Ep. 30 | Three Things We Wish We Would've Known When We First Started Working Out

Nate and Liz each share 3 lessons they wish they knew when they first stepped into the gym, and they get honest about the mistakes that slowed progress for years, especially for lifters chasing muscle gain and bigger numbers on the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

We dig into the truth behind gaining size: if you want to get bigger, you usually have to eat more than you think, consistently enough to create a real caloric surplus. From there, we move into the mindset that keeps you in the game when training feels awful. Missing a rep is not a reason to quit, it’s a reason to adjust, finish what you can, and stack another day of work. We also talk about why not every workout should crush you, how recovery supports strength gains, and why patience and time are the best performance enhancers you’ll ever find.

Liz also shares a perspective that can instantly reduce meet anxiety: most people do not know your PRs, your totals, or what you weigh. They’re there to support you and see you enjoy the process. We close with a practical conversation on when to change technique, why constant tinkering backfires, and an example of debating sumo vs conventional deadlift heading into a meet.

If this helped, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, share it with a training partner, and leave a review so more lifters can find their strong.

Transcript

Welcome And The Big Promise

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Fortis After Hours podcast. I'm your co-host, Nate, joined by my wife Liz. Hi. And our dog Toby, if you don't already know. Toby's kind of our mascot for Fortis, but basically. Yeah, today he wanted to join us for today's episode, which is another awesome one. Today we're going to be talking about three things that we wish we would have known when we first started out in the gym. All right. Or kind of like wish we would have understood, applied, implemented.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Like some of these are probably things that we were told at the time, but just we're like, okay. But like actually, yeah. It would have helped.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Yeah, exactly. So we both have three things, and it's interesting because we kind of come from different backgrounds. So um I played sports my whole life growing up, uh, all through high school. I played soccer, I ran track, I played volleyball. Um couldn't be me. Yeah. I was pretty active. There was even a class. There was a class in uh it was like my senior year, I think. It was called competitive PE. I signed right up for that. No, it was awesome. The final was like us just showing up uh to do like the class. Nice.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

That's weird.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Yeah, it was awesome. Um, but yeah, so Liz had a little bit of a different background. I didn't what was your background in sports?

SPEAKER_01 1:16

None.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

None background with sports. Um, I started working out. I uh sort of worked out for like a little bit, did some classes, and I wouldn't really say I like took it like serious really until I actually kind of started like with powerlifting. So most of mine are gonna be a little more like I feel like powerlifting specific, probably, yeah, versus just like training in general. Um because I feel like that's more than the that's yeah, that's basically what I've done. I mean, I worked out for a little bit before I dabbled in a couple things, but none of those were like actually really serious, I wouldn't say. Um so yeah, most of mine are gonna be specifically probably towards powerlifting, but I wouldn't I would say that you could probably apply some of them to other things too. It's just how I took it from powerlifting.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Yeah. And mine are kind of like I mean, you could apply them to anything really. Um mine are a little bit powerlifting, a little bit just kind of general. Well, really, you can just apply all three generally. Yeah. Um, but that's just kind of our different journeys. Because like I said, we had different journeys um in the gym, and now I've been powerlifting for quite some time. When did I start? 2019? 2018? I don't know, it's been a while.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Um, but my first meet was 2018.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

So 2019 was my first meet.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Um, so I'd like done powerlifting training before, but I became a powerlifter in 2019 when I first started competing. Um and I've been doing that the most consistently out of the other things that I competed in. But I've also competed in various other things: Olympic lifting, um, Olympic weightlifting, uh, CrossFit competitions, I've done running races, and uh bodybuilding, men's physique. So I've done that as well. Um, which is where I got my first thing that I'm gonna be talking about today. So I'll go ahead and kick us off. We're gonna go back and forth. So the format, we're gonna go back and forth. I'm gonna share one, Liz is gonna share one, kind of talk about it, and then move on. Um, all right.

Eat More To Actually Gain Size

SPEAKER_00 3:25

So my first one is gotta eat big to get big. So that was something that like I know like sounds silly to some people, but I also know there's gonna be some people watching this that struggle to gain weight and put on weight, and that was me. So I was always a little bit smaller, I was kind of like 155, 165 um when I started like actually trying to work out. And you know, I wanted to put on size and get jacked like most people. Um, and you know, I was eating, I mean, once I started working out, I was eating so much. Like I in my brain, I was like, oh, I'm eating so much, like there's no way I could be eating more. Uh, and then you know, it's kind of like I'm I'm like, something must something must be wrong with me, you know, like I'm eating like 3,000 calories and I'm not gaining any weight and all this stuff. And the fact of the matter was that I just wasn't eating enough. It's pretty simple. Um, you know, uh there's many different diet, uh not trends, but strategies, we'll call it. Uh but at the end of the day, you want to gain weight, got to be in a caloric surplus. You want to lose weight, gotta be in a caloric deficit. And the fact of the matter was I was just not in a caloric surplus. So in my brain, even though I felt like it was a ton of food, my body was burning it, you know, just burning it up. So I struggled to gain weight for a long time. And I had a good friend of mine, Brian, we're still friends, um, but I was really lucky to meet him at the first gym that I worked at. Uh, and he kind of like showed me the way as a personal trainer, and we did a bodybuilding show together. And before we did that, he's like, You got to gain weight. I was like, okay. Because like we were gonna do this massive cut. And this is basically how I figured this out. So I uh this is a real quality use of my money at the time, but I I uh you know, I started personal training, I had another job as a server, um and I had, and then I had a third job at that time as doing some marketing for a therapist's office. And so I was pretty busy. And at the time, you know, I I was making enough to like, I had like enough to like spend basically. So I was just like, oh, like I'll just go. Like basically, Brian's like, you gotta eat way more. I was like, all right, so I'm I have my meal prep, and then I would do this like kind of routine. I would go to uh Kidoba across the street and Starbucks, and I'd go every day, and I mean it every day. I'm getting a burrito, like double wrap, queso, all this stuff. And basically I would just like do that every single day. It worked. I think I gained like close to 30 pounds. Like I went from like one, I don't remember exactly, but like 155, 165, all the way up to like 190 something. I remember that. And I did that in like a summer, or like I don't know, it was not that long, like it was like the first half of the year, we'll say like six months. And that basically illustrated though that was uh maybe not the like healthiest way to do that. It was a way to do it, and sometimes that's just like what you gotta do, you know, like you just gotta like figure stuff out, especially with nutrition. Um, and uh yeah, that basically that real life example like taught me right then and there. I was like, okay, like if you like you want to get bigger, you can get bigger. You just gotta eat probably way more than you think you need to. Um, and you know, some people that might not be the case, it just depends on the person. But for me, I had to eat like in my brain. I'm like, this is like insane. But there I was gaining weight, and I was like, hmm, okay. Um, so yeah, so that's something that I wish I uh you know would have learned a little bit like earlier because I definitely spent probably like three years. I guess I didn't learn it like too late, but I probably spent like a good three or four years uh before that. I'm doing like calisthenics, I'm doing like all these different things, and I was getting pretty jacked. Like I was you know, I was pretty uh defined, but I was like 145, 155, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Small.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Uh and I just I was like, this is just you know, this is just how I am. So so yeah, so I would say that was my first thing uh that I wish I probably would have learned a little bit earlier. Um and or something that I think some people that are trying to get bigger, uh that would like help them learn that you just gotta eat big.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

And I think too, like just to kind of add, like, not even necessarily like you don't want to gain like a ton of weight. Maybe you don't want to gain 30 pounds, like whatever, but you want to put on some muscle, you want to actually like build a little bit, like you might need to eat a little bit more than you think you need to to get you a little bit stronger or like whatever the case might be.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

So yeah, and the inverse is kind of true as well. Like sometimes people are like, Oh, I'm not eating like anything, I'm in this caloric deficit. It's like maybe you're not, you know. I mean, like you might need to eat less. Um, so yeah, I just think I think being able to learn how to control your body weight uh via calories and nutrition is a extremely valuable thing that I think a lot of people would benefit learning uh probably as soon as you hear this podcast. Um, all right, what's your first

Do Something Even On Off Days

SPEAKER_00 8:22

thing?

SPEAKER_01 8:22

So my first one um this kind of has like a tiny bit of background to it to explain why, but I'm not gonna really go into it because I have before. But basically, doing something, finishing your workout, um, is better than not doing anything and quitting and having a full little breakdown. Yeah. Um, because that used to happen a lot, specifically like when I first started powerlifting. Um, if I couldn't hit the numbers or I failed a rep or things just weren't moving the way that they should be, basically I would just be like, well, wow, I suck, I'm done. And I would just quit. Um and obviously that doesn't really help you out very much. So I've now learned through trial and error, basically, and just being told over and over, like, just do something. Like your body doesn't feel good that day. You can't hit the weight that you're supposed to hit, like whatever it is, like just do something. Um, and you will get more out of it long term. Like you will still be able to make progress. Um, I would say there was a good probably couple years semi-recently that I just couldn't hit like any numbers that I wanted to be hitting. Like I was failing numbers that I used to be able to hit for reps. Like it was a whole situation. Mental health is crazy. Um, but anyways, weirdly, during that time, I did somehow figure out that if I just like finished the workout or did less weight or just kind of kept going, that I would magically, magically, um, make progress still. And like the next week maybe wouldn't feel as bad, or whatever the case may be. And by doing that for years, essentially, like now I'm to the point where I'm hitting PRs on squats and bench, like the numbers I've never hit, or like hitting numbers that I used to want to hit for one for hitting them for reps now, which is crazy. Um, but that didn't just happen overnight. It happened from the years of just doing what I was capable of doing. And there are some days where like maybe like the main lift, you just can't do it. Like, for whatever reason, your body is too sore, you're hurt, you're whatever, your brain isn't in it. Just stop and do all the accessories for the day. Like sometimes that's just it's better than doing nothing. Or there's been days where like I'll start warming up for squats and I'm just like, can't do this today. And so it'll bench instead. Like sometimes you just have to like whatever kind of audible. Yeah, change it up a little bit. Um obviously you don't want to do that all the time because there's a point to the programming, but some days you just have to do that, and doing something that day is always going to be better than just quitting or stopping or not doing anything because doing nothing isn't gonna make you any progress. And I used to do that a lot. And then also I would like feel guilty or bad, like if I couldn't hit the numbers programmed, but really that also doesn't matter. Like doing something, like maybe you were supposed to hit 185, but oh man, 175 feels pretty heavy. Cool, just hit 175. Like, that's okay. That's it's fine. That's life.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

I think a thing like why that's tough for people sometimes, and probably tough for you, is like you wanna like you wanna do what is expected. You want to do what you think or your coach thinks or whatever. There's rules, there's directions. It's like I need to be doing this. And the fact of the matter is like powerlifting, Olympic lifting, bodybuilding, most things that you do in the gym are really like a kind of culmination of a big body of work. Like it almost nothing gets accomplished like super quick, right? Um, actually, I would say the quickest thing you can accomplish, like really nice like dopamine hits of like progress, would be running, ironically, uh, because a lot of people don't like running, but uh but running, running in cardio, you could actually make some pretty like you know, staggering progress within just like a month versus like you know, if you just start lifting and let's say you're at 135 and you're like, I'm gonna bench 400, you're not gonna do that in a month. Like, I don't care, like it's just not gonna happen. No, um, and so I think you know, that's a really important uh lesson for people to learn is just like doing a little bit of something is still inching you towards your goal. And you know, some days you might move an inch further towards your goal, some days you might move like 100 feet towards your goal. You know what I mean? It just kind of depends on the day. And all of those little you know, distances to go with my analogy, add up to completing that big giant task, um, or you know, traveling the distance, so to speak.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Yeah, but if you just quit, you're not getting anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

No, you're not going anywhere. You're just you're you're going backwards, actually. Because like the other, like, well, I guess not like that you're in competition with everyone, but if other people are moving forward around you, you're doing nothing and you're going backwards.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Yeah. And you know, having full little like mental breakdowns, crash out, whatever you want to call it, like it's not ideal for any part of your brain. Um but being able to, so like that's not to say I don't still have those sometimes. Like last week. Um I didn't. Um but, anyways, you can still have those if you need to. Take your moment, take your time, but then like continue on with whatever it is you're supposed to do for the day.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Because here's a bonus one. This is not part of my three, but I'm gonna do a quick bonus one for uh bonus. This is uh like relationship advice. So like I will say it was like super hard for me in the beginning of like our relationship, like just watching like Liz sometimes. I'm like, oh my god, I'm like like she just What's wrong with her? Yeah, well, not like that, it's more like uh like more like sympathy. Like I'm just like, geez, like it's just a squat. Like what? Bless you. Um, you know, it's just a squat or it's just a bench or something. And you know, she's like just like crushed. And I'm like, uh, like, are you like, you know, and you know, it took me forever to figure out. I'm like, what? Like, I was like, like, is she okay? Like, I'm gonna be okay. And then I finally realized that, like, I do think that that's something that like sports kind of teach you. It's like failure. Like, I failed a lot, like in sports and like high school, you know, like I mean, like, I missed a pass on the field, or like, you know, I missed a shot on the goal. Like, you know, like I've I failed often, so I'm like, and I guess that just helped me like learn how to deal with failure. But it was weird because like when I met Liz, yeah, like when I met Liz, we talked like a few times. I remember this, and this is actually what really helped me. And this is like important, like communicate with your spouse or friend, whatever. Like, communication is key. Like, finally, I'm just like, Did you ever like fail anything growing up? Like, like, you know, like because I I just thought, like, I'm like, well, of course, like certainly she's like failed. And then I'm like, maybe she just says like, because I knew she had like straight A's, like straight A student, you know, like all this. And then I was kind of connecting in my brain. I'm like, well, she never played sports. I was like, I wonder if she's just really never like failed. Nah. And I asked you that day, and then it's like she's like, no, no. I was like, oh, okay. And anyways, that like just that like small conversation really helped me kind of understand, like, as you know, your spouse and like coach and whatever. I was like, okay, like so when this happens, we're just got to let her work through it and just be encouraging, which I you know always am. Like, I'm like, just do a little something. Um, but yeah, because for a while at first I was like, like, oh, it is okay. Like, I'm like, whoa. Uh like I didn't know what to do. I was like, oh, but um, yeah, after after that, it got a lot better. So communicate. Good, good pro tips, pro tips for uh good relationship. Um, all right, my number two.

Stop Crushing Yourself Every Session

SPEAKER_00 16:00

This one I just learned recently. All right, recently, like within the past couple years, and I've been in the gym lifting for I don't know, I was trying to think like 15 or 16 years now, straight. Um, not every session do you have to crush yourself. Um, so this goes back all the way to when I first started lifting. Basically, I'm a pretty practical person and I'm pretty like actions, you know, speak louder than words type thing. So I started working out, starting to get a little jack, a little muscle. I was like, all right, I'm doing good. And then, you know, I was working out maybe like three times a week or something, four times, I don't know. And I'm like, well, I'm just gonna do this every day. It's like, like, I'm just I'm gonna go in there and just bluter at myself like every single day. Yeah, because I was like, I mean, if I'm doing it this much, like literally just in my brain, I'm like, well, I'm doing four days and I got this results. What if I do seven days? And I worked out for seven days a week for a while, like maybe like a year or two, like every day I was in the gym doing something, and I was going. Like, I was like, I would just like I didn't really care too much about form, like I'm just in there, like I would just be lifting the weights until I could not move, type thing. And I mean, this was when I was like like I don't even know, like 17, 18, 19 range, 17, 18, probably specifically. And I had no idea about recovery. I'm like, like, don't need it. Like, and I mean it worked for a while, but then after a while, I I definitely hit this like really bad like energy low somewhere, sometime in my like it happened a couple times actually, like sometime in my teens, where I was just like, I just felt like I couldn't do anything. I was like, oh my gosh, like what happened? And looking back, I think I definitely was just doing too much uh and not recovering. Um, and weirdly, you'd think I would have learned from that situation. Uh bless you. But I didn't. And I just continued to go boss the wall every single workout and get after it. And I think that's just something in my soul. I don't know. I just like crushing myself. Like, I'm just like, let's go, like, let's just see what we can do. Um, I mean, to be honest, that's a real reason why I still uh like the sport of power thing is because I just want to see what I can do. Um, if you had told me that I was gonna be deadlifting 700 pounds in my lifetime, I would have been like, you're insane. Uh, but I've done that. So now I'm like just trying to see what we can do with my body. Um, and I like pushing myself. I I mean this, like literally, I kind of just learned this when a surge, like so maybe like three within three years ago, so relatively recently. I just finally learned that I'm like, well, like you can't just like totally crush yourself every single workout, every single rep. Uh, because I would, you know, like there would be percentage work and powerlifting. We got some powerlifters listening, I'm sure. Uh, percentage work in like the 80% or 90%. Who knows where I was getting my percentages from? Not my actual strength, but I'd be I'd be like, you know, I I remember vividly, like many times, like I'd be I'd hit like my first rep, and everyone's like, okay, like, and I'm like, oh no, I got five more. Or like, and I'd get them. Like, that's a crazy thing. I'd get them, but they were like, I mean, now like look at they were like RP like 10, and then the next one was like RP 11. Yeah, like every single one. And anyways, I really I do wish that I would have learned that a lot earlier because the fact of the matter is, you guys, like it's okay to go hard in the gym. Um, and in my current split, I work out four days a week. I just started adding the fifth day back in, but it's very like it's an hour or less, it's pretty chill. It's more just to get some cardio because I do need to do some cardio good for the heart. Um, but yeah, I basically work out four days a week and I let myself get after it on those days, uh, because those are my training days. But then on the other days, I am pretty chill. I took a page out of Liz's book. She always said she's like, I'm recharging or I'm letting my body heal or whatever. And uh I'm like, it works. So yeah, that was something I wish I would have learned a lot earlier because like, or I guess implemented because like I knew it, like in my heart of hearts. I'm like, it's just probably like too much, but I'm like, I could do it, and uh, so yeah, I think that's something I wish I would have learned a little bit earlier.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

That's fair.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

What's your number two?

Nobody Tracks Your PRs Like You

SPEAKER_01 20:11

Number two. Oh, so I learned this as I was like rebuilding back through my not great period of training and life and meets, but basically I learned that no one actually knows what numbers you've hit, what your PRs are, and like not that they don't care, like that they don't like it's not like to be mean that they don't know, they just don't know. They have so many other things going on in their brain. First of all, it's not their job to know what you've ever hit, but like I just I still remember there was one meet I did where like I did okay at it. I can't honestly remember what meet it was. It might have been surge, and like I didn't do bad, like it was a a good meet. I think it was just the most recent surge, so whatever year I did that. Yeah, 2020. I think it's 2023 or no, like then the most recent one, the one that me and Lena did.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

That was not last year, so 2024. I know, wait, you just did one. I don't know. Yeah, you're right, 2025.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah, anyways, doesn't matter, but I think it was that one. I'm like, it was a good meet, like overall, like I had fun, like that was the goal. It was to go like perform well, like have a good time, whatever. So we did, and it was good. And I just remember everyone like afterwards, like, oh, like were those all PRs? And I was like, Oh, no, like not a single one was a PR, like not even close to a PR. But like, so like and everyone's just like, oh, really? Like, oh, but it was so good. Like, so it's just interesting to me, like hearing that and like seeing that. And because like, I mean, I know I've known that, but like also just like fully realizing that like genuinely no one cares what numbers you're hitting. Um, along with that, no one cares what you weigh at the meet to be hitting those numbers. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure you might have some hater somewhere that's like, oh, well, I weighed a pound less than you. So I'm better than you. But like, whatever. That's not the people that you need to care about. So, like, the people that truly care about you and support you. One, they don't care what weight you weigh when you're hitting these numbers on the platform. So, like cutting weight class, really, it's irrelevant. Um, and two, they don't know what numbers you're hitting anyways, or what numbers you've hit in the past. They're just proud of you for one, like getting up there and they want to be there to support you and because you're doing something that you enjoy, and they just want to see you have fun. Yeah. That's like the biggest thing that like that like I took out of it. Is like they want to see you do well, of course, and like have fun while you're doing it. So, like if And move well.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Like, that's another thing. Like, I've I think it's interesting. It's like as we've been in the sport longer, people like want to see you move away well. Like, it's really funny. Like, when you see, like, it's funny because I feel like sometimes like the general population, like people that don't powerlift per se, can like sometimes be a better judge of like RPE than powerlifters themselves because they're like they just don't know and they just go, Yeah, look good, or like, oh wow, that looked like a struggle. And like, low-key, it in a way, because of like the naivety, it's like actually probably pretty accurate because they just don't know, they're just like they're watching you squat, and you take like 10 seconds, they're like, dang, like, okay. That was hard. They watch you squat and you just spring right up, they're gonna be like, that was easy. And you know, to your point, like uh the weight doesn't like, and also there's kilos, so like people don't really like nobody knows what you're wasting. Um, so I feel like I feel like you're you know 100% right. And I think you should maybe share a little bit of the uh context of this and why that matters because you would be putting pressure on yourself.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Well, yeah, I used to care a lot about like what numbers I hit, if I was PRing, like if she was lifting enough to go do the meat, like and I would feel like I would like let people down if I wasn't able to lift a certain number, and it just like really I feel like got into my head. And once I kind of realized that like it doesn't matter, and like no one actually cares, and like I don't know, and then even at the last nationals, I had multiple people tell me, like, which I mean I did hit baby PRs, but that's not why. Like, I have failed plenty of lifts at nationals recently, but like I had fun, and everyone was just being like, Oh my gosh, like it's so good to see you smiling, like having fun, like this is so great for you, and like I was definitely not just smiling because I hit a PR, like it was just fun, like I was allowing myself to enjoy the meet, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

And I feel like that's just a bonus one for Liz.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_00 24:29

Allow yourself to enjoy it. Enjoy what you're doing, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

And then, like, I don't know, everyone was like, It's so cool to see you so happy. Like, I've never seen you smile so much at a meet. I'm like, Oh, yeah, like that's what I should be doing, right? Like, not obsessing or worrying about certain numbers or whatever. Like, do what you can do for the day and just have fun doing it. Like, yeah, we enjoy powerlifting, that's why we're doing this because it's fun, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

So, and at the end of the day, you're gonna like, I mean, you're gonna perform how you're gonna perform, like, which you are in control of that. However, like I mean, yeah, but like I mean, I'm my point is like you still need to show up. Like, I'm not saying to do nothing. Oh, yeah, however, what you're gonna do is what you're gonna do. So you either literally have two choices that you can make, have fun, or don't. And like you can make those choices regardless of what you lift or how it goes, how many lifts you end up hitting. And again, I'm not saying just like just do whatever. But like, yeah, of course you want to lock in, but like you may as well have fun while you're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Because like at Nationals, I went, okay, so technically I went six for nine, which is yeah, sounds like not a great meet. Um, but like one, I had so much fun, and two, a couple people afterwards, like I said that and they were like, Wait, you went six for nine? I'm like, yeah, I did. And like, I don't know, I didn't really I didn't let it bother me or I didn't let it get to me. And then I think because of that too, I was able to continue on and like just have a good time. Yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:50

Just good. Um, all right.

Time And Consistency Beat Talent

SPEAKER_00 25:52

So my third one and final one, and probably the most important one, is and oh wait, let me give you a timeline. I probably have I'm just learning this like last year. Okay. Um, so again, that's like 15 years-ish of time. And I'm telling you, if you are like a young person listening to this podcast, or you just started lifting, um, so like young in your lifting career, even if you're you know a little bit older, this is one of the most important things to understand. And that is you can accomplish amazing things that you never thought were possible uh with one thing, and that is time. Um time is really the biggest performance enhancer of all time. Um, and you just need to figure out a way to be able to train long enough, uh, stay healthy, um, stay engaged, make sure you're having fun while training, like we talked about last week. Um, and if you can do that and you can just keep going and be consistent, uh time will be on your side and you will accomplish things that you never thought possible. Um, I am a testament to that. I like for all three same. Yeah. For all three lifts, um like there's no like I would not I would not think that could do any of them. Like, of course, now that I'm getting closer, like I think I can do these things. That's why I set out a goal to do them. But like when I was younger, no way. Um, and I think a big thing of that is that you know, when I was younger, I was extremely impatient. Um, especially growing up. Like, I was just like, if it's not now, like I'm not doing it. And I think lifting really taught me lifting, also my wife, uh also owning a business, a lot of these things like taught me like the power of being patient and time. Because patience really is time, like it's kind of like in a way a synonym in my brain. Like, if you are patient, you have more time, you will be able to accomplish more. Period dot. Um, so I guess my thing is like I just if you're starting out, like I said, whether you're like actually younger or you just are starting out in your lifting career and it's your first you know, few years, uh, understanding that like the more time you give yourself, the more you're gonna be able to accomplish is probably one of the most important things that I wish I would have understood a lot earlier. Uh and like I said, I really like I kind of just like started understanding this again for me. Like, actions are a big deal for me. And like I pulled 705 finally for the first time, I was like, okay. I was like, well, that's crazy. Like, just in my brain, like I could never like uh even imagine that like when I was younger and then I did it. And I was like, all right, well, I guess you can really just kind of do like anything. You just gotta, you know, within reason, you just gotta be patient, you just gotta keep going. Um, so yeah, if you can figure out a way to give yourself more time, like I said, uh how that like actually applies to training is gonna be staying healthy, uh, keeping yourself engaged, making sure you're like having fun while you're doing it. Um, training with other people, honestly, can help you keep going longer. Um, listening to your body. Like certain days, like today, I did something weird on incline bench on Tuesday. Well, no. What I did was I did the hundreds after not doing them for like a year. And I don't know, felt something weird in my shoulder. And I figured, oh man, I just thought I just landed on Toby's tail. Uh I figured it would feel better on Saturday. It felt pretty good, but like didn't fully feel correct, right? And I wanted like to do a certain number on bench, but just wasn't feeling it. And but just in my brain, I'm like, I should do it. And that's like that old, like it's still in me. Like, I'm just like, I should just I should just do it.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

And I said no.

SPEAKER_00 29:38

And Liz is like, why? Like, and I'm like, oh, you're right. And that's the thing, you guys, there's always gonna be another session, you're always gonna be able to come back. Um if you want there to be, yeah, if you want there to be, good point.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Because I have heard people say, Oh, there's always another meet, like if you want there to be, yeah, like you have to make that choice, you have to be the one to decide if there's another meet and other sessions, and one session or one meet will be your last in someday.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

Yeah, um, so but yeah, on that note, you guys, um just understanding that like time is your friend. Uh, you just gotta figure out basically how to be friends with time, uh, which took me a long, long time to do. Ha ha ha. But and I'm sure I'm not saying I've fully figured it out, but I've definitely I've come a long way. Um, even just say my patience in general. Uh I don't know if Liz agrees, but I'm not gonna lie, I might be more patient than her at this point. I don't know. You're pretty patient though. Yeah. When you want to be. Yeah. I don't know. That's what I'm saying. I don't know. I feel like we've like moved off on each other. Like, I've my Liz's a little more impulsive than she used to be, but then I'm way, way more patient than I used to be. Yeah, probably. Yeah. All right, what's your last one?

Change Technique With A Real Plan

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Um, so it's kind of like a two-part thing.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

It's we only got time for one.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

No, they go together. It's they go together. So I feel like for me, when I started training, like I was very stuck in like this is how I'm doing something, because this is what I started doing. So, but sometimes that's not always the best. Like, you might need to change things as directed by a coach, ideally, um, or in conjunction with talking to your coach about it. Um, but so like my thing is like don't be afraid to change something. Cause I feel like some people get very stuck, which I did, was I I only low bar squat. This is all I do. This is where my hands go when I bench, this is where my feet go, this is how I deadlift, this is where my toes are pointing. And like they won't, and I'm talking like big change or little change. Like, some people are just like, no, you told me to do that three years ago, and that's what I've done every day for the last three years, and now you're telling me to do something else, but you told me to do this three years ago, so I can't change what you told me to do three years ago. Um, so my point with that is like don't be afraid of trying something new or changing something, um, especially under the direction of your coach. Now, if you do change something, like, well, first of all, don't keep changing it back and forth and back and forth and all over the place because then you're not gonna actually know if what you're changing is beneficial.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Yeah, it doesn't work. I tried. Yeah. Um doesn't work.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

Swear like every week you can't go full ADHD on the you like try a different bench grip like every week. And I'm like, I don't know how you're gonna ever figure out what's gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

I was like, I can lift this weight, I just gotta figure out how to get my body in the right position.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

It that's not it. Um, if you make a change, you gotta give it at least a few weeks because it might feel terrible the first couple weeks, and then it might feel great after that. You don't know, or it might just still feel terrible and it might not be the change you need to make, but you do need to give it time to like figure it out. But then uh I forgot where I was initially going with that statement of something. I don't know. Don't be afraid to try things though, I guess is where I was going with that.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

So, like conventional, for example. Oh god I've been talking to Liz about trying conventional for years, years. And here we are.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Yeah. Basically, I used to pull conventional, and I would still randomly pull conventional, but it was just never as strong as my sumo was because that's what I trained all the time. Until the other day.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

Like barely less strong.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

Okay. Until the other day when 341 stapled me to the floor with sumo.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

Ultimate betrayal.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

And now apparently I'm pulling conventional for a meat that I have in seven weeks.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

Oh, yeah. Plenty of time. That's like months.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

I changed my whole deadlift stance in eight eight weeks out from a meet. Follow along, see what I do. Um, the goal is to pull 400 conventional on a stiff bar.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

And 18 pounds.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

I mean, that would be like secondary, but like I'll just be pretty content with like a 402. Okay. Because who changes how they deadlift six eight weeks out from a meet?

SPEAKER_00 33:58

You do, and we've done it before. This is the thing.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

I have done this before. Like, I know, and it was literally like seven weeks out from a meet last time. We changed my whole deadlift. I don't remember. I we might have changed to sumo from conventional. I don't know, but it was also seven weeks out. I still remember. It was one of the first few meets I did, and it was fine, like it all turned out fine. So it'll be fine.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

So I like I like this thing. I'm gonna add on to Liz's thing since you lost her train of thought. I'm gonna pick it up. Um, here's the thing when you're when you're newer in your powerlifting journey, since you're no talking about powerlifting. So, like when you're newer in your powerlifting journey, I actually think this is the time to like try different things, like Liz said, within reason, talk with your coach, of course, actually stick with it for a few weeks if you do make a change. But this is a great time to establish basically like how you move in the squat bench and deadlift. So, like if you try conventional a few times and it's like awful, try sumo. If you try sumo a few times, like I see a lot of people, which is just crazy to me. Like, I see a lot of people, like they like uh excuse me, not the people, but like they're coaches that are like already like having people do sumo when they don't even know how to deadlift. And like sumo is a very technical movement, period. Dot. Um, like there are people that don't do it technically, but like if you want to get the most out of it and the best sumo pollers in the world, it is an extremely technical movement. And stupid. Yeah, you need to be generally strong first. And so I always would start people out with conventional, but let's just say you do conventional a few times and you're like, this is terrible. Try sumo. Um, you know, it's a little bit more flexible, you have a little bit more freedom when you're a younger lifter. Let's say you've been doing it for a few years. Now it becomes a little bit of a thing. Like it's like, okay, like, are we gonna switch from heels to flats? Okay, yes, we are. All right, let's give it a whirl. We're gonna try, you know, just our backdowns this week, or maybe we try warming up with them or something like this. Like just a little bit, just to see. And it feels good, okay. Let's try it for a few weeks, see how it goes. Um, and then when you do get to like Liz's level, so we'll call it five years plus uh in the same sport, you know, in the sport of power thing. Now you have to have a word that you didn't have to have before when you're making a change because Liz is so strong and so like advanced in her lifting career and her body is so adapted to moving weights a certain way. You have to have an important thing that you do not, I don't think, have to have when you're kind of like younger in your your palating career, and that is conviction. So, like as a coach, you need to like be confident in a change you're about to make, especially if uh the lifters will just say five plus years in the sport, because like more than likely, they don't need to make some drastic change, they just need to maybe they're off that day. Um, maybe you know they had something going on, maybe they didn't set something up correctly, maybe they're a little tight, whatever. Um, and like if you make a big change like I just made with Liz's deadlift, you gotta have some conviction. You better have a good reason and some good like evidence behind that. Um and if you're wondering what that evidence is in this case, so like the thing, the biggest thing for me for Liz is that unfortunately, for whatever reason, because that reason I actually don't know. It eludes me and Liz. Unfortunately, she's just not consistent with her sumo deadlock, she's not been able to be consistent. Some days it's crazy. I'm like, we're pulling 500 pounds, like this year. Other days, I'm like, like that one day, like literally, she got staple with like did it move off the floor. And I think the week before or two weeks before, she did 350 for seven seven. Yeah, same stance. So god, so dumb. So the thing is, is like in my mind, I'm like, well, like it's just not and I see it like affecting like her as an athlete, like the mental too much right now. So it's like, you know, and and she overall, you're I mean, you're as strong as you've ever been, period. Like, overall. So I can't have like this mental thing weighing down on her. So I'm like, well, like I know she's already good at conventional, I know she's already really strong. Uh I've watched her, like her conventional looks good, like there's nothing technically wrong with it. We've just never given it, I don't think, enough time to really like catch up to sumo. And therefore, because Liz has a little gym bro in her, even though she likes to pretend she doesn't, but she does, like, you want to lift big. So, like, if there's one thing that you lift less, and then you just literally switch to this and you lift more, it's like, I'm gonna do that.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

The most ironic part is I signed up for this meet to force myself to not let my ego take over and fix my sumo deadlift. And apparently now, instead of fixing my sumo deadlift, it has taught me that I have to pull conventional.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

Yeah, at least for now. And like this is the thing, like, like, though I do think you need to have like some conviction and good reasons behind it. Um, you know, at the end of the day, like I I mean, like Liz said, follow along, we'll see. Uh, I'm pretty sure this is I think she will literally be able to be the strongest, put together the strongest totals in her life ever with this change. But I might be wrong. So you just never know. That's the other thing. It's like, you know, as a coach, sometimes like even if you, you know, and by conviction, I mean like something, this is something I know, like, and I have a plan to like help implement it, um, and I'm confident in it. And then like we're gonna give it a few months, like we're gonna actually give it a good try, you know. Um, that's the other thing with a lifter like Liz's uh Liz's position. I mean, like us switching for like one week literally tells me nothing. Two weeks doesn't still really tell me much.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

Um told me a mistake I made, so now I have to fix it.

SPEAKER_00 39:27

This is true. Um I just fell over, you know, like we're really gonna have to like do this first block. Like, probably by the end of this first block, I'm pretty confident she's gonna be able to pull 500 pounds. I'm not kidding, with this stance. Um yeah, not this year, but like I literally think she could do it.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

I just that's wild.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

I'm telling you though, I'm gonna go and then we gotta wrap it up. But I'm telling you, like the reason is is that sumo, while it is stronger for Liz, like maybe right this second on certain days, sometimes I don't like I don't know. Is it stronger?

SPEAKER_01 39:57

I don't I don't know, because I failed through 41 and then it went and tripled through 52 and conventional the same day.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

The same day. So my god, I don't really know if it is, but whatever. In the past, it's been stronger, right? So, like, though that is the case, at the end of the day, like it's not a sumo deadlift competition. I think if it was, I'd probably still continue trying to figure out how to like optimize a sumo deadlift. However, it's a power ultimate competition. We got squats first, we got bench, and those are going fantastic. We're making no changes, we're just continuing to crush. Like she said, massive squat PRs, repers, single PRs, bench reprs, single PRs. Um, so that's two out of three right there. We just need the third one, which is deadlift. The thing is join the party. Yeah, the thing is that conventional has a lot of benefits, you guys. Like, again, I see a lot of people they start sumo. Unfortunately, I just think where they should just be doing conventional. Like, conventional has a ton of benefits. One of them being it puts a lot less pressure on your hips. If you are not used to having like a very wide, like, or you don't have that kind of mobility, Liz. Like, this is a tough position to be in really wide with your hips, and then like turn around and go really low with your hips for a squat. That's a lot of pressure on the hips. Um, so if we can eliminate some of that pressure by moving the feet in, we have conventional, we're nice and stacked. It's a lot more, whoa, it's a lot more quadgy, uh hamstring, like upper back. This is gonna be uh taking some of the pressure off of her hips, keeping them fresh for squats. I like this. Uh, number two, she has a really good stack position. Like some people, me, not good stack position. I'm like forward every single time. Like, it would be very difficult for me to like get my conventional words at my sumo versus Liz. Like, she's like I said, she's been within like 15 kilos, 10, 15 kilos of her best without training it. Asterisk without training it. Okay. Um, so imagine what we could do if we could train it. And then last but not least, being consistent is key. Like, I've talked about this this podcast, and we've talked about in the past, like, we need to string together like reps, weeks, months of like good sessions. And right now, the one, two, skip a few, that's just not working. Um, so even if these sessions are lighter weight, which they are right now, they're not, you know, that much lighter, but they're lighter than she was doing with sumo, or she has done with sumo, it's still better in my mind because we have it's a lot more predictable, it's a lot more predictable, so we can build on to it.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

Hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 42:21

Stay tuned.

SPEAKER_01 42:23

Seven weeks. We'll see.

SPEAKER_00 42:25

Yep, we'll see. It's gonna be good. Um, no, Liz is crushing it. So, yeah, I think we're gonna go ahead and wrap it up. Thank you guys so much for joining us for another episode.

Sumo Vs Conventional And Meet Prep

SPEAKER_00 42:34

Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this one. If you did, please remember to subscribe to the YouTube channel. We're at like 520 something uh subscribers. So obviously, the next goal is six hundred. Um, yep.

unknown 42:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

I was gonna say a thousand. Well, anyways, six hundred. So check us out on YouTube if you haven't already, please subscribe. It really helps us grow um and reach more people with our mission of redefining strong for everyone, you guys. That is our goal here at Fortis, and we always want to make sure we are helping you find your strong. Um, so yeah, subscribe to the podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to them, and we'll see you guys in the next episode, which will be two weeks. Two weeks. Because we have a seminar here next week at the studio. Well, this week when this launches, uh, with Trevor Drappe. So yeah, if you guys are signed up for that, we'll see you then. Uh otherwise, we'll see you guys in the next episode. Peace.

SPEAKER_01 43:22

Bye.