2728: Strange Training Hacks for Faster Gains

Summary

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

Episode 2728: Strange Training Hacks for Faster Gains

Hosts: Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, Justin Andrews, Doug Egge
Date: November 14, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the Mind Pump crew dives into offbeat, unconventional, and "strange" training hacks for faster muscle gains, improved performance, and breaking plateaus. Drawing on 40+ years of experience, Sal, Adam, Justin, and Doug share quirky and creative workout strategies they've found effective for themselves and clients over the years. The episode also veers into lively tangents—covering topics like AI, drug culture, and social trends—infused with their characteristic wit and candor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Non-Traditional Progressive Overload: Pyramid Volume Cycling

• [03:23] Sal: Describes a unique twist on progressive overload, where rather than endlessly increasing weight, you ramp up training volume (sets per exercise) each week up to a high point (15–20 sets), then drop back down and repeat the cycle.
  • Sal:
    “At some point backing down starts to actually give results... I go all the way up to let’s say 15–20 [sets], till I feel like, oh, I’m doing too much. Then I go all right back down to the beginning. Each time I’ve done that, I see some changes in my body... strength increases...” [04:18]
  • Novelty and non-linearity in progression spark new adaptation, especially advanced lifters.

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2. Movement Hack: The Z Press and Shoulder Extension

• [05:45] Adam: Champions the Z Press, a seated overhead press that removes lower body assistance, forcing better stability and mobility.
  • Adam:
    “If I could go back, that would have been a staple... It trains full extension, and how much that alleviates a lot of chronic upper back pain...” [06:49]
  • Sal:
    “Z Press gives me the craziest shoulder pump... if you’re not perfectly upright, you’ll fall on your back.” [07:33]
• Emphasis on extending beyond typical movement comfort zones for longevity and muscle health.

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3. Chaos/Instability Training for New Gains

• [08:22] Justin: Advocates for “chaos training”—adding instability/weighted chaos with bands and tools like the earthquake bar.
  • Justin:
    “You really have to account for a lot of that movement... it fills all these gaps. You increase that stability and strength in the shoulder girdle...” [09:47]
• Adam adds that bodybuilding benefits from training “the weak links” and embracing unconventional movements for a bulletproof physique.

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4. Micro-loading & Fractional Progression (“Milo and the Magnets”)

• [11:37] Sal: Inspired by the legend of Milo, suggesting you use tiny weight increments (quarter-pound magnets) and slight daily/weekly increases.
  • Sal:
    “Do your normal workout, then the next week, up a quarter pound on every lift... In four weeks, it’s a pound heavier on every lift... It gets really fun.” [12:59]
  • Ultra-gradual, nearly imperceptible increases yield significant cumulative progress over time.

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5. Underused Exercises: Bent-Over One-Arm Reverse Cable Fly

• [14:05] Adam: Swears by this “controversial” movement for superior rear delt development.
  • Adam:
    “Nothing pumps my rear delts like that... the complete range of motion. I feel completely connected... I think that exercise is, in my opinion, the king of rear delt exercises.” [15:14]
  • Sal notes current research supports loading muscles in a stretched position boosts hypertrophy.

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6. Rounded Back Lifting (For Functional Strength)

• [16:43] Justin: Recommends safe, moderate, upper-back “rounded” stone/sandbag lifting and Zercher carries to build “real world” strength.
  • Justin:
    “It’s so raw... we’re always correcting anterior dominance... let's strengthen this position as well.” [17:01]
  • The group clarifies: upper-back, not lower-back, rounding—realistic for grapplers, strongmen, and overall resilience.

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7. Alternating Weeks of Strength vs. Endurance

• [19:13] Sal: Suggests periodizing strength and endurance weekly—one week dedicated to strength, next to endurance—for better adaptation in both.
  • Sal:
    “At the end of the study, the people who did one week, just strength; one week, just endurance, performed better in both strength and endurance...” [21:13]
  • Forces specificity while facilitating superior long-term gains.

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8. Circus Press & Compound Unilaterals

• [21:49] Adam/Justin: Highlight the Circus Press (heavy clean and one-arm press from the floor) as a neglected total-body developer blending strength, power, and core-challenge.

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9. Soviet High-Frequency Strength Protocol

• [23:00] Sal: Advises “greasing the groove”—frequent, submaximal lifts (10 reps with a weight you could do 14–15)—2–3x/week for 30 days, then retest.
  • Adam:
    “Really, a lot of the benefit is coming from the central nervous system... It’s neural adaptation.” [24:38]
  • Don’t push to failure; focus on perfect, moderate-effort reps at high frequency to “map” better technique and unlock new strength fast.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Progressive Volume Cycling

• Sal:
  “At some point, backing down starts to actually give results... this is what I love about strength training. It’s not an exact science.” [04:10]

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Z Press and Shoulders

• Adam:
  “The Z press became this movement... I wish I had found it earlier. That would have been a staple... so many people are limited by their ability to get full extension above their head.” [06:49]

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Rear Delt Training

• Adam:
  “If you want... I also think the rear delts are overlooked... that exercise (one-arm reverse cable fly) is, in my opinion, the king of rear delt exercises.” [15:14]

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Chaos Training

• Justin:
  “I go through bouts... challenging my instability and creating more chaos training. That being weight that shifts and moves… you can use rubber bands... bamboo bar, earthquake bar...” [08:22]

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Reconciling Fitness Myth and Science

• Sal:
  “People don’t seek that out for muscle building, but again, this fills a lot of gaps.” [09:47]

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Strength vs Endurance Periodization

• Sal:
  “You’re probably better off going a week of pure strength training, a week of pure endurance training... you actually get better at both doing it this way.” [19:13]

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Soviet Strength Protocol

• Sal:
  “Take a weight you could do 10 reps with, but you probably could do closer to 14. Two or three days a week, just do 10 with it... never increase the weight… do this for a month... You’d be surprised.” [23:00]

AI & Social Commentary Tangents

• The second half features honest, humorous takes on AI’s impact, drug history, and culture—often veering into deep societal reflection:
  • Sal:
    “If you guys think pornography is an issue now, you just wait till you have a very attractive young woman talking to you, developing a relationship with you on the other end... for a lot of people will be the best friend they ever had.” [53:21] (quoting Jordan Peterson)
  • Justin:
    “I think we’ve learned that many times. So look, if you like the show, come find us on Instagram...” [73:41]

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Important Timestamps for Training Hacks

• 03:23 – Volume cycling: pyramiding sets up and down
• 05:45 – Z Press for shoulder health and progress
• 08:22 – Chaos/instability training: earthquake bar, banded-kettlebells
• 11:37 – Micro-loading, “Milo” approach, fractional weight increases
• 14:05 – One-arm bent over reverse cable fly for rear delts
• 16:43 – Rounded upper-back & functional strength moves
• 19:13 – Weekly periodization: alternating strength and endurance
• 21:49 – Circus Press and “neglected” strongman lifts
• 23:00 – High-frequency, moderate-load Soviet lifting hack

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Listener Q&A Highlights

• Feeling Rear Delts in Training [59:56]:
  • “It’s not a row, so don’t think of pulling the dumbbells up, but rather separate them, fly out...”
  • Go very light, isometric holds at range, focus on connection over load.
• Breaking Through Squat Plateaus [61:38]:
  • Make sure you’re eating enough, program properly, and overcome fear by learning to “dump the bar” or using safeties.
  • Try singles/doubles/triples; it’s OK to not always do 5+ reps.
• Ergonomic Tips for Dental Professionals [65:15]:
  • Do 5 minutes of counter-mobility work (from MAPS Prime Pro) after each patient.
• Lessons Learned in Fitness Careers [66:16]:
  • Adam: Focus on strengths, outsource weaknesses.
  • Justin: Everything improves with reps and perseverance.
  • Sal: Repeated self-reflection and growth come from broadcasting your own words/ideas to the world.

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Final Reflections

Throughout, the hosts agree that progress and personal mastery come from consistency, creative variation, and being willing to “break the rules” of standard fitness dogma. Each hack is rooted in years of coaching experience, often in opposition to conventional gym wisdom. The Mind Pump team wraps with reminders to self-reflect, prioritize what matters (helping others and purpose), and engage meaningfully both in the gym and in the wider world.

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Keep up with Mind Pump:
Instagram: @mindpumpmedia
Website: mindpumppodcast.com

This episode is essential listening for anyone stuck in a workout rut, fitness professionals seeking new tricks, or anyone entertained by no-BS fitness talk and sharp cultural commentary.

Transcript

[Sal DeStefano]

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[Adam Schafer]

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[Sal DeStefano]

You dare scrape another windshield. Slip into some flip flops, consider a sunless tan and use the monthly stays filter to save up to $1,500. Book your warm getaway at vrbo.com if you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind Pump Mind Pump with your hosts.

[Adam Schafer]

Sal Destefano, Adam Schafer and Justin Andrews.

[Sal DeStefano]

You just found the most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. In today's episode we answered questions that people put in @mindpump media on Instagram about fitness and health. But this was after the intro. Today's intro is 53 minutes long. In the intro we talk about muscle building and fat loss and workouts and current events and family life. It's always a good time. Again, if you want to post a question that we can pick from, go to Instagram indpupmedia Now this episode is brought to you by some sponsors. The first one is Brain fm. This is music that induces states of mind. This is backed by data. If you want to be focused, listen to their focus music. If you want to go to sleep or meditate, they have sounds that do that literally changes your brain waves. Try it out for free. See for yourself. Go to Brain FM forward slash mindpump. You could try it for 30 days. This episode is also brought to my joovv. This is red light therapy like the ones in the studies, not the cheapo crap you see all over the Internet. Joovv actually works. And right now if you go to Joovv.com, that's J-O-O-V-V.com mindpump they're having a massive sale going on to the 20 to 1st December. In fact, you can save up to $1,000 on some of their big units. And there's 0% financing that's available with payments starting as little as $38 a month. This is the biggest sale of the year. It's J-O V.com mindpump. It's also Black Friday for us. 60% off everything. Every Maps workout program, every workout program bundle, every, every Mod, every guide. 60% off site wide. Every purchase enters you into a contest. Two people are getting a one week vacation at the Mind Pump park city house, plus $1,000 towards travel. Fifteen people are going to get personal training by our coaches for a few months. Go check it out. Take advantage. Go to maps fitnessproducts.com, use the code Black Friday for the sale and the entries into the contest. All right, real quick.

[Justin Andrews]

If you love us like we love you, why not show it by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs, or training gear? [e-mail] I'm talking right now. Hit, pause, head on over to my pumpstore.com. that's it. Enjoy the rest of the show.

[Sal DeStefano]

All right, we're doing something a little different today. You know, workout programming, things like reps, sets, exercises. But here's what we're going to do. We're going to give you some of our favorite workout programming hacks. Ways you can change your workout that we don't normally talk about. That can elicit results. Get your body to change, build muscle, burn body fat. You're gonna hear from us. This is our favorites. Let's go.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

I have no science to support mine.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, nice. We could try to explain some of these, but I'll start. Bros will love this. I'll start with one of mine. And this isn't, you know, I experimented with this in the past, so I'll start off by kind of selling it a little bit. Right. So, you know, progressive overload, this is like a foundational principle in strength training. What this refers to is essentially get your body to be able to do more over time is what gets the body to change. And progressive overload can look like adding weight to the bar. It could look like doing more reps. It could look like increasing your volume. Meaning, like more sets, more reps, more weight. One of each of those or all of them. Sure. Now, the problem with this is it doesn't work forever. You can't, it's not linear forever. Increase your, you know, progressively overload because if that were the case, by this point I'd be doing a thousand sets per body part. I've been doing this for so long. So at some point backing down starts to actually give results. This is where things get a little crazy. This is what I love about strength training. It's not an exact science. In many cases, especially when someone's advanced, taking them down in volume gets their body suddenly to respond. So what I've done with programming in the past is I've taken a workout program, I've kept everything the same and every week I add a set to every body part until I get to about 15 to 20 sets per body part. And then what I do is I start over again and I go all the way back down to where I started, which typically is around nine sets and then work my way up so it would look like 9 sets, 10 sets, 11 sweat. And I go all the way up to let's say 15 to 20, till I feel like, oh, I'm doing too much. Then I go all right back down to the beginning. And each time I've done something like this, I see some changes in my body. I see strength increases. It's, it's different novelties in there kind of set in there. So that's just one way. And I don't have a name for it. I don't know what you would call it, you know, pyramiding the volume up and down, but it's just something.

[Justin Andrews]

Sure, somebody's coined it somewhere or I.

[Sal DeStefano]

Invented it right now.

[Adam Schafer]

One, one of mine that I picked was more movement related. The other day we were talking about just like these like king of exercises and exercises that are so valuable. What came up in the conversation was I think I, I, I brought it up like I think that being able to extend your arms above your head, fully extend is like one of the first things to go for so many people, including myself. I remember part of why I never did standing overhead press was because it always bothered my low back and I was so I just like a, a typical knucklehead. I just eliminated. Oh, I wouldn't do it. I'll just do seated or all the time and versus addressing what was going on. And I remember first doing the Z press and because it forces you into this position to kind of pull your head and stabilize and it takes the lower body out of kind of reconnected me and without.

[Sal DeStefano]

And I love especially the extension.

[Adam Schafer]

Yes. And I love.

[Sal DeStefano]

Otherwise you'll fall back.

[Adam Schafer]

Yes. And I love some of my favorite like when, when you brought this up of, like, some things for us. Like, some of my favorite things that come to mind are like, trainer hacks that, like, I figured out along the way that not only made it a huge impact, maybe on my own journey, but also was like, massive for my clients. And so the Z press became this movement. And I wish I had found it earlier in my training career because if I could go back and do it all over again, that would have been a staple exercise that I probably taught every single one of my clients since so many people are limited by their ability to get full extension above their head. And I also think that how much that alleviates a lot of chronic upper back pain and neck pain that people have and issues, by the way, for.

[Sal DeStefano]

People who are into bodybuilding, that Z press gives me the craziest shoulder pump. The craziest. Because of what you said. If you're not perfectly upright at the top and bringing your head through the window and get this, you're going to fall on your back. So you get this crazy squeeze in this range of motion.

[Adam Schafer]

I do, yeah. I think it has something to do with that full extension. There's a bit of an isometric kind of holding contraction at the top just so different than what you would do. And so, yes, I agree with some of the best pumps and it really trained that movement pattern for me and my clients. And I, again, I wish I had found that earlier on in my career because of how valuable that. And then we have that in some of our programs. But if you don't do that, I just experiment. Yeah, experiment with that and add that into your routine.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, I think for things that we normally wouldn't program if we're going to go in that direction. Like, I go through bouts and periods of, of really challenging my instability and creating more chaos. Training, I guess they call it. And so that being like weight that shifts and moves. And so for me, a lot of times you can use rubber bands in this regard. Like, if the most simple example I could come up with is probably like, let's say like a suitcase carry. Now I can tie like a rubber band onto a kettlebell, for instance. I'm walking and it's. It's actually bouncing and it's moving, but I have to stabilize that and be able to walk with, like, way less predictable, way less predictable. Lots of different variables I'm adding. And you can kind of apply that same concept too to like, if I do a bottoms up kettlebell press, there's just a lot more vectors of force that's like, you have to account for.

[Sal DeStefano]

What's that one bar, Justin?

[Justin Andrews]

That, the bamboo bar, the earthquake bar.

[Sal DeStefano]

Do you guys remember when we were.

[Justin Andrews]

I love doing that.

[Sal DeStefano]

I want to say we were an on it. I think we went on it and we did. There's a picture of it out, out in the studio. Sometimes it'll come up where we're doing the overhead press. But the barbell had bands attaching to kettlebells hanging down.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Remember how that felt?

[Adam Schafer]

Well, you kind of reminds me of the Z press. That same kind of like requires you. Yeah, yeah. That required that stability that you had to. To get that full extension and so more right.

[Justin Andrews]

You got to slow everything down and you really have to account for a lot of that movement. That's. And I think that it, it's interesting because it's not like something people like don't seek that out for muscle building benefits or. But, but again this, this fills a lot of gaps where there's bits of instability, there's shifting weight in like a barbell press. And so it's like, it's a strength you don't realize, like really adds into the overall.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, I would actually, and I love to make this case an argument for the bodybuilding community because I think one of the things I was blessed with was that I, I had a lot of trainer friends like Justin and people that did a lot of this stuff and I did a lot of that. I experimented with a lot of that stuff and I found a lot of benefit to building and sculpting because to your point, it fills all these gaps. You increase that stability and strength and that shoulder girdle and then go see what kind of weight that you can press over your head. And so you may not think of it as a direct bodybuilding exercise.

[Sal DeStefano]

It is when you're addressing a weak link.

[Adam Schafer]

That's right. And I think there, that's one of the areas I remember. Like, you know, I, I was lucky to train in a gym during that time of like, lot of competitors. And I trained really unconventional compared to the guys I still train. Bodybuilder esque. But there was stuff like that that I always included that you just didn't see. You know, I even had like, I ran, I did snatches, I did stuff, I did exercises that your typical bodybuilder just ignored and thought, oh, those are, those are power lifter movements or those are, you know, you know, functional guys do that stuff. And it's like, man, when you're, especially when you're training as much as you are to be a bodybuilder, you're in the gym a lot, you're doing a lot of exercises.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's.

[Adam Schafer]

To me, it's silly to not include a lot of these movements that fill those gaps. And, and, and I think it only makes all the other lifts that much better.

[Sal DeStefano]

I agree. All right, here's one that I think people, people can have a lot of fun with. And it was inspired by the story of. I think his name was Milo. This is like one of the first.

[Justin Andrews]

This is one of the first progressive overload.

[Adam Schafer]

Oh, the carry the bull.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. So this is one of the first examples, historical examples of when people understood progressive overload.

[Adam Schafer]

Wait, it's historical? It's real?

[Sal DeStefano]

It's not real. It's like a legend or like a myth.

[Adam Schafer]

Okay, yeah, yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

But it's old. It's really old. I don't know how old that story is. Maybe you can look it up, Doug. But it's the first example of like, that people understood progressive overload.

[Justin Andrews]

I love this story.

[Sal DeStefano]

And the story goes that Milo would go and lift a calf up in the air and would do this every day. And of course, the calf grows into a bowl. Therefore, Milo every day is lifting a little bit more weight and getting stronger and stronger. So the idea around this and this is, this could be a lot of fun. You can experiment with this. First off, you want to have a good program, one that doesn't over train you. So the volume is low to moderate compound lifts. You need to do that with this type of lifting.

[Adam Schafer]

Great. I would say mass 15 or maps anabolic would be to do this with.

[Sal DeStefano]

So maps 15 would be great for something like this. And then here's what you do. And you can buy these now. And I remember when I first thought of this, I couldn't find any.

[Justin Andrews]

But you can buy them now, bro.

[Adam Schafer]

You're still.

[Justin Andrews]

I had this one too. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

You could buy microwaves. And they're magnets. Magnets. And they go up in increments of as little as a quarter of a pound. Oh, a quarter pound.

[Adam Schafer]

I think they are small. Like two.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, no, no, no. They could go as little as a quarter. They're fractional weights. And so what you do is you do your normal workout, then the next week you bump your calories by 50. This is all you do. 50 more calories a day if you want to have fun with it. And then you go up a quarter pound on every lift and you do this until it stops working. And what you'll find is, at first, it's going to feel the same, but over in four weeks, it's a pound heavier on every lift. The next four weeks, another pound. And if you keep doing this, it gets really fun. Now you can go up more than fractional. I think fractional is more fun. It stretches it out. Yeah. And you don't have to necessarily better.

[Adam Schafer]

For you to do it that way.

[Sal DeStefano]

You don't have to necessarily bump your calories, but at some point you probably are going to want to. And I mean, you do this for a year and your lifts are all heavier and it feels like you're not lifting heavier because it's.

[Justin Andrews]

I've always wanted to do that. It's one of those things that I've. I haven't actually bought. Like I was in a gym one time where they had fractional weights and was able to add little magnets.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

And you just, you don't even realize it. No, it's a trip.

[Sal DeStefano]

You just put them out. When did that story, when was it first?

[Doug]

Yeah, Ancient Greece during the 6th century BCE yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Really cool. Wow. Really, really cool stuff.

[Adam Schafer]

So I have a controversial, maybe bodybuilding tip then. And I know for sure you guys have seen me talk about this. There's a YouTube video of me doing this. If you catch me training shoulders, you will almost always see this make its way into my routine. And that is the bent over one arm reverse cable fly.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, you love this.

[Adam Schafer]

I.

[Sal DeStefano]

And again, now you're pulling it across.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, it's just different. There's not a lot of people train it that way.

[Sal DeStefano]

Well, you load the stretch of the rear delt. Where else would you load this?

[Adam Schafer]

Exactly. And so I to this day attribute a big part of my shoulder development, which when I was competing was a strength of mine, to that exercise. Nothing, nothing pumps my rear delts like that. I don't feel as. There's no other exercise. I feel as connected. The, the complete range of motion. I feel completely connected. The rear delt, I love that movement. And if you want. And I also think that rear delts are, are overlooked in shoulder development. I think a lot of people don't.

[Sal DeStefano]

Realize the most aesthetic part of the deal.

[Adam Schafer]

It just don't even realize. And, and we, and we do so much in front of us that your interior delts get tension.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

You know, if you just bench press and you do movements, everybody does front raises things like the anterior delts get a good amount of tension. And it's not to say that that part is not a big part of shoulders, just they already get a lot of attention. Not a lot of people train the rear delts and train them properly and do them frequently. And so I think it's already an overlooked, underrated part of the body to train. And then I think that exercise is, in my opinion, the king of rear delt exercise.

[Sal DeStefano]

Well, here's probably. Here's one of the reasons why, too. I said it earlier, Adam, but now we have all these studies to support this. Loading a muscle in a stretch position, it really produces hypertrophy or muscle growth. And so what you're doing when you're bent over with the cable and the cable is across your body, so your arm has to come across your body, it's loaded right out the gates in that stretch. And that's probably why.

[Adam Schafer]

And it's a deep stretch because I cross all the way over my body until I'm as far as I can go over there, and I feel that stretch. And then you take it all. And it's a full range, too.

[Sal DeStefano]

You know, I got to try it. I. Full disclosure, I've only done it once. I need to start implementing psychic. My delts develops pretty well. So it's not like I. You know, but I'm gonna try it because I haven't.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, it is a. It's a staple movement for me. And I remember when I first started doing it, and I. Of course, I understand the science of novelty and, like, that probably played a role in that, but I still think it's. It's. It's. It's one of the king of exercises, and I don't. I think it's a bit controversial. No one would list that as the king of, like, shoulder exercises.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

And it's not. I'm not saying I would replace that over a traditional shoulder press or a movement that. Like that, but it's got to be in there.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, I definitely. I mean, this one's controversial just in that conventional setting. Like, people won't do rounded back lifting and.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, great.

[Justin Andrews]

I. I love it mainly because it's so functional and it's like to. To be able to. Again, I was exposed to it because I was in a gym that had atlas stones and had sandbags and had a lot of really heavy weights that were hard to organize, you know, your body around without, like, really hugging and pulling and squeezing while you're lifting and driving up. So to be able to do that, it's. It's so raw. It's like a raw strength move that I feel like, because we're so, again, anteriorly driven, like, everything we're trying to correct that all the time. That like we're, we're. We steer clear of this position, which. Let's strengthen this position as well.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, I love that too.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yes.

[Adam Schafer]

And in fact, again, you know, back to that time of training for me, we were hanging out and there's a video if you go far enough. Back in my Instagram with the big. The big heavy bag. Picking it from the ground.

[Sal DeStefano]

I don't remember.

[Adam Schafer]

It's one of the big ones. It's one of the big sandbags. I don't even know if I could pick it up. 250 right now. And it was. How many times could I get it?

[Sal DeStefano]

Remember, we bought a bunch of them and they stayed. Exactly.

[Justin Andrews]

We went through like a minute of.

[Adam Schafer]

Because you know why? Because when we first got it, that was, that was part of. I was on that kick of including that into my routine. And you would never think to do that as a bodybuilder guy. I love that.

[Sal DeStefano]

To be clear, rounded upper back, not lower back.

[Justin Andrews]

Thank you.

[Sal DeStefano]

So it's when you're hugging some. By the way, you could do this with Zercher lifts. So Zercher deadlifts. Zercher squats, they tend to protract the shoulder girdle. That's what Justin means by. And listen.

[Justin Andrews]

Yep.

[Sal DeStefano]

From a fun look as a grab. When I was in shrimp lifting judo, when I was doing wrestling, like when you're grabbing someone, this is how you pick them up. You're not picking them up with the shoulders.

[Justin Andrews]

Exactly.

[Sal DeStefano]

You're doing that. You're asking it.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, that's why that's such an awesome thing. Because it's. It is so more realistic how you would grab something really heavy or a person and you know, I'm saying. And throw someone around.

[Sal DeStefano]

Sell it. I'll sell it right here. We talked about hypertrophy in the stretch position. You're stretching the mid back and adding tension.

[Adam Schafer]

Yes.

[Sal DeStefano]

It is rhomboids mid traps. I've done that a couple times. And you get sore from doing it.

[Justin Andrews]

Because it's strong as hell, though.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's so different. All right, I got another one. This one is. It was controversial. We now have studies that show that this is actually superior. And we don't have a ton of studies, but I would guess that this is a better way to train. If you're somebody that likes athletic performance, in other words, you like all of it. Strength, stamina and endurance and mobility. What your routine probably looks like is a mix throughout the week. So probably looks like I. Strength Train on Mondays. Tuesdays I go running. Wednesdays I do something else outside. Then Thursdays I do lifting again or your routine looks like this. Strength training and stamina are in the same workout. This is how a lot of people train. Why? Because they want to be well rounded and they get it. There's nothing necessarily wrong with this, especially if it's well programmed. This is just the standard. But you're probably better off going a week of pure strength training. A week of pure endurance training. Every other week you alternate. In other words, one week is only strength training and then the next week is only endurance training. And what the data seems to show and in my experience, training clients who were willing to do this, a lot of people aren't willing to do this because they like to mix it up. You actually get better at both. Yep. Doing it this way. Yep. And it's so odd and so different because if you're someone who likes to be well rounded, it feels very strange to just focus on one for a full week and then the next week ignore that and then train just endurance. But this, this probably produces better results long term.

[Justin Andrews]

It leans a little bit more on the specificity. I mean, obviously you, you change it up. But to allow the body to actually like learn these, that, that type of adaptation and like, you know, hone in on it, then shift it, like you just have a better, like absorbing that type of skill.

[Adam Schafer]

I wish I actually would have experienced. Of all the things we're talking about right now, I think that's one of the ones that I really haven't ever really experienced.

[Sal DeStefano]

I could see you doing that. That's totally something I could see.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

Especially if I was in the, you know, playing sports and doing things like that. It would make a lot of sense to train that way and be really neat to see.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. The last study I saw showed that the people that train like that versus people who mix it all up. At the end of the study, the people who did one week, you know, just strength, one week, just endurance, perform better in both strength and endurance. At the end of the study. Yeah. Yeah. So you actually got more of both.

[Adam Schafer]

That's awesome.

[Sal DeStefano]

As a result, because. And I, I believe it. I believe it. That that's, that would. I would have guessed.

[Adam Schafer]

I love that too.

[Sal DeStefano]

Isn't that a great one?

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, it is a great one.

[Sal DeStefano]

I got one more.

[Adam Schafer]

I just realized that all of them are shoulder related.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. I didn't, didn't do that intentionally. Just, they. Those are the ones that came to mind the other One that popped my. I. I think I should probably credit Justin here, too.

[Sal DeStefano]

I don't. I don't.

[Adam Schafer]

I'm trying to remember the first time doing this, but a. A circus press from the floor up is just a.

[Sal DeStefano]

So, like, clean.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, A clean impress. Circus press. Right. And I don't know if that's the. The correct term, because I know a circus press is just the one arm press, but it's with the full.

[Justin Andrews]

It's from the floor, though.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. Is it from the floor? Right. The circus press is considered from the floor. Right. So. So it's like a clean impress, but we call it a circus press. I just. You can load it. I think you got this fun. You have this explosive component to it. You have a grinding component to it. You have an incredible lateral stability component to it. Core crazy. Core strength required in it. Just a great, great movement. And again, incorporates the lower body with the upper body is. I love that movement. Was something I didn't do early on in my career. Later, I think I would have taught it a lot more had I realized what great benefits I got from it. And you don't see a lot of it. Yeah. I mean, how. When's the last time you walked in a gym or saw someone doing a circus press? And I, again, also saw great results. I thought my shoulders just blew.

[Justin Andrews]

Strong men.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. Oh, man. I felt like they blew up from that.

[Sal DeStefano]

All right, I got one more. And this one is a lot of fun if you want to get really strong at a particular lift. And so one caveat here is you have to organize your volume around this. So don't just add what I'm about to say to your normal workout, because you'll probably overdo it. So make sure you adjust the volume of the rest of the workouts. But let's say you just like. I want to get my squat to go up a lot. I want to see how I want to get. I want to really boost my squat or my deadlift or my bench or my overhead press. This is what you do. You take a weight that you could do 10 reps with that you probably could do closer to 14 reps with. So the intensity is okay. It's good, but it ain't super hard. So it's like four or five reps in reserve. Two or three days a week. You just do 10 with it. And you never increase the weight. You just. Every. Every time you do it, you pick the same weight. You do 10 reps, and you do this for 30 days or for a full month at the end of that, then see how much you can lift. And you would be surprised. And here's what it'll feel like. It'll feel easy because it's already kind of easy. If I could do four more reps, it's not that hard. And then by the last week it's going to kind of feel really easy. And then watch how much weight you add to the bar and it typically results in a 10 to 20 pound increase. This is a Soviet training program.

[Adam Schafer]

The key to this is to. And because I would even argue going lighter before being closer to that edge. Meaning like it's probably something you could.

[Sal DeStefano]

Do 15 with, I would say.

[Adam Schafer]

Right, right. Like so. So my, my point of what I'm bringing out, like where people will screw that one up is go too heavy, go too heavy. And when you're trained with that much frequency, you do not need a lot of load at all whatsoever. And really a lot I think of the benefit is coming from the central nervous system.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, it's neural adaptation.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. You are just. I mean that is becoming like walking for you.

[Sal DeStefano]

Mapping it.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. 30 days of moving like that consistently and then you go back and like, let's see now, let's try and really load this thing after a good bit, good arrest. Right. And then go back and that's a great one. That's a really cool. But a lot of people screw that up because they. They so different. They pick a. They pick a weight that they. One like especially guys because like to. For me to put. Because it probably proper for me would probably be putting like 35 wheels on there. Something like. And you know what I'm saying, it's like, I don't want to do that.

[Justin Andrews]

You always want to add.

[Doug]

Yes.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, it's going well.

[Adam Schafer]

Let's add. Yes. And so dudes normally screw it up because that said this. The squad every day challenge that happened that like. So there was all that controversy around. It's like. Well, there's controversy around it because people don't do it.

[Sal DeStefano]

The people that did it right got great.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. If you do it correctly, it's in. It's incredible. But again, the lean on the more moderate to low intensity than pushing like, oh, I think I could do more. That's real. Screw that up.

[Sal DeStefano]

Dude. I just read an article. I'm going to pull it up on this new military drone that. Oh, dude.

[Adam Schafer]

That you. That we know about. Which tells you that there's something crazier.

[Justin Andrews]

Have you seen the military new helmets?

[Sal DeStefano]

No.

[Justin Andrews]

That they came out with no oh. So the guy that I think was responsible for like meta quest and did a lot of engineering for that, created like the military helmet version of that. So it's basically like it's completely covered and he's able to actually see and map people like their heat signature, everything as they're behind buildings. It doesn't even matter if there's environment there. They'll be able to target into anybody just by having these on.

[Sal DeStefano]

Wow. So check this out. This is what's crazy. So this is called X Bat and this is a AI powered fighter jet with no pilot. So SHIELD AI just unveiled the expat next gen fighter that flies itself, takes off like a helicopter, doesn't need a Runway. It's powered by hive mind, which is custom AI pilot. It can fly 2,000 miles, reach 50,000ft and pack missiles. It's built for combat, can launch from a ship in the middle of nowhere, cost $27 million compared to the hundred million dollars plus of the F35. And it's very fast, very versatile. And again, it has no morals and it's hard to kill. That's where it's gonna go. This is the. So here's what's crazy. They're gonna sell. Sell drone warfare as being more moral. Moral and humanitarian.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Like nobody's dying or whatever. You also don't have a person there. Yeah. Who not to say that people don't do crazy, you know, horrible things.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, of course.

[Sal DeStefano]

But now you got AI and it's like. And who's going to know if it goes out?

[Justin Andrews]

And just how many instances have there been where people have not pushed the button? Like if you go back in history, there's a lot of.

[Sal DeStefano]

Do you know there's one incident where that happened where there was one. I think he was a Russian.

[Justin Andrews]

Russian.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. He was a sub captain in a submarine and he got all the alerts that a nuclear war started.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

And all.

[Justin Andrews]

He had false alarms too.

[Sal DeStefano]

It was a false alarm. All he had to do was retaliate, which is what he was ordered.

[Justin Andrews]

Everybody was pressing him to do it.

[Sal DeStefano]

Like that's what you're supposed to do. Really. And had he retaliated.

[Adam Schafer]

I didn't know that story would have.

[Sal DeStefano]

Started a thermonuclear war. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Maybe. Doug, there's a couple.

[Justin Andrews]

I swear there's a couple of those stories and you're just like, oh my God. And again, the human element of just like staying doesn't feel right. Yeah, it doesn't feel right. Cuz like.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

If you get a directive and you're just like an AI bot or whatever, like you're going to run it all the way through, like, what's stopping that?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, dude.

[Adam Schafer]

Interesting. I didn't know that story.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

That's wild.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. And if. If the AI's imperative is to win. Yeah. And then it's going to do a risk assessment. And the risk assessment is going to look like, well, it's going to kill this many people versus how many people they could potentially kill. So it's less people, therefore it's okay, let's go for it. Or killing all these innocent people will prevent a further war. Like, I'm just creating scenarios here. Let's. Petrov read that, Doug.

[Doug]

Yes. So there's two guys, Stanislav Petrov and Vasily Arkhipov, both who are credited with preventing potential nuclear war by disobeying orders in separate incidents. Want more details? So they ignored a false alarm from his command early warning system. And the other guy was a submarine officer, refused to authorize the launch of a nuclear torpedo during the Cuban Missile crisis.

[Sal DeStefano]

So.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

Wow.

[Sal DeStefano]

This close.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

This close to nuts. Yeah. Just everybody getting annihilated. Do you guys remember that movie? Was it War Games? Is that the one?

[Adam Schafer]

The kid, where he went and had the code? You wouldn't.

[Sal DeStefano]

You know, it's funny. It's so funny. This is what's so crazy about this AI development. So this movie we've known, this is not like we're coming up with these potential dangers. Like, I think it's easy to understand the danger of something like this. There was a movie called War Games, I think it was 1980 something. And in it they had designed a super intelligent computer. And the super intelligent computer, I believe was going to. It was going to start a nuclear war or they had to stop it. It was about to start a nuclear war because it was doing its own calculations. But it learned. It had the ability to learn. And so I forgot the main. What's the main actor in it? It's the dude from Ferris Bueller, Matthew Broderick. Matthew Broderick is in there and he's like, wait a minute, I know how to stop it. Because they couldn't figure out how to stop it. It's going to create. It's going to start nuclear. We're all going to die. And so Matthew Broderick said, hey, to the computer, he said, let's play. Why don't you play a game of Tic Tac Toe against yourself? In Tic Tac Toe, when You got good. Two good players. Nobody ever wins. Yeah. And so keep playing, keep playing, keep playing. At the end of it, it says nobody wins. And then it figures out nobody wins nuclear war, and it stops the whole. You know.

[Adam Schafer]

But I can't. You remember that?

[Justin Andrews]

I know, I know.

[Adam Schafer]

I've watched that a bunch of times.

[Sal DeStefano]

So good.

[Adam Schafer]

I could grab on that movie.

[Sal DeStefano]

So good. But I mean, that's.

[Adam Schafer]

I knew it involved a kid in a game and I remember that he, like, he. But he inputted that. Right? That's what he did.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. That's how he got it to figure out.

[Adam Schafer]

Right. He input, like his Atari game or something.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. He's like, hey, play, you know, tic tac toe. And then it figured out, nobody wins. This is pointless. And then it's like, oh, nuclear war. Not good either. We should probably stop it. And that's how he taught it to not do the thing. But what's crazy about this, I was having a conversation with my cousins about AI and I said. I made a comment that was controversial. I said, it has the spirit. It's got. It's got a demonic spirit behind it. Of course there was. Oh, you believe in what I said? No, no. I said, here's what I mean by that. The spirit behind. What I mean by the spirit is the energy behind the development of AI is very similar to develop the spirit that was behind the. The acceleration of nuclear war. Warheads.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's like, we know this is bad. We know this is. But we have terrible.

[Adam Schafer]

We have to do it or else they're gonna.

[Sal DeStefano]

If we don't do it, they're gonna do it.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

And so that's the spirit driving military development of AI. It's. Everybody knows is a bad idea.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. But don't. I mean, I, I overheard a really good discussion about this the other day, and it's like. And it, it does bring up like, well, what would you do? Because. Would you like. Would you let China go build all that? And then we're at the mercy of them of like, like. Because that economically would just.

[Sal DeStefano]

I mean, it's like, what do we do?

[Adam Schafer]

It's like you. Because it's not. Of course what it's going to do for wars is the default. Go to that. And, But. And then the, the average person's like, oh, we should just not do it. Yeah. Well, then China, Russia are going to go do it. And then when they, when that, that. When that technology evolves over there, we now have to lease that technology from them to evolve our economy over here or buy everything from them because they're so far ahead of us, which then.

[Sal DeStefano]

Cripples our economy behind it.

[Adam Schafer]

So it's like it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't. What is the right answer? You know, there isn't one. I mean, I think the right.

[Sal DeStefano]

Unless everybody decides to stop.

[Adam Schafer]

I think you have good luck. I think you have universal. I think you have to have faith in humanity. You have to have faith. I mean, I know it sounds laughable, but that. You have to. You have to believe. You have to believe that the guy won't hit the button. You have to believe that you're. They're going to.

[Sal DeStefano]

Guy. Well, that's.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, yeah, this is the new territory we're getting in, I think, is we're taking the human out of it. That's what's scary to me. Because then it's like, what.

[Sal DeStefano]

What?

[Justin Andrews]

That's less.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, there's still a human prompting it. There's still a human programming it as of now.

[Justin Andrews]

You know, it's going to program itself, you know, very soon. You know, what does they say? Like, in five years or so? So that's. I mean, it's. It's accelerating. So I don't know. Again, this is what. Everybody's been trying to sound the alarm for it forever, but nobody listens because it's like it again, the hustle and the. The rate of advancement to innovate is it just consumes it.

[Sal DeStefano]

And meanwhile, we have that. What's that comet. Is it called Three Eye Atlas, bro, Do you know.

[Adam Schafer]

No, I didn't even know. You guys just brought this up. I think you brought it up on the episode one time that we. We have this thing.

[Justin Andrews]

So, Manu. Manu, what was the other one? The first one that came.

[Adam Schafer]

I mean, do we really. Can we really see it? You brought the point, like a telescope, but I'm like, can you really go down to Kmart or.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Again, there's been people that have, like, a bunch of different, like, accounts, YouTube, you know, like social media. They'll get their own telescopes and kind of show their footage and. And a lot of it, too. Like, I think even with the shutdown, the government shutdown, there hasn't been a lot of NASA footage of it because, you know, NASA being part of the government, but they've been getting footage from other different countries. And so that's been what's been shared.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

What are you getting over there?

[Sal DeStefano]

Huge. It's. It's this. Go ahead, Doug. No, go ahead.

[Doug]

Let me Finish this.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. So it's this huge thing going through space size comet. It's massive. Okay. And it's doing things that a comet wouldn't normally do. Like there's early and excessive outgassing. There's unusually high levels of CO2 and nickel. There's a rapid unexpected brightening and blue, Blue coloring. Yeah, there's. There's non gravitational acceleration. So they're like. This could be intelligent. In other words, this might be created by an intelligent species.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, well, like Michio Kaku, he, he was like that physicist, right, that he talks about like all this stuff and was saying that like one thing to look for is if it like passes around the sun, if it actually like increases speed. Speed. And it did, it increased. It accelerated after like passing the sun.

[Adam Schafer]

And it shouldn't be able to do that.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, no, it's not slow down unless there's, unless it's power.

[Justin Andrews]

And the trajectory of it was in such that it came through and was able to observe and pass through each one of our planets like perfectly in this line. That like had to be, it had to be deliberate because like randomly, it's just. That's hard to believe. Yeah, yeah, it would have crashed.

[Adam Schafer]

I mean I'm just. Sounds a lot like carbon dating, you know what I'm saying? We were measuring something millions of miles away with a telescope right here. We're like, oh yeah, that's going about Mach 7 and it just went to Mach 8i and it's emitting blue fumes right now through my telescope. I can measure that right in my little calculator right here. Sounds a lot like our carbon dating to me.

[Justin Andrews]

Big old space turret.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's nothing special. I don't know, dude. I can't win with you, dude. I'm going to stay skeptical dogs. I was. We need that. I think it was Rick and Morty. You guys know that? So funny, bro. There was one where the aliens came to Earth, but they were dinosaurs and they were like, yeah, we were here millions of years ago, but we left, you know, the Earth exploded and then we came back and they're like this super like advanced species.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, that's hilarious. What a funny concept.

[Sal DeStefano]

T Rex comes out. We were here a long time, actually. Our planet.

[Adam Schafer]

What are you reading over there, Doug? You got any good information for us?

[Doug]

I mean, most scientists believe it's a natural comet. Okay, so it's not necessarily agreed upon that it's some type of alien.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, four to five dentists.

[Justin Andrews]

Of course, that's what they're Going to lean on who. What scientist wants to claim it's aliens? That would kill their career?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, dude.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. Come on.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. Don't you love it when you like toothbrush commercials? 4 out of 5 dentists.

[Adam Schafer]

That didn't agree.

[Sal DeStefano]

What a jerk.

[Justin Andrews]

But they do admit it has anomalies to it, too. So.

[Adam Schafer]

That's the thing.

[Justin Andrews]

It's like they haven't seen a lot of these characteristics.

[Adam Schafer]

Now we're. We're not. At least the ones I always worry about is when they're. They see this stuff and it's like it's on course to run into us. Yeah, that's not happening. Right. So it's just cruising by. You're going to cruise by far away.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, it's really far away.

[Adam Schafer]

Everything's really.

[Sal DeStefano]

I think we're okay.

[Justin Andrews]

I think it passed us.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

I mean, how many miles do you think they're off when they estimate this stuff? Come on.

[Sal DeStefano]

You're asking me and just.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, come on, dude.

[Sal DeStefano]

17% margin of error. Throw some numbers.

[Adam Schafer]

I mean, give me. Doug, you can build. You should be able to Google that. What's the percentage of air when measuring speeds and distances out in space? It's got to be. You can't tell me we have something like. That's like.

[Sal DeStefano]

I think they could get pretty accurate based off of.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, but you would say that about carbon dating.

[Sal DeStefano]

Fraction. I'm just making things up.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, you would say it about carbon dating too, though, wouldn't you?

[Sal DeStefano]

No.

[Adam Schafer]

Oh, you wouldn't have said that before?

[Sal DeStefano]

No. Before, yeah. Yeah. I did a little more digging after.

[Adam Schafer]

After I said some. You guys all laughed at me.

[Sal DeStefano]

Like, what does that say, Doug?

[Justin Andrews]

Wired.

[Doug]

Yeah. So the margin of error for measuring speeds and distances in space varies greatly depending on the methods used in the.

[Adam Schafer]

Distance of the object greatly. You know that's bad when they fucking label us greatly. Like, pretty much inaccurate completely is actually.

[Sal DeStefano]

Another way of saying that it's within 100 million miles. Wow.

[Adam Schafer]

It's like, you know, like 1% accurate.

[Justin Andrews]

Like changes in light. Like, that's like all I have to work with.

[Sal DeStefano]

All right, since we're on the topic of science, here's some real.

[Adam Schafer]

Here's some real science.

[Sal DeStefano]

Some real science, you guys.

[Justin Andrews]

Empirical.

[Sal DeStefano]

I looked up studies on brain, you know, that you could find studies on brain. FM itself. They actually have already some. Some studies.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. So I found some on brain. So people don't know what this is? This is music that's engineered to induce different states of mind, and they measure this through brainwaves. Okay, so you, if they, if they, if they look at your brainwave activity, they can predict if you're focused, if you're asleep, if you're meditating based off of your brain waves. And what Brain FM has figured out is they can play certain sounds overlaid over certain types of music and it'll induce those states of mind.

[Justin Andrews]

So fmri, like, are they showing this?

[Sal DeStefano]

No, no. You can. No, you don't need FMRI for, for brainwaves.

[Justin Andrews]

No, but I mean, in the study.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, no, no. These are like. So here's the deal. Do they have studies that show an actual result? Cool. Your brain waves look this way. But what are the studies?

[Adam Schafer]

So that's what I'm more interested in. Because you, I mean, there's a lot of things right now where they. Oh, this is, this is more beta waves. Yeah, but then what does that end up meaning?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, so they saw focus enhancement brain waves up 119%. This actually translated into sustained attention.

[Adam Schafer]

That's great.

[Sal DeStefano]

They saw people with improved ADHD symptoms. They engaged different parts of the brain and they performed better. In certain tests. It increased slow wave sleep by 24 to 29%, which is great. So you can measure if you're in deep sleep, if you're in different stages. It got. Improved it by 24 to 29%. So I mean, it's pretty rad. It definitely works. It's very interesting. I can't wait to see more studies on Brain fm. And it's. I, I predict it to be something that might be used in the future. As for things like add. Oh, yeah. ADHD for kids.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, just at least as an option, you know, to. That's less impactful.

[Sal DeStefano]

Instead of giving them meth. Yes.

[Justin Andrews]

Instead of giving.

[Adam Schafer]

Have you guys. Have you guys.

[Justin Andrews]

That'd be great. Get the kids off method.

[Sal DeStefano]

Dude, I was talking about, I was joking my wife yesterday because she was, she was so tired yesterday. She's like, I'm so exhausted. This sucks. I said, don't you wish they had supplements like they did back in the day for housewives? What are you talking about? Yeah, yeah. Mommy's little helper used to buy them.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, that's what I mean. Yeah, it's. It's crazy. I know you guys are kind of tongue in cheek, but the fact that that's what, you know, ADD medication is, is, it's wild that we give. Give that.

[Sal DeStefano]

I didn't realize how crazy it was until I got diagnosed as an adult. Full disclosure, I got a diagnosed as an adult and I thought it would be cool to try the drugs that are associated with it, and you take them. By the way, I stopped.

[Justin Andrews]

You're a parent and you didn't. You haven't taken it and your kids on it. That's crazy.

[Adam Schafer]

I got all kinds of backlash when I said that. You guys remember that? Yeah, I said that on the show. And I got all kinds of backlash, people, for saying that. Don't you want to know? Like, I mean, that I didn't until I was, what, freaking mid-30s. The first time I ever took an Adderall pill and never went until then. And when I took that thing, I.

[Justin Andrews]

Was like, powerful, man.

[Sal DeStefano]

Holy. Oh, yeah, dude. So I.

[Adam Schafer]

And it was like this small. I think we were like a 5 or 10. And they. I know they give up to like 20 milligrams.

[Sal DeStefano]

I can't believe that. Isn't that crazy?

[Justin Andrews]

Yes.

[Sal DeStefano]

So what's wild about it? So, by the way, because people will say, well, you. You don't have add, then if you take it and you get high or you feel it, that means you don't have any. Look, I have an official diagnosis. I've been tested a couple times. Anybody who knows me will tell you I have all the symptoms of it. And I took it, and it became a problem for me. I actually had to tell my doctor, don't give these to me anymore. Because of its addictive property, it was leading to other behaviors that weren't great. This is a legit drug, everybody. And I'm like, man, I give kids. You give this to a kid in fifth grade. Oh, no wonder Timmy's finally sitting still and super focused on coloring. So was I when I took some of this stuff. You gimme a couple.

[Adam Schafer]

It's hard for me too, because I have a front row seat with my godson right now of watching him. And just, you know, you have kids, some kids, they need more physical activity, and they don't do well with sitting being still.

[Justin Andrews]

Quiet issue.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. And then we have so many things today with technology and stuff like that and video games, it just exacerbates all of that. So you. You take a. You take a kid like that who's already kind of wired to be the, you know, rambunctious, athletic, like, you know, needs to throw the ball, needs to sprint, needs to do those things. You can find him into a little classroom, or when he's home, you plug him into a video game, and it's just like their brains going a million. And you do that, you actually start.

[Sal DeStefano]

To train this behavior.

[Adam Schafer]

Then you do it for a year, then two years, then three years. And now the kid's seven years old with three years of his life like that. And then now they're like, hey, he's borderline adhd. And it's like, yeah, okay, well, maybe if some of these things weren't happening, or maybe if the education system was different for him, maybe we wouldn't be dealing with this whatsoever. Or maybe it's not even that big of a problem with him right now. And it just sucks that he gets, he gets categorized as like, this, this kid who needs. Has these behavioral issues and then this. The way they try and handle it in school is terrible. It's like they isolate him. It's like, oh, you know, you're disrupting all the other kids. So let's put you over here in the corner by yourself.

[Justin Andrews]

Like, oh my God.

[Adam Schafer]

Like, dude. Oh, dude. It's so.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, we can't figure out like a physical outlet, you know, if that's the issue. And like, you understand that, like, characteristics in some kids like that, that have that. It's like, can we provide like some sort of solution?

[Sal DeStefano]

I'm not, look, I'm not going to say there aren't cases where medical intervention might be really helpful, so I'm not going to say that. But when you look at the percentage of, of children prescribe these medications, you can't tell me they're not over prescribing. You can't tell me it's not an over prescription. Look, any. Here's the thing. Pick any. And this is, I know this is pissing people off.

[Justin Andrews]

Pharmaceutical mo.

[Sal DeStefano]

And I know why some people are mad right now. Because if you're a parent and you're, you feel guilty and you're struggling and you're working hard and you. Oh, my God, me and my wife both work and our kid is, you know, this is really tough and we don't have the time. Like, I get it. I totally get it. It's challenging. But if you look at all the medications, if we took a list of all the medications with addictive potential and there's a few of them, there's quite a few of them. All of those, you'll notice, are over prescribed. Every single one. Pain medications, over prescribed. Stimulants, over prescribed, you see anxiolytics over prescribed. Because we like them, we love them, and they produce the effect that we're.

[Adam Schafer]

Looking at for profit. They're for profit. I mean, it's driven that way.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yep. Come on. Yeah, I know. Look at These ads, by the way, Doug, these are great.

[Adam Schafer]

There used to be. There's, like a kitchen one that's hilarious. Like, more pep in your stick. You're feeling down when you're doing the dishes.

[Sal DeStefano]

Have some more pepper.

[Doug]

Now she can cook breakfast again.

[Adam Schafer]

Is that what it says?

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, my God. Wow. Methadrine.

[Adam Schafer]

How condescending and sexist.

[Sal DeStefano]

Dude, methadone, mornadine.

[Adam Schafer]

How. Okay, how far off is that from what Adderall is?

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, good question. Doug, look up methadrin with the camera. I think it was legit amphetamine. Okay. I think it was, like, just straight amphetamine. Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

Because I wouldn't. I wouldn't be surprised if it's that far off.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, I know that Adderall crystal methadone is a version or a type of amphetamine, but it's not a straight. What does that say?

[Doug]

Let me just see what the notes stay here.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's so crazy.

[Doug]

There are two fundamentally different classes of drugs with opposing effects on the body, so.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, interesting.

[Sal DeStefano]

Well, no. Methadone. You looked up methadone?

[Doug]

Well, okay, I must have done a spell check on it.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. Dude, it's not methadone.

[Adam Schafer]

No, I get that. I get that. Not meth.

[Doug]

Methadone.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, that's why. That's why those are two.

[Sal DeStefano]

What was method?

[Doug]

Methadrin.

[Sal DeStefano]

What was methadrin? That's the brand name.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, I was gonna say. That's not going to tell you what it really. Methadrin is. What it is the, like, Vicodin. Right. It's like.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's like the brand name. Yeah, but I'm pretty sure it was just ephedra, not a federal excuse. Yeah, Right there.

[Adam Schafer]

Methamphetamine.

[Sal DeStefano]

Right there. Methamphetamine.

[Adam Schafer]

So, yeah. Now compare that to Adderall, because that's what it's. That's what Adderalls derived from that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Correct.

[Adam Schafer]

So they're probably very.

[Sal DeStefano]

Methamphetamine versus Adderall. Let's look that up.

[Adam Schafer]

Because Adderall is just a brand also.

[Sal DeStefano]

It is. I forgot what the chemical name is, but it's a. It's a type of methamphetamine.

[Adam Schafer]

Wow.

[Sal DeStefano]

This is straight meth they were giving housewives.

[Adam Schafer]

Wow.

[Sal DeStefano]

Damn. That's why they got a lot done back then. How are they able to do so in trouble today? Man, mom did a lot of things. How was she able to do that?

[Adam Schafer]

Hey, while he's looking this up, how are you liking Scott Donald's course?

[Sal DeStefano]

Great.

[Adam Schafer]

So cool, right?

[Sal DeStefano]

Great. Dude, it's so good. What Takeaways. What takeaways did you get from it so far?

[Adam Schafer]

Oh, I mean I like to think that. So there's a. What's the wheel called?

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, I, I just remember.

[Adam Schafer]

So they have a really cool thing that you do after you, you enter in the course that you, you rate yourself and, and it's broken up in four quarters for the years. There's a year long thing that we're going through and the first one is courage. Right. Is that we're, that we're working on and then they're within courage. There's like a four quadrants of like things to teach your. To your kid. And there's like, like core value, family values. There's finance stuff, there's technology. And then there's one other, one other one that I'm missing. And then the idea is when you start this to be very honest with yourself because. And they give you examples of like what it. And, and all this is. So Scott has created this course from over 10,000 families that they've done research on of some of the most super successful families out there. And super successful is not just financially successful, but their kids have gone on to do things great. Beyond the parents.

[Sal DeStefano]

They're well adjusted.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. Good relationships. Like all the things. Right.

[Sal DeStefano]

So.

[Adam Schafer]

And so you, you score yourself and I, I, when you do it separate. So Katrina did it and I did it separately. So we didn't see each other's answers for how we were scoring stuff. I thought we would be really different. I just, I can be, I can be hypercritical. She's more positive.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

You know, and empathetic and she's more, you know, like. And she's always the one that calms me down. But actually I was blown away by how, how closely accurate we both were.

[Sal DeStefano]

One of the big takeaways for me was the graph. And on one end you had edification and then the other was expectation. So high expectations with high edification. Edification is like encouragement, positivity. Expectations are just like what it sounds. When you're good at both of those, you're an effective coach or an effective parent or an effective leader. Yeah. When one is good and the other one isn't good, you have problems, deficits. Yeah. So if it's like really high expectations with terrible edification, you're just a drill sergeant. If you live that environment, manage that a fear, you can't wait to get out of there. Yeah. It's like mom and dad have high expectations. There's no encouragement.

[Adam Schafer]

And a lot of times that Might. It might. I love the way that he described this, too. That might create a kid who has a lot of success, but they never come home.

[Sal DeStefano]

But they never come home. And they're anxious and stressed under the surface. Look like they got all put together.

[Adam Schafer]

Right.

[Sal DeStefano]

But they hate you. They hate life, and they're just success oriented. Yeah. The other one was only edification with no expectation, in which case you kind of become a pleaser, like a caretaker.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Kid becomes just a. Like. Like they don't really achieve anything. They don't push themselves. Everything's within their comfort zone. So what'd you find there, Doug?

[Doug]

So Adderall is related to meth?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yes. Amphetamine. One's methamphetamine.

[Doug]

Exactly. Okay, so the Adderall is less potent, if you will.

[Sal DeStefano]

Right. So they were giving them strong stuff. Wow.

[Adam Schafer]

So even stronger. Even stronger.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, We're a good time. Yeah. Yeah, It's a good time, bro. That's when Coke, original form of Coca Cola was out too. Right, right.

[Justin Andrews]

Opium Den still a thing back then?

[Sal DeStefano]

No, that's. That was way before that. That's wild. You know? That's wild. That is crazy to think that we're so much smarter now. And different is like.

[Adam Schafer]

No, no, we're not.

[Sal DeStefano]

We're still playing the same.

[Adam Schafer]

We're playing the same game.

[Sal DeStefano]

Same.

[Adam Schafer]

Just.

[Justin Andrews]

They're watered down.

[Adam Schafer]

No, 100. It's so similar. So we just name it differently. We market it different. We were just. We were more ignorant about how we marketed it back then. Where now it's like, oh, we'll be a little more clever about the way we present. Present this now. Same, though.

[Sal DeStefano]

Anyway, I want to talk about our partner juve with the red light therapy.

[Adam Schafer]

More real science.

[Sal DeStefano]

No. Well, I mean, it works. It's great. But a lot of the thing about real red light therapy is it's more expensive than the crap you find online. It's just a fact. But they're having crazy Black Friday deals, so that's what I mentioned. Yeah. So if you want like the red light that they use in studies, not the red light that you buy on Amazon, that's got like one tenth of the.

[Adam Schafer]

Now's the time to buy.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, they have the Black Friday deal. So if you've been hearing us talk about red light therapy, now's the time, you know, to go get. Get that kind of stuff. Anyways, I want to talk. Go back to AI a little bit. I was talking to. Who was I talking to? I was talking to somebody that's got some experience With AI and they also work in the field of therapy. And they were talking about how the AI in this regard is just a, just a validation machine. That's what it does. It just validates, validates, validates. And there was this, this really crazy somebody did, they posed a question to chat GBT just to show how ridiculous it was with its validation. And the question was, is this coming from a husband? So the husband says, you know, I work real hard all day long, I come home, I just want to relax, my wife wants me to help out and I'm just tired. And then at the end of the night she doesn't want to have sex with me. And then, and the chat GPT is like, well you deserve affection and you work really hard and you know, she shouldn't ask you to help or whatever. And you should see the comments underneath. I'm just like, what is going on here? Yeah, it was just validate, validate, validate.

[Adam Schafer]

I mean I told you guys, I think I mentioned it on air. Like doesn't challenge you, you know when I. Well it's also the way you prompt it directly impacts the answer you get. And so you could be seeking like okay, so I, I shared this with the audience, I believe I know for sure. I talked to you guys about it when my brother in law was looking up stuff related to testosterone and the way he prompted it was encouraging the chatgpt to give it all, give you all the negative, all the negative things of using testosterone. So he gets this feedback of like taking testosterone, does all these bad things. I'm like, well yeah, but if you flip that question and go like well what are all the adverse and negative things for having low testosterone?

[Sal DeStefano]

It would give, you know what to ask.

[Adam Schafer]

Right, exactly. So that's the part where I go, man, this is going to be like, it's going to be interesting to see as this generation coming up becomes very dependent on this tool. That is incredible because I mean don't get me wrong, I use it all the time. It's very valuable for a lot of different things. But I have already now come across a few situations where my experience tells me otherwise because of what we do, that, oh wait, that's not a good answer to that. And only because of my experience. Otherwise I could see where someone would get that prompt and go like this is the truth, therefore I'm going to go do the X, Y and Z. But because the way he prompted it, it completely shifts the way it's going to answer you. So yeah, there's going to Be. It's going to be interesting to see what that. What shakes out from that, because it's not this. It's not so clear where it's like. It's always the best answer to your point that you're making, too, with the validation.

[Sal DeStefano]

I saw this clip with Jordan Peterson where he said, if you guys think. Because he was talking about the subject, then he veered into a different subject, but related. He said, if you guys think pornography is an issue now, he goes, you just wait till you have a very attractive young woman talking to you, developing a relationship with you on the other end. Seems real. It's great. And then just for $15 a month, she'll take her clothes off and another $15 a month and he goes, and this for a lot of people will be the best friend they ever had. He goes, you just wait till you see what this produces. And that right there is, I think, crazy danger.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. It's already happening.

[Sal DeStefano]

Where we're just going to isolate our. Not we, but a lot of people may just isolate themselves because it's the best friend ever.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, there's no reason why to believe otherwise, considering that's already happening. We don't have. We don't even have that yet.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

I mean, just the introduction of Facebook and social media and video gaming going their direction, it's gone. It's just we've all become super isolated. All the, all the research and data points to that, and it hasn't even got that sophisticated. When it gets that sophisticated, it's going to make it that much easier to do that. So it's going to. I don't know. It's going to. It's going to. Cause the thing that I've been calling some for a long time on this podcast.

[Sal DeStefano]

What, what.

[Adam Schafer]

What's unclear to me is what that means. Yes. Is that percentage there's. There. It's clear to me we are in the very near future, meaning I think in the last less than five years, we'll have a major movement of unplugged versus Plugged. And what I don't know is how big that unplugged movement will be. Obviously, there's already people already trying to do stuff like that, but I mean, to where it becomes like a real movement. Movement where it's talked about a lot and even mainstream. It'll be interesting to see if it's how close to half it is. I don't think it will be half, but I got.

[Sal DeStefano]

I also, I got to tell you guys about this guilty pleasure that I Found. Speaking of social media, there's a whole category of pages, and I didn't know this, but I clicked on one. Now my algorithm's showing me more. These are people that blow things up. Yeah, they take. You've seen them.

[Justin Andrews]

Of course you have, bro.

[Sal DeStefano]

They're great. First of all, where do these people live? Because they're just doing it themselves.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

What state?

[Adam Schafer]

Nevada. Like, big stuff, bro.

[Sal DeStefano]

This guy is like, okay, I got this tree. He's in the middle of this, like, desert area. He goes, I need some firewood. We're gonna see how many sticks of dynamite it takes to blow up this tree. He's like, one stick of dynamite. Two. And then he goes, eight sticks of dynamite. And he blows it up. And I'm just like, this is amazing.

[Adam Schafer]

So I got a funny story since you brought this up. Okay. Do you guys use your next door app at all? Next door, where all your neighbors all do gossipy. Yeah, it's very gossipy.

[Justin Andrews]

Drama central.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. I mean, exactly. Yeah, it's definitely that for sure. So we. We'll use it for something like this. So Katrina and I are laying in bed, like, two nights ago because I'm trying to pick up, take some of the heat off of me for a little bit. What you say, Justin?

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, I was emulating a Karen voice.

[Sal DeStefano]

Double down. Yeah, go ahead, Adam.

[Adam Schafer]

So Katrina and I are laying in bed. It's like. I want to say it's like 10:30 or 11:00 clock at night. Somewhere around that time, and this loud explosion, boom, goes off. And we're both. Her and I kind of start a little bit it. And like, that was weird. And then Katrina gets on the Next Door app, and just maybe someone else talked about or saw it, and she's like, oh, my God. This is an ongoing thing almost every night at 10:30, and nobody can figure out what it is. And so since then, now I hear it every night.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, that guy's a legend.

[Adam Schafer]

Around 10. Yeah, he's totally, like, messing with the entire neighborhood right now, because nobody can. There's a whole dedicated to the explosion that happens at 10:30 at night, like, every night, like clockwork. And nobody knows where it's coming from or what it is, but it happens every night.

[Sal DeStefano]

If I had access to any. We live in California, so getting any kind of fireworks or, you know, it was hard. You had to, like, smuggle. It was like, you're not going to get crazy, but there's some states, man, where you could get some. Oh, yeah, I would have been.

[Justin Andrews]

I know the neighbors. It'll like, pop off sometimes into the forest. And I'm like, I know this guy's shooting outside right now. Like. Like. And one time I tried to, like, confront because, like, my kids were jumping, like, shooting, like, shooting into, like.

[Adam Schafer]

Oh, God.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, into. And I'm like. So I actually went down there one time. May or may not have had my own.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, God. Just. What are you doing, bro?

[Justin Andrews]

I'm just saying, dude. It was like. Like, what are you doing, dude? Like, there's kids jumping, and there's, like. So anyways, he stopped, but. But, yeah, it was. It was like, dude, who does that? Who just shoots off into, like, the forest?

[Adam Schafer]

People that live out in Santa Cruz Hills.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. Be careful what you run into. Do you guys hear about that guy? He dressed up like a. Like, hunting season. He put on a deer outfit.

[Doug]

Oh, man.

[Sal DeStefano]

He got shot, dude.

[Adam Schafer]

No, he didn't.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, he did.

[Adam Schafer]

No, he didn't.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. This is an old story.

[Adam Schafer]

Was he out in an area?

[Sal DeStefano]

I think he thought it would be fun. I mean, I could kind of see why it's funny, but of course, that is not funny.

[Adam Schafer]

That's, like, really stupid.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yes.

[Adam Schafer]

And he's. I'm assuming he's out where there's. Oh, yeah. That's really stupid. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, that's. But these explosion pages, I got to tell you guys, if you ever want to waste time. Okay. He blew. He blows up fridges. He blows up old.

[Justin Andrews]

I wonder the same guy, because I've seen one where there's, like, a hole in the ground, and it was, like. It was, like, at an angle like this. And so he took this, like, metal bowl and put it, like. So he.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yes. Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

He put, like, an explosive in it and then put the metal ball on top. Ran.

[Sal DeStefano]

And then it just.

[Justin Andrews]

It shot like. Oh, my God. It shot so.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, it's even worse. It's even worse than I thought. It was a trans species man who identifies as a deer. That's not real. That's satire.

[Adam Schafer]

That's like the onion.

[Sal DeStefano]

Did you see what he looked like? Yes, dude.

[Justin Andrews]

That's peak right there.

[Sal DeStefano]

It was a hunter who's like, that's a dude. Let's shoot him.

[Adam Schafer]

Oh, my gosh.

[Sal DeStefano]

Not too far.

[Justin Andrews]

It's amazing.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, that's great.

[Sal DeStefano]

Probiotics give you lots of health benefits, not just digestive. It also helps with skin mood. And there's now evidence that shows it helps with athletic performance, muscle building, and, yes, fat loss. But which one do you go with? Go with seed. They're the World's best probiotic. Go to seed.com mindpump use the code 25mindpump get 25% off. Back to the show.

[Doug]

First question is from Kevin Og. What are some tips for feeling the rear delts? I watch the Mind Pump videos and end up feeling it in my side delts. I'm not sure if I need to round my back more and or pull my shoulders back while rounding.

[Sal DeStefano]

Here's a good tip.

[Adam Schafer]

Rewind this episode. I got three for you in there.

[Sal DeStefano]

Scroll back. Rewind doesn't exist anymore. Right. Okay, so here's a tip that I'll tell people with rear delts. It's not a row, so don't think of pulling the dumbbells up but rather separate them, fly out. Yeah, it's my cue. Separate the dumbbells, bring them out and that'll give you more Rear Delt. Because a lot of times it turns into kind of this, you don't want.

[Justin Andrews]

Your scapul or, you know, squeezing.

[Adam Schafer]

I, I would say that's probably the, the most difficult part for people doing rear delts is not getting your back to overtake that. It's difficult to do that because it's the rear delt is smaller than those big back muscles and because you are pulling back, the back tends to do that. But that's why you got to fly out instead of back. The suggestion would be to start with a really light weight and, and do like an isometric hold at the, at the stretch position at the end. Like if you were doing the what I cable flies that I talked about, go really light and slow and pause at the end. And that little isometric hold at the end of the exercise is going to help you get better connected and practice that till you get really good at feeling it in the rear delt. Then once you have good connection there, then you can start to really load that and roll. But if you go right to ripping it really early and you don't have good connection, then the back muscles are.

[Sal DeStefano]

Going to take and it's in some exercises. Don't. Thank you, Justin. They just don't lend themselves well to heavyweight in a rear delta fly turns very quickly into a row when the weight is heavy.

[Justin Andrews]

Especially a weirdo.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. So I, I, I, look, I can, if I wanted, I could go real heavy, Right. But I almost never go heavier than let's say £20 because if it feels light, I just make the form feel better. That's all I do. And I get more Rear delt. Yeah.

[Doug]

Next question is from Super Bella 71 1. How can I get stronger with squats? I'm squatting every week, but I just don't seem to make any progress. Although. Although the reps are heavy and exhausting, I don't really feel my legs. Also, my mind prevents me from lifting heavier weights for fear that I can't get up from the squat.

[Adam Schafer]

All right, this is funny that these questions are aligned with what we talked about. I know, right?

[Sal DeStefano]

The very beginning of our tips.

[Justin Andrews]

I didn't even plan that it was yesterday.

[Sal DeStefano]

Okay, so let's start here. So it could be diet. And I'm assuming this is a woman because of the name and also because of the fear of lifting heavier weight for not getting up. Typically, my female clients would have that fear, and I pushed them heavier than they thought they could go. And it was just a fear thing. But let's. There's one of two things. It's either, A, you're not eating enough or not enough protein. B, your programming sucks. So if you're following a MAPS program, good job. If you're not, get a maps program. There's 60% off right now. Black Friday code will give you 60% off any of our programs. MAPS Anabolic is a great program to boost your squat. So is MAPS Power Lift if you're more advanced. And then lastly, you know, the heavier weight thing, if you use safeties or practice dropping the bar, you'll get over the fear of lifting heavy. A squat is actually if you know how to dump the bar, which is. It's not hard, you guys. It feels like it's hard, but really practice with the lightweight. Get to the bottom and just.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Let it go back.

[Justin Andrews]

Push it back.

[Sal DeStefano]

Or use safeties. Once you practice that, then you can push yourself because it is scary. Right. What happens if I can't get up? And you know I'm gonna hurt myself? But it's not like a bench press. You won't get pinned. Yeah. Under the bar. So practice those things and challenge yourself with your weight. I mean, and again, just. Just to put the cherry on top with the dumping the bar when I'm squatting, a heavy squat. If I had a client, unless they're lifting something light enough that I can lift myself with my hands. If I'm squatting a client, that's, you know, if I'm training a client that's squatting a weight that's really heavy, I have them dump the bar. If they can't get it up, I don't help them lift it up. That's a great Way for them to hurt themselves. It's like, yeah, I would back up, up, and I'd either use safeties or have them dump the bar well and.

[Justin Andrews]

Go through a phase of tempo squats and pause squats and really, like, hone in on that isometric contraction, that recruitment part of it. If you're not feeling like you're getting any leg involvement, if there's a way to really enhance that by, you know, targeting and isolating that. So, yeah, lifting heavy and going through the reps is one thing, but then, you know, actually being able to recruit a lot more muscle fibers into that lift, especially at the deepest part of that squat, is. Is really going to make a massive difference.

[Adam Schafer]

Also, give yourself the permission to do singles, doubles, or triples. Yeah, most programming, including ours, is like five reps and above. And when I had a female client, that would be like, I'm afraid to put more on the weight, Adam, because that's. That weight right there is really hard for me to get five. And I don't know if I could do any more weight. And so it's like, so What? Let's get three. So let's, let's. Let's agree. Let's put 10 more pounds on or 20 more pounds on, and let's try and get five. But if you feel like you can't get five and you only got three, stop at three and do that for a while and watch how strong you get doing sets of three. And so this works really well sometimes with my clients getting over the mental hurdle of putting on more weight because they're always thinking in. In the realm of they got to get five reps. And. And that last time I did that, you know, 135, it was hard to get five reps. And so I'm afraid to go to 1. 145, do three or two, and nothing wrong with that. And watch how strong you get from doing singles, doubles, or triples. I think that's a great piece of advice if you've never done that.

[Doug]

Next question is from MLMxO. As a dental hygienist, how can I be ergonomically preventative in my career to protect my wrists, shoulders, and neck wrist cars?

[Adam Schafer]

Do mobility.

[Sal DeStefano]

Do mobility in between every patient. So be in between every patient. Five minutes of a mobility. One or two mobility moves counter the position from Prime Pro will make all the difference in the world. I've had clients that did work like this. I worked with hairdressers who also suffer.

[Adam Schafer]

From some of the stuff, even, like, engineers Be on the computer all day.

[Sal DeStefano]

Long and, you know, you could change your technique, but as a dental hygienist, like, there's certain positions you have to get into. So in between your. When you have a patient, you're doing your work, after you're done, spend literally five minutes doing one or two mobility movements. Prime Pro has a lot of great ones in there. Four of the areas that you talked about, you know, shoulder and wrist, and then move on to the next patient. And just doing that several times a day typically does the trick, and it makes a big difference.

[Doug]

Next question is from Good jujugains. What's the number one thing this career has taught you about yourself?

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, God. Number one thing about myself. Both, you know, one.

[Adam Schafer]

One thing.

[Justin Andrews]

Gosh, yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

I mean, it's. It's taught me the things that I'm not good at and the things that I'm good at and what happens when I focus on the things that I'm good at and work on being great at it versus dwelling on the things that I'm not so good at. So that there's a lot of things that fall into that category. But I think training people, even being on this podcast, has continued to highlight my strengths and my weaknesses. And I've said many times on this show before that the single best advice someone ever gave me was, you know, don't worry about the things that you're not very good at. Focus on the things that you're good at and be great. And that has served me so much in life. And I think that there's a. There's a bit of a skill to that. I actually think that it's. We're taught to look at what we're not good at and look at what we. And fix it and work on it. And it's like I. I really kind of release that, let go. I let go of that, outsource it, invest in somebody else, in it. Many times when someone else would think, that's crazy. Like, there's times when I've been building before, even this business and other business where I wasn't even making that much money. But I know that I was finding myself doing things within the business that I knew that I wasn't good at and. But I still needed that money. It's like I would sacrifice the money, live, live even lower, below my means to outsource that to somebody else so I can really focus on the things that I was good at within the business. And that always served me long term in the. The initial. That's scary to do that. And it's like, oh my God, I need all that. It's like, yeah, but this is holding me back because I'm still. I'm working on this crap that I'm not good at or I don't like. I'm so better off being focused on the things I'm good at. So that. That's the first thing that comes to mind for me.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, I mean, it's definitely revolves around getting better through reps and that being. Getting stronger or just be more comfortable, be more confident. All of it takes reps and it takes that exposure and that. That courage to step out and start attempting it. And then knowing you're gonna suck at it. And then just every day chipping away at it and getting better and better, knowing that you will get better if you just. Just keep consistently focusing on that thing and chipping away at it.

[Sal DeStefano]

And it's.

[Justin Andrews]

Again, this is like a. A moving target too. That's. I guess the biggest thing that I've found from this career is right when you get strong at something, you realize you're deficient in something else and then you just move that attention over there and you just start chipping away at that. And the overall benefits if the more you keep doing that and you realize and you can see it. It before it's problematic and you can. You can bring attention to it and start putting reps in that category. Just. It makes you better overall.

[Adam Schafer]

By the way, I think that the reason why most people fail at something like this is just they're not willing to do the sheer amount of volume it takes to get good at it. Yeah, I think so many people quit before it turns. I think we have this, and I think that's more apparent today than it's ever been with things that come to us so fast. This instant gratification and ever. At least I know in your. I think we've all agreed this. Like anything and everything that I've ever been good at. It took me a really long time. Long time and a lot of practice.

[Sal DeStefano]

Longer than you think and a lot.

[Adam Schafer]

Exactly. Whatever I thought it was going to take, it took longer than that. And I sucked at it for a really long time. But I had this willingness and determination to get good at it no matter how long and how hard it took. And I think that's where most people go wrong, is they expect it to be easier sooner or better at it sooner, and they're just not in it for the long haul. And I think that's a bit of a superpower you have that. I think everybody in this room, that's one of the things we share in common is that ability to just put your head down and put the reps in.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's a very unique. And this is really referring to this, right? What we do here. Right. Not when we were trainers. It's unique because we have all these conversations that get recorded. You can hear yourself later, which is first off, if anybody's ever listened to their own voice recorded, everybody gets that. Like, oh, that's what I sound like. Yeah, yeah. So that's, that's. And that by the way, that's like 1%. Now imagine you say a lot of words, a lot of things and you're going to say a lot of stupid things. And you hear yourself later in the, in an episode that was recorded or you get feedback and the feedback initially might make you feel defensive. Not to say that you need to listen to everybody, but if you see you hear a bunch of people saying something similar and then you gotta be like, well, am I actually, am I actually sounding that way? Am I actually, am I really helping people? So it's like, it's hard not to do this and grow. I think if you don't, this is gonna, this would suck, right? It would suck to not not. You'd be so defensive all the time. But it's interesting, like listening to yourself talk over and over over again. You can hear things that you didn't hear when you were saying it the first time, like oh, that sounded arrogant or wow, I really wasn't open minded in that statement or I actually didn't help anybody by saying it that way. I just, just sounded like I was angry.

[Justin Andrews]

Humbles you. And it makes you a little more empathetic too.

[Sal DeStefano]

It does.

[Adam Schafer]

Way more self aware than you. Like I, I would have thought coming into this that I was a self aware person. But to your point about, yeah, but where else have I ever been able to like hear back? Yeah, you know, hour long talks that I've had or long like that. You just don't get to do that. And that is, it's like talk about a direct mirror every day in your face about it makes you really question your own beliefs and stances and thoughts on a lot of things at a level that I don't think I've ever experienced. And so although coming into this I would have considered myself a self aware person, the level of self awareness and humility that comes with recording it on air and then putting it out for millions of people to listen to and critique.

[Sal DeStefano]

One thing that I learned, I didn't necessarily this wasn't like a shocking thing, but it became more and more evident to me was that I'm definitely very purpose driven. And I think I would have said that early on too, but I now, now I really see how purpose driven I am, how much that motivates and drives me and brings me joy versus, let's say success monetarily or you know, even success with, you know, getting attention. It's like if I feel like what I'm doing is something I believe in and for me that means I'm helping, I'm actually helping people. And that's so important for me that I'll, I'll give up, up everything for that thing right there. And thankfully, praise God, it's actually brought the success. So the success actually has followed it. But if I don't feel that purpose behind what I'm doing, like it just feels dead. And you can pay me as much money as you want. Just doesn't feel, doesn't feel right. And I think we've learned that many times through what we've done. So look, if you like the show, come find us on Instagram. We'll see you. It's at mindpump Media.

[Doug]

Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build, 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 from, 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.

[Adam Schafer]

Plastic bags, plastic lids. What do we do with you? You can't go in the recycling bin.

[Sal DeStefano]

But you can be recycled if taken.

[Adam Schafer]

To a new recycle on Center.

[Sal DeStefano]

Find one near [e-mail] OregonCenters.