Deadlifts Won’t Break You—Weakness Will: Why Lifting Isn’t Optional After 40

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You thought Christmas was over, and here I am giving you another present. This tremendous conversation with Jordan Syatt, one of my absolute favorite go-to fitness thought leaders. Uh, first caught Jordan's work when he was, uh, the personal trainer to Gary Vaynerchuk. Jordan has since gone off on his own, and just the way that he delivers content speaks to me personally. It is no nonsense, no bullshit, straight down the middle content that is going to hit you right in the face if you are looking for easy comfort.

But not in that, like, influencer way, not in that, like, "Look at how amazing I am" way. It is real world, real talk from a guy who has a real family, who really works out, who really was, uh, a weightlifting champion but is, as he says, I think he says he's, like, 5'8". I mean, so this isn't some, like, Adonis, you know, gifted by God individual who then tells you all these things you should be doing. This is a real guy doing the work, training real people, and delivering that message in a real way, and I, it absolutely resonates with me, and I know it will resonate with you. So with all that being said, I give you your last Christmas present, Jordan Syatt.

He can curse, he can tell stories, get contextual. All good. There's no- I love it ... hard rails on a conversation. Amazing. Awesome.

Awesome. All right. I also really like that, uh, I like your jacket, man. That's like- Yeah ... that's like something I would wear. Like, I really like that a lot.

That's awesome. Straight Instagram purchase. It- Really? ... it just, dude, it was late night. It's like Instagram fucking knows when I've had, like, a beer or two and I'm sitting on the couch by myself. It's like it knows.

It's like it knows. Smell it on me, and it's like he's just enough, like his inhibitions are down just enough that if we serve this ad, he's gonna hit purchase right now. Yeah. I honestly, I bet they do do that on purpose. Like, all right, this time of night.

That, that honestly makes total sense. I- Yeah ... I'm not even a clothes guy. Like, all my stuff, hand-me-downs, but, like, I love, like, that's nice. I really like it a lot.

Oh, I've had this for two years. I wear it, so, um, I live in Albany, New York, so in upstate. Okay. Yeah, yeah. And, uh, it's cold as shit, and I, my office is in my basement, and there's no heat.

Like, not, you know, it's not real hot down here, and this thing is beautiful. And you throw it- Real nice ... throw it on all the time and, um, but here's the, here's, this is the crazy part. So I got divorced three years ago and, like, you, you, you maybe, I don't know what your relationship was like, but my ex-wife, like, she had her hands in my, in my clothing purchases a lot. Okay. So, like, since, since I've been divorced, I gotta make all these decisions on my own, right?

Okay. Yeah. I'm a grown man, so I can do that. I have found, and I shit you not, the clothes I love the most, and I'm not a big clothes guy either, I buy off Instagram. Flux Shoes.

I found Flux Shoes on Instagram. Fucking love them. Don't buy anything- Lit ... but these shoes. They're my favorite shoe. Other than I have a pair of, um, Nobles that I wear for lifting, but, like, other than that.

Okay. Flat bottom, so, like, zero drop, wide sole. Yeah. Dude, b- find them on Instagram. Uh, this sweatshirt- Nice shoes ... this is, like, $45 on Instagram.

Like, it just, Instagram's got my, like, me so dialed in, it's, it's unbelievable. I just, I just looked up Flux, 'cause I need s- I'm in the market for new shoes, so that's perfect. Yeah. Their trainers are nice, but, um, uh, these, dude, these just zero drop fucking kick around shoes are awesome. I like that.

Yeah. Perfect. Thank you, man. And hey, we're all good. Who knew this was gonna be a big, uh, big ad for the Instagram shop?

Um, all right. With all that, uh, being said, um, dude, I, I wanna, I wanna talk about something. I wanna start in a place and, and y- you, you take this or wherever you want, but, like, I'm gonna hit you with a scenario that I know a lot of dudes my, so I'm 43, a lot of dudes my age are dealing with. And here's the scenario. Last January, it's cold as shit in upstate.

We don't see the sun for, like, six months, okay? You, you, uh, do you still live in New York or where are you now? No, we're in Dallas. Dallas, okay, so screw you, but good for you. Um, I know you used to be in New York when you were with Gary Vee a lot.

Yes. So you understand the weather in the winter. Yeah. Okay. Grew up in Burlington.

I'm used- Li-- yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm used to that, like, winter drag, completely used to it. Last January, it's like I hit a brick wall. I just, it was like, I'm like, "Dude, I'm in shape."

At that time, I was lifting a lot, like, I'm in great shape. I'm like, "This sh- I shouldn't feel this way." Mm-hmm. And I hear one of the gurus, Huberman or someone, talk about testosterone and these at home tests you can do. So I'm like- Hmm ...

"Fuck it." Like, I'm out of options, and I go get it, and my testosterone is 70, which puts me in the sixth percentile of all men my age. Seventh. That's wild. I've, I don't think I've ever heard of someone's being that low.

Bro, high protein diet Work out constantly, like eat good. I do all the things, like for the most part- Sleep good ... above average healthy 40-year-old guy. Wow. Like way above average. That's crazy.

In all other areas, 70. So I started taking oral, I use a company called Maximus. I don't know- Okay ... there's a bunch of companies out there, doesn't matter. Um, so I wanted to start our conversation around, one, the role that testosterone plays particularly in men's lives, and outside of like taking a, taking a supplement like I do now, it's a, it's a, it's a natural, it pr- increases the natural production of, of testosterone in the body before you go TRT. It's like a pre-TRT thing.

Um, like what can we be doing? 'Cause when I, when I shared this with some of my other buddies that like coach youth sports, 'cause I coach my kids and stuff, all, dude, two or three of them went and got tested and they were all super low. And not, not as low as me, but they were lower than they should be. So like what are we not doing? Like what are the things that, that guys my age, you know, late 30s, early 40s, mid-40s can be doing to kinda... Like it's changed my whole life, man.

I'm a completely different dude today than I was a year ago, 'cause I fi- figured that out. Where's your test at now? 700. 700? Holy shit, you 10X'd it?

That's crazy. That's re- and it's... W- what, what are you taking? I could go up and get the bottle if you want me to. No, that's okay.

It's okay, no worries. It's like- No, no, it's okay ... N, it start, it's like enclomiphene, E-N-C something. Okay. Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And it, it like, so it's an, every day I put it under my tongue and, you know, it's just like a little tablet or whatever. Just take one a day, and I've been doing it since March, and the last time I got tested was August, and I was at 700. That's amazing.

I mean- Yeah ... that's incredible. I mean, so just for context, like generally, and whoever, whatever doctor you talk to is gonna give you a different number, and I'm not a doctor, but generally like under 200 or 250 is, is low. Um, and uh, so to be 70 is very, very, very low. Um, so I'm glad that you, you got tested and you got on something and, and as long as you're continuing to be monitored by a doctor, uh, or a medical professional, that's the most important thing. Um, the, the major thing is a lot of people, what a lot of guys will do is they'll just, they'll just say, "I've got low testosterone," in the same way that, um, often women will say, "I've got a slow metabolism," but they don't actually get checked for it.

And so what you did is you did the right thing. You got tested, and that's what you need. That's like the first step. You have to go get tested if... 'Cause it, the, a lot of people are very quick to go the TRT route, and I don't have anything wrong with TRT inherently, but that shouldn't be your first step. Like first let's look at number one is your sleep.

H- actually, before even sleep, how's your body fat? Yeah. Like if, if you have excess body fat, that's one of the major ma- never mind the major risks of dying early, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, uh, so many other health issues from having excess body fat. But if you have high body fat, your, your testosterone's gonna be at risk of being significantly lower. On top of that, drinking a lot of alcohol.

Now some in moderation is fine, but if you're drinking a lot week to week, that's a major problem. Uh, and with that often comes poor sleep and often will also come excess body fat. So higher body fat, minimal sleep, too much alcohol, smoking, these are all things that just wreck your, your testosterone and your health as well, but especially your testosterone. They go hand in hand. Um, not lifting weights, uh, a- and a lot of, a lot of dudes for some reason hate on cardio, but good cardiovascular health will improve your testosterone as well.

So they, they all go hand in hand, but the major controllable factors are, uh, body fat, sleep, alcohol. Biggest ones- Yeah ... by far. Um, from there, uh, get that under control. And for you, it like clearly you're, you're lean, you're strong, you're muscular. Um, it sounds like everything was already taken care of.

There might have been some either lifestyle, whether it was the stress from, who knows, the divorce, uh, stress from whatever was going on in your life, uh, 'cause stress can have a major impact on it as well, combined with, uh, I mean, if, if sleep was an issue as well, that also could have severely impacted it. But, um, uh, the major controllable factors, you wanna get those taken care of first. For you, since you clearly were like in such good shape already, it was probably like, what the fuck's... Oh, you know, another thing is vitamin D, right? So if you're not getting sunlight, that can be a major component of it as well, and you know, you're in Albany, so you were just coming out of winter.

When, when you got checked as well, that also probably had a major component, assuming you weren't already supplementing with vitamin D3. Um, either way, um, most dudes need to get their basics in check before they start taking anything extra. Um, and this goes for everything, like this isn't just for, um, testosterone or TRT. This goes for every supplement, like creatine. For some reason, as soon as someone wants to get healthy and fit, the first place they go is GNC or Vitamin Shoppe or whatever supplement store.

It's the first thing they do. It's like how about you go to the gym at least three times a week? How about you get eight hours of sleep every night? How about you get at least, uh, try and get one gram of, of protein per pound of your body weight? Like do that for a year before you go to the supplement store, 'cause you're gonna drop hundreds of dollars at the supplement store, and then you're not gonna fucking use it.

And it's in the name. Like a supplement, it's supplemental. It supplements an already good diet. It supplements an already good sleep schedule. It supplements an already good workout program.

If you're taking these supplements and you're not doing the right thing, then you're not gonna make a difference. And before you go get the fat burners and that nonsense, th- those don't work. If they did, everyone would take them. If those worked, then GLP-1s and Wegovy and Ozempic wouldn't be a fucking thing right now if the fat burners worked. Stop buying that shit.

It's a waste of money. No one ever was like, "You know what got me that six-pack is the fucking green tea fat burner that I took from G..." Like stop it Just get your stuff in order before you go the supplement route, and then once you've been consistent at least a year, at least, and usually I like to say three to five years, then you can start, uh, doing this other stuff. You're different 'cause you're already in shape. You're already fit, so I'm glad that you got checked.

But first get checked, and then get everything, all the controllables under, under control, and then from there you can see what else you need to do. Yeah. I, I have a feeling that it was stress, because that winter, uh, I had founded a company and I exited from it in November of 2023, so- Mm ... maybe like three or four months before that, and there was just a lot of tumult. I, I, I think it had to do with stress, but it could've been vitamin D. I- dude, we get 66 days of sun here.

Yeah. And I probably wasn't taking enough vitamin D, but man, I was shocked. When I saw that number, I was like, "Holy shit." And for, for those, for guys, for listening, like, I'm a different human today than I was a year ago be- like, just in the way that I feel. It's, it's insane.

And, and then you, you talk about, like, that negative and, and I'd love for you to comment on this. Like, it's like, it's, it's such a negative cycle, right? So, like, I'm, I'm... My testosterone's not there. I'm feeling down, so I'm not...

I start, I stop working out as much as I want to because I don't have that natural energy, and I'm questioning things, and then, then you don't start sleeping well. And then, like you said, then you start grasping for solutions, and I hate that. Like, I hate going anything that isn't, like, natural first, you know? I- that's tends to be my way. And but you do, it's so easy to start going, "Well, maybe it's this supplement," or, "Maybe I just need- Mm-hmm ... you know, maybe it's, uh, because I'm not taking, uh, what's that greens, Athletic Greens.

If I was taking Athletic Greens, everything would be fine," you know? Like- Yeah ... it's- It's nonsense ... so easy to go down that rabbit hole. Yeah. I mean, the reality is, like, it's, it's much easier to take a pill than it is to work out, than it is to put your fucking phone down and go to bed, than it is to stay hydrated and to get your steps in. It's much easier to take a pill.

Um, the, a lot of people like to point to individual ingredients, uh, like, uh, seed oils or whatever it is as these major problems, and it's like, you know what the major problem is compared to any other time in history is that right now it's like you've got Uber Eats on your phone. You, you can, you barely get any movement in. Before we had to hunt for our food. Uh, now you don't even have to go to the grocery store if you don't want. You can order your groceries directly to your door.

You don't have to move. You can sit down in front of your blue light phone and look at it all day, all night, and you don't move, you don't lift, you don't do anything physical whatsoever. It's like it's not the seed oils that's your problem. It's like you don't move, you don't lift, you don't train, you don't sleep. Like, you, you are a sloth.

That's the problem. Get up. Do something. Stop looking for the most convenient thing and start looking for the most effective thing, which is movement. Yeah.

Uh, you, so you were, uh, you hold a bunch of power lifting records and have been a power lifter for a while. I would love for you to talk about the impact of moving weight. I, I, uh, was, played sports, but only, I always lifted in connection to what I needed to do for that sport, right? I never was a power lifter. I just never got into it until COVID hit.

And I heard, um, Tim, he was Kobe Bryant's trainer, Michael Jordan's trainer, Tim, fuck, he's got two great books, Relentless and Winning, and I can't remember his last name. That's gonna kill me. That's all right. I'll, like, I'll, I'll awkwardly wedge it in in post-production. But, um, I heard him on an interview one time go, like, he, somebody asked him a question, and he said, "Guys need to move weight."

And, like, he just stopped, and, like, I think, like, that was, like, it was, like, so point blank the way he lived it. So I said, "Fuck it. I'll start deadlifting." So I've gotten really into deadlifting, um, and I try to explain to my friends the impact that it has on my body i- in a positive way. And I can't do it justice, so I would love for you to talk about your, your journey with power lifting, why you got into it, what it's been like, and then maybe help some of the, some of the people listening who maybe just, their, their exercise, though any exercise, as you said, is good, right?

Their exercise may be just cardio, or they're taking, like, a HIIT class, and why, why pushing weight or, or pulling weight, whatever, is such an important part- You've finally broken loose from work. Three friends, one tee time, and then the text. "Honey, there's water in the basement." Ugh. Not exactly how you pictured your Saturday.

That's when you call us, Cincinnati Insurance. We always answer the call, because real protection means showing up, even when things are in the rough. Cincinnati Insurance. Let us make your bad day better. Find an agent at C-I-N-F-I-N.com ... of the mix of, of, of really kind of hitting that, hitting your performance and just being healthy in general.

Yeah, I mean, uh, I got into it, I, I wrestled from when I was eight years old, so I started, I, and I did a bunch of different sports, soccer, wrestling, baseball, but wrestling was the one that I really, I loved the most, and I started lifting because of that. Um, listen, there's n- like, it's really important to do cardio as well. That's important, but if you're not lifting, it's a big problem. It's a big, big, big, big, big problem. Um, I, if I had to rank the most important, uh, first, I would say the most important for health and longevity is gonna be walking.

It's steps. It's movement. That's by far the most important. Um, if we look at the longest living people in the world, it's not power lifters. It's not CrossFitters.

It's not people who do HIIT or burn boot camp or Orange Theory. It's, it's the people who walk the most, and we see this in Italy. We see this in France. We see this in Japan. We see this in Switzerland.

The people who walk the most live the longest and healthiest lives. Now, from there, once we have that base covered, it's like, okay, so it's not just about how long we live. It's also about the quality of those years And the quality of those years, a lot of it comes down to how much strength we have, right? So if we wanna not just elongate our life, but also live a, a better quality of life, one of the major things is bone density, and as soon as I start talking about that, people are like, "Oh, dude," like they, they just, they tune out. They wanna hear about how to get jacked and how to get ripped.

But it's like, if you have anyone in your life, 60s, 70s, 80s or older, one of the leading causes of death is they fall. And it's just a regular fall, but they fall, and then maybe they can't get back up, they break a hip, and over 70% of people who break a hip or break a bone after, when they fall after they're, like, 60 or 70 years old, they die. 'Cause the, the, what it takes for their body to recover from that is astronomical. So in terms of the quality of your life, you absolutely need to lift in order to, uh, to maintain that quality. Never mind the, the metabolic effects of adding more muscle, which is gonna burn more calories, so it'll be easier for you to stay leaner, uh, year-round. It'll be...

You'll be able to eat more food without gaining body fat, all these things that people like to hear from the aesthetic perspective. But just purely from a, as an individual, as a human, if you want to actually... If, if you don't wanna have someone living with you or being in a nursing home, like, you gotta fucking lift weights. If you, if you wanna be able to, uh, compete with your kids, compete with your grandkids, if you wanna be able to... It's funny, in the research they, they call them ADLs, activities of daily living.

Something as simple as opening up a jar, something as simple as, like, if you were to fall and you needed to grab onto something, do you have the grip strength to do that? Um, it's these simple things that when you're younger, and, uh, 40s I still consider younger, but I bet by the time you get to your 30s and 40s, you start seeing kids you grew up with, uh, who are adults now, like, like, "Damn, dude," like, "What the fuck?" Like- Fucking dad bod, bro ... you can't do anything. Dad bod. It, it was, it, dad bod's, like, the least of it.

I mean, like, like, they've got real problems. Like, they, they've got, th- getting up a flight of stairs is a problem. Who- like, doing anything. And in their mind, they still think they're, when they're a high school football player, high school wrestler, high school baseball, lacrosse, they, that's how they think they are. But they're not, and it takes a big life-changing situation for them to realize it.

So, um, if you want to live longer, move. If you want to live longer and better, move and lift. I, uh, I get a ton of shit from people for deadlifting. They're like, "You're f- you're 40 years old now. What do you need to deadlift for?

You're gonna get hurt." And I'm like, I, I look at them, I'm like, "I'm not gonna get hurt because I deadlift." Like, just- Correct ... just, you know. So you understand where I'm coming... I hear you, but understand my, my perspective is when we're out on the field fucking around with the kids, you know, in the outfield, you know, I coach baseball, um, for my sons, and, like, I'm like, the reason I can run around and shag flies still is 'cause I do this shit.

Like, and it's such a struggle to get through to people and, and I, I'm not a fitness expert. Not my, it's not my job. I just love it. And unfortunately, I can't stop talking 'cause I have massive ADHD, so I have to tell everyone everything I'm doing and thinking at every moment of every day. That's why I have a podcast.

It's like a therapy, essentially. So, you know, like, I try to explain to these dudes, and they're all awesome guys, all former athletes. But, like, they're all carrying 20 to 40 extra pounds, and they can't- Mm ... move. They get to the end of practice and they're, like, exhausted, and I'm like, "I could've gone for another two hours." And that's not me bragging.

It's- It's the truth ... it's I don't wanna be hunched over, you know, going and having to get fucking dialysis when I'm- Mm-hmm ... 60 years old. Uh, you know, I wanna still be, I wanna be popping with my grandkids. Like, I wanna be out there- Mm-hmm ... helping my grandkids learn how to hit a baseball. Like, that's, you know, and, and I don't...

It's so hard to get through to people, and it's, and it, it's one of the reasons I was so excited to have you on the show. I know there's so many guys that listen that are in similar life positions as me, and they're not prioritizing this. And so, so with all the work you do, all the people that you work with, like, when you're trying to just crack, get your foot in the door with them, right? Like, obviously maybe they've reached out, so they have an interest, but, but they're still hesitant. They're still...

H- how do you start to crack that door? What's the mindset? Is there, is there like a, a, a, a, I don't wanna call it a pitch, but, like, you know, "Hey, man," like, "it's time to get off your fucking ass." Like, "Let's go." Like, how, how do we start to get through to those people to show them you don't have to be a powerlifter, you don't need to be benching 400 pounds, that's not what we're talking about, but just get in the gym and move some weights once in a while?

Yeah. So I'll, I'll talk about that in one second 'cause it's, it's super important. I will go back to, like, the people who are like, uh, "You're gonna get hurt deadlifting." Um, listen, injuries happen all the time. People get hurt stepping off a curb.

People get hurt picking up a bag of groceries. Like, it happens all the time. If you think it's, it's dangerous to deadlift, then you should see how dangerous, dangerous it is to be weak. Yeah. Being weak is, is way more dangerous than- Yep ... getting stronger in the gym.

And yeah, like, absolutely, you could get injured deadlifting in the gym, and then you can ideally recover from that. But if you're training smart and intelligently, which is what we'll talk about in a second, your likelihood of getting injured is, is teeny-tiny, minuscule. You're way more likely to get injured doing something when you're weak, like trying to pick up a heavy grocery bag or trying to pick up some luggage or playing with your kids or all of a sudden you try and do a sprint or you change direction. And being weak is a way bigger risk factor for injury than being s- than getting strong. So, um, yeah, could you get hurt deadlifting?

Yeah, especially if you're deadlifting like an idiot. But let's not fucking deadlift like an idiot. Let's do it intelligently. So like you were saying, you don't need to be deadlifting 800 pounds. You don't need to be bench pressing 400 pounds.

Uh, I'd like you to get in the gym two to three days a week. Um, and if you want, like, uh, i- if you are listening to this right now and you can't do 10 good pushups from the floor, you're fucking weak. And that's not a, a, a, a dig. It's just like, cool, let's get you in the fucking gym. Like- Yeah ... you could just start with your body weight.

Let's get, let's get you doing stuff. Let's get you using your body weight. Let's get some dumbbells in your hands. You don't need a full, full gym. You just, like, have some dumbbells, have your body weight, master your body weight.

I mean, realistically That's how we enter this. Two to three days a week, master your body weight, like, get some good squats in there. Just body weight squats, maybe holding, holding a... Put some weight into a backpack. Put some weight into a backpack, hold the backpack squat.

Do some Romanian deadlifts. Uh, do some pushups. Do some body weight rows. If you get a TRX strap, so you can do some rows that way. Like, just move your body and get stronger.

You don't need to be doing, uh, 30 sets of an e- of exercises. You don't need to be having 12 different exercises per workout. Two to three days a week, three to five exercises, and two to three sets of eight to 12 reps per exercise. You're good. That's it.

Like, do that a couple days a week. It could be 30 to 45 minutes per workout, and you're set. Um, one of the best things, best piece of advice I was ever given, I have a friend who does, um, Spartan races. Mm-hmm. And I was saying, "You know, man, I hate running.

I know I need to do it. I don't do it enough. A couple times a month probably, but I just don't like it." I was like, "But I do wanna get out and move more." And he got, he, uh, uh, sent me a link for a ruck vest.

So I wear 20 pounds in the front and 20 pounds in the back, and when I take the dog for a walk, I just throw the stupid vest on, and we go around the block a couple times, and you come back, and- Mm-hmm ... just, just, just that simple, I mean, literally nothing. I'm not pushing anything. I'm not pulling anything. I'm just wearing this vest, going for a couple laps around the neighborhood with the dog. I come back.

Dude, no ankle pain. My foot pain's gone away. I never feel like, um... Like, h- how many people do you know, like, they're like, "Oh, my back is tweaked. My..."

I was like, "I haven't had back pain in years." This is probably three years ago that he said this to me. I haven't had back pain in years. Years. Mm.

No back pain. Sit in a chair all day. I work in front of a computer, you know what I mean? Like, that's my j- no back pain. And, like, these simple little things that you can add into your day can, can, over time, like, compound into crazy benefits for your body, and we just, like you said, we don't prioritize it.

We're like, "Fuck it, I'll watch another show and DoorDash. The dog can just be on the chain." And it's like, ah, I just wanna, like, shake people sometimes. I'm like, "Dude, you're, you, you, it's there for you. Like, it's, it's this easy.

Like, you can do it." Um, but to the deadlifting point, uh, and I just wanna go back to this, 'cause it's just on my brain, and it's my podcast, so I can do whatever the fuck I want. Um, you know, I'm, I'm, like, mad that I didn't learn about this exercise earlier in my life. I've never found an exercise, and, and, and, you know, push back on me wherever this is wrong, uh, or, or right, whatever. But I've never found an exercise that you do not have to lift heavy, right?

Th- this doesn't have to be heavy. Just proper form, right? Work through the exercise with proper form. Your entire body, like, I get done, my grip is stronger, my shoulders are stronger, my back is stronger, my legs, my glutes, my hips, my abs, my quads, my hamstrings, my calves, my feet, like, all the way down. One exercise, right?

Once a week, you know, 'cause I'm not trying to be, trying to break any records, right? Once a week, I do this exercise. Once a week is all you need. And- Once a week for, it's all you need. Two, more than that, and you're more likely to get injured.

Yeah. Yeah, and I've never, I've never come across an exercise, and like you said, you can do RDLs. You can just do the exercise with no weight. Like you said, just use your body, and it, and it, and, and I just try to push my friends to say, "Guys, the, it's not where you start." I'm not advocating in any way, not being a fitness professional, this is where you start.

But don't knock it till you tried it, because it, it changes h- like, all of a sudden, you walk into a room, and your shoulders are pulled back for the first time in 20 years, because you have the back strength and the posture to actually do that. Now people look at you differently. They talk to you differently. You, you find people are more, you know, just your, your entire way that you operate when you, when you have that, that full body strength, you start to notice how people interact with you, 'cause you're not slumped over. You're not wearing clothes that are three sizes too big, 'cause you're trying to hide something that you don't like, right?

You're, you're just in this better position, which then equates down to the way you speak to your spouse, the way you speak to your kids, the way you handle situations. Like, I just can't advocate for this enough, guys, and I, so, so I guess what are other exercises that, that we can be doing once we get past body weight when we're getting started, that these guys can get started with? There are things, deadlifting I think is a little more advanced probably, but, like, what are some of the- No, deadlifting isn't more advanced, man. Okay. It's, it's all about, it's all about the variation that you use and where you start.

Like, when I'm working with someone who's brand new, like, I'll often just g- I'll put it this way. W- what is a deadlift? Like, what is it? Like, in the most basic form, what is a deadlift? Just pulling weight.

Standing up. You pick something up, you pick something up off the ground. It is the most functional exercise in the entire world, because all you're doing is picking something up. That's it. How much weight can you pick up?

That's, that's what a deadlift is. So I think everybody is, I would hope everybody listening is advanced enough to be able to pick something up off the ground, and it doesn't have to be a barbell with 400 pounds. It could be a, a 10 pound, 15 pound, 20 pound kettlebell, right? It could be dumbbells. It could be, you could be doing an RDL with a reduced range of motion.

Rather than starting on the ground, you start at your hips. Either way, you could do an elevated deadlift, so it's a shorter range of motion. But pick something up. Like, let's pick shit up. That's important, because you're gonna pick stuff up in everyday life, so I'd rather you learn how to do it properly and get strong in that range of motion.

Um, so I would say starting with a kettlebell deadlift or dumbbell Romanian deadlifts, really, really great starting point for people who, who don't know how to deadlift and haven't done it and don't feel confident yet. So if you don't know what those are, fucking Google, YouTube, kettlebell deadlift, dumbbell Romanian deadlift. Like, you're gonna figure it out really quick. From there, I would say goblet squats, another dumbbell or kettlebell exercise. Um, s I mean, if we're talking about...

You were talking about the confidence you get from deadlifting. Um, I... There isn't a single exercise that I've found increases people's confidence more than deadlifting. When you hit a deadlift personal record and you, you lift more weight, you feel like you are on top of the world, and you could beat Jon Jones in a fi- Like, it's just like you feel like you could just be an absolute demolition monster, um, which transfers into your everyday life. I mean, when, when you pick something up that you've never lifted before, you hit a PR, like it's just like, it's one of the greatest feelings ever.

Um, and it will carry over into your everyday life mentally, physically, and emotionally. Uh, another great one is any type of squat, and the sort of the, the analogy or the metaphor here is, like, squats are very much like life in that when life gets you down, you gotta stand the fuck back up. You gotta carry the load and stand back up with that weight. Uh, you can't just let it crush you. And so, yeah, you could do it with a barbell or just hold a dumbbell or a kettlebell right in front of your chest and do squats.

Like, it's a great starting point. Lunges are an amazing thing. Bulgarian split squats are amazing. They're a little bit more advanced. But reverse lunges, static lunges, forward lunges, these are all amazing.

Um, those are the major lower body exercises I recommend. Uh, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, squats, and lunges. Those are the, are the major ones. There are many other exercises, but those are, are the priority, especially when you're beginning. And even as an advanced, like, those are your compound, those are the major lifts that you do.

Upper body, uh, pushups, I, I think everyone, everyone, men and women, should be able to do 10 pushups relatively easily. I, I think there's just, like, everyone should be able to do that. Um, uh, from, from there we can do, like, dumbbell bench press. If you wanna do barbell bench press, you're welcome to. Uh, overhead press, barbell, dumbbell, whatever.

Uh, dumbbell rows, lat pulldowns. I thi- I would, I would like it if everyone was able to do chin-ups. Obviously, that's a little bit more advanced, I will say. I, I think the two greatest moves for confidence, deadlifts and chin-ups. Like, whe- when you can strap some weight around yourself or the f- when you get your first ever chin-up, like, oh my gosh, you feel on top of the world.

Uh, so chin-ups or weighted chin-ups, uh, lat pulldowns, dumbbell rows, barbell rows, seated cable rows. These are all, like... And these are the exercises you'll use your entire life. Like, they're, uh... Really great strength training is very boring over a long...

Like, it's, you do the same shit. You just try and get stronger with it over time. So it's, you do the same things over and over and over and over again. You have to be ruthlessly consistent with the basics non-stop. I think one of the major reasons people struggle either to get started or to stay consistent is because they have this idea that they're supposed to look like a bodybuilder or look, look amazing or, or look, uh, or be like a professional athlete within a week, two weeks, a month, and this is why we see huge numbers of people going to the gym in January, and then by January 16th, they're gone.

And that's not a made-up date. Like, th- there are... The, one of the cool things about fitness trackers that we have now is, uh, we can track when people start being consistent with their exercise and when they fall off, and January 16th is, like, the fall-off date for the vast majority of people. They... And it's because they're like, "I'm gonna do it every day.

I'm gonna work out seven days a week, and I'm not gonna have a fucking carb ever again." And after two weeks of January, they're like, "All right. I can't do this anymore." It's like, okay, well, what if instead of doing it every single day, you went two to three days a week, and you did that for five years straight? Like, you'd be better off than 98% of the people in the world.

So stop trying to go seven days a week. Stop trying to go as hard as you possibly can. Just go a couple days and be consistent, and it's, and, and that ruthless consistency will yield tremendous results. So I go to this absolute steakhead gym. It's my favorite gym I've ever been to.

It's called ABC Fitness. Shout out if anyone's listening, uh, locally here in the Albany area. Um, and it's filled with 22-year-old steakheads, just steakheads everywhere. That's all it is. There's, like, two chicks and 200 steakheads, and they're just flexing in the mirror, and I love it because I'm, like, the old guy there, and I'm surrounded by all this energy 'cause they're all, you know, slamming weights and slapping fives and flexing and shit, and I love it.

I think it's great. I'm 100% into- That's why your test went up, 'cause you're around all that. Just osmosis. Like, that's it. Yeah, it is.

So it's like their sweat had testosterone in it. I was just- 100% happened. You're around all these 22-year-olds who are just like, their test is going crazy. That's why your test went up. Uh, uh, so I, so I hit my personal deadlift goal, or my personal deadlift PR, 465.

Nice. Pull it. So happy. Took me two years to get there. You know, bam, just felt fucking amazing.

Oh, bam, put it down. Great lift, solid, felt amazing. And, uh, and the kid behind me comes up, 'cause it's, it's... And they got, like, uh, six deadlift platforms kinda all near each other. Comes up, slap.

He's like, "Dude, great lift. Was that a PR?" I was like, "Yeah." He's like, "Awesome work." Turns around.

He's got, he's got, uh, uh, 505 pounds on 10, for 10. Like this, right? He just rips 10, like, just blows me. And I turn around and look at him. I'm like, "Bro, you couldn't have waited, like, five minutes?"

Like, "You just couldn't have given me, like, five minutes before you just, like, threw my shit in easy?" You know, we're laughing or whatever. It's the worst. Just leaps out way more than your PR. He just- Yeah, it's the worst ... obliterated me.

And I was like, "Oh, humility. That's what that feels like. Gotcha," right? And I just- Yeah ... my, my daily dose. Um, I wanna transition to sleep 'cause you mentioned it a couple times, and, uh, about six months ago, I started wearing a WHOOP strap.

Oh, nice. I don't usually like this stuff because I find sometimes you over-index on the numbers and less on the actual repeats. Correct. However, I have found by, by being diligent in the journaling feature of, like, what I do and how it impacts my sleep, it's been insane what I've figured out impacts and doesn't impact, uh, my sleep. And then it's, it has helped me.

I was getting on average when I started, like, five and a half, six hours of sleep, and now I'm getting, like, 7:15, say, now that I've started- That's awesome ... to really- Makes such a difference ... track it. I feel great. And, and frankly, my body, like, 7:00, 7:15 is really just where my body's like, "Hey, you're up," right? It's not- Yeah ... like, I'm not trying to get more, but- Talk, maybe talk to me about just how sleep impacts our overall fitness and our energy and all these different things, because I do not think there is enough conversation outside of the fitness and wellness world about... I think people are like, "Ah, I get six hours sleep.

I'm just one of those people." And I'm like, "No, you're fucking not." Mm-hmm. Like, the number of people from my research that are actually can live off five, five and a half, six hours sleep consistently and be successful, I think is very small versus the people who try to pretend like they can live off that, and they just get used to this constant state of tired. Yeah, and then they're always over-caffeinating and, and a- what a lot of people don't understand is that many of these people who say that they only sleep four, five, or even six hours a night, like, okay, are they taking Adderall?

Are they taking Vyvanse? Are they on methamphetamines? Like, there's... Like, if, if you're prescribed that, that's fine. But people are prescribed testosterone, and you'd probably wanna know if someone was taking testosterone to see, like, what's going on from a muscular growth perspective.

It's like, if someone is on that, then they have a, a, an advantage in that they are literally on a methamphetamine to keep them awake more. It's like, okay, so that's... If you're not taking those, then you, y- you're going to be more tired if you're not getting sufficient sleep. It's just important to be aware of that. Not to mention the genetic component.

But what's been... Uh, you're 100% right in terms of... So I, I have a Garmin, I track sleep. I track a lot of stuff as well. Um, I don't like to pay attention to the numbers very much because I'd rather just go based on how I feel.

What I will say has been a massive eye-opener is the first time, uh, you don't tell it when you drink or anything. You're not say- hey, I'm drinking right now. When I drink alcohol, and if it's just, like, one beer or a couple beers or one to two beers or, like, one glass of wine, um, I don't notice a difference. But if I go past that, my Garmin knows. Mm.

It knows that I drank too much, and it, my sleep quality will be shit. Which is crazy 'cause it, that's, it took that consistently of realizing, oh, and I wanna look into this more. And a lot of times people, they say, "Oh, I'm gonna drink so I can get a good night of sleep." Well, just because you get tired when you drink doesn't mean you're getting high-quality sleep. Your, your sleep quality actually goes to shit when you drink.

Mm. So not only are you getting the negative effects of alcohol, you're also getting the negative effects of, of lack of sleep. And, uh, I mean, uh, th- this is sort of a, a crude analogy, but it, it does work. It's like, okay, if, if you, um, if you have your laptop, right? And you're on...

I'm on my laptop right now. If your- or your phone for whatever, whatever the example is. You use your phone all day. It might have a lot of, a lot of productivity with it. You get a lot done.

But if you don't charge it, it doesn't matter how productive you were the day before because now you can't use it again. It's gone. It empty... The battery's over. If you are not charging your battery, if you are not getting enough sleep, then it, it doesn't mean your workouts are worthless.

It doesn't mean your nutrition is worthless. But it does mean that your battery will not go up to 100% anymore. Your battery, maybe it'll get up to 25 or 30%. It's like, okay, so you're putting in all this work, and you're now more tired, and you're only getting, like, a 30% charge. Like, what the fuck is the point of that?

And for what, by the way? So you can scroll on Instagram more? So you can look at, like, at, at porn? So you... So what, for what?

For what are y- what are you lacking in this sleep for? What really is going into your life that is making your life better because now that you're only getting now five, six hours of sleep? Put your phone down. Go to bed, and it will actually, it will massively enhance your ability to make progress, and it will take you from a 30% charge to a 90 to 100% charge. So, uh, since I've been tracking, so I have a, a diagnosed, a hyperactive bipolar, so I'm constantly either hyper manic or manic at all, all times, including right now, which I think I'm somewhere in the middle.

Um, and I did a test. So I've never been a big, uh, pot smoker, but I really, it, it, there are days when even when I'm doing all the right things, I get to the evening and, like, the body, my body does not... Like, if I'm hyper manic when I get... If I jump to hyper manic late, late in the evening, I literally just can't calm down. Like, my brain is- Yeah ... going 1,000 miles an hour.

There's not a lot I can do for it, and I've tried a bunch of different stuff. So my doctor actually said, "Try, try pot." Right? "Try smoking a..." She's like, "Try a little J before you go to bed."

And I was like- Yeah ... "Okay, I'll try anything, right? It's no problem." So what I found is, yes, it does narrow my world, and it does help me calm down. But to your point, I get shitty ass sleep.

Yeah. So it's like, okay, so would I rather ride the hype, the, the manic wave, maybe come back downstairs and get a little more work done, and then just eat the fact the next day that I'm gonna be a little tired, uh, and maybe be productive? Or I'm zero productive when I'm high and go to sleep a little earlier, but then sleep like shit throughout the night, which is, which I have literally... The, the cool thing about this is it literally shows you where- Yeah ... you're at and when you drop into REM. So I can see for the first four hours of sleep, I'm basically not even recharging.

It's like the, the- Yeah ... like to your analogy, the battery's plugged in, but no juice is getting into the machine. Correct. Yes, exactly. To my girlfriend's, uh, chagrin, um, the number one indicator of high-quality sleep, sexual activity before bed. Mm.

Number one. Out of all the things I've done, and that is not a joke. I'm not trying to be funny, although it may be for some people, and it may be unfortunate for some of the women out there if you're not into that with your husband or partner or whatever. But, um, the number one, number one absolute positive indicator, and my, my Whoop strap will, will confirm it, is sexual activity before bed- Drop almost immediately into high quality sleep and will sleep for a tremendous amount of time, and I'll be 90, 100% recharged. And guys, if you aren't doing some of the things that Joe and I are talking about, you most likely haven't felt 90 to 100% recharged in a while.

Mm. When you... The first time you- I fou- I saw, like, 93% on my Whoop for, for recharge, dude, it was like being 15 years old again. Mm. My brain is functioning.

I'm, like, ready to crush the day. I'm, like, doing pushups in between calls. I'm like, "Let's fucking go." Like, oh my God. It's crazy, guys.

We, we operate... I think most people are probably just operating 40 to 60% sleep recovery, and they just think that's normal, and it's- Mm-hmm ... doesn't have to be. That's the scary part. Correct. It doesn't have to be.

And I also think people, and, and by the way, I struggle with this, is, um, constant dopamine coming in through, through social media and scrolling. And so when you were talking about either being hyper manic or, or smoking weed, um, something that, that I try and do is, like, because the default is any, any boredom boom, pick up your phone, facing your phone. Yeah. It's like, keep the phone away and, like, pick up a book or like, uh, if you can, like, go on a walk, listen to an audio book. Um, something that doesn't have light in your face and, uh, it's a, it's...

Reading a book, you still get a dopamine hit, but it's not like scrolling on Instagram or TikTok. Mm. It's a much, much, much less of a hit and, and that can be super helpful, uh, for improving, uh, the sleep, the, like, the bedtime routine- Mm-hmm ... which can then help get better sleep as well. Yeah. Yeah.

It's, uh... The, the Whoop Strap, when I first got it, it was kind of like a Hail Mary pass. Like, hey, I'm struggling to kind of figure out why I'm low energy and the testosterone thing. And I was like, I've heard people talk about it. It's not super expensive.

I'll try it. And I, I can't take it off now. Like, I'm, I'm, I'm... It's also becomes... And, and I think we all need to find these things in our lives.

Like, it becomes a reminder, hey, do the right thing, man. Like- Correct ... you're gonna get yelled at in the morning if you don't do the right thing. Like, it's gonna blink in your face, hey, you didn't do the right things yesterday or last night or whatever. Like, you were, you were screwing around. You had, you had three beers instead of zero beers or one beer, right?

Like, and it has started, you know, the first couple months, it definitely doesn't change what you do. But like- Correct ... as you start to feel better more consistently, you're like, "Maybe I don't need to have a drink tonight. Maybe I'm good. Like, I don't, I don't need to do that. Like, I'm all right.

I, I would rather wake up-" It's not worth it anymore. It's a, it's, it's, it's like at first you think you can't live without it. It was funny, I remember I worked with a client, this must've been 2016, 2017, and she came to me and she was like, she was having like 12 to 15 drinks a week. And, and I was... And she was like, "I'm not willing to give it up."

I was like, "Okay. I mean, that's up to you." We worked toge- For the first three months, she made zero progress. Didn't lose any weight. Like, what...

And she was like, "What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?" And I was like, "Here, I have a challenge. Um, you didn't wanna give up 12 to 15 drinks a week, um, which is fine.

But here's what I would say is if you can't give it up for 30 days, then I would say you've got a drinking problem. Um, so how about for 30 days just no alcohol? Just for 30 days. After 30 days, go back to doing what you're doing." She's like, "Fine."

In 30 days, she made more progress and, like, she made a huge amount of progress. Way m- she literally made none in the first three months that we worked together. Huge amount of progress, and she was like, "Holy shit." She was like, it literally was all... It wasn't just the alcohol.

It was the alcohol and then what she did after she drank all the alcohol. Yeah. And then, uh, and so from there it, she didn't quit alcohol altogether 'cause it was still important in her life, but she went from 12 to 15 drinks a week to, like, three to five drinks a week, and then she continued to make amazing progress while still being able to drink in moderation. And so it, what happened there was it took her feeling and getting the results to finally be motivated enough to realize that that amount of alcohol just wasn't worth it for her. So it's, people wonder, it's like, "Well, how do, how do you get motivated?"

It's like, well, you don't wait for motivation to happen. You gotta take action, and then from those, that action, you get results, and from those results, then you get motivated to take more action. It's people wait for the motivation. It's like if you're waiting for motivation, you're gonna be waiting forever. Yeah.

You gotta take action when you're not motivated, and then from there you get results, and then with those results, you get more motivated. Yeah. It's like, it's almost as if we're waiting for something to give us permission to make the change, right? Like, I had a buddy say to me one time, and this was a while ago, um, you know, I, I, you know, and he had all the thing, overeating, uh, big pot smoker, big drinker, and he's like, "Ah, I'll change when something happens to me." And I'm like, "Bro, what the f- what?"

That's stupid. "You're gonna change when you have a problem, like an artery burst or a fucking aneurysm, then you're gonna change? Like, why don't we d- like, like, why don't you just dial it back 10% and see how much better you feel?" Like, right? Just start there.

And, you know, again, I'm not a fitness professional and I'm no one's coach, so I'm not trying to, like, make people... You know, I'm just trying to help them. But, like, it, it, that m- I, I do feel like a lot of us are sitting there, you know, excusing away things we know are maybe excessive, right? And again, I'm not gonna judge anybody. I like to have a few drinks.

You know, like I said, I, I, I will occasionally, when I do need to land the ship, still, you know, spark up a J or something just 'cause I know that that will help me at certain times, but I use them as tools. I think of them as tools, not as I'm doing this because I need to change my mental state. It's more like, you know, they're, they're tools in the tool belt to help me be successful as much as I can, and if I understand the impact that they have on me, then I can use them accordingly as, as necessary, right? If that, if that makes sense, versus, like, I need some, some life event to happen to give me permission to start making changes in my life. It's like, ah, that's not the right way to look at it.

Yeah. I also feel like for someone saying that, there is a... Very often people don't think it's gonna happen to them. Mm. Like, people, "Oh, that, that's not gonna happen to me.

That wouldn't happen to me." People have this false idea that, like, uh, it, that happens to other people, not to me. And a really common one with this is blood pressure. I talk about blood pressure all the time because it's, it's literally called the silent killer because i- in the United States it kills over 700,000 people a year. Um, a- and it's because they don't know they have it.

They have, they don't know that they have it. There are no symptoms of a high blood pressure. And so you, you, maybe you grow up and you hear like your dad has high blood pressure and so all of that, but you don't, you don't think that you're ever gonna have it. And you often might not even consider yourself as someone who, maybe you're, you're fit and you work out and da, da, da. High blood pressure doesn't discriminate.

It doesn't matter if you're fit and healthy. Like that can help, but there are genetic components to it. There are so many things that, that impact it outside of, uh, your current health habits or your body weight. Like there are people who are overweight who have good blood pressure, and there are people who are super lean and look healthy and fit that have very high blood pressure. Um, and, and people just have this idea that, "Oh, it's just, it's not gonna happen to me."

That's, and so, um, if that's you, I mean, good luck. Like, 'cause you're, you're ta- you're gambling. You're gambling with your life, and you're, you're giving yourself a gamble being like, "Well, that's not gonna happen to me." It's like I, I pray it doesn't happen to you. I truly pray it doesn't happen to you.

But statistically, at some point it's gonna happen. Like something's gonna happen statistically. Like otherwise, like people would be living forever. So, a- and we can look at the data, look at the statistics, and if we look at your health habits, look at your body fat, look at your diet, like you're gonna become a statistic w- sooner rather than later if you don't a- at least start checking it. Jordan, you have, in my opinion, the best, most honest, real Instagram account when it comes to health, wellness, fitness mindset that I've come across.

Um, I, I'll fanboy for just a second and let everyone know I've been a fan for a very long time. I think the way you approach it, I obviously love your style, but, uh, dude, I, I just pray that you keep doing this work. And it doesn't seem like you're gonna stop, but I pray that you do because I think your voice and your approach is what we need right now. We need more people who are cutting through so much of the bullshit, so much of the nonsense, and, uh, I just appreciate the hell out of you, man. I ap- this conversation I've been waiting for for a while and just, uh, so glad we got...

I could talk to you another four hours, but, um, I wanna be respectful of your time and of the audience. If people wanna just get into your world, where's the best place? And, and if they wanna work with you, how do they do that? Yeah. So w- I'll start thank you for the kind words.

I sincerely appreciate it. It means the world to me. Um, I, I wouldn't think about hiring me or buying anything from me. I would just find my free content first and, and see if that's helpful, 'cause that's really everything you need before you decide if you wanna pay me. Uh, I have a podcast, the, the Jordan Syatt Podcast, uh, and my Instagram SyattFitness.

Um, if you could put it in the show notes, that'd be great, but that's- Yep. Everything will be in the show notes, guys ... that's, yeah. That's it. Yep. Thank you.

Awesome. Bro, appreciate the hell out of you. Thank you so much. Thank you, man. This is the story of the one.

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