October 13, 2025 • 31 mins
Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to There Is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell, and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sfitness programs, and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and mostimportantly why things work.
(00:21):
Hence the name, There is aMethod to the Madness.
Before I get to today's show, Iwant to thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gilden of the Gilden Group atRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home is
worth?
386-451-2412.
(00:46):
You know, there really is amethod to the madness.
That's uh the title of thispodcast, as I think everybody
knows.
Hopefully, anyway, or maybe youdon't.
I mean, I guess sometimes I'm uhlistening to podcasts and uh one
will end and another one willpop on, and um, I'll not even
(01:10):
really know who it is or what'sgoing on, but I'll get the first
glimpse of it and go, oh, thisisn't bad, and continue to
listen.
That'd be really cool if thathappens with mine, but I don't
know.
That's not happening right nowbecause I think that's happening
among the uh the real big boys,you know, so to say.
But uh anyway, that's uh thetitle of this podcast.
(01:34):
And the title of my first book Iwrote was There is a Method to
the Madness.
And that is because it's one ofthe big premises of my career.
I think I said premises is islet's just keep in adding, let's
just keep adding plurals tothat.
Here I'll uh I'll wake up prettysoon.
(01:55):
It's actually not that early,but uh guess my brain isn't
completely awake yet.
But there must be a reason why,which uh, you know, is another
way of saying that uh there's amethod to the madness.
So because it's always been areally important theme for me.
Um early on in my career, Iwould say it a lot when people
(02:18):
would wonder why we're doingthings or wonder why things work
or whatever.
And I would say, well, you know,there is a method to the
madness.
And uh my search for like thetruth and my search for uh
science has always been a bigpart of what I do, and not just
(02:38):
like in physiology, but in allrealms, in all sciences, and in
all biological sciences or umsocial sciences, you know, and
psychology as well.
Like there is a way to explainwhat works and what doesn't
work, and I think ultimatelyit's just such a more efficient
(03:02):
way to follow or such a shortcuton the path you're on if you
will actually go to what you'rereally looking for and figure
out the best way to do it.
And when we use science, we areable to do that.
(03:23):
I mean, I think I don't know.
Um help me out here if you'relistening, you know, think in
your own head, have aconversation to yourself or
somebody in the car as you'relistening, but you know, bump
that around a little bit.
Like, like, do people knowbetter?
Like, do people understand thatlike there is better ways to do
(03:45):
things, or do people just stillthink things are randomness and
things that aren't?
I mean, there are plenty ofthings in life that are random.
I guess that could be arguedtoo.
But fitness, health, you know,with the exception of some
(04:05):
things that pop up that youdon't really have any control
over, but it's not very random.
You know, let's just keep it thephysical fitness, I suppose.
It's not very random.
So somebody could say, Well, Idon't know, explain to me this
why this person does this amountof exercise and eats this way,
(04:27):
and they look like this and dothese things, and this person
eats the same way, and theyexercise the same way, yet they
don't nearly have as good of aphysique, and they don't seem to
be able to do the things thatthis person does.
And I'd go, uh, genetics.
So, like there is a method tothe madness.
I mean, genetics is a big partof physical fitness, and that's
(04:50):
no excuse and it's no cop-out,it's none of those things.
It's it's neither.
It's just a reality that forsome people, just take weight
loss alone.
It's going to be harder, notimpossible, but harder.
Like, for example, if anybody umwent through a very high obesity
(05:11):
period in their life, they'regonna have more fat cells than a
person who hasn't.
And fat cells just don't goaway.
They either atrophy orhypertrophy, meaning they either
get bigger or smaller.
But if you have more of apropensity to fat cells, it's
going to be easier to gainweight.
Um this is not what this podcastis about.
(05:34):
But the point is there is amethod to the madness.
So when somebody says somethinglike that, I go, well, there's a
reason that happens.
And that's the point I reallywant to drive home today, and
maybe give you some examples andthink about like, what is the
(05:54):
shortcut you could take oncertain things and figure out
what you need to do to getthere.
And you know me well enough,hopefully, that when I say
shortcut, I don't mean the easyway out.
I mean the more efficient path.
And sometimes the more efficientpath is far harder, by the way,
but worth it because it gets youthere without the wasting of
(06:17):
time.
And time is an incredibleresource that I don't think that
we want to waste.
So, you know, I'm I outlined itfor you.
There is a method to the madnessin all of these things, the
reasons why we experts saythings, the reason why certain
things work, the reason whycertain things don't work, the
(06:40):
reason why we tell you not to docertain things.
So there is a method to themadness.
All right, so made that point.
Now let's let's talk about someexamples and how this like comes
up often in the real world.
I did the uh UCF U Can FinishFive Mile yesterday, which was
Sunday, and um I like to do alot of these different um
(07:04):
running events and sometimesother types of fitness events,
endurance events, whatever.
But running seems to be the mostcommon one.
And uh so I'll often see a lotof different things that uh you
know just kind of make me go,hmm, or well, there's that.
So just a couple instances.
(07:26):
You always see some things inthese running events, whether
they be 5Ks or a little bitlonger, like this one, or a 10K
or 15k.
You tend not to see as manyblatant mistakes as the
distances lengthen because theuh impact of your mistakes are
(07:51):
far more consequential than ifthey were in a 5K.
So you tend to see less.
And I do believe that peoplereally do learn by doing.
And when they make a really badmistake, they have a tendency to
not do it again.
But as I say, you know, a bigreason why I do this podcast is
to try to like help peopleunderstand that there are better
(08:12):
ways to do things, there arebetter ways to learn, you know,
like getting a good education islearning from the experience of
others, but naturally we have tolisten to that.
So I can think of a fewdifferent things that happen.
One of them happens all the timethat I just shake my head at.
And again, just because of theundue misery they're causing
(08:35):
themselves.
But if you've done a lot ofraces, do you ever notice that
people tend not to know, notknow how to pace themselves?
They are just totally likerandom because they're just
burnt on energy, maybe that'sthe case I think sometimes with
kids.
But other people too.
They might just be a bundle ofnerves of anxiety, which is
(08:56):
completely understandable.
I mean, you're gonna have thatfor sure.
But learning how to handle thatthen, method to the madness says
there can be a better way to dothis in a in a less good way.
But some people are just likehave no concept how to do that.
And so I just think it's it'spartly because of the anxiety
(09:19):
thing, like I said, andignorance of not knowing.
But then there are also peoplethat do the same thing, but
they're they're a little morelike um, what's the word?
I think they maybe know a littlemore what they're doing when
they do it, but they tend to bepacing off of other people, like
they tend to be racing people.
Um, you know, maybe not totallyconsciously, but enough to where
(09:44):
the person they're doing it tonotices, like you might run up
on somebody, you know, notbecause you are racing them.
Like, just to put this out therefor me, like that's never going
to be the case.
I mean, I've been, gosh, doingthis as long as I've been doing
personal training, jumping indifferent races.
Like, I don't race the randomstranger.
(10:05):
I mean, and people say, well,doesn't it make you better?
No, it actually doesn't.
So, like, and I'm also very inin my own way introverted in
many ways, and running is one ofthe things I like to do because
of that.
So I either will have myheadphones on or nothing at all,
but I'm really in my own world,and I'm pretty darn good at like
(10:27):
knowing my capabilities andknowing my goals and staying
within that and not lettingother people alter that.
So the answer is no.
I don't use other people forpositive or negative, either
way.
It doesn't try to ignore thebest I can because I'm trying to
like really just kind of enjoythe moment of solitude, so to
say.
And if you know me, you know notto just come running up and
(10:49):
start talking to me when I'mrunning, because I don't I just
don't want to be bothered.
I I don't enjoy it.
So, anyway, but other peoplewill, and you you're running up
on them, or in my case, I am,and then next thing you know,
like instead of you know goingby them, they're now running
next to you.
And if you've been doing thislong enough, you know, oh God,
(11:11):
here we go, you know, and theytend to almost be like using
your pace as a way to motivatethem, right?
And so is it a bad thing?
I mean, I don't know about bad,but like there's a method to the
madness that that's not gonnawork long term for somebody.
I mean, it doesn't ultimatelybother me because I have a
(11:32):
pretty good way of just tendingto ignore people and doing my
thing, and they usually burn outif they if that ended up
sparking them and they run aheadand they and I never see them
again.
Great.
I mean, great.
I'm glad I was able to do thatfor you.
Or if I run by them, you know,okay, either way.
I mean, and that does happen,but sometimes you're kind of
stuck with them almost, youknow.
(11:53):
And if you slow down a littlebit because you have to, um, and
then they do, and you'rethinking, oh God, like person's
use literally using my pace.
So there's a reason why thatpeople improve their
cardiorespiratory fitness.
Like if somebody goes into anevent like that, they say, you
(12:15):
know, this is my goal, this isthe pace I believe I can hit
based on objective thinking.
If you don't know, you don'tknow.
That's fine.
Um, and I'm gonna do this.
And then if somebody doesn't dothat, and they're just like,
well, I'm gonna use the otherperson to do this, or I just
don't know better.
And if they start running by me,that means that they're beating
(12:38):
me.
Like that they're thinking thatthe person is racing them,
right?
And so then their competitivejuices get flowing.
And that's unless you're likeracing somebody like for real,
like you're in the top three andyou're battling it out for a
prize of substantial gain, moneyor something, or even age group
(12:59):
notoriety, whatever, like, andyou know that, okay, that's a
little different.
I'm not really talking aboutthat.
Even that, I would argue, is alittle bit superficial at the
adult level, but you know, itdefinitely that at least there's
a reason then.
But the problem is that then youare going to have your own set
(13:19):
of problems.
Number one, you're not going torun your best race.
If you're running somebodyelse's best race, you're not
going to run your best race.
And the whole idea is to getbetter.
That's how I look at everythingI do.
I always try to get better.
If I'm doing somethingaerobically like that, my aim is
to get better.
So, how do I get better?
I look at what I did the lasttime in similar circumstances,
(13:42):
similar distances, similarweather, whatever.
And I said, Well, if I was ableto maintain this pace, then I
should be able to do this.
So that is my goal.
And if I hit that goal, then I'mgetting better.
Like that's how I look atthings.
And my idea of better, meaningbest, are long over.
I can promise you that in myearly 40s, late 30s was when I
(14:02):
was running my absolute best,but now it's just better than I
was, say, last weekend or twoweekends ago.
Whatever.
It's just always striving to bea little bit better for me, is
the goal.
Now, when other people don't gointo it that way, and they go
into it basically just beinglike victimless or a victim of
the other person's pace, you'renot going to get better.
(14:24):
It doesn't work.
So, what ends up happening isyou'll see people running either
too fast or too slow based onother people.
So it just doesn't work.
So the method of the madnesssays there's a reason why you
want to figure out what yourbest average pace is and then
run it.
The reason is because you willbe at your best and you will be
(14:48):
able to set your future goalsknowing you did your best.
So there's a method to themadness.
The other side of it is if youdo it too extreme, if you're
constantly racing somebody, thenyou might have like a really,
really, really negativeexperience, meaning you
basically just bonk.
You run out of energy, you endup walking.
That's because you're kind oflike a rudderless ship.
(15:09):
You're just doing what they do.
So there's a method to themadness.
That's just a small one.
I'm going to give you someexamples there.
Another one I saw, well, therewas a guy, um, I don't know,
somewhere around the halfwaypoint, I think.
And um I catch up to him, andI'm running my pace.
Like I was I was on yesterday asfar as like hitting my goals.
(15:31):
Um, not saying fast, I'm sayinglike I was reaching my goal of
having nice, consistent, evenpaces of at five seconds or less
per mile every mile.
Like that was my goal, you know,to not vary it that much.
And I was able to do that.
So somewhere around the halfwaymark, I come up on somebody.
There's I mean, there's peoplethe whole way it's packed, but I
(15:53):
noticed this guy because he waskind of tall and he's wearing a
hood.
And that's the whole point.
A hood.
Now, it was like nice, 63, 64degrees at the start.
I mean, that's nice compared tothe 80s we run in in Daytona
Beach here or in Orlando in thiscase in the summer.
(16:14):
So it was nice, but it's nothoodie nice, right?
And I mean, so it's like, sowhat's the method to the
madness?
It's like, okay, so maybe yousay, well, he absolutely doesn't
care, you know.
It's like, okay, so there's areason to wear the hoodie.
I mean, and it's not, it wasn'tlike a one of those hoodies
(16:35):
that's like like kids wearbecause they're really cold.
It was more like one of thosehoodie t-shirt things that
people wear now, you know.
I don't know.
I mean, I don't want to soundjudgmental, but to kind of look
cool, maybe.
But it's like, okay, but youknow, okay, so physiologists,
what's wrong with that?
Well, that the head traps inheat.
(16:56):
So if it's not that cold out,and and bottom line is, you
know, I had this conversationwith a client of mine who was
going up to Ohio to run a halfmarathon this past weekend, and
she was saying it was like 47,48.
I said, well, the research showsthat you know, if it's that, you
don't dress that abnormal forthat.
In other words, that's justpretty much normal t-shirt and
(17:19):
shorts right there, you know?
And it it's not until it startsto drop below 40 that you start
to think about wearing tights.
As far as performance, again,I'm talking performance, and I'm
not talking elite performance.
I'm talking about you doing yourbest and then what is best for
your recovery afterwards.
So the research shows anythingover 40, you don't really need
(17:42):
tights.
Below 40, it's time to startkeeping some of the extremities
a little bit warmer, or at leastit's it's productive too.
It's not going to becounterproductive to do that,
okay.
Research also shows that like wetrap heat through our skull,
through our head.
So if you're wearing a hat or ahoodie, you're trapping in that
(18:04):
heat.
And he did it was a long-sleevehoodie, too.
So, you know, you say, Well,what's wrong with that?
He wanted to be warm.
It's like, okay, if you were topull him aside and say, you
know, not that I would, I mean,goodness gracious, I wouldn't
say anything to any of thesepeople.
I mean, the one thing I've alsolearned in all these years is to
mind my own frickin' business.
I might talk about it in apodcast, but I'm definitely not
(18:26):
going to offer advice or makeschnide comments.
Because again, it might, hisreason it might be, you know
what?
I don't, I like was just runningalong and um I get cold really
easy.
And, you know, my girlfriendthinks I look cute with my hood
like this, and that's my reason.
I'm like, cool.
I mean, great, no problem.
(18:46):
And that's the whole point ofthis whole podcast is like, but
why do we do the things we do?
And is it in our best interest?
And is it time to stop and thinkabout it before we do them?
Because the reasoning you wouldtell them not to do that would
be, well, you're gonna gosignificantly slower because the
heat's gonna be trapped in,you're gonna eventually slow
(19:07):
down.
You you feel 63, 64, which feelsreally, really nice, but your
body temperature ramps up.
And and just for me, forexample, when I finished, um, I
mean, it was that temperatureand maybe got a little warmer at
the end, but I was sweaty.
I mean, it's really like that'sstill not cool.
It's cooler, it's not cool.
(19:28):
So the body is going to heat up.
And if you ever watch some ofthose elite marathoners, like in
Boston and New York and Chicago,you know, the elite, the pros,
you know, even in cold weather,you're gonna see them in
singlets and shorts.
And occasionally you'll seegloves.
And they ditch the gloves lateron because like your body is
(19:50):
gonna do better when it's cold.
It's just going to.
That's the method to themadness.
I mean, your heart rate is goingto escalate about 10 beats per
normal in when it's warmer.
So if you if you understandanything about fitness, you know
that as you work harder, yourheart rate goes up.
So if you're if your heartrate's already going up, not
because you're working harder,but because now your body is
(20:13):
working harder to cool itselfoff, you're taking resources
away from areas that could bemaking you go faster.
And you might go, well, I don'twant to go faster.
It's like, well, we all want tobe done, and we all want to be
done like reasonable time andthen recover.
So I think even people that saythat aren't being totally
truthful.
Like everybody wants to finish,may not want to like have the
(20:36):
best time there, and I get that,but we all want to do our best,
I think, or close to it, or atleast get done in a reasonable
time so we can go on and do thenext thing and then again
recover.
So just so many people are likenot putting a lot of thought
into what they do when they doit, and it is a common, common
(20:59):
theme in the fitness world.
I'll see people go to the gym,or people will ask me questions
on social media, and they'llsay, I go to the gym and I see
this guy doing this on thepull-up bar, and they'll
describe something.
I'll say, Well, okay, but whydoes that pique your interest?
(21:22):
So, well, he's got pretty biglats, and you know, so maybe
that's why he got pretty biglats.
And I'll say, or maybe he's gotpretty pretty big lats because
number one, he has goodgenetics, and number two, he
does work his upper lats andrhomboids on a regular basis,
but it may not be for this.
So I think a human tendency isto observe what other people and
(21:48):
always think that they know morethan you do.
And I think that's a bigproblem, unless you are speaking
to somebody who does know morethan you do.
Like if you're speaking to anexpert in a given field, like if
you're speaking to me aboutstrength training or
cardiorespiratory endurance ordiet, then yeah, I would hope
(22:08):
you'd kind of acquiesce to myopinions and and guidance on
what, because I probably do knowmore than you do in that subject
matter.
So that makes sense.
But just watching random peopleat events, I think we got to be
really, really careful becausethere are so many people that
(22:29):
when we go to some of thesefitness vents like this five
mile or like 5K, so we justassume people know what they're
doing.
And so people start copying whatother people do.
And in the case of likeclothing, I mean, I mean, I
think probably everybodylistening has seen it, or now
you're gonna see it, but that'swhat these kids do.
(22:52):
I mean, they go to the gym andthey now wear their hoodies, you
know?
It's like this cool thing to do.
Some of them will literally pullthe hood over the head before
they bench press.
It's like, okay, yeah, but butno, it's got no physiological
benefit to do that.
I mean, come on, right?
You know that it there's notlike, oh, it must do this.
Like, no, it's it's a coolthing, right?
(23:14):
So whatever, let kids be kids,but like we have to understand
that, like, there's usually areason why people are improving
at certain things, and ratherthan guess or watch the rest of
the clueless crews out theredoing things, why don't we stop
(23:36):
and ask the expert?
Like, what is the method to themadness?
How many people out there aretold one way or the other they
might not have somebody in theirface saying, Hey, you need to
take creatine if you want to getstronger?
That may not happen or it may,but just the fact that your
(23:57):
influencer is saying, I takecreatine and it builds strength,
is kind of telling you to takecreatine.
Now, am I telling you not totake creatine?
No, I'm not, I'm not.
I mean, I actually think it's adecent supplement, but right
there, I'm not telling you totake it either.
What I'm saying is, or what I'mgetting ready to say is most
(24:19):
people have no clue what it isor why it works.
And I remember explaining it toa client because I think his
girlfriend first brought it up,and then he actually did want to
try it based on the explanation.
But he's smart enough to go,wait a minute, what is this?
And I said, Look, creatine isshort for phosphocreatin, and it
(24:45):
is an immediate energy substratethat is stored in the cells
along with ATP or denisontriphosphate, and they're the
only two high-energy phosphatesthat are stored directly in the
muscle cell ATP andphosphocreatin, the only two
(25:08):
high-energy phosphates.
When we run out of ATP, we don'thave any energy, so our body is
constantly trying to metabolizemore ATP.
That's what it's doing.
So phosphocreatin or creatin'sjob, once it is used, so once
(25:29):
the ATP is broken down, half ofit, which is ADP, adenison
diphosphate, forms withcreatine, phosphocreatin, to
make more ATP.
So creatin's role is to bindwith half of the ATP that's
broken down to make more energy.
(25:50):
So that's what ATP is.
It naturally occurs in the body.
Now, the belief has always beenthrough the years that if you
hyperstore ATP, meaning kind oftry to store more than your body
needs, it'll always be readilyavailable and you can add some
strength and power.
Just strength and power, by theway.
(26:11):
There is not a lot of studiesthat support ATP and hypertrophy
or ATP and aerobic fitness.
But there has been enoughsignificant studies that I have
seen that says it does improvestrength and power.
All right.
So, but that's the reason why itworks.
Now, my whole point wasn't tolike bore you with what happens
(26:34):
with ATP and phosphocreatin, butit was to make you see there is
a method to the madness, likethere is with almost everything
in the fitness world.
So that might make you go, well,then if there's no side effects,
which only you can discuss withyour physician, by the way, if
there's no side effects, thenmaybe I do that if I've got the
(26:56):
money to spend.
Okay, there you go.
There's the information, butthat's the method to the
madness.
That's why people take, well, Ishouldn't say that.
I love to believe that that'swhy people take it, but I think
people take it because otherpeople take it.
But that's the reason why smartpeople take it.
I'm not trying to tell you totake it.
(27:17):
I'm trying to be so careful withmy words here.
Take it if you want to take it.
But the point is, if if you'reeducated on it and you decide
it's good for you and you knowwhy you're taking it, then
great.
But don't just take it becauseother people do.
And that is the exact point ofthis podcast.
There are so many reasons whythings work and don't work.
(27:40):
And what you have to do withyour goals is sit down and go,
okay, what do I need to do?
Like, what is the shortcut orshorter path to reaching my
goals?
What is the method to themadness?
I heard a guy, and I heard it, Iread a guy's post on social
media the other day, and Iactually really liked it.
(28:01):
And he was a he calls himself anatural bodybuilder.
That means people that don'ttake steroids, and I tend to
follow a lot of them.
And he said, you know, this ishow I grow.
When I go to the gym, I don'tcount this, I don't count that.
I do high reps to failure, andthen afterwards, I make sure I
(28:23):
adequately refuel with food andI get enough rest.
And because of that, I've beenable to grow my whole life.
And I thought, that's true.
Like, there is a method to themadness behind that.
Like, we can talk aboutrepetition ranges and
percentages of load and how manyexercises to do per muscle
(28:45):
group, and how many exercises todo per workout, and all that
stuff is great.
But the true direct path islearning to train all of the
muscles in the body, all themajor muscle groups, train them
to failure with an adequateamount of reps, refuel
afterwards with propernutrition, and get your rest.
(29:09):
And you will grow.
Like that is the method to themadness.
All those other ways to it couldwork, but they don't guarantee
it.
Like if you do a lot of highreps but not the failure,
probably aren't going to growany muscles.
If you train heavier but notwith enough reps, probably not
gonna grow any muscles.
If you train like all of themuscle groups in the body on a
(29:33):
regular basis, but with verylittle intensity, probably not
gonna grow muscles.
But if you do like what he wassaying, you know, trains them
all, trains them to failure, andrefuels, probably gonna grow
muscles.
So there is really a method tothe mana.
So I want you to think aboutthat.
And if you want, come up withyour own examples of what you
(29:55):
see people do, like the sillyhood in the races or you know,
other Other people racing peopleduring training, you know, just
the things you might see at thegym, people wearing weird
outfits or weird belts and weirdgrips and weird wrist wraps and
all this stuff at the gym, youknow, all these things you might
notice, or you might notice yourfriends taking this bottle of
(30:15):
whatever for lunch every day.
You know, look at it and go,hmm, like, is there a method to
the Mattis, or do they just notknow better?
And we probably know the answerto that, but we can also change
it.
And one way to change it isshare this podcast.
Thank you for listening totoday's program.
(30:37):
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Welcome to There Is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell, and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sfitness programs, and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and mostimportantly why things work.
(00:21):
Hence the name, There is aMethod to the Madness.
Before I get to today's show, Iwant to thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gilden of the Gilden Group atRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home is
worth?
386-451-2412.
(00:46):
You know, there really is amethod to the madness.
That's uh the title of thispodcast, as I think everybody
knows.
Hopefully, anyway, or maybe youdon't.
I mean, I guess sometimes I'm uhlistening to podcasts and uh one
will end and another one willpop on, and um, I'll not even
(01:10):
really know who it is or what'sgoing on, but I'll get the first
glimpse of it and go, oh, thisisn't bad, and continue to
listen.
That'd be really cool if thathappens with mine, but I don't
know.
That's not happening right nowbecause I think that's happening
among the uh the real big boys,you know, so to say.
But uh anyway, that's uh thetitle of this podcast.
(01:34):
And the title of my first book Iwrote was There is a Method to
the Madness.
And that is because it's one ofthe big premises of my career.
I think I said premises is islet's just keep in adding, let's
just keep adding plurals tothat.
Here I'll uh I'll wake up prettysoon.
(01:55):
It's actually not that early,but uh guess my brain isn't
completely awake yet.
But there must be a reason why,which uh, you know, is another
way of saying that uh there's amethod to the madness.
So because it's always been areally important theme for me.
Um early on in my career, Iwould say it a lot when people
(02:18):
would wonder why we're doingthings or wonder why things work
or whatever.
And I would say, well, you know,there is a method to the
madness.
And uh my search for like thetruth and my search for uh
science has always been a bigpart of what I do, and not just
(02:38):
like in physiology, but in allrealms, in all sciences, and in
all biological sciences or umsocial sciences, you know, and
psychology as well.
Like there is a way to explainwhat works and what doesn't
work, and I think ultimatelyit's just such a more efficient
(03:02):
way to follow or such a shortcuton the path you're on if you
will actually go to what you'rereally looking for and figure
out the best way to do it.
And when we use science, we areable to do that.
(03:23):
I mean, I think I don't know.
Um help me out here if you'relistening, you know, think in
your own head, have aconversation to yourself or
somebody in the car as you'relistening, but you know, bump
that around a little bit.
Like, like, do people knowbetter?
Like, do people understand thatlike there is better ways to do
(03:45):
things, or do people just stillthink things are randomness and
things that aren't?
I mean, there are plenty ofthings in life that are random.
I guess that could be arguedtoo.
But fitness, health, you know,with the exception of some
(04:05):
things that pop up that youdon't really have any control
over, but it's not very random.
You know, let's just keep it thephysical fitness, I suppose.
It's not very random.
So somebody could say, Well, Idon't know, explain to me this
why this person does this amountof exercise and eats this way,
(04:27):
and they look like this and dothese things, and this person
eats the same way, and theyexercise the same way, yet they
don't nearly have as good of aphysique, and they don't seem to
be able to do the things thatthis person does.
And I'd go, uh, genetics.
So, like there is a method tothe madness.
I mean, genetics is a big partof physical fitness, and that's
(04:50):
no excuse and it's no cop-out,it's none of those things.
It's it's neither.
It's just a reality that forsome people, just take weight
loss alone.
It's going to be harder, notimpossible, but harder.
Like, for example, if anybody umwent through a very high obesity
(05:11):
period in their life, they'regonna have more fat cells than a
person who hasn't.
And fat cells just don't goaway.
They either atrophy orhypertrophy, meaning they either
get bigger or smaller.
But if you have more of apropensity to fat cells, it's
going to be easier to gainweight.
Um this is not what this podcastis about.
(05:34):
But the point is there is amethod to the madness.
So when somebody says somethinglike that, I go, well, there's a
reason that happens.
And that's the point I reallywant to drive home today, and
maybe give you some examples andthink about like, what is the
(05:54):
shortcut you could take oncertain things and figure out
what you need to do to getthere.
And you know me well enough,hopefully, that when I say
shortcut, I don't mean the easyway out.
I mean the more efficient path.
And sometimes the more efficientpath is far harder, by the way,
but worth it because it gets youthere without the wasting of
(06:17):
time.
And time is an incredibleresource that I don't think that
we want to waste.
So, you know, I'm I outlined itfor you.
There is a method to the madnessin all of these things, the
reasons why we experts saythings, the reason why certain
things work, the reason whycertain things don't work, the
(06:40):
reason why we tell you not to docertain things.
So there is a method to themadness.
All right, so made that point.
Now let's let's talk about someexamples and how this like comes
up often in the real world.
I did the uh UCF U Can FinishFive Mile yesterday, which was
Sunday, and um I like to do alot of these different um
(07:04):
running events and sometimesother types of fitness events,
endurance events, whatever.
But running seems to be the mostcommon one.
And uh so I'll often see a lotof different things that uh you
know just kind of make me go,hmm, or well, there's that.
So just a couple instances.
(07:26):
You always see some things inthese running events, whether
they be 5Ks or a little bitlonger, like this one, or a 10K
or 15k.
You tend not to see as manyblatant mistakes as the
distances lengthen because theuh impact of your mistakes are
(07:51):
far more consequential than ifthey were in a 5K.
So you tend to see less.
And I do believe that peoplereally do learn by doing.
And when they make a really badmistake, they have a tendency to
not do it again.
But as I say, you know, a bigreason why I do this podcast is
to try to like help peopleunderstand that there are better
(08:12):
ways to do things, there arebetter ways to learn, you know,
like getting a good education islearning from the experience of
others, but naturally we have tolisten to that.
So I can think of a fewdifferent things that happen.
One of them happens all the timethat I just shake my head at.
And again, just because of theundue misery they're causing
(08:35):
themselves.
But if you've done a lot ofraces, do you ever notice that
people tend not to know, notknow how to pace themselves?
They are just totally likerandom because they're just
burnt on energy, maybe that'sthe case I think sometimes with
kids.
But other people too.
They might just be a bundle ofnerves of anxiety, which is
(08:56):
completely understandable.
I mean, you're gonna have thatfor sure.
But learning how to handle thatthen, method to the madness says
there can be a better way to dothis in a in a less good way.
But some people are just likehave no concept how to do that.
And so I just think it's it'spartly because of the anxiety
(09:19):
thing, like I said, andignorance of not knowing.
But then there are also peoplethat do the same thing, but
they're they're a little morelike um, what's the word?
I think they maybe know a littlemore what they're doing when
they do it, but they tend to bepacing off of other people, like
they tend to be racing people.
Um, you know, maybe not totallyconsciously, but enough to where
(09:44):
the person they're doing it tonotices, like you might run up
on somebody, you know, notbecause you are racing them.
Like, just to put this out therefor me, like that's never going
to be the case.
I mean, I've been, gosh, doingthis as long as I've been doing
personal training, jumping indifferent races.
Like, I don't race the randomstranger.
(10:05):
I mean, and people say, well,doesn't it make you better?
No, it actually doesn't.
So, like, and I'm also very inin my own way introverted in
many ways, and running is one ofthe things I like to do because
of that.
So I either will have myheadphones on or nothing at all,
but I'm really in my own world,and I'm pretty darn good at like
(10:27):
knowing my capabilities andknowing my goals and staying
within that and not lettingother people alter that.
So the answer is no.
I don't use other people forpositive or negative, either
way.
It doesn't try to ignore thebest I can because I'm trying to
like really just kind of enjoythe moment of solitude, so to
say.
And if you know me, you know notto just come running up and
(10:49):
start talking to me when I'mrunning, because I don't I just
don't want to be bothered.
I I don't enjoy it.
So, anyway, but other peoplewill, and you you're running up
on them, or in my case, I am,and then next thing you know,
like instead of you know goingby them, they're now running
next to you.
And if you've been doing thislong enough, you know, oh God,
(11:11):
here we go, you know, and theytend to almost be like using
your pace as a way to motivatethem, right?
And so is it a bad thing?
I mean, I don't know about bad,but like there's a method to the
madness that that's not gonnawork long term for somebody.
I mean, it doesn't ultimatelybother me because I have a
(11:32):
pretty good way of just tendingto ignore people and doing my
thing, and they usually burn outif they if that ended up
sparking them and they run aheadand they and I never see them
again.
Great.
I mean, great.
I'm glad I was able to do thatfor you.
Or if I run by them, you know,okay, either way.
I mean, and that does happen,but sometimes you're kind of
stuck with them almost, youknow.
(11:53):
And if you slow down a littlebit because you have to, um, and
then they do, and you'rethinking, oh God, like person's
use literally using my pace.
So there's a reason why thatpeople improve their
cardiorespiratory fitness.
Like if somebody goes into anevent like that, they say, you
(12:15):
know, this is my goal, this isthe pace I believe I can hit
based on objective thinking.
If you don't know, you don'tknow.
That's fine.
Um, and I'm gonna do this.
And then if somebody doesn't dothat, and they're just like,
well, I'm gonna use the otherperson to do this, or I just
don't know better.
And if they start running by me,that means that they're beating
(12:38):
me.
Like that they're thinking thatthe person is racing them,
right?
And so then their competitivejuices get flowing.
And that's unless you're likeracing somebody like for real,
like you're in the top three andyou're battling it out for a
prize of substantial gain, moneyor something, or even age group
(12:59):
notoriety, whatever, like, andyou know that, okay, that's a
little different.
I'm not really talking aboutthat.
Even that, I would argue, is alittle bit superficial at the
adult level, but you know, itdefinitely that at least there's
a reason then.
But the problem is that then youare going to have your own set
(13:19):
of problems.
Number one, you're not going torun your best race.
If you're running somebodyelse's best race, you're not
going to run your best race.
And the whole idea is to getbetter.
That's how I look at everythingI do.
I always try to get better.
If I'm doing somethingaerobically like that, my aim is
to get better.
So, how do I get better?
I look at what I did the lasttime in similar circumstances,
(13:42):
similar distances, similarweather, whatever.
And I said, Well, if I was ableto maintain this pace, then I
should be able to do this.
So that is my goal.
And if I hit that goal, then I'mgetting better.
Like that's how I look atthings.
And my idea of better, meaningbest, are long over.
I can promise you that in myearly 40s, late 30s was when I
(14:02):
was running my absolute best,but now it's just better than I
was, say, last weekend or twoweekends ago.
Whatever.
It's just always striving to bea little bit better for me, is
the goal.
Now, when other people don't gointo it that way, and they go
into it basically just beinglike victimless or a victim of
the other person's pace, you'renot going to get better.
(14:24):
It doesn't work.
So, what ends up happening isyou'll see people running either
too fast or too slow based onother people.
So it just doesn't work.
So the method of the madnesssays there's a reason why you
want to figure out what yourbest average pace is and then
run it.
The reason is because you willbe at your best and you will be
(14:48):
able to set your future goalsknowing you did your best.
So there's a method to themadness.
The other side of it is if youdo it too extreme, if you're
constantly racing somebody, thenyou might have like a really,
really, really negativeexperience, meaning you
basically just bonk.
You run out of energy, you endup walking.
That's because you're kind oflike a rudderless ship.
(15:09):
You're just doing what they do.
So there's a method to themadness.
That's just a small one.
I'm going to give you someexamples there.
Another one I saw, well, therewas a guy, um, I don't know,
somewhere around the halfwaypoint, I think.
And um I catch up to him, andI'm running my pace.
Like I was I was on yesterday asfar as like hitting my goals.
(15:31):
Um, not saying fast, I'm sayinglike I was reaching my goal of
having nice, consistent, evenpaces of at five seconds or less
per mile every mile.
Like that was my goal, you know,to not vary it that much.
And I was able to do that.
So somewhere around the halfwaymark, I come up on somebody.
There's I mean, there's peoplethe whole way it's packed, but I
(15:53):
noticed this guy because he waskind of tall and he's wearing a
hood.
And that's the whole point.
A hood.
Now, it was like nice, 63, 64degrees at the start.
I mean, that's nice compared tothe 80s we run in in Daytona
Beach here or in Orlando in thiscase in the summer.
(16:14):
So it was nice, but it's nothoodie nice, right?
And I mean, so it's like, sowhat's the method to the
madness?
It's like, okay, so maybe yousay, well, he absolutely doesn't
care, you know.
It's like, okay, so there's areason to wear the hoodie.
I mean, and it's not, it wasn'tlike a one of those hoodies
(16:35):
that's like like kids wearbecause they're really cold.
It was more like one of thosehoodie t-shirt things that
people wear now, you know.
I don't know.
I mean, I don't want to soundjudgmental, but to kind of look
cool, maybe.
But it's like, okay, but youknow, okay, so physiologists,
what's wrong with that?
Well, that the head traps inheat.
(16:56):
So if it's not that cold out,and and bottom line is, you
know, I had this conversationwith a client of mine who was
going up to Ohio to run a halfmarathon this past weekend, and
she was saying it was like 47,48.
I said, well, the research showsthat you know, if it's that, you
don't dress that abnormal forthat.
In other words, that's justpretty much normal t-shirt and
(17:19):
shorts right there, you know?
And it it's not until it startsto drop below 40 that you start
to think about wearing tights.
As far as performance, again,I'm talking performance, and I'm
not talking elite performance.
I'm talking about you doing yourbest and then what is best for
your recovery afterwards.
So the research shows anythingover 40, you don't really need
(17:42):
tights.
Below 40, it's time to startkeeping some of the extremities
a little bit warmer, or at leastit's it's productive too.
It's not going to becounterproductive to do that,
okay.
Research also shows that like wetrap heat through our skull,
through our head.
So if you're wearing a hat or ahoodie, you're trapping in that
(18:04):
heat.
And he did it was a long-sleevehoodie, too.
So, you know, you say, Well,what's wrong with that?
He wanted to be warm.
It's like, okay, if you were topull him aside and say, you
know, not that I would, I mean,goodness gracious, I wouldn't
say anything to any of thesepeople.
I mean, the one thing I've alsolearned in all these years is to
mind my own frickin' business.
I might talk about it in apodcast, but I'm definitely not
(18:26):
going to offer advice or makeschnide comments.
Because again, it might, hisreason it might be, you know
what?
I don't, I like was just runningalong and um I get cold really
easy.
And, you know, my girlfriendthinks I look cute with my hood
like this, and that's my reason.
I'm like, cool.
I mean, great, no problem.
(18:46):
And that's the whole point ofthis whole podcast is like, but
why do we do the things we do?
And is it in our best interest?
And is it time to stop and thinkabout it before we do them?
Because the reasoning you wouldtell them not to do that would
be, well, you're gonna gosignificantly slower because the
heat's gonna be trapped in,you're gonna eventually slow
(19:07):
down.
You you feel 63, 64, which feelsreally, really nice, but your
body temperature ramps up.
And and just for me, forexample, when I finished, um, I
mean, it was that temperatureand maybe got a little warmer at
the end, but I was sweaty.
I mean, it's really like that'sstill not cool.
It's cooler, it's not cool.
(19:28):
So the body is going to heat up.
And if you ever watch some ofthose elite marathoners, like in
Boston and New York and Chicago,you know, the elite, the pros,
you know, even in cold weather,you're gonna see them in
singlets and shorts.
And occasionally you'll seegloves.
And they ditch the gloves lateron because like your body is
(19:50):
gonna do better when it's cold.
It's just going to.
That's the method to themadness.
I mean, your heart rate is goingto escalate about 10 beats per
normal in when it's warmer.
So if you if you understandanything about fitness, you know
that as you work harder, yourheart rate goes up.
So if you're if your heartrate's already going up, not
because you're working harder,but because now your body is
(20:13):
working harder to cool itselfoff, you're taking resources
away from areas that could bemaking you go faster.
And you might go, well, I don'twant to go faster.
It's like, well, we all want tobe done, and we all want to be
done like reasonable time andthen recover.
So I think even people that saythat aren't being totally
truthful.
Like everybody wants to finish,may not want to like have the
(20:36):
best time there, and I get that,but we all want to do our best,
I think, or close to it, or atleast get done in a reasonable
time so we can go on and do thenext thing and then again
recover.
So just so many people are likenot putting a lot of thought
into what they do when they doit, and it is a common, common
(20:59):
theme in the fitness world.
I'll see people go to the gym,or people will ask me questions
on social media, and they'llsay, I go to the gym and I see
this guy doing this on thepull-up bar, and they'll
describe something.
I'll say, Well, okay, but whydoes that pique your interest?
(21:22):
So, well, he's got pretty biglats, and you know, so maybe
that's why he got pretty biglats.
And I'll say, or maybe he's gotpretty pretty big lats because
number one, he has goodgenetics, and number two, he
does work his upper lats andrhomboids on a regular basis,
but it may not be for this.
So I think a human tendency isto observe what other people and
(21:48):
always think that they know morethan you do.
And I think that's a bigproblem, unless you are speaking
to somebody who does know morethan you do.
Like if you're speaking to anexpert in a given field, like if
you're speaking to me aboutstrength training or
cardiorespiratory endurance ordiet, then yeah, I would hope
(22:08):
you'd kind of acquiesce to myopinions and and guidance on
what, because I probably do knowmore than you do in that subject
matter.
So that makes sense.
But just watching random peopleat events, I think we got to be
really, really careful becausethere are so many people that
(22:29):
when we go to some of thesefitness vents like this five
mile or like 5K, so we justassume people know what they're
doing.
And so people start copying whatother people do.
And in the case of likeclothing, I mean, I mean, I
think probably everybodylistening has seen it, or now
you're gonna see it, but that'swhat these kids do.
(22:52):
I mean, they go to the gym andthey now wear their hoodies, you
know?
It's like this cool thing to do.
Some of them will literally pullthe hood over the head before
they bench press.
It's like, okay, yeah, but butno, it's got no physiological
benefit to do that.
I mean, come on, right?
You know that it there's notlike, oh, it must do this.
Like, no, it's it's a coolthing, right?
(23:14):
So whatever, let kids be kids,but like we have to understand
that, like, there's usually areason why people are improving
at certain things, and ratherthan guess or watch the rest of
the clueless crews out theredoing things, why don't we stop
(23:36):
and ask the expert?
Like, what is the method to themadness?
How many people out there aretold one way or the other they
might not have somebody in theirface saying, Hey, you need to
take creatine if you want to getstronger?
That may not happen or it may,but just the fact that your
(23:57):
influencer is saying, I takecreatine and it builds strength,
is kind of telling you to takecreatine.
Now, am I telling you not totake creatine?
No, I'm not, I'm not.
I mean, I actually think it's adecent supplement, but right
there, I'm not telling you totake it either.
What I'm saying is, or what I'mgetting ready to say is most
(24:19):
people have no clue what it isor why it works.
And I remember explaining it toa client because I think his
girlfriend first brought it up,and then he actually did want to
try it based on the explanation.
But he's smart enough to go,wait a minute, what is this?
And I said, Look, creatine isshort for phosphocreatin, and it
(24:45):
is an immediate energy substratethat is stored in the cells
along with ATP or denisontriphosphate, and they're the
only two high-energy phosphatesthat are stored directly in the
muscle cell ATP andphosphocreatin, the only two
(25:08):
high-energy phosphates.
When we run out of ATP, we don'thave any energy, so our body is
constantly trying to metabolizemore ATP.
That's what it's doing.
So phosphocreatin or creatin'sjob, once it is used, so once
(25:29):
the ATP is broken down, half ofit, which is ADP, adenison
diphosphate, forms withcreatine, phosphocreatin, to
make more ATP.
So creatin's role is to bindwith half of the ATP that's
broken down to make more energy.
(25:50):
So that's what ATP is.
It naturally occurs in the body.
Now, the belief has always beenthrough the years that if you
hyperstore ATP, meaning kind oftry to store more than your body
needs, it'll always be readilyavailable and you can add some
strength and power.
Just strength and power, by theway.
(26:11):
There is not a lot of studiesthat support ATP and hypertrophy
or ATP and aerobic fitness.
But there has been enoughsignificant studies that I have
seen that says it does improvestrength and power.
All right.
So, but that's the reason why itworks.
Now, my whole point wasn't tolike bore you with what happens
(26:34):
with ATP and phosphocreatin, butit was to make you see there is
a method to the madness, likethere is with almost everything
in the fitness world.
So that might make you go, well,then if there's no side effects,
which only you can discuss withyour physician, by the way, if
there's no side effects, thenmaybe I do that if I've got the
(26:56):
money to spend.
Okay, there you go.
There's the information, butthat's the method to the
madness.
That's why people take, well, Ishouldn't say that.
I love to believe that that'swhy people take it, but I think
people take it because otherpeople take it.
But that's the reason why smartpeople take it.
I'm not trying to tell you totake it.
(27:17):
I'm trying to be so careful withmy words here.
Take it if you want to take it.
But the point is, if if you'reeducated on it and you decide
it's good for you and you knowwhy you're taking it, then
great.
But don't just take it becauseother people do.
And that is the exact point ofthis podcast.
There are so many reasons whythings work and don't work.
(27:40):
And what you have to do withyour goals is sit down and go,
okay, what do I need to do?
Like, what is the shortcut orshorter path to reaching my
goals?
What is the method to themadness?
I heard a guy, and I heard it, Iread a guy's post on social
media the other day, and Iactually really liked it.
(28:01):
And he was a he calls himself anatural bodybuilder.
That means people that don'ttake steroids, and I tend to
follow a lot of them.
And he said, you know, this ishow I grow.
When I go to the gym, I don'tcount this, I don't count that.
I do high reps to failure, andthen afterwards, I make sure I
(28:23):
adequately refuel with food andI get enough rest.
And because of that, I've beenable to grow my whole life.
And I thought, that's true.
Like, there is a method to themadness behind that.
Like, we can talk aboutrepetition ranges and
percentages of load and how manyexercises to do per muscle
(28:45):
group, and how many exercises todo per workout, and all that
stuff is great.
But the true direct path islearning to train all of the
muscles in the body, all themajor muscle groups, train them
to failure with an adequateamount of reps, refuel
afterwards with propernutrition, and get your rest.
(29:09):
And you will grow.
Like that is the method to themadness.
All those other ways to it couldwork, but they don't guarantee
it.
Like if you do a lot of highreps but not the failure,
probably aren't going to growany muscles.
If you train heavier but notwith enough reps, probably not
gonna grow any muscles.
If you train like all of themuscle groups in the body on a
(29:33):
regular basis, but with verylittle intensity, probably not
gonna grow muscles.
But if you do like what he wassaying, you know, trains them
all, trains them to failure, andrefuels, probably gonna grow
muscles.
So there is really a method tothe mana.
So I want you to think aboutthat.
And if you want, come up withyour own examples of what you
(29:55):
see people do, like the sillyhood in the races or you know,
other Other people racing peopleduring training, you know, just
the things you might see at thegym, people wearing weird
outfits or weird belts and weirdgrips and weird wrist wraps and
all this stuff at the gym, youknow, all these things you might
notice, or you might notice yourfriends taking this bottle of
(30:15):
whatever for lunch every day.
You know, look at it and go,hmm, like, is there a method to
the Mattis, or do they just notknow better?
And we probably know the answerto that, but we can also change
it.
And one way to change it isshare this podcast.
Thank you for listening totoday's program.
(30:37):
I ask you to please follow theshow wherever you get your
podcasts, and please selectautomatic download because that
really helps the show.
Now I want to thank OverheadDoor of Daytona Beach, the
area's premier garage doorcompany.
They have the best product, theyhave the best service.
(30:57):
I personally vouch for Jeff andZach Hawk, the owners.
They are great people with agreat company.
If you have any garage doorneeds, please give them a shout
at 386 222 3165.
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