what does mindset mean to you in the gym never settling for just going just basically going through the motions you know what I'm saying like always always having the mindset that you have to somehow one up yourself the other day and I feel like the easiest way of the most visible way of that is the one rep Maxes but as I say like not everybody you don't have to do one rep max and it could be the same thing with the set of eight you know what I'm saying say it could be a 20 rep set like as long as you're actually progressing and people like well that's just Progressive overload it's like yeah it is but there comes a point where you're in a plateau and a lot of times that Plateau it's mental it's brother you're not it doesn't make sense that you would physically be in a plateau for like five years you know what I'm saying but it does make sense that you get in a mental Funk and then you defeat yourself mentally and I feel like that's what happens with most people and I mean brother it's happy to me for the longest time that's what I love about working out it really instills that thought process in your mind because you know naturally we're wired for Comfort we want to avoid pain seek pleasure when we work out especially if you have serious goals of strength muscle mass all that stuff you have to push the comfort zone that's actually a requirement in this area so it's rewiring your brain that this is a good thing and then when you get that in other aspects of your life work relationships you can just push through that a little bit more I just noticed on average people that work out hard have that trait if I just do more than the average Joe I will do better and it's it's it sounds so easy theoretically like if I just work harder than this person but until you actually experience it and actually you know get humbled and humiliated and taste defeat but then do the extra work and come out of the other end and beat those people that once beat you this there's no better feeling and it's just like holy [ __ ] like life is literally what you make it like you really can you could be a loser or you could be a winner and honestly it's in your control like people say like you know athletic genetic ability and all that kind of stuff yes that plays a huge part but a lot of times those athletic specimens stuff comes easy so that when it starts to get difficult they don't rise to the occasion you know what I'm saying whereas the people that aren't as Blessed Like genetically athletically are usually the ones that end up being the most successful because they learn like I just H the [ __ ] you grind and you know put that extra time in and when I do that I'm more successful and then obviously those traits just carry with you for anything you do in life what's really helpful for me is when you're setting these goals say you don't get the outcome you want reflecting back on the process of what you did is so huge because just say you get the outcome you want but you didn't work hard that in of itself almost shouldn't be rewarded versus if you you know look back and you're like okay I could have done this better I could have slept more I could have fixed up my nutrition I could have done a bit more um learning to focus on what I need to apply that then get the result you should reward the process because that's actually what you can influence yeah yeah absolutely I freaking hit the nail on the head brother putting band resistance on my weights when I'm warming up is an absolute Game Changer ever since I started doing that I've been hitting PRS again nothing shame if anything I've lost with I've lost probably 20 pounds from a year ago but I'm hitting strength PRS and now finally and it's because I'm I'm finding a way to get out of my own head you know what I mean because especially the longer you're in a plateau the harder it is to get out of it because everyone looks at a weight you know let's just say it's bench because most people are you know like bench is the thing everyone wants to have basically so let's say it's like a 315 bench you know you could have 225 be flying it's moving it's everything's feeling good but once you get to like an ex like 27 5 or something or 315 you start respecting the weight too much and no matter how easy those warm-ups are you're already mentally defeating yourself and that's what happened with me like well that's what that dud that's what happens with everyone like but for deadlift like for the longest time dude honestly for I want to say 10 years I was chasing 700 on the deadlift 10 years and I could never do it and that's because once you get the six plates on each side it's like the 585 it's like okay this usually starts to feel heavy so then you believe it that this is going to start to feel heavy and then 6:35 that's the set where it's like all right sometimes I can get this sometimes I can't and then 675 it's usually like ah maybe I'll get this so if you're already thinking you know maybe I can get this maybe this will be hard maybe I can get it there's no [ __ ] way if you're thinking about that that a 675 there's no way 700 is going to happen unless you're like that much stronger you know what I'm saying but if you're that much stronger then it's a different can of worms like then you're just a daisy for never pushing yourself harder I just thought of a fun experiment for um unlocking your potential it would be if you're training with a lifting partner you could do like a blind test I don't know if you've ever tried something like this where they load it up towards 700 and you just approach the bar and just you don't have those shackles in your mind you're just going to [ __ ] go for it like a Savage each step of the way I G brother I guarantee anyone doing that challenge surprise themselves by how much stronger they are and I I I can speak this with 100% certainty because now anytime I deadlift squat I'm trying to find more ways to do with or I'm sorry every time I deadlift and bench I'll use bands now to warm up still trying to find a way to do it with um squats but anytime I do that now I'm look because I'm always looking at the plates you know three plates four plates five plates I'm like this is easy mentally because I only somehow subconsciously I'm only thinking of the weights but I have like six extra bands of resistance which is a [ __ ] ton of resistance so that all of a sudden once I'm up to you know the weight that usually feels hard it you it still kind of feels hard it's meally like oh yeah this is hard now but like oh [ __ ] but I have like seven bands on here so I'll take a few bands off and all of a sudden I just totally reset my mindset I'm like okay this will be easy now because I took these bands up and sure enough it is and it's crazy how well it works and someone um brought up like reverse bands or something too because you always talk how great BS are and all of a sudden BS are B like brother don't you're getting you're getting the message Twisted reverse bands are bad I did those for the longest time with the concession that I'll have more plates on the bar and I'll be moving more weight but only can help where I need it and it's not it's just for some reason it's not true at all because again you still look at the plates and you're respecting the plates on the bar so you can put more plates on the bar so then you're telling yourself holy [ __ ] that's a lot of weight on the bar but those bands for all you know can be taken 200 to 300 pounds off so you're thinking this is a [ __ ] ton of weight when in fact you can be lighter weight than you normally lift you it's just it's the exact opposite effect is using band tension so then you're psyching yourself out for lightweights see what I'm saying not everyone I'm just saying but theoretically that's for me that's what would happen I dude I've done like dead lfts with like 865 reverse bands oh [ __ ] yeah and I'll take the bands off and it's like I can't even budge 700 you know what I'm saying whereas the opposite effect with the band resistance it's like okay it's like damn this should be light why is this so hard you take the bands off and the we just flies the [ __ ] up oh man so you prefer that for more of a a warmup as opposed to always using it as a training tool yeah yeah yeah yeah I don't I don't even look at it as a training tool I don't even think I just I look at it as purely a psychological manipulation basically and brother I swear it works every time maybe eventually I'll hit like a band I'll start to learn the bands and the resistance and maybe you know what I'm saying you can only outsmart yourself for so long exactly but like today I hit 8:15 behind the back deadlift which is for the longest time because I you know I had two knee surgeries and my first knee surgery was uh seven years ago so I hit like 880 was my alltime behind the back deadlift and then seven year and that was probably eight or nine eight years ago probably and then seven years ago I had ACL and miniscus surgery not weight related none of my injuries are ever weight related there is pro professional wrestling related which I look back and regret even getting involved in that in the first place because my body is my number one asset it's like why did I ever do something where I was literally giving my body away to get hurt just to make money no it's easy to say in hindsight though but I mean based on hearing your journey it was like a lifelong ambition you'll you'll never you know die regretting oh maybe I should have went for it you've done it that's true yeah I mean absolutely I if there's ever anything that you feel like maybe you should do you should always just do it and a lot of people are like addicted to energy drinks and stuff like that and uh you get why because at first it's like you drink them and you feel good you know what I mean so that it's a slippery slope but I kind of learned like with coffee for instance like okay if I drink this coffee or if I drink this pre-workout or whatever I have to freaking bring it and utilize it you know what I'm saying like I what I don't understand is the people that like because we're talking about coffee um is the people that like just drink coffee to do like nothing because like when I have coffee or if I have something it's like all right one way or another I have to I have to be productive like in the gym or bring some freaking major fire to a the camera or something you know what I mean like personality basically like this is a delicious treat that I'm giving myself you know what I'm saying this freaking Caffe stimulus I want it I'm addicted to it but in order to get it I have to put it all on the freaking line you know what I'm saying because at the end of the day man the caffeine's it's just it's a tool it's freaking caffeine's a drug you know what I'm saying so you can use it or you can abuse it so I can't the people that drink the energy drinks all day it's like what are you doing man what are you doing then what happens when you actually do have to freaking put it all on the line you know what I'm saying what do you do then meth you know what