 Our first caller is Debra from Texas. Hey Debra, how can we help you? Hi guys. Before I start, I want to say I'm super excited to be talking to you. You're the closest things to celebrities that I follow. And you have really, your content has changed my life and more than just the fitness aspect. I think I've made a lot of mindset progress from following your podcast. Thanks for what you guys do. Okay, so I live in Central Texas and I'm wondering how I might best change my lifting programming just a little bit this summer to get through some of the extreme heat and humidity. To give a little background, I started, I got back into lifting about 18 months ago or a little bit less. I worked out primarily from home, but as I've gotten a little bit more towards the intermediate level of lifts, I joined a gym. It's kind of an old school bodybuilding gym. It has an indoor air conditioned area, but it's usually pretty packed and there's a lot of machines in there. I prefer to use barbells and dumbbells and kettlebells when I can. So I use the outdoor functional space most of the time and that's great for nine months out of the year. But these summer months, it's already starting to get very hot out there and I'm just wondering, I feel myself a lot of days getting really weak pretty early on in my lifts. So I'm wondering what I might be able to do to still maintain a good strength protocol while being safe. Okay. Well, I noticed in your notes that you said you're supplementing with element while you're doing your workouts. Is that correct? Yes. The element salts have helped quite a lot and I've started taking cordyceps as well at your suggestion and I have noticed a difference there too. I'm trying not to be a wimp about the heat. I mean, I know there's people that work in this heat all day, all summer long. So I know I can withstand it for a couple of days a week, but it's really a killer. My work schedule does not allow me to get into the gym any time other than like 3.30 to 5 in the afternoon, which is the absolute worst time to do it, but it's when I have the opportunity. So I got to go with it. That's what I was going to ask. I was hoping that you had a way that you could work out earlier in the morning or later at night. Maybe just... I mean, this is a really fun and interesting question. I don't think I've ever had a question just like this. But you have the least heat tolerance out there. You might have some good suggestions. Right away, you know, it comes to mind for me, but I would probably do it because you're right. I don't like that at all. I might run up because obviously there's only... There's going to be a short period of time. We're talking about a month or two months where it's going to be like it's just intolerable, right? It's not like the whole year is like this. It's just you probably are talking about a month or two, right? So I mean, this is actually where I... And I don't know if you have this flexibility to extend the workout to be longer, but I would probably do these like really long rest periods. You would find me being like, you know, powerlifter Adam at this time. I would be doing the three minute breaks. Yeah, no, I totally... I would be doing the three minute breaks running a five by five type of a routine or like an anabolic phase one. Because what I don't want to be doing is like a phase three of aesthetic or something or maps performance, you know, phase two or three where you're just like, that would just crush me. Your heart's just racing a little bit. Yeah, I think that, I mean, that's... Because you're already doing the stuff on supplements. I mean, I see you drink a gallon of water. So you're drinking the water. You're doing the sodium intake. You're doing the cordyceps. So I think you're doing all the right things that way. Justin already hit the easy one, which is, you know, can we train at a colder time in the day? So if you're stuck in the middle of the heat, then I guess what I would do, my programming would look like these long rest periods, you know, longer than what I normally would do. And you're not going to get... It's not going to hurt your progress by doing that. So that's what I would... That's the first thing that comes to mind. What do you think, Sal? Yeah, I would say... There's a drawback to that too, because then you're exposed to the heat a little longer. I think people underestimate the amount of sodium that they would need to tolerate a lot of heat. So you may be... I don't know how many packets of element you're drinking during your workout, but I would do... Yeah, right now it's one full pack. Yeah, I would try one full pack before your workout. So maybe a half hour to an hour before you work out. Maybe one midway or half. And then one while you're working out, because you want to get that in your system before you start the... Otherwise, you start to play kind of catch-up. And aside from that, you're just going to have to listen to your body while you're trained. So it might mean you don't lift as heavy. It might mean you're not doing as much volume, but that's totally fine. The heat actually adds another element to the adaptation process. And we do tend to acclimate to the workouts as we practice them, but it's nothing to worry about unless you're finding yourself getting dizzy, nauseous, or getting like these massive headaches. But yeah, don't underestimate the sodium. I would go a packet before... I mean, I'll tell you what, like I don't eat processed foods, so my sodium intake is normally low. I'm not working out in the heat. You're doing like two or three packets. But I'll do a packet before a workout and a packet during. If I was out in the sun, it might even be a little bit more. So I would try a packet before and then a packet during, and then listen to your body and see how you feel and modify the workouts accordingly. But it's not going to take away from your results, if anything, because it's different. It might actually improve some of the results that you get. Yeah, I'm hoping... I actually just recently moved into a carnivore-style way of eating just to try to break a really bad sugar addiction that I have. And so I'm hoping the extra sweat will help me get rid of some of those toxins as well. So trying to look at it as a positive situation, it really... It's kind of sucked already a couple of days this year. But I have been leaning towards what Adam said to kind of go with a 5x5 or less with the longer rest periods because it really does take a lot out of you pretty quick. I have mad respect for the guys that go to Afghanistan and work out while they're there. That's crazy. So yeah, this is super helpful. Awesome. Thanks so much, guys. Well, one more thing real quick before you hang up, Debra. Now that I know you're also going carnivore... Even more reason to do more elements. Yeah, your body's getting rid of sodium like crazy. So unless you have high blood pressure or your doctors advise you to watch your sodium, I would go a packet before, a packet during, and throughout the day probably drink a couple more and then see how you feel. I've been doing, even on non-workout days, I drink usually a pack to a pack and a half. Plus I've been salting my food pretty heavily. So I do try to stay on top of that, the salt for sure. Yeah, but you would be surprised again, just because you're salting your food, especially now that she's eliminating carbs too, because that changes that, right? So if you eliminate carbs and if you're eating whole foods, you're eating clean, then like Sal said, I think you could easily get away with two or three packets every day. I mean, I salt my food too. I don't eat processed food, but I salt the hell out of my food. And I have probably... And I'm very low carb right now. He carries salt in his purse. And I have three to four packets of element a day, usually around three. Okay, awesome. Okay, that's awesome. Thanks so much, guys. No problem. God, I would hate to work out. I'm such a baby. It's the worst. I was going to bring up, dude. When I went to the Midwest and had to deal with the heat and the humidity was really what got me because it was basically like you're walking in this sauna and you're trying to do your regular workouts, but it just drains the hell out of you. I actually started to put really cold towels in between sets on my neck and just to try and get my body temperature down a little bit to then go back and have something, but I was always just zapped. I love extreme weather workouts. Really cold, really hot. I don't know, it adds an element of... It really puts me in the zone when I'm doing it, but you cannot... I mean, I tell you right now... It toughens you up. It's different. When it's really hot, I'll get better pumps. Obviously, the sweat feels good. When it's really cold, I just feel like I'm more aggro into the workout. But the sodium thing is a big one, man. It's huge. And it's different from person to person. Of course, if you're advised to reduce your sodium, then you don't want to do this. But it makes a huge difference with people. I had runners that I would train that would only lift weights with me or train with me once a week, but they train so often with running. And I would have them add Himalayan salt to their water and they noticed tremendous improvement in there. We've been just sold for so long that sodium is so bad that it feels bad to add more. But again, if you're healthy and you're not eating a lot of processed food, go ahead and experiment and see how you feel with more of it.