Reg in AtL

Exploring Fitness, Mental Strength and Quick Fixes

August 07, 2023 Reggie Johnson & Jason Henry Season 6 Episode 27
Reg in AtL
Exploring Fitness, Mental Strength and Quick Fixes
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

In this episode Reggie and J Henry tackle the rising popularity of the weight-loss drug Ozempic. Why are quick fixes so appealing, and why should we resist them? We'll discuss the dangers of shortcuts to fitness and value of effort and persistence in achieving fitness goals. 

Speaker 1:

All right, boom. So I'm a tail coming to you from love city of Atlanta, georgia, going out to the windy city of Chicago with J HenryJ. What's up, how's it going bro?

Speaker 2:

What's up, man? Are you doing brother?

Speaker 1:

Always a pleasure, man. Always a pleasure, life's always like what's like? What's like. You know, there's this new thing. I'm not sure if you heard about this, jay, but there's this new. I wouldn't say it's exactly new, because it's been popping like a last couple years and you know what a lot of these drugs. Sometimes they've been in a pipeline for a long time but you don't start to hear about them until people really start to kind of take them a lot. So there's this drug called Zinpeck. You heard of that I.

Speaker 2:

Don't you know. Thankfully I don't flow in that world like that as far as, like you know, performance enhancement drugs, the you know I've heard of HGH stack. I've heard of, you know, anabolic stuff, heard of you know, trt, you know, and stuff like that. But I don't, I don't dabble too deep in that world because I don't, I don't partake in that, I don't partake in that, you know. And then using those substances and stuff like that, I mean I know some of them can be our legal and our beneficial to you know Guys who are getting older and they, you know, they're trying to get, you know, energy and you know state, muscular, stay, looking good and stuff like that. But I've just, I haven't needed it yet I don't have a you know I need for, yet I don't see you doing it yeah.

Speaker 1:

I don't you ever really get into this, because this is like more of like a weight loss drug, so it's like a shot. So it was a drug that that was originally invented, I think, for like type 2 diabetes, for people who can. I guess I don't know if they were, like Morbally obese, because you know, when it comes to like that obese game J, there's levels to it, right, like you have, like the people that are like 600 pounds, 400 pounds, 200 pounds, and it kind of comes down, down and down. So originally it was a design for people like that in that range.

Speaker 1:

But of course skinnier people saw that yo, I can take a shot and now I can lose weight and I don't have to actually go to the gym. So skinnier people started using those impact to try to try to Get the results. Because you know J it's been very popular in our lifetime To try to come up with a pill or the quick solution, bro, like you could just take a pill, you don't have to go to the gym, bro, you could take a pill and then now your weight just dropping off of you, you don't have to do anything, and his impact is actually a shot, and it's become very popular with a lot of people here now the the reason I wanted to have this subject review because you're a trainee, you know you do like fight training and stuff like that, so you the gym was like secondary to your life, so to speak, versus a lot of people who may see a gym two times this decade for a lot of people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so for for, we're gonna talk about a couple of things here, because, being when people come to you, I know they come to you for a very specific reason. They're coming to you to train for for is that boxing, ufc fights? Is it just like? Boxing is kind of where your my main focus is just boxing.

Speaker 2:

I have tapped into more like For a couple of ladies, self defense, you know, so in. You know, and I have a you know a background in training and kickboxing and a little bit of you know just Translating that into what that would be if it was just, you know, someone fighting to survive as opposed to someone fighting for competition. So you know I'll dabble in that. I'm not certified in Crop McGar. I'm not certified in you know, hand to hand combat or Casey or something you know of that standard where it's just simply all, all, just purely self-defense. You know, my, my fundamental, my USA certified a green level boxing coach, that's. That's me right there through and through, and so a lot of people come to me to get the fundamentals of. You know what it means to be, you know be a boxer and you know picking up some kind of skills, self-defense, and then sometimes what people like to do is they like to branch out from. You know, because I do have this one client where she, she, she weight lifts every day, she does strength training and weightlifting every day and she, you know, she dropped a hundred pounds because of it and now she, she wanted to expand. She's been with me for quite a while now as far as in months and time.

Speaker 2:

She paid for 20 sessions. She's down to her last three. She enjoys it. You know she enjoys challenging herself and, and you know, just being diverse with her fitness. You know she wants to continue to grow and I Appreciate that from any client that I get.

Speaker 2:

Where they're, they're there, they put in the time, they put in the work. You know, even if they make a plane a little bit or whatever like that, they know they still came there to do the work and stuff like that and she definitely, she definitely does that. So I definitely salute her with both hands and ensure the respect For the fact that she's, you know and listen, much credit to her. You know, when she paid for those 20 lessons, she showed up at the time she was supposed to be there. She always gave me a heads up if she wasn't gonna be there, which was very little times where she, you know Dropping sessions and I can't do it or something like that. So you know you talked about and I mentioned that because you talked about how people are always, especially in this era- and even earlier before, I want to say 10 years earlier.

Speaker 2:

People are still just looking for instant gratification. Yeah, man, quick. You know, like a court, like like, yeah, like a quarter zone shot. You know it's like, yes, mass the pain, mass the pain, and I really feel like that's my, that's the wrong way to go, you know it's. It's like, you know, when you say about these people who are 500, 600 pounds and you know, here's my thing, I try not to ever Judge someone's situation. You know, I really do my best not to judge someone's situation, but you didn't come out the womb. 500 pounds work. You know. No, no offense to your mother, but she wouldn't have lived. You know. You know you don't come out the womb 800,000. You know I'm saying you don't come out like that. So what was the? Yes, you were probably big, but what was going on?

Speaker 1:

other habits, Right, you know.

Speaker 2:

I'm saying like I listen, there are very there endomorphic people out there. They're naturally big people out there, no question, but it's up to you of what you intake. You know and I understand everybody's life is different and everybody does something different. But I can't roll with it a hundred percent. I can't make that the sole excuse for everyone, a hundred percent. You know, because you have a choice and being in the fitness circle, you know fitness community. You know you get all kinds of people that they do this, you know, but they not, they not actually running, and you know lifting and All day, but but don't want to put in the work is basically what you're saying, and and get away from me.

Speaker 2:

You're toxic to me. You know no offense, but you know just like get away from me. I don't want to do, I don't, I don't want to. I don't want to hear you in my ear talking about what you want to do and you know, and what you, what you think you're capable of about. Show me, show me, you know what are you doing to motivate people like that, dave?

Speaker 1:

because I know that when people come to you for that there's a certain it's kind of like in any schooling. There's like a prerequisite you may need to go into another field, right? So if you're a doctor, maybe you need a prerequisite in other medical fields before you go into specialization. And I would imagine if you're gonna be training for, for fighting or any other type of training, there's probably a physical prerequisite there that, or at least a minimal of physical shape you would have to be in before you move to that next step. How do you, how do you start this? You say it starts with the mental starts. You start training their mental before you start training their physicals.

Speaker 2:

Here's the here's the thing you can come in out of shape scanning, big, whatever. What are you trying to accomplish? You see, I'm saying what's what's in here is gonna get you through, because you may not be in the greatest of shape, you may not be big or you may be too small or whatever like that. I had a guy when he had a lot of anxiety issues, where he was always afraid of trying new things, especially something physical. When I met him he was a very you know slim guy, wasn't very athletic. So I'm around the time that I booked his session, it couldn't have been better, because around the time that he would come in, hardly anyone would be there. So the first thing was he got to come to the gym. See the gym, open space, not a lot of energy in that meaning you don't know about.

Speaker 2:

He's sparring, not a lot of yelling. You know it was just perfect because he got to just have a one-on-one session with me and realize that it's it's. You know, boxing or any combat sport in the beginning is very simple. You got to learn your stance, your center of gravity, you got to have a foundation. You're learning how to you know walk a certain way, punch a certain way. If in kickboxing kick a certain way, you know to keep, maintain your balance, but you know to be effective. You know, and all of this and all honesty is boring in the beginning, is nothing is exciting about it. But but there's what the key to that is do you have the patience to learn what needs to be learned before you get into all the stuff that you see on YouTube? Or when you walk into a gym and you see the guys or the women that are experienced in it already, who have been doing it for a while, and you see them at an advanced level, and I think that's the thing some people get intimidated by that.

Speaker 2:

Well, what happened with him was his wife, because no, I'm sorry. So what happened with him was he paid for a session and then he wasn't gonna come in and I actually for some reason I don't normally always do this, but I texted him. I'm like, hey, man, you are right, because he actually said look man, I ain't gonna be able to come in. I can tell it was fear, it was really of him, not what. Yeah, no, no, what gave you that?

Speaker 2:

what gave you that impression when someone wants to do something and you know they pay for it. They put a down payment on it, they lock themselves in and then all of a sudden, yeah, I found something else. You know I'm good. First, the first thing that comes in, people say, especially with combat sports, they don't want to get hurt.

Speaker 2:

I see you see I'm saying they are they are they, will they automatically think they're gonna throw me in the ring with some killer and I'm gonna die? And I constantly have to reassure people, like especially at least with me. I can't speak for any other coach. I'm not gonna do that. You know, that's that, first of all. That's not what we do here. You know that that's not our MO. You know our thing is. I said listen, if you have an athletic background and you catch on to things quick, great, awesome, yeah, I mean we can definitely move you along a lot quicker. If you have no skills, guess what I say to that even better. Because the ones that I get that are athletic. Sometimes they know everything. Okay, they, you know they. They sometimes they can be mister, and this is no at all, and that that can be a job in itself for sure.

Speaker 1:

So see that in a lot of professions.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, oh, my god. But with this guy it was just more. He was being apprehensive because he wasn't sure about himself and he wasn't used to trying new things and I just, and I used to be like that. That's another reason why identified it. I used to be that way when I was younger, when I, you know, I wanted I would see stuff on TV, I want to try it out.

Speaker 2:

But you know, I didn't want to put in the dedication. I was laziness as well as fear of putting myself in an environment that I had no clue about. So people can become very, you know, quick to be dismissive of something that they don't understand, because of fear you know they'll make, they'll call it something else, but it's just fear. And so I said I'm not saying, hey, man, are you all right? Why don't you come through and just check it out or whatever like that? So he came through his wife, who I should be thanking. Actually I never met her, but she basically encouraged and look, you should go, and he tried it out, got through it.

Speaker 2:

You know I started very slow with him. You know I didn't do anything too hardcore with him because I didn't want to scare him off. Scare him off for sure. Yeah, you know, and stuff like that. But he got through it and then he ended up paying for four sessions Out of those four sessions. He did too. I think maybe the fear got back to him again because you know, he texted me. God bless him, he did text me and he says you know, amen, I found something else I would like to do and thank you for all your help and your support, because I would always push him and I always say amen, you can do it, you know, you got this, you know or whatever like that.

Speaker 2:

So I think sometimes you know, even in combat sports, I think it goes beyond just the fighting aspect of it.

Speaker 2:

For a lot of people it's just confidence, you know, a confidence booster, and it's not so much that they will become a professional fighter or anything like that. It's something where and this is going beyond the sport of it it's just more of the psychology of it, where when you push yourself in something physical let's be honest, your personal life you start looking at a little bit more differently. Because now you know, when you push yourself to get that extra mile in in the run, or you push yourself to go another round on the bag or the focus mitts, or you know, get those sit-ups in or those push-ups in, you start feeling like you know you'll see the difference. Or in any sports you get to kickboxing, mixed martial arts, whatever you know, you'll see a change in people with, like I deserve a raise, right, or hey, I'm taking this week off, no questions about it. You know, I'm going to put in my papers and I'm taking this week off and we're going on vacation. I need some me time.

Speaker 1:

Do you think that makes them more assertive? Or in other parts of their life? Is that what you feel like one of the things that happened from a mental perspective? Well, that that's kind of not really advertised to a lot of people.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely See, but I think that's that's, that's part of something that you find for yourself. You know it's listen. When I first got into training people, I was very like, how do I do this? And you know, I was, you know, nice guy, and not to say I'm not a nice guy now, but I just kind of learn how to put my foot down with more situations as opposed to just accepting what is or whatever. And that's that's part of our growth process and whatever it is that we're going through. I'm sure you had your growth process with you just got started with your podcast and you know your business and everything like that.

Speaker 2:

So you know it's a learning, you know that's that learning curve that we all go through, you know. But once we get it, you know we, we look at things differently. You know, we have a different perspective on things we have, and then we have a newfound respect for ourselves, we value ourselves more. And that's what and, in my honest opinion, that's what combat sports does for people is it makes you realize you are a value, you do have something to contribute, you are worthy, you are. You know you do have capabilities. That you know, because a lot of people are people.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes, why I'm not the most athletically talented Doesn't matter. Are you willing to put in the work? Yes, okay, then you deserve it, like anyone else deserves it. Just put in the work, show up, do what needs to be done, even on the days that you don't want to be here. You showed up. You could have been anywhere else, but you're here. You could have been having ice cream and pizza and burgers, but you're here. You could have. You know you could have been at home. Which? Watching a binge, watching a Netflix show, or who? Who of Amazon? You're here. You know what I'm saying. You're putting in the time you're putting in the dedication you're sacrificing with the better because you want to see something different and, as you were talking about earlier, but all the people who are doing the instant gratification what it is is they want results but they don't want to work for it. You know it's it's sad, but true. You got a lot of people and you, but then here's the.

Speaker 2:

The messed up part about that is that they can't really genuinely feel good about themselves because they really didn't put in the work. If you notice people who work out not even just not boxing or combat, but just people who work out and take care of themselves. If you notice even especially nowadays on the IG people who work out and they do like, post a vacations that they take and times they spend with their families and they're really enjoying themselves. If you notice that they really enjoy themselves because for every family friendly friend, you know social posts that they make when they go to a concert or when they go out and they're partying or they actually have fun.

Speaker 2:

Well, look at the work they're doing, you know. Look at, look at the the, the amount of work that they're putting in the gym, the amount of work they're putting in their business. They are. They're truly genuinely enjoying themselves because of the honest work that they they put in every day. And, let's be honest, honest work isn't always, you know, easy, right, so you know. So I don't know what happened, but okay.

Speaker 1:

What's going on?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know. So the more honest work you put in, the more you appreciate the downtime you get, because it's like man, I really get to enjoy myself, I really get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. And the other thing about it is that about any combat sport is that when you leave, let's say you go in, you're having a crappy day, and then you go in and you go train, and the way I train people, I would hope to think that when they leave my class, my session, their mind is clear, matter of fact. There ain't anything about nothing, but maybe just getting some water. But then you know all that stuff that was jumbled in their head bills, their girlfriend, their wife, their kids.

Speaker 2:

You know what am I going to do this? How am I going to run this business? How am I? You know this personal stuff All of a sudden? Well, that's, that was simple. All I had to do is this let me go talk to such and such about this and things become way clearer. Man, listen, a lot of clear, listen. I get that same way when I'm done training in kickbox.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, me too. Me too, I can say the same thing when I work out. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:

It just gets the BS out of you. It's like, okay, all I gotta do is this, and all I gotta do is this. Simple, that's it so all I gotta do today is finish that statement.

Speaker 1:

Jayden, I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions.

Speaker 2:

That's it, that's it.

Speaker 1:

I'm good, go ahead. I'm good for the audience here actually both are kind of for audience. But when you, when a person comes into you from scratch, jay, and they are wanting to get to a certain level, but they come in they don't really have any workout experience having, they don't go really ever go to the gym. How long is it taking from that time that they for that first initial session to them actually turning a page from a physical standpoint is like a year of a person kind of hitting the gym from from the couch. Let's say you go on from the couch to the gym. How long is it going to take you before you can kind of get conditioned I guess is the word I'm looking for before you can kind of get conditioned?

Speaker 1:

I know it can vary from person to person.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, and it also varies on what they're paying for, like, if they're paying for, you know, a package deal like let's say they want, because I usually the minimum I usually tell them about is four sessions or five sessions. You know, I think it's in my honest and personal opinion, it's it's really on them. You know, like this, the one client I told you that I had the young lady who she works out on her own. And then, okay, here's the funny part about this, and this is what I truly believe them when I first met the young lady who's training her butt off right now, she saw my rates and she paid.

Speaker 2:

This is like the first client I've ever had. We're out the gate. She paid for five sessions straight and what I mean. But, yeah, exactly. So it's like it has nothing to do with me, it has to do with what they want and what they're willing to do. In my honest opinion, the better you want it and the more dedicated you are to getting it, the quicker you'll pick it up, because I can sit up and say, oh, six months to a year, right, that's usually a good guesstimated time for, yeah, ballpark figure. But hey, man, this has been less than three months that I've had this young lady and she's picking up. So it, you know, she literally you know. When she got done with the five sessions, she came to me like I want 20. I was like I was like okay, I said, well, let me see what we can do. And she's like well, how much would that be?

Speaker 2:

I was like, give me a minute hold on. And you know I gave her the.

Speaker 1:

You know the amount, baby, let's do business, so it sounds like it starts with the motivation, then is is kind of where it starts up here and it always starts here.

Speaker 2:

See, if you want it, you'll get it. It's not see a lot of like like, yes, six months to a year, that's a good estimate, good guesstimated time to you know, to you know to you know to, to the gauge that you'll pick up the skills. But here's the thing Are you showing up on the days that you're supposed to be there? And, more importantly, are you practicing on your own when I'm not around? Are you following the, the regimen I give you to take home with you? That's the key. It's not when you're with me, it's when I give you the homework and I say, okay, take this home with you, okay, okay. And I clearly saw that she was doing it. Now she was a little self-conscious about it because she would come back to me, like every time I'm in the gym. People look at me weird and I said what do you want? Well, I want to get better. Okay, so stop worrying about what everybody else is looking at.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they're looking at you.

Speaker 2:

They might be looking at you because they're they're respecting what you're doing. They may be looking at you because they may want to make fun. Who gives it? Who gives a darn?

Speaker 1:

right, I totally agree. Who gives it?

Speaker 2:

Who cares? You know you're doing it, not them Period. Point blank plain is simple.

Speaker 1:

Another question I had here for the audience, because we've spent a lot of time J and in this episode kind of talking about the mentals, that kind of go with that and that's not a shot. And no, no matter if you're taking the ozampic or whatever people are taking that shot, that's not affecting their mental. They still have that. They still have that mental situation. So for for the audience Do you have any tips for helping to train that mental, the helping to to have that discipline? What worked for you?

Speaker 2:

Well, for me, when I first got into mixed martial arts and kickboxing, in all honesty, I did it because I was going to school at the time and I was at Chicago State and I needed an outlet. Right, I needed an outlet to help me kind of clear my head and so I can get my homework done, and I just felt like it was. It was a good outlet for me. So I remember I took the trial classes like only, or like only a half hour and I would do it, and I remember this one time I was having trouble getting this homework assignment done. So I actually went to go train and when I came back I finished the assignment, no problem. So for me it was just, I Was always self, it was self motivation. And then, you know, I don't want to just give it all to, you know, the combat sports, because I used to run track in high school and I kept up with the running, you know, and stuff like that through my college.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, man, a lot of people struggle with that alone, jay, like that Running is hard to keep up with for a lot of people.

Speaker 2:

I got a dumb reason behind why I joined the track team, but I'll save that for later. But it's the dumbest reason ever, man. Okay, you know those letters that you get for you ever check you're on in high school. Well, I for some reason love the whole Achilles foot with the wing on it. I said, dude.

Speaker 1:

I gotta have that. That was the only.

Speaker 2:

You know the letter wing and I was like the dumbest reason. I was like that was my reason, but I kept up with running and then, of course, I added lifting weights to my, my regimen. I got tired of being small.

Speaker 2:

I got tired of being not as muscular, you know, and I thought at the time, during, especially during all through my college years, of more muscular I am, the more intimidating I'll look people. Leave me alone. I was very wrong about that, by the way, but but that was just my thought process. It's like I gotta lift weights, I gotta get bigger, gotta get stronger, gotta get, you know, whatever. But I just I wanted to Be physically fit and I wanted to feel good about myself. So I did something about it. You know, I did something about it and I wanted to be able to feel more capable of, you know, whatever situation I put myself in. Because I mean, let's face it, whatever situation that you're new to, the first thing I would think of it can't blame anybody else, can't point my finger anybody else, but the first thing I think of it am I physically fit enough to get through this?

Speaker 2:

And Nine times I tend, usually most of the new stuff I try, you know, like you know, let's say, for instance, just for this example, like rock climbing or something like that, you got to be in some good shape to do that.

Speaker 2:

You know, your hands gotta have a good grip and stuff like that, and your hands have to have a good grip and jujitsu as well, you know, or something like that. So it's like, okay, do you live whites, do you? You know? Do you train your body to be, you know, physically strong in some areas, whatever like that, because what may help you in one area may help you in another, you know, whatever like that. So it's just, I always felt it was good to at least have you know the, the physicality for to bring to the table when, whatever it is that I did, that was for me and my you know, my you know psychology of a you know approach to anything as far as, okay, I'm physically fit. I may not be physically fit a hundred percent for this particular thing, but I'm not frail, I'm not too big, not coming from zero base, exactly exactly.

Speaker 2:

I'm not like you know, just you know, crazy out of shape or whatever like that, to the point where it's just like I'm not. There's no way in the world I can do this or something like that. And I Remember I got my first taste of that as far as being Physically fit for something, was when I became a lifeguard on the beach Back in I think it was 2003 and we had just went out to the buoys and I was a little scared, because I remember my brother's first experience when he had just went out there.

Speaker 2:

He didn't feel confident about it. But then I remember my dad told me he says well, your situation is a little different. You've been lifting weights and running and swimming for a minute and your brother was completely like brand new to it. He wasn't lifting weights, he wasn't running track, he wasn't doing what you were doing. So when I swam out to the buoy, what would surprise me was how I wasn't out of breath, I wasn't out of shape, I wasn't. You know, I wasn't like, I was completely exhausted, you know, I depleted or anything like that. And All at once, in that same day, when I got out to the buoy, I was like I made it. I did it and on the next thing, I know it became one of the best summers ever of my life and you know it was because I've.

Speaker 2:

You know, I faced something, I did something, and that's what this and that's what sport does for you. It it helps you face your, your fears in some way shape or form. It helps you face yourself and what you truly capable of versus what we think we're capable of and what we think we're not capable of. You know, and in combat sports even more so, because this ain't true. I don't know what is man. You know, you, we always worry about where we are in the pecking order of the world Am.

Speaker 1:

I one of the strong.

Speaker 2:

Am I one of the strong or am I one of the weak? And nobody wants to be looked upon? I don't care who you are, nobody wants to be looking on a week. You'll be looked at as a sheep. You won't be the wolf. You know. I said you want to be the lion. You know you don't want to be the hyena.

Speaker 2:

You know I'm saying you want you know, I mean you want to be known as I'm top outfit, you know, or whatever like that. And there's times where you know, and there's always a top dog, there's always, you know, the top of the food chain or whatever like that. There's always somebody who's in the middle or whatever. So, you know, you always worry about who who's who in that, so that there's a little bit of worry there. And the thing about it is, you know, gotta exit that out your brain, just like you know what. For now, why don't we just get the fundamentals? Why don't we just, baby steps, baby steps, just worry about you? You know, that's that's what Combat sports have done for me. It just made me confident.

Speaker 2:

And you know a lot of areas in my life, you know, but don't get me wrong, I still have shortcomings. I still have. I still have, you know, flaws and stuff like that that I need to always Constantly work on, you know, and stuff I need to hold myself accountable for, in the sense where it's like, okay, I came up short on that and I need to fix that and I need to do this and I need to, you know. So it's, it's just one of those things well, you know, it's I.

Speaker 1:

I feel like it's a lifelong process, man. I don't know if I'm ever as. I used to think that when I was younger that I get to a certain age and things to be complete. You know I'm not beat the game of life. I'm kind of like riding off into the sunset. And as I've aged and gotten older I know that it's. It's a it's life is way more fluent. It's a constant adjustment, it's a constant testing of self and I definitely appreciate you taking some time out here, Jay.

Speaker 2:

I'm not a problem. I appreciate you always have me, brother.

Speaker 1:

You got it, my friend, this Reggie HL, check us out. Stay, try her radio, google podcast, apple podcast, butterfly, wherever you find your podcast. See you next time, guys, alright brother what do you get into for the rest of your day?

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