How To Help Men Get Into The Best Shape of Their Life with Lucas Robinson

You're listening to the PT Profit podcast, episode number 269. Today I'm sitting down with coach Lucas Robinson, and we're discussing how to help men get into the best shape of their life by losing fat and building muscle. Let's dive in.

Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner, and this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services, and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.

What's up, coach? Thank you so much for pushing play on another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson, and today I'm sitting down with Coach Lucas, who shares with us all about his journey from getting sober and opening up a CrossFit gym, closing the CrossFit gym, and now how he programs a very simple but not easy way of helping men who struggle with dieting, who don't want to diet, who just want to get really strong, but then what ends up happening is that they don't end up losing fat. How you can help program for your guys when it comes to prioritizing fat loss, sculpting the body and then maintaining it, even while traveling and while living their life and without living in the gym. So without further ado, let's go ahead and roll that interview. What's up, Lucas? Thank you so much for joining me on the show today. How are you?

I'm good. Thank you for having me.

This is gonna be so fun. I love it.

I love.

I love these types of conversations, or it's just going to be easy and fun for all participants instead of the unfun stuff. So for those of you who are tuning in, listening, and haven't heard the pleasure of your work, I'd love for you to share with us a little bit about who you are, who you serve, and how you got there.

Sure. So I'll start how I got here. I was a college athlete, so I was a baseball player. I was a pitcher. Once college ended, I was probably like a lot of athletes where exercise got a little bit inconsistent for a couple years. In 2007, a buddy of mine dragged me to CrossFit. I mean, that's kind of a. That's. That's not a very uncommon theme for fitness coaches in the last maybe decade. And so I went to San Francisco CrossFit, you know, pretty famous Crossfit where we were working out in the loading dock of, like, a sports basement, you know, like outside, competed on their 2008 team and at the CrossFit Games. It was the last year, though, that you didn't have to actually qualify. So it's, it's, it's impressive, but also not impressive in 20. In 2011, I opened up a CrossFit slash baseball training center with two other buddies. And then all kind of just fast forward. We had that gym open for almost eight years. At the end of it, it became a different model, an OPEX gym that was more geared towards the individual, but the market sort of didn't want that. So the final year was kind of tough and we closed the gym. And in terms of sort of me and my coaching philosophy and who I help now is I really feel a sense of, like, purpose and mission to help guys in their 30s, 40s and 50s refuse to be average physically. So, you know, to live strong and lean for life. Yeah, you know, I'm pretty open about the fact that I struggled with alcohol in my late 20s, early 30s. You know, even as an athlete, you know, right Now I'm about 188 pounds at my heaviest. Drinking, I was almost 240 pounds. That's even while doing CrossFit and smoking cigarettes a few times a week while doing CrossFit. So I kind of just feel, you know, this connection to right now, the me 10 years ago, me, where I'm at now at 43 and a guy 10 years older than me, where I feel like that's the sweet spot in years where I know that's a big age range, but I feel like that's really where guys let themselves go. It starts in their 30s, by their 40s and 50s, they're blaming that, you know, it's just getting old. And so I just really feel like this is an area where I can help impact men. And considering two out of three of America, two out of three Americans are, you know, overweight or obese, like, that's, you know, there's a big dent to be put in that. And, you know, the way I try to help them is with, you know, stuff I'm sure we'll get into, but really changing their. Really changing how they approach food habits and the workouts they do. Again, I just want to help guys refuse to sort of look like everyone else around them in their life where they don't feel strong, they don't like how they look, they don't like how they feel, and they just slowly accept that and it's like the last 20 years of their life, you know, physically doesn't feel very good. So that's kind of in a nutshell, where I'm at right now.

Okay, great. I can't wait to dove in. I've got lots of questions, so I'd love, if you wouldn't mind, since you have been so open about it, I'd love for you to just kind of share with us, if you don't mind, the actual, you know, experience of what you were going through when, before you decided that, like, you were going to get sober. So you had mentioned that you've been an athlete. You'd also mentioned that you had, you were performing, you know, in your, you know, as a crossfitter. So a lot of people usually will operate from this. Like, yeah, I'm fine, I'm healthy. I know I'm taking care of it. This is not a big deal. So I'd love for you to share a little bit about, you know, what it was like to be in your body and in your head when you were at 240 pounds. And really what was the catalyst for you that moved you to get sober?

Well, that was sort of. Everyone's bottom is different. I would say physically it was more rock bottom. I was still, you know, going to work and paying my bills. I just happened to be drinking too. Reality is, is like leading up to that, I would say 2007 was that period of like, it just wasn't going like it progressively got worse. I was probably only maybe 215, 220 doing CrossFit. And anyone that's done CrossFit is it knows that you become CrossFit fit, meaning, like, you could still need to lose 20 pounds. But like, those workouts really, like, they do, like, get you in shape in terms of, like, you can handle intensity, you get stronger. So, you know, it was like, it was a slow slide. But yeah, when I was at my heaviest, yeah, it didn't feel good. I mean, I mean, some, some things where I feel like they can connect with guy. Men and women, but guys too, is. I hated going clothes shopping. I felt I, I had to, I would, you know, going out with friends, I would change a few times because the, the goal was what doesn't make me look fat in terms of going out because you still want to attract the opposites. You know, whether it's attracting a man or attracting a woman, you're still going out sometimes with that purpose. So, you know, physically it didn't feel very good. And you Know, to be candid, you know, once it started to be. It started out you're drinking as much as your other friends, and then you're drinking more, and then you're drinking alone, and then it's impacting your life, you know. And the reality was, is when I got sober, I was actually a CrossFit coach. So my first year, I didn't get sober until December of 2012. We opened the gym, or we were renting a couple days a week a space from a guy. So it wasn't even really our gym. It was like, hey, you can run a class here a couple times. For really, the first year of us operating, I was struggling with that. So, you know, I had at least started to lose some weight by that point. I had got rid of a desk job, or I was. I wasn't sitting as much at a desk job. I started working at the gym. But, like, a lot of it was, I'm gonna lose the things in my life that are important to me, like my girlfriend at the time. And I just wasn't a good example for. For, you know, I'm saying I'm this coach and being healthy, but I'm drinking too much. So, you know, the reality is, is it feels sitting in that it feels terrible, you know, like, you know, you need to change. You don't feel good in your skin. And in that scenario of being a coach, you feel a little bit like a hypocrite. That's why I think I can relate to people that are going through their journeys in terms of fitness, weight loss, because you don't need to struggle with alcohol to have that feeling. But ultimately, you know, ultimately knowing that, you know, it was going to lead me down a terrible path, wanting to be a better example as a coach. And, you know, my girlfriend eventually became my wife. I didn't want to lose her. Those were catalysts for change. And that's ultimately, you know, what led me to quitting. And, you know, the last thing we've talked about it before on calls is, and I think it's important for change of any type is even when I was drinking, I always had this feeling that I would stop. And I, you know, I. I think that's the biggest reason I did. I know that sounds weird, like, you know, maybe addicts can relate to that, that have gotten sober that are, like, even when I was. I didn't have a drug problem or anything. You know, mine was booze. But, like, even while using, whatever, you're addicted to this feeling of like, I. I won't always be like this. And I think that that was a central reason I was able to do it was there was just this underlying belief that it would happen. So when it did happen, it kind of just felt like, well, I knew this would happen. I just, I just needed that decision to do it. Like, it really was. I got, I woke up one day after passing out and was like, I'm not going to do this anymore. So that's when I talked to guys, I was like, it is as, it's not as easy, but it is as simple as saying, I'm not going to do this anymore. What I'm doing to myself physically. So that's kind of my journey, just sobriety.

So that's powerful. And I'm curious, you know, how, you know, I'm interested in your opinion, you know, given your context and you know, the addictive nature. Right. That a lot of addicts go through. I'm curious your opinion on this, on the concept of moderation and how people really, you know, operate from this, like everything in moderation. And I'm curious how you have navigated that and how that is part of your, or if it is part of your approach when people are potentially trying to, to, you know, get, get healthy. Get into the best shape of their life and get healthy. Especially since, as you said, two out of three Americans are suffering from, you know, being overweight. So I'm curious your approach and opinion on the concept of everything in moderation.

Well, I tell people this a lot about my drinking because people, you know, someone asks why not? Like, just to be up front, you know, I'm not married anymore. So it's like you're going back out into the friggin dating app world and you're meeting people so they are like, hey, why don't you drink? And I'll usually tell them a story where it's, you know, there's that famous actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died, but he did an interview because he was, he struggled with heroin and he said, I have no interest in moderation. And that was the most perfectly put sentence or like how I was. And I think if you extrapolate that to someone struggling with like, you know, I'm overeating all the time. Because if you look at it, if you can boil it down to one of the biggest problems is barring some health issue or you're taking a medication that's ruining your thyroid, or the biggest problem is that we are chronically over consuming calories. That's why. That's it. Like I know we can do the, like, stress and trauma and the reason you're over consuming them, but that's the biggest problem. So I think in fitness, people have to understand if they're interested in moderation. I think the fitness world got weird where it was like, if you tell someone not to keep chips in their house because they can't stop eating them, you're giving them an eating disorder. It's like. Or you're helping them not to overeat. You know, like. You know, like, reality is. Is like, it just depends on the person. Like, I actually do have alcohol in my house because it's this bottle of wine that my apartment complex gave me when I moved in. But, like, it's just in my shelf because, like, I have no interest in alcohol anymore because it's been a decade. But food's different, right? And. Or alcoholic beverages for people who drink them in moderation, but as a part of overeating other calories. I just think people have to understand if they're interested in moderation and can they actually execute it. Everything in moderation is a great sentence, but if you're not actually doing it, you just saying everything in moderation, it's like, yeah, but you're having fettuccine and Alfredo, and you already had 3,000 calories today. Like, that's not moderation. That's just you saying the sentence, everything in moderation. So I think if someone can execute that, sure. And, you know, I think a normal or a. I don't know if I'm saying healthy, but like, a life of that could look like, yeah, every once in a while I have a burger and some onion rings, and, you know, it's great, but I pay for it for the next day. You know, like. Or every once in a while I have pizza, or we have pizza night once a week, or, you know, once a month, there's beers with the guys or, like, whatever, date night, and we have a few cocktails. That's moderation. I think what people struggle with is that, you know, on a daily basis, there really isn't moderation. If you look at the two out of three Americans overweight, nobody. So I think it's great if someone can execute it. I think someone needs to understand if they actually want to do that now. And because the reality is, if you look at someone like me, sure, I would have wanted to do that with alcohol, but I had no interest in it mentally. And the reality, Jews is probably good. I couldn't, because if I could do it in moderation, I'd probably still be heavy because I'd probably still be drinking alcohol, you know, and that's extra calories, things like that. So, sure, I agree with it. But I think most people, if you look at the fact that most people have weight to lose, we're not doing a very good job of actually executing that idea.

Yeah. Okay, so this is interesting. Well, two things, right? So Philip Seymour Hoffman. It's interesting because my husband and I, just out of. Just out of you know, random fun fact. We saw him two days before he passed in a Models, like in. On his vendor on Christmas Eve. It was like, right before. And I. And I literally, like, bumped into him, and I was like, I know that dude. But also, he looked like a homeless person at the time. So it was really unfortunate to see him and that demise. But in that vein, for the record, I bring that up, you know, because he's an excellent example, is that I do think that, you know, there is a pull, a struggle, a component to wanting to make the decision of enough is enough, and then lying to yourself and then thinking, oh, I can be in moderation. I can't. I am doing moderation and. Or living then in the all or nothing mentality of perpetually going, okay, I'm. I'm gonna start over Monday, and then living in that cycle of Monday, and then Monday never comes. So how do you help facilitate that decision for your client? Because if we really look at that word to decide, it means to kill off other options. So how do you help your client get out of that? Yo, yo of I'm going to start over on Monday and then, like, actually do what it is that they say that they want to do.

Well, I'll talk about the utopian model, right? Because I'm. I'm a realist where this is what I say I do. And I think it works with the person that's like, yes, let's do this. Because you always have those clients that are like, you're dragging them through resistance, and so it doesn't work as well. So I'm always, like, very upfront that the two things I try to do and this. And I tell them this. For me to, like, remind myself, for me, as someone who's a business owner, is I tell them they need to start doing the thing while they're still scared. Like, if they're waiting to feel like it, if they're waiting to be like, I'm, like, ready, like, everything in my life is ready, ready to do it, they'll never do it. So it's like you do the thing that scares the crap out of you and then you get the courage to do it somewhere along the way. So it's kind of like I have to have a talk with him. Like, you're going to have to do this while you don't feel like doing it and are you ready to do that? And it's like no judgment and if you're not, it's not going to work. The other thing we talk about, these are things I just keep reiterating because there's nothing I can physically do to change this person. Is kind of what I told you about the drinking about like I know that I will stop is you have to see yourself as the person who does those things that get the result that you want. You know, I did a post the other day about Sylvester Stallone was in a movie called Copland. We all know him as like, he's in really good shape action star. He was like 40, 50 pounds overweight for that movie. And he said that he really struggled to gain the weight first because his identity was just I'm an in shape action star. Like he struggled to treat himself like crap because he just couldn't see himself that way. And it wasn't until he like stopped going out and being around his friends and let himself get like depressed and like be that guy that he gained the weight. So it's very much about talking about are you willing to do this while you don't feel like doing it? When you see results, that starts to make you really feel like that's confidence and competence. Right. And then can you envision yourself as that future person? Because it's a change of identity and that I can see that from a mile away. It's the guy that is on top of his check ins. I'm logging my workouts, like I'm here for my, you know, check in calls I communicate or the guy that is sort of showing you like when he's not doing that, it's kind of like he's electing failure because that's just what he's used to. So again, the two main ways are are you willing to start while you're sort of scared to actually do this even though you've paid for it and are, can you see yourself as that person? So those are the two real things that we work on. I mean the other things are actual real things like let's schedule your workout. Like things where it's logistics so you really, it's really real. It's on your calendar. It's not just like something in the ether and you're going to figure out when you're going to do it.

So good. Okay. So I, you know, just to shift the conversation and shift gears a little bit in terms of the actual model of how it is that you are programming for your clients. I heard you say, you know, I'm CrossFit fit and not really fit. So I'm curious how you have now, you know, your philosophy now and how you begin to, you know, build programs for your clients. What does that look like now? Sure.

I mean, CrossFit fit meant we were mostly like, you could take those short, intense workouts, you wanted to lift heavy. But even when I ran across the gym, when I started introducing like 35 to 40 minute aerobic pieces at like slower paces, people would die because they couldn't pace or they just, they didn't have an aerobic system to like continue that long. So that's sort of what I meant by that. And a lot of it was we weren't spending time like, you know, do a goblet squat for eight weeks once a week. You weren't doing that. It was kind of just like random. Not that it didn't get you fit, but not in the same way that doing the same things, building on top of the same things and like bringing up your capacity does. So in terms of right now, you know, the, the way I coach came about from the things I saw that got me into the best shape of my life. And by that I meant like I was sleeping well, I didn't have a bunch of aches and pains. I mean, we always have something like the low back can be achy from time to time. But I felt great energy during the day. I was lean without feeling like I was like, oh, I'm really like dieting, sleeping well. My mood was great, I looked good, I felt good. And what that really was, was, was a few things was full body workouts and a specific amount three times a week, focusing more on high volume food and just a few basic habits. So a lot of that again, you know, the program that I created, it came about honestly because I, when I looked back at like what really got me into the best shape of my life, it was these elements, like it slowly morphed from CrossFit into a bit of bodybuilding higher intensity because I wanted that CrossFit feel into things like upper, lower splits or like I would do a squat and a pole. I bend in a push, like on different days. And then it became like full body Workouts. And then I was noticing, hey, I feel just as strong. I look just as good. I'm not as sore. I don't have to train as many days. Yeah, so that's, that's sort of. It was sort of. I was my journey from like 220, because I lost about £20 once I started stopped drinking. But from 220 to like 185, that wasn't CrossFit. That was me training less. I still lifted with some intensity, but did, but. But didn't do crazy CrossFit workouts. I feel like my body calmed down. I wasn't as hungry from, like, the crazy intense workouts. I found a way of eating that allowed me to still feel like I was full. It was more like passive dieting. I'm honest. And the habits just supported amazing energy levels, which you need to actually execute the other two, the eating and the workouts.

Yeah. Okay, so can you talk me through your actual, like, your process? Now? You said that you are, you're doing full body workouts, so how are you measuring your intensity? Are you adding intensity? Are you adding endurance training? And how are you programming this for your client? And when you're constantly doing, you know, the repetition of your actual patterning of the, of the actual workout, how are you measuring performance and progress and knowing the difference between, oh, we need to change some of the intensity, we need to change some of it, or we just need to stick to the actual. The actual process?

Well, I'll say my training, I do full body workouts, but my training isn't the same as clients in that because I run a business, I also am a strength coach for the baseball team at a local community college. I train some high school baseball players. I'm in, I'm very much in that owner position of like, I just do what I feel like Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and it's full body. And like, for me, it's just like, I want to feel good, I want to look good, I want to move well. But for clients, I definitely implement what is more of like, my philosophy, which is specifically a few things, is, you know, the full body workouts three times a week. So for people that are kind of like, okay, what does he mean? It means that every session they see a type of a squat pattern, a type of a bending pattern, an upper body push, an upper body pull, something core related, sometimes a single leg dominant pattern. Not all the time, but that's generally known as the full body pattern ideal in some. So the concepts ideal in are frequency, which means for at least my 12 week clients and for actually some of my long time monthly clients, I write them two workouts, A workout A and a workout B. And the way it goes is it toggles Every two weeks they do, they do say it's Monday, Wednesday, Friday, they do ABA and then the next week they do bab. So what, what happens is they do one of the workouts twice each week. And the reason is they want them to do these workouts a lot so they get really, really good at the movements within these. Because I really believe that training is practice. You know, it's practice for these movements. The better you do them, the more enjoyable they are. Because it's like, hey, like I don't feel pain doing this. This feels really smooth. Like I, I continue to see improvement. Maybe it's the weight slowly goes up or I can pause in the bottom better, or I recover better between the sets or I never have back pain doing this anymore. In terms of guiding them through, usually during a four week period, I try to stay pretty simple. I coach general population. And the reality is, is if coaches try to get fancy and say, I just designed this, you know, 25 week program for my real estate client, I'm like, well what happens if he sprains his ankle? What happens if he goes to Hawaii for a month and he's like, I'm going to surf, I'm not going to work out. So I on sort of like four week spans, I tell them up the intensity. So week one up to week four, you can up the intensity through those four weeks if you're feeling good and then sort of rinse and repeat the next four weeks. And I actually keep got clients on workouts for extended periods of time, like eight weeks, because a lot of them will be like, I like what I'm doing, I'm continuing to see results. And really the way I measure it is we look at is the effort level to lift that weight for those sets and reps going down. If so, we're getting stronger. Are you lifting heavier weights? If so we're getting stronger. Are you doing better reps? Like we look at all of those things. It's just about having conversations because this is just someone doing this to feel better in their life. I'm not training anyone where they're like, if I don't measure this exactly, I'll lose this contract for my sports team. You know, I'm not training any of those people. And then just a lot of the people I program for, the cardio is sort of, they do the same. Like I have one client does Saturday, Sunday cardio. He might do the same two workouts for weeks and weeks. And the idea is measuring. Are you noticing your effort level goes down to hold the same pace and heart rate. We look at like breath control, posture, pace. Are you able to hold that? Like, building up that type of capacity? I'll be honest, it's boring. It's like slowly. It's like filling a pool up with one with a garden hose rather than a like six fire hoses, which is what people usually want to do. So it's a lot of my basic philosophy is if you can learn to embrace the repetition of repetition, you will get in the type of shape that normal people don't think is possible. Because they won't do it. Because it's so simple, you won't try it.

It's so, I'm so. It's so curious to me. I'm curious in terms of, you know, how you actually help people navigate the boring. Because it. You're so right in terms of business building is actually the same as well. Everyone's like, oh, this is a fancy funnel. I'm gonna go try this. When really ultimately it's like, listen, you need to speak and solve the problem in your specific way and communicate to the right person at the right time.

Right.

So for you, how do you help your client navigate the boring and get excited about doing the same thing over and over again? What. How do they, how do they stay consistent when they don't feel like it?

I think if it's like a former athlete, I do coach one guy who used to be an alignment at Cal. I revert back to that. I'm like, you guys did the same thing every day in practice. And did you get better or you could go to work, you could be like, you do the same thing at work. You're living in a three million dollar house because you're really good at doing the same stuff every day.

So good.

So true. And the big thing is I just get excited. I don't even talk about it, like, it being boring. I'm just like, I hype it up. I'll be like, how was that feeling? How was that feeling? Oh, man, you were doing 135 for 5 and it was tough and now it's nothing, you know, and then you eventually get them talking like that. Like all, you know, one client, he went from, you know, it's back pain doing anything lower body to. He's like, I can't believe my front squat's still Going up, you know, because I had him on a program called Easy Strength where honestly, he did the same thing five days a week for like three months. The same thing, five days a week. He went out there into two sets of five of like front squat, close grip, bench press. I can't remember exactly what else he was doing, but both of those, it was always a medium weight. They shot up. He was lifting the heaviest he ever lifted without ever really feeling like he was getting crushed. And what he all he focused on, he wasn't focusing on doing the same thing every day. He was focusing on like, I'm getting the strongest I've ever been. You know, you start to get them to buy into. Why wouldn't you want to do the minimum effective dose? Like, why do you want to do more than you need to do? And I think for some of them, they're like, I love that I'm doing the same thing. I go out to my garage and my stuff's all set up. Like, they start to like, actually embrace the fact that, oh, I don't have to like, learn some new random move every four weeks and not understand why I'm doing it.

Oh, you mean no Turkish getups?

Yeah. Meaning like I'm not doing like a half kneeling press, growing a band at the same time on a bosu ball. I mean, I've done those and I like them. But here's the thing is ideal. Here's the thing is because I'm writing programs for people online, I have to, I have to use restriction. You can't do fancy setups. And then the person looks like they were caught in a spider web trying to do like this lift. So I get them to buy them. Because I never talk about it being boring. I talk about, man, you're gonna get the strongest you've ever been. Because I, I compartmentalize it. Food is how you're gonna get lean. Lifting weights is how you're gonna sculpt the body you want. And you know, going for walks and going to sleep is how you're going to feel phenomenal. And so I just never talk about it being boring. I talk about, you know, what's not not boring is results.

That 3 million dollar house that you're sitting. Yeah, true. Okay, so I'm curious. Outcome orientated. Very good. I'm also curious how, you know, how often do you change it up? When do you introduce, how do you navigate what's a plateau and when do you introduce variety?

Well, for the 12 week program, even though I said I keep people on stuff for extended periods of time. For my 12 week program, I understand that it's 12 weeks. It's not my, you know, 52 week program. It's a 12 week program that changes every four weeks. And those, I, I can talk about those have like, you know, a bit of specific themes. But in terms of people who are with me, like clients who have been with me for longer, I believe in having dialogue with them. Like, I, I remember in the past hearing coaches be like, you shouldn't ask the client what they want to do. And it's like, it's their program, not my program. Like, that's kind of egotistical to be like, I'll tell you what you need. There's a difference between saying, hey, I don't think you should back squat because your shoulder mobility is, you know, it's not very good. And you're going to end up putting yourself in a bad. The return on investment is just going to be bad on that. Let's do, you know, this squat. But I asked them what they want to do. I asked them what their goals are. Again, a lot of them, you write out this program and then they're like, I'm traveling. So general population is way different. You in like the 1% of the general population is that person that's like so dedicated to training that like. And I have a few of these that they go find the gym where they're traveling and they like send me the link and I go like, look on Google Images to see what's on there. Like, I try to like zoom in on like, is that a leg extension machine? I can't tell. And you're writing out their program, but it's still something basic. So a lot of it is like, okay, what do you want to go after? You know, right now? What feels important to you? You know, and then I think I want to get stronger. And it's, it's not rocket science. Then I just look at, okay, what squat pattern is right for you, what bend pattern is right for you. I have a pretty good idea of like, is this person super stressed out? If they are, it's got to be like lower reps, more rest, you know, if they're feeling good. And I'm like, hey, you want to get intense? You want to get like a good pump going. Like, a lot of it is just, it is like, hey, this makes me feel good. I like doing this. If they like what they're doing, if you're programming something that is, that they can do well and it causes Enjoyment that causes compliance and then they get better goals. So I don't think it's rocket science. I do think coaches, you know, that want to do fancy stuff that's for them, you know, like we're going to do velocity based training or whatever. It's like that just doesn't really have any bearing on the people that I, I coach. And the reality is is this isn't my quote. There's this coach, his name is Ben Bruno, but he said strength training is basically just doing the same 15 lifts for the rest of your life. And so that's kind of what I stick with. Like, you're going to do some squats, you're going to do some bending, you're going to do some pushing, you're going to do some pulling. You know, a lot of the times the reason I change it up is for, is mentally for a different thing rather than like, oh, I can't advance this anymore because if I go train someone in person, I could notice 35 different ways we could keep getting better. But if you're not in that type of a life and if you don't think like that, I don't expect you to think like that. But for me, I could notice a million different ways my pushup got better. So, so that sounds very abstract, but I am sort of every eight weeks, coming up on an eight weeks, I'm asking them, like, how do you like this? You know, like, is there anything different you want to go after? If not, the changes might be subtle variations of grip of the type of bar we use. It's nothing complex because if you think about some of these people, a couple of these people have been with me for like five years, you know, so they're just like, I'm just training until like I die or you die or the economy collapses and I don't have any more money to pay you. Like I've asked them and they say it's worth it to me to never have to worry about what I'm doing as a workout. And you're right in my pocket. So it's not complex. But I would say about every eight weeks I am sort of having a quick dialogue with them. Some of them are like, I want to continue doing what I'm doing. I've had people do the same thing for like three months, honestly. And I have to be like, I'm changing this. I'm not going to keep copying and pasting. How do you pay me?

Funny. And you know, I know we spent a lot of time talking about the training portion. But I'm curious, you know, for your clients, would you say that, that, that it's that training is the biggest problem or is it more of the lifestyle and the nutrition where you spend the most of your time really coaching your clients?

It depends on the goal. Like, what's weird is my monthly clients really aren't in the weight loss bucket. They were with me really, before I created the 12 week program and was like, I want to help guys, like overweight guys lose weight, or I call them skinny fat guys. You're not, you don't look overweight, but you have a lot of body fat. I want to help those guys. My other clients really aren't in that, in that weight loss realm. And oddly, because I only have a handful of online clients, oddly, most of them are pretty good with food because they were in the CrossFit world. We all went. They all are just kind of like, yeah, I'm having steak and chicken and potatoes and this and this and that. And it's usually lack of sleep or travel. It's the things we have to work around for. For 12 week clients or most people. Like, honestly a lot of the people, when I was across a coach, it is the food element because most of us can wrap our head around working out because it eventually is a little bit fun here and there, if you like that. But the food stuff is tough. It's cravings, it's, it's, it's habits, it's accessibility. Yeah, the food. But the food element really comes down to the fact that in any realm of life, it is very hard to choose what you want most versus what you want now. You know, and it's basically you're choosing, you're choosing pleasure or joy or meaning. Like the pleasure is the immediate, the joy. And the meaning is like, I did this. I spent whatever, six months prioritizing my health and I look amazing with my shirt off, you know, like, so with like 12 week clients, it's definitely the food because the workouts are the simple part. I get comments all the time where they're like one. And it's why, specifically why I wrote the workouts the way I did with the minimal equipment you like, I wrote it where you could only have these three things or a full gym. I could, I could do any, I could make it work for it. But you, you could only have these three pieces of equipment. You could do it. They say this feels so simple to do these workouts. It isn't complex. It's very doable. The food part is always the tough part. The part that there's resistance where I have to ask a lot for, like, send me pictures of your food. What did you have for break? There's just this resistance to like them being like, yeah, I think I could just maybe not change that a lot. Maybe the workouts will do it. And it's like, it's not going to happen that way. You know, it's, it's that constant reminder that exercise is the worst way to lose weight. Like, it doesn't make you lose weight. Food makes you lose weight. Exercise helps you look the way you want to look as you lose weight. So you're not just a melted version of yourself. Like if you don't work out, you lost weight. You're just like, I'm a smaller, frumpy, still frumpy version of myself. So the food for sure is the toughest part. Because like one client, he's like, it's, you know, a bunch of glasses of wine at, you know, with dinner, or it's having raviolis two times a week or like, you know, crushing slices of pizza on the regular. Or he told me, he's like, I was having like six kind bars every day. I was like, yeah, that's 1200 calories. Do you know that? Because I've looked at those packages. I'm like a, an encyclopedia of food labels. So, yeah, the food's definitely the toughest part.

Yeah. So I'm also, it's, it's also interesting to me too that I'm, I'm curious. You know, it sounds, it sounds like your, your, the methodology has to shift in priority depending on the goal of the client. So it's like three different phases of what you're prioritizing, even though the simplicity is the same.

You mean for like 12 week clients?

Yeah, for your clients that are prioritizing fat loss and your clients that are in the maintenance phase and your clients that are like the sculpting and then the maintenance.

Yeah, I mean, the 12 week clients, that's going to be like 99.9 fat loss. And that's why I try to stay as simple as possible. You know, like the simple, not easy, I don't ever say. And then you could even argue, maybe they don't think it's simple. I mean, simple and like you're not like looking at math equations used to send rockets to the moon. Like, that's not, we're not doing like, you know, nutrient timing and carb cycling and, you know, cluster training. All those things. I've Tried. And I like things like cluster training, but like for the regular person where it's like this many sets of, this many reps of this basic lift, like laying out every meal. I want you to, to like, literally, it's like you're covering your bases. I want you to have some of that one, some of that one, and some of that one. Like, that's, that's where I try to help the 12 week clients really take action. But yes, there is a different way of coaching people when, depending on the phase they're in. Like some of the, some of the monthly clients, we don't talk about food. I'm talking about like, all right, well, your intensity when you train needs to be higher. If you want this, this and this. Or it might be talking about, okay, you want to bring up your side delts. We can't keep adding in a million. Like, you can't keep adding and not subtracting to your training. You know, while you're in this stressful time with your, you know, some huge deal you're closing. Those are more of the conversations I have with them. And yes, surrounding training, the conversations are different. 12 week clients, it's mainly, do the work. I tell them, be a robot. Do these workouts, put your meals together like this. Take action before you feel like it again or you feel courageous enough. And when you start measuring your weight, your waistline and taking your weight each week and when you see that those first numbers come down, there's just immediate, like, I can do this. So yes, you do have to coach people differently, but it still does just come down to needing communication.

So good. Okay. So I definitely want to be respectful of your time. So thank you so much for pouring into me, into us today. And so for those of you who want to connect with you, go deeper with you, where are some of the best places I can send them?

I'm on Instagram a lot. I post every day at Lucas Robinson Strength. If they want to check out. I've been on a roll with. It's kind of an every other day thing. Like one day you're getting some sort of an aerobic workout, the next day you're getting full body workout at Lucas Robinson Strength. Facebook and also that's my business page. And at Lucas Brian Robinson is my personal Facebook page. Trying tick tock, but that's weird. So nothing.

It's a different base. It's a different base. Okay. So I'll be sure to link all these up. So thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

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