that you'll have better 
social connection, 

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accountability, whatnot, which 
would improve your long term 

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health outcomes. 
Next up, a new study finds that 

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exercise and sleep protect your 
brain from future dementia. 

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So super important here, a 
massive new meta analysis from 

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York University in Canada just 
published in PLOS 1 reviewed 69 

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studies covering millions of 
adults aged 35 and older. 

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They tracked 3 everyday 
behaviors, physical activity, 

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sitting time and sleep duration.
The results? 

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Regular physical activity was 
associated with a 25% lower risk

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of dementia later in life. 
Sleeping too little, defined as 

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under 7 hours, was linked to an 
18% higher risk. 

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Sleeping too much, even over 8 
hours, was even worse. 

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Who'd have thought that 28% 
higher risk and prolonged 

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sitting more than 8 hours per 
day was associated with a 27% 

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increase in dementia risk? 
So about equal in that risk. 

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Your sleep is just important as 
your movement. 

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The authors know quote dementia 
develops over decades, and our 

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findings suggest that everyday 
behavior such as physical 

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activity, time spent sitting and
sleep duration are linked to 

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dementia risks. 
So the take away folks, these 

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are daily, simple habits that 
compound overtime. 

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And it's simple. 
Move more. 

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Stand at your desk, sleep more 
and you'll be good to go. 

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Creatine, protein, hydration and
pre workout. 

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Those are the Mount Rushmore 
supplements that I use. 

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Let's talk about pre workout. 
For years, I never understood 

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the importance of quality. 
I would grab whatever's around 

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me, whatever's cheap, whatever's
convenient. 

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Yes, I would get energized, but 
I'd also get anxious and 

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jittery. 
I would feel like crap and I 

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didn't understand all the myriad
of ingredients on the label. 

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That's why Purist Nutrition has 
launched their first pre workout

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supplement and I'm taking it and
I absolutely love it. 

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It changes the game. 
It's got nootropics in it, 

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things like alpha, GPC, L 
theanine, science backed 

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ingredients. 
It's got all these different 

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things, all the good stuff so 
that you get energized, you 

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crush your workout, but none of 
the bad stuff, no artificial 

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ingredients, no Johns, nothing 
that's going to leave you 

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anxious. 
You've got to try their pre 

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workout. 
So if you want to try Purest 

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Nutrition pre workout, you can 
go to purestnutrition.com. 

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Again, that's Purest 
nutrition.com. 

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You can grab their pre workout 
or any of their supplements that

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I use and you will not regret 
that one more time. 

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That's purest nutrition.com. 
Grab their pre workout. 

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It'll change the game and last 
up this week folks. the US 

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fertility rate just hit another 
record low in 2025 S According 

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to new CDC data, about 3.6 
million babies were born in the 

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United States in 2025. 
That's roughly 53 births for 

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every 1000 women of reproductive
age. 

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The rate is down 1% from 2024, 
which was the previous low, and 

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nearly 20% lower than it was 
just two decades ago. 

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Let that sink in. 
Women are waiting longer to have

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children. 
Birth rates are actually ticking

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up amongst women over 30, but 
not enough to offset sharp 

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declines among those under 30. 
So what's driving this? 

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According to Doctor Segal 
Klipstein, a fertility 

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specialist in Chicago, the 
biggest factor isn't career 

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ambition, it's relationships. 
Saying quote, the largest group 

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is women who said they haven't 
found the appropriate partner 

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and don't want to have children 
alone. 

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So UCLA epidemiologist Dr. 
Allison Gammel puts it this way.

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Quote, our world and our lives 
are complex. 

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There are so many factors that 
people consider when making 

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decisions about how and when to 
start a family, and they all 

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matter. 
So the trend shows no sign of 

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reversing, which means the 
conversation around family 

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economics and social support 
isn't going away anytime soon. 

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So that's it for our health and 
fitness headlines of the week. 

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Stay tuned for my deep dive with
Laura Gordon. 

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Waiting for any other side. 
All right, Laura, welcome to the

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show. 
Thanks for being here. 

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Thank you for having me. 
It's my pleasure. 

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Happy Friday. 
Thanks for carving out some time

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for me. 
I mentioned offline I I found 

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you first and this was dating 
about a year ago on the 

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consequence of habit podcast. 
JT had you on his show and he 

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mentioned you at the time and he
said that I should have you on 

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my show. 
So here we are full circle shout

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out to JT. 
So let's let's start here big 

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and broad, and then we're going 
to kind of drill down to what 

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I'll call kind of like your your
passion, but just give your 

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background. 
How would you describe yourself 

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right now in this point in time?
Because you've, you've kind of 

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had, you've lived a couple 
lives, it feels like. 

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How would you describe yourself?
Currently, I live in South 

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Carolina. 
I am a PhD researcher and 

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graduate students teacher at 
Clemson University. 

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I'm very, very lucky to be here.
It's an R1 institution. 

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We have a lot of different 
opportunities for funding on 

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projects. 
And so thankfully this last year

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our projects have not hit any 
stalls. 

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We've been moving forward with a
lot of work on human performance

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in one of my labs and 
understanding stress. 

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Some of the more, I would say 
psychologically oriented 

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components of stress, less about
the Physiology, but the the 

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psychological components. 
And then I also work for the 

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Center for Addiction and Mental 
Health Research here at Clemson.

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And one of the things I know 
about your background, I wanted 

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to ask you about. 
You started with AJD, right? 

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That Watch out my marine brain, 
Juris. 

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What does JD stand for? 
Doctorate So this is my my 

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second run at a doctorate 
degree. 

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OK. 
Got it. 

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So you were interested in 
becoming a lawyer and now you're

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doing what you just described? 
Why the pivot? 

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I made the choice to go to law 
school when I was really young. 

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I had just lost soccer and was 
sort of trying to figure out 

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what the next steps were, Didn't
know who I was outside of being 

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a soccer player and had listened
to a lot of individuals kind of 

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project the idea onto me that, 
well, if you're a soccer player 

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and you're competitive, it's 
because you are inherently 

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competitive. 
And so you would thrive in an 

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industry that replicates that. 
And it turns out I was really 

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good at soccer and loved it 
because it was a more community 

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oriented team sport and we got 
to work towards a goal that was 

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greater than ourselves. 
And so when I got to law school,

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00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,600
I was really disappointed that 
that the things that I did like 

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weren't in law school. 
And so I had to wait it out, 

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00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,920
kind of finish the degree, try a
year or two to make it work. 

240
00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,880
And then I realized that my real
passion was like connecting with

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00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,040
people through not only mental 
health and working as a 

242
00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,040
substance abuse counselor, but 
also coaching. 

243
00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,680
So I got involved in the mental 
health industry in San Diego, 

244
00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,400
worked in and out of different 
areas while accomplishing a 

245
00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,480
master's degree there, and was 
also coaching strength and 

246
00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,480
conditioning that entire time. 
So you actually wrapped up law 

247
00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:22,200
school and practice for a year? 
I worked as the general manager 

248
00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:24,680
for a small startup in San 
Diego. 

249
00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:27,560
So I used it a little bit more 
as like an applied MBA, I 

250
00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:28,560
suppose. 
Gotcha. 

251
00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:33,360
And then I was like, I think 
this is not going to work for 

252
00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:35,720
me. 
And so after a year and a half, 

253
00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,720
almost 2 years, I pulled the E 
brake and then pivoted into a 

254
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,280
completely different career 
direction. 

255
00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,960
Got it, got it. 
And where'd you play soccer, by 

256
00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,480
the way? 
UCSD in San Diego. 

257
00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:49,440
Nice you, you have lived in 
beautiful places. 

258
00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:50,080
That's very. 
I have. 

259
00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,600
I have, yes. 
So let's talk. 

260
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,080
You said the E brake and the 
pivot. 

261
00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,440
You pivoted now in the lane that
you're in. 

262
00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,400
I know from offline 
conversations even what you just

263
00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:02,520
shared that mental health is a 
passion of yours. 

264
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:07,280
Why is that? 
I think that it became a passion

265
00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,040
later in life. 
It was something that I didn't 

266
00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,760
actually know really existed as 
a field or a career opportunity 

267
00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,960
until my mid 20s. 
And so in pulling the E brake 

268
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,400
after law school also, I'd 
started to work on my own mental

269
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,000
health. 
And I said, you know, I think 

270
00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,160
that working not only at like 
finding a life that's more 

271
00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:26,680
fulfilling, but working on the 
patterns and behaviors that I 

272
00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,320
think will help, like help me to
achieve that is going to lead 

273
00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,920
towards the best outcome. 
Because I was just not a happy 

274
00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,760
camper and I wanted to put all, 
all my cards on the line and 

275
00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:41,800
pursuing the next endeavor. 
So that sparked just a full 

276
00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:44,840
blown dive into understanding 
and learning about all things 

277
00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,160
mental health and then seeing 
different industries and 

278
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,280
populations that paralleled some
of the things that I was working

279
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,520
through, especially around 
identity change and stress 

280
00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,200
regulation. 
And I was like, I think that I, 

281
00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,480
if I work with these populations
and I contribute something 

282
00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,640
meaningful, that would be a very
a wonderful way to live and a 

283
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,280
purposeful life. 
Yeah, well put. 

284
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,720
And you said it was in your mid 
20s. 

285
00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,360
You just described yourself as 
not a happy camper. 

286
00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,800
May I double click on that and 
and just kind of ask you to 

287
00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,040
unpack a little bit about maybe 
like what made you not a happy 

288
00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:18,320
camper? 
What did you realize about 

289
00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:20,480
yourself in your mid 20s that 
had you? 

290
00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:22,320
I'm going to keep saying this. 
Pull the E brake, make the 

291
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,800
pivot. 
I felt like I was living in a 

292
00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,040
very nostalgic state when I 
would think about who I was, 

293
00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:33,120
when I was in the dynamic of a 
team environment and in school 

294
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,120
and actually pursuing things 
that were aligned with me and 

295
00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,760
the parts of my personality that
came out more naturally and 

296
00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,320
facilitated the goals that we 
were all working towards. 

297
00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:46,360
Whereas everything at that point
in my life felt so forced. 

298
00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,000
Every time I would get up and go
to work, everything that I was 

299
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,240
doing, I had to like really 
conjure this energy That felt 

300
00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:56,600
super disingenuous and that made
me tired and just a shell of who

301
00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,560
I thought that I could be and 
who I was. 

302
00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,800
I felt very stuck in this 
perpetual nostalgia and and 

303
00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:06,120
wanted to get back to this idea 
of like, if I wake up and I get 

304
00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,040
to be exactly who I am and it 
gets to help facilitate a 

305
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,280
greater goal, I think it's going
to not require as much emotional

306
00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,320
energy to get through a day. 
Perpetual nostalgic. 

307
00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:16,120
I don't. 
I don't. 

308
00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,640
People don't use that word 
nostalgia a lot when I talk to 

309
00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:21,640
them just to make sure I'm 
tracking. 

310
00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,120
Or are you saying at the time 
like you were just yearning for 

311
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:26,320
the past and you weren't like 
appreciating the present? 

312
00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:28,120
Is that what you mean when you 
say that? 

313
00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:32,520
I think I was living like the in
a constant state of like 

314
00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,880
comparing past and present and 
realizing definitely how much I 

315
00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:41,080
took for granted and how easy it
was to be a collegiate athlete 

316
00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,760
and to be in this like a area of
academia that I loved. 

317
00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,920
I was in a really cool program 
at UCSD, which was a sociology 

318
00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:52,440
major with a psychology minor 
and it was the long society 

319
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,520
honors college. 
And so we got to look at a lot 

320
00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,480
of historical events through a 
macro and micro lens. 

321
00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,840
And so I specialized in working 
with World War 2 at the time. 

322
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,760
And I like, loved showing up to 
every class and I loved my 

323
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:08,160
classmates and I loved, you 
know, living in La Jolla and I 

324
00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,800
loved being on my soccer team. 
And so at certain points in my 

325
00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,920
mid 20s, I would think about the
fact that I was like, when I go 

326
00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:16,920
to work, I was like, I feel so 
anxious. 

327
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,800
And every time like an e-mail 
comes in, I can feel like a 

328
00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,240
heightened response. 
And I really don't even like the

329
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,920
content that I have to write in 
the replies to these emails. 

330
00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:29,360
So it became like very 
comparative. 

331
00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:32,480
And I was like, I remember there
once was a time where I would 

332
00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,840
show up to my day and I could 
put in 110% and it felt so easy.

333
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,280
I can see how that would make 
you an unhappy camper. 

334
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:45,280
Decent segue, I think, to this 
whole concept of stress 

335
00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,400
dysfunction, stress in general, 
because I'm assuming you're, 

336
00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,280
you're probably in a, in a state
of stress when you're kind of 

337
00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,200
had a misalignment with your 
career and your passions and 

338
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,920
you're comparing it to the past.
But let's venture into stress. 

339
00:17:57,920 --> 00:17:59,480
What? 
I'll just, I'll just throw that 

340
00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,600
word out there. 
But what, what have you learned 

341
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,440
about it? 
How are people big broad 

342
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,880
questioning about how are people
maybe unaware of the role that 

343
00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,920
stress can play in their lives? 
And then the next piece is how 

344
00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,360
are people mismanaging stress in
an unhealthy way? 

345
00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:16,560
It's a lot, no? 
No, that's really good. 

346
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,800
This is sort of exactly what I 
think is missing from the 

347
00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,640
dialogue that exists in a lot of
like online areas. 

348
00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:25,200
So I think this is really 
wonderful. 

349
00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:28,600
I think the first really 
important distinction is the 

350
00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,840
difference between chronic 
stress and acute stress. 

351
00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:36,080
And we as a society right now, 
and a lot of the Wellness 

352
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:42,040
industry has a hyper fixation on
trying to use acute stress 

353
00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:46,840
modalities to like exercise and 
a workout to try and overcome 

354
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,200
the issues that actually are a 
result of chronic stress. 

355
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,520
So chronic stress is a prolonged
activation of the sympathetic 

356
00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:57,760
state with our autonomic nervous
system. 

357
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,840
And it means that we're engaging
with all, with all of these 

358
00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,360
different physiological 
variables at a more heightened 

359
00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:06,240
state and not allowing them 
adequate time to rest and 

360
00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,400
replenish. 
It's manifesting now as one of 

361
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:14,240
the integral key components to a
lot of the diagnosis for chronic

362
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,440
disease and chronic illness in 
the United States. 

363
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:21,560
So chronic stress being in 
someone's lifespan timeline and 

364
00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:25,200
a heightened risk of any cardiac
disease, cancer, autoimmune 

365
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:29,160
issues starts to come up. 
And we see this role of chronic 

366
00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:34,840
stress as a very key determinant
of your health outcomes across 

367
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,480
your lifespan. 
And because it's very difficult 

368
00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,680
for us to then differentiate 
between chronic and acute 

369
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,280
stress, a lot of our 
conversations in the Wellness 

370
00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,680
and fitness industry have been, 
well, we can exercise our way 

371
00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,800
out of it essentially. 
And so individuals who have had 

372
00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:57,120
issues with chronic stress will 
a lot of times lean into acute 

373
00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:00,920
stress forms of like self 
therapy in trying to work 

374
00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:02,640
through some of the issues that 
have come up. 

375
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:06,720
So the reason why sometimes this
like feels good in the moment 

376
00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:10,360
but isn't like a long term 
solution is that with chronic 

377
00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:13,920
stress. 
We're moving our baseline for 

378
00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,880
the base level of stress that we
feel on a daily basis upwards. 

379
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,520
So again, we're using a lot more
of those resources. 

380
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,360
We're not replenishing acute 
stressors and engaging in 

381
00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:28,520
moments of high spike and then 
recovery are more aligned with 

382
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,160
what our stress activation 
systems were evolutionarily 

383
00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,560
intended for and they also help 
us reset really well. 

384
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,240
It's just really important that 
when we utilize them, it's not 

385
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,760
exacerbating a pre-existing 
chronic stress issue. 

386
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:47,200
So if I am already someone who 
has a high level of chronic 

387
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:52,400
stress because the occupation 
that I am at makes me really, 

388
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,920
really anxious for 8 hours a day
and I'm starting to exhibit 

389
00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,680
signs of somebody who has 
endured issues with chronic 

390
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,680
stress. 
A lot of times right now we're 

391
00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,200
saying, well, if you engage in 
acute stress, it's going to help

392
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,440
overcome these issues. 
And so we're kind of conflating 

393
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:11,880
the two in in our our Wellness 
world right now without adequate

394
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:14,720
research background and 
understanding how the two 

395
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:19,240
interplay and how acute stress 
can maybe either exacerbate or 

396
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,000
mitigate the experiences that 
come from chronic stress. 

397
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,360
The truth is right now we don't 
know the full extent. 

398
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,040
We are starting to just now 
piece together the most ideal 

399
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,600
exercise modalities to improve 
longevity. 

400
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,600
We have hardly any any research 
on really starting to understand

401
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,480
the interplay with acute 
stressors and chronic stress 

402
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,200
symptomology. 
With that being said and working

403
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,960
in mental health and populations
that have been diagnosed with 

404
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:51,080
post traumatic stress disorder, 
we sort of see two like a 

405
00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,040
dichotomous approach that really
doesn't see eye to eye. 

406
00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,320
There's the, if you process and 
you go and you talk about all 

407
00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,720
the emotions around the 
experience and the trauma, then 

408
00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,880
the symptoms will dissipate and 
everything will be OK. 

409
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:08,120
And then there is more of a camp
of this is going to be a 

410
00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:11,520
physiological thing and bad 
things happen and you have to 

411
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:13,920
expand your window of tolerance 
and push through it. 

412
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,800
And for me personally, and 
seeing these two kind of 

413
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,720
different camps arise, I'd like 
to see research and evidence 

414
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,640
that supports like a dual sort 
of like a duality where we say, 

415
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,760
hey, these mental health like 
resources and, and interventions

416
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,520
that we have are useful when in 
conjunction with repairing our 

417
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,400
window of tolerance for acute 
stress. 

418
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:39,840
And so I think that that lack of
interconnectedness in managing 

419
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,720
the differences in those 
experiences is where there's a 

420
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,360
lot of disjunction and sort of a
lot of maybe like discrepancy 

421
00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,320
and sort of how do people work 
through difficult things, which 

422
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,080
is why I really want to do 
research in this area. 

423
00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:56,120
And predominantly it's something
called translational research. 

424
00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,280
So when we start to understand 
the Physiology more and we start

425
00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:04,160
to understand the mental health 
components more, how do we take 

426
00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,840
those research findings and 
translate them in translational 

427
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:12,080
research towards actionable 
interventions or community based

428
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,120
programs that we can implement 
as humans? 

429
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,840
Wow. 
OK, I told you this is going to 

430
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:21,440
be a 45 minute interview. 
Based on based on that, I think 

431
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,320
I might throw up. 
I might throw this outline. 

432
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,040
Now buckle up. 
No, I've got questions. 

433
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,320
I've got questions for you. 
So we'll put, OK, let's go to 

434
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,040
chronic stress. 
You said a few things there. 

435
00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:34,360
One of the things I heard you 
say and and I'm fervently, if 

436
00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:37,720
that's a word, highlighting and 
writing here was some of the 

437
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:39,560
signs and symptoms of chronic 
stress. 

438
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,600
I would love to be able to 
understand because correct me if

439
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,680
I'm wrong, there could there 
could be many people living in 

440
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,400
this state of underlying chronic
stress and maybe they don't even

441
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,040
realize it. 
Is that fair so far? 

442
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:55,560
OK, so on that note of like some
signs of symptoms, how could I 

443
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,560
know or anyone listening know 
that they are living in that 

444
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,080
state of chronic stress just as 
a starting point? 

445
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:07,160
I think that the most relatable 
conceptualization of this 

446
00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,000
chronic stress and ways that 
it's really impacting people 

447
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,760
across demographics would be the
conversation around burnout. 

448
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,440
Right now, the concept of 
burnout is that if I am in these

449
00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:23,560
high occupational stress 
situations and I'm not feeling 

450
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,160
any type of regulation 
throughout the day, the onset of

451
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,080
the, the burnout symptoms start 
to happen. 

452
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:34,080
I think that the low grade 
stress that happens and then the

453
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,360
creep towards burnout, it 
requires for you to actually 

454
00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:40,680
notice it. 
Such a strong mind body 

455
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:45,360
connection that oftentimes we 
don't see the chronic stress 

456
00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:49,200
implications until much later. 
And when these signs are kind of

457
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,520
like starting to blink in our 
face and we're like, oh wow, 

458
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,840
this is actually not good. 
And I think that there's a, 

459
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,200
there's a, a mixed sort of thing
that's happening there. 

460
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,920
One of it being like this kind 
of like dominant American 

461
00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:03,520
ideology of like if things are 
difficult, you push through and 

462
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:07,440
you push yourself up by your 
bootstraps, which is helpful in 

463
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:12,840
some acute situations for long 
term endeavors like a life of 

464
00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,560
work, it could lead to the 
development of chronic stress 

465
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,640
and then some of those more 
negative symptoms. 

466
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:23,080
So when we first start hearing 
in our head, Oh my goodness, I 

467
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,400
know I'm so tired, but I have to
push through. 

468
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:27,240
I have to, have to, have to have
to. 

469
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,320
And we start racking up the half
twos and we start realizing that

470
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,680
we've become emotionally 
disengaged. 

471
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,160
We're pushing through. 
It's not a, oh, I get to, it's 

472
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,800
a, Oh my gosh, like I've, I've 
got to push through this. 

473
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,240
So those little mental moments, 
the more you develop that mind 

474
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,000
body connection to, you'll 
notice the difference between 

475
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:49,840
fatigue and tiredness. 
Like, oh, I didn't get a good 

476
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,640
night's sleep, so I'm tired or 
this level of fatigue where 

477
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,320
you're like to do this basic 
task feels like I'm pushing a 

478
00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:00,280
rock up a mountain right now. 
So a very increased level of 

479
00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:04,960
fatigue after these moments of I
have to, I have to, I have to. 

480
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:09,480
And then the, I think the most 
widespread and one of the most 

481
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:12,000
common experiences 2 is starting
to become numb. 

482
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,320
So numb to things happening at 
work, numb to things happening 

483
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:17,400
in your personal life. 
What does numb mean? 

484
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:24,840
Numb is a state of disengagement
where in previous encounters you

485
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,600
would have engaged. 
So it leaves that sort of space 

486
00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,520
for someone maybe who's more 
introverted and we're like, oh, 

487
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,280
well, I didn't do those things 
before. 

488
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,560
And so you're comparing to your 
own baseline of I used to 

489
00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,160
readily engage with this person,
this person and this activity. 

490
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,200
And now I'm finding it that I 
have to again, go to those. 

491
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:48,120
I have two moments to engage or 
I just disengage and I don't 

492
00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:51,320
reply to text and I say, oops, I
fell off. 

493
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,120
Like that's it just is what it 
is. 

494
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:57,280
So numbness is compared to this 
more subjective baseline and it 

495
00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,760
is that disengagement from 
things that we previously used 

496
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,360
to like to do or humans that we 
used to like to engage with. 

497
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:07,000
There's a clinical word for it 
called anhedonia. 

498
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:11,160
And so that for me is if I was 
in a more clinical setting, I 

499
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,960
would likely use that word. 
But in trying to make it 

500
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,440
relatable, that's how I would 
define numbness. 

501
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,520
I'm glad I asked because maybe 
numb can also be this as well, 

502
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:27,320
but I know someone who at one 
point in one point in their life

503
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,920
was a healthcare executive 
traveling the country all the 

504
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,120
time. 
There was a cognitive dissonance

505
00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:35,560
between the work that I was 
doing in the fulfillment that I 

506
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:40,680
that I felt doing it. 
I, we just had our third baby 

507
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:46,160
boy and between the mounting 
pressures of my occupation, as 

508
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,200
you put it, and just 
expectations, reasonable ones of

509
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,680
a father and a husband, 
etcetera, found myself like I 

510
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,800
was going through the motions 
everyday and I wasn't 

511
00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:00,160
experiencing the full range of 
emotions that I used to feel. 

512
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,200
We're going to go into alcohol 
use disorder in a moment. 

513
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:07,680
I found myself coping with those
feelings, the dysregulation, all

514
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,240
that with substance because I 
just didn't feel like I could 

515
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,720
escape from it. 
But most of that to say, one of 

516
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:16,120
the one of the experiences that 
made me realize I was probably 

517
00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:18,040
living in chronic stress now 
that you're teaching me that 

518
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:22,120
term was I was, I would go for 
walks around this beautiful lake

519
00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:23,840
right in front of my house in 
Colorado. 

520
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,640
And I remember a time when I 
would feel all of my senses on 

521
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,000
that walk. 
I would have nostalgia. 

522
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,400
I'm a spiritual person, so I 
would pray. 

523
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,440
I would notice things, I would 
hear sounds, I would smell 

524
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:37,320
things. 
And it got to a point where I 

525
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,440
would just out of habit, do the 
same walk. 

526
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,200
And it was like I wasn't 
experiencing anything. 

527
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:46,200
And I had a hard time finding 
the joy that I used to feel. 

528
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,880
I did do some self research and 
I, I, I, I discovered this term 

529
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,360
called the hedonic set point. 
I don't know if that's connected

530
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:58,680
to the term that you just said, 
anadonia, but it sounds as 

531
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,920
though I was living in a state 
of chronic stress. 

532
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:03,360
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

533
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,560
And the, the hedonic set point 
is kind of like this theoretical

534
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:12,960
idea around like if we pursue 
pleasure in life, what, what, 

535
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,040
what benefits will it yield? 
And what is the kind of kind of 

536
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,000
baseline that we need in order 
to feel those like expressions 

537
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,840
of joy, engagement. 
So it definitely applies to like

538
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,280
when you are experiencing 
chronic stress, does your 

539
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,840
hedonic set point just 
completely dissipate? 

540
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,440
Are you able to access that at 
all? 

541
00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,440
There's a a researcher at Yale, 
her name is Doctor Laurie 

542
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,280
Santos. 
And in her experience in 

543
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,880
teaching Yale students, she 
started, I mean, from my 

544
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,200
perspective, she visually 
clocked that students at this 

545
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:46,080
Ivy League institution were 
having such a difficult time 

546
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:50,280
with chronic stress that she 
created a class on happiness and

547
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,560
being like, hey, guys, happiness
is intentional. 

548
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:55,200
Let's figure out how we get 
there. 

549
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,080
And it was essentially a lot of 
the tools in it and which talks 

550
00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,000
about her ways to navigate 
chronic stress to recreate a 

551
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,520
relationship with experiences of
joy and and being present. 

552
00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,920
So that's very cool. 
And I think correct me when I'm 

553
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,440
wrong because it's likely, but 
if you are living in chronic 

554
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:13,680
stress and then coping with 
alcohol, which essentially 

555
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,400
floods your brain and the 
dopamine system and kind of 

556
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:20,320
hardwires it, you're more at 
risk kind of to like shifting 

557
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,760
that hedonic set point. 
Or maybe I'll put it this way, 

558
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,920
you're you could succumb to what
my experience, which is like the

559
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,480
only way that I was basically 
self medicating and feeling 

560
00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,840
something was by consuming or 
ingesting alcohol. 

561
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:34,680
Am I on the on the ball? 
OK. 

562
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,640
Yes, absolutely. 
And it's one of those moments 

563
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,640
where our body is in those 
states of chronic stress. 

564
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:47,560
And This is why I truly believe 
that PTSD, it will eventually be

565
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,560
reframed as stress dysregulation
because in these moments where 

566
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,520
we're again missing the cues 
from our body that it's time to 

567
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:59,760
reset and you are overwhelmed 
with stress again, right? 

568
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:01,960
We're like, I have to got to 
maintain the schedule. 

569
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,520
I have to keep showing up. 
So what can I do? 

570
00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:09,880
And we lean into sort of these 
social modalities that are like,

571
00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,240
this is what people do when they
feel stressed, which is 

572
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,520
sometimes to lean towards 
alcohol consumption. 

573
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:19,520
And I'm, I'm so curious. 
There was, there's no feasible 

574
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,360
way to do a research study on 
this. 

575
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:24,280
But if people got to that point 
where they're like, shoot, I'm 

576
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:28,040
having trouble coping. 
And they were allowed to choose 

577
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,680
between like yoga, breath work, 
some type of like somatic 

578
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:36,440
therapy versus a quicker sort of
like there's candy, fast food 

579
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,000
and alcohol behind this door. 
You can go this way or there's 

580
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:41,840
there's this kind of like 
somatic therapy. 

581
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,880
I would love to see which door 
people chose because there's 

582
00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:48,160
something about being in that 
stress state and that almost 

583
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,000
internal state of desperation 
that we don't even quite 

584
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,120
recognize where we go. 
Oh, a quick route to like 

585
00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,760
getting rid of this feeling 
done, doors open. 

586
00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:01,400
Yeah, Yep, Yep, Yep. 
I, I have to say I'm probably 

587
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:05,920
your ideal person to research, 
but I felt, I felt stuck. 

588
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,000
So I got there. 
I don't know whether or not I 

589
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,640
knew I was there, meaning I was 
in this, you know, chronic state

590
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:12,280
of stress, but I felt stuck, 
right? 

591
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,040
Because I still had to show up 
to work and I still had to, you 

592
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,240
know, perform in that role. 
I still had to, you know, put 

593
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:21,440
that, take that hat off and then
show up into a loud, noisy House

594
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,760
of dysregulated kids that made 
me dysregulated. 

595
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,880
I still had to not had to. 
I still should, you know, my 

596
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,280
wife had her own challenges with
being with the kids. 

597
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,880
So I felt like stuck and there 
was no way out. 

598
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,200
And those two doors that you 
describe, 1 is like the 

599
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:36,680
shortcut, short term benefit, 
long term problem. 

600
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,960
The other takes time, like to 
say, OK, no, I'm going to lean 

601
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:43,520
into mindfulness and I'm that 
one would take a lot of time. 

602
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,760
Whereas I felt at the time that 
like, Hey, you know what, I'm 

603
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:51,320
just going to sneak into the 
garage and slam this 8% IPA, 

604
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,160
which turned into two turned 
into three. 

605
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,200
And then I was like, how did I 
get here? 

606
00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:59,040
But it's, it's the P code. 
It was the shortcut route that I

607
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:00,080
took. 
Yes. 

608
00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,880
And the another added layer on 
top of that which there was a 

609
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,840
study done with children who had
experienced adverse childhood 

610
00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,320
experiences. 
So they were pretty dysregulated

611
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:15,520
kiddos and they tried to use a 
yoga intervention with those 

612
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,600
kiddos to help them learn 
regulation. 

613
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:23,200
And at first, none of the kiddos
were scoring any better on their

614
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:27,240
symptoms of dysregulation and 
PTSD, which it was hypothesized 

615
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,440
by those researchers that if you
don't have a relationship with 

616
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,760
calm, it doesn't work right 
away. 

617
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,760
So you have to stick with that 
type of intervention to create a

618
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:39,520
relationship with calm in order 
for it to help you. 

619
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,520
And I think that especially now 
and trying to really advocate 

620
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,280
for these somatic therapies, 
especially with occupations or 

621
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:49,720
individuals who work in those 
high occupational stress 

622
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:52,640
environments, we say just do 
yoga, it'll be fine. 

623
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,000
And they go to one class and 
they're like, that was, that was

624
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,520
harder for me than like a 3 or 4
hour task at work. 

625
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:01,520
Trying to force myself to feel 
calm. 

626
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,400
It felt so foreign and 
unfamiliar that I didn't have 

627
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,280
that relationship with it. 
So that's, that's sort of 

628
00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,960
another caveat where we see all 
of these interplays with these 

629
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,400
niche little areas and that's 
our physical ideology and 

630
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,320
wanting to seek what's also 
familiar. 

631
00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:21,280
So if the short and easy 
provided a very quick access to 

632
00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:24,400
any type of reprieve from the 
stress that we're feeling, our 

633
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:28,719
CNS and our ANS are essential 
nervous system and autonomic 

634
00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:30,239
nervous system. 
Remember that. 

635
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:31,440
And they're like, we're going 
that way. 

636
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,280
We don't have to do much. 
Like that's where we're going, 

637
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:38,080
which to me, like as a, as a 
researcher, we have to 

638
00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,639
strengthen and sort of build 
better when it comes to wanting 

639
00:34:41,639 --> 00:34:44,800
to people, help people learn, 
calm that, that temptation's 

640
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:47,800
always going to be there. 
So how do we embolden and and 

641
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,840
make this stronger over here, 
which is another, hopefully 

642
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,199
another project one day? 
Yeah, wow, so much of this 

643
00:34:54,199 --> 00:34:55,960
resonates. 
I I remember there were days 

644
00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:59,320
back in the day that, you know, 
I would wake up clear headed, 

645
00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,080
present, tell myself, you know 
what, it's going to be a good 

646
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,520
day. 
I felt no urge to escape with 

647
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:06,920
alcohol, nothing. 
And then throughout the day, 

648
00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:10,720
reactions, urgent fires, my day 
would just blow up. 

649
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:14,760
And then on like my ride home, I
be like a moth to a flame to 

650
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:16,680
that to alcohol is it was just 
like, Oh my God. 

651
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:20,400
And what changed? 
The circumstances changed and my

652
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:24,000
inability to cope and keep 
myself regulated. 

653
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:27,360
And then I would seek that 
familiar foe to try to, you 

654
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,480
know, get that relief. 
I'll be it for a couple hours, 

655
00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:34,000
wake up next day, rinse, repeat.
You got a problem on your hands,

656
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:36,200
right? 
Yeah, that's sort of the game 

657
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,400
too that we start playing is 
starting to recognize the 

658
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,680
patterns and starting to become 
familiar with the patterns. 

659
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:47,280
I like the term for a lot of 
these patterns of behaviors to 

660
00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:50,000
be termed as like coping 
mechanisms. 

661
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:53,800
And I think that coping 
mechanisms exist on a spectrum 

662
00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:58,960
and we have to be a little bit 
more cognizant and honest when 

663
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:03,080
our with ourselves when a coping
mechanism has become maladaptive

664
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:06,080
versus adaptive. 
I think that one of the examples

665
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:14,880
of this is in the sorry, my talk
is, is right now the using 

666
00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:16,800
exercise. 
And this is something that I had

667
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:21,000
to purse through because when I 
was an unhappy camper, I started

668
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,040
to use exercise as my like 
escape. 

669
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:28,320
And I could go into this like 
full rage mode for two hours and

670
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,880
overtrain. 
And then I had this period of 

671
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:35,120
time in my mid to late 20s where
I was injured like all of the 

672
00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:37,520
time and I was overtraining and 
under eating. 

673
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:42,040
And it makes sense now, but it's
an objective tool and a coping 

674
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:44,080
mechanism. 
And then it will exist on this 

675
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,960
spectrum of is it adaptive and 
helping you move through these 

676
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:50,120
like these times of chronic 
stress, or is it maladaptive and

677
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:51,560
setting you back in the long 
run? 

678
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,760
Comparatively, maladaptive 
exercise versus maladaptive 

679
00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:59,800
alcohol use probably worse for 
health outcome relationship 

680
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,960
outcomes from alcohol. 
But we still have stuff here 

681
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,560
that, like, for me, resulted in 
some surgeries and, you know, 

682
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,720
like some issues with like, 
health that were like, well, if 

683
00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:12,640
we learn how to actually listen 
to our body and use adaptive 

684
00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:16,000
coping tools for stress, 
outcomes are much better. 

685
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:18,360
Well put. 
Where would you put, given 

686
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:21,640
everything that happened this 
week with the massive lawsuit in

687
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,560
California around social media? 
I don't know if you're tracking 

688
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:26,920
on that. 
Would you include digital 

689
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:29,720
consumption as like a 
maladaptive coping mechanism as 

690
00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:30,760
well? 
Yes. 

691
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:35,840
So in the world of addiction, 
there are two kind of main 

692
00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:37,720
groups. 
So there's substances and then 

693
00:37:37,720 --> 00:37:42,280
there's process addiction. 
And so with substances and a lot

694
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:46,080
of substance abuse treatment 
facilities, they are not really 

695
00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:50,400
actually built on a ton of 
mental health, but on theories 

696
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:55,240
of abstaining and complete, you 
know, like non use of whatever 

697
00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:59,640
substance you were leaning into,
which you can still do as a 

698
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:03,120
human being and you can thrive. 
Process addictions are 

699
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:07,400
interesting because they're 
usually tools that have become 

700
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:11,000
maladaptive that we still have 
to have a relationship with in 

701
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:16,080
order to function in our life. 
So if food is an addiction or if

702
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:20,440
exercise becomes an addiction or
if digital devices becomes an 

703
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:23,680
addiction and it's maladaptive 
because we're escaping, it's 

704
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:26,600
hard for us to to cut those 
things out and to still operate 

705
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:28,960
in society, right. 
If I went into a job interview 

706
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:32,600
and I said, hey, I have a 
process addiction with the 

707
00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:35,040
Internet, I can't do anything 
online, you can't give me an. 

708
00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:37,040
E-mail because. 
They're probably going to be 

709
00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:41,040
like, so sorry, they don't think
this is going to work. 

710
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,800
Do you know, you go through half
of a day and you're like, I, 

711
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,040
I've got a, you know something. 
Yeah. 

712
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:53,360
So with these process addictions
and the the impact that they 

713
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:55,520
have on our lives, we have to 
learn how to work with them. 

714
00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,000
And we have to have to work, 
work how to be around them a 

715
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:02,480
little bit more closely than 
some of the more substance abuse

716
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:06,160
oriented things that we use to 
cope where we can live lives of 

717
00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:10,960
complete abstinence and and not 
really suffer or probably thrive

718
00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:13,520
actually. 
So it's interesting the the 

719
00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:16,080
duality that even exists in that
little field too. 

720
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,680
Yeah, it sure sounds like it. 
On on the on the topic of 

721
00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:24,160
exercise as a coping mechanism 
and how it can be maladaptive. 

722
00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:26,800
Maladaptive's bad, right? 
Maladapt is a bad word. 

723
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:29,840
That's a bad word. 
OK, it sounds like you, you had 

724
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,080
a journey in that regard, where 
maybe you recognize that 

725
00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:34,640
exercise is becoming a 
maladaptive cope and everything,

726
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:36,160
but where? 
Where's that tipping point? 

727
00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:38,440
How might someone know if 
they're using exercise in an 

728
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:42,120
unhealthy way? 
I can say it now, I didn't know 

729
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:46,480
as it was happening at the time,
but I was in so much emotional 

730
00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:51,640
pain that I was willing to go 
extremely hard in workouts for a

731
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:55,280
slight reprieve from that 
emotional pain and feel physical

732
00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:57,160
pain. 
And a lot of times with that 

733
00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:01,000
physical output, there were some
paired really wonderful hormones

734
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:05,040
that I loved and, you know, like
adrenaline, cortisol, like 

735
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:07,800
things that brought up this 
heightened experience again, 

736
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:10,200
that was sometimes familiar. 
Right. 

737
00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:12,680
I was seeking something familiar
to soccer in any way that I 

738
00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:16,360
could. 
And it took me probably like 3 

739
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:21,120
or 4 pretty bad injuries to be 
like, I don't think that I read 

740
00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:24,800
my body's internal cues well 
when it needs rest versus when 

741
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:27,480
it needs movement. 
And so again, I was like, I'm 

742
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:29,280
going all in. 
I worked for the registered 

743
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:32,000
dietitian. 
I learned so much about fueling 

744
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:34,440
my body. 
I learned everything there is to

745
00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:36,880
know about strength and 
conditioning and then metabolic 

746
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:38,960
conditioning as well in 
different heart, heart rate 

747
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:40,880
zones. 
And then, and in that kind of 

748
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,760
autodidact process and self 
education, I now realize I'm 

749
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:48,320
like, Oh my gosh, like once you 
dial in these small little 

750
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:52,480
things, every facet and area of 
fitness is open to you. 

751
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,360
So my, my early 30s and now into
my mid 30s has just turned into 

752
00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:59,640
doing anything and everything 
that I can get my hands on. 

753
00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:02,400
And it's, it's just been such a 
different and wonderful 

754
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,440
experience and an adaptive 
coping tool that I I really love

755
00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:08,640
and, and thrive with. 
Yeah, we'll put. 

756
00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:11,560
All right folks, let's talk 
about men's grooming products. 

757
00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:14,240
I'm looking for two things when 
I think about my men's grooming 

758
00:41:14,240 --> 00:41:16,480
products. 
One, it needs to be reliable. 

759
00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:19,080
It needs to work all day. 
I need to be able to like adjust

760
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:21,280
my hair multiple times 
throughout the day when I'm 

761
00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:23,600
popping off hoodies and hats and
just have it be able to be 

762
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:27,000
reliable #2 I'm looking for pure
ingredients and quality. 

763
00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:29,880
You put these products in your 
hair, on your skin, there better

764
00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,320
not be anything bad in it that 
can hurt you. 

765
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:36,080
That's why I'm so pumped to be 
partnered with Based Body Works.

766
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:39,520
I use their texture powder and 
salt spray and it checks both of

767
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:41,720
those boxes, takes about 30 to 
60 seconds. 

768
00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:45,200
I throw it in my hair, I'm good 
to go all day and it has no junk

769
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:48,080
in it, no sulfates, no parabens,
no endocrine disrupting 

770
00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:50,400
chemicals. 
I can just feel good that I'm 

771
00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:53,160
not putting crap in my hair that
could hurt my health. 

772
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:55,200
So if you want to try their 
products, you can go to 

773
00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:57,800
basedbodyworks.com. 
Again, that's 

774
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:00,800
basedbodyworks.com. 
Use code stronger weekly to get 

775
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:03,040
20% off. 
And if you order any of their 

776
00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:05,680
products now you get a free 
toiletry bag with that order. 

777
00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:09,000
Again, it's basedbodyworks.com 
code words stronger weekly for 

778
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:13,920
20% off because your confidence 
should not come at the cost of 

779
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:15,160
your health. 
Check it out, folks. 

780
00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:19,200
I want to because we're kind of 
naturally moving towards fitness

781
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:21,120
a little bit here. 
But before because I'm so 

782
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:24,080
excited to talk to you about 
your own fitness protocols and I

783
00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:25,960
have a whole nother line of 
questions for you because you're

784
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:28,880
an absolute beast. 
You're probably stronger than me

785
00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:32,960
in every single lift, I've 
humbled to say, but I have. 

786
00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:35,560
I, I would love to leave if I 
could with maybe a little 

787
00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,360
practical summary around this 
idea of chronic stress. 

788
00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:42,720
So if somebody is listening and 
maybe they're thinking to 

789
00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:46,160
themselves, oh damn, that's me. 
Let's talk about some healthy 

790
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:50,360
steps or maybe some healthy 
coping mechanisms that they 

791
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:52,880
could approach to start to move 
in a healthier direction. 

792
00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:57,800
With chronic stress and wanting 
to move towards a healthier 

793
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:04,160
direction, my biggest starting 
point would be to find someone 

794
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:08,360
that you trust, whether it's a 
mental health professional, a 

795
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:12,960
friend, a family member, what 
have you, that you can start 

796
00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:16,440
having a very open and honest 
conversation about your internal

797
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,840
experience with. 
Because the moment that that 

798
00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:23,280
becomes externally real and you 
can say it and have it validated

799
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:27,400
and supported is when you can 
start putting together the 

800
00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:30,640
adaptive tools to work past 
baseline. 

801
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:34,880
The biggest thing, especially as
we continue our conversation 

802
00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:37,760
from earlier on burnout and when
people are like, well, how do I 

803
00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:42,000
prevent burnout? 
My first big tool in that area 

804
00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:44,960
of chronic stress would be to 
find the person that you can 

805
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:48,280
trust and start talking about 
what's going on internally. 

806
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:51,960
Because then the tools sometimes
will also become apparent and 

807
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:55,000
the tools that are being used in
a maladaptive way start to 

808
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:58,320
become more apparent as well. 
So those those safe relational 

809
00:43:58,320 --> 00:44:01,720
spaces would be my number one 
biggest starting space. 

810
00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:06,560
And then if you are someone who 
loves to learn and sort of like 

811
00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:10,880
lean into that, the opportunity 
presents itself to really start 

812
00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:14,760
to build the relationship with 
mind, body connection. 

813
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:18,440
If my mind is doing this up here
and I'm spinning a wheel and I 

814
00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:21,760
feel heightened states of 
anxiety, how is that showing up 

815
00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:24,720
in my body and my choices? 
Am I somebody who has a 

816
00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:28,640
stressful day and then I stress 
eat a pizza afterwards and I 

817
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:31,880
call this, you know, thriving? 
That's a relationship we have to

818
00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:34,440
start to become aware of. 
I love that you started with 

819
00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:36,880
kind of, you know, just being 
open and vulnerable. 

820
00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:38,560
I might even put it that way 
with someone, share it with 

821
00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:41,640
somebody because I, I will say 
personally, I too, but you tend 

822
00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:43,920
to kind of bottle all those 
things in and there is something

823
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:45,840
very therapeutic about letting 
it out, right? 

824
00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:48,320
Let the darkness into the 
lightness as they, as they would

825
00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:50,160
say. 
So great stuff. 

826
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:53,520
Let's talk about fitness. 
I love it. 

827
00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:56,160
You're not expecting this 
question. 

828
00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:58,000
Ready. 
Let's lead with this right now. 

829
00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:00,360
One Rep Max barbell back squat. 
What do you got? 

830
00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:05,040
I think right now post, right 
now today post ultra, I could 

831
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:12,240
probably comfortably hit 350. 
My Max all time is 365 and then 

832
00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:18,600
I love to do the unilateral work
with the safety, the safety 

833
00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:20,400
Marbell. 
Bulgarians with. 

834
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:24,520
Yes, Bulgarian foot squats, the 
reverse lunges and the Hatfield 

835
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:27,640
squats with it. 
Those ones are I can push the 

836
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:30,040
single leg work close to the 
four hundreds and then the 

837
00:45:30,040 --> 00:45:31,960
Hatfield squats like up into the
five hundreds. 

838
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:34,400
Unbelievable. 
I mean that's just incredible to

839
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:36,680
me. 
I we're we're friends on 

840
00:45:36,680 --> 00:45:38,120
Instagram, if that's what they 
call it. 

841
00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:42,200
I'm pretty sure I saw a video of
you doing 315 for like 8 

842
00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:43,440
recently. 
Maybe it was 6. 

843
00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:46,600
I don't know, clean. 
Like I literally, literally this

844
00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:48,040
is just to be really humble and 
normal. 

845
00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:53,920
I'd I hit 315 for six like a 
week ago and I sent it to like 3

846
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:58,680
friends and I was like, yeah, 
and I see your feed and I'm 

847
00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:00,840
like, what the hell? 
And I knew you were coming on 

848
00:46:00,960 --> 00:46:03,240
the show. 
So with that, so anyone 

849
00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:06,120
listening that knows anything or
has been around a barbell knows 

850
00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:09,120
that Laura is an absolute beast.
But let's let's start with this,

851
00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:11,000
OK, Because that's incredible. 
Alright, let's start, let's 

852
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:12,480
start here. 
So fitness, we're going to get 

853
00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:15,080
super meat and potatoes and 
practical because I know you 

854
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:17,200
were you were a high level 
soccer player. 

855
00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:20,480
You, you seem to have, have a 
lot of experience in different 

856
00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:24,880
types of exercise regiments. 
So if I made you, Laura, like if

857
00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:29,360
I forced you to recommend a 
protocol for anybody. 

858
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:31,320
Let's make some assumptions 
here. 

859
00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:33,920
They're healthy. 
They don't have any injuries 

860
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:36,200
that would prevent them from 
doing compound movements. 

861
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:41,360
But unpack for me like a general
well-rounded fitness protocol 

862
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:47,240
that encompasses both strength 
and cardiovascular fitness that 

863
00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:50,880
most people could apply. 
Start there. 

864
00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:55,480
If I had to start with the 
cardiovascular, I would love to 

865
00:46:55,480 --> 00:47:01,440
see zone 2 running out during 
one day of the week and then 

866
00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:05,800
Sprint intervals or wind sprints
at another day. 2 running days 

867
00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:08,960
for me is about what I 
accumulate right now and it 

868
00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:12,320
helps with my lifestyle while 
also maintaining my 

869
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:15,500
cardiovascular fitness. 
So that would be the non 

870
00:47:15,500 --> 00:47:21,040
negotiable cardio component. 
As we like grow and evolve or we

871
00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:24,080
experience injuries and what 
have you, we always want to see 

872
00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:28,200
if we can just dial back that 
kind of baseline gold standard 

873
00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:31,080
of cardiovascular fitness just a
little bit each time. 

874
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:35,240
So let's say I'm just being one 
of those people who decided to 

875
00:47:35,240 --> 00:47:37,880
not adequately warm up my 
hamstrings and I go and do a 

876
00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:39,680
Sprint workout and I pulled my 
hamstring. 

877
00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:42,000
So Sprint things out for a 
little while. 

878
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:44,480
Even with a hamstring injury, 
depending on the grade of the 

879
00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:47,560
issue, we still might be able to
do zone 2 running. 

880
00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:52,640
I'd like to keep that during 
rehab and, and, and growth for 

881
00:47:52,640 --> 00:47:54,400
as long as possible with that 
zone too. 

882
00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:57,640
I think a lot of times what 
happens is something happens 

883
00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:01,040
injury related with, with one 
modality and we throw it out the

884
00:48:01,040 --> 00:48:02,760
window for like a year and we 
don't touch it. 

885
00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:06,680
And so these really long gaps 
and periods of touching these 

886
00:48:06,680 --> 00:48:10,480
gold standard modalities is 
something that I like, I see in 

887
00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:13,840
the fitness industry as 
problematic consistency and just

888
00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:16,760
dialing it back as bare minimum 
as possible from the gold 

889
00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:18,520
standard is what's really 
important for me. 

890
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:22,400
So those consistent 2 days and 
should anything happen, just 

891
00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:25,560
dialing back a little bit, the 
ones that really fall in for me 

892
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:27,800
after running. 
So some people cannot run. 

893
00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:30,240
Incline walking is really 
wonderful. 

894
00:48:30,240 --> 00:48:31,880
Using the bike erg is really 
wonderful. 

895
00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:35,600
Swimming is really wonderful. 
These are all cardio respiratory

896
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:39,000
things that we can do to help 
maintain heart health, which is 

897
00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:43,280
the it's the gold standard of 
health because it like for all 

898
00:48:43,280 --> 00:48:46,160
'cause mortality, it's the 
greatest indicator of like 

899
00:48:46,240 --> 00:48:49,960
positive health outcomes. 
I've heard VO2 Max is sorry to 

900
00:48:49,960 --> 00:48:52,000
interrupt you. 
Is the most closely correlated 

901
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:55,560
metric for for longevity, right?
What's what's yours? 

902
00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:57,680
I know you know yours. 
I actually don't. 

903
00:48:57,720 --> 00:49:02,160
I don't know. 
Yeah, You know, I think the last

904
00:49:02,160 --> 00:49:08,120
time I was high 60s. 
Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness. 

905
00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:10,960
I was sitting here hoping you 
said a number less than mine, so

906
00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:14,400
I got I beat you on that. 
I'm 5353, might be a 2 maximum. 

907
00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:16,040
I'm 41 years old so I'll take 
it. 

908
00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:20,360
I want to say the last time I 
had it tested, it was around a 

909
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:22,800
year ago. 
Yeah, because I did my 50 mile a

910
00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:26,120
year ago. 
I want to say 67 that's. 

911
00:49:26,800 --> 00:49:28,480
That's unhuman. 
Good for you. 

912
00:49:28,720 --> 00:49:30,720
That's amazing. 
Amazing. 

913
00:49:31,040 --> 00:49:35,880
OK, I jumped in on you there. 
So sounds like one day of maybe 

914
00:49:35,880 --> 00:49:40,800
longer bout of zone 2 cardio, 
one day of more like, you know, 

915
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:43,360
zone 5 work, I'll call it. 
But interval sprints, something 

916
00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:45,560
Max right, pick up where? 
Pick up right there. 

917
00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:47,840
After we have that in our 
program. 

918
00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:53,480
I love pure strength training 
and this is where I probably 

919
00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:55,680
differ from a lot of people on 
social media, though. 

920
00:49:56,080 --> 00:50:01,200
I love lifts and movements where
we can overload the primary 

921
00:50:01,200 --> 00:50:06,080
movers as much as possible to 
really create high strain in the

922
00:50:06,080 --> 00:50:08,360
workouts. 
And so that's where I really 

923
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:11,800
fell in love with the Hatfield 
and the reverse lunges because 

924
00:50:11,800 --> 00:50:17,520
you do use that stabilization in
the lift, which helps to convert

925
00:50:17,520 --> 00:50:20,520
the lift in that isometric 
position where it's a lot of 

926
00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:22,080
times that's where we lose 
energy. 

927
00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:25,120
So when you're using that 
stabilization on either the 

928
00:50:25,120 --> 00:50:28,040
squat or the reverse lunge, 
usually as you're coming out of 

929
00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:30,920
the bottom, you're giving 
yourself a little press to 

930
00:50:30,920 --> 00:50:34,480
continue and finish the lift. 
That doesn't take away from the 

931
00:50:34,480 --> 00:50:38,120
work that your body is doing 
under that amount of load. 

932
00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:42,480
And so if I want the most bang 
for my buck, I want to put my 

933
00:50:42,480 --> 00:50:46,400
body into situations where it 
can move safely the highest 

934
00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:48,880
degree of load possible on my 
strength days. 

935
00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:52,400
And that's also I typically will
use the trap bar deadlift as 

936
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:55,800
opposed to conventional. 
I also have weaker hips, so it 

937
00:50:55,800 --> 00:50:58,040
makes me feel really strong when
I use the trap bar. 

938
00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:02,320
So I'll trade out some movements
to make sure that I can overload

939
00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:04,600
adequately. 
I do love barbell movements. 

940
00:51:04,600 --> 00:51:07,640
I love free weights with 
dumbbells, any type of 

941
00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:11,160
unilateral work as well. 
I think that it's just a fun 

942
00:51:11,160 --> 00:51:13,840
opportunity to really challenge 
yourself. 

943
00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:16,680
I think that's the biggest 
articulation that people have is

944
00:51:16,680 --> 00:51:19,800
like, this was difficult. 
I think that's fun to have that 

945
00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:23,960
type of movement in workouts. 
I probably haven't done 

946
00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:27,440
explosive Olympic lifting in 
over a year. 

947
00:51:27,840 --> 00:51:29,920
I could potentially work that 
back in. 

948
00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:33,400
I don't think that it's 
necessary for gold standard 

949
00:51:33,640 --> 00:51:38,080
longevity, lifelong programming.
I think that it's a great 

950
00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:41,440
workout and it's fun to learn 
and it's like difficult for some

951
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:47,000
people, but these moments of 
high strain movement, like with 

952
00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:50,360
your muscles working as hard as 
they can for your lift, should 

953
00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:52,360
be the other two to three days 
that you're working out. 

954
00:51:52,520 --> 00:51:55,840
OK, to get your gears grinded on
this, I'm going to, I'm going to

955
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:59,600
ask you in a moment to kind of 
recommend a split in the bro 

956
00:51:59,600 --> 00:52:01,560
culture, right? 
Like a good split that people 

957
00:52:01,560 --> 00:52:03,440
can do right? 
But before I do, because you're 

958
00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:05,680
talking about loads, it sounds 
like, correct me if I'm wrong, 

959
00:52:06,120 --> 00:52:12,240
you would prefer to have higher 
loads and lower reps as opposed 

960
00:52:12,240 --> 00:52:15,720
to getting that same total load 
across higher reps, right? 

961
00:52:15,720 --> 00:52:22,840
So you know, 333 reps at 400 lbs
versus 200 lbs at whatever that 

962
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:24,800
math is 6 reps, right? 
You see what I'm asking? 

963
00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:27,320
Like talk a little bit about 
that I think. 

964
00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:32,520
That chalks up to a little bit 
of a training reference, one for

965
00:52:32,520 --> 00:52:38,440
me and two, a very small 
minuscule benefit from higher 

966
00:52:38,440 --> 00:52:42,360
load training, which is that if 
you create that those more 

967
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:46,320
strenuous moments for the 
muscles, you create potentially 

968
00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:50,400
more micro tears. 
So if you are able to move the 8

969
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:53,440
reps at 200 a little bit easier,
even though it's like pretty 

970
00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:57,280
good strain, the workout loading
that is going to yield the most 

971
00:52:57,280 --> 00:53:01,280
amount of micro tears Also then 
in your recovery demands that 

972
00:53:01,280 --> 00:53:05,640
the body adjusts and produces 
and recovers with the greatest 

973
00:53:05,640 --> 00:53:07,320
degree of sex hormones as 
possible. 

974
00:53:07,640 --> 00:53:11,760
So if you're someone I think has
like lower free testosterone or 

975
00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:14,520
a guy who's like, you know what,
I think I want to try to abstain

976
00:53:14,520 --> 00:53:18,280
from HRT for a little bit. 
I would drop the running volume 

977
00:53:18,280 --> 00:53:21,360
a little bit, but really focus 
on these workouts where you're 

978
00:53:21,360 --> 00:53:25,520
creating as much strain as 
possible for these muscles, as 

979
00:53:25,520 --> 00:53:28,960
many micro tears as possible, 
recovering adequately because 

980
00:53:28,960 --> 00:53:32,520
that's your body producing what 
it needs for muscle protein 

981
00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:34,320
synthesis, which includes 
testosterone. 

982
00:53:35,080 --> 00:53:36,360
Got it. 
I'm going to take one more 

983
00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:37,760
follow up question. 
I'm going to nerd out. 

984
00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:41,720
Right before I met you about an 
hour ago, I hit a workout. 

985
00:53:41,760 --> 00:53:43,360
I used the trap bar. 
I did a deadlift. 

986
00:53:43,360 --> 00:53:45,840
So you'll love that. 
So based on what you just said, 

987
00:53:46,120 --> 00:53:49,400
what I did was four sets of 10 
with increasing load each time. 

988
00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:52,360
I kept it really easy on the 
first set, 135, right? 

989
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:55,920
Then I went to 225, then I went 
to 275, and then I did 315 for 

990
00:53:55,920 --> 00:53:58,000
10. 
Are you saying that you would 

991
00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:02,000
put more load on the bar and cut
the reps down and maybe do the 

992
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:06,920
same overall volume but just put
just put more weight on the 

993
00:54:07,040 --> 00:54:10,120
weight on the bar and crush it 
because it has more hormonal 

994
00:54:10,120 --> 00:54:11,360
benefits? 
Did I catch you? 

995
00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:14,400
I would do that. 
Yep, I would do that. 

996
00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:18,800
However, if you know your body 
well and you say that I have 

997
00:54:18,800 --> 00:54:22,200
developed this Rep scheme and 
this build up because I have an 

998
00:54:22,480 --> 00:54:26,960
A pre-existing back injury. 
And yeah, that's usually that 

999
00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:30,120
type of loading scheme and that 
type is is AI had a pre-existing

1000
00:54:30,120 --> 00:54:33,200
back injury. 
So when I performed this way, my

1001
00:54:33,200 --> 00:54:37,000
back doesn't flare up. 
I would not say that the loading

1002
00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:40,920
that I prefer exceeds the 
benefit that you get from using 

1003
00:54:41,160 --> 00:54:43,600
a loading scheme that doesn't 
risk injury. 

1004
00:54:44,520 --> 00:54:48,440
And the small like benefit that 
I might get from the the heavier

1005
00:54:48,440 --> 00:54:50,840
loading scheme, it might be, 
it's not negligible. 

1006
00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:52,920
It's just not something that I 
would write a paper on and say 

1007
00:54:52,920 --> 00:54:55,080
it's so statistically 
significant, we should do it 

1008
00:54:55,080 --> 00:54:58,000
this way because it's just not. 
It's just like a little bit more

1009
00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:02,080
of a preference and then when I 
want to do and like I still do 

1010
00:55:02,080 --> 00:55:05,280
Max opportunities. 
If I want to Max out, I look at 

1011
00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:07,320
those opportunities as like 
little moments where I can build

1012
00:55:07,320 --> 00:55:10,760
towards a greater Max. 
So also different goal outcome 

1013
00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:12,880
as well. 
I still think that that loading 

1014
00:55:12,880 --> 00:55:16,080
scheme, that weight and that 
movement is phenomenal for 

1015
00:55:16,080 --> 00:55:19,360
engaging in the type of muscle 
contraction that we want to see 

1016
00:55:19,360 --> 00:55:22,200
for you to maintain muscle 
health throughout the lifespan. 

1017
00:55:22,760 --> 00:55:23,960
Got it. 
Yeah, because I've just found 

1018
00:55:23,960 --> 00:55:26,720
that I feel that when I when I 
go in the fours on my deadlift, 

1019
00:55:26,960 --> 00:55:29,080
it throws off some of my other 
like running goals. 

1020
00:55:29,080 --> 00:55:32,360
Like I'm going to do a fartlick 
run tomorrow and if I'm over 4 

1021
00:55:32,360 --> 00:55:35,920
or £500 on the deadlift it I 
just feel clunky and painful 

1022
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:37,840
when I do the run. 
So that's why I do but good 

1023
00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:41,840
there take away is like the the 
benefits are kind of like 

1024
00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:43,760
minute, minute, right? 
Is that a word? 

1025
00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:46,040
What's with my vocabulary today 
are small. 

1026
00:55:46,720 --> 00:55:48,800
Customize it. 
Customize it based on your 

1027
00:55:48,800 --> 00:55:50,720
goals. 
OK, so if I could make you now, 

1028
00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:54,840
how about just a a general 
well-rounded split compound 

1029
00:55:54,840 --> 00:55:57,840
movements, everything we talked 
about that most people could 

1030
00:55:58,120 --> 00:56:02,280
alley and work towards? 
I do full body high, low 

1031
00:56:02,920 --> 00:56:05,840
training. 
So when I go to the gym on a day

1032
00:56:05,840 --> 00:56:09,360
where I am doing strength 
training, I will do a full body 

1033
00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:13,160
workout and I will go extremely 
hard and I will start with a lot

1034
00:56:13,160 --> 00:56:16,140
of times upper body. 
So if I'm doing pull ups, push 

1035
00:56:16,140 --> 00:56:19,400
ups, rows, what have you. 
And then I work into my lower 

1036
00:56:19,400 --> 00:56:22,160
body. 
I'm doing lunges, deadlifts, any

1037
00:56:22,160 --> 00:56:25,920
of that. 
And then my next day I is a low 

1038
00:56:25,920 --> 00:56:27,880
day. 
So I can either do a full body 

1039
00:56:27,880 --> 00:56:30,040
low. 
So maybe a, you know, like a 

1040
00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:32,720
little hit that I don't go above
70%. 

1041
00:56:33,240 --> 00:56:36,560
It could be a low day in terms 
of that's my zone 2 run day, but

1042
00:56:36,560 --> 00:56:40,800
it allows me to adequately 
recover enough from that high 

1043
00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:43,000
day. 
And then I'm only putting in 

1044
00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:48,640
three days of high output work a
week and I have enough recovery 

1045
00:56:48,640 --> 00:56:51,680
in between those days. 
I think the biggest mistake and 

1046
00:56:51,680 --> 00:56:55,480
the worst training outcomes that
I've ever had was I was at a 

1047
00:56:55,480 --> 00:56:59,560
pretty big CrossFit gym in San 
Diego and the first 3 days of 

1048
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:03,720
the week we would go so hard 
back-to-back to back. 

1049
00:57:03,920 --> 00:57:07,000
We would take Thursday off. 
Friday would be another really 

1050
00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:09,600
hard workout. 
And then 12 hours later, because

1051
00:57:09,600 --> 00:57:12,960
it was Saturday, we would have 
our morning workout at like 7:00

1052
00:57:12,960 --> 00:57:16,160
or 8:00 AM, those small recovery
windows. 

1053
00:57:16,320 --> 00:57:20,280
I struggled so much and then I 
got internal about it and I, I 

1054
00:57:20,280 --> 00:57:22,280
was like, I'm a horrible 
athlete. 

1055
00:57:22,280 --> 00:57:25,520
I'm, I'm bad at this. 
And it was truly load management

1056
00:57:25,520 --> 00:57:27,360
and being able to take adequate 
recovery. 

1057
00:57:27,720 --> 00:57:33,040
So I love high, low, and I love 
full body high, low, full body 

1058
00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:37,800
high, low, full body high, low. 
When you say low, you're not 

1059
00:57:37,800 --> 00:57:39,360
touching strength training, am 
I? 

1060
00:57:39,360 --> 00:57:42,880
Am I right? 
Not in a way that creates 

1061
00:57:42,880 --> 00:57:45,680
strain. 
I could do a workout at a like a

1062
00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:48,720
with maybe like a freeway where 
they're like dumbbell snatches 

1063
00:57:48,720 --> 00:57:52,040
where it turns into more of a, a
cardio workout than it does for,

1064
00:57:52,040 --> 00:57:54,280
you know, like any type of, of 
true strain. 

1065
00:57:54,440 --> 00:57:57,760
It's usually because of the 
things that I like to do, some 

1066
00:57:57,760 --> 00:58:02,560
form of cycling, running, flow, 
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, like a 

1067
00:58:02,560 --> 00:58:05,800
little flow grappling session or
swimming. 

1068
00:58:05,840 --> 00:58:06,960
We've been swimming a lot 
lately. 

1069
00:58:07,080 --> 00:58:09,200
You're doing BJJ. 
I am, yeah. 

1070
00:58:09,560 --> 00:58:13,000
How long you been doing it for? 
I think I'm at my 4 month mark. 

1071
00:58:13,000 --> 00:58:16,040
I think in July or I'm going to 
do my first competition. 

1072
00:58:16,160 --> 00:58:19,920
Third straight guest. 
That is like starting out in 

1073
00:58:19,920 --> 00:58:22,200
BJJ. 
So you're doing nogi or Gee? 

1074
00:58:22,440 --> 00:58:24,920
It's a nogi. 
I'm it's a 10th Planet Gym in 

1075
00:58:24,920 --> 00:58:29,960
Clemson. 
It's nogi, which I think is OK 

1076
00:58:29,960 --> 00:58:32,080
for me. 
I don't know if I would benefit 

1077
00:58:32,080 --> 00:58:35,120
more from being in ghee and some
of the submissions that are 

1078
00:58:35,120 --> 00:58:36,720
there. 
I know that it's a little bit 

1079
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:40,680
more of like the traditional 
environment, but my my strengths

1080
00:58:40,680 --> 00:58:44,040
right now are getting into some 
type of like scarfold or side 

1081
00:58:44,040 --> 00:58:47,600
control and just body weight and
then like dead lifting into 

1082
00:58:47,600 --> 00:58:49,600
people and then eventually doing
that. 

1083
00:58:50,080 --> 00:58:52,720
Yeah, like you're not going to 
move from here and I'm just 

1084
00:58:52,720 --> 00:58:55,840
going to gradually weasel my way
in here and we're done. 

1085
00:58:56,760 --> 00:58:59,360
Strength. 
Strength definitely overpowers 

1086
00:58:59,360 --> 00:59:02,520
technique in the white in the 
white belt realm, but. 

1087
00:59:03,160 --> 00:59:05,520
I understand that. 
Yeah, I've done it for a while. 

1088
00:59:05,520 --> 00:59:07,800
I've done some competitions but 
I found that that strength 

1089
00:59:07,800 --> 00:59:10,560
benefit quickly away when I got 
on there with some purple. 

1090
00:59:11,400 --> 00:59:12,880
Yeah. 
And they're even saying, like, 

1091
00:59:12,880 --> 00:59:15,400
as soon as you turn into a blue 
belt and you're going to walk in

1092
00:59:15,400 --> 00:59:18,040
thinking your your, your hot 
stuff because you did well 

1093
00:59:18,040 --> 00:59:19,840
against white belts that didn't 
know how to handle your 

1094
00:59:19,840 --> 00:59:21,480
strength, they're going to just 
mow you down. 

1095
00:59:21,480 --> 00:59:23,920
And I was like, OK, I'll, I'll 
learn technique. 

1096
00:59:23,920 --> 00:59:26,560
OK. 
Yeah, yeah, my my first 

1097
00:59:26,560 --> 00:59:28,000
instructor taught me a live 
lessons. 

1098
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:30,120
He basically like choked me out 
with my own thumb somehow 

1099
00:59:30,320 --> 00:59:32,400
because I was like trying to 
freaking around. 

1100
00:59:32,400 --> 00:59:33,960
But that's cool. 
You and I have some we have some

1101
00:59:33,960 --> 00:59:37,000
things in common. 
I don't have a 62 VO 2. 

1102
00:59:37,040 --> 00:59:38,920
Bad. 
We have some things in. 

1103
00:59:40,320 --> 00:59:43,200
Let's be honest, most of us 
don't have a private gym, a full

1104
00:59:43,200 --> 00:59:45,960
time trainer, or hours every day
to lift. 

1105
00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:48,840
If you're like me, you don't 
even have time to commute to a 

1106
00:59:48,840 --> 00:59:50,800
local gym. 
You're training early in the 

1107
00:59:50,800 --> 00:59:54,240
morning or carving out 40 
minutes between work, kids and 

1108
00:59:54,240 --> 00:59:55,920
everything else competing for 
your time. 

1109
00:59:56,320 --> 00:59:59,120
And when fitness matters that 
much to your well-being and your

1110
00:59:59,120 --> 01:00:02,400
health, you've got to have home 
fitness equipment that's as 

1111
01:00:02,400 --> 01:00:06,640
strong and reliable as you are. 
That is exactly why I use Rep 

1112
01:00:06,880 --> 01:00:09,320
Fitness. 
Rep is built for people who 

1113
01:00:09,320 --> 01:00:12,640
train with purpose, people who 
need high quality, reliable 

1114
01:00:12,640 --> 01:00:14,520
equipment engineered for real 
strength. 

1115
01:00:14,920 --> 01:00:19,040
Designed right here in Colorado,
USA, Rep Fitness provides racks,

1116
01:00:19,160 --> 01:00:21,960
benches, bars and plates that 
offer commercial grade 

1117
01:00:21,960 --> 01:00:26,200
durability without commercial 
gym prices, premium materials, 

1118
01:00:26,240 --> 01:00:28,600
smart engineering, and fair 
pricing. 

1119
01:00:29,040 --> 01:00:31,680
Whether you're outfitting your 
very first garage gym or 

1120
01:00:31,680 --> 01:00:33,960
upgrading your current setup to 
match where you want to go with 

1121
01:00:33,960 --> 01:00:37,480
your training, Rep makes gear 
that keeps up with your life and

1122
01:00:37,560 --> 01:00:40,600
your goals. 
Visit repfitness.com to see 

1123
01:00:40,600 --> 01:00:43,520
their full lineup racks, 
benches, bars, plates, 

1124
01:00:43,520 --> 01:00:46,120
conditioning tools, and 
everything you need to build a 

1125
01:00:46,120 --> 01:00:48,480
home gym that works as hard as 
you do. 

1126
01:00:48,840 --> 01:00:54,160
That's repfitness.com. 
Yeah, I could talk to you all 

1127
01:00:54,160 --> 01:00:56,040
day. 
Let's let's go here if we could,

1128
01:00:56,040 --> 01:00:58,360
because we we messaged about 
this topic. 

1129
01:00:58,360 --> 01:01:00,400
It's an important question that 
I wanted to ask, and it has to 

1130
01:01:00,400 --> 01:01:02,720
do with the difference, or 
should there be a difference 

1131
01:01:02,920 --> 01:01:07,040
with the way that women approach
physical fitness and men? 

1132
01:01:07,320 --> 01:01:08,560
What would you say to that 
question? 

1133
01:01:08,960 --> 01:01:13,200
One of the creators that I have 
a parasocial relationship with, 

1134
01:01:13,200 --> 01:01:15,960
his name is Clark Hibbs. 
He had a really great segment 

1135
01:01:15,960 --> 01:01:19,480
where he used the phrase 
predatory pseudoscience around 

1136
01:01:19,480 --> 01:01:22,160
women training. 
And so there's sort of this 

1137
01:01:22,160 --> 01:01:26,440
phenomena right now, right where
we see predatory things about 

1138
01:01:26,440 --> 01:01:27,960
women entering the workout 
space. 

1139
01:01:27,960 --> 01:01:31,600
So your creatine should be pink 
with a Peach on it and be 40 

1140
01:01:31,600 --> 01:01:34,400
more dollars because it's not 
going to make you bloaty or 

1141
01:01:34,400 --> 01:01:36,040
something like that. 
Hogwash. 

1142
01:01:36,320 --> 01:01:38,440
Like it's, it's throw it out the
door. 

1143
01:01:38,640 --> 01:01:42,520
So there is this theme and sort 
of prevalence of predatory 

1144
01:01:42,520 --> 01:01:45,880
pseudoscience around women in 
the industry and and engaging in

1145
01:01:45,880 --> 01:01:50,480
fitness right now. 
However, this is not the same as

1146
01:01:50,480 --> 01:01:54,680
invalidating the experiences 
that women have based on their 

1147
01:01:54,880 --> 01:01:58,120
unique Physiology. 
So if I'm training like, and I 

1148
01:01:58,120 --> 01:02:00,600
did do this during COVID, I 
trained a lot of high school 

1149
01:02:00,600 --> 01:02:03,080
girls who couldn't play their 
sports because of the shutdowns.

1150
01:02:03,360 --> 01:02:05,640
And so we would do field 
trainings and they would come to

1151
01:02:05,640 --> 01:02:08,320
me and they would be like, hey, 
I'm at this stage of my cycle. 

1152
01:02:08,520 --> 01:02:11,920
I feel horrible today. 
Is there evidence to support 

1153
01:02:11,920 --> 01:02:15,000
that their output would actually
be different that day? 

1154
01:02:15,520 --> 01:02:17,560
There's another creator on here,
her name. 

1155
01:02:17,640 --> 01:02:20,760
She's like doctor lists on 
Instagram. 

1156
01:02:21,240 --> 01:02:23,600
A lot of her research has said 
there's actually no 

1157
01:02:23,640 --> 01:02:26,960
physiological difference. 
But psychologically someone 

1158
01:02:26,960 --> 01:02:29,680
might be like, because of these 
changes and these hormone 

1159
01:02:29,680 --> 01:02:32,400
differences that I'm 
experiencing, my internal 

1160
01:02:32,400 --> 01:02:33,600
experience is different right 
now. 

1161
01:02:34,080 --> 01:02:37,080
And what we want to work on is 
the validation of that and 

1162
01:02:37,080 --> 01:02:41,120
saying like, OK, you've got 70% 
today as opposed to a full tank,

1163
01:02:41,240 --> 01:02:44,680
let's have you operate at 70%. 
What scaling adjustments can we 

1164
01:02:44,680 --> 01:02:46,880
make so that way you don't don't
lose out, but that you don't 

1165
01:02:46,880 --> 01:02:50,080
feel like you're overexerting? 
So is there, there's this nuance

1166
01:02:50,080 --> 01:02:52,920
and sort of balancing that has 
to be done between predatory 

1167
01:02:52,920 --> 01:02:55,760
stuff where people are like 
cycle sync, you're training and 

1168
01:02:55,760 --> 01:02:58,120
someone genuinely coming to you 
saying like, hey, because of 

1169
01:02:58,120 --> 01:03:01,120
what's happening right now, I 
think I need to adjust. 

1170
01:03:01,640 --> 01:03:04,080
And then being able to work with
that and appreciate that those 

1171
01:03:04,080 --> 01:03:06,200
physiological differences will 
likely come up. 

1172
01:03:06,480 --> 01:03:08,960
So that's something that I like 
to distinguish between. 

1173
01:03:09,240 --> 01:03:12,280
And then I think the, the last 
little bit is the, the fun 

1174
01:03:12,280 --> 01:03:14,920
research that I've seen come out
about the benefits that women 

1175
01:03:14,920 --> 01:03:18,000
have if they strength train 
throughout their pregnancy. 

1176
01:03:18,200 --> 01:03:22,760
Because I know that there are 
like tons of hesitations around 

1177
01:03:22,760 --> 01:03:25,880
like excessive movement or 
because I know that cortisol is 

1178
01:03:25,880 --> 01:03:28,800
bad for the baby. 
Is it bad if I exercise and do 

1179
01:03:28,800 --> 01:03:31,400
these things? 
And because strength training is

1180
01:03:31,400 --> 01:03:34,200
a little bit more of a sex 
hormone based activity where 

1181
01:03:34,200 --> 01:03:37,120
we're not like spiking our 
adrenaline, our cortisol as much

1182
01:03:37,120 --> 01:03:40,240
as we would during HIT workouts.
It's looked at as one of the the

1183
01:03:40,240 --> 01:03:44,760
key ways to maintain maternal 
health during pregnancy and 

1184
01:03:44,760 --> 01:03:46,280
resistance training is really 
beneficial. 

1185
01:03:46,280 --> 01:03:48,880
So that's my my shameless plug 
for that one. 

1186
01:03:48,960 --> 01:03:51,120
I would love to see more women 
training through through 

1187
01:03:51,120 --> 01:03:53,760
pregnancy if they feel that they
have the capacity to. 

1188
01:03:54,240 --> 01:03:55,360
I love it. 
I love it. 

1189
01:03:55,360 --> 01:03:57,840
You should do more podcasts and 
get that word out because I 

1190
01:03:57,840 --> 01:04:00,200
don't, I don't, I don't think 
that pregnant women, I don't 

1191
01:04:00,200 --> 01:04:01,760
think that they instinctively 
think that. 

1192
01:04:01,760 --> 01:04:04,920
I think they think it's unsafe 
and there's more detrimental, 

1193
01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:06,560
you know, effects of it than the
benefits. 

1194
01:04:06,560 --> 01:04:09,480
So that's a great point. 
I'm going to ask you one more 

1195
01:04:09,480 --> 01:04:13,480
question because I just want to,
and then I'm going to go into a 

1196
01:04:13,480 --> 01:04:15,960
rapid fire, which is my favorite
segment every time I have a 

1197
01:04:15,960 --> 01:04:19,200
guest on. 
But I know that you have some 

1198
01:04:19,200 --> 01:04:22,240
thoughts and maybe some ideas 
and research around HRT. 

1199
01:04:22,240 --> 01:04:25,280
You said that acronym earlier, 
hormone replacement therapy. 

1200
01:04:25,280 --> 01:04:27,640
For anyone that doesn't know 
what that means, peptides, 

1201
01:04:27,640 --> 01:04:30,080
steroids, what would you? 
What would you say? 

1202
01:04:30,080 --> 01:04:32,320
What would you caution? 
I know that like peptides in 

1203
01:04:32,320 --> 01:04:35,760
particular seem to be the thing 
that's blowing up as things do, 

1204
01:04:36,120 --> 01:04:39,080
but what's your thoughts on all 
of those different? 

1205
01:04:39,080 --> 01:04:42,240
They're not modalities, but 
treatments, supplements, 

1206
01:04:42,240 --> 01:04:45,000
whatever you want to call. 
Them, yeah, we're, we're at a 

1207
01:04:45,000 --> 01:04:49,040
point right now we're using 
exogenous substances is at like 

1208
01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:52,080
a big high point and they're 
readily accessible and 

1209
01:04:52,080 --> 01:04:55,360
unregulated. 
So I don't want to advocate for 

1210
01:04:55,360 --> 01:04:59,720
fear, but I want to advocate for
cautious hesitation. 

1211
01:04:59,720 --> 01:05:02,080
That could be really beneficial 
if you just stick with it. 

1212
01:05:02,120 --> 01:05:06,960
So the first topic with HRT is 
hormone replacement therapy has 

1213
01:05:06,960 --> 01:05:10,680
had some really strong evidence 
come out in support of it when 

1214
01:05:10,680 --> 01:05:15,600
there is a clear physiological 
instance for the decline in a 

1215
01:05:15,720 --> 01:05:19,160
given sex hormone. 
So especially around estrogen 

1216
01:05:19,160 --> 01:05:23,080
and testosterone for women who 
are doing or not doing going 

1217
01:05:23,080 --> 01:05:26,920
through perimenopause, menopause
and men who have gonadal issues,

1218
01:05:27,560 --> 01:05:30,640
we see this physiological 
rationale for a decline and 

1219
01:05:30,640 --> 01:05:33,880
hormone replacement therapy has 
worked really well in mitigating

1220
01:05:33,880 --> 01:05:36,840
certain symptoms there. 
My area of caution that is 

1221
01:05:36,840 --> 01:05:40,600
purely observational at this 
point comes from men in 

1222
01:05:40,600 --> 01:05:45,560
particular who have not 
experienced A physiological 

1223
01:05:45,560 --> 01:05:49,880
rationale for a testosterone 
decline immediately running into

1224
01:05:49,880 --> 01:05:54,440
very similar to door #2 from 
from earlier to the quick fix of

1225
01:05:54,680 --> 01:05:58,480
if I take this testosterone, I 
will feel better as opposed to 

1226
01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:02,000
leaning into. 
Is this symptom that I have 

1227
01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:05,200
around lower energy the like 
this as experience of 

1228
01:06:05,200 --> 01:06:09,280
testosterone decline, a greater 
indicator of potentially chronic

1229
01:06:09,280 --> 01:06:11,360
stress? 
Because when we are chronically 

1230
01:06:11,360 --> 01:06:14,400
stressed, our bodies natural 
production of testosterone 

1231
01:06:14,400 --> 01:06:18,800
declines. 
And so if you are using HRT, but

1232
01:06:18,800 --> 01:06:21,400
not addressing the chronic 
stress you're experiencing, 

1233
01:06:21,720 --> 01:06:25,800
there's still a myriad of 
Physiology and like physical 

1234
01:06:25,800 --> 01:06:28,080
changes that happen because of 
the stress that we're not 

1235
01:06:28,080 --> 01:06:29,800
addressing. 
We're just putting a little 

1236
01:06:29,800 --> 01:06:32,880
Band-Aid over it, potentially a 
bad Band-Aid if there's 

1237
01:06:32,880 --> 01:06:34,640
excessive amounts of 
testosterone use. 

1238
01:06:35,200 --> 01:06:38,760
But so that's my 1 area that I 
would really love to see more 

1239
01:06:38,960 --> 01:06:42,480
conversations about and research
on is when we're using it as a 

1240
01:06:42,480 --> 01:06:45,000
way to work through chronic 
stress. 

1241
01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:47,720
What are the health risks? 
What, what does that look like? 

1242
01:06:47,720 --> 01:06:49,680
And and hey B, how can we 
navigate that better? 

1243
01:06:50,040 --> 01:06:52,440
And maybe some more regulation 
around it too, but go on, yeah. 

1244
01:06:52,600 --> 01:06:55,640
I would, I would love to. 
I'm a big, I used to be like 

1245
01:06:55,880 --> 01:06:58,760
really libertarian and in the 
past two years have been like, I

1246
01:06:58,800 --> 01:07:00,440
think we need to regulate some 
things. 

1247
01:07:00,720 --> 01:07:02,480
Yeah, agreed. 
Agreed. 

1248
01:07:02,880 --> 01:07:06,160
And then so with peptides right 
now too, they're broken pieces 

1249
01:07:06,160 --> 01:07:10,040
of amino acid chains. 
And so they come in so many 

1250
01:07:10,040 --> 01:07:13,160
different forms. 
The ones that are really have 

1251
01:07:13,160 --> 01:07:17,280
strong anecdotal evidence right 
now, but there's maybe one or 

1252
01:07:17,280 --> 01:07:20,760
two human trials and not a lot 
of like looking at like what 

1253
01:07:20,760 --> 01:07:26,160
this does for human beings comes
from the peptides that are very 

1254
01:07:26,160 --> 01:07:30,720
similar to HGH, but instead of 
targeting muscle growth, they 

1255
01:07:30,720 --> 01:07:32,960
target ligament and tendon 
repair. 

1256
01:07:33,120 --> 01:07:36,960
And so if you do quit Google and
you say, well, why was BPC 157 

1257
01:07:36,960 --> 01:07:39,080
like why did they drop these 
clinical trials? 

1258
01:07:39,080 --> 01:07:42,760
It turns out there's a really 
high risk that if a person has 

1259
01:07:42,760 --> 01:07:46,720
undiagnosed cancer that they 
these peptides that are going in

1260
01:07:46,720 --> 01:07:50,280
to maybe help repair whatever 
issues that we have like an 

1261
01:07:50,280 --> 01:07:53,160
elbow injury or what have you, 
they don't discriminate. 

1262
01:07:53,160 --> 01:07:54,960
They won't just go to the side 
of the injury. 

1263
01:07:54,960 --> 01:07:57,280
They'll go anywhere where 
there's prolific cell group. 

1264
01:07:57,280 --> 01:07:57,960
So. 
They're going to. 

1265
01:07:57,960 --> 01:08:00,920
They're going to and multiply 
basically cancerous cells. 

1266
01:08:01,480 --> 01:08:04,400
If you potentially have it. 
So right now we're seeing 

1267
01:08:04,440 --> 01:08:08,160
peptides being pushed without 
the preliminary and necessary 

1268
01:08:08,160 --> 01:08:11,160
level of let's at least do a 
cancer screening first, right? 

1269
01:08:11,160 --> 01:08:12,880
Like let's at least get this 
underway. 

1270
01:08:13,040 --> 01:08:15,480
Let's get some human trials, 
like make sure we know how to 

1271
01:08:15,480 --> 01:08:18,000
use this. 
So that's my, my hesitation 

1272
01:08:18,000 --> 01:08:20,319
there and my caution. 
And, and just take it, you know,

1273
01:08:20,319 --> 01:08:21,960
with a grain of salt and a 
little bit of nuance. 

1274
01:08:21,960 --> 01:08:24,760
Some people are like, I'm so 
desperate because I have to 

1275
01:08:24,760 --> 01:08:27,880
perform for my job. 
I'll try anything, OK? 

1276
01:08:27,880 --> 01:08:31,760
The risk makes sense to you. 
You're a 20 year old and you 

1277
01:08:31,760 --> 01:08:34,720
know, you have a history of 
breast cancer in your family and

1278
01:08:34,720 --> 01:08:36,640
you're a girl and you're like, 
I'm just going to try it. 

1279
01:08:37,040 --> 01:08:39,880
I would say this, this is a 
place where we have to pause. 

1280
01:08:40,040 --> 01:08:43,160
So that's sort of my posturing 
of peptides that I would like 

1281
01:08:43,160 --> 01:08:45,279
people to start taking into 
consideration. 

1282
01:08:45,960 --> 01:08:49,840
And then in the third category 
of anabolic steroids and this 

1283
01:08:49,840 --> 01:08:53,920
really like heightened world of 
aesthetic pursuit in in fitness.

1284
01:08:54,160 --> 01:08:57,920
My one thing that I would like 
to plant the seed of for people 

1285
01:08:57,920 --> 01:09:03,520
to think about is maybe only 
consider anabolic steroid use, 

1286
01:09:03,520 --> 01:09:05,080
right? 
This is purely for aesthetics at

1287
01:09:05,080 --> 01:09:08,160
this point. 
After you have put in the work 

1288
01:09:08,160 --> 01:09:11,960
to reach your genetic potential,
after you have dialed in the 

1289
01:09:11,960 --> 01:09:16,080
nutrition, after you have 
trained well trained hard, done 

1290
01:09:16,080 --> 01:09:19,000
a myriad of different programs, 
found out what movements you 

1291
01:09:19,040 --> 01:09:23,319
actually benefit from. 
When you have exhausted that and

1292
01:09:23,319 --> 01:09:27,520
you still feel the need to try 
anabolic steroids, it's a free 

1293
01:09:27,520 --> 01:09:29,560
country. 
I can't, I can't advise you any 

1294
01:09:29,560 --> 01:09:31,640
differently. 
There are health issues and 

1295
01:09:31,640 --> 01:09:34,120
health risks there, but some 
people the pursuit of that 

1296
01:09:34,120 --> 01:09:37,960
aesthetic is what they want. 
I would just say at the outset, 

1297
01:09:37,960 --> 01:09:42,120
have the goal be exhaust genetic
potential first and then 

1298
01:09:42,120 --> 01:09:44,600
consider it. 
Because if you jump right in 

1299
01:09:44,600 --> 01:09:47,479
right off the rib at 21 years 
old and you start, you know, 

1300
01:09:47,479 --> 01:09:51,200
using anabolic steroids, you 
will never know what it was 

1301
01:09:51,200 --> 01:09:54,920
would have been like to pursue 
your like natural genetic 

1302
01:09:54,920 --> 01:09:56,680
potential. 
You just eliminate that 

1303
01:09:56,680 --> 01:09:57,920
opportunity, opportunity 
completely. 

1304
01:09:58,240 --> 01:10:02,160
And I think that that is 
something so fun and fulfilling 

1305
01:10:02,160 --> 01:10:03,920
and meaningful in the fitness 
industry. 

1306
01:10:04,240 --> 01:10:07,360
And I've had a blast with it. 
And so I would I would be remiss

1307
01:10:07,360 --> 01:10:09,800
if I missed the opportunity to 
not advocate for others to 

1308
01:10:09,800 --> 01:10:11,880
pursue it. 
I love it and nobody talks about

1309
01:10:11,880 --> 01:10:14,440
that and no one uses that as the
justification to avoid it, You 

1310
01:10:14,440 --> 01:10:16,840
know, but unfortunately, I think
there's so many borrowing from 

1311
01:10:16,840 --> 01:10:20,280
your Fraser, there's so many 
predators and social media that 

1312
01:10:20,280 --> 01:10:22,920
just want to take the shortcut, 
look great, sell their fitness 

1313
01:10:22,920 --> 01:10:25,840
programs and packages. 
And it's, it's sad, but you 

1314
01:10:25,840 --> 01:10:27,840
know, there's so many health 
risks, especially to the 

1315
01:10:27,840 --> 01:10:30,280
anabolic piece. 
One last question on that. 

1316
01:10:30,560 --> 01:10:32,320
Do you do you see parallels with
the GLP? 

1317
01:10:32,320 --> 01:10:35,440
One explosion, people just 
jumping right into door #1 and 

1318
01:10:35,440 --> 01:10:39,960
just going for it? 
Yes, I, I usually don't have 

1319
01:10:40,080 --> 01:10:42,360
kind of like emotional feelings 
about tools. 

1320
01:10:42,360 --> 01:10:45,720
And then in the research realm, 
we see it being used in its 

1321
01:10:45,720 --> 01:10:48,480
appropriate context. 
And so we have all of this 

1322
01:10:48,480 --> 01:10:51,960
phenomenal data and we're like, 
wow, GLP ones are great. 

1323
01:10:51,960 --> 01:10:53,760
Like they're really help 
improving people's health 

1324
01:10:53,760 --> 01:10:55,280
outcomes. 
Like, this is phenomenal. 

1325
01:10:55,800 --> 01:10:59,160
And then you step out of the 
research world and you go on to 

1326
01:10:59,160 --> 01:11:01,840
either social media or even 
just, you know, brunch with the 

1327
01:11:01,840 --> 01:11:05,800
girls and everybody who is so 
healthy, so beautiful. 

1328
01:11:06,000 --> 01:11:08,000
Like they are pursuing wonderful
lives. 

1329
01:11:08,000 --> 01:11:09,800
Like, I think I need to go on 
Olympic. 

1330
01:11:09,800 --> 01:11:12,080
Like, I think I need to do this 
to lose 10 lbs. 

1331
01:11:12,640 --> 01:11:16,400
And so that sort of experience 
in watching the abuse or the 

1332
01:11:16,400 --> 01:11:20,160
maladaptive use of this tool to 
achieve aesthetic standards, 

1333
01:11:20,160 --> 01:11:22,320
that will likely be different in
seven years. 

1334
01:11:22,320 --> 01:11:24,320
If we're being honest, it's 
going to it's going to swing 

1335
01:11:24,400 --> 01:11:26,280
back and forth. 
That's the way trends always do.

1336
01:11:26,680 --> 01:11:29,720
And especially with women, we're
seeing an increased risk of poor

1337
01:11:29,720 --> 01:11:32,520
health outcomes, right? 
So if I don't have a lot of body

1338
01:11:32,520 --> 01:11:36,760
weight to lose, but I go on to 
AGLP one, we'll start losing 

1339
01:11:36,760 --> 01:11:39,360
muscle mass that I'm going to 
need when I'm older. 

1340
01:11:39,360 --> 01:11:41,360
That's going to help me move. 
That's going to help me spend 

1341
01:11:41,360 --> 01:11:43,920
time with my grandchildren. 
That's going to help me get up 

1342
01:11:44,040 --> 01:11:47,120
out of bed and out of chairs so 
I don't need assistance and I 

1343
01:11:47,120 --> 01:11:48,760
can live for as long as 
possible. 

1344
01:11:49,120 --> 01:11:51,720
And those sort of long term 
consequences I think get really 

1345
01:11:51,720 --> 01:11:56,240
lost in this instantaneous need 
to to fit the social standard. 

1346
01:11:56,600 --> 01:11:58,840
So we'll put and couldn't agree 
more. 

1347
01:11:59,360 --> 01:12:02,440
All right, this has been great 
rapid fire time. 

1348
01:12:02,440 --> 01:12:06,000
Laura, I've got 12 questions 
here and I'm going to pick one 

1349
01:12:06,000 --> 01:12:07,920
that I think you already 
answered some of these in the 

1350
01:12:07,920 --> 01:12:09,440
middle of our interview. 
But let's start here. 

1351
01:12:09,440 --> 01:12:13,200
In your opinion, the worst 
fitness trend of the the last 10

1352
01:12:13,200 --> 01:12:16,480
years? 
Worst fitness trend, Oh my gosh,

1353
01:12:16,560 --> 01:12:20,120
in recently, the things that's 
popping in is people who do not 

1354
01:12:20,120 --> 01:12:22,840
have the bone strength to put on
a weighted vest and to start 

1355
01:12:22,840 --> 01:12:24,360
doing fitness with a weighted 
vest. 

1356
01:12:24,640 --> 01:12:27,320
That one popped off in the last 
six months that I truly didn't 

1357
01:12:27,320 --> 01:12:31,360
appreciate. 
How about this one? 

1358
01:12:31,360 --> 01:12:34,800
Ready gym pet peeves? 
Something that irritates you in 

1359
01:12:34,800 --> 01:12:38,840
a public gym. 
I am a huge advocate of cleaning

1360
01:12:38,840 --> 01:12:41,800
up after yourself and cleaning 
up your space. 

1361
01:12:41,800 --> 01:12:45,200
And if you're at a Brazilian Jiu
Jitsu gym, you're helping to 

1362
01:12:45,200 --> 01:12:47,280
clean the mats. 
If you're in a weightlifting 

1363
01:12:47,280 --> 01:12:50,960
space, you're putting the 
weights away and always thanking

1364
01:12:50,960 --> 01:12:54,560
your coaches and just being a 
good community member and saying

1365
01:12:54,560 --> 01:12:56,520
hi to people. 
When the when those things are 

1366
01:12:56,520 --> 01:12:58,360
being done, you'll see me in the
corner like. 

1367
01:13:00,840 --> 01:13:02,120
Yes. 
Come on, people, it's not that 

1368
01:13:02,120 --> 01:13:03,440
hard. 
Put your weights away and wipe 

1369
01:13:03,440 --> 01:13:04,400
down your stuff. 
All right. 

1370
01:13:04,400 --> 01:13:06,680
Next one. 
If you could only do three 

1371
01:13:07,120 --> 01:13:09,480
strength training exercises for 
the rest of your life. 

1372
01:13:09,480 --> 01:13:10,680
Only three? 
What are they? 

1373
01:13:11,320 --> 01:13:13,960
A calisthenic upper body pull 
up. 

1374
01:13:13,960 --> 01:13:17,640
I'll go pull up over push up a 
compound upper body. 

1375
01:13:17,640 --> 01:13:22,920
So I would do a Hatfield safety 
bar, barbell squat, and then a 

1376
01:13:22,920 --> 01:13:27,080
posterior activation, probably 
actually something very 

1377
01:13:27,080 --> 01:13:30,960
posterior for extended. 
Yeah, I would do RDL as well. 

1378
01:13:31,120 --> 01:13:32,560
Those would be in my face. 
Range, Yeah. 

1379
01:13:32,560 --> 01:13:35,040
Trap bar deadlift. 
RDL over the trap bar deadlift. 

1380
01:13:35,480 --> 01:13:39,640
I think that I would get enough 
quad activation from the 

1381
01:13:39,640 --> 01:13:42,960
Hatfield squat where trap bar 
might be a little bit redundant,

1382
01:13:42,960 --> 01:13:47,600
but an RDL would really 
capitalize on very like 

1383
01:13:48,280 --> 01:13:50,280
important points of the 
posterior chain. 

1384
01:13:50,920 --> 01:13:55,520
You are so thoughtful. 
Next one what is the most 

1385
01:13:55,600 --> 01:13:58,960
overrated overused supplement 
Fitness supplement? 

1386
01:13:59,280 --> 01:14:02,200
I might. 
Say vitamin D right now. 

1387
01:14:02,800 --> 01:14:07,400
I think that I see that 
supplement come up a lot and it 

1388
01:14:07,400 --> 01:14:10,360
should truly only be utilized if
you're deficient. 

1389
01:14:10,640 --> 01:14:14,280
But I see a lot of it, I think 
that overused in the sense of 

1390
01:14:14,280 --> 01:14:17,440
like it's postured as the 
solution to a lot of problems 

1391
01:14:17,440 --> 01:14:20,040
that it would not improve at all
for people. 

1392
01:14:20,360 --> 01:14:23,120
So I would say probably vitamin 
D, OK. 

1393
01:14:23,360 --> 01:14:26,000
I'm not sure if everyone is as 
deficient as they think they are

1394
01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:28,040
in it. 
Maybe during the winter. 

1395
01:14:28,840 --> 01:14:29,960
Months. 
Yeah, that that seemed to be 

1396
01:14:29,960 --> 01:14:32,720
catching a lot of momentum. 
Is the vitamin D supplement 

1397
01:14:32,720 --> 01:14:36,640
stuff next one? 
If you could give 20 year old 

1398
01:14:36,680 --> 01:14:41,480
Laura one piece of advice, one 
piece of advice, what would you 

1399
01:14:41,480 --> 01:14:45,120
tell her? 
I would say take your time 

1400
01:14:45,120 --> 01:14:48,160
moving forward. 
I didn't know who I was and I 

1401
01:14:48,160 --> 01:14:52,320
moved really fast. 
I think that if I had given 

1402
01:14:52,320 --> 01:14:56,240
myself more grace and more time,
I could have moved a little bit 

1403
01:14:56,400 --> 01:15:00,840
more slowly but also figured out
who I was and what my passions 

1404
01:15:00,840 --> 01:15:03,960
were earlier on, which likely 
would have landed me into the 

1405
01:15:03,960 --> 01:15:06,000
same space but just a little bit
earlier. 

1406
01:15:06,000 --> 01:15:09,200
I think I ultimately got there, 
but I took a very long way 

1407
01:15:09,200 --> 01:15:12,120
because I went too fast, which 
that happens. 

1408
01:15:12,120 --> 01:15:14,680
Sometimes, but enjoy the ride. 
I love that going a little. 

1409
01:15:15,320 --> 01:15:18,160
Bit more fully. 
Yeah, be a happy camper along 

1410
01:15:18,160 --> 01:15:18,880
the way. 
All right? 

1411
01:15:18,880 --> 01:15:21,640
Last question. 
Last question for you. 10 years 

1412
01:15:21,640 --> 01:15:24,160
from now, we meet up, we have 
another conversation. 

1413
01:15:24,160 --> 01:15:25,680
What are you up to? 
What are you doing? 

1414
01:15:25,680 --> 01:15:27,000
What's the future for Laura 
Gordon? 

1415
01:15:28,000 --> 01:15:31,960
I'm teaching at an Ivy League 
school, possibly you pen, 

1416
01:15:31,960 --> 01:15:35,120
because they have a really 
wonderful positive psychology 

1417
01:15:35,200 --> 01:15:38,440
Research Institute there where 
Angela Duckworth is one of the 

1418
01:15:38,440 --> 01:15:42,360
researchers and she is like the 
pioneer of grit and resilience 

1419
01:15:42,360 --> 01:15:45,160
and creating a lot of measures 
that we use to understand that. 

1420
01:15:45,480 --> 01:15:50,240
So I'm teaching there. 
I am a scholar advocate, and I 

1421
01:15:50,240 --> 01:15:54,120
periodically will help 
politicians understand the true 

1422
01:15:54,120 --> 01:15:56,240
social determinants of health 
and help them understand if 

1423
01:15:56,240 --> 01:15:58,920
certain bills will help get us 
in that direction or if they 

1424
01:15:58,920 --> 01:16:02,800
will be detrimental and with the
capacity to advocate in that 

1425
01:16:02,800 --> 01:16:08,720
more public health domain. 
And I probably have 10 acres, a 

1426
01:16:08,720 --> 01:16:11,600
boat, three more dogs. 
Maybe. 

1427
01:16:12,040 --> 01:16:15,840
It's 10 years, I guess. 
My first kid, I think land and 

1428
01:16:15,840 --> 01:16:18,400
more dogs are definitely going 
to be on the menu, but yeah. 

1429
01:16:19,040 --> 01:16:22,520
I love it and 10 years from now 
on the BJJ front, if those 

1430
01:16:22,520 --> 01:16:24,600
politicians don't listen to your
advice, you tell them I'm a 

1431
01:16:24,600 --> 01:16:27,000
black pad, I'll choke you out 
and I can barbell back squat 

1432
01:16:27,040 --> 01:16:30,000
£600 by that point probably. 
Triangle choke immediately on 

1433
01:16:30,000 --> 01:16:32,840
the floor. 
Awesome. 

1434
01:16:32,840 --> 01:16:35,200
Hey, look, honestly, I mean, 
when I say one of my favorite 

1435
01:16:35,200 --> 01:16:37,520
conversations I've ever had of 
almost three years of doing this

1436
01:16:37,520 --> 01:16:41,120
show, I'm I'm very, very 
grateful that you said yes to 

1437
01:16:41,120 --> 01:16:42,560
come on. 
I really appreciated my time 

1438
01:16:42,560 --> 01:16:43,640
with you. 
Laura, thanks very much for 

1439
01:16:43,640 --> 01:16:45,400
coming. 
Thank you so much for having me.

1440
01:16:45,680 --> 01:16:47,560
This is my pleasure, Laura 
Gordon, everybody. 

1441
01:16:47,560 --> 01:16:52,960
We'll see you next week. 
Well, that's it folks, for my 

1442
01:16:53,160 --> 01:16:57,120
discussion with Laura Gordon. 
What an amazing human she is so 

1443
01:16:57,120 --> 01:16:58,520
cool. 
I that one of my favorite parts 

1444
01:16:58,520 --> 01:17:01,320
about this gig I have here as a 
host of a podcast. 

1445
01:17:01,320 --> 01:17:03,560
I get to meet just awesome 
people like her and learn from 

1446
01:17:03,560 --> 01:17:05,960
them and just create a platform 
where other people can learn 

1447
01:17:05,960 --> 01:17:08,680
from them too. 
So here's my top three takeaways

1448
01:17:08,680 --> 01:17:11,840
from my conversation with Laura 
#1. 

1449
01:17:12,160 --> 01:17:15,760
Chronic stress is a thing and 
many of us don't realize that 

1450
01:17:15,760 --> 01:17:18,920
we're experiencing. 
So know the symptoms and move in

1451
01:17:18,920 --> 01:17:21,880
a direction where you can get 
more healthy #2 when it comes to

1452
01:17:21,880 --> 01:17:25,680
fitness, my interpretation is 
you can keep it simple, work 

1453
01:17:25,680 --> 01:17:29,240
hard, don't over complicate it, 
and just be consistent. 

1454
01:17:29,240 --> 01:17:32,040
And then #3 when it comes to 
steroids and peptides and all 

1455
01:17:32,040 --> 01:17:35,920
these things, make sure that you
are addressing all of the other 

1456
01:17:35,920 --> 01:17:39,000
factors for health before you 
move in a direction which could 

1457
01:17:39,000 --> 01:17:43,280
potentially lead to some risk if
you go down the peptoid, steroid

1458
01:17:43,600 --> 01:17:46,080
and other routes. 
So thank you so much for 

1459
01:17:46,080 --> 01:17:47,080
joining. 
We hope you learned something. 

1460
01:17:47,080 --> 01:17:50,160
If you enjoyed anything from 
this episode, here's how you can

1461
01:17:50,160 --> 01:17:52,040
support the show. 
First, you can follow Stronger 

1462
01:17:52,040 --> 01:17:55,720
Weekly on social media, places 
like Instagram, we're now on 

1463
01:17:55,720 --> 01:17:57,400
Tiktok, YouTube, things like 
that. 

1464
01:17:57,400 --> 01:17:59,000
We appreciate your engagement 
there. 

1465
01:17:59,280 --> 01:18:02,520
You can listen and even watch 
our show on places like Apple 

1466
01:18:02,520 --> 01:18:06,000
Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, leave
a rating review. 

1467
01:18:06,080 --> 01:18:07,640
It helps more people find the 
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1468
01:18:07,640 --> 01:18:10,240
And if you know someone who 
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1469
01:18:10,320 --> 01:18:12,480
be entertained by it, please 
share it. 

1470
01:18:12,480 --> 01:18:14,760
We certainly love it when you do
that. 

1471
01:18:14,760 --> 01:18:17,720
If you have any questions for us
and want to just be in touch 

1472
01:18:17,720 --> 01:18:19,960
with us, we love getting emails 
from our listeners. 

1473
01:18:20,200 --> 01:18:23,560
So you can e-mail us at 
contact@strongerweekly.com. 

1474
01:18:23,680 --> 01:18:28,800
againthatscontact@strongerweekly.com.
Again, we just love hearing from

1475
01:18:28,800 --> 01:18:30,560
our our fans. 
If you have any questions, you 

1476
01:18:30,560 --> 01:18:33,640
can ask us there. 
So thank you so much for joining

1477
01:18:33,640 --> 01:18:36,160
us this week. 
We will see you next week with 

1478
01:18:36,160 --> 01:18:38,760
another episode. 
In meantime, be strong folks. 

1479
01:18:38,760 --> 01:18:39,400
See you then.