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
NINE | Building Systems That Scale
Ever wonder how a small team pulls off big results without burning out? We go behind the scenes after hours and walk through the real systems that keep Fortis moving: how we split creative and operations, why delegation beats heroics, and what it takes to turn a rebrand from a file on a screen into a painted logo on a gym wall. You’ll hear how a simple choices, can save hours and prevent the quiet leaks that drain momentum.
From there, we dive into our apparel workflow, where design and craftsmanship meet checklists and counts. Nate handles the creative vision and final press work; Liz turns orders into precise production runs; Tanner stages prints so print days fly. That same clarity powered our switch to TrainHeroic: one of us mapped the coaching needs, the other engineered the migration and client comms so members felt a clean handoff. It’s a pattern we rely on, strategy paired with process, to start scaling services without sacrificing quality.
The biggest stress test is meet day. Coaching five to twenty lifters across multiple flights demands more than hype; it requires a shared playbook. Liz builds a live Google Sheet with flights, lifter order, planned attempts, and contingencies. Nate studies the plan early, then calls game-day jumps based on bar speed, confidence, and goals. System plus intuition lets us move fast and keep athletes calm. It’s how we hit more PRs and reduce chaos.
We close with a practical answer to a hot question: clean foods or flexible foods for muscle growth? Clean, whole-food-forward eating typically feels better and curbs accidental overeating, but adherence decides the outcome. A flexible plan that consistently hits protein, macros, hydration, and sleep will outperform a strict plan you abandon. Aim for mostly whole foods, add smart convenience where needed, and let consistency do the heavy lifting.
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HOSTED BY
@lizribaudo_fortis
@nateribaudo_fortis
Welcome to another episode of the Fortis After Hours podcast. I'm your co-host, Nate, joined by my wife Liz. Hey. And today we are recording a true after hours podcast.
SPEAKER_02:It is after hours.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, it is after hours. But we are here.
SPEAKER_02:I got my sleepy time tea, guys.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Liz has got the tea. Um, well, we both have the tea. Uh if you haven't tried sleepy time tea yet, give it a world.
SPEAKER_02:I got it. Save your life. My mom was sick and I got her some tea.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And it was sleepy time tea with sinus relief.
SPEAKER_00:Did it work?
SPEAKER_02:She said it's really good. Yeah. Like helpful.
SPEAKER_00:I think this brand makes some good quality tea. Celestial seasonings. Uh, we're not sponsored by them yet, but if you guys know anyone, uh, let them know that we love their products and we would promote them if they sponsored us. We'll promote them if they don't sponsor us. Anyways, um, so yeah, check out Sleepy Time Tea if you are looking for even just kind of like a good like bedtime ritual. That's why I enjoy it. I don't really need help sleeping, trust me. I sleep like a rock. Uh, but I do enjoy just kind of having some nice warm tea before bed. Kind of just like, you know, chills you out.
SPEAKER_01:I need it.
SPEAKER_00:Liz needs it. Um, anyways, we have another awesome episode planned for you guys today. Today's episode, we're gonna kind of dive in behind the scenes, which we haven't really done before ever. And we've recorded 200 something episodes. I don't think we've ever done this. Um, and part of that is because oh, we're diving behind the scenes of how we accomplish basically tasks or projects at Fortis is uh one might call it. Also, coaching, specifically like when we're coaching meets, uh, because we've developed quite the system and we work as a team, and there's absolutely zero way that what we're doing these days at Fortis would be possible with just one of us. Um, we work well as a team together, and we're gonna kind of break that down. Um, and like I said, the reason part of the reason why we probably haven't done one of these before is because for a while Liz was still teaching full time, so she's working 12 hours uh between driving and yeah, it was like 12 hours being there, and then after school. In the beginning, it was just uh a lot of the driving force was just myself, and I was kind of running around with uh nothing but passion for helping people and high energy and caffeine, basically.
SPEAKER_01:I was teaching a lot of teaching.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and we've been fortunate to have uh the help of some amazing employees along the way, and our good friend Joel, uh, who also owns a gym with us. Um, but as far as running the gym, that is kind of up to us, and specifically with coaching, um, these bigger events, hosting meets, um podcasting, apparel, all these things that we do, uh, we've kind of developed some pretty cool systems. So I figured we would kind of take you guys behind the scenes, talk about that a little bit, uh, because this week we started our most recent project. Redoing the wall, finally.
SPEAKER_01:Well, we kind of started that last week. Was it last week? Yeah, when I took down the sticker.
SPEAKER_00:Was that last week or was it this week? Well, I mean, like Oh, yeah, by the time they hear this. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was thinking that it had already been Oslo.
SPEAKER_02:I think it was like two weeks ago.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That was like Tuesday of like like four days ago, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, five days ago. All right, cool. Just making sure. Anyways, um, so yeah, so with that uh in mind, we're gonna talk about that um and then just kind of talk a little bit about how we do things at Fortis and how we get things done, and what we hope to do to continue to grow our gym and our online community in the future. Because turns out you can only run a passion project and on caffeine and craziness for so long. Uh, then you have to have systems in place to grow. So, anyways, um, and then we're also gonna answer a question, I think, that we got.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I posted my story like randomly one day, but it was with a thing of Toby, so I think people maybe just looked at Toby.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Per the usual. It's okay. But, anyways, I did get one question, a nutrition.
SPEAKER_00:I wonder, I just did my like Sunday thingy, my question thing. I wonder if I get more questions. Like, it was kind of like a boring picture. I wonder if I get more interaction today. That's a good I don't know. I wonder. I just do like a blank thing. Anyway, so we're gonna answer that question. Uh, and that's gonna be basically it.
SPEAKER_02:So it's gonna be a short one tonight.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Gonna be a short one, uh, but some insightful information that maybe you've been wondering. Maybe not. But if you haven't been wondering about it, too bad. You get to hear about it, and maybe you'll be interested by the end. Uh, so yeah, so we're gonna talk about the first thing we're talking about, is just the wall since we're doing that. Uh, so we rebranded, we have our new logo that we unveiled a couple months ago, I think. Um, and I did a pretty good job at like plastering it everywhere on the internet. Uh, but the real life wall and then the outside sign uh is gonna take me a little bit longer, as I knew it was going to. Well, really, Liz knew it was going to. Yes. And she was right, and this is a great example of our partnership because I for sure would have done it uh that day or that weekend. And I don't think that probably ended up uh would have ended up being good. Because I think I was in the middle of what are we doing? A meat? Your meat?
SPEAKER_02:I feel like we've been doing a lot of things for a long time.
SPEAKER_00:Anyways, Liz was right and uh had me kind of hold off on that, but now is the time, finally. Yes, uh so, anyways, um how do we get this done? Step one, uh, I'm the only one that is gonna be wanting to paint on the wall the logo.
SPEAKER_02:The actual logo? Oh, yeah, absolutely not.
SPEAKER_00:So I have to do that.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but what I don't have to do is take the sticker, which the logo is a sticker, in case you didn't know that, um, off the wall. So Liz did that the other day. It was perfect, um, with the help of Joel and so our members. So she did that, and then I'm gonna start painting, or she might paint like the wall, repaint it blue, basically. Um, so again, that's something I don't need to do. So maybe Liz will help, maybe not. We'll see. And then I gotta paint the actual logo, which I'll be doing. Yeah, which I'm gonna attempt to start next weekend.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, basically, I'm not creative in case anyone had any doubts about that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that was gonna be my next thing. So, like basically it's not me. Yeah, like with this project as just kind of like the illustration, but this is really just how we do things. Uh, Liz is good with like the planning of things, um, and I'm good with the execution of things, and I'm also good if something just needs to happen, I can just get it done. Uh, so it just kind of depends, but we do kind of split up things like that where if it's not really like a creative thing, but it just needs to like get done. If Liz is free, she can help out with that. If it's a creative thing, I gotta do it. So I gotta make sure I have time in my schedule for that. Um, and this is something that's taking me forever, and I still haven't fully gotten uh to learn because for the longest time I'm just like, well, I can do it, so I'll do it. Uh the problem with that is you will run out of time at some point, um and things will not get done. So I have grown and growing definitely currently.
SPEAKER_02:I think that's something that like other people could also probably like learn or work on if they don't have this like way of thinking in life.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Like splitting things up or being creative.
SPEAKER_02:No, yeah, like coming up with like not overwhelming yourself with time, so then finding people to help you or like asking for help or whatever. Not I don't want to say like relying on other people, but like kind of relying on other people to help you, whether it's like your significant other, someone else at work, a friend, someone else in your family, whatever, like you were just saying, like you're gonna do it all and then you're gonna run out of time. I think there's probably a lot of people that feel like that with a lot of things, but they don't want to give up control. Yeah, they don't want to ask for help because that can be whatever a sign of weakness, or they don't want to, like you said, give up control because they don't think anyone else can do it.
SPEAKER_00:Um or if you're like me, it's not really about uh anyone else, it's just about me. So I just think that I have a certain way of doing it and I want to get it done that way. Uh but turns out, like I said, if you if you can, and this is what I've I learned, if you can just like delegate the things that you can delegate, uh so like certain things like creative things, like I want I have to create it because like I'm the creative person. I'm gonna create it.
SPEAKER_02:It's not me.
SPEAKER_00:Um so that's gonna happen. But I am learning, and this is an example, that's why I want to start with the wall thing. Um learning that there's certain things I don't need to be doing, like for instance, peeling a sticker off a wall. I don't need to be doing that. Um I could do that, and I'd probably like it. I don't know, but like I didn't it's kind of satisfying. Yeah, it was I peeled a couple of them, I was like, nice. Um, but it was a perfect job for Liz, and then that expedites the time uh for me because instead of me having to peel it, paint it, paint it again, paint the F, like that already takes one thing already done. Um so yeah, so a simple project that we're in the middle of right now, but that's kind of how we break that down. Uh now the next thing that I wanted to touch on, I was gonna touch on three main things. That, just because we're doing it right now, um, and then apparel slash when we switch to train heroic, and then powerlifting. So up next is apparel, because we're also doing it right now. So I like to design the stuff. Um well, let me rephrase that. I don't know. I mean, Liz maybe could with the help of AI.
SPEAKER_02:I don't think I could. So I was talking to someone if you or like I saw this.
SPEAKER_00:If you use Chat GPT, you probably could.
SPEAKER_02:Maybe, but that's different than just like creating it yourself.
SPEAKER_00:This is true.
SPEAKER_02:Like, I don't know. I see some weird designs that AI is making now on clothing things, but anyways. Um I was talking to someone and how they said, like, I saw this post and I was talking to someone about it because they brought it up too, that like if you close your eyes, like do you see things or do you just see black? And apparently, like, there's like two different things for people. Like, some people can like see, like actually see things, and then some people can like only see nothing when you close your eyes.
SPEAKER_00:Anyways, do you see nothing?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, so I think that's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00:That must be so convenient for you.
SPEAKER_02:And why do you have problems going to sleep?
SPEAKER_00:That should be so easy.
SPEAKER_02:Because my brain doesn't stop. But I think that that has something to do with like creativity, and when like you're always like, Oh yeah, imagine this, this, and this. I literally can't see it. So, like, I can't imagine it. I can't see anything.
SPEAKER_00:You don't have an imagination.
SPEAKER_02:No, apparently not.
SPEAKER_00:All right, but anyways, I don't know that that was so common.
SPEAKER_02:Like, I've I've never really thought about it, but then I read it, and then the person I was talking to also doesn't see anything.
SPEAKER_00:I'm gonna add that in my story today. Do you see things when you close your eyes? Anyways, I do for sure, in case you're wondering about my answers.
SPEAKER_02:Like, not at all. Like, do I know if you like close your eyes? Like, do I know what an apple looks like? Like, yes. Yeah, picture the apple.
SPEAKER_00:I can picture the apple without closing my eyes. Right now, I'm looking at an apple.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I know what an apple looks like, like it's in my brain, but like I do not visibly see an apple.
SPEAKER_00:Hmm. Interesting.
SPEAKER_02:Anyways, anyways, this kind of goes into the creativity of where I'm not designing anything.
SPEAKER_00:So I gotta design the shirts. That's stuff I gotta do. But some things that I don't have to do, count the orders, count the shirts that we need to order, count the prints that we need to order, organize all these things so they don't make mistakes. Trust me, you don't want me doing that. Well, really, you guys don't know this, but I have made plenty of mistakes, costing hundreds of dollars over the years for sure. Um, and now Liz just does it and it's usually right. Um, it's like much more organized than I could ever dream. Um, because usually when I order the shirts and prints, uh, if you don't know, we make our own shirts. So we order the shirts and we order the prints, then I put them together. Um but when I order it, I go through everything one at a time. It takes me forever. Liz has like a nice little system that seems to work well. And the crazy thing is she could do it in like a quarter of the time. That's the real thing. It's already done. Is that I've learned, I know. Uh uh, I've learned that certain things I can do, or certain yeah, certain things I can do. It literally takes Liz like a fraction of the time to do it. And I'm like, okay. So like if there's stuff like that, like as I find more of these things, then she does them. So example for the apparel, that usually does take me, it takes me a good amount of time before because I gotta design the designs, which that I don't really I don't really count that because I kind of am doing that, and then I just decide, okay, it's time for an apparel drop. So like when I start, when I decide, okay, it's time for apparel drop, I gotta make mock-ups, um, like do the color like matching thing, make all the Instagram things, load it on the website. Each individual thing's in each individual thing's gotta have a price, color, size, etc. I do all that work, um, which Liz could probably do that work. I just haven't taught her that yet. But anyways, so I do like load all that in. Um, and it takes me a good amount of time, start to finish between designing and all that stuff. Uh, but then afterwards, uh, Liz kind of just handles the orders, and then when they come in for production, then I have her and uh my awesome studio manager uh Tanner, he helps out uh with like cutting and preparing basically the prints so that way when it comes game time, just to like make the shirts, I can just like go in the zone and just make the shirts.
SPEAKER_02:So, fun fact, I actually started out making the shirts when we first got this.
SPEAKER_00:This was our idea is that Liz was gonna do this.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because I'm like, it can't be that hard. All you have to do is put the print on a shirt and then press it on there. And then so I made I would say the first like batch or two of shirts, and it was pretty good.
SPEAKER_00:And then did you yes, is it the next design?
SPEAKER_02:It was uh the uh it was a 4th of July design that was like a flag, but it was a diagonal-shaped flag. Yeah, yeah, I remember I still have this shirt and it said like I don't know, something on it.
SPEAKER_00:Freaking forever.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and it was a flag, but it was not, it was the rectangle, but like angled and it had to be angled at a certain way, or else it was wrong. I messed up three shirts in a row trying to print them, and that was with measuring, that was with like trying to be perfect, and I messed up three shirts in a row, and then I've not made another shirt since. Yep, and that's the story of why I don't make shirts.
SPEAKER_00:So, um, but again, kind of like talking about what I said earlier, we've just uh we're we're learning over time like certain things that I gotta do and then other things that I don't need to do that Liz can do. Um, and that is kind of how we figure that stuff out. Like sometimes Liz will do something and it's like nope, or sometimes I'll be doing something, and then I like give it to Liz and I'm like, oh my gosh. Like uh I can't remember. I had her do something the other day that definitely would have taken me oh no, I can't remember. It was some sort of typing thing or something, and she just like cranked it out in like five seconds. I'm like, okay. Like literally would have taken me like hours.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, so it was literally just labeling the pictures of the Canva slides, just labeling them, and I did it in like two minutes or something, if that, and you were like, You're done already?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, for the apparel. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Whoa, yeah. So this is very good. She also knows how to type. I do not. Uh I think they teach you that in college, but I did not get that course. So um, I don't know how to type.
SPEAKER_02:I think I took a typing class in like third grade.
SPEAKER_00:I must have missed that grade too.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Uh anyway, so yeah, so that's what the apparel. Um oh yeah, what I was also gonna say briefly was uh train heroic kind of the same way uh when we switched over our coaching platforms, especially this time. Liz handled a lot of the behind the scenes to make sure that was smooth for the clients and for us. Um I kind of figured out what we needed, why we needed it, and then uh Liz made it happen.
SPEAKER_02:Made it happen.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so that's another example of that. And then here comes the big one power lifting meets. Now we've touched on this a little bit over the years, but I don't think you guys understand how much work goes into prepping for these meets so that it can go nice and smooth on the big meets.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, all of them take time. Yeah, yeah. But like a smaller.
SPEAKER_00:We'll say multi-member five plus people that were coaching at the same time. Yes. Type situation.
SPEAKER_02:Because like we're doing we talked about this briefly at the end of the last one, but over the next like eight weeks, I think we have like six or seven meets that we're coaching at, whether in person or virtually, we have people competing at them. Most of them have just like one or two people. Um so like they're pretty short, sweet, to the point. Like, those are just kind of what we do. The big ones, yeah. Like 15 to 20 people, multi-member ones. I mean, really 10 to 20 people sometimes depending on if one of us is competing or not, also changes things.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, whatever. The multi-member, like when once we get in like five plus, ten plus, uh, this is when this system really comes into play. And we kind of just developed this by doing, so that's another thing. Like, especially if you own your own business, a lot of people be planning a lot. Uh, I'd encourage you to start doing, and then you can refine, refine, refine. Um, you know, if you start making a sword and you just start hammering some steel, it's gonna start looking like a sword at some point, and then you can like get the tip sharper and sharper and sharper, and then all of a sudden you have an amazing looking sword. But uh, if you don't start hammering away at the iron, fun fact talking about it is not gonna make the sword. So sometimes you just gotta start, and that's what we did with this. Uh, we just I don't know, one one meet we just had like a ton of people signed up. I think it was when we were competing at um, and then I think that was the one we realized we're like, oh, we need like a system. Uh, and said system was born. So basically, this is how it works. It takes the best of it basically utilizes both of our strengths. Um so Liz is being organization, uh, typing slash data entry slash being able to do planning like rapidly. Like I can plan, but it just takes me a long time. So basically Liz is really good at planning.
SPEAKER_02:These are all the skills of why I was a good teacher, also.
SPEAKER_00:It's part of it. So you dirt did learn all this in college.
SPEAKER_02:That's where it comes from.
SPEAKER_00:You hear me say dirt instead of did?
SPEAKER_02:Dirt.
SPEAKER_00:Oh man. Um, so anyway, so see, I knew I knew it. Liz Liz learned this in the master's degree. Um, but anyways, yeah, so that's her strength. My strength is like game day decisions, uh, watching people actually compete, and I can actually kind of really like tell like where they're at uh on that day. Um obviously I watch them train, whether it's online or in person. Um, but yeah, I I enjoy that and kind of getting people hyped up on actual meat day, and I am pretty, pretty good at getting squeezing the most out of everybody on meat day uh to get them as close to their PR or total, uh whatever they're looking to do or win as possible. Uh so combined, this is the this is the best part. Without Liz, I would be probably pretty lost after probably like five people, I'd say. I think I could probably, I mean, I could figure out anything, but like it would not be a smooth experience. We'll put it that way, for for one party. I don't know if that party would be me or the athletes, probably myself, uh, because I'll do anything to make sure the athletes are good. But like after five people, if I was doing this without Liz's system, it would be bad, very bad.
SPEAKER_02:We've got a nice Google Sheet written out, we've got a nice plan, we've got planned attempts. Um, if the plan doesn't go so great, we have second plans. Yeah, we've got all the things. We got all the things, it's usually put in order because now, which is nice, most meets have like their flights out early, or at least like the day before. Yeah, and I will go in and like put people in order of their actual flights. I'll break it apart by flights, even better, put them in order of how they're gonna be lifting in their flight. We'll try and make it as smooth and seamless as seamless as possible.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so so yeah, so combined efforts really make meat day go super smooth. Um, and that is just what has worked for us. So, usually, like I said, Liz kind of does a lot of the planning, the numbers. I mean, we do the numbers together, but like she she does all of it. Like I just talk and then it just appears for me on game day, magic, and then I'm good to go. Um, and then I use it, I think even we use the sheets differently. I just kind of need it. Uh, I like to actually study it, it's kind of weird, but uh, I like to study it kind of like the night or the couple days before, so that I kind of know where everyone's at and what what the goals are. Um, because during the actual event, I like to really focus on the athletes, so I like to have that information like already in my mind, or like a quick glance. I don't like having to like look at it too much. Um, but it is nice to have it there. That's the thing, is that I say this, but like it's like without it, it would be very bad because there's sometimes when I'm like, oh, wait, was this person or I mixed people up or whatever? So I got that sheet to keep me on track. Um, and really that is how we work, and that's how we're able to um you know handle so many people in one day at Meets successfully.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And we've been doing that for a long time at this point.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and it's pretty cool because people get two coaches instead of one.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um crazy. And I just think it's cool because it's just something that we do together, and we both have that's something that we are both uh learning and growing as we continue to grow just as like individuals and as a couple and as business owners. It's like we both have like things that we're really good at and things we're maybe like not so good at. But then we both offer like me and Liz both have the drive or whatever you want to call it, like capability to do anything. Like we can both of us can do anything. It's just certain things Liz can do with like a blink of the eye, and then certain things I can do maybe like two blinks of an eye, but I can do pretty quick too. So like that's been the key as we've developed and grown, and as we continue to grow as a business, is uh trying to find those things and place each other in uh spots to succeed rather than like forcing it. Yeah, yeah. So that's that that's a little behind the scenes for you.
SPEAKER_02:Um which also ties into this question that you put in your story today about the dishwasher.
SPEAKER_00:Oh my gosh, you're gonna bring that up. Yes, okay.
SPEAKER_02:There's this reel that it says in every marriage, there's two people, and one person loads the dishwasher like nice and organized and neat and in like a a plan, and the other person just throws shit in there. And he put a poll up that asked who uh who thought who was wait, I can't even say word that correctly. Like which one of us was which part in our relationship as far as loving the dishwasher. Like who's the organized neat one and who's the crazy one? Crazy one. And I'm gonna guess after listening to this podcast, you will all know this. But earlier it was 60% voted that he was the organized one, and currently it is 50-50. I am just shocked by this because it's blown away. Because if you know me, like it's gonna be perfect. Like, there's certain space for everything in that dishwasher that goes in the exact same way every time. Like, even they all face the same direction. All the lids for our meal prep go in the same spot in a nice little bit.
SPEAKER_00:It does look beautiful. Like when Liz It's like perfect. When Liz uh loads a dishwasher, like when I open it, I'm like, damn. Like it looks like it looks like a picture from like a catalog, like a dishwasher catalog.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's what it should look like.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, not when I load it. Anyways. Oh no. So but just so you know, actually, no, I'm glad you brought this up because like Liz said, it's kind of like an illustration of what I was just saying. Like uh shocked, it's still done. I got it done. Uh I don't know if it's crazy, yeah, exactly in the right spot, but it they're clean. The dishes are clean. But yeah, I just kind of put them wherever. As long as they get clean, I don't really care.
SPEAKER_02:Anyways, I just thought that was funny, especially based on what we're talking about right now.
SPEAKER_00:It is pretty funny. So, anyways, yeah, so that's kind of what we're doing now, and we're just trying to do that even better um and more and more as we go, and just making sure that we are finding those things that we really excel at and doing that and not focusing on the things that we don't necessarily excel at. Because turns out if you find stuff that you really like to do, uh, you're gonna do a lot better at it, anyways. So thanks. Um, all right, so we got a question.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. It was a nutrition question.
SPEAKER_00:Nutrition question.
SPEAKER_02:It says clean foods versus flexible foods. What is better for progress and overall muscle growth?
SPEAKER_00:Well, obviously, maybe not obviously, but uh I would say the cleaner the food, the better in general.
SPEAKER_02:Um for anything, you're just gonna like feel better too.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, like that's what I was gonna say next. Yeah, like you're just gonna feel better. Um, that's actually something I noticed for a long time. I would eat the proper macros, but like not as clean. And now me and Lizzie for sure, like since we've been together, like uh the cleanest, I would say. And I just definitely like Lisa, I just feel better.
SPEAKER_02:Um Yeah, and that's not to be said, like you can't make progress eating more flexible foods. Yes, absolutely you can, especially if you are having that, like if it's pretty dialed in to your macros, to you know, your meal timing, you know, you're still drinking water, you're hydrating, you're sleeping, you're doing all the things. Like, you're definitely still going to make progress. But really, either way.
SPEAKER_00:But you know what? I gotta I got a great answer for this question.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Here's the thing a lot of people when they're saying, like, I'm not I'm not sure this person, uh, but when they're saying like eating their the flexible foods, uh, they're thinking, like, yeah, you know, like I'm eating peanut butter, it's got protein in it, um, or things like this, and you're not really like maybe tracking. So this is something, this isn't really the question, but this is just a comment that maybe will help some people that are wondering about this question. If you are not tracking your food and you're eating flexible foods, as this person said, or kind of like I'm not gonna say dirty, but like not maybe whole foods, okay? And then if you are also not tracking your food and you're eating whole foods, the person that is eating whole foods will every time, every time, have a better outcome. And the reason is it is a lot harder to overeat like whole foods. So it's super easy to smoke an entire bag of Doritos, okay? Or whatever, insert favorite chip crunch snack. Um, it's no problem. Light work. It is much harder to eat, I don't know, a 20-ounce steak, 16-ounce steak. Exactly. Um, now I'm not saying that, oh okay, I'm gonna go out and eat this steak. I'm not talking about what I'm saying, but my point is when you are choosing the flexible side of things, you have to be even more dialed with your tracking than someone that is just eating like clean whole foods.
SPEAKER_02:But I will say, so yes, like if you're not tracking either way, eating clean, you're just is healthier, better, whatever. That's kind of but there are people, and I will argue this if you are tracking your foods but eating more flexible foods, whatever, versus not tracking at all and eating clean, but you have no idea what or how much you're eating, there is a chance that you will not make as much progress if you don't know how much you're eating. If you are dialed in with your flexible food on hitting your macro targets every single day, yeah, because chances are if you don't track, never tracked before, you're just like, oh, I'm just I'm just eating clean. You're gonna have like a salad for lunch because that's clean. Yeah, and maybe a chicken breast, a small chicken breast with some potatoes or you know, rice or something for dinner, yeah, and then maybe a cup of coffee and an apple for breakfast, or you know, like little things there that are like clean, like all of that's like good whole food. There's nothing wrong with any of that, but chances are of you eating like enough protein, for example, to To make progress or see the progress that you're wanting or to build muscle and continue to build strength. I think that is a mistake that people make. Or on the other end, they're eating clean foods, but they're eating like crazy portions of them. Yeah. Like a cup, two cups of rice with every meal. Like, it is vi it is easy to overeat clean foods, also. Like you can. I mean, if you're not tracking either way, you're going to obviously Yeah, I think so.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I think it's harder to eat overeat clean foods. But also what you just defined and what I was talking about is like two totally different things.
SPEAKER_02:No, I know. That's what I was saying.
SPEAKER_00:So like like what Liz is saying, I have 100% agree. Like, so number one, she's saying, like, someone that was tracking.
SPEAKER_02:I just said if no one tracked anything, no, I would say it was two different examples, like two different types of like thinking. I just have worked with a lot of people nutrition-wise that tell me, oh, I'm eating clean and I can't lose weight.
SPEAKER_00:That's what I was gonna say.
SPEAKER_02:Or I'm eating clean and I can't make progress, but then we like put them on some macros. Yeah, they don't even change their foods, like they keep eating the foods that they're eating, but we get put on some actual macros, and then they obviously change the portion sizes and maybe add in something here or there, take out something here or there, and then all of a sudden they start seeing progress. So it's not necessarily like it can be the foods you're eating, but it can also be the amount of foods that you're eating.
SPEAKER_00:And and just like the classification, and like actually, I'm glad you said that, like, because I was just thinking it made me think more about it. So, like, like Liz said, I feel like a lot of people they'll say, like, I'm eating clean, and like what I was talking about earlier was not eating clean. I'm talking about eating only whole foods. So, like, it comes from the ground or like an animal. That's it. Um, no salad dressings, I don't know, maybe like a vinaigrette or something.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:I don't know, but no, like I'm talking about just like literally like vegetables, meat, rice.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but most people don't eat like that.
SPEAKER_00:I know. But that's why I was clarifying that, just so because I'm like, well, this is a different thing. Um, but uh to go back to the question, because I think the question was like which one would you see better results?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, better progress.
SPEAKER_00:So the better progress, the quickest progress is going to be as clean or whole food centered as possible, in my opinion. Um, unless your goal is to gain weight, you might find that you have to add in some like processed foods here and there to hit that weight gain goal. But more than likely, you're gonna want to go the clean whole food route.
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna throw a little curveball because I don't necessarily disagree with you at all, actually. But a little curveball. Whichever one you can actually stick to and consistently do every day. I don't know, I was talking to Stan Everding for weeks and weeks and weeks and months and months and months. Yes, whichever one you can actually stick to and adhere to and do what needs to be done, then that is the one that you're going to see more progress with. Because I am not necessarily the person that can eat all clean foods. Like we eat relatively healthy, but I know that if I was like, I'm only eating like whole clean foods, like I would not survive.
SPEAKER_00:Let's do that for like a week.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I like literally wouldn't. And then my progress would not happen.
SPEAKER_00:I'm glad you brought that up.
SPEAKER_02:So like I ha I am the person that like could I potentially see more progress if I didn't have my sweet treats that I ate all the time and I didn't have a protein bar instead of eating more chicken. Like, sure, I probably could maybe see like a little more progress. But also, one, I want to enjoy things that I eat, and to me, adding in some like flexible, if you want to, whatever flexible foods in there that still fit my macros allows me to continue doing this for months and years at a time. Like that, so that's just that's just I guess what I'm gonna do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, that's that's that's a really good point. Um, and uh the adherence is the word there's uh dude that invite or invented, I said invited, invented the uh vertical diet, stand efforting. He's also a super strong powerlifter and bodybuilder. Um he used to talk about specifically that word. Like I I think I used to like listen to podcasts with him, he'd just be like, adherence, adherence, adherence. And like it's actually a really good word for uh diet nutrition and for working out. Like, honestly, whatever you enjoy and what you find like enjoyment in, that's probably gonna be what you're gonna be able to adhere to the longest, which is going to produce the best results. So, like Liz said, if you need a little bit more flexible dieting, uh, so that way you can adhere to it and that's gonna help you stick to your goals for six months instead of six days, then I agree 100%. Um, you got to figure that out. But that being said, it still needs to be some sort of structure, especially if you're looking to increase performance or results like uh this person is looking to do.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So good one.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:All right. Well, I think that wraps it up for this week's episode of the podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Time for bed.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, time for bed. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. Um, if you did, please remember to subscribe to the podcast, leave a like, comment, uh, share with your friends. We really appreciate your guys' support, especially over the past uh month or so. We've really seen an uptick in listens and subscribers. So we really appreciate that. And we will uh continue to be pumping out awesome episodes for you guys week after week, except for in the coming weeks, it's gonna be a little bit uh spotty spotty because we have a lot of things coming up. Uh, but we probably will see many of you in real life. Um, because we'll be traveling all over. Uh, we got a bunch of meets coming up. I'm competing in a few weeks. Uh, we got friends giving and many more events coming down the pipeline. So, uh, but we will podcast when we have time to do so. Uh, if not, like I said, I said this last week. Make sure you guys are following us on Instagram. We're very active on there every day, posting good stuff. Um, on, I don't even know, seven, eight weeks. I think it's time for Liz to be in another video probably this week, um, on some more like educational content. So I'm posting that. I'm slowly posting it to YouTube, but turns out um that takes a minute because I am not on that as much. So I'm working on that. But uh yeah, follow us on Instagram, reach out to us on there, and we'll see you guys in the next episode. Peace.
SPEAKER_02:Bye.