2833: Why Fitness Gimmicks Keep Fooling You And What Actually Works

Summary

Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth – Episode 2833

Why Fitness Gimmicks Keep Fooling You And What Actually Works
April 10, 2026 – Hosts: Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, Justin Andrews, Doug Egge

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Episode Overview

In this lively and informative episode, the Mind Pump crew delivers a no-holds-barred discussion on why fitness gimmicks continue to capture people’s attention and wallets, despite being ineffective or even detrimental in most cases. The hosts dissect popular fitness products past and present, explain the science (or lack thereof) behind them, and contrast these fleeting novelties with the unchanging basics that truly drive health and physique results. The conversation also weaves through recent fitness news, metabolic health insights, hormone therapies for women, and audience Q&A on real-world training concerns.

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The Never-ending Fitness Gimmick Cycle

[04:32–19:58]

• The Allure of Gimmicks

  • Sal opens the core topic: “Here’s something that is guaranteed to be a total stupid waste of time. The latest fitness gimmick. They come up every year.” (04:32)
  • Adam points out, “Gimmicks… they do work. They do something or else they wouldn’t…get popular.” (04:50)
  • Anecdotes around the Thigh Master and Shake Weight—how huge sales don’t equate to real benefit.

• Historic Gimmicks & Cycling Trends

  • Sal: “The Thigh Master was a legit phenomenon. I remember I’d go to my aunt’s house… everybody had one. And it was a spring. You put between your knees and you would just squeeze it. Yeah.” (05:51)

  • Context on new and recycled gadgets—like EMS (electrical muscle stimulation) ab belts and body suits, or resistance machines promising miraculous results.

    “Every year… I see fitness gimmicks get recycled. A good example is the belt that flexes your abs… It’s a waste of time. What it works well for is making money.” – Sal (06:08)

  • EMS (electrical muscle stimulation) resurges in the mainstream, but as Adam says, “What’s popular now is a whole other level… you’re either wearing this ridiculous suit or you roll in the whole machine.” (09:20)

• The Science Soundbite Trap

  • The hosts explain how companies conflate muscle contraction science with real-world strength gains.

  • Sal: “When you train in proximity to failure, you’re activating most of the muscle fibers… the closer you get to heavy load or high intensity, the more muscle fibers you’re going to recruit.” (11:04)

  • Adam: “This is like every rep trying to train to failure... and it’s ridiculously inconvenient.” (11:19, 11:28)

  • Katrina: “You’re gonna go sign up at a class because the class has this expensive equipment? ...Way better return [would be] a good coach.” (11:40)

• Why Gimmicks Persist

  • Adam: “Everybody’s looking for the novel, like, quick answer.” (17:46)
  • Sal: “All the gimmicks that keep coming out, what they’re doing is they’re taking people away from what actually works. This is the part that gets me a bit frustrated.” (12:56)
  • The discussion reinforces: Nothing replaces traditional strength training, a good diet, sleep, and healthy behaviors.

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Novelty vs. True Progress – Equipment & Adherence

[19:58–22:31]

• “Real” Equipment Still Can’t Replace Basics

  • Sal and Adam discuss high-end Italy-made Panatta gym equipment but reiterate that “no one machine replaces barbells or dumbbells.” (16:05)

  • Contrast between expensive, fancy machines and the foundational value of basic resistance tools.

• Group Fitness & The ‘Busy’ Craze

  • Hosts joke about the bootcamp era—battle ropes, kettlebells, cones—where complexity and keeping people occupied took priority over actual fitness outcomes.

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Science Corner: Erythritol & Artificial Sweeteners

[23:29–30:44]

• Erythritol Health Warnings

  • Sal shares recent research: “Higher circulating erythritol levels were associated with increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, stroke and death.” (24:21)
  • Detail on how the body’s response (platelet aggregation) suggests a causal link.
  • Sal: “This sucks because people consuming [erythritol]… It might actually be really bad for you.” (26:38)

• Rethinking “Sugar-Free”

  • Moderation is key; sometimes regular sugar is the lesser evil.
  • The hosts discuss behavioral traps of diet soda and sweeteners (“calorie free, so you can just keep drinking without a conscious limiter”).

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Real Talk: Hormone Therapy for Women

[41:46–47:56]

• Destigmatization of Female Testosterone Use

  • Sal: “Testosterone is responsible for the same things in women as men—libido, drive, energy, and it is one of the aesthetic hormones.”

  • It’s gone mainstream in hormone replacement therapy (HRT), with more doctors introducing thyroid and testosterone as first-line therapies for aging women.

  • Adam: “It’s so cool to see how far we’ve come with that… It’s become almost common practice now that once you reach a certain age, they introduce thyroid and testosterone almost as like the go-to.” (43:04)

• Cautions on Non–Bioidentical Hormones

  • Sal highlights a widely shared “80,000 women” study linking HRT to cancer and vascular events, and how it is misleading:

    “Most of them [were] on non–bioidentical hormones… birth control is not the same as natural progesterone. Bioidentical therapy uses hormones like those in your body.” (44:50)

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Metabolic Health & News Highlights

[30:44–41:46]

• Behavioral Impact of Artificial Sweeteners

  • Hosts discuss how “diet” options can reinforce cravings and override natural limiting cues. Adam admits, “People who consume a lot of diet soda begin to prefer its taste. That’s me.” (29:50)

• Sleep Apnea Med Developments

  • Sal reports on early trials of anti-seizure medication showing promise for sleep apnea.
  • Discussion on links between allergies, weight, snoring, and dental health—“Saliva is anti-cavity... people with dry mouth have way more cavities.” (31:25)

• Personal Stories

  • Justin and Adam share tractor mishaps and home-improvement adventures for relatable comic relief.

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Notable Quotes & Key Moments

• On Gimmick Efficacy:
  “For most people, the problem isn’t workout intensity or lack of muscle activation. It’s consistency, adherence, and solid programming.” – Adam (14:01)

• On What Actually Works:
  “Nothing is going to ever replace just traditional strength training with resistance, eating a good diet, having good sleep.” – Sal (15:15)

• On the Value of Coaching:
  “If you spend $100 once a month, meet with a trainer… there is nothing else you could spend $100 a month on that will come close… a good coach… uses the basics.” – Sal (18:47)

• Fitness Fads That Endured:

  • The group pokes fun at their own exposure to novelties (“arm blasters,” door foam rollers, vibration tools), but note tools that genuinely help tend to be classics that last decades.

• On Parenting & Food:

  • Humorous detour as the hosts trade stories about their kids’ quirky eating habits—peeling nuggets, refusing fries, eating eggs by the dozen.

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Audience Q&A Highlights

[60:14–71:44]

1. Best Ways for Pregnant Women to Prep for Carrying the Baby [60:14]

• Key Takeaway: General strength training and being mindful of switching sides when carrying the baby; no special moves are magic.

2. Body Types—How to Lean Into Your Strengths [63:06]

• Focus on capitalizing on what your natural body type does best (ex: build muscle, maintain leanness), and avoid the trap of making comparisons.

3. Shoulders Hurt When Starting Deadlifts—What Gives? [66:54]

• Likely normal upper-back/trap soreness due to new stimulus and weak supporting muscles. Go lighter, progress slowly, and consider posting a form video for feedback.

4. Returning From Injury—Doctor’s Orders vs. Listening to Your Body [68:41]

• For most people, doctor’s orders are safest—but fitness pros or experienced athletes may safely progress a bit ahead, as long as they’re humble and careful.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:32] – Fitness gimmicks: why they persist and examples from history
• [08:26] – EMS and muscle contraction science (and marketing misinterpretations)
• [14:01] – Why coaching trumps gadgets every time
• [23:29] – Erythritol and sweeteners: new health warnings
• [41:46] – Hormone therapy for women: current best practice
• [60:14] – Q&A begins: strength prep for new moms
• [63:06] – Capitalizing on body type strengths
• [66:54] – Deadlift technique and first-timer soreness
• [68:41] – Returning from injury: following doctors vs. intuition

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Conclusion

The Mind Pump team’s message is clear: Stop wasting time and money chasing the next big fitness gimmick. Effective fitness—the kind that changes your body and health in lasting ways—always goes back to the basics: real resistance training, properly programmed, adequate rest, solid nutrition, and consistent behaviors. Fads come and go, but science and tried-and-true methods stick around for a reason.

Best takeaway:
Invest in coaching and fundamentals, not gadgets—no shortcut will beat consistency with the basics.

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For deeper dives, find the Mind Pump hosts on Instagram:
@mindpumpmedia, @mindpumpsal, @mindpumpadam, @mindpumpjustin, @mindpumpdoug

Episode sponsors and resources:

• mphormones.com: Hormone replacement and peptide therapy.
• butcherbox.com/mindpump: High-quality meat delivery, various active promotions.
• dosedaily.co: Supplements for liver health (discount code: mindpump).

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Recap by Mind Pump Podcast Summarizer. For full experience, listen to the episode on your favorite platform!

Transcript

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[Adam Schaefer]

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[Justin Andrews]

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[Sal Destefano]

Mind Pump.

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With your hosts, Sal Destefano, Adam Schaefer

[Justin Andrews]

and Justin Andrews, you just found the

[Sal Destefano]

most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. In today's episode, we answered listeners questions. People went to Instagram, Mind Pump Media, they wrote in some questions and we picked four of them to answer at the end of this episode. But in the Beginning, which was 52 minutes long, we talk about fitness and fat loss, talk about family life, current events. It's always a good time. Now this episode is brought to you by some sponsors. The first one is mphormones.com look, if you're interested in hormone replacement therapy. If you're man or woman, they do both. Or if you want peptide therapy in combination with that. These are real medical professionals. The peptides and hormones come from real compound pharmacies, FDA regulated. It's the real deal. Go to mphormones.com they have incredible deals for new visitors, new customers. This episode is also brought to you by Butcherbox. They deliver high quality meat, grass fed meat, heritage pork, wild caught fish, chicken and more to your door. If you like protein, you want the healthy stuff and you want to save money, here's what you do. Go to butcherbox.com mindpump by the way, if you sign up between now and the 18th of May, you can get your choice between chicken breast for a year included in your box for free, top sirloin for a year for free, or ground beef for the life of your membership plus $20 off at checkout. We also have a brand new program, Maps Push pull legs ppl. You asked for it, you got it. By the way, there's two versions of this program, one for men and then one for women. The programming is different. Women have a more higher emphasis on lower body volume, glute training, shoulder volume. Men, it's, it's more traditional now because it's a brand new program. We're launching it right now and it's 40% off. If you go to maps ppl.com, use the code ppl, you get the price slashed by 40%. Also, if you sign up within the first few days of the launch, you can attend live coaching by one of the mind pump coaches. They're going to do three days of coaching, breaking down things like nutrition, exercise, lifestyle. Really to help you become more consistent and maximize your progress through the program. We also include a supplement schedule guide which will be free with this program. Again, you can get all of that included, 40% off. Maps ppl.com, the code is ppl. All right, real quick.

[Katrina Scott]

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

[Sal Destefano]

Here's something that is guaranteed to be a total stupid waste of time. The latest fitness gimmick. They come up every year. Listen, don't pay attention to them. They never work. They never have. Again, it's a huge waste of time and money. The basics, they always work you know

[Adam Schaefer]

what the problem with that is, Sal?

[Katrina Scott]

Gimmicks.

[Adam Schaefer]

They do work. They do work.

[Sal Destefano]

How know.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's why they. Well, they work. They do something or else they wouldn't. They wouldn't get popular.

[Sal Destefano]

For example, Thigh Master.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, it worked. It works. It builds muscle.

[Sal Destefano]

It worked.

[Adam Schaefer]

It could be Build muscle. You know, you don't need to build muscle on the Thigh Master.

[Sal Destefano]

Did you ever get a Thigh Master?

[Katrina Scott]

Like, no. Build muscle, bro.

[Sal Destefano]

The Thigh Master.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, you're not building a lot, bro. It's. I bet. I bet a couple of you would have a hard time doing with the Thigh Master.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, you never remember those.

[Adam Schaefer]

They weren't easy for people.

[Sal Destefano]

Don't people who are too young to remember this, by the way. This is the number one selling piece of extra equipment of all time.

[Katrina Scott]

It's a spring.

[Adam Schaefer]

I think it's. I think Shake Weight passed it.

[Sal Destefano]

Now the shake. Okay, see? Good example. Shake.

[Adam Schaefer]

Come on.

[Sal Destefano]

Actually look it up, Doug. Say, what's the number one spot that

[Katrina Scott]

ironically, you know, I guarantee.

[Adam Schaefer]

No, you're right. You're right. It turned. Well, I wouldn't be. Be surprised if ThighMaster turned into a.

[Sal Destefano]

No, ThighMaster was a legit phenomenon. I remember I'd go to my aunt's house, I go to my cousin's house. Everybody had one.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

And it was a spring. You put between your knees and you would just squeeze it. Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

And it's gonna slim your thighs.

[Sal Destefano]

No, it did nothing, Doug. That's not true.

[Adam Schaefer]

You can't say it didn't. You can't say it did nothing. It would build a little bit.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. How much? Just look up. How much should the Thigh Master so. Well, here's my point.

[Adam Schaefer]

I'll tell you where.

[Sal Destefano]

Every year. And by the way, minimal, if any. Let's just say what you see often, because we've been doing this long enough, is I see this. I see fitness gimmicks get recycled.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

So. So you'll see something pop up. Like, a good example is the belt that you wear that flexes your abs. The first one to come out of that was, like in the 50s or 60s. And every year it comes out, it's like doing a thousand crutches while you're at your desk, you know, type of deal. And it's a waste of time. What it works well for is making money. That's for sure. If you want to make a lot of money selling fitness equipment, come up with some weird gimmick, and you're more likely to be successful. I hate to say it than selling something.

[Adam Schaefer]

You know what's hot. What's hot right now in regards to that is the. The new EMS machines.

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, I've seen it.

[Adam Schaefer]

This is like, I always know when something's hot and trendy. When my non fitness space people reach out to me. Hey, I was think about paying for this session.

[Katrina Scott]

Like I want to use something that's like not your advice. That looks cool.

[Adam Schaefer]

I know.

[Sal Destefano]

By the way, the ThighMaster generated $300 million in revenue in 1993. 10 to 15 million units.

[Katrina Scott]

Okay.

[Adam Schaefer]

Wow. What's Shake Weight at? Yeah, 300 million.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, dude. For spring. It's just in 1990.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's like, who invented it? Who's that guy?

[Sal Destefano]

The thigh master? I don't know, but what's her name?

[Katrina Scott]

From three companies. Suzanne Summers.

[Adam Schaefer]

She promoted it.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, she probably like, I mean, made some royalties off of it.

[Sal Destefano]

Let's see what the. See what? The Shake Weight.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, wow. Suzanne Summers and her husband actually bought it. Acquired 100% of the ownership of the product. I wonder at what point. Wow.

[Katrina Scott]

Because he had. Chuck Norris was his total gym. But I actually had, you know, a little bit of.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, but those were all people that represented the product, not actually invented the product. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was paid. He was paid to do that. Although Suzanne Summers bought it. Yeah, see, she made 300 million herself.

[Sal Destefano]

See how many Shake Weights have for her? How many units, I guess would say that the Shake Weight sold. I'm very interested in that. 50 million.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, not even close.

[Sal Destefano]

Not even close.

[Katrina Scott]

Wow.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

Well, I mean, would you. You count the Scream as one of those? Right. Because like the Kardashians brought those, resurrected that whole thing.

[Sal Destefano]

But it wasn't like a patented piece of gimmicky exercise equipment. It was a thing you wore. True, but okay, so back to what you're saying is old science.

[Adam Schaefer]

So the EMS thing is electrical muscle stimulation.

[Sal Destefano]

So when you. When you put electrode on a muscle and send a current through it, it'll

[Katrina Scott]

cause the muscle contract.

[Sal Destefano]

Right. And so by the way, this science has been around forever. In fact, I remember, I believe Bruce Lee used stuff like this back when he was working out. And so it doesn't make some muscle contract. And so the thought is, well, if I can put it on and have it contract a muscle, it's going to do something.

[Katrina Scott]

Right.

[Sal Destefano]

And what we find in the data, because it's been around for a long time, is there's some benefit for reducing a certain amount of muscle atrophy with injury.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. This is why it's Made its way into physical therapy.

[Sal Destefano]

Physical therapists.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, Physical therapists still use it. It's still. I mean, I have. I have a. I have one at my house when rehabbing something that's an injury or like that. So it makes sense for something like that to reduce atrophy. But that's not what's popular right now. No. What's popular?

[Sal Destefano]

A whole nother level.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. So what's popular now is. Which.

[Katrina Scott]

I think it's.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's. It's comical. You're either wearing this ridiculous suit or you bring in the whole. Like you roll in the whole machine and attach it to you with wires and everything like that. And there's. There's these dudes that are working out now in the gym with it attached to them. Or like I said, they have these body suits. And the, the science that they sell it with is that the. And we've talked about this before. In fact, we've used this science to. To refer to how good an Olympic lifter can activate their muscles.

[Sal Destefano]

That's what they're.

[Adam Schaefer]

So a Olympic lifter is known to be able to tap into like 90% of their capacity, their work capacity or whatever, their muscle recruitment. Right, right. The average person, when you go do it with the average person, when they bench press, they only get about 60%.

[Katrina Scott]

There's limiters.

[Adam Schaefer]

They only get about 6%. They don't. And so the, the science behind these and what they're. What they're showing is that you stick these things on your chest. This person who can only get 60% of muscle fiber recruitment on their chest while they do a bench press, and they're recruiting 90%.

[Sal Destefano]

So what. They're conflating two different types of studies. So the one that you're referring to is your total force generation. So under duress, you know, a car flips over, kid is trapped underneath it, mom is trying to move the car, suddenly she can.

[Katrina Scott]

Adrenaline overrides you.

[Sal Destefano]

Yes. So that's different than muscle fiber recruitment. Muscle fiber recruitment. When you train in proximity to failure, you're activating most of the muscle fibers. Yeah, it's forced generation. So they're conflating two studies.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, that was me who's conflating that. That's not them who's conflating that.

[Sal Destefano]

No, they were saying muscle fiber recruitment is what they were saying. No, anybody who works out, if you train with a certain level of intensity, you're going to recruit. The closer you get to heavy load or a high intensity, the more muscle fibers you're going to recruit.

[Adam Schaefer]

So in other words. And this is the part where I think it's so stupid. And, like, when I see people doing this, this is like every rep trying to train to failure.

[Sal Destefano]

That's what they're. Here's what they'll say. Because I've had people try to sell it to me, and they'll tell me about it, and I'm like, first off, it's ridiculously inconvenient. I don't see how anybody could do this anywhere.

[Katrina Scott]

Oh, he's gonna adhere to that for more than just a few novel experiences, Right?

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, you're gonna go sign up at a class because the class has this expensive equipment. How much is it gonna cost? You take that money and invest it in a good coach. Way better return. Way better return in progress. It doesn't produce. Now, I could see potential benefit for an advanced athlete for very specific applications with the right coaching and the right measurements, maybe. I have yet to see anybody put this together.

[Adam Schaefer]

I'm trying to think where I would even. So it got popular, like always in the bodybuilder space first.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. Well, because what they do is they say. Again, this person told me, they said, well, you should try it. This is like how people try to sell me Pilates or bar. Well, why don't you try it?

[Adam Schaefer]

It's really hard. Yeah, It'll make me sore.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

So what?

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, you're.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's hard. Doesn't do. We could do. What was that drumstick class we took or whatever. I got sore from that. But dumb enough to return.

[Katrina Scott]

I told you to never talk about that.

[Adam Schaefer]

She had a Drummond, you know, And I was dying. I was burning. It was. It was so hard. You know what I'm saying? Like, doesn't mean I buil more muscle, more body fat.

[Sal Destefano]

Perceived difficulty. Doesn't necessarily translate.

[Adam Schaefer]

Doesn't this. It doesn't at all. That's silly.

[Sal Destefano]

But. But all the gimmicks that keep coming out, what they're doing is they're taking people away from. It actually works. This is the part. This is the part that gets me a bit frustrated.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, I also. So the point, I would argue, Sal, is, is because we. We. We tend to advocate for leaving two in the tank anyways and not training to failure anyways.

[Sal Destefano]

Close enough.

[Adam Schaefer]

So when I think about all of my clients that I trained all these years, the ones that didn't get the results, the ones that never saw their goal, it wasn't for a lack of intensity in their workout. It wasn't because it was like, oh, man, if I could have just got them to push harder in their workout, we would have got the results. It was adherence to the diet and consistency and everything else like that. They could have worked. Fact. Those same clients that didn't see the results, I could have got them to work out with half the intensity. If they could have got the other stuff right and was consistent, they would have seen all the results. And so it's not like this is the answer that is going to solve most people that so and to your point, okay, if anyone's gonna mess with this, my pro bodybuilder friends that are,

[Katrina Scott]

I say astronauts and that's about it.

[Sal Destefano]

Astronauts because of the lack of resistance,

[Adam Schaefer]

okay.

[Katrina Scott]

Muscle stimulus, okay. In zero gravity. And that's.

[Adam Schaefer]

That makes a lot.

[Katrina Scott]

I draw the line, okay?

[Adam Schaefer]

That makes a lot of sense.

[Sal Destefano]

Okay.

[Adam Schaefer]

I'll put behind that.

[Sal Destefano]

I'll tell you this much, okay. You have occlusion training. Occlusion training has actual data support therapy. It does activate muscle fibers with way lighter load. We know this is it. Even in the category of staples or things we would use with clients on a even semi regular basis. No, no. In fact I probably would never use it with a client and that has data supporting it because it's, it's kind of gimmicky. There's some applications for rehab and again, the super advanced bodybuilder who wants to throw in a little bit of novelty maybe, you know, type of deal. But nothing is going to ever replace just traditional strength training with resistance. Eating, a good diet, having good sleep. Unless there's some radical, I don't know, gene, gene therapy or some kind of medical intervention. I know GLPs have made a big impact when it comes to weight loss just for suppressing appetite, but like exercise gimmicks, exercise equipment, that kind of stuff, even when you go to the gym. I'll tell you what, there's some awesome exercise equipment that's out there. Awesome exercise machines and the science that goes into those are remarkable. There's a company, I can't remember the brand, it's out of Italy. They call them the Ferrari, of course, because they're from Italy. But the Ferrari of machines, I can't remember the name of it. Maybe Doug, you could look it up. But they're like really cool looking machines. Biomechanics are amazing.

[Adam Schaefer]

You're not talking about the ones that Transcend has.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, I believe they use them as well. I think they might have used them as well.

[Adam Schaefer]

I know that the reason why they were called, they actually use the Same manufacturer. Does the leather in Ferrari offer the leather on there?

[Sal Destefano]

Okay. Yeah. So it's not techno Panada. Panada. I've seen some equipment. In fact, if you click there, that is them. Okay. Some of their equipment looks incredible.

[Katrina Scott]

Is it like hammer strength or what's the type of.

[Sal Destefano]

It's like another level. Yes. Now would I.

[Adam Schaefer]

Would any of that?

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

You saw it. I did.

[Katrina Scott]

I wasn't there.

[Sal Destefano]

No, check it.

[Adam Schaefer]

You didn't go to the transcend thing?

[Sal Destefano]

No.

[Justin Andrews]

It's just you and me, Adam.

[Adam Schaefer]

No. Oh, it was just you and I that went there. Oh, these two. Why weren't they with us? What were you guys.

[Sal Destefano]

Because it was negotiation stuff.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

What are we gonna do?

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, that's what that was.

[Katrina Scott]

We were just eye candy.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, that was the contract thing.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. Oh.

[Adam Schaefer]

They didn't finish paying,

[Sal Destefano]

but so my point is you could take some. Some of the best machines that are out there. And could any one machine replace a barbell? Dumbbells? No. No, they couldn't. Just base.

[Adam Schaefer]

Is that our boy right there?

[Sal Destefano]

Just basic.

[Adam Schaefer]

Is that Phil Heath? That was Phil Heath on the front.

[Sal Destefano]

Was it really?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, Go back.

[Sal Destefano]

They've got really interesting equipment. But my point is the gimmick stuff is just. And this equipment's super expensive. Yeah. You know.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. Phil Heath.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. So it just, you know, it comes out every year. It comes out every year. There's a new piece of exercise equipment. The new. I remember one we went to. What was the convention.

[Adam Schaefer]

I know what you're talking about. The one rep thing that.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. So it was a machine. That's what it was.

[Katrina Scott]

Yes.

[Sal Destefano]

It was a machine that you, like. Imagine it's a bench press. Push as hard as you can, and the machine adjusts its resistance to give you one max out rep no matter what.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

And so.

[Sal Destefano]

And they're like, you could get a full workout.

[Katrina Scott]

Three contractions. So it like emphasizes the isometric portion and the eccentric. And it like loads and like one

[Sal Destefano]

rep is like doing 50 reps all based of intensity.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Dave Asprey was all.

[Katrina Scott]

Dave Asprey is like, yeah, no. Big, big proponent.

[Sal Destefano]

It doesn't. It doesn't work that way. None of it works that way.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

And if people took the money that they spent on these types of things and just hired a good coach.

[Katrina Scott]

I know.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

Everybody's looking for the novel, like, quick answer.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, that's why I want. I wanted to bring it up because like I said, it's reached general pop. When it. When it was my. I seen it a Long time ago. I think I brought it up over a year or two ago on the podcast when I saw my bodybuilder friends and people doing it, I was just like, oh, it's the new thing. That's. It's hilarious. I thought it was hilarious. They're doing thing, but it's like, I mean, I'm not going to criticize bodybuilder guys that are doing everything.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's like, why not, you know, why not do this novel thing that's kind of cool or whatever like that. So it is what it is. But the average person who's trying to get in shape, sculpt their butt a little bit more, lose 2 inches on their way, it's like, like you're gonna suit up in this.

[Katrina Scott]

Inconsistent to begin with.

[Adam Schaefer]

Stupid this thing and shock the out of yourself. So you're sore for two weeks. Like, this is. That's the dumbest idea ever heard.

[Sal Destefano]

I'll say, I'll say this. I'll say this because there's a belief around personal training that you have to. And yes, ideally you'd want to work with a trainer weekly, but would you get benefit. Could you get benefit from training with a trainer once a month? Yeah, sure. Yes. And it's more valuable than anything else.

[Adam Schaefer]

You get guidance, a really good one for sure.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, if. If you spend $100. Because the typical trainer will charge anywhere between 60 to 120 bucks an hour. So let's say you spend 100 bucks once a month, meet with a trainer, there is nothing else you could spend 100 bucks a month on that will come close to the value you're going to get from just a good coach. And what's that coach going to use a good coach? Traditional basics. They understand workout programming. They know how to manipulate it for you. And when you follow a good program. Here's the thing. When you follow a good fitness program, most of the time it doesn't feel like you're going to die. Most of the time it's hard, but you feel good. And occasionally you have those workouts where you feel like you're going to die, but it's not the other way around, which is what people, I think that's how they judge. I mean, yeah, fitness equipment, our whole

[Adam Schaefer]

concierge program is built off of that exact philosophy.

[Sal Destefano]

Yes.

[Adam Schaefer]

Is this idea that, you know, even just meeting with a coach once a month with them, even virtually, is significantly more valuable than 90% of all this gimmicky stuff that you can do out there because of the Guidance and information and knowledge that you're getting every time you get on a call with them.

[Sal Destefano]

That's right. Yeah. When's the last time you guys got anything that was fitnessy? Fitness gimmicky that you use?

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh my God.

[Katrina Scott]

Like us bought it personally.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Have we ever.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Have you ever bought a gimmicky fitness thing?

[Katrina Scott]

I've been given a lot of weird stuff, you know, like, let's see, like that one door frame, like foam roll thing and.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

I mean if it's. It's like novel because then you don't have to lay down, but it's like you can kind of do it.

[Adam Schaefer]

Are you talking about that? Oh, well, we had that one that they, that company wanted to work with us. Gave us that. That plastic one that was like you stick your arm in it and stuff like that.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, that too.

[Adam Schaefer]

Those are all still.

[Katrina Scott]

The vibrating ones, like. Yeah, yeah, those were cool.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, those are all given to us though.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, I know I have.

[Adam Schaefer]

None of us have bought any.

[Sal Destefano]

I'll tell you, I've used a couple and they're not even gimmicky. They've stood the test of time.

[Adam Schaefer]

What's that?

[Sal Destefano]

I used the shoulder. What's it called? Shoulder horn. I think it was for rotator cuff exercises.

[Katrina Scott]

Yes.

[Sal Destefano]

That's been around for decades and it's actually pretty good. It's not the best thing you could do for shoulder stability, but it's a great. It was a decent.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, the preacher curl ones are kind of cool.

[Sal Destefano]

The preacher. Oh, yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Not preacher arm blaster. Arm blaster.

[Sal Destefano]

That's been around since the 60s.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's kind of cool. Yeah, that's a one that you wrap around your neck. Yeah. And then it hangs over you and it keeps your elbows in a locked position like that.

[Sal Destefano]

That's right.

[Adam Schaefer]

Those are cool.

[Sal Destefano]

That's right. The wrist roller where you to work your forearms. That's been around for decades.

[Katrina Scott]

I was into the, the rope battle conditioning for a minute. Yeah, I was into that.

[Sal Destefano]

I could see that for stamina.

[Katrina Scott]

But I liked it. I honestly like it just because of

[Sal Destefano]

like your flabby arms.

[Katrina Scott]

I had that whole turkey neck thing going. I was like really like insecure about it.

[Adam Schaefer]

I.

[Sal Destefano]

That's a good.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's a good call. I, I did the. I mean that was boot camp era, right?

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

And that was the only reason. Why.

[Sal Destefano]

Did you bring ropes to the park?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes.

[Sal Destefano]

Wow.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's the reason why it was cool is cuz it was an easy tool you could carry. I could buy four of Them and carry them in my little wagon to a.

[Katrina Scott]

Camps are just about keeping people busy.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's about keeping people busy. And what is the. What is this hard? What's the smallest equipment that you could you bring with you? That. Yeah. That's the science behind science, dude.

[Sal Destefano]

This is what you need to do.

[Katrina Scott]

Make it hard somehow.

[Sal Destefano]

You need cones.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

A rope.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

What else do you. Kettlebell trx. A tr.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Ropes.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

Start a business right there.

[Adam Schaefer]

I think that's most of what I had right there.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Bands and Some bands. Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

You're done.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

And then you got yourself like a seven station little.

[Katrina Scott]

If you get weights, you got to be kind of careful.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, that's because you're a rich. It's wild you're doing that. Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

If you get dumbbells in a boot camp, that's an expensive.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, that's a lot of. That's a lot of unloading and loading too. You don't do that. Maybe a kettlebell or two. You know what I'm saying?

[Sal Destefano]

Did you have to pay. Is that a question? Did you ever have to pay the parks?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, I had a. I had to get a permit.

[Sal Destefano]

You did, huh?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah. You had a permit?

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, Well, I just kept moving part to park.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

So I was a little more established. It was like.

[Sal Destefano]

Okay.

[Adam Schaefer]

A little bit more legitimate here, guys. You're five ladies. I was like one on one. Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

For a hot second.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, I had trainer underneath me and everything doing. I mean I had multiple camps running.

[Sal Destefano]

What was the name of it?

[Adam Schaefer]

We love to hate Adam Fitness.

[Katrina Scott]

Wow.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

Why'd you. Why do you like that? What's up with that name?

[Adam Schaefer]

That's what my clients used to say.

[Sal Destefano]

That we just love to hate Adam.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They used to say that. And so that was like the.

[Sal Destefano]

It just so likable.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah. I hate you. Says the guy who never says that.

[Sal Destefano]

I was just being sarcastic. Anyway. Yeah. That's crazy.

[Adam Schaefer]

All right.

[Sal Destefano]

I got a study for you guys that's interesting. Do you guys know what urethral is? Erythritol.

[Katrina Scott]

Erythritol.

[Sal Destefano]

You know what that is?

[Katrina Scott]

I've heard of it.

[Sal Destefano]

So this is a. It's an organic sugar alcohol. It's got almost no impact on blood sugar, either low or no calories.

[Adam Schaefer]

Uses a sweetener.

[Sal Destefano]

It's used as a sweetener and it's often used as a sweetener like keto, whatever or sugar free products that. Or so you don't get any like

[Katrina Scott]

insulin, spike or any it has almost

[Sal Destefano]

negligible effect on insulin. It's super low calorie, and because it's not artificial, you could say something's natural and no sugar. Right. Okay. There's a problem with it though. It's been connected to blood clots. Oh, interesting. Yeah. In fact, I pulled up some, some, some studies are going around.

[Katrina Scott]

That's not good.

[Sal Destefano]

No, there's some interesting studies that are popping up about this. So in 2023, they looked up, they looked up, they did observational data from a 4,000 patients. Higher circulating erythritol levels were associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, stroke and death. So they said, let's look at the mechanisms. Is it just like a random association or is it actually causing this? At physiological concentrations, erythritol enhanced platelet reactivity and accelerated thrombosis formation. This was in a mouse model and in vitro. So then they did a small pilot intervention of eight healthy volunteers and they showed that ingesting erythritol, the amount that you would find in a processed food, caused a massive and sustained rise in plasma erythritol, which you would expect high enough to trigger the platelet changes that was seen in lab tests. So then they did a follow up human intervention study. And with this study, it was a randomized crossover parallel design with healthy volunteers. They consumed a drink with 30 grams of erythritol, which is what you'll find like a sugar free soda or similar product or 30 grams of glucose. So comparing the two erythritol, of course you consume that, you see it rise in blood plasma and every single subject, platelet aggregation responses increased significantly to multiple agonists at various doses. Platelets also showed enhanced release of granule markers. So it very well may be one of those quote, unquote, natural, you know, sugar free sweeteners. That's not good.

[Katrina Scott]

That's not good.

[Adam Schaefer]

Now is that partly because, is it like we do with anything else, even though it's natural, just like cane sugar is, we concentrate the hell out of it.

[Sal Destefano]

And so probably, I don't know where you would consume it naturally. Where do you find erythritol? I have no idea what plant. But this is, this is, this sucks because people consume these products. If somebody's consuming a product that is sweetened with erythritol, it's probably because they're health conscious. Like, you're not seeking that out unless you're trying to avoid sugar.

[Adam Schaefer]

Right.

[Sal Destefano]

Lower calories improve your health and what they're finding is that it's. That it might actually be really bad for you. Small amounts in fruit. So.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

They concentrate the hell out.

[Adam Schaefer]

See, that's.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. So I know. Kind of crazy, right? Yeah, I know. Just made everybody sad.

[Katrina Scott]

My sugar free options.

[Sal Destefano]

Well, I tell you, I tell you what, I mean, regular old sugar is better.

[Adam Schaefer]

Probably better for you. Probably is Most, most always moderation.

[Sal Destefano]

One of those things. Like, I know people go sugar free to, to control their calories. Stevia seems to be good. Some of the artificial sweeteners have lots and lots of studies. But I'm not fully convinced. And I do think that if something tastes sweet, there's. There's always some kind of an effect, even if it's just behavioral. Yeah. Which is still an effect. Right. So I don't think it necess like. Okay. To give you as a coach, did you ever have like this huge success with clients who are just like, I'm gonna go artificially sweetened with everything? Did that ever solve.

[Katrina Scott]

No, I didn't get to the root of it.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

Never.

[Sal Destefano]

I know. Interesting, right?

[Adam Schaefer]

That's crazy.

[Sal Destefano]

I know. Yeah, I know.

[Adam Schaefer]

Like you said, it sucks because you're, you think you're making the healthier choice and you end up making something that's arguably worse for you.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Drinking a regular old soda. You know, there's something to be said, and we've talked about this before, about having something like that that has the sugars in it is. It has a natural limiter on it

[Sal Destefano]

because you know there's calories.

[Adam Schaefer]

Because you know there's calories when they're like. And I know I'm guilty of this.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, you were, you did, you were a big sugar free.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. Big diet Coke drinker.

[Sal Destefano]

And so you still drink a lot of Diet Coke.

[Adam Schaefer]

Not a lot of. I still get them, but I limit. So like kind of our rule is I buy a 12 pack of. 12 of. Of diet Coke at the beginning of the month and that's got to last.

[Sal Destefano]

Are you diet or Coke zero?

[Adam Schaefer]

Diet Coke.

[Sal Destefano]

Okay.

[Adam Schaefer]

I don't like Coke Zero. It's too sweet.

[Sal Destefano]

Wow.

[Adam Schaefer]

The reason why I like Diet Coke

[Sal Destefano]

over regular Coke, because one's Aspartame, one sucralose.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

Okay.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, Yeah, I think, I think Coke zero is better for you.

[Sal Destefano]

I don't know. Yeah, yeah, I know Aspartame is diet.

[Adam Schaefer]

Look it up. I think, I think, I think I do the worst one.

[Sal Destefano]

So. Yeah, I think aspartame. Smoke cigarettes. You have it, right?

[Adam Schaefer]

Huh? Yeah. Only 12 cigarettes too, you know. No. So that's kind of like been My thing is like, I'll get a 12 pack at the beginning. That's gotta last. Katrina has Diet Coke also. So it's like the two of us.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

I've got, you know, six or so to. To last us through the month and then when it's gone, it's gone. Type of deal. That tends to work really well for me because I do still like it. Which one's which, Doug?

[Sal Destefano]

Yes. Aspartame is. Is Diet Coke. Zero is a blend of aspartame and Ace K. Oh, I thought it was sucralose.

[Adam Schaefer]

I thought it was too.

[Sal Destefano]

Sucralose is the big fitness supplement sweetener. That's the one you'll find in artificially sweetened supplements. It's always Sucralose.

[Katrina Scott]

Sucralose.

[Adam Schaefer]

What they pick what's in Celsius, because that's my other. My other poison. I take Sucralose.

[Sal Destefano]

I think maybe look that up, Doug, and see. That's got to be that one. Yeah, I know, I know. I read this about erythritol, because back in the day, I would point to that one as a better option as a trainer, probably 15 years ago, when I would talk about it, natural meat.

[Adam Schaefer]

But I mean, like I was saying, though, the downfall of it is that when. What I think is that you can you justify having more and more and more. And then I would argue that the behavioral stuff, because the Coke by itself is normally not that good. It's. You want it with something else.

[Sal Destefano]

You know what I found that's interesting is that when that people who consume. I find this really interesting. People who consume a lot of diet soda begin to prefer its taste. That's me.

[Adam Schaefer]

The reason why I drink Diet Coke has nothing to do with the calories. Oh, yeah. If I have a. I won't drink a Coke inside. Or if I. If I have no Diet Coke and I have a Coke in the refrigerator, I won't. And I'm under my calories by a thousand calories. I won't drink the Coke. I don't like it. It's too sweet.

[Sal Destefano]

Regular Coke is too sweet.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

Interesting.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah. I like the taste of the.

[Sal Destefano]

Have you tried. You've tried the Coke?

[Adam Schaefer]

Zero.

[Sal Destefano]

No, the real Coke. Oh, the glass bottle.

[Adam Schaefer]

So I do like that. I do like. Yeah, Mexican Coke.

[Sal Destefano]

That's right.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I do like regular. It does taste better. The other Coke, though, and Pepsi, I've just. I don't. I Don't like it. So. Yeah, no, I prefer the. That's the reason why I like it. It's not, it's not a. It has nothing to do with dieting. I'm not, I'm not choosing it.

[Sal Destefano]

It's the taste.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. For the, like the calorie saving at all. But my point is that because you know it's calorie free, you can easily go, oh, I have another one.

[Sal Destefano]

Especially when you're like a fitness person and you're just trying.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. So I absolutely have been guilty before of having three in. You know, I'm saying so. And that's why I've put parameters of. Okay, here's my 12 for the month. I can have them all in 12 days in a row or I can like use it judicially when it's like, oh, it's Friday movie night and we're having popcorn and I'll enjoy a Diet Coke with my popcorn or something like that.

[Sal Destefano]

So I got something else too that's interesting that I just read this article. They may have this good news for you, Justin. A pill for sleep apnea.

[Katrina Scott]

I was just going to ask you about that. We were just talking on our walk.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

Because like one of those things I just heard the other day that a lot of cavities are actually more related to the fact that it's apnea or like your mouth's open when you're sleeping versus you actually just consuming sugar. And I was like, oh, man.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. Saliva is anti cavity. So if you have like people who suffer from dry mouth or people have surgery or chemo, let's say for mouth cancer, they don't produce saliva. Their cavity rate goes through the root.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

Through the crazy. Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

More than sugar.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

It's your. This is. Look, your mouth microbiome, it will make or break whether or not you get cavities burning thing. So like in my family, I don't get cavities. I've never had a cavity ever. My sister, she gets. Jesus, think about cavities. She gets it for whatever reason like that. She gets them easy.

[Katrina Scott]

She doesn't get. I get them.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, yeah. So. But anyway, so there are clinical trials that just came out that they may have found a medication that stops sleep apnea. It's an anti seizure medication.

[Katrina Scott]

So you just gotta wait.

[Sal Destefano]

But you know what's weird about this?

[Katrina Scott]

Wait it out.

[Sal Destefano]

I thought sleep apnea. I didn't realize and I guess it is. I don't realize that it's related to muscle control. I thought it was just because you're bigger. Bigger neck, whatever.

[Katrina Scott]

Big tongue.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. But it actually makes sense because I do know that when I eat gluten, and I know gluten can have effects on some people's central nervous system. I know people are gonna light up the comments, but you look it up. When I have gluten, I'll snore way more. So I know there's some kind of an effect, but this anti seizure medication they're finding had a really positive effect.

[Adam Schaefer]

Okay.

[Sal Destefano]

Now the question is, you want to take an, you know, anti seizure medication or just wear.

[Katrina Scott]

Just wear the natural mask or whatever

[Adam Schaefer]

or lose some weight.

[Katrina Scott]

I feel like I'm joining the dark side if I do that.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

Be honest.

[Sal Destefano]

Well, some people don't even. Don't even have to be overweight. They just. They just snore.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

I know gaining weight makes it worse, but that's.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's only. That's when I feel like it. When I. If I will, is if I'm. If I'm overweight, if I'm down weight, I don't. I don't seem to have any issues like that or I should take that back. Allergy season can get me sometimes too. If I'm really congested up here or sick like that, that can. That will give me. Do you.

[Sal Destefano]

Do you every night?

[Adam Schaefer]

Are you an every night sore?

[Katrina Scott]

I. I used to justify as I'd sleep on my side and. And Courtney was like, yeah, you don't really snore if you're on your side. But then when I roll and I'm on my back, it's bad. Like, it's just.

[Sal Destefano]

Do you wake yourself? You ever wake yourself up? Story?

[Katrina Scott]

I have before, and it's the only time that happens is when I'm like on the couch and we're watching something. I'm just out because I do that a lot lately. You have a bigger dude?

[Adam Schaefer]

You got a second job right now?

[Katrina Scott]

I do.

[Sal Destefano]

Are you doing more digging at home?

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, but I'm finally kind of like, I. So I have a tractor now, which is, you know, huge blessing. A buddy.

[Sal Destefano]

Are you driving it?

[Katrina Scott]

He's. He's like, yeah, he showed me.

[Adam Schaefer]

I.

[Katrina Scott]

It was cool because he's like, you know every dude, when you see a big piece of equipment, it's like you're a little kid again. Yeah. Like, so, yeah, he. He showed me all the levers and whatnot. And I'm out there like, you know, digging and.

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, that's so fun.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

Using the bucket. So. Yeah, we just Started kind of finally making progress because, dude, me by myself. And then, you know, and Courtney is so funny because, like, these contractors will come by the house and like, Courtney's there and she's talking about how much digging she does. And like, she'll point to the digging, but they assume it's all the digging. And then I meet them. You make your wife.

[Adam Schaefer]

What are you doing?

[Katrina Scott]

Like, they all think she did all that herself. I'm like, no, dude. But anyways, she did that. Yes, but I let her take credit. But anyways.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, a lot.

[Katrina Scott]

We've been doing a lot. We've been doing a lot of digging and chopping and I'm tired.

[Adam Schaefer]

I ever tell you guys my tractor story? I told you my tractor story, right?

[Sal Destefano]

Tell it again. You lost control.

[Adam Schaefer]

It was a long time ago, huh? Did we talk about it on here?

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, yeah, long time ago. Oh, you did?

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, real long.

[Sal Destefano]

You, like, lost control, right? Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

So I was. I was. Let's see here. I'm. I had just got the job there, so I'm. I'm 16 or 17. It's early. Early in the ear in the job because it's the first time I ever. Because I ended up driving it a lot, but it was the first time I ever driven a tractor at all. And my boss teaches me and it's a. So I've got a front loader and then we have a big tractor that's hooked to a huge trailer that's got all the fertilizer in it. And I'm. Or I'm loading and dumping it, having a blast. Like, I learned all the stuff and I'm like, oh, this is cool. And there's a big pile and I'm like loading it up. And then it's a bunch of wood ash that we're taking out to fertilize the 100 acres and learn how to do that. All fine. Loaded this whole big trailer up. And then it's got this old tractor that. That's going to pull it out to the back. And it. The way this, this ranch is set is. It's on. It's on the crown of a mountain like this. So we're on the top of the hill is where the dairy sits. And down below in the valley is like the hundred acres of grass. And then we have a giant canal that runs down it that we. You irrigate with. And at the very bottom of the. Of the. Of the valley where it goes out into the. All the. The pastures is a huge telephone pole that's been Cemented like into the ground that we run all the bob wire fences off where we can run all the gates and stuff. And so I'm on the top of this, he teaches me how to drive and I'm having a blast. And then he teaches me how to use the second one. He's like, hey, this second one, you're going to drive it all the way out to the back of the pasture and, and mind you, he like teaches me and then he goes off and he's doing his own thing. So I'm by myself this whole time I'm doing this. And he's like, when you, when you drive this one, he goes, it doesn't have brakes so you just need to keep it in a really low gear. And if you've ever driven a tractor, tractors all have like what I call a granny gear which is like, it like crawls.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, it'll go down a hill slow.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. Oh yeah. You, you could take a tractor down a hill as slow as you want to go basically. And so he's like, just keep it in a low gear as you go down the hill and then after you get over the hill then you can shift up and then you can speed up.

[Sal Destefano]

What could go wrong? You have a kid attracted with no brakes.

[Adam Schaefer]

I know. I think back now it was like a 40 something year old man because he's only in his probably 30s at this time and he's like, who gives the keys to like it tells the key, no breaks. First day you're learning how to do this, right? So I would get on there and, and so like I said, it's at the crown of this mountain. So we're kind of at the top and I've got the trailer behind me and I am like, okay, put in grinding here and it's like, and I'm not kidding, it's crawling, it's like this. And I'm like, oh my God. At this rate, at this rate I'm going to be an hour before I just get over the crown. So I've like put it in a little bit higher gear, first gear. So just to get a little bit of speed to get over, over the hill. So I want to get it over the hill to get it down. And then as I get over the crown of the hill it's picking up a little bit of speed. But I'm still. You could walk as fast as it. So I'm not tripping yet. And it keeps going and then as it starts to start to pick up a little bit speed, I Go to downshift.

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, no, you can't get it in.

[Adam Schaefer]

So I go to downshift it into the granny gear and it neutral. And so, yeah, it's in neutral right now. And I'm trying to get it down in the granny gear with the clutch in.

[Katrina Scott]

And I'm.

[Adam Schaefer]

And it keeps kicking it out. And it's slowly starting to pick up speed. And I'm panicking, trying to get it into the granny gear, not. Not realizing I probably should just put it into first or a lower gear. And so then now I'm realizing kicking there. So then I'm trying to put it in the next gear. I can't get in first gear because it's conditions too much speed. So at this point, this thing just is now it's just. I mean, I got a ton of wood ash behind me. Oh, no, dude, that's pushing this thing. I get so much speed coming down this hill, my front two tires are bouncing off that. So I'm like now at this point, there's no gear and I got this big steering wheel and the front tires is like bouncing and I'm like. And I'm heading down this hill and I told you there's a huge canal. So a little bridge that goes over it that's no wider than, I don't know, half of our studio. And on the left is. Is the water and on the right the water. And then down the middle is the trail. And I'm. And I'm like, wheels are up. I'm pointing towards the water over here. And then I guess I'm spinning the wheel and the kid. The wheels catch this way. And then I'm pointing that water. And so the whole time I'm doing this going down the. Going down the hill, I hit that telephone pole like a toothpick. It doesn't just shatters right through that catch the tires at the bottom yanks me over. I go flying into the canal. Into the canal. So. And then half the track, half of where I'm at goes. I mean, the battery comes up flying out of it everywhere. Wood ash from behind me, over the top of me. So covered in black soot.

[Sal Destefano]

Wow, dude, you could die.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, totally. I was totally fine. I mean, I. A little bit of bumps and bruises, but.

[Katrina Scott]

Did you think about jumping out?

[Adam Schaefer]

No, I would be afraid of. For it to run me over. Yeah, yeah. Especially the way it was going. It was so out of control. I knew I had to try and ride it out and like.

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

Wrote it out.

[Adam Schaefer]

And then what do you say when he saw you? I mean he, I mean I'm like frozen. I'm so scared and sitting on it still after it's all crashed and done and I look back, I see him like running down the hill like full speed to come over. And luckily he was cool. Like he was obviously more, I'm sure at that point going like what was I thinking putting some 17 year old kid, you know, so he was probably scared to death, you know, that I, I didn't get, you know, I wasn't hurt and you know, I was so embarrassed that I'm not like I didn't, I don't think I told my parents, like I don't think I was like, I shared that story way later to people.

[Sal Destefano]

But you could have died.

[Katrina Scott]

That's gnarly.

[Adam Schaefer]

You know, it didn't feel like life or death carry. I think as I'm going down I'm

[Sal Destefano]

like, like I'm getting trouble.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yes. I'm more like I'm about to crash this trap to be like expensive. Yeah, yeah, I'm definitely losing this job. I didn't. I worked there for like three years after that and for us it was all good. But dude, I'll never forget that that was my, my first day ever driving a tractor. That was, that, that's what went down.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, yeah. I just made me remember back in the day when I had to go work with my dad. One of his helpers had me turn a light off so he could switch so he could like fix a wire.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

And that piece of crap dude totally just pranked me so hard, bro. He goes to touch the wireless and acts like he's getting electrocuted because I'm the one holding the switch. I'm like, oh. And he's like, starts laughing at me. I'm like, oh my God, dude, I had to walk out of the room.

[Adam Schaefer]

I thought I electrocuted that so good.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, that's typical. Anyway, I wanted to go over what women can expect from using testosterone because it is getting quite popular now. So hormone therapy is popular.

[Katrina Scott]

It's, it's pretty mainstream now, pretty destigmatized, especially with women.

[Sal Destefano]

I feel like these days it's very, it's very destigmatized. It's going mainstream. And the part that is that more women are opening their minds to is the use of testosterone because testosterone is, you know, we would widely consider it male hormone, but a lot of people don't realize that women have testosterone just like men do. It's not a Male hormone. It's a higher percentage in men, but women need testosterone just as much as men do. And it's responsible for the same things in women as it is in men. Libido, drive, energy, and it is one of the aesthetic hormones. So of the hormones that you could take and, you know, use therapy for the ones that will produce the biggest visual change in your body in terms of body fat, muscle, that stuff. Testosterone. Thyroid and thyroid. Yeah, those are the two.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

But testosterone is. This is the one people feel the most. Women all, they'll talk about it and say, oh, yeah, going on testosterone was like life changing in terms of how.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, it's so cool to see how far we've, we've come with that. I mean, when you look at all the, the great female doctors that we've had on this show, that they all, I mean, that's, that's part of like normal therapy now. It's getting to a place where it's like, especially once you get to a certain age. I was listening to Katrina's conversation with her doctor she had over on speakerphone over driving and it's like, it's just, it's become almost common practice now that once you reach a certain age, they introduce thyroid and testosterone almost as like the go to. In fact, it sounds like that's the go to first two. Is that correct?

[Sal Destefano]

Normally, which ones?

[Adam Schaefer]

Thyroid and testosterone are the first two. Yes, that's what he was telling her while she was going over her. Because I, we talked before she got on and I'm like, I'm really curious to hear if he's, if he plans to put you on testosterone anytime soon.

[Sal Destefano]

It's one of the first ones.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. And. But he told her, hers is so good, she's so good everywhere else. He's like, thyroid is the only thing that you can use a little bit of it. And she, he even has her on a minimal dose. He's like, if you notice that you don't have energy this or that. And she's like, no. He's like, we could turn it up a tiny bit. He goes, but I'd rather save that till you're feeling that way. And he goes, eventually it's just a

[Sal Destefano]

very straightforward hormone when they use it. Now, they could play with the dose a little bit, but, you know, hormone therapy will involve sometimes progesterone, in some cases estrogen. But testosterone, you're right, it's one of the first ones because you feel it improves your quality of life, build muscle, burn body fat. It's a safe hormone.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, and then you, what I think is so powerful about that is then you, you, you couple the, the downstream effects you get from building muscle, having energy. Like it's not just, it gives you that direct energy and strength and muscle, but it's like, then the downstream effects of having more muscle, having more energy. It's like libido is a big one. Yeah, libido, sleep, all those things.

[Sal Destefano]

So there was this big like study and I got to bring this up because they, this and you'll see this. There was a study of over 80,000 women age 50 or older on hormone replacement therapy and they tied it. So I'm just talking about this because it's going viral. They tied it to cancer and vascular events. Now here's why this is super misleading. What's included in this is birth control is not non bio identical hormone. So if you took a, like a lot of women are put on birth control type hormone therapy either to stop to regulate bleeding or for acne or for period pain or for other reasons. You know a progestin is not the same as progesterone. Right. It's like anabolic steroids versus testosterone. Testosterone is a natural hormone in men. Does that mean you could go take D ball and you're not going to get negative effects? No, that's a derivative of, it's a type of an androgen. But it's going to cause all kinds of negative. So what they took with this is they took a lump of women, most of them on what are what are called non bioidentical hormones. So these are not hormones that are like the ones in your body. These are chemically altered like hormones. And like those are the ones like birth control. Yes. And those are the ones that cause issues. But when you want hormone, like if you go to like our [e-mail] if you go there and they test your hormones and say, okay, we can do hormone therapy with you. They use the same hormones that are in your body. They don't put you on. Yeah, these other, you know, derivatives or, or chemically different hormones that you'll sometimes see women be put on. These are actual like progesterone, testosterone, thyroid, like the, like the actual.

[Adam Schaefer]

Have you guys been getting all the. Phil with Vita Bella is the company who we work with now and stuff. And Phil's the founder. The amount of. I was just visiting my, my godson had his, his birthday just the past weekend and we were out there and my, my best friend's wife is a nurse and has, like, I didn't realize how many nurse friends that she had that was. That have gone through us and.

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, really?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. And they've been going through us for a long time and they've now experienced the transition and they're like, oh, dude, so much. I mean, to the point I didn't, I didn't. I didn't bring it up. I didn't even know. I didn't realize all of them, they had. We were at a. A big birthday party and I was like, oh, my God. I guess Phil's gotten on the phone with a few from. Even I saw that. Yeah, yeah. And. And they're like, the founder, like, called me. I was like, I appreciate that. So shout out to Phil. I know that he knew that when we, when we made this transition, that it was so important to us that our customers felt that first. Right. Like, obviously we shopped around for what was going to be the. The best dose legally. Obviously we went for the, the no sales team thing too. To where you're actually speaking to a medical professional. Like, all these other things were obviously super important. But then at the end of the day, it was like, take care of our customers, because that's what I feel like what wasn't getting done. And so the experience that I've been getting or feedback I've been getting has been huge, has been incredible.

[Katrina Scott]

So it's.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's really cool.

[Sal Destefano]

So did you guys hear about what they did with the fruit fly brain in a computer? The fruit fly? About this? Justin did. What do you mean by that? So I'm going to pull this article up and I'll kind of read what

[Katrina Scott]

they're able to literally digitally map. So fruit fly brain.

[Sal Destefano]

So we often use fruit flies because predictively, they're very basic, like brain, very easy or whatever.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, I think I heard you say.

[Sal Destefano]

So a NeuroTech technology company, Eon Systems, took a complete digital map of a fruit fly's brain. So they took the whole brain and recreated it digitally. Yep. Then they ran it inside a virtual fly body.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

In a simulated world. So the fly on the computer was running off of this. This digital map of an actual.

[Katrina Scott]

So it's just like what a fly would do.

[Adam Schaefer]

So in other words, there wasn't like some sort of a mathematical formula or equation or pathway that it was. It was programmed to follow? It was random.

[Sal Destefano]

It was just. They took the brain of the fly.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Katrina Scott]

How the maps.

[Sal Destefano]

And they essentially digitized it. It's an exact copy of this brain, but in the computer.

[Adam Schaefer]

How do you prove.

[Sal Destefano]

I don't know how I know. Stop it.

[Adam Schaefer]

How do you prove that, Doug?

[Sal Destefano]

What do you mean prove that?

[Katrina Scott]

Don't put holes in it, Adam.

[Sal Destefano]

It's. No, you can. Technically you can do this. But they started with the fruit fly brain because it's super, super basic. Yeah, super basic.

[Katrina Scott]

I mean, what's more basic than that? Maybe like a worm.

[Sal Destefano]

So they did this, then they turned it on and the fruit fly in the computer, which now had a brain that's like a fruit fly, it behaved just like a fruit fly.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

On its own. They didn't tell it to do anything. It literally did everything that a fruit fly would do on the computer.

[Katrina Scott]

Now put that in sims.

[Sal Destefano]

Well, now listen, it's not stopping there. They're going to try to do the same for a mouse brain next. And eventually they're going to try and do a human brain.

[Katrina Scott]

This is that show upload, dude.

[Sal Destefano]

Bro, can you just hold on a second? If they did, if they technically could do this, let's say they do a mouse brain. Does the mouse on the computer think it's in a real world?

[Adam Schaefer]

Of course it does. It has to.

[Sal Destefano]

If that's the case, why would they do a human brain? Are you gonna have like this human on your computer that's like, thinks it's real? Some black mirror crap right there, dude, the horrors.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, so it's not until we, we reach a conscious brain, we can even prove how valid this is or isn't. Right?

[Sal Destefano]

I don't know.

[Adam Schaefer]

Because like, okay, so like, I don't

[Sal Destefano]

think they know what they're doing.

[Adam Schaefer]

So go down the chain from fruit fly to mouse to these animals like. And you. We're all watching this, this thing act on there. How, how do we prove it's. It's, It's.

[Sal Destefano]

I don't know.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, I can't. Where I. The human brain is the only way because. Because then the human would get in there. Be like, let me. They freak out. Well, it's.

[Katrina Scott]

Right, it's reactive. It's not necessarily, necessarily like consciously.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's what I mean. It's not until. And not until you have a conscious mind.

[Katrina Scott]

It's a sequence.

[Sal Destefano]

It's a good question.

[Adam Schaefer]

So until it's a conscious mind that, that they try and map.

[Katrina Scott]

They're not, they're not digitizing consciousness.

[Adam Schaefer]

It's not happening.

[Katrina Scott]

No, theoretically they're not.

[Sal Destefano]

Did you guys watch that black mirror episode where people had like, they look like phones and on there you had a, a clone of yourself in your phone as your assistant, and it literally thought it was you. And so this woman turns her phone on, and it's her and the phone. She's like, hey, where am I? Where am I? She's, hey, you work for me. You're my assistant now. Let me out of here. Let me out of here. She's like, no, you're gonna do what I say. You're my new assistant. And she's like, I don't want to do what you say. So she pushes a button, and it simulates 30 days, where this woman is in this blank room for 30 days, like punishment. And then she turns. It's like, I'll do whatever you want. I'll do whatever you want.

[Katrina Scott]

I can't watch that show, bro.

[Sal Destefano]

It's too twisted.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, but it's like those concepts, like, are almost like. You could believe something like that. Yeah, it's like, oh, yes.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. I feel like we're going down.

[Sal Destefano]

I hate that.

[Katrina Scott]

Creepy.

[Adam Schaefer]

Going down. That.

[Sal Destefano]

All right, I'm gonna change subject. Yeah, we're positive. Did you guys know. Did you guys know that butcher box has tater tots?

[Katrina Scott]

Tots?

[Sal Destefano]

You could buy tater tots, dude. Yes, dude. Tater tots.

[Adam Schaefer]

Are they healthier?

[Sal Destefano]

Finally, healthy tater tots for healthy. I love tater tots.

[Katrina Scott]

I love tater tots.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, I mean, they can't.

[Sal Destefano]

French fries.

[Adam Schaefer]

They could be healthier the way they're fried, because, I mean, all they are white potatoes that are deep fried. Are they deep fried in something else, like peanut oil or something healthier?

[Justin Andrews]

Normally they take the potato and they may coat it with a little bit of oil. Then you put it in the air fryer and you bake it.

[Sal Destefano]

But these come in a bag and you just throw them in the oven.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, because they've already been done that, right?

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, but they're not fried prior to. No, they're typically. I think they're just raw. Raw tomato.

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, I see. The oil is on the potatoes.

[Justin Andrews]

It's on the potatoes, and then you

[Sal Destefano]

cook it in the oven. I see.

[Adam Schaefer]

Is that. You know that.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, I mean, I've purchased. Not from butcherbox, but I purchased other ones.

[Sal Destefano]

Look at the tater tots on Butterbox Duck. See what the.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, tater tots. You're talking tater tots.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah. I'm super, bro.

[Sal Destefano]

I am a huge tater. I don't know about you guys, but that's, like, one of my favorite.

[Katrina Scott]

Oh, yeah, sneak them in.

[Adam Schaefer]

You know where you. Hey, where you went with the boys. Did you know that They're. They were. They're famous for their tater tots. That bowling alley.

[Katrina Scott]

Oh, they are, yes.

[Adam Schaefer]

Did you not have any?

[Katrina Scott]

No.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, bro. Did you have the pretzel there?

[Katrina Scott]

No, we didn't eat. We didn't really eat there. I'm so. Yeah, we ate before we got there.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, that was. What. What. What makes that place so sick is they have, like a. They have a. Like, a famous chef that is working out of there.

[Katrina Scott]

Oh, serious.

[Adam Schaefer]

So all the stuff. All the food is amazing. At a bowling alley. Like, no one thinks I. It's amazing.

[Katrina Scott]

I had no idea. Yeah, there's, like, nobody there. When we went. It was, like, wide open. I was like, oh, this is ra. There's, like, nobody here. All the lanes.

[Sal Destefano]

What's it made with?

[Katrina Scott]

I didn't know that.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. So I stand corrected. I thought you were talking about the french fries, but the tater tots are fried in avocado oil.

[Adam Schaefer]

Okay, so they're done.

[Sal Destefano]

That's better.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. I figured they would do something.

[Katrina Scott]

I know, right?

[Sal Destefano]

There's two. There's two foods that I'll eat until I'm really upset.

[Adam Schaefer]

Chips and tater tots.

[Sal Destefano]

Well, three foods. Potato chips, french fries, and tater tots. You could put. I don't care how many you put in front of me. I'm gonna eat them until I. Until I can't. Yeah, that's. That's how much I like.

[Adam Schaefer]

I'll have to try and get.

[Sal Destefano]

Really? Yeah. Why is that?

[Adam Schaefer]

Do they have a. Do they have a special going on? And they normally have something cool going on where if you sign up, you get something cool.

[Sal Destefano]

You get free ground beef for life in your box.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's. I cooked. That's what I cooked yesterday. Three pounds.

[Sal Destefano]

Okay, so this is the. The ultimate meal prep.

[Adam Schaefer]

I'll give you guys.

[Sal Destefano]

This is the meal prep hack for everybody. And it's cheap. You cook a bunch of ground beef and a bunch of rice. You can mix it together.

[Adam Schaefer]

I'll give you. I'll give you even the crazy. The tasty version of. Of that. What I do. So I do three. I do three pounds because that's all I can fit in my big old iron skillet. I would do four if I could fit four in there. Three pounds fits inside there. Montreal steak seasoning. That's all it needs on it. So season it. Season it with that. No, you don't need no oil, no. Nothing inside the iron skillet. Just literally straight. Dump it in there and do that. I cook it slow so that I Can also take a whole onion. I saute the whole. Put a little bit of olive oil in a pan first.

[Sal Destefano]

You saute the onion? Oh, separately.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, Set. They're separate. So are the mushrooms, and so is that. So I got three pans that are running okay. No, it's not. It's because it all gets done at the exact same time, and it's amazing. So the mushrooms are being sauteed in ghee and garlic salt. So mushrooms are on a slow simmer with. And I do two whole things of mushrooms with. With the ghee and garlic salt in it. And then I have my onions with olive oil also on low simmer. And then they're all cooking around the same time. Takes about 30, 45 minutes. And then when they're done, you just mix that all together, and then you add your scoop of whether you're doing one cup or half cup rice. Katrina's half cup rice on one cup rice. There's your meal prep, bro. So good.

[Sal Destefano]

It sounds delicious, but it's too much work for me.

[Adam Schaefer]

What?

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, I know. You and Doug are like Little Chef.

[Adam Schaefer]

That is not. That is, like, easy, dude.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, it's way more hard than what I do. I go ground beef seasoning, rice done.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, but you're like a.

[Sal Destefano]

Like, I'm like. I'm a. Like I'm a bachelor in college.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, the hardest part, I guess, is I gotta chop the onions up, and then you can buy chopped onions, and you could. I guess you could skip that part too, if you really want to. And you just literally dump it in the oven. You just leave.

[Sal Destefano]

If Justin and I were roommates, we would eat.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Pretty super frozen frozen burritos, top ramen tater tots all day long.

[Katrina Scott]

Burgers, Burger patty.

[Adam Schaefer]

I mean, that's gotta be one of those. That's gotta be one of the most cheesy basics.

[Katrina Scott]

A block of cheese.

[Adam Schaefer]

Dude, it's so easy to cook. What I just said. There's no. There's. It's not tricky at all. It's super easy, quick. So good.

[Sal Destefano]

Well, yeah, you get.

[Adam Schaefer]

Because you get these. The ghee and the garlic salt. That sucks. Gets soaked up with that mushroom. So that adds a little nice to that lean that.

[Sal Destefano]

No, no, listen, it sounds delicious. It sounds really delicious. You don't have to sell me on the flavor. But when you said too hard. When you said multiple pans.

[Adam Schaefer]

Just too hard.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah. You went multiple pans. My arrow is already in my head. I was like, nah.

[Adam Schaefer]

So what? I. So the bachelor brain of me. Okay. That that has entered the cooking world because I by no means think I'm any sort of a chef.

[Sal Destefano]

Bro, you are super into barbecue. You go crazy.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's.

[Sal Destefano]

I think that you time everything the perfect air temperature, what altitude. We are like, I'm not even making this up. People listening. He knows how much longer he's to go if we're in Truckee because of the altitude.

[Adam Schaefer]

So if I'm.

[Sal Destefano]

This is how much science he goes into.

[Adam Schaefer]

If I'm. If I. What I'm not good at is ask me to cook something where different things have different times. If I can figure out a way to make things that take the exact same time. And there's downtime while you're waiting, so it's easy to do a couple.

[Sal Destefano]

But if I go. Ground beef, rice, tater tots in the oven. Done.

[Katrina Scott]

Tater tots.

[Adam Schaefer]

I'm excited about that.

[Katrina Scott]

Let's get back to the tater tots.

[Adam Schaefer]

I will. I will order some of those though, because I do want to try for sure. Because ironically, it's so hard to get my son to eat carbs. So I've never thought this would be the day that I'm like, eat your french fries. My youngest wild that my son doesn't like french fries, doesn't like rice, does not potato, potatoes, nothing like.

[Katrina Scott]

Or rice. Yeah, he doesn't like. It really kill me. I mean, he. He'll eat like, like corn tortillas for

[Adam Schaefer]

like tacos, but he eats tacos. That's it. He likes tacos. He'll eat tacos. But he's not a car carb. He wants meat. Dude.

[Sal Destefano]

You know what my son will do? My five year old, I. I could feed him 18 eggs a day. I don't know what it is about eggs. He'll eat them. As many as you want.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's cool.

[Sal Destefano]

Hella eggs. That's five. Yeah. He eats two eggs in the morning and then probably two or four throughout the day.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

That's a five year old eating four to six eggs in a day. Whole eggs.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

Dang.

[Adam Schaefer]

I have this rocky. I'm at that. That stage right now. Justin probably can relate then, because your son was like this. Like, I'm always. I'm trying to sneak calories in everywhere.

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, yeah?

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. So I'm part of why I've like opened up the dessert can of worms with him because, like, I want the extra calories. I'm like, I let him have dessert and stuff because I'm like, he needs to eat more calories and hella Olive oil. Yeah, I do. I sneak all kinds of stuff with that honey on things. Like I sneak all these calories because he'll just eat just straight meat all the time. I told you guys the last time I tried to take him through drive through and get chicken nuggets and he was like, nah, dad, I'll wait till you get home and eat your my leftover steak. He really had me reheat steak from yesterday, then drive through, get chicken nuggets and french fries. I'm like, dude, come on, bro. Like, I never thought that would happen.

[Katrina Scott]

I know it's hard to talk about that.

[Sal Destefano]

My three year old, I have to peel nuggets for her. She likes the white. Just meat. I know, dude. I'm like, that's the best part. What are you doing?

[Adam Schaefer]

That's funny.

[Sal Destefano]

Making me peel the nugget. Who peels a nugget? This guy does. This guy does.

[Adam Schaefer]

That's hilarious.

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[Justin Andrews]

All right, our first question is from Lucas Keane. 03. My wife is pregnant and I was wondering what lifts or exercises she can do to prepare us for carrying and holding the baby. As I know it can cause imbalances.

[Sal Destefano]

So that's a good question. And so I'll start with this. Overall, general strength is the way to prepare. But the pain, because a lot of women will get wrist pain, shoulder pain, sometimes hip pain like this all day. Yes. From holding a baby. Wrist pain being the most common one, but shoulder pain probably being second because they always carry their kid on the same side.

[Katrina Scott]

Same.

[Sal Destefano]

So that's the thing.

[Katrina Scott]

Switching it.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah, switch it up. This is what this will prevent. Issues is switching from side to side. And everybody's got their favorite side that they like to carry the kid on. But besides that, it's just overall strengthening. There is no specific, you know, way to train unless we're already correcting an issue. But just traditional strength training get stronger overall. And then when baby comes, you have to be aware that you're going to be, you know that you're holding the baby on one side or the other and switch it up.

[Adam Schaefer]

I did you. I use it. What's it called? The baby. I use that. We use that a lot. We use that a lot.

[Sal Destefano]

You know, they make these new ones where they go around your waist and it's like a little seat. Have you seen it? And you put your kid on it, and so it's like. It's like the baby's sitting on a seat and you kind of hold them. Yeah, my wife had one with. With my youngest. It's really cool because it's not like, you know, that Bjorn. You have to put them in.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

This is literally. You just wear it and then when you pick up your kid.

[Adam Schaefer]

I think I have seen somebody doing that before, actually. I love that thing. I think we used it like crazy. I mean, you can flip them forward. You can flip them forward or back. And instead of the old traditional, like turning on your hip type of deal like that. Gets uncomfortable doing that for a while.

[Sal Destefano]

Justin, go hold kids for a long time.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, I was. The Bjorn thing. I tried it for a bit.

[Adam Schaefer]

Back of their neck, arms.

[Katrina Scott]

Put them on my back, you know.

[Adam Schaefer]

Dude, good to see you.

[Katrina Scott]

I swear to God, never use it. Yeah, nothing. I just have on. I just held them.

[Sal Destefano]

Oh, did you hold them on your shoulders? Yeah. I got a buddy like that. He's always got his.

[Adam Schaefer]

We just grew out of that.

[Katrina Scott]

We just. I loved it. Every minute of it.

[Adam Schaefer]

I did. I did it all the way. I did it all the way till just maybe six months ago. Like, Max, he. We just. It was just like yesterday or day before. He's just. Dad can't get on your shows, like, nah, bro. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're coming up on a different stage here. Dad's got arthritis. Oh, my neck. And now he's. I mean, he's not little anymore. And his legs. His legs hang all the way down past my hips. You'll see. You went, you have your kid. He's a big boy.

[Sal Destefano]

You have your kid. Pee while you're holding them up there. You know, their diapers still.

[Katrina Scott]

Oh, yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, that has not happened to me.

[Justin Andrews]

Next question is from Morgan B. Peterson. Can you talk more about body types? You touched on it recently with the collar. Having a more athletic body as a woman and how to capitalize on it and not have remorse for it.

[Sal Destefano]

So, you know, the beauty of. Part of the beauty of strength training is it's the most targeted form of exercise. You could target, build and Shape muscles just because of the nature of strength training. That being said, like there's certain things about body type that you can't really get around. Like bone structure. You have wide hips, narrow hips, wide shoulders, narrow shoulders, long femur, short femur. You can't change that. You also can't to it to an extent, can't change how you store body fat. Women generally store in the lower body, men typically in the midsection. Although hormone changes can start to affect this. So earlier we talked about hormone therapy. Sometimes women will find when they're in perimenopause or menopause, they'll start storing more in their midsection. And hormone therapy seems to change that fat storage. But aside from what I said, getting leaner and more fit, building muscle like that makes everybody look better. But you gotta be careful with comparing yourself, your body type to other body types, right? Yeah, you got to be careful with that.

[Adam Schaefer]

So I'm going to say something that's a bit of an over generalization, but in my experience this, this is what I've seen time and again. It's, and I correct me if this is different for you guys, but what I have noticed is each, each client or body type that I've, I've trained has a strength and has a weakness. And as a trainer I felt I had a lot of success when I, when I understood that and then I leaned into that example. So my clients that were really skinny, that had a hard time like trying to build muscle, those clients, it was always easy for them to get lean. That's what they never had problem. And so me get worrying about that or leaning into that strength is the vert right verse. The opposite is true with the other client. The client that really has a hard time losing weight, like fighting that and always just trying to lose weight with that client. I did so much better trying to build muscle with that client. So lean into your strength. If you have a more athletic body type, you hold muscle really well, but you always want to be leaner. I was trying to do that. And you're always fighting low calorie and trying to get lean versus I'm going to lean into what your body does really well. Like it builds muscle really well. Let's go build a bunch of muscle that will speed your metabolism up, that will help the process of leaning out. And so I've had more success when I had body types that were like that where they had this kind of athletic build that they, and they always wanted to be smaller or leaner. It's like you're always fighting against the body. Where your body wants to build muscle, let's lean into that, let's build muscle.

[Sal Destefano]

I also think we give too much credit to, or put too much blame on body types and genetics. Like, there is no genetics. There is no widespread genetics for like obesity. There'll be a difference of 15, 20 pounds from person to person depending on the genetics, but that's it. Not the 60 pound, 70 pound type of deal. The vast majority of, you know, the effect you have is really lifestyle, so exercise and diet and everybody can look more fit and healthy or less fit and healthy. But, you know, don't get caught in that game of comparing your body type to somebody else's and saying, oh, I want to. That's, that's a losing game. And the best success I ever got with clients where people were like, hey, this is my body and I'm going to become the fit. I'm going to be fit and healthy for my body and be okay with it.

[Katrina Scott]

Just trying to be objective from where you started, where you are like. And think of all the different metrics beyond just the aesthetics, like with the strength, energy and, you know, all those other things.

[Justin Andrews]

Next question is from Julie E. Holmquist. I started deadlifting today, but my shoulders hurt. Is that something that will eventually go away or are there other shoulder exercises I should be doing to build up to the deadlift?

[Sal Destefano]

That's interesting.

[Adam Schaefer]

Shoulders.

[Katrina Scott]

Shoulders hurting from deadlifting.

[Sal Destefano]

That's. Yeah, she's probably referring to her traps. You know, sometimes people say hide up in my shoulder area.

[Adam Schaefer]

She's probably getting into it. She's probably in a little bit of a position.

[Sal Destefano]

If you. She just started lifting. Yeah, if you just started deadlifting, oftentimes the initial soreness you'll get will be in the mid upper back because a lot of people are weak there. The muscles that bring the shoulder blades back and support that shoulder girdle tend to be weak.

[Adam Schaefer]

Right.

[Katrina Scott]

Unless you strengthen, maybe some protraction too.

[Sal Destefano]

Yes, yes. And so I'd say go lighter and go slower and you can have like a friend or someone press on your traps a little bit to give you a little bit of myofascial release. But I mean, that's typically, that's probably what's going on here because the shoulder joint itself shouldn't get hurt in a deadlift. That's very, it'd be very strange.

[Katrina Scott]

Isometrically stabilize it there.

[Adam Schaefer]

I also want to point out that this is one of the most valuable parts about our mind pump private forum or our muscle Mommy group, too. We could sit here all day long and try and guess why it's her shoulders. If I saw your movement in the deadlift, I know right away. I know right away. Why not to be able to explain it because it could be a lot of different things. She could also be arching her neck while she's doing it.

[Katrina Scott]

Rounding her back.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. She could be standing up and then of shrugging a little bit. I mean, there could be a lot of things that, that we're not saying right now that could be going on if I saw the movement pattern. And so one of the probably the most valuable things or commonly used ways of using the forum is to video yourself doing a movement and then ask this question, and then you'll have either one of us or one of our trainers get in there and answer and help you with it. Super, super valuable.

[Justin Andrews]

Next question is from Untamed Fitnessau. For your own personal training, do you follow the doctor's textbook order when you can officially start lifting again or follow your own body's cues and start when you feel ready, slowing yourself back into it? Of course.

[Sal Destefano]

So this is an interesting question because.

[Katrina Scott]

Sounds like a setup.

[Sal Destefano]

Yep. So here's the deal. For most people, you want to listen to your doctor because you just don't know your body well. And when you think you're ready, you're probably not. And even people who are well trained, like fitness people, oftentimes overestimate how well they're doing.

[Adam Schaefer]

We're all guilty of that.

[Sal Destefano]

That being said, you know, look, if you're, if you really know your body, you're. You've got, you know, you've got a good background in exercise, you know your movement, you know how to listen to your body, and you're already fit. Oftentimes, what the doctor will tell you in terms of when you're ready is a really conservative estimate.

[Katrina Scott]

They're overly cautious.

[Sal Destefano]

They're very, very conservative. Like, don't lift over five pounds or, okay, you should be able to move your shoulder. And, you know, in 10 weeks, you know, I had shoulder surgery and I had full function in half the time the doctor told me. But that's only because I had worked out before.

[Katrina Scott]

I was already fit pre existing muscle. And yeah, like, and I knew how to rehabilitance.

[Sal Destefano]

That's. Yeah. And I knew how to rehab it myself. I remember I went to the PT and the PT's like, all right, lift your arm up. And I was able to lift it all the way up. And they looked at me like, whoa. And I'M like, well, I know how to rehab it and. But that being said, I've also had injuries where I'm like, oh, I'm good. And then I re injured myself. So.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah, this is such a loaded question for that reason because I don't think any of us probably follow exactly the doctor's orders afterwards. But then I've also made the mistake of more than once re injuring myself.

[Sal Destefano]

You did with your knee.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did my knee. Did my pack. Yeah, man. Go down the list. I've done it. I've done it with a lot of things I do have. It's so. I guess the other way to look at this too is it's like, okay, you doing it faster or doing more. Is it really going to get you that much better, that much quicker, that much more results? I mean, building muscle, burning body fat, that, that whole process is such a slow process anyways. Is it worth going outside the boundaries that the doctor's giving you between your appointments just so you can try and get a little bit fat, like results that aren't going to be that measurable? Like, I don't know, it's.

[Sal Destefano]

I'll tell you what. I know a guy who just had weeks ago, had shoulder surgery and used BPC157 and Thymus and beta.

[Katrina Scott]

Half the time and he was like, bro.

[Adam Schaefer]

Half the time.

[Sal Destefano]

The doctor was like, well, that's where you're.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah, exactly. So get real confident.

[Sal Destefano]

I mean, it's a little like, it's like, it's like that's the 40% of the time.

[Katrina Scott]

Yeah.

[Sal Destefano]

Off of your recovery.

[Adam Schaefer]

No, I.

[Katrina Scott]

Calm yourself down a bit.

[Adam Schaefer]

Being the one who's probably been injured the most here. I feel like I've tested it so many times. It's half. It's half the time.

[Sal Destefano]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

It cuts the recovery time in half. But to Justin's point, that's part of the dangerous part is all of a sudden I'm like, oh my God, I'm. I'm back. I'm back in half the time. Let's go. And then all of a sudden you start ramping up and then that's where you can get hurt again.

[Sal Destefano]

That's right. And for people interested in those kind of peptides, you want to go through a doctor. We have [e-mail] so you can check them out. You can also find us on Instagram mindpump Media. We'll see you there.

[Justin Andrews]

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

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Nah, I'm just kidding.

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