Practice English Speaking&Listening with: My 11 Lessons For Gym Workout & Fitness Training Beginners After 25 Years

- Hello everybody.

(clears throat)

Today's video is about my journey in the fitness world.

So when some of you guys ask me to put that down at first

I thought, its so boring, who cares about my journey.

But then I realized that through my journey

I made every mistake in the book so hopefully

you guys won't repeat them.

Hey Phillip, thanks for watching.

My team mate are watching that's quite an honor.

Ah so, my journey comes with lifting started.

My dad was in the attic watching T.V.

And I remember this to this day

it was, Arnold Schwarzenegger the terminator.

It's the scene where you see him topless

I was like, what is this? How do I get in?

So I bugged the living crap out of my dad

until he bought me a gym membership.

I live in a very small town there was very much to do.

And I started training

sort of traditional body building routine.

I had um, very healthy upbringing.

Like both parents were into into sports.

Um, so there was always healthy food.

And uh, my mother was actually

the main supporter and I started lifting.

At that time I mostly lifted for swimming.

To swim faster, but to also look better.

So my mother would always say like,

"oh my goodness you look awful

with all these muscles, never get a girlfriend",

But then she was, she said,

"do you need more chicken? Do you need more quark?"

Which is sorta like a cottage cheese in Germany.

So, the first lesson you can learn from that

is you need a supportive environment.

That the first thing you want.

If you don't have a supportive environment

it is very difficult. And types of training

what we did, be eh basically train everything

that big book of Arnold Schwarzenegger

Encyclopedia of bodybuilding set.

That that was all by, there was no information

that we we di-did every workout in that book.

So we did, we did two a day workouts. And...

we got some games. But you know at the time

we did quite know what steroids so that, you know

can recover from training twice a day.

But in high school I had a pretty decent physique

I think so granted you know, small fish.

I mean big fish small pond. Then I went to

University uh, on a swimming scholarship

and took training and dieting to the next level.

Um, I experimented more with hippo

more supplements, mostly mostly creatine.

Oh by the way that reminds me the first supplement

I have ever bought was crash weight gain.

Which if any of you guys remember that

that was a long time ago. My mother threw that out

cause she though it was steroids.

(laughs) So that cost me 50 Marks at that time

which was a huge money. So I dumpster dived

and got that thing back out. That's when I wondered

why it tasted so good. Later I realized that

crash weight gain was a really expensive Nesquik.

So it was just like a lot of sugar and some shity protein.

But it tastes so good. So than as I went to University.

I, uh you know the training that most sophisticated

was more in sort of like Olympic lifts for the start

and a the turn and I..I..I was pretty strong

I had you know like some sorta like 225 bench 315 squat.

But, I didn't have much mass so like if,

I actually found a photo. If I can pull it up here

you guys will see um

yeah

so this is me at a very young age.

Can you guys see this okay?

So you can see I had uh some muscles

but you know nothing like body building like so,

which is lesson number two,

what are you training for?

That, that's important like if you train for swimming

you look a certain way if you train for

body you look another way. So then I stopped swimming

and I really focused on lifting weights.

And at the time I was convinced like everybody else

there was a heart gain um, so I trained very little.

Like I did the Mike Mentzer the 10 minutes.

(laughs) Phillip don't post that.

I, I got I trained like ten minutes

um, three times a week. I trained the 5 by 5 because

I felt the need to recover more.

That was completely wrong, for my body.

My body has small joints and is mostly endurance

type fibers type one. So for me to train like a powerlifter

heavy because I thought everybody

has to train heavy to get huge.

Didn't work at all, it did work at all I just

got fat. Um, were about, eh or I started

body building after swimming. So uh,

in swimming they just built my strength base and then when

I started swimming I really got into body building.

So I was like twenty-six, twenty-seven or eight.

Um, the best lesson in number three,

like you have to train for your body type.

And not just because something is cool

like you know everybody was doing the Mike Mentzer stuff

and I thought that must be great.

And I wasted two years and I got nothing out of it.

You know, lesson learned. Then I started working

I got a real job in finance and uh, I trained

and I got pretty good physic kind of like a classic

body builder routine. How'd I find my body type,

trial and error. I mean realistically

I should have not been an idiot.

Its a good question Joe, he's asking,

how would I find out about my body type?

Just by looking I have small joints. I'm not a powerlifter.

Like stop training like a powerlifter.

It's just not me doesn't doesn't make since.

So then I decided as I became a personal trainer

to do my first body building show.

And that was a really good idea

because I left my tiny gym, I had the best physic

and I realized that I really sucked.

Like I did the first posing shot

and really, you know didn't go well.

So, at the time the keto diets were cool

so I jumped on that. Looked and felt like crap.

So then, found another coach and

He put me on high carb low fat diet.

Which worked much much better for me.

Which is the next lesson to be learned.

You have to eat what works for you.

Not just because something is on Vogue.

Generally speaking, the bigger, and leaner, and more muscle

you have the more calories you can eat.

The heavier and the most sedentary and

the more body fat you are having the less carbs you eat.

SO during my first show. Uh, which was a long time ago.

We can blow this up a little bit.

Uh, so that was me like learning how to pose.

And do you see the gentleman in the in the back ground.

Um, there is a there's two lessons

to be learned in my opinion. Uh, the first lesson being,

if you train with weights even if you don't compete

I think its highly beneficial if you learn how to pose.

Posing will increase your mind muscle connection

and it will give you better results in your trainings.

Even if you have no ambitions to go on stage ever.

Um, I would highly recommend that you pick a posing class

or just goof around with it watch some videos.

Especially, for the back of the hamstrings

it will make a huge difference. So that's one.

The gentelman you there uh, Chris Kovach,

Chris, my he was a good friend. He was a great guy.

And um, he shot himself two years ago.

He was suffering from depression and uh, the lesson

that you can learn from that is that

Um, muscles don't make you happy or they not to save you.

So if you getting into this sport because your thinking

there's gonna be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I got news for you, it's not. Okay so it's its a great hobby

but whatever issues you are dealing with

you have to work on. So that's a more sober lesson.

So that was my first show. Um, I did quit well.

Um, the issue was I entered a non-tested show

so everybody was on roids and 30 pounds bigger then I am

so, I was like whoa that's interesting.

So from there on I decided I need to be bigger, right.

So I started bulking. And uh, that was

the next mistake I made.

So I believed that

after bodybuilding show after that you can eat

what ever you want and you'd just grow magical muscle.

Let me tell you, you do not. I got fat, okay.

So it was July.

I was 250, 250? Yeah

was reasonably strong but I was fat and sweaty.

So I dieted back down for the four shows.

And ended up exactly where I was the year before.

So the 20 years, 20 weeks of eating 20 weeks of dieting

yielded exactly fuck all. Okay.

Which means that for natural athletes long bulking

and cutting cycles don't work.

They don't the the nutritional efficiency is not there.

Um, don't do that, okay.

Then I took 2 years to improve my physic.

And uh, assigned my first modeling contract.

You can see some of the results here. Okay.

So can you see these okay? Everybody?

There's a sort of a glare.

So the lesson from that is stuff takes time okay.

So it took me 2 years to improve that much.

So you can't just expect like,

oh I'm going to take like 3 months

and put on a physic so its like you know I might.

I was also already in my 30's so is stuff

just moves a little bit slower.

From there on I had a really good physic

and I had a good business. And the issue was that

I started believing my own B.S.

So I became very self centered.

Very you know, almost drunk on myself

I mean it was so bad that my my screen saver was me, right.

SO, I show you I actually found this

this is so embarrassing. But I had

this picture on my phone back then, k.

So, this just being generally a douche bag

at the time does, really, no uh.

Yeah Marshall, I'm telling you like real advice

this video is like all out I'm telling you

how it really was. Um, you know I made a lot of

these questionable decisions and ended up in

the psyche ward. Like uh, bipolar episode total melt down.

Narcissistic genesis and Nicole absolutely.

And uh, it was this was, like I hit rock bottom

okay so I financially in terms of my relationship

with my family, Uh my business everything was nuked

nuked you name it, okay. So then

my daughter was born and I decided I just had to

become a better person like or like more

functional person whatever. SO I was at the time

on Seroquel, which is like a drug for

I don't know what it's for its a horrible drug

it makes you crave junk food that's my point.

I was craving junk food and I blew up to 260.

So I said, ok this is it so I called my therapy lady

you gotta get me off this drug.

I joined a new gym because the old gym I was noticing a bit

like bad behavior my part and what not.

And I found out that the um, Musclemania was

hell, literally one street down from where I live

so, I joined the Musclemania and I killed myself.

I hope I have a photo. Yeah I do.

Um, I trained like you know twice a day I was on the

fish, rice, and green bean diet 5 times a week.

And um, I did it I took the weight off.

Um, this is what I look like 2 days before

the Musclemania. Mind you this is 4 months

out of the psych ward okay so four months

I was really locked up. And uh, I won.

I won the Musclemania, okay.

Uh, Why am I telling you this?

I was, who cares. I'm telling you this because

you need a reason to live, okay.

And the reason to live can not be you it can be

it must be that something greater that motivates

you and you can't be you can't its just

you can't be a douche, right? okay.

So then, um the next year I was in

safer waters I was a father so I was hopefully,

you know a bit more contained, whatever.

And I uh, I could be it again I won

the a I won Musclemania the a nationals.

I have a photo here. Its a bit small.

Sorry guys but I'm doing the best we can on that.

And from there on um I decided to

take a breather with competing. I started more writing

and modeling.

That's a good question

um Josh, did it make a difference in swim

of cutting back on motivation?

I think self discipline and motivation as a swimmer

um, definitely helped me because I had many years

where I didn't improve in swimming and um,

I definitely think that um, made a difference

in terms of the outcome for sure. Good question.

So I work more with uh with some magazines.

Uh, I think I did Muslim Fitness.

Like here's one of the one of the photos.

And I sorta found my my my rhythm in the sense

that I knew I needed volume training.

I was more centered as a person and my family.

And I realized I need periodization and

because I was not a self centered douche anymore

I was actually okay with reaching out with

other coaches and to have coaches and say like

oh wh-what you got, how can you help me?

And uh, also helping others. So here you can see

its really quite interesting.

So there's 7 years

between the photos in terms of progress.

Okay, so this was on the keto diet. Total disaster.

And then, things got better.

So

I was able to help other

and also myself. And then

last year I turned 40 and uh, you know the summers

night I really got the bargain. I wanted to show like

okay how good can I look when I'm 40.

So I took uh, I took photos but uh, Jimmy Mirto.

Jimmy if your watching you're a good man.

And I came like this. I know this is sorta like

hardcore body building look but that's just really what

what I I wanted for myself. So the lessons you

can learn from that is that the boring stuff works.

Okay, the flashy stuff in terms of training

does not work because you got to remember

if there's NFL and Michael Phelps and they spend

millions of dollars on research like do you

think they have not figured out that there is way

you can only train for 10 minutes a day

or this day or another? But yet one guy on yahoo fitness

or Gretchen Reynolds and the times figured it out.

Hey that was for you, Paul.

Um, what else I learned is that most supplements

are crap. Okay, there's like 4 supplements a day

that actually work. Uh, the other thing that I learned

like I said my journey from the melt down.

Just don't be a douche bag even if your in shape

or whatever just don't. It just bits you back.

Um its okay to ask for help in terms of coaching like

feel free to ask me if I can help or find a good coach

that's important. Uh, set backs are normal.

Set backs a good because you can learn from them.

That's also something I learned.

You need a good environment, we talked about that.

And the boring stuff works. You know periodization,

getting stronger, the boring exercises, that's uh

that's really it. So there you have it

that um my journey like as I promised I kept it real

I told you how it really went down and by no means

am I great body builder but I hope that uh,

whatever I went through all the lessons. Uh,

that uh, that you guys have that I learned that

hopefully that is helpful to you guys

you don't make the same mistakes. So as always,

thank you for watching its much appreciated .

If you like the video please share it and on Wednesday

we will back on the air again.

I'm still deciding whatever we should talk about.

Uh, periodization or growth hormone.

Both are very interesting topics, but uh, so this

is it for this. Man this video I got to tell you guys

this was uh this was a hard one you know.

When I wrote it down you know my um my um mother has passed

since when I wrote about her and it was kind of saddening.

Um, that was then um, you know Chris being dead

that was hard and then I was like going back

like all the stuff that I missed. I was like my goodness.

So it was a hard one. Well thanks for the support guys okay.

Speak soon, bye.