 Our first caller is Tom from New Jersey. Hey, what's up Tom? How can we help you? Hey, what's going on guys? long short of it is um, I Lost over 150 pounds naturally much more 20. Yeah, the 270s um Kept it off over the course of three years was with a trainer till about six months ago Got certified myself really trying to take it to the next level um Big thing is I've kind of plateaued and I just really want to keep burning really want to put on some more mass It's tough with the all-natural thing, but uh, I want to see what you guys say about possibly Taking to the next level what program I could maybe go on and you know any you know hurdles you could help me face Yeah, I have some questions around the cut. Okay, so yeah Well first off I want to commend you on your right Adam haircut. That's a really nice Yeah, he's got my look or what he's got your look. He must be handsome as fuck No, I saw yeah the questions I have I kind of want to know how you got got down, right? So did you do it mostly through weight training and diet? Did you utilize a lot of cardio? Do you have any idea of where your calorie intake is right now? And then the last question is have you been on a a bulk yet? Okay It started through light training. I was an athlete back in high school and out Into my mid-20s until I changed so I had knowledge of that I Incorporated light training again. I have a very bad knee. I have no cartilage left in it So I'm working with that But it was mainly strength training and very light cardio And then it got to the point where I built up from two days a week to three days a week to you know Five to six days a week I have Not gone on a bulk. I'm very scared about putting anything on It's trying to break that mindset And the the other thing is I'm probably around 3400 calories right now Okay So this is a we're in a good place, bro 3400 calories lost that much weight and you haven't done a bulk yet And that is gonna be this conversation from I'm sure from all three guys are gonna be the same thing as far as The mindset is gonna be the the greatest hurdle that we have right now Which is I totally get this because I've trained many clients in a very very similar situation as yourself And I do know that you know when you're coming from there just a thought of oh my god What if I start a bulk and I see the scale go up 10 pounds or even 15 pounds or anywhere in that direction after all this Hard work, but the truth is that's why you've plateaued right now You've plateaued right now because your body is completely adapted to the chloric intake the activity level that you're doing Your best bet right now is let's put on some muscle and in order to put on more muscle than you already have done and already have right now We are gonna require increasing our chloric intake and then putting you on a muscle building type of program I would recommend based off of listening to what you're kind of doing right now Probably a maps anabolic type of program That's the direction I would go I'm curious to hear what the guys would say But I'm sure they're gonna say the same thing as far as the mental hurdle. Yeah, I agree a hundred percent I think maps anabolic three foundational workouts a week because you have the choice in the program to do two or three I would say do three make sure you do your three trigger sessions on all of your off days And then what I would add to that because you mentioned your knee is I would add Maps prime pro to work on hip ankle and foot mobility to take pressure off the knee And you know be very careful with your lower body exercises Don't worry so much about going real heavy work within your limits, but you're in a really good position I mean based off of what you said you lost weight the right way and your 3400 calories You're still at a pretty good number you're crushing now a bulk is just a little bit more than that You don't got to do an aggressive bulk. In fact, I would recommend Against doing an aggressive bulk, especially if in the past your tendency was to overeat So all you got it I would add you know 300 calories 400 calories max probably around 300 and just let your body slowly get stronger Build some muscle do it over the course of the the maps anabolic program about three months Keep it kind of slow You can throw in a couple days a week of low calories if you feel like you're putting on Body fat and then just do that and then see where you're at at the end of that I think you'd be surprised how much body fat you may actually lose Believe it or not by following that kind of a protocol I also you we definitely want to even though our ultimate goal Probably is to get down to a lower body fat percentage and continue to lean out like you said the goal though now Mentally is to focus on strength because because what you don't want to do is to take the advice We said and you go okay guys said add three 400 calories a day I'm doing that and the thing you're watching is the scale You got to just that needs to go to the side for a while. Don't worry about your exact weight right now Eat like a let eat like Sal saying three to four hundred extra calories a day follow maps and a ball three times a week That doesn't mean that the other because you've worked up to five five to six days a week of activity Still go for a walk still still do things to get the trigger sessions Yeah trigger sessions and still do like a mobility from prime pros So that's what I would do to supplement maybe the all the activity that you're doing currently now since we're telling you to reduce To three days a week of full body routine But still do activities still work on mobility still do the trigger sessions on the off day So you're still going to be moving around doing stuff five to six days a week just training and then the mentality is around Building strength. So let that be your guide on am I doing a good job? Am I good getting stronger week over week following the program and then we can assess at the end of it where you're at? Yeah, strength is your gauge how like to energy level. So like I don't know how Energetic you feel right now at what 3400 calories, but you know, that's something to really pay attention to and just gradually increase that based on like how that's gonna help aid you in your You know performance in the gym very much of a strength focus there in the gym. Yeah, you know Tom I had a client you remind me a lot of a person I trained a long time ago And we did exactly what we're talking about and he was really good at following You know what I said to a T and it was remarkable at the end of three months We gained muscle and actually his body fat percentage went down a little bit now I think what happened is his body fat Total weight didn't change but because he gained lean body mass his overall body fat weight became a smaller percentage of His body weight if that makes any sense So we actually saw his muscle go up and his body fat percentage go down then when we went to start to cut It was like his body responded again. There's this theory. I remember Jason Phillips And I talked about this on a previous old podcast Where we we think and other people have talked about this where the central nervous system kind of has this memory of You know how you live before what you did before and so it's a little bit more resistant It's a little bit more resistant to getting lean or you know getting yourself to where you want to go So you kind of have to let your body know it's okay a surplus a calorie surplus in your situation Especially when you're sending the signal to build May do that and it may take a few months, but I think you'll be happy with the results Do you have maps anabolic and maps prime pro by the way? No, no I was waiting to see what you guys would say before I made any moves. Okay, cool Well, we're gonna give them to you. So you got those. Thank you guys Yeah, so you start off with what we're giving you right now That should take care of you for the next three months if we don't touch bases between now and then The ideal order for someone like you is maps anabolic maps performance than maps aesthetic We wrote them in that order to help first build the metabolism build a strength base Then move into kind of performance based stuff and then eventually into aesthetic So if you do not make contact with any of us between you now in the end of three months That would be the next progression for you, but I would love to hear back from you I'd love to hear how you're doing after a month or two and stay strong It's gonna be that the mental game is gonna be everything for you Yeah, figure out. Yeah figure out your rituals in terms of like, you know Protecting that ankle to or that knee is excuse me Work on ankle work on the hips and you know really dial that in skin. Help a lot. Awesome Look if I if I could just say to you guys real quick I appreciate everything you guys do and especially the other day on one of your podcasts Talk about sounds awesome video awesome. By the way, thank you You guys something that I must respect and appreciate is people like me who are trying to find where they fit in the fitness industry and the fitness You know world By you guys, you know, not just telling your bodies and stuff to push stuff and letting you know the information speak It really makes it comfortable for people like me in that situation to come on here and talk to you guys about it So I really appreciate that and I love that you guys do everything the way you do it Hey, your feedback means a lot appreciate it. Thank you Tom. Thank you guys. No problem You know, I had a I had a trainer years ago That I recruited from Foot Locker. So, you know, they sell shoes, right? I was at the mall and this dude is selling me shoes and he's super Charismatic super personable and we started talking asked me what I did I said, oh, I managed the gym You know down the street and he says, oh, you know, I've been working out now for a while I lost a hundred pounds now. He probably still needed to lose 30 or 40 pounds but he'd lost a hundred pounds very similar story to this guy and I said you want to you want to get into fitness I think you'd make a great trainer. You just got to get certified. Anyway, he ended up working for me Became a trainer and actually did very well because he'd gone through the journey recently people connected with him And he made an excellent with somebody very similar and they just become this evangelist of fitness And yes, like they did very well in the business. This is One of my favorite clients to help because this is like you literally change this person's life Yes, somebody who's been walking around at four bills plus for a good amount of their life, right? It's not like this happened overnight for him and you drop, you know 150 200 pounds down on this person and get them excited about The fitness and how and when they do it the right way like this, right? He didn't do obsessive amount of cardio and cut down to 1500 calories He's in a pretty healthy calorie and he should be a little bit higher Just so the audience is listening like I think he's 270 right so so 270 person that who's who's lifting training five days Week easily could be around 4,040 500 calories in a good in a good place, right? So he's got plenty of room to still go up and still be and I think a really good place And that's the goal for me if he's a long-term client is I would say okay We're gonna go in and out of this bulking and then back to cutting them back to bulking Until I can move you up to about 45 4700 calories That would be the kind of the goal would be to run a bulk for a while Increase those calories that I'd reduce for a little while then go back to a bulk and the ultimate goal is building strength I don't actually give a shit if the scale doesn't move right now like if we hover right around that 270 Yeah, I would like to hover right around that 270 give or take a few pounds and actually get him up to eating 4500 calories because then if I go okay now we're at 4500 calories We've maintained 270 pounds what I know for sure has happened is there's been a nice even exchange You've probably added five to ten pounds of muscle lost five to ten pounds of fat So you're a leaner stronger bet faster metabolism version of yourself now Let's go down to your 3500 and watch what happens. Yeah, that melts off your body. Yes