1st interview John King and Ned Sacipo

Hey, Ned, how you doing, mate?

Hey, John, how you doing, buddy?

Yeah, good. Where are you this weekend?

I'm actually in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There's a big bodybuilding competition here that I'm part of, and I have quite a few clients myself, but— so I drove about 4 and a half hours to come here. And so, yeah, I mean, it's going to be interesting tomorrow.

We have over 200 competitors, so Wow, that's a bunch of people, mate.

Yeah, yeah, it's going to be fun. I'm staying in a hotel here, so I'm on the 10th floor, really nice view. It's beautiful here, and I'm talking to you.

That's awesome. Hey, listen, thanks for coming down last week and training.

You're welcome.

That was awesome. I just wanted to try and catch up and get your feedback on where you think I'm up to. Realistically, I just turned 50. I turned 50 September 29th, so it's literally 7 days ago. You've met me. You've seen me. Honestly, what do you think I can do as far as setting goals? What should I be aiming for in terms of my possibilities, and how long do you think it's going to take to get there?

All right. John, to be honest with you, until I actually met you in person, I didn't really know what you can do, you know, and the reason I say that is in this sport, in bodybuilding especially, there's a lot of the mental toughness, I call it. So till I actually met you, I mean, I've seen pictures of you, we talked on the phone, I never actually got to see you till I got to Dallas or Dallas area.

Yeah.

When I got to know you a little bit, my mind started going in a little different direction because you have the mind, what is very important for bodybuilding. Everybody can go and train hard, work out weights, lift weights, and diet and do those things, but not everybody has the mental toughness to do something like this.

Okay.

By saying that, when I met you, talked to you, and I see how driven you are and how serious you are about this. In my mind, and this is honest truth I'm saying, it went to a different direction, meaning, okay, I can probably take this guy to local shows to get qualified for Nationals.

Yeah.

And then next year, to actually compete in Nationals in your 50+ class.

Okay.

Wow. That being said, when you meet people, and I've met quite a few people, you can nitpick who actually has that mental toughness to do that. You're definitely a guy that had that, that gave me that vibe and that feeling, okay, we can push this and change your body. There's a lot of books written about weightlifting and mind-muscle connection, meaning It's not about who trains hardest, it's who trains smartest.

Yeah.

What you have, me as a coach, we're going to have the smartest on our side and your drive.

Yeah.

The sky's the limit for you, meaning qualifying for Nationals, competing in Nationals, and hopefully getting a pro card in the 50+ class. That is the goal. Like I said, I'm saying all this since when I met you, when I've seen what kind of person you are.

How long do you think that's going to take, Ned, to get there as far as a goal?

We're talking some phase of 6 months of bulking, working on your muscle mass, making the muscle look harder, better. We call that muscle maturity. Also putting some size on you as we're in this process. Realistically, we're talking about a year, year and a half for you to get to the national level. Now, the pro card level, it might be a little bit longer than a year, but it's definitely a goal that you can get there. So we're talking about 12 to 18 months.

Okay, so we're probably looking at then maybe competing at the end of next year?

Yes, sir. We do need to do a smaller show, meaning we need to qualify for Nationals. Not everybody can go to the National level, so we need to get to top 2 places in any kind of local show. So that's going to be our warm-up, as I would say it. It will be our warm-up for the big dance, which is Nationals.

The big dance, Mike. Yeah.

That'll be cool. Yeah, so it's just one of those things where it's just like every sport, we've got to play a game. There's things we need to do first to get to the playoffs, and then from playoffs, we need to go to finals. Right now, we're qualifying for playoffs.

Yeah, I got you. Thanks, man. That's encouraging. I was hoping I would be able to get there. It's a good goal. I need a goal. I'm 50. I've been lifting weights for 20-odd years. It gets a bit old if you don't have a purpose.

Yeah.

That first show I did, I felt it was a good introduction, the coach I had and all that, but what I've noticed with you is you're really particular with each of the clients. Having looked at your website, you're not just handing out those Men's Health Train with Ned brochures sort of thing. It's like everything's tailored, you've got a goal in mind. The fact that you were prepared to come down to Dallas Meet me speaks just volumes of your commitment to each of your clients. I'm really excited about it, man.

I really am. Yeah, me too. It's going to be one of those things where all the work is going to be done by you, meaning the dieting and training, but it's still teamwork, meaning you and I working together and planning things out and doing things, but you're going to be the one who's going to be grinding and sweating and eating all this nasty healthy food.

Dude.

You're the one who's going to be doing it, and I'll be over here just kind of giving direction. I feel really positive, and I think we're going to have a really good showing, even our first show. You'll be surprised what you can do with your body, and everybody else out there, People get discouraged easy. I found out almost every diet plan works. What doesn't work, people fail to plan. They don't plan right, and they don't stick to the diet right. You're the guy who's going to definitely do the right things. I don't doubt about it.

I'll try to, mate, but owning an ice cream shop does have its temptations.

Yeah, how's that going, John? How's the ice cream shop going?

It's a bloody big temptation, I'm telling you what. We were down there last night doing it, and my son made this incredible malted milkshake for someone. He just had a little bit left over.

Hey, that's all right.

I fell hard off the wagon, man. I picked up an extra 20 minutes of cardio today just to make up for it.

Yeah, next time when I come to Dallas, I want you to take me there and I want to eat some ice cream at your shop.

Yeah, you got to, man.

I can eat whatever I want.

I know, that's the problem, you bugger. That's awesome.

We're going to put in a video too.

Yeah, we will. We'll video that. Watch the coach.

Do what I tell you to do, but don't do what I do.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know those guys. I know those guys. Hey, also, mate, listen, let you get back to your weekend. Appreciate it. And I'll look forward to catching up.

Okay, sounds good.

Cheers.

All right, see ya.