2863: The Top 10 Healthiest States In America

Summary

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Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

Ep. 2863 – The Top 10 Healthiest States In America
Release Date: May 22, 2026
Hosts: Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, Justin Andrews, Doug Egge

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Episode Overview

In this lively and insight-packed episode, the Mind Pump crew takes a deep dive into America’s healthiest states, examining what factors truly influence longevity and well-being. Dissecting both media “healthiest state” lists and official longevity stats, the hosts dig into how daily movement, community, lifestyle, and environment shape our nation’s health outcomes. They also branch into engaging side discussions—from the science of daily activity to hilarious (and revealing) stories about dating apps and horrifying insect behaviors. The episode closes with concrete answers to listener Q&A on nutrition, strength training, menopause, and abs.

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Main Discussion: What Makes a State “Healthy”?

[02:38–14:42]

The Lists—And Why They Differ

• Sal opens with two lists:
  • Media’s "Healthiest States" (based on 99 metrics like physical activity, air quality, smoking, healthcare access, homicide, etc.):
    • Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, California, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Utah, New Hampshire.
  • Actual Longevity—States with the Longest Lifespans:
    • New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Utah, Minnesota, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii, Rhode Island.

Sal [04:46]:
“First list was me looking up how old people live in each state and then ranked them.”

What Do the Healthier States Have in Common?

• Walkability, access to water, better weather, and a culture of daily activity/family connection.
• High education rates, better healthcare access.
• Importance of active community life, not just gym access.

Justin [05:27]: “Hawaii, I’m going to guess—warm, a lot of walking, a different lifestyle, less stress. That’s gotta play a role.”

Doug [08:16]: “Good high education rate, good health care or access to health care... those always play a big role.”

Key Point: Healthspan vs. Lifespan

• Gap between longer life and years spent sick—longer-living states also tend to have longer “healthspan.”

Sal [08:28]: “Two and a half years doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you look at health span, it actually is a lot more than you think.”

Notable Exclusions and Surprises

• Arizona: More gyms per capita than anywhere, but not top for lifespan.
• Colorado is also often associated with fitness but didn’t crack the top ten.

Justin [09:31]: “You would think...that’s why I’m surprised Arizona isn’t there.”

Social Connection and Stress

• Hawaii’s family culture, chill lifestyle, and connectedness cited as big factors.
• States with high suicide rates often have least community/family connection (e.g., Alaska, Wyoming).

Sal [10:34]: “When people have good, strong connections to their community and family, they just live longer. They just do better.”

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The Power of Daily, Natural Activity

[14:42–23:25]

Incidental Movement Over Gyms

• The healthiest populations move naturally all day—walking, chores, gardening—not just scheduled gym workouts.

Sal [15:04]: “If you want to move for longevity, it’s daily and it’s throughout the day.”

Example: Sicilian Longevity

• Sal’s story of his 80-year-old Sicilian relative thriving independently, walking hills and stairs daily for everyday needs.

Sal [17:10]: “I remember, I’m 19, I work out…huffing up these hills. My aunt is 80, does this every day by necessity.”

Rethinking Chores and Activity

• Everyday physical tasks provide longevity benefits; outsourcing everything may lower daily movement unknowingly.

Justin [19:45]: “…if I outsource all that activity, then I become more sedentary. If I’m more sedentary, then I don’t live as long.”

Gardening and Home Grown Food

• Discussion on the underrated value—nutritional and lifestyle—of growing and preparing your own food.
• Taste and nutritional content of homegrown/prepared food vs. store-bought.

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Social Connection, Community, and “Blue Zones”

[23:25–29:17]

• Walking to interact, running errands locally, and engaging with neighbors are key for social and physical health.
• Loma Linda, CA—America’s only “Blue Zone” (areas of exceptional longevity).
• Questioning whether digital trends are eroding or helping real-world connection.

Sal [22:48]: “She’s not alone. She has community. She sees people every single day.”

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Dating App Real Talk

[29:17–36:46]

A lighter, hilarious detour as the hosts swap stories and confessions about online dating, reflecting on how digital and real-world socialization differ. Doug and Adam share their experiences (Adam met his partner on eHarmony during COVID).

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Community, Parenting, and Family Life

[40:10–44:48]

• Stories of parenting, nurturing routines, and the lasting significance of investing time in kids’ lives.
• Building traditions that combine family bonding with incidental movement (walks, chores, etc.).

Sal [40:24]: “As a dad, when your kid—especially your son—idolizes you, it’s such a wonderful thing.”

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Q&A: Listener Questions & Practical Fitness Answers

[53:02–61:02]

1. “What Counts as Processed Food?”

[53:02–55:41]

• Minimally processed: good (e.g., washed veggies, frozen shrimp).
• Heavily processed: engineered, multi-ingredient foods (cookies, chips, etc.).
• Rule of thumb: If it existed 200 years ago and is single-ingredient, it’s probably fine.

Sal [53:56]: “If we say processed, we mean heavily processed foods—engineered for hyper-palatable, overeating.”

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2. Sumo Deadlifts vs. Conventional Deadlifts

[56:04–57:28]

• Both are powerlifting-approved, but function just like front squats differ from back squats.
• If you had to pick one: do conventional deadlifts for full posterior-chain development and functionality.
• Sumo is useful (especially for glute development) but not interchangeable.

Justin [56:37]: “Well, it hits the whole posterior chain...I think it’s probably more functional.”

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3. Vacuum Poses vs. Traditional Ab Work

[57:39–58:45]

• Yes, you can and should combine vacuum poses with lifts like cable crunches and leg raises.
• Vacuum poses: Low-intensity, help core activation and posture; don’t overdo to the point of shallow breathing.
• Especially valuable postpartum.

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4. Menopause, Muscle Loss, and Minimal Strength Training

[58:48–61:02]

• Two days per week of strength training is enough to build or maintain muscle—even during menopause, though hormones play a role.
• If not seeing progress (and sleep/diet are dialed in), consider checking hormone levels or getting coaching.
• Hormone therapy can help, but is not the only variable.

Sal [59:12]: “One strength training session every two weeks is enough to prevent the muscle loss...at two days a week, you can build muscle.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Longevity:
  • Sal [08:28]: “When you look at healthspan, that two and a half years is a lot more than you think.”
• On Hawaii’s Health:
  • Justin [05:27]: “Island lifestyle…there’s no speeding, it’s chill vibes, and that’s gotta play a role.”
• On Social Disconnection and Suicide:
  • Sal [10:34]: “When people have good, strong connections to their community and family, they just live longer.”
• On Incidental Activity:
  • Sal [15:04]: “If you want to move for longevity, it’s daily and it’s throughout the day.”
• On Practical Nutrition Advice:
  • Sal [53:56]: “Heavily processed foods…engineered for hyper-palatable, overeating.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Top 10 Healthiest States & Metrics: [02:38–05:27]
• Hawaii & Lifestyle Impact: [05:27–08:00]
• What Skews Lifespan Data: [08:16–09:31]
• Movement Patterns/Walkability: [14:42–17:10]
• Sicilian Longevity Story: [17:10–19:02]
• Q&A Begins: [53:02]
  • Processed Foods: [53:02–55:41]
  • Deadlift Types: [56:04–57:28]
  • Abs & Vacuum: [57:39–58:45]
  • Menopause & Muscle: [58:48–61:02]

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Tone and Language

• The Mind Pump hosts bring their characteristic conversational humor, personal anecdotes, and science-backed insight throughout. Their tone is friendly, direct, and at times self-deprecating—with natural banter and openness to exploring both the data and the quirks of daily American life.
• Notable for their ability to switch seamlessly from serious analysis to spontaneous stories and back again, keeping the episode both fun and informative.

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Summary

This episode of Mind Pump goes beyond lists to reveal the complex, lived realities behind America’s health data. Longevity is less about gym memberships and more about ongoing, natural daily movement, community, and the ways cities and cultures structure people’s lives. The hosts make the science approachable and actionable—and never spare the honesty or humor in the process.

Practical takeaways:

• Move daily, throughout the day—not just at the gym.
• Build and nurture community; social and family life are huge for health.
• Eat foods close to their natural state.
• Don’t underestimate the power of chores, walking, and gardening for your health.
• Two days per week of proper strength training is enough to build or maintain muscle, even after 50.

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For further info, find the Mind Pump team on Instagram @mindpumpmedia or visit mindpumppodcast.com.

Transcript

[Justin Andrews]

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[Adam Schaefer]

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go.

[Sal DeStefano]

Mind Pump Mind Pump with your hosts

[Adam Schaefer]

Sal DeStefano, Adam Schaefer and Justin Andrews,

[Sal DeStefano]

you just found the most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump Today's episode. We picked questions from our Instagram page from listeners and we answered them at the end of the episode. But the beginning, the first 52 minutes, was our intro. This is where we talk about fitness and fat loss, muscle gain, strength training, current events and family life. Now look, if you want to write in a question that we can pick, go to Mind Pump Media on Instagram. That's where you do it. Now this episode is brought to you by some sponsors. The first one is Caldera Lab. We talked about their skincare products today and just how effective they are. By the way, studies show that over 90% of participants who use Caldera Lab saw an improvement in their skin, reduced wrinkles, more health and a more youthful look. The stuff really works. Go check them out. Go to calderalab.com mindpump use the code mindpump20. Get 20% off. This episode is also brought to you by Ketone iq. This is an exogenous ketone supplement. What does that mean? You take it. You have ketones that your brain can use now. So if you want the benefits, the sharpness, the mental clarity, non stimulant but feel good but it's not going to keep you up at night. So this stuff just makes you sharp. You want the benefits of a ketogenic diet, but you don't want to get on a ketogenic diet because they suck. You just use Ketone iq. Drink it, Boom. Ketosis and your brain feels amazing. Go to ketone.com, that's K-E-T-O-N-E.com mindpump. You can get 30% off your subscription plus get a free gift with your second shipment. We also have this awesome program sale going on right now. Buy any Maps 15 style workout program. Get any other Maps 15 style program for free. Buy one, get one free. Go to maps15bogo.com. All right, real quick.

[Doug]

If you love us like we love you, why not show it by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs, or training gear over atmypumpstore.com. i'm talking right now. Hit pause. Head on over tomy pump store.com.

[Justin Andrews]

that's it.

[Doug]

Enjoy the rest of the show.

[Sal DeStefano]

Here are the top 10 healthiest states in America. They have the longest lifespans. Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, California, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Utah, and New Hampshire. We're going to talk about why they live the longest.

[Doug]

How did Minnesota sneak in there?

[Sal DeStefano]

Let's go.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, that one's the most surprising. The first few. I have a theory on why that is.

[Sal DeStefano]

So do I.

[Justin Andrews]

Okay, so, okay.

[Doug]

I probably could speculate that because it's got so many lakes, but again, the winters are rough.

[Sal DeStefano]

Okay, so. So here's what's interesting about the list that I just gave.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Go to the first three. And I think we could break down. Why?

[Sal DeStefano]

Well, before I do so. So here's where this came from. Right. So our media team oftentimes will give us ideas on things that they think would be interesting for us to talk about. And one of the ideas Danny brought to me was an article titled the top Healthiest states in the US for 2025. Now, anytime I hear that or see that, I want to look a little deeper. Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Like what are the parameters using to exactly. Is it body fat? Is it how long people are living? Is it?

[Sal DeStefano]

That's right. Yeah, that's right. And so I looked at it, and they were ranking this. They were looking at physical activity, smoking rates, air quality. But then they're looking at things like access to health care, homicide. Like, that's like 99 metrics. And so they were basing what they thought the healthiest states were based off these metrics. Now, what I did is I looked up which states people actually live the longest, because at the end of the day, that's where the rubber meets the road. Right. Like, what's the actual result?

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

And does it line up with what these authors of this study predicted would be the healthiest states? What they list as the top healthiest states? The top ten. Number one was New Hampshire. Number two was Massachusetts. Number three was Vermont. Number four was Connecticut. Number five was Utah. Number six was Minnesota. Then it goes Washington, Maryland. Number nine is Hawaii. And number ten is Rhode Island. There's some crossover there. But you notice how the rankings.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Were different.

[Justin Andrews]

That seems more off to me. I think your list seems more predictable.

[Sal DeStefano]

Well, of course, because it's actual lifespan. Yeah, it's like, how long are people actually living?

[Doug]

Oh, so the first list was you.

[Sal DeStefano]

The first list was me looking up the. The how old people live in each state and then rank them.

[Justin Andrews]

Give me the first three to five of yours.

[Sal DeStefano]

Of the one that I had.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, yeah, the ones you.

[Sal DeStefano]

Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. So Hawaii, Massachusetts. Now, Hawaii was number nine on the other list. Massachusetts was number two on the other list. So that one matched up. And then New Jersey, interestingly, didn't even make their top 10. But those are the states where people live the longest. And just for reference, the national average is 77.5 years. Hawaii is 80, Massachusetts, 79.8, and New Jersey is 79.6.

[Justin Andrews]

Now, Hawaii, I'm going to guess warm and a lot of walking. Like, I think just that's. That's going to be the. I mean, you. And even lifestyle, like. Yeah, like island lifestyle. I have family that live a lot of family, actually, that live over in Kauai. And it's a different lifestyle.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's less stress.

[Justin Andrews]

There's. I mean, yeah, the stress, like work show up when you can get here. Yeah, yeah, no, totally. It's very chill. There's no speeding. There's none of that going on. Like, it's very chill vibes. And so that's got to play a role in just overall stress on the community. Lots of sunshine, a lot of walking, a lot of places.

[Sal DeStefano]

Access to fresh fruit, fresh fish. Yeah, they've got great cattle there and, and chicken there. So you've got kind of good access to food. It's funny you say what you said. My friend Sean, back in the day, when I was managing gyms, in the heyday at 24 Fitness, he was a, like a top general manager. This guy used to crush all the time. And they, they, they moved him to Honolulu. Like, do you want to run a club in Honolulu and make it crush? Right. I know I had a similar opportunity. And so he went over there and I would talk to him and I'm like, what's it like, dude? Because he turned that club into a mega production. He's like, bro, it's crazy. He's like, dude, my staff shows up in flip flops 30, 40 minutes late. Nobody cares. I don't know what's going on over here, too. Everybody's super chill. So it was super funny, but I didn't see that. But what I see with the commonalities with some of these. With a lot of these. Is like kind of good weather near water.

[Doug]

Yeah, I was gonna say. Cause Florida's not on that list.

[Justin Andrews]

I'm surprised Florida's not on that list.

[Doug]

Well, I was like, is it because of like the pill mill stuff and people come down there, like, don't forget

[Sal DeStefano]

Florida's in the South. And so you get a lot of. Because the top. The worst health states are all. They're all in the South.

[Doug]

Well, because like food culture there is like.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Smoking and food and that kind of stuff.

[Doug]

So don't forget that Florida lifestyle's a little different.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. Like, I've been to Disney World in Florida and I know there's people from all over coming there, but you got a lot of people from Florida going to Disney World now. You go to Disneyland and you see

[Doug]

some like meth, bro.

[Sal DeStefano]

You see some obesity at Disneyland. Yeah. You go to Disney World and there's

[Justin Andrews]

like traffic jams with scooters, dedicated scooter parks and lanes. It's different. It's definitely different.

[Sal DeStefano]

But one thing I see with a lot of these in common, I think near water, walkable states.

[Justin Andrews]

Right.

[Sal DeStefano]

Sunshine and probably a lot of physical activity is a part of their lifestyle.

[Justin Andrews]

Is Massachusetts considered a lot of sunshine?

[Sal DeStefano]

No, no, some of these are not, but a lot of them are.

[Doug]

But I think because it's smaller, I'm sure, like there's a lot of more walkable city.

[Justin Andrews]

That's what I was saying. I think a lot of walkable cities and near water, that has to be positive.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. And there's also good high education rate and also good health care or access to health care. Those always play a big role. By the way. I want people to understand this. When you see that the national average is 77 and a long living state is 80, you think, oh, okay, three years or two and a half years. Like, what's the big difference? It's actually a big difference. It's not just the time people are alive, but what that doesn't show you is the how long people are sick for before they actually pass away. So it's a much bigger two and a half years. Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you look at like health span, it actually is a lot more. More than you think. But yeah, I think exercise access. That there's culture in some of these states around fitness is one of them. You know, like, now what's interesting, I didn't see Colorado in the top 10.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, I thought I didn't See, I thought California and Arizona would be on there.

[Sal DeStefano]

California is.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, California is on there.

[Sal DeStefano]

Number six.

[Justin Andrews]

Okay. So it is on there. Because you say Arizona's not.

[Sal DeStefano]

Arizona was not in the top.

[Justin Andrews]

So Arizona is. I remember reading an article on this. Has more gyms per capita than like, any other state.

[Sal DeStefano]

It would be interesting to see if there's a correlate with gyms.

[Justin Andrews]

You would think that's why I surprised Arizona.

[Doug]

Like hiking. And I mean, it's. There's a lot to do there. I mean, besides, you know, the desert. The summer is gonna be horrible.

[Sal DeStefano]

What's interesting to me out of all of these is Hawaii, because Hawaii is consistently number one. Yeah. Like, for a long time. Yeah, for a long time.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, so wouldn't you.

[Sal DeStefano]

They're always the top.

[Justin Andrews]

Wouldn't you agree then that this just highlights. And we talk about this a lot. Just this low level stress that we all have a lot. And like, that's. Of all the states, that's probably the most consistent. I don't know anybody who's ever talked about Hawaii being like a stressful area.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. I was gonna say even their busy place.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. That's like. That's like San Francisco on the beach. That's their city. It still has got chill vibes.

[Sal DeStefano]

Chill.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

They also have a culture of family in Hawaii. So locals are very family oriented. My friend Ryan. I don't know if you knew Ryan Junk. He was from Hawaii and he would talk about this all the time. I have. I had other friends that were from Hawaii who did jiu jitsu, and they would talk about this all the time. That there was just like this, especially the locals.

[Doug]

Very tight knit.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, tight knit. Kind of family oriented. And you see this in the data. When people have good, strong connections to their community and family, they just live longer. They just do better. Like, some of the states with the highest suicide rates are also the ones where people tend to be the most isolated. And sometimes it's a distance thing or a location thing. Like, I think Wyoming, if I'm not mistaken, has a really high suicide rate.

[Justin Andrews]

Washington's the highest, isn't it, Doug?

[Sal DeStefano]

No. Look up highest suicide rates. Maybe.

[Adam Schaefer]

I think so. The rain.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Washington is the highest.

[Sal DeStefano]

Look, it was 10 states. Seattle with top 10 states. Suicidal suicide rates. Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Washington's up there.

[Sal DeStefano]

But family culture, weather, access to fruits, vegetables, and healthy.

[Justin Andrews]

And like, I mean, I think the family and the stressing are the two big, big ones.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, really. I mean, because you have everywhere. It doesn't have the best Diet. So even people eating off the rails a little bit everywhere you go. Like, I'm sure body fat percentage is high there. Like everywhere else but that just community walking, sunshine. Those things have to be.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, look at this top states. Oh, Alaska.

[Justin Andrews]

I forgot Alaska is higher than.

[Sal DeStefano]

Scroll down, Doug.

[Justin Andrews]

It goes Alaska. They'll probably.

[Sal DeStefano]

It goes Alaska, Montana, Wyoming.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, wow.

[Adam Schaefer]

New Washington didn't make it.

[Doug]

Those are all the. Okay, you want to know what's the sparse populated states.

[Sal DeStefano]

You know what's crazy about this is that. Scroll down a little more. Utah is number six for suicide rate. They're also number nine for longevity.

[Doug]

Huh.

[Sal DeStefano]

That's wild. That is weird that they made it in both. Yes. Do they count suicides?

[Justin Andrews]

Wow. I would not have guessed Idaho and Utah on that. On the top six.

[Sal DeStefano]

That's.

[Justin Andrews]

Or Colorado.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, yeah. I, I, I'm not familiar with the states too much. What I, what I kind of know from about Utah because I have family, I have a cousin who's got family over there, is that Utah's kind of like California in the sense that, you know, California is like, you're, like you're in one area and it looks like everybody's doing well. You go to another area. Like, what is going on? Are we in another planet? I think Utah is kind of like that too. Where there's like a high drug rate in certain areas and in other areas

[Doug]

sort of concentrated in certain areas.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, yeah. But you know, just by talking about.

[Justin Andrews]

I definitely would have thought.

[Sal DeStefano]

I know, it's all the potatoes. Just kidding. I think, I think what you, the thing to take away from this is daily activity. I think what you'll find in a lot of these states is people are relatively active for the most part, either because the culture of the state encourages it or because of the way the cities are designed, tends to encourage. In fact, big cities where it's inconvenient to drive tend to have better health even though their air quality is so bad.

[Justin Andrews]

I didn't even think California is the only one that has a blue zone. Of all the ones you name.

[Sal DeStefano]

Loma Linda. Yeah, that's the Seventh Day Adventists.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, but it's still in California.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, it is.

[Justin Andrews]

So that would, that would boost California's numbers.

[Sal DeStefano]

I don't know how many people are in there to make that big. California, such a big state. I don't know how much of a skew that's.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, there was no other ones were there.

[Sal DeStefano]

I don't, I think Loma Linda is the only blue zone in America. If I'M not mistaken. I think you're right. Yeah, but they, but those are the Seventh Day Adventists.

[Doug]

Like San Diego makes up for most of it because LA isn't doing too well right now.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, no.

[Doug]

Like health wise.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, no, no. Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

You would think LA and San Francisco would bring.

[Doug]

Yeah, bring way down quite a bit.

[Justin Andrews]

You would think they would.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

But I mean, although San Francisco probably counters because it's a, it's a walking city. So there's a lot of walking going on that probably.

[Sal DeStefano]

So that's a great point. I have family that lived in San Francisco back and forth and they're like, dude, it's so crazy how easy it was for me to stay kind of fit. And I didn't go to the.

[Justin Andrews]

You actually don't see. So when you walk San Francisco, I was just there last weekend. When you walk the streets and you go pies. Just went to a big like play thing and there was lots of people. You don't actually don't see a lot of obesity. No, you don't. Not like you see it in.

[Sal DeStefano]

You're not walking up poop though.

[Justin Andrews]

Thanks, Justice, Needles, stuff like that. But I mean. No, really, you don't, you don't.

[Sal DeStefano]

You're.

[Justin Andrews]

In fact, I would say I'd see a smaller percentage of obesity walking San Francisco than I did. Now. There's a bit of a bias there.

[Sal DeStefano]

Right.

[Justin Andrews]

So people, the people that are probably obese, they're probably not walking the streets.

[Sal DeStefano]

No. You know, no. And I, you know this, at one point I was really interesting, interested in this kind of data and we have this idea with longevity that workouts, scheduled workouts are what is best for longevity. It's actually not.

[Justin Andrews]

No.

[Sal DeStefano]

Now scheduled workouts are good, so I'm not saying they're bad. And certain workouts have a more of a protective effect in relation to the time that you spend doing them. Like, strength training is one of those things. You don't need to spend a lot of time strength training to receive a longevity protective effect from it. Everything from insulin sensitivity, mitochondrial health, you know, a little bit of a metabolic boost which helps with, you know, excess calorie consumption, strength which helps with mobility, and you don't need to do a lot of it like the average person did a couple days a week, literally in doing strength training, the protective effect that you get from just a couple hours a week outweighs any other kind of workout you would do for the same amount of time. That being said, if you want to move for longevity, it's daily, it's daily and it's throughout the day. So it's not like, yeah, I do a couple workouts a week or I work out once in the morning and then the rest of the day I do nothing. Which is what it looks like for fit people. So fit people are fitness minded. Oftentimes what it looks like for them is they do one workout most days, but then the rest of the day they're, they're sitting.

[Justin Andrews]

Such a, such a great conversation and I mean, probably would ruffle some feathers that there's some arguments to be made that some of the most impressive physiques that we might see are not the most healthiest in terms of longevity. When you compare to some of these,

[Doug]

your health markers might not be what you think.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, no, like, like, like you're saying, I mean, you, you might train at the gym five days a week for an hour, hardcore. But then you sit all day long and you're good about measuring your macros

[Sal DeStefano]

and so way better than nothing.

[Doug]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

But again, not protective.

[Doug]

But it's not.

[Justin Andrews]

But I mean, we, we would look at somebody maybe who, you know, walks 15, 20,000 steps every single day, gardens every day. The longest, maybe once a week, they lift some weight. So they do a lot of body calisthenic type stuff. You might look at that body and go like, come on. They're not that, but they are arguably healthier in terms of longevity, especially if he's outdoor, gardening, walking, doing stuff like that.

[Sal DeStefano]

I will never. This was such a paradigm, just, just crushing moment for me as a. I was 19, went to Sicily to visit, to be with my family. My, my dad's side and my mom's side too. She's got some family there. And I remember we went to visit one of either one of my cousins or my aunts. I didn't know her very well, but she was, she was like, I think she was 80. She was almost 80 or she was 80. And we went to visit her and she lived in this really old town in Sicily. Okay. And when I say old town, it's like the roads were made for horses. So there were roads you can't drive through or some of them. In the tiny car that we had, you'd fold the rear viewing windows to the sides because you're gonna drive by and people, if they're outside, had to go inside or stand up against the wall, let you through. So this is what the roads look like. And there were roads you couldn't go through. So we get to it, we park at the Bottom of this hill. We walk up this old cobblestone road. And I mean, I'm 19 years old. Like, I'm, you know, I work out or whatever. And I'm like, huffing. I'm like, oh, my God. Where she live? We walk all the way up, then we get to the bottom, to the door. They. She buzzes us in, we open the door, and then we go up, like, three flights of stairs and. And then we're where she lived in this tiny little apartment by herself, a widow. And she was like, so functional, could do whatever. And I remember I'm looking at her, I'm like, how does she live alone? Who brings her groceries? Like, how does this work? And so we left. I was talking to my dad about it, and I'm like, bob, how does she live here? He's like, what do you mean? I'm like, well, how does she do everything? She goes. She does it herself. She walks down the flight of stairs and goes down this hill and comes up this hill every single day. He goes, she does it probably twice a day, every day. She goes. This is where she goes to the market. She gets her food. She goes down. She goes down to meet with her friends at the piazza every single day. A couple things.

[Doug]

Think about it. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

This is just what she does. She does.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

There's no elevators. That's the thing, you know, and she was like, 80. And so, you know, for people listening, you don't live in a situation if you don't probably live in a city. If you're listening in a modern, like, America in particular, where this is just party life. And so if you want longevity, it's

[Doug]

like, I guess Europe has it all kind of still structured like that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Doug]

They get that a lot. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Well, I think one of the things you do is just. You gotta. This sounds stupid, but it's super. This is what the data shows. Do a lot of little walks all day long.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

So simple, so basic. But. And you throw a little bit of strength training and you've got. You've got it covered.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, I mean, this is what's reframed. The way that I look at even chores and stuff around my house. I know if you've been listening to

[Sal DeStefano]

the podcast, makes it more enjoyable, right?

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. I mean, there was. There came. There was a time where we've talked about this. If you go far enough back or, you know, I made a big argument for, you know, outsourcing that to buy more time with family and stuff like that. And there's A part of that I can get behind for sure because I still utilize that to an extent, but not so much now where I go. Like, you know what though? Like, this is a big part of me staying active. And like, so I look at it completely different now. It's just like I need to do this activity for my health and longevity. It's like I outsource all that activity. Then I become more sedentary. If I'm more sedentary than I don't live long enough. And if I'm claiming that it's for this time with my family and stuff like that, what good am I if I'm unhealthy and not living long? And so yeah, it's like, okay, there is a balance of it also makes

[Sal DeStefano]

it more valuable, which makes it probably more enjoyable.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, totally.

[Sal DeStefano]

He's like, I'm not just doing this because I need to clean the house. Yeah. I'm also doing this because good for me.

[Justin Andrews]

Yes. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

And it makes you more present frames it for sure.

[Doug]

Funny. Like, I've been like slowly affected by Courtney's passion for gardening and it's. I've been avoiding it because it's like, you know, it's gardening, you know, it's not that exciting to talk about for old people.

[Sal DeStefano]

You can't.

[Doug]

But you know. Yeah, but now I'm like, I keep getting drawn in and like it's just explaining the process and like all these different. Well, there's this show on Netflix now. It's funny with Zach Galifianakis and it's only like they're like 15 minute like shorts. But it just. He's kind of like in a, kind of a really funny way, educating, using kids and stuff to, to kind of describe like the process but like going to farms and kind of like explain their process and showing he's like the future is egalitarian and he's like trying to show all these like things you can do to, to be self sustainable and like all this stuff. And it's really interesting. And that was like on the nuts was like the whole apple like tasty apples. You can't get tasty apples without really grafting one to the, to the other plant. Otherwise you'll never get like a good tasty apple. It's like always going to be kind of bitter.

[Sal DeStefano]

I know that, you know, as we're talking about this too.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, that's why like fresh apples are typically like kind of a sour taste. Is that why? Because you have to, you have to cross breed them in order you have

[Doug]

to cross breed them. Yeah. To get that flavor to be tasty.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, interesting.

[Doug]

Yeah. I was like.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, they're like.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

All of them.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

We had apple trees at one of my houses when I was a kid and I remember how, like, sour they were in comparison to, like, the grocery store apples. I never really actually thought about that

[Doug]

or knew, but I tripped out because, like.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Doug]

And then. And they're describing, like, the tomatoes and like, oh, my God, they taste. And I've experienced that. And that's what started to pull me in, was because I talked to you guys. Like, the carrots, like, they taste completely different. The tomatoes taste like nothing I've ever had.

[Sal DeStefano]

Totally.

[Doug]

It's just like.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Doug]

You're not going to get that unless you literally cultivate it.

[Sal DeStefano]

So that's awesome. Yeah. As we're talking too, I'm thinking to myself the other downstream effects of living in a town like the one I described. She did live alone, but just the simple act of going and walking through the town and walking to the store. And she's not alone.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

She's got community. She sees people every single day. Yeah.

[Doug]

People say hi to her all the way down.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. So. So, like, I make it a point when I'm at home with the kids that I always try to do activities with them that require that I take them on a long walk to get there. Because that's for me, the long walks for me. Put them in a stroller. I have one of those double strollers with like jogging strollers. Yeah. And I'll put them in there and I'll just. Okay, we're going to go to this place or we're going to the store and I make sure it's. I try to pick like, long walks and almost every time I see people and we say hi to each other, you just around people rather than like, being just by yourself the whole time. So that's got to be another. Another plus.

[Justin Andrews]

Do you think that makes a comeback?

[Doug]

I think it's starting to shift in that direction.

[Justin Andrews]

It does. I mean, again, I'm always like. I question, like, our.

[Sal DeStefano]

Our bubble. Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Y know, you know, because we talk

[Doug]

about hope for it, but yeah, it's

[Sal DeStefano]

a priority for us.

[Justin Andrews]

It's something you're trying to foster. So it's like, hey, it feels like it's making a comeback. Is it though, Like, I'm. Because we. We're obviously, we're moving more disconnected and more digital and all this.

[Sal DeStefano]

I was just talking to a guy yesterday.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

He's in his 30s, and I was talking about dating, and I asked him about dating apps, and he's like, no, I'm sick of them. I'm like, why? He's like, it's not real. He's like, you're. You're putting up this. Like, this is who you know. And then this other person you're picking out, like, you're going through a cow identity. That's. He's like. And I've heard. I've heard more and more people say that about the dating apps, that they're just, like, done with them because of that whole process.

[Justin Andrews]

It's crazy that we all missed that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. Thank God.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean. Yeah. But it'd be nice to be able to. Nice Be able to talk about it from experience. I have no experience with it at all. 0. Don't know what it's like to make a profile. Swipe right.

[Doug]

You guys never did that one time.

[Justin Andrews]

Never.

[Doug]

I did it one time.

[Justin Andrews]

You did?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

I didn't know that.

[Doug]

Eharmony, One date.

[Justin Andrews]

No way.

[Sal DeStefano]

How are you not.

[Justin Andrews]

God, this guy. We've known each other 20 years. It never came up, bro.

[Sal DeStefano]

How's it gonna come up?

[Justin Andrews]

Never randomly asked. We've talked about dating apps a thousand times. There was plenty of opportunity for you to share a story where you go. By the way, guys, we have to

[Sal DeStefano]

think of every question. I know.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Have you ever killed anyone that you had to ask that?

[Doug]

I'll have to think about that.

[Justin Andrews]

But.

[Sal DeStefano]

So what happened?

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Doug]

No.

[Sal DeStefano]

So it's obviously before you were with.

[Doug]

Yeah, it was before I was married. Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Confession.

[Doug]

Like, she's gonna.

[Justin Andrews]

It was last year.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Really awkward. No, it was actually.

[Doug]

It was.

[Sal DeStefano]

The.

[Doug]

The irony of it was kind of funny because. Well, I'll get to that.

[Sal DeStefano]

But.

[Doug]

So, yeah, I was at my parents. I was living at my parents, and I was still working at 24 Hour Fitness.

[Justin Andrews]

Okay, so this is when you work for me.

[Doug]

Yes.

[Justin Andrews]

Okay.

[Doug]

I was commuting to. To work at Santa Teresa or Hills.

[Justin Andrews]

How early?

[Doug]

Hillsdale.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, this is early.

[Doug]

Early. Yeah. This is early. Actually, no, I take that back, because I met Courtney at San Teresa. So, yeah, it was San Teresa, but I hadn't moved yet, and so I was, like, kind of in limbo, and. And my parents at that point were trying to, like, set me up with people and, like, you know, my. The one best friend I had growing up, you know, like, their parents. And my parents, like, have always tried to, like, you know, connect us, and I was like, no, it seems like a sister to me. You know, I was like.

[Sal DeStefano]

And.

[Doug]

And, you know, it sucked because it was like. She was like, into me and I got weird. I'm like, no, I gotta. I just gotta do this myself, you know, Like, I gotta get out there. And so I was on. It was like, dial up, you know, like, back then, I think it was like, really slow Internet. And so it was. It was like the very inception of

[Sal DeStefano]

the whole early days.

[Doug]

Yeah, very early days of it. Long form, dude. Like, forever. And like, they get. They tried to make it different in that they wanted to get to, like, all your core values, like your morals, blah, blah. Like, all that kind of was your.

[Sal DeStefano]

Was your profile.

[Justin Andrews]

What was your profile picture?

[Doug]

I just picked the H chick.

[Justin Andrews]

No, what was your profile pick? Would you use what.

[Sal DeStefano]

And we'll get back to what.

[Justin Andrews]

You with a fish.

[Sal DeStefano]

You had a football helmet.

[Justin Andrews]

Guitar. Football helmets in the back.

[Sal DeStefano]

Come on.

[Justin Andrews]

Your truck. What you do?

[Doug]

What you do have to think about.

[Justin Andrews]

Come on.

[Doug]

Oh, you know what it was.

[Justin Andrews]

What was it is.

[Doug]

I could probably find it. It was like when I was in my rockabilly phase.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, I can picture it.

[Justin Andrews]

I know a picture is. Yeah, you probably. Black and white.

[Doug]

Black and white.

[Justin Andrews]

Yes, I know, bro.

[Sal DeStefano]

That's a winner.

[Doug]

I had like, my. Yeah, it was. It was.

[Justin Andrews]

That's a. That's a different for you to pick that you. Because that's just a part of you, in my opinion.

[Doug]

Oh, it was like a very small face.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. So that's like a small part of you. So, like, to use that.

[Sal DeStefano]

He's like, I'm hot. That's what it is.

[Doug]

Well, I just thought I liked it because it was like, again, the portrayal, the. The. The person that you're like. Oh, yeah. I thought it was like I looked kind of cool like that, you know, like that, but rock that, you know, like. Yeah, it's a full on, like, pompadour and everything. And I had. Yeah, it was like, Like a country western pick.

[Justin Andrews]

I remember the pick.

[Doug]

Yeah. So anyway, it. Yeah, so that I put that out there and like, I was going through the. I think I finally matched up with somebody, you know, the next day. And it was like I had a few to look and I connected with her. And then we ended up going to like, Dave and Busters.

[Sal DeStefano]

Okay.

[Doug]

And like, set this whole thing up. And she lived like, far. It was. It was at the, like. Like Milpitas area, kind of like far end. And so I was like, oh, this is. This is. She's lives far. And I was like, this is gonna work out. But then we ended up going and having a good time, and I felt bad because, like, I. I was like, she's a really nice girl. You know this stuff. But while we're sitting there, I always got a text message from Courtney. And, like, she was like, oh, hey, you know, I'm at Mount Charlie's. Like, come. Come hang out. And I'm like. Because she had been ghosting me at this point, because I gave up on her because I was. I was pursuing her so hard before this, and then was just like, you know what? Whatever, dude.

[Sal DeStefano]

She came in in the nick of time.

[Doug]

Just literally, dude, I could have lost you.

[Justin Andrews]

Was this. Was this girl Was a kiss you and your dad?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, wow.

[Doug]

So you would have raised chick.

[Justin Andrews]

You would have ran it back?

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, wow.

[Doug]

Yeah. But then

[Sal DeStefano]

what do you say?

[Doug]

Come on, like, another date?

[Justin Andrews]

You're not saying y. I met. That's what I meant, bro. I met.

[Sal DeStefano]

Like, hey, I don't know the lingo.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, dude, I never dated.

[Sal DeStefano]

I met.

[Justin Andrews]

Go another date does sound bad. I knew you're saying he was on the same page. I'm just.

[Doug]

I'm just going on another date. But, yeah, she. And I was like, oh, man. And my whole. My whole, like, thought process just shifted immediately with her, and I have to.

[Sal DeStefano]

Wait, hold on. Did you kiss her after the text or before the text?

[Doug]

No, I kissed her right. Right before. Well, I got a text that was just like, hey, what's up? And it just was kind of like,

[Justin Andrews]

where do you make out of Busters?

[Doug]

Outside the parking lot. Because she had to leave from there, and I left.

[Justin Andrews]

I've just been there before. Well, there's not a lot of places to make out. Yeah, I know. Who goes on a date? Just as in front of the basketball hoops.

[Doug]

Who goes on a date and doesn't close the door?

[Justin Andrews]

Some kids like, hey, man, it's my turn.

[Doug]

Thor's gonna hug awkwardly, you know, like, oh, wow.

[Justin Andrews]

So game. So, okay, you. You make out with this chick?

[Doug]

How do you make out?

[Justin Andrews]

Well, I mean, you kissed her. Okay, so you kiss this chick. How do you. You. How do you let her down that you're not going to return it because she thinks she's getting a second date?

[Doug]

No, I didn't, actually.

[Justin Andrews]

That was before ghosting was a thing.

[Doug]

Yeah, yeah. No, like, I was still kind of, like, conflicted because I didn't know how serious. Right. And so I was, like, still, like, you know, talking to her. And then, you know, I went home, and. And she's like, oh, like, all excited to do another date. And I was like, well, we'll see. And then I. And then I came clean. I was like, you know, I gotta come clean. Like. Like, I've been pursuing this girl for a while. Like, you're honest. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

You're a good guy, dude.

[Doug]

No, but if Adam dated both terrible.

[Justin Andrews]

No way I would do, like, ripping the band aid. Dude, I still dated both of them. Now, that might be true. Here's the deal. I really like you too.

[Sal DeStefano]

I test you both out. I want to put Adam whenever you get to Rose.

[Justin Andrews]

So you had to let her down.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

She was crushed, I bet.

[Justin Andrews]

Crushed.

[Doug]

Yeah, she. I mean, she understood, but she, as you could tell, she was like, super, super bumped. And like, yeah, I did feel really bad about it because they totally let her on.

[Justin Andrews]

Like.

[Doug]

And I'm like, yeah, yeah, we're gonna hang out again.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, yeah, you kissed on the first date. Of course you let her on.

[Doug]

But yeah, it was. Whatever.

[Justin Andrews]

So. So okay, so then Courtney, you. You go meet up with her. How. How much shorter after, like, did you guys go on your first date or you still not even sure with her? She's like, yeah.

[Doug]

So that she just cracked the door.

[Justin Andrews]

You were like, the door's finally cracked.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

He's like, it took a few weeks

[Doug]

after that, I think. And then I finally got a date with her. And then. And then our first date was like, hills have Eyes, like, the worst movie take.

[Sal DeStefano]

Like, that's a terrifying date.

[Doug]

She picked it, dude. I'm like, I wanted to walk out.

[Sal DeStefano]

Do you know they've done studies on that, that horror movies cause physiological arousal.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

In women when they're with their date. So they might not. Well, I was banking on that.

[Justin Andrews]

Justin's like, this is the only reason why I'm sitting through this torturous movie.

[Doug]

But it was so messed up. Like, it was. It ruined the whole vibe. There was no, like, romantic feeling.

[Justin Andrews]

I'm such an anti scary guy that if that would. That would kill it for me. You know what I'm saying? Like, oh, this is not going to work.

[Adam Schaefer]

If you.

[Justin Andrews]

If you want to do this on a first date, this is not going to work.

[Doug]

She's going to get scared.

[Sal DeStefano]

Wow. That's a cool story, dude.

[Doug]

So, yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

I can't believe you did that.

[Sal DeStefano]

You never told.

[Justin Andrews]

Dude.

[Sal DeStefano]

Speaking of which, I got an only date. We got a dm. I think it was a Mind Pump media page. It might have been the Mind Pimp media page. Someone DM'd us. And like, I can't Believe that. You guys advertise with Ashley Madison. I'm so.

[Justin Andrews]

We don't advertise with them.

[Sal DeStefano]

And so we got to set the record straight.

[Doug]

I almost don't want to bring attention.

[Justin Andrews]

We talked about this because McDonald's was on the front of one of our things one time.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's not like we Spotify. It's Spotify. Right?

[Justin Andrews]

Go through Libsyn.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, there's actually two. We have Spotify and Libsyn. They both have their own.

[Sal DeStefano]

So they add their own ads in front of our podcast if you listen.

[Adam Schaefer]

Same with YouTube.

[Sal DeStefano]

And YouTube.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. We don't choose any.

[Sal DeStefano]

We are not. We are. There's no connection to ashley Madison or McDonald's.

[Justin Andrews]

Our ads are. When it comes out of our mouth.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yes, we talk because we do not advocate for that. Terrible.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Horrible. You know, just family destroying site. That's not something we support. Yeah, but I want to.

[Justin Andrews]

I didn't even know that's what that was until you. You said that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Doug]

And by the way, that huge data breach.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah. I thought it was furniture.

[Doug]

I didn't even know.

[Sal DeStefano]

Still Madison.

[Adam Schaefer]

Oh, just hearing that. Sounds like a furniture.

[Justin Andrews]

There is an ash.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, it's a freaking site for people to cheat on their spouses. That's an actual dating.

[Justin Andrews]

There was a whole documentary on them because they got. They got busted.

[Sal DeStefano]

Remember? They're still around.

[Justin Andrews]

That's crazy. You had a huge. Didn't it leak. All their stuff leaked out, and people got found out and everything, getting divorced and.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, my God. Have you guys heard the stories of. Of couples that go on Ashley Madison? Like, they're trying to, like, cheat on each other and then they link up with you. No. Yes. No.

[Justin Andrews]

Yes. Oh, my God. That would be hilarious. How do you get mad that you

[Sal DeStefano]

can't, like, wait a minute.

[Doug]

Well, that minute. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, crap. Whole.

[Doug]

Another conversation.

[Justin Andrews]

Hey, does it bring him closer? God, we're kind of alike, you know?

[Sal DeStefano]

Why don't we just pretend.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

What a dysfunctional.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, that's.

[Doug]

That's gonna treat you as a stranger from now on.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, God.

[Doug]

Wow.

[Sal DeStefano]

I know.

[Justin Andrews]

I've never. Have you ever known anybody who's done that actually?

[Sal DeStefano]

Medicine.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Who's used it?

[Sal DeStefano]

No, No, I don't think anybody would tell him.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Doug]

That's probably something they'd advertise, like, hey,

[Sal DeStefano]

bro, just, you know, I know. You know, my wife and kids, but,

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, there's some chick on. Come on. People tell you, like, maybe. Maybe not. Dudes. Chicks definitely tell each other that they

[Sal DeStefano]

do stuff like that. Yeah, maybe.

[Adam Schaefer]

Of course.

[Justin Andrews]

Tell your girl.

[Doug]

That's a good question. I wonder. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

If.

[Doug]

If, like, I bet you women, more likely the men would tell their.

[Justin Andrews]

Their friends.

[Doug]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, you're a per example of who you know. We just found out you can eat Harmony afterwards. Nothing wrong with that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Nothing.

[Justin Andrews]

20 years to tell us.

[Sal DeStefano]

I wonder. I got to think of weird questions.

[Justin Andrews]

I know. That's why I said, like, I'm gonna make a list when I go home of, like, all the things I need to ask.

[Doug]

Just weird. Yeah, it's just. Well, I guess, I mean, you guys missed the boat for online dating.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, we've talked about online dating so many times. It's like, if I had done it one time, I would have shared the opportunity. I would have been like, oh, you know, I tried it brought up.

[Doug]

It just got blazed over.

[Justin Andrews]

So that's your default move now, Bro, this is like, you know, I did talk about. You guys talk so much, we didn't hear it yourself.

[Doug]

That's how I protect myself, Justin.

[Sal DeStefano]

Doug, have you ever done a dating site? Because I did. I have.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah.

[Doug]

See, you have.

[Sal DeStefano]

What's your sold now, too?

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, Rachel is. That's how I met Rachel, actually.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, you met Rachel that way? Yeah. I did not know that.

[Adam Schaefer]

That was right. 2020 in the heart of COVID It

[Sal DeStefano]

was like, wow, you know, when it comes.

[Justin Andrews]

So you're a success story.

[Adam Schaefer]

I am a success story, I guess you'd say.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Are you on. Were you on multiple ones or one?

[Doug]

Not just the one.

[Adam Schaefer]

What was the one you were on? Eharmony, I think that's the one I was on.

[Justin Andrews]

Was it plenty fish?

[Adam Schaefer]

No, I didn't do that. I just did the one. Too lazy, you know, creating those profiles. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work trying to get on those things.

[Justin Andrews]

Did you do any failed dates before Rachel Farmers?

[Adam Schaefer]

I think I've gone on. I went on a couple others.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

That you didn't tell us about.

[Adam Schaefer]

Well, why would I tell you? I mean, we're friends, so we can

[Justin Andrews]

tell the whole world.

[Doug]

Yeah, exactly.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, between us, you guys, you know, Justin, I won't tell anybody.

[Adam Schaefer]

Justin and I share that. We're like, okay. We kind of keep our private life

[Doug]

to ourselves, you know?

[Adam Schaefer]

That's kind of why we don't share

[Sal DeStefano]

every little detail, tell each other stuff.

[Justin Andrews]

No, we don't even.

[Sal DeStefano]

We have a separate.

[Doug]

We have a separate text thread. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Adam Schaefer]

No, I think I went on to

[Justin Andrews]

sell it the Thing says don't sell salad.

[Sal DeStefano]

Half of it is them complaining about

[Justin Andrews]

us

[Adam Schaefer]

talk so much.

[Sal DeStefano]

Hey, while we're talking, they're texting each other.

[Doug]

No, I don't. I like this. I don't talk that much in real life. Like. So this is all normal?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. Yeah. You don't. You're not that quiet, though. I don't know why you say that. It's not like you don't talk.

[Justin Andrews]

No, I'm not.

[Doug]

I just, you know, I like. I like listening and. And engaging when it's.

[Sal DeStefano]

Well, you know, that it goes along with your strength. You have a really good discernment. You really do. You have like gifted discernment for. For people.

[Justin Andrews]

Justin's almost listen so well.

[Sal DeStefano]

That's why I think. Well, as I said, it goes well.

[Justin Andrews]

He listens.

[Sal DeStefano]

So you know how many times we've met people and just like, I don't really know about that guy or whatever. It turns out they're dirt bags and he picks up on it.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, you'd be good too, if you listen. Just don't listen, huh? I feel like you'd have a radar. Dude, just don't listen. How many times I go, sal, Sal, this is for you. Sal, we're talking to you. Yeah, Justin just as good at listening.

[Sal DeStefano]

I'm just boring.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, you just gotta say peptide into that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, yeah. Hey, speaking of peptides and stuff, so Caldera lab do. So they're their products. They sent us this. They have five peptides that they work with in many of the products. And then they use the natural botanicals. And I looked up some of the botanicals that are in their products. Yeah, Doug listed them here, which is pretty cool. And I'd like you to look at some of these up, Doug. Okay. So one of them is spilanthes, which I've never heard of. That's for wrinkles, plant stem cells for free radical damage. I'm familiar with that. Astragalus root for tightness, Snow mushroom for hydration, elderflower for skin tone. And then there's fireweed for healing and for balance. I'm not familiar with spilanthus, Doug.

[Justin Andrews]

I'd like fireweed and snow.

[Doug]

Can you imagine having to go like, forage for this stuff? I feel like you'd be all over.

[Sal DeStefano]

Impossible. Yeah, impossible.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

So it contains something called spilantha spilanthal, which is, interestingly, a local anesthetic.

[Justin Andrews]

Wow.

[Adam Schaefer]

Yeah, it's good for oral health, has medicinal properties such as anti inflammatory, antimicrobial immune stimulating properties. And it's in cosmetics. It's referred to as the natural botox.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, wow.

[Adam Schaefer]

Due to its ability to relax facial muscles and reduce the appearance of fine lines.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, wow.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, they clear. And that.

[Justin Andrews]

Wait, now, was that. That was the. That. That's a peptide or that's something else.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, no, no. These are all plants.

[Justin Andrews]

Those are all plants.

[Sal DeStefano]

These are all herbs and plants.

[Justin Andrews]

Okay. And then they pair that with some peptides.

[Sal DeStefano]

They add peptides. You know what's crazy? I learned about retinol. So retinol is one of the most popular common ingredients in, like, skin products. Do you know what retinol does? It. It dramatically increases cell turnover. So in other words, it helps kill cells on the surface to get new ones to produce. So this is why one of the side effects of retinol is like, dryness, irritation, sun sensitivity. So retinol can make you sensitive to the sun where you burn easier because your top layer is gone. Yeah. But the stuff that they're using, Caldera Labs. Labs, Excuse me. Works with your natural skin. So I've. I've noticed with like. Like, I always use the example of me and Justin because we have such different skin. Right. Mine is more oily, his is more dry. We both use this serum, which is an oil.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Which I would expect to work well for dry skin. I would expect it would make me too oily. It doesn't actually balances me out.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

And it does the same thing.

[Doug]

You should. We should rebrand that somehow, like, you're equator and I'm like, north.

[Sal DeStefano]

What? Equator.

[Justin Andrews]

That's the serum. Is the Good. That's the.

[Sal DeStefano]

That's good.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

That's my favorite.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, dude, that stuff's amazing. I told you guys. My cousins, when they came to the Christmas party, they got the gift bags where we included it.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

None of them are like skincare. We're all dudes, right?

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Now all of them, they've seen the text thread. They're like, oh, can't believe I used stuff.

[Justin Andrews]

It converted us.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, dude. So anyway, the. The hydro layer is what I've been using a lot lately as well.

[Justin Andrews]

The hydro layer is the cream.

[Sal DeStefano]

The cream, Right. Yes. Yes.

[Justin Andrews]

I actually need some more.

[Sal DeStefano]

And it works. Really?

[Justin Andrews]

I just ran out of mine.

[Sal DeStefano]

I got to tell you guys, dude, about what Aurelius said to Jessica the other day. What? You know, so he's in this phase right now. He's five.

[Justin Andrews]

He's such a fun phase.

[Sal DeStefano]

So he's in this phase where he idolizes me, which I gotta tell you, not You. You guys. You know this. You guys both know this.

[Justin Andrews]

Yep.

[Sal DeStefano]

As a dad, when your kid, especially your son, idolizes you, it's such a wonderful thing.

[Doug]

Get better than that.

[Sal DeStefano]

It doesn't. It doesn't. They just think you're awesome. And then they want to do it. They want to be like you, you know? So he says things like, hey, what do you want to do when you grow up? I want to work at Mind Pump. You know, he says stuff like that. And he makes. He'll steal her phone, and he'll record videos of himself. And every video he'll get on there, he makes this funny face. He flexes and he goes, you know, my name is Aurelius, and I work at Mind Pump. I make muscles. And he does this thing. Anyway, you know what he told her? Yeah. He said. He goes, mom, can I ask you a question? She's like, yeah. He's like, am I looking muscular? And she's like, why? And he goes, I've been bodybuilding. Can you tell? I think so. What is he doing? I gotta ask him, like, what does he think? Bodybuilding is so good. What is he doing?

[Justin Andrews]

I love when they're like that. Max is still there. Katrina's always trying to change it. She's just like, what do you want to do? Because he wants to do what I want to do. He likes the foods that I like, and I love it, you know? She'll be like, well, what do you want to do, Max, for this? And he'll be like, I want to do what Daddy wants to do. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Well, what do you want to do? I want to do that. That's what I want to do. And I'm like, what he wants to do? Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

And I'm always. I'm always getting his back. Hey, let him do it. He wants to do it. I want to do it, too.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's the best feeling. I was watching the other day on the. What is it, like, a nanny cam? And he was having trouble going to bed. He's going through this little phase where he's getting, like, scared at night. And so Jessica tries to, you know, encourage him and leave. Well, anyway, one of these nights, he was. He just kept saying he was scared. So she reluctantly. Because it's late, you're tired, and she always does a good job with this, but she's like, oh, okay. So she went down there, and she'll sit next to his bed until he falls asleep. And he's so. So I was watching it on the camera, and he's so funny. He's sitting there, laying there, and he sits up and he goes, mom, I just want you to know you're the best mom in the world. Thank you so much for doing this. And I could just see her just. Oh, it's worth it.

[Doug]

Snicker bar for seeing.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's so worth it.

[Justin Andrews]

When you hear this.

[Sal DeStefano]

We still.

[Justin Andrews]

We still let Max come in. I'm like, telling Katrina. I'm like, we're probably getting close to her. We're gonna have to stop that pretty soon here.

[Sal DeStefano]

Because he's just come in your bed.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, he comes. So our rule is that he has to. He goes to bed, he stays in bed. And in the morning time he come in, and morning is sometimes five in the morning, six in the morning. It's always. It's early like that, but he can climb in at that time.

[Sal DeStefano]

Does he go back to sleep?

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, good.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's part of the rule. If you're gonna be. Otherwise we'll be like, if you're gonna be up, you go play in your room. Like, it's five o' clock in the morning. You can't stay. And he will sometimes. Sometimes he'll stay up and he'll go play and entertain himself for the next two hours, whatever. But we. We've let him come in, and I still. I lay with him every night. So it's seven, almost seven years straight, where I mean, I just remind myself that, like, that's gonna end at some point. Yeah. At one point, he's not gonna want

[Sal DeStefano]

me to do this.

[Justin Andrews]

And so I'm gonna. I'm gonna gobble it up for as long as I can.

[Sal DeStefano]

It reaches a point. I know you've done this already, Justin, because you got teenagers where you're like, hey, buddy, do you want to do this thing? Like, no, I'm gonna go do something else.

[Doug]

Right?

[Sal DeStefano]

And it's like there's like this switch that happens. It's supposed to happen, but there's a PC that goes, yeah, party dies.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, of course. And every dad, dad buddy of mine I know that's told me that. Like, I remind myself that of that, like, I will. I'm gonna not get this. Not to mention, at least for me, this is this way. Some of the best conversations. Because he wants to stay awake, right?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

So it's when he becomes the most talkative or shares the most, is laying in bed. So I love to come lay in bed with him because then he'll tell me stuff that he wouldn't have Told me during the day, he's playing, he's doing his thing. It's. How was school? Oh, it's fine. What'd you do? Nothing. He has nothing to chair but laying in bed. When it's time to go to sleep and you're supposed to be sleeping. Then he'll tell me all about his day and all the things he learned.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

So I'm like, you know what?

[Doug]

This is the same thing.

[Justin Andrews]

So worth it.

[Sal DeStefano]

I remind myself. Because what he'll do. Dalia is still too young, but she gets. I'm sure she'll hit this phase. But he's like. At the stage, he'll just ask me question after question after question. And I find myself getting, like, a little tired. But then I remind myself, like, you know, but his questions are hilarious. Like, he's like, you know, I'm going to walk, you know, like on those long walks. Hey, Papa. Yeah. And he goes, can I have a sleepy dart gun? Like, no, you can't have a. Well, why not? And I'm like, well, I think they're illegal for. For people to own. He goes, but they use them on animals. I'm like, yeah. If you shoot an elephant with a sleepy dart gun, how long will it take for them to fall asleep? And then it just turns into the cycle.

[Justin Andrews]

He just watched Zootopia or what?

[Sal DeStefano]

He did. Maybe that's where he got it from. It is from that. Oh, gosh.

[Justin Andrews]

Because Max. That's what I know about that. He asked if they were real. He's like, daddy, are those real?

[Doug]

He's like, he didn't watch Old school, did he?

[Justin Andrews]

No, it's from Zootopia. In Zootopia, they. They make that. I don't know if it's part one or part two, but one of the Zootopias, that's what he. That's what he's shooting the animals with.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

With the sleepy darts.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, God. Even put that together.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

And he loves.

[Justin Andrews]

Max asked all about that, too. And I'm like, did you get those

[Sal DeStefano]

versus books for him?

[Justin Andrews]

The what?

[Sal DeStefano]

Animal versus books.

[Justin Andrews]

You know what? I don't think I ever got those.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, you got to get them, dude.

[Justin Andrews]

I ordered them.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

You totally made me for. All right, I forgot all about it until you just said, I got.

[Sal DeStefano]

We got all of them. Yeah, they're crazy, Justin. They're like, who wins in a fight? And it pairs animals again. King cobra versus a, you know, a lizard.

[Justin Andrews]

He loves that conversation.

[Sal DeStefano]

They're great books. And you go through and you Read about. And then the battle at the end. You have to guess who wins.

[Doug]

Oh, that's even better. Yeah, we did that with videos, like, on YouTube for a while.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, you watch real ones? Yeah. Oh, no, no, no. This is pretend.

[Justin Andrews]

I can't. I can't get him to watch, so. Oh, man. I did this. Speaking of the. So did I send this to you guys? That. That wasp, and I think it's South Africa.

[Doug]

Oh, the one that grabbed the spider. Yeah, it's a. Bro.

[Justin Andrews]

There is a wasp, and I think. I think it's South America.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Okay. So it grabbed on the pain meter.

[Doug]

It's like number two, I believe, to the bullet.

[Justin Andrews]

So listen to what this thing does.

[Doug]

Tarantula hawk.

[Justin Andrews]

Yes. Yes. It's a tarantula. Hawk is a what? It's a wasp. It's a good size one, and it's carrying a big tarantula up.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's flying with it.

[Justin Andrews]

No, it's. Yeah. Oh, it's carrying it up like it's walking. And so it. So it stings the back of the tarantula and it. And the tarantula can't move. So it totally paralyzes the spider.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Then it carries it up and then it cocoons it alive and then burrows its young and lays its eggs inside the spider while it's alive. And then so it's young can eat it.

[Doug]

And then the young eat every organ that's not vital, so they eat everything that keeps it alive as long as possible until the very end.

[Sal DeStefano]

That's a. That's terrifying. Is that the most terrifying thing you've ever heard?

[Justin Andrews]

I've never heard that before or seen this thing before.

[Doug]

Imagine if we had a predator just stalking us. Like. No.

[Justin Andrews]

To do something like cocoons you alive, then puts its children in you to eat you alive. That is wild.

[Sal DeStefano]

The fact that it's a spider.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Doug]

I'm like, all for.

[Justin Andrews]

All the video was showing was the. The wasp carrying the spider up a thing. And so I was showing Max. I'm like, dude, check this out. And he's like. Like, he's. He doesn't like watching video. I'm like, it doesn't do anything scary. I'm just showing you. But it's like looking like. Like this. Yeah. So that night he has a nightmare about getting stung by a wasp. Oh, I get. I get laid into. I said, you know, he doesn't like stuff like that. Why you show him like, it didn't have anything scary. It was literally a wasp and a spider on nature. Yeah, dude, he does not like videos like that. Of course he had a nightmare. Katrina had explained to him. Those don't exist over here in the, in California. You don't have to worry about those wasps. The wasps that we have aren't like that.

[Doug]

His name is like Cody Peterson or something. He has like a YouTube channel and

[Sal DeStefano]

he's like, he's the guy that stings himself. Yeah, yeah. Test him out.

[Doug]

He tests out on the pain scale, like every one of those bites, like personally. And then he's like, it just bit me. And he like isolates it and he shows, you know, it growing and then the next day, what it looks like, and I'm like, dude, this guy, he needs like a Nobel Prize or something.

[Sal DeStefano]

Views.

[Doug]

Yeah. But like it's all for nature. He's not doing it just. I mean, obviously he's going to get a lot of views because we all just want to see him get like. Yeah. Stung.

[Justin Andrews]

I don't know if I can watch that. That's how. I mean, I don't.

[Sal DeStefano]

I.

[Justin Andrews]

After I saw that and I read what it does, I'm like, I don't think I know of anything more vicious or like bad than like what, what other animal does something. And I know there's, there's, there's.

[Sal DeStefano]

What is it? Is it praying mantis that the.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

That they, they'll mate and cut and then snap the other person's head off.

[Doug]

Eats the head off.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, they're done.

[Doug]

They're done.

[Justin Andrews]

I'll take that all. Injecting your children into me to eat my insides out. I mean that's. Does it get worse than that?

[Doug]

Yeah, there's insects, there's other insects that do that kind of stuff.

[Justin Andrews]

Really?

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

I'm trying to remember. I never, I never read anything like that before. And I was like, I had to like, I dug deeper cuz I'm like, this can't be true. This is really what happens. And you're. It was like everything you said, it was like they literally not only do they do that, but then they eat the paral organs that keep it alive. You're unconscious and you're trapped. Like, please just snap my neck. I would much rather just kill me. Yeah. Like that's got to be the worst. Right?

[Sal DeStefano]

I think there's a tribe somewhere that uses bullet ants as a coming of age. They put on gloves.

[Doug]

It's a glove.

[Sal DeStefano]

They put on these like wicker gloves.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Filled with bullet ants. And it's, it's like a. As a boy becomes a man, he has to withstand it. And they stand there and let these ants sting the crap out of them.

[Doug]

It's the most painful thing that there is.

[Sal DeStefano]

And you're. And you're in the. And you're not supposed to, like, yell or cry. Look at the picture of the dude just wearing the glove and just letting them just bite his hands.

[Justin Andrews]

I wonder how long they have to do that for.

[Sal DeStefano]

I forgot. But.

[Doug]

Oh, my gosh.

[Sal DeStefano]

I know, I know.

[Doug]

Yeah, and there's some hornets. And you know, 10 minutes

[Sal DeStefano]

quick, real quick. We're like.

[Adam Schaefer]

They cause paralysis, hallucinations, and days of shaking.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, God.

[Justin Andrews]

All right, listen, I gotta do that 22nd.

[Doug]

Be our next YouTube channel.

[Sal DeStefano]

No, I gotta ask you guys, we're about to. 45 minutes in. I gave you ketone IQ at the beginning of the podcast. What do you guys feel?

[Justin Andrews]

Always, always more clear.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's wild, right?

[Adam Schaefer]

Sharp.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Isn't it wild? Yeah, it's like the best thing.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, I like that I can have it with my caffeine too. So that's what.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, because there's no caffeine in it. Yeah, it's the best. I. I mean, I use it and I notice every time I take one of their shots of ketones, it takes about 20 minutes or so.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

And I just feel really sharp.

[Justin Andrews]

You'll do up to three in a day. I haven't done that yet.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, I'll do one in the morning, one at lunch, and sometimes I'll do one before I leave.

[Doug]

So ketones themselves are a bit neuroprotective, right?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah.

[Doug]

Because I've recommended this, my friend recently because he had like an unfortunate stroke and it was like kind of a random thing, but like, I'm like, this

[Sal DeStefano]

might be for the brain. It's a really easy, clean source of energy. So your brain just operates really well on ketones and oftentimes mental fog issues with clarity where you're like, what's. You know, why do I feel like I'm not that sharp? It's actually the energy systems of the brain. So creatine. That's why creatine helps with it.

[Doug]

Creatine.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah. And then ketones. And because of ketone iq, you just take a shot of it instead of having to go on a ketone.

[Doug]

Oh, yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Ketogenic diet.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, what's cool is that you can get the benefits of going into ketosis without being in ketosis.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, dude, diet sucks.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, well, yeah, you either gotta. You either gotta fast for a good 24 plus hours to get into ketosis, or you're gonna be on a ketogenic diet, which is restrictive. Yeah. To get yourself down. Because I remember it took a few days of the ketogenic diet before I actually even fell into ketosis. Because you have to be really, really strict on the carbs dialed. Yeah, yeah. And that's just. I mean, that's not a realistic way, but that there's all these incredible benefits that we are aware of. So the fact that you could just take a, you know, exogenous supplement and then get in there is awesome.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's great. If for you want mental clarity, you want athletic performance, you want whatever.

[Justin Andrews]

Now do you know how long? Like, because you're not technically getting into ketosis, all you're doing is you're using

[Sal DeStefano]

up the ketone you're producing.

[Justin Andrews]

You're getting the benefits of it. You're hours because you're okay.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, it lasts hours. You can actually test it. You can get a ketone strip. You could drink ketone IQ, wait 30 minutes, pee on the strip.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, you'll. You'll. You'll. It'll show that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, yeah. You're in ketosis. Like, straight up. You'll measure into a nice.

[Justin Andrews]

Oh, I didn't know that.

[Sal DeStefano]

You get a nice purple color on the. Oh, I didn't know the ketones.

[Doug]

Oh, that's gonna shift over and prioritize it.

[Sal DeStefano]

You use both. You're using both. You're using both. But your brain loves ketones.

[Doug]

Well, yeah, it loves it.

[Justin Andrews]

It'd be kind of a cool test. Is to actually see. Use the urine test to see how long that you're still showing that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, those strips are cheap. You can buy them on Amazon.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, no, that'd be. I didn't know that.

[Sal DeStefano]

Oh, interesting element. This is an electrolyte powder you can add to your water that gives you the electrolytes you need. Most importantly, gives you enough sodium. Most electrolyte powders are too low in sodium to make a difference, but not element. They know the science. Thousand milligrams. Boom. Suddenly more energy, less headaches, less muscle cramps, less fatigue, better pumps in your workout. It feels amazing. It tastes good. Oh, by the way, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners. Go check them out. Go to drinklmnt.com mindpump that link will get you a free sample pack with any order. Go check them out.

[Adam Schaefer]

First question is from Alimac122, one of your most recent podcasts. The title was lose weight after 30. Keeps talking about removing processed foods. Can you please clarified. Clarify what you mean by process? Because pre washed spinach is processed, canned and flashed frozen vegetables are processed. Peeled and frozen shrimp are processed. Just curious as to what you all consider is good versus bad in the world of processed.

[Justin Andrews]

All those will be fine. Sal says minimally processed is another way to say it.

[Sal DeStefano]

I have.

[Justin Andrews]

There's another I've heard people say which I think is a great way. If it didn't exist 200 years ago. Yeah, like that's just, that's an easy way to do it also. Yeah, like all those things that you just listed existed 200 years ago ago.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, they did. So I just. So funny, I had a client once who got this crazy debate with me. Well, when you say processed, like what do you mean? Like they have to wash the apple. That's a. It's like, okay, listen, it's the same

[Doug]

thing with bad chemicals and they reduce it down to molecules.

[Sal DeStefano]

Now we're referring to heavily processed foods. These are foods that typically have a lot of ingredients. They're not in their natural form. So like a cookie. There is no cookie tree. You can find flash frozen vegetables. But those vegetables exist in nature. Yeah, so minimally processed would be there, but yeah, food that has a long shelf life, but like one or a few ingredients is okay. When we say processed, we're talking about heavily processed foods. Foods that are not anywhere near their natural state. Okay. They're. They're foods that are engineered. They're engineered foods. And the reason why they're not good is because the science that goes into making them is geared towards making them hyper palatable, which means you're going to overeat them. It throws off off your satiety. You're just not going to feel satisfied at the same time as you would with something that's, let's say whole and natural. And so it just causes you to overeat. So one of the easiest ways to eat an appropriate amount is you simply eliminate those foods and you'll naturally fall into a caloric intake that's much more appropriate.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, can you poke holes in the 200 years? I can't think of a situation where like what, what's two but been around for 200 years that you couldn't.

[Sal DeStefano]

I mean, that's one way to say it, I guess. You can totally say that.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, I feel like that simplifies this for people because people do ask stuff like this all the time. Well, there's technically even, like me, meat is processed somewhat like they had. You know what I'm saying?

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

There's processed meat like if it was ever, if this was around 200 years ago, you could eat that food then eat it.

[Sal DeStefano]

It's like it's typically single ingredient kind of stuff. Like all the stuff that this person list listed, you know? Yeah. Like frozen shrimp. When you, what's in, what's the ingredient there? Shrimp.

[Doug]

Right.

[Sal DeStefano]

You know, flash frozen vegetables. What's the ingredient? Vegetables. It's pre washed. Spinach. It's spinach. Now if it was like, you know, vegetable chips. Yeah, that's totally different. If it was shrimp flavored chips, that's different.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Doug]

So what was, usually for me it was like the middle of the grocery store. Like you just avoid, like you just like would do the perimeter.

[Sal DeStefano]

That's 100%.

[Doug]

That's where you're gonna find it.

[Sal DeStefano]

Better. 100%.

[Adam Schaefer]

All right, our next question is from pretty, pretty Patty 10. What is better, conventional deadlifts or sumo? What are the big differences? Does it truly make a difference doing one over the other?

[Sal DeStefano]

So they're both called a deadlift. They're both, both. They both qualify in powerlifting conventional. But if you power live, if you compete in powerlifting, they'll accept either a sumo or conventional as your deadlift. This has added a lot of confusion because it's, it's made them the same exercise. They're not, they're not.

[Justin Andrews]

Conventional deadlift is better. It's a fuller range of motion.

[Sal DeStefano]

It is, but they're different. It's like doing both. You know, it's like saying a hack squat versus a barbell squat or a front squat versus.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, but if you're, if you, if you were only going to do one of them, which one are you picking? Conventional deadlift all day long?

[Sal DeStefano]

Probably.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah. Not probably.

[Doug]

Well, it hits the whole posterior chain.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's a greater range.

[Sal DeStefano]

I think it's probably more functional.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, well, it's definitely.

[Sal DeStefano]

But I think both do both in your routine.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, I mean, I mean, I love, I, I program sumo deadlifts all the time, especially for my female clients that want to develop their glutes because I think it's great for glute drive. I think it's great for that. And your glute mead's more involved because of the, your stance. And so if you want to develop your butt, both are great for developing your butt. But if it's. I program both and use the sumo for that reason. But if you're not competing and you're only going to primarily do one, I'm going to make you, I'm going To

[Sal DeStefano]

have you do conventional, that's typically, that's what I would teach.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Almost always was the convention. But again, the confusion is that they're like, they're interchangeable because the same, they're not the same exercise. Powerlifting is added to that confusion because they accept both, but they're not.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, you said it. Well, it's, it's like comparing a front squat to a back squat. Very different.

[Sal DeStefano]

They're both squats, but they're different.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Adam Schaefer]

Next question is from Sarah Beth for prez. Can I train abs with cable crunches, decline sit ups and leg raises through the week while still doing vacuum poses daily?

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, you should do vacuum poses all the time. Yeah, that's a low intensity, low, you know, tension exercise. Vacuum poses. You know what they're good for? Connecting to the muscles that brace the core.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

Getting the tvx, that's something to do. Now the only downside is don't do so much that you're like not breathing well. Like, don't try and hold it all day long so that you're shallow breathing. But practicing. That's the best way to do vacuum poses is to do them.

[Justin Andrews]

This is what I used to tell my clients is I would put them in that posture pose where it naturally draws you in and be like, you feel that, like the way you're drawn in?

[Sal DeStefano]

Totally.

[Justin Andrews]

Just practice that all day. Like, I just. This is something I try. I notice when I'm driving in my car, sitting on planes, like, I'll slouch and then I'll feel myself do that and then, and then I'll activate and just tense up for a while and just try and do that as frequently as possible.

[Sal DeStefano]

Yeah, my post, my, like, what is it called? Post pregnant or what's the term I'm looking for? I can't remember. I can't believe it's postpartum. Thank you very much. My postpartum clients daily vacuum poses was like always part of their routine. And it made such a big difference with bringing their midsection in.

[Doug]

But also just reconnection is huge with that.

[Adam Schaefer]

Next question is from nay glintz. At 54 years old, I am following anabolic and lifting two days per week. Is that enough to prevent the muscle loss associated with menopause and aging or am I just slowing down the muscle loss process? Am I actually able to build muscle at this age? Because right now I feel as if I'm losing muscle fast and gaining fat equally as fast.

[Sal DeStefano]

One strength training session every two weeks is enough to prevent the muscle loss you're going to build muscle at two days a week. Now if you're not building muscle, probably diet and, or maybe you're doing the routine wrong or the intensity is wrong or your sleep is off. So I would recommend, this is what I recommend to clients who are like asking questions like this. Hire a trainer. Hire for like two months. Hire a trainer for two months. Learn how to do things properly, have them coach you. You'll get so much out of that.

[Justin Andrews]

The other thing would be hormones too, Sal. Right. Like, I mean, hopefully you have somebody who's. Because if, if someone like this is on, like if their estrogen, progesterone, everything's all off really bad. A lot of times too.

[Sal DeStefano]

You could still build muscle, just not like they normally. They normally would. But we have a guy in here that trains with one of our clients who's on testosterone suppression. You know, I'm talking about, he had a testosterone sensitive cancer. They had to, not just. They put him on medication to bring his testosterone down. It measures at like 20.

[Doug]

Okay.

[Sal DeStefano]

He just hit a PR on deadlifts at 225.

[Doug]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

So the muscle building process still happens when your hormones off. It makes it harder. But you're still. I've trained many women in menopause. None of them did. Many of them didn't do hormone therapy. And they still built muscle and, and got results potential. Still hormone therapy makes it easier for sure.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Sal DeStefano]

But they still built muscles.

[Justin Andrews]

I felt like I had. The menopausal women were one of the hardest clients I had to show good results with with. And I felt like the ones that did get their hormones balanced.

[Sal DeStefano]

And it does make a difference.

[Justin Andrews]

Made a huge difference. Especially if you are listening right now and you feel like you're, you're checking the boxes. My sleep's pretty good. I'm hitting my macros. I'm following a good program and then still not seeing results. Then most often than not fixing the, the hormones or going to see someone to get like hormone replacement therapy, like that made a big difference.

[Sal DeStefano]

But two days a week is plenty. Oh yeah, it's plenty.

[Justin Andrews]

I mean, one day a week. Well, she could see herself.

[Sal DeStefano]

Most of my clients that were menopausal did one day a week with me. They were active the rest of the week. Look, if you like the show, come find us on Instagram. It's Mind Pump Media.

[Adam Schaefer]

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 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. You know what's wild? Most people are still overpaying for car insurance just because it's a pain to switch. That's why there's Jerry. Jerry's the only app that compares rates from over 50 insurers in minutes and helps you switch fast. With no spam calls or hidden fees. Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1,300 a year. Before you renew your car insurance policy, do yourself a favor, download the Jerry app or head to Jerry. AI Libsyn that's J E R R Y AI Libsyn.