The Art of Manliness - #415： Forging Mental Strength Through Physical Strength

00:00:00.000 Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.

00:00:18.300 When you start a fitness program, you tend to spend most of your time thinking about

00:00:21.840 the physical part, what movements you're going to do, how much weight you're going to lift

00:00:25.320 or how far you're going to run.

00:00:26.880 But my guest today argues we ignore the mental aspect of our training and our peril.

00:00:31.140 His name is Bobby Maximus.

00:00:32.280 He's a world-renowned trainer known for his brutal circuit workouts and the author of the

00:00:36.140 new book, Maximus Body.

00:00:37.720 Today on the show, Bobby and I dig into the psychology of fitness.

00:00:40.400 We begin by discussing what holds people back from getting started or going further with

00:00:44.000 their fitness goals and how sticking little green dots all over your house can help you

00:00:47.760 surmount those barriers.

00:00:48.920 He then shares why it's important to manage expectations when beginning a training program

00:00:52.280 and why there are no shortcuts to any goal.

00:00:54.360 We then shift gears and get into Bobby's training philosophy.

00:00:56.440 He shares how to train to be ready for everything, why you need to do strength training before

00:01:00.500 your endurance work, and why recovery is so important in reaching your fitness goals.

00:01:04.760 We enter a conversation with some examples of the Sunday sermons Bobby shares on his website

00:01:08.520 and discussion of why perspective is important when you're going through a hard time in life.

00:01:12.880 After the show's over, check out the show notes at aom.is slash Maximus.

00:01:16.880 And Bobby joins me now via clearcast.io.

00:01:31.600 All right, Bobby Maximus, welcome to the show.

00:01:34.940 Hey, thank you very much for having me on.

00:01:36.400 I'm a big fan of what you guys do and I'm excited to get this going.

00:01:39.700 Well, thanks so much.

00:01:40.540 I've been following you on Instagram and on the internet for a while.

00:01:44.080 Love what you're doing.

00:01:44.780 Before we get talking about getting big and strong, and I know a lot of our listeners

00:01:48.320 are probably familiar with the work, let's talk about your background because it's pretty

00:01:52.560 interesting.

00:01:53.400 Right now, you're a trainer.

00:01:54.800 You show people how to get big and strong, but that's not always what you were doing.

00:01:57.600 So how did you get to where you're Bobby Maximus?

00:02:00.060 No, and I've actually done a lot of things in my life.

00:02:02.320 It's kind of funny.

00:02:03.140 When I look at myself being in, I guess, the strength and conditioning industry,

00:02:07.420 it's somewhere I never thought I'd be.

00:02:08.940 When I was younger, and I'll say this with a grain of salt because the bullying topic

00:02:13.760 today, I think, is a pretty big one.

00:02:15.980 I was bullied fairly heavily until I was 15 years old.

00:02:18.980 On bus rides to school, kids punched me in the face.

00:02:22.340 More often than not, I got my underwear ripped out.

00:02:24.860 It was actually funny.

00:02:25.560 My mom used to wonder why I went through so many underwear.

00:02:28.040 Well, it's because I wear the garbage from getting wedgied.

00:02:30.240 Kids used to draw my face with marker.

00:02:32.380 And when I was 15, a group of hockey bullies beat me up and broke my collarbone.

00:02:36.360 I decided I never really wanted that to happen again.

00:02:39.760 And so of all things, I joined the wrestling team. 0.92

00:02:42.300 I absolutely sucked.

00:02:43.760 My first year, I lost every match. 0.97

00:02:46.260 My second year, I won one match out of about 40.

00:02:49.400 And then a strange thing happened.

00:02:50.620 I started to actually get good.

00:02:52.460 I found the weight room.

00:02:53.900 I kept working.

00:02:55.120 I showed up every day and I started to get better.

00:02:58.880 And that kind of vaulted me into a university wrestling career.

00:03:02.460 From there, I went on to be second in the world for amateur kickboxing.

00:03:06.780 Found myself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

00:03:10.160 And I was kind of on my way in terms of the physical things.

00:03:12.900 But along the way, I always valued education.

00:03:16.240 I always valued the things that my mother and father instilled in me.

00:03:19.800 And so I ended up with three university degrees.

00:03:22.560 One, a Bachelor of Education, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.

00:03:27.280 And I also ended up with a Bachelor of Arts in English.

00:03:30.540 I was a teacher for a short period of time.

00:03:32.560 I also worked as a police officer for five years.

00:03:35.660 And these were all things that I did before really being involved in the strength and

00:03:40.160 conditioning industry.

00:03:41.240 So I got here, I think, with a much different background than most.

00:03:45.820 Yes, I have a sport background.

00:03:46.980 I was a professional athlete.

00:03:48.060 But I also kind of came in with a completely different educational pedigree than most people

00:03:54.560 have.

00:03:55.320 Right.

00:03:55.520 You got brains and brawn here. 0.66

00:03:57.140 I like this.

00:03:57.560 It's a complete package.

00:03:58.800 I mean, so how did you make that shift from doing all this stuff that you were doing to

00:04:02.160 becoming a coach?

00:04:03.020 Was there a moment where you're like, that's what I need to be doing is coaching other people?

00:04:07.760 Yeah, the biggest thing is I grew up with two parents that we didn't have a lot growing

00:04:14.300 up, but they always made an effort to help other people.

00:04:18.500 My dad was president of the Lions Club.

00:04:20.640 He used to deliver presents to kids at Christmas, used to do work with homeless people.

00:04:25.400 I'd watch my mom always kind of bend over backwards, try to help people in the community. 1.00

00:04:30.340 And so I grew up in an environment where helping others was always highly valued and important.

00:04:34.880 And I always knew in some way I wanted to help other people.

00:04:38.460 I mean, that's why I got into teaching.

00:04:39.940 I wanted to work with kids and shape and mold them.

00:04:42.480 And it's why I got into policing, because I really felt that I could make a difference.

00:04:46.820 And along the way, I came to the realization that I wouldn't be who I am or where I am without

00:04:53.320 fitness.

00:04:54.020 Like if I look back to that scared 15-year-old kid that got bullied all the time, fitness

00:04:59.660 is what changed to that kid's life.

00:05:01.720 And it didn't just change my life physically.

00:05:04.100 It changed my life mentally, psychologically, spiritually.

00:05:08.580 And I've realized that through the power of fitness, people can make tremendous changes

00:05:13.440 in their lives.

00:05:14.180 They can have better marriages. 0.58

00:05:15.540 They can be better fathers.

00:05:16.860 They can be better mothers. 0.82

00:05:18.180 They can enjoy things more.

00:05:20.300 They can be better at work.

00:05:22.000 And I realized that that's where my talent was, that that's where I could really help people

00:05:27.720 and make a difference in this world.

00:05:29.440 Well, so let's kind of segue into the book.

00:05:31.260 The book's Maximus Body.

00:05:33.520 And instead of starting off with like, here are the programs or the circuits you need to

00:05:37.440 do, the first half of the book's all about the psychology of training and what training

00:05:42.660 can do to us and change us and shape us, make us stronger, our character stronger.

00:05:48.240 But also what we need to do, the mindset shifts we need to take place, that need to take place

00:05:53.040 in order for us to commit.

00:05:54.760 So in your experience with coaching, I'm sure thousands of people and just interacting with

00:05:59.100 people online, what do you think are the biggest mindset shifts that people need to

00:06:04.500 make in order to stick with a training program and making fitness a big part of their life?

00:06:11.280 You know, number one, hands down, it's dealing with self-imposed limitations.

00:06:17.560 We all have them.

00:06:18.800 And it's not just in the gym.

00:06:20.400 It's in life.

00:06:21.080 There's a lot of people out there who settle for jobs that they don't want to be in and

00:06:25.700 they know they deserve better, but they settle.

00:06:27.620 They settle for bad relationships.

00:06:29.940 They settle for the status quo, if you will.

00:06:32.740 And what we all do is we create limits at some point.

00:06:36.120 Like, I'm going to go this far.

00:06:38.380 I'm going to be this successful.

00:06:40.120 And you never really outdo that, I call it a glass cage that you build around yourself.

00:06:46.020 And the same thing happens in fitness.

00:06:48.040 Someone says, I want to train for a marathon.

00:06:50.660 I want to finish one.

00:06:52.000 Well, why is your goal just to finish a marathon?

00:06:54.020 Why not have a time goal?

00:06:55.740 The next person sets a time goal of, we'll say, four hours.

00:06:58.520 But who said four hours was ever fast?

00:07:01.220 There's people who do marathons in 203, 204, 205.

00:07:05.160 There's 30,000 people a year that qualify for the Boston Marathon every year.

00:07:09.600 Why can't you be one of them?

00:07:11.200 But we all set the bar really low according to those self-imposed limitations.

00:07:15.820 And if I can get a person to believe in themselves, to unlock their potential, to see beyond their self-imposed limitations, it can facilitate a tremendous change in them, not only inside the gym, but also outside of the gym.

00:07:31.860 And another area that really causes people problems, and it's become so prevalent today, and it makes me angry and sad, I guess, at the same time, is the amount of negative self-talk people engage in.

00:07:43.760 I mean, the one thing that I truly believe is we were all born with a God-given right, if you will, to love ourselves, to be proud of ourselves, no matter who we are or what we do.

00:07:55.720 And somewhere along the line, we learn to be really negative and harsh towards ourselves, and that's the last thing we need.

00:08:00.720 And it's something that really, really can hold us back.

00:08:03.700 And the negative self-talk combined with self-imposed limitations can really prevent us from making progress in any area of life, and especially in the gym is where I see it the most.

00:08:13.120 But like I said, it does cross over to the rest of the world.

00:08:16.440 So how do you, what do you do with your athletes who come to you, and you tell them, okay, here's what we're going to do today, and they say, well, I can't do that.

00:08:23.880 I mean, how do you break through those self-imposed limitations?

00:08:27.240 The first thing is just by what I'll call ruthless honesty.

00:08:32.120 I tell them that's not accepted here.

00:08:34.240 I don't let people I work with, people I train.

00:08:37.040 I also do corporate training with CEOs in big companies all over the country.

00:08:41.840 And one of the things I refuse to allow is negative self-talk.

00:08:45.540 The minute I hear it, I deal with it head on.

00:08:48.340 And if you think back to any conversation you've been in, that you've been in when somebody starts to bash themselves in a way, a lot of times people who are surrounding them just listen, or they encourage it even worse.

00:09:01.160 And so I don't allow that to happen.

00:09:02.860 I cut it off right away, and I help them become aware of that behavior.

00:09:06.180 The second thing I'll do is I'll start to give them exercises, and there's a few key ones that I do to help them deal with self-imposed limitations, but also to deal with negative self-talk.

00:09:16.880 Now, to get into this, there's two basic types of thoughts that go on in your brain.

00:09:21.740 Green light thoughts, red light thoughts.

00:09:24.280 Green light thoughts are positive thoughts.

00:09:26.340 It's positive self-talk.

00:09:27.700 It's thoughts that builds confidence.

00:09:29.480 It's a group of thoughts that help us be successful.

00:09:33.860 Red light thoughts, on the other hand, are the I can't thoughts.

00:09:37.380 I can't do this.

00:09:38.800 I'm not good enough for this.

00:09:40.680 Those are those manifestations of self-imposed limitations.

00:09:45.980 Whenever we experience something in life, we think both green and red light thoughts, but we've got to hope the green light thoughts overwhelm the red light thoughts.

00:09:54.340 So, what I have people do is take a small green sticker and stick them everywhere.

00:09:59.340 Stick them on the back of your phone.

00:10:00.740 I'm looking at my laptop right now as we record this.

00:10:03.100 I've got one on the front of my laptop, and every time I see that green dot, I have to think a positive thought.

00:10:10.540 And what I'm doing is I'm training my mind to think a different way.

00:10:14.720 And when I experience a pressure-filled situation or a situation where I'm likely to think those red light are negative thoughts, I've almost given myself a vaccine or I've almost helped myself before by thinking these positive thoughts.

00:10:31.240 And then I can win that negotiation between the green and red light thoughts, if you will.

00:10:35.500 And it can be a really, really powerful tool.

00:10:38.000 It sounds hokey.

00:10:39.320 It sounds silly, like I'm going to stick a green dot on something and I'm going to think a positive thought.

00:10:43.540 But you'd be surprised at the power of mental repetition.

00:10:47.420 Your brain's a muscle like anything else.

00:10:49.420 If you train it every day, it'll behave the way you want it to.

00:10:52.500 The second thing I do is I have people wake up every morning and write down five reasons why they're going to be successful.

00:10:58.520 Again, it seems too good to be true.

00:11:00.820 It seems hokey.

00:11:01.660 It seems easy.

00:11:02.860 But all you do is you wake up and write down five reasons why you're going to be successful.

00:11:06.880 And you'd be shocked at how powerful the effect of these exercises can be over time.

00:11:12.000 Because eventually you start to believe this stuff.

00:11:14.040 Yeah.

00:11:14.280 No, the green dot thing is not hokey at all.

00:11:16.380 I mean, I know pilots, like fighter pilots, there's this idea they want to stay in condition yellow, which is sort of a relaxed alert.

00:11:22.820 So they're always head on a swivel when they're up there.

00:11:25.400 And one thing they do to remind themselves, they put like a yellow dot somewhere in the cockpit to remind them condition yellow.

00:11:31.800 So it's the same thing.

00:11:32.760 Yeah, and the funny thing is, and the reason I say it's hokey is because we live in a society today, and this is something that drives me crazy, frankly, where we'll go to a doctor and we'll get a prescription.

00:11:42.840 We'll take a pill.

00:11:44.140 We'll look for some magic shortcut.

00:11:46.320 We'll spend thousands of dollars on something we don't need.

00:11:50.020 And really, the answer is as simple as a small green dot and just to start thinking positive thoughts throughout the day.

00:11:56.340 Truthfully, we shouldn't need a green dot.

00:11:57.920 You should think positive thoughts all day anyway, but it's funny.

00:12:02.640 The people that will go for medication, they'll spend thousands of dollars, they'll read these books, they'll try all kinds of other things, but something that is free, easy to do, and doesn't cost you anything, they refuse to do because they think it's silly.

00:12:16.580 So let's talk about this idea that you wrote about, the Maximus 130-hour rule.

00:12:22.160 So I think it hits on a problem that a lot of people have when they start training programs, sort of fitness program.

00:12:27.400 Again, they have that magical thinking that I start this and right away, I'm going to be awesome.

00:12:33.760 But that's not how it works.

00:12:35.720 Well, let's talk about your podcast.

00:12:37.260 You guys have a tremendous amount of downloads.

00:12:39.020 You've had a tremendous array of guests.

00:12:41.580 Was it like that day one?

00:12:43.040 No.

00:12:43.360 No.

00:12:43.600 No, it was not.

00:12:44.080 You had to work at it.

00:12:45.120 And it's funny with the podcast thing because everyone tells me, hey, Bobby, you should start a podcast.

00:12:50.280 And they think it's 30 minutes a week and that's all you do.

00:12:53.760 But for a lot of these podcasts, I don't think people realize the amount of work or the time that goes into them.

00:12:59.140 Sometimes 20 hours, sometimes 25 hours per podcast.

00:13:03.380 And we know this to be true in every area of life.

00:13:06.660 You don't wake up a doctor.

00:13:07.780 You don't wake up a lawyer.

00:13:09.040 You don't wake up the best player in the NBA or the NFL.

00:13:14.020 If people understood the work people go through to achieve something in life, it's remarkable.

00:13:19.300 So why should fitness be any different?

00:13:22.520 We're bombarded these days with these infomercials that promise four-minute abs, four-minute shoulders, the five-minute solution, the 21-day fix.

00:13:31.600 There's all these things that promise a quick fix, but they never, ever, ever work.

00:13:36.420 The gym fitness is the same as any other area of life.

00:13:40.460 If you want it, you have to work for it.

00:13:42.940 And the harder you work, the more successful you're going to be.

00:13:46.060 The 130-hour rule is a way of, I guess, visualizing that.

00:13:50.600 I've trained people since I was 21 in various capacities.

00:13:53.940 And if you give me anybody five days a week for six months, I can help them make a radical transformation.

00:14:00.820 They want to lose 100 pounds?

00:14:02.420 Good.

00:14:02.780 They want to play a professional sport?

00:14:04.780 Good.

00:14:05.360 They want to be better at their job?

00:14:07.480 Good.

00:14:07.840 I can help them do that.

00:14:08.900 But it takes six months, five days a week.

00:14:12.040 That's the equivalent of 130 hours.

00:14:14.720 If you put 130 hours in, you'll improve at something for sure.

00:14:20.700 The inevitable question is, I want it faster.

00:14:23.720 Six months is too long.

00:14:24.960 Can I do it in three months?

00:14:26.620 You can, but now you still have to pay that 130-hour toll, if you will.

00:14:33.020 The price doesn't go down.

00:14:34.940 So now, instead of training once a day for six months, you're training twice a day for three months.

00:14:40.880 Does that make sense?

00:14:41.700 No, that makes sense.

00:14:42.380 You've still got to put in the work.

00:14:44.100 So it's like a mortgage.

00:14:45.080 You just get higher payments.

00:14:46.160 So take a 15-year mortgage or a 30-year mortgage.

00:14:48.740 It doesn't matter.

00:14:49.580 You're going to pay somehow, though.

00:14:51.240 And there's no way around it.

00:14:53.240 Yeah.

00:14:53.720 I'm curious, going back to this psychological, you know, helping people psychologically get through their limits.

00:14:58.980 It's, I imagine one thing you do in your gym to show people that their limitations they've imposed on themselves are self-imposed is that you actually get them to do the thing that they think they can't do, right?

00:15:12.460 Exactly.

00:15:13.100 I mean, any examples of that that you've seen over and over again?

00:15:16.900 Yeah.

00:15:17.520 You know, a big one actually is the 2,000-meter row for time.

00:15:20.680 And I don't know how many listeners out there have rowed a 2,000-meter row for time, but it's difficult.

00:15:25.440 And it's short enough that you can go super hard, but it's long enough that you spend some time inside your own brain.

00:15:34.060 What generally happens for a 2,000-meter row for time, the first 500 is easy and the last 500 is easy.

00:15:41.180 Because whenever you start a journey or you're at the end of a journey, it tends to be fairly easy.

00:15:46.120 When you're starting or at the finish line, good.

00:15:48.100 It's the middle where everybody gives up.

00:15:50.380 And again, not just true inside the gym.

00:15:53.540 That's true outside of the gym.

00:15:55.440 Starting is easy.

00:15:56.520 Finishing is easy.

00:15:57.320 It's that middle part where everyone falls apart.

00:15:59.740 And so I give people a 2,000-meter row for time.

00:16:02.800 The standard in the gym for men is seven minutes.

00:16:05.560 The standard for women is eight minutes. 1.00

00:16:07.520 And I'm shocked at the people who will just accept a nine-minute or a 10-minute or a 12-minute 2K.

00:16:13.960 And I force them to do it.

00:16:15.440 And it hurts.

00:16:16.500 And it's not easy.

00:16:17.780 And they're forced to face their demons somewhere throughout this effort.

00:16:21.360 But by overcoming their self-imposed limitation, by hitting the standard, it builds confidence in every area in the gym, but also outside the gym as well.

00:16:30.920 And I keep coming back to that because I really believe what the gym can do for you in your real life is far more important than just being fit.

00:16:39.320 Yeah, it carries over to outside the gym.

00:16:42.020 I've seen that in my own life with my own training.

00:16:44.000 It does carry over.

00:16:44.880 You don't think you can do something, but you're able to do it in the gym.

00:16:48.120 And you're like, well, I can do that outside as well.

00:16:50.820 Well, for sure.

00:16:51.540 And it's funny.

00:16:52.340 I'm actually working with the people at Blender Bottle right now, which they make the best shaker cup in the world.

00:16:57.340 I mean, everyone, every shaker cup you'll ever see probably is a Blender Bottle shaker cup.

00:17:02.300 And I've been working with their corporate team.

00:17:04.480 And I'm actually working with their CEO.

00:17:06.580 And it's funny because when we started, and this just happened, he could only deadlift 95 pounds.

00:17:11.860 And that was a complete psychological mental roadblock.

00:17:16.760 He was certainly capable of lifting more than 95 pounds, but he just couldn't bring himself to.

00:17:21.380 Well, just this morning, we deadlifted 285 pounds.

00:17:25.480 And this is within three months.

00:17:27.920 So it's pretty incredible that someone can triple their old one rep max, that someone can gain that much strength.

00:17:35.100 And honestly, I would like to tell you it was from some secret deadlift program that will triple your deadlift and you'll be the strongest person in the universe.

00:17:42.680 But it's not.

00:17:43.740 That's just overcoming those self-imposed limitations and gaining that confidence.

00:17:47.340 And now it's transferred over to every other area of the gym and arguably business.

00:17:54.400 But things that before were an I can't are now an I can.

00:17:59.220 I love that.

00:17:59.940 All right.

00:18:00.080 Well, let's get into training.

00:18:02.380 We talked about the psychology of training, what you're trying to do mentally, emotionally with your athletes.

00:18:08.460 What's your philosophy towards training?

00:18:10.540 Is it emphasis on strength, endurance, metabolic conditioning, all of the above?

00:18:14.780 Tell us about it for those who aren't familiar.

00:18:16.800 You know, I can simplify that by just saying goal-directed training.

00:18:20.800 When you ask if somebody's fit, I guess the question I want to ask is fit for what or fit compared to who?

00:18:27.400 Fitness is a relative term.

00:18:28.980 So is the winner of the CrossFit Games the fittest person on the planet?

00:18:32.640 Or is it the person that won an Ironman?

00:18:35.120 It's really task dependent.

00:18:36.740 So everything for me is dependent on a goal.

00:18:39.740 If an NBA player comes in the gym, we've got one goal, and that is to make them better at basketball.

00:18:45.840 I don't care about their endurance at that point or metabolic conditioning.

00:18:49.060 The job is to put a ball through a hoop.

00:18:52.500 If I have an NFL player come in the gym, their goal is to be better at football.

00:18:57.980 And if they're a quarterback, that means throwing the ball further, throwing it harder, throwing it more accurately.

00:19:02.200 If it's a linebacker, it means being faster, bigger, stronger, making more tackles.

00:19:06.900 On the far end of the spectrum, you could have a person come into the gym and want to lose 150 pounds.

00:19:13.000 I'm not worried about what they can deadlift.

00:19:14.840 I'm not worried about what they can back squat.

00:19:16.560 The goal is to lose 150 pounds.

00:19:18.460 So everything is goal-directed.

00:19:21.400 That said, I do put a high emphasis on what I call general physical preparedness, which means being good at everything.

00:19:28.680 You've got a good level of strength.

00:19:30.100 You've got a good level of endurance.

00:19:31.380 You've got a good level of metabolic conditioning.

00:19:33.600 I tend to include all those things.

00:19:35.680 But like I said, everything relates to the goal.

00:19:38.600 And I mean, it's probably the best example I can give you is, do you think the world's strongest man, Thor Bjornsson, won it this year?

00:19:46.100 Do you think he cares what he can run a mile in or what his marathon time is?

00:19:49.780 No, no.

00:19:50.640 No, absolutely not.

00:19:51.960 He's there to do one thing and that's his goal.

00:19:54.280 So everything we do, you come in the gym.

00:19:56.800 We sit you down.

00:19:58.080 I believe fitness is an individual prospect.

00:20:00.380 We come up with your goals and then we write a custom program and deliver custom training to you to accomplish that goal.

00:20:07.600 It's awesome.

00:20:07.940 So let's say there's an individual listening who, they don't have a specific fitness modality they're going for.

00:20:13.720 They don't want to power lift. 0.96

00:20:15.480 They don't want to be in endurance.

00:20:16.380 They just want to be like, as you said, prepared for anything.

00:20:19.280 What does programming look like that?

00:20:20.880 Because whenever you're training for multiple modalities, it can get tricky, right?

00:20:24.660 Because when you train for endurance, you might do so at the expense of strength.

00:20:28.400 If you train for strength, you might do so at the expense of endurance.

00:20:30.940 So how do you balance all that?

00:20:33.320 By honestly working everything.

00:20:35.900 You know, a lot of people are fearful and I'm glad you brought that up, the strength endurance conundrum, if you will.

00:20:41.580 A lot of people think strength will hurt their endurance or vice versa, but that's not necessarily true.

00:20:46.360 That's only true for that Thor Bjornsson, you know, fellow who won the world's strongest man, who I mentioned.

00:20:51.640 Endurance will hurt his strength to a degree.

00:20:53.820 But for normal people, and it's shocking at actually how high they can get in each area without a detriment, if you will.

00:21:02.340 Like if you look at some of the winners of the CrossFit Games, we've got people who are deadlifting 550 pounds and running a sub five-minute mile, which is incredible.

00:21:11.700 But the key is to pay attention to all areas and ignore none.

00:21:16.760 And what often happens, and it's a key mistake, we gravitate towards what we like or what we're good at in the gym and we ignore things and those things become areas of weakness.

00:21:27.100 So in a week, I would have you do an endurance workout.

00:21:30.200 I would have you do a strength workout.

00:21:32.140 I would have you do a circuit workout or an interval workout that works on metabolic conditioning.

00:21:37.540 I would have you do a workout that works on what I'll call structural integration mobility.

00:21:42.480 And so by engaging in all these things, we can build a well-rounded fitness profile.

00:21:47.960 Gotcha.

00:21:48.340 I mean, one thing I've known you for and read about stuff that you put out there is your famous sort of circuits for metabolic conditioning because they're brutal.

00:21:57.000 I'm curious, are there one or two that are some of your favorites to introduce people to give a taste of like what kind of things you're going to have them do?

00:22:05.960 Yes, one of my absolute favorites, and it's one of my favorites because it's two exercises that people are extremely used to, are the bench press and burpee circuit.

00:22:19.400 And what you do is you do a bench press ladder at body weight combined with a burpee ladder.

00:22:24.980 You do 10 bench presses at body weight, one burpee, nine bench presses at body weight, two burpees, eight and three, seven and four, six and five.

00:22:37.800 And you work yourself all the way till you do one bench press and 10 burpees.

00:22:43.880 It's one of my favorites because again, people are used to the exercises.

00:22:48.620 Most people bench press, they consider themselves good at it.

00:22:51.680 And when you throw something cardiovascular like burpees in the mix, it is funny how fast the wheels fall off, if you will.

00:22:59.440 And it gives them something that I've come to call it the moment, you know, in the gym, but it's that moment during a workout where you realize you bit off more than you can chew, that this is a lot harder than you expected it to be.

00:23:14.640 And you've either got to, you've got to make a conscious decision on whether or not you're going to persevere and push through that, or you're just going to quit.

00:23:21.680 And that's a teachable moment.

00:23:23.800 That's the, that's the thing that really allows fitness to transfer to somebody's life outside the gym.

00:23:30.000 And is this like a finisher?

00:23:30.980 Is this something you do at an end of a workout or would this be like a workout?

00:23:34.000 You know, it depends on your level of fitness.

00:23:35.580 For some people, it's the workout.

00:23:37.980 For some people, it can be a finisher because again, you know, when you, when I ask if you're fit, it's compared to who.

00:23:46.080 So for somebody like me, who's trained his whole life, who works hard, who's built, you know, his whole life around fitness.

00:23:52.140 For me, that would be more of a finisher.

00:23:53.960 For some people, that might be the hardest workout they've ever done.

00:23:58.140 Gotcha.

00:23:58.260 And whenever you're, you're training, you know, strength and endurance, I imagine you have guys do the strength stuff first and then endurance stuff like as the end, right?

00:24:07.540 Like, so you like do all your strength in lifting first and then like run, you know, two miles or three miles or whatever afterwards.

00:24:13.500 Yes.

00:24:13.820 And that's, and that's correct.

00:24:15.080 And that is because when we're training for strength, it's important to lift maximal weight.

00:24:20.240 So I want people to be as strong and I guess as, as a put together as possible for that portion of the workout.

00:24:28.160 The other, the other thing is, is safety.

00:24:29.840 I don't think this comes across all the time in what I do, but I am extremely risk averse.

00:24:36.620 I cannot afford to get somebody hurt for my professional athletes that can really affect their paycheck or affect their life.

00:24:42.540 And for my normal people who are just training, listen, if you come in and train with me and you get hurt, you're on a shelf for two or three weeks.

00:24:49.980 We're not going to accomplish your goals and you're not going to get anywhere and you're going to be frustrated and have a difficult time.

00:24:55.220 So I want to keep you injury free.

00:24:57.100 So I don't want you lifting weights necessarily in a, in a state of pure exhaustion.

00:25:02.660 Like imagine running a mile for time and then trying to max deadlift.

00:25:06.420 I mean, that's a recipe for injury. 0.59

00:25:07.620 That would suck.

00:25:08.140 And I don't, I don't, I don't want that.

00:25:09.540 So besides, you know, you've got these monster circuits in here, you just, they just can thrash you, but you, you're big on recovery as well.

00:25:17.420 Cause I think it's often overlooked when people train.

00:25:20.040 So what's your recommendations for, how do you recover your athletes or recover yourself from all this really hard training you're doing?

00:25:27.680 Yeah.

00:25:27.820 So everyone who's listening out there, listen very carefully.

00:25:30.720 There's no such thing as overtraining.

00:25:33.660 There's only under recovery.

00:25:36.240 There's a cost to everything and you've got to pay.

00:25:39.240 So if you want to train every day, you've got to pay for it somehow.

00:25:42.920 And in terms of recovery, the number one way you can recover is sleep.

00:25:47.180 I would ask you all out there listening, how many hours of sleep you get a night?

00:25:50.260 And if the answer is anything less than eight, you are wrong.

00:25:53.300 You need eight to nine hours of quality sleep a night.

00:25:57.400 I use a cell phone analogy for people.

00:25:59.500 Now let me ask you a question.

00:26:00.760 If you leave the house in the morning and your, your cell phone, your, your iPhone or your, your Samsung galaxy or whatever you use is at 10%, how useful is that phone for the entire day?

00:26:11.040 It's not useful at all.

00:26:12.380 Not at all.

00:26:13.000 In fact, you're probably shutting it off, putting the battery saver on.

00:26:15.900 You can't make phone calls.

00:26:17.420 You can't do text messages.

00:26:18.680 Like you're, you're done.

00:26:19.440 It's a useless tool.

00:26:20.880 On the other hand, you leave the house in the morning and that phone's at a hundred percent.

00:26:25.660 It's a useful tool all day.

00:26:28.300 And so what people are doing, what they need to understand, I guess, is that you're the cell phone and the bed's the charger.

00:26:33.440 So if you're leaving the house on a 10 or 20 or 30% charge every morning, there's no way you can be effective in any area of your life.

00:26:41.660 If you leave the house on a hundred percent charge, now you're effective.

00:26:46.580 Now you're really capable of doing something.

00:26:49.400 You've got some real genuine horsepower behind you and you can get work done.

00:26:53.600 And so sleep is where it starts.

00:26:55.520 Then I tell people stress relief and stress management is the next area you want to attack.

00:27:02.400 And I'm sure you've been through periods of extreme stress.

00:27:07.960 How does everything work?

00:27:09.080 It doesn't work well.

00:27:10.480 You, you, you gain unwanted weight.

00:27:12.340 You lose muscle. 1.00

00:27:13.660 You're miserable. 0.98

00:27:14.880 You can't think straight.

00:27:16.220 So I tell people to do things to address stress.

00:27:19.060 Now there's, I'll call proactive stress management and reactive stress management.

00:27:23.320 Proactive is really starting to deal with the things that cause you stress.

00:27:28.600 If you're in a bad relationship, get out of it.

00:27:30.360 If you're in a job you hate, leave and do something that you love.

00:27:35.580 If, if there's people who stress you out, stay away from them.

00:27:39.660 Those are proactive ways to cut off stress.

00:27:42.320 Reactive ways to deal with stress are what I call recovery modalities.

00:27:47.520 Get a massage, have a nap, have a sauna, go for a walk every day for a half hour with your favorite playlist and leave your phone in the office.

00:27:56.240 Those are things you can do to help deal with the after effects of stress.

00:28:00.180 But if people can focus on those areas, they'll make a tremendous improvement.

00:28:04.100 All right.

00:28:04.240 So sleep and then manage stress.

00:28:06.960 And I meant for that managing stress thing, I imagine the, the green dot exercise plays a role in that as well.

00:28:12.540 Because when you're talking negative to yourself and you're down on yourself, that can stress you out.

00:28:16.640 Like I'm sure, I've noticed that whenever I'm sort of negative on myself, I just feel stressed out more.

00:28:22.560 But when I'm more, more positive, it's that things just sort of like roll off me and I can handle challenges better.

00:28:29.120 Well, absolutely.

00:28:29.880 And just anecdotally, some of the people who complain the most are the most stressed.

00:28:33.200 And it creates this almost negative feedback loop or downward spiral where the more stressed you are, the more negative you become.

00:28:40.020 And the more negative become, the more stressed you become.

00:28:42.940 And you never get out of it.

00:28:44.220 Yeah.

00:28:44.420 So on sleep, like, so you get, I'm sure you get eight hours of sleep.

00:28:47.400 What time do you go to bed?

00:28:48.180 What time do you wake up usually?

00:28:49.620 You know, right now I'm going to bed at nine o'clock at night and I'm waking up at 5.30 in the morning.

00:28:55.120 5.30 is far earlier than I want to wake up.

00:28:58.580 But as I said, I'm, you know, training the corporate team here and the employees at Blender Bottle and that's the time they could train before work.

00:29:05.600 So I've had to adjust my schedule, but it wasn't hard.

00:29:08.440 I used to go to bed at 10 or 11 and wake up at 7 or 8.

00:29:11.440 I just adjusted my schedule forward.

00:29:13.840 And a lot of people say they can't do that.

00:29:16.460 They can.

00:29:17.540 And I did it because I know how important sleep is to me.

00:29:21.700 And what's the worst thing that can happen?

00:29:23.580 I miss a basketball game.

00:29:25.620 I miss a hockey game.

00:29:26.660 I miss my show.

00:29:28.120 Oh, well, fortunately, in this day and age, we have something called DVR and you can just tape it and watch it the next day.

00:29:33.260 Right.

00:29:33.500 Well, speaking of stress and like those really high stress situations, there will be, I'm sure, like you said, all of us have experienced times in our life where it's like really, really, really stressful.

00:29:42.600 And I'm talking, you get a major sickness, family member gets sickness, you get laid off, etc.

00:29:48.280 You've experienced that firsthand.

00:29:50.920 What do you do to keep training and keep doing the things that you know makes your body feel good, makes your mind feel good?

00:29:57.580 How do you manage those big, really stressful events in your life?

00:30:02.680 You know, the first thing is, and I'm going to relate this to fitness because fitness is so important to me, is it comes down to how bad you want something.

00:30:13.580 It's funny that when people really want something, they'll figure out a way to make it work.

00:30:17.140 And so the first thing I do is when I'm in a period of extreme stress, I always put fitness first.

00:30:24.400 Fitness is my anchor.

00:30:25.660 I am in the gym an hour to two hours a day, every day. 0.99

00:30:30.120 I mean, my slogan, my tagline is every damn day. 0.98

00:30:32.680 That's my anchor. 0.99

00:30:33.820 That's where it all starts.

00:30:35.240 And it's stress relieving for me.

00:30:37.020 When I train, I feel better.

00:30:39.180 Even on days I don't want to train, I will show up at the gym and just sit there because, again, it's my anchor.

00:30:46.580 It's my safe place.

00:30:47.820 It is, I am so thankful for working out and training because I think it has, it's built a platform on which I live my life.

00:30:55.620 And so I always pay homage to that and pay respect to it and I show up.

00:30:59.680 But beyond that, in periods of high stress, I always make sure to make time for myself.

00:31:06.540 And that may be just an hour walk in the afternoon without my phone with a good playlist.

00:31:12.060 It may be meditating.

00:31:13.720 It may be going for a massage.

00:31:16.340 It may be having a sauna.

00:31:17.680 But I really, really strive to take care of myself during those stressful periods.

00:31:23.220 And that's one of the things I think we forget.

00:31:25.060 But when we are in periods of high stress, we cut back on sleep and our self-care goes down the toilet.

00:31:31.800 And we always have to make sure we have to care for our bodies, kind of like a car.

00:31:36.560 What happens if you drive your car hard every day and you never get the oil changed, never get the tires aligned?

00:31:42.780 What's going to happen to it?

00:31:43.700 It's going to fall apart and your body will fall apart.

00:31:46.320 So always make time for that self-care.

00:31:48.300 Well, I mean, I don't know if you want to talk about it.

00:31:49.520 You mentioned earlier before we got on the interview that you contracted some sort of bacterial disease

00:31:54.020 where it almost killed you.

00:31:56.160 Yep.

00:31:56.660 And you're still dealing.

00:31:57.860 I mean, thankfully you survived, but you're still dealing with the after effects.

00:32:00.480 How do you not let that get to you?

00:32:03.380 Because I imagine that can be really frustrating.

00:32:05.740 It's like, okay, well, I beat the worst of it.

00:32:07.920 But now I'm still dealing with this thing months later.

00:32:11.100 I should be done with it.

00:32:12.600 Yeah.

00:32:12.880 And you know what it comes down to for me?

00:32:14.720 It comes down to perspective.

00:32:16.400 So the disease I had was clostrum difficile.

00:32:18.860 It's a pretty bad stomach bacteria.

00:32:20.660 Symptoms can range from mild diarrhea to death.

00:32:25.680 One in five actually die from it.

00:32:27.280 It's really, really bad.

00:32:28.560 There's actually a comedian named Tig.

00:32:30.700 There's a documentary on Netflix about her that she talks about it in and out of the hospital

00:32:35.800 that'll shed a lot of insight.

00:32:37.880 But for me, I lost 40 pounds in a month.

00:32:40.340 I was bedridden for a month, almost had to get my colon removed.

00:32:44.160 I ended up with an umbilical hernia from stomach spasms.

00:32:47.220 It was a really, really bad deal.

00:32:49.820 But as bad as things got, I always had a faith that things would get better.

00:32:54.300 And honestly, life's not easy. 0.99

00:32:57.160 The world is always going to throw some kind of bullshit at you. 0.96

00:33:01.800 You know, there's always something that the world's going to do to try to knock you down. 0.98

00:33:05.820 And I've been through a lot.

00:33:06.740 I've been through a divorce.

00:33:07.940 I've been through the death of my dad when I was 20 years old.

00:33:11.300 I've been through illnesses myself.

00:33:12.980 I had what was supposed to be a career-ending injury at one point.

00:33:17.460 And what I've learned through all this is to stay positive because things will get better.

00:33:22.760 And as bad as you think things are, somebody's always got it worse.

00:33:26.700 And it's important to remember that, to be grateful for what you have,

00:33:30.420 and to keep persevering because that's what it really comes down to.

00:33:33.380 Green dot.

00:33:34.120 Got to keep the green dot there.

00:33:35.860 That's exactly what it is.

00:33:37.080 And it's just, honestly, it's the power of positive thinking.

00:33:39.220 And like I said, as bad as you think it is, it can always get worse.

00:33:44.440 So be grateful for what you have and keep pushing.

00:33:46.240 And you can't let anything get in the way of your goals.

00:33:49.420 There's actually this whole theory.

00:33:51.340 And I don't know if you've ever heard of this, but whenever you find your true calling,

00:33:54.580 what you're really meant to do, it's almost like the world starts throwing obstacles in your way.

00:33:59.820 And it's a common theme you'll hear amongst the most successful business people,

00:34:04.060 the most successful athletes, that when they found their thing,

00:34:06.900 the world kind of rises up and tries to stop them.

00:34:08.980 And it's almost like a test to make you earn it.

00:34:10.960 Right.

00:34:11.220 Steven Pressfield, the writer, calls it the resistance.

00:34:14.740 So one thing you're famous for, I've seen on your Instagram account,

00:34:18.200 are these things called your Sunday sermons.

00:34:20.860 What sort of topics do you hit in these things?

00:34:22.880 And have there been any in particular that have resonated with a lot of people?

00:34:26.640 You know, the Sunday sermons, they tend to me,

00:34:29.380 they tend to be inspirational things that extend way beyond the gym.

00:34:34.320 Yes, I am a fitness personality.

00:34:36.520 Yes, I do care about the gym.

00:34:39.580 Yes, I take selfies of myself and lift weights and do all those things.

00:34:43.980 But what I'm far more interested in is helping people develop a life outside the gym.

00:34:49.840 Like I said before, and I'll say it again, I want people to be better fathers, better mothers,

00:34:53.700 be better at their lives and enjoy themselves more.

00:34:56.120 And so the sermons tend to be philosophical one-liners that can help inspire people.

00:35:02.460 One of my favorites is always bet on yourself.

00:35:05.500 Be confident in yourself.

00:35:07.280 Always believe in yourself.

00:35:09.360 Another one, you didn't wake up to be mediocre.

00:35:12.520 It's a reminder that you didn't wake up to just do the status quo.

00:35:17.300 Extend yourself.

00:35:18.660 Push yourself to your limits.

00:35:19.840 Be the very best version of you that you can be.

00:35:24.900 Another one that I like, because I do believe in being a better person,

00:35:28.600 is be the person you want to be around.

00:35:30.860 Lead by example.

00:35:31.900 Treat others the way you want to be treated.

00:35:35.080 And so those are the things that I write about.

00:35:39.340 And then I try to teach people about in a paragraph or two paragraph statement afterwards.

00:35:45.260 Right.

00:35:45.440 And people can see those on your Instagram account.

00:35:47.500 What's your Instagram handle?

00:35:48.500 It's at Bobby Maximus.

00:35:50.280 They can go there.

00:35:50.920 They can also go to my website, bobbymaximus.com.

00:35:53.440 And I always put the sermons on there.

00:35:55.700 But I think it's important to be reminded of these things on a day-to-day basis, if you will.

00:36:02.480 And sometimes, as funny as it sounds, there's a lot of negatives about social media.

00:36:07.740 Don't get me wrong.

00:36:08.520 There's a lot of trolls out there.

00:36:10.320 There's a lot of bullying.

00:36:11.800 There's a lot of negatives.

00:36:12.660 But there's also a lot of positives because there are days myself where I'm unmotivated,

00:36:17.440 where I have a difficult time moving.

00:36:18.780 And I read something on Instagram or I read something on Twitter that really inspires me

00:36:22.780 and helps motivate me.

00:36:23.640 And I'm grateful for it.

00:36:25.280 And I want to do that for other people.

00:36:27.480 Right.

00:36:27.660 Yeah.

00:36:27.800 I mean, that's one thing you talk about in the book.

00:36:29.520 An important part of ensuring your success with your training is surround yourself with

00:36:33.820 people who are also striving after the same goal so you can provide some mutual support.

00:36:38.400 Well, yeah.

00:36:38.760 And I always say you become who you hang around.

00:36:40.860 And you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

00:36:44.040 And you can get that through Instagram.

00:36:46.680 You can be inspired by people.

00:36:48.380 And like I said, I'm grateful to have been inspired by people on Instagram.

00:36:53.080 And I'm also grateful and honored to be able to inspire other people.

00:36:57.800 And really, that's what I want to do at the end of the day.

00:37:00.780 I want to make a difference in somebody's life.

00:37:03.180 And how do I get paid?

00:37:05.140 Well, what really pays me is, I guess, that spiritual or that emotional feeling.

00:37:10.860 When someone writes me an email and says, hey, thank you for posting that.

00:37:14.120 That really made a difference to me.

00:37:15.840 Or I've decided to be a better dad.

00:37:17.880 Or I've decided to give up alcohol.

00:37:19.580 I mean, you start to get messages like that and see the effect you have on people.

00:37:24.180 And it's quite remarkable.

00:37:26.020 And that's what gets me up every morning.

00:37:28.700 And that's what makes me sleep easy at night.

00:37:30.720 Well, Bobby, this has been a great conversation.

00:37:32.300 So I think following Instagram, we mentioned the website.

00:37:35.140 Where can they get more information about the book, Maximus Body?

00:37:38.200 Yeah, the book itself.

00:37:39.560 If you just go to Google and Google Maximus Body, there'll be a bunch of ways that it can

00:37:43.700 pop up that you can buy it.

00:37:44.860 It's on Google Play.

00:37:46.340 It's on iBooks.

00:37:47.420 It's on Amazon.

00:37:48.260 I think Amazon is the one most people use.

00:37:50.780 And it's available in your local bookstore.

00:37:53.000 You can get it on electronic and paperback now.

00:37:55.180 So it's something I'd certainly recommend to pick up.

00:37:57.520 And like I said, it's a lot more than just a fitness book.

00:38:00.580 It's something that can help you change your life.

00:38:02.900 And I believe in it.

00:38:04.260 All right.

00:38:04.460 Bobby Maximus, thank you so much for your time.

00:38:06.220 It's been a pleasure.

00:38:07.040 Thank you.

00:38:07.960 My guest name is Bobby Maximus.

00:38:09.220 His new book is Maximus Body.

00:38:11.380 It's available on Amazon.com and bookstores everywhere.

00:38:13.460 You can find more information about his work at bobbymaximus.com or follow him on Instagram

00:38:17.440 at bobbymaximus.

00:38:19.080 Also check out our show notes at aom.is slash Maximus, where you can find links to resources

00:38:23.580 where you can delve deeper into this topic.

00:38:37.300 Well, that wraps up another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.

00:38:40.320 For more manly tips and advice, make sure to check out the Art of Manliness website at

00:38:43.760 artofmanliness.com.

00:38:44.920 And if you're looking to get started with a fitness program and have had trouble sticking

00:38:49.140 with it, check out The Strenuous Life.

00:38:50.620 It's a program we developed to help you put into action the things we've been talking

00:38:54.060 about on the podcast or writing the website for the past 10 years, strenuouslife.co.

00:38:58.140 You can get signed up to get notifications when our next enrollment goes up.

00:39:01.280 Had a lot of guys who have done the program who've, for the first time in their life,

00:39:04.780 stuck with a fitness goal for longer than three months.

00:39:06.900 Guys losing weight, getting stronger.

00:39:08.400 It's fantastic.

00:39:09.140 Check it out, strenuouslife.co.

00:39:10.960 As always, thank you for your continued support.

00:39:13.140 And until next time, this is Brett McKay telling you to stay manly.

00:39:15.840 We'll see you next time.

The Art of Manliness - June 19, 2018

#415： Forging Mental Strength Through Physical Strength

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript