Flexibility vs. Rigidity in Bodybuilding Lifestyle - Steve & Mike

Summary

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The Improvement Season Podcast

Episode: Flexibility vs. Rigidity in Bodybuilding Lifestyle – Steve & Mike

Host: Revive Stronger (Steve & Mike)
Release Date: July 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Improvement Season podcast centers on a Q&A with listeners, focusing on the ongoing tension between rigidity and flexibility within the bodybuilding lifestyle. Steve and Mike draw on their own experiences in training, nutrition, coaching, and personal life to address questions regarding social life balance, training metrics, sleep, travel, and the mental aspects that come with a commitment to bodybuilding. The discussion is candid, practical, and often humorous, highlighting the real-world challenges and strategies for navigating the journey as a natural bodybuilder.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sleep, Nocebo, and Social Life Balance

[00:52–09:57]

• Rigidity and the Nocebo Effect:
  The hosts discuss how fitness enthusiasts—bodybuilders in particular—can become overly rigid regarding sleep (especially the "8 hours rule"), which can have negative effects on their social life. Fitness trackers can amplify this, often inducing unnecessary anxiety (“nocebo-ing”) when they report poor sleep even if the individual feels fine.

  • “If you’ve slept well and the device tells you you haven’t, then you’ll feel worse. So you kind of want your fitness device to lie to you almost.” – Steve [01:37]
  • Steve points out that while sleep is important, obsessing over perfect routines can lead to missing out on valuable life experiences. Flexibility is essential; for close friends' or family events, it’s reasonable to prioritize the occasion over strict routines.

• Individual Context:
  Mike highlights being “fixed and determined with the goal, but flexible with how we get there,” advocating for context-dependent boundaries.

  • “We can be very fixed and determined with the goal, but flexible with how we get there.” – Mike [05:43]

• Impact on Life and Clients:
  Setting boundaries is important, but so is allowing for deviations. Both hosts encourage clients to seek this balance, sometimes nudging towards self-care, other times towards embracing flexibility.

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2. Fitness Trackers, Science Communication, and Realistic Sleep Advice

[06:40–09:57]

• Overblown Sleep Fears:
  Steve critiques how some science communicators dramatize the effects of minor sleep restriction, conflating extreme cases with routine fluctuations.

  • “People get half an hour less sleep and they're like oh my God, it's terrible but it's really not the end of the world.” – Steve [07:57]

• Shift Work & Resilience:
  Mike shares a client case from healthcare facing 25-hour shifts, discussing the resilience of the human body and expressing dismay that necessary roles like doctors work under such taxing conditions.

  • “Quite literally if they up, someone's dying. Yet you're gonna be making them work a 25-hour shift...it's totally nonsense.” – Mike [08:04]

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3. Vlog Content & Connection with Audience

[10:01–12:39]

• Day-in-the-Life Content:
  Listeners request more authentic vlogs. Both hosts discuss the logistical challenges but acknowledge the appeal.

• Impactful Coaching Mantra:
  Mike highlights a key message from Steve’s vlog: the importance of adherence, consistency, and patience over constantly program-hopping.

  • “It probably isn't the program. It's the fact that you're being impatient, you might not be trying.” – Steve [12:30]

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4. Signs of Training Excess and Need for Volume Reduction

[13:07–15:04]

• Indicators of Overtraining:
  Mike lists metrics such as declining performance, persistent soreness, poor sleep, low motivation, and deteriorating training form as signs it may be time to reduce training volume.

  • “Are you performing well? …Is performance still at least matching or trending upwards? ... Look at other metrics outside the gym, such as how is your sleep quality? How's your motivation to train?” – Mike [13:07]

• Joint Health:
  Steve adds joint/connective tissue pain as a useful signal.

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5. Step Counts and Muscle Growth

[15:04–17:19]

• High Steps & Leg Growth:
  Aurora’s question about 15,000+ daily steps potentially impairing leg growth gets debunked. Steve emphasizes there’s no supporting evidence and references natural bodybuilders maintaining muscularity with higher step counts.

  • “There's no data to support their claim...what I would suggest is coming back to just objective performance.” – Steve [15:20]

• Health Benefits:
  The general consensus is that 7,000–8,000 steps daily confer most health benefits, with higher numbers unnecessary but not typically detrimental.

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6. Holiday Nutrition: Avoiding Fat Gain without Rigidity

[17:24–23:38]

• Mindset & Skill Practice:
  Mike emphasizes developing flexibility and moderation skills ahead of the holiday to avoid the “YOLO” mentality that leads to overindulgence.

  • “Making sure you've practiced the skills...even before your holiday, set the habits in place that's going to set you up for success.” – Mike [17:49]

• Practical Strategies:
  Steve suggests not dieting into holidays, staying active, and structuring days so that most meals are high-protein and plant-based, allowing for one indulgent meal.

  • “One indulgent meal and two mostly protein and plants…save yourself for that dinner.” – Steve [19:38] He also recommends bringing protein powder to help meet nutritional needs.

• Reactive vs. Proactive Eating:
  Mike warns against over-restricting during the day only to rebound in the evening, advocating for balance.

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7. Favorite Sleep Masks

[24:11–25:46]

• Steve recommends the Manta Pro Sleep Mask (designed for side sleepers), while mentioning other options with white noise features.

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8. Peri-Workout Nutrition & Hunger Management

[26:01–28:48]

• Morning Training Concerns:
  Listener struggles with eating early for better training due to worry about evening hunger.

  • Steve recommends a gradual reallocation of calories to earlier meals and facing the discomfort of hunger, which is “just a feeling.”
  • “What’s the worst that’s going to happen? You’re worried about being hungry. But so what?” – Steve [26:17]

• Mindset Shift:
  Mike likens this to caffeine reliance for sleep—sometimes routine perpetuates the problem:

  • “We suffer more in our imaginations than in reality.” – Mike [27:54, quoting Seneca]

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9. Makeup in Men’s Bodybuilding

[28:48–31:54]

• Typically, male competitors do not wear facial makeup, though Steve mentions rare cases among enhanced/classic competitors to enhance appearance.
  • “The more put together you can basically look on stage as a men's physique competitor, it will help.” – Steve [31:54]

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10. Warm-up Routines Before Training

[31:54–34:19]

• Warm-up times vary by individual and situation; Steve often dives into working sets quickly, while Mike incorporates a longer routine due to shoulder rehab needs.

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11. Common Mistakes on Stage & Judging Cues

[34:21–39:12]

• Mistakes:

  • Not reading competition criteria

  • Incorrect posing, attire, or transitions

  • Not engaging or presenting themselves confidently

  • Posing toward the crowd instead of the judges

  • Mistakes with tanning products

    • “Read the criteria. Please, do yourself a favor there.” – Mike [34:36]

• Presence:
  Both hosts stress balancing “stage presence” without going overboard.

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12. Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy: Rehab & Return

[39:12–41:24]

• Mike outlines a progressive approach: starting with isometrics, building to supported and unsupported strength movements, integrating scapular work, then returning to heavier/faster pressing motions with strict progression.

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13. WMBF Worlds – Attendance & Favorites

[42:12–46:35]

• At time of recording, neither host is certain about their attendance, but both are interested.
• Favorites for men’s bodybuilding at WMBF Worlds are unclear; names mentioned include Babakar, Oscar Moscat, Nathan Wallace, Rob, Dirk, and James Alabasca.

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14. Staying Too Lean vs. Building Muscle – When is it “Too Lean”?

[46:35–49:59]

• Metrics to consider: progress in training (“are you progressing at the rate you’d expect given your training years?”), libido, energy, sleep, mood, and, for women, menstrual health.
• Steve gives a rule of thumb: most men won’t feel optimal below 10% body fat; most women below 15–17% won’t feel great.
  • “If you are so lean that you're unable to progress at a decent rate in the gym for your training age, then that's kind of obvious to me.” – Steve [46:50]

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15. Regrets and What Would Be Done Differently

[49:59–55:49]

• Mike: Wishes he’d worked with a coach sooner and focused on bodybuilding earlier, but recognizes experiences outside bodybuilding also contributed to current perspectives.
• Steve: Minimal regret, sees past missteps (overly “clean eating”, training injuries) as vital lessons—except, perhaps, how he treated loved ones during the depths of contest prep.
  • “Sometimes you have to push too far to know where too far is.” – Steve [54:10]
  • Mike closes with, “Do the best you can until you know better. And then when you know better, do better.” [54:13]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “We can be very fixed and determined with the goal, but flexible with how we get there.” – Mike [05:43]
• "What’s the worst that’s going to happen? You’re worried about being hungry. But so what? Like, hunger’s just a feeling and you can sit with it.” – Steve [26:17]
• “We suffer more in our imaginations than in reality.” – Mike (quoting Seneca) [27:54]
• “Sometimes you have to push too far to know where too far is.” – Steve [54:10]
• “Do the best you can until you know better. And then when you know better, do better.” – Mike [54:13]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:52] Rigidity around sleep, social life, and “nocebo” effects
• [05:43] Flexibility vs. rigidity: setting boundaries
• [07:57] Overblown fears over minor sleep loss
• [13:07] Signs you’re doing too much in training
• [15:20] Step counts and muscle growth
• [17:49] Managing holiday nutrition without overdoing restriction
• [26:17] Peri-workout nutrition, hunger trade-offs, and mindset
• [34:36] Stage mistakes and judging insights
• [39:27] Rehab and return for rotator cuff injuries
• [46:50] How lean is “too lean” for muscle building?
• [49:59] Regrets and “lessons learned”

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Tone & Style

Candid, supportive, and sometimes self-deprecating, Steve and Mike blend evidence-based analysis with humor and real-life anecdotes. Their approach is inclusive and balanced, emphasizing personal context, reflection, and the importance of adaptability in both training and life.

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For listeners seeking a deeper, nuanced understanding of living the bodybuilding lifestyle—without losing sight of the bigger picture—this episode provides honest guidance, practical wisdom, and plenty of laughs.

Transcript

[A]

I'm Arch Manning. I'm Madison Skinner. I'm Eva Jovic.

[B]

I'm Decoria Moore.

[A]

Wanna train like a Red Bull athlete? Tell us your fitness goals this summer

[B]

to enter the Red Bull Athlete Challenge.

[A]

You'll get to try each of our workouts for a chance to win an

[B]

ultimate Red Bull experience. Think you have what it takes?

[A]

Welcome back, guys, to another episode of the Improvement Season podcast with your favorite natty BB boys, Super Steve and Magic Mike. And obviously this episode, last episode we just had a bit of a catch up and a kind of a ch different things. Whereas this time we're going to be diving straight into a Q and A that you guys asked us a couple of weeks ago. So, Steve, I think you're pretty much feeling hopefully the same as maybe the last time we spoke, even though it's been maybe a week since this came out.

[B]

I feel terrible. I'll ask you the first question, shall I?

[A]

Yeah, go for it.

[B]

It's from Nabil. Nabil Babu. Sorry, Nabil. I should just say Nabil. Right, let's ask the question. Don't you feel that bodybuilding, nocebo, bodybuild and nocebo themselves too much for getting less than eight hours of sleep, which can lead to rigidity and negative impact on social life?

[A]

I think it's fit. I would say it's fitness. People in general. I don't think you necessarily quote, unquote, need to be a bodybuilder. I think a lot of apps and a lot of things these days kind of lend themselves to that and I think it's just a bit of a slippery slope. So I totally agree with you, Nabil, but I wouldn't say it's just solely bodybuilders. I think it's the fitness industry in general. General.

[B]

I don't know who told me this. It might have been Eric Helms, but there's been some research that's looked into fitness devices and basically if, if the fitness device, if you slept not that great, but the fitness device tells you you slept great, then you'll get, you'll feel better, but it doesn't work. Sorry. But if you've slept well and the device tells you you haven't slept well, then you'll feel worse. So you kind of want your fitness device to lie to you almost. And also these fitness devices just aren't very good at knowing this. In fact, I think I heard this on a, on a Chris Williamson podcast with some sort of some guest. But that would make sense to me. Like it is it does nocebo or positively placebo you the fitness device itself. I know I've not talked the eight hours, but it's like I think, yes, I agree with you, Mike. The fitness industry in general can risk nocebo ing themselves. But I don't think everyone does. I think you just have to try and remember these things do exist where it's like trying to sleep, get into bed and give yourself an eight hour window of opportunity to sleep is ideal. But that doesn't mean when you can't do that, that you should like shout and scream and feel awful and therefore avoid social kind of obligations or things that you want to do. Because I do think it could lead to unnecessary rigidity and have a negative impact on their social life. And I think there is times to be more or less flexible as well. As a bodybuilder, it also depends on the person in general because for bodybuilders specifically for you and me, Mike is really important to us. Quite often it's a bigger priority than it is to be like late at a social event. I've said this before where if me and Charlotte are out at social, previous me would just stay until she stayed. But she has a different sleep wake schedule to me and she's a night owl essentially and she has different goals and objectives and doesn't. I'm a professional bodybuilder that wants to be his absolute best and perform really well in the gym. And it's so important to me that I feel good to go train. That doesn't mean that I'm not going to go to these social events, but it means I might not stay out as late. So I give myself like I'm going to stay out till midnight and I leave because I find every time I stay later than midnight, I don't feel great the next day because I get fuck all sleep. And then it pisses me off. And that might lead to me never going to these social events. So I think there's like a. You have to to find like your kind of sweet spot in that regard, if that makes sense. Like if I had Mike, if you had a wedding, I wouldn't like leave early because I'm like, oh, is my bodybuild. I'll be like, no, this is Mike, my man, going and getting married. Like I'm gonna stay until like he's done with his night, which might end up being 10pm I don't know. Yeah, but like it's worth it to me. But if it's like just a random night Out. I'm not gonna go stay out really late. Cause that just doesn't align with what I want to. I had the other day a while ago when the Grogu and Mandalorian movie was out. Me and Cameron were going and I saw there was one at two or there was one at like eight and I was like, well, I can go do the one at two because the one at eight, it's going to be a two hour film. There's going to be an extra half an hour, another half an hour commuting. If we want to talk at all. Like that pushes me past midnight. Why don't I go and do that? I'm already going to go into it a bit. Like this is annoying. Just do the earlier one. So yeah, I think it's so person dependent on these things. But I will have it with clients where I encourage them to be more flexible in some circumstances. But also other times I'll be like, hey, you need to take care of yourself a bit more. And that you always say you regret staying out that late. Why don't you set some boundaries for yourself? I know I've rambled a bit there, Mike, but I'm sure you have some thoughts.

[A]

Yeah, I think that it was kind of the last thing that you said. It made me think we can be very fixed and determined with the goal, but flexible with how we get there. So it's kind of like we'll always have the goal of being a professional bodybuilder or being our best selves or being able to train, but with having boundaries and having flexibility within those, within those means I think is possible. And I think just the nature of context as well, looking at the bigger picture of life as well. Like you said about, you know, if you're going to like my wedding or something, it's like, hey, you know that this is something which maybe might be a once in a lifetime thing, maybe type thing. And it's like, right, okay, you're not gonna have maybe harsh, harsh boundaries. But if it is just a regular thing, you're like, hey, you can be a bit more, you know, fit, firm with your boundaries type thing. That's kind of what came to mind from what you said.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Like it's like lots of things like bodybuilders being really like diligent, hitting their macros. And couldn't that take away from enjoying nights out drinking and eating takeaway food? It's like, yeah, but you could find your balance there and find the route that works for you. So the final point I will say in mind of like fitness trackers and stuff is also I think the fitness industry and some communicators, science communicators on this topic have done a disservice to people where they talk about sleep restriction and be like hey, you see this huge downregulation and like muscle protein synthesis and you see this massive increase in like appetite and your ability to lose fat is like vastly diminished. It's like yes, sleep restriction, it's not losing an hour or two even. It's like literally you've had four hours of sleep, which you should never really. No one, if life should try and aim for that and everyone I think should generally aim for six plus because I think from my understanding six hours or less is you see really quite bad outcomes from that. So I do think there are cases where people get half an hour less sleep and they're like oh my God, it's terrible but it's really not the end of the world. But again, ideally you do get the eight hours or whatever that amount is for you.

[A]

And again, you did make me think though just then of I've got a client who works in hospital and they have to work 25 hour shifts like, like for them. Yeah. And he's a doctor and so they've, they've, it's just something they've got to do. It won't be like every week but it might be maybe like three, four times a month. It's something they've just got to do. So. But I think fortunately the body is very resilient and as long as they can have those days of kind of recovery and repaying the sleep debt a little bit, it kind of works itself out hopefully. But it does always surprise me a little bit. We have got all of this research, you know about sleep and stuff and yet lots of institutions still do these sorts of things. It's like right doctors, nurses, etc, like these are people who've got to be on the top of their game because quite literally if they up someone's dying yet you're gonna be making them work a 25 hour shift and like totally nonsense. Fucking up their cognitive ability. It's like, it's totally, yeah.

[B]

Irresponsible. All of us, there must be. Obviously we don't have context, we don't understand why they necessarily do it. There must be reasons. But it feels like there should be a better solution to that. I did an episode with Greg Potter where we talked about shift workers and how you can try and make that as Least detrimental as possible. Because, yeah, there's a. There's a lot of people that do shift work in that. And I can't remember what level of carcinogen it's now, like, classified as, but it's like on the same level as some things where you'd think, wow, like, that's pretty bad. Like, it's a certain level of carcinogen. So, like, it really isn't great for health to mess up with sleep in a big way, but you have to do it really in a big way.

[A]

Yeah. But anyway, shall I ask you the next question?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right. So our guy, Barnaby B10, he asks us, it would be cool if you both did a vlog style day in the life, even if it was the same boring things back in the day. I think Steve did.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Really.

[B]

Back in the day when I, like, like, cycled to work and then like, ate my lunchbox and I don't know, all of that. Yeah, maybe. Maybe I will do it. People love that style of content, so maybe I should. But yeah, my. I'd. I feel like I'd need someone to record me and it's hard. Like, I guess you could set it up, but I'd want, like, Stephen, the videographer that we tend to use to, like, be ready to film me waking up and like, my whole day. But it's also, as you know, Mike, like. And the reason I haven't done those professional vlogs with him recently is it just takes you out of being present on what you're trying to do. So, yeah, I might try and record it myself. I should have made use of Prime Day and bought their little. It's like the. Andrew has it. It's like a little camera and it has like a external microphone. All of that, I think, on what the. The technology is called. But I should have bought one of those vlogging cameras because they're probably pretty good.

[A]

Yeah, but I. I mean, at the moment your vlogs are doing great, so there's definitely not an urgency. It's obviously. But we'll. We'll make a note that people like that sort of stuff.

[B]

Yeah, I realized the vlogs I do aren't really vlogs, are they? Because vlogs, like, I feel like. Like a day in the light, that is like a vlog is like a day in a life thing, whereas mine are just educational videos at this point.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Essentially mini podcasts. But anyway.

[A]

But you know, it's quite funny because I think in your. Maybe it was because I was Watching your vlog the other night, and it was like, you mentioned about checking in, and it just. It does feel like I'm checking in with you in a. In a sense. It's like, hey, guys, welcome back. Or, you know, thanks for checking in. Yeah, it was great. And I will. I will add. One of my favorite bits from the vlog was towards the end where you mentioned, you know, it's. Oh, I can't remember the exact words that you use, but it's like, you know, it's not the pro. You know, it probably isn't the program. You know, it's the fact that you're being impatient. You might not be trying. I'm. I'm butchering it massively.

[B]

In fact, it was the clip I shared today. Right?

[A]

It was exactly.

[B]

Adherence, consistency and patience.

[A]

Exactly. And I'm like, you've just nailed it to a T, basically. Yeah.

[B]

Well, I appreciate that, Mike. And yeah, hopefully Barnaby is also enjoying those vlogs, but maybe we can do some more fun ones. Maybe we'll vlog a little bit in Bali. I don't know. I'm not gonna try and say I will. I'll ask you the next one then. Mike, from the last bow. How much. Sorry, how can you tell if you or a client is doing too much? What are the sign sets? Should be reduced. Oh, he needs to watch the vlog. I literally did on this subject.

[A]

There you go, last pal. Check out the vlogs. But I think, you know, key things are, you know, a few things. Firstly, are you performing well still? You know, are you in the sessions that you are doing, is performance still at least matching or trending upwards? It's not kind of going in the opposite direction. I think, obviously, you. Even though it's not, you know, a huge, big thing, but again, thinking of, like, you know, things like soreness, you know, again, how, like, fresh are you feeling? Again, you could look at things such as, you know, other metrics outside of the gym, such as, you know, how is your sleep quality? How's your motivation to train? Are there any changes there? I would say so. And also, if you're looking. If you're maybe looking at maybe training form footage, does the quality look like it's dipping off? You know, do people look like they are just going through the motions? A little bit. And I think those are key things to say, like, hey, we're probably doing a bit too much here. Let's reduce it.

[B]

Yeah, I think those are big. And especially that, like, objective metric, which is performance. But then it's like, yeah, you're performing like that on paper, but something you mentioned there is like, how. How are you performing that performance, if that makes sense? Like, are you going through the motions or are you, like, changing technique to just match numbers for the sake of it? The only ones I'd add on top of, like, outside the gym is just joint connective tissue, like niggles and things like this. But often they can be modified around as well. So they could be a volume thing. It could. It might not be because they could be. The muscles can tolerate it, but it's the jointly connected tissue that you have to work around, which is the case for me. But, yeah, I would. In addition to your answer there, Mike, I just refer to the vlog that I did that's in the playlist. First Principles bodybuilding, which you can find on YouTube. Next question.

[A]

Yeah. So, Aurora Matteson, thanks for asking the question. She asks, what step count would you say is too far or is overkill that prevents muscle growth? I've seen a few people saying that above 15,000 steps limits leg growth,

[B]

so there's no data to support their claim. As far as I'm concerned. I imagine there's a lot of people growing their legs whilst doing more than 15,000 steps a day. And I know actually definitely of natural bodybuilders who have taken to stage and look to maintain their muscle size with step counts over that. So I think that's a challenging statement to be that confident in. What I would suggest is coming back to just objective performance, like, what is a step count? Where you start seeing it negatively impact your performance. If your performance is going up at the rate that you'd expect for your training age, I can't see it impacting your muscle growth. So the other thing I say you could trial is bringing it down and seeing if that helps. But you'd have to be patient with, like I said at some point where I said about, like changing different plans and doing different perspectives, like, you have to give it a long period of time to see it out. I think that was actually on the last episode where I talked about, like having an open mind and trying different things. It's like, because I don't expect to see adaptations fast, I have to give it a good long go and I think this might be the case here too. So, yeah, I. In terms of overkill, as far as I know, around 7 or 8,000 on average a day maximizes a lot of the cardio metabolic health benefits. Cardio metabolic health benefits? Yeah, that's what I said. Like for longevity, along with your high frequency resistance training for hypertrophy. I, I see anything much over that as like unnecessary. I don't think it's overkill. I do think if people are getting regularly over 15,000, generally you have to go out of your way to do that. Unless you've got an active job. I hit 12,000 commuting and walking. Commuting to my gym and walking Ada on average. And like that's fine, but I'd have to go out of my way to get above that on average.

[A]

To be honest, Steve, I don't have much to add because you absolutely comprehensively answered that. So I'm not gonna.

[B]

I rambled a lot.

[A]

It was, it was a good ramble. It was a good ramble for sure.

[B]

The next one then Remy Saka asks, how would you structure someone food who doesn't want to gain fat in a month long holiday but doesn't want to be on their strict diet? You know what? I have memories of Remy asking a similar question, but not the same. It was a set, I think last time it was like going on holiday and not caring about gaining fat. Whereas this time it sounds like a different.

[A]

Yeah, I do. You know what, I would actually also point Remy in the direction of. Well, you've got a couple of vlogs and I don't know, they should have been released actually because there was a while ago you did a couple of vlogs where you went on holiday and if Remy really scrolls back onto your Instagram, when you went to the Maldives, you did a couple of really helpful Instagram posts about one, how you managed that, which was I think basically you, and correct me if I'm wrong Steve, because I'm probably gonna get this wrong, but essentially you allowed yourself to have like say a pastry at breakfast. But it was quite, it was. Was it relatively low calorie, I think if I remember rightly. But they were mini, you know, but essentially you'll probably, I'll probably get you to talk through it a little bit actually. But I think how, how you manage the Maldives, I think is how I would recommend most people going about doing it, essentially. But I would also say that a lot of the skills that, you know, in terms of what Remy, you're trying to ask in terms of, you know, not gaining excessive amounts of body fat but also not wanting to being on a strict diet, that is absolute possible, but it's making sure that you've practiced the skills and if you've, if you're in a habit at the moment where you've got this mental trigger of going on holiday and it's like oh, overindulge, eat. Because when I'm on holiday I it's like YOLO type thing that's not going to be set you up for success. So I think it's about thinking of even before your holiday how can you set, set the habits in place. You know that's going to set you up for success because I think that's going to be the real thing more than anything.

[B]

Yeah, I think that is absolutely key Mike that you touched on is like developing that skill set of flexibility but also moderation before you go. And that is something that was coming to mind was for someone that's going on holiday, depending on the person. But nine times out of ten I quite like not to be in a deficit leading into it because you are setting yourself up almost for failure. Whereas if you can go into a holiday like we're going to Bali and you're on close to 4, 000 calories, barely gaining weight, similar to me, it's like we'd have to really up to like gain a bunch of fat for that month long holiday that we're there for. Right. Or I say it's a holiday, half of it's working but for me at least and so that helps is like hey, not dieting into it, allowing your metabolism to have ramped up quite a bit and then that just already gets you onto like a higher general expenditure which just gives you more room, wiggle room and then whilst you're away continuing to be active, keep a good step count, train if you can or you want to like continue to be active essentially to again give your best self a bit of wiggle room. Because if you're just sat doing nothing and you're lazing out on the beach like you, yeah you're not going to expend very much and therefore it'll be easy to overindulge and put on a bunch of fat and then as you said kind of moderating so often what I my general structure for a lot of people when they go on holiday that seems to really work nicely is they moderate by having one kind of enjoyable indulgent meal and then the other two are mostly protein and plants where they just go on lean protein and lots of fruit and veg and then they save themselves for that dinner rather than on every opportunity just having dessert and having like a pizza and having all those things like. And the good thing with that is you tend to then enjoy that thing a Bit more because you're like, oh, I was reserved here and here and here and I feel like not earned but it's like, hey, this is like nice to have. Because I just feel like actually I'm not icky because I've way overdone it either. I'm not kind of binging my face off that sort of thing. So I tend to recommend that like two lighter meals or snacks in between can also work. And then like one main meal where you enjoy a bit more and then maybe a dessert, not like dessert multiple times through the day. It depends a little bit person to person on the number of calories they've got. This sort of thing. The other thing I think helps on holidays, normally you're going with people and quite often therefore the opportunity is to potentially share. So if you're going like with your girlfriend, you might get a pizza, but you might share that and then share a dessert afterwards. That can be really helpful. And then always a no brainer. You'll probably agree with this, Mike. Taking protein powder with you just completely. Sometimes it's hard to get hold of lean protein depending on where you're going. But I don't know what it's like in Bali. I almost messaged Brandon about it. I was like, how easy is it to get like lean protein? Do I need to take protein powder? I was like, I'm not going to bother him, I'm just going to take some with me just to like remove that as a concern. So taking some protein powder is just a no brainer because then you can have like a couple of scoops in the morning if you need to a couple of scoops in the evening. It's going to help satiety, help keep your protein levels up and then you don't have to worry about it as much during the day either. So you can maybe enjoy actually getting a pizza because you're like, oh yeah, it's not got that much protein. But I've hit my protein goals elsewhere so I can actually eat what I desire, for example, so I could ramble on for longer. But they're some of the main ones that come to mind.

[A]

I think the only just extra point I would add on to that is maybe to make sure that you're not restricting too heavily in the day so that you then kind of almost again rebound in that enjoyable evening meal or enjoyable whatever meal. Because I think we've spoken about this a little bit, I think a few episodes ago, where sometimes it pays to be a bit more reactive in the moment. Because if you're just really heavily banking calories, then it's like you then swing too far the other way and again might overindulge at whatever meal it is. So there's again, there's a bit of a balance there. I can imagine.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And it's. Yeah, there's so many little hacks and tips you could do with this sort of thing. I'm just thinking like, hey, you could go into that meal having had a protein shake or having had like, make sure you're hydrated and you filled your stomach a little bit or whatever it is having, I don't know, you an apple in your hotel room, you eat that before you go out. Just little things like that you start to pick up as like you go on. But you're right, you definitely don't want to like it a bit and fast into it. Like that's not going to be a good way to go at all. Shall I see the next one, Mike?

[A]

Yeah, go for it.

[B]

Gourmet. Paul asks, can you share the brand and model of the new sleep mask that you were singing praise to? Bonus if you have some sort of affiliate link. So I don't. And it's called. So what actual one do I have

[A]

is going to forget now?

[B]

Let me Google it. I think why have I forgotten the name of it? So yeah, I thought it was Manta. I just didn't want to say it. So I have the. Their website is. Let me find. It's Manta Pro Sleep mask. You can get it on Amazon but their website for the UK at least is manta sleep.uk weird. They don't have a code or UK and. But Manta Sleep is the brand and I got the pro version because it seemed to be better for side sleepers, which is what I am.

[A]

Do you say it's like 70, 80 pounds?

[B]

I believe it is something like that. They've seemed to have some sort of sale going on right now. They probably always have some sort of sale. 69 pounds apparently. I don't know what I paid. I don't know if I had a discount code or not. I always try and find something if I can, but I don't always. I don't always manage to.

[A]

What's the one Rob's got? He's got something above Pro, hasn't he?

[B]

He has the one that has noise canceling with it or not noise canceling white noise. So he. I think he maybe has the Manta Sound sleep mask new gen, which is 143 pounds or he might have the old one, which is 99 pounds.

[A]

Oh, nice.

[B]

But that uses Bluetooth and it can play, like, white noise or you can play a podcast in your ears or whatever. So I just didn't want anything more bulky than it needed to be. But hopefully that's enough information for you, man.

[A]

Cool. Awesome. So our guy, Lloyd Grossman, 41, he asks. I struggle mentally with peri workout nutrition as I'm worried about being hungry later in the day when I have more time to myself because I train in the morning.

[B]

Cool, right? So I think this is a normal concern. It's basically a bit of an unfortunate hangover from dieting, I think, where a lot of the time when you diet, it becomes very easy to fast in the morning and backload your food. And I'm actually going to try and avoid that this next time I diet and try and keep my diet a little bit more similar to when I'm gaining, because I just don't think. I think there's more benefits to having more of your calories, for example, around your workout, because that's when you're going to utilize them a bit better. And the thought that immediately comes to mind with this is like, what's the worst that's going to happen? Are you worried about being hungry? But so what? Like, hunger's just a feeling and you can sit with it. So I would say with this in mind, it might be better to transition. So if you're currently doing, I don't know, 100 calories per workout nutrition, you might just move 50 there, so it's 150. See how you deal with that and then do that for a few days and then move it to 200, see how you deal with that. And if you're now like, oh, this is enough, and I'm a bit hungry in the evening, but it's not that bad. And what I tend to find happens is we almost set ourselves up for failure because the reason you're hungry in the evening is because you're not eating earlier in the day very often. And so it's like, just eat more earlier in the day, you won't be as hungry in the evening. And quite often it is in hunger. It's just you're bored because you mentioned I have more time to myself. So just recognize it's not. It may very well not be physiological hunger. And so you can sit with it and it very may well pass. So those are some thoughts that come to mind.

[A]

Yeah, I think you. You just nailed it. Again, we suffer more in our imaginations than in reality, you know, So I do. Yeah, don't we all. We all do. And it was. That quote is actually from Seneca, who was a Roman philosopher. So he said that thousands of years ago. So he obviously suffered from it then. But yeah, Lloyd, I would just go for it. There might be a bit of a transition phase where you are navigating a bit of hunger. But like Steve said, what's the worst that can happen? And actually once you've adapted a little bit, actually you end up feeling better and it sorts, you know, you're in a better. It's kind of like what we talk about with caffeine. You know, you end up taking more caffeine because you've slept poorly, but because you're taking more caffeine, it makes your sleep worse. And it's just this is. This was a positive feedback loop actually. So. But yeah, it's the same thing. So I think, Lloyd, just go for it.

[B]

I would say the only additional thought I would have is the issue of him being hungry. Might be that he wants to binge or over not adhere. But I think you don't know until you try and just volumize your dinner a little bit. Like if you can make it lean protein and lots of like a big salad. And that will probably help quite a lot too, to set you up for success. But I'll ask you the next question. Mike from Geraldin, Harder. Do men often wear makeup at bodybuilding shows? What do they wear and does it help with your placing? Do you wear makeup, Mike, at your bodybuilding shows? You should. It would make you place higher.

[A]

Well, do you know, would you count nail varnish as makeup?

[B]

Yeah. Well, for me, makeup is face. But maybe it's not just face, is it? But no, I wouldn't really. You're not. You're doing. You did clear nail varnish, right, to ensure that you don't stain your nails, which makes sense. I've done that before. And then I got too lazy in my press and I forgot and my nails were.

[A]

I did feel weird doing it. I was like, oh, this feels very weird. I don't know why.

[B]

Especially because you had to go buy it, right? Whereas at least Charlotte had some. When I was doing it.

[A]

There's me and super Drug just quickly to the checkout.

[B]

But it's 20, 25, 26 even. We can all wear makeup and do our nails.

[A]

It's fine. I, I personally can't remember seeing any male competitors wearing like actual facial makeup. I can see how some people might wear Contact lenses, but that's obviously not makeup. So. So yeah, I, I've personally never seen it.

[B]

What I can say is yes, I've seen it but more on the enhanced side for those guys. I've seen them getting like, I think think the classic guys like get some sort of makeup done. I remember seeing it at some point. It's not like full on what you'd expect from makeup. You, you wouldn't see it if you didn't know it just makes their skin look clearer. Like, I don't know, they put bronzer on and like they smooth out like so they don't look as, I don't know, old or whatever. You know, these sort small things. It's similar to like some, I think classic guys, maybe even some men's physique guys get like a hair transplant because that's part, I don't think not so much classic but certainly men's physique. Like part of it is them looking like youthful and like having that like it's part of the aesthetic. So I imagine there are some on the natural side who do maybe men's physique who have used some makeup. I think if you use too much it could definitely go the other way because it starts to become a bit off putting where it's like, oh, that looks a bit odd but I think you could probably use a small amount that even maybe that you wouldn't notice as a judge. But it just maybe don't know, makes you look more fresh or clearer skin or whatever. The more put together you can basically look on stage as a men's physique competitor. It will, will help. But yeah, they're my thoughts.

[A]

Yeah, no, no, really cool. Yeah. I've not got nothing else to add there. So Alex the funk asks how long from walking into the gym to doing your very first working set and what do you do in terms of your routine, etc. I'm at least 25 minutes,

[B]

way less. I'm pretty much walk into the gym and depending. So if it's calves I have been known to just literally go right into my first working set. To be very honest I'm like, well I've walked to the gym, my calves are ready. I very often won't even do like a warm up at all for them.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So quite often it's one minute then the other time. So they're lower body days. On upper body days I normally start with delts so I do normally warm them up. So but it might take me a minute or two to like Start getting like, if it was dumbbells, I'd just do like, I don't know, lighter weight until my working set, but it'd be a few minutes. So very rare that I'm more than five minutes before getting into my working set. If it was a compound lift first, it might be a bit longer, especially legs.

[A]

Yeah. I remember Brad Schoenfeld sharing a piece of research which showed that in higher rep sets, those initial reps leading up to it act as a warm up anyway. So if you're doing like 15, 20 reps, that those first 10 reps act as a bit of a warm up anyway. So you know, it's, again, it's all part of it.

[B]

Yeah. How about you? How many minutes do you do? A whole. I feel like you have a bit more of a complex.

[A]

So I have 10 to 15 minutes purely because it's a legacy from the shoulder injury. So I've got like a little series of shoulder exercises that have just always helped the shoulder feel good and I'm needing it less and less. I know I am, but it's just a bit of a psychological habit that I just want to keep for a tiny bit longer.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And like before my main quad work, I do the isometrics on the machine there, but it's not my first exercise, so that's why I'm not mentioning it. But there are situations where I will take a bit longer to warm up for that exercise. But my sessions start with isolation work, so it really doesn't take me long to start getting into that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Cool.

[B]

I'll ask you the next question from Zach asks. Hey, Steve and Mike, as judges, what are common mistakes that you see on stage and helpful cues that you've applied for yourselves? Thanks, guys. Oh, this is a good question. I like it.

[A]

Yeah, I like it. But I'm actually going to go a little bit outside of things first. So I, I think a common mistake, people don't read the criteria and so they end up doing things like maybe they're not wearing their attire correctly. Like for example, we spoke about it recently, like the men's physique competitors, they might be not wearing good fitting shorts or trunks. Maybe it's the wrong type of trunks, maybe the posing is just incorrect because again, they've not read the criteria and various other things. So I think read the criteria. Please do yourself a favor there. I think another thing is also not quite paying attention to the call outs to judges because I think sometimes the judges might make a call and, you know, and It's. It's really easy sometimes. Sometimes you kind of. You might space out unintentionally. But I think if you're not listening to what the judges are saying or if you're not listening to what's going on backstage, then again, it doesn't kind of portray you in the best possible light. And then I think. And then. So those are the big ones, I would say straight off the bat, I think that there's. There's lots of things, to be honest. Do you have any ones that pop immediately off your head?

[B]

Yeah. So why am I taking so long? It's. I'm such an idiot. Why am I taking so long to say this? And then I'm making it longer by saying, why am I taking so long to say this? And now I'm making it even longer. So really classic one for bodybuilders is not pulling up the side of their trunks or their posing. Yeah, the posing, pouch trunks, whatever the. The thong, whatever people want to call it. I don't really know what it's called, but yeah, basically to create, like a bit of a slingshot, but it just helps your taper. So that one's a really clear one. Not getting into poses quickly, it's like taking ages on your transition. That's not great. Posing in general, like, just not posing very well is kind of off putting. And you can't display your physique properly then not posing to the judges. So if you're, like, on the outsides of the stage, this is definitely something I learned many years ago as someone who was often on the outside of the stage, pose in towards, like, the head judge and towards the judges in general. Because if you're stood, like, towards the crowd, like, they're just going to see a side angle of you and not really be able to see you kind of step on stage and look present, engaged, like you want to be there. If you look like you don't want to be there, you just won't catch the judge's attention like you should. That is part of it. You need to be seen. So be like you want to be seen on stage. Many other ones, I guess you're with that stage presence, there's, like, a good level of, like, poise and presence and wanting to be there. But don't take it so far that you're pulling strange faces or contracting muscles 100% and shaking like a mad person. That's also not great. And then I think just as. Because we talked about tanning or, like, makeup for females, because I Know a lot of mine are male biased, but I do sometimes see their tan doesn't go great. Like it goes a bit green or discolored. And I think it's because of the products they're maybe using on their skin ahead of time. So like Mike said, paying attention to the judging criteria, pay attention to like the guidance of the tanners because they will tell you like this many days out, don't use X, Y and Z on your skin to set you up for the best kind of, I guess, tan possible. Because yeah, discolored tan just is. No one wants that to happen. But women generally are very good at, they're a bit better at their posing generally and they generally look like they want to be there a bit more than sometimes guys can just come on stage and look a bit dead in the eyes. That doesn't help them out. So yeah, I don't know if any other ones come to mind for you, Mike.

[A]

Just similarly, I'd say there's also a balance between owning your space because you've deserved to be there, but also not being so argy bargy that it becomes a bit aggressive and off putting. So I think that that's a, a balance to strike. That was the main one, to be honest with you, as well as what you said about the tanning, I don't know about, I can't remember with other federations but I know with the WMBF the tanning people do give out information about, like you said, don't use XY product at such a date. So it's again, just making sure people are doing their due diligence with, with those sorts of things. Yeah, those are the only small points I'd add.

[B]

Cool. I'll ask you the next one, Mike, because it's more for you. Danny Mackin asks best rehab and return to training plan for rotator cuff tendinopathy. How do you safely recommend rebuild pressing and lateral raises?

[A]

Okay, so great question. So I always like to start off with a bit of a hierarchy. So if you think of like return to training and if you think in your training if you have some maybe explosive concentrics, that's what I would class as is speed in my head. So we always want to have that baseline foundation of. Right. We're addressing pain and we're addressing like just good strength and activation. So in that baseline layer you want to start off with like your isometric movements and just things that really just switch that muscle on. We then want to build strength essentially with those isolated movements. So again you might Start off with a rotator cuff isometric, then you might build to say just a through range strength exercise. I always like to start off with an arm supported variation because then again it's a little bit better at isolating the rotator cuff itself. But then you'd build into unsupported variations, again really overloading that strength side of things. You also want to incorporate some just general mid back scapular strength work as well, just as part of a holistic training program. And then what I would recommend is once you've build that good strength, hopefully pain is at a minimum, at a minimal. You know, if you've got that range, kind of overhead range back then again just starting to incorporate, you know, some light exercises overhead but then work in some speed work as well. Just where you're contracting the shoulder a little bit faster, exposing it to those faster contraction speeds, maybe even incorporating some things like a clap push up or something because it just exposes the shoulder to working fast. And so it means that when you're in that position, you know, with whatever you're doing, the shoulder knows how to do it and it's, you know, it's good to go. So those would be my top tips, I would say.

[B]

Amazing. My top tip is to get a consultation with Mike. He's your man, he will get you back into the gym training your delts, especially with the shoulder injury you've had. This is an expert area now, although a little bit different with the tendinopathy. But tendinopathy, as you've found out, Mike, is very common within the bodybuilding space. Number of questions we get on that, so makes sense.

[A]

And can I just interject also? So I did some filming with Steven Taylor recently and one of my vlogs is going to be on tennis and golfer's elbow, which is obviously what we refer to as lateral tendinopathy. So there hopefully might be some interesting bits in there for people with tendon issues.

[B]

Nice. Now from Mighty Mr. Quinn.

[A]

So Mighty Mr. Quinn asks Mike and Steve, do either of you plan attending WMBF Worlds in Calgary, Canada this year?

[B]

Year?

[A]

Any idea who the favourites are for men's bodybuilding?

[B]

To the first part, no plans, but that doesn't mean I'm planning to not attend if that makes sense. Just not certain right now. It depends on a variety of different factors. I know Bob has been interested in potentially having me there to interview some athletes and do some bits and pieces behind the scenes. There's also the potential to have Rob there competing, so it'd be quite nice to be out there to support him and yeah, I mean, I don't need many excuses to get out to Canada because I frickin love Canada in terms of favorites for men's body. Well, I don't know if you want to answer the first part of the question, then we can go to the favorites.

[A]

Yeah, so likewise. I, I would love to go out there and I think if you were going, I would definitely be going. So. So yeah, very similar answer, to be honest with you. Although I unfortunately haven't been invited by Bob to interview people. But there you go.

[B]

I haven't had the invite yet, but he did mention it last year and I couldn't do it last year. He might be interested in that and I don't know if I want to do that or commit to it. Barley is going to be a big, big thing for me. So yeah, I just have to wait and see. But sounds like Mark might be going. So favorites for bodybuilding. I actually don't know who is necessarily even competing because it hasn't like, I don't know, the, the big shows haven't kicked off just yet. Like we haven't had the big European WNBF shows. There's been a few across in America. Like I, Jeff Alberts has been competing and things like this, but I've seen Oscar Moscat obviously competing and I don't know if he's doing WMBF Worlds. I just, I don't actually know because yeah, he's been competing pretty early if he's also competing back then and then I also don't know if Babakar is competing. Like I don't know, I just haven't, I either haven't seen it or I haven't kept up to date. I see the stories from both and I don't know, I haven't seen anything. But they would be two people that come to mind immediately for Fate.

[A]

Favorites for bodybuilding, I think similarly like as far as I'm aware, I thought they would be competing but you just never know what, what might change, you know. So I think similarly it's just about watching this space to a certain degree. But if they were to compete, I think also. So in 2024, I think Nathan Wallace was also competing. So he's going to be at Bali and I think he was the person that came third. So it was Babakar, Oscar Mosca and then Nathan Wallace. So it. And if things go out and it's competing. Yeah, yeah. So it could be a repeat of 2024 if things depending on how Things go, maybe, fuck me.

[B]

I want a class to have to deal with those individuals. That's. That's not fun. The only other thought that comes to mind is. I know. Well, I mean, yeah, it depends if we're talking like the pro classes or what have you. Rob's going to be doing damage wherever he competes. I know James Alabasca, if you know James at all, Mike, he is competing this year. I know he's a threat big time because he has just crazy lines. I don't know if he's doing classic or if he's doing open, but either way he's going to be a threat for the amateur scene. I don't think he's a pro with the WNBF just yet. So he definitely has potential to be doing that. Likewise with Rob. And there's going to be other people that just. I don't know the names off the top of my head and it's going to be more interesting. Ask us in like a few months time and it's going to be a bit clearer. I think the.

[A]

The only other person who comes to my mind is Dirk because I think Dirk's going to be competing.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah, he's. So he'll probably be there. I imagine. So he'll be one to watch out for in the lightweight class. I believe so, yeah.

[B]

Or bantams. Depends how they do it. The pros, they. We don't know the weight categories ahead of time, which is frustrating. Last time it was actually. Did they even call them bantams last time? I think they got rid of that, didn't they? Because that instigates. People associate bantam with a certain weight. So it might be like lightweight one and two or it's. Yeah, I wish they do wear catches ahead of time, but we'll get to the next question.

[A]

Okay. So. Well, Aaron Henriksen Baxter asks what is an example of staying too lean or cutting too early if the gold is building muscle. I like staying lean, but I also want to progress.

[B]

I realize I asked. You asked the last question as well, so. Oh, well. But this could probably be quite. Quite. For me it's quite easy when I think about. It's similar to the steps. Like you could think about this in so many different ways. Like is X leading to me not growing muscle how I should. And what I immediately think of is, is your. Are you progressing in the gym at the rate that you'd expect given the number of years that you have under your belt of training? Because that will tell you so if you are so lean that you're unable to progress at a decent rate in the gym for your training age, then that's kind of obvious to me. Some kind of biofeedback I guess you could sense is how's your libido, how your day to day energy levels, how are you sleeping, how's your motivation to train, how's your general mood? Like if they are not in a good place, that could be a sign that you're at a level of body fat that's unsustainable. And then just looking at yourself objectively, there's not many males that can sustain lower than 10% and feel really good. It's just fairly rare to feel really good at sub 10. So that's like a just general rule. Women sub 15, 17% it's unlikely you're going to be feeling great at that point. And clearly for women menstrual cycle function is a huge one. So you can also get blood work if you want to get some objective numbers on like thyroid and testosterone and that sort of thing. Sorry, I've just left you when you're about to have a drink.

[A]

To be honest, I don't think I would add much more to that. Yeah, I think you summarized it really nicely to be honest, in terms of just are you progressing at the rate that you'd think and just being honest with yourself as well Because I think sometimes maybe we know, hey, I have a habit of being a bit overly restrictive or not letting myself get, you know, not letting, allowing myself to put on body fat. I think deep down we know we have those tendencies and I think if we're honest with ourselves, are we doing that? And if we are, then right, we need to kind of loosen the leash a little bit or at least again get, get a coach, get someone who can just, you know, objective opinion to say like, right, hey, you know Aaron, you need to you know, eat a little bit more here. Yeah.

[B]

The final, just in terms of cutting too early, just an easy key kind of thought that I have in my head for that is you want at least a 4 to 1 gaining to cutting ratio. If you're not adhering to that, then you are cutting too early. As someone who's already very lean, that 4 to 1 ratio only works for people already like at a level of like healthy, comfortable body fat. If you're obese or heavily overweight, you're not going to be able to get into a 4 to 1 massing ratio to cutting ratio. But eventually the goal would be to get. So ask you the last Question Mike from Lifting Lewis 5. Do either of you have any regrets or things you would do differently other than Steve, his eating clean phase or wished you realized earlier?

[A]

I think it. Is it a regret? I don't know if I'd call it a regret, but I think I would have liked to have had a coach sooner potentially because I think I was potentially maybe spinning my wheels for a bit too long and actually I wish I kind of just invested in bodybuilding a bit bit for. I invested in bodybuilding sooner because I went through a big 10 year hiatus where I was doing powerlifting and I was dabbling in lots of other things and I think I still learned valuable things and I think it was great experience and I had fun. But equally I just think, oh, if I'd have not done that and I just stuck to bodybuilding and I'd had a coach, would I be different? But again, that's part of life, right? You know, I wouldn't be here now. So I think maybe that's the only things I'd be curious about doing differently. So. Yeah, I don't know what your answer would be, Mike.

[B]

I see you as a no regrets type of guy. Yeah, I feel like you're that sort of person that would be like, I don't live with any regrets. Like it always lessons and brought me here today where I am and I'm happy with that. So no regrets. That's almost how I. That's the easy answer for me with this one. I do. Sorry.

[A]

No, no, you go, go.

[B]

Oh, I was just. There are probably moments where I did things that I do regret. Similar to that clean eating phase where it's like, yeah, I wish I maybe enjoyed the food a bit more but it also took me to where I am now where I have the perspective that I have today. Similar, I was thinking like with my knees, I wish I maybe didn't take that extra set of hack squats or didn't push to that point that led to these being a chronic injury for me. But it's like I, it's gonna, I'm gonna learn from it in future. Like so yeah, I don't know if there's anything I'd really do differently at this stage. And it's the same, I've like a slap tear in my shoulder but like again it's, it hasn't set me back or I'm happy with where I'm at. So I kind of feel hard to say that I wouldn't have done anything I did previously and it kind of built Me into the person I am now. And I feel good about that.

[A]

No, definitely. I think. I don't know why.

[B]

Killed anyone.

[A]

No. Which is good. It's always good. There are worse things for sure.

[B]

I regret that.

[A]

There are definitely worse things. Although I do remember. I can't remember. Maybe it was the 2021 prep. When I remember in the check in you said to me, mike, sometimes I feel like just throwing Gar out the window or something because she's being a. And I can say that because she is a kind of thing. And I remember that. And I was like, oh, good.

[B]

Actually, that's a good point, Mike. I do regret how I treated ada during my 2024 prep. Towards the end, it's. It's also hard because yeah, I do regret that. But it led me to treat her and then people. I didn't do anything bad. I didn't throw her out the window. I just didn't like my feelings towards her. It's kind of similar to what we said in the last episode where sometimes you don't know what someone's feeling underneath the hood type of thing. Like she didn't know how much she was annoying me really. Apart from like sometimes I'd shove her a little bit like, oh, shut up. But yeah, it made me appreciate her more and I into some regards that could be a regret of going into worlds and pushing and depleting to get as light as possible with Cliff. Like I. That does fill me with regret. But I also see it as a big lesson to not do that in future. Like I know where not to go. There's definitely a good month of prep where I think I had no business digging at that period of time. And that's where I was not in the best mood with Ada. And I was really like very much Mazzo's hierarchy of needs, like in dismay of just like I have not got my basic needs met. Nothing else matters in life. So yeah, I can remember specifically when we were in. Was it in Boston when we went to the wrong location to weigh in and I just like. Like I almost burst out in tears. I didn't. I don't think. But I was not in a good mood or space at that point. But again, it's hard to say I regret it because I think it's good to have like sometimes you have to push too far to know where too far is.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So that's kind of what I take away from it.

[A]

I think a quote that is just. I need to. I need to get this out. I need to get this quote out or, you know, so it. The quote is, you know, do the best. The do the best you can until you know better. And then when you know better, do better. And that's exactly what you do. Like, hey, you. We hadn't made those mistakes, so you didn't, you know, could say, like, hey, I didn't know at the time, but I know now that I don't want to do that. That was a mistake. So we learned it. We're going to do better. And that's exactly what you're doing. You, you love Ada so much. You treat her so well. You appreciate and value your time. You're present with her. And again, like, like you made though, you know, we know now, hey, we've got no business digging that deep. So, like, now we're gonna do better. There she is. There she is.

[B]

Hi. She just had a haircut today.

[A]

No. And she's got a little scarf on as well, which is so cute.

[B]

They always give her a little scarf. Actually, I could say the same thing. My first prep, Charlotte almost left me because we just got together that year year and I went through a contest prep and she was like, why are you being like, I was so different to how we were when we first got together. Like, you do change. And I was so ignorant. It was my first time competing. So, yeah, I don't know. Again, it kind of got us to where we are now. She didn't leave me, but I would have regretted that if she'd left me at the time. I just had very little energy for her. I didn't do anything wrong, like, by her, but I just didn't. Like, again, I probably didn't have the love and attention that she deserved at that time, which again, I learned for future prep. So, yeah, it's not so much of a regret. It's always, yeah, well said, Mike.

[A]

Yeah. So, yeah, that was a nice one to end on, I think.

[B]

Yeah. Let's wrap things up there. Again, thank you guys for your questions. I leave it always to the wrong time, but if you have questions, join the hypertrophic time chamber linked in the description below. It's my broadcast group over on Instagram. We appreciate you as always do. Let us know if you have any bodybuilding regrets. That'd be useful to know in the comments. Again, I should ask you to say something in the comments sooner, but the real ones know. Let us know you're a real one by answering that question. Give us a thumbs up a. Like a subscribe and we'll catch you in the next one.

[A]

See you later, guys.