TMGP Ep 37 with men’s physique winner, bodybuilder, and lifestyle coach - Jonathan Kantor

oo another white boy with a podcast pronouns Jim bro another white boy with a podcast you want to see the video it went viral hi Gaines gurus and welcome to tmgp the muscle growth podcast episode 37 I am your host Rosco and today we are welcoming Jonathan caner onto the show in today's episode of the muscle growth podcast we're joined by the exceptional Jonathan caner a champion NPC men's physique bodybuilder and online transformation coach a rising force in the physique world and a true embodiment of discipline detail and dedication Jonathan shares his journey from sculpting a championship caliber body to helping others do the same through coaching whether you're chasing a pro card aiming for a perfectly balanced Vaper or simply trying to optimize your fitness journey this episode is packed with practical takeaways from hypertrophy training principles and performance focused nutrition to the mindset needed to push through prep and stand out on stage Jonathan breaks down exactly what it takes to succeed in one of bodybuilding's most competitive divisions in today's episode we dive into a wide range of insights some of the topics include Origins and journey First Steps in the gym Evolution from training to Lifestyle coaching background in Psychology and human behavior deep commitment to client transformation and results training philosophy managing stress through structured training gaining muscle versus losing fat the key differences mastering Progressive overload and training to failure fat loss is one in the kitchen not the gym the mindset of intensity nutrition and bodybuilding Basics why protein intake is non-negotiable yes you can build muscle in a deficit targeting 250 g of protein daily aiming as high as 300 gr using 2 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight as a guide the athetic being more important than the scale weight chasing the look not the number mental prep and physical Readiness for stepping on stage mindset and mental game how prep breaks you physically and mentally from frustration to gratitude the mindset pivot embracing the grind and enjoying the suffering shifting from I can't to I won't quit practicing daily reflection and internal growth during prep Community the power of surrounding yourself with like-minded people finding support and inspiration in the fitness space prep and genetics what makes prep manageable vers miserable genetics and body types why comparison kills Jonathan's go-to cheat meal tips for making cheat meals guilt-free and enjoyable his top three supplement picks culture and misconceptions Deep dive into modern Fitness culture debunking common bodybuilding myths social media toxicity and the drama Loop including a bonus section at the end where Jonathan reflects on a past mistake and his interaction with the well-known Fitness critic goob why some people love to hate on the sport peeds and enhancement peeds and pro bodybuilding reality versus perception the enhanced games concept should we have a peed friendly league for transparency and safety and then lastly if bodybuilding is for you and so much more get ready for a truly informative episode quick sh less self-plug I'm starting to upload consistently on reps with Rosco on YouTube so check that out for some epic Fitness edutainment content a little disclaimer this show does not contain medical advice the views and opinions expressed by guests on the muscle growth podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect my beliefs or The Stance of the podcast while we aim to provide valuable insights and information it's important to approach all topics with critical thinking I encourage you to do your own research consider multiple perspectives and form your own conclusions healthy discussion is always welcome and I'm happy to engage with listeners in the YouTube comments section to continue the conversation lastly don't forget to follow us on all major social media platforms including Instagram YouTube Tik Tok and X find us at the muscle growth podcast and myself at reps with Rosco warning this episode of the muscle growth podcast contains explicit content and is not intended for younger audiences listener discretion is advised welcome Jonathan to the muscle growth podcast thank you Rosco thanks for having me man appreciate it pleasure pleasure where we explore subjects related to muscle science and hypertrophy I'm thrilled to have you join us for today's conversation let's jump right in and dig into some exciting topics together can you briefly introduce yourself and your journey into the world of bodybuilding and being a lifestyle coach sure okay so okay my name is uh Jonathan Canter girl my Instagram handles and at counterfeit MP MP actually uh standing for men's physique if you guys do ask me um but it's men's physique um I'm 26 years old I started going to gym since I was 19 um I'd say my proper introduction to bodybuilding um okay like seriously seriously let's call it two years ago since uh January 2023 when I joined AR um but you know obviously I have over the years you know started to learn more about dieting and training you know just in my own personal capacity working with other coaches when I thought I you know was taking training and dieting super seriously but looking back at it now uh I didn't know as much as I thought I did and even now um I don't know as much as I probably think I do and there's always more to learn and I always love just engaging with people and understanding the ins and outs of bodybuilding and diet um training so on and so forth as a lifestyle coach um you know I've I've worked with quite a handful of people um over my time coaching which has been about a year now um I'm always looking to uh I am you know studying specialized nutrition currently with tri Focus Academy I do intend to do as many courses as possible in my own personal capacity and when it comes to you know my lifestyle coaching you know like um what I what I have noticed like like genuinely like those clients who do follow the plan um to you know the the capacity or or 80% of it you know do achieve like really really decent results you do get those select few you know who realize okay this really isn't for them and and that's totally okay um their results obviously are not going to be as good as everyone knows when it comes to um achieving the results uh keyan point is going to start with diet so I do Place most of my emphasis on the diet that I give my clients and I make it as easy for them as possible and I am accommodating as possible so I will ask my clients obviously okay would you rather follow like a stricter approach or more of like a um a balanced approach where you know I can add whatever you like into your diet obviously I'm not going to add in you know chips and chocolates and so on and so forth but if if he if you want to like have the option to choose and chuno yeah we can make you know stuff like that so I like to give my clients lots of variety um lots of flexibility um and one thing that I think um I wouldn't say Separates Me from other coaches because I know a lot of coaches like to utilize this approach but I do have a a degree in Psychology and I have a passion for you know just just helping people with just bettering themselves mentally and that is something I try and um uh you know bring in with my clients I find that I get very vested in my clients Journey so I don't from them for a birth I think okay maybe something could be wrong like let me check in on them um and it's always for me it's always sad when when when a client leaves you know because I I really want to see them do well and sometimes I do feel like I care more about their results than they do which is quite funny um but uh nothing brings me more warmth in my heart and happiness and just satisfaction than seeing a client succeed and follow the plan and be happy with their results at the end of the day I hope that answers you question no absolutely so thank you so much for that and I think it's wonderful that you're doing something where you can help people and I think it's great that you enjoy helping people and you love seeing them get better I think that's a really beautiful message so sounds like you're in the right work so congratulations for that I mean you know truth be told like you know like I've been there you know where I've where I've been in shape and um I fell off the wagon for a very long time and I know how that made me feel mentally to be so physically out of shape or in my in my opinion at least so physically out of shape and how I now feel mentally being back in shape and uh fitter stronger better um just in like it's it's rarely transpired into into all facets of my life to be honest so I know that if that if I've been there and I can get out of it there there's no reason why somebody else can't I'm I'm nothing special I'm just a regular guy guy you know a jacked regular guy I appreciate that Ros thank you he's a lot super Jack I like how you you almost got the um the muscle growth podcast um slogan there of bigger stronger better the only one you missed there was bigger but it was implied by your fitter so it's was very close but I like how it aligns very nicely with the things that you've done and the accomplishments that you've achieved appreciate that thank you so so what's the difference between building muscle and losing fat um well obviously I mean there's obviously I don't think there's any cookie cutter approach um this is my opinion I mean bilding muscle if you want to look at it from a very Elementary level and look at that kind of explanation it's simply just you know making sure you're eating adequate amount of protein um being in a calorie Surplus and putting your muscles under constant stress now my opinions about training and approaching training uh many people I know will disagree with but this is how I approach my training and it's how I and it's worked for me and it's how I told my clients to approach their training you know yes well I have absolutely utilized the progressive overload method and I have tracked my weights and I've tracked my progress and it absolutely works there's like in science it works like um Progressive overload obviously meaning putting your muscle under more stress you know every week every couple weeks making sure you're doing more volume uh volume coming from the Reps the weight and the sets you are doing multiplied by each other but the way I like to approach my training the way I enjoy it and the way I find my clients enjoy it and as also with my coach you know he my coach unless I ask him to do it which I haven't uh doesn't structure my training because training enhanc art is different to dieting which is where the fat loss comes in but it needs to essentially be enjoyed as much as possible so I'm I'm of the opinion okay your muscle doesn't know how much it's lifting it merely knows that it's being put under stress at the end of the day so if you are going to the gym and you are lifting weights with proper form the way I approach my training is proper form slow and controlled reps and I don't count my reps hey like I stop when I can't really lift anymore or I can feel that I have got like two reps left in the tank or one rep left in the tank and I think this is a mistake that a lot of people make is they'll say okay I'm now going to go and do 10 reps 12 reps 15 reps whatever that may be but truth be told they'll do these number of reps and they can actually physically lift more so you know if I pick up a weight and I'm able to lift at 25 times sure I will adjust the weight next set CU that's just a bit excessive but I'm going to ensure that my muscle is being put under as much stress as possible each set I do and that for me has equated to my progress and muscle growth and it's same thing I've seen with my clients um when it comes to losing fat you know also Elementary exclanation calories in calories out if you eat less calories than you are burning you are going to be losing fat and obviously if you want to preserve the muscle tissue you're I believe that your protein intake needs to be quite a bit higher and you need to be putting in the same amount of effort um that you do like when you're bulking and putting on and I've seen it it's happened with me I've seen it happen with my clients you can absolutely build muscle in a calorie deficit there's no reason why you can't so long as you are still putting your muscle under stress and giving it reason to State um end of the day um body fat is more essential for your body to hold on to that muscle mass it's more essential to survival so if you don't give your body a reason to hold on to that muscle it's going to prioritize um you know keeping body fat and before I already lose my train of thought here that's essentially why you know and maybe this isn't the best approach to do but like if you can look at trying to train even harder when in a calorie deficit all that's going to do is speed up your your fat loss process wow interesting and what would you say you mentioned high protein what is that for you and for your clients well for me I mean I I follow my the diet my crunch gives me like I see it I follow it my protein intake I would say is never below 250 gram of protein sure it's gone up it's gone up to over 300 gram before um clients I look at um given the fact that 99% of the clients have taken on natural athletes uh one and a half grams of protein per kilo of body weight one and a half to two grams I like doing two grams okay you 300 gram a day is a lot what is your uh body weight at that time or now and now I mean I can actually have a look for you like right now things that to for a bit of my diet yeah so I mean I can tell you now obviously on my higher carb days proteins actually lower but uh on my right now currently uh my normal training day I'm eating 250 grams of protein um on my rest days I eat 267 and my higher carb days is 240 but it but it has it has been as high as 300 I can tell you that and it's higher what at the moment wow and what do you weigh I weighed in at 80.9 this morning which is a new low weight okay yeah and what are you aiming for for for stage and you're in prep now you deep in prep yeah yeah I'm two weeks and six days out now um I'm not aiming for a weight because end of the day um whatever our way away you know um I did have this discussion with my coach he reckons a stage rate of between 81 and 82 kilos um but at the end of the day like when it comes to weight you go you walk on the beach or you go and you stand on stage no one actually cares what you weigh it's about the look so I also tell my clients stop focusing on the scale it's it's merely a tool you know what whatever I we I'll weigh whatever you weigh you weigh yeah absolutely no I totally agree so what division are you competing in men's physique men's physique okay is that in the what is it Class A Class B Class C so I'm 107 I'm 70 I'm between 174 and 175 so call 174.50 CM toall that's Closs oh okay are you excited I cannot wait I cannot since I got off stage last year I'm like [ __ ] I cannot wait can I swear by the way sorry um yeah yeah we can we make it an explicit episode go for it I was like ah I [ __ ] cannot wait to do this again and it's all it's lit was literally I don't think there was a day that went by that like this whole year that I haven't thought about getting back on stage so yeah I mean I am I am so excited and I'm I'm also sad that prep's coming to an end because then I have to wait for the next [ __ ] prep to start so like no I really really am excited to just get back up on stage showcase um my hard work that I put in the offseason and during prep and wherever I come I come you know like I know I've beaten last year's package quite quite convincingly and I I just want to get up there have a good time and then do it all over again yeah absolutely it's you versus you I like you versus you the day yeah 100% so tell us how have you approached this prep differently from last year's prep good question last year's okay so this is my second prep last year's prep when I saw a prep uh I can say I've severely underestimated how hard it was going to be so I remember like y like out have my days I'm feeling hungry I'm feeling tired and then I like I remember like I was getting closer like towards four weeks out and then I hit four weeks out and I was like feeling okay and then I remember I went to the guy who was pach who was uh coaching me for posing at the time Kieran Mason it's just how far do you know I said I'm four weeks he's like yeah now now you're going to know all about it and I'm like yeah they all say that and [ __ ] that a really [ __ ] like that that was really really odd and um my my mindset last prep was like especially the last four weeks was I can't wait for this [ __ ] to end I am so tired of eating Hank and Ras four or five times a day and and um getting very little hard days and refeed days and I was just like all I all I could think about was food food food food food and when when can I eat when can I eat and then when I eat had fin my meal in like 20 seconds and I I was just so focused on like prep finishing I thought I wasn't enjoying prep it's just that like I found too many reasons to complain as to how hard it was that I forgot to really remember this is a privilege that I'm getting to do this prep is very expensive you know not not everyone has the financial means to prep not everyone you know um has the resources available to them that allows them to prep and you know I wasn't really grateful for the opportunity that I had sitting on my luck um and I remember like around 3 weeks out um don't get me wrong I was I was very very lean I was very very lean uh I went for a seven skinfold test and I came out at 4.52% body fat now I know obviously look at stuff like 11 skinfold tests those are way more accurate and I know even knew at the time I wasn't I wasn't four and a half% but I remember like I saw this number four and a half I'm like okay there's no ways I can actually get leaner now so let me just chill take an easy and just make prep as pleasant as possible and that was actually my downfall because I stopped progressing I stopped getting lean out um so I'd say my my condition at 3 weeks out was as good as my my stage condition and I don't get me wrong I wasn't at all displeased with my my condition I brought to Stage last year at I candy I was actually very happy um and but this prep what what what made what's made it so different is I remember how hard last prep was for me like mentally and physically and I thought to myself [ __ ] okay this I'm I'm Keen to suffer again I said to my coach probably 20 30 times I can't wait to suffer I want to suffer and like truth be talk I don't to jinx it you know I've still got I've still got what is it now uh 20 days I got 20 days I have not suffered this prep like I have L prep not because it hasn't been as hard but because my mindset has been different I've been practicing a lot more gratitude and just I think um I'm a lot hungrier to come in as as lean as possible you know like I can wake up now feeling absolutely trashed you know it's I've struggled to walk to the bathroom to take a pee and or I don't feel like getting up and going to do my cardio and I think no we want to get healed so we're going to go do this cardio and you know once once I'm on my once I'm doing my walk and I've got my music in and I've I've got these Daydreams in my head and these Visions I like it's just you know it's very um it's like this like this dopamine rush and just just just being positive and I remember last prep I also like really really kept to myself and just like don't talk to me just leave me alone let me do my thing and in this prep like I've really been communicating more with other athletes and have come to the realization that there's honestly so much comraderie there's so much support I feel the fitness industry receives a lot of it's got a very unfair rep to it it's thought to be very toxic and um Vain and solo and it it honestly it couldn't be further from the truth and I think just surrounding is me electing to surround myself with a lot of lack minded people who have the same love and passion for bodybuilding and competing like I do it's it's it's just made prep that much easier like it it really really has and uh not alluding to the fact that my coach has been slamming me with many many refeeds I'm not going to say this hasn't happened but I'd say that's what's made this prep different is the is the mindset and it's it's also helped me realize that your your mind is so powerful it is so so powerful and if you tell yourself you are feeling [ __ ] and you are feeling weak you are going to be cuck and you're going to be weak but if you tell yourself you are strong and you are you know you are still able to push and you are a legend that's exactly what you're going to be absolutely the mind is yeah you know it's like now I can go look at my stats like ah I walk 20,000 steps pretty pretty effortlessly and I I I don't mean that in an arrogant way it's just that like I'm enjoying Kate let's go do cardio let's let's go train let's meal prep you know let's let's do this thing whereas last year I saw it more as a chop now it's more like I get to do this it's more of a challenge now but like a positive challenge it's not more of a chore it's more I'm challenging myself to do it so what do you think one can do to make uh prep easier given how mentally and physically tax it is you've mentioned uh gratitude and you've also mentioned having a support structure in place do you want to touch on those two or go through something else what makes prep easier so yeah I'd say I'd say practicing gratitude and definitely a a good support system you know having friends and family who understand what you are doing you know at the end of the day prep is a very selfish thing preppers are very very self you have to be selfish with prep I'm not saying never do anything for anyone else and just it's all about you but it's selfish and it's important to have people behind you who love you and who support you and who care who want to see you succeed and ultimately who understands and I don't know if FJ pretorius is going to watch this podcast but if I can tell you that this prep would not have been as I don't want to say easy cuz it's not much far [ __ ] FR very very far for was not easy but uh would I would not have managed it nearly as well without his without his call it TLC you know I was I feel like I already had his back during his prep um I was six weeks behind him so when he was like five weeks out I was 11 um so know I kind of had his prep at his back during prep and I was kind of like you know he's electing to have mine so you've kind of pushed each other through through our preps and it's that that in itself has been an absolute Game Changer not to mention other guys on my team who are competing in three weeks like Ruben De jger and Josh Ravens my coach ad M competing you know we all in this together uh so you know having a good team you know justes to talk to people and also like last prep like all I could think about like you know like what I was ever doing was I was in the kitchen or I was in the gym or I was sleeping or I was complaining complaining complaining complaining it's it's it's good and I recommend it very highly when you are not cooking your food when you are not doing cardio when you are not lifting weights do and talk about stuff that has nothing to do with body buing I like that so it's important to to keep the balance absolutely and to and to be present when you're doing other things not just when you're doing the gym just being just just be in the moment just be in like and I feel like when you're more in the present moment um you forget about being hungry you forget about being tired not that you're not going to be cuz you will but it's going to be prevalent sure well I hope that you better force uh FJ and all those people you given shout outs to to listen because now they've got big reason to listen so tell them they must wait for you to call them out and then they can they can stop at that stage or keep listening to you since they want to support their their friend and then um you mentioned that you've been getting uh multiple refeeds of 4,500 calories I Believe by ourm and why this close to the show and how do you keep getting leaner I've been working with ar mind for two years and he knows my body like he knows the back of his hand like and it's gotten to the point now like where I'm also kind of for fun just like studied how he likes to do things with me so like it's quite funny so like me and uh Reuben will send each other check-ins every morning uh just to hold each other comfortable and I'll say to Reuben yeah he has my weight and arman's going to give me a reefe today or he's going to give me a low day today and be like but how the [ __ ] do you know this I'm like because I just know and nine out of 10 times or eight out of 10 times AR correct so it's like listen end of the day us as athletes we all have different genetics we all have different bodies we all have different metabolisms we all respond differently to different foods you know so for I think coaches to copy and paste diets for clients is while it can while it can work I wouldn't say it's the wisest thing in the world um I mean to be honest like my metabolism for some of my mass I'm not the biggest guy in the world by any means my metabolism is an anomaly you know I have a very very very quick metabolism in my offseason I was pressing around 6,000 calories clean food um it got to a point where I was being told to eat three to four cheat meals a week in order to get my weight up even half a kilogram in the span of two weeks like I'm not even joking so what happens with my body is when I am given a refeed um where my CS are currently at 850 I believe on my ref feed days my weight does one of two things it either drops the next day or it will hold and then dropped it's it's always one of the two so um that is basically what kind of uh ignites and just keeps my metabolism in hyper Dr not to say it's going to work for everyone else but it that's what works for me and um you know people keep saying y know you you so lucky you're getting all these refeeds like the last the last two weeks my average weekly calorie consumption per day when you average it out has been about three 3 to 3 and a half thousand um which at four weeks out and 3 weeks out sounds pretty bizarre but that's what especially for a guy weighing 81 kilograms in men's physique you know it doesn't sound you know like that's how it should be but that's how my body works you increase the corbs I'm going to drop the weight with with a lower body fat that's just how that's how it goes and that's why I implemented so much because that's what works for me but people are saying y you're so lucky you're so lucky and yeah I love my re feed dayss I have the nicest food ever but it's those days where I am hungriest and it's my rest days where I'm most satiated and my rest days are currently at 2,000 calories because on my hard days my fats are very very low and by low I mean like it's like four gr no no like 12 grams for the day or less um and fats are something that keep you satiated and there's no there's no fber there where my rest days where fats is higher and fiber is higher it's going to satiate me for longer periods of time I've had some refeed days where I've finished my meals by I'm not joking 6:37 p.m. so while they are nice to receive it's not always the most Pleasant thing to be doing and what's your favorite cheat meal my favorite cheat you can never go wrong with the bacon and cheeseburger and chips never go from where oh from home no no no EGR in Johannesburg really really is really good uh I'm a big fan of Hudson's um here in cave town and in Jurg um ERS M my I really enjoy the gourmet burger or if I'm going to go like really really fast food I want to show them this I love my McDonald's I love my Burger King the extra long chili cheese from Burger King is next level good and I hate you for asking me this question when I'm three weeks old sorry about that no it's good but it's that it's that that and a pizza and a pizza I also have a pizza but but I really really try to mitigate that I've had two pizzas this whole year simply because it's very very fatty so the nutritional value isn't great and the the half fatty content in the pizza is not great for your digestive system so also mean with my clients it's very very rare that I said it when I give a cheap meal where I'll say go have anything you want I'll say please gra have a burger chips or go have sushi and don't have too much Mayo don't have too many fried things I'd rather you have extra carbohydrates for cheap absolutely that that makes sense and then you mentioned earlier about the fitness culture and how in your experience it's very different to what people propagate online I think that that's that's an interesting perspective cuz I think for the most people I think it is probably quite a toxic thing and I think it's great that you found it Community where that's not the casee but I think overall a lot of it is quite toxic there's a lot of really influential people um in the fitness community that are quite toxic that you got the likes of the fake natties you've got the likes of um the people that are spreading these false body images that are edited photoshopped um pumped up and uh and those kind of things I don't know if you know the um influence of Goo underscore you two or something he's quite interesting to hear Jonathan's story about his encounter with goob stick around until the end it's included as a bonus section after the main episode wraps no no no I was just saying just examples of of people um the fitness culture being quite toxic um in general and I think uh a lot of people propagate a False Image online um and a cookie cut programs like you mentioned previously those kinds of things but what I was trying to get at was that I'm really glad that you've been able to find a community that is the opposite to that and that actually uplifts you you said you have your friend that you check in with you got your coach you got your team and I think that that's really important not just my coach not just FJ not just Ruben like so many people like competing in other in other um divisions and some guys Haven even men person like just of camarad and upliftment it's actually very refreshing and it's awesome it's really awesome and like I I think that you know you asked me about like the fitness industry now the fitness industry is a very broad spectrum because you can look at things like cycling like running like swimming like tennis stuff like that so let's talk about the bodybuilding side of things I feel it gets a very negative rep because like and I can I really really can't understand this I'm like like I'm naive and don't understand and can't relate to other people because I can um let's say you're an outsider and you follow one or two people in the bodybuilding industry because maybe you know them from out and about and you seeing okay cool there's this guy flexing his abs or flexing his biceps or this or that this guy's a dous this guy is so full of himself this guy thinks he is [ __ ] and it really that is not the case so I understand like it it comes across as Vain and like and narcissistic and arrogant but all it really is is like it it why are we different to the cyclists posting their straws and Instagram stories because they're not for sure no and I totally agree with you and I understand uh your point there and I just wanted to emphasize that dichotomy between what you just said about how you've got your community you got your friends and you got so much support on the one hand but then on the other hand you commented something that maybe you shouldn't have and then you got so much hate just because of one comment like it's quite interesting how R you yeah I still I still get comments on my feed sometimes I'm not sorry about yeah like I said I'm sorry about that but uh it's so interesting it's interesting how you have people on the one side who are trying to be positive like like I remember like and like while I was like laughing is like I remember like someone sent me a photo from my own Instagram page of me and one of my mates like ah I knew you were gay confirmed like what I don't even know what to respond to some like it's just like I like some messages were so unnecessary people online they can they really don't have filters um because it's so easy to just send a message you don't have to think you don't have to know context and you can't tell tone and there's all those kind of issues that go along with the social media is a fantastic tool but it's one that we maybe abuse listen I learned I've learned it can be a very dangerous thing as well right it really really can it is there's a lot absolutely there's a lot of things that can be said like even on WhatsApp that could be totally totally misinterpreted so you have to be so realized be so careful with what you post and what you say and it's okay I think sometimes voice a controversial opinion you know I have many controversial opinions some of which are elect not to speak about for like personal reasons or just know it's going to get me into trouble I rather talk about it privately but like it could be a really really dangerous said and while it is so leer and so awesome to go see drama going on between two people like couple we all love her we everyone [ __ ] is hears for drama everyone loves goip like sure but like second it's you in the spotlight yeah it's not so fun no it's not no I agree humans are drawn to drama and it's very interesting you with the psycholog degree will understand that very well yeah but I completely agree when it's you in the drama you're like no I want to be watching I don't want to be in it um so that that's quite interesting it's like you like you call have to wait for like but end of the day it always Cal for sure for sure and andless say keep being an idiot then it just yeah it's quite that reminds me of the Jeff nippard incident where he was um like slam choked in the in the throat yeah that was that was was crazy and and that up forgot about well sorry I didn't mean to I didn't mean to bring it up and now this episode is probably going to be released in quite a while and then everyone is about it's going to be oh yeah I remember that sorry about that to everyone who's gone past that tra um one of the um kind of controversial topics that you said you were Keen to maybe discuss is PEDs in professional sport so do you want to have your your quick take on that do you want to like be a bit more specific like with regards to like what like so it's kind of like from the ethical side of things what is your perspective on peeds and bodybuilding and then PEDs in in other sports in all sports to be to be fair doesn't have to just be anabolics it can be you know beta blockers C cognition enhancers all that kind of stuff so truth be told I'm not too cleared up on better blockers so I'm I'm not going to touch on that but my opinion any endurance or physical sport at the very very top level I really am of the opinion that that most most of them are are on [ __ ] and I I I can't blame them because and I I'll say straight up like you know if I have to take something in order to ensure that my family gets to eat and I know people might say no no but you will will you will you will and um it's almost like in bodybuilding like everyone knows that okay 95% of bodybuilders are on stuff um so that's where it gets like the the steroid stigmatism and but like like not everyone on steroids is jacked like they can help you get jacked if you put them to work they won't and that's also a misconception of steroids people like okay I'm just going to take steroids and get jacked no like they don't [ __ ] work that way like like and and it and I know it upsets so many people because they they aren't muscle Builders they they they give you the Edge by doing a variety of so many different things which I even going to get into because I can talk about it for another 43 minutes um but I like you know stuff like for example EPO it's a performance enhancer like I I think a lot of the guys as I said competing in the most grueling endurance and physical Sports most of them are on stuff and Y drug testing has become a lot more advanced doctors have become a lot more clever at the same time they really have like how how did lawence armr get away with it for how many years a lot and and Finly enough have you ever heard how L got caught you didn't fail a drug test no he didn't fail he passed 500 Dr drug test yeah he was a whistleblower it was a whistleblower Lloyd Flanders I think Floyd oh Floyd Landers Floyd Landers whle blow because he got caught he won the TS welcome back Jonathan to the muscle growth podcast good to have you back we had a little bit of technical difficulties last year and I'm super happy to have you back on the podcast very we did thank you for having me I appreciate it very much thank you only a pleasure so I think the last thing you were chatting about before your computer died was um professional sports peeds and basically uh Floyd Landers I believe is the guy's name who was The Whistleblower for um lence Armstrong do you want to just finish off on that topic then we'll move into the next I mean so what I know about one stories cuz I I did I did study this or follow the topic for quite a while I was I was I am quite a Aid fan of of cycling I think it's a awesome Sport and it takes a tremendous amount of effort and grip um is that you know so obviously Lawrence Armstrong and theend of his team they were they were using performance enhancement drugs you know such as testosterone EPO was a big one they were blood doping so they were removing their blood and they were then putting it back in into their into their bodies um just before they would race and when they would go back to their van after the race they would blood dump again so that if they got tested for their homat crit they had to be like below five and they were in the clear so lence actually won seven to of Frances um you know while while doping and um he retired in 2005 and I know Floyd Landers I believe was on his team at a stage he won the 2006 to fron and he was bued for I believe was a testosterone he was suspended LW really missed uh really missed racing he missed winning and he came back I believe in 2009 to to race again and he says he did that clean I'm not too sure if he actually did um but I know Floyd was allowed to come back and race when when BR you know joined again um or I could be getting this entirely wrong I know Floyd wanted to join blon's team and blon said no because he was basted for doping before so that's when Floyd basically whistle blw and he and he gave up BLS and the entire team um my opinion on the matter is BL should never have been stripped of his of his seven gold medals he he won those to Frances yes with the whole performance and armsman drugs but so was everybody else or I think at least the top 20 so if the top 20 all doping and L is winning why is he being stripped um so I mean my opinion on on that matter is is lawence is still in my eyes a seven T of France Champion seven times T France Champion um yeah he won it's a grueling 3-we race where you are cycling hundreds of kilometers every single day so I think whether you you do that race with or without Peds it's a tremendous achievement in itself and uh ped PS are not obviously they help of course they help that's why people use but they I don't think they are providing as much help as people think they do yeah no it's still mentally taxing physically taxing and the fact that like everyone at the top level has to do it shows you that it's not just one person well with the with hard want testing is nowadays I don't know if guys are still doping or if they are finding ways around it I mean we we never know I mean whether in my eyes to to do the tur of France with without help you it's you have respect like major respect no I mean I remember I studied it in my first year university for a uh project and and in the textbook that we used it was all about doping we got it from the library at stellin BOS and basically this textbook said that 19 out of the top 20 Toyota France finishers like of the top 20 were either caught doping or suspected of doping um but like when they say suspected that mean they were very sure that they they were they don't they don't just suspect you likely like it means they had good reason and if 19 out of 20 are either caught or suspected under like proper suspicion that probably means that the 20th guy just got lucky he's probably also on it like and that's the only way that you can be the best in the world is if you're willing to do what the best in the world do and unfortunately for every sport it's not just cycling cycling is not a special sport in terms of it being um overrun by doping I think that it's just one that's been in the public eye because of the whistleblowing because of the big things like you said like having your medals stri that kind of stuff I think it's it's probably a lot more common in all kind of major physical Sports um Than People realize what do you think about that statement I don't want to give too much of a controversial opinion on this matter I mean what what I think is that when you are when you are performing at a level like that with with the best in the world you know if you are expected to perform at a certain level and and you performing at this level is going to determine whe whether you are able to a stay on the team and B feed your family with what you've achieved on this team then who is someone to judge you know um somebody else who is who is just deciding whether whether or whether not to use these drugs because nine times out of 10 the people who are judging these athletes who may or may not be using drugs to perform at this level if they went and use drugs themselves likelihood is they won't be in that athletes position you know um you can take all the PS in the world it is not going to replace years of training discipline and hard work um it's you know it's going to give you the ability to perform at a high level and recover at a Qui quicker rate um in terms of the the enhanced games which you know certainly sounds appealing to watch I I'd be interested to see if there's actually a very big difference in um in in the results and the towns you seeing these games versus attested Olympics because again as I said I do believe that more people more athletes are using these drugs and than we than we are exposed to we understand I just think that doctors and and uh drug caling and certain compounds use and certain drugs use is it's it's getting so advv that there there will always be ways around the system so um I'm interested to see if there's a big discrepancy in results with these with these unnatural games again I mean if there if there are any discrepancies and I think the results are going to actually show a lot as into to how accurate and how Prof and how efficient the the doctors and the testers are at the at the tested Olympic Games as well I'm I'm I'm willing to bet that we are not going to see too many discrepancies in the in the I'm tested federations yeah I agree I don't think there's going to be much difference in the Olympics the tested Olympics versus the enhanced games and the reason I say that is because like we've established um I think there's already kind of a lot of do in in the Olympics um I think it's kind of I think it's swept under the rug and like you said the doctors are so advanc now they have bioidentical compounds there's no way to test for a lot of them and as soon as a new testing method comes out they figure out a way to to break the system to to kind of um skirt along the the outlines and make sure that they beat the system and sure people get tested often and sometimes they fail and then they get a onee suspension or 2ear expension and they come back twice as big and they're like yeah and now I'm clean and it's like what that's crazy I've seen that in rugy and other sports as well it's uh it's wild but anyway like they should just for Combat Sports and Combat Sports yeah they just come back so Jack like like after being injured especially they come back so Jack so erupted like how and they're like I just started training harder and we're like no you didn't sure you no you didn't you've always trained harder like you you can't suddenly and you're injured and now you come back bigger stronger better it's it's insane but yeah let's see what the enhanced games brings I'm interested to to see I had I had no idea they even doing these in horns games so I'm Keen to watch it they say they have someone faster than bolt whether that's true or not let's let's see that would that would be very interesting he I I I would love to see if if Bolt Tom can be beaten I would love to see that even if it's I think even if someone were to beat it unnaturally that would be highly oppressive I don't even think that that would be any different to how he did it to be honest you think bol's doping or has doped of course absolutely have you have you seen the sprinters they are all CAU for doping and for you to be the best Sprinter when you're sprinting against other people that have been caught doping for you to be better than them naturally I just don't see it happening you have to have to be the best in the world you have to have the best genetics in the world and the best doping as well like that's the combination of things and the mindset and the physical ability and everything I don't see it happening naturally I just I don't believe I also saw what he looked like as a kid and at 19 and he was a cricketer and super skinny and then when he won like broke the world record very different body entirely different and again I'm skeptic so I don't believe that he did it naturally but um if he did then fantastic well done to him but also I believe where he's from uh Peds are illegal I don't think that they're illegal uh ways from so I think it's quite widespread um but that needs to be fact checked but that's as far as I believe how how it is I I would love I'd love to see his time be broken I really would and if it if it was bro if it is broken then fantastic I mean um people are very quick to say he did this but he's using this fact is he's done it and you haven't so yeah so why don't you go and do the same thing no they can't that's that's all that's what I think as well go if if what he's doing is helping him so is helping whoever it is so much go take it then it'll help everyone else exactly yeah I agree all right so you talked a bit about going till failure and you say that you don't count your reps and I think that that's super different to a lot of other people I've had on here a lot of other bodybuilders but I really like that approach and I was wondering can you go into detail about what you mean about you don't count your reps you go to failure like what can you explain firstly what is failure to you is it the inability to complete another full rep or is it like you can't you go down and you go up and then you can't get it up and it starts going down or what is it a form maybe your form goes off you're like okayy that's failure what do you mean by failure so I'd say failure is the inability to perform another full rep and then true failure is unable to do anything at all now why I personally don't like counting reps I'm not saying it's the r or the wrong way this this is my personal preference here is that let's say you're so used to doing 10 12 reps right and then you want to go and do more weight and you're like okay I'm going to go do 10 12 reps of 20 kilos because two weeks ago out of 10 12 reps of 16 or 18 kilos what what if you are actually able to do more reps than 10 to 12 you know like take take your muscle to failure that's what's going to result in the most optimal growth now what what what I do believe in is is definitely trying to keep doing more volume but do as many reps as you can because you are not going to be stronger every week some some sessions are going to be worse than others so push yourself as hard as you can because yes Progressive overload is a thing and Progressive overload is what's going to bring you muscular hypertrophy but at the end of the day your muscle knows that it's under stress and you don't want to be doing any less than you're able to do that that is how I view it so um I I don't count reps however I do know like if I'm doing like four to five reps okay weight is too heavy I need to lessen the load here but then if I if I pick up a weight and I'm like okay like this is pretty light and I can keep going um you know for for more than I expected to go I'm going to go until I fail and then I then I'm just going to increase the the weight next set um so I mean what's if you if you're able to do 15 kilog for for 20 24 reps what's the point at stopping at 16 so that's why but what I pay attention to you know for each exercise I'm doing is I I understand and I know how much weight did I do last time and or however many times before and how easy was this for me so until this weight I am doing becomes way easier for me that's and I'm going to then increase it andever many reps I end up doing I end up doing so long as it's an efficient amount of reps which I think is a plus yeah you make a good point about doing the most that your body is capable of doing and like you said if you can if you program is 16 but you can do 24 that set is a wasted set you're not getting any stimulus I mean you're getting some stimulus but you're not getting a growth stimulus which is ultimately probably what you're looking for like you're only getting that growth stimulus after a certain threshold maybe 20 or 21 if you could 24 is probably where that growth is triggered I mean like at times at times where I have I have used log books at times where I have used log books you know like cool I will calculate the total volume that I've done um but the next time I go and I and I review the program I did um I'm going to do my very best to to not look at the Reps I did I'm going to look at the amount of sets I did and the weight I did and then I'm just going to then I'm just so yes like I will count my reps but I've got no target so I'm just going to wrap it out and I'm going to be okay these are the these are the Reps I've got did not beat my previous vest no okay it is what it is but if if I have beaten it then I know cool we progressing if I haven't beaten it I know cool we you to stay on this weight and stay on it until I am beating it consistently because there's no point you cannot just keep increasing and increasing and increasing otherwise you're all going to be L lateral raising 32 kilos you know you it's not possible for most people that at least I love what you said there about beating it consistently um uh that's amazing I've never actually heard of that most people say you beat it once now you go up and I think what you've got there is a better approach to beating it consistently and then you're like cool now I go up because most people say with the progression as soon as you can do eight reps of 10 then you should go to nine reps of 10 or go up to to 12 kilg or whatever but you're saying no go to nine and then make sure you can do nine again and again and again and then go to 10 and then make sure you can do that again and then maybe go to a higher higher it's just about Vis and easier and easier and easier like be able to smash those nine reps out of the park like proper form proper proper Ecentric and then you know okay once like it's a bit too easy now let's let's increase on the Centric do you uh take a time what's your time tempo for up and down I'd say with my entric probably two three seconds oh really okay so very slow and then do you stop at the bottom for an isometric or you just blast out I i' say that's I I just want to feel the the muscle being put to work I mean ultimately if I go into gym and I'm listen some guys are really technical about this stuff and if that if that's how you want to go and train then by all means if that's what you want to do it what's work for you fantastic but I I want to drive myself absolutely insane if I am if I am like okay each rep now when to count the the number of of of seconds down for every single rep and if I don't do this many seconds then it's a disaster and like that that's not how I wish to train you know like I I feel it does take the the enjoyment out of training and with them monotony that comes with diet and that comes with cardio and comes with everything else in the sport the there there does need to be some level of enjoyment and and and freedom and and uh and yes training is super important and needs to be taken super seriously but there needs to be some level of just taking it just a bit more chill I'm not saying go off far or sessions but you don't have to be completely meticulous in my in my opinion just go in there work hard do your thing leave when you're exhausted don't don't don't mess yourself up too much because you want to you can't grow what you can't Rec you can't grow from what you can't recover from but do what you have to do just make it effective no it's good advice I think it's really good advice and then on that with the failure yeah just quickly free free weights verse machine verse uh cable or other machines is I'd say go to failure because you it's keeping you in a fixed position you know your your risk of injury is far far lower than doing it with free weights you know free weights you're going to failure you're going to increase the chance of of injury you know like especially like let's say you're on a and you do incline dumbbell flies you know like you might te something if you're not careful you know um but if you're on a seat chest press machine you can just keep going and when you can't go anymore all right the machine's keeping you in place you know nothing's going to drop anywhere and cause major damage so um cables as well I'd say you can go until faure I'd say it's safer I I'm a big fan of the cable machines because it keeps your your muscles under constant tension yeah and then lastly and then cables would you go to failon cables or do you feel like you have to use too many uh accessory muscles to stay like stable and and whatnot on the cable machines no I'd say cables go to f as okay great and then just briefly what are your top three supplements just your favorite ones or most useful ones you see there actually it's a very very open-ended question because um yeah there's so many supplements that are that are important for so many different things but if I was now talking about my own supplements that that that I personally if I if I could personally she only three supplements I would say glutamine creatine monohydrate and um M multi I'd say those three yeah if I had to choose three and only three glutamine because it is looking after your gut health which I've learned very recently actually is it's it's so important and it's so overlooked and just ignored by so many people you know if you are not neutralizing and absorbing your food properly there can be a problem when it comes to optimizing low results creating hydrate for recovery and performance output um and multiv vitamin because you need your vitamins in there now I I personally don't take a multiv vitamin I I take all my vitamins you know in in singular tablet form because a multiv verin is going to severely bring the dosages of all those verin down whereas if you take a singular vitamin um you can have as much as you want or don't want really you know so for example take something like vitamin B6 I I take I take about 400 milligrams in the morning and 200 or 300 milligrams in the evening um whereas and vitamin C I'll take a thousand in the morning um but the multivitamin is going to be really really brought down a lot um so and I can't say I want this vitamin and that vitamin and that vitamin you know if I'm being asked to give three supplements so yeah for sure that makes perfect sense that makes perfect sense okay those are good ones I also I use the multiv visin um I don't know if you've seen disc Cam's high performance multivitamin they've got pretty high dosages maybe not high enough for you but I think most people they they pretty high pretty high dosages and then I do uh vitamin uh D and K3 those are kind of my my main and then yeah those are my main multivitamins I guess um and then can we chat a little bit about following the plan and motivation happiness and how that kind of plays into into following the plan and uh your bodybuilding and prep and stuff following the plan in terms of like your diet and stuff like that yeah in terms of your diet in terms of what your coach tells you to do like okay well so ultimately you know where happiness can can tie in I believe with with following the plan is is ultimately you know when you are unhappy or in a in a more depressed state people will more often than not lean towards comfort and junk food to bring shortterm and temporary relief um to their to their dismay and um that's going to interfere with a lot of things although I I do understand it because i' I've been there myself and and um motivation is something that is going to come and go unfortunately if if you rely solely on motivation you are setting yourself up with failure at the end of the day um that is unfortunately something you you cannot rely on and and usually when a lot of guys get started you know whether it's like new year new me kind of Vib or I'm going to cut now I'm going to B or sarting prep motivation is always going to be at an all-time high and and usually when motivation is at its highest so your performance output and and adherance to the plan however the only thing you can solely rely on here is your discipline because unfortunately happiness is something that in life is going to come and go and soul motivation and you if you are relying solely on happiness and solely motivation when it comes to thinking to your plan your results are going to stall you may even back step so unfortunately this this this comes down to discipline you you need to be if if you are serious about your long-term results then you need to be following the plan whether you are happy whether you are sad whether you are angry whether you are heartbroken um you you follow that plan because then what's going to happen when you are happy again and you are motivated again and now you haven't SED for the plan because of how how [ __ ] you felt and now you know we're back to square one but if you have just stuck to the plan irrespective of your feelings and I understand it that is easier said than done trust me I do but that ultimately is what separates the best from from the worst you know if you have if you have stuck to the plan when your motivation and your happiness does come back you're going to be so much more grateful that that you stuck to the plan during those hard times in your life in fact I want a test to the worst you feel if you are still able to stick to the pl you will go to bed every single night feeling better about yourself and somewhat of a sense of accomplishment which is what you need in doing your tough time no totally agree I think that there's a lot of benefit to sticking with the plan and like you said even if you're doing nothing else right in your life but you're sticking to the plan then you can have that little sense of accomplishment which could be the difference between success or or failure as you said and then one of your to keep stress low and Stress Management so coming from someone who's a natural born stresser um one okay so I start off with a certain supplement I've used and uh uh I I I really don't believe in um in in medication in this regard you know I don't believe in taking something that's going to completely mask the problem and not help you to deal with these issues uh head on um a supplement that that has really really helped me and um that you know I am a massive massive fan on and it's something I've always going to take is is something called alanine which just it naturally just it regulates your mood and relaxes you whenever you're feeling uneasy but in terms of also just Stress Management I'd say just keep moving forward no matter what get up get yourself out out of bed get in the shower get outside get moving move your body do what you have to do it has been proven that that movement and exercise is is the best medicine to this kind of stuff you know even if you need to just put your phone away put your earphones in shut the worlder for a bit do what you have to do but end of the day you know everyone's going to live with a bit of stress it's about how you deal with it and not going get the best of you you know you you'll get work related stress relationship related stress life related stress you know people like people just some people are are more pred than others it's it's it's it is not how you deal with it and and not relying on on medication solely to deal with this issue if you need to do what you have to do for it's prescribed but you cannot just [ __ ] a pull and just hope for everything to get better because it's it's just going to it's going to lead to Reliance on this on this medication no I completely agree and then on that note of the mental health kind of thing why do you think that men are less likely to say that they need help and uh do you think that the mental health for men is swept under the rug and why is that the case and then briefly um about how bodybuilding can can mess up one's mental health I do believe that um a lot less men seek out help then then actually do seek out help and it's it's very sad you know um it's it's it's I I don't know why in society you can be considered to be you know less masculine to to want to express your feelings and um and just being en TI your inner self and reach out for help if need be because to bottle up these feelings it's it's only going to lead to an explosion at the end of the day and in terms of you also how bodybuilding can affect mental health I mean for me bodybuilding is uh is something that certainly helps keep me more grounded in life um so whether I'm feeling good or not you know I I I am ticking off boxes every single day you know it's giving me something to do um whether it is uh you know and it's the Small Things weighing your meals eating your meals um hitting your steps doing your cardio going to the gym weighing weighing myself every morning like it's daily tasks which help keep me grounded but where where it can absolutely have an effect on mental health is bodybuilding is a very selfish Sport and bodybuilding will ostracize you from other people because people who are not in the bodybuilding Community they may put up with it for a little bit but it's going to reach a point where they really struggle to to find common ground and to and to understand you and to and to make sense of of what you're doing you know think think about it you know if you are truly serious about this Sport and if you're not it's not a problem but people who are truly serious you are walking around you know with with your lunch time you you are restricting where you can eat what you can eat what you can do what you can drink you know your time you're almost structuring your days around working and around bodybuilding you know you if you're not working you are jyming if you're not jyming you are cooking if you aren't cooking you are eating if you aren't eating you are sleeping if you aren't sleeping you're getting your steps in everything revolves around bodybuilding and and and your your ability to to do other things becomes so limited and eventually you know like especially in a prep setting you you become less enthusiastic and and less energetic to go out and do other things so it it ostracizes you and if you are ostra fast enough it's going to lead to to mental health issues and again to what we touched on earlier ticking the boxes every single day not for a couple weeks not for a couple months I'm talking years like you know it's that ties in the discipline that's that's what going to get you to where you want to be and you you look at the best guys in the world they've been doing this day in and day out for some over a decade now um so I if if your regular Social Circle is one that is not into the sport and is not into this lifestyle it's very difficult you know they they can support you up to a certain degree but you don't have you can't expect them to just put up with it 24/7 you know and even people who are in the bodybuilding Community uh if you're on prep and they're they're not on prep you know they still have a lot more freedom than you do you know they can still go out and have some cheap meals and go maybe have a few beers here and there you cannot you are very very limited and eventually just the because of how monotonous it is it it really can catch up with you so and it's a lot easier said than done to keep neble headed when you're in a state like that but you just have to keep pushing through it that that that's how I believe bodybuilding can can measure your mental health just for the way it just ostracizes you sure and that I'm sure is something a lot of people who aren't in that space they they can't really relate to that so thank you for giving us your perspective on that and then lastly before we finish off um it can you give us some tips for deciding is competing for you and your tips to assess whether it might be for you or if it might not be for you when it comes to deciding is is you know prep for you and bodybuilding for you there's a number of things you have to look at is okay prep is very very expensive you know apart from the show entry and the Tad and potentially you competing in a different city you know flights accommodation transport this and that um you know sometimes if if you're if you're competing and you want to it unnaturally that cost a lot of money too um so financially are you in the financial position to prep and prep effectively um are your relationships stable because the deeper you get into prep the more hungry you're going to become the more Moody you going to become um more hungry you're going to become you know you you are going to become a less pleasant person to be around yes you can fake it you can put on a fake smile but at the end of the day I'm willing to bet there's going to be a couple things which may piss you off here or there and people are going to take note of this so so are your relationships stable and are your friends and family going to be totally understanding and supportive of what you're going through um and also is this something you really really want to do are you are you doing this just to get shredded because you can get shredded without doing a prep very like very much so you can you know um are you doing this just to get shredded and to look good or are you doing this to to be competitive or are you doing this to to take yourself through the mental challenge to to go through a prep and to stand on stage and to say you've done it and to go through this this physical and mental battle you are part you're about to Embark in and I would say prep is a lot more mentally challenging than it is physically challenging you know your head will start to mess with you you will start to doubt yourself you know I I personally like I like I I can recall like in every prep I've done um I'll send check-ins to my coach and I will think damn I I'm not looking where I need to look I am not looking good I'm I've got I'm carrying a bit too much body fat um I'm not looking round enough I'm looking too flat I'm and then I'll like go back like like after prep's finished and I'll look at these photos and I'll think damn I looked absolutely amazing what on Earth was I so upset about you know so are are you doing this for for of the right reasons because prep is going to challenge you again mentally and physically so if if you're in this to to better yourself and to put yourself through this Challenge and you and you have your Fe and family who are supporting you you have the financial means to do it by all means okay I'd say prep is for you but if you are doing this just for clout and and just to look shredded um and and um you know you don't have that financial means you you struggle to stay on diet then there's maybe something you need to reassess because as I said you can when it comes to prepare prep preparing for a show if you want to look as good as you possibly can and everything needs to be dialed in your training your diet your cardio and if possible your sleep as well because sleep will also take a bit of a hit you know the the Leaning you get and sometimes you're going to take stimulants as well um to burn more fat this is going to affect too your sleep but I'd say diet training cardio that this needs to be dialed in um and if it is not something you can mentally do um with uh irrespective of how stuffed you feel then prep is not going to be for you unfortunately and that's not a that's not a problem like like there's no reason to to feel bad about it you know like I've I would say every single time I've been on prep there been at least a one or two each period I've questioned do I really want to finish this why am I doing this is something I really really want um and then I think to myself just the end the end goal okay You' you've made it through this you've done a another personal and physical battle you've come out a stronger person in in in multiple facets you V you you voke discipline in in in multiple areas of your life from this they say preps for you then by all means go for it but this is this is something you have to be really really serious about and certainly want to do like I I do not think you should go into a prep if you're going to not give it your 100% some people do and and that's okay that that you won't catch me doing that like regardless of how I'm feeling I feel I'm looking if I feel I'm going to be ready or not I'm going to take off every single box every single day it's all about yeah it's all about Tak those boxes as you said and lots for people to think about and lots to for people to consider before starting a prep and I think that that'll be very helpful for anyone thinking about it giveing them something to think about and if they tick those boxes then good luck to them for their prep and and again I want to just mention as well just for being ready for prep or not is you know have you discussed this with your friends with your family with your your boyfriend your girlfriend are they aware what's going to be going down now because this can absolutely not really have a negative effect but destroy relationships if you want have absolutely no it's true and you got to think about like you said it's a selfish thing to do but you better have a support system of some sort yeah it's totally selfish and then yeah and then lastly what are your parting words of wisdom to the listeners who are looking to embark on their own journey of muscle growth and bodybuilding do your very best not to compare yourself to other people because social media is fake number one number two is if you are not looking at it on social media let's say you're seeing them in person use them as as motivation to to get to where you want to get to do not compare yourself to them compare yourself only to yourself stay consistent follow the plan trust the process and just enjoy it this is about bettering yourself this is a journey of self-improvement self-fulfillment self betterment and comparison at the end of the day is going to be the thief of joy and we're all guilty of doing it we are all guilty of comparing ourselves to other people but it is it is best to to to look at other people who who look better than us in our in our opinions or maybe is objective use it as motivation to to push us forward to strive to be better and and be happy to put yourself outside of your comfort zone because in order to to progress you know diamonds are or made under pressure in in order for us to keep getting better and better and better you need to just gr as hard as you can irrespective of the circumstances absolutely and what a nice way to to end off thank you so much for your time that betterment principle is exactly why the podcast slogan is bigger stronger better so I think if you follow what you said you'll definitely be self-improving and getting bigger stronger and better so thank you so much Jonathan for your time really appreciate it and good luck for finishing your thank you for having me pleasure good luck for your next uh stage appearance in four weeks how many weeks I really appreciate that thank you um six um six weeks out tomorrow actually okay very exciting which show is that it's AR candy Josie on the 4th of May so it's actually it's the first Regional of the year um so yeah it's it's exciting one it's our first time competing l in December okay so I'm camping in the cold now which is great um I'm looking forward to it best of luck and looking forward to seeing you dominate the stage thank you very much I really appreciate it I Cheers Cheers awesome Rosa have a good one thank you cheers man bye thank you for tuning in to the muscle growth podcast if you found value in today's episode we'd really appreciate it if you could leave us a five-star rating and a quick review it helps us grow and reach more people just like you don't forget to follow us on all major social media platforms including Instagram YouTube Tik Tok and X find us at the muscle growth podcast and at reps with Rosco for more insights exclusive content and full episodes visit the musclegrowth podcast.com your support truly makes a difference so please like share comment and follow we're grateful for every bit of it until next time keep pushing your limits and staying focused on getting bigger stronger and better no no no are you are you are you messing with me yet with goob okay cuz if people want to go and dig deep I was roasted on that channel what what did you do 600,000 views my friend so basically basically I'll send it to you after this this I mean I mean I was it was pretty sick cuz you know he put a video of me uh benching 140 for 6 like yeah that's that's [ __ ] cool but my God I reive so much hate on my in my inbox y okay so basically uh I don't think it's any secret I a massive Ryan Terry fan he was my screen saver he was my screen saver on my phone for I mean come on he's the best Mr Olympia in the world men's Physique in the world like and I'm I love men's physique I Ryan Terry and just just everything about him he's like one of my idols and I was sent something from someone else and I don't realize how big good was in the industry and oh my God I can't yeah he was roasting Ryan Terry um for photoshopping and I'm thinking is that is Ryan Terry going and photoshopping himself on stage when he's winning Miss Olympia no so I commented okay and listen it wasn't very nice of me what I said it wasn't nice but I said instead of scrutinizing the best men's physique athlete in the world okay you should hit the gym yourself that was what I said next thing I know you know I'll go off my phone for two three hours and I'm I go back on my phone and I'm like what the [ __ ] my my and I'll be honest with you RAR getting a lot of hate from guys in the industry in the African industry don't be sorry don't be sorry because I don't speak to those people I don't associate our with those people I'm with positive people and that's why I'm I'm positive so that's basically what happened video uh but this was this was about like seven weeks ago yo you made a video yeah HRI Brandon Hendrickson commented have you ever in your life yeah he did he called goo Petty by the way not not me but that's he like I was like oh my God like I saw Jeremy bendia liked it I'm like what no no no no no I don't want this I need this I was so anxious but now I look back at and I laugh like go and I actually had a had a had a a very brief maybe five or six messages back and forth on Instagram afterwards good bars but yeah that didn't happen but please go back to what you're asking me about goob and uh the goodbye Gaines gurus thank you for listening and see you on the next episode of tmgp