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EP183: Steve Taylor - How Bad Do You Want It?
78 Plays6 days ago
“There’s no secret. It takes just exactly what you’ve always heard it takes, hard work and discipline, and you miss out on drinking and partying and all of that, at least to a certain degree, if you want to get what you want.”
Achieving greatness isn’t about wanting it—it’s about proving it through action. Most men settle for average, but the few who embrace discomfort and discipline rise above. This episode dives into what it takes to truly commit, push past limits, and build the mindset that separates contenders from pretenders. If you’re not willing to sacrifice for your goals, you’ll always fall short.
Today’s guest proves that age is no excuse. Starting bodybuilding at 57, he faced failure, doubled down, and won his IFBB Pro Card at 60. His journey is a testament to resilience, proving that mastery comes from consistency, discipline, and an unshakable work ethic.
Steve Taylor is a professional IFBB bodybuilder and coach who defied expectations by achieving elite status later in life. Now 69, he continues to train, compete, and inspire men to take full ownership of their health, strength, and success.
Learn more & connect:
https://www.instagram.com/steve.taylor.ifbbpro/
You’re invited to come to a Sovereign Circle meeting to experience it for yourself. To learn more, go to https://www.sovereignman.ca/. While you’re there, check out the Battle Ready program and check out the store for Sovereign Man t-shirts, hats, and books.
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Transcript
Pushing Beyond Limits
00:00:01
Speaker
When everybody else puts the weight down, you do five more reps. and You think, I just think I could, but you can't. And when you put that weight down, you those muscles are just singing.
No Secrets to Success
00:00:11
Speaker
How much are you willing to sacrifice? They want to know, what's your secret? You're 70 years, you've been there 70 years old, do you look like that and say, you know what?
00:00:19
Speaker
I know you'd love to think that there's a secret that I can tell you to make this easy. I think you know the secret. I just kept grinding, so I went back to work for another six months, and I thought, oh, okay, well, it was nice to get a trophy. Now I want to win one.
Living on Your Own Terms
00:00:32
Speaker
You're a man living in the modern world in a time when men and manhood are not what they once were. You live life on your own terms. You're self-sufficient. You think for yourself and you march to the beat of your own drum. When life knocks you down, you get back up because in your gut, you know that's what men do. You're a badass and a warrior. And on the days when you forget, we are here to remind you who you really are.
Meet Steve Taylor
00:01:03
Speaker
Welcome to Sovereign Man Podcast where we aim to make men masculine again. I'm your man Nicky Baloo and we have a great guest lined up for you today. ah Steve Taylor, welcome Steve. Thank you. Thrilled to be here. Good to have you. So Steve, I ran across you on Instagram because you are a professional bodybuilder You're an IFBB pro bodybuilder and you're over 60 years old. And I just saw your pictures and I saw, him damn, this dude looks legit, strong, tough, ripped. I had to bring him
Steve's Bodybuilding Journey
00:01:43
Speaker
on here. So why don't you tell us a bit about your health and fitness and bodybuilding journey? Sure.
00:01:49
Speaker
um i As a rule, I don't research refer to myself as a bodybuilder, technically speaking. the competitions that I do. I'm an IFBB pro and I won my pro card at 60 years old. ah I did it in the category of men's physique, which is kind of a thinner, sleeker version of a bodybuilder, not so much ah a gorilla look as a, I think they describe it as as a muscular male model, kind of a, kind of a look more. yeah And, uh,
00:02:26
Speaker
so So yeah, i I'm 69 years old now and I still do competitions.
First Competition Experience
00:02:34
Speaker
I've never ever done a competition. I literally started at age 57 and it was sort of ah a bucket list kind of a thing. I let somebody in the gym talk me into it. I always had a pretty good physique and I thought, you know, I'd like to do a show sometime and and when they came out with this men's physique category, that was kind of more suited to my body. And so I decided I was going to do one for fun and, uh, fun. And, uh, I ended up getting consumed. I got my butt handed to me in that competition. I didn't know what I was doing and I was my old coach and my old did my own diet and my own posing. you I'd never even seen a physique competition before. And so.
00:03:19
Speaker
I think there was about 15 guys in the field, and I finished sixth. So I was like the best of the worst. And have that hurt my feelings. I felt like they sort of kicked sand in my face and sent me home. And the ah the first five, in the amateur competitions, the first five places get a trophy. And sixth on death. Well, I didn't get a trophy. I didn't i didn't get a little trophy or any little
Growth Through Competition
00:03:46
Speaker
token.
00:03:47
Speaker
and And so I said, damn, I was only going to do one, but I said, I think I can do better. So I went back to work and I just worked my butt off for about six months and I i did another show. And, ah you know, they have age groups. They have what they call a master's class, which is basically just a kind word for old people. no But ah they have different age groups within the master class.
00:04:13
Speaker
And back then when I first started, I was 57 years old and the oldest age group that they had was 40. So I did the over 40 group and I did the open group, which is the young guys. I figure if I'm going to go to all the trouble and preparation and diet, I'm going to get up there a couple of times anyway.
00:04:33
Speaker
And so all through my amateur career, that's what I did. I would do the master's class and I would do the open against the young guys.
Ambition and Achievements
00:04:41
Speaker
And as I improved, ah the like I said, after the sick after six months um after the first show, I went and did another show and I finished fourth in the master's and fourth in the open. So I got two trophies. and um I was pretty pleased with myself because I was fourth amongst the young guys at 57. And I just kept grinding. So I went back to work for another six months and I thought, oh, okay, well, it was nice to get a trophy. Now I want to win one. And so I went back to work. Six months later, I said to another one that I actually won. And so I was hooked then. I was consumed.
Competing at an Older Age
00:05:20
Speaker
And I mean, my whole life started revolving around
00:05:23
Speaker
eating correctly and working out and posing and doing all these things that these competitors do, I became obsessed. And from there on out, as I started doing these amateur shows, even though in the master's class, I was quite a bit older than everybody else.
00:05:39
Speaker
And in the in the open class, I was way older than everybody else, but I was winning. And I was beating the young guys and the old guys and everybody, and they were all, even the old guys were way younger than me. So that kind of fired my rockets and and got me thinking. And after I'd won all of the the local shows here in the, kind of in the Western region, I live in Oregon, I live in Bend, Oregon.
00:06:05
Speaker
And I'll do shows in Seattle and Portland and Salem and down in California and Idaho and kind of my area here. And I was winning all the time. So I said, okay, time for me to step up and and go to nationals. And so at 59 years old, I did my first show ah on a national stage and I was fifth.
00:06:30
Speaker
And I was happy with that because I was, again, the the age groups hadn't really caught up with me. The oldest age group they had then was 45. And so I was fifth in the 45.
00:06:43
Speaker
And I thought, okay, this is great, but I don't want to keep going. So I went back and I did no
National Championship Victory
00:06:50
Speaker
shows for an entire year. And I just literally busted ass. It was probably one of the most miserable years of my life, just forcing food and doing trying to do everything correct for a year. And I went back and did that same show at 60 years old, and they'd added an extra age group. so they had a 45 and a 50 now. And so I entered the 45 and the 50 and I won. I didn't necessarily think I was going to win, but I did. So once you win a national championship, you get your pro card. And so that's how I got my pro card was I won a national championship at 60 years old and I won the 45 and the 50 year old age group. And, uh,
00:07:35
Speaker
I gotta tell you, I really milk the hell out of it out of that situation. They made a big deal out of me because I was 60 and you're not supposed to be able to do that at 60. So that kind of opened a lot of doors for me. I mean, you know, one day I was 59 and nobody cares. The next day I'm 60 and I went a pro card at the 45 and all of a sudden I'm somebody, which was kind of fun. I wasn't expecting it. And from there, it's just,
00:08:01
Speaker
Open so many doors and I can't even tell you I've been on TV shows and
Future Aspirations
00:08:05
Speaker
movies and documentaries and. now ah but appearances in in different places and it's it's really been fun for an old man though, the attention that that I can get with it. and So I've come to it ever since. ah yeah Anybody that does what I do that says that they don't have an ego or vanity is lying to you. So I dig the attention and it's probably what's kept me hanging in there this long and the fact that I've been able to be successful and I'm
00:08:33
Speaker
I'm just happy to be this old and still be relevant and be able to beat somebody at something. so That's incredible. you still are you're so You're still doing shows, competitive shows? Yes. The last one I did, I did one about six months ago in Daytona Beach. I did a pro show there and they still don't have age groups as old as me, but they're they're going to add a 60-year-old age group now. Of course, I'll be 70 because I turned 69 about a month ago.
00:09:02
Speaker
and So I'm going to, uh, I had a little setback. I had some stem cell work done on my back and my shoulder, and I'm doing a little recovery right now, but I'm going to, uh, I'm going to do at least one more. The last two pro shows that I've done, I was second and I want to win one and go out of winter. And I got to stop. I don't want to be the old guy that needed, uh, didn't know when to go away. So, um, uh,
00:09:30
Speaker
worried about that. And, you know, I mean, I've retired a couple times in my mind and said, OK, I think I'm good. Then I I I come out in retirement, you know, like a lot of old guys that don't know when to stop. So that's kind of the how I've been with with doing shows. But it's it's fun. I just I've been consumed by it. And I just I dig this stuff, Nick. Yeah, I can see that, man.
00:09:58
Speaker
um You know, you're in a sport where you don't really need to retire. If you don't want to, you can keep lifting weights until the day you die. Oh, and I will. I will. ah but I want to stay fit. But I i got to tell you that as I get older, ah some of the stuff that I have to do to to stay in ah at basically a world class level and being so much older than everybody else. And there's other old older guys that do it. ah They don't seem to ever be as old as me. And now they will have a 60 year old age group, but that's still 10 years younger than me. And I can tell you, as I've gotten older, it's been harder to
00:10:43
Speaker
Well, again, like when I was fifty in my 50s, I didn't care if I was 15 or 20 years older than the the others doing the open classes and all that. I could still win. But as I got into my 60s, I noticed that I had a harder time beating the young guys and that I, up the really good world class older guys were serious competition for me and like I said I told you the last two shows I did I got second so you know I was used to winning and being a superstar but when you get your pro card um that first pro show I got backstage and
00:11:21
Speaker
Poop got real quite fast. Everybody's ah a hero. Everybody's a superstar where they came from. There's there's no gimmies. There's no weak links. And they all think they're going to win. They all won a national championship or a big show somewhere. And so it's crazy. You get backstage at one of these shows and you've never seen so many chiseled bodies in your life. It's it's crazy.
00:11:47
Speaker
Well, I'm 57. I did my first show last summer, the day before my 57th birthday. Yeah, I love that. And, um you know, I was it was a 35 plus. That was the Masters there. Right. That's I call that an open class, Nick. That's not that's not a Masters class. That's an open. Yeah. Well, there you go. and um you know I was happy with with how I showed up for a first show, ah but I definitely need a lot more size. you know
00:12:25
Speaker
i'm a I'm around 5'10", 5'11". On stage, I weighed 167 pounds, yeah ripped and I needed more size. I definitely needed probably another 10, 12 site. My favorite bodybuilder in terms of the body I aspire to have is Frank Zane and he was around same height as me and he competed in the high 170s and for me that would be awesome really like not a mass monster but really tight and chiseled and honestly it'd be nice to win a show I don't really care that much to win
00:13:06
Speaker
um I want to win for me to get to that look. Whether someone decides I'm better looking than other guys, I need to be better than I was. That's the most important thing to me. Will I do it more than more often?
Body Image and Goals
00:13:21
Speaker
I don't know. We'll see. I like i like doing it. I like being ah somebody who's ah older than almost everybody else. I like pushing myself beyond there.
00:13:32
Speaker
And I think there's far too many younger fellas who aren't taking care of their health and fitness. They're letting themselves ah be weak, physically weak. And I wanted to chat with you about that. You know, you're a strong man. You're you're somebody who's obviously taking this seriously. Why is it so important to you? Why do you think it should be important to other men?
00:13:53
Speaker
ah It's just something, it's just something inside because a lot of people think it's silly and people, people ask me, what do you white, white, white. And, and, and, and I really don't have.
00:14:08
Speaker
any other explanation for it other than I like the way it looks. That's what attracted it to me from the beginning. I always liked the bodybuilder look from the time I was a skinny little kid and I was always this tall skinny Ichabod Crane look at dude. And I didn't like that look. I liked that athletic muscular ah Build i think ah ah a lot of people do a lot of guys do anyway and so that's what attracted me to it and ah it's it's crazy what you're willing to put yourself through because.
00:14:40
Speaker
and with When I get in the pros, when I got in the pros, you actually make money. If you finish in the top three, then you get money. You don't have to take home a little crappy little trophy. You get money and there's something satisfying about literally winning money when you would you win a competition.
00:14:59
Speaker
But I just there's there's there's it's for me, it's just a feeling when I'm stepping up there, the judges are announcing the the winners and the the third board, fifth place, fourth place, third place. but And I'm standing there waiting to step up and be the big winner.
00:15:15
Speaker
um It just creates a feeling of satisfaction like no other for me. I mentioned the year that I won my my pro card and after going to nationals my first time and getting fifth place and then going home with a plan to bust my ass for a year and come back to that same show and the fact that I did that and the next year when I got it back, I won.
00:15:41
Speaker
what It was so incredibly satisfying, the fact that i I implemented this plan, busted my ass for a year, and it worked out perfectly just like I just like i wanted it to. And there's there's just a satisfaction in that that i that that I can't get anywhere else for me.
00:15:59
Speaker
and I think there's a lot of things that people do that is crazy, the different hobbies and the different interests that people have that ah it it's so diverse. and I mean, one guy cares about something that might seem silly to the next guy and and so forth. but I like looking that way. I like being older and standing out as being something unusual in in a good way as an old guy. ah it it's It also gives me purpose. I'm retired. My my income, i have commercial I have some commercial buildings that that I lease out. and That's what that's what
Conditioning and Dedication
00:16:38
Speaker
is by where my income comes from and keeps but keeps the lights on.
00:16:42
Speaker
and so it It gives me something to do, and it's my job daily. I am messing with food, shopping, working out, fixing food, cleaning up, and getting ready for more food. And if you know, in the off-season, I'll just say, and I'm sure you already know this, because you if you have a bodybuilder's mentality, you never have enough muscle. You can never have too much muscle. And the other one was me. must hold it a shirt
00:17:13
Speaker
Now I was able as a skinny guy to put more muscle on and I still never have the most muscle on stage, but my conditioning is second to none. Conditioning is something that you don't have to have genetics for. You just have to have willpower and discipline. And and there's no reason as a contestant that you can't step out there being the most conditioned guy on stage, and especially as an older guy, I win with my abs. That's my feature. I have particularly good abs, especially for an old guy. Old guys ah frequently have trouble getting tight in the belly, ah skin issues and so on and so forth, and I've been lucky in that way. And so I'm kind of noted for my abs.
00:18:01
Speaker
and Uh, what I, again, like I said, I was skinny. I've always been a skinny guy trying to put muscle on, but in the off season, I'm six foot three, but I will go to 260, 270 pounds and I'll step on stage at 220. And I mean, when I start my prep, I'll literally drop, you know,
00:18:25
Speaker
45, 50 pounds ah in about 12 to 14 weeks and then step out on stage. and there's I know that I've seen places where they say you can gain muscle and stay lean. I personally have my doubts about that.
00:18:44
Speaker
because I know many more that will tell you, you know, you have to look a little fluffy and almost fat in the off season in order to put that muscle on because you have to eat. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Oh, God. Yeah. Eat, eat, eat.
00:19:02
Speaker
Yeah. I ate till I wanted to puke on
Health Risks and Honesty
00:19:05
Speaker
my shoes. That's what made that year so miserable was the fact that I just literally concentrated for a year and I just ate every day beyond what I was comfortable. And so, you know, it's a fitness thing as people say, well geez, you're fit, you're healthy. And i'm I'm going to be perfectly honest. Some of the stuff that we have to do, if you're going to be a competitive bodybuilder and go to that extreme,
00:19:30
Speaker
is not necessarily particularly, you're not terrible for you, but not particularly good for you. Those kind of weight swings, especially as a mobile guy and dieting yourself down to, ah I'll get down to as as low as 3%. And I literally get doctor's warnings backstage saying, hey, you're just, I mean, you can you you could kind of endanger yourself and you you maybe take up,
00:19:57
Speaker
ah a diuretic, a water pill, ah the night before and the day of a show. and And you have to be careful with those, especially when you're already dehydrated. And and I mean, you have to know what you're doing if you're going to do all that, because there's a certain amount of danger there. If you don't know what you're doing, want you could you could mess yourself up.
00:20:20
Speaker
ah I am not always wild about everything you have to do. And as an older guy, some of the stuff I just don't do anymore in my workouts and in my supplements and all of that. I don't take steroids, but I will be perfectly honest with everybody. um I take HGH daily. I take four IUs of HGH daily, and I take a testosterone supplement. And when I'm prepping and training, a lot of times I will take more of an elevated dose
00:20:52
Speaker
of the testosterone. And I'm my own doctor. and I do all my own injections. And i've i've I've been doing this a while, so I've kind of gotten down and I and i stay ah in close contact with my doctor. I tell my doctor everything. I have my blood work done quarterly.
00:21:12
Speaker
And I have friends that do this that will that take steroids and everything else, and they'll stop and clean up before they go to their doctor. and And I will advise anybody out there that's doing that, don't do that.
Advice for Young Bodybuilders
00:21:26
Speaker
Tell your doctor. He's not going to spank you.
00:21:29
Speaker
I go to my doctor and I say, I'm a competitive bodybuilder. I've taken this and this and this. And I don't want to endanger myself or my health because it's not more important to me than my health, but it is important to me. And so I want you to keep me in the game. I want you to make sure I don't do something stupid. So I work with my doctor.
00:21:48
Speaker
And they'll say, well, you necessarily need to do this or that. But it's not all that bad at all with him keeping an eye on me. i And I think that's the safest way to do it. And again, I don't get too carried away. I take a boosted dose of test and I take some HGH. But in the past, as a younger guy, I had done some of the lesser I'm going to say lesser volatile steroids. Some of them are, are you know, quite, I'm going to say at different levels of harmfulness for lack of a better way of putting it. But but I'm kind of over all that. At my age, I'm not into doing that. at you know Testosterone isn't the steroid, it neither is HGH.
00:22:36
Speaker
so But that's how it is. Like I said, just keep a close eye on your blood. and And then as far as the workouts, that's the other part. As you get older, you kind of got to temper your workouts a little bit if you want to continue to be able to go every day because you as you get older, it's easy to hurt yourself. Yeah, absolutely it is. Absolutely it is.
00:23:04
Speaker
So, so Steve, what's, What's your message to young younger fellas who aren't necessarily taking their health as seriously as they should? Well, as a young guy, we all ah have a certain amount of that than the young guys. They don't want to. They want to wake up tomorrow looking like Joe Arnold. And it's so they're not very patient.
00:23:39
Speaker
and And you really need to be because because it's a sport of years. It literally takes years to to get to the so that level. And so the first thing they want to do is jump on steroids. My advice to them is to, and depending on how old they are, they need to
00:24:02
Speaker
you can't really You can't really tell these guys not to do it because they don't care. And I was the same way when I was young. The old men in the gym used to say, you know, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't do that. I used to do that. Now I'm all messed up. And they're like, yeah, right. That's you, buddy. I'll never be that way. Look at me. I'm awesome. And as I got older, I found out, you know, those old guys that I thought were full of crap, they're not full of crap. And so,
00:24:29
Speaker
They need to, as a young man, if you're going to get into this, you need to do your homework. You need to do your research. And if you're thinking about getting into these drugs, then you want to be familiar with the side effects and what ones are the safer ones to use and which ones are the ones you need to stay away from. There's several different ways to get where you're trying to go.
00:24:51
Speaker
And so you need to not be in such a rush that you just load up with massive doses of these ah you know stronger steroids or or you will you will do your body some damage. you you You'll hurt your liver, you'll hurt your heart.
00:25:05
Speaker
and you just don't do it. temper Temper that enthusiasm a little bit and do your research and find out which ones do what. And you know, lower doses work just as well as higher doses. Everybody thinks that If a little is good, more is better. When it comes to these kinds of subs, that's not necessarily true. ah To a point, you you get to a point with your dose where you just are going overboard and and you're not doing yourself any good. You're just being hard on your body. so And then last but not least, if you have, ah as a young guy, if you have an older person that knows what they're doing,
00:25:50
Speaker
ah That can be the most valuable asset you have. You need to listen to somebody that understands they won't steer you wrong.
Steroids and Health Prioritization
00:25:58
Speaker
I know when people ask me, I will give them advice and not try to tell them not to do it i'll or warn them not to do it. Then I'll say, if you have to do it, here's the way you need to do it. And I'm always even more conservative with my advice for them than I am for myself. And so just Just be careful and use use the people around you yeah and get educated and go at it easy. you thought all As a young person, you got all the time in the world ah and and you'll build a better body that way.
00:26:34
Speaker
So I got to just say for me, there's it makes no sense to do steroids. um The whole point of doing this first and foremost is to prolong my health, prolong my life. That's the number one reason I get into fitness. I'm adding skeletal muscle because as I get older, I want to be stronger. I want to be tougher. ah And when I'm 57 now, I'll be 58 this summer.
00:27:04
Speaker
you know, I want to be in a space where by the time I'm 70, I'm big and strong like you. And I haven't messed up my, yeah my organs, right, messed up my health. So yeah, he's getting into this.
00:27:20
Speaker
and wants to do steroids, it's just got to give their head a shake because I think it's nuts. Nuts to put your health at risk for anything. So that's first and foremost. It makes no sense. And the research on this stuff is out there. This is not like, you know, you're not sure what the impact of this stuff is going to be. The long term impact isn't positive.
00:27:39
Speaker
So there's there's no need to to to think about that. You know it's not positive. So don't do something that's gonna mess you up. That's me. but Number two, I think the bigger issue these days, Steve, isn't that there's young guys that are, there's a lot of young guys that are coming into the sport and lifting weights. It's that there's so many that are not, that are little Pillsbury Doughboys and are not doing what they need to do. And I'm wondering what's your message to those men What do they need to do to get out of this complacency that's having them be weak, physically weak?
Complacency and Fitness Habits
00:28:15
Speaker
So I don't think a man is a man if he's physically weak. Do you agree? Do you disagree? No, I agree completely. And what I would say about that is the fact that you're if you're building habits like that as a younger guy,
00:28:30
Speaker
your or girl. If you're building habits like that, then it's okay. okay um If you're building habits like that and and and you fall into that groove, um getting getting it you know, as you get older, it's not going to get any, it's not going to get any better. You need to, I'm going to just say you need to develop an ethic and it's just, it's hard ah because if you're not used to going to the gym or you're not getting some, used to getting some sort of exercise almost every day or let's say five days a week, um you need to. And I know that
00:29:11
Speaker
For me, when I first started going to the gym, I loved the look of the bodybuilder, but I got to the gym, and I really didn't enjoy it. I didn't know what I was doing. Everybody looked better than me. They all knew each other and were chatting and having fun, and they knew what they were doing with the workout. And and I would force myself to go, and, you know, I'd do it for a month, and then I'd say, well, I still look the same. This isn't doing anything. what am This isn't any fun. I'll go have a hamburger instead.
00:29:39
Speaker
and so yeah And I went back and forth like that several times as a young man before I finally stuck with it long enough that I started seeing just slight results. And I was so pleased that I go, whoa, whoa, wow, that that wasn't there before. And I said, maybe this stuff does work.
00:30:02
Speaker
And then that's what finally clipped a a trigger in me to learn, seek help, and all of that. i know I know young guys don't have a lot of money, so it's hard to hire a trainer when you're a young guy. And everything that I know, at some point, I probably paid a trainer or somebody to teach me. And I don't have any original knowledge of my own, but just having done this for so long, I've learned a lot. and so So yeah.
00:30:31
Speaker
ah i guess that's what i would say about that up it's so Like everything else, there's so much more to it when you get on the inside and you really want to get into the nuts and bolts, as opposed to just looking at it from the outside, which is everything in alive, I think, is that way. It looks easy on the outside looking in, and then you get inside to find out how involved it is. I have people message me all the time, hey, how do you do that? What advice do you have? but would you reun unitite it And I have to write back. I mean, I'm happy to get the advice, but I have to write back and say, you know, that's a question that I would have to write a book.
00:31:08
Speaker
to answer for you. so there's And even me still to this day, ah the more I learn, the more of the more I understand how much more I wish I knew. And it's ah is' never ending, the nutrition, the the supplements, the the workout techniques, and the little idiosyncrasies and ambiances ah of the workout. There's a lot of people that aren't as into it,
00:31:36
Speaker
don't know. ah I know you know this, Nick, but one of the things that so many people don't know when you see them in the gym is what they call the mind muscle connection. yeah And you'll see somebody over there looking at the out the window or talking on their phone while they're while they're doing an arm curl. You need to get serious about it. you need to have You need to have your breathing correct when you're doing your repetitions and you need to put your you need to put your mind at the muscle. If you want to develop that muscle, but whatever muscle you're working on, you need to put your mind, I always say, I just tell the the young guys, become the muscle grasshopper. If you're doing your set, become the muscle.
00:32:20
Speaker
And I'll literally stand in the mirror when I'm doing my biceps and I will stare at my biceps and just literally concentrate on using nothing but bicep to lift that weight. Same with my shoulders. I work in my front delts, I stare right at them. And and another thing another important thing is don't lift the weight that's too heavy. You need to, as a young guy, not be concerned about showing everybody how much you can lift.
00:32:47
Speaker
you need to get a weight, no matter how small it is, it doesn't matter. You need to get a weight and you're, everybody's probably heard this, but using your proper form and using your mind muscle connection and employ some of these things that will make a ah somebody that's just hacking around in the gym will turn them into a a physical specimen. These are the kind of, you know, specialize a little bit and, and, uh, do it like you know what you're doing instead of just punching the, punching the clock and going in there. And I know I could go to the gym. So I'm going to go in and screw around for 45 minutes of leave. And, uh, you know, they, you'll see people doing a set and the minute they start their arm, the muscles start getting a little tired, if they put it down.
00:33:35
Speaker
That's right when your muscle is starting to benefit. you know you need to There's a certain amount of pain you need to that you need to, and and I'm talking about if you want to develop a an impressive disease.
00:33:48
Speaker
You can stay physically fit just getting motion and exercise and the np a good diet and that'll keep you trim and kind of fit looking. But if you want to look like a badass or ah a bodybuilder or just have a muscular ah type of a ah physique where where you literally but have a look that people can look at you and go, oh, wow, you're going to jail. That was great.
00:34:16
Speaker
Um, you know, a little bit more extreme of a, of a build, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. Then you need to get into some of the finer points of the, of of like I said, the, the workout and the nutrition, because of I always thought I had a pretty good, pretty good physique. Uh, but, um, when I started doing these competitions in 57, I realized, Oh, okay. If I'm going to be any good at this, I actually have to.
00:34:42
Speaker
eat and plan my diet and and count my macros and do some of these things. People think, oh, that's true yeah um and that's that's over the top. um I'm not willing to do that. Well, okay. Maybe you're not cut out for that. It's not for everybody. But if you want that type of a zi physique, these are some things that you're just going to have to resign yourself to doing. And just like going to the gym or these people that are getting turning into doughboys that that don't get any exercise, you'll be amazed at how your body and mind will take to it. If you'll just make yourself do it for a certain amount of time, it becomes habit. And I can tell you now, I mean, there was a time when I never wanted to go to the gym. And now when the when I have a day where I don't go to the gym, I don't know what to do with myself. ah So
00:35:36
Speaker
It's unbelievable what your body will come become accustomed to, and it actually starts liking what you conditioned it to do that. You know, everything you're saying is exactly correct. And what's been shocking for me was how important it has been to go past my limits with my workouts. Yeah. Because I always thought I worked out pretty hard.
00:36:06
Speaker
But when I started working out with my coach, I realized, man, I could go a lot harder. Yep. Starting to do that has had my physique transform. Yeah, that's what it takes. Most people think they're working hard and and and most people don't really realize how much more they have in them if they just Grit their teeth and grind. Keep going. ah Because that's, there's a certain amount of pain, you know, the the the phrase, no pain, no gain, yeah you know, it just didn't just didn't come out of thin air. It's true. And so, you know, there's no other way to say it. You need to be willing to subject yourself to some pain and discipline.
00:36:54
Speaker
If you're going to, if you're going to attain, if you're, if that's what you're trying to do and attain that look, there's no other way to get there. You're you, you, when everybody else puts the weight down, you do five more reps and you think, I just think I could, but you can't. And would you put that weight down? You're those muscles are just singing. I mean, they're just, you know, uh, sorry. Um,
00:37:21
Speaker
they're They're just, and and people will start to realize, and and that's where a trainer comes in. I can tell you, I always get a better workout with a trainer and funny, yeah but as a guy, a lot of times I will hire female trainers that are serious competitors because no guy wants to live out in front of a girl. so that like I will hire female trainers and tell them to bust my ass for me.
00:37:48
Speaker
and You just, you literally don't want to fish out ah with, with a girl watching. Yeah. It's just a guy thing. So I just, I get a kick out of that, but it's true. And I have male traders too. And people look at me at the gym and go, you got a trainer. You should be a trainer. And I said, Mr. Olympia has a trainer, but you don't have to have a trainer. You know, you don't have to have one to get where you're going. It gets some knowledge and get some discipline.
00:38:19
Speaker
and get some grit and grind, brother, grind. I call it the beautiful grind. I believe in coaching. I do better when I have a coach who knows what they're doing. They're going to see what's in my blind spot. They're going to get me past my limitations. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm best investment I made over the last two years is to work with, uh, uh, hammer my coach and here's the amazing thing.
00:38:50
Speaker
I had my whole family work out with this fellow. And then when my son finished high school, he started working with him in the summer. And then he hired him to work with him full time and he decided not to go to school. So he's now a fitness coach and trainer and he's my trainer. I was his first client. So cool now 19 year old son trains me and he, and he's very good and he pushes me past my limits. So I go see him two to three times a week.
00:39:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's funny. I have a ah lot of young guys that that help me that know what they're doing too, particularly with posing for me. yeah You know, a stiff old guy. I don't want to look like a stiff old man up there on stage. I want to look cool. So ah as far as the posing goes, and you know, because you've done a show, I never thought much about the posing, but I just figured I'll get up there. And if you got a good body, you got a good body, you're going to win. You realize the first time you get up there, you go, oh, I don't have a mirror in front of me.
00:39:44
Speaker
And I can't see what I look like. I can't have my pump constantly hunting for my poses. and and And I worry about flowing from one pose to the next. And it's an art. it's It's part of the sport if you're going to be a competitor.
00:40:00
Speaker
But even if you're just trying to do it to to have a good body, you know, the trainer is great. But as a young guy, I really didn't have enough money for a trainer. I was busy trying to work and go to the gym and buy food and chase girls and and all of that. And and so I'm sure as an older guy, I mean, I'm i'm married now. Yeah.
00:40:21
Speaker
i but I go home every night and I eat on time and sleep on time and do all the things right. I almost got better at it as an older guy than I was as a younger guy because I just have too full of a calendar and not enough money or time to keep up with everything I wanted to do.
00:40:39
Speaker
Yeah, so let's wrap this up by talking about sleep and recovery, because a lot of people don't understand how important those are.
Sleep and Recovery
00:40:47
Speaker
So why don't you talk about sleep and recovery and why they are so important to pay attention to? Yes. The two things that that you take for granted, you can't just go to the gym, work your ass off with the weights, and have your muscles grow.
00:41:01
Speaker
they won't, without all the other stuff, they won't really grow much. So sleep and nutrition both, I found out just how important both of those two things are when I started doing competitions. And the minute I reconciled myself to to knuckling down and doing those other with things correctly away from the gym,
00:41:23
Speaker
That's where you make huge strides. and And I will say, people, why not believe it? But if you will learn about your nutrition and your sleep and do that right, it's as it may be more important than the actual workout. ah And I'm a firm believer in that. People say, oh, yeah, right. No, no, it's true. and And you're not going to believe it maybe until you do it and experience it. But ah sleep,
00:41:52
Speaker
is it affects I mean, it not only affects your growth, your workout. I mean, it affects your health. It's probably the most important probably the most important thing you could do when you're going to the gym or working out and or whatever.
00:42:06
Speaker
And so, ah again, as a young person, I stayed up too late, had to get up, well go to work early and and then those kinds of things. And and ah now, as an older guy, I go to bed on time and I can get up early and get my food and all of that. And it just makes a huge difference. So um I know those aren't some of the things that that people want to do. They don't want to stop and take the time to two worry about their food to that degree and prep all these, you know, just kind of repetitious and and same with the sleep. You know, you you need to spend eight hours in bed. And if you can get eight hours of sleep, that's great. Or or
00:42:54
Speaker
ah whatever it takes. But I just think that a lot of, you know, people burn the candles at both ends these days and stay up too late, have to get up early, you know, drink alcohol is another thing. You can't drink much if you want to be a ah competitive ah bodybuilder with a kind of extreme look that that we have to have to do what we do. Yeah, alcohol is a poison.
00:43:24
Speaker
the It's the worst and funny people will ask me that. They'll say, well, anyway, um yeah, I can. How do I look like that, Steve? and i Well, you got to go to the OK, I could go to the gym. like I'll do that. Well, you've got to clean up your diet. and So OK, I could probably do that. I got to clean up my diet. ah And you need to quit drinking or drink little to very little. Oh, OK, I'm out. Eject, I'm done.
00:43:52
Speaker
have to Okay. It's not for you then. Cause you can't do both. And so priorities, how bad do you want it? Like every little, not only, yeah, not only bodybuilding, but that, you know, that's true in life or anything. You people, people have a drive and they have something in their tunnel vision and are driven to, to attain it, whatever it is. ah You got a good chance of doing it, but It's a priority, and it's it's it's all about how bad do you want
Path to Success
00:44:22
Speaker
it? How how much are you willing to sacrifice? And they want to know, what's your secret? You're 70 years old, you look like that, and I say, you know what? I know you'd love to think that there is a secret that I can tell you to make this easy, but I think you know the secret. There is no secret.
00:44:41
Speaker
it It takes just exactly what you've always heard. It takes hard work and discipline and you you miss out on drinking and partying and all of that, at least to a certain degree, if you want, if you want to get, get what you want. One of the things I love about it is you can't buy it.
Enjoying Challenges and Recognition
00:45:01
Speaker
So if it, if it was easy, everybody would look like that. So there's only one way to get there and you can even be poor.
00:45:10
Speaker
and get there. but it's a it's But I can't tell you how much fun it's been for me though. ah It's just, again, like I said, opened all sorts of doors. And and ah even in the the minor celebrity, it's made me realize what being a real celebrity must be like because I experience crazy things. I mean, I consider myself a fourth tier celebrity. The only reason I have any celebrity at all is because of my age. In my little group of what I do, I'm known because I damn near 70 and most guys have the sense to quit doing that before they're 70. But
00:45:56
Speaker
ah it's it's just It's just so much fun for me, just fun for for being known for that. And like I say, still being relevant at my age and being able to ah you know beat younger guys. And I mean, there's a satisfaction in that.
00:46:12
Speaker
and you can probably understand that and I just I live for it right now and there is a day where I'm not going to do any shows and it's in the near future and I'm going to back out of the world never quit going to the gym and I'll always be a fit old guy but I'm not going to maintain my world-class edge forever I won't be able to I don't care how long and how well you age all at different rates, but I mean, it does catch, you know, it catches up with you. I see it coming. I see it in little places, my skin and my my stomach, even though I'm known for my abs, I see it coming. And, you know, I have from all my friends my age, they they they envied my life. I have a good life. And they all say, Jesus, David, if I looked like you, i I would never even buy a shirt.
00:47:04
Speaker
and and And you know, I get a lot of attention on the social media. and And I wake up with messages from young girls every day in my message box. My wife loves that. And she does. And it's just it's flattering. But i I don't take myself I don't take myself all that seriously. I've always been kind of a light hearted clown of a guy in school and everything else. i i don't i'm I like to have fun wherever I go. You make your own fun is what I say. You can't rely on somebody else to create fun for you. You make your own fun. And so I like to try to make fun and put it in every situation. ah it's yeah know I only got not that long left to go. I want to work work what I have left for all it's worth.
00:48:02
Speaker
Amen. Steve, it's been a lot of fun spending this time with you, getting to know you over this 47 odd minutes that we've been speaking together. You're you're an American original, doing what you do at your age. I look up to you because I'm 57 and I want to get my pro card when I turn 60. And I want to um want to go right to the end.
00:48:33
Speaker
yeah healthy fit and strong. And you're a great role model. You're a great role model. Thank you. I love that. And that's a perfect plan. You're 57. You've got one show under your belt and your first show is just kind of a deer in the headlights, get up there, what is feeling with it. But I can tell you, you get more comfortable every time you get up on that stage. Each time you go back, you get a little more comfortable. And when I started out, I was just ah first time on stage, I couldn't even look at the judges. They're sitting right down there in front of you. And I would kind of look out into the lights and just literally a deer in the headlights and and not just feeling ah completely uncomfortable.
00:49:13
Speaker
And now I get up on stage and I want everybody looking at me. I look at the judges and if they're not looking at me, I'll shift my pose or do something to draw their attention. as I want every one of them like looking at me the whole time. So that's how comfortable I've gotten. And that's that's all part of it. So, you know, they tell you to smile. They tell you to, you know, look like you're in the physique. And is that what you did was physique, I guess.
00:49:42
Speaker
No, I didn't do physique. I don't like the long shorts. Did you do bodybuilding? I don't like the long shorts. So I did the... I like the old trunks. Yeah. Okay. You liked the little nut couch. Okay. So did you do classic physique then or bodybuilding? I think I did classic. Yeah. Masters. 35 plus. Yeah. Well, you know, bodybuilding is the gorillas. The classic is muscular, but not skinny like the physique guys. And then the physique guys are the skittiest ones of the bunch.
00:50:12
Speaker
but Yeah. I wear the board shorts and I don't understand why they put us in board shorts because... Me neither. Why do they call them men's physique? Maybe they should call them men's upper body because it doesn't make sense. I don't like those. I have calves, so my calves hang out and I got pretty good calves for a physique guy because if you look at some of the physique guys, they don't have any calves either. But um yeah, it's... ah But you're in the perfect spot at your age.
00:50:42
Speaker
And then when you turn 60, you'll have some experience under your belt and you will be right at the bottom of the age class. So you'll be the youngest guys up there on stage in the 60 year old group. And that's perfect. So I think you got a good plan to target for your pro card and more than enough time to get there seriously.
00:51:04
Speaker
Yeah, thank you. i'm I'm excited. Looking forward to it. Looking forward to staying in touch with you. I hope that one day you write down all the knowledge that you've acquired and put a book out because it would be a book worth reading. God bless you, man. Thanks for coming to the show. Appreciate you having me. Yeah, yeah you bet. I enjoyed it. but I'll ah keep tabs on you on social media. Ditto. Thanks, Nick.
00:51:32
Speaker
Thank you for listening to The Sovereign Man podcast. If you're ready to take charge of your life and become the man you've always wanted to be, we invite you to join the movement at sovereignman.ca.