Straight Outta The Lair with Flex Lewis
7x Mr. Olympia 212 Champion Flex Lewis presents Straight Outta The Lair, the podcast that aims to bring you vital information for your life's ambitions, providing valuable insight from interviews of the many many different faces that walk through our doors at The Dragon's Lair Las Vegas and a few from the man himself.
Straight Outta The Lair with Flex Lewis
Business Beyond the Posing Trunks | Ron Parklow & Dusty Hanshaw | Straight Outta The Lair Podcast Ep. 83
Vegas, baby! That's where the stars aligned and I unexpectedly bumped into two of the most genuine guys in the bodybuilding industry, my friends Ron Parklow and Dusty Hanshaw. We're here to give you a front-row seat to our impromptu reunion, where we swap stories, laugh about our quirky dining habits on the road, and reflect on our upcoming escapades in the city that never sleeps. You're in for a treat as we peel back the curtain on the cherished friendships and coincidences that strengthen our bonds in the tight-knit bodybuilding community.
Bodybuilding isn't just about the muscles; it's about the moments and the people we share them with. Join us as we stroll down memory lane, reliving the camaraderie that feels more like a rugby team than a solo sport. From the playful pranks at industry events to the life lessons carved from the discipline of competition, we open up about the laughter, the struggles, and the personal growth that define our journey. Witness how a relentless pursuit of peak condition translates into valuable insights for any walk of life, including the tenacity to bounce back from setbacks and the courage to push through the pain barrier.
What happens when a bodybuilder hangs up the posing trunks and steps into the world of entrepreneurship? I'll share my own transition from the stage to gym owner, and how the connections fostered over years in the industry have been pivotal in pursuing new dreams. We'll also tackle those unexpected turns life throws at us, like health scares that remind us of our mortality and the need to listen to our bodies. Through laughter, shared experiences, and a few face-palm moments, we celebrate the unwavering spirit of bodybuilding and the life-changing impact it can have long after the final flex.
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----- Content -----
00:00:00 - Intro
00:06:04 - Reflections on Bodybuilding and Relationships
00:17:47 - Transitioning From Bodybuilding to Entrepreneurship
00:24:01 - Lessons Learned From Bodybuilding and Perseverance
00:29:03 - Pursuing Bodybuilding and Business Success
00:38:37 - Life-Threatening Health Scare and Recovery
00:50:23 - Motivation and Inspiration From Bodybuilding Icons
00:59:06 - Power of Mentality in Bodybuilding Reflections
01:06:23 -
No, I don't think I regret any of it. I just wish I had more straight out the lead.
Speaker 2:Straight out the lead. Join today by two of my friends, Ron Parklow and Dusty Hanshaw, podcast horse superstars in their own minds.
Speaker 3:Mom's mind.
Speaker 1:Yeah, welcome to the show guys I'm happy to be here. Yeah, been in the back room a couple of times, which puts me in an elite club, and now I'm another. I'm in the back room with the microphones, which is an even more elite club.
Speaker 2:Very happy about this flex, no it's great to have you both here, and am I wrong by saying that you both came to Vegas and I know you got the show, but you both didn't know that you were being here on the same day, same weekend, same time.
Speaker 1:Yeah coincidence, it's funny my, my, my partner and I, Emily, we were like, hey, we need to get away for just a weekend that isn't work related. So I'm like January's got a couple of open weekends. We just booked a trip and then talking to Dusty and he's yeah, I got to go. Oh, no, it's talking to Nikki.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I said yeah, and I said hey, you're 10 weeks out this weekend, why don't you take a free meal, have a little break? You've been dining really hard, you're giving school and great, let's have a meal this weekend, just chill. She goes oh, I'll be in Vegas, that'll be awesome. Oh, my God, I go. What? I'm going to really be there too. So the next thing, you know, dusty texts me OK, I got your tickets to the magic show with us on Saturday. We're going to dinner.
Speaker 2:Beautiful, that's the last time you've seen each other physically. I know we speak every week.
Speaker 1:The Olympia, yeah, the Must be a minute, yeah, oh so Orlando Olympia.
Speaker 2:How often do you guys get to see each other?
Speaker 3:After it gets rolling in the year it's every trip. So it's two week, it's the Arnold, and two weeks later again, and three weeks later again.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 1:Fibo body powder. It's pretty UK, arnold. You remember we went to Dubai a couple of times together, so it's great to be have this relationship, this friendship.
Speaker 2:I know you're significant Other sort of friends as well, right. Yeah. And traveling and experiencing life, and now experience in Vegas Again. It's so crazy. Let's think of that. Right Of all the dates in the year, you both book the same freaking weekend.
Speaker 1:We're also busy the same weekend.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so far, so good.
Speaker 1:We have the same holes in our schedule.
Speaker 2:It's great to have you. I know this is a improv podcast. We put it together because you guys were in town. I didn't even know you were in town until I got you did. In fairness, you both text me randomly and said you, but I couldn't, didn't connect the dots.
Speaker 3:I didn't at all, I just thought you were together.
Speaker 2:And then yesterday, as you knew, I was at a show, show Running around. I didn't get to see you. I caught. I wasn't dodging you, by the way.
Speaker 3:I know it looks really suspicious. He was in his car waiting till I left. I was looking at the camera he goes there he goes there he goes.
Speaker 1:I know he parks in the back and comes in the back door, right, so we just missed him yeah.
Speaker 2:You were saying something about my sex life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's all metaphor, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, but I seen Ron coming in. Literally I was running to the restroom and he's taking a selfie in the front.
Speaker 1:I was trying to get the Uber to connect. Oh, I was. I was. Who was the fucking four?
Speaker 3:and up here. Let's be honest. I came back in I was like no, you were not Lighting, right, yeah One of them like fucking fingers in the air. I think that's just very good, bro. Is that the?
Speaker 2:wrong signal Anywhere you go.
Speaker 3:Ok, he was self-in my lobby and I was like, what the hell are you doing?
Speaker 2:here, he's not dusty, just left, so I run outside, you look in here.
Speaker 3:Of course you were gone. My Uber was fast. He was in the Nissan Rogue so he was out of there. Four cylinders.
Speaker 2:So what are you guys going to be doing in town? I know you got your own things going on. Is anything funny? Just chilling.
Speaker 1:Just chilling out. There's apparently the shot show. Like you said, yeah, we didn't go, but that's funny.
Speaker 2:Apparently a good concrete low in town, there's always something.
Speaker 1:We're going to go to the magic show tomorrow night. We're seeing that Shin Lim OK.
Speaker 3:I sent you one of the clips yesterday.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 3:I'm like we're doing this Every time we come to Vegas. I got to do the shows you know this Got to, I'm like got to see something different. So that's the stretch and then, as luck would have it dinner. So I'm like whatever after that, and Nicky's simple and I don't know if Ron's eating style, but it's as basic as it comes. Yeah, I'm easy. Yeah, you are.
Speaker 2:You would still eat on prep right.
Speaker 1:Plus road food. Ok, so at home I eat, yeah, and then when I'm on the road I have burgers if I want. I eat whatever I want. I was talking to your wife. She said that's how you are. You can eat whatever you want, but you just tend to eat really clean. I just love eating that food and I don't like being bloated anymore. I hate feeling full. No, I don't want to like those days of you'd be so proud of how much you ate at a meal You'd be like oh.
Speaker 1:I destroyed that place and no, thank you, and I just have no interest in feeling like that anymore.
Speaker 2:Because we're again. We're three friends. You're three friends getting together and just chatting it up. This could go in any different direction. So, for my viewers who are watching on YouTube and listening on Spotify. My apologies in advance, because we're going to go in any which way and I thought you were in town for AVN, which is the biggest porn convention in town. Yeah, I was hoping to get some juicy shit on that fucking party.
Speaker 1:So I was going to say that the third expo that is happening is there's the AVN.
Speaker 2:So we might have left that off the table. That's the thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we might have left that off. You change the subject.
Speaker 1:But yeah, but yeah, we might head down there. You never know when you need to buy another Coincidentally, is in that hotel.
Speaker 4:Oh, I need to be in before a few times too.
Speaker 1:Hey, coincidentally Shin Lim is also in my hotel too, so our limitless show is also there. So it was just. Yeah, it was just hilarious.
Speaker 2:I know he's not going to like this, but Tyus used to be a magician on the strip. No, get that fucking mic in your tent. Yeah, they don't know who I am.
Speaker 4:There's no mic on me, so they can't see when you go and see Shin Lim. There's another guy in the show. His name is Colin Cloud. He is the best part of the show, OK.
Speaker 2:No, knock Shin Lim, if you're listening, looking forward to it.
Speaker 1:I have to say too, I told Dusty I was going to make sure I mentioned this early. We want to make sure that the people listening know that we see you as one of the guys. You're one of the dynasty champions. It was probably the most accessible to the D list pros like us?
Speaker 3:Oh my God, Do you like that we? Actually, we bumped ourselves to D, though I thought that was me.
Speaker 2:He started at E.
Speaker 3:I started at E and Dusty's like that's extreme.
Speaker 2:Yeah, don't be so hard on yourself and I said how's D and he went.
Speaker 1:that's good, it's fair yeah.
Speaker 3:It's like a slight reach.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, you were one of the most accessible. You're winning the 212s, you're winning these over and you just still remained exactly the same level of accessibility to all of the other guys in the industry that just saw you as the initial young kid that came into the IFBB. So, the guy that you were when you first arrived in the IFBB, you stayed that guy with us the whole time. Try to be, which not everyone was able to do, and it's not even a personality thing, but life gets too hectic and there's so much going on, they just you don't see them anymore. They don't really. They vanish as soon as the events over and they're not really around. But you were always like the guy that we just saw every time and you always had time to stop and chat and hey boys, and take pictures at the booth and all that shit. And it never ended. Do you know why?
Speaker 3:Because he needed my videos. That's why and why do you want to dive into that later on?
Speaker 2:To be honest, that is true, but coming from a rugby culture, you guys remind me so much of my rugby friends In the sense where I take the bodybuilding element, the stage, that's the end cap right, and we can all judge people based on winning performance. I like to have relationships with people, so I knew that you guys were going to be at various different shows and for me, I always would remember two shows that we'd always bump into each other Bodypower or FIBO.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:FIBO normally was the one right. Your booth seemed always to be close. Normally right across and your booth was always vibing. There's always so much antics going on there. You always had good energy and whatever else, and whatever it was around the world, we'd bump into each other and just have a good fucking laugh, right? Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I never, because I brought a lot of that rugby mindset into bodybuilding, the Jack Dalada, the kind of the shit talk stuff, and you both love to give it as much as you get right, absolutely. And if you can't take it which a lot of people can't, unfortunately when you know somebody loves vibing, there's always going to be a laugh before you see somebody, as long as it's OK what's going to come out of his?
Speaker 1:mouth next. You know, one of my favorite photos that I have from my whole bodybuilding life is a photo from FIBO in like maybe like 2013 or 14 or something, and you're at another booth. Ok, the old one of your original sponsors.
Speaker 1:That's OK, you can say it, you're at the BSN booth, ok, and Guy was there with you. Ah yeah, and I came over and we're starting chatting and then everyone's like let's get a photo. So we get in a group and every time they go to take the photo, guy puts his hand up on your arm to hide your arm. And you look at the photo and you're like you hid my fucking arm. And guys go, oh, sorry about that. So we get back in there and you go take the photo again. Guy puts his hand up to block your arm again and you're like fucking, fucking and you're slapping his arm and he's just blocking your arm. And his timing was impeccable Bang, he got every photo. There's no photos in my camera where your arm is visible, can?
Speaker 2:you just see a little bit of it.
Speaker 1:The tricep round is gone. It's perfect placement. Your arm looks like it's 14 inches.
Speaker 3:You look like one of us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then his arm looks bigger than you, of course.
Speaker 3:Well, because he was coming up and getting a flex.
Speaker 1:See, it was so funny, I'd eat pictures in a row. I was like flex, his arm is gone and every photo.
Speaker 2:Fucking aw man. He was great to work with. Yeah, that was my damn year. That year was so much fun he used to play these games in the booth just because it was. I shouldn't really say too much, but OK, fuck it, we go on. You know you're on there and the lines are just out the arse and feeble. But then English a lot of people couldn't speak.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So then we'd have like a word we throw into the sentence, and then we'd Just yes, the old thanks lot Just throw it in. And the bar from Thursday went higher and higher. We won't say what was said, but you'd have to throw it in the middle of the sentence and you know that. What's it called Fight Club? And they throw that scene in the movie. Yeah, people are in the cinema.
Speaker 1:And they're like Jordan slam dunking one frame.
Speaker 2:No, it's what they're in the cinema, and he cuts the porn. Yes, yes, and people like did I just yeah?
Speaker 3:Did I just see that you did?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I won't say the words, but we slipped a few, and it was a tally number one Every year, Still the champion.
Speaker 3:That's funny. Man Rushed the shoulder off a little bit. That's his greatest achievement in his entire career. Let me tell you what I did.
Speaker 1:That thing's a copy of some of that Meanwhile all these wonderful fans are thinking, wow, it was great to talk to Flex. I really got to work on my English. He really was. His accent was really interesting.
Speaker 2:There were these other words he was using I just lost so many fans doing that to me.
Speaker 3:Jose had that one year at FIBO when people would come up. He had two pictures that he had eight by tens and one of them he had his hand like this. He was just chill.
Speaker 2:And then another one. He was hitting the most muscular.
Speaker 3:His hands are real down low and he goes do you want the look at my dick? Look at my dick and they're like and they would look at him and they're like and he goes this one or this one, and then they would just answer, and then you'd see him walk away, like because he'd only say it once yeah, real quick.
Speaker 1:Yeah, jose's fun to work with.
Speaker 3:I was losing my mind the whole weekend. Jose's so funny Another level.
Speaker 2:We battled hard on that stage. Him and I he was like my fierce competition.
Speaker 1:He was one of the guys that legitimately pushed you Like you were untouchable for the most part the whole time. Dude, I know you had a couple of battles where you got pushed, but he was one of the only guys that ever really showed up against you to be like a threat, Because I just didn't think there was really much many times when there was.
Speaker 2:I tried, that was my goal, to try to separate myself from the pack, fucking six weeks out suffering to make that weight, but yeah, also to show one thing that I find really interesting.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you'll agree with me on this, but looking at all I've looked at all your years before, like I've studied, like I put them all, like it's interesting to me, don't as fucking see them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Right next to me, but your second last win. Your second last win? Yeah, I thought was not your best. There was no question. Yeah, I thought that was. That was one of the ones that that was like. Oh, that wasn't easy. Do you know why? No, why.
Speaker 2:That was passed away. Oh, yes, of course, yeah, I was. It was in like a bubble wrap. It's funny what you're not to change the tone on the show, but that's a very interesting thing because we talk about the mindset of people going into the show and controlling the environment. Yeah, and I've spoken about it in on stages and seminars and right, but that truly was that year for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know, controlling the environment.
Speaker 1:Then, and what I liked the most was that the next year was your best ever. Yeah, and that was how you finished.
Speaker 2:I wanted to go out that way.
Speaker 1:And you know who else did that? Lee Haney, oh, lee Haney, he was not his best. The second last win and then his last win. He was on the best he'd ever been.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I love that for guys, when you don't want to see that the guy. Yeah get knocked out three, four or five times in a row and the Dana has to step in and tell you it's over, jim, in the back room. Let's preserve this legacy, that sort of thing. And I just I don't know. It was just really well done and really well handled in the end. Looking back on it, I just yeah, I just saw it was an awesome run that you had, man.
Speaker 2:I'm glad, as that was my last show. Obviously my intentions were to go up and we all know the rest of that. But I said to myself this is going to be my last show and I told everybody, I put it out there and I made sure that that was it. Every Olympia has its way, but that year was this is my last, and I also have said this many times in podcasts.
Speaker 2:I wanted to consciously be conscious about everything, like I could tell you how hot the stairs were before I walked up, and just from body heat. And then when you put your first foot on that stage, you know what we're talking about. As soon as you get on the stage the unforgiving lights it's hot as hell. I just remember that too. I remember the crowd reaction. I remember looking around the crowd to see certain faces that I knew and smiling and winking or whatever else. Somebody's like cheering. You look into the abyss of people because you can only really see the first couple of rows. Yeah, and yeah, it was a show when I said to myself you've been so robotic for six of them. Truly, I couldn't even define backstage from one show to the next.
Speaker 2:But that last show really stands out from the pack for me because mentally, physically, I knew I was my best.
Speaker 2:I couldn't wait to display it. I was excited and nervous because I knew it was my last and I just tried to live the moment as much as I could, and that's what I try to tell a lot of first time competitors yes, you're going to be nervous and I try to remember as much as you can from the show, regardless of where you place, whether it's placing that you didn't like, let it piss you off, but at least be in the moment. Your fans, your family, whatever you want to call them, are going to be out in the audience cheering your name. They've all made the effort, bought plane tickets, whatever, to be there and cheer you on. Just be present and enjoy the moment, because you've worked your ass off to be there. So I had to take my own information in and be present, and obviously that was my last show, so at least I can say I was present, I enjoyed it, suffered for it and I went out the way I wanted to.
Speaker 3:I think it's weird that you, in hindsight, you look back at careers and I do the same thing. I talk to young guys, because the beginning of my career I didn't even get pictures. My whole thought was I'll do that when I'm good. And now you look back and I'm like what I would do for those early pictures to see where you came from.
Speaker 3:So, that's something I hammer on the young guys because I remember when I turned pro which took four years I knew after prejudging I was winning. And Dante texts me and he goes how you feel? And I was like I think if we get the RDLs a little higher, and he's what? And I'm like the hams. I mean, before we do this, I got to come up and he's like you're on stage tonight. And never ends man. You just click over and it was like okay this goal was accomplished.
Speaker 3:I'm just waiting for time to catch up. But we know, I mean, I walked out and it was one of those ones. I was the last guy called up and I was to walk to the edge and before I got there, steve goes in the middle and I'm like, okay, this is done. You know, I feel it right. But then at that point my brain just clicked over that goal is handled, let's move to the next. So now it's like when I'm working with guys before the show, same thing. It's soak this up. This is your Olympia, it's the South Carolina. It's tiny show, it's the biggest show you've ever done. If you get third place, soak it up. Your mama want that trophy. My mom has all mine. It blows my mind on what the hell I'm gonna do with them now. Still in the house. I'm like, what do I do with these things?
Speaker 2:But one is a doorstop in my grandstaff's.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the universe trophy.
Speaker 2:Amazing.
Speaker 1:It's just a universe, jim would be happy Jim, would be happy Everybody else.
Speaker 2:But somehow it found itself over before anybody who's won the universe gets in the comment section.
Speaker 3:I don't want to say oh no, no, no, my grand took the trophy.
Speaker 2:It ended up being on the mountain piece and slowly moving lower and lower. No, no, no, no. It's the fucking doorstop. It's heavy as hell.
Speaker 3:So it's not moving.
Speaker 2:It's right by the door so it does perfect when the horseman comes over and says, oh, it's an interest in trophy for somebody who's up there. But generally, you mentioned something too about early photos. I took a few before I got into the competing but then I covered up so much. I know you guys are big on covering up. So, as you guys can remember, I'd always been a hoodie in Florida weather and it was like flex because Jay used to bust my balls about all the time, put a tank top on. I was like, yeah, it's not me, it's not me. I still am so glad I lived that process of the because I came from Dorian Yatira. I asked did you guys baggies and rack tops?
Speaker 1:yeah, it's cold, well, I was in fucking Florida.
Speaker 3:We didn't have that excuse.
Speaker 2:But yeah, but then our mentality of covering up until show day. I didn't really want to show anybody what I looked like. You know my training partners would have to bring it out of me. Take some progress, for course, you know, next week. I don't know why I fucking put it off the next week, as if something magical would happen.
Speaker 1:So it kicks in system wise, you won't eat cookies on the weekend and you know how it looks better on Monday.
Speaker 2:But you regret them. Times of wearing the baggies and covering up.
Speaker 1:No, I don't think I regret any of it. I just wish I had more. What I wish I had more of You're back in the click, click, snap. You know those old days yeah. I lived that too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, back in those days we could have taken so many more pictures in the gym and just all those memories. And I've got a handful of photos of some of the guys I trained with back in the 90s and that sort of stuff, but photos of us in the squat rack and photos of us killing it on the dumbbell presses and stuff. I know there's a handful of them. I know my friends have a picture here and there, but, man, I wish I had the people now with this alphabetized library of their entire training history. They've every set of deadlifts they've ever done Something dusty does and I just think, man, I wish I had that old shit with the purple gators gym baggies on and the boat neck shirts, the tank tops, and I got photos of me and my friends with fanny packs on and all that shit.
Speaker 2:I love that. It's oh when it's come closer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, I've seen bell bottoms twice.
Speaker 3:I've seen fanny packs twice it's getting out of hand.
Speaker 1:This means we're getting old. Yeah, those high-waisted jeans came back. There's nothing I could do about it, it was just. It was terrible.
Speaker 3:I think, when you look at the old days, though, I started working with JJ Marsh when I first got into bodybuilding, and it was funny because I went to the gym and I feel like the hardcore mentality of coaches was different. Then I was referred to him by somebody. I call him to get his address, drive him to his place, and he's like all right, here's where I live. And he goes yeah, if I don't think you can win, I'm not going to work with you. I've never met him.
Speaker 3:Wow, I was like okay, so I roll in, go through my shots looking at him, he goes. All right, see you tomorrow at 4 am.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:I'm like okay, so I get to the gym at 3 50 because I'm going to be ready and I'm waiting inside, got my tank top on, got my shorts on. He comes in, he goes hell, are you wearing? I'm like Jim, close, he goes cover up. You can't hide huge when you're so big. I can see it in a hoodie. You can wear a tank top until then, wear a hoodie. Wow.
Speaker 3:And I was like okay, and then by the time I got- by the time I got there, I wasn't comfortable in a tank top anymore. I just wore hoodies for the rest of my career. Yeah, unless somebody was. That's the only thing I force used to say. If we're going to pay a guy to come film you, you got to wear a tank top.
Speaker 3:And I'm like fine, so those are the only workouts. So if anybody ever saw me a tank, that just meant that Todd was there filming and I would still start with a baggy 4 XL t-shirt and at the very end I'd give him the five minutes. That's exactly why.
Speaker 2:I was It'll pump on first. You look in the mirror, I was like, okay, I was on that bad?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're good, it'll pump on. Thank God I didn't start off like that, but these guys come in. You know, right now, no knock on the new gen. Some of these guys would come in as if they've already finished the workout. Oh yeah, I like the element, and I used to say this because when me and Raffi's are trained together and John De La Rosa, they'd come in with a tank top or something like that. Bro, we're not filming you in a tank top. So I installed a couple of things into half where I was like put a t-shirt on or something or put a hoodie on and, as the workers going off, peel off one layer and peel off another layer, especially when we were filming. You don't want everybody to see. You go to a movie. You want to see the fucking ending. You want to stay until the very end. Watch the YouTube to see what he looks like at the end.
Speaker 2:Do you want a little bit of a cocktail?
Speaker 3:I know, think AVNs If you give me what I want right off the bat.
Speaker 1:I'm out the door in five minutes. I know I don't finish.
Speaker 2:You see the view is just going down after.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But I think there's something to that era. I do love that era and also we come from the era where there's no social media too right, so that there was no pressure for us to live this. Unfortunately, we've all now adopted and adopted the new era. But I'm so blessed to have one fort in the era of magazines and one fort in the era of social media, because I lived that. I know what was like the VHS stuff and wait four weeks for America to get Lee Priest's new VHS to come in and I love that.
Speaker 2:And then, when I joined my first hardcore gym, all the guys there were all in rag tops and clone pants, right, oh shit. Okay, I guess you have to get a rag top. Are we going to find a rag top for some use of medium right? I found one and then you have to have the little thin string, string out underneath.
Speaker 1:That never got seen and it has to sit on the traps right. Yes, not every tank top is the same. Yeah, you want yeah.
Speaker 2:Before we lose our fucking new viewers here that have no clear what we're talking about.
Speaker 1:Your main streamers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, we've got a wide, vast viewership of people who business to bodybuilding, so we tie everything around. But talking of which, how hard was it for you to transition from the world of bodybuilding into the world of entrepreneurship?
Speaker 1:I remember very young. I remember when I was 19 and I got to give credit to the same two guys. I give them so much credit for so many things. But I had these two friends in Australia, john Davie and Nick Jones Great guys, still friends with them, still like they're still my brothers, and I remember them telling me like they were hardcore bodybuilders trying to turn pro as well. We were all training together but they were older than me and they had the wisdom and they said all of this. They used to say at all times the skills you learn with this, when you're done, when we're all done, we just take those exact same skills and we just blueprint them onto whatever we want to do and we'll kick everybody's ass. I remember that was like the general lesson and they were already starting to do that.
Speaker 1:They were conniving and scheming businesses like it coming in and now they've both gone on to do just that Right, and so I always just I was just had a confidence. I look back on some of the years where I was like a broke bodybuilder. We all go through that, that that phase where you're like a broke bodybuilder and I'm like how was I not more worried and stressed about?
Speaker 3:my money.
Speaker 1:Like now, I'm like so concerned about finances all the time I'm checking my investments and I'm like, oh, 1%, it's up 1%. Oh. And I'm like, and I think back to when I had no money and I wasn't even thinking about money, I was just thinking about bodybuilding. And I think, how in the hell was I doing that? But I think I always just had a confidence like, oh, I have these skills of just like relentlessly doing miserable shit for long periods of time and I don't even enjoy for a result that I want, so I can just do that if I ever have to. I just felt that way.
Speaker 1:And yeah, and then, like it just happens to be true, you have the skills.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've said this many times the life lessons that I learned from competing in bodybuilding truly transcended into my business. Yeah. Because you have this mentality that you again, you adapt. Being around people, there's just this relentless mindset to get to that show, that show. They've been July, come hell, how you want to shine. You are making that show injuries.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then when you finish your tire that mentality, then transitions into whatever you can do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's so many. I give people the and all the time they're like, oh, my knee hurts, and like not both of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you learn so much about working around adversity, like to get through it, like your knee hurts but it doesn't hurt on this one exercise. So you're going to do 10 hard sets of that exercise and then you're going to still win the day. You know what I mean. That attitude and people that have, oh, I don't feel well today or I think I'm run down like that. Stuff just doesn't exist when there's like these crazy, ridiculous goals that your friends don't understand and your family doesn't get and it's just it's at all.
Speaker 1:I'm just it all. I'm just really grateful that I did something that taught me those lessons, also the relentlessness for yourself.
Speaker 2:Remember when I first heard about you always being the bridesmaid?
Speaker 1:Yes, I think every yeah.
Speaker 2:Everybody was every year, because again you only had the chance to improve once. Yeah, yeah, yeah, same as the UK. So every was like oh man, this guy, I think it was one of me six, I race mate, I wound up being eight time runner up at the Canadian Nationals.
Speaker 1:Eight and twice at North Americans.
Speaker 1:My apologies, I left two out. Yeah, I wound up getting two, two wins and eventually a pro card. But yeah, it was just. I just look at it as people say. How do you feel about that? And I think I just think that I just happened to fit into a category of guy who his genetics were barely good enough to maybe turn pro and I just didn't give up. So I made it happen. But I could have easily Easily quit, like I was running out of steam for sure. So, so why didn't you? I kept getting Pretty good place. If I would have gone and got like a 12th or something, it might have been a. Oh, shit.
Speaker 1:I did have one bad year where I didn't get good placing. I pretty much was always in the top group and always I quite often had some first place votes, so it just fueled it. It was almost like a bad thing in a way, like I would have done it forever.
Speaker 3:It would have kept happening enough, he was trying to quit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, the last year I competed. I remember I text Chris a Cito 20 weeks out and I was like, okay, I've talked with Emily and I'm gonna let you know, this is my last go. It doesn't happen this time, that's it I'm. And Chris said okay, I gotcha. And then I sent him my photos and he said these are the third worst photos I've ever seen. So this is it. Huh, he said because I had been really injured and I hadn't trained arms or legs for a while and I had all this PRP Be done, and it was a mess. And he said yeah, only Dusty and Jose have ever sent me worse photos than this. And then he regularly, though, and that is I love how.
Speaker 1:And then the next text was you've got 20 weeks and you need every single one of them, and I was like, oh shit, okay, it's on and that was it.
Speaker 2:So what was different about that prep that drove you to the first place compared to any other?
Speaker 1:I knew that I wasn't gonna be as big as I should be because I my body was wearing out. I couldn't train the way I wanted to and I knew I had to just purely make sure I was conditioned and All the stuff you can do to create illusion make sure my waist is tiny, make sure I'm just peeled to the bone, make sure my face is caved in so it looks like I'm got some sort of disease. I just I literally would just look at my face. That was my progress. I was like, okay, it's coming, it's coming. It just was one of those weird years kind of hail Mariush in a way and then just went like this a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was just one of those things I was hoping for something else.
Speaker 2:This happened yeah.
Speaker 1:Throw yourself in the blender one more time.
Speaker 2:When your face is so peeled in when you chewing gum and you eat the side of your cheeks yeah, when your face is that sun card tissue up.
Speaker 3:Some loose skin in there.
Speaker 2:That's. You have a very similar story of relentless and that's a never-giving up on your. On your side too. Tell us about your pursuit pro card mine was.
Speaker 3:Mine was different because I actually had the business side first. So I owned retail stores and Was doing body about the same time. I didn't know, know this, yeah. So bodybuilding was a passion and what ended up happening was it was actually Fibo.
Speaker 3:One year, we get done with Fibo. You know how it works. You get done, you go back to the room, clean up, you go eat, you go to the gym, you train, you come back, you eat, you go to your room. Everyone goes to bed with your own five retestors. You get on the computer and you work. And I worked for four hours, five hours, do all my stuff, go to bed, wake up two hours later, go to the lobby, start the day. Fibos were long days back there and Third night I was like wait a minute, my competition in business isn't wasting this much time overseas Tinking around year round with a hobby.
Speaker 3:So I'm coming in at like 70% against their hundred. And then I'm like bodybuilding. I'm genetically already down from the guys I'm chasing and I'm giving up five hours of sleep on these nights and running businesses. And I just thought to myself I can. I can do business whenever I want and how to do it, and you guys know this. Now that you do business I used to I joke with people. I'm like I'll buy any business, I'll make it work, it's fine. And so I said I gotta sell this business because I want to do this and I can't do it forever and it's a passion and I'm young enough, let's just wing it. And so I told my wife at the time. I said, hey, I'm gonna sell the stores. She was like Okay, and I didn't tell anybody. And literally about a week and a half later a guy called me and he's hey.
Speaker 3:Do you remember me? I used to sell you drinks. I was like, okay, I'm moving back from Alaska, I want to buy your stores.
Speaker 2:I Didn't advertise she was note that putting on Craigslist or anything that way.
Speaker 3:She does, thank you. So he ended up buying my stores about six weeks later. We were one and done, and now he actually owns Muscle Factory gym that you went to the other day.
Speaker 2:Come on.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so he's good Mine and Lance. Yeah, he owns those and that got me.
Speaker 3:That gave me the time to enjoy bodybuilding. It also gave me time to make some mistakes, because I was making good money as an amateur and I didn't need to do anything else. And I got lazy and I didn't do anything else. So you're making good money Until your sponsor calls you and goes hey, we're selling the business, so your contract's gone. And I was. It was funny because I remember I read the email and I was like Never been broke not in a long time at least, and all I have is what I see in this bank account right here.
Speaker 3:This is not good, but that was another learning lesson, because I just like bodybuilding, you bad showing whatever I was like, how much money was I making, and I said to myself I think I can get that back in three months. And I got it back in six weeks. Wow, oh, there it is. It just I turned on all the hustle in the business side and that cranked. But I think that's what allowed my body, willing to be what it was, being at the level I was at. I was never confused.
Speaker 3:A lot of guys, young guys, I feel bad. They come up and they can't be honest with it, what they have, or or I'll say something. I always say it like joking, but they're like oh, you're too humble. I'm like, I'm not humble, I'm real, I'm not blind, I know what competition is, I know my talents are, I know I can make a living from this industry and it's not on that stage, it's doing other things. I was able to approach it as a pure passion and just loving to do it, and that was the part that was easy for me, because when I would do a show. It was literally like an addiction to the work. My favorite Of my entire career show was 2011. I reached out to Chris and I said, hey, I Want to be peeled, peeled out of my mind. And he was like All right, we can do that.
Speaker 3:So that was our focus, did the show. I took 10th worst placing of my career as an amateur and I was so fired up, really, because I was sliced out of my head. We had lost muscle, like both of us just zeroed in on the topic of peeled. Then you go back in hindsight, you look at picture side by side and I've told her on this before About six, five or six weeks out. I remember the rest of the like a lat pulldown. I had to click it down one more and I did never enter my head. That didn't get shorter. So the only thing that could mean is your legs are smaller. Oh shit.
Speaker 2:You got small legs anyway.
Speaker 3:They were way down. I was like we're on that one, the junior level over, oh shit. But we did the show and I remember the greatest part of it was I get done with pre-judging and I hear this thick Boston accent, of course, and I didn't know Jose. Yet I hear go dusty, fucking and shall you were shredded. And I look over and I'm like that's Jose Raymond. Why does he have any idea who I am?
Speaker 2:I don't give a shit, what your place.
Speaker 3:That was disgusting.
Speaker 2:You showed tonight while you're on stage.
Speaker 3:No, this is not walking out. Oh right, I mean everybody's out there. I see Steve looking over.
Speaker 2:He's got that accent to it.
Speaker 3:Oh, it's, you don't have to turn your head.
Speaker 1:No, they all know it's, you know it's him.
Speaker 3:Plus it's loud, so it's gotta be him. And I remember thinking like this is awesome because again, and I think we all know this, when you see somebody that'll go through Whatever it takes to get peeled, I don't care how good you are, he's a hall of fame bodybuilder. I just took 10th at Nationals and he's coming to tell me how nuts I looked. I should remember going. That's the kind of respect you can earn through grind hustle, absolutely. And again, that is what dips into business and that's why, when things go wrong with business, I like Ron knows this I love to share stories of things that went wrong, because people they never hear that when I'm always like oh, let me tell you about the town lost 200 grand in a year. That was fun, but it's. But the funny thing is, when those big mistakes happen, it's just like bodybuilding, just like those things you go.
Speaker 3:What did I do? Okay, I was two, zeroed in on one thing, which is very common mistake I didn't. I couldn't see the forest through the trees. Oh, and, by the way, I can fix it, it's fine. You can make more money, you can do more things. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:So, it like you guys said, it all just runs together and I think for me, business top bodybuilding and bodybuilding top business. So it went back and forth and that's why not my newest thing as a retired bodybuilder and just starting to train and have fun again. As I look and I go, I'm starting to understand why People who have that don't have a stage to run to have a little harder time clicking in. Because it's like for me, when I'm like I need to eat, I'm like I Really just need to go make some more money, I just slide the meal over and then, you know, a few months goes by and you happen to see yourself on a beach. You're like I should probably start eating those meals again.
Speaker 2:That ain't good, so are you into right now? What are you working on in there? Always?
Speaker 3:right now the main stuff is we're Got housing stuff which is small, just my own stuff, and then I want to get a gym open where we're at Okay, but what I'm running into is waiting for the right space is very tricky there.
Speaker 2:You've moved to yeah, I'm in South Carolina which, by the way, I there's me texting you what two weeks ago, yeah, you didn't tell me.
Speaker 3:move, by the way hey, you said you're in scot, so I know people. It didn't matter that I was there, I was like yo, I mean your stomping grounds and he was like oh yeah, I'm not you, but go see this guy.
Speaker 2:I go see that guy and this guy if you want to train another gym. He gave me like a list of gyms with all atmospheres. But then he hooked me up with Lance. But yeah, you didn't tell me you moved to North Carolina right, south Carolina, I'm sorry, my wife just told me before we went around. So that move, when did that get? When did that happen?
Speaker 3:That was almost three years ago.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, I'm a little bit behind the curve.
Speaker 1:It was year zero.
Speaker 3:That was a birth again. I was right after the coma. I've been out for about six, eight weeks and I went over there. Actually, what was funny was I came out of the coma.
Speaker 2:We all know.
Speaker 1:You know what you come out of a coma.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but no, we want to talk about the coma. But yeah, get to the move and then we go back to the coma.
Speaker 3:So basically I come out of it. I was in a coma for a month and when I came out of the coma, the problem and you know this, if you've lived somewhere for a long time, everyone knows you, and which is awesome but it also means that I can't go to the grocery store. I can't go anywhere without people pulling me. Oh, sorry about the accent, I hate to hear that. Listen this, and I appreciate I know it comes from a great place. I was like I just need to do the rebuild, just get going, because at that point Balance and things were an issue. So it's like, alright, this is a little off. So it was funny I was dating Nikki and I had just helped Tommy, my training partner, do some posing and I was trying to adjust him on posing and I'm just trying to do like a three-quarter back to just show him.
Speaker 3:And I kept stumbling and I'm like I've been out of this coma for three days. This is ridiculous, I need to move on. Like enough whining about this crap. So I call her and I'm like I like, hey, you mind if I come, stay at your house for a little bit, and she goes, sure, like how long I was. Like I don't know, I'm gonna get a one-way ticket and see how it goes. She was like Sure. So I went out there for a bit and we talked and I'm like we're doing awesome, so let's, let's, I'm gonna move. And it was funny because I like to keep things real. Like you asked me about Arizona, I'm at the gym a couple weeks later and I'm Trained with Tommy and I was like, hey, man, I'm gonna move, he goes okay when I go tomorrow.
Speaker 2:It is one of those guys. Dumb cod on them to me, by the way, did he really? Yeah, he was like hey, I've been putting this off for a long time. I'm moving. Are you when? A few days? What? Not the steely story?
Speaker 3:sorry, yeah, it's the same I was like and it was so funny, but what I love about my friends, they go okay, like they don't that's not a shock, they're like he's not gonna make a big.
Speaker 1:There's not a lot of surprises.
Speaker 3:This is an odd decision that sounds perfect this sounds terrible, but you go for it.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I went up there and then what was funny is the plan was just to move there. She had a lease and I was gonna we're gonna stay there, and then I was gonna look at Nashville or something and Haven't been in Scottsville for so long go in there and then go into Nashville. I was like I'm done with busy, I just want to relax a little bit and I liked it there because money is quieter in South Carolina, like you meet people and you're talking and you just they make little mentions.
Speaker 3:Oh you just say that you're like oh yeah, oh, my my fourth company. And you're like you know I? Mean it's very and I like that. I got a little tired of and I love Scott's Don't get me wrong everyone. I thought I was gonna die in that place, but the pretentious side I can do without the women there would have killed you. There was just too many. My mom when I woke up from the coma, she goes.
Speaker 3:I'm glad they like all, didn't come to the waiting room at the same time. Thanks, mom, did you shield me?
Speaker 2:On the list of heckin order. Okay, you can go in thankfully she was. Wait, not to take Ron completely out of this, but we spoke about the coma and you can jump in whenever you want. Let's talk about what put you in the coma and how long you were in there, and also I would get to that part.
Speaker 3:The same doesn't chew his food. Apparently, the simple thing is years of bodybuilding, over-eating all that. Apparently I just had years of just acid reflux, but it was never for me. Like one of those was pop up Hepsid and yeah, good to go, and I was literally. I'm eating a meal.
Speaker 3:One day I'm rushing out to an appointment and I'm eating steak. I swallowing steak. It's caught in your throat. You know when it's something it's caught in your throat and you could feel it, but you can breathe.
Speaker 3:So I was like I haven't got time for this, so I jump in the shower, I'm showering, I get done. I was like I gotta get going, I gotta go. I had a beard appointment but for my barber was like screw it, I think it'll work. So I just grab a gallon of water and I pour it back and I'm like it'll go down and it did. But the whole way down it kind of hurt and I'm like that sucked out of the barber, I'm telling her about it and whatever, and I get done.
Speaker 3:I'm like man, I still don't feel right. So I'm walking out to my car and I parked off the side. I was like you know a lot of years of bodybuilding, I can make myself sick just by telling myself I need to be sick. I was like I bet if I get sick this will all be over. Make myself sick, it's just blood. Oh, and I'm talking like a pool, enough that I I knew when I did it I should. I was like how do I show someone this? So I put my foot next to it and I filmed it, because it was bigger than my foot, and so I took the picture and I sent it to a friend of mine.
Speaker 3:I was like hey, this isn't good, but how bad is it? And she goes. You got to go to the hospital, I go. Okay, I got to meet Tommy to train back.
Speaker 3:Oh my god. And then and she goes, you got to go to the hospital now and I was like, okay, I'm gonna go to the mail, but I'm gonna stop off at the house and Let my dogs out real quick, and she's not a big swear, and she goes to see, go the fucking hospital. I was like she knew, oh, we're in trouble. So went to the hospital and, long story short, they thought I had nicked it and so they told me, like are you gonna have a surgery? And Nick want just nicked, like my throat, somehow, just sometimes you'll just cut the esophagus. What ended up happening, I found out 27 days later was it tore all the way down.
Speaker 2:Six inch, like how big was this piece of steak you were trying to fucking inhale?
Speaker 3:life. Apparently, you're supposed to not just put the fork and the whole thing in the mouth. No, it was just it's. It's funny because I still do. It was the T-bone still on the fucking thing. There's a lot of protein in that.
Speaker 1:It's very the wall of your. The wall of his esophagus was so thin because it had been burned out, so they think it was just so weak. Yeah, it just finally gave way, are you?
Speaker 3:yeah, and so I wake up one day, I and I, you love how your brain works after, like surgeries and drugs and everything. Cuz I get out, open my eyes and my buddy Matt's in there. He goes, hey, and I'm like, hey, he goes. You know day it is and I, my appointment for beard is Thursday. I go Thursday he goes. Nope, he goes. Do you know what month it is?
Speaker 1:That's like shit, imagine someone asking you that yeah.
Speaker 3:So it had been 27 days. And then, of course, I find out after the fact that I'm talking to a friend that's a doctor and he says I said how bad, was it? I know, obviously the coma was bad and I wish I had the words, so people don't understand he goes. Okay, you had this Thing, you named it. You had this named it, you had this, he goes. Any of those things will kill you and he goes, but you had them all at once.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you got a staff infection and you got pneumonia acid and intubate them through his throat. You're leaving all the deadly.
Speaker 2:That's why, yeah, yeah, you think you're here but yeah, they put them out.
Speaker 1:They realize how bad his esophagus is they. And the next thing you know he's got pneumonia setting in. So now they got Intubate him. Staff infection sets in. They got him. They're like his kidneys start to fail.
Speaker 3:Oh, that was because of the water.
Speaker 1:Yeah, love this flex. Yeah, how's this tell about? The kid is dusty the water?
Speaker 3:They don't realize you walk in, you're and I was three oh four when I went in. How much water is going through you but they're treating you like a normal person, and so I start retaining a bunch of water. My kidneys are starting to go, so they're like, oh shoot, so they're bombing lasix on me? Oh no, and then, thankfully, a A friend of mine drinks two gallons of water a day.
Speaker 1:A friend with a medical background came in there and put their foot down. My goodness.
Speaker 3:And they're like oh so all they did was stop all that, of course, and what? Pound fluids, yeah, and then the water just started going. But now they've already. I don't want to say this because it's not their fault, but the kidney damage would have been done. So at this point they're dealing with all that. But what was interesting and I don't try to speed through that, but it's just things happen to people and I feel like but something we joke about at my house. But I've seen a few people like put up a post like three things happen in 2024 and 2024 is off to a rough start and I'm like are you high? Like things happen, you move forward. I remember I woke up from the coma and I was like I'm not dead. Check, I was 230 something pounds. I'd lost over 70 pounds because when they put me under they they actually turn your body off, so you're not even like communicating with in your body. So the rate of muscle losses.
Speaker 1:They put on paralytic drugs. So a lot of what keeps your muscle mass is just the nerves innervating the muscle, just as you lay on the couch and you move around and stuff. And when they paralyze you on purpose, there's no more inner innovation of any muscle tissue. So it's like just like tearing a muscle like it. Just it has no connection, it's just shuts down. So the shrinkage is just amazing.
Speaker 2:How fast did you? Did you initially lose a lot of weight Because you people visiting you right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it was again. You're talking about close to 70 pounds in under four weeks. So it went quick. But what I enjoy, what's funny looking back, is so I wake up, they run you through the whole thing and you're literally learning everything at this point, when they're like I've got to teach how to walk again and that's going to take a couple of weeks. I remember the media. I was like, oh, and I don't think people understand and this is why I pushed that the health in the bodybuilding is. I literally told them like I think it's two weeks and I literally walked out of the hospital three days later. Wow.
Speaker 3:Because it's like when you've commuted. It would be the same if you guys, when you've communicated with your body that much, it was with a walker, but it was fine. I remember I was like, no, it'd only take that long if I'd let it. So like we do a lap and Tommy, my old, my training partner, would come there and walk behind me and talk shit like we're training. Oh my gosh, it's so funny, I got a nurse next to me.
Speaker 3:I got a video of him fall and he goes keep going, Don't stop. And I'm it's classic because I get out of the hospital and I always this Nikki had been, we hadn't been together that long and this is where she met my mother the first time because she flew in after I was in a coma. So I get out of this coma and I get home and I'm like I gotta buy her something nice. So here I am, walking with my mother. I need a ride because I'm not allowed to drive the car. Yet I got a fascist square mall with my walker to Louis Vuitton. I sit down and I'm like bring all the black ones to me. And I just sat there and the ladies just bringing them Nope, no, how much is?
Speaker 1:this. Okay, this guy must have money or something. Yeah Right, the best part is that.
Speaker 2:I get done and I was like I never do this stuff.
Speaker 3:I'm going to get one for me. I had a bag. Something happens to Nikki's bag about a year later and I have to get the receipt out and I told Nikki the whole time I was like, yeah, mine was like 1800 when she's I can't believe you spent that on yourself.
Speaker 1:I'm like I was high, I wouldn't usually do a lot of drugs in the system for a while, I'm sure, after that.
Speaker 3:So the worst part is, though, so she takes the receipt to call me, she takes the receipt to call the man and she goes. She just starts laughing. I'm like what she goes? Your bag wasn't 1800. It was 3800. I was like, oh no.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, worst purchase ever. Yeah, weasel drugs.
Speaker 3:The dumbest thing I've ever. I'm like who does this?
Speaker 1:I got questions. Who let you do that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, my mother but.
Speaker 2:I love how we just skipped out to the Cormor element, straight into buying a bag.
Speaker 3:I'll go back to it, cause that's the dumbest thing I've done.
Speaker 2:I've done a lot of dumb shit, I think the most impressive thing for me was looking back on that time was how we documented the whole process. You didn't hide away. You're like I'm back in the gym. Yes, I know I've lost a lot of weight, but 25 pounds on the Smith yeah, failed, yeah.
Speaker 1:I actually told.
Speaker 3:Nikki that yesterday because you have the arsenal shoulder press, okay, and that was the first machine I went to use. It was the first night I could drive. I drove to the gym it's like two in the morning and it's great because our gyms open.
Speaker 3:There were people in there so I walk over and I grab a quarter, cause I was like stop, I started a quarter and I put it on there and I sat down and I pushed and nothing happened and I was like so I showed Nikki cause she started out, she warmed up with a quarter and she does 15 reps and puts it down and I go I couldn't do that the first day back after it.
Speaker 2:So I went down to the 10s and it was like seven on one side and five on the other. That guy's two in the morning Right.
Speaker 3:I probably should have started with nothing.
Speaker 2:I didn't realize that was a weight. How long did it take, though, for you to get back into firing the mind to muscle connection.
Speaker 3:Coming back, it was wild because the size came back ridiculously quick. The strength took time.
Speaker 1:I did always that way.
Speaker 3:They had pinched and I had a pinched nerve in my neck from being on the bad and having to move me around. So the left side of my body wasn't working like washing. My bald head was like, okay, nevermind, she's this hand Big pot your hair left, yes, what are we doing here?
Speaker 3:Thankfully, I've got a, I've got a barber for this, but they but what was wild and that's why I hammer people with the fact that muscle memory exists is I was back up to 280 in a blink, really. And the funniest part was, fortunately, I knew my career. I was already knew, I was done, so I was like. I'm not trying to get huge, but I'm like I'm just going to let my body do. It does eat and train, because I love to train and the muscle came back pretty quick and the fortune was like I said.
Speaker 3:When I went to South Carolina I said no one knows me, it's a small town, I'm going to go there and I can just train and get left alone. And it was great because I'm in the gym one day and I'm growing and putting on size and I'm walking out the front door and this kid, the front desk, goes. It's coming back quick and I said what do you mean? And he goes since the coma and I was like what do you mean?
Speaker 3:He goes you don't think I knew who he were. I was like no, he goes. We all knew. I just figured you wanted to be left alone. I'm like this kid is awesome. I was like how many videos you got me pressing the 30 over there. Do you know what I used to message Dusty?
Speaker 2:when I was in Olympia Prep. It was only a few people. You know this, of course, I don't know if you do, but I had a like a man cave. It was a garage but I got rid of everything and I converted in the back and it was half sofa and big screen TV and then the other half was stairs, a treadmill and a sauna and obviously now it sounds bullshit. Fuck right back.
Speaker 3:Fuck a man cave, fuck this and that, but you know what my humble beginning turns hard, hard. My prep was but all that shit.
Speaker 2:I still would walk outside just to make sure I saw more fucking match.
Speaker 3:I would do all in the rain. He did it's fraud. The sunshine, florida rain right.
Speaker 2:But I'd be in my hoodie and I'd love to do my cardio outside because I've nothing worse than watching a fucking treadmill. But when it did rain and we had them Trenshaw rains I would go into the garage and I had a watch list of all his shit, because I love from that era just a lot of like old school and the humor. So I'd text him and be like yo, you, I've run a fucking shit to watch on YouTube. It didn't work, but I one of the things I love to do was his lifestyle stuff.
Speaker 2:So then I'm watching one video, his new one pops up and he was like on a Costco run. All right, this is for Flax Lewis, and the title said request by Flax Lewis or something. It was good for hits, yeah.
Speaker 3:Use your friends if you're not going to use somebody.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I watched so much stuff and there was a couple of other people that I just put on that were in this rotation of training and I like the lifestyle stuff, but all the is you don't want to watch him do rear delfies. I probably skipped through that part it depends on what shorts I'm wearing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was just a banter, I'd love it was just good banter and good hard training. But the stuff that I love more than anything else because Jay would put out his DVDs I'd love waiting to see. Oh yeah, I love watching what these pros you could Shall I say this, what you could obtain through bodybuilding. From going back to the business element, what you could get through bodybuilding and these are the upper tier guys Sean Ray had, was it inside out. I can't remember the VHS, whatever it was back then.
Speaker 3:Was it inside out or something like that.
Speaker 2:He showed his lifestyle.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:The lions and the statues, the lions and the gladiatorial theme and I was like wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You can obtain this from training and bodybuilding or whatever else, and then Jay would put his stuff out and Ronnie would put his stuff out, and I just loved that. So when YouTube started kicking off, that's what I love to see is people with the behind the scenes, because I got motivated weirdly by other things. Yeah, I wasn't watching my competition training. I know what you mean it was. I found ways to dive into my. You had the why, the big why. I was doing the show, but then you have the branch off so as to what was going to get you moving and grooving. What kind of stuff is that for you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember there's one funny clown or what Jay video it's in, but he's this is our big table. I never sit at it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and then moves on to the next room.
Speaker 1:Just giant dining room table like big oak table.
Speaker 2:My whole family lives in that.
Speaker 1:I never eat in here and he just goes to the next room.
Speaker 1:And then I remember Jay I don't know, it's the same house, but he had that sunken living room with the TV, yeah, the biggest like one, and always got big screen and a stereo sound system. I remember like back in the day I was like, oh, I got the house like Jays, yeah, just that sort of stuff and but that, yeah, you're right, it was motivating. I was never a car guy or anything, but just just seeing those old Mizziro videos Jay eat no meal at his table for 20 minutes.
Speaker 3:Yes, no, no editing, no editing, just raw.
Speaker 1:But I was just. But I remember being motivated by, like, the fact they could do that with their day. You know what I mean. Yeah, it's 10. Cardio, and then we're going to. That's my Jay impression, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm going to go do some cardio and come back with play with the dogs for a while, and yeah but I just remember being like that's cool, Just like his whole day is scheduled out. There's lots of important stuff to do, but it's his day. He decides when he does business. He decides when he returns emails, he decides when he's going to take this call, he's making all the decisions and calling all the shots. And that was motivating. Yeah, no, I just. That was like that's the dream. What about you, dusty?
Speaker 3:It's funny, but my biggest motivation when I looked at those things was the fact that and again back to the mistake that I had made about pausing Jay was doing 10,000 things at once. I know he was very focused on being a champion when the Olympia is and doing guest poses, but he was the one that was like oh, we'll do DVDs and we'll do one every year.
Speaker 3:Oh, we're going to do posters. Oh, we're going to remember when he did the scissors yeah, he cut his stuff with his. I should make scissors to sell them.
Speaker 2:On the truck, the little monster truck thing, the muscle cast, yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:So he was always taking more stuff.
Speaker 1:Who can forget? Beats by Jay. Oh my gosh, we're the fucking sheds.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the sheds dude, you're killing it, bro, the haters sheds.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:We love you, Jay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, this is not a knock, that's just the hustle yeah. But he's one of the pioneers that has allowed us to think like this.
Speaker 1:It goes to show like you can't be afraid to just do it, and so guys like Jay will do something. It doesn't work, they'll do the next thing that works, and that all that is in the span of time of most people thinking about doing something for sure, and it's that's. That's what separates everybody. Are you just going to think and talk forever? Are you going to just do it? And just. Jay's the blueprint. Jay's the blueprint. Right, I know that I think you've said that before. You just have to follow Jay's blueprint.
Speaker 2:Pretty much. Yeah, you know, he's the only guy in my head that pops up straight away. That's done all these things that you just mentioned. That has pioneered the way. So when I came to this country, I looked at what he was doing. Sean Ray was a little bit more of a little bit in the business side too, but Jay really separated himself from the park and I thought, wow, if I had the opportunity to be or should I say have a fan base, then these are the things I need to emulate, but not copy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, there's a lot of things that you are going to find yourself in the same, you know, category as the DVDs and whatnot. But for the most part I see what he done and obviously look what he's doing right now. He just launched his peanut butter his dog peanut butter stuff. He's still moving and grooving and he's got investments and he's one of them, guys, that doesn't talk the cannabis. All that real estate, everything.
Speaker 2:But he put money in the bank when he was making money too, and it wasn't the money that these guys are making right now.
Speaker 1:The price money back then I think it was like 100 and something Maybe in Calvacy climbed up over the years, but it was like 100 and a Hummer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was the Arnold. Yeah, don't forget the watch too. And then he went watch, then he lost, then he went down.
Speaker 1:Remember Rich Piana, of course I forget. I remember Rich had this insane work ethic. He would come to the booth. He would not take a bathroom break, or I'd take three. I'd be like do you have to piss? He's, yeah, I should probably. He was just one of those guys. It was just his line was so long, he was just trying to eat through it as long and he'd stay longer than he had to be there. They'd tell him you can leave at five and he'd say till 5.30 because there was more fans. And he would always say that's what Jay does. Really, jay's the king. So I'm gonna do what Jay does.
Speaker 1:And I remember one year at the LA fit we we showed up on and this was after Richard left mutant and he'd started his own company, right, we show up at LA fit and Ryan says me hey, let's go look at the booth. It's Friday, it's Thursday night or something. Friday night or whatever, the day before the expo. Yeah, everyone's still setting up. So we go to look at the booth that night and there's nobody in there. The hall is empty.
Speaker 1:All the booths are pretty much set up. There's a couple guys working on booths. Rich is at his booth. He's putting up banners, he's putting stuff out, and Rich and he's I, yeah, just to make it sure things perfect. And then he goes, jay's over there, and we look over and Jay's at his booth helping his crew set up and I was like man, rich is right, jays, it's Jay and rich here at Friday night setting up with their crews to make sure things perfect. And it was just it just all kept going back to Jay. Every time I saw someone be successful it went back to Jay. That that whole time period.
Speaker 2:That's why I feel like I'm so blessed to have lived the apprenticeship life with rich Gaspari, because rich was very much the same way. We'd land somewhere, we go to the booth and, obviously, as the US went by, he hire certain people and They'd be like, okay, we're going to the booth to set up. Some of these people came from different positions. They were like oh, I'm not, yes, you are. Yep, I'm there, yeah, and Richard really led from the front. And when I seen rich and obviously I was the sponsored athlete and I thought, oh, I can't even fucking box this. But then when you see rich doing it, then you adapt that mentality. It's like lead from the front and then to your point right. You will never forget that moment when you seen both rich and both Jay at the export setting up. And I'll do that.
Speaker 2:I have my own versions and my own memories of seeing the same thing, yeah, ripping boxes putting product of dummy product, whatever it was, but nonetheless pulling out the barn as and before we had the big booth, so it was great to see rich start from smaller booths and I was there to grow into the big booths that were trying to contend against the BSNs back in the day and obviously that story.
Speaker 2:But I traveled around the world and I got to see it first hand and live it first hand with him. So as a very great part of my my bodybuilding memory and also part of my DNA that I'm so glad that I got to live and a lot of these guys now and girls they got big followers and stuff like that and they superstar treated right turn up at this time. You don't have to do this and that, so they've lost out in a lot. And I think if you appreciate the small things like yeah, I put that up you have more respect for that booth, more respect for your sponsor. Obviously pendant on the situation too right, but nonetheless I did. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Question for you guys what you miss most about bodybuilding the actual in the gym Feeling of being able to run through a wall, that your body will do anything you want to do. You put 405 on a bar and fucking row it into your belt with power and Explosive strength. You grab 160 pound dumbbells, kick them up, pick them up off the floor, kick them both up, press them up for 10, just that. There's something about feeling like Superman that is. It's like a memory I'll never forget and I love that I'm not doing it anymore because it's I was always aware it was a short-term thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can't do it forever, but it would be that it said it wasn't about what, wasn't about looking that way. It at the end of the day, the training was always like the craziest thing. My training partner just put five plates on the bar for his First time and did it says squats with it the other day. Wow, and I hauled up behind him to spot him and as he unrack did, I said let's get in the fucking mood and I was just thinking about the whole time.
Speaker 1:He backed out of that rack and started squatting. I remember thinking. I remember the first time I put five wheels on a bar and squatted it, and I remember how Nuts you have to be the first time. The first time you go to four plates, you're like holy shit. The first time you go to five plates, it's the same. It never ends that crazy feeling. This weight could crush me. And those moments are. They're awesome. I'll cherish those forever when the guys I trained with doing them, because it's like the brotherhood thing, it's like guys that win championships together and stuff. It's there's like a bond there. You see that guy ten years from now and you're like hey.
Speaker 2:I know what we went, we went through.
Speaker 1:It might sound silly, to some people is just a workout, but at the time it's a lot more than that to you as your whole life.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, I think it really. For me it comes down to. I Used to really get into the mental challenge, especially preps, training. I just love to do. I still love to do it. There's only one way.
Speaker 3:But there's something I used to get really sadistic sometimes because I know you guys been here where I'd be on the step now and again. I had the stores. So I would start my day at the gym at five in the morning and end my gym, get there at 930 to go train and do my Last cardio session and I'd be on the step now Three minutes left and you're thinking, I think to myself every now and then, gosh, just stop now. And as soon as I thought that I'd add five minutes to the 30 I was supposed to do for thinking it, wow, because I was like you thought that and obviously I never did it. But I used to love those little created conversations with yourself because I would always remember to the guy who's genetically better than me he didn't think that, he's just gonna do it. Flex, flex. Lewis did not consider stopping three minutes early. Like how insulting is that to him, to the sport, to me, to the people who support me that I even thought of that. So I used to love that though, because then you would get done and you're like there we go because you like.
Speaker 3:It's that Rob Bailey says a lot, but I believe it it's if you start and end your day slaying a dragon, there's nothing you can't do when you do something. I love setting things up like I tell the girls because I've got a 15 year old, now a 17 year old, I'm like you need to find things that are painful to overcome, because life's gonna throw Comas at you practice and deaths and these things but when you've given yourself discomfort, you're ready. You're like okay, we'll do that too. Now what? But people who don't put themselves into hard spots on purpose, they get their asses handed to them when life gives them, and that's when you hear the 2024 starting off a little hard or a knees bud.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, yeah. So I think that those are the things that I really look back at, because you feel them every now and then you'll be doing something. You're like I know where this came from. That was rugby, or hockey, or football, bodybuilding. It all set you up for these things. You're like I overcame that too. This will be fine.
Speaker 2:I'm both the other answers. When you're talking about that feeling of being invincible like Superman and you can rip anything, you know you can. It's just yeah, you had feeling and just add in time on the clock, I would do stuff like that too. Yeah so I would do my round of cardio and say Neil had me doing, he's probably gonna fucking watch this and kick my ass.
Speaker 3:We're on. He won't watch, he doesn't care.
Speaker 2:He don't care he cares about you to dummy but say you give me like 60 minutes of cardio, I would do my cardio and then the remaining time that I would end up Back on the stairs or something like that at the house. Yeah, and I was doing glute squeezes or whatever on the stairs. I would put more time on the clock because there was a moment where I got off the gas to open up the door.
Speaker 3:Right to get into the garage. Make sure make sure now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, fuck that. Yeah, Dusty's on the fucking Costco run.
Speaker 3:You're on the TV. Yeah, this episode's not over. Anyways, it's fine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, I do miss, but obviously we're all in new chapters, right, yeah, chapters. And For me, now moving forward, I truly had to and this is a question I want to hear from both you both. Also, I truly worked on killing that guy off, because otherwise it's just gonna be another whisper in my ear being like you still got it Right, you got it. So it happens all the time. It's not a week that goes by that Somebody doesn't put a comparison photo up or somebody doesn't hit me in the right, can you imagine?
Speaker 1:doing?
Speaker 2:yeah, I Okay, it does happen every week consistently. Every time I do a question and answer, somebody say hey, when's your next show? When you come in back, have you thought about doing the open? It's somebody's been living under a rock, right? But I do enjoy these questions, so keep on coming. And don't get me wrong. Yeah, helps the algorithm. Still, their questions come in as if If one person is gonna change my mind, but I worked so hard in killing that guy off.
Speaker 2:Yeah and even when I had that pop of retirement in my head, I sat in it for three months and I couldn't fight it. What happened when you guys said, okay, the stage time was done? Was it hard for you to kill that guy off?
Speaker 1:No, like I said, I was a battered battleship running on fumes and I just I knew that it was my last year and then I thought, okay, I Can get healthy. After I got my pro card to thought you know what, I owe it to myself to do a couple more shows, so I'm gonna take a year and just train and make sure I'm fully recover from my little finags Like they're gonna go away at 40 years old. And and then I got, when I got back up over 300 and I was like, okay, and then I tore my quad, oh, and then I was like I guess I'll open a gym and I did do too bad, yeah worked out, Okay yeah so I just yeah, and then that was as soon as we opened the gym, about a year later.
Speaker 1:I remember Emily she's you realize that you took contest prep bodybuilding and you just dropped it on the business.
Speaker 2:West Coast iron, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I showed out.
Speaker 2:Gonna give a plug, come on. Yeah, thanks, but.
Speaker 1:I gotta say, yeah, you were in town one time for a very short period of time and you were like on the opposite side of Vancouver, like an hour away. He came in for appearance and I said, man, I wish I could get you out to my gym, but like he was literally there, like hardly at all.
Speaker 1:I was like 50 minutes and so fucking old flex goes I'll come down and sign your wall and I'll do a video in your gym and put it on Instagram. So he got the promoter to drive him an hour out of the way. At 11 o'clock at night I just sent somebody down to open the gym for him to let him in to do a video on the turf going. Hey, I'm down at West Coast iron.
Speaker 2:It looks beautiful like we had we'd only been open, just open up, just open and.
Speaker 1:Signed the wall and then got back in the car, went to the airport.
Speaker 3:You had to get the hell out of here.
Speaker 1:You get home and and that's the type of thing, man. I could count on one hand the number of people that would do that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, one, I need one finger.
Speaker 1:I need one finger to count the people that would do that. And so, yeah, it's, business is also about the friends that help you along the way, and that's why I love helping out friends in business, because it all comes back to you and it's just, yeah, it's been awesome experience, it's.
Speaker 3:I don't miss it. Don't miss it. I think the bodybuilding side was easy, but I did find when I was done I'm sure you've run into this Nothing has so far replaced the feeling of pouring in. You have successful business things and failed business things and a lot of things that go on, and I was like and that's why I started doing the tattoos, because I was like I got to make sure I'm done as if the coma wasn't enough, like I, got. This is before that, so I get something offensive.
Speaker 3:I'm literally was like I got it because I know it's something that bothers me in bodybuilding it you lose things from the shadows. So I was like I'm gonna do that. But then, as luck would have it, by Becoming a stepfather and stuff, I realized what replaced it now is helping them with their things, because it's it's wild and you've already got this some. But I look at my whole career and what's funny to think of the amount of things that bodybuilding has given me. But I had text, ron, because I bought our oldest daughter her first car, oh, and a couple things about that. First off I paid for it but she got to pay me back. So I'm like we ain't raising no brats. I was like your monthly payments do on the 15th you know get zero allowance, you get zero percent interest where she has jobs.
Speaker 3:But I remember I bought, we went and I bought the car and I brought it, got it, gave it to her and I was like holy shit, nothing in my life was as cool as this, like literally. I remember I was like I think I'm more excited than her which is hard to imagine and I'm like that just blew my mind that I'm looking for things to search wins, and I was like oh it was a $15,000 for on her, but it was definitely wild when you realize that, because it was real simple.
Speaker 3:She had sent me a couple emails I want to get this. And I said do you want a bad enough to pay for it? It was a test. I'm like cuz not giving you a car. Just my vision doesn't line up with that. And she said yeah, I was like okay, so I found one and it's not a perfect car, it's ten years old, in love with it, and I just remember going wow, I finally found something that replaced it and I let them do whatever like. It's not about, they're not, I don't care about sports, what they do, just like. All I tell them is I'm teaching me do your passion, because I'm like my life exists because I did. I worked hard at things I loved.
Speaker 3:Yeah and it's not. It was never about making the most money. I could have made more than money if I had a turned away body and just focused on my business. Yeah, but I had a plan, and so that's what I hammer home to them, and every time I see those little decisions Towards the passion and the work, I'm like okay, this is where I can put that effort, that I really enjoy it at a level. That's probably better than finding out that my hamstring is what lifts my foot onto a curb. When I was so tired to have a muscle tell me that, I was like oh the hamstring lifts the foot.
Speaker 3:Now I know.
Speaker 2:So you're saying, is the new endeavors that you're and all that the new chapter in is now fulfilling that Bodybuilding passion? Yes, I wouldn't say it's probably not fulfilling, but it's aided the gap that was once given you life now is actually.
Speaker 1:I loved my bodybuilding life, the focus and the drive and the Torture and all that. But life is like way more fun now and I know there's more stress and more responsibility in real businesses and Planning for my retirement like it's kind of like all that stuff. It's a lot more, it's on the line almost, but it's way more fun like just for me, I think, because I kind of I don't know, like I said, I don't know any other way to live than pursuing passions like I just I just don't even know where to begin.
Speaker 2:We live like monks. Yeah, so now, when that that yeah hawk has been taken off, we're on fucking BMX bikes doing tricks. Yeah. Hey man.
Speaker 1:I don't want to grow up, man. There's just this sound of. I just always had needed, I Guess, the, the tricks on BMX. I think I always had an artistic side of myself. That was part of my bodybuilding. Like, bodybuilding is physical and all that, but I also still saw, like the Artistry side of it, and you're creating something and it's a performance art in a way, an extreme performance art, and so all that applies and and I think that I was always a freestyle kid and so I think that's why I'm that element was always in there.
Speaker 1:And I think that's kind of part of the fun for me the physical meets mental meets creative.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hey, kinds Any questions for the guys and we'll get one question and we land the plan, I think.
Speaker 4:Yeah, if you could go back. I don't start this journey over again. What would you change? Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:And then I go, one question, I mean oh, I mean, I think what's great and this is.
Speaker 3:I hate when a question leads me to the answer that everyone knows you're gonna say but when you look, the only reason I can say I wouldn't change anything is because, just like we talked about with business, with bodybuilding, the mistakes are what helped me the most. I wasn't the question. The question is what would you change? Did get married three times.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there we go, he's.
Speaker 3:No, I mean in all honesty. I would say that if I could change one thing, that I look back, it would actually be in those lines, which is when I was bodybuilding. I didn't realize that I was focusing on all of my outturn so it was financial, physical, all these things and my personal life actually was a mess in a lot of ways, because Most of what I did was like, okay, I'm not a problem because look at me, I'm a success from this and that, and I tore through women, good people and things like that I had. My personal life was a mess because of it, and it wasn't until I slowed down and went, oh, why do I keep?
Speaker 3:Why is a guy who wants to be married in this and that keep making these mistakes? That aren't mistakes, they're decisions, you know. And then you start setting back and, oh, because I'm a mess. And as soon as I clean that up, life got really easy, except for one thing that I always bitchin Nikki about, which is this phone, because I leave it places. Now I was like when I was a scumbag, I always knew where my phone was, but now that I'm not, I lose the phone, I leave it in your car.
Speaker 1:I can't find people.
Speaker 2:See, this is why I lose my phone all the time people.
Speaker 1:You just taught me something yeah, I don't know if I'm a real butterfly effect guy Like I just can't get around the concept of changing anything and having myself not be sitting in the lair right now with flex Lewis and dusty handshaw and I think I think of all the people who ever lived and all the lives that were handed out as you walk down the line, like here's the life you're gonna live, you know all this, all, all the life that gets assigned to all of us by destiny and all that stuff. And I think I don't think I would throw any of this back, because what you draw, you know you throw back for another try. I just that's just a Desperately agonizingly, not Pleasant idea. I love my life now and the people in it and everything, and I know I put my body through the ringer. A lot of Injuries I wish I could dodge. But if I dodge those injuries I don't learn those lessons and I don't meet those people. And, okay, you guys are really good at dodging questions.
Speaker 1:I went in finally. Dusty would give away less houses.
Speaker 4:I'm gonna give you a different question, then. Of those lessons that you learned from the mistakes you made, which of those was most impactful to you?
Speaker 3:Hmm, dodge that bitch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the, probably I made mistakes with the relationships to that because I was so focused on bodybuilding. Bodybuilding can be a very Self-absorbed thing and even though they were great relationships and they ran their course pretty naturally, I think you still think, man, I didn't really give that person like you know what I wish. I could have been hindsight, you know what I mean. Or, and it could be friendships too. There's friendships I could have pursued. That would have been great, but I just didn't have time. I don't have time for this, they're not have time for stuff. That's, but it's. It all just comes back to where we are now. I guess it was something. Directly it would be. I don't think I really needed to tear my quad.
Speaker 3:I'm just glad you didn't say convincing Jim to bring me on when I sat him in.
Speaker 4:No, I don't know not to bring. I'm not a, I'm not a man of much regret.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just not.
Speaker 2:I'll take both the answers and say I agree with both, other than the divorce is not my fault that you would find a good woman.
Speaker 3:and then all of a sudden I got shorter and legs got longer.
Speaker 2:We're very blessed, yeah we have a bless to say we've got great women. Yes, I think that's a massive that's a massive part in all of our progression. Right, yeah, to see the best version of us, we have to have a woman that believes in us. Right yeah, it's gonna push us. It turns up after just dating. What a month or so to be Bedside for you and common be with you for all the years of the ups and downs of years moving together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I myself and Ali's they play all want all these trophies. Bum through all the bullshit, all the hey. Can I go?
Speaker 1:do a podcast with flex Lewis on our holiday. Yeah, go, you know, it's funny, you know.
Speaker 3:Full encouragement an early part of our relationship. It was so funny. But I was doing a shoot with a new company and we're dating short term and I said, hey, I'm gonna call you in an hour. She was okay. So seven hours goes by and I'm like Gotta make the call so I get back to my room and I'm like, hey, she goes up. I'm like, yeah, sorry, I was working and we did. And I she goes yeah, you're working.
Speaker 3:I'm like she's okay, okay you, you seem fine. She was. Why would I be fine. You're working and I'm like, I'm like, and where do I buy rings?
Speaker 3:Blue Nile calm, oh my gosh yeah but it was funny because that was a previous situations that I had been in, that that was gonna be a problem, hmm, and that's when I was like, oh man, this girl gets it in our industry. You guys both know this. Like you said, ron, you're on vacation, you weren't planning on being here today, and when you have the right people in your corner, they not they don't say okay, they say hurry up, yeah go do this thing you know what. I mean, even if it's go, have fun with your boys go.
Speaker 2:I kicked it out of the office. She was working. I'm so yeah, I'm doing a podcast. I was wondering why she punched me. I have one question from the fans. Right, this is something that we put together last minute, but the question is what is the most embarrassing moment you've had in body building? Right now the way this is gonna be a fucking reel, you know.
Speaker 3:I make it ready. Gotta go deep, gotta go.
Speaker 2:I need a pistol, I gotta take a piss so bad. Well, I'm gonna see you answer this, but all I need to go to.
Speaker 1:I had a bad shot in my glute once, oh, and.
Speaker 2:I look like you got one right now and I had to compete anyways because it was like.
Speaker 1:So I just changed my shots and hope they didn't notice. And I remember hate to be on stage that year.
Speaker 2:That's embarrassing. Yeah, you need a piston, I gotta go come back. Fucking. I don't think when you're pissing about that terrible story.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna take time.
Speaker 2:I'm. I need a piss to, but I've crossed my legs, I am busting, that's why I'm doing the top dance over here. But anyway, I'm a hardcore professional here.
Speaker 3:It's so, so you know it's funny as I'm thinking. Here's what's Sucks about being my personality is, If something embarrassing happens to me, I like to bring it on to a podcast the next day.
Speaker 3:All right okay let me tell you this dumbass thing I did, because there's just a certain amount. But the problem with that is it makes remembering Something brutally embarrassing, like Very tough. I'm trying to think, I'm trying to think. I'm trying to think what's an example, what is something that you can think of? That maybe some? Oh wait, I got one. It's not embarrassing, it's a great story, so I'm gonna tell it. So, jose and I. So there we are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we are.
Speaker 3:We're in Australia. We did a three week tour and we get a day off. Finally, it's like day 18 or something. So Jose and I like, hey, let's go down to the opera house and have fun. So we go down there. I did not Not quite understand how much fun we're gonna have or how drunk we're gonna get.
Speaker 2:I love this drink.
Speaker 3:So he introduced me to mojitos. Okay, fine, I'm not a big drinker. I liked it. So we get Absolutely annihilated. Right and we're laughing and lab, we decide we need to go eat. So we're walking down and All of a sudden there's these two cops and they go hey. I'm like oh no, I don't know what the laws are here how drunk are. We did both just piss off the pier.
Speaker 2:I don't know, this is all it oh.
Speaker 3:And I'm like, yeah, and he goes Jose dusty, come over here, so we get a picture.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 3:I was like we gotta go take a picture with him.
Speaker 3:So we go over and we're standing there, I lean in, we take the picture and the guy goes you having a good time, huh. And I go. Yeah, he goes. I could smell you walk, so I'm like it's fine, they were cool. They direct us where we go to eat. So the next morning I woke up and I had a bunch of cash, australian cash and I opened my wallet and I had nothing and I said Jose, how much did we drink? He goes. I don't know, but we spent all your money and I'll get 200 more. I was like I'd I go. Do you remember pissing off the pier? He goes. I don't think that happened. I'm like Again, not a bad story.
Speaker 2:PG. I'll be honest, you, you gotta you gotta see this.
Speaker 3:I just easily pissing off the pier at the opera house.
Speaker 1:I gotta tell you that bathroom break changed my worldview.
Speaker 2:I know I'm going to go to okay, I remember I'll be a pro.
Speaker 1:I remember I remember an embarrassing moment, jim related I tipped a leg press over once in a busy gym and I just I Felt like the dumbest motherfucker that ever lived, like I was so upset with myself, I was just out of it. I did a big, crazy set of leg press. I was unloaded one side and putting it on the hack, and Then I just wasn't thinking and I just kept on loading that side and put it on the frame of the hack oh, and not the frame of the leg press. Yeah, and Because I had unloaded one side before and left the others, I could, I just and I didn't realize that leg press was a bolted down and it was just.
Speaker 1:And I just remember feeling like I'm the expert in the gym, I'm the big bodybuilder in the gym that knows how everything works, and I tip the leg press over and I just remember there was a guy doing sissy squats on one of those little sissy squat Benches right beside the leg press and he'd walked away and when it tipped over, oh, it landed on that thing so he would have been catastrophically injured. And I just remember being like tonight. I remember feeling can I ever train here again? Yeah, these owners think I'm so stupid. They came in. They're like what did you do? They heard this bang.
Speaker 1:Yeah, everyone in the gym's like how did you tip that over? I just, I know it sounds dumb to a lot of people, but when you're Someone in the gym who criticizes how other people behave, yeah, and you, that guy doesn't know what he's doing. And I just remember feeling and that you know when you almost. Have you ever almost hit a pedestrian with your car?
Speaker 3:Someone like.
Speaker 1:Maybe it's their fault, but it's a close call or something close call. I just remember how horrible I was, like I would have killed that guy and I just felt so stupid. But yeah, that was. I remember that I didn't feel the same. I'll go back to that gym for a while because I was so it took a piss and this is the best story comes with.
Speaker 1:How I'm gonna have a shirt made with a sideways leg, fresh and the thing about embarrassing is I don't have a lot of embarrassing moments in my life. I've got upsetting and stuff, but really the feeling of being embarrassed I remember thinking like this is the worst.
Speaker 2:I was like well, talking of worst, I am there to go.
Speaker 2:It's time and I think we are gonna land this plane right now. So I'm hoping to be straight on a piss, not straight over there. So I've truly Appreciate you guys on the show and I know I'm really taking time away from your girls Vacation but it's always an honor to have you around and I truly enjoyed this. We needed I need to jump on your show. So absolutely on the closing plug, your show plug, you know what you got going up and then I gotta pee.
Speaker 1:We got. It's just bodybuilding. It's dusty handshaw, myself and the producer, scott McNally, over on the think big bodybuilding Media network on YouTube, and you can find us on think big bodybuilding on YouTube and there's a series of shows over there and it's just bodybuilding, as ours and Dusty and I, of course, both sponsored by Mutant and travel in the world the Mutant Expo Circuit this year. So we're gonna be at the booth, so come see us anywhere you got to go absolutely, and, yeah, we'd love to have you on flax.
Speaker 2:I'm doing it.
Speaker 1:We've had Jay on, we've had, you know, we've had a bunch of good guys on, so you'd have a good time, your time I'm trying to go try you in to make myself comfortable, but I was there 15 minutes ago.
Speaker 2:I want you say you got a pee, you planted that seed but I tried to make it Take your time, you got other things from her.
Speaker 3:I wanted to tell you about this one time at Bandcamp.
Speaker 2:That time I you talking about pissing off the pee.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm ready to go see. Now I feel like I'm not a finisher.
Speaker 2:Right, I'm holding it to the end, I know, but again, dusty's, anything you want to plug, no, that's that we're all connected on the same thing so it's a beautiful thing, it is you guys are going to some shows. I'm off the piss, it's straight of the lead, joined by these two hooligans. I'm gonna be on their show, check it out and subscribe. Comment like all that.
Speaker 3:You're bang Let me know in the corner and and ring the bell there. Ring the bell all right. Now bring in my belt further we are out.
