Stop Chasing Health Hacks—Build Lasting Wellness Instead with John Jesse

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Stop Chasing Health Hacks—Build Lasting Wellness Instead"

Podcast: What Are You Made Of?
Host: Mike "C-Roc" Ciorrocco
Guest: John Jesse (author, health & wellness expert, host of the Health Continuum Podcast)
Date: July 8, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the myths of health shortcuts (“hacks”) and the importance of building genuine, sustainable wellness tools and habits instead. Mike "C-Roc" hosts John Jesse—longtime educator, researcher, author, and podcaster—who shares his philosophy for achieving lasting health, not by chasing trends, but by focusing on foundational habits, relationships, and purposeful change. The conversation touches on personal growth, the real role of scientific research in health, and the pitfalls of health industry marketing.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Unlimited Potential of Human Beings (00:32–02:48)

• Mike's Question: "What are you made of?"
• John Jesse’s Perspective:
  • Everyone has “eternal, unlimited potential.”
  • Reaching one's potential is an infinite journey—“It’s like infinity. Where’s the end of that? No, you’re never gonna get there.” (John, 02:40)
  • Helping others uncover their own potential is a core human duty.

Building a Personal Health Framework (03:05–09:29)

• John’s Background:

  • Lifetime educator, journalist, researcher.
  • Sparked by losing his father to colon cancer before his wedding—committed to not meeting the same fate.
  • Developed "The Health Continuum" framework over 40 years.

• The Health Continuum Explained: (04:31–09:29)

  • Health is a rope stretched between perfect health and death; everyone sits somewhere in between.
  • The rope is made up of “strands” that affect your health: age, emotional health, heredity, hygiene, stress response, risk management, plus the “Big Three”: sleep, physical activity, and consumption (nutrition).
  • Actionable Philosophy:
    • Identify and focus on one change you are “able and willing” to make—trying to change too much at once backfires.
    • The strands are interconnected; improvement in one creates positive ripples in others, and vice versa for declines.
    • John’s advice: “Let me help you understand what impacts your health. What one change are you able and willing to make right now that’ll give you the biggest bang for your buck?" (John, 05:30)
    • “There’s no silver bullet. Exercise might be considered that, but… there really isn’t.” (John, 08:35)

Foundational Health vs. “Sexy” Biohacks (09:29–12:34)

• Mike critiques the modern health scene:
  • Many focus on "sexy" solutions (like peptides or supplements) rather than sleep, nutrition, movement, and relationships.
  • “They don’t work unless you work.” (Mike, 10:23)
• John’s take:
  • Has researched and experimented with most trends.
  • Compares GLP-1 medications to “assisted pull-up machines”—they can help, but the individual must still do the foundational work (diet, exercise, sleep). (12:05)

Personal Stories: Pullups as a Metaphor for Progress (12:34–15:28)

• Mike shares his story of self-discipline, from struggling to do a single pull-up, to building strength incrementally:
  • “The process of accomplishing big things is chipping away, but being open to a quantum leap because they are available.” (Mike, 13:38)
• John’s workplace pull-up challenge illustrates how small, persistent effort leads to major gains.
• Discussion: Progress is mainly about setting non-negotiable personal standards and making decisions aligned with them.

The Power of Environment & Relationships (15:37–17:35)

• “You’re the average of the five people you hang around.” (Mike, 16:01)
• John’s framework includes "emotional consumption" as a key health strand:
  • “In the end, there’s only one thing that matters… relationships.” (John, 16:07)
  • Prioritizing supportive, healthy connections is vital for overall well-being and success.
  • Toxic relationships should be minimized, but not resented.

Real-World Health Optimization & Dangerous Myths (19:10–21:08)

• Mike and John warn that marketing, not expertise, dominates the health field—leading to billions being wasted on ineffective or harmful fads.
• Health protocols must be individualized; regular monitoring (such as bloodwork) is essential.
• “If you don’t [monitor], you optimize one thing… but then you’re pulling something else back.” (Mike, 20:46)

John’s Own Health Routine (21:11–25:28)

• At 67, John focuses on:
  • Lifting weights twice per week
  • Cardio almost daily, with variety (hiking Grand Canyon, cycling, swimming).
  • Key: Minimal effective dose with maximal intensity for most people—“Whole body, 30 minutes, twice a week.” (John, 24:41)
  • Intensity is crucial, for both lifting and cardio.
• Comparison with Mike, who trains more frequently but varies muscle groups.

Diet, Simplicity, and Personalization (26:58–30:56)

• John and Mike both gravitate toward simple, repeatable eating routines built around high-protein, whole foods.
• John: “If you eat food closer to the way God made it, the closer you can get, you're going to be healthy.” (John, 28:53)
• Both eat staple meals (e.g., Greek salad, rotisserie chicken, blueberries); John recommends essential amino acids and “superfoods” like beets and sauerkraut for gut health.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• John Jesse:

  • "I'm made of eternal, unlimited potential. That's what I'm made of. And so is everyone else." (00:32)
  • “There’s no magic bullet. There’s no silver bullet. People are looking for that… it doesn’t exist.” (08:35)
  • “In the end… there’s only one thing that matters: relationships.” (16:07)
  • "If you eat food closer to the way God made it, you're going to be healthy." (28:53)

• Mike "C-Roc" Ciorrocco:

  • “The process of accomplishing big things is chipping away, but being open to a quantum leap because they are available.” (13:38)
  • “You’re the average of the five people you hang around.” (16:01)
  • “They don’t work unless you work.” (10:23)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:32 – John defines “What are you made of?”
• 03:05 – John’s background and motivation for his health philosophy
• 04:31 – Overview of the Health Continuum framework
• 09:29 – Why sleep, nutrition, attitude, and relationships are foundational
• 12:05 – Assisted pull-up machine analogy for GLP-1 peptides
• 13:38 – Mike’s transformation story about pull-ups
• 16:07 – John on relationships as the most important health asset
• 21:11 – John’s weekly fitness regimen at age 67
• 28:53 – John’s nutritional philosophy and routine meals

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Resources & Where to Find John Jesse

• Book: Health Continuum (Amazon)
• Podcast: Health Continuum Podcast (all major podcast platforms)
• Website: healthcontinuum.com

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Tone & Language

Throughout the episode, both Mike and John maintain a motivational, practical, and direct style—balancing research-backed insights with personal anecdotes and a sense of humor. The conversation is accessible but deep, full of actionable advice for anyone on a journey of health, entrepreneurship, and self-mastery.

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For listeners:
If you’re tired of chasing trends, this episode will encourage you to seek sustainable, foundational health—one practical, personalized decision at a time.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome back to the what do youo Made Up Show. It's your boy C. Rock here, and I am with John Jesse, and we were having some conversation before we hit record. I love what the guy's doing, I love what he's building. And he's had quite a bit of success with his podcast early on, and you should check it out. It's called the Health Continuum Podcast. John, welcome to the show.

[B]

Thank you. I really appreciate the opportunity, Mike, thank you.

[A]

Yeah, no, it's my pleasure to have you, man. And I'm interested in learning more about you and sharing you with the audience and. But the. The way we start the show with every time is the question, what are you made of?

[B]

What are you made of? You know, it's a question I've never answered before, but I kind of got heads up on that. I would say this. I'm a made of eternal, unlimited potential. That's what I'm made of. And so is everyone else.

[A]

Talking my language. Talking my language, brother. Well, I want you to elaborate on that, but before you do, I'm just going to tell you, I ask this question every day of myself. Let me see how far I can take this thing, because I know. Yeah, I know. And I tell this story a lot with this. This intelligence officer that apparently met with an extraterrestrial. Okay. I don't know if they're real or not, but this is a story, and the story. The lesson in the story is more important whether it's real or not. He said that the. The alien said to him, you human beings have no idea what you're capable of. And I was like, wow, that's powerful. You know? So, yeah, I'm with you, man. I love that you're speaking my language. So elaborate on that, though. Where. Where are you coming from with that?

[B]

Well, I think one of the. The things that you see most. I worked with a lot of people over a lot of years, and people have a difficulty reaching their potential. And I think the first thing that we need to be able to do is realize that we have unlimited potential, every single one of us. It's not unique to you or me or the people that are famous or the people that are poor. Everyone has this unlimited potential. And it's a matter of us working with others, getting support and moving along our efforts in life to reach that potential. And I think a big part of that reaching that potential is helping others, connecting with others, doing what we're here to do, which is to help each other reach that potential, whatever that may Be. And it looks so different. So for many people, we get trapped. Sometimes they go, oh, I got to just do it like this, like everyone. No, you're unique and beautiful individual, and you want to find your, your purpose, your path in life. And we all have that. And it's a matter of finding that, staying true to that. And, you know, it's work, it's work, but boy, is it, is it. That's what life's about.

[A]

Well, you know, I think it's impossible to reach your potential.

[B]

It's unlimited. So, yeah, it's like infinity. I'm an old math teacher and yeah, infinity. Where's the end of that? No, you're never gonna get there.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Kind of a fun journey though, isn't it?

[A]

Because once you get to the level, it always runs from you, it always moves. So the, the whole thing is to see how far you can take it. That's, that's why I say that, because I can't, you know, reach your potential. That's impossible. So, all right, so what is your, first of all, what do you do on a daily basis besides the podcast?

[B]

So I was a. I was a lifetime educator, award winning educator and journalist. I did that through college. So I taught school and then I administered school. And you kind of work your way up. And then, then it became a research person because I was a numbers person. And so I was over the research for a large district and then this, our state for, for many years learned how to read research, understand research. But along that professional path, I had this parallel path of health and fitness. When I was in my early 20s, a couple of weeks before I got married, my dad passed away from cancer. Didn't get to go to my wedding, didn't get to meet any of my four beautiful children or 19 grandchildren. All of that. And it just, it didn't have to be. Actually, he died of colon cancer. And I could tell you, Mike, I am not going to die of colon cancer. And I think it was that moment that committed me to finding the best path for health and fitness and then helping others. I think of it as a stewardship, as I did my employment, education, it's a stewardship. I'm given talents, I'm given abilities, and now I have a stewardship to use those to help others. So I began a 40 year journey writing this book, the Health Continuum. I came up with a framework which I'd love to talk to you about, explain that that was kind of the basis. And every year I think, oh, yeah, I'm going to finish that book, and I'm going to transition, and it finally happened last year.

[A]

What's the name of the book?

[B]

Yeah, the Health Continuum.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I can tell you what it's about. The framework's pretty simple. So this is the way it is. There's a continuum. You, me, everyone we know is on this continuum. One end of the continuum is perfect health. That kind of. That achievable target.

[A]

You got to stop for a second because I want to know, for the people that are listening right now that don't know what the word continuum means, what is a continuum?

[B]

A continuum is like a series where you're moving from one end to the other, and one space is a little further, one space is a little further. At this end of the continuum is perfect health. At this end is death. And we're all somewhere along that continuum, somewhere between death and perfect health. And if you think of the continuum as a rope, as a rope, you're on the rope, and the rope's made up of these different strands, and the continuum is balanced on your age. So you don't control that. And you understand on a platform, as the age moves over, well, you kind of start to tilt down. Oh, yeah. Nothing you can do about that, really, but you should be aware of it. So these strands that make up the continuum, I identified them as age, which is where you show as a balance, emotional consumption, heredity, hygiene, response to stress, risk management. And then the big three. Sleep, physical activity, physical consumption. Those are the three that impact your position the most, that you have the most control over. And the whole pleading when the health continuum is for you individually to identify which strand and which change you're able and willing. Those two words are key. Something you're able and willing to do that will give you the biggest bang for your buck, meaning it'll make the most movement on the health continuum. Right now, in this very point in time, what change are you able and willing to make and then make it? It could be, you say, well, sleep is really the biggest problem. It's causing me the most problem with my health. And I'm going to try to go to bed at the same time every night. That's it. And the reason we say one change is because human beings, in my judgment, are not capable of making more than one significant change and sustaining it over time. The problem a lot of people have, you know, come New Year's and they want to. They want to get healthy. They really do want to get healthy. And so they do all these things and they start to make Some movement and then it all collapses down and they're worse position than if they would have before they started. One change. All the research suggests that if you're going to improve your health, it's done systematically, just incrementally, one change over time. You look at the, you know, any of the data for people that have made long term changes, that's how it occurs. And so the pleading is, let me help you understand what it is that impacts your health. And now let's help you identify what's going to give you the biggest cane. You know, if you're taking drugs. I'm going to tell you right now, I don't need to know anything else about you that would give you the biggest change. But maybe you're not able and willing to change that if you're smoking. Absolutely. We don't need to talk about anything else after that. Well, it gets interesting. There's a lot of different things that can impact you. And one thing I do need to identify is let's suppose you did maybe sleep is the one you identify. Well, if you improve your sleep, do you think that's going to improve your consumption? Well, yeah. Is it going to improve your physical movement? Absolutely. So that's why it's a rope. They're interrelated. Improving one improves another. They're synergistic. But I have to tell you, they're synergistic in a negative fashion too. I don't get enough sleep. Well, it's going to affect the way I move, it's going to affect the way I eat. They're all interrelated. But you can only work on one piece of one at a time. But you'll know that if you're making movement on that one small thing, it's going to impact the others. And it's a, it's a commitment over time. And we're all going to end up down here. I mean, let's be honest, we're all going to die. But you don't want to die. Let's say with your last 10 years not being able to do anything, not being able to move. You want a life that's full and joyful. You want to be able to play with your grandkids and go out and ride your bike or do whatever it is you want to do right up until the end. And then you know that's it's over. That's the goal is to help people achieve that. To make, to make movement on the health continuum. And it's not about perfect health. It's not about those pictures in the magazines or all these things. People want to promise you to take your billions of dollars each year. That's not what it's really about. There is, Mike, I have to tell you. There's. There is no magic bullet. There's no silver bullet. Well, exercise might be considered that, but there really isn't. And people are looking for that. They're looking for this one thing that'll just make a move and it doesn't exist. But there's lots of things you can do to get healthier. If you're patient, if you're logical, if you're committed and you get your friends to help. That's the health continuum in a nutshell. You don't even need to go get the book and read it now. That's basically. Well, you do. I hope you do, and get friends to join. And there's lots of principles along that, but that's basically the philosophy.

[A]

Yeah, I love it. I love it. Makes sense. I mean, you know, picking the, what do they call it? The lowest hanging fruit. Right. The lowest hanging fruit is going to have the most benefit and sleep is a foundational thing and makes your life better all around, you know, 100%. And, you know, I talk to the, you know, a lot of experts in health and wellness optimization, biohacking, and they're all talking about these magic things or these things that are sexy. And very few are talking about the foundational things like sleep. Right. Your attitude, your diet, like what you're, what you're putting into your body, your environment, who you hang around, what air quality is, what water quality is, how much water you're drinking. And they're, you know, focused on the sexy thing that's going to get views and engagement and all this. And you know, look, I, I've, I'd like to get your take on this. Like I'm, I'm in the world of peptides and all these different things that are coming out now and they don't work unless you work.

[B]

Okay. It's great you asked me about that. You know, I've been doing this for 40 years and pretty much any topic I interview someone on, I'm quote, an expert. We call it research with an end size of one. I've tried it, see if it works, implement it so I can answer people's questions. However, peptides are a rather new phenomenon. Of course, you know, insulin's a peptide, been around a long time. And so my knowledge base was pretty thin until recently. I spent, spent a lot of time learning quite a bit about it and have interviewed now two people. This is how I've kind of come to, to view peptides. If you've been in the gym, a lot of gyms will have this machine called an assisted pull up machine. Have you seen one of those where you're, you're, you're, you're not able to do a pull up? I will say in my book when I talk about to identify where you're at. Being able to do a pull up is one of the things when, if you can do a pull up, that's a big deal. If we went to any high school in America and asked all the kids to do pull ups, you'd be shocked at how few could. But it's a basic health fitness metric and it's something everyone should strive for. I could tell you great stories about some people who've done that. But you're going to this gym, you have this assisted pull up. Well, you can't do a full pull up but you want to work those muscles, you want to do that work. And what does the pull up machine do? It offsets weight to make the pull up within reason so that you can do pull ups. Right. So GLP1 you need to think of, it's like that assisted pull up machine. Now does that assisted pull up machine do pull ups for you? Does you just get on it and it makes you healthy? No. Can you just take GLP1 and think you're going to get healthy? No. You take GLP1 it's like using that assisted pull up machine. You still got to do the work, you still got to get good sleep, you still got to eat right, especially protein. And you still need to work out and it will help you if you view it in that way. My opinion now is starting to change and starting to realize, you know, it could be a tool. I love those assisted pull up machines. I do. Because people work on those and they get. So they could end up doing a pull up and if they didn't have it, they wouldn't be able to do it. GLP 1 In my judgment at this point could play that role for people if they view it that way and not some silver bullet. How's that? Yeah.

[A]

And by the way, the you mentioned insulin and also GLP ones, some of them have been around for years, they've been using them for type 2 diabetes. So then there's newer ones that are coming out that don't have as much research. But for the record, I can do 30, probably 30 ish pull ups without an assisted machine. And I, I have a quick story for you. I was in the mortgage business and I was out of shape after coming out of college and playing football. I got married, had a kid, I got out of shape, I let myself go. It's all on me. And I went to the gym with my friends, they were like, hey, let's start going to the gym together. And I was, you know, I'm five seven, I was like 235 out of shape. I had a fat neck, everything. And I went on a pull up machine and I tried to do a pull up and I was struggling to do one or two and I was so embarrassed and pissed off at myself. It was like a wake up and I just said this is unacceptable. And so I started doing pull ups and every time I go to the gym I do one and then two and then I would try to do another one and then just add one. And now it's not even a problem because I put the work in. So, you know, anything that you find where you're lacking, don't get overwhelmed with it. The process of accomplishing big things is chipping away, but being open to a quantum leap because they are available.

[B]

Absolutely. When I was, I was working at the state of office education, I put a pull up bar on my office door twice a week. And I said, you couldn't, you can't come in and visit with me, go to a meeting. You can't come in this office if you don't attempt a pull up. And I had a lady who couldn't do any initially. Within two years, she did more than anyone in the office.

[A]

Oh, that's awesome.

[B]

I mean it was amazing because she took that mindset, hey, I'm gonna do this. And she worked and worked. It was so. Oh, I wish I had video of it.

[A]

Yeah, you just have to, you just have to be like, you know, non negotiable. This is unacceptable. And once you say it's unacceptable, you don't accept it anymore because that's a decision that you make and life is based on decisions. Yeah, right. So yeah, that's been huge. Now the peptide, I've, I've tried them, but I've been around some of the world's top experts in these and they are phenomenal. And I'll tell you, GLP1s, GLP1s do work beyond an assisted pull up machine. I'll tell you why, because they do curb your appetite. And when you curb your appetite, you're gonna lose weight. Now the problem Is that most people don't eat enough protein when they do that, so they lose muscle. Losing muscle is counter, counterintention for what your intention is. And so, you know, for longevity. Right. So that's the problem is, is that I think they go beyond assisted pull ups, but you definitely have to make sure that you add that nutrition part in and the protein amount that you take must be up there because if you do this right, you not only lose weight, but I actually gain muscle, John. I gained muscle on a GLP1, microdosing a GLP1. And that's unheard of for most people because they don't approach it the right way with the right amount of protein and working out, sleeping. Right. All the stuff you were just talking

[B]

about, working out, the protein's important. But you said another important thing. You're not going to gain muscle unless you're working out. Right?

[A]

Right. 100%.

[B]

That's terrific.

[A]

Yeah. And you know what the other part about this is? What's done the most, gotten me the most results is hanging around and making sure my environment supported that. And you mentioned this already, the people around you. So I started hanging around the people. Now there's a rule or law, I've heard somebody, I don't know who came up with this, but you're the average of the five people you hang around. And so for me, I just started paying attention to who's in my environment.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Have you like focused that throughout your life on who's surrounding you?

[B]

Absolutely. That one strand that I mentioned, emotional consumption. I have a saying. I have a lot of sayings, as I'm sure you do. One of my sayings is, in the end, when life is ready to end, there's only one thing that matters in my judgment. I try to live my life according to this principle. One thing that matters, nothing else matters but relationships. First, relationship with God, your eternal power. Second, with your close family. Third, with your friends, and fourth, with everyone else in the world. That's the only thing that matters in the end is those relationships. So. Absolutely. And if you have toxic relationships, you don't want to hate people, but you don't want to allow them to destroy your life. And if you don't have those close and supportive relationships, then, you know, that takes effort. You need to make that effort. There's nothing more. People sit and spend their whole life working and then come to the end and they think, oh, no one says, I wish I would have worked more. You know, I wish I would have spent more time, you know, they're not. They're not mutually exclusive events. You can work hard. I mean, our family motto is work hard, play hard, love one another. Right. I mean, you can work hard, but you can't work hard in absence of attending to the relationships. And the better you deal with relationships, the more successful in work you'll be, I believe. Because that's. Work is all about that in the end, too, isn't it?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 100. Yeah, absolutely.

[B]

So, yes, absolutely agree with what you said.

[A]

Yeah. So with the knowledge that you've accumulated besides the podcast, are you working with people that need help with this stuff, or are you planning on doing that in the future? What's the plan?

[B]

Well, you remember, I had parallel paths. I was successful, lifetime educator, but all along this way, I was working in this field, did personal training. I taught a spin class for over a decade. Highly successful. You know, line out the door. We got over 100 people on bikes and got them to ride 100. So done that for a long, long time. And so, no, I'm not working with individuals now. My. My mission, my stewardship now is to. To promote this philosophy, to do my podcasting, do presentations, promote, get people to read my book so that they can learn that. And. And that's kind of the plan moving forward at this point. I mean, I have friends, I have people. I'll train someone for a marathon or, you know, such, because I can't. If someone asks me, certainly I will help them and answer a lot of questions, but as far as being that part of the business model or such, it's. It's more the. I'm the promoter, the speaker of truth. There's so much bad information out there. I want people to know, hey, this really isn't going to work. This isn't going to help you. This is what you need to do. And, you know, try to connect with people who can help. And there's so many great professionals out there now that understand what it takes. So.

[A]

Yeah. And, you know, you mentioned something about how much bad information's out there. And there's a. There's really this world of the marketer wins. Yeah. The marketer is the one that people listen to. And the people that are best known, even if they don't know what they're talking about or their average of what they're doing, they will kick everybody else's ass. That is not a good marketer. Get. Getting out there, understanding how the game is played, at getting attention. And I realized this in business and being successful in business over the years is that most businesses underestimate the amount of tension. Most podcast hosts underestimate the amount of tension it takes to achieve their target goal or whatever their vision is, and they just underestimate it. And those that aren't underestimating it are winning. And it's very dangerous when it comes

[B]

to health and wellness, you know, Very so dangerous. I just totally agree with you. Billions of dollars being wasted every year that can be spent on something positive.

[A]

Well, not only the money part, but like if they listen to the wrong thing. Like a peptide protocol is good for every. The same per everybody. Right. And it's not. It's individualized and depending on where you are, what your goals are, what your health history is, family history, all the things that doctors ask you, you have to really create a specific protocol for yourself and have somebody do it for you and monitor it. Yes. And blood work consistently. Like I get my blood work done quarterly.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

To make sure that everything's in check and then see what else needs to be optimized, you know, because there's side effects to things sometimes. Right? Like for example, if you're, you know, older gentleman, getting up into the age of 35 to 45 and on up, your testosterone starts to drop. If you do things to increase your testosterone outside of just normal, the foundational things, there's side effects that can happen which could increase. Estradiol, for example, can increase, you know, different problems with your liver, your kidneys, what have you. And you have to keep an eye on those things because if you don't, you've increase one thing and help, you know, optimize one thing, but then you're pulling something else back and then it doesn't overall doesn't work. So.

[B]

Absolutely. So how.

[A]

How old are you?

[B]

I am 67.

[A]

Okay, 67 years old. What is your routine throughout the week for yourself to.

[B]

It's funny that you would ask me that because I was thinking today, you know, I'm gonna probably need to do a little podcast and say it's. It's research within Inside As One. But here, after 40 years, is where I'm at. You gotta understand people like me, I'm kind of along the lines of a Peter Attia where I'm constantly changing. All the guys like who think like this do. So what I do today may not be what I do tomorrow. Although there's quite a few things I've kept for a long time. My goal for the last four years, I could spend two, three hours a day in the gym lifting. I mean, I, I did for parts of my life. I mean, I just enjoy that most people are not built that way. And so my goal was to develop that minimum and that minimum treatment that gives people the max amount of health, that sweet spot. It's a. And so I've been working on that and using that myself for quite a few years. So I lift twice a week. Absolutely. I would discuss that with anyone if they think they need to do more. You gain muscle. Not when you're destroying the cells through lifting. That's not when you get stronger, my friend. You get stronger afterwards. And if you don't give the afterwards, it's like you have this employee and you say, I want you to do all this work, here's all the stuff. And then you come back 10 minutes later. No, I want you to do this. Well, they're never getting anything done. Right. Because you keep dumping on them and these if you're lifting more than twice a week. So I lift twice a week. I do cardio pretty much every day. But I do a lot of different. We, you know, I, I've hiked the Grand Canyon a lot. I'm getting ready for it again. You know, I do ultra events, 30 to 40 mile runs.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Got to do some. Yeah, I'm, you know, I'm, I'm not a, I'm not a high end athlete. I have no.

[A]

But that's awesome that you do that.

[B]

Yeah, but I've done some things that very few people have. Yeah, we ran the Grand Canyon back up and back. It's called rim to rim to rim. And that's, you know, you're in the top 1%. And then we're serious cyclists, cycle a lot. Just got back from Europe on a cycling vacation. So I cycle and then I like to swim once a week because I train people for triathlons occasionally. We used to host one, we hosted one for like a decade. And I want to be able to, you know, swim inside. So you want different kinds actually. So that's kind of my, I do my, my weight resistance twice a week and I do cardio pretty much every day depending and vary it quite a bit. Unless I'm training for something like this, Grand Canyon training, it's not much of a hike this time. Like 10 miles down, 10 miles up and maybe 10 miles a day for four days. But you know, I want to be in good shape and not be the slow one. So I'm going to have to do a little more hiking for the next month or so. But yeah, that's that's kind of my. Okay, so I think for most people that's lift twice a week, four cards, cardios, at least 15 minutes with the high, high heart rate.

[A]

So lifting twice a week. Like one thing I do, I go more than twice a week, but I don't work the same muscle group.

[B]

Right, right, right.

[A]

So I'll do today. Here's my regimen. Today. I did deadlifts and then I worked some, some back. So I put the pull downs, rows and then I mixed in a little bit of tricep. Pull downs and overheads.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And, and warmed up on the assault bike for four minutes before I started any of that.

[B]

There you go.

[A]

So, so that was hitting some different groups. And then, you know, I'll go and do chest and, and biceps and, and maybe some whatever. And then the cardio part. So, so that's okay, right. Like multiple times a week. Beyond too. But you're not hitting the same muscle group every time.

[B]

It's a, when I say twice a week, it's to the muscle group. My, my experience has been over the years working with people. So you're not, you're not a normal guy. You're a serious, you are athlete. You are an athlete. And so a protocol for you is different than just the average folks. I'm talking to my average folks. Boy, twice a week is very doable, very committed. And if I can show them a workout in less than 30 minutes to keep very strong. And you can if you do it right. That's what I've worked on for all those years. Whole body, whole body, whole body, 30 minutes, twice a week. And people say, oh no, I've worked on, I've proven that it works. Well, not just me. I mean, I've lots of research, lots of people, and it's changed over the years of what I've done and now I'm down to that. And. Yeah, but there's a key word with all of that. If you're only gonna lift twice a week, you're only gonna live for less than half an hour. The intensity is the key, right?

[A]

Yeah, I'm intensifying.

[B]

That is the key. It's also the key with your cardio. Because the key to cardio is not, you know, two hours. I mean, I have to do some of that. The key to cardio is being able to take that heart rate up high a few times every day or two. And you're going to have great, great cardio fitness. You don't need to do cardio for, you know, hours on End hours on end, does something else. And you know, it depends. But just for cardio fitness, to avoid heart attack, to be able to have the wind to do. You don't need. You need a lot less than people think they need.

[A]

And most people don't realize when you're lifting weights, if you're intense with it, it's cardio actually get. Yeah, it's cardio. Like my heart rate gets up and. And then it goes down a little bit and then I hit another set and then it goes back up again and.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

So if you're doing it right with lifting, you don't need as much cardio. Intense cardio. You can do walks like get 10,000 steps in a day. You can do zone two, which called zone two cardio for 30 to 60 minutes and keep your heart rate in that 65% range, right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And that does a lot of things. It doesn't, it doesn't do the kinds of things you need to have done to prevent long term heart disease and to have the kind of physical energy you need, you got to get up into that zone three. But you're exactly right. Good lifting can be. It can also deal with flexibility too, if you're doing it right. I mean, a good lift can do a lot. Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, it's huge. Yeah. And. And the other thing is, what's an average day look like for you? Food wise boy.

[B]

Now that changes a lot all the time. Well, I've experimented with everything over the years. I was one of the first to do intermittent fasting. Because if you read the research, the research is generally ahead of the popular science. Right. Because it takes a while to publish. And so I was always reading the research and oh, wow, this is pretty interesting. And then it becomes popular. It's like, yeah, I've been doing that for a few years. I'm still on a form of restrictive window. You got to find out what works for you. I think this whole argument about macronutrients, how much protein. You know what? I think you can make any of them work. The research shows you can make any of them work. But our bodies are all different. And so you've got to find what works for you. I take an amino acid. That's one of the things I've been doing for, you know, essential amino acids. It's not the Bockets essential. So you get them all. And you can get about 50 grams, 50 grams of protein without any calories. So I do that first thing in the morning and that fuels my weight Workout and then I'm having. I'm. Right now I'm at about a two meal a day. I have a saying, like I said, lots of. If you eat food closer to the way God made it, the closer you can get, you're going to be healthy. Further away, you're not going to be so healthy. So vegetables, fruits, some sort of protein. I'm a little unusual. I mean for 15 years I ate the same thing every day for lunch. I. Because it was a perfect meal. I ate chili. My wife made it. And it was just a perfect meal. Ate it everything. People say, how could you eat the same thing? Well, I can do that.

[A]

Makes it easier. It actually makes it easier.

[B]

It makes it easier. A lot of people see, doesn't work for everyone. So I'm not saying you should do that, but you should. I think it's helpful to identify meals that do work for you. And you say, how do you know they work for you? Well, you know, you get an insulin measurement and you check and see what happens to your body. An hour after two hours, I can eat a meal and I could check my blood sugar and it might not even impact and you could eat the exact same meal and it spikes and you say, how can that be? Well, you know, we're all different. So the meals I have based on that, there's some, I have some go tos, you know, I like a Greek salad. I don't know if you've ever eat that much, but you can use olive oil in it. You got all these vegetables you got. And then you throw some chicken in it and you can make up a batch on Monday and I eat it all week long. So.

[A]

So yeah, yeah, that's.

[B]

I'm into simplicity.

[A]

Yeah, me too. I, I like, I like not having to think. So what I do, I wake up and have 30 grams of protein, give or take. And then I'll have an avocado. Avocados, Healthy fats.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then I hit the gym and then I'll come back and I'll have four eggs with some egg beaters extra because I want some extra protein.

[B]

Yes, sir.

[A]

I'll have, I'll have a cup of blueberries.

[B]

Oh, and I just had my wife giving us some extras yesterday. Blueberries.

[A]

Blueberries are my favorite. I just pop them like a snack, right?

[B]

Yep, yep.

[A]

And then, and then for lunch what I've been doing is I've been going to the store and they have these rotisserie chickens and you got to get there by 11 because they sell out

[B]

of Them is that at Costco you

[A]

get the rotisserie grocery stores that have that, that rotisserie chickens. And I'll grab some rotisserie chickens and then I'll just eat half of the white meat on a rotisserie chicken for lunch with some golden bib lettuce like stuff. And that's. And that's it. And then maybe I'll throw in a banana once in a while or some from some potassium and all that.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And then, and then my wife makes dinner and I have whatever she eats for, you know, makes for dinner. It's usually pretty healthy.

[B]

We're pretty aligned.

[A]

And I just do the same thing every day and it just like it works, you know, it works.

[B]

We get one of those rotisserie chickens and that's where the chicken for my Greek salad comes from. I do two other things too that are, well, research based that I've been doing for quite a while. And I've, I've done some podcasts on. I eat beets every day. Oh yeah, beets are superfood. And you get a fresh beets, you slice them up, you put them in some hummus. I did a podcast on it and a lot of people thought, oh yeah, they try that. And I eat a spoonful of sauerkraut every morning too. And you know what, it tastes good and it's good, really good. You don't need to take all of this stuff. You eat the right foods and your gut health will be good. So I'd recommend both of those too.

[A]

Amazing. Well, listen, John, where can people go deeper with you? Because we're up against the clock, but I want to make sure they know where to find you.

[B]

John Jesse's health continuum. You can get the book on Amazon and you can watch the podcast on any of the podcast providers. Dropped a new episode this morning about stem cell, which is another. It's not quite as big as Peptides, but it's pretty big right now and I learned a lot from that episode. So those two places and I have a website, healthcontinuum.com you go there and everything's there. So love to hear from you. Love to have you become part of the. We need to be connected, right?

[A]

Yeah. Let's go go check them out. John Jesse, everybody. John, thank you so much for being here today.

[B]

Thanks. Appreciate it, Mike.

[A]

All right, hang tight while I wrap this up, folks. That's this episode of the Woody made of show. It's your boy C Rock here with John Jesse sharing what he's made of. Make sure you hit the subscribe Follow button at the top your favorite podcast platform, and tell people about the show. If you're getting benefit from the show or it's information you're implementing in your life and it's changing your life, don't be a gatekeeper. Share it with people and until next time, be that one.