I love the honesty and vulnerability in Dr. Mike when he was talking about people being intimidated by his size and him not enjoying the attention for that reason alone.
I am no way as big as Mike but I really feel the same. The jokes when people say "lol you could beat me up" or that I could beat up some body random, like wtf I dont want to fight anyone
same! Im not that muscular but if youre lean and have a bit of muscle you look better then 90% of the people out there. i feel rather insecure and dont want to be looked at by people, i dont like the attention they give you
I'm only 185lbs but I'm cut and in great shape. I don't walk around with that mind set I still walk around like I'm the old marc of 155lbs humble. I have people that open doors for me now, move out of my way way before I'm even close they toss jokes out like man I wouldn't want to mess with you and those things really bother me because I wouldn't hurt a fly and I'm not a bully nor am I someone who feels the need to make my presence known. I don't like the attention from men or women especially women it's almost sickening how they look at me and float around me. I am just the old normal.marc internally and I want people comfortable don't be intimidated I am nothing to be intimidated about unless you hit me we will never have issues. I'm kind I'm easy going I'm chill but apparently I don't look it but I wish people would stop judging me by my body
Agreed that was so cool. I experience this to a degree and I'm not really jacked 6"0 220. I am gentle giant and I can't stand when people mention beating them up or something my immediate first response is I'm not a fighter. This was a great perspective to hear.
That was really different. I've not sen a youtube video about the negatives of getting jacked. It's very anti-Bro culture. it seems the way up is very clear to see, and then you drop off the side of a cliff and you're gone. No one has talked about consciously making the decision to ramp down training in order to better live their life. Thanks. And yes, I've seen Eugene play guitar! It is on his channel.
Dr. Mike is such a nice, interesting and wise person. What a great interview and lots of interesting insights! Even though I'm 100% positive that I won't ever get to a fraction of his size! Thank you, Theo!👍
@Christopher Huber But that's personal, and living an "interesting life", going places and doing stuff that you think people wanna hear about is essentially the same as getting jacked so people wanna see you and ask you for advice. Just different ways of living an interesting life. I personally would love to talk to someone who deadlifts 700+ (I haven't), somebody who is huge(I have, he was cool) or somebody who has traveled the world etc. (I travelled a lot). Life gets more interesting if you broaden your horizons aswell 🙂
@Christopher Huber I think you are in the wrong channel, sir. Eugene, Dr. Mike and bunch of others build their life and career into all they have to talk about is workout plan, how hard they workout and how big they get (in simplistic way that is). This channel is about those things. Watch enough of Dr. Mike and Eugene you would know they have more to talk about than that but since their channel is about "workout plan and how much you BDS" , that is the theme you are going to see mainly.
This is so true what dr. Mike said. When I first met my brother’s girlfriend’s dad who was a bodybuilder, I was super scared to approach him because he looked tough because of his huge muscles. But eventually I had to greet him at some point, so I shooted my shot and started talking to him. And what I found out was that he was actually a super nice person. He was very calm, relaxed and chill. And when we started talking about the gym he got really happy that I also go the gym. I have noticed these things in other occasions as well, like asking for advice at the gym. It is always the biggest guys that are the most humble people and want to help you.
@@HaharuRecords It´s true. If you are big you can actually afford to be chill and humble. Because you don´t need to be that barking little dog to get some attention or respect. I have also made the experience that almost no big bodybuilder that i have ever met in the gym was rude or aggressive. They just like muscles and the sport. Unfortunately most people think that bodybuilders want to intimidate others. This is only true for very few of them.
@Schaufelor I think that's just one of the major reasons. I think another reason is that the exercise itself actually makes you chill because it's like a massage for your body that relieves tension. When I stop going to the gym for a month or so...I get knots in all my back muscles. When I workout I never have any knots so I am actually chill.
@@coacheugeneteo Honestly it will have a dramatic impact on those who see it . The discussion of mindfulness and introspection was as vital as any video I’ve ever seen in the fitness industry .
This is so interesting, and I deeply respect Dr Mike for being so transparent and vulnerable. As a woman I also feel like I understood more of the insecurities my male partner feels, which I can't always empathise with. I identified with his experience of mindfulness and getting "full", and love that he got down to the root causes. I think bodybuilding attracts people who like control, repetition, optimisation, and pushing things to the absolute limit. I am happy for Eugene and Dr Mike if it took skipping birthdays for them to know they had done their best and reached their goals, however I feel in my life pushing that hard is a given, and what has been toughest is turning down the intensity. Like, running life as more of a marathon, than a sprint. In another area of my life, I got to my equivalent of being absolutely "jacked" but was already suffering extreme burn out and mental health issues before I peaked performance wise, and I wish I could have been less stubborn, but I don't know if I would have peaked as high as I did.
It's funny that I was just thinking I want to start losing muscle. 25yrs old, 7 yrs lifting, 245lbs 15% BF, 5 ft 10 in. Bodybuilding, powerlifting background. Now I just got into the firefighting profession and my joints hurts so much with the gear we wear and the type of work we do. This profession has got me in excellent shape and conditioning but tryna hold on to my weight and muscle is going to take a toll on my body in the long run so been thinking about downsizing and I am honestly over the muscle building phase. its all about performance, athleticism and health for me now
This was awesome. Super insightful. I'm also looking forward for the day where Mike becomes natural. Such a gem of a human being and genuinely want to see him live for as long as possible.
Love to see mental health being prioritized by you guys. I know lifting probably keeps a lot of us out of trouble in life and helps us learn dedication, pushing limits etc. it’s so refreshing to hear these conversations.
Two megachads on a casting couch. What a treat. Lol. For real though, amazing convo, every gymbro should watch this. Most dont think “longterm” and just as building up the physique, bros should be working on the mental/inner stuff too so that when one comes to a good transition point between pure performance and longterm health, the mind is ready to make that transition in a healthy and proper way, filled with gratitude for an amazing chapter that is closing and a new one that will be different but just as amazing. Cheers
This was an amazing video for multiple reason, I hope Dr Mike makes a channel of his own about just everything he likes to talk about. Not only big muscle, but also - big brain 🤝
The intimidation thing is so true. It's like you have prove to people you aren't a mean-spirited person which sucks. It's nice to reach a point where you're content with progress you've made 💪
I get what he is saying, I used my humour a lot to disarm situations and not be seen in a bad light. I remember one girl saying to me "I was scared of you, you're a big black guy"😤 I was bullied a lot when I came to America and the gym helped me rebuild my confidence.
Hi, i am from berlin and train only in outdoor parks with my bodyweight. To learn skills and control my body against the gravity give me also a good physique and a hearth full of happiness
That was brilliant. Utterly illuminating insight into the day to day mindset of ones who have made it to the summit. I love it, and it will inform my speech to others and writing. Thanks for being so deep and candid, Mike and Eugene. May y'all get closer the Lord and get mad blessed.
Kind of makes me appreciate just being muscular on a modest scale. I'm still making gains in middle age, still enjoying the process, while being small enough to be mobile, play roller hockey, etc. Don't have 'get-huge' genetics, but there's an upside to that. I have jacked, vascular arms and a V-taper, but no C-PAP machine.
I feel exactly like this now. I weigh 230lbs at 6ft and bench 370lbs. But it's just to much. Simply walking in the mountains (which I loved to do) is so much more exhousting. It's not fun anymore. I wanna lose weight and I'm not scared of losing some muscle anymore.
Yeah I get that. It's frustrating because one of the friends that I know that walks with me.. is always getting frustrated that I'm lagging behind. If he put a weighted vest on with the difference between our weights. He wouldn't be able to walk 20 mins. It's frustrating because he acts like I'm unfit. Weight adds up quickly on a 6 hour hike in the mountains.
@@Arkhsthis for sure, people judge so quick the cardio of big people, but it's no different than a fat person carrying an extra 50 pounds, and then you have the extra energy expenditure of just having that muscle, which might be like 3k Cal's instead of 2, messing you need a third more oxygen even at rest..
Bloody good conversation there. Particularly loved the mindfulness part, that was dope to see. You CAN just notice thoughts, and let them pass... instead of actually engaging with them all the time. Don't have to be like a dog chasing a car or something. A huge misconception people have is that they identify with their thoughts. They think their thoughts ARE them... when in reality ALL of your thoughts are just popping up out of "nowhere" (to you). You can just notice them pop into your head. This ties to a much larger topic of Libertarian Free Will, but I won't delve into that here (something a lot of people misunderstand as far as what it means and does not mean).
Yes, in terms of the positives to being muscular, it is amazing how night-day-day my interactions are compared to when I was skinny. If I am with a group of people and decide to chime in on conversation, everyone instantly turns their full attention to me. The respect it garners is just second to none. So I always chuckle when I hear random people say that getting this jacked is pointless.
Being jacked AF for 20 plus years and at one point also Fat AF I totally concur. I feel for fata$$es because when I was fat, unlike when I was skinny, I was literally and ironically invisible. The other aspect people who are not jacked that ask the WHY question is the sexual aspect where if you don't know what you are missing, I can't explain it to you. To have women squeezing on your arms and a$$ in ravished passion is way more intense than having them softly caressing your double chin and trying to push back into singularity all whilst closing their eyes lol. There is also the flip side of the coin to this too, as being jacked often provokes Beta Alphas to feel insecure and target you for harassment... that does get old as they are the also the type of individual that really don't know when to back off and only seem to understand a slap to the face.
Man, this really talked to me, specially the part where doing competitive martial arts is fun and being big isn't. I wanted to go back to Muay Thai, but after 4 years of training i'm a 5'7 and 190 pounds dude, i can't move like i did when i was 16 years old, before i had to stop doing martial arts. I didn't even got that big and i feel like it's anoying because i can't do it all at the same time and be the best i can on both things. But now i feel less bad about dropping wheight and going back to fighting. I can still use the gym to boost my fighting strenght.
Insightful stuff. I don't really care about bodybuilding as far as my own goals are concerned, but a lot of what Dr. Mike talked about, like that inner voice, really is applicable to anything.
When I was in my late teens early 20s I got up to 210, then just stuck with body weight mostly workouts and stayed at about 173 then at 28 I climbed back up to 200 doing hypertrophy training using body weight and a bucket of rocks, and now at 36 im back in an actual gym doing kettle bell and calisthenics 5 months ago power lifting for the past 2 months and now going back over to hypertrophy and I've gone from 168 to 180 in that 5 months time frame, I'm 5'6 tall, so for me its the passion of lifting, there is something gratifying about seeing the results in the mirror, but i truly love the process of working out, thr discipline, the strength gains, the flexibility, the somewhat fun competitive nature when you lift with someone, and as long as I stay natty I'll be able to doing this well into the senior cycle in my life, not worrying about how much weight but what i do with the weight im lifting, so i go months of ass busting fitness then when i just feel wore out i rest for a few weeks to a few months, this is a lifetime for me, not a competition
This is an interesting conversation. At 5' 11'' and 190 I ask myself, "How much larger do I need to become?" I'm often the largest male in my social group, not many mathematicians or computer programmers get to my size. At 45 I my thoughts turn to what I'm going to do as my physique becomes, inevitably, impossible to maintain. This convo is helpful. Thx guys!
I work in IT too, 37 years old. Network/Servers (CISCO CCNP etc.). Lifted for 20 years at this point, consistently. Most people think I don't know what i am talking about because I lift and workout out - I can sense it in the beginning. I am 225 lbs with around 10% bf and 20 inch arms with visible veins. Pretty much NO-ONE, EVER, are my size in meetings etc. It's funny to prove them wrong tho, when it comes to knowledge. Just because you don't look like the typical "geek" 😁 I am a geek. I am tired of the compliments and "jokes" at this point tho... Especially at work...
Off topic question, what diet has worked for you that enables you to build muscle and maintain a high level of cognitive performance? Asking because I generally find that having to eat frequently/more protein slows my brain down.
@@dougt4283 To be honest, the most calirty of mind and "brain horsepower" i had when i was keto for half a year. I had focus and clarity for days, which was perfect for my bachelor and later master thesis. Now as iam working iam back to eating carbs and i feel better in the gym, gain more muscle but my brain is noticebly more foggy. So yes, fo rme it was keto with lots of animal fats and protein and up to 0 carbs per day
It's great to see people talk about losing muscle and size objectively, without the negative connotations of "letting yourself go", but I was wondering how to go about it without detraining? Would you lower protein? Train like it's deload week for two years?
It is so amazing to see an honest nuanced convo about how much is enough, the holes in our hearts, and reflection/meditation being the way to fulfillment on our journey. Thanks Eugene and Dr Mike!
Appreciate these types of videos, the perspective and mindset stuff was awesome to hear from you both. I’m sure it’ll help a lot of people out there to hear this type of stuff. Hopefully we get to see you guys interacting more on camera in the future! …Just not on the casting couch maybe 🤔🤔🤣
The level of sincerity, honesty, and perspective is a breath of fresh air. Thank you both for being willing to open up and talk about these topics that I feel are less common in this space.
As I get bigger and leaner I notice a much bigger disparity in the way people act towards me. Other dudes will treat me with respect as Mike was talking about, but women go the opposite way. They're very rude and act as if I'm some sort of nuisance even if there's no interaction. The amount of stink eyes I get is crazy
It’s true. I’m nowhere near the size of Dr Mike, but here’s a personal experience with this…. Over a period of time, a lady who worked at my gym started speaking with me some here and there. She was surprised I was so nice and polite. Told me how she had this impression that a lot of bigger more muscular guys were not as friendly. Speaking with me helped her realize you can’t judge people by that outward appearance.
Thank you for this conversation. For me, it's part of my conversation with my partner. Like hey, "if I get to a point that no longer works for you, please let me know". Which is really saying, if I get to big. That said, I'm nowhere near Dr. Mikes size. I think Dr. Mike hits the nail on the head though... When I get to that place of satiation I will be able to stop/pause/rest.??
I like dr. Mike's plan 7:11 to decrease his size: 💪 250-255 lbs ---- Mike's here now at his late 30s to 💪 190 lbs in Mike's 40s and to 💪 260 lbs (two hundred sixty) in his 50s
Wow, what a genuinely lovely guy and I love how engaged and empathetic you are in this, Eugene. Such an honest and eye opening conversation. I’ll admit to being guilty of exactly what Mike said - making judgements based on an initial physical impression, which is no indication of the quality of the person underneath.
I'm 5'6 as well, graduated high school at 115. I was in permabulk mode for awhile, got up to 185, hung around 175. Filling out a large is as big as I need to get. Now time to just be fit, healthy, aesthetic. No more size needed.
I started weighlifting cause I have being bullying (I felt weak and helpless). I didn't want to be a victim anymore. I wanted to feel stronger mentally and to help other people feel strong too. I have been pushing myself to my limits (not focused on the diet, but only focused on training and pushing and growing) Now I'm tired of muscle, I'm tired of guys telling me that I have too much muscle for a woman, that I don't belong in the weights room, Im feeling insecure when I have more muscle that the guys I like, I'm tired of clothes that don't fit, but most importantly I don't like having a muscling physique anymore. I want to lose muscle, but I don't want to be weaker, I don't want to lose what I've tried so hard to gain(I'm passionate about lifting heavy, progressive overloading and pushing my limits). It's really hard to lose muscle, its really hard to get out of the "bodybuilding" mindset and to "give up". I loved the advice in this video, but I would like to see more videos on how to lose muscle.
Mike would be better off getting leaner/smaller, and staying there, he's got that HGH chunkiness that Rogan has where he looks chunky without totally being chunky
I feel this conversation deeply. My satisfaction with how I'm looking has stopped my drive for more muscle. I still love to train though thus I have switched to primarily handbalancing now. It's still physical training, it still requires good programming, depending on the move it's still strength dominant but the focus is not getting bigger but learning new moves. I find unlocking a new move (same with calisthenics) much more gratifying than putting on a bit more muscle
Phenomenal video that. Raw honesty and truth about your feelings from both of you. Very respectable of you both to open up like that. More people need to listen to videos like this and I think they would feel a lot more comfortable and interact with the gym better as well as one another.
This was a great interview. Always interesting to hear the psychology of not just lifting and athletic training but the mindset around the people who excel at it.
Two beautiful men inside and out. Thanks for bringing us this interview Eugene. We people are complicated and vulnerable. It is a wonderful gift for accomplished and admired individuals like yourselves to honestly reflect on your personal psychology and share advice.
@@coacheugeneteo Life is all about challenging and trying not to regret the things you did not do for your goals (Hiroki Kurosawa, legendary Kyokushin karateka). You missed Christmas and your birthday for your goals, and now you have another life. My journey in bodybuilding competition is about to end some day within this decade. I still have the fire to put 500 grams of pure muscle every year, naturally. I am 64 and almost done, but not yet.
I’m 6’5 around 290 not all jacked.. mix of muscle and fat. But I’m huge. Yea it’ has its fun sides and I could be even heavier and leaner at the same time. But I try to cut weight at the moment and I dont care if I lose muscle in the process because sleep quality absolutely sucks at that size.. eating all the time too.. and it’s expensive. I still have the goal of being like 240ls at around 12% body fat but more then this goal I just want to be healthy so thanks for this video that I’m not alone with this feeling of wanting to just down size
I sort of have a similar-ish problem. I dont want to get bigger, its uncomfortable and makes clothes shopping expensive etc. However... i dont want to give up the training and watching numbers go up. Its too addicting...because its so fun. Not because i need to feel alpha etc. But numbers increasing is beautiful. I dont even know how to segway into other areas of fitness because they just dont have that same mental appeal. But i really dont want to get bigger. I want to be sleeper build strong... but that has limits.
I did my last bulk over a year ago, and walking around at 230 lbs/105kg or "Fridge Mode" as my training partner liked to call it was... Horrible. I was extremely strong, but also so tight and my knees and ankles were aching just from the sheer body mass. It's a pretty miserable experience and only worthwhile if you have goals that necessitate the bulk. The physical discomfort was almost constant. The eating sapped all the joy out of food. It made me never want to go near anabolics, because the thought of being 10 to 15% heavier than that just sounded unbearable. But, at the same time, getting big was the culmination of years of effort and discipline, and that's something I'm very proud of. When I actually made it to my threshold, the reward was knowing how hard I had to work to get there.
I used to think of being huge as a problem. It put a target on my back in school, and I was also a massive socially awkward nerd. If I defended myself from bullies I got in trouble because I was twice their size. I scared girls, for real. It was much harder to hide in a crowd. I got attacked by groups of guys in the street who thought I was just a weird looking adult (that was a thing in my hometown). It didn't matter that I excelled in Muay Thai and beat school powerlifting records on my first day on the team, those things don't necessarily translate to anything useful socially... probably helped with the getting attacked tbf. In my 20s it was great being huge. I was never a nasty person, but it was refreshing being scary to other guys rather than just a bigger target. I hadn't really come into my own socially, so I was still kind of annoyed people saw a big creepy weirdo rather than a friendly young man, but anyone who spoke to me very quickly saw I was lovely. In my 30s, I'm far more comfortable with myself and my relationship with random people. I definitely give off more friendly secure vibes, so I don't think anyone's intimidated by me so much as would rather be my friend in case of bar brawls. 🤣 I get a lot of random women ask me to be bodyguard too, like "you seem like a nice person who's also nails. Keep me safe, please."... I dunno, maybe that's just a crap pickup line. I get a lot more compliments on my physique these days, ironically, I'm the least lean/jacked I've been since I was like 12. 🤷
Really honest, refreshing interview, thank you for sharing. In your previous videos with him, it was clear he was not physically comfortable and he was often short of breath, so it was nice to hear his perspective on that and where he will go from here. I hope he chooses to drop to a more comfortable weight soon, because it didn’t sound like the pros of being that huge really outweigh the cons.
I'd say everyone in the gym is unhappy with themselves, not lean enough, not strong enough, not fit enough etc. Think we all reach that point when we start to accept ourselves and just enjoy the experience, especially as age creeps up on you.
I've never noticed the automatic dominance hierarchy thing but I've been 6'2" and broad since I was about 14 and I try to put insecure people at ease because I can identify so I'm wondering now if I was making them insecure in the first place... :( On a related note, do you find that when you're in university the dominance hierarchy is based on academics instead, or does the muscle still do it?
I love the honesty and vulnerability in Dr. Mike when he was talking about people being intimidated by his size and him not enjoying the attention for that reason alone.
Yes!
I am no way as big as Mike but I really feel the same. The jokes when people say "lol you could beat me up" or that I could beat up some body random, like wtf I dont want to fight anyone
same! Im not that muscular but if youre lean and have a bit of muscle you look better then 90% of the people out there. i feel rather insecure and dont want to be looked at by people, i dont like the attention they give you
I'm only 185lbs but I'm cut and in great shape. I don't walk around with that mind set I still walk around like I'm the old marc of 155lbs humble. I have people that open doors for me now, move out of my way way before I'm even close they toss jokes out like man I wouldn't want to mess with you and those things really bother me because I wouldn't hurt a fly and I'm not a bully nor am I someone who feels the need to make my presence known. I don't like the attention from men or women especially women it's almost sickening how they look at me and float around me. I am just the old normal.marc internally and I want people comfortable don't be intimidated I am nothing to be intimidated about unless you hit me we will never have issues. I'm kind I'm easy going I'm chill but apparently I don't look it but I wish people would stop judging me by my body
Agreed that was so cool. I experience this to a degree and I'm not really jacked 6"0 220. I am gentle giant and I can't stand when people mention beating them up or something my immediate first response is I'm not a fighter. This was a great perspective to hear.
That was really different. I've not sen a youtube video about the negatives of getting jacked. It's very anti-Bro culture. it seems the way up is very clear to see, and then you drop off the side of a cliff and you're gone. No one has talked about consciously making the decision to ramp down training in order to better live their life. Thanks. And yes, I've seen Eugene play guitar! It is on his channel.
Yes! Thank you! 🙏
I man he's literally Herman Li
being on roids is probably what draws the unwanted attention
Dr. Mike is such a nice, interesting and wise person. What a great interview and lots of interesting insights! Even though I'm 100% positive that I won't ever get to a fraction of his size! Thank you, Theo!👍
Glad you enjoyed it! Mike's a great guy with a wealth of knowledge and experience
@Christopher Huber But that's personal, and living an "interesting life", going places and doing stuff that you think people wanna hear about is essentially the same as getting jacked so people wanna see you and ask you for advice. Just different ways of living an interesting life. I personally would love to talk to someone who deadlifts 700+ (I haven't), somebody who is huge(I have, he was cool) or somebody who has traveled the world etc. (I travelled a lot). Life gets more interesting if you broaden your horizons aswell 🙂
@Christopher Huber I think you are in the wrong channel, sir. Eugene, Dr. Mike and bunch of others build their life and career into all they have to talk about is workout plan, how hard they workout and how big they get (in simplistic way that is). This channel is about those things. Watch enough of Dr. Mike and Eugene you would know they have more to talk about than that but since their channel is about "workout plan and how much you BDS" , that is the theme you are going to see mainly.
These things are far from mutually exclusive.
Накачаешься Димон, не ссы
This is so true what dr. Mike said. When I first met my brother’s girlfriend’s dad who was a bodybuilder, I was super scared to approach him because he looked tough because of his huge muscles. But eventually I had to greet him at some point, so I shooted my shot and started talking to him. And what I found out was that he was actually a super nice person. He was very calm, relaxed and chill. And when we started talking about the gym he got really happy that I also go the gym.
I have noticed these things in other occasions as well, like asking for advice at the gym.
It is always the biggest guys that are the most humble people and want to help you.
So, be bigger to get humble, or to be humble you better eat and be big ..🤖⚠️
@@HaharuRecords It´s true. If you are big you can actually afford to be chill and humble. Because you don´t need to be that barking little dog to get some attention or respect.
I have also made the experience that almost no big bodybuilder that i have ever met in the gym was rude or aggressive. They just like muscles and the sport. Unfortunately most people think that bodybuilders want to intimidate others. This is only true for very few of them.
Just get stronger than the dad and confront him challenge him to a dual to the death
@@SchaufelorHit the nail on the head! 💪
@Schaufelor I think that's just one of the major reasons.
I think another reason is that the exercise itself actually makes you chill because it's like a massage for your body that relieves tension.
When I stop going to the gym for a month or so...I get knots in all my back muscles.
When I workout I never have any knots so I am actually chill.
Dr. Mike is low key enlightened and self realized. How else could you manifest limitless Lamborghinis, a doctorate, and the muscles? 🙏🤪
what
@@aonair7211 imagine not being isreatelpilled
@@xX_dash_Xx goofy manifest
Wow , I hope RUclips pushes this video out to the masses. Incredible .
This stuff will probably never be as popular as more mainstream videos - but I wanted to make it cos I knew how important it is!
@@coacheugeneteo Honestly it will have a dramatic impact on those who see it . The discussion of mindfulness and introspection was as vital as any video I’ve ever seen in the fitness industry .
This is so interesting, and I deeply respect Dr Mike for being so transparent and vulnerable. As a woman I also feel like I understood more of the insecurities my male partner feels, which I can't always empathise with. I identified with his experience of mindfulness and getting "full", and love that he got down to the root causes.
I think bodybuilding attracts people who like control, repetition, optimisation, and pushing things to the absolute limit. I am happy for Eugene and Dr Mike if it took skipping birthdays for them to know they had done their best and reached their goals, however I feel in my life pushing that hard is a given, and what has been toughest is turning down the intensity. Like, running life as more of a marathon, than a sprint. In another area of my life, I got to my equivalent of being absolutely "jacked" but was already suffering extreme burn out and mental health issues before I peaked performance wise, and I wish I could have been less stubborn, but I don't know if I would have peaked as high as I did.
It's funny that I was just thinking I want to start losing muscle. 25yrs old, 7 yrs lifting, 245lbs 15% BF, 5 ft 10 in. Bodybuilding, powerlifting background. Now I just got into the firefighting profession and my joints hurts so much with the gear we wear and the type of work we do. This profession has got me in excellent shape and conditioning but tryna hold on to my weight and muscle is going to take a toll on my body in the long run so been thinking about downsizing and I am honestly over the muscle building phase. its all about performance, athleticism and health for me now
Ya wear a lot of gear....
My unsolicited, biased, and hard-earned advice is to focus on training your connective tissue to catch up with all that muscle.
This was awesome. Super insightful. I'm also looking forward for the day where Mike becomes natural. Such a gem of a human being and genuinely want to see him live for as long as possible.
you don't become natural, you are born natural and you either keep it or lose it
Love to see mental health being prioritized by you guys. I know lifting probably keeps a lot of us out of trouble in life and helps us learn dedication, pushing limits etc. it’s so refreshing to hear these conversations.
Two megachads on a casting couch. What a treat. Lol. For real though, amazing convo, every gymbro should watch this. Most dont think “longterm” and just as building up the physique, bros should be working on the mental/inner stuff too so that when one comes to a good transition point between pure performance and longterm health, the mind is ready to make that transition in a healthy and proper way, filled with gratitude for an amazing chapter that is closing and a new one that will be different but just as amazing. Cheers
My two favorite guys in the fitness "social media" arena. Honest, no fluff and BS. Love it!
yeah, its so much more honest. It is amazing to me how many people get popular while being dumbasses with shit or fake-assed communication.
This was an amazing video for multiple reason, I hope Dr Mike makes a channel of his own about just everything he likes to talk about. Not only big muscle, but also - big brain 🤝
What a fantastic video. I think I can safely say this was the best and most interesting video on fitness I’ve seen this year.
The intimidation thing is so true. It's like you have prove to people you aren't a mean-spirited person which sucks. It's nice to reach a point where you're content with progress you've made 💪
It's even worse when you are an introvert or have some social anxiety. You come off as arrogant if you keep to yourself
I get what he is saying, I used my humour a lot to disarm situations and not be seen in a bad light. I remember one girl saying to me "I was scared of you, you're a big black guy"😤
I was bullied a lot when I came to America and the gym helped me rebuild my confidence.
Some people need to see themselves trough other people’s eyes to feel good. Enjoy who you are first.
Hi, i am from berlin and train only in outdoor parks with my bodyweight. To learn skills and control my body against the gravity give me also a good physique and a hearth full of happiness
Yes!
That was brilliant. Utterly illuminating insight into the day to day mindset of ones who have made it to the summit. I love it, and it will inform my speech to others and writing. Thanks for being so deep and candid, Mike and Eugene. May y'all get closer the Lord and get mad blessed.
Thank you! 🙏
Kind of makes me appreciate just being muscular on a modest scale. I'm still making gains in middle age, still enjoying the process, while being small enough to be mobile, play roller hockey, etc. Don't have 'get-huge' genetics, but there's an upside to that. I have jacked, vascular arms and a V-taper, but no C-PAP machine.
Immensely helpful, honest, and educational. Thank you.
Thank you! 🙏
I'm nonironically waiting for the RP Mindfulness Meditation app. Dr. Mike and his metaphors take me to a peaceful place.
I feel exactly like this now. I weigh 230lbs at 6ft and bench 370lbs. But it's just to much. Simply walking in the mountains (which I loved to do) is so much more exhousting. It's not fun anymore.
I wanna lose weight and I'm not scared of losing some muscle anymore.
Yeah I get that.
It's frustrating because one of the friends that I know that walks with me.. is always getting frustrated that I'm lagging behind.
If he put a weighted vest on with the difference between our weights. He wouldn't be able to walk 20 mins.
It's frustrating because he acts like I'm unfit. Weight adds up quickly on a 6 hour hike in the mountains.
@@Arkhsthis for sure, people judge so quick the cardio of big people, but it's no different than a fat person carrying an extra 50 pounds, and then you have the extra energy expenditure of just having that muscle, which might be like 3k Cal's instead of 2, messing you need a third more oxygen even at rest..
Bloody good conversation there.
Particularly loved the mindfulness part, that was dope to see. You CAN just notice thoughts, and let them pass... instead of actually engaging with them all the time. Don't have to be like a dog chasing a car or something.
A huge misconception people have is that they identify with their thoughts. They think their thoughts ARE them... when in reality ALL of your thoughts are just popping up out of "nowhere" (to you). You can just notice them pop into your head. This ties to a much larger topic of Libertarian Free Will, but I won't delve into that here (something a lot of people misunderstand as far as what it means and does not mean).
Yes, in terms of the positives to being muscular, it is amazing how night-day-day my interactions are compared to when I was skinny. If I am with a group of people and decide to chime in on conversation, everyone instantly turns their full attention to me. The respect it garners is just second to none. So I always chuckle when I hear random people say that getting this jacked is pointless.
Being jacked AF for 20 plus years and at one point also Fat AF I totally concur. I feel for fata$$es because when I was fat, unlike when I was skinny, I was literally and ironically invisible. The other aspect people who are not jacked that ask the WHY question is the sexual aspect where if you don't know what you are missing, I can't explain it to you. To have women squeezing on your arms and a$$ in ravished passion is way more intense than having them softly caressing your double chin and trying to push back into singularity all whilst closing their eyes lol. There is also the flip side of the coin to this too, as being jacked often provokes Beta Alphas to feel insecure and target you for harassment... that does get old as they are the also the type of individual that really don't know when to back off and only seem to understand a slap to the face.
Dr. Mike just always, always always wins my heart ❤️
Meditation...Gamechanger.
Amazing raw conversation. So good. Thank you.
Man, this really talked to me, specially the part where doing competitive martial arts is fun and being big isn't. I wanted to go back to Muay Thai, but after 4 years of training i'm a 5'7 and 190 pounds dude, i can't move like i did when i was 16 years old, before i had to stop doing martial arts. I didn't even got that big and i feel like it's anoying because i can't do it all at the same time and be the best i can on both things. But now i feel less bad about dropping wheight and going back to fighting. I can still use the gym to boost my fighting strenght.
Insightful stuff. I don't really care about bodybuilding as far as my own goals are concerned, but a lot of what Dr. Mike talked about, like that inner voice, really is applicable to anything.
What i learned/like is body height, something u cant rlly change, but whats more impressive is what u do with that height
Really different conversation, great stuff
When I was in my late teens early 20s I got up to 210, then just stuck with body weight mostly workouts and stayed at about 173 then at 28 I climbed back up to 200 doing hypertrophy training using body weight and a bucket of rocks, and now at 36 im back in an actual gym doing kettle bell and calisthenics 5 months ago power lifting for the past 2 months and now going back over to hypertrophy and I've gone from 168 to 180 in that 5 months time frame, I'm 5'6 tall, so for me its the passion of lifting, there is something gratifying about seeing the results in the mirror, but i truly love the process of working out, thr discipline, the strength gains, the flexibility, the somewhat fun competitive nature when you lift with someone, and as long as I stay natty I'll be able to doing this well into the senior cycle in my life, not worrying about how much weight but what i do with the weight im lifting, so i go months of ass busting fitness then when i just feel wore out i rest for a few weeks to a few months, this is a lifetime for me, not a competition
This was a video I didn’t know I needed this badly thanks to you both!
Some really good takeaways from this video! I like the “you suck” part. I definitely have those times
Yes for sure!
This is an interesting conversation. At 5' 11'' and 190 I ask myself, "How much larger do I need to become?" I'm often the largest male in my social group, not many mathematicians or computer programmers get to my size. At 45 I my thoughts turn to what I'm going to do as my physique becomes, inevitably, impossible to maintain. This convo is helpful. Thx guys!
I work in IT too, 37 years old. Network/Servers (CISCO CCNP etc.). Lifted for 20 years at this point, consistently. Most people think I don't know what i am talking about because I lift and workout out - I can sense it in the beginning. I am 225 lbs with around 10% bf and 20 inch arms with visible veins. Pretty much NO-ONE, EVER, are my size in meetings etc. It's funny to prove them wrong tho, when it comes to knowledge. Just because you don't look like the typical "geek" 😁 I am a geek. I am tired of the compliments and "jokes" at this point tho... Especially at work...
Same boat. Working in it, Lifting for over 10 years at this point. Never was i not the biggest IT guy.
@@nickDasgunnar maybe you guys should start a company together, for nerdy IT gymbros.
Off topic question, what diet has worked for you that enables you to build muscle and maintain a high level of cognitive performance? Asking because I generally find that having to eat frequently/more protein slows my brain down.
@@dougt4283 To be honest, the most calirty of mind and "brain horsepower" i had when i was keto for half a year. I had focus and clarity for days, which was perfect for my bachelor and later master thesis. Now as iam working iam back to eating carbs and i feel better in the gym, gain more muscle but my brain is noticebly more foggy.
So yes, fo rme it was keto with lots of animal fats and protein and up to 0 carbs per day
The biggest downside is Dr Mike looks about 52.
So, to summarize... He had enough of taking drugs. Nothing to do with muscles in general tbh.
A guy that is on PEDs is not muscular, he is a mutant.
This is a subject a lot of bodybuilders should be thinking about already, but unfortunately many are not, what's the exit strategy
Mike's sense of humor is what dragged me there. No regrets.
I feel like Dr. Mike would give great hugs.
That was an awesome conversation. Priorities in the gym have definitely shifted as I have gotten older.
at 46 after training since i was 13 i’ve finally started downsizing.Ove lost 30 pounds of weight a lot of it muscle .I feel way better and healthier
Give it everything..... very interesting. Props. Wish you good health Dr Mike. You guys are real for this
It's great to see people talk about losing muscle and size objectively, without the negative connotations of "letting yourself go", but I was wondering how to go about it without detraining? Would you lower protein? Train like it's deload week for two years?
It is so amazing to see an honest nuanced convo about how much is enough, the holes in our hearts, and reflection/meditation being the way to fulfillment on our journey. Thanks Eugene and Dr Mike!
Appreciate these types of videos, the perspective and mindset stuff was awesome to hear from you both. I’m sure it’ll help a lot of people out there to hear this type of stuff. Hopefully we get to see you guys interacting more on camera in the future!
…Just not on the casting couch maybe 🤔🤔🤣
That smile of eugene at 3:24 says it all 🤣
😂😂 Thank you! 🙏
3:17 “Mr. The Rock” 🤣
Mike is such an inspiration
Can’t wait to see you on the mind pump podcast Eugene 💪🏼
Excellent video- the only one I’ve seen of its kind👏🏻
This goes beyond fitness, it's a meditation on drive and ambition and its discontents.
Looooove it !! I could listen to you and mike chat about your mindset and thoughts around and about training for hours and not get bored
Thank you! 🙏
This is amazing!
The level of sincerity, honesty, and perspective is a breath of fresh air. Thank you both for being willing to open up and talk about these topics that I feel are less common in this space.
As I get bigger and leaner I notice a much bigger disparity in the way people act towards me. Other dudes will treat me with respect as Mike was talking about, but women go the opposite way. They're very rude and act as if I'm some sort of nuisance even if there's no interaction. The amount of stink eyes I get is crazy
It’s true. I’m nowhere near the size of Dr Mike, but here’s a personal experience with this….
Over a period of time, a lady who worked at my gym started speaking with me some here and there.
She was surprised I was so nice and polite. Told me how she had this impression that a lot of bigger more muscular guys were not as friendly.
Speaking with me helped her realize you can’t judge people by that outward appearance.
Thank you for this conversation. For me, it's part of my conversation with my partner. Like hey, "if I get to a point that no longer works for you, please let me know". Which is really saying, if I get to big. That said, I'm nowhere near Dr. Mikes size. I think Dr. Mike hits the nail on the head though... When I get to that place of satiation I will be able to stop/pause/rest.??
This was properly fascinating and very insightful 🏆
I imagine this was a very difficult conversation for all or nothing personality types
What a great interview! You have a great content 😊
I like dr. Mike's plan 7:11 to decrease his size:
💪 250-255 lbs ---- Mike's here now at his late 30s
to
💪 190 lbs in Mike's 40s
and to
💪 260 lbs (two hundred sixty) in his 50s
Dr mikes honesty, humility, and articulation on the topic makes this such a great video
Wow, what a genuinely lovely guy and I love how engaged and empathetic you are in this, Eugene. Such an honest and eye opening conversation. I’ll admit to being guilty of exactly what Mike said - making judgements based on an initial physical impression, which is no indication of the quality of the person underneath.
I'm 5'6 as well, graduated high school at 115. I was in permabulk mode for awhile, got up to 185, hung around 175. Filling out a large is as big as I need to get. Now time to just be fit, healthy, aesthetic. No more size needed.
200+ lbs is the goal, ripped.
Very eye opening!
Some wise words from monk mike near the end there!
I guess only a very small number of naturals will face this problem.
I started weighlifting cause I have being bullying (I felt weak and helpless). I didn't want to be a victim anymore. I wanted to feel stronger mentally and to help other people feel strong too. I have been pushing myself to my limits (not focused on the diet, but only focused on training and pushing and growing) Now I'm tired of muscle, I'm tired of guys telling me that I have too much muscle for a woman, that I don't belong in the weights room, Im feeling insecure when I have more muscle that the guys I like, I'm tired of clothes that don't fit, but most importantly I don't like having a muscling physique anymore. I want to lose muscle, but I don't want to be weaker, I don't want to lose what I've tried so hard to gain(I'm passionate about lifting heavy, progressive overloading and pushing my limits). It's really hard to lose muscle, its really hard to get out of the "bodybuilding" mindset and to "give up". I loved the advice in this video, but I would like to see more videos on how to lose muscle.
Mike would be better off getting leaner/smaller, and staying there, he's got that HGH chunkiness that Rogan has where he looks chunky without totally being chunky
Mike looks awful compared to other bodybuilders
@@chickendealer9313 it's the HGH, and he's small so his dimensions appear wider, he's better off being less wide for his height
Some great insights in this one. Thanks guys! : )
gotta love how Mike can't start a video without making a joke
Didn't know I needed this but I did
I feel this conversation deeply. My satisfaction with how I'm looking has stopped my drive for more muscle. I still love to train though thus I have switched to primarily handbalancing now. It's still physical training, it still requires good programming, depending on the move it's still strength dominant but the focus is not getting bigger but learning new moves. I find unlocking a new move (same with calisthenics) much more gratifying than putting on a bit more muscle
Phenomenal video that. Raw honesty and truth about your feelings from both of you. Very respectable of you both to open up like that. More people need to listen to videos like this and I think they would feel a lot more comfortable and interact with the gym better as well as one another.
Dope convo.
Thank you! 🙏
Living legend!
This was a great interview. Always interesting to hear the psychology of not just lifting and athletic training but the mindset around the people who excel at it.
respect.
Mike is talking about zen btw
This conversation is reeally insightfull ...
Keep it up guys much love 🙏❤
This was amazing
The amount of food you have to eat to keep alot of mass on, gets tiring.
I want a Eugene Teo podcast
Beautiful conversation guys! Thanks for sharing all of your insights!
Thank you! 🙏
Mike And Eugene the Duo we didn’t know we needed 👌
🙏🙏
but always wanted
Two beautiful men inside and out. Thanks for bringing us this interview Eugene. We people are complicated and vulnerable. It is a wonderful gift for accomplished and admired individuals like yourselves to honestly reflect on your personal psychology and share advice.
Never seen a video like that 🙌🙌
Give all you have, and someday there is nothing left to give. Briljant
🙏
@@coacheugeneteo Life is all about challenging and trying not to regret the things you did not do for your goals (Hiroki Kurosawa, legendary Kyokushin karateka). You missed Christmas and your birthday for your goals, and now you have another life. My journey in bodybuilding competition is about to end some day within this decade. I still have the fire to put 500 grams of pure muscle every year, naturally. I am 64 and almost done, but not yet.
It's crazy to think. I'm his height, 140 lbs, and I got to 150 once and felt heavy. I can't imagine 250...
150 is not heavy lol, you've just been scrawny all your life
*respectfully
Added that in for ya 😉
@@_baller Yeah, that's precisely what it is. Before I started lifting I was a buck twenty with jeans on lol
I’m 6’5 around 290 not all jacked.. mix of muscle and fat. But I’m huge. Yea it’ has its fun sides and I could be even heavier and leaner at the same time. But I try to cut weight at the moment and I dont care if I lose muscle in the process because sleep quality absolutely sucks at that size.. eating all the time too.. and it’s expensive. I still have the goal of being like 240ls at around 12% body fat but more then this goal I just want to be healthy so thanks for this video that I’m not alone with this feeling of wanting to just down size
I sort of have a similar-ish problem.
I dont want to get bigger, its uncomfortable and makes clothes shopping expensive etc.
However... i dont want to give up the training and watching numbers go up. Its too addicting...because its so fun. Not because i need to feel alpha etc.
But numbers increasing is beautiful.
I dont even know how to segway into other areas of fitness because they just dont have that same mental appeal.
But i really dont want to get bigger.
I want to be sleeper build strong... but that has limits.
Here are two beautiful humans. Regardless of size.
I mean can't you be jacked but not a freak? I think maintaining a decent amount of muscle is the way to go.. any thoughts?
I did my last bulk over a year ago, and walking around at 230 lbs/105kg or "Fridge Mode" as my training partner liked to call it was... Horrible. I was extremely strong, but also so tight and my knees and ankles were aching just from the sheer body mass. It's a pretty miserable experience and only worthwhile if you have goals that necessitate the bulk. The physical discomfort was almost constant. The eating sapped all the joy out of food. It made me never want to go near anabolics, because the thought of being 10 to 15% heavier than that just sounded unbearable.
But, at the same time, getting big was the culmination of years of effort and discipline, and that's something I'm very proud of. When I actually made it to my threshold, the reward was knowing how hard I had to work to get there.
I’m not nearly as jacked but it seems to be “not worth it” honestly. Thank you for that convo tho
I used to think of being huge as a problem.
It put a target on my back in school, and I was also a massive socially awkward nerd. If I defended myself from bullies I got in trouble because I was twice their size. I scared girls, for real. It was much harder to hide in a crowd. I got attacked by groups of guys in the street who thought I was just a weird looking adult (that was a thing in my hometown). It didn't matter that I excelled in Muay Thai and beat school powerlifting records on my first day on the team, those things don't necessarily translate to anything useful socially... probably helped with the getting attacked tbf.
In my 20s it was great being huge. I was never a nasty person, but it was refreshing being scary to other guys rather than just a bigger target. I hadn't really come into my own socially, so I was still kind of annoyed people saw a big creepy weirdo rather than a friendly young man, but anyone who spoke to me very quickly saw I was lovely.
In my 30s, I'm far more comfortable with myself and my relationship with random people. I definitely give off more friendly secure vibes, so I don't think anyone's intimidated by me so much as would rather be my friend in case of bar brawls. 🤣 I get a lot of random women ask me to be bodyguard too, like "you seem like a nice person who's also nails. Keep me safe, please."... I dunno, maybe that's just a crap pickup line. I get a lot more compliments on my physique these days, ironically, I'm the least lean/jacked I've been since I was like 12. 🤷
I’m 265 and love looking jacked, I’m 6”4” though. My heaviest was 285
Really honest, refreshing interview, thank you for sharing. In your previous videos with him, it was clear he was not physically comfortable and he was often short of breath, so it was nice to hear his perspective on that and where he will go from here. I hope he chooses to drop to a more comfortable weight soon, because it didn’t sound like the pros of being that huge really outweigh the cons.
I'd say everyone in the gym is unhappy with themselves, not lean enough, not strong enough, not fit enough etc. Think we all reach that point when we start to accept ourselves and just enjoy the experience, especially as age creeps up on you.
I've never noticed the automatic dominance hierarchy thing but I've been 6'2" and broad since I was about 14 and I try to put insecure people at ease because I can identify so I'm wondering now if I was making them insecure in the first place... :(
On a related note, do you find that when you're in university the dominance hierarchy is based on academics instead, or does the muscle still do it?
God ur insufferable lol