 How important are the weekends when it comes to fitness and nutrition? Well, it's more important than you think. Watch this. Our next caller is Peyton from West Virginia. Peyton, what's happening? How can we help you? Good. Good. How are you guys doing? I wrote some stuff down because I forget easily, so just bear with me. But I've been listening for about a year or two, a really big fan. Obviously, I love you guys talking about nutrition and lifting. But I really like when you guys talk about your personal family lives. Listening to you guys talk about families and stuff just makes me want to be a dad and everything right now. I'm like 23 years old. Some background on me. 23 years old, obviously. Six feet tall, currently 108 pounds. I'm assuming I'm around, probably around 10 body fat. I haven't officially got it measured. But I've been lifting for years now just because of sports from high school and everything. But around COVID, I really started taking the nutritional and supplemental side pretty seriously. And then I lost a bunch of weight. I was at about 185 to 190. I got down to 160 pounds. And I thought I was in really good shape. I was super skinny, super lean. But then looking back on now, I'm like, dude, I was like a straight skeleton. So start last fall, I started, I balked up, started actually taking creatine then, and then got up to, right around February, I got up to about 208 pounds. Wow. Wow. Yeah, I know. Pretty intense. I probably put on a little bit more fat than I wanted to. I was still kind of lean. I was pretty good still with my diet. But then I cut back down and I'm 180 pounds at the end of June. And on June 30th, I was 180 pounds. So I'm in the best shape of my life. Obviously, I don't think so. I body dysmorphia, still kicks in and everything. But I just wanted to talk about kind of like the mental side of fitness and nutrition. So when I first started balking up and I'm putting on size and muscle and everything, I was really pushing myself hard, training till failure, drop sets, super sets a lot. Just every single lip, I just wanted to feel that burn because I just loved absolutely feeling that. So I've been listening to you guys talk about how this probably isn't the most efficient pushing till failure on every single set. So I just wanted to see what, like the first step is to realizing that that's not the answer and then like, or if there's like a way to push till failure without like over training and everything. So that's kind of like the main question about the fitness part. Peyton, you're a moose. Yeah. Whatever link you sent us, I think those are the pictures when you bulked up. Would you play football? Do you play football in high school? I did not play football. I played into my freshman and then I played basketball, baseball, and then I actually ran cross country. So okay. Yeah, dude, you got, you got, you were lean. Yeah, I would say the body fat you think you put on that was too much is not too much. No, I think you're doing fine, bro. And the fact that you got that big at your age, going to failure with drop sets and all that shit, you got good genetics. Cause that is too much. That is too much intensity. How do you move away from that? Okay. Okay. So that's a challenge and that's a, that's a continual challenge as you stay on this path and on this journey. The best, the best metric to measure, not perfect, but the best one to measure is our objective metrics. The mirror is never objective. The mirror always is subjective. So you could try to make it as objective as you want, but it's a kind of a tough one. But, but objective measure will be like your strength. Follow maps, power lift, bro. Yeah. Maps, power lift, maps and a ball. That's power lift would be great for him because he's measuring that, right? You know what you're tracking that, the whole point of that is designed for you to get stronger and then going, going to bulk. Yeah. Feed yourself, go back on the bulk. Yeah. And so this picture that I actually sent you guys, that was probably when I was leaning out of my cut, I didn't show you pictures of what my full bulk was, but I was still kind of, I was that lean, but the right, those pictures I just sent you guys, that was full cut now, obviously, not before I was, when I was skinny slash lean. So, yeah, I think you look better filled out for sure. I mean, you, you still look, you look plenty lean in the healthy. Yeah. Yeah. No, you look, you look okay, bro. Yeah. I mean, okay, here's, here's the thing too, right? So, and you got great results and you were training to failure. Like, I mean, this is, you're, you're literally talking about what all of us did. I mean, we were the same thing in our early 20s, train the same way. And, and here's the thing, and you've probably heard us say this because you've been listening to the show for a long time is that you, you think that the more you put into it, the harder you go, the more the results are going to be because that is like how almost everything else in life works. It's not, it's not that way with physiology. It's not that way with nutrition and training. It's not. It's not the harder you go, the more you do, the more results, the better you're going to be. It's, there is a very, there's a sweet spot and that's unique to everybody. So, you know, even though we're giving you advice here, you know, it's going to be different from each person. You're going to kind of figure that out. A great, a great test of this is to be true to a whole program. I would tell you, all right, Peyton, just trust the process, follow one of these programs and never go to failure. Watch what happens in three months, you know? Do not always stop with two in the tank. Always allow yourself, it doesn't mean you're not trying to add weight to the bar. Every time you go back to the gym the next day or the next time you're hitting chest, it's like, okay, last week I was doing this. Let's try and increase by a couple pounds and see if I can do that. But get rid of the failure. Get rid of the, I need my buddy to come over and spot me for the last rep or two and train through a whole program that way and watch what happens. You'll be surprised. Okay. Yeah. All right. For sure. All right. Awesome. You're going to crush if you do that. Your body's going to respond. If you respond as well as you already have at your age with what you were doing, you're going to respond really, really well. And I like, I mean, I like focusing on strength because it's hard to overdo it, underdo it, you know, and mess up on strength. Yeah. And with nutrition, you don't, and I read up here, I'm reading in your comment here that when you were bulking, you were eating until you felt sick to your stomach. You don't need to do that. You really don't need to do that in order to see progress. Yeah. And then back, you know, and back to what Adam was saying about hard, redefine hard. Everybody thinks hard means grueling. Hard just means challenging. And oftentimes, oftentimes, especially with someone who has a hard work mentality, harder for that person means smarter. Because they just want to go, they just want to make it grueling. So it's not necessarily harder in the sense that it hurts more. It's hard in the sense that it's more challenging for you to do it in a smart way. So if you redefine it that way, it'll help you. Yeah, sometimes you need to throttle the intensity and you need to, you know, get after it. Sometimes you need to just focus and throttle more on the discipline of actually doing what's right for your body in order to get results. So, you know, that's just a totally different mentality. And this is, too, you're sort of the example of like, if somebody were to ask us in hindsight, like how we would go back to a 20 year old self, what we would tell ourselves, like you have that opportunity right now to shift and completely do things in a way that's beneficial. Yeah, earlier than we did, right? Yeah. So you're a great spot, dude. Yep, perfect. Yeah. All right. And then just one last question again, kind of with the mental side, but this is more with the nutrition. And it has to do with cheat days. So I'm very consistent in like my diet throughout the week, like in like 200 tunes, 50 grams of protein a day, enough fat. And then if I need to cut weight, calorie deficit, calorie surplus for bulk. But then when the weekend hits, it's like a completely different story. I'm still young, and I'm usually consuming alcohol. And then even when I go on vacation, that's whenever I'm like away from my diet of the whole time. I just want to know how much like alcohol, like a couple of beers on the weekend is affecting that or anything. You're overthinking it. Yeah. Payton, you're overthinking it, bro. Listen, when you're in your 40s, you're not going to look back and like, man, I shouldn't have, I should not have enjoyed myself so straight. Like don't go binge drinking. Don't be an idiot. Right. Yeah, I don't do stupid stuff. You know, but I think you look like you got a good head on your shoulders. But yeah, you know, okay, on the weekends, you just enjoy yourself, hang out with your friends, it becomes about the connection. If it becomes about the alcohol, well, now you're doing something wrong. But if you're out hanging out, yeah, you're enjoying yourself like, no, that don't trade that for being perfect with your, it's a stupid trade. I'm going to tell you that right now. You're not going to get much out of it. I will add this though. Don't, don't let it be like this because this was also me in my 20s where I was dialed Monday through Friday, and then Saturday, Sunday, I had the complete fuck it attitude because I could because I can, you'll make so much more progress if you still try and follow some of your rules on the weekend instead of just completely going, Oh, I'm not tracking today. I'm drinking beer. I'm doing everything. Something that worked really well for me that might work for you, which is like, instead of telling myself I can't have the beer, I can't have the fast food or can't do these things, it's like, I'm going to at least hit my protein intake and get my training in. So it's like, I'm going to, I'm going to get my lift in and I'm going to hit my protein intake. And then after that, if I'm out with the boys at night and we're going out drinking and we're going to go have a restaurant, I'm going to have the chips and dip, like I'm going to enjoy myself. But those two, those two like rules for myself for the weekend of getting my lift in and then hitting my protein intake and then the rest, whatever, that will keep you on pace. Cause you'll be surprised how much two days if you kind of just have the extreme on off attitude, how that can really stall your progress because you go so extreme one or the other. So at least have a good foundation, but to Sal's point, you know, you're not, you're young. This is a time to enjoy life a little bit too. So you don't need to be, you know, anal about not having a beer with your buddies when you guys are having a good time. Hey, how do you paint? I'm 23. Hey, are you going to school? You're working. I just graduated. I just got my master's in software engineering. So I'm just, I just finished. Oh, you got, I know the case. Yeah. I could smell your mentality. You're very, very focused and disciplined. That's great. Yeah. That's great, man. So, so if I was talking to a typical 23 year old, I'd be like, get your shit together on the weekend, whatever, but you don't, you don't come across as like some 23 year old kid that's fucking off. So just enjoy your weekends, bro, because you're going to be too uptight if you don't, you know, if you don't do that. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I'm pretty good. Like, um, like you said on, I'm good on the weekends of, of, um, of like tracking protein and stuff like that. But again, the alcohol, but then the difference is when I go on vacation, it's like, it's all out. Like I'm going there to consume as much food as I can. And I know if you guys have talked about this, like don't eat so quickly and stuff like that. And so that is like, that is one thing that I need to work on. Actually, the last vacation would help me. I don't know. This is weird, but I started just eating like sunflower seeds because it just kept my hands moving and my mouth moving to like just not like eat so much food. And when I'm on vacation, so that was another thing. I love that. That's a nice hat. Yeah, but I'm going to tell you. Yeah. It was weird. It was so weird. I think I know what the problem is though. You're too regimented, too strict on the week. And so the weekend becomes a release. That's what I was saying. That's the point I was alluding to. I was the same way in my 20s. I was dialed Monday through Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I had the complete opposite attitude of, oh, but the belt comes on. This was also a big, uh, you know, plateau breaker for me. I was stuck in this rut for a long time. And even as a trainer, I couldn't quite figure out, why am I, why am I not able to get more shredded or look like this? And then this was, this was way before all these great tools that we have now, like the aura rings and we had, we didn't have that. So I could track once those tools came out. I saw what was happening. It was like, I was just totally over consuming bad calories, not hitting my protein intake, not training on the weekends. That was enough to stall my progress because, and I was still fit. I was still in good shape. I was a trainer, right? So to the average person, but I was trying to get to the next level. I couldn't get to the next level because I was so on off. And so that was why my advice to you is just, just don't go off the rails and have a couple of small rules. I love to eat in sunflower seeds. So you're not snacking on some other, maybe loosen up during the week a little bit. So it doesn't feel like you have to completely disconnect. Make sense. You know, every weekend, just to come back to sanity, because if your week is so regimented and stressful, that Saturday and Sunday come around that you feel like you need to let go. That's a sign that the week may be a little too regimented or too, whatever, too stressed. So either mindset needs to change or some of the things that you're doing during the week need to change a little bit. So, yeah. Yeah, Peyton. Yeah, that's all I had, but thank you so much. Peyton, we're going to send you a mass power lift. Do you have an Instagram? Okay. Yeah, I do. Yeah. Are you dating anybody or are you single? I'm single. I'm single. We're going to help you out right now. What's your Instagram? So how's we get you laid? All right, it's pk underscore fitness underscore nutrition. Yeah, we got a six foot tall software engineer. He's a hot guy, everybody. He's got too much discipline. Ladies, we got you. Hey, you're welcome. Look out. Look out. You got it. Yeah. Thanks for calling in, man. All right. Yeah. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thanks, buddy. Good kid. Yeah, good kid. At that age. Yeah. I'm telling him to loosen up. Most 23-year-olds have flooded with DMs. Yeah, get your ass together. Get your shit together. I mean, he's built a lot like how I was built. And I do remember that was the... Bro, he was jacked at that picture. Yeah, he looked great when he was bulking, only putting calories in and stuff like that. But I mean, of course, you always want more, right? So as a kid, you're like, you know, I could get more, I could do more. And like, the weekends were... You've heard me talk about it. Like, winning the weekends became like a huge change. Totally. And to your point about allowing that free... So my idea was like, okay, when I shifted away from the pizza, beer, drinking all the crazy stuff on Saturday and said, okay, I'm going to win Saturday and Sunday. And then if I still want pizza, beer and those things, I'm just going to have it Monday through Friday. So I actually have more days that I could have it if I wanted it. What I found was when I'm working, when I'm in my routine, I craved it less. I didn't want it as much. And then if I felt like I was deprived because I was winning the weekend and I was being so good on the weekend, I would then allow myself on Tuesday night to go have it. It was great. And algae I came up with, it was like about being jet lagged over the weekend. And, you know, wasn't that yours? It's a good one. You're doing the handoff. Basically, I started trying to make up sleep by going to bed late on Friday, Monday comes around your jet lag. But, but yeah, I mean, it's, you know, that's a... By the way, forget the kid we just talked to. A lot of people are like that when they go on vacation or they look at like a break, because their life is so unmanageable in terms of regimen and stress. They go off the rails. They go like crazy, you know, and it becomes less about enjoying yourself and more about releasing the fact that you felt so confined. So it's like a mindset shift and maybe some of the, some of the structure needs a shift. He's going to crush it, dude.