Order of Man - BRANDON MANCINE ｜ Get Strong and Do Stuff

00:00:00.000 So with the brand new year, I figured it would be a good idea to talk with an expert on the topic of health and fitness.

00:00:08.160 For almost 10 years, I've suggested that if a man is just getting on or even back on the path of self-development, the gym is often the best place to start.

00:00:16.800 Now, there's a lot of different reasons for this, but I think my guest today, Brandon Mancina, would agree.

00:00:21.840 Today, Brandon and I talk about the three types of fitness goals every man should implement.

00:00:26.340 All three have merit, of course, why a broken past does not define you, weightlifting benchmarks all men should hit or at least be working towards,

00:00:35.780 the importance of intelligent lifting, especially as we men get older, getting over ego lifting, and why now is the perfect time to get strong.

00:00:46.120 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest.

00:00:49.020 Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.

00:00:51.700 When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time.

00:00:56.340 You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, or strong.

00:01:01.480 This is your life. This is who you are.

00:01:03.980 This is who you will become.

00:01:05.700 At the end of the day, and after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

00:01:13.380 Gentlemen, welcome to the Order of Man podcast.

00:01:15.700 If you are just tuning in for the very first time today, glad you're here.

00:01:19.080 If you've been with us for the last almost 10 years now, welcome back.

00:01:24.340 As you might know, we cover health issues, financial issues, husband and father issues, leadership issues, and also cultural issues that affect us as men,

00:01:34.960 and in turn affect our kids, our wife, our community members, our clients, and colleagues, and coworkers, and everybody that we come in contact with.

00:01:44.600 And that's why it's so crucial that whether you listen to this podcast or something else, that you are constantly working on becoming a better man.

00:01:53.460 We need to stay vigilant in the battle to reclaim and restore masculinity and the battle for improving ourselves as men.

00:02:00.720 We've had guys like Dave Ramsey, Ben Shapiro, Tim Tebow, Terry Crews, George Foreman, Matthew McConaughey.

00:02:08.720 We've had Chris Williamson on the podcast, Jocko Willink.

00:02:11.400 The lineup of men that come on each and every week is phenomenal.

00:02:15.400 It's a testament to what we're doing here and a testament to you tuning in and finding value from what we're doing.

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00:03:14.240 All right, let me introduce you to my guest.

00:03:15.740 His name is Brandon Mancine.

00:03:16.840 He's a friend of mine.

00:03:18.580 He said that he's a former Marine.

00:03:20.720 I didn't know there were former Marines.

00:03:22.720 I thought that once a Marine, always a Marine.

00:03:24.700 But he is no longer actively in the Marine Corps.

00:03:27.360 Let's just say that.

00:03:28.260 He's also a professional trainer who's been dubbed a real-life Wolverine after defying all odds

00:03:36.640 and recovering beyond doctor's expectations following a very tragic accident that he had in 2017.

00:03:43.480 He talks about that in the podcast.

00:03:44.860 Since 2001, he's helped thousands embrace health through strength and resilience,

00:03:51.680 and he focuses on developing physical abilities rather than just chasing the numbers on a scale.

00:03:57.260 He's also a husband, a father of two.

00:03:59.080 He's passionate about raising responsible sons and daughters.

00:04:02.700 Through his work as a coach, he inspires others to embrace strength, resilience, excuse me,

00:04:09.300 and purpose and building legacies that change the trajectory of their lives and pass on generational health.

00:04:17.780 Brandon, what's up, man?

00:04:18.660 So great to see you.

00:04:19.520 It's been, what, six months, six, seven months, something like that.

00:04:23.240 Has it been that long since you came out here for one of our events?

00:04:25.800 Yeah.

00:04:26.000 Yeah.

00:04:26.580 Yeah.

00:04:27.240 Maybe a little bit longer.

00:04:28.100 Time goes so fast.

00:04:29.680 Time goes so fast.

00:04:30.980 I have a five-year-old and a three-year-old.

00:04:32.280 I have no idea how the hell that happened.

00:04:34.480 I have a 16-year-old who is going to be a senior next year, so that's pretty wild, too.

00:04:41.600 I have so many questions, Brian.

00:04:43.820 I don't know how much time you have today, but we could just go off on that.

00:04:47.540 I don't have any answers.

00:04:49.080 I wish I did, but I have not got it figured out yet.

00:04:52.020 And every time I think I have it figured out, something else is thrown at me, and I'm like,

00:04:55.640 well, that didn't work.

00:04:56.540 What do I need to do now?

00:04:57.620 That's a bit comforting and a bit scary.

00:05:00.120 Yeah.

00:05:00.620 Yeah, for sure.

00:05:02.000 Well, man, I loved having you out when you came out.

00:05:04.460 And one of the things that I think naturally I noticed, and I think a lot of guys do,

00:05:08.360 they probably don't acknowledge they do, is your physique.

00:05:11.760 When we did the ice baths and everything else, I'm like, man, that guy is jacked.

00:05:15.540 He's big.

00:05:16.040 He's strong. 0.93

00:05:16.580 He's jacked.

00:05:17.240 And I think a lot of guys would love to be at the most superficial level looking like

00:05:24.520 somebody that has a physique like yours.

00:05:28.060 Thanks, man.

00:05:28.980 My ego is doing backflips over here right now.

00:05:32.000 But yeah, so I've been in health and fitness for about 25 years now.

00:05:38.100 So I'm glad to hear I looked the part.

00:05:40.580 I am more concerned with, can I tell you a joke?

00:05:48.180 Yeah, keep going.

00:05:48.860 I'm listening.

00:05:49.360 Keep going.

00:05:49.920 Gotcha.

00:05:50.760 So I told Father Michael Butler this joke, but I made this one up myself.

00:05:56.040 What is the difference between a bodybuilder and a stripper? 1.00

00:05:59.080 However, the stripper has money. 1.00

00:06:03.640 The stripper has money, can at least fake a personality, and arguably serves a purpose in 1.00

00:06:08.240 this world.

00:06:09.600 Now, I am going to catch a lot of hate right off the bat for that.

00:06:13.000 I actually posted that in the IC once, and yeah, it's upset a lot of people.

00:06:18.260 But I want to be clear.

00:06:20.340 I'm not saying bodybuilding is easy.

00:06:21.860 It is not.

00:06:22.500 It is a difficult, challenging endeavor.

00:06:25.240 Um, but I, uh, I like to pursue service over status in, uh, in my, my health and fitness.

00:06:36.220 I, um, I look at the, the aesthetic qualities as a side effect, um, uh, you know, a side

00:06:43.260 effect I enjoy for sure, but it is not the, um, the primary pursuit.

00:06:50.420 Yeah, I w I would agree with that.

00:06:51.960 The one I'm going to, I'm going to step in and defend bodybuilders a little bit.

00:06:55.240 Um, I think the one thing where, where bodybuilding is, is really cool that I admire is, and I've

00:07:02.720 never done any bodybuilding competitions.

00:07:04.620 I've never trained for bodybuilding, none of that.

00:07:06.820 But one thing that I think is cool is to see how far you can push this human machine.

00:07:13.140 I don't think it's a sustainable way of life, but I think it's a great opportunity for somebody

00:07:18.540 to really push the limits on what the human body is capable of.

00:07:25.040 And what it could actually look like under these very precise set of circumstances.

00:07:31.580 Yeah, it, it absolutely is.

00:07:34.220 And again, I, I want to stress, I am not saying it's easy.

00:07:37.540 Um, I will tell you just a quick story here where, uh, where my, um, my notions about bodybuilding

00:07:46.560 come from back when I was like 12, my brother and I, uh, we would go to this world gym in North for

00:07:53.000 sales, family friend.

00:07:55.440 I don't know if he was a franchise owner or a manager, whatever.

00:07:58.300 Johnny D was his name.

00:07:59.500 It's, it's the only way I knew him.

00:08:01.140 Uh, so he was there and he would, you know, go do this, go do this.

00:08:04.740 He would give us little workouts to do.

00:08:06.340 And we were working out one day and these two guys were standing in front of the mirror.

00:08:10.760 They were trainers there.

00:08:11.860 Um, and they were posing down, right.

00:08:16.980 And like one would show his arms and the next one would, they would take off their shirts,

00:08:20.860 chest, back, each round of posing, like another, uh, article of clothing came off in a public

00:08:27.180 gym, you know, until they're, you remember jam pants, remember those from the eighties?

00:08:32.260 Well, like MC hammer pants or what?

00:08:33.940 Like MC hammer pants.

00:08:34.500 Yes.

00:08:34.800 Got it.

00:08:35.200 Okay.

00:08:35.420 Yeah, sure.

00:08:36.380 So until they both had jam pants around their ankles and then one of them says, uh, it doesn't

00:08:43.380 matter if you look better, I'm stronger.

00:08:46.020 And the other one goes, well, what do I care if you're stronger?

00:08:48.140 I look better.

00:08:48.780 And at 12 years old, I remember thinking that's not something a man should say, you know, you

00:08:54.960 might be stronger, but I look better.

00:08:56.660 And then Johnny sweeps in and he was like half these, the size of these guys.

00:09:00.800 And he was like, finger in the face.

00:09:02.040 We couldn't hear what he was saying, but they were like scared of him.

00:09:04.480 Right.

00:09:05.240 And he comes back by my brother and I, and he's like, whenever there's, you know, real

00:09:08.680 work to be done, they both have injuries and are worthless.

00:09:11.640 So that is my, like my first perception of bodybuilders.

00:09:15.340 And again, it's just, it, it's kind of that.

00:09:19.240 And in some other mentors I had coming up, it's guided my pursuit of, again, going towards

00:09:23.940 a service over status.

00:09:25.880 And I want to stress, I know I'm going to catch eight for it for everything I've said so far.

00:09:31.340 I am not saying it's easy.

00:09:33.120 I'm just saying it's not something I am going to pursue.

00:09:36.800 Or even, you know, I've had people approach me to coach them for bodybuilding competitions.

00:09:40.780 And I tell them, Hey, I know some great coach.

00:09:42.640 I do have friends that are bodybuilders.

00:09:45.060 I do.

00:09:46.020 And I refer people who want to do that to them because I mean, could I coach someone to

00:09:50.720 do that?

00:09:51.540 Sure.

00:09:51.820 But I don't, I think you would want to coach who is like into it.

00:09:56.360 You know what I mean?

00:09:57.200 Sure.

00:09:57.640 Of course.

00:09:58.400 Do you, do you feel like most guys who want to get fit?

00:10:01.320 I mean, this is probably a busy time of year.

00:10:03.100 You know, it's the beginning of the year.

00:10:05.060 Guys are thinking about new year's resolutions and obviously physique build, everything like

00:10:09.840 that is something that's on a lot of guys' minds.

00:10:12.780 Do you think that when they in their minds are thinking about getting healthy, that that's

00:10:18.180 what they're thinking is I'm going to look like that guy.

00:10:21.420 That's the ideal that I want.

00:10:23.160 I would say, you know, it depends on their environment, what they're looking at.

00:10:29.900 You know, I think so that the story I gave you about like my first interaction seeing

00:10:35.500 bodybuilders is a very similar perception to why a lot of people don't like CrossFit.

00:10:43.800 I think if social media was in the late 70s, early 80s, what it is today, people would

00:10:49.900 make the same jokes about bodybuilding because all over social media would have been the 0.96

00:10:53.400 stupid things like that situation I told you about that bodybuilders were doing in gyms. 0.99

00:10:58.000 You know what I mean? 1.00

00:10:58.580 Versus, you know, the gym fails that you see that everybody loves to share about CrossFit.

00:11:03.480 Look, at their core, bodybuilding, CrossFit, you know, we can talk about other modalities.

00:11:09.440 They are as effective a pursuit when intelligently followed for getting healthier, right?

00:11:18.560 Again, when you're going on stage for a bodybuilding competition, you do sacrifice health, utility

00:11:25.440 abilities to achieve that level of leanness.

00:11:29.920 Um, but when you're going into a CrossFit competition, just like a football game, just

00:11:34.660 like any sport, your concern is not the long-term, just like if you're going to compete in MMA,

00:11:41.580 jujitsu or boxing or something like that, your concern is not long-term health in that moment.

00:11:45.920 Your concern is performance.

00:11:48.900 Yeah, I think at least in my own personal experience, and I did CrossFit for probably four or five years

00:11:54.280 and I actually really loved CrossFit.

00:11:55.960 I, I enjoyed it.

00:11:57.240 Um, and then I moved to Maine and, uh, kind of fell by the wayside a little bit.

00:12:01.440 And then I got into strength training.

00:12:02.640 And for me personally, strength training has produced even just aesthetically and, and the

00:12:10.440 way that I feel, the way my body feels has produced far superior results to CrossFit alone.

00:12:17.520 Yeah, absolutely.

00:12:19.420 So I, my hashtag is get strong and do stuff.

00:12:22.680 It's as I summarize it, the everyday man's version of strength and conditioning.

00:12:28.080 If you did CrossFit, you've, you've probably seen the, the 10 general physical skills.

00:12:34.040 Yeah.

00:12:34.700 Like, uh, stamina recovery, that, that sort of thing is what we're talking about.

00:12:39.760 Cardio, stamina, strength, power, speed, agility, balance.

00:12:44.040 Got it.

00:12:44.900 Huey, Dewey and Louie.

00:12:45.760 Yeah.

00:12:45.980 I can't remember, never remember.

00:12:47.020 Right.

00:12:47.380 Yeah.

00:12:47.720 But, um, strength has the greatest carryover to all other abilities.

00:12:51.920 If we make you stronger in the basic human movement patterns, squat, hinge, push, pull

00:12:56.760 lunge, right. 0.99

00:12:58.320 By default, your balance is better.

00:13:00.380 Your accuracy is better because if you gain muscle and you develop strength, which you can

00:13:06.460 put a focus toward one or the other, but they, they happen symbiotically.

00:13:09.520 Um, all the other physical skills are going to get better.

00:13:13.720 You're going to have better endurance because one of the adaptations of building muscle is,

00:13:18.680 uh, capillary blood getting from the heart to the muscles, right?

00:13:24.520 You were going to, you got to speak to us as layman's, right?

00:13:26.680 You were going to say that you were going to give us the scientific terms behind it all.

00:13:29.780 Well, I, yeah, I'm not, I'm not here to, yeah.

00:13:35.800 It's fine.

00:13:36.700 We can handle it too.

00:13:37.780 We can handle either one.

00:13:38.800 So I want to know it all.

00:13:40.920 It, it, it doesn't, I mean, I can wax poetic, but I don't want to, I'm not here to impress

00:13:46.680 anybody.

00:13:47.020 And, and again, social media being what it is, I would just get ripped apart for, I didn't

00:13:52.120 verbalize it this way.

00:13:53.340 The accent was on the wrong, whatever.

00:13:55.180 Anyway, um, if you get stronger, all other, all the other nine physical skills are made

00:14:03.140 better.

00:14:03.800 If we work on your balance, your strength wasn't, doesn't by default get better.

00:14:07.560 So this is a universal principle, the Pareto principle, right?

00:14:10.380 The 80, 20 rule, however you want to put that strength has the greatest care of it all

00:14:14.800 others, but not just in terms of the short-term physical abilities like that.

00:14:19.460 You increase bone density, uh, ligament and tendon strength, ligament, tendon, 10, cell

00:14:23.780 strength, um, become stronger.

00:14:25.620 So you are, you know, Mark Ripto, right?

00:14:29.520 Sure.

00:14:29.920 Yeah.

00:14:30.180 Starting strength.

00:14:31.260 Yeah.

00:14:31.900 Um, stronger people are harder to kill and more useful in general, right?

00:14:35.880 No truer statement has been made.

00:14:40.160 Yeah, I would, I would agree with that.

00:14:42.140 I think this is probably why we hear so often, you correct me if I'm wrong, but why we talk

00:14:47.260 about compound movements so much is because when you do those compound movements, it's the

00:14:52.220 biggest bang for your buck is the way that I view it in my head.

00:14:55.360 If you're going to do a squat, for example, or a deadlift, it's, it's the most use of muscles

00:15:00.980 for the least amount of output.

00:15:04.380 Yes.

00:15:05.320 Yeah.

00:15:05.760 And it, it, CrossFit is a good example of this because before, uh, like 2012, the, the

00:15:15.080 games didn't have a strength bias.

00:15:17.020 And then after that they did and any good CrossFit gym is going to have a, uh, strength

00:15:25.120 bias to their programming because it is, um, the most effective way.

00:15:30.400 Right.

00:15:31.540 Uh, I think it was the Russians that started it calling it GPP, general physical preparedness. 0.67

00:15:36.200 You work on strength and those basic patterns I talk about, and, and you can get to a level,

00:15:43.480 uh, you know, we can talk about body weight, bench press, uh, one and a quarter body weight

00:15:51.500 squats, back squat, and then one and a half deadlift are like some good benchmarks.

00:15:55.800 You know, everything else being even, there can be injuries that limit that, but those

00:16:00.540 are some good places to start.

00:16:01.920 And then you can work on sports specific stuff from there.

00:16:05.600 Yeah.

00:16:06.000 I was really lucky early in my career to have, to work with some coaches.

00:16:09.480 Cause again, I started in like 2001 when CrossFit was getting popular.

00:16:14.320 Everybody was standing on top of BOSU balls.

00:16:16.280 And, you know, I was really lucky to work with some guys who were like, look, if, if you

00:16:21.580 have a client that wants to do that, cool, help them increase that ability.

00:16:25.800 But make them a better athlete in the sport of life, whatever that is for them, being

00:16:31.140 a dad, mom, you know, husband, wife, uh, whatever recreational sport they enjoy.

00:16:38.260 Yeah.

00:16:38.900 And for the longterm, not just in, you know, the next six months.

00:16:42.680 Yeah.

00:16:43.040 I never really understood.

00:16:44.020 And I see people at the gym sometimes, and I try not to judge.

00:16:46.800 I don't know what they're doing.

00:16:47.780 I don't know what their goals and objectives are.

00:16:49.400 It's not for me to decide or judge, but I do look at it and wonder why in the world are

00:16:53.360 they doing that?

00:16:53.920 Like you said, they're holding a, you know, an easy curl bar and like doing a curl, like

00:17:01.120 bicep curls as they're doing air squats on top of a BOSU ball.

00:17:05.100 And I'm like, what would happen if you just learned how to squat, like really, really heavy?

00:17:10.000 Would it be better than the shenanigans that you've got going on over here?

00:17:14.300 Yeah.

00:17:15.260 Yeah.

00:17:19.100 Spoiler alert.

00:17:19.800 It would be.

00:17:21.180 Right.

00:17:22.060 Right.

00:17:23.220 Well, and it's interesting too, since we're talking about CrossFit, you know, you have

00:17:26.500 guys like Rich Froning and Matt Fraser, who's Fraser has been on the podcast.

00:17:30.900 These guys, a lot of people, I don't think really know.

00:17:34.360 Maybe they know more now, but five, six, seven years ago, they may not have that.

00:17:38.260 These guys all have strength training regiments built into their, their training programs.

00:17:44.680 They're not just doing CrossFit.

00:17:46.700 So they're good at CrossFit.

00:17:47.740 They're actually building.

00:17:48.800 And that's why you see the CrossFit champion.

00:17:51.720 Who's probably, if I had to guess, probably between five, eight to five, 11, you know, maybe

00:17:59.020 185 to 210 pounds.

00:18:01.700 And they're just stacked.

00:18:03.460 They're strong as oxes.

00:18:06.360 Yeah.

00:18:08.320 Yeah.

00:18:08.840 It's, uh, um, yeah, I, I don't think I can expand on that.

00:18:15.240 I think you nailed it.

00:18:16.700 Yeah.

00:18:17.780 When it comes to, you, you talked a little bit about the benchmarks.

00:18:21.920 I think a lot of guys that would be helpful for, um, I'd love to hear what those are in

00:18:26.900 some of the big lifts, you know, obviously bench press, deadlift, squat, pull-ups are

00:18:30.860 a big part, overhead press, I think are a big part of what people are doing.

00:18:34.240 And then of course there's an infinite number of ancillary type exercises you can do, but

00:18:38.940 what are some of the benchmarks that a guy can look at and say, all right, am I at least

00:18:43.660 strong?

00:18:44.220 Like, am I at least where I need to be or what do I need to do to get there?

00:18:47.980 You know, yeah, we can talk about like the, the body weight bench press is, is a good bench

00:18:55.420 if, if we're looking at where to set an initial goal, body weight, bench press one and a quarter

00:19:04.440 weight, body weight, back squat, uh, one and a half body weight deadlift, right?

00:19:09.280 Can you, can you hit those when we're talking about general physical preparedness?

00:19:14.440 Um, there's, those are the, the, like the tests they're not necessarily the work, you

00:19:22.380 know, you're not just going to do those.

00:19:24.000 There's, um, especially as we get older, like so much of my workout now is, you know,

00:19:30.120 especially my time in the Marines working in special operations, you know, the accident

00:19:35.480 I had a few years ago, uh, I'm doing just a lot of unilateral, so single leg work, right?

00:19:40.140 Instead of you've got two legs and one spine, right?

00:19:44.140 So I need to make sure that that spine is good for the longterm.

00:19:48.720 Um, but it's, you know, if we can, if we can go off on a bit of a tangent here, right?

00:19:55.440 Um, what is strength?

00:20:01.620 Are you asking me or are you, sorry, sorry.

00:20:04.560 Yeah.

00:20:05.280 I didn't know if you're, you're saying that rhetorically or what, what is strength?

00:20:09.020 Um, that's a really good question.

00:20:12.600 I mean, if we're looking at it, maybe from a more scientific perspective, you know, it's

00:20:19.040 got to be an equation of some sorts where, you know, your output is greater than, or your,

00:20:26.480 your, yeah, your output is greater than your input or, you know, something along those lines.

00:20:31.760 I don't know quite how to define it, but your ability to move objects at a, at a multiplier

00:20:37.500 of, of force.

00:20:39.460 So I would say something like that.

00:20:40.900 So let's, let's, uh, you know, we're, I guess we were talking more about the physical

00:20:45.540 right now, but let's, when we look at what is strength, it is the ability of a position

00:20:50.760 or pattern to maintain its integrity under stress.

00:20:55.660 Hmm.

00:20:56.220 Okay.

00:20:56.600 Yeah, that makes sense.

00:20:57.480 We can overlay that definition to your religious or philosophical positions.

00:21:03.320 We can put that definition on your relationship.

00:21:06.700 Do you have a strong relationship?

00:21:08.920 Uh, we can overlay that in all domains, but when we look at strength training, we're looking

00:21:16.760 in the physical realm again, squat, hinge, push and pull.

00:21:21.160 Right.

00:21:21.660 So the reason why I asked that question, I'm going off on this little tangent, right?

00:21:27.360 When we look at strength training, what we're doing is we're using the body to control the

00:21:33.240 space between two pieces of mass, right?

00:21:36.800 Earth and the barbell, right?

00:21:38.760 If you remember how mass is two, two pieces of mass in space have an attraction to each

00:21:42.440 other.

00:21:42.720 That's what we call weight.

00:21:43.940 So instead of putting the emphasis on, you can have these goals of percentage of body

00:21:49.940 weight for the primary movements, but where you start is you put the emphasis on, emphasis

00:21:55.160 on, can I squat well?

00:21:58.880 Can I hinge well?

00:22:00.480 So the next question is, what is the core, right?

00:22:05.820 And when I ask that, uh, most people think six pack, that's part of it, but it is the

00:22:11.560 collective collective of muscles from just below the hips to just below the neck that

00:22:16.240 keep your, that stabilize your spine and mobilize your spine.

00:22:20.600 Just above the hips. 0.74

00:22:22.680 Correct.

00:22:23.580 Uh, just below the hips.

00:22:24.740 Cause there are muscles that attach to the top of the legs that it's the muscles. 0.84

00:22:28.540 Okay.

00:22:28.560 All right.

00:22:28.780 The muscles, we don't even have to go that far.

00:22:30.660 We can say the muscles that stabilize the spine, right?

00:22:34.680 So, um, you, uh, you have to be able to practice that when you squat, if you're going to be

00:22:44.080 squatting 400 pounds someday, can you squat all the way down and keep your spine in the same

00:22:49.740 shape as it changes position?

00:22:52.300 Or does you familiar with the term butt wink, right?

00:22:55.900 No, I'm not.

00:22:56.580 Okay.

00:22:56.860 Well, that's when you squat, if your hips tuck under at the bottom, right?

00:22:59.560 That's what we call a butt wink. 1.00

00:23:00.680 Okay.

00:23:00.700 Yeah.

00:23:01.160 So what happens there?

00:23:02.140 Cause the spine is just a series of joints stacked on top of one another.

00:23:04.520 So if you squat down, that butt wink happens, all those discs at the bottom are like this.

00:23:09.160 There is one, an opportunity for injury, which translates to a loss of power.

00:23:14.820 It's proprioceptively your body senses.

00:23:16.680 There's an opportunity for injury.

00:23:17.800 It's not going to, it's going to limit how much power you can put out there.

00:23:21.480 So interesting.

00:23:22.480 So before we talk about like, if you're just getting back into strength training,

00:23:26.500 this, this is where, when I'm starting with somebody, right, there's two types of clients,

00:23:31.940 right?

00:23:32.140 There's the kind I have to push.

00:23:33.300 They're just starting to kind of often have to pull the reins back on the difference between

00:23:38.040 strength training and yoga is external load.

00:23:41.260 They're both a practice of shapes, right?

00:23:44.660 And then the more stress we put on those patterns, going back to that definition of strength,

00:23:50.340 the more stress you are dealing with to, to maintain that movement pattern as you move

00:23:57.160 through it.

00:23:58.880 Wait, I know I threw a lot of information out there, man.

00:24:01.260 And what kind of, uh, what kind of questions does that bring up?

00:24:06.440 I mean, for me, as you're talking about this, this is why I think, and you tell me what you

00:24:11.920 think about this, that technique is so important.

00:24:14.060 In fact, I think it's probably more important than weight.

00:24:16.500 There's a Instagram account that I follow.

00:24:18.400 I think it's called ego lifters and it's guys doing, you know, bicep curls that are way too

00:24:24.240 heavy and they're like arching their back and like tweaking their body and having spasms

00:24:28.420 just to get this barbell or this, uh, cable bicep curl up or, you know, squat.

00:24:33.640 They're doing squats, but they have that butt wink and their backs all rounded.

00:24:36.680 And it looks like they're just going to kill themselves, but they're trying to hit that ego

00:24:41.380 mark.

00:24:41.960 Those bicep curl guys are just doing like one arm cable cleans. 0.80

00:24:45.140 Yeah.

00:24:45.740 Yeah, exactly.

00:24:46.500 Yeah, exactly.

00:24:47.580 So that's what I think of, but it's hard.

00:24:49.200 I will say it's hard because when I go to the gym, I have an app and I train, you know,

00:24:54.560 every six days a week I train.

00:24:56.460 And so I have this app and I'm looking at it and I'm like, okay, well, here's what I

00:24:59.800 did on squat last week.

00:25:02.020 Of course I want to do more this week.

00:25:04.660 So it's good because things like that tracking, it pushes you, but also is it appropriate if you

00:25:11.580 start breaking down in form?

00:25:12.740 And I'm sure there's been times where I have because I'm pushing more than I'm able

00:25:17.880 to do with proper form and technique.

00:25:20.260 Right.

00:25:21.040 Yeah.

00:25:21.560 You, um, you nailed it there.

00:25:24.000 You know, you were a while ago, was it an uprising or we were talking about, um, somebody

00:25:31.240 mentioned missing a PR and I said, I made a joke saying what's missing a PR and you were

00:25:36.920 like, Oh, come on.

00:25:37.620 You know, you, I think you, you know, you can agree that everybody's going to miss a

00:25:41.840 PR at some point.

00:25:43.240 And if you're lifting intelligently, and again, we, we all stray from that power, ego pulls

00:25:51.760 us off that path.

00:25:53.060 You wouldn't write.

00:25:54.260 When you look at the guys that set world records in, you know, powerlifting now, and we can

00:25:59.580 go off on a tangent and how they're, uh, supplementing their workouts, but they don't miss lifts for

00:26:08.560 six to 12 months before they set world records.

00:26:11.500 Right.

00:26:11.920 Cause it is a simple linear formula.

00:26:13.940 Now these guys are also filing following the, to the T, the linear formula of sleep, of nutrition,

00:26:21.320 of supplementation of, you know, however they're enhancing their performance, they're outside

00:26:26.060 of the workout.

00:26:27.380 But again, for us being dads and living in the real world and, you know, dealing with injuries

00:26:34.680 we've sustained and all that stuff.

00:26:36.080 You know, just a few weeks ago, uh, there was a, a lift I was going for, and I was just

00:26:44.740 like, this doesn't, I mean, I can't do this today.

00:26:47.220 Right.

00:26:48.340 It was, um, it was, uh, the better move.

00:26:51.080 Something didn't feel right in my back.

00:26:52.320 It was the better move to step away and, and, and go work something else.

00:26:55.180 So I consider that somewhat of a PR and that I, I conquered my ego that day.

00:26:59.060 Right.

00:26:59.620 That is intelligent lifting.

00:27:01.300 That is keeping the, the, the longterm what, you know, we've talked about it.

00:27:06.080 But, uh, legacy and lifestyle goals in, uh, in, in mind.

00:27:10.880 I think that's a good distinction.

00:27:12.480 So when you're saying PR, you're talking about more than just what was the weight on

00:27:17.200 the bar at that moment, you're talking about, did you hit it with proper technique?

00:27:21.620 Did you do it in a way that would create strength and longevity for you without the

00:27:26.220 risk of hurting yourself?

00:27:27.160 So there's a lot more going into what you would consider a PR versus what most people

00:27:32.140 consider as it was the heaviest weight on the bar that I've ever been able to move from

00:27:36.640 here to here.

00:27:37.940 Yeah.

00:27:38.300 So back to the, originally why I went off on this, this tangent is you were asking about

00:27:42.240 benchmarks for weight, um, be the best mover, be able to drop into a full body weight squat

00:27:49.380 and keep your spine in that neutral natural position.

00:27:52.580 You're you're when you move through squat hinge, push and pull, you need to be able to

00:27:59.280 maintain the shape of your spine while it changes position.

00:28:03.820 And then good form.

00:28:05.580 If we can, you know, everybody loves to toss that phrase around is movement with zero unintentional

00:28:13.760 movement.

00:28:14.140 Man, I'm going to step away from the conversation with Brandon, just very briefly.

00:28:19.500 I have very, very exciting news.

00:28:21.140 You guys may have heard me talk about the men's forge event that we have coming up May 1st

00:28:25.320 through the 4th, 2025.

00:28:27.100 So here in the next several months, and I just got word that Robert Glover, author of no more

00:28:33.940 Mr. Nice guy has just agreed to attend and speak at our event.

00:28:38.620 So if you're a nice guy like me, or maybe more accurately a recovering nice guy, uh, you

00:28:46.380 will not want to miss this incredible event.

00:28:48.380 Not only that with, with, uh, Dr. Robert Glover, but myself, Larry Hagner from the dad edge, Matt

00:28:54.780 Boudreau from Apogee strong, Connor Beaton from man talks and Matthew Vincent from not dead

00:29:01.140 yet.

00:29:01.360 We'll be there and we're all going to put on a men's event.

00:29:04.100 Unlike any other, I think we're going to transform what it means to run an event.

00:29:09.380 I think your traditional conference style event, but in a very cool masculine venue that

00:29:15.760 will have activities and structured guidance and support and conversations and abilities

00:29:22.200 to communicate and connect with other men.

00:29:24.660 Uh, it is going to be incredible.

00:29:26.380 And not only that for the price that you would normally pay to go to a conference style event.

00:29:30.880 And all you get to do is listen to somebody yap at you for two or three days, and then

00:29:35.200 you have to buy your own food, buy your own hotel.

00:29:37.160 This event, we cover all the lodging, all the food, and it's not just us getting on stage,

00:29:43.820 barking commands at you guys, talking at you.

00:29:46.640 It's very interactive.

00:29:48.220 It's going to be very incredible.

00:29:49.500 And I want to change the landscape of how people do events, something a little better.

00:29:53.780 So if you want to know more about what we're doing there, May 1st through the 4th, 2025,

00:29:59.420 including get to see myself and the other guys and Dr. Robert Glover, head to themensforge.com.

00:30:05.400 That's themensforge.com.

00:30:08.160 Do that right after the show.

00:30:09.560 For now, let's get back to it with Brandon.

00:30:13.060 I think that's a good, that's, that's actually interesting because I've seen, and I've done

00:30:16.300 this too, where, you know, you might be doing a bench press and let's say it's heavier.

00:30:20.120 Or let's say you really want to go heavy and push it hard.

00:30:23.340 You know, you, I've done this where you see it like bounce off your chest or throw your

00:30:28.460 hips up, you know, or do, do some, you know, wacky spasm to try to get it to, to where you

00:30:34.940 need it to be.

00:30:35.920 I mean, sometimes you just have to do that out of necessity, but, but I think that's what

00:30:40.800 you're talking about.

00:30:41.440 Cause I think about when I watch a guy who's strong and has experience, I can see him the

00:30:46.680 way he moves on a, let's say a, um, let's say a squat, for example, it's very deliberate.

00:30:52.540 My son's this way actually, cause he has a lot of, um, power lifting, uh, training under

00:30:57.200 his belt.

00:30:57.640 And so when he moves, it is, everything is very deliberate and intentional from the

00:31:02.780 time that he gets into the rack to the time that he sits in the bottom of his squat versus

00:31:08.620 some guys will just like throw it in there, bounce out of the squat.

00:31:11.940 Like they're just so inefficient.

00:31:14.180 Yeah.

00:31:14.740 And then you're, yeah, that's not what we want to do on a heavy squat.

00:31:21.460 We want to move with intention.

00:31:24.120 Yeah.

00:31:24.860 A hundred percent.

00:31:26.160 How do you get over the young lifter?

00:31:29.080 He, well, he, he is, he's a smart kid, but he also had good coaches.

00:31:32.680 So he, he had a, he had a great coach.

00:31:35.140 His name is Sean Moore and, and, uh, in Maine who was very, very disciplined.

00:31:40.180 Loved the boys, worked great with them, good person, but was very disciplined and adamant

00:31:45.380 about taking lifting very seriously.

00:31:48.320 Like we move with intention.

00:31:50.160 We move deliberately.

00:31:51.340 We don't push as hard as we possibly can.

00:31:54.220 We get up there by maintaining form.

00:31:56.320 I really respect Sean a lot for what he taught my son.

00:31:59.100 Yeah, that's great.

00:32:00.040 You know, um, we, we talked about this, my son at, at five years old, uh, he, we started

00:32:05.800 him in jujitsu this year and when we had kids, we talked about my wife and I, I said, they're

00:32:11.940 going to play a sport and male or female, they're going to practice some sort of fight 0.98

00:32:17.940 discipline, some sort of combat discipline.

00:32:20.420 And I didn't, I was a boxer when I was younger, but I don't care what method it is.

00:32:24.740 What was most important to me was the coach.

00:32:26.400 Cause if you got some, uh, you know, uncle Rico guy out there who is just, you know, 0.95

00:32:33.380 upset, he's never made it to be a world champion and he's taken out on the kids.

00:32:37.680 It's not good for them.

00:32:38.840 Right.

00:32:39.480 So yeah, it's, um, being able to teach like, cause another thing I'll tell clients is the

00:32:47.820 key to long-term, one of the keys to long-term success in health and wellbeing is for your goals

00:32:52.680 to be exciting.

00:32:54.240 There's a little bit of intimidation in there.

00:32:56.960 And then we keep your program as boring as you can stand.

00:33:01.760 Right.

00:33:02.460 So it's going to, um, you know, once you get into some serious strength markers and you

00:33:07.340 see your performance really accelerating, like that stuff gets exciting, but it's still,

00:33:13.840 you know, uh, it can be boring following a program that is hammering the same basics for

00:33:19.940 weeks on months on years.

00:33:22.680 Hey, you know, it's really interesting.

00:33:24.760 I mean, it's interesting you say that because a principle applies broadly, right?

00:33:30.300 It will apply to, to fitness as well as it'll apply to finances.

00:33:34.320 And one of the things when I was a financial advisor, that's in another life, but I spent

00:33:38.720 10 years as a financial advisor, I would tell people, look, we need to find out what your

00:33:44.020 risk tolerance is.

00:33:45.820 We need to figure out what you're trying to accomplish relative to the amount of risk you're

00:33:49.900 willing to take in order to accomplish it.

00:33:51.520 And then once we figure that out, we're going to invest properly.

00:33:55.900 We're going to rebalance your portfolio portfolio systematically, but quarterly, and we're not

00:34:01.580 going to touch it at all.

00:34:02.860 Other than that, we're not going to fiddle with it.

00:34:05.120 We're not going to play with it.

00:34:06.460 You don't need to look at it every day.

00:34:08.400 We're just going to maintain the course.

00:34:11.100 It's not fun.

00:34:11.840 It's not exciting.

00:34:12.700 It sounds boring.

00:34:13.600 Your friends are going to tell you all the exciting, wonderful returns they're getting,

00:34:16.920 but this is the path.

00:34:18.200 And that's exactly what I hear you saying when it comes to fitness.

00:34:21.720 Yeah.

00:34:21.880 And, you know, did, were you a financial advisor during the financial crisis?

00:34:29.140 I got into the business in late 2008, early 2009.

00:34:33.880 So I got into the business at about the worst possible time that you could get into financial

00:34:39.440 planning right at the height of, uh, the, the, the crash, the, uh, market crash, the stock

00:34:45.340 market, uh, excuse me, housing market crash.

00:34:47.320 Yeah.

00:34:49.000 So, because then the question, like you said, these principles overlay, the question I would

00:34:54.220 have is like, that would change tactics, right?

00:35:00.480 Because I actually don't think it, I don't think it would actually, because one of the

00:35:04.920 things that I saw is that those people who started to pull their money out of the market

00:35:09.140 and start to play around and manipulate a little bit, ended up taking historically longer

00:35:13.660 to get to that breakeven point and growth than the ones who just maintain the status

00:35:18.160 quo, even through the declines.

00:35:21.580 Hmm.

00:35:22.440 Okay.

00:35:23.600 But, but explain to me how that might work when it comes to fitness though.

00:35:27.040 Well, it'd be like, you know, when you were talking about the principles of, of how

00:35:32.820 you apply what I was talking about to financial investing, I was thinking about, you know,

00:35:38.760 my accident, which we we've talked about before November 19th, 2017, I was squatting four

00:35:45.520 Oh five and did power Elizabeth, right?

00:35:48.760 November 20th pin between two cars.

00:35:53.220 November 21st, my workout was taking 10 steps with a walker.

00:35:56.920 Yeah.

00:35:57.480 Right.

00:35:57.680 So it, it, I mean, I guess the intensity changed, but it was still basic, um, human

00:36:06.920 movement pattern moving within the capabilities I had at that time.

00:36:11.500 I mean, it's still the fundamentals at the end of the day.

00:36:14.060 Right.

00:36:14.520 So.

00:36:14.980 Yep.

00:36:15.520 Yep.

00:36:16.040 Yeah.

00:36:16.540 I would.

00:36:17.140 And, you know, I had a similar circumstance happen.

00:36:19.540 Not, not, I shouldn't say similar because it's not even comparable to what you, the ordeal

00:36:24.220 you went through, but I had a, uh, uh, pectoral rupture, complete rupture and I was training

00:36:30.920 jujitsu.

00:36:31.600 That's how I heard it.

00:36:32.420 So I was training jujitsu heavy at that time and I didn't stop training.

00:36:37.180 Now, granted, I wasn't doing pushups and bench press and dips are still, even to this

00:36:42.580 day, dips are a little tough for me.

00:36:44.040 I don't fully trust my pack on a dip, but, um, but I still went to the gym.

00:36:49.500 I still went to jujitsu.

00:36:51.800 I was doing box step-ups.

00:36:53.360 I had a sling that I had to have my arm in a sling for three months, but I was doing box

00:36:57.280 step-ups.

00:36:58.000 I was doing lunges.

00:36:59.520 I was watching the guys train.

00:37:01.580 I was there.

00:37:02.420 I was fully present and involved with continuing to stay on track.

00:37:06.540 And what was interesting about it is when I got back on the mats, I had a couple of guys

00:37:10.880 say, man, it's like, you haven't, you're almost better now.

00:37:13.880 Well, I should be better because I never stopped.

00:37:16.860 I got to see it from a different perspective.

00:37:18.900 I got to learn.

00:37:19.800 I got to watch all of you guys.

00:37:21.780 Um, I got to stay over here and train different parts of my body.

00:37:25.240 I wouldn't normally train.

00:37:26.200 Like I should be better in, in light of that.

00:37:29.340 Yeah.

00:37:30.060 Yeah, man.

00:37:30.720 That's, you know, a lot of people use injuries as a reason to stop an excuse to stop.

00:37:37.300 I should say when they are actually a reason to continue training because, you know, what's

00:37:43.660 the, the old adage about the doctor?

00:37:45.860 Well, it hurts when I do this.

00:37:47.200 Well, don't do that.

00:37:47.820 No, you, you know, your body is supposed to be able to do these movements.

00:37:54.840 So you need to practice, figure out why it hurts when you do that and address it and be

00:37:58.280 able to fix it.

00:37:58.880 Um, so yeah, man, in, in, in mindset of, I will get this back is important as well.

00:38:07.160 Like we had, uh, um, after that accident, I, there was, uh, one of the nurses on the ICU

00:38:16.440 floor was a member at one of the CrossFit boxes I coached at.

00:38:20.000 Um, and you know, if I can just expand on the, uh, my accident for the audience a little bit.

00:38:27.560 Um, so I was loading my dog into the back of my Jeep, taking her to a vet appointment and intoxicated

00:38:35.580 driver came along, uh, hit me and pinned my right leg between the front of his truck and

00:38:41.500 the back of my Jeep.

00:38:42.460 Um, so, uh, again, the day before that squat in four Oh five day after that in ICU taking

00:38:48.660 10 steps with a walker, but severe cross syndrome, uh, compartment syndrome, all the muscles in

00:38:54.140 the right leg, MCL detached, but no breaks, three severe bone bruises.

00:38:59.460 Um, um, I still have the rear bumper off that Jeep.

00:39:02.940 That's got my leg print in it.

00:39:04.980 So, um, one, again, the, one of the nurses in the ICU being a CrossFitter was like, this 0.97

00:39:10.560 is why you guys need to come to CrossFit, you know?

00:39:12.620 So it was spread around the floor that, um, at 40 years old, I was a guy who was outperforming

00:39:19.360 20 year olds in, uh, in these CrossFit gyms.

00:39:23.880 So, um, but then, you know, the, the head doctor came in and she said,

00:39:29.460 uh, Mr. Mancini, I need you to understand your, uh, your strength training history is

00:39:38.300 the reason you fared this accident so well, because there is a percentage of the population

00:39:42.440 that would have lost their leg. 0.94

00:39:44.240 Uh, most people would have had a break.

00:39:46.680 You had three severe bone bruises, so you fared it better than most and you will recover

00:39:50.620 better.

00:39:51.240 But those days are behind you.

00:39:52.860 And I understand she probably had some, she was probably well-intended, but I knew in that

00:39:58.200 moment I needed to set a boundary and say, no.

00:40:02.820 So I, I asked her who's in charge of my care, look on her face, instantly told me she thought

00:40:08.660 I was asking, where's the man in charge, which that's, that's fine.

00:40:12.400 If you know, that would be insulting if that's what I meant.

00:40:15.300 Um, she said, I'm in charge.

00:40:16.540 You okay with that?

00:40:17.100 I said, no, ma'am, you're a consultant.

00:40:18.840 I'm in charge of my healthcare.

00:40:19.840 I will squat for a five again.

00:40:21.720 And, you know, she, she rolled her eyes a little bit again. 0.73

00:40:23.580 And it was just a misunderstanding in that situation.

00:40:25.360 But for me, it was critically important that I made that statement of I'm not done.

00:40:30.900 This, this injury is not defining me.

00:40:32.940 Right.

00:40:33.980 So it took me 16 months to get back to four or five.

00:40:39.500 What do you, what do you squat now?

00:40:41.260 What, what's your, uh, I won't say P PR.

00:40:44.020 Is that a, is that a bad word in your vocabulary?

00:40:46.160 You know, it is rare that, uh, I, I, I could probably hit four 55.

00:40:54.500 Uh, I don't really back squat much anymore.

00:40:57.960 Um, um, usually front squat.

00:41:00.440 I do a lot of unilateral work.

00:41:02.660 So, uh, different lunge variations. 0.94

00:41:05.640 Um, just again, I've got the Marine Corps beat the shit out of my body through the, uh,

00:41:11.680 the late nineties.

00:41:12.460 Um, uh, the accident didn't help, but pursuing fitness and resilience, um, definitely has

00:41:25.160 helped it.

00:41:25.640 Uh, you know, I'm faring better than, uh, than most, uh, through those situations, you

00:41:30.840 know, when you look at, uh, you know, I, I served two years in a fast company with, uh,

00:41:36.160 with working in special operations there.

00:41:37.980 When you look at guys that have worked in that environment, um, they just, they often

00:41:43.140 don't fare well into, you know, they, they see, uh, very low testosterone levels as they

00:41:49.940 get into thirties and forties.

00:41:51.680 Um, you know, just, uh, uh, uh, a lot of issues that I'm not saying I'm, you know, not dealing

00:41:58.100 with, with any of that, but, um, man, lifestyle is the original hormone therapy.

00:42:03.800 And even if you do engage in, in that stuff, you, you have to meet that medicine halfway.

00:42:09.860 Yeah.

00:42:10.540 Well, I think that's, that's one of the common misconceptions about TRT, for example, is,

00:42:15.560 you know, you start injecting that stuff on a weekly basis or every couple of days, however,

00:42:19.620 however often you do it.

00:42:22.100 And, uh, all of a sudden, you know, you're going to be this jacked specimen walking around

00:42:27.020 and it's like, nah, you still got to put in the work cause it's not going to just do it

00:42:30.920 for you, even though that would be very nice.

00:42:33.360 But I think a lot of people think that if somebody's, uh, on TRT, they think, well, you know,

00:42:38.140 that guy has it easy.

00:42:39.120 It's like, nah, he doesn't have it easy.

00:42:40.540 He's still going to work hard.

00:42:41.860 Yeah.

00:42:42.500 Yeah.

00:42:42.740 For sure, man.

00:42:43.780 Again, I just always tell people, if you're going to do that, you, you have to meet the

00:42:47.980 medicine halfway.

00:42:49.480 Yeah.

00:42:50.360 Well, so you said you don't do many squats anymore.

00:42:52.820 Is that, is that a spot like more concern for your spine or what would you say is the biggest

00:42:59.640 focus or factor in, in not really doing that much more?

00:43:04.320 Uh, just long-term health.

00:43:06.300 You know, uh, we talked about, um, the, the three types of goals.

00:43:11.680 Um, and you know, the first is the aesthetic, which is what most people start with.

00:43:19.800 So, um, I want to look a certain way, this person's arms, abs, weigh a certain amount,

00:43:24.880 whatever, uh, and that's good to have.

00:43:28.500 Um, but that's what a lot of people are starting with right now.

00:43:32.520 You know, it's January, but it's not, it's kind of intangible.

00:43:37.880 You see your body all day, every day.

00:43:39.240 So you see those results last the, the second goal.

00:43:43.420 And this is the one that, that helps keep, you know, if you keep in mind, helps keep you

00:43:47.500 in check for the longterm is what I call the lifestyle legacy goal.

00:43:50.500 Um, what type of old person you want to be, you know, which a lot of people don't like

00:43:56.560 to think of themselves that way, but let's be clear.

00:43:58.480 That's one of the best things that can happen to you is you can get old.

00:44:02.060 Um, and what type of old person you become is up to you.

00:44:05.180 So when, again, five-year-old son, three-year-old daughter, I'm 47.

00:44:09.860 So when they're around 20, I'm going to be in my, my sixties.

00:44:13.280 And at that point, I want to go on some sort of adventure trip of their choosing.

00:44:17.000 Um, climb Kilimanjaro, hike the Appalachian trail, the Grand Canyon, go skydiving, whatever.

00:44:22.340 And if I'm going to do that at that point, I need to be working on my health and fitness

00:44:26.140 now.

00:44:27.160 Um, now if I'm heavy back squatting every week, that might not fare well for me, you know,

00:44:33.100 in my sixties.

00:44:34.900 Um, so yeah, and just to, to close that loop on the three types of goals, the third one

00:44:39.440 that connects those two, uh, is the, the, the impact, what I call the empowering goal.

00:44:44.820 So in the next three to 12 months, what is it that you want to accomplish?

00:44:48.440 Spartan races, CrossFit competitions, it can be a bodybuilding competition, anything like

00:44:53.740 that.

00:44:54.140 Yeah.

00:44:55.960 I think that makes sense.

00:44:57.040 I, I've made a couple of little shifts in my programming.

00:45:00.800 Um, like even the deadlift, I've never really enjoyed the deadlift.

00:45:04.560 I know it's good.

00:45:05.240 I, I focus on it every week, but I moved over to a trap bar and I love doing that more than,

00:45:11.220 again, I think for me, the alignment of the way the body moves feels better.

00:45:17.660 It doesn't feel as burdensome or I could be way off.

00:45:22.500 I don't know.

00:45:22.980 I'm just saying intuitively, it feels better to me to keep the bar in alignment with my

00:45:27.160 spine rather than out in front of it.

00:45:28.960 Right.

00:45:29.660 Exactly.

00:45:30.180 Keep it close to, again, what CrossFitters call the midline.

00:45:32.860 Yeah.

00:45:33.040 Um, yeah, I mean, for hinging now I'm doing again, mostly, so single leg deadlifts, stuff

00:45:41.200 like that.

00:45:41.820 When I do, it's, uh, usually when I do bilateral two legs, it's usually a trap bar.

00:45:48.400 Yeah.

00:45:48.860 I think that's single leg deadlift.

00:45:50.200 Is that like a, uh, what do they call that?

00:45:52.140 Like where you put one foot up on a bench and then you squat with dumbbells or what, what

00:45:55.920 is that?

00:45:56.940 So they, what would a single leg deadlift?

00:45:59.260 It's just, you know, you can do a deadlift standing on, on one leg.

00:46:04.900 Um, you can do what's called a kickstand deadlift where you put the foot back.

00:46:08.600 Yeah.

00:46:08.920 You can put, uh, up on a, uh, a wall push or put the rear leg up on.

00:46:13.640 Yeah.

00:46:14.660 Uh, there are, there are, you know, other things to, to, to look at when you're doing that,

00:46:20.240 but yeah, man.

00:46:23.060 Interesting.

00:46:23.700 Yeah.

00:46:23.980 And I don't think I've ever seen that.

00:46:25.280 I've just seen the, I don't know what they call it.

00:46:27.440 Is it a Bulgarian split squat or something? 0.85

00:46:29.680 I don't know what they even call it.

00:46:31.060 Yeah.

00:46:31.260 Bulgarian split squat.

00:46:32.340 That's a more of a squat pattern, but you can, you know, it depends on, again, how the

00:46:36.940 spine is moving in relation and the spine and hips are moving in relation to the, uh,

00:46:42.100 yeah, I don't want to get into teaching it.

00:46:45.420 Yeah.

00:46:45.960 I'm glad you talked about the, uh, the, what kind of old person do you want to be?

00:46:50.620 Because that's actually what got me into fitness.

00:46:52.720 I was young.

00:46:53.340 I was probably, you know, I've always been athletic.

00:46:55.600 I've always been involved in sports and, and training and things like that.

00:46:58.820 But I really started to take it seriously, probably, I don't know, 15 years ago, maybe

00:47:05.660 or so.

00:47:06.540 And I came home from work one day, this was in my financial planning practice.

00:47:10.900 And my boys are like, dad, dad, let's go jump on the trampoline.

00:47:14.260 And I remember the look on their faces when I had to say, I can't like, I'm too tired.

00:47:17.960 I can't go jump on the trampoline with you.

00:47:19.680 And I'm like, Oh no, that's not right.

00:47:22.800 And that's when I really pivoted is I need to be able to go out after work.

00:47:28.100 What do I do at work?

00:47:29.060 Sit in chairs, drive a truck.

00:47:30.700 I'll like, it's not hard physical labor.

00:47:33.320 I should be able to jump on the trampoline with my kids when I get home.

00:47:36.900 And so I started to take it very seriously.

00:47:38.860 And I've had ebbs and flows throughout the past 15 years.

00:47:42.200 But yeah, man, when I'm on, like it's on and it's funny to see my boys get worn out before I do.

00:47:48.480 Yeah.

00:47:49.520 Yeah, man.

00:47:50.740 That's a.

00:47:53.420 Yeah, it's a good feeling to be able to keep up with your kids.

00:47:56.500 And again, I'm an older dad.

00:47:59.220 So that's something I've got to take into consideration.

00:48:03.720 It is weird now, though, with a 16 year old, that kid out squats and out deadlifts me.

00:48:08.540 So he'll he back squats, I think, I think the last one he did was 395 pound back squat at 16 and a 415 pound deadlift.

00:48:18.680 Like he's a beast.

00:48:20.380 He has got tree trunk legs and a huge butt and he knows how to use that stuff. 0.87

00:48:26.020 That's awesome.

00:48:26.980 He's played lacrosse, right?

00:48:30.160 Yeah.

00:48:30.540 Big in lacrosse.

00:48:31.500 He's played spring and fall ball lacrosse.

00:48:34.440 I think he's going to play football in the fall next year.

00:48:37.260 But he's got spring lacrosse coming up just around the corner here.

00:48:41.420 That's awesome, man.

00:48:43.120 Yeah.

00:48:43.480 It's actually pretty funny because you'll watch him.

00:48:45.740 He's big.

00:48:46.580 And so you'll watch him against other players.

00:48:48.960 And any time kids will run into him and they'll literally bounce off of him just because of his base and his frame.

00:48:55.860 He's just such a large kid and he knows how to use his weight because of strength training.

00:49:00.880 It's kind of funny to watch, actually.

00:49:02.800 I had a basketball player I trained years ago, high school basketball player.

00:49:08.660 And, yeah, she was a female. 0.99

00:49:13.720 When we started, she was just timid and not doing great on the court. 0.99

00:49:20.160 Man, I worked with her for a year and a half and she just became a defensive powerhouse.

00:49:24.780 It's like girls bigger than her.

00:49:26.940 I mean, we got her squatting deadlift up big time. 0.99

00:49:29.520 And, yeah, just I remember her parents invited me to a game and I remember going to see.

00:49:34.680 And, yeah, I remember the other players bouncing off of her and it was awesome to see.

00:49:40.960 So satisfying to watch.

00:49:42.640 Yeah.

00:49:42.880 You know, you're talking about confidence and I think that obviously getting in shape, building strength, all of those things are going to build confidence.

00:49:50.040 But I also think there's a threat for a lot of guys who maybe haven't been to the gym in a while, maybe have never been.

00:49:56.820 And ego gets in the way.

00:49:58.080 They won't go, for example, because, well, here's one thing I've heard.

00:50:03.000 I'm going to wait to go to the gym before I get in shape.

00:50:06.340 It's like, wait, what?

00:50:07.760 Yeah.

00:50:08.020 I'm going to get in shape before I get first.

00:50:09.920 And then you're going to go to the gym, you know, that's one or the opposite is the ego lifters like we talked about earlier.

00:50:18.660 Yeah, it's a cop out.

00:50:20.300 That's exactly what that is.

00:50:23.140 You know, I had a client years ago who.

00:50:28.200 After when you work with somebody for a couple of months, you develop a relationship and you'll joke back and forth with each other.

00:50:33.420 So in one of the workouts in between sets, we were talking about the crazy things we'd seen in our career.

00:50:38.580 And she was a an event coordinator.

00:50:42.020 So seeing crazy things, coordinating these events for big companies like banks and whatever.

00:50:48.720 So I told her this thing.

00:50:50.460 I've been going to gyms again since the late 80s.

00:50:53.740 And this was 2007.

00:50:56.120 I was having this conversation before social media was a big thing.

00:50:59.200 No matter what time you went in the gym, midnight, 6 a.m., 6 p.m., it didn't matter.

00:51:05.620 Somebody was sitting in their car in the parking lot, just sitting there.

00:51:09.440 Right.

00:51:10.160 So I'd shared that before and people like, oh, what do you think they're doing?

00:51:13.060 Are they stalking someone?

00:51:14.360 Whatever.

00:51:15.260 So I told her that and it was like, yeah, what do you think about that?

00:51:19.120 She goes, oh, yeah, I know.

00:51:20.920 I was like, what do you mean?

00:51:21.500 You know, she's like, that was me for three months before I joined this gym.

00:51:24.600 She packed my bag to go to the gym, went to work, and I would go and sit in that parking lot and tell myself, go in the gym, go in the gym. 0.87

00:51:31.460 And she couldn't do it.

00:51:33.040 Heaviest weight in the gym is the front door, man. 1.00

00:51:35.800 You've got to get over that shit. 0.99

00:51:37.820 The right gym, you know, again, there are ego lifters out there and Joey Swole loves highlighting all the a-holes that will be in the gym there. 0.99

00:51:45.940 Oh, yeah, that's pretty funny, actually.

00:51:47.660 Right.

00:51:47.880 But most gyms have a community where they want people in there who want to work on themselves, right?

00:51:57.520 Of course.

00:51:58.360 Like I have a shirt that says, of course you can work in, just ask.

00:52:01.980 Like that's the – fitness is a culture of self-efficacy and communal respect, right?

00:52:09.020 I actually had that the other day.

00:52:10.980 Somebody was on a machine and I like – I think I was kind of in a hurry or something and I noticed they were taking breaks and I'm like, hey, man, can I jump in here while you're taking a break?

00:52:18.780 I'm just kind of on time crunch.

00:52:20.420 And he's like, oh, yeah, no problem.

00:52:21.820 So I lifted with him and then we would just switch between sets, you know, and I actually ended up becoming a friend with this guy.

00:52:28.260 So, you know, I see him at the gym every day.

00:52:29.720 We have conversations about what's going on.

00:52:31.480 Like it's not – if you make it a thing, it's a thing.

00:52:35.560 But if you don't make it a big deal, the community of lifting and getting strong and getting healthy is thriving and people want to see you in.

00:52:44.140 Yeah.

00:52:45.360 Yeah, man.

00:52:46.240 Absolutely.

00:52:47.520 People are in there to work on themselves and they want to surround themselves with people who want to get better.

00:52:52.140 Yeah.

00:52:52.700 With that client that was so afraid to go in where she would sit in the car, what did she tell you was her greatest fear?

00:52:59.780 What was keeping her from – I mean she did all the work of getting ready, driving over. 0.66

00:53:05.300 Like what was the fear?

00:53:06.720 I mean it's judgment.

00:53:09.020 You know, it's perception.

00:53:10.760 So I think one of the biggest challenges in the way people misinterpret health and fitness and gym culture is derived from – if you look at any sitcom over the last 40 years, they probably had the episode where the main character or characters joined a gym.

00:53:34.820 And, you know, when they sign up, when they're signing up for the gym membership, everybody is really nice.

00:53:40.480 Oh, we welcome you.

00:53:42.000 And then they'll be like, oh, it's really nice here.

00:53:44.020 And then they turn around and the psycho trainer is there like, do 100 push-ups right now. 0.95

00:53:47.980 Do a million lunges, right?

00:53:49.420 And then they can't move for the rest of the episode.

00:53:51.840 And then the culmination of the episode is the message, oh, you're fine.

00:53:54.880 You don't need to pursue that. 0.95

00:53:56.380 Those people are crazy, right?

00:53:57.860 So that's what the perception of what goes on – now, of course, does some of that exist in gyms out there?

00:54:05.880 Sure, but it is not – it is not the standard.

00:54:13.640 Yeah.

00:54:14.420 I mean I've never experienced that or seen that.

00:54:17.120 But I do remember – I will say this.

00:54:18.820 I remember after the trampoline incident, I remember going into the CrossFit gym for the first time.

00:54:24.700 And I have a picture on my computer somewhere of me and what I looked like when I went in there.

00:54:29.160 They were doing pull-ups and I'm like sitting there with my hands on my hips with my big belly sticking out.

00:54:35.000 And I'm like, I don't – I can't do that.

00:54:37.820 I was so intimidated.

00:54:39.060 I'm like, there's no way.

00:54:40.600 And then they had you do the assisted pull-ups with a band, right? 0.93

00:54:43.400 And I had to use the thickest band they could find to be able to just get my fat butt up above the bar. 1.00

00:54:49.960 It was a little embarrassing, to be honest. 0.97

00:54:52.800 It was a lot embarrassing.

00:54:54.420 But I guess if you want to be good at something and you want to change your life around, you got to be willing to make that sacrifice.

00:55:01.020 Yeah, man.

00:55:01.460 And if you could see inside everyone else's head in that gym, they weren't looking or thinking about you.

00:55:08.480 Yeah, I'm sure of it.

00:55:09.520 Right?

00:55:09.720 And if they were, they were probably like, good on it, that guy, for getting in here.

00:55:14.680 Yeah.

00:55:15.220 You know?

00:55:16.600 Yeah.

00:55:17.160 Yeah.

00:55:17.300 I've definitely felt that way.

00:55:19.840 One thing that you talk about too is you talk about this idea of lifestyle evolution versus lifestyle change because I think one thing a lot of people will get into, you know, as we get into spring, as we start getting into summer, it's like get the six-pack abs in 90 days and do this thing.

00:55:36.380 And do that thing for 90 days and then you can completely blow your program after that.

00:55:41.380 I don't think that's sustainable.

00:55:43.220 And I don't actually think it's what most people want.

00:55:45.720 I think they want long-term health, not just blast your six-pack abs for the, you know, beach body.

00:55:52.440 Yeah.

00:55:52.560 Yeah, so the verbiage of lifestyle change implies that you make this change and then all of a sudden life is easy, right?

00:56:02.900 And it's the way you live now where it's, you know, it's a decision you make every day.

00:56:09.620 It's a box you check every day of putting in that work.

00:56:15.360 But then it's also you have, by and large, we have these systems and programs that we run on to be efficient in our lives.

00:56:24.580 John Berardi did this meta study years ago where he looked at habit change and in specifically nutrition.

00:56:30.620 And he took a group, he took, split people into three groups basically.

00:56:36.920 One nutrition change over 30 days, no support given.

00:56:40.100 We just follow up in 30 days, see if you were successful.

00:56:43.460 Two nutrition changes in 30 days and three nutrition changes in 30 days, right?

00:56:48.100 Well, the group that only had one nutrition change to adhere to had a 55% success rate, so just over half.

00:56:54.820 The group with two nutrition changes had a 15, 1, 5% success rate.

00:57:00.960 And then the group with three nutrition changes over 30 days had a less than 1% success rate, right?

00:57:06.860 So when you, the more changes you make, the more difficult it's going to be.

00:57:11.960 Now, what an actual lifestyle change could do for you?

00:57:18.180 In 2022, retired my mom and moved her in with us.

00:57:24.440 So she could be a professional grandma.

00:57:26.660 She had been, now I'm going to share the story here.

00:57:29.500 And she is, she actually wants me to share this story because she said she hopes that it inspires some people.

00:57:37.420 If for 25 years, she'd been working in advertising sales.

00:57:40.340 Majority of her clients were restaurants.

00:57:42.660 She was the best at what she did.

00:57:44.680 So she would, you know, increase their business by a lot.

00:57:50.060 She did great marketing campaigns. 0.99

00:57:52.380 And so she would eat for free in a lot of the restaurants around Pittsburgh, where I grew up.

00:57:57.140 And again, she is okay with me sharing all this.

00:58:00.240 During those years, she was a functional alcoholic.

00:58:01.800 So we figured out over 25 years, less than 500 of the meals that she had were home cooked.

00:58:10.020 So she was very out of shape.

00:58:11.980 She was a dancer when she was younger.

00:58:13.720 She, she actually owned a dance studio for a little bit. 0.99

00:58:17.320 But she had gotten to this point where she was very out of shape.

00:58:19.940 And then her mom retired right, or I'm sorry, her mom passed my grandmother right when she was at the end of her career.

00:58:25.640 My grandmother was, you know, she had worked with a trainer into her 80s.

00:58:30.600 It's a true story.

00:58:31.620 I told this at her eulogy.

00:58:34.060 When she was in assisted living, she burned out the motor on her lift assist chair because she thought it was intended to help her do squats.

00:58:44.260 It's a true story.

00:58:45.800 She was a badass man.

00:58:47.800 Living, breathing.

00:58:48.560 Every time we had dinner at her house, it was always chicken and vegetables.

00:58:50.900 So anyway, so, so my mom, you know, end of her career, faced with her own mortality when her mom passes. 0.99

00:58:56.880 I remember being on the phone with her one time.

00:58:58.260 She was like, what do I do?

00:59:00.320 Like, what am I doing here?

00:59:02.120 All of my friends are just, you know, party people.

00:59:04.940 And I, again, this is in Pittsburgh.

00:59:07.560 My brother moved to North Carolina.

00:59:08.900 My sister's in Ohio and I'm down in Texas.

00:59:11.420 And come down here, move in with us, be a professional grandma. 1.00

00:59:16.860 So we're going to try it out for two months.

00:59:18.980 So she had an actual lifestyle change.

00:59:20.900 Completely changed her environment, her circle of people she lived or she spent time with.

00:59:27.260 She went from eating all this processed food out at restaurants to eating only the homemade stuff my wife cooks. 1.00

00:59:34.560 She went from a high-stress job to being a professional grandma. 0.69

00:59:37.380 She lost 30 pounds in the first 30 days.

00:59:40.620 Jeez, yeah, it's amazing.

00:59:41.880 Over the 60s, she lost 48 pounds total.

00:59:45.600 So, of course, she's like, I'm in.

00:59:48.320 She goes back home to close up things and check out with her doctor.

00:59:52.140 Her doctor, who she'd been seeing for 40 years, said, Kathy, if I hadn't seen this with my own two eyes, I would have thought it were impossible.

00:59:58.360 I said, Mom, does that sound like somebody you should take health and fitness advice from?

01:00:01.980 Well, it's not to say don't listen to your doctor, right?

01:00:07.040 But again, I always come back to doctors or consultants.

01:00:09.400 I am in charge of my health and well-being, and I'm not going to outsource it.

01:00:12.060 Well, I think don't listen to your doctor unless they're healthy and have the physique and the lifestyle and everything else that you –

01:00:21.520 I mean there's some basic things like here's what you can do for a cold or maybe a surgeon is overweight and out of shape, but he's got some specialty knowledge.

01:00:28.840 But general practitioners, man, they should be in shape.

01:00:32.060 They absolutely should be in shape.

01:00:33.560 There's no excuse for that.

01:00:34.720 I think everybody should be, man.

01:00:37.440 You know, you –

01:00:38.160 Yeah.

01:00:38.440 Was it you that shared the quote about what a shame it is for a man not to realize his physical potential?

01:00:46.640 Yeah, I shared it on Instagram just the other day.

01:00:49.220 It's attributed to Socrates.

01:00:50.680 Somebody said that's a – you know, I made that post about getting in shape, and I said that quote, and then I attributed it to Socrates because I think generally it is.

01:00:58.400 And they're like, oh, that's a misquote.

01:00:59.480 I'm like, cool.

01:01:01.120 Again, the internet loves to tell you where you're wrong.

01:01:02.020 Don't get hung up on it.

01:01:03.000 It doesn't matter.

01:01:03.580 Yeah, you're right.

01:01:05.020 I guess I'll scrap this whole thing then.

01:01:07.420 Right, yeah.

01:01:08.640 Yeah, no, it's true though.

01:01:09.620 I think we all want to know what our bodies are capable of, and we all want to work towards that.

01:01:13.440 It can be challenging, but it's not impossible for anybody.

01:01:17.820 It's true, man.

01:01:18.820 Yeah.

01:01:20.600 Brennan, how do we connect with you?

01:01:21.960 A lot of guys are thinking about what they want to do with their New Year's resolutions and how to get in shape, and obviously not everybody's in Texas and may not be able to work with you in person or anything like that,

01:01:31.300 but I'm sure you have other programs and options available.

01:01:34.260 Yeah.

01:01:34.480 I do a lot of online coaching.

01:01:37.340 You can connect me on Instagram.

01:01:38.840 I've got two accounts on there, Coach Brandon Mancini or BMF Coach.

01:01:45.800 BMF Coaching, Brandon Mancini Fitness is the name of my company.

01:01:49.600 BMFCoaching.com.

01:01:50.600 If you go there, you can jump on my email newsletter, and by the time this website or by the time this podcast airs, I'm going to have a seven-day challenge up there for men to help them get initiated into getting in the best shape of their life.

01:02:08.420 Awesome.

01:02:09.020 Awesome.

01:02:09.720 Well, we'll sync it all up.

01:02:10.620 Man, I've really appreciated getting to know you over the past several years and being able to work together, and you've been instrumental in what I do too.

01:02:17.740 So the fact that we can have you on talking about this really important topic has been good, man.

01:02:22.260 I appreciate you.

01:02:23.420 Back at you, Ryan.

01:02:24.580 Thank you, sir.

01:02:25.880 Thanks, brother.

01:02:28.040 Gentlemen, there you go.

01:02:29.060 Brandon Mancini.

01:02:30.100 He's a good friend of mine.

01:02:31.560 He's been in the Iron Council for a long time now.

01:02:34.300 We've broken bread together.

01:02:36.500 He's come to some of our events, so I'm very, very excited to be able to get him in front of you.

01:02:41.120 He does incredible work.

01:02:43.200 His physique is incredible, and who he is as a man is phenomenal.

01:02:46.920 So he's a good person for me to learn from, and I hope you enjoyed this one.

01:02:51.220 If you want to connect with him a little bit more, please do reach out to him at Coach Brandon Mancini over on Instagram, and let him know what you thought of the show.

01:03:01.020 And if you have questions, I'm sure he'd answer those for you as well.

01:03:04.680 Outside of that, guys, make sure to check out The Men's Forge.

01:03:08.680 Me, Larry Hagner, Matt Boudreau, and Connor Beaton, and Matthew Vincent, and, of course, Dr. Robert Glover just signing on as one of our guest presenters.

01:03:20.480 I hope to see you there.

01:03:21.440 You can do that at themensforge.com.

01:03:23.720 All right, guys, we'll be back on Friday for our—excuse me, not Friday, tomorrow for our Ask Me Anything.

01:03:30.160 Until then, go out there, take action, and become the man you are meant to be.

01:03:35.260 Thank you for listening to the Order of Man podcast.

01:03:38.200 If you're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be, we invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.

01:03:45.380 We'll be right back.

Order of Man - January 14, 2025

BRANDON MANCINE ｜ Get Strong and Do Stuff

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