The Bender Continues
Everyday bros talking about how life goes!
The Bender Continues
Steaming Up Wellness
Ever wondered if your sauna mannerisms are steaming up tensions or if they're warmly welcomed? We're peeling back the layers on sauna etiquette, where I share a surprisingly enlightening encounter that had me sweating out more than just toxins. Plus, we debate the potentially sizzling idea of turning these hot spots into impromptu social hubs or even quirky podcast studios. Then, we muscle in on fitness, tackling the misconception that bodybuilders can't be as bendy as gymnasts. We highlight how feats of flexibility aren't just for elite athletes like Patrick Mahomes but are essential for everyday warriors aiming for peak performance and injury prevention. Our conversation stretches from the growing trend of manual stretching services to how simply fine-tuning your sleep routine can power up your health game as much as any supplement.
Next up, we're cracking the lid on the pill bottle of sleep supplements and pouring out some hard truths. Quality zzz's are your most potent ally in the quest for vitality, and we're not just dreaming – we'll share practical strategies to transform your slumber into a powerhouse of recovery. Whether you're a gym junkie or a brainwork buff, hear how a cozy bedtime ritual and screen-time savvy can maximize your cognitive and physical gains.
Rounding off this lively discussion, we take a serious turn as I recount my candid conversation with a doctor about the leafy 'greens' in my diet, proving that professional advice is more than just a side dish – it's the main course for maintaining robust health. Join us as we chew over the necessity of regular check-ups, and Ryan's healthy skepticism reminds us that not all advice is created equal. We invite you to lend your voice to this community brew, where sharing our health hacks becomes our collective stride toward wellbeing. So, let's raise a glass (of water, of course) to better health, and remember – the "Bender continues!
Good afternoon gents. How are we feeling?
Kenny Massa:All right.
James LaGamma:Feeling good. I feel like I got to move a little bit today, but I'm still feeling all right. I've been sitting for eight hours.
Jonny Strahl:James, you had to get your cold plunge in there, right.
James LaGamma:I missed it this morning. Tbc took priority.
Kenny Massa:Did you get a workout in this morning? We did. I saw Ryan's and Johnny's Got that alert on my watch.
James LaGamma:Nope TBC took priority.
Jonny Strahl:Back at it tomorrow. Back at it tomorrow. Speaking of which, I got a question for y'all that's very relevant to just working out cold plunge. So I was in the sauna this morning and a pretty, pretty unique conversation took place. One of the gentlemen asked is it acceptable to talk in the sauna, or should everyone be quiet, and is it more for meditation purposes? What do you guys think? Because it was 50 50 in the sauna who the hell deemed the.
Ryan Selimos:Is there a talking stick? Oh, you're in the sauna. You can't talk like who. Who said, who makes up that rule? It's a free. If I want to talk in the sauna, I'm going to talk in the damn sauna.
Kenny Massa:People are going into the sauna to decompress, to get shit out and chill. They're not going to fucking hang out.
Ryan Selimos:But if you're in there and you know someone or there's a conversation to be had, you're allowed to have a conversation. We're not just going to sit there in silence because we're going to piss off everyone else in there who's with their headphones on or meditating whatever. Let them do that individually.
Kenny Massa:Is there a level to it? Are you going to talk loud or are you going to whisper?
Ryan Selimos:Do you have headphones in? Does it matter what level?
Kenny Massa:Yeah, it fucking matters.
Ryan Selimos:If you're listening to music, it matters who I'm talking to in the sauna just depends on your level, depends on how much you're talking.
Kenny Massa:I do think that it can be aggravating at some points. I I think that if you're going to sit in a sauna, you're trying to just like relieve stress. You're in your zone. I, I don't know. Meditating would be like a whole other level. Some people do go in and meditate. I know a lot of people that go in and stretch, but I mean, for the most part it's a quiet zone.
Ryan Selimos:Alright, well, as you're doing your kumbaya meditation, just zone me in my conversation with not you out. I'm not talking to you or whoever. I'm talking to the person who's talking to me.
Kenny Massa:You're in a fucking eight by eight square fucking teak wood room. It's not.
Ryan Selimos:We could be having a great networking business conversation.
Kenny Massa:Take it outside. We're not bothering you, we're talking, take it outside.
Ryan Selimos:Take your meditation to the steam room. That's what I fucking say Sauna, we'll talk Steam room.
Kenny Massa:I came True, but I still think that I mean. What are you trying to fucking do a podcast in the sauna?
Jonny Strahl:That's a good idea. I don't think it's been done before. We could try it.
Ryan Selimos:Johnny, I thought, kenny and I steamrolled that what was your experience today? Because it sounds like it happened directly to you.
Jonny Strahl:It was 50-50. Listen, you start to realize it's the same people that are talking and having conversations in there, you know, talking about life lessons shoulda, coulda, woulda. Back in my day I was doing this, I was an all time. This all time that, um, I don't know. I think for me personally, I don't mind the conversations if I know who's in there, um, and if I'm trying to talk with you, ryan, we've been in there and we haven't said a freaking word to each other before we act like we don't even know each other.
Jonny Strahl:Sometimes when we're in that thing, I personally go in there more, for the most part a quiet zone. However, I don't mind the free consultation from a lawyer talking about real estate investments. That was good to overhear. I learned some things, um, but it was 50 50.
Kenny Massa:It was a split decision I agree, though I think the environment and who you're with in the sauna definitely is important, right like that's definitely a crucial factor to the chatter or no chatter discussion, but I think for the most part, people are going in there to get away.
Ryan Selimos:I mean, for me it's like if people are talking and it's an interesting conversation, like Johnny just mentioned lawyer talking about real estate advice I might turn off my headphones and chime in. Or if not chime in, because what can I bring to that conversation? Just listen and educate. But if it's two guys talking about whatever, I just keep my headphones on. They're not bothering me. So I guess it's how easily are you irritated?
Kenny Massa:No, I'm not saying I'm going to fucking flip my wig. If two people are talking in the fucking sauna, I'm not going to go eat shit. I'm not going to freak out on them.
Ryan Selimos:Kenneth, you're a man who sometimes it flips quick, so we're just making sure. Again, you've got to have some common courtesy.
Kenny Massa:Everyone's a fucking leg length away from getting kicked. You've just got to be a little bit respectful in the sauna. You can't just go fall bored doing a fucking TV show in the sauna while I'm trying to sit there and chill out. There's a little bit. There's a little bit of happy medium there, but again it's who you're with. If us four go in and do a fucking podcast in a sauna, I'm not sure how many people are going to come in and just come chill with us. It's a little bit different.
Ryan Selimos:Podcast in the sauna, where only towels are separating the men in there. What a fucking conversation.
James LaGamma:I'm pretty sure there's actually I think there's a podcast that does that. They run, work out, do something else and then they go in the sauna. That's how they end the session. But it's not like a podcast, I guess, but it's more like a vlog-style thing. But I saw Aaron Rodgers did it with this guy I can't remember who it was Came across it.
Kenny Massa:So you're like maybe Lewis Howes or something.
James LaGamma:Something. It's funny because it sounds like the opposite of what Kevin Hart was trying to do cold as balls. Do you remember that with Old Spice, where you do a cold punt and you have a conversation Sounds pretty much similar. Well, I guess I'll give my two cents. I don't go to a commercial gym. I don't have a sauna at home yet, I don't know. I guess I would use it for meditation if I'm doing it at home, because it's probably going to be a single person unit. But I do remember and recall that when Ryan and I were pretty avid workout partners in our early years after college, we were planning all of our trips in the sauna. So calendars were out, we were getting shit done.
Kenny Massa:I also think it depends on how the heat affects you, right, or?
James LaGamma:how hard your workout was or how hungover you are.
Kenny Massa:I think there's a lot of factors here. Can you fucking talk in the sauna? Is the question Like physically, can you do it?
Ryan Selimos:Let's talk about that, kenny. So it we're in a little box, eight by eight, as you mentioned, where you know you're an arm's length away from the other person. Now I got joe schmo next to me and he's just crushing all of us doing some yoga, really showing us how awesome he is. Does that offend you? Or because it's in silence, he can can do his yoga. He might take up more space. Or it is the people talking in the sauna. Like, are you putting that in the same category? Because it's in silence? Yoga and the sauna we're okay with.
James LaGamma:At a community sauna? I don't think so.
Kenny Massa:I'm not saying throw a fucking yoga mat out and take up the whole fucking facility here, but people do it.
James LaGamma:They have to have the common courtesy, though, to stop if other people are coming in and it's getting packed. That's just gym etiquette.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, I mean, come on, I'm going to say, bro, like fucking relax.
James LaGamma:If it's just you and this person, plenty of room, all right.
Kenny Massa:I'll like lounge out. I'll lay down on like the top fucking level. You do your fucking yoga session on the bottom. That's cool. It all depends. You got to play the scene, you got to let it, you got to look at your environment and feel it out. Okay.
Ryan Selimos:I can't do yoga regularly, so I wouldn't even attempt it in a sauna. But there are people who, just you know, yoga is a thing, dude. And then what if they were doing yoga while having a conversation, just to pick a gold star?
Kenny Massa:They're on a fucking phone call. Yeah, I don't know, I might go crazy.
James LaGamma:Dude. Yoga is no fucking joke, man. Flexibility is necessary. All right, it is. I've been an avid yogi lately. Yeah, I think that's what they call themselves. I have no idea. Yeah, just the Peloton app. But hey, you need that flexibility. You sit in a chair all day and you need to stretch out the muscles a little bit. But it doesn't go to say that you do yoga, you're stretching, but you also got to work on mobility here too. Okay, they're both pretty important.
Ryan Selimos:I don't know if you guys even work any stretching or mobility into your fitness routines, but you know, before my run today, as Kenny mentioned, I, I, I rolled out, I gave about a 20 second calf stretch on each one and then we went forward and we prayed to God the entire run that no muscle pulled and no muscle did pull. However, there have been many times where the calf muscle does go and then I tell myself, hey, Ryan, you probably should have stretched for more than a minute before going on that run.
Ryan Selimos:I don't know man, you know stretching can take time.
James LaGamma:It does.
Ryan Selimos:Like. A good stretch is 10, 15, 20 minutes.
James LaGamma:It promotes muscle longevity, though you won't get hurt.
Ryan Selimos:I'm not saying you're wrong, it's preventative measures, it's got its purpose.
James LaGamma:I mean, you remember right that before football practice we always had to go through a dynamic warm-up, by the way, where it's more of a moving stretch and not actually stretching out your hamstrings, bending over, touch your toes, kind of deal, which I don't know. I'm sure there's controversy, debate around which premise is better. I mean, I always hear the saying well, have you ever seen a lion stretch before it takes down a gazelle? Well, I think that that lion might be a little bit more mobile. So I think they can go ahead and just take it down or whatever the fuck they want. They're not sitting in a fucking chair looking at a computer screen and Excel sheets all fucking day. What?
Kenny Massa:Yeah, I think it depends on what you're after. You know, by nature I'm not flexible, so I spend a little bit more time on flexibility, but also because, like I think, as you get older range of motion, mobility becomes a little bit more difficult, so you need to concentrate on that a little bit more. So I think it all goes to the same place, which is like what are you looking for? And if you're looking for longer I guess longevity and less issues like joint issues and muscle issues, I think you need to do it all. It just takes time.
James LaGamma:I know for the longest time people have always said like flexibility was key and to make sure you stretch in the morning, and blah, blah, blah. It's only been recently that I've heard the term mobility kind of get thrown around a little bit more in the fitness world. I think it's important because you look at some guys, especially some football players too right, they're just big and yoked and you know they got a bunch of muscle that they're carrying and then people are like, ah, he's tight, you know that guy's not not flexible or mobile. There there's, you know you can't, you can't be big and flexible and mobile. It doesn't. That doesn't correlate, but I think that's starting to get proven wrong lately. Yeah, he's pretty big.
James LaGamma:He's pretty big on YouTube.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, I know who it is.
James LaGamma:Long pants, usually has his shirt off. He's jacked. Now he's actually doing bodybuilding he used to do. I can't remember what it's really called, but it's kind of like a parkour type deal A lot of acrobatics jumping around, flips and shit. Dude's athletic as fuck.
Ryan Selimos:Parkour.
James LaGamma:But he was the one that did the. He'll take like the. The barbell doesn't overhead press and then he's got his feet split out.
Jonny Strahl:Yeah.
James LaGamma:You've probably seen him before, ryan. You seem a little confused, but I think he's. He's one of those guys where, uh, he kind of proves you wrong. You can have size and be mobile and flexible.
Kenny Massa:Sorry, it's uncommon that with more size I think that the flexibility aspect dwindles. I think it's harder to get. Well, one range of motion is more difficult.
James LaGamma:Well, let me challenge you with this, Kenny. As for what Ryan said, it takes time to be flexible and all that stuff. How much time are you putting into building all that muscle versus being able to make that muscle flexible and stretchy? I think that's the difference. It's not that it's harder. It's just it takes more time.
Kenny Massa:Time. Yeah Well, you're looking at multiple different things.
James LaGamma:Yeah.
Kenny Massa:What are you spending time on? Building strength and power or becoming more flexible and mobile? It's a different workout and it could take you 45 minutes to do both of those workouts independently increase flexibility and mobility and then increase strength training. I mean two completely different workouts, but they both, you know, really do a lot to your body, but they're just driving in a different direction.
James LaGamma:So yeah, yeah, I think it's all about balance. We've talked about that so many times. There's so many different ways to work out and exercise. It's all about balance. You got to get cardio in. You got to get flexibility and mobility training in. You got to get weight training in. You got to get that zone two in. I mean saunas. It's just a lot, but I think it's important. There's been just a lot of debate about flexibility and mobility recently.
Ryan Selimos:The Netflix special, the Quarterback, that takes you through with Pat Mahomes and I forget I think the other one was Mariota the first season, mahomes. The footage will take you to his private workouts and he's got sessions that are just geared towards flexibility, mobility, and then it kind of talks about how he prepares his body for being contorted in different ways and and he went through some tough injuries with his ankles and just some of the falls he took where his body's in awkward positions. But they kind of in the episode kind of go back to all that training, all that time that he put in to get his body prepared for those moments. When it happened, you know he was able to make it through it. Maybe he got a small injury but he was able to bounce back and, you know, go on to win the super bowl in the year that it's reported. So there's 100 value to it for sure.
Kenny Massa:Just and I think that you have the opposite end of that. You have people like, uh, you know doing strongman or, um, you know the world's strongest man? Competitions or power lifting as a whole. You know, if you look at people like derrick poundstone back in the day, who's you know a really big dude?
Kenny Massa:but they concentrate on that's a yeah, I went to his gym and, uh, it's crazy. I mean, this guy squats 500 pounds like it's 135. Yeah, like nuts, right, I mean these guys are just animals at it, but they're they're not going through what my homes is going through on a day-to-day.
Kenny Massa:They're not getting tackled, they're not, uh, you know, going to uh to do any like crazy movements or whatnot. And then you have to look at it. It's like, well, you have to weigh that out. Are they going to focus on flexibility or building muscle? And there's only so much time in a day to continue to exercise.
James LaGamma:I also argue for the common man. It's important because you hear people throw their back out all the time and it's predominantly because their hips are tight Right. I mean that just that happened to me this past year and I ended up working on my hip mobility and I found out that my internal rotation on my hip was messed up, and so I worked hard at that and now I feel fantastic and actually, from the mobility perspective, I worked on making sure I can get deeper in squats, work on load that kind of stuff, and I'm telling you I feel fantastic. It's so much better. I feel so much more mobile. I don't hurt when I wake up as much. Fantastic, it's so much better. I feel so much more mobile. I don't hurt when I wake up as much.
Kenny Massa:Well, now they have these places that help you with manual stretching, which is a whole new, different thing of the flexibility and mobility world, which is, you're going to hear, like Stretch Labs. You've ever heard of that. There's another one out there too, stretch Zone I think it is. It's like franchise model stuff where you go to a massage therapist and whatnot as well, but they do manual stretching or physical therapist if you go to a sports physical therapist. But manual stretching is a whole new realm of things. They literally strap you to a table and stretch you and move you. Like they literally strap you to a table and stretch you and move you. It's pretty nuts, but it's picked up steam in and of itself in its own division of health and lifestyle and fitness and rejuvenation and longevity. So I'm not sure if you guys have ever been to them I've never been, but I've seen a lot of them and I've gotten manual stretch therapy from a physical therapist.
James LaGamma:Same.
Kenny Massa:But not from like a stretch labs or something of that sort.
James LaGamma:That's kind of what opened my eye to. It was when I went to physical therapy for my back. Yeah. A lot of good stuff.
Ryan Selimos:Yeah, I mean, with all this right we talked about, about in our podcast we talked about the average of the regular person and you know you got your responsibilities, you got your family, you got work and then trying to keep your fitness up, like, but we only have those 24 hours. So it all comes back to time and the one thing, the one constant that I always look back to is things I can cut. I feel like I can cut down on sleep, like that's where I can maybe gain some hours back for more time in the day. And you know everyone's different, whether you're sleeping four or five up to eight hours. You know what's kind of how do you guys approach that? Johnny, just from a sleep standpoint.
Ryan Selimos:What's that sweet, what's that recipe for you know number of hours that you all need where you're going to be productive? Because for me it's like I'm a night owl, unfortunately. But then, oh, I want to get up early, I want to go to the gym, so I go to bed at midnight and then I wake up at 5 o'clock and that might work Monday, Tuesday. By Wednesday, my body just says no and I fall asleep on the couch at 8 pm and then I lose the night. So I think five hours is a good sweet spot for me, but then my body reacts and says no. So what's your hours where you feel like, hey, this is enough, where I feel fresh the next day, but also I'm getting some time back? Or maybe you're not. Maybe you're fully committed to a strong sleep schedule, more like eight hours.
Kenny Massa:I think it's different for everybody. I've looked into this a lot and you could wear those wearables now, like the Oura Ring or what's the band that you have, john the Whoop Band. Whoop there, it is Sorry. All of these things that allow you to track your sleep a little bit more aggressively and tell you you're so uncalled. They call it a readiness score, right. So the readiness score allows you to see if your body is fully healed, based off of your recovery timeline and sleep and nutrition and fitness levels and all the shit that goes into living this healthy lifestyle.
Kenny Massa:But I think it's different for everybody, I think men and women, depending on where they are, the age in their life. I think that's a factor. I think men and women have different factors. I think where you live has a factor. I think what you consume has a factor. So I think everyone is so different. But I think that one thing that everybody has in common is exactly what you said, ryan, which is you can get this five-hour streak for a few days, but then it gets all fucked up and you crash and then that's out of the window, right? So it's about keeping a consistent program and trying to build that, which is the most difficult thing and I think that's what's the hardest for everybody. But to answer your question, for me it's six and a half hours so specific, but it should be specific.
James LaGamma:from what I understand, I feel like everything like from all the sleep studies and stuff that I've read up on and whatnot there is a definite sweet spot for people.
Kenny Massa:I've tried to do like five. I know someone that sleeps in two-hour increments. Isn't that crazy? All the time that might be you too, john, but like legit, it's crazy.
Ryan Selimos:You just, you know you look at your day to day. It's like, okay, you got work right. You want to have at least a little downtime to spend, whether it's with your significant other, it's with your spouse during the week. We all have things that we have to do post work. In the evening to try to be productive, whether it's just shit around the house or it's recorded a podcast, whatever. Then you want to live the healthy lifestyle. That's an hour and a half minimum. What? Maybe two hours if you're adding sauna, steam room. You're talking about commuting to and from work, like all this stuff adds up. So for me, the thing I always try to cut out is sleep. Um, sometimes it's successful, sometimes it's not. Is that? Is that y'all's first go-to is oh, I know I can get some time back, let me cut out sleep. Or maybe, kenny, you're six and a half hours, so you have to cut something else out because you know you need those six and a half hours, like I guess, what's your, what's y'all's strategy with that?
Kenny Massa:I heard this thing one time by Stan Efferding. Do you guys know who Stan Efferding is? The rhino Stan Efferding, I would say, like a power builder, like fucking lifts. Like a power lifter performs and looks like a bodybuilder Amazing career in the fitness space. But Stan Efferding does a lot. He was the creator of the vertical diet. If you've ever heard of that, I believe it was him this.
Kenny Massa:One time he said if you're going to go take creatine right, it's a very well-known supplement that a lot of people, men and women take If you're going to go take creatine but you're not going to go get seven, eight hours of sleep, you're doing it wrong. It's completely worthless. You're not focusing on the right thing, and I believe it was Stan Epping that said that. But why are you going to take supplements, adding all of these nutritional things to your diet, changing the way that you consume all of this different shit, but you're not going to focus on the one thing that is the easiest, which is just getting another hour of sleep or adjusting your sleep schedule, which his meaning behind all this was that it was just so important to get the right amount of sleep because your body needs it in order to grow. If you look at a baby, why do they sleep so much? Well, they're doubling in size, like by months, right, so it's crucial to have sleep. Although I think about cutting sleep as much as possible, it's just not sustainable yeah johnny, how does someone?
James LaGamma:operate with no sleep.
Kenny Massa:It ages you too A lot.
Jonny Strahl:No, no sleep expert over here. Here's what I'll say and I'll I'll put my two cents in, not that my my opinion matters or my information or research that I've done, because there's not much to it. I think what's most important when it comes to getting sleep whether it be five hours, whether it be eight hours, whether it be six hours it's one that sleep environment, where are you sleeping? The consistency and then how much are you limiting variables of like screen time huge thing, right, there's studies that show like screen time can actually really create bad efficiency in your sleep patterns. You're talking about something I've really focused on and this is the single reason why I think my sleep has improved is a consistent bedtime routine where I've never had that prior, which has resulted in my sleep efficiency being longer and more consistent. So when I would get quote unquote five hours of sleep, I'd only really be averaging three and a half hours. Now, when I sleep, it's more consistent and it's straight through. Do I have to get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom? Per usual? Old man syndrome, absolutely. Which is also a good thing, apparently, because it means you're drinking enough water and then managing stress, like if you're able to try to just combobulate that and, freaking, throw it away. I think that's the single one most influential thing in my sleep patterns being a little bit better.
Jonny Strahl:I don't like to overcomplicate things, I think just from like a scientific research, it's information overload. You know, there was like a what's his name had, like Dr Walker, on his podcast, and he was talking about how eight hours is the exact amount and this is the reason for it. And then there was a contradiction from another doctor saying that's actually not true. It's if you get two hours of sleep consecutively, then break it down. Yada, yada, yada. It sucks. I wish I could sleep more, but also I don't choose not to sleep anymore. That's a difference and I think if you're choosing not to sleep or you're sacrificing sleep, 24 hours in a day doesn't sound like a lot, but it is a lot of hours in a day if you're being efficient with your time. My honest opinion.
James LaGamma:Bam Mic drop for sure I agree. I agree with both you and Kenny. You kind of made the same points. Obviously, sleep's the most important aspect of recovery. I mean, there's plenty of studies showing how crazy people get when they don't sleep. They force them to not sleep and they get.
James LaGamma:It gets fucking weird too. Um, your mental state goes wild, your clarity of thinking is gone and and that's that's an extreme sense for these kind of studies. But it definitely happens, in the small amount of time that you said, to basically sacrifice sleep. It's not important. I think the best protocol is if you really do need to sacrifice sleep, only do it for maybe a day. I would argue, don't do it for two days. At least break it up. If you have a plan for the week. That usually works out for me to where I can catch back up. My body can kind of recalibrate. But ultimately you set the routine. That's kind of what Johnny's pointing out. Right, you set the routine.
James LaGamma:There's a lot of science, different things, tips and tricks that you can do. Don't get the blue light type. I think they call them cool light bulbs. You can get the warm light bulbs. Don't turn on the blue lights. Turn on the kind of like yellower lights. That helps Get sunset. That helps Try to wind down. Don't be doing too much rigorous stuff. Reading helps a lot for a lot of people, but ultimately sleep's probably one of the most important things after all the stuff that you do during the day. It actually even to this to an extent of what comes back to mental capacity. It helps you retain information. So you work real hard, do all this stuff, especially if you're trying to get certifications, you're trying to get your degrees, you're trying to do this, that and the other. You will not remember anything if you do not get quality sleep. Fact. Thank you, andrew Huberman.
Jonny Strahl:Well, I don't know about you guys, but I feel like in the generation of like being able to go on a YouTube or listen to a podcast somewhere, I feel like sleep has become more of a sexy thing to talk about. I don't know if I only believe that or if that's my perception, but I feel like there's just so much more information around sleep versus prior. It's like work hard and figure it out, right, yeah.
Kenny Massa:I agree completely, and we just have access to science and medicine so much more now than ever. So I mean I actually I can turn this into a question and to pose to you guys has medicine not even as a whole, because I think that there's good and bad sides of this so has medicine aesthetics changed the way that we view fitness? So has medicine aesthetics changed the way that we view fitness? I think, in this light, like, yeah, I think there is so much science on sleep and it is a sexy term and it should be a more thorough, strategic part of your schedule. Going to bed at the same time, waking up at the same time, getting sunlight, all of these things now which we have more access to, is crucial to who you are and to being able to actually perform at your peak, and I think that's what the game is. It's like how do I perform at my optimal self? And by having a sleep schedule. I think it's part of that.
James LaGamma:Dude, I 100% agree. I've got one specific comment to make on this. I used to be on blood pressure medication. No longer on, it had it for.
Ryan Selimos:Hey, that's enough.
Kenny Massa:That is no, that's a huge thing, because there's a lot of people in this.
James LaGamma:It's huge.
Kenny Massa:But why? What did you do?
James LaGamma:A lot, a lot. So I worked with my doctors on this. We tracked a lot of it. To make a long story short, when I did break my neck, they think that I triggered pre-hypertension back then. So I've had this since college, so a little over 10 years Went through a couple of different, very low-dosed blood pressure medication.
James LaGamma:First thing that changed was once I was done with college, started making more money. I could afford to eat better. So diet right Now it wasn't 100% all the way there. Then exercise became a thing. Right. Put too much stress on the body as far as building muscle. Found out that if I do some more cardio, keep the heart rate up. That helped a lot.
James LaGamma:But ultimately it was the continued effort in my diet. Doing the greens now right, that's a big thing that's been going around. Greens helped me a lot. My entire blood panel is so much better just because of taking that stuff. Literally a night and day difference over three months.
James LaGamma:A lot of the stuff from Andrew Huberman where I'm getting more hydration during the day first thing in the day, getting the organs all watered up. I mean that's huge to just kickstart your body. Get rid of I think it's adenosine or whatever your body makes when you're sleeping and you have to like wash that shit out. So I mean cold punches help with that, sunlight helps with that, working out in the morning helps with that. There's different factors that can get those things through and make you more optimal and perform better. Better clarity, better blood flow, better recovery Overall has made my body not need that anymore. It now is able to run efficiently, do the things that I'm asking of it to do. I still push it, but I truly believe it's all the information I've gotten from medical professionals over the years that has helped me put protocols and programs into my daily life that have helped drastically.
Kenny Massa:On top of that, I think that you just mentioned something that I think is key as well, which is the greens has helped better your blood panel. So you religiously go get a blood test and observe all of your metrics that align with a better health right.
Kenny Massa:And I think going to get regular blood work is important because it's all a science right, thresholds these days where we know that a minimum and a maximum and an average value of where your human body should be for the amount of iron, for the amount of magnesium, calcium, like up in hundreds of other, coming from hormone levels to micro and macro nutrient levels. So going to get these regular blood work panels done is a really good way to measure your internal health, the things that you cannot see. But on top of that, you just recently went and done another test.
James LaGamma:The DEXA scan.
Kenny Massa:The DEXA scan, which is a whole other level. If you want to talk about that, I think that that's a really cool way to observe how health and medicine and these advancements are pretty beneficial.
James LaGamma:A hundred percent. I think what this has shed some light on for me is that I really do need to have a hard look at my diet. One of the so when it came to the greens, my doctor honestly flipped out. She couldn't believe that my blood panel was it. She said it changed night and day from from my previous blood work to this one, and I think it was. I was doing blood work, I think, every six months to maybe a year. Um, so that was the first shock. Um, and then so again, continuing that effort for diet.
James LaGamma:The dexa scan kind of showed me I'm sitting at around 23% body fat. I weigh about 213. Again, metrics just giving some more information. I want to go down to 15%. So I know that there's a way I can eat cleaner. I don't need to be eating large sums of Chipotle and public subs and all these other things. I need to eat smarter.
James LaGamma:There are healthy carbs that help you with energy, putting more focus on protein and macros. So I'm going to go the macro route and try this out with the DEXA scan and two goals. It's not just the 23.4% body fat that I want to reduce to 15%, but there's also this other thing I learned through this process was visceral fat, and that's something that you want to keep low, so mine's a little bit high. So, again, these metrics are helping me scale and plan and see what works and what doesn't work, which is another thing. Right, everyone's different. Not everything's going to work. I might be preaching greens, but that might not work for everybody. So there is that you got to always consult with a medical professional before doing any of these things, you know.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, agreed.
Ryan Selimos:Cool 15% body fat. Is that because that's your favorite?
James LaGamma:No, that's that's. That's good. No, it's actually what is recommended through the DEXA scan, Based off my body size, so bone density.
Kenny Massa:I didn't know. They gave you a recommendation on that.
James LaGamma:Yep Age. All that stuff and sex comes down to it too, because male and female way different on how they carry body fat, of course, of course. Male and female way different on how they carry body fat, of course. Have you guys done anything Kind of like some of the shit that I've been throwing out there?
Jonny Strahl:I mean, I know, Johnny, I think you do greens too, right?
James LaGamma:Yeah, I don't think, Ryan you've gotten on the greens yet.
Jonny Strahl:I actually. It was funny enough because I get my blood work done every three months. Now it's eye-opening. As someone who is a very firm believer in being more simple about things can only benefit you more. As someone who lost weight, has gained weight, has changed very simple eating habits. I've seen success by just being very basic about things. Just don't eat like crap. Lower your portions, Eat a little bit more protein, Stay away from the bad stuff and exercise and move your body a little bit.
Jonny Strahl:You'll lose some weight and you'll be much healthier. However, on your question around the greens, I actually met with my doctor a couple of months ago and I was like hey, like, and I'm not, I forgot the name brand but he literally did a search check and just looked at all the crap in the greens. It was like this is why you're feeling the way you want to get rid of it now and I'm like interesting, um, and he kind of broke down a lot of the variables and the factors and how there's too much of this and this is why it's offsetting the way your body is and what it really needs, to be appropriate and efficient to X, y and Z, which was really cool. And again, you only get that if you go to an expert and someone who's a professional in what they do. But I actually had him look into AG1, right, because you see the advertisements and it was interesting. He never recommended it, but he actually never heard of it either, which I was kind of very unique to hear.
Jonny Strahl:So we looked into it, unbiased approach and he goes no, this is actually pretty good. I'm actually very surprised because he's like where did you find it? And I was like, dude, you go on youtube and it's all over the place like, yeah, it's like watch something there.
Jonny Strahl:There, it's not false. It's actually pretty good, like there's ones that are better out there for you, but ag1 could be a lot worse. Let's just say that um, which was very interesting, and one little research on his expert level changed the way I felt from a gut health perspective.
James LaGamma:That's awesome, that's huge. I mean there are a lot out there and I think that's the big checkpoint, right, I decided to go for the greens on my own and then I consulted with the doctor after the fact, which I don't know if that was right or wrong, but I really went from a financial standpoint because I wanted the greens, I wanted to try them out, I wanted to see how they went. However, I didn't want to spend AG1 prices.
James LaGamma:So, I started off with this company called Enzo, which now got bought out by Live it Up. They're still, I think, pretty high quality ingredients is kind of what you got to look into, but not all of them are the same. I know Huel is a big one that I think is going around social media recently. But yeah, I just want to throw out which one I was doing, which one I was consuming, because I know a lot of people are looking into that stuff. But, ryan, you put up a goose egg, huh.
Ryan Selimos:Yeah, no greens for me, no blood work for me. I couldn't tell you the last time I got a physical or got my blood drawn, not saying that's good, just I keep it extremely simple. Like johnny said, whether that works or not. I try to eat healthy monday to friday afternoon and then I splurge a little bit more friday evening to sunday afternoon and I hey, they say I look like I'm 20. I've never seen Jordan play, so you know it's working pretty well thus far.
Kenny Massa:No need to worry.
James LaGamma:Yeah, man, that tank top's really doing you some justice.
Ryan Selimos:I need to sleep a couple extra hours. That's right, man. Look how swole I am, because you know I get a lot of sleep. So obviously the body has recovered for sure, unbelievable.
James LaGamma:I get a lot of sleep, so obviously the body has recovered. No doctor, huh, we gotta. We gotta change that around, ryan.
Ryan Selimos:I, my, my company used to do physicals on site, so I got my physical every year at work. They would draw blood then and then the pandemic they stopped that I haven't. I have not had the need to knock on wood very much right now, saying that I probably will and should at some point, but to this day I haven't had my blood drawn in four years. So we're fine.
James LaGamma:Well, you could think you're fine.
Jonny Strahl:That's the fact. To James' point like that's the unique thing, Like for me until this past year, like I never really point, like that's that's the unique thing, like for me until this past year, like I never really took any of that serious, unfortunately. But then you actually peel back and you're like, damn, just a couple of simple fixes from a professional can actually change or, most important, be preventative future state. Like that's the biggest thing for me. Um, and I think all of us right, like that's why we're doing this for betterment um 100.
James LaGamma:Yeah, yeah, dude, go see a doctor bro yeah, I mean that that kind of happened to me with the blood pressure thing. Right I was, I thought I was fine, while taking the pill didn't bother me, I felt good, it is what it is. I feel so much fucking better than when I you know, I started seeing my doctor. We started working on this stuff, um, you know, first it was vitamin d pills. Uh, because I mean that's just shit, I just don't get. I don't get enough sunlight and all that crap, um, which is just hard for a lot of amer. But the other one was actually fish oils. That was the next one that we started doing and it's just, it's these little things for low cholesterol. I believe was for the fish oils to help that panel. It's just those little things that it might feel incremental but it makes a huge difference, huge difference.
James LaGamma:Now I know a lot of people are scared of doctors. I know that's not the reason why you're not going, it's. It's more of a I feel good, why do I gotta go? Kind of thing. Um, well, I go find out something's wrong when nothing ain't wrong something's wrong.
James LaGamma:Yeah, and that's. The other side is, sometimes these doctors could be a crock of shit, yeah.
Ryan Selimos:Yeah, that's right. Which?
James LaGamma:I think it makes.
Ryan Selimos:It makes a point to find a good doctor.
James LaGamma:I found a good doctor. I asked around and that's why I like. I like my doctor. She's fantastic.
Jonny Strahl:But anyways, that's a good point, that's a great point.
Kenny Massa:Well, I think it's important to get checked as a whole or just keep up with the blood tests and the frequent stuff that could potentially lead to you just having more awareness of your body and your performance. And again, what you do not measure, you cannot grow. So if you're looking to grow in any way, it's important to measure it, and how you do that these days is a blood test or a DEXA scan or anything else is out there, because there's a lot of shit.
James LaGamma:A lot of shit.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, cool. Well, I think we hit the nail on the head. So point is, go get a blood test, just kidding, but let us know if you do any other, if you've taken any other tests that you think are really beneficial, because there's a lot of stuff out there. I mean it can be as basic as a very simple I would say a very simple physical test like a physical analysis. I've seen those where it's just like observing mobility in different ways or flexibility in different ways, which can be done at home by yourself, with no professional or as in-depth as a DEXA scan. There's tons of other more in-depth processes than even a DEXA scan.
Kenny Massa:Or even the protocols that you've put into place, kind of like Johnny said with his, you know, nighttime routine. Yeah, those are awesome to evaluate as well, because very beneficial to one person that might just be looking for the exact statement that you throw into the comments. So we're looking forward to seeing what you have to say and, yeah, we'd love to hear it. But until then, Bender continues.
Ryan Selimos:Bender continues, bender continues.
James LaGamma:Bender continues, bender continues, bender continues, bender continues Cool.
