 Listen to this if you want to build endurance and stamina, but you don't want to lose any muscle Our first caller is Ian from Maryland Ian. What's happening? How can we help you? Wow? This is Sal Adam and Justin, right? Okay, I want you guys every day you guys have been a huge inspiration and have really just changed my life in terms of fitness I just want to say thank you guys for that so much. You're welcome man. Thanks for listening Thanks for a compliment. All right, so I'm just gonna go ahead and dive into my question So I'm gonna give you a very slight back story then get into exactly what What I actually at call for today. So I started working out in October of 2020 and before that And I was in school. Well college. I didn't really work out a lot. I ran high school tracks Oh, that's when I worked out but this was my first time really hitting the gym and I was just doing a split routine and you know making steadily good progress, but not really, you know It was it was pretty decent was slow slow games, but it was perfectly fine And then around March is when I was introduced to you guys and you guys were just a Huge help, you know from the tips you guys gave to the full-body workouts every single thing I was single thing to do guys preach on a day-to-day basis Really changed up my whole the time a whole entire progress. So I was able to you know, not only increase strength gains by a lot I also gained a lot of muscle mass too because I was I think that you describe as an actual ectomorph I believe you say a lot So is that how you say it or when you were super skinny with a scoop small body type? Yeah ectomorph or or Wimpy like Adam. Yeah, so I Would I was an ectomorph super small one to gain muscle now is my priority and after listening you guys you guys You know definitely changed up that whole progress awesome So long story short, I'm at to where point where I'm at now We're I still want to see strength games still on the shirt plus still doing positive But I decided to switch up the workouts because something that I know Justin and you guys talk about consistently It's just doing that different plane working on different planes So I decided to go ahead and switch from my full-body workout routine Which is like a typical five-by-five to now actually dominant to mass performance, which has been great I'm at the end of it right now So now I decided to move on to that and go with some apps OCR Just a quick side note I did sign up for option option course run because you guys inspired me as the Spartan one But with that being said though I still want to be able to maintain my strength games and I know that OCR the way that it's programmed It's a lot of running involved. So I know that can sin compete in signal signal. So I was asking you guys What's the best way for me to structure maps OCR where I can maintain my strength games or what can I do? Maybe add in a day or something. I don't know how I should structure to make sure that just maintain my strength and my muscle mass And I lose lose it. Yeah, Ian That's a good question The best answer is the follow maps OCR is laid out so every program that we create the idea is to maximize performance for the specific goal that the program is created for and part of that is maximizing strength and muscle in relation to the context of the goal. So that means that in OCR training maximizing strength so long as it contributes to Your performance in OCR. So you got to remember something and strength is can be relatively specific. So A power lifter Is going to be stronger than a strongman lifter in specific lifts in a specific context But a strongman lifter is going to be stronger in a different context, right? And so this is true for all athletes So strength can be defined in many different ways I think you're absolutely fine. You're going to go on OCR. Will you lose some strength in your deadlift squat and bench? Probably But you'll gain it in different ways that'll maximize your performance in OCR and then you come back When you come back, you're just going to be more balanced And that's really the key right unless you're just looking to work out for a few months and then that's it But if you're looking at this long term You're going to see yourself move in and out of different adaptations and goals and overall They all contribute to each other to a more balanced functional strong Healthy body and physique. No, that's not to say that He can't manipulate OCR or do some sort of a blend Of OCR and like anabolic or performance, right? There's nothing that says you can't do that and The only thing excuse me the only thing that is going to happen though If you do that, right? So and what I'm hearing is is similar to like maybe the experience I had when I did like I did a Tough Mudder So I did something similar, right? And when I did it all I wanted to do was I wanted to be good enough to beat my two buddies that I was going after I really didn't I wasn't trying to be the best OCR guy I wasn't trying I cared more about my physique and my muscle than I cared about like being a top OCR As long as you beat Radish at friends, that's right That's all I just wanted to beat my out of shape friends because I was talking shit one day And they were making fun of me being like this meatball buff guy And I said listen I could still get out there on one of these fucking obstacle course races and whoop your ass And so that was all I wanted to do and at the same time I didn't want to sacrifice all the hard work that I put in to build this physique and and put all this muscle on so I trained a little like OCR But still kind of trained like a meatball, you know bodybuilder guy So the if if that's kind of where you're at where you're like, yes I want to get out there and do this OCR thing. I just want to prove that I can do it Then there's nothing that says you can't take part of OCR Add in a couple of the runs here and there instead of running as much as we have you running in there Do some of the obstacle course like strength specific stuff for like your forums Which I think you should do because that's going to benefit you because a lot of the things In OCR is like requires good grip strength But then still kind of run an anabolic type of routine And basically what I would do is I would just kind of split the week in half and say, you know Half the week I'm doing like an anabolic full body routine and then the other half I'm kind of following OCR Now if you do that You're going to sacrifice how good you're going to be at OCR But if I'm hearing you correctly that may be less of a priority to you and your strength And maybe your physique is more important to you But what Sal is saying is absolutely true too nothing if you were to follow OCR to a T Let go the fact that you might lose a little bit of strength in your your deadlift and squat and all that hard work You put in and then know that when you get out of your OCR training and you get back to anabolic You get back to strong you get back to one of our other programs You're going to blow right back up and I guarantee you within that program You'll catch up and probably surpass your current pr numbers. So Both options are are completely okay. It really depends. What do you what do you want from this? Yeah, I think there's I mean, this is a very common fear. I think there's a lot of paranoia around losing the muscle that you work so hard to achieve but Not realizing that you know as you go back into that type of training, it's going to come back pretty quickly It's not something that You know, if you do lose a bit of strength gains just because you're focusing more on endurance I mean, this is a phase is a period where now we're hyper focusing on something that your body's trying to adapt towards That's you know in a different direction, but we'll you know benefit the overall so I honestly I think that if You know if you're comfortable with it to really dive into it and do it exactly how it's laid out And you're going to be just fine. You're going to find that you're going to probably enjoy it Your body's going to have a different sort of a goal to Achieve and acquire the skill that you can improve upon and then come right back and you know, it's going to be like You know, you just interrupted it briefly. Yeah, you know one more thing Ian I'm going to make it more specific now specifically to you you sent us a question A written question. There's got more details on what you said on the podcast. Do you mind if I go through some of? Oh, no, that's perfectly fine. I just didn't want to hit all of you guys time. So yeah No, no, I'm going to read off a few things just for Doug. Doug appreciates that Ian. Just so you know Yeah, no I'm going to go through some of the stuff just for the the people listening or watching right now So in your written question, you had said that you have well, you already told us You have a background in track. Um, so that tells me that you've done a lot of running You're probably pretty damn good at it. You weigh 151 pounds And your bench is 245 your squat is 330 and your deadlift is 405, which are solid exceptional numbers for Somebody your size Because of your track background your body weight and your strength Uh, I don't think you're gonna have trouble with ocr training. Yeah, I think you're gonna be totally fine In fact, I think you could jump in it right now and you'll do better than most people With almost no training. Uh, just because of your background I mean your body weight to strength ratio is so high That, you know You know going across bars and stuff like that with your hands is not going to be as hard as somebody who weighs You know 200 plus pounds. So keep that in mind as well You know consider that you're you're you're in better You're in a better position than most people anyway Just because you're training background the biggest challenge people have with ocr Is the running and the stuff that has to do with the grip Those are the two most common complaints, uh, or you know concerns that people will have after they do An ocr race, but you already got the running down. I think you're probably gonna be fine with the running The hand stuff. Yeah, I'd say you're probably okay if you could pull 405 at 151 You're probably gonna be okay. Maybe work on some stamina with that. So I wouldn't worry too much and then the last thing I'll say is this People are so worried After they gain muscle that if they lose it It's gonna take as long as it took them the first time to gain it back even easier It's super fast. Once you gain it like that's the hard part The first time is the first time you gain muscle is the hard part the second third fourth fifth time Way different. It's way different and way easier. So if you do lose Five pounds of muscle and maybe before it took you four or five months to gain it You'll gain it back in a few weeks. I mean don't trip selfishly You know if I was your coach, I would actually love to see you run ocr to a t and see with your background And already where your strength to weight ratio like a top Yeah, I think you could actually I think you could be a top guy that finishes in his first, you know first ocr race So there's a selfish part of me as a coach. I'd be like, let's see what we can let's see what we could do with your We're gonna hit with hunter mac and cat. Yeah, your abilities already. I bet we could make you Win this goddamn. Yeah, you've almost got the perfect body type for ocr your body weight and your strength In your background and with your competitive background I'm gonna assume You're a competitive individual have some fun with it man. Go out there and see what you can do Maybe it's something you fall in love with and it becomes a new passion Well, I will thank you guys so much and I guess I know I'm only spending one but a quick question Which should I run after this? What should you run after this? Well, you done go back to strength for sure. Yeah, I would go. Have you done map strong strong? Yeah No, I haven't I was with that was my next one. I wanted to look into yeah We'll send that to you even if you don't have that I'll send that over to you Oh, thank you. Thank you guys so much. You got it man. Thanks for the thanks for listening to the show. Appreciate it Of course. Thank you. Thank you guys. Have a great day. You got Yeah, I get the by the way I want to be clear when I give advice or when all of us give advice on the podcast We're in trainer mode that doesn't mean that we don't feel the same way when it's our own selves I know what even now that's why I wanted to share that Totally because I I was exactly I can't say I was exactly like this because he's got a runner background And I don't I don't know what his motivation of OCR was but I was in a point It was literally this was we were playing video games my two best friends and myself We're playing video games. We were doing something starts exactly right probably smoking some weed right and and they taught Maybe I was smoking weed and that's what they're making fun of me And they were making fun of me that I I didn't have I won't have the endurance because I smoke And now I'm all this like big meathead and I was just like No, I'll get out there and smoke here at both of your asses right now on that And they're both ex-athletes from school when we were kids and stuff like that Did you end up beating them by the way I did Although it was fucking hard I'm not gonna lie like because I did I did have this attitude of like listen I just need to train a little bit You know a little bit of cardio and get my cardio up there And then I'll be able to and maybe some grip strength stuff because I was pretty I think at that time I was like 230 to 25 somewhere around there So did you guys have to dive in that cold water for the plunge? So I did tough mutter and tough mutter I think is a little bit easier than spartans Spartans a little more running like tough mutter They do or excuse me not tough mutter. I'm sorry muddy buddy So they actually use split half running half biking And you have a partner and you kind of you go back and forth. So anyways, Doug later on google muddy buddy My point my point though of bringing that up so he knows is that I know as a coach I would want him to run through ocr stick to it. Just the way it is understand that when he gets out of that He's gonna be totally fine But I also his his probably his sentiment it resonates with me because because I didn't do that. I didn't go from meathead adam training to like, oh, I'm gonna train ocr like because I'm gonna go Do you know gain the muscle back real easy? Yeah, no, I was like I I cared so much about what I had built And I didn't I didn't want to even if it was a short regression back and I know better I he was like, I don't need to I could but then I might but I'm I want to be very clear my goal wasn't to be the best ocr Right, so I just needed to beat my two fucking slept friends here. Like it's all I need to do Like I did not I hope they listen to the Now if I if I one of them does right if I wanted to be The best ocr racer. I would have absolutely committed to training like an ocr racer like what we wrote the program Yeah, I get it too. It's like, you know, I know if I lost five pounds of muscle It would be easy to gain it back that still doesn't mean I don't freak out if there's an opportunity to lose five pounds It still doesn't mean you don't want to either exactly I still I get it I totally get it but the advice that we're giving is is accurate even if we don't necessarily take it ourselves sometimes Hey, if you enjoyed that clip you can find the full episode here or you can find other clips over here and be sure to subscribe