← The Iced Coffee Hour
The Iced Coffee Hour
“They’re Liars!” Fitness Expert on Steroids, Losing Weight, & Building Muscle! | Jesse James West
02:00:24
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- [00:00]
Jesse James West
I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve.
- [00:07]
Graham Stephan
And it does without me lifting a.
- [00:09]
Jesse James West
Finger so I can get in more squats anywhere I can. 1, 2, 3. Will that be cash or credit? Credit. 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra. The AI companion that does the heavy lifting. So you can do you get yours@samsung.com compatible with select apps. Requires Google Gemini account. Results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy.
- [00:30]
Jack
Now, in terms of fitness, I'm curious, for people that want to get started, where do they begin?
- [00:34]
Jesse James West
I think the biggest thing is taking action to get in motion. If you don't have motivation, it's like just step one, get up.
- [00:42]
Graham Stephan
So training with some of the best coaches, the best bodybuilders. What's a common thread you see amongst all of them?
- [00:47]
Jesse James West
Honestly, I think it's like the passion. I relate to that heavily because I push myself very hard because I enjoy it and I have passion in everything I'm doing. Luckily, I've constructed my life to be able to do things that I enjoy. Go, go, go, go, go, go. I got this. And I think when you're really and then you combine that with hard work, it's like the golden duo. That's where real success can come.
- [01:09]
Graham Stephan
What about Liver King's challenge? I'm curious. Was that the hardest thing you've done in like your entire life?
- [01:13]
Jesse James West
Physically speaking, it's basically off roading with this weighted sled, this freaking guy, man.
- [01:19]
Jack
What's a question you wish more people would ask you?
- [01:21]
Jesse James West
I think we all should ask people this stuff, which is like, how are you really doing? And not just questions to just like talk.
- [01:27]
Jack
So you're seriously gonna quit YouTube.
- [01:32]
Jesse James West
Foreign.
- [01:36]
Graham Stephan
Jesse, thank you so much for coming on the iced coffee hour. We really appreciate it.
- [01:40]
Jesse James West
Thank you. I'm just missing my iced coffee. We can just imagine. We asked you if you wanted. I know, I know. I've had way too much caffeine already. Really? Yes.
- [01:48]
Jack
How many milligrams of caffeine do you take a day?
- [01:50]
Jesse James West
I have a coffee in the morning. I have an energy drink for sure. And then hopefully not a second coffee. So I would say 3 to 400 milligrams if I'm traveling. I have a rule where just I don't count the milligrams.
- [02:03]
Graham Stephan
That's not awful. I mean, one Venti drip coffee from Starbucks has 400.
- [02:08]
Jesse James West
What size is Venti? I just say the big one.
- [02:11]
Graham Stephan
I think it's like 20 something. 20 ounces.
- [02:13]
Jesse James West
That's terrifying.
- [02:14]
Graham Stephan
It is very terrifying. Well, thank you for letting us into your beautiful home. You're letting us use your lights, everything, tables.
- [02:19]
Jesse James West
This is great. I'll just bill you after. It's all good.
- [02:21]
Graham Stephan
Beautiful. Send it to him. So one thing that you're very great at is pushing yourself past your limits. You've done this on plenty of different challenges on your channel. Why do you think most people don't push themselves to the limits? And how can they find their limit?
- [02:33]
Jesse James West
I think finding your limit comes from other people pushing you around. You, like, obviously you can push yourself so hard, but when I surround myself with someone who, let's say they train harder than me, you know, I've trained with Mr. Olympia. I've trained with exercise scientists. I've trained with coaches of Mr. Olympia, like, literally C. Bum's coach. I've trained with him. And I push myself so hard to a certain degree. But then you train with somebody that trains way harder than you and you, and it opens up like a new realm in your brain. You're like, wow, I was not going as hard as I could. And I played sports my whole life. So for me, pushing myself always, one, it comes from my dad. He always pushed the hell out of me for. For sports. And then two, you know, you got coaches that were always pushing you to be a better player on the field. And I feel like being surrounded by people that want the best from you. Really instilled from a young age for me to build those habits of pushing myself. Now I kind of can do it. I do do it on my own. I don't really need someone to push me. Like, I. It just habit and habitual.
- [03:32]
Graham Stephan
Do you do it every workout? How often do you, like, find that?
- [03:35]
Jesse James West
I would say, I mean, Almost, let's say 95 of my workouts are definitely training really, really hard. And then also just my brain is kind of wired to be, like, all or nothing. Like, I'm very black and white. So it's either go to, like, ultimate death on a set or, like, go to ultimate death and trying to grow the YouTube channel or don't do it. Yeah.
- [03:53]
Jack
Well, one thing I heard from you that I really liked is that when most people get to their limit, where they think they have nothing left, they actually have 40 more left. Yeah, that I thought was very interesting.
- [04:03]
Jesse James West
Yeah. So I was getting trained by these Navy SEALs during college, and they said that to me, and they said it to the whole team, and I'll never forget that. It's something that I think we all need to think about. I still have to remind myself, like, we have more in the tank and, you know, when it's, when it's something that you want to happen, like say you want to be a successful entrepreneur. It's like when you're working really hard and long hours and you're, and you're, and you're tapped out for the day, you know, you probably have a little bit more than tank that you can get out of the day. And same with sports, same with weightlifting. You know, you're pushing yourself, you think done, but you really do have more in the tank. And it's a good reminder to always remember and just tell yourself, like, what if I have 40% more? And then try to do that.
- [04:43]
Graham Stephan
So training with some of the best coaches, the best athletes, the best bodybuilders, powerlifters. What's a common thread you see amongst all of them?
- [04:49]
Jesse James West
Honestly, I think it's like the passion. I, I think they're all doing it out of passion for whatever sport or industry they're. They're in. And I relate to that heavily because what pushes me, besides my habits of, you know, being pushed by others and forming discipline over years, all drives from passion, you know, like, I push myself very hard because I enjoy it and I have passion in everything I'm doing. And I think that that's what I find as a very common characteristic. And a lot of successful people that I've gotten to know with, filmed with, trained with, is like, they love training, they love coaching, they love their sport or whatever it might be, you know, whether it's an Olympic athlete that I've trained with, you know, or it's Chris Bumstead or UR Kisinski or Ramon Dino. Those are the top three bodybuilders in classic physique or were C. Bum obviously retired, but they actually retired. Yeah, I mean, I, maybe, maybe he comes out of the, out of the woodworks.
- [05:44]
Jack
Not be a marketing ploy, you know, I'm retired. But then he, I think, didn't Tom.
- [05:47]
Graham Stephan
Brady retire, like several times?
- [05:49]
Jesse James West
A lot of, a lot of bodybuilders will retire and then like four years later come back just because they love it. And like, that's the same thing. It's all passion, you know, And I think when you're really passionate about something and then you combine that with hard work, it's like the golden duo of just. That's where, that's where real success can come.
- [06:05]
Jack
Yeah. So how does the average person know if they are pushing themselves hard enough? In the gym.
- [06:09]
Jesse James West
I think you got to find someone at the gym, whether it's a stranger or, you know, a friend that trained that you can see they clearly go hard, know what they're doing, know more than me, and either try to train with them or just be like, I see it. You know, if you can visually see someone pushing them themselves that hard, I don't know, put your phone down, film yourself. Are you going that hard? And that's a really good to judge, kind of like how hard you are going. I think people don't realize because a lot of. A lot of training nowadays is there's a lot. It's. It's more of like, a niche terminology of, like, RIR reps in reserve or RPE rate of perceived exertion. It means, how hard am I pushing myself out of a 10? If it's a 9, that means I have one rep left in the tank. And I think a lot of people train like this, thinking, oh, they're like, oh, I. I have one more. That's where I'm supposed to stop. But in reality, they probably could have pumped out three more. They just think they're at that, like, 90 percentile.
- [07:03]
Jack
How much of a difference does it make getting those last few sets? Because I heard maybe this is just a myth that most of the muscle growth comes from, like, those last few sets.
- [07:11]
Jesse James West
I. I don't want to say anything and, like, be quoted, because I'm not a scientist, but from my personal experience, I have seen the best results on the last few reps and really grinding out till failure. Like that 10th rep, you cannot get 11th even if a gun is held to your head. That's. That's full failure. I don't think you need to do everything like that, but I think there's a few times in a workout that you should push yourself that hard, and that's going to tell you how hard you're actually going. You know, if you're failing on. On rep 10 and you cannot get rep 11, well, now you know where your baseline is. But if you're putting the weight down and thinking to yourself, oh, I. I have one. I probably had one more. You know, did you though, or did you have two or three?
- [07:52]
Graham Stephan
You do a lot of challenges on your channel. I love watching them.
- [07:55]
Jesse James West
Thank you.
- [07:55]
Graham Stephan
What was the hardest challenge you've done?
- [07:57]
Jesse James West
I'll give you two, because I've given one on another podcast, but I want to give you a different answer. First one, the hardest one to finish was the Liver King. The second episode I Did with him. He had me do this barbarian. You drag £400amile through, like, sand, rock, dirt, and grass. Horrible experience. We'll never do that again. Thankfully. Second to that would probably be the marathon. I think it wasn't as hard in terms of physically. Like, my body wasn't shutting down the way it was, because it wasn't 110 degrees. It was 110 degrees. Liver King. So I was having heat strokes. But with the marathon, it was a. It was a new challenge that I have not felt before. I'm not. I. I've ran all my. All my life in sports. Like, you know, get on the line and do sprints or, you know, jog to get better stamina, but doing an actual marathon, 26.2 miles. My legs never burned so much in my entire life. When I finished, so I finished. I dropped to the ground, and then I was limping for, like, a week. Like, my hip, I could not lift my leg. Like, picking my leg up just to walk. I was just dragging my leg for, like, a week. So that was a. That was like. That was a new type of hard. And that was really. That gave me a lot of respect for runners for knowing. And, I mean, that's why a lot of runners are not built the way I am. You know, they're. They're maybe more slender, thin, because when I pick up my legs, there's an extra 15 pounds each step, versus, if I was fit, 20 pounds lighter, 30 pounds lighter. Of course, I'm gonna be running a little quicker with, you know, skinnier legs.
- [09:28]
Jack
Yeah.
- [09:28]
Graham Stephan
What about Liver King's challenge? I'm curious about that. That was. Was that the hardest thing you've done in, like, your entire life, physically speaking?
- [09:33]
Jesse James West
Yeah. Yeah. Like, that is number one. He. No, he watched. He watched. Yeah, he watched.
- [09:40]
Graham Stephan
So how did that make you feel? Would that make it harder?
- [09:41]
Jesse James West
I was just like, this freaking guy, man. Like.
- [09:44]
Graham Stephan
But has he. He. He's in the heat, though. That was the.
- [09:47]
Jesse James West
Yeah, but this one. So he's done the Barbarian, which is just on this straight gravel path, like a. Like a pavement. So metal on pavement slides decently easy. But this is called the Barbarian Crucible. It's like a challenge that he made. It's basically off roading with this. This weighted sled, kettlebells in your hand, stuff around, weights on your ankles, and a backpack with 70 pounds is like 400 pounds total. And you're just dragging this through sand. So when you picture sand, you know, running in sand is more difficult because it kind of has that give. It's the same thing when I' it's giving on my feet and then it's also building up behind me on the sled. In front of the sled, like, you know, it's sliding and the sand's just piling so there's like maybe another 30, 40 pounds of resistance just to the sled. Not fun.
- [10:30]
Jack
He wanted Jack and I to do that, but with this, with the same weight. And I was trying to tell him there's no way I could lift the same weight as Jack. Just, just from a body mass standpoint, it doesn't make sense that I should be, you know, taking £400 the same as you taking £400.
- [10:45]
Jesse James West
Yeah. So he invited you?
- [10:47]
Jack
Yes.
- [10:47]
Jesse James West
Yeah, yeah. He, he, he wanted to get a bunch of creators on it.
- [10:50]
Jack
Yeah.
- [10:50]
Jesse James West
And a lot of people said no. A lot of it scared a lot of people. So when I was doing it, I was having a heat stroke every like 30 minutes by the end of it. And what do you mean heat?
- [10:59]
Graham Stephan
Like, what is that?
- [10:59]
Jesse James West
Like it's 113 degrees outside, but I'm freezing cold and my sweat is just completely white. Like I have like, like, you know, you know in the ocean you come out and you're dry and you have like white stuff on your clothes or something or your hat. It was the exact same thing, but on my entire body could literally like scratch off salt. Salt. Because my body just let out all the electrolytes. So I'm on the ground, I'm freezing, but it's 113 degrees out. I'm kind of like not sweating anymore and I'm. They're just pouring water on my body just to keep me like at a normal temperature. And I remember telling them I was like, I can't do this. Like I'm, I'm, I'm out. Like, and I never, I don't quit. I haven't this. I've never quit a challenge in my life and now I have still not because I completed this. But they were like, you are not done. Cuz they knew if I didn't finish it, not a single person was going to do it. Cuz I'm like the fit guy. You know, if, if Jesse can't complete it, you guys are definitely not going to say yes to it. All the other YouTubers that you know are like runners are not going to do like. Cuz it's like it's heavy. You know, it's lifting. It's like you have to be really strong to do this. And I think Arak Eric Decker Arak. He did it. He completed it in a, in a time that I was like, did they make this, this easier? Because it was after me? I think they realized we have to make it easier and they made it easier.
- [12:17]
Jack
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- [12:48]
Graham Stephan
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- [13:17]
Jesse James West
Eric was like, take that, Jesse James West. Like, I got a better time, you.
- [13:21]
Graham Stephan
Got a better time.
- [13:22]
Jesse James West
And I'm like, there's no way. I mean, he's pretty fit, but like it was, it was, it was like probably 90 degrees, maybe 80, instead of, you know, 113, which makes all the difference.
- [13:32]
Jack
How are you always so fired up? But you know what? Before we go into that, you have to ask yourself the question, what does the future hold for business? Because these days everything changes so quickly. If you ask nine different experts, you're going to get 10 different answers. Be really helpful to have a crystal ball.
- [13:46]
Graham Stephan
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- [14:16]
Jack
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- [14:48]
Jesse James West
I think I just. I've always had a lot of energy. Like, my parents said to me how, when I was a kid, I was a pain in the butt because I. I was like. Like, I tell my parents how my dog is as a puppy, and I'm like, he's crazy. He's running around on the couch, not listening. And they're like, I wonder what that was like. And I was like, was I like that? They're like, yeah. So I've always had a lot of energy. And then also, luckily, I've, you know, constructed my life to be able to do things that I enjoy, so I. I thoroughly enjoy. Like, I mean, I enjoy talking. I enjoy filming. Like, I love filming, so it kind of gives me that energy. I'm definitely an extrovert. So when I'm out in public and filming and stuff, like, I have a harder time filming alone than filming in public and around people or with strangers. It just, like, feels weird. But I'd say, you know, it stems from passion, like I said in the past about other people that are, like, successful and things. So I think it really is just. Just, I love what I do. I want to keep doing it, and I. And I haven't a drive to keep going. So, like, when you guys asked me to do a podcast, I'm like, hell, yeah. You know, like, come over. Let's do it.
- [15:51]
Graham Stephan
That's interesting. I thought you were gonna say, like, caffeine or something or. Because I'm so fit, I probably have so much more energy that I can dispose of what I find interesting as you craft your world around you of things that you want to be doing all the time. So it's, like, easy to stay fired up.
- [16:05]
Jesse James West
Yeah, yeah.
- [16:06]
Graham Stephan
A few things you don't want to do.
- [16:07]
Jesse James West
Yeah, that's. I mean, because I. I've. I've lived a life in the past when I played lacrosse in college, and I lived that life of doing things that I didn't want to do. And you know, I've always been the happy smiley guy. Like that's something I feel like that will always be a part of me. But that passion, energy, it's like a different energy. There's like regular energy and there's like passion, excitement, energy. I didn't really have that when I was playing sports. In the later years of playing sports in the beginning I definitely did, but by 18, 19, 20. Why do you think that was so I've noticed this about myself that since I was a kid I would get really good at whatever said thing was. So it started with, it used to be skateboarding as a kid and I'll get really good and everyone's like dude, this kid, like maybe he'll be pro one day. I'm like eight. I get to a point of okay, I'm, I'm 80% there to being like unreal and like really, really good. But to get that 20% more cost me 50 more energy or something than what I'm currently doing. And it's kind of always been like a ratio of do I really want to put in that 50 more to get that 20% in, in getting better at something. So I had the same thing happen with lacrosse. I was committed from the age of 15 to play Division 1 lacrosse on like a 260, 000 scholarship to Lehigh University. Like 15 years old. I'm, I'm verbally committed to a university. I, I, I can they back out.
- [17:36]
Jack
Of that if they wanted to, they.
- [17:37]
Jesse James West
Could, but it was kind of like I'd have to mess up and get in trouble basically. But it would be, it'd be pretty like messed up or if their coaching staff changed, sure. But I took lacrosse to the level where I was top one hun. No, I was top 120 in the country and I was number 37 at my position. So like out of all the attack men, I was ranked 37 in my grade. And so I got, I got to like the 99th percentile, like even less, 99.9 percentile of the sport. You know, it's very, there's only 100 of us up here. And for me to take it to the next level, I would have to basically, you know, put in that 50 more percent or sacrifice 50 of my well being life, whatever, my social life, whatever it might be just to get that, that small gain. And I was like, you know, I don't really, I don't really want to have to, to do that extra 50 effort for that little gain anymore. And Then it leads me into the next journey, which is like YouTube.
- [18:40]
Jack
Yeah.
- [18:41]
Jesse James West
So one of my. One of my not fears, but, like, I'm very aware that I will probably approach one day that 99 percentile of YouTube, and then it's gonna have to be a choice of, do I put that big chunk of effort in to get even into the next realm, or am I going to go find the next thing? And I'm always leveling up. Like, you know, skateboarding just is for fun at that point. Lacrosse gets me into college. College. I start doing YouTube now. I have, you know, a beautiful home gym, a house, like, all these amazing things. I have a team of employees. You know, it's like, it's a real job, and it's. And I'm doing very well at it. So it's like, when. When will that sort of feel almost. When will I hit that 99 percentile with this? And good thing YouTube's hard. So that way that. That 99 percentile is quite high. Not really there yet. Maybe I'm at 80 right now, but there's such a. Like, I mean, you could compare me to Mr. Beast and say, you're at 50, but in reality, you know, I'm at, like, the 80th percentile of a big YouTuber, so getting that 99. I'm willing to put that work in right now, but then when I get there, you know, am I willing to go that little bit more?
- [19:51]
Graham Stephan
So you could see yourself quitting YouTube?
- [19:53]
Jesse James West
I don't think I. It's hard to say. I would never say I. Like, I never.
- [19:56]
Graham Stephan
I don't.
- [19:56]
Jesse James West
I don't look at lacrosse and say, oh, I quit lacrosse. Like. Like, technically, yeah, I had to quit the team and drop out of College to pursue YouTube, but I always look at things as, like, milestones. And then once that mission is complete, at least, like, to my liking, it's. Then what's the next mission I'm gonna go on? So I'm sure there'll be a day that. And I. I feel like almost everyone has this day where they're like, I'm no longer gonna either put in the same effort that I did once, once before, or I don't want to do it anymore. I don't know. I don't know what term I'd use at that point. I feel like, you know what I'd call it? Graduating one day. One day I'll graduate YouTube. If you look at someone like Logan Paul and Jake Paul, yes, they still post on YouTube, but do you consider them YouTubers not really. They're like mainstream entertainers. So my goal would be to. I'll never stop posting. I'm sure I'll always post at least a little bit. Like in five years, you know, I'll still drop a video here and there. Something would really have to change my brain for me to literally quit. But I think it'll be more of a. You know, Jesse has a series on Netflix doing these things that, you know, like maybe it's a series show or something, not like a scripted show where I'm acting. I mean, you never know, but like, you know, I do a lot of crazy things with really cool cultures and people and I think it'd be really cool to do like a Netflix show of that.
- [21:18]
Graham Stephan
Sounds kind of like Graham. Yeah.
- [21:19]
Jack
Because he was doing the video back. I've scaled back so much over the last year and a half, two years, to the point where I kind of felt like I did everything I wanted to do. I said everything I wanted to say. The podcast though, gives me the same feeling as I did on my main channel.
- [21:32]
Graham Stephan
We don't know if that's an upgrade or a downgrade. Technically speaking.
- [21:35]
Jack
Technically downgrade. But in terms of enjoyment, I enjoy this ten times more.
- [21:40]
Jesse James West
I mean, that's the thing though. You have to enjoy. I think here's what my answer will be the day I stop doing what I'm doing to this capacity is. 1. Someone killed me. 2. 2. I just, I'm not excited anymore about it and I found something that, that excites me more. What that is, I have literally no idea. But I still, I would say I have a good few more years of just continuously like going the hard part.
- [22:06]
Jack
With a lot of channels. Seems like their audience grows up and it's really hard to grow up with the audience. Ah, yeah, that seems to be the biggest challenge.
- [22:13]
Jesse James West
Yeah, I could see that. I definitely try to keep in mind as I grow, like as my interests change as I'm 24, about to be 25, you know, when I was 20, in 21, 20 was 21 years old, you know, I was making videos. Everything was about girls. Hot girl, this, girls like this do size matter. And I'm like, I cringe at that. Like, I'm like, are they still up? Oh yeah, all of them. I mean they were like some. There's still some of my top viewed videos, you know, like asking girls on the, on the beach xyz. I had, I had a lot of fun filming them. Cuz it's just like you just run around the beach and dick around. It's hilarious. But you know, I'm in a healthy relationship. I'm getting married this year. It's like, you can't do those things anymore. At a certain point it's like got to stop. And you know, that was good to gather. Whatever, let's say 16, 17 year olds were all clicking and watching that. So in four years ago, now they're like 19, 20. So my, my content has matured as I don't do that anymore. So naturally with me maturing, I feel like I can bring my audience to grow with me. So in three years, you know, I'm gonna more than likely have at least a kid, maybe two. I have literally no idea. But you know my content. I think that's why you have to allow your content to shape shift over time and not be too locked into one thing where you can kind of take your audience. Like, I used to vlog, I don't vlog anymore. Maybe that'll come back when I'm a dad, you know what I mean? Like, not that I have no intention of being like a dad vlogger, but there might be more stuff about my life, literally than viral videos. And yeah, maybe that'll get half the amount of views. You know, my fans will still be there, they'll still be supporting me, which is what really matters at the end of the day. But I'm sure that the, the scope of my channel will look very different in five years than it does now, because four years ago I was a complete different creator. Yeah.
- [23:59]
Jack
Now, in terms of fitness, I'm curious, for people that want to get started, where do they begin? Is it weights first or diet first?
- [24:06]
Jesse James West
I would say, like the most important factor of fitness is diet over actually working out. You could work out all you want, but if you eat like trash, you're not going to see any results. You could go on the treadmill for four hours a day, but if you're going to go down mountain Dew, a 2 liter Mountain Dew and Pizza, like it literally did nothing. It's all about, you know, how many calories you're having. So I'd say getting your diet in check is most important because that's going to give the most immediate result of your body's going to either shed fat or gain fat, basically based on what you're eating. And then when you're implementing weight training, you know, running, mountain climbing, biking, whatever exercise you choose to do, that's like the additional positive to your body.
- [24:51]
Jack
What diets have you found are the.
- [24:52]
Jesse James West
Most effective the best diet for me personally that I've recently discovered is eliminating as much processed food as possible. And it's kind of like the whole 20, 25 realm. Like, you see RFK wanting seed oil stuff.
- [25:04]
Jack
Yeah, yeah.
- [25:05]
Jesse James West
The seed oils are bad. I try to avoid them to a degree. You know, like, it's in. It's in so many snacks. It's like you kind of screwed either way, but you should. I don't. I definitely would never cook with a seed oil. I only use, like, avocado oil. So if that's wrong, sorry, sue me, don't sue me, but tell me what to do. But I would say whole foods. You know, plain rices, plain meats with some seasoning and some salt and pepper or something like that. You know, your classic veggies. I do a lot of potatoes recently. So for years, I always avoided pasta and potatoes because it was very carb heavy. And then recently I found that, you know, meat, potato, maybe a veggie, solid. That's all I need. Literally. Like, I. People make fun of me. They, like, made fun of me once because they were like, you eat like you're broke and because I'll like my. My breakfast, just like two eggs, a little bit of oats. And then later on it's just like rice, meat. Like, I don't really do anything luxurious. I mean, not that you need to, but it's just basic necessity foods. Like, if you were a caveman, you know, you're gonna need meat. The nuts that you find.
- [26:09]
Graham Stephan
It's like paleo kind.
- [26:11]
Jesse James West
Yeah, it's like just raw ingredient. Like, if it has one ingredient or like three ingredients, that's great. You know, when the list gets massively long, I avoid it. I avoid the. The dyes, you know, and just trying to eat very, like, literally what you think is healthy. Just. I think that clean food and I.
- [26:29]
Graham Stephan
What differences have you noticed? Is it physique differences, energy differences?
- [26:32]
Jesse James West
I would say. I'd say it's all physique. I think I can eat more calories and stay leaner. Maybe it's just like less inflammation or something. But there my. My metabolism definitely sped up a little bit it. Once I started cutting out all the bs. Like, I think if you can just have the basic one ingredient, simple whole foods, your body will look better. Even if you're eating the same amount of calories because of inflammation, because of just digestion, it's going to digest better because it's proper food. There's no BS in it. And I feel that with that, you'll probably feel better too.
- [27:04]
Jack
What are your thoughts on diet sodas?
- [27:06]
Jesse James West
I mean, I, I don't have any problem with it. I've seen a lot of science based people say how there's literally no problem and no long term effects through studies. Is it, is it better than water? No. You know, if you're gonna like, you know, it's the same thing as a protein shake in a steak. You know, one they're both gonna get you your protein, one's just a little more processed, one's been, you know, put through a machine. So I think if you can cut those things out to a degree, if you're having Diet Coke three times a day, you probably need to cut it down to one. But if you're having Diet Coke you know, every other day, I don't think it's gonna affect you.
- [27:42]
Graham Stephan
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Jack
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Jesse James West
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Graham Stephan
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Jack
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Jesse James West
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- [28:35]
Graham Stephan
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- [28:37]
Jesse James West
At 2121 15th Street north in Arlington, Virginia. Like it's gonna dilute so much.
- [28:43]
Graham Stephan
How important are genetics in bodybuilding and getting a good physique?
- [28:47]
Jesse James West
Everything. Literally everything. Everything. No, not to discourage people in terms of bodybuilding, like getting on stage. Everything in terms of getting a good physique. Getting a good physique, you can, you can really push your boundaries with any genetics. You know, some people will have genetics to hold more body fat and some will be skinnier. Like I'm someone that probably is supposed to be 170 pounds, pretty skinny, you know, or pretty slender and not too beefy like my dad's probably £170. I probably would be the exact same build and like my fiance and her family, they could eat Whatever they want and they are shred. Her brother is so shredded, tries to eat 5,000 calories, just goes right through them. So it's like those genetics do matter, you know, like you can be way more shredded just naturally or hold body fat and also your muscle insertion. So like when you see abs, you look at my abs, it's very like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. And then I have like obliques on the side. And then there's some people that have 1, 2, 3, 4, and there is no 6, there is no 5, 6. It just does not exist on their body. You cannot change that at all. You, if you have four blocks of ABs, you cannot get six.
- [29:57]
Graham Stephan
I hear there's also something with like the, a common one is your bicep muscle insertion. Like for a lot of the shorter people. Yeah, it's a lot easier to build that peak because.
- [30:05]
Jesse James West
Yeah, I mean, if you're, if you're a shorter person, you can, you can put on five pounds and the percentage of body mass index going up like, like the percentage of your actual weight is. If you put on five pounds and you're, you know, five, five, but you put on five pounds and you're six five, you won't even see the five pounds on the top because it's so spread out. Right? And that's like, that's why I think I have a, I have a very good height for bodybuilding. You know, I'm not too tall, not too short. So it's like 5 10. Average height. Can build muscle fairly easy, will fill out easy. But if you're like five'five you can.
- [30:42]
Jack
You can probably get five, ten is average height.
- [30:45]
Jesse James West
Yeah, that's average.
- [30:47]
Jack
There's no way that's.
- [30:48]
Jesse James West
How are you?
- [30:49]
Jack
Five, three?
- [30:49]
Jesse James West
Really?
- [30:50]
Jack
Yeah.
- [30:50]
Graham Stephan
You were taller than I thought you'd be.
- [30:52]
Jesse James West
Thank you.
- [30:53]
Graham Stephan
Yeah, I knew, I knew your hype from like online. But I figure like a lot of people, they always embellish it.
- [30:57]
Jesse James West
You know, I, you know what's funny? I feel like I'm the opposite. I, I don't do anything to try to look much bigger than I am. Like, like, I know I've taken thumbnails, photos, Instagram pictures of people. You know, maybe I'll do a few push ups for a quick pump if it's cold. 90 of the time, I'm like, I don't really care, just whatever I look like, I'm just gonna take a photo. Like. But some people will, they want to pump up, they want to look perfect. They only take photos on one side and I'm like, it ain't that serious. Like no one gives a that much. And that's why I feel like people will go up to them and be like, oh, I thought you were bigger. But, and not to toot my own horn, but people come up to me and they go, you're a lot bigger in person. Like muscular wise, they're like, I thought you were smaller. One I used to film with a 16 millimeter lens, everything in the center smaller. So I looked smaller for years. And then I started using like the 24 millimeter, like an abnormal looking one. And people comment, they're like, dude, you got so much bigger. And I'm like, no, I've always been this size. It's just, I use a wide angle lens.
- [31:51]
Graham Stephan
What do you say to people that claim that they're just big boned and they can't lose weight?
- [31:55]
Jesse James West
You can be a heavier person. Like I don't think someone's really big boned. Like I don't think you're, your bones can be bigger and you'll weigh more because you got density. But I think that's almost something that someone can hide behind. And the truth is like maybe they just have bad genetics and that's what they're, they've just been told their whole lives, no, you're big boned, you're big boned. So I sympathize. Like I, I never someone that's gonna be like, get your together, you know, stop being fat. Like, I'm never going to say that. So if you do feel like that describes you, I think, you know, taking small steps to try to get some victories and losing weight and just getting on track and just see where your body takes you don't have too much pressure on yourself to just lose all your weight. It takes time, it takes practice, it takes, you know, sometimes, sometimes people really do cut out their calories and they just do not lose weight. So there are so many instances in that case, I think finding someone that's been in that position before or is in that position and is changing and trying to find their guidance, I'm not the right person for that. You know, like, you can't come to me and say what do I do? It's like I could tell you it worked for someone with my body type. I could tell you what worked in some people that I've helped transform. But I cannot help you if it's a scenario that I've never helped anyone with. I'm not going to give you some BS answer and be like, yo, just cut your calories because maybe that's not it. Maybe your thyroid is a problem. I would honestly say go get blood work done. That'd be my first thing. I say blood work and any health tests you can get to see if you actually have problems losing weight.
- [33:20]
Jack
How important is good form?
- [33:21]
Jesse James West
I. Good form isn't just important for building muscle. I'd say good form is important so you don't get hurt and then prevent yourself from making progress. I see a lot of people will, you know, they start working out or they're new to the gym or, you know, they've always lifted, but their form is so bad that it puts their joints and tendons and shoulders, knees, hips into bad positions. And the problem with that is, is if, if you blow your shoulder out, you know, you got six months. If you tear a rotator cuff, like surgery and nine months of recovery. And a lot of people do this stuff and they tear things because they don't know what they're doing. And that doesn't just, oh, I'm just, I just hurt my shoulder. It's. No. Now you can't do really much with your body. In a gym, maybe you could train some legs, but you're nine months behind of where you could have been. I think training smarter and not just trying to go heavy is so important. And it's really hard for people because no one wants to feel weak or feel, you know, oh, I'm only curling the 20s. Like, bro, sometimes I still curl the 20s because I'm doing it in a way that's safe and I'm, and I'm making the weight feel heavier than it is. That way I don't get injured because for me, it's like, same thing. I, I'd be out of work, I'd be out of lifting, my body would change. I'd start looking, you know, not as muscular. So I think having good form is simply just so you don't get hurt. Hurt it has. Having good form can build more muscle, but long term, the, the less likely you are to get hurt, the more long term progress you can make. So form is really important.
- [34:48]
Graham Stephan
As a casual viewer of a lot of different fitness channels and like nutrition channels and stuff like that, I've seen so much dogma about like 4 to 6 rep range versus time under tension, or you'll see people that say exercise for 30 minutes three times a week and just go really hard versus like five days a week and go for an hour. How do you know who to listen to? And like, what is True.
- [35:09]
Jesse James West
You can always listen to me. It's funny because all so many things you're asking. I just did a video with Jeff Nippard. He came here and we filmed busting every fitness myth that like, oh, that's great.
- [35:20]
Graham Stephan
Yeah.
- [35:21]
Jesse James West
And half of the stuff you're saying is in it. So I'm like, all right, sick. We chose good ones.
- [35:24]
Jack
All right, good.
- [35:24]
Jesse James West
But, like, I think. I think people that are in this industry that definitely know what they're talking about. Jeff Nippard, Mike Israel, myself, Will Tennyson, Like, I think you gotta look at all of the advice and find the common out and find the commonalities in them. Of, oh, it seems to be. Everybody's saying that we should be. That we should be training slow and controlled. Eight out of 10 people are saying that you probably. It's probably. Probably right, like, just try not to be stupid. You know, it's 8 out of 10 people said it. You should go slow. Go slow. And then when it comes to food and stuff. So I think trying to get different opinions, you know, like, you go to a doctor if you broke your arm and you need surgery, hopefully you go to at least two doctors if you can afford that, so they, you know, you're not getting screwed over. Same thing with fitness. If you just watch one person, you know, everyone has their own opinion. I always consumed the whole fitness space growing up, and with that, my knowledge became much easier to understand because I was like, okay, Jeff Nippard says this, Jesse James west says this, and Mike is hotel says this. That's probably right. Don't think too hard. Just if three people out of four are saying it's right, hopefully they're right. They're not screwing you over. And that's where you can get good information. But it's stuff like Tick Tock and Instagram and Twitter where you start getting crazy things that are just trying to sell things.
- [36:41]
Jack
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Graham Stephan
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Graham Stephan
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- [37:42]
Jesse James West
I wouldn't say it's a, it's a singular myth, but I, I would say it all stems from Tick Tock Shop, where I hate TikTok.
- [37:50]
Jack
So I hate it.
- [37:51]
Jesse James West
It Tick Tock Shop. A lot of these creators that are, I don't even know who they are, but they'll get a hundred thousand likes on something because it's like a TikTok shop post and it's promoting this weight loss tea. That's just. I'm like, what the. Like this is. Tea does not make you lose weight. That's not. That is probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. All right, if it increased your metabolism, it's by what, 5 calories? Walk 10 steps? It did the same thing. So it's like stuff like that that I see because people are promoting it simply because they're going to earn commission because people will fall for it. So it's like the myth would be don't fall for scammy fitness ads that are the quick fix. There is no quick fix. It's. You can't just drop weight from drinking tea. If that happened, then there was probably an appetite suppressant in the tea and that's why you did not eat. What about that caused you to lose weight?
- [38:42]
Jack
What about Ozempic? It seems like a lot of people are using that for like the quick fix.
- [38:47]
Jesse James West
I. I'm not, I'm not someone like pro Ozempic. I think that would be kind of dumb if I was. I think if you're someone that really struggles with food addiction. So let's say you're 350 pounds, you struggle with food addiction. Maybe you have like some health problems that are underlying that really make it hard. Your metabolism's so slowed from years of eating. Terrible. And you've tried everything. You don't want to get the gastric bypass surgery or you're not a candidate or what. Maybe that's the route to dive into because at least being Lighter and getting rid of your health problems that you have now and losing all the fat. You know, being obese is not healthy. We know this. So if, if you got to choose your lesser evil if staying obese or getting skinny, but you have to use this drug, what's the lesser evil? You know, that's for someone to decide for themselves. But if Ozempic is a healthier lesser evil, then yeah, you know, it's better to be £200 on OIC and healthy than £350 not on it and not healthy and dying one day because of it.
- [39:55]
Graham Stephan
With all that said, what is the optimal rep range?
- [39:58]
Jesse James West
Let me ask you, what do you think it is to, to build muscle? Let's say to build muscle.
- [40:01]
Graham Stephan
I feel like it's to lift heavier and to do fewer reps. So I'm going to say like the first three sets are probably like 6 to 8 and then the last one's like 4 to 6.
- [40:14]
Jack
I'm going to guess 4 to 6 WR.
- [40:17]
Jesse James West
It's, I think it is, it's 4. So hypertrophy is, Hypertrophy is the rep range is like kind of build muscle. Yeah, it's a, like a reaction of how your body reacts to this type of stimulus. So that stimulus to build muscle is from 4 to 50. So like that's the optimal rep range is anywhere from 4 to 50 and you can build muscle.
- [40:36]
Jack
What about the, the saying that like if you want to get lean muscle.
- [40:39]
Jesse James West
You do like doesn't exist complete mass.
- [40:42]
Graham Stephan
So you're saying like if you just did a thousand reps of a £1 dumbbell, you're going to get virtually the same results.
- [40:47]
Jesse James West
No. So that, so that would be high if you did 50. If you did 50 reps with say 10 pounds. Wow.
- [40:54]
Graham Stephan
So anything over 50, over 50 is.
- [40:56]
Jesse James West
Like, is the data, the, the scientific evidence shows that you're not going to build muscles optimally as 49.
- [41:03]
Jack
What about cardio?
- [41:04]
Jesse James West
What about it?
- [41:04]
Jack
I constantly struggle between just eating less.
- [41:07]
Jesse James West
Yeah.
- [41:07]
Jack
Or doing cardio just for putting on muscle.
- [41:10]
Jesse James West
Well, for putting on muscle. Neither of those options are good. You want to be able to, to either eat at maintenance, especially if you're new to the gym, or eat in a surplus. So like more than your body needs to so that food will go somewhere. It'll go to the muscle and then cardio. I mean if you're trying to lose fat.
- [41:27]
Jack
Yeah, I'm trying to lose, trying to lose fat. Butt get shredded.
- [41:30]
Jesse James West
And I would say, you know, you're asking for a lot. I would say, you know, 20 to 30 minutes, some moderate cardio, and decrease your calories by 250 of whatever your maintenance level is. And that's a really good starting point. You will lose weight pretty quick.
- [41:47]
Graham Stephan
How do you find your maintenance calorie?
- [41:49]
Jesse James West
It's kind of tough. I feel like it comes from trial and error. So sort of, I. I feel like starting around 2500 is a good ish ballpark, you know, like, it's not that much, but it's not that little for a guy, at least. And eat 2, 500 calories. Eat 1 gram of protein per body pound. You are. So if you're 180 pounds, you eat 180 grams of protein. Your fats, you know, keep them above 50, lower than 70, around that mark, and just fill in the rest of carbs. See how your body reacts. If you're dropping weight quick, you got to eat more. If you're staying the same, drop them a little bit.
- [42:24]
Graham Stephan
And how long would you test each different?
- [42:26]
Jesse James West
Like, I'd say like a week or two.
- [42:28]
Graham Stephan
A week.
- [42:28]
Jesse James West
And then if you notice yourself, I'd say 10 days. 10 days?
- [42:31]
Graham Stephan
10 days. And then how much in weight should you gain or lose?
- [42:34]
Jesse James West
If you're eating, let's say you try the 2500 and you drop, you know, two pounds. You could do the math, but me not doing the math right now. If you drop two pounds, it's like, you're good. Stay. You're. You're going to achieve your goal, £2 in one week. Yeah, sorry.
- [42:44]
Graham Stephan
In 10 days.
- [42:45]
Jesse James West
In 10 days. Because, like, you want to lose like a pound and a half a week to £1. So you're around £2 in 10 days. And. But if you gain £2, it's like, okay, now you got to drop it, you know, another 250.
- [42:56]
Graham Stephan
And what about legs for weight loss? I've heard that if you train your legs, since it's so much muscle, that's.
- [43:02]
Jesse James West
Everything you're saying is in my video, I swear. And I'm not trying to plug it. It's just like, I'm so glad we chose those questions.
- [43:07]
Graham Stephan
We'll put it down below and it's okay. At the end of the video after you subscribe and like the video, you'll see it. Okay. I'm curious, because the legs, obviously, it's so much muscle in your body, and a lot of the metabolizing and the calories that are burning come after your. After the gym, when it's the muscles, like, rebuilding itself. This is at least my understanding of It. So if you train your legs, it's so much of your muscle, like your volume is rebuilding itself.
- [43:29]
Jesse James West
I see the. The mindset there. And then like your body's sending all of its signals to heal this wounded muscle that you're trying to grow. So maybe, maybe there's some, you know, essence of extra calorie burn, but I think it's so minimal. It's like when. It's like when people say you burn more calories in the ice bath. It's like maybe three calories you're burning. But, you know, those type of things. It's like, on average, maybe you walk 500 steps less that day. It's like, then you're at. Bet you're. It did nothing. You know, you'd have to be really consistent on everything you're doing. I think stuff like that don't really worry about. I think look at the big picture. Am I eating more than I need a caloric surplus? Am I eating it less than I need Caloric deficit, surplus. Gain weight deficit, Lose weight. Simple. Pick one that you want to do.
- [44:15]
Graham Stephan
Yeah.
- [44:16]
Jack
Now for recovery. What about ice baths?
- [44:18]
Jesse James West
So is that worth it?
- [44:20]
Jack
I look at that. I've never done.
- [44:21]
Jesse James West
So I have one. Yeah, I've. I kind of, like love them. I don't do them all the time. Especially in the winter. It's. It's 20 degrees outside, and you can understand why I don't want to get in there. You walk outside, it's your damn ice bath. Yeah, I would say ice baths are great for reducing inflammation, dealing with stress. The only reason I take an ice bath is strictly for, one, the challenge. Like, can I. Can I suffer for three minutes and, like, not be a today, yes or no? Get in the ice bath. And two, releasing the adrenaline and dopamine in my brain is amazing. And sometimes it's like, if I do. If I don't go on an ice bath for two weeks, I'll be like, damn, something's off. Like, I feel off, really. And then I go in for a few days in a row and it's like recess my serotonin and dopamine levels.
- [45:04]
Jack
What does it feel like afterwards?
- [45:05]
Jesse James West
Well, all right. So the first time I ever did, first time I ever did it was with Liver King, and I went in for 30 seconds. I got out and I was like, I feel like I just had an orgasm. But it's like, I mean, I. I've literally never tried any drugs besides, like, marijuana when I was like 16 or something. I feel old as fucking marijuana. Like, I Smoked pot when I was a kid, like twice. Or a teenager, I should say. Say. So outside of that and like, a few shots of alcohol, you know, every once in a while, I have no idea what drugs it feel like, but I would imagine this is what, like, cocaine would feel like.
- [45:37]
Jack
Like, walk us through for someone who's never done it would. Like me.
- [45:40]
Jesse James West
Okay, you get in.
- [45:41]
Jack
Yeah.
- [45:42]
Jesse James West
Your body immediately starts telling you that you are dying. It thinks you're in the Titanic, about to sync with Jack and whatever her name was. Jack and Jill. I don't know if that's her name. And your body is sending signals to your brain thinking, I'm in the Arctic, about to drown in this cold water. So what does it do when your body goes in? Fight or flight. Like when your body's about to die. If I held a knife to you and you really thought you're gonna die, your adrenaline's gonna shoot up because you become hyper aware of what's going on to hopefully fend off the bad guy or bad thing or the water. And so your body shoots that signal at some point. You know, sometimes you gotta stay in it longer. Most of the time it's pretty quick. Boom. Shoots that dopamine receptor of adrenaline and dopamine. So that way you can kind of deal with this situation that your body thinks it's in. And then you either get out and you're like, wow, I feel amazing, or you stay in a little longer and, you know, you. You kind of hit your timer.
- [46:31]
Graham Stephan
Okay, so I could be completely wrong here. And this could be a lot of, like, pseudo science. So if you're a doctor, feel free to comment. We'll like it up. You can. Everyone can watch those comments. But I feel like I've heard that putting yourself forcefully into fight or flight over and over again, which is essentially, I think, what you're saying is not a good thing because, yeah, sure, it's epinephrine and it's like motivation and dopamine mean, like, it can really get you going. Kind of the same as, like, Aderall, insofar as it can, like, age you a little bit.
- [46:57]
Jesse James West
I heard that. And it sounds very, like, intuitive. It sounds right. Like, but it could be as a hypothesis, it's like, you know, it sounds reasonable. I'd love to see the evidence on that, because you are putting yourself. You're tricking your brain into I'm dying over and over and over. So it. It might do something, you know, but then it also might. Maybe it's doing something good. We Just don't know. In theory, it sounds like that could be a thing. I hope it's not, because I like to fight aging. You know, I want to be young forever. I know I'm just like, okay, what would 40 year old me want? He wants me to look young. So let's not age ourselves in an ice bath. But if a study came out saying that it ages you, I would totally stop doing it. Or I'd go in and like just dip my head and get the out. Okay. You know, I don't, I don't. So they say that ice baths decrease the amount of muscle you can gain. Because if you do it after your workout. So say you do biceps and then you go in there and your biceps are now in there and the inflammation's getting reduced. Your blood flow is changing it. That inflammation actually helps grow the muscle. So by getting it out of the muscle, you're hindering the growth. But we don't know if that's 1%, 2%, 20%. Like no one knows how minute, how minuscule it could be. So, you know, I still do it. I'll still go in after and just say it. Like, I still have muscle. I don't know.
- [48:12]
Jack
Yeah. And speaking of Liver King, how was that experience?
- [48:14]
Jesse James West
Yes, the first time I went. First time I went was sick like crazy. Very interesting. I've never really done anything like it. We did like four workouts a day. Like we did like three workouts. The first day, one workout, the next day, all this crazy stuff. Non stop. Very eye openening experience of just. This is awesome. People loved the video until he got, you know, exposed and all. But that's one of my most viewed videos. That video was like a Pinnacle video video. I'd be, I'd. I'd say, like, we gotta make more videos like that.
- [48:44]
Jack
I think that's how I found your channel initially.
- [48:46]
Graham Stephan
I think it might have been me too.
- [48:47]
Jesse James West
Yeah. That, that video, that and the fake Weights versus Larry wheels were like. People in grocery stores starting being like, are you the fake weights guy? Are you the liver king guy? Like, I'm on, I'm on a plane. I remember this.
- [48:58]
Jack
Yeah.
- [48:59]
Jesse James West
And it's maybe a few months after it. I'm looking over and this kid is playing the video on a plane. I think he, I think he looked at me and like found me or something. And then was watching it and I was like, what the hell, bro? That was. Now that, now that can happen here and there. You know, it's not like the, it's not the first Time I've seen it, but I remember being like, people are starting to know me now.
- [49:17]
Graham Stephan
What do you think about Liver King? Obviously he got canceled very hard and he gets a lot of hate.
- [49:22]
Jesse James West
I know him in a brief 72 hours total that I've ever been around him. From the, from that, from my personal experience with those within those constrainted hours. Awesome guy, very respectable, very, you know, loving father, husband, and works really hard. Outside of that, I really can't comment. I don't know him on a personal level.
- [49:45]
Graham Stephan
I had the exact same experience. We had him on the show like a couple years ago.
- [49:49]
Jesse James West
I thought he was a cool dude. You know, it's a valuable lesson to not really judge people based on other people's opinions. I always try to make opinions on my own. Unless it's someone that I'm like very like my best friend is like, trust me bro. That person, I'm gonna trust them. I trust my mom, my dad, my fiance. You know, people around me that are that close, their opinions matter. But if it's, you know, the Internet's opinion on someone to. I'm not going to judge them until I meet them. If I meet them and I, and I hate them, it's like all right then sick. They were all right. Or wow, that's a nice guy. He doesn't deserve the hate. You know, I think we all should be a little less judgmental based on others opinion.
- [50:19]
Jack
Speaking of that, you did a video about being in a fat suit.
- [50:21]
Jesse James West
Yes.
- [50:22]
Jack
What did you notice about how people judged you?
- [50:24]
Jesse James West
Dude, it was crazy. So like the first few hours, it's obviously like tiring to be in that all day cuz it's heavy and you're in prosthetics. But I genuinely wanted to do it to see what. I've never been over obese or like fat. You know, I've been husky for a bulk but like that's it. Nothing where people would look at me and be like whoa, he's fat. And being in there all day. Like when I, I went to a mall and one people will look cuz I got a camera. It was, you know, it's crazy. So obviously like I, I find my, my, my, my future wife is beautiful. I'll say that with a, with my chest up. So a lot of people will look at her. When I'm with her now and not in a fat suit. People, you know, men will walk by and you know, look at her. Women walk by and look at her because she's an attractive blonde girl. And when I was wearing the suit. We went to a mall together and like held hands and were walking and you could see like people looking at her and then me like what the. How like cuz I I. To a, to a standard western society it's, you know, maybe it's unattractive to, to look the way I did and then to be next to a really beautiful woman that you could see the confusion in their eyes and I was like, damn, people really are.
- [51:29]
Jack
I just think every time I see that I had to say usually it just means that guy has massive game.
- [51:34]
Jesse James West
Oh, I thought you were going to say something.
- [51:36]
Jack
That's massive.
- [51:38]
Jesse James West
Massive game.
- [51:39]
Jack
Huge.
- [51:39]
Jesse James West
Yeah. I would say, I'd say by the end of the day filming I literally had like way less confidence and was. I felt like a slum of depression. Not, not real depression but just like. I don't know, I just felt down about. I like, like normally I'm upbeat filming and I'm having a good time, but I just, I felt like I filmed for three days straight and I didn't. And I was like do you think.
- [51:58]
Jack
That'S maybe that's your, your mood wasn't as high when you're in the fat suit, that maybe you felt a bit self conscious and that's coming?
- [52:04]
Jesse James West
Yeah.
- [52:04]
Jack
Or no. Do you think I would say that?
- [52:06]
Jesse James West
I definitely like you could. I don't know. I feel like when I, when I walk around people know that I' confident guy. They. Whether you see my body or not. I mean I still walk with my confidence, you know, and I'm smiling, I'm a happy dude. And but, but when I'm walking around, not as that. It's like the vibe from everyone else definitely affected me.
- [52:24]
Jack
So you feed off the vibe of others.
- [52:26]
Jesse James West
Yeah. And I felt, I could feel the judgment. I could feel the. Just like I was like, damn. I don't know, I just wanted, I'd rather not be here. Like not be in this environment.
- [52:33]
Jack
But you also went to a fat camp. What was the thing that was the most surprising from that?
- [52:38]
Jesse James West
That, that was a really unique experience. I brought someone that, that I'm a friend with, that I'm friends with named Rudy. And you know, he's done a fair transformation. I met him when he was like £620 bedridden, probably going to die. Like he would say this too. Like he literally was on, on his deathbed maybe a month away from probably eating himself to, to death. And he was drinking a lot too. I had no idea who he was. I met an Uber, told him Why I was there. I was in the most obese city in America. He brought me there, there. And then he's like, this is my friend Rudy. Like, give him some advice. And Stu, this is friend. He wants to try to not let him die. And he, Rudy then saw the video, all the positive comments, like, you can do it, Rudy. So that positivity really sparked him to make a change. He dropped like 150 pounds in six months. You know, I started chatting with him again and he's like, hey, man, I've lost all this. I was like, holy. Like, what? And he's like, dude, yeah. After the video, you know, I really want to make a change. So then I brought him to another place. They're just, just. It's like a, it's a fat camp, but like, it's just like a weight loss center. You can go there if you are jacked and want to just go train. And it's kind of like a training rehab place. I don't know. Okay. And we go there. They teach us all. But I already know all this stuff mostly. But they taught us all about, you know, your body, your, your fat loss, you know, things that hurt fat loss. And it just, it was good to educate him, but it was really, it was really interesting to see, like, because everyone's there for a common goal. There were, I feel like there was. Their guard wasn't up. And kudos to the place. I think it's called, I think it's Fit Farm in Tennessee. And so like their guard wasn't down to like, you know, because let's say it was one obese person and like 10 fit people in a non safe setting. They're gonna feel like an outcast. But it. A lot of people were all on different levels. Some people were fit, some people were really overweight. Some people were in the, in the process. Some people lost 200, 200 pounds already. So it's kind of like this place that was really safe. And I think the coolest part was just that everyone was just super, super eager to like help each other.
- [54:37]
Graham Stephan
So why do you think we have an obesity epidemic?
- [54:40]
Jesse James West
America's access to crappy food is so high. Like, it's so easy to get bad food. It's cheaper. It's, it's, it's marketed to you in a way where you just like, like they do, they literally will people, they'll go into stores wearing eye trackers and track where people are looking and then make decisions off that, alter where things are and alter the packaging and stuff. It's like really intelligent people are marketing and. And manipulating Americans. And we're all falling for it whether you're fit or not. And I think the barrier to entry is so low to get bad food that it's just like, you know, if you only got five bucks, are you gonna go to Chipotle and get half a bowl? You can't. You know, it's.
- [55:24]
Graham Stephan
But is that the problem or is it some sort of like food addiction that certain people have?
- [55:27]
Jesse James West
Because that seems there's a lot of problems to it. You know, there's a lot of people addiction. Most of the time people are overweight because they're literally addicted to food or they're depressed. And it's the only thing that makes them feel like there's always a deeper reason. They're not just overweight because they're like, hey, I want to be overweight. Like, no one's overweight because of. That's why I made a video about is being fat a choice? And afterwards I've realized, like, kind of isn't. I think it kind of can be, but it also isn't at the same time where like Mike is retelling, made a great point. He's like, when you go in your closet and you pick out a purple shirt, you actively made a choice that day to wear a purple shirt. But if you went up to a obese person, said, hey, take this pill and you'll lose all your fat. He said, unless they're a sumo wrestler, they're gonna be like, all right, cool, thanks. Like, I would love to. So it's like they're not choosing to be fat right now. Like that's an outcome of many things that have happened in their lives. And maybe years of overeating and reverse. That's really hard. So I think, you know, in America, fast food's extremely popular. Processed foods are an all time high. You know, there's all these bad things in our food. It's even in the organic, healthy. It's like, it's such bullshit. There's l. Nothing. There's nothing that you can buy that isn't unless it has a single ingredient. Like rice, potato, chicken and beef. Almost everything has BS in it. And it's like super annoying cuz I try to cut it out. But you buy organic nature something cracker. There's four seed oils. There's, you know, all these. There's. There's way too many ingredients and I'm like, how are like they getting away? But it's organic, so it's like it's all BS And I think, think, you know, we have a, we have a society that leans on food.
- [57:02]
Jack
Do you see any commonalities, like maybe a lack of motivation, willpower, anything like this that you see?
- [57:09]
Jesse James West
It's kind of everything. You know, it's. It's not just one thing. It's. It's not just that people are lazy or not just that there's bad food in front of them. It's kind of an accumulation of everything, a lot of it. Like, I went to West Virginia and I did the unhealthiest city and some city in West Virginia, and I talked to people and they were like, there's no grocery store. There's only a dollar store that sells frozen meals. Like, you cannot for 15 miles go get broccoli, plain broccoli, potato, chicken. Like, you just. You can't. So there's McDonald's or there's dollar General that has frozen meals, or if you have enough money to put gas in your car to go drive the 15 miles. You know, a lot of places are in poverty, so they're like, it's, you know, it's 15 bucks a gas. Like, I don't have that. Thank God. I don't have to. I don't have to have that problem. But people do. And those are the people that are like, well, I got four bucks. I'm gonna go get a quarter pounder, you know, for 500 calories of all fat. Or I'm gonna get. I only got 10 bucks for my whole family. We're gonna get a pizza.
- [58:12]
Graham Stephan
You know, this is a controversial opinion.
- [58:14]
Jesse James West
Yeah.
- [58:14]
Graham Stephan
Dr. Mike Isratel got into a lot of trouble when he went on Dr. Mike, like his podcast, because Israel Tell was saying that it's just as easy for someone who's like, poor, who's not doing well financially to lose weight. As someone who has plenty of money.
- [58:28]
Jesse James West
I'd say I just wouldn't speak on it until you've been there.
- [58:31]
Graham Stephan
Yeah.
- [58:31]
Jesse James West
You know, it's like, I can't speak on that because I've never been in extreme poverty, so I will never know. It's like, it literally. It's the same thing. Like, I will never speak for an overweight person, just as I never will speak for anybody who's a different color skin. I'm not that. So I can't speak on it. And I honestly don't think people should unless they literally did studies with those people. Like, if Mike did studies with obese people from all these poverty places and non poverty, and then compare the Results like okay, you're scientist, you did your study, speak on it. But I'd say I'd rather just not speak on it cuz I, I don't think I, I don't think my opinion is valuable there.
- [59:07]
Graham Stephan
I think he, he grew up pretty impoverished cuz he, they like came but now he's not. So now obviously like he's getting.
- [59:12]
Jesse James West
So I think like if you have a personal experience, you can totally add value. But like, I don't give financial advice because I'm not a financial YouTuber. You know, same thing.
- [59:22]
Jack
Well, I think Jack wants to compliment your hair.
- [59:25]
Graham Stephan
It's, it's luscious, it's, it's full. Yeah, the hairline is immaculate.
- [59:30]
Jesse James West
I'm proud to show it off. You know, I got, I got, I got a little like widow's peak, you know, I used to be insecure, but I'd be lying to you if it was a natty hairline. I take financial astride.
- [59:40]
Graham Stephan
I thought you were gonna say that you got like the injection stuff or whatever, like prp.
- [59:44]
Jesse James West
Oh, prp. No, I've thought about that though, when I. Before I took some asteroid. But yeah, I've been on for an asteride for year and a half, let's just say. Yeah, probably year.
- [59:54]
Graham Stephan
Do you notice any of the side effects? I mean, a lot of guys are scared to take it because like the classic known side effects they just can't get.
- [60:01]
Jesse James West
They can't be. Dude, if anything. Okay, it's more than ever. No side effects are because of the drug. Now I, I've heard there's like post finaster. Post finasteride syndrome. People say it like ruins their life and they're depressed and I'm like that too. I guess that's what if you come off.
- [60:19]
Jack
No, I hear random Reddit stories of like.
- [60:21]
Jesse James West
I just feel like people want to say about it and it scared the.
- [60:25]
Jack
Hell out of me.
- [60:26]
Jesse James West
I know one guy. Yeah, I don't know if you're allowed. Are you okay saying that? Okay. I don't know if you're like, no.
- [60:31]
Jack
Yeah, no, I've been it since 2019.
- [60:34]
Jesse James West
So.
- [60:34]
Jack
Yeah, so what is that, four and a half, five years?
- [60:36]
Jesse James West
Years.
- [60:36]
Jack
And I read a Reddit story about how one guy was like, I was always so motivated I could do anything. And then I took this and it ruined my life.
- [60:44]
Jesse James West
So I know some people that have taken it and they're like, dude, the, the brain fog hits me immediately. The one thing I thought I maybe was feeling during the initial like 30 days of taking it was. I thought I was dealing with some brain fog. I was like, am I as creative? Is my.
- [60:59]
Jack
I thought the same thing.
- [61:00]
Jesse James West
But either the side effects, you just kind of. They disappear, or I'm fine. Because I was like, I feel like I was comparing my YouTube videos, thinking I'm not as creative lately. My videos aren't doing as well. It must be the fat finasteride. Absolutely. And then I'm like, then I go have a biggest summer of my life recently on. On YouTube, and it's like, I'm on for astride, so I'm fine.
- [61:20]
Graham Stephan
So you've covered steroid use quite a bit. What are the right reasons to take steroids and what are the wrong reasons?
- [61:26]
Jesse James West
I don't think there is a right reason. I think there's a right reason to take testosterone replacement. Like, if your test levels are low from blood work and a doctor says, hey, you probably should be on this after, like, getting multiple tests and you have. If you have the symptoms as well, you could have low test and feel literally great and fine. Like, I've had 350 nanograms before for a year, and I was fine. Like, I felt great. And then I'd have 400, and then I have 500. And then slowly, over the. Over the time of eating healthier and eating less processed stuff, my test has gone up. So I don't know if it has to do with the fake food I was eating for a while, because I used. I used to eat a ton of zero calorie this, lower calorie this, like the. The syrup, the Splenda aspartame syrup that. It's like.05 calorie syrup. I was, like, addicted to that. And as I cut that out, I got healthier, looked better, and my testosterone went up. So I think first you need to fix your diet, fix your training, fix your sleep, fix your recovery. And if those four things. And maybe there's other things, but if those. If those main four things things don't fix your problem, maybe consider going to a doctor if you really feel terrible and have those side effects. That's when I would consider going to a doctor for TRT and make sure you're prescribed it. Don't just stick a needle in your ass and think that you're gonna be fine because there's a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. Is there the right time to take it? That's all personal choice. Is there a wrong time? Most of them, you know, like, you're saying, like, Is there ever a good time to take steroids? There's. Most of the time it's a bad time to take steroids. Steroids. And I think especially if you're young, like so many people are wanting fame, they want to be bigger, they want to look better. It's like, those aren't the reasons you're going to succeed in life. Like, truthfully, like, I think that's such a, such a small factor of succeeding in like a fitness industry is actually being diced to the gills. I think there's. You could be intelligent and get past that. You don't need to be absolutely shredded to be somebody, you know. Yeah.
- [63:17]
Jack
What's the youngest person you've seen on stereo steroids?
- [63:21]
Jesse James West
19. They start when they're 18.
- [63:22]
Jack
Wow.
- [63:23]
Jesse James West
And I have a video on that too. Like a teen steroid epidemic. There was a 14 year old. Well, he's not. He's 18. Lied about being 14.
- [63:29]
Jack
Oh, I heard that.
- [63:30]
Jesse James West
And saying that he was. He told me he's natural. I don't believe him. But whatever, you know, I guess 18 is the youngest.
- [63:37]
Jack
It does seem like it's glamorized because I remember growing up and like the steroid thing was never a thing. It was like, oh yeah, they, they just stare at that. It was, it seemed like a weird, weird thing. Now it seems so common that it's like, oh, yeah, they're on steroids. Whatever.
- [63:50]
Jesse James West
I think it's. I don't. I kind of hate that it's so common because kids will come up to me and they're like, dude, I'm like, I'm. I'm thinking about taking steroids. What do you think? And I'm like, don't do that. Like, I don't, I'm not on it. You don't need it, bro. Like, I understand there's. Because here's the thing. If you have genetics before you take steroids and you take steroids, you're just going to look bigger. But still, like, no offense, but like, a lot of people that take gear don't look like they're on gear because they are not very good responders to the gear. Their genetics are extremely poor to begin with. And now their health is worse, their skin looks worse. They, they have side effects because they didn't do their research. They don't have a proper coach. Like, there's so much that. There's so much that can go wrong and very little that can go right unless you have fantastic genetics. Also have a great coach and have a lot of money. To like make sure you're doing things right.
- [64:39]
Graham Stephan
When was the closest you've ever been to taking steroids?
- [64:42]
Jack
But you know what, that reminds me. When was the last time you needed to go to the doctor but you just pushed it off? Maybe you just made the excuse of I'm too busy, it's going to heal on its own. I don't even know which doctor to go to. Look, I think we've honestly all been there. Booking a doctor's appointment could be daunting, but thanks to our sponsor ZOC Doc, there's no reason to delay. They make it easy to find and book a doctor who's right for you.
- [65:03]
Graham Stephan
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- [65:29]
Jack
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- [65:49]
Jesse James West
Get the Angel REEF Special at McDonald's.
- [65:51]
Graham Stephan
Now let's break it down.
- [65:52]
Jesse James West
My favorite barbecue sauce, American cheese, crispy bacon, pickles, onions and a sesame seed bun of course. And don't forget the fries and a drink. Sound good?
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Jack
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Graham Stephan
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Jack
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- [67:00]
Jesse James West
I mean I've just like thought about it, you know. I've never, I've never like bought it. You know. Like I heard a story about Will Tennyson. He's another fitness influen. He said, I think he said like he bought it once and like he got that close. Like I, I've never been close. I never, I've always liked being natural. Thankfully my genetic. I have, I have very good genetics in terms of building muscle. Like I, I don't. It's not hard to build muscle. I just got to eat more and, and be fluffier for a little bit and I build a lot of muscle. The reason I'm not absolutely enormous I feel like is cuz I just don't bulk for long periods of time. So I'm kind of, of like just maintaining maybe sharpening up a little bit over time. But I've thought about it, you know, I've been like dude, cuz think about it. If you have great genetics and you look great natural, imagine if you took steroids. Like I look in the mirror and I'm, I'm 17 and I have a very, I, I have looked very similar for a while. I've improved to a degree but like let's say 18 years old I'm like damn bro, I'm like pretty jacked. And then you're like but what if I took steroids? I'd be sebum. You know, like the they people, people don't realize that when you have a very impressive natural physique it, I think it's, it's more tempting to take steroids to a degree because you're, you're like, you're basically, you're qualified to look insane slash the best. You know, like if you have great muscle insertions, great responding to, to, to eating more food and growing muscle. If you took steroids, you're a great qualifier to do well in, in competition. You're a great qualifier to just get more likes on social media versus if you have you know say your abs, you don't have any lines, your biceps are extremely high inserted, your chest is extremely inserted small and not and your shoulders are extremely high insertions like where they like literally go into your body so your muscle bellies Are small. That's what it be called if you take steroids. Like, you're not gonna change that. You're just gonna have a bigger bicep. But it's still really high up. Your shoulders are still really small. You know. Know, your chest still is shaped odd. Like, that doesn't get fixed. So then people don't realize that, like, that's why people, they go on steroids. And then they regret it and they come off, and now they're stuck on TRT for life. Is because it didn't do this magical, wonderful thing that sebum looks like. You know, they look at c bum. They're like, steroids equal sebum. I want to be on steroids. No. Yeah.
- [69:16]
Graham Stephan
Do you think just in terms of aesthetics, the natural aesthetic, the natural physique looks better than, like, a massive one that's probably on roids?
- [69:25]
Jesse James West
I think it's all two to their own. Personally, I think the natural aesthetic, where you're like bodybuilder, but could probably still run a 10k, but probably looks still pretty normal going in clothes. Like, maybe if you wore a tight shirt, people like, oh, he lifts. You know, he looks good. I personally think that that is a very nice, like. Like a superhero look. You know, like you look at Superman, I mean, he's probably on some, you know, but that superhero look, I think is a great, you know, Brad Pitt Fight Club, everybody says. I think him with 10 pounds of muscle, solid.
- [69:59]
Graham Stephan
That could be maybe why you haven't taken it, because that's what you.
- [70:03]
Jesse James West
I desired a physique that I have, and then I'm like. Like, I literally tell people I'm like, I don't really want to get much bigger. I just want to improve certain parts of my body. I want my shoulders be bigger. I want my calves to be bigger. I like being lean and. And, you know, maybe a bigger upper chest. Other than that, like, I literally don't want to get any bigger. My. The max I'd want to Weigh is probably 190.
- [70:23]
Graham Stephan
Did you notice a difference when you got your dream physique in terms of interest from women?
- [70:29]
Jesse James West
From women? I mean, guys.
- [70:32]
Graham Stephan
I don't know. Like, guys.
- [70:33]
Jesse James West
It went up. That's for sure. Honestly, I'm gonna say yes. And I feel like a lot of dudes can be like, oh, I'll pick me. Like, shut up. Up. I would say that because I'm not huge. Like, it when I'm. When I'm shredded or like. Like, right now, I'm like, I'm lean. I'M not shredded. I'm like, to my eyes, let's say I lost five pounds of fat. Like, I'm gonna be shredded then. But I'm not, like, too, like, gross lean to girls. I feel like that's where girls would be. You know, they think, oh, you got a great body. You know, it's like the superhero body. It's the movie body, the Hollywood body. If I get too lean, say I lost 10 pounds. Girls are like, oh, you're. You're too. You're too. Like, you look like you needed to eat. Like my fiance loves. She doesn't love me at a certain weight, but, like, I can tell that she looks at me a little extra when I'm like 180, 182. I'm like 186 right now. Not that she doesn't look at me like, you know, all juicy and nice now, but we look at photos and she's like, you look so cute there. And I'm like, I'm 100, 180. And I'm like, I knew it. But then when I'm 170, she's like, she'll like, touch me and be like, you feel like a skeleton. Like, you might look good in photo and video, but you're so like, she's not insulting me, but she's just like, you can't stay. Like, it's not healthy to be that lean. So that's another reason she doesn't like me being that lean. But, you know, she prefers someone around 180, that sort of jacked, but still soft enough. Look, and I would say a lot of women, not all, some women like them softer, some, like them skinny, whatever. But the women that like that realm of body, I feel like the Hollywood Brad pit with like, a little bit more body fat and a little bit bigger is a nice middle ground for girls to be like, ooh, you look good.
- [72:14]
Jack
I definitely think it's more of a guy thing, though. Like, the attention you get from guys.
- [72:17]
Jesse James West
I think girls don't pay attention to it as much as the guys. Like, you know, girls are always saying, like, oh, we don't do our makeup for men. You know, we do it for us. And like, blah, blah, blah. Like, who knows the the answer, I'd say, but a lot of them do do it for, like, you know, they just want. They just look. They like looking pretty. I think it's almost the same thing with, like, guys building muscle when where it's more for our own self approval. And then also maybe some Peer approval is where a lot of it stems from. The first time I tried to put on muscle, it was strictly for sports. Like, some dudes. Like, dude, I did it for girls. I never once lifted a weight for a girl. Like, I could. Like, if that was the case, I'd be like, off. Like, then you're clearly not the right person to be around. But I mean. Mean, I know my experience and what I'm saying comes from, like, walking around Miami in, like, 20, 21, when I was single before I met Claudia, and girls being like, oh, like. Like that. Like, it's because one, it's Miami, you know, like, they're gonna be like, they're. They're drunk. Let's be real. So that's the only way I could say, like, I've gotten attention a few times, you know, if I didn't have this body, would I. Would I not get attention? I don't know. Maybe they'd still say, you know, it's funny.
- [73:30]
Graham Stephan
What about women on steroids? What do you think about that? Is it a. Is it a problem? Is it fine?
- [73:36]
Jesse James West
I think it's more detrimental to their health than men. Like, I've done a study or I've done a investigative video on this where there's a lot more than go wrong. Because. Not that these are male hormones, but I would say they're male dominant hormones. Like women. Male dominant hormones. Women still have testosterone, for sure. Women. Women still have estrogen, but when you jack up their testosterone to levels that a guy has, I mean, yeah, you might have more male characteristics. If we're talking about, you know, what's in the body and what's. What's literally happening, you know, with their jaw, with their voice. These are irreversible things. Is it more male or female to be that way? Who the hell knows? But I will say it definitely is very dangerous for a woman to do that because there's a lot of side effects that they can have problems with, you know, having children, infertility and stuff. And, you know, I mean, if someone wants to have a kid and then they take a cycle and then realize they can't have a kid, it's like you just. You. You just ruined part of your life, you know, and that's why there's never a good time to take steroids, men or. Or women. But I think it is. I think it's really impressive, the women and being backstage when I was at the Olympia, I think it's more impressive, their bodies than the men, because these women literally, I. I Don't know if it has to do with just how women hold water because, like, there's muscle, then there's water, then there's like fat and skin or whatever the order is, but there's between skin and muscle, there is water and men will do a lot. And so women to cut out that water. And I feel like women can cut water out of their, the, the, the tissue in their, in their body a little better to where they look so much leaner. They look like an anatomy chart. Like, the girls will walk and their hamstring glutes, their shoulders, every single muscle will just have these like, striation and stripes in it even when they're not flexing. Like, there will be girls standing there and I'm looking at their quads and I'm like, what the. Like, and, and like Sebum doesn't have that. So that girl is literally leaner than Chris Bumstead. And it's crazy, but they're just not.
- [75:30]
Jack
As probably screw with their entire system.
- [75:32]
Jesse James West
That's the thing. So I think, like, they have to, I think they almost have to push harder than the men to get that lean. And that means it's, it honestly is more unhealthy too, because getting leaner than the guys already do. Bro, like, you're on your deathbed, bro. You're about to like, pass out. Yeah.
- [75:47]
Jack
What about taking testosterone as a guy die? Are there any misconceptions about that?
- [75:52]
Jesse James West
I think the biggest misconception, just testosterone, steroids in general, is that it's just going to make you look great. Like I said, genetics play. Play a huge role. I think people, people will think, oh, I'm going to go on this. I'm going to, I'm going to gain £10. 1. You have no idea if you're a responder or not. Like, maybe there's some markers and blood work that can say, okay, he's going to respond to thing, or she's going to respond to this drug. But like, no one truly knows until you do it. It. And so it's kind of a roll of the dice. It's like a Russian roulette right there of just, will this drug actually work on me? I could, I could, I could have all these great genetics and then go take steroids and literally gain two pounds and be like, okay, I got all the side effects and no gain. So it's like, you never know. So I think that's the biggest misconception with any sort of hormone replacement or hormone anything is just that it might not work. The way you think it will.
- [76:38]
Graham Stephan
What do you think about Greg Doucet's video? I have proof Jesse James west is not in Natty.
- [76:43]
Jesse James West
Did he post that? When did he post that?
- [76:45]
Graham Stephan
He said, I have proof he's not Natty. Line Jesse James West.
- [76:50]
Jesse James West
Greg, you give me, you make me laugh. I'm friends with him. He. That man is off his rocker sometimes with his titles and thumbnails. I don't even think he's coming up with them. I think he pays people to do it and they're always crazy. He'll put. He puts the craziest stuff in thumbnails.
- [77:06]
Jack
He said it was your pre workout that you injected.
- [77:09]
Jesse James West
Oh, oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. The thumbnail and title, I think do what you got to do to get views, Greg. It's. I don't care. Like you can use and abuse my name. I. I know what I'm worth. My value. I know people that watch me know my worth and value. It's whatever.
- [77:24]
Graham Stephan
Can you give us your best Greg impression?
- [77:27]
Jesse James West
Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? I told you he's not Natty. How was that? Is that good?
- [77:33]
Jack
So that was incredible. That was way better than I expected.
- [77:37]
Jesse James West
Expected. I feel like, I feel like once you said it, I, like my brain went ding. I know how to do that. I've never done that.
- [77:43]
Jack
What do you think about Sam Solic?
- [77:45]
Jesse James West
Sam. So. Oh, Sammy boy. Sammy, Sammy, Sam Sulick. I've interacted him a few times. One, I've messaged him a few times, left me on red. No big deal. Twice. Then in person was totally a normal chill dude. I think he's just very to himself. I think, you know, he got his head down. He just does his thing. I don't think he's really in it for like fame or money or anything. I, I think if I was his manager, like, I would do so much different. I'd be like, I think he's missing out on a lot of revenue because unless he's working on something in the background like that he's gonna launch like supplements or something. But he has no sponsors. Dropped merch like once this year. Just uploads videos. Like, does he have mid roll ads on? I don't know. You know, does he even have his ads on? I have no idea. Like, no one. I don't, I don't know. And he's. He doesn't really talk to anyone besides like the real bodybuilders. So I think it's interesting, his model of what he does. There is a strategy behind it. I know he's a smart guy. I think he'll always have a good fan base of, you know, 100 to 200k. Like maybe let's say 70k views to 200k views. This is like ballpark.
- [78:53]
Jack
Yeah.
- [78:53]
Jesse James West
But when you're uploading every, every every day, you know, times seven. Times seven is pretty crazy. You know, that's a. Almost a million a week on long videos. So he does have a crazy fan base. Base. So he'll be around for a long time. But I, I knew for a fact that when he had that big blowup where he's getting like a mill on every video for like 30 days straight, I knew it was going to crash. Not crash. I knew it was going to go down and have a, a maintenance level and, and his maintenance level is kind of like. He started with like 120k of video. I'm obsessed with analytics, so I know I just memorize everything, bro. And then it went like this and now it's back to 120. So it's like it didn't hurt him. Yeah, but he's got a. So like he would probably have a longer line than I will though, at a.
- [79:32]
Jack
For me. I saw him blowing up and so I watched it just to see what the app was. Yeah, I couldn't get into it, but that's just me.
- [79:38]
Graham Stephan
I got into it.
- [79:39]
Jesse James West
You did?
- [79:40]
Graham Stephan
Yeah, I was very into it.
- [79:41]
Jesse James West
Is it like, Is it kind of like mind numbing or you're just like, dude.
- [79:44]
Graham Stephan
It's like asmr when he's a radio voice. Voice. And then it's also like, dude, this is going to sound weird. But it's like when he's putting up the reps and you can like hear.
- [79:54]
Jesse James West
It like cuz he puts his microphone here.
- [79:56]
Graham Stephan
If I'm at the gym and I'm like hearing that, it makes me want to like work out even harder.
- [80:00]
Jesse James West
Wow.
- [80:00]
Graham Stephan
So I like it.
- [80:01]
Jesse James West
I think people literally use him as a workout partner. Their ear.
- [80:03]
Graham Stephan
A workout partner. And also he's just so calming, you know, like he's not crazy.
- [80:07]
Jesse James West
I'll like, like it. I'll watch it and enjoy for like five minutes. And then I'm like, all right, next. But I mean, the five minutes were good.
- [80:13]
Jack
Who do you feel like is underrated in the fitness community?
- [80:16]
Jesse James West
Ah, this guy. Jesse James east, man. Dude, it's crazy. He has a channel just like mine. That's my second channel. I was with Mr. Beast recently and he was like, who's a. Who's a creator? That's like under, like that's looked past or something or no one knows about him or who's like on the come up or who's really good that you like. And I have a really hard time answering that because I'm so analytical. Like, I watch people's videos and I feel like it's very hard for me to not critique them and be like, they should have done this, man. Or like that this was so lazy or why they like, I, I feel like I put a lot of effort into my videos. So when I see someone kind of take the easy way out, I'm like, like, you, you, you have such a big platform. Why aren't you doing the, the, the most out of it? But I understand, like there's so many circumstances, like you never know what's going on in someone's life to take the easy way out. Maybe they're taking care of their family and that's why they do things that are quicker. But I look at stuff and I'm like, so many people can improve. I can improve. And I have a hard time as much, as much as I have a hard time enjoying a lot of content because that's what we do. Yeah. When I played lacrosse, I really didn't like watching lacrosse. I was like, I'd rather go play. So I'd rather go film and make my own videos. But if I'm gonna enjoy someone's like start to finish, I'd say Kelly Wakat Masa. He's not in the fitness industry. Yeah, I think great dude. Love the guy. I feel like me and him are very similar. So like. Yeah, so I like him a lot. Really down to earth guy. And his content's very, very good. And you. And it's story told well, it's edited well. Like, him and his editor are a great team and I like his content a lot. In the fitness industry, some people, people will do well. And I'm like, oh, they're, they're making improvements. Those are great ideas. Like, I think the best people have. People have like some pretty creative ideas lately is like Will Tennyson and Brown. I like him, Will and Brownie. I think recently Will kind of like improved his style a little. Like I feel like in the past month I was like, you are doing a little bit, a little like it's, I like it better. Like it's a little tighter than it used to be. Brownie makes really good videos, but the topics I feel like sometimes are what holds it back. But his videos are phenomenal. Like, like the. Because I think he's getting in there in the edit and really going crazy. So those. I mean, it's kind of like we are the top three. It's me, Will and Brownie, the only dudes that are really crushing in fitness. So we all just take turns on who's at one.
- [82:36]
Jack
Yeah.
- [82:37]
Graham Stephan
In terms of bodybuilding competitions, you've done a couple of them now. What is the worst part about the prep? What's the thing that you didn't expect to be so bad?
- [82:44]
Jesse James West
And it's awful energy levels. It's probably from having really low testosterone. Once you get really lean, you're basically starving yourself to near death. You get. Once you get past. Once I get below 175, so that's 10 pounds away right now. So if I drop 10 pounds, I'm like, all right, I'm starting to feel this. Just a half pound more. One pound. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm dying. And it's like every waking second, I feel like I have a low blood sugar problem. Maybe I do this time. If I ever do a prep again, I'm going to do a prick to see if that's one of the problems that I had. But I just. You. The energy is so low and the. Oh, you know what? It's worse. The. The emotionlessness. Is that a word? The lack of emotion. The lack of emotion is so painful. Like, you can't feel good or bad. You're just like, just fudgeing. Nothing like literally looking at a phone. I don't get dopamine from the phone, so I'm just like.
- [83:40]
Graham Stephan
Is it similar like that to, like, just being really, really hungry?
- [83:44]
Jesse James West
No. Try being really hungry and then having low testosterone at the same time. So if you have low test, like you, I. I feel bad for you. You need to get. That's why I'm like, if you have low test, bro, get that fixed.
- [83:55]
Graham Stephan
How do you know what indicators you know should.
- [83:57]
Jesse James West
Low energy, low motivation, you're holding fat, holding water, sleep isn't good.
- [84:02]
Graham Stephan
And then the natural ways to improve that would be less processed food.
- [84:06]
Jesse James West
Less processed food, more sleep.
- [84:07]
Graham Stephan
Don't touch receipts.
- [84:09]
Jesse James West
Yeah, I guess I. If that's real, then I'm. I always just say, no receipt. Now I'm like, damn good. And then. But a lot of time it's just like whatever factor is doing it, if you fix that, you'll feel drastically better. So for me, when I'm dieting really, really lean for about 30, about 21 days. When I'm 21 days out from my show is when it's like this sucks and you just got to grind through it. The only thing that keeps me like sane is keeping busy. So like going out and filming videos cuz you're kind of just like in that flow. But then after you're like like dead. Like I filmed in a fat suit 15 days out and I, I had to like take like I was literally like laying down in between like takes because I, I was dying. I could like I, I wish we filmed it but I was like so lack of just energy. And then my makeup artist that did the makeup, she's like you got to eat like chocolate or something. So I had a piece of chocolate and I was like ding. And I was like I was low blood sugar. Holy. And then I felt good for like 20, 30 minutes. And then you're back to, to like so lack of energy. And it's not just tired. Like you wake up and you're like oh I'm hungover, I'm tired. It's like like no, you have literally no energy. Like lifting your arm is like a pain in the ass. And then the lack of emotion just sucks. Like having a fiance. She was my girlfriend at the time. You're just laying in bed and you're like bro, like I can't feel anything. Like I have no happiness, no sadness. Like if you hug me right now, it doesn't feel warm. Right now. Like I just feel nothing horrible.
- [85:38]
Jack
So what would you different the next time?
- [85:41]
Jesse James West
Diet slower, get my blood sugar levels tested, try to take some testosterone, like pills of like, like ashwagandha. Hopefully helps a little. I think the best thing for me would be trying to keep my blood sugar at a healthier level and dieting. The reason I diet slower is so I don't have to do as much hardcore cardio. Like 50, I'll do like 50 minutes on the stairs every day. Last 20 days. Just trying to get that like off quick. Cuz I always do things like kind of quicker than I should. I think slowing down would help because I did a prep in 14 days once I was already shredded and then I was like let's do 14 days of crash diet. Like 1200 calories and 50 minutes cardio. Basically you're eating 500 calories a day. And I felt ex. Like it was like painful how I felt couldn't, I had my head, I couldn't lift my head when I, I go for a walk and I'm like oh my God, dude. And then I did a 30 day of that like Kind of rapid. So this time I probably do like 45, I probably do like 60 and really take my time and try to keep that cardio as low as possible while still losing fat.
- [86:47]
Jack
How do you keep your mental health.
- [86:49]
Jesse James West
In check outside competition? Just life. Zoloft. I am on Zoloft. 50 milligrams, nothing crazy. Been on it sounds like 15, low key. So I don't really know life without it.
- [87:01]
Jack
How did, how did you know you needed, did that?
- [87:02]
Jesse James West
Like what were the feelings? So in I was playing sports and I had a lot of pressure, kind of like similar to the pressure I have now. But I was 15, didn't know how to deal with it. So all that stress and I had a lot of anxiety and just did, I didn't know it was anxiety. So I was just like, like I just felt like these anxiety attacks all the time. So my parents were like, you know, your dad's on it, your sister's tried it, you know, in times and, and they both had great experiences. I think we should, you should try it if you're okay with it. So I tried it. It helped a little. I don't think it really did much. I think I just, over the, from 15 to the last 10 years have just gotten better with dealing with anxiety and dealing with mental health issues and stuff. And also just doing what you actually have passion for. For me was a really big factor. Like as I progressively got less interested in lacrosse, but the effort was still the same. I was more and more depressed. So it was kind of like a sliding scale of the less I enjoyed, the more depression I felt and anxiety. So when I, when I brought, when I got rid of the stuff that was making me really unhappy, it kind of like leveled more. And then over time, you know, you keep, now, now I'm like here because I'm doing much more happy and fulfilling things that I love. So the mental health issues that I used to have, I don't have as much. I'd say I get anxiety from having too much caffeine. So like if I have too much caffeine in a day, I'm like, man, I feel like, and I mean we all do that. Like it just. But it's like the number one anxiety ticker for me. But yet I'm addicted to caffeine. So it's kind of a double edged sword. And then the only reason I'll ever feel like kind of really down or have a lot of anxiety is maybe the pressure of keeping up with YouTube and trying to outdo the, the previous thing that I've done. So, like, that'll get to me to a degree. So I think how I mitigate that is one. Having a great party, partner. You know, Claudia's like my ride or die. She sticks by me and. And you know, just being around her sort of lowers my anxiety. She's literally like an antidepressant. And then because I'm very like, go, go, go. And she's very calm, so it's great balance. And then I would say like, things like the ice bath, making sure I work out. If I don't work out, I'll feel crazy, you know. And then I work out like 5pm And I'm like, dude, I should just lift it at 9. And it would have felt way better. And then. And think just like trying to make sure I'm doing things that I thoroughly enjoy and those things keep me in check. But there's always, you know, there's always like a little, you know, anxiety or maybe depressive, slight feelings. But I feel like I know, I know what causes them now and I avoid them to, to kind of deal with it.
- [89:34]
Graham Stephan
Why do you continue to take it if you feel like you've now rebalanced?
- [89:38]
Jesse James West
I'm just afraid that, like, if I come off, I'm going to almost like, take us like, say. Say that scale is like, happiness is here, depression's here. If I come off, is that depression and anxiety gonna raise? And then that with everything. I feel like I'm in such a good place and I like, I love my life. Career is going great. Don't with what's good. I think eventually though, like, I think. I think when I finally am done with. Not done. I think when I finally graduate from YouTube, that period of time. Time, I mean, I mean, I'm sure it'll be there. They'll be the next.
- [90:09]
Graham Stephan
It'll be during a transition area. I know control.
- [90:13]
Jesse James West
But I almost feel like. I almost feel like I. I'm afraid because of, like, I know how YouTube can. With people's head so much if you get too caught up. And I just. I don't want to let that happen. And then it like wrecks the outcome of what I. What I am, you know, like. Like I do very well right now. If I, If I had a. A bout of extreme anxiety, like all my decisions and everything's going to get like, maybe I'm not filming as much. Maybe I'm have so much fear that I'm just, oh, I just got. I'll just, I'll just do that. That way we were doing something and that's like not. I think having mitigating fear has been a huge anxiety suppressant and fear is where you make mistakes.
- [90:51]
Graham Stephan
It's so interesting because usually when I talk to people that are on pills such as that like they're. It's not that they're like happier but they're just like not as sad cuz they're like a little bit more numb. So it's interesting.
- [91:01]
Jesse James West
I'm definitely not on enough to feel.
- [91:03]
Graham Stephan
Numb that you're like that. You're still a very high vibration person. Obviously, you know, people can hate for me asking these questions, but I'm curious. Derek from More Plates, More Dates said you could just take it and if you don't like the results you just, you know, stop taking it. In terms of finasteride, could you consider doing something similar?
- [91:19]
Jesse James West
I could. The, the drug I'm on, Zoloft is very like withdrawal, like physical withdrawing. Interesting. So I've come off at once months. In 2018 I came off it and I had a. But then I also. So 2018 I came off but then I went to College to play D1 lacrosse and do something that I just did not want to do at all. So it was kind of like a bad time to go do this. But I was like, I've been on it, I just like don't want to be on it anymore. Like it shouldn't. Came off super, super depressed. I wasn't like, you know, against life at the moment but I definitely could see in the future this could go dark, you know, could. This could get way worse than it is. And thankfully I'm like, I was self aware enough of I'm in a very dark place and darker is probably really really bad. So I'm gonna go back on and I'm gonna get out of this situation. So step one was leaving the lacrosse division one scholarship and transferring and that like kind of gave me a lot of inner peace. And then I was like all right, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go back on this medication to just maybe that. Cuz at the time you're like I don't. Was that one of the reasons that I felt like this? So we should try to fix all variables here. So I went back on. Been on ever since. So I think I sort of have like a maybe a trauma to that of if I come off I'm going to go dark again. So I don't. I think I'm intelligent enough and self aware enough to know like that I'm not in the same place.
- [92:42]
Graham Stephan
Seems like you're really thoughtful about it, like you think about it. Respect quite a bit. It's pretty obvious. That's, that's, that's definitely, I'm definitely a thinker. Yeah. In terms of the high vibrations, high motivation, high energy, a lot of people, they wake up, they don't feel super motivated or energized. Do you have any advice for them? Maybe they, how they, they have these, these goals and then they have these actions. And there's a lot of dissonance between what they want life to be like for themselves and what life is actually like.
- [93:07]
Jesse James West
My mom always said a person, emotion stays in motion. It's like an object, emotion stays. An object in motion stays in emotions. Like Sir Newton's law. I think it's so valuable to, to think that way because if you are continuously doing something, you know you're going to stay in that motion. Those habits. So I think the biggest thing is taking action to get in motion. Like people will wake up and lay in bed for hours. And I was talking to my fiance about this and we're like, we never do that, like ever. We get up, your alarm goes off, you wake up, get up, up. Like, and if that can become your habit, like it'll, it'll, you know, be a wave into your whole day, you know, it'll push into your whole day. And I think staying in motion is really important. Where I'm always doing something, like I'm, I, I'm uncomfortable if I'm not. And I think that that is. Kept my life moving in a happier, better direction. And if you don't have motivation, it's like just step one, get up. You know, because I feel like so many people will be, people might be watching this in the morning right now, laying in bed, like, oh man.
- [94:10]
Graham Stephan
Like people watching.
- [94:11]
Jesse James West
But yeah, and then get up.
- [94:12]
Jack
Yeah.
- [94:12]
Graham Stephan
Do you have any.
- [94:13]
Jesse James West
But you got to get up and get moving and, and whether that's literally just getting out of bed as soon as you wake up or going on a walk in the morning, like those little things will add up, you know, and it sounds so stupid. And it's like, I don't need to walk to get my day going. Like bro, do it.
- [94:28]
Graham Stephan
Do you have any other habits that you do, like on a daily basis that have really improved your life? You've already mentioned ice bathing, you mentioned the alarm goes off, you get up immediately. Like small things that you do. Do you wait a while to drink caffeine? Cuz I've also Heard that.
- [94:43]
Jesse James West
I've heard that. I don't really participate grounding. Okay, so I'll give you a few random things I do. There's no particular time or order. When I do an ice bath, I then get out. And most time I do this. I'll go stand on grass. And, like, I literally open my arms and close my eyes, and it's like my manifestation moment. And I just visualize everything on I want so. And, like, I visualize it, like, with the people I love, as if it's, like, happening, you know? I'm not just, like, picturing, oh, a plane. Like a jet. Like, no, I'm on the jet. I'm with. I'm. I'm with my fiance. Our future child's there. My parents are there. Like, all I really try to, like, in my head, it's real. So I think visualization is really important, whether it's after the ice bath, standing on grass, or it's just waking up, taking two minutes to yourself and visualizing. This is what today looks like. I'm going to do the. This. Boom. Go do it. I'm a big component of my life is music, not an artist. I don't play instruments, but I think, like, it's almost like setting a vibration, basically where I have favorite songs. And every time I'm going to film those are on. They're blasting.
- [95:50]
Jack
What are those songs?
- [95:51]
Jesse James West
You probably don't even know them, but. So it's by falling. Anything by falling in reverse. I'm like, sucker for, like. I love that band. Okay, so their new album is popular. Monster. I'll listen to, like, basically from the top down. Their song prequel is crazy. It's like, orchestral. I'll listen to Creed Higher. Can you hear, like, that song, like, I'm, like, bumping. So I think, like, you can almost, like, set your mood with music, whether it's driving to work. It's almost like you just have to force yourself to listen to. It's like forcing yourself to step in the. To get in the ice bath. Yeah, it's uncomfortable. Comfortable. Okay. Maybe you don't want to listen to anything, but, like, get yourself feeling a vibe, you know? I think vibe is so important, and that gets me pumped. And those are kind of a few things that I just do. Not every day, but, you know, at least every week. Yeah.
- [96:41]
Jack
How much do you know about the finances? Because I. We've spoken with some people who, like, know it explicitly and other people who.
- [96:46]
Graham Stephan
Say he hasn't checked his bank account in years.
- [96:49]
Jesse James West
So I. I check my bank account a few times times every few months. Like a month. Every other month. Maybe I'm like looking at it and being like, okay, I got this much money or did this ad get paid? You know, most time I just asked my mom, like did, did they pay? Yes or no? I know that I, I pay myself as an employee. I do that thing. I pay quarterly taxes just because it's easier to keep up with there. I have a CPA that does like full, like they look through all my, you know, expenses and are writing a bunch of stuff off. We have like direct deposit with paying employees. I mean, I don't, that's like as far as I, I have a stock portfolio that I have like a, like an advisor who we've done really well with. Okay. And I have a lot of like pretty safe stocks, but I have a lot of money in stocks just for like long game. A lot of municipal bonds.
- [97:45]
Graham Stephan
You have index funds?
- [97:46]
Jesse James West
I probably do, but I just don't, I don't, I don't know what I have. Like, truthfully.
- [97:50]
Jack
Do you have any interest in learning? Learning what you.
- [97:52]
Jesse James West
I've started to have interest to where like now I'm on the calls, but before it was just like my dad and the, and the advisor and my mom being like this sounds like it's positive, let's do it. And we've seen positive gain on everything. It's just been like the municipal bonds have been pretty awful.
- [98:07]
Jack
I don't know why you have municipal.
- [98:08]
Jesse James West
Really.
- [98:08]
Jack
I have no idea.
- [98:10]
Jesse James West
Oh God.
- [98:10]
Graham Stephan
What are they paying, like 5?
- [98:12]
Jack
It depends on what the bond is.
- [98:13]
Jesse James West
I think it's just because it's like kind of guaranteed.
- [98:15]
Graham Stephan
It is. And it's also.
- [98:16]
Jack
But you don't, but you don't need it. It seems like with your lifestyle and what you're making, it's just like that.
- [98:21]
Jesse James West
Is, you're young, so it's just extra safe. Because the way I am, I'm like, I have such cash, so much cash flow that I'm, I'm a very like, I, I do everything for profit. Not like everything in life but like money wise. Like I profit on everything. If I don't profit, maybe it's a video here and there that just like the garbage man, like I, I broke even, whatever. But like so many people have a structure of like, oh, I'm going to pour everything into it. And I'm like, what do, like what do we do this for? You do this for self fulfillment, make money and you know, entertain people. Like, so if I'm doing Those three things, like, awesome. If I'm not, if one of those three things is wrong, like then, yeah, then there's a problem to my business. I have a lot of, I have very good deals with my sponsors. Like long term, I feel like I'm, I'm very good at negotiating. I don't have a management, I don't have an agent. I have like agents that will come to me and take a percent of a deal they found, you know, they're like, hey, Ice Coffee Hour has a, a podcast they want to promote for 20 grand or whatever the hell it is. It's like, oh sure, like whatever we do and they take 10%. But I have, I have everyone under the sun wants to manage me and stuff. But like I just do it myself, you know, and it's, it like I, all my, all my long term deals I did myself. I was on the phone, I called the company, I pitched myself, I told them everything I could do. You know, I bring in money from my sponsors, you YouTube workout programs, what the else.
- [99:48]
Graham Stephan
In terms of percentages, how would you allocate?
- [99:52]
Jesse James West
Used to be very Adsense. It still is, but it's not. It used to be like 60% to 70%. Now AdSense is like 40 because my, my deals that I get are, are really good. Like the like Gorilla Mind and Gymshark. So shout out you guys, you keep the company going, we love you. But like, you know, not. That's why fitness is great because I can have a clothing company sponsor and I can have a supplement sponsor and you know, it's like guaranteed 12 months. I have a two year deal with Gorilla and it's like an amazing deal. Yeah, I keep my team small because I'm not a manager. I'm a YouTuber. I'm an entertainer, I'm a strategist, I'm a thumbnail conceptor, I'm a scripter, a writer, bodybuilder, fitness connoisseur. Sore and a handsome man. But like I'll hire within those things. Like if I really want to take things off my plate. But pre production, I don't really like doing. I don't want to have to like communicate to 25 people to show up to a shoot. It's very stressful. I've done it before. What else? Finances. I, I don't dive too deep in like all that. Like if I don't, I don't really play with my money. Like we just do safe stuff because I'm just not trying to. I, I would do more things that can like, you know, make a much more percent than a municipal bond. Let's say if I was involved in it more or if I was like, I know what I'm doing, so I'm going to do this. But right now it's like I'm basically like, hey, let's just at least do something so there's no depreciating assets, like, or no depreciating money. And like we're at least earning, you know, let's not waste money by letting it sit here. So there's something happening. I think I'll get more involved in it. Probably, probably when YouTube slows down.
- [101:33]
Jack
Yeah.
- [101:33]
Jesse James West
If I ever need to though. Because that's the thing that like my business flourishes when I'm a full, my full focus is just on YouTube. Make the best videos, pick the best ideas and everything goes up. That's just like my, the formula for me, adsense goes up, views go up, engagement goes up. Everything will be better if I do, if I focus on this, because that's my best role and that's what my skill is. Now if I start bringing in, oh, I have an editor. I forgot to, Yeah, I have an editor and assistant editor. So we have three people. Four if you count my mom, five if you count a cameraman, like if you're counting them. But I'm looking to build another team of editors. My video is getting really hard to make. Like I've realized this.
- [102:19]
Jack
It's like a little documentary.
- [102:21]
Jesse James West
Yeah, it's, it's getting really hard. Like I, I, this is my first time I missed an upload today for the first time in my life. So it's not a big deal. Like we have a video where I, I toured a bunch of celebrity home gyms and it's like 12 hours of footage. We got someone to cut it to 2. But going from 2 to 30 minutes is still really hard when on 2 hours is great.
- [102:37]
Jack
Yeah.
- [102:38]
Jesse James West
So the video is getting really intense.
- [102:40]
Graham Stephan
Could you post a two hour long video?
- [102:42]
Jesse James West
I don't know if I have the balls to do that.
- [102:45]
Graham Stephan
Ryan Trahan did like the Penny series and every video was like 10 minutes. And then finally at the end he posted all day, same video, and it blew up. Because the average view duration, I think that there was a bit of a lull where back in the day when like David Do's vlogs and like Logan Paul's vlogs, like the 4 minute to 8 minute to 12 minute podcasts do.
- [103:01]
Jesse James West
Better now people watch on TV.
- [103:03]
Graham Stephan
Yeah. Now anything over like an hour or two.
- [103:04]
Jesse James West
So my goal, my goal is to start making like 20 to 40 minute videos. Probably, probably. It'll probably be 25 to 30. Let's be real. 40 is hard. Like you got to film a lot and the story's got to not suck. So my goal is to make longer videos. If we're going to stay at two a month, make them longer so people really can like, you know, sit down and enjoy this like art, you know, this, this piece of work that we, that we constructed. But if I get up to three videos, it'll probably like 25 minute videos. 20, 25. And get another team of editors even if they're just part time, but have another editor and another assistant editor to keep working on stuff. Because as stuff gets bigger, like every year it gets bigger, you know, you got to just adapt to it. And I want them to the. I want them to be able to like pour everything into it and not feel rushed, you know, like cuz right now I'm like, hey, this. I mean we're missing this week but like we can't miss next week, you know, it's going up, you know, no matter what. So if we can have people like really going crazy as a team on stuff and just make stuff amazing. I think my, my goal is to do that, hire more editors. Making sure I always have two shooters on a video. A lot of times I'll do one but I feel like I'm starting to miss stuff without to. And then I think that'll solve a big problem. Not problem, but that'll be a big relief having another team of editors. Because that's like the hardest thing is just getting these videos out my bandwidth to film. Like I can film a lot and I'm fine, but it's like there's no point when we're not posting enough, you know, why would I go film four more videos if, if I'm just going to start stacking them? Yeah, like I just. Patient.
- [104:32]
Jack
How has financial success affected your life?
- [104:35]
Jesse James West
Honestly? I mean it's like relieving, you know, I can kind of do whatever I'd like, you know, like I'm thankful for that. I can order food, I can go on vacation if I have the time or whatever. But. This episode is brought to you by bank of America. What if your business could see beyond.
- [104:55]
Jack
What is and into what can be?
- [104:57]
Jesse James West
And what if you had a partner?
- [104:59]
Jack
As visionary as you are, bank of America gives customers access to trusted experts.
- [105:04]
Jesse James West
Real time insights and digital tools to make every move matter. What would you like the power to do. Visit bankofamerica.com banking for business bank of.
- [105:15]
Jack
America is proud to be the official.
- [105:16]
Jesse James West
Bank sponsor of FIFA World Cup 2026. I really don't like splurge. Like the most expensive thing I own is not. I don't own it alone. I own it with Claudia, the house. And then, then my home gym was like I've said, I think I said this in the video. It was like about 100 grand for the home gym. 80 to 100. Yeah, that's like, it's good write off. Yeah. And like I, dude, I'm in this every day, filming every day. It's. It's the best investment to me. I'm like would I get a car or I get this? I drive a Subaru. Like cars don't really make me happy. I have one watch.
- [105:53]
Jack
What watch do you have? Oh you don't know.
- [105:56]
Jesse James West
Zenith. Zenith something. Zenith. It's like brown. I'll have to show you.
- [106:01]
Jack
It's, you know, it's crazy the watch I wear all the time except for today. Zenith El Primero. But I, so I, so I have a 1969. I have a 2018 for the 50th anniversary of it.
- [106:10]
Jesse James West
I. Dude, 2019, I might have that exact one. I don't know. I don't know.
- [106:14]
Jack
I'm g. Say probably not.
- [106:15]
Jesse James West
Oh, is it a ton or. Sorry.
- [106:17]
Jack
No, no, no, it's not, it's. They only made 50.
- [106:19]
Jesse James West
Oh, okay then. Yeah, I don't have that. Okay. I don't think that's so cool. But yeah, yeah, I, I went to a store and I was like, I just want. Look, I've never bought like crazy like that. Like maybe the biggest thing I like a, a wearable was like a thousand dollar pair of shoe. Yeah. Wasted my money. Yeah. Never wear them. Never do that again. I wear the cheap shoes. But yeah, I, I went in and I was like this guy, like the guy. First of all, I tried on a $300,000 watch without knowing it was totally a sales tactic. He's like put that out. Cuz I'm looking at it. I have no idea. Look at a Galaxy, bro. And then he's like yeah, that's $275,000. Like oh. I was like get this off my wrist cuz like I'm not responsible here. And then. But so then when I put on something else, which I won't say how much, but it was like drastically lower.
- [107:03]
Jack
Yeah.
- [107:03]
Jesse James West
And I was like ah, this. That's nothing man. That's nothing. So I get it. Cuz it's like a sales tactic. You put on 300,000. Anything below it, I want to see it. I'll show it to you after. Yeah, it's, it's, it's a really class I'm going to wear for my wedding too. But like I grew up, I grew up like straight up middle class, but my dad literally is an electrician, plumber, woodcutter. Like I'm like, the dude's pretty blue collar. So I learned. And he, and what he with that? I feel like I have the values of someone that grew up, you know, not worrying about money but like very money conscious, you know, very like financially conscious of don't waste your money. You got to grind for your money. You got to work for it, you know. Like all of my dad's traits from growing up with nothing, a good chunk of them were passed on to me. And, and like people always make fun of me because I'll be, I'll be like, can I get sparkling water? And. And I thought it was free once. And, and they were like, dude, that's going to be like 8 bucks.
- [107:57]
Jack
Oh yeah, I do.
- [107:57]
Jesse James West
They were like like it's $8. And I was like, I was like that I don't want it anymore. And they're like really dude? Like it's $8. And I'm like, I'm like, I didn't know it was eight bucks. I thought sparkling water is free. And then. And they're like bro, it's eight bucks. Like, shut up. And I'm like cuz, you know, I, I have, I have, I can spend $8 on water, it's fine. But in my head, my initial thought is at up is oh, I don't want that. And I'm like, like I've heard you. I think you said like, you don't buy the expensive coffees or something, make them at home. So it's like I'm the same way where I'm very frugal with my money. I don't like to spend it. And I feel like that's where I'm separate with other YouTubers where yes, I do spend like 2 to $5,000 per video, but I do everything in my power to keep that price as low as possible. Like I there, like I fly, I barely fly first class. I had a phase where I did it for a little. And then I, I was like, my mom was booking the tickets and I was like, wait, mom, how much are these? And she's like, oh, it's like 800. And then I'm like that. So now my producer books everything. And so she sends me all the prices and I almost always pick the regular, unless someone else is paying for it. Then we do Southwest, dude. I, I majority fly Southwest. I, I, I avoided spirit and frontier, though. That, that sucks.
- [109:04]
Jack
What about your relationship? What have you noticed has changed over the last year or so?
- [109:08]
Jesse James West
I've definitely become more, like, conscious of life. Life. I def, I make jokes all the time about my frontal lobe. I don't know if it's right there. Maybe it is my frontal lobe developing. I'm 24 years. Probably developed like a year and a half ago or like a year ago. It's probably like. Or you're still developing, still developing. But, like, it's a, I think it's a really important factor to realize. Like, it, it like opened up my eyes to, to the world of, of what I really want to focus on. And I feel, I feel like slowing. I used to do four, four video a month, and then I went to two, and I was like, wow. I basically cut my stress in half and it was like, blissful. I was like, holy. As long as this, like, is like, a good move, I'll continue, you know, and it has been. But I've noticed that that allows me to be much more present. Claudia is, is a very much like, put your phone down. Let's be present here. Like, yeah, we both scroll at night and times and like, we're normal people. But, you know, if I'm on my phone too much, she'll be like, hey, like, put your phone down and just like, look around. And I'm like, you know, you're right. And I chucked that at the wall. But, like, my relationship's just been better and better over time. And I feel like as I've learned my priorities of life, like, before it was like, YouTube or die. Now it's like YouTube and live. And like, I used to, I used to easily be much more willing to sacrifice whatever the sacrifice happiness for success on YouTube. And now I'm just strategic with it. I'm like, you get to a point where, like, you don't, you don' need to sacrifice your happiness and like, peace to be successful. Like, I'm like, I can just be smarter and make better choices, make bigger idea videos, and we're fine. So I feel like all that my life has become slightly more present, slightly less stressful and more like life. Like, I literally had a moment where I was like, wow. Like, this is what people do. Like, they can like, pay attention to the trees. Like, what the. Because I feel like I lived in my head for, like, a few years, and my. One of my biggest fears was being 30 and being like, what happened? And. And not being. Not being able to say, like, oh, dude, glad. I barely remember all that. Because what I have now, I'm like, I think there's a way to do both.
- [111:20]
Jack
Sure.
- [111:21]
Jesse James West
You know, at least. Like, I feel. I still think that I'm a little unpresent in times, but I have waves. And I think my goal is to always just slowly get better at that. I mean, dude, you only live once, bro. You know, like, when I'm 80 and I forget that I ever do YouTube, you know, I got to make sure I lived a great life. I do. I live my life to the fullest. But I, like, in. I have to con. I consciously think about that to do that. It's not just like, oh, I just get to live a sick life. Like, I got to think about what I'm doing, you know, and what's a.
- [111:48]
Jack
Question you wish more people would ask you?
- [111:50]
Jesse James West
I feel like it's not even just me, but I think we all should ask people this stuff, which is like, how are you really doing? Doing? I'm okay right now. Don't worry. I'm not, like, depressed. That sounds like. I'm not going tell you. I'm, like, dark. I'm not. But I don't think people actually ask questions they want answers to. I think they just say. And I feel like people, like, I've learned, like, before when I was in that, like, just YouTube everything, I really didn't think about, maybe I should connect with people. Maybe I should, like, really get to know people. It, like, didn't matter to me. Now it does. Like, I. I genuinely enjoy deep conversations, like, whether we had a mic here and a camera or not. Like, I. I would love this conversation off camera. But I think, like, that's why, like, when I talk to my friends, I don't see often. I try to be like, like, like, how are you? But I'm not. I don't want to. I don't want to. Like, dude, I'm good. How are you? Like, no, no, no. Like, I want to have a real conversation on how are you doing? Like, dude, I'm good. But, like, you know, I. My OCD has been driving me insane, or I gained five pounds and I want to. You know, then it's a real, real active, real conversation. And I think that that would be awesome. If people ask questions that they really wanted answers to. And not just questions, to just, like, talk.
- [113:02]
Graham Stephan
That's interesting. That reminds me of, like, are you listening or are you just waiting for a chance to talk?
- [113:07]
Jesse James West
Yeah. Yeah. Another thing, and I think. I think that's one thing I try to do is like, Because I went through such a hard time in 2018, I always never wanted, when someone's, like, telling me something to be like, okay, dude, like, when I. When my grandma died, it was like, I wouldn't be happy. I'd be like, oh, yeah. When my grandma died, I had, like. I felt like this, too. It's like, you. It's not about you. You know, listen and be like, dude, I'm. I'm so sorry. Like, that's all you need to say. You don't have to be saying these big things or making it about yourself. And it's not that I hate when someone does that, but I'm like. Like, I think you were waiting for. Like, waiting for a moment to talk. Like, you got that idea to talk about your grandma, like, 30 seconds ago. You know, you see it click.
- [113:45]
Graham Stephan
You see them, like, thinking, trying to.
- [113:46]
Jack
Conjure up with a zone out.
- [113:47]
Jesse James West
But that's why. That's why real. Like, the people that I. That I continuously. You know, I meet them, I hang out with them, or, you know, like, I'm friends and I want them in my videos and stuff. Like, I don't just have people to be in my videos because I'm like, yo, I want you in my video because you're famous. Like, that. I'll go find Joe Schmo that just looks like you. Like, I. I don't care about that. But, like, if I like you as a person and I'm like. And you'd fit this great. Like, come on, let's go. Let's have a good time. It's almost like back in the day, I feel like I'd be like, oh, let's film with anybody. Anybody. Like, just get my name out there. Which was a great tactic to begin with. But then I get. Eventually I could get more selective. Like, well, they're not my friends. Like, if I'm. If I'm not really your friend. Like, you know, like, I don't. Like, I want. Like, I was fine with having you guys here because I was like, I. I feel like we'll have a good conversation, you know, And I don't mind you coming here, but if. But if you were someone that I watched and I was like, like, I've had podcasts hit me up and like, I'll come to you. And I'm like, I just don't want to be on your podcast, dude. Like, it gets views, but I don't want to be on your podcast. Like, I just don't. I don't relate to you and I don't want to have to fake relate reading to you.
- [114:44]
Graham Stephan
Thank you for coming on the show. Yeah, thanks for having me. Appreciate it. You've welcomed us into your beautiful home. What a gym.
- [114:49]
Jack
Really, it is incredible.
- [114:51]
Jesse James West
I love it. I love it.
- [114:52]
Jack
I'm. I'm very.
- [114:53]
Graham Stephan
It is a little bit in the middle of.
- [114:55]
Jesse James West
I. I know it is, but, you know, makes flights suck.
- [114:58]
Jack
Trust me.
- [114:58]
Graham Stephan
Oh, we can imagine. Yeah.
- [115:00]
Jesse James West
Bwi. It's the airport nearby or you go to IAD or like dc. Dci, which is like dc. It's either an hour and a half Uber or drive. I just hate driving. Yeah, or a 30 minute Uber. The 30 minutes, great. But it's way less options of flying.
- [115:13]
Jack
Yeah, that was the issue with our flight was that it was so expensive. It was double the flight. Flying out 30 minutes from here, then driving all the way to D.C. and then having a layover on top of just. You got to go to Miami 0 State.
- [115:28]
Graham Stephan
He'll just go on that spiel and that'll be another hour.
- [115:31]
Jesse James West
Guys, thank you for watching. And of course, stay relentless. I love you all.
- [115:36]
Graham Stephan
But tell them to subscribe.
- [115:38]
Jesse James West
And please subscribe to this podcast channel and Graham's channel and Jesse's channel. Do you have a channel?
- [115:42]
Graham Stephan
No Ice Coffee Hour, guys.
- [115:44]
Jack
This.
- [115:44]
Jesse James West
Subscribe to this channel. And if you're feeling frisky and lucky, check out mine also, Jesse James East.
- [115:50]
Graham Stephan
Another thing right there, there is the vlogs and, and, and one other thing, guys.
- [115:53]
Jesse James West
Just so you know.
- [115:54]
Graham Stephan
Thank you for making it to the end. It really means a lot. What we did was we flew out of Vegas, went to New York, rented a car in New York, drove to Canadian Connecticut.
- [116:03]
Jesse James West
Yeah.
- [116:03]
Graham Stephan
Filmed a podcast there, drove from Connecticut in the rented car all the way down here, Maryland. And then we're gonna drive to the airport and fly back. That's three days.
- [116:12]
Jesse James West
And they. They paid me. We paid here.
- [116:15]
Graham Stephan
So much money.
- [116:16]
Jesse James West
So much.
- [116:16]
Jack
We're losing money on this episode. So if you just hit the like button and subscribe.
- [116:20]
Jesse James West
Actually, can you open a tab and re. Watch.
- [116:22]
Graham Stephan
Just watching is good enough. We're just so appreciative of you guys. Thank you for watching. Thank you for coming on the show.
- [116:27]
Jesse James West
Thank you.
- [116:28]
Graham Stephan
Till next time.
- [116:29]
Jesse James West
How do I get you the 50 grand by the way do you take Zell?