Fortis After Hours Podcast
Welcome to the Fortis After Hours Podcast!
Join Nate and Liz as they dive into unfiltered conversations about fitness, mental health, relationships, powerlifting, and everything in between. From navigating life as a married couple running a business together, to chasing PRs and personal growth outside of the gym, no topic is off-limits.
Expect honest insights, practical advice, and plenty of healthy banter as we redefine what strong really means in and out of the gym.
Fortis After Hours Podcast
TWO | Riding Life's Waves: Knowing When to Push and Pull Back
Ever feel caught between pushing harder and pulling back? That tension point is exactly what we explore in this candid conversation about navigating life's demands while still pursuing your goals.
In this episode, we break down the delicate art of knowing when to go all-in and when to conserve energy. This balance isn't just about training—it's a universal principle that applies to careers, relationships, and personal development.
The concept of "minimum effective dose" becomes crucial during high-stress periods. We share how maintaining non-negotiables (nutrition, hydration, sleep) while adjusting training intensity helped us stay on track despite additional life demands.
Communication is key. Whether with your coach, training partner or life partner, transparency about life stressors allows for intelligent adjustments before burnout hits. We discuss how many athletes wait too long to communicate challenges, missing opportunities for proactive changes to their training and or schedule.
Perhaps most valuable is our exploration of the power of planning. Even for the spontaneous among us like Nate, having a framework creates freedom rather than limitation. A good plan doesn't mean rigid adherence—it means having direction when chaos strikes.
The payoff for this strategic approach isn't immediate gratification but sustainable progress toward meaningful goals. Whether you're preparing for competition, career advancement, or simply trying to balance multiple life demands, mastering this push-pull dynamic could be your secret weapon.
Ready to apply these principles to your training and life? Listen now, and let us know which strategies resonate most with your current challenges!
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HOSTED BY
@lizribaudo_fortis
@nateribaudo_fortis
What's going on, you guys? Welcome to another episode of the Fortis After Hours podcast. I'm co-host Nate, joined by my wife, liz hey, and we have another awesome episode planned for you guys today. Today, we're going to be talking about the art of knowing when to push or pull back, otherwise known as riding the waves of life, training, etc.
Speaker 1:We're going to talk about training, um, and specifically, like I said, when you need to kind of like push forward, when you need to pull back, notice in there I said, uh, when you need to quit, I didn't say that at all. So we're going to go with the general assumption that you guys are consistently getting after your goals, whether that's once a week, twice a week, five times a week training, or whatever you may, you may be doing. We're going to go off the premonition that you are already on top of that consistency aspect. If you're not, let us know how we can help you achieve that consistency piece because, after all, it is the most important.
Speaker 1:It is Okay, I'm done with my little intro.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, this is the second episode of the After Hours podcast and I'm pretty excited to record this one. I honestly kind of missed recording a podcast last week.
Speaker 2:I think it's been a couple weeks. Actually it has been yeah.
Speaker 1:The first week we were busy, I don't know, I didn't really think about it. Then last week I was like oh man, we're not recording a podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was pretty excited to sit down and record this, recorded this podcast this evening. Yeah, it's been a busy couple weeks. Yeah, fill us in. What have we been doing? We'll fill the world in. Um, we moved just just a little move.
Speaker 1:But we moved, so we were packing.
Speaker 2:I guess like two weeks ago now we were packing and trying to like get everything ready and situated for that and then last weekend we were actually moving actually moving, yep that is what we're doing. So it's been a busy couple weeks. It was just a small, little bitty move. So, not really anything crazy, but it still takes time in case you were wondering, still takes time.
Speaker 1:Still takes a lot of effort, luckily me and Liz.
Speaker 2:I was tired.
Speaker 1:Yeah, luckily we have. And, oh, and, we had to fulfill a shirt order which may or may not have been not the best timing, but it is what it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but we we like crushed the teamwork on this one. That's what I was just going to say.
Speaker 1:We luckily work really well as a team. So I was at the gym a little bit more that week was still there, of course, but like I was at the gym a little bit more cooking up shirts, she was here packing, moving stuff and, yeah, we worked really well as a unit together which we did.
Speaker 2:We got a lot done in a little bit of time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I was going to say I think the first episode was kind of about that right.
Speaker 2:I don't remember. That feels like a long time ago.
Speaker 1:I can't remember either, but go back, check out the first episode. I'm pretty sure we did discuss working as a team and the unit in a relationship together, um, which we, I would say, for lack of a better term, put on a clinic over the past couple weeks, so we still were able to, uh, balance our training, figure out how to balance our training, um, of course, work like at the gym and then moving and making sure it's like extra work.
Speaker 1:Yeah and yeah extra work, yeah, which, I have to say, that was super. It was a super awesome response from all of you guys. Thank you so much for purchasing a shirt, or if you have purchased a shirt in the past. It really helps us just kind of like spread our mission and our brand, and we really appreciate every single one of you.
Speaker 2:Plus, I think it's cool when I see you post videos or yeah, people like post videos or pictures of the shirts and I'm like, hey, I know that shirt I agree, I thought it was really cool.
Speaker 1:Um, I'm just gonna give them a shout out, but, uh, one of the couples at the gym, uh, john and tia, they were out like on a, on a vacation and they were wearing rocking the shirt rocking the shirts on the vacation.
Speaker 1:I was like all right, like wearing them out, uh, because that's always my goal when designing is, like I try and design stuff that can be worn inside or outside the gym, um, and oftentimes we see it inside the gym, not so often outside, so I thought that was really cool, um, seeing you guys put together real life outfits, speak with like our merchandise, so that's pretty sweet, but yeah, so, anyways, it was very busy, but this kind of leads perfectly into our topic for the day, which is kind of knowing when to push, when to pull back, and I think that's a key aspect of how to succeed during times of, like higher stress, whether it's expected stress, kind of like we had had, or if it's unexpected, like a life event or something like that.
Speaker 1:Uh, the principles are very similar, um, as far as like kind of pushing and pulling back and getting yourself like ready to uh perform whatever that is, so, uh, so, yeah, so that's a little intro where we've been. Uh, we should be a little bit more regular with these podcasts. Liz is competing next week along with some other people, so we might try.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll probably try and record at least a quick podcast next week for you guys, maybe on like a Sunday or something. We'll see though. We'll see how Liz, we'll see how she's feeling it's just an SPD day. Yeah, exactly that's what I'm saying, so it should be fine, or maybe Saturday night, I don't know, we'll see. We got a live response from Liz. Anyways, so you're competing next week.
Speaker 1:So, how do you think, like the past couple weeks affected your training and or how did you like, what are some things over the past couple weeks that you did to make sure you're able to still hit, uh, what you needed to hit, so to speak um, so I feel like I just kind of I don't know it sounds stupid, but like I knew what I needed to do and like as far as like in the gym, and I just did it, even if I didn't feel like it yeah um, so I did not feel like working out every day because I didn't.
Speaker 2:My body was a little tired from however many 50 something flights of stairs that I did on the moving day yeah and carrying all the boxes and unpacking all the boxes, but I definitely still showed up every day. Um, I think the numbers that were kind of put in for the like for my main lifts.
Speaker 2:It had a good little range in there and I feel like we made like the smart choices within that range most of the days like I didn't tubby agrees um, I didn't always go to like the top end of the range, which, of course, is what like everybody always wants to do is get to the top end of the range, which, of course, is what like everybody always wants to do is get to the top end of the range, because it's like oh yeah, I'm strong, I can do this.
Speaker 1:Um yeah, so I definitely have the same issues, don't worry yeah, I think most people do so I definitely didn't do that.
Speaker 2:I don't think I hit the top end of the range on anything, but I was still within the range of everything and so, like kind of going into it, I knew that was going to be a real possibility and just kind of was okay with that. Also, um, because I did want to like make sure I could put together all of my lifts and not just like totally destroy myself on one day and not be able to do anything like the rest of the week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's a key thing to note, maybe for you guys listening. Listening because oftentimes maybe you feel like really good one of the days, but you know you have a lot of stuff going on. And I spoke with someone the other day that was going through a stressful situation but they said they're like, oh, I'm not stressed, though. I was like right, but it's still stress. One of our good friends, gary, told me years ago stress is stress. I'm like that is a really simple but very effective quote and it is true. Uh, you know, stress is anything that's like outside the norm put on your body.
Speaker 2:it could be emotional, physical, whatever and it can be good and bad too, like stress doesn't necessarily have to be bad, no, like, working out is stress yeah but that's okay.
Speaker 1:Like it's not. Like, oh my gosh, so I shouldn't work out at all. It's like no, that's not what we're saying.
Speaker 2:Well, and even like moving and making shirts, like doing all this extra stuff, like technically that's stress. It's not bad, no, and I wasn't, like you know, freaking out about it, but like it's technically still stress because, it's just something that you have to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that I think you brought up a really key point, which is, like you know, like if you are, let's say, you're feeling really good on squat day, but you know that you have this stuff going on in your life and you know that that's probably at some point going to kind of come to a head, it's probably smart, even if you feel good, just to kind of hit that like mid-range number or like the. You know, because, like your coach is put those numbers in for a reason to help you progress overall, like in the big picture, and some days when you're really stressed, you know if you got a lot of stuff going on or additional things going on in your life, it's probably a good plan to hit that mid or lower number, because that's the minimum effective dose. Another person that is extremely smart Chad Wesley Smith.
Speaker 1:He has a great video from back in I don't even know 2016 maybe or so long time that I watched that uh explains the effect, uh excuse me, explains the concept of minimum effective dose in powerlifting, and it is so true. When I was younger I was like, oh yeah. And then, like, as I've gotten older and just competed longer in this sport, I've like really grown to understand the importance of that, uh, of that concept minimum effective dose and that's exactly like what you're able to do um and where I was going with that is like some days it's like you almost have to like see the future, like yes, could I hit this on squat?
Speaker 1:sure, however, it's squat day, like for us that's monday. I got a whole week ahead of me. I have this extra stress going on, or extra things going on, like should I hit this? And oftentimes, when you have that additional stress, it's probably time to maybe just pull it back just a touch and hit what you need to and nothing more, because chances are which I think you found like as the week progresses, or vice versa, whatever, like maybe you're more tired on monday, whatever, but like then you'll have that extra energy in the tank to hit those other numbers for the whole total as a week yeah, and I think something else that we did too was you kind of like pre-thought about this when you're programming, and so, like my accessories were a little bit less these weeks, so I had like less accessories, less intensity on all of those, just to kind of help overall with recovery.
Speaker 2:Um, I still focused on like every day, getting like the correct nutrition in correct water, hydration, all that good stuff.
Speaker 2:Sleep yeah, like all of that was still a priority, which I think not. I think I know helped me be able to like better stay on track the only day that my nutrition was off, which it wasn't technically off, but I kind of didn't eat for like most of the day when we were moving or when I was moving because I was just going. But then when I realized it was like 2 o'clock and I hadn't eaten anything for an entire day, I then had breakfast.
Speaker 1:The entire day was worth of food.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I ate all of the food that I was supposed to eat from two o'clock until. I went to bed that night. So, like I still got in, like all the macros, whatever calories, whatever you want to call it, got in all of that, all the water, all the electrolytes, all that good stuff and I think that it's an important, maybe, distinction to make, since we are talking about kind of pushing and pulling back.
Speaker 1:Like I said earlier, this kind of like has the assumption that you're being consistent, but let's just say you're new to like things like non-negotiables, like liz just talked about, hitting the hydration, nutrition, sleep as best you can, things like this. That is not really like a part. If you're, if you're If you have your lifestyle set up for you to perform at your best and you're like fully focused on hitting your goals, whether that's weight loss, strength gain, powerlifting, weightlifting, whatever, then you will have to have some sort of non-negotiables. Generally that would come in the form like I think for us like Liz you know, gloss over there just mentioned like hydration, nutrition, sleep as best we can. For me, I usually get seven hours, you usually get eight, pretty much right, um eight, maybe nine if I so, mostly if I'm lucky, yeah so like those things.
Speaker 1:They're happening like period dot, unless there's some sort of, you know, like emergency, but we're just talking about kind of like general stress, and when general stress is going on, non-negotiables are just that they're non-negotiable. So we still meal prepped, um, we still had everything ready to rock and roll, and what that did was really allow us to do what we were able to do, continue training throughout that you know more stressful period um, and still hit our goals, our targets yeah, because we didn't miss any nope training, we didn't really miss any targets, we didn't really yeah, and we did like.
Speaker 1:for me, I noticed a couple times during a few sessions I was just a little bit more gassed, so I would either cut out some accessories. Um, I had a really big goal of hitting 650, which, uh, that was really cool to hit. That was last week and that's the first time I've hit that weight. That's the first time I've hit that weight. That's the first time I've attempted that weight since 2022, three, no, it was like three years. So, whatever, that is 2022. Yeah, so it's been three years since I attempted that. I knew that I had that in this block. I was a little bit scared of that, not gonna lie. I was like, oh my, of course. But I'm like, no, it shouldn't matter, because we have all these things going, I should be fine. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to hit that.
Speaker 2:And I think something to note, though, is we also, as our own coaches, know what's going on in our life and know how crazy it is, so we could essentially plan accordingly for it.
Speaker 1:That's a great thing for people that are clients.
Speaker 2:That's where I thing for people that are clients.
Speaker 1:That's my that's where I was going with that.
Speaker 2:So, whether, like, we coach you or someone else coaches you, or if you have a coach of some kind and I guess if you don't, um one, maybe get one or two I guess just keep it in mind yourself, um that like you should be communicating with your coach if you have like some super crazy weeks going on because they might want to adjust your programming or they might want to adjust the numbers, or they might want to adjust the accessories, or maybe they take a whole day out just depending on like what you have going on and I just think that's something that some people don't think about yeah or don't they think, oh, I just shouldn't bother, because, like I've had people that I coached before, like at the end of the week or you know, and maybe it was like a rough week and like they were kind of really struggling to get the numbers and then at the end, like the last day of the of that week, they're like oh well, you know, this, this, this, this and this all was happening this week.
Speaker 2:And so I felt like this I'm like, oh, that would have been probably good to know before. I mean, obviously things pop up like during the week unexpectedly but like, for like, for example, with this, like we knew we were going to be moving, we knew that we had like all of these things happening at the same time, so we were able to like plan ahead and around those. Basically.
Speaker 2:So, my point is just trying to communicate with your coach, because then they will also be able to help you, which is kind of we're talking about like know when to push and when to pull back, like there might be certain days they still want you to like really get after it and if there's, you know, maybe you you have a super important like for you.
Speaker 2:It was a deadlift like if there's something super important, they might like kind of organize everything else around that to make sure that that is able to happen as best as they can. Obviously, as a coach, um, you still are obviously in charge of executing it, but yeah, and that was that was what I was going to say.
Speaker 1:This is just a small thing and it probably didn't make that much of a difference. But when you're dealing with the higher stress stuff, sometimes that could be just the make or break difference that allows you to hit something or not hit something. Now, on Mondays, usually I'm scheduled to do some back extensions, which I generally like to go pretty heavy on. But I just told Liz also, just knowing yourself as an athlete, this is a good illustration for you guys. Like, again, and well, you know we're talking about ourselves we power lift, but like, really, this is applicable across all fields of athletics, with any type of coach, athlete, relationship period, dot, uh, communication basically is the key and like taking some personal responsibility. So, you know, the back extensions, that's not something like this program's like a wait for uh. But I thought about it and I was like, hmm, this is like directly, you know, going to be basically like putting some even more stress on my lower back, um, which generally is helpful because I'm strengthening it and making it more and more bulletproof.
Speaker 1:But but in this week I needed to perform. That was the only thing that I needed. I just needed to perform. I don't care if I'm like missing a quote, unquote, like a few reps or a few pounds. So I said hey, like I think I'm gonna go a little lighter. She's like yeah, and then, like I did it. Number one felt like nothing. Number two I had a great deadlift day yeah, so again.
Speaker 1:Like do I think that alone? No, but like do I think that that was part of what allowed me to have a successful day?
Speaker 1:absolutely like yeah 100 percent um, and I think you know communication is just key when you are trying to like learn when to push, when to pull back, yeah, um.
Speaker 1:So as far as, like you know, pulling back like that's kind of like what we just talked about there um, the other side of the flip side of the coin is when to push um, and I think that powerlifters oftentimes like do this automatically there.
Speaker 1:Yes, uh, and I think that specifically in the sport of powerlifting, that does seem to happen like quite often, where people are like pushing themselves Um, and I think like a couple of things, one, just cause you're feeling like really great, it doesn't mean you got to go like max effort. There is something to be said and I'm learning this myself of like hitting your top single or your top weight for the day and then just knowing like without a shadow of a doubt, that you had X amount more like 10 more pounds, 20 more pounds, um, sometimes you definitely need to like get into that range um to push yourself and see where you're at, but more often than not, I think it's very beneficial to really like focus on moving the weight super, super well, and that can help you out a lot and a lot with confidence as well, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, I feel like there's, you know, obviously different phases in training and you definitely don't need to be maxing out like every week, every year, yeah, of the year of every lift, of all the things. So definitely don't need to push so hard. And I think what's funny is a lot of people are really good at pushing like their top stuff yeah, like too hard, but then like they get two accessories and they like barely do them and like really most people should probably be doing the opposite, they should be pulling back a little bit on some of their top things and probably pushing a little bit harder on accessories Not all the time, obviously.
Speaker 1:No, I think for most people that is the case. A lot of people need to push a lot harder on the accessories. I think, depending on where you're at, the further you get into your strength journey, basically, the stronger you are like absolute strength. Uh, things shift and you have to start focusing more on, like your main three movements and basically you get more and more specific. Um, but if you think of it like I don't know why this came to my brain, but like if you think of it like a F1, like a formula one, like driver, like there's all these things that you got to be doing, like get in shape, learn how to drive a car. Like learn how to drive a car while it's wet, learn how to drive a car while it's dark, learn how to race a car, like all these little things right. But then, like, if you, as you get closer and closer to the top or to the like peak of that sport, all you end up really doing, I'm gonna guess, is driving like you're just racing, because you're so dialed in to like the car, everything around it, whatever that like you are just like only focused on driving and racing, driving and racing and like all the other stuff you're already doing, but I think, like when you're, when you're younger in your career, um, and same thing with powerlifting it is like highly beneficial to like focus on like all the stuff. Um, you know, of course you have your main movements, but all the stuff around it, that's going to really really help you out and putting more intensity there. I think that is a good place to push. Uh, when to pull back, when to push, that's a good place to push, for sure, Um, for a lot of people, Um, the other thing that I wanted to talk about are kind of like relate this like push and pull kind of dynamic to it's just like life in general.
Speaker 1:Um, so we talked about it mainly with training, but there's other aspects to it as well. Um, and if you're, you know, if you're in life and you have a job or whatever and you have like a big project, like you can apply this like kind of concept to that as well, where, like and with that, it's also it's like pushing, but it's also like setting proper expectations, which we've talked about previously. But, like you know, it would be very silly for us to like, you know, we have this big stressful thing going on and then if we, on top of that, we're like, yeah, I think we're going to start a new business too, Like that would be, you know not ideal.
Speaker 1:No, not ideal whatsoever and I think that that is like key in life in general. Like, if you have like things happening like let's just say you know it was back to school, a lot of kids are going back to school, kids are going back to college, things like this. Like this is a time to prepare for that. Make sure all your non-negotiables are being done, whether that's training, meal prep, things like this, um, and then whatever time you have or, excuse me, left, maybe just chill for a second. Um, I like chilling. Yeah, liz likes she. I've been tracking my steps. Liz be tracking her sitting. Um, that's how she gets strong. But but yeah, like I just think you know in life, I think a lot of people can like relate this a lot easier with like working out for some reason, because it's like you know we're all anyone who's listening this is probably working out before, so I would imagine it's probably easy.
Speaker 1:You're like, oh yeah, okay, that makes a lot of sense. But like, take this and apply it to life. Um, you know, maybe if you are trying to learn how to cook, maybe don't try and learn how to cook the week you're moving or the week your you know boss has some like giant project, or your kids going to college things like this, or if you do happen to like it all just falls in at the same time, like you will have to like manage your expectations of everything, yeah, which is fine, like I would say that's kind of like what we did, like we did all of these things at once, but like I feel like we did a pretty good job at like managing expectations for each of the things we were doing yeah, um, and we had plans in place
Speaker 1:yes that's another thing. It's like you gotta have plans. It really like frees up your mind to then act on the fly, because, like there was times over the past couple weeks when, like we had a kind of like ad libs and things, or maybe things did not go as planned, but because we had other plans like in place, it all, relatively, was smooth and never once felt like it was like oh my gosh yeah chaotic um, and that's something that, like, I learned from you, like when I like making plans.
Speaker 1:Yeah, liz loves plans I hate plans, but like I used to hate plans right. So like now I I've learned and I've I've spoken this before I've learned the power of planning. It's like it's awesome. Uh, if you have a good plan, then if you're someone like myself who's really good under pressure and like ad-libbing, audible, whatever you want to call it like that's me. But if I have that combined with a plan, it's like I'm unstoppable. That's how I feel, because the problem when you don't have a plan is you have no like expectations or like goals like set forth for yourself, and then you kind of don't really know where you're going. Like my strength would be, I can kind of work through whatever. But if I'm just working through whatever with like no goal or target, then I'm just kind of working through whatever, like Like I'm not you know, toby doesn't know either no, I'm just kind of like working through whatever and I'm not actually like working towards anything with all those like actions and reactions.
Speaker 2:Rather, yeah, I'm obviously a big fan of plans.
Speaker 1:I like them.
Speaker 2:It makes my brain happy though.
Speaker 1:So I don't know.
Speaker 2:I don't know what to do if I don't have a plan.
Speaker 1:So I'm not aware.
Speaker 2:It's like on the fly. I am no um.
Speaker 1:I like plans no, yeah, and I mean plans. Uh, plans can really help you out. So if you're not, I I think everyone needs to have some sort of plans. Um, whether they're, I'm not saying they need to be super concrete, like they're definitely not in my brain, they're probably more concrete in liz's brain. But they need to be super concrete, like they're definitely not in my brain. They're probably more concrete in Liz's brain, but nothing is ever concrete in my brain for planning things. And then, as I do them, they become concrete because that's what happened.
Speaker 1:Weird, weird. But the plan will also again help you with the ability to know when to push, know when to pull back. The plan that we had kind of enabled us to give us like a little preview of like okay, this week's probably not going to be that strong, or this week I think we can push and we're able to then set ourselves up to succeed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it kind of sounds silly like an overlooked or whatever to like. Oh, I need a plan, like obviously, I guess, or like. I don't know, but I think a lot of people don't actually make plans in their life of, like how they're gonna do things, yeah, and they just like try and do things, which is fine, I mean, if you can make it work yeah, if you can make it work.
Speaker 2:But then I think when situations like this come, where you have to like push and pull and gotta figure it out, it's definitely way more challenging. And then I feel like typically when I see people who like don't have a plan, they kind of start whatever the new free crashing out yeah, yeah, there you go. Yeah, instead, you want to be locked in basically they like don't know what to do, so then like one of two things happens either.
Speaker 2:Basically nothing gets done very well and you just see this like full-on breakdown, or they just like go, go, go and like run themselves into the ground because they didn't have like a plan, essentially, and so then nothing really gets done correctly, but they're just doing all of it at once and it's still like nothing is really done how they want it to be done, because they didn't know what they were doing when they started it.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and I mean, and then so they're not like they're not really pushing or pulling, they're just kind of like imploding almost and then yeah. So anyways, it sounds silly, but if you're not a planning person, but you know you've got like crazy things going on you. You just try making a plan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no 100% plan, an outline of a plan, even because that's better than nothing, yeah, and you don't have to like stick to the plan, like I have, like I said, like I'm sure in my brain versus Liz's brain, like when we work on stuff together like the best couple weeks.
Speaker 2:My plan is very planned, exactly.
Speaker 1:Her plan is very planned and she is doing that 100%. And then I also have the plan that she has made up for us, but in my brain it is not. I'm just like, okay, this is the plan, we'll see.
Speaker 1:And then I see, but the point is that it does still help me get to the end goal and, like Liz said, it allows me to very successfully and effectively I guess would be a better term push and pull back Example. This is like a very small thing that we did, but we worked together very well the day that, like Liz moved all this stuff and like I really like locked in and did shirts. If either one of us had just like flipped the jobs, it would have gone much worse for both of us. Number two if both of us had been consistent or insistent that we had to do like the job together or whatever like we needed to be involved in both, it wouldn't have gotten done Like there's literally no way it would have gotten done.
Speaker 1:Um, we were packed to the brim with our schedules and like, literally, that plan like freed us up and for me, like I had to just kind of. I mean, in this situation it was probably a little bit more of a like conscious thing for me to do than liz. Liz was just doing her thing, but like I had to be like well, like she's gonna, like you know, we had already kind of packed together.
Speaker 2:She packed a lot of it and then she was just gonna like unpack it wherever she unpacks it and then I'm gonna come home and that's where it is, and that's what, and like I just so now he has to find everything, yeah, and I just like didn even think about it, and then I didn't spend a single second thinking about it.
Speaker 1:I was doing what I was doing, she was doing what she was doing and we're good to go. Um, and yeah, I guess my point is all that would have not worked if we did not have a plan.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, so yeah, make a plan If you don't have a plan like, if you want to be successful, you need some sort of plan period. What's the thing like you plan to? If you plan to fail, yeah, but if you don't have a plan, plan to fail basically, yeah, um, yeah. If you fail to plan, there you go fail to plan, plan to fail yeah no, that is facts.
Speaker 1:Like if you want to be successful, you have to have a plan, and like that's for anything that's for anything. That's what I'm saying. Like this is just for life.
Speaker 2:Like you have to have.
Speaker 1:Now again, do you need to like stick to the plan? Exactly no, is it like and I think that's the thing is people get way too like we've talked about this before too Like. People get way too like. They're like oh well, this is what was said, so this is what I'm doing Like, okay, like we're humans, I like plants, yes, but we can change. We can change our minds. The plans can be fluid and like that's fine, I've gotten better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you've gotten better. But, like I know, there's a lot of people out there like myself that don't like to plan, and I guess my point is planning has like unlocked a whole new level of productivity and success, like straight up success in my life that I would not be achieving without planning. So if you're one of those people that continues crashing out, stop your crash out make a plan okay if you're a planner that likes to follow the plan to a t, relax, it'll be okay.
Speaker 1:Just, the plan is like an outline, it's like a podcast outline, like y'all. It would be so boring if we just sat here and read exactly the outline that we made Way more fun to have the outline and then just talk.
Speaker 2:About the plan. Exactly, but if we didn't have a plan, I would just keep talking this is why I can't be in charge of this, though, because I would want to follow the plan. Liz would just read it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we've followed this sort of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, exactly, all right, so it would not go well yeah, we're gonna log it back into um, what is basically the goal of this pushing and pulling and kind of getting, or when to push, when to pull back, and getting everything lined up and the end goal is to, um, you know, achieve greatness on a specific day.
Speaker 1:So that might be for your job, that might be for your marriage, that might be for your family, uh, might be for powerlifting, might be weightlifting, whatever. But generally people will have big goals and big things to do, and that is the point of pushing and pulling back and knowing when to push, knowing when to pull back, because if you don't have, like a big goal, it's kind of less relevant because, like no, I wouldn't necessarily agree with that because, like, sometimes you have to know when to push and pull, like just to make you like a better person for like yourself or your family, or your spouse or for your job, because if you're like pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing at work so hard and or your training or both of those, and then you're never at home to see your family or kids or husband or wife or whatever like, maybe there needs to be a little pull back somewhere and a little push of effort with the.
Speaker 2:So like it's not necessarily I mean like achieving things, yes, but also like, just okay, living a life that you want to live.
Speaker 1:So like my guess, my, my. Let me rephrase what I said. So I guess the point of pushing on certain days, pulling back on other days, is to achieve something more than what you were probably doing that exact day. And I guess that's my point. So to liz's point, like if you need to spend more time with your family, like I'm sorry, but just like pulling back one day and getting home early is not gonna like fix or undo like 10 years of not seeing them ever. Okay, that's not how it works, but but it's a start, exactly, it's a start. And if you can stack those wins like we talked about in the very beginning, stack that consistency, then all of a sudden or quote unquote all of a sudden, oh wow, you have a great family life. Like I've really seen this turn around. Turn around like what did you do? Like it just seems like overnight. It's like oh no, actually two years ago I started like making a priority to spend more time with my family. Just that is an example yeah power lifting.
Speaker 1:Same thing. Oh my gosh, like you put together this crazy total. Like like the last one, you totaled x and now you're totaling y. Like what would you like? Would you do different?
Speaker 2:I worked. I worked, like you know, I worked.
Speaker 1:I. I pushed when I needed to, I pulled back when I needed to so that, overall, I could achieve that big goal, and that was kind of what I was getting at. Is that a lot of the pushing and pulling that you need to do in life, like learning when to do that and when not? It's not this immediate gratification that everyone likes, and I think that's kind of the thing. It's not. Yeah, like if someone is listening to this and they're like okay, like I didn't go all out today, and then they're just like waiting, like all right, pr is coming, it's like all right, that's not how that works. You know, like you know. Or like oh, like, like Liz said, like relating it to family or your job, like okay, like you know, I really really like gave it my all today at my job. Like promotions coming tomorrow, like oh yeah, it's like okay, that's not how that works.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:But you know, being able to have that kind of delay gratification can really oftentimes, I think, lead to a big payoff, whether that's on the platform, whether that's in life, whatever arena that may be, for you, I agree. So, yeah, all right. Well, I think that kind of does it on that topic. We need to close it out with a little preview. What's coming up next? What are you doing next week?
Speaker 2:well, as we said earlier, I'm competing next weekend um saturday at what's it called the stronger things showdown. It's like stranger things. Um yeah, if you didn't catch that, I am competing. We have, I think, six other fortis ladies that are all gonna do it, so I'm just going to have a good time and do a fun little sbd day. It has been a while since I've been on the platform, um sort of a year kind of.
Speaker 2:I technically competed in December, but that one I didn't really train for, I just kind of showed up and was hurt but, um, my last like big meet, whatever, was last September, so decided before I go up to Chicago to get on the platform again.
Speaker 1:It would be good to well tune up yeah to um to to get on the platform again.
Speaker 2:It would be good to A little tune-up. Yeah, to get back on the platform again to do an SVD day. Basically, we didn't change anything with my training for that week, other than because I was already supposed to be doing singles throughout the week for squat, bench and deadlift. So we are just going to take all of those lifts next Saturday on the platform. So we are just going to take all of those lifts next Saturday on the platform, so make sure I remember how to do an.
Speaker 2:SPD day on the platform Sounds good, so we're doing that. And then the meet in Chicago that I'm like truly like prepping and peaking for is in September the 13th, so in like a month and just kind of like getting you more on the platform, I think is helpful.
Speaker 1:You did it last year and did really good, to be honest, even though the standards are of each individual thing, but overall you won three meets in a row.
Speaker 2:I did, yes, but I'm in a very different place right now in my brain, so we're going to go.
Speaker 1:Probably a better place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, liz locked in, um, so yeah, so that's what's for liz. For me, I'm starting my final block leading up into my meet in november which I need to sign up for. Probably gonna do that like tonight, um, just so that it's done, so I don't forget, because it is filling up. Um, I like the collegiate day. There's like nobody on that day, so maybe I'll just be a college student just pretend, yeah, I don't know can I like register, um, but yeah, so I gotta meet in november and this is my goal.
Speaker 1:So I have next week is deload, which is perfect, uh, because, like liz said, we've been really like kind of outputting a lot and I gotta output next weekend. I got a busy saturday. I got an early, he's got a coach, seven people. Yeah, I got an early.
Speaker 2:He's got to coach seven people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I got an early day, early start to the day and then I got to coach, so it's going to be busy for me.
Speaker 2:I'm sort of coaching, but I'm lifting so I'm not fully coaching.
Speaker 1:Deload week is perfectly timed. Excellent job coach.
Speaker 2:Oh, thanks.
Speaker 1:Then after that I'm going to start kind of my prep for november, like really like dial it in it's like 12 weeks out yeah, and here's the deal mentally like.
Speaker 1:So the first block also overlaps with liz's meet that her and lane are doing up in chicago, which is going to be another big thing, and I just kind of get very like emotionally invested into these things. So my first block I will probably well, I'm not going to be writing it, but probably should be a little bit just like tapered down. My goal for that first block is really like perfect execution. I don't really care about like the like I don't know the actual number like singles, as long as they're heavy enough to feel something, we're good, um. And then my mentality will be, once we get back from surge. So that's like basically probably the end. Yeah, it'll literally be like the deload of that block. Um, I'll deload and then really lock in for those last couple months, um, so that's kind of my mindset going into my next training block. We'll see how it pans out in the past I built a lot of momentum like.
Speaker 1:This was by far my best training block, probably in my life, to be honest, like overall. Um, yeah, I've been stronger at individual lifts, like only a little bit, though, and then definitely one of the other lists was like lacking a lot more um any other time that I've been quote unquote stronger. So I hit like a lot of prs, like rep prs very close to actual prs. Um, anyways, younger nate would definitely want to be hitting not definitely. I'd definitely be hitting prs across the board in the next block that might have to wait and yeah, that's kind of like where I'm at now.
Speaker 1:I mean, if they come, they come like if it's easy, it's easy, like I have no problem with that. That would be cool, of course, but I mentally am cool with just hitting what needs to be hit and nothing more. Uh, kind of like we talked about in the very beginning of this podcast, because I know I have this stuff going on. I want to make sure I give my all to uh those events and meets and then go from there so yeah, um, all right, that about does it.
Speaker 1:Oh, last but not least, we are hosting a powerlifting meet here in navarre. It's going to be called the uspa navarre beach classic. It's already over halfway. So if you're listening to this and you're like on the fence, maybe I should sign up, maybe I shouldn't. I'm gonna tell you you should probably sign up, especially because there's a few more local-ish meets happening this weekend and then more signups will happen after that. So there's 25 slots left. I want to say maybe 24.
Speaker 2:I think. I think there's maybe 23, oh man two oh man, y'all, there's only 20, 23 I know I've got a few more that I haven't updated on the roster yet there's 22 you heard it here 22 23 spots left.
Speaker 1:I would make sure you get on that. It will fill up, um, and I think we might do a wait list, but I don't know. So make sure you guys get signed up for that meet if you're interested in doing it. This is my and Gary's first meet back. We took a little bit of a break so you guys could get stronger after SummerSlam and now we're back better than ever. It's gonna be good Kind of getting back into it, this one. And then we got some big plans for 2026. So check it out. Uspa Navarre Beach Classic. You can find us on on instagram, sign up on the uspa website and we will see you in december in beautiful navarre beach, florida. So stay tuned for more information on that um and then, other than that, hopefully you guys all have an awesome week, uh, wherever you're at if anyone missed out on a shirt order, our pre-order is open.
Speaker 2:Surprised, one more time toby apparently decided he wanted to open it again exactly and let me give you guys the insider scoop.
Speaker 1:There's one more thing left. Honestly, it might be gone by this time, so don't quote me on that, um, but there is. As of the second, we're recording it on saturday.
Speaker 2:There's one more discount code left go to our instagram to understand what that means yep, and you can get the discount code and save on some apparel.
Speaker 1:And this will be the last preorder that we do, like the last apparel that we do until November, like our kind of like Black Friday timeframe. So my goal I will say this now my goal will be to have the next pre-order starting kind of early November and then, when I'm competing, that'll be going on basically. So we'll see, but that's going to be my goal. If not, it'll be later November, early December, yeah we'll see.
Speaker 1:But no, as I think about it, that doesn't make sense. No, it'll be early November, stay tuned. So that'll be the next drop you guys. So if you do want apparel, make sure you guys pre-order now. Uh, it'll be available through august 17th and then I gotta put the next order in for shirts.
Speaker 2:Um you can do shipping or pickup. Make sure you select the correct option facts.
Speaker 1:Uh, if you're local, pick, pick the pickup option. There is a pickup option. I'll say it again there is a pickup option. Um, yeah, get the select the right, the correct option. Grab yourself some apparel.
Speaker 1:Last time, until november, um, and yeah I think that's all the little announcements or anything we have. Hopefully you guys are enjoying our uh kind of updated podcast goals with the new after hours instead of powerlifting, giving us a little more freedom to expand into other topics. And if you guys have anything you want us to cover, uh, let us know. If you're interested in supporting the podcast. We have the link in our bio that money goes directly towards uh producing the podcast. So that costs us money. So we have have um, some of you guys that have been supporting us for years that helps kind of defray some of that cost and pay for that. So we really appreciate that um, and if you're interested in doing that, that is in our bio as well. All right, I think that does it that's it that's it.
Speaker 1:We'll see you guys on the next episode. Hopefully you guys have an awesome day, night, morning, whenever you listen to this, and we'll see you guys next time. Peace.