Brian Yuen - Bodybuilding with HIV

We’re living in a new golden age of bodybuilding, thanks in part to the Internet, which provides endless resources for building muscle, and to medical advancements over the past few decades in fighting HIV, AIDS, and cancer.

Let’s Grow Big Together! The podcast that tests positive for F.U.N. (and lots of performance enhancing drugs.) 

In this series, hosts Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion take a look at the passion for muscle, adventures in bodybuilding, muscle gods, muscle worship and practical advice to put on the gains. 

Today Canadian bodybuilder and immigration attorney Brian Yuen joins us for an inspiring conversation about bodybuilding and living with HIV, and how the AIDS crisis from the 90s and bodybuilding helped each other survive and thrive. 

Brian has been living with HIV for over 16 years and has achieved incredible success in the bodybuilding world, having competed in seven shows,  including winning 1st place in Masters Open Bodybuilding at the 2021 Vancouver Island Showdown and securing 2nd place in Men’s Masters at the 2023 Vancouver Open. 

Tune in as we dive into essential supplements to keep your immune system thriving and why lifting weights can be a transformative journey for anyone living with HIV. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to start, the time is now.

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:
★ instagram.com/brian604yvr
★ instagram.com/faustofernos
★ instagram.com/marcfelion

Plus--
• The wild history of testosterone replacement therapy. 

• Why switching from alcohol to edibles is a game changer for building muscle. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:11):
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com slash Feast of Fun.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Need help with your bodybuilding, Hire me to consult with
you to get to the next level. Message me Fausto
Fernans directly on Instagram and for ninety nine bucks, I'll
talk to you one on one on the phone and
answer every question, every single question your heart desires.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
We're living in a new golden age of bodybuilding, thanks
in part to the Internet, which provides endless resources for
building muscle, and to medical advancements over the past few
decades inviting HIV, AIDS and cancer.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Let's Grow Big Together, the podcast debt test Positive for
f UN and lots of performance enhancing drugs.

Speaker 4 (01:12):
I'm Fausel Ernos.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
And I'm Mark Fillian. In this series, we take a
look at the passion for muscle, adventures in bodybuilding, muscle gods,
muscle worship, and practical advice to put on the games Today.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Canadian bodybuilder and immigration attorney Brian Ewan joins us for
an inspiring conversation about bodybuilding and living with HIV and
how the AIDS crisis from the nineties and bodybuilding helped
each other to survive and thrive.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Brian has been living with HIV for over sixteen years
and has achieved incredible success in the bodybuilding world, having
competed in seven shows, including winning first place and Master's
Open Bodybuilding at the twenty twenty one Vancouver Island Showdown
and securing second place in Men's Masters at the twenty
twenty two Vancouver Open.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Tune in as we dive into essential supplements keep your
immune system thriving, and why lifting weights can be a
transformative journey for anyone living with HIV. If you've been
waiting for the right time to start, the time is now.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Plus the wild history of testosterone replacement therapy.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
And why switching from alcohol to edibles is a game
changer for anyone.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
Wanting to build muscle.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
In the past five decades, a lot of medical advancements
have taken place that have helped bodybuilders grow big and
help folks with HIV live long, healthy lives. Bodybuilding wouldn't
be where it is today if it wasn't for HIV
and vice versa. Joining us today is Canadian bodybuilder Brian Ewan, who,

(02:51):
when he's not helping people move to Canada as an
immigration lawyer, he's bringing home the medals. As a competitive bodybuilder.
Brian has done over seven competitions so far, with his
proudest achievement being winning the gold in Master's Bodybuilding at
the Vancouver Island Showdown, and for the past sixteen years,

(03:12):
Brian has been living with HIV.

Speaker 4 (03:15):
Welcome to LERTS, Grow Big Together.

Speaker 5 (03:19):
Brian, Hi Foster, Hi Mark, Thanks for having me. It's
great to be here in Chicago with you.

Speaker 6 (03:23):
I'm glad to have you here.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
We met at the Arnold Bodybuildings and Fitness Expo two
years ago.

Speaker 5 (03:29):
I believe so we did. That was in March twenty
twenty three. It was my first time in Columbus, my
first time at the Arnolds, and I believe we got
together in person at the Meet the Pros event.

Speaker 6 (03:38):
I know, wasn't that exciting. We got to meet some pros.

Speaker 5 (03:41):
We got to get some autographs, take some pictures together,
and I got to meet you two?

Speaker 4 (03:44):
What was who? Lucky?

Speaker 1 (03:46):
You so lucky you met a lot of famous bodybuilders
and so of I and stuff and like, you know, Ramon,
who's the number two? Number two to Chris Bomstead. I
met him and he was like I angled him in
a photograph and he was.

Speaker 4 (04:03):
Like you oh three key? Who was for you?

Speaker 1 (04:07):
Was like, what are your favorite or most memorable classic
or famous bodybuilders you've ever met?

Speaker 5 (04:13):
Well, I've actually had the opportunity to meet Chris Bumpstead
quite a few times. I mean he's Canadian, so he
actually comes to Vancouver and Edmonton quite often and he's
often at the shows, so I've the first time I
met him was actually volunteering backstage at the Van City
showdown in twenty sixteen in New Westminster, British Columbia.

Speaker 4 (04:30):
Wasn't like he smells delicious?

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Hmm. You know, I call Chris Bumpstead the Star Wars
of bodybuilding because like when you know a new Star
Wars movie comes out, there's like lines around the block
anytime there's a meet and greet with with Chris Bumpstead. Seabum,
everybody wants to meet this guy. And you know, and
the line from number two. Ramon Quiros was like three people.

(04:55):
I don't understand, like the huge difference between Why is
Chris bumps At such a huge star?

Speaker 5 (05:01):
I don't know. I think part of it is longevity, right,
he's been around since twenty sixteen, He's been a pro
since that time, So longevity could be one.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
But perhaps blue eyes.

Speaker 5 (05:11):
Blue eyes, social media presence, maybe he's got a great
team working for him, all of the above.

Speaker 4 (05:17):
Well, he's also really sweet, you know.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
And usually when we think about bodybuilders, we think about
Arnold and kind of this like.

Speaker 4 (05:23):
You know, kind of aggressive approach, like he's.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
Kind of like, you know, if you look at Pumping
Iron to the documentary, like Arnold's like bullying the incredible
Halt Louf for Regno, you know, and you love Arnold
because he's so funny and so charismatic, but he is
kind of being mean to Lufa Regno and Luf for
Rigno's like, ooh, got too.

Speaker 5 (05:43):
Well, how was Ramon when you meet him? I'm sure
he's pretty sweet and coming.

Speaker 4 (05:45):
He was really lovely, you know.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
And you asked him about grabbing a patting Chris bump
says ass on stage.

Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yeah, and he said, who came up with that first.

Speaker 6 (05:53):
You asked him that, yeah, and.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
He said I did, And I said, I thank you
for your service.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Did he pat your butt?

Speaker 4 (06:01):
He did? He grabs it.

Speaker 6 (06:03):
I'm just kidding, lucky you.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
But in terms of like you know, with bodybuilding, there's
there's a lot at stake for a lot of people
because they've worked so long to get into that competition
and be up on that stage. And since you and
I met, I did my own bodybuilding show. Dude, you
did fantastic, Thank you and I got the second place,
the silver for silver daddies in classic physique. If everybody

(06:30):
says that, and you know, that's unfair to the winner.

Speaker 6 (06:33):
But you know, because he had a great physique and
great legs.

Speaker 4 (06:37):
He had better legs than I did.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
You know, if you compare his legs to mine, you
can see, you know, but everybody some of sort of
looks bodybuildings like the muppets. You know, we we we
exist only from waist up and there's no legs, but
those legs.

Speaker 6 (06:50):
The calves don't count, right, But the calves don't count.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
Calves are my favorite, and forums are my favorite. And
my coach also said, they don't judge you on your
forums either, which I think is really strange. But anyways,
in terms of your first contest in twenty sixteen, the
Night of Champions, like you know, medieval night Champions, they
love puns and bodybuilding shows, how was like your preparation?

(07:15):
What was going through your mind when you stood up
on that stage for the first time and here you
are being judged for your body from heterosexual people, mostly
as supposed to gay men.

Speaker 4 (07:25):
Catching the first.

Speaker 5 (07:28):
Time I got on stage, well, so I was entered
into a couple of different classes just because I was
doing bodybuilding and Classic Physique. It was like one of
the first years that Classic Physique came out, so I
knew that I got to be on stage for you know,
a few times. It was exciting because I had a
lot of friends in the audience, and I think I
was pretty well prepared. I was excited about doing my
routine because I feel like I'm a natural performer, having

(07:50):
played the piano when I was growing up, having a
little bit of a showman inside me, So it was
definitely exciting. It was great that has very supportive friends
who were cheering.

Speaker 4 (07:59):
The signs up.

Speaker 5 (08:01):
It was a lot of fun, and backstage was a
lot of fun too. I mean, all all the straight
guy friends that I have in life now have been
from bodybuilding or from the gym, and that first show
backstage was no exception.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
So like it was, you made a lot of friends along.
I mean, part of this is like it's it was
a cliche. It's like, it's not the metals we win,
it's the friends we make along the way.

Speaker 6 (08:23):
But you made friends at your contests.

Speaker 4 (08:24):
I did. I wanted to have sex with all of them.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
I mean, you know, but then like when you're in
that situation, you're not going to be that aroused. You're
just kind of like really tired, and you're just like, I.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
Just don't want to get a cramp. I just want
to do well. Oh my god, oh my god, Oh
my god. I can't believe I'm doing this.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
You know, it's like jumping on a roller coaster without
any safety.

Speaker 5 (08:46):
I mean, what goes on backstage is there's a lot
of mutual admiration and respect. I mean, everyone understands the
sacrifice and the time that you've put into getting ready
for the show. So you know, you see each other
and you admire each other's but at the same time,
it's also just understanding what you've been through. And so
there's that kind of camaraderie and brotherhood that brings us together.

Speaker 6 (09:06):
It's like being in the trenches together.

Speaker 4 (09:07):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Yeah, Like backstage, I had, you know, mostly heterosexual guy
going like, you have really nice pecks.

Speaker 6 (09:14):
I was like, you should see them in a push up.

Speaker 4 (09:16):
Ross would you like to touch them? And they're like,
what might be I'd be the.

Speaker 5 (09:22):
Guy that would be complimenting on other guy's calves.

Speaker 4 (09:25):
Oh you do? I do? You're you're looking at the
kind of like calves don't count.

Speaker 5 (09:29):
Calves don't count. But they're also I mean it's very genetic, right,
either you're born with it or you're not.

Speaker 4 (09:33):
And if you do, I'm going to come and compliment
you on it.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
I think they say people with shorter legs have bigger calves, right.

Speaker 5 (09:38):
That would make sense. That would probably be it. But
being a six foot tall bodybuilder, I'm definitely going to
aspire to and look up to like a tall bodybuilder
like Chris Bumstitch who's exactly six foot tall.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
So you guys can like make out and not have
to kneel or adjust your height for.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
You just stand on a footstool.

Speaker 4 (09:55):
I imagine it would be perfect.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
Yeah, I lip to lip.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
You know, a lot of body like you go on
Instagram and some of these bodybuilders are like, you know
Christ first, I believe in Christ and stuff, or they
have like a biblical quote.

Speaker 6 (10:09):
Or they have a they have a cross.

Speaker 2 (10:10):
I think a lot of it is just to keep
their gaze away. It's like a boogeyman.

Speaker 4 (10:15):
It's totally it's a gay scarecrow, you know.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
And and and for a lot Chris Bumstead, he's like,
bring it. And I noticed that the more successful you
are as a bodybuilder, you're chill. You're comfortable with, you know,
being perceived as attractive. I actually there was one guy,
Colin Abbott. I'm gonna put him on blast. He blocked
me on Instagram and I think he's gorgeous and beautiful

(10:39):
because I said you're beautiful and he was like like
it made hit him mad and stuff. And I'm like,
and there's this weird push pull when it comes to
masculinity that I don't think like women in bodybuilding experience.
This is that like you're being you're you're you're like
working really hard to be attractive you know, to somebody,

(11:01):
to a judge, or a person, and then when you
actually receive that attention, you're just not sure what to
make of it.

Speaker 5 (11:08):
So I've never competed in the States. I've never been
backstage in the States.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
It's all Canadian, correct, all of them accounting the bodybuilding world, well.

Speaker 4 (11:16):
The pro qualifiers shows.

Speaker 5 (11:18):
I mean that, you know, that gets you a pro
card if you win a pro qualifier show.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
That is that count in the United States though, or
it does BB actually international?

Speaker 5 (11:25):
I don't know if you know, but Eric Janicky just
came to compete in the Vancouver Pro Qualifier a.

Speaker 4 (11:30):
Couple of weeks.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Is that like celebrities that go to Japan and do
commercials in Japan that they don't want air in the
United States.

Speaker 5 (11:36):
Possibly they probably make a lot more money there. But
in terms of the biblical biblical quotes, I only see
that on a lot of like American bodybuilders.

Speaker 4 (11:44):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (11:44):
I just said my sense is that where I come from,
like in Canada, I find that the bodybuilders, the bodybuilding community,
guys at the gym just seem to be more chill,
more relaxed, more accepting, more tolerant. Maybe that just comes
with the society that we live in.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Don't know, Well, you're West Coast, which is typically a
little bit more liberal, but I think Canadians are definitely
more liberal than Americans, you know, at least probably a
little more compassionate, empathetic and nicer.

Speaker 5 (12:13):
Thank you well.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
I remember like when Greg luganis he also he's Asian American,
you're Asian Canadian. He came out as HIV positive as
an Olympic diver. There was a pandemonium. They're like, well
he could put HIV in the water in the swimming pool,
like because people didn't understand how HIV works. And I

(12:36):
would imagine to this day, like you know, there is
a significant number of people in the world that just
don't understand how HIV works. Like they think like putting
on two condoms is more effective than one, and ironically
two condoms make you.

Speaker 4 (12:51):
Less protected than wearing anything at all.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
And so there's like a lot of misconceptions that go
on there, especially in competitive sports, and we've seen with
this Olympics just all kinds of like transphobia and homophobia
surrounding women competing in competitive sports. And in terms for you,
like you came you discovered you were HIV positive A
long time ago, right, you were for sixteen years.

Speaker 5 (13:17):
Yeah, so I got HIV in two thousand and h
with two thousand and eight. At the same time, I
just became a lawyer. So I've been HIV positive for
as long as I've been a lawyer. I found you.

Speaker 4 (13:28):
Got into the legal profession because of HIV or.

Speaker 5 (13:33):
No, no, no, I've always wanted to go into law.
But at the same time, I've always been fascinating and
interesting in the subject and topic of HIV, even when
I was a teenager. Like I remember the eleventh International
Conference on AIDS was held in Vancouver in nineteen ninety six,
and I was a volunteer at that even at fifteen
years old.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
Wow yeah wow.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
And so in terms of like, you know, competing and
getting into bodybuilding, you know, your first contest was in
twenty sixteen, so it was.

Speaker 4 (14:03):
Not that long ago.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
But like, did you ever like have any thoughts about
being a positive person and getting into sports and athletics,
being like, oh my god, is this going to like
compromise my health or my safety because a lot of
at the time, I imagine that a lot of people
didn't understand how you know, someone who with HIV or
compromise immune system or even cancer actually can benefit from

(14:28):
getting into bodybuilding. And we'll get that into a middle
a little bit about that.

Speaker 5 (14:32):
So going back into two thousand and eight, I mean
there's a couple of things. First of all, when I
was first diagnosed, I was told that I was an
elite controller, Which what does that mean exactly? So, what
it means is that my body's immune system is able
to naturally suppress the virus and keep it at undetectable
levels without medication. So if you know that undetectable means uninfectious,

(14:53):
that simply means that my eye was able to effectually
control the virus and keep it at.

Speaker 4 (15:00):
A level that it won't spread.

Speaker 5 (15:01):
You had T cells, yes, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
It was like some people like lose a lot of
tea cells, right.

Speaker 5 (15:06):
Yeah, the T cells were very high. But also the
viral load was very, very low, which is unusual because
when you first zero convert, your viral load is usually
really high, in the tens of thousands, or even hundreds
or even millions.

Speaker 4 (15:21):
Yeah. So but when I first zero.

Speaker 5 (15:23):
Converted, I knew that, you know, being HIV positive meant
that I needed to take better care of myself. That
I needed to focus on my health, that I needed
to watch what I eat, make sure I you know,
slept enough, drink enough water, ate ate nutritiously. I also
had at the time my gym partner. My gym husband
at the time was Barry, and Barry had been HIV
positive already, so you know, having him as a workout

(15:46):
partner was it was good for my mental health and
just good for stability, good for comfort.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
So did you get into a bodybuilding because you were
a HIV positive?

Speaker 4 (15:55):
No?

Speaker 5 (15:55):
No, the two had really nothing to do with each other.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
What happened. I mean, I've always I've worked out.

Speaker 5 (15:59):
Since I was seventeen years old, and I've always just
kind of winged it, just did my own thing. When
I first started, I read magazines and then of course
when the Internet came out, I started reading like bodybuilding
dot Com. But in twenty fifteen I met my next
Jim Husband, who was Jim Houseman.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
Is that not somebody you're dating. It's somebody that you're
very close with that you work out with.

Speaker 5 (16:21):
Correct, Jim husband is someone that you're seen at the
gym with all the time, or you might even go
to Costco to do your meal prep and food shopping together.
So you know, we're Jim husband's because people will kind
of assume that we were a couple, but we're not,
So we're Jim Husters.

Speaker 4 (16:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (16:36):
But I met my Jim husband who's a former porn
star Rick Hammersmith, who resides in Vancouver. So we met
back in November twenty fifteen, and I remember our first meeting.
We were at a pub and I just could not
stop staring at his gigantic boulder shoulders and he.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
And everybody who's listening to this right now is pause
the show and is searching Rick Hammersmith and going guy
Greg Meal so sexy.

Speaker 5 (17:03):
So Rick Hammersmith is the reason I started competing. So yeah,
no maturbating too.

Speaker 4 (17:08):
Probably. Well, were you attracted to Rick or.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Like it was or it was like you knew him
so well that there was a little bit of a distance.

Speaker 5 (17:17):
Well, I didn't know him that well that back then,
So yeah, no, he was definitely attractive. I mean his shoulders,
his calves, I mean he just looks phenomenal.

Speaker 4 (17:24):
And did you ever like want to date him at
some point in time? I did, Okay, did you ever
do it? The whole time I've known Rick he's been
with his partner. Uh huh, yeah, and so there was
a man standing away from me getting into Hi. Yeah. No.

Speaker 5 (17:36):
We we became best friends and that was that was
a wonderful relationship for for a very long time. And
so he told me that I think his first bodybuilding
the show was during grad school during his professional degree,
which he did in his forties, so he didn't start
competing until he was in his in his early forties.
So that really inspired me and motivated me to do it.

(17:56):
And he made it sound so cool, so fun, so glamorous,
so interesting, and so I thought, you know what, that
sounds cool, Let's give it a try. And so I
basically just followed him and did everything he suggested and
said he referred me to his coach at the time,
which is former IFBB pro Dan Dufrain from Calgary. Okay, yeah,
So I started working with with Dan in April of

(18:20):
twenty sixteen, and we knew that we were going to
prep for a Night of Champions, which was in September
of twenty sixteen. So I remember it being twenty four
weeks of prep.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
And for people who don't know what prep means, it
means like you're getting into as lean as you can
while trying to.

Speaker 4 (18:36):
Hold onto as much muscle as you can.

Speaker 6 (18:38):
Oh, you get big and then lean right.

Speaker 4 (18:40):
No prep members cutting.

Speaker 6 (18:42):
Prep was only cutting.

Speaker 4 (18:43):
That's just the cutting.

Speaker 5 (18:44):
Yeah, so it was I believe it was a twenty
four week prep and I dropped forty five pounds and
we were I mean with Dan it was up to
two hours of cardio a day.

Speaker 4 (18:56):
Damn. Yeah, you must have listened to a lot of
Madonna back then. It was. I mean, I you know what,
Actually it was the music you were listening to where
you're doing cardio.

Speaker 5 (19:04):
Actually, I was watching a lot of posing videos on YouTube.

Speaker 4 (19:09):
Damn.

Speaker 6 (19:09):
That's that's you're on a treadmill running or.

Speaker 5 (19:11):
Well sar master, No, not not running. I mean it
was it was long, steady state of cardio. That's why
it was like two hours with Dan.

Speaker 6 (19:18):
So like incline something or other.

Speaker 5 (19:20):
Incline at about six percent, walking at about one hundred
and thirty five beats per minute.

Speaker 4 (19:25):
M Yeah, okay, yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:27):
I mean it's interesting that you're sort of watching bodybuilding
posing videos as you're doing prep, as you're getting caught
for the show. It would be the equivalent of like
someone who's having dinner, watching someone else eat on YouTube.

Speaker 5 (19:40):
Something like that, yeah, or watching a cooking show while
you're eating.

Speaker 4 (19:44):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
Because like for me, like one thing that inspired me
a lot was watching dance videos of Bob Fosse, And
in terms of like my posing routine, I brought in
a lot of Fossey moves into it just because I
will like and in fact, I was actually going to
use some music from Sweet Charity into that because like

(20:06):
it's something that you know, there's a there's a scene
called the Boxer and it's men and women dancing to
this very athletic choreography. And that's that if anybody like
you know, is getting ready to do a bodybuilding show,
you you know, you could do worse by using Bob
Fosse's moves or or that specific kind of music. Now,

(20:27):
in terms of like, you know, when you discovered you
were you went to the clinic, you found out you
were HIV positive, imagine you were just like really distraught
at the time or where what was your reaction to that?

Speaker 4 (20:41):
Actually it wasn't to.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
Explain people in the background, we are being attacked by the.

Speaker 4 (20:46):
United States military. It's the Air and Water show here
in Chicago.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
This weekend, and so you're gonna hear like planes rehearsing
to recruit people for the military there, So please forgive
the sound.

Speaker 4 (21:00):
So when you become HIV.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
Positive, when you discovered your HIV positive at the doctor's office,
what was your what went through your mind?

Speaker 5 (21:08):
Well went through my mind was I actually don't really remember,
but I wasn't too distraught about it. And partly that's
because I feel like I was always educated about about HIV,
as I said, I've you know, I've always been a volunteer.
I've served on boards of directors of aid service organizations before.
So to me, I feel like I was knowledgeable about it.

(21:28):
I was educated about it. I wasn't freaked out about it.
It was as I said, it was, you know, I
was just starting out my career at the time, and
so that was kind of what I was more concerned about.
And also later in two thousand and eight, you know,
that was when the stock market crash and then my
first job as a lawyer I was laid off from.
So there was a lot going on outside of outside

(21:49):
of HIV in terms of the HIV. You know, my
doctor told me and I said, okay, well that's that's
that's fine. I mean I kind of knew that it
was happening, because I know you when the zero conversion
was happening at the end of May two thousand and eight.
So zero conversion for the listeners, is when you're when
the virus is actually taking over your body and how

(22:09):
it reacts as it actually goes into it. You become really,
really sick. And that's probably the sickest I've ever been
in my whole life that I can recall. It was
about two days of sweating, of back pain, of diarrhea,
of vomiting, like just everything that you can think of,
like you would go through in a few days.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
So I got you ready for your first contest. Then
not the same, not the same, the same. So it's really
really bad. You feel like your life was on the line.

Speaker 5 (22:31):
Yeah, No, I knew it was. I knew that sero
conversion was happening, and so right after that I went
to the doctor's office to get a requisition for a
blood test. And I didn't see my doctor about the
diagnosis for about two weeks because he was away, So
that was a little bit nerve wracking just waiting for
the result. But I kind of knew it was happening,
so I was mentally kind of preparing for it. So

(22:54):
when my doctor told me, he actually wanted me to
run the tests again, and that's because of the interesting
numbers that showed up that proved that I was an
elite controller. So he had me go and do their
lab tests again. And so I started googling, like, what
the hell is in the leak controller?

Speaker 4 (23:08):
What does this mean?

Speaker 5 (23:09):
And then I found out about these studies that were
run through the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School,
and doctor Brian Conway, an infectious diseases expert in Vancouver,
was running those and so I went to consult with him.
So I was just you know, trying to learn as
much as I can and just be okay with it,
because you know, I have it now I have to
deal with it. I know it's not a death sentence,

(23:31):
you know, now, even back in two thousand and eight,
more of a chronic illness, and knowing that I was
an elite controller meant, you know, I really didn't have
to worry so much right now. I certainly didn't have
to go on medication right away. It was also around
two thousand and eight when the Swiss statement came out.
That's when doctors realize that if you're undetectable, that you
are uninfectious. So that's you equals you. That's comes from

(23:55):
the Swiss statement back in two thousand and eight.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
So people who don't have any viral load in their
in their bodies, even though they may test positive for
the antibodies, not the actual virus in their bodies. That's
how the HIV test works. They not able to transmit
HIV to somebody else. Now, in terms of what the

(24:18):
term that you're using, which is a what is it
called the supreme being elite controller, elite controller that no
longer is under sort of examined at all because when
people become HIV positive, regardless of the viral count, they
put them on the medication today. And one unusual thing
that the scientists don't understand is elite controllers are more

(24:41):
have more propensity towards cardiovascular issues.

Speaker 5 (24:45):
Uh correct, So that's if you were untreated, if you're
still if you're still an elite controller, but you're right. So,
since about twenty twelve, the medical literature has dictated that
every positive individual should go on anti retroviral therapy, and
so that's you know, that's just a way. It's one
way of controlling infection. If everybody is undetectable.

Speaker 4 (25:04):
Then you know where there's no virus to.

Speaker 2 (25:07):
Spread well, and that status is the eleak controller can
change overnight sometimes for some people, right, they can all
of a sudden just have you know.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
It can and it actually did change for me in
twenty twelve. So so a leak controller means you're undetectable
without medication. But if you have up to four thousand
copies of the virus, then you're a long term non progressor.
But if it's higher than four thousand, then yeah, there's
enough copies of the virus to be replicated and then
to be infectious.

Speaker 4 (25:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
And you know when when I first got my very
aggressive malignant skin cancer on my shoulder, I was pretty
chill about it. But everybody else is like, this is
the end of the world, you know, And you know
they say those like the hardest thing about having cancer,
HIV or whatever is like talking about it with the
friends of family, because everybody wants to just always put

(25:59):
their fear their anxieties upon you. And you're here trying
to say healthy or trying to do the right thing,
get the medication, and live.

Speaker 4 (26:07):
Your best life.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
And now you're having to manage other people's emotions and
feelings about your own obstacles.

Speaker 5 (26:13):
Right well, I think the yeah for me, HIV has
not really been a physical issue so much as it
has been a mental issue. And in the first few
years of my diagnosis, the biggest anguish, the biggest challenge
was figuring out how to tell people how to disclose
to your sexual partners.

Speaker 4 (26:32):
And that's a very awkward thing.

Speaker 5 (26:34):
I mean, I remember a few instances of you know,
like you know, hooking up and you know, your clothes
are slowly coming off, and I'm thinking, oh my god,
what do I say? When do I say it? When's
a good time? And so, you know, there were a
couple of instances where it just kind of like just
blurted it out, because you know, I wanted to respect
the law and respect you know, whoever I'm with and
make sure I'm doing the right thing, and so I
would say, you know, I've got HIV or I'm HIV positive,

(26:58):
and you know, sometimes that wasn't that wasn't I responded
to you very well, Like there was one guy even
in twenty fifteen where you know, we were in the
process of getting undressed, and I told him and within
two minutes he was like bolting towards the elevator. Well,
and that no, it's very, very hurtful. Yeah, so you
know the stigma.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
Well, I remember, like a lot of people getting biohazard
tattoos on their bodies will be like, there's the tattoo,
do what you want with it, you know, and they
put it in a place where it's very visible, and
you know, and to this day and age, I don't
think it's anybody's business whether you're HIV positive or not.

Speaker 5 (27:33):
Well, I think you have to know the laws of
where you're from. I mean, technically in Canada right now,
according to the law, even if we were having unprotected
sex and I'm undetectable, I should be telling.

Speaker 4 (27:46):
You that you have to tell people in Canada. Technically
that is the common law.

Speaker 5 (27:51):
That is the law that has been espoused by the
Supreme Court of Canada the most recent decision. However, that
being said, the Federal Department of Justice have told their
prosecutors that we're not going to prosecute where there's no infection.
But the state of the law is the state of
the law. You know, if we're having.

Speaker 4 (28:08):
Set where's people's agencies?

Speaker 1 (28:10):
This is where I disagree with that approach because it's
like it's taking away people's agency in protecting themselves.

Speaker 4 (28:17):
It's like, you know, your there's prep out there right now.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
Please listeners, get on PREP and doxy pep. If you
can't doxy.

Speaker 4 (28:24):
Pep, so Mark, what is the difference between PREP and.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
PREP is pre exposure prophile axis for HIV. So if
you take this HIV medication, you're not going to get
HIV and if you have sex with somebody who's HIV
positive who's not under treatment, and then doxy pep is
like it takes care of a lot of the other
diseases you know, are infections like syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia. It's
just two pills of doxy cycling, you know, within seventy

(28:48):
two hours after unprotected sex, and it pretty much doesn't
allow any kind of infection like that to grow in
your body.

Speaker 4 (28:55):
To manifest itself.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
And part of it is like it's putting the responsibility
the agency back into people about their own bodies. And
it's this idea that like, you know, it's I think
it's empowering to people both with HIV and not with HIV.
And I think a lot of like you know, laws
that have been punishing people for having HIV when they're

(29:16):
sexually active with somebody if they don't disclose, that is actually,
you know, manifesting a spread of HIV because then people
are very anxious to get tested, and getting tested is
the best, most powerful, effective way to reduce HIV besides
being on PREP. And so you know, in this day
and age, and we know Mark and I, we know

(29:38):
listeners of the show and Friends and who we were like,
please begging them, please get on prep and they didn't,
and they unfortunately became HIV positive, and you know, and
that to me is like, it's unfortunate because they could
have you know, done something very simple to me, profoundly
impact their lives for the better, you know, because HIV

(30:00):
is still something you have to manage it. It's expensive,
and you know, when I got my cancer, I'm like, damn,
this is going to cost me an arm and a leg,
you know, and then you're like thinking, like what about
all my goals, all my dreams, all the things that
I want to accomplish? You know, am I going to
have to be like dealing with this situation and that
gets in the way.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
For the for the rest of your life.

Speaker 5 (30:20):
Yeah, I mean we're all taking pills every day anyways.
I mean I'm probably popping like ten different vitamins in mineral.

Speaker 4 (30:25):
I'm not talking about PREP, You're talking about Winstroll.

Speaker 5 (30:30):
I'm talking about my coenzyme Q tins and my glucosmines
and O make threes. But yeah, I mean we're popping
pills every day anyways. So if you're negative, please get
on PREP.

Speaker 6 (30:38):
And now they have injections, right, Yeah, I.

Speaker 5 (30:41):
Believe it's so Yeah, I don't jone too much about it,
but it's it's possibly like once every few months.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
Yeah, I think it's either it's either ever, three, four
or six months. I forgot.

Speaker 4 (30:50):
Yeah. So here's the important part of the show that
I really want.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
To get into is how fausta, what the hell does
HIV have to do with bodybuild and vice versa. Right, So,
over the past fifty years, there's been all kinds of
advancements in the knowledge of how to build muscle and
how to treat these you know, systemic diseases or infections,
right that are happening on people's bodies. And those two

(31:17):
intertwined open up so many doors into making it easier
to build muscle and also easier to fight and reduce HIV.
And so one of those things is, you know, doctors
and you know, you look at the Dallas Buyers Club.
In the history of HIV and AIDS, people were desperate
because our health insurance, our health industry wasn't doing anything.

Speaker 4 (31:41):
You know, Reagan and his.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
People were laughing at the idea of people becoming HIV
positive and dying from AIDS. And so doctors and people
were starting noticing that a lot of bodybuilders were living
with HIV were living longer than people who were not bodybuilders, right,
and so they were.

Speaker 4 (32:00):
Like, how is this possible?

Speaker 1 (32:01):
Like what is going on with bodybuilding that's causing them
to live longer lives. And over the course of the
last half decade, scientists have discovered that, you know, having
more muscle makes you more resilient not just against infections,
but against also like calamity like a car accident. It
also helps you manage to prevent you know, things like

(32:24):
diabetes from manifesting. Like having more muscle in your body
is good for all kinds of reasons. And they also
discovered that folks that were on anabolic steroids were living
longer lives with HIV than those that weren't. And to me,
and this is a controversial thing today, is that a

(32:46):
lot of doctors disregard the thyroid, the kidneys, the liver,
the blood red blood cell count and dealing with people
with HIV and don't recommend or during exams and the
course of action of looking at testosterone replacement therapy for
someone who is HIV positive and conversely vice versa.

Speaker 4 (33:08):
You know, if you look at like you read books about.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
Like Arnold Schwarzenegger and all these other guys in the
golden Age of bodybuilding in the nineteen seventies, they didn't
have access to testosterone. They were doing deca durabilin only cycles,
which seems crazy by today's standards, but they were just
throwing anything they could into the kitchen sink of their
bodies to try to build muscle and discovering all kinds
of really exciting things that were happening biochemistally, physiologically in

(33:37):
order to get bigger, to get those you know, heroic
hulk like sizes, and so in terms of like one
thing that in medical advancement took place is that you know,
in breast cancer and prostate cancer, finasteride has been a
really helpful medication in blocking the body's production of the

(33:58):
male hormone that costes the prostate to enlarge. So if
an asteroide treats male pattern bald hair loss by blocking
the body's production of DHT dihydro testosterone that get manifest
in the sculps to make the hair follicles dye.

Speaker 4 (34:14):
And also, Anstrozoli, the.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Medicine that blocks estrogen in women's bodies who are dealing
with breast cancer, has been very effective in helping bodybuilders
who are on anabolic steroids to reduce the estrogen in
their bodies so they're not dealing with high blood pressure
or doing with other stuff that causes them to get sick.
So for bodybuilders who want to have that longevity in

(34:38):
their careers, and that's why part of the reason you're
seeing pro football players being in their careers a lot
longer than they used to be is because of anastrozoli,
the breast cancer medication that blocks estrogen, in part because
it's keeping the blood pressure in control, and there's a
new medicine Telma sartin that's out in this field right now.

(35:00):
The acts as a myostatin inhibitor and it's a blood
pressure medication, so not only does it lower your blood pressure,
it also helps you be look more muscular. And that's
something that I am on currently is telmas sartan And
to me, it's like it's it's you know, people are like, wow,
is it's all because it's all my startan and is
like it's very little, but you know, all these little

(35:21):
things do create a bigger impact on your body. And
HIV created a marketplace for tristostom and replacement therapy that
has opened up the doors for a lot more Americans
to explore using anabolic steroids as a way to build muscles.
And you know, TRT for better for worse is the
you know, gateway into doing bodybuilding cycles to get to

(35:45):
that side. So if you go to those bodybuilding shows,
there's a lot lot more people of all different kinds
of walks of lives, a lot of different ages and
shapes and sizes, and the people who organize these contests
are also responding to the public demand, the appetite for
doing these shows. And so if you went to a
bodybuilding show in the nineteen seventies. It's you know, you

(36:06):
can watch even like even when they were filming Pumping Iron.
You're looking at the audience and it's like, you know,
it's a standard there. There is every weekend in the
United States, somewhere in the United States, so somewhere around
the world there's a bodybuilding show that you can participate in.
And you go to those shows, you're thinking, we're gonna
see Arnold Schwartzenger or the Franco Colombos, the Mike Mentzers.

(36:27):
You're seeing You're thinking that kind of bodies there you
see you're seeing really skinny guys, really short guys, really
big guys, tall guys. And there's like Classic Physique, Open Masters.
You know, there's there's all kinds of categories so that
everybody can participate and compete in a relatively fair way
to bring home.

Speaker 4 (36:46):
A gold medal. And I think that's wonderful.

Speaker 5 (36:49):
When's your nixt show.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
I'm working like you, I'm working to get a pro
card in two years. So right now it's like it's
just eat, baby, eat, baby eat.

Speaker 5 (37:00):
So we're both going to get our master's pro card
in the same time.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
Yeah, So I'm on schedule. Is it just a year
and a half away now, or is it? If it's
two years, I'm out.

Speaker 4 (37:09):
When is it exactly?

Speaker 1 (37:11):
It's so it's two years from the December twenty three,
I'm out too if I'm going to be a lot
longer than that, But so we're taking with the contest
was in December of twenty twenty three, so then the
process of about two years. So we're looking we're about
halfway through the first year now, so it'd be twenty

(37:33):
mark twenty five, twenty twenty five.

Speaker 3 (37:35):
In the summer or fall, yeah, so I typically I
typically bulk in the fall, so usually from Canadian Thanksgiving,
which is the first Monday of October until New Year's Day.

Speaker 5 (37:47):
That's when I'm bulk Thanksgiving Christmas, and then my plan
is next March we'll start prepping for a show, possibly
the Vancouver Open which is in July, and from there
maybe the Vancouver Pro Qualifier, and I'm i'd actually get
on stage in the States in September at the Sasquatch
Pro in in Federal Way, Washington.

Speaker 6 (38:05):
Oh Wow, Sasquatch Pro that's what it's called.

Speaker 5 (38:08):
Yeah. My coach has got a few competitors that are
planning to do those series events, so we might as
well just all do it together because it's always fun
to do it with teammates as well.

Speaker 6 (38:16):
I have a good joke.

Speaker 2 (38:17):
You can tell the bodybuilders when you're there, what's the
difference between Sasquatch and Bigfoot.

Speaker 6 (38:22):
Tell me one's your ma, the other is your pop.

Speaker 4 (38:28):
That's a good one. Yeah. So in terms of like
the Sasquatch, is shaving optional or I think going on stage?
It's all coming off right, I guess, so you know. Yeah,
in terms of.

Speaker 2 (38:39):
The bodybuilders, they when they trim their body hair. Is
the pubes go to? Is the ass crack on?

Speaker 6 (38:45):
Like the ass?

Speaker 4 (38:45):
Do you tell me you helped me shave? Well?

Speaker 5 (38:48):
I wax my ass every month anyways. Okay, for a show,
I'll wax my legs and then I'll shave everything waste up.

Speaker 4 (38:55):
Okay, yeah, all.

Speaker 6 (38:57):
Right, so you're waxing, not just like trimming, huh.

Speaker 4 (39:00):
For my legs? No, I enjoyed. I love getting waxed,
do you really? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (39:04):
All right?

Speaker 6 (39:05):
Yeah, so do you want any wax for your next show?

Speaker 1 (39:07):
No? I learned the hard way that wax laves and
their depello territory is a bad idea. Even though that
the people who are doing the pro tan the tanning
people send you this brochure, disregard that. Just use clippers
and go short as you can.

Speaker 4 (39:26):
You know.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
The Nouralko clipper is a really good one. That's a
little green thing.

Speaker 4 (39:30):
Like everyone had one of those backstage, you know, and
they're just like, do.

Speaker 5 (39:33):
You guys have the Phillips one shave.

Speaker 4 (39:34):
I think that's the one, Phillips.

Speaker 5 (39:36):
I think the Phillips one shave is probably the best.

Speaker 4 (39:40):
I think that's the one. I'm talking about. Phillips one shave.

Speaker 5 (39:43):
It's green, yes, green and blue.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
Yes, that's that's the one to get. Phillips Norelko they're merged.
Oh yeah, the Phillips Norelko one blade thirty seven dollars
on Amazon or target shop places that don't use union busting,
but if that's possible. But definitely that's the one everybody had,
and it's just like it even if you're not a

(40:07):
bodybuilder and you just you know want like that's hairless.
Look the anti saasquatch look. Mark, And I liked you
prefer a hairy guy over smooth or I.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
Do like hair, but I'm okay with not hair as
long as the package is complete, as long as everything's
okay and put together well.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
So, you know, in terms of like you know, bodybuilding
and HIV. If you have HIV, you owe it to
yourself get into bodybuilding at least get into a regular
weightlifting workout. And you know, one supplement that I think
everybody would benefit from taking it is creatine.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
There's been so much studies.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Done over the past like twenty years about creatine and
it's really like explored and funded and looked at, and
it just like it helps fund all sorry, it helps
fuel all the cells in your body to produce energy,
and so in terms of like preventing you know, Parkinson's
and in terms of preventing diabetes and helps your fat

(41:12):
like just all kinds of benefits to your body. Creating
is just one of those supplements that you just really
want to take, especially if you're in bodybuilding an HIV.

Speaker 4 (41:23):
You know, what's your favorite like exercise to do.

Speaker 5 (41:26):
Let's see, well, I love my shoulders. I love shoulder
exercises in cause you couldn't tell, yeah, but my favorite
is called a sixty forty twenty. So what you need
to do is take a set of dumbbells where you
can do Dumbell laterals for sixty seconds straight, and then
you pause for twenty seconds, and you do Dumbell laterals
for another forty seconds, and then you pause for another

(41:48):
twenty seconds, and then you do a final twenty seconds
of Dumbell lateral. So that's basically two minutes and twenty seconds.

Speaker 4 (41:56):
You call that sixty forty twenty ladder.

Speaker 5 (41:59):
Yeah, sixty four twenty Dumbell laterals A laterals.

Speaker 4 (42:02):
I say, okay, so.

Speaker 6 (42:03):
That really burns.

Speaker 4 (42:04):
Huh oh it fucking burns. Might less to say that, yeah, yeah,
it it burns, okay.

Speaker 1 (42:13):
And in terms of like your one of your favorite
like things to you know, yummy muscle building meals is
like turning egg whites.

Speaker 4 (42:20):
It's almost like a custard.

Speaker 5 (42:21):
Well, I wouldn't say that's my favorite meal, but I
think a lot of bodybuilders on the show realize the
importance and value of egg whites, right, But what is
a good way of eating egg whites?

Speaker 4 (42:31):
To be honest, this.

Speaker 5 (42:32):
Year, calendar year of twenty twenty four, I've just been
drinking them every morning. But I want to credit a
local Vancouver bodybuilder Nick Feeney who taught me how to make.

Speaker 4 (42:40):
Sweet tasting egg whites.

Speaker 5 (42:42):
And so what you do is you take a dish,
you know, you spray some palm spray on it, and
then you put some Splendor or Stevie or whatever whatever
sugar alternate you have, and then you put the egg
whites in. You microwave it with some with some cinnamon,
and so I usually put in the fridge, chill it,
and then eat it the next morning for breakfast. And
it's kind of like a sweet custard.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
So it's kind of like a tofu dessert. So that makes.

Speaker 6 (43:04):
It just for edible and it's yummy.

Speaker 5 (43:07):
It's it's like a sweet, tasty custard.

Speaker 4 (43:09):
Okay, yeah, try a Flawn exactly.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
It's like I'm still working on my Only Flaws channel,
which is basically Mark and I just inviting sexy guys
over and eating Flaun. I thought it was like a
cooking show, well that's cooking with drag queens, but no,
this would be like just eating.

Speaker 4 (43:28):
It's like a monk bom, you know.

Speaker 5 (43:29):
No, I'll watch a bunch of bodybuilders cooking in your
kitchen naked.

Speaker 2 (43:32):
Oh that'd be hot.

Speaker 4 (43:33):
Yea, yeah, you want to do it, let's do it.
It's custard.

Speaker 6 (43:36):
Come back for a visit in the kitchen and we'll
make something.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
So, you know, in terms of HIV and bodybuilding, avoid
raw eggs because your immune system is compromised. And you know,
getting a food infect what is that, food based infection?

Speaker 2 (43:51):
Food born illness.

Speaker 1 (43:52):
Food borne illness is really devastating if you get.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
It from a die from food born illnesses for sure. Yeah, yeah,
if you get sick and dire, you know, diarrhea, and
if you get E Coli in your system.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
But if you don't have HIV, crack those eggs and
put them in their smoothies or whatever.

Speaker 4 (44:09):
I'm a fan.

Speaker 1 (44:10):
I've never I've to this day, I've never gotten sick
from eating a rag, and I've eaten all kinds of rags.
But I do know people who have gotten sick and
been hospital.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
You have to be very like where are your eggs
coming from?

Speaker 6 (44:22):
How old are they and all that.

Speaker 2 (44:23):
Kind of stuff you have to take into consideration. You know,
like in Europe and France, like eggs are on on
the shelf because you can't get salmonella from because they inoculate,
they're birds. Whereas I don't think we do that here
in the States. In Canada, are are the eggs refrigerated
or out on the shelf.

Speaker 5 (44:38):
They're refrigerated.

Speaker 6 (44:39):
Okay, how about your milk?

Speaker 5 (44:40):
Our milk eggs are refrigerated.

Speaker 2 (44:42):
Because in Europe sometimes it comes in a box. Wow,
but your milk comes in a bag, doesn't it.

Speaker 5 (44:46):
I don't think they do anymore.

Speaker 6 (44:48):
No, that was the thing back in the day.

Speaker 5 (44:49):
That was a thing back in the day. I think
they might come in glass bottles still, but usually plastic jars,
plastic jugs. But yeah, last year, on the morning of
weigh ins of my show, I had area for no
random reason, like four bouts of diarrhea. I was worried, sick,
and so what happened was when I went to way
went to weigh in, So it was actually, I wait,
the least I have at check ins in the past

(45:11):
four years.

Speaker 4 (45:12):
But I think it looked really ripped. Well, it's nice, nice,
well food.

Speaker 5 (45:17):
So if you could have some food food poisoning the
morning of weigh ins, that'd be great.

Speaker 1 (45:20):
Well, you've done seven shows and you've won something at
every single show, right.

Speaker 5 (45:25):
No, not every single show. Yeah, I'm coming like fourth
and fifth had a couple of shows, what was like
the hardest show to do that you felt like, really, you're.

Speaker 4 (45:33):
Like, oh my god, I don't know if I can
continue doing this. Oh.

Speaker 5 (45:36):
I mean that kind of feeling happens at almost every show.

Speaker 4 (45:40):
Yeah, but this is my last one. So what keeps
you going?

Speaker 5 (45:44):
Well, I've got some friends who are in their fifties
who are still still competing in that Why are you
looking at me?

Speaker 4 (45:50):
I wasn't because you're right in front of me.

Speaker 5 (45:52):
But no, like, no, if my gay dads are listening
tal and Ron and Nanaimo, British Columbia, they're still competing
in there in their late fifties. And I think Hell's
going to come out of retirement next year and compete
at sixty years old.

Speaker 2 (46:03):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (46:03):
So I mentioned Rick Hammersmith. Rick Hammersmith, I believe is
competing this year at the end of September or October
in Vancouver, so, you know, and just talking about the
importance of working out, especially when you're HIV positive, like
I'm inspired to continue. I feel like if I stop competing,
then I'm a bit of a quitter compared to some
of my friends. So they certainly inspire me. I thoroughly

(46:25):
enjoy the process. As sadistic as that might sound, but no,
I enjoy being laser focused, having something to focus on.
I enjoy getting getting shredded and ready for summer. So
you know, I took this year off just because I
started at a new law.

Speaker 4 (46:41):
Firm last year.

Speaker 5 (46:42):
I also got a dog last summer, so I'm still
kind of adjusting to a new life in that respect.
But I'd like to get back into it next year.
I'd like to compete, like I said, at the Vancouver
Open and then the Vancouver Pro Qualifier and just keep going.
I mean there was one show that I was at
where there was a competitor who was seventy five years old.

Speaker 2 (47:01):
Wow, what was his physique?

Speaker 4 (47:03):
Like?

Speaker 5 (47:03):
I mean, it was good, he was ready for a show.
He looked competitive. I mean, of course, you know, he's
got a little bit of shaggy skin here and there,
but he looks a little bit older.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
But you know, perhaps the show you did, holler was
the oldest contestant. They were in their sixties, right.

Speaker 4 (47:17):
Something like that.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
Yeah, So, which I didn't feel like it was fair
because I'm like, I'm fifty one when I competed, and
I'm competing against somebody who's like in their mid sixties,
and I'm like, well, that's that's just more time for
them to pack on muscle.

Speaker 5 (47:30):
Yeah, or do they have a great grand master class?

Speaker 4 (47:33):
Maybe they should.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
You know, there is a the what is it the
Grandpa Olympics or something like. There is a like an
Olympic competition that has bodybuilding and it's four older people sixty.

Speaker 4 (47:45):
Five or older.

Speaker 5 (47:45):
Yeah. You know, since we're on this topic, I do
you want to express a little bit of annoyance with
the inconsistency and sort of the age categories at different competitions.

Speaker 4 (47:53):
It's not standards decade.

Speaker 5 (47:56):
No, it's not like I mean in Canada, Masters was
always forty plus, but recently I noticed that some shows
that it's thirty five plus and then some others it's
forty plus. I think in the States it's thirty five plus.

Speaker 1 (48:07):
Well, the NPC Federation that I compete in it, they
do Masters at thirty and then there's Masters forty and
Master's fifty and that's it. And because there's not enough
people who compete after the age of sixty, but there are.

Speaker 4 (48:23):
People who come in and do special guests.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
Posing who are over the age of sixties and or
in their seventies at least in the NPC, you know
division that I'm in, the federation that I'm in, and
I wish I would like to see that sort of
a you know, standardize across the board no matter what
you know. But like even in the history of bodybuilding,
you know, in the past fifty years, we saw it

(48:47):
was only one category. Right now we have open, which
is the you know what Arnold Schwarzenegger are the big
mass monsters do.

Speaker 4 (48:55):
Then there's classic physique, which is what I do.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
Then there's a physique which is you know, hiding your feet,
your legs.

Speaker 4 (49:02):
With the with beach shorts.

Speaker 5 (49:04):
Yeah, should we change that what the board shorts?

Speaker 4 (49:09):
And also for me to do to determine those categories.

Speaker 1 (49:12):
But you know, in terms of like what the category,
there's also now men's wellness, which is a new one
that's very controversial. Oh, that started in Brazil, right started
in Brazil, and people were like, this looks like it's
trans for transgender.

Speaker 2 (49:25):
Men because the guy was very voluptuous on the bottom
is what it was.

Speaker 1 (49:30):
His legs looked like a woman's ass, you know, and
people are like, what's going on there?

Speaker 4 (49:35):
Is a silicone or what.

Speaker 2 (49:36):
And then I think that was like the American people
were like, we don't have that category yet. Yes, well
we don't plan on it yet. But in Brazil anything goes.

Speaker 1 (49:46):
But there is you know, as as as society progresses
into the future, like you know, you think about like
how we used to have racial discrimination in sports and
we don't anymore, you know, we.

Speaker 4 (50:00):
Well they do, but it's what we do, but it's
not it's not legal.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
For example, in terms of like, uh, you know, trans inclusivity,
we have to start thinking like how do we include
transgender people into this sport and make it a fair contest?
And that's a difficult thing sometimes to do because you
know they're there. We're judging people on the way their
bodies look. And you know, if somebody who is assigned

(50:24):
male at birth and presents as male as adult is
going to have an advantage over somebody who doesn't have
that background, And so is that you.

Speaker 4 (50:32):
Know, what do we do?

Speaker 1 (50:33):
How do we termine determine what fare is and isn't
And so those are discussions for people to have now
in and into the future. Why do bodybuilders cut out
alcohol altogether? But they're more than willing to smell crack
In terms of like wellness and HIV and all this stuff,
like you know, doctors always say, hey, you become HIV positive,

(50:54):
cut out the alcohol.

Speaker 4 (50:55):
Stay off the drugs and all this stuff.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
But I've noticed with bodybuilders they're they will not touch
a drop of alcohol, but they'll do hard drugs.

Speaker 6 (51:04):
Well, there's no calories and calories out right, exactly.

Speaker 5 (51:08):
Exactly, we're cutting out the drinking calories.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Yeah, well in alcohol because if your body is you know,
taking that alcohol in, your body is not able to
break down fat until that alcohol is out of your system.
So you're going to gain weight when you drink, for sure.

Speaker 4 (51:23):
And the body really doesn't know what to do with alcohol.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
It's like, you know, the body sort of you know,
the way other drugs work is that they block the
receptors or the transmitters of the brain, whereas alcohol is
literally poisoning you in a very aggressive way, and you know,
it's creating euphoria because you're the process of dying, and
so your body can remove that alcohol from your system.

(51:47):
So you know, in terms of like you know, it's
really ironic that in our society alcohol is very accepted
as a form of getting intoxicated. But all these other
drugs that are illegal and day you know, are are
not you know what I'm saying. And to me, it's
it seems weird that we are so comfortable with it

(52:08):
with alcohol, but we're not comfortable with you know, even
marijuana laws for example. Like and you know, it's like,
do you have you guys ever? Mark you you're a
big proponent of working out when you're stoned at the gym,
like Arnold.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
You know, for some people it helps him get them
kind of in that zone, you know, whereas like.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
For me, if I'm smoking pot and I go to
the gym, I'm just like like, I totally you know,
zonk out and I'm just like staring at the wall
or something, you know.

Speaker 2 (52:36):
How to stay focused. That's where a program comes in hand. Yeah, yeah,
it keeps you moving.

Speaker 5 (52:40):
So I started smoking pot in law school when I
was about twenty four years old. I had trouble sleeping
after a breakup after the end of a relationship, and
someone suggested that I start smoking pot in order to
help me sleep. But what I realized was, oh my god,
I'm in the kitchen cooking up a storm. At nine
thirty at night and then eating all of this shit.
But then what I realized was, Hey, I'm getting bigger,
putting on some weight, so let's grow big together with

(53:02):
some pots.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
Let's do it.

Speaker 1 (53:06):
Brian, youwan, it's it's so great to talk to you.
I feel like we just scratched the surface here. But
the big takeaway here like, if you're an h person
who's for whatever reason has HIV, has that HIV for
a long time, or you just discovered your HIV positive,
what recommendations do you have for them?

Speaker 4 (53:24):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (53:24):
Well, first of all, I'm really glad that we're having
this conversation, just putting it out there in the open,
hopefully telling people it's okay to talk about it, so
hopefully reduce some stigma, shatter barriers. But my advice is,
you know, get on a good program.

Speaker 4 (53:38):
Eat.

Speaker 5 (53:39):
We'll take care of yourself works fitness exercise program.

Speaker 4 (53:43):
Yeah, eat.

Speaker 5 (53:43):
Well, you know, monitor your health, you know, make sure
your doctor is aware of what you're doing, whatever you're doing,
and just get big.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
Let's grow big together, and you know, get a blood
pressure monitor. I know it's like for for a lot
of people, it's like they don't want to look at
their blood pressure, because you know, blood pressure is really
hard and difficult to treat effectively, and a lot of
doctors don't know what to do with that, you know.

Speaker 4 (54:10):
And some of them are just.

Speaker 1 (54:12):
Like, well, you got to diet, an exercise and stuff,
and they're like, I've been dying in an exercise and
you know, and it you know, measure your blood pressure
and here's the secret word for your doctor.

Speaker 4 (54:23):
It doesn't feel safe. How's your blood pressure?

Speaker 1 (54:26):
It's it's been bad in the past, but it's controlled
and good now. So I'm one twenty Last time I
measured it was one twenty five over eighty, so it's
just pretty good. It's just, you know, fantastic. So I'm like,
but I feel like sometimes I'm like about to drop dead.
When I'm doing one hundred pounds umbills in an incline,
I'm like, oh my god, this is the end of

(54:49):
my life.

Speaker 5 (54:49):
But are you doing? Are you doing cardioch? I mean
to help maintain your bloodressure.

Speaker 4 (54:53):
I could do more. I could Yeah, I could do
I could do more. We all could do more.

Speaker 1 (54:57):
To anyone who's listening out there is like, you know,
what's your recommendation as advice? I feel like everybody could
do more, a little bit more cardio. You know, we
live in such a sedentary world right now, and we're
all sitting in front of our computers or sitting in cars,
or you know, we're just sitting around a lot and
sitting as the new smoking as some fitness people say.
So you know, what's your tips? What's your tricks? Some

(55:20):
people do dancing. They really allow music to get them.

Speaker 4 (55:23):
Past the past that barrier.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
Remember, Let's Grow Big Together is a production a feast
of Fun, and it's funded by the listeners of the show.
If you want to access thousands of legendary podcasts by
incredible people athletes, performers, artists, comedians, go to feastsafun dot
com slash plus and become a member today.

Speaker 2 (55:45):
You can also join us at Patreon, Patreon dot com,
slash feast of fund for an ad free experience, or
making one time donation at feastafund dot com slash donate.

Speaker 4 (55:53):
And we're just scratching the surface.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
You can hire me as a professional bodybuilding coach or
as somebody to come with you to look at what
you're doing so far, How to talk to your doctor,
what special considerations to make just message me on Instagram
Fausto Fernos and just say let's grow Big together and
we'll take it from there. It's an hour consultations, just
ninety nine bucks and it may be the most important

(56:16):
ninety nine dollars you've ever spent in your life. And
of course ongoing coaching is two hundred dollars a month
and we do the same consultation once a week. So
it's basically fifty dollars for an hour with me as
much as you need, and we can text and go
back and forth and people can reach out to.

Speaker 5 (56:34):
You, right, Brian, Sure, yeah, I'm on Instagram. My Instagram
handle is Brian b r ia N six ' oh
four YVR Brian six oh four YVR.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
And if it is a week, in the show notes too,
and I'm Mark Phillion mrc fbl I onwin and so
the links.

Speaker 4 (56:49):
There are also in the show comments. So if you
if you're.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
Listening on your podcast app, just scroll down and you
can see all the links. And Brian, thank you so
much for coming on Let's Grow Big together. Congress radulations
on all your achievements and I look forward to seeing
who gets the pro card.

Speaker 4 (57:05):
For Thank you guys.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
For having me a lot of fun of course, of course,
always a pleasure a tongue pop. Thanks guys, Bye, good bye,