2608: The 4 Most Common Nutrient Deficiencies, the Symptoms & What to Eat to Solve Them & More (Listener Coaching)

Summary

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth
Episode 2608: The 4 Most Common Nutrient Deficiencies, the Symptoms & What to Eat to Solve Them & More (Listener Coaching)
Release Date: May 30, 2025

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Overview

In Episode 2608 of Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth, hosts Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schaefer, Justin Andrews, and Doug Egge delve into the prevalent yet often overlooked issue of nutrient deficiencies in modern society. Drawing from over 40 years of combined experience in the fitness industry, the hosts break down the four most common nutrient deficiencies—Vitamin D, Iron, Vitamin B12, and Calcium—exploring their symptoms, causes, and dietary solutions. Additionally, they touch upon the significance of magnesium deficiency and address listener coaching questions towards the end of the episode.

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1. Vitamin D Deficiency

Prevalence & Risk Factors:
Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most widespread deficiencies, affecting approximately 40% of the general population. The risk amplifies for individuals with darker skin tones, with 82% of Black Americans being deficient. Factors such as limited sun exposure, lifestyle changes, and geographic location significantly contribute to this deficiency.

Symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Depression and anxiety
• Muscle weakness and pain
• Frequent infections
• Hair loss
• Low testosterone and reduced libido

Causes:

• Limited Sun Exposure: Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin upon exposure to sunlight. Individuals who spend most of their time indoors or live in areas with limited sunlight are at higher risk.
• Skin Pigmentation: Darker skin synthesizes less Vitamin D compared to lighter skin when exposed to the same amount of sunlight.
• Dietary Intake: Few foods naturally contain Vitamin D. Reliance on supplements or fortified foods is often necessary.

Solutions:

• Sun Exposure: Aim for at least 30 minutes of sun exposure daily to boost natural Vitamin D production.
• Dietary Sources: Incorporate fatty fish, egg yolks, and sun-exposed mushrooms into your diet.
• Supplementation: Vitamin D supplements can be effective, especially for those with limited sun exposure. Sal mentions the flexibility of loading doses—taking higher doses less frequently—as a practical approach (05:32).

Notable Quote:
"40% of people are deficient in vitamin D... Black Americans, 82% are deficient."
— Sal Di Stefano (05:32)

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2. Iron Deficiency

Prevalence & Risk Factors:
Iron deficiency is particularly prevalent among women, affecting 10% of women in America, largely due to monthly blood loss through menstruation. While less common in men, it can occur due to factors like internal bleeding.

Symptoms:

• Persistent fatigue and weakness
• Pale skin or lips
• Brain fog
• Muscle cramps and heart palpitations (in severe cases)

Causes:

• Menstruation: Regular blood loss increases iron requirements in women.
• Dietary Habits: Insufficient intake of iron-rich foods, especially red meat, can lead to deficiencies. Plant-based sources have lower bioavailability, necessitating higher consumption.

Solutions:

• Dietary Intake: Increase consumption of red meat, chicken liver, and oysters, which are high in heme iron. Plant-based sources like lentils should be consumed in larger quantities to compensate for lower absorption.
• Supplementation: Iron supplements may be necessary for those who cannot meet their needs through diet alone.

Personal Insight:
Adam Schaefer shares his experience training female clients, noting that even those consuming adequate protein from sources like fish and chicken often remain iron deficient due to limited red meat intake.

Notable Quote:
"10% of women in America have iron deficiency... tens of millions of women are affected."
— Sal Di Stefano (13:14)

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3. Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Prevalence & Risk Factors:
Vitamin B12 deficiency impacts 6% of individuals under 60 and 20% of those over 60. It is especially common among vegans, who may struggle to obtain sufficient B12 from plant-based sources alone.

Symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Neuralgia (nerve pain)
• Tingling or numbness
• Memory loss

Causes:

• Age-Related Absorption Issues: As individuals age, stomach acid production decreases, hindering B12 absorption.
• Dietary Restrictions: Vegans and vegetarians may find it challenging to obtain adequate B12 without supplements or fortified foods.

Solutions:

• Supplementation: Vegans should consider B12 supplements or injections to meet their needs. Older adults may benefit from B12 injections to improve absorption.
• Dietary Sources: Incorporating B12-rich foods like eggs and dairy can help, but supplementation is often necessary.

Notable Quote:
"20% of people over 60 are deficient in B12... symptoms like fatigue and memory loss can be mistaken for aging."
— Sal Di Stefano (15:10)

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4. Calcium Deficiency

Prevalence & Risk Factors:
Calcium deficiency affects 30% of the general population, with 50% of women over 50 and 40% of adolescents being deficient. This high prevalence is attributed to depleted soil nutrients and the breeding of plants for higher sugar content at the expense of nutrient density.

Symptoms:

• Muscle cramps
• Heart palpitations
• Weak bones and increased risk of fractures

Causes:

• Dietary Depletion: Modern agricultural practices have reduced the nutrient density of many foods.
• Hormonal Factors: In women, hormonal changes can impact calcium absorption and utilization.

Solutions:

• Dietary Intake: Consume calcium-rich foods such as dairy products, sardines (with bones), and leafy greens. For those who are vegan, fortified plant-based milks and supplements may be necessary.
• Supplementation: High-quality calcium supplements can help address deficiencies but should be paired with strength training to enhance bone density.

Notable Quote:
"50% of women over 50 are deficient in calcium... muscle cramps and weak bones are common symptoms."
— Sal Di Stefano (17:09)

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5. Magnesium Deficiency (Additional Insight)

While not one of the primary four, magnesium deficiency is also highly prevalent, affecting around 60% of the population. Magnesium plays a critical role in muscle function, energy production, and sleep quality.

Symptoms:

• Muscle cramps
• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Headaches

Causes:

• Poor Dietary Intake: Limited consumption of magnesium-rich foods like nuts, seeds, and leafy greens.
• Soil Depletion: Modern farming practices have reduced magnesium levels in many crops.

Solutions:

• Supplementation: Products like Ned’s Mellow, which include various bioavailable forms of magnesium, can effectively alleviate deficiencies.
• Dietary Sources: Incorporate nuts, seeds, whole grains, and leafy vegetables into the diet.

Notable Quote:
"Magnesium deficiency is around 60% of the population... and taking the right form of magnesium can quickly alleviate symptoms."
— Adam Schaefer (19:52)

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6. The Impact of Soil Depletion on Nutrient Deficiency

Discussion Highlights:
The hosts discuss how modern agricultural practices have led to soil nutrient depletion, resulting in less nutrient-dense produce. They emphasize the importance of consuming high-quality, nutrient-rich foods and consider supplementation as a practical solution to bridge the gap caused by soil deficiencies.

Notable Quote:
"We've bred fruits and vegetables to be higher in energy and lower in nutrients... it's like we're getting fatter with less nutrient density."
— Sal Di Stefano (21:27)

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7. Listener Coaching Questions

Towards the end of the episode, the hosts address listener questions related to fitness and nutrition. Topics include optimizing grip width for bench and shoulder presses, recovering from alcohol consumption, and addressing specific workout-related issues like IT band soreness.

Example Question:
"What's the best way to set up the width of your grips for bench and shoulder press?"
— Janaya A. May (55:49)

Summary of Responses:

• Bench Press: Grip width can vary based on individual shoulder width and comfort. A common guideline is one and a half times shoulder width, ensuring elbows stay under the hands during the press to prevent shoulder issues.
• Shoulder Press: Maintaining elbows under the hands with proper hand placement helps avoid limiting range of motion and reduces the risk of shoulder problems.
• General Advice: Focus on individual biomechanics and comfort, and consider consulting with a fitness professional to determine the optimal grip width.

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Conclusion

Episode 2608 of Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth serves as an essential guide for individuals aiming to understand and address common nutrient deficiencies. By highlighting Vitamin D, Iron, Vitamin B12, Calcium, and Magnesium, the hosts provide actionable insights into recognizing symptoms and implementing dietary and supplemental strategies to enhance overall health and fitness performance. The episode underscores the importance of nutrient balance in achieving muscular development and maintaining optimal health, reinforcing the podcast's commitment to science-backed fitness solutions.

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Key Takeaways

• Nutrient deficiencies are widespread and often overlooked, with significant impacts on health and fitness.
• Recognizing symptoms of deficiencies can lead to timely interventions, preventing long-term health issues.
• Dietary adjustments and supplementation are effective strategies to address and prevent nutrient deficiencies.
• Soil nutrient depletion necessitates a focus on high-quality food sources and, when necessary, supplementation to meet nutritional needs.
• Personalized fitness and nutrition plans can significantly enhance health outcomes, emphasizing the role of tailored approaches in achieving fitness goals.

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For more insights and expert advice, follow the Mind Pump hosts on Instagram @mindpumpmedia, @mindpumpsal, @mindpumpadam, @mindpumpjustin, and @mindpumpdoug, or visit mindpumppodcast.com.

Transcript

[Sal DiStefano]

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[Adam Schaefer]

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[Sal DiStefano]

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[Adam Schaefer]

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[Sal DiStefano]

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[Justin Andrews]

You want to p and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind Pump Mind Pump with your hosts Sal Destefano, Adam Schaefer and Justin Andrews.

[Sal DiStefano]

You just found the most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode we answered listeners questions. People wrote some questions in. We picked our favorite ones, but this was after the intro. Today's intro was 54 minutes long. In the intro we talk about fitness studies, fat loss, muscle gain, current events, family life. It's a good time. By the way, if you want to write in a question that we can pick, go to Instagram indpump media also for trainers and coaches, go to trainerwebinar.com on June 3rd I'm going to be teaching you how to sell personal training. It's free. Trainerwebinar.com this episode is brought to you by some sponsors. The first one is Ned. Today we talked about their product Mello. There are different forms of magnesium in Mellow that help relax your body, alleviate anxiety and help you sleep. It's one of the best magnesium products you can find. Go to helloned.com that's H-E-L L O N dashed.com mindpump use the code mindpump get 20% off. This episode is also brought to you by the Mind Pump Group Coaching. We offer group coaching now for people who are interested in muscle gain or fat loss. We have two groups open right now. Go to mindpump Group Coaching. We also have two days left for our program sales going on right Now. You have 48 hours to take advantage of the sale. Maps 15 Performance and the RGB bundle both 50% off. If you're interested, go to Maps FitnessProducts.com and then use the code MAY50 for the discount. Here comes the show. Nutrient deficiencies are far more common than you realize. We're going to talk about four of the most common nutrient deficiencies. The Symptoms they produce in the foods you need to eat to solve them. Let's go.

[Doug]

Let's go.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. You know, people in modern societies don't often think, I mean, I know this, that they could potentially have a nutrient deficiency. This is like an issue that third world countries have or that other people have. And the issue with this is having some of these nutrient deficiencies results in symptoms that are sometimes vague and strange and I don't know what's going on. And then you blame things like stress and sleep, and I don't know what's going on. Then you go to the doctor. They don't test you for nutrient deficiencies because that's typically not the first thing that they test unless it's glaring.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

And then you get prescribed like an SSRI or an Enziolytic.

[Doug]

You have drugs for that.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yes. To solve the symptom of something that could be so easily fixed by simply feeling the nutrient deficiency.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, I think many times, too, that they're. The deficiency has been there for a long time before you even start to feel or see symptoms. So I think that's part of the problem, too, is that you have somebody. I mean, I know, I'm guilty. This. I know vitamin D is on this list. And just assume I diet well, I exercise. I think I get outside enough, but I. So I just assumed it wasn't that. It wasn't literally until you told me that there was a major connection between psoriasis and vitamin D. And I thought, oh, maybe I should look into that. And sure, not only was I low, I was really low. I was low enough that Even supplementing with 5000 IUs still had me low. And so I think that sometimes these. The side effects are so mild, or you're so early on in the stages of the deficiency that you don't. They're not screaming at you yet. And so I think a lot of people just assume they're. Okay, that's.

[Sal DiStefano]

That's a great point. And what I did with these deficiencies is I picked the common ones that'll happen in modern society. So I picked America. But I also tried to break it up into groups of people because some nutrients are far more deficient in some groups versus others. For example, if you're older versus younger, vice versa, men, women, and even between different racial groups, nutrient deficiencies can vary dramatically. For example, you just brought up vitamin D. We'll get to vitamin D. That's one of the most common deficiencies in modern societies. Generally speaking, okay, 40% of people are deficient. In vitamin D. Now I want to be clear too, by the way, when you look at a lab, range of what your vitamin D level should be deficient means you're below that range. That still doesn't mean you can also be within range and not be optimal. So if you talk to functional health practitioners or forward thinking doctors or hormone doctors on the subject, they'll tell you that that range isn't even that good, that you probably should be higher than what would put you towards the bottom of that particular range. So getting these tested is very important. But 40% of the general population is deficient in vitamin D. Okay, here's what gets crazy. The darker your skin is, the more likely your deficiency in vitamin D. Black Americans, 82% are deficient.

[Adam Schaefer]

So this is where the numbers, because I'm, I'm more familiar with this as 60% of the population is it. So you're, you've segmented black and white because black is 80 and then your average Caucasian person is only 40 something. The blend of those two is like 60%.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

So there's more than a 50% chance that you are, that you are deficient.

[Sal DiStefano]

The odds are if you're not outside a lot, and even if you are outside a decent amount in comparison to the average person, which isn't that much, and you have darker skin like you or I, Adam, this is probably why you or I, you know, we get the same amount of sunlight as, let's say Justin or Doug, we're not going to get the same vitamin D conversion.

[Adam Schaefer]

I, I also have a theory, so I can't prove this. I don't know for sure. Right. But I, I think to understanding how the body adapts to everything else, it makes logical sense to me too, that part of why I was so deficient, because I don't think I was, you know, indoor any more so than the average person was because I got so. One, I have darker skin. Two, I also got so much of it as a kid and then as an adult, all of a sudden I went for this dramatic amount like the guy who was seven days a week. I work, I worked on a ranch and a dairy. I was always outside. I wake boarded a lot. I was outside all the time on the lake, like just all the time. And then I got into my 20s, I moved the Bay area, lived in an apartment with my grandmother, worked 12 hours a day from sun up to sundown in a gym. In a gym. And I think that, that there's something to be said too about what your body has been Used to. And then you. When you have these dramatic shifts in.

[Sal DiStefano]

Your life, you know, I don't know of any data around that, but that makes some sense to me. So I would definitely say that's a strong hypothesis. But, you know, you and I. I mean, we. We need more sun than, like I said, Justin or Doug to get the same vitamin D conversion. And we might. And here's the thing. As your skin darkens, you need more to produce the same amount of vitamin D. What I was gonna ask you is this, though. You have recently been outside quite a bit more. It's sunny, and you have a swimming pool now.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

And off air, you've been commenting how great it feels.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, I. It's gotta be. That's gotta be part of the reason why.

[Adam Schaefer]

100%. And here's the thing, too, being completely transparent with the audience. I'm. And I've always said this and shared this. Like, I'm so terrible with consistency around pills.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

So honestly, I don't consistently take my vitamin D. It's one of those things. I always go like, ah, damn it. I forgot. I'm always trying to remind myself going.

[Sal DiStefano]

Outside, too, in your bathing su. Like, most skin exposure, you know, like. Like 30 minutes. How much vitamin do you produce? It's ridiculous.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, and so that's kind of like, I'm finding that is becoming easier and better. And I feel better even from that, too.

[Sal DiStefano]

There's other benefits.

[Adam Schaefer]

Right. Because I'm getting other benefits. And so that has been really good for me, is that, hey, you know, I haven't been very consistent with taking my vitamin D pills, but I've been really consistent with getting out in my backyard, around the pool and stuff like that. And I've just felt amazing.

[Doug]

It's funny, too. Well, because we were just talking about this the other day. I think it was with Drew, how we've literally been scared out of sun exposure.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. Dude.

[Doug]

And it's just this fear and pandemonium around, like, skin cancer and this and that. And meanwhile, we're just, like, bombarding ourselves with chemicals on our skin, not thinking twice about that just to block, you know, any kind of uv.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's a. It's still a. A fight at my house. My wife still, like, she's more afraid of him getting sunburned than I am of. Of the chemicals that we're rubbing on his butt. I'm always like, can we just resist to do that?

[Sal DiStefano]

You know what they say, by the way, I looked this up. What they say with the chemical Sunscreens. They now say nobody under the age of six should use them. And they find that people who use. And there's two in particular, one of them starts with an O. Maybe Doug, you can look up the chemical based sunscreens. I think it's oxy. Something that when people use them, not like a lot, like relatively regularly, like once a week or something like that. The levels that they find in people's bodies far exceeds what the FDA even considers safe.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

Just for you.

[Justin Andrews]

Oxybenzone.

[Sal DiStefano]

Sorry, Oxybenzone. Yeah. And. And they're. And they're hormone disrupting. This is why they say don't give them to kids. This is why they say don't, you're pregnant, probably don't put it on as well. They have hormone disrupting effects. I think it was a big. I think lots of sunburns and damage is bad for you. Yeah, but that's why you, you slowly titrate it. You titrate it. Right. But not getting sun is, is. Is terrible. Way more detrimental as well. Absolutely. So. And here's what's interesting about vitamin D deficiency. A lot of the symptoms are things like fatigue, depression, anxiety. Then it can get really crazy, like weakness, pain. This was my dad. I've told this story before. My dad is not somebody who's inside all the time. Never. He's always outside. Always, always, always outside. But he's Sicilian, dark. And he started getting more back pain, more pain in his knees. And he thought because he's older, he's got arthritis. He was taking pain medication, went to the doctor, they gave him stronger pain medication and it kept getting worse. And he would tell me, he's like, oh, he's like, sal, everything hurts. I'm too old. He blamed it on age. He did a routine blood test. His vitamin D levels were.

[Doug]

Isn't that crazy?

[Sal DiStefano]

He fixed it. He fixed it within a week of taking high dose.

[Doug]

Common symptoms that you would just attribute to poor night's sleep or you like, you know, anything. I mean, this is almost associated with every drug commercial you see. Like, I'm like, I might have mild to severe Crohn's, you know, I don't know.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, you know.

[Adam Schaefer]

You know what I learned recently about vitamin D that I was unaware of too, is that you, you can load and you, you don't have to.

[Sal DiStefano]

So that's soluble.

[Adam Schaefer]

I didn't know that.

[Sal DiStefano]

I was always one 50,000iu capsule a week instead of 5,000, you know?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. I was so unaware of that. I thought I Had to be a consistent thing and I thought I would be overdosing if I did that. And so you can actually load if it's easier that way, which is better for me. Like when I remember I'll take four or five pills of it versus trying to remember to have one every single day.

[Sal DiStefano]

It's not water soluble like other nutrients. So pain, weakness, fatigue.

[Adam Schaefer]

Can it also sal, can it also be connected to low testosterone and libido too? Yes.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, yeah. Vitamin D deficiency causes hormone disruption, oftentimes frequent infections. This is a common one. When your vitamin D is low, it's just like, man, I get sick. As soon as I'm around somebody that's sick, I get sick. Why am I getting sick so often? Why are my kids getting so sick so often? Low vitamin D like kills your, your ability to fight off infection. Hair loss is another one. I had a female client who was a vegan. I've told the story before. She was a vegan and she had all these symptoms and one of them was hair loss. And she just wasn't able to get the nutrients that her body wasn't absorbing. Nutrients, well from vegan sources. Vitamin D is one of them. You know, the vitamin D you get in plant sources has to get converted to a usable form. Once she ate some I think was eggs and started supplementing with certain nutrients like the hair loss stopped for her. The things that you should eat to get vitamin D naturally, Fatty fish, this is great. Egg yolks have a decent amount. Mushrooms that, that are ones that are, that grow in the sun will give you some vitamin D. Of course it's not as good as the animal sources. But the truth is this many people probably should supplement with vitamin D. Yeah, you're probably not going to majority of people you're not going to get enough from food because you're just not in the sun nearly enough to produce the vitamin D that your body needs to produce. Next up is iron. And this is really an issue for women. It's pretty rare for a man to be deficient in iron unless he has some kind of maybe internal bleeding or something like that, something going on. Like when you get a guy with iron deficiency, they'll typically test to see if there's something going on the insides. But women lose blood every month. And 10%, that's a big number that represents, you know, tens of millions of women in America with a deficiency to iron. And what this looks like is fatigue, weakness, pale skin or lips, brain fog. So this is, this is one that you definitely, you know, want to pay attention to if you're a woman.

[Adam Schaefer]

I've always wondered if this, because this is so high in women, how connected it is to their frequency of eating red meat in comparison to a man. Oh, in my experience, training clients, even my, even my female clients that ate red meat still were very, very low amount. Like, I mean, we've all, we've talked about this many times. Almost every single client I've ever trained that's a female, I had to get her to bumper protein. And most of the time they got a lot of their, their protein from, you know, fish and chicken and turkey and still was low. And so they just didn't eat a lot of red meat. And that's the best source for you to get iron. And so do you think that there's some correlation there?

[Sal DiStefano]

Even if they eat a good amount of red meat for their diet, it's not going to be as much as a man, because they're not eating as much as many calories. And they lose blood every month. Every single month they lose blood. So that's why this deficiency is so common, by the way. You know, I just, I watched that documentary on Liver King and you know, you and I were talking about this and you see all these women who are taking the supplements that you're selling, the liver supplements. I'm, you know, I had a baby, now I'm fertile. Oh, my God, I feel so much better. I bet it's the, I bet it's the iron deficiency. Yeah, I bet it's the iron because liver is so high in iron. So red meat, chicken liver, oysters, and the plant source, which plant sources are not going to be as absorbable, so you need more lentils. Lentils. Lentils is where you would get them. Next up is vitamin B12. Now, B12, 6% of people under the age of 60 are deficient. But once you get over 60, 20% of people can be deficient, which again, this is millions and millions of people. And now check out what, say that.

[Adam Schaefer]

Again, it jumps from 6% to 20% over 60.

[Sal DiStefano]

You see a huge jump in vitamin B12.

[Adam Schaefer]

What's your thoughts?

[Sal DiStefano]

I don't know. That's a good question.

[Adam Schaefer]

Because that's, that's a, that's a big leap for a couple years. Right. The difference between testing someone at 55 versus 65 or 60 and seeing a more than double, I don't know.

[Sal DiStefano]

And I don't know if they're not absorbing as much because of their age, I'm not sure. But, but as you get older, B12 becomes more of an issue. This is a big issue, by the way, with vegans. If you're vegan, you should supplement with vitamin B12. Like, like forget about getting it from food. It's not going to happen. I know they say you can or whatever. I've never worked with a vegan who didn't have to supplement or use B12 injections to make up the difference. But check out these symptoms. Think about this, right? 20% of people over 60, B12 deficient. Here's the symptoms, and you guys tell me if this doesn't sound like people saying, I'm just getting older. Fatigue, neuralgia. So nerve pain, tingling, or numbness and memory loss. You could be, you could be 70 experiencing some of this stuff and be like, I'm just getting older. When in fact it might just be, you need more B12.

[Adam Schaefer]

Check out what Doug just pulled up.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. Decreased stomach acid production in the aging process, which impacts the body's ability, ability to absorb the vitamin. There you go. That would be it right there. Yeah. People over 60 like B12 shots. If you're not deficient in B12 and you get a B12 shot, you're not gonna feel anything. If you're deficient in B12 and you get a B12 shot, life changing. I had, I had clients, I've had.

[Adam Schaefer]

Vegan clients where I just put them on the pill and all of a sudden they're like, oh, my God. Yeah. They think it's like miraculous. It's like, that's not that way for everybody. Yeah, that's just you.

[Sal DiStefano]

I had, I had some clients in this age group that would go and get a B12 shot, and they're like, it feels like you just took 10 years off my life.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

Because again, the symptoms, Fatigue. Well, maybe you're getting older. Neuralgia, nerve pain, tingling is very common in people as they're older. Like, oh, my sciatica or my hands go numb, sleeping or whatever and then memory loss. All reversible just by feeling this, this nutrient. Next up would be calcium. General population, 30%. By the way, the reason why this number is probably so high is because calcium has been, you know, minerals have been becoming more and more depleted from our food sources.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

And you know, the big place you get this, A lot of people's dairy. So we're going to get a lot of this, this nutrient. 50% of women over 50 are deficient in calcium. And adolescents. 40%. 40% for adolescents. What does this look like? Muscle cramps, heart palpitations, that's another one. You could start getting irregular heartbeats and then weak bones. We know this, of course.

[Adam Schaefer]

So why the bell curve? Why, why, why the high with the adolescence, Then it slows down, then it peaks again. What, what's the thought?

[Sal DiStefano]

I think adolescents, because they're growing so much, they require more calcium.

[Adam Schaefer]

Okay, that makes sense.

[Sal DiStefano]

I think with women it has to do with their hormones. I do believe that their hormones play a role in how they can use and absorb the calcium. I will say this. If you are taking calcium to strengthen your bones, they will get only as strong as the deficiency the deficiency being solved provides. But they won't get any stronger unless you give your bones a reason to get stronger. In other words, strength training. Yeah, you got a strength train to make that happen. So, so those, There you have it. Those are the most common ones that we're finding people. Oh, and then of course, I said dairy sardine, by the way, you know, where's a good place to get calcium sardines because of the bones.

[Adam Schaefer]

But, and by the way, I love that you chose this as a fitness talk, because I don't feel like we've really talked in depth about this in a while. And if you've been listening to this show for a very long time, you know that we have kind of, I mean, we, we opened or began coming out talking about how little supplements make an impact. But here's a great example of where this can be life changing for somebody. And this is where I, you know, later in my career, I figured this out. It wasn't the, the fat burner or the muscle building supplement that, that was new and cutting edge that was really making the difference. It was finding out where my clients were deficient in these nutrients that they needed and then getting them to supplement that, which, by the way, is really inexpensive. Right. Super cheap. All these supplements are very, very cheap and, or can be found in food most of the time or natural places like the sunlight. And so these were areas that I could point them in that would really make an impact on their performance. And they're building their muscle and burning body fat, their sleep hormones, all the above. And that will move the needle far more than the latest muscle building fat burning supplement that's out there. Yet we tend to neglect this. Like, I, I don't know how many people hired me and they wanted the fat burning supplement or the, and it's like, have you tested for, if you have any nutrient deficiencies? Are you supplementing with magnesium, vitamin D, any of these things?

[Doug]

Magnesium wasn't that another high one?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, magnesium. Yeah. I was surprised you didn't put that one in there because that one's really high. Is that because it's less detrimental?

[Sal DiStefano]

No, we've talked about it so much. That's, I mean, that's another common one.

[Adam Schaefer]

Because it was, that was a big one for me personally.

[Sal DiStefano]

You'll know, by the way, if you have magnesium deficiency, you take magnesium, you'll know.

[Doug]

Oh, it's.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

And it's, it's like 60% of the population similar to vitamin D are deficient in it. And it is a very easy one even if you don't go take the test. I really think the. Taking Ned's product, right. You take that made a Mellow. Mellow at night was like the first time I took that, you felt it within 15 minutes. It was that night of sleep. I was like, I had, I had to keep retesting, like, no way. It was, that was so impactful. And again, it wasn't that. There's something so magical about, you know, the Ned. It was that, oh, okay, I was deficient there. Obviously they have a good product that is delivering top of the line type of magnesium. That's really where it, where it was. Yeah, but it made a huge impact.

[Sal DiStefano]

No, and just to, just to support what you're saying about their product, magnesium, interesting, because you can get, you can take magnesium, like magnesium citrate, for example, I think, and you're not going to absorb a lot of it. It's just going to be a laxative, which is fine. It's actually a natural laxative, if that's what you want. But there are other forms of magnesium that are more bioavailable and for different parts of the body. So there are forms of magnesium that will be utilized by the brain more and other parts, brain barrier. So what Ned did with mellow is they included different forms of magnesium, all magnesium, but different forms that have been shown to have different efficacies for different parts of the body. So that's why their product.

[Adam Schaefer]

And again, it's a real. If you don't, you know, it's probably an equal investment to go get your blood work or a panel done or just go try testing at one time and you, you will, if you're deficient.

[Doug]

You will assume more, more of the minerals would be the most elusive. Because if, if, say you're not getting that in our soil, like, how are you going to compensate?

[Sal DiStefano]

Have you guys seen that? You guys have seen that, right? Where they, where they're comparing Like a, like a tomato today versus 30 years ago.

[Doug]

Way different.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. The soil is depleted because we replace what is required in the soil on depending grow the plants. Not what we've.

[Doug]

No, we've taken out of the topsoil. We need the enriched, like mineral dense soil.

[Sal DiStefano]

What we've done is we've actually, we've bred fruits and vegetables to be higher in energy, lower in nutrients. In other words, more carbohydrates.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

Because we like things to taste sweet.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

But less nutrient dense. So it's like we're getting fatter and you know, although I won't say we're getting fat from fruits and vegetables, but you get my point.

[Doug]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

You get my whole point.

[Doug]

It's not helping.

[Sal DiStefano]

No, no, no, no. So, but yeah, here's the thing too. With a multivitamin, like a good high quality multivitamin that covers all the bases, is inexpensive. If you get a good one, pretty.

[Doug]

Much everybody should be taking one.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. If you get a really good multivitamin, it's like what, 30, 40 bucks a month. The data on multivitamins, we actually have good studies now on these better ones that we had 10 years ago. And it's like it lowers your risk of dementia, lowers your risk of heart disease, lowers your risk of falling and hurting yourself, lowers your risk of infection, chronic illness. And again, it's not because the multivitamins magic, but because people probably are lacking a nutrient or two and your body's not going to wear. You talk about building muscle, burning body fat. You tell me how effectively you can build muscle with a B12 deficiency or vitamin D deficiency.

[Doug]

Good luck.

[Sal DiStefano]

It's just. It's just not gonna happen. Anyway, speaking of studies, I found a really interesting study that I want to bring up on the show so we could shed some light on it because I think some people are gonna get the wrong idea of why this particular study showed.

[Adam Schaefer]

Is it new?

[Sal DiStefano]

A positive effect? Relatively new. So this particular study, it was in Science Daily and this is a small clinical. So I'll read what the findings were. A small clinical study found that including craved foods. So a diet that include the kinds of foods that the diet participants craved, like sweets, for example, imbalanced meals, reduced cravings and boosted weight loss in obese dieters with chronic health issues, which. And then they said in the finding challenges restrictive diet norms. Okay, so let me ask you guys this as coaches and trainers. Why do you think including some of these foods in a person's diet and said balanced meals, meaning they were still.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's a psychological part. Because you're telling them they can. That's why. And it's. And I think the biggest quotation or key to this, that statement is the. With balanced meals, right?

[Sal DiStefano]

It's like, so, still eating healthy?

[Doug]

Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

If you're. Yeah. If you're, if you're eating healthy, you're eating balance. You're. You're pairing your proteins with your carbohydrates. And then in addition to that, you allow the, the client who has a craving or a type of food that they love and really enjoy, you give them that. I mean, listen, it's like how we've always coached with the parameters, like, well, I won't tell a client. No, you can't have it. Just do this first for me.

[Sal DiStefano]

That's right.

[Adam Schaefer]

And that's such a powerful way to tell a client they can. But what you find out, they end up doing. And sometimes they do. Sometimes they eat the food and they still enjoy the dessert or whatever. But at least I know they're getting what their body needs to support the strength training that we're doing to build muscle and hopefully those additional calories, some get partitioned to building muscle. And I'm okay.

[Sal DiStefano]

And what you're also doing is you're avoiding the inevitable. Well, yeah, the rebellion that happens when somebody feels this is all psychological. This is not a physiological thing that's happening when a diet is balanced and proper. The psychological effect of feeling so restricted that you feel like you're in a cage. And I hate this, and I'm doing it and I hate it and I do it. And then eventually, for whatever reason, there's a million different reasons you break free of that. And it's like a teenager that rebels against their parents. Like, the teenagers are raised with super strict parents and they go off to college and they end up doing all kinds of crazy party, like, dude, what's it.

[Adam Schaefer]

What was the thought behind. Would you. When you read a study like that, do you. What do you look like, you know, who put it on? What was the desired outcome? What were they trying to do? I'm always curious about stuff like that. Like, what's. What was the desired outcome of that study?

[Sal DiStefano]

I don't think. I don't know if they had a desired outcome. I think that they were trying to test the hypothesis that this would result in better results versus worse results.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, really? Because I feel like almost every time we have a snack, what do you.

[Sal DiStefano]

Think this is like a, like a snack food company?

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, there's no.

[Sal DiStefano]

That's not a bad point.

[Adam Schaefer]

Listen, studies aren't cheap to conduct, and so. So they have to be funded by somebody who has somewhat of an agenda, regardless if it's a good agenda or.

[Doug]

Somebody'S got to benefit from it.

[Adam Schaefer]

Exactly. Somebody, in order for you to go, hey, you know what? I'm going to spend $50,000 on conducting a study that shows that that either proves or doesn't prove this thing. You. In order to put money towards that, you normally have to have some sort of bias or. Or a reason behind it. And so I just had a curiosity. I'm. Who funded that study? Because I wouldn't be surprised. It was fucking Nabisco. You know what I'm saying? And that's like, of course.

[Sal DiStefano]

I'll see if. Let me see if I can find out. That's really interesting. That's not a bad point, dude. Yeah, that's not at all.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, let's. Let's play this game. Who else would want to do that?

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. Yeah. Let me see. This study was reported in Science Daily. Let's see who conducted it. It was conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, that doesn't mean anything. It's who funded.

[Sal DiStefano]

Hold on. The study was funded by the nih National Institutes of Health.

[Adam Schaefer]

Okay, now, and where do they get. Where do they get their funding?

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, of course.

[Adam Schaefer]

What does NIH get their funding.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, we know that. Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

So, I mean, that.

[Sal DiStefano]

Although. Although the findings make sense.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, yeah, I can. Logically, I can. I can, you know, play mental gymnastics with you and. And explain why you could get it to turn out that way.

[Sal DiStefano]

Imagine twisting it, too. You're like adding a Pop Tart to your diet has been shown in studies to make your way.

[Adam Schaefer]

I could easily spin it like that. And of course, if I'm selling those things, it'd be called the Crave Food.

[Sal DiStefano]

Study, by the way.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, crave.

[Sal DiStefano]

Just wait for a. Wait for a company to come out with a crave diet. Crave food.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, I just. You got to read between the lines, people.

[Sal DiStefano]

You know, it's not bad, dude.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, it has to be, like, it's unfortunate. And I know. Like, I remember. I remember when we talked to. To Lane about this, and I get his. His defense to that is like, well, who else is going to put the studies right? Right? So we.

[Sal DiStefano]

We.

[Adam Schaefer]

So they're always going to have a little bit of bias, and that's fair. And so I'm not like, oh, just dismiss the study because Nabisco paid for it. But I mean, you just have to take a little bit with a grain of salt or go like. Well, the way they're going to report it is probably leaning a little more this way. And. Okay, there's a good point to be made there. Like, you made. I think you make a very good point. Like, yeah, there's. I can see the psychology and how that makes sense. We would. I don't. We don't tell our clients, no, you can't have any of those foods.

[Sal DiStefano]

Right. Because. Because here's what's not happening in that study. I can guarantee I don't have to look at it. I guarantee it's not two identical diets. This side adds the crave foods and loses more weight. That's not what happens. What they're doing is they're giving them parameters. Hey, guys, try to eat healthy. Try and stay within this.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes.

[Sal DiStefano]

This group. To, like, don't go off the diet at all. This group, they're like, occasionally include a small piece of your favorite food.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes.

[Sal DiStefano]

And then that's going to work because they're not going to feel so restricted.

[Adam Schaefer]

100%. So, of course it's being set up.

[Sal DiStefano]

That's awesome.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

Hey, I want. I want to let you guys. So I've been. I've been counting my. Or tracking my steps because.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, God, don't do that to yourself.

[Sal DiStefano]

No, no, no. Actually, it's better than I thought.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, that's good.

[Doug]

It is, I think, getting it back.

[Sal DiStefano]

Well, it's better than I thought.

[Adam Schaefer]

What's our little walk do? A thousand.

[Sal DiStefano]

You know what? I haven't calculated just our walk, but you know what I'm averaging every day?

[Doug]

A thousand.

[Sal DiStefano]

It's less. It's more than I thought. I thought I was way lower than this, but it's probably because when I go home, I don't see it a lot.

[Adam Schaefer]

When I'm at home, I'm constantly chasing two kids.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. And I'm playing and I'm doing stuff. And so I'm averaging on the days that we work, about 7,000.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's not bad.

[Sal DiStefano]

Which isn't bad. It's embarrassing for a fitness person, but it's not bad for the average person.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, for a guy that makes a living sitting on a podcast, it's not bad.

[Sal DiStefano]

That's not bad.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. It'd be different if you were training clients. I mean, if we were training clients.

[Sal DiStefano]

We'Re all, you know, my average is when I'm not. When I'm not working. Oh, it's at least double. At least double. I'm like 14. 14. Oh, when you're not working, I'm not working. Yeah. When I'm like on the days off and stuff.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, wow.

[Sal DiStefano]

I'm hitting like, you know, between 30,000.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, I would. You know what? I'd probably make the same case. I would make the same case. I'm really like, when I'm home with Katrina, we're outside in the pool, we're swimming, we're taking walks, we're doing all that stuff like that here. I can really easily have a. I haven't tracked in a while, but when I was tracking, I could really easily have a 3,000 step day. Easily if just by getting in the car, driving here, sitting in here, even doing our little walk and then go home and if I call it like a day.

[Sal DiStefano]

You just chilling?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, I'm just chilling. It'll be 3, 000 steps tops. And that's.

[Sal DiStefano]

Well, I, I'm gonna try. I'm gonna try and hit the lowest 8, 000, because what the studies show on 8, 000 that you get 80 of the benefits of walking at about 8, 000 steps. So that's gonna be my minimum.

[Adam Schaefer]

No, I. So this is a cool conversation, I guess because I feel like this is kind of a. I don't know, the most recent thing I've. I've noticed in my exercise, health, fitness, whatever is that, you know, as I've gotten older, I've really honed in on without even my tracker. No, I just know because I've tracked so much out of all of us, I'm sure I've tracked the most when it comes to activity and steps and all that shit. So I'm pretty, I'm pretty like, aware of like, oh, yeah, that's probably a 3,000 step day. And, oh, that was a really good day. And I've really learned to just organically adjust my diet to that. Like, I'm really aware.

[Sal DiStefano]

Are you. Are you now are. You've talked about this and I think this is awesome. So are so. So in other words, you're. You're feeling your movement. Yeah. You're reducing your intake. What a great way to put it, Fueling your movement. You're reducing your intake when your activity is lower. But are you trying to stay consistent with protein?

[Adam Schaefer]

No.

[Sal DiStefano]

Okay.

[Adam Schaefer]

No. And I could be better about that. Right.

[Sal DiStefano]

It's mostly just eat.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. And to be honest with you, like, and I, and I know that would be the next level of being better. Right. But I'm, I'm always like, you Know what's, the, what's the least I can do, right? What's, and this is a, this is like the least effort. I know. Well, you know what I noticed that.

[Sal DiStefano]

He did the least amount.

[Doug]

Maximized.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. Well, I mean is, it's like what I've noticed is that, you know, at the bare minimum what I'm not doing is putting on body fat in those, those times of lower activity. Definitely not building muscle. I might even be losing a little bit. But I've even noticed like, and I don't know if this is attributed to age and years under the iron, if and, or, or I've just matured in fitness is because when I was a kid or younger, I should say in my 20s, and I didn't work out for a week or two and I didn't hit my protein, I didn't eat like that, it, I was certain muscle was falling off of me like by the day. I don't feel like that anymore. I, I feel like I've got a decent base that I put on. I'm nowhere near where I could be and I know, but I feel like the thing that will get me now as I've aged is if I overeat and under and under move, I can put on body fat.

[Sal DiStefano]

I firmly believe, and I've seen this in and clients of mine who are very muscular when they're young and stay consistent and all that stuff. I firmly believe the longer you have a certain amount of muscle on your body, the, the, the more likely it is to stick to your body. Now you can always lose muscle. You could always. But I think, you know, I, like I had, like I've talked about this before. I had mail carrier family members who were retired and they're like sedentary. They always have these big calves that they develop when they were, you know, and, and blue collar worker, you know, in my family, forearms, they stop working, they're retired. And the rest of them, you could tell, gets out of shape, loose and bus. But the areas that they had built so much kind of sticks around, you know.

[Adam Schaefer]

To Justin commenting on like, which is movement aware. Is that what you said?

[Sal DiStefano]

Feed the movement?

[Adam Schaefer]

No, no, no, you say, you said I'm very movement aware. Aware of your mood. What do you say? And you told him, you said, oh, that was great. That's a great way to say that.

[Sal DiStefano]

That's what he said.

[Adam Schaefer]

Feel my feel. Feel your feel your movement along those lines. The other thing that I, that I, I do now that I'm older, that I didn't do as well before. And even when I'm like, not in the context of not training, consistently hitting protein perfectly, I'm really aware of my posture. So this hit me just like two nights ago. I. I was putting Max down and I was sitting in. Sitting in his bed, and I'm, like, rubbing his back, and I'm just kind of sitting there and I could feel my posture. And I'll actively activate my core and adjust and say. And I'm. I can feel myself working.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

And it's like I play those mental games all day, all the time.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

And I thought, you know, that's something I gotta bring up. I gotta bring that up on the podcast is like a small hack that. And I really. It's like one of those things that. It's not gonna make me anything in that moment, but over time, being aware of all those things in the. In the.

[Doug]

It adds up, man.

[Adam Schaefer]

It adds up. And probably prolongs what. I mean, we all start looking. And the reason why is I felt like I was looking like a shrimp. I felt like I was like this.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

You know, and I'm like. I'm like rubbing it. Right. Literally, I felt. I felt. And I felt my low back, and I went, oh, God. You know, and I just act. And then sat there actively.

[Sal DiStefano]

I do that too. But I'm always like, do I look big right now? So I try to make myself look jacked all the time.

[Doug]

You know, just that external rotation of the shoulders. I just noticed that so much going through the series and just. Just even one side versus the other. And I'm noticing, like, my left side. I'm, like, always having to actively, consciously pull back. And if I don't. And I don't, like, consciously do that just gets excessive. And then I feel the pain of it, and it's like.

[Sal DiStefano]

Well, we've all had clients like that where I don't. I mean, I've had a lot of. I had a lot of elderly clients. And they. They. Your body starts to shape.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. And. And it gets. Some of it becomes permanent.

[Doug]

You know, I mean, I had my slow drip, too. And, you know, it just. It accelerates in that state because you just. You keep adding on to it, you know, that.

[Sal DiStefano]

That you don't see this as maybe you still do, but, you know, it's like an old, you know, I guess meme. You might want to consider it like. Like these, like, older women with the humpback. I remember my grandmother started developing what My great grandmother definitely had one. You know what that comes from poor posture combined with weak bones. And the weak bones start to shape, they start to fracture and shape.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

Into this, this position that you can't even fix even with strength.

[Adam Schaefer]

And what that, what that is too, that is they didn't wake up one day. And look at that. That is years and years and years of that poor posture, lack of exercise, lack of core strengthening. And so that's kind of like, now that I'm at this age, I think about that so much more than I probably did in my 20s. And I have moments all day long where I catch that. And it's like, you know, I don't know if I've ever brought that up on the podcast or not. Like, how for the average listener who's trying to pursue health and fitness, it's like, to me, that that's part of this game is like, there's going to be thousands of those moments for the rest of my life. And if, and it's not like, that was a lot of work for me to do that, but it's being aware of that moment and how easily I could have just been and just done that for another time versus me thinking about it going, oh, God. And then getting in that position and then holding that. Like, that's work. My core is having to work. I'm actively firing those muscles to get back in a good posture. And like, it's not hard work. I'm not building a bunch of muscle, but I'm at least working against that, that, that over time. Shrimping, you know.

[Sal DiStefano]

You know, my wife recommends, at one point, she was really, really hyper flexible because when she was traveling with the, with the circus, and she said a little, a little trick you could do is when you're sitting, let's say you're watching TV or you're reading something, place yourself in a mild stretch. So like, extend your leg, feel it just enough. Not, not nothing that'll make you uncomfortable. Just enough. And just start practicing sitting that way because you're going to sit there anyway and, and you'll slowly develop more ability.

[Adam Schaefer]

I totally do stuff like that. 90.

[Doug]

90?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes.

[Sal DiStefano]

Really?

[Adam Schaefer]

90. 90 on the couch.

[Doug]

You just sit like that in front of the couch?

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. Oh, wow.

[Adam Schaefer]

I, I, I, I intentionally sit down. And now that I got the mobility of the ability to sit in that deep squad, I put myself in that.

[Sal DiStefano]

Just while you're doing stuff?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. Max and I, we do Legos all the time, and he always does it on the coffee table. And I, I always sit in a square.

[Sal DiStefano]

So my Wife. My wife bought a chair that goes on the floor. And she's like, oh, this is for you. And I'm like, like, why am I.

[Doug]

Gonna sit on the floor one day?

[Sal DiStefano]

And I'm like, oh, I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to get me to be smart. My mobility by sitting on the floor. Dude. Yeah, dude. That little Turkish.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's funny.

[Doug]

Yesterday, so we were doing our, like, we were meeting with our, our staff.

[Sal DiStefano]

And we were doing.

[Doug]

And you're doing the sales training. I was doing a little bit of, like, core activation training. And it was funny because, like, I'm. I'm going through and kind of showing them, you know, techniques with their clients and whatnot. And I couldn't help but remember that, that, that, that Brokeback bodybuilder movie that Michael Hearn's in.

[Sal DiStefano]

Oh, bro.

[Doug]

So. Because I'm like, I'm like, feel my abs.

[Adam Schaefer]

Let's do that with Cole.

[Doug]

And Kyle called me out on these fields.

[Sal DiStefano]

Oh, because you're trying to.

[Adam Schaefer]

Activation, bro. I'm.

[Doug]

Thank you for making me watch that.

[Sal DiStefano]

Movie, by the way.

[Adam Schaefer]

So glad you brought that. I know I made all. I am. This is me calling you out, Mike. I mean, the fact that we're homies and that we sat down and had an hour and a half or however long podcast it was, and you talked about that movie and never once did you hint to, like, the, your character. Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

Little heads up would have been cool.

[Adam Schaefer]

Like a mild heads up on what I was getting myself into. And I couldn't believe what I saw when I watched it. I had no idea because I felt like he did not. I felt like that he didn't warn us. I feel like it warrants at least a heads up to your homies. Like, oh, by the way, by the.

[Sal DiStefano]

Way, you'll see my, See my naked.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cheeked out.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. Slept with a dude.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes. Yeah, dude. I feel like that's like a minor detail.

[Doug]

Just a little one.

[Adam Schaefer]

So I, I. So Katrina was like, she's so wanted. She listened to the interview, right?

[Sal DiStefano]

She's like, I want to watch it.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. It's just like, hey, I want to watch that Michael Hearn. I'm like, oh, cool. Support the homie. Let's, you know, buy it, right? So I just go ahead, buy it, Mike, and put it on, whatever. And she. We're watching it. We're like 30 minutes in. We haven't seen Mike yet. I'm like, where the fuck? Where is he at? I'm like, well, let's just fast. Let's get to where his part is so we can see it, you know? Yeah. So I'm fast forward. I'm fast. But I watched a good solid 30 to 40 minutes of it, and we still hadn't seen him. And it was late at night, and I'm like, I want to see where. I mean, the only reason why I paid for this thing is see my boy. You know, let's see what he does. Right? So she fast forwards, and then, like, you know, I'm. She's doing it, like, slow, so I'm like, watching the scenes. And she's like, have you seen him yet? I'm like, no, no, keep going, keep going. And then the. You know, there's a. He's, like half naked, posing, right? Oh, there he is.

[Sal DiStefano]

You know what I'm saying?

[Adam Schaefer]

Stop right there. And it's like, that's the scene. I mean, that is the scene. He's posing, then the guy and the. What's funny is it's a really long scene with this slow music. And Katrina and I, she's like. She's like, this is. Katrina goes, this is really. This is odd music for this scene. And I'm like, yeah, I really get.

[Sal DiStefano]

They wanted it.

[Adam Schaefer]

I go. I really get the sense.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

And then. And then he goes, go ahead, touch my abs. And then I'm like, and then. And then.

[Sal DiStefano]

Which isn't too weird for bodybuilding.

[Adam Schaefer]

No, it's not crazy the way they show. But they. But they let him tell. Yeah, yeah.

[Doug]

I don't go to these.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. And I thought it was like, he was gonna laugh. Yeah, yeah. He's gonna laugh on his way. So he doesn't laugh. And then the look that Mike has given him, I'm like, I'm not sure what that look is right now.

[Sal DiStefano]

Oh, I knew right away, dude.

[Adam Schaefer]

You did?

[Sal DiStefano]

Yes, right away.

[Adam Schaefer]

So I did it. I gave him the bit of the doubt because he didn't. Because he didn't tell us. Because I felt like that would be. I would tell you guys real quick. Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

So you know.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. Oh, by the way, who.

[Sal DiStefano]

So. So backstage bodybuilding shows are weird because you get all oiled up. Like, who oiled you up? But backstage.

[Doug]

Yeah. Let's talk about this.

[Sal DiStefano]

Was there a dude or a girl back there?

[Adam Schaefer]

So I think you don't get oiled up backstage.

[Sal DiStefano]

You go, okay, fine. Where did you paint you.

[Adam Schaefer]

So you rollers, like, you get spray painted, and you don't get oiled in physique.

[Sal DiStefano]

Oh, okay. So there's no oil.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah. You just. You just. You just literally, you just. I don't think anybody really oils anymore. It's probably like the 80s. They did bodybuilding.

[Sal DiStefano]

They don't oil up.

[Adam Schaefer]

You don't need to oil up. You. The spray tan gives you enough of that. So honestly, the. The biggest, like, the biggest aha moment of, like, this. The stuff you're asking about is however dark you think you should be, you need to be 10 times darker. So the mistake that every. You always know who the guy is on his first show because he gets out there and he put one application. Oh, yeah. Even like, 3. 3 applications is not enough. And so he gets out there, and he looks pale white compared to everybody else. So you have to be. Those bright lights really illuminates. You got to be dark. Dark. And so, yeah, it's really just.

[Doug]

You say, reminds me of Brandon Schaub and Joe Rogan we're talking about. That's like as close to black face as a lot of white dudes could get away with.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, it's very much.

[Doug]

You, like, you get really dark.

[Adam Schaefer]

You get dark. I mean, even the black guys are. Are also. Oh, yeah, they get spray. Can't spray tan, too. That's how much. How. How dark you need to be in order.

[Sal DiStefano]

Did I ever tell you guys, when I. One day we did it one time, we did a giveaway at one of the gyms that I managed to. And it was like, first place was like five sessions of training. And then second, it was like third place was. It was like 10 visits at the tanning salon. And so we're giving away the awards. And I'm doing this for the whole gym.

[Adam Schaefer]

Gave it to a black.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. And the winner for the tent. And I called.

[Adam Schaefer]

I would pay so much money to see your face. As he comes walking up, he came out.

[Sal DiStefano]

He's like, just literally, he said, I'm not gonna use that. Whatever.

[Adam Schaefer]

Speed. Speaking of coaching training or whatever like that. Our group coaching is coming to an end. We're getting ready to roll the next two. I walked by, I hear Cole talking to one of our clients in there, who was so excited. She had lost six inches on her waist, and she started.

[Sal DiStefano]

Is this from the current group, Transform Group six.

[Adam Schaefer]

Since she's done that girl, that is.

[Sal DiStefano]

So we're doing two groups. This time we have a fat loss one and a muscle.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, it's already. It's filling up already.

[Sal DiStefano]

It's 50 people each. So by the time this airs, we'll see if it' so if it's not there, maybe we could put you on a wait list for the next one.

[Doug]

Looks like there's equal interest on both.

[Adam Schaefer]

There is surprise.

[Sal DiStefano]

And you're coached by mind pump trainers. This isn't like, this is literal. And we pop in, we'll pop in every once in a while. But it's mind pump trainers that are doing the coaching and they take you through everything, programming, diet, the whole deal. Yeah. Which is pretty cool.

[Adam Schaefer]

And we just, we. This is officially the third time we've done this. The first time we experimented with the GLP1, we had such great feedback from that. They were like, okay, there's something here that we can help people. The second one was this transform group. It was incredible. We keep hearing incredible results. Like weeks ago, Kyle came in and like the average person had lost two and a half, three inches. That was weeks ago. And then you have examples of people losing 6 inches. So that's been incredible. And so this time it's. We're going to do two groups. So there's like a. And it works because everybody's kind of focused on the, on the same thing. So it's like, it's a little bit easier to help everybody collect together. So it's almost like you get a taste of this. Almost like having personal one on one training, but in a group setting, which I actually am finding that I think the accountability from the group, I think people are. The feedback I'm getting is that they're really liking that. So you get this one on one attention from the trainer because the trainers are answering everybody's questions and helping everybody and guidance nutritionally, all the above. But then you also have this accountability of that we're all doing this together. I don't want to be the person who doesn't. Doesn't do the thing, you know, so it's awesome. Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

I gotta, you know, I gotta apologize to you, Adam. This doesn't happen very often, but I got to apologize for you. Years ago, I don't know if you remember this on the podcast. Years ago. It's got to be nine years ago at least.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, wow.

[Sal DiStefano]

Were you wrong where you would say carbon dating? No. Dinosaurs aren't real? No, no.

[Doug]

You said, you said chicken bones.

[Sal DiStefano]

You said you would say on the podcast that that there. The most wisdom you've ever gotten was from reading the Bible. Life wisdom. Yes, just life wisdom. And back then I used to make fun of you. This one. I'm atheist. I love making fun of you over it. Well, today I'm reading Right now, the book of Job. So people aren't familiar. It's like one of the oldest written books and it's a crazy story. It's about this man who is good. He does everything right and then God lets the devil basically take everything from the sky and make him sick. And the whole time the guy refuses to curse God and he continues to stay faithful even though his friends are telling him, his wife is telling him, and he's lost everything. But what's interesting about this is, yes, there's like stuff about, you know, the Christian faith in there that you'll get, but there's wisdom in there about how to be with people while they're suffering. So here's this man, he's lost everything. He lost his kids, he was wealthy, he lost, he's got boils all over his body. His friends come to hang out with them and the way that they're, they're. And they're there to support him, but instead what they're doing is they're telling him why he's wrong. No, you probably did something wrong, you probably sinned, you just, you must deserve this or something. And he keeps telling him, no, I did nothing wrong. And they're hammering. And at one point in the book of Job, he tells his friends, you guys are terrible. You're not comforting me at all. You're not helping me, you're not telling me anything I don't know. And it made me think of how you can. The best ways to be with friends, this is whether you're religious or not. The best way to be with friends when they're suffering is not to tell them why they're suffering or what they did wrong, but just to be with them. Yeah, just to be with them and just to sit with them through their suffering.

[Adam Schaefer]

So now that I. You have an open mind to that, right?

[Sal DiStefano]

It's so good. I was like, as I was reading this, oh my God.

[Adam Schaefer]

So I'll add a layer to that since we, we've now gone past that right now that you maybe trust me a little bit with that advice. I would even go on to say this and I don't know if you ever went on a kick like this. I read a lot of self help books too. So like I was, I was raised on, on a lot of biblical things. As a young 20 year old I, I went down the, you know, the Tony Robbins angle and a lot of self help stuff. So I've read Wayne Dyers, you name it, I've read a lot of it. And I Love that stuff. Right. I think there's a lot of value to get there. What I realized going through a lot of that later on in my life too is name me. Anybody listening right now. Name me your favorite or your most impactful self help book and I'll show you that it's derived from.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Stuff that was taught in the Bible and they've put some secular spin on it so that you don't feel like you're being preached to or whatever the thing that keeps people from picking that book up. But I think that even if you are a non believer, take the esoteric stuff out of it, whatever you want out of it, and read it with an open mind like that, it has the answer to everything you run into.

[Sal DiStefano]

Well, Christians would say all truth is God's truth. I apply this to fitness. So the way we learn how to train clients, that took us years. This took me 10 years to figure out. So this was like I learned the hard way. But the most effective way to train clients is, was to help them on the journey. But really what I did that was effective was I helped them give themselves grace through the failures. Through the failures. It was, it's grace based fitness is what I've heard people refer to it as. And that's the entire story of the Bible. And so you're pointing up, you're trying to be better, you're trying to be better, you're trying to be like, you know, God wants, but you're going to fail because that's what happens. But he gives you grace every single time.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

So yeah, no 100%. Justin. I read up on Soviet contributions. The Soviet Union's contributions to strength training.

[Doug]

Oh yeah, great subject.

[Sal DiStefano]

I did not know half, so I knew that they did you guys talk.

[Adam Schaefer]

About it all the time. What are you talking about?

[Sal DiStefano]

Yes, but I got it all put together for me. I used Grok to do this. It's a tool or whatever and it pieced a couple of things together that were just so glaring. They're the ones that really invented periodization.

[Doug]

Oh yeah, yeah. It doesn't surprise me. But yeah, I didn't really pinpoint, you.

[Sal DiStefano]

Know, how everybody was strength training before, before the, the Iron Curtain came down and the coaches from the Soviet Union came over and taught everybody, you know, what they used to do. They would just train one rep maxes and just train hard. That's all they did. The Soviets were the one that pioneers and really pioneered, understood how to periodize, how to take. No, no, we're gonna go I know you feel good, but we're gonna go through an easy training block. Yeah. And then we're going through hard. They're also the ones that created cycles of training, mesocycles and microcycles. Like, this is your micro cycle, this is your mesocycle.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

They're the ones that came up with it. And they were also the first ones to look at the psychological impact.

[Doug]

Wow.

[Sal DiStefano]

Of training, which is really crazy.

[Adam Schaefer]

Mesocycle sounds Russian to me. And I mean, it's interesting to me that we use that as much as we know about adaptation and evolution. You would think that we would have been wiser than that than to think to just go as hard as you can lift. Like, I don't know. I mean, it's hard for me to.

[Sal DiStefano]

It doesn't feel. It doesn't feel intuitive to me that if I want to get better, I'm going to go keep training hard rather than, oh, I feel good, I should trade hard today. Like, no, no, no. This. We're going to train for the next three.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, it doesn't mean like.

[Doug]

Well, they're the first country that really took a national approach.

[Sal DiStefano]

Oh, yeah.

[Doug]

You know.

[Sal DiStefano]

Oh, they paint this.

[Doug]

This scientific communist.

[Sal DiStefano]

They made a science laboratory.

[Doug]

Yeah. I mean, yes, of course, like, the. The peds made their way in there as well. But it's like, we get so much scientific practice out of that and usefulness.

[Sal DiStefano]

No. So what Ha. So here's the thing, okay. When one of the benefits they had is they had this national attention, this organized focus, and they put the best scientists on it, and they made weightlifting scientific. That's diet psychology, strain training technique. They treated technique like an actual skill, and they broke it all down. But then what happened, the Iron Curtain came down, is those coaches came over here, and then now you have the benefits of capitalism. You have the benefits that we have. So now the best weightlifters can come from all over the place as a result, but they focus their attention. I mean, the Soviets studied herbs and plants like crazy because they didn't care if it was a pharmaceutical that could make them money or not. To them, it was about, we want our athletes to show the superiority.

[Doug]

Does it not make a difference?

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, dude. Like rhodiola, which is a. An adaptogen. The Soviets investigated and studied that for their soldiers. They gave it to soldiers because they saw that when they gave it to rats, they could swim farther before, you know, drowning. And they're like, oh, our soldiers should use this Wasn't that.

[Adam Schaefer]

I remember that was. That study was crazy. Too. The amount that they could swim was dramatic, wasn't it?

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

You remember what it was?

[Sal DiStefano]

No, I don't.

[Adam Schaefer]

I think you've shared it on here before. Yeah, I thought it was because it's. They did it with time before they would. They would put them in a bucket, and if without it, they would only.

[Sal DiStefano]

Terrible study.

[Adam Schaefer]

I know. It's like, that's the thing about over there. So the way we found a lot of this information is pretty up and cruel.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, dude.

[Adam Schaefer]

But, yeah, look that up, Doug. Look at the rat, I believe. Yes. I remember the first. Are you. I'm pretty sure it was you who read it.

[Sal DiStefano]

It might have been.

[Adam Schaefer]

And. And I remember it wasn't. It was like, I can't remember how long the rats could swim for, but the. The amount of time was, like, dramatic.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, it was a big difference.

[Adam Schaefer]

Huge.

[Sal DiStefano]

Rhodiola is a pretty interesting adaptogenic herb. It has. I mean, we now have lots of studies, u. S. Studies that show it's how efficacious it is. It's. It's a classic adaptogen. Ashwagandha is another one that shows. Ashwagandha, I would say, is better for people who are under a lot of stress. Rhodiola being under a lot of stress with rhodiola might not be as good. Rhodioli might be good.

[Adam Schaefer]

More.

[Sal DiStefano]

More good for people who are like, you know, athletes and stuff like that. That's just my, you know. Anyway, Justin, I want you to bring up what you learn about hookworms. I thought that.

[Doug]

I thought I've talked about this before, but yeah, there was. Yeah, so it was hookworm. We were kind of discussing earlier about, like, a parasite that was notorious for being very prevalent in. In the southern states, like, from Texas up to, like, West Virginia, I believe. But there was a stigma always around, like, Southerners being slower and less educated and all this kind of stuff. And they had found that actually this parasite affected that and actually did have, like, an effect on their cognition and. And did bring their. Their level of. Of speech and everything else slowed everything down. And it did have an effect on that.

[Adam Schaefer]

Didn't I hear you say, too, that some people were actually intentionally giving it to themselves?

[Sal DiStefano]

Well, that's for autoimmune issues.

[Doug]

Oh, I don't know. But yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, that's probably too bad. There are studies going on now to figure out why, when people have certain severe autoimmune issues like Crohn's, if you give them a parasite like hookworm, because.

[Doug]

Their immune system is Too aggressive because they're hyper vigilant.

[Sal DiStefano]

And so now it's got this other thing to attack. I don't know.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

And it's. So there are. They won't do this here, but there are other countries that people can go to and get intentionally infected. So what does that say? Yeah. Impaired cognitive function, memory deficits and reduced performance on cognitive tests. Yeah, but. Yeah. Look up, Doug, look up hookworm treatment for Crohn's disease. I read a book on this and they were doing studies on this for people with autoimmune issues.

[Adam Schaefer]

Interesting.

[Sal DiStefano]

Trying to figure out what is going on when you give.

[Doug]

So strange to introduce parasites to create some kind of balance, you know? Well, I mean, the human body is crazy.

[Sal DiStefano]

Well, for most of human history, I mean, you were.

[Doug]

We've been fighting parasites forever. Always invaders.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, absolutely. What does that say? Hookworm treatment for Crohn's disease is an alternative therapy being explored where hookworms are intentionally introduced into the body to potentially reduce inflammation and improve symptoms. While some studies show promise, especially in ulcerative colitis. Is it because more research is needed?

[Adam Schaefer]

Is it. Is it because they're potentially eating up the hookworms are eating up the stuff that would attack or offend? Like what?

[Sal DiStefano]

No, no, no.

[Adam Schaefer]

What would they be doing?

[Sal DiStefano]

So.

[Adam Schaefer]

And like, how would they.

[Sal DiStefano]

You've heard of the. What's the theory about being too clean? There's a theory right here. What does that say?

[Justin Andrews]

Triggers the Th2 immune response which reduces inflammation.

[Sal DiStefano]

But there's a theory around why too.

[Adam Schaefer]

Cleanly not having bacteria.

[Sal DiStefano]

Correct. Like, kids who grow up on farms or with pets are far less likely to develop autoimmune issues like asthma because they're around more pathogens.

[Doug]

They're more resilient too.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah, too. Yeah. So being like in a hyper clean environment all the time increases your risk of having.

[Doug]

Leaves you more vulnerable.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. Of having autoimmune shifts and stuff get dirty. If you like healthy meat and you want it for a good price, go to butcherbox. By the way, they put together a mind pump box. This is a box of our favorite meats. These are grass fed meats. Wild caught fish, the best sent to your door. Go check them out. Go to butcherbox.com mindpump by the way, you'll get $20 off your first box and you'll get free chicken breast, ground beef or salmon included for free for a year. Back to the show.

[Justin Andrews]

First question is from the ordinary yogi. What's the best way to set up the width of your grips for bench and shoulder press.

[Sal DiStefano]

Oh, that's a good question. You know what's funny about this was. I know it when I see it, but asking a question like this, I would say you're. You're gonna be. You're gonna be not just outside your shoulders, but further than that, but not too wide. So it's gonna look like, here's my shoulders. I'm right here. Now, here's the deal with bench press. The grip can vary. It varies depending on the person. Yeah, quite a bit.

[Adam Schaefer]

It can. I used to teach. I used to teach the 90, right. So, yeah, that's good. I'd have somebody bend their elbows at 90 degrees, and then that's. What do you call that? The.

[Sal DiStefano]

I think it's one and a half times your shoulder width is what they'll say.

[Adam Schaefer]

But, I mean, like, I want it when. When they bring it down to your chest, I want you to be like this kind of 90 degrees, give or take. And if you're anywhere in that range, say, you know, a couple fingers left or right of the gnarling or whatever the line. Knurling, gnarling, whatever.

[Sal DiStefano]

No, I. This is. This can vary quite dramatically. I've seen people use a much wider grip and people use a closer grip. Like, if you watch me and Adam bench press, it was very different. Like, I have a much more narrow grip than he does. Even if you account for the difference in shoulder width.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. I mean, it's kind of like asking us squat stance. You know, there's. There's. There's like kind of a generic or general rule of, like, about, oh, a little bit wider and shoulder width apart part or whatever. But there's. You can do a narrow stance squat, you do a wide sumo squat. Same thing with a bench press. You can do a close grip bench press. You can do a wide grip bench press. And. And I guess what. What should be talked about that is the. The more you bring your hands in, like inside of 90 degrees. Yeah. The more your elbows have to come in, which means more triceps take over the movement. Right. And so that. That.

[Sal DiStefano]

That also for shoulder press, I find this to be more important. I think if you're going to do a four full range of motion shoulder press, your elbow should be under your hands. Your hands are outside of that. That starts to. For a lot of people, can cause issues with their shoulder, and you definitely don't want your hands inside your elbow. So when you come all the way down to where the bar is, down to your upper chest, look where your Elbow is. And your hand should be right on top of that. I found that to be a great game.

[Doug]

That was like, such a thing I was playing with a lot, too. And then what was interesting was when I moved more towards a Olympic lift, like the jerk version of that, I had to go a lot wider.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah.

[Doug]

For. For the rack. Yeah. So because you. It's. It required a lot more acceleration. And so for that too, I had to have more protraction to start with.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, really, that. And also you also have to. I mean, if you go wider, it's less. You have to go up versus if you go in really close. Right, True. If you're. If you're in really tight and you got a jerk, you got a long distance, you got to press up versus if you go wider, you just got to get under it right there. So that makes a difference.

[Sal DiStefano]

Plus the bottom part of.

[Doug]

Different technique, too.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yes. Because the bottom part of the press, you're not grinding out of.

[Doug]

No, no. Yeah. And it's really.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. You're just getting under. Right. Is that. Isn't that the cue is get under most of it?

[Doug]

Is your body moving into the correct position and then at the. The end of it, you're just guiding it. Right. I mean, obviously it takes strength to.

[Sal DiStefano]

Push it, but now strict shoulder press, though, is different. Right. Strict shoulder press.

[Doug]

I'm a lot more narrow.

[Sal DiStefano]

You are pressing from the bottom up to the top. And like I said, you want your hand on top of your elbow, ideally, or what this should look like for most people should be right about there. That's going to give you good range of motion.

[Doug]

Then I would argue it's. It's the. The best in terms of anatomically, like, healthy and. And focused with that is to get, you know, to actually do like the kettlebell version of that, where it puts you into external rotation and you're not actually, like, rigidly getting into this 90°. Like, that's not. Not a natural position for force.

[Sal DiStefano]

No. The shoulder press that sometimes you'll see with bodybuilders is where they bring the elbows out. Like, that's gonna limit your range of motion. Try to bring your elbows out and go all the way down. You're asking for problems.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Next question is from Janaya A. May. What is the best way to detox or cleanse after a weekend of drinking?

[Sal DiStefano]

So let's just, let's. Let's rephrase this. Say, what's the best way to recover after a weekend of drinking? So there's a couple things that are Affected the most by this. One of them is dehydrated dehydration. So electrolytes are really good and hydration. And the organ that is most affected by alcohol is the liver.

[Adam Schaefer]

Sauna.

[Sal DiStefano]

So, yeah. So what you would want. Well, it depends if you're dehydrated.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, I mean, I would hydrate first.

[Sal DiStefano]

Then sauna, but what you want for your liver is glutathione. Glutathione is the master antioxidant, and glutathione has some pretty great effect. What's your thought about for, like, liver enzymes?

[Adam Schaefer]

Okay, so what's your thoughts? Things as we all keep glutathione. I know, at our houses. What's your thoughts on, like, let's say I was like. Because Katrina and I are pretty good about, like, you know, one, doing our zbiotics before two, like, having like an Advil or two right before bed and drinking a glass of water. Like, should I that night have glutathione, or should I wait till the next day?

[Sal DiStefano]

So ideally, you're taking glutathione leading up to the day you're drinking. Oh, and then afterwards, if it's oral, if you have, like, our partners at MP hormones, they give you injectable glutathione, you just do it that night and you get all of it. And it's like. I mean, it's a big difference for people who. Who feel, you know, what's interesting about.

[Doug]

Is if you are, like, loaded up on glutathione going into the drinking, it's deceptive because you don't really. If you. You don't feel the effects of it quite as much. So you can drink a little bit more and not feel that.

[Sal DiStefano]

Is that what happens to you?

[Doug]

Yeah, just a little psa. Don't get all, like, courageous.

[Sal DiStefano]

Well, so my. So my wife, she can react really poorly to alcohol and the combination of Zbotic and then the injectable glutathione is miracle for her if she doesn't. She'll typically wake up in the middle of night and just feeling, well, I'm excited.

[Adam Schaefer]

I have never actually tried this glutathione.

[Sal DiStefano]

You know what? They send it to people, too, for. For just. Liver enzymes are a little high because of medication.

[Adam Schaefer]

Now, could. Would I. Would I. If I'm doing orally, not the injectable. If I was doing orally, the packets. Two.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. I would go like, it's liposomal, because that's the one that's absorbed. Because you need a fat.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal DiStefano]

But I would take it like two days up to two days in the day of and the day after is what I would do to try and get glutathione levels up.

[Adam Schaefer]

Okay.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. Takes a little bit more planning.

[Adam Schaefer]

Okay.

[Justin Andrews]

Next question is from Archie Drums. Is it best to run a small deficit when running maps Symmetry.

[Sal DiStefano]

So here's the deal with all of our programs. All of our programs are designed to induce adaptations like strength, muscle gain and endurance. Those adaptations are always going to be. You're going to be more effective at achieving those adaptations in a calorie surplus. Calorie deficit reduces your ability to. To adapt. So when do you do a calorie deficit? When you want to get leaner. So which program is okay to run a deficit? Any of them. If you want to get leaner. Like any of them. Yeah. So you got to ask yourself what you're trying. What's the main goal? Running map symmetry. Is it to build stability and symmetry between my right, left side and strength?

[Adam Schaefer]

Then you want maintenance, surplus maintenance or a surplus.

[Sal DiStefano]

If it's like I want to get leaner and try not to lose muscle, then. Then a deficit is perfectly fine. But that's true for all the programs.

[Justin Andrews]

Next question is from Dane Allen Hunley. When I squat heavy, my right leg, it band becomes constantly sore and stiff. Is this a form issue or mobility? What can I do to fix this stability issue?

[Doug]

It is a weakness somewhere.

[Adam Schaefer]

Hip stability. And what's happening a lot of times is the. The femur is internally rotating.

[Sal DiStefano]

Trying to twist.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yep. Is. Is slightly internally rotating. And then that's. That's tightening up that it band and then you get those knots. And I used to. This is like close to home for me. And what eliminated that was really focusing on my 9090s, getting good hip mobility, stability and strength. And it's completely gone away. But it was like I was, I was so bad. So for this, this, and I'm sure this person, if this is them, they've, they, they relate to this. I would like drive if I had like a squat day the day before, and then the next day I had like a long drive. Right. To drive for like an hour, I would have to pull over 20 minutes in because it would feel like someone is taking a knife and just sticking.

[Doug]

Keeping it shortened right after that, all day long was always worse. I remember. Yeah. When we get on like a plane and you're stuck and locked up, that position was horrible.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, man, it was brutal. But I tell you what, when I, when I really went hardcore into Mobility and working on my 90 90s and got really good at that. That went away.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. When I used to train, this would happen. This happens to runners too, sometimes. Iliotibial band syndrome, or it. Band syndrome is common in runners. And with that, this is before I even had as much knowledge, not even close to as much knowledge I have on mobility. For an easy fix for them was just any kind of lateral hip strengthening. You know, leg swings, tube walks, even an abductor machine. So it's that lateral stability and strengthening makes a big difference. And then for lift, for strength training, ankle mobility sometimes can solve this because like you said that rotating torsion. What it is, is like your femur might not even be twisting, but the. The torsion is there, the twisting is there, and the it band is being.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. You're not going to look down because I couldn't do. I couldn't look down. I wouldn't see my. My femur.

[Sal DiStefano]

But there's torsion happening there.

[Adam Schaefer]

Exactly. But that's. What's happening is it's trying to find stability.

[Doug]

And so. So it's like creating that.

[Sal DiStefano]

Yeah. So that's just, you know, working on those muscles that open your legs essentially can help solve it.

[Adam Schaefer]

And what that looks like when you're in. If you're in the thick of training right now consistently, and you're trying to solve this while doing this is it's like you probably have to start with like a lot of foam rolling first. Like foam. So you can open up all that. So foam roll, then 9090, then leg swings and band walks and doing a lot of that stuff and trying to progress that and get better at it. And it'll. Eventually. It'll. Eventually. Here's an example. If you're a client of mine, I would move you over to like a program like Map Symmetry. And then we would be very mobility focused to try and address that for.

[Sal DiStefano]

Like a few months.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, for a few months. So instead of you continuing heavy squatting and still and just. And then just foam rolling, because that's a band aid version answer to this. Right. You could just foam roll like crazy before and do a little bit of these exercises and then keep squatting heavy and you're going to keep seeing this.

[Doug]

A lot of times that unilateral focus will really highlight those instabilities.

[Adam Schaefer]

You can.

[Doug]

It'll exaggerate. You really can.

[Adam Schaefer]

Exactly. So that's. If you're a client of mine, this is. We would move over to Map Symmetry. You would take the advice that all the guys just gave on the 90 90s, on the leg swings, on on the band, all that stuff like that's the move. And then after. Honestly, if you really do that diligently and you go all the way through map symmetry, I would make the argument you probably would be fine after that.

[Sal DiStefano]

Look, if you like the show, come find us on Instagram. Justin is at Mind Pump Justin I'm at mind pump DiStefano Adam's at mind Pump.

[Justin Andrews]

Thank you for listening. If your goal is to build and shape your body dramatically, improve your health and energy and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB super [e-mail] the RGB Super Bundle includes maps, Anabolic Maps, Performance and Maps Aesthetic nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels and performs with detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos. The RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30 day money back guarantee and you can get it now. Plus other valuable free [e-mail] if you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five star rating and review on itunes and by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support and until next time, this is Mind Pump.